Medpace Holdings, Inc. (MEDP) 2026 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Medpace second-quarter 2026 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this call is being recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference call, David Ruhe, Medpace's Director of Investor Relations. You may begin.

各位女士、各位先生，大家好，歡迎參加 Medpace 2026 年第二季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 提醒各位，本次通話將被錄音。現在我想介紹今天電話會議的主持人，Medpace 投資人關係總監 David Ruhe。您可以開始了。

Good morning, and thank you for joining Medpace's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Also on the call today is our CEO, August Troendle; and our CFO, Kevin Brady. 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.

各位早安，感謝各位參加 Medpace 2026 年第二季財報電話會議。今天同時在線的還有我們的執行長 August Troendle，以及財務長 Kevin Brady。在開始之前，我想提醒各位，我們在本次電話會議中的發言以及對各位提問的回應，可能包含《1995 年私人證券訴訟改革法》所界定的前瞻性陳述。

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. These factors are discussed in our Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC.

這些陳述涉及內在假設，並伴隨已知與未知的風險與不確定性，以及其他重要因素，可能導致實際結果與我們目前的預期存在重大差異。這些因素已在我們的 Form 10-K 及其他向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的文件中討論。

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.

請注意，即使估計值有所變動，我們亦不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。因此，您不應依賴今天的任何前瞻性陳述，將其視為我們在今日之後任何日期的觀點。

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.

在本次通話中，我們也會提及若干非 GAAP 財務衡量指標。這些非 GAAP 指標並不優於或取代可比較的 GAAP 指標，但我們相信這些指標有助於投資人更完整地理解營運結果。

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.

上述非 GAAP 財務衡量指標與最直接可比較之 GAAP 指標的調節表，已載於本次電話會議相關的財報新聞稿與財報電話會議簡報投影片中。投影片可於我們網站 investor.medpace.com 的投資人關係（Investor Relations）專區取得。

With that, I would now like to turn the call over to August Troendle.

接下來，我想把電話交給 August Troendle。

Good day, everyone. The business environment was strong in Q2 2026. Cancellations were well behaved and supported a record quarter for net bookings. RFP’s were up sequentially and year-over-year, generating high-quality opportunities. Initial award notifications remained solid, although they declined sequentially from a very strong Q1.

各位好。2026 年第二季的商業環境強勁。取消案表現穩定，支撐淨接單創下單季新高。RFP（提案徵求）較前一季及去年同期皆增加，帶來高品質的商機。初步得標通知仍然穩健，儘管較非常強勁的第一季呈現季減。

Overall, the environment remains constructive into July, and we are making good progress in positioning the business for 2027. Kevin will now review our financial results from Q2.

整體而言，進入 7 月後環境仍具建設性，我們也在為 2027 年的業務布局取得良好進展。接下來 Kevin 將回顧我們第二季的財務結果。

Thank you, and good morning to everyone listening in. Revenue was $707.3 million in the second quarter of 2026. This represented a year-over-year increase of 17.2%. Revenue for the six months ended June 30, 2026, was $1.41 billion and increased 21.7%. EBITDA of $153.4 million increased 17.6% compared to $130.5 million in the second quarter of 2025.

謝謝，各位收聽的朋友早安。2026 年第二季營收為 7.073 億美元。較去年同期成長 17.2%。截至 2026 年 6 月 30 日止的前六個月營收為 14.1 億美元，成長 21.7%。EBITDA 為 1.534 億美元，較 2025 年第二季的 1.305 億美元成長 17.6%。

Year-to-date EBITDA was $302.8 million and increased 21.5% from the comparable prior-year period. EBITDA margin for the second quarter was 21.7% compared to 21.6% in the prior-year period. Year-to-date EBITDA margin of 21.4% was flat compared to the prior-year period as the impact of higher reimbursable costs was offset primarily by lower employee-related costs.

年初至今 EBITDA 為 3.028 億美元，較去年同期成長 21.5%。第二季 EBITDA 利潤率為 21.7%，去年同期為 21.6%。年初至今 EBITDA 利潤率 21.4%，與去年同期持平；較高的可報銷成本影響，主要被較低的員工相關成本所抵銷。

In the second quarter of 2026, net income of $121.4 million increased 34.5% compared to net income of $90.3 million in the second quarter of 2025. Net income growth above EBITDA growth was primarily driven by a lower effective tax rate and higher interest income compared to the prior-year period.

2026 年第二季淨利為 1.214 億美元，較 2025 年第二季的 9,030 萬美元成長 34.5%。淨利成長高於 EBITDA 成長，主要由於有效稅率較低，以及利息收入較去年同期增加。

Year-to-date net income was $245.2 million compared to $204.9 million in the comparable prior-year period, which represents a 19.7% increase. Net income per diluted share for the quarter was $4.25 compared to $3.10 in the prior-year period. Year-to-date net income per diluted share was $8.53 compared to net income per diluted share of $6.79 in the comparable prior-year period.

年初至今淨利為 2.452 億美元，去年同期為 2.049 億美元，成長 19.7%。本季稀釋後每股淨利為 4.25 美元，去年同期為 3.10 美元。年初至今稀釋後每股淨利為 8.53 美元，去年同期稀釋後每股淨利為 6.79 美元。

Net new business awards entering backlog in the second quarter increased 28.2% from the prior-year to $795.7 million, resulting in a 1.13 net book-to-bill. Ending backlog as of June 30, 2026, was approximately $3 billion, an increase of 4.9% from the prior year. We project that approximately $1.96 billion of backlog will convert to revenue in the next 12 months.

第二季新增業務得標（納入在手訂單）金額為 7.957 億美元，較去年同期增加 28.2%，對應淨接單/營收比（net book-to-bill）為 1.13。截至 2026 年 6 月 30 日止，在手訂單約為 30 億美元，較去年同期增加 4.9%。我們預估未來 12 個月約有 19.6 億美元的在手訂單將轉為營收。

Backlog conversion in the second quarter was 24.1% of beginning backlog. Regarding customer concentration, our top 5 and top 10 customers represent roughly 31% and 40%, respectively, of our last 12 months revenue. In the second quarter, we generated $162 million in cash flow from operating activities, and our net days sales outstanding was negative 59.6 days.

第二季在手訂單轉換率為期初在手訂單的 24.1%。就客戶集中度而言，我們前五大與前十大客戶分別約占過去 12 個月營收的 31% 與 40%。第二季我們由營運活動產生的現金流為 1.62 億美元，淨應收帳款週轉天數（DSO）為負 59.6 天。

During the second quarter, we repurchased approximately 706,000 shares for $294.7 million. As of June 30, 2026, we had $527 million remaining under our share repurchase authorization program. Cash ended the quarter at $502.7 million. Moving now to our updated guidance for 2026.

第二季期間，我們以 2.947 億美元回購約 70.6 萬股。截至 2026 年 6 月 30 日，我們在股票回購授權計畫下尚餘 5.27 億美元可用額度。季末現金為 5.027 億美元。接下來說明我們更新後的 2026 年財測指引。

Full year 2026 total revenue is now expected in the range of $2.805 billion to $2.885 billion, representing growth of 10.9% to 14% over 2025 total revenue of $2.53 billion. Our 2026 EBITDA is now expected in the range of $618 million to $642 million, representing growth of 10.8% to 15.1% compared to EBITDA of $557.7 million in 2025.

