EverQuote Inc (EVER) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. My name is Krista, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the EverQuote second-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝你的支持。我叫克里斯塔，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此時此刻，我歡迎大家參加 EverQuote 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）

Thank you. I will now turn the conference over to Brinlea Johnson from The Blueshirt Group. Please go ahead.

謝謝。我現在將會議交給 Blueshirt Group 的 Brinlea Johnson。請繼續。

Thank you. Good afternoon, and welcome to EverQuote's second quarter 2024 earnings call. We'll be discussing the results announced in our press release issued today after the market closed. With me on the call this afternoon is Jayme Mendal, EverQuote's Chief Executive Officer; and Joseph Sanborn, Chief Financial Officer of EverQuote.

謝謝。下午好，歡迎參加 EverQuote 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。我們將討論今天收盤後發布的新聞稿中宣布的結果。今天下午與我一起參加電話會議的是 EverQuote 執行長 Jayme Mendal。約瑟夫桑伯恩 (Joseph Sanborn)，EverQuote 財務長。

During the call, we will make statements related to our business that may be considered forward-looking statements under federal securities laws, including statements concerning our financial guidance for the third quarter of 2024. Forward-looking statements may be identified with words and phrases such as we expect, we believe, we intend, we anticipate, we plan, may, upcoming and similar words and phrases.

在電話會議期間，我們將發表與我們的業務相關的聲明，根據聯邦證券法，這些聲明可能被視為前瞻性聲明，包括有關我們 2024 年第三季財務指引的聲明。前瞻性陳述可以用諸如我們期望、我們相信、我們打算、我們預期、我們計劃、可能、即將到來和類似的單字和短語等詞語和短語來識別。

These statements reflect our views only as of today and should not be considered views as of any subsequent date. We specifically disclaim any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Forward looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from our expectations.

這些陳述僅反映我們今天的觀點，不應被視為任何後續日期的觀點。除非法律要求，否則我們明確不承擔更新或修改這些前瞻性聲明的義務。前瞻性陳述受到各種風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與我們的預期有重大差異。

For a discussion of those risks and uncertainties, please refer to our SEC filings, including our annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on the Investor Relations section of our website.

有關這些風險和不確定性的討論，請參閱我們向SEC 提交的文件，包括向美國證券交易委員會備案的10-K 表年度報告和10-Q 表季度報告，可在《投資者關係》部分查閱。

Finally, during the course of today's call, we refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures which we believe are helpful to investors. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures was included in the press release we issued after the close of market today, which is available on the Investor Relations section of our website.

最後，在今天的電話會議中，我們提到了某些我們認為對投資者有幫助的非公認會計準則財務指標。我們今天收盤後發布的新聞稿中包含了 GAAP 與非 GAAP 指標的對賬，您可以在我們網站的投資者關係部分查看該新聞稿。

And with that, I'll turn it over to Jayme.

有了這個，我會把它交給傑米。

Thank you, Brinlea, and thank you all for joining us today. EverQuote continued to build momentum in the second quarter. Operating results once again exceeded the high end of our guidance range for revenue, VMM and adjusted EBITDA, and we achieved new record levels across all three of these financial metrics, along with record EBITDA and net income.

謝謝布林利，也謝謝大家今天加入我們。EverQuote 第二季度持續保持強勁勢頭。營運績效再次超出了我們對收入、VMM 和調整後 EBITDA 指導範圍的上限，我們在所有這三個財務指標上都達到了新的紀錄水平，同時創紀錄的 EBITDA 和淨利潤。

In April, I shared our perspective that after years long volatility in the auto insurance market, we believe that a sustainable auto recovery was in fact underway. This view further solidified as we progressed through the second quarter. Auto carrier underwriting profitability remained healthy and carriers continued to reactivate campaigns, restore budgets and reopen their state footprints in our marketplace.

今年四月，我分享了我們的觀點，經過多年的汽車保險市場波動，我們相信可持續的汽車復甦實際上正在進行中。隨著第二季的進展，這一觀點進一步得到鞏固。汽車承保盈利能力保持健康，承保人繼續重新啟動活動、恢復預算並在我們的市場中重新開放其州足跡。

As the auto carrier recovery unfolds, our team continues to execute very well. In the second quarter, not only have we worked closely with carriers to help them step back into the marketplace effectively, but we have also grown demand from local agents who are a core and differentiated component of our distribution. Our customer acquisition teams continue to optimize effectively into a dynamic demand environment and our home vertical grew to new record high levels of revenue and VMM.

隨著汽車運輸業復甦的展開，我們的團隊繼續表現出色。在第二季度，我們不僅與營運商密切合作，幫助他們有效地重返市場，而且我們還增加了當地代理商的需求，他們是我們分銷的核心和差異化組成部分。我們的客戶獲取團隊繼續有效地優化以適應動態的需求環境，我們的垂直行業收入和 VMM 成長到新紀錄的高水準。

Turning to the back part of the year, we will continue to support carriers and agents as they restore greater focus on growth. We will do so by providing them the guidance, data and tools they need to effectively scale spend in our marketplace and by expanding our customer acquisition and channels that will benefit from growing provider demand and monetization.

展望今年下半年，我們將繼續為營運商和代理商提供支持，幫助他們恢復對成長的更多關注。為此，我們將向他們提供有效擴大市場支出所需的指導、數據和工具，並擴大我們的客戶獲取和管道，從而受益於不斷增長的提供者需求和貨幣化。

Also, we have been actively preparing to comply with a regulatory change imposed by a new FCC rule related to consent collected under the TCPA or the Telephonic Consumer Protection Act, which goes into effect in January of 2025. This rule will affect website consent collection requirements and distribution channels that rely on telephonic outreach, most notably our agent channel.

此外，我們一直在積極準備遵守 FCC 新規定所實施的監管變更，該規定涉及 TCPA 或《電話消費者保護法》下收集的同意，該規定將於 2025 年 1 月生效。該規則將影響網站同意收集要求和依賴電話外展的分發管道，尤其是我們的代理商管道。

We are working closely with carriers and others to comply with the new rule, while continuing to support our customers' need for growth. We believe the change presents an opportunity for EverQuote to improve traffic quality for our customers, accelerate execution of our strategy and extend our market leadership position as our scale enables us to process regulatory change more effectively than others.

我們正在與營運商和其他方密切合作，以遵守新規則，同時繼續支援客戶的成長需求。我們相信，這項變更為 EverQuote 提供了一個機會，可以提高客戶的流量品質、加快策略的執行並擴大我們的市場領導地位，因為我們的規模使我們能夠比其他公司更有效地處理監管變化。

Lastly, we are maintaining heightened discipline in our expense management and making significant progress in simplifying and streamlining our tech platforms to enable more efficient and effective execution. As we begin to shift back to a more investment-oriented mindset, we will ensure that top line progress continues to contribute to growing operating leverage.

最後，我們在費用管理方面保持嚴格的紀律，並在簡化和精簡我們的技術平台方面取得重大進展，以實現更有效率和有效的執行。隨著我們開始轉向更以投資為導向的思維方式，我們將確保營收進度繼續有助於提高營運槓桿。

In closing, I'd like to thank the EverQuote team for another strong performance in Q2.

最後，我要感謝 EverQuote 團隊在第二季的又一次強勁表現。

I'll now turn the call over to Joseph to discuss our financial results.

我現在將電話轉給約瑟夫，討論我們的財務表現。

Thank you, Jayme, and thank you all for joining. I will start by discussing our financial results for the second quarter of 2024 before providing an update on what we are currently seeing in the auto insurance sector and our guidance for the third quarter. Our strong momentum in Q1 continued into Q2 as we exceeded guidance across all three of our primary financial metrics, total revenue, variable marketing margin or VMM and adjusted EBITDA. We produced a record level of net income, as well as a record level of adjusted EBITDA and operating cash flow.

謝謝你，Jayme，也謝謝大家的加入。我將首先討論我們 2024 年第二季的財務業績，然後提供我們目前在汽車保險業看到的最新情況以及我們對第三季的指導。我們第一季的強勁勢頭延續到第二季​​度，我們的所有三個主要財務指標、總收入、可變營銷利潤率或 VMM 以及調整後的 EBITDA 都超出了指導。我們創造了創紀錄的淨利潤水平，以及創紀錄的調整後 EBITDA 和經營現金流水平。

These impressive financial results were due to continued strong execution from our operating teams against an improving auto carrier landscape. As a result of the realignment of our cost structure last year and our continued disciplined expense management, we are driving significant operating leverage as we scale.

這些令人印象深刻的財務表現歸功於我們的營運團隊在汽車承運商環境不斷改善的情況下持續強勁的執行力。由於去年我們對成本結構進行了調整，並且我們持續嚴格的費用管理，隨著規模的擴大，我們正在推動顯著的營運槓桿。

Total revenues in the second quarter were $117.1 million, up 72% from the prior year period. Revenue growth was driven by stronger enterprise carrier spend, which increased 42% sequentially and over three times from the comparable period last year. Revenue from our auto insurance vertical was $102.6 million in Q2, up approximately 106% year-over-year and sequentially 32%. Revenue from our home and renters insurance vertical was $13.9 million in Q2, up 29% year-over-year and sequentially 9%.

