Everforth, Inc. (EFOR) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Greetings and welcome to the ASGN Incorporated second quarter 2024 earnings call. (Operator Instructions). I will now turn the conference over to your host Kimberly Esterkin of Investor Relations. You may begin.

各位好，歡迎參加 ASGN Incorporated 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。（接線員指示）。現在我將把會議交給投資人關係部的 Kimberly Esterkin 主持。您可以開始了。

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today for ASGN's second quarter 2024 conference call. With me are Ted Hanson, Chief Executive Officer; Rand Blazer, President; and Marie Perry, Chief Financial Officer.

各位下午好，感謝您今天參加 ASGN 2024 年第二季電話會議。與我一同出席的有：執行長 Ted Hanson、總裁 Rand Blazer，以及財務長 Marie Perry。

Before we get started, I would like to remind everyone that our commentary contains forward-looking statements. Although we believe these statements are reasonable. They are subject to risks and uncertainties and as such, our actual results could differ materially from those statements. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are described in today's press release and in our SEC filings.

在開始之前，我想提醒各位，我們的評論包含前瞻性陳述。儘管我們認為這些陳述是合理的，但仍受風險與不確定性影響，因此我們的實際結果可能與這些陳述存在重大差異。其中部分風險與不確定性已在今日新聞稿及我們向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的文件中說明。

We do not assume any obligation to update statements made on this call. For your convenience, our prepared remarks and supplemental materials can be found in the Investor Relations section of our website at investors.asgm.com.

我們不承擔更新本次電話會議中所作陳述的任何義務。為方便各位，我們的事先準備講稿與補充資料可於 investors.asgm.com 網站的投資人關係專區查閱。

Please also note that on this call, we will be referencing certain non-GAAP measures such as adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and free cash flow. These non-GAAP measures are intended to supplement the comparable GAAP measures. Reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP measures are included in today's press release.

也請注意，在本次電話會議中，我們將引用若干非 GAAP 指標，例如調整後 EBITDA、調整後淨利以及自由現金流。這些非 GAAP 指標旨在補充可比較的 GAAP 指標。GAAP 與非 GAAP 指標之間的調節表已包含於今日新聞稿中。

I will now turn the call over to Ted Hanson, Chief Executive Officer.

現在我將把電話會議交給執行長 Ted Hanson。

Thank you, Kim. And thank you for joining ASGN second quarter 2024 earnings call. ASGN's results for second quarter confirmed our expectations that macro conditions in Q2 would be consistent with Q1. Revenues were $1,035 billion, while adjusted EBITDA margin of 11.3% was at the top of our expectations. Consistent with the first quarter in Q2, our clients continue to acutely focus on where and when to spend against their IT budgets. Their long-term IT roadmaps and priorities have not changed.

謝謝你，Kim。也感謝各位參加 ASGN 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。ASGN 第二季的結果印證了我們的預期：第二季的總體環境將與第一季一致。營收為 10.35 億美元，而 11.3% 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率位於我們預期區間的上緣。與第一季一致，在第二季，我們的客戶仍持續高度聚焦於其 IT 預算應在何時、何處支出。他們的長期 IT 藍圖與優先事項並未改變。

However, concerns about protecting their bottom lines continued to drive cautious execution. This behavior is not unique to ASGN customer base. On a recent call hosted by the Global ISG Index for the second quarter of 2024. Their team of experts concluded that new bookings and hiring remain muted and headwinds such as high interest rates inflation, geopolitical unrest in the impending US presidential election continue to hinder increased IT spend.

然而，對於保護其獲利底線的擔憂，仍驅動其採取審慎的執行方式。這種行為並非 ASGN 客戶群所獨有。在 Global ISG Index 近期主辦的 2024 年第二季電話會議中，其專家團隊結論指出：新訂單與招募仍偏疲弱，而高利率、通膨、地緣政治動盪以及即將到來的美國總統大選等逆風，持續抑制 IT 支出的增加。

It consulting revenues totaled 57.1% of consolidated revenues for the second quarter of 2024, up from 53.1% in the prior year quarter. The evolution of our revenues is not reflected in our financial statements, but has also been acknowledged by equity market indices. In May, in recognition of the pivot in our strategy, the joint S&P and MSCI committee responsible for the GICS Code classifications, officially switched ASGN's GICS Code from the industrial sector under human resources and employment services to the information technology sector under IT consulting and other services.

2024 年第二季，IT 顧問服務營收占合併營收的 57.1%，高於去年同期的 53.1%。我們營收結構的演進不僅反映在財務報表中，也已獲得股票市場指數的認可。5 月，為反映我們策略的轉向，負責 GICS 產業分類的 S&P 與 MSCI 聯合委員會，正式將 ASGN 的 GICS 代碼由工業類別（人力資源與就業服務）改為資訊科技類別（IT 顧問與其他服務）。

With each accomplishment, whether that be increasing our IT consulting revenues and ultimately overall company margins or receiving a new GICS Code. We're making measured strategic progress toward our goal of moving up the IT services pyramid into higher end, higher value IT consulting solutions.

每一項成果，無論是提升 IT 顧問營收並最終提高整體公司利潤率，或是獲得新的 GICS 代碼，都代表我們正以審慎且有節奏的方式推進策略，朝著目標邁進：在 IT 服務金字塔中向上移動，提供更高階、更高價值的 IT 顧問解決方案。

Our progress towards this goal will be driven by continuing to nurture our long-standing trusted client relationships, which like our variable cost structure our cornerstone of our business model. Our large account portfolio across six diverse industry verticals offers us first-hand insight into our clients' investments and long term IT roadmap.

我們朝此目標的進展，將透過持續培育我們長期且值得信賴的客戶關係來驅動；這些關係如同我們的可變成本結構一樣，是我們商業模式的基石。我們在六個多元產業垂直領域的大型客戶組合，使我們能第一手洞察客戶的投資動向與長期 IT 藍圖。

As we position ourselves for the future. We remain committed to fostering these relationships and supporting our clients with critical IT needs. I'll provide some more details about how we are staying ahead of our clients' IT needs and in particular, those related to AI as we discuss our segment performance. Let's begin with our largest segment by revenue, commercial.

在我們為未來布局之際，我們仍致力於深化這些關係，並在關鍵 IT 需求上支持客戶。在討論各事業部表現時，我將進一步說明我們如何領先掌握客戶的 IT 需求，特別是與 AI 相關的需求。讓我們先從營收規模最大的事業部——商業（Commercial）部門開始。

Our commercial segment services Fortune 1,000 and large mid-market companies. Commercial segment revenues for the quarter declined by low double digits year-over-year due to continued softness in the more cyclical areas of our assignment business. Despite a softer macro economy, our strategy to expand our IT commercial consulting business is working.

我們的商業部門服務《財富》1,000 大企業以及大型中型市場公司。本季商業部門營收年減低雙位數，主要因我們派遣業務中較具景氣循環性的領域持續疲弱。儘管總體經濟較為疲軟，我們擴大商業 IT 顧問業務的策略正在奏效。

Commercial consulting revenues were essentially flat year-over-year on a difficult prior-year comparison, but improved 1.6% sequentially. Commercial consulting bookings of $327.4 million, plus our book to bill at 1.2 times on a trailing 12-month basis.

商業顧問營收在去年同期基期較高的情況下，年比基本持平，但季比成長 1.6%。商業顧問訂單金額為 3.274 億美元，且過去 12 個月的接單出帳比（book-to-bill）為 1.2 倍。

From an industry perspective, we saw year-over-year growth in one of our five commercial verticals. TMT revenues improved 7.2% compared to the second quarter of 2023, led by double digit growth in telecommunications and e-commerce. Sequentially, TMT revenues improved 8%, while consumer and industrial revenues increased 3.1%.

從產業角度來看，我們五個商業垂直領域中有一個呈現年增。TMT（科技、媒體與電信）營收較 2023 年第二季成長 7.2%，主要由電信與電子商務的雙位數成長帶動。就季比而言，TMT 營收成長 8%，而消費與工業營收增加 3.1%。

Taking into account the additional billable day in Q2 2024, we also saw sequential growth in 10 sub-verticals, including regional banks, diversified financials, utilities, materials, consumer discretionary telecommunications, e-commerce, tech hardware, software and services, and business services. Although it remains encouraging to see these sequential improvements, we believe we have not yet seen an inflection point in IT spending.

考量 2024 年第二季多出一個可計費工作日，我們也看到 10 個次垂直領域出現季比成長，包括：區域性銀行、多元金融、公用事業、材料、非必需消費、電信、電子商務、科技硬體、軟體與服務，以及商業服務。雖然看到這些季比改善令人鼓舞，但我們認為 IT 支出尚未出現拐點。

As we move up the IT services pyramid toward higher end consulting work. We are adding new skill sets to our project teams, including solution architects. Our ability to add advanced skill sets to our project teams offers the opportunity to improve our margins, expand our contract sizes in lengths and enhance our industry vertical performance. It also reflects the high value our clients attribute ASGN to solve their complex IT problems.

