Hercules Capital Inc (HTGC) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is David, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to the Hercules Capital third quarter 2025 financial results conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference may be recorded. (Operator Instructions) I will now turn the call over to Michael Hara, Managing Director of Investor Relations.

早安.我叫大衛，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線生。此時此刻，我謹代表 Hercules Capital 歡迎各位參加 2025 年第三季財務業績電話會議。（操作人員說明）請注意，今天的會議可能會被錄音。（操作員指示）我現在將電話轉交給投資者關係總經理邁克爾·哈拉。

Please go ahead.

請繼續。

Thank you, David. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Hercules conference call for the third quarter of 2025. With us on the call today from Hercules are Scott Bluestein, CEO and Chief Investment Officer; and Seth Meyer, CFO. Hercules financial results were released just after today's market close and can be accessed from Hercules Investor Relations section at investor.htgc.com. An archived webcast replay will be available on the Investor Relations web page following the conference call.

謝謝你，大衛。各位下午好，歡迎參加 Hercules 公司 2025 年第三季電話會議。今天與我們一起參加 Hercules 公司電話會議的有執行長兼首席投資長 Scott Bluestein 和財務長 Seth Meyer。Hercules的財務表現已於今日股市收盤後發布，投資者可造訪investor.htgc.com上的Hercules投資者關係頁面查看。電話會議結束後，投資者關係網頁上將提供網路直播回放。

During this call, we may make forward-looking statements based on our own assumptions and current expectations. . These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and should not be relied upon in making any investment decision.

在本次電話會議中，我們可能會根據我們自己的假設和當前預期做出前瞻性陳述。。這些前瞻性陳述並非對未來績效的保證，不應作為任何投資決策的依據。

Actual financial results may differ from the forward-looking statements made during this call for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to, the risks identified in our annual report on Form 10-K and other filings that are publicly available on the SEC's website. Any forward-looking statements made during this call are made only as of today's date and Hercules assumes no obligation to update any such statements in the future.

實際財務結果可能與本次電話會議中作出的前瞻性陳述有所不同，原因有很多，包括但不限於我們在 10-K 表格年度報告和其他可在美國證券交易委員會網站上公開獲取的文件中確定的風險。本次電話會議中所做的任何前瞻性陳述僅代表截至今日的觀點，Hercules公司不承擔在未來更新任何此類陳述的義務。

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Scott.

接下來，我將把電話交給史考特。

Thank you, Michael, and thank you all for joining the Hercules Capital Q3 2025 Earnings Call. Hercules wrapped up the first three quarters of 2025 by delivering another strong quarter of record fundings and record operating performance while maintaining our balance sheet strength and robust liquidity, allowing us to remain focused on high-quality originations and disciplined underwriting.

謝謝邁克爾，也謝謝各位參加 Hercules Capital 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。Hercules 在 2025 年前三個季度取得了又一個強勁的季度業績，融資額和營運業績均創歷史新高，同時保持了資產負債表的穩健性和充足的流動性，使我們能夠繼續專注於高品質的貸款發放和嚴格的承保。

Our platform momentum continued in Q3 with originations of over $846 million, which led to record originations of $2.87 billion for the first three quarters of 2025, putting us on pace to exceed our previous full year record of $3.12 billion.

我們的平台在第三季度繼續保持成長勢頭，新增貸款超過 8.46 億美元，使得 2025 年前三個季度的新增貸款額達到創紀錄的 28.7 億美元，預計將超過我們此前全年創下的 31.2 億美元的紀錄。

Our record fundings for Q3 of $504.6 million led to $95.9 million of net debt portfolio growth and a new record with over $557.8 million of net debt portfolio growth in the first three quarters of 2025. The strong new business that we generated during the third quarter led to continued solid net debt portfolio growth, and that helped drive -- sorry, and that helped Hercules generate record total investment income of $138.1 million and net investment income of $88.6 million or $0.49 per share during Q3.

第三季創紀錄的融資額達到 5.046 億美元，使淨債務組合增加了 9,590 萬美元，並創下 2025 年前三個季度淨債務組合增長超過 5.578 億美元的新紀錄。我們在第三季創造的強勁新業務帶動了淨債務組合的持續穩健增長，這幫助——抱歉，是幫助 Hercules 在第三季度創造了創紀錄的總投資收益 1.381 億美元和淨投資收益 8860 萬美元，即每股 0.49 美元。

Despite operating in a declining rate environment, we were able to achieve 122% coverage of our quarterly base distribution of $0.40 per share in the third quarter and maintain $0.80 per share of spillover income.

儘管在利率下降的環境下運營，我們第三季度仍實現了每股 0.40 美元季度基本分紅的 122% 覆蓋率，並保持了每股 0.80 美元的溢出收入。

Our strong Q3 performance was highlighted by new records, including record total gross fundings for a third quarter of $504.6 million, an increase of 85.5% year over year, record total investment income of $138.1 million, an increase of 10.3% year over year, record period ending assets under management of approximately $5.5 billion, an increase of 20.7% year over year.

我們強勁的第三季業績以多項新紀錄為亮點，包括第三季總融資額創歷史新高，達到 5.046 億美元，年增 85.5%；總投資收益創歷史新高，達到 1.381 億美元，年增 10.3%；期末資產管理規模創歷史新高，約 5520.7%。

Our first three quarters performance was highlighted by several new records, including record total investment income of $395.1 million, record net investment income of $254.7 million, record total gross new debt and equity commitments of $2.87 billion, record total gross fundings of $1.75 billion, and record net debt investment portfolio growth of over $557.8 million.

我們前三個季度的業績亮點包括多項新紀錄，包括創紀錄的總投資收益 3.951 億美元、創紀錄的淨投資收益 2.547 億美元、創紀錄的新增債務和股權承諾總額 28.7 億美元、創紀錄的總融資額 17.5 億美元，以及創紀錄的淨債務投資組合增長超過 億美元。

Our performance results continue to be driven by our leadership position within the venture and growth stage lending market, the longevity, consistency, and scale of the Hercules platform and our unwavering commitment to always doing what we believe is in the best interest of our shareholders and stakeholders.

我們的業績持續成長得益於我們在創投和成長階段貸款市場的領先地位、Hercules 平台的長期性、穩定性和規模，以及我們始終堅定不移地致力於做我們認為最符合股東和利益相關者利益的事情。

Our approach to the current market is centered around three core themes: disciplined credit underwriting, managed and controlled portfolio growth, and maintaining balance sheet strength and flexibility. We believe that this will best position the company to continue to deliver strong relative operating results, irrespective of the market environment.

我們應對當前市場的方法圍繞著三個核心主題：嚴謹的信貸承銷、管理和控制的投資組合成長，以及維持資產負債表的實力和靈活性。我們相信，無論市場環境如何，這將使公司處於最佳位置，並繼續取得強勁的相對經營業績。

We noted in our Q2 2025 earnings call, that we continue to see a more favorable new business landscape broadly and that we were expecting the business to be able to take advantage of that. Our expectation was that we would deliver strong new business over the second half of the year, but that Q3 would be slower as it typically is for our ecosystem.

我們在 2025 年第二季財報電話會議上指出，我們繼續看到整體上更有利的新業務環境，並且我們預計公司能夠從中受益。我們預計下半年將實現強勁的新業務成長，但第三季成長速度將放緩，這在我們生態系統中通常是常態。

After a slow start to Q3, our investment teams were able to take advantage of several opportunities, which helped us deliver record Q3 funding performance. We are maintaining our expectation that origination activity will remain strong through year-end, and we have already delivered record new commitments and record new fundings for the year.

第三季開局緩慢，但我們的投資團隊抓住了幾個機會，幫助我們實現了創紀錄的第三季融資業績。我們仍然預期，到年底，貸款發放活動將保持強勁勢頭，而且我們已經實現了創紀錄的新承諾和創紀錄的新融資。

As we noted earlier this week, Hercules recently achieved another meaningful milestone by reaching the $25 billion mark in total cumulative debt commitments since our first origination in October 2004. This is a tremendous achievement that reflects the enduring strength and impact of the Hercules platform and validates our approach of building a company focused on what is best for our shareholders and stakeholders, treating our employees the right way, and providing certainty and consistency in the market to our borrowers, prospects, and their investors.

