Labcorp Holdings Inc (LH) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, today's program is being recorded.

感謝您的支持，歡迎參加美國實驗室控股公司2023年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）提醒一下，今天的節目正在錄製中。

And now I'd like to introduce your host for today's program, Christin O'Donnell, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在，我想介紹今天節目的主持人，投資者關係副總裁克里斯汀·奧唐納 (Christin O'Donnell)。請開始。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to Labcorp's Third Quarter 2023 Conference Call. As detailed in today's press release, there will be a replay of this conference call available via telephone and Internet. With me today are Adam Schechter, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Glenn Eisenberg, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. This morning, in the Investor Relations section of our website at www.labcorp.com, we posted both our press release and an Investor Relations presentation with additional information on our business and operations, which include a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the GAAP financial measures discussed during today's call.

謝謝接線生。早上好，歡迎參加Labcorp 2023年第三季電話會議。正如今天的新聞稿中所述，本次電話會議的重播將透過電話和網路提供。今天與我一起出席會議的有董事長兼執行長Adam Schechter，以及執行副總裁兼財務長Glenn Eisenberg。今天上午，我們在公司網站www.labcorp.com的「投資者關係」板塊發布了新聞稿和一份投資者關係演示文稿，其中包含有關我們業務和運營的更多信息，其中包括非公認會計準則財務指標與今天電話會議上討論的公認會計準則財務指標的對帳。

Additionally, we are making forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the estimated 2023 guidance and the related assumptions; the impact of various factors on the company's businesses, operating and financial results, cash flows and/or financial condition, including the COVID-19 pandemic and general economic and market conditions; future business strategies, expected savings and synergies, including from the LaunchPad initiative, acquisitions and other transactions and opportunities for future growth.

此外，我們也做出前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述包括但不限於：關於2023年預計業績指引及相關假設的陳述；各種因素對公司業務、經營業績、財務業績、現金流量和/或財務狀況的影響，包括COVID-19疫情以及總體經濟和市場狀況；未來業務戰略、預期成本節約和協同效應，包括來自LaunchPad計劃、總體經濟和市場狀況；未來業務戰略、預期成本節約和協同效應，包括來自LaunchPad計劃、總體經濟和市場狀況；未來業務戰略、預期成本節約和協同效應，包括來自LaunchPad計劃、總體經濟和市場狀況；未來業務戰略、預期成本節約和協同效應，包括來自LaunchPad計劃、總體經濟和市場狀況；未來業務戰略、預期成本節約和協同效應，包括來自LaunchPad計劃、總體經濟和市場狀況；未來業務戰略、預期成本節約和綜

Each of the forward-looking statements is subject to change based upon various factors, many of which are beyond our control. More information is included in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and in the company's other filings with the SEC. We have no obligation to provide any updates to these forward-looking statements even if our expectations change.

任何前瞻性陳述均可能因各種因素而發生變化，其中許多因素超出我們的控制範圍。更多資訊請參閱我們最新的10-K表格年度報告、後續的10-Q表格季度報告以及公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件。即使我們的預期發生變化，我們也沒有義務對這些前瞻性陳述進行任何更新。

Now I'll turn the call over to Adam Schechter.

現在我將電話轉給亞當謝克特 (Adam Schechter)。

Thank you, Christin. Good morning, everyone. Today, I'll cover our third quarter performance, and I'll discuss our strategy, which we reviewed at our recent Investor Day.

謝謝，Christin。大家早安。今天，我將介紹我們第三季的業績，並討論我們在最近的投資者日上回顧過的策略。

In the third quarter, Labcorp delivered strong year-over-year growth across the enterprise, with acceleration in our Diagnostic Laboratories and Biopharma Laboratory Service businesses. Our growth is fueled by our ability to execute well and to deliver greater value for our customers through our leadership in science, innovation and technology. We see strength in our businesses. We have enhanced financial flexibility and a clear strategic focus, all of which enable us to end the year with significant momentum. Labcorp will continue to drive growth by expanding our Base Business, finalizing and integrating our hospital and health system in our local and regional laboratory transactions and by advancing our leadership in high-growth strategic areas, including specialty testing.

第三季度，Labcorp 整體業務年增強勁，其中診斷實驗室和生物製藥實驗室服務業務加速成長。我們的成長源自於我們卓越的執行力，以及憑藉在科學、創新和技術方面的領先地位，為客戶提供更高價值的能力。我們看到了自身業務的強勁成長動能。我們增強了財務靈活性，並確立了清晰的策略重點，所有這些都使我們能夠以強勁的勢頭結束這一財年。 Labcorp 將繼續透過擴展基礎業務、完成並整合本地和區域實驗室交易中的醫院和醫療系統，以及提升我們在專科檢測等高成長策略領域的領導地位來推動成長。

Moving to our third quarter results. In the third quarter, revenue totaled $3.1 billion, adjusted earnings per share was $3.38, and free cash flow from continuing operations excluding spin-related items, was $227 million. Enterprise revenue increased 7% compared to the prior year. Diagnostics Laboratories Base Business revenue continued exceptional year-over-year growth, with a 16% increase driven by organic growth and progress in our hospital and health system strategy including Ascension. Biopharma Laboratory Services had a strong growth in the third quarter of 8%.

回顧我們第三季的業績。第三季度，公司總收入為31億美元，調整後每股收益為3.38美元，不包括分拆相關項目在內的持續經營業務產生的自由現金流為2.27億美元。企業營收年增7%。診斷實驗室基礎業務收入持續保持卓越的年成長，成長16%，這得益於有機成長以及包括Ascension在內的醫院和醫療系統策略的進展。生物製藥實驗室服務在第三季度實現了8%的強勁成長。

Enterprise Base Business margin was down 50 basis points compared to the prior year, primarily due to the mix impact of Ascension. We continue to expect full year Base Business margins to be flat to slightly up versus prior year, implying an increase in fourth quarter margins year-over-year. Glenn will provide more detail on our quarterly results as well as our 2023 outlook in just a moment.

企業基礎業務利潤率較前一年下降50個基點，主要原因是Ascension帶來的業務組合影響。我們預計全年基礎業務利潤率將與上年持平或略有上升，這意味著第四季度利潤率將同比增長。 Glenn稍後將詳細介紹我們的季度業績以及2023年的展望。

Turning now to our enterprise strategy in the third quarter. We have significant momentum in our health system and local and regional laboratory partnership strategy. I believe the momentum is due to our leadership in science and technology and our dedication to patients and in our commitment to quality and efficiency. With the most recent partnership announcement, we strengthened our presence and scale in the Northeast and West Coast.

現在談談我們第三季的企業策略。我們的醫療系統以及本地和區域實驗室合作戰略發展勢頭強勁。我相信，這得益於我們在科技領域的領先地位、我們對患者的奉獻以及對品質和效率的承諾。隨著最新宣布的合作，我們增強了在東北部和西海岸的業務和規模。

In the Northeast, we advanced 3 partnerships during the quarter. In July, we finalized our strategic relationship with Jefferson Health, one of the largest and most prominent health systems serving the Greater Philadelphia area and Southern New Jersey.

在東北部，我們在本季推進了3項合作。 7月，我們與傑斐遜健康公司（Jefferson Health）達成策略合作關係，該公司是服務於大費城地區和新澤西州南部的規模最大、最知名的醫療系統之一。

In August, we forged a strategic partnership with Tufts Medicine, a leading health system in Massachusetts. Patients and providers of Tufts Medicine now have improved access to standardized laboratory testing throughout the Tufts Medicine system. We recently finalized our initial agreement with Tufts Medicine, and we've reached agreement to expand the relationship to manage Tufts Medicine inpatient hospital laboratories later this year.

今年8月，我們與馬薩諸塞州領先的醫療系統塔夫茨醫學院（Tufts Medicine）建立了策略合作夥伴關係。塔夫茨醫學院的病患和醫療服務提供者現在可以更便捷地在整個塔夫茨醫學院系統內獲得標準化的實驗室檢測服務。我們最近與塔夫茨醫學院敲定了初步協議，並已達成協議，將在今年稍後擴大合作關係，以管理塔夫茨醫學院住院醫院的實驗室。

And earlier this month, we announced a strategic relationship with Baystate Health, in which we would acquire its outreach laboratory business and select operating assets, including laboratory service centers operated throughout Western Massachusetts.

本月初，我們宣布與 Baystate Health 建立策略合作夥伴關係，我們將收購其外展實驗室業務和精選營運資產，包括在馬薩諸塞州西部營運的實驗室服務中心。

On the Northwest, we announced a comprehensive lab relationship with Legacy Health in Portland, where we'll acquire select assets of its outreach laboratory business and manage its inpatient hospital laboratories. We also finalized our acquisition of Providence, Oregon's outreach laboratory business in September.

在西北地區，我們宣布與波特蘭的Legacy Health建立全面的實驗室合作關係，我們將收購其外展實驗室業務的部分資產，並管理其住院醫院實驗室。我們也於9月完成了對俄勒岡州普羅維登斯外展實驗室業務的收購。

The depth and the breadth of opportunity and the quality of our pipeline is robust, and we are optimistic about continued expansion. These partnerships meet our financial criteria, including being accretive in the first year and return your cost of capital within 3 years. While the first year margins are typically lower than Labcorp's historical margin levels, there is a clear path to improvement.

