Perion Network Ltd (PERI) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Perion Network second-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.

大家好，歡迎參加 Perion Network 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。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。

Before we begin, I'd like to read the following Safe Harbor statement. Today's discussion includes forward-looking statements. 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 from 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.

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。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 been filed on Form 6-K.

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，並已在表格 6-K 中提交。

Hosting the call today are Tal Jacobson, Perion's Chief Executive Officer; and Maoz Sigron, Perion's Chief Financial Officer. I'd now like to turn the call over to Tal Jacobson. Please go ahead.

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. Thank you for joining us for our second-quarter earnings review. As always, Maoz Sigron, our CFO, is with me today.

早安，下午好。感謝您參加我們的第二季財報回顧。一如既往，我們的財務長毛茲西格隆 (Maoz Sigron) 今天和我在一起。

I want to start by reminding all of us what we are trying to solve at Perion. Digital advertising is expected to reach $700 billion this year and grow to over $900 billion within three years. However, managing this vast spending across numerous platforms, channels, screens, data points has become very complex for the advertiser. The Chief Marketing Officer is in charge of spending those digital advertising budgets. An army of experts and vendors are needed to cover all relevant advertising channels, and when they do, it's almost impossible to prove actual ROI across all channels and platforms.

首先，我想提醒我們所有人，我們在 Perion 正在努力解決什麼問題。數位廣告今年預計將達到 7,000 億美元，並在三年內成長到超過 9,000 億美元。然而，對於廣告主來說，管理跨越眾多平台、管道、螢幕、數據點的巨額支出變得非常複雜。首席行銷長負責支出這些數位廣告預算。需要一支專家和供應商隊伍來涵蓋所有相關的廣告管道，而當他們這樣做時，幾乎不可能證明所有管道和平台的實際投資報酬率。

This is where Perion comes in, providing the technology that fits the brand goals. As a technology company, we ensure our tech fits the brand strategy as different brands have different needs. In the early days, an off-the-shelf CRM worked for many brands. Today, we know that if you want to get the best results from your CRM, it's not enough to buy a license for a CRM such as Salesforce. If you want to get the best results, you need to customize the technology to your needs.

這就是 Perion 的用武之地，它提供符合品牌目標的技術。作為一家科技公司，我們確保我們的技術符合品牌策略，因為不同的品牌有不同的需求。早期，現成的 CRM 適用於許多品牌。如今，我們知道，如果您想從 CRM 中獲得最佳結果，僅僅購買 Salesforce 等 CRM 授權是不夠的。如果您想獲得最佳結果，您需要根據您的需求客製化技術。

The same applies to the $700 billion digital advertising industry, and we believe we are on our way to tackle the overcomplexity of the digital advertising universe through technology. Our mission in the fast evolving, over-complex, omnichannel advertising universe is clear; to identify, connect, deliver and measure compelling messages across multiple screens and platforms while maximizing our clients' advertising budgets. The core of our technology is to empower advertisers to seamlessly and effectively connect with their audience, whether at home, at work, in the supermarket or on the move.

這同樣適用於價值 7000 億美元的數位廣告產業，我們相信我們正在透過科技解決數位廣告領域過於複雜的問題。在快速發展、過於複雜的全通路廣告領域，我們的使命很明確；跨多個螢幕和平台識別、連接、傳遞和衡量引人注目的訊息，同時最大限度地提高客戶的廣告預算。我們技術的核心是讓廣告主能夠無縫、有效地與受眾建立聯繫，無論是在家中、在工作中、在超市或路上。

This quarter, we made significant advancements in our technologies, forged key integrations, and secured crucial partnerships to advance our solutions. Here's a reflection of our core growth engines that have continued to demonstrate positive momentum with a strong double-digit growth rate.

本季度，我們在技術方面取得了重大進步，打造了關鍵集成，並建立了重要的合作夥伴關係來推進我們的解決方案。這是我們核心成長引擎的反映，這些引擎繼續展現出強勁的兩位數成長率的正面勢頭。

Hivestack, our best of breed programmatic digital out-of-home technology that we acquired at the end of last year, is already bearing fruit. We have added a robust growth engine, enhanced our ability to help advertisers deliver omnichannel experiences, and expanded our global footprint. Programmatic digital out-of-home is expected to play a pivotal role in the future of retail media as consumers continue to seek goods at physical stores and retail advertisers compete for their attention.

Hivestack 是我們去年年底收購的最佳程式化數位戶外技術，現已取得成果。我們增加了強大的成長引擎，增強了幫助廣告主提供全通路體驗的能力，並擴大了我們的全球足跡。隨著消費者繼續在實體店尋找商品以及零售廣告商爭奪他們的注意力，程序化數位戶外廣告預計將在零售媒體的未來發揮關鍵作用。

By leveraging our technology, advertisers can synchronize their campaigns to deliver consistent brand messages effectively to maximize ROI. Our recent omnichannel campaign for Colorado Tourism utilized our CTV pause ads, our cutting-edge AI-generated dynamic audio ad technology called Wave, and our mobile interactive ads.

透過利用我們的技術，廣告商可以同步他們的行銷活動，有效地傳遞一致的品牌訊息，從而最大限度地提高投資報酬率。我們最近為科羅拉多州旅遊局的全通路活動利用了我們的 CTV 暫停廣告、名為 Wave 的尖端人工智慧生成動態音訊廣告技術以及我們的行動互動廣告。

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By integrating those channels into a single compelling and holistic advertising experience, we ensure that the brand messages resonate deeply with the consumers. This provides consistent engagement across all platforms and devices. Our CTV solutions are showing great momentum and are adopted by more and more brands.

