Stride Inc (LRN) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Abby, and I will be your conference operator today.

女士們、先生們，感謝你們的支持。我叫艾比 (Abby)，今天我將擔任您的會議主持人。

At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Stride, Inc. third-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

現在，我歡迎大家參加 Stride, Inc. 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）

And I would now like to turn the conference over to Tim Casey, Vice President of Investor Relations. You may begin.

現在我想將會議交給投資者關係副總裁 Tim Casey。你可以開始了。

Thank you, (inaudible) and good afternoon. Welcome to Stride's third quarter earnings call for fiscal year 2025. With me on today's call are James Rhyu, Chief Executive Officer; and Donna Blackman, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝，（聽不清楚）下午好。歡迎參加 Stride 2025 財年第三季財報電話會議。和我一起參加今天電話會議的還有執行長 James Rhyu；以及財務長唐娜·布萊克曼 (Donna Blackman)。

As a reminder, today's conference call and webcast are accompanied by a presentation that can be found on the Stride Investor Relations website. Please be advised that today's discussion of our financial results may include certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these measures is provided in the earnings release issued this afternoon and can also be found on our Investor Relations website.

提醒一下，今天的電話會議和網路廣播附有演示文稿，可以在 Stride 投資者關係網站上找到。請注意，今天對我們財務結果的討論可能包括某些非 GAAP 財務指標。今天下午發布的收益報告中提供了這些措施的對賬，也可以在我們的投資者關係網站上找到。

In addition to historical information, this call also involves forward-looking statements. The company's actual results could differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to several important factors as described in the company's earnings release and latest SEC filings.

除了歷史資訊外，本次電話會議還涉及前瞻性陳述。由於公司收益報告和最新的美國證券交易委員會文件中所述的幾個重要因素，公司的實際結果可能與任何前瞻性陳述有重大差異。

These statements are made on the basis of our views and assumptions regarding future events and business performance at the time we make them, and the company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Following our prepared remarks, we will answer any questions you may have. Now I'll turn the call over to James. James?

這些聲明是基於我們對未來事件和業務表現的看法和假設而做出的，公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務。在我們準備好發言之後，我們將回答您可能提出的任何問題。現在我將把電話轉給詹姆斯。詹姆斯？

Thanks, Tim, and good afternoon, everyone. Well, another solid quarter as demand continues to outpace last year. I mentioned last quarter that the macro environment remains favorable and some recent polling supports our thesis.

謝謝，提姆，大家下午好。嗯，由於需求持續超過去年，這又是穩健的季度。我上個季度提到宏觀環境仍然有利，最近的一些民調也支持我們的觀點。

A (inaudible) of parents compiled by the National School Choice Awareness Foundation earlier this year found that more than 60% of parents consider sending at least 1 of their children through a different school last year. And of those, 27% consider sending their child to a full-time online program, meaning over 15% of all families are considering a full-time online program.

今年早些時候，國家學校選擇意識基金會對家長進行了調查，結果發現，超過 60% 的家長去年考慮讓至少 1 個孩子轉學。其中，27% 的人考慮送孩子參加全日制線上課程，這意味著超過 15% 的家庭正在考慮全日制線上課程。

That is at a much higher level than we saw just a few years ago.

這比我們幾年前看到的水平要高得多。

Also, February gallop poll indicated that less than one-fourth of Americans are satisfied with public education. Now that's the lowest level since the survey began in 2001, and nearly 90% of parents are interested in non-college degree pathways, meaning a focus on career education. All of this bodes well for our future prospects.

此外，二月的蓋洛普民調顯示，不到四分之一的美國人對公共教育感到滿意。這是自 2001 年開始調查以來的最低水平，近 90% 的家長對非大學學位途徑感興趣，這意味著關注職業教育。這一切都預示著我們的未來前景光明。

Now this is the time of year we are trying to both finish the year strong and gear up for the fall. If we continue to execute and given the macro trends we are seeing, that should position us for continued strong growth heading into next fall.

現在正是我們努力圓滿結束這一年並為秋季做好準備的時候。如果我們繼續執行，並考慮到我們所看到的宏觀趨勢，這將使我們在明年秋季繼續保持強勁成長。

We also need to look past this fall. While we celebrate our 25th anniversary this year, we need to ensure we build an enduring business for the next 25 years. I believe we can continue to change the future of education by leveraging our core capabilities to deliver innovative outcomes-driven solutions for the 50 million-plus students across the country.

我們還需要展望今年秋天過去。今年是我們慶祝成立 25 週年，我們需要確保在未來 25 年內打造一個持久的企業。我相信，我們可以利用我們的核心能力為全國 5000 多萬名學生提供創新的成果驅動解決方案，繼續改變教育的未來。

Parents remain dissatisfied with the current state of education, and we are in a position to give schools, administrators, teachers and students with tools to redefine the system and set ourselves up as leaders for the next 25 years.

家長們對目前的教育狀況仍然不滿意，我們可以為學校、管理人員、教師和學生提供工具來重新定義教育體系，並使我們成為未來 25 年的領導者。

In the near term, the trends we see in market demand in year enrollment and retention set us up for another strong start to the fall season. For context, since January 1, demand as measured by in-year application volumes, has grown in each of the past 4 years. This year, application volumes are almost twice what they were two years ago and 4x what they were 4 years ago.