我們擁有豐富的機會和廣度，且產品線品質穩健，我們對持續擴張充滿信心。這些合作夥伴符合我們的財務標準，包括第一年實現增值，並在三年內收回資本成本。雖然第一年的利潤率通常低於Labcorp的歷史利潤率水平，但未來仍有明顯的提升空間。

Turning now to our advancements in innovation and technology. In late September, Labcorp became the first company to broadly offer an ATN profile, a blood-based test that combines 3 well-researched blood biomarkers to identify and to assess biological changes associated with Alzheimer's disease, amyloid plaques, tau tangles and neurodegeneration, targeted for patients who are being evaluated for mild dementia. This new test builds on Labcorp's leadership in neurodegenerative testing options and gives physicians an easily accessible and interpretable blood test to assess pathologies associated with Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.

現在來談談我們在創新和技術方面的進步。 9月下旬，Labcorp成為首家廣泛提供ATN檢測的公司。 ATN檢測是一項基於血液的檢測，結合了三種經過充分研究的血液生物標記物，用於識別和評估與阿茲海默症、澱粉樣斑塊、tau蛋白纏結和神經退化相關的生物學變化，專門針對正在接受輕度失智症評估的患者。這項新檢測鞏固了Labcorp在神經退化性檢測領域的領先地位，為醫生提供了一種易於獲取且易於解讀的血液檢測方法，用於評估與阿茲海默症和其他神經退化性疾病相關的病理。

Turning to women's health. We announced a new consumer offering for menopause in the quarter. Labcorp's on-demand menopause test aims to help women understand symptoms and hormonal factors related to menopause so they can have more informed conversations with their providers.

談到女性健康。我們在本季推出了一項針對更年期的全新消費者服務。 Labcorp 的按需更年期測試旨在幫助女性了解與更年期相關的症狀和荷爾蒙因素，以便她們能夠與醫療服務提供者進行更深入的溝通。

Finally, our Biopharma Laboratory Services team opened 2 new international facilities in China, a new kit production facility and an immunology and immunotoxicology laboratory.

最後，我們的生物製藥實驗室服務團隊在中國開設了 2 個新的國際設施、一個新的試劑盒生產設施和一個免疫學和免疫毒理學實驗室。

Before I turn the call over to Glenn, as we discussed at Investor Day, we are excited about the future of Labcorp and our strong financial outlook. On a CAGR basis through 2026, we expect overall enterprise revenue growth of 5% to 8%, including 1.5% to 2.5% from acquisitions. For Diagnostics Laboratories, we expect organic growth of 2.5% to 4.5%. We expect Biopharma Laboratory Services to grow organically between 4.5% to 7.5%.

在把電話轉給格倫之前，正如我們在投資者日討論的那樣，我們對Labcorp的未來和強勁的財務前景感到興奮。以複合年增長率計算，我們預計到2026年，整體企業收入將成長5%至8%，其中包括來自收購的1.5%至2.5%。對於診斷實驗室業務，我們預期有機成長率為2.5%至4.5%。我們預計生物製藥實驗室服務業務的有機成長率將在4.5%至7.5%之間。

We are focusing on 2 significant drivers of near-term growth and differentiation as we move towards those target ranges. The first is to be the partner of choice for health systems and local or regional laboratories. And the second is to develop, to license and, ultimately, to scale specialty testing, including companion diagnostics. I mentioned the momentum that we have in our health system strategy earlier. We've announced 5 new agreements this year. Additionally, in specialty testing, we are focused on 4 primary areas: oncology, women's health, autoimmune disease and neurology, which we anticipate will outpace the growth of other therapeutic areas. The development of specialty tests and companion diagnostics makes us attractive partners to health systems and biopharma as they continue to develop more therapies and higher specialty areas.

在朝著這些目標邁進的過程中，我們專注於近期成長和差異化的兩大重要驅動力。首先是成為醫療系統和地方或區域實驗室的首選合作夥伴。其次是開發、授權並最終擴大專科檢測（包括伴隨診斷）的規模。我之前提到過我們醫療系統策略的勢頭。今年我們已經宣布了5項新協議。此外，在專科檢測方面，我們專注於四個主要領域：腫瘤學、女性健康、自體免疫疾病和神經病學，我們預計這些領域的成長速度將超過其他治療領域。隨著醫療系統和生物製藥公司持續開發更多療法和更高水準的專科領域，專科檢測和伴隨診斷的發展使我們成為他們眼中極具吸引力的合作夥伴。

Our scale and our geographic presence will be differentiators for both growth initiatives. We are also well positioned for long-term success in cell and gene therapy, expanding into the consumer market and international growth through our innovative speciality testing and biopharma business. All of this will culminate in top line performance that we expect will exceed $14 billion by the end of 2026.

我們的規模和地理分佈將成為這兩項成長計畫的差異化因素。我們也已做好準備，在細胞和基因治療領域取得長期成功，拓展消費市場，並透過我們創新的專業檢測和生物製藥業務實現國際成長。所有這些將最終帶來營收業績，我們預計到2026年底將超過140億美元。

To close, our team of over 60,000 global employees is executing Labcorp's global strategy at scale and on an exceptional pace. As we close 2023, we will continue to capitalize on the momentum that we've created and drive further value creation for our shareholders. This year has been transformational for Labcorp. We are focused on our growth strategy, and we plan to finish strong as we pursue our mission to improve health and to improve lives.

最後，我們擁有超過6萬名全球員工的團隊正以驚人的速度大規模執行Labcorp的全球策略。在2023年即將結束之際，我們將持續利用已創造的良好勢頭，為股東創造更多價值。今年對Labcorp來說是轉型之年。我們專注於成長策略，並計劃在追求改善健康和生活這項使命的過程中，取得圓滿成功。

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

說完這些，我將把電話轉給格倫。

Thank you, Adam. I'm going to start my comments with a review of our third quarter results, followed by a discussion of our performance in each segment and conclude with an update on our full year guidance. For reference, we've also included additional business information that can be found in our supplemental deck on our Investor Relations website.

謝謝，亞當。我的發言首先會回顧我們第三季的業績，然後討論我們各部門的業績表現，最後更新全年業績指引。為了方便參考，我們還提供了一些其他業務信息，您可以在我們投資者關係網站的補充資料中找到。

Revenue for the quarter were $3.1 billion, an increase of 6.6% compared to last year, primarily due to organic Base Business growth and the impact of acquisitions, partially offset by lower COVID testing. The Base Business grew 14% compared to the Base Business last year, while COVID testing revenue was down 87%. Organically, in constant currency, the Base Business grew 10.8%, benefiting from the Ascension lab management agreement, which contributed approximately 4% of the organic growth. As a reminder, the outreach business that we acquired from Ascension is treated as an acquisition while the lab management agreement is treated as organic growth. Ascension annualized on September 30.

本季營收為31億美元，年增6.6%，主要得益於基礎業務的有機成長和收購的影響，但部分抵銷了新冠檢測業務的下降。基礎業務年增14%，而新冠檢測收入則下降了87%。以固定匯率計算，基礎業務有機成長10.8%，這得益於Ascension實驗室管理協議，該協議貢獻了約4%的有機成長。需要提醒的是，我們從Ascension收購的外展業務被視為收購，實驗室管理協議被視為有機成長。 Ascension於9月30日進行了年度化。

Operating income for the quarter was $252 million or 8.3% of revenue. During the quarter, we had $56 million of amortization and $116 million of restructuring charges and special items due to the spin of Fortrea, COVID, acquisitions and LaunchPad initiatives. Excluding these items, adjusted operating income in the quarter was $424 million or 13.9% of revenue compared to $491 million or 17.1% last year.

本季營業利潤為2.52億美元，佔營收的8.3%。本季度，由於Fortrea業務的分拆、新冠疫情、收購以及LaunchPad專案的影響，我們的攤銷額為5,600萬美元，重組費用及特殊項目為1.16億美元。扣除這些項目後，本季調整後營業利潤為4.24億美元，佔營收的13.9%，去年同期為4.91億美元，佔營收的17.1%。

The decrease in adjusted operating income was due to lower COVID testing. The margin decline was also negatively affected by the mix impact from the Ascension lab management agreement. Excluding these items, margins would have been flat as the benefit of demand and LaunchPad savings were offset by higher personnel expense. Our LaunchPad initiative continues to be on track to deliver $350 million of savings over the 3-year period ending 2024.

調整後營業收入的下降是因為新冠檢測數量減少。利潤率的下降也受到Ascension實驗室管理協議帶來的產品組合影響的負面影響。如果不計入這些項目，利潤率原本將持平，因為需求成長和LaunchPad項目成本節省帶來的效益被更高的人事費用抵消。我們的LaunchPad計畫預計在截至2024年的三年內實現3.5億美元的成本節省。

The tax rate for the quarter was 23.1%. The adjusted tax rate for the quarter was 24% compared to 19.4% last year. The increase in the adjusted rate was primarily due to higher R&D tax credits realized last year. We continue to expect the fourth quarter and full year adjusted tax rate to be approximately 24%.

