Evolv Technologies Holdings Inc (EVLV) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Evolv Technologies first-quarter earnings call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, today's conference is being recorded.

女士們、先生們，感謝大家的支持，歡迎參加 Evolv Technologies 第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）提醒一下，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I'd now like to turn the conference over to Senior Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations for Evolv Technologies, Brian Norris.

現在我想將會議轉交給 Evolv Technologies 財務和投資者關係高級副總裁 Brian Norris。

Thank you, Ryan, and good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the call. I'm joined here today by Peter George, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Mark Donohue, our Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝瑞安，大家下午好，歡迎來電。今天我們的總裁兼執行長 Peter George 也來到這裡。以及我們的財務長馬克‧多諾霍 (Mark Donohue)。

This afternoon, after the market closed, we issued a press release announcing our first-quarter 2024 results and our business outlook for the remainder of the year. Press release has been furnished with the SEC and is also available on the IR section of our website.

今天下午收盤後，我們發布了新聞稿，宣布 2024 年第一季業績以及今年剩餘時間的業務前景。新聞稿已向 SEC 提供，也可在我們網站的 IR 部分取得。

During today's call, we will make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to our current expectations and views of future events, including but not limited to, statements regarding our future operations, growth and financial results, our potential for growth and ability to gain new customers, demand for our products and offerings, and our ability to meet our business outlook.

在今天的電話會議中，我們將根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的安全港條款做出前瞻性聲明。這些陳述涉及我們當前的預期和對未來事件的看法，包括但不限於有關我們未來營運、成長和財務業績、我們的成長潛力和獲得新客戶的能力、對我們的產品和服務的需求以及我們的服務的陳述。

All forward-looking statements are subject to material risks, uncertainties and assumptions, some of which are beyond our control. Actual events or financial results may differ materially from those forward-looking statements because of a number of risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the risk factors set forth under the caption Risk Factors in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on February 29, 2024, and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2024, filed with the SEC earlier today.

所有前瞻性陳述均受到重大風險、不確定性和假設的影響，其中一些是我們無法控制的。由於許多風險和不確定性，實際事件或財務結果可能與這些前瞻性陳述有重大差異，包括但不限於我們截至年度的 10-K 表格年度報告中「風險因素」標題下列出的風險因素2023 年12 月31 日，於2024 年2 月29 日向SEC 提交，以及我們今天稍早向SEC 提交的截至2024 年3 月31 日的三個月的10-Q 表格季度報告。

The forward looking statements made today represent our views as of May 9, 2024, although we believe that the expectations reflected in these statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that future results performance or the events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements will be achieved or will occur, except as may be required by applicable law, we disclaim any obligation to update them to reflect future events or circumstances.

今天發表的前瞻性陳述代表了我們截至2024 年5 月9 日的觀點，儘管我們認為這些陳述中反映的預期是合理的，但我們不能保證未來的業績表現或我們的前瞻性陳述中反映的事件和情況將實現。

Our commentary today will also include non-GAAP financial measures, which we believe provide additional insights for investors. These measures should not be considered in isolation from or as a substitute for financial information prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

我們今天的評論還將包括非公認會計準則財務指標，我們相信這些指標可以為投資者提供更多見解。這些措施不應孤立地考慮或取代根據公認會計原則編制的財務資訊。

These measures include adjusted gross profit, adjusted gross margin, adjusted operating expenses, adjusted operating income, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted earnings, and adjusted earnings per diluted share. Affiliations between these non-GAAP measures and the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in our press release issued today.

這些指標包括調整後毛利、調整後毛利率、調整後營業費用、調整後營業收入、調整後 EBITDA、調整後收益和調整後稀釋每股盈餘。這些非公認會計準則衡量標準與最直接可比較的公認會計準則衡量標準之間的聯繫可以在我們今天發布的新聞稿中找到。

Please note that our definition of these measures may differ from similarly titled metrics presented by other companies. We will be discussing key metrics such as annual recurring revenue or ARR, remaining performance obligation or RPO, deployment activity and total number of subscriptions, each of which we believe is helpful to investors in understanding the progress we are making as a business.

請注意，我們對這些指標的定義可能與其他公司提出的類似標題的指標不同。我們將討論年度經常性收入或 ARR、剩餘履約義務或 RPO、部署活動和訂閱總數等關鍵指標，我們相信每項指標都有助於投資者了解我們作為一家企業所取得的進展。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Peter. Peter?

有了這個，我想把電話轉給彼得。彼得？

Thank you, Brian, and thanks, everyone, for joining us today. I'm going to spend a few minutes on our Q1 results, provide a brief update on the regulatory front, and then walk through the trends that we're seeing in the business. Mark will then walk through our financial results and our outlook.

謝謝布萊恩，也謝謝大家今天加入我們。我將花幾分鐘時間介紹我們的第一季業績，提供監管方面的簡要更新，然後介紹我們在業務中看到的趨勢。然後馬克將介紹我們的財務業績和前景。

Revenue in the first quarter was $21.7 million, up 17% year over year, reflecting new customer acquisition activity, strong expansion from our installed customer base, continued traction with our channel partners and growth in subscriptions of Evolv Express.

第一季營收為 2,170 萬美元，年增 17%，反映出新客戶獲取活動、我們現有客戶群的強勁擴張、我們通路合作夥伴的持續吸引力以及 Evolv Express 訂閱量的成長。

Our growth rate reflects the transition away from one-time product sales, which was central to our revenue just a year ago. Reoccurring revenue was 89% in Q1 compared to about 50% in Q1 of last year. We welcomed over 50 new customers in Q1, and now serve about 750 customers across 10 key vertical markets.

