Kestra Medical Technologies, Ltd. (KMTS) 2026 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to Kestra Medical Technologies earnings conference call. This conference call is being recorded for replay purposes. (Operator Instructions)

下午好，歡迎參加 Kestra Medical Technologies 的財報電話會議。本次電話會議將錄音以供重播之用。(接線員指示)

I would now like to turn the call over to Neil Bhalodkar, Vice President of Investor Relations for introductory comments.

現在我想把電話交給投資人關係副總裁 Neil Bhalodkar 進行開場說明。

Thank you, Victor. Good afternoon. Thank you for joining Kestra's third-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call. With me today are Brian Webster, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Vaseem Mahboob, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，Victor。下午好。感謝各位參加 Kestra 2026 會計年度第三季財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的有總裁兼執行長 Brian Webster，以及財務長 Vaseem Mahboob。

This call includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements made on this call that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements. These statements are based on Kestra's current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, which are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Actual outcomes and results could differ materially from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements due to various factors.

本次電話會議包含《1995 年私人證券訴訟改革法》所定義的前瞻性陳述。本次電話會議中所作、非屬歷史事實之陳述，應視為前瞻性陳述。這些陳述係基於 Kestra 目前的預期、預測與假設，而這些預期、預測與假設受到內在不確定性、風險與難以預測之假設影響。由於各種因素，實際結果與成果可能與前瞻性陳述所明示或暗示的任何結果、表現或成就存在重大差異。

Please review Kestra's most recent filings with the SEC particularly the risk factors described in our Form 10-K, for additional information. Any forward-looking statements provided during this call, including projections of future performance, are based on management's expectations as of today.

請查閱 Kestra 最近向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的文件，特別是我們 Form 10-K 中所述之風險因素，以取得更多資訊。本次電話會議中提供的任何前瞻性陳述（包括對未來表現的預測）均以管理層截至今日的預期為基礎。

Kestra undertakes no obligation to update these statements, except as required by applicable law.

除非適用法律另有要求，Kestra 不承擔更新上述陳述之義務。

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

接下來，我把電話交給 Brian。

Thanks, Neil. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us on today's conference call. Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of our friends in Ireland. We are an Irish (inaudible) company. So we're happy to celebrate along with them.

謝謝，Neil。下午好，感謝各位參加今天的電話會議。也祝我們在愛爾蘭的所有朋友聖派翠克節快樂。我們是一家愛爾蘭（聽不清）公司。因此我們很高興能與他們一同慶祝。

We're excited to discuss the strong financial performance we had in the third quarter and the continued progress we are making on our key operational objectives. I'd like to begin, though, by grounding us up again in the Kestra's mission, the lives we help protect each day in the patients, families and clinicians we serve.

我們很高興與各位分享第三季強勁的財務表現，以及我們在關鍵營運目標上持續取得的進展。不過我想先再次回到 Kestra 的使命：我們每天所協助守護的生命，以及我們所服務的病患、家屬與臨床醫護人員。

The reality in cardiac care is that risk doesn't always resolve when a patient leaves a hospital. For many patients, vulnerability persists and care needs to evolve. During periods when risk remains elevated, our cardiac recovery system provides critical protection supported by clinical insight and patient support. We saw the value of this approach in the recent patient case.

在心臟照護的現實中，風險並不一定會在病患離開醫院時就解除。對許多病患而言，脆弱性仍會持續，照護也需要隨之演進。在風險仍然偏高的期間，我們的心臟復原系統提供關鍵保護，並以臨床洞察與病患支持作為後盾。我們在近期的一個病患案例中看到了這種作法的價值。

In this case, a 64-year-old man with severe heart failure and a cardiac output measurement of only 10% to 15% was prescribed the ASSURE system. In the weeks that followed, a pattern of escalating clinical risk began to emerge.

在這個案例中，一名 64 歲、重度心衰竭且心輸出量測得僅 10% 至 15% 的男性，被開立使用 ASSURE 系統。在接下來的幾週內，臨床風險升高的模式開始浮現。

Over the course of 20 days, ASSURE system detected many episodes of SBT, which is a heart condition characterized by a rapid resting heart rate stemming from issues in the upper chambers of the heart. Automated Kestra care station alerts were generated for each episode, and the Kestra team stayed closely engaged with both the patient and the clinic.

在 20 天的期間內，ASSURE 系統偵測到多次 SBT 發作；SBT 是一種心臟狀況，其特徵為靜息心率過快，源自心臟上腔室的問題。Kestra 照護站針對每一次發作都產生自動警示，而 Kestra 團隊也與病患及診所保持密切互動。

The physician responded to the alerts by promptly adjusting the patient's medications. Despite this, the arrhythmia has persisted. During the Christmas holidays, the ASSURE system detected a severe ventricular arrhythmia and deliver a life-saving shock. Immediately, the Kestra team coordinated with the emergency department, spoke directly with the on-call position and transmitted rhythm strips to facilitate informed clinical decision-making.

醫師收到警示後，立即調整病患用藥。儘管如此，心律不整仍持續存在。在聖誕假期期間，ASSURE 系統偵測到嚴重的心室性心律不整，並施以救命電擊。Kestra 團隊隨即與急診部門協調，直接與值班醫師通話，並傳送心律波形條帶，以協助做出有依據的臨床決策。

After stabilization of this patient's situation required transferred to a higher acuity hospital. During helicopter transport, the ASSURE system detected another life-saving -- life-threatening, excuse me, arrhythmia and delivered a second shock, protecting the patient at a critical lament while in route to advanced care. Because early detection was matched with clinician engagement and because protection travel with them across every transition of care, this vulnerable patient survived a rapidly declining clinical episode.

在病患狀況穩定後，仍需要轉送至更高照護強度的醫院。在直升機轉運途中，ASSURE 系統又偵測到另一個危及生命——抱歉，是威脅生命的——心律不整，並施以第二次電擊，在病患前往進階照護的途中於關鍵時刻提供保護。由於早期偵測能與臨床介入相互配合，且保護能隨病患跨越每一次照護轉換，這位脆弱病患得以在臨床狀況快速惡化的事件中存活。

This story represents more than a single intervention. It illustrates how the cardiac recovery system supports patients across the recovery journey. What differentiates Kestra is not just the therapy we deliver, but the system we surrounded with, intelligent detection and protection, clinical insight, and human engagement working together.

這個故事不僅僅代表一次單一介入。它說明了心臟復原系統如何在復原旅程中支持病患。Kestra 的差異化不僅在於我們提供的治療，更在於我們所打造的整體系統：智慧偵測與保護、臨床洞察，以及人員投入共同運作。

In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, our team and technology supported many similar moments of intervention. As always, we remain mindful of the trust placed in us by clinicians, patients, and their families every day.

在 2026 會計年度第三季，我們的團隊與技術也支援了許多類似的介入時刻。一如既往，我們始終銘記臨床醫護人員、病患及其家屬每天託付給我們的信任。

I would now like to turn our recent financial performance. In the third quarter, we continue to reach more patients at risk of cardiac arrest, accepting over 5,400 prescriptions written for the ASSURE system. Revenue was $24.6 million with growth of 63% compared to the prior-year period.

接下來我想談談我們近期的財務表現。第三季，我們持續觸及更多面臨心搏驟停風險的病患，ASSURE 系統的處方開立數超過 5,400 份。營收為 2,460 萬美元，較去年同期成長 63%。

Gross margin of 52.6% was up 9 points year over year and 200 basis points sequentially, reflecting the attractive unit economics of our business model. This was the ninth quarter in a row of sequential gross margin expansion. We remain confident that Kestra on a path to 70%-plus gross margins over the next few years.

毛利率為 52.6%，年增 9 個百分點，且較前一季提升 200 個基點，反映我們商業模式具吸引力的單位經濟效益。這是連續第九季毛利率逐季擴張。我們仍有信心，未來幾年 Kestra 的毛利率將走向 70% 以上。

With the strong revenue growth and margin expansion that Kestra is generating, we are seeing nice operating leverage in our business. This leverage supports the investments we are making in the company's key growth drivers that we believe will yield significant long-term value for Kestra and its stakeholders.

隨著 Kestra 所帶來的強勁營收成長與毛利率擴張，我們看到公司營運槓桿效益良好。這些槓桿效益支持我們在公司關鍵成長動能上的投資；我們相信這將為 Kestra 及其利害關係人帶來可觀的長期價值。

Turning to the WCD market, we have previously noted that despite the overwhelming evidence that an external defibrillation shock is effective in terminating dangerous cardiac rhythms, WCD therapy remains underutilized. Six out of seven patients that are indicated for WCD are not being protected by one. We believe the innovation and clinical evidence we have brought to the category is beginning to change this.

