Pros Holdings Inc (PRO) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to PROS Holdings' third-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Belinda Overdeput, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

問候。歡迎參加 PROS Holdings 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。我現在想將會議交給投資者關係高級總監 Belinda Overdeput。請繼續。

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Our earnings press release, SEC filings, and a replay of today's call can be found on the Investor Relations section of our website at pros.com. Our prepared remarks are also available on our website and will be replaced by the official transcript, which includes participant questions once available.

謝謝你，接線生。大家下午好，感謝您加入我們。我們的收益新聞稿、美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 文件以及今天電話會議的重播可在我們網站 pros.com 的投資者關係部分找到。我們準備好的評論也可以在我們的網站上找到，並將被正式記錄所取代，其中包括參與者提出的問題。

With me on today's call is Andres Reiner, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Stefan Schulz, Chief Financial Officer.

與我一起參加今天電話會議的是總裁兼執行長 Andres Reiner；和財務長史蒂芬·舒爾茨。

Please note that some of the commentary today will include forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, those about our strategy, future business prospects and market opportunities and our financial projections and guidance. Actual results could differ materially from such statements and our forecast.

請注意，今天的一些評論將包含前瞻性陳述，包括但不限於有關我們的策略、未來業務前景和市場機會以及我們的財務預測和指導的陳述。實際結果可能與此類聲明和我們的預測有重大差異。

As always, our guidance is based on current conditions. We are cognizant of a number of geopolitical risks and uncertainties that could impact the macroeconomic environment. This guidance presented in today's earnings release and which we'll discuss during the call, assumes the external environment doesn't significantly change.

一如既往，我們的指導是基於當前情況。我們認識到許多可能影響宏觀經濟環境的地緣政治風險和不確定性。在今天的財報中提出的這一指導意見（我們將在電話會議中討論）假設外部環境沒有顯著變化。

For more information, please refer to the risk factors described in our SEC filings. PROS assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances. As a reminder, during the call, we will discuss non-GAAP metrics. Reconciliations between each non-GAAP measure and the most directly comparable GAAP measure to the extent available without unreasonable effort are available in our earnings press release.

欲了解更多信息，請參閱我們向 SEC 提交的文件中描述的風險因素。PROS 不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述以反映未來事件或情況的義務。提醒一下，在電話會議期間，我們將討論非 GAAP 指標。我們的收益新聞稿中提供了每項非公認會計準則衡量指標與最直接可比較的公認會計準則衡量指標之間的對賬，而無需做出不合理的努力。

With that, I'll turn the call over to you, Andres.

這樣，我會把電話轉給你，安德烈斯。

Thank you, Belinda. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us on today's call. We delivered a strong third quarter, exceeding the high-end of our guidance ranges across all metrics. We grew subscription revenue by 12% and delivered $9.3 million in adjusted EBITDA in the quarter. Year to date, we have grown our subscription revenue by 14% while delivering a 448% improvement to adjusted EBITDA and a 217% improvement to free cash flow.

謝謝你，貝琳達。大家下午好，感謝您參加今天的電話會議。我們第三季的業績表現強勁，所有指標都超出了我們指導範圍的上限。本季我們的訂閱營收成長了 12%，調整後 EBITDA 為 930 萬美元。今年迄今為止，我們的訂閱收入成長了 14%，調整後 EBITDA 提高了 448%，自由現金流提高了 217%。

I'm incredibly proud of our team for how we're winning in our markets and driving operational efficiency as we scale even sooner than we expected. This is a clear testament to our ability to drive sustainable, profitable growth.

我為我們的團隊感到無比自豪，因為我們比預期更快地擴大規模，贏得市場並提高營運效率。這清楚地證明了我們推動可持續獲利成長的能力。

We're well positioned to continue to capture our market opportunity as key themes converge across the industries we serve. B2B businesses are increasingly prioritizing digital and self-serve experiences, much like airlines and other B2C sectors have for years. Airlines are seeking greater control over their products and orders across all channels, similar to how B2B businesses have managed their inventory and offers.

隨著我們所服務的行業的關鍵主題趨於一致，我們處於有利地位，可以繼續抓住我們的市場機會。B2B 企業越來越重視數位和自助服務體驗，就像航空公司和其他 B2C 行業多年來的做法一樣。航空公司正在尋求對其所有管道的產品和訂單進行更大的控制，類似於 B2B 企業管理其庫存和報價的方式。

AI remains a strategic priority across all sectors. These three trends reinforce the unique value of the PROS platform. Our innovations are focused on helping all industries we serve attract demand digitally, drive digital collaboration between buyers and sellers, and win business. A great example is our launch of an embedded AI agent in our search engine marketing solution. Our SEM solution now leverages advanced AI models to optimize bidding strategies for paid search.

人工智慧仍然是所有行業的戰略重點。這三個趨勢強化了 PROS 平台的獨特價值。我們的創新致力於幫助我們服務的所有行業以數位方式吸引需求，推動買家和賣家之間的數位協作並贏得業務。一個很好的例子是我們在搜尋引擎行銷解決方案中推出了嵌入式人工智慧代理。我們的 SEM 解決方案現在利用先進的人工智慧模型來優化付費搜尋的出價策略。

One AI model analyzes the trend of clicks and average cost per click, while another estimates the probability of conversion. These insights inform the AI agent that recommends optimized bid proposals, helping marketing teams achieve better search engine performance and maximize ROI.

