FactSet Research Systems Inc. (FDS) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning and welcome to the FactSet Q4 2024 conference call. (Operator Instructions)

早上好，歡迎參加 FactSet 2024 年第四季電話會議。（操作說明）

I would now like to hand the conference over to [Kate Kirby] You may begin.

現在我將會議交給[凱特·柯比]，你可以開始了。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to FactSet's fourth fiscal quarter 2024 earnings call. Before we begin, the slides we'll reference during this presentation can be found through the webcast on the Investor Relations section of our website at factset.com. A replay of today's call will be available on our website.

謝謝大家，大家早安。歡迎參加 FactSet 2024 財年第四季財報電話會議。在開始之前，本次簡報中將要引用的投影片可以透過我們網站 factset.com 投資者關係版塊的網路直播找到。今天電話會議的錄音回放也將在我們的網站上提供。

After our prepared remarks, we will open the call to questions from investors. The call is scheduled to last for one hour. To be fair to everyone, please limit yourself to one question. You may re-enter the queue for additional follow-up questions, which we will take if time permits.

在我們發表完準備好的演講後，我們將開放投資人提問環節。通話預計可持續一小時。為了公平起見，請您只提一個問題。如果您還有其他後續問題，可以重新排隊，我們會在時間允許的情況下解答。

Before we discuss our results, I encourage all listeners to review the legal notice on slide 2, which explains the risk of forward-looking statements and the use of non-GAAP financial measures. Additionally, please refer to Forms 10-K and 10-Q for discussion of risk factors that could cause actual results to differ material from these forward-looking statements. Our slide presentation and discussion on this call will include certain non-GAAP financial measures. For such measures, reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are in the appendix to the presentation in our earnings release issued earlier today. During this call, unless otherwise noted, relative performance matrix reflect changes as compared to respective 2023 period.

在我們討論結果之前，我鼓勵所有聽眾查看第 2 頁的法律聲明，其中解釋了前瞻性聲明的風險以及使用非 GAAP 財務指標的情況。此外，請參閱 10-K 表格和 10-Q 表格，以了解可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性聲明有重大差異的風險因素。本次電話會議的幻燈片演示和討論將涉及一些非GAAP財務指標。對於此類措施，與最直接可比較的 GAAP 措施的調整表位於我們今天早些時候發布的盈利報告的附錄中。在本次電話會議中，除非另有說明，相對績效矩陣反映的是與 2023 年相應時期相比的變化。

Joining me today on the call are Phil Snow, Chief Executive Officer; Helen Shan, Chief Financial Officer; and Gordon Skoko, Chief Revenue Officer.

今天與我一起參加電話會議的有：執行長 Phil Snow；財務長 Helen Shan；以及首席營收長 Gordon Skoko。

I will now turn the discussion over to Phil.

現在我將把討論交給菲爾。

Thank you, Kate, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to share our fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2024 results. We ended fiscal 2024 with organic ASV plus professional services growth of $104 million or 4.8%, which is just above the midpoint of our guidance range provided in June.

謝謝你，凱特，大家早安。我很高興與大家分享我們 2024 財年第四季和全年業績。2024 財年結束時，有機 ASV 加上專業服務增加 1.04 億美元，增幅為 4.8%，略高於我們在 6 月給出的指導範圍的中點。

Annual revenue increased to $2.2 billion, adjusted operating margin to 37.8% and adjusted EPS to $16.45 or 12.3% growth, all above the high end of our most recent guidance. Amidst the ongoing backdrop of macro uncertainty, we continue to see evidence of the green shoots we observed last quarter. These positive trends paired with our solid execution resulted in sales momentum on large deals as we closed out the year. While we remain cautious, I'm encouraged by the reacceleration of our new business and growth to end the fiscal year.

年收入增至 22 億美元，調整後營業利潤率增至 37.8%，調整後每股收益增至 16.45 美元，增長 12.3%，均高於我們最近一次預測的上限。在宏觀經濟持續不確定的大背景下，我們繼續看到上個季度觀察到的復甦跡象。這些正面的趨勢加上我們紮實的執行力，使得我們在年底的大宗交易中取得了銷售成長勢頭。儘管我們仍保持謹慎，但我對我們新業務的重新加速發展以及本財年末的成長感到鼓舞。

Turning now to our financial results. In the fourth quarter, we added $54 million of ASV, which was in line with what we delivered in Q4 last year. This was driven by several large multiyear renewals and seven-figure competitive displacements across multiple firm types. For our organic ASV performance by region, in the Americas, we had 6% growth. Strength from strategic wins in wealth and momentum from long-term renewals on the sell side were offset by softness on the buy side.

現在來看我們的財務表現。第四季度，我們新增了 5,400 萬美元的 ASV，與去年第四季的業績持平。這是由幾項多年期大合約續約和涉及多種類型公司的七位數規模的競爭性更迭所導致的。按地區劃分，我們的有機ASV業績在美洲地區實現了6%的成長。策略性財富收購帶來的強勁勢頭和長期續約帶來的銷售成長勢頭，被買方疲軟所抵消。

In the EMEA region, growth decelerated to 2%. Gains from wealth were offset by headwinds to retention on the buy side across the region as market conditions continue to constrain the budgets of our mid- to large-sized asset manager clients. In particular, 1/3 of the deceleration in the quarter was the result of a cancellation by one large buy-side client. In the Asia Pacific region, we delivered growth of 7%. Wins across wealth with our analytics product suite and data solutions were offset by higher erosion from banking and asset management clients.

在歐洲、中東和非洲地區，成長放緩至 2%。財富成長帶來的收益被整個地區買方客戶留存率下降的不利因素所抵消，因為市場狀況繼續限制我們中大型資產管理客戶的預算。具體來說，本季增速放緩的三分之一是由於一家大型買方客戶取消訂單造成的。在亞太地區，我們實現了 7% 的成長。我們在財富管理領域憑藉分析產品套件和數據解決方案的成功，被來自銀行和資產管理客戶的更大損失所抵銷。

Now looking at trends by firm types. Wealth management was the largest contributor to our ASV growth in fiscal 2024 even with a one-time loss earlier in the year of a client in-sourcing one of our services. In the fourth quarter, we experienced strong demand, and organic ASV growth accelerated to 12% for the year led by multiple large enterprise deals in the long-term renewal.

現在來看看按公司類型劃分的趨勢。即使在年初有一位客戶將我們的一項服務轉為內部營運導致一次性損失的情況下，財富管理仍然是我們 2024 財年 ASV 成長的最大貢獻者。第四季度，我們經歷了強勁的需求，在多筆大型企業長期續約交易的推動下，全年有機平均銷售價值 (ASV) 成長加速至 12%。

These large wins in the fourth quarter build on our competitive displacement of an incumbent at a marquee wirehouse client in the first quarter. In the fourth quarter, we secured a win against the same competitor in the Canadian market, where we now hold significant share with three of the region's top five wealth managers.

第四季取得的這些重大勝利，建立在我們第一季成功取代一家知名券商客戶的現有供應商的基礎上。第四季度，我們在加拿大市場擊敗了同一競爭對手，目前我們在該地區排名前五的財富管理公司中佔據了相當大的市場份額，與其中三家公司建立了合作關係。

Another notable adviser desktop win in Q4 was a significant displacement of a competitor where we are replacing a high number of high-end terminals at a leading private bank. In total, we added over 23,000 adviser desktops in fiscal 2024, representing over 30% growth in seat count to bring our total wealth users to north of 100,000.

第四季另一項值得關注的顧問桌面業務勝利是，我們成功地將一家領先私人銀行的大量高端終端替換為競爭對手的產品。2024 財年，我們總共新增了 23,000 多台顧問桌上型電腦，席位數量增加超過 30%，使我們的財富管理用戶總數超過 10 萬人。

Our wealth workstation has proven to be a differentiator with clients seeking firm-wide enterprise deployments that improve productivity of their advisers. And we believe that FactSet is well positioned to continue our momentum in competitive displacements. As we broaden our offering for wealth managers, we are seeing early success in adjacent workflows. In the fourth quarter, we captured our first enterprise deal in the wealth middle office for performance and managed services.

我們的財富工作站已被證明是其差異化優勢，能夠滿足客戶在全公司範圍內部署、提高顧問工作效率的需求。我們相信，FactSet 已做好充分準備，繼續保持我們在競爭中取而代之的優勢。隨著我們不斷擴大為財富管理機構提供的服務，我們在相鄰的工作流程中也看到了初步的成功。第四季度，我們在財富管理中台領域獲得了第一個企業級交易，涉及績效和管理服務。

We also achieved a significant milestone in the first sale of our conversational API. This large deal powers a leading private wealth client through programmatic access to FactSet Mercury, our gen AI-powered knowledge agent.

我們的對話式 API 也實現了首次銷售，這是一個重要的里程碑。這項大額交易透過程式化方式為一家領先的私人財富客戶提供了使用 FactSet Mercury（我們新一代人工智慧驅動的知識代理）的權限。

In dealmakers, organic ASV growth was 4%. While headwinds impacted this segment earlier in the year, we observed a reacceleration in Q4. This growth was driven by gains from a seven-figure competitive win in banking to displace our main competitor in this space and several multiyear contract renewals and a modest uptick in seasonal hiring. Conversations with our clients indicate a cautious optimism for more normalized hiring in banking in the months to come.

在交易撮合者中，有機ASV成長率為4%。雖然今年早些時候該領域受到不利因素的影響，但我們在第四季度觀察到了重新加速成長。這一增長得益於我們在銀行業競爭中贏得七位數獎金，取代了我們在該領域的主要競爭對手，以及幾份多年合約的續約和季節性招聘的適度增長。與客戶的交流表明，他們對未來幾個月銀行業招聘恢復正常持謹慎樂觀態度。

On the institutional buy side, we faced a backdrop of tighter budgets and vendor consolidation that led to an organic ASV growth rate of 3%. These headwinds persisted throughout the year and were most pronounced for asset managers where higher erosion and the large asset manager cancellation put pressure on retention. While ongoing fee compression continues to be a challenge for the industry, FactSet is among the few players that clients can choose to partner with to help consolidate spend and lower total cost of operations.