本季稅率為23.1%。本季調整後稅率為24%，去年同期為19.4%。調整後稅率的上升主要歸因於去年研發稅收抵免的增加。我們繼續預計第四季及全年調整後稅率約為24%。

Net earnings for the quarter from continuing operations were $184 million or $2.11 per diluted share. Adjusted EPS were $3.38 in the quarter, down 16% from last year due to lower COVID testing earnings as Base Business adjusted EPS was up approximately 10%.

本季持續經營業務淨利為1.84億美元，即每股攤薄收益2.11美元。本季調整後每股收益為3.38美元，較去年同期下降16%，原因是新冠檢測業務利潤下降，而基礎業務調整後每股收益則增長了約10%。

Operating cash flow from continuing operations was $276 million in the quarter, which was burdened by approximately $56 million of spin-related items. Operating cash flow of $276 million is up from $253 million a year ago due to higher cash earnings.

本季持續經營業務的營運現金流為2.76億美元，其中約5,600萬美元的分拆相關項目支出佔比較大。由於現金收益增加，本季營運現金流為2.76億美元，高於去年同期的2.53億美元。

Capital expenditures totaled $105 million, up from $83 million last year. For the full year, we continue to expect that capital expenditures will be approximately 3.5% of Base Business revenue.

資本支出總計1.05億美元，高於去年的8,300萬美元。我們預計全年資本支出將佔基礎業務收入的約3.5%。

Free cash flow from continuing operations for the quarter was $171 million, which was burdened by approximately $56 million of spin-related items. The company invested $380 million in acquisitions, paid out $64 million in dividends and used $1 billion for an accelerated share repurchase program that we expect will be completed by year-end. At quarter end, we had around $725 million in cash while debt was $5.4 billion. Our leverage was 2.7x gross debt to trailing 12 months adjusted EBITDA.

本季持續經營業務產生的自由現金流為1.71億美元，其中約5,600萬美元的分拆相關項目對其造成了負擔。公司投資3.8億美元用於收購，支付6,400萬美元股息，並動用10億美元用於加速股票回購計劃，我們預計該計劃將於年底前完成。截至季末，我們持有約7.25億美元現金，而債務為54億美元。我們的槓桿率為總債務與過去12個月調整後EBITDA比率的2.7倍。

Now I'll review our segment performance, beginning with Diagnostics Laboratories. Revenue for the quarter was $2.3 billion, an increase of 6.2% compared to last year, driven primarily by organic growth of 3.4% and acquisitions of 3%. The Base Business grew organically by 12.8% compared to the Base Business last year, while COVID testing revenue was down 87%. The Ascension lab management agreement contributed approximately 6% of the growth.

現在，我將回顧我們各部門的業績，首先從診斷實驗室開始。本季營收為23億美元，年增6.2%，主要得益於3.4%的有機成長和3%的收購。基礎業務與去年同期相比有機成長了12.8%，而新冠檢測收入下降了87%。 Ascension實驗室管理協議貢獻了約6%的成長。

Total volume increased 2.3% compared to last year as acquisition volume grew 3.4%, primarily offset by organic volume of minus 1.1% due to COVID testing. Base Business volume grew 7.2% compared to the Base Business last year as organic increased 3.6% for volume while acquisitions also contributed 3.6%.

總銷售量年增2.3%，其中收購量成長3.4%，主要被新冠疫情檢測導致的自然銷售量下降1.1%所抵銷。基礎業務銷量較去年同期成長7.2%，其中自然銷量成長3.6%，收購量也貢獻了3.6%。

Price/mix increased 3.9% versus last year, primarily due to an organic Base Business increase partially offset by lower COVID testing. Base Business organic price/mix was up 9.2% compared to Base Business last year, benefiting from the Ascension lab management agreement of approximately 6%.

價格/產品組合較去年同期上漲3.9%，主要原因是基礎業務的有機成長，但新冠檢測數量下降部分抵消了這一增長。基礎業務的有機價格/產品組合較去年同期上漲9.2%，這得益於Ascension實驗室管理協議帶來的約6%的收益。

Diagnostics Laboratories adjusted operating income for the quarter was $386 million, or 16.5% of revenue compared to $440 million or 19.9% last year. The decrease in adjusted operating income was due to a reduction in COVID-19 testing while the margin was also affected by the mix impact from Ascension. Base business margin, excluding the mix impact of Ascension was up approximately 30 basis points as the benefit of organic growth and LaunchPad savings were partially offset by higher personnel expense.

診斷實驗室本季調整後營業收入為3.86億美元，佔營收的16.5%，去年同期為4.40億美元，佔營收的19.9%。調整後營業收入的下降是由於新冠檢測數量的減少，利潤率也受到了Ascension產品組合的影響。在剔除Ascension產品組合的影響後，基礎業務利潤率上升了約30個基點，因為有機成長和LaunchPad專案成本節省帶來的收益被人員支出的增加部分抵消。

Now I'll review our segment performance of Biopharma Laboratory Services. Revenue for the quarter was $719 million, an increase of 7.9% compared to last year, primarily due to an increase in organic revenue of 4.9% and foreign currency of 3.3%. The 7.9% revenue growth was driven by continued strength in central labs, which was up 9%, while early development was up 5.7%. While early development is no longer constrained by NHP availability, it has experienced higher-than-normal cancellations and lower orders primarily due to small biotech funding.

現在，我將回顧我們生物製藥實驗室服務部門的表現。本季營收為7.19億美元，年增7.9%，主要得益於有機收入成長4.9%以及外幣營收成長3.3%。 7.9%的營收成長得益於中心實驗室業務的持續強勁成長（成長9%）以及早期開發業務成長5.7%。雖然早期開發業務不再受非人靈藥供應的限制，但由於生技資金規模較小，該業務的取消訂單量和訂單量均高於正常水準。

Biopharma Laboratory Services adjusted operating income for the quarter was $109 million or 15.2% of revenue compared to $105 million or 15.8% last year. The decrease in adjusted operating margin was due to stranded costs as a result of the spin of Fortrea, which is timing related. Excluding stranded costs, margins were up in the third quarter, as the benefit of top line growth and LaunchPad savings were partially offset by higher personnel costs. We expect margins in the fourth quarter to be up sequentially and year-over-year.

生物製藥實驗室服務本季調整後營業利潤為1.09億美元，佔營收的15.2%，去年同期為1.05億美元，佔營收的15.8%。調整後營業利潤率的下降是由於Fortrea分拆產生的擱淺成本，這與時間安排有關。扣除擱淺成本後，第三季利潤率上升，這是因為營收成長和LaunchPad成本節省帶來的收益被人員成本的上升部分抵消。我們預計第四季度利潤率將環比和同比增長。

We ended the quarter with a backlog of $7.8 billion, and we expect approximately $2.4 billion of this backlog to convert into revenue over the next 12 months. Trailing 12 months book-to-bill was 1.12.

本季末，我們的訂單積壓金額為78億美元，預計其中約24億美元將在未來12個月內轉換為營收。過去12個月的訂單出貨比為1.12。

Now I'll discuss our 2023 full year guidance, which assumes foreign exchange rates effective as of September 30, 2023, for the remainder of the year. The enterprise guidance also includes the impact from currently anticipated capital allocation, with free cash flow targeted for acquisitions, share repurchases and dividends. In addition, the guidance includes the impact from the $1 billion accelerated share repurchase program, which was funded with proceeds from the spin.

現在我將討論我們2023年全年業績指引，該指引假設外匯匯率自2023年9月30日起生效，並適用於今年剩餘時間。企業績效指引也涵蓋了目前預期的資本配置的影響，其中自由現金流將用於收購、股票回購和股利。此外，該指引還涵蓋了10億美元加速股票回購計畫的影響，該計畫的資金來自分拆所得。

With regard to our 2023 full year guidance, we've narrowed the ranges but have maintained the same midpoint from our prior guidance for enterprise revenue, earnings and cash flow. We expect enterprise revenue to grow 1.9% to 2.7% compared to 2022. This increase reflects the Base Business growing 11.5% to 12.2%, while COVID testing is expected to decline 85% to 86%.

關於2023年全年業績指引，我們已縮減了區間，但企業收入、獲利和現金流量的預期中位數與先前指引保持一致。我們預期企業營收將較2022年成長1.9%至2.7%。這一成長反映了基礎業務成長11.5%至12.2%，而新冠檢測預計將下降85%至86%。

We expect Diagnostics Laboratories revenue to be up 1.5% to 2% compared to 2022. This guidance includes the expectation that the Base Business will grow 14.1% to 14.6%, which includes approximately 5% growth from Ascension. The Base Business has improved from our prior guidance as acquisition-related revenue that was forecasted at the enterprise level is now reflected in the segment as we've closed those transactions. We continue to expect Diagnostics Laboratories Base Business margin to be up slightly in 2023 versus 2022, including the unfavorable mix impact from Ascension.