第二季總營收為 1.171 億美元，比去年同期成長 72%。營收成長得益於企業營運商支出的強勁成長，該支出較上季成長 42%，是去年同期的三倍多。第二季我們的汽車保險垂直業務收入為 1.026 億美元，較去年同期成長約 106%，較上季成長 32%。第二季度，我們的房屋和租屋保險垂直市場收入為 1,390 萬美元，年增 29%，較上季成長 9%。

Our strong outperformance in the quarter relative to guidance was primarily driven by carriers continuing to gain confidence in their underwriting profitability as we progressed through the quarter. This resulted in carriers increasing their marketing spend during the period, often with minimal advance notice.

我們本季相對於指引的強勁表現主要是由於隨著本季的進展，承運人對其承保獲利能力繼續增強信心。這導致營運商在此期間增加了行銷支出，而且通常很少提前通知。

VMM was $36.5 million for the second quarter, up approximately 48% from the prior year period. As expected, VMM decreased as a percentage of revenues in the quarter to 31%. Looking ahead to the remainder of the year, given the more competitive advertising environment as well as the impact of preparing for the upcoming regulatory changes, we expect downward pressure on VMM percentage which is reflected in our guidance.

第二季 VMM 營收為 3,650 萬美元，比去年同期成長約 48%。正如預期的那樣，VMM 佔本季營收的百分比下降至 31%。展望今年剩餘時間，鑑於競爭更加激烈的廣告環境以及為即將到來的監管變化做準備的影響，我們預計 VMM 百分比將面臨下行壓力，這在我們的指導中得到了反映。

Turning to operating expenses in the bottom line. We continue to be disciplined in managing expenses and driving incremental efficiency across our operations, which is resulting in expanding operating leverage as we scale and drive top line growth.

轉向利潤中的營運費用。我們繼續嚴格管理費用並提高整個營運效率，這導致隨著我們擴大規模和推動營收成長，營運槓桿不斷擴大。

Cash operating expenses, which excludes advertising spend and certain non-cash and other one-time charges, were in line with expectations in the second quarter at $23.5 million and decreased 12% from the same period in 2023.

第二季現金營運支出（不包括廣告支出以及某些非現金和其他一次性費用）為 2,350 萬美元，與預期相符，較 2023 年同期下降 12%。

Looking to the remainder of this year, we plan to continue to judiciously invest in what we view as compelling high ROI opportunities, including advancing and streamlining our technology platforms and expanding our product offerings for our insurance provider partners.

展望今年剩餘時間，我們計劃繼續明智地投資於我們認為具有吸引力的高投資回報率機會，包括推進和簡化我們的技術平台以及擴大我們為保險提供商合作夥伴提供的產品範圍。

In the second quarter, we reported record net income of $6.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $12.9 million in Q2, up 70% sequentially and an improvement from a loss of $2.1 million in the prior year period.

第二季度，我們的淨利潤達到創紀錄的 640 萬美元。第二季調整後 EBITDA 為 1,290 萬美元，季增 70%，較去年同期的 210 萬美元虧損有所改善。

Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenues grew to 11% in the quarter, as we continued to benefit from the rapid increase in auto carrier recovery and our strong operating leverage. This, coupled with our tight expense discipline, led to VMM overperformance flowing through to adjusted EBITDA.

本季調整後 EBITDA 佔營收的百分比成長至 11%，我們繼續受益於汽車承運商復甦的快速成長和強大的營運槓桿。再加上我們嚴格的費用紀律，導致 VMM 的超額表現轉化為調整後的 EBITDA。

Looking ahead, we remain steadfast in our commitment to efficient operations while making calculated investments to position the company for long-term growth. As a result, as we progress through the remaining half of the year, we expect adjusted EBITDA margins to remain at or near Q2 levels.

展望未來，我們仍然堅定地致力於高效運營，同時進行有計劃的投資，以使公司實現長期成長。因此，隨著今年下半年的進展，我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將保持在或接近第二季的水平。

We delivered operating cash flow of $12.4 million for the second quarter, ending the period with cash and cash equivalents of $60.9 million, up from $48.6 million at the end of the first quarter of 2024. To note, going forward, adjusted EBITDA will continue to be a close proxy for operating cash flow, subject to normal working capital adjustments.

我們第二季的營運現金流為 1,240 萬美元，期末現金和現金等價物為 6,090 萬美元，高於 2024 年第一季末的 4,860 萬美元。需要注意的是，展望未來，根據正常的營運資本調整，調整後的 EBITDA 將繼續密切代表營運現金流。

Before turning to guidance, I want to provide an update on our current outlook for the auto insurance industry for the remainder of 2024. During Q1, we shared that several of our carrier partners had recently reiterated their prior comments to us of wanting to return to acquiring new consumers during the course of 2024.

在轉向指導之前，我想先介紹一下我們目前對 2024 年剩餘時間汽車保險行業的展望的最新情況。在第一季度，我們表示，我們的幾家營運商合作夥伴最近重申了他們先前向我們提出的希望在 2024 年期間重新獲取新消費者的評論。

Most recently, we are pleased to see this more growth-oriented mindset is taking hold with many carriers, which has led to a strong start to the first half of the year and good momentum continuing into Q3. We, however, remain cognizant. There is no single playbook for how each one of our carrier partners will emerge from the multi-year auto insurance downturn.

最近，我們很高興地看到這種以成長為導向的思維模式正在許多營運商中紮根，這導致了今年上半年的強勁開局，並在第三季度繼續保持良好的勢頭。然而，我們仍然有認識。對於我們的每個承運人合作夥伴如何擺脫多年的汽車保險低迷，沒有單一的劇本。

In Q2, for example, we experienced some unexpected changes from carriers, both favorable and unfavorable as we progress through the period. We expect this unpredictability to persist in the near term and are prepared to adapt our operations accordingly as carriers work to rebuild their growth muscle and adapt their marketing spend to a dynamic and competitive environment.

例如，在第二季度，我們經歷了營運商的一些意想不到的變化，隨著我們在此期間的進展，既有有利的也有不利的。我們預計這種不可預測性將在短期內持續存在，並準備相應地調整我們的運營，因為營運商正在努力重建其成長實力並調整其行銷支出以適應動態和競爭的環境。

Turning to guidance. For the third quarter of 2024, we expect revenue to be between $137 million and $143 million, we expect VMM to be between $38.5 million and $41.5 million, and we expect adjusted EBITDA to be between $14 million and $17 million.

轉向指導。對於2024 年第三季度，我們預計營收將在1.37 億美元至1.43 億美元之間，VMM 預計將在3,850 萬美元至4,150 萬美元之間，調整後EBITDA 將在1,400 萬美元至1,700 萬美元之間。

In summary, we have had a very strong start to 2024 and continue to execute and capitalize on the improving auto carrier landscape. Our record results in Q2 for revenue, VMM and adjusted EBITDA are evidence that a strategic focus on driving operational improvements, maintaining disciplined expense management and emerging from the auto insurance downturn as a stronger company is working.

總之，我們在 2024 年有了一個非常強勁的開局，並將繼續執行和利用不斷改善的汽車承運商格局。我們第二季的收入、VMM 和調整後 EBITDA 創紀錄的業績證明，推動營運改善、維持嚴格的費用管理以及擺脫汽車保險低迷並成為更強大的公司的戰略重點正在發揮作用。

Jayme and I will now take your questions.

Jayme 和我現在將回答你們的問題。

Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。我們現在開始問答環節。（操作員說明）

Cory Carpenter, JPMorgan.

科里·卡彭特，摩根大通。

Good afternoon. So last quarter, you guided to potential sequential decline in auto revenue in 3Q. Clearly, no longer expecting that. I guess my question is, what has changed since then? Has it been more breadth of carriers? Has it been opening of new states? I know you were cautious around kind of the wave two and the new state openings, or was it more of the wave one carriers kind of continuing to ramp above their historic spend? I'll stop there and then I do have a quick follow-up.

午安.因此，上個季度，您預計第三季汽車收入可能會連續下降。顯然，不再期待這一點。我想我的問題是，從那時起發生了什麼變化？運營商的範圍是否更加廣泛？是否正在開放新州？我知道您對第二波和新的州開放持謹慎態度，或者更多的是第一波運營商繼續超出其歷史支出？我就到此為止，然後我會進行快速跟進。

Sure. Thanks, Cory. So I think we guided with the information we had at the time in -- this time last quarter. What we've seen subsequently is we just continue to see encouraging data out of the carriers. Their underwriting profitability, particularly their loss ratios and the underlying combined ratios are steadily improving.

當然。謝謝，科里。因此，我認為我們上述季度此時所掌握的資訊為指導。我們隨後看到的是，我們繼續看到營運商提供的令人鼓舞的數據。他們的承保獲利能力，特別是損失率和基本綜合成本率正在穩步提高。

As that happens, the carriers have continued to reactivate campaigns, restore budgets, reopen the state footprints in the marketplace. And there is, I think, as you know, heavy concentration in one major carrier, the recovery is more broad based than that. And so, we've seen some positive development not just from that one carrier, but from a number of carriers since the time we guided last quarter.