在機構買方方面，我們面臨預算緊縮和供應商整合的大環境，導致有機平均銷售價值成長率僅 3%。這些不利因素持續了一整年，對資產管理公司而言最為明顯，較高的侵蝕率和大量資產管理公司取消投資給客戶留存帶來了壓力。儘管持續的費用壓縮仍然是該行業面臨的挑戰，但 FactSet 是少數幾家客戶可以選擇與之合作以幫助整合支出並降低總營運成本的公司之一。

For partnerships in CGS, organic ASV growth was 6%. Softness from partnerships was offset by continued strong performance from CGS. In the fourth quarter, new business and renewal expansions added to growth while a lack of large deals and a significant cancellation were headwinds. As we transition to fiscal 2025, we continue to execute against the strategic multiyear investment plan we outlined last quarter. There are three main pillars driving our focus.

對於 CGS 的合作夥伴關係，有機 ASV 成長率為 6%。伴侶關係帶來的疲軟被 CGS 的持續強勁表現所抵消。第四季度，新業務和續約擴張促進了成長，但缺乏大型交易和大量取消訂單構成了不利因素。隨著我們邁入 2025 財年，我們將繼續執行上個季度所製定的多年策略投資計畫。我們的工作重點主要圍繞在三大支柱。

First, the continued data expansion to finish what we started. Over the past several years, we have executed the largest content expansion in FactSet's history, including deep sector, private markets, and real time. These initiatives have added to the growing universe of proprietary connected data on our platform, which increasingly differentiates FactSet from our competition.

首先，我們將繼續擴充數據，以完成我們已經開始的工作。在過去的幾年裡，我們實現了 FactSet 史上規模最大的內容擴展，包括深度產業、私募市場和即時數據。這些措施豐富了我們平台上的專有關聯數據，使 FactSet 與競爭對手之間的差異日益顯著。

Additionally, these data investments are not only helping us win on renewals, but also driving our success in many of our competitive displacements. The focus of our targeted investments in the upcoming year will be on bringing these offerings to maturity.

此外，這些數據投資不僅幫助我們在續約中獲勝，而且還推動我們在許多競爭性替代項目中取得成功。未來一年，我們的定向投資重點將放在推動這些產品成熟。

Secondly, embed FactSet deeper into client workflows. Across each of the firm types we serve, there is continued runway for us to streamline and simplify our clients' workflows.

其次，將 FactSet 更深入地嵌入到客戶端工作流程中。在我們服務的每種類型的公司中，我們都還有很大的提升空間，可以進一步簡化和優化客戶的工作流程。

For the institutional buy side, we are prioritizing investment in the front office where there is substantial opportunity to leverage our strongholds in portfolio performance, analytics, and risk to deliver differentiated value. With over 5.5 million institutional portfolios representing nearly $30 trillion of AUM flowing through our middle-office systems each night, FactSet is in a privileged position to connect this holdings data with the portfolio workflows of front-office users.

對於機構買方而言，我們優先投資於前台部門，因為這裡有很大的機會利用我們在投資組合表現、分析和風險管理方面的優勢來提供差異化的價值。每晚有超過 550 萬個機構投資組合（代表近 30 兆美元的資產管理規模）透過我們的中台系統流動，FactSet 處於得天獨厚的優勢，可以將這些持倉數據與前台用戶的投資組合工作流程連接起來。

In wealth management, we aim to capture further market share by building on FactSet's growing presence on adviser desktops to expand into adjacent workflows such as prospecting and digital reporting. And finally, for dealmakers, we continue to accelerate engagement with our banking clients to bring next-generation automation to their research, financial modeling, and pitch creation workflows.

在財富管理領域，我們的目標是利用 FactSet 在顧問桌面上日益增長的影響力，進一步拓展到潛在客戶開發和數位報告等相鄰的工作流程，從而獲得更大的市場份額。最後，對於交易撮合者，我們將繼續加快與銀行客戶的合作，為他們的研究、財務建模和方案製作工作流程引入下一代自動化技術。

In addition to optimizing workflows to boost productivity for junior bankers among whom FactSet has a strong and loyal following, we are also investing to expand on our technology-driven differentiation for senior professionals.

除了優化工作流程以提高初級銀行家的生產力（FactSet 在初級銀行家群體中擁有強大的忠實擁躉）之外，我們還在投資擴大我們面向高級專業人士的技術驅動型差異化優勢。

The third pillar is accelerating innovation through generative AI. A fundamental element of our strategy is executing on our AI roadmap. Since announcing FactSet Mercury and our AI Blueprint late last year, we have focused on integrating generative AI directly into our clients' workflows and enhancing their overall FactSet experience.

第三大支柱是透過生成式人工智慧加速創新。我們策略的一個基本要素是執行我們的人工智慧路線圖。自從去年底發布 Fa​​ctSet Mercury 和我們的 AI Blueprint 以來，我們一直致力於將生成式 AI 直接整合到客戶的工作流程中，並增強他們整體的 FactSet 體驗。

There are early signs that FactSet's differentiated open ecosystem approach to gen AI is resonating, and our investments in this area are already paying off. Earlier this year, we launched multiple new gen AI-powered solutions, including portfolio commentary, transcript assistance, and conversational API powered by Mercury. And we are seeing meaningful usage of each by clients, which is starting to drive incremental ASV and improve retention.

有早期跡象表明，FactSet 差異化的開放生態系統人工智慧方法正在引起共鳴，我們在該領域的投資已經開始獲得回報。今年早些時候，我們推出了多款新一代人工智慧解決方案，包括投資組合評論、轉錄輔助和由 Mercury 提供支援的對話式 API。我們看到客戶對每項服務都有了有意義的使用，這開始推動平均銷售價值 (ASV) 的成長並提高客戶留存率。

I look forward to sharing more on our gen AI progress at our recently announced Investor Day on November 14, including a number of exciting new AI products available in beta release through FactSet Explorer, our product preview program, which has now expanded to over 50 clients across banking, buy side, and wealth.

我期待在最近宣布的 11 月 14 日投資者日上分享更多關於我們新一代人工智慧進展的信息，包括透過我們的產品預覽計劃 FactSet Explorer 提供測試版的一系列令人興奮的新人工智慧產品。該計劃目前已擴展到銀行、買方和財富管理領域的 50 多家客戶。

In addition to our own efforts, we are enabling third-party developers and technologists to build their own proprietary workflows on top of FactSet's data and technology. Through our AI partner program and gen AI data packages, we are providing programmatic access to our curated content and incubating an ecosystem of fintech firms who need data to fuel their solutions.

除了我們自身的努力之外，我們還幫助第三方開發人員和技術人員在 FactSet 的資料和技術之上建立自己的專有工作流程。透過我們的 AI 合作夥伴計劃和 gen AI 數據包，我們正在提供對我們精選內容的程序化訪問，並孵化一個需要數據來推動其解決方案的金融科技公司生態系統。

In summary, I'm pleased with how our team closed out the year in a challenging market environment. In the face of industry headwinds, FactSet continues to be a trusted partner that clients can depend on to reduce their total cost of ownership.

總而言之，我對我們團隊在充滿挑戰的市場環境下完成這一年的工作感到滿意。面對產業逆風，FactSet 仍然是客戶可以信賴的合作夥伴，能夠幫助他們降低整體擁有成本。

With our open platform, flexible approach, and history of innovation, we see tremendous opportunity in helping clients modernize away from incumbent processes to get out of legacy technology and data debt. We are well placed to meet this demand with our broad enterprise offering across data, workflow solutions, and services.

憑藉我們的開放平台、靈活的方法和創新歷史，我們看到了幫助客戶擺脫現有流程、實現現代化，從而擺脫遺留技術和資料債務的巨大機會。我們擁有涵蓋數據、工作流程解決方案和服務的廣泛企業級產品，完全有能力滿足這項需求。

We are guiding to organic ASV growth of 5% at the midpoint for the upcoming fiscal year, balancing a more muted outlook in the first half of the year with improvement in the second half. We're encouraged by the nascent market recovery and our solid execution this past quarter. This is positive momentum to build on, and I'm excited about our opportunity ahead. Over our 40-plus-year history, FactSet has delivered a consistent track record of sustainable long-term growth. We remain committed to expense discipline and deploying capital responsibly to balance the trade-off between reinvesting to accelerate growth and expanding margins.

我們預期下一財年有機平均銷售價值 (ASV) 成長率中位數為 5%，上半年預期較為疲軟，但下半年預期會改善。市場初步復甦以及上個季度我們穩健的業績表現都令我們倍感鼓舞。這是一個值得我們繼續保持的積極勢頭，我對我們未來的機會感到興奮。在超過 40 年的發展歷程中，FactSet 一直保持著可持續的長期成長記錄。我們將繼續堅持成本控制和負責任地運用資本，以平衡再投資加速成長和擴大利潤率之間的權衡。

I will now turn it over to Helen to discuss our fourth quarter and full-year performance in more detail and take you through our fiscal 2025 guidance.

現在我將把發言權交給海倫，讓她更詳細地討論我們第四季和全年的業績，並向大家介紹我們 2025 財年的業績指引。

Thank you, Phil, and hello to everyone. As highlighted in this morning's press release, the fourth quarter proved to be our highest in terms of ASV growth.

謝謝你，菲爾，大家好。正如今天早上的新聞稿中所強調的，第四季度是我們 ASV 成長最快的季度。

In the fourth quarter, we added $53.5 million of organic ASV, in line with last year's results, bringing our annual total to $104.4 million, slightly above our June guidance midpoint. This result is a 4.8% year-over-year increase in organic ASV plus professional services.

第四季度，我們新增了 5,350 萬美元的有機 ASV，與去年同期業績一致，使我們的年度總額達到 1.044 億美元，略高於我們 6 月份的預期中位數。這項結果是，有機ASV加上專業服務年增了4.8%。

In fiscal 2024, we grew revenue 5.7% on an organic basis, extending our record to 44 consecutive years of topline growth and showcasing our resilience during periods of market volatility. We improved adjusted margins and EPS, exceeding the top end of our most recent guidance, though GAAP margins and EPS was affected by a one-time item, which I will address later.

在 2024 財年，我們的營收實現了 5.7% 的有機成長，連續 44 年保持營收成長，展現了我們在市場波動時期的韌性。我們提高了調整後的利潤率和每股收益，超過了我們最近一次預測的上限，儘管 GAAP 利潤率和每股收益受到一次性項目的影響，我稍後會對此進行說明。

First, our quarterly results. As we noted at the beginning of the call, reconciliation of our adjusted metrics to comparable GAAP figures is at the end of our press release. GAAP revenues increased 5% to $562 million driven by sales in wealth, banking, asset managers, and asset owners.

