Medpace Holdings Inc (MEDP) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Medpace Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions). As a reminder, this call may be recorded.

女士們、先生們，美好的一天，歡迎參加 Medpace 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）。謹此提醒，此通話可能會被錄音。

I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference call, Lauren Morris, Medpace's Director of Investor Relations. You may begin.

現在我想介紹今天電話會議的主持人，Medpace 投資者關係總監 Lauren Morris。你可以開始了。

Good morning, and thank you for joining Medpace's Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Also on the call today is our CEO, August Troendle; our President, Jesse Geiger; and our CFO, Kevin Brady. .

早安，感謝您參加 Medpace 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。今天參加電話會議的還有我們的執行長 August Troendle；我們的總裁傑西·蓋革；和我們的財務長凱文·布雷迪。 。

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that our remarks and responses to your questions during this teleconference may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve inherent assumptions with known and unknown risks and uncertainties as well as other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations.

在開始之前，我想提醒您，我們在本次電話會議期間的言論和對您問題的答复可能包括1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述涉及已知和未知風險的固有假設不確定性以及其他可能導致實際結果與我們目前預期有重大差異的重要因素。

These factors are discussed in our Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC. Please note that we assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements even if estimates change. Accordingly, you should not rely on any of today's forward-looking statements as representing our views as of any date after today.

這些因素在我們向 SEC 提交的 10-K 表格和其他文件中進行了討論。請注意，即使估計發生變化，我們也不承擔更新前瞻性聲明的義務。因此，您不應依賴今天的任何前瞻性陳述來代表我們在今天之後的任何日期的觀點。

During this call, we will also be referring to certain non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP measures are not superior to or a replacement for the comparable GAAP measures, but we believe these measures help investors gain a more complete understanding of results. A reconciliation of such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is available in the earnings press release and earnings call presentation slides provided in connection with today's call. The slides are available in the Investor Relations section of our website at investor.medpace.com.

在本次電話會議中，我們也將提及某些非公認會計準則財務指標。這些非公認會計準則衡量標準並不優於或取代可比較的公認會計準則衡量標準，但我們相信這些衡量標準有助於投資者更全面地了解結果。此類非公認會計原則財務指標與最直接可比較的公認會計原則指標的調節可在與今天電話會議相關的收益新聞稿和收益電話會議簡報幻燈片中找到。這些投影片可在我們網站 Investor.medpace.com 的投資者關係部分取得。

With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Jesse Geiger.

現在，我想將電話轉給傑西·蓋革。

Thank you, Lauren. Good morning, everyone. Revenue in the third quarter of 2023 was $492.5 million, which represented a year-over-year increase of 28.3%. Net new business awards entering backlog in the third quarter increased 29.9% from the prior year to $611.5 million, resulting in a 1.24x net book-to-bill.

謝謝你，勞倫。大家，早安。 2023年第三季營收為4.925億美元，年增28.3%。第三季積壓的新業務淨額較上年同期成長 29.9%，達到 6.115 億美元，淨訂單出貨比成長 1.24 倍。

Ending backlog as of September 30, 2023, was approximately $2.7 billion, an increase of 20.3% from the prior year. We project that approximately $1.46 billion of backlog will convert to revenue in the next 12 months. And our backlog conversion in the third quarter was 19.1% of beginning backlog.

截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日，積壓訂單約為 27 億美元，比上年增長 20.3%。我們預計，約 14.6 億美元的積壓訂單將在未來 12 個月內轉化為收入。第三季我們的積壓訂單轉換率為期初積壓訂單的 19.1%。

Now with that, I will turn the call over to Kevin to review our financial performance in more detail as well as our guidance expectations for the balance of 2023 and our initial guidance for 2024.

現在，我將把電話轉給 Kevin，以更詳細地審查我們的財務業績以及我們對 2023 年剩餘時間的指導預期和我們對 2024 年的初步指導。

Thank you, Jesse, and good morning to everyone listening in. As Jesse mentioned, revenue was $492.5 million in the third quarter of 2023. This represented a year-over-year increase of 28.3% on a reported basis and 27.6% on a constant currency basis.