一種人工智慧模型分析點擊趨勢和每次點擊的平均成本，而另一種模型則估計轉換機率。這些見解會通知人工智慧代理商推薦優化的出價建議，幫助行銷團隊實現更好的搜尋引擎效能並最大限度地提高投資回報率。

We also expanded the PROS platform with the launch of our smart rebate management solution, which empowers sellers to deliver optimized, comprehensive offers in a fully digital experience. By integrating pricing, discounts, promotions, and rebates, sellers gain a holistic view of how economic levers interact with each other, empowering them to present more tailored, optimal offers to their buyers. Our platform will power the execution of rebate-inclusive offers across all sales channels.

我們也推出了智慧返利管理解決方案，擴展了 PROS 平台，讓賣家能夠在全數位體驗中提供最佳化、全面的優惠。透過整合定價、折扣、促銷和回扣，賣家可以全面了解經濟槓桿如何相互作用，從而能夠向買家提供更量身定制的最優報價。我們的平台將為所有銷售管道的含折扣優惠的執行提供支援。

Our market-leading platform is highly differentiated, and our value proposition is stronger than ever. Our platform continuously measures and tracks the value customers generate through our solutions as part of our customer adoption program. And the results only get stronger. Our customer adoption program now shows that using PROS price recommendation leads to an average margin uplift of over 650 basis points. Our team is executing well against our market opportunity.

我們市場領先的平台具有高度差異化，我們的價值主張比以往任何時候都更強大。作為客戶採用計劃的一部分，我們的平台不斷衡量和追蹤客戶透過我們的解決方案產生的價值。結果只會變得更強。我們的客戶採用計劃現在表明，使用 PROS 價格建議可將平均利潤率提升超過 650 個基點。我們的團隊在市場機會面前表現良好。

Todd and our go-to-market leadership team have been instrumental in scaling our go-to-market operations. A testament to this execution is our Q3 results, where we had incredible wins across industries, with approximately 50% of our bookings coming from new logos. I'll share a few examples.

托德和我們的上市領導團隊在擴大我們的上市業務方面發揮了重要作用。我們第三季的業績證明了這一執行力，我們在各個行業取得了令人難以置信的勝利，大約 50% 的預訂來自新商標。我將分享幾個例子。

One of the world's top five telecommunication providers selected PROS to harmonize pricing across their portfolio. By leveraging AI to optimize strategies for promotions and device launches, PROS will play a pivotal role in transforming their pricing capabilities, enabling them to drive greater efficiency, profitability and growth. This partnership underscores the trust that leading enterprises place in PROS to be at the heart of their commercial strategy.

全球排名前五名的電信供應商之一選擇 PROS 來協調其產品組合的定價。透過利用人工智慧優化促銷和設備發布策略，PROS 將在轉變其定價能力方面發揮關鍵作用，使他們能夠提高效率、獲利能力和成長。此次合作凸顯了領導企業對 PROS 的信任，將其視為其商業策略的核心。

Similarly, Vallen, a leader in integrated supply and industrial distribution, chose the PROS Platform to dynamically adapt to market changes in real time with AI-powered price optimization, empowering them to bring winning offers to market and fuel profitable growth. Twist Bioscience, a company at the forefront of synthetic DNA manufacturing, adopted PROS Smart CPQ to accelerate and simplify quoting for their DNA products using critical fields such as cancer research. South African Airways selected PROS offer marketing to scale their growth efforts by creating customized content-rich web pages that will increase direct bookings and enhance their SEO performance for greater visibility.

同樣，整合供應和工業分銷領域的領導者 Vallen 選擇 PROS 平台，透過人工智慧驅動的價格優化來即時動態適應市場變化，使他們能夠向市場帶來成功的報價並推動獲利成長。Twist Bioscience 是一家處於合成 DNA 製造前沿的公司，採用 PROS Smart CPQ 來加速和簡化其在癌症研究等關鍵領域的 DNA 產品的報價。南非航空選擇 PROS 提供行銷服務，透過創建內容豐富的客製化網頁來擴大其成長努力，這將增加直接預訂並增強其 SEO 表現以提高知名度。

In addition to our amazing new customer wins, we're continuing to see strong expansions within our existing base. Lufthansa is continuing to expand request-specific pricing to new markets. while BASF continues its rollout of Smart POM and CPQ across its business units. This highlights the value of our platform in continuously driving growth for our customers.

除了贏得令人驚嘆的新客戶外，我們還在現有基礎上繼續強勁擴張。漢莎航空正在繼續將特定要求的定價擴展到新市場。巴斯夫繼續在其業務部門推出 Smart POM 和 CPQ。這凸顯了我們平台在持續推動客戶成長方面的價值。

I'm incredibly proud of where we are as a business. Our strategy, platform, and people are well positioned to lead the market and continue driving growth.

我對我們的企業現狀感到無比自豪。我們的策略、平台和人員處於領先地位並持續推動成長。

We have delivered significant improvements in operational efficiency that have consistently expanded our margins, and we have the strongest leadership team we have ever had. It is with this confidence that today I announced my intentions to retire from PROS. The Board is conducting a search, including internal and external candidates, and we will work diligently to find the best successor to continue to capitalize on the large market opportunity in front of us.