談到 WCD 市場，我們先前曾指出，儘管有壓倒性的證據顯示體外去顫電擊能有效終止危險的心律，WCD 治療仍未被充分使用。在適應症符合 WCD 的病患中，每 7 位就有 6 位未受到 WCD 的保護。我們相信，我們為此類別帶來的創新與臨床證據正開始改變這種情況。

Based on our recent financials and that of the incumbent, we estimate that WCD market grew in the low mid-teens on a dollar basis in calendar year 2025. We are still in the early innings of market expansion, and we see this category growing into a multibillion-dollar market in the years ahead.

根據我們近期的財務數據以及既有業者的數據，我們估計 WCD 市場在 2025 曆年以美元計算的成長率約為低至中十位數百分比。我們仍處於市場擴張的早期階段，並預期未來幾年此類別將成長為數十億美元規模的市場。

On last quarter's earnings call, we discussed the results from ACE-PAS, our FDA post-approval study, which was presented at AHA in November. As a reminder, ACE-PAS was the largest real-world prospective WCD study to date with over 21,000 patients enrolled and protected.

在上一季的財報電話會議中，我們討論了 ACE-PAS（我們的 FDA 核准後研究）的結果，該結果於 11 月在 AHA 會議上發表。提醒一下，ACE-PAS 是迄今規模最大的真實世界前瞻性 WCD 研究，納入並保護了超過 21,000 名病患。

The study's findings corroborated with patients experience every day with the ASSURE system. Low false alarm rates, comfort that drives higher wear time compliance, and 100% successful conversion of dangerous arrhythmias. ACE-PAS continues to be a major topic of conversation with clinicians, particulate the study's finding that patients were at elevated risk during the first 90 days post hospitalization. Clinicians now have robust clinical data that shows the risk level of their patients is higher than they understood it to be, particularly early in the recovery and treatment journey.

該研究結果與病患每天使用 ASSURE 系統的體驗相互印證。低誤警率、提升配戴舒適度以帶動更高的配戴時間依從性，以及對危險心律不整達成 100% 成功轉復。ACE-PAS 仍是臨床醫師間的重要討論主題，特別是研究發現病患在住院後前 90 天的風險較高。臨床醫師如今擁有強而有力的臨床數據，顯示其病患的風險程度高於原先理解，尤其是在復原與治療旅程的早期階段。

We have also continued to learn from the body of data generated from the ACE-PAS study, and we're pleased to announce today the FDA approval of our latest innovation a new ASSURE algorithm update. This update further strengthens the performance of the ASSURE system. With this new update, we expect to see an even lower rate of false alarms and inappropriate shocks, which are critical measures of both patient experience and clinical performance.

我們也持續從 ACE-PAS 研究所產生的大量數據中學習，並很高興在今天宣布，FDA 已核准我們最新的創新：全新的 ASSURE 演算法更新。此更新進一步強化了 ASSURE 系統的效能。透過這次更新，我們預期誤報與不適當電擊的發生率將進一步降低，而這些是衡量病患體驗與臨床表現的關鍵指標。

Enhancements like this are an important part of how we continue to improve the system and further differentiate Kestra's technology in the wearable fibrillated market.

像這樣的強化是我們持續改善系統、並進一步在可穿戴式心律去顫市場中凸顯 Kestra 技術差異化的重要一環。

In mid-January, we announced another innovation, a strategic collaboration with Biobeat Technologies to expand diagnostic insight for patients to prescribe the ASSURE WCD. The agreement is anchored by an exclusive license and co-development arrangement and included a $5 million equity investment in Biobeat.

1 月中旬，我們宣布另一項創新：與 Biobeat Technologies 展開策略合作，以擴大為開立 ASSURE WCD 的病患所提供的診斷洞察。該協議以獨家授權與共同開發安排為基礎，並包含對 Biobeat 進行 500 萬美元的股權投資。

By way of background, Biobeat has developed the only clinically validated FDA-cleared cuffless, patch-worn ambulatory blood pressure monitoring device. This delivers continuous noninvasive blood pressure measurement over a 24-hour period for hypertension diagnosis and management in the outpatient cardiac recovery setting. Kestra intends to integrate Biobeat's technology into our product portfolio to make ABPM data available for patients prescribed the ASSURE WCD.

背景補充說明，Biobeat 已開發出唯一經臨床驗證、且獲 FDA 核准的無袖帶、貼片式可穿戴動態血壓監測裝置。該裝置可在 24 小時期間提供連續、非侵入式的血壓量測，用於門診心臟復原情境下的高血壓診斷與管理。Kestra 計畫將 Biobeat 的技術整合至我們的產品組合，使開立 ASSURE WCD 的病患可取得 ABPM（動態血壓監測）數據。

Hypertension affects approximately 120 million Americans, and results from ACE-PAS underscore the clinical relevance of the collaboration with Biobeat. As you may recall, 72% of the 21,000 patients studied in ACE-PAS were hypertensive, highlighting the complexity of managing blood pressure during cardiac recovery particularly during guideline-directed medical therapy optimization.

高血壓影響約 1.2 億名美國人，而 ACE-PAS 的結果也凸顯了與 Biobeat 合作在臨床上的相關性。如各位所記得，ACE-PAS 研究的 21,000 名病患中有 72% 罹患高血壓，突顯在心臟復原期間（尤其是在依指引之藥物治療最佳化過程中）管理血壓的複雜性。

Over time, we believe this collaboration will help us win additional market share by further differentiating our product from the incumbent. And more importantly, by providing additional clinical value and diagnostic insights to physicians, we believe it will result in them prescribing WCDs to more of their patients that heretofore have gone unprotected.

隨著時間推進，我們相信這項合作將透過進一步使我們的產品相較於既有領導者更具差異化，協助我們取得更多市占率。更重要的是，透過為醫師提供額外的臨床價值與診斷洞察，我們相信這將促使他們為更多過去未受保護的病患開立 WCD。

Moving on to other updates, we continue to expand our sales organization with the goal of further penetrating existing accounts as well as calling on new potential ASSURE prescribers. As we have discussed previously, we are targeting geographies in which a high volume of WCD prescriptions are being written and where we also have strong in-network payer coverage.

接著談其他更新，我們持續擴編銷售組織，目標是進一步深耕既有客戶，同時接觸新的潛在 ASSURE 開立者。如同先前所討論，我們鎖定的地區是 WCD 處方量高、且我們也擁有強勁網內保險給付覆蓋的市場。

We ended calendar year 2025 with about 100 active sales territories and are tracking towards our goal of having about 130 sales territories by the end of our fiscal year in April.

我們在 2025 年曆年結束時約有 100 個活躍的銷售區域，並正朝著在 4 月財政年度結束前達到約 130 個銷售區域的目標前進。

I'd also like to share a few updates on market access and reimbursement. First of all, as you may know, Florida is one of our largest states by patient fittings and also one of the states in which we have our highest market share. We have accomplished this despite not having a managed Medicaid provider number to utilize with Florida's managed Medicaid payers.

我也想分享幾項關於市場准入與給付的更新。首先，如各位所知，佛羅里達州是我們病患配戴（fittings）量最大的州之一，也是我們市占率最高的州之一。即便我們尚未取得可用於佛州管理式 Medicaid 付款方的管理式 Medicaid 供應商編號，我們仍達成了上述成果。

Managed Medicaid plans cover nearly 90% of Florida's Medicaid enrollees. I am very pleased to share that we recently became an approved Florida managed Medicaid provider and have subsequently signed contracts with two of the state's four largest managed Medicaid plans. We are pursuing contracts with all the remaining managed Medicaid plans in Florida.

管理式 Medicaid 計畫涵蓋佛州近 90% 的 Medicaid 參保者。我很高興分享，我們近期已成為佛州核准的管理式 Medicaid 供應商，並已與該州四大管理式 Medicaid 計畫中的兩家簽訂合約。我們正持續推進與佛州其餘所有管理式 Medicaid 計畫的合約洽談。

Second, Kestra has recently added to the federal supply schedule for the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA is the largest integrated healthcare network in the US and covers 9 million members, nearly 50% of whom are over the age of 65. We are honored to have the opportunity to protect veterans that are at risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

第二，Kestra 近期已納入美國退伍軍人事務部（VA）的聯邦供應排程（Federal Supply Schedule）。VA 是美國最大的整合式醫療照護網路，涵蓋 900 萬名成員，其中近 50% 年齡超過 65 歲。我們很榮幸有機會保護面臨心因性猝死風險的退伍軍人。

And third, the monthly Medicare reimbursement rate for WCDs increased 2% and up to $3,589 a month on January 1.

