Perion Network Ltd (PERI) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Perion Network first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Today's conference is being recorded. The press release detailing the financial results is available on the company's website at www.perion.com. Before we begin, I'd like to read the following Safe Harbor statement. Today's discussion includes forward-looking statements.

大家好，歡迎參加 Perion Network 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。詳細介紹財務表現的新聞稿可在公司網站 www.perion.com 上查閱。在我們開始之前，我想閱讀以下安全港聲明。今天的討論包括前瞻性陳述。

These statements reflect the company's current views with respect to future events. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors including those discussed under the heading Risk Factors and elsewhere in the company's annual report on Form 20-F that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different on any future results, performance, or achievements anticipated or implied by these forward-looking statements. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

這些陳述反映了公司目前對未來事件的看法。這些前瞻性陳述涉及已知和未知的風險、不確定性和其他因素，包括在「風險因素」標題下以及公司20-F 表格年度報告中其他部分討論的因素，這些因素可能導致實際結果、業績或成就存在重大差異這些前瞻性陳述預期或暗示的任何未來結果、績效或成就。該公司不承諾更新任何前瞻性陳述以反映未來事件或情況。

As in prior quarters, the results reported today will be analyzed both on a GAAP and a non-GAAP basis. While mentioning EBITDA, we will be referring to adjusted EBITDA. We have provided a detailed reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to their comparable GAAP measures in our earnings release, which is available on our website and has also been filed on Form 6-K. Hosting the call today are Tal Jacobson, Perion's Chief Executive Officer; and Maoz Sigron, Perion's Chief Financial Officer. I would now like to turn the call over to Tal Jacobson. Please go ahead.

與前幾季一樣，今天報告的結果將根據公認會計原則和非公認會計原則進行分析。在提到 EBITDA 時，我們指的是調整後的 EBITDA。我們在收益報告中提供了非 GAAP 指標與其可比較 GAAP 指標的詳細調整表，該調整表可在我們的網站上獲取，並已在 6-K 表格中提交。今天主持電話會議的是 Perion 執行長 Tal Jacobson；以及 Perion 財務長 Maoz Sigron。我現在想把電話轉給塔爾·雅各布森。請繼續。

Good morning, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. With me today at our New York office are Hivestack General Manager, Andreas Soupliotis, who leads our out-of-home advertising technologies, and our Chief Product Officer, Kenny Lau, who leads our advertising solutions. Our CFO, Maoz Sigron, is joining us from our Israeli office. Today, we face our challenges heads on with a determined spirit to navigate forward.

大家早安，下午好。感謝您今天加入我們。今天與我一起在紐約辦事處的有 Hivestack 總經理 Andreas Soupliotis，他領導我們的戶外廣告技術，以及我們的首席產品長 Kenny Lau，他領導我們的廣告解決方案。我們的財務長 Maoz Sigron 將從以色列辦事處加入我們。今天，我們以堅定的精神直面挑戰，奮勇前進。

As we previously announced, the first quarter of 2024 presented specific challenges, notably a decline in our search advertising activity that began during the first quarter and will be mostly reflected from our second quarter. This is largely due to recent changes in advertising pricing and mechanisms by Microsoft Bing. These changes led to reduction in revenue per 1,000 searches for both Perion and other Microsoft Bing distribution partners. Let's take a deeper look into what this means for us.

正如我們之前宣布的，2024 年第一季面臨著具體的挑戰，特別是第一季開始的搜尋廣告活動的下降，並將主要反映在第二季。這主要是由於 Microsoft Bing 最近對廣告定價和機制進行了更改。這些變化導致 Perion 和其他 Microsoft Bing 分銷合作夥伴每 1,000 次搜尋的收入減少。讓我們更深入地了解這對我們意味著什麼。

Perion has been working with Microsoft on a revenue sharing model. This model did not change. Yet both Microsoft and Perion earned their revenue based on how much Microsoft charges their advertisers. This is where the changes were made. It is common for major tech companies such as Microsoft to periodically adjust their pricing strategies. Microsoft's advertising pricing and mechanism changes do not affect our contract.

Perion 一直在與微軟合作開發收入共享模式。這個模型沒有改變。然而，微軟和 Perion 的收入都是基於微軟向廣告商收取的費用。這就是進行更改的地方。微軟等大型科技公司定期調整定價策略是很常見的。微軟的廣告定價和機制變化不會影響我們的合約。

You'll notice that despite our announcement about the changes that Microsoft made, our search activity actually grew 26% year over year in Q1. Again, we expect the changes to mostly affect us from Q2 forward, and our new guidance reflects that. We believe that our relationship with Microsoft remains strong with ongoing collaboration between our teams. This event didn't change Perion's execution abilities and future possibilities.

您會注意到，儘管我們宣布了 Microsoft 所做的更改，但我們的搜尋活動在第一季實際上比去年同期增長了 26%。同樣，我們預計這些變化將從第二季開始對我們產生主要影響，我們的新指導反映了這一點。我們相信，透過我們團隊之間的持續合作，我們與 Microsoft 的關係仍然很牢固。這次事件並沒有改變Perion的執行能力和未來的可能性。

Now let's move to talk about the future. I'm excited to present the next phase of Perion's evolution, an advertiser centric universe with technologies that power brand presence across the entire consumer journey.

現在讓我們談談未來。我很高興能夠介紹 Perion 發展的下一階段，這是一個以廣告商為中心的世界，其技術可在整個消費者旅程中增強品牌影響力。

The Perion universe is built to connect advertisers with their target audience throughout the entire day, online and in the physical world, such as in-store advertising. We harness the power of dynamic creative optimization to generate demand. We use our technologies in web and search supply, in digital out-of-home, in social, connected TV, and in-audio ads. All our technologies are leveraged to create a harmonious blend of consumer engagement.