首先，我們公佈季度業績。正如我們在電話會議開始時所指出的，我們調整後的指標與可比較 GAAP 數據的核對結果位於我們新聞稿的末尾。GAAP 收入成長 5% 至 5.62 億美元，主要得益於財富管理、銀行業務、資產管理公司和資產所有者的銷售成​​長。

Organic revenues, excluding foreign exchange movements and any acquisitions and dispositions over the past 12 months, increased 5% to $563 million. For our geographic segments, organic revenues grew by 6% in the Americas, 3% in EMEA, and 6% in Asia Pacific.

不計外匯波動以及過去 12 個月內的任何收購和處置，有機收入成長 5%，達到 5.63 億美元。從地理區域來看，美洲地區的有機收入成長了 6%，歐洲、中東和非洲地區成長了 3%，亞太地區成長了 6%。

For the fourth quarter, GAAP operating expenses increased 3% year over year to $434 million with lower compensation expenses primarily offset by a one-time $54 million charge related to a Massachusetts sales tax dispute, which we have disclosed in previous filings. We do not anticipate taking additional material charges with respect to this matter. On an adjusted basis, operating expenses grew 1%.

第四季度，GAAP 營運費用年增 3% 至 4.34 億美元，其中薪資支出減少主要被與馬薩諸塞州銷售稅糾紛相關的一次性 5,400 萬美元費用所抵消，我們在先前的文件中披露了這筆費用。我們預計不會就此事收取額外的實質費用。經調整後，營運費用增加了 1%。

Looking at each of our four major cost categories in turn, technology costs, our main expense driver, increased 20% year over year in the fourth quarter mainly due to higher amortization of internal use software and increased investment in generative AI. For the year, technology cost was about 9% of revenue.

依序查看我們的四大成本類別，技術成本（我們的主要支出驅動因素）在第四季度同比增長 20%，這主要是由於內部使用軟體的攤銷增加以及對生成式人工智慧的投資增加。該年度技術成本約佔收入的 9%。

Conversely, employee expense decreased by 7% year over year in the fourth quarter driven by lower compensation expenses due to earlier cost reduction efforts and a lower bonus accrual. For the year, our people expense was 39% of revenue, down 300 basis points from the prior year. We ended the year with a bonus pool of $86 million, 13% lower than last year. And as a reminder, 69% of our employees are located in our centers of excellence.

相反，由於前期成本削減措施和獎金提列減少，導致薪資支出降低，第四季度員工支出較去年同期下降了 7%。本年度，我們的人員費用佔收入的 39%，比前一年下降了 300 個基點。我們年底的獎金總額為 8,600 萬美元，比前一年減少了 13%。另外提醒大家，我們 69% 的員工位於我們的卓越中心。

Third-party content costs rose by 15% year over year in the quarter due to changes in the timing of variable fees and remained at 5% of revenues. Real estate and related expenses decreased 9% year over year in the quarter due to office space optimization. For the year, these expenses declined to 3% of revenues, 50 basis points lower than the prior year.

由於變動費用的支付時間發生變化，第三方內容成本在本季年增 15%，佔營收的 5%。由於辦公空間優化，本季房地產及相關費用年減 9%。本年度，這些支出下降至收入的 3%，比前一年減少了 50 個基點。

Our deliberate expense management is positioning FactSet for future growth by allowing us to self-fund additional investments in technology and strategic initiatives in fiscal year 2025. As compared to the previous year, Q4 GAAP operating margin increased by approximately 110 basis points to 22.7% from reduced employee compensation costs and revenue growth, offset partly by a Massachusetts sales tax charge.

我們審慎的費用管理使 FactSet 能夠為未來的成長做好準備，使我們能夠在 2025 財年自籌資金對技術和策略措施進行額外投資。與去年同期相比，第四季 GAAP 營業利潤率成長約 110 個基點至 22.7%，主要得益於員工薪資成本降低和收入成長，但部分被麻州銷售稅費用抵銷。

Adjusted operating margin improved by 240 basis points to 35.8% from lower bonus accrual and salaries, partially offset by higher technology costs. A detailed expense walk from revenue to adjusted operating income is in the appendix of today's earnings presentation.

經調整後的營業利潤率提高了 240 個基點，達到 35.8%，這主要得益於獎金提列和工資的減少，但部分被更高的技術成本所抵消。今天發布的盈利報告附錄中詳細列出了從收入到調整後營業收入的費用明細。

Cost of services as a percentage of revenue declined 330 basis points year over year on a GAAP basis primarily due to lower compensation expense, partially offset by increased intangible amortization. Adjusted cost of services was lower by approximately 40 basis points.

以美國通用會計準則 (GAAP) 計算，服務成本佔收入的百分比年減 330 個基點，主要原因是薪資支出減少，但部分被無形資產攤銷增加所抵銷。調整後的服務成本降低了約 40 個基點。

And in the fourth quarter, SG&A as a percentage of revenue was 620 basis points higher year over year on a GAAP basis primarily due to a $54 million Massachusetts sales tax charge. Adjusted SG&A was approximately 200 basis points lower primarily due to lower compensation expense.

第四季度，以美國通用會計準則計算，銷售、一般及行政費用佔收入的百分比比上年同期高出 620 個基點，這主要是由於 5,400 萬美元的馬薩諸塞州銷售稅支出。調整後的銷售、一般及行政費用下降約 200 個基點，主要原因是薪資支出減少。

Turning to taxes. Our effective tax rate for the fourth quarter was 23.6%, down from approximately 39% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. This decrease was primarily due to the inclusion of a prior-year tax adjustment.

接下來談談稅務問題。我們第四季的實際稅率為 23.6%，低於 2023 財年第四季的約 39%。這一減少主要是由於計入了上一年的稅收調整。

Our GAAP EPS increased 38.1% to $2.32 this quarter versus $1.68 in the prior-year period. This was due to a decrease in employee compensation costs and an increase in revenues, partially offset by charges related to a Massachusetts sales tax dispute. Adjusted EPS rose by 23.8% to $3.74 from revenue growth, margin expansion, and a lower tax rate.

本季我們的 GAAP 每股盈餘成長 38.1% 至 2.32 美元，去年同期為 1.68 美元。這是由於員工薪酬成本下降和收入增加所致，但部分被與馬薩諸塞州銷售稅糾紛相關的費用所抵消。受收入成長、利潤率擴張和稅率降低的影響，調整後每股收益成長 23.8% 至 3.74 美元。

Free cash flow, which we define as cash generated from operations less capital spending, was $137 million for the quarter, a decrease of 12% over the same period last year. The drivers are lower net cash from operating activities and increased capital expenditures. Fiscal 2024 free cash flow was $615 million, an increase of 5% over the prior year.

自由現金流（我們定義為經營活動產生的現金減去資本支出）本季為 1.37 億美元，比去年同期下降了 12%。驅動因素是經營活動產生的淨現金流量減少和資本支出增加。2024 財年自由現金流為 6.15 億美元，較上年成長 5%。

Demand for our solutions remained steady with a fourth-quarter ASV retention rate of over 95% and a client retention at 90%. Through the fiscal year, we expanded our client base to over 8,200, adding 296 new logos. Concurrently, our user count increased 14%, adding over 26,000 to our total driven primarily by wealth and dealmakers.

對我們解決方案的需求保持穩定，第四季度 ASV 留存率超過 95%，客戶留存率達到 90%。在本財年內，我們的客戶群擴大到 8,200 多家，新增了 296 個標誌。同時，我們的用戶數量增加了 14%，總用戶數增加了 26,000 多人，這主要得益於富裕人士和交易撮合者。

On capital return for the quarter, we repurchased 153,650 shares for approximately $63 million at an average share price of $412.09. For fiscal 2024, we bought back a total of 537,800 shares for approximately $235 million at an average price of $437.40.

本季資本回報方面，我們以平均每股 412.09 美元的價格回購了 153,650 股股票，總額約為 6,300 萬美元。 2024 財年，我們以平均每股 437.40 美元的價格回購了總計 537,800 股股票，總額約為 2.35 億美元。

On September 17, 2024, the Board of Directors of FactSet approved a new share repurchase authorization for up to $300 million. We paid a quarterly dividend of $1.04 per share today to holders of record as of August 30, 2024.

2024 年 9 月 17 日，FactSet 董事會批准了一項新的股票回購授權，金額高達 3 億美元。今天，我們向截至 2024 年 8 月 30 日登記在冊的股東派發了每股 1.04 美元的季度股息。

As a reminder, we increased our dividend by 6% in the third quarter, marking the 25th consecutive year of dividend increases. We remain committed to returning long-term value to our shareholders. Over the last 12 months, we have returned $386 million to our shareholders.

再次提醒大家，我們在第三季將股利提高了 6%，這標誌著我們連續第 25 年提高股利。我們始終致力於為股東創造長期價值。過去 12 個月，我們已向股東返還了 3.86 億美元。

In the fourth quarter, we paid down $62.5 million of our term loan, reducing our gross leverage to 1.6 times. This is consistent with our plan to repay the term loan in full by the second quarter of fiscal 2025.

第四季度，我們償還了 6,250 萬美元的定期貸款，使我們的總槓桿率降至 1.6 倍。這與我們計劃在 2025 財年第二季之前全額償還定期貸款的計劃相符。

And finally, turning to our guidance for fiscal 2025. As Phil mentioned earlier, we anticipate growth accelerating as the year progresses, the next six months aligning with current conditions, and the balance of the fiscal year improving from more favorable financial markets, execution on several longstanding large opportunities, and new demand for our gen AI products and enterprise solutions.

最後，讓我們來看看 2025 財年的業績指引。正如菲爾之前提到的，我們預計隨著今年的推進，成長速度將會加快，未來六個月將與當前情況相符，而本財年的剩餘時間將受益於更有利的金融市場、幾個長期存在的重大機遇的實現，以及對我們新一代人工智慧產品和企業解決方案的新需求。

Our views are supported by a first-half sales pipeline that is comparable to last year. We foresee sustained momentum in wealth, subdued activity in banking, and modest improvement on the buy side. While we anticipate continued pressure on client budgets, we believe the overall pace of erosion will begin to moderate.

我們的觀點得到了上半年銷售業績的佐證，該業績與去年同期持平。我們預期財富成長動能持續，銀行業活動將較為低迷，而買方市場將略有改善。雖然我們預期客戶預算將繼續面臨壓力，但我們相信整體下滑速度將會開始放緩。

Given these expectations, we are guiding to incremental organic ASV growth of $90 million to $140 million, reflecting a 5% growth rate at the midpoint of our range. We expect adjusted operating margin of 36% to 37%. This range includes higher technology and content costs, the reset of the bonus pool, and targeted investments in banking and buy-side workflows, offset by lower controllable costs such as just professional services.