第三，WCD 的每月 Medicare 給付費率自 1 月 1 日起上調 2%，提高至每月 3,589 美元。

As you can see, we continue to bring more payers in network while also making progress on improving our RCM capabilities. At the time of our IPO 12 months ago, approximately 70% of our findings were for patients with in-network benefits. This figure is now in the low 80s. The higher in-network meaningfully increases our team's efficiency and positively impacts all of our revenue cycle management metrics.

如各位所見，我們持續讓更多付款方納入網內，同時也在提升我們的 RCM（營收循環管理）能力方面取得進展。在 12 個月前我們 IPO 時，約 70% 的配戴（fittings）來自具有網內給付的病患。目前此比例已來到 80% 出頭。更高的網內比例可顯著提升團隊效率，並對我們所有營收循環管理指標帶來正面影響。

It is important to note that there are over 3,000 payers in the US. So there will still be a long tail of retail and local payers we are working to bring under contract. In conclusion, the fundamentals of Kestra's story and business remains strong.

需要注意的是，美國有超過 3,000 家付款方。因此，仍會有一段長尾的零售型與地方型付款方需要我們持續推動簽約納入合約。總結而言，Kestra 的故事與業務基本面依然強勁。

The WCD market is expanding. Kestra revenue growth accelerated to over 60%. Gross margin has increased meaningfully, and we have fortified our balance sheet. In the 12 months since our IPO, our execution has been strong across all elements of the business. The foundation we have built positions Kestra for strong and durable growth for years to come. I'd like to thank our incredible team in the field and here at the home office in Kirkland for their passion and commitment to the Kestra mission.

WCD 市場正在擴大。Kestra 的營收成長加速至超過 60%。毛利率顯著提升，我們也強化了資產負債表。在 IPO 後的 12 個月內，我們在業務各個面向的執行表現都很強勁。我們所建立的基礎，使 Kestra 在未來多年具備強勁且可持續的成長動能。我要感謝我們在第一線以及位於 Kirkland 總部的優秀團隊，對 Kestra 使命所展現的熱情與承諾。

With that, I will now turn it over to Vaseem, who will discuss third quarter financial results in more detail and provide our updated fiscal year 2026 revenue guidance.

接下來，我將把時間交給 Vaseem，他將更詳細說明第三季財務結果，並提供我們更新後的 2026 財政年度營收指引。

Thank you, Brian, and good afternoon, everyone. Total revenue was $24.6 million in the third quarter, an increase of 63% compared to the prior-year period. Revenue growth was driven by a 58% year-over-year increase in prescriptions, reflecting market share gains with existing customers, activation of new accounts, expansion of our field team and higher revenue per fit.

謝謝你，Brian，各位下午好。第三季總營收為 2,460 萬美元，較去年同期成長 63%。營收成長主要由處方量年增 58% 所帶動，反映我們在既有客戶中的市占提升、新帳戶啟用、外勤團隊擴編，以及每次配戴（per fit）營收提高。

Gross margin was 52.6% in the third quarter compared to 43.4% in the prior-year period. As Brian mentioned, we have now expanded our gross margin sequentially nine quarters in a row. The continued expansion in gross margin was driven by the attractive unit economics inherent in Kestra's rental model, an increase in revenue per fit for more in-network patients and a decline in cost per fit, driven by volume leverage and cost improvement projects.

第三季毛利率為 52.6%，相較去年同期的 43.4%。如 Brian 所提到，我們的毛利率已連續 9 個季度逐季擴張。毛利率持續擴張主要來自 Kestra 租賃模式所固有的優異單位經濟效益、更多網內病患帶動每次配戴營收提升，以及在規模效益與成本改善專案推動下，每次配戴成本下降。

In the quarter ahead, you should expect to see steady and concrete increases in our gross margin. as our rental model benefits significantly from volume and depreciation leverage. We remain confident in our ability to achieve 70% plus gross margins in the next few years.

在接下來的一季，各位應可預期我們的毛利率將穩定且明確地提升，因為我們的租賃模式可顯著受惠於規模與折舊槓桿。我們仍對未來幾年達成 70% 以上毛利率的能力充滿信心。

We are also continuing to see improvements in all three key drivers of our conversion rate. Our prescription fill rate, our bill rate and our collections performance. Our conversion rate in the third quarter was approximately 46%, up from an adjusted conversion rate of 43% in the prior-year period. And as we continue to bring more payers in network and enhance our revenue cycle management capabilities, we expect to see benefits in revenue growth, gross margin and our profitability profile.

我們也持續看到轉換率三項關鍵驅動因素全面改善：處方填補率、開帳率，以及收款表現。第三季的轉換率約為 46%，高於去年同期經調整後的 43%。隨著我們持續讓更多付款方納入網內並強化營收循環管理能力，我們預期將在營收成長、毛利率與獲利結構方面看到效益。

We are investing in revenue cycle, AI tools, and other automation projects that will continue to help improve all three elements of our conversion rate and growing operating leverage as we scale the business.

我們正在投資於營收循環、AI 工具及其他自動化專案，這些投入將持續協助我們改善轉換率的三個要素，並在業務規模擴大時提升營運槓桿。

GAAP operating expenses were $47.7 million in the third quarter and included $1.5 million of nonrecurring costs from professional fees and expenses primarily related to the Biobeat transaction and our recent equity offering.

第三季 GAAP 營運費用為 4,770 萬美元，其中包含 150 萬美元的一次性成本，來自專業服務費用與支出，主要與 Biobeat 交易及我們近期的股權發行相關。

GAAP operating expenses were $27.1 million in the prior-year period. Excluding nonrecurring costs and stock-based compensation, operating expenses were $36.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal year 2026 compared to $24.8 million in the prior-year period. The increase was primarily attributable to investments in commercial expansion and public company costs. GAAP net loss was $34.2 million in the third quarter compared to a GAAP net loss of $21.8 million in the prior-year period.

前一年度同期的 GAAP 營運費用為 2,710 萬美元。排除一次性成本與以股票為基礎的薪酬後，2026 會計年度第三季的營運費用為 3,610 萬美元，較前一年度同期的 2,480 萬美元增加。增加主要歸因於商業擴張投資以及上市公司相關成本。第三季 GAAP 淨損為 3,420 萬美元，較前一年度同期 GAAP 淨損 2,180 萬美元擴大。

Adjusted EBITDA loss was $21.2 million in the third quarter compared to an adjusted EBITDA of $16.3 million in the prior-year period. Cash, cash returns totaled $291 million as of January 31, which includes the net proceeds from our public equity offering in December.

第三季調整後 EBITDA 虧損為 2,120 萬美元，相較前一年度同期調整後 EBITDA 為 1,630 萬美元。截至 1 月 31 日，現金及現金回報合計為 2.91 億美元，其中包含我們 12 月公開股權發行的淨募資款。

Before I turn the guidance, one housekeeping item. At the end of March, it will be 12 full months since we completed our IPO. As such, we will be eligible to file a shelf registration statement. While we have no need for additional capital at this time, corporate governance best practice is to file the shelf once eligible, and we plan on doing so in early April.

在我轉到財測之前，先說一項例行事項。到 3 月底，距離我們完成 IPO 將滿 12 個完整月。因此，我們將符合資格提交架構式（shelf）註冊聲明。雖然我們目前不需要額外資本，但依公司治理最佳實務，一旦符合資格就提交 shelf，我們計畫在 4 月初進行。

I will now provide an updated fiscal year 2026 guidance. We are increasing revenue guidance to $93 million, representing growth of 55% compared to fiscal year 2025. This compares to prior guidance of $91 million and our initial fiscal year 2026 guidance of $85 million. Underpinning this guidance is our expectation that we'll continue to see strong growth in prescriptions as we increase market share with existing customers and activate new accounts. We expect revenue per to continue to benefit from a higher mix of in-network patients and improvements in our revenue cycle management capabilities.