Perion 宇宙旨在全天將廣告商與其目標受眾聯繫起來，包括線上和現實世界（例如店內廣告）。我們利用動態創意優化的力量來產生需求。我們在網路和搜尋服務、數位戶外、社交、連網電視和音訊廣告中使用我們的技術。我們所有的技術都被用來創造消費者參與的和諧融合。

This new chapter of Perion is wrapped in a fresh brand identity. Our new brand reflects our evolution as a company. At Perion, we architect AI power technology solutions to anticipate consumer behavior and adjust to it. Our AI solutions are designed to help brands and advertisers elevate their strategies and seize every advertising moment. Our new slogan, Elevate with Perion, embodies our commitment to advertisers to stay ahead of the curve.

Perion 的新篇章被全新的品牌標誌所包裹。我們的新品牌反映了我們作為一家公司的演變。在 Perion，我們建立人工智慧電力技術解決方案來預測消費者行為並進行調整。我們的人工智慧解決方案旨在幫助品牌和廣告商提升策略並抓住每一個廣告時刻。我們的新口號「Elevate with Perion」體現了我們對廣告主保持領先地位的承諾。

Our objective is to ensure that wherever their audiences are in their journey, Perion is there to elevate their brand and outcome. As Perion keeps evolving, we add more technologies and solutions to our universe either by acquisitions or through our in-house talented R&D teams.

我們的目標是確保無論受眾身處何處，Perion 都能提升他們的品牌和成果。隨著 Perion 不斷發展，我們透過收購或內部人才研發團隊為我們的領域添加更多技術和解決方案。

Later, you will hear from our Chief Product Officer for Advertising Solutions about the new innovations we have lined up. While we at Perion have many growth engines, we are highlighting for you the fastest growing drivers in each quarter.

稍後，您將聽到我們廣告解決方案首席產品長講述我們所推出的新創新。雖然 Perion 擁有許多成長引擎，但我們會為您重點介紹每季成長最快的驅動因素。

We've seen significant growth across the key areas. Retail media solution grew by 134%. Our CTV advertising surged a 108%, and our programmatic digital out-of-home advertising increased by 25% on a pro forma basis. These engines are pivotal in our growth path.

我們看到關鍵領域的顯著成長。零售媒體解決方案成長了 134%。我們的 CTV 廣告激增 108%，程式化數位戶外廣告預計將成長 25%。這些引擎在我們的成長之路上至關重要。

Within retail, we replicate the success that we had with large retailers and grocers in the food and beverage industry. In the first quarter, for example, our technology significantly enhanced the top US beer brand with a cross channel campaign.

在零售領域，我們複製了食品和飲料行業大型零售商和雜貨商所取得的成功。例如，在第一季度，我們的技術透過跨通路行銷活動顯著增強了美國頂級啤酒品牌的實力。

We use advanced AI driven dynamic mapping in high impact advertising units to achieve a 14% sales lift, and we generated nearly $0.5 million in incremental in-store sales. This approach leveraged real-time data such as sporting events to optimize ad delivery that creates more food traffic to multiple retail locations. It's important to highlight the strength that Hivestack brought to our Retail Media solutions.

我們在高影響力的廣告單元中使用先進的人工智慧驅動的動態映射，實現了 14% 的銷售額提升，並實現了近 50 萬美元的店內銷售額增量。這種方法利用體育賽事等即時數據來優化廣告投放，從而為多個零售地點創造更多的食品流量。強調 Hivestack 為我們的零售媒體解決方案帶來的優勢非常重要。

As you can see, the impressive 134% year-over-year growth of our retail media solutions was fueled by both organic and our new digital out-of-home advertising solutions. We believe that digital out-of-home will increasingly support the growth of our retail media solutions going forward.

如您所見，我們的零售媒體解決方案年增 134%，令人印象深刻，這得益於有機廣告解決方案和新的數位戶外廣告解決方案。我們相信，戶外數位化將越來越多地支持我們零售媒體解決方案的發展。

Within CTV advertising that enjoyed a remarkable 108% growth, this quarter the most popular features among our customers were live and dynamic CTV, branded CTV, and pause ads. Here's an example of a live CTV ad that we ran for Estée Lauder that was part of an international cross screen campaign.

在實現 108% 成長的 CTV 廣告中，本季最受客戶歡迎的功能是即時動態 CTV、品牌 CTV 和暫停廣告。以下是我們為雅詩蘭黛投放的現場 CTV 廣告範例，該廣告是國際跨螢幕廣告活動的一部分。

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This specific campaign shows that the consumer's journey constantly changes with the current trend of cosmetic companies advertising during football events. Within digital out-of-home advertising, we achieved a remarkable 25% year-over-year growth. This success demonstrates the strategic value of our recent acquisition of Hivestack.

這項具體活動表明，消費者的旅程隨著當前化妝品公司在足球賽事期間做廣告的趨勢而不斷變化。在數位戶外廣告領域，我們實現了 25% 的年成長。這項成功證明了我們最近收購 Hivestack 的策略價值。

This acquisition unlocks revenue potential, especially retail media revenue from retailers that leverage programmatic digital out-of-home advertising technology to attract consumers to their stores. To elaborate on our digital out-of-home advertising activity and success, I'll hand it over to Andreas, the Founder and General Manager of Hivestack, who's leading our out-of-home advertising activities.