我們在營運效率方面取得了顯著的進步，從而不斷擴大了我們的利潤，並且我們擁有有史以來最強大的領導團隊。正是懷著這樣的信心，我今天宣布了我從 PROS 退休的打算。董事會正在進行物色工作，包括內部和外部候選人，我們將努力尋找最佳繼任者，以繼續利用我們面前的巨大市場機會。

I will remain in my role until my successor is named, and I will stay at PROS as an adviser for one year after to ensure a seamless succession. In closing, to our exceptional global team, thank you for your unwavering dedication to PROS, our customers and our communities. Also extend my deep gratitude to our customers, partners, and shareholders for their ongoing support.

我將繼續擔任我的職務，直到任命我的繼任者為止，之後我將在 PROS 擔任顧問一年，以確保無縫繼任。最後，感謝我們傑出的全球團隊對 PROS、我們的客戶和社區的堅定奉獻。也要對我們的客戶、合作夥伴和股東的持續支持表示深深的感謝。

With that, I will turn the call over to Stefan to cover financial performance and outlook.

接下來，我將把電話轉給 Stefan，討論財務表現和前景。

Thank you, Andres. First, I want you to know how much I appreciate everything you have done for the company and for me. I believe that PROS is in a strong position, and our results in the third quarter demonstrate this strength. In the third quarter, we exceeded the high-end of our guidance ranges across all metrics. Our go-to-market team executed well and improved the linearity of our bookings in the quarter.

謝謝你，安德烈斯。首先，我想讓你知道我有多感謝你為公司和我所做的一切。我相信 PROS 處於強勢地位，我們第三季的業績證明了這一優勢。第三季度，我們的所有指標都超出了指導範圍的上限。我們的行銷團隊表現良好，並提高了本季預訂的線性度。

Similarly, our teams across the organization continue to drive greater operational efficiencies even ahead of our expectations, which led to improved outlooks for adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow for the year. These efficiencies can also be seen in our marginal profit this year.

同樣，我們整個組織的團隊繼續提高營運效率，甚至超出了我們的預期，這導致了今年調整後 EBITDA 和自由現金流的前景改善。這些效率也可以從我們今年的邊際利潤看出。

For example, we have delivered $0.81 of every incremental revenue dollar to adjusted EBITDA on a year-to-date basis. Now for some more details on our results. Subscription revenue in the third quarter was $67.1 million, up 12% year over year, and total revenue was $82.7 million, up 7% year over year, both exceeding guidance.

例如，年初至今，我們將每一美元增量收入的 0.81 美元轉入調整後 EBITDA。現在了解有關我們結果的更多詳細資訊。第三季訂閱營收為 6,710 萬美元，年增 12%，總營收為 8,270 萬美元，年增 7%，均超出預期。

Our third-quarter recurring revenue increased to 85% of total revenue, and our trailing 12-month gross revenue retention rate continues to be 93% or better. Calculated billings in the third quarter increased 3% year-over-year and 9% for the trailing 12 months, slightly above our expectations and a strong improvement over last year, further demonstrating strength in the quarter.

我們第三季的經常性收入佔總收入的 85%，並且過去 12 個月的總收入保留率持續保持在 93% 或更高。第三季的計算帳單年增 3%，過去 12 個月成長 9%，略高於我們的預期，比去年有強勁改善，進一步證明了本季的實力。

Looking forward, we expect the full-year growth rate for calculated billings to approximate total revenue growth. Non-GAAP subscription margin was 80% in the third quarter, an improvement of over 190 basis points year over year. Our overall non-GAAP gross margin was 68% in the third quarter, an improvement of approximately 220 basis points year over year and an all-time high for PROS as a SaaS company.

展望未來，我們預計計算帳單的全年成長率將接近總收入成長率。第三季非 GAAP 認購利潤率為 80%，年增 190 個基點。第三季我們的整體非 GAAP 毛利率為 68%，年增約 220 個基點，是 PROS 作為 SaaS 公司的歷史最高水準。

We delivered adjusted EBITDA of $9.3 million in the third quarter and achieved double-digit adjusted EBITDA margin. This significantly exceeded guidance and was an improvement of 65% year over year. We generated free cash flow of $1.4 million in the third quarter, resulting in $2.6 million of free cash flow generated year to date and an improvement of 217% year over year.

第三季調整後 EBITDA 為 930 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率達到兩位數。這大大超出了指導方針，比去年同期提高了 65%。第三季我們產生了 140 萬美元的自由現金流，今年迄今產生了 260 萬美元的自由現金流，年增 217%。

We exited the third quarter with $150.6 million in cash and investments. And our third quarter non-GAAP earnings per share was $0.14 per share, also exceeding guidance.

第三季結束時，我們擁有 1.506 億美元的現金和投資。我們第三季的非 GAAP 每股收益為 0.14 美元，也超出了預期。

Now turning to guidance. I'll first update our annual guidance ranges, then provide the implied guidance ranges for the fourth quarter. We are raising our subscription revenue range for the year and now expect subscription revenue to be between $265.5 million to $266 million, representing 14% growth at the midpoint.

現在轉向指導。我將首先更新我們的年度指導範圍，然後提供第四季度的隱含指導範圍。我們正在提高今年的訂閱收入範圍，目前預計訂閱收入將在 2.655 億美元至 2.66 億美元之間，中間值成長 14%。

We are also raising our adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow ranges for the year. We expect adjusted EBITDA to be between $27.5 million and $28.5 million, representing an improvement of 367% year over year at the midpoint.