鑑於這些預期，我們預計有機 ASV 增量將達到 9,000 萬美元至 1.4 億美元，相當於我們預期範圍中點的 5% 成長率。我們預計調整後的營業利潤率為 36% 至 37%。這個範圍包括更高的技術和內容成本、獎金池的重置以及對銀行和買方工作流程的定向投資，但可控成本（例如專業服務）會相應降低。

We are committed to maintaining expense discipline while also investing strategically to increase revenue and ensure earnings growth. Finally, adjusted EPS is expected to be in the range of $16.80 to $17.40.

我們致力於在保持成本控制的同時，進行策略性投資以增加收入並確保獲利成長。最後，調整後的每股盈餘預計在 16.80 美元至 17.40 美元之間。

With respect to additional modeling assumptions for fiscal 2025, we expect interest expense to be between $44 million to $48 million. And we expect capital expenditures to be in the range of $95 million to $105 million.

關於 2025 財年的其他建模假設，我們預計利息支出將在 4,400 萬美元至 4,800 萬美元之間。我們預計資本支出將在 9,500 萬美元至 1.05 億美元之間。

We remain positive about growth opportunities, particularly in wealth and buy-side solutions. By executing our generative AI roadmap, expanding connected content, and integrating FactSet further into our clients' workflows, we aim to increase market share and enhance client retention. We are committed to supporting our teams with the tools and knowledge they need to ensure we remain the partner of choice.

我們對成長機會依然保持樂觀，尤其是在財富管理和買方解決方案領域。透過執行我們的生成式人工智慧路線圖，擴展互聯內容，並將 FactSet 進一步整合到客戶的工作流程中，我們旨在提高市場份額並增強客戶留存率。我們致力於為團隊提供所需的工具和知識，以確保我們始終是客戶的首選合作夥伴。

We are now ready for your questions. Operator?

現在我們準備好回答您的問題了。操作員？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Toni Kaplan, Morgan Stanley.

東尼卡普蘭，摩根士丹利。

I think this question is for both maybe Phil and Helen. You've had a very significant period of margin expansion since 2021. And when we look forward, just given the balancing act that you mentioned of investment versus margin, should we view '25 as representative of a normal year? Or how should we be thinking about margins over the long term?

我覺得這個問題可能既適合菲爾也適合海倫。自 2021 年以來，你們的利潤率實現了非常顯著的成長。展望未來，考慮到您提到的投資與利潤之間的平衡問題，我們是否應該將 2025 年視為正常年份的代表？或者，我們該如何看待長期利潤率？

Toni, I'll start, and I think Helen will have quite a bit to unpack there. I say this is probably a bit of a reset year. We've obviously expanded margins significantly. As you mentioned, I think the CUSIP acquisition, obviously, was a tailwind for us there.

東尼，我先來，我想海倫需要好好梳理一下這裡面的內容。我認為今年可能是個重新開始的年份。我們顯然大幅提高了利潤率。正如您所提到的，我認為 CUSIP 的收購顯然對我們來說是一個利好因素。

But we have ended up, I believe, beyond what we've set out at the previous Investor Day, which was a little over two years ago. So we do believe we're investing well. We've had some longstanding programs that are fully funded. And through our own efforts of being more efficient and self-funding, we feel we're in a great position to continue to invest.

但我相信，我們最終的成就已經超過了我們在兩年多前的上一次投資者日上設定的目標。所以我們相信我們的投資是正確的。我們有一些長期開展且資金充足的項目。透過我們自身努力提高效率和實現自籌資金，我們感到我們有能力繼續投資。

But Helen, why don't you provide a little bit more detail, please?

海倫，你能不能再詳細說說？

Yeah. No, happy to do that. Thanks, Toni. So we took expense actions in 2024 to really help expand margin in what was a challenging topline environment. And quite frankly, as Phil said, we are higher than what we had originally aimed for in our medium-term outlook, which is 35 to 36.

是的。不，我很樂意這麼做。謝謝你，托尼。因此，我們在 2024 年採取了費用控制措施，以真正幫助在充滿挑戰的營收環境下擴大利潤率。坦白說，正如菲爾所說，我們目前的水平高於我們最初在中期展望中設定的目標，即 35 到 36。

We've also worked to reduce spend in absolute terms in targeted areas like real estate. And we've managed down variable expenses when needed, like on incentive compensation.

我們也努力在房地產等特定領域減少絕對支出。我們也根據需要降低了變動費用，例如激勵性薪酬。

So I think when you think about the difference of margin between the midpoint of '25 and where we ended '24, about half of that is attributable to resetting the bonus level because it's meant to be reset for our new -- for the new year. And the balance is really to help cover technology cost, and so I would look at this as a more normalized level.

所以我認為，當你考慮 2025 年年中和 2024 年年末之間的利潤率差異時，大約一半的差異可以歸因於獎金水平的重置，因為它是為了迎接新的一年而重置的。而保持平衡實際上是為了幫助支付技術成本，所以我認為這是一種更正常的水平。

Now we are doing a fair amount of investing as well. And all of that, as I mentioned in the script, is very much self-funded. So that's already in the rate that we're giving in our guidance.

現在我們也進行了一些投資。正如我在劇本中提到的，這一切都是自籌資金的。所以，這已經包含在我們給的指導利率中了。

Ashish Sabadra, RBC.

阿什什·薩巴德拉，RBC。

I wanted to follow up on the prepared remarks about improvement in the second half or the growth accelerating as the year progresses. Despite that second half '25 progress, the 2025 ASV guide implies no improvement compared to like 2024 despite potentially better macro with Fed cutting rates. So I just wanted to understand what's your macro and pricing assumptions baked into guidance?

我想就下半年情況好轉或隨著年際發展成長速度加快等準備好的發言補充一些內容。儘管 2025 年下半年取得了進展，但 2025 年 ASV 指南表明，儘管聯準會降息可能會改善宏觀經濟狀況，但與 2024 年相比，情況並沒有改善。所以我想了解一下，你們的業績指引包含了哪些宏觀經濟和定價的假設？

We do see out for the next few months the continuation of some of the headwinds we've experienced, frankly, for the last two years, but we are beginning to see some green shoots. So I think we saw a modest uptick in banking hiring in Q4. And obviously, we had a lot of really great significant wins in Q4, which the team did a great job of closing.

坦白說，未來幾個月我們仍將面臨過去兩年來的一些不利因素，但我們也開始看到一些好轉的跡象。所以我認為我們在第四季度看到了銀行業招聘的小幅增長。顯然，我們在第四季取得了許多非常重要的勝利，團隊在結束階段也做得非常好。

And it was very encouraging that our largest clients were really working very quickly with us through that period, which I think is great indicator of how much they want to work with us moving forward. And as you know, FactSet traditionally has been a tale of two halves. We typically have a much larger second half than first half.

令人鼓舞的是，我們最大的客戶在那段時間與我們合作得非常迅速，我認為這很好地表明了他們未來與我們合作的意願。如您所知，FactSet 一直以來都是由兩部分組成的。通常情況下，下半場的規模比上半場大得多。

So I think we're -- we think that's the best balance. We do think that once we get through the end of the calendar year, clients will have had a chance to reset their budgets. And I would think most of the uncertainty that has been out there in the market will be behind us. So that's quite a bit of our thinking.

所以我覺得——我們認為這是最佳平衡點。我們認為，一旦到了年底，客戶就有機會重新調整他們的預算。我認為市場上大部分的不確定因素都將過去。這就是我們的一些想法。

I don't know, Goran or Helen, if you wanted to add on to that.

戈蘭或海倫，我不知道你們是否想補充什麼。

The only thing I would add to what Phil said is that I think we have a good product pipeline. And I think we had recent product launches that will contribute to our acceleration in the second half. We had some sales of those products in the fourth quarter, which further proved that point, but really are hoping to build the pipeline in the first half and realize sales in the second half. So we do expect by the second half in 2025 as we usually have.

我唯一想補充的是，菲爾所說的我們擁有良好的產品線。我認為我們近期推出的產品將有助於我們在下半年加速發展。我們在第四季度實現了這些產品的部分銷售，這進一步證明了這一點，但我們真正希望的是在上半年建立銷售管道，並在下半年實現銷售。因此，我們預計到 2025 年下半年，將如往常一樣實現這一目標。

Alex Kramm, UBS.

Alex Kramm，瑞銀集團。

I guess just very quickly on the buy side, maybe you can flush out your comments a little bit more. One, you mentioned a large asset management cancel this quarter. Can you maybe give a little bit more background? It seems like in asset management, you usually have a very sticky offering and not a lot of competitive threats, so just wondering what's going on there.

我想就買方方面快速補充一下，或許您可以再詳細闡述您的意見。第一，您提到本季有一筆大型資產管理取消交易。您能否再提供一些背景資訊？資產管理領域似乎通常產品黏性很強，競爭威脅也不大，所以我想知道這是怎麼回事。

And then overall, the asset management environment looks like headcount reductions or hiring is stabilizing. So are you seeing some of that already? Or is it still too early to kind of get more positive on that end market?

整體而言，資產管理環境看起來裁員或招募正在趨於穩定。所以你已經看到一些這樣的情況了嗎？或者現在對終端市場持更樂觀的態度還為時過早？

Thanks, Alex. So yeah, let me address the first part, which was that cancel. Yeah, every now and then, obviously, we're going to face a large cancel. And I think this one was probably just due to a firm needing to consolidate and being under cost pressure.

謝謝你，亞歷克斯。是的，讓我先說第一部分，也就是取消的事情。是的，很顯然，我們時不時會遇到大規模的取消訂單。我認為這很可能是因為公司需要整合資源，面臨成本壓力。

But maybe what I'll do is just give you a little bit more data than we have in the past on our top 10 versus bottom 10 wins for the year. So if I look at our top 10 largest ASV wins for the entire fiscal year, 9 of those were against competitors. And 7 of them were against our top 4 competitors, which I think are well understood.

但我或許可以做的，是提供一些比以往更多的數據，來比較我們今年勝場數排名前 10 和排名後 10 的比賽。因此，如果我查看我們整個財年中最大的 10 場 ASV 勝利，其中 9 場都是戰勝競爭對手取得的。其中 7 場是對上我們前 4 名的競爭對手，我想這一點大家應該很清楚。

And 4 of those displacements had over 700 seats added for FactSet. In the bottom 10 deals, 6 were lost to competitors, but only 3 of them were to our major competitors. And 4 of the bottom 10 deals were the result of M&A of closure.