此次收購釋放了收入潛力，特別是來自零售商的零售媒體收入，這些零售商利用程式化數位戶外廣告技術吸引消費者到他們的商店。為了詳細說明我們的數位戶外廣告活動和成功，我將把它交給 Hivestack 的創辦人兼總經理 Andreas，他負責領導我們的戶外廣告活動。

Thank you, Tal. Out-of-home advertising is the oldest traditional media channel undergoing a massive renaissance that is being helped by advanced technology. As digital screens replace printed signs and programmatic technology eventually complements direct sales, the stage is set for a massive upside for the rise of programmatic digital out-of-home.

謝謝你，塔爾。戶外廣告是最古老的傳統媒體管道，在先進技術的幫助下正在經歷大規模復興。隨著數位螢幕取代印刷標牌，程序化技術最終補充直接銷售，程序化數位戶外的崛起已經為巨大的上升空間做好了準備。

A recent eMarketer study in the United States suggests that 30% of all digital out-of-home advertising transactions will be programmatic by 2025, while 70% will be non-programmatic. That's an awesome growth story for programmatic digital out-of-home when we observe that it represented only 3% in 2019.

美國 eMarketer 最近的一項研究表明，到 2025 年，所有數位戶外廣告交易中的 30% 將是程式化的，而 70% 將是非程式化的。對於程序化數位戶外廣告來說，這是一個令人驚嘆的成長故事，因為我們觀察到它在 2019 年僅佔 3%。

This represents a whopping 969% growth over six years, and it's not stopping. Extrapolating this trend line could suggest that programmatic digital out-of-home is on track to represent about 50% of all digital out-of-home transactions in five years.

這意味著六年內成長了 969%，而且成長動能不會停止。推斷這一趨勢線可能表明，程序化數位戶外交易預計在五年內佔所有數位戶外交易的 50% 左右。

From eMarketer's perspective, this growth is driven by technological advances afforded by programmatic digital out-of-home on how to reach precise audiences at scale through compelling digital experiences. Perion's Hivestack advanced technology sits at the epicenter of this massive growth story and is used by marketers globally to drive business outcomes at all stages in the consumer sales funnel.

從 eMarketer 的角度來看，這種成長是由程式化數位戶外技術所帶來的技術進步所推動的，這些技術進步涉及如何透過引人注目的數位體驗來大規模接觸精確受眾。Perion 的 Hivestack 先進技術位於這個巨大成長故事的中心，全球行銷人員使用它來推動消費者銷售管道各個階段的業務成果。

Retailers in particular are taking advantage of programmatic digital out-of-home technology to drive consumers into their retail stores, which is now part of Perion's retail media solution universe. Let's look at our real life case study of how an awesome Canadian brand, Lululemon, used Perion's Hivestack platform and their agency, Zenith, to drive in-store visitation to their retail stores.

尤其是零售商正在利用程式化數位戶外技術來吸引消費者進入他們的零售店，現在是 Perion 零售媒體解決方案領域的一部分。讓我們來看看現實生活中的案例研究，了解加拿大品牌 Lululemon 如何使用 Perion 的 Hivestack 平台及其代理商 Zenith 來推動其零售店的店內客流量。

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As you can see, we have become a key part of Lululemon's toolbox to drive in-store visitation and the measurement data proves that digital out-of-home drives results. I want to thank Tal and Perion for adding Hivestack's advanced technology and our amazing team to the Perion universe. The best is yet to come for programmatic digital at home and Perion's Hivestack is a global leader in this space and sits at the epicenter of it all.

正如您所看到的，我們已成為 Lululemon 推動店內客流量工具箱的重要組成部分，測量數據證明數位戶外可以推動績效。我要感謝 Tal 和 Perion 將 Hivestack 的先進技術和我們出色的團隊添加到 Perion 宇宙中。家庭程式化數位化的最佳時代尚未到來，Perion 的 Hivestack 是該領域的全球領導者，並且處於這一切的中心。

Thank you, Andreas. Exciting time, indeed. And now, our Chief Product Officer of our advertising solutions, Kenny Lau, will present two of our new and exciting innovations.

謝謝你，安德烈亞斯。確實是令人興奮的時刻。現在，我們的廣告解決方案首席產品長 Kenny Lau 將介紹我們的兩個令人興奮的新創新。

Good morning, and good afternoon, everyone. Today, I'd like to share some of the exciting things we are developing internally to equip our customers with the most comprehensive set of products and solution in the ever evolving digital advertising space.

大家早安，下午好。今天，我想分享一些我們內部開發的令人興奮的事情，以便為我們的客戶在不斷發展的數位廣告領域提供最全面的產品和解決方案。

As we prepare for cookie-less future, we seek to prioritize user privacy while enhancing accuracy in targeting. And we've been doing so with SORT, our AI-based audience segmentation technology for our high impact and video advertising campaigns. Now this award-winning technology is getting a major upgrade, SORT 2.0, which has more capabilities for web but even more exciting, it is now also for CTV, one of the fastest growing areas in digital advertising.

當我們為無 Cookie 的未來做準備時，我們力求優先考慮使用者隱私，同時提高定位的準確性。我們一直在使用 SORT 來實現這一目標，SORT 是我們基於人工智慧的受眾細分技術，用於我們的高影響力影片廣告活動。現在，這項屢獲殊榮的技術正在進行重大升級，SORT 2.0，它具有更多的網路功能，但更令人興奮的是，它現在也適用於CTV，這是數位廣告中成長最快的領域之一。

What does that mean for advertisers and brands? SORT 2.0 technology offers privacy focused targeting, ensuring that your brand connects with the most receptive audiences for your message, regardless of their browser or device preferences.