透過將這些管道整合到一個引人注目的整體廣告體驗中，我們確保品牌訊息能夠與消費者產生深刻的共鳴。這提供了跨所有平台和設備的一致參與。我們的CTV解決方案正呈現出強勁的發展勢頭，並被越來越多的品牌採用。

We are leveraging our advanced location-based capabilities to drive meaningful results for advertisers. For example, our CTV Golden Corral campaign directs viewers to the nearest restaurant, making it an easy choice for a hungry consumer. Our technology is using the restaurants' locations and integrating them into the brand creative using our advanced dynamic creative technology. Let's take a look.

我們正在利用先進的基於位置的功能為廣告商帶來有意義的結果。例如，我們的 CTV Golden Corral 活動將觀眾引導到最近的餐廳，這對飢餓的消費者來說是一個簡單的選擇。我們的技術是利用餐廳的位置，並利用我們先進的動態創意技術將它們整合到品牌創意中。我們來看一下。

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Our retail and commerce advertisers are also enjoying new developments that enrich retail campaigns to drive meaningful results, one of them being the click- to-cart functionality. Click- to-cart allows advertisers to add direct to cart call to action within the ad. This creates an accelerated path to purchase. As presented in this ad, one click opens the target website, and the item is already in the shopping cart.

我們的零售和商業廣告商也正在享受新的發展，這些發展豐富了零售活動，以推動有意義的結果，其中之一就是點擊購物車功能。點擊購物車讓廣告主在廣告中加入直接購物車號召性用語。這創造了加速的購買路徑。如廣告所示，只需點擊一下即可開啟目標網站，並且該商品已在購物車中。

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One of the most exciting developments at Perion is the extension of our advanced CTV technology to now also run on YouTube CTV. Brands can now leverage our appealing high impact CTV solutions on YouTube, the second largest CTV ad platform in the US. Here's an ad for Direct Energy, one of the first brands to adopt our CTV technology for YouTube.

Perion 最令人興奮的發展之一是我們先進的 CTV 技術的擴展，現在也可以在 YouTube CTV 上運行。品牌現在可以在美國第二大 CTV 廣告平台 YouTube 上利用我們極具吸引力的高影響力 CTV 解決方案。這是 Direct Energy 的廣告，它是第一批在 YouTube 上採用我們的 CTV 技術的品牌之一。

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Our programmatic digital out-of-home advertising solutions are reshaping how brands engage, interact and connect with audiences across the globe. Programmatic digital out-of-home is uniquely positioned at the intersection of art and science. It provides parallel opportunities for brands to deliver full funnel advertising campaigns that are customizable to meet their goals.

我們的程式化數位戶外廣告解決方案正在重塑品牌與全球受眾互動、互動和聯繫的方式。程式化數位戶外產品在藝術與科學的交叉點上有著獨特的地位。它為品牌提供了並行的機會來提供可自訂的完整漏斗廣告活動，以實現其目標。

The out-of-home channel is evolving at an incredible pace, growing in popularity with some of the world's leading brands, and we keep adding new and exciting features. Burger King, for example, uses our technology for programmatic digital out-of-home to motivate people to visit restaurants across 165 locations in New Zealand. They leverage features such as proximity gale fencing, advanced scheduling, and contextually relevant creative. Those features are unique to programmatic digital out-of-home and generated impressive results for Burger King.

戶外頻道正在以令人難以置信的速度發展，越來越受到一些世界領先品牌的歡迎，我們不斷添加新的、令人興奮的功能。例如，漢堡王使用我們的程式化數位戶外技術來激勵人們光顧紐西蘭 165 個地點的餐廳。他們利用鄰近強風圍欄、高級調度和上下文相關創意等功能。這些功能是程式化數位戶外所獨有的，並為漢堡王帶來了令人印象深刻的成果。

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In the world of programmatic digital out-of-home advertising, the variety of screen sizes and formats is vast and diverse. It's almost like navigating a jungle. Digital out-of-home, unlike web advertising with its IAB standard ad sizes, presents unique challenges as there are many screen sizes and proportions.

在程式化數位戶外廣告領域，螢幕尺寸和格式多種多樣。這幾乎就像在叢林中航行一樣。與採用 IAB 標準廣告尺寸的網路廣告不同，數位戶外廣告面臨獨特的挑戰，因為螢幕尺寸和比例多種多樣。

This is where Perion's AI-based dynamic creative optimization technology, DCO, steps in. We transform complexity into opportunity by adjusting out-of-home creatives dynamically. Our AI-based DCO capabilities are already at work in other formats we power. Now, we have added this capability to support digital out-of-home and offer our clients more efficiency, scalability, and consistency.

這就是 Perion 基於人工智慧的動態創意優化技術 DCO 的用武之地。我們透過動態調整戶外創意，將複雜性轉化為機會。我們基於人工智慧的 DCO 功能已經在我們支援的其他格式中發揮作用。現在，我們添加了此功能來支援數位戶外，並為我們的客戶提供更高的效率、可擴展性和一致性。

Advertisers utilizing this technology maintain high quality visuals and messages across all formats, enhancing brand consistency and the effectiveness of each campaign. Our technologies continue to earn industry recognition and win awards. I'm proud to share several awards our team has won this quarter, including the Drum Awards and the IAB Tech Lab certification.

