WM Technology Inc (MAPS) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the WM Technology, Inc. Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, today's program is being recorded. And now I'd like to introduce your host for today's program, Greg Stolowitz, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

謝謝你的支持。歡迎來到 WM Technology, Inc. 2022 年第四季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，今天的節目正在錄製中。現在我想介紹一下今天節目的主持人，投資者關係副總裁 Greg Stolowitz。請繼續，先生。

Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining us today to discuss our fiscal 2022 fourth quarter results. We have our Executive Chair, Doug Francis; and our CFO, Arden Lee, with us today. By now, everyone should have access to our earnings announcement. This announcement is also on our Investor Relations website, along with the supporting slide deck.

大家好。感謝您今天加入我們討論我們 2022 財年第四季度的業績。我們有執行主席 Doug Francis；以及我們的首席財務官 Arden Lee 今天與我們一起。到現在為止，每個人都應該可以看到我們的收益公告。我們的投資者關係網站上也有此公告以及支持性幻燈片。

During this call, we'll make forward-looking statements, including statements about our business outlook, strategies and long-term goals. These statements are not guarantees of future performance. They are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control. Our actual results could differ materially from expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements. For a discussion of risks and other important factors that could affect our actual results, please refer to our SEC filings available on the SEC's website and our Investor Relations website as well as the risks and other important factors discussed in today's earnings release. We specifically disclaim any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

在此次電話會議中，我們將做出前瞻性陳述，包括關於我們的業務前景、戰略和長期目標的陳述。這些陳述不是對未來表現的保證。它們受到各種風險和不確定性的影響，其中一些是我們無法控制的。我們的實際結果可能與任何前瞻性陳述中反映的預期存在重大差異。有關可能影響我們實際結果的風險和其他重要因素的討論，請參閱美國證券交易委員會網站和我們的投資者關係網站上提供的美國證券交易委員會文件，以及今天的收益發布中討論的風險和其他重要因素。除非法律要求，否則我們明確否認有任何更新這些前瞻性陳述的意圖或義務。

For the benefit of those who may be listening to the replay or archived webcast, this call was held and recorded on March 16, 2023. Since then, we may have made announcements related to the topics discussed, so please refer to the company's most recent press releases and SEC filings.

為了那些可能正在收聽重播或存檔網絡廣播的人的利益，本次電話會議於 2023 年 3 月 16 日舉行並錄製。從那時起，我們可能已經發布了與所討論主題相關的公告，因此請參閱公司最近的新聞稿和 SEC 文件。

Also during this call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures in addition to financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of these measures to our GAAP results can be found in our earnings presentation available on our Investor Relations website.

同樣在本次電話會議中，除了根據 GAAP 編制的財務信息外，我們還將討論某些非 GAAP 財務措施。這些非 GAAP 財務措施應作為根據 GAAP 編制的信息的補充，但不能替代這些信息。這些措施與我們的 GAAP 結果的對賬可以在我們的投資者關係網站上的收益報告中找到。

And finally, this call in its entirety is being webcast from our Investor Relations website, and an audio replay will be available on our website in a few hours.

最後，整個電話會議將從我們的投資者關係網站進行網絡直播，音頻重播將在幾個小時後在我們的網站上提供。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Doug.

有了這個，我想把電話轉給道格。

Thanks, Greg, and thanks, everyone, for joining us. Our fourth quarter results came in where we expected. We posted $49 million in Q4 revenue, $2 million in Q4 adjusted EBITDA and ended the year with $29 million in cash while continuing to be debt-free. Further, we grew our paying clients by double digits versus last year despite challenges in our end markets. In my first quarter back at the helm, our team's focus was stabilizing revenue and getting back to our operating culture of driving profitability. And while there is still work to do, we're pleased with the progress we've made so far and are confident we have the right team and strategy in place.

謝謝 Greg，也謝謝大家加入我們。我們第四季度的業績符合我們的預期。我們公佈的第四季度收入為 4900 萬美元，第四季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 200 萬美元，年底時現金為 2900 萬美元，同時繼續保持無債務狀態。此外，儘管我們的終端市場面臨挑戰，但與去年相比，我們的付費客戶增長了兩位數。在我重新掌舵的第一季度，我們團隊的重點是穩定收入並回歸我們推動盈利的經營文化。儘管仍有工作要做，但我們對迄今為止取得的進展感到滿意，並相信我們擁有合適的團隊和適當的戰略。

Like many companies, we are facing challenges in the current environment. Inflation is eating into consumer and business spending power. The higher cost of capital is slowing growth, and the fear of a looming recession is front and center on folks' minds. The cannabis industry is facing additional headwinds as we deal with overregulation, the slow rollout of new licenses across the country, a lack of government support combined with high taxes from all levels of government, commoditization of cannabis products, frozen capital markets, limited access to banking and a thriving black market. Cannabis companies need all the help they can get right now, and they're letting us know that Weedmaps continues to be one of the best ways to engage an active cannabis community and acquire targeted consumers.

與許多公司一樣，我們在當前環境中面臨著挑戰。通貨膨脹正在侵蝕消費者和企業的消費能力。更高的資本成本正在放緩增長，人們對即將到來的經濟衰退的恐懼成為人們關注的焦點。大麻行業正面臨額外的阻力，因為我們應對過度監管、全國新許可證的緩慢推出、缺乏政府支持以及各級政府的高稅收、大麻產品的商品化、凍結的資本市場、有限的進入銀行業和繁榮的黑市。大麻公司需要他們現在可以獲得的所有幫助，他們讓我們知道 Weedmaps 仍然是吸引活躍的大麻社區和獲得目標消費者的最佳方式之一。

Our omnichannel approach of integrated digital, in-store, events, community engagement and street activations can create hyperlocal traffic for our clients. Given the nature of our users, each user engagement that we send to our clients, whether online or offline, creates meaningful value, especially in times like these. As we've been getting back to our roots and focusing on making the plant front and center, both brands and retailers alike want to associate their brand with Weedmaps, given how we engage and help shape the culture of cannabis.