這對廣告商和品牌意味著什麼？SORT 2.0 技術提供以隱私為中心的定位，確保您的品牌與最容易接受您的訊息的受眾建立聯繫，無論他們的瀏覽器或裝置偏好如何。

SORT analyzes non-personal identifiable information signals at the moment someone lands in our network, and then immediately classifies them into the most likely intent group. This allows us to serve the most relevant ad, maximizing engagement, and return on investment. It is not just about reaching more viewers, it's about reaching the right audiences with precision while respecting their privacy.

SORT 在有人登陸我們的網路時分析非個人識別資訊訊號，然後立即將其分類到最可能的意圖組中。這使我們能夠提供最相關的廣告，最大限度地提高參與度和投資回報。這不僅僅是為了吸引更多的觀眾，而是為了在尊重他們的隱私的同時精確地吸引正確的觀眾。

Alongside our proprietary solution, SORT, we have developed Wave, our AI-based dynamic audio technology to bring unparalleled position to audio ads. We are proud of the progress our Wave audio ads technology has made, delivering personalized audio experiences that drive engagement and sales.

除了我們的專有解決方案 SORT 之外，我們還開發了基於 AI 的動態音訊技術 Wave，為音訊廣告帶來無與倫比的地位。我們為 Wave 音訊廣告技術所取得的進步感到自豪，它提供了可推動參與度和銷售的個人化音訊體驗。

This quarter, we expanded Wave's reach into new verticals including CPG, quick service restaurant, and travel. Moreover, we're thrilled to announce the launch of Wave's multi-language capabilities, starting with Spanish. Let's listen to a sample for Super Shoes. And remember this is not a real person, it's all generative AI and you wouldn't know the difference.

本季度，我們將 Wave 的業務範圍擴展到了新的垂直領域，包括 CPG、快餐店和旅遊。此外，我們很高興地宣布推出 Wave 的多語言功能，首先是西班牙語。讓我們聽聽 Super Shoes 的樣本。請記住，這不是一個真人，這都是生成人工智慧，你不會知道其中的差異。

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Thank you, Kenny. It's always a pleasure to see our AI team producing groundbreaking products for our customers. Now I'm proud to share our recent industry recognition and certifications. Perion has been granted two tax certifications for 2024, symbolizing our unwavering commitment to integrity and quality in the digital advertising space. These awards and industry recognitions reflect our team's hard work and our commitment to excellence. They are proof of what Perion is capable of achieving.

謝謝你，肯尼。很高興看到我們的人工智慧團隊為客戶生產突破性的產品。現在我很自豪地分享我們最近的行業認可和認證。Perion 已獲得 2024 年兩項稅務認證，象徵著我們對數位廣告領域誠信和品質的堅定承諾。這些獎項和行業認可反映了我們團隊的辛勤工作和我們對卓越的承諾。它們證明了 Perion 有能力實現目標。

Thank you once again for joining us today. We're excited about the future and invite all of you to continue with us on this promising journey. And now, our CFO, Maoz Sigron, will present the financial results for Q1.

再次感謝您今天加入我們。我們對未來感到興奮，並邀請大家繼續與我們一起踏上這趟充滿希望的旅程。現在，我們的財務長 Maoz Sigron 將介紹第一季的財務表現。

Thank you, Tal. Good afternoon, and good morning to those of you joining us from the US. As Tal mentioned, the first quarter was a challenging one. We experienced a decline in search advertising activity that is attributed to changes in advertising prices, a new mechanism that Microsoft Bing implemented in its search distribution marketplace. These changes in pricing strategies affected all Microsoft distribution partners. Our relationship with Microsoft remains strong.

謝謝你，塔爾。來自美國的各位下午好，早安。正如塔爾所提到的，第一季是一個充滿挑戰的季度。我們經歷了搜尋廣告活動的下降，這歸因於廣告價格的變化，這是 Microsoft Bing 在其搜尋分發市場中實施的新機制。這些定價策略的變化影響了所有 Microsoft 經銷合作夥伴。我們與微軟的關係依然牢固。

As a result of Microsoft changes and to a limited extent, a reduction in video activity will reduce the 2024 full-year guidance in our announcement on April 8. We at Perion have a history of meeting challenges. We are resilient and agile. We continuously focus on enhancing our growth engines, which include retail media, CTV, and digital out-of-home. Thanks to Perion's assets, technology, know-how, and expertise along with our core growth engines, I am confident that our team will take Perion to the next successful growth chapter.

由於 Microsoft 的變化，視訊活動的減少將在一定程度上降低我們 4 月 8 日宣布的 2024 年全年指引。我們 Perion 有著迎接挑戰的歷史。我們富有彈性且敏捷。我們不斷致力於增強我們的成長引擎，包括零售媒體、CTV 和數位戶外媒體。由於 Perion 的資產、技術、專業知識和專業知識以及我們的核心成長引擎，我相信我們的團隊將帶領 Perion 進入下一個成功的成長篇章。

Moving to the first quarter main financial highlights. Revenue increased by 9% year over year to $157.8 million. Adjusted EBITDA decreased by 35% year over year to $20.3 million, resulting in a 13% adjusted EBITDA margin and 34% ex-TAC margin.

接下來是第一季的主要財務亮點。營收年增 9%，達到 1.578 億美元。調整後 EBITDA 年減 35%，至 2,030 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 13%，除 TAC 利潤率為 34%。

GAAP net income decreased by 51% to $11.8 million. Cash flow from operations decreased by 61% to $6.9 million. Net cash slightly increased over the previous quarter to $479.7 million. Revenue for the first quarter was $157.8 million, an increase of 9% year over year.