利用該技術的廣告商可以在所有格式中保持高品質的視覺效果和訊息，從而提高品牌的一致性和每個活動的有效性。我們的技術不斷贏得業界認可並獲獎。我很自豪地分享我們的團隊本季獲得的多項獎項，包括 Drum 獎和 IAB 技術實驗室認證。

Before we transition to review our financial results for the second quarter, I'm excited to share important updates within our leadership team. Our incredible CFO, Maoz Sigron, will be promoted to become Perion's Chief Operating Officer. I'm extremely excited about Maoz's promotion. As a proven leader who has been pivotal to the company's turnaround the past seven years, Maoz is well positioned to lead the strategic unification of our various operations, ensuring the company is on the right path of achieving sustainable growth.

在我們開始審查第二季的財務表現之前，我很高興與我們的領導團隊分享重要的最新動態。我們優秀的財務長 Maoz Sigron 將晉升為 Perion 的營運長。我對 Maoz 的晉升感到非常興奮。作為一位久經考驗的領導者，Maoz 在過去七年中對公司的扭虧為盈發揮了關鍵作用，他有能力領導我們各個業務的戰略統一，確保公司走上實現可持續增長的正確道路。

I'm also pleased to share that our current Senior Vice President of Finance, Elad Tzubery, will be promoted to become our CFO effective August 1. I wish Maoz and Elad great success in their new roles.

我還很高興地告訴大家，我們現任的財務高級副總裁 Elad Tzubery 將於 8 月 1 日晉升為我們的財務長。我祝愿毛茲和埃拉德在他們的新角色中取得巨大成功。

With that, I'll pass the stage to Maoz to review our second-quarter financials.

接下來，我將把舞台交給毛茲來審查我們的第二季財務狀況。

Thank you, Tal. Good afternoon, and good morning to those of you joining us from the US.

謝謝你，塔爾。來自美國的各位下午好，早安。

The second quarter had its challenges. Microsoft Bing made changes to its search distribution marketplace across all of its distribution partners that significantly impacted our search business. In addition, and as we stated previously, we continued to see a reduction in our open web video and display standard formats. However, the strengths of our hyper growth engines, including retail media, CTV and digital out-of-home, continued to outperform the market.

第二季面臨挑戰。Microsoft Bing 對所有分銷合作夥伴的搜尋分銷市場進行了更改，這對我們的搜尋業務產生了重大影響。此外，正如我們之前所說，我們繼續看到開放網路影片和顯示標準格式的減少。然而，我們的超級成長引擎（包括零售媒體、CTV 和數位戶外媒體）的優勢繼續跑贏市場。

Notably, our recently acquired digital out-of-home business continues to deliver strong results. It grew 41% year over year on a pro forma basis, and it is on track to become one of our fastest growing categories. Our strong balance sheet and cash position allow us to continue our organic investments in technology and to execute our M&A strategy.

值得注意的是，我們最近收購的數位戶外業務持續取得強勁業績。按預計，該類別年增 41%，有望成為我們成長最快的類別之一。我們強大的資產負債表和現金狀況使我們能夠繼續對科技進行有機投資並執行我們的併購策略。

Those of you who have been following us over the years have witnessed Perion's ability to successfully meet challenges. We have always exhibited the operational flexibility to adjust our strategy and execution. We do this in a way that enables us to overcome obstacles while continuously leveraging our technological advantages and innovative initiatives.

多年來一直關注我們的人已經見證了 Perion 成功應對挑戰的能力。我們始終展現出調整策略和執行的營運靈活性。我們這樣做的方式使我們能夠克服障礙，同時不斷利用我們的技術優勢和創新舉措。

We expect this time is no different, and I believe that we will become an even stronger company. Looking ahead, we believe that the combination of our cash position and the opportunities in the near $700 billion global digital advertising market will allow us, I am sure, to capture market share and lead to profitable growth.

我們期望這次也不例外，我相信我們會成為一家更強大的公司。展望未來，我們相信，我們的現金狀況和近 7000 億美元的全球數位廣告市場中的機會相結合，將使我們能夠佔領市場份額並實現盈利增長。

Turning to our main financial highlights for the quarter, for the second quarter that ended on June 30, 2024, revenue was $108.7 million, a decrease of 39% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA amounted to $7.7 million, a decrease of 81% year over year and resulting in a 7% adjusted EBITDA margin and 15% ex-TAC margin. GAAP net loss was $6.2 million while non-GAAP net income was $13.4 million. Net cash was $407.1 million, in part reflecting the execution of our share buyback program in the amount of $20 million.

談到本季的主要財務亮點，截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的第二季度，營收為 1.087 億美元，年減 39%。調整後 EBITDA 為 770 萬美元，年減 81%，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 7%，除 TAC 利潤率為 15%。GAAP 淨虧損為 620 萬美元，而非 GAAP 淨利潤為 1,340 萬美元。淨現金為 4.071 億美元，部分反映了我們執行的 2,000 萬美元股票回購計畫。

Revenue for the second quarter was $108.7 million, a decrease of 39% year over year, mainly impacted by search and standard open web video and display. Revenue from advertising solutions was $74.4 million, a decrease of 25% year over year and accounted for 68% of total revenue. The year-over-year decrease was a result of the decline in open web video and standard display revenue. These declines were partially offset by a significant year-over-year increase of our growth engines, including retail media, CTV, and digital out-of-home.