正如我們本週稍早所指出的，Hercules 最近又取得了一項意義重大的里程碑，自 2004 年 10 月首次發放貸款以來，累計債務承諾總額已達到 250 億美元。這是一項巨大的成就，體現了 Hercules 平台的持久實力和影響力，並驗證了我們打造一家以股東和利益相關者利益為中心、善待員工、為借款人、潛在客戶及其投資者提供市場確定性和一致性的公司的方法。

While the new business environment remains constructive, we are continuing to see pockets of frothiness across certain parts of the venture and growth stage lending markets, as we noted on our last earnings call.

儘管新的商業環境仍然具有建設性，但正如我們在上次財報電話會議上所指出的那樣，我們仍然看到風險投資和成長階段貸款市場的某些領域存在泡沫。

Having operated in this asset class for over 21 consecutive years and through several different credit cycles, we know the importance of being disciplined and true to the underwriting rigor that has made Hercules the market leader, and that is exactly what we intend to continue to do.

我們在這個資產類別中連續經營了 21 年多，經歷了幾個不同的信貸週期，我們深知保持紀律和堅持嚴格的承銷標準的重要性，正是這種標準使 Hercules 成為市場領導者，而這正是我們打算繼續做的事情。

We maintained a conservative and defensive balance sheet while still delivering strong originations and record funding performance for Q3.

我們在維持保守穩健的資產負債表的同時，第三季仍實現了強勁的業務成長和創紀錄的融資業績。

In Q3, we maintained our high first lien exposure which remained above 90% and continues to be towards the high end of our BDC peers. As we guided, GAAP leverage increased modestly to 99.5% in Q3, up from 97.4% in Q2, and we did not utilize our ATM during the quarter.

第三季度，我們保持了較高的第一順位抵押貸款敞口，該敞口保持在 90% 以上，並繼續處於 BDC 同行中的較高水平。正如我們之前所預測的，第三季 GAAP 槓桿率小幅上升至 99.5%，高於第二季的 97.4%，且我們在本季沒有使用我們的 ATM 資金。

Our Q3 GAAP leverage remained at the low end of our typical historical range of 100% to 115% and below the average of our BDC peers. We ended Q3 with over $1 billion of liquidity across our platform and no material near-term debt maturities, which we believe continues to position us very well.

我們第三季的 GAAP 槓桿率仍處於我們通常歷史範圍 100% 至 115% 的低端，低於我們 BDC 同行的平均水平。第三季末，我們平台擁有超過 10 億美元的流動資金，並且近期沒有重大債務到期，我們相信這將繼續使我們處於非常有利的地位。

Let me now recap some of the key highlights of our performance for Q3. In Q3, we originated total gross debt and equity commitments of over $846 million and record gross fundings of over $504 million. We generated record total investment income of $138.1 million and net investment income of $88.6 million or $0.49 per share.

現在讓我回顧一下我們第三季業績的一些主要亮點。第三季度，我們新增債務和股權承諾總額超過 8.46 億美元，創紀錄的總融資額超過 5.04 億美元。我們創造了1.381億美元的投資總收益紀錄，淨投資收益為8,860萬美元，即每股0.49美元。

We achieved 122% coverage of our quarterly base distribution of $0.40 per share. We continue to be very well positioned with regards to dividend coverage in a declining rate environment. With the record growth in our debt investment portfolio through the first three quarters of 2025, and given that nearly 75% of our prime-based loans, which comprise approximately 82% of the portfolio, are now at their floors, we believe that we are generating a level of core income that amply covers our base distribution of $0.40 per share.

我們實現了每股 0.40 美元季度基本分紅的 122% 覆蓋率。在利率下降的環境下，我們在股息覆蓋率方面仍然處於非常有利的地位。鑑於我們在 2025 年前三個季度的債務投資組合實現了創紀錄的增長，並且我們優質貸款（約佔投資組合的 82%）的近 75% 目前已跌至谷底，我們相信我們產生的核心收入水平足以覆蓋我們每股 0.40 美元的基本分紅。

We generated a return on equity in Q3 of 17.4% and our portfolio generated a GAAP effective yield of 13.5% in Q3 and a core yield of 12.5%, which was consistent with Q2.

第三季度，我們的股本回報率為 17.4%，投資組合在第三季度的 GAAP 有效收益率為 13.5%，核心收益率為 12.5%，與第二季度一致。

Our balance sheet with moderate leverage and low cost of leverage remains very well positioned to support our continued growth objectives and provides us with the ability to continue to focus on high-quality originations versus chasing higher-yielding assets with more risk or loosening deal structure to drive short-term portfolio growth.

我們資產負債表槓桿率適中，槓桿成本低，因此能夠很好地支持我們持續的成長目標，並使我們能夠繼續專注於高品質的貸款發放，而不是追逐收益更高但風險更大的資產，或者為了推動短期投資組合成長而放寬交易結構。

The focus of our origination efforts in Q3 was on maintaining a disciplined approach to capital deployment while being selectively aggressive on certain opportunities where we felt that we had a specific competitive advantage. Our Q3 originations activity was well balanced between life sciences companies and technology companies.

第三季度，我們的業務拓展重點是維持資本部署的嚴謹性，同時在我們認為具有特定競爭優勢的某些機會上採取積極進取的態度。第三季度，我們的貸款發放活動在生命科學公司和科技公司之間保持了良好的平衡。

In Q3, approximately 54% of our commitments and 50% of our fundings were to life sciences companies, while approximately 46% of our commitments and 50% of our fundings were to tech companies. We funded debt capital to 24 different companies in Q3, of which seven were new borrower relationships.

第三季度，我們約 54% 的承諾和 50% 的資金投向了生命科學公司，而我們約 46% 的承諾和 50% 的資金投向了科技公司。第三季度，我們向 24 家不同的公司提供了債務資本，其中 7 家是新的借款人關係。

Year-to-date, through the end of Q3, we have added 27 new borrowers to the Hercules portfolio. We also increased our capital commitments to several portfolio companies during the quarter. Our available unfunded commitments were approximately $437.5 million, down from $471.5 million in Q2.

今年迄今，截至第三季末，我們已在 Hercules 投資組合中新增了 27 位借款人。本季度，我們也增加了對幾家投資組合公司的資本投入。我們可用的未撥付承諾約為 4.375 億美元，低於第二季的 4.715 億美元。

Over 50% of our gross fundings for Q3 occurred in the last month of the quarter, and that momentum continued into early Q4. Since the close of Q3 and as of October 28, 2025, our investment team has closed $554.4 million of new commitments and funded $237.4 million.

第三季超過 50% 的總融資額發生在該季度的最後一個月，而且這種勢頭一直延續到第四季初。自第三季結束至 2025 年 10 月 28 日，我們的投資團隊已完成 5.544 億美元的新承諾，並已投入 2.374 億美元。

We have pending commitments of an additional $425.5 million in signed nonbinding term sheets, and we expect this number to continue to grow as we progress in Q4. Our active pipeline remains robust, with our closed quarter-to-date activity as of October 28, 2025, we have already exceeded our previous annual records for gross new commitments, and new fundings, demonstrating the continued growth and scaling of our platform.

我們還有 4.255 億美元的待定承諾已簽署不具約束力的條款清單，我們預計隨著第四季度的推進，這一數字將繼續增長。我們的活躍專案儲備依然強勁，截至 2025 年 10 月 28 日，我們本季已完成的專案總額和新融資額均已超過以往的年度記錄，這表明我們的平台正在持續成長和擴大規模。

While Q4 is typically a very strong originations quarter for the venture and growth stage markets, we remain focused on maintaining our high bar for new originations, given some of our recent market observations. We are continuing to see a lot of companies in our ecosystem, looking to access the credit markets that lack scale and what we believe to be solid equity support.

雖然第四季度通常是創投和成長階段市場的新業務拓展非常強勁的季度，但鑑於我們最近的一些市場觀察，我們仍然專注於維持我們對新業務拓展的高標準。我們看到，我們生態系統中有很多公司希望進入信貸市場，但這些公司缺乏規模，我們認為它們缺乏堅實的股權支持。

The volume of deals that we are screening and passing on continues to be near record levels, and we are continuing to see deals get done without strong structure and well outside of what we believe are prudent underwriting metrics for our asset class.

我們篩選和拒絕的交易數量仍然接近歷史最高水平，而且我們繼續看到一些交易在缺乏健全結構的情況下完成，遠遠超出了我們認為對我們資產類別而言審慎的承銷標準。

We do not expect many of these deals to age well. As we have always done, we intend to remain disciplined and focused on the long term, and we remain bullish on our pipeline and expectations for funding activity over the coming quarters.