GAAP 淨利潤下降 51% 至 1,180 萬美元。營運現金流下降 61% 至 690 萬美元。淨現金較上一季略有增加，達 4.797 億美元。第一季營收為1.578億美元，年增9%。

This growth was achieved despite a 52% decrease in video and is the result of our ability to execute our diversification strategy. While search advertising grew by 26% year over year, we expect revenue to decline next quarter due to the changes to Microsoft Bing pricing strategies as we discussed earlier. Revenue from advertising solutions decreased by 5% year over year to $75.8 million and accounted for 48% of total revenue.

儘管視訊業務減少了 52%，但仍實現了這一成長，這是我們執行多元化策略能力的結果。雖然搜尋廣告年增 26%，但我們預計下季營收將下降，原因是我們之前討論過的 Microsoft Bing 定價策略的變化。廣告解決方案營收年減5%至7,580萬美元，佔總營收的48%。

The year-over-year decrease in revenue was a result of a continuous decline in video revenue and was partially offset by significant year-over-year increase of our growth engines. Our CTV business grew by 108% year over year to $8.2 million, representing 11% of advertising solutions revenue compared with 5% last year and was driven by strong customers' adoption of our high impact CTV solutions.

營收年減是影片收入持續下降的結果，但部分被我們的成長引擎較去年同期大幅成長所抵消。我們的 CTV 業務年增 108%，達到 820 萬美元，佔廣告解決方案收入的 11%，而去年這一比例為 5%，這得益於強大的客戶採用我們高影響力的 CTV 解決方案。

Digital out-of-home grew by 25% year over year on a pro forma basis to $9.7 million. We are also happy with the consistent growth delivered by our retail media vertical, which grew by 134% year over year to $14.9 million, accounted for 20% of advertising solutions revenue, compared with 8% in the same period last year.

預計戶外數位廣告收入年增 25%，達到 970 萬美元。我們也對零售媒體垂直領域的持續成長感到高興，該垂直領域年增 134%，達到 1,490 萬美元，佔廣告解決方案收入的 20%，而去年同期為 8%。

These results were driven by new customers and increased spending of existing customers, aided by the positive progress we are making to introduce new products and new technology. Revenue from search advertising increased by 26% year over year in the first quarter to $82 million.

這些成果是由新客戶和現有客戶支出增加所推動的，並得益於我們在推出新產品和新技術方面取得的積極進展。第一季搜尋廣告收入年增 26% 至 8,200 萬美元。

During the quarter, average daily searches increased by 20% over the same period last year and the number of publishers grew by 8% year over year. While having a relatively minor impact on revenue, in the first quarter we expect the changes recently instituted by Microsoft Bing to significantly impact sales advertising revenue in the second quarter and throughout 2024. Contribution excluding TAC to revenue was 38% compared with 45% in the first quarter last year, mostly due to shifts in product mix and higher revenue share for some of our search publishers in the first quarter of 2024.

本季度，日均搜尋量較去年同期成長 20%，發布商數量較去年同期成長 8%。雖然對第一季營收的影響相對較小，但我們預計 Microsoft Bing 最近實施的變更將在第二季和整個 2024 年對銷售廣告收入產生重大影響。不包括 TAC 的收入貢獻率為 38%，而去年第一季為 45%，這主要是由於 2024 年第一季產品組合的變化以及我們的一些搜尋發布商收入份額的提高。

Adjusted EBITDA decreased by 35% year over year to $20.3 million or 13% of revenue from 22% in the first quarter of 2023 and 80% in the first quarter of 2022. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA was mainly a result of the reduction in search advertising activity during the quarter and higher operation expenses following the integration of Hivestack.

調整後 EBITDA 年減 35% 至 2,030 萬美元，佔營收的 13%，而 2023 年第一季為 22%，2022 年第一季為 80%。調整後 EBITDA 下降的主要原因是本季搜尋廣告活動減少以及 Hivestack 整合後營運費用增加。

Adjusted EBITDA to contribution ex-TAC decreased to 34% compared with 84% in the first quarter of 2023 and 42% in the first quarter of 2022. On a GAAP basis, first quarter net income decreased by 51% to $11.8 million or $0.24 per diluted share compared with $23.8 million or $0.48 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2023. On a non-GAAP basis, net income decreased by 25% to $22.6 million or $0.44 per diluted share for the first quarter compared with $29.9 million or $0.60 per diluted share last year.

調整後 EBITDA 佔 TAC 前貢獻率下降至 34%，而 2023 年第一季為 84%，2022 年第一季為 42%。以 GAAP 計算，第一季淨利潤下降 51%，至 1,180 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.24 美元，而 2023 年第一季淨利潤為 2,380 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.48 美元。以非公認會計準則計算，第一季淨利潤下降 25% 至 2,260 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.44 美元，而去年同期淨利潤為 2,990 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.60 美元。

Operating cash flow for the first quarter was $6.9 million compared with $17.8 million in the same period last year. The decrease in operating cash flow was mainly attributed to the reduction in search advertising activity and one-time working capital needs for the Hivestack operations. We are proud of our consistent ability to generate positive cash flow and to increase our net cash position despite the challenges we are facing.

第一季營運現金流為 690 萬美元，去年同期為 1,780 萬美元。營運現金流的減少主要是由於搜尋廣告活動的減少以及 Hivestack 業務的一次性營運資金需求的減少。儘管我們面臨挑戰，但我們仍為我們始終有能力產生正現金流並增加淨現金部位感到自豪。

As of March 31, 2024, net cash, including cash, cash equivalents, short-term deposits, and marketable securities was $479.7 million, up from $472.7 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023. The increase in cash and cash equivalents was the result of the positive operating cash flow generated in the quarter.