第二季營收為 1.087 億美元，年減 39%，主要受到搜尋和標準開放網路影片和顯示的影響。廣告解決方案收入為7,440萬美元，年減25%，佔總營收的68%。年比下降是由於開放網路視訊和標準顯示收入下降。這些下降被我們的成長引擎（包括零售媒體、CTV 和數位戶外）較去年同期大幅成長所部分抵消。

Our CTV business grew by 42% year over year to $10.2 million. This is more than double the 2024 market growth of 19%, according to eMarketer estimates. CTV revenue represented 14% of advertising solutions revenue compared with 7% last year.

我們的 CTV 業務年增 42%，達到 1,020 萬美元。根據 eMarketer 估計，這比 2024 年 19% 的市場成長率高出一倍以上。CTV 收入佔廣告解決方案收入的 14%，而去年這一比例為 7%。

Digital out-of-home grew by 41% year over year on a pro forma basis to $13 million, outpacing the expected 2024 market growth of 11%, according to eMarketer estimates. Digital out-of-home represented 18% of advertising solutions revenue compared with 9% in the same period last year on a pro forma basis.

根據 eMarketer 估計，戶外數位廣告預計將年增 41%，達到 1,300 萬美元，超過 2024 年 11% 的市場預期成長。數位戶外廣告佔廣告解決方案收入的 18%，而以預計計算，去年同期這一比例為 9%。

Our retail media vertical delivered consistent growth, increasing 75% year over year to $17.6 million, while the expected 2024 market growth according to eMarketer is 26%. Our retail media business accounted for 24% of advertising solutions revenue compared with 10% in the same period last year. These results were aided by our ability to introduce new technological solutions across multi channels. Also, our access into premium inventory drove increased spending by existing and new customers.

我們的零售媒體垂直領域實現了持續成長，年成長 75%，達到 1,760 萬美元，而 eMarketer 預計 2024 年市場成長率為 26%。我們的零售媒體業務佔廣告解決方案收入的24%，去年同期為10%。這些成果得益於我們跨多通路引入新技術解決方案的能力。此外，我們獲得優質庫存也推動了現有和新客戶的支出增加。

Second quarter search advertising was $34.3 million, a decrease of 57% year over year. This is mainly due to the changes in advertising pricing mechanisms implemented by Microsoft Bing and their decision to exclude a number of publishers from the sales distribution marketplace. Going forward, we expect our business from our agreement with Microsoft Bing to represent about 5% of Perion's revenue in the second half of 2024. Contribution excluding TAC to revenue was 46% compared with 43% in the second quarter last year, mostly due to shifts in product mix given the reduction in the search business.

第二季搜尋廣告收入為 3,430 萬美元，較去年同期下降 57%。這主要是由於 Microsoft Bing 實施的廣告定價機制發生變化，以及他們決定將一些出版商排除在銷售分銷市場之外。展望未來，我們預計到 2024 年下半年，我們與 Microsoft Bing 協議產生的業務將佔 Perion 收入的 5% 左右。不包括 TAC 的收入貢獻率為 46%，而去年第二季為 43%，這主要是由於搜尋業務減少導致產品組合發生變化。

Adjusted EBITDA amounted to $7.7 million, 7% of revenue and 15% of contribution ex-TAC. This is compared with 23% and 54%, respectively, in the second quarter of 2023. The decrease in the adjusted EBITDA was mainly a result of the reduction in search advertising activity, the decrease in standard video and display formats, and higher operating expenses due to the integration of Hivestack.

調整後 EBITDA 為 770 萬美元，佔營收的 7%，佔 TAC 貢獻金額的 15%。相比之下，2023 年第二季這一數字分別為 23% 和 54%。調整後 EBITDA 的下降主要是由於搜尋廣告活動減少、標準影片和顯示格式減少以及 Hivestack 整合導致營運費用增加。

On a GAAP basis, second-quarter net loss was $6.2 million or $0.13 per diluted share, compared with a net income of $21.4 million or $0.43 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2023.

以 GAAP 計算，第二季淨虧損為 620 萬美元，即稀釋後每股 0.13 美元，而 2023 年第二季淨利為 2,140 萬美元，即稀釋後每股 0.43 美元。

Non-GAAP net income was $13.4 million, a year-over-year decrease of 68% or $0.26 per diluted share, compared with $42.1 million or $0.84 per diluted share last year.

非 GAAP 淨利潤為 1,340 萬美元，年減 68%，即稀釋每股收益 0.26 美元，去年為 4,210 萬美元，即稀釋每股收益 0.84 美元。

Operating cash flow for the second quarter was a negative $20.5 million compared with $47.4 million in the same period last year. This quarter's operating cash flow was mainly impacted by a delay of $17.6 million in the Microsoft collection to July 1, 2024, and a one-time contingent consideration payment of $9.6 million related to Vidazoo earnout which, according to accounting standards, are classified under operating cash flow.

第二季營運現金流為負 2,050 萬美元，去年同期為 4,740 萬美元。本季的營運現金流主要受到微軟收款延遲至2024 年7 月1 日的影響，以及與Vidazoo 收益相關的一次性或有對價支付960 萬美元，根據會計準則，該款項被歸類為營運現金流現金週轉。

As of June 30, 2024, net cash including cash equivalents, short-term deposits and marketable securities was $407.1 million, down from $479.7 million at the end of the first quarter of 2024. The quarter-over-quarter decline in cash was primarily the result of a $41 million payment of contingent consideration and a total of $20 million execution of our buyback program. We are reiterating our full-year 2024 guidance that we provided on June 10.