我們的集成數字、店內、活動、社區參與和街道激活的全渠道方法可以為我們的客戶創造超本地化的流量。鑑於我們用戶的性質，我們發送給客戶的每次用戶參與，無論是在線還是離線，都會創造有意義的價值，尤其是在這樣的時代。由於我們一直在回歸本源並專注於使植物成為前沿和中心，考慮到我們參與和幫助塑造大麻文化的方式，品牌和零售商都希望將他們的品牌與 Weedmaps 聯繫起來。

The outreach from our industry has been great, and we're making plans with key partners to tell the cannabis story in our pursuit of legalization and safe access. We have a clear plan to maximize our opportunities in what may be a difficult 2023 and lay the foundation for healthy growth in 2024 and beyond. As I mentioned last quarter, the key for us in 2023 is focus. We are focused on 3 things: our marketplace experience with users, delivering undeniable value to our clients and doing all of that with the goal of profitable and sustainable growth.

我們行業的影響力很大，我們正在與主要合作夥伴制定計劃，在我們追求合法化和安全獲取的過程中講述大麻的故事。我們有一個明確的計劃，以在可能艱難的 2023 年最大限度地利用我們的機會，並為 2024 年及以後的健康增長奠定基礎。正如我上個季度提到的，我們在 2023 年的關鍵是專注。我們專注於三件事：我們與用戶的市場體驗，為我們的客戶提供不可否認的價值，並以盈利和可持續增長為目標。

First, on our marketplace. We're getting back to what we do best and the roots of what made Weedmaps special by celebrating weed culture and the magic of the plant. We'll create differentiated content showcasing the [craft] nature of cannabis. We'll elevate the conversation about genetics and terpenes. For example, we're engaging with expert scientists, cultivators and breeders across the country to tell the terpene and micro-cannabinoid story across Weedmaps. Through educational content and by offering differentiated products through our marketplace, we'll help eliminate that high THC equates to the best weed fallacy. This will benefit the brands and retailers that we showcase on Weedmaps by highlighting differences other than just THC levels.

首先，在我們的市場上。我們通過慶祝雜草文化和植物的魔力，回歸到我們最擅長的領域，以及使 Weedmaps 與眾不同的根源。我們將創建差異化的內容來展示大麻的 [craft] 性質。我們將提升關於遺傳學和萜烯的對話。例如，我們正在與全國各地的專家科學家、種植者和育種者合作，在 Weedmaps 上講述萜烯和微型大麻素的故事。通過教育內容和通過我們的市場提供差異化產品，我們將幫助消除高 THC 等同於最好的雜草謬論。通過突出 THC 水平以外的差異，這將使我們在 Weedmaps 上展示的品牌和零售商受益。

We're also engaging with Dr. Bonni Goldstein, our former Medical Director and leading cannabis physician, to create educational content on the therapeutic effects of cannabis. Weedmaps has historically been and will continue to be a safe place for users to find cannabis for wellness and to help treat serious conditions and ailments. We're also working to improve the shopping experience of our users by enhancing our taxonomy, algos and our search results to make search more intuitive across our platform. We'll better leverage our first-party user data to drive more personalized experiences and influence our user journeys towards making the right purchase from our clients.

我們還與我們的前醫療主任兼領先的大麻醫生 Bonni Goldstein 博士合作，創建有關大麻治療效果的教育內容。 Weedmaps 歷來是並將繼續是用戶尋找大麻以促進健康並幫助治療嚴重疾病和疾病的安全場所。我們還致力於通過增強我們的分類法、算法和搜索結果來改善用戶的購物體驗，從而使我們平台上的搜索更加直觀。我們將更好地利用我們的第一方用戶數據來推動更個性化的體驗，並影響我們的用戶旅程，以便從我們的客戶那裡做出正確的購買。

We sit in a privileged position, given the first-party data sets that we own and the rise of large language modeling and AI reinforcement learning tools. Weedmaps has historically been the authoritative source for all things cannabis, and we'll continue building on that marketplace reputation by differentiating our content, user experience and data in 2023.

鑑於我們擁有的第一方數據集以及大型語言建模和 AI 強化學習工具的興起，我們處於有利地位。 Weedmaps 歷來是所有大麻的權威來源，我們將在 2023 年通過差異化我們的內容、用戶體驗和數據來繼續建立市場聲譽。

Next, we'll focus on delivering undeniable value for our clients to improve their returns. We plan to expand our advertising solutions across product categories, giving our clients more ways to reach our high-intent users mid-funnel and impact their purchase decisions. We're expanding the regional logic that drives our local ad offerings to give our clients more options on where they show up in our search experience. We have projects in flight to create new and differentiated deal types for our clients to reach users seeking value. We're working on integrating our SaaS solutions as value-added features and extensions of our marketplace to prove -- to provide more utility to our users and clients.

