Paycom Software Inc (PAYC) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. My name is Lauren, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Paycom's third quarter 2025 financial results conference call.

午安.我叫勞倫，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線生。在此，我謹代表Paycom公司歡迎各位參加2025年第三季財務業績電話會議。

(Operator Instructions) I will now turn the call over to James Samford, Head of Investor Relations. You may begin.

（操作員指示）現在我將把電話轉交給投資者關係主管詹姆斯·薩姆福德。你可以開始了。

Thank you, and welcome to Paycom's earnings conference call for the third quarter of 2025. Certain statements made on this call that are not historical facts, including those related to our future plans, objectives and expected performance, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements represent our outlook only as of the date of this conference call.

謝謝，歡迎參加Paycom 2025年第三季財報電話會議。本次電話會議中所做的某些陳述並非歷史事實，包括與我們未來計畫、目標和預期績效相關的陳述，均屬於 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》所界定的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述僅代表我們截至本次電話會議之日的看法。

While we believe any forward-looking statements made on this call are reasonable, actual results may differ materially because the statements are based on our current expectations and subject to risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are discussed in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K. You should refer to and consider these factors when relying on such forward-looking information.

雖然我們認為本次電話會議中所做的任何前瞻性陳述都是合理的，但實際結果可能與預期有重大差異，因為這些陳述是基於我們目前的預期，並且受到風險和不確定性的影響。這些風險和不確定性已在提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中進行了討論，包括我們最新的 10-K 表格年度報告。在依賴此類前瞻性資訊時，您應該參考並考慮這些因素。

Any forward-looking statement made speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we do not undertake and expressly disclaim any obligation to update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

任何前瞻性聲明僅代表其作出之日的觀點，除適用法律要求外，我們不承擔任何更新或修改前瞻性聲明的義務，無論是因為新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。

Also during today's call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income and certain adjusted expenses. We use these non-GAAP financial measures to review and assess our performance and for planning purposes. A reconciliation schedule showing GAAP versus non-GAAP results is included in the press release that we issued after the close of the market today and is available on our website at investors.paycom.com.

在今天的電話會議中，我們也將提及一些非GAAP財務指標，包括調整後的EBITDA、非GAAP淨收入和一些調整後的費用。我們使用這些非公認會計準則財務指標來審查和評估我們的績效以及用於規劃目的。在今天市場收盤後發布的新聞稿中，我們附有一份顯示 GAAP 與非 GAAP 結果的調整表，該表可在我們的網站 investors.paycom.com 上查閱。

I will now turn the call over to Chad Richison, Paycom's CEO and President. Chad?

現在我將把電話交給 Paycom 的執行長兼總裁 Chad Richison。查德?

Thanks, James, and thank you to everyone joining our call today. I'll briefly comment on third quarter results and recent product innovations. I'll then turn it over to Bob for a review of our third quarter results and our full year guidance. We will then take questions. Let's get started.

謝謝詹姆斯，也感謝今天所有參加我們電話會議的朋友們。我將簡要評論第三季業績和近期產品創新。然後我會把這項工作交給鮑勃，讓他審查我們第三季的業績和全年業績預期。接下來我們將回答問題。我們開始吧。

Third quarter results came in strong with double-digit organic recurring revenue growth and continued margin expansion, setting us up to exceed our full year financial plan for 2025. In addition to strong financials, we also executed the launch of our award-winning and industry-first command-driven AI product, IWant. Now enabled across our entire client base, IWant is transforming how our clients and their employees engage with their HR and payroll data. IWant has already successfully responded to millions of queries from employees, managers and executives, extending the power of our full solution automation.

第三季業績強勁，有機經常性營收實現兩位數成長，利潤率持續擴大，這為我們超額完成 2025 年全年財務計畫奠定了基礎。除了強勁的財務表現外，我們還成功推出了屢獲殊榮的業界首創的命令驅動型人工智慧產品 IWant。IWant 現在已在我們所有客戶群中啟用，它正在改變我們的客戶及其員工與人力資源和薪資資料互動的方式。IWant 已成功回應了來自員工、經理和高階主管的數百萬個查詢，擴展了我們全套解決方案自動化的功能。

We are seeing a dramatic uptick in usage, especially among new users, which include the C-suite and newly onboarded employees of our clients. The intuitive nature of IWant means new employees no longer need training on the system and are able to utilize the full solution upon hire. I'm particularly encouraged by the engagement we are seeing among the C-suite. Traditionally, executives have not been daily users of HCM solutions. With IWant, thousands of C-suite executives are already pulling data and insights directly from the Paycom system and the feedback has been phenomenal. I'm confident that command-driven functionality is the future for all software. Beti is another example of automation that delivers significant ROI and is driving new sales.

我們看到使用量急劇上升，尤其是在新用戶中，其中包括我們客戶的高階主管和新入職員工。IWant 的直覺性意味著新員工不再需要接受系統培訓，入職後即可使用全部解決方案。我尤其感到鼓舞的是，我們看到高階主管的積極參與。傳統上，高階主管並不是HCM解決方案的日常用戶。借助 IWant，數千名 C 級主管已經直接從 Paycom 系統中提取資料和見解，而且回饋非常出色。我堅信，命令列驅動的功能是所有軟體的未來發展方向。Beti 是另一個自動化帶來顯著投資回報率並推動新銷售的例子。

This award-winning payroll solution reduces payroll processing labor by up to 90%, while also cutting the time spent correcting payroll errors by up to 85%. Beti not only protects employees against insufficient funds by ensuring the payroll is correct prior to payday, it also eliminates human interaction with nonrevenue-generating tasks associated with voided payments, check reversals, ledger updates and post-payroll adjustments, just to name a few.

這款屢獲殊榮的薪資解決方案可將薪資處理人力減少高達 90%，同時可將修正薪資錯誤所花費的時間減少高達 85%。Beti 不僅透過確保發薪日之前薪資計算正確來保護員工免受資金不足的困擾，而且還消除了與作廢付款、支票沖銷、賬簿更新和工資後調整等相關的非創收任務的人為幹預，這僅僅是其中幾個例子。

Beti also enhances payroll compliance, ensuring accurate tax withholding, along with wage and hour accuracy, which reduces employer liability because employees have control over the accuracy of their check. Additionally, automation and perfect payroll with Beti is also attracting former clients back to Paycom. Recently, two clients who were not previous Beti users came back to Paycom, thanks to Beti.

Beti 還提高了工資合規性，確保準確的稅款扣繳以及工資和工時的準確性，從而降低了雇主的責任，因為員工可以控制自己工資的準確性。此外，Beti 的自動化和完美的薪資管理功能也吸引著 Paycom 的老客戶重新回到 Paycom。最近，有兩位之前並非 Beti 用戶的客戶透過 Beti 重新使用 Paycom。

One of these was a large auto group who after leaving Paycom had numerous issues processing multiple payrolls across their more than 25 locations that impacted their employees. They quickly realized the mistake they made and reached out to us to come back. Upon the return, they were quick to adopt Beti because of the payroll automation and paycheck transparency.

其中一家是大型汽車集團，在離開 Paycom 後，他們在 25 多個地點處理多個薪資單時遇到了許多問題，影響了員工的薪資發放。他們很快意識到自己犯的錯誤，並聯繫我們希望重新加入我們。回國後，他們很快就採用了 Beti，因為它實現了工資自動化和工資透明化。

The second example of an organization returning was a manufacturing company whose employees quickly voiced frustration over the switch away from Paycom, especially managers who lost access to the information they were accustomed to, resulting in a slowdown in revenue-generating work. This organization pointed to Beti as a significant reason for the return and a game changer with 100% accurate payrolls, thanks to Beti identifying and notifying employees of items that need attention prior to payday.

