Fortrea Holdings Inc (FTRE) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Fortrea first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your speaker for today, Tracy Krumme. Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

歡迎參加 Fortrea 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 請注意，今天的會議將被錄音。現在我想把會議交給今天的主持人 Tracy Krumme。投資人關係資深副總裁。請開始。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Fortrea's first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. With me today on the call is Anshul Thakral, Chief Executive Officer; and Jill McConnell, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝。各位早安，歡迎參加 Fortrea 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的有執行長 Anshul Thakral，以及財務長 Jill McConnell。

Before we begin, please note this call is being webcast. There is an accompanying slide presentation which can be found on the Investor Relations section of our website, fortrea.com. During this call, we'll make certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations.

在開始之前，請注意本次電話會議將進行網路直播。另有隨附的簡報投影片，可於我們網站 fortrea.com 的投資人關係專區取得。在本次電話會議中，我們將依據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法》之定義，作出若干前瞻性陳述。這些陳述受重大風險與不確定性影響，可能導致實際結果與我們目前預期存在重大差異。

We strongly encourage you to review the reports filed with the SEC regarding these risks and uncertainties, in particular, those that are described in the cautionary statement concerning forward-looking statements and risk factors in our press release and presentation that are posted on our website. Please note that any forward-looking statements represent our views as of today, May 5, 2026, and that we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements even if estimates change.

我們強烈建議您查閱我們向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的報告，以了解相關風險與不確定性，特別是我們新聞稿與簡報（已發布於網站）中「前瞻性陳述之警示聲明」及風險因素所述內容。請注意，任何前瞻性陳述僅代表我們截至今日（2026 年 5 月 5 日）的觀點，即使估計值有所變動，我們亦不承擔更新前瞻性陳述之義務。

During this call, we will also be referring to certain non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP measures are not superior to nor a replacement for the comparable GAAP measures, but we believe these measures provide investors with a more complete understanding of results.

在本次電話會議中，我們也將提及若干非 GAAP 財務衡量指標。這些非 GAAP 指標並不優於、也不能取代相對應的 GAAP 指標，但我們相信這些指標能讓投資人更完整地理解我們的業績表現。

A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is available in the earnings press release and the presentation slides that are provided in connection with today's call.

非 GAAP 財務衡量指標與最直接可比之 GAAP 指標的調節表，已載於財報新聞稿及與今日電話會議一併提供的簡報投影片中。

Lastly, I would like to add that Bill Holzmann, Vice President of Treasury and Risk Management, and I will be at the Barclays Leveraged Finance Conference in Austin on May 19. If anyone would like to meet with us on these dates, please contact me or a sales represented from the firm.

最後補充說明，我與財務與風險管理副總裁 Bill Holzmann 將於 5 月 19 日出席在奧斯汀舉行的巴克萊槓桿融資年會（Barclays Leveraged Finance Conference）。若有人希望在上述日期與我們會面，請與我或該公司的一位銷售代表聯繫。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Anshul Thakral, Chief Executive Officer. Anshul, please go ahead.

接下來，我想把電話會議交給執行長 Anshul Thakral。Anshul，請開始。

Thank you, Tracy. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today to discuss Fortrea's first quarter 2026 results. We started the year strong in the first quarter and remain on track with our plans. We made progress on our journey back to growth and margin expansion.

謝謝你，Tracy。各位早安，感謝各位今天加入我們，一同討論 Fortrea 2026 年第一季的業績。我們在第一季強勁開局，並持續按計畫推進。我們在重返成長與擴大利潤率的旅程上取得進展。

We delivered solid results that reflect improving commercial traction, continued operational discipline and a clear focus on the actions we control in a market environment that is gradually becoming more favorable. As always, Jill will share a review of our financial performance, but I will start with a few highlights that clearly show the progress on our journey.

我們交出穩健的成果，反映出商務動能改善、持續的營運紀律，以及在市場環境逐步轉佳之際，清楚聚焦於我們可控的行動。一如往常，Jill 將分享我們財務表現的回顧；但我會先從幾項重點開始，清楚展現我們旅程中的進展。

We delivered revenue and adjusted EBITDA putting us on a track to achieve our full year expectations. We had a Q1 book-to-bill of 1.15 times and a trailing 12-month book-to-bill of 1.05 times, reflecting improved commercial execution for the third consecutive quarter.

我們達成營收與調整後 EBITDA，使我們走在達成全年預期的軌道上。第一季接單出帳比（book-to-bill）為 1.15 倍，過去 12 個月的接單出帳比為 1.05 倍，反映我們商務執行力已連續第三季改善。

We also reached a strategic operational milestone with the recent launch of Fortrea Intelligent Technology, or FIT, as we call it. FIT is our technology suite that integrates persona-driven AI-powered solutions to automate workflows and streamline oversight, helping improve trial speed, predictability and quality.

我們也在策略性營運方面達成一項里程碑：近期推出 Fortrea Intelligent Technology（我們稱之為 FIT）。FIT 是我們的技術套件，整合以角色（persona）為導向、由 AI 驅動的解決方案，用以自動化工作流程並精簡監督，協助提升試驗速度、可預測性與品質。

As I get more into the details of the quarter, I'd like to remind you that we are taking a disciplined approach to measure our progress using a framework of three pillars, commercial, operational and financial excellence. I'll do a deeper dive into our commercial and operational performance and then Jill will walk through the quarter's financial results.

在我更深入說明本季細節之前，先提醒各位：我們採取嚴謹的方法，透過三大支柱的架構來衡量進展——商務、營運與財務卓越。我將更深入說明我們的商務與營運表現，接著 Jill 會帶各位回顧本季的財務結果。

But first, let me speak to the environment, which continues to stabilize with early signs of improvement. Large pharma is more constructive and biotech funding has inflected positively versus last year, supporting a steadier demand backdrop. In addition, we're seeing operational indicators improving. For example, clinical trial starts rebounded this quarter. To address this growing opportunity, we remain focused on our foundational growth drivers that we call the three [RS] reach, relevance and repeat.

但首先，我想談談外部環境；整體仍在趨於穩定，並出現初步改善跡象。大型藥廠態度更為建設性，生技資金相較去年出現正向轉折，支撐較為穩定的需求背景。此外，我們也看到營運指標正在改善。例如，本季臨床試驗啟動數量回升。為掌握這個日益成長的機會，我們仍聚焦於我們稱為三個 [RS] 的基礎成長驅動因素：觸及（reach）、相關性（relevance）與重複合作（repeat）。

During the quarter, we continued to see evidence that our commercial actions are translating into healthier activity levels and better quality engagement. In short, I was pleased with our sales in the quarter. Not only did we deliver a book-to-bill of 1.15 times, which is our third quarter in a row of book-to-bills of 1.1 times or higher, we also diversified our customer base, with notable success in biotech, a sector where Fortrea has deliberately been sharpening our approach.

本季期間，我們持續看到證據顯示，我們的商務行動正轉化為更健康的活動水準與更高品質的互動。簡而言之，我對本季的銷售表現感到滿意。我們不僅達成 1.15 倍的接單出帳比，這也是我們連續第三季接單出帳比達到或高於 1.1 倍；同時我們也使客戶基礎更加多元化，並在生技領域取得顯著成果——這是 Fortrea 一直有意強化策略與作法的領域。

Our authorizations in the first quarter skewed toward biotech where we saw a significant year-over-year improvement. These organizations range from early growth innovators with fewer than 200 employees to publicly-listed development-stage companies with core strengths in oncology, cardiovascular, RNA-based therapeutics and other innovative therapeutic areas.

第一季的授權案（authorizations）偏向生技客戶，我們在該領域看到顯著的年對年改善。這些組織涵蓋員工少於 200 人的早期成長創新者，到已公開上市、仍處於研發階段且在腫瘤、心血管、RNA 為基礎的治療，以及其他創新治療領域具核心優勢的公司。

Wins were driven by building new client relationships, senior-level engagement and scientific differentiation. We saw the number of RFPs issued in the first quarter for biotech opportunities increase both sequentially and year-over-year, including an increase in new-to-Fortrea biotech evidence that our reach and visibility are improving across the board. I'm pleased with how we continue to build on previous improvements in sales with new to Fortrea biotechs.

這些得標主要來自建立新的客戶關係、高階主管層級的互動，以及科學層面的差異化。我們看到第一季針對生技機會所發出的 RFP 數量，無論較前一季或年對年皆增加，其中也包含「首次與 Fortrea 合作」的生技客戶 RFP 增加，顯示我們在各方面的觸及與能見度正在提升。我很高興看到我們持續在先前的銷售改善基礎上，進一步拓展首次與 Fortrea 合作的生技客戶。

Turning to another priority area for us, that's China, where we also saw strong double-digit growth in our pipeline of opportunities as well as some significant wins in the quarter. We believe we are well positioned in the country with more than 1,000 employees and around 10 strategic clients headquartered in China.

再談另一個我們的優先領域——中國。我們在中國的機會管線也呈現強勁的雙位數成長，且本季取得一些重要勝利。我們相信我們在當地具備良好布局，擁有超過 1,000 名員工，以及約 10 家總部位於中國的策略性客戶。

Let me share some additional commercial snippets from the quarter that give me confidence in our underlying progress. We had the best first quarter since our founding for authorizations in clinical pharmacology, supported by both new and repeat customers. Beyond that, I'm extremely proud of our clinical pharmacology team for going beyond simple first-in-human and healthy volunteer studies.

我再分享幾個本季的商務片段，讓我對我們的基本面進展更有信心。在臨床藥理方面，我們的授權案創下自公司成立以來最佳的第一季表現，並同時受惠於新客戶與回頭客。此外，我也為我們的臨床藥理團隊感到非常自豪，因為他們的能力已不僅限於單純的首次人體試驗（first-in-human）與健康受試者研究。

This quarter, the team at our Leeds clinic successfully performed its first-in-human dosing in patients with immune thrombocytopenia, a rare blood disorder for which new therapies and treatment options are desperately needed. This accomplishment was the result of great collaboration between our team and the sponsor and is another example of how we are on the cutting-edge of helping to bring life-changing therapies to patients.

本季，我們利茲（Leeds）診所的團隊成功在免疫性血小板減少症患者身上完成首次人體給藥（first-in-human dosing）。免疫性血小板減少症是一種罕見的血液疾病，迫切需要新的療法與治療選項。這項成果來自我們團隊與委託方（sponsor）之間的高度協作，也再次展現我們站在前沿，協助將改變生命的療法帶給病患。

Overall, enterprise cancellations remain within an expected historical range. Beyond the metrics, we are seeing third-party validation that Fortrea's brand awareness is rising, consistent with what we're hearing in client conversations and what we're seeing in the sales funnel.