2026 年全年總營收目前預期介於 28.05 億至 28.85 億美元，較 2025 年總營收 25.3 億美元成長 10.9% 至 14%。2026 年 EBITDA 目前預期介於 6.18 億至 6.42 億美元，較 2025 年 EBITDA 5.577 億美元成長 10.8% 至 15.1%。

We forecast 2026 net income in the range of $494 million to $514 million. This guidance assumes a full year 2026 effective tax rate of 19% to 19.5%, interest income of $21.1 million and (technical difficulty) no additional share repurchases assumed in our guidance. Earnings per diluted share is now expected to be in the range of $17.25 to $17.95. Guidance is based on foreign exchange rates as of June 30, 2026.

我們預估 2026 年淨利介於 4.94 億至 5.14 億美元。此指引假設 2026 年全年有效稅率為 19% 至 19.5%，利息收入為 2,110 萬美元，且（技術問題）在我們的指引中不假設額外的股票回購。稀釋後每股盈餘目前預期介於 17.25 至 17.95 美元。指引係以 2026 年 6 月 30 日的外匯匯率為基礎。

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

以上，我把電話交回接線員，讓我們開始回答各位的問題。

(Operator Instructions)

(接線員指示)

Charles Rhyee, TD Cowen.

Charles Rhyee，TD Cowen。

Yeah, thanks for taking the questions. I wanted to ask, obviously, a lot of the growth that we've seen over the last year or so has been really driven by metabolic mix. And at the same time, it looks like our concentration of top customers, particularly the top five has increased. Can you give us a sense on -- are the two related in such that maybe a lot of the metabolic work you're doing is coming from a couple of large clients?

好的，謝謝讓我提問。我想請教，顯然我們在過去一年左右看到的許多成長，確實是由代謝領域的組合（mix）所驅動。同時，看起來我們的主要客戶集中度，特別是前五大客戶，已經提高。能否請你們說明一下——這兩者是否相關，也就是說，你們所做的代謝相關工作，可能有相當一部分是來自少數幾個大型客戶？

And can you give us a sense on sort of what visibility you have of that going forward? And I guess the question is, does the mix within your bookings and backlog look similar to what your current revenue mix? Just trying to get a sense how long we could expect this kind of mix persist and particularly on the metabolic side? Or does that kind of roll off at some point? And maybe any sense on timing would that be?

另外，能否談談你們對未來在這方面的可見度大概如何？我想問的是，你們接單與在手訂單中的組合，是否看起來與目前的營收組合相近？我只是想了解，這種組合大概能持續多久，特別是在代謝領域這一塊？還是說在某個時間點會逐步回落？如果可以的話，也請提供一下大概的時間點。

Sure. This is August. The top five growth has been driven quite a bit by that, metabolically. So the answer to that is yes, there are some large programs among that top five that are a good part of that growth in the group. And as to timing of that, more recently, this year, the last couple of quarters, I think that oncology has come back quite a bit in terms of our -- both our award notifications, so the earliest part of kind of the pipeline for awards, and the backlog recognition, so our bookings. Particularly in this last quarter, we were very strong in oncology. Oncology represented over half of our overall bookings and our award notifications. So that's -- and metabolic -- cardiometabolic has kind of dropped off quite a bit in terms of new award notifications.

當然。現在是8月。前五大成長在代謝領域很大程度上受到那方面的帶動。所以答案是肯定的，在前五大之中確實有一些大型專案，對該群組的成長貢獻很大。至於時點方面，較近期來看，今年過去幾個季度，我認為腫瘤學已經明顯回升——不論是在我們的授標通知（也就是授標管線中最前端的部分），以及積壓訂單的確認（也就是我們的接單）。特別是在上一季，我們在腫瘤學方面非常強勁。腫瘤學占我們整體接單與授標通知的一半以上。因此——而代謝——心代謝在新的授標通知方面則明顯下滑。

So I think we are seeing kind of a shift back towards more historical averages. I don't know that we'll get back to where we were two years ago in terms of percent of -- but I think oncology will retake its position and move up a few percent in our mix, et cetera. I would expect over the next year or so that to kind of head back toward that kind of prior mix. So yes, the metabolic is kind of -- some of the very large programs are kind of reducing and sort of the new opportunities are not as great as a year ago.

所以我認為我們正在看到某種回到較符合歷史平均的轉變。我不確定在占比方面是否能回到兩年前的水準——但我認為腫瘤學會重新奪回其位置，並在我們的組合中提高幾個百分點等等。我預期在未來一年左右，會朝向先前那種組合回歸。所以是的，代謝方面——一些非常大型的專案正在縮減，而新的機會也不如一年前那麼多。

Great. And maybe just a follow-up then. Maybe, Kevin, just from a modeling perspective, then should we think back to maybe two years ago what the backlog conversion rate? And I would assume backlog conversion rate would just fall naturally because of the mix because the oncology trials are longer in duration.

了解。那我可能再追問一下。Kevin，從建模角度來看，我們是否應該回頭參考大概兩年前的積壓訂單轉換率？而我猜積壓訂單轉換率會因為組合而自然下降，因為腫瘤試驗的期間更長。

Yes. I mean, Charles, as you know, we don't guide to the burn rate. And so we've got to kind of see how those programs where we've been awarded the work from a notification standpoint, how those progress into awards the rest of this year. And we'll have more color on what 2027 will look like possibly next quarter, but certainly in the February call.

是的。我的意思是，Charles，如你所知，我們不對消化率（burn rate）提供指引。因此我們必須觀察那些從授標通知角度已經把工作授予我們的專案，如何在今年剩餘時間推進並轉成正式授標。我們可能在下個季度能對2027年的樣貌提供更多資訊，但肯定會在2月的電話會議上說得更清楚。

But I would challenge the very premise that the metabolic programs are driving the conversion rate up. I don't think that is necessarily the dynamic. It might have had an influence, but that is not the primary driver of the increased conversion rate. Remember, we do block backlog greater than three years. And in fact, the average duration of backlog across programs is much lower based upon interim analyses or steps that we limit backlog recognition until we get certainty around that.

但我會質疑一個前提：代謝專案正在推升轉換率。我不認為那必然是主要的動態。它可能有些影響，但並不是轉換率提高的主要驅動因素。請記得，我們會把超過三年的積壓訂單區塊化處理。事實上，基於期中分析或我們在確認積壓訂單前會限制到取得確定性為止等步驟，各專案的積壓訂單平均期間其實低得多。

And that is very prevalent among many of the non-metabolic programs that -- in oncology. So the fact that you think that metabolic has a faster burn rate, that can be true, but it's not overwhelmingly apparent. I don't think that's the biggest driver of the -- that that's going to cause a normalization of our conversion.

