Kforce Inc (KFRC) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by and welcome to the Kforce Q4 2023 earnings conference call. I would now like to welcome Joe Liberatore, President and CEO, to begin the call. Joe, over to you.

感謝您的支持，歡迎參加 Kforce 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。現在，我歡迎總裁兼執行長喬·利伯拉托 (Joe Liberatore) 開始電話會議。喬，交給你了。

Good afternoon. This call contains certain statements that are forward-looking that are based upon certain assumptions and expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may vary materially from the factors listed in Kforce's public filings and other reports and filings with the SEC.

午安.本次電話會議包含某些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述基於某些假設和預期，並受風險和不確定性的影響。實際結果可能與 Kforce 的公開文件以及向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他報告和文件中列出的因素有重大差異。

We cannot undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements. You can find additional information about our results in our earnings release and our SEC filings. In addition, we have published our prepared remarks within our Investor Relation portion of our website.

我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的責任。您可以在我們的收益報告和美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 文件中找到有關我們業績的更多資訊。此外，我們還在我們網站的投資者關係部分發布了我們準備好的評論。

I'm tremendously grateful for the extraordinary efforts of the Kforce team who executed well in 2023 in an environment that proved to be more challenging than originally expected. Our results, driven by solid execution and a focused business model, also allowed us to continue allocating significant capital towards strategic investments in our people and tools.

我非常感謝 Kforce 團隊的非凡努力，他們在 2023 年比最初預期更具挑戰性的環境中表現出色。我們的業績受到穩健執行和專注的商業模式的推動，這也使我們能夠繼續為人才和工具的策略投資投入大量資金。

As a result, we enter 2024 well-positioned to take additional market share and create significant long-term returns for our shareholders. The investments we are making include a continuation of our efforts to transform the back office, implementing AI in certain areas to drive efficiency and productivity, while further institutionalizing our One Kforce organizational design and operating principles.

因此，我們將在 2024 年佔據有利地位，獲得更多市場份額，並為股東創造可觀的長期回報。我們正在進行的投資包括繼續努力改造後台辦公室，在某些領域實施人工智慧以提高效率和生產力，同時進一步製度化我們的 One Kforce 組織設計和營運原則。

During 2023, we selected Workday as our future state enterprise cloud application for our HCM and financials, which will complement our Microsoft front-end application and create a unified and streamlined technology suite for the firm once fully implemented over the next few years.

2023 年，我們選擇 Workday 作為我們 HCM 和財務的未來企業雲端應用程序，它將補充我們的 Microsoft 前端應用程序，並在未來幾年全面實施後為公司創建統一、精簡的技術套件。

We are incredibly fortunate to be partnering with Workday and Microsoft, two companies at the forefront of investing in AI, which puts us in an ideal position to take advantage of these technologies as they become available. The foundational transformation will be a meaningful contributor to us meeting one of our longer-term financial objectives of generating at least 10% operating margins.

我們非常幸運能夠與 Workday 和微軟合作，這兩家公司在人工智慧投資方面處於領先地位，這讓我們處於理想的位置，能夠在這些技術可用時利用它們。基礎轉型將對我們實現至少 10% 的營業利潤率的長期財務目標之一做出有意義的貢獻。

Our decision to grow our business organically with a consistent, refined business model tailored to provide highly skilled technology talent solutions to world-class companies in the domestic market has been critical to our success over many years, and we remain confident that our firm is positioned well for improving market conditions.

我們決定採用一致、完善的商業模式有機地發展我們的業務，該模式旨在為國內市場上的世界級公司提供高技能的技術人才解決方案，這對我們多年來的成功至關重要，我們仍然相信，我們的公司已做好準備，以改善市場條件。

We experienced a decline in technology revenues in 2023 that closely resembled what we experienced in the Great Recession in 2009. We believe the decline that we experienced in 2023 was due to an acceleration of strategic technology investments made during 2021 and '22 to address the implications of remote work and other digital transformation efforts, combined with the caution exercised by companies in a very uncertain environment.

2023 年，我們的技術收入出現了下滑，與 2009 年大衰退期間的情況非常相似。我們認為，2023 年經歷的下滑是由於 2021 年和 2022 年期間為應對遠距工作和其他數位轉型工作的影響而加速的策略性技術投資，加上公司在非常不確定的環境中採取的謹慎態度。

Companies remain cautious due to the continued economic and geopolitical uncertainties, and we are encouraged to have grown our technology revenues sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2023 on a billing-day basis in this difficult environment. We are blessed to have a tenured executive leadership team who has been through multiple economic cycles together and can quickly adjust to the changing market conditions.

由於持續的經濟和地緣政治不確定性，企業仍保持謹慎，我們很高興看到，在這種困難的環境下，我們的技術收入在 2023 年第四季度按計費日計算實現了環比增長。我們很幸運擁有一支資深的執行領導團隊，他們共同經歷多個經濟週期，能夠快速適應不斷變化的市場條件。

Our message to our people in 2023 was simple. And frankly, it is no different as we begin 2024. There are many things that are uncontrollable. We must control what we can control, stay close to our internal associates, support our consultants, and continue listening to our clients while maintaining a long-term view in our decision-making.

2023 年，我們向人民傳達的訊息很簡單。坦白說，2024 年伊始，情況也沒有什麼不同。有很多事情是無法控制的。我們必須控制我們能夠控制的事情，與我們的內部同事保持密切聯繫，支持我們的顧問，並繼續傾聽客戶的意見，同時在決策中保持長遠的眼光。

We made some difficult adjustments in July 2023 to reduce our structural costs, which mitigated the impact of lower revenues on the profitability levels. Our strategic position is solid, and our prospects are excellent. With that said, tremendous uncertainty still exists in the macro landscape, and there are conflicting views of economists on whether we will avert a recession, see a soft landing, or slip into a recession in the US economy in 2024 following the aggressive monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve.

我們在2023年7月做出了一些艱難的調整，以降低結構性成本，從而減輕了收入下降對獲利水準的影響。我們的戰略地位牢固，前景光明。儘管如此，宏觀環境仍存在巨大的不確定性，經濟學家們對於聯準會大幅收緊貨幣政策後，2024年美國經濟能否避免衰退、實現軟著陸還是陷入衰退的看法不一。

The challenges in the geopolitical landscape continue to grow with the ongoing war in Ukraine; the effects across the region of the war in Israel, including the loss of American service members, with dozens injured in the drone attack on their base in Jordan; along with the 2024 US election uncertainties and many others. We will continue to closely monitor our performance indicators and trends and are prepared to make the necessary adjustments to our business without jeopardizing investments in our long-term strategic priorities.

隨著烏克蘭戰爭的持續，地緣政治格局的挑戰持續增加；以色列戰爭對整個地區的影響，包括美國軍人的損失，以及數十人在約旦基地遭受無人機襲擊時受傷；以及 2024 年美國大選的不確定性等諸多因素。我們將繼續密切關注我們的績效指標和趨勢，並準備對我們的業務進行必要的調整，而不會危及對我們長期策略重點的投資。

The strength of the secular drivers of demand and technology accelerated significantly coming out of both the Great Recession, with the advancement of mobility, cloud computing, among others, and with the 2020 pandemic with further digitization of businesses and the continued headlines around Gen AI technologies. I have seen a lot of economic cycles in my 35-plus years in the business, and each one behaves a bit differently.

隨著行動性、雲端運算等領域的進步，以及 2020 年疫情的爆發，企業進一步數位化，以及有關人工智慧技術的持續報道，長期需求和技術驅動力的強度顯著增強。在我 35 多年的從業經歷中，我見證過許多經濟週期，每個週期的表現都略有不同。

What remains clear to us, though, is that the broad and strategic use of technology, including AI technologies, will continue to evolve and play an increasingly instrumental role in powering businesses. Over the long term, we believe that AI and other technologies will continue to drive demand for, rather than replace technology resources, and that the pace of change will accelerate. We are ideally positioned to meet that demand.

然而，我們清楚的是，包括人工智慧技術在內的技術的廣泛和策略性應用將繼續發展，並在推動企業發展方面發揮越來越重要的作用。從長遠來看，我們認為人工智慧和其他技術將繼續推動對技術資源的需求，而不是取代技術資源，而且變化的步伐將會加快。我們處於理想的位置來滿足這項需求。

Our core competency is rooted in the ability to identify and provide critical resources, real-time at scale, to help world-class companies solve complex business problems and help them competitively transform their businesses. Our operating model also allows us the flexibility in partnering with our clients to meet their needs across a broad spectrum of engagement forms, from direct hire, traditional staffing assignments to managed team engagements and managed projects.

我們的核心競爭力在於能夠即時大規模地識別和提供關鍵資源，幫助世界一流的公司解決複雜的業務問題，並幫助他們實現業務的競爭性轉型。我們的營運模式也使我們能夠靈活地與客戶合作，以滿足他們在廣泛的合作形式中的需求，從直接僱用、傳統的人員配置任務到管理團隊合作和管理專案。

While clients have been acting with restraint over the last 12-plus months, the backlog of desired investments continues to grow. We expect these important technology investments to be high priorities once the macro uncertainties begin to clear. Technology investments are simply not optional in today's competitive and disruptive business climate. There is simply no other market we would want to be focused on other than the domestic technology talent solutions space.

儘管客戶在過去 12 個多月中一直採取克制行動，但所需投資的積壓仍在繼續增加。我們預計，一旦宏觀不確定性開始消除，這些重要的技術投資將成為重中之重。在當今競爭激烈、動盪的商業環境中，科技投資絕非可有可無。除了國內技術人才解決方案領域之外，我們根本不想關注其他市場。

We have built a solid foundation at Kforce. Our balance sheet is clean, which allowed us to be opportunistic in repurchasing over $67 million of our stock in 2023. And we expect to continue to generate strong cash flows in 2024. Our Board of Directors recently approved an increase in our quarterly dividend and share repurchase authorization to support our ongoing objective in returning capital to our shareholders.