我們也提高了今年調整後的 EBITDA 和自由現金流範圍。我們預計調整後 EBITDA 將在 2,750 萬美元至 2,850 萬美元之間，年比中位數成長 367%。

Our free cash flow for the year is expected to be in the range of $21 million to $24 million, an improvement of 98% year over year at the midpoint. We are reiterating the guidance midpoint for total revenue. As this is the last quarter in 2024, we are narrowing the previous range for total revenue to $329.5 million and $330.5 million, which represents 9% growth at the midpoint.

我們今年的自由現金流預計在 2,100 萬美元至 2,400 萬美元之間，年增 98%。我們重申總收入的指引中點。由於這是 2024 年的最後一個季度，我們將先前的總收入範圍縮小至 3.295 億美元和 3.305 億美元，即中位數成長 9%。

We are reiterating the same guidance range for subscription ARR of $280 million and $284 million, representing 9% growth at the midpoint. The fourth quarter is typically the largest booking quarter for PROS, and we anticipate that to be the case this fourth quarter.

我們重申訂閱 ARR 的指引範圍為 2.8 億美元和 2.84 億美元，中間值成長 9%。第四季通常是 PROS 預訂最多的季度，我們預計第四季也是如此。

Shifting to guidance for the fourth quarter. We expect subscription revenue to be in the range of between $68.5 million and $69 million, representing 13% growth at the midpoint. We expect total revenue to be in the range of between $84.1 million and $85.1 million, representing 9% growth at the midpoint.

轉向第四季的指引。我們預計訂閱收入將在 6,850 萬美元至 6,900 萬美元之間，中間成長率為 13%。我們預計總收入將在 8,410 萬美元至 8,510 萬美元之間，中間成長率為 9%。

We expect adjusted EBITDA of between $8.4 million and $9.4 million, an improvement of 254% year over year at the midpoint. Using a non-GAAP estimated tax rate of 22%, we anticipate fourth quarter non-GAAP earnings per share between $0.12 and $0.14 per share based on an estimated 47.5 million diluted weighted average shares outstanding.

我們預計調整後 EBITDA 為 840 萬美元至 940 萬美元，年比中位數成長 254%。使用 22% 的非 GAAP 估計稅率，根據估計的 4750 萬股稀釋加權平均流通股，我們預計第四季度非 GAAP 每股收益將在 0.12 美元至 0.14 美元之間。

In closing, I would like to thank our global team and our customers for their continued support of PROS. We also thank you, our shareholders, for your support, and we look forward to speaking with you at our upcoming events.

最後，我要感謝我們的全球團隊和客戶對 PROS 的持續支持。我們也要感謝我們的股東的支持，我們期待在即將舉行的活動中與您交談。

I will now turn the call back over to the operator for questions. Operator?

我現在將把電話轉回給接線員詢問問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Scott Berg, Needham & Company.

（操作員說明）Scott Berg，Needham & Company。

I guess we'll start with the super easy question, Andres. Why now? Why is the right time to step down after what I think is 14 years at the CEO position, especially with the company seemingly having a really strong product set, today? And then as you think about who the potential replacement is in the CEO, President's role, what's the -- maybe the right profile right fit that you all are looking for?

我想我們將從超級簡單的問題開始，安德烈斯。為什麼是現在？我認為在擔任執行長 14 年後，為什麼現在是辭去職務的最佳時機，尤其是在公司今天似乎擁有非常強大的產品組合的情況下？然後，當您考慮誰是執行長、總裁職位的潛在替代者時，什麼是——也許是您都在尋找的合適人選？

Yeah. Thank you, Scott. First of all, I'd say I'm incredibly proud of the team. I think we have the strongest team we've ever had and the strongest product position with an incredible strategy. Like I think our market opportunity in front is incredible. And I think I could not be more proud of the team that we have and the strength that we have at all levels. And I think that becomes the foundation.

是的。謝謝你，斯科特。首先，我想說我為這個團隊感到非常自豪。我認為我們擁有有史以來最強大的團隊和最強大的產品地位以及令人難以置信的策略。就像我認為我們面前的市場機會是難以置信的。我想我對我們擁有的團隊以及我們在各個層面所擁有的實力感到無比自豪。我認為這成為了基礎。

For me, personally, it's about spending more time with my family and really switching to my next chapter of helping others is something I'm very passionate about. So it's a very personal decision, but it's because of my confidence in the business and the amazing team that we have. And I feel that our competitive position, it is at an all-time high.

對我個人而言，這就是花更多的時間與家人在一起，真正轉向幫助他人的下一個篇章是我非常熱衷的事情。所以這是一個非常個人的決定，但這是因為我對業務和我們擁有的出色團隊的信心。我覺得我們的競爭地位處於歷史最高點。

The way we're executing is very strong, and that puts us in that position. We want to have it very orderly. Obviously, we're committed the Board and myself to find the best person possible, and we're not going to rush this process. We're going to take our time to find the right person. And obviously, we want somebody that can build on the strong foundation that we've built and really help us capitalize on this large market opportunity.