而這在許多非代謝專案——也就是腫瘤領域——非常常見。所以你認為代謝的消化速度更快，這可能成立，但並不特別明顯到壓倒性。我不認為那是最大的驅動因素——也不認為那會導致我們的轉換率正常化。

I'm sorry, can you just clarify then, August? Like what is the change that allows other -- but my understanding of duration was the way backlog converts is length of trials and where recognition happens, but you're saying that with interim analysis, even in, let's say, an oncology trial that --

抱歉，August，你能再釐清一下嗎？例如，什麼樣的變化使得其他——因為我對期間的理解是，積壓訂單如何轉換取決於試驗長度以及收入認列發生的位置；但你是說，透過期中分析，即使在例如腫瘤試驗中也會--

That’s right -- we might only have one year of backlog for that program. The program might be five years planned to go, but we only have one year of backlog in there because there is another stage looking at before they do the expansion before there's some increase in the program. And we won't put any of the backlog beyond that point until we get to it and there's a favorable decision.

沒錯——我們可能只會把該專案的一年納入積壓訂單。這個專案可能規劃要做五年，但我們只放一年進積壓訂單，因為在擴大之前還有另一個階段要先觀察，之後才可能增加專案規模。在我們走到那個節點並且得到有利決策之前，我們不會把超過那個點之後的任何積壓訂單放進去。

I see. Okay. That's really helpful. I appreciate the comments. Thank you.

我明白了。好的。這非常有幫助。感謝你的說明。謝謝。

Michael Cherny, Leerink Partners.

Michael Cherny，Leerink Partners。

Good morning and thank you for taking the questions. Very nice job on the bookings. As you think about the mix that you saw, anything to call out relative to the stability of the bookings in terms of pricing, in terms of competition? And what are you seeing in terms of any potential changes, adjustments, fierceness in competition relative to the overall market health with your core biotech customers?

早安，謝謝讓我提問。接單表現非常出色。當你回頭看你們看到的組合時，關於接單的穩定性——例如定價、競爭——有沒有什麼特別值得指出的？另外，就整體市場健康度而言，面對你們核心生技客戶，你們看到競爭強度是否有任何潛在變化、調整或加劇？

Yes. No, I don't think the market has changed other than it has gotten stronger over the last few quarters. We had a pretty strong -- and I would say pretty strong because I didn't want to say just unqualified strong business environment in the prior quarter because there was cancellations.

是的。不，我不認為市場有什麼變化，除了過去幾個季度變得更強。我們上一季的環境相當強——我之所以說「相當強」，是因為我不想用毫無保留的「強勁」來形容上一季，因為當時有取消案。

Still, we continue to see clients that are -- we're looking for funding or having problems, et cetera, and a high level of cancellations. This quarter, this very last quarter, Q2 cancellations came down quite a bit. The business environment continued to be strong. New opportunities look good.

不過，我們仍持續看到一些客戶——在尋找資金或遇到問題等等——以及較高水準的取消。這一季，也就是最近這一季，第二季的取消明顯下降。商業環境仍然強勁。新的機會看起來不錯。

And I don't really see competitive dynamics or anything like I said, the profile has moved more back towards oncology programs being the largest, in fact, the majority of opportunities as opposed to sort of metabolic drivers of a year or so ago. But otherwise, I think things are pretty stable.

而我也沒有真正看到競爭動態有什麼變化；如我所說，機會的輪廓已經更回到以腫瘤專案為最大宗——事實上是大多數機會——而不是像一年前左右那樣由代謝領域驅動。除此之外，我認為整體相當穩定。

And just quickly on the cancellation side. I know you don't guide to cancellations, but I know they can be volatile from quarter-to-quarter. But do you feel going forward like cancellations should be at least in a better place versus what seemingly could have been an outlier in one quarter, in 1Q?

再快速問一下取消案。我知道你們不對取消提供指引，而且取消可能在季度之間波動很大。但往前看，你是否覺得取消至少應該會比看起來像是第一季單季異常值的情況更好一些？

Cancellations are completely beyond my ability to even -- it's not like we have any of these past year have a situation where we had a very high-risk programs and we thought, oh, there could be high cancellations and sure enough, there were. We just have no idea. I mean there's not been that kind of insight into future cancellations. And I don't anticipate that there will be going forward. I mean cancellations just come up.

取消完全超出我甚至——這不像是我們在過去一年中有任何情況是：我們有一些高風險專案，然後我們想「喔，可能會有高取消」，結果果然發生。我們就是毫無頭緒。我的意思是，我們並沒有那種對未來取消的洞見。而我也不預期未來會有。取消就是會突然發生。

I would say, we are very careful about gating our backlog by having any sort of interim look or analysis or thing that might -- regulatory decision that might influence the remainder of the program, we won't put in backlog beyond that point.

我會說，我們在控管積壓訂單的納入門檻上非常謹慎：只要有任何期中檢視、分析或可能——例如監管決策——會影響專案後續部分的事項，我們就不會把超過那個節點之後的內容放進積壓訂單。

We'll wait for that to happen. And so the cancellations that we have are completely unanticipated and out of the blue sky. So I can't say that. But what I can say is that the business environment is good. Our pipeline of stuff, including in the kind of pre-backlog that have been awarded programs is very strong.

我們會等那件事發生之後再說。因此，我們遇到的取消完全是無法預期、突如其來的。所以我無法那樣說。但我能說的是，商業環境很好。我們的管線非常強勁，包括那種已授予專案、但仍屬於「準積壓訂單」（pre-backlog）的部分。

And I would anticipate that our gross bookings, which we do have reasonable insight into, are going to scale in the next second half are going to ramp up. And I think that independent of where cancellations are, that should be a scaling in our -- ramping up in our net bookings. But I say that if cancellations are in any kind of reasonable range, but there's always possible cancellations spike to an unusual level.

而我預期我們的總接單（gross bookings）——對此我們確實有合理的能見度——在接下來的下半年會擴大、會加速爬升。我認為不論取消如何，我們的淨接單（net bookings）都應該會擴大、加速。但我這麼說的前提是取消在任何合理區間內；不過也總是可能出現取消突然飆升到不尋常水準的情況。

Ann Hynes, Mizuho.

Ann Hynes，瑞穗。

Great, thank you. Can we -- I know your business, you do a little bit of Phase I, but Phase II and III, and there's been some increased investor concern that maybe Phase II is hitting a wall, maybe some things moving to China. I don't know if that's the case for you, just given your biotech mix. But maybe if you can just discuss gross bookings trends in Phase I versus phase -- I mean, I'm sorry, Phase II versus Phase III, that would be great. Thank you.

很好，謝謝。我們能不能——我知道你們的業務，第一期做一點，但主要是第二期和第三期；而且投資人最近有些擔憂，覺得第二期可能碰到瓶頸，或有些項目轉到中國。我不知道你們是否也是這樣，考量到你們的生技客戶組合。但如果你能談談第一期相對於——我是說，第二期相對於第三期——的總預訂（gross bookings）趨勢，那就太好了。謝謝。

Yes. I think if we look at kind of the numbers, maybe Phase I has increased some relative to Phase II. Phase III has been pretty stable. But -- and of course, that Phase I is driven largely by oncology programs. And so I don't know that, that's not just the kind of move towards very heavy oncology.