短期來看，我們看到的年度入學和保留市場需求趨勢為我們秋季的另一個強勁開局奠定了基礎。具體來說，自 1 月 1 日以來，以年內申請量衡量的需求在過去 4 年中每年都在增加。今年的申請人數幾乎是兩年前的兩倍，是四年前的四倍。

This is during a time when we have some constraints to the number of new enrollments we can add as some schools have closed enrollment for the school year. I've been pleasantly surprised by this ongoing trend, and it supports our thesis that demand for our products and services continues to strengthen. So once again, we expect to finish the year with more enrollments than we started. We still have a lot of work to do before the next school year begins, but we feel confident in our ability to continue to grow enrollments in fiscal year '26. Thank you.

由於一些學校已經停止了本學年的招生，因此我們招收的新生數量受到了一些限制。我對這一持續趨勢感到驚喜，它支持了我們的論點，即對我們的產品和服務的需求持續增強。因此，我們再次預計今年年底的入學人數將比年初更多。在下一個學年開始之前，我們還有很多工作要做，但我們有信心在 26 財年繼續增加入學人數。謝謝。

And now I'll turn the call over to Donna. Donna?

現在我將把電話轉給唐娜。唐娜？

Thanks, James, and good afternoon. As James mentioned, we continue to see strong (inaudible) demand in Q3. We finished the quarter with enrollment up over 21% from last year, and we believe this has set us up to once again finish the fiscal year with more enrollments than we started for the third year in a row. Market conditions, including demand for full-time online programs, coupled with our continued strong execution, give us confidence to again raise our FY25 revenue and adjusted operating income guidance.

謝謝，詹姆斯，下午好。正如詹姆斯所提到的，我們在第三季繼續看到強勁（聽不清楚）的需求。本季結束時，我們的入學人數比去年同期增加了 21% 以上，我們相信，這將使我們連續第三年在本財年結束時的入學人數超過年初。市場條件，包括對全日制線上課程的需求，加上我們持續強勁的執行力，使我們有信心再次提高 25 財年收入和調整後的營業收入預期。

For the full year, the implied growth rates, both revenue and profitability exceed the 2028 CAGR targets we outlined during our Investor Day in November 2023. Our AOI guidance for this year suggests we will be well ahead of the low end of our FY28 AOI target 3 years early. For our Q3 results, total revenue was $630.4 million, up 17.8%. Revenue from our career learning middle and high school programs grew to $223.9 million, up 33%. This strength was driven by enrollment growth of 34% to 98,700 enrollments, General Education revenue was $370.8 million, up 13% from last year, which was also driven by continued enrollment growth in the quarter.

就全年而言，隱含的成長率（包括收入和獲利能力）超過了我們在 2023 年 11 月投資者日期間概述的 2028 年複合年增長率目標。我們今年的 AOI 指導表明，我們將提前 3 年遠遠超過 FY28 AOI 目標的低端。我們第三季的業績顯示，總營收為 6.304 億美元，成長 17.8%。我們的職業學習初中和高中課程的收入成長至 2.239 億美元，成長 33%。這項優勢得益於入學人數成長 34%，達到 98,700 人，通識教育收入為 3.708 億美元，比去年增長 13%，這也是由於本季入學人數持續增長所致。

Average enrollments were up 14% from last year to 141,500. Total revenue per enrollment across both lines of revenue was $2,415 compared to $2,420 last year. And as we've discussed over the last two quarters, the part of a slight decline is the impact of state mix from end year enrollment has otherwise continue to see a largely positive funding environment.

平均入學人數比去年增加了 14%，達到 141,500 人。兩條收入線的每位註冊學員總收入為 2,415 美元，去年為 2,420 美元。正如我們在過去兩個季度所討論的那樣，略有下降的部分原因是年底入學人數的州組合的影響，否則將繼續看到基本上積極的資金環境。

Given the results this quarter, we now expect to finish the year down less than 1% in revenue per enrollment. While I know this is the quarter, we received a lot of questions about next year, and we remind you that it's very early in the season, I do want to give a little insight into what we are seeing with the funding environment for FY26.

根據本季的結果，我們預計今年全年每位學生的收入下降幅度將不到 1%。雖然我知道這是本季度，但我們收到了很多關於明年的問題，我們提醒您，現在還處於季度初期，我確實想對我們所看到的 26 財年的融資環境提供一些見解。

Recognizing it's still very early in the process of states setting their budgets, we are seeing a generally favorable funding environment going into next year. And as they finalize their budgets over the next few months, I'll be able to give more color during our fourth quarter earnings call. Additionally, I know there's lots of discussion about federal funding and the impact that could have on Stride. I want to reiterate what we've said last quarter, well less than 5% of our overall revenues come from federal resources.

我們認識到各州制定預算的過程還處於非常早期的階段，但預計明年的融資環境總體上是有利的。隨著他們在未來幾個月內最終確定預算，我將能夠在第四季度財報電話會議上提供更多細節。此外，我知道有很多關於聯邦資金及其對 Stride 可能產生的影響的討論。我想重申我們上個季度所說的話，我們的總收入只有不到 5% 來自聯邦資源。

Now to wrap up the remaining highlights for the third quarter. Gross margins were 40.6%, up 190 basis points from last year. Given the strength through the first 3 quarters, we expect to see gross margin improve around 200 basis points for the full year. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased 5% to $118.5 million. And as I've mentioned previously, we expected some increase in the back half of the year, we still expect to finish the year up slightly compared to FY24.