我們的執行方式非常強大，這使我們處於這樣的位置。我們希望一切都非常有秩序。顯然，我們承諾董事會和我自己盡可能找到最好的人選，我們不會倉促完成這個過程。我們將花時間找到合適的人。顯然，我們希望有人能夠在我們已經建立的堅實基礎上再接再厲，真正幫助我們利用這個巨大的市場機會。

So look, I'm exciting to work with the Board on this. I'm committed to staying through and for a year after that as an adviser, and we want to make sure this is the most well-defined transition plan that we could ever create, and I'm very committed to making sure that it all happens smoothly. And that's it.

所以，我很高興能與董事會在這方面合作。我承諾將繼續擔任顧問，並在此後一年擔任顧問，我們希望確保這是我們能夠制定的最明確的過渡計劃，我非常致力於確保這一切都發生得很順利。就是這樣。

Well, we will certainly miss your passion. On to the quarter, Andres, you mentioned it looks like an expansion deal with Lufthansa. I know you all commented 90 days ago about the environment, the buying environment or demand environment within travel has weakened relative to your expectations. How did that transcribe in the third quarter? And how are you thinking about that near term, whether it's into Q4 or even early into 2025?

好吧，我們一定會懷念您的熱情。關於本季度，安德烈斯，您提到這看起來像是與漢莎航空的擴張協議。我知道你們90天前都曾評論過環境，旅遊的購買環境或需求環境相對於你們的期望已經減弱。第三季的情況如何？您如何看待近期的情況，無論是第四季還是 2025 年初？

Yeah. Great question, Scott. I would say, look, Q3 was in line with what we expected on travel. We saw some great new deals, which I talked about Dan Air and South African Airways as an example. We are continuing the strategy on the new ones, finding easy ways to get started and driving value.

是的。好問題，史考特。我想說，看，第三季符合我們對旅行的預期。我們看到了一些很棒的新交易，我以丹航空和南非航空為例。我們正在繼續實施新策略，尋找簡單的入門方法並推動價值。

And then we had some great expansions and Lufthansa is an example of that, Asiana, Etihad. In those where we're driving value, I think all the areas where we've innovated, Lufthansa is an example with request-specific pricing is one of the latest innovations that drives immense value for them. So they want to accelerate the rollout across all markets.

然後我們進行了一些大規模的擴張，漢莎航空、韓亞航空、阿提哈德航空就是一個例子。在我們推動價值的領域，我認為在我們進行創新的所有領域，漢莎航空就是一個例子，其特定請求的定價是為他們帶來巨大價值的最新創新之一。因此他們希望加速在所有市場的推廣。

So I would say, it was a quarter like we expected. I would say B2B was really outperforming the quarter and continues to perform very, very well year-to-date.

所以我想說，這個季度的表現符合我們的預期。我想說，B2B 的表現確實優於本季度，今年迄今的表現仍然非常非常好。

Parker Lane, Stifel.

帕克巷，斯蒂菲爾。

Andres, congrats on retirement. Best of luck going forward. The first one is for Stefan. Some pretty nice leverage in the business here in the third quarter across a couple of different lines and clearly, a nice outlook for adjusted EBITDA.

安德烈斯，恭喜退休。祝你好運。第一個是給斯特凡的。第三季度，該業務在多個不同領域都有相當不錯的槓桿作用，顯然，調整後的 EBITDA 前景良好。

Can you just speak to some of the different areas where you're seeing that leverage today? And if there's any sort of onetime factors or changes in strategy that may accelerate the pace of that leverage in the next couple of quarters here?

您能談談您今天看到的一些不同領域的影響力嗎？是否存在任何一次性因素或策略變化可能會在接下來的幾季加快槓桿化的步伐？

Parker, yeah, I'm incredibly happy with the progress we're making. And really, it's across the board from a leverage and efficiency standpoint. One of the things that Andres has talked about now for the last year has been how we can gain more efficiencies by leveraging AI and everything we do.

帕克，是的，我對我們所取得的進展感到非常高興。事實上，從槓桿和效率的角度來看，這是全面的。安德烈斯去年談論的一件事是我們如何透過利用人工智慧和我們所做的一切來提高效率。

And I must say our teams have really responded around that. And that's probably one of the bigger drivers of things that we've been able to do that automate tasks or make big tasks more efficient. And it's all the way from how we implement our products to how we respond to internal inquiries or even respond to external inquiries.

我必須說我們的團隊確實對此做出了回應。這可能是我們能夠實現任務自動化或提高大型任務效率的更大驅動因素之一。從我們如何實施我們的產品到我們如何回應內部詢問，甚至回應外部詢問，這一切都是如此。

There's so many things we've been able to do more efficiently than we would have before. And like I said, it's across the board. We did have, and you may notice this when you look at our operating expenses, our G&A line was down a little more than you might expect. We did have a one-time benefit in some professional fees that helped us there that will bounce back.

我們能夠比以前更有效率地完成很多事情。正如我所說，這是全面的。我們確實有，當您查看我們的營運費用時，您可能會注意到這一點，我們的一般行政費用線下降幅度比您預期的要多一些。我們確實在一些專業費用方面獲得了一次性好處，這對我們有幫助，而且會反彈。

G&A will bounce back to where it was kind of trending before. But in general, we continue to look for ways to innovate. And I would tell you, we're not finished. There are still more things in the queue.