我們在 Kforce 建立了堅實的基礎。我們的資產負債表很乾淨，這使我們能夠在 2023 年有機會回購超過 6,700 萬美元的股票。我們預計 2024 年將持續產生強勁的現金流。我們的董事會最近批准增加季度股利和股票回購授權，以支持我們向股東返還資本的持續目標。

Before transitioning the call to Dave, I wanted to reiterate how proud I am of the performance and resiliency of our collective Kforce team. Together, we fought through a challenging operating environment, made some difficult decisions, and met each and every challenge. We are blessed to have a high performing team that is tenured, dedicated, and passionate at Kforce.

在將電話轉給戴夫之前，我想重申一下，我對我們 Kforce 團隊的表現和韌性感到多麼自豪。我們共同度過了充滿挑戰的營運環境，做出了一些艱難的決定，並應對了每一個挑戰。我們很榮幸在 Kforce 擁有一支高績效、長期任職、專注且充滿熱情的團隊。

I am excited about the future of Kforce as our team continues to advance our office occasional model in combination with our integrated strategy, resulting in an overall team's ability to operate even more consistently as one firm.

我對 Kforce 的未來感到興奮，因為我們的團隊將繼續結合我們的綜合策略來推進我們的辦公室臨時模式，使整個團隊能夠像一家公司一樣更一致地運作。

Dave Kelly, our Chief Operating Officer, will now give greater insights into our performance and recent operating trends. Jeff Hackman, Kforce's Chief Financial Officer, will then provide additional detail on our financial results as well as our future financial expectations. Dave?

我們的營運長戴夫凱利 (Dave Kelly) 現在將更深入地介紹我們的業績和近期營運趨勢。Kforce 財務長 Jeff Hackman 隨後將提供有關我們的財務表現以及未來財務預期的更多詳細資訊。戴夫？

Thank you, Joe. Revenue for the fourth quarter came in just above the midpoint of our guidance. We were encouraged to see overall revenues increase sequentially by 0.6%, led by sequential growth in our technology business. For fiscal 2023, overall revenues were down 10%, while flex revenues in our technology business were down approximately 7%. As a reminder, our technology business significantly outperformed the market in 2022 and 2021, growing 43.5% over that two-year period.

謝謝你，喬。第四季度的收入略高於我們預期的中位數。我們很高興地看到，由於技術業務的連續成長，整體收入環比增長了 0.6%。2023 財年，總收入下降了 10%，而我們技術業務的彈性收入下降了約 7%。提醒一下，我們的科技業務在 2022 年和 2021 年表現明顯優於市場，兩年內成長了 43.5%。

The Q4 sequential growth in our technology business is reflective of the stability in the number of consultants on assignment we began to see beginning in mid-Q3, which was followed by a modest increase through the fourth quarter.

我們的技術業務在第四季度的連續成長反映了我們從第三季中期開始看到的執行顧問數量的穩定，隨後在第四季度出現了小幅增長。

As we look into early Q1 trends, year-end assignment ends in our technology business were slightly greater than prior-year levels, as clients were generally slower than usual to approve 2024 IT budgets, which resulted in fewer redeployments of our consultants as projects were completed at yearend within the existing clients. This also contributed to a slightly later start in the typical acceleration of new orders from our clients at the beginning of the year.

當我們研究第一季初期趨勢時，我們發現，我們技術業務的年底任務量略高於去年同期水平，因為客戶批准 2024 年 IT 預算的速度通常比平時慢，這導致我們顧問的重新部署減少，因為專案在年底在現有客戶範圍內完成。這也導致我們客戶新訂單在年初的典型加速成長中起步稍晚。

With that said, over the last two weeks, we've seen an improvement in our leading indicators, and as a result, we believe that the level of new assignment starts could improve from current levels as we get later in the quarter. This suggests we may see a more traditional pattern of growth in the number of technology consultants on assignment, albeit beginning slightly later in the quarter than usual.

話雖如此，在過去兩週內，我們看到領先指標有所改善，因此，我們相信，隨著本季度後期新任務的開始水平可能會從當前水平有所提高。這表明，我們可能會看到受命的技術顧問數量呈現更為傳統的成長模式，儘管本季的成長開始時間比平時略晚。

Our clients recognize the need to retain the highly skilled talent that we provide while they await a point of increased confidence to address their increasing backlog of critical technology initiatives more aggressively.

我們的客戶認識到需要留住我們提供的高技能人才，同時等待信心增強，以便更積極地解決日益積壓的關鍵技術計劃。

Overall average bill rates in our technology business remained near record levels at approximately $90 per hour. While bill rates have been stable over the past few quarters, we expect them to increase over the longer term as highly skilled talent will remain in short supply as demand improves. In addition, we're continuing to benefit from an increased mix of managed teams and project engagements within our overall technology business, which carries an average higher bill rate.

我們技術業務的整體平均費率仍保持在接近歷史最高水平，約為每小時 90 美元。雖然過去幾季票據利率一直保持穩定，但我們預計長期來看利率將會上升，因為隨著需求的增加，高技能人才仍然供應不足。此外，我們繼續受益於整體技術業務中管理團隊和專案參與度的增加，這帶來了更高的平均收費率。

Our clients remain focused on critical technology initiatives in the areas of digital, UI/UX, cloud, data governance, data analytics, business intelligence, project and program management, and modernization efforts. This represents a continuation of recent trends and reflects some of the front-end work needed by companies to take advantage of planned AI-related investments.

我們的客戶仍然專注於數位、UI/UX、雲端、資料治理、數據分析、商業智慧、專案和專案管理以及現代化工作領域的關鍵技術計劃。這代表了近期趨勢的延續，並反映了公司利用計劃中的人工智慧相關投資所需的一些前端工作。

Flex margins of 25.4% in our technology business saw a seasonal decline of 10 basis points sequentially and 70 basis points year over year. As we've mentioned on prior calls, the year-over-year declines in technology flex margins that we've seen recently are typical of what we see have seen in prior slowdowns. And we normally see margins recover as the macroeconomic environment stabilizes.

我們的科技業務的彈性利潤率為 25.4%，季減 10 個基點，較去年同期下降 70 個基點。正如我們在之前的電話會議中提到的那樣，我們最近看到的技術彈性利潤率的同比下降是先前經濟放緩的典型表現。隨著宏觀經濟環境的穩定，我們通常會看到利潤率回升。

As we look forward to Q1, we expect bill pay spreads in our technology business to continue to be stable, though, overall, flex margins will be lower due to seasonal payroll tax resets We've continued to broaden our service offerings beyond traditional staffing to include managed teams and project solutions. Clients consider access to the right talent essential to their success and see our services as a cost-effective solution for their project requirements, as demonstrated by more than 90% of managed teams and project solutions being executed within existing client.

展望第一季度，我們預計技術業務的帳單支付利差將繼續保持穩定，但總體而言，由於季節性工資稅重置，彈性利潤率將會降低。我們將繼續擴大我們的服務範圍，超越傳統的人員配置，包括管理團隊和專案解決方案。客戶認為獲得合適的人才對於他們的成功至關重要，並將我們的服務視為滿足其專案需求的經濟高效的解決方案，現有客戶中執行的管理團隊和專案解決方案超過 90% 就證明了這一點。

Our integrated strategy capitalizes on the strong relationships we have with world-class companies by utilizing our existing sales, recruiters, and consultants to provide higher-value teams and project solutions that effectively and cost efficiently address our clients' challenges.

我們的綜合策略充分利用我們與世界一流公司的牢固關係，利用我們現有的銷售、招聘人員和顧問來提供更高價值的團隊和專案解決方案，有效且經濟高效地解決客戶的挑戰。

Our client portfolio is diverse and includes large market-leading customers. Market leaders typically prioritize technology investments to maintain their competitive advantage. Our focus on addressing their needs continues to be critical in our ability to drive sustainable, long-term, above-market performance.

我們的客戶組合多種多樣，其中包括大型市場領先的客戶。市場領導者通常優先考慮技術投資以保持其競爭優勢。我們專注於滿足他們的需求，這對我們實現可持續、長期、高於市場的表現至關重要。

While short-term disruption may occur within certain clients or industries, our diverse client base provides an outstanding platform for consistent long-term growth. We experienced stabilization in some of our larger industry verticals in Q4, including financial services and technology services. Elsewhere, we saw quarter-over-quarter improvement in transportation and retail trade and some headwinds in manufacturing.

雖然某些客戶或產業可能會出現短期中斷，但我們多樣化的客戶群為長期持續成長提供了卓越的平台。第四季度，我們的一些較大的垂直行業趨於穩定，包括金融服務和技術服務。在其他領域，我們看到運輸和零售貿易環比改善，但製造業面臨一些阻力。

Looking forward to Q1, we expect technology revenue to decline between 10% and 12% year over year, which is consistent with Q4 2023.

展望第一季度，我們預計技術收入將年減 10% 至 12%，與 2023 年第四季一致。

Our FA business grew approximately 2% sequentially but declined 28% year over year as the prior-year period included a project to support hurricane relief efforts. The year-over-year decline also reflects the impact of business we are no longer supporting due to our repositioning efforts in a more challenging macro environment. We expect revenues to be down approximately 25% year over year.

我們的 FA 業務較上季成長約 2%，但年減 28%，因為去年同期包括一個支援颶風救援工作的專案。同比下降也反映了我們在更具挑戰性的宏觀環境中重新定位的努力導致我們不再支持的業務的影響。我們預計收入將年減約 25%。

Our average bill rate has continued to exceed $50 per hour, reflecting our success in repositioning this business towards a higher skill set of business, which is more synergistic with our technology service offering. Flex margins in our FA business decreased 70 basis points sequentially due to a lower margin project with a strategic client but have improved 330 basis points since the first half of 2020, as our mix of business has significantly improved.

