NerdWallet Inc (NRDS) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the NerdWallet, Inc., Q4 2023 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 NerdWallet, Inc. 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）

Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Caitlin MacNamee.

請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人凱特琳·麥克納米 (Caitlin MacNamee)。

Thank you, operator. Welcome to the NerdWallet Q4 2023 earnings call. Joining us today are Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Tim Chen; and Chief Financial Officer, Lauren StClair.

謝謝你，接線生。歡迎參加 NerdWallet 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。今天加入我們的是共同創辦人兼執行長 Tim Chen；財務長勞倫‧聖克萊爾 (Lauren StClair)。

Our press release and shareholder letter are available on our Investor Relations website, and a replay of this update will also be available following the conclusion of today's call. We intend to use our Investor Relations website as a means of disclosing certain material information and complying with disclosure obligations under SEC Regulation FD from time to time. As a reminder, today's call is being webcast live and recorded.

我們的新聞稿和股東信函可在我們的投資者關係網站上獲取，並且在今天的電話會議結束後也將提供此更新的重播。我們打算使用我們的投資者關係網站作為揭露某些重大資訊並不時遵守 SEC 法規 FD 規定的揭露義務的一種方式。提醒一下，今天的電話會議正在進行網路直播和錄音。

Before we begin today's remarks and question-and-answer session, I would like to remind you that certain statements made during this call may relate to future events and expectations and as such, constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results and performance may differ from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties, including the risk factors discussed in reports filed or to be filed with the SEC.

在我們開始今天的演講和問答環節之前，我想提醒您，本次電話會議中所做的某些陳述可能與未來的事件和預期有關，因此構成前瞻性陳述。由於各種風險和不確定性，包括已向 SEC 提交的報告中討論的風險因素，實際結果和業績可能與這些前瞻性陳述中明示或暗示的結果和業績有所不同。

We urge you to consider these risk factors and remind you that we undertake no obligation to update the information provided on this call to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. You should be aware that these statements should not be considered a guarantee of future performance.

我們敦促您考慮這些風險因素，並提醒您，我們沒有義務更新本次電話會議中提供的資訊以反映後續事件或情況。您應該知道，這些陳述不應被視為對未來績效的保證。

Furthermore, during this call, we will present both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures is included in today's earnings press release, except where we are unable without reasonable efforts to calculate certain reconciling items with confidence.

此外，在本次電話會議中，我們將介紹 GAAP 和非 GAAP 財務指標。今天的收益新聞稿中包含了 GAAP 與非 GAAP 指標的對賬，除非我們在不採取合理努力的情況下無法自信地計算某些對帳項目。

With that, I will now turn it over to Tim Chen, our Co-Founder and CEO. Tim?

現在，我將把它交給我們的聯合創始人兼執行長 Tim Chen。提姆？

Thanks, Caitlin. In 2023, headwinds outweighed tailwinds in our business. In the spring, we faced increasing macroeconomic headwinds following the regional banking crisis, as well as ongoing rate hikes. This affected several verticals, including loans, credit cards, and SMB, and they have not all fully recovered yet.

謝謝，凱特琳。 2023 年，我們業務的逆風大於順風。今年春季，我們面臨區域銀行危機以及持續升息後宏觀經濟阻力的加大。這影響了多個垂直行業，包括貸款、信用卡和中小企業，而且它們尚未完全恢復。

In addition, the strong insurance rebound we saw in Q1 of '23 was premature. The industry pulled back through the remainder of the year, while the rising rate environment did create tailwinds in areas like banking, which continued to outperform our expectations through the end of the year. This did not offset the headwinds in our other verticals.

此外，我們在 23 年第一季看到的保險業強勁反彈還為時過早。該行業在今年剩餘時間裡有所回落，而利率上升的環境確實為銀行業等領域帶來了順風車，這些領域的表現在年底繼續超出了我們的預期。這並沒有抵消我們其他垂直領域的不利因素。

We did not meet our revenue or adjusted EBITDA outlook in Q4, and this is the first time as a public company when we have fallen short of our outlook. We attribute our Q4 miss to underperformance in credit cards and personal loans. While consumer demand remained strong for balance transfer products, incremental underwriting tightening and balance sheet constraints limited issuer appetite.

我們沒有達到第四季度的營收或調整後的 EBITDA 預期，這是作為一家上市公司第一次沒有達到我們的預期。我們將第四季業績不佳歸因於信用卡和個人貸款表現不佳。儘管消費者對餘額轉移產品的需求仍然強勁，但承保緊縮和資產負債表限制限制了發行人的興趣。

We also encountered unexpected growing pains with matching sub and near-prime users with the best products, which required us to take a step back. But we believe we're making progress in routing these consumers to the right offers.

在為次級和近優質用戶匹配最好的產品方面，我們也遇到了意想不到的成長煩惱，這需要我們退一步。但我們相信，我們在引導這些消費者找到合適的產品方面正在取得進展。

Our business is cyclical. While I believe there are positive signals to suggest that conditions will improve in 2024, we know that headwinds and tailwinds offset each other over time. So our priority is growing from cycle to cycle.

我們的業務是週期性的。雖然我相信有正面訊號表明情況將在 2024 年有所改善，但我們知道，隨著時間的推移，逆風和順風會相互抵消。因此，我們的首要任務是從一個週期到另一個週期不斷成長。

We continue to take share across the cycle in a large and growing market, independent of macroeconomic factors. Our primary addressable market, US financial services digital advertising is expanding with a 2023 four-year CAGR of approximately 15%. And NerdWallet's share in this market has also increased, with a four-year revenue CAGR of 27%. And in Q4, we achieved record monthly unique users, up 24% year-over-year, suggesting a significant opportunity for revenue growth as monetization improves.

我們將繼續在一個龐大且不斷成長的市場中佔據整個週期的份額，而不受宏觀經濟因素的影響。我們的主要目標市場美國金融服務數位廣告正在不斷擴張，2023 年的四年複合年增長率約為 15%。而且 NerdWallet 在這個市場的佔有率也有所增加，四年營收複合年增長率為 27%。在第四季度，我們的每月獨立用戶數創歷史新高，年增 24%，這表明隨著貨幣化的改善，收入成長的機會很大。

Also critical to my mind are the structural improvements we made to our business in 2023. We are dedicated to relentlessly improving our operations and increasing our efficiency. This past year, we made our brand spend work harder, and we also efficiently managed R&D expense growth while still launching several new product initiatives, including NerdAI and NerdUp by NerdWallet. As a result, full year non-GAAP operating income increased $27 million versus the prior year.

我認為同樣重要的是我們在 2023 年對業務進行的結構性改進。我們致力於不懈地改善我們的營運並提高我們的效率。去年，我們加大了品牌支出力度，有效管理了研發費用成長，同時推出了多項新產品計劃，包括 NerdAI 和 NerdWallet 的 NerdUp。因此，全年非 GAAP 營業收入比前一年增加了 2,700 萬美元。

And in Q4, we maintained relatively similar margins despite our declining year-over-year revenue. This work should set us up for improved margin leverage as growth returns. We build NerdWallet with a long-term orientation. And this means relentlessly improving while executing our strategy to create a trusted financial ecosystem or single platform where consumers and SMBs can learn, shop, connect their data, and make decisions about their money. I continue to believe that this is the right path forward for our consumers, partners, and business, driven by the meaningful progress we made against our growth pillars in 2023.

在第四季度，儘管收入同比下降，但我們仍保持了相對相似的利潤率。這項工作應該為我們在成長回報時提高利潤槓桿做好準備。我們以長期為導向打造 NerdWallet。這意味著在執行我們的策略時不斷改進，以創建一個值得信賴的金融生態系統或單一平台，讓消費者和中小企業可以在其中學習、購物、連接他們的數據並做出有關他們的資金的決策。我仍然相信，在 2023 年我們在成長支柱方面取得的有意義進展的推動下，這對我們的消費者、合作夥伴和企業來說是正確的前進道路。

I'd like to provide you with more insight into these pillars, the progress we've made toward them this year, and how I think they can accelerate our business. As a reminder, land-and-expand initiatives extend NerdWallet's guidance to new markets, categories, and audiences. While we cover a range of topics today, we know the financial landscape is vast and there's still plenty of territory to explore.

