Gen Digital Inc (GEN) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for standing by. My name is Hannah, and I will be your conference operator today. I would like to welcome everyone to Gen Fiscal Year 2024 First Quarter Earnings Call. Today's call is being recorded (Operator Instructions) At this time, for opening remarks, I would like to pass the call over to Ms. Mary Lai, Head of Investor Relations. Miss, you may begin.

大家下午好，感謝大家的支持。我叫漢娜，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。我謹歡迎大家參加 Gen 2024 財年第一季度收益電話會議。今天的電話會議正在錄音（操作員說明） 現在，我想將電話會議轉交給投資者關係主管 Mary Lai 女士作為開場白。小姐，您可以開始了。

Thank you, Hannah, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the Gen First Quarter Fiscal Year 2024 Earnings Call. Joining me today to review our Q1 results are Vincent Pilette, CEO; and Natalie Derse, CFO. As a reminder, there will be a replay of this call posted on the IR website, along with our slides and press release. I'd like to remind everyone that during this call, all references to the financial metrics are non-GAAP and all growth rates are year-over-year unless otherwise stated. A recon of non-GAAP to GAAP measures is included in our press release, which is available on our IR website at investor.gendigital.com.

謝謝漢娜，大家下午好。歡迎參加 2024 財年第一季度收益電話會議。今天與我一起回顧我們第一季度業績的是首席執行官文森特·皮萊特 (Vincent Pilette)；和首席財務官 Natalie Derse。謹此提醒，IR 網站上將發布本次電話會議的重播，以及我們的幻燈片和新聞稿。我想提醒大家，在本次電話會議中，除非另有說明，所有提及的財務指標均為非公認會計準則，所有增長率均為同比增長率。我們的新聞稿包含對非 GAAP 與 GAAP 衡量標準的調查，您可以在我們的投資者關係網站 Investor.gendigital.com 上查看該新聞稿。

Today's call contains statements regarding our business, financial performance and operations, including the impact of our business and industry that may be considered forward-looking statements, and such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. Those statements are based on current beliefs, assumptions and expectations and speak only as of the current date. For more information, please refer to the cautionary statement in our press release and the risk factors in our filings and the SEC and in particular, our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q.

今天的電話會議包含有關我們的業務、財務業績和運營的聲明，包括可能被視為前瞻性聲明的我們的業務和行業的影響，此類聲明涉及可能導致實際結果與我們的預期存在重大差異的風險和不確定性。這些陳述基於當前的信念、假設和期望，並且僅代表當前日期。欲了解更多信息，請參閱我們新聞稿中的警示聲明以及我們向 SEC 提交的文件中的風險因素，特別是我們關於 10-K 表格和 10-Q 表格的最新報告。

And now I will turn the call over to our CEO. Vincent?

現在我將把電話轉給我們的首席執行官。文森特？

Thank you, Mary. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to our earnings call. Our fiscal year is off to a great start. This quarter is what many of you have come to expect from us; strong execution, consistent operating discipline and solid results. This quarter marks our 16th consecutive quarter of growth, with Q1 cybersafety bookings and revenue, both up low single digits in constant currency when including Avast historical results in the base. We continue to make progress with our direct customer count, reducing our gap between acquisition and churn in the post-COVID environment and on our way to breakeven.

謝謝你，瑪麗。大家下午好，歡迎參加我們的財報電話會議。我們的財政年度有了一個良好的開端。這個季度是你們許多人對我們的期望；執行力強，經營紀律一致，業績紮實。本季度標誌著我們連續第 16 個季度實現增長，如果將 Avast 歷史業績納入基礎，按固定匯率計算，第一季度的網絡安全預訂量和收入均實現低個位數增長。我們在直接客戶數量方面繼續取得進展，縮小了新冠疫情后環境下的客戶獲取和客戶流失之間的差距，並逐步實現收支平衡。

With operational integration essentially complete, we expanded our operating margin by another 50 basis points sequentially and 6 points since the Avast merger, which only started 9 months ago. We expanded our earnings power, growing EPS, 5% in U.S. dollars and 9% in constant currency. Our consistency can be easily taken for granted. But make no mistakes, these sustained results speak to the talent and commitment the Gen team shows every day. Our team is second to none. As you can tell, I'm proud of what we have accomplished, but what really excites me is when I look ahead, we are well positioned to drive innovation and leadership in cybersafety, protecting people against the growing threats facing our expanding digital lives. And we really have only just gotten started.

隨著運營整合基本完成，我們的運營利潤率又連續增加了 50 個基點，自 9 個月前開始的 Avast 合併以來增加了 6 個基點。我們擴大了盈利能力，每股收益增長，按美元計算增長 5%，按固定匯率計算增長 9%。我們的一致性很容易被認為是理所當然的。但請不要犯錯誤，這些持續的成果證明了 Gen 團隊每天所展現的才華和承諾。我們的團隊是首屈一指的。正如您所知，我對我們所取得的成就感到自豪，但真正令我興奮的是，當我展望未來時，我們完全有能力推動網絡安全領域的創新和領導力，保護人們免受不斷擴大的數字生活所面臨的日益增長的威脅。我們確實才剛剛開始。

As the footprint of our digital lives continues to expand, people everywhere need easy-to-use solutions that help protect them and enable all the digital world has to offer. When Andre and I first talked about bringing NortonLifeLock and Avast together 2 years ago, delivering this type of protection to more people in more geographies with a comprehensive product portfolio was the fundamental vision for bringing the companies together. And if you go back and look at the road map we shared with our stakeholders, you can not only see our progress on each dimension, but more importantly, I believe you can clearly see that Gen is delivering on our mission to empower and protect people everywhere.

隨著我們的數字生活的足跡不斷擴大，世界各地的人們都需要易於使用的解決方案來幫助保護他們並實現數字世界所提供的一切。兩年前，當 Andre 和我第一次討論將 NortonLifeLock 和 Avast 合併時，通過全面的產品組合向更多地區的更多人提供這種類型的保護是合併公司的基本願景。如果你回頭看一下我們與利益相關者分享的路線圖，你不僅可以看到我們在各個維度上的進展，更重要的是，我相信你可以清楚地看到Gen 正在履行我們賦予人們權力和保護人們的使命到處。

One of the key elements for Andre and I was that our combination would create unmatched reach and scale. Today, Gen touches hundreds of millions of people with our free services and 65 million subscribers, direct and indirect with our premium offerings. We serve consumers in over 150 countries. And at the end of Q1, 60% of the people we serve were outside the U.S versus 40% 2 years ago. While we continue to believe in growth in all countries, we have tremendous opportunities internationally to serve more people and over time, grow the value we deliver to them. In fact, our customer acquisition success in Latin America is a showcase of this global expansion.

安德烈和我的關鍵要素之一是我們的結合將創造無與倫比的影響力和規模。如今，Gen 通過我們的免費服務接觸了數億人，並通過我們的優質產品直接或間接接觸了 6500 萬訂戶。我們為 150 多個國家的消費者提供服務。截至第一季度末，我們服務的人群中有 60% 來自美國境外，而兩年前這一比例為 40%。雖然我們仍然相信所有國家都會實現增長，但我們在國際上擁有巨大的機會為更多的人提供服務，並隨著時間的推移，增加我們為他們提供的價值。事實上，我們在拉丁美洲的客戶獲取成功就是這種全球擴張的體現。

In Q1, we reached new customers through new channels, new countries and new products, all 3 dimensions in that region. Our Q1 international growth was supported by positive customer count and expanding ARPU for longer tenure customers, which we view as a strong proxy for those customers adding value over time. With our global reach, we bring to market the broadest and most comprehensive portfolio in consumer cybersafety. Norton and LifeLock's leadership in security and identity, coupled with Avast strength in security technology and privacy are also unmatched. Not only do we have the breadth of offerings. We have many trusted industry-leading brands. Our portfolio of brands allows us to best serve the different needs of our diverse customers, whether that be from regional or local needs, different life stages or levels of tech awareness with Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, amongst others, we can meet consumers where they are and with what they need.