我們的平均收費標準持續超過每小時 50 美元，這反映出我們成功地將這項業務重新定位為更高技能的業務，這與我們的技術支援服務更具協同作用。由於與策略客戶的專案利潤率較低，我們的 FA 業務的彈性利潤率環比下降了 70 個基點，但自 2020 年上半年以來已提高了 330 個基點，因為我們的業務組合得到了顯著改善。

We expect bill pay spreads to remain fairly stable at these levels now that the significant majority of business that we are no longer pursuing has run off. However, overall FA margins will decrease sequentially due to seasonal payroll tax resets.

由於我們不再從事的絕大多數業務已經流失，我們預計帳單支付利差將保持相當穩定的水平。然而，由於季節性工資稅重置，整體 FA 利潤率將持續下降。

We've taken the necessary and thoughtful measures to strike a balance between associate productivity and our revenue expectations. As we've done in prior economic downturns, we are focused on retaining our most productive associates and making targeted investments in the business to ensure that we are well prepared to capitalize on the market demand when it accelerates.

我們採取了必要且周到的措施來在員工生產力和我們的收入預期之間取得平衡。正如我們在應對以往經濟衰退時所做的那樣，我們專注於留住最有生產力的員工，並對業務進行有針對性的投資，以確保我們做好充分準備，在市場需求加速成長時抓住機會。

We continue to invest in our managed teams and project solutions capabilities and the integration of those offerings within the firm, which is progressing well. We are fortunate to have one of the most recognized brands in the market for providing technology talent solutions. Our reputation has been established over our 60-plus-year operating history, and we continue to carry the highest overall Glassdoor rating within our peer group.

我們繼續投資於我們的管理團隊和專案解決方案能力以及公司內部產品的整合，目前進展順利。我們很幸運擁有市場上最知名的技術人才解決方案品牌之一。我們的聲譽是在 60 多年的營運歷史中建立起來的，並且在同行中我們繼續保持最高的 Glassdoor 整體評級。

I'm tremendously excited about our strategic position and the ability to continue delivering above-market performance. The success that we have as an organization doesn't happen without the unwavering trust that our clients, candidates, and consultants place in us. And I appreciate the dedication, creativity, and resilience displayed by our incredible team.

我對我們的策略地位和持續提供高於市場表現的能力感到非常興奮。我們作為一個組織所取得的成功離不開客戶、候選人和顧問對我們的堅定信任。我欣賞我們出色的團隊所展現的奉獻精神、創造力和韌性。

I'll now turn the call over to Jeff Hackman, Kforce's Chief Financial Officer.

現在我將把電話轉給 Kforce 的財務長 Jeff Hackman。

Thank you, Dave. In my commentary, I will discuss certain non-GAAP items. The non-GAAP financial measures provided should not be considered as a substitute for or superior to the measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. They are included as additional clarifying items to aid investors in further understanding the impact of these costs on our financial results. Our press release provides the reconciliation of differences between GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures.

謝謝你，戴夫。在我的評論中，我將討論某些非 GAAP 項目。所提供的非 GAAP 財務指標不應被視為替代或優於依照 GAAP 編製的財務績效指標。它們作為額外的澄清項目，以幫助投資者進一步了解這些成本對我們的財務結果的影響。我們的新聞稿提供了 GAAP 和非 GAAP 財務指標之間差異的調整。

Overall revenues in 2023 of $1.53 billion decreased approximately 10% year over year. GAAP earnings per share in 2023 was $3.13, which declined 15% year over year. As adjusted for the third-quarter charges associated with actions to reduce our structural costs and the settlement of outstanding legal matters, EPS was $3.49 in 2023. This represents a decrease of 18% over the prior-year period as adjusted for a fourth quarter 2022 impairment charge related to a previous joint venture.

2023 年總營收為 15.3 億美元，年減約 10%。2023 年 GAAP 每股盈餘為 3.13 美元，較去年同期下降 15%。經調整與降低結構性成本和解決未決法律問題相關的第三季費用後，2023 年每股收益為 3.49 美元。經調整與先前的合資企業相關的 2022 年第四季減損費用後，與去年同期相比下降了 18%。

Fourth-quarter revenues of $363.4 million declined 13.4% year over year, while earnings per share of $0.82 was at the top end of guidance due to lower-than-expected SG&A costs. Overall gross margins declined 40 basis points sequentially and declined 120 basis points year over year to 27.3% in the fourth quarter due to a combination of a lower mix of direct hire revenue and a decline in flex margins.

第四季營收為 3.634 億美元，年減 13.4%，但由於銷售、一般及行政費用低於預期，每股收益為 0.82 美元，處於預期最高水準。由於直接僱用收入組合下降和彈性利潤率下降，第四季整體毛利率較上季下降 40 個基點，較去年同期下降 120 個基點至 27.3%。

Overall, SG&A expenses as a percentage of revenue was 21%, which is a decrease of 150 basis points year over year, or a decrease of 100 basis points after normalizing for the joint venture impairment charge. SG&A costs were lower than anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2023 due to lower performance-based compensation, lower healthcare costs, and lower professional fees stemming from the settlement of outstanding litigation.

整體而言，銷售、一般及行政費用佔收入的百分比為 21%，年減 150 個基點，或在合資企業減損費用正常化後下降 100 個基點。2023 年第四季度，銷售、一般及行政費用低於預期，原因是績效薪酬降低、醫療保健成本降低、未決訴訟和解導致的專業費用降低。

We also continued to exercise greater discretionary spend control in this macro environment and generate leverage from our real estate portfolio, given our office occasional work environment. Our operating margin of 6% exceeded the high end of our expectations of 5.8%. Our effective tax rate in the fourth quarter was 26.6%, which was 160 basis points higher than we anticipated due to adjustments to certain tax credits.

考慮到我們辦公室偶爾的工作環境，我們也繼續在這種宏觀環境下實施更大的自由支配支出控制，並從我們的房地產投資組合中獲得槓桿作用。我們的營業利潤率為 6%，超過了我們預期的 5.8% 的上限。我們第四季的有效稅率為 26.6%，由於某些稅收抵免的調整，比我們預期的高出 160 個基點。

Operating cash flows were $22 million, and our return on invested capital was approximately 40% in the fourth quarter. We generated $116 million in EBITDA in 2023. Operating cash flows were $91.5 million for 2023, and we've returned nearly $95 million in capital in excess of 100% of our operating cash flows to our shareholders via dividends and open market repurchases.

第四季營運現金流為 2,200 萬美元，投資資本報酬率約 40%。2023 年我們的 EBITDA 為 1.16 億美元。2023 年的營運現金流為 9,150 萬美元，我們透過股利和公開市場回購向股東返還了超過 100% 經營現金流的近 9,500 萬美元資本。

We have prudently managed our business by driving solid organic growth over many years that has resulted in consistently strong results and a pristine balance sheet with minimal debt. As Joe indicated in his opening remarks, our Board of Directors approved an increase to our dividend, the fifth consecutive annual increase, and an increase in our share repurchase authorization to $100 million. These actions, again, demonstrate our financial strength and continued confidence in our business.

多年來，我們一直審慎管理我們的業務，推動穩健的有機成長，從而帶來持續強勁的業績和極少債務的完美資產負債表。正如喬在開場白中所指出的，我們的董事會批准增加股息，這是連續第五年增加股息，並將我們的股票回購授權增加到 1 億美元。這些舉措再次證明了我們的財務實力和對業務的持續信心。

Our pattern of returning significant capital to our shareholders has been consistent over many years, not just in this operating environment. In fact, since we initiated our dividend in 2014, we have increased it nearly 400%. And since 2007, we have reduced our weighted average shares outstanding from $42.3 million to $19.5 million. All in, we have returned slightly more than $900 million in capital to our shareholders since 2007, which has represented approximately 75% of the cash generated, whilst significantly growing our business and improving profitability levels.

多年來，我們一直堅持向股東返還大量資本，而不僅僅是在當前的經營環境下。事實上，自 2014 年我們開始派發股利以來，我們的股利已經增加了近 400%。自 2007 年以來，我們已將加權平均流通股數從 4,230 萬美元減少至 1,950 萬美元。總而言之，自 2007 年以來，我們已向股東返還了略高於 9 億美元的資本，約佔所產生現金的 75%，同時顯著增長了我們的業務並提高了盈利水平。

We remain committed to returning capital regardless of the economic climate, and our threshold for any prospective acquisition remains high. Our strong balance sheet and the flexibility we have under our credit facility provides us with the opportunity to get more aggressive in repurchasing our stock if there is a dislocation between expected future financial performance and the valuation of our shares.

無論經濟情勢如何，我們始終致力於返還資本，我們對任何潛在收購的門檻仍然很高。如果預期的未來財務表現與我們的股票估值出現脫節，我們強勁的資產負債表和信貸安排下的靈活性將為我們提供更積極地回購股票的機會。

The first quarter has 64 billing days, which is three more than the fourth quarter of 2023 and the same as the first quarter of 2023. We expect Q1 revenues to be in the range of $351 million to $359 million and earnings per share to be between $0.54 and $0.62 Our guidance does not consider the potential impact of any other unusual or non-recurring items that may occur.

第一季有 64 個計費天數，比 2023 年第四季多 3 個計費天數，與 2023 年第一季相同。我們預計第一季營收將在 3.51 億美元至 3.59 億美元之間，每股收益將在 0.54 美元至 0.62 美元之間。我們的指引並未考慮可能發生的任何其他異常或非經常性項目的潛在影響。

Looking beyond what we expect may be short-term macroeconomic uncertainties, we remain extremely excited about our strategic position and prospects for continuing to deliver above-market growth, while continuing to make the necessary investments in our integrated strategy and the ongoing transformation of our back office that will help drive long-term growth and profitability improvements.