我現在提供更新後的 2026 會計年度財測。我們將營收指引上調至 9,300 萬美元，較 2025 會計年度成長 55%。這高於先前 9,100 萬美元的指引，也高於我們最初對 2026 會計年度 8,500 萬美元的指引。支撐此指引的是我們預期，隨著在既有客戶中提升市占並啟用新帳戶，處方量將持續強勁成長。我們預期每單位營收將持續受惠於更高比例的網內（in-network）病患組合，以及我們在營收循環管理能力上的改善。

With that, operator, we have concluded our prepared remarks and are ready to proceed to the Q&A portion of the call.

接下來，接線員，我們已結束事先準備的發言，並準備進入本次電話會議的問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Travis Steed, Bank of America Securities.

(接線員指示) 美國銀行證券（Bank of America Securities）的 Travis Steed。

Congrats on the quarter. I guess first off, just kind of curious as you look into next year and think about early '27 thoughts, any kind of puts and takes that you talk about on the model from a high level. And if you're comfortable with the $133 million the Street's modeling for -- and consensus today? And I have a follow-up.

恭喜本季表現。我想先問，當你們展望明年並思考 2027 年初的情況時，從高層次來看，模型上有哪些主要的利多與利空因素？以及你們是否認同華爾街目前共識對——的 1.33 億美元營收預估？我還有一個追問。

So thanks for the question, Travis. We had a fantastic quarter, so thank you for that. As you know, our policy is only to comment about the full year guidance for 2027 at the end of the Q4 call. But we can tell you that today with our initial planning and process, we feel very confident that we can deliver top-tier med tech growth in '27 and beyond, and we'll be happy to provide more color in the next earnings call.

謝謝你的問題，Travis。我們本季表現非常出色，謝謝你。如你所知，我們的政策是在第四季電話會議結束時才會評論 2027 全年指引。但我們可以告訴你，以目前初步規劃與流程來看，我們非常有信心在 2027 年及之後交出頂尖醫療科技（med tech）成長表現，我們也會在下一次財報電話會議提供更多細節。

All right. Great. That makes sense. And I did want to ask about the WCD market accelerating. I think you said low to mid-teens this year. Last quarter, I think it was like closer to 11%. So you're seeing a real acceleration. Any kind of color you can kind of give on the ground, what you're seeing that drives this acceleration and kind of the durability of the higher market growth rate going forward?

好的。很好。這很合理。我也想問一下 WCD 市場加速成長的情況。我記得你們說今年是低到中十幾%的成長。上季我記得大概更接近 11%。所以你們看到明顯加速。能否分享一些第一線觀察：是什麼在推動這種加速，以及未來較高的市場成長率是否具有持續性？

Yes. Thanks for that question, Travis. So at the timing here 12 months ago, we had the market growth on a dollar basis at about 8%. And then as you just indicated on our last call, we had it somewhere closer to 11%. Now we're seeing it accelerate there. I think what we're seeing is a couple of dynamics that are driving that. First of all, you have Kestra increasing the size of our commercial team. So we just have a bigger footprint. We have more voices out there in the market, telling our story.

是的。謝謝你的問題，Travis。大約在 12 個月前的這個時間點，我們看到市場以美元計的成長約為 8%。然後如你剛才提到的，在上一次電話會議時，我們看到大約更接近 11%。現在我們看到它進一步加速。我認為我們看到有幾個動態在推動。首先，Kestra 擴大了我們商業團隊的規模。因此我們的覆蓋面更大。我們在市場上有更多聲音在傳達我們的故事。

And then you have clinical results that are driving the discussion, both from our competitor who released a big clinical study six months ago or so that pointed to elevated risk in this patient population. But then that was corroborated by our even bigger study that we released at AHA, which also pointed to higher risk in this patient population than many thought.

此外，臨床結果也在推動討論：我們的競爭對手大約在六個月前發布了一項大型臨床研究，指出這類病患族群的風險升高。而這也被我們在 AHA 發布、規模更大的研究所佐證，同樣指出該病患族群的風險高於許多人的原先認知。

So I think what we're seeing is a couple of clinical studies that are really identifying risks in the population, then you're seeing the expansion of the Kestra commercial team really driving that voice. And we're seeing our competitor with -- coming to the realization that if they want to grow their business, they're going to have to expand the market because we're going to be taking a bunch of their share.

所以我認為，我們看到有幾項臨床研究確實在辨識這個族群的風險；同時也看到 Kestra 商業團隊的擴張，讓這些訊息更有力地被傳遞到市場上。另外，我們也看到競爭對手逐漸意識到：如果他們想要成長，就必須擴大市場，因為我們將會拿走他們相當多的市占。

So I think it's the combination of all those things that is leading to that market growth. And we believe that we will continue to see the market growth as we continue to grow our commercial footprint and drive the clinical messages out into the market.

因此，我認為是上述因素的組合帶動了市場成長。而我們相信，隨著我們持續擴大商業覆蓋並將臨床訊息推向市場，我們將會持續看到市場成長。

Matthew O'Brien, Piper Sandler.

Piper Sandler 的 Matthew O'Brien。

First one is on the sequential bump that we saw in prescriptions. That's the best that you guys have done, I think, over the last couple of years in terms of the data that we've had. And I know, Brian, you talked a little bit about these different areas that are contributing from the new sales force to market expansion.

第一個問題是關於我們看到處方量的季對季跳升。就我們掌握的數據來看，這可能是你們過去幾年表現最好的一次。我知道 Brian 你稍早談到一些不同的貢獻來源，從新的銷售團隊到市場擴張。

Can you deconstruct where that improvement came from? Was it -- are you guys really accelerating the market? Or is there really more share shift right now versus market and hey, with everything that's going on in the market benefits maybe come over the next couple of years?

你能拆解一下這個改善主要來自哪裡嗎？是——你們真的在加速整體市場嗎？還是目前更多是市占移轉大於市場成長？另外，考量市場上正在發生的一切，或許相關效益會在未來幾年逐步顯現？

Yes. Thanks, Matt. I think the -- when we deconstruct where the prescription growth is coming from. The good news for us is that we're seeing it come not just from productivity improvements in our base territory managers, but we're also seeing the new territory managers that we've been bringing on come up our productivity curve very consistently with our model. So we're glad to see both of those two dynamics.

是的。謝謝，Matt。我想——當我們拆解處方成長的來源時，對我們來說的好消息是：我們看到成長不僅來自既有區域經理生產力的提升，同時也看到我們新招募的區域經理，其生產力爬升曲線非常一致地符合我們的模型。

And I think as we look at where does that prescription growth coming from, our math sort of points to about 70%, 75% of that coming from installed base or current market share ship as we win market share and about 25% of it coming from actual new prescribers. So we are seeing the early days of the benefit of the market expansion.

另外，當我們看處方成長究竟來自哪裡時，我們的推算顯示約 70% 到 75% 來自既有裝機基礎或目前的市占移轉——也就是我們贏得市占；約 25% 來自真正的新開立醫師。因此，我們確實正在看到市場擴張效益的早期跡象。

But very clearly, Matt, with a market this big an incumbent, this large most of the opportunity in the early days here are coming from winning current customers that are prescribing WCDs.

但很明顯地，Matt，在這麼大的市場裡，既有業者規模又這麼大，早期的大部分機會其實都來自於爭取目前正在開立 WCD 處方的既有客戶。

Okay. Makes sense. And as a follow-up, I would love to ask about gross margin because that was really good in the quarter. But I'm looking at the stock down a little bit in the aftermarket and it might just be medtech-related specifically, but I think it might just have to do with the guide for the full year. And just given all the momentum, given the conversion rate is lifting a little bit, and the prescriptions are so strong, I think maybe some had been expecting maybe a little bit more here for the full year.

好的。有道理。另外追問一下，我想問毛利率，因為本季表現真的很好。但我看到盤後股價小跌一點，可能只是醫療科技類股的因素、尤其是 medtech 相關，但我覺得也可能與全年指引有關。而且考量到各種動能、轉換率略有提升、處方又非常強勁，我想可能有些人原本預期全年指引會再高一些。

Can you just talk about anything that's going on, I don't know, competitively or pricing-wise or anything like that, that could be a headwind here in fiscal Q4 versus just traditional conservatism on your part?

你能否談談是否有任何情況在發生——我不知道，像是競爭面或定價面之類——可能會在本財年第四季形成逆風？還是說這只是你們一貫較保守的作法？

Yes. Thank you. I think we I addressed -- the pricing is predictable. There's no headwinds in pricing. The competitive environment is one we know extremely well. And from our perspective, we've grown the business mid-50% over the first few quarters of the year. We think as a starting point for the fourth quarter, that's a reasonable place to be.