隨著我們在 IT 服務金字塔中向更高階的顧問工作邁進，我們正為專案團隊增添新的技能組合，包括解決方案架構師。我們為專案團隊導入進階技能的能力，帶來提升利潤率、擴大合約規模與期限，並強化各產業垂直領域表現的機會。這也反映出客戶高度重視 ASGN 在解決其複雜 IT 問題上的價值。

Identifying use cases for Gen AI is one of those complex problems. While use cases are growing, we are still in the early stages of AI implementation. ASGN's solution capabilities across disciplined enables us to differentiate our AI services and so we are deploying a multilayered approach to our AI new business efforts. Data is the fuel for AI, so our data and analytics practices naturally at the forefront of our AI engagements, AI is also compute intensive, so our Cloud and Infrastructure team is working diligently to create AI solution that can scale.

為生成式 AI（Gen AI）辨識使用情境（use cases）就是其中一項複雜問題。雖然使用情境正在增加，但我們仍處於 AI 導入的早期階段。ASGN 橫跨多項專業領域的解決方案能力，使我們能差異化我們的 AI 服務，因此我們正以多層次方法推動 AI 新業務拓展。資料是 AI 的燃料，因此我們的資料與分析團隊自然站在 AI 專案的最前線；AI 也高度依賴運算資源，因此我們的雲端與基礎架構團隊正積極打造可擴展的 AI 解決方案。

Finally, AI must to be secure. So our cyber practice plays an integral role in use case development. Our clients are readily relying on us to conduct business case and technical assessments to understand where to apply this novel technology. So let me provide some examples of the projects won during the quarter. We provide these engagement examples to give a sense of the work we are performing and ASGN's ability to bring a combination of IT and AI to address our clients' needs.

最後，AI 必須是安全的。因此，我們的資安團隊在使用情境開發中扮演不可或缺的角色。客戶正日益依賴我們進行商業案例與技術評估，以了解應在何處應用這項新興技術。接下來我將提供一些本季贏得的專案案例。我們分享這些合作案例，是為了讓各位了解我們正在執行的工作內容，以及 ASGN 結合 IT 與 AI 以滿足客戶需求的能力。

In Q2 for our multinational beauty company, we began implementing a pilot Microsoft fabric to enhance our clients' cloud-based [FinOps] management solution. By piloting this AI powered analytics and data platform. Our client is gaining actionable insights to better forecast and control their cloud efficiency. Microsoft Fabric is a critical priority across our customer base.

在第二季，針對我們的一家跨國美妝公司客戶，我們開始導入 Microsoft Fabric 試點，以強化其以雲端為基礎的 [FinOps] 管理解決方案。透過試行這個由 AI 驅動的分析與資料平台。我們的客戶正獲得可採取行動的洞察，以更好地預測並控管其雲端效率。Microsoft Fabric 是我們客戶群中的一項關鍵優先事項。

And we recently launched our first listing on the Microsoft Azure marketplace, a consulting workshop on Fabric. Participating in the Azure marketplace provides our commercial consulting practice with the opportunity to accelerate growth, increase brand awareness and importantly, build new client relationships.

此外，我們近期在 Microsoft Azure Marketplace 上推出了第一個上架項目：一個關於 Fabric 的顧問式工作坊。參與 Azure Marketplace，讓我們的商業顧問業務有機會加速成長、提升品牌知名度，並且更重要的是，建立新的客戶關係。

In another contract won during the quarter. Our data and AI team in Mexico was engaged by lifestyle brands to develop a roadmap to implement a data solution on Google Cloud. This project involves expertise across several technologies such as GitHub, BigQuery, and Gemin-based accelerator. By following an agile approach in deploying in AI powered accelerator. Our consulting team and improve their velocity of implementation by 3 times, without sacrificing quality of service. This project is on track to hit its first milestone in Q3, a complete migration to Google Cloud.

在本季贏得的另一份合約中。我們位於墨西哥的資料與 AI 團隊受生活風格品牌委託，制定在 Google Cloud 上導入資料解決方案的路線圖。此專案涵蓋多項技術專長，例如 GitHub、BigQuery，以及以 Gemin 為基礎的加速器。透過在部署 AI 驅動加速器時採用敏捷方法。我們的顧問團隊將其導入速度提升了 3 倍，同時不犧牲服務品質。此專案正按計畫在第三季達成第一個里程碑：完成全面遷移至 Google Cloud。

Also during the second quarter, our Mexican delivery center supported a Fortune 500 gaming company with application development and modernization. Our technical architects GitHub trained copilot developers and program managers all collaborated closely with our clients to develop a roadmap for the creation of a custom in gaming tool. This is a three year engagement with our delivery team scaling up over the project life cycle.

同樣在第二季期間，我們的墨西哥交付中心為一家《財富》500 大遊戲公司提供應用程式開發與現代化支援。我們的技術架構師、接受 GitHub Copilot 訓練的開發人員以及專案經理，皆與客戶緊密合作，制定打造客製化遊戲內工具的路線圖。這是一項為期三年的合作案，我們的交付團隊將在專案生命週期中逐步擴編。

Finally, another consulting project won during the quarter was a Threat and Vulnerability Management assessment performed for one of our large healthcare payer clients. Our client was looking to enhance their vulnerability management capabilities and ensure that their operating systems were up to industry standards. By migrating our clients primarily threat scanning tool from on-premise to a hybrid cloud solution. Our commercial team helped our clients mitigate future risks. This cloud solution broadened our client scanning scope and significantly reduced threat scanning time.

最後，本季贏得的另一個顧問專案，是為我們一家大型醫療保險支付方客戶執行的威脅與弱點管理（Threat and Vulnerability Management）評估。客戶希望強化其弱點管理能力，並確保其作業系統符合產業標準。透過將客戶主要的威脅掃描工具從地端遷移至混合雲解決方案。我們的商業團隊協助客戶降低未來風險。此雲端解決方案擴大了客戶的掃描範圍，並大幅縮短威脅掃描時間。

Let's now turn to our federal government segment, which provides advanced IT solutions to the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, and federal civilian agencies. Federal segment revenues for the quarter declined low single digits year-over-year, but improved on a year to date basis. Contract backlog was $2.8 billion at the end of the second quarter for a coverage ratio of 2.2 times. The segment's trailing 12 month revenues.

接下來談我們的聯邦政府業務部門，該部門為國防部、情報社群以及聯邦文職機構提供先進的 IT 解決方案。本季聯邦部門營收年減低個位數，但以年初至今的基礎來看有所改善。截至第二季末，合約積壓（backlog）為 28 億美元，覆蓋倍數為 2.2 倍。該部門過去 12 個月的營收。

New contract awards were $194.3 million, putting our book-to-bill at 0.7 times on a trailing 12 month basis. Task orders under IDIQs won in Q4 2023 have not materialized as quickly as we originally anticipated. In addition, while our core government services revenues continue to grow lower than expected pass through licensing fees impacted our second quarter results. Marie will speak further about this topic later in today's call. On a positive note, we are already seeing a greater flow of task orders begin to be released in the third quarter. I'll provide an update on those shortly.

新合約得標金額為 1.943 億美元，使我們過去 12 個月的接單出貨比（book-to-bill）為 0.7 倍。我們在 2023 年第四季於 IDIQ 下贏得的任務單（task orders），實際落地的速度不如我們原先預期。此外，儘管我們的核心政府服務營收持續成長，但低於預期的轉付授權費（pass-through licensing fees）影響了我們第二季的結果。Marie 稍後會在今天的電話會議中進一步說明這個議題。正面的是，我們已經看到第三季開始釋出更多任務單的流量。我稍後會就此提供更新。

As we prepare for new task quarters, like with our commercial segment, we are actively upskilling our federal government professionals in Gen AI. Through our data and AI center of excellence. We are training our professionals in our proprietary large language models, along with publicly available Gen AI services such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

在我們為新的任務季度做準備之際，與商業部門相同，我們正積極為聯邦政府專業人員進行 Gen AI 技能提升。透過我們的資料與 AI 卓越中心。我們正在訓練同仁使用我們的專有大型語言模型，以及公開可用的 Gen AI 服務，例如 ChatGPT、Gemini 與 Copilot。

Our government teams are also earning in-demand, AI professional certification. These training and certification opportunities expand our professional skill set, enhanced our technology partnerships and provide us the ability to create internal use cases to improve ASGN's overall efficiencies.