除了我們預期的短期宏觀經濟不確定性之外，我們仍然對我們的戰略地位和繼續實現高於市場的成長前景感到非常興奮，同時繼續對我們的綜合戰略和後台部門的持續轉型進行必要的投資，這將有助於推動長期增長和盈利能力的提高。

Joe mentioned our longer-term financial objective of obtaining double-digit operating margins. We believe the key contributors are increased scale, productivity improvements, including through our back-office transformation program and advancements in AI technologies, driving a greater mix of managed teams and solutions business, and further reducing our fixed costs such as real estate. As a point of reference, in 2022, our operating margin was approximately 7% at $1.7 billion in revenue.

喬提到了我們的長期財務目標是實現兩位數的營業利潤率。我們認為，關鍵因素是規模擴大、生產力提高（包括透過我們的後台轉型計劃和人工智慧技術的進步）、推動管理團隊和解決方案業務的更大組合，以及進一步降低我們的房地產等固定成本。作為參考，2022 年我們的營業利潤率約為 7%，營收為 17 億美元。

As we look forward, the anticipated benefits associated with our back-office transformation program are about 100 basis points compared to the current level of investment. When you combine this benefit with the benefit of scale, we believe a reasonable revenue level for us to attain double-digit operating margins is slightly more than $2 billion in annual revenues. We offer this data point as our confidence in achieving these profitability levels has further increased due to the returns we have seen in our front office technology investments and our progress with our transformation efforts.

展望未來，我們的後台轉型計畫預計帶來的收益將比目前的投資水準高出約 100 個基點。如果將這一優勢與規模優勢結合起來，我們認為，實現兩位數營業利潤率的合理收入水準是年收入略高於 20 億美元。我們提供這個數據點是因為我們對實現這些獲利水準的信心進一步增強，這得益於我們在前台技術投資中看到的回報以及我們在轉型努力中取得的進展。

In behalf of our entire management team, I'd like to extend a sincere thank you to our teams for their efforts. We would now like to turn the call over for questions.

我謹代表我們整個管理團隊，向我們的團隊所做的努力表示誠摯的感謝。我們現在想將電話轉交給提問者。

(Operator Instructions) Mark Marcon, Baird.

（操作員指示）馬克·馬孔，貝爾德。

Hey, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions. I'm wondering with regards to the tech flex, you did note that there was a little bit of a slower start, but in the last couple of weeks, things have picked up. And if I take a look at this, the year-over-year trends, it looks like they've actually improved in the fourth quarter.

嘿，下午好。感謝您回答我的問題。我想知道關於技術靈活性的情況，您確實注意到開始時速度有點慢，但在過去的幾周里，情況已經好轉了。如果我看一下同比趨勢，就會發現第四季確實有所改善。

So I'm wondering, can you talk a little bit about your level of confidence? And what -- is there any particular vertical or area where you're starting to see a rebound with regards to the assignments picking up?

所以我想知道，您能談談您的自信程度嗎？那麼—在某個特定的垂直領域或領域中，您是否開始看到任務量回升的反彈？

Yeah, Mark, this is Dave Kelly. I think I'd start by saying, obviously, there's a lot happening, and I mean, obviously, always a bit of uncertainty, but just kind of put a little clarity on some of the comments that I made. So you're right, it was a little bit greater amount of ends that we had seen at the end of the year. There were seemed to be some delay in some budgetary approvals. And so that led to maybe a bit greater follow-up.

是的，馬克，我是戴夫凱利。我想首先要說的是，顯然發生了很多事情，我的意思是，顯然總是存在一些不確定性，但我只是想對我所發表的一些評論進行一些澄清。所以你說得對，我們在年底看到的結局數量要多一點。一些預算批准似乎有所延遲。因此，這也許會引發更大範圍的後續行動。

But in the last two weeks, really, we've seen a lot of our key performance indicators, our job orders, our interview, send outs really return to late Q3 levels. If you remember, and obviously we made it up as a point in the remarks, we saw sequential growth from Q3 to Q4 in our technology business as a result of increased activity.

但在過去兩週，我們確實看到許多關鍵績效指標、工作訂單、面試和發送量都恢復到了第三季末的水平。如果你還記得的話，顯然我們在評論中提到了這一點，由於活動的增加，我們的技術業務從第三季到第四季實現了連續成長。

So we think that the levels that we've seen in the last couple of weeks and what we continue to hear anecdotally from our clients about the backlog of technology investments are positive indicators. So I think as we -- and I wouldn't say, by the way, you asked about industry, that there's a particular industry that's driving it. It is pretty broadly based, as we always say. There are certain clients and projects that we might win and/or new activities, but it's not industry specific.

因此，我們認為，過去幾週看到的水平以及我們不斷從客戶那裡聽到的有關技術投資積壓的傳聞都是積極的指標。所以我認為——順便說一句，你問到的是行業，我不會說有某個特定的行業在推動它。正如我們常說的那樣，它的基礎非常廣泛。我們可能會贏得某些客戶和專案和/或開展新活動，但這並非特定於行業。

So if I were to characterize it, I think overall, I'd say that we characterize the environment really as we sit here today pretty similar to we saw in early Q4, stable with some positive signs for potential improvement. So feel pretty good about where we sit.

因此，如果要我描述它的話，我認為總體而言，我會說我們今天所處的環境與我們在第四季度初看到的非常相似，穩定且有一些潛在改善的積極跡象。所以對我們的坐姿感覺很好。

Great. And then can you talk just a little bit about the bill rates? So in Q4 on the tech side, they were down a little bit both sequentially and year over year. And that coincided with the flex gross margin declining a little bit sequentially and year over year. Wondering, was that specific to any one particular client or was that broad based as well? And how should we think about the margin profile for tech flex for the coming year? Do you feel confident that we can stabilize those gross margins?

偉大的。那您能稍微談談帳單利率嗎？因此，第四季的技術方面，無論是環比還是同比，都略有下降。同時，柔性毛利率較上月及年比均略有下降。想知道，這是針對某個特定客戶還是廣泛的基礎？我們該如何看待未來一年技術彈性的利潤狀況？您是否有信心我們能夠穩定這些毛利率？

Yeah, Mark. This is Dave again. Maybe I'll put a little bit finer point. And obviously, we all know 2023 was a tough year in the technology space, right? So clients obviously putting pressure on bill rates as well.

是的，馬克。我又是戴夫。也許我可以提出更細緻的觀點。顯然，我們都知道 2023 年是科技領域艱難的一年，對吧？因此客戶顯然也對帳單利率施加了壓力。

But you've mentioned the decline. To be precise, I think the bill rate declined in technology 0.2%, so less than 0.50% percent. So when we talk about relatively stable at $90, it is essentially stable. So there is no specific driver to that 0.2%, right? It could be a project; it could be a mixed item. But it is really a nominal change anyway. So I don't think we think about it as a difference year over year in bill rates.

但您提到了下降。準確地說，我認為技術方面的票據利率下降了 0.2%，因此低於 0.50%。因此，當我們談論 90 美元的相對穩定時，它基本上是穩定的。那麼，這 0.2% 沒有特定的驅動因素，對嗎？這可能是一個項目；它可能是一種混合物品。但無論如何，這確實是一個名義上的改變。所以我不認為我們會認為票據利率逐年有差異。

In terms of the margin expectations that we've got going forward, we really have seen and we've mentioned we don't expect any spread changes other than payroll tax resets in Q1. We said that we've seen that the last couple quarters. So we look to margins in technology, in flexible -- technology flex to be stable at these levels in the near term.

就我們未來的利潤預期而言，我們確實已經看到並提到，除了第一季工資稅重置之外，我們預計利差不會有任何變化。我們說過，過去幾季我們已經看到了這種情況。因此，我們預期技術利潤率、靈活性—技術靈活性將在短期內穩定在這些水準。

I would say as in the longer term, obviously, when some of this uncertainty clears up and maybe we see some positive inflection in the revenue trends, we would also typically see expansion in margin. So this is pretty historical. I mean, this looks pretty much like we've seen historically. So we feel like we're kind of following just as we have from a revenue perspective, from a margin perspective, a pretty traditional pattern.

我想說，從長遠來看，顯然，當一些不確定性消除時，我們可能會看到收入趨勢出現一些積極的變化，我們通常也會看到利潤率的擴大。這是非常具有歷史意義的。我的意思是，這看起來很像我們歷史上見過的。因此，我們覺得，從收入角度和利潤角度來看，我們正在遵循一個非常傳統的模式。

And Mark, this is Joe. So I'll add on one comment to where Dave went. Dave touched on this, but I think we've seen after the earlier declines that we saw in our flex margin profile and our technology business in the first half of 2023, we've seen really good stability in Q3 and Q4. The tick down that you mentioned in the fourth quarter has more to do with some of the seasonal impacts that we traditionally see Q3 to Q4.

馬克，這是喬。因此，我將對 Dave 所去的地方添加一條評論。戴夫談到了這一點，但我認為，在 2023 年上半年我們的彈性利潤率和技術業務下滑之後，我們在第三季和第四季看到了非常好的穩定性。您提到的第四季度的下降更多地與我們傳統上在第三季度至第四季度看到的一些季節性影響有關。

And Dave's right. I think as we sit here today, certainly the economic sky's clear up a bit, I would expect to recapture some of that lost margin earlier in the year, but in the near term expect good stability in our technology business.