第二個組織回歸的例子是一家製造公司，該公司的員工很快就對放棄 Paycom 系統表示不滿，尤其是管理人員，他們失去了對以往習慣的信息的訪問權限，導致創收工作放緩。該組織指出，Beti 是其回歸的重要原因，並且憑藉 100% 準確的工資單改變了遊戲規則，這要歸功於 Beti 能夠在發薪日之前識別並通知員工需要注意的事項。

Beti continues to be a powerful differentiator for us in the market as we continue to drive even more automation and deliver very strong ROI to our clients. To facilitate the automation experience, including IWant and future AI developments in the pipeline, we significantly expanded our data center capabilities, spending roughly $100 million of AI-focused CapEx on our Phoenix and Oklahoma City data centers. We front-loaded this CapEx to match the timing of our IWant rollout in Q3. Owning and operating advanced data centers is a sustainable competitive advantage for Paycom, particularly for clients who have reservations about opening up their critical data to external LLMs.

Beti 仍然是我們在市場上的強大差異化優勢，因為我們將繼續推進更多自動化，並為我們的客戶帶來非常強勁的投資報酬率。為了促進自動化體驗，包括 IWant 和未來正在開發的 AI，我們大幅擴展了資料中心能力，在鳳凰城和俄克拉荷馬城的資料中心投入了約 1 億美元的 AI 專項資本支出。我們提前投入了這筆資本支出，以配合我們在第三季推出 IWant 的時間表。擁有並經營先進的資料中心是 Paycom 的可持續競爭優勢，尤其對於那些不願將關鍵資料開放給外部 LLM 的客戶而言更是如此。

IWant hosted by Paycom only draws from Paycom's single database, which eliminates conflicts created by inconsistent or duplicative external data sets, significantly improving data integrity and the quality of the user experience. Thanks to our product innovation and our focus on world-class service, client satisfaction trends remain strong. We provide high-touch personal service and our clients appreciate our service levels now more than ever.

由 Paycom 託管的 IWant 僅從 Paycom 的單一資料庫中提取數據，從而消除了不一致或重複的外部資料集造成的衝突，顯著提高了資料完整性和使用者體驗品質。由於我們的產品創新和對世界級服務的專注，客戶滿意度持續保持強勁成長。我們提供貼心周到的個人化服務，客戶現在比以往任何時候都更加認可我們的服務水準。

We complement our high-touch service model with full solution automation, which drives service operation efficiency. As a result, we've seen a 20% to 30% year-over-year decline in internal tickets and inbound client call volume. These are positive influencers on client satisfaction. With our strong third quarter results and the outlook for the remainder of 2025, we are set to deliver a milestone year with over $2 billion in total revenues, all through organic growth and near record level adjusted EBITDA margins.

我們以全方位解決方案自動化來完善我們的高觸感服務模式，從而提高服務營運效率。因此，我們看到內部工單和客戶來電數量比去年同期下降了 20% 至 30%。這些因素對客戶滿意度有正面影響。憑藉強勁的第三季業績和 2025 年剩餘時間的展望，我們有望實現具有里程碑意義的一年，總收入超過 20 億美元，全部來自內生成長和接近歷史最高水準的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率。

Paycom has been leading our industry in innovation and client ROI achievement since we were founded. Now with automated products like IWant, Beti and GONE, we are well positioned for continued strong performance in the future. I want to thank all of our employees for their consistent contribution to Paycom's success and also thank our clients for trusting us to deliver unmatched value through full solution automation.

自公司成立以來，Paycom 一直引領著業界的創新和客戶投資報酬率的實現。現在有了 IWant、Beti 和 GONE 等自動化產品，我們已做好充分準備，在未來繼續保持強勁的業績。我要感謝所有員工為 Paycom 的成功所做的持續貢獻，也要感謝我們的客戶信任我們，讓我們透過全面的解決方案自動化為他們提供無與倫比的價值。

With that, let me turn it over to Bob.

那麼，現在把麥克風交給鮑伯。

Thank you, Chad. Before I review our third quarter 2025 results and updated outlook for 2025, I'd like to remind everyone that my comments related to certain financial measures will be on a non-GAAP basis. We delivered strong third quarter results with total revenues of $493 million, up 9.1% over the comparable prior year period and recurring and other revenues of $467 million, up 10.6% year-over-year. Interest on funds held for clients declined 11% year-over-year to $27 million in the third quarter of 2025.

謝謝你，查德。在回顧我們 2025 年第三季業績和更新後的 2025 年展望之前，我想提醒大家，我對某些財務指標的評論將以非 GAAP 為基礎。我們第三季業績表現強勁，總營收達 4.93 億美元，比上年同期成長 9.1%；經常性營收和其他營收達 4.67 億美元，較去年同期成長 10.6%。2025 年第三季度，為客戶持有的資金利息年減 11%，至 2,700 萬美元。

GAAP net income in the quarter was $111 million or $1.96 per diluted share based on 56 million shares. Included in GAAP net income is a tax-adjusted onetime gain of approximately $26 million or $0.47 per diluted share related to the modification of our naming rights agreement. Non-GAAP net income for the third quarter increased 17% year-over-year to $110 million or $1.94 per diluted share.

本季GAAP淨利為1.11億美元，即每股攤薄收益1.96美元（基於5,600萬股股票計算）。GAAP 淨收入包含與修改冠名權協議相關的約 2,600 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 0.47 美元的稅後一次性收益。第三季非GAAP淨利年增17%至1.1億美元，即每股攤薄收益1.94美元。

Profitability continues to increase as we realize operational efficiencies and deliver consistent margin expansion. Even with the 11% decline in interest on funds held by clients in the third quarter, our robust business model produced a 13% year-over-year increase in adjusted EBITDA to $194 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin in the quarter was 39%, representing a 150 basis point increase over the prior year period.

隨著營運效率的提高和利潤率的持續成長，獲利能力不斷提高。即使第三季客戶持有的資金利息下降了 11%，我們穩健的商業模式仍使調整後的 EBITDA 年成長 13%，達到 1.94 億美元。本季調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 39%，較上年同期成長 150 個基點。

Margin strength in the quarter was driven by automation and operating efficiencies in service, support and in G&A. As we indicated in our last earnings call, we ramped up marketing spend in the third quarter to support our product and brand strategies, including marketing related to our recent launch of IWant. Feedback has been very positive, and we look forward to seeing the benefits from our marketing initiatives in the quarters to come.

本季利潤率的強勁成長得益於服務、支援和一般及行政管理方面的自動化和營運效率的提高。正如我們在上次財報電話會議上所指出的，我們在第三季度加大了行銷支出，以支持我們的產品和品牌策略，包括與我們最近推出的 IWant 相關的行銷。回饋非常積極，我們期待在接下來的幾個季度看到我們的行銷措施帶來的成效。

We continue to invest in the areas of sales, personal service, new client operations and our product. With our solid Q3 results, we are on track to deliver on our full year plan for double-digit organic recurring and other revenue growth and expanding adjusted EBITDA margins. Our single database and our owned and operated data centers are competitive differentiators that enable us to rapidly develop and deploy new automations to benefit all our clients.

我們將持續增加對銷售、個人服務、新客戶營運和產品等方面的投入。憑藉穩健的第三季業績，我們預計將實現全年計劃，即實現兩位數的有機經常性收入和其他收入成長，以及擴大調整後 EBITDA 利潤率。我們擁有單一資料庫和自有營運的資料中心，這是我們的競爭優勢，使我們能夠快速開發和部署新的自動化技術，從而使所有客戶受益。

During the quarter, we launched our most advanced automation solution ever, IWant, which is now enabled to our entire client base. To support IWant, we front-loaded a significant CapEx investment in advanced AI hardware and equipment within our data centers. More specifically, we invested approximately $100 million into our data centers, and that spend is now largely complete. This investment provides us a multiyear capacity runway to support our AI initiatives.

本季度，我們推出了迄今為止最先進的自動化解決方案 IWant，目前已向我們的所有客戶啟用。為了支援 IWant，我們預先投入了大量資本支出，用於在資料中心內購買先進的人工智慧硬體和設備。更具體地說，我們已在資料中心方面投資了約 1 億美元，目前這項投資已基本完成。這項投資為我們提供了多年發展所需的產能，以支持我們的人工智慧計畫。

Over the last two months, we repurchased $319 million of common stock in the open market, buying back over 1.5 million shares or almost 3% of shares outstanding as of the end of August 2025. Since the beginning of 2023, we have returned over $1 billion to shareholders through our buyback and dividend program.