我們的成長率反映了從一次性產品銷售的轉變，就在一年前，一次性產品銷售是我們收入的核心。第一季的經常性收入為 89%，而去年第一季約為 50%。我們在第一季迎來了 50 多名新客戶，現在為 10 個主要垂直市場的約 750 名客戶提供服務。

ARR grew 10% sequentially and 96% year over year to $83 million at the end of the first quarter of 2024. Adjusted gross margin expanded to 61% in Q1 compared to 26% in Q1 of last year. This is largely attributable to the shift to the distribution subscription model we introduced last year, and the related transition to a higher level of reoccurring revenue.

截至 2024 年第一季末，ARR 環比成長 10%，年增 96%，達到 8,300 萬美元。第一季調整後毛利率擴大至 61%，去年第一季為 26%。這很大程度上歸因於我們去年推出的分銷訂閱模式的轉變，以及向更高水準的經常性收入的相關轉變。

We activated 377 new multiyear subscriptions of Evolv Express, which is lighter than we were anticipating for the quarter. Notably, this figure excludes units from the high number of direct rentals we shipped. Since the year began, we've sent about 75 Evolv Express systems to support major events, including the world's largest sporting event taking place in France, and to the Detroit Police Department in support of the annual college football draft.

我們啟動了 377 個新的 Evolv Express 多年訂閱，這比我們對本季的預期要少。值得注意的是，這個數字不包括我們運送的大量直接租賃的單位。自今年年初以來，我們已向底特律警察局發送了約 75 個 Evolv Express 系統來支持重大活動，包括在法國舉辦的全球最大的體育賽事，以支持年度大學橄欖球選秀。

Rentals like these accelerate our presence in a geography and further raise awareness of Evolv technology. Again, none of these units were included in our deployed unit count. While our overall win rate improved to 79% from 71% in Q1 of last year, certain late-stage deals we were working on in the final weeks of the quarter, were pushed into the second quarter.

這類租賃加速了我們在某個地區的影響力，並進一步提高了 Evolv 技術的知名度。同樣，這些單位都不包含在我們部署的單位數量中。雖然我們的整體勝率從去年第一季的 71% 提高到 79%，但我們在本季度最後幾週進行的某些後期交易被推遲到了第二季。

Some of these opportunities were delayed as customers worked to satisfy the incremental due diligence requirements related to among other things, the regulatory increase and slanted coverage from the select media outlets we have discussed on previous calls.

其中一些機會被推遲，因為客戶努力滿足與監管增加以及我們在之前的電話會議中討論過的特定媒體機構的傾斜報道等相關的增量盡職調查要求。

Our recently completed analysis of the quarter revealed that our average sales cycle lengthened by about 40% in Q1 of 2024 to 5 months compared to 3 months in Q1 of 2023. Customers are asking more questions as they make their way through the buying journey.

我們最近完成的季度分析顯示，我們的平均銷售週期在 2024 年第一季延長了約 40%，從 2023 年第一季的 3 個月延長至 5 個月。客戶在購買過程中會提出更多問題。

We are simply not going to rush our customers through that process or that decision. We have a lot of confidence in the outcomes of those decisions. The good news is that several of these deals have already closed here in Q2, and we're off to a strong start to the second quarter.

我們根本不會催促客戶完成流程或決定。我們對這些決定的結果充滿信心。好消息是，其中幾筆交易已經在第二季完成，我們在第二季有了一個很好的開始。

We continue to work with the FTC as they complete their work and have provided documentation and information responsive to their inquiry. We're also working with the FCC, but their work is still at its earliest stages.

我們將繼續與聯邦貿易委員會合作，協助他們完成工作，並提供文件和資訊來回應他們的詢問。我們也與 FCC 合作，但他們的工作仍處於早期階段。

So what does all this mean to our business? While we believe the regulatory overhang has lengthened sales cycle, it does not appear to be impacting our win rate. It is a little less clear as to what impact, if any, there has been on opportunities in which we're not invited to participate because of uncertainty in the marketplace.

那麼這一切對我們的業務意味著什麼？雖然我們認為監管懸而未決延長了銷售週期，但它似乎並沒有影響我們的贏率。由於市場的不確定性，我們沒有被邀請參與的機會會受到什麼影響（如果有的話），這一點還不太清楚。

It has, however, made it a bit more challenging to provide forecasts in the near term since possible deal slippage is by its nature, uncertain. For that reason, we think it's prudent to be a bit more cautious in our annual outlook. That said, we remain committed to reaching positive adjusted EBITDA by the second quarter of 2025.

然而，這使得提供短期預測變得更具挑戰性，因為可能的交易下滑本質上是不確定的。因此，我們認為對年度展望更加謹慎是明智的做法。儘管如此，我們仍然致力於在 2025 年第二季實現調整後的正 EBITDA。

We are maintaining our commitment to profitability with prudent expense management and the leverage we're expecting from the advanced data-driven methodologies we're implementing across the company. So we're on the final stretch to profitability.

我們透過審慎的費用管理以及我​​們期望從整個公司實施的先進數據驅動方法中獲得的槓桿作用來維持我們對盈利的承諾。因此，我們正處於獲利的最後階段。

I want to share a few other updates across the business. Investors will recall that we brought on board several senior sales and marketing professionals in the last six months, including a new Chief Commercial Officer, a new Chief Marketing Officer and a new Senior Channel Leader.

我想分享整個企業的一些其他更新。投資者會記得，我們​​在過去六個月中任命了幾名高級銷售和行銷專業人士，包括新的首席商務官、新的首席行銷長和新的高級通路領導者。

We did this to address gaps we had previously identified in our sales execution process, which we believe contributed to the softer than expected start to the year. We're pleased to report that the new team is making great progress in restructuring demand-generation efforts, up-leveling brand awareness and optimizing channel partner effectiveness, to improve our overall go-to-market motion and scale in our business.