截至2024年6月30日，包括現金等價物、短期存款和有價證券在內的淨現金為4.071億美元，低於2024年第一季末的4.797億美元。現金環比下降主要是由於支付了 4100 萬美元的或有對價以及執行了總計 2000 萬美元的回購計劃。我們重申 6 月 10 日提供的 2024 年全年指引。

This concludes my financial overview. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the changes we made in our executive team. I am excited to take on the role of Perion's Chief Operating Officer. As Perion's COO, I will partner closely with Tal and senior management, aiming to navigate through opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

我的財務概述到此結束。我想花點時間承認我們在執行團隊中所做的改變。我很高興擔任 Perion 的首席營運長。作為 Perion 的首席營運官，我將與 Tal 和高階管理層密切合作，旨在應對未來的機會和挑戰。

As part of my new role, I am responsible for the strategic integration of Perion's cross-organization business operations, exploring internal and external business opportunities and partnerships, and maximizing efficiency. My prime goal is to drive sustainable profitable growth in the next years. I would like to thank Tal and the Board for having confidence in me to lead these strategic functions. I strongly believe Perion has a promising bright future.

作為新職位的一部分，我負責 Perion 跨組織業務運營的策略整合，探索內部和外部的商業機會和合作夥伴關係，並最大限度地提高效率。我的首要目標是在未來幾年推動可持續的獲利成長。我要感謝塔爾和董事會對我領導這些策略職能的信任。我堅信 Perion 擁有光明的未來。

Along with the entire management, the Board and our employees, I am determined to seize this opportunity and navigate Perion to its next phase of growth. I am pleased to welcome Elad in his new role as Perion's Chief Financial Officer. I have known and worked with Elad for the past decade, out of which six years at Perion. His promotion is very much deserved, and he is my natural successor. I will assist Elad in any way possible, and I look forward to continue working closely with him in our new roles.

我與整個管理層、董事會和員工一起，決心抓住這個機會，帶領 Perion 進入下一階段的發展。我很高興歡迎埃拉德擔任 Perion 財務長的新職位。在過去的十年裡，我認識埃拉德並與埃拉德共事，其中六年在 Perion。他的晉升是當之無愧的，他是我理所當然的接班人。我將盡一切可能協助埃拉德，並期待在新職位上繼續與他密切合作。

I will now pass it to Elad to say a few words.

我現在將它交給埃拉德說幾句話。

Thank you, Maoz. Good afternoon, and good morning to those of you joining us from the US.

謝謝你，毛茲。來自美國的各位下午好，早安。

I have been working closely alongside Maoz at Perion for the past six years. Throughout my years at Perion, I took an active part in most of our important milestones, and as Senior Vice President of Finance, I manage all financial aspects of the company.

過去六年來，我一直在 Perion 與 Maoz 密切合作。在 Perion 的這些年裡，我積極參與了我們大多數重要的里程碑，作為財務高級副總裁，我負責管理公司的所有財務方面。

As Maoz noted, our professional and personal relationship goes back over a decade. I want to congratulate Maoz on his well-deserved promotion and thank him for being such a trusted mentor. I would also like to thank Tal and the Board of Directors for their trust and confidence in me.

正如毛茲所指出的，我們的職業和個人關係可以追溯到十多年前。我要祝賀毛茲當之無愧的晉升，並感謝他是一位值得信賴的導師。我還要感謝塔爾和董事會對我的信任和信心。

In my new role as the Chief Financial Officer, I will capitalize on the knowledge and skills I learned over the years. I am eager to join our superb management team. I am ready and fully committed to help lead Perion to new heights.

在擔任財務長的新職位上，我將利用多年來學到的知識和技能。我渴望加入我們優秀的管理團隊。我已準備好並完全致力於幫助帶領 Perion 達到新的高度。

I'll now hand it back to the operator to open the line for questions.

我現在將把它交還給接線員以開通提問線路。

(Operator Instructions) Jason Helfstein, Oppenheimer.

（操作員說明）Jason Helfstein，奧本海默。

Hey. Good morning, everyone. Two questions. One, do you think take rate is the right pricing model for the business, just given the exposure you ultimately then have to kind of add pricing, or does it make sense to pivot more to an agency type of professional services or billable hours model and charge on a campaign basis?

嘿。大家早安。兩個問題。一，您認為採用費率對於企業來說是正確的定價模式嗎？嗎？

Then second, did closing Content IQ have an impact on open web video in the quarter? Thanks.

其次，關閉 Content IQ 是否會對本季的開放網路影片產生影響？謝謝。

Hi, Jason. We have here some technical issue with the microphone. Sorry, but could you repeat the first question?

嗨，傑森。我們的麥克風存在一些技術問題。抱歉，您能重複第一個問題嗎？

Do you think take rate is the right pricing model, or should you pivot to an agency type of professional services or billable hour model? That way you can get paid on a campaign basis and aren't as dependent on ad pricing trends.

您認為採用費率是正確的定價模式，還是應該轉向代理商類型的專業服務或按小時計費模式？這樣您就可以根據廣告系列獲得報酬，而不必依賴廣告定價趨勢。

Yes, that's a great question. As we're trying to move away as possible from being an advertising company into a technology company focusing on technologies and solutions, we do not look at ourselves as agencies.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。當我們試圖盡可能地從廣告公司轉變為專注於技術和解決方案的科技公司時，我們不會將自己視為代理商。

We want to provide that layer of technology to actual agencies, so we work with direct advertisers, with direct retailers, but also with agencies and hold Cos. We do not look at ourselves as agency but as a technological layer that connects all the dots. It makes more sense that we're making our money out of a cuts of what we can actually provide to the client, which is the advertising.