現在來總結一下第三季剩餘的亮點。毛利率為40.6%，較去年同期上升190個基點。鑑於前三個季度的強勁表現，我們預計全年毛利率將提高約 200 個基點。銷售、一般及行政開支增加 5% 至 1.185 億美元。正如我之前提到的，我們預計今年下半年會有所成長，我們仍然預計今年年底的業績將比 24 財年略有成長。

Stock-based compensation was $8.5 million. We expect to finish the year with stock-based compensation in the range of $34 million to $37 million. Adjusted operating income was $141.7 million, up 47%. Adjusted EBITDA was $168.3 million, up 40%. Both metrics (inaudible) all records for the company.

股票薪酬為 850 萬美元。我們預計今年的股票薪酬將在 3,400 萬美元至 3,700 萬美元之間。調整後的營業收入為 1.417 億美元，成長 47%。調整後的 EBITDA 為 1.683 億美元，成長 40%。這兩個指標（聽不清楚）都是該公司的紀錄。

Diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $2.02. Our EPS calculation now includes incremental shares related to our convertible notes on an as-if converted basis for GAAP reporting purposes. Our quarterly investor presentation includes a slide that shows the potential dilution from our convertible note at various share prices as well as the offset from the cap call transaction we completed at the time of no issuance.

本季每股攤薄收益為 2.02 美元。為了達到 GAAP 報告的目的，我們的每股盈餘計算現在包括與我們的可轉換票據相關的增量股份，以假定轉換基礎計算。我們的季度投資者介紹中包括一張幻燈片，其中顯示了我們可轉換票據在不同股價下的潛在稀釋，以及我們在未發行時完成的上限調用交易的抵消。

As starting next quarter, in addition to the investor presentation, we plan to introduce an adjusted earnings per share calculation and our earnings material to give investors a picture of the underlying EPS growth in the business. Capital expenditures for the quarter were $15.8 million, down slightly from $16.3 million.

從下個季度開始，除了投資者演示之外，我們還計劃推出調整後的每股盈餘計算和收益材料，讓投資者了解業務中潛在的每股盈餘成長。本季資本支出為 1580 萬美元，略低於 1630 萬美元。

Free cash flow, defined as cash from operations less CapEx was $37.3 million, down from $52.2 million. (inaudible) range of [ $2.370 billion ]to $2.385 billion up from $2.320 billion to $2.355 billion last quarter. Adjusted operating income between $455 million and $465 million, up from $430 million and $450 million last quarter.

自由現金流（即經營活動產生的現金減去資本支出）為 3,730 萬美元，低於 5,220 萬美元。 （聽不清楚）範圍從 [ 23.7 億美元 ] 到 23.85 億美元，高於上一季的 23.2 億美元到 23.55 億美元。調整後的營業收入在 4.55 億美元至 4.65 億美元之間，高於上一季的 4.3 億美元至 4.5 億美元。

Capital expenditures between $60 million and $65 million, unchanged from last quarter and an effective tax rate between 24% and 26%, also unchanged from last quarter. Thank you so much for your time this afternoon. And now I will turn it over to the operator for Q&A. Operator?

資本支出在 6,000 萬美元至 6,500 萬美元之間，與上一季持平，有效稅率在 24% 至 26% 之間，也與上一季持平。非常感謝您今天下午抽出時間。現在我將把時間交給接線員進行問答。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Jason Tilton, Canaccord Genuity.

（操作員指示）Jason Tilton，Canaccord Genuity。

(inaudible) Enrollment growth in the career learning program, and I think you talked about last quarter, that's largely coming from the same application. (inaudible).

（聽不清楚）職業學習計劃的入學人數增長，我想您上個季度談到了這一點，這主要來自同一份申請。（聽不清楚）。

(inaudible) It's not quarters is that we just -- we haven't cracked the code on it yet. We keep running a bunch of tests around it. I think this year, we ran a number of tests at where we saw maybe a little bit more promise, but everything outside of the test we're running point to this being an attractive market for us and a good opportunity for us.

（聽不清楚）這不是季度，我們只是──我們還沒有破解它的密碼。我們圍繞著它不斷進行一系列測試。我認為今年我們進行了一些測試，可能看到了更多的希望，但測試之外的一切都表明這對我們來說是一個有吸引力的市場，也是一個很好的機會。

And if you look more broadly at the market, and see the activity that whether it's corporate enterprises are having around direct hiring out of high school, focused on skills as opposed to degrees and things like that. We know that this is sort of an evolving market in the direction of care education for high school.

如果你更廣泛地觀察市場，你會發現無論是企業還是個人都在直接招募高中畢業生，他們注重的是技能而不是學位等。我們知道，這是一個朝著高中護理教育發展的市場。

So probably a long way of saying that I don't think that we yet cracked. I don't know if there's a timing yet. I think we're making incremental progress. It's not as good as I would have hoped and that's on us.

所以，可能要說得更直白些，我認為我們還沒破解。我不知道是否有時間安排。我認為我們正在取得逐步進展。它沒有我所希望的那麼好，這是我們的錯。

Okay. Really helpful overview there. And then one other question. I'm curious about some of the efforts you guys are making to improve socialization opportunities for students that are in sort of full-time online programs. Anything you can share there about some of the steps you've taken there to help sort of create a more similar experience to the sort of traditional in-person socialization opportunities?

好的。那裡的概述確實很有幫助。還有一個問題。我很好奇你們為改善全日制線上課程學生的社交機會所做的一些努力。您能否分享您採取的一些措施來幫助創造與傳統面對面社交機會更相似的體驗？

Yes. I mean I think we all, I think, recognize that socialization is one very significant aspect of school experience. We also, I think, recognize whether you like it or not, that kids -- school aged kids these days socialize predominantly online. Again, not a commentary on whether that's good or bad, just I think the factual statement. And so we are lean into a number of platforms that enable that type of socialization.