在過去的兩個月裡，我們在公開市場上回購了價值 3.19 億美元的普通股，回購了超過 150 萬股，約佔截至 2025 年 8 月底已發行股份的 3%。自 2023 年初以來，我們透過股票回購和分紅計畫已向股東返還了超過 10 億美元。

During that period, we repurchased 4.1 million shares of common stock for $806 million or approximately 7% of our 2022 year-end shares outstanding. We paid approximately $213 million in dividends. We still have approximately $1.1 billion remaining under our buyback authorization as of October 31, 2025, and a revolving credit facility of $1 billion available for us to execute on. Earlier this week, the Board approved our quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share payable in mid-December.

在此期間，我們以 8.06 億美元的價格回購了 410 萬股普通股，約占我們 2022 年底流通股的 7%。我們支付了約 2.13 億美元的股息。截至 2025 年 10 月 31 日，我們仍有約 11 億美元的股票回購授權額度，我們還有 10 億美元的循環信貸額度可供使用。本週早些時候，董事會批准了每股 0.375 美元的季度股息，將於 12 月中旬支付。

Even with these significant uses of cash in the quarter, our balance sheet remains very strong. We ended the third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $375 million and no debt. The average daily balance on funds held for clients was approximately $2.5 billion in the third quarter of 2025, up 9% over the prior year period.

即使本季現金使用量較大，我們的資產負債表依然非常穩健。第三季末，我們持有現金及現金等價物 3.75 億美元，且無任何債務。2025 年第三季度，客戶資金的平均每日餘額約為 25 億美元，比去年同期成長 9%。

Now let me turn to guidance for 2025. Based on our strong year-to-date results, we are well positioned to meet our full year revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance ranges. We continue to expect total revenue to be between $2.045 billion and $2.055 billion, up 9% year-over-year at the midpoint of the range. Within revenues, we expect organic full year recurring and other revenue to be up 10% year-over-year and interest on funds held for clients to be down 10% year-over-year to $113 million, assuming one additional rate cut later this year.

現在讓我談談2025年的指導方針。根據我們今年迄今的強勁業績，我們完全有能力實現全年營收和調整後 EBITDA 的預期目標。我們仍然預計總收入將在 20.45 億美元至 20.55 億美元之間，按區間中點計算，年增 9%。在收入方面，我們預計全年有機經常性收入和其他收入將年增 10%，而為客戶持有的資金利息將年減 10% 至 1.13 億美元（假設今年稍後再降息一次）。

Our full year adjusted EBITDA guidance range is $872 million to $882 million, representing year-over-year adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of 160 basis points to near record levels at approximately 43% at the midpoint of the range. Other forward-looking items include full year GAAP and non-GAAP tax rates of 27% and 26%, respectively, and stock compensation of approximately 7% of revenues.

我們全年調整後 EBITDA 指引範圍為 8.72 億美元至 8.82 億美元，這意味著調整後 EBITDA 利潤率同比擴大 160 個基點，接近歷史最高水平，在指引範圍的中點約為 43%。其他前瞻性項目包括全年 GAAP 和非 GAAP 稅率分別為 27% 和 26%，以及約佔收入 7% 的股票補償。

We delivered strong results in the third quarter and reinvested our capital into data centers, while at the same time, returning significant cash to shareholders through buybacks and dividends. 2025 has been a strong year, and we are well positioned for a robust 2026 and beyond.

我們在第三季取得了強勁的業績，並將資金再投資於資料中心，同時透過股票回購和分紅向股東返還了大量現金。 2025年是碩果累累的一年，我們已為2026年及以後的穩健發展做好了充分準備。

With that, we will open the line for questions. Operator?

接下來，我們將開放提問通道。操作員？

Raimo Lenschow, Barclays.

雷莫·倫肖，巴克萊銀行。

Perfect. Chad, one question I get a lot from investors here at the moment is that historically, your beat levels were a little bit higher. Can you speak a little bit what you're seeing? Is it in terms of economy kind of, et cetera, that might change the situation there because that we kind of -- you get used to a certain track record. It doesn't -- and this looks like a slight departure from them.

完美的。查德，目前我經常從投資者那裡聽到的一個問題是，從歷史數據來看，你的業績超預期水準要高一些。你能簡單描述一下你所看到的嗎？是否在經濟等方面，這可能會改變那裡的情況，因為我們有點——你會習慣於某種既定的業績記錄。並非如此——而且這看起來與他們之前的風格略有不同。

Yes. Well, 2025, we did change the way we guide. We broke out recurring revenue. We broke out our interest tax. And we provided a wider range at the beginning. I would point out that since providing that initial range that revenues raised by $25 million and adjusted EBITDA is raised by $47 million at the midpoint so far this year.

是的。嗯，到了2025年，我們確實改變了指導方式。我們單獨列出了經常性收入。我們單獨列出了利息稅。而且我們一開始提供的產品範圍更廣。我想指出的是，自從給出最初的範圍以來，今年迄今為止的收入增加了 2500 萬美元，調整後的 EBITDA 中位數增加了 4700 萬美元。

So I know that people might want a little bit different type of number. I will say that I'm very proud of the hard work that we've done and are doing. And I believe the accomplishments that we've made both this year and last year really set us up for a strong foundation for our future growth opportunities. So I would say that we didn't really guide to beat by certain amounts. I would say that we came out with a good guide. And then throughout the year, we were able to raise, and I feel like 2025 is going to be a good year for us.

所以我知道有些人可能想要一些不同類型的號碼。我必須說，我為我們已經完成和正在完成的辛勤工作感到非常自豪。我相信，我們今年和去年的成就，為我們未來的發展機會奠定了堅實的基礎。所以我覺得我們並沒有刻意追求以特定比分獲勝。我認為我們找到了一位不錯的嚮導。然後，在這一年中，我們籌集了資金，我覺得 2025 年對我們來說將會是美好的一年。

Okay. Perfect. And then what -- in terms of IWant that was one of the highlights from the HR Tech Conference that we saw there. How does that drive extra conversation for you? Because that was -- you were very early in the market. It seems like you're relatively unique in the market. What do you see in terms of what the sales guys are reporting back to you in terms of how that helps in terms of lead generation, pipeline build, et cetera?

好的。完美的。然後呢——就 IWant 而言，這是我們在人力資源技術大會上看到的亮點之一。這如何為你帶來更多對話機會？因為那時——你很早就進入市場了。看來你在市場上比較獨特。從銷售人員的回饋來看，您在潛在客戶開發、銷售通路建立等方面看到了哪些幫助？

Yes. So while we're seeing a complete change as new employees are added on to our system. Most of them are utilizing IWant versus any level of navigation. We've been able to engage the C-suites into the system again. The types of users at the C-suite level and administrative level at some level needed the information and was always able to receive information through others that work for them. But with IWant, they're able to do it directly. I mean as far as being first, I've heard people say they have AI. I've seen a brochure.

是的。隨著新員工加入我們的系統，我們正在見證一場徹底的變革。他們中的大多數人使用的是 IWant，而不是任何級別的導航。我們已經能夠再次讓高階主管參與這個體系。高階主管和一定層級的管理人員需要這些資訊，並且總是能夠透過為他們工作的其他人獲得資訊。但藉助 IWant，他們可以直接做到這一點。我的意思是，就第一而言，我聽說有人說他們擁有人工智慧。我看過一份宣傳冊。

We don't experience that when we're working with their clients. And our AI initiatives would have cost us for our full capacity opportunity about $25 million a quarter. So we've spent about $100 million this year setting it up ourselves, which we've done all of our own database and our own data centers since 1998. So I don't know who our competitors are using for AI, but it sounds like they got a really good deal on it.