我想讓您更深入地了解這些支柱、我們今年在這些支柱方面取得的進展，以及我認為它們如何加速我們的業務。提醒一下，土地擴張計畫將 NerdWallet 的指導擴展到新的市場、類別和受眾。雖然我們今天討論了一系列主題，但我們知道金融領域廣闊，仍然有很多領域需要探索。

In 2023, we strengthened our presence in Canada and Australia and in topics, including Medicare, social security, estate planning, and auto loans.

2023 年，我們加強了在加拿大和澳洲的業務，並在醫療保險、社會安全、遺產規劃和汽車貸款等領域開展業務。

Looking specifically at Q4, our land-and-expand efforts have shown particularly strong results in Canada as MUUs were up 56% year-over-year last quarter. Similarly, Q4 saw continued acceleration in our Medicare category. Our traffic was up over 150% year-over-year as we built out our library and enhanced our marketplace to serve more consumers during the open-enrollment period.

具體來看第四季度，我們在加拿大的土地擴張工作取得了特別強勁的成果，上季 MUU 年比成長 56%。同樣，第四季我們的醫療保險類別持續加速。隨著我們建立圖書館並增強市場以在開放註冊期間為更多消費者提供服務，我們的流量同比增長了 150% 以上。

Vertical integration pairs our competitive advantages in top-of-funnel and brand with best-in-class user experiences, and throughout 2023, this is a significant focus for NerdWallet. We pursued vertical integration via continued integration of On the Barrelhead, including introducing their pre-qualification technology to our credit cards vertical as well as through several key organic initiatives. Our hypothesis is that investing in best-in-class user experiences will not only provide consumers with new more personalized ways to shop for products, but will also increase our monetization and re-engagement capabilities, ultimately setting us up to capitalize more effectively on our growing audience from cycle to cycle.

垂直整合將我們在通路頂部和品牌方面的競爭優勢與一流的用戶體驗相結合，在整個 2023 年，這是 NerdWallet 的一個重點關注點。我們透過 On the Barrelhead 的持續整合來追求垂直整合，包括將他們的資格預審技術引入我們的信用卡垂直領域，以及透過幾個關鍵的有機舉措。我們的假設是，投資一流的用戶體驗不僅將為消費者提供更個人化的新產品購買方式，還將提高我們的貨幣化和重新參與能力，最終使我們能夠更有效地利用我們的產品觀眾從一個週期到另一個週期不斷增加。

In Q4, we focused on two organic initiatives. Early in Q4, we launched NerdWallet's first branded product, NerdUp by NerdWallet, which is a secured card designed to provide no file, thin file, and subprime consumers with an option to build their credit, while also benefiting our partners. Meanwhile, our team has recently launched NerdWallet Taxes, a tax preparation software, in partnership with Column Tax.

在第四季度，我們將重點放在兩項有機舉措。在第四季初，我們推出了NerdWallet 的首款品牌產品NerdUp by NerdWallet，這是一種安全卡，旨在為無檔案、薄檔案和次級消費者提供建立信用的選擇，同時也使我們的合作夥伴受益。同時，我們的團隊最近與 Column Tax 合作推出了 NerdWallet Taxes，這是一款報稅軟體。

This product seeks to capitalize on the significant organic traffic to our taxes category, which previously went largely unmonetized, by leveraging our unit economics to offer consumers a fixed fee option for preparing their tax returns. We also continued to integrate On the Barrelhead's technology, extending their personalized experiences to mortgages in anticipation of increased demand when interest rates decrease.

該產品旨在利用我們的稅收類別的大量有機流量（以前基本上沒有貨幣化），透過利用我們的單位經濟學為消費者提供準備納稅申報表的固定費用選擇。我們也繼續整合 On the Barrelhead 的技術，將其個人化體驗擴展到抵押貸款，以應對利率下降時需求增加的情況。

Land and expand and vertical integration support our registrations and data-driven engagement strategy. They drive more MUUs to convert to registered users and give consumers reasons to register and connect their data. At the same time, we invest in specific registration and data-driven engagement efforts to help foster loyalty-based relationships with consumers. As a result, our registered user base ended the year growing 37%.

土地、擴張和垂直整合支持我們的註冊和數據驅動的參與策略。它們推動更多 MUU 轉化為註冊用戶，並為消費者提供註冊和連接資料的理由。同時，我們投資於具體的註冊和數據驅動的參與工作，以幫助培養與消費者基於忠誠度的關係。結果，我們的註冊用戶群到年底增加了 37%。

In 2023, this work included introducing and optimizing new product features, as well as upleveling our CRM capabilities to more effectively nudge our registered users with targeted insights. Our registered users have five times the lifetime value of visitors. So expanding our registrations and data-driven engagement work to furnish more cross-sell opportunities and build loyalty-based relationships with consumers present significant growth potential for the business.

2023 年，這項工作包括引入和優化新產品功能，以及提升我們的 CRM 功能，以透過有針對性的見解更有效地推動我們的註冊用戶。我們的註冊用戶的終身價值是訪客的五倍。因此，擴大我們的註冊和數據驅動的參與工作以提供更多交叉銷售機會並與消費者建立基於忠誠度的關係為業務帶來了巨大的成長潛力。

Our registrations and data-driven engagement work in Q4 included a significant focus on developing our cross-sell capabilities. We launched several campaigns to surface personalized product recommendations to registered users based on their data, and we plan to continue developing this program in the quarters to come.

我們在第四季度的註冊和數據驅動的參與工作包括重點關注發展我們的交叉銷售能力。我們發起了多項活動，根據註冊用戶的數據向其提供個人化產品推薦，並且我們計劃在未來幾季繼續開發該計劃。

By now, 2024 is well underway, and I'm looking forward to sharing our results with you over the next four quarters as we continue to execute our strategy. As in 2023, we will embrace relentless self-improvement, a long-term orientation, and our commitment to consumers to drive results. In the meantime, I'll pass it over to Lauren to provide a financial update.

到目前為止，2024 年已經順利進行，我期待在接下來的四個季度與您分享我們的成果，因為我們將繼續執行我們的策略。與 2023 年一樣，我們將堅持不懈的自我完善、長期定位以及對消費者的承諾，以推動成果。同時，我會將其轉交給勞倫，以提供最新的財務資訊。

Thanks, Tim. We delivered Q4 revenue of $134 million, down 6% year-over-year; and we finished the year with $599 million in revenue, an 11% increase versus prior year. We remain in a cyclically depressed macroeconomic environment, particularly in interest-rate sensitive areas such as loans, as well as balance sheet intensive prime lending.

謝謝，蒂姆。我們第四季的營收為 1.34 億美元，年減 6%；今年我們的營收達到 5.99 億美元，比上年成長 11%。我們仍然處於週期性低迷的宏觀經濟環境中，特別是在貸款等利率敏感領域，以及資產負債表密集型優質貸款。

We also ended 2023 with a bit more headwinds in credit cards and personal loans than originally anticipated, causing us to deliver revenue below our previous outlook for the quarter. But we are cautiously optimistic about the macro outlook as well as partner sentiment, and we believe that the beginning of recovery is within sight.

2023 年結束時，信用卡和個人貸款方面的阻力比最初預期要大一些，導致我們的本季收入低於先前的預期。但我們對宏觀前景以及合作夥伴情緒持謹慎樂觀態度，我們相信復甦的開始指日可待。

Let's take a deeper look at the revenue performance during the quarter within each category. Credit cards delivered Q4 revenue of $43 million, declining 18% year-over-year. As we've spoken about previously, the regional banking crisis in the spring of 2023 drove increased balance sheet constraints and issuer conservatism. We believe these dynamics are temporal rather than structural and are weighing on our year-over-year results.