我們這樣做是為了解決我們先前在銷售執行流程中發現的差距，我們認為這導致了今年開局比預期疲軟。我們很高興地報告，新團隊在重組需求產生工作、提升品牌知名度和優化通路合作夥伴效率方面取得了巨大進展，以改善我們的整體上市行動和業務規模。

We are seeing strong levels of customer interest in Evolv Visual Gun detect, our newer offering designed to detect individuals with brandish guns in or around the venue. We are seeing demand for this solution across multiple vertical markets.

我們看到客戶對 Evolv Visual Gun detector 表現出濃厚的興趣，這是我們的新產品，旨在檢測場地內或周圍持槍的個人。我們看到多個垂直市場對該解決方案的需求。

Staying on the new product front, [Mike, Parag], and the R&D team are working on some very interesting initiatives in our innovation labs. These new products, which we will be a mix of both digital and physical will provide additional capabilities in our vertical markets, addressing our customers' needs, and extending the Evolv eco-system to continue on our mission.

在新產品方面，[Mike、Parag] 和研發團隊正在我們的創新實驗室中進行一些非常有趣的措施。這些新產品將數位和實體結合，將為我們的垂直市場提供額外的功能，滿足客戶的需求，並擴展 Evolv 生態系統以繼續我們的使命。

We expect these subscription based products to be sold to new and existing customers, expanding the lifetime value of our customers and helping them create safer environments. I expect us to make a major new product announcement before the end of the year. Stay tuned for that.

我們希望將這些基於訂閱的產品出售給新客戶和現有客戶，擴大客戶的終身價值並幫助他們創造更安全的環境。我預計我們將在年底前發布重大新產品。請繼續關注。

Moving to our go-to-market market partners, over 70% of our sales activity came with or through our channel partners in Q1. These are partners that extend our reach into certain verticals or geographies where they have a particularly strong presence.

轉向我們的入市市場合作夥伴，第一季我們超過 70% 的銷售活動是與我們的通路合作夥伴一起進行或透過我們的通路合作夥伴進行的。這些合作夥伴將我們的影響力擴展到某些垂直領域或地區，他們在這些領域的影響力尤其強大。

We saw strong activity with Motorola with whom we had the most booked units since Q4 of 2022. We expect to continue to see strong activity with Motorola, Johnson Controls, Securitas Technology and dozens of other regional partners like Alliance Technology Group and Stone Security. These relationships will be central to our plans to scale over time.

我們看到摩托羅拉的活動很活躍，自 2022 年第四季以來，我們向該公司預訂的設備最多。我們預計將繼續看到與摩托羅拉、江森自控、Securitas Technology 以及 Alliance Technology Group 和 Stone Security 等數十個其他區域合作夥伴的強勁活動。這些關係將成為我們隨著時間的推移而擴展的計劃的核心。

We had our first meaningful set of units come up for renewal in the first quarter of 2024. And as expected, over 90% of the units did in fact renew. Nothing speaks more to the confidence and the value that our customers realize in our company and our products than renewing a subscription contract.

我們將在 2024 年第一季更新第一套有意義的單元。正如預期的那樣，超過 90% 的單位確實進行了更新。沒有什麼比續約訂購合約更能反映客戶對我們公司和產品的信心和價值。

In addition to renewal rates, we believe that bookings contribution from existing customers can provide very strong validation of customer trust and confidence. We're pleased to report that 49% of our booked ARR in Q1 was from existing customers compared to 43% in Q1 of 2023. These are customers that have thoroughly tested and deployed our technology and have made the decision to expand. So strong validation there.

除了續訂率之外，我們相信現有客戶的預訂貢獻可以為客戶的信任和信心提供非常強大的驗證。我們很高興地報告，第一季我們預訂的 ARR 中有 49% 來自現有客戶，而 2023 年第一季這一比例為 43%。這些客戶已經徹底測試和部署了我們的技術，並決定進行擴展。那裡有如此強大的驗證。

I wanted to turn to the trends we're seeing in our end markets. Starting with education where we welcomed 15 new customers. In Q1, we did not have any 7-figure ARR deals in education, which has been a driver in prior quarters. We believe that, that may indicate a little bit of seasonality in the education market.

我想談談我們在終端市場看到的趨勢。從教育開始，我們迎來了 15 位新客戶。第一季度，我們在教育領域沒有任何 7 位數的 ARR 交易，而這在前幾季一直是推動因素。我們認為，這可能表明教育市場存在一定的季節性。

We are seeing a shift as more school districts change the way they fund security technology in preparation for the expiration of ESSER funding later this year. School boards are finding ways to fund our solution using their operating budgets and capital projects funding.

隨著越來越多的學區改變資助安全技術的方式，為今年稍後 ESSER 資助到期做準備，我們看到了一種轉變。學校董事會正在尋找利用其營運預算和資本項目資金為我們的解決方案提供資金的方法。

This can make Evolv more embedded in a district standard purchasing motion as opposed to a one-time brand. School officials are finding creative ways to prioritize our solution in the absence of obvious funding sources. We're also seeing larger school districts in states like Maryland and Kentucky, increasingly phased their deployments over multiple quarters.

這可以使 Evolv 更加融入地區標準採購活動，而不是一次性品牌。在缺乏明顯資金來源的情況下，學校官員正在尋找創意的方法來優先考慮我們的解決方案。我們也看到馬裡蘭州和肯塔基州等州的較大學區越來越多地分多個季度進行部署。

So while we are winning large opportunities, they do not always show up as booked ARR or deployed units in a single quarter. We have several potentially significant education deals in the pipeline for the latter half of 2024.