我們預計診斷實驗室業務的營收將較2022年成長1.5%至2%。該指引包含基礎業務成長14.1%至14.6%的預期，其中包括Ascension業務約5%的成長。由於我們已完成收購交易，先前在企業層級預測的收購相關收入現已反映在該部門，因此基礎業務的表現較我們先前的指引有所改善。我們仍預計，2023年診斷實驗室業務的利潤率將較2022年略有上升，已計入Ascension業務帶來的不利組合影響。

We expect Biopharma Laboratory Services revenue to grow 3.1% to 4% compared to 2022. Excluding the change in currency translation of negative 20 basis points, the midpoint of the guidance range remains unchanged from our prior guidance. We expect the revenue growth rate to continue to improve in the fourth quarter. In addition, we expect margins for the full year to be flat to slightly up while the fourth quarter is expected to see both sequential and year-over-year improvement.

我們預計生物製藥實驗室服務收入將較2022年成長3.1%至4%。剔除貨幣換算帶來的負20個基點的影響，指引區間中位數與我們先前的指引保持不變。我們預計第四季度營收成長率將持續提升。此外，我們預計全年利潤率將持平或略有上升，而第四季度預計將實現環比和同比雙雙提升。

Our guidance range for adjusted EPS is $13.25 to $13.75, unchanged at the midpoint from our prior guidance. Free cash flow from continuing operations, excluding spin-related items, is expected to be between $850 million to $950 million, also unchanged from our prior guidance at the midpoint.

我們對調整後每股盈餘的預期範圍為13.25美元至13.75美元，與先前預期的中位數持平。持續經營業務的自由現金流（不含分拆相關項目）預計在8.5億美元至9.5億美元之間，也與先前預期的中位數持平。

In summary, we expect to drive continued profitable growth in our Base Business. We expect to continue to use our free cash flow generation for acquisitions that supplement our organic growth while also returning capital to shareholders through our share repurchase program and dividends.

總而言之，我們預計將推動基礎業務持續獲利成長。我們預計將繼續利用自由現金流進行收購，以補充我們的有機成長，同時透過股票回購計畫和股息向股東返還資本。

Operator, we will now take questions.

接線員，我們現在來回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from the line of Kevin Caliendo from UBS.

（操作員指示）我們的第一個問題來自瑞銀的 Kevin Caliendo。

Sure. I guess I want to go into the book-to-bill and the sequential -- the commentary about Biopharma and cancellations. When did you start to see that? How meaningful is it? Is it across multiple customers? Any more color around what's happening with the orders in the biopharma business, cancellations? As much color as you can provide would be super helpful.

當然。我想談談訂單出貨比和環比——關於生物製藥和訂單取消的評論。您是什麼時候開始注意到這一點的？它有多重要？它涉及多個客戶嗎？可否詳細介紹一下生物製藥業務的訂單和訂單取消情況？您能提供盡可能多的細節資訊將非常有幫助。

Sure, Kevin. So if you look at the third quarter book-to-bill, it was a bit light versus the prior quarter. And it was mostly due to small and emerging biotech, and it was mostly due to those customers in our early development research laboratories. Large pharma, medium size biotech, which is the majority of our customers in our Central Laboratories, which is the largest part of our biopharma segment remains strong.

當然，凱文。所以，如果你看一下第三季的訂單出貨比，你會發現它比上一季略低。這主要歸功於小型和新興的生物技術公司，也主要歸功於我們早期開發研究實驗室的客戶。大型製藥公司和中型生技公司——也就是我們中央實驗室（生物製藥部門最大的組成部分）的大部分客戶——的業績仍然強勁。

And as I look at fourth quarter, I expect the book-to-bill in fourth quarter to be better than it was in the third quarter. If you look at the trailing 12 months, it was 1.12. And to me, that still remains pretty healthy. If you remember last quarter, I mentioned that with the Clinical Development business now being a separate company, you would expect the book-to-bill to be lower. In particular, because in early development, most of those trials are very short term. They could be 1 month, 3 months. They usually start and end in the same year that you have them. So that's why I feel confident that we'll continue to see progress. I feel that the largest part of our business, Central Laboratories, remains very strong in RFPs, book-to-bill, and we just have to continue to try to find a way to change our mix a bit in early development.

展望第四季度，我預期第四季的訂單出貨比會比第三季更好。過去12個月的訂單出貨比是1.12。在我看來，這仍然相當健康。如果你還記得上個季度，我提到過，由於臨床開發業務現已獨立運營，預計訂單出貨比會更低。尤其是在早期開發階段，大多數試驗的週期都很短，可能只有1個月或3個月。它們通常在同一年內開始和結束。因此，我相信我們將繼續取得進展。我認為，我們業務中最大的組成部分——中央實驗室，在招標書（RFP）和訂單出貨比方面仍然非常強勁，我們只需要繼續嘗試在早期開發階段稍微調整一下我們的產品組合。

I'd like to move early development to work more with the midsized biotech, maybe some of the pharma companies versus having too much reliance on the smaller or emerging biotech companies. If you look at the revenue, I felt very good about the revenue in the biopharma business with 8% revenue growth in the segment for the quarter, and we expect to see continued strength in revenue growth.

我希望早期開發能多與中型生物科技公司，或許是一些製藥公司合作，而不是過度依賴小型或新興的生物科技公司。從營收來看，我對生物製藥業務的營收非常滿意，本季該部門的營收成長了8%，我們預期營收成長將持續強勁。

And just the confidence that it gets better next quarter, is that visibility? Is that just basically writing off some of the stuff that the cancellations are going to improve? Like what gives you that sense? Obviously, you can see more than we can. I'm just wondering what that is that we can sort of rely on.

您對下個季度情況會好轉的信心，是可見度嗎？這是否意味著取消訂單會改善一些業務？是什麼讓您有這種感覺？顯然，您比我們看得更清楚。我只是想知道，我們可以依靠的是什麼。

Yes. So again, I'm just looking at the number of RFPs coming through, our run rate and so forth. And based upon what I see, as I sit here today, I expect us to have a better quarter and fourth quarter for book-to-bill in the third quarter. And sometimes, book-to-bill is timing related. You think you might get a trial in the third quarter. It ends up falling to the fourth. I've always said to be careful to look at any 1 quarter when it comes to book-to-bill, and that's why we also provide the trailing 12 months. Yes.

是的。所以，我再說一遍，我只是在關注收到的RFP數量、我們的運行率等等。根據我今天在這裡看到的情況，我預計第三季和第四季的訂單出貨比會更好。有時，訂單出貨比與時間有關。你以為你可能會在第三季試用，結果卻拖到了第四季。我一直說，在考慮訂單出貨比時，要謹慎地關注任何一個季度，這就是為什麼我們也提供過去12個月的數據。是的。

And our next question comes from the line of Lisa Gill from JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的麗莎吉爾。

Just looking at the other side of the business, when I think about the diagnostics side of the business and the strong core growth, just 2 questions there. One, can you talk about where you are on managed care contracting and helping them and the shift in site of care going to lower-cost, lab services like Labcorp versus inpatient, et cetera? And then secondly, as we think about routine testing, are you seeing an increase in metabolic testing, specifically like A1C as you think about the GLP-1 craze?

再說說業務的另一面，當我想到診斷業務和強勁的核心成長時，我只想問兩個問題。第一，您能否談談您在管理式醫療承包方面的情況，以及在幫助他們方面，以及醫療服務從住院服務轉向低成本實驗室服務（例如Labcorp）等方面的轉變？第二，說到常規檢測，您是否看到代謝檢測（特別是像糖化血紅蛋白A1C）增加，尤其是在GLP-1熱潮的影響下？

Sure, Lisa. First of all, we're very pleased with the performance in the diagnostics sector. Not just when you look at overall revenue, which includes Ascension, but when you look at the Base Business volume, if you look at that, the base business volume was up 7.2%, and about 3.6% was from acquisitions. So it just tells you that the organic Base Business remains very strong.

當然，麗莎。首先，我們對診斷業務的表現非常滿意。不僅從包括Ascension在內的整體營收來看，從基礎業務量來看，基礎業務量成長了7.2%，其中約3.6%來自收購。這說明有機基礎業務仍然非常強勁。

Our managed care contracting, we're in a very good position. We've either finalized or close to finalizing all of the contracts that were large and need to be renewed. And I would say they will be basically flat to slightly positive, which is a good place for us to be as we move into next year. So I feel very good about that.

我們的管理式醫療承包業務目前處於非常有利的境地。我們已經完成或接近完成所有需要續約的大額合約。我認為這些合約的業績將基本持平或略有增長，這對於我們進入明年來說是一個不錯的水平。所以我對此感到非常滿意。

We look at metabolic testing, and we look at all the different types of routine testing. And we have -- we see that growing, but it's growing at consistent rates as it's grown before. And we still see our esoteric testing growing a little bit faster but almost about the same as our routine testing. And if you look at like our metabolic testing and so forth, we don't really see an acceleration there. And a lot of the metabolic testing is done in panels, and it's done with other tests and so forth. So I wouldn't expect to see a significant change necessarily with the GLP-1s moving forward.

我們關注代謝檢測，也關注各種不同類型的常規檢測。我們看到這些檢測正在成長，但其成長速度與以往一樣穩定。我們仍然看到，特殊檢測的成長速度略快一些，但幾乎與常規檢測持平。如果你關注代謝檢測等等，我們並沒有看到它們真正加速發展。很多代謝檢測都是在小組測試中進行的，並且與其他檢測等等一起進行。因此，我預期GLP-1的推廣不一定會引發重大變化。

But the growth is very broad-based. It's across geographies. It's across routine and esoteric testing. It's across all the different types of testing that we have. So the underlying dynamics are very strong.