在第一季度，我們通過新渠道、新國家和新產品在該地區的所有三個維度接觸了新客戶。我們第一季度的國際增長得益於積極的客戶數量和長期客戶 ARPU 的擴大，我們認為這是這些客戶隨著時間的推移增加價值的有力代表。憑藉我們的全球影響力，我們為市場帶來了最廣泛、最全面的消費者網絡安全產品組合。 Norton 和 LifeLock 在安全和身份方面的領先地位，加上 Avast 在安全技術和隱私方面的實力也是無與倫比的。我們不僅提供廣泛的產品。我們擁有許多值得信賴的行業領先品牌。我們的品牌組合使我們能夠最好地滿足不同客戶的不同需求，無論是來自區域或本地需求、不同的生命階段還是技術意識水平，其中包括Norton、Avast、LifeLock、Avi​​ra、AVG 等，我們可以隨時隨地滿足消費者的需求。

With Avast and Avira, we can reach less mature markets with freemium offerings. With Norton, we can offer comprehensive suite that delivered tremendous all-in-one value with higher entry price points. And with LifeLock, we offer unmatched identity theft protection plans, including award-winning restoration services. The portfolio and our family of trusted brands are great enablers for us to deliver the right value to consumers in the U.S. and abroad and grow that as they need to evolve. This quarter, we delivered our third quarter of sequential improvement in ARPU and retention, driven by double-digit growth in cross-sell and adoption of our comprehensive integrated suite. Today, almost 40% of our direct paid customer base have adopted Norton 360 or Avast One.

借助 Avast 和 Avira，我們可以通過免費增值產品進入不太成熟的市場。借助諾頓，我們可以提供全面的套件，以更高的入門價格提供巨大的一體化價值。通過 LifeLock，我們提供無與倫比的身份盜竊保護計劃，包括屢獲殊榮的恢復服務。該產品組合和我們值得信賴的品牌系列是我們為美國和海外消費者提供正確價值並根據他們需要發展而發展的強大推動力。本季度，在交叉銷售和全面集成套件採用兩位數增長的推動下，我們的 ARPU 和保留率實現了第三季度的連續改善。如今，我們近 40% 的直接付費客戶群已採用 Norton 360 或 Avast One。

Most importantly, Gen's investment in technology and innovation are really the engines that power our current and future success. In this first year as Gen, we launched several new products and features, expanding the portfolio offering to provide our customers more protection and control in the digital world. Products like Avast Identity AntiTrack on Android, Norton Secure Browser and Executive Protection in Employee Benefits, all come from the combination of our complementary portfolios and expand the protection and digital empowerment we offer to consumers. We promised accelerated innovation when we brought Avast and NortonLifeLock together. And now with the integration essentially complete and the strong progress we've made in our next-generation modular cyber safety platform, we are beginning to double down on our innovation efforts and revenue synergies.

最重要的是，Gen 對技術和創新的投資確實是推動我們當前和未來成功的引擎。在成立 Gen 的第一年，我們推出了多項新產品和功能，擴大了產品組合，為我們的客戶在數字世界中提供更多保護和控制。 Android 上的 Avast Identity AntiTrack、Norton Secure Browser 和員工福利執行保護等產品均來自我們的互補產品組合，並擴展了我們為消費者提供的保護和數字授權。當我們將 Avast 和 NortonLifeLock 結合在一起時，我們承諾加速創新。現在，隨著集成基本完成以及我們在下一代模塊化網絡安全平台方面取得的強勁進展，我們開始加倍加大創新力度和收入協同效應。

It is still early days, but just last week, we introduced early access program to our latest innovation called Norton Genie. Norton Genie is an AI-powered tool that is designed to help consumers quickly identify whether a text, an e-mail, social media message or web link is a scam or fraud. With a few clicks or taps, Genie will provide real-time guidance and advice on what to do next. Because it's built on AI technology, it learns as it goes and will constantly get better. It is an exciting innovation that's built on our decades of experiencing data and advanced technology in consumer cybersafety. But just as important as the tech is Genie takes our customer-centric approach to another level. We created Genie for everyone. It's free, it's interactive, engaging and is right at your fingertips so you can be sure that your daily digitalized is not being compromised by sophisticated and creative scammers.

現在還處於早期階段，但就在上週，我們推出了名為 Norton Genie 的最新創新產品的搶先體驗計劃。 Norton Genie 是一款人工智能驅動的工具，旨在幫助消費者快速識別文本、電子郵件、社交媒體消息或網絡鏈接是否是騙局或欺詐。只需點擊幾下，Genie 就會提供有關下一步操作的實時指導和建議。因為它建立在人工智能技術的基礎上，所以它會不斷學習並不斷變得更好。這是一項令人興奮的創新，建立在我們數十年在消費者網絡安全方面積累的經驗數據和先進技術的基礎上。但與技術同樣重要的是，Genie 將以客戶為中心的方法提升到了另一個水平。我們為每個人創造了 Genie。它是免費的、互動的、引人入勝的，並且觸手可及，因此您可以確保您的日常數字化不會被老練且富有創意的騙子所破壞。

Genie is just a glimpse of how we plan to innovate and reimagine how people can stay cybersafe and there is so much more we can and will do with Genie platform. Now innovation is hard and it's hardly free, so we remain committed to investing in it. We are on a mission to make cybersafety something people won't want to live without. That's why we focused on delivering and frankly, exceeding on our promised synergies while reinvesting a portion for innovation and future growth. We originally promised $280 million in cost synergies, which we later raised to over $300 million. In record time, we fully integrated our sales, marketing and overall infrastructure processes. The day we operate out of a unified go-to-market structure, a single ERP system and code to cash framework and with a committed workforce of under 3,500 down from over 4,500.

Genie 只是我們計劃如何創新和重新構想人們如何保持網絡安全的一瞥，我們可以並且將利用 Genie 平台做更多的事情。現在創新很困難，而且幾乎不是免費的，因此我們仍然致力於投資。我們的使命是讓網絡安全成為人們離不開的東西。這就是為什麼我們專注於交付，坦率地說，超越我們承諾的協同效應，同時再投資一部分用於創新和未來增長。我們最初承諾 2.8 億美元的成本協同效應，後來提高到超過 3 億美元。我們在創紀錄的時間內完全整合了銷售、營銷和整體基礎設施流程。當天，我們採用統一的市場營銷結構、單一 ERP 系統和代碼到現金框架進行運營，忠誠的員工人數從 4,500 多人減少到 3,500 人以下。

Halfway through our 18 months timeline, we've already achieved 80% of the cost synergies, enabling us to reach almost 58% operating margin in Q1. The remainder will come from our phased product integration work, which we are careful with so as to not disrupt the service and experience of our subscribers. Rest assured, of course, that these are all planned out and will roll out our progress in the coming quarters.

在我們 18 個月的時間表中，我們已經實現了 80% 的成本協同效應，使我們能夠在第一季度達到近 58% 的營業利潤率。其餘部分將來自我們分階段的產品集成工作，我們會謹慎處理這些工作，以免擾亂我們訂戶的服務和體驗。當然，請放心，這些都是計劃好的，並將在未來幾個季度推出我們的進展。

As part of the combination, we also see revenue synergies, which we size at around $200 million. A big portion of this revenue opportunity is largely dependent on our next-generation platform, which will enable us to offer more value in a more personalized and targeted way across our brands. While the teams are hard at work bringing that to life, we are already leveraging one of our centers of excellence to increase the Avast customer retention rate, another pillar of revenue synergies. In Q1, Avast retention was up over 2 points since the close of the merger.

作為合併的一部分，我們還看到了收入協同效應，我們的規模約為 2 億美元。這一收入機會的很大一部分很大程度上取決於我們的下一代平台，這將使我們能夠以更加個性化和有針對性的方式在我們的品牌中提供更多價值。儘管團隊正在努力實現這一目標，但我們已經在利用我們的一個卓越中心來提高 Avast 客戶保留率，這是收入協同效應的另一個支柱。自合併結束以來，第一季度 Avast 的留存率提高了 2 個百分點以上。

We believe that investing in innovation and growth is a must, but we are already disciplined about funding those investments responsibly through efficient and streamlined operations. We've made tremendous progress in the integration and our overall operations which we know will directly support our long-term growth. The 16th quarter of growth and the capabilities we have built coming together with Avast demonstrate that our strategy is working. Two years ago at our last Investor Day, we showcased our strategic playbook and transformation. Today, no one is better positioned than Gen to bring cybersafety to everyone. And the big aspiration goals we set then are more relevant than ever to achieve our vision.