是的。謝謝。我想我已經提到——定價是可預期的。定價方面沒有逆風。競爭環境我們非常熟悉。從我們的角度來看，今年前幾個季度我們的業務成長在 50% 中段。我們認為以第四季的起點來說，這是個合理的位置。

And we're excited about growing our business by mid-50% year over year. That's a significant achievement, and we're -- we feel really good about that, and we feel really good about the trajectory we're on. And I don't think there's any tailwinds other than we're just out there competing every day. It's a daily run rate business, and we're out there focused on winning every day out of the market.

而且我們也很期待讓業務年增 50% 中段。這是相當顯著的成就，我們——對此感覺非常好，也對我們目前的發展軌跡很有信心。我不認為有任何順風因素，除了我們每天都在外面競爭。這是一門以每日運行率為核心的生意，我們專注於每天都從市場中贏得份額。

Larry Biegelsen, Wells Fargo.

Wells Fargo 的 Larry Biegelsen。

This is Nathan Treybeck on for Larry. Can you talk about what you were seeing from competition in the market? Just a follow-up to that, are your reps seeing any greater difficulty in taking share after results, recent upgrades to their WCD?

我是代替 Larry 的 Nathan Treybeck。你能談談你們在市場上看到的競爭情況嗎？再追問一下，在他們的 WCD 最近升級之後，你們的業務代表在搶占市占時是否感受到更大的難度？

Thanks, Nathan. We're not hearing anything related to [Zol's] new, larger WCDs that they launched, I think there is a slow launch of that product. It's not -- they're not going to replace that massive fleet they have overnight. And so my guess is that only a fraction of the patients out there are even being offered that product at this point. And so we're not really hearing that as an obstacle or an issue. The competitive landscape remains the same, in that you have an entrenched competitor who is trying to leverage their time in the seat.

謝謝你，Nathan。我們沒有聽到任何與 [Zol] 推出的新款、更大尺寸 WCD 有關的情況；我認為那個產品的上市推進得很慢。他們不可能一夕之間就把既有那麼龐大的設備機隊全部替換掉。所以我猜目前實際上只有一小部分病患會被提供那個產品。因此我們並沒有把它當作障礙或問題。競爭格局仍然一樣：有一個根深蒂固的競爭對手，正試圖利用他們既有的市場地位。

And they're doing that by trying to focus on being easy to do business with in terms of order processing, in terms of insurance coverage, in terms of just service level. And those are really the things that they can compete on because they know that from a product perspective, we have really clear differentiation from their product. So that's what we're seeing right now. But we haven't really seen any impact of their new rollout of their new product.

他們的作法是，試著在「合作容易」這些面向上著力，例如訂單處理、保險給付涵蓋、以及整體服務水準。這些確實是他們能用來競爭的點，因為他們知道就產品面而言，我們相較於他們的產品有非常明確的差異化。所以這就是我們目前看到的情況。但我們確實還沒有看到他們新產品推出所帶來的任何影響。

Okay. Great. And just at a high level, I mean, you're approaching about 20,000 scripts by our math in fiscal '26, and the market is approaching 140,000. There's still a good number of physicians that don't prescribe WCD. So in your view, what is it going to take to get physicians kind of off the sidelines and show more interest in WCD?

好的。很好。再從較高層次來看，按我們的計算，你們在 2026 財年大概會接近 20,000 張處方，而整體市場接近 140,000。仍然有相當多醫師不會開立 WCD。所以以你們的觀點，要讓醫師不再觀望、對 WCD 展現更多興趣，需要什麼條件？

Well, I think the market growth will continue. If we're in the mid-teens -- low to mid-teens today, then I think it's reasonable to think that over the next couple of years as we expand our footprint, we're going to see that market growth continue to accelerate. But when it comes to really growing the market, doubling the market or tripling the market it's going to require updates to the clinical guidelines.

我認為市場成長會持續。如果我們今天是在 10% 中段——低到中段的水準，那麼合理推測在未來幾年，隨著我們擴大覆蓋範圍，市場成長將會持續加速。但若要真正把市場做大、讓市場規模翻倍或成為三倍，就需要臨床指引的更新。

And what we talked about whether our ACE-PAS study at the last call was that we felt like that was an important next step in the development of WCD clinical data and hopefully, would allow us to come to the table and start to engage the societies around guidelines and also just help to clarify what are the remaining steps to get guidelines changed, if any, so that we can be focused on that.

我們在上次電話會議談到 ACE-PAS 研究時提過，我們認為那是推進 WCD 臨床數據發展的重要下一步，並希望能讓我們有機會回到桌面上，開始與各學會就指引進行互動；同時也有助於釐清若要推動指引改變，還剩下哪些步驟（如果有的話），讓我們可以把重點放在那些事項上。

And we're in the process now of working to get our ACE-PAS study published. And that's the immediate next step for us. But I think to really double and triple the market, which we think is really highly -- we're capable of doing, I think that it's going to take some guidelines changes.

我們目前正在推動 ACE-PAS 研究的發表。這是我們眼前的下一個直接步驟。但我認為，要真正讓市場翻倍或成為三倍——我們相信我們非常有能力做到——仍然需要一些指引上的變更。

Michael Polark, Wolfe Research.

Wolfe Research 的 Michael Polark。

Question on your vision for the sales force, the size of it. At the end of your fiscal '25, you said territories were 80. And the vision was to double that over the next couple of years. I heard 130 targeted by April. And if 80 doubles, it's 160 in, call it, fiscal '27 by the end of the year.

我想問你們對銷售團隊規模的願景。在 2025 財年末，你們說銷售區域是 80 個。願景是在接下來幾年把它翻倍。我聽到你們目標是在 4 月達到 130 個。如果 80 翻倍就是 160 個，那大概是在 2027 財年年底左右。

That would mean you're adding 30 territories in fiscal '27 versus adding close to 50 or adding 50 in fiscal '26. You just raised a bunch of fresh financing. Are you interested in going faster than that vision? Or is that still the vision?

那就代表你們在 2027 財年新增 30 個區域，而在 2026 財年新增接近 50 個、或新增 50 個。你們剛完成一筆新的融資。你們有興趣比這個願景更快擴張嗎？還是仍然維持原本的願景？

Mike, thanks for the question. I think that we're in our FY27 planning process right now. In fact, we were at our Board meeting last week, and our Board got their first look at our FY27 planning assumptions. And so we will be refining that over the next 60 days or so. And that will be one of the key questions. You're directionally right in your math in terms of what we've said before.

Mike，謝謝你的問題。我想我們現在正處於 FY27 的規劃流程中。事實上，我們上週剛開完董事會，董事會也首次看到我們 FY27 規劃假設的初稿。接下來大約 60 天左右我們會持續精煉。而這會是其中一個關鍵問題。就你剛才的計算而言，你的方向大致正確，符合我們先前的說法。

And I think one of the questions will be, can we go faster and should we go faster? Capital is not our constraint right now. So being able to execute our business model, keep promises to our -- the clinicians, those are the things that we're going to try and balance as we work our way through our planning process.

我認為其中一個問題會是：我們能不能更快、以及我們應不應該更快？目前資金不是我們的限制。因此，在規劃流程中，我們要平衡的是能否執行我們的商業模式、以及對——臨床端——的承諾能否兌現，這些才是我們要努力拿捏的重點。

But we're -- that's definitely a topic on the table right now, and we're excited about the progress we're making. So I think I think there's certainly a contingent that are driving towards that outcome.

不過我們——這確實是目前桌上的議題之一，我們也對正在取得的進展感到振奮。所以我想，確實有一部分人正在推動朝那個結果前進。

Helpful. Brian. For my follow-up, I want to ask on the conversion rate. It's definitely a squint. I see it up year on year, clearly. But versus the prior two quarters of the fiscal year, it's a little bit of a dip back down. Can you just remind us the same, Brian, the dynamic there? Is that simply the quarter that was just reported as January and deductibles reset, so patient collections are lower, that debt is higher? Or any other influence you'd have to think about kind of quarter to quarter?