因此，雖然我們贏得了大量機會，但它們並不總是在一個季度內以預訂的 ARR 或部署的單位的形式出現。我們正在醞釀 2024 年下半年的幾項潛在的重大教育交易。

We're proud to be deployed in 20 of the 100 largest school districts in the country, in over 800 school buildings. Our daily school visitor screenings have surged to nearly 700,000 during Q1 of 2024 compared to 250,000 in Q1 last year. Our healthcare market remains robust, with over a dozen new customers added. We're now operational in about 350 hospital buildings nationwide.

我們很自豪能夠在全國 100 個最大學區中的 20 個學區的 800 多棟校舍中進行部署。2024 年第一季度，我們每天的學校訪客篩檢量已激增至近 70 萬人次，而去年第一季為 25 萬人次。我們的醫療保健市場依然強勁，增加了十多個新客戶。目前，我們在全國約 350 座醫院大樓中開展業務。

We achieved an exceptionally high win rate in healthcare in Q1 and are beginning to gain traction at the hospital system level, which is an exciting development. Daily visitors screenings in health care facilities tripled to nearly 600,000 in Q1 of 2024 from 200,000 in Q1 last year.

我們在第一季的醫療保健領域取得了極高的勝率，並開始在醫院系統層面獲得關注，這是一個令人興奮的發展。醫療機構每日篩檢的訪客人數從去年第一季的 20 萬人次增至 2024 年第一季的近 60 萬人次，增加了兩倍。

Professional sports continues to be a key vertical market for us, and we're proud to be part of the layered security for about 40 teams across all five major professional sports leagues. Recent wins include teams like the Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, the Tampa Bay Rays and AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. We're excited to welcome these teams and their fans onboard.

職業運動仍然是我們的一個重要垂直市場，我們很自豪能夠成為所有五個主要職業運動聯盟約 40 支球隊的分層安全保障的一部分。最近獲勝的球隊包括夏洛特黃蜂隊、波特蘭拓荒者隊、坦帕灣光芒隊和達拉斯牛仔隊的主場 AT&T 體育場。我們很高興歡迎這些團隊及其粉絲的加入。

Finally, I'd like to provide a brief update on the competitive landscape. We believe there's a significant market for AI based weapons detection, with a few substantial players that are deploying at customers. Our extensive customer base and widespread deployment of units solidify our leadership position in the AI based weapons detection market.

最後，我想簡單介紹一下競爭格局的最新情況。我們相信基於人工智慧的武器偵測有一個重要的市場，有一些重要的參與者正在為客戶部署。我們廣泛的客戶群和廣泛的設備部署鞏固了我們在基於人工智慧的武器探測市場的領導地位。

Evolv Express is a critical part of a layered security solution and is used to screen 2.5 million visitors every single day. Our 750 plus customers use Evolv Express to tag on average more than 500 firearms every single day.

Evolv Express 是分層安全解決方案的關鍵部分，每天用於篩選 250 萬訪客。我們的 750 多名客戶平均每天使用 Evolv Express 標記超過 500 支槍。

While the market has room for multiple players, we continue to see customers select our products for the detection capabilities, strong focus on end user experience, integration into broader security infrastructure, and ongoing continuous improvements through software upgrades. More recently, we've been securing more head to head winds, and we're seeing revisitation of previously lost opportunities.

雖然市場有容納多個參與者的空間，但我們仍然看到客戶選擇我們的產品是因為其檢測功能、對最終用戶體驗的高度關注、整合到更廣泛的安全基礎設施中，以及透過軟體升級進行持續改進。最近，我們已經獲得了更多的正面交鋒，我們看到了以前失去的機會的重新出現。

We've had at least five recent instances of previous lost opportunities in education and professional sports, not only reengaging with us, but replacing their existing deployments with Evolv. Initially, venues might opt for a cheaper, more limited solution that offers a simplistic and under informatic red light, green light alerting system.

最近，我們至少發生了五起先前在教育和職業運動方面失去機會的例子，他們不僅重新與我們合作，而且用 Evolv 取代了他們現有的部署。最初，場館可能會選擇更便宜、更有限的解決方案，提供簡單且資訊化的紅燈、綠燈警報系統。

But we're witnessing a shift back to Evolv Express due to its superior capabilities. This is not a one quarter phenomena. We look forward to sharing more about our progress on the competitive front in future calls.

但由於 Evolv Express 的卓越功能，我們正在見證其回歸。這不是四分之一的現象。我們期待在未來的電話會議中分享更多有關我們在競爭方面取得的進展的資訊。

Before handing things over to Mark, I want to close with our mission, which is to democratize security, making the world, a safer and more enjoyable place to live, work, learn and to play. We will continue to innovate and to deliver on our mission while simultaneously advancing on our long term operating model and the Rule of 40. We look forward to continuing to update investors on all these goals.

在將事情交給馬克之前，我想結束我們的使命，即實現安全民主化，讓世界成為一個更安全、更愉快的生活、工作、學習和娛樂場所。我們將繼續創新並履行我們的使命，同時推進我們的長期營運模式和 40 法則。我們期待繼續向投資者通報所有這些目標的最新情況。

With that, let me turn things over to Mark, who will take you through our financial results and our outlook. Mark?

接下來，讓我把事情交給馬克，他將帶您了解我們的財務表現和前景。標記？

Thanks, Peter, and good afternoon, everyone. I'm going to review our first quarter results in more detail and then walk through our outlook. As Peter mentioned, total revenue was $21.7 million, up 17% year over year. Annual recurring revenue or ARR at March 31, 2024, was $83 million, reflecting growth of 96% year over year.

