Hackett Group Inc (HCKT) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to The Hackett Group First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised the conference is being recorded. Hosting tonight's call are Mr. Ted Fernandez, Chairman and CEO; and Mr. Rob Ramirez, Chief Financial Officer.

歡迎來到哈克特集團第一季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意會議正在錄製中。主持今晚電話會議的是董事長兼首席執行官 Ted Fernandez 先生；首席財務官 Rob Ramirez 先生。

Mr. Ramirez, you may begin.

拉米雷斯先生，你可以開始了。

Good afternoon, everyone and thank you for joining us to discuss The Hackett Group's First Quarter 2023 Results. Speaking on the call today and here to answer your questions are Ted Fernandez, Chairman and CEO of The Hackett Group; and myself, Robert Ramirez, Chief Financial Officer.

大家下午好，感謝您加入我們討論哈克特集團 2023 年第一季度的業績。哈克特集團董事長兼首席執行官泰德·費爾南德斯 (Ted Fernandez) 今天在電話會議上發言並在此回答您的問題；和我自己，首席財務官羅伯特·拉米雷斯 (Robert Ramirez)。

A press announcement was released over the wires at 4:24 PM Eastern time. For a copy of the release, please visit our website at www.thehackettgroup.com. We will also place any additional financial or statistical data discussed on this call that is not contained in the release on the Investor Relations page of our website.

東部時間下午 4 點 24 分通過網絡發布了新聞公告。如需新聞稿副本，請訪問我們的網站 www.thehackettgroup.com。我們還將在我們網站的投資者關係頁面上發布未包含在本次電話會議上討論的任何其他財務或統計數據。

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that the following comments and in the question-and-answer session, we will be making statements about expected future results, which may be forward-looking statements for the purposes of the federal securities laws. These statements related to our current expectations, estimates and projections and are not a guarantee of future performance. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict and which may not be accurate. Actual results may vary. These forward-looking statements should be considered only in conjunction with the detailed information, particularly the risk factors contained in our SEC filings.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，以下評論和問答環節中，我們將就預期的未來結果做出陳述，這些陳述可能是聯邦證券法中的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述與我們目前的預期、估計和預測有關，並不是對未來業績的保證。它們涉及難以預測且可能不准確的風險、不確定性和假設。實際結果可能有所不同。這些前瞻性陳述只能與詳細信息一起考慮，尤其是我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中包含的風險因素。

At this point, I would like to turn it over to Ted.

在這一點上，我想把它交給泰德。

Thank you, Rob and welcome everyone to our first quarter earnings call. As we normally do, I will open the call with some overview comments on the quarter. I will then turn it back over to Rob to comment on detailed operating results, cash flow as well as comment on outlook. We will then review our market and strategy-related comments, after which, we will open it up to Q&A.

謝謝 Rob，歡迎大家參加我們的第一季度財報電話會議。像往常一樣，我將在電話會議開始時對本季度進行一些概述評論。然後我會把它轉回給羅布，讓他對詳細的經營業績、現金流以及前景發表評論。然後，我們將審查我們與市場和戰略相關的評論，之後，我們將開放它進行問答。

Before I move to our quarterly results, let me start by mentioning our 2022 results and the comps that they will provide to our 2023 performance. In 2022, we had a very strong first half of the year with operating results exceeding our guidance in Q1 and Q2 by $0.03 in each quarter of that prior year. By the middle of the year, the impact of Fed interest rate increases started to disrupt economic growth and resulted in extended client decision making.

在我轉向我們的季度業績之前，讓我首先提及我們 2022 年的業績以及它們將為我們 2023 年的業績提供的補償。 2022 年上半年，我們的業績非常強勁，第一季度和第二季度的經營業績比上一年每個季度的指導高出 0.03 美元。到年中，美聯儲加息的影響開始擾亂經濟增長，導致客戶決策時間延長。

Also to our first quarter, this afternoon, we reported total revenues of $69.8 million and adjusted earnings per share of $0.37, both at the midpoint of our quarterly guidance range. Broadly speaking, the economic volatility is evident, but some of the demand for digital transformation solutions required to remain competitive and drive productivity improvements for our clients. As the quarter progressed, we saw clients increasingly moving forward with significant engagements, which should allow us to be up sequentially from Q1 to Q2. This was most pronounced in the swift turnaround of our Oracle Solutions Segment.

同樣在第一季度，今天下午，我們報告總收入為 6980 萬美元，調整後每股收益為 0.37 美元，均處於季度指導範圍的中點。從廣義上講，經濟波動是顯而易見的，但對數字化轉型解決方案的一些需求需要保持競爭力並推動我們客戶提高生產力。隨著本季度的進展，我們看到客戶越來越多地通過重要的參與向前推進，這應該使我們能夠從第一季度到第二季度依次上升。這在我們的 Oracle 解決方案部門的快速轉變中最為明顯。

Our quarterly results continue to be driven by the global SBT segment, which was down slightly on a reported basis and down 1% on a local currency basis. Our recurring higher-margin research advisory and IPaaS offering revenue continue to grow and we continue to expect the annual contract value for these offerings to grow over 20% in 2023. The quarter benefited from the growth of our IPaaS revenues and we continue to add new pilot participants as we exited the quarter. We also continue to engage with large software and service companies to help them bolster their value selling and value realization efforts.

我們的季度業績繼續受到全球 SBT 部門的推動，該部門在報告基礎上略有下降，按當地貨幣計算下降 1%。我們經常性的高利潤研究諮詢和 IPaaS 產品收入繼續增長，我們繼續預計到 2023 年這些產品的年度合同價值將增長 20% 以上。本季度受益於我們 IPaaS 收入的增長，我們繼續增加新的我們退出本季度時的試點參與者。我們還繼續與大型軟件和服務公司合作，幫助他們加強價值銷售和價值實現工作。

During the quarter, we launched our second and third market intelligence programs and we plan to launch additional programs throughout 2023. These programs allow us to compare the capabilities of software and services providers, which is valuable to our large Hackett benchmarking and consulting end-user client base considering procuring these capabilities. The programs also allow us to work with the solution providers to strategically support their sales and marketing efforts.

在本季度，我們推出了第二和第三市場情報計劃，併計劃在 2023 年全年推出更多計劃。這些計劃使我們能夠比較軟件和服務提供商的能力，這對我們的大型 Hackett 基準測試和諮詢最終用戶很有價值考慮採購這些功能的客戶群。這些計劃還使我們能夠與解決方案提供商合作，從戰略上支持他們的銷售和營銷工作。

We have also continued to add new content and IP to our existing functionally focused executive advisory programs, improvements in our existing programs, along with the new market intelligence programs, the launch of our new member platform, Hackett Connect along with our aggressive sales hiring should allow us to continue to grow our higher-margin recurring revenues and related annual contract value throughout the year.