我們的政府團隊也正在取得市場需求旺盛的 AI 專業認證。這些訓練與認證機會擴充了我們的專業技能組合、強化了我們的技術合作夥伴關係，並使我們能建立內部用例，以提升 ASGN 的整體效率。

During the second quarter, we began receiving task orders under the $1.25 billion re-compete DARPA IDIQ, awarded to our federal government segment, at the end of 2023. Our team was supporting DARPA with acquisition lifecycle solutions program oversight and expert advisory to meet their dynamic research and development missions.

在第二季期間，我們開始收到隸屬於 12.5 億美元 DARPA IDIQ 重新競標（re-compete）案的任務單；該案於 2023 年底授予我們的聯邦政府部門。我們的團隊為 DARPA 提供採購生命週期解決方案、專案監督，以及專家諮詢，以支援其動態的研發任務。

At the start of July, we began receiving task orders on an $88 million single award re-compete contract with the Missile Defense Agency in which we are providing business operation and modernization support services, along with business intelligence and analytic solutions. While work began under this contract in Q3, it is reflected in our Q2 2024 backlog.

在 7 月初，我們開始收到一份 8,800 萬美元、單一得標（single award）的重新競標合約之任務單，該合約客戶為飛彈防禦署（Missile Defense Agency）；我們在其中提供業務營運與現代化支援服務，以及商業智慧與分析解決方案。雖然此合約的工作於第三季開始，但已反映在我們 2024 年第二季的積壓訂單中。

In addition to those contracts already booked in the backlog in Q2 2024, our justice solutions team won a prime spot or a re-compete award with the FBI. This [$8 billion], 8 year Information Technology Supplies and Support Services contract is the largest contract vehicle ever established by the FBI. This contract allows our federal government segment to expand the critical IT services and technology solutions. It provides to the FBI to include AI, infused IT and cybersecurity solutions. Our federal government segment has supported the FBI for over three decades, and we look forward to receiving task orders under this contract, which will add to our bookings performance.

除了 2024 年第二季已計入積壓訂單的那些合約之外，我們的司法解決方案團隊也在與 FBI 的重新競標案中取得主承包（prime）席位。這份為期 8 年、總額 [80 億美元] 的資訊科技供應與支援服務合約，是 FBI 迄今建立的最大合約載具（contract vehicle）。此合約使我們的聯邦政府部門得以擴大向 FBI 提供的關鍵 IT 服務與技術解決方案。其中包括導入 AI 的 IT 與資安解決方案。我們的聯邦政府部門已支援 FBI 超過三十年，並期待在此合約下收到任務單，進一步提升我們的接單表現。

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Marie to discuss the second quarter results in our third quarter guidance.

接下來，我把電話交給 Marie，請她說明第二季結果以及我們對第三季的指引。

Thanks, Ted. It's great to speak with everyone this afternoon. Second quarter revenues were $1.035 billion and reflect the sequential steadiness we expected in our commercial segment, offset by lower than expected license revenues in our federal government segment. Revenues from the commercial segment were $725.7 million, down 10.6% compared to the prior year and flat sequentially.

謝謝，Ted。很高興今天下午與各位交流。第二季營收為 10.35 億美元，反映我們預期商業部門的連續季度穩定表現，但被聯邦政府部門低於預期的授權收入所抵銷。商業部門營收為 7.257 億美元，較去年同期下降 10.6%，與前一季持平。

Revenues from commercial consulting, the largest of our high margin revenue stream totaled $281.5 million, essentially flat year-over-year and up 1.6% sequentially. Revenues from our federal government segment were $309 million, a decrease of 3.3% year-over-year. When we spoke last quarter, I noted that we anticipated our federal government segment's performance in the second quarter of 2024 would be similar to the prior year quarter.

商業顧問業務（我們高毛利營收來源中規模最大者）營收合計 2.815 億美元，年增率基本持平，季增 1.6%。聯邦政府部門營收為 3.09 億美元，較去年同期下降 3.3%。上季我們提到，我們預期 2024 年第二季聯邦政府部門的表現將與去年同期相近。

This assumption was based on the belief that we would have consistent level of software license revenues year-over-year, while our core services revenue for this segment continued to grow. As Ted noted, licensing revenues in the second quarter of 2024 were lower than our expectations. This resulted in the revenue shortfall for the quarter. Our commercial segment, on the other hand performed as anticipated.

此一假設係基於我們相信軟體授權收入可年對年維持一致水準，同時該部門的核心服務營收持續成長。如 Ted 所提，2024 年第二季的授權收入低於我們的預期。這導致本季營收未達預期。另一方面，我們的商業部門表現符合預期。

Turning to margins. Gross margins for the second quarter of 2024 was 29.1%, an increase of 20 basis points from the second quarter of last year. Gross margin for the commercial segment was 32.7%, up 50 basis points year-over-year, reflecting a higher mix of consulting revenues as well as margin expansion from both consulting and assignment revenues.

接著談毛利率。2024 年第二季毛利率為 29.1%，較去年第二季增加 20 個基點。商業部門毛利率為 32.7%，年增 50 個基點，反映顧問收入占比提高，以及顧問與派遣（assignment）收入兩者的毛利率擴張。

Gross margin for the federal government segment was 20.6% at 10 basis points year-over-year, primarily due to lower licensing revenues, which carry a lower gross margin. SG&A expenses for the quarter were $205.6 million compared to $210.5 million in the second quarter of 2023. SG&A expenses also included $1.2 million of acquisition integration and strategic planning expenses that were not included in our guidance estimates.

聯邦政府事業部的毛利率為20.6%，年增10個基點，主要係因授權收入較低，而該類收入的毛利率較低所致。本季SG&A費用為2.056億美元，較2023年第二季的2.105億美元下降。SG&A費用亦包含120萬美元的併購整合與策略規劃費用，該等費用未納入我們的指引預估。

For the quarter, net income was $47.2 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $117.1 million and adjusted EBITDA margin was 11.3%. Adjusted EBITDA margin was at the top end of our guidance range due to improved business mix and higher gross margins. At quarter end, cash and cash equivalents, $132.2 million, and we had full availability under our $500 million senior secured revolver. And our net leverage ratio was 1.89 times.

本季淨利為4,720萬美元。調整後EBITDA為1.171億美元，調整後EBITDA利潤率為11.3%。由於業務組合改善及毛利率提高，調整後EBITDA利潤率位於我們指引區間的上緣。季末現金及約當現金為1.322億美元，且我們在5億美元的優先擔保循環信貸額度下仍有全額可用額度。我們的淨槓桿比率為1.89倍。

Turning to our cash flow statement, free cash flow for the quarter was $85.4 million for a conversion rate of approximately 73% of adjusted EBITDA. Given the market opportunity, we deployed $108 million and a combination of free cash flow and excess cash on the balance sheet for share repurchase. This is the second quarter in a row that share repurchases exceeded our free cash flow. We have $667 million remaining under our $750 million share repurchase authorization.

接著看現金流量表，本季自由現金流為8,540萬美元，換算率約為調整後EBITDA的73%。鑑於市場機會，我們動用1.08億美元，並以自由現金流及資產負債表上的超額現金相結合，用於股票回購。這是連續第二個季度股票回購金額超過我們的自由現金流。在7.5億美元的股票回購授權下，我們尚餘6.67億美元可用。

With solid free cash flow generation and full availability under the revolver, we have ample dry powder to make strategic acquisitions when the M&A market improves. In the meantime, we expect to continue to repurchase ASGN shares.

憑藉穩健的自由現金流產生能力以及循環信貸的全額可用額度，我們擁有充足的「乾粉」可在併購市場改善時進行策略性收購。在此期間，我們預期將持續回購ASGN股票。

Turning to guidance, our financial estimates for the third quarter of 2024 are set forth in our earnings release and supplemental materials. These estimates are based on current market conditions and assumes 63.5 billable days in the third quarter.

接著談指引，我們對2024年第三季的財務預估已載於新聞稿及補充資料中。這些預估係基於目前市場狀況，並假設第三季有63.5個可計費天數。

We expect market conditions and demand for our services in the third quarter to be similar to that of the second quarter. As it relates to federal government segment revenues, we had a large amount of pass-through licensing revenues in Q3 of 2023, which we are not expecting to repeat. With this background for Q3 2024, we are estimating revenues of $1.024 billion to $1.044 billion, net income of $45.8 million to $49.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA of $114 million to $119 million and adjusted EBITDA margin of 11.1% to 11.4%.

我們預期第三季的市場狀況及對我們服務的需求將與第二季相近。就聯邦政府事業部收入而言，2023年第三季我們有大量的轉付（pass-through）授權收入，我們預期不會重演。在此2024年第三季背景下，我們預估營收為10.24億至10.44億美元，淨利為4,580萬至4,940萬美元。調整後EBITDA為1.14億至1.19億美元，調整後EBITDA利潤率為11.1%至11.4%。

I'll now turn the call back to Ted for some closing remarks.