我們在與他們的客戶合作時並沒有遇到這種情況。而我們的人工智慧計畫若要充分發揮其潛力，每季將耗資約 2,500 萬美元。所以今年我們花了大約 1 億美元來建構這個系統，自 1998 年以來，我們一直都是自己建置資料庫和資料中心。所以我不知道我們的競爭對手用的是什麼人工智慧技術，但聽起來他們好像拿到了非常優惠的價格。

Mark Marcon, Baird.

馬克馬爾孔，貝爾德。

With regards to IWant, I also demoed it at HR Tech with a group of investors, and I thought it was really slick. I'm wondering, can you talk a little bit more about like what you're seeing in terms of the usage pattern? You mentioned that you're seeing more executives using it. But like how frequently you've got some pretty good data capture in terms of being able to track how people are using it. Like how broad is it at this point? How many times are you seeing executives using it? Are all of them using it? And a little bit more just on the -- in terms of what you're hearing from the field in terms of sales with regards to the potential for the selling season with it?

關於 IWant，我也在 HR Tech 大會上向一群投資者進行了演示，我覺得它非常出色。我想請您再詳細談談您觀察到的使用模式方面的情況？你提到你看到越來越多的高階主管在使用它。但是，在追蹤人們如何使用它方面，你經常能獲得相當不錯的數據收集。目前來看，它的範圍有多廣？你看到高階主管使用過幾次？他們都在用嗎？還有一點要補充的是──就您從銷售第一線了解到的情況而言，您對銷售季的潛力有何看法？

Yes. And so when you think of IWant, you think of it as an easier way to access the value that's there. A lot of what we're focused on right now is decisioning automation and full automation of our system just due to decision fatigue that's out there right now everywhere. It's not that they're tired of making decisions. In many cases, they've just given up. And so when you think of IWant, you think of it as an easy way to access that value. In answer to your question, it changed -- if you were a current user of our system and you were used to going in utilizing it, well, it's an easy-to-use system already.

是的。因此，當您想到 IWant 時，您會把它看作是獲取現有價值的一種更簡單的方式。我們現在關注的重點是決策自動化和系統的全面自動化，這主要是因為現在到處都有決策疲勞問題。並不是他們厭倦了做決定。很多情況下，他們已經放棄了。因此，當您想到 IWant 時，您會想到它是獲取該價值的簡單方法。回答你的問題，情況已經改變了——如果你是我們系統的現有用戶，並且你習慣於使用它，那麼，它已經是一個易於使用的系統了。

And so it changed your behavior a little bit from that standpoint and kind of widen the aperture on what you're able to do. But if you're a new user being added on to our system, meaning you're a new employee, meaning you're just now gaining access to this system, it's your predominant way to use our software. And so as we look into the future, I would expect we would see more and more people utilizing IWant as a way to access and navigate through our system in order to make changes and receive information than what you would -- those that are actually navigating through the traditional way.

因此，從這個角度來看，它稍微改變了你的行為，也擴大了你所能做的事情的範圍。但如果您是新用戶，即將加入我們的系統，也就是說您是新員工，也是說您剛剛獲得訪問此系統的權限，那麼這將是您使用我們軟體的主要方式。因此，展望未來，我預計會有越來越多的人使用 IWant 來存取和瀏覽我們的系統，以便進行更改和接收訊息，而不是像現在這樣透過傳統方式進行瀏覽。

Great. And then can you talk a little bit about your cost of service? If we take a look at your operating cost of revenue, it had a pretty nice sequential decline, a significant decline on a year-over-year basis. Can you talk a little bit about those efficiencies? And then I -- there were some press reports with regards to some changes. Are those going -- just in terms of personnel, are those falling into the fourth quarter? And how should we think about that?

偉大的。那麼，您能否簡單談談貴公司的服務費用？如果我們看一下您的營業成本收入比，會發現它環比下降幅度相當可觀，比去年同期下降幅度也相當顯著。能談談這些效率提升方面的狀況嗎？然後——有一些關於一些變化的新聞報導。就人員而言，這些變動是否會進入第四季？我們該如何看待這個問題？

Yes. I mean any changes that we've had this will primarily -- the benefit for that we will receive in 2026. Of course, we're very aggressive on what we're doing now, focused on our growth and focused on other initiatives. And so I'm not saying all that will fall into next year, but we have that there. And look, we've got a backlog of development that's either already come out or is in the process of coming out, which led us to reduce mostly administrative by about 500 people.

是的。我的意思是，我們所做的任何改變，其主要益處將在 2026 年顯現。當然，我們現在做事非常積極進取，專注於自身發展和其他措施。所以，我並不是說所有的事情都會在明年發生，但我們確實有這方面的情況。而且，我們積壓了許多已經發布或正在發布的開發項目，這導致我們裁減了大約 500 名員工，其中大部分是行政人員。

And I just will say, I mean, letting people go for no fault of their own as a founder of this company, I mean, that just makes me sick of my stomach. I don't expect we'll go through that again. We do have plenty of work for people. But what I will say is we have always and will always seek to automate administrative tasks that slow down the flow or accuracy of data and information, but it doesn't always materialize into reduction of staff. And so we've always been focused on becoming more efficient in how we do things. And you're already seeing that materialize prior to any of these reduction impacts on our numbers.

我只想說，身為這家公司的創辦人，無緣無故地解僱員工，這讓我感到噁心和反胃。我不認為我們會再經歷那種事。我們這裡有很多工作機會。但我想說的是，我們一直並將繼續尋求自動化那些會減慢數據和資訊流動或準確性的行政任務，但這並不總是能轉化為人員減少。因此，我們一直致力於提升做事效率。而且，在這些削減措施對我們的數據產生任何影響之前，您就已經看到這種情況出現了。

Steven Enders, Citi.

Steven Enders，花旗集團。

Okay. Great. This is George Kurosawa on for Steve. Just wanted to follow up on the demand environment. If you could characterize what you saw out there in terms of sales cycles, retention, et cetera. Any color commentary would be great.

好的。偉大的。這裡是喬治黑澤，為您報道史蒂夫。想了解一下市場需求狀況。如果可以的話，請從銷售週期、客戶留存率等方面描述您所看到的市場狀況。任何精彩的評論都會很棒。

Yes. Demand remains strong. I mean we have a very differentiated product. We're going at it a different way. And so demand remains strong. I mean we still have less than 5% of the total addressable market even here just in the US. And so we create the demand that's available to us. We do continue to capture it. We do talk about retention once a year. We'll be reporting that next year. I will say how proud I've been of our people and all the work that we're doing internally, and they know what we're doing. And we do expect all this work to have a meaningful impact on the value that clients are achieving. And then in turn, over time, we would expect that to have a favorable impact on retention as well.

是的。需求依然強勁。我的意思是，我們的產品具有很強的差異化。我們採取了不同的方法。因此，需求依然強勁。我的意思是，即使只在美國，我們也只佔潛在市場的不到 5%。因此，我們創造了我們所擁有的需求。我們會繼續捕捉它。我們每年都會討論一次員工留存率問題。我們明年會對此進行報道。我要說，我為我們的員工以及我們在內部所做的一切工作感到多麼自豪，他們也知道我們在做什麼。我們期望所有這些工作都能對客戶所獲得的價值產生有意義的影響。進而，隨著時間的推移，我們預期這也會對用戶留存率產生正面影響。

Okay. Great. And then I wanted to follow up on the $100 million in CapEx you called out for data center and AI investments. Looking at your free cash flow number, I think we wouldn't have guessed that, that was so big. Maybe if you can -- is it right to think that your free cash flow number ex that, we should think about that basically $100 million higher than what the reported number is? And then if you could remind us the big components of that spend and why you feel like you're now set up and that's sort of a onetime investment, if you will?