我們還繼續為我們現有的以功能為中心的執行諮詢計劃添加新的內容和知識產權，改進我們現有的計劃，以及新的市場情報計劃，推出我們新的會員平台 Hackett Connect 以及我們積極的銷售招聘應該使我們能夠在全年繼續增加利潤率較高的經常性收入和相關的年度合同價值。

The Oracle Solutions Segment was down 22% as expected this quarter. However, we are pleased to say we have a number of significant contract wins in the latter part of the quarter, which will more than offset the large project loss that we experienced at the end of Q4. This will allow the segment to be up strongly from Q1 and into Q2. This was an exceptional response by the team through its year-end challenge and has accelerated the return to growth, which is now expected by Q3 of this year.

甲骨文解決方案部門本季度如預期下降了 22%。然而，我們很高興地說，我們在本季度後半段贏得了一些重要的合同，這將足以抵消我們在第四季度末經歷的大量項目損失。這將使該細分市場從第一季度強勁上升到第二季度。這是該團隊通過年終挑戰做出的出色反應，並加速了恢復增長，現在預計將在今年第三季度實現。

Our SAP Solutions Segment delivered as expected with flat revenues before reimbursements and improved segment profits. We expect that segment to be up sequentially as well as on a year-over-year basis in the second quarter. The investments we have made to fully digitize our IP and the development of our digital platforms, which include Quantum Leap, our state-of-the-art global benchmarking platform and our proprietary Hackett and Digital Transformation Platform, or DTP, are starting to pay off. These platforms are allowing us to highly differentiate all of our offerings and also develop new licensing research relationship with the software and services providers across the enterprise.

我們的 SAP 解決方案部門按預期交付，報銷前收入持平，部門利潤有所提高。我們預計該細分市場在第二季度將環比增長並同比增長。我們為將我們的知識產權完全數字化而進行的投資和我們數字平台的開發，包括我們最先進的全球基準平台 Quantum Leap 和我們專有的 Hackett 和數字化轉型平台 (DTP)，正在開始產生回報離開。這些平台使我們能夠高度區分我們的所有產品，並與整個企業的軟件和服務提供商建立新的許可研究關係。

We also expect to launch our Hackett Connect platform in Q2, which will significantly improve our research and IPaaS member clients' ability to avail themselves all Hackett IP as well as the virtual expertise, which supports those programs.

我們還希望在第二季度推出我們的 Hackett Connect 平台，這將顯著提高我們的研究和 IPaaS 成員客戶利用所有 Hackett IP 以及支持這些項目的虛擬專業知識的能力。

On the balance sheet side, our first quarter -- in our first quarter, we funded our previous year's annual performance bonuses, bought back shares to fund investing and funded our prior quarter's dividend. For the balance of the year, you should expect to see us continue to pay down our credit facility. As we have discussed on our last few calls, we want to be more aggressive with our balance sheet by using our current credit facility to fund acquisitions and buyback stock while continuing to invest in our business.

在資產負債表方面，我們的第一季度——在第一季度，我們為上一年的年度績效獎金提供資金，回購股票為投資提供資金，並為上一季度的股息提供資金。對於今年的餘額，您應該會看到我們繼續償還我們的信貸額度。正如我們在最近幾次電話會議上所討論的那樣，我們希望在繼續投資於我們的業務的同時，利用我們目前的信貸額度為收購和回購股票提供資金，從而更加積極地處理我們的資產負債表。

With that said, let me ask Rob to provide details on our operating results, cash flow and also comment on outlook. I will make additional comments on strategy and market conditions following Rob's comments. Rob?

話雖如此，讓我請 Rob 提供有關我們的經營業績、現金流的詳細信息以及對前景的評論。在 Rob 的評論之後，我將對戰略和市場狀況發表更多評論。搶？

Thank you, Ted. As I typically do during this portion of the call, I'll cover the following topics: an overview of our 2023 first quarter results along with an overview of related key operating statistics, an overview of our cash flow activities in the quarter, and I'll then conclude with a discussion on our financial outlook for the second quarter of 2023.

謝謝你，特德。正如我通常在這部分電話會議中所做的那樣，我將介紹以下主題：我們 2023 年第一季度業績的概述以及相關關鍵運營統計數據的概述，本季度現金流量活動的概述，以及我然後，我們將討論我們對 2023 年第二季度的財務展望。

For purpose of this call, I will comment separately regarding the revenues of our global S&BT segment, our Oracle Solutions Segment, our SAP Solutions Segment and the total company. Our global S&BT segment includes the results of our North America and international IP as a Service offerings, our research advisory programs, our benchmarking services, our business transformation and our onstream offerings. Our Oracle Solutions and our SAP Solutions segments include the results of our Oracle and SAP offerings respectively. Please note that we will be referencing both total revenues and revenue before reimbursements in our discussions. Reimbursable expenses are primarily project travel-related expenses passed through to our clients and have no associated effect from our profitability.

出於本次電話會議的目的，我將分別評論我們全球 S&BT 部門、我們的 Oracle 解決方案部門、我們的 SAP 解決方案部門和整個公司的收入。我們的全球 S&BT 部門包括我們的北美和國際 IP 即服務產品、我們的研究諮詢計劃、我們的基準服務、我們的業務轉型和我們的在線產品的結果。我們的 Oracle 解決方案和我們的 SAP 解決方案部分分別包括我們的 Oracle 和 SAP 產品的結果。請注意，我們將在討論中參考總收入和報銷前收入。可報銷費用主要是轉嫁給我們客戶的與項目差旅相關的費用，對我們的盈利能力沒有相關影響。

During our call today, we will also reference certain non-GAAP financial measures, which we believe provide useful information to investors. We have included reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures in our press release filed earlier today and will post any additional information based on the discussions from this call to the Investor Relations page of the company's website.

在我們今天的電話會議中，我們還將參考某些非 GAAP 財務指標，我們認為這些指標可為投資者提供有用的信息。我們在今天早些時候提交的新聞稿中包含了 GAAP 與非 GAAP 財務措施的對賬，並將根據此次電話會議的討論向公司網站的投資者關係頁面發布任何其他信息。

For the first quarter of 2023, our revenue was $71.2 million. Our revenues before reimbursements were $69.8 million, which was in line with our quarterly guidance. As we discussed last quarter, during the first half of fiscal 2022, we experienced stronger-than-expected post COVID pent-up demand that drove strong results in the prior year. The Q1 2023 reimbursable expense ratio on revenues before reimbursements was 2% as compared to 1.9% in the prior quarter and 0.7% when compared to the same period in the prior year.