讓我們更深入地了解本季每個類別的收入表現。信用卡第四季營收為 4,300 萬美元，年減 18%。正如我們之前談到的，2023 年春季的地區銀行業危機加劇了資產負債表限制和發行人的保守主義。我們認為這些動態是暫時的而不是結構性的，並且正在影響我們的年比業績。

During Q4, we experienced a higher-than-usual seasonal decline versus Q3 and slightly worse than our expectations, driven by moderately increased levels of issuer conservatism in balance sheet intensive areas such as balance transfer cards. We will continue to leverage our strong top-of-funnel and maintain the discipline to lean back into profitable paid acquisition once we see issuer demand and monetization recover.

在第四季度，我們經歷了比第三季度更高的季節性下降，並且略差於我們的預期，這是由於發行人在資產負債表密集型領域（例如餘額轉帳卡）的保守程度適度提高所致。一旦我們看到發行人需求和貨幣化恢復，我們將繼續利用我們強大的管道頂部並保持紀律，重新轉向有利可圖的付費收購。

For the full year, credit cards delivered $210 million of revenue, roughly flat to the prior year. Loans generated Q4 revenue of $24 million, growing 5% year-over-year. Q4 delivered a larger-than-normal seasonal decline from Q3, primarily driven by incremental lender tightening as delinquency rates continue to rise and personal loans, as well as coming off a strong Q3 in student loan originations. We believe that at this part of the credit cycle, there is a backlog of consumer demand and personal loans as high loan rates have reduced the incentive for consumers to refinance credit card debt.

信用卡全年營收為 2.1 億美元，與前一年基本持平。第四季貸款收入為 2,400 萬美元，年增 5%。與第三季相比，第四季出現了比正常情況更大的季節性下降，這主要是由於拖欠率和個人貸款持續上升導致貸款機構逐漸收緊，以及學生貸款發放第三季度的強勁表現。我們認為，在信貸週期的這個階段，消費者需求和個人貸款出現積壓，因為高貸款利率降低了消費者為信用卡債務再融資的動機。

A declining rate environment, combined with leveraging our improved ability to align consumer demand more effectively with financial service providers, will put us in prime position to take advantage of that demand as it surfaces. While our mortgage vertical remains pressured by the high interest rate environment, we continue to believe that structural improvements we've made to our marketplaces will help us capture meaningful share when the market returns.

利率下降的環境，再加上我們提高了將消費者需求與金融服務提供者更有效地結合起來的能力，將使我們處於有利地位，可以在需求出現時利用它。儘管我們的抵押貸款垂直市場仍然受到高利率環境的壓力，但我們仍然相信，我們對市場所做的結構性改進將幫助我們在市場回歸時獲得有意義的份額。

We also saw a material quarter-over-quarter decline in our student loans vertical as we lapped the back-to-school seasonal impact of loan originations from Q3 and have yet to see a significant pickup in refinance demand. For the full year, loans delivered $102 million of revenue, declining 7% year-over-year.

我們還發現，由於我們克服了第三季貸款發放的返校季節性影響，而且尚未看到再融資需求顯著回升，因此我們的學生貸款垂直季度環比大幅下降。全年貸款帶來的收入為 1.02 億美元，年減 7%。

Beginning this quarter, we have changed our revenue product category presentation and are now providing SMB products revenue as a separate disclosure. SMB products consist of loans, credit cards, and other financial products and services intended for small and mid-size businesses. Previously, SMB products was a component of our other verticals revenue disclosure. But given the relative size and long-term opportunity, you will see us break out their revenue contribution separately. Please refer to our earnings press release for historical revenue data.

從本季開始，我們更改了收入產品類別的表達方式，現在將中小企業產品收入作為單獨揭露。中小企業產品包括貸款、信用卡以及其他中小企業的金融產品和服務。在此之前，中小企業產品是我們其他垂直產業收入揭露的組成部分。但考慮到相對規模和長期機會，您會看到我們單獨細分他們的收入貢獻。請參閱我們的收益新聞稿以了解歷史收入數據。

SMB products delivered Q4 revenue of $28 million, growing 6% year-over-year. While we continue to face some underwriting challenges in our loans category, renewals have started to rebound, signaling a path to a recovering macro environment and validating our vertical integration strategy with the reoccurring nature of our funnel.

中小企業產品第四季營收為 2,800 萬美元，較去年同期成長 6%。雖然我們在貸款類別中繼續面臨一些承保挑戰，但續約已開始反彈，這標誌著宏觀環境復甦的道路，並透過我們漏斗的重複性質驗證了我們的垂直整​​合策略。

Outside of loans, we have also been scaling our additional product offerings for small and mid-size businesses, including credit cards, banking and software to drive overall revenue growth for the quarter. For the full year, SMB products delivered $101 million of revenue, growing 11% year-over-year.

除了貸款之外，我們也一直在擴大為中小型企業提供的額外產品，包括信用卡、銀行和軟體，以推動本季的整體營收成長。全年，中小企業產品營收 1.01 億美元，年增 11%。

Finally, our emerging verticals, formerly named our other verticals revenue product category, finished Q4 with revenue of $39 million, declining 3% year-over-year. As a reminder, after the regrouping of SMB products revenue, emerging verticals consists of areas such as banking, insurance, investing, and international.

最後，我們的新興垂直產業（以前稱為其他垂直產業收入產品類別）在第四季結束時營收為 3,900 萬美元，年減 3%。提醒一下，在中小企業產品收入重組之後，新興垂直產業包括銀行、保險、投資和國際等領域。

Banking grew 5% year-over-year, decelerating versus previous quarters as we lapped our toughest prior-year comparison period, combined with continuing signs of moderating consumer demand. And while we previously mentioned that moderating consumer demand would cause near-term year-over-year declines, demand remained a bit more robust than we had previously anticipated in Q4.

銀行業年增 5%，與前幾季相比有所放緩，因為我們度過了最艱難的去年同期，加上消費者需求持續放緩的跡象。儘管我們先前提到消費者需求放緩將導致近期同比下降，但第四季的需求仍然比我們之前預期的更為強勁。

Growth in emerging verticals was more than offset by headwinds in insurance, which declined 22% year-over-year. Carrier-driven profitability pressures continued through most of the quarter, but we're optimistic that the positive momentum we saw at the end of last year and so far into Q1 means that carriers are willing to increase customer acquisition budgets for the upcoming quarters. For the full year, emerging verticals delivered $187 million of revenue, growing 46% year-over-year.

新興垂直產業的成長被保險業的逆風所抵消，保險業較去年同期下降了 22%。營運商驅動的獲利壓力在本季的大部分時間裡持續存在，但我們樂觀地認為，去年年底和第一季迄今的積極勢頭意味著營運商願意增加未來幾季的客戶獲取預算。全年新興垂直產業營收 1.87 億美元，年增 46%。

Moving on to investments and profitability. During Q4, we earned $29 million of adjusted EBITDA at a 22% margin, roughly flat versus the prior year. For the full year, we earned $98 million of adjusted EBITDA at a 16% margin, roughly a 4-point increase versus 2022 as we were able to deliver leverage across the majority of our cost base.

轉向投資和獲利能力。第四季度，我們調整後 EBITDA 為 2,900 萬美元，利潤率為 22%，與去年基本持平。全年，我們的調整後 EBITDA 為 9,800 萬美元，利潤率為 16%，與 2022 年相比增加了約 4 個百分點，因為我們能夠在大部分成本基礎上提供槓桿作用。

In the fourth quarter, we also earned over $12 million of non-GAAP operating income at a 9% margin. For the full year, we earned $26 million of non-GAAP operating income at a 4% margin. In the fourth quarter, we had a GAAP net loss of $2.3 million, which includes a $7.6 million income tax provision.