戴夫是對的。我認為，當我們今天坐在這裡時，經濟狀況肯定會好轉，我預計今年早些時候損失的利潤會有所恢復，但短期內預計我們的技術業務將保持良好的穩定性。

That's great. And then you did a really nice job in terms of managing the discretionary SG&A and showing more efficiency. You also mentioned that you've got the workday implementation that you're putting in place. The guidance for Q1 is relatively clear. How should we think about that unfolding as the year goes through? Are there -- are you anticipating any big jumps in terms of your internal SG&A just due to project starts for your internal initiatives or anything that we should be aware of from that perspective?

那太棒了。然後，您在管理可自由支配的銷售、一般和行政費用方面做得非常出色，並且顯示出更高的效率。您也提到您已經實施了工作日。第一季的指引相對明確。隨著時間的推移，我們該如何看待這情況的發展？您是否預計，由於內部計畫的啟動，您的內部銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 會大幅成長，或從這個角度來看我們應該注意的任何事情？

No. I think Mark -- and thank you for your comments on the SG&A control going into the year. Joe said it, controlling what we can control. I think as it relates to our back-office transformation program, we mentioned in our prepared remarks the selection of Workday. Mark, that's been a program we've made comments on our earnings call historically. We've been after this for probably the last 2, 2.5 years. And the selection of Workday in the second half of 2023, I think, is meant to convey some increased confidence in the roadmap that we're going under.

不。我認為馬克——感謝您對今年銷售、一般及行政費用控制的評論。喬說過，控制我們能控制的事。我認為，由於它與我們的後台轉型計劃有關，我們在準備好的評論中提到了選擇 Workday。馬克，這是我們在以往的收益電話會議上發表過評論的計劃。我們可能已經為此奮鬥了 2 到 2.5 年了。我認為，在 2023 年下半年選擇 Workday 是為了表達對我們所遵循的路線圖的更多信心。

And in 2024, Mark, we're continuing to invest at about the pace that we have been in '23 heading into '24. So I think from an SG&A standpoint, I wouldn't expect anything significant in '24 related to our Gemini program. So I think that's the short of it, Mark, I think from that standpoint.

馬克，到 2024 年，我們將繼續以 2023 年至 2024 年的速度進行投資。因此，我認為從銷售、一般及行政費用的角度來看，我不會預期 24 年與我們的雙子座計畫相關的任何重大進展。所以我認為這就是事情的簡要情況，馬克，我從這個角度來思考。

Right. And then last one for me. Encouraged to hear you talk about when we get to $2 billion getting to double-digit operating margins. How are you thinking about just in broad strokes the gross margin for the company and the SG&A as a percentage of revenue? I'm assuming we're going to get more efficiency with regards to the SG&A, and you mentioned100 bps. But wondering if you can put it just a finer point as we think about that $2 billion double-digit mark.

正確的。這是我的最後一個。很高興聽到您談論當我們達到 20 億美元時如何實現兩位數的營業利潤率。您如何大致理解公司的毛利率以及銷售、一般及行政費用佔收入的百分比？我假設我們將在銷售、一般及行政費用方面獲得更高的效率，正如您所提到的 100 個基點。但當我們考慮 20 億美元的兩位數大關時，您是否可以更詳細地闡述這一點？

Yeah. And I think, Mark, there's a number of components to getting from where we were at the end of 2022, which was about the 7% to double-digit operating margin. I covered those in the prepared remarks.

是的。馬克，我認為，要從 2022 年底的水平（約 7%）實現兩位數的營業利潤率，需要多種因素。我在準備好的發言稿中已經談到了這些內容。

Certainly, Mark, you would expect the benefits. I know we've talked about to what degree is this linear versus a bit of a step function. But I think certainly, you would expect the benefits of scale as we continue to grow. Revenue would be more linear.

當然，馬克，你會期待得到好處。我知道我們已經討論過這種線性程度與階躍函數的關係。但我確信，隨著我們不斷成長，您一定會期待規模效益。收入將更加線性。

I think it's also fair to assume that some of the linear progression that we've been after for quite a number of years as we invest in technology to drive both front office and back-office improvements for that to largely be linear.

我認為，我們也可以合理地假設，隨著我們投資技術來推動前台和後台改進，我們多年來一直追求的一些線性進展基本上是線性的。

I did mention in my prepared remarks that a significant contributing factor to our financial objectives is our back-office transformation program. Certainly, compared more to what our current investment run rate is to the benefits, we anticipate that being about 100 basis points. As you call out, we've got several years left in that program. I would expect us to step into some of those savings versus a pure linear progression from a math standpoint. So we feel pretty confident there.

我在準備好的演講中確實提到過，我們實現財務目標的一個重要因素是我們的後台轉型計劃。當然，與我們目前的投資運行率與收益相比，我們預計該數字約為 100 個基點。正如你所說，該計劃還剩下幾年的時間。從數學角度來看，我希望我們能夠實現部分節省，而不是純粹的線性成長。所以我們對此非常有信心。

The last component, I would say, we've been after for a number of years, which is constantly getting after our structural fixed costs and things like real estate, et cetera, we've been driving that for a number of years. And in '24 and '25, we've got a bit of work left to do there, Mark. But hopefully that helps a bit.

我想說的是，最後一個組成部分是我們多年來一直追求的，即不斷追求我們的結構性固定成本以及房地產等，我們已經推動這個目標很多年了。馬克，在 24 年和 25 年，我們還有一些工作要做。但希望這能有所幫助。

Yeah, maybe just to add, Mark, right? So this is a path that we've been on for a long time, simplifying our business. This is an increasing view of the confidence in being able to get there, right? We have built -- relatively speaking, a very focused model with a focus on improving productivity. We've done that over the last number of years, had significant improvements in operating margins. So this is really just a continuation of a plan we put in place years ago that we've been executing on and expect to continue to execute on.

是的，也許只是補充一下，馬克，對吧？這是我們長期以來一直走的一條道路，簡化我們的業務。這說明我們越來越有信心能夠實現這一目標，對嗎？相對而言，我們已經建立了一個非常集中的模型，重點是提高生產力。我們在過去幾年中已經做到了這一點，營業利潤率也得到了顯著提高。因此，這實際上只是我們多年前製定的計劃的延續，我們一直在執行該計劃，並希望繼續執行。

Yeah, Mark, this is Joe. I would say, as the most tenured person in the room, this has been a 20-year journey. You can go all the way back to the dotcom. And coming out of the dotcom, we made strategic decisions in and around, taking down our percentage of focus with indirect hire for a variety of reasons, which we were never going to get back to operating margin. When that happened, we've proven the firm is capable of doing that with that shift.

是的，馬克，這是喬。我想說，作為這個房間裡任職時間最長的人，這是一段 20 年的旅程。您可以一路追溯到網路時代。在走出網路泡沫之後，我們做出了一系列策略決策，由於各種原因，我們降低了間接招聘的關注比例，而這部分比例再也無法恢復到營業利潤率。當這種情況發生時，我們已經證明公司有能力透過這種轉變做到這一點。

And then even as we moved past the dotcom when we made strategic decisions to divest those units that weren't going to be able to compete for dollars, investment dollars because of our focus on IT and shedding that revenue and replacing it with healthy tech revenue. So long, long strategic plan to get us where we are today. We are highly confident in what Jeff spoke about, that as we get into that $2 billion range, we'll be able to achieve those double-digit operating margins.

然後，即使我們已經走出了網路泡沫時代，我們仍然做出策略決策，剝離那些無法競爭美元和投資資金的部門，因為我們專注於 IT，放棄這些收入，並代之以健康的技術收入。我們制定瞭如此漫長的戰略計劃，才達到今天的水準。我們對傑夫所說的非常有信心，當我們進入 20 億美元範圍時，我們將能夠實現兩位數的營業利潤率。

That's great. Thank you very much.

那太棒了。非常感謝。

Sure.

當然。

Trevor Romeo, William Blair.

特雷弗羅密歐、威廉布萊爾。

Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking the questions. First one, yeah, I know you talked about clients being slower to approve their budgets this year, but I had a question about the size of the IT budgets you're seeing relative to last year. I think maybe last quarter you talked about potentially flat to slightly up versus 2023. Is that still your expectation?

嗨，下午好。感謝您回答這些問題。首先，是的，我知道您談到客戶今年批准預算的速度較慢，但我有一個問題，即與去年相比，您所看到的 IT 預算規模如何。我認為也許上個季度您談到了與 2023 年相比可能持平或略有上升。這仍然是您的期望嗎？

And then if we do happen to see an increase in macro confidence later this year, how quickly do you think those clients can adjust and potentially increase project spending?

那麼，如果我們確實在今年稍後看到宏觀信心的增強，您認為這些客戶能夠多快調整併可能增加專案支出？

Yeah, I would say nothing's really changed at this point in time. In general, we are hearing flat to slightly increasing budgets over 2023, again, with that emphasis on projects focused to gain efficiencies both internally and externally.

是的，我想說目前一切都沒有改變。總體而言，我們聽到的預測是 2023 年的預算將持平或略有增加，同樣，重點是專注於提高內部和外部效率的專案。

But I think as I might even have mentioned last quarter, needless to say, there are industry and specific client drivers, which we believe play to our favor in terms of the quality and diversity of our overall portfolio. We are seeing also that the budgets, as they're being discussed, they are being allocated a little bit differently than in prior years.

但我認為，正如我上個季度可能提到的那樣，毋庸置疑，存在著行業和特定客戶驅動因素，我們相信這對我們整體投資組合的品質和多樣性有利。我們也看到，在討論預算時，其分配方式與前幾年略有不同。

There's really a focus on stretching the dollar to get more out of it. I think the good news for us is that's opening up more opportunities as clients are no longer exclusively looking at just traditional consulting firms to do their very high-cost type work, which provides us an opening for firms such as us to really go after this hybrid-type work in a more efficient, with staffing and solutions and servicing through multiple means there. So nothing's really changed from that standpoint.