好的。偉大的。然後，我想跟進您提到的用於資料中心和人工智慧投資的 1 億美元資本支出。從你們的自由現金流數據來看，我想我們都沒料到會這麼大。或許你可以這麼認為——例如，你的自由現金流數字，我們應該考慮比公佈的數字高出約 1 億美元，這種想法對嗎？那麼，您能否提醒我們這筆支出的主要組成部分，以及您為什麼覺得現在已經準備就緒，並且這是一筆一次性投資？

Yes. Well, you run certain models on your -- when you go through and you develop something and you're looking at the capacity, you're going to need to be able to run it. You have to run certain models, how many people are accessing it at the same time and you have to make sure you have enough capacity. I mean, this is our system now. We've got a lot of employees and users at our clients, and this is the predominant way they use the system.

是的。嗯，當你開發一些東西並查看容量時，你需要運行某些模型，這樣你才能運行它。你需要運行某些模型，統計同時訪問的人數，並確保有足夠的容量。我的意思是，這就是我們現在的製度。我們有很多客戶的員工和用戶，這是他們使用系統的主要方式。

So the way they use our systems forever changed. And so we did have to make a spend in order to have that capacity for both what we're doing now and into the future. So we're in this business now. I don't expect that we would have any level even close to this type of spend over the next couple of years. But we are focused on growth.

因此，他們使用我們系統的方式從此發生了永久性的改變。因此，我們必須投入資金，才能具備滿足當前和未來需求的能力。所以我們現在也涉足了這個行業。我預計未來幾年內，我們的支出水準不會接近這種程度。但我們專注於成長。

We are focused on providing the best product. And with us, I mean, it's not a brochure. It's something you actually utilize when we convert you on to it. And so when you're expecting that utilization, obviously, you have to spend the money to be prepared to receive it. We chose to do that ourselves just because we've always been in the data center business since 1998.

我們致力於提供最好的產品。我的意思是，對我們來說，這不是宣傳冊。當我們引導你接受它之後，你實際上就會用到它。因此，當你預期會有這樣的利用率時，顯然，你必須花錢做好準備來迎接它。我們之所以選擇自己動手，是因為自 1998 年以來，我們一直從事資料中心業務。

So we chose to add it that way. We actually think it will be accretive to our free cash flow conversion as we move into the future. And again, to the extent our competitors do have AI, we're not running into it when we talk to their clients. And I don't know how they're paying for it because when we looked into it, it was pretty expensive to rent.

所以我們選擇以這種方式添加。我們認為，隨著我們未來發展，這實際上會增加我們的自由現金流轉換率。再說一遍，即便我們的競爭對手確實擁有人工智慧，我們在與他們的客戶交談時也沒有遇到這種情況。我不知道他們是怎麼支付費用的，因為我們調查過，租金相當昂貴。

Jason Celino, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Jason Celino，KeyBanc Capital Markets。

This is Zane Meehan on for Jason today. I was just hoping for a little extra color on the 3Q recurring revenue results. I understand that it was a tough comp, but anything worth noting on that decel in the growth rate, maybe possibly softer workforce levels in the platform? Or is there anything onetime in nature that's worth calling out?

今天我是讚恩·米漢，替傑森為您報道。我只是希望能夠獲得一些關於第三季經常性收入結果的更詳細的資訊。我知道這是一個競爭激烈的比較，但關於成長率放緩有什麼值得注意的原因嗎？或許是因為平台員工人數減少？或者說，自然界中有什麼值得特別提及的一次性事件嗎？

Yes. There's nothing onetime in nature. I think if you remember back to Q2, we had certain levers hit in Q2 that may or may not could have hit in Q3. We also provided some color on what recurring revenue growth would be in Q3 at around 10.5%. And for the fourth quarter, we said that would be 11%. So it came in right above where we thought it would.

是的。自然界中沒有一成不變的事。我認為，如果你還記得第二季的情況，我們在第二季採取了一些措施，這些措施可能在第三季也能奏效，也可能不會。我們也預測第三季經常性收入成長率約為 10.5%。我們預測第四季將達到 11%。所以最終的排名比我們預想的要高一些。

Okay. Great. And then just on the workforce levels, I mean, was that in line with expectations? Or I mean, we -- one of your competitors yesterday talked about flat for the rest of the year. Is that how you're thinking about it?

好的。偉大的。那麼就勞動力規模而言，我的意思是，這是否符合預期？或者我的意思是，我們——你們的一位競爭對手昨天談到今年剩餘時間業績將持平。你是這麼想的嗎？

We've only seen stability in the employment numbers, and we're not seeing it react any differently than what it has in the past with the exception of the COVID time period.

我們看到就業數據一直保持穩定，除了新冠疫情期間之外，就業數據的反應與過去並無不同。

Alex Zukin, Wolfe Research.

Alex Zukin，Wolfe Research。

This is Jason John for Alex Zukin. So more of a high-level question, you've talked about you guys are less than 5% TAM penetration right now. What is the latest thinking on how to actually accelerate that new logo acquisition and at the same time, maintain double-digit recurring growth even beyond the FY25 time frame? And where do you see the greatest white space opportunity in terms of modules, customer segments or verticals?

這是傑森約翰，代表亞歷克斯祖金。所以，更宏觀地問一個問題，你們之前說過，你們目前的TAM市場滲透率不到5%。關於如何真正加快新客戶獲取速度，同時在 2025 財年之後保持兩位數的經常性增長，目前的最新思路是什麼？您認為在模組、客戶群或垂直領域方面，最大的空白市場機會在哪裡？

I think our biggest opportunity is going to come from new logo adds. I mean we're very focused on that right now. We're streamlining the ability for our prospects to see the value a lot easier. We've shifted the value and what we're focused on, I would say, shift that enhanced the value that our clients can receive. We're seeing that, I mean we have clients that have left that come right back, and we have clients that are getting great value out of the software now.

我認為我們最大的機會將來自新增的標誌設計。我的意思是，我們現在非常關注這一點。我們正在簡化流程，讓潛在客戶更容易了解產品的價值。我們已經改變了價值觀和關注點，可以說，這種轉變提升了我們的客戶可以獲得的價值。我們看到這種情況，我的意思是，有些客戶離開了，但很快又回來了；還有一些客戶現在從軟體中獲得了巨大的價值。

And so I think it's our opportunity as we move forward, continue to make it easier for prospects to buy from us, which you have to have enhanced sales skills and you have to have a product that actually delivers the value that you're promising. And I feel really good about the work that we've done in both of those areas that set us up really well as we continue into both next year and the future.

所以我認為，隨著我們不斷前進，這是我們的機會，我們要繼續讓潛在客戶更容易從我們這裡購買產品，而這需要你提高銷售技巧，並且你的產品必須真正兌現你所承諾的價值。我對我們在這兩個領域所做的工作感到非常滿意，這為我們明年及未來發展奠定了良好的基礎。

Great. And as you previously mentioned that the FY25 free cash flow will be similar to last year. And given your comment that the AI-related CapEx investment are largely completed in this quarter, does that free cash flow outlook still hold? And should we view that 3Q as the peak quarter for the CapEx investment?

偉大的。正如您之前提到的，2025財年的自由現金流將與去年類似。鑑於您提到與人工智慧相關的資本支出投資已在本季基本完成，那麼自由現金流預期是否仍然成立？我們是否應該將第三季視為資本支出投資的最高峰？

Yes. Well, I was just saying I don't know of any major CapEx opportunities for next year or even the year after from a CapEx perspective.

是的。我剛才只是說，從資本支出的角度來看，我不知道明年甚至後年會有什麼重大的資本支出機會。

Daniel Jester, BMO Capital Markets.

Daniel Jester，BMO資本市場。

So I want to spend a moment on the product. And now with IWant that you have executives using the product more, are there opportunities in your mind to beyond just AI, build more products on the platform, which serve a broader set of use cases with your clients?

所以我想花點時間介紹一下這款產品。現在有了 IWant，越來越多的高階主管開始使用該產品，您是否考慮過除了 AI 之外，在這個平台上開發更多產品，以滿足客戶更廣泛的使用需求？

Yes, absolutely that we're focused on that. We're putting out a lot of automation right now, and we'll continue to release product sets that create value for our clients. And there's a lot of opportunity there. I mean I'm not going to telegraph all the things that we're working on, but there's a lot more in front of us to automate than what we've even automated up to this point.