謝謝傑西，各位聽眾早安。正如傑西提到的，2023 年第三季的收入為 4.925 億美元。報告數據同比增長 28.3%，恆定增長 27.6%貨幣基礎。

Revenue for the 9 months ended September 30, 2023, was $1.39 billion and increased 30.2% on a reported basis and 30% on a constant currency basis from the comparable prior year period. EBITDA of $90.2 million increased 1% compared to $89.3 million in the third quarter of 2022. Year-to-date EBITDA was $266.7 million and increased 17.1% from the comparable prior year period.

截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日的 9 個月營收為 13.9 億美元，較上年同期成長 30.2%，以固定匯率計算成長 30%。 EBITDA 為 9,020 萬美元，比 2022 年第三季的 8,930 萬美元成長 1%。年初至今 EBITDA 為 2.667 億美元，比上年同期成長 17.1%。

EBITDA margin for the third quarter was 18.3% compared to 23.3% in the prior year period. Year-to-date EBITDA margin was 19.2% compared to 21.4%. EBITDA margin compared to the prior year period was impacted by higher reimbursable costs, personnel costs and the foreign exchange benefit in 2022 behind the strong U.S. dollar.

第三季 EBITDA 利潤率為 18.3%，去年同期為 23.3%。年初至今的 EBITDA 利潤率為 19.2%，而去年同期為 21.4%。與去年同期相比，EBITDA 利潤率受到可償還成本、人員成本上升以及 2022 年美元走強背後的外匯收益的影響。

In the third quarter of 2023, net income of $70.6 million increased 6.9% compared to net income of $66 million in the prior year period. Net income growth ahead of EBITDA growth was primarily driven by a lower effective tax rate of 15.2% compared to 19.4% in the prior year period as well as lower interest expense. Net income per diluted share for the quarter was $2.22 compared to $2.05 in the prior year period.

2023 年第三季度，淨利潤為 7,060 萬美元，較上年同期的淨利 6,600 萬美元增長 6.9%。淨利潤成長領先 EBITDA 成長，主要是由於有效稅率從去年同期的 19.4% 降低至 15.2%，以及利息支出降低。本季攤薄後每股淨利為 2.22 美元，去年同期為 2.05 美元。

Regarding customer concentration, our top 5 and top 10 customers represent roughly 23% and 29%, respectively, of our year-to-date total revenue. In the third quarter, we generated $114.4 million in cash flow from operating activities, and our net days sales outstanding was negative 42.2 days. During the quarter, we paid off our outstanding debt, and we have $95.2 million in cash as of September 30, 2023.

就客戶集中度而言，我們的前 5 名和前 10 名客戶分別約占我們年初至今總收入的 23% 和 29%。第三季度，我們的營運活動產生了 1.144 億美元的現金流，淨銷售天數為負 42.2 天。本季度，我們還清了未償債務，截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日，我們擁有 9,520 萬美元現金。

Moving now to our updated guidance for 2023. Full year 2023 total revenue is now expected in the range of $1.87 billion to $1.89 billion, representing growth of 28.1% to 29.5% over 2022 total revenue of $1.46 billion. Our 2023 EBITDA is now expected in the range of $353 million to $361 million, representing growth of 14.6% and to 17.2% compared to EBITDA of $308.1 million in 2022.

現在轉向我們更新的 2023 年指引。目前預計 2023 年全年總收入在 18.7 億美元至 18.9 億美元之間，比 2022 年 14.6 億美元的總收入增長 28.1% 至 29.5%。目前，我們 2023 年的 EBITDA 預計在 3.53 億至 3.61 億美元之間，與 2022 年 3.081 億美元的 EBITDA 相比，分別成長 14.6% 和 17.2%。

Guidance is based on foreign exchange rates as of September 30, 2023. We forecast 2023 net income in the range of $272 million to $276 million. This guidance assumes a full year 2023 effective tax rate of 16.25% to 17.25%, and 31.8 million diluted weighted average shares outstanding for 2023.