2023 年第一季度，我們的收入為 7120 萬美元。我們報銷前的收入為 6980 萬美元，符合我們的季度指引。正如我們上個季度所討論的那樣，在 2022 財年上半年，我們經歷了強於預期的 COVID 後被壓抑的需求，這推動了上一年的強勁業績。 2023 年第一季度報銷前收入的可報銷費用率為 2%，上一季度為 1.9%，去年同期為 0.7%。

Post COVID, we have experienced increased client-related travel. However, given the market's transition to a remote delivery model, we do not expect these project-related travel expenses to return to pre-COVID levels. Total revenues from our global S&BT segment was $42.3 million for the first quarter of 2023. Revenues before reimbursements for our global S&BT segment was $41.7 million for the first quarter of 2023, a decrease of 1.7% when compared to the same period in the prior year, but down 1% on a local currency basis utilizing the same foreign currency rates in Q1 of the prior year.

發布 COVID 後，我們經歷了與客戶相關的旅行增加。然而，鑑於市場正在向遠程交付模式過渡，我們預計這些與項目相關的差旅費用不會恢復到 COVID 之前的水平。 2023 年第一季度，我們全球 S&BT 部門的總收入為 4230 萬美元。2023 年第一季度，我們全球 S&BT 部門的報銷前收入為 4170 萬美元，與去年同期相比下降 1.7% ，但使用去年第一季度相同的外幣匯率按當地貨幣計算下降了 1%。

Total revenues from our Oracle Solutions Segment were $17.2 million for the first quarter of 2023. Revenues before reimbursements for Oracle Solutions Segment were $16.7 million for the first quarter, a decrease of 22% when compared to the same period in the prior year as we expected and as we guided per our last quarter. Oracle Solutions was coming off of solid 2022 results and was rebuilding its pipeline in light of unfavorable macroeconomic conditions as we entered the first quarter. However, given a number of significant engagements, which closed towards the end of the first quarter, we now expect Oracle will be up strongly on a sequential basis as we move into Q2.

2023 年第一季度 Oracle 解決方案部門的總收入為 1720 萬美元。第一季度 Oracle 解決方案部門的報銷前收入為 1670 萬美元，與我們預期的去年同期相比下降 22%正如我們根據上個季度的指導。 Oracle Solutions 取得了 2022 年的穩健業績，並在我們進入第一季度時鑑於不利的宏觀經濟條件重建其渠道。然而，鑑於第一季度末關閉的一些重要項目，我們現在預計隨著我們進入第二季度，甲骨文將連續強勁增長。

Total revenues from our SAP Solutions Segment were $11.7 million for the first quarter of 2023. Revenues before reimbursements for our SAP Solutions Segment were $11.5 million for the first quarter, an increase of 1.3% when compared to the same period in the prior year. Approximately 23% of our total company revenues for reimbursements consists of recurring multiyear and subscription-based revenues, which include our research advisory, IP as a service, multiyear benchmarks and application managed services contracts.

2023 年第一季度 SAP 解決方案部門的總收入為 1170 萬美元。第一季度 SAP 解決方案部門的報銷前收入為 1150 萬美元，與去年同期相比增長 1.3%。我們公司總收入的大約 23% 的報銷收入包括經常性的多年收入和基於訂閱的收入，其中包括我們的研究諮詢、IP 即服務、多年基準和應用程序管理服務合同。

Total company adjusted cost of sales, which exclude reimbursable expenses and noncash stock-based compensation expense totaled $41.6 million or 59.6% of revenues before reimbursements in the first quarter of 2023 as compared to $45.7 million or 60.8% of revenue before reimbursements in the prior year. Total company consultant headcount was 1,101 at the end of the first quarter as compared to a total company consultant headcount of 1,120 in the previous quarter and 1,141 at the end of the first quarter of 2022. Total company adjusted gross margin on revenues before reimbursements, which excludes reimbursable expenses and noncash stock-based compensation expense was 40.4% in the first quarter of 2023 as compared to 39.2% in the prior year period. The 120 basis point gross margin improvement was primarily driven by the relative mix of higher-margin global S&BT segment revenues.

公司調整後的銷售成本總額（不包括可報銷費用和非現金股票補償費用）總計 4160 萬美元，佔 2023 年第一季度報銷前收入的 59.6%，而去年同期為 4570 萬美元，佔報銷前收入的 60.8% .第一季度末公司顧問總人數為 1,101 人，而上一季度公司顧問總人數為 1,120 人，2022 年第一季度末公司顧問總人數為 1,141 人。公司總計調整了報銷前收入的毛利率，這不包括可報銷費用和非現金股票補償費用，2023 年第一季度為 40.4%，而去年同期為 39.2%。毛利率提高 120 個基點主要是由利潤率較高的全球 S&BT 部門收入的相對組合推動的。

Adjusted SG&A, which excludes noncash stock-based compensation expense and intangible asset amortization was $14.5 million or 20.8% of revenues before reimbursements in the first quarter of 2023. This is compared to $13.3 million or 17.7% revenues before reimbursements in the prior year. The year-over-year absolute dollar increase is primarily due to incremental investments we are making in program development and dedicated sales resources for our benchmarking, executive advisory, market intelligence and our IP service offerings. These investments approximated $0.03 in the first quarter of 2023.

調整後的 SG&A（不包括非現金股票補償費用和無形資產攤銷）為 1,450 萬美元，佔 2023 年第一季度報銷前收入的 20.8%。相比之下，上年報銷前收入為 1,330 萬美元，佔收入的 17.7%。同比絕對美元增長主要是由於我們在項目開發和專門銷售資源方面進行的增量投資，用於我們的基準測試、執行諮詢、市場情報和我們的 IP 服務產品。這些投資在 2023 年第一季度約為 0.03 美元。

Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes noncash stock-based compensation expense and intangible asset amortization was $14.5 million or 20.8% of revenues before reimbursements in the first quarter as compared to $17 million or 22.6% of revenues before reimbursements in the prior year. GAAP net income for the first quarter of 2023 totaled $8.2 million or diluted earnings per share of $0.30 as compared to GAAP net income of $10.5 million or diluted earnings per share of $0.33 in the first quarter of previous year.