截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日，淨現金（包括現金、現金等價物、短期存款和有價證券）為 4.797 億美元，高於 2023 年第四季末的 4.727 億美元。現金和現金等價物的增加是本季產生的正經營現金流的結果。

Consistent with our previous announcement, we are confident that Perion's diversified and holistic solutions will expand our opportunities to better serve our customers. We are reiterating our full-year 2024 guidance that we provided on April 8, adding guidance to the second quarter of 2024 as well. This concludes my financial overview. And now, we'll open the line for questions.

與我們先前的聲明一致，我們相信 Perion 的多元化和整體解決方案將擴大我們的機會，並更好地為客戶服務。我們重申 4 月 8 日提供的 2024 年全年指引，並增加了 2024 年第二季的指引。我的財務概述到此結束。現在，我們將開通提問熱線。

(Operator Instructions) Max Michaelis, Lake Street Capital.

（操作員說明）Max Michaelis，Lake Street Capital。

Hey guys, thanks for taking my questions. First one for me. If we look at video revenue, I think it was down 33% last quarter and then down 52% here in Q1. And internally, where had you guys expected that to end up? And then, I guess, going forward, what is your expectations for the year just for video revenue? And then, I guess, you can tie in a macro question with that as well, have you seen any improvement in the macro here maybe in the second quarter?

嘿夥計們，謝謝你回答我的問題。對我來說第一個。如果我們看一下影片收入，我認為上季下降了 33%，第一季下降了 52%。在內部，你們期望這最終會怎樣？然後，我想，展望未來，您對今年的影片收入有何期望？然後，我想，您也可以將一個宏觀問題與此聯繫起來，您是否看到第二季度宏觀方面有任何改善？

Maoz, may be you want to take this.

Maoz，也許你想接受這個。

Yes, of course. Thank you for the question. As we said, the headwind of the video is expected to end in the second quarter this year. So we're expecting to move to a normal growth on Q3. So we have another quarter of negative comparison between '24 to '23, and we're expecting H2 to move to be a positive one.

是的當然。感謝你的提問。正如我們所說，影片的逆風預計將在今年第二季結束。因此，我們預計第三季將實現正常成長。因此，我們在 24 年到 23 年之間又進行了四分之一的負面比較，我們預計下半年將轉為正面的比較。

We are moving with the market. As we said, historically, there is a reason why the video is moving down. The idea here is optimization, and we believe that this impact will end at the end of this quarter or the second quarter.

我們正在與市場一起前進。正如我們所說，從歷史上看，影片下移是有原因的。這裡的想法是優化，我們相信這種影響將在本季末或第二季結束。

Okay, thanks, guys. And then my last question here. I know you guys increased the buyback authorization last quarter. Are you guys active at all in Q1, or have you been since the announcement?

好的，謝謝，夥計們。然後是我的最後一個問題。我知道你們上個季度增加了回購授權。你們在第一季是否活躍，或自宣布以來一直活躍？

So the buyback is yet in process. As we said, first, the 20-F filed, so now we don't have any problem, and we can move on with the plan. But, as we need to file the plan when we are open and we are not in the blackout period, which is going to be this weekend, so next week we are going to file a plan which will execute two weeks later.

因此，回購仍在進行中。正如我們所說，首先，20-F 提交了申請，所以現在我們沒有任何問題，我們可以繼續執行該計劃。但是，由於我們需要在營業時提交計劃，而且我們不在本週末的封鎖期，所以下週我們將提交一份計劃，該計劃將在兩週後執行。

So we're expecting this plan to start at the end of May, and we are going immediately to start the buyback plan in the quarter already. I believe that when we will get to the end of the quarter and we will share the result, you will see already the buyback take place in our balance sheet.

因此，我們預計該計劃將於 5 月底開始，並且我們將立即在本季啟動回購計劃。我相信，當我們到本季結束並分享結果時，您會看到我們的資產負債表中已經發生了回購。

Jason Helfstein, Oppenheimer.

賈森·赫夫斯坦，奧本海默。

Hi, this is Steve Hromin on for Jason. So just first on SORT 2.0, I was just wondering if you've broadly launched that to all of your CTV advertisers or whatever percentage. And then wondering if you can give any metrics, in terms of who, how many advertisers are using it, etc.? And then secondly, on Hivestack growth, you guys posted 25% pro forma. Just wondering if this is in line or exceeding your expectations, and what do you think on the full year in terms of digital out-of-home? Thank you.

大家好，我是傑森的史蒂夫·赫羅明。首先，我想知道您是否已向所有 CTV 廣告商或任何比例的廣告商廣泛推出 SORT 2.0。然後想知道您是否可以提供任何指標，例如誰、有多少廣告商在使用它等等？其次，關於 Hivestack 的成長，你們預期成長了 25%。只是想知道這是否符合或超出您的預期，您對全年戶外數位化有何看法？謝謝。

Right. So let's start on the SORT 2.0, we're just launching it now. So this is getting shipped out today. So, obviously, we don't have the results yet. But the big news here is it got a major upgrade with all the new technologies for the new formats of cookie-less and, obviously, the audience segmentation for CTV, which is huge. Once it's out and we're going to have more metrics, we'll be happy to share that. What was the other one?

正確的。那麼，讓我們從 SORT 2.0 開始吧，我們現在才剛啟動它。所以今天就出貨了。所以，顯然我們還沒有結果。但這裡的大新聞是它得到了重大升級，採用了無 cookie 新格式的所有新技術，顯然，CTV 的觀眾細分是巨大的。一旦發布，我們將有更多的指標，我們將很樂意分享。另一件是什麼？

The second question was done. I can take it. It was about Hivestack. So yes, this is really exciting quarter. This is the first time we have Hivestack in full, and this is definitely aligned with our expectation. As we shared with the KPIs, they are in the ending quarter with 25% year-over-year growth, which is very much aligned with our expectation. We're expecting to end the year with more or less our original model, no dramatic change. This is Q1, and we're expecting more to come in the next quarters.