第四季度，我們也獲得了超過 1,200 萬美元的非 GAAP 營業收入，利潤率為 9%。全年，我們以 4% 的利潤率賺取了 2,600 萬美元的非 GAAP 營業收入。第四季度，我們的 GAAP 淨虧損為 230 萬美元，其中包括 760 萬美元的所得稅撥備。

Similar to what we've mentioned in previous quarters, we expect to be in a tax expense position for the year and also expect to be a cash taxpayer for the foreseeable future. Please refer to today's earnings press release for a full reconciliation of our GAAP to non-GAAP measures.

與我們在前幾個季度提到的類似，我們預計今年將處於稅收支出狀態，並預計在可預見的未來成為現金納稅人。請參閱今天的收益新聞稿，以了解我們的 GAAP 與非 GAAP 指標的全面調整。

Consumers continue to turn to the Nerds for their money questions. We provided trustworthy guidance to 24 million average monthly unique users in Q4, up 24% year-over-year.

消費者繼續向書呆子尋求金錢問題。第四季度，我們為 2,400 萬平均每月獨立用戶提供了值得信賴的指導，年增 24%。

Growth was a result of strength in many areas across NerdWallet, such as travel, personal loans, and insurance. We are seeing consistently strong consumer demand for both our learn and shop contentthough our learn content has been a larger portion of where consumer demand has more recently concentrated, causing higher MUU growth with some pressure on revenue per MUU.

成長得益於 NerdWallet 在許多領域的實力，例如旅遊、個人貸款和保險。我們看到消費者對我們的學習內容和商店內容的需求持續強勁，儘管我們的學習內容在消費者需求最近集中的部分中佔了很大一部分，導致MUU 增長更高，每MUU 收入面臨一定壓力。

Despite these near-term monetization pressures, we think this helps fuel our ecosystem. In the long run, more MUUs engaging with our learn content builds our brand recognition and trust, and that creates an asset that will ultimately pay dividends.

儘管有這些近期的貨幣化壓力，我們認為這有助於推動我們的生態系統。從長遠來看，更多的 MUU 參與我們的學習內容可以建立我們的品牌認知和信任度，從而創造出最終會帶來紅利的資產。

Onto our financial outlook. As we enter 2024, we believe that we have line of sight to recovering growth in our business. Though some level of uncertainty remains, we plan to continue providing quarterly guidance, and we'll also provide qualitative commentary for full-year expectations.

關於我們的財務前景。進入 2024 年，我們相信我們的業務有望恢復成長。儘管仍然存在一定程度的不確定性，但我們計劃繼續提供季度指導，並且還將為全年預期提供定性評論。

We expect to deliver first-quarter revenue in the range of $155 million to $160 million, which at the midpoint would decline 7% versus prior year, but increase sequentially roughly 18%, indicating the step-up we typically see from Q4 to Q1.

我們預計第一季營收將在1.55 億美元至1.6 億美元之間，中間值將比去年同期下降7%，但環比增長約18%，這表明我們通常會看到從第四季度到第一季度的增長。

To give you more color on our Q1 expectations, we're still facing headwinds related to balance transfer credit cards, while banking demand continues to moderate. We expect a material quarter-over-quarter increase in insurance, and we are also seeing positive momentum in SMB products. But just as a reminder, we'll have a tough Q1 comp in insurance.

為了讓您對我們第一季的預期有更多的了解，我們仍然面臨著與餘額轉帳信用卡相關的阻力，而銀行需求繼續放緩。我們預計保險業務將出現季度環比大幅增長，我們也看到中小企業產品的積極勢頭。但提醒一下，我們在保險方面的第一季業績將會很艱難。

As we look to the rest of the year, we expect to return to double-digit revenue growth during the second half, given recent recovery in SMB products and insurance. The timing of the recovery in areas such as balance transfer cards, combined with how interest rate decreases will impact inversely correlated demand in banking and loans, will influence how high those double-digit growth rates will be. But we're confident that we see signs of progress towards growth reacceleration. And as we experience additional monetization unlocks from our partners, we will lean back into profitable growth acquisition channels.

展望今年剩餘時間，鑑於中小企業產品和保險近期的復甦，我們預計下半年營收將恢復兩位數成長。餘額轉帳卡等領域的復甦時機，加上利率下降將如何影響銀行和貸款的負相關需求，將影響兩位數成長率的高低。但我們有信心看到成長重新加速取得進展的跡象。隨著我們從合作夥伴那裡體驗到更多的貨幣化，我們將重新轉向獲利成長收購管道。

Moving to profitability. We expect Q1 non-GAAP operating income in the range of $5 million to $8 million, or approximately 4% of revenue at the midpoint, roughly a 2-point increase versus prior year. Consistent with what we've mentioned previously, we anticipate that the cadence of our brand spend will be similar to 2023, where the majority of spend will occur during the first three quarters with reduced spend during the fourth. But with this being said, our Q1 brand investments will be lower than last year.

轉向盈利。我們預計第一季非 GAAP 營業收入將在 500 萬美元至 800 萬美元之間，約佔營收中點的 4%，比去年同期成長約 2 個百分點。與我們之前提到的一致，我們預計我們的品牌支出節奏將與 2023 年類似，其中大部分支出將發生在前三個季度，第四季度支出將減少。但話雖如此，我們第一季的品牌投資將低於去年。

For the full year, we plan to deliver increasing margins as a result of slowing growth in our cost base and roughly similar brand spend to 2023, resulting in approximately 6.5% to 8% of revenue for full-year 2024 non-GAAP OI margin. And while our main profitability metric will be non-GAAP OI moving forward, as a continuation of our previous disclosures and commitments, we expect a full-year 2024 adjusted EBITDA margin in the range of 18% to 19.5% of revenue. Aligned with our previous commitments, this outlook range would have us return to 2019 adjusted EBITDA margin levels, while strategically investing in our long-term vision.

就全年而言，由於我們的成本基礎成長放緩以及品牌支出與2023 年大致相似，我們計劃實現更高的利潤率，從而導致2024 年全年非GAAP OI 利潤率約佔收入的6.5% 至8%。雖然我們未來的主要獲利指標將是非 GAAP OI，但作為我們先前的揭露和承諾的延續，我們預計 2024 年全年調整後 EBITDA 利潤率將在營收的 18% 至 19.5% 範圍內。與我們先前的承諾一致，這項展望將使我們恢復到 2019 年調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率水平，同時對我們的長期願景進行策略性投資。

As you may have read in our shareholder letter posted today, on March 4, we are planning to release a video presentation for investors, sharing more detail on our business and vision for NerdWallet as well as our mid- to long-term financial goals. The video will be available on our Investor Relations website, and we look forward to hearing your feedback.

正如您可能在我們今天 3 月 4 日發布的股東信中讀到的那樣，我們計劃向投資者發布視訊演示，分享更多關於我們的業務和 NerdWallet 願景以及我們的中長期財務目標的細節。該影片將在我們的投資者關係網站上提供，我們期待聽到您的回饋。

We enter this year optimistic about the future, while pragmatic on the gradually improving macroeconomic environment. We know we have a responsibility to our users to help them navigate their financial questions, all while maintaining our long-term view, prioritizing trust, and continuing to diversify and improve our product experiences from cycle to cycle.

進入今年，我們對未來持樂觀態度，同時對逐步改善的宏觀經濟環境持務實態度。我們知道，我們有責任幫助我們的用戶解決財務問題，同時保持我們的長期觀點，優先考慮信任，並不斷多樣化和改善我們的產品體驗。

With that, we're ready for questions. Operator?

至此，我們就可以回答問題了。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) James Faucette, Morgan Stanley.

（操作員指示）James Faucette，摩根士丹利。

Great. Sorry about that. I was fumbling with the mute button. Wanted to ask quickly, it sounds like you're seeing some indications that things can improve. And specifically, you mentioned small, medium-size business and insurance and seem pretty confident about that. Can you just describe what is driving your confidence in that, particularly for the second half of the year?