整體而言，企業取消情況仍維持在符合預期的歷史區間內。除了這些指標之外，我們也看到第三方的驗證，顯示 Fortrea 的品牌知名度正在提升，這與我們在客戶對話中聽到的，以及我們在銷售漏斗中看到的情況一致。

Stepping back, our first quarter performance isn't an accident. It's the result of a deliberate commercial execution, expanding our reach, increasing our relevance through differentiated scientific and operational capabilities, and earning repeat work through better delivery.

退一步看，我們第一季的表現並非偶然。這是有意識的商業執行成果：擴大觸及範圍、透過差異化的科學與營運能力提升相關性，並以更佳的交付表現贏得重複委託。

And that takes me to our second pillar: operational excellence. Operational excellence is how we deliver quality, predictability and efficiency for clients at scale. A major step forward in that strategy is the launch of Fortrea Intelligent Technology, or FIT, which we announced in April.

接著談到我們的第二個支柱：營運卓越。營運卓越是我們以規模化方式為客戶提供品質、可預測性與效率的方式。該策略的一大步進展，是我們在四月宣布推出 Fortrea Intelligent Technology（FIT）。

The launch was met with strong reactions from customers, partners and investors. We saw immediate positive feedback from sponsors and technology partners, and it has helped strengthen our commercial narrative around predictability and execution.

此次推出獲得客戶、合作夥伴與投資人的強烈回響。我們立即收到贊助商與技術合作夥伴的正面回饋，並有助於強化我們圍繞可預測性與執行力的商業敘事。

Over time we expect AI technology and innovation enablement to increasingly support win rate, operational efficiency and longer-term differentiation rather than being viewed as a stand-alone initiative. It's important to be clear, FIT is not a single product.

隨著時間推進，我們預期 AI 技術與創新賦能將日益支持中標率、營運效率與更長期的差異化，而不再被視為一項獨立倡議。需要明確的是，FIT 並非單一產品。

It's an AI-enabled integrated platform strategy combining trial execution, oversight and intelligence, designed to improve predictability, reduce cost to serve, improve quality and strengthen the way we partner with our clients.

它是一項由 AI 驅動的整合式平台策略，結合試驗執行、監督與洞察，旨在提升可預測性、降低服務成本、改善品質，並強化我們與客戶合作的方式。

In light of unveiling FIT, let me say a bit more about AI more broadly as it remains an active discussion topic. Across the industry, leaders have more data, more tools and more AI pilots, yet we haven't seen a commensurate increase in approvals. If we don't redesign how decisions are made, AI will amplify noise rather than improve outcomes.

鑑於我們揭示 FIT，我想更廣泛地談談 AI，因為這仍是熱門討論議題。在整個產業中，領導者擁有更多資料、更多工具與更多 AI 試點，但我們尚未看到與之相稱的核准數增加。如果我們不重新設計決策的方式，AI 只會放大雜訊，而非改善結果。

Our goal with AI is not automation. It is to create a force multiplier. Automation improves efficiency. Judgment improves outcomes. In clinical trials, some of the most valuable calls are when to intervene on enrollment, when to change a study strategy or when risk becomes irreversible.

我們對 AI 的目標不是自動化。而是打造一個倍增器。自動化提升效率。判斷力改善結果。在臨床試驗中，一些最有價值的判斷包括：何時介入招募、何時調整研究策略，或何時風險已變得不可逆。

These are judgment-heavy decisions, and that's where AI must help, not replace our leaders. The expected AI revolution will require rapid evolution of the kind that has become a hallmark of the CRO industry. I believe CROs are ready for the shift just as CROs were ready for the pandemic. CRO stepped up and delivered significant value at the time it was needed. I believe this industry will do it again.

這些都是高度依賴判斷的決策，AI 必須在此提供協助，而不是取代我們的領導者。預期中的 AI 革命將需要快速演進，而這種快速演進已成為 CRO 產業的標誌。我相信 CRO 已準備好迎接這個轉變，就如同 CRO 當時已準備好應對疫情。CRO 在需要的時刻挺身而出並交付了重大價值。我相信這個產業會再次做到。

Fortrea's approach is pragmatic and outcomes-focused. It keeps humans in the lead in a tightly connected R&D ecosystem, aided by an integrated and powerful AI-enabled information platform. We are already embedding AI into our workflows and integrating it with our deep therapeutic and domain expertise.

Fortrea 的方法務實且以成果為導向。在緊密連結的研發生態系中，我們讓人類保持主導地位，並由整合且強大的 AI 賦能資訊平台提供支援。我們已將 AI 嵌入工作流程，並與我們深厚的治療領域與專業知識整合。

We have equipped our award-winning trusted Xcellerate platform with AI and ML, a platform that currently has tens of thousands of users, including employees, clients, SaaS users and even investigator sites. As technology waves continue to revolutionize clinical trials, CROs serve as a change catalyst and as change agents.

我們已為屢獲獎項且深受信賴的 Xcellerate 平台導入 AI 與機器學習（ML）；該平台目前擁有數以萬計的使用者，包括員工、客戶、SaaS 使用者，甚至研究者站點。隨著技術浪潮持續革新臨床試驗，CRO 既是變革催化者，也是變革推動者。

Alongside technology, we're staying intensely focused on improving delivery. Because in a services business, consistency is paramount. We continue to strengthen project management to increase speed, predictability and efficiency, with a particular focus on investigator sites and patient enrollment. Notably, we have revamped our approach to site activation, adding greater efficiency to significantly compress the time from site selection to site initiation, resulting in both year-over-year and sequential improvements.

除了技術之外，我們也持續高度聚焦於改善交付。因為在服務型業務中，一致性至關重要。我們持續強化專案管理，以提升速度、可預測性與效率，並特別聚焦於研究者站點與病患招募。值得注意的是，我們已全面更新站點啟動的方法，透過提升效率大幅壓縮從站點選擇到站點啟動的時間，因而在年對年與季對季皆有所改善。

In the first quarter, we further broadened our site navigator program globally, including expansion in China and Japan. Site navigators provide dedicated support to sites. We also leveraged centralized start-up teams and partnerships with site networks in emerging regions, driving more consistent site performance across geographies.

在第一季，我們進一步在全球擴大站點導航員（site navigator）計畫，包括在中國與日本的擴展。站點導航員為站點提供專屬支援。我們也運用集中式啟動團隊，並與新興地區的站點網路建立合作夥伴關係，推動跨地域更一致的站點表現。

We also strengthened leadership in key areas, including the appointment of Erin Koch to lead our Functional Service Provider or FSP organization, supporting sharper execution and a tighter connection between commercial commitments and delivery. Quality remains foundational at Fortrea.

我們也在關鍵領域強化領導力，包括任命 Erin Koch 領導我們的功能性服務提供者（FSP）組織，以支持更精準的執行，並讓商業承諾與交付之間的連結更緊密。品質仍是 Fortrea 的基石。

We continue to advance our risk-based quality management approach and we're proud that our Chief Quality Regulatory Affairs and Sustainability Officer, Sandy Kennedy, was voted Chair of our industry association, ACRO. The appointment shows our credibility and leadership in industry quality standards. As the regulatory landscape around the world shifts to embrace and accelerate innovation that can improve patient outcomes, Fortrea is engaged and ready to help sponsors navigate the changes.

我們持續推進以風險為基礎的品質管理方法；同時我們也很自豪，我們的品質、法規事務與永續長 Sandy Kennedy 獲選為產業協會 ACRO 的主席。此項任命展現了我們在產業品質標準上的公信力與領導地位。隨著全球監管環境轉向擁抱並加速可改善病患結果的創新，Fortrea 已投入其中並準備好協助贊助商因應這些變化。

In our Phase I clinical pharmacology services, we're performing well and adding momentum. For example, we're taking advantage of improving MHRA timelines to drive greater utilization of our flagship clinical research unit in Leeds in the UK supporting sponsors looking to move efficiently in early development. Clients across all of our services have experienced the difference from our progress in operational excellence. Our customer Net Promoter Score has improved steadily, reflecting ongoing progress in delivery and day-to-day client experience.

在我們的第一期（Phase I）臨床藥理服務方面，我們表現良好並持續累積動能。例如，我們正把握 MHRA 時程改善的契機，提高我們位於英國利茲的旗艦臨床研究單位的使用率，以支援希望在早期開發階段更有效率推進的贊助商。我們各項服務的客戶都已感受到我們在營運卓越方面進展所帶來的差異。我們的客戶淨推薦值（Net Promoter Score）持續穩步提升，反映出在交付與日常客戶體驗上的持續進步。

Taken together, commercial traction, improving delivery and technology enablement, these actions are reinforcing one another. They strengthen how we compete, how we execute and how we build confidence with sponsors. Our third pillar is financial excellence, driving margin expansion, disciplined cash management and continued focus on the balance sheet. Jill will cover the details including key themes from our quarter and our guidance framework.

綜合而言，商業動能、交付改善與技術賦能，這些行動彼此相互強化。它們強化了我們的競爭方式、執行方式，以及與贊助商建立信心的能力。我們的第三個支柱是財務卓越，推動利潤率擴張、嚴謹的現金管理，並持續聚焦資產負債表。Jill 將說明細節，包括本季的關鍵主題與我們的指引框架。

But importantly, I'll highlight that we're making solid progress on margin expansion, as we journey toward mid-teens in adjusted EBITDA margin percentage over the next three to five years. Before I close, I want to recognize colleagues from Fortrea for their continued focus and resilience and thank our clients, partners and shareholders for their support. The progress we're making is a result of disciplined execution across the organization and our team's dedication to our patient-inspired mission.

但重要的是，我要強調我們在利潤率擴張方面正取得紮實進展，並在未來三到五年朝調整後 EBITDA 利潤率百分比達到十幾%的目標邁進。在我結束之前，我想肯定 Fortrea 同仁持續的專注與韌性，並感謝我們的客戶、合作夥伴與股東的支持。我們所取得的進展，來自全組織有紀律的執行，以及團隊對以病患為啟發之使命的投入。

Now let me close with three takeaways. First, we're seeing improved commercial momentum, including continued strength in book-to-bill and biotech engagement. Second, we're elevating operational performance through better delivery discipline and the launch of FIT, which we believe will be an increasingly important differentiator over time. And third, we remain committed to disciplined execution and financial rigor as we continue this journey back to growth and improve profitability.

最後我用三點重點作結。第一，我們看到商業動能改善，包括 book-to-bill 持續強勁以及與生技客戶的互動增強。第二，我們透過更佳的交付紀律與 FIT 的推出來提升營運表現；我們相信隨時間推進，FIT 將成為愈來愈重要的差異化因素。第三，在持續重返成長並提升獲利能力的旅程中，我們仍致力於有紀律的執行與嚴謹的財務管理。

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

接下來，我把電話會議交給 Jill。

Thank you, Anshul, and thank you to everyone for joining us today. As Anshul stated, we delivered a solid first quarter. I am very proud of what the team achieved, and before getting into the details, I'd like to briefly highlight our progress against financial excellence, the third pillar of our growth strategy.