其中 4 個安置點為 FactSet 增加了 700 多個座位。在排名墊底的 10 筆交易中，有 6 筆輸給了競爭對手，但其中只有 3 筆輸給了我們的主要競爭對手。排名墊底的 10 筆交易中有 4 筆是併購或清算的結果。

So I think there is a consolidation and cost pressure in the industries. On the buy side, in particular, when they look to really stitch together the front, middle and back office, we're going to win some, lose some on that. And this was a case where we lost. But in our top 10 deals, there was one which was the opposite, where we won against the same competitor.

所以我認為各行業都面臨整合和成本壓力。尤其是在買方方面，當他們真正想要把前台、中台和後台整合起來的時候，我們會有所收穫，也會有所損失。而這一次，我們輸了。但在我們排名前 10 的交易中，有一筆交易恰恰相反，我們擊敗了同一個競爭對手。

The second part of your question, anecdotally, I would say it is becoming more constructive on the buy side. When I meet with the C-suite on the buy side, it feels like there's an appetite to continue to do the transformation. But the cost pressures are there, honestly, and it's really up to us to execute against that.

關於你問題的第二部分，就我個人觀察而言，我認為買方方面正變得越來越有建設性。當我與買方的高階主管會面時，感覺他們有意願繼續轉型。但說實話，成本壓力確實存在，能否應付這些壓力真的取決於我們自己。

Yes. And I might add a little bit to that. As we think about the buy side, one of the areas that we're seeing continued demand is on the managed services, which is really not -- it's more of an enterprise, not a seat-based type of solution we provide. So it had some strength in '23, and we continue to see that grow again in '24. So we would probably look to that as one of the drivers of buy side going forward.

是的。我可能還會補充一點。當我們考慮買方市場時，我們發現持續的需求領域之一是託管服務，而我們提供的實際上並非基於席位的解決方案，而是一種企業級解決方案。所以它在 2023 年表現出一定的實力，而且我們看到它在 2024 年繼續成長。因此，我們可能會將其視為未來買方市場發展的驅動因素之一。

Manav Patnaik, Barclays.

馬納夫·帕特奈克，巴克萊銀行。

I just wanted to follow up on the strong performance in CGS that you called out in your prepared remarks, Phil, I guess how fast has CUSIP been growing? I imagine with all the headlines in CDs, it's a pretty big number. So just curious if you could give us the update on how fast it grew this year, I guess what percentage of the business it is and what you've assumed for '25?

Phil，我想就您在準備好的發言稿中提到的 CGS 的強勁表​​現再補充一點，我想問一下 CUSIP 的增長速度如何？我想，如果把所有新聞標題都收錄到 CD 裡，數量肯定相當龐大。所以，我很好奇您能否告知我們今年的成長速度，以及它佔業務的百分比，還有您對 2025 年的預期？

Yes. Thanks, Manav. So yes, we don't break that out, but it is a significant portion of the partners business line, which we broke out, I think, earlier in the slide. So that compared with FactSet's traditional partners business grew in aggregate at 6%.

是的。謝謝，馬納夫。所以，是的，我們沒有單獨列出這部分，但這部分是合作夥伴業務線的重要組成部分，我想我們在前面的幻燈片中已經單獨列出過了。因此，與 FactSet 的傳統合作夥伴業務相比，該業務總體成長了 6%。

CUSIP really drove the growth. We did have a couple of partnerships that have been significant in the past, where we lost some ASV there. So I think you can probably triangulate what happened there.

CUSIP 真正推動了成長。我們過去確實有過一些重要的合作關係，但也因此損失了一些ASV。所以我覺得你大概可以推斷那裡發生了什麼事。

The CUSIP team did a great job this year executing. And I'm really encouraged by the pace of new development there in terms of their thinking. So I guess maybe we can talk a bit more about that later, but that's about all we can talk about right now.

CUSIP團隊今年的執行工作非常出色。他們的思考方式和發展速度真的讓我很受鼓舞。所以我想我們以後或許可以再多談談這個話題，但現在只能談這些了。

Faiza Alwy, Deutsche Bank.

Faiza Alwy，德意志銀行。

Yes. So I wanted to ask about the ASV guide for '25. You're not baking in sort of any type of acceleration, which seems prudent. But I'm curious how you would characterize that? Is it more conservatism on your end?

是的。所以我想問一下關於 2025 年 ASV 指南的問題。你沒有加入任何類型的加速，這似乎是明智之舉。但我很好奇你會如何描述這種情況？你那邊是不是比較保守一些？

Are you seeing sort of anything in the marketplace that's leading you to believe that things won't change?

你在市場上是否看到任何跡象，讓你覺得現狀不會改變？

And then I know you have your Investor Day coming up. So maybe give us a preview of how we should think about a more normalized ASV growth for the company.

我知道你們即將舉辦投資者日活動。那麼，或許可以給我們預告一下，我們該如何看待公司更正常的ASV成長。

Yes. Thanks, Faiza. So yes, so as I already mentioned, we're seeing a bit of a headwind here as we sort of finish out the year, but we're much more optimistic about the second half. So we provided a range. I do think there's an opportunity to do better for sure.

是的。謝謝你，法伊札。是的，正如我之前提到的，隨著年底臨近，我們確實遇到了一些阻力，但我們對下半年更加樂觀。因此我們提供了一個範圍。我確實認為我們有機會做得更好。

I'm really encouraged by what we're seeing on the generative AI front. So that's a bit of a wildcard that we're beginning to monetize that, and we have a great pipeline. So if that begins to come in or accumulate at a faster rate, I do think that, that would be encouraging.

我對我們在生成式人工智慧領域看到的發展感到非常鼓舞。所以這有點像個未知數，我們正在開始將其貨幣化，而且我們擁有一個很棒的管道。所以，如果這種情況開始以更快的速度出現或積累，我認為這將是一個令人鼓舞的消息。

Someone mentioned hiring. Historically, we have been very highly correlated to hiring on the buy side and the sell side. I think if sell-side hiring goes up faster than we have anticipated, and we have been pretty conservative there on the sell side, I think that could certainly be a tailwind for us in this year.

有人提到了招募。從歷史數據來看，我們與買方和賣方的招募都高度相關。我認為，如果賣方招募速度超過我們的預期（而我們在賣方方面一直相當保守），那麼這肯定會成為我們今年的利多因素。

But do remember that particularly for some of these larger deals, it's a pretty long sales cycle as we go at the enterprise level now. And I think at Investor Day, we'll be sharing more. We can't say too much now.

但請記住，特別是對於一些較大的交易而言，隨著我們進入企業級市場，銷售週期會相當長。我認為在投資者日上，我們會分享更多資訊。我們現在不便透露太多。

But what I do want to stress is the team is most focused on the top line, right? So that's what we want to do. We're not happy growing at 5%. We want to grow faster, and that's going to be our main focus and what we'll talk more about at Investor Day.

但我想要強調的是，團隊最關注的是營收，對吧？所以這就是我們想做的事。我們對 5% 的成長率並不滿意。我們希望實現更快的成長，這將是我們的主要關注點，也是我們將在投資者日上重點討論的內容。

Kelsey Zhu, Autonomous.

Kelsey Zhu，自主。

So you've previously talked about gen AI kind of expected to start delivering incremental ASV in FY25. I'm assuming that's already included in the 4% to 6% ASV growth guidance. But just curious, have you sized the impact of gen AI investments for both ASV and expense outlook for the next few years?

所以你之前談過，預計人工智慧將在 2025 財年開始逐步交付 ASV。我假設這已經包含在 4% 到 6% 的 ASV 成長預期中了。但我很好奇，您是否評估過人工智慧世代投資對未來幾年平均銷售額和支出前景的影響？

Sure. Why don't I take a shot at that one? Thanks, Kelsey. So when we think about the impact that gen AI I may have, that's why as Phil mentioned, we're looking more at the back half of the year. So that's when a lot of our new solutions that are powered by gen AI will come out in the first half, so then we'll be able to have a better perspective of that.

當然。我為什麼不試試呢？謝謝你，凱爾西。所以，當我們思考第一代人工智慧可能產生的影響時，正如菲爾所提到的，我們更關注的是今年下半年。所以，我們許多由新一代人工智慧驅動的新解決方案將在上半年推出，屆時我們將能夠更了解這些解決方案。

It is baked in our guidance range, and that's why we're talking about it being the first half more in current conditions and the second half boosted by what we hope will be stronger capital markets activity and demand for the new products as well as enterprise and ideally, as we talked about some of the green shoots of reduced erosion.

這已體現在我們的指導範圍內，因此我們認為上半年業績更多地受到當前形勢的影響，而下半年業績則有望受益於我們希望更加活躍的資本市場活動和對新產品及企業的需求，理想情況下，正如我們之前提到的，侵蝕減少的一些跡像也將推動業績增長。

So when I think about how much that's baked in there, we'll see somewhere between maybe 30 to 50 basis points is where we might see that come through.

所以，當我考慮到其中蘊含的因素時，我們可能會看到大約 30 到 50 個基點的影響顯現出來。

As it relates to the expense side, I think right now, when I look at the total amount of investments that we're making, I would call it about 50-plus basis points also attributed to gen AI, both what we've been investing in, what we're going to continue to invest into the 2025.

就支出方面而言，我認為目前，當我審視我們所做的投資總額時，我認為其中大約有 50 多個基點也歸因於人工智慧，包括我們一直在投資的，以及我們將在 2025 年繼續投資的。

Surinder Thind, Jefferies.

蘇林德‧辛德，傑富瑞。

With respect to the ASV guide, how should we think about the current pricing environment and what's built into the guide? And then related to pricing, how does something like FactSet Mercury or your AI offering, how do you price that?

關於 ASV 指南，我們應該如何看待目前的定價環境以及指南中包含的內容？那麼，關於定價，像是 FactSet Mercury 或你們的 AI 產品，你們是如何定價的呢？

Sure. I'm sorry, what was the second part of your question?

當然。抱歉，您的問題第二部分是什麼？

I'll take the second part.

我來做第二部分。

Okay. I can do that -- you can do that. So our standard pricing, what's baked in here, as you know, in our contracts, we have either the higher of CPI or RPI or 3%. So we do see some headwind going into 2025 as it relates to our annual price increase. But I want to make a separation between the annual price increase and then what we are able to do as we sell throughout the year. Our rate cards have been adjusted depending on the experience and activity. And so we've been raising the prices on our packages.