偉大的。對於那個很抱歉。我正在摸索靜音按鈕。想快速詢問，聽起來您看到了一些情況可以改善的跡象。具體來說，您提到了中小型企業和保險，並且似乎對此非常有信心。您能否描述一下是什麼讓您對此充滿信心，尤其是今年下半年？

And I'll just tie on my second question, which is kind of related. In the broader credit market, we've seen lots of comments around prime and subprime credit performance, et cetera. Seems like there may be some improvements there. But in your conversations with your partners, how do you usually see that communicated to you? And what kind of things should we be tracking to see if the potential for the credit part of the market to contribute to the second-half growth is able to materialize? Thanks.

我只想回答我的第二個問題，這是相關的。在更廣泛的信貸市場上，我們看到了許多有關優質和次級信貸表現等的評論。看起來那裡可能會有一些改進。但在您與合作夥伴的對話中，您通常如何看待這些資訊？我們應該追蹤哪些事情，看看市場信貸部分對下半年成長做出貢獻的潛力是否能夠實現？謝謝。

Hey, yeah. Thanks for the question. So I'll take those one piece at a time. I guess in terms of insurance, the inflation-driven insurance industry headwinds continued throughout all of last year and into Q4. So we saw a 22% decline on a year-over-year basis.

嘿，是的。謝謝你的提問。所以我會一次拿一件。我想就保險而言，通膨驅動的保險業逆風從去年全年持續到第四季。因此，我們看到同比下降了 22%。

We started to see a recovery at the end of last year and into Q1, which is represented in our outlook for Q1. Exiting Q1, carriers seem to be expecting a pretty broad-based and durable recovery throughout 2024. So for some context, large parts of the US population today still aren't being served from the perspective of carriers wanting to write home and auto policies.

我們從去年年底開始看到經濟復甦，進入第一季度，這在我們對第一季度的展望中有所體現。結束第一季後，保險公司似乎預計2024 年將出現基礎廣泛且持久的復甦。因此，在某些情況下，從保險公司想要製定家庭和汽車保單的角度來看，今天的大部分美國人口仍然沒有得到服務。

So you can imagine that as this resolves itself, there will be a medium-term tailwind as those markets open back up. And so that's one of the main drivers in terms of our 2024 outlook, where we're expecting double-digit year-over-year growth in the back half. Really that recovery from the worst insurance hard market in a few decades.

因此，你可以想像，隨著這個問題自行解決，隨著這些市場重新開放，中期將會出現順風。因此，這是我們 2024 年展望的主要驅動力之一，我們預計下半年將實現兩位數的年成長。確實是從幾十年來最糟糕的保險市場中復甦的。

And then in terms of small business, I'd say with that one, we saw a lot of progress. We just crossed the three-year anniversary of integrating Fundera. We more than tripled revenue, a lot of success in vertical integration and land and expand within SMB. So really happy with that.

然後就小型企業而言，我想說，我們看到了很多進步。我們剛剛度過了 Fundera 整合三週年紀念日。我們的收入增加了兩倍多，在垂直整合方面取得了巨大成功，並在中小型企業內落地和擴張。對此我真的很高興。

That being said, we're still in a really tough macro right now. A lot of the underwriting is a bit tighter than what we've seen historically. And so we do expect at some point for that to become a tailwind as there's a macro recovery. The timing on that one is a little bit harder to call.

話雖如此，我們目前仍處於非常艱難的宏觀環境。許多承保比我們歷史上看到的要嚴格一些。因此，我們確實預計，隨著宏觀經濟復甦，這將在某個時候成為順風。那個時機有點難以判斷。

And then, yeah, you're certainly right on the commentary around prime consumers. We're hearing the same thing, both in the credit card and the personal lending markets. I'd say what we saw is going into Q4 and throughout probably starting the middle of Q4, there is a bit of a upside surprise in some of the delinquencies in the prime part of the market. Given how strong the employment market was, I think that caught a few people off guard.

然後，是的，您對主要消費者的評論當然是正確的。我們在信用卡和個人借貸市場都聽到了同樣的事情。我想說的是，我們看到的是進入第四季度，並且可能從第四季度中期開始，市場主要部分的一些拖欠行為出現了一些上行驚喜。考慮到就業市場的強勁，我認為這讓一些人措手不及。

And so what I'd say here is that card issuers have pretty robust predictive models, right? Like the good ones can predict almost within minutes of the first payment due date how delinquencies are going to trend a few quarters out. So what we see in terms of underwriting timing is really a reaction to that. And it's been pretty present the majority of the last seven quarters. And so, definitely saw that impacting cards.

所以我在這裡想說的是，發卡機構擁有非常強大的預測模型，對嗎？就像優秀的人幾乎可以在第一次付款到期日的幾分鐘內預測拖欠率將如何發展幾個季度。因此，我們在承保時機方面看到的實際上是對此的反應。在過去七個季度的大部分時間裡，這種情況一直存在。所以，肯定看到了影響卡牌的情況。

I'll say that while delinquencies have overshot 2019 levels, issuers are largely calling out that this is expected normalization and that we've already either seen a peak in delinquencies or that they're kind of expecting a peak by the middle of the year and are in wait-and-see mode in terms of when to get aggressive again. So that could be a tailwind at some point in the future.

我要說的是，雖然拖欠率超過了 2019 年的水平，但發行人大多表示這是預期的正常化，我們要么已經看到拖欠率達到峰值，要么他們預計在今年年中會達到峰值並且對於何時再次變得激進處於觀望狀態。因此，這可能會成為未來某個時候的順風車。

I will say also on the balance transfer side, things are still a little bit balance sheet constrained. So there's some caps there. So that's another potential tailwind at some point down the road.

我還要說的是，在餘額轉移方面，資產負債表仍然受到一些限制。所以那裡有一些上限。因此，這是未來某個時候的另一個潛在的推動力。

Great. Thanks for that, Tim.

偉大的。謝謝你，提姆。

(Operator Instructions) Ralph Schackart, William Blair.

（操作說明）Ralph Schackart、William Blair。

Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. Just on credit cards. Just maybe talk about any recoveries you might be seeing. I think you might have called out maybe some early signs. So any color on that.

午安.感謝您提出我的問題。就用信用卡。只是談談您可能看到的任何康復情況。我想你可能已經指出了一些早期跡象。所以任何顏色都可以。

And maybe something kind of broader just from the credit card issuers. What are they sharing with you just in terms of what they're watching for before they may return back to more normalized levels that you've seen historically? Then I have a follow-up.

也許信用卡發行機構提供了更廣泛的資訊。在他們可能回到你歷史上看到的更正常化的水平之前，他們正在與你分享什麼？然後我有一個後續行動。

Sure, yeah. I think it's largely around -- there's two factors happening, right? Like so in some prime areas, like, say, balance transfer that are a bit more balance sheet intensive, I mean, I think there's non-credit related factors just affecting how many units of demand that balance sheets can handle, right? So I think some of that will resolve itself as we move through the cycle of it.

當然，是的。我認為這主要是——有兩個因素發生，對吧？就像在一些主要領域一樣，例如資產負債表密集程度更高的餘額轉移，我的意思是，我認為存在非信貸相關因素只會影響資產負債表可以處理多少單位的需求，對吧？所以我認為，隨著我們經歷這個循環，其中一些問題將會自行解決。

And then from a credit specific perspective, I think it's really tracking these early delinquency trends and making sure that they've adjusted underwriting appropriately to be comfortable with some of the trajectories there. So I'd really point to this quarter quite a lot of commentary from card issuers on feeling a little bit more optimistic there and eyes forward in terms of recovery.