接下來，我們將專注於為我們的客戶提供不可否認的價值，以提高他們的回報。我們計劃在產品類別中擴展我們的廣告解決方案，為我們的客戶提供更多方式來接觸我們在漏斗中的高意向用戶並影響他們的購買決策。我們正在擴展推動我們本地廣告產品的區域邏輯，以便為我們的客戶提供更多關於他們在我們的搜索體驗中出現的位置的選擇。我們的項目正在進行中，旨在為我們的客戶創建新的差異化交易類型，以吸引尋求價值的用戶。我們正在努力將我們的 SaaS 解決方案集成為我們市場的增值功能和擴展，以證明——為我們的用戶和客戶提供更多實用性。

We'll make it easier for our clients to onboard, integrate and grow with Weedmaps regardless of their tech stack. And we'll support our clients with local activations, retailer appreciation tours, brand collaboration and exclusive merchandise drops so they can leverage the power of Weedmaps brand to tell their own stories. Finally, we'll focus on driving profitable and sustainable growth. We will focus on what we can control while preparing to accelerate our growth when end markets improve. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to markets, clients and solutions, we'll be disciplined in how we prioritize investments. We'll be pulling back spend against some of our newer nonmarketplace solutions while we evaluate the product market fit of these offerings. We'll focus on driving a lean operating mentality in everything that we do.

我們將使我們的客戶更容易地使用 Weedmaps 進行入職、集成和發展，而不管他們的技術堆棧如何。我們將通過本地活動、零售商鑑賞之旅、品牌合作和獨家商品投放來支持我們的客戶，這樣他們就可以利用 Weedmaps 品牌的力量來講述自己的故事。最後，我們將專注於推動盈利和可持續增長。我們將專注於我們可以控制的事情，同時準備在終端市場改善時加速我們的增長。我們不會對市場、客戶和解決方案採取放之四海而皆準的方法，而是在確定投資優先順序方面遵守紀律。在評估這些產品的產品市場契合度時，我們將縮減對一些較新的非市場解決方案的支出。我們將專注於在我們所做的一切中推動精益運營理念。

We've already done the heavy lifting, removing excess layers of management across the company, simplifying processes and changing the way we work to drive sales and savings. We already restructured our workplace ahead of the start of this year, as difficult as that was, so that we can hit the ground running. I'm proud of what our teams have accomplished over the last several months in doing the hard work to set ourselves up for success in 2023. Productivity is a year-round effort with no finish line, and that's our mindset in 2023.

我們已經完成了繁重的工作，消除了整個公司的多餘管理層，簡化了流程並改變了我們推動銷售和節約的工作方式。儘管困難重重，但我們已經在今年年初之前重組了我們的工作場所，以便我們能夠順利開展工作。我為我們的團隊在過去幾個月中為在 2023 年取得成功而努力工作所取得的成就感到自豪。生產力是一項沒有終點線的全年努力，這就是我們在 2023 年的心態。

Before I hand the call to Arden, I also want to provide a brief update on leadership. The Board and I have decided to put our CEO search on hold for now, and I will continue leaning in and working with our senior leadership team for the time being. I'm deeply invested in the success of Weedmaps and will continue to drive our pace as we do our part in driving profitable growth for the industry.

在我將電話轉給 Arden 之前，我還想簡要介紹一下領導層的最新情況。董事會和我決定暫時擱置我們的 CEO 搜尋，我將暫時繼續支持並與我們的高級領導團隊合作。我對 Weedmaps 的成功投入了大量資金，並將繼續推動我們的步伐，因為我們為推動行業的盈利增長盡了自己的一份力量。

It's always darkest before the dawn, and though 2023 will be challenging, we believe that the future of the cannabis industry is bright and exciting for those with the vision, know-how and willingness to take it on. We at Weedmaps have deep knowledge of the plant, the supply chain and where the industry is headed. We know how to leverage that insight into our marketplace and technology, and we know how to leverage data to not only acquire customers but to showcase the products that will keep them coming back.

黎明前總是最黑暗的，儘管 2023 年將充滿挑戰，但我們相信，對於那些有遠見、有專業知識和願意接受它的人來說，大麻行業的未來是光明和令人興奮的。我們在 Weedmaps 對工廠、供應鍊和行業發展方向有深入的了解。我們知道如何利用對我們的市場和技術的洞察力，我們知道如何利用數據不僅可以贏得客戶，還可以展示能讓他們回頭客的產品。

We believe that Weedmaps is in a great position to capture opportunity across all value chain segments if and when broader legalization arise. Until then, we'll continue executing against our focused priorities and leading from the front as we take the industry through this next stage of growth. It's time like these where the power of Weedmaps brand, the value of our marketplace and the strength of our leadership position within cannabis truly shine with our users and clients.

我們相信，如果出現更廣泛的合法化， Weedmaps 處於抓住所有價值鏈環節機會的有利位置。在那之前，我們將繼續執行我們的重點優先事項，並在引領行業進入下一增長階段的過程中處於領先地位。像這樣的時候，Weedmaps 品牌的力量、我們市場的價值以及我們在大麻領域的領導地位的實力真正讓我們的用戶和客戶大放異彩。

With that, I'll turn it over to Arden.

有了這個，我會把它交給雅頓。

Thanks, Doug, and hello to everyone on today's call. Our fourth quarter performance reflected the expectations we had on growth heading into the quarter and the actions we took to drive profitability throughout the quarter. Q4 revenue came in at $49 million, resulting in a 5% decline for total second half revenue, consistent with our prior guidance. Q4 adjusted EBITDA was a positive $2 million. While our adjusted EBITDA continues to be impacted by provisions for doubtful accounts, we saw these noncash charges narrow in Q4 as we expected. Adjusted EBITDA prior to these charges was $4 million, reflecting the cost reduction actions we took throughout the quarter.