是的。我想如果我們看數字，大概第一期相對於第二期是有一些增加。第三期則相當穩定。不過——當然，第一期主要是由腫瘤學項目所帶動。所以我不知道——那不只是朝向非常重度腫瘤學的趨勢。

I haven't tried to analyze that too greatly in terms of where that's going. But I don't really see a shift of things to China greatly for at least the programs we're chasing. So I don't know that I see that dynamic, but I don't oppose it.

我沒有試著從它將走向哪裡的角度做太深入的分析。但至少就我們正在追的那些項目而言，我並沒有真的看到大量轉移到中國。所以我不確定我看到了那種動態，但我也不否認它。

Great. And I know the past couple of quarters, I believe you said gross bookings was good, but maybe a little bit below your expectations. Was this quarter -- was gross bookings actually in line or better than what you expected heading into the quarter?

很好。我知道過去幾個季度，你們好像說總預訂不錯，但可能略低於你們的預期。那這一季——這一季的總預訂實際上是符合、或優於你們在季初的預期嗎？

Yes. I mean that kind of is set up. Gross bookings are going to be determined by pre-book backlog cancellations from the past. We did have high cancellations, but we had an improving business environment. And as I said, that's what we've been saying the last few quarters -- last three quarters or so, the business environment is pretty good.

是的。我的意思是，這其實是既定的。總預訂會受到過去的預訂前（pre-book）在手訂單（backlog）取消所影響。我們確實有較高的取消量，但商業環境在改善。而且如我所說，這也是我們過去幾個季度——大概過去三個季度——一直在講的：商業環境相當不錯。

It looks actually, I would say, very good, except that we keep having cancellations, and that is part of the business environment. And it's -- and there has been still a number of clients that were challenged financially. So I don't know.

我會說看起來其實非常好，只是我們一直有取消，而那也是商業環境的一部分。而且——仍然有一些客戶在財務上面臨挑戰。所以我也不確定。

Jailendra Singh, Truist Securities.

Jailendra Singh，Truist Securities。

Thank you, and thanks for taking my questions, and congrats on a good quarter. Just want to go back to cancellation comment, August. I was wondering if you can put Q2 trends in some perspective. Is it fair to say that cancellations have improved back to levels seen in Q3 of last year or even better or worse, just to confirm that. And also to confirm, did cancellations improve in both backlog and pre-backlog?

謝謝，也謝謝回答我的問題，恭喜這一季表現不錯。我想回到你提到的取消，August。我想知道你能否把第二季的趨勢放在一些脈絡下說明。是否可以說取消已改善回到去年第三季的水準，甚至更好或更差，只是想確認一下。另外也想確認，取消是在在手訂單（backlog）和預訂前（pre-backlog）兩邊都有改善嗎？

Yes. So cancellations were actually in a pretty good range this quarter. In fact, if you look at the book -- net bookings, a bigger driver of the net bookings increase from last quarter was due to reduced cancellations rather than kind of gross bookings, okay? So you look at it that way. I think second half, we're going to see more just gross bookings ramping up quite a bit.

是的。所以本季的取消其實落在相當不錯的區間。事實上，如果你看淨預訂（net bookings），相較上一季淨預訂增加更大的驅動因素，是取消減少，而不是總預訂，好嗎？所以可以用這個角度來看。我認為下半年我們會看到更多的是總預訂明顯爬升。

So this quarter was helped along quite a bit by a substantial drop from what had been a kind of elevated cancellation rate. So it's come down nicely, not to unusually low level, but a very good level, let's say. And even in this quarter, cancellations in AIS were very well behaved also.

所以本季在很大程度上受惠於取消率從先前偏高的水準大幅下降。因此它下降得很好，不是降到異常低的水準，但可以說是非常好的水準。而且即使在本季，AIS 的取消也表現得很穩定。

So that also helps towards ramping in gross bookings going forward in the second half. So across the board, yes, cancellations were down. They were in a nice range and were more than half of the driver of, I would say, of the net bookings growth from the prior quarters, from Q1. Does that answer?

所以這也有助於下半年總預訂的爬升。所以整體而言，是的，取消下降了。它落在不錯的區間，而且我會說，與前幾季相比、相較第一季（Q1），淨預訂成長的驅動因素有一半以上來自取消下降。這樣有回答到嗎？

Yes, it helps. And then my follow-up. Last quarter, you did call out implementing initiatives to improve win rates. Can you provide any update on that? Have you started to see the impact of those initiatives?

有，這很有幫助。那我的追問是：上一季你們確實提到在推動一些措施來提升得標率（win rates）。你能否更新一下進展？你們是否已開始看到這些措施的影響？

And if any color you can provide around what are these initiatives related to? Is it commercial execution, positioning, quality? Just give us more color like if that's having an impact on your wins here.

另外，如果你能補充一些細節：這些措施大概是跟哪些方面有關？是商務執行、定位、品質？請多給一些顏色，像是這是否對你們的得標有影響。

Yes. I brought that up to say that we had recognized our win rate last year largely was less than it had been in prior years. We were making some changes. We did make changes. In fact, around late last year and maybe in a little bit in the first quarter, but they were really done last year.

是的。我提到這點是想說，我們注意到去年我們的得標率在很大程度上低於前幾年。我們正在做一些調整。我們也確實做了調整。事實上，大概在去年底、也可能在第一季稍微有一些，但主要都是去年完成的。

And so they've been implemented and are in place. And I think were a possible influence on our very strong win rate in Q1. And so I think that has come back. I don't want to go into the details. I just wanted to acknowledge, recognize that we hadn't won the same percentage of programs that we had historically in 2025, and we're implementing some changes, but I don't want to go into just how those competitive changes were rolling out.

所以這些都已經落地並到位。我認為它們可能是我們在第一季得標率非常強勁的一個影響因素。所以我認為這已經回來了。我不想深入細節。我只是想承認並指出：我們在 2025 年贏下的項目比例，沒有像過去歷史那樣高；我們正在推動一些改變，但我不想談太多這些競爭面的改變是如何展開的。

Got it. Thanks a lot.

了解。非常感謝。

Jared Haase, William Blair.

Jared Haase，William Blair。

Great, thank you. It's Christine Rains on for Jared. So while I realize that the majority of the work that you booked today will not burn until at least 2027, given the volatility of recent, hoping you can give some color on what you're expecting for bookings growth cadence in the back half of the year. And really if you expect 2Q net bookings to be a higher watermark or if we could see sequential acceleration as we move throughout the year?

很好，謝謝。我是代 Jared 的 Christine Rains。我知道你們今天預訂的大部分工作要到至少 2027 年才會開始消化（burn）。但考量近期的波動性，希望你能談談你對下半年預訂成長節奏的預期。以及你是否認為第二季淨預訂會是高水位，或是我們在今年接下來的時間裡會看到逐季加速？

I'm sorry, a little bit faint there. It sounds like you're asking about how the bookings are going to go in the second half towards '27?

抱歉，剛剛有點聽不清楚。聽起來你是在問下半年到 2027 年那邊，預訂會怎麼走？

Yes. Yes. No, I apologize. I was just hoping to get some color on really if 2Q is expected to be the high watermark for bookings here if we really could see an acceleration as we move throughout the year in terms of net bookings.