G&A 將反彈到先前的趨勢。但總的來說，我們會繼續尋找創新的方法。我想告訴你，我們還沒完成。還有更多的事情在排隊。

And so while I don't know that we'll be generating $0.81 of EBITDA for every dollar of revenue -- incremental dollar of revenue going forward, I think we'll be showing a really nice leverage in each revenue dollar we generate going forward as well.

因此，雖然我不知道我們每增加一美元收入就能產生 0.81 美元的 EBITDA，即未來增量收入，但我認為我們將在未來產生的每一美元收入中展現出非常好的槓桿作用。

Yeah. Very helpful. Okay. And then, Andres, we're about two years removed from the public launch of ChatGPT. You guys have done a great job on the product side of really leveraging your AI features and expertise, bringing new things to the fore like embedded AI agents in the search process.

是的。非常有幫助。好的。Andres，距離 ChatGPT 的公開發布還有大約兩年的時間。你們在產品方面做得很好，真正利用了你們的人工智慧功能和專業知識，帶來了新的東西，例如在搜尋過程中嵌入人工智慧代理。

Can you just sort of assess where we are relative to two years ago, one year ago in terms of how much the AI boom is benefiting your business top of the funnel? Is this sparking a lot of conversations? Is it something that people are in the discovery phase of? Like how actionable is the public awareness of AI in your sales process?

您能否評估一下，與兩年前、一年前相比，人工智慧的繁榮對您漏斗頂部的業務有多大好處？這是否引發了很多討論？人們正處於發現階段嗎？例如，大眾對人工智慧在銷售過程中的認知度如何？

Yeah, Parker, great question. I would say, look, AI is top of mind to everyone. I think what uniquely differentiates PROS is that AI wasn't an add-on feature. In every one of our products, AI is core to the product itself.

是的，帕克，好問題。我想說，人工智慧是每個人最關心的問題。我認為 PROS 的獨特之處在於人工智慧不是附加功能。在我們的每一款產品中，人工智慧都是產品本身的核心。

And I think what we're seeing in the market is that companies don't just want an AI feature. They want technology that has AI embedded like the SEM, which I talked about, we just launched that now embeds AI to really optimize the ad spend. These are real meaningful, but it's at the core foundational of that solution. And if you look at our product platform now, all of our components have always had embedded AI at the core and that drives very differentiated value.

我認為我們在市場上看到的是，公司不僅僅想要人工智慧功能。他們想要像我談到的 SEM 一樣嵌入人工智慧的技術，我們剛剛推出，現在嵌入人工智慧來真正優化廣告支出。這些確實很有意義，但它是解決方案的核心基礎。如果你現在看看我們的產品平台，我們所有的組件都始終以嵌入式人工智慧為核心，這推動了非常差異化的價值。

I think every company is -- and I've been saying this for a long time, is really focused on digitizing, automating and embedding AI to be continuously learning and that theme is really resonating in the market. And we're seeing B2B companies really prioritize these initiatives and realize -- look, every company needs to drive profitable growth and needs to drive efficiency as they grow. And our technologies are helping them enable that.

我認為每家公司——我已經說過很長一段時間了——真正專注於數位化、自動化和嵌入人工智慧，以不斷學習，這個主題確實在市場上引起了共鳴。我們看到 B2B 公司確實優先考慮了這些舉措，並意識到，每家公司都需要推動獲利成長，並且需要在發展過程中提高效率。我們的技術正在幫助他們實現這一目標。

Rob Oliver, Baird.

羅布·奧利弗，貝爾德。

Andres, yeah, congrats from me as well. That's an exciting new chapter, and I wish you all the best and look forward to continuing to working with you here until your successor is found. My question is around you guys -- we're talking about cost efficiencies here.

安德烈斯，是的，我也祝賀你。這是令人興奮的新篇章，我祝福你們一切順利，並期待繼續與你們合作，直到找到你們的繼任者。我的問題是圍繞著你們的問題——我們在這裡討論的是成本效率。

One of the things you guys I know were doing was kind of combining sales forces around the B2B and air travel side, which I think made sense. So I just would love to get an update on that, how that's going, if it's done or still in progress as we head into year-end and prepping for FY25 and if that has been a contributor to any of the operating leverage that you've seen to date or if that's something that would be more impactful in '25?

我認識的你們正在做的事情之一就是將 B2B 和航空旅行方面的銷售力量結合起來，我認為這是有道理的。因此，我很想了解這方面的最新情況，進展如何，在我們進入年底並為25 財年做準備時，它是否已完成或仍在進行中，以及這是否對您的任何營運槓桿做出了貢獻。

Yeah, Rob, great question. Look, I think Todd's made a lot of great changes to bring a lot of rigor and scale to the organization. One of those is around unifying our B2B and travel organization to be a regional focus to get closer with our customers with an industry expertise there. And that strong alignment that he's built from demand gen all the way to customer success is bringing scale.

是的，羅布，好問題。看，我認為托德做出了很多重大改變，為組織帶來了很多嚴謹性和規模。其中之一是將我們的 B2B 和旅遊組織統一為區域重點，以便透過當地的行業專業知識與客戶建立更緊密的聯繫。他從需求產生一直到客戶成功所建立的強大一致性正在擴大規模。

But I would say all of that is not showing up yet. I think you'll see more of that into next year. I would tell you what's driving our leverage is really our initiative. Every organization is driving innovation with AI. And we believe in this deeply. Obviously, we've always innovated in AI, but I'm a big believer that AI is going to transform every role.