然後從信貸的具體角度來看，我認為它實際上是在追蹤這些早期拖欠趨勢，並確保他們適當調整承保，以適應其中的一些軌跡。因此，我確實想指出，本季發卡機構發表了許多評論，認為發卡機構感覺更加樂觀，並展望了復甦。

And just maybe a follow-up to that. As we think about credit cards and modeling that for, I guess, Q1, what's sort of contemplated in guidance. I know you can't give specific numbers, but just maybe help us think through some of the puts and takes as we sort of recalibrate our models. Thank you.

也許只是後續行動。當我們考慮信用卡並為第一季建模時，指​​導中會考慮什麼。我知道你不能給出具體的數字，但也許可以幫助我們在重新校準模型時思考一些看跌和看跌的情況。謝謝。

Sure.

當然。

Yeah, let me take that, Tim. I can go over Q1 guidance specifically. So in your question around credit cards and what's contemplated, first, I'll just remind everyone that the guide for Q1 for revenue is $155 million to $160 million, which at the midpoint, would be declining 7% year-over-year, but up 18% quarter over quarter. And some context on that, from Q4 to Q1, we would typically expect to see a material increase quarter over quarter, which in a normal year is driven primarily by consumer demand at the start of the new year, supported by our brand efforts.

是的，讓我接受，提姆。我可以具體回顧一下第一季的指導。因此，在您關於信用卡和預期內容的問題中，首先，我只想提醒大家，第一季的收入指南為 1.55 億至 1.6 億美元，中間值將同比下降 7%，但環比增長 18%。與此相關的一些背景是，從第四季度到第一季度，我們通常預計會出現季度環比大幅增長，在正常年份，這主要是由新年伊始的消費者需求推動的，並得到我們品牌努力的支持。

Last year was a fairly typical Q1 for us. And while we are seeing our typical Q4 to Q1 step-up this year, we are still facing many of the headwinds from prior quarters. And so it becomes a tougher comp year-over-year.

去年對我們來說是相當典型的第一季。雖然我們看到今年第四季到第一季的典型成長，但我們仍然面臨前幾季的許多阻力。因此，它變得逐年變得更加艱難。

So to your question, we are still experiencing headwinds in credit cards, but we have called out that we're starting to see a recovery in areas like insurance and also SMB products. But just as a reminder, insurance is still going to have a tough comp in Q1. So even though we expect a material increase quarter over quarter, the comp year-over-year basis will be tough.

對於你的問題，我們在信用卡領域仍然遇到阻力，但我們已經指出，我們開始看到保險和中小企業產品等領域的復甦。但提醒一下，保險業在第一季的業績仍然會很艱難。因此，儘管我們預計季度環比將出現實質成長，但同比基礎將很艱難。

Yeah. And I'll add on. I guess, credit card specific, as we look at our '24 outlook, it's kind of hard to call exactly when underwriting starts to loosen again. So we're being relatively conservative about that. I would definitely encourage you to look at 2019 seasonality in cards as being a more normal historical year. We saw some pretty unusual patterns in the years following as we recovered from COVID. But, yeah, in 2019, you saw a pretty large sequential decline from Q3 to Q4, and then I think that matches more of a normal seasonality pattern.

是的。我會補充一下。我想，就信用卡而言，當我們審視 24 年的前景時，很難準確判斷承保何時開始再次放鬆。所以我們對此相對保守。我絕對鼓勵您將 2019 年卡片季節性視為更正常的歷史年份。在接下來的幾年裡，當我們從新冠病毒中恢復過來時，我們看到了一些非常不尋常的模式。但是，是的，在 2019 年，你看到從第三季到第四季出現了相當大的連續下降，然後我認為這更符合正常的季節性模式。

Great. Thanks, Tim. Thanks, Lauren.

偉大的。謝謝，蒂姆。謝謝，勞倫。

(Operator Instructions) Ross Sandler, Barclays.

（操作員說明）Ross Sandler，巴克萊銀行。

Tim, you mentioned the challenges in matching in the credit card business that you realized in the fourth quarter. Can you just elaborate a little bit more on that? Was this technical issue on your side or something external? And did you leave any money on the table as a result of this? And can you just walk us through when do you think that'll be resolved?

Tim，您提到了您在第四季度意識到的信用卡業務匹配方面的挑戰。能詳細說明一下嗎？這是您這邊的技術問題還是外部原因？結果你有沒有留下任何錢？你能告訴我們你認為這個問題什麼時候可以解決嗎？

Sure. So, right, I describe us as being matchmakers, right? So we just got some things wrong in Q3 and over earned in terms of our matching algorithm for near and subprime consumers and extrapolated incorrectly from there. But we want to get this right for consumers and financial institutions. So we basically hit pause and rebuild things from the ground up.

當然。所以，對吧，我把我們描述為媒人，對嗎？因此，我們在第三季度出現了一些問題，並且在針對近抵押貸款和次級抵押貸款消費者的匹配演算法方面獲得了超額收益，並從那裡進行了錯誤的推斷。但我們希望為消費者和金融機構做到這一點。所以我們基本上是暫停並從頭開始重建。

And this is not the first time this has happened, right? When you go into a new market, sometimes it takes a few cycles and some feedback to get that matching, right? But we feel like we're back on the right path now. So I'm encouraged going forward.

而且這種事也不是第一次發生了，對吧？當你進入一個新市場時，有時需要幾個週期和一些反饋才能獲得匹配，對嗎？但我們感覺現在又回到了正確的道路上。所以我受到鼓勵繼續前進。

Yeah, maybe I just wanted to clarify the commentary around challenges with matching was not in credit cards, it is in personal loan. So Tim's commentary right now is about personal loans, not cards.

是的，也許我只是想澄清有關配對挑戰的評論不是信用卡，而是個人貸款。所以提姆現在的評論是關於個人貸款，而不是信用卡。

(Operator Instructions) Jed Kelly, Oppenheimer.

（操作員說明）傑德·凱利，奧本海默。

Hey, great. Thanks for taking my questions. Just two. Can you talk about how we should think about margins if marketer demand comes back and how you would lean into it? I assume you wouldn't mind sacrificing some margin if the gross profit dollars make sense. And then how should we think about the overall opportunity in insurance? It's a huge market, but the customer service isn't always the best. So how do you think about leaning into that market and trying to grow your percentage of the overall carrier budget? Thanks.

嘿，太棒了。感謝您回答我的問題。只有兩個。您能否談談如果行銷人員需求回升，我們應該如何考慮利潤率以及您將如何應對？我想如果毛利有意義的話你不會介意犧牲一些利潤。那我們該如何看待保險業的整體機會呢？這是一個巨大的市場，但客戶服務並不總是最好的。那麼，您如何考慮進軍該市場並嘗試增加您在運營商總體預算中所佔的比例？謝謝。

Great. I'll take the first part of your question and then I'll hand it off to Tim for the insurance piece.

偉大的。我將回答你問題的第一部分，然後將其交給蒂姆以獲取保險部分。

I'll just -- to your question around margins, I'll just remind everyone that Tim built NerdWallet for the long term, and this is also how we think about margins. We've been working towards margin accretion that would get us back to and eventually surpass our 2019 adjusted EBITDA levels, which, in the range of our outlook for full-year 2024, we would get back to this year.

對於你關於利潤率的問題，我只是提醒大家，Tim建立 NerdWallet 是為了長期目標，這也是我們對利潤率的看法。我們一直在努力提高利潤率，這將使我們回到並最終超過 2019 年調整後的 EBITDA 水平，在我們對 2024 年全年的展望範圍內，我們今年將回到這一水平。

And we've worked to achieve this through getting leverage in the portion of our cost base that is relatively fixed in nature. That includes, one, hitting a logical ceiling on our brand spend; two, no longer having the step change in G&A expenses as a result of becoming a public company; and three, continuing to gain leverage in areas such as R&D and the organic portion of our sales and marketing. We're really proud that we've been able to deliver consistent margin accretion on an annual basis since our IPO in late 2021, even in difficult macroeconomic environment.