我們認為，投資創新和增長是必須的，但我們已經嚴格遵守規範，通過高效、精簡的運營，負責任地為這些投資提供資金。我們在整合和整體運營方面取得了巨大進展，我們知道這將直接支持我們的長期增長。第 16 季度的增長以​​及我們與 Avast 共同構建的能力表明我們的戰略正在發揮作用。兩年前，在上一次投資者日，我們展示了我們的戰略行動手冊和轉型。如今，沒有人比 Gen 更有能力為每個人帶來網絡安全。我們當時設定的遠大抱負目標比以往任何時候都更能實現我們的願景。

As a reminder, we committed to consistently delight our customers, doubling our NPS score to above [70]. We're committed to protect and empower people with cybersafety, doubling our user base, and we committed to accelerate our growth while maintaining our operating discipline, doubling our EPS to $3. We've made solid progress as we executed on the merger plan and created Gen, providing customers with a great experience is our #1 metric. We will continue to make our solutions easy to use and bring added value to their digital lives.

謹此提醒，我們致力於持續取悅客戶，將 NPS 分數翻倍至 [70] 以上。我們致力於通過網絡安全保護和增強人們的能力，使我們的用戶群增加一倍，並且我們致力於在保持運營紀律的同時加速我們的增長，將我們的每股收益增加一倍至 3 美元。在執行合併計劃和創建 Gen 時，我們取得了紮實的進展，為客戶提供良好的體驗是我們的第一大指標。我們將繼續使我們的解決方案易於使用，並為他們的數字生活帶來附加值。

In Q1, LifeLock reached an all-time high NPS of [60], giving us the blueprint to leverage the operational learnings across our entire portfolio. Our user base moved from about 80 million as NortonLifeLock to hundreds of millions of users as Gen and our direct customer moved from 23 million to over 38 million. And also we have been managing through a challenging post-COVID environment, including our cost of debt, that is much higher than 2 years ago, costing us over an incremental $0.50 in EPS. We remain fully committed to accelerating our long-term growth and delivering our $3 EPS commitment.

在第一季度，LifeLock 達到了歷史最高的 NPS [60]，為我們提供了在整個產品組合中利用運營知識的藍圖。我們的用戶群從諾頓LifeLock 的約 8000 萬增加到 Gen 的數億用戶，我們的直接客戶從 2300 萬增加到超過 3800 萬。此外，我們一直在應對充滿挑戰的新冠疫情后環境，包括我們的債務成本，該成本比兩年前高得多，使我們的每股收益增加了 0.50 美元以上。我們仍然完全致力於加速我們的長期增長並兌現 3 美元每股收益的承諾。

With our first full year as Gen almost behind us, we look forward to sharing more about our vision and our growth opportunities at our next Investor Day planned for the fall. So stay tuned for the exact date. Natalie will now review our quarterly performance and with the merger and integration essentially behind us, she will also share our full year guidance. On the low end, our guidance is based on the current trends, growing low single digits. On the high end, growth accelerates to a mid-single-digit rate towards the end of the year, supported by initiatives and investments in key strategic areas such as international expansion, partnership above and beyond security, and our product innovation road map. On direct customer account, we expect to continue to drive improvement over time and exit the fiscal year '24 on a very positive trend.

隨著我們作為 Gen 的第一個完整年即將過去，我們期待在計劃於秋季舉行的下一個投資者日分享更多有關我們的願景和增長機會的信息。因此，請繼續關注確切的日期。娜塔莉現在將回顧我們的季度業績，隨著合併和整合的基本完成，她還將分享我們的全年指導。在低端，我們的指導基於當前趨勢，增長較低個位數。在高端領域，在國際擴張、安全之上的伙伴關係以及我們的產品創新路線圖等關鍵戰略領域的舉措和投資的支持下，到年底增長將加速至中個位數。在直接客戶賬戶方面，我們預計隨著時間的推移將繼續推動改進，並以非常積極的趨勢結束 24 財年。

And with that, let me pass it to you, Natalie.

接下來，讓我把它交給你，娜塔莉。

Thank you, Vincent, and hello, everyone. For today's call, I will walk through our first quarter fiscal 2024 results followed by our outlook for Q2 and full year fiscal 2024. I will focus on non-GAAP financials and year-over-year growth rates unless otherwise stated. Q1 was our 16th consecutive quarter of growth, reflecting another quarter of solid execution. We came in above the midpoint of revenue and at the high end of EPS guidance. Q1 non-GAAP revenue was $946 million, up 34% in USD and 35% in constant currency. When including Avast historical results, cybersafety revenue and bookings both grew 2% year-over-year in constant currency with broad-based growth across brands and across regions. We continue to execute on our committed cost synergies in an accelerated fashion, which helped expand our operating margin to 58%, up 50 basis points sequentially and up 6 points since the merger.

謝謝你，文森特，大家好。在今天的電話會議中，我將介紹2024 財年第一季度的業績，然後是對第二季度和2024 財年全年的展望。除非另有說明，我將重點關注非GAAP 財務數據和同比增長率。第一季度是我們連續第 16 個季度實現增長，反映出又一個季度的穩健執行。我們的收入高於收入中點，且處於每股收益指導的高端。第一季度非 GAAP 收入為 9.46 億美元，按美元計算增長 34%，按固定匯率計算增長 35%。考慮到 Avast 的歷史業績，按固定匯率計算，網絡安全收入和預訂量均同比增長 2%，且跨品牌和跨地區都有廣泛增長。我們繼續以加速的方式履行我們承諾的成本協同效應，這有助於將我們的營業利潤率擴大到 58%，比上一季度提高 50 個基點，自合併以來提高 6 個基點。

Direct revenue was $832 million, up 33% in USD and up 2% when including Avast historical results. We continue to make progress across our key performance metrics, with consistent retention rate improvement and ARPU expansion, which represents our customers' resiliency and loyalty and the strong demand that our product innovation drives.

直接收入為 8.32 億美元，按美元計算增長 33%，如果考慮 Avast 歷史業績則增長 2%。我們繼續在關鍵績效指標上取得進展，持續提高保留率和 ARPU 擴張，這代表了我們客戶的彈性和忠誠度以及我們產品創新驅動的強勁需求。

Our quarter-over-quarter direct customer count growth is approaching breakeven. Ending Q1 direct customer count was $38.2 million, a decline of only 29,000 customers quarter-over-quarter, a trend we have worked hard to improve. During the COVID period, customer acquisition was at an all-time high as the step function change in our digital lives pushed people to find solutions to protect themselves and their families as we were forced to live more of our lives at home and online.

我們的季度環比直接客戶數量增長已接近盈虧平衡。第一季度末直接客戶數量為 3,820 萬美元，環比僅減少 29,000 名客戶，我們一直在努力改善這一趨勢。在新冠疫情期間，我們的數字生活的階躍功能變化促使人們尋找保護自己和家人的解決方案，因為我們被迫更多地在家中和網上生活，因此客戶獲取量達到了歷史最高水平。

And over the last year, as the world mobilized back to a normal life with more employees back in office and students back in school, we've seen the levels of customer acquisition normalize in line with that shift. Throughout this period, as the elevated number of customers cycled through the life cycle, even though our retention rate remained strong, the units of churn were not in line with our current state of customer acquisition and therefore, resulted in 5 quarters of net quarter-over-quarter customer count decline.

去年，隨著世界各地恢復正常生活，更多員工重返辦公室、學生重返校園，我們看到客戶獲取水平也隨之正常化。在此期間，隨著生命週期中客戶數量的增加，儘管我們的保留率仍然很高，但客戶流失的單位與我們當前的客戶獲取狀態不符，因此導致了 5 個季度的淨季度-環比客戶數量下降。

It's worth noting, however, that when you normalize for the COVID periods of acquisition, in Q1 this year, our gross adds grew high single digits when comparing to pre-COVID periods, representing a low to mid-single-digit CAGR over a 3-year period.

然而，值得注意的是，當你對今年第一季度的新冠收購時期進行正常化時，與新冠疫情之前的時期相比，我們的總增加額增長了高個位數，這表明在過去3 年中，複合年增長率處於中低個位數。年期間。

We are proud of that level of acquisition driven by our high innovation rate and marketing efficiency, especially given the current market conditions. With our newly expanded Gen product offerings and broader geographic expansion efforts, we see growing demand in mobile and higher acquisition in international markets. Always operating with speed and intent, we have deployed marketing spend to capture growth as we evaluate the long-term sustainability of these green shoots.