謝謝，道格，今天的電話會議大家好。我們第四季度的業績反映了我們對本季度增長的預期以及我們為提高整個季度的盈利能力而採取的行動。第四季度收入為 4900 萬美元，導致下半年總收入下降 5%，與我們之前的指導一致。第 4 季度調整後的 EBITDA 為正 200 萬美元。雖然我們調整後的 EBITDA 繼續受到可疑賬戶撥備的影響，但我們看到這些非現金費用在第四季度減少，正如我們預期的那樣。這些費用之前的調整後 EBITDA 為 400 萬美元，反映了我們在整個季度採取的成本削減措施。

While our growth continues to be impacted by end market headwinds, which are driving reduced levels of spend by clients, we continue to expand our client base. Our paying clients grew by 19% versus last year. And when looking at spend levels by existing clients, we're seeing signs of stabilization, with our net dollar retention continuing to hold at levels consistent with the prior quarter.

雖然我們的增長繼續受到終端市場逆風的影響，這些逆風導致客戶支出水平下降，但我們繼續擴大我們的客戶群。我們的付費客戶比去年增長了 19%。在查看現有客戶的支出水平時，我們看到了穩定的跡象，我們的淨美元保留繼續保持在與上一季度一致的水平。

Our net dollar retention within California, which continues to be our largest region at 54% of Q4 revenue, expanded in Q4 versus the prior quarter. Q4 adjusted EBITDA of $2 million reflected a 9% reduction in adjusted OpEx versus last year. We rationalized a number of areas across the company, reducing excess management layers within our sales and marketing teams and eliminating our cross-functional domain orgs in favor of a new centralized operating structure. Our adjusted sales and marketing and G&A declined by 14% and 11% as a result, with product development increasing by 11% versus last year.

我們在加利福尼亞州的淨美元保留率在第四季度比上一季度有所擴大，該地區仍然是我們最大的地區，佔第四季度收入的 54%。第 4 季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 200 萬美元，反映出調整後的運營支出比去年減少了 9%。我們對公司的多個領域進行了合理化，減少了銷售和營銷團隊中過多的管理層，並取消了跨職能領域組織，以支持新的集中運營結構。因此，我們調整後的銷售和營銷以及 G&A 分別下降了 14% 和 11%，而產品開發比去年增長了 11%。

We reported a net loss of $61 million for the quarter, which includes $6 million in stock-based compensation, along with approximately $56 million in other nonrecurring charges, the bulk of which is related to the valuation allowance we took against our deferred tax assets, which is a noncash charge, along with severance payments associated with the headcount reduction we executed during the quarter. More information on these charges is available in our earnings release and will be in our Form 10-K.

我們報告本季度淨虧損 6100 萬美元，其中包括 600 萬美元的股票補償，以及大約 5600 萬美元的其他非經常性費用，其中大部分與我們對遞延稅資產的估值津貼有關，這是一項非現金費用，以及與我們在本季度執行的裁員相關的遣散費。有關這些費用的更多信息可在我們的收益發布中找到，並將包含在我們的 10-K 表格中。

We closed the year with $29 million in cash, continue to be debt-free and are comfortable with our liquidity position. In light of recent events, we're monitoring our banking situation closely and feel comfortable with the security of our cash deposits. We do not have relationships or any direct exposure with Silicon Valley Bank or with Signature Bank. Our fully diluted share count across our Class A and B share classes was 148 million at the end of the quarter. A reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to net loss as well as the details of our share classes and share count calculation are provided in our earnings presentation posted to our Investor Relations site.

我們以 2900 萬美元的現金結束了這一年，繼續沒有債務並且對我們的流動性狀況感到滿意。鑑於最近發生的事件，我們正在密切關注我們的銀行業務狀況，並對我們現金存款的安全性感到放心。我們與 Silicon Valley Bank 或 Signature Bank 沒有關係或有任何直接接觸。截至本季度末，我們在 A 類和 B 類股票類別中的完全攤薄股票數量為 1.48 億股。調整後的 EBITDA 與淨虧損的對賬以及我們的股票類別和股票數量計算的詳細信息在我們發佈到投資者關係網站的收益報告中提供。

Lastly, as noted in our release, we have reported in our Form 10-K a material weakness on our general IT controls related to internal user access and change management over certain systems that are relevant to our financial reporting. I can tell you, no misstatements have been identified in our audit as a result of these deficiencies, and we've already begun our remediation efforts.

最後，正如我們在新聞稿中指出的那樣，我們在 10-K 表格中報告了與我們的財務報告相關的某些系統的內部用戶訪問和變更管理相關的一般 IT 控制的重大缺陷。我可以告訴你，我們的審計中沒有發現由於這些缺陷而導致的錯報，我們已經開始了我們的補救工作。

Turning to our outlook. We're confident that the sharp focus on our marketplace, client value and profitability will help us navigate through the continued end market headwinds impacting our scaled markets. We expect to expand our paying client base, given the opportunities we see, but also expect to see continued pressures on revenue per client across several of our scaled markets as a result of the ongoing declines across our end markets.

轉向我們的前景。我們相信，對我們的市場、客戶價值和盈利能力的高度關注將幫助我們渡過影響我們規模化市場的持續終端市場逆風。鑑於我們看到的機會，我們希望擴大我們的付費客戶群，但也預計由於我們終端市場的持續下滑，我們幾個規模化市場的每位客戶收入將繼續面臨壓力。

Given these headwinds and general uncertainties in the current macro environment, we will not be providing full year guidance on revenue or adjusted EBITDA. We expect Q1 revenue, which is our seasonally lowest quarter, will be slightly down versus Q4 at $47 million, given seasonality related to the Q4 holidays. On profitability, we expect double-digit adjusted EBITDA margins and positive cash flow in 2023. We already took actions during Q4 to create clear line of sight to positive cash flow regardless of end market dynamics.