當這種情況發生時，營運商繼續重新啟動行銷活動，恢復預算，重新開放國家在市場上的足跡。我認為，正如您所知，主要集中在一家主要航空公司，復甦的基礎比這更廣泛。因此，自從上季度指導以來，我們不僅看到了這家運營商的一些積極發展，而且還看到了許多運營商的積極發展。

And from where we sit today, I mean, I think we see the actions taken thus far as being sustainable so long as the underwriting profitability holds. We also see some upside over time because there are certain carriers that have historically been meaningful spenders in the marketplace who are not yet sort of back to spending the way they used to. There are also certain states that have been challenged and probably will remain so for a bit, but will eventually come back online. These are states like California.

從我們今天的立場來看，我的意思是，我認為只要承保獲利能力保持不變，我們認為迄今為止所採取的行動是可持續的。隨著時間的推移，我們也看到了一些好處，因為有些航空公司一直是市場上有意義的消費者，但他們還沒有恢復到以前的消費方式。還有一些州受到了挑戰，可能會持續一段時間，但最終會恢復正常。這些是像加州這樣的州。

So I think in sum, it's a little bit of everything contributing, and we expect it to continue to develop favorably from here.

所以我認為總而言之，一切都做出了一點貢獻，我們預計它會從這裡繼續有利地發展。

I think I'd add, Cory, when we give our guidance, it's based on what we know at the time. We've had certainly favorable developments, as Jayme highlighted. I also would reiterate the comments that were in our prepared remarks around just, it's an unpredictable environment.

我想我要補充一點，科里，當我們提供指導時，它是基於我們當時所知道的。正如 Jayme 所強調的那樣，我們確實取得了有利的進展。我還要重申我們在準備好的評論中的評論，即這是一個不可預測的環境。

So we're seeing carriers making adjustments within the quarter. You saw this in this quarter, we started in Q1, as carriers are progressing through the quarter, they're actually making decisions to make incremental spend based on their assessment, their underwriting profitability improving. They're often doing with little numbers.

因此，我們看到營運商在本季內做出調整。你在本季度看到了這一點，我們從第一季度開始，隨著運營商在整個季度取得進展，他們實際上是根據他們的評估做出增量支出的決定，他們的承保盈利能力有所改善。他們經常用很少的數字來做事。

And so, that was a dynamic that came in that allowed us to have over-performance in the second half of the quarter, resulted in beating expectations meaningfully. We're seeing that sort of dynamic. We factored it into our guidance as we look at Q3.

因此，這是一種動態，使我們能夠在本季度下半年取得超額業績，並顯著超出預期。我們看到了這種動態。在我們研究第三季時，我們將其納入我們的指導中。

Thank you. And just to follow-up, I wanted to go back to the FCC regulatory change, Jayme, you mentioned. Could you talk a bit more about that? And then, Joseph, any way to kind of frame how big of an impact this could have on the business next year? Thank you.

謝謝。作為後續行動，我想回到 FCC 監管變更，Jayme，你提到的。能多談談嗎？然後，約瑟夫，有什麼方法可以說明這可能對明年的業務產生多大的影響嗎？謝謝。

Sure. So let me try and provide a bit of an overview, and then Joseph, I'll kick it back to you for the impact. At a high level for those who are less familiar with it, in January, the FCC published new rules that amend consent requirements under the TCPA, which is the Telephonic Consumer Protection Act, to require one-to-one consent for outbound telemarketing calls or texts made using certain technologies, regulated technologies they're referred to.

當然。因此，讓我嘗試提供一些概述，然後約瑟夫，我會將其反饋給您以了解其影響。對於那些不太熟悉的人來說，一月份，FCC 發布了新規則，修改了TCPA（即《電話消費者保護法》）下的同意要求，要求對出站電話行銷電話或電話進行一對一同意。

So that would include, like, automated telephone dialing systems, pre-recorded voice, artificial voice. And these rules will go into effect January of 2025, January 27th of next year. So since then, we've been working with legal experts, our clients, with others in the industry, to understand the requirements, interpret them, and put a plan in place to comply with them. And of course, we are fully committed to compliance and are working with our customers to do so.

因此，這將包括自動電話撥號系統、預先錄製的語音、人工語音等。這些規則將於2025年1月、明年1月27日生效。因此從那時起，我們一直與法律專家、我們的客戶以及業內其他人合作，了解這些要求，解釋它們，並製定計劃來遵守這些要求。當然，我們完全致力於合規性，並正在與我們的客戶合作來實現這一目標。

So what does this all mean? Just to sort of contextualize it, the part of our business that it affects is the part that relies on telephonic outreach to consumers. And so, that's, call it, 25% to 30% of the business is, it will be affected by the change. Now, what will that effect be? I think from our point of view, it's a very healthy development for the industry. This requirement of one-to-one consent really gives the consumer more control over how they get their quotes.

那麼這一切意味著什麼呢？就具體情況而言，我們業務中受到影響的部分是依賴電話聯繫消費者的部分。因此，25% 到 30% 的業務將受到變化的影響。現在，效果會變成怎樣呢？我認為從我們的角度來看，這對這個行業來說是一個非常健康的發展。這種一對一同意的要求確實讓消費者能夠更好地控制他們如何獲得報價。

And so, on the one hand, what that will mean is that some consumers will opt into fewer provider options, resulting in fewer leads being available to be sold to insurer. We would expect to see lead volume for the affected part of the business come down a bit. But on the other hand, what it will do is it will alleviate a consumer pain point, specifically the number of phone calls that some consumers receive. And two, very importantly is it will improve the quality of the lead product. So, we've now done a lot of testing, and our data shows that one-to-one consent will improve the performance of the leads that go out to agents.

因此，一方面，這意味著一些消費者將選擇更少的提供者選項，導致可出售給保險公司的銷售線索更少。我們預計受影響的業務部分的鉛量會略有下降。但另一方面，它將減輕消費者的痛點，特別是一些消費者接到的電話數量。第二，非常重要的是它將提高主導產品的品質。因此，我們現在已經做了很多測試，我們的數據表明，一對一的同意將提高向代理商提供的潛在客戶的績效。

So, I mean, because of all this, I think the expectation is that agents will be willing to pay more for what will ultimately be a better product and in net-net, will end up with slightly fewer leads but at higher prices. So that's kind of the overview. From our point of view, complying it will require us to adapt. It comes with some uncertainty, but we're working very closely with carriers, agents, publishers. We've got a plan, it's in flight. We'll believe we'll be able to manage through it effectively and that will come out the other side in an advantaged position.

因此，我的意思是，由於這一切，我認為代理商將願意為最終更好的產品支付更多費用，並且在網路中，最終的銷售線索將略少，但價格更高。這就是概述。從我們的角度來看，遵守它需要我們適應。它存在一些不確定性，但我們正在與營運商、代理商、出版商密切合作。我們已經制定了計劃，正在實施中。我們相信我們能夠有效地應對這項挑戰，這將使對方處於有利地位。

Just add on to that a bit, Cory, just to emphasize a few points because there's a lot here to take in. So when you think about this business, Jayme said the portion of the business impact, this is really around our leads business, about 25%, 30% of the business. That is principally our third-party agent business. So, that's the first piece. We really do not anticipate much of an impact to our clicks business, which is really the direct carrier enterprise side. So I want to reiterate that point.

科里，補充一點，只是為了強調幾點，因為這裡有很多東西要理解。所以，當你考慮這項業務時，Jayme 說業務影響的部分，這實際上是圍繞我們的潛在客戶業務，約佔業務的 25%、30%。這主要是我們的第三方代理業務。所以，這是第一部分。我們確實預計我們的點擊業務不會受到太大影響，這實際上是直接運營商企業方面。所以我想重申這一點。

When you think about the impact of this at a high level, we talked about this in our last public appearance in Q2, which is we view this as you will have lower volumes of consumer ultimately coming through this process. We expect though there'll be higher quality, higher converting, there's going to be lower converting, higher performing.

當您從高層次考慮這一影響時，我們在第二季度的最後一次公開露面中談到了這一點，我們認為這一點是因為最終經歷此過程的消費者數量將會減少。我們預計，雖然品質會更高，轉換率會更高，但轉換率會更低，效果會更高。

And as a result of that, from a point of view of the provider, you have an opportunity to have a consumer who's a better qualified, higher performing opportunity -- lead for them. And that in turn, we think will lead to opportunities for higher monetization. So lower volume, higher monetization. When you think about that dynamic, how would you think about quantifying that?

因此，從提供者的角度來看，您有機會擁有一個更合格、績效更高的消費者——為他們提供領導。我們認為這反過來將帶來更高貨幣化的機會。因此，銷售量較低，貨幣化程度較高。當您考慮這種動態時，您會如何考慮對其進行量化？

And I'd say one of the things I'd emphasize here is that there's not one single thing. When you look about the changes that are going to be done within our marketplace to execute this, there's a number of number of individual things that are being done in our traffic operations and how this will flow through on our workflows to bring consumers to providers.