人們真正關注的是充分利用美元，以獲得更大的收益。我認為對我們來說好消息是，這開啟了更多的機會，因為客戶不再只專注於傳統的顧問公司來完成高成本的工作，這為我們這樣的公司提供了一個機會，讓我們能夠以更有效率的方式真正開展這種混合型工作，透過多種方式提供人員、解決方案和服務。所以從這個角度來看，其實什麼都沒有改變。

I do believe, if we do see the interest rates start to step down and we see a positive reaction, I think clients could move very quickly because their backlog is just incredible. They're not able to get done what they need to get done in terms of staying competitive and with disruptive factors that are out there.

我確實相信，如果我們確實看到利率開始下降並且看到積極的反應，我認為客戶可能會迅速採取行動，因為他們的積壓訂單實在是太驚人了。在保持競爭力和應對外界幹擾因素方面，他們無法完成需要完成的工作。

And then through Gen AI on top of that and everybody's desires there -- because we are seeing the majority of the clients that we work with, I would say, that are non-technology specific from an industry standpoint, they're very much in the early innings. They're getting after rationalizing their data, organizing their data to position their opportunities. So while they're making investments there, I'm sure no different than here at Kforce.

然後透過 Gen AI 以及每個人的願望——因為我們看到我們合作的大多數客戶，我想說，從行業角度來看，他們並不是特定於技術的，他們還處於早期階段。他們正在合理化他們的數據，組織他們的數據來定位他們的機會。因此，當他們在那裡進行投資時，我確信這與 Kforce 在這裡沒有什麼不同。

I wish we had more SG&A dollars to accelerate certain things. So there's a balance there. And I think that's -- we're just a microcosm of what we're experiencing with our clients. But as things start to get become greater visibility, more predictable, I think we'll see things loosen up.

我希望我們有更多的銷售、一般和行政費用來加速某些事情。因此，這裡存在一個平衡點。我認為這只是我們與客戶經歷的縮影。但隨著事情開始變得更加清晰、更加可預測，我認為我們會看到事情變得寬鬆。

Okay, great. Thanks, Joe. That's helpful. And then I guess just following up on some of the improvement you've seen in the leading project indicators lately. Does the Q1 guidance assume that, I guess, assignment starts to improve a little bit throughout the quarter, as you described, could happen, or could that be more upside to the guidance that happens?

好的，太好了。謝謝，喬。這很有幫助。然後我想只是跟進一下您最近在領先項目指標中看到的一些改進。我猜，第一季的指導是否假設，正如您所描述的那樣，整個季度的任務開始有所改善，或者這是否會對指導產生更大的好處？

Yeah. I think, Trevor, there's obviously a lag as these indicators start to become more robust. So the improvement that we might see in the first quarter is pretty mild. But the trajectory as we look into the second quarter and beyond for the year will improve. So as we sit here on February 5, we've seen improvements. And it takes a few weeks, right? So you only have a few weeks left in the quarter to see revenue improvement in the quarter.

是的。特雷弗，我認為，隨著這些指標開始變得更加強勁，顯然存在著落後。因此，我們在第一季可能會看到的改善相當溫和。但展望第二季及以後，今年的發展軌跡將會改善。因此，當我們在 2 月 5 日坐在這裡時，我們已經看到了進步。這需要幾週的時間，對嗎？因此，您只剩下本季幾週的時間來觀察本季的營收成長。

So we're not expecting great lift in the first quarter. It's really the momentum as we move forward.

因此，我們預計第一季不會大幅成長。這確實是我們前進的動力。

Okay. Got it, Dave. Thank you.

好的。明白了，戴夫。謝謝。

Kartik Mehta, Northcoast Research.

Kartik Mehta，Northcoast Research。

Yeah. Joe, you talked about the leading indicators. And I just wanted to understand, are these resulting in conversion? Has there been a change in the sales cycle? I guess, ultimately getting from some inquiries to final sales, how's that progressing or what changes have you seen?

是的。喬，你談到了領先指標。我只是想了解一下，這些是否會導致轉變？銷售週期有改變嗎？我想，最終從一些詢問到最終銷售，進展如何或您看到了哪些變化？

Yeah. I would say in terms of those indicators, now we haven't really seen anything change with the sales cycle. The sales cycle has been elongated for really since the back half of 2022 when uncertainty started to creep in. So no material change is there.

是的。我想說，就這些指標而言，現在我們還沒有真正看到銷售週期有任何變化。自 2022 年下半年不確定性開始蔓延以來，銷售週期實際上已經延長。因此不存在實質變化。

I would say you'd asked about conversions. We've actually, over the course of the last four or five quarters, we've seen our conversions come down rather significantly as in comparison to where we were. And again, I think that's why the clients are looking for a little bit more flexibility. So they're holding on to the consultants longer versus converting them in the FTEs, which again, this goes back to what I've discussed on prior calls.

我想說你問的是有關轉換的問題。事實上，在過去四、五個季度中，與之前相比，我們的轉換率大幅下降。再次，我認為這就是客戶尋求更多靈活性的原因。因此，他們留住顧問的時間更長，而不是將他們轉換為全職員工，這又回到了我在之前的電話會議中討論過的內容。

It's the normal cycle that I've seen for 35 years in multiple recessionary periods and tough periods of time, where the first thing they do is exit consultants. The second thing, they right-size their internal resources. And then the third thing they do is they start bringing consultants back on. And then the fourth phase is when they start to really start to bring on back FTE. So I think that's all we're seeing is that traditional cycle playing out.

這是我 35 年來在多次經濟衰退和困難時期看到的正常週期，他們做的第一件事就是退出顧問。第二件事，他們適當地調整內部資源。他們做的第三件事就是開始重新聘請顧問。第四階段是他們開始真正恢復 FTE。所以我認為，我們看到的只是傳統循環的延續。

And then you obviously talked about companies wanting to stretch their dollars, which makes a lot of sense. I'm wondering, is this resulting in any changes from your competition or maybe more competition than you've seen in the past 6 to 12 months?

然後你顯然談到了公司想要精打細算，這很有道理。我想知道，這是否會導致您的競爭對手發生任何變化，或者比過去 6 到 12 個月所見的競爭更加激烈？

Yeah. I would actually say from a competitive standpoint, all the traditional competitors we deal with are still viable competitors. One of the things that typically happens as we go through these cycles is you do see those organizations that were not well prepared, didn't have good balance sheets, maybe had high customer concentration, and they see a receivable go bad. So I don't think we're seeing anything different this cycle than we've historically seen in tougher times.

是的。實際上，從競爭的角度來看，我們所面對的所有傳統競爭對手仍然是可行的競爭對手。當我們經歷這些週期時，通常會發生的事情之一是，你會看到那些準備不充分、資產負債表不良好、客戶集中度可能較高的組織，他們的應收帳款出現壞帳。因此，我認為我們在這個週期中看到的情況與我們歷史上在艱難時期看到的情況沒有什麼不同。

If anything we see the overall competitive landscape shrinking, but it's really more the smaller players that are exiting the marketplace, and we don't see as many new competitors coming in. But in terms of those that we typically see day in and day out, the larger or mid-tier providers, whether they're professional staffing or they're on the solution side, nothing's really changed materially with that landscape.

如果說我們看到的是整體競爭格局正在縮小，那麼實際上更多的是小型企業退出了市場，而且我們沒有看到那麼多新競爭對手進入。但就我們日常看到的那些大型或中型供應商而言，無論他們是專業人員還是解決方案提供者，情況都沒有實質的改變。

The thing I would add, and Joe touched on it in the last sentence, right? So the larger players, the suite of services that they can offer from traditional staff augmentation to manage teams is really an important differentiator. So part of the reason why we can do what we can do is because we've got long-standing relationships with a lot of significant clients who have trust in our ability to deliver across a spectrum of services.

我想補充的是，喬在最後一句話中提到了這一點，對嗎？因此，對於規模較大的參與者而言，他們可以提供的從傳統人員擴充到管理團隊的一系列服務確實是一個重要的區別因素。我們之所以能做到這些，部分原因在於我們與許多重要客戶建立了長期的合作關係，他們相信我們提供各種服務的能力。

And that's what frankly they're looking for in the competitive landscape. And the winners are going to be those companies that can do that across the spectrum.

坦白說，這就是他們在競爭環境中所尋找的東西。而獲勝者將是那些能夠在各個領域做到這一點的公司。

Yeah. And that's why we're seeing the larger players are making those investments because they can afford to. The smaller entities, they can't afford to bring on the resources that bring those credentials to the table to get them in front of the organization because it's an expensive proposition. So I would say that's another strategic dynamic that is evolving in the marketplace versus if you're just in a traditional staff off, which is a much lower expense-type model to get involved with.

是的。這就是為什麼我們看到大公司正在進行這些投資，因為他們有能力這樣做。對於規模較小的實體來說，他們無力承擔提供這些資格所需的資源，以便將這些資格帶到組織面前，因為這是一項昂貴的提議。因此，我想說，這是市場中正在演變的另一種策略動態，相較之下，傳統的員工休假模式則是一種成本低得多的參與模式。

Perfect. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.

完美的。非常感謝。我真的很感激。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Josh Chan, UBS.

瑞銀的 Josh Chan。

Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions. You mentioned the slower ramp up this year. So I was wondering, in the past years that have been slower to ramp up, do you see or expect a catch up where you get back onto the pace? Or do slower start years usually suggest a slower year overall?

嗨，下午好。感謝您回答我的問題。您提到了今年的成長速度較慢。所以我想知道，在過去的幾年裡，你們的成長速度比較慢，你們是否看到或期望你們能夠趕上並重新回到原來的速度？或者說，起步較慢的年份通常意味著整體上年份也會較慢？

Yeah. I think every year is a little bit different, right? So Josh, so I think the way that we characterize this year is obviously 2023 is an uncertain year. Companies looking at their IT budgets are being very thoughtful about it, and they took longer. So this is a phenomenon that we've seen in 2023. You haven't heard us say this in years past.