謝謝你，Anshul，也謝謝各位今天加入我們。如 Anshul 所述，我們交出穩健的第一季表現。我為團隊的成果感到非常自豪；在進入細節之前，我想先簡要說明我們在財務卓越（成長策略的第三個支柱）方面的進展。

First, as part of our rightsizing initiatives, we delivered quarterly cost savings of nearly $16 million gross and over $9 million net, putting us on track to achieve our full year cost optimization targets. Second, the first quarter of 2026 represented the strongest start to the year since our spin, as evidenced by the year-over-year improvement in margin and in leverage ratios, reflecting our continued focus on rightsizing the business along with improving project mix and delivery.

首先，作為我們業務規模調整（rightsizing）計畫的一部分，我們實現了單季成本節省，毛額接近1,600萬美元、淨額超過900萬美元，使我們有望達成全年成本優化目標。第二，2026年第一季是自我們分拆（spin）以來最強勁的年度開局，從毛利率與槓桿比率的年對年改善可見一斑，反映我們持續聚焦於調整業務規模，同時改善專案組合與交付。

Now I'll cover the financial results in more detail. First quarter revenue was $636.5 million, down 2.3% year-over-year, consisting of a 3.2% constant currency decline, partially offset by a 0.9% currency benefit. The decline was driven primarily by lower pass-through costs in both our clinical pharmacology and clinical development businesses due to study mix as well as continued FSP headwinds. Importantly, underlying full-service clinical revenue grew year-over-year.

接下來我將更詳細說明財務結果。第一季營收為6.365億美元，年對年下降2.3%，其中包含以固定匯率計算下降3.2%，部分被0.9%的匯率利多所抵銷。下滑主要由於研究組合影響，導致我們臨床藥理與臨床開發業務的轉付成本（pass-through costs）降低，以及FSP逆風持續。重要的是，底層的全方位服務（full-service）臨床營收年對年成長。

On a GAAP basis, direct costs in the quarter decreased 4.1% versus the prior year primarily due to lower pass-through costs and headcount-related personnel costs. These reductions were achieved despite a year-over-year increase in variable compensation expense and currency headwinds, demonstrating our ability to balance rewarding our talent while maintaining cost discipline.

以GAAP基礎計算，本季直接成本較去年同期下降4.1%，主要因轉付成本降低以及與人力編制相關的人事成本下降。儘管變動薪酬費用年對年增加且面臨匯率逆風，我們仍達成上述降幅，展現我們在獎勵人才與維持成本紀律之間取得平衡的能力。

SG&A in the quarter decreased 17.5% year-over-year, driven primarily by lower IT and headcount-related personnel costs, partially offset by higher variable compensation expense. Interest expense for the quarter was $19.1 million, down $3.2 million versus the prior year quarter, reflecting the $75.7 million repurchase of senior secured notes in the fourth quarter of last year, lower interest rates on variable rate debt and no revolver borrowings in the quarter.

本季SG&A較去年同期下降17.5%，主要由IT成本與與人力編制相關的人事成本降低所帶動，部分被較高的變動薪酬費用所抵銷。本季利息費用為1,910萬美元，較去年同期減少320萬美元，反映去年第四季回購7,570萬美元的優先擔保票據（senior secured notes）、浮動利率債務利率下降，以及本季未動用循環信貸額度（revolver）。

Book-to-bill was 1.15 times for the quarter and 1.05 times on a trailing 12-month basis. Backlog was $7.8 billion, and cancellations remained in line with historical trends. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $47 million, compared to $30.3 million in the prior year period. The increase versus the prior year quarter was driven primarily by the benefits of our cost savings initiatives.

本季接單出貨比（book-to-bill）為1.15倍，過去12個月（trailing 12-month）基礎為1.05倍。在手訂單（backlog）為78億美元，取消量仍與歷史趨勢一致。本季調整後EBITDA為4,700萬美元，去年同期為3,030萬美元。較去年同期的增加主要來自我們成本節省計畫的效益。

Moving to net loss and adjusted net income. In the first quarter of 2026, net loss was $23.6 million, compared to a net loss of $562.9 million in the prior year period. Note that the prior year was impacted by a noncash pretax goodwill impairment charge. Adjusted net income for the quarter was $15.2 million, compared to $1.9 million in the prior year period. Adjusted basic and diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2026 were $0.16.

接著談淨損與調整後淨利。2026年第一季淨損為2,360萬美元，去年同期淨損為5.629億美元。請注意，去年同期受到非現金稅前商譽減損費用影響。本季調整後淨利為1,520萬美元，去年同期為190萬美元。2026年第一季調整後基本與稀釋每股盈餘為0.16美元。

In terms of customer concentration, our top 10 customers represented 54.8% of revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. Our largest customer accounted for 17.2% of fourth quarter revenue. While we are still targeting positive full year 2026 operating cash flow, as expected, our cash generation in the first quarter was negative, primarily due to payments to our employees for variable compensation. However, our lower net loss and continued focus on improving our order-to-cash processes enabled us to offset a large portion of the impact.

就客戶集中度而言，截至2026年3月31日止季度，我們前十大客戶占本季營收的54.8%。我們最大客戶占第四季營收的17.2%。雖然我們仍以2026年全年營運現金流轉正為目標，但如預期，第一季現金產生為負，主要因支付員工變動薪酬。然而，較低的淨損以及我們持續聚焦改善從接單到收現（order-to-cash）流程，使我們得以抵銷其中相當大部分的影響。

For the quarter ended March 31, 2026, operating cash flow was negative $17 million, compared to negative $124.2 million in the prior year period. And free cash flow was negative $25 million, compared to negative $127.1 million in the first quarter of 2025. Recall that negative cash flows in the first quarter of 2025 were primarily timing related due to the implementation of our ERP system.

截至2026年3月31日止季度，營運現金流為負1,700萬美元，去年同期為負1.242億美元。自由現金流為負2,500萬美元，2025年第一季為負1.271億美元。回顧2025年第一季的負現金流，主要是因導入ERP系統所造成的時點因素。

In the first quarter of 2026, DSO increased slightly compared to December 31, 2025, increasing from 16 to 20 days, consistent with our expectations. Even with this four day increase, year-over-year DSO was 31 days lower than the prior year.

2026年第一季，DSO較2025年12月31日略為上升，由16天增加至20天，符合我們的預期。即使增加了4天，DSO年對年仍較去年低31天。

Net accounts receivable and unbilled services was $619.6 million as of March 31, 2026, compared to $729 million in the prior year quarter. This reduction is primarily driven by the continued improvements we made in our order to cash processes during 2025. For the second quarter in a row, we navigated the quarter without using our revolver. This combined with our solid cash position resulted in available liquidity in excess of $0.5 billion.

截至2026年3月31日，淨應收帳款與未開立帳單服務（unbilled services）為6.196億美元，去年同期為7.29億美元。此一下降主要來自我們在2025年持續改善從接單到收現流程所帶來的成效。連續第二個季度，我們在未動用循環信貸額度（revolver）的情況下度過該季度。再加上我們穩健的現金部位，使可用流動性超過5億美元。

Looking ahead, we are currently targeting the remainder of 2026 to be operating cash flow positive. With our targeted EBITDA and significant add-backs available under our credit agreement, we expect to maintain ample liquidity and significant flexibility under our financial covenants for the foreseeable future.

展望未來，我們目前目標是在2026年剩餘期間實現營運現金流為正。憑藉我們目標EBITDA以及依據信貸協議可加回（add-backs）的可觀項目，我們預期在可預見的未來將維持充裕流動性，並在財務契約條款（financial covenants）下保有顯著彈性。

Our capital allocation priorities remain driving organic growth, improving productivity and continuing to deleverage. Since the spin, we have paid down approximately 35% of our original debt. This has strengthened our balance sheet and improved our capital position, underscoring our disciplined approach to financial management.

我們的資本配置優先順序仍是推動有機成長、提升生產力並持續去槓桿（deleverage）。自分拆以來，我們已償還約原始債務的35%。這強化了我們的資產負債表並改善資本結構，凸顯我們在財務管理上的紀律作風。

Backlog burn of 8.2% in the first quarter was lower sequentially, driven primarily by the impact of previously communicated pricing concessions on a large pharma FSP contract, the timing of change orders, and to a lesser extent, lower billable volumes consistent with historic patterns in the first quarter.

第一季在手訂單消化率（backlog burn）為8.2%，較前一季下降，主要受先前已溝通之大型藥廠FSP合約的價格讓步影響、變更單（change orders）的時點因素，以及在較小程度上，符合第一季歷史型態的可計費量較低所致。

As we continue on our journey of commercial, operational and financial excellence, we believe that sustainable revenue growth is key to our transformation, which is why we remain laser-focused on strengthening our commercial engine. The second half of 2025 was a step in the right direction, which continued into the first quarter of 2026.

在我們持續追求商務、營運與財務卓越的旅程中，我們相信可持續的營收成長是轉型的關鍵，因此我們仍高度聚焦於強化商務引擎。2025年下半年朝正確方向邁進，並延續至2026年第一季。

As our commercial engine matures and the market environment continues to normalize, we anticipate that these changes could enable more stable book-to-bill performance over time. With targeted value propositions that attract both large pharma and biotech customers, we believe we are well positioned to capitalize on demand across our end markets.

隨著我們的商務引擎日益成熟且市場環境持續正常化，我們預期這些變化可在時間推移下帶來更穩定的接單出貨比（book-to-bill）表現。透過能吸引大型藥廠與生技客戶的目標價值主張，我們相信公司已具備良好定位，可把握終端市場的需求。

Margin improvement remains a multiyear journey, supported by two primary building blocks: revenue diversification and growth, and our ongoing efforts to optimize costs and improve efficiency. Our cost actions continue to strike a balance between maintaining high-quality customer delivery while driving continued operational efficiency.

毛利率改善仍是一段跨多年的旅程，主要由兩大基石支撐：營收多元化與成長，以及我們持續優化成本與提升效率的努力。我們的成本措施持續在維持高品質客戶交付與推動持續營運效率之間取得平衡。

With this combination, we continue to target an achievable path back to mid-teens adjusted EBITDA margin percentages more in line with peers, and our solid performance in the first quarter of this year is a step in that direction. Turning now to guidance.

在此組合之下，我們持續以可達成的路徑為目標，將調整後EBITDA利潤率拉回至更貼近同業的十幾個百分點（mid-teens）水準，而今年第一季的穩健表現正是朝此方向邁進的一步。接下來談財測指引。

We reiterate our targeted full year 2026 revenue guidance in the range of $2.55 billion to $2.65 billion, and targeted adjusted EBITDA guidance in the range of $190 million to $220 million. As a reminder, the year-over-year anticipated decline in revenue primarily reflects the impact of softer bookings in the first half of 2025, continued FSP headwinds and anticipation of lower pass-through costs.