指引基於截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日的外匯匯率。我們預測 2023 年淨利潤在 2.72 億美元至 2.76 億美元之間。該指引假設 2023 年全年有效稅率為 16.25% 至 17.25%，2023 年稀釋加權平均流通股數為 3,180 萬股。

There are no additional share repurchases in our guidance. Earnings per diluted share is now expected to be in the range of $8.54 to $8.66. As Jesse mentioned, we are providing initial 2024 guidance for revenue and EBITDA. For the full year 2024, we expect revenue in the range of $2.15 billion to $2.2 billion, and EBITDA to be in the range of $390 million to $415 million.

我們的指導中沒有額外的股票回購。目前預計稀釋後每股收益在 8.54 美元至 8.66 美元之間。正如傑西所提到的，我們正在提供 2024 年收入和 EBITDA 的初步指導。 2024 年全年，我們預計營收在 21.5 億美元至 22 億美元之間，EBITDA 在 3.9 億美元至 4.15 億美元之間。

In addition to continued growth in direct service activities, the revenue guidance anticipates investigator site activity and costs remain elevated, similar to what we have seen recently in 2023. We plan to provide additional detailed full year 2024 guidance on our fourth quarter earnings call in February.

除了直接服務活動的持續成長之外，收入指引預計調查員現場活動和成本仍將保持較高水平，與我們最近在2023 年看到的情況類似。我們計劃在2 月份的第四季度財報電話會議上提供更多詳細的2024 年全年指引。

With that, I will turn the call back over to the operator so we can take your questions.

這樣，我會將電話轉回給接線員，以便我們回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question will come from Max Smock of William Blair. (Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自 William Blair 的 Max Smock。 （操作員說明）

Mr. Smock of William Blair, are you able to hear me?

威廉布萊爾的斯莫克先生，你聽得到我說話嗎？

Operator, we can move on to the next and get Max back in the queue.

接線員，我們可以繼續下一步，讓 Max 回到隊列。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question will come from David Windley of Jefferies.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題將來自 Jefferies 的 David Windley。

I wondered if you could comment a little bit on environment. The kind of the rate of biotech restructuring announcements and things of that sort has attenuated maybe ever so slightly in 2023, your -- everybody, I think, is aware that your exposure to that part of the customer base is pretty high.

我想知道您是否可以對環境發表一些評論。生技重組公告和類似事情的發生率在 2023 年可能會略有減弱，我想，每個人都知道，您對這部分客戶群的曝險相當高。

So I wondered if you could comment on that maybe qualitatively. And then quantitatively, are you seeing more activity at the beginning of the funnel. Are you seeing your win rates improve? Like from a metric standpoint, what would you attribute to your booking success?

所以我想知道你是否可以對此進行定性評論。然後從數量上看，您是否在漏斗開始時看到了更多活動。您發現您的勝率有提升嗎？從指標的角度來看，您將預訂成功歸因於什麼？

Sure. Sure, Dave. Yes, the environment is kind of hard to comment on because it's pretty variable. I mean, we're still seeing quite a bit of funding challenges by clients. And we've been through a period of a lot of clients in distress and a number of bankruptcies and challenges.

當然。當然，戴夫。是的，環境很難評論，因為它變化很大。我的意思是，我們仍然看到客戶面臨相當多的資金挑戰。我們經歷了一段時期，許多客戶陷入困境，也經歷過一些破產和挑戰。

I think that's actually derisked our backlog quite a bit of those that are going to have a problem, I think, most of them have. And on the other side, we're seeing very strong business environment. Just surprisingly to see the disparity is amazing. We have a very strong RFP flow. I think our RFPs -- the total RFPs pending is the second highest we've ever had. And to fill the pipeline, the new awards, initial awards, as we've talked about, that were awarded in Q3 were a record highest we've ever had. So we're seeing great business environment and a horrible business environment. So I don't know. It's just kind of schizophrenic.