調整後的 EBITDA（不包括非現金股票補償費用和無形資產攤銷）為 1,450 萬美元，佔第一季度報銷前收入的 20.8%，而去年同期為 1,700 萬美元，佔報銷前收入的 22.6%。 2023 年第一季度的 GAAP 淨收入總計 820 萬美元或稀釋後每股收益 0.30 美元，而去年第一季度的 GAAP 淨收入為 1050 萬美元或稀釋後每股收益 0.33 美元。

Adjusted net income, which excludes noncash stock-based compensation expense and intangible asset amortization for the first quarter of 2023 totaled $10 million or adjusted diluted net income per common share of $0.37, which is in line with our earnings guidance range. This compares to adjusted net income of $12.6 million or invested diluted net income per share of $0.39 in the first quarter of the prior year.

不包括 2023 年第一季度基於非現金股票的補償費用和無形資產攤銷的調整後淨收入總計 1000 萬美元或調整後每股普通股攤薄淨收入 0.37 美元，符合我們的收益指導範圍。相比之下，去年第一季度調整後的淨收入為 1260 萬美元，或每股投資稀釋淨收入為 0.39 美元。

In Q2 of 2022, we moved to an actual GAAP effective tax rate for adjusted net income reporting purposes. For those of you reconciled to the prior year reported results in Q1, we reported adjusted diluted income per common share of $0.38 when utilizing a non-GAAP effective tax rate of 25%. The company's cash balances were $16.9 million at the end of the first quarter of 2023 as compared to $30.3 million at the end of the previous quarter. Net cash used in operating activities in the quarter was $3.1 million, primarily driven by decreases in accrued expenses due to the payment of 2022 performance bonuses and increases in accounts receivable, partially offset by net income adjusted for noncash activity.

在 2022 年第二季度，我們為了調整後的淨收入報告目的而採用實際 GAAP 有效稅率。對於那些在第一季度與上一年報告的結果進行核對的人，我們報告使用 25% 的非 GAAP 有效稅率時，調整後的每股普通股攤薄收益為 0.38 美元。截至 2023 年第一季度末，該公司的現金餘額為 1690 萬美元，而上一季度末為 3030 萬美元。本季度經營活動使用的現金淨額為 310 萬美元，這主要是由於支付 2022 年績效獎金和應收賬款增加導致的應計費用減少，部分被非現金活動調整後的淨收入所抵消。

Our DSO or day sales outstanding at the end of the quarter was 66 days as compared to 63 days at the end of the previous quarter. During the quarter, we repurchased 199,000 shares of the company's stock for an average of $21.23 per share at a total cost of approximately $4.2 million, driven by purchases from employees to satisfy income tax holding triggered by the vesting of restricted shares as well as for share repurchases. Our remaining stock repurchase authorization at the end of the quarter was $14.0 million. During the quarter, the company paid down $2 million on our credit facility. The balance of the company's total debt attending at the end of the first quarter is approximately $58 million. At its most recent meeting, subsequent to quarter end, the company's Board of Directors declared the second quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share for shareholders of record on June 23, 2023, to be paid on July 7, 2023.

本季度末我們的 DSO 或日銷售額為 66 天，而上一季度末為 63 天。在本季度，我們以平均每股 21.23 美元的價格回購了 199,000 股公司股票，總成本約為 420 萬美元，其原因是員工購買股票以滿足限制性股票歸屬引發的所得稅持有以及股票回購。本季度末我們剩餘的股票回購授權為 1400 萬美元。在本季度，公司支付了 200 萬美元的信貸額度。截至第一季度末，公司總債務餘額約為 5800 萬美元。在季度末後的最近一次會議上，公司董事會宣布向 2023 年 6 月 23 日登記在冊的股東派發每股 0.11 美元的第二季度股息，將於 2023 年 7 月 7 日支付。

Now moving to the second quarter of 2023 and our guidance. The company currently estimates total revenue before reimbursements for the second quarter of 2023 to be in the range of $72.5 million to $74 million. We expect global S&BT segment revenue before reimbursements to be slightly down when compared to the prior year as we expect slowing economic growth to result in extended client decision-making and business transformation engagements. We expect Oracle Solutions Segment revenue before reimbursements to be up strongly on a sequential basis and to be only slightly down when compared to the prior year. We expect SAP Solutions Segment revenue before reimbursements to be up on a year-over-year basis. We estimate adjusted diluted net income per common share in the second quarter of 2023 to be in the range of $0.36 to $0.39, which assumes a GAAP effective tax rate on adjusted earnings of 27%.

現在轉到 2023 年第二季度和我們的指導。該公司目前估計 2023 年第二季度報銷前的總收入在 7250 萬美元至 7400 萬美元之間。我們預計，與上一年相比，全球 S&BT 部門在報銷前的收入將略有下降，因為我們預計經濟增長放緩將導致客戶決策制定和業務轉型參與的時間延長。我們預計甲骨文解決方案部門在報銷前的收入將連續強勁增長，與上一年相比只會略有下降。我們預計 SAP 解決方案部門的報銷前收入將同比增長。我們估計 2023 年第二季度調整後的每股普通股攤薄淨收入在 0.36 美元至 0.39 美元之間，假設調整後收益的 GAAP 有效稅率為 27%。

As Ted mentioned last quarter, the second quarter will reflect the continued incremental investments we are making in program development and dedicated sales resources for our benchmarking executive advisory, market intelligence and our IP as a service offerings. These incremental costs are expected to impact our diluted net income per common share for approximately $0.04 when compared to the prior year. We expect adjusted gross margin on revenues before reimbursements to be approximately 42% to 43%. We expect adjusted SG&A and interest expense for the second quarter to be approximately $16.7 million. We expect second quarter adjusted EBITDA on revenues before reimbursements to be in the range of approximately 21% to 23%. Lastly, we expect cash flow from operations to be up on a sequential basis.

正如 Ted 上個季度提到的那樣，第二季度將反映我們在項目開發和專用銷售資源方面的持續增量投資，用於我們的基準執行諮詢、市場情報和我們的 IP 即服務產品。與上一年相比，這些增量成本預計將影響我們稀釋後的每股普通股淨收入約 0.04 美元。我們預計報銷前收入的調整後毛利率約為 42% 至 43%。我們預計第二季度調整後的 SG&A 和利息費用約為 1670 萬美元。我們預計第二季度調整後的 EBITDA 報銷前收入將在大約 21% 至 23% 的範圍內。最後，我們預計運營現金流將環比上升。

At this point, I would like to turn it back over to Ted to review our market outlook and strategic priorities for the coming months.