謝謝彼得，大家下午好。我將更詳細地回顧我們第一季的業績，然後展望我們的前景。正如 Peter 所提到的，總收入為 2,170 萬美元，年增 17%。截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日，年度經常性收入或 ARR 為 8,300 萬美元，年增 96%。

Total recurring revenue during the first quarter of 2024 was $19.4 million compared to $9.1 million in the first quarter of 2023, reflecting growth of 114% year over year. Of note, 89% of our revenue in Q1 '24 was recurring compared to about 50% in Q1 '23.

2024 年第一季的經常性總收入為 1,940 萬美元，而 2023 年第一季為 910 萬美元，年增 114%。值得注意的是，我們 24 年第一季 89% 的收入是經常性收入，而 23 年第一季這一比例約為 50%。

Remaining performance obligation or RPO as of March 31, 2024, was $254 million, up 57% year over year and 6% sequentially. As we've told investors on prior calls, we expect the rate of growth in RPO to attenuate as there is less lower margin product revenue running through our financial statements with the implementation of the distributor subscription model.

截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日，剩餘履約義務或 RPO 為 2.54 億美元，年增 57%，季增 6%。正如我們在先前的電話會議上告訴投資者的那樣，我們預計 RPO 的成長率將會減弱，因為隨著經銷商訂閱模式的實施，我們的財務報表中的低利潤產品收入將會減少。

Adjusted gross margin, which excludes stock-based compensation and other one-time expenses, was 61% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to 26% in the first quarter of last year. Our improved gross profit and gross margin primarily reflects our continued transition to recurring revenue streams, both through our pure subscription model and our newer distribution subscription model.

2024 年第一季調整後毛利率（不包括股票薪酬和其他一次性費用）為 61%，而去年第一季為 26%。我們毛利和毛利率的提高主要反映了我們透過純訂閱模式和更新的分銷訂閱模式持續向經常性收入流轉型。

Adjusted operating expenses, which exclude stock-based compensation, loss on impairment of equipment and certain other one-time expenses were $27.3 million compared to $22.2 million in the first quarter of last year. The increase year over year primarily reflects headcount investments across the business, particularly in revenue-generating positions and in research and development.

調整後的營運費用（不包括股票薪酬、設備減損損失和某些其他一次性費用）為 2,730 萬美元，而去年第一季為 2,220 萬美元。年比成長主要反映了整個業務的人員投資，特別是在創收職位和研發方面的投資。

The increase sequentially is also due to a higher payroll tax comment at the start of the new year. Adjusted loss, which excludes stock-based compensation, non-cash charges and other one-time items, was $13.1 million compared to $16.9 million in the first quarter of last year.

連續增加的原因還在於新年伊始工資稅的上漲。調整後虧損（不包括股票薪酬、非現金費用和其他一次性項目）為 1,310 萬美元，而去年第一季為 1,690 萬美元。

Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes stock-based compensation and other one-time expenses, was negative $10.7 million compared to negative $15.4 million in the first quarter of last year. This reflects strong gross margin expansion and prudent expense management.

調整後 EBITDA（不含股票薪資和其他一次性費用）為負 1,070 萬美元，而去年第一季為負 1,540 萬美元。這反映出強勁的毛利率擴張和審慎的費用管理。

Turning to the balance sheet, we ended the quarter with $81 million in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities compared to $119 million at the end of Q4 2023. This primarily reflects the significant resources we dedicated to build inventory as we prepared for the transition to our next generation Express system.

轉向資產負債表，本季末我們的現金、現金等價物、限制性現金和有價證券為 8,100 萬美元，而 2023 年第四季末為 1.19 億美元。這主要反映了我們在準備過渡到下一代 Express 系統時投入了大量資源來建立庫存。

That inventory is found on our balance sheet in both actual inventory as well as in property plant and equipment. In fact, over $39 million of our ending PP&E was for undeployed inventory. To be clear, we believe we have reached a high point for inventory for the year, and we will now be strategically depleting that for the rest of the year. To a lesser extent, the cash usage in the quarter also reflects capital to support our pure subscription model and the timing of certain cash payments.

該庫存可在我們的資產負債表上的實際庫存以及財產廠房和設備中找到。事實上，我們期末 PP&E 中超過 3900 萬美元用於未部署的庫存。需要明確的是，我們相信我們的庫存已經達到今年的高點，我們現在將在今年剩餘時間內策略性地消耗庫存。在較小程度上，本季的現金使用情況也反映了支持我們的純認購模式的資本以及某些現金支付的時間。

I want to close with a few comments on our outlook. When we shared thoughts about our 2024 outlook during our last earnings call in February, we told investors that we assumed no significant changes in the demand environment because of the FTC and FCC inquiries.

最後我想對我們的前景發表一些評論。當我們在 2 月的最後一次財報電話會議上分享對 2024 年前景的看法時，我們告訴投資者，由於 FTC 和 FCC 的調查，我們假設需求環境不會發生重大變化。

That assumption has changed. Some opportunities have been delayed as customers worked to satisfy the incremental due diligence requirements related to, among other things, these regulatory inquiries and the slanted coverage from select media outlets we have discussed on previous calls.

這個假設已經改變了。由於客戶努力滿足與這些監管調查以及我們在之前的電話會議中討論過的特定媒體機構的傾斜報道等相關的增量盡職調查要求，一些機會被推遲。

While our win rates are up over year over year, we see deals taking longer to close. In the interim, we're going to continue to focus on improving sales execution, raising brand awareness, driving demand generation and optimizing our channel partner program. While these matters resolved, we're going to be more cautious in our near-term outlook.