是的。我的意思是，我認為我們都認識到社交是學校經驗的一個非常重要的方面。我想，無論你是否喜歡，我們都體認到，現在的孩子──學齡兒童主要在網路上進行社交。再說一次，這不是評論這是否好或壞，我只是認為這是事實陳述。因此，我們傾向於使用多種能夠實現此類社交的平台。

One of them is we call our K-12 zone. It's a virtual school -- basically, school structure, if you will, it has a playground on a library and things like that. We've gotten record -- this year, record usage rollout I guess, formally a year ago, but we had been testing before that. And we're just seeing record numbers out of that. And so we think that, that's 1 very, very powerful element.

其中之一就是我們所說的 K-12 區域。這是一所虛擬學校——基本上，學校結構，如果你願意的話，它有一個操場、一個圖書館等等。我們已經取得了記錄——我想，今年的記錄使用情況推出是在一年前正式開始的，但在此之前我們就已經開始測試了。我們看到的數字正在創下紀錄。所以我們認為，這是一個非常非常強大的因素。

The other thing that we're doing, and we just started testing it this calendar year, which is actually counter to the online engagement model is we're rolling out with essentially geographic pods, meaning we are rolling out the ability for families that live geographically close to each other that have similar school-age kids in the program to do meet-ups and things like that with the kids.

我們正在做的另一件事，我們今年剛開始測試它，這實際上與線上參與模式相反，我們正在推出本質上是地理分組的功能，這意味著我們正在為居住在地理位置上彼此接近且有相似學齡孩子的家庭提供與孩子們見面等活動的能力。

And it just so happens that I spoke to a family that just was unbelievably grateful that they were going to get the opportunity to do both of those activities, both the online and in-person.

碰巧的是，我和一個家庭進行了交談，他們非常感激能夠有機會進行這兩項活動，包括線上和線下活動。

I think the families recognize that there's a reality about sort of just online socialization, that's important, but also just the opportunity being from an online school to have a chance to meet up with kids in person. We were just this past weekend at an event for one of our amazing kids in Florida. His name is Carter Bonus and he's been incredible golfer, you had a golf tournament, and they did a meet-up party -- a meet-up pizza party with minigolf the night before.

我認為家長們認識到線上社交的現實性，這很重要，但線上學校也提供了與孩子們面對面見面的機會。就在上週末，我們參加了佛羅裡達州一位出色的孩子的活動。他的名字是卡特·博納斯 (Carter Bonus)，他是一位出色的高爾夫球手，你舉辦了一場高爾夫錦標賽，他們在前一天晚上舉辦了一場聚會——一場有迷你高爾夫的披薩聚會。

And some of the families there had said that it was one of the most exciting things that their kids do is to do this in-person meet ups. So we're just -- there's a lot of different angles that we can approach to improve our ability to enable socialization and we're going to continue investing behind that. We think it's really important for the families and for the kids.

一些家庭表示，孩子們最興奮的事情之一就是進行這種面對面的聚會。因此，我們可以從許多不同的角度來提高我們實現社交的能力，並且我們將繼續在這方面進行投資。我們認為這對家庭和孩子來說非常重要。

Greg Parrish, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的格雷格·帕里什。

Congrats on the quarter. Strong result. On your market (inaudible) a couple of years, do you anticipate that number changing at all? Or maybe a similar spot is the right way to think about it?

恭喜本季取得佳績。強勁的結果。在您的市場（聽不清楚）幾年內，您預期這個數字會改變嗎？或者也許類似的地方才是正確的思考方式？

Yes. I think the approach from a marketing perspective, it is, I think, going to be pretty similar. Of course, we're always evolving. I think one of the things that, from a sort of approach perspective that I think that we've been doing a good job of in the past year or two is testing a lot of different things. I think our sort of testing velocity has increased.

是的。我認為從行銷角度來看，這種方法會非常相似。當然，我們一直在不斷發展。我認為，從某種方法的角度來看，我們在過去一兩年裡做得很好的事情之一就是測試了很多不同的東西。我認為我們的測試速度已經提高了。

And so I think we're going to continue to lean into that -- the ability to test a lot of different approaches, methodologies, creatives. And I think that will continue to improve. And so I think that -- there's actually, I think, a lot of different angles of our marketing approach that we can -- that a lot of different things that we have been testing and we're going to continue to test it. I think we continue to see opportunities to make improvements.

因此我認為我們將繼續傾向於這一點——測試許多不同的方法、方法論和創意的能力。我認為這種情況將會繼續改善。所以我認為——實際上，我認為，我們的行銷方法有很多不同的角度——我們已經測試了很多不同的東西，我們將繼續測試它。我認為我們繼續看到改進的機會。

So I think that's going to be consistent and that keep double down on that through the summer. And sorry, the other question was?

所以我認為這將保持一致，並且在整個夏天都會加倍努力。抱歉，另一個問題是？

With respect to spend, I mean, as you know, we grew enrollment significantly this year without increasing our marketing spend. Our priority is really around certainly doing some more testing, optimizing media placement, FTO, testing our messaging and improving our messaging. So we'll focus on that. And so the plan is not to spend significantly more on marketing, but to be smart about marketing and to look for ways to be more efficient in our marketing spend.