在這一點上，我想把它轉回給 Ted，回顧我們未來幾個月的市場前景和戰略重點。

Thank you, Rob. As we look forward, let me share our thoughts on the near and long-term demand environment and the growth opportunity it offers our organization. Demand for digital transformation is being impacted by extended decision-making as organization's asset competing priorities created by increasing interest rates and the demand disruption, which it is intended to affect.

謝謝你，羅布。展望未來，讓我分享一下我們對近期和長期需求環境的看法，以及它為我們的組織提供的增長機會。對數字化轉型的需求正在受到擴展決策的影響，因為組織的資產競爭優先級是由利率上升和需求中斷造成的，而這正是它旨在影響的。

However, it continues to be a clear strategic priority for our clients. Digital innovation and enterprise cloud applications, analytics and artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure and workflow automation are dramatically influencing the way businesses compete and deliver their services. Digital transformation is redefining all activities at an accelerated pace, forcing organizations to fundamentally change and adopt these new capabilities to remain competitive and to realize targeted productivity gains.

然而，它仍然是我們客戶的明確戰略重點。數字創新和企業雲應用程序、分析和人工智能、雲基礎設施和工作流自動化正在極大地影響企業競爭和提供服務的方式。數字化轉型正在加速重新定義所有活動，迫使組織從根本上改變並採用這些新功能以保持競爭力並實現有針對性的生產力提升。

We believe clients use the year-end planning process at the beginning of the year to assess the industry risk, make headcount and spend reductions and rebalance our spend with productivity and strategic cost reduction efforts, which are also core to our offerings. We believe the clients will become more comfortable with the economic headwinds and we will see their behavior improve throughout the year. Similar to us, many of our clients did not experience demand disruption until late in Q2 of last year, and will be more challenged by the strong year-over-year comps of the first half of the year. However, most will face more favorable comps in the second half of the year. If we are correct, we will -- this will further support the behavior improvement we expect from the first half to the second half of the year.

我們相信客戶在年初使用年終規劃流程來評估行業風險、裁員和削減支出，並通過生產力和戰略成本削減努力重新平衡我們的支出，這也是我們產品的核心。我們相信客戶將更加適應經濟逆風，我們將看到他們的行為在全年有所改善。與我們類似，我們的許多客戶直到去年第二季度末才經歷需求中斷，並且將受到今年上半年強勁的同比增長的更大挑戰。然而，大多數人將在今年下半年面臨更有利的補償。如果我們是正確的，我們將 - 這將進一步支持我們預期從今年上半年到下半年的行為改善。

On the talent side, competition for experienced executives continues, but we saw turnover continue to moderate during the quarter and expect that trend to continue. Longer term, we have transitioned to a hybrid sale of a delivery model, which provides us with effective access to our clients and their respective teams. This hybrid model provides our associates with greater personal flexibility to perform their defined responsibilities remotely, which is very valuable to them. This should allow us to attract and retain talent that we have struggled to retain because of the demanding historical travel requirements of our industry.

在人才方面，對經驗豐富的高管的競爭仍在繼續，但我們看到本季度人員流動率繼續放緩，預計這一趨勢將繼續下去。從長遠來看，我們已經過渡到交付模式的混合銷售，這使我們能夠有效地接觸我們的客戶及其各自的團隊。這種混合模式為我們的員工提供了更大的個人靈活性，可以遠程執行他們定義的職責，這對他們來說非常有價值。這應該讓我們能夠吸引和留住人才，因為我們行業過去對差旅的要求很高，而我們一直難以留住這些人才。

Strategically, we are accelerating our focus on recurring high-margin IP-related services by increasing the development of new programs and sales and marketing resources dedicated to this area. This investment will decrease our Q2 results by approximately $0.04. Additionally on the CapEx side, we will continue our investment on our new Hackett Connect member platform and introduce AI functionality in 2024.

從戰略上講，我們正在通過增加專門用於該領域的新項目和銷售和營銷資源的開發，加快對經常性高利潤知識產權相關服務的關注。這項投資將使我們的第二季度業績減少約 0.04 美元。此外，在資本支出方面，我們將繼續投資新的 Hackett Connect 會員平台，並在 2024 年引入人工智能功能。

This is also important to note that we continue to see strong downstream revenues from our benchmarking and research advisory clients through our business transformation and technology consulting services. This halo effect has been in excess of 40% over the last several years. Simply put, organizations who rely on our IP, research and benchmarking services are more likely to utilize our consulting services.

同樣重要的是要注意，通過我們的業務轉型和技術諮詢服務，我們繼續從我們的基準測試和研究諮詢客戶那裡看到強勁的下游收入。在過去幾年中，這種光環效應已超過 40%。簡而言之，依賴我們的知識產權、研究和基準測試服務的組織更有可能利用我們的諮詢服務。

We have been exploring or continue to explore strategic partnerships that will allow us to syndicate our IP through new channels, and that will allow us to reach beyond our Global 1,000 focus in an efficient manner. We launched our first syndication agreement of our IP and content on April 1. Like our other licensing efforts, we expect new recurring high-margin revenue to slowly build from this relationship as new markets and segments are offered our IP.

我們一直在探索或繼續探索戰略合作夥伴關係，這將使我們能夠通過新渠道聯合我們的知識產權，並使我們能夠以有效的方式超越我們對全球 1,000 強的關注。我們於 4 月 1 日發布了我們的第一份 IP 和內容聯合協議。與我們的其他許可工作一樣，隨著我們的 IP 提供給新的市場和細分市場，我們預計新的經常性高利潤收入將從這種關係中慢慢建立。

We also continue to redefine our global benchmarking leadership through enhancements in Quantum Leap, our digital benchmarking Software-as-a-Service solution along with our digital transformation platform. These platforms allow us to deliver more information with significantly less client effort. It also allows clients to leverage our IP to create compelling benefit case assessments, accelerate process flow and software configuration decisions and track the value realization of transformation initiatives over the life of their respective effort. We believe that there are no comparable IP-led platforms in the market.

我們還通過增強 Quantum Leap、我們的數字基準測試軟件即服務解決方案以及我們的數字轉型平台，繼續重新定義我們的全球基準測試領導地位。這些平台使我們能夠以更少的客戶工作量提供更多信息。它還允許客戶利用我們的 IP 來創建令人信服的收益案例評估，加速流程和軟件配置決策，並在他們各自努力的生命週期內跟踪轉型計劃的價值實現。我們認為市場上沒有可比的以 IP 為主導的平台。

As I have been mentioning on previous calls, we have added a 20-minute demo to our Investor Relations page of our website so that investors can become more familiar with the capabilities of our platforms. We will also be updating our demo with our newly launched Hackett Connect platform in the next few months.