鑑於當前宏觀環境中的這些不利因素和普遍的不確定性，我們將不會提供有關收入或調整後 EBITDA 的全年指導。考慮到與第四季度假期相關的季節性因素，我們預計第一季度收入（我們季節性最低的季度）將略低於第四季度的 4700 萬美元。在盈利能力方面，我們預計 2023 年調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將達到兩位數，現金流為正。我們已經在第四季度採取行動，無論終端市場動態如何，都為正現金流創造清晰的視野。

We're starting this year with a run rate level of adjusted OpEx that's consistent with where we were after we closed our go public transaction and prior to accelerating investment. And yesterday, we have a presence in more regions with an expanded client base and platform capabilities and where we were back then. We will invest based on how our growth is trending and don't anticipate significant investments to achieve our growth priorities.

我們從今年開始調整後的 OpEx 的運行率水平與我們在完成上市交易之後和加速投資之前的水平一致。昨天，我們在更多地區開展業務，擴大了客戶群和平台功能，這也是我們當時的處境。我們將根據我們的增長趨勢進行投資，並且預計不會進行重大投資來實現我們的增長重點。

We also see continued opportunities to achieve productivity, which will give us capacity to fund growth investments. To that end, we expect Q1 adjusted EBITDA will be approximately $4 million as we ramp investments heading into the 4/20 holiday. Our cash in the first half will continue to be impacted by remaining severance and termination costs related to the headcount reductions we took last quarter. With that said, we are committed to driving positive cash flow this year. And we have clear line of sight to delivering against that commitment, given the cost reductions we've already achieved and the focused approach we'll take this year on new investments.

我們還看到了實現生產力的持續機會，這將使我們有能力為增長投資提供資金。為此，我們預計第一季度調整後的 EBITDA 將約為 400 萬美元，因為我們會在 4/20 假期前增加投資。我們上半年的現金將繼續受到與我們上個季度裁員相關的剩餘遣散費和解僱費用的影響。話雖如此，我們致力於在今年推動正現金流。考慮到我們已經實現的成本削減以及我們今年將在新投資上採取的重點方法，我們對兌現這一承諾有著清晰的認識。

In closing, I want to thank our team at Weedmaps and Doug for his ongoing leadership as we get going in 2023. As Doug noted, 2023 will be a year to remember as we drive a focus on our priorities. Let's now open up the call for questions.

最後，我要感謝我們在 Weedmaps 的團隊和 Doug，感謝他在 2023 年的持續領導。正如 Doug 指出的那樣，2023 年將是值得銘記的一年，因為我們將重點放在我們的優先事項上。現在讓我們開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from the line of DJ Hynes from Canaccord.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Canaccord 的 DJ Hynes。

Arden, really nice progress on the margin front in Q4 and what's implied in Q1. As we think about the historical financial profile of the business, is that aspirationally where you think you can get back to? And as we think about kind of the dials are turning to get there, is it more broad-based discipline or are there specific areas where you're taking a more calculated step back?

Arden，第四季度在利潤率方面取得了非常好的進展，以及第一季度的暗示。當我們考慮該業務的歷史財務狀況時，您認為您可以回到理想的位置嗎？當我們考慮某種類型的錶盤正在轉向到達那裡時，它是更廣泛的紀律還是在特定領域你正在採取更有計劃的退步？

Yes. DJ, first off, thanks for that question. I appreciate that. So a couple of things, and let me know if I don't cover fully your questions. We've talked in the past about our business model being inherently cash flow generative. And when we've gone through cycles of accelerating investment, how we've been able to kind of show, shortly after that investment acceleration ends, the cash flow kind of generation that our business model supports, right?

是的。 DJ，首先，感謝您提出這個問題。我很感激。所以有幾件事，如果我沒有完全涵蓋您的問題，請告訴我。我們過去曾談到我們的商業模式本質上是產生現金流的。當我們經歷了加速投資的周期時，我們如何能夠在投資加速結束後不久展示我們的商業模式所支持的一代現金流，對吧？

So back in fiscal 2019, when we went -- last went through an investment acceleration year, you'll see in fiscal 2020, and I think that's what you're referencing, the EBITDA and cash flow that we were able to generate coming off the heels of that. We don't think there's any reason why we can't get back to those levels. Obviously, we've done a lot of heavy lifting, as Doug referenced, over the last quarter. We hit the ground running when we started the year. We took a lot of these difficult actions over the course of Q4 to set ourselves up to do so come January.

所以回到 2019 財年，當我們經歷了 - 上一次經歷了投資加速年，你會在 2020 財年看到，我認為這就是你所指的，我們能夠產生的 EBITDA 和現金流正在下降緊隨其後。我們認為沒有任何理由不能回到這些水平。顯然，正如 Doug 所提到的，我們在上個季度做了很多繁重的工作。當我們開始這一年時，我們就開始了。在第四季度的過程中，我們採取了很多這些困難的行動，為一月份的到來做好準備。

And in terms of your second question around where did we find these opportunities, I'd say, a, there's a general kind of mindset of let's find productivity and operate leanly across the company. Now with that being said, a lot of the cost reductions that we took in Q4 were very surgical around certain areas. And what I'd characterize those areas as is, a, we eliminated a lot of excess kind of management layers and infrastructure that we had created. So we had created a number of cross-functional orgs across the company that candidly were slowing [us down] in terms of our ability to get our teams to move at the speed at which they wanted to.