有幫助。Brian。我接著想追問一下轉換率。這確實有點難看清。我看到它年對年明顯上升。但相較於本財年前兩個季度，似乎又小幅回落。Brian，你能再提醒我們一下這裡面的動態嗎？是不是因為剛報告的這一季是1月，免賠額重置，所以病患回款較低、壞帳較高？還是有其他你認為需要考量的、季度之間的影響因素？

Yes. Great. Thanks, Mike. I think we really excited quite friendly about all of the progress that we are making on recycle. And just a reminder, we have really made a significant improvement in the conversion rate in fiscal year '24, we were at 38%. '25, we finished. And in this most recent quarter, we had at 46%. So we were up 3 points on an adjusted basis.

是的。很好。謝謝你，Mike。我想我們對於在回收（recycle）方面取得的所有進展感到非常振奮，也覺得相當正面。再提醒一下，我們在轉換率上於2024財年確實有顯著改善，當時是38%；2025財年我們結束時……而在最近這一季，我們達到46%。所以在調整後的基礎上，我們提升了3個百分點。

But at the same time, all KPIs that we talk about at our conversion rates are all trending in the right direction. So we feel really good about where it's going. Now you're right. And when we had said that second half conversion rates usually tend to be lower than the first half. That is because of the points that you cited, which is really the deductibles that we set in January and some of the claims that we normally hold back to make sure that we get a fair share of the claims that we service.

但同時，我們談到的所有KPI以及轉換率相關指標都在朝正確方向趨勢發展。因此我們對其走向感到非常有信心。你說得沒錯。而且我們也提過，下半年轉換率通常會比上半年低。原因就是你提到的那些點：1月免賠額重置，以及我們通常會先暫緩部分理賠申請，以確保我們能取得我們所服務理賠中合理的份額。

So again, great progress on conversion rate and all of the KPIs related to that, and we'll continue to show progress. Thank you.

所以再次強調，轉換率以及所有相關KPI都取得很大進展，我們也會持續展現改善。謝謝。

Rick Wise, Stifel.

Rick Wise，Stifel。

I was hoping you could expand on your comments on sort of get more in the weeds on a couple of topics. The first Florida, Brian, that sounds like really important and major news. You're the market early, you've signed two of the largest Medicare managers.

我希望你能針對你剛才的評論再多展開一些，深入談談幾個主題。第一個是佛羅里達，Brian，聽起來這是非常重要、重大的消息。你們很早就進入市場，已經簽下兩家最大的Medicare管理機構。

And it sounds like two others could be relatively imminent or soon or not far away, whatever language. Help us understand better the -- how big -- I know it's a big deal. How big a deal is it? How do we think about it? Is this sort of overnight accelerate growth in Florida, obviously, a huge market?

而且聽起來另外兩家也可能相對迫近、很快、或不久之後就會發生（不管用什麼措辭）。請幫我們更好地理解——這有多大——我知道這是大事。到底有多大？我們應該怎麼看待它？這是否會在佛羅里達帶來某種「一夕之間」的加速成長？畢竟那顯然是個很大的市場。

Yes. Thanks, Rick. I appreciate the question. We're excited about that. I think if you were to ask any of our Florida territory managers down there, what their biggest challenge has been in the last year, they would say the lack of a Medicaid license. And so removing that barrier is, as our Chief Commercial Officer likes to say, it's like removing a big pebble from your shoe for the reps.

是的。謝謝你，Rick。我很感謝這個問題。我們對此感到很興奮。我想如果你去問我們在佛羅里達的任何區域經理，他們過去一年最大的挑戰是什麼，他們會說是缺少Medicaid執照。因此移除這個障礙——正如我們的首席商務長喜歡說的——就像是把鞋子裡的一顆大石子拿掉，對業務代表來說。

And what happens in the actual account is when our rep is trying to convert a prescriber completely over to Kestra, it's very difficult to do that, impossible to do it, in fact, when you don't have that Medicaid number and the ability to serve that part of the population. And it's a big population in Florida. So that is a limiter if you will, on your basically taps you out on how high you can go on market share capture.

而在實際客戶端會發生的是：當我們的業務代表試圖把某位開立處方者完全轉換到Kestra時，如果你沒有那個Medicaid號碼、也沒有服務那部分人群的能力，這件事就非常困難，事實上幾乎不可能。而在佛羅里達，那是一個很大的族群。所以這就成為一個限制因素，等於會限制你在市占率擴張上能走到多高。

And so this will definitely be a benefit to the Florida team. And it will take a little bit of time to roll through as we get the actual agreements in place and we're able to get those rolled out to our team and everything. But so it will be an overnight thing. It will be something that we'll see progress kind of quarter over quarter. But we're very excited about that.

因此，這肯定會對佛羅里達團隊帶來好處。而且當我們把實際協議逐步落地、並能把它們推廣到團隊等，這需要一點時間才能完全反映出來。所以它不會是一夕之間就發生的事情。它會是我們在季度之間逐步看到進展的事情。但我們對此非常興奮。

And Rick, just on the gross margin side, remember, and selectively in some of the accounts which we had already converted and when we were taking all of those patients, we were actually basically getting a goose head for those writing. So now not only do you see faster acceleration of adoption to get more market share, you will also see a nice impact on our gross margins because for that business, which is where we have the highest market share in the state of Florida, you'll see a nice tailwind on gross margin in that business as well.

Rick，另外在毛利率方面，請記得，我們在部分帳戶上是有選擇性的；在那些我們已經完成轉換、並且承接了所有病患的情況下，我們其實基本上是在為那些處方「倒貼」成本。所以現在你不僅會看到採用加速、以取得更多市占率，你也會看到對我們毛利率的正面影響；因為在這塊業務上——也就是我們在佛羅里達州擁有最高市占率的部分——你也會看到毛利率的良好順風。

Well, I wasn't going to ask you about gross margin this quarter because you did so well in this period. But you brought it up, so cost per fit came in I think I'm saying it right, 14% this quarter. Just how big a factor is that in the gross margin improvement? You keep doing outstandingly well. Can it trend -- how much lower can it trend over time? And how big a factor is that in the mix of the multiple factors driving gross margin higher?

好吧，我本來這一季不打算問你毛利率，因為你們這期表現非常好。但你提到了，所以每次配戴成本（cost per fit）我想我說得沒錯的話，這一季是14%。這對毛利率改善有多大的影響？你們持續做得非常出色。它長期來看還能——能下降到多低？在推動毛利率上升的多個因素中，這一項的權重有多大？

Yes. Thank you for that, Rick. We continue to make tremendous progress on gross margins. And as Brian mentioned, in his prepared remarks, this will be the ninth quarter now where we have shown sequential improvement. And I was looking at it earlier. This is from massively north of 200% negative gross margins to where we have come. So incredible job by the team to get us there.

是的。謝謝你，Rick。我們在毛利率方面持續取得巨大的進展。正如Brian在事先準備的發言中提到的，這將是我們連續第九個季度呈現環比改善。我剛才也在看。我們是從遠高於負200%的毛利率一路走到現在。所以團隊能把我們帶到這裡，真的做得非常出色。

In terms of the mechanics, as we have said in the past, other than the unit economics that we talk about, which is just inherent to the rental model, where you get that depreciation leverage and you get the volume leverage; we think that on some of the cost improvement programs, by the way, not on the hardware because remember, we have to protect that latent investment.

就機制而言，正如我們過去所說，除了我們談到的單位經濟（unit economics）之外——也就是租賃模式本身的特性，你會得到折舊槓桿，也會得到量的槓桿——我們認為在一些成本改善計畫上（順帶一提，不是在硬體上，因為請記得，我們必須保護那項既有投資）。

On the disposable side, we have had some really nice cost improvement projects that completed last year that are now starting to really pay benefits in full because we are burning through the old inventory and the new inventory is going at a lower cost. So we'll continue to see the team make a really, really good unit cost reduction progress in the next few years.

在耗材端，我們去年完成了一些非常不錯的成本改善專案，現在開始完整地釋放效益，因為我們正在消耗舊庫存，而新庫存的成本更低。因此在未來幾年，我們會持續看到團隊在單位成本降低方面取得非常、非常好的進展。

But the good news is we got good line of sight to 70%-plus gross margins than we aspire for. And this quarter is just another proof point that we can get there.

但好消息是，我們對於達到我們所追求的70%以上毛利率有很清晰的可見度。而本季只是另一個證明我們能做到的佐證。

Got you. And just I want to slip in one more, if you don't mind. The FDA approval for your new algorithm, you talked about a little bit, Brian. And just my question is just to expand on your comments. And how important just as a prescriber or patient. -- what am I going to experience? And is that going to -- do you think it's an important big step or meaningful stuff? How meaningful is it once you get that all rolled out?