我們預計這些交易大多不會長久。我們將一如既往地保持嚴謹，專注於長期發展，並對未來幾季的專案儲備和融資活動充滿信心。

Lending to cash flow-negative growth-stage companies requires patience, prudence, and experience. We continue to be pleased with the exit activity that we saw in our portfolio during the quarter.

向現金流為負的成長階段公司提供貸款需要耐心、謹慎和經驗。我們對本季投資組合的退出活動感到滿意。

In Q3 and quarter-to-date Q4, we've had four M&A events in our portfolio, which included two life sciences portfolio companies and two technology portfolio companies announcing acquisitions. That brings us to 10 M&A events plus one IPO in our portfolio year-to-date through October 30, 2025.

在第三季和第四季至今，我們的投資組合中發生了四起併購事件，其中包括兩家生命科學投資組合公司和兩家技術投資組合公司宣布收購。截至 2025 年 10 月 30 日，我們今年的投資組合中共有 10 起併購事件和 1 起 IPO。

Based on current market conditions and improving corporate sentiment, we continue to expect exit activity to accelerate towards year-end. Early loan repayments came in slightly higher than expected in Q3 at approximately $262 million.

根據目前的市場狀況和不斷改善的企業情緒，我們繼續預期年底前退出活動將會加速。第三季提前償還貸款金額略高於預期，約 2.62 億美元。

Even with the higher level of early loan prepayments, we still achieved strong net debt portfolio growth given the strong funding levels in the quarter, which continues to position us well for strong core earnings growth in the remainder of 2025 and into 2026.

即使提前償還貸款的比例較高，鑑於本季度強勁的融資水平，我們仍然實現了強勁的淨債務組合增長，這將繼續使我們在 2025 年剩餘時間和 2026 年保持強勁的核心盈利增長。

For Q4 2025, we expect prepayments to be lower and in the range of $150 million to $200 million, although this could change as we progress in the quarter. Credit quality of the debt investment portfolio remained strong and relatively the same quarter over quarter.

我們預計 2025 年第四季的預付款將有所減少，介於 1.5 億美元至 2 億美元之間，但隨著季度的推進，這一數字可能會發生變化。債務投資組合的信用品質保持強勁，與上一季相比基本保持不變。

Our weighted average internal credit rating of 2.27 increased just slightly from the 2.26 rating in Q2 and remains well within our normal historical range. Our grade 1 and 2 credits increased to 64.5% compared to 62.9% in Q2. Grade 3 credits decreased slightly to 32.7% in Q3 versus 34.7% in Q2.

我們的加權平均內部信用評級為 2.27，比第二季的 2.26 略有上升，但仍處於我們正常的歷史範圍內。我們的 1 級和 2 級學分比例從第二季的 62.9% 提高到 64.5%。第三季三級學分略微下降至 32.7%，而第二季為 34.7%。

Our rated 4 credits increased to 2.8% from 2.4% in Q2, and we, again, did not have any rated 5 credits. In Q3, the number of companies with loans on nonaccrual increased by 1. We had debt investments in two portfolio companies on nonaccrual with an investment cost and fair value of approximately $52.2 million and $47.2 million, respectively, or 1.2% and 1.1% as a percentage of our total investment portfolio at cost and value, respectively.

我們的 4 級信用評級從第二季的 2.4% 上升到 2.8%，而且我們仍然沒有任何 5 級信用評級。第三季度，非應計貸款公司數量增加了 1 家。我們在兩家投資組合公司中持有非應計債務投資，投資成本和公允價值分別為約 5,220 萬美元和 4,720 萬美元，分別占我們總投資組合成本和價值的 1.2% 和 1.1%。

Subsequent to quarter end, we successfully worked through and resolved the one new loan that was added to nonaccrual during the third quarter. The result of that effort was that we received net proceeds on that debt position that were approximately 56% higher or nearly $14 million higher that our Q2 fair value mark.

季度末之後，我們成功地處理並解決了第三季新增的一筆非應計貸款。這項努力的結果是，我們從該債務中獲得的淨收益比我們第二季的公允價值高出約 56%，或高出近 1,400 萬美元。

Despite a small realized loss on that particular loan, our realized IRR on that debt position was approximately 13.2%. With respect to our broader credit book and outlook, we generally remain pleased by what we are seeing on a portfolio level, and our portfolio monitoring still remains enhanced given the volatility in the markets broadly and the ongoing government shutdown, which has now extended into the fifth week.

儘管該筆貸款出現了少量實際虧損，但我們在該筆債務上的實際內部收益率約為 13.2%。就我們更廣泛的信貸帳簿和前景而言，我們總體上對投資組合層面的情況感到滿意，但鑑於市場整體波動以及政府停擺已持續到第五週，我們的投資組合監控力度仍然加強。

We believe that our conservative underwriting and ensuring appropriate structural alignment on the deals that we will do will continue to serve us well. As of the end of Q3, the weighted average loan-to-value across our entire debt portfolio was approximately 16% and we have not noted any meaningful deterioration in credit since our last earnings call.

我們相信，我們保守的承銷策略以及確保我們所進行的交易具有適當的結構性調整，將繼續為我們帶來良好的效果。截至第三季末，我們整個債務組合的加權平均貸款價值比約為 16%，自上次財報電話會議以來，我們沒有註意到信貸狀況出現任何實質惡化。

Our net asset value per share in Q3 was $12.05, an increase of 1.8% from Q2 2025. This is the highest net asset value per share that we have reported since 2008. We ended Q3 with strong liquidity of $655 million in the BDC and over $1 billion of liquidity across our platform.

第三季我們的每股淨資產價值為 12.05 美元，比 2025 年第二季成長 1.8%。這是自 2008 年以來我們公佈的最高每股淨值。第三季末，BDC 的流動性強勁，達到 6.55 億美元，整個平台的流動性超過 10 億美元。

With healthy liquidity, a low cost of debt relative to our peers, and four investment-grade corporate credit ratings, including an investment rating upgrade to Baa2 from Moody's, we remain well positioned to compete aggressively on quality transactions, which we believe is the prudent approach in the current environment.

憑藉健康的流動性、相對於同業而言較低的債務成本，以及四項投資級企業信用評級（包括穆迪將我們的投資評級上調至 Baa2），我們仍然處於有利地位，可以積極參與優質交易的競爭，我們認為這是當前環境下審慎的做法。

Given the enhanced focus on PIK, across the private credit markets, we wanted to provide some additional disclosure on PIK income for Hercules. For Q3, PIK was approximately 10.5% of total revenue. which was flat from where it was during the first half of 2025.

鑑於私募信貸市場對實物支付 (PIK) 的關注度不斷提高，我們希望就 Hercules 的實物支付收入提供一些額外的披露資訊。第三季度，PIK 約佔總營收的 10.5%，與 2025 年上半年的水準持平。

Approximately 85% of our PIK income in Q3 was attributable to PIK that was part of the original underwriting and not a result of any credit or performance-related amendment.

第三季我們約 85% 的 PIK 收入歸因於原始核保中的 PIK，而不是任何信用或業績相關修改的結果。

Nearly 90% of our PIK income in Q3 came from loans that we have rated as 1, 2, or 3. While there was only a single loan that was rated 4 that was generating PIK income during the third quarter. Further, excluding 100% of our PIK income during Q3, the business still generated cash net investment income that provided 111% coverage of our base dividend.

第三季度，我們近 90% 的 PIK 收入來自我們評為 1、2 或 3 級的貸款。第三季只有一筆評級為 4 的貸款產生了 PIK 收入。此外，即使不計入第三季 100% 的 PIK 收入，公司仍產生了現金淨投資收益，為我們的基本股息提供了 111% 的覆蓋率。

Philosophically, we will selectively use PIC at underwriting to enhance income for certain credits that we believe are stronger and more stable, and we expect this to continue to be the case going forward. Venture capital investment activity in Q3 mirrored the strength that we experienced in our deal flow and originations.

從理念上講，我們將有選擇地在核保過程中使用PIC來提高我們認為更強勁、更穩定的某些信貸的收入，我們預計這種情況將持續下去。第三季創投活動反映了我們在交易量和專案開發方面所取得的強勁勢頭。

2025 continues to demonstrate a healthy pace with $80.9 billion in Q3 and $250.2 billion invested for the first three quarters of 2025, according to data gathered by PitchBook/NVCA the $250.2 billion of investment activity already represents the second highest year in history, exceeding the $236.1 billion invested in 2022.