我們希望向實際代理商提供這一層技術，因此我們與直接廣告商、直接零售商以及代理商和控股公司合作。我們並非將自己視為代理機構，而是將自己視為連結所有點的技術層。更有意義的是，我們從我們實際上可以提供給客戶的東西（即廣告）中獲利。

For the second question, Jason, during the quarter, we did some changes, part of them include changes in CIQ. We are now not running any owned and operated websites, we use the technology for other needs, for the other parts of the business. We're less impacted from this part of the business of the O&O.

對於第二個問題，Jason，在本季度，我們做了一些改變，其中一部分包括 CIQ 的改變。我們現在不運行任何擁有和經營的網站，我們使用該技術來滿足其他需求和業務的其他部分。我們受到 O&O 這部分的業務影響較小。

Laura Martin, Needham & Company.

勞拉馬丁，李約瑟公司。

Tal, for you, you talked about wanting to do acquisitions in the past, but with the stock down 70% and cash flow negative $20 million in the quarter, could you update us on your M&A goals at this point?

Tal，對您來說，您過去曾談到想要進行收購，但隨著該季度股價下跌 70%，現金流為負 2000 萬美元，您能否向我們介紹一下您目前的併購目標？

Then Maoz, congratulations on your promotion. My question is the business is going to be 35% smaller at the revenue line this year than last year. Could you talk about your goals as a Chief Operating Officer? And specifically, I'm interested in your cost cutting strategies. Thank you.

那麼Maoz，恭喜你升職了。我的問題是，今年該業務的收入將比去年減少 35%。您能談談您擔任營運長的目標嗎？具體來說，我對你們的成本削減策略很感興趣。謝謝。

Thank you, Laura. First, for the first point about the cash, we had two things during the quarter with the cash flow. One is a delay of one day with Microsoft Bing, just a shift of $17.5 million from Q2 to Q3, to July 1; second is a one-time impact from accounting of $9.5 million that related to contingent -- that's related to Vidazoo payments that we did during the quarter. If you're taking these two items, the cash that we have is more or less $6 million during the quarter, which is very much aligned with the EBITDA we have for the quarter. This is one.

謝謝你，勞拉。首先，對於關於現金的第一點，我們在本季的現金流方面有兩件事。一是微軟 Bing 的延遲一天，僅從第二季到第三季轉移了 1,750 萬美元，即到 7 月 1 日；第二個是與或有事項相關的 950 萬美元會計一次性影響，這與我們在本季度支付的 Vidazoo 款項有關。如果考慮這兩項，我們本季擁有的現金約為 600 萬美元，這與我們本季的 EBITDA 非常一致。這是一個。

Second, about my new role, I'm really excited and happy to take this role. Efficiency of course is only one part of what I'm going to do. More realistic, we are trying here to take the opportunity to let Elad take the CFO position and to lead the finance part, and that myself and my team will lead the operation side of the business. This is not only efficiency; this is also identifying business opportunities that we have all over and how we can leverage that and to take it as part of our plan for '25 and '26.

其次，關於我的新角色，我對擔任這個角色感到非常興奮和高興。當然，效率只是我要做的事情的一部分。更現實的是，我們試圖藉此機會讓埃拉德擔任財務長並領導財務部分，而我和我的團隊將領導業務的營運部分。這不僅是效率，更是效率。這也是確定我們擁有的商業機會以及我們如何利用它並將其作為我們 '25 和 '26 計劃的一部分。

Efficiency is part of it. During the quarter, as part of the change that happened with Microsoft, we did a significant efficiency. We reduced people in some places and also some other changes that we did, and we reduced our cost basis dramatically. We'll see later because it will impact H2 forward. I'm really excited from my new role, and I believe this will definitely give me enough time to focus on growth and the future of Perion.

效率是其中的一部分。在本季度，作為 Microsoft 變革的一部分，我們取得了顯著的效率。我們減少了一些地方的人員，並進行了一些其他改變，並且我們大大降低了成本基礎。我們稍後會看到，因為這會影響 H2 的進展。我對我的新角色感到非常興奮，我相信這肯定會給我足夠的時間來專注於 Perion 的成長和未來。

Let me just add to that. We're generating positive cash flow. I know this specific quarter with all the technical item, but it is positive. We're absolutely looking to generate more and more cash. We're using the cash for buyback and investments and M&A.

讓我補充一下。我們正在產生正現金流。我知道這個特定季度的所有技術項目，但它是積極的。我們絕對希望產生越來越多的現金。我們將現金用於回購、投資和併購。

Now, I think we've shown that the last M&A that we've done has helped us gain meaningful technology that by itself generates a very nice growth rate. We're going to continue doing that. We're not going to buy any company that doesn't make any money. We're focusing on companies that are profitable, synergetic to what we do, and are focused on technology.

現在，我認為我們已經表明，我們所做的最後一次併購幫助我們獲得了有意義的技術，這些技術本身就產生了非常好的成長率。我們將繼續這樣做。我們不會購買任何不賺錢的公司。我們專注於那些能夠獲利、與我們的業務具有協同作用並且專注於技術的公司。

One of the things, obviously with the new role of Maoz, he has many items, but one thing is to sell our cross solution across anything we do to those customers. That would reduce operational and customer acquisition costs because we're now unifying those solutions to that specific customer, and that should result in a more efficient company and a faster growing company.