第二題就完成了。我可以接受。這是關於 Hivestack 的。所以，是的，這是一個非常令人興奮的季度。這是我們第一次擁有完整的 Hivestack，這絕對符合我們的期望。正如我們與 KPI 分享的那樣，它們在最後一個季度同比增長 25%，這與我們的預期非常一致。我們預計今年年底會或多或少保留我們原來的模型，不會有太大的變化。這是第一季度，我們預計接下來的幾個季度還會出現更多情況。

Mark Kelley, Stifel.

馬克凱利，斯蒂菲爾。

Great, thanks. Good morning, everyone. First question, just on with cookie deprecation getting pushed out again to '25 on Chrome. Does that provide, I guess, a little bit of cushion, in the back half of this year or especially for the non-search business? Or is that not the right way to think about it?

萬分感謝。大家，早安。第一個問題，Chrome 上的 cookie 棄用再次被推遲到 25 年。我想，這是否會在今年下半年，特別是對於非搜尋業務提供一點緩衝？還是這不是正確的思考方式？

And second one, just going back to Hivestack. A few weeks ago, we saw that Lamar chose Vistar to power their digital billboards. I'm just curious. How does your tech stack up relative to Vistar? Maybe they were looking for something that the Hivestack suite of products didn't offer. I guess, what's the right way to think about that? And were you a part of that RFP process? Thank you.

第二個，回到 Hivestack。幾週前，我們看到 Lamar 選擇 V​​istar 為其數位廣告看板提供支援。我只是好奇。與 Vistar 相比，你們的技術如何？也許他們正在尋找 Hivestack 產品套件無法提供的東西。我想，正確的思考方式是什麼？您參與了 RFP 流程嗎？謝謝。

Yeah. Well, thank you very much for the question. So cookie-less, yeah, I think, the fact that, Google keeps pushing this back, for me, it's not a surprise. But we were ready for the cookie-less era two years ago. And now as time goes by, more and more technologies are coming out to address that. So we want to make sure that we're ready for that whenever Google will finally decide to do that. So we're going to be perfectly ready and we are perfectly ready now.

是的。嗯，非常感謝你的提問。因此，沒有 cookie，是的，我認為，事實上，谷歌一直在推遲這一點，對我來說，這並不奇怪。但兩年前我們就已經為無 cookie 時代做好準備了。現在，隨著時間的推移，越來越多的技術出現來解決這個問題。因此，無論何時谷歌最終決定這樣做，我們都希望確保我們已經做好準備。因此，我們將做好充分的準備，現在就已經做好了充分的準備。

Now in terms of Vistar, for anything we've been hearing from our clients, Hivestack is the most advanced solution out there. This is what we're hearing. This is what we believe. And obviously, Vistar, those guys are great. We know them very well. They're a competitor. So they're getting some deals, we're getting some deals. This is just the nature of the business, but our technology is from everything we know, it's the most advanced technology out there.

現在就 Vistar 而言，無論我們從客戶那裡聽到什麼，Hivestack 都是最先進的解決方案。這就是我們所聽到的。這就是我們所相信的。顯然，維斯塔，這些人都很棒。我們非常了解他們。他們是競爭對手。所以他們得到了一些交易，我們也得到了一些交易。這只是業務的本質，但我們的技術來自我們所知道的一切，它是最先進的技術。

Okay. Thank you very much.

好的。非常感謝。

(Operator Instructions) Laura Martin, Needham & Company.

（操作員說明）Laura Martin，Needham & Company。

Good morning. Just thinking about the overall context of the demand from a vertical point of view. Can you talk about what you're seeing in the marketplace right now, please?

早安.只是從垂直的角度思考需求的整體脈絡。您能談談您現在在市場上看到的情況嗎？

From the vertical point of view?

從垂直角度看？

Yeah. Strong verticals.

是的。垂直性強。

Yeah. Maoz, do you have that vertical?

是的。Maoz，你有垂直的嗎？

Yes, of course, I can take that. Thank you, Laura and good morning. Hi, Laura. So the same trend as you said, I can see from the financial from the personal, the retail is let's say, very strong, consumer goods as well, travel is strong, healthcare and auto is strong. These are the areas that are more dominant in Q1.

是的，當然，我可以接受。謝謝你，蘿拉，早安。嗨，勞拉。正如你所說的趨勢一樣，我可以從個人金融方面看到，零售業非常強勁，消費品也很強勁，旅遊也很強勁，醫療保健和汽車也很強勁。這些是第一季更占主導地位的領域。

Okay. That's interesting because that's exactly the opposite of what DoubleVerify said yesterday. So that's super interesting. Okay. And when you think about your -- sorry, go ahead.

好的。這很有趣，因為這與 DoubleVerify 昨天所說的完全相反。所以這非常有趣。好的。當你想到你的——抱歉，繼續吧。

No. I agree. It's interesting that this is different from what other are reporting, but this is the nature of this business.

不。我同意。有趣的是，這與其他人報導的不同，但這就是這項業務的本質。

Yeah. And then in terms of your expense growth, G&A was sort of much higher than we thought, but sales and marketing was much lower than what we thought. So could you talk about that sort of reallocation of resources between the cost lines, why money is moving towards G&A and away from sales and marketing, please?

是的。然後就費用成長而言，一般行政費用比我們想像的要高得多，但銷售和行銷比我們想像的要低得多。那麼，您能否談談成本線之間資源的重新分配，為什麼資金流向一般管理費用，而不是銷售和行銷？

This is more related to the GAAP numbers and less to the non-GAAP. There are some stock-based compensation, that adjustment that we did in the quarter that are part of the GAAP. The non-GAAP is very normal and in line with our trends. This is more accounting changes that we did in the SBC during the quarter and not more than that.