我們對高創新率和營銷效率推動的收購水平感到自豪，特別是考慮到當前的市場狀況。隨著我們新擴展的 Gen 產品系列和更廣泛的地域擴張努力，我們看到移動需求不斷增長，國際市場的收購量也不斷增加。我們始終以快速、有目標的方式運營，在評估這些新芽的長期可持續性時，我們部署了營銷支出來捕捉增長。

In our more mature channels, we remain focused on improving the conversion of our direct-to-consumer traffic, leveraging our strong brand presence and engaging our customers with our additional product offerings to ensure they are fully protected against the ever-changing cyber threats. Customer count remains a priority for us, and we are making continued progress. We expect to return to sequential customer count growth in this fiscal year as we stay steadfast in our go-to-market expansion, our marketing investments continue to offer the broadest and strongest product portfolio and drive growth in our green shoots.

在我們更成熟的渠道中，我們仍然專注於提高直接面向消費者的流量的轉化，利用我們強大的品牌影響力，並讓客戶參與我們的附加產品，以確保他們得到充分保護，免受不斷變化的網絡威脅。客戶數量仍然是我們的首要任務，並且我們正在不斷取得進展。我們預計在本財年將恢復客戶數量連續增長，因為我們堅定不移地進行市場擴張，我們的營銷投資繼續提供最廣泛和最強大的產品組合，並推動我們的萌芽增長。

Turning to retention rate. Since we became a stand-alone consumer company in fiscal year 2020, our total direct customer base of 20 million grew to over 23 million by fiscal year 2023, a 5% CAGR over 3 years. Over that period of time, we had stable retention of 85% and even improved it slightly above 85%. Fast forward to now, post-merger, our combined customer retention rate continues to increase sequentially, now over 76% with 150 basis points of improvement since the merger.

轉向保留率。自 2020 財年成為一家獨立的消費品公司以來，到 2023 財年，我們的直接客戶群總數從 2000 萬增長到超過 2300 萬，三年復合年增長率為 5%。在那段時間裡，我們的留存率穩定在 85%，甚至略高於 85%。快進到現在，合併後，我們的綜合客戶保留率繼續持續增長，現已超過 76%，自合併以來提高了 150 個基點。

When we unpack this further, we have improved Avast retention rate by over 2 points in line with our revenue synergy plans and the industry-leading Norton and LifeLock retention rates remain stable with more tenured identity cohorts at 90% plus retention rate. We know we still have opportunities to improve churn across cohorts. We see a strong correlation between retention rate and increased adoption of our cybersafety membership suites, now closer to 40% of our direct customer base after the merger. We are focused on driving higher retention through higher engagement, continuously bringing new products to market and demonstrated value to the customer with comprehensive protection and world-class service.

當我們進一步分析時，我們將Avast 保留率提高了2 個百分點以上，符合我們的收入協同計劃，並且行業領先的Norton 和LifeLock 保留率保持穩定，更多終身身份群組的保留率達到90% 以上。我們知道我們仍然有機會改善群體的流失率。我們發現，保留率與網絡安全會員套件的採用率增加之間存在很強的相關性，合併後，我們的直接客戶群的採用率現已接近 40%。我們致力於通過更高的參與度來提高保留率，不斷將新產品推向市場，並通過全面的保護和世界一流的服務向客戶展示價值。

On the monetization front, monthly direct ARPU was USD 7.26 , an increase of $0.28 since the merger. The growth in our revenue per user is primarily driven by engaging our customers and demonstrating increased value through additional products and services we provide. When we closed the deal, one of the exciting opportunities we shared was the cross-pollination of our operational know-how between both companies. Avast had built a $900 million-plus top line from free-to-paid conversions and cross-sells, forging a strong operational expertise in driving high first purchase and conversions with the right moments of truth messaging and product offerings. Meanwhile, Norton and LifeLock had industry-leading retention rates of 85% plus with a strong emphasis on elevating membership value and customer service.

在貨幣化方面，每月直接 ARPU 為 7.26 美元，自合併以來增加了 0.28 美元。我們每用戶收入的增長主要是通過吸引我們的客戶並通過我們提供的額外產品和服務展示增加的價值來推動的。當我們完成交易時，我們分享的令人興奮的機會之一是兩家公司之間運營專業知識的交叉授粉。 Avast 通過免費到付費的轉化和交叉銷售創造了超過 9 億美元的營收，在通過正確的真相消息傳遞和產品供應推動高首次購買和轉化方面打造了強大的運營專業知識。與此同時，諾頓和 LifeLock 的保留率高達 85% 以上，處於行業領先地位，並且非常注重提升會員價值和客戶服務。

As we've leveraged the strength of both companies, we are now driving higher conversion and penetration across multiple customer cohorts, product lines, and geographies as well as improving retention on cross-sell products. As we progress through the fiscal year, we are excited to continue scaling this arm of the business with future product introductions.

由於我們利用了兩家公司的優勢，我們現在正在推動多個客戶群體、產品線和地區的更高轉化率和滲透率，並提高交叉銷售產品的保留率。隨著本財年的進展，我們很高興能夠通過未來的產品推出繼續擴大該業務部門的規模。

Our partners business remains an important distribution channel for us and is a growing contributor to our paid customer base. Partner revenue was $97 million in Q1, up 35% year-over-year as reported in USD and up 3% when including Avast's historical financials. With the secular tailwinds from the growing pervasiveness of breaches, the need and demand for consumer identity protection is increasing, not only for consumers but also businesses and state agencies. More institutions are now turning to our solutions to protect their employees and residents. Although there is a longer sales cycle, we expect the partner business to continue benefiting from a growing pipeline in the coming quarters, and we will continue our investments in diversified channels.

我們的合作夥伴業務仍然是我們的重要分銷渠道，並且對我們的付費客戶群做出了日益增長的貢獻。第一季度合作夥伴收入為 9700 萬美元，按美元計算同比增長 35%，如果考慮 Avast 的歷史財務數據則增長 3%。隨著違規行為日益普遍帶來的長期影響，消費者身份保護的需求不斷增加，不僅對消費者而言，企業和國家機構也如此。現在，越來越多的機構開始採用我們的解決方案來保護其員工和居民。儘管銷售週期較長，但我們預計合作夥伴業務將在未來幾個季度繼續受益於不斷增長的渠道，我們將繼續對多元化渠道進行投資。

Rounding out our revenue, our legacy business lines contributed $17 million this quarter and continue to make up less than 2% of our total revenue. We expect legacy to continue declining double digits year-over-year.

除了我們的收入外，我們的傳統業務線本季度貢獻了 1700 萬美元，並且繼續占我們總收入的不到 2%。我們預計遺產將繼續同比下降兩位數。

Turning to profitability. Q1 operating income was $545 million, up 43% year-over-year. We expanded operating margin to 58% as we continue to make strong inroads to the 60% plus margin framework we've outlined in our long-term model. In Q1, our operating expense profile was 30% of revenue, moving within our target of 28% to 30% and down from approximately 35% at the time of the merger, a testament to the progress we've made on cost synergies. The speed of execution enables us to redirect some of the efficiency gains back into our growth investment framework. You will see us continue to invest to bolster our product portfolio with differentiated solutions, amplify our international presence, especially in identity and privacy and expand into trust-based adjacencies that will touch more parts of the consumers' digital life. These investments, along with the revenue synergies enabled by our remaining product integration will strengthen our mid-single-digit rate of growth assumption built in our long-term model.