但成長範圍非常廣泛。它跨越地域，涵蓋常規測試和專業測試，也涵蓋我們所有不同類型的測試。因此，潛在的成長動力非常強勁。

And our next question comes from the line of Patrick Donnelly from Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Patrick Donnelly。

Just to follow up on the early development side. Interesting to hear kind of maybe shifting towards a little bit newer of a customer base more towards the midsize. Does that -- I guess what does that entail? Do you just have to cater the offering a little bit more towards that customer base? And is there a little bit of disruption as that happens? Maybe talk through how you think about moving the portfolio more towards that client base.

只是想跟進一下早期開發方面的問題。聽到你提到可能會轉向一些更新的客戶群，更傾向於中型企業，這很有趣。這意味著什麼？你是否只需要稍微調整一下產品線，使其更貼近這個客戶群？這樣做會不會帶來一些影響？能否談談你如何考慮將產品組合更多地轉向這個客戶群。

Yes, absolutely. One of the things, Patrick, we're trying to do is to focus more on the specialty testing and also thinking about how to expand internationally on things like companion diagnostics. When you think about a mid- to large pharma company, as they develop more personalized medicine, they're going to want to have some type of diagnostic tool or companion diagnostic that they can use to develop, to identify which patients are most apt to respond to the medicine but also have it available ultimately in the marketplace.

是的，絕對的。派崔克，我們正在嘗試做的一件事就是更加專注於專科檢測，同時也在思考如何在伴隨診斷等領域進行國際擴張。對於中大型製藥公司來說，隨著他們開發更個人化的藥物，他們會希望擁有某種診斷工具或伴隨診斷工具，用於開發、識別哪些患者最有可能對藥物產生反應，並最終將其推向市場。

So where we're trying to go is to show pharma that they work with us early, we can help them develop their diagnostic tests. We have very strong capabilities in companion diagnostics and developing specialty diagnostic tests. We can help them do their clinical trials through our Central Laboratories and do all the companion diagnostic testing and specialty testing. And ultimately, we want to be able to offer to them that we can launch that test not only in the United States, but we can help them bring those specialty and companion diagnostic tests to other parts of the world. I think it will be a very compelling discussion to have with pharma, and we're having some of those discussions as we speak.

因此，我們的目標是向製藥公司表明，他們與我們早期合作，我們可以幫助他們開發診斷檢測。我們在伴隨診斷和開發專科診斷檢測方面擁有非常強大的能力。我們可以透過我們的中心實驗室幫助他們進行臨床試驗，並進行所有伴隨診斷檢測和專科檢測。最終，我們希望能夠向他們保證，我們不僅可以在美國推出這些檢測，還可以幫助他們將這些專科和伴隨診斷檢測推廣到世界其他地區。我認為與製藥公司進行這樣的討論將非常有意義，我們現在正在進行一些這樣的討論。

Understood. And then maybe just on the margin piece. Obviously, you guys gave pretty detailed guidance at the Analyst Day. Maybe just near term, if you could talk through the moving pieces, it sounds like pricing, relatively stable. But just the moving parts as we work away into the end of the year and then '24 at just a high level about the margin piece.

明白了。然後也許只是關於利潤率的部分。顯然，你們在分析師日給了非常詳細的指引。也許只是短期內，如果您能談論變動的部分，聽起來價格相對穩定。但隨著我們逐步推進到年底，以及2024年，利潤率部分將處於較高的水平。

High level, I'll ask Glenn to jump in as well. I'd say the largest impact to margins as I think about 2024 is PAMA. And we've built in about $80 million -- almost $80 million of downside into our base case, assuming that PAMA comes next year. We're still trying to see working with our trade group if there's a way to get the SALSA legislation approved. We have bipartisan support, but we had that last year. So it's very hard to get things approved right now. We're also going to see if there's a way to delay, for another year, the implementation.

高層，我也會請格倫加入討論。我認為，就我所料，2024年對利潤率影響最大的是PAMA法案。假設PAMA法案明年出台，我們已經在基本預測中計入了大約8000萬美元——幾乎8000萬美元的下行空間。我們仍在與產業協會合作，看看是否有辦法讓SALSA法案獲得批准。我們得到了兩黨的支持，但去年就獲得了支持。所以現在很難獲得批准。我們還在看看是否有辦法將實施時間再延後一年。

But for our base case, we're assuming that there's about an $80 million impact that would negatively impact the margins next year. That's why when we gave the long-term guidance and we said it's 100 to 150 basis point increase over the time period, we said most of that will be after 2024 because in 2024, we have to overcome PAMA. Let's wait and see. If PAMA doesn't come or if it's delayed, then we'll have some upside there for sure.

但就我們的基本預測而言，我們假設約8000萬美元的負面影響將對明年的利潤率產生負面影響。因此，當我們給予長期指引，並表示在此期間利潤率將增加100到150個基點時，我們表示其中大部分將在2024年之後實現，因為到2024年，我們必須克服PAMA的影響。讓我們拭目以待。如果PAMA沒有到來或推遲，那麼我們肯定會有一些上漲空間。

Yes, Patrick. Just, I guess, as you look to the 2 businesses, we feel good about where we are with the margins. They continue to improve on a Base Business level. As we think about going into the fourth quarter, we commented that within the Biopharma side, we expect margins to be up in the fourth quarter and year-on-year, such that for the full year, that will be flat to slightly up. In diagnostics, obviously, we have seasonality that impacts margins. So fourth quarter sequentially, margins will be down, but they'll still be up year-over-year so that we expect Diagnostics margins for the full year to be up slightly even after absorbing the negative impact from the Ascension mix.

是的，派崔克。我想，就這兩項業務而言，我們對目前的利潤率感到滿意。它們在基礎業務層面上持續改善。展望第四季度，我們曾表示，在生物製藥領域，我們預計第四季度和去年同期的利潤率都將上升，因此全年利潤率將持平或略有上升。在診斷領域，利潤率顯然會受到季節性因素的影響。因此，第四季的利潤率環比下降，但同比仍將有所上升，因此即使在吸收了Ascension業務帶來的負面影響後，我們預計診斷業務全年的利潤率仍將略有上升。

As Adam commented in the 100 to, call it, 150 basis point margin improvement that we expect over the next 3 years, we commented that the first year, margins would be relatively flat. We have around a 70-basis-point headwind, if you will, between the combination of lower COVID testing as well as the PAMA headwind that Adam commented. But that's reflected still in the 3-year expectation that margins would grow that 100 to 150 basis points.

正如Adam在談到我們預計未來三年利潤率將成長100到150個基點時所說，我們當時認為第一年的利潤率將相對持平。由於新冠檢測數量減少以及Adam提到的PAMA（美國醫療保健法案）帶來的不利因素，我們面臨大約70個基點的不利因素。但這仍然反映在利潤率三年成長100到150個基點的預期中。

And our next question comes from the line of Jack Meehan from Nephron Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Nephron Research 的 Jack Meehan。

I wanted to stick with the macro environment on the diagnostic lab side. Adam, are you seeing any recessionary signals at all in terms of the testing getting ordered and then, maybe on the flip side, hearing any change in the tenor of your hospital conversations around consolidation opportunities?

我想繼續談談診斷實驗室方面的宏觀環境。亞當，從檢測訂單來看，您是否看到了任何衰退的訊號？另一方面，您是否聽到醫院關於整合機會的討論基調有任何變化？

Yes, Jack. So when you look at the macro dynamics, I would say for testing, it remains strong. And when you look at the volume that we're seeing, it remains very strong as well, and it's broad-based across the country in esoteric and routine testing. If you go back to historical recessionary periods, the diagnostic business tends to continue to do well through those periods. So I feel pretty confident that we're going to continue to see strength there.

是的，傑克。所以，從宏觀動態來看，我認為檢測業務依然強勁。從目前的業務量來看，檢測業務也依然非常強勁，而且在全國範圍內，無論是專業檢測還是常規檢測，都廣泛開展。回顧歷史上的經濟衰退時期，診斷業務往往在那些時期表現良好。因此，我非常有信心，我們將繼續看到該領域的強勁成長。

When it comes to hospitals, I've talked about how the hospital health system but also local and regional laboratory acquisition possibilities remain extraordinarily strong. I think it's because they're struggling in the economic environment with reimbursement, with wages and things, and they're looking for ways that they can get some capital but also look for people that are like experts in hiring the types of jobs that we hire for, managing the type of people that we manage.

說到醫院，我之前談過，醫院衛生系統以及本地和區域實驗室的收購潛力仍然非常強大。我認為這是因為他們在經濟環境下，在報銷、薪資等方面舉步維艱，他們正在尋找融資途徑，同時也在尋找能夠勝任我們這類職位、管理我們這類人員的專家。

So I think the macro environment for the health systems and for these local smaller regional laboratories is very strong for us to continue to find ways to do business development and find additional partnerships. So it's actually a good environment for us to compete. But obviously, we want our hospital systems to remain solvent, and they have a lot of things that they have to do to continue to be successful.