正如我在之前的電話會議上提到的那樣，我們在我們網站的投資者關係頁面上添加了一個 20 分鐘的演示，以便投資者可以更加熟悉我們平台的功能。在接下來的幾個月裡，我們還將使用我們新推出的 Hackett Connect 平台更新我們的演示。

Lastly, even though we believe that we have the client base and offerings to grow our business, we continue to look for acquisitions and alliances that strategically leverage our IP and add scope, scale or capability, which can accelerate our growth.

最後，儘管我們相信我們有客戶群和產品來發展我們的業務，但我們繼續尋找收購和聯盟，戰略性地利用我們的知識產權並增加範圍、規模或能力，這可以加速我們的增長。

As always, let me close by congratulating our associates on our performance and by thanking them for their tireless efforts and always urge them to stay highly focused on our clients and our people, no matter what challenges we may encounter.

與往常一樣，讓我在結束時祝賀我們的員工取得的業績，感謝他們的不懈努力，並始終敦促他們始終高度關注我們的客戶和員工，無論我們可能遇到什麼挑戰。

Those conclude my comments. Let me turn it over to our operator and let's move over to the Q&A section of our call. Operator?

以上就是我的評論。讓我把它交給我們的接線員，讓我們轉到我們電話的問答部分。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Our first call is George Sutton with Craig Hallum.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個電話是 George Sutton 和 Craig Hallum。

Ted, I wondered if you could walk through the Oracle wins that you saw late in the quarter that you mentioned. Just give us any sort of quantification particularly relative to what I believe was a high 7-figure loss late last year.

泰德，我想知道你是否可以回顧一下你在本季度末看到的 Oracle 勝利。只要給我們任何形式的量化，特別是相對於我認為去年年底的 7 位數高損失。

Thank you for the question George. One, there were numerous, so it wasn't a couple. We had one -- we had at least one -- we have one of at least equal size to the one that we lost late in Q4, but we had got 4 or 5 multimillion-dollar wins, which clearly position us strongly for the next quarter and really the remainder of the year. What we're most happy about is that it demonstrates that our relationship with Oracle and the Oracle channel and our ability to present a value differentiated message on our ability to configure Oracle in a unique way, resonates in the marketplace. So in a competitive environment for headwinds, we were able to do that. I cannot commend our team -- the Oracle team for the really very strong last 60 days that they've had.

謝謝喬治的提問。一，有很多，所以不是一對。我們有一個 - 我們至少有一個 - 我們有一個至少與我們在第四季度末輸掉的那個一樣大，但是我們有 4 或 5 個數百萬美元的勝利，這顯然使我們在下一個季度，實際上是今年的剩餘時間。我們最高興的是，它證明了我們與 Oracle 和 Oracle 渠道的關係以及我們以獨特的方式展示我們以獨特方式配置 Oracle 的能力的價值差異化信息的能力，在市場上引起了共鳴。因此，在逆風的競爭環境中，我們能夠做到這一點。我不能讚揚我們的團隊——甲骨文團隊在過去 60 天裡表現非常出色。

Could you give us an update on the 3 programs that you've now launched under the Market Intelligence program. Just give us a sense of the demand relative to what you might have been anticipating? And any further thoughts on the scale of that program?

您能否向我們介紹一下您現在在市場情報計劃下啟動的 3 個計劃的最新情況。只是讓我們了解與您可能一直預期的需求相關的需求？對該計劃的規模有何進一步的想法？

As I mentioned, we published our first program, our customer to cash program, which focus specifically on receivables management. At the beginning of the quarter, we launched 2 more in procure to pay in the software area and in finance and accounting outsourcing services. Participation from vendors in both of those has been strong and we will not limit those that we compare and rank those who participate directly. So we're going to make sure that we are expanding our perspective on as many providers in each of these segments as we possibly can.

正如我提到的，我們發布了我們的第一個程序，即我們的客戶到現金程序，該程序專門針對應收賬款管理。本季度初，我們在軟件領域以及財務和會計外包服務領域又推出了 2 個採購支付。供應商在這兩個方面的參與度很高，我們不會限制我們比較的供應商，也不會對直接參與的供應商進行排名。因此，我們將確保我們盡可能擴大對每個細分市場中盡可能多的供應商的看法。

We actually reviewed the programs that are scheduled for the remainder of the year. So you'll see us move in from here to EPM software, extend into HCM, HR outsourcing on the next 2 programs, and we'll be extending beyond that into procurement areas into GBS areas in the balance of the year and probably close out the year with a broader ERP software assessment and we'll be trying to then identify the next . The goal now was to get 8 or 9 launched by the end of the year, even though it's taking us a little longer to get the first few done, but we think that's because our goal is to be distinct from anything that's in the marketplace and be able to speak and provide guidance on the value realized from these investments, which is not something anyone has taken on as clearly and as aggressively as we've had.

實際上，我們審查了計劃在今年剩餘時間開展的計劃。所以你會看到我們從這裡進入 EPM 軟件，在接下來的 2 個項目中擴展到 HCM、人力資源外包，我們將在今年餘下時間將其擴展到採購領域，進入 GBS 領域，並可能結束年進行更廣泛的 ERP 軟件評估，然後我們將嘗試確定下一個。現在的目標是在年底前推出 8 或 9 款產品，儘管我們需要更長的時間才能完成前幾款產品，但我們認為這是因為我們的目標是與市場上的任何產品截然不同，並且能夠就從這些投資中實現的價值發表意見並提供指導，這不是任何人都像我們那樣明確和積極地採取的措施。

So even though I would say we're running, let's call it, at least one quarter behind, the quality of the product, the participation and the number of programs we plan to launch, we think will be meaningful. These 9 programs will then -- just to put that in context of total research advisory-related programs will then equal the 9 existing programs, which we have today, which are functionally focused programs, which are -- which we call executive advisory programs. So our goal is to try to double at least launch the doubling the number we had at the beginning of the year.