轉向盈利能力。第一季度營業收入為 5.45 億美元，同比增長 43%。隨著我們繼續向我們在長期模型中概述的 60% 以上的利潤率框架邁進，我們將營業利潤率擴大到 58%。第一季度，我們的運營費用佔收入的 30%，低於合併時 28% 至 30% 的目標，低於合併時的約 35%，這證明了我們在成本協同效應方面取得的進展。執行速度使我們能夠將部分效率收益重新引入我們的增長投資框架。您將看到我們繼續投資，通過差異化的解決方案來增強我們的產品組合，擴大我們的國際影響力，特別是在身份和隱私方面，並擴展到基於信任的鄰接領域，從而觸及消費者數字生活的更多部分。這些投資，加上我們剩餘產品整合帶來的收入協同效應，將加強我們在長期模型中建立的中個位數增長率假設。

Q1 net income was $305 million, up 15% year-over-year. Diluted EPS was $0.47 for the quarter, up 5% year-over-year and up 9% in constant currency, including $0.02 of currency headwind. Interest expense related to our debt was approximately $164 million in Q1, an EPS impact of $0.20 and a $0.16 headwind compared to last year. Our non-GAAP tax rate lowered to 22% following our legal entity integration, and our ending share count was 643 million, down 1 million shares quarter-over-quarter, reflecting the weighted impact of share repurchases in the quarter.

第一季度淨利潤為 3.05 億美元，同比增長 15%。本季度稀釋後每股收益為 0.47 美元，同比增長 5%，按固定匯率計算增長 9%，其中包括 0.02 美元的貨幣逆風因素。第一季度與我們的債務相關的利息支出約為 1.64 億美元，與去年相比，對 EPS 的影響為 0.20 美元，逆風為 0.16 美元。在法人實體整合後，我們的非公認會計原則稅率降至 22%，期末股票數量為 6.43 億股，環比減少 100 萬股，反映了本季度股票回購的加權影響。

Turning to our balance sheet and cash flow. Q1 ending cash balance is $623 million. We are supported by a total liquidity of over $2.1 billion consisting of our cash balance and $1.5 billion revolver, and we have no near-term maturities due in the next 2 years. Q1 operating cash flow was $226 million, and free cash flow was $222 million, which includes approximately $152 million of cash interest payments this quarter. Despite the increase in interest payments year-over-year, our EBITDA to interest coverage ratio is 3.4x, a testament to our strong earnings power.

轉向我們的資產負債表和現金流。第一季度期末現金餘額為 6.23 億美元。我們擁有超過 21 億美元的總流動性支持，其中包括現金餘額和 15 億美元的循環資金，並且我們在未來 2 年內沒有到期的短期債券。第一季度運營現金流為 2.26 億美元，自由現金流為 2.22 億美元，其中包括本季度約 1.52 億美元的現金利息支付。儘管利息支付逐年增加，但我們的 EBITDA 與利息保障倍數為 3.4 倍，證明了我們強大的盈利能力。

Since the Avast merger 9 months ago, we've generated $850 million in free cash flow and over $1.3 billion in unlevered free cash flow, approximately 1x EBITDA, as our business consumes very little CapEx. This also includes $55 million of restructuring cash payments since the merger. Please keep in mind that in Q2 every year, we have seasonal cash tax payments that will impact free cash flow next quarter.

自 9 個月前合併 Avast 以來，我們已經產生了 8.5 億美元的自由現金流和超過 13 億美元的無槓桿自由現金流，大約是 EBITDA 的 1 倍，因為我們的業務消耗的資本支出非常少。這還包括自合併以來支付的 5500 萬美元重組現金。請記住，每年第二季度，我們都會繳納季節性現金稅，這將影響下季度的自由現金流。

Turning to capital allocation. We remain intentional and balanced with our capital deployment. In the last 9 months since the merger, we've returned $1 billion of capital to shareholders, with nearly $650 million of share buybacks and the rest in the form of our regular quarterly dividends. In addition, we've paid over $500 million in debt repayments in the same time period. In Q1, we paid $83 million to shareholders in the form of our regular quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share. For the next quarter, Q2 fiscal '24, the Board of Directors approved a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.125 per common share to be paid on September 13, 2023, for all shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 21, 2023.

轉向資本配置。我們對資本部署保持謹慎和平衡。合併後的過去 9 個月裡，我們向股東返還了 10 億美元的資本，其中近 6.5 億美元的股票回購，其餘部分以定期季度股息的形式發放。此外，我們同期還償還了超過 5 億美元的債務。第一季度，我們以每股 0.125 美元的定期季度股息的形式向股東支付了 8300 萬美元。對於下一季度，即 2024 財年第二季度，董事會批准於 2023 年 9 月 13 日向截至 2023 年 8 月 21 日營業結束時在冊的所有股東支付每股普通股 0.125 美元的定期季度現金股息。

With our strong cash flow generation and disciplined capital deployment, we will continue to utilize our capital to deliver EPS expansion. Our net leverage is 3.9x, and we remain committed to the target of approximately 3x over the long term. We will maintain a balanced approach, commit to regular dividends, pay down debt and deploy opportunistic share buyback.

憑藉我們強大的現金流產生和嚴格的資本部署，我們將繼續利用我們的資本來實現每股收益的擴張。我們的淨槓桿率為 3.9 倍，並長期致力於實現約 3 倍的目標。我們將保持平衡的態度，致力於定期派息、償還債務並部署機會性股票回購。

Now turning to our Q2 fiscal '24 outlook. For Q2, we expect non-GAAP revenue in the range of $940 million to $950 million, translating to a single-digit growth in cybersafety expressed in constant currency. We expect Q2 non-GAAP EPS to be in the range of $0.46 to $0.48 per share as cost synergies are partially offset by near-term increased interest expense based on current SOFR forward curves. Now that we are largely complete with our operational integration, we are reintroducing guidance for the full year fiscal 2024. We expect full year non-GAAP revenue in the range of $3.8 billion to $3.85 billion, translating to single-digit growth in cybersafety expressed in constant currency. We expect full year non-GAAP EPS to be in the range of $1.95 to $2.02 per share. We're off to a great start in fiscal 2024. We are relentlessly focused on executing on our plan and delivering on our commitments, always in a disciplined and balanced manner. Our key performance indicators are trending in the right direction, and our financial model is resilient. As we look to the future, we're committed to reinvest into our business to drive sustainable growth and create shareholder value in the long term. Our future is very bright, and I look forward to the opportunity to share more details with you at our Analyst and Investor Day in the fall.

現在轉向我們的 24 年第二季度財政展望。對於第二季度，我們預計非 GAAP 收入將在 9.4 億至 9.5 億美元之間，這意味著以固定匯率計算的網絡安全將實現個位數增長。我們預計第二季度非 GAAP 每股收益將在 0.46 美元至 0.48 美元之間，因為成本協同效應被基於當前 SOFR 遠期曲線的近期利息支出增加部分抵消。現在我們已基本完成了運營整合，我們將重新引入 2024 財年全年指引。我們預計全年非 GAAP 收入將在 38 億美元至 38.5 億美元之間，這意味著網絡安全方面的個位數增長恆定貨幣。我們預計全年非 GAAP 每股收益將在 1.95 美元至 2.02 美元之間。我們在 2024 財年有了一個良好的開端。我們始終以有紀律和平衡的方式堅持不懈地專注於執行我們的計劃並兌現我們的承諾。我們的關鍵績效指標正朝著正確的方向發展，我們的財務模型具有彈性。展望未來，我們致力於對業務進行再投資，以推動可持續增長並長期創造股東價值。我們的未來非常光明，我期待有機會在秋季的分析師和投資者日與您分享更多細節。

As always, thank you for your time today, and I will now turn the call back to the operator to take your questions. Operator?

一如既往，感謝您今天抽出寶貴的時間，我現在將把電話轉給接線員，回答您的問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from the line of Peter Levine with Evercore.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Evercore 的 Peter Levine。

Congrats on a good quarter, sort of fiscal year. Vincent, maybe 1 for you and then a follow-up for Natalie. You mentioned doubling down on innovation. You mentioned, Genie, new AI power tool that you're offering for free. But maybe can you maybe dive into it and explain, I mean, is this an opportunity to kind of down the road charge, have an up charge customers? Or are you viewing this more as a retention tool? And then as you think about I think expanding out in your commentary, touching upon other areas of consumers, security life. What other areas do you think are attractive, I think, longer term to start thinking about now?