關於你的第二個問題，關於我們在哪裡找到這些機會，我想說，有一種普遍的心態，讓我們找到生產力並在整個公司精益運營。話雖如此，我們在第四季度採取的許多成本削減措施在某些領域都是非常外科的。我對這些領域的描述是，a，我們消除了我們創建的許多多餘的管理層和基礎設施。因此，我們在整個公司創建了多個跨職能組織，這些組織在我們讓團隊以他們想要的速度行動的能力方面坦率地放慢了[我們]。

And then if you look at the other areas where we've really accelerated investment, it's a lot of our go-to-market kind of teams. And so what we've done has been a lot smarter around kind of pruning our go-to-market resources to kind of align with the market opportunity that we see in the near term. And then on the margin, I'd say that there were certain areas that were kind of nice-to-haves but not necessarily need-to-haves in this environment. And so we took a hard look at how our teams were working and try to see where we could, again, remove redundancy to get more productivity.

然後，如果你看看我們真正加速投資的其他領域，就會發現我們有很多進入市場的團隊。因此，我們在修剪我們的上市資源以適應我們在短期內看到的市場機會方面做得更加明智。然後在邊際上，我會說在這種環境下，有些領域是可以擁有的，但不一定需要擁有。因此，我們仔細研究了我們團隊的工作方式，並再次嘗試找出可以消除冗餘以提高生產力的地方。

Yes. Yes. Okay. Got it. And then just as a follow-up. So at what level do you think we might see a floor in that monthly revenue per paying client metric? And I guess the question really is like, how are you internally thinking about modeling and budgeting for that over the course of '23?

是的。是的。好的。知道了。然後作為後續行動。那麼，您認為我們可能會在什麼水平上看到每個付費客戶每月收入指標的下限？我想問題真的是，在 23 年的過程中，你如何在內部考慮建模和預算？

Yes. So for us, we expect to continue to see pressure against that number. And I guess the answer to your question, DJ, is a bit nuanced. And why I say that is, in theory, when we're dealing with healthy marketplace dynamics, we would like to see that number not grow too much because we are continuing to expand in new regions, right? And as we talked about in the past, as we're expanding in new regions, those tend to be lower spend levels versus our scaled regions.

是的。因此，對我們來說，我們希望繼續看到對該數字的壓力。 DJ，我猜你的問題的答案有點微妙。為什麼我這麼說，從理論上講，當我們處理健康的市場動態時，我們希望看到這個數字不會增長太多，因為我們將繼續在新地區擴張，對嗎？正如我們過去談到的那樣，隨著我們在新地區的擴張，與我們擴大規模的地區相比，這些地區的支出水平往往較低。

Now the issue that we're having in this environment, as we talked about for the last few quarters, is that across our scaled markets, specifically California, Colorado, Oklahoma, as folks have seen with the third-party data, end market GMV continues to decline, continues to decline on a quarter-over-quarter basis. If you look at the data year-to-date in 2023 so far, it's been sequentially down for the better part of the Q1-to-date period. And so we're very mindful of that dynamic in terms of how we're modeling out and planning against those scaled markets or the scaled space of California, Oklahoma and Colorado.

正如我們在過去幾個季度談到的那樣，現在我們在這種環境中遇到的問題是，在我們規模化的市場中，特別是加利福尼亞州、科羅拉多州、俄克拉荷馬州，正如人們從第三方數據、終端市場 GMV 中看到的那樣繼續下降，環比繼續下降。如果您查看 2023 年年初至今的數據，就會發現在第一季度至今的大部分時間裡，它一直在連續下降。因此，在我們如何針對這些規模化的市場或加利福尼亞州、俄克拉荷馬州和科羅拉多州的規模化空間進行建模和規劃方面，我們非常注意這種動態。

What I will say, though, is outside of those 3 states, we're seeing very healthy demand trends amongst our clients. We're seeing healthy demand trends in terms of not only our ability to grow our paying client base but also spend levels across these regions. So for us, what does that mean? We've got our eyes focused specifically on those 3 states to just get a read around client tone and health of our clients because it's still touch and go, obviously, in those 3 states. But outside of that, it's business as usual as getting after the opportunity.

不過，我要說的是，在這三個州之外，我們看到客戶的需求趨勢非常健康。我們不僅在擴大付費客戶群的能力方面，而且在這些地區的支出水平方面都看到了健康的需求趨勢。那麼對我們來說，這意味著什麼？我們已經將注意力集中在這 3 個州，以便了解客戶的語氣和客戶的健康狀況，因為顯然，在這 3 個州，它仍然是不穩定的。但除此之外，一切照常，就像抓住機會一樣。

And our next question comes from the line of Andrew Carter from Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Andrew Carter。

So first question I would ask, in terms of what you're seeing on the cash needs, I think the cash burn in the quarter was $4 million versus the kind of adjusted $4 million number. How much was cash charges? How much is kind of left to go in cash charges? And help us understand if there's anything due on the distributions, given the special shareholder class on a cash basis.