是的。我認為每年都有點不同，對嗎？喬希，我認為我們對今年的描述顯然是 2023 年是不確定的一年。公司在考慮 IT 預算時會非常慎重，因此花費的時間更長。這是我們在 2023 年看到的現象。過去幾年你都沒聽過我們這麼說。

What we've seen is as they've sorted through that, it's taken them a little bit longer. And now they've finally said, okay, I've got these things that people don't know what I'm going to do; now I need to go find the people to do the work that I need to do. So we've seen literally over the course of the last couple of weeks what we probably would have seen a week or two earlier in a given year.

我們看到，他們解決這個問題花費的時間稍微長了一些。現在他們終於說，好吧，我已經得到了這些東西，但人們不知道我要做什麼；現在我需要去找人來做我需要做的工作。因此，我們在過去幾週內看到的情況實際上可能在一年中的一兩週內就會出現。

So it's more than -- it's not a different model. It's just probably from our perspective, at least from what we've seen so far, a bit of a lag in getting things started.

所以它不僅僅是——它不是一個不同的模型。從我們的角度來看，至少從我們目前所看到的情況來看，事情的起步可能有些落後。

Yeah. And I would add to that. If we were to compare the beginning of 2023 to the beginning of 2024, probably the most material difference is we're hearing more optimism from our clients here in 2024 at the beginning of the year, even albeit that years have started out very similar. Whereas in 2023, there was a lot of concern with the customers. There were a lot of internal things going on within organizations about holding back, about getting prepared to cut back. We are not necessarily hearing those types of things.

是的。我想補充一點。如果我們將 2023 年初與 2024 年初進行比較，可能最實質的區別是，儘管這兩年的開局非常相似，但在 2024 年初，我們從客戶那裡聽到了更多的樂觀情緒。而在 2023 年，客戶卻有許多擔憂。組織內部發生了很多事情，關於抑制開支、準備削減開支。我們不一定會聽到這些事。

So I think this is more of just a delay and pause. So it's kind of the equation of -- looking through that windshield, it was really cloudy in 2023. The windshield looks pretty, pretty clear at this point in time. And I think everybody is just a matter of where perception is of the overall economy, what's going to be happening with the Fed and rate cuts and all those dynamics. So I think everybody's still in a little bit of wait and see. But overall, I'd say a lot more optimism than what we were experiencing in the beginning of 2023.

所以我認為這只是一種延遲和暫停。所以這就像是一個等式——透過擋風玻璃看，2023 年的天氣真的很陰沉。此時擋風玻璃看起來非常非常清晰。我認為每個人只關心對整體經濟的看法、聯準會將如何行動、降息以及所有這些動態。所以我認為大家仍然處於觀望狀態。但總的來說，我認為比 2023 年初的情況要樂觀得多。

Okay. That's really helpful color. Thanks for that characterization, Joe.

好的。這顏色確實很有幫助。謝謝你的描述，喬。

Sure.

當然。

I guess if we look at the long-term goal, thanks for the goalpost that you've put up today. Am I reading it right that to get to the 10% margin from the current profile, it sounds like most of the drivers are SG&A related, meaning that gross margins could be flattish at the current levels, and then you're looking to take SG&A down to get to 10%. Is that the right read?

我想如果我們看一下長期目標，感謝您今天所設立的目標。我讀得對嗎？從目前的狀況來看，要達到 10% 的利潤率，聽起來大多數驅動因素都與銷售、一般及行政費用有關，這意味著毛利率在當前水平上可能會持平，然後您希望降低銷售、一般及行政費用以達到 10%。這樣讀對了嗎？

Yeah. I think -- Josh, this is Jeff. Good to speak with you. I think for the most part, Josh, when you look at the components of the benefit of scale, certainly that is going to be leveraging or existing infrastructure at a lesser pace. When you think about the back-office transformation program, which we've been driving for a number of years now, yes, that gives us the benefit of scale; yes, that gives us better predictability of SG&A. The gross margin tie into that, when you think about Joe and Dave's comments earlier, gross margins are down, call it year over year about 120 basis points.

是的。我想——喬希，這是傑夫。很高興和你交談。喬希，我認為，在大多數情況下，當你查看規模效益的組成部分時，肯定會以較低的速度利用現有基礎設施。當你想到我們已經推動多年的後台轉型計劃時，是的，這給我們帶來了規模優勢；是的，這讓我們更好地預測銷售、一般和行政費用。毛利率與此相關，當您想到喬和戴夫之前的評論時，毛利率下降了，同比下降了約 120 個基點。

As the economic skies start to clear to a degree, we would expect to recapture some of that gross margin. Obviously, in times where you've got a little bit more certainty in the US GDP, certainly positive, our direct higher mix would improve. Obviously, right now it's a little bit depressed at about 2.5%, but historically, we've been roughly 3.5%. So I think as the economy starts to become more clear for our clients, we would expect to recapture some of the gross margin that we've lost. But to your point, Josh, SG&A is a primary driver for us.

隨著經濟情勢開始逐漸明朗，我們預計會重新獲得部分毛利率。顯然，當你對美國 GDP 有更多確定性的時候，這肯定是正面的，我們的直接更高組合將會改善。顯然，目前這一比例略有下降，約為 2.5%，但從歷史上看，這一比例約為 3.5%。因此我認為，隨著經濟狀況對我們的客戶開始變得更加明朗，我們有望重新獲得部分失去的毛利率。但正如你所說，喬希，銷售、一般和行政費用是我們的主要驅動力。

Yeah, I would add. So as a planning mechanism, stable margins are how we're thinking about it. And that's the plan we've been executing on. Opportunities, Jeff mentioned direct hire. Obviously, we continue to have success in the managed teams and project solutions space that typically carries a higher gross margin. So there's opportunity there, but that is not part of it.

是的，我想補充一下。因此，作為一種規劃機制，我們正在考慮穩定的利潤率。這就是我們一直在執行的計劃。機會，傑夫提到了直接僱用。顯然，我們在管理團隊和專案解決方案領域繼續取得成功，這些領域通常具有更高的毛利率。因此那裡有機會，但這不是其中的一部分。

When we're talking about today, the path to improve profitability, we look at that as potential opportunity. That's not part of what we're counting on.

當我們今天談論提高盈利能力的途徑時，我們將其視為潛在的機會。這並不是我們所期望的。

All right. Yeah, I think that's really helpful. Thank you for the color and thanks for your time. Thank you.

好的。是的，我認為這真的很有幫助。感謝您的顏色，感謝您的時間。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Marc Riddick, Sidoti & Company.

馬克·里迪克，西多蒂公司。

Hi, good evening.

嗨，晚上好。

Good evening.

晚安.

Hi, Marc.

你好，馬克。

Hey, Marc.

嘿，馬克。

So a lot of my questions have already been answered. I was wondering if you could just touch a little bit on the cash usage, the announcement of the dividend boost, and the share repurchase authorization. Maybe touch a little bit on that and maybe share thoughts on CapEx for the year. Thank you.

所以我的很多問題已經回答了。我想知道您是否可以稍微談談現金使用情況、股息增加公告以及股票回購授權。也許稍微談談這個，也許分享一下今年資本支出的想法。謝謝。

Yeah, and Mark, good to chat with you. I know we put this in some of the prepared remarks, but I think it's worth reiterating. I think that the short answer on the capital side, as you should expect in 2024, very similar to what we have been doing.

是的，馬克，很高興與您聊天。我知道我們在一些準備好的發言中提到了這一點，但我認為值得重申。我認為，就資本方面而言，正如你所預期的，2024 年的情況與我們一直在做的事情非常相似。

We've been at repurchasing shares for a long time before it was in vogue to be repurchasing shares in the face of a more difficult macro environment. We believe in our ability to generate significant long-term shareholder appreciation, believe that organic revenue growth is naturally for us where to go. You avoid the disruptions that can tend to come from acquisitions in a human capital-centric business. So I think we've been at this for quite a while, Marc.

在面對更困難的宏觀環境而採取回購股票的風潮之前，我們就已經進行了很長時間的股票回購。我們相信我們有能力為股東帶來長期顯著的增值，相信有機收入成長對我們來說是自然而然的方向。您可以避免以人力資本為中心的業務收購可能帶來的混亂。所以我認為我們已經在這個問題上呆了很長時間了，馬克。

We gave the quote earlier on, having 42 million shares in 2007 and about 19.5 million shares that we sit here today. When you take all in since 2007, we returned slightly more than $900 million in capital through our dividend program and our share repurchases. That's significant. And yet again, our Board of Directors continues to support that deployment of capital by raising our dividend 5.5%, which was our fifth consecutive year, and also at the same time, increased that share repurchase authorization to $100 million, which I'll remind you, we also did last Q1 this time.

我們先前給的報價是，2007 年我們持有 4,200 萬股，而今天我們持有約 1,950 萬股。自 2007 年以來，我們透過股利計畫和股票回購返還了略高於 9 億美元的資本。這很重要。而且，我們的董事會繼續支持資本部署，將股息提高 5.5%，這已是連續第五年，同時，還將股票回購授權增加到 1 億美元，我要提醒大家，我們去年第一季也這樣做了。

So you look at that, Marc, and you look over the long term of what we bought back, and we're probably in the high-teens to low-$20 range. So I think from a shareholder perspective, it's been very friendly and for us has been generating significant returns.

所以馬克，你看一下，從長遠來看，我們回購的價格可能在 15 美元到 20 美元之間。因此我認為從股東的角度來看，這非常友好，並為我們帶來了可觀的回報。

Excellent. Any thoughts on maybe ballpark range as far as CapEx for the year?