好的。我可以做到──你也可以做到。所以，我們的標準定價，也就是合約中已經包含的價格，如您所知，是 CPI 或 RPI 或 3% 中較高的價格。因此，我們預計到 2025 年，我們的年度價格上漲將面臨一些不利因素。但我希望將年度價格上漲與我們全年銷售過程中能夠做到的事情區分開來。我們的價格表已根據體驗和活動進行了調整。因此，我們一直在提高套餐價格。

And the price realization against that on average has been above 80%. So we feel good on what we're able to capture as we sell into this market. I would expect the same for this year as last year, meaning we have a larger book, and we have net new clients.

而實際成交價與預期價的平均差距超過了 80%。因此，我們對目前在這個市場上的銷售情況感到滿意。我預計今年的情況與去年相同，這意味著我們的業務量更大，並且會有新的客戶。

So we will capture incremental dollars and the price realization, as I mentioned, against our rate cards. So in total, we do expect the total contribution from pricing year-over-year to be down modestly, but overall, still a good contributor to our overall growth rate.

因此，正如我之前提到的，我們將根據我們的價目表來記錄增量收入和實際價格。因此，總體而言，我們預期價格因素對全年成長的貢獻將略有下降，但總體而言，價格因素仍然是我們整體成長率的重要貢獻因素。

And in terms of pricing for AI, we're arriving at a model for this. Of course, we'll iterate on it. Some stuff will just get baked into FactSet out of the box. And we've already got some great product in there called transcript intelligence and search intelligence. You can go and look across a lot of different documents to get an idea of a trend of what's happening, get questions answered.

至於人工智慧的定價，我們正在逐步建立相應的模型。當然，我們會不斷迭代改進。有些功能是 FactSet 開箱即用的。我們已經有一些很棒的產品，叫做轉錄智慧和搜尋智慧。你可以查閱大量不同的文件，了解正在發生的事情的趨勢，並獲得問題的答案。

Secondly, we're going to release deep workflow solutions. So we've released Portfolio Commentary. And we'll be charging for that on a usage basis. So it really will be driven by how many portfolios and how many commentaries you want to create.

其次，我們將發布深度工作流程解決方案。所以我們發布了《投資組合評論》。我們將按使用量收費。所以，這實際上取決於你想創建多少個作品集和多少篇評論。

We did get a lot of demand for customization there after we announced this at Focus back in May. But we've done a lot of that work now. So we're in a great position to go out to the market.

我們在五月的 Focus 大會上宣布這項計畫後，確實收到了許多關於客製化的需求。但我們現在已經做了很多這方面的工作。因此，我們處於進軍市場的有利位置。

We've literally got hundreds of clients interested, and we'll be able to essentially customize this to some extent for them out of the box. So that's an approach we'll take with many of these things. We'll take a bundled approach in some cases where you can get a bundle of capabilities and get price for that. But most of this is going to be usage or consumption-based, I would imagine, and it might depend on the product.

我們已經有數百名客戶對此感興趣，而且我們基本上可以為他們提供一定程度的開箱即用的客製化服務。所以，對於很多這類事情，我們都會採取這種方法。在某些情況下，我們會採取捆綁銷售的方式，您可以獲得一系列功能並享受相應的價格。但我認為，這大部分將取決於使用情況或消耗量，而且可能取決於產品。

So a lot of it will be incremental ASV. We did have a great sale in Q4, which was our conversational API. So really, the search experience that you would have on a FactSet, a client wanted to use that within their own ecosystem.

所以很多部分會是增量ASV。我們在第四季取得了不錯的銷售業績，那就是我們的對話式 API。所以實際上，客戶希望在他們自己的生態系統中使用 FactSet 上的搜尋體驗。

And a lot of the larger firms are going to want to do this. So we've taken a federated approach, which I think is a real winning approach. I'm going to pass the baton here to Goran because he had a lot to do with that sale. And do you want to add on to that and sort of your level of enthusiasm for this fiscal year?

很多大公司都想這樣做。所以我們採取了聯邦式方法，我認為這是一種真正成功的策略。接下來我要把接力棒交給戈蘭，因為那筆交易很大程度要歸功於他。您是否想補充一點，您對本財年的熱情程度如何？

Yes. So it's certainly a sale, we believe, is repeatable. We are already building a pipeline and interest across multiple clients. And as mentioned in terms of new product launches, expect the results to show up in the second half of the year.

是的。因此，我們相信，這絕對是一筆可以重複的銷售交易。我們已在多個客戶中建立了潛在客戶群並獲得了他們的關注。至於新產品發表方面，預計下半年就會看到成效。

But I think what is really significant is that this approach -- a federated approach to our conversational API really helps clients to accelerate their internal development and is really -- it's really a huge benefit to their overall cost structure when it comes to gen AI development that they do in-house. So quite excited about it, equally excited about Portfolio Commentary and some upcoming releases that we'll be talking about at the Investor Day.

但我認為真正重要的是，這種方法——我們對話式 API 的聯邦方法——確實可以幫助客戶加速其內部開發，對於他們內部進行的人工智慧開發而言，這確實對他們的整體成本結構帶來了巨大的好處。對此我感到非常興奮，同樣也對投資組合評論以及我們將在投資者日上討論的一些即將發布的產品感到興奮。

George Tong, Goldman Sachs.

喬治唐，高盛集團。

Your fiscal 2025 revenue growth guide of just over 4% is a deceleration from about 5.5% growth in fiscal 2024, even though ASV growth in fiscal 4Q benefited from several large wins that should ramp into next year. Can you help bridge the gap and discuss what may be dampening revenue performance next year compared to fiscal '24?

您 2025 財年的營收成長預期略高於 4%，較 2024 財年的約 5.5% 的成長率有所放緩，儘管第四財季的平均每筆交易額 (ASV) 成長受益於幾筆大單，這些大單的成交量應該會在明年逐步增加。您能否幫忙彌補差距，並討論一下與 2024 財年相比，明年哪些因素可能會抑制收入成長？

George, I'll take that one. So as you know, the nature of our business, it is a recurring revenue business. So when the ASV goes in is how you get to recognize it.

喬治，我選那個。如您所知，我們業務的性質決定了它是一種經常性收入業務。所以，當 ASV 輸入時，你就能辨識出它。

So a stronger Q4 is certainly helpful, but then you are carrying the last 3 quarters, which were, as you know, lower. So revenue is a lag to ASV growth. And you'll see that over the period of time if you look back at the last, whatever, 10 years. That's the way that it works. So that's the delta between the two.

所以，第四季業績強勁固然有幫助，但你也知道，接下來的三個季度業績都比較低，需要承擔相應的責任。因此，營收成長落後於ASV成長。如果你回顧過去十年，你會發現這一點。事情就是這樣運作的。這就是兩者之間的差值。

It also matters how the ASV gets converted in year. So as we mentioned already that the first half will be likely more where we are today and the second half being stronger. And so then that, again, will reflect more of the first half in revenue and then hopefully help us more into 2026.

ASV 在年份中的轉換方式也很重要。正如我們之前提到的，上半年的表現可能更接近我們目前的水平，而下半年的表現會更好。因此，這將更反映上半年的收入情況，並有望對我們2026年的發展有更大的幫助。

Andrew Nicholas, William Blair.

安德魯·尼古拉斯，威廉·布萊爾。

I wanted to ask maybe a bigger picture one on the investment dollars. It sounds like the year-over-year decline in operating margin is at least in part or it sounds like half is tied to the reset of the bonus pool, but there's obviously incremental dollars here tied to investment.

我想問一個更宏觀的問題，關於投資資金方面。聽起來，營業利潤率年減至少有一部分（或一半）與獎金池的重置有關，但顯然還有與投資相關的增量資金。

And I just wanted to ask a little bit more about the thought process, how you think about kind of balancing that investment spend with kind of your priorities of driving top line growth. And then kind of relatedly, if embedded in your guidance is some flexibility to potentially ramp up investment spend as we move through the year, if you're hitting higher ends of your revenue guidance because it does look like a little bit of an inverse relationship between revenue growth and operating income guidance based on the table on the release.

我只是想再多問一下您的思考過程，您是如何考慮在投資支出和推動營收成長的優先事項之間取得平衡的。此外，如果您的業績指引中包含一些靈活性，允許我們在今年逐步增加投資支出，並且您的收入指引也達到了較高水平，那麼根據新聞稿中的表格來看，收入增長和營業收入指引之間似乎存在某種反向關係。

ure. I'll take that. It's a very good question. So as we mentioned before, we were able to take some expense actions in '24 and reduce spend, which gives us some room for investment. So overall, what I would think about the additional investment that we're putting into 2025, that is included in our margin, and I'll call it self-funded is roughly around 150 basis points, of which half is investments in gen AI, which we'll see that come through as Phil was speaking to likely on the front office as well as in banking and wealth.

確定。我接受。這是一個很好的問題。正如我們之前提到的，我們在 2024 年採取了一些費用控制措施，減少了支出，這為我們帶來了一些投資空間。總的來說，我認為我們在 2025 年投入的額外投資（已計入我們的利潤率，我稱之為自籌資金）大約為 150 個基點，其中一半是對人工智慧的投資，正如菲爾剛才提到的，我們可能會在前台、銀行和財富管理領域看到這些投資的成果。

We're also investing in content, which comes through the form of real-time and fixed income and then also in our buy-side workflows. I mentioned earlier the increase in demand on managed services as well as investments we're going to be making in trading.

我們也正在投資內容，包括即時內容、固定收益內容以及買方工作流程。我之前提到過，對託管服務的需求將會增加，而且我們將在交易領域進行投資。

And then lastly, a bit into infrastructure because to do some of the consumption tracking and billing to support the gen AI and other types of solutions that we have that are based more on usage, that's a bit built into our total of 150 basis points of spend.

最後，我們稍微談一下基礎設施，因為為了支援 gen AI 和我們基於使用量的其他類型的解決方案，我們需要進行一些消費追蹤和計費，這部分費用已經包含在我們總共 150 個基點的支出中。

So it's being funded in 2 ways: the productivity gains that we've taken as well as selected reduction in discretionary spend such as in professional services. So we believe this is the right way to balance the need to invest for top line growth, which, as we said, is our primary focus, but also with the aim of maintaining the strong margins that we've already achieved.

因此，資金來源有兩種：一是我們提高生產力的成果，二是選擇性地削減可自由支配的支出，例如專業服務的支出。因此，我們認為這是平衡投資以實現營收成長（正如我們所說，這是我們的主要關注點）和保持我們已經取得的強勁利潤率的正確方法。

Owen Lau, Oppenheimer.