我想說的是，我在這裡要強調的一件事是，不存在單一的事情。當您查看我們的市場中將要進行的更改以執行此操作時，您會發現我們的流量操作中正在執行許多單獨的操作，以及這些操作將如何在我們的工作流程中流動以將消費者帶到提供者處。

When you look at all those impacts right now, based on the discussion we've been having with the carriers, what we're seeing is that carriers each are figuring out exactly how they're going to comply with us. So we're working that through and we'll continue to form our views on this. But based on how we're seeing it now, we view this as the likely outcome is that financial performance in our business is likely to be more temperate probably in Q1 than a normal start of the year you would have with carrier budget resets, sort of the net-net of all of this.

當你現在看到所有這些影響時，根據我們與運營商的討論，我們看到的是，每個運營商都在弄清楚他們將如何遵守我們的要求。因此，我們正在解決這個問題，並將繼續對此形成我們的看法。但根據我們現在的看法，我們認為可能的結果是，我們業務的財務表現在第一季可能會比營運商預算重置後的正常年初更加溫和，排序所有這一切的網路。

And as we prepare for one-to-one consent, I should highlight that we're also making some investments in the current period to prepare for this. And that's coming through both on the operating expense side, it's also coming in on our VMD and revenue side as you make through some of these tests, that does impact the performance on -- as you go through these tests, that does impact the traffic side and the VMM margin, which we noted in our prepared remarks. And our plan is to continue making these efforts into Q4 as we prepare for one-to-one consent at the start of the year.

當我們準備一對一同意時，我應該強調，我們也在當前階段進行了一些投資，為此做好準備。這不僅體現在營運費用方面，也體現在我們的 VMD 和收入方面，當您進行其中一些測試時，這確實會影響性能——當您進行這些測試時，這確實會影響流量我們在準備好的評論中指出了這一點。我們的計劃是在第四季度繼續做出這些努力，為年初的一對一同意做準備。

Thank you both.

謝謝你們倆。

Jed Kelly, Oppenheimer. Please go ahead.

傑德凱利，奧本海默。請繼續。

Hey, great. Thanks for taking my question. Just one quick question. Jayme, you mentioned local agent is a source of differentiation. I know a lot of the other marketplaces are seeing pretty good revenue growth, so can you just touch on that?

嘿，太棒了。感謝您提出我的問題。只是一個簡單的問題。Jayme，您提到本地代理是差異化的一個來源。我知道許多其他市場的收入成長都相當不錯，所以您能談談這一點嗎？

And then Joseph, you generated a very healthy free cash flow this quarter. Can you talk about how you're thinking about returning capital or capital deployment, as you guys sort of inflect to a much larger free cash flow base? Thank you.

然後約瑟夫，您本季度產生了非常健康的自由現金流。當你們轉向更大的自由現金流基礎時，你們能談談你們如何考慮返還資本或資本配置嗎？謝謝。

Thanks, Jed. Yes. So, I mean, with respect to the agent business, we've always viewed the agents as a differentiated part of our distribution. We continue to invest in delivering better performing products, more products into that agent base. We had great performance this past quarter. That business is growing year-over-year. It's growing sequentially. And so, our focus right now with agents is really helping enhance the product we have and beginning to expand that offering to more holistically address their growth needs, particularly in a world where fleet volumes going to come down a bit. We have ways to offset that and continue to serve their needs.

謝謝，傑德。是的。所以，我的意思是，就代理業務而言，我們一直將代理商視為我們分銷的差異化部分。我們繼續投資，為代理商提供性能更好的產品和更多產品。上個季度我們表現出色。該業務逐年成長。是依序增長的。因此，我們現在與代理商的重點實際上是幫助增強我們擁有的產品，並開始擴展該產品，以更全面地滿足他們的成長需求，特別是在機隊數量將略有下降的世界中。我們有辦法抵消這一影響並繼續滿足他們的需求。

So I think our focus here will be quite instrumental in our ability to kind of continue to build on the advantage that we have with agents. And I think we've got a pretty compelling roadmap that we'll be kind of executing and rolling out over the next couple of years, which will really continue to build on the strength of these agent relationships and enable us to continue to grow the agent business and leverage it as an advantage in our traffic buying within the marketplace.

因此，我認為我們的重點將有助於我們繼續鞏固我們與代理商的優勢。我認為我們已經有了一個非常引人注目的路線圖，我們將在未來幾年內執行和推出，這將真正繼續建立在這些代理關係的基礎上，並使我們能夠繼續發展代理業務，並將其作為我們在市場內購買流量的優勢。

Maybe I'll touch on the use of cash. So, we're pleased, obviously, how we -- the turnaround the business resulting in positive cash flow from the business. Again, we had record this quarter, and we expect to continue to be cash generative going forward from operations. As we look at potential -- as we look at growing the business over time, we've talked about coming out of this, having a stronger leadership position based on the moves we've made.

也許我會談談現金的使用。因此，顯然，我們很高興我們的業務扭虧為盈，從而帶來了正現金流。同樣，我們本季創下了記錄，我們預計未來的營運將繼續產生現金。當我們著眼於潛力時，當我們著眼於隨著時間的推移而不斷發展業務時，我們談到了走出困境，根據我們所採取的行動，擁有更強大的領導地位。

And we think that sets us up to consider potential M&A selectively in areas that we could accelerate our current organic plans. We've talked about that in our prior calls. We continue to see that opportunity. We think there's also a dynamic in the private markets, given the dislocation in some -- the private capital markets. It can be some quality private insurer techs who we we may be able to get a more favorable terms than we might have a few years ago.

我們認為，這使我們能夠在可以加速當前有機計劃的領域中選擇性地考慮潛在的併購。我們在之前的電話中已經討論過這一點。我們繼續看到這個機會。我們認為，考慮到一些私人資本市場的混亂，私人市場也存在著活力。對於一些優質的私人保險公司技術人員來說，我們可能能夠獲得比幾年前更優惠的條款。

We look at M&A though still through the prism through which we've been guiding the business, which is being very disciplined. If we look at acquisitions, they will be in the context of our P&C focus. They also be in the context of maintaining our disciplined approach to generating top line growth and return on investment as measured by free cash flow.

我們仍然透過我們一直以來指導業務的棱鏡來看待併購，這是非常有紀律的。如果我們考慮收​​購，它們將屬於我們的財產與責任重點範圍內。它們也是在維持我們嚴格的方法的背景下實現收入成長和以自由現金流衡量的投資回報。

And I think the last thing I would touch on is we feel very good about our long-term strategy. We just came through a process this summer focusing on that. And we don't -- we do not see M&A as a requirement to achieve our long-term goals. We do see it as an additional lever we can consider, and we think we're increasingly in a better position to do it as the opportunities may arise.

我想我要談的最後一件事是我們對我們的長期策略感覺非常好。今年夏天我們剛經歷了一個專注於此的過程。我們不認為併購是實現我們長期目標的必要條件。我們確實將其視為我們可以考慮的額外槓桿，我們認為，隨著機會的出現，我們越來越有能力做到這一點。

Thank you, very helpful.

謝謝你，非常有幫助。

Thanks, Jed.

謝謝，傑德。

Ralph Schackart, William Blair.

拉爾夫·沙卡特，威廉·布萊爾。

Hi. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking the question. Just in terms of the VMM margin, I guess being at sort of the lower range contemplated, is that more of a temporary, I guess, issue as you sort of work through some of the regulatory changes, maybe some pricing on search, or is that something that would be contemplated perhaps on a longer-term basis?

你好。午安.感謝您提出問題。就 VMM 利潤率而言，我想，在考慮的較低範圍內，這更像是一個臨時問題，因為您正在經歷一些監管變化，可能是搜尋定價，或者是也許是長期考慮的事情？

And then maybe just kind of a follow-up on the previous question. You talked about seeing strong performance from local agents also in the quarter, along with the recovery that's continuing. So just curious what you're seeing perhaps more specifically from local agents in the quarter. It's also contributing to strong performance. Thank you.

然後也許只是上一個問題的後續。您談到了當地代理商在本季度的強勁表現以及持續的復甦。所以只是好奇您在本季從當地代理商看到的可能更具體的內容。它還有助於實現強勁的性能。謝謝。

Sure. Thanks, Ralph. So in terms of the VMM margin, I touch on a couple things for you. Just to give -- remind folks of context, we started the year signaling that VMM margin would come down from last year as we had auto carrier recovery and it became a more competitive environment. Q1, we said we were going to come in a little under 30 points exactly where we landed. This quarter, we said would come in around 31%, which is where we've landed. We thought we'd come in -- that we'd be in that 30% to 31% for the year initially.

當然。謝謝，拉爾夫。因此，就 VMM 利潤而言，我為您介紹了一些內容。只是為了提醒人們注意背景，我們在今年開始時發出訊號，隨著汽車承運商的復甦，環境變得更具競爭力，VMM 利潤率將比去年下降。Q1，我們說過我們的得分將略低於 30 分。本季度，我們表示將達到 31% 左右，這就是我們的目標。我們原以為我們會進入——今年最初我們會進入 30% 到 31% 的市場。

And why we're moderating that is two-fold. One is we do view the advertisement as increasingly more competitive. We do think some of that is in part the environment of quickly returning growth and the monetization hasn't quite calibrated accordingly. So there is one dynamic there, and I think that is a big piece. But the second piece we would touch on is some of the work we're doing around preparations for FCC.