我們努力透過利用本質上相對固定的成本基礎部分來實現這一目標。這包括，第一，達到我們品牌支出的邏輯上限；二、不再因成為上市公司而導致管理費用有階躍變動；第三，繼續在研發以及銷售和行銷的有機部分等領域獲得影響力。我們感到非常自豪的是，自 2021 年底首次公開募股以來，即使在困難的宏觀經濟環境下，我們也能夠每年實現持續的利潤成長。

And our outlook showcases our commitment to continuing this trend. So if the top line picks up faster than what we are currently contemplating, we will clearly lean in on things like variable expenses that we've talked about. So when it's profitable in period, we will lean into things like performance marketing, you could expect those costs to come up. But for the fixed portion of our cost base, I would expect to get leverage out of those over the long term.

我們的展望展示了我們對繼續這一趨勢的承諾。因此，如果收入的成長速度比我們目前預期的要快，我們顯然會傾向於我們已經討論過的可變費用之類的事情。因此，當它在一段時間內實現盈利時，我們將傾向於績效行銷之類的事情，你可以預期這些成本會出現。但對於我們成本基礎的固定部分，我希望從長遠來看能夠從中獲得槓桿作用。

Yeah. Great question on insurance. It's a big strategic question that we're constantly trying to work our way towards. You're right, it's a huge market. There are a lot of challenges in terms of providing consumers with a sensible experience there. All I can say is that we're trying to be creative and exploring a bunch of different avenues and hope to have something to talk about in the coming years there. But it's going to be a long investment.

是的。關於保險的好問題。這是我們不斷努力解決的重大策略問題。你說得對，這是一個龐大的市場。在為消費者提供明智的體驗方面存在著許多挑戰。我只能說，我們正在努力發揮創造力，探索一系列不同的途徑，並希望在未來幾年裡能有一些討論。但這將是一項長期投資。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Youssef Squali, Truist Securities.

（操作員指令）Youssef Squali，Truist 證券公司。

Great. Thank you. A couple of questions. One for Lauren -- maybe both for Lauren. You talked about for full-year adjusted EBITDA margin, the 18% to 19.5% of revenues. So thanks for that. And now the obvious question is what's your base case to get either to the low end or the high end on that in terms of growth? I'm assuming it's a mix and kind of the acceleration in the second half. But any kind of guardrails you can share that for that would be helpful.

偉大的。謝謝。有幾個問題。一個是給勞倫的——也許兩個都是給勞倫的。您談到了全年調整後 EBITDA 利潤率，佔營收的 18% 至 19.5%。所以謝謝你。現在明顯的問題是，在成長方面達到低端或高端的基本情況是什麼？我認為這是下半場加速的混合體。但是您可以分享的任何類型的護欄都會有所幫助。

And kind of related to that, is that also related somehow to changes in the rate environment? Just maybe, Tim, what's your base case for the rates environment as we go through it? Because obviously, it's been very, very fluid in the last four weeks.

與此相關的是，這是否也與利率環境的變化有關？提姆，也許，在我們經歷的過程中，您對利率環境的基本狀況是什麼？因為顯然，過去四個星期的情況非常非常不穩定。

So the first part of your question, you said in terms of full-year adjusted EBITDA. As we said before, we're really proud of the margin accretion that we've been able to continue to show for full year, even despite some volatility in the macro. But what we're expecting in terms of full year on the top line, we said that we currently expect to return to double-digit rates of revenue growth starting in the second half. This would be led by SMB products and insurance.

所以你問題的第一部分是指全年調整後的 EBITDA。正如我們之前所說，儘管宏觀經濟存在一些波動，但我們全年仍能繼續實現利潤率成長，對此我們感到非常自豪。但我們對全年營收的預期是，我們目前預計從下半年開始營收成長率將恢復兩位數。這將由中小企業產品和保險主導。

And I will reiterate what I said in my remarks, though, that the exact timing of the recovery, especially in areas such as balance transfer cards as well as any interest rate-driven demand changes in both banking and loans, will influence how high those double-digit growth rates will be and by when.

不過，我要重申我在演講中所說的話，復甦的確切時機，特別是在餘額轉帳卡等領域，以及銀行和貸款中任何由利率驅動的需求變化，將影響這些復甦的程度。兩位數的成長率將會在何時實現。

Yeah. And in terms of the base case, we're trying to be -- it's hard to call exact timing on a lot of these things. So we're definitely trying to be conservative. I will paint the overall macro picture just as being if there is a soft-landing scenario, that would be pretty ideal for us because what would happen is you'd see easing headwinds in credit cards and our loans business as balance sheet constraints and underwriting loosen.

是的。就基本情況而言，我們正在努力做到——很難對很多事情給出確切的時間安排。所以我們肯定會努力保持保守。我將描繪整體宏觀圖景，就像存在軟著陸場景一樣，這對我們來說非常理想，因為會發生的情況是，隨著資產負債表限制和承保，您會看到信用卡和貸款業務的不利因素有所緩解鬆開。

And you'd also see an increase in refi demand across all lending areas as rates decline. And then we'd also see easing headwinds in our insurance business as inflation continues to moderate and carriers get back on their feet as this pricing flows through.

隨著利率下降，您還會看到所有貸款領域的再融資需求都會增加。然後，隨著通貨膨脹繼續緩和，保險公司隨著定價的變化而重新站穩腳跟，我們的保險業務的阻力也會有所緩解。

So should we experience more of a hard landing scenario, you should expect revenue recovery to take a bit longer, possibly even getting more challenged in the near term. And we'll be prudent with our expense management in order to deliver on our margin commitments. The timing of any material changes in the macro environment could impact shorter-term progress in some of those margin efforts.

因此，如果我們經歷更多的硬著陸情況，你應該預期收入恢復需要更長的時間，甚至可能在短期內面臨更大的挑戰。我們將謹慎對待費用管理，以兌現我們的利潤承諾。宏觀環境發生任何重大變化的時機可能會影響其中一些利潤努力的短期進展。

Thank you. Just one quick clarification, maybe Lauren. When you talk about same brand spend levels in 2024 as in 2023, is that on a percentage basis or is that in aggregate dollars?

謝謝。只是一個快速的澄清，也許是勞倫。當您談論 2024 年與 2023 年相同的品牌支出水準時，是按百分比計算還是以總金額計算？

That's for the full year in absolute dollars.

這是按絕對美元計算的全年數據。

Absolute dollars, okay. Great. Thank you both.

絕對美元，好吧。偉大的。謝謝你們倆。

(Operator Instructions) Justin Patterson, KeyBanc.

（操作員說明）Justin Patterson，KeyBanc。

Thank you very much. Good afternoon. Tim, could you tease out some of your top priorities each year across your big three growth pillars? What can we expect around land and expand, vertical integration, and engagement initiatives? And then I'll have a follow-up for Lauren.

非常感謝。午安.提姆，您能否梳理一下您每年三大成長支柱的一些首要任務？關於土地和擴張、垂直整合和參與計劃，我們可以期待什麼？然後我將為勞倫進行後續報道。

Yeah. Thanks for the question. So those are our three growth pillars, right? I'd say land and expand is really more of our tried-and-true playbook. I mean, we're always pushing on that. In terms of the stuff that's going to be a bit more novel over the coming several years, I think it's really in terms of the vertical integration and the registration and data-driven engagement.

是的。謝謝你的提問。這就是我們的三大成長支柱，對嗎？我想說，土地和擴張其實更像是我們久經考驗的策略。我的意思是，我們一直在推動這一點。就未來幾年將變得更加新穎的東西而言，我認為這實際上是在垂直整合、註冊和數據驅動的參與方面。

So we're thinking really hard about where there's still gaps and customer experiences where we can uniquely play. NerdUp is a great example of that. But also, things like -- we've launched Drive Like a Nerd; we've launched NerdWallet Advisors. So there's a lot of different thought processes that we're exploring and a lot of hypotheses that we're eager to evaluate.