我認為這實際上降低了我們的積壓風險，其中大部分都會出現問題，我認為大多數都有。另一方面，我們看到非常強勁的商業環境。只是令人驚訝地看到這種差異是驚人的。我們有非常強大的 RFP 流程。我認為我們的 RFP——待處理的 RFP 總數是我們有史以來第二高的。為了填補這個管道，正如我們所討論的，第三季頒發的新獎項和初始獎項是我們有史以來最高的。所以我們看到了良好的商業環境和糟糕的商業環境。所以我不知道。這有點像精神分裂。

Yes. Interesting. So it would suggest that you're able -- I mean, that you're taking share, you must be able to find enough of the positive ones to offset the absence of clients that are being hit by the financial concerns. Any color that you could provide around sales strategy or investment in sales force more recently. I know you did that years ago, but has there been further investment to try to cultivate more opportunity?

是的。有趣的。因此，這表明您能夠——我的意思是，您正在分享份額，您必須能夠找到足夠的積極因素來抵消因財務問題而導致客戶缺席的情況。您最近可以圍繞銷售策略或銷售隊伍投資提供的任何顏色。我知道您幾年前就這樣做了，但是是否有進一步的投資來嘗試培養更多機會？

No, I wouldn't say investment in terms of expanding the size and breadth of the group. I think we're in pretty good shape there. I think we're much better able to address the challenges this time because I think we were scaled. And there has been quite a bit of shifting focus to funding capabilities on the clients' part.

不，我不會說投資是為了擴大集團的規模和廣度。我認為我們在那裡的狀況非常好。我認為這次我們能夠更好地應對挑戰，因為我認為我們的規模已經擴大了。而且人們的注意力已經相當多地轉移到了客戶的融資能力上。

So we have moved somewhat different subset of small biotech that has funded programs. But that's really it. It's just kind of been a pivot on that side and found lots of opportunities despite the environment.

因此，我們已經轉移了資助計畫的小型生物技術的不同子集。但確實如此。儘管環境如此，這只是這方面的一個支點，並發現了許多機會。

Okay. Last question for me. The pass-through -- the elevated pass-throughs have maybe persisted to a greater degree than you expected. Can you talk to that a little bit? Has the composition of work changed? Is it more client -- I guess I'm wondering, is it a therapeutic area thing where the work that you're doing just naturally has more pass-through associated with it. Is it an inflationary environment at the site level where those activities are just costing more? Or are you being asked to do that more? I'm just trying to understand why the significantly elevated pass-through growth and your expectations for that to continue?

好的。對我來說最後一個問題。傳遞－升高的傳遞可能持續的程度比你預期的要大。你能談談這個嗎？工作構成有改變嗎？是不是更多的客戶——我想我想知道，這是一個治療領域的事情，你所做的工作自然會有更多與之相關的傳遞。現場是否存在通貨膨脹環境，導致這些活動的成本更高？或者你被要求做更多的事情嗎？我只是想了解為什麼傳遞成長顯著提高以及您對這種成長持續下去的期望？

I think it's kind of combination of all of the above. There's been quite a bit of inflationary changes, particularly in some therapeutic areas and part of that is competition and all the rest of it. And so I think investigator fees have gone up as a percent of budgets and higher percent than our costs.

我認為這是上述所有內容的結合。通貨膨脹發生了相當大的變化，特別是在某些治療領域，其中一部分是競爭以及其他所有方面。因此，我認為調查員費用佔預算的百分比有所上升，並且高於我們的成本。

And there's obviously the mix of Phase IIIs and large studies and particularly maybe more expensive patient populations have been a factor too. But I think it's really a combination of therapeutic area, the type of study, the cost of the patient and inflationary factors that are all driving up the pass-through, the prefunded investigator costs. I think that may, over time, lessen a little, but I think kind of the percent of investigator fees as a proportion of the total projects may remain elevated for quite a while.

顯然，III 期研究和大型研究的結合，特別是可能更昂貴的患者群體也是一個因素。但我認為這實際上是治療領域、研究類型、患者成本和通貨膨脹因素的結合，這些因素都推高了轉嫁、預先資助的研究者成本。我認為隨著時間的推移，這種情況可能會減少一點，但我認為調查員費用佔總項目總數的比例可能會在相當長一段時間內保持在較高水平。

Our next question will come from John Sourbeer of UBS.