歐文·勞，奧本海默。

I do have a follow-up with the investment, Helen, you just mentioned. So as you start to monetize gen AI, do you need to continue to invest to maintain the growth rate or you can scale back some of your maybe early investments or current investments at some point?

海倫，關於你剛才提到的投資，我還有一些後續問題要跟進。因此，當您開始將人工智慧貨幣化時，您是否需要繼續投資以維持成長率，或者您可以在某個時候縮減一些早期投資或當前投資？

Sure. And I realized I didn't answer the second half of the other question, so I'll try to combine those two. So first, I think we're early -- in the early stages of this. So I won't make a view of whether or not we can pull back.

當然。我意識到我沒有回答另一個問題的後半部分，所以我將嘗試將這兩個問題合併起來回答。首先，我認為我們還處於早期階段。所以我不會對我們是否可以撤退發表看法。

I do think that if we're able to realize some of the ASV earlier and if that's stronger that we'd be able to invest more as needed. So right now, I think what we're looking really is to continue -- as long as we can get the returns higher than our cost, we will look to continue to invest, Owen.

我認為，如果我們能夠更早實現部分ASV，且ASV表現更強勁，那麼我們就可以根據需要進行更多投資。所以現在，我認為我們真正想要的是繼續下去——只要我們能獲得高於成本的回報，我們就會繼續投資，厄文。

And as I said, it won't just be in gen AI. They'll continue to also be in content as well as into the workflows themselves.

正如我所說，這不僅限於人工智慧時代。他們將繼續參與內容創作以及工作流程本身。

Jeff Silber, BMO Capital Markets.

Jeff Silber，BMO資本市場。

Earlier, you referred to some of the wins you had in your top 10 customers. I think you said there were 9 that you took share from your competitors. I know this may be a generalized question, but is there anything specific that drove that share change? I know each contract might be different, but I'm wondering if there are any commonalities in those deals.

之前，您提到了您在前十大客戶中取得的一些成功案例。我想你說過你從競爭對手那裡奪取了9個市場份額。我知道這可能是個比較籠統的問題，但是有什麼具體因素導致了這種份額變化嗎？我知道每份合約可能都不相同，但我很想知道這些交易是否存在任何共同點。

Yeah. Thank you for the question. So I mean, one trend that I would like to highlight is we're just doing a lot more at the enterprise level with our clients now. And I think Goran has led a lot of these key wins by selling into the C-suite and driving home some new solutions that are repeatable. So we had that amazing win in Q4 at a client where we're doing sort of middle-office performance for wealth. Goran has driven a lot of our success himself and with a great team for wealth over the previous years.

是的。謝謝你的提問。所以我想強調的一個趨勢是，我們現在在企業層面上與客戶進行了更多合作。我認為戈蘭之所以能取得這些關鍵勝利，是因為他成功地向高階主管推銷了一些可複製的新解決方案。所以，我們在第四季為一個客戶提供財富管理中台績效服務時取得了驚人的成功。過去幾年，戈蘭憑藉著自身努力和一支優秀的團隊，為我們創造了巨大的財富，並取得了許多成功。

And you can see how well we did in that space this year. And a lot of these key wins were in the wealth space. So I would say wealth is a common theme. Enterprise level is a common theme. The fact that I think our clients are sort of excited about consuming value in lots of different ways from us is a theme.

你可以看到我們今年在這個領域做得有多出色。其中許多關鍵勝利都發生在財富管理領域。所以我覺得財富是共同的主題。企業級是一個常見的主題。我認為我們的客戶對以各種不同的方式從我們這裡獲取價值感到興奮，這是一個主題。

And then we've just got an amazing desktop product. I mean, we continue to grow there. We had a great win in banking, and we just go from strength to strength in banking. And a lot of that has been driven by the investment in deep sector and private markets, but just the work the team continues to do around the efficiency for bankers and that's -- I think we're going to see a step change in that once we release some of these gen AI products.

然後我們就得到了一款非常棒的桌面產品。我的意思是，我們在那裡持續發展壯大。我們在銀行業取得了巨大的成功，而且我們在銀行業的發展勢頭越來越強勁。其中許多都是由對深層產業和私募市場的投資所推動的，但團隊一直在努力提高銀行家的效率，我認為一旦我們發布一些新一代人工智慧產品，我們將看到這方面發生質的飛躍。

And just to add to what Phil said, in addition to the top down selling, I think our ability to compete for that higher-end terminal, especially in the wealth management has really improved this year as we have added fixed income content and other capabilities. So we're encouraged that that will drive future growth.

補充一下菲爾所說的，除了自上而下的銷售之外，我認為今年我們增加了固定收益內容和其他功能，因此我們在高端終端市場，尤其是在財富管理領域，競爭能力確實得到了提升。因此，我們感到鼓舞，認為這將推動未來的成長。

One of the most encouraging signs about the wins that we have had is that we're expanding into additional workforce and diversifying our sources of ASV. Phil already mentioned expansion into performance reporting at a large client, but we have also seen a very significant win, again, in wealth management on -- in terms of expanding into portfolio-related workflows.

我們所取得的成功中最令人鼓舞的跡象之一是，我們正在擴大員工隊伍，並使我們的 ASV 來源多樣化。Phil 已經提到在大客戶那裡拓展了業績報告業務，但我們也再次在財富管理領域取得了非常顯著的成功——在拓展投資組合相關工作流程方面。

So that is something we will be building on in 2025 and going forward. So these wins Phil's highlighting are really important to us.

所以，這是我們將在2025年及以後繼續努力的方向。所以菲爾著重提到的這些勝利對我們來說非常重要。

Jason Haas, Wells Fargo.

傑森‧哈斯，富國銀行。

I'm curious if you could comment a little bit more on what you're seeing in regards to the competitive environment. It sounds like you're winning your fair share out there. But I'm curious if -- given it's still a tough backdrop if you're seeing any level of aggressive pricing from some of your competitors?

我想請您再詳細談談您對當前競爭環境的看法。聽起來你在那邊取得了不少成功。但我很好奇——鑑於當前情況依然嚴峻，您是否注意到一些競爭對手採取了激進的定價策略？

Jason, thanks for the question. I wouldn't say any different than what we have experienced in the past. I think we always face competition and different level of aggressiveness when it comes to pricing. So we are always keeping an eye out on the competition and exactly how we perform in terms of wins and losses. I do not think that much has changed competitively. There is certainly increased focus by some of the competitors on some of the segments that we do really well in, but we do not see that anything has significantly changed.

傑森，謝謝你的提問。我認為情況和我們過去的經驗並無不同。我認為我們在定價方面總是會面臨競爭，而且競爭的激烈程度也各不相同。所以我們始終密切注意競爭對手，以及我們在勝負方面的具體表現。我認為競爭格局並沒有太大變化。有些競爭對手確實更加關注我們做得非常好的某些細分市場，但我們並沒有看到任何重大變化。

I'll add a little bit to that. It is a, as Goran said, a competitive environment. So we're being smart about this. So for example, in new business, we will, at times, given that they're switching costs, but to get the competitive displacement, we'll go in and be as competitive as possible.

我再補充一點。正如戈蘭所說，這是一個競爭激烈的環境。所以我們採取了明智的做法。例如，在新業務中，有時考慮到他們的轉換成本，但為了獲得競爭優勢，我們會進入市場並盡可能保持競爭力。

Now that being said, we've selectively used that pricing to also lock into longer-term contracts as well. And as Goran said, we've seen some good success there in wealth and banking and in corporates. So I think we're just being smart in how we're using price to be able to win market share.

話雖如此，我們也選擇性地利用這種定價策略來鎖定更長期的合約。正如戈蘭所說，我們在財富管理、銀行業和企業領域都取得了一些不錯的成功。所以我認為我們只是巧妙地運用價格來贏得市場佔有率。

Craig Huber, Huber Research Partners.

Craig Huber，Huber Research Partners。

Question here. Over the year, how are your hedge fund clients doing in that market and also, when you sell into corporates? How is that going for you right now? Is it getting better or worse or about the same?

這裡有個問題。過去一年，您的對沖基金客戶在該市場的表現如何？另外，當您向企業出售股票時，表現又如何？你現在的情況如何？情況是在好轉、惡化還是基本上保持不變？

So I'll take -- since -- I'll take a shot at that one. I would say that it is about the same. It depends. We see a fair amount of churn on the hedge front, hedge fund side, Craig. So we'll see ones that go down, and then they'll come pick back up.

所以，既然如此，我就試試看吧。我認為差不多。這取決於。克雷格，我們看到對沖基金方面出現了相當大的人員流動。所以，我們會看到一些公司倒閉，然後它們又會重新崛起。

So our goal there is if they reconstitute themselves and come back as a new hedge fund that we catch them on the new business front, which we've seen a fair amount of.

所以，我們的目標是，如果他們重組並以新的對沖基金的形式回歸，我們就能在新業務方面抓住他們，而我們已經看到了不少這樣的機會。

Interestingly, we've had good activity from the hedge fund community in Asia, in particular in the Singapore arena. So we're seeing what is relatively new growth out there, but hedge funds have done well.

有趣的是，亞洲對沖基金界，特別是新加坡對沖基金界，表現活躍。所以我們看到的是一種相對較新的成長，但對沖基金的表現很好。

Corporates, we have a great partnership with a company called Irwin that we also do a lot of business with, and we've seen that uptick this year as well. There's a lot of churn. And our new logos, which we talked about in our call, does come a lot from corporates.

企業客戶方面，我們與一家名為 Irwin 的公司建立了良好的合作關係，我們與他們也開展了很多業務，而今年我們也看到了業務成長。人員流動非常頻繁。我們在電話會議中談到的新標誌，很多都來自企業。

Russell Quelch, Redburn Atlantic.

Russell Quelch，Redburn Atlantic。

When you think about your strategy to stimulate topline growth back above 5%, I wonder do you feel you may need to be more aggressive in exploring inorganic actions? Or perhaps alternatively, would you consider partnership opportunities to accelerate growth in areas such as wealth, where you think there's a big TAM opportunity? Just curious as what you're thinking there is ahead of the Investor Day.

當您思考如何刺激營收成長回升至 5% 以上時，我想知道您是否覺得需要更積極地探索非有機成長途徑？或者，您是否考慮在財富等領域尋求合作機會，以加速成長？您認為這些領域存在著巨大的市場潛力。只是好奇，在投資人日到來之前，你有什麼想法？

Yeah. Thanks, Russell. Yeah, maybe we can talk more about that then. But yes, we're -- we do think it's a good time to be exploring partnerships more aggressively. I think certainly with the work we've done to open the platform and be more interoperable, there's an opportunity there to team up with certain firms for different sort of market segments.