但我想說的是，所有這些都還沒有顯現出來。我想明年你會看到更多這樣的事。我想告訴你，推動我們影響力的真正因素是我們的主動性。每個組織都在利用人工智慧推動創新。我們深信這一點。顯然，我們一直在人工智慧方面進行創新，但我堅信人工智慧將改變每個角色。

And if we want to prepare our teams for the future, they have to be very strong users of AI because every role is going to transform, whether it be legal, whether it be sales, marketing, all the way to customer success, security, and products. And I think every organization is leaning into AI to drive more digitization, automation, and learning from AI, and that's driving our scale. And that drives our confidence in our long-term goals in driving that profitability expansion.

如果我們想讓我們的團隊為未來做好準備，他們必須是人工智慧的強大用戶，因為每個角色都將發生轉變，無論是合法的，無論是銷售、行銷，一直到客戶成功、安全、和產品。我認為每個組織都在傾向於人工智慧，以推動更多的數位化、自動化和從人工智慧中學習，這正在推動我們的規模發展。這增強了我們對推動獲利能力擴張的長期目標的信心。

Got it. Helpful. That's great. And then I just wanted to return to Scott's question earlier around just the state of the airline industry because you guys sort of pointed out last quarter kind of a perfect storm between the Boeing issues and CrowdStrike and the fact that the travel numbers that we're seeing, we're not seeing the pull-through in terms of travel IT spend, did see some data around domestic tourism improving in China.

知道了。有幫助。那太棒了。然後我只想回到斯科特早些時候關於航空業狀況的問題，因為你們指出上個季度波音問題和 CrowdStrike 之間的完美風暴以及我們的旅行數量我們沒有看到旅遊IT 支出出現拉動，但確實看到一些有關中國國內旅遊業的數據有所改善。

And just was curious, Stefan, from your perspective, and I know you said it was as expected, which I can appreciate, how should we expect or how are you guys thinking about this travel industry headed into '25 now coming through a few years of not having invested in IT? Are things starting to normalize? Are you starting to see folks in revenue management get rehired? What, if any, signs are you seeing in the market either positively or more cautiously?

只是很好奇，Stefan，從你的角度來看，我知道你說這符合預期，我對此表示讚賞，我們應該如何期待，或者你們如何看待這個進入 25 年的旅遊業，現在已經過去了幾年沒有投資IT？事情開始正常化了嗎？您是否開始看到收益管理人員被重新僱用？您在市場上看到哪些積極或更謹慎的跡象（如果有）？

Yeah. So why don't I start? In general, what we're seeing is there's a lot of activity. I mean the areas we've innovated, airlines really want to look at and invest. There's a big shift in the airline industry to move on the future of offer optimization, which we've been innovating.

是的。那我為什麼不開始呢？總的來說，我們看到有很多活動。我的意思是，航空公司真正想要專注和投資的領域是我們已經創新的領域。航空業正在發生重大轉變，以推動我們一直在創新的報價優化的未來。

We saw that shift coming. So we're seeing a lot of interest on them rethinking of how they're going to drive a better customer experience and digitize that, everything from the digital marketing all the way through the digital retail experience. So overall, we're seeing very strong interest in where we're innovating. I would say, the pace of investment is lagging some.

我們看到了這種轉變的到來。因此，我們看到他們對如何推動更好的客戶體驗並將其數位化非常感興趣，從數位行銷一直到數位零售體驗。總的來說，我們看到人們對我們的創新領域非常感興趣。我想說的是，投資的步伐有些落後。

In my view, Q3 was where we expected, no decline, no significant improvement, but where we expected activity levels from a sales perspective continue to be strong. And my belief is this is a quarters-type issue, not a years issue. I think they are going to invest. These areas are very strategic for their long-term goals, and we're very aligned in the areas where we innovated that they want to invest in. But I'd like -- and I think Rob --

在我看來，第三季符合我們的預期，沒有下降，沒有顯著改善，但從銷售角度來看，我們預計活動水平將繼續強勁。我相信這是一個季度問題，而不是年份問題。我認為他們會投資。這些領域對於他們的長期目標非常具有戰略意義，而且我們在他們想要投資的創新領域中非常一致。但我想——我想羅布--

And I think, Rob, our outlook -- and almost to kind of repeat what Andres was saying, our outlook is very consistent today as it was, say, 90 days ago. I think you pointed out the risks like with Boeing, et cetera. I mean that's certainly out there. There's other things like the geopolitical escalations that we've seen. But all we can really execute upon is what we see and what we're experiencing as we go along.

我認為，羅布，我們的前景——幾乎是重複安德烈斯所說的話，我們今天的前景與 90 天前一樣非常一致。我認為您指出了波音等公司的風險。我的意思是那肯定是存在的。我們還看到了其他一些事情，例如地緣政治升級。但我們真正能執行的只是我們所看到的和我們在前進過程中所經歷的。

And from our perspective, it's pretty much the same environment that we saw 90 days ago, and that's what we're moving towards. I agree with Andres. I think we're looking at something that can be measured in quarters as opposed to years. But it's still not where we'd like it to be from a travel market perspective.