根據 PitchBook/NVCA 收集的數據，2025 年繼續保持健康的成長勢頭，第三季投資額達 809 億美元，2025 年前三個季度投資額達 2,502 億美元。 2502 億美元的投資活動已是歷史上第二高的年份，超過了 2022 年的 2,361 億美元。

While the aggregate data remains strong, it is highly concentrated with over 67% of all year-to-date VC equity investment going into AI and cybersecurity companies. M&A exit activity in Q3 for US venture capital-backed companies was $20 billion. Both the number of IPOs and dollars raised increased in Q3 and continues to improve.

雖然整體數據依然強勁，但投資高度集中，今年迄今所有創投中超過 67% 都流向了人工智慧和網路安全公司。第三季美國創投支持的公司併購退出活動總額為 200 億美元。第三季IPO數量和融資額均有所成長，且持續改善。

Consistent with the aggregate data for the ecosystem, during Q3, capital raising across our portfolio remains strong. with 18 companies raising over $1.3 billion in new capital. For the first three quarters of 2025, we've now had 64 companies raise over $5 billion in new capital.

與整個生態系統的整體數據一致，第三季我們投資組合中的公司融資情況依然強勁，共有18家公司籌集了超過13億美元的新資金。截至 2025 年前三個季度，已有 64 家公司籌集了超過 50 億美元的新資金。

Year-to-date, our portfolio companies have raised over $6 billion of new capital. Given our strong sustained operating performance, we exited Q3 with undistributed earnings spillover of $146.2 million or $0.80 per ending share outstanding.

今年迄今為止，我們投資組合中的公司已籌集了超過 60 億美元的新資金。鑑於我們強勁的持續經營業績，第三季末我們未分配收益溢出額為 1.462 億美元，即每股期末流通股 0.80 美元。

For Q3, we are maintaining our quarterly base distribution of $0.40 and our supplemental distribution of $0.07 per share for a total of $0.47 of shareholder distributions. Our Q3 net income -- net investment income covered our base distribution by 122% and our full distribution, including our $0.07 supplemental distribution by over 104%.

第三季度，我們維持每股0.40美元的季度基本分紅和每股0.07美元的補充分紅，股東分紅總額為0.47美元。第三季淨收入－淨投資收益涵蓋了我們的基本分配額 122%，涵蓋了我們的全部分配額（包括 0.07 美元的補充分配額）104% 以上。

Based on our recent and anticipated near-term operating performance, we continue to be very comfortable with our quarterly base distribution and our ability to continue to provide our shareholders with supplemental distributions next year. This is now our 21st consecutive quarter of being able to provide our shareholders with a supplemental distribution in addition to our regular quarterly base distribution.

根據我們近期和預期的近期經營業績，我們對季度基本分紅以及明年繼續向股東提供補充分紅的能力仍然非常有信心。這已經是我們連續第 21 個季度能夠在常規季度基本分紅之外，向股東提供額外分紅。

In closing, our scale, institutionalized lending platform, and our ability to capitalize on a rapidly changing competitive and macro environment continues to drive our business forward and our operating performance to record levels.

總而言之，我們的規模、制度化的貸款平台以及我們利用快速變化的競爭和宏觀環境的能力，繼續推動我們的業務向前發展，並將我們的經營業績提升到創紀錄的水平。

In Q3, Hercules delivered its 10th consecutive quarter of over $100 million of quarterly core income, which excludes the benefit of prepayment fees, or fee accelerations from early repayments. Despite the declining rate environment that we are now operating in, we were able to achieve 122% coverage of our quarterly base distribution in Q3.

第三季度，Hercules連續第十個季度實現超過1億美元的季度核心收入，還不包括提前還款費用或提前還款帶來的費用加速收益。儘管我們目前所處的利率環境不斷下降，但我們在第三季仍實現了季度基本分紅的 122% 覆蓋率。

Our continued success as a company is attributable to the tremendous dedication, efforts, and capabilities of our 115-plus employees and the trust that our venture capital and private equity partners place with us every day. We are thankful to the many companies, management teams, and investors that continue to make Hercules their partner of choice.

公司持續取得成功，歸功於我們 115 多名員工的巨大奉獻精神、努力和能力，以及我們的風險投資和私募股權合作夥伴每天對我們的信任。我們衷心感謝眾多公司、管理團隊和投資者，他們始終選擇 Hercules 作為他們的首選合作夥伴。

I will now turn the call over to Seth.

現在我將把通話轉給賽斯。

Thank you, Scott, and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Our strong momentum reported in the first half of the year continued throughout the third quarter. As Scott shared, the business activity during the quarter and year-to-date has been exceptional and the record-breaking for our platform.

謝謝你，史考特，女士們、先生們，下午好。今年上半年強勁的成長動能在第三季得以延續。正如 Scott 所說，本季和今年迄今的業務活動都非常出色，並且是我們平台創紀錄的業績。

Fundraising and investment deployment in our RIA managed funds also has been very strong, expanding the platform and scaling the business to be even more efficient. We continue to maintain strong available liquidity of $655 million as of the end of the quarter in the BDC and more than $1 billion across the platform, including the adviser managed funds by our wholly owned subsidiary, Hercules Advisor LLC.

我們RIA管理的基金的籌資和投資部署也非常強勁，擴大了平台規模，提高了業務效率。截至本季末，我們在 BDC 中繼續保持 6.55 億美元的強勁可用流動性，整個平台（包括我們全資子公司 Hercules Advisor LLC 管理的顧問基金）的可用流動性超過 10 億美元。

Based on the performance of the quarter, Hercules Advisor delivered a third quarter dividend of $2.1 million, which when combined with the expense reimbursement of approximately $4.1 million resulted in approximately $6.2 million in NII contribution to the BDC in Q3.

根據本季的業績，Hercules Advisor 派發了第三季股息 210 萬美元，加上約 410 萬美元的費用報銷，第三季為 BDC 貢獻了約 620 萬美元的淨利息收入。

With those points in mind, let's review the regular areas of income statement performance and highlights, NAV, unrealized and realized activity, leverage and liquidity, and then finally, the financial outlook. Total investment income in Q3 was another record at $138.1 million, supported by our year-to-date debt portfolio growth.

考慮到這些要點，讓我們回顧一下損益表表現和亮點、淨資產值、未實現和已實現活動、槓桿和流動性等常規領域，最後是財務展望。第三季總投資收益再創新高，達到 1.381 億美元，這得益於我們年初至今的債務投資組合成長。

Core income, a non-GAAP measure, increased as well to another record at $127.9 million. Core investment income excludes the benefit of income recognized because of loan prepayments. Net investment income was $88.6 million or $0.49 per share in Q3.

核心收入（非GAAP指標）也增加至1.279億美元，再創歷史新高。核心投資收益不包括因提前償還貸款而確認的收益。第三季淨投資收益為 8,860 萬美元，即每股 0.49 美元。

Our effective and core yields were 13.5% and 12.5%, respectively, compared to 13.9% and 12.5% in the prior quarter. As of quarter end, almost 60% of our prime-based loans were at the contractual floor and thus the impact of any future rate reductions will be muted. Third quarter gross operating expenses were $53.6 million, compared to $52.2 million in the prior quarter. Net of costs recharged to the RIA, our operating expenses were $49.5 million.

我們的有效收益率和核心收益率分別為 13.5% 和 12.5%，而上一季分別為 13.9% 和 12.5%。截至季末，我們近 60% 的優質貸款已達到合約規定的最低利率，因此未來任何降息的影響都將是微乎其微的。第三季總營運支出為 5,360 萬美元，而上一季為 5,220 萬美元。扣除重新計入 RIA 的成本後，我們的營運費用為 4,950 萬美元。

Interest expense and fees increased to $27.2 million due to the growth of the business and corresponding increase of leverage. SG&A decreased slightly to $26.4 million, above my guidance on the growth of the business.

由於業務成長和槓桿率相應提高，利息支出和費用增加至 2,720 萬美元。銷售、一般及行政費用略微下降至 2,640 萬美元，高於我對業務成長的預期。

Net of costs recharged to the RIA, the SG&A expenses decreased to $22.3 million. Our weighted average cost of debt increased slightly to 5.1%. Our ROAE or NII over average equity increased to 17.4% for the third quarter and our ROAA or NII over average total assets increased to 8.7%.