我們為什麼要調節這一點有兩個原因。一是我們確實認為廣告的競爭越來越激烈。我們確實認為，部分原因是成長迅速恢復的環境，而貨幣化尚未完全相應調整。所以那裡有一個動態，我認為這是一個很大的部分。但我們要談的第二件事是我們圍繞 FCC 的準備所做的一些工作。

We do believe that longer term, there is an opportunity to continue to build upon our VMM margin percentage that we've -- the low-30s and continue in building from there, in part reflecting the progress we're making on our bidding technology and things of those nature. We'll continue to be able to build our data advantage, which will be important in the long-term.

我們確實相信，從長遠來看，我們有機會繼續提高我們的 VMM 利潤率（30 左右），並在此基礎上繼續發展，這在一定程度上反映了我們在投標技術方面取得的進展以及那些性質的事物。我們將繼續建立我們的數據優勢，這從長遠來看非常重要。

In the near-term, we're cognizant of these two dynamics, the competitive advertising environment becoming even more so in the next -- near term. And second, overlaid with the impact of the FCC preparations we're doing for Q1.

在短期內，我們意識到這兩種動態，競爭性的廣告環境在接下來的短期內將變得更加激烈。其次，疊加了我們為第一季所做的 FCC 準備工作的影響。

Yes. And then on the second question, Ralph, there's a handful of factors that are contributing to the strong performance of the agent business. I think the first is you're seeing the kind of beginnings of what amounts to a recovery from some of the agent-based carriers.

是的。關於第二個問題，拉爾夫，有一些因素促成了代理業務的強勁表現。我認為首先是你看到了一些基於代理的運營商開始復甦。

So with that, we've seen changes made by the carriers with respect to their financial support for agents like subsidy programs and things like that, and kind of the incentive structure, the bonus plans they've got in place with the agents. So the carriers are at least in a targeted way beginning to sort of restore more emphasis on growth with their agents, and the agents are responding accordingly.

因此，我們看到了營運商在對代理商的財務支持方面做出的改變，例如補貼計劃等，以及他們與代理商制定的激勵結構、獎金計劃。因此，營運商至少以有針對性的方式開始恢復對代理商成長的更多重視，代理商也做出了相應的反應。

Number two, like I said, we continue to work to enhance our product that's going out to the agents. So we've been making investments and continuing to be best-in-class from a quality standpoint. And I think that's being well received by the agent base. And into that, we've been able to execute very well, so that the teams have been selling into the agent population and servicing them well and driving growth as a result.

第二，就像我說的，我們繼續努力增強我們向代理商提供的產品。因此，我們一直在進行投資，並從品質的角度繼續保持一流水平。我認為這受到了代理商群體的好評。在這方面，我們能夠很好地執行，因此團隊一直在向代理商群體銷售產品並為他們提供良好的服務，從而推動成長。

Great. Thanks, Jayme. Thanks, Joseph.

偉大的。謝謝，杰梅。謝謝，約瑟夫。

Michael Graham, Canaccord Genuity.

邁克爾·格雷厄姆，Canaccord Genuity。

Hi. Thanks a lot, and congrats on the momentum. I just wanted to ask about the visibility that you have into the second half as a whole. You mentioned that some carriers were back in action and you were still waiting on others. So I just would love to hear some context around how you feel about the visibility regarding your Q3 guidance and just how you feel the year might finish.

你好。非常感謝，並祝賀你們的勢頭。我只是想問你對整個下半場的看法。您提到一些運營商已經恢復運營，而您仍在等待其他運營商。因此，我只是想聽聽一些背景信息，了解您對第三季度指導的可見性有何看法，以及您對今年可能結束的看法。

And then I just wanted to ask, sort of related to Jed's earlier question, I just wanted to ask about how you're thinking about EBITDA margins as revenue starts to accelerate. You had like really good incremental profitability with an 11% margin in the quarter, and you're guiding lower than that for the third quarter. So I just want to kind of understand how you're thinking about what the business might produce on the EBITDA side.

然後我只是想問，有點與傑德之前的問題相關，我只是想問隨著收入開始加速，您如何看待 EBITDA 利潤率。你們的增量獲利能力非常好，本季利潤率為 11%，但你們的指導低於第三季的水準。所以我只是想了解您如何看待企業在 EBITDA 方面可能產生的收入。

Thanks. Thanks, Mike. So I'll start with the visibility into the back part of the year. I think we are -- as I mentioned earlier, underwriting profitability looks healthy and improving in auto. And thus far, I think the gains that we've made appear to be sustainable. We do see additional upside out in the future. And that upside, just to reiterate, comes specifically from a handful of carriers that have been sort of slow to recover, but who we do expect to join the recovery soon, and from states that are kind of lagging from a rate approval standpoint.

謝謝。謝謝，麥克。因此，我將從今年下半年的能見度開始。我認為，正如我之前提到的，汽車行業的承保盈利能力看起來很健康並且正在改善。到目前為止，我認為我們所取得的成果似乎是可持續的。我們確實看到未來還有更多的好處。重申一下，這一優勢具體來自於少數恢復緩慢但我們確實預計很快就會加入復甦的航空公司，以及從費率批准角度來看有些滯後的州。

We don't -- it's hard to say exactly when those things will come to pass. I think we're confident that as we turn the corner into 2025, we will certainly begin to see some of that happen. But between now and the end of the year, I think what we can say is we're comfortable with this sort of like level of recovery we've seen thus far, and that's factored into guidance. But we don't contemplate significant additional upside beyond that.

我們不——很難確切地說這些事情何時會發生。我認為我們有信心，當我們進入 2025 年時，我們肯定會開始看到其中的一些事情發生。但從現在到今年年底，我認為我們可以說的是，我們對迄今為止看到的這種類似的復甦水平感到滿意，這已納入指導。但除此之外，我們不會考慮其他重大的好處。

Now, all that being said, right, we continue to operate with discipline like we've seen -- we've seen some unpredictability of these recoveries in the past. There's the unknown of cat losses. We are in hurricane season after all, right? So there are things that cause us to continue to operate with discipline. But in terms of the recovery, we're pretty solid on where we are right now and do expect some upside out in the future.

現在，話雖這麼說，我們繼續像我們所看到的那樣按照紀律運作——我們過去已經看到這些復甦的一些不可預測性。貓的損失是未知的。畢竟我們正處於颶風季節，對吧？因此，有些事情促使我們繼續遵守紀律。但就復甦而言，我們對目前的狀況相當堅定，並預計未來會出現一些好轉。

Maybe I'll add on to it as well. To give you a little sense of the back half of the year, more specifically in the numbers. So I guess first we see this dynamic where positive dynamics across auto carrier recovery. We see that continuing into 2025 as Jayme said, some larger states coming online and also carriers would have not had meaningfully return seeing that opportunity with those as well.

也許我也會添加它。讓您對下半年有一些了解，更具體地說是數字。所以我想首先我們會看到汽車運輸公司復甦過程中的積極動態。我們認為，正如 Jayme 所說，持續到 2025 年，一些較大的州和營運商將不會再看到這樣的機會。

I think the real question is on the exact timing and how this plays out. We talked about in our prepared remarks is a dynamic where we continue to have near-term uncertainty, and I think it reflects what we're dealing with the carriers, which is they're going back after a multi-year period of downturn. There's --they're going back and trying to figure out how they rebuild that growth muscle and how do they go about adapting to an environment where as they enter states, they may feel there's an opportunity and all of a sudden, other carriers come on very quickly and it changes the dynamic and they have to look at other states.

我認為真正的問題在於確切的時間以及結果如何。我們在準備好的演講中談到了一種動態，我們短期內仍然存在不確定性，我認為這反映了我們正在與運營商打交道的情況，即他們在經歷多年的低迷期後將回歸。他們正在回過頭來，試圖弄清楚如何重建增長肌肉，以及如何適應這樣的環境：當他們進入各州時，他們可能會覺得有機會，突然間，其他航空公司就來了速度非常快，這改變了動態，他們必須考慮其他州。

So that's all part of the mix for us. And we think that near-term predictability will persist as we -- through the remainder of this year. And so, that certainly factors into our thinking. And again, we saw this in Q1. We started again in Q2, and they went both ways. There was a lot of favorable things that happened, particularly in the latter part of both Q1 and Q2, that allowed us to exceed our guidance. At the same time, there were some unfavorable things which we had to adapt to and work through. We noted those as well.