接下來我把電話交回給Ted做一些結語。

Thanks, Marie. We begin today's discussion with a review of the macro environment. The second quarter proved much like the first with clients continuing to position themselves more cautiously than in prior cycles. As evident from the guidance Marie just discussed, we anticipate a continued steadiness in the third quarter.

謝謝，Marie。我們先從宏觀環境回顧開始今天的討論。第二季的情況與第一季非常相似，客戶持續以較以往景氣循環更為審慎的方式進行布局。如同Marie剛才所談到的指引所示，我們預期第三季將延續穩定態勢。

On a positive note, as I mentioned previously, government bookings have begun to pick up in the third quarter. In July, we received funding under a re-compete contract with the NYPD for cybersecurity and other system support. In addition I'm pleased to announce that we just last week were awarded a $1.1 billion IDIQ with the National Institutes of Health for NIH.

正面的消息是，如我先前提到，政府端的接單在第三季已開始回升。7月，我們在與紐約市警察局（NYPD）的資安及其他系統支援重新競標合約下取得資金撥付。此外，我也很高興宣布，就在上週我們獲得美國國家衛生研究院（NIH）授予的一項11億美元IDIQ合約。

Our federal government segment is one of seven awardees who have been tasked to support the NIH over a five-year period with its critical IT needs. Once task orders begin to be released, our team scope of work will include developing data management and analytic solutions, use of AI/ML, visualizations and other advanced analysis techniques.

我們的聯邦政府事業部是七家得標者之一，受託在五年期間支援NIH關鍵的IT需求。待任務訂單開始釋出後，我們團隊的工作範疇將包括開發資料管理與分析解決方案、運用AI/ML、視覺化以及其他進階分析技術。

As is evident from these recent awards, despite the current market conditions. We have not shifted our strategy or core belief system. At ASGM we believe in the IT services sector, we believe in being more consultative, and we believe in large industry diverse enterprise accounts. These three focal areas, along with our variable cost structure, provide support to our business throughout economic cycles. Market headwinds will ultimately reverse and ASGN's business is better positioned than it has ever been to capture in-demand IT consulting opportunities.

從近期這些得標可見，儘管目前市場狀況如此。我們並未改變策略或核心信念體系。在ASGM，我們看好IT服務產業，我們相信更具顧問式的服務方式，也相信大型、跨產業且多元的企業級客戶。這三個重點領域，加上我們的變動成本結構，能在各種經濟循環中支撐我們的業務。市場逆風終將反轉，而ASGN的業務定位比以往任何時候都更佳，能把握市場需求旺盛的IT顧問機會。

As we expand our IT consulting business, we are adding directors and advisors to our Board to enhance the strategic vision and operational expertise necessary to forge our path forward. In June, we welcomed Patty Obermaier to our Board of Directors. Patty is the Chief Growth Officer for Microsoft's Global Health Life Sciences division. She has served as an advisor to our Board since January, and we are excited to officially welcome her and her more than three decades of IT consulting experience to ASGN.

隨著我們擴展IT顧問業務，我們正增聘董事與顧問加入董事會，以強化推進未來道路所需的策略視野與營運專業。6月，我們歡迎Patty Obermaier加入董事會。Patty是微軟全球健康與生命科學事業部的首席成長長（Chief Growth Officer）。她自1月起即擔任我們董事會顧問，我們很高興正式歡迎她加入ASGN，並帶來逾三十年的IT顧問經驗。

Speaking about the topic of governance. In June, ASGN released its fifth annual environmental social governance report. We've made great strides in our ESG reporting over the past year, building upon the foundation we established in prior years, while also evolving our capabilities with key sustainability frameworks and regulatory standards.

談到公司治理這個主題。6月，ASGN發布了第五份年度環境、社會與公司治理（ESG）報告。過去一年我們在ESG揭露方面取得長足進展，在前幾年建立的基礎上持續深化，同時也依循關鍵永續框架與監管標準，提升我們的能力。

That concludes our prepared remarks. I'd like to express my gratitude to the entire ASGN family for your support this past quarter, industry dynamics may shift and the macro economy will fluctuate, but your commitment to be one of our client's most trusted IT partners has not wavered. Thank you again for joining our second quarter 2024 call.

以上為我們事先準備的發言。我想向整個ASGN大家庭表達感謝，感謝各位在本季的支持；產業動態可能改變、宏觀經濟也會波動，但各位致力成為客戶最值得信賴的IT合作夥伴之承諾始終未曾動搖。再次感謝各位參加我們2024年第二季電話會議。

Operator, please open the call to questions.

接線員，請開放提問。

(Operator Instructions) Jeffrey Silber, BMO Capital Markets.

（接線員指示）Jeffrey Silber，BMO資本市場。

Hey, thanks a lot. This is Ryan on for Jeff. Just a quick question on some of the dynamics around the federal government. Seems like there may be a timing shift in some of the software revenues you didn't get in the quarter and then it sounds like a tough comp on the pass through licenses in 3Q. Can you just tell us how we should be thinking about the magnitude of all those together?

嗨，非常感謝。我是Ryan，代替Jeff提問。我有個關於聯邦政府相關動態的簡短問題。看起來某些軟體收入可能出現時點上的移轉，本季沒有認列到；另外聽起來第三季在轉付授權（pass-through licenses）方面的比較基期也會很艱難。你能否說明一下，我們應該如何看待這些因素合在一起的影響幅度？

So Ryan, thanks for the question. I think, obviously we've said before, but those software licenses are they ebb and flow through the quarter. So the timing of that is uncertain. I think Marie said during the script that we had planned on a similar amount of licenses to the past quarter -- prior year quarter, excuse me, and they just didn't come.

Ryan，謝謝你的問題。我想很明顯地，我們之前也提過，這些軟體授權在季度內會有起伏。因此其發生時點具有不確定性。我想Marie在講稿中提到，我們原本規劃的授權金額大致與去年同期相近——抱歉，是去年同期那一季——但它們就是沒有進來。

I mean, they'll come in future quarters. There always a certain amount of software licenses are part of our solutions. And so it's always a, you know, a component of that, if you will. So I think the good news is here our core business. And you know what we generate through direct labor is growing. That's certainly positive. That's the most profitable part. The business that we provide and the software licenses are needed with this solution, but they generate very little gross margin and EBITDA margin.

我的意思是，它們會在未來的季度進來。我們的解決方案中一向會包含一定比例的軟體授權。因此它一直都是其中的一個組成部分。所以我認為好消息是，我們的核心業務——也就是我們透過直接勞務所產生的部分——正在成長。這當然是正面的。那是獲利能力最高的部分。我們提供的服務以及解決方案所需的軟體授權確實必要，但它們帶來的毛利率與EBITDA利潤率非常低。

So, you know, but I think the positive thing for ECS here during the quarter, even though they were off a little bit on the what our expectation were in licenses. They delivered all their EBITDA and a little bit more of that expected during the quarter. And so I think you just have to expect a little bit of ebb and flow in the license revenue.

所以，你知道，但我認為本季對 ECS 來說正面的地方是，儘管他們在授權方面略低於我們的預期。他們交出了本季全部的 EBITDA，而且還比預期多一點。因此我認為，你必須預期授權收入會有些起伏波動。

Got it. Thank you. And then just for the follow-up, can you. Can you give any color on the sequential trends during the quarter and exit rates across your business?

了解。謝謝。接著就追問一下，你能不能。你能不能就本季期間的連續趨勢，以及你們各業務的期末退出水準（exit rates）提供一些說明？

Coming through the first three weeks here of July business is pretty steady. So, you know, I think we had a steady Q2 to Q. We basically have here in the guide summaries giving you were looking for a similar steadiness in Q3 to Q2. What we saw during the first three weeks has been not marginally up or down for the first through three weeks of July. So you know, market conditions are not changing. They are what they are here. And so when the numbers reflect that, if you will not only quarter-to-quarter, but even for the first few weeks here.

進入 7 月的前三週，業務相當穩定。所以，你知道，我認為我們從 Q2 到 Q… 我們基本上在指引摘要裡已經說明，你們應該預期 Q3 相對 Q2 也會維持類似的穩定度。我們在 7 月前三週看到的情況，沒有明顯上升或下降。所以你知道，市場狀況沒有改變。就是目前這樣。因此如果你要說的話，數字反映的就是這點——不只是季對季，甚至連這裡前幾週也是如此。

Understood. Thank you so much.

明白了。非常感謝。

Trevor Romeo, William Blair.

Trevor Romeo，William Blair。

Hi, good evening. Thanks for taking the questions. First one I had was just on the commercial consulting bookings and the pipeline there. Just wondering if there kind of any trends you'd call out as far as the size and the scope of projects coming in and the weightings to renewals versus new project activity or any share you might be taking from competitors?