出色的。對於今年的資本支出大概範圍您有什麼想法嗎？

Yeah. I think CapEx, Marc, I would imagine somewhere between $6 million and $8 million in total for CapEx. That's about what we've been running at. We've obviously got our back-office transformation program which we talked about here, that could tend to lift CapEx to a degree.

是的。馬克，我認為資本支出總額應該在 600 萬到 800 萬美元之間。這就是我們一直在努力的方向。我們顯然已經有了我們在這裡討論過的後台轉型計劃，這可能會在一定程度上提高資本支出。

But the other thing is we've been rationalizing our real estate footprint over time. Leasehold improvements is another area of our CapEx that historically has been part of that, less so as we sit here moving into 2024. So I think it's got a netting effect as we move into '24. So I'd look at it as relatively flat with '23.

但另一件事是，我們一直在合理化我們的房地產足跡。租賃改進是我們資本支出的另一個領域，從歷史上看，它一直是其中的一部分，但隨著我們進入 2024 年，它的作用會逐漸減弱。因此我認為，隨著我們進入 24 年，它會產生淨效應。因此我認為它與 23 年相比相對持平。

Great. Thank you very much.

偉大的。非常感謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Tobey Sommer, Truist Securities.

（操作員指示） Tobey Sommer，Truist Securities。

Thanks. I was wondering if you could give us some color about how you're managing your salespeople, sort of account manager headcount here after a couple of slow years, and what your recruiter headcount looks like, either sequentially or year over year. So that we can get a sense for what kind of capacity you would have to absorb and deal with in increase in demand should it occur.

謝謝。我想知道您是否可以向我們介紹一下您如何管理銷售人員，在經歷了幾年的低迷之後，您的客戶經理人數如何，以及您的招聘人員人數是怎樣的，無論是按季度還是按年增長的。這樣，我們就可以了解，如果需求增加，您必須吸收和處理什麼樣的容量。

Yeah. Hi, Tobey, this is Dave. So I'll start out by saying we've got more than enough capacity to meet current needs and as things accelerate to meet those needs. As you I think know, obviously, our intention with a lot of the investments that we've made over the years and continue to make are to improve the capabilities of our sales and delivery capabilities and allow them to generate more activity. And that is continuing to add to our capacity.

是的。你好，托比，我是戴夫。因此，我首先要說的是，我們有足夠的能力來滿足當前的需求，隨著事態的加速發展，我們也能滿足這些需求。我想您也知道，顯然，我們多年來進行並將繼續進行的大量投資的目的是提高我們的銷售和交付能力，並使它們能夠產生更多的活動。這將繼續增強我們的產能。

And that is continuing as part of the investment cycle as well as we look forward. So in terms of our thought process, Joe had mentioned earlier, obviously, there's been a bit of an elongation. There's more activity in the sales cycle, while we've seen, I think year over year, relatively stable, slight decline in the entire sales and recruiting force. Obviously, we always look at where the right allocation is.

我們期待這將繼續作為投資週期的一部分。因此，就我們的思考過程而言，正如喬之前提到的，顯然已經有點延長了。銷售週期中活動增多，但我認為，與去年同期相比，我們看到整體銷售和招募團隊相對穩定，略有下降。顯然，我們總是關注正確的分配在哪裡。

Net-net, we've added to the number of salespeople that we have relative to the recruiters, because a lot of our technology investments have been focused on making sure our recruiters can become increasingly productive in sourcing candidates. So we're always looking at that.

總體而言，我們增加了相對於招募人員的銷售人員數量，因為我們大量的技術投資都集中在確保我們的招募人員在尋找候選人方面能夠越來越有效率。所以我們一直在關注這一點。

We're always making sure that we're thinking about not just the short term as well, right? We're not focused on ensuring we maintain maximum profitability levels in slower periods. We are always playing for the long term and continue to do so and feel like we're in a very good place as we move forward.

我們始終要確保我們考慮的不僅僅是短期問題，對嗎？我們並不專注於確保在較慢的期間保持最高的獲利水準。我們始終著眼於長遠目標，並將繼續這樣做，並且感覺我們在前進的道路上處於非常有利的位置。

Yeah, Tobey. We're playing for the other side to Dave's point, which is why we've actually netted up people on the sales side, because as you well know, relationships take time to build. So we're in that build process playing for the other side.

是的，托比。我們站在戴夫觀點的另一邊，這就是為什麼我們實際上在銷售方面吸引了大量人員，因為眾所周知，關係的建立需要時間。因此，我們正處於為另一方服務的建設過程中。

Because of what David mentioned, all the investments we've made on the delivery side, the recruitment side with technologies, and we're also exploring other technologies, we have a pretty good model that we can ramp up recruiters very quickly. So we have great capacity right now.

正如大衛所提到的，我們在交付方面、招聘方面用技術進行的所有投資，以及我們也在探索其他技術，我們有一個非常好的模型，可以非常快速地增加招聘人員。所以我們現在擁有很大的產能。

We also have to balance those things to make sure that we have enough requirements that our people can survive and we can feed them that they can make the appropriate levels of income. So it's typically how we handle this point in the cycle, start ramping up on the sales side to prepare for the other side, balance the recruitment side. And then as we start to see job orders start to spike up in those types of things, we can quickly ramp up.

我們也必須平衡這些因素，以確保我們有足夠的需求，讓我們的人民能夠生存，我們能夠養活他們，讓他們能夠獲得適當的收入水平。因此，我們通常會這樣處理週期中的這個點，開始加大銷售方面的力度，為另一方做好準備，平衡招聘方面。然後，當我們開始看到這類工作訂單開始激增時，我們就可以迅速增加。

We have a great internal recruitment function. Our leaders are locked and loaded. So we know we can turn that dial very quickly.

我們擁有優秀的內部招募職能。我們的領導人已經做好準備。所以我們知道我們可以非常快速地轉動撥盤。

Thanks. I was wondering if you could give some color from an industry vertical standpoint for your customers. Which ones are sort of relatively strong or relatively weak? And include in there, if you could, financial services, which I know tends to be maybe a little bit more volatile than some other industry verticals.

謝謝。我想知道您是否可以從行業垂直的角度為您的客戶提供一些資訊。哪些相對較強或相對較弱？如果可以的話，請將金融服務也包括在內，我知道金融服務可能比其他一些垂直行業更不穩定。

Yeah. I guess, Tobey, I would start out by saying, as a barometer to strengthen any particular industry, it's tough to gauge, obviously, from our sequential success quarter to quarter, because a lot of the drivers are specific to things that we do at a client level. But having said that, I made commentary. We actually have had success sequentially in financial services, had a couple of nice projects there in technology services as well, energy.

是的。托比，我想首先要說的是，作為加強任何特定行業的晴雨表，顯然很難從我們每個季度的連續成功來衡量，因為許多驅動因素都特定於我們在客戶層面所做的事情。但話雖如此，我還是發表了評論。事實上，我們在金融服務領域已經取得了連續的成功，在技術服務和能源領域也開展了幾個不錯的專案。

Manufacturing, alternatively, was a little weaker for us. Retail was also a good industry vertical for us in the fourth quarter. So I think if I go back and look quarter to quarter, it seems to me that there are different industries each quarter that are better or worse. So I guess my start of the comment with caution is where it end.

相反，製造業對我們來說稍微弱一些。零售業也是我們第四季的一個良好垂直行業。因此，我認為，如果我回顧一下每個季度的情況，我發現每個季度都有不同的行業表現更好或更差。所以我想我以謹慎的態度開始的評論就是它的結束。

Okay, and last one for me. Any discernible difference in the cadence of demand exiting the fourth quarter and then here in the early part of the first quarter between the staffing business and managed services? Anything you'd call out as better or worse in one of those areas?

好的，這是我的最後一個。第四季末和第一季初，人員配備業務和管理服務的需求節奏有何明顯差異？您認為這些領域中有哪些方面表現較好或更差？

Yeah. Obviously, just to reiterate, obviously, we see a nice uptick in the last couple of weeks. Generally, when I look at the contributors to our business, we continue to have, relatively speaking, more success in this period in the cycle in our managed services business. So that is a bright as a relatively speaking, bright spot. And we've talked about in an integrated fashion making sure that we can meet the needs of our clients across the spectrum. They're increasingly looking to us for that. I don't know that I would say that is a calendar thing. That is a general trend that we're seeing now. And that much has changed obviously, since we last talked.

是的。顯然，只是重申一下，顯然，我們在過去幾週看到了良好的上升趨勢。總體而言，當我審視我們業務的貢獻者時，相對而言，我們的託管服務業務在這一週期期間繼續取得更大的成功。所以相對而言，這是一個明亮的亮點。我們以全面的方式進行了討論，以確保我們能夠滿足各個領域客戶的需求。他們越來越向我們尋求幫助。我不知道我是否會說那是日曆的事情。這是我們現在看到的總體趨勢。自從我們上次談話以來，情況顯然已經發生了很大變化。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thanks, Tobey.

謝謝，托比。

I would now like to turn the call over to Joe Liberatore for closing remarks.

現在我想將演講時間交給喬·利伯拉托雷 (Joe Liberatore) 來做最後發言。

Well, thank you for your interest in and support of Kforce. I'd like to say thank you to every Kforcer for your efforts, to our consultants and our clients for your trust in Kforce and partnering with you and allowing us the privilege of serving you. We look forward to talking with you again after the first quarter of 2024. Have a great evening.

好的，感謝您對 Kforce 的關注與支持。我想對每位 Kforcer 的努力表示感謝，對我們的顧問和客戶對 Kforce 的信任、合作以及讓我們有幸為您服務表示感謝。我們期待在 2024 年第一季之後再次與您交談。祝您有個愉快的夜晚。

This concludes today's call. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。