這就是我們的全部內容。我們認為，近期的可預測性將持續到今年剩餘時間。因此，這肯定會影響我們的想法。我們在第一季再次看到了這一點。我們在第二季度再次開始，他們是雙向的。發生了很多有利的事情，特別是在第一季和第二季的後半段，這使我們能夠超越我們的指導。同時，也存在著一些不利的事情，我們必須去適應、去克服。我們也注意到了這些。

As I look to Q4, I think the question a lot of folks are asking is what is our Q4 going to look like relative to Q3? So here is what we know, and again, we base our guidance on what we know at the time. We're not going to speculate, but we'll give you what we know. Some of the factors you might consider. So first, when you look at -- Jayme talked about the momentum going into the second half of the year, into next year, you feel good about that momentum. I think the real question is how does it play out specifically within the time periods?

當我展望第四季時，我認為很多人都在問的問題是，相對於第三季度，我們的第四季會是什麼樣子？這是我們所知道的，我們的指導是基於我們當時所知道的。我們不會猜測，但我們會向您提供我們所知道的資訊。您可能會考慮的一些因素。所以首先，當你看到 Jayme 談到下半年、明年的勢頭時，你會對這種勢頭感覺良好。我認為真正的問題是它在特定時期內具體表現如何？

So first I would highlight that the normal -- when you think about what do we look at to guide to the Q4, we'd say what specific events do we know of significant states or things that will happen that will have materially moved marketplace positively and negatively. We don't have specific insight into anything we've not talked about, so what we know is reflecting in our guidance. Beyond that, we'd be speculating if more states would happen sooner or carriers may change their view. So we don't have a view there.

因此，首先我要強調的是，當你考慮我們要考慮什麼來指導第四季度時，我們會說我們知道哪些具體事件或將要發生的重要狀態或事件會對市場產生重大正面影響和負面的。我們對我們沒有討論過的任何事情都沒有具體的見解，所以我們所知道的反映在我們的指導中。除此之外，我們猜測更多的州是否會更早發生或營運商可能會改變他們的觀點。所以我們看不到那裡的景色。

If you look at seasonal patterns, we've talked about the challenges of using seasonality, given this auto recovery cycle. But that being said, it is something we do look at here internally as we try to analyze carriers in our business more broadly on the agent side as well. Generally, seasonality, Q3 to Q4 is down high single digits close to 10%. Since 2020, the average is right around there. And so, we do look at that. The other thing we would acknowledge is that when we think about the dynamics of this, we also would say the second half of the year has some impact on FCC preparations, which I've mentioned in my prepared remarks, and that will certainly -- those investments will continue into Q4.

如果您查看季節性模式，我們已經討論了在考慮到此自動恢復週期的情況下使用季節性的挑戰。但話雖這麼說，這是我們內部確實關注的問題，因為我們試圖在代理商方面更廣泛地分析我們業務中的營運商。一般來說，季節性因素，第三季到第四季下降了接近 10% 的高個位數。自 2020 年以來，平均值就在附近。所以，我們確實關注這一點。我們要承認的另一件事是，當我們考慮這一動態時，我們也會說今年下半年對FCC 的準備工作有一些影響，我在準備好的發言中已經提到過這一點，這肯定會——這些投資將持續到第四季。

And the last is this dynamic around cat losses. And I want to sort of put some balance on this, which is carriers run -- have run their business for years thinking about how to factor in cat losses into their business and that continue -- carriers are doing that and will continue to do that well. I think the dynamic I would focus on is really if you look at the season we had in 2023, the storm season, which tends to run like mid-August to mid-November, was a very, relatively mild, very favorable carrier viewpoint, that gave confidence to a lot of carriers in late 2023 as they started thinking about their plan '24, it gave them some confidence.

最後一個是關於貓的損失的動態。我想在這方面取得一些平衡，這是由運營商運營的——多年來運營他們的業務一直在思考如何將巨大的損失納入他們的業務，並且繼續——運營商正在這樣做並將繼續這樣做出色地。我認為我要關注的動態實際上是，如果你看看 2023 年的季節，風暴季節通常會在 8 月中旬到 11 月中旬，這是一個非常、相對溫和、非常有利的承運人觀點，這給了許多航空公司在2023 年底開始考慮他們的'24 計劃時的信心，這給了他們一些信心。

Fast that forward to now, some carriers are still sort of getting their comfort with the levels of underwriting profitability. We're cognizant that if the cat losses become more meaningful than a norm, it could make their confidence shaken a bit as they're thinking about their spend. So those are the dynamics we would think about sort of the puts and takes looking from Q3 to Q4, acknowledging it's an environment where there's a lot of reasons for options, but also continue to near-term uncertainty.

快進到現在，一些承保人仍然對承保獲利水準感到滿意。我們認識到，如果貓的損失變得比正常情況更有意義，那麼他們在考慮自己的支出時可能會稍微動搖信心。因此，這些是我們從第三季到第四季考慮的看跌期權和看跌期權的動態，承認這是一個有很多選擇理由的環境，但近期也繼續存在不確定性。

And then second, in terms of EBITDA margins, maybe I'll give some context in this point. We started the year saying we were going to get back to pre-downturn margins. We thought we'd do that in the first half of the year. We did that in Q1. We actually went beyond. We said we'd stay in that 6% to 8% for the rest of the year. As we progress into Q2, we made some public comments saying we were at that 8% level.

其次，就 EBITDA 利潤率而言，也許我會在這一點上提供一些背景資訊。我們在年初就表示，我們將恢復到經濟衰退前的利潤率。我們認為我們會在今年上半年做到這一點。我們在第一季就這樣做了。我們實際上已經超越了。我們說過今年剩餘時間我們將保持在 6% 到 8% 的水平。隨著進入第二季度，我們發表了一些公開評論，稱我們處於 8% 的水平。

What we saw is in the second half of Q2, we had favorable performance that because of our tight operating leverage, flowed through the bottom line and we ended up at 11%. You look at our guide for Q3, the midpoint of our guide is the same as Q2. It's 11%. So, we're expecting sort of flat margins going into Q2, some interesting modest incremental investment, but also some tightening on the VMM margin, which is reflected.

我們看到的是，在第二季下半年，我們的業績良好，因為我們的經營槓桿很緊，所以我們最終達到了 11%。你看看我們第三季的指南，我們指南的中點與第二季相同。是11%。因此，我們預計第二季利潤率將持平，一些有趣的適度增量投資，但 VMM 利潤率也會有所收緊，這已被反映。

And as we look to Q4, we're still expecting sort of out or near that 11%, give or take. The way I look at Q4 is if it's sequentially down from Q3, it will manage expenses carefully to sort of still land within that add or near that level. If we should have a strong, such as AR, everything I just discussed is -- doesn't work out to sequentially down. It becomes favorable, as Q3 was. That would be a dynamic where you might have a chance for over-performance, particularly if it happens late on the quarter, just like we've had in Q1 and Q2.

當我們展望第四季時，我們仍然預期會超出或接近 11%，無論多少。我看待第四季度的方式是，如果它比第三季度連續下降，它將仔細管理支出，以使其仍然落在該增加範圍內或接近該水平。如果我們應該有一個強大的，例如AR，我剛才討論的一切都是——不能按順序向下。就像第三季一樣，它變得有利。這將是一種動態，您可能有機會表現出色，特別是如果它發生在本季末，就像我們在第一季和第二季一樣。

As we look to next year, 2025, what I would just remind you is what we've said previously, which is we want to continue to have improvements in EBITDA margins. Our long-term goal is 20%-plus. Our thought in Q2, when we last commented on this is that you'd be in that 8%-ish, give or take, for the rest of the year. We get to double digits, low double digits in 2025.

當我們展望明年 2025 年時，我想提醒您的是我們之前所說的，即我們希望繼續提高 EBITDA 利潤率。我們的長期目標是 20% 以上。當我們最後一次對此發表評論時，我們在第二季度的想法是，在今年剩下的時間裡，無論多少，你都會處於 8% 左右的水平。到 2025 年，我們將達到兩位數，低兩位數。

We're obviously there early now, and we're pleased by that. I think it reflects the strong performance, but also the operating leverage we've embedded in the model that we're now benefiting as it flows to the bottom line. And with -- and so that, I guess, is the color I can give you for the rest of this year. Again, long-term goal still being 20%-plus.

顯然我們現在很早就到了，我們對此感到很高興。我認為這反映了強勁的業績，也反映了我們嵌入模型中的營運槓桿，隨著它流向利潤，我們現在正在受益。我想，這就是我今年剩下的時間可以給你的顏色。再次強調，長期目標仍是 20% 以上。

That's really helpful. Thanks a lot, Joseph and Jayme. Thank you.

這真的很有幫助。非常感謝，約瑟夫和傑姆。謝謝。

Thank you, Mike.

謝謝你，麥克。

Zach Cummins, B. Riley Securities.

康明斯 (Zach Cummins)，B. 萊利證券 (Riley Securities)。

Hi. Good afternoon. Congrats on the quarter, and thanks for taking my questions. So first question for me is just in terms of carriers that haven't ramped up spend yet, I mean, do you get any sort of feedback as to why they haven't at least started to dip their toe in, in terms of renewing some of these budgets and kind of their expectation of a timeline to when they'll start to be more meaningfully involved in trying to acquire new customers?