是的。是的。不，我抱歉。我只是希望你能多給一些顏色：第二季是否預期會是預訂的高水位，或者就淨預訂而言，我們是否可能在今年接下來的時間看到加速。

No, no. In response to the last few questions, I said that we expect a ramp in bookings. I expect a ramp in gross bookings. I would expect that to translate into a ramp in net bookings, but cancellations are always a wild card. But that was my commentary on second half.

不，不會。回應前面幾個問題時我說過，我們預期預訂會爬升。我預期總預訂會爬升。我也預期這會轉化為淨預訂的爬升，但取消永遠是一個不確定因素。但這就是我對下半年的評論。

Perfect. Thank you. And then hoping you can give a little bit more color on RFP’s in terms of magnitude of sequential and year-over-year growth and on bookings quality as well. And then a similar question on magnitude of initial awards decline sequentially and if this bucket was up year-over-year.

完美。謝謝。另外希望你能就 RFP（提案請求）多給一些顏色，包括環比與同比成長的幅度，以及預訂品質。還有一個類似的問題：初始授標（initial awards）這個項目環比下滑的幅度大概如何？以及這個項目是否同比成長？

Yes. So booking -- so RFP’s were up meaningfully. Certainly, on a sequential basis, RFPs were up substantially. And the quality has been good and improved. We see a lot of clients that have had recent funding. I think the big thing is funding has been a lot broader rather than just a few companies getting quite a bit more money.

是的。所以在簽約方面——RFP（提案請求）明顯增加。當然，以季比的角度來看，RFP 大幅上升。而且品質一直不錯，並且有所提升。我們看到很多客戶近期完成融資。我認為關鍵在於融資的覆蓋面變得更廣，而不是只有少數幾家公司拿到更多資金。

It's quite a bit of broader. We're seeing more opportunities with recent funding and moving forward with the program. So I think the business environment is in good shape, and I think the RFP’s numbers have increased. I don't like paying a lot of attention to the numbers. They are up substantially year-over-year. They were up also sequentially by a reasonable amount.

覆蓋面確實廣了很多。我們看到更多近期完成融資、並推進專案的機會。所以我認為整體商業環境狀況良好，而且我認為 RFP 的數量已經增加。我不太喜歡過度關注數字本身。它們同比大幅上升。按季也以合理幅度上升。

But again, quality is more important, and I think the quality has been there and is good. And what was your other question? You had another question on that?

但再說一次，品質更重要，我認為品質一直都在，而且很好。那你另一個問題是什麼？你還有一個相關問題對吧？

It was just on initial awards in terms of -- they seem strong, but declined sequentially in your commentary. So just curious, one, if this bucket was up on a year-over-year basis? And then just any commentary on the magnitude sequentially --

主要是關於初始授標（initial awards）——你們的評論裡提到它們看起來很強，但按季有所下降。所以我想了解一下，第一，這個項目在同比口徑下是否是上升的？第二，對於按季變動的幅度——

Yes. Sorry, I don't have any other comments on it. really. They were -- we had a very strong Q1. We had a Q2 that they were down. They were on the lower side of kind of, but not unusually low. So I don't know what to say about that. These are things that do bounce around. We look at it over a longer period of time because single large programs often drive the actual number there, whether you win or miss that one or two very large programs.

是的。抱歉，我其實沒有更多補充。它們——我們第一季非常強。第二季則下降了。它們處在相對偏低的一端，但也不算異常低。所以我也不知道該怎麼解讀。這些數字確實會波動。我們會用更長的時間跨度來看，因為單一的大型專案往往會驅動那個實際數字——你是贏下或錯失一兩個非常大的專案。

So it's not like a metric that can be looked on an individual quarter. But overall, the overall new awards were in a good range because the business environment was very strong. And even though maybe there were some very large ones that we lost and the actual percent not fantastic, overall awards were good.

所以它不是那種可以用單一季度來判讀的指標。但整體而言，因為商業環境非常強，新授標的整體區間是良好的。即使可能有一些非常大的案子我們輸了、導致實際百分比不算漂亮，但整體授標表現仍然不錯。

Perfect. Very helpful. Thank you.

很好。非常有幫助。謝謝。

David Windley, Jefferies.

David Windley，Jefferies。

Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. August, I wanted to try to understand hearing you on the contingency backlog considerations that you had mentioned to me recently and mentioned again this morning and how influential they are.

嗨，早安。謝謝讓我提問。August，我想試著理解你提到的、關於或有積壓訂單（contingency backlog）考量——你最近跟我提過，今天早上也再次提到——以及它們的影響程度有多大。

So I guess I'll spin the question to the backlog burn has ramped over a couple of years, kind of making new highs. It sounds like you don't -- you would not attribute that to the metabolic mix. To what do you attribute, I guess, is my basic question. What are the various factors that contribute to that burn rate being as high as it is?

所以我換個方式問：積壓訂單的消化（backlog burn）在過去幾年一路加速，幾乎創新高。聽起來你不——你不會把這歸因於代謝（metabolic）組合。那你把它歸因於什麼？這是我最基本的問題。有哪些因素導致這個消化率會高到這個程度？

Well, I think given the environment with high cancellations that we were in, we did -- I think we double looking at programs for decision points and what -- I think they may have not been as broadly implemented. What -- there's a lot of gray area there in terms of what is a decision point. What is this look for power?

嗯，我認為在當時那種高取消率的環境下，我們確實——我想我們加倍去檢視專案的決策點以及——我想它們可能沒有被那麼廣泛地落實。這裡面有很多灰色地帶，什麼算是決策點。什麼算是這種「觀察以判斷是否有足夠把握」？

Is that something that could influence their continuation of the program? Is this -- there's a lot of different factors that could -- and we were in a very high cancellation environment. We wanted to be -- we didn't want large reductions in backlog hitting us. And so I think that was it.

這是否會影響他們是否繼續推進該專案？這——有很多不同因素都可能——而我們當時處在一個取消率非常高的環境。我們希望——我們不希望積壓訂單出現大幅削減而衝擊我們。所以我想主要就是這個原因。

I think that just overall, the awards that were slower did cause a change in the average profile of the program. And then what metabolic, I'm not denying that it has had some effect. I just don't think it is the overwhelming driver, if metabolic becomes less than, because metabolic conversion isn't naturally a lot faster in our systems. I think that it can be if there's a decision point, it's a very large program.

我認為整體而言，授標變慢確實改變了專案的平均輪廓。至於代謝領域，我並不是否認它有一些影響。我只是認為它不是壓倒性的驅動因素；如果代謝占比下降，因為在我們的系統裡，代謝專案的轉換速度並不天然就快很多。我認為在某些情況下它可能會更快——如果存在某個決策點，而且那是一個非常大的專案。

I mean I'm not saying there couldn't be situations where metabolic might be a driver, but almost any other program also could be. So I just don't think that, that is -- oh, yes, metabolic is much faster burning and therefore, that is the driver of our conversion rate. I don't think it has been.

我的意思是，我不是說不可能出現代謝成為驅動因素的情況，但幾乎任何其他專案也都可能。所以我不認為可以簡化成——喔，是的，代謝消化得快很多，因此它就是我們轉換率的驅動因素。我不認為一直是這樣。

Did the -- it sounds like you kind of went through a logically a backlog recheck as a result of what the environment was signaling to you.