雖然我們的勝率逐年上升，但我們發現交易需要更長的時間才能完成。在此期間，我們將繼續專注於改善銷售執行、提高品牌知名度、推動需求產生和優化我們的通路合作夥伴計畫。雖然這些問題得到了解決，但我們對近期前景將更加謹慎。

Our recently completed analysis of the quarter revealed that our average sales cycle lengthen about 40% in Q1 of 2024 to 5 months compared to 3 months in Q1 of 2023. We are now modeling full-year revenues of about $100 million compared to our previous estimate of $115 million. This reflects growth of about 25% year over year. We now believe we can exit 2024 with ARR of about $100 million compared to our previous estimate of between $108 million to $112 million. This reflects growth of about 33% year over year.

我們最近完成的季度分析顯示，我們的平均銷售週期在 2024 年第一季延長了約 40% 至 5 個月，而 2023 年第一季為 3 個月。我們現在預測全年收入約為 1 億美元，而先前的估計為 1.15 億美元。這反映了同比增長約 25%。現在，我們相信 2024 年的 ARR 約為 1 億美元，而我們先前的估計為 1.08 億至 1.12 億美元。這反映了同比增長約 33%。

We are reaffirming our estimate for adjusted full year gross margin of about 60%. And further, we are reaffirming our belief that we can deliver improvements in full year adjusted EBITDA of at least 40% in 2024. And we believe we remain on track to get to positive adjusted EBITDA in the first half of 2025.

我們重申調整後全年毛利率約為 60% 的估計。此外，我們重申我們的信念，即我們可以在 2024 年將全年調整後 EBITDA 提高至少 40%。我們相信，我們仍有望在 2025 年上半年實現調整後的正 EBITDA。

With that, I'll turn the call back over to Brian.

這樣，我會將電話轉回布萊恩。

Thanks, Mark. At this time, we'd like to open the call up for Q&A. Again, we're going to ask participants to limit themselves to one question and one follow-up.

謝謝，馬克。此時，我們想開啟問答環節。再次，我們將要求參與者將自己限制在一個問題和一個後續行動上。

(Operator Instructions) Mike Latimore, Northland Capital.

（操作員說明）Mike Latimore，Northland Capital。

Hi, this is Aditya on behalf of Mike Latimore. Could you tell me how many sales people you have hired this year and what is the total number of sales that you have?

大家好，我是 Aditya，代表 Mike Latimore。您能告訴我今年您僱用了多少銷售人員以及您的銷售總數是多少嗎？

This is Brian Norris, I just want to make sure that I got the question was it [quota] carrying salespeople now and was that the question, how many folks we have.

我是布萊恩·諾里斯（Brian Norris），我只是想確保我得到的問題是現在銷售人員的[配額]，以及我們有多少人的問題。

Yes.

是的。

Cause the answer to that question is we have about 35 quota carrying sales executives, which is relatively unchanged since the end of last year.

因為這個問題的答案是我們有大約 35 名銷售主管配額，自去年年底以來相對沒有變化。

Got it. And also, could you give some color on how the industrial warehouse category is? We see a good amount of bookings coming from the industrial warehouse.

知道了。另外，能否介紹一下工業倉庫類別的情況？我們看到工業倉庫有大量訂單。

We're just beginning the industrial warehouse vertical orientation, which is how we go-to-market on verticals. We think it can be in one of the top two verticals over time for the company. Obviously education is very big, healthcare, but industrial warehouses is going to be a big one. So it's still early days, but we're confident that both this year and next year, we'll make good progress there.

我們剛開始工業倉庫垂直定位，這就是我們進入垂直市場的方式。我們認為，隨著時間的推移，它可能會成為該公司的兩大垂直行業之一。顯然，教育、醫療保健非常重要，但工業倉庫也將是一個重要的領域。所以現在還處於早期階段，但我們有信心今年和明年我們都會取得良好進展。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

Perfect. Thank you. Operator, we're ready to the next question, please.

完美的。謝謝。接線員，我們準備好回答下一個問題了。

Brett Knoblauch.

布雷特·諾布勞赫。

Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my question. Maybe if we could just start on the full year guidance. I guess my math kind of suggests that it gets to $100 million ARR and you need to add maybe 1,100 new units over the remaining three quarters, which obviously is down a bit from last year. But I guess to that extent, how confident are you that maybe Q1 is the low point from installs or is that what we should be expecting?

嗨，大家好。感謝您提出我的問題。也許我們可以開始製定全年指導。我想我的數學表明它的 ARR 會達到 1 億美元，並且您需要在剩下的三個季度中添加大約 1,100 個新單元，這顯然比去年有所下降。但我想在這個程度上，您對第一季可能是安裝量的最低點還是我們應該期待的有多大信心？

Yeah, Brett, thanks. This is Mark Donohue. Look, we feel like we are at a low point, we do for this quarter. I mean, I think Q1 is seasonally a low quarter for us. I think we saw some of the extensions of the deals which have gone out from 3.5 months to 5 months, actually coming in in the April timeframe. So we're starting to see that tick up a bunch and give us some confidence going into Q2.

是的，布雷特，謝謝。這是馬克·多諾霍。看，我們感覺我們正處於低點，本季也是如此。我的意思是，我認為第一季對我們來說是季節性低迷的季度。我認為我們看到一些交易的延期從 3.5 個月延長到 5 個月，實際上是在 4 月的時間範圍內達成的。因此，我們開始看到這一情況大幅上升，這給我們進入第二季度帶來了一些信心。

That said, you're right. I think that I think for the year, we're looking probably in the 1,600 to 1,900 unit range or 6,100 to 6,400 for the year as we kind of work through this, these sales cycle extensions and some of the regulatory overhang that we've been going through.