這與 GAAP 數字關係較大，與非 GAAP 數字關係較小。我們在本季進行的一些基於股票的薪酬調整是公認會計準則的一部分。非公認會計準則是非常正常的，符合我們的趨勢。這是我們本季在 SBC 中所做的更多會計變更，僅此而已。

Okay. Super helpful. Thank you.

好的。超有幫助。謝謝。

Jeff Martin, Roth MKM.

傑夫·馬丁，羅斯·MKM。

Thanks. Good morning, guys. Wanted to touch on search a little bit more. What specifically is the mechanism that changed at Bing, and how has that affected your publish account in Q2?

謝謝。早上好傢伙。想多談談搜尋。Bing 改變的具體機制是什麼？

Right. So Microsoft changed the mechanism of pricing for the distribution channels, right. And the way we think it affected our publishers is at the end of the day, it all needs to make economic sense for them. I mean they have other options, right? They can switch between vendors. They can do whatever they want, and this is exactly what happened. Does that give you the answer?

正確的。所以微軟改變了通路的定價機制，對吧。我們認為這對我們的出版商的影響最終是，這一切都需要對他們來說具有經濟意義。我的意思是他們還有其他選擇，對嗎？他們可以在供應商之間切換。他們可以為所欲為，而這正是發生的事情。這能給你答案嗎？

Yeah, sure. What's the publisher count changed so far in Q2?

好，當然。到目前為止，第二季的發布商數量發生了哪些變化？

So we cannot disclose Q2 numbers yet, but we did disclose that although the average was high, actually we saw a growth. Towards the end of the quarter, we actually saw a decline. So, again, numbers of Q2 are going to be reported in three months from now.

所以我們還不能透露第二季的數據，但我們確實透露，雖然平均值很高，但實際上我們看到了成長。到本季末，我們實際上看到了下降。因此，第二季的數據將在三個月後公佈。

Fair enough.

很公平。

But let me just add one more thing. But it's important to say that the guidance that we gave already took that into consideration, right. So this is already what you see in front of you in terms of guidance.

但讓我再補充一件事。但重要的是，我們提供的指導已經考慮到了這一點，對吧。因此，這已經是您在指導方面看到的內容。

Okay. And then in terms of capital allocation, you've got the $75 million authorized for repurchase. Has there been activity in the past month or so since you made the pre-release announcement? And then what's the potential to up that materially over time? Do you plan to be aggressive in buying back shares?

好的。然後在資本配置方面，您已獲得 7500 萬美元的回購授權。自從您發布預發佈公告以來，過去一個月左右是否有任何活動？那麼隨著時間的推移，大幅提升這數字的潛力有多大呢？您打算積極回購股票嗎？

So as we said, the buyback plan is not yet started. We're expecting to start in more or less two weeks from now. This is part of regulations and the other requirements that we have. First is the filing of the 20-F, and second is the period that we need to wait after we're filing the plan, but we're expecting to execute the plan this quarter, and we are running with a $75 million plan. And this is very much aligned with what we said a few weeks ago. On the preliminary from M&A, you know, we have the same plan, same structure.

正如我們所說，回購計劃尚未啟動。我們預計從現在起大約兩週後開始。這是法規和我們其他要求的一部分。首先是提交 20-F，其次是我們提交計劃後需要等待的時間，但我們預計在本季度執行該計劃，並且我們正在執行 7500 萬美元的計劃。這與我們幾週前所說的非常一致。從併購的初步來看，我們有相同的計劃、相同的結構。

We know what we are looking for, and once we get the right opportunity, we will do that. This is very much aligned with our high-level view on the cash that we have so far. One is the buyback, which already announced, and second, of course, is the M&A effort, which is, of course, relevant to what we're expecting to do next with the cash.

我們知道我們在尋找什麼，一旦獲得合適的機會，我們就會這麼做。這與我們迄今為止對現金的高層看法非常一致。一是已經宣布的回購，二是併購工作，當然與我們下一步預期如何使用現金有關。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Let me just -- I just got an answer from my team about the previous question. Why Vistar got the deal with Lamar. So it turns out that Lamar actually owns part of Vistar, so there was no RFP there. That was just part of the ownership.

讓我說一下——我剛剛從我的團隊那裡得到了關於上一個問題的答案。為什麼維斯塔與拉馬爾達成協議。事實證明，拉馬爾實際上擁有 Vistar 的一部分，因此那裡沒有 RFP。那隻是所有權的一部分。

Thank you. We've reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over to management for any further or closing comments.

謝謝。我們的問答環節已經結束。我想將發言權交還給管理階層，以徵求進一步的意見或結束意見。

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you everyone for joining us today, and thank you for being part of our journey. Even though we saw a big change lately, we are confident in our future. We're investing in technology. We're investing in our clients, and we have all the resource resources needed to succeed. So thank you again, and I hope to see you again in our next earning call. Thank you.

是的。謝謝。感謝大家今天加入我們，並感謝你們成為我們旅程的一部分。儘管我們最近看到了巨大的變化，但我們對未來充滿信心。我們正在投資技術。我們正在投資我們的客戶，並且我們擁有成功所需的所有資源。再次感謝您，我希望在下次電話會議中再次見到您。謝謝。

Thank you. That does conclude today's teleconference webcast. You may disconnect your line at this time, and have a wonderful day. We thank you for your participation today.

謝謝。今天的電話會議網路廣播到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路，度過美好的一天。我們感謝您今天的參與。