扣除重新計入 RIA 的成本後，銷售、一般及行政費用減少至 2,230 萬美元。我們的加權平均債務成本略微上升至 5.1%。第三季度，我們的 ROAE 或 NII 相對於平均權益成長至 17.4%，我們的 ROAA 或 NII 相對於平均總資產成長至 8.7%。

Switching to NAV, unrealized and realized activity. During the quarter, our NAV per share increased by $0.21 to $12.05 per share. This represents an NAV per share increase of 1.8% quarter over quarter. The main driver was appreciation of the debt portfolio as we did not utilize the ATM during the quarter and funded our portfolio growth with leverage.

切換到 NAV，未實現和已實現活動。本季度，我們的每股淨值增加了 0.21 美元，達到每股 12.05 美元。這意味著每股淨資產值環比增長1.8%。主要驅動因素是債務組合增值，因為我們在本季沒有使用 ATM，而是透過槓桿融資來支持我們的投資組合成長。

Our $33 million net unrealized depreciation was primarily attributable to $28.6 million of net unrealized depreciation on debt investments, $11.3 million of net unrealized depreciation attributable to valuation movements on publicly traded equity, and warrant investments and $0.8 million net unrealized depreciation attributable to escrow and other investment-related receivables.

我們3,300萬美元的未實現淨折舊主要歸因於債務投資的未實現淨折舊2860萬美元、公開交易股票和認股權證投資的估值變動導致的未實現淨折舊1130萬美元，以及託管和其他投資相關應收款導致的未實現淨折舊80萬美元。

This was partially offset by $5.1 million reversal of or previous quarter appreciation upon a realization event and $2.6 million of net unrealized depreciation attributable to valuation movements in the privately held equity, warrant and investment funds.

部分抵銷因素包括：因實現事件導致上一季增值回吐 510 萬美元，以及因私募股權、認股權證和投資基金估值變動導致的 260 萬美元淨未實現折舊。

Hercules also experienced a small net realized loss of $1.8 million, primarily due to losses on equity investments. On leverage and liquidity, our GAAP and regulatory leverage increased to 99.5% and 83.6%, respectively, compared to the prior quarter due to the growth in the balance sheet being financed by leverage. Netting out leverage with our cash on the balance sheet, our net GAAP and regulatory leverage was 98.2% and 82.3%, respectively.

Hercules 也出現了 180 萬美元的淨實際虧損，主要原因是股權投資虧損。在槓桿率和流動性方面，由於資產負債表的成長是透過槓桿融資的，與上一季相比，我們的 GAAP 槓桿率和監管槓桿率分別上升至 99.5% 和 83.6%。扣除槓桿率和資產負債表上的現金後，我們的淨GAAP槓桿率和監管槓桿率分別為98.2%和82.3%。

We ended the quarter with $655 million of available liquidity. As a reminder, this excludes capital raised by the funds managed by our wholly owned RIA subsidiary. Inclusive of these amounts, the Hercules platform had more than $1 billion of available liquidity. The strong liquidity positions us well to support our existing portfolios, companies as well as source new opportunities.

本季末，我們擁有6.55億美元的可用流動資金。需要提醒的是，這不包括我們全資擁有的RIA子公司管理的基金所籌集的資金。加上這些金額，Hercules 平台擁有超過 10 億美元的可用流動資金。充裕的流動性使我們能夠更好地支持現有投資組合和公司，並尋找新的機會。

Finally, on the outlook points. For the fourth quarter, we expect our core yield to remain in the range of 12% to 12.5%. As a reminder, 98% of our portfolio -- our debt portfolio is floating with a floor. And as of today, almost 75% of our prime-based portfolio is at the contractual floor.

最後，談談展望方面。我們預計第四季度核心收益率將保持在 12% 至 12.5% 的範圍內。再次提醒，我們98%的投資組合——也就是我們的債務投資組合——都是浮動利率，並設有最低利率下限。截至目前，我們主要投資組合中近 75% 的資產已達到合約規定的最低水準。

Although very difficult to predict, as stated by Scott, we expect $150 million to $200 million in prepayment activity in the fourth quarter. We expect our fourth quarter interest expense to increase compared to the prior quarter based on the year-to-date debt portfolio growth.

儘管很難預測，但正如斯科特所說，我們預計第四季度預付款活動將達到 1.5 億美元至 2 億美元。基於年初至今的債務組合成長，我們預期第四季利息支出將比上一季增加。

For the fourth quarter, we expect SG&A expenses of $25 million to $26 million, and an RIA expense allocation of approximately $4 million. Finally, we expect a quarterly dividend from the RIA of approximately $2 million to $2.5 million per quarter.

第四季度，我們預計銷售、一般及行政費用為 2,500 萬美元至 2,600 萬美元，RIA 費用分配約 400 萬美元。最後，我們預計 RIA 每季將派發約 200 萬至 250 萬美元的股息。

In closing, the steps that we took in the first half of the year to strengthen our balance sheet, continue to help us grow and scale our platform. I will now turn the call over to the operator to begin the Q&A part of our call.

最後，我們在今年上半年為加強資產負債表所採取的措施，將繼續幫助我們發展壯大平台。現在我將把通話轉交給接線員，開始問答環節。

Brian, over to you.

布萊恩，該你了。

(Operator Instructions) Brian McKenna, Citizens.

（操作說明）布萊恩·麥肯納，市民。

Great. I appreciate all the detail on the business and the underlying trends and all the momentum. And I also heard your comments around the expectation to continue paying supplemental dividends moving forward. So if I look at the supplemental dividend as a percent of excess earnings above the base dividend, this has totaled about 75% to 80% for the last two years.

偉大的。我非常感謝您提供的關於業務、潛在趨勢和所有發展勢頭的詳細資訊。我還聽到了您關於未來將繼續派發額外股息的評論。因此，如果我將補充股息視為高於基本股息的超額收益的百分比，那麼在過去兩年中，這一比例總計約為 75% 至 80%。

So I don't want to make too many assumptions, but say you hold the line on earnings for next year, $2 of NII, you assume a similar ratio. That implies about $0.30 of supplemental dividends for the full year. So I just wanted to run that math by you and even just some bigger picture thoughts on kind of where the supplemental dividend can go into next year?

所以我不想做太多假設，但假設你維持明年收益不變，淨利息收入為 2 美元，你假設類似的比率。這意味著全年將有約 0.30 美元的額外股息。所以我想跟你算這筆賬，也想聽聽你對明年這筆額外股息用途的一些更宏觀的看法？

Sure. Thanks for the question, Brian. So a little bit premature for us to provide any specificity with respect to the supplemental distribution for next year. That's something that we will announce on the Q4 call in the middle of February.

當然。謝謝你的提問，布萊恩。因此，現在就明年的補充分配方案提供任何具體細節還為時過早。我們將在二月中旬的第四季財報電話會議上宣布此事。

What I can say is, I think your math is pretty accurate and that's sort of how we think about the supplemental distribution, and that's part of the discussion that we'll have with the Board as we approach those year-end conversations.

我可以說的是，我認為你的計算相當準確，我們對補充分配的看法也大致如此，這也是我們在年底與董事會討論的內容之一。

We are very optimistic based on the trajectory of the business and our expected operating performance near term, that we will be very comfortably able to maintain the base distribution and continue to provide a supplemental distribution, what that ultimate supplemental distribution is will be determined by the board at the end of the year. But again, I don't think your math is too far off.

根據公司的發展軌跡和我們近期的預期經營業績，我們非常樂觀地認為，我們將能夠輕鬆維持基本分紅並繼續提供補充分紅，最終的補充分紅金額將由董事會在年底決定。但是，我再次認為你的計算結果並沒有太大偏差。

Okay. That's helpful. And then maybe just switching gears a little bit to credit quality. I mean if you just look at all the trends across the portfolio, I mean, they're really strong across the board. And I appreciate the detail on the one nonaccrual that was added during the quarter and then that obviously got resolved here post quarter end.

好的。那很有幫助。然後或許可以稍微轉換一下話題，談談信用品質。我的意思是，如果你縱觀整個投資組合的所有趨勢，你會發現它們整體表現都非常強勁。我很感謝您詳細說明了本季新增的一項非應計項目，顯然該問題已在季度末解決。

But when you look at the portfolio, you look at your business, I mean, does anything stand out in terms of what the biggest driver of this strong credit quality is? It seems like as your platform continues to reach new levels of scale here, the underlying quality of the portfolio has gotten that much better as well. So any thoughts here would just be appreciated.