是的，我們絕對專注於此。我們目前正在推出大量自動化產品，並將繼續發布能夠為客戶創造價值的產品組合。那裡有很多機會。我的意思是，我不會透露我們正在做的所有事情，但擺在我們面前的自動化工作還有很多，遠比我們目前已經自動化的工作多得多。

Decision fatigues for real. And when it exists in the HCM business and the HCM market and it exists in every single module that we have, there's opportunities to automate. And you do want to automate decisions where you expect a consistent behavior and adherence. And so we've been focused on that as we've created our software. We're getting a lot of positive responses from both prospects and clients around that. I think as you move into the future, we'll have a lot more of that. And of course, then also we'll be automating a lot more areas of the HCM process.

決策疲勞真的存在。當它存在於 HCM 業務和 HCM 市場中，並且存在於我們擁有的每一個模組中時，就存在自動化的機會。而且，在預期行為和遵守情況一致的情況下，你確實需要將決策自動化。因此，我們在開發軟體的過程中一直專注於這一點。我們收到了很多來自潛在客戶和現有客戶的正面回饋。我認為隨著時間推移，這種情況會越來越普遍。當然，我們也會實現人力資本管理流程中更多領域的自動化。

Great. And then maybe just a quick one about how you're seeing the new offices ramp? And any change in your philosophy in terms of how you're thinking about adding sales capacity as we go into next year?

偉大的。然後，能不能簡單問一下您對新辦公室的建造進度有何看法？那麼，在考慮明年如何增加銷售能力方面，您的理念是否有所改變？

We have had changes in our focus for development of sales rep managers in our backfill. We are bullish on kind of what the next couple of years looks like in an effort to be able to expand and open up more offices. All of that comes from success at the sales rep and sales manager level. And so everything we are doing is about generating greater success than what we've had in the past. And that's not -- this could be a record year this year. We've been -- had a very successful year this year. But I do think there's opportunities with the overextended value of our product to really put a -- pour on the gas there. And we're focused on that as an organization right now.

我們對後備銷售代表經理的培養重點進行了調整。我們對未來幾年的發展前景持樂觀態度，希望能擴大規模並開設更多辦事處。這一切都源自於銷售代表和銷售經理層面的成功。因此，我們所做的一切都是為了取得比過去更大的成功。而且，今年很可能成為創紀錄的一年。我們今年取得了非常成功的一年。但我認為，我們產品的價值被過度放大，這其中蘊藏著巨大的機會，我們可以藉此機會大力發展。而我們目前作為一個組織，正專注於此。

Jared Levine, TD Cowen.

Jared Levine，TD Cowen。

In terms of IWant, are there any initial signs of it driving increasing product attach rates to date?

就 IWant 而言，目前是否有任何初步跡象表明它正在推動產品附加率的提高？

Yes. Yes. With IWant, the more of our product that you have that you're utilizing, the more access to the information that you have. So it becomes important in that as well as with IWant, you're eliminating all navigation as well. So you don't really need training on the system. Most new employees, they would come into our system and they would have some level of training on how to use the system. With IWant, we're just not seeing that with new employees coming on to the system. You just tell it what you want, and it takes it there.

是的。是的。使用 IWant，您擁有並利用的產品越多，您就能獲得越多的資訊。因此，這一點也變得很重要，因為使用 IWant 時，你也消除了所有導航。所以你其實不需要接受系統方面的訓練。大多數新進員工加入我們的系統後，都會接受一定程度的系統使用訓練。在使用 IWant 系統時，我們並沒有看到新員工加入系統後出現這種情況。你只要告訴它你想要什麼，它就能帶你到那裡。

And so again, sometimes usage patterns are hard to change. And I don't think someone should change their usage pattern unless there's an opportunity to be more efficient or get something -- get there quicker. And we're seeing that with new people that are onboarded in the system. And then we've also seen that with traditional users that may not have been achieving full value for all the modules that they have.

所以，有時候使用習慣很難改變。我認為，除非有機會提高效率或更快地獲得某些東西，否則人們不應該改變他們的使用習慣。我們看到，新加入系統的人也出現了這種情況。而且我們也發現，傳統用戶可能並沒有充分利用他們擁有的所有模組的價值。

Great. And then in terms of the 540 employees impacted by the recent layoff announcement there, can you talk about expectations surrounding annualized cost savings and how much of that will be reinvested back into the business?

偉大的。那麼，對於最近裁員公告中涉及的 540 名員工，您能否談談對年度成本節約的預期，以及其中有多少將重新投資於業務？

Yes. I mean that will be a part of our guide next year. Again, we're focused on automation. I do -- for that, as we come out with automation, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're displacing certain employment levels. It's not something I'd necessarily want to go through again. But I also think as we look into the future, we'll have opportunities to become more efficient without necessarily, employees not being here for no fault of their own.

是的。我的意思是，這將在我們明年的指南中佔有一席之地。我們再次強調，我們專注於自動化。的確如此——隨著自動化技術的出現，並不一定意味著某些就業機會會被取代。我並不一定想再經歷一次。但我認為，展望未來，我們將有機會提高效率，而無需員工無故缺席。

Bhavin Shah, Deutsche Bank.

德意志銀行的 Bhavin Shah。

Bob, just on the 4Q -- I guess, the implied 4Q guide, it's -- you talked about in the past that 4Q growth should be the highest for the year and -- but the guide is kind of slightly below what 2Q and 3Q grew at. And given the 3Q strength, you would think 4Q would benefit from that. Is this just conservatism? Or is there something else that we should keep in mind for 4Q recurring revenue? And is 4Q a good exit rate to think about for next year?

鮑勃，關於第四季度——我猜，是隱含的第四季度業績指引——你之前說過第四季度的增長應該是全年最高的，但是——但是這個指引略低於第二季度和第三季度的增長。鑑於第三季的強勁表現，人們可能會認為第四季也會從中受益。這難道只是保守主義嗎？或者，對於第四季經常性收入，我們還有其他需要注意的事項嗎？第四季的退出率是否值得作為明年的參考指標？

Yes. It's not below. It's above the 3Q number. And I said earlier about Q2 where some things fell on either side that could have happened in Q3. But there's nothing in there that you need to be thinking about going into next year or into the quarter. We're happy with how that's ending up and the momentum that we've picked up over the last six months and going into 2026.

是的。它不在下面。它高於第三季的數據。我之前說過，第二季發生的一些事情，原本也可能發生在第三季。但裡面沒有任何內容是你需要考慮到明年或本季的事情。我們對最終結果以及過去六個月和進入 2026 年所取得的進展勢頭感到滿意。

We're trying ton guide -- Let me -- we're just trying to guide to what we can see right now. Reminder, Q4 has bonus runs and unscheduled runs. So we don't know what those will be yet.

我們正在努力引導——讓我說——我們只是想引導大家看到我們現在所能看到的東西。提醒：第四季有額外運行次數和計劃外運行次數。所以我們現在還不知道那些會是什麼。

That's fair and I appreciate that. And just one quick follow-up. You talked about spending on marketing for IWant. How do we think about the timing of those kind of investments playing back from a top of funnel to conversion perspective?

這很合理，我表示理解。還有一個後續問題。你提到了IWant在行銷上的投入。從轉換漏斗頂端到最終轉換率的角度來看，我們該如何看待這類投資的時機？

I mean we spend very well on marketing. We measure it on a weekly basis. Our marketing spend is very strategic, and we would expect a return from our marketing dollars. There is a point where you can get a diminishing return off the amount that you spend, and we're always mindful of that as we focus on marketing and our growth initiatives for both fourth quarter and beyond.