因此，即使我會說我們正在運行，讓我們稱之為，至少落後四分之一，產品質量、參與度和我們計劃啟動的項目數量，我們認為這將是有意義的。然後，這 9 個項目將 - 只是將其放在與研究諮詢相關的項目總數的背景下，然後將等於我們今天擁有的 9 個現有項目，這些項目是以功能為重點的項目，我們稱之為執行諮詢項目。因此，我們的目標是嘗試至少將我們年初的數量翻一番。

And look, each of these programs has multimillion dollar opportunities to us over time depending on how well not only we're able to serve the software and services providers who participate or who want our marketing or strategic support in some of these areas. But more importantly, we think that the -- our very large end-user client base -- let's not forget that we've done benchmarks for over 25,000 clients. So we just have this immense coverage. We see ourselves as having being able to become a real influencer in this space. So this idea of value realization being able to capture the voice of the client. I hope over time that resonates in software and services the way some other leading, I'll call them services, like J.D. Power in the automotive area has. So we're -- we've got some very high expectations for these programs.

看，隨著時間的推移，這些項目中的每一個都會為我們帶來數百萬美元的機會，這取決於我們不僅能夠為參與其中的軟件和服務提供商提供服務，或者希望在其中一些領域獲得我們的營銷或戰略支持。但更重要的是，我們認為——我們非常龐大的最終用戶客戶群——不要忘記我們已經為超過 25,000 名客戶完成了基準測試。所以我們只有這個巨大的覆蓋範圍。我們認為自己能夠成為這個領域的真正影響者。所以這種價值實現的想法能夠捕捉到客戶的聲音。我希望隨著時間的推移，軟件和服務會像其他領先者一樣引起共鳴，我將它們稱為服務，就像汽車領域的 J.D. Power 一樣。所以我們 - 我們對這些計劃抱有很高的期望。

(Operator Instructions) Our next call is from Jeff Martin with Roth MKM.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個電話是 Jeff Martin 和 Roth MKM 打來的。

I wanted to get a sense with respect to the delayed the extended decision-making. Are you getting feedback from clients that there are other reasons other than the difficult comparisons in the first half of the year, that second half may open up. Just curious if you have anything tangible from clients that you're hearing?

我想了解延遲的擴展決策。您是否從客戶那裡得到反饋，除了上半年比較困難之外還有其他原因，下半年可能會開放。只是好奇您是否從客戶那裡聽到了任何有形的東西？

Yes. It's not only that. It's the increase in rates is going to slow the economic demand. That's impacting the demand for our client services. So no, they're having to reprioritize because they -- everyone is having to work harder to achieve the kind of revenue growth that they clearly achieved in 2022 and hope to achieve in 2023. But we see -- again, we see even though those headwinds are there, it's across the industry, we can't really exclude one industry from another.

是的。不僅如此。利率的上升將減緩經濟需求。這正在影響對我們客戶服務的需求。所以不，他們不得不重新確定優先順序，因為他們 - 每個人都必須更加努力地實現他們在 2022 年明確實現並希望在 2023 年實現的那種收入增長。但我們看到 - 再一次，我們看到即使那些逆風就在那裡，它貫穿整個行業，我們不能真正將一個行業與另一個行業排除在外。

But we're also seeing the fact that clients then equally understand that if they ignore digital transformation initiatives that can help them engage their clients and sell their services more effectively as well as then being able to get the productivity gains that come from leveraging emerging technology is as critical. So they're sitting there just trying to rebalance that and we expect that to continue through the balance of the year. We just think that people are becoming more comfortable with what that means. They're getting a better sense as to what these interest rates could mean through the balance of the year. All of those things with more favorable comps, we think will be favorable to the demand environment, we hope we're right.

但我們也看到這樣一個事實，即客戶隨後同樣明白，如果他們忽視數字化轉型計劃，這些計劃可以幫助他們更有效地吸引客戶和銷售他們的服務，以及能夠通過利用新興技術獲得生產力收益同樣重要。所以他們坐在那裡只是試圖重新平衡它，我們預計這種情況將持續到今年餘下的時間。我們只是認為人們對這意味著什麼變得更加自在。他們對這些利率在今年餘下時間可能意味著什麼有了更好的認識。所有那些具有更有利補償的東西，我們認為將有利於需求環境，我們希望我們是對的。

Great. And then with respect to the investments that are being made, obviously, $0.04 a quarter is a significant investment for you. Are those primarily investments in sales personnel? And curious how much of that is within the Market Intelligence strategy? And what are you seeing or what are you expecting in terms of the sales cycle of the Market Intelligence platforms in various programs?

偉大的。然後關於正在進行的投資，顯然，每季度 0.04 美元對您來說是一筆重大投資。這些主要是對銷售人員的投資嗎？好奇其中有多少屬於市場情報戰略？您對市場情報平台在各種計劃中的銷售週期有何看法或期望？

Well, first, the -- at least 75% of the investment has been building that sales group. We were lucky and successful to attract a new global leader for that group. We joined just April 1, but we think is a terrific addition to our senior team. We're not -- it's -- we're not narrowing the scope of these new sales resources just to Market Intelligence.

好吧，首先，至少 75% 的投資用於建立該銷售團隊。我們很幸運並成功地為該集團吸引了一位新的全球領導者。我們是在 4 月 1 日才加入的，但我們認為這是對我們高級團隊的一個了不起的補充。我們不是 - 它是 - 我們不會將這些新銷售資源的範圍縮小到市場情報。

Market Intelligence is intended to double the number of programs that these teams will take to market. So as those programs roll out, they'll have a chance then to drive revenue through those new programs. But in the interim, they can be focused on the existing functionally focused executive advisory programs. Some resources are highly focused on the IPaaS related activities. So I would characterize the team as being responsible for the growth of high-margin recurring revenues regardless of program. So just to make sure it's Market Intelligence will just add inventory to what they sell. So we'd like to give them twice as much product by the time we enter 2024.

市場情報旨在將這些團隊推向市場的項目數量增加一倍。因此，隨著這些項目的推出，他們將有機會通過這些新項目來增加收入。但在此期間，他們可以專注於現有的以職能為重點的執行諮詢計劃。一些資源高度關注 IPaaS 相關活動。因此，無論計劃如何，我都會將團隊描述為負責高利潤經常性收入的增長。因此，為了確保它的市場情報只會將庫存添加到他們銷售的產品中。因此，我們希望在進入 2024 年時為他們提供兩倍的產品。

And yes, I wish we were a little bit more ahead on that inventory we had given them earlier in the year. But they've got plenty of product to sell our clients. We lack a lot of market coverage from these programs in many regions. So we will continue to add the resources as we planned. It is a significant investment, but we think there's a significant payback.