嗨，晚安。謝謝讓我提問。我第一個問題是關於商業顧問（commercial consulting）的接單（bookings）以及那邊的案源管線（pipeline）。想請教是否有任何趨勢值得指出，例如進來的專案在規模與範疇上有什麼變化、續約相對於新專案活動的比重，或是你們是否從競爭對手那裡取得了任何市占？

And then just finally, I guess are there any forward-looking indications in your bookings that would suggest any of the kind of sluggishness or caution among clients could change as we move through the next few quarters?

最後再問一下，你們的接單中是否有任何前瞻性指標顯示，客戶端的遲滯或謹慎態度，可能在接下來幾季有所改變？

Well, look, I'll let Rand take that one. I'll just pass it to him by saying, what [1.2] is a solid book-to-bill for commercial consulting. It's consistent with the past quarters and the trailing 12 months, there's nothing in there that would portend anything that is better news, if you will, than what we've been seeing to date in the future or works, I think they have more of the same right Rand?

嗯，這題我讓 Rand 來回答。我先把球交給他，先說一下：商業顧問的 book-to-bill 為 [1.2]，是很扎實的。這與過去幾季以及過去 12 個月的表現一致；裡面沒有任何跡象顯示，未來會比我們迄今看到的情況更好——或者更差。我想大概就是差不多的狀況，對吧 Rand？

Yeah, I think Trevor a lot of question there, but size and shape of engagements about same as we've had you heard about four of the engagements we cited in the text. There's some pretty meaty work there. More tending toward what we call AI extended work getting the data and data prep ready for AI, more AI inclusion. I think it's steady as we go. We are we beating competitors, we're watching the peer numbers the same as you are and I think we're steady to them in the consulting world. The fact that we're sequentially up a little bit in the book-to-bills pretty solid I think we feel good about it. And if you look at the nature of the work and in fact, one of them is a three year project that's we're seeing, obviously, any of that we see is good and it helps us in the long term. Trevor, that give you color.

對，我想 Trevor 你問了很多點，但就案子的規模與形態而言，跟我們一直以來差不多；你也聽到我們在文字稿裡提到的四個案子。裡面有一些相當有份量的工作。更偏向我們所說的「AI 延伸」工作，也就是把資料與資料前處理準備好以便導入 AI，更多 AI 的納入。我認為就是穩步前進。至於我們是否打敗競爭對手，我們跟你一樣在看同業數字；我認為在顧問市場我們跟他們差不多。book-to-bill 連續季小幅上升，算是相當不錯，我們對此感覺良好。而且如果你看工作的性質，事實上其中一個是三年期專案；我們看到這種案子當然是好事，對長期也有幫助。Trevor，這樣有提供一些脈絡嗎？

Yes, Rand, thank you. That was helpful and thanks, Ted, too...

有的，Rand，謝謝。很有幫助，也謝謝 Ted……

And Trevor, could I also add that we were facing a 26% growth comp in Q3 of 2023. So even though we're kind of flattish year-on-year basis for the quarter in commercial consulting, we did see a couple of points of sequential growth and the comps are going to have kind of changed here dramatically bigger drop down in the single digits as we get into Q3 and Q4. So the picture there, as you know, is changing here, but the business is growing. It's growing steadily and we'll see what we get here.

Trevor，我也補充一下：我們在 2023 年 Q3 面對的是 26% 的成長比較基期。所以即使本季商業顧問在年對年基礎上看起來大致持平，我們仍看到連續季成長了幾個百分點；而比較基期接下來會有很大的變化，到了 Q3、Q4 會大幅下降到個位數。所以如你所知，那邊的圖像正在改變，但業務是在成長的。它是穩定成長的，我們就看看接下來會如何。

And you can see it in our margins, right? Gross margins as consulting increases.

而且你也可以從我們的利潤率看到，對吧？隨著顧問業務增加，毛利率也會反映出來。

Right. Okay. Thank you both for that. And then just maybe a quick follow-up on the assignment business. Is there any kind of way to parse out the performance between kind of the core IT and the more discretionary creative digital and perm businesses. I think we heard from a few others in the industry about some incremental softness in on the perm side. So just kind of curious how that's trended as a percentage of your revenue and how that's performed?

對。好。謝謝你們兩位的說明。接著可能快速追問一下派遣（assignment）業務。有沒有什麼方式可以拆解核心 IT 與較具選擇性的創意數位（creative digital）以及永久職（perm）業務之間的表現？我想我們從產業內其他公司聽到，永久職那邊有一些額外走弱。所以想請教它占你們營收的比重趨勢如何，以及表現如何？

Okay. Perm as a percentage of total revenue for the quarter was 2.5%, and honestly, that was pretty consistent with prior quarters.

好的。本季永久職占總營收的比重是 2.5%，老實說，這與前幾季相當一致。

So I wouldn't expect too much more than that. I think I've seen the same thing that so there are some reporting of kind of softness in that number, our is already soft. It's gotten down to historic lows here. The some of our creative digital marketing and our permanent placement business, which is predominantly CyberCoders, is still just under 10%. So you're not seeing a lot of change there.

所以我不會預期會高出太多。我想我也看到同樣的情況：確實有人回報那個數字有些疲弱，而我們本來就偏弱。它已經降到歷史低點。我們部分的創意數位行銷以及永久職安置業務（主要是 CyberCoders）合計仍略低於 10%。所以你不會看到那邊有太多變化。

So, I would just say in that assignment business overall, Trevor, you're just seeing just a little bit of weakness in our guide. What would imply just a little bit of weakness in those numbers going forward.

所以我會說，整體派遣業務方面，Trevor，你在我們的指引裡只會看到一點點疲弱。這意味著未來這些數字可能會有些微走弱。

Okay, understood. Thank you all for the color.

好的，了解。謝謝各位提供的脈絡。

Joseph VafI, Canaccord.

Joseph Vafi，Canaccord。

Hey, guys, good afternoon. Nice to see just the steady results here. Just, you know, maybe we've seen some incremental pivot and enterprise spend kind of at least in software towards kind of AI centric projects, I know you're working on a lot of that stuff.

嘿，各位，午安。很高興看到這裡的結果相當穩健。只是，你知道，我們看到企業支出在某種程度上有些增量轉向——至少在軟體領域——轉向以 AI 為核心的專案，我知道你們也在做很多這類工作。

Just kind of wondering how you're thinking about maybe some of your other service offerings here and maybe some commentary of, you know, steady funding in areas away from projects that have kind of AI kind of focus to them. And if you're worried about sustaining that business? And then I'll have a quick follow-up.

想請教你們如何看待你們其他服務項目，以及你知道，對於那些不以 AI 為重點的專案領域，資金是否仍維持穩定的一些評論。以及你們是否擔心那塊業務的延續性？然後我還有一個簡短的追問。

Yeah. So I'll let Rand take that one. Not a big ramp up in spending, Joe in AI, which may be distracting, if you will, from what I'll call core normal IT spending from Rand, anything you'd add to that.

好。這題我讓 Rand 來回答。Joe，在 AI 方面的支出並沒有大幅拉升；這可能會分散注意力——如果你願意這麼說——相對於我所稱的核心、一般 IT 支出。Rand，你還要補充什麼嗎？

No, no. I think Ted, as you said in remarks, the clients are pretty good. Look, we've got good chip. You see in the enterprise software guys like ServiceNow, today's report where they're embedding more or AI in their software we obviously are astute smart on that capability can help clients bring it to their businesses. The same is true with Microsoft and those were some of the case studies we featured.

沒有，沒有。我想 Ted，正如你在談話中提到的，客戶狀況相當不錯。你看，我們有很好的動能。你也看到企業軟體公司像 ServiceNow，今天的報告提到他們在軟體中嵌入更多 AI；我們顯然對這項能力很敏銳、也很擅長，能協助客戶把它帶進他們的業務。Microsoft 也是同樣情況，而那也是我們展示的一些案例研究。

So Joe, I would say a lot of our work, as Ted said in his remarks, prep work for further AI use cases, which are still being thought through, but all of this is going to contribute toward greater, if you will, enterprise efficiency around these big software products. And then the individual projects will come after that when they begin to translate that into a very operating specific need or problem that's being put on the table for now, it's really dealing with their enterprise systems, which again, whether it's Salesforce, ServiceNow, the ERP systems, financial systems, Microsoft, Google, they're all cloud providers. They're all visibly embedding the capability needed in their software. And now it's our job to help the client take advantage of that.

所以，Joe，我會說我們很多工作，正如 Ted 在他的發言中提到的，是為了後續 AI 使用案例所做的前期準備；這些使用案例仍在規劃中，但所有這些都將有助於提升——如果你願意這麼說——圍繞這些大型軟體產品的企業整體效率。接著，當他們開始把這些轉化為非常具體的營運需求或當前被提出的問題時，個別專案就會隨之而來；目前主要是在處理他們的企業系統。再說一次，不論是 Salesforce、ServiceNow、ERP 系統、財務系統、Microsoft、Google——它們全都是雲端供應商。它們都在其軟體中明顯地嵌入所需的能力。而現在我們的工作就是協助客戶善用這些能力。

Thanks for that Rand and much appreciate it. And then just on -- and then maybe any incremental update you might have on Mexico delivery in terms of headcount, you know, additional client volumes, how you're kind of thinking that. Is there any kind of update for us there. Thanks very much.