我們重申2026年全年營收指引目標區間為25.5億至26.5億美元，調整後EBITDA指引目標區間為1.90億至2.20億美元。提醒一下，預期營收年對年下滑主要反映2025年上半年接單較疲弱的影響、FSP逆風持續，以及預期轉付成本（pass-through costs）降低。

The targeted improvements in adjusted EBITDA are driven by our continued efforts to rightsize the business, improve our efficiency and build a more attractive project mix. As I noted earlier, in the first quarter, we delivered nearly $16 million of new gross savings against our target of $70 million to $80 million, and more than $9 million in new net savings against our target of $40 million to $50 million, with the difference between gross and net being continued investments in our people.

經調整 EBITDA 的針對性改善，來自我們持續致力於將業務規模調整至適當水準、提升效率，並打造更具吸引力的專案組合。如我先前提到的，第一季我們在 7,000 萬至 8,000 萬美元目標之下，新增近 1,600 萬美元的新增毛節省；並在 4,000 萬至 5,000 萬美元目標之下，新增超過 900 萬美元的新增淨節省；毛與淨之間的差異，主要是我們持續投資於員工。

The first quarter slightly exceeded our expectations in terms of the pace and benefit of our rightsizing initiatives, putting us on a solid trajectory to achieve our guidance while allowing for targeted investments in our employees and in areas that we anticipate could support longer-term revenue growth.

第一季在我們縮編（rightsizing）措施的推進速度與效益方面略優於預期，使我們在達成指引方面走在穩健的軌道上，同時也能進行針對性投資於員工，以及我們預期可支持較長期營收成長的領域。

For the second quarter, we anticipate a modest sequential increase in revenue, driven by higher underlying service fee revenue and pass-through costs. We anticipate a slight step-up in adjusted EBITDA as the higher revenue will be partially offset by increased variable compensation costs.

對於第二季，我們預期營收將較前一季小幅成長，主要由較高的基礎服務費營收與代收代付成本（pass-through costs）所帶動。我們預期經調整 EBITDA 將小幅上升，因為較高的營收將部分被增加的變動薪酬成本所抵銷。

In closing, we are pleased to have delivered another solid quarter, demonstrating that we are making progress against our commercial, operational and financial excellence targets on our journey back to growth and margin expansion. Every day our customer-facing and supporting function teams show up with strong engagement and a commitment to accelerating the clinical development process. We remain excited about the future of Fortrea.

最後，我們很高興再度交出穩健的一季，顯示我們在重返成長與利潤率擴張的旅程中，正朝著商務、營運與財務卓越目標持續取得進展。每天，我們面向客戶與支援職能的團隊都以高度投入與承諾，致力於加速臨床開發流程。我們對 Fortrea 的未來仍感到振奮。

Now we'll open the call for Q&A.

現在我們將開放問答。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

Patrick Donnelly, Citi.

Patrick Donnelly，花旗（Citi）。

Hey guys, thank you for taking the questions. Anshul, maybe one for you just on the overall backdrop here. Pretty encouraging book-to-bill performance. Can you talk about what you're seeing? Last quarter, you talked about maybe a little more constructive conversations with biotech. Are you seeing that continued The funding is just looks pretty good there for a couple of quarters now, the competitive environment. Would love to just talk through that booking backdrop and the confidence level moving forward here.

嗨，各位，謝謝讓我提問。Anshul，先問你一題，關於整體大環境。訂單出貨比（book-to-bill）的表現相當令人鼓舞。你能談談你們看到的情況嗎？上季你提到與生技公司的對話可能更具建設性一些。你們是否看到這樣的趨勢延續？資金面看起來已經連續幾季都相當不錯；競爭環境方面也是。希望你能談談這個接單背景，以及對未來的信心程度。

Patrick, you're coming in a little bit muffled, but I think the question was around backdrop and the evolution of the backdrop specifically as it relates to the competitive nature in biotech. I think that's right, Patrick. As I said, in the world with large pharma, we're seeing a lot of constructive dialogue. We're seeing pipeline prioritizations have largely passed in 2025. But in biotech, we're seeing a slightly speedier path to recovery.

Patrick，你的聲音有點悶，但我想你的問題是關於大環境，以及大環境的演變，特別是與生技領域競爭態勢相關的部分。我想是的，Patrick。如我所說，在大型製藥（large pharma）方面，我們看到很多具建設性的對話。我們看到產品線（pipeline）優先順序的調整在 2025 年大致已經告一段落。但在生技領域，我們看到復甦的路徑稍微更快一些。

As I mentioned, the RFPs for us were up sequentially in biotech, particularly new-to-Fortrea biotech. One of the things I'm very proud of our team is the reach component of our commercial strategy seems to be working really well. But I think that answers your question. We are seeing a little bit speedier recovery in the biotech space.

如我提到的，我們在生技領域的 RFP（提案邀請）較前一季增加，尤其是 Fortrea 的新客戶生技公司。我對團隊非常自豪的一點是，我們商務策略中的「觸及（reach）」要素似乎運作得非常好。我想這回答了你的問題。我們確實看到生技領域的復甦稍微更快。

Okay, that's helpful. And then, Jill, maybe one for you, nice progress on the EBITDA front, a little bit of combo on 2Q progression here. Can you talk about the moving pieces? Obviously, the pass-throughs are one impact. Can you talk about the cost levers you guys are pulling and, again, the right way to think about the level of conservatism layered in after the strong performance to start the year here?

好的，這很有幫助。接著 Jill，也許問你一題：EBITDA 方面進展不錯，關於第二季的走勢這裡有些組合因素。你能談談其中的變動因素嗎？顯然代收代付（pass-through）是一個影響。你能談談你們正在採取哪些成本槓桿，以及在今年開局表現強勁之後，該如何理解你們在指引中所保留的保守程度？

Sure, Patrick. Revenue was down sequentially, but I did comment that underlying service fee revenue for the second quarter in a row was up. And so I think that is a good sign that some of the work we've been doing to try to diversify the portfolio and really think about the mix of work we have is starting to recover. We continue to be pleased with our cost optimization efforts. They came in a little bit ahead of where we expected for the quarter.

當然可以，Patrick。營收較前一季下滑，但我也提到，連續第二季基礎服務費營收是上升的。因此我認為這是個好跡象，顯示我們一直在做的工作——嘗試分散投資組合並真正思考我們承接工作的組合——開始回升。我們對成本最佳化的努力仍感到滿意。本季的成果略優於我們原先的預期。

And I think the team just continues to really execute strongly. We've been talking about project efficiencies and how we deliver there. And those things are starting to come together. I think in terms of the guidance, it's one quarter. We want to continue to keep working at it. And if we have upside, quite frankly, there are opportunities where we believe some of those could be used for small investments to try to accelerate future growth. So I think we think sticking with the guidance as it is right now makes the most sense.

我認為團隊持續展現非常強的執行力。我們一直在談專案效率以及我們如何交付。這些事情正開始整合到位。至於指引方面，這才一個季度。我們希望持續努力。坦白說，如果有上行空間，我們認為有些機會可以用於小幅投資，以嘗試加速未來成長。因此，我們認為目前維持既有指引最為合理。

Okay, thank you guys.

好的，謝謝各位。

Thanks, Patrick.

謝謝你，Patrick。

Elizabeth Anderson, Evercore.

Elizabeth Anderson，Evercore。

Hi, guys. Good morning, and thanks so much for the question. I was hoping to dig in a little bit on the China comments, Anshul, that you put through. Is that an area of like specific incremental investment given some of the opportunity, the changing market dynamics there? Or is that sort of part of a broader geographic investment mix? That would be helpful to get your broader thoughts on that topic.

嗨，各位。早安，也非常感謝讓我提問。我想更深入了解一下你提到的中國相關評論，Anshul。鑑於那裡的一些機會與市場動態變化，這是否是一個需要特別追加投資的領域？或者這其實是更廣泛的地理投資組合的一部分？希望能聽聽你對這個主題更全面的看法。

Good morning, Elizabeth. Thanks for the question, my comment in China is less about an incremental investment. It's a continued strength in China. Fortrea through its legacy has always had strength in operations in China, a little over 1,000 colleagues covering a majority of the clinical trial sites throughout the country. I think it's a comment on our continued strength.

早安，Elizabeth。謝謝你的問題。我對中國的評論，與其說是追加投資，不如說是我們在中國持續展現的優勢。Fortrea 透過其歷史傳承，一直在中國的營運上具備優勢，擁有略多於 1,000 位同仁，覆蓋全國大多數臨床試驗據點。我想這是在說明我們持續的強勢。

And as the market evolves and continues to pick up, we are the beneficiary of that, having a strong customer base in China again, we are focused on China Go Global, meaning assets that are coming out for the global markets, and we're running global clinical trials for those companies. Elizabeth, hopefully that answers your question.

隨著市場演變並持續回溫，我們因在中國擁有強大的客戶基礎而成為受益者；同時我們也聚焦於「中國走向全球（China Go Global）」，也就是那些走向全球市場的資產，我們為這些公司執行全球臨床試驗。Elizabeth，希望這回答了你的問題。

Oh, yeah. No, that's helpful. I was just trying to understand whether -- how that was reflecting. So perfect.

喔，是的。不，這很有幫助。我只是想了解那是如何反映的。所以很完美。

Max Smock, William Blair.

Max Smock，William Blair。

Good morning, Jill. Thanks for taking our questions here. Just wanted to follow up on some of the earlier commentary, particularly around small biotech. And trying to bifurcate, I think, between market improvement versus share gains. And the commentary I thought that you provided on the latter was pretty bullish there.

早安，Jill。謝謝回答我們的問題。我想追問一下先前的一些評論，特別是關於小型生技公司。我想把市場改善與市占提升這兩者區分開來。我覺得你對後者的評論相當樂觀。

So just in general, can you kind of help us understand like how much of that small biotech -- or improvement, I should say, that you've seen do you think is attributable to the market getting better versus how much is maybe you all taking share from some of the other players? And in terms of the share gains piece, like what are you all doing that's really resonating and allow you to get a bigger portion of the pie here moving forward?

所以整體而言，你能否協助我們理解：你們看到的小型生技——或我應該說改善——有多少是來自市場變好，又有多少可能是你們從其他競爭者手中取得市占？而在市占提升這一塊，你們做了哪些事情真正引起共鳴，並讓你們未來能在這個市場中取得更大份額？

Max, I think that's a great question. Share gain is always a hard question to answer given that you don't have perfect visibility on the data, especially given how many of our competitors are private. So I'll focus on the fact that we're seeing an uptick in activity. We're seeing an uptick in conversations as well as RFPs coming from small and midsized biotech companies.