所以我認為，對於醫療系統以及這些地方規模較小的區域實驗室來說，目前的宏觀環境非常有利，我們能夠繼續尋找業務發展途徑並尋找更多合作夥伴。所以，這對我們來說其實是一個良好的競爭環境。但顯然，我們希望我們的醫院系統能夠保持償付能力，為了繼續成功，他們還有很多事情要做。

Great. And Glenn, at the Analyst Day for 2024, you laid out some initial thinking it will be slightly below the 8.5% to 11% EPS CAGR range. Just curious if anything in terms of the orders on the biopharma lab side or just anything else changes the way you're thinking about that.

太好了。格倫，在2024年的分析師日上，您提出了一些初步設想，每股收益複合年增長率將略低於8.5%至11%。我只是好奇，生物製藥實驗室方面的訂單或其他因素是否會改變您對此的看法。

Yes. No, Jack, again, when we basically reaffirmed kind of our outlook for this year as well as our 3-year when we were at the Analyst Day, we knew there was some softness we had experienced within early development earlier, so that continues. But as Adam said, kind of offset by the strength that we're seeing with -- on the central lab side. So for biopharma and for diagnostic segments, we feel very good.

是的。傑克，再說一次，當我們在分析師日上重申我們對今年以及未來三年的展望時，我們知道我們之前在早期開發中經歷了一些疲軟，所以這種情況會持續下去。但正如亞當所說，這在某種程度上被我們在中心實驗室方面看到的強勁表現所抵消。所以，對於生物製藥和診斷領域，我們感覺非常好。

So if you look at, call it, that 8.5% to 11.5% EPS target over the next 3 years, the CAGR, we still feel very good about that, realizing that for 2024 because, again, of the headwinds from less COVID testing and PAMA, you'd have around an 800-basis-point headwind to EPS in 2024. So still positive EPS growth year-on-year even with those headwinds, but lower than, if you will, the range that we had. But again, that 3-year range includes that expectation for 2024.

因此，如果您看一下未來三年每股收益 8.5% 至 11.5% 的目標（即複合年增長率），我們對此仍然感到非常樂觀，同時意識到，由於新冠檢測減少和 PAMA 帶來的不利因素，2024 年的每股收益將面臨約 800 個基點的阻力。因此，即使存在這些阻力，每股收益仍將同比增長，但低於我們先前的範圍。但需要再次強調的是，這三年的範圍包含對 2024 年的預期。

And our next question comes from the line of Eric Coldwell from Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自貝爾德公司的 Eric Coldwell。

I have two. The first one may be a bit confusing, so bear with me. Your largest competitor in early development's given some interesting color around their cancellations and talked about how a majority of those cancellations they've experienced were predicated on awards that were made a year ago, 2 years ago, stuff that was clients pre-booking stuff when they were concerned about capacity and access in the future. You're talking more about small clients, and it sounds like maybe this is more recent stuff, but I'm curious if you could talk at all about the aging of the cancellations, i.e., how long ago were these awards made? And is this something more in the moment or perhaps just clean up from past client activity that was abnormal?

我有兩個問題。第一個問題可能有點令人困惑，請耐心聽我說完。你們在早期開發領域最大的競爭對手對他們的取消情況進行了一番有趣的解讀，並談到他們經歷的大多數取消情況都是基於一年或兩年前簽訂的合同，這些合同是客戶出於對未來容量和訪問限制的考慮而提前預訂的。您談論的更多是小客戶，聽起來這可能是最近發生的事情，但我很好奇您能否談談這些取消合約的時效性，也就是說，這些合約是多久以前簽訂的？這是否與當前情況有關，還是只是對過去客戶異常活動的清理？

And then I have a follow-up.

然後我有一個後續問題。

Yes. Thanks for that clarification. We're seeing a similar thing that primarily with NHP trials that were -- when there was supply issues, people started to get in line much earlier than they typically would to ensure that they could run their trials as fast as they could. Now that we have supply and so forth, as those client studies were ready to go, they're not necessarily ready to go, or they're thinking about their pipeline and other priorities and so forth because they booked these spots so far ago. So that's the primary reason that we believe we're seeing these cancellations in early development.

是的，感謝您的澄清。我們看到了類似的情況，主要是在NHP試驗中——當出現供應問題時，人們開始比平常更早排隊，以確保他們能夠盡快進行試驗。現在我們有了供應等等，而那些客戶的研究本來已經準備好了，但他們卻不一定準備好了，或者他們正在考慮他們的研發管線和其他優先事項等等，因為他們很早就預訂了這些位置。所以，我們認為這是早期開發中出現這些取消的主要原因。

And then were -- could you talk at all about gross awards in early development? Was that book-to-bill above 1 or below 1 this quarter?

然後—您能談談早期開發階段的總獎金嗎？本季的訂單出貨比是大於1還是小於1？

So if you look -- overall, if you just look at the quarter, it would have been below 1. But as -- and again, with early development, I don't think book-to-bill is really a good way to look at that business because when it comes to early development, they're 1-month trials, 3-month trials, maybe a 6-month trials. So you can burn through those in the same year very quickly. I look at the book-to-bill because I think it's a historical way to look at the business. But ED is very small compared to central laboratory. I mean the vast majority of our central laboratory work remains very strong. So that's why I feel confident as I look at the numbers of the future because of the size of our central laboratory, the mix of customers in central laboratory is more towards pharma and big biotech, and the book-to-bill there remains pretty good.

所以如果你看一下——總體而言，如果你只看季度，它會低於 1。但是——同樣，對於早期開發，我認為訂單出貨比並不是看待這項業務的好方法，因為在早期開發中，它們是 1 個月的試驗、3 個月的試驗，也許是 6 個月的試驗。所以你可以在同一年內很快用完這些試驗。我看訂單出貨比是因為我認為這是一種看待業務的歷史方法。但與中央實驗室相比，ED 非常小。我的意思是，我們絕大多數的中央實驗室工作仍然非常強大。這就是為什麼我對未來的數字充滿信心，因為我們的中央實驗室規模龐大，中央實驗室的客戶結構更傾向於製藥和大型生物技術，而且那裡的訂單出貨比仍然相當不錯。

Okay. And I was just hoping you could talk a bit about the FDA's LDT proposal here and maybe help us with some quantification of what your LDT mix looks like by revenue or volume or any color commentary on what you see progressing with the proposed rule at the FDA.

好的。我只是希望您能在這裡談談FDA的LDT提案，並幫助我們量化您的LDT組合，看看收入或數量如何，或者您對FDA擬議規則的進展有何看法，提供一些詳細的評論。

Yes, absolutely, Eric. So we were supportive of legislation called VALID last year that would have given FDA oversight for laboratory-developed tests. And it was unfortunate that it didn't get passed last year, had bipartisan support. We were supportive. It's disappointing that, that legislation didn't go through. So we're supportive of working with the FDA to find ways for them to give appropriate oversight. We think that our science, our innovation, our technology capabilities actually differentiate us. And if you look at the rigor that we go through with our laboratory-developed test, we think we do the vast majority of what they would be asking for anyway.

是的，埃里克，絕對支持。我們去年支持了名為「VALID」的立法，該立法將賦予FDA對實驗室開發測試的監管權。遺憾的是，該法案去年未能獲得通過，儘管它得到了兩黨的支持。我們支持這項立法。令人失望的是，它最終未能通過。因此，我們支持與FDA合作，尋找讓他們進行適當監管的方法。我們認為，我們的科學、創新和技術能力確實使我們與眾不同。如果你看看我們在實驗室開發測試中所遵循的嚴格標準，我們認為我們已經完成了他們所要求的絕大多數工作。

Working with ACLA, our trade organization, what we're worried about is if you take legislation that had an intended purpose for one thing and then you try to apply it to another thing, you have to be very thoughtful about that. The good news is the FDA has asked for comments, and we're going to provide comments and thoughts. And at the end of the day, if it's fairly done, meaning that all laboratory-developed tests have to do the same thing across big labs, small labs and everything else, as long as they can get the filings done quickly so that people have access to new innovations in a timely manner like they do today, we believe that it will be a minimal impact to us in terms of the amount of money or spend because we do a lot of that work anyway.

我們與產業組織ACLA合作，擔心的是，如果將原本用於某一目的的立法應用於其他領域，就必須深思熟慮。好消息是，FDA已經徵求意見，我們將提供意見和想法。最終，如果公平地進行，這意味著所有實驗室開發的測試都必須在大型實驗室、小型實驗室和其他所有機構中都採用相同的方法，只要他們能夠快速完成備案，以便人們能夠像現在這樣及時獲得新的創新成果，我們相信，就資金或支出而言，這對我們來說影響微乎其微，因為我們本身就做了很多這方面的工作。

With that said, it's less than 10% of our volume. So laboratory-developed tests are not a significant portion of our volume. But sometimes they are the most important test for new specialty areas, and trying to get those to patients quickly is what's most important for them.

話雖如此，這還不到我們業務量的10%。所以，實驗室開發的檢測方法在我們業務量中所佔比例並不大。但有時，它們對於新的專科領域來說是最重要的檢測方法，而努力將這些方法快速提供給病人才是最重要的。

Adam, with less than 10% of volume, I would assume the revenue contribution would be higher because they are, as you just stated, a bit unique in the testing. So could you talk about the...