是的。謝謝你，羅素。嗯，那我們或許可以再多談談這個話題。但是，是的，我們認為現在是更積極地探索合作關係的好時機。我認為，憑藉我們為開放平台和提高互通性所做的工作，我們有機會與某些公司合作，開拓不同的市場領域。

And on the M&A front, we're in a much better position than we have been for the last couple of years to do some targeted M&A just because we were -- obviously, we did a large acquisition with CUSIP, and we had to get to this place. So we're seeing the M&A markets become more constructive. There's more things coming up that are of interest to us. And we're going to maintain our discipline, but we do see that that's a lever that we can certainly use to drive topline growth.

在併購方面，我們現在的處境比過去幾年要好得多，可以進行一些有針對性的併購，因為——顯然，我們與 CUSIP 進行了一次大規模收購，我們必須達到現在的水平。因此，我們看到併購市場正變得更加積極向上。還有更多我們感興趣的事情即將發生。我們將繼續保持紀律，但我們也認為這確實是一個可以用來推動營收成長的槓桿。

Shlomo Rosenbaum, Stifel.

Shlomo Rosenbaum，Stifel。

Phil, I want to ask you a little bit just holistically. Over the last few years, we've seen the company expand the margins. Growth hasn't been as much as what we've historically seen. And FactSet has usually been more of a growth company.

菲爾，我想從整體上問你一些問題。過去幾年，我們看到該公司利潤率不斷提高。成長速度不如以往。而FactSet通常更像是成長型公司。

It seems like now, the guidance right now is for margins to be down a little bit sequentially, but a lot more talk about the new products or anything. Is there any change philosophically that is going on recently within the company where you have pivoted a little more to margin and now are pivoting more to growth? And I just wanted to ask you to talk about that.

目前看來，市場預期利潤率將環比略有下降，但更多的是關於新產品或其他方面的討論。最近公司在理念上是​​否發生了一些變化，從之前更注重利潤率轉向更注重成長？我只是想請你談談這件事。

And then just a little bit about the 2H improvement this year versus what you were talking about last year because the outlook at this time last year was almost exactly the same way in terms of a muted first half and then expectations in the second half. If you could point out the differences internally where you have line of sight to things, I would say, beyond just kind of the Fed rate cut, but things that you're actually seeing in front of you that give you more confidence this year versus last year, that would be helpful.

然後，我想稍微談談今年下半年與去年同期相比的改善情況，因為去年這個時候的前景幾乎和現在一模一樣，上半年表現平平，而下半年則充滿期待。如果你能指出你能夠直接觀察到的內部差異，我想說，除了聯準會降息之外，還有一些你實際看到的事情，讓你對今年的情況比去年更有信心，那將很有幫助。

Yeah, sure. Thanks, Shlomo. Yeah. So philosophically, there has really been -- there hasn't been a big change. We have always focused on growth, and we've also focused on delivering cash flow [earnings] to the market. You've been covering us for a long time.

當然可以。謝謝你，什洛莫。是的。所以從哲學角度來看，其實並沒有太大的變化。我們一直專注於成長，也一直專注於為市場帶來現金流（收益）。你們長期以來一直在報道我們。

So we take a lot of pride in that balance. It has been a while since we consistently grew in double digits, I mean at least a decade, but we do aspire to get back to high single digits. I think that's something we would like to do.

所以我們對這種平衡感到非常自豪。我們已經很久沒有持續實現兩位數成長了，我的意思是至少十年了，但我們確實渴望重回個位數高成長。我認為這是我們想做的事情。

And this is -- like in my tenure at the company, this is sort of the third sort of two- or three-year period where it has been a really tough market. And I think -- so a lot of what we've experienced in the last two years has just been market pressure on us, I think, executing against that.

而且，在我任職公司期間，這已經是第三個持續兩三年的市場非常艱難的時期了。我認為——所以過去兩年我們所經歷的很多事情都只是市場壓力，而我們則要應對這種壓力。

So I think part of what you saw there in terms of our focus on margin was just really to continue to deliver good earnings growth to the market. So no huge change there.

所以我認為，你們看到的我們在利潤率方面的關注，部分原因是為了繼續為市場帶來良好的獲利成長。所以這方面沒有太大變化。

I think we were a bit more optimistic last year that the headwinds would dissipate more quickly. They didn't. But I do think now that I think we feel more confident that the market is going to be more constructive.

我認為我們去年過於樂觀，認為不利因素會更快消散。他們沒有。但我現在確實認為，我們更有信心市場將呈現更具建設性的態勢。

And we've done such a lot to evolve the platform. I think we're very well positioned to help clients at a much larger level than we did historically. So the name of the game now for us has got to be seven- and eight-figure deals. That's what's going to move the margin -- move the top line, sorry. I think we're in a great position to do that.

我們為平台的發展做了很多工作。我認為我們現在處於非常有利的位置，能夠比以往更大幅度地幫助客戶。所以現在對我們來說，關鍵在於達成七位數甚至八位數的交易。這就是影響利潤率的因素——抱歉，是影響利潤率上限的因素。我認為我們完全有能力做到這一點。

On the flip side, we're very focused on efficiency as well. I do think there's a good opportunity for FactSet to be more efficient and whether or not we choose to invest that in more product and on is the question. And generative AI certainly is going to play a part for us as it does when we think about building products for our clients.

另一方面，我們也非常注重效率。我認為 FactSet 有很大的機會提高效率，至於我們是否選擇將這筆資金投入更多產品等方面，則是另一個問題了。生成式人工智慧肯定會在我們為客戶建立產品時發揮作用，就像它一直發揮作用一樣。

Shlomo, just maybe to follow up on the second part of your question. I think what gives us increased confidence, I already mentioned it, but I think the level of innovation and new products that we have delivered this year. And we really believe that, that's going to contribute to the second half projections that are more optimistic than the first half.

Shlomo，或許我想就你問題的第二部分做個補充說明。我認為增強我們信心的，正如我之前提到的，是我們今年所展現的創新水準和推出的新產品。我們堅信，這將有助於下半年的預測比上半年更樂觀。

So we are not counting on the market necessarily turning, but I think just that product pipeline and what we think we can deliver based on that.

所以我們不指望市場一定會好轉，而是認為產品線以及我們認為基於此能夠交付的產品才是關鍵。

Scott Wurtzel, Wolfe Research.

Scott Wurtzel，Wolfe Research。

Just wanted to go back to some of the commentary on the data expansion side of your sort of strategic investment plan with deep sector, private markets and real time. Just wanted to maybe get a little bit more color on sort of how that's coming up and maybe impacting your conversations with clients, specifically on the renewal side.

我只是想回到您關於策略投資計劃中數據擴展方面的一些評論，該計劃涉及深度行業、私募市場和即時數據。我只是想更詳細地了解這種情況的發展，以及它可能對您與客戶的溝通，特別是續約方面產生的影響。

And then I know we'll probably hear more about this at Investor Day, but if you can kind of give us a sense of maybe sort of the road map on the product side with those three initiatives would be great.

我知道我們可能會在投資者日上聽到更多相關消息，但如果您能大致介紹一下這三項舉措在產品方面的路線圖，那就太好了。

Yeah, sure, Scott. Why don't we start with real time? I'm going to ask Goran here because he has a lot of experience with this, and I think we're at a good inflection point.

好的，當然，斯科特。我們為什麼不從即時開始呢？我打算問問戈蘭，因為他在這方面有很多經驗，而且我認為我們正處於一個好的轉折點。

Yeah. So I think we continue to make excellent products in that area. We had a very large win on the real time a couple of years ago. I think the client has gone live with all of their deliverables, and we're quite proud of the progress there, all the -- in terms of the content coverage and adding all of the over-the-counter type content all over this flowing through the product. We're excited in terms of the opportunity there.

是的。所以我認為我們在這個領域繼續生產出優秀的產品。幾年前，我們在即時比賽中取得了非常大的勝利。我認為客戶已經上線了所有交付成果，我們對這方面的進展感到非常自豪，包括內容覆蓋範圍以及將所有非處方類內容添加到產品中。我們對那裡的機會感到興奮。

I'll add on the deep sector a little bit as well. So we continue to make excellent product progress there. We have multiple clients engaged with us in terms of delivering really desk by desk in terms of the sector coverage and are really encouraged by the level of client engagement and product progress in that area.

我也會稍微補充一下深層領域的內容。因此，我們在該領域的產品研發工作持續取得優異進展。我們與多家客戶合作，致力於提供真正逐一辦公桌的產業覆蓋服務，客戶參與度和產品進度都令我們倍感鼓舞。

In private markets, we continue to invest there. Obviously, that's -- a lot of different firms are interested in that for different reasons. We've really -- I think the biggest highlight for us is we've doubled our coverage to, I believe, around 9 million companies or securities and just increasingly better data.

在私募市場，我們將繼續投資。顯然，許多不同的公司出於不同的原因對此感興趣。我認為我們最大的亮點是，我們的覆蓋範圍擴大了一倍，我相信達到了約 900 萬家公司或證券，而且數據也越來越好。

So that's a great underpinning for our efforts in banking, in private equity, venture capital. Asset owners are looking at that. There's just a lot of ways that we're able to monetize that investment.

因此，這為我們在銀行業、私募股權和創投領域的努力奠定了良好的基礎。資產所有者正在關注這一點。我們有很多方法可以將這項投資變現。

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm showing no further questions in queue. I would now like to turn the call back to Phil for closing remarks.

女士們先生們，隊列中不再顯示任何問題。現在我想把電話轉回給菲爾，請他作總結發言。

Thank you. So I just first want to really thank Helen and the entire sales team for really closing out the year in such a great way. I think that's encouraging for the upcoming year. And I want to thank all of you on the call and all FactSetters for the hard work they did this year.

謝謝。首先，我真心感謝海倫和整個銷售團隊，感謝他們以如此出色的方式為這一年畫上了圓滿的句號。我認為這對即將到來的一年來說是個好兆頭。我還要感謝所有參加電話會議的各位，以及所有 FactSetters 今年所做的辛勤工作。

And we look forward to seeing you all at Investor Day on November 14. I think it's going to be well worth your time. We're going to show some really innovative products and talk about the future and what you can expect from FactSet. Thank you.

我們期待在11月14日的投資者日上與大家見面。我認為這絕對值得你花時間。我們將展示一些真正具有創新性的產品，並探討未來以及您可以從 FactSet 獲得什麼。謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線了。