你好。午安.恭喜本季度，感謝您回答我的問題。因此，對我來說，第一個問題是關於尚未增加支出的運營商，我的意思是，您是否得到任何反饋，說明為什麼他們還沒有至少開始在續訂方面投入精力其中一些預算以及他們對何時開始更有意義地參與獲取新客戶的時間表的期望？

And then my follow-up question is away from the automotive side, just curious, what's driving the pretty strong performance we're seeing in the home and renters insurance business and expectations we should be modeling in for that moving forward?

然後我的後續問題不是汽車方面的，只是好奇，是什麼推動了我們在家庭和租屋保險業務中看到的相當強勁的表現，以及我們應該為未來的發展建立模型的期望？

Sure. Thanks, Zach. So with respect to the carriers that have yet to reactivate or yet to sort of ramp, it's typically one or two reasons. Reason number one is just underwriting health. They haven't quite gotten to a place where they're comfortable sort of throttling spend up yet.

當然。謝謝，扎克。因此，對於尚未重新啟動或尚未啟動的運營商，通常有一個或兩個原因。第一個原因就是保障健康。他們還沒有達到可以放心節流支出的地步。

And number two is actually like staffing and resourcing. So there's at least one major carrier that really kind of took down their staffing levels in their marketing department and are sort of left in a position where they need to actually hire back in before they're able to manage the amount of spend that moves through our channel.

第二個其實是人員配置和資源配置。因此，至少有一家主要營運商確實減少了行銷部門的人員配置，並且在某種程度上需要重新招募人員，然後才能管理通過的支出金額我們的頻道。

So I would say the former is the more common reason that we've heard. But interestingly enough, it's not the only reason. And the expectation, just given the trend line of underwriting and obviously the staffing piece can be solved for, is that these issues get resolved probably between now and the end of the year. But again, we don't know exactly when. And so therefore, it's hard for us to factor that into any guidance we provided.

所以我想說，前者是我們聽到的更常見的原因。但有趣的是，這並不是唯一的原因。考慮到承保的趨勢線以及顯然可以解決的人員配置問題，預計這些問題可能會在現在到今年年底之間解決。但同樣，我們不知道確切的時間。因此，我們很難將這一點納入我們提供的任何指導中。

Maybe the one piece I'd add before on home is if you think about the carriers as they went into the downturn, some carriers went into the downturn much faster than others. They pulled back quickly on spend try to readjust pricing. What you've seen with some of our carriers that they were, they delayed going into pulling back spend. And as a result, it's taking them longer to work through repricing their book. And that's reflective in our agency side.

也許我之前在國內要補充的一點是，如果你考慮一下運營商在陷入低迷時的情況，一些運營商陷入低迷的速度比其他運營商快得多。他們迅速削減支出，試圖重新調整定價。正如您所看到的，我們的一些運營商推遲了削減支出的計劃。結果，他們需要更長的時間來重新定價他們的書。這反映在我們的代理機構方面。

And then on the home vertical, I mean, we had another record quarter for revenue for VMM in home, and that's with a backdrop of a homeowners market that's still struggling pretty mightily. So if you just look at like the cat losses in Q2, they were elevated quite a bit. And so home, the lack of health -- underwriting health in home was on full display in the carrier's Q2 results. And yet we've been able to just continue to grow it through solid execution.

然後在家庭垂直領域，我的意思是，我們家庭 VMM 的收入又創下了一個季度的紀錄，而這是在房主市場仍在艱難掙扎的背景下。因此，如果你只看第二季的巨額損失，你會發現損失大幅增加。因此，家庭健康的缺乏——承保家庭健康狀況在該航空公司第二季度的業績中得到了充分的體現。然而，我們已經能夠透過紮實的執行繼續發展它。

So, I think the expectation going forward on home is we feel like we're sort of well positioned. We've got a good handle on that marketplace at this point. And as the market recovers, we should be in a good position to ride that recovery. But we need to see the carriers kind of sort out their home underwriting before we would expect meaningful upside from here, and we expect they will. It was just kind of the second priority relative to auto. And so, we're starting to see the carriers get around to kind of putting more focus on home, but that will likely take some time to work itself through.

所以，我認為對主場的期望是我們感覺自己處於有利位置。目前我們已經很好地掌控了這個市場。隨著市場的復甦，我們應該處於有利的位置來駕馭這種復甦。但我們需要看到業者先解決他們的房屋承保問題，然後我們才能預期這裡會出現有意義的上漲，我們預期他們會這樣做。相對於汽車來說，這只是第二優先事項。因此，我們開始看到營運商開始更專注於家庭，但這可能需要一些時間才能解決。

Got it. Well, thanks for taking my questions and best of luck with the rest of the quarter.

知道了。好吧，感謝您提出我的問題，並祝本季剩下的時間一切順利。

Greg Peters, Raymond James.

格雷格彼得斯，雷蒙德詹姆斯。

Hey, good afternoon. This is [Sidd] on for Greg. Just based on your results year-to-date and your guidance. Curious if you can comment if it's correct to believe you're gaining wallet share of the carriers who have increased their growth appetite, or are you seeing an increase in willingness to spend on your platform when compared to the pre-downturn?

嘿，下午好。這是格雷格的[Sidd]。僅基於您今年迄今為止的結果和您的指導。好奇您是否可以發表評論，您認為自己正在獲得增長慾望增強的運營商的錢包份額是否正確，或者與經濟衰退前相比，您是否發現在您的平台上的支出意願有所增加？

Yes. I mean, we're certainly seeing a willingness to increase spend. I think, look, we are a leading digital P&C insurance marketplace. Right now, we're in a period where there's a lot of change. It's happening quickly where I think many of us are riding that wave of growth and we believe we're executing really well in it. We made a decision last year to go deep in P&C to really focus there, to go deeper with carriers, deeper with agents. We're focused on quality, sustainability of that growth. And so, we feel really good about our market position long-term. I think one month to the next, one quarter to the next, it's a little hard to measure. Some of the data we do get back from carriers, though, from some of our biggest carrier partners would suggest that we have gained share in the recent past.

是的。我的意思是，我們確實看到了增加支出的意願。我認為，看，我們是領先的數位財產和意外險保險市場。現在，我們正處於一個發生巨大變化的時期。它發生得很快，我認為我們中的許多人都在乘著成長浪潮，我們相信我們在這方面執行得非常好。去年我們決定深入財產險領域，真正專注於此，與承運商、代理商進行更深入的合作。我們專注於成長的品質和可持續性。因此，我們對我們的長期市場地位感到非常滿意。我認為下個月、下一個季度，有點難衡量。不過，我們確實從營運商那裡獲得的一些數據，以及我們一些最大的營運商合作夥伴的數據表明，我們最近已經獲得了份額。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

Thanks, Sidd.

謝謝，西德。

Jason Kreyer, Craig Hallum.

傑森·克雷爾，克雷格·哈勒姆。

Great. Thank you. You mentioned a few times on just the variability on the recovery in some states. Curious if you can give an updated perspective on some of those larger states, where rate adequacy has been challenged. And have you have any perspective on when that starts to straighten out?

偉大的。謝謝。您多次提到了某些州復甦的可變性。我很好奇您能否對一些較大的州提供最新的看法，這些州的利率充足性受到了挑戰。您對這種情況何時開始好轉有什麼看法嗎？

Yes, the biggest state, I mean, the states that tend to be challenged, just California, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, to an extent. The biggest one of those is California. And all the intel we get from carriers would suggest that they're expecting getting back to adequate rates in 2025. So, we have yet to hear from any of the major carriers that they expect a significant kind of breakthrough in rate approvals between now and the end of the year.

是的，最大的州，我的意思是，那些容易受到挑戰的州，在某種程度上只是加州、紐約州、新澤西州、密西根州。其中最大的一個是加州。我們從營運商那裡獲得的所有情報都表明，他們預計在 2025 年恢復到適當的費率。因此，我們尚未收到任何主要營運商的消息，他們預計從現在到今年年底，費率批准將取得重大突破。

New York would be the other one that's maybe noteworthy. We're starting to see some movement in New York, at least in parts of the state, so that one could happen sooner or it's beginning to happen maybe a little bit sooner. I think California will probably be the last shoe to drop and that one is likely to be in 2025.

紐約可能是另一個值得注意的地方。我們開始看到紐約發生了一些變化，至少在該州的部分地區，因此這種變化可能會更早發生，或者可能會早一點開始發生。我認為加州可能是最後一個落地的地方，而且很可能是在 2025 年。

Thank you. And then you kind of gave an indication that as you move from Q1 to Q2, the recovery became a little bit more broad-based across carriers. Just curious, any more details on that? Like looking across your carrier partners, what is the mix of those that are in the midst of a pretty robust recovery versus those that are still kind of waiting in early stages of recovery?

謝謝。然後你暗示，當你從第一季轉向第二季時，各業者的復甦變得更加廣泛。只是好奇，有更多細節嗎？就像查看您的運營商合作夥伴一樣，那些處於相當強勁復甦階段的運營商與那些仍在復甦早期階段等待的運營商合作夥伴是怎樣的？

Yes, it's an interesting question. I mean, if you kind of benchmark against historical levels of spend, I would say the majority of carriers are still in the early to mid-stages of a recovery. There is obviously one major carrier that we would characterize as being in later stages of recovery, but most I would characterize as being earlier to mid stages.