Adam，由於銷售量不到10%，我認為收入貢獻會更高，因為正如你剛才所說，他們在測試中有些獨特。你能談談…

Yes, it's less than 10% of the dollars, too. When I say less than 10%, the volume is -- it's less than 5%, frankly. And then the dollar is less than 10%.

是的，它也佔不到美元總額的10%。我說的不到10%，其實是指交易量──坦白說，不到5%。美元總額也不到10%。

And our next question comes from the line of Tim Daley from Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的蒂姆戴利。

So first one on diagnostics. So I think organic Base Business, price/mix excluding Ascension was roughly 320 bps, if I just kind of back out the numbers. Could you break that out from like-for-like price versus mix impact for us in the quarter? And how is stand-alone price been trending versus last quarter or last year? Any help there would be great.

首先是關於診斷業務。我認為，如果讓我簡單回顧一下數據，基礎業務（不包括Ascension）的有機價格組合效應大約是320個基點。您能否從本季的同類價格組合效應中分解出這一點？與上一季或去年相比，獨立價格趨勢如何？如有任何幫助，我們將不勝感激。

Sure. Tim, this is Glenn. That's right. We would agree that your 320 is in line with the, call it, the organic price/mix favorability, excluding the impact that we would get from Ascension.

當然。提姆，我是格倫。沒錯。我們同意你的320分符合所謂的有機價格/產品組合偏好，不包括Ascension帶來的影響。

From a pricing standpoint, we continue to say pricing is kind of flat, maybe a little bit of a headwind. You heard Adam earlier, in the future with the renewals of the managed care contracts, that actually is a positive for us. But most of the time, the favorability in our price/mix continues to be on the mix side. We continue to see favorability in our test per accession, whether it be payer mix, test mix, a lot of things, esoteric relative to routine. So we continue to experience good favorable price/mix but more on the mix side.

從定價的角度來看，我們仍然認為定價比較平穩，或許有點不利。 Adam 之前說過，未來隨著管理式醫療合約的續約，這對我們來說其實是個利好。但大多數情況下，我們價格/組合的有利因素仍體現在組合方面。我們仍然看到，每次入院測試的有利因素仍然體現在支付方組合、測試組合，以及許多與常規方案相關的、較深奧的因素上。因此，我們繼續享受著良好的價格/組合優勢，但更多的是在組合方面。

All right. Appreciate that. And then my second question is on direct to consumer. So good to see continued menu expansion this quarter with the announcement. Just can you update us on the revenue mix within consumer? Where was it this quarter? What are you expecting as a piece of that '23 guidance?

好的，非常感謝。我的第二個問題是關於直接面向消費者的。很高興看到本季菜單的持續擴展和公告。能否更新一下消費者部門的收入組成？本季的情況如何？您對2023年的業績預期是什麼？

Yes, yes. No, no problem. So our direct-to-consumer advertising remains an important way for us to enable consumers to monitor and take care of their health. If you look at the dollar volume, especially if you take out the testing for COVID, it's still very small, and it's not worth -- it's not material enough to actually break out the numbers. We see it growing very substantially, but it's not necessarily at a point where we would break it out and give specific numbers for it.

是的，是的。不，沒問題。因此，我們的直接面向消費者的廣告仍然是我們幫助消費者監測和關注自身健康的重要途徑。如果從金額來看，尤其是扣除新冠檢測費用後，它仍然非常小，而且不值得——也不足以真正列出具體的數字。我們看到它正在大幅增長，但不一定會達到我們可以單獨列出並給出具體數字的程度。

I think when it comes to consumer testing, we're going to see a lot more growth as we go through the years. At some point, if it reaches that material threshold, Tim, we'll certainly start to break it out.

我認為，就消費者測試而言，隨著時間的推移，我們將看到更大的成長。提姆，如果到了某個時候，達到了那個實質的門檻，我們肯定會開始突破它。

And our next question comes from the line of Erin Wright from Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Erin Wright。

I know you mentioned the base margin improvement sequentially in the fourth quarter, but are you seeing the need -- and one of your competitors was mentioning this, but stepped-up investments in the labor in just the current utilization environment, maybe that some of the seasonality you were talking about in the fourth quarter, but how are you just thinking about the labor environment right now?

我知道您提到了第四季度基本利潤率的環比提高，但是您是否看到了這種需求——您的一個競爭對手也提到了這一點，但僅在當前的利用環境下就加大了對勞動力的投資，也許這是您在第四季度談到的一些季節性因素，但是您現在是如何看待勞動力環境的呢？

Yes. Thanks, Erin. So labor environment is tough across industries, across countries. I mean there's no doubt. The good news is I look at our retention rates. And if you look at retention, from 2019, we saw a significant loss of people, and our actual turnover rate was up substantially in 2021 and 2022.

是的。謝謝，艾琳。所以，各產業、各國的勞動環境都很艱難。這是毫無疑問的。好消息是我關注了我們的留任率。從2019年開始，我們看到了大量員工流失，而我們的實際離職率在2021年和2022年大幅上升。

If we now look at 2023, we've seen those rates come down. In our biopharma business, they've come down almost to the 2019 levels. If you look at our diagnostics business, they're not yet at our 2019 levels, but they're getting closer. And we expect there to be continued progress there. But we have had to pay a bit more in certain areas. We've had to be competitive in the marketplace. It does impact the margins.

如果我們現在展望2023年，我們已經看到這些費用下降了。在我們的生物製藥業務中，這些費用幾乎已經降到了2019年的水平。如果你看看我們的診斷業務，它們還沒有達到2019年的水平，但正在接近。我們預計該領域將繼續取得進展。但在某些領域，我們不得不支付更高的費用。我們必須在市場上保持競爭力。這確實會影響利潤率。

But at the same time, that's what we've been so aggressive with LaunchPad. And we're on track to deliver the $350 million of LaunchPad savings that we discussed in the past. We also, at Investor Day, talked about $100 million to $125 million year reduction through LaunchPad. And we also mentioned that we have an increase in our margins over the '23 to '26 period of 100 to 150 basis points, mostly coming after the PAMA year in 2024, so most of that in '25 and '26. So at the end of the day, we realized we've got to find ways to reduce costs so that we can offset some of the pressure that we're facing when it comes to the wages and so forth.

但同時，這正是我們如此積極推進LaunchPad專案的原因。我們正按計畫實現先前討論過的3.5億美元LaunchPad專案成本節省目標。在投資者日，我們也談到了透過LaunchPad專案每年節省1億到1.25億美元。我們也提到，在2023年至2026年期間，我們的利潤率將成長100到150個基點，這主要體現在2024年PAMA法案之後，也就是說，其中大部分成長發生在2025年和2026年。所以，最終我們意識到，我們必須找到降低成本的方法，才能抵銷我們在薪資等方面所面臨的一些壓力。

Okay. That's helpful. And then on the early development business, just in light of the environment and some of the volatility you've seen there and what you've been talking about in terms of the biopharma landscape. But has anything changed in terms of your commitment to the business at this point? Is that an area that you'll continue to evaluate?

好的。這很有幫助。然後關於早期開發業務，考慮到目前的環境和您所看到的一些波動，以及您之前談到的生物製藥行業的格局。目前您對這項業務的投入有什麼改變嗎？您會繼續評估這個領域嗎？

Yes. Thanks, Erin. And again, it is a very small part of our business. I mean if you look at the business as a percent of Labcorp, it's very small. It's less than 10%, frankly. And if you look at it as a percent of the biopharma business, it's maybe 30% or so. So at the end of the day, it's really central laboratory that drives our success in biopharma. At the same time, with the strategic things that we're trying to do with companion diagnostics and work with pharma earlier, bring those companion diagnostics to our Central Laboratories and then ultimately bring them to the marketplace, strategically, I still think it makes sense. And I still think that we could do a lot of other things with our early development that helps us in the broader, bigger business that we have. And we continue to evaluate all things.

是的，謝謝，Erin。再說一次，這只是我們業務的一小部分。我的意思是，如果你把它看作Labcorp業務的百分比，它非常小。坦白說，它不到10%。如果你把它看作生物製藥業務的百分比，它可能只有30%左右。所以說，最終，真正推動我們在生物製藥領域成功的是中央實驗室。同時，考慮到我們在伴隨診斷方面正在嘗試的戰略性舉措，以及與製藥公司早期的合作，將這些伴隨診斷產品引入我們的中央實驗室，最終將其推向市場，從戰略上來說，我仍然認為這是合理的。我仍然認為，我們可以利用早期開發成果做很多其他事情，這有助於我們拓展更廣泛、更龐大的業務。我們會持續評估所有因素。

And our next question comes from the line of Pito Chickering from Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Pito Chickering。

You've got Kieran Ryan on for Pito. Just a quick one here. I just wanted to see how you guys are tracking on taking out some of the stranded costs after the spin. I believe you were talking about targeting $25 million or $45 million at the Investor Day. So I just wanted to see if there's any update there.