聽起來你們是因為環境給出的訊號，而在邏輯上做了一次積壓訂單的重新檢視（backlog recheck）。

I don't want to say that we removed any backlog because we didn't. We didn’t take anything out of backlog. We just started looking at, should we put this into backlog when we have this decision point in a year from now that in the past, you might have said, well, it's -- that's just an adjustment and they're not really -- it isn't really an interim look for a decision about continuing the trial.

我不想說我們移除了任何積壓訂單，因為我們沒有。我們沒有把任何東西從積壓訂單中拿掉。我們只是開始去看：當一個專案在一年後會有這個決策點時，我們是否應該把它放進積壓訂單？過去你可能會說，嗯，那只是調整，他們其實——那並不是真正用來決定是否繼續試驗的階段性檢視。

Do you have -- on this point, do you have any meaningful amount of revenue where, say, a decision point or some factor would cause value to kind of be added to backlog and go right into revenue in the same quarter, like a decision point happens in -- and that drops into revenue?

在這點上，你們是否有任何具規模的營收情況：例如某個決策點或某些因素會讓價值被加進積壓訂單，並在同一季度就直接轉成營收？像是決策點發生在——然後就落入營收？

Yes. Yes, sure. I mean that's the -- that is kind of the profile of an interim analysis to decide whether to stop the trial. And if it continues, it might be that next quarter's revenue could be significant -- could be influenced. Obviously, any one program is not going to be a big driver of a quarter, but it could be in the next quarter right away.

有。有，當然。我的意思是，那——那有點像期中分析（interim analysis）的輪廓，用來決定是否停止試驗。如果繼續，下一季度的營收可能會相當可觀——可能會受到影響。顯然，任何單一專案不太可能成為某一季度的主要驅動因素，但它確實可能在下一季度立刻產生影響。

Yes. Last question for me. On the labor side, your headcount growth did tick up a little bit. I wondered how you would assess where you stand on resources relative to the demand that you're seeing matriculate toward bookings?

是的。我最後一個問題。在人力方面，你們的人頭數成長確實小幅回升。我想請問你會如何評估：就你們看到、正逐步轉化為簽約（bookings）的需求而言，你們目前的資源配置處於什麼狀態？

And within that, has the composition of your labor changed geographically, you had in past years, talked about beginning to do some offshoring or between full-time equivalents and contractors as you maybe try to manage costs? Thanks.

另外，在這之中，你們的人力組成在地理分布上是否有變化？過去幾年你們談過開始做一些離岸配置（offshoring），或是在全職當量（FTE）與承包商之間調整，以便管理成本？謝謝。

Yes. I think we're in a good place. That's been substantially helped by the low turnover that we've had, which has continued through Q2, very low turnover on historical terms. And we do expect high single-digit growth in employees this year. And I suspect we'll continue that next year.

是的。我認為我們處於一個不錯的位置。這在很大程度上得益於我們一直維持的低離職率，第二季也延續了這點；以歷史標準來看離職率非常低。我們確實預期今年員工人數會有高個位數的成長。我猜明年也會延續。

So I think we're in a good space. Employee growth has been predominantly US and then also Asia Pac, and a chunk of that in India, which does kind of represent a positioning for cost. But the biggest growth has been US. And as I think I've mentioned previously, a lot of things have kind of moved back towards US in terms of growth. But there has been some repositioning too.

所以我認為我們的狀態很好。員工成長主要在美國，其次也在亞太地區，其中有一部分在印度，這確實在某種程度上代表了成本面的配置。但最大的成長仍在美國。而且如我之前提過，很多事情在成長面向上已經有點回到美國。但也確實有一些重新配置。

Ryan Halsted, RBC Capital Markets.

Ryan Halsted，RBC Capital Markets。

Good morning, thanks for taking the questions. Just going back to the net new awards growth. My question is, are you able to quantify, I guess, or just size how much of the new awards growth came from converting your pre-backlog awards from last year into awards this year? And how much of it was from this improvement in the business environment, so kind of organic new awards this year?

早安，謝謝讓我提問。我想回到淨新增獲獎（net new awards）成長。我的問題是，你們是否能量化，或至少估算一下，今年新增獲獎成長中，有多少是把去年那些「前積壓」（pre-backlog）的獲獎轉成今年的獲獎所帶來的？另外有多少是來自商業環境改善，也就是今年有機（organic）的新增獲獎？

Yes. So in Q2, most of the backlog recognition would have been from award notifications the prior year. So Q1 would not have influenced greatly the Q2 backlog awards.

可以。所以在第二季，積壓（backlog）的認列大多會來自前一年度的獲獎通知。因此第一季不會對第二季的積壓獲獎造成很大的影響。

Got it. Okay. And then in terms of the improving business environment, where are you seeing that? Is that sort of in the pre-award backlog?

了解。好。那關於商業環境改善，你們主要是在哪裡看到的？是出現在前獲獎的積壓（pre-award backlog）嗎？

Yes, and in cancellations. So -- and even Q4 was -- I think things have improved quite a bit. It's cancellations that were driving sort of the backlog bookings decrease and also substantial -- were very high in our pre-backlog, reducing our potential for future conversions. But that has -- in Q2 was in a very good place.

是的，也反映在取消（cancellations）上。所以——甚至第四季也是——我認為情況改善了不少。先前是取消在推動積壓訂單（backlog bookings）下滑，而且我們的前積壓（pre-backlog）也出現相當——非常高的取消，降低了未來轉換的潛力。但在第二季，這方面的狀況非常好。

Got it. Okay. And then last one for me. Just you had previously guided to direct service costs at, I don't know, 41%, 42% of revenue, which I think implies a sequential decrease. Just curious if that continues to be the case if you are expecting some declining direct service costs.

了解。好。那我最後一題。你們先前指引直接服務成本約占營收的41%、42%，我認為這代表會有季對季下降。想請教這個看法是否仍然成立，你們是否預期直接服務成本會再下降？

Yes. And that commentary is related to the reimbursable component of direct costs, right? And so I do expect some further decline in the back half of the year. And I would say a range of 41% to 42% of revenue Q3, Q4 is kind of what we're modeling right now.

是的。而那段說明是針對直接成本中可報銷（reimbursable）的部分，對吧？因此我確實預期在下半年會再進一步下降一些。我會說，我們目前建模的區間是第三季、第四季約占營收的41%到42%。

Great, thanks for taking the questions.

很好，謝謝讓我提問。

Luke Sergott, Barclays.

Luke Sergott，Barclays。

Hey, this is Jake on for Luke. For the last couple of years, you saw a sequential step down in SG&A from 1Q to 2Q. And then this quarter, it ticked up slightly. So I know you called out benefiting from lower employer-related costs through the last couple of quarters. But what are the puts and takes there going forward around the margin step-up through the year? Thank you.