我們的下一個問題將來自瑞銀集團的約翰·索爾比爾。

I guess just following up there a little bit on the beat in the quarter and just some of the disclosures, it seems like midsized biotech and metabolism are very strong. And I guess, also coupled with those large pass-throughs. Is the beat mostly driven by a couple of larger studies? Or are you seeing broad-based strength here currently?

我想只要稍微跟進一下本季度的情況以及一些披露的信息，中型生物技術和新陳代謝似乎就非常強勁。我想，還加上那些大的傳遞。這一趨勢主要是由幾項更大規模的研究所推動的嗎？或者您目前看到這裡有廣泛的實力嗎？

It's pretty broad-based. We don't have -- yes. Jesses, go ahead.

它的基礎相當廣泛。我們沒有——是的。傑西斯，繼續吧。

Yes, I'd just say it's broad, it's not concentrated in any one study and metabolic has been running pretty hot past couple of quarters, and it's continuing to contribute, but plenty of good contribution from other therapeutic areas as well in the quarter.

是的，我只是說它很廣泛，它並不集中在任何一項研究中，代謝在過去幾個季度中一直運行得相當熱，並且它仍在繼續做出貢獻，但本季度其他治療領域也做出了很多好的貢獻。

And funding was pretty good in 2Q, but rates are higher again. Any additional color you can provide on where you see the funding environment going maybe in the second half of this -- or I guess, the remainder of this year or into next year? And could there be any impact there on a lag basis?

第二季的資金狀況相當不錯，但利率再次走高。您可以提供任何其他資訊來說明您認為下半年融資環境的走向嗎？或者我猜是今年剩餘時間或明年？滯後的情況下會產生什麼影響嗎？

I'm sorry, the funding, and how that might play out going forward?

抱歉，資金問題，以及未來的進展如何？

Yes. Just what are your expectations around maybe for 4Q and then for next year?

是的。您對第四季和明年的期望是什麼？

Things look strong. As I said, we got record kind of levels of both RFP and awards. And we had a drop-off in award. So Q4, Q1, we had kind of very weak time period. And it was all a question of how quickly we could refill things compared to the food moving through the pipeline kind of thing -- I think things look pretty good. We won't see a drop off, and we're hoping that the business environment holds up and we'll have a very strong '24.

事情看起來很強大。正如我所說，我們獲得了創紀錄的 RFP 和獎勵等級。我們的獎項有所下降。所以第四季、第一季，我們經歷了非常疲軟的時期。問題在於，與透過管道輸送的食物相比，我們能夠多快地補充食物——我認為情況看起來相當不錯。我們不會看到下降，我們希望商業環境能夠持續下去，我們將有一個非常強勁的 24 年。

And last one here on my end. Just any additional color you can provide on the 2024 EBITDA margin guidance? And just remind us, even over the long term, I guess, what is the margin expansion opportunity there or a target level?

最後一個是我這邊。您可以對 2024 年 EBITDA 利潤率指引提供任何其他顏色嗎？請提醒我們，即使從長期來看，我想，利潤率擴張的機會或目標水準是多少？

Yes, John, this is Kevin. I don't expect -- I mean it's going to be somewhat contingent on what happens with the reimburse activities, right? Just given the impact that, that has on margin percentage. But if that levels off, and kind of remains elevated, consistent to where we were in the past couple of quarters here. I don't expect there to be a margin expansion. We still have some longwall pressure from wage and benefit ratio. So I don't see 2024 as being a huge margin expansion opportunity.

是的，約翰，這是凱文。我不期望——我的意思是這將在某種程度上取決於報銷活動的情況，對吧？考慮到這對保證金百分比的影響。但如果這種情況趨於平穩，並且仍然保持較高水平，則與我們過去幾季的情況一致。我預計利潤率不會擴大。我們仍然面臨著來自薪資和福利比率的一些長壁壓力。因此，我不認為 2024 年是一個巨大的利潤擴張機會。

And then, I guess, even beyond '24, any color on long-term targets?

然後，我想，即使在 24 年之後，長期目標有什麼顏色嗎？

I mean it's just down -- I mean, we've kind of said if things kind of normalize, it something in the high teens, but it remains to be exchange just in terms of what the environment and what hiring looks like too.