但是，當你審視投資組合，審視你的業務時，我的意思是，在推動這種強勁信貸品質的最大因素方面，有什麼突出的因素是突出的呢？看來隨著你們平台規模的不斷擴大，投資組合的內在品質也得到了極大的提升。所以，任何想法都非常歡迎。

Yes. Again, appreciate the recognition, Brian, and the question. And I think the answer that I'll give today is the same answer that I would give at any point in our 21-year history, and it's attributable to our investment team and our credit team. I think we have the best team in the business on the investment side. The team is incredibly experienced.

是的。再次感謝你的認可和提問，布萊恩。我認為我今天給出的答案，和我過去 21 年歷史上任何時候給出的答案都一樣，這要歸功於我們的投資團隊和信貸團隊。我認為我們在投資方面擁有業內最優秀的團隊。這支團隊經驗非常豐富。

Team has been together for a long time. That team knows how to pick the right companies. We're not perfect. We've made mistakes before. We will likely continue to make mistakes, but the credit for our performance is attributable to the quality of our investment team.

團隊已經合作很久了。這個團隊知道如何挑選合適的公司。我們並不完美。我們以前也犯過錯。我們可能還會繼續犯錯，但我們所取得的業績要歸功於我們投資團隊的素質。

Finian O'Shea, Wells Fargo Securities.

Finian O'Shea，富國證券。

Question on the adviser. Was there a change in expense allocation that line looked to a bit stronger than normal this quarter? And I guess if not, am I right? Was there some one-off that drove a higher number?

關於顧問的問題。本季費用分配是否發生了變化，導致該支出看起來比平常略高？如果不是這樣，那我說的對嗎？是否有導致數字偏高的個別事件？

Yes. No. Thanks, Fin. There's no change in the allocation per se, but it does change as the level of originations occur. And as the AUM continues to go up in the funds, it will continue to increase, but no fundamental change at all in the allocation.

是的。不。謝謝，芬恩。分配比例本身沒有變化，但隨著貸款發放量的增加，分配比例也會改變。隨著基金資產管理規模的持續成長，其配置比例也會持續增加，但配置比例不會發生任何根本性變化。

Okay. So is it safe to say at drift, I know in the past, we framed it as a percent of other G&A. I think it really ties to origination. Is it the growth of the RIA and you have similar guidance for next quarter as well. It sounds like on the allocation. Is it growing?

好的。所以可以肯定地說，在漂移方面，我知道過去我們將其定義為其他一般及行政費用的百分比。我認為這與起源密切相關。RIA業務的成長情況如何？您對下一季的業績也有類似的預期。聽起來像是分配方面的問題。它在生長嗎？

I would say this, Fin. So it is two parts. It is the base of the amount of AUM compared to the entire platform. That is part of the allocation. And then the amount of originations will create a little bit of volatility to that calculation every single quarter.

芬恩，我想這麼說。所以它由兩個部分組成。這是資產管理規模佔整個平台總資產管理規模的基準。這是分配的一部分。然後，每季新增貸款數量都會為這個計算結果帶來一些波動。

Okay. That's helpful. Can you talk about, I guess, Scott, high level, there was a lot of incumbency this quarter, less on the new portfolio company, borrower front. Any -- I think you maybe tied in with you're kind of projecting continued strength there. Any sort of change in the portfolio mix incumbency versus new going forward?

好的。那很有幫助。史考特，我想，從宏觀層面來說，本季有很多現有客戶，而新投資組合公司和借款人方面則相對較少。任何－我覺得你可能和你展現的持續實力有關。未來投資組合構成（現有資產與新資產）是否會有任何變動？

Sure. Thanks, Fin. No real change. I would sort of note three specific things. Number one, we are continuing to see pretty broad-based strength across our existing portfolio with respect to performance milestones and the achievement of specific things that we underwrite to.

當然。謝謝，芬恩。沒有實質改變。我想特別指出三點。第一，我們繼續看到我們現有投資組合在業績里程碑和我們承保的具體目標方面都表現出相當廣泛的強勁勢頭。

As those companies perform, they unlock additional capital availability and that's why you saw higher than typical funding for the portfolio in Q3. Second thing that I would note is that, frankly, we saw some better opportunities to deploy capital into the existing portfolio in Q3?

隨著這些公司業績的提升，它們會釋放出額外的可用資金，這就是為什麼你在第三季看到投資組合的融資額高於平常的原因。第二點我想指出的是，坦白說，我們在第三季看到了一些更好的機會，可以將資金部署到現有投資組合中？

And then the third thing that I would note is we still had very strong pure new business origination. We added seven new companies, which is on the low end of what we typically do, but it was still strong for Q3. We focused on the new business, new borrower side on quality scale originations.

第三點我想指出的是，我們仍然保持著非常強勁的全新業務拓展動能。我們新增了七家公司，這比我們通常的數量要少，但對於第三季來說仍然表現強勁。我們專注於高品質、大規模的新業務和新借款人業務。

And my comments on sort of the pipeline activity and what we saw in terms of frothiness in the market, I think, speaks to the fact that with respect to some of the new deals we saw during the quarter, we were just passing or bidding very conservatively on the vast majority of those transactions.

至於我之前對項目儲備情況以及市場泡沫程度的評論，我認為，這表明，對於本季度我們看到的一些新交易，我們只是放棄了絕大多數交易，或者出價非常保守。

Crispin Love, Piper Sandler.

克里斯平·洛夫，派珀·桑德勒。

I have a credit question as well, but just asked a little bit differently. And recently, has definitely been a pickup in credit anxiety just given some loans at banks, some being fraud related and then it seems that private credit and BDCs have been swept up in the media surrounding all this. So first, can you just share your views on this kind of what you've been seeing in your outlook and then just how competitors have been behaving?

我也有一個關於信用方面的問題，不過我問的方式稍微不同。最近，信貸焦慮情緒明顯上升，銀行發放了一些貸款，其中一些與詐欺有關，然後私人信貸和商業發展公司似乎也受到了媒體的關注。首先，您能否分享一下您對這方面的看法，以及您觀察到的競爭對手的行為？

Sure. So a pretty broad question, but I'll respond to it with the following: I think what has made Hercules unique and what has allowed us to outperform virtually every competitor in the BDC market for the last several years is the fact that we have been incredibly consistent and conservative with respect to underwriting credit.

當然。這是一個相當寬泛的問題，但我會這樣回答：我認為 Hercules 之所以能夠獨樹一幟，並在過去幾年中在 BDC 市場中超越幾乎所有競爭對手，是因為我們在信貸承保方面一直保持著極高的穩定性和保守性。

We don't loosen our standards or get more aggressive in very strong markets. We don't change our stripes if others are doing things that we don't think are prudent. And I think that consistency, that cautious approach has served us well and will continue to serve us well.

即使在市場行情強勁的情況下，我們也不會放鬆標準或採取更激進的策略。即使別人做的事情我們認為不明智，我們也不會改變自己的立場。我認為這種堅持和謹慎的態度過去對我們大有裨益，將來也將繼續對我們大有裨益。

Second thing that I would note is that we have not seen any material deterioration in the credit performance of our portfolio over the last quarter, and that would include quarter-to-date post quarter end. We are continuing to see relative strength in terms of the numbers and the metrics that we monitor on a pretty continuous basis. And our outlook with respect to credit remains positive.

第二點要指出的是，在過去一個季度中，我們的投資組合的信貸表現沒有出現任何實質惡化，這包括季度末至今的情況。根據我們持續監測的數字和指標來看，我們繼續看到相對強勢的表現。我們對信貸前景依然保持樂觀。

Great. I appreciate the color there. And then just given recent rate cuts and the forward curve, can you just share how you expect net investment income to be impacted over the intermediate term, it's held up well so far and just what that could mean for NII per share and where you might see a leveling off and stabilization.

偉大的。我喜歡那裡的顏色。鑑於最近的降息和遠期曲線，您能否分享一下您預計淨投資收益在中期內會受到怎樣的影響？到目前為止，投資淨收益表現良好，這對每股淨投資收益意味著什麼？您認為淨投資收益會在何時趨於平穩和穩定？

Yes. I think -- so Crispin, somewhat subtle guidance or statements that we made, the difference between at quarter end, approximately 60% of our prime-based portfolio at its contractual floor. And then both Scott and I mentioned that as of today, meaning after the rate cut this week, approximately 75% or almost 75% of our prime-based floor.