這就是說，你是對的。我認為今年我們可能會在 1,600 至 1,900 輛單位範圍內或 6,100 至 6,400 輛單位範圍內尋找，因為我們正在努力解決這個問題，這些銷售週期的延長以及我們已經面臨的一些監管懸而未決的問題一直在經歷。

We've had good conversations with customers when we get on the phone with them and we do often now as they're going through their buying cycle. The conversations go well and we're getting to a close. It's just taking a little bit more time than it used to.

當我們與客戶通電話時，我們與他們進行了良好的交談，現在當他們正在經歷購買週期時，我們也經常這樣做。談話進行得很順利，我們即將結束。只是比以前多花了一點時間。

In fact, we had our win rates overall were about 79% in Q1 for the deals that we're invited to. So we're still getting this done. It's just going a little bit slower right now due to some of the, I would say, slanted media and regulatory overhang that we're dealing with.

事實上，我們受邀參與的交易在第一季的整體勝率約為 79%。所以我們仍在完成這件事。我想說，由於我們正在處理的一些傾斜媒體和監管懸而未決，現在進展有點慢。

Awesome. And then I guess within the hospital segment. I went to a hospital last week and which is the second time I went there over the last month and there was a new unit there, and it was very seamless. I was just curious on the sales cycles, is that specific to one end market or are you seeing it across the board?

驚人的。然後我想是在醫院領域。我上週去了一家醫院，這是我上個月第二次去那裡，那裡有一個新的病房，而且非常順利。我只是對銷售週期感到好奇，這是特定於某個終端市場的還是您在全面看到它？

Yeah, I would say it's across the board. The longer impacts have been actually in education because of they end up being longer anyway. Healthcare sales cycles still about five months. On the positive side, we had an extraordinary quarter in healthcare as it relates to win rate, we won close to 100% of the deals that we were in.

是的，我會說這是全面的。更長期的影響實際上是在教育領域，因為無論如何它們最終都會變得更長。醫療保健銷售週期仍在五個月左右。從積極的一面來看，我們在醫療保健領域度過了一個非凡的季度，因為它與獲勝率相關，我們贏得了接近 100% 的交易。

As we said earlier, we're in 350 hospital buildings right now. We see that as a really, really important vertical for us. It represents 70% of the (inaudible) of the workplace is happening in healthcare. And when we put a system in, normally, our customers test this first, they'll do a POC.

正如我們之前所說，我們現在有 350 棟醫院大樓。我們認為這對我們來說是一個非常非常重要的垂直領域。它代表 70% 的工作場所（聽不清楚）發生在醫療保健領域。當我們安裝系統時，通常情況下，我們的客戶會先進行測試，然後再進行 POC。

And then in their first early days of having the system in and they end up finding things that they never thought were coming in before. So it's hard to get the system back out. So we think hospitals is a place we're going to continue to double down on.

然後在他們安裝系統的最初幾天，他們最終發現了他們以前從未想過會出現的東西。所以系統很難恢復。因此，我們認為醫院是我們將繼續加倍投入的地方。

Yeah. I'd only add to that, Brett, that we're also starting to see sales cycles engage at the hospital system level. So that's a difference from a year or 18 months ago when we were selling at the local hospital level. Today, we're starting to see much bigger opportunities emerge. There's any follow-up questions up there, Brett?

是的。布雷特，我只想補充一點，我們也開始看到銷售週期在醫院系統層面發揮作用。所以這與一年前或 18 個月前我們在當地醫院層級進行銷售時有所不同。今天，我們開始看到更大的機會出現。還有後續問題嗎，布雷特？

Maybe just one on a different topic. I think it was about a month ago, maybe a bit over a month ago now where Mayor Adams gave a press conference as [Pete's] talking about on subway safety and he was standing next to an Evolv systems.

也許只是關於不同主題的一個。我想那是大約一個月前，也許是一個多月前，亞當斯市長舉行新聞發布會，[皮特]談論地鐵安全，他站在 Evolv 系統旁邊。

Could you talk about how you view your products protecting subways in New York cities and other metro areas across the United States. And is there any update on New York City in particular?

您能否談談您如何看待保護紐約市和美國其他都會區地鐵的產品。特別是關於紐約市的最新情況嗎？

So look, we've always said, we believe before we believe today that subways are a challenging environment for security period. Having said that, the NYPD came to us, they wanted to partner with us. They asked us to use our technology.

所以，我們總是說，在我們今天相信之前，我們相信地鐵對於安全時期來說是一個充滿挑戰的環境。話雖如此，紐約警察局來找我們，他們想與我們合作。他們要求我們使用我們的技術。

We're supporting them and we have full confidence that the NYPD knows how to keep New Yorkers safe and we're going to support them from a technology standpoint. They're still in their investigation and learning phase right now.

我們支持他們，我們完全相信紐約警察局知道如何確保紐約人的安全，我們將從科技的角度支持他們。他們目前仍處於調查和學習階段。

Thank you. I'll hop back in the queue.

謝謝。我會跳回到隊列中。

And Brett, before we get to the next question, I'll just say that, none of the public transit opportunity is included in the TAM analysis that we've ever shared with (inaudible) It was all that, again, we're still going through our testing phases there. All of that would be accretive to the TAM estimates that we've provided. More to come on that in the quarters ahead.

Brett，在我們討論下一個問題之前，我只想說，我們曾經分享過的 TAM 分析中沒有包含任何公共交通機會（聽不清楚）。所有這些都會增加我們提供的 TAM 估計值。未來幾季還會有更多相關內容。

Brian, I think we're ready for our next question if there's anybody left in the queue.