關於支出，我的意思是，如你所知，我們今年的入學人數大幅增加，而行銷支出卻沒有增加。我們的首要任務當然是進行更多的測試、優化媒體投放、FTO、測試我們的資訊並改善我們的資訊。因此我們將重點關注這一點。因此，我們的計劃不是在行銷上投入更多資金，而是在行銷上更加精明，並尋找更有效率地利用行銷支出的方法。

Okay. That's all very helpful. And then I talk a little bit about the changes going on at the federal level and the shakeup of the DOE and not the funding side, I think that's been well covered over the last year or so. But they have a very pro-joise stance, right? So I mean, what are the impacts those kind of as they sort of filter down to the states through this administration?

好的。這一切都非常有幫助。然後我稍微談一下聯邦層級正在發生的變化以及能源部的改組，而不是資金方面，我認為這在過去一年左右已經得到了很好的報道。但他們的立場非常支持同性戀，對嗎？所以我的意思是，當這些措施透過本屆政府傳達到各州時，會產生什麼樣的影響？

And maybe any other impacts really from the DOE and some of their stances.

也許美國能源部及其某些立場確實還會產生其他影響。

Yes. I mean I think -- I think we have observed that -- I think we said we said before that -- we have a lot of confidence that this administration and the Department of Education is going to keep kids and families in focus, and we continue to believe that, that's the case. Some of the more tactical things that they're doing, I think, have maybe a little bit more sort of sound bite and impact at the postsecondary level right now.

是的。我的意思是，我認為——我認為我們已經觀察到——我認為我們之前說過——我們非常有信心，本屆政府和教育部將把孩子和家庭放在首位，我們繼續相信，情況就是這樣。我認為，他們正在採取的一些更具策略性的做法，目前可能在高等教育階段具有更強烈的號召力和影響力。

But I think just generally speaking, their general overall stance of empowering the states, which we're a state-level business really, reducing sort of overhead administration, if you will, we think that tends to be good. It tends to -- it does tend to send a message of more choice that I think this administration really believes in the power of choice and customers for the customers.

但我認為，總的來說，他們的整體立場是賦予各州權力，我們實際上是一家州級企業，減少各種管理費用，如果你願意的話，我們認為這往往是件好事。它傾向於——它確實傾向於傳達更多選擇的訊息，我認為本屆政府確實相信選擇的力量和顧客為顧客。

So I think that's really an important message. But I think outside of just continues to monitor the things that they're advocating for and continuing to be aligned with what the administration is advocating, which I think we are. We're just very optimistic that both the federal government and the state governments are going to keep the focus on the kids and the students and the families.

所以我認為這確實是一個重要的訊息。但我認為，除了繼續監督他們所倡導的事情並繼續與政府所倡導的事情保持一致之外，我認為我們也是如此。我們非常樂觀地認為聯邦政府和州政府都將繼續關注兒童、學生和家庭。

Jeff Silber, BMO Capital Markets.

傑夫·西爾伯（Jeff Silber），BMO 資本市場。

Wanted to go back to career learning, specifically the middle high school area. Just a really another strong quarter with growth accelerating. Can we get a little bit more color what's driving this strong growth?

想回到職業學習，特別是國中高中領域。這確實是一個強勁的季度，成長正在加速。我們能否進一步了解推動這強勁成長的因素？

Yes. I mean I think I might actually say the opposite way, Jeff, and I know this is going to sound -- I don't know, it may sound odd, but I actually think that I look at it instead of the fact that our growth is higher in middle and high school, I actually think we're missing some opportunities in the lower grades. I think the robust strength in middle and high school we've seen that there for a while.

是的。我的意思是，傑夫，我想我實際上可能會說相反的話，我知道這聽起來會很奇怪，我不知道，但實際上我認為，我看到的不是我們在初中和高中的成長速度更快的事實，而是我們在低年級錯過了一些機會。我認為我們已經看到初中和高中的強勁實力有一段時間了。

I think that our types of programs directly address a lot of the needs that we're seeing in those grade levels. We see a lot of the parent satisfaction surveys and things like that in those great levels where there for a lot of different reasons, that's the local, either districts or the states or the way the state programs are on or whether it's the lack of certain academic elements or restrictions around certain academic elements or things like that, it just opens up for those grade levels a lot of parental desire to look at alternatives.

我認為我們的課程類型直接滿足了這些年級的許多需求。我們看到很多家長滿意度調查和類似的東西，在這些高年級中，由於很多不同的原因，無論是地方的，還是地區或州的，或者是州計劃的實施方式，或者是缺乏某些學術元素或對某些學術元素的限製或諸如此類的事情，它只是為這些年級的許多家長提供了尋找替代方案的願望。

But I think it similarly applies in the lower grade levels and and we haven't been as effective in communicating that message in the lower grade levels because I'll tell you, one thing that we know across the country is reading scores, specifically third grading media scores are really subpar. And one of the messages that we're really going to promote here to sort of have the lower rates catch up to the upper grade in terms of the awareness and growth is we're going to really lean into some sort of high dosage tutoring in the lowest grade specifically around reading because we think it's that important. And we're going to make some pretty significant investments in that arena.