祝賀本財年取得了良好的季度業績。文森特，也許給你一個，然後給娜塔莉一個後續。您提到加倍創新。你提到，Genie，你免費提供的新人工智能電動工具。但也許你可以深入研究並解釋一下，我的意思是，這是一個向客戶收取後續費用的機會嗎？或者您更多地將其視為一種保留工具？然後，當你思考時，我想在你的評論中擴展，觸及消費者的其他領域，安全生活。我認為從長遠來看，您認為哪些其他領域具有吸引力，值得現在開始考慮？

For sure. And obviously, the topic of innovation and the future development is a huge important framework discussion that's difficult to address in a very fix time frame here. So we'll share more at our Analyst Day about that specifically, where do we want to invest, how we use technology and the new capabilities we've built to address the next Gen of cybersafety and more. And when it comes to genie, it's both a future acquisition tool, if you want, we actually acquired Avast as capabilities with freemium. Today, the #1 priority is adoption. And then we're going to continue to add values into the tool and turn a freemium into a premium. And at the same time, it's also a retention rate because it's adding functionalities and value to the current members.

一定。顯然，創新和未來發展的話題是一個巨大的重要框架討論，很難在一個非常固定的時間框架內解決。因此，我們將在分析師日分享更多具體內容，包括我們想要在哪裡投資、我們如何使用技術以及我們為解決下一代網絡安全問題而構建的新功能等等。當談到 genie 時，它​​既是一個未來的收購工具，如果你願意的話，我們實際上收購了 Avast，作為免費增值的功能。如今，第一要務是採用。然後我們將繼續為該工具增加價值，並將免費增值服務轉變為優質服務。同時，它也是一種保留率，因為它為當前會員增加了功能和價值。

So that's that. It's more than that because the AI new developments, if you want, have impacted both for us, the threat landscape on one side. So it's changing what the threat looks like, and from the past, device security and protecting new data to personification, scams and frauds becoming a big topic. AI is accelerating that in ways that are multiple, and we'll share more at the Analyst Day. And at the same time, it's also an opportunity for us to continue and improve our platform. The value we bring, not only against a lack of protection, but also an empowerment tool for you to help understand in the AI safety, how algorithm and other machine learning and AI models can influence what you're looking at in the digital world and how you use it. So we see the whole technology as a transformational strength here, both on the threat and on the protection side that give us plenty of opportunity. We started currently with a very simple easy-to-use anti-scam tool that you can download and very quickly check whether it's a scam or not, gives you advice on what to do and how to address it, and then we'll continue to expand today in early access, and you'll hear more over the next few weeks, months and quarters how it goes. And then at Analyst Day, we'll share more about how we envision the Genie platform to be part of our next-gen cybersafety.

就是這樣。不僅如此，因為人工智能的新發展，如果你願意的話，一方面影響了我們，另一方面也影響了威脅形勢。因此，它正在改變威脅的面貌，從過去的設備安全和保護新數據到擬人化、詐騙和欺詐成為一個大話題。人工智能正在以多種方式加速這一進程，我們將在分析師日分享更多內容。同時，這也是我們繼續完善平台的一個機會。我們帶來的價值不僅是針對缺乏保護的情況，也是一種賦權工具，可幫助您了解人工智能安全、算法和其他機器學習和人工智能模型如何影響您在數字世界中看到的內容，以及你如何使用它。因此，我們將整個技術視為一種變革力量，無論是在威脅方面還是在保護方面，都為我們提供了大量機會。目前，我們從一個非常簡單易用的反詐騙工具開始，您可以下載該工具并快速檢查是否是詐騙，為您提供有關做什麼以及如何解決該問題的建議，然後我們將繼續今天在搶先體驗中進行擴展，您將在接下來的幾週、幾個月和幾個季度聽到更多進展情況。然後在分析師日，我們將分享更多關於我們如何設想 Genie 平台成為下一代網絡安全的一部分。

And then Natalie, you talked about seeing positive customer growth this year. Maybe 1 is just what gives you the confidence of what are you seeing today that you're going to hit that inflection point? And then second, you talked about operating -- impressive to see the Avast churn improve, I think you mentioned there was operating efficiencies to go beyond further that you're working on this year. Can you maybe dive into that and kind of tell us what you're doing today to kind of get that number even higher to where the Norton number is?

然後娜塔莉，您談到今年客戶的積極增長。也許 1 正是讓您對今天所看到的情況充滿信心，相信您將達到那個拐點？其次，您談到了運營——令人印象深刻的是看到 Avast 客戶流失率有所改善，我想您提到過運營效率要超出您今年的工作範圍。您能否深入探討這一問題，並告訴我們您今天正在做什麼，以使該數字甚至更高到諾頓數字？

Sure. So we've been on a path of diversification on our go-to-market. Even if you date back 2 years when we did our Analyst Day, we said we were going to expand internationally from a go-to-market perspective, diversified through partners really extend our reach. And I would say what I see coming through in the gross adds is that coming to fruition. So we're really seeing a lot of the seeds that we've been planting over the last couple of years, especially in terms of international expansion, really take hold. And so that's going to be a continued feeder into our gross adds as we move forward. as we continue to put investment behind that as we continue to diversify our marketing and really leverage the go-to-market sales reps that we've got across many different channels.

當然。因此，我們在進入市場的過程中一直走著多元化的道路。即使你追溯到兩年前我們舉辦分析師日的時候，我們也說過我們將從進入市場的角度進行國際擴張，通過合作夥伴實現多元化，這確實擴大了我們的影響力。我想說的是，我在總增加中看到的結果是正在實現。因此，我們確實看到過去幾年我們播下的很多種子，特別是在國際擴張方面，確實生根發芽。因此，隨著我們的前進，這將繼續為我們的總增加提供動力。我們將繼續進行投資，繼續實現營銷多元化，並真正利用我們在許多不同渠道擁有的進入市場的銷售代表。

In addition to that, what we're really seeing is customers come through the mobile platform. And so -- and I would say that is what -- we see that happening across the globe -- in conjunction with NortonLifeLock with in Avast, we see the mobile channel being 1, that we're going to put a lot of dry powder behind in terms of being able to access our products and service anywhere you are in your digital life. And then as it pertains to the Avast retention rate, we've seen nice gains since the merger, we're not surprised. We expressed that through our revenue synergy modeling and commitment. And so the teams just really worked strongly together and got out of the gate relatively strong on any best practices that could be shared both ways from NortonLifeLock to Avast, Avast to NortonLifeLock. And we see a couple low-hanging fruit wins, so to speak, since the merger. And we've continued to build on those learnings. And as the teams just become 1 Gen team really having the best practice sharing, really pushing the envelope as to what you can believe and how we can reimagine how we go to market in a collective fashion is really -- has really been beneficial to us, and we see that not only in the retention rate, we see that in ARPU as we strengthen and continue to scale the cross-sell, upsell muscle across all the brands. And as we continue to just have the robust product portfolio and the innovation come to come to fruition or come to market, it's just really all things combined has really helped us make some sequential progress there.

除此之外，我們真正看到的是客戶通過移動平台而來。因此，我想說的是，我們看到這種情況在全球範圍內發生，與 NortonLifeLock 和 Avast 相結合，我們看到移動渠道為 1，我們將投入大量乾粉在數字生活中的任何地方都能夠訪問我們的產品和服務方面落後。然後，就 Avast 保留率而言，自合併以來我們已經看到了不錯的收益，因此我們並不感到驚訝。我們通過我們的收入協同模型和承諾表達了這一點。因此，各團隊確實緊密合作，並在可從 NortonLifeLock 到 Avast、Avast 到 NortonLifeLock 雙向共享的任何最佳實踐上取得了相對較強的成果。可以說，自合併以來，我們看到了一些唾手可得的成果。我們將繼續以這些經驗為基礎。隨著團隊剛剛成為第一代團隊，真正擁有最佳實踐分享，真正挑戰你可以相信的極限，以及我們如何重新構想如何以集體方式進入市場，這對我們來說確實是有益的，我們不僅在保留率中看到這一點，而且隨著我們加強並繼續擴大所有品牌的交叉銷售、追加銷售實力，我們在ARPU 中也看到了這一點。隨著我們繼續擁有強大的產品組合和創新成果或進入市場，所有這些結合在一起確實幫助我們取得了一些連續的進展。

Congrats on a very good quarter.

恭喜您度過了一個非常好的季度。

Our next question is from the line of at Saket Kalia with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Saket Kalia。

Vincent, maybe just for you, just on the back of that last question. Great to see the gross adds kind of get back to more historical levels and really hear that those investments are starting to bear fruit. Vincent, maybe for you, could you just dig into international a little bit? I thought that was really interesting. What geos or countries are maybe surprising you to the upside. And what's the profile of those subscribers? Are they more security? Are they more identity -- or are they both a little bit -- maybe just 1 level deeper just on that part of the investment that seems to be starting to pay off.