Kieran Ryan 為 Pito 做了介紹。我只想快速問一下。我想了解你們在剝離之後如何削減一些擱淺成本。我記得在投資者日上，你們的目標是 2500 萬或 4500 萬美元。所以我想看看你們這邊有什麼進展。

Yes. No, Ryan. So we're on target. We said we'd have the $25 million by the end of this year. So with the run rate next year, that would be taken out. But I think the most important piece is that that's not enough. We're going to do that, plus we have to do more. So as I said, we're on track for our $350 million LaunchPad initiative. And we've committed to $100 million to $125 million per year in the outer years as we look at our long-term forecast. That includes $25 million of stranded costs, which just tells you we've got to do a lot more.

是的，不是，瑞安。所以我們的目標已經達成。我們說過今年底前會拿到2500萬美元。所以按照明年的營運速度，這筆錢會被拿走。但我認為最重要的是，這還不夠。我們會做到這一點，而且還要做得更多。正如我所說，我們3.5億美元的LaunchPad計劃正在按計劃推進。根據我們的長期預測，我們承諾在未來幾年每年投入1億到1.25億美元。這其中包括2500萬美元的擱淺成本，這說明我們還有很多工作要做。

Got it. And then just real quick on the biopharma side. I just wanted to check. Is there -- as we head into '24, is there any seasonality that we should be aware of there? And does that change at all after the spin versus pre-spin or not too much to call out?

明白了。然後簡單說一下生物製藥方面。我只是想確認一下。隨著我們進入2024年，是否存在一些我們應該注意的季節性因素？在旋轉之後和旋轉之前相比，這種情況會有所變化嗎？還是說變化不大？

Yes. I'll let Glenn answer that question. But in general, I don't see that there'll be a significant shift in terms of -- we've always had some seasonality. And if you look at like central labs, for example, they always start off a little bit slower in the first quarter because a lot of pharma are starting to get their studies running in third quarter, sometimes a little slower as Europe comes back after vacation. But net-net, there shouldn't be any significant changes to what we've seen in the past.

是的。我讓格倫來回答這個問題。但總的來說，我認為不會有顯著的變化——我們一直都有一定的季節性。例如，如果你看看中央實驗室，它們在第一季的起步總是會慢一些，因為很多製藥公司在第三季才開始進行研究，有時歐洲休假結束後，研究速度會慢一些。但總的來說，與我們過去看到的情況相比，應該不會有任何顯著的變化。

Yes, that's right. And the numbers that we've provided historically have been restated for the company we are today. So you can look at our enhanced disclosures that we have that you'll see some historical numbers. But the other interesting thing is the seasonality of the 2 segments are a little bit counter to each other. So it actually, when you look at it from an enterprise level, mutes the seasonalities for each of the businesses.

是的，沒錯。我們過去提供的數據已經根據我們目前的狀況進行了重新表述。所以，您可以查看我們增強型揭露，其中會有一些歷史資料。但另一個有趣的現像是，這兩個部門的季節性略有相反。因此，從企業層面來看，這實際上會減弱每個業務的季節性。

And our next question comes from the line of Derik De Bruin from Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Derik De Bruin。

This is John on for Derik. I wanted to revisit the PAMA issue. There, I recognize that your guidance is assuming the PAMA impact as a base case. And you've talked about the 70 basis points of headwind between PAMA and COVID. But in the case of a delay, how would you allocate that $80 million benefit -- that would turn into a benefit now between -- maybe letting it trickle down to margins versus investments?

我是約翰，請德瑞克發言。我想重新討論一下PAMA的問題。我知道您的指導意見是以PAMA的影響作為基準的。您也提到了PAMA和新冠疫情之間70個基點的逆風。但是，如果出現延期，您會如何分配這8000萬美元的收益——這筆收益現在會轉化為利潤——或許是讓它涓滴到利潤中，還是投資中？

Yes. We're going to push for the vast majority of it to come down to margin. I mean there might be some incremental minor investments, but we've built almost $80 million into the plan, and I would expect the vast majority of that to come down.

是的。我們將推動絕大部分資金用於保證金。我的意思是，可能會有一些增量的小額投資，但我們已經在這個計劃中投入了近8000萬美元，我預計絕大部分資金都會用於保證金。

Got you. I appreciate it. And then with the ATN profile, could you comment on what sort of reimbursements you've been able to negotiate with the payers versus what you're getting from the CMS? And I know earlier, you talked about the LDT test as volume. It's less than 5%. And the sales, it's less than 10%, but still curious if you plan on taking it for the FDA approval or if there's going to be any sort of disruption there?

明白了，非常感謝。然後，關於ATN的概況，您能否談談您與付款人協商的報銷金額以及您從CMS獲得的報銷金額？我知道您之前提到LDT測試的銷售量。它不到5%。銷售額也不到10%。但我仍然好奇，您是否計劃申請FDA的批准，或者這是否會造成任何影響？

Yes. So at this point, we don't think there'll be any disruption to the ATN profile. We've launched it into the marketplace. Some managed care organizations are starting to reimburse. Others, we're in discussions with. But a lot of the reimbursement in that area is from providers and the health systems and so forth. So we expect we'll have good reimbursement from those areas as we go forward. It's still a relatively new test. We're still -- have physicians learning about the panel and so forth. So it will take time. But over time, we expect it to be reimbursed well.

是的。所以目前，我們認為ATN的概況不會受到任何影響。我們已經將其推向市場。一些管理式醫療機構已經開始報銷。其他機構，我們正在與其他機構洽談。但該領域的報銷很大一部分來自醫療服務提供者和醫療系統等。因此，我們預計隨著我們推進，這些領域將獲得良好的報銷。這仍然是一個相對較新的測試。我們仍在讓醫生了解該小組等等。所以需要時間。但隨著時間的推移，我們預計它會得到良好的報銷。

And our next question comes from the line of Brian Tanquilut from Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Brian Tanquilut。

I guess I'll start, Adam, as I think about a comment that your competitor made yesterday about contract renewals. Just curious what you're seeing on your side in terms of contracting with the payers and your kind of like rate trend there as we think about upcoming re-ups on contracts?

亞當，我想先說說，因為我在想你競爭對手昨天關於續約的評論。我很好奇，在考慮即將到來的續約時，你在與付款方簽訂合約方面的情況如何？你們的費率趨勢如何？

Yes, absolutely, Brian. So we've renegotiated the majority of our contracts. We're really -- we'll be finished and really close on one last one. But they ended up being very good negotiations, very good discussions. We think that ultimately, it will be flat to maybe slightly positive. So I feel really good about that.

是的，布萊恩，沒錯。我們已經重新談判了大部分合約。我們真的…我們即將完成並最終敲定最後一份合約。最後的談判非常順利，討論也非常順利。我們認為最終的業績會持平，甚至略有成長。所以我對此感到非常滿意。

Got it. And then, Glenn, you talked about a 3-year kind of margin goal of 100- to 150-basis-point improvement. As we think about the moving parts between labor and LaunchPad -- and I think we're getting questions from people asking when do we see the flow-through of all that and an improvement in volumes to the margin line. How should we be thinking about that?

明白了。然後，格倫，你提到了三年內利潤率目標，也就是提高100到150個基點。當我們考慮勞動力和LaunchPad之間的變動因素時——我想有人會問，我們什麼時候才能看到所有這些因素的傳導，以及銷量的提升達到利潤線。我們應該如何考慮這一點？

Well, again, a lot of the expectation is that we're looking at good top line growth. So we would expect to leverage off of that, LaunchPad savings that we've identified as well and then being offset by labor and potentially continued inflationary environment. For us, we talk a lot about labor because it represents around 50% of our cost structure. So we're very focused on it. And as Adam said, we are seeing some improvement in the attrition levels, but it's still higher than where it's been in the past, and there's a cost of that, let alone just the labor wage rate inflation, if you will. But all that's been factored in. So to the extent we can continue to drive the top line that we feel confident about and realize the LaunchPad savings, which we feel confident about, we equally expect to see that margin improvement.

嗯，再次強調，許多人的預期是希望我們能實現良好的營收成長。因此，我們預計將利用LaunchPad專案帶來的成本節省，這些節省將被勞動成本和可能持續的通膨環境所抵銷。我們經常討論勞動成本，因為它約占我們成本結構的50%。因此，我們非常關注勞動成本。正如Adam所說，我們的員工流失率有所改善，但仍然高於過去水平，這其中也存在成本，更不用說勞動工資率的上漲了。但所有這些都已被考慮在內。因此，只要我們能夠繼續推動充滿信心的營收成長，並實現LaunchPad專案帶來的成本節省（這一點我們很有信心），我們同樣預期利潤率也會有所提升。

This does conclude the question-and-answer session of today's program. I'd like to hand the program back to Adam Schechter for any further remarks.

今天節目的問答環節到此結束。接下來，請亞當·謝克特繼續發言。

Thank you. Thank you all for joining us today. I hope you can tell that we remain very optimistic about the prospects for Labcorp as we continue to execute and we execute well on our strategy and that we believe that our strategy is going to continue to drive substantial shareholder value. I hope everybody has a good rest of the day.

謝謝大家！感謝大家今天的到來。我希望大家能夠感受到，我們對Labcorp的前景非常樂觀，因為我們將繼續執行我們的策略，而且我們執行得非常好。我們相信，我們的策略將繼續為股東創造可觀的價值。祝大家今天過得愉快。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect. Good day.

女士們、先生們，感謝各位參加今天的會議。今天的節目到此結束。現在您可以斷開連線了。大家好。