是的。我認為——所以克里斯平，我們做出了一些微妙的指導或聲明，季度末的差異是，我們主要投資組合中約 60% 的資產處於合約最低水平。然後，我和史考特都提到，截至今天，也就是本週降息之後，我們基準利率的下限大約是 75% 或接近 75%。

So further decreases will be muted. We do provide the table in the presentation and the Q as far as what we expect further rate cuts are, for instance, a 50 basis point rate cut, we guide to about $0.05 of NII per share annually impacting, and that reflects the fact that the majority of our portfolio is at its contractual floor.

因此，進一步的下降幅度將會很小。我們在簡報和問答中提供了表格，說明我們對進一步降息的預期，例如，降息 50 個基點，我們預計每年每股淨利息收入將受到約 0.05 美元的影響，這反映了我們大部分投資組合都處於合約最低水平的事實。

So we can't be more specific than trying to model out the existing portfolio. But at the moment, it's pretty muted.

因此，我們只能嘗試對現有投資組合進行建模，而無法給出更具體的方案。但目前來看，這種勢頭相當平淡。

And I would just add to that, Crispin, we did reiterate, and this is guidance that is inclusive of the Fed activity this week, we did reiterate our core yield guidance for Q4 of 12% to 12.5%. So I think that speaks to our comfort level with respect to what we can continue to originate on, on the front-end side of the business.

克里斯平，我還要補充一點，我們重申了本週聯準會的行動所作出的指引，我們重申了第四季度核心收益率指引為 12% 至 12.5%。所以我認為這體現了我們對未來在業務前端方面能夠繼續創新的信心。

Doug Harter. UBS.

道格·哈特。瑞銀集團。

Scott, just pumping to drill down a little bit more on your comment about some of what you're seeing in the pipeline of the pipeline in the market on kind of frothiness. Is that on structure of deals? Is that on valuation? If you could just kind of drill into that, what you're seeing that kind of caused you to pull back a little bit from those things?

Scott，我只是想更深入地探討你之前關於市場泡沫現象的評論。這是關於交易結構的問題嗎？這是估值方面的問題嗎？如果你能深入探討一下，你看到了什麼讓你對那些事情有所退縮？

Sure. I think it's two things. It's mainly structure and funding amounts and not necessarily tied to yield. What we've seen over the last several quarters is that a handful of market participants have been incredibly aggressive with respect to underwriting deals that from a leverage perspective or from a commitment to value perspective, exceed what we think are prudent underwriting parameters.

當然。我認為有兩個原因。主要取決於結構和資金數額，不一定與收益率掛鉤。在過去的幾個季度裡，我們看到少數市場參與者在核保交易方面表現得非常激進，從槓桿角度或對價值的承諾角度來看，這些交易超過了我們認為審慎的核保參數。

The second thing that we've seen recently, and this would probably be over the last quarter or two, there continue to be a handful of deals getting done in the market where there's just not a lot of structure in terms of how those deals are being put together.

我們最近看到的第二件事，大概是在過去一兩個季度裡，市場上仍然有一些交易達成，但這些交易在組織方式方面缺乏許多規範。

We think structural integrity is critical to success long term in this business. We had as a firm, have zero interest in driving short-term portfolio growth by booking credits that will not age well. And so we're just operating the way we've historically tried to operate with a conservative approach to credit, being aggressive where we see spots of opportunity, and we think that's going to serve our shareholders and stakeholders incredibly well going forward.

我們認為，結構完整性對於該行業的長期成功至關重要。作為一家公司，我們對透過預訂那些不會長期保持良好狀態的信貸來推動短期投資組合成長毫無興趣。因此，我們只是按照我們歷來採取的保守信貸方式進行運營，在發現機會時積極進取，我們認為這將對我們的股東和利益相關者在未來大有裨益。

John Hecht, Jefferies.

約翰‧赫克特，傑富瑞集團。

Another good quarter. Congrats. First one, I mean, I guess these are sort of both kind of industry level kind of questions. Number one is, there's just increasing concern on legacy software companies because if they weren't developed with AI in mind, then they could get disrupted very quickly. I'm wondering your perspectives on that. And if you could talk about your portfolio of that type and how it is -- how it is kind of positioned for the AI revolution.

又是一個不錯的季度。恭喜。首先，我想這兩個問題都算是產業層面的問題。第一點是，人們越來越擔心傳統軟體公司，因為如果它們在開發時沒有考慮到人工智慧，那麼它們可能很快就會被顛覆。我想聽聽你的看法。如果您能談談您在這類領域的投資組合，以及它如何為人工智慧革命做好準備，那就太好了。

Sure. Thanks for the question, John. One of the more interesting aspects of our business and depending on how you look at this, it's either a positive or a negative is the fact that our duration on the portfolio side is really short. Over the last 21 years, our duration on the loan book has been somewhere between 15 and 24 months. Right now, the duration is right around 18 months.

當然。謝謝你的提問，約翰。我們業務中比較有趣的一個面向（這取決於你如何看待，既可以是積極的也可以是消極的）是，我們的投資組合期限非常短。過去 21 年，我們的貸款帳簿平均期限在 15 到 24 個月之間。目前，持續時間約為 18 個月。

So for us, when we talk about legacy companies, these are not companies that are generally very old in terms of borrowers for Hercules. And when we think about the question that you just asked, we think that's a significant positive because our portfolio is turning every, generally speaking, 1.5 years. We do not have a lot of legacy companies that really haven't been able to benefit from the AI revolution that we've seen over the last year or two.

所以對我們來說，當我們談論傳統公司時，這些公司通常指的不是 Hercules 的借款人，而是歷史並不悠久的公司。當我們思考你剛才提出的問題時，我們認為這是一個重要的正面因素，因為我們的投資組合一般每 1.5 年就會更新一次。在過去一兩年裡，我們看到的AI革命帶來了巨大的變革，而傳統企業並沒有太多未能從中受益的例子。

We built in AI analysis into our underwriting the deals that we have booked over the last 12 to 24 months, how these companies are using AI, how these companies can be impacted positively or negatively from AI has been a part of our underwriting thesis.

我們將人工智慧分析融入我們的承保中。在過去 12 到 24 個月裡，我們承保了一系列交易，這些公司如何使用人工智慧，人工智慧會對這些公司產生怎樣的正面或負面影響，這些都成為了我們承保理念的一部分。

So I think it's certainly something that we're watching closely, and our credit teams are doing a great job at monitoring that. But we feel pretty good about how our portfolio is positioned with respect to what we're seeing across the AI landscape right now.

所以我認為這絕對是我們正在密切關注的事情，我們的信貸團隊在這方面做得非常出色。但就目前人工智慧領域的發展趨勢而言，我們對我們的投資組合的定位感到非常滿意。

Okay. And then another kind of industry-level question. I mean you guys have seen several quarters of very strong commitment and deployment activity. Is this just a function of a growing TAM, I mean, just the venture business is growing and you're just capturing your share? Or is it that you are increasing your share?

好的。然後還有另一個行業層面的問題。我的意思是，你們已經看到了幾個季度以來我們非常強烈的投入和部署活動。這僅僅是市場規模不斷擴大的結果嗎？我的意思是，創投業務正在成長，而你只是在獲取屬於你的份額？或者，你是在增加你的股份嗎？

Or is it a greater propensity for the borrowers to seek debt as a solution as opposed to equity? Or is it some combination? Just interested in your thoughts about the changing marketplace.

或者說，借款人是否更傾向於尋求債務解決方案而不是股權融資？或兩者兼而有之？想聽聽您對不斷變化的市場有何看法。

Yes, I think it's two things, John. First and foremost, it is our view that we are absolutely taking market share. There's been some changes in the venture and growth stage ecosystem over the last handful of years. And I think we believe that we have, on a controlled managed basis, been able to take some significant market share, which is probably the single biggest driver of the increase in commitments.

是的，我認為是兩件事，約翰。首先，我們認為我們正在穩步擴大市場份額。過去幾年，創投和成長階段的生態系統發生了一些變化。我認為我們相信，在可控管理的基礎上，我們已經能夠獲得相當可觀的市場份額，這可能是推動承諾增加的最大單一因素。

I think the second element is if you look at where our platform is today in terms of scale, in terms of liquidity, in terms of diversification with respect to funding sources, all of those things have helped position us to be able to take advantage of a larger TAM with respect to potential opportunities.