其中一件事，顯然是毛茲的新角色，他有很多項目，但一件事是向這些客戶銷售我們所做的任何事情的交叉解決方案。這將降低營運和客戶獲取成本，因為我們現在正在將這些解決方案統一到特定客戶，這應該會導致公司更有效率、發展更快。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Mark Kelley, Stifel.

馬克凱利，斯蒂菲爾。

Hi. Great. Good morning, good afternoon. Two quick ones. I was hoping you could touch on SORT adoption and what your expectations are there now that Google has decided to keep cookies around for now, at least. I know there's a lot we don't know about the path forward there, but any thoughts on SORT adoption?

你好。偉大的。早安，下午好。兩個快的。我希望您能談談 SORT 的採用以及您的期望，因為 Google 至少目前決定保留 cookie。我知道我們對未來的發展之路還有很多不了解的地方，但是對於採用 S​​ORT 有什麼想法嗎？

Then second, can you dive into retail media a bit more? It's my understanding that the majority, or maybe all of your retail media business is the off-site component, so not buying on retailers' websites -- retailers' sites. A, is that correct; and B, I guess, what would the mix be between on-site and off-site for you? Thank you.

其次，你能更深入了解零售媒體嗎？據我了解，您的零售媒體業務的大部分或全部都是場外部分，因此不要在零售商的網站上購買。A、這樣正確嗎？ B，我想，對您來說，現場和場外的混合是什麼？謝謝。

Great. Thank you for the questions. Absolutely. I think we all -- none of us was very surprised when Google said we're going to push this further or even cancel that. But I think the exercise that we went through in the past few years thinking that cookies are going to go away really pushed us in developing new technology for segmentation, for audience segmentation, and SORT is very much relevant. Our customers are using SORT 2.0 with CTV now, it's even more robust, and the fact that you can target the same type of segmentation across open web and now CTV with the same technology is really powerful.

偉大的。謝謝你的提問。絕對地。我想我們所有人——當谷歌表示我們將進一步推進甚至取消這項計劃時，我們都沒有感到非常驚訝。但我認為，我們在過去幾年中所經歷的認為 cookie 將會消失的實踐確實推動了我們開髮用於細分、受眾細分和 SORT 的新技術，這是非常相關的。我們的客戶現在正在將 SORT 2.0 與 CTV 結合使用，它更加強大，而且您可以在開放網路上定位相同類型的細分，而且現在使用相同技術的 CTV 確實非常強大。

But having said that, and that goes directly to your second question, our retail media and our solution as a whole is the omnichannel solution. It's not just offsite or on-site; it's connecting the dots. Connecting the dots means we can run it on social, we can run it on CTV, we can run it on out-of-home, we can run it on Spotify, we can run on open web. Whatever the client needs, we can provide because we've built a technology that is flexible enough for that. That's in retail. Retail is not just out-of-home, it's also on-site, off-site, from digital advertising on websites and from digital advertising out-of-home. We're connecting the dots; that's the idea.

但話雖如此，這直接涉及你的第二個問題，我們的零售媒體和我們的解決方案作為一個整體是全通路解決方案。不僅僅是場外或現場；它正在連接點。連接這些點意味著我們可以在社交上運行它，我們可以在 CTV 上運行它，我們可以在戶外運行它，我們可以在 Spotify 上運行它，我們可以在開放網路上運行它。無論客戶需要什麼，我們都可以提供，因為我們已經建立了足夠靈活的技術來滿足客戶的需求。那是零售業。零售不僅限於戶外，還包括現場、場外、網站上的數位廣告和戶外的數位廣告。我們正在把這些點連接起來；這就是想法。

Now, SORT is perfect for that because it actually understands the audiences based on all our algorithms that we've built throughout the years. That doesn't mean that we're not using other third parties. If a client wants to say I want to use LiveRamp or I want to use The Trade Desk ID or whatever they want, we're already integrated into all of those.

現在，SORT 非常適合這一點，因為它實際上根據我們多年來構建的所有演算法來了解受眾。這並不意味著我們不使用其他第三方。如果客戶想說我想使用 LiveRamp 或我想使用 The Trade Desk ID 或他們想要的任何內容，我們已經整合到所有這些中。

One thing to remember, because we work in omnichannel and not specific -- we're not working specific channel, we can work on Meta and Google and open web and whatever. We're connecting the dots because of that and understand that cookies are not relevant to most of them. Out-of-home doesn't have cookies, CTV doesn't have cookies, so not everything has cookies, but the ability to understand all of them is the powerful thing that we do.

要記住一件事，因為我們在全通路工作，而不是特定管道——我們不是在特定管道工作，我們可以在 Meta 和 Google 以及開放網路等方面工作。因此，我們將這些點連結起來，並了解 Cookie 與大多數內容無關。戶外沒有 cookie，CTV 沒有 cookie，所以不是所有東西都有 cookie，但理解所有這些內容的能力是我們所做的最強大的事情。

I hope that answered your questions.

我希望這回答了你的問題。

It does. Thanks very much.

確實如此。非常感謝。

(Operator Instructions) Eric Martinuzzi, Lake Street.

（操作員說明）Eric Martinuzzi，湖街。

I wanted to dive into the cash generation expectations for the back half of 2024. You've got -- we're halfway through the year here. You've given a midpoint adjusted EBITDA projection of $50 million, and we've got $28 million at the halfway mark. Given that that remainder is about $22 million, is that a fair estimate of what we think cash generation could be in the back half of the year?