但我認為這同樣適用於低年級，而且我們在低年級傳達這一信息方面並不那麼有效，因為我會告訴你，我們在全國範圍內都知道的一件事是閱讀成績，特別是三年級媒體成績確實低於標準。我們真正要在這裡宣傳的訊息之一是，為了讓低年級學生在意識和成長方面趕上高年級學生，我們將真正傾向於在低年級學生中進行某種高劑量的輔導，特別是在閱讀方面，因為我們認為這非常重要。我們將在該領域進行一些相當大的投資。

We've launched our tutoring platform a couple of years ago. It's running really well. And we think we can apply some of that into the lowest grade for a lot of the programs and really accelerate learning in the lowest grade and I think that may be a message that's going to resonate as well with some families. So I think to me, it's more of a challenge of improving the lower grades as opposed to why the upper grades are outperforming little grades.

幾年前我們就推出了輔導平台。它運行得非常好。我們認為，我們可以將其中一些方法應用到許多課程的最低年級，從而真正加速最低年級的學習，我認為這也會引起一些家庭的共鳴。因此，我認為，對我來說，這更多的是一個提高低年級學生成績的挑戰，而不是為什麼高年級學生的表現優於低年級學生。

Okay. Fair enough. Shifting gears a bit, I think in your prepared remarks, you talked about some constraints, I don't know if it was some schools that have pulled enrollment or some states that have closed enrollment. Is that in both (inaudible) and career learning. And any specific color would be great.

好的。很公平。稍微轉換話題，我想在您準備好的發言中，您談到了一些限制，我不知道是否有些學校取消了招生，還是有些州關閉了招生。這既包括（聽不清楚）也包括職業學習。任何特定的顏色都可以。

Yes. Yes. It's a great question. And yes, it is in both. I think as I mentioned in my remarks, like the demand side of this equation has just really continued to grow in ways that I think are unexpected, at least to me, in a time of year that usually isn't the strongest part of the year.

是的。是的。這是一個很好的問題。是的，兩者都有。我認為，正如我在評論中提到的那樣，這個等式的需求方確實以我認為出乎意料的方式持續增長，至少對我來說是這樣，而這通常不是一年中最強勁的時期。

And -- and we've just by the nature of either the policy or the school or the partner or whatever, sometimes we close up the enrollment with those. And this is by the way, it's not new, but just those enrollment windows close up often during this quarter. And so as demand continues to spike, the ability to meet that man actually stays somewhat contained.

而且 — — 而且我們只是根據政策、學校、合作夥伴或其他因素的性質，有時我們會停止招生。順便說一句，這並不是什麼新鮮事，但本季的招生窗口經常關閉。因此，隨著需求持續飆升，見到那個男人的能力實際上受到一定限制。

And so -- so that's just really a phenomenon that's always happened. We just haven't really had to deal with it as much in previous years because we haven't seen such a spike in demand. So it hasn't been as sort of acute as it has been this year. So it's really been really a demand side issue more than any change in like enrollment windows or caps or anything like that. That's really always been there.

所以——這確實是一種一直存在的現象。前幾年我們並沒有真正處理過這個問題，因為我們沒有看到需求如此激增。因此，情況並不像今年這麼嚴重。因此，這實際上是一個需求方問題，而不是入學窗口或上限或諸如此類的任何變化。它確實一直都在那裡。

Stephen Sheldon, William Blair.

史蒂芬謝爾頓、威廉布萊爾。

You have Pat McIlwee on today. So James, you've talked about this a bit, but in the past, you've said that uncertainty and chaos have historically benefited Stride. I understand that K-12 isn't necessarily within the crosshairs of recent trade policies or geopolitical tensions. But do you get the sense any of the traction you've been seeing has been supported by these uncertain times? Or do you think this demand is more so a factor of you reaching scale and word-of-mouth referral kind of beginning to flywheel?

今天請到的是 Pat McIlwee。詹姆斯，你已經談過這一點，但在過去，你曾說過不確定性和混亂在歷史上對 Stride 有利。我理解 K-12 並不一定會成為近期貿易政策或地緣政治緊張局勢的焦點。但是，您是否感覺到，您所看到的任何牽引力都得到了這些不確定時期的支持？或者您認為這種需求更多的是您達到規模和口碑推薦開始飛輪的一個因素？

Yes, it's a great question. I think it's actually both. I do think that uncertainty -- I think broad macro uncertainty is probably less the issue. And we've just seen just uncertainty and volatility, whether it's gun violence certainly has precipitated, I think, a lot of interest in our programs. Uncertainty at the district level, and volatility in sort of how certain districts may be administering programs or whatever has benefited our programs, I think.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。我認為實際上兩者皆有。我確實認為不確定性——我認為廣泛的宏觀不確定性可能不是問題。我們剛剛看到了不確定性和波動性，無論是槍支暴力還是其他因素，我認為都引起了人們對我們項目的極大興趣。我認為，存在地區層面的不確定性，以及某些地區管理專案的方式或對我們的專案有益的任何事物的波動性。

Some of the larger sort of geopolitical things like tariffs and things like that, I don't think we see that as having a direct correlation with demand. In fact, I could say like in the data that I've seen, we have not seen a direct correlation between the past few weeks spikes in policies of tariffs or things like that, spiking demand. So I don't think it's that type of uncertainty. But certainly, the uncertainty that happens at the district level and certainty that happens around school safety uncertainty that happens around school policy.

一些較大的地緣政治因素，例如關稅等，我認為我們不認為它們與需求有直接的關係。事實上，我可以說，從我看到的數據來看，我們並沒有看到過去幾週關稅政策飆升或類似政策與需求飆升之間有直接的關聯。所以我不認為這是那種不確定性。但可以肯定的是，在地區層級存在的不確定性和圍繞學校安全的確定性以及圍繞學校政策的不確定性。

Those types of things, I think, do have a positive impact. And I think your last comment there around the flywheel, we do see that I think that the more scale that we get and the high customer satisfaction scores that we've received does create a lot of referral business. And so we see that sort of just directionally the referral numbers are strong cost of acquisition is good. Things that sort of indicate towards referral also those things tend to look good as well.