我的意思是，它只是下降了——我的意思是，我們已經說過，如果事情正常化，它會在十幾歲左右，但它仍然需要在環境和招聘方面進行交流。

Our next question will come from Eric Coldwell of Baird.

我們的下一個問題將來自貝爾德 (Baird) 的 Eric Coldwell。

Just a few quick ones here. On the wage inflation, my understanding was that it had peaked a few quarters ago and was still elevated, but starting to perhaps moderate a bit. Has that continued? Do I understand that correctly?

這裡只是一些快速的。關於薪資通膨，我的理解是，它已在幾個季度前達到頂峰，並且仍然處於較高水平，但可能開始放緩。一直這樣下去嗎？我的理解正確嗎？

Eric, that's right, kind of mid- to high single digit.

艾瑞克，沒錯，是中高個位數。

Do you -- Jesse, what do you see on the next 12 months stable at these levels, perhaps some continued moderation? Just any sense on what the outlook is?

傑西，您認為未來 12 個月會穩定在這些水平上，也許會繼續放緩？對前景有什麼了解嗎？

I think stable at these levels at this point, I don't see anything that would drive that higher or lower -- the markets from a hiring standpoint is more stable than it has been in the past. We've also had good success with lower turnover. So employee base is stable. We're continuing to grow, but wage pressures have moderated a little bit, and I would expect it to be fairly consistent.

我認為目前在這些水平上是穩定的，我沒有看到任何東西會推動這個水平更高或更低——從招聘的角度來看，市場比過去更加穩定。我們在人員流動率較低的情況下也取得了良好的成功。所以員工基礎是穩定的。我們正在繼續成長，但薪資壓力有所緩解，我預計它會相當穩定。

Okay. And then in terms of cancellation profile -- if I missed this, I apologize, but have you returned fully to normal levels, which I believe are somewhere in the 4% to 5% of backlog or what's going on with the cancellations, anything abnormal there?

好的。然後就取消情況而言——如果我錯過了這一點，我很抱歉，但是你們是否已完全恢復到正常水平，我相信這是積壓的 4% 到 5% 或取消中發生的情況，任何異常情況那裡？

Yes, normal level, pretty well back to normal, at least for the third quarter and towards the lower end of that range.

是的，正常水平，已經很好地恢復到正常水平，至少在第三季度是這樣，並且接近該範圍的下限。

Okay. And then hit rate, my understanding from our visit a month or 2 ago was that hit rate was back to solid but normal levels. Has that continued? And have you seen any change in rescue award activity. There was a lot of disruption in this sector over the last couple of years, and some of your peers had obviously, we're giving up some work. I'm just curious what the rescue activity looks like these days.

好的。然後是命中率，我從一兩個月前的訪問中了解到，命中率回到了穩定但正常的水平。一直這樣下去嗎？您是否看到救援獎勵活動有任何變化？在過去的幾年裡，這個領域發生了很多混亂，你的一些同行顯然已經放棄了一些工作。我只是好奇這些天的救援活動是什麼樣子的。

No particular rescue activity. It's -- it's been very little. And yes, it's been pretty mild.

沒有特別的救援活動。這是——已經很少了。是的，情況相當溫和。

Okay. Last one, and I hate to go there. It's unfortunate circumstance, but I am curious about your Middle East exposure, just in case the situation that's unfolding continues to escalate, what kind of concentrations or exposures might you have in the Middle Eastern region?

好的。最後一個，我討厭去那裡。這是不幸的情況，但我很好奇你們在中東的風險敞口，萬一當前局勢繼續升級，你們在中東地區可能會有什麼樣的集中度或風險敞口？

Yes. Thanks for asking, Eric. All of our Israeli employees are safe and accounted for people working remotely at this point. Our concentration there, it's less than 1% of our total headcount and less than 1% of active sites, but activity is continuing, and we're keeping a close eye on it.

是的。謝謝你的提問，艾瑞克。目前，我們所有的以色列員工都是安全的，並且對遠距工作的人員進行了統計。我們的注意力集中在那裡，不到我們總人數的 1%，不到活動地點的 1%，但活動仍在繼續，我們正在密切關注。

Congrats on the good performance.