我的意思是，我們在行銷方面投入了很多資金。我們每週都會進行測量。我們的行銷支出具有很強的策略性，我們希望從行銷投入中獲得回報。當你投入的資金達到一定規模後，收益就會遞減。我們在專注於第四季及以後的行銷和成長計劃時，始終牢記這一點。

Joshua Reilly, Needham.

約書亞·雷利，尼德姆。

All right. If you look at the strong bookings that you've had over the last few quarters, just curious what's the trajectory been of how this has been translating to revenue here in Q3 and Q4? And did some -- maybe more of the starts from earlier in the year get pushed to Q4 or 2026? Just wanted to get a sense of how that may be impacting the upside to the revenue here in Q3.

好的。回顧過去幾季強勁的預訂量，我很好奇這些預訂量在第三季和第四季轉化為營收的趨勢如何？年初的一些比賽是否被推遲到第四季或 2026 年舉行？我只是想了解這可能會對第三季的營收成長產生怎樣的影響。

No. I mean when a deal starts in a quarter matters, if I start the deal at the very first of the quarter, I get 100% of the revenue dollars for that quarter. If I started the last month of the quarter, I'm getting one-third of the revenue dollars for that. So in any given quarter, you have some of that happen. But I don't have anything to call out of any changes of what we expected or any difference from what we expected out of book sales and starts for third and fourth quarter.

不。我的意思是，交易何時開始很重要，如果我在季度初就開始交易，我就可以獲得該季度 100% 的收入。如果我從季度最後一個月開始，我將獲得該季度收入的三分之一。所以，在任何一個季度，都會發生一些這樣的事情。但是，就第三季和第四季的圖書銷售和發行量而言，我沒有什麼可指出的，也沒有任何與預期不符或差異。

Got you. That's helpful. And then -- I'm guessing I know the answer to this, but I just want to check and see, has there been any difference in the demand dynamic between the high end or larger customer opportunities versus the mid-market or more SMB opportunities out in the market?

抓到你了。那很有幫助。然後——我猜我知道答案，但我還是想確認一下，高端或大型客戶機會與中端市場或中小企業機會的需求動態之間是否存在任何差異？

No. I think the demand is there. It's -- these things are always controlled by us. We create our own demand. We only have less than 5% of the total addressable market. That's something we've been focused on. It's something our group has done very well with. And I would just say we're working very well as a group right now and all focused on the same thing.

不。我認為市場需求是存在的。是這樣的──這些事情總是由我們掌控的。我們創造自己的需求。我們只佔潛在市場總量的不到5%。這是我們一直在關注的重點。這是我們團隊做得非常好的一項工作。我想說的是，我們團隊目前合作非常順利，所有人都專注於同一件事。

Siti Panigrahi, Mizuho.

Siti Panigrahi，瑞穗銀行。

This is Phil on for Siti. It sounds like IWant is pretty differentiated in the market. Is there an opportunity to eventually maybe monetize the product more directly? Or should we view this as more of like a retention and module cross-sell play?

這裡是菲爾，為您報道西蒂。聽起來IWant在市場上相當獨特。未來是否有機會更直接實現產品獲利？或者我們應該將其視為一種用戶留存和模組交叉銷售策略？

Well, IWant came out in July, we have 100% of our clients and all of their employees have it. So I would think that you would kind of look at the monetization of IWant coming through increased sales and increased retention as we move forward over time with a differentiated strategy. Again, IWant helps you access value and automation that's been created.

IWant 於 7 月推出，我們 100% 的客戶及其所有員工都已使用該服務。所以我認為，隨著時間的推移，透過差異化策略的推進，IWant 的獲利將主要體現在銷售額的成長和用戶留存率的提高。再次強調，IWant 可以幫助您獲得已創造的價值和自動化功能。

So IWant is a part of it, but there's a lot more there of value. Again, it's not something I want to sit here and telegraph of all the things that we're doing. But all of that to say is if you're talking to our clients today, I think you're going to find a different value achievement that they have today maybe than what they had a couple of years ago. And then I think as you look into the future, that continues to accelerate.

所以 IWant 是其中的一部分，但其中的價值遠不止於此。再說一遍，我不想坐在這裡把我們正在做的事情都提前透露出來。但我想說的是，如果你今天和我們的客戶交談，你會發現他們今天所取得的價值成就​​可能與幾年前有所不同。而我認為，展望未來，這種趨勢還會持續加速。

Madeline Brooks, Bank of America.

Madeline Brooks，美國銀行。

Maybe more of a high-level one here. If I think about the stock performance year-to-date and the catalysts that are kind of on the horizon for the stock, what I'm kind of thinking is like, look, right, we're getting over some execution strategy here, right? Our sales force is getting more effective now. We should be lapping that data center build-out expense. So free cash flow should be going back up, right? These are all catalysts for the stock. But it feels like from this quarter, the numbers are leaving a little bit to be desired, but the opportunity is there for the taking, right? It's really mostly here on execution.

或許這裡需要更高層次的討論。如果我回顧今年以來的股票表現以及即將出現的利好因素，我的想法是，你看，我們正在克服一些執行策略方面的問題，對吧？我們的銷售團隊現在效率越來越高了。我們應該能節省下資料中心建置的費用。所以自由現金流應該會回升，對吧？這些都是提振股價的催化劑。但感覺從本季來看，各項數據還有待提高，但機會就在眼前，對吧？關鍵主要在於執行力。

So I guess I'm just wondering what -- from an execution perspective, could go right over the next couple of quarters to really maybe get growth back up to that 12%, 14%. We're also going to see this inflection in cash flow. And maybe what is also kind of viewed as a challenge or what might make it difficult to get there?

所以我想知道，從執行的角度來看，在接下來的幾個季度裡，應該採取哪些措施才能真正將成長率恢復到 12% 或 14%。我們也將看到現金流出現這種轉折點。或許還有什麼會被視為挑戰，或是什麼讓到達那裡變得困難？

Yes. Well, we're focused right now on revenue growth. I really feel good about all the work that we've done to set ourselves up in every other area. And so we're really focused on that. That doesn't mean we're not focused on product innovation, and we're not focused on service and the full client value achievement. I just feel like we've set ourselves up very well now to attack the revenue growth opportunity.

是的。目前，我們專注於營收成長。我對我們在其他各個領域所做的準備感到非常滿意。所以我們現在非常關注這一點。但這並不意味著我們不注重產品創新，也不注重服務和實現客戶的全部價值。我覺得我們現在已經做好了充分的準備，可以抓住營收成長的機會。

I'm not confirming what our growth rates are going to be next year, and we're not setting guidance right now. But what I will say is that over the last two years, we've done a significant amount of work that needed to be done throughout our organization. And as we sit here today, we're all focused on one thing, and that's capturing more market share, and that's available to us now. We have a very differentiated product. It's meaningful. It's not a brochure. It's something you actually achieve value from once you start using it.

我不會透露我們明年的成長率，我們現在也不會給任何指引。但我必須說的是，在過去的兩年裡，我們在整個組織內完成了大量需要完成的工作。今天我們坐在這裡，都專注於一件事，那就是獲取更多的市場份額，而我們現在就有機會做到這一點。我們的產品具有很強的差異化優勢。這很有意義。這不是宣傳冊。一旦開始使用，你就能真正從中獲得價值。

And so as time goes on, I think we're going to have more and more opportunities to create greater distance. I do think the more growth you have, obviously, with strong margins in both operating, adjusted EBITDA and other, that's going to be accretive to the rest of our financial profile, including free cash flow conversion and a lot of the other things that you spoke about as we look into 2026.

因此，隨著時間的推移，我認為我們將有越來越多的機會拉開更大的距離。我認為，顯然，隨著營運利潤率、調整後 EBITDA 和其他利潤率的強勁增長，我們的財務狀況將會得到改善，包括自由現金流轉換率以及您談到的我們在展望 2026 年時提到的其他許多方面。

Jacob Smith, Guggenheim Securities.

Jacob Smith，古根漢證券。

You talked about IWant moving the impediments to value for customers with no change management required to use it. We see some AI systems out there that users may use initially, but then go back to how they've operated before. Can you share a little bit about the ramp and consistency of usage you're seeing so far? I think that would be helpful in demonstrating the stickiness of the product.