因此，我要問的第一個問題是，就您所看到的現金需求而言，我認為本季度的現金消耗為 400 萬美元，而調整後的數字為 400 萬美元。現金費用是多少？還剩下多少現金費用？考慮到以現金為基礎的特殊股東類別，並幫助我們了解分配是否有任何到期情況。

Yes, yes. So Andrew, I can take that one. So a couple of things. So as we referenced earlier on the call, we still have some residual charges, cash costs related to the cost reduction efforts that we took in Q4. So we talked -- or we filed in our 8-K last quarter the severance charges related to the headcount reductions that we took. The bulk of those will hit in the first half. So we talked about just under $11 million of cash charges when we filed our 8-K in December. We paid out, over the course of Q4, about 1/4 of those, so we still have some residual costs left to go.

是的是的。所以安德魯，我可以接受那個。所以有幾件事。因此，正如我們早些時候在電話會議上提到的那樣，我們仍然有一些剩餘費用，與我們在第四季度採取的成本削減措施相關的現金成本。所以我們談過——或者我們在上個季度的 8-K 中提交了與我們裁員相關的遣散費。其中大部分將在上半年受到打擊。因此，當我們在 12 月提交 8-K 時，我們談到了不到 1100 萬美元的現金費用。我們在第四季度支付了其中的大約 1/4，因此我們還有一些剩餘成本需要支付。

On your question around tax distributions, our tax distributions have been averaging at about [$1 a quarter] or so, and so we don't expect much movement in the very near term on that front. What I will say is we've fully thought through the severance charges that have -- that are left to go in terms of our liquidity and cash management and planning and the like. And as we mentioned on the call, we feel very comfortable with our liquidity position. We've sized our cost base at a level where we have clear line of sight towards generating positive cash flow regardless of what happened in California, Colorado, Oklahoma. And I've touched on the dynamics that we're seeing in some of these other states.

關於你關於稅收分配的問題，我們的稅收分配一直平均約為 [每季度 1 美元] 左右，因此我們預計短期內這方面不會有太大變化。我要說的是，我們已經充分考慮了在我們的流動性、現金管理和規劃等方面留下的遣散費。正如我們在電話會議上提到的，我們對我們的流動性狀況感到非常滿意。我們已經將成本基礎調整到一個水平，無論加利福尼亞、科羅拉多州和俄克拉荷馬州發生了什麼，我們都能清楚地看到產生正現金流的水平。我已經談到了我們在其他一些州看到的動態。

Got it. Second question I have, so third-party kind of metrics. We look at SimilarWeb, Apptopia shows the time on the platform is down pretty significantly and accelerated year-to-date. That might be in part a function of the end markets themselves, but also, what's kind of your sense of the MAU base? I know you're still kind of evaluating that going back to draw board, what you disclosed. But your sales teams obviously have to be armed with something to the value. So anything you can help on that. And do you think you're investing at the right level behind that, the demand generation, both sides of the funnel, obviously?

知道了。我有第二個問題，所以第三方類型的指標。我們看看 SimilarWeb，Apptopia 顯示該平台上的時間顯著下降，並且今年迄今加速。這在一定程度上可能是終端市場本身的作用，而且，您對 MAU 基礎有何看法？我知道你仍在評估你所披露的內容。但是您的銷售團隊顯然必須配備有價值的東西。因此，您可以提供任何幫助。你認為你在正確的水平上進行投資嗎，需求的產生，漏斗的兩側，顯然？

Yes, I'll take that. This is Doug. We recently hired a new CMO, who's an absolute pro on that, so we've been digging in. There's no doubt there's absolute pressure across the board on the marketplace, but we're still dialing in to see what the best metric is that reflects the health of our marketplace. But again, the end markets are tough. We are feeling it, but there are pockets of what we used to do great at Weedmaps, which is kind of tell the plant story.

是的，我會接受的。這是道格。我們最近聘請了一位新的首席營銷官，他是這方面的絕對專家，所以我們一直在深入研究。毫無疑問，市場上存在著絕對的壓力，但我們仍在努力尋找最好的衡量標準是什麼反映了我們市場的健康狀況。但同樣，終端市場也很艱難。我們感覺到了，但也有一些我們過去在 Weedmaps 做得很好的東西，這有點像講述植物的故事。

So we feel within like health and wellness with Dr. Goldstein and some of these other moves, we have top-of-the-funnel moves that we can make better opportunistic. And then these new features that we discussed like category-based allows us to really penetrate lower in the funnel. So we have enough slotted coming up here where we think we can get positive movement. But again, there's no question there's pressure.

因此，我們在 Goldstein 博士和其他一些舉措中感覺身體健康，我們擁有漏斗頂端的舉措，我們可以做出更好的機會主義。然後，我們討論的這些基於類別的新功能使我們能夠真正滲透到漏斗中的較低位置。所以我們有足夠的時間來到這裡，我們認為我們可以得到積極的進展。但同樣，毫無疑問存在壓力。

Got it. Final question I guess I'll just ask, and this is -- I realize you can't control the market. But as you think -- if you step back and think about the original thesis of the go public transaction, a lot of it was to kind of take advantage of being a public cannabis play and being kind of the most capital efficient. And if you're not rewarded for that, do you see the strategic value in remaining there? And given you've got cash flow in sight, this is a capital-efficient platform, you're going to have more options than others. So just anything, I'd love to hear any commentary on that.

知道了。我想我只想問最後一個問題，這是——我知道你無法控制市場。但正如你所想的那樣——如果你退後一步，想想上市交易的最初論點，很多都是為了利用大麻公開交易和資本效率最高的優勢。如果你沒有因此而得到回報，你是否看到留在那裡的戰略價值？鑑於您已經看到現金流，這是一個資本效率高的平台，您將擁有比其他人更多的選擇。所以任何事情，我都想听聽對此的任何評論。

Yes. I can start on that one, Andrew. Listen, we're focused on executing against our plan. We obviously went public for a reason. We have benefited from the ability to tell our story externally and being able to kind of showcase the business model and the like. Obviously, it's a tough capital markets environment. But for us, we're focused on what we can control. What we control is executing against the plan that we have, and I'll leave it at that.