我想深入探討 2024 年下半年的現金產生預期。你已經——我們今年已經過半了。您給出的中點調整後 EBITDA 預測為 5000 萬美元，而我們的中點預測為 2800 萬美元。鑑於剩餘金額約為 2200 萬美元，這是我們對今年下半年現金產生量的合理估計嗎？

Thank you, Eric, for the question. Yes, we are starting to move back to normal. Without the two things that happened in the quarter, we will have free cash flow that's similar to the EBITDA, this is what's going to be in H2. What you said is very much right. We're expecting H2 to be very much aligned with the EBITDA plug number there for H2, based on the $50 million EBITDA that we have in the guidance.

謝謝埃里克提出的問題。是的，我們正在開始恢復正常。如果沒有本季發生的兩件事，我們將擁有與 EBITDA 類似的自由現金流，這就是下半年的情況。你說的非常對。根據我們在指南中的 5000 萬美元 EBITDA，我們預計 H2 將與 H2 的 EBITDA 插頭數量非常一致。

Okay. And then the uses of the cash, I was pleased to see that you were active in the repurchase activity in Q2. Based on that $20 million spend, we're now, I guess, down to a balance of $55 million on the repurchase authorization. What's your expectation for the pace and size of repurchases going forward?

好的。然後是現金的用途，我很高興看到你們在第二季積極參與回購活動。根據這 2000 萬美元的支出，我猜我們現在的回購授權餘額已降至 5500 萬美元。您對未來回購的速度和規模有何預期？

We are -- as you said, we started the plan, as we said, during the quarter. As we promised right after the earnings call, we are going to complete all the operations, and we will start the plan. We did the $20 million in the second quarter. We're expecting to spread the rest of the plan until the beginning of 2025, so it will split between Q3 and Q4, and a bit in 2025.

正如您所說，我們在本季度啟動了該計劃。正如我們在財報電話會議後所承諾的那樣，我們將完成所有操作，並將啟動該計劃。我們在第二季完成了 2000 萬美元。我們預計將計劃的其餘部分分散到 2025 年初，因此它將在第三季和第四季之間分配，並在 2025 年進行一些分配。

Got it. Thanks for taking my questions, and congratulations on your promotion, Maoz, and yours as well, Elad.

知道了。感謝您提出我的問題，並祝賀您的晉升，Maoz，還有您的晉升，Elad。

Jeff Martin, Roth Capital Partners.

傑夫馬丁，羅斯資本合夥人。

Thank you. Good morning and good afternoon, fellows. I wanted to just get a little more detail on the open web revenue decline. How much of that is, do you think, market dynamics versus internal adjustments that you're making at Perion? Specifically, how much of that was Content IQ?

謝謝。早安，下午好，朋友們。我想了解有關開放網路收入下降的更多細節。您認為其中有多少是市場動態與您在 Perion 所做的內部調整的關係？具體來說，其中有多少是內容智商？

The main -- as we said also in the preliminary -- change started back then in 2023 related to our priority in terms of margin. Then from 2024 beginning of the year, we started to see something that is different, that's more related to the market and to less demand on this specific format on the display, on the video, on the open web. This is very much most of the reason for the change.

正如我們在初步報告中所說，主要的變化始於 2023 年，與我們在利潤方面的優先事項有關。然後從 2024 年初開始，我們開始看到一些不同的東西，這與市場更相關，並且與顯示器、視訊和開放網路上對這種特定格式的需求減少有關。這在很大程度上是改變的原因。

I think that moving forward, we're expecting, let's say, that it will stabilize around the current level. We ended the quarter with 18% for the video. I believe that if I need to, let's say, think about the future, we are around a level that will be stabilized around, let's say, 15% more or less. This is more or less kind of the new norm of this part of the business.

我認為，展望未來，我們預計它將穩定在當前水平附近。本季結束時，影片的利用率為 18%。我相信，如果我需要，比方說，考慮未來，我們的水準將穩定在，比方說，約15%。這或多或少是這部分業務的新規範。

Thank you. And then balance sheet question for you on the short-term payment obligation related to acquisitions. You made a $9 million payment for the Vidazoo acquisition in the quarter, and you had a small change in the contingent consideration estimate going forward, but when you look at the balance sheet, that line item declined $46 million from first quarter to second quarter. I was just curious what other factors led to that change on the balance sheet.

謝謝。然後是關於與收購相關的短期付款義務的資產負債表問題。您在本季為收購Vidazoo 支付了900 萬美元，並且您對未來的或有對價估計進行了小幅調整，但是當您查看資產負債表時，該項目從第一季度到第二季度減少了4600 萬美元。我只是好奇還有哪些因素導致了資產負債表的變化。

As we said before, part of the accounting rules means that we need to split the payment we did for Vidazoo to two lines. One is the cash operation and the second is the investment. The $9 million is what you see in the balance sheet is actually the change from the payment. There is another small change that's related to other changes that we did for the other acquisition, but the change that you see in the balance sheet, this is the main change.

正如我們之前所說，部分會計規則意味著我們需要將我們為 Vidazoo 所做的付款分成兩行。一是現金運作，二是投資。您在資產負債表中看到的 900 萬美元實際上是付款的變化。還有另一個小變化與我們對其他收購所做的其他變化相關，但您在資產負債表中看到的變化是主要變化。

Okay. I'll follow up with you on another follow-up call on that one. Thank you.

好的。我將在另一次後續電話中與您聯繫。謝謝。

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。

Thank you very much. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today, and thank you for being part of our journey. We're looking forward to seeing you again in person or on our next earnings call. Thank you.

非常感謝。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。我們期待再次見到您本人或在我們的下一次財報電話會議上。謝謝。