我認為這些事情確實會產生正面的影響。我認為您最後關於飛輪的評論是這樣的，我們確實看到，我們的規模越大，我們收到的客戶滿意度分數越高，確實會帶來大量的推薦業務。因此，我們看到，從方向上看，推薦數量很高，獲取成本也很好。那些表明值得推薦的東西也往往看起來不錯。

Right. Okay. All very helpful. And Donna, on the gross margins once again above 40% this quarter, you're already pacing ahead of your margin targets for the year. So my question really is just how much more room for expansion do you think you have in that line over time?

正確的。好的。一切都非常有幫助。唐娜，本季的毛利率再次超過 40%，您已經領先今年的利潤目標了。所以我的問題是，您認為隨著時間的推移，這條生產線還有多少擴展空間？

And what are the primary levers as you think about driving that expansion over the next few years?

您認為未來幾年推動這項擴張的主要槓桿是什麼？

Yes. Look, I think we will -- we're continuing to see good flow-through in the business. I think the efficiency efforts that I started to talk about two years ago, maintaining those efficiency efforts that's bearing out well for us. We'll continue to do that. I think we'll continue that into the future.

是的。看，我認為我們會的——我們將繼續看到業務的良好流通。我認為我兩年前開始談論的效率努力以及維持這些效率努力對我們來說是有益的。我們將繼續這樣做。我想我們將來會繼續這樣做。

I wouldn't expect to have gross margins be significantly higher than they are. Now we're not coming -- even though we are at the high end of our targets for 2028, I'm not changing our overall targets for our gross margins. We will continue, though, however, to see strong flow-through as the business grows and expands, and we are continuing to maintain those efficiency efforts that we put into place over the past couple of years.

我並不期望毛利率會比現在高很多。現在我們不會——儘管我們已經達到了 2028 年目標的高端，但我不會改變我們的毛利率總體目標。然而，隨著業務的成長和擴張，我們將繼續看到強勁的流通，並且我們將繼續保持在過去幾年中實施的效率努力。

I also want to say that as much as those efforts are ongoing, we continue to look at ways to reinvest for the programs. So I mean, I mentioned earlier, the investment we'll make in tutoring. So there is a balance that we try to strike not always are those investments, gross margin impacting, but sort of in aggregate dollars, we're investing more today in the business in new tools, investing in our teachers than we've ever done before.

我還想說，儘管這些努力仍在繼續，但我們仍在繼續尋找對這些項目進行再投資的方法。所以我的意思是，我之前提到過，我們將在輔導方面進行投資。因此，我們試圖取得平衡，這並不總是那些投資對毛利率的影響，而是在總體金額上，我們今天在業務上對新工具的投資，對教師的投資比以往任何時候都要多。

So I think there is a balance there that we need to keep investing for the longevity of the business as the sort of the market dynamics evolve, technologies evolve, we want to keep investing in new technologies.

因此，我認為我們需要保持平衡，隨著市場動態的發展和技術的發展，我們需要繼續投資新技術，以確保業務的長久發展。

So there is a big investment piece of this that sort of gets maybe a little bit masked by how sort of other parts of the business we run efficiently. But there is -- there are a lot of investments that go into improving our product, the socialization stuff I mentioned earlier. Those are all very significant investments that will grow over time as we see them working.

因此，這其中很大一部分投資可能會被我們業務其他部分的高效運作所掩蓋。但是，我們投入了大量的投資來改進我們的產品，也就是我之前提到的社交化產品。這些都是非常重要的投資，隨著我們看到它們發揮作用，它們將隨著時間的推移而成長。

And some of those investments are some of what I talked about -- as (inaudible) called out on our Investor Day to help teach out to make their lives a lot easier, right, and take some of that administrative burden from them so they can do things that they love to do, which is teach kids.

其中一些投資就是我在投資者日上所談論的——（聽不清楚）是為了幫助教育工作者，讓他們的生活變得更加輕鬆，減輕他們的一些行政負擔，這樣他們就可以做自己喜歡做的事情，那就是教導孩子。

Alex Paris, Barrington Research.

巴林頓研究公司的亞歷克斯‧帕里斯 (Alex Paris)。

I essentially have two. First one for James. James, would you mind repeating your comments about finishing the year with more enrollment than you started? And while early, your comments for next year, I think you said that you would expect growth fee or just kind of going fast for my pencil. So can then we get that recapped?

我基本上有兩個。第一個是詹姆斯。詹姆斯，你介意重複一下你關於今年年底入學人數比年初多的評論嗎？雖然您剛剛對明年發表了評論，但我認為您說過，您預計費用會增長，或者只是我的鉛筆會快速增長。那我們可以重新回顧嗎？

Yes. I mean -- so -- and this has been now a multiyear trend where -- we -- we're on a trajectory. We feel pretty confident that we'll end the year with a higher enrollment level than we began the year. And you can sort of see, let me report it, we just reported numbers that were pretty significantly higher than we started the year (inaudible) so ending the year at a higher level, what it does is it gives us a higher jumping off point for the fall enrollment because obviously, many of those students will come back.