Max，我認為這是個很好的問題。在你無法完全掌握數據的情況下，市占提升一直是個很難回答的問題，尤其是我們有許多競爭對手是私人公司。因此我會聚焦在我們看到活動量正在上升這一點。我們看到對話量以及來自中小型生技公司的RFP（提案徵求書）都有所增加。

What I'm really proud of is our team. The win rates are broadly consistent with what I would want to see from our commercial team. But more importantly, the aperture is increasing. So we are starting to bring forth more new-to-Fortrea biotech into our pipeline and into our mix. And I think it's our commercial execution that I'm most proud of.

我真正感到自豪的是我們的團隊。贏單率整體上與我希望從我們商務團隊看到的水準大致一致。但更重要的是，覆蓋範圍正在擴大。因此我們開始把更多對Fortrea而言屬於新客戶的生技公司帶進我們的管線與組合中。而我最自豪的，是我們的商務執行力。

That's very helpful. And then maybe just following up with one on margins. I think, Jill, maybe in your prepared remarks, you mentioned mid-teens margins over the next three to five years, I think that's the first time I've kind of gotten some detail around the time line there. And if I just think about what that means, call it, 15% by 2030, basically 700 basis points of improvement over the next kind of four years there at the midpoint, is that a reasonable way or like a reasonable starting point for thinking about margin expansion moving forward? And then just thinking through the cadence of improvement over the next three to five years and just the puts and takes behind that improvement as well. Thank you.

這非常有幫助。接著我想再追問一個關於利潤率的問題。Jill，我記得你在事先準備的發言中提到未來三到五年利潤率在十幾個百分點的水準；我想這是我第一次看到你對時間線提供一些細節。如果我把它理解為，例如到2030年達到15%，基本上是在未來大約四年（以中位數來看）提升約700個基點，這樣作為思考未來利潤率擴張的合理方式或合理起點嗎？另外也想請你談談未來三到五年改善的節奏，以及推動改善的利多與利空因素。謝謝。

Sure, Max. I think we wanted to start to give some sense of what we saw in terms of how we would be back on that journey. And with the building blocks in place, if you remember last year when we talked about this, we said it's going to be based on continuing to deliver on the cost optimizations, which we've been doing and we're continuing to do. And then most importantly, being able to drive top line growth. And we said it would be really important to be able to see more consistency in our commercial execution.

當然，Max。我想我們希望開始讓大家對我們如何重回那段旅程有一些概念。在各項基礎要素到位的情況下，如果你還記得去年我們談到這件事時，我們說這將建立在持續交付成本優化之上；我們一直在做，也會持續做。而最重要的是，能夠推動營收成長。我們也說過，能夠看到我們商務執行更一致會非常重要。

We now have three quarters of that with the pipeline growing. And the continued momentum and focus, we believe that we're starting to see the foundation for that, which should allow us to start to have more significant improvements in margin over time.

現在我們已經有三個季度看到管線在成長。在持續的動能與專注之下，我們相信我們開始看到這方面的基礎正在形成，這應該能讓我們隨時間推進，開始在利潤率上取得更顯著的改善。

We've talked about the fact that early on with low levels of growth, we will be able to absorb and use some of the capacity that we have. And then as we grow more, we will we would add back personnel but in a more measured way. And we're creating the environment that will allow us to do that.

我們談過一點：在早期、成長率較低時，我們將能吸收並運用現有的一部分產能。接著當我們成長更多時，我們會把人員加回來，但會以更審慎、循序的方式。而我們正在打造能讓我們做到這一點的環境。

So we're thinking -- we talked to you guys last quarter about an Investor Day, we're thinking -- we're planning that logistics and more to come, but in the second half of the year, and that will be the place for us to really lay out more detail about what that margin progression would look like.

所以我們在想——我們上季跟各位談到投資人日（Investor Day），我們正在規劃相關物流安排等，後續會有更多資訊；但預計在今年下半年舉行，而那將是我們真正更詳細說明利潤率進展路徑會長什麼樣子的場合。

Thank you again for taking our questions.

再次感謝你們回答我們的問題。

David Windley, Jefferies.

Jefferies的David Windley。

Hi, good morning. I think Fortrea wins the award for the cleanest quarter this quarter. So congratulations on that. The question that I have is around the cadence of client renewals, Anshul, I think we talked about this fairly recently. I think your view is that maybe the re-procurement cycle in the last couple of years was a little elevated, but not dramatically.

嗨，早安。我認為Fortrea這一季可以拿到「最乾淨的一季」獎。所以恭喜你們。我想問的是關於客戶續約的節奏，Anshul，我想我們不久前才談過這個。我記得你的看法是，過去幾年重新招標（re-procurement）的週期可能略為偏高，但並不算非常明顯。

So I guess I'd be curious how you view 2026 or maybe even '26, and '27, in terms of the larger client renewals that you are approaching and when you expect to have -- what your hopes and aspirations are for those and when you expect to have visibility on those. Thanks.

所以我想了解你如何看待2026年，甚至是2026年與2027年，就你們即將面臨的大型客戶續約而言，以及你們對那些續約的希望與目標是什麼、以及你們預期何時能對那些續約有可見度。謝謝。

Sure, David. Yes, we've talked about this in the past. I do think there was some level of elevation in terms of re-procurement conversations happening over the last couple of years. I think it was particularly in FSP, especially as there's opportunities for leverage in terms of price. And as we've talked about that in our own case, in one particular strategic client.

當然，David。是的，我們過去談過這件事。我確實認為過去幾年在重新招標對話方面有一定程度的升溫。我認為這在FSP（功能性服務提供）特別明顯，尤其是存在在價格方面取得槓桿的機會。而我們也談過，在我們自身的案例中，某一個特定的策略性客戶就是如此。

If I look forward into '26, and '27, I see normal levels. I mean remember, in any one given client, they may have multiple outsourcing models. Within that particular client, they may have multiple therapeutic areas and business units within that particular client. So we've got a team that's focused on these renewals. We continue to see some level of steady progress, a couple a year.

如果我往2026年與2027年看，我看到的是正常水準。我的意思是，請記得，任何一個客戶可能同時有多種外包模式。在該客戶內部，也可能有多個治療領域與事業單位。因此我們有一個團隊專注在這些續約上。我們持續看到一些穩定的進展，一年大概幾個。

I won't comment on the specific numbers of the specific clients. But I think what I will comment on, what is interesting, as our -- as we regain stability in the marketplace and as I rebuilt the commercial excellence framework that we've been talking about, we're getting invited to certain renewals that we weren't invited to in the past, from a large and midsized pharma. And that's actually what gives me some pride in terms of what our commercial team is being able to accomplish here in 2026.

我不會評論特定客戶的具體數字。但我想我會評論的是，有趣的是，隨著我們在市場上重新取得穩定、以及我重建我們一直在談的商務卓越（commercial excellence）框架，我們開始被邀請參與一些過去沒有被邀請的續約案，這些來自大型與中型藥廠。而這其實讓我對我們商務團隊在2026年能夠達成的成果感到自豪。

Thank you for that. And then you touched on the topic of my follow-up, which was around that FSP concession that you called out. I guess I wanted to understand that a little bit better. Is that -- was that a, say, a rate card or a price level that is baked in and a new level on a go-forward basis? Or Jill, was your call-out, your words, about the first quarter highlighting a specific, say, disproportionately large effect here as we start the year that doesn't necessarily persist? I didn't quite understand.

謝謝你的說明。接著你也提到了我追問的主題，也就是你點出的那項FSP讓利（concession）。我想更清楚理解一下。那是——例如，一個已經寫進合約、並在未來持續適用的新費率表（rate card）或新價格水準嗎？或者，Jill，你在提到第一季時的用語，是在強調一個特定的、例如在年初開始時影響特別大的效應，但不一定會持續？我沒有完全理解。

I'll make it.

我來回答。

Thanks.

謝謝。

I'll make it simple, David. It was a particular client who decided to renew their multiyear FSP contract with several CROs a year early. And it was a rate card impact. And that rate card impact is a go-forward rate. And we've been able to absorb that rate card impact within our business. And some of that shows up here in Q1 because the new rates took effect in Q1. Does that answer your question?

我簡單說，David。那是一個特定客戶決定提前一年，與多家CRO續簽其多年期FSP合約。而那是費率表（rate card）的影響。而該費率表影響是未來持續適用的費率。我們已經能在我們的業務中吸收這個費率表影響。其中一部分會在第一季反映出來，因為新費率在第一季生效。這有回答你的問題嗎？

Yes, it does.

是的，確實如此。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Eric Coldwell, Baird.

Eric Coldwell，Baird。

Thanks very much. Good morning. A couple of things here. First, on the bookings and bookings mix in the quarter, and Anshul, you highlighted your pleasure with the momentum on biotech in particular. Does that by default indicate a heavier skewing towards FSO wins versus FSP? I would assume so, but I'd love your commentary on the kind of the underlying quality of the mix of bookings in the quarter.

非常感謝。早安。這裡有幾點。首先，關於本季的訂單與訂單組合，Anshul，你特別提到你對生技動能感到滿意。這是否在預設情況下代表相較於FSP，會更偏向FSO的得標？我想應該是，但我也希望聽聽你對本季訂單組合底層品質的看法。

And then as an adjunct to that, there was some chatter in the quarter leading up to this about rescue wins and various puts and takes across companies in the space, not necessarily new business in terms of demand, but business shifting from one player to the next. I'm curious if you could -- would be willing to share any perspective on size or quantity of rescue wins on a net basis as well?

另外作為延伸，本季在這次會議前市場上有一些傳聞，談到救援型得標（rescue wins）以及同業之間各種此消彼長；不一定是需求面帶來的新業務，而是業務從一家轉到另一家。我想請教你是否願意分享一些觀點：就淨額而言，救援型得標的規模或數量大概如何？

Sure. Eric, I'm happy to share. In terms of booking mix, you're correct with your assumption, our bookings skewed more towards FSO than FSP in the first quarter. And our bookings skewed more heavily towards biotech than biopharma in the first quarter. So you're correct in both of your assumptions there in terms of the mix of the backlog.

當然。Eric，我很樂意分享。就訂單組合而言，你的假設正確：我們第一季的訂單相較於FSP，更偏向FSO。而且第一季的訂單也更偏向生技（biotech）而非大型生物製藥（biopharma）。所以就積壓訂單（backlog）的組合來看，你兩個假設都正確。

So we've got a quality of backlog going in a quality of bookings going into the backlog that I'm very happy to see. In terms of chatter, Eric, there's always chattered. I'll tell you there's always rescues in any given quarter. Typically, if a CRO has had some financial difficulties or there's been news in the marketplace, everybody is going to counter detail. It's happened to us. We've done it, vice versa, et cetera.