謝謝你，Rand，非常感謝。另外，想再問——也許你能否就墨西哥交付（Mexico delivery）在人力配置方面提供一些增量更新，例如人頭數、額外的客戶量，以及你們大致如何思考這件事。這部分有沒有什麼更新可以分享？非常感謝。

So not a lot of change quarter-to-quarter there, Joe. Headcount kind of remain where they were utilization very high. We mentioned some work in the script that was actually assigned to Mexico delivery center. They're very focused on development of some of the things that Rand just talked about, right now, you know, in the AI enhanced area, especially in the data world. So that continues to be a good story. But I wouldn't say there's been a lot of change here from last quarter to this quarter.

Joe，這部分季度對季度沒有太大變化。人力大致維持原狀，產能利用率非常高。我們在講稿中提到的一些工作其實是分派到墨西哥交付中心的。他們非常專注於開發 Rand 剛剛提到的一些內容——目前在 AI 強化領域，特別是在資料領域。所以這仍然是一個不錯的故事。但我不會說從上季到本季有很大的變化。

Got it. And then maybe I'll just sneak one in on cash flow for the year, maybe Maria, if you've got some commentary of kind of where we are. If there's any kind of puts and takes, we should be thinking about kind of relative to kind of a normalized model on the free cash flow generation for the year? Thanks a lot.

了解。那我再偷問一題關於今年現金流的問題——Maria，也許你可以評論一下我們目前的狀況。相較於較為常態化的模型，今年自由現金流（free cash flow）產生方面，有沒有什麼我們應該留意的利多利空因素（puts and takes）？非常感謝。

Absolutely, Joe. Our cash flow for the quarter was approximately $85 million and the conversion rate to EBITDA was 73%. More traditionally, it's like 60% to 65% it was a little north of that. But it was really work because that was related this quarter to fluxes in working capital. And so we would probably anticipate kind of some that -- more that target that 60% to 65%.

當然可以，Joe。本季我們的現金流約為 8,500 萬美元，換算成 EBITDA 的轉換率為 73%。傳統上大約是 60% 到 65%，這次略高於那個區間。但這主要是因為本季與營運資金（working capital）的波動有關。因此我們大概會預期之後會更接近 60% 到 65% 這個目標區間。

Great. Thanks very much, guys.

很好。非常感謝，各位。

Heather Balsky, Bank of America.

Heather Balsky，美國銀行（Bank of America）。

This is Emily Marzo on for Heather Balsky, thank you for taking the question. Wondering if you could touch on federal really quick and realize it came in a little bit softer than expected. Book-to-bill was a little bit lower and IDIQ came in late. What's going on here. How should we think about this? Are projects being delayed or is it more bureaucratic, idiosyncrasies?

我是代替 Heather Balsky 提問的 Emily Marzo，謝謝讓我提問。想請你們很快談一下聯邦業務（federal），我知道表現比預期稍微疲弱一些。book-to-bill 稍低，而且 IDIQ 來得比較晚。這裡發生了什麼事？我們應該如何看待？是專案延後，還是比較偏官僚流程、或一些特殊的制度性因素？

So look, it's a, like I said earlier in the licenses were about $10 million off the midpoint of our range for the quarter, our commercial units delivered at or slightly above what we said. So that's kind of the delta, if you will, that we were like in the software license area for the quarter. Didn't affect EBITDA it was just purely an impact on revenues that will come in -- that will ebb and flow a little bit.

你看，就像我先前提到的，軟體授權（licenses）大約比我們本季指引區間的中點少了 1,000 萬美元；我們的商業單位交付達到或略高於我們所說的水準。所以如果你要說差異（delta）的話，主要就在本季的軟體授權領域。這不影響 EBITDA，純粹是對營收的影響；之後會回來——會有一些起伏（ebb and flow）。

Bookings during the quarter were below our expectations. But we noted in the first three weeks here in July that we're really seeing some velocity pickup and some awards being made. Q2 wasn't about lost business, if you will, with just I think everyone pursuing certain work and it's getting adjudicated at different times. Q2 was not our moment. We didn't have a lot of stuff that was won or lost. It was just pushed off to the right a little bit. But the good news is we see a good start here in the third quarter on just in the first three weeks. And so portends that we'll get through some stuff here from a bookings standpoint. So we're expecting a good bookings a quarter here in Q3.

本季的接單（bookings）低於我們的預期。但我們也提到，在 7 月的前三週，我們確實看到動能（velocity）回升，且有一些案子開始得標（awards being made）。如果你要說的話，Q2 並不是因為丟失業務；我認為大家都在追逐某些工作，而這些案子在不同時間點被裁決（adjudicated）。Q2 不是屬於我們的時點。我們沒有太多案子是贏或輸。只是稍微往後延了一點。但好消息是，我們在第三季一開始、就 7 月前三週的表現來看，有個不錯的開局。這預示（portends）從接單角度來看，我們會把一些案子推進完成。所以我們預期 Q3 會是一個接單表現不錯的季度。

And if I could ask a follow-up on how you see the M&A environment and if you've seen any changes in the challenges in the environment of if it's pretty steady?

如果我可以追問一下，你們如何看待併購（M&A）環境？以及你們是否看到環境中的挑戰有任何變化，還是大致維持穩定？

No. I think the same things that are affecting the M&A environment remain the same. It's spending. So the targets aren't feeling great about their numbers. We are questioning their numbers. You've got higher interest rates or the hurdle rates are higher on what returns need to be in order to support certain multiples so you have a discount there with the multiples.

沒有。我認為影響併購環境的因素仍然一樣。就是支出（spending）。所以標的公司對自己的數字沒有很有信心。我們也在質疑他們的數字。再加上利率較高，或是報酬門檻（hurdle rates）提高——為了支撐某些倍數（multiples），所需的報酬必須更高，因此在倍數上就會有折價（discount）。

And I think for now still, founders or private equity firms that want to sell their businesses have decided to batten down the hatches here and have some -- can sustain this for a little bit longer. So there's really no new news there, if you will.

而且我認為目前，想出售企業的創辦人或私募股權公司（private equity firms）已經決定先把艙口封緊（batten down the hatches），並且——還能再撐一段時間。所以如果你要說的話，這裡沒有什麼新的消息。

I mean, we clearly know what we want to add by acquisition. We're monitoring those companies that we've identified that bring certain solution capabilities that weren't going to acquire in the future. We're building relationships with the principals of those organizations. So were acquisition ready for sure, Emily and have the balance sheet to do it. It's just we need the right environment here. We need to improve a little bit to that. Things can come together.

我的意思是，我們很清楚透過收購想補強哪些能力。我們正在追蹤那些我們已辨識出、能帶來特定解決方案能力的公司——這些能力是我們未來可能會透過收購取得的。我們也在與那些組織的負責人（principals）建立關係。所以我們確實已經做好收購準備（acquisition ready），Emily，而且資產負債表也足以支持。只是我們需要合適的環境。我們需要環境稍微改善一些。這樣事情才有機會水到渠成。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Surinder Thind, Jefferies.

Surinder Thind，Jefferies。

Thank you. When I think about just the last few quarters and some of the trends, I think the general high-level commentary has been not a lot has really changed. So when I look back over that, is that another way to characterize it may be things are troughing at this point? Or just any color from client conversations in what's holding them back versus maybe what would get them to and a little bit more.

謝謝。當我回顧過去幾季的一些趨勢時，我覺得整體高層次的評論一直是「其實沒有太多改變」。所以從這個角度看，是否也可以說目前正處於觸底（troughing）階段？另外，能否分享一些客戶對話的觀察：是什麼在拖住他們？相對地，又是什麼會促使他們採取行動？再多給一點顏色（color）。

So I'll let Rand take the second half then on client trends and conversations. But our numbers surrender would tell you that things our flat, it almost looks like the first half of the bathtub, if you will. We if you go back into the middle part of last year, we had a revenue growth was decelerating and then not growing. We got into the third to the fourth quarter and things kind of flattened out. We had kind of a seasonal -- seasonably normal opening to the year in the first quarter, we will take a slight step down and things have just been flat year first to second, second to third on adjust, adjusted basis, if you will.