布萊恩，我想我們已經準備好回答下一個問題了，如果隊列中還有人的話。

Eric Martinuzzi, Lake Street.

埃里克·馬丁努齊，湖街。

Yeah, curious to know about the pricing environment and if you could comment on it with regard to both the education and the healthcare verticals, are you seeing prospective buyers coming back and asking for lower prices, or are you seeing competitive behaviors that you haven't seen before?

是的，很想了解定價環境，如果您可以對教育和醫療保健垂直領域進行評論，您是否看到潛在買家回來並要求更低的價格，或者您是否看到了以前沒有的競爭行為以前沒見過嗎？

Well, we've been seeing some competitive behaviors. I think we haven't seen before we've seen more and more pricing competition in some of the deals. I think there's a clear technology benefit to what we're doing. So I think the comparative on the technical perspective is very high. But from a pricing perspective, we are a premium priced product.

嗯，我們已經看到了一些競爭行為。我認為我們以前從未見過一些交易中的定價競爭越來越激烈。我認為我們正在做的事情有明顯的技術優勢。所以我認為技術角度上的可比性非常高。但從定價角度來看，我們是一款高價產品。

We have though gone and been amenable to pricing and particularly in the school systems where there's a lot of volume. So that we have actually gone down that path to work with our customers and prospects to actually kind of ensure that we're mitigating the delta between some of the competition out there.

不過，我們已經接受了定價，特別是在數量很大的學校系統中。因此，我們實際上已經沿著這條道路與我們的客戶和潛在客戶合作，以確保我們正在減少一些競爭之間的差異。

And in other verticals, there's still -- we're still able to maintain pricing because of the value we're providing, the throughput that we can provide, and the technical differentiators, I think still are helpful to maintaining our pricing position.

在其他垂直領域，我們仍然能夠維持定價，因為我們提供的價值、我們可以提供的吞吐量以及技術差異化因素，我認為仍然有助於維持我們的定價地位。

And it's safe to say that those in the education environment and those volume-based deals that the potential lower prices is captured in this outlook, the new outlook for 2024?

可以肯定地說，教育環境中的那些以及那些基於數量的交易，潛在的較低價格已在這一前景中得到體現，即 2024 年的新前景？

Yeah, 100%. I mean, when we have our pricing and we did that in January. So everything that is in our outlook and has been in our outlook reflects our pricing model for the entire year.

是的，100%。我的意思是，當我們定價時，我們在一月份就這樣做了。因此，我們展望中和過去的一切都反映了我們全年的定價模型。

Okay. And then a follow up on the path to break-even -- adjusted EBITDA breakeven in the first half of 2025. What should we be looking for on the cash balance when you reach that point?

好的。然後是損益平衡之路的後續行動——2025 年上半年調整後的 EBITDA 損益平衡。當您達到這一點時，我們應該在現金餘額中尋找什麼？

I think that you'll see us in the range of $65 million to $75 million as a cash balance. We look at the top line revenue necessity probably being in the $32 million to $35 million range to actually reach that EBITDA neutrality. It will probably slightly EBITDA positive and cash neutrality.

我認為您會看到我們的現金餘額在 6500 萬至 7500 萬美元之間。我們認為，要真正達到 EBITDA 中性，頂線收入可能需要在 3,200 萬至 3,500 萬美元範圍內。EBITDA 可能會略微為正且現金呈現中性。

So that's still our goal as a business. We're going to get there by really maintaining judicious spending habits as we have in the past. I would say also that we're going to really be looking to ensure that we stay on this path to profitability that we announced about a year ago.

所以這仍然是我們作為企業的目標。我們要像過去那樣真正保持明智的消費習慣才能實現這個目標。我還要說的是，我們將真正尋求確保我們繼續沿著大約一年前宣布的盈利之路前進。

Got it. Thanks for taking my questions.

知道了。感謝您回答我的問題。

Yep, terrific. I think that's the last question. So I'm going to turn it over to Peter for a few closing remarks.

是的，太棒了。我想這是最後一個問題。所以我將把它交給彼得做一些總結發言。

Thanks a lot Brian. Look, we've delivered really strong reoccurring revenue this quarter. Our gross margins went up, adjusted EBITDA. But the year started a little bit lighter and slower than we expected. There certainly has been a lot of evidence of regulatory overhang, which is shown up in that expanded sales cycle from three months to five months and we're dealing with that.

非常感謝布萊恩。看，我們本季實現了非常強勁的經常性收入。我們的毛利率上升，調整後的 EBITDA 也上升了。但這一年的開局比我們預期的要淡一些、慢一些。當然有許多證據顯示監管懸而未決，這體現在銷售週期從三個月擴大到五個月，我們正在處理這個問題。

We stay very, very focused right now on improving our sales execution. As we mentioned earlier, we added some senior leadership there that are making a big difference already. We remain really committed to our long term operating model and our Rule of 40. And as Mark just mentioned, getting to EBITDA positive in the second quarter of 2025.

我們現在非常非常專注於提高我們的銷售執行力。正如我們之前提到的，我們在那裡增加了一些高階領導層，他們已經產生了很大的影響。我們仍然致力於我們的長期營運模式和 40 條規則。正如馬克剛才所提到的，2025 年第二季 EBITDA 為正。

And finally, you know, this is all about our mission, making the world a safer place, for people to live, work, learn and play together, and we feel honored to have that mission in the company. So thank you, everyone.

最後，你知道，這就是我們的使命，讓世界變得更安全，讓人們一起生活、工作、學習和娛樂，我們很榮幸能夠在公司承擔這項使命。謝謝大家。

Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude today's conference. I'd like to thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

好的。女士們、先生們，今天的會議到此結束。我要感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。