我認為第二個因素是，如果你看看我們平台目前的規模、流動性以及資金來源的多元化程度，所有這些都幫助我們佔據了有利位置，能夠利用更大的潛在市場規模。

And then the third thing is, I think we've done a really nice job at selectively hiring new employees onto the platform that have opened up some new markets, some new geographies, some new focus areas for us, and those things have all been very accretive, which have helped drive those numbers.

第三點是，我認為我們在有選擇地招募新員工方面做得非常好，這為我們開拓了一些新市場、新地區和新重點領域，這些都帶來了很大的收益，從而推動了這些數字的成長。

Christopher Nolan, Ladenburg Thalmann.

克里斯多福諾蘭，拉登堡塔爾曼。

Following up on John Hecht's question, but in a different way. The Wall Street Journal today had a very interesting article talking about how JPMorgan is tokenizing which is a digital representation of asset ownership in the blockchain ledger for its private equity funds.

這是對約翰·赫克特提出的問題的一種補充，但方式有所不同。《華爾街日報》今天刊登了一篇非常有趣的文章，講述了摩根大通如何將其私募股權基金的資產所有權數位化，並將其記錄在區塊鏈帳本中。

And I know John was talking about AI, but turning that around to blockchain and how you're able to track ownership of assets and so forth. What does that represent in terms of a change in how you guys might do business, barriers to entry that venture BDCs typically had over other BDCs and so forth. Any comments would be would be interested to hear.

我知道約翰當時在談論人工智慧，但反過來想想區塊鏈，以及如何追蹤資產所有權等等。就你們的業務開展方式而言，這意味著什麼改變？創投公司相對於其他投資公司通常存在的進入障礙等等。歡迎大家提出任何意見。

Yes. So I can't comment specifically on the JPMorgan announcement because we obviously haven't dug into that yet. I can tell you that philosophically, our approach to blockchain and crypto and all sort of related esoteric assets has not changed.

是的。所以我無法對摩根大通的公告發表具體評論，因為我們顯然還沒有深入研究此事。我可以告訴你，從哲學角度來說，我們對待區塊鏈、加密貨幣以及各種相關深奧資產的態度並沒有改變。

We do not intend to invest on the lending side directly in those types of businesses. We think there are opportunities for us, and we've done a handful of them alongside more of the infrastructure side of things and companies that are using technology to sort of facilitate the growth of those industries and currencies, et cetera. But in terms of investing directly in those areas, it's not something that we're going to do.

我們不打算直接投資這類企業的貸款業務。我們認為我們有很多機會，而且我們已經在基礎設施方面以及利用技術促進這些行業和貨幣等成長的公司中做了一些這樣的事情。但就直接投資這些領域而言，我們不會這麼做。

Yes. Actually, my question is more about your own infrastructure, whether you're using blockchain to track investments and your leaned against specific assets versus others.

是的。實際上，我的問題更多是關於你們自己的基礎設施，你們是否使用區塊鏈來追蹤投資，以及你們是否更傾向於某些特定資產而不是其他資產。

We are not, Chris.

我們不是，克里斯。

Paul Johnson, KBW.

保羅·約翰遜，KBW。

I was just wondering if you could talk maybe just about the unrealized gains this quarter. It looks like $29 million or so to the debt portfolio. How much of that is just that gets kind of kind of specific events, things were written up. I mean it sounds like there was a positive outcome on nonaccrual. I'm not sure if that was included in there.

我只是想問問您能否談談本季尚未實現的收益。看起來債務組合將增加約2900萬美元。其中有多少只是針對特定事件的記錄？有多少事情被寫下來了？我的意思是，聽起來非累積方面取得了正面成果。我不確定那是否包含在裡面。

Just how much is kind of credit specific versus kind of mark-to-market, I guess, within the portfolio?

我想，在投資組合中，究竟有多少是信貸相關的，又有多少是按市值計價的呢？

Thanks, Paul. So $33 million approximately of unrealized depreciation during the quarter, $28.6 million of that appreciation came from the debt side. That was a combination of credit and yield related. I did make the comment about that one specific credit that went on nonaccrual in Q3 and was very quickly resolved shortly after the quarter. Just to give you some context of the magnitude of that change, that was a position at a cost basis of approximately $41.5 million.

謝謝你，保羅。因此，該季度未實現的折舊約為 3,300 萬美元，其中 2,860 萬美元的增值來自債務方面。那是信貸和收益率兩方面因素共同作用的結果。我確實評論過第三季度那筆被列入非應計項目的特定信貸，但該信貸在季度結束後不久就很快得到了解決。為了讓您對這項變更的幅度有所了解，該職位的成本約為 4,150 萬美元。

In Q2, that had a fair value of $24.6 million and we wrote that up to a fair value in Q3 of $38.4 million, which reflects the actual proceeds received and ties into that $14 million outperformance relative to the fair value mark in Q2 and that I mentioned in the prepared remarks.

第二季度，該資產的公允價值為 2,460 萬美元，我們在第三季度將其公允價值上調至 3,840 萬美元，這反映了實際收到的收益，並與第二季度相對於公允價值的 1,400 萬美元超額收益相吻合，我在準備好的發言中也提到了這一點。

Got it. So roughly half of the kind of debt depreciation this quarter was due to that nonaccrual?

知道了。所以，本季大約一半的債務折舊是由於非應計項目造成的？

Correct.

正確的。

Okay. And then just one kind of maybe more of a technical question on how PIK works within ventral and your portfolio. When a borrower is on PIK, is it typically a table structure and what is kind of like the general rule in terms of the limit, like how much of the spread, I guess, are they generally able to defer under those arrangements?

好的。然後還有一個可能更偏技術性的問題，關於 PIK 在 Ventral 和您的投資組合中是如何運作的。當借款人採用 PIK 付款方式時，通常會採用表格結構嗎？關於限額的一般規則是什麼？例如，在這些安排下，他們通常可以延期支付多少利差？

Sure. Thanks for the question. So first, I would just reiterate a couple of the key points that I mentioned in the prepared remarks. I think it's critical in terms of how we evaluate PIK, but 85% of our PIK income during the third quarter was attributable to PIK that was part of the original underwriting, not the result of a credit or performance-related amendment or issue.

當然。謝謝你的提問。首先，我想重申我在準備好的發言稿中提到的幾個要點。我認為這對我們如何評估實物支付 (PIK) 至關重要，但我們第三季 85% 的實物支付收入都歸因於原始核保中的實物支付，而不是信用或業績相關的修改或發行的結果。

With respect to when we utilize PIC in a new underwriting, it is generally going to be a small part of the company's overall interest and it will generally be struggled with -- structured as a toggle feature where the company will have the option subject occasionally to certain specific milestones or performance achievements to maybe turn 1% of cash interest into 1.15% or 1.25% of PIK.

就我們在新的承保中使用 PIK 而言，它通常只占公司整體利益的一小部分，而且通常會受到限制——結構上是一個切換功能，公司可以選擇根據某些特定的里程碑或業績成就，偶爾將 1% 的現金利息轉換為 1.15% 或 1.25% 的 PIK。

There are very few deals where we have [PICC] that exceeds 1% or 2%.

很少有交易中[PICC]的使用率超過1%或2%。

And I am showing no further questions on the line at this time. I would now like to turn the call back to Scott Bluestein, for any closing remarks.

目前我不再提出其他問題。現在我想把電話轉回給史考特‧布魯斯坦，請他作總結發言。

Thank you, David, and thanks to everyone for joining our call today. We will also be attending the Citizens Financial Services Conference in New York on November 18. If you would like to meet with us at the conference, please contact Citizens or Michael Hara. We look forward to reporting our progress on our Q4 and full year 2025 earnings call. Thanks, and I hope everyone has a great rest of the day.

謝謝大衛，也謝謝今天所有參加我們電話會議的朋友們。我們也將於11月18日參加在紐約舉行的公民金融服務會議。如果您想在會議期間與我們見面，請聯絡 Citizens 或 Michael Hara。我們期待在2025年第四季及全年財報電話會議上報告我們的進度。謝謝，祝大家今天餘下的時間過得愉快。

This does conclude today's Hercules Capital third quarter 2025 financial results conference call. You may now disconnect your lines, and have a wonderful day.

至此，Hercules Capital 2025 年第三季財務業績電話會議結束。現在您可以斷開線路了，祝您有美好的一天。