是的。我可以從那個開始，安德魯。聽著，我們專注於執行我們的計劃。我們公開上市顯然是有原因的。我們受益於對外講述我們的故事以及展示商業模式等的能力。顯然，這是一個艱難的資本市場環境。但對我們來說，我們專注於我們可以控制的事情。我們控制的是根據我們的計劃執行，我會保留它。

(Operator Instructions) And our next question comes from the line of Tom Champion Callahan (sic) [Tom Champion] from PSC.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 PSC 的 Tom Champion Callahan（原文如此）[Tom Champion]。

This is Jim on for Tom. So I guess first, I have 1 for Doug. So you've been back with the company for about 4 months now, and there's a lot of macro challenges you're kind of dealing with. Can you just kind of talk us through some of your biggest takeaways and what you've learned so far as you've been getting back involved in the business?

這是湯姆的吉姆。所以我想首先，我有 1 個給 Doug。所以你現在已經回到公司大約 4 個月了，你要應對很多宏觀挑戰。你能不能跟我們談談你最大的收穫，以及你在重新參與這項業務後學到了什麼？

And I had 1 for Arden. It seems like the allowance for doubtful accounts kind of keeps coming up. I guess curious how we should think about the cadence of that through the balance of the year.

我有 1 個給雅頓。似乎可疑賬戶的準備金一直在增加。我想知道我們應該如何在今年餘下的時間裡考慮它的節奏。

Yes, so this is Doug. It's really a challenging market, that's for sure. But it is really a state-by-state and market-by-market story. So as we're getting out there and talking to folks, the 1 thing that does come up is because a lot of budgets are compressed in the industry, they're really leaning on Weedmaps to tell their brand story. So kind of bringing some of the old gang back in the company has been exciting as well because we've been able to build some relationships with the MSOs and brands on the East Coast that were a little elusive to us.

是的，這就是道格。這確實是一個充滿挑戰的市場，這是肯定的。但這實際上是一個州與州和市場之間的故事。因此，當我們走出去與人們交談時，確實出現的一件事是因為該行業的許多預算都被壓縮了，他們真的依靠 Weedmaps 來講述他們的品牌故事。因此，將一些老幫派帶回公司也很令人興奮，因為我們已經能夠與東海岸的 MSO 和品牌建立一些關係，這對我們來說有點難以捉摸。

So what we're really doing now is focusing on the marketplace, our data and our search. We're really developing our content, which we think will help in all markets. Weedmaps really used to really be the source of truth for the industry. And through our data integrations and bringing kind of the pros back around, that's really our goal is to be the thought leader. And we hope that, that drives from state to state as we help folks learn how to search for cannabis, how to consume cannabis the right way.

所以我們現在真正在做的是專注於市場、我們的數據和我們的搜索。我們真的在開發我們的內容，我們認為這將有助於所有市場。 Weedmaps 確實曾經是該行業的真實來源。通過我們的數據集成和讓專業人士回歸，我們的目標確實是成為思想領袖。我們希望，當我們幫助人們學習如何尋找大麻、如何以正確的方式消費大麻時，這會在各州之間產生影響。

But the main takeaway that I've gotten from most folks is that it's tough. And since we have full knowledge of the supply chain, we were already giving counsel and advice kind of beyond technology. So the main takeaway, again, is just the support that's needed.

但我從大多數人那裡得到的主要收穫是這很難。由於我們對供應鏈有全面的了解，我們已經在提供超出技術範圍的建議和建議。因此，主要的收穫是需要的支持。

Yes. And on the second question you had, you're right. We did have bad debt expense again in the quarter. It was about just over $2 million. We did call out in our November call that we expected bad debt to remain elevated in Q4 and to start normalizing over the course of 2023. Listen, it's still touch and go, as I mentioned before, in those 3 states. And with end market declines trending the way they are, we continue to be very kind of vigilant around not only collections and our gross AR growth but how our AR is moving through various aging buckets.

是的。關於你的第二個問題，你是對的。本季度我們確實再次出現壞賬費用。它大約剛剛超過 200 萬美元。我們在 11 月的電話會議中確實呼籲，我們預計壞賬將在第四季度保持高位，並在 2023 年開始正常化。聽著，正如我之前提到的，這 3 個州的情況仍然不穩定。隨著終端市場的下滑趨勢，我們不僅對收藏品和我們的總 AR 增長保持高度警惕，而且對我們的 AR 如何通過各種老化桶保持警惕。

We've done a lot -- we continue to do a lot operationally to control, like I said, what we can control. One of the big moves that we made starting the year was to put the accountability of our collections back into the hands of a lot of our account teams because they're quite successful in terms of managing that client relationship. And so we're seeing some good results stemming out of that.

我們已經做了很多——我們繼續在運營上做很多事情來控制，就像我說的，我們可以控制什麼。我們從今年開始採取的一項重大舉措是將我們的收款責任交還給我們的許多客戶團隊，因為他們在管理客戶關係方面非常成功。因此，我們看到了由此產生的一些好的結果。

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

今天節目的問答環節到此結束。我想將該程序交還給管理層，以徵求進一步意見。

Thanks, everyone, for joining the call today.

謝謝大家今天加入電話會議。

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，感謝你們參加今天的會議。這確實結束了程序。您現在可以斷開連接。再會。