是的，我希望我們在今年早些時候提供給他們的清單上能再領先一點。但是他們有很多產品可以賣給我們的客戶。我們在許多地區缺乏這些計劃的大量市場覆蓋。因此，我們將繼續按計劃添加資源。這是一項重大投資，但我們認為回報顯著。

Great. And then one more, if I could. You mentioned artificial intelligence offering launch in 2024. Curious how that plays into your existing strategy?

偉大的。然後再來一個，如果可以的話。您提到了 2024 年推出的人工智能產品。想知道這對您現有的戰略有何影響？

Well, as you can imagine, we're sitting here building out our new Hackett Connect member portal, which is basically the entry point to all of our members, IPaaS and research advisory and Market Intelligence users into the Hackett IP or access to our experts. So immediately, I'm going to go early in Q1, we started evaluating what those priorities and those changes could be. A lot of the research right now is making sure we understand what -- how to prioritize some of the functionality we're evaluating.

好吧，正如您想像的那樣，我們坐在這裡構建我們新的 Hackett Connect 會員門戶，這基本上是我們所有會員、IPaaS 和研究諮詢以及市場情報用戶進入 Hackett IP 或訪問我們專家的入口點.因此，我將在第一季度早些時候開始，我們開始評估這些優先事項和可能發生的變化。目前的大量研究正在確保我們了解什麼——如何確定我們正在評估的某些功能的優先級。

Number 1 objective was to make sure that in doing so, we do not jeopardize any of the IP that we make available to clients. So a tremendous amount of groundwork in the middle -- in the interim. Our 2023 plan was laid out as being prioritizing just with very detailed functionality for that Hackett Connect, if you want to call it portal. But we've already got a dedicated team, evaluating what those opportunities can be so that we can start prioritizing them through the balance of the year and start delivering and leveraging some of the capabilities in 2024.

第一個目標是確保在這樣做時，我們不會危及我們提供給客戶的任何 IP。因此，中間有大量的基礎工作——在此期間。我們的 2023 年計劃被列為優先考慮 Hackett Connect 的非常詳細的功能，如果你想稱之為門戶的話。但我們已經有一個專門的團隊來評估這些機會，以便我們可以在今年餘下的時間裡開始對它們進行優先排序，並在 2024 年開始交付和利用一些能力。

And our next call is Vincent Colicchio with Barrington Research.

我們的下一個電話是 Barrington Research 的 Vincent Colicchio。

Yes. Ted, it's good to hear you're making some progress on the Oracle Solutions side. Just curious, how the SAP pipeline is progressing and when you may expect that to return to sequential growth?

是的。 Ted，很高興聽到您在 Oracle 解決方案方面取得了一些進展。只是好奇，SAP 管道的進展情況以及您預計何時會恢復連續增長？

Well, I want to notice. I don't know if he's caught the comments on the call but SAP will be up both sequentially and year-over-year in Q2. So solid progress on both the Oracle and the SAP side, which again is something that we wanted to address as early in the year as possible, I think we're ahead of schedule on both.

好吧，我想注意一下。我不知道他是否在電話會議上聽到了評論，但 SAP 將在第二季度按順序和同比增長。甲骨文和 SAP 方面都取得瞭如此穩固的進展，這也是我們希望在今年儘早解決的問題，我認為我們在這兩個方面都提前了。

Are you -- are delays or cancellations still a factor in the Oracle and SAP businesses?

你 - 延遲或取消仍然是 Oracle 和 SAP 業務的一個因素嗎？

The answer is yes. I can't sit here and give you a specific example in this quarter. We were really focused on converting pipeline that took a little bit longer at the end of last year that really came through very strongly for us, especially in the latter part of the quarter. But yes, look, I'm assuming that in this environment, you need to expect clients to be more judicious with their decisions. And in certain cases, depending on what they encounter, they could second guess themselves. But I don't expect it to be anything that would be any different in any year.

答案是肯定的。我不能坐在這裡給你一個本季度的具體例子。我們真的專注於去年年底花費了更長的時間的轉換管道，這對我們來說確實非常強大，尤其是在本季度的後半部分。但是，是的，你看，我假設在這種環境下，你需要期望客戶在做出決定時更加明智。在某些情況下，根據他們遇到的情況，他們可以重新猜測自己。但我不希望它在任何一年都有任何不同。

And could you provide an update on your IPaaS pipeline, maybe negotiations that are close to coming out in the right way?

您能否提供有關您的 IPaaS 管道的更新，也許談判即將以正確的方式進行？

Well, we're launching a couple more pilots here in the second quarter. So we're hoping that some of these pilots as we get through the balance of the year and become more meaningful opportunities. And we continue to add to those companies that are evaluating a more meaningful multiyear relationship. The question for us has been is do we need an intro period to move to -- before client can move into a much more significant multiyear relationship. We're trying to gauge that on a partner-by-partner basis but activity and conversations in the space continue to be good.

好吧，我們將在第二季度在這裡推出更多的試點項目。因此，我們希望這些試點中的一些隨著我們度過今年的平衡並成為更有意義的機會。我們繼續增加那些正在評估更有意義的多年關係的公司。我們的問題是，在客戶可以進入更重要的多年關係之前，我們是否需要一段介紹期。我們正試圖在逐個合作夥伴的基礎上進行評估，但該領域的活動和對話仍然很好。

And last for me, could you remind us your current M&A priorities and if valuations are improving?

最後對我來說，你能否提醒我們你目前的併購優先事項以及估值是否正在改善？

I don't know if valuations are improving, but our priority has been -- has been focused on trying to identify unique research-related businesses, those are very hard to combine and identify. But people have a way of reaching out to us. So we continue to stay actively involved in conversations with those that could be a good fit for us.

我不知道估值是否正在改善，但我們的首要任務一直是 - 一直專注於嘗試識別獨特的研究相關業務，這些業務很難結合和識別。但是人們有辦法聯繫我們。因此，我們將繼續積極參與與那些可能適合我們的人的對話。

And at this time, we're showing no further questions. I will now turn the call back to Mr. Fernandez.

在這個時候，我們沒有進一步的問題。我現在將電話轉回費爾南德斯先生。

Let me thank everyone for participating in our first quarter earnings call and we look forward to updating you again when we look for the second quarter. Thank you.

感謝大家參加我們第一季度的財報電話會議，我們期待在尋找第二季度時再次為您更新。謝謝。

And this concludes today's conference. Thank you for participating. You may disconnect at this time and have a great rest of your day.

今天的會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您此時可以斷開連接，好好休息一天。