嗨，我是Jake，代Luke提問。過去幾年，你們的SG&A從第一季到第二季通常會季對季下降一個台階。但這一季卻小幅上升。我知道你們提到過去幾季受惠於較低的雇主相關成本。但往後看，關於全年毛利率/利潤率逐季抬升（margin step-up）的推拉因素（puts and takes）是什麼？謝謝。

Yes. I mean really, it's -- a lot of the impact that we see from Q1 to Q2 or Q4 to Q1 is related to the annual merit cycles, depending on what happens with the company's equity programs that can influence it, both of which have already occurred this year.

是的。我的意思是，基本上——我們看到第一季到第二季或第四季到第一季的影響，很大一部分與年度調薪循環（annual merit cycles）有關；另外也取決於公司股權激勵計畫（equity programs）的變化，這也會造成影響，而這兩件事今年都已經發生了。

And so you'll kind of start to see more of an influence on headcount increases as we continue in the back half of the year, but at a slower pace than revenue. And so you'll see a little bit of what you're saying in that margin expansion in the back half of this year.

因此在下半年，你會開始看到人頭增加的影響更明顯，但增速會慢於營收。所以你會在今年下半年看到你所說的那種利潤率擴張。

Eric Coldwell, Baird.

Eric Coldwell，Baird。

Thank you. Good morning. I just wanted to circle back first to David's questions and on the backlog burn rate. I think I get the gist of what you're saying. Just to be very clear, your long-term average backlog burn rate up until the beginning of '25 was about 18%. Now you're at 24%. You're saying metabolic was not the main driver.

謝謝。早安。我想先回到David剛才的問題，關於積壓消耗率（backlog burn rate）。我想我大概理解你在說什麼。但為了非常清楚：截至2025年初之前，你們長期平均的積壓消耗率大約是18%。現在是24%。你說代謝（metabolic）並不是主要驅動因素。

It sounds like you're saying the main driver was that you tighten the screws, I guess, if you will, tighten the screws on your policies around what you put into backlog, so effectively changed SOPs on what went in there and you were more restrictive on gating factors.

聽起來你是在說，主要驅動因素是你們把螺絲鎖緊了——也就是收緊了哪些項目可以放進積壓的政策，等於是對納入積壓的作業程序（SOP）做了調整，並且在門檻/關卡因素（gating factors）上更為嚴格。

I just want to clarify that, that was, in fact, the main driver of this increase being 30%, 35% above normal on backlog burn. And if that was the case, is your expectation that backlog burn stays at 24% moving forward? Or now that the environment is improving, are you perhaps going to go back to a more traditional process in terms of where you gate or don't gate awards when they do or do not become bookings?

我想確認一下：這確實是造成積壓消耗率比正常高出約30%、35%的主要原因嗎？如果是的話，你們是否預期未來積壓消耗率會維持在24%？或者隨著環境改善，你們可能會回到較傳統的流程，也就是在獲獎何時、以及是否成為訂單（bookings）時，你們的關卡（gate）會放寬或不再那麼嚴？

Yes. So thanks, Eric. Let me clarify. I don't think that metabolic is an overwhelming driver of the difference. And I'm not saying that metabolic programs might have been contributed, but I think it's a bigger part was the policy implementation -- really enhanced. It was the same policy that was written. So we didn't change the SOP. It's just a matter of we are more maybe attuned to looking for those type of issues.

是的。謝謝你，Eric。我澄清一下。我不認為代謝（metabolic）是造成差異的壓倒性因素。我也不是說代謝專案完全沒有貢獻，但我認為更大的部分是政策落實——確實是更強化了。其實是同一套已寫好的政策。所以我們沒有改SOP。只是我們可能更留意去找出這類問題。

And I don't think it isn't a natural part of metabolic programs. I'm not saying there weren't -- there wasn't maybe a metabolic program that also had a meaningful contribution to that because of the same issue was there of gating rather than faster burn. I'm saying that metabolic programs are not faster-burning driving our high conversion rate.

而且我不認為這不是代謝專案的自然一部分。我不是說沒有——可能確實有某個代謝專案，因為同樣的原因（也就是關卡/門檻的設定，而不是更快的消耗）而對此有顯著貢獻。我想說的是：代謝專案並不是因為消耗更快而推動我們較高的轉換率（conversion rate）。

And to a large extent, they may to some extent, but I really think there's three components. Maybe metabolic is a little bit faster burning on average. We had the implementation of our policy up given the cancellations that were going on. And I think the overall dynamics of awards and size of backlog and AIS and all the rest of it targeting dynamics in terms of the average age of programs, okay?

在很大程度上，它可能在某種程度上有影響，但我真的認為有三個組成因素。也許代謝平均而言消耗稍快一些。我們在當時取消較多的情況下強化了政策的落實。另外我認為還有獲獎的整體動態、積壓規模、AIS以及其他所有因素的組合動態，包含以專案平均存續年齡為目標的動態，對吧？

So I think there was a number of drivers of this. And I don't think that if metabolic goes to zero or doubles in our backlog that that's going to have a big influence on our conversion rate, okay? So that's the -- whether metabolic comes down or not, I don't think that is the driver of reducing conversion rate overwhelmingly.

所以我認為這是多個驅動因素造成的。而且我不認為就算代謝在我們的積壓中變成零或翻倍，會對我們的轉換率造成很大的影響，好嗎？所以——不論代謝是否下降，我不認為它是導致轉換率大幅下降的主要驅動因素。

I don't think that's going to be a big change between 18% and 24%. All that said, I would expect that our conversion rate does tend to drop down some over time as we have new awards and more programs and all the rest of it and hopefully get into a lower cancellation environment.

我不認為那會是18%到24%之間出現大幅變化的原因。話雖如此，我確實預期隨著時間推移，當我們有新的獲獎、更多專案等等，並且希望進入一個取消較低的環境時，我們的轉換率確實會有些下降。

Okay. And then on the pass-throughs, the last question, you -- Kevin said 41%, 42% of mix in the second half. I think that is perhaps higher, maybe Q1 and Q2 were a little higher than you were thinking. Is that a fair statement that they have run at a slightly faster clip this year than you were anticipating? Is that fair?

好的。最後一題，關於轉嫁項目（pass-throughs），你——Kevin提到下半年占比為41%、42%。我認為這可能偏高，或許第一季和第二季比你原先想的稍高一些。這樣說公平嗎？也就是說，今年它們的運行速度（run rate）比你預期稍快一些？這樣說合理嗎？

Yes, that's fair, Eric. I did anticipate it coming down a little bit more in the first and second quarter. But -- and as I mentioned in the second quarter, I thought it would be for the year on the higher end, closer to 42% and might be just north of even that watermark.

是的，這樣說公平，Eric。我原本預期第一季和第二季會再降多一點。但是——如我在第二季提到的，我認為全年會落在較高端、更接近42%，而且可能會略高於那個水位（watermark）。

And then the current generation of bookings, the $800 million here in Q2 any sense on what the profile of that looks like with pass-through mix if you just took that bucket individually. I'm thinking that perhaps with mix shifting back towards oncology, the pass-through mix of that bucket, maybe the newer generation buckets of awards could be lower. So we would see a reduction in pass-through mix in '27 if that were the case, but maybe that's not the right thought process.