您提到 IWant 消除了客戶獲得價值的障礙，而且使用它無需任何變更管理。我們看到市面上有一些人工智慧系統，用戶可能一開始會使用，但之後又會回到以前的操作方式。能否簡單介紹一下您目前觀察到的使用量成長與穩定性？我認為這有助於展示產品的黏性。

Sure. Well, IWant is a quicker way to access this data and information. First of all, it's the only way to access it for certain people because they were never set up on any of the systems. I, as a CEO, I'm not set up on our benefit system to go run benefit information. I'm not set up on our applicant tracking or talent acquisition system. I'm not set up on our payroll to run all the payroll stuff or HR or any of it, expenses, any of it. With IWant, I can go in and I get access to everything. I don't need to know how to use it. I don't need to know how to do anything. I just tell it the information that I want.

當然。其實，IWant 是獲取這些數據和資訊的更快捷方式。首先，對於某些人來說，這是存取它的唯一途徑，因為他們從未在任何系統上設定過帳戶。身為首席執行官，我沒有設定福利系統權限去查詢福利資訊。我還沒有接入我們的應徵者追蹤或人才招募系統。我沒有權限負責我們公司的薪資發放、人事管理、費用報銷等所有相關事宜。有了 IWant，我可以登入並存取所有內容。我不需要知道如何使用它。我不需要知道該怎麼做。我只是告訴它我想要的資訊。

If I'm needing to navigate through something as an employee or a manager or what have you, same thing. I can both access information or it will put me where I need to be, to be able to make these changes. And so we're continuing to both do that through IWant as well as the functionality you're accessing is more automated today as well.

如果我作為員工、經理或其他任何身分需要處理某些事情，情況都一樣。我既可以獲取信息，也可以將我帶到我需要去的地方，以便做出這些改變。因此，我們繼續透過 IWant 來實現這一點，而且您現在訪問的功能也更加自動化了。

So you really attack it from both sides. But IWant is removing the impediments of usage that were there in any level of complicated usage, and it speeds everything up. And so you do see new employees utilizing it because it's just a much quicker way for them to either get to where they need to go or be able to pull information.

所以你實際上是從兩個方面同時進攻。但 IWant 消除了任何複雜使用等級中存在的障礙，並加快了所有操作的速度。因此，你會看到新員工使用它，因為這對他們來說是一種更快的方式，可以讓他們到達他們需要去的地方或獲取資訊。

We're not seeing people use it a couple of times and then stop using it. I will say that when you looked at it in the early days, people didn't know how to use it. If you ask IWant where the closest pizza restaurant is to you, it's not going to be real successful in answering that question. And so people had to kind of learn how to use it to their benefit. And it's been a short period of time. Again, we've had IWant out since July. And every client we have has it and all their employees do now.

我們沒有看到有人使用幾次後就停止使用。我想說的是，在早期，人們並不知道如何使用它。如果你問 IWant 離你最近的披薩店在哪裡，它不會成功地回答這個問題。所以人們不得不學會如何利用它來為自己謀利。而且時間還很短。再說一遍，我們的 IWant 自 7 月就上線了。我們所有的客戶都擁有它，他們所有的員工現在也都擁有它。

And just on gross margins, are you guys doing anything to optimize the usage of GPUs to better handle the millions of queries you're already seeing, whether it be in the underlying LLM or just teaching users what they can and can't do? And can that over time, potentially extend the runway of these GPU investments as you get more experience running these workloads in your own data centers?

就毛利率而言，你們是否採取了任何措施來優化 GPU 的使用，以更好地處理你們已經看到的數百萬個查詢，無論是在底層 LLM 中，還是僅僅教用戶他們可以做什麼和不能做什麼？隨著時間的推移，當您在自己的資料中心運行這些工作負載的經驗越來越豐富時，這是否有可能延長這些 GPU 投資的使用壽命？

Yes. I mean, obviously, there's a lot you have to do to optimize. It matters how many times you're hitting it. It matters how you're filtering through. We use these things to also look at nonresponse rates and everything else. So there's a lot that we go through to be able to analyze. And this is a daily analyzation of what's going on within our product.

是的。我的意思是，很顯然，要實現最佳化，還有很多工作要做。擊球次數很重要。篩選方式很重要。我們也利用這些指標來查看無回應率以及其他所有情況。所以，為了進行分析，我們需要經歷很多過程。這是對我們產品內部運作的每日分析。

So I don't want to describe everything that we're doing. It does matter though, how you develop something to how much capacity of the GPU you're going to actually utilize or need. And we've gone through those processes. That's kind of what I talked about of you have to load test for lack of a better word, what your expectations are on simultaneous inquiries and responses. And so we run through that. And obviously, we work to continue to make it more and more efficient as we move forward.

所以我不想把我們正在做的事情都描述一遍。不過，開發方式確實會影響到你實際上會利用或需要多少 GPU 的效能。我們已經完成了這些流程。我剛才說的就是這個意思，你需要進行負載測試（暫且這麼說吧），測試你對同時進行的查詢和回應的預期是什麼。於是我們就逐條進行了講解。顯然，隨著我們不斷前進，我們會努力使其效率越來越高。

Again, we did make a significant purchase in what we went to set up. We didn't set up a little bit of a process here. We knew 100% of all of our clients would be on it. And so we made the purchase to meet that. We also looked at utilizing public cloud type data centers, if you will, to be able to host for us and utilizing their GPUs.

再次強調，我們這次確實在籌備工作上進行了一筆不小的採購。我們這裡沒有建立一套流程。我們知道我們所有的客戶都會使用它。因此，我們進行了採購以滿足這一需求。我們也考慮利用公有雲類型的資料中心，讓他們為我們託管伺服器並利用他們的 GPU。

And with where we see ourselves going in the future and what the costs were associated with just being able to handle our current load, initial load for IWant, we felt it better for us to go ahead and just set up and buy our own plus that way we have control over it, and it's operating just as all the rest of our business has for the last 27 years of operating our own data centers. So it's really worked for us.

考慮到我們對未來的發展方向以及處理當前負載（IWant 的初始負載）的相關成本，我們覺得最好還是自己建立和購買資料中心，這樣我們就能掌控它，而且它的運作方式與我們過去 27 年經營自有資料中心時所有其他業務的運作方式一樣。所以這對我們來說確實很有效。

I do think it's going to be a key differentiator into the future. And I think as our competitors actually take it from a brochure and an earnings call to install it at a client level, I think you'll start to see maybe either some changes in their financials or what they do with that. But our AI is costing us money, and you saw that being spent in the third quarter.

我認為這將是未來一個關鍵的差異化因素。我認為，當我們的競爭對手真正將產品從宣傳冊和財報電話會議中落實到客戶層面時，你可能會開始看到他們的財務狀況或他們採取的措施發生一些變化。但是我們的人工智慧專案需要花費資金，您在第三季也看到了這筆支出。

This concludes the question-and-answer portion of today's call. I will now turn the call back over to Mr. Chad Richison for closing remarks.

今天的電話會議問答環節到此結束。現在我將把電話轉回給查德·里奇森先生，請他作總結發言。

All right. Well, I want to thank everyone for joining the call today. We look forward to speaking with many of you at the UBS Conference on December 1 in Scottsdale and the Barclays Conference in San Francisco on December 10. I'd like to thank our employees for their contributions throughout this year and our clients for their continued commitment to Paycom.

好的。好的，我要感謝今天參加電話會議的各位。我們期待在 12 月 1 日於斯科茨代爾舉行的瑞銀大會和 12 月 10 日於舊金山舉行的巴克萊大會上與各位進行交流。我要感謝全體員工在過去一年的貢獻，以及顧客對 Paycom 的持續支持。

With that, operator, you may disconnect.

操作員，您可以斷開連接了。

This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect your lines everyone.

今天的電話會議到此結束。現在大家可以斷開線路了。