文森特，也許只是為了你，就在最後一個問題的後面。很高興看到總增加量回到歷史水平，並真正聽到這些投資開始取得成果。文森特，也許對你來說，你能深入了解一下國際嗎？我覺得這真的很有趣。哪些地理位置或國家/地區可能會讓您感到驚訝。這些訂戶的概況如何？他們更安全嗎？它們是否更具認同感——或者兩者都具有一點點——也許只是在似乎開始獲得回報的那部分投資上更深了一層。

Yes. So absolutely, right. We -- first of all, yes, it's nice to see the direct customer count pressure we've seen for the last 5 quarters continuously being reduced on the path to breakeven and returning to growth. And if you look at the really, really post-COVID effect, where I think we lost 400,000 customers that quarter. We've been reducing that gap all the way to almost breakeven here in Q1. We, for the first time, talk about those gross adds because many of you investors or analysts had the impression that maybe we're facing like a headwind that we were not controlling and it's really about flushing through the post-COVID impact that Natalie described, I won't reiterate it. But when you look at the gross adds and where we are here in Q1 and it's up high single digits over the last 2.5, 3 years, low single-digit CAGR it's actually right in line to what we had said 3 years ago, which we will grow balancing all of our drivers, including low single-digit growth rate on customer count and normalizing for COVID, that's where we're getting to.

是的。所以絕對正確。首先，是的，我們很高興看到過去 5 個季度的直接客戶數量壓力在實現盈虧平衡和恢復增長的過程中不斷減少。如果你看看新冠疫情之後的影響，我認為我們那個季度失去了 400,000 名客戶。我們一直在縮小這一差距，在第一季度幾乎實現盈虧平衡。我們第一次談論這些總增加，因為你們許多投資者或分析師的印像是，也許我們正面臨著我們無法控制的逆風，這實際上是為了衝過娜塔莉描述的後新冠疫情的影響。 ，我就不重複了。但是，當你看看總增加量以及我們在第一季度的情況時，它在過去2.5 年、3 年裡增長了高個位數，複合年增長率低個位數，這實際上與我們3年前所說的一致，我們將平衡我們所有的驅動因素，包括客戶數量的低個位數增長率和新冠病毒的正常化，這就是我們要達到的目標。

Now that is coupled with now having merged with Avast, built Gen that has accelerated capabilities and the capabilities, as we had mentioned, was the breadth of the portfolio, the capabilities, whether it's renewal, cross-sell or technology and then the channel and international expansion. You talked about the expansion internationally. And I'll give you 1 example because we actually -- internationally, we feel pretty good about almost all areas. But Latin America was particularly strong and when you decompose the last 3 quarters' strength we've seen there, it's really coming down together with our capabilities. NortonLifeLock was almost inexistent, Avast already had a lot of presence. Then we brought into that region the portfolio of brands, introduced products under Norton as well as we continue to then beef up the portfolio in introducing the first identity offering, if you want -- so expanding the brand, expanding the cross-sell and then expanding the channel, not just direct, but also indirect and having a combined view. Basically leveraging the strength of Gen as we came together with LifeLock -- NortonLifeLock and Avast. Basically, the capabilities are coming together -- and over the next 2 years, you should see us managing the macro level environment, but really driving on our revenue synergies and accelerated our growth to that mid-single digits.

現在，再加上與 Avast 合併，構建了具有加速能力的 Gen，正如我們所提到的，這些能力是產品組合的廣度、能力，無論是更新、交叉銷售還是技術，然後是渠道和國際擴張。您談到了國際擴張。我會給你舉一個例子，因為實際上，在國際上，我們對幾乎所有領域都感覺很好。但拉丁美洲尤其強大，當你分解我們在那裡看到的過去三個季度的實力時，它確實與我們的能力一起下降。 NortonLifeLock 幾乎不存在，而 Avast 已經大量存在。然後，我們將品牌組合引入該地區，推出諾頓旗下的產品，然後我們繼續加強產品組合，推出第一個身份產品（如果您願意的話）——因此擴大品牌，擴大交叉銷售，然後拓展渠道，不僅是直接的，而且是間接的、綜合的。當我們與 LifeLock 合作時，基本上利用了 Gen 的優勢——NortonLifeLock 和 Avast。基本上，這些能力正在融合在一起——在接下來的兩年裡，你應該看到我們管理宏觀環境，但真正推動我們的收入協同效應，並將我們的增長加速到中個位數。

That's awesome. That's really great to hear. I want to come back to net adds in a second. But Natalie, maybe just over to you. I think that 1 highlight here actually just zooming out from the quarter. is that we now have an annual guide out there, right? Like I think we were kind of going quarter-to-quarter after Avast -- for a lot of good reasons, right? But I'm wondering what's changed in your view that gives you more visibility or confidence to start giving that slightly longer-term view that was a little bit tougher to do before.

棒極了。聽到這真是太好了。我想稍後再回到網絡添加。但是娜塔莉，也許就輪到你了。我認為這裡的一個亮點實際上只是從季度縮小。我們現在有一份年度指南，對吧？就像我認為我們在 Avast 之後逐季度進行的那樣 - 有很多充分的理由，對嗎？但我想知道您的觀點發生了哪些變化，使您更加能見度或更有信心開始提出稍微長期的觀點，而這在以前是有點困難的。

Saket, thanks for the question. I would say, from my perspective, it's not things that are new or that have changed. I would say what we really wanted to do was focus on the close and the integration of the deal, we'll get the businesses collectively running as Gen and really get through the lion's share of the integration. It was important for us to focus on achieving the cost synergies, which, as you've heard, we're about 80% achieved. We're in an accelerated time frame. So this is just the right time for us to reintroduce a full year guide and really lay out for everyone what our expectations are for the performance.

薩凱特，謝謝你的提問。我想說，從我的角度來看，這並不是什麼新鮮事或已經發生了變化。我想說的是，我們真正想做的是專注於交易的完成和整合，我們將讓業務作為 Gen 共同運營，並真正完成整合的大部分工作。對我們來說，重點關注實現成本協同效應非常重要，正如您所知，我們已經實現了約 80%。我們正處於加速的時間框架中。因此，現在正是我們重新推出全年指南並真正向每個人闡述我們對錶現的期望的最佳時機。

So from a top line perspective, bookings, revenue, a range of outcomes in low to mid-single-digit rate of growth isn't new or isn't changed. We're just putting the marker down. We expect our growth to continue and to continue to build upon all of the actions that we're taking that are built into our operating plan. With that, we should see the rate of growth on bookings and revenue build throughout the year, not new, but we will continue the cost discipline that we've expressed and that you know we're known for.

因此，從營收角度來看，預訂量、收入以及一系列中低個位數增長率的結果並不是什麼新鮮事，也沒有改變。我們只是把標記放下。我們預計我們的增長將繼續下去，並繼續建立在我們正在採取的所有行動的基礎上，這些行動已納入我們的運營計劃。這樣，我們應該會看到全年預訂量和收入的增長率，這不是新鮮事，但我們將繼續我們已經表達過的成本紀律，你知道我們以此而聞名。

And we are building throughout this year as we build towards the financial framework of a 60% plus margin business, we'll continue to do that. And then as the growth continues to scale throughout the year, we're going to take the opportunity to put some investment and solidify that rate of growth, further accelerate that rate of growth and really put the support behind any productive green shoots that we're seeing, albeit still within the margin structure that we've clearly laid out for everyone. What's new, I would say, if anything, or what's constantly changing is the interest rate environment. And so you saw what happened just as recent as last week with the cost of debt and the interest rate market. And so that will -- every single rate hike, just -- it creates another hurdle for us and our cost structure to overcome.