因此，我們正在認真思考哪些方面仍然存在差距，以及我們可以發揮獨特作用的客戶體驗。 NerdUp 就是一個很好的例子。而且，我們推出了「像書呆子一樣駕駛」；我們推出了 NerdWallet Advisors。因此，我們正在探索許多不同的思考過程，並渴望評估許多假設。

Got it. Thanks. And then the follow-up for Lauren. Appreciate the details you gave around just the revenue growth in the second half of the year. I wanted to confirm, was that double-digit growth on the second half as a whole or on a quarterly basis? And then as you're thinking about just the growth vectors in there, how should we think about the puts and takes between user growth versus just brand spend or advertiser spend starting to improve again? Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。然後是勞倫的後續行動。感謝您提供的有關下半年收入增長的詳細資訊。我想確認的是，下半年整體成長還是季度成長兩位數？然後，當您只考慮其中的成長向量時，我們應該如何考慮用戶成長與品牌支出或廣告商支出開始再次改善之間的投入和支出？謝謝。

Sure. So the first part of your question, Justin, was around revenue growth. So what we've said was that we expect to return to double digit rates of growth for revenue year-over-year starting in the second half. And then the second part of the question was, I believe, around MUU growth and user growth as well as brand spend. Is that correct?

當然。賈斯汀，你問題的第一部分是關於收入成長。因此，我們所說的是，我們預計從下半年開始營收年增率將恢復兩位數。我認為，問題的第二部分是關於 MUU 成長、用戶成長以及品牌支出。那是對的嗎？

Yeah. Just thinking about the buckets in there, user growth is obviously well above total revenue growth right now. So just wondering if there's any views off of how users persist versus, say, pricing recovery that's driving that reacceleration?

是的。只要考慮一下其中的各個部分，目前的用戶成長顯然遠高於總收入成長。因此，我想知道對於用戶如何堅持與價格復甦等推動經濟重新加速的問題，是否有任何看法？

Yeah. Let's talk a little bit about MUUs. We're really proud of that growth in Q4. We grew roughly 24% year-over-year from strength in many verticals, both from high levels of consumer intent as well as our success in landing and expanding.

是的。我們來談談 MUU。我們對第四季的成長感到非常自豪。我們在許多垂直領域的實力同比增長了約 24%，這既得益於消費者的高意願，也得益於我們在落地和擴張方面的成功。

Similar to areas where we saw growth in revenue, we see growth in MUUs. You can think of banking and personal loans. And we also saw high consumer interest in areas like travel and investing.

與我們看到收入成長的領域類似，我們也看到了 MUU 的成長。您可以想到銀行和個人貸款。我們也看到消費者對旅行和投資等領域的濃厚興趣。

As we expected, to your point, MUUs grew faster than revenue again in Q4. This trend gives us confidence that consumer demand remains healthy despite ongoing partner conservatism. And we expect that this outperformance of MUUs versus revenue, we expect that to continue into Q1 as we see really strong engagement with our learn content as consumers are continuously looking for unbiased guidance and financial content during these complex macroeconomic times. And despite some of the near-term revenue pressure, we expect that the strength in MUUs, combined with our ability to match consumers with our financial service providers, will accelerate our growth as the macro environment improves.

正如我們所預期的那樣，第四季 MUU 的成長速度再次快於營收的成長。這一趨勢讓我們相信，儘管合作夥伴持續保守，但消費者需求仍保持健康。我們預期 MUU 相對於收入的表現將持續到第一季度，因為我們看到人們對我們的學習內容的參與度非常高，因為消費者在這些複雜的宏觀經濟時期不斷尋求公正的指導和財務內容。儘管近期存在一些收入壓力，但我們預計，隨著宏觀環境的改善，MUU 的實力，加上我們為消費者與金融服務提供者牽線搭橋的能力，將加速我們的成長。

Yeah. I guess just to add on a thought there. Yeah. In past cycles, as the macro recovers, you definitely get this tailwind, as partners are loosening underwriting, they're getting more aggressive around acquisition. So pricing should definitely be a tailwind as well.

是的。我想只是想在那裡添加一個想法。是的。在過去的周期中，隨著宏觀經濟的復甦，你肯定會得到這種順風，因為合作夥伴正在放鬆承保，他們在收購方面變得更加積極。因此，定價絕對應該是有利因素。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Pete Christiansen, Citi.

（操作員指示）Pete Christiansen，花旗銀行。

Thanks. Good evening. Appreciate you answering questions here. I know you called out prime as an issue earlier, and we've heard it in other areas as well. Just curious what you're seeing on the subprime side in terms of partner willingness to extend offers or to invest there. My understanding is that the delinquencies kind of peak there already, things are stabilizing, at least on the subprime, near prime area. Just curious if you're seeing any improving activity there.

謝謝。晚安.感謝您在這裡回答問題。我知道您之前曾指出黃金是一個問題，我們在其他領域也聽過這樣的說法。只是好奇您在次貸方面看到的合作夥伴願意提供報價或在那裡投資的情況。我的理解是，拖欠率已經達到頂峰，情況正在穩定下來，至少在次貸、靠​​近黃金地區是如此。只是好奇您是否看到那裡有任何改進的活動。

So I think certainly, subprime is more stable. We had limited surprises there. I think really the tightening there started probably in the middle of 2022, probably 2Q, 3Q, and incrementally got tighter and tighter. I think that feels like it's on more of a floor.

所以我認為，次級房貸肯定更穩定。我們在那裡的驚喜有限。我認為實際上緊縮政策可能從 2022 年中期開始，可能是第二季、第三季度，逐漸變得越來越緊。我認為這感覺就像是在一個地板上。

And then, Tim, in cards real quick. Just curious, you called that travel still being a nice growth vertical there within cards. Just curious if you can put some color on that in terms of travel-related products and how they're faring on the platform.

然後，提姆，很快就打牌了。只是好奇，你稱旅行在卡牌領域仍然是一個很好的垂直增長。只是好奇您是否可以在旅遊相關產品以及它們在平台上的表現方面添加一些色彩。

Yeah, maybe I'll clarify with that one. So the commentary around travel was the travel vertical as a whole, not related specifically to credit cards, although that is a piece of it. But the commentary was around the user growth and MUU growth, specifically in Q4, and where areas where we saw strength, one of those areas was travel.

是的，也許我會澄清這一點。因此，圍繞旅行的評論是整個旅行垂直領域，與信用卡無關，儘管這是其中的一部分。但評論是圍繞用戶成長和 MUU 成長，特別是在第四季度，我們看到優勢的領域之一是旅遊。

Okay.

好的。

Yeah. So we've got a lot of great content and insights around travel. And I think it's an amazing way to get in front of users and introduce them the NerdWallet and reengage them as well.

是的。因此，我們有很多關於旅行的精彩內容和見解。我認為這是一種神奇的方式，可以到達用戶面前並向他們介紹 NerdWallet 並重新吸引他們。

That's super helpful. Thank you both.

這非常有幫助。謝謝你們倆。

Thank you. I would now like to turn the call back over to management for any closing remarks.

謝謝。我現在想將電話轉回給管理階層，讓他們發表結束語。

Thanks all for your questions today. As always, I'd like to thank the Nerds for their hard work in 2023. Their efforts to drive progress towards our vision last year mean we are well set up for 2024 and beyond.

感謝大家今天提出的問題。一如既往，我要感謝書呆子們在 2023 年的辛勤工作。他們去年為推動我們的願景取得進展所做的努力意味著我們為 2024 年及以後做好了充分的準備。

To learn more about NerdWallet's business and vision, mark your calendars for March 4, when we plan to release a new investor video on our IR website. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts. With that, we'll see you next quarter.

要了解有關 NerdWallet 業務和願景的更多信息，請在您的日曆上標記 3 月 4 日，屆時我們計劃在我們的 IR 網站上發布新的投資者視頻。我期待聽到您的想法。就這樣，我們下個季度再見。

Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。