然後就目前這一代的訂單而言，Q2 這裡的 8 億美元，若只單獨看這一桶，您對其樣貌（包含可轉嫁成本的組合占比）有沒有任何概念？我在想，或許隨著組合再度轉向腫瘤科，這一桶的可轉嫁成本占比——也就是較新一代的獎項桶——可能會更低。若真如此，我們可能會在 2027 年看到可轉嫁成本占比下降，但也許這樣的思考方式不對。

Yes. I mean it certainly can be. I mean I would say that the mix of programs going into backlog -- is it significantly different on a percentage basis? Maybe it's a little bit lower. But I think what's more indicative of what happens in 2027 is just the programs that end up burning revenue and where they are in their life cycle.

是的。我的意思是，確實有可能。我會說，進入在手訂單（backlog）的專案組合——以百分比來看，是否有顯著不同？也許略低一些。但我認為，對 2027 年會發生什麼更具指標性的，是那些最終開始認列收入的專案，以及它們所處的生命週期階段。

As we've said before that studies that are later in their life cycle have a tendency to even burn a bit more reimbursable pass-throughs. And so it's just a combination of all the portfolio and how things are going to progress across that portfolio. It's not just what you're putting in the backlog.

如同我們之前說過的，處於生命週期較後期的研究，往往會消耗（認列）更多一些可報銷的可轉嫁成本。因此，這只是整體投資組合以及各項目在該組合中將如何推進的綜合結果。不僅僅是你放進在手訂單的內容。

Got you. And then last one for me. I was hoping -- sorry if I missed this, but did you provide an update on pre-backlog? Was it up, down, flat quarter-over-quarter? I think last quarter, you said it was around the size of backlog, but maybe you could provide some more color on where that stands exiting Q2?

了解。然後我最後一個問題。我希望——如果我漏聽了先說聲抱歉——你們有提供 pre-backlog 的更新嗎？它是較上季上升、下降，還是持平？我記得上季你們說它大約和在手訂單一樣大，但也許你們可以再多補充一些，Q2 結束時它的狀況如何？

Yes. I don't want to get into doing that. It is larger than backlog, yes. It has grown faster than backlog over the last year. But I don't want to get into like percent and how much larger or that kind of stuff.

是的。我不想深入談那個。它確實比在手訂單大，是的。過去一年它的成長速度也比在手訂單更快。但我不想談像是百分比、到底大多少之類的細節。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

Justin Bowers, Deutsche Bank.

德意志銀行（Deutsche Bank）的 Justin Bowers。

Hi, good morning. I have a few questions, but just wanted to continue with Eric's line of questioning and just clarify a couple things on the burn rate. So August, it sounds like your statement on the burn rate, excuse me, coming down in the future would be driven more by fewer cancellations.

嗨，早安。我有幾個問題，但想延續 Eric 的提問脈絡，並釐清幾點關於消耗率（burn rate）的問題。所以 8 月，你們提到未來消耗率會下降的說法，聽起來主要是由於取消案變少所驅動。

And I guess that would mean greater bookings showing up in the quarter versus a change in how you're running the business or study mix. Is that the takeaway that you want us to have or --

我想這代表每季呈現出來的訂單會更多，而不是你們經營方式或研究組合的改變。這是你們希望我們得到的結論嗎？還是--

I think the average age of projects and the booking characteristics, what was more recently put in backlog does have an influence on the conversion rate, and I think that will change over time. I think that -- and that would put pressure downward on the conversion rate. Again, I don't want to try to project the conversion rate. I don't know that it's going to come down. I don't know how fast it would come down if it did.

我認為，專案的平均年齡以及訂單特性——也就是較近期放入在手訂單的內容——確實會影響轉換率，而我認為這會隨時間改變。我認為那樣會對轉換率造成下行壓力。再次強調，我不想嘗試去預測轉換率。我不確定它是否會下降。即便會下降，我也不確定會以多快的速度下降。

But I just think that a lot of the increase over time has been related to the average age of projects and kind of the dynamics of what's coming in and off of backlog and that, that would -- I would expect a more -- I would at least revert towards our historical norms. That is, 24% is kind of high relative to historical values. And so I would think that, that is going to come down. But I'm not making a statement on we've projected a decrease through any kind of formal analysis.

但我只是認為，隨時間推移，許多上升主要與專案平均年齡，以及在手訂單進出項目的動態有關；而這些因素——我預期——至少會回歸到我們的歷史常態。也就是說，24% 相較於歷史水準算是偏高。因此我會認為它會下降。但我並不是在說我們已透過任何正式分析去預測它會下降。

Okay. Understood. And then just on the environment, this is a question that's been asked amongst some of your peers as well. You probably have line of sight into this better than anyone, just given the customers that you serve. But with the increase in funding that we're seeing now and the wider dispersion out there.

好的。了解。接著關於整體環境，這也是你們一些同業之間被問到的問題。考量到你們服務的客戶，你們可能比任何人都更能掌握狀況。但就我們現在看到資金增加、且資金分布更分散的情況而言。

When -- how should we be thinking about the timeline of when that actually shows up either as awards and/or in your backlog? Is there a time frame that you can help us think about? And then also, just in general, how is the cadence of decision-making right now versus maybe 12 months ago?

我們應該如何看待這些資金實際反映到獎項（awards）和／或你們在手訂單的時間軸？你能否提供一個我們可以參考的時間範圍？另外，更一般性地說，現在的決策節奏相較於 12 個月前如何？

Yes. The timing of when biotechs spend their money, look, I'm not the person to talk to about that. I don't know. I don't have a good feeling. A lot of our clients are raising money while they're getting bids from us. So it's immediate kind of -- but I just -- I don't know overall. So I don't really have a good insight into that.

是的。至於生技公司何時花錢，坦白說，我不是適合談這個的人。我不知道。我沒有很好的感覺。我們很多客戶在向我們取得報價的同時也在募資。所以有點像是立即性的——但我就是——整體而言我不清楚。所以我對此沒有很好的洞見。

Okay. And any change in the trajectory of decision-making timelines or competitive landscape?

好的。那決策時程的走向或競爭態勢有任何變化嗎？

Yes, sorry. No. I mean, we're seeing more clients that come with recent funding and able to move forward in programs. We have seen better funding for things. So yes, the trajectory has been better and the opportunities moving along nicely. There's been -- it isn't like a lot of things are hung up now or things -- so I think trajectory has improved with the funding environment.

是的，抱歉。沒有。我的意思是，我們看到更多客戶帶著近期募得的資金而來，並能推進其專案。我們確實看到資金面有所改善。所以是的，走向更好了，機會也在順利推進。並沒有——不是說很多事情現在卡住了或怎樣——所以我認為在資金環境改善下，走向已經提升。

Okay. Thank you. I'll jump back in the queue. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。我回到隊列裡。謝謝。

Thank you. I'm showing no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn it back to David Ruhe for closing remarks.

謝謝。目前顯示沒有其他提問。我想把電話交回給 David Ruhe 作結語。

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 third quarter 2026 earnings call.

感謝各位參加今天的電話會議，並對 Medpace 的關注。我們期待在 2026 年第三季財報電話會議上再次與各位交流。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位參與，現在可以掛線。