因此，我很高興看到：進入積壓訂單的訂單品質很高、積壓訂單本身的品質也很好。至於傳聞，Eric，市場上一直都有傳聞。我可以告訴你，每一季通常都會有救援案（rescue）。一般來說，如果某家CRO出現財務困難或市場上有相關消息，大家都會去做反向拜訪與說明（counter-detail）。這種事也發生在我們身上。我們也做過，反之亦然，等等。

But there is no -- there was no trend line necessarily of rescues happening in any given quarter. Look, we took on a rescue or two. I'm sure every other CRO took on a rescue or two. But I'll tell you from the perspective of CRO and perspective of sponsor, rescues are not taken lightly. They're not easy.

但並沒有——也就是說，並沒有某一季救援案特別增加的趨勢線。你看，我們接手了一兩個救援案。我相信其他每家CRO也都接手了一兩個。但我想從CRO與委託方（sponsor）的角度來說，救援案不會被輕率地接手。它們並不容易。

They're not difficult. I mean they're very difficult to execute on. And while they may provide some short-term revenue, they're usually very hard. But there wasn't a trend line, I would say, in Q1 around rescues. Chatter, sure. Counter-detailing, always, but not a trend line. I hope that answers your question.

它們並不簡單。我的意思是，執行起來非常困難。而且雖然可能帶來一些短期營收，但通常都很棘手。不過我會說，在第一季救援案並沒有形成趨勢線。有傳聞，當然。反向拜訪與說明，一直都有，但不是趨勢。希望這回答了你的問題。

Yeah, that's great. Thanks. And then I know Jill made the comment that Q2 revenue is expected to be up modestly quarter-over-quarter. And I think there was an implication that that was in absolute dollars, both the service revenue as well as the pass-through revenue. So I wanted to verify pass-through revenue actually reincreasing, if you will, here in the second quarter.

是的，這很棒。謝謝。另外，我知道Jill提到第二季營收預期將較上一季小幅成長。我理解這暗示的是以絕對金額計，服務營收以及轉付收入（pass-through revenue）都會增加。所以我想確認一下：第二季的轉付收入確實會再度上升，對嗎？

And then any kind of a signal you could give us on your expectations for pass-through mix for the full year, whether that's dollars, growth rates, percentages? Just anything to help us get a sense on the pass-through trend line over the next three quarters would be great.

另外，你們對全年轉付收入組合（pass-through mix）的預期，有沒有任何訊號可以提供？不論是金額、成長率或占比？任何能幫助我們掌握未來三季轉付趨勢線的資訊都很好。

Sure. So in terms of the second quarter, you're correct, it's dollars both for service fee revenue as well as pass-throughs, and the step-up being pretty consistent between the two. It's not going to get to the levels that we saw in Q2 and Q3 of last year. As we had shared on the call from year-end, we had a handful of trials. One, we reached the milestones reporting out a year ahead of time, so that trial was winding down.

當然。就第二季而言，你說得對：服務費營收與轉付收入都會以金額計增加，而且兩者的增幅相當一致。但不會回到去年第二季與第三季的水準。如同我們在年終電話會議分享的，我們有少數幾個試驗。其中一個提前一年達到里程碑並完成結果揭露，因此該試驗正在收尾。

And then we had a few other very large ones that reached more maintenance stages of their life cycle. So we see it stepping up from Q1, but not to the levels that we saw and I think for the remainder of the year, it will be pretty consistent to a slightly higher level than we saw in Q1, but still below last year. Because you'll recall, that's part of why we have a revenue reduction for the year, is related to a lower expectation around pass-throughs for what we see today.

另外還有幾個非常大型的試驗進入其生命週期較偏維持（maintenance）的階段。因此我們看到它會較第一季上升，但不會回到先前的水準；我認為在今年剩餘期間，它會大致維持在與第一季相當、到略高的水準，但仍低於去年。因為你會記得，我們今年營收下修的一部分原因，就與我們目前所見、對轉付收入較低的預期有關。

Yeah, good. Thank you. And then last one for me, variable comp. I was just hoping you could walk through all of the mechanics of that, what it's up in Q1, what your expectation is for incremental cost in calendar '26, now that you're a quarter in and you've realized Q1 results. I'm just curious where the final tally came on variable comp increases, both in Q1 and then for the full year on a year-over-year basis and I'll wrap it with that. Thanks so much.

好的，了解。謝謝。最後一題，關於變動薪酬（variable comp）。我希望你能帶我們走一遍其所有運作機制：為什麼第一季會上升；在你們已經走過一季並看到第一季結果後，對2026曆年的增量成本預期為何。我想知道變動薪酬增加的最終數字落在哪裡——第一季以及全年、以年對年基礎來看——我就問到這裡。非常感謝。

Sure. So we've been talking to you all about that journey and how it's important in our organization to make sure that we are compensating our employees in line with market and as they deserve. And we were pleased to be able to, for the first time since the spin, have a variable compensation payout for 2025. However, it was still below the norm. So this year, we're going back to what you would consider more normal levels of variable compensation.

當然。我們一直在和各位談這段歷程，以及在我們組織中確保員工薪酬與市場一致、並符合他們應得水準的重要性。我們很高興能夠在分拆（spin）以來第一次，針對2025年發放變動薪酬。不過，那仍低於常態水準。因此今年我們會回到你所認為較正常的變動薪酬水準。

And in the quarter, that was a more significant increase because we took it up a little bit over the course of last year. So it's a little bit more of a significant headwind in Q1 this year versus Q1 last year. But it was built into our guidance. And as I mentioned earlier, if we continue to perform strongly, we're going to look at ways to continue to navigate how we compensate our employees and think about things that accelerate growth.

而在本季，增幅較為顯著，因為我們在去年期間已經把它稍微往上調了一些。所以相較於去年第一季，今年第一季的逆風會更明顯一些。但這已納入我們的財測指引之中。而且如我先前提到的，如果我們持續強勁表現，我們會尋找方法持續調整我們如何補償員工，並思考能加速成長的作法。

Could you give us the number, the incremental increase?

你能給我們那個數字，也就是增量增加的金額嗎？

I mean so a full year estimate for us is around about -- it comes in at around $60 million. So last year, we were a little bit north. So we paid out about two third, and then this year, we're looking more to be at a normal run rate.

我的意思是，我們對全年的估計大約是——大概落在6,000萬美元左右。去年我們略高一些。所以我們去年大約支付了三分之二，而今年我們希望回到正常的運行水準（run rate）。

Okay. So consistent with prior commentary.

好的。因此與先前的評論一致。

Yes, correct.

是的，正確。

Eric, you never give up on the number. That's good.

Eric，你對那個數字從不放棄。這很好。

I like numbers.

我喜歡數字。

Luke Sergott, Barclays.

Luke Sergott，巴克萊。

Good morning, Angel and Jill. This is Anna Kruszenski on for Luke. Thank you for taking your questions. Anshul, you've made a number of leadership changes over the last few months and specifically within the commercial organization. So it would be great to just hear more about any key strategy shift here and how you've seen this drive momentum, especially with the 1Q bookings.

早安，Angel 和 Jill。我是代替 Luke 的 Anna Kruszenski。感謝你們回答問題。Anshul，過去幾個月你們做了多項領導層調整，特別是在商務組織內。因此很希望能多聽你分享這裡是否有任何關鍵策略轉變，以及你如何看待這些變動帶動動能，尤其是在第一季的接單方面。

Yeah, I think, look, the Q1 bookings are driven through execution. And it's not just the execution of the commercial team, but it's execution of our delivery team, continuing to delight our customers, continuing to ensure we have repeat work and continuing to present strategies in bid defenses that are differentiated and give us a leg-up over competition. It's also driven by execution of our finance team.

是的，我想，首先，第一季的接單是由執行力所驅動。而且不只是商務團隊的執行力，也包括我們交付團隊的執行力——持續讓客戶滿意、持續確保有重複性工作，並在投標防禦中持續提出具差異化、讓我們相較競爭對手更具優勢的策略。同時也受到我們財務團隊執行力的帶動。

So it's execution all around, not necessarily leadership changes, that are driving performance right now. And we continue to look for talented colleagues and individuals at all levels to be able to bring into the organization, especially as we as we return to growth. But it's really execution by our commercial teams, our operational teams and our finance teams that I think is giving us the wins that we need in the marketplace right now.

所以，是全方位的執行力，而不一定是領導層變動，正在推動目前的表現。而且我們也持續在各個層級尋找有才華的同仁與人才加入組織，特別是在我們重回成長之際。但我認為，真正讓我們在市場上拿下所需勝利的，是商務團隊、營運團隊與財務團隊的執行力。

Thank you. That was helpful. And then, Jill, if we could go back to margins just a bit, I know you talked about like reinvesting some of the savings that you achieved in the first quarter, but if there's just any other color you can share on like how we should think about the cadence of margins, specifically in the second half of the year, that would be helpful. Thank you.

謝謝。這很有幫助。接著，Jill，如果我們再回到毛利率談一下，我知道你提到會把第一季達成的一部分節省再投入，但如果你能再補充一些看法，讓我們理解毛利率的節奏，特別是下半年應該如何看待，會很有幫助。謝謝。

Sure, Anna. In terms of margin, again, we would see an incremental step-up, a slight incremental step-up in Q2, and I think it will just trend up slowly over the course of the year as we go forward. You're not going to see the big step-up, because Q1 came in more strongly historically, that 1Q to Q2 has been pretty pronounced. It's going to be much more measured this quarter because of where Q1 came in.

當然，Anna。就毛利率而言，再次說明，我們會在第二季看到一個小幅的增量上升，我認為隨著時間推進，全年會緩步上行。你不會看到很大的跳升，因為第一季的表現歷史上更強，因此過去從第一季到第二季的提升通常相當明顯。但由於第一季的落點，這一季的上升會更為溫和、可控。

And we're really pleased to see how strongly Q1 performed. But I think a slow gradual increase over the course of the year as more of the cost savings initiatives take hold and we continue to see some of the benefits of the new business wins we've had over the last few quarters.

而我們也很高興看到第一季表現如此強勁。但我認為，隨著更多成本節省措施逐步發揮效果，以及我們持續看到過去幾季新業務得標所帶來的一些效益，毛利率在全年將呈現緩慢、逐步的提升。

Charles Rhyee, TD Cowen.

Charles Rhyee，TD Cowen。

Oh, yeah, thanks for taking the question. Can I just follow up there, Jill. You're kind of saying we should see margins kind of still steadily improved. And just to clarify back to some of the other comments, I think you guided to 2Q EBITDA being sort of a step-up from 1Q. But if we think about that, that's like the bulk of the range for EBITDA for the year. And I think to an earlier question, you had said you feel good about where it is right now and there's some investments that you have coming.