了解。另外如果你不介意，我想再插問一個。關於你們新演算法的FDA核准，你稍微提到了一些，Brian。我的問題是想請你延伸一下剛才的評論。作為一位開立處方者或病患——我會體驗到什麼？你認為這會是重要的一大步或很有意義的事情嗎？當你把它全面推廣之後，它的意義有多大？

Yes. Thanks, Rick. We're very excited in that change. It's a change we've been working on since we -- for well over a year since we started to see some of our clinical data. And we saw opportunities in the algorithm as we started to get past 10,000, 15,000 patients in, and we saw opportunities where we could reduce -- further reduce the already market-leading false alarm rate.

是的。謝謝你，Rick。我們對這項變更感到非常興奮。自從我們——在開始看到部分臨床數據以來，這項變更我們已經推動了超過一年。當我們累積到超過10,000、15,000名患者後，我們在演算法上看到了機會，也看到了可以降低——進一步降低——本就領先市場的誤警報率的空間。

And we saw an opportunity to do that and also reduce the inappropriate shock rates. The inappropriate shock rates is very, very low. We met all the FDA targets for that, but we saw an opportunity to get even better and create an even better clinical products. So the false alarm rate as you are aware, is related to patient compliance. And the inappropriate shock rate is related to patient safety. So we did what we believe was the right thing.

我們也看到了機會，不僅能做到這點，還能降低不適當電擊率。不適當電擊率已經非常、非常低。我們達成了FDA對此的所有目標，但我們看到了把表現做得更好、打造更優秀臨床產品的機會。因此，如你所知，誤警報率與病患依從性相關。而不適當電擊率與病患安全相關。所以我們做了我們認為正確的事。

We looked at our data, we learned from it. and then we went and made adjustments to the algorithm to make it even better than it already is. And I'm proud of the team because we made choices when we made that decision to invest in that algorithm. And now we're going to be rolling that out coming up at HRS. And I think our team is going to be very excited.

我們檢視了數據，從中學習，然後對演算法做了調整，讓它比原本就很好的表現更上一層樓。我為團隊感到自豪，因為在決定投資這套演算法時，我們做出了取捨與選擇。而現在我們將在即將到來的HRS上推出。我想我們的團隊會非常興奮。

It will absolutely put us clearly differentiated on both of those metrics from anybody, any competitor. And it's just going to help validate our product one step further.

這將使我們在這兩項指標上，與任何人、任何競爭對手相比，都呈現出明確的差異化。而且這也會進一步協助驗證我們的產品。

Marie Thibault, BTIG.

Marie Thibault，BTIG。

Happy St. Patrick Day. I wanted to follow up here on the Veterans Affairs when now being on schedule there. Can you tell us a little bit more about Kestra's plans on how to approach the network sort of any expectations for the ramp there? Any other sort of hurdles before you can start to deploy into some of those VA hospitals?

聖派翠克節快樂。我想在這裡追問一下退伍軍人事務部（VA）目前已回到既定時程的部分。你能否多談一些Kestra的計畫：將如何切入這個網路，以及對於那邊的放量（ramp）有何預期？在你們能開始部署到部分VA醫院之前，是否還有其他障礙需要克服？

Yes. Thanks, Marie. I appreciate the question. It's another big win in the market access for Kestra. As you're probably aware, if you are trying to market your product in a VA hospital and you don't have a federal supply schedule number, then you're just handicapped and you're kind of spinning your wheels. And so getting that number is essentially a license to go in and serve those institutions.

是的。謝謝你，Marie。我很感謝這個問題。這是Kestra在市場准入上的另一個重大勝利。如你可能知道的，如果你想在VA醫院推廣產品，但沒有聯邦供應排程（Federal Supply Schedule）編號，那你基本上就會綁手綁腳、徒勞無功。因此，取得這個編號，本質上就像是一張進入並服務這些機構的通行證。

And so what we would do is and what we are doing already is we're rolling that out territory by territory because almost every territory in our commercial footprint has some kind of VA institutions in it. And so we're now giving our reps the ability to go out and go and knock on those doors when they haven't really had that ability before.

因此我們會做的——而且我們已經在做的——是按區域逐步推進，因為我們商業版圖中的幾乎每個區域都包含某種VA機構。所以我們現在讓業務代表具備能力，去敲那些過去其實沒有能力去敲的門。

So it's really -- for us, it's a great opportunity. We've already seen -- just in the last four to six weeks, we've already seen some really terrific wins at some of these VA hospitals. So it's a strategy. We're going to continue to roll that out, and we're going to get the Kestra team really fired up about protecting these veterans who have protected us. And so we're excited about that opportunity.

所以這對我們而言確實——是一個很好的機會。我們已經看到——就在過去四到六週內——在其中一些VA醫院拿下非常出色的成果。所以這是一項策略。我們會持續推進，並讓Kestra團隊對於守護這些曾守護我們的退伍軍人感到熱血沸騰。因此我們對這個機會感到興奮。

Yes. I appreciate that. Okay. And then I guess I wanted to ask a follow-up that's a little more high level. It was referenced earlier that your sequential uptick in prescriptions this quarter was the highest we've seen in your history here. And I know one quarter may not be enough to call a trend, but it certainly looks like a nice acceleration. You have a lot of wind at your back, right? You've got new reps onboard.

是的。我很感謝。好的。接著我想再追問一個更高層次的問題。先前提到，你們本季處方量的季增幅是我們在你們歷史上看到的最高。我知道單一季度可能不足以稱為趨勢，但看起來確實是很不錯的加速。你們有很多順風因素，對吧？你們有新業務代表到位。

You've got the ACE-PAS data. You've done a lot of medical education. You've had an expanded role for the clinical specialists as well. So you've made a lot of changes that I think are beneficial as well. Any reason to think this isn't acceleration or that this momentum can't continue just as we look ahead? Not asking for anything formal, but just from your own viewpoint.

你們有ACE-PAS數據。你們做了大量醫學教育。你們也擴大了臨床專員的角色。所以你們也做了很多我認為有益的改變。從你的角度來看，有沒有任何理由認為這不是加速，或是這股動能無法在展望未來時持續？我不是要你給正式指引，只是想聽聽你自己的看法。

Well, if you want a really high-level answer, the answer is no. There is no reason. I mean, I think all the things that you said are right on. We're investing. This is -- FY26 is a year of investment in the commercial footprint. We've been very clear about that as being part of our strategy from the onset. And we've executed really, really well against that investment.

嗯，如果你要一個非常高層次的回答，答案是沒有。沒有任何理由。我的意思是，我認為你提到的所有事情都非常到位。我們正在投資。FY26是我們在商業版圖上的投資年度。我們從一開始就非常清楚，這是我們策略的一部分。而且我們在這些投資上的執行表現非常、非常好。

And as you know, it's no easy task to go out and recruit higher onboard, retain, train and get them up the curve, hiring 50 new territories, which is essentially what we're going to end up doing this fiscal year. And so we're doing that. We're adding the clinical folks to anchor get out some of those territories, as we've talked about. And we're investing in the future.

而且如你所知，外出招募、到職、留任、訓練並讓他們爬升到生產力曲線上，並不是件容易的事；我們本財年最終基本上會新增50個新區域。所以我們正在做這件事。我們也如先前所談，增加臨床人員來支撐並帶動其中一些區域。我們是在為未來投資。

And our real goal here, just to be really clear, is -- our intention is to build a long-term durable commercial engine at Kestra, We're going to feed that engine with continuous innovation. And that engine is going to have great innovation. It's going to have great product differentiation and great support because at the end of the day, this is a service business. And so we feel really good about the investments we're making and the foundation that we're building.

而我們在這裡的真正目標——為了說得非常清楚——是：我們的意圖是在Kestra打造一個長期、可持續且具韌性的商業引擎；我們會用持續創新來為這個引擎提供燃料。而這個引擎將具備卓越的創新。它會有很強的產品差異化與很好的支援，因為歸根結底，這是一門服務型生意。因此我們對正在進行的投資以及正在建立的基礎感到非常有信心。

David Roman, Goldman Sachs.

David Roman，高盛。

Thank you, everyone. Appreciate your intestine. Maybe I could just start with the territory expansion, Brian, that you discussed. And can you maybe help connect the territory expansion -- the accelerated territory expansion to your revenue outperformance this year and the extent to which sustaining this revenue growth requires territory adds versus same-store sales growth?