我會讓 Rand 來回答後半段，關於客戶趨勢與對話。但從我們的數字來看，Surinder，會告訴你目前是持平；如果你願意這麼說，看起來幾乎像浴缸曲線（bathtub）的前半段。如果你回到去年年中的那段時間，我們的營收成長在放緩，然後變成不成長。到了第三季到第四季，情況大致趨於平坦。今年第一季的開局在季節性上算正常；第一季我們會小幅下滑，而從第一季到第二季、第二季到第三季（在調整後口徑下，如果你願意這麼說）基本上都維持持平。

And I would say that's a not even that is that true for the whole business, but it's certainly true for the units individually. So there's not much change there. So if you want to call that a trough, I'd say it looks like a bathtub, if you will, and we're wondering, do we get a slope up for here -- from here when that is. But obviously, there are things here in the macro that need to improve.

我會說，這甚至不一定適用於整個業務，但對各個單位而言確實如此。所以那邊沒有太大變化。所以如果你想把那稱作谷底，我會說它看起來更像浴缸（bathtub），然後我們在想，從這裡開始是否會出現向上的斜率——以及那會在什麼時候發生。但顯然，宏觀面仍有一些事情需要改善。

Rand on the client budget and conversations side.

Rand，關於客戶預算與對話的部分。

I think the best way to characterize the conversations are, there's two levels of conversations. The first is questions our clients have within their businesses for what's the roadmap for AI? What are the things I need to do? What's the best practice in the industry? What's working? What's not, where should we be going and thinking about it?

我認為描述這些對話的最佳方式是：有兩個層次的對話。第一個層次是客戶在其業務內部提出的問題：AI 的路線圖是什麼？我需要做哪些事情？產業最佳實務是什麼？哪些有效？哪些無效？我們應該往哪裡走、如何思考？

The second question is -- and as part of that question is what are the things we need to do to be ready to go and implement the capability we're seeing in the software vendors, the enterprise vendors as well as our own needs. The second level of questions are I've got some individual projects. We just can't stop on. We just need to keep moving.

第二個問題是——而且作為前述問題的一部分——我們需要做哪些準備，才能就我們在軟體供應商、企業級供應商以及我們自身需求中看到的能力，做好上線並導入的準備。第二個層次的問題是：我手上有一些個別專案。我們就是不能停下來。我們必須持續推進。

You read about -- you heard about four of them in our text. When those projects, particularly when they're affecting security when they're instrumental to what maybe I would call longer term path, they're acting on at least what we see.

你在我們的文字稿裡讀到——也聽到其中四個。當這些專案，特別是影響到資安、或對我所稱的較長期路徑至關重要時，至少就我們所見，它們正在推動進展。

But I wouldn't say overall, they're going full force because the nature of the first set of questions. Still a lot of questions in building the roadmap as to where we're really going as a business. I think the ISG, Ted mentioned ISG in his opening remarks, they've said the same thing they had a certain outlook for when they thought things would take root. But I think our stations reflect that thinking some things have to get going and we're doing them and you read about those and other than that, it's a question of really laying out a roadmap for the future based on what really is working.

但我不會說整體上他們正全力以赴，因為第一組問題的本質如此。在建立路線圖方面仍有很多疑問：作為一家公司，我們真正要往哪裡走。我想 ISG——Ted 在開場致詞提到 ISG——他們也說了同樣的話；他們對事情何時會真正落地有一個特定的看法。但我認為我們的觀察也反映了那種想法：有些事情必須啟動，我們正在做，你也讀到那些；除此之外，關鍵在於根據真正有效的做法，把未來的路線圖清楚鋪陳出來。

Listen, there's a lot of change. Every day, the software enterprise vendors are counting new capability, new investment in AI capability, the Fabric capability in Microsoft, for example, which is relatively new and they're all trying to take hold of that and say, how does this piece together into a true roadmap. So I think the fact that the Quest clients are still there is indicative that they're not going full force yet. Does helps?

聽著，變化很多。每天，軟體與企業級供應商都在推出新的能力、對 AI 能力投入新的資金；例如 Microsoft 的 Fabric 能力相對較新，而大家都在試著掌握它，並思考：這些要如何拼成一個真正的路線圖。所以我認為，客戶仍在提出這些問題，顯示他們還沒有全力衝刺。這有幫助嗎？

Yeah, that does. I mean, I appreciate the color there. And then when we think about more the near term and where clients in terms of just Mexico delivery, how should we think about the bookings numbers? Is there increased demand or requests for resources out of Mexico at this point? How should we think about that as a percentage of bookings or just other color that you can provide?

有，確實有。我很感謝你提供這些背景。那接著我們思考更近的短期，以及客戶就墨西哥交付（Mexico delivery）而言的狀況，我們應該如何看待訂單（bookings）數字？目前對來自墨西哥的資源是否有更高的需求或請求？我們應該如何把它放在訂單占比來看，或你還能提供哪些其他補充？

Yeah. So we don't segment bookings by the Mexico delivery center surrender. The Mexican delivery center are working on US-based projects and commercial consulting. So when we give it to for commercial consulting, that includes that group of delivery professionals, if you will. But demand remains high because clients are really focused on total cost of ownership.

好的。所以我們不會按墨西哥交付中心來切分訂單。墨西哥交付中心在做的是以美國為基礎的專案與商業顧問服務。因此當我們提供商業顧問服務的數字時，其中就包含那一群交付專業人員。但需求仍然很高，因為客戶非常聚焦於總持有成本（total cost of ownership）。

And so now more than ever they're looking at the mix of resources and the price points of those resources and that's a positive, if you will, for us clients many times would rather access that as an alternative to offshore, they're still selling stuff offshore but they give a lot of advantages here with the nearshore, whether it's communication, really good technical capabilities, same time zone.

因此現在比以往任何時候，他們都在看資源組合與這些資源的價格點；這對我們而言是正面的。很多時候，客戶寧可把這當作離岸（offshore）的替代方案；他們仍然會把一些工作放到離岸，但近岸（nearshore）在這裡有很多優勢，不論是溝通、很強的技術能力、同一時區。

So we think this is something that's going to continue to build for us. And sometimes the client knows that that team in Mexico is deployed on a certain project and they've asked for was the unit received the benefits of this went through other times, we mixed demand as just a part of the project team, and that's up to us in terms of how we put the project team together, execute the work.

所以我們認為這會持續為我們累積動能。有時候客戶知道墨西哥那個團隊被部署在某個專案上，他們會要求——該單位因此獲得這些效益；但也有時候，我們只是把這個需求當作專案團隊的一部分來混合配置，而這取決於我們如何組建專案團隊並執行工作。

Could I have also a little bit. Mexico is doing great. And we've got very involved in certain technologies like Copilot, GitHub, Fabric. We've also begun, I think Ted's mentioned past quarter to build up a little bit of an Indian offshore capability and the expertise there really around ServiceNow and AI insertions and ServiceNow platform, so which is also building and adding headcount. So to us, it's a -- we're beginning to build a multi dimensional offshore, nearshore capability that's invented or client, but it's very much tied to the technology that we can build in each of those locations. So I just didn't want to ignore the Indian piece on this.

我也補充一點。墨西哥做得非常好。而且我們在某些技術上投入很深，例如 Copilot、GitHub、Fabric。我們也開始——我想 Ted 在上一季提過——建立一些印度的離岸能力，而那邊的專長主要圍繞在 ServiceNow 與 AI 的導入，以及 ServiceNow 平台；這也在成長並增加人力。所以對我們而言——我們正開始打造一個多維度的離岸、近岸能力，這是以客戶為導向，但也非常緊密地連結到我們能在各地建立的技術能力。所以我不想忽略印度這一塊。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

Tobey Sommer, Truist Securities.

Tobey Sommer，Truist Securities。

On the government consulting business, anything you're changing in the way you manage that. And I ask in the context of the book-to-bill kind of been stubbornly below and I understand you exclude IDIQs and maybe this is picking up this quarter. But it's a seasonally strong quarter in the forecasting the revenue licensing? Any changes there internally that you think are going to improve your sort of the predictability of that business?

關於政府顧問業務，你們在管理方式上有做任何改變嗎？我這麼問的背景是，book-to-bill 一直頑固地偏低；我理解你們排除了 IDIQ，或許這一季會回升。但這是一個季節性較強的季度，在預測營收的能見度上呢？內部是否有任何改變，你認為能提升這項業務的可預測性？

Well, look, Tobey, we're always -- we're adding resources to the team where we think they need to be added. If we see a performance issue, we're addressing it. So that's always been the case. I don't think that that's if there's any kind of change there.

嗯，聽著，Tobey，我們一直——在我們認為需要補強的地方，就會為團隊增加資源。如果我們看到績效問題，我們就會處理。一直都是如此。我不認為那邊有什麼所謂的改變。

I mean, look, I think we're really well positioned on some of these opportunities. We just did for them to get adjudicated. And we agree with you, it's been as a book-to-bill there. It's been stubbornly low. But I won't dismiss the backdrop here has been kind of stubborn to deal with, if you will.