恭喜您的良好表現。

Our next question will come from Jack Wallace of Guggenheim Partners.

我們的下一個問題將來自古根漢合夥人公司的傑克華萊士。

Congrats on the quarter. A couple of questions here. One around headcount. It looks like we're trending to the mid- to high teens growth rate this year. And given the strength of the RFP awards in the pipeline, you mentioned earlier, maybe this -- the right level of headcount growth over the next year or so? Or maybe said a different way, are we on plan with hiring now? Or is there any catch-up that's needed?

恭喜本季。這裡有幾個問題。大約人數一。看起來今年青少年成長率呈現中高水準。考慮到您之前提到的正在醞釀中的 RFP 獎項的實力，也許這——未來一年左右的員工人數增長水平是否合適？或者換句話說，我們現在有招募計畫嗎？或是有什麼需要補充的嗎？

Yes. Thanks, Jack. Yes, we would expect headcount here for the balance of the year to remain in that mid- to high teens level. And then for 2024, we anticipate headcount growing in line with revenue? .

是的。謝謝，傑克。是的，我們預計今年剩餘時間的員工人數將保持在中高水準。那麼到 2024 年，我們預期員工人數會隨著收入的成長而成長嗎？ 。

Got you. That's helpful. And then just thinking about the comments. One hand, there's maybe some of the less promising lead targets and lesser funded companies have kind of sorted themselves out. But it does sound like promising lead candidates are getting funded, and there's a good amount of jump balls for you to go after. Have you -- I mean had to have any changes in your selectivity of trials. And if so, has that played any role in your hiring plan, and just thinking about how much hiring ahead is taking place.

明白你了。這很有幫助。然後只是思考評論。一方面，可能有一些不太有前途的領先目標和資金較少的公司已經解決了自己的問題。但這聽起來確實像是有前途的主要候選人正在獲得資助，並且有大量的跳球可供您追求。我的意思是你是否必須對試驗的選擇性做出任何改變。如果是這樣，這在您的招募計劃中發揮了任何作用嗎？只需考慮一下未來的招募量。

Yes. I mean we continue to be selective always in terms of targets and opportunities, but its impact on hiring plans, not too much of an impact. I think we're well positioned for current work. We're well positioned with our hiring plans for upcoming work. .

是的。我的意思是，我們在目標和機會方面始終保持選擇性，但它對招募計畫的影響並沒有太大影響。我認為我們已經為目前的工作做好了準備。我們已經為即將到來的工作做好了招募計畫。 。

And we've had really good retention and that's really helped us as well in terms of the capacity that we have for trials. We've had good employee retention, and that's always easier than hiring and onboarding new people.

我們的保留率非常高，這對我們的試驗能力也有很大幫助。我們擁有良好的員工留任率，這總是比僱用和入職新員工更容易。

Yes, (inaudible) running the business. And then just kind of lastly or just more of a housekeeping item. It looks like your customers 6 to 10 were down sequentially from a revenue standpoint. I was wondering if there's any just trial roll-offs in there or kind of any kind of noise factors. So just looking historically, yes, at the top 10 and really the 6 to 10 category looks like there's has been some trading between, say, the top 5. It didn't look like there's a graduate this year. So just wondering if there's any kind of timing nuances or anything going on there?

是的，（聽不清楚）經營業務。最後，或者只是更多的家務用品。從收入的角度來看，您的客戶數量似乎連續下降了 6 到 10 個。我想知道其中是否有任何試滾或任何類型的噪音因素。因此，從歷史上看，是的，在前 10 名，實際上第 6 名到第 10 名類別之間似乎存在一些交易，比如說前 5 名。今年看起來沒有畢業生。所以只是想知道是否有任何時間上的細微差別或發生了什麼？

Yes. I don't think there's anything maybe we shouldn't provide the detail. I don't know. It's like you can't -- it's a different subset of companies every time. You're comparing apples to oranges. I guess you're looking at a 9 months '22 versus the 9 months '23.