謝謝各位。感謝你們的腸子。也許我可以先從你提到的區域擴張開始，Brian。你能否協助把區域擴張——加速的區域擴張——與你們今年營收超預期的表現連結起來？以及在多大程度上，要維持這樣的營收成長需要新增區域，而不是依靠同店銷售成長？

Yes. David, thank you for the question. I think that as you can appreciate, you -- when you're growing a sales force, you're dealing with different dynamics. One dynamic is you add new territories. And the other dynamic -- so you have the question about how quickly you can get them onboard, how quickly you can get them on the productivity curve. And that's a big question.

是的。David，謝謝你的問題。我想你也能理解，當你在擴張銷售團隊時，你會面臨不同的動態。其中一個動態是新增新區域。另一個動態——因此你會有一個問題：你能多快讓他們到職、多快讓他們進入生產力曲線。而這是一個很大的問題。

And then the other question is with all your base reps, can you continue to see productivity with them. What we do not want to have is a situation where the only way we can grow is by expanding sales territories. And so that's where we focus on productivity improvements in our team. And we've invested heavily in training. We've invested heavily, obviously, in innovation, which will continue to help productivity.

然後另一個問題是：對於你所有既有的業務代表，你是否能持續看到他們的生產力提升。我們不希望出現一種情況：我們成長的唯一方式就是擴大銷售區域。因此我們把重點放在團隊的生產力改善上。我們在訓練上投入很多。我們也在創新上投入很多，顯然這將持續協助提升生產力。

And I think what we're going to see over the course of the next year is you're going to see just a bunch of new territory managers who have a little time in the saddle, so to speak, and we're going to see them really do some great things. And so I don't think that our model requires us to continually add new reps. I think we've got lots of opportunity to gain market share, to grow the productivity levels territory level.

我認為在接下來一年的過程中，你會看到一大批新的區域經理，所謂「上鞍」有了一點時間與經驗，然後我們會看到他們真正做出一些很棒的成果。因此，我不認為我們的模式需要我們持續不斷地增加新的業務代表。我認為我們有很多機會去提升市占率、在各區域層級提高生產力水準。

And as you combine and roll all those up, that equals growth without having to continue that really aggressive sales force expansion.

而當你把這些整合並彙總起來，就等於在不必持續進行那種非常積極的銷售團隊擴張之下，也能實現成長。

That's very helpful. And then maybe just a follow-up. The theme in the past, you've talked about CapEx spending as one of the best leading indicators of your confidence in forward revenue growth. Can you maybe just sort of talk about where you are in that cycle and maybe how you're thinking about forward use of cash?

這非常有幫助。接著也許再追問一下。過去你們談到，資本支出（CapEx）投入是你們對未來營收成長信心的最佳領先指標之一。你能否談談你們目前處於這個循環的哪個階段，以及你們如何思考未來現金的運用？

And how we should translate the increased investments here into the forward outlook? It certainly looks like you are performing on revenue I know you're not going to make FY27 comments here, but if I take your past comments on CapEx and try to tie it to the forward outlook, maybe you could help just connect the dots there for us a little bit.

以及我們應該如何把這裡增加的投資轉化為對未來展望的解讀？很明顯你們在營收表現上做得很好；我知道你們不會在這裡對 FY27 發表評論，但如果我把你們過去對 CapEx 的說法拿來與未來展望連結，也許你可以幫我們把其中的關聯再串起來一些。

Sure. Thanks, David. I think we've talked about this in the past, the leading indicator for us going down this path of building out the distribution team, we said would be to higher the CapEx because when you deploy those reps into the field, you want to make sure they have the right level of inventory and they can maintain that service level, which is so critical in our business.

當然。謝謝你，David。我想我們過去談過，對我們而言，走上擴建通路團隊這條路的領先指標，我們說會是提高 CapEx，因為當你把那些業務代表派到第一線時，你要確保他們有適當水準的庫存，並且能維持那個在我們業務中至關重要的服務水準。

So as we have said, the planning assumption or at least what we are guiding everyone is for long term, 10% of our filings are going to come from new units, 90% of them are going to come from reconditioning business, which means we are our largest supplier ourselves. And I think the team has done a fantastic job to drive the items engine.

因此，如同我們所說，規劃假設——或至少我們對大家的指引——是長期來看，我們申報量的 10% 會來自新機台，90% 會來自翻新（reconditioning）業務，這意味著我們自己就是我們最大的供應商。我認為團隊在推動這個「品項引擎」方面做得非常出色。

But at the same time, when you do that math, David, on the 10% coming from the units that gets you to the CapEx numbers, including some of the replacement CapEx investments to about 30 million a year for the next couple of years, at least. Well, we are -- when the Q comes out, you'll see that we had a $9 million investment in CapEx in this quarter. that, again, should give you a lot of comfort. That $9 million investment is ahead of us going from the previously publicized number for 100 reps in November to 230 by the end of the year.

但同時，David，當你用「10% 來自機台」去做這個數學推算，就會得到 CapEx 的數字；再加上一些汰換性 CapEx 投資，未來至少接下來幾年大約每年 3,000 萬美元。另外，當季報（Q）出來時，你會看到我們本季在 CapEx 上投資了 900 萬美元；這一點同樣應該會讓你更安心。這 900 萬美元的投資，是在我們從先前公開的「11 月 100 位業務代表」提升到「年底 230 位」之前就先行投入的。

Okay. And then maybe just a quick follow-up to that. If I look at your cash burn in the quarter, excluding the Biobeat investment, it looks like mid-20s million. Is that isolated to the quarter? How should we think about that number on a go-forward basis?

好的。那再快速追問一下。如果我看你們本季的現金消耗（cash burn），排除 Biobeat 的投資後，看起來是 2,000 多萬美元的中段。這是僅限於本季的情況嗎？未來我們應該如何看待這個數字？

Yes. I think we're very happy with where we ended up on the cash burn. Again, like I said, $9 million of that $28 million burn was CapEx, $18 million or $19 million of that was the operating burn, and we feel that we will be in that range at least for this next year.

是的。我想我們對現金消耗的落點非常滿意。同樣如我所說，2,800 萬美元的消耗中有 900 萬美元是 CapEx，1,800 萬或 1,900 萬美元是營運消耗，而我們認為至少在接下來一年會維持在這個區間。

Thank you. And that will conclude our Q&A for today. I would now like to turn the back over to Brian for any closing remarks.

謝謝。那麼今天的問答環節到此結束。我現在想把時間交回給 Brian，請他做任何結語。

Thank you. And thank you, everyone, for the questions and for your attendance this afternoon. I just want to reiterate that we're very excited about the results that we saw in Q3. We are seeing the business model come together. We're seeing terrific performance out in the field as we scale up new reps. And I'm very excited about the caliber of the new territory managers that we're hiring and the potential we have there.

謝謝。也謝謝各位今天下午的提問與出席。我想再次強調，我們對第三季（Q3）看到的結果感到非常振奮。我們看到商業模式正在成形。隨著我們擴編新業務代表，我們看到前線有非常出色的表現。我也對我們正在招募的新區域經理的素質，以及我們在那方面的潛力感到非常興奮。

Q3 is a little bit of a challenging quarter for us because as a daily run rate business, which Kestra very much is, when you get into the holidays, of the November, December holidays and then you get into the January new plan year for insurance; there's a lot of variables in Q3 that, quite frankly, make us nervous every year. But our team executed it directly through those and delivered a fantastic quarter and most importantly, continued to invest and build the infrastructure and the foundation that we need to create that long-term durable growth engine that we're talking about.

Q3 對我們來說有點具挑戰性，因為 Kestra 非常屬於每日跑量（daily run rate）的業務；當進入 11 月、12 月的假期，接著又進入 1 月保險的新計畫年度時，Q3 會有很多變數，坦白說每年都會讓我們緊張。但我們的團隊直接穿越這些因素、執行到位，交出了一個非常出色的季度；更重要的是，持續投資並建構我們所需要的基礎設施與根基，以打造我們所談到的那個長期且具韌性的成長引擎。

So we're very pleased with the quarter, and I appreciate everybody calling in and participating in the call. Thank you very much.

所以我們對本季非常滿意，也感謝大家撥打電話並參與本次會議。非常感謝。

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.

感謝各位參與今天的會議。本節目到此結束。您現在可以掛線。各位，祝您有美好的一天。