我的意思是，聽著，我認為我們在其中一些機會上位置非常好。我們只是需要它們完成裁決（adjudicated）。而且我們同意你的看法，那邊的 book-to-bill 一直偏低。它一直頑固地偏低。但我也不會忽視：整體背景環境一直有點棘手、難以應對。

And so the pieces around the government contracting offices that working as quickly as they once did you know, the trend towards putting these large amounts of work together on IDIQs so that the government customer can get them out there and avoid a long and difficult long and difficult -- what's word I'm looking for -- protest period.

因此，政府採購/承包辦公室的運作速度不如以往那麼快；你也知道，趨勢是把大量工作打包成 IDIQ，讓政府客戶可以把案子推出去，並避免一段漫長且困難、漫長且困難的——我在找一個詞——抗議（protest）期間。

So there are things that are going on in that market that are a little bit of a headwind, but still we're winning our work, and we're pleased to see that we're going to get some things done here early in July that are already kind of hit landing, and we're looking forward to getting press releases out on those things. It's a little bit too soon now, but they'll be coming. So I think we feel good about this quarter, and we're going to have a good bookings quarter.

所以那個市場確實有一些因素形成些許逆風，但我們仍在贏得我們的案子；而且我們很高興看到，7 月初我們會把一些事情推進完成，這些案子其實已經算是接近落地，我們也期待就這些事項發布新聞稿。現在講還稍微早了一點，但很快就會出來。所以我認為我們對本季感覺不錯，而且我們會有一個不錯的訂單季度。

Two follow-ups for me and another part of the business. The assignment business. What's a spree to core like it's a lot of pretty long, a string of consecutive quarters of sequential decline. And then separately, but also on the assignment business, if we were to see an uptick in demand. How much capacity do you have recruiting in sales capacity to generate growth before you have to hire in earnest?

我這邊還有兩個追問，以及關於業務的另一個部分。也就是派遣（assignment）業務。目前的走勢看起來像是相當長的一段時間、連續好幾個季度的逐季下滑。另外，同樣針對派遣業務，如果我們看到需求回升，在你們必須認真開始增聘之前，你們在招募與銷售產能方面，還有多少容量可以用來帶動成長？

Well, look, this has been a long and protracted downturn, there's no doubt about it. And I'd say it's wearing on the -- it is worn on the team and team I say, all of us, you know, with worn on all of us. At the same time, this group has more fight and stick to it at this and are in it to help their customer with whether the business is at its highest point today or not.

嗯，坦白說，這是一段漫長而且拖延的下行期，這點毫無疑問。我想這確實讓團隊——也就是說，讓我們所有人——都感到疲憊。但同時，這個團隊很有韌性、很能撐得住，也願意投入，去協助客戶，不管今天業務是不是在高點。

And we talk a lot around here about most of the time you're not doing your best work the moment that revenue or EBITDA is at its highest point. Because that's just a reflection of everything you did when you were in the more difficult times, which is now.

我們在這裡常常談到，多數時候，你最好的工作並不是在營收或 EBITDA 最高的那一刻做出來的。因為那只是反映你在更艱難的時期——也就是現在——所做的一切努力的結果。

So I think everyone's got their head on, right? Everybody said it for the client and for each other. The amount of work, even though the revenue picture may not be there and the relationship building and the execution for clients is very strong. And we have capacity, Tobey, I think look -- we're kind of letting our headcount down naturally in places where there we don't think the demand picture is there right now, but we're leaving enough of it in place that we're maintaining great relationships with these clients that we know exactly what's going on, that we know where their head is in terms of when they'll be spending. To the extent we can understand that.

所以我認為大家都很清楚狀況，對吧？每個人都在為客戶、也為彼此而努力。即便營收表現可能還沒跟上，但在關係經營以及為客戶交付執行方面，力道非常強。而且我們是有產能的，Tobey。我想——我們在一些目前看不到需求的地方，讓人力自然下滑；但我們也保留足夠的人力，確保能與這些客戶維持很好的關係，確保我們非常清楚他們的狀況，了解他們對於何時會開始花錢的想法。在我們能理解的範圍內。

And when it ticks up, we have capacity. Now when we have to add, we'll that's a question that needs a crystal ball because we'd have to know him with the slope up and the velocity of that. But we do believe we're kind of picking the right spot here as we let our model work, if you will, but also make sure we're there for clients because that's critical. It has been it comes we are the first and fastest way that clients can engage with more effort and intensity on their IT projects, and we need to be ready for that we are.

等到需求回升時，我們是有產能可以承接的。至於何時需要增聘——那就需要水晶球了，因為我們得知道回升的斜率與速度。但我們確實相信，我們在讓模型自然運作的同時，也在選擇一個合適的點位；並且確保我們能在客戶身邊，因為那非常關鍵。我們一直以來都是客戶在 IT 專案上快速提升投入與強度的第一個、也是最快的方式，我們必須為此做好準備——而我們也準備好了。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Mark Marcon, Baird.

Baird 的 Mark Marcon。

Hi, this is Alex on for Mark. First off, I was just looking at the margins and obviously you've had some decline in federal and some increase otherwise. And I was just kind of wondering if you could give some more color on that? As well as some key drivers with that?

嗨，我是代替 Mark 的 Alex。首先，我在看利潤率，顯然你們的聯邦業務有些下滑，而其他部分有所上升。我想請你們多補充一些背景說明？以及其中的一些主要驅動因素？

Margins are steady sequentially here. But year-over-year, there's a little bit of decline in margins. Now really what's going on. The primary driver of that is business mix. So you're seeing a lower contribution of some of our higher margin units, which is our creative digital marketing service, our permanent placement services. And here's the and you're seeing federal, which is our lower EBITDA margin of business do a better job of maintaining and growing revenues here the first half versus the mix last year. And so all of that is the primary driver, if you will, of how the EBITDA margin is moving around.

利潤率在本季相較上一季是持平的。但若以年對年來看，利潤率有小幅下滑。那到底發生了什麼？主要驅動因素是業務組合（business mix）。也就是說，你看到我們一些較高毛利的單位貢獻降低，例如創意數位行銷服務、以及永久派遣（permanent placement）服務。同時你也看到聯邦業務——這是我們 EBITDA 利潤率較低的業務——在今年上半年相較去年更能維持並成長營收，因此在組合中的占比提高。所以，這些因素就是 EBITDA 利潤率變動的主要原因。

Okay, guys. And then really quickly, I was just kind of wondering, looking forward little bit further, we have an election year coming up and we were kind of wondering where you think the election would take IT and federal spending going forward?

好的，各位。然後很快再問一下，往前看更久一點，接下來是選舉年，我們想請教你們認為選舉會如何影響未來的 IT 與聯邦支出？

Well look it doesn't -- I don't think it matters to us so much about who's in office. I mean, that's a political question for another conversation. But I think the criticality around spending on IT for big corporate enterprise and government agencies to accomplish their strategic initiatives that all evolve IT in one shape or form of another is very strong. It's suspending stuff, they're on it yet, but it's very strong.

嗯，坦白說——我不認為對我們而言，誰在位有那麼重要。我的意思是，那是政治問題，適合留到另一個場合談。但我認為，無論是大型企業或政府機關，為了推動其策略性計畫——而這些計畫幾乎都會以某種形式涉及 IT——在 IT 上投入的關鍵性仍然非常強。他們可能還在暫緩一些事情、還沒完全啟動，但需求的關鍵性非常強。

So I think the most important thing is getting the election behind us so that the uncertainty of who's going to be in offices is not a part of the headlines every day in the second guessing that goes along with that. And once we get that asset behind us and you know, hopefully we get a little bit better interest rate environment here and you get most importantly from all that more business confidence where our customers feel like they understand what the environment looks like and where it's going, then they will begin to return to more normal levels of IT spending, and that's what drives our business.

所以我認為最重要的是把選舉這件事先走完，讓「誰會上任」的不確定性不要每天都成為新聞頭條，也不要再伴隨那種事後諸葛式的猜測。一旦這件事過去，再加上希望利率環境能稍微改善，更重要的是帶來更高的企業信心——讓客戶覺得他們理解環境長什麼樣、未來走向如何——那麼他們就會開始回到較正常的 IT 支出水準，而這正是驅動我們業務的因素。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

Thank you. And we have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. And I'll now turn the call back over to Ted Hanson for closing remarks.

謝謝。我們已經到達問答環節的結束。接下來我把電話交回給 Ted Hanson 做結語。

Well, just wanted to say thank you for everyone for your attention today and your questions on ASGN we look forward to reporting our third quarter here in another 90 days. Be well.

好的，我只是想感謝各位今天的關注，以及對 ASGN 的提問。我們期待在大約 90 天後公布第三季的結果。祝各位安好。

And this concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your line at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束，您現在可以掛線。感謝您的參與。