是的。我認為我們不應該提供任何細節。我不知道。好像你不能——每次都是不同的公司子集。您正在將蘋果與橙子進行比較。我猜你看到的是 22 年 9 個月和 23 年 9 個月。

I mean if you look at it quarter-by-quarter, what revenue is coming from our 6 to -- clients 6 to 10, it's increased sequentially every quarter over the past year. I really don't -- it's -- companies move in and out and up and down and it's by the quarter and you're looking at a 3 months, you're looking at a 3-quarter trailing and it's -- I just -- I don't think there's anything there that's meaningful or represents any large roll off or anything like that.

我的意思是，如果你按季度查看，我們的 6 到 6 到 10 個客戶的收入是多少，在過去一年中每個季度都在連續增長。我真的不——公司進出、上下變動，這是按季度計算的，你會看到 3 個月，你會看到 3 個季度的尾隨，這是——我只是——我不認為那裡有任何有意義的東西或代表任何大的下滑或類似的東西。

Congrats again on the quarter.

再次恭喜本季。

(Operator Instructions) And again, we have on the line, Max Smock of William Blair.

（操作員說明）我們再次接通了威廉布萊爾 (William Blair) 的馬克斯史莫克 (Max Smock)。

It's Christine Rains on for Max Smock. So I was wondering now that you've paid off your debt, how should we think about capital allocation moving forward? And then also relatedly, how much interest income could you earn next year?

克里斯汀雷恩斯 (Christine Rains) 飾演馬克斯史莫克 (Max Smock)。所以我想知道，既然你已經還清了債務，我們該如何考慮未來的資本配置？還有相關的，明年你能賺多少利息收入？

Yes. The capital allocation -- or kind of our methodology, Christine will remain the same, continued investment in the organic growth of the business. In 2024 and the next couple of years, we will have some increased capital expenditures related to the expansion of our headquarters here in Cincinnati. But beyond that, we'll opportunistically look for share repurchases to the extent that we're not able to execute that at the levels that we want, we're okay building some cash. .

是的。資本配置—或者說我們的方法論，克里斯汀將保持不變，繼續投資於業務的有機成長。 2024 年和未來幾年，我們將因擴大辛辛那提總部而增加一些資本支出。但除此之外，我們將機會主義地尋求股票回購，如果我們無法按照我們想要的水平執行股票回購，我們可以累積一些現金。 。

And to your question on kind of interest and how to think about that, I think the simplest way is to kind of think of it at current rates, a blended rate of kind of 4.5% or so is a reasonable assumption to build into your model.

對於你關於利息類型以及如何思考這個問題的問題，我認為最簡單的方法是按照當前利率來考慮，4.5％左右的混合利率是構建到你的模型中的合理假設。

Great. And then not to dig too deep in the details, but it seems like you had a relative jump in your metabolic exposure. It sounds like it wasn't just 1 larger study. So hoping you can give any color there.

偉大的。然後不要太深入地研究細節，但似乎你的代謝暴露水平相對跳躍。聽起來這不僅僅是一項更大的研究。所以希望你能在那裡給出任何顏色。

Yes, Christine, a couple of studies in the category have been burning really well. It's nothing to call out there other than this year. We've had good success in the space over the past couple of quarters, and that's continuing.

是的，克里斯汀，該類別中的幾項研究進展非常順利。除了今年之外，沒有什麼值得稱讚的。過去幾個季度我們在該領域取得了良好的成功，並且這種情況仍在繼續。

This will end the Q&A portion of today's conference. I would now like to turn the conference back to Lauren Morris for closing remarks.

今天會議的問答部分到此結束。現在我想請勞倫莫里斯（Lauren Morris）致閉幕詞。

Thank you for joining us on today's call and for your interest in Medpace. We look forward to speaking with you again on our fourth quarter 2023 earnings call. .

感謝您參加今天的電話會議以及對 Medpace 的興趣。我們期待在 2023 年第四季財報電話會議上再次與您交談。 。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for participating. You may now disconnect, and have a pleasant day.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的參與。您現在可以斷開連接，並度過愉快的一天。