喔，好的，謝謝讓我提問。我可以在這裡追問一下嗎，Jill。你大致是在說，我們應該會看到毛利率仍會穩步改善。再釐清一下，回到你先前的一些評論，我想你指引第二季 EBITDA 會比第一季有所上升。但如果我們這樣看，這幾乎就是全年 EBITDA 區間的大部分。而且我記得在先前一個問題中，你提到你對目前的狀況感覺不錯，但也有一些即將進行的投資。

Just curious, are those -- do you have like known investments that you plan to make particularly in the second half of the year? Or is that you just want to be prepared for more opportunistic on that? And then within this question, right, back to David's question around sort of the FSP, and you talked about the rate card impact, is that impact all already embedded within the 1Q performance and already embedded into 2Q? Or is there anything we would expect from that that could also show up in the second half? Thanks.

想請教，那些——你們是否有已知、計畫在下半年特別要做的投資？還是說你只是想為更具機會性的投入做好準備？另外在這個問題裡，回到 David 關於 FSP 的問題，你提到費率卡（rate card）的影響，那個影響是否已經完全反映在第一季表現中，也已經納入第二季？或者我們是否還會預期有任何影響在下半年顯現？謝謝。

Sure. So in terms of investments, I think it's really important, one, we have been talking about how we make sure we compensate our people. We are a people business. Our revenue stream comes through our people, and we want to make sure that we are continuing to compensate them in a market that's starting to get just a touch more competitive, and being ahead of that. And we -- so some of the investments are definitely targeted towards that, continued investments in things like merit.

好的。就投資而言，我認為非常重要的一點是，我們一直在談如何確保我們能夠補償我們的員工。我們是以人才為核心的業務。我們的營收來源來自我們的人員，而我們希望確保在市場開始變得稍微更具競爭性的情況下，能持續提供具競爭力的薪酬，並且走在前面。因此，其中一些投資確實會聚焦在這方面，例如持續投入像是績效調薪（merit）等。

The other ones, I think, are relatively smaller organic investments, but particular places like therapeutic areas and medical expertise where we believe certain investments and maybe even some target investments in the commercial organization, because we know that the real lever for getting that margins in line with peers is going to be revenue growth, so things that we believe will help to accelerate that growth trajectory.

另外一些我認為是相對較小的有機投資，但會聚焦在特定領域，例如治療領域（therapeutic areas）與醫學專業能力（medical expertise），我們相信某些投入——甚至可能包括在商務組織中的一些針對性投入——是必要的，因為我們知道，讓毛利率與同業接軌的真正槓桿將是營收成長；因此我們會做一些我們相信能加速成長軌跡的事情。

They're relatively small, but important for us to do as we prepare and come in to think about 2027 and beyond. In terms of FSP impact, it is pretty much already now manifested in the first quarter, probably even slightly more pronounced in the first quarter relative for that drop. But that was fully built into guidance, and so there isn't anything surprised there that we would expect to see.

這些投入相對不大，但在我們準備並開始思考 2027 年及以後時，對我們而言很重要。至於 FSP 的影響，基本上現在已經在第一季反映出來了，對於那次下滑而言，第一季的反映可能甚至稍微更明顯一些。但這已完全納入指引之中，因此我們不預期會有任何意外。

Okay, that's helpful. I appreciate that. And then maybe, Anshul, I just wanted to -- I appreciate your comments early on when you're talking about sort of AI is for efficiency, but you need people for sort of interpretation and strategic kind of thinking. But I guess the question though is, obviously, with all the focus on AI up and down the chain, what are those discussions like when you're talking with sponsors?

好的，這很有幫助。謝謝你。接著也許，Anshul，我想——我很感謝你一開始的評論，你提到 AI 用於提升效率，但在解讀與策略性思考方面仍需要人。不過我的問題是，顯然整個產業鏈上下都非常關注 AI，那你們在與委託方（sponsors）溝通時，相關討論通常是什麼樣子？

Like what are they asking from you in terms of your AI capabilities? And are you starting to see any types of changes in the pricing model to create incentives for partners to use more AI? Or I'm just trying to understand ways that you can still benefit.

例如，他們就你們的 AI 能力會向你們提出哪些要求？你們是否開始看到定價模式出現任何變化，以創造誘因讓合作夥伴更多使用 AI？我只是想了解，你們仍然可以如何從中受益。

Because I think the big fear is that AI is going to drive lower cost, and then lower cost drives lower bid sizes, and that's kind of a negative cycle. Maybe you can talk a little bit how you can -- are there new scenarios where maybe more outcomes-based or risk-based that could be helpful for you going forward?

因為我認為最大的擔憂是，AI 會帶來更低成本，而更低成本又會導致更低的投標金額，形成一種負向循環。也許你可以談談，未來是否會出現一些新情境，例如更偏向成果導向或風險分攤（risk-based）的模式，可能對你們更有利？

Sure, Charles, I'm happy to talk about it. This conversation comes up a lot. That's why I wanted to mention it in my prepared remarks and get ahead of it. I will say this, it's early days. And you're going to get tired of me hearing me say it's early days, because it genuinely is early days.

當然，Charles，我很樂意談談。這個話題經常被提起。這也是為什麼我想在事先準備的發言中提到它，先把這個議題講在前面。我會這麼說：現在還在早期階段。而你可能會聽我一直說「還在早期階段」聽到厭煩，因為它確實就是還在早期階段。

I will tell you that most sponsors are having some version of a conversation, but it's looking to CROs as partners in, okay, we've got a tool here that could be a solution to helping speed up clinical trials. How we exactly use it? We don't know.

我可以告訴你，大多數贊助商都在進行某種形式的對話，但目前看起來是把CRO視為合作夥伴：好，我們手上有一個工具，可能是協助加速臨床試驗的解方。我們要怎麼確切使用它？我們還不知道。

The tool itself is a singular tool. It's a suite of tools that continue to evolve. The problems that we're solving for are, in some cases, relatively simple, and it's a matter of testing tools, piloting them, and then executing, such as in pharmacovigilance and safety.

這個工具本身不是單一工具。它是一套會持續演進的工具組合。我們要解決的問題在某些情況下相對簡單，重點在於測試工具、進行試點，然後落地執行，例如在藥物警戒與安全性方面。

And then there's problems that are far more complicated, which is having the tool be able to analyze data that leads to better site selection and that leads to better signal detection around things that may or may not be going right or wrong in a clinical trial.

然後也有更複雜得多的問題，也就是讓工具能夠分析數據，進而帶來更好的試驗中心選擇，並在臨床試驗中對可能進展順利或不順利的事項，提升訊號偵測能力。

But it's early days. I will tell you, almost every conversation we have is constructive in how do we solve it together rather than what are you going to do for me conversation, which I really appreciate, out of our clients. So far, we haven't seen any push on a commercial model as you're suggesting, because everyone is in the stages of developing, piloting, testing. We don't have active solutions that are rolling out at mass scale.

但現在還在早期階段。我可以告訴你，我們幾乎每一次的對話都是建設性的，重點在於「我們如何一起解決」，而不是「你要為我做什麼」的那種對話；我非常感謝客戶能這樣合作。到目前為止，我們還沒有看到你所提到的那種對商業模式的施壓，因為大家都還在開發、試點、測試的階段。我們還沒有任何正在大規模推出的成熟解決方案。

And when we get there, yes, I'm sure we'll have conversations around commercial models. We'll have various conversations, just like we've had with every form of change, innovation, change to the workflow in this industry over the last 20, 25 years. I think people forget how resilient the CRO industry was in the middle of the pandemic in changing its workflows and models to be able to accommodate a new environment in a very short period of time. And I have full faith, not just in Fortrea, but in the entire industry's ability to do that over the coming years.

等我們走到那一步，沒錯，我相信我們會就商業模式展開討論。我們會有各式各樣的討論，就像過去20到25年裡，這個產業每一次面對變革、創新、以及工作流程改變時一樣。我認為人們忘了CRO產業在疫情期間有多麼有韌性，能在非常短的時間內調整工作流程與模式，以適應新的環境。我對此充滿信心，不只是對Fortrea，也對整個產業在未來幾年做到這點的能力充滿信心。

I appreciate it. Thank you.

我很感謝。謝謝。

Jailendra Singh, Truist Securities.

Jailendra Singh，Truist Securities。

Thank you, and thanks for taking my question. So Anshul, I want to stick with the last question around the AI impact. And let me ask it in a slightly different manner and maybe see if you can give us some flavor around how do you think about the directional financial impact for the industry maybe near term and longer term? Would you agree that -- I mean clearly, CROs get paid based on billable hours and tasks, some of which could be automated.

謝謝，也謝謝讓我提問。Anshul，我想延續上一題關於AI影響的問題。我換個方式問，看看你能否分享一下：你如何看待AI對產業在短期與長期的方向性財務影響？你是否同意——我的意思是，顯然CRO是按可計費工時與任務收費，而其中有些可能會被自動化。

But on the flip side, you can argue that AI is driving more drug discovery, which could lead to more larger drug development pipeline longer term. And on margins, you should have more efficiencies.

但另一方面，你也可以主張AI正在推動更多藥物發現，長期可能帶來更大規模的藥物開發管線。而在利潤率方面，你應該會有更多效率提升。

So would you agree with this view that AI adoption could result in some top line pressure near term, but then neutral to positive impact longer term, but better margin will offset top line headwinds. So any directional color you can provide would be helpful.

所以你是否同意這樣的看法：AI導入短期可能對營收端造成一些壓力，但長期影響可能中性到正面，而更好的利潤率將抵消營收端的逆風。如果你能提供任何方向性的觀點會很有幫助。

Jailendra, I appreciate the question, though I do think you kind of answered your own question to a certain extent, because I know you and I have talked about this in the past. So look, broadly, I think that it's harder to determine what will happen in the nearer term because it's harder to see the impact given all of the -- we have a lot of conversations happening, a lot of noise, a lot -- but not a lot of progress just yet.

Jailendra，我很感謝這個問題，不過我覺得你在某種程度上其實已經回答了自己的問題，因為我知道你我過去也談過這件事。整體來看，我認為短期會發生什麼更難判斷，因為在各種——我們有很多對話在進行、很多雜訊、很多——但目前還沒有太多實質進展，因此影響不容易看清。

But you are right. I think in the near term, we will see certain areas that where workflow can be automated with machine learning, we'll see some margin, I would hope, appreciation for the near term and maybe some revenue headwind.

但你說得沒錯。我認為短期內，我們會在某些工作流程可用機器學習自動化的領域看到一些利潤率的提升——我希望如此——同時可能也會有一些營收逆風。

But I would tell you, most, if not all of that, will be countervailed by the fact that, and I've talked about it and other peers have talked about it, is that the industry just continues to invest, reinvest into the next clinical program. We may even see speed pick up in terms of the early phase work as molecules move out of discovery at a greater rate.