是的。我的意思是——所以——這已經是一個多年的趨勢了——我們——我們正處於這樣的軌跡上。我們非常有信心，今年年底的入學人數將比年初更高。您可以看到，讓我報告一下，我們剛剛報告的數字比年初高出很多（聽不清楚），因此以更高的水平結束這一年，它為我們秋季入學提供了一個更高的起點，因為顯然，許多學生會回來。

And in fact, as we get -- almost counterintuitively, as we get toward the end of the year, many of the students who joined right at the end of the year have actually a high propensity to return in the fall. And so ending the year strong just really does set us up for strength going into the fall.

事實上，幾乎與我們的直覺相反，當我們接近年底時，許多在年底入學的學生實際上很傾向於在秋季返回。因此，以強勁的勢頭結束這一年確實為我們進入秋季做好了準備。

And so there is some early indicator that we are going to end the year strong and that will bode well for the reregistration cohort for the fall. And so those -- that early indication along with the very strong demand we saw in Q3, January through March. If that continues, it just -- it really sets us up for a very strong demand season for the fall, which I think sets us up for growth.

因此，有一些早期跡象表明我們將以強勁的勢頭結束今年，這對秋季的重新註冊群體來說是一個好兆頭。因此，這些早期跡像以及我們在第三季（1 月至 3 月）看到的非常強勁的需求。如果這種情況持續下去，那麼秋季的需求將非常強勁，我認為這將為我們的成長奠定基礎。

So I think the characteristics are there are all there for us to continue our enrollment trajectory.

所以我認為這些特點都有利於我們繼續我們的招生軌跡。

And then along those lines, is it too early to talk about applications for the fall? When do those start rolling in?

那麼，現在談談秋季的申請是否太早了？這些什麼時候開始湧入？

Yes, the fall application season is like literally the windows are just opening up here. So it is -- that is way too early to really have any good indicator of how that's shaping up. So I think that we'll have a little bit more information on that in the next call, but like it's just -- it's -- at least the past couple of years that we've seen the the back half of the year has boded well -- the strength in the back half of the year has boded well for the fall application. So we don't yet see that, but if the prior years are any indicator, the strength that we've seen in this past quarter in application volume is a pretty good indicator for the fall.

是的，秋季申請季就像剛打開的窗戶一樣。所以，現在還為時過早，無法真正掌握任何有關事態發展的良好指標。所以我認為我們會在下次電話會議中提供更多相關信息，但就像——至少過去幾年我們看到的，下半年的強勁勢頭對秋季申請來說是個好兆頭。所以我們還沒有看到這種情況，但如果前幾年可以作為參考的話，我們在過去這個季度看到的申請量的強勁增長對於秋季來說是一個很好的指標。

That's great. And then, Donna, I think you said in terms of revenue per enrollment -- for the full year, you're saying down less than 1%. I think you said down 1% to 2% as recently as the Q2 report. Do I have that right?

那太棒了。然後，唐娜，我想您說過，就全年每位學生的收入而言，您說的下降幅度不到 1%。我認為您在第二季報告中說過下降 1% 到 2%。我有這個權利嗎？

That is correct. And now that we're sort of 3 quarters in, so comfortable saying that it will be down less than 1%.

沒錯。現在我們已經進入了第三個季度，因此可以肯定地說，降幅將不到 1%。

Great. That's helpful. And then the last one is on the slide on Page 17. It's the -- just to understand how to use it a little bit better because I was off. I was using 47.6 million shares on a diluted basis, it came in at 49.2 million.

偉大的。這很有幫助。最後一個在第 17 頁的投影片。這只是為了更好地了解如何使用它，因為我已經離開了。我以稀釋後的價格使用了 4760 萬股，最終達到了 4920 萬股。

You talked about the illustrative average quarterly stock price. I'm just looking at Q3 and you started the year at about 104 when you entered the quarter and then you finished the quarter at 126. Is this just a civil average? Or is it a (inaudible)? How do we calculate that?

您談到了說明性季度平均股價。我只看了第三季度，進入本季時，年初的業績約為 104，而本季結束時，業績為 126。這僅僅是一個民事平均值嗎？或者它是一個（聽不清楚）？我們要怎麼計算呢？

So just it's the average stock price for the quarter. So if you look on Page 17, so the average stock price for the quarter was around roughly $1.27. So use the $1.25 as the example. And so you would have added roughly 4.6 million shares to would otherwise have been without the convert for the purpose of the accounting.

所以這只是本季的平均股價。因此，如果你查看第 17 頁，你會發現本季的平均股價約為 1.27 美元。因此以 1.25 美元為例。因此，您將增加約 460 萬股，否則出於會計目的將無需轉換。

And what am I adding that to? The basic share is my assumption for basic shares. Basic shares plus whatever stock option underlying stuff is there plus the 4.6 million shares.

我要把它加到什麼地方？基本份額是我對基本份額的假設。基本股加上任何股票選擇權標的物，再加上 460 萬股。

Correct.

正確的。

I just wondered to have a more accurate share count.

我只是想知道更準確的份額數。

Yes. And we can certainly walk you through it offline if you'd like.

是的。如果您願意的話，我們當然可以離線引導您完成整個過程。

Okay, for sure. And to me, your numbers were spot on mine, but you were slightly below the consensus EPS estimate. And I suspect it's just because of the share count that the consensus of analysts were using.

好的，當然。對我來說，您的數字與我的完全一致，但略低於普遍的每股盈餘預期。我懷疑這只是因為分析師使用的共識股票數量。

And ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session and today's conference call. We thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，我們的問答環節和今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接了。