今年我們正在努力建設利潤率超過 60% 的財務框架，我們將繼續這樣做。然後，隨著全年增長繼續擴大，我們將藉此機會進行一些投資並鞏固增長率，進一步加快增長率，並真正為我們的任何富有成效的萌芽提供支持。我們看到了，儘管仍在我們為每個人明確規定的利潤結構之內。我想說，如果有的話，或者說不斷變化的是利率環境。所以你看到了上週債務成本和利率市場發生的事情。因此，每次加息都會給我們和我們的成本結構帶來另一個需要克服的障礙。

Now we've been very disciplined and very quick to iterate as we see those headwinds, which is why we're continuously recommitting to our profit structure. But if there's anything that's changed, I would say, it would be what's out of our control, which is 1 example is the cost of debt.

現在，當我們看到這些不利因素時，我們已經非常自律，並且非常快速地進行迭代，這就是為什麼我們不斷重新致力於我們的利潤結構。但我想說，如果有什麼變化，那將是我們無法控制的，例如債務成本。

Saket, if I can add also my perspective on this one for as good as operator as we believe we are and for as far as we wanted to integrate these 2 leaders together into Gen. The reality is it takes time. It takes time to build the best team in today. We have the best team in consumer cybersafety. It takes time to integrate the processes that now have center of expertise, all renewals across all brands are from one team that has all the expertise, same with cross-sell, et cetera. And it takes -- it just takes time. And now we have, at least after Q1, a full quarter operating as an integrated company. And so the confidence to redirect is improving. The second aspect would be for me is we have the ambition to trend -- to change the current trend. We had to flush through the post-COVID effect, we're almost at the end of that and you've seen it in the reduction of the customer count gap and it's getting there if you trend it. And we've seen early signs of success from our early investment and/or cross revenue synergies that we feel confident we now can guide the business in the longer term.

Saket，如果我能補充一下我對這一問題的看法，因為我們相信我們是一個優秀的運營商，而且我們希望將這兩位領導者整合到 Gen 中。現實是這需要時間。建立當今最好的團隊需要時間。我們擁有消費者網絡安全領域最優秀的團隊。整合現在擁有專業知識中心的流程需要時間，所有品牌的所有更新都來自一個擁有所有專業知識的團隊，交叉銷售等也是如此。這需要——只是需要時間。現在，至少在第一季度之後，我們有整整一個季度作為一家綜合公司運營。因此，重定向的信心正在增強。對我來說，第二個方面是我們有追求趨勢的雄心——改變當前的趨勢。我們必須克服新冠疫情后的影響，我們已經快要結束了，你已經在客戶數量差距的縮小中看到了這一點，如果你關注它的趨勢，它就會實現這一點。我們已經從早期投資和/或交叉收入協同效應中看到了成功的早期跡象，我們相信現在可以長期指導業務。

Absolutely. Vincent, if I could fit 1 more in, just on that point around sort of flushing through some of the post-COVID hangover, if you will, I think some of your comments on the call talked about maybe a positive trend sort of exiting the year. I know we don't guide to net adds, but how do you sort of think about that, right? Do we get back -- do we get to breakeven by the end of this year? Do we get back to something more positive. Any finer point or any color you want to provide just on how that trend looks throughout this year?

絕對地。文森特，如果我能再補充一點的話，就在這一點上，如果你願意的話，我認為你在電話會議上的一些評論可能談到了一種積極的趨勢，即退出新冠疫情后的宿醉。年。我知道我們不指導網絡添加，但您對此有何看法，對嗎？我們能在今年年底前恢復收支平衡嗎？我們會回到更積極的事情嗎？您想提供關於今年這一趨勢的任何更詳細的觀點或任何顏色嗎？

Yes. Well, I would say, negative is negative, breakeven is breakeven and positive is positive. So I would expect that we breakeven through the year and finish the year, as I said, on a positive note, which means on the positive direct customer count growth. And I'll stop short of quantify because we have multiple levers, we'll have priorities as we go, and we'll see trends. It's not linear, day in, day out, week in, week out, everything comes into move, but we have so many levers to go and drive the over long-term value that we feel confident enough that the trend you've seen in direct customer count over the last 5 quarters, are you reducing that gap almost, I could call this quarter breakeven. We still call it minus 29,000 is going to breakeven and then return to growth.

是的。好吧，我會說，負數就是負數，盈虧平衡就是盈虧平衡，正數就是正數。因此，正如我所說，我預計我們將在今年實現盈虧平衡，並以積極的方式結束這一年，這意味著直接客戶數量的積極增長。我將停止量化，因為我們有多種槓桿，我們將在前進過程中確定優先事項，並且我們將看到趨勢。這不是線性的，日復一日，周復一周，一切都在變化，但我們有很多槓桿可以推動長期價值，我們對您所看到的趨勢有足夠的信心過去5 個季度的直接客戶數量，您是否幾乎縮小了這一差距，我可以稱本季度為盈虧平衡。我們仍然認為負 29,000 點將實現盈虧平衡，然後恢復增長。

Our last question is from the line of Angie Song with Morgan Stanley.

我們的最後一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Angie Song。

So I think over the last several quarters, it seemed like cost of acquisition had generally trended up. Could you just touch on some of the trends that you've been seeing as it relates to CAC this quarter? And maybe just explain how this dynamic may translate to top line growth as you look to realize cost synergies and drive down overall expenses?

因此，我認為在過去幾個季度中，購置成本似乎普遍呈上升趨勢。您能否簡單談談本季度您所看到的與 CAC 相關的一些趨勢？也許只是解釋一下，當您希望實現成本協同效應並降低總體支出時，這種動態如何轉化為收入增長？

We'll partner with Natalie. But I'll take the first crack at it. We can take offline on how you think that CAC is increasing depending on what is in the marketing line. But our cost of direct customer acquisition has been within a small range, pretty stable for the last few quarters. Now we continue to invest in that. We now have a system that we feel is working. We have, for our entire marketing spend by cohort and by investment, the CLV, the return on investment and the long-term value. And based on our very structured and data-driven framework, we continue to invest more in marketing as we see the growth.

我們將與娜塔莉合作。但我會先嘗試一下。我們可以根據營銷線中的內容，了解您對 CAC 增長情況的看法。但我們直接獲取客戶的成本一直在一個小範圍內，在過去幾個季度相當穩定。現在我們繼續對此進行投資。我們現在擁有一個我們認為正在發揮作用的系統。對於我們整個營銷支出（按群組和投資），我們有 CLV、投資回報和長期價值。基於我們非常結構化和數據驅動的框架，隨著我們看到增長，我們將繼續加大對營銷的投資。

So as long as you see positive trend going, you'll see us continue to invest in that. And we have not seen marketing rate change over the last short term, I would say, last few months. Natalie, I don't know if you want to add anything to that? Okay.

因此，只要您看到積極的趨勢，您就會看到我們繼續對此進行投資。我想說，過去幾個月，我們沒有看到營銷率發生變化。娜塔莉，我不知道你是否想補充什麼？好的。

Okay. If there is no more question, then let me quickly go to some closing comments. I want to mention that on Monday, we published our 2023 social impact report. As the new company, Gen, we took the opportunity to reimagine what impact you want to make and reshape our global social impact strategy with our family of trusted consumer brands. Our dual head cores and more importantly, our mission in mind. So today, we're well positioned as a clear leader in consumer cybersafety, and we're building a company that drives a real impact around the world. I'm very proud of the team and what we have accomplished so far. This is a reflection of our team so intensively mission-driven, focused on executing and creating value for all of our stakeholders. And while we have already achieved a lot since becoming solely dedicated to consumer cybersafety, the truth is that we feel that we're really just getting started. So thank you for joining the call today, and I look forward to talking to you soon.

好的。如果沒有其他問題，那麼讓我快速進行一些結束語。我想提一下，週一，我們發布了 2023 年社會影響報告。作為新公司 Gen，我們藉此機會重新構想您想要產生的影響，並通過我們值得信賴的消費品牌系列重塑我們的全球社會影響戰略。我們的雙頭核心，更重要的是，我們牢記使命。因此，今天，我們已成為消費者網絡安全領域明顯的領導者，並且我們正在建立一家在全球範圍內產生真正影響的公司。我對我們的團隊以及我們迄今為止所取得的成就感到非常自豪。這反映了我們的團隊高度以使命為導向，專注於為所有利益相關者執行和創造價值。雖然自從專門致力於消費者網絡安全以來我們已經取得了很多成就，但事實是我們覺得我們真的才剛剛開始。感謝您今天加入電話會議，我期待很快與您交談。

Thank you. That concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now close your lines.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以關閉線路了。