但我想說的是，大部分——如果不是全部——都會被另一個因素所抵消：正如我談過、其他同業也談過的，這個產業會持續投資、再投資到下一個臨床計畫。隨著分子以更快速度從發現階段往外推進，我們甚至可能看到早期階段工作的速度加快。

But long term, I see this as a tailwind and I see this as a net positive the industry. Longer term, I think we will finally get to a place where clinical trials will get modestly and modestly faster. We haven't seen that in the last decade, but I think we will get there with these new advancements in technology.

但從長期來看，我把這視為順風，我也認為這對產業是淨正面。更長期而言，我認為我們終將到達一個階段：臨床試驗會變得更快——幅度不大，但會逐步加快。過去十年我們沒有看到這點，但我認為隨著這些新的技術進展，我們會走到那裡。

What that will mean is an opportunity to develop more drugs. They have opportunity to solve more diseases, and CROs continuing to play a vital role in that. So longer term, I do see this as a net-net tailwind for the industry overall, not just for CROs, but for pharmaceutical companies as well as the pace of innovation gets faster.

這意味著有機會開發更多藥物。也有機會解決更多疾病，而CRO將持續在其中扮演關鍵角色。所以更長期來看，我確實認為這對整體產業是淨順風，不只是對CRO，對製藥公司也是如此，因為創新步伐會加快。

My quick follow-up on -- I know this is a difficult metric to guide for, but how do you feel about sustaining these strong book-to-bill trends for the rest of the year? Should we still model like 1.1 as a baseline backlog for rest of the year? Or do you have a high confidence that it could probably sustain this 1.15 plus/minus range given recent results?

我再快速追問一題——我知道這是一個很難給指引的指標——你對於在今年剩餘時間維持這些強勁的接單出帳比（book-to-bill）趨勢有何看法？我們是否仍應以1.1作為今年剩餘時間的基準、對應的在手訂單（backlog）假設？或者你是否很有信心，基於近期結果，它大概可以維持在1.15上下的區間？

Look, as I mentioned in the past, I don't think trying to give guidance on book-to-bill is the -- is a prudent thing to do here. The market is recovering. As I've said, I see recovery in biotech, but I do see a constructive recovery in biopharma. I'm not going to guide to a book-to-bill. I'll tell you I'd drive the team to much higher standards and what I am really happy is that both my operational and commercial teams are responding to the pressure and the high bar that I've set for all of them.

你看，正如我過去提到的，我不認為在這裡嘗試對接單出帳比給出指引——是一件審慎的事。市場正在復甦。如我所說，我看到生技在復甦，但我也看到生物製藥出現建設性的復甦。我不會對接單出帳比提供指引。我可以告訴你的是，我會要求團隊達到更高的標準；而我真正感到高興的是，我的營運與商務團隊都在回應我為他們設定的壓力與高門檻。

Great. Thanks a lot.

很好。非常感謝。

Justin Bowers, Deutsche Bank.

Justin Bowers，德意志銀行（Deutsche Bank）。

Hi, this is Sam Martin on for Justin Bowers and Deutsche Bank. Just two quick questions building on the previous themes of AI that were asked about. One on the commercial launch of Fortrea Intelligent Technology. Can you just dig in a little bit more to the initial reception where it's most concentrated, is among biotech or pharma, or really broad-based? And some of the earliest use cases that some of your customers are looking at applying it to?

你好，我是Sam Martin，代替Justin Bowers出席，來自德意志銀行。我有兩個簡短問題，延續先前被問到的AI主題。第一個是關於Fortrea Intelligent Technology的商業化推出。你能否再深入談談初期的市場反應：需求最集中是在生技公司還是製藥公司，或其實是更廣泛的？以及一些最早期的使用情境，你們的客戶打算把它應用在哪些方面？

And then beyond that on AI, just given some peer commentary on efficiencies gain versus the cost to actually implement the solutions, what are you thinking about really a timeline for the efficiencies to outweigh the cost and the investment required to kind of put AI-related solutions in your workflow? Thank you.

第二個同樣關於AI：考量到一些同業提到的「效率提升」與「實際導入解決方案的成本」之間的取捨，你們如何看待效率何時能夠超過成本與投資、也就是把AI相關解決方案導入工作流程所需投入的時間表？謝謝。

Sure, Sam. I'm happy to try to answer both questions. Look, our launch of our FIT platform was received very well, both by technology partners and sponsors. I hosted a two-day workshop in Boston when we launched our FIT platform, inviting both technology partners and sponsor partners. And it was meant as a true workshop in I don't think any one company, whether it's a technology company, a CRO or pharma, is going to be able to solve things on their own.

當然，Sam。我很樂意嘗試回答這兩個問題。你看，我們推出 FIT 平台後，無論是技術合作夥伴還是贊助方，都給了非常好的回響。在我們推出 FIT 平台時，我在波士頓主持了一場為期兩天的工作坊，邀請了技術合作夥伴與贊助方夥伴一同參與。而這原本就被設計成一場真正的工作坊；我不認為任何一家公司，不論是科技公司、CRO 或藥廠，能夠單靠自己就把事情解決。

We're got to find a way to work together to collaborate to develop solutions. It's another reason why our FIT platform is based on an open source architecture. We want to be able to invite partners both on the sponsor side as well as in the technology partner side to help us develop solutions because, at the end of the day, we're not trying to be a technology company.

我們必須找到一種方式共同合作、協作來開發解決方案。這也是我們的 FIT 平台採用開源架構的另一個原因。我們希望能邀請贊助方以及技術合作夥伴端的夥伴一起協助我們開發解決方案，因為歸根結底，我們並不是要成為一家科技公司。

We want to be a clinical research services company where we're starting to develop solutions that increase efficiency, increase quality and increase throughput of the development pipeline. That said, all of that said, Sam, the reception was positive. A lot of traction, lots of folks wanting to work on solutions together. It's still early days.

我們希望成為一家臨床研究服務公司，並開始開發能提升效率、提升品質、並提高研發管線吞吐量的解決方案。話雖如此，Sam，整體回響是正面的。有很大的動能，很多人都希望一起合作開發解決方案。但目前仍處於早期階段。

We're still in the stage of being able to throw pilots out there to see what's working, what we're able to do at scale, what we're not able to do at scale. And all of this work requires us working with partners, especially our partners on the client side, on the sponsor side.

我們仍在能夠推出試點的階段，看看哪些有效、哪些能夠規模化、哪些無法規模化。而所有這些工作都需要我們與合作夥伴一起進行，尤其是與客戶端、贊助方端的合作夥伴。

In terms of your question around AI and when will efficiency gains overcome the costs required, I think there's a lot of initial costs required to make sure you have that kind of infrastructure and platform that Fortrea does. And remember, for us, FIT isn't a stand-alone product.

關於你提到 AI 的問題，以及效率提升何時能超過所需成本，我認為一開始需要投入不少成本，以確保你具備像 Fortrea 這樣的基礎設施與平台。另外請記得，對我們而言，FIT 並不是一個獨立產品。

FIT is our way of embedding machine learning and AI into our existing workflow into clinical operations, to our Xcellerate platform. For us, now it's incremental cost. It's incremental cost and, more importantly, the incremental cost of technologies, incremental cost to pilots.

FIT 是我們將機器學習與 AI 嵌入既有工作流程、嵌入臨床營運、並嵌入我們的 Xcellerate 平台的方式。對我們來說，現在是增量成本。是增量成本，而且更重要的是：技術的增量成本，以及試點的增量成本。

It's incremental cost of testing the solution. I do think in the near to medium term, we'll start seeing that inflection point of efficiency gains outweighing the cost of running those pilots and the cost of developing the incremental agentic solutions.

也包括測試解決方案的增量成本。我確實認為在短期到中期內，我們將開始看到一個拐點：效率提升將超過執行這些試點的成本，以及開發這些增量的代理式（agentic）解決方案的成本。

Thank you. That's very helpful.

謝謝。這非常有幫助。

Michael Ryskin, Bank of America.

Michael Ryskin，美國銀行。

Hi, this is on for Mike. Thanks for taking our question. Given several quarters of strong book-to-bill, how should we think about revenue conversion timing from here? And are study durations or start-up time lines changing versus historical levels? Thank you.

嗨，我是代替 Mike 提問。謝謝你們回答我們的問題。在連續幾季強勁的 book-to-bill 之後，我們應該如何看待接下來營收轉換的時點？以及研究期間或啟動期時程，相較於歷史水準是否有變化？謝謝。

Yeah, I mean, I think, Andrea, thanks for the question. In terms of revenue conversion, as we said for the remainder of this year, we're pleased to be affirming our guidance. We will see a bit of a moderate step-up in the second quarter. And as the course of the year plays out, I think you'll see a little bit of continued strength as we go through the course of the year.

是的，我想，Andrea，謝謝你的問題。就營收轉換而言，正如我們所說，在今年剩餘期間，我們很高興能維持我們的指引不變。我們會在第二季看到一個溫和的上升。而隨著今年進程推進，我想你會看到我們在全年過程中持續展現一些強勁表現。

We are obviously looking at what we can do to try to return to some level of growth in 2027, continuing to execute on the commercial side and get book-to-bills in line with what you've seen over the last few quarters, will be really important. And as I shared before, we do plan to have an Investor Day later in the year where we can lay out a little bit more about the specific journey going forward.

我們顯然也在評估我們能做些什麼，力求在 2027 年回到某種程度的成長；持續在商務端執行，並讓 book-to-bill 維持在你過去幾季所看到的水準，將會非常重要。另外，如我先前分享的，我們確實計畫在今年稍晚舉辦投資人日，屆時我們可以更具體地說明未來的路徑。

Thank you. This concludes the Q&A session. I would like to turn the call over to Anshul for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

謝謝。問答環節到此結束。我想把電話會議交給 Anshul 作結語。請開始。

Thank you, everyone. As we conclude, I want to thank you for your continued engagement and really for your thoughtful questions. Our performance this quarter reflects the discipline and operational and financial rigor that is now embedded across Fortrea.

謝謝各位。在結束之前，我想感謝大家持續的參與，也非常感謝各位深思熟慮的提問。我們本季的表現反映出 Fortrea 全面導入的紀律，以及營運與財務上的嚴謹。

We continue to make progress on our strategic priorities to drive growth, expand margins and strengthen our ability to serve clients globally. What matters to our clients matters most to us, and we remain focused on delivering high-quality execution and long-term value. We're confident in our strategy and are taking the right steps to drive continued execution. Thank you once again for your time.

我們持續在策略重點上取得進展，以推動成長、擴大利潤率，並強化我們在全球服務客戶的能力。客戶重視的事，就是我們最重視的事；我們仍專注於提供高品質的執行與長期價值。我們對策略充滿信心，並正採取正確步驟以推動持續落實執行。再次感謝各位撥冗參與。

This concludes today's program. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect.

今天的節目到此結束。感謝各位加入。您現在可以掛線。