是的，這是一個有趣的問題。我的意思是，如果你以歷史支出水準為基準，我會說大多數營運商仍處於復甦的早期到中期階段。顯然，我們將有一個主要運營商描述為處於恢復的後期階段，但我認為大多數運營商都處於早期到中期階段。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

Mayank Tandon, Needham & Co.

瑪雅克‧坦登 (Mayank Tandon)、李約瑟公司

Thank you. Good evening, Jayme and Joseph. Jayme, can you share any insights into the buying rates or conversion rates or the ROI on the marketing spend by carriers, which -- how has that changed over time? Has that gone up enticing them to come back to you for even more spend? I'm just trying to get a sense of sort of the share shift in the market versus your competition?

謝謝。晚上好，傑姆和約瑟夫。Jayme，您能否分享一下對運營商行銷支出的購買率或轉換率或投資回報率的任何見解？這是否吸引了他們再次向您支付更多費用？我只是想了解市場相對於你們的競爭對手的份額變化？

Yes, I mean, so the bind rate of our traffic is obviously something we invest a lot of time and attention into and into improving. We believe we have like a real data advantage when it comes to this. As one of the largest marketplaces out there, we process just a vast amount of data through the funnel and we get a lot of feedback from our carriers with respect to the performance of every click or lead that we're sending them. And that is really the foundation for a lot of the data science and AI work that we focus on. So where we are sort of actively managing, we see meaningful improvements in conversion rate.

是的，我的意思是，所以我們的流量綁定率顯然是我們投入大量時間和精力來改善的。我們相信，在這方面我們擁有真正的數據優勢。作為最大的市場之一，我們透過管道處理大量數據，並且我們從營運商那裡獲得了大量關於我們發送給他們的每次點擊或潛在客戶的效能回饋。這確實是我們關注的許多數據科學和人工智慧工作的基礎。因此，在我們積極管理的地方，我們看到轉換率有了有意義的提升。

And I said earlier, we have placed an outsized emphasis of late on quality and performance. We think there's really an opportunity to continue to differentiate through the quality of our traffic. So, we're continuing to focus there. And I think that the investments we're making in our data, in our analytics, and some of the technology that we've been rolling out for traffic bidding and for sort of provider bidding services will all contribute to continuing to improve our relative buying rate.

我之前說過，我們最近非常重視品質和性能。我們認為確實有機會透過我們的流量品質繼續保持差異化。因此，我們將繼續關注這一點。我認為我們在數據、分析以及我們為流量競價和提供者競價服務推出的一些技術方面所做的投資都將有助於繼續改善我們的相對購買速度。

Got it. That's helpful. And then also just maybe a longer-term question. When you think about the spend overall, do you think over time it's going to be more driven by new carriers coming onto your platform? Or do you think it'll really be a function of the current carriers? And I know you have many of the big ones already on your platform, increasing their marketing spend over time, because as you said earlier, you have that advantage in the market with your data analytics. So just trying to get a sense of growth from existing clients, increasing their spend, versus new logos coming onto the platform.

知道了。這很有幫助。也許這也是一個更長期的問題。當您考慮整體支出時，您是否認為隨著時間的推移，新運營商進入您的平台將更多地推動支出？或者您認為這真的是當前運營商的功能嗎？我知道您的平台上已經有許多大型企業，隨著時間的推移，他們的行銷支出不斷增加，因為正如您之前所說，您透過數據分析在市場上擁有這種優勢。因此，只是想從現有客戶那裡獲得成長感，增加他們的支出，而不是在平台上添加新商標。

Yes. It's a great question. I mean, I think the answer is it's likely going to be a bit of both. We believe like very strongly in this secular tailwind of marketing budgets and spend flowing from more upper funnel harder to measure channels into more lower funnel easier to measure channels, because you can get more performance out of a channel like ours than you can out of just about any other channel.

是的。這是一個很好的問題。我的意思是，我認為答案很可能是兩者兼而有之。我們非常堅信，行銷預算和支出會從更難衡量的上漏斗管道流向更容易衡量的下漏斗管道，因為您可以從像我們這樣的管道中獲得比僅從管道中獲得更多的績效。其他頻道。

The reason for that is we collect all the consumer attributes that are relevant for insurance underwriting. And so, the sophisticated advertiser can target with much more precision in our channel than they can anywhere else. That drives outsized ROI, and I think that's why you see dollars moving from other channels into ours at a steady rate over time.

原因是我們收集與保險承保相關的所有消費者屬性。因此，經驗豐富的廣告商可以在我們的管道中比其他任何地方更精確地進行定位。這會帶來巨大的投資回報率，我認為這就是為什麼你會看到美元隨著時間的推移以穩定的速度從其他管道轉移到我們的管道。

And so for the, we'll call it the existing customer base, we expect that trend to continue and we expect to get a disproportionate share of that by continuing to help our providers optimize through the data, throughout the technology, through everything that we've been talking about.

因此，我們將其稱為現有客戶群，我們預計這種趨勢將持續下去，並且我們希望透過繼續幫助我們的供應商通過數據、整個技術、透過我們所做的一切進行優化，從而獲得不成比例的份額。

At the same time, over the last five to 10 years, we continue to see sort of a new breed of digital native, we'll call it, insurance companies coming into the fray. And typically, the way this starts is it'll be a carrier or somebody that leaves an established insurance carrier, because they've identified some gap in the market, and they spin up an insurance product and they sort of start digital first because, again, digital allows them to target for the very precise type of risk they're looking for, and then they're able to grow from there.

同時，在過去的五到十年裡，我們不斷看到一種新的數位原生企業（我們稱之為保險公司）加入競爭。通常情況下，這種情況的開始方式是承運人或某人離開現有的保險公司，因為他們發現了市場中的一些空白，他們推出了保險產品，並且首先開始數位化，因為，同樣，數位化使他們能夠瞄準他們正在尋找的非常精確的風險類型，然後他們能夠從那裡成長。

And actually, some of our largest spenders in the marketplace are not the legacy insurance carriers, but some of these companies that have probably been around for less than 10 years. And so, we would expect that trend to continue to proliferate.

事實上，我們在市場上的一些最大的消費者並不是傳統的保險公司，而是其中一些可能成立不到 10 年的公司。因此，我們預計這種趨勢將繼續擴散。

And I do think that over the next 10 years, we'll probably see a vast increase in the amount of spend coming from these digital-native carriers, some of whom probably haven't even seen the light of day yet because the ability to sort of target for insurance risk in this channel is superior than it is anywhere else. And I think there's just a tremendous opportunity to create efficiency in the insurance market for people who understand that and know how to build an insurance company into it.

我確實認為，在未來 10 年裡，我們可能會看到這些數位原生營運商的支出大幅增加，其中一些營運商可能還沒有看到曙光，因為有能力該管道的保險風險目標優於其他任何管道。我認為，對於那些了解這一點並知道如何在保險市場中建立保險公司的人來說，這是一個在保險市場中創造效率的巨大機會。

That's great color. Thank you so much. Congrats on the quarter.

那顏色真棒。太感謝了。恭喜本季。

And that concludes our question-and-answer session. I will now turn the conference back over to management for closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我現在將把會議轉回管理階層進行閉幕致詞。

All right. Well, thank you all for joining us today. To close, I'd just like to take a moment to really zoom out and reemphasize how well our team's been executing our plan since last summer's realignment. Over the last year, we've achieved a remarkable turnaround in financial performance. This began with streamlining with refocusing around the core of our business. That's our digital P&C marketplace. It's an area where EverQuote has built a significant competitive moat. It's fueled by our data, by our technology, and through the strength of our distribution and our customer acquisition platforms.

好的。好的，謝謝大家今天加入我們。最後，我想花點時間真正縮小範圍並再次強調自去年夏天調整以來我們的團隊執行計劃的情況。去年，我們的財務表現取得了顯著的轉變。首先是精簡流程，重新聚焦我們的業務核心。這就是我們的數位財產與意外傷害市場。EverQuote 在這一領域建立了重要的競爭護城河。它由我們的數據、我們的技術以及我們的分銷和客戶獲取平台的實力推動。

And so now, as a direct result of these efforts, we find ourselves just really well positioned to reap the benefits of the ongoing market recovery, which is resulting in financial performance that is exceeding expectations across all metrics, and notably in record levels of profitability, record levels of cash flow. So, we look forward to continuing to lean to this renewed focus against the backdrop of an improving insurance market as we enter the back half of the year and begin looking ahead to 2025.

因此，現在，作為這些努力的直接結果，我們發現自己確實處於有利地位，能夠從持續的市場復甦中獲益，從而導致所有指標的財務業績都超出預期，特別是創紀錄的盈利水平，創紀錄的現金流水準。因此，當我們進入今年下半年並開始展望 2025 年時，我們期待在保險市場改善的背景下繼續關注這一新的焦點。

Thanks again.

再次感謝。

And this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation and you may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。