從我們的角度來看，這與我們 90 天前看到的環境幾乎相同，這就是我們正在努力的方向。我同意安德烈斯的觀點。我認為我們正在研究可以用季度而不是年份來衡量的東西。但從旅遊市場的角度來看，這仍然不是我們所希望的。

Jason Celino, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Jason Celino，KeyBanc 資本市場。

This is Zane Meehan on for Jason today. Maybe pivoting to B2B. Any big changes you've seen from 90 days ago, maybe specifically on changes in average deal size or average sales cycle length?

我是讚恩·米漢 (Zane Meehan) 今天為傑森 (Jason) 做的節目。也許轉向 B2B。與 90 天前相比，您看到了什麼重大變化，尤其是平均交易規模或平均銷售週期長度的變化？

Great question. No, overall, I would say, look, our average sales cycle time is still improved by 15% year to date. We mentioned that last quarter, it continues to be. I would say B2B is executing very strong. And I would say this is a difficult market as we've communicated it is, but we have a very strong ROI and value proposition.

很好的問題。不，總的來說，我想說，看，我們的平均銷售週期時間今年迄今仍然提高了 15%。我們在上個季度提到過，情況仍然如此。我想說 B2B 的執行力非常強勁。我想說，正如我們所傳達的那樣，這是一個困難的市場，但我們擁有非常強大的投資回報率和價值主張。

And I think we're executing well on the opportunities that we have to demonstrate the revenue and margin uplift, and I think that's translating into strong results. I think we've definitely leveled up our execution and are seeing overall from a deal cycle, a 15% improvement from an average deal size has remained constant with last year.

我認為我們在展示收入和利潤成長的機會方面表現出色，我認為這正在轉化為強勁的業績。我認為我們確實提高了執行力，並且從交易週期來看，總體而言，平均交易規模比去年增加了 15%，與去年保持一致。

Okay, great. And then a quick one on smart rebate management. Nice to see that rolled out this quarter. Just is that specifically for B2B customers? Or can that be applied to travel as well? And then maybe just quickly on the monetization strategy behind that product?

好的，太好了。然後快速介紹一下智慧回扣管理。很高興看到本季推出。這是專門針對 B2B 客戶的嗎？或者這也可以應用在旅行中嗎？然後也許只是快速了解該產品背後的貨幣化策略？

Yeah. No, we're really excited about the rebate management capabilities. If you think about your negotiation levers from a price to a discount to a promotion and now to rebates, we can really help an organization. And this applies to all industries, whether you're B2B or travel in defining contracts to drive more volume and revenue. So we think this is very strategic. We expect this is an add-on that we can sell to any customer in our network and brings a level of differentiation.

是的。不，我們對回扣管理功能感到非常興奮。如果您考慮談判手段，從價格到折扣再到促銷，再到現在的回扣，我們確實可以為組織提供幫助。這適用於所有行業，無論您是 B2B 還是旅遊業，都需要透過定義合約來推動更多銷售和收入。所以我們認為這是非常具有戰略意義的。我們希望這是一個附加產品，我們可以將其出售給我們網路中的任何客戶，並帶來一定程度的差異化。

We're also taking a different look. If you look at most of the rebate management solutions are pure automation. In my opinion, automation just helps you get bad deals out faster, in my opinion. I think you need AI. And I think our focus on embedding AI to help our customers drive the best business outcomes that drive revenue and margin is what's critical.

我們也以不同的眼光看待。如果你看一下，大多數回扣管理解決方案都是純自動化的。在我看來，自動化只會幫助你更快完成糟糕的交易。我認為你需要人工智慧。我認為，我們專注於嵌入人工智慧來幫助我們的客戶實現最佳業務成果，從而提高收入和利潤，這一點至關重要。

And being the only company that has a full end-to-end platform with embedded AI, I think, is a big differentiator. But we expect this to increase our wallet share within our accounts.

我認為，作為唯一一家擁有具有嵌入式人工智慧的完整端到端平台的公司，這是一個很大的差異化因素。但我們預計這會增加我們帳戶中的錢包份額。

Brian Schwartz, Oppenheimer & Company.

布萊恩·施瓦茨，奧本海默公司。

A follow-up question on the B2B business. I'm just curious how the mix is trending between your expansion activities and your new acquisitions within the B2B business.

一個關於B2B業務的後續問題。我只是好奇你們 B2B 業務中的擴張活動和新收購之間的混合趨勢如何。

Yes. Great question. So in the quarter, it was 50-50 new to existing. So we had a really good mix. Year to date, we're 40-60, 40 new, 60 existing. But within Q3, we're at 50-50, which is a great balance between net new and expansions. And that's really in the ZIP code we want to be. So we're very pleased with that mix.

是的。很好的問題。因此，本季新增現有產品 50-50 個。所以我們有一個非常好的組合。今年迄今為止，我們有 40-60 個，其中 40 個是新的，60 個現有的。但在第三季度，我們的比例為 50-50，這是淨新增和擴張之間的一個很好的平衡。這確實是我們想要的郵遞區號。所以我們對這種組合非常滿意。

And then, Stefan, one question on the guidance because I noticed that you raised the subscription revenue guidance mostly above the beat that the business did in Q3, but you decided to hold back the subscription ARR guidance. And I was just wondering if there -- what to think of that, those dynamics? Is that just caution on the travel business? Just curious to get your thoughts on that dynamic.

然後，Stefan，有一個關於指導的問題，因為我注意到您將訂閱收入指導提高到了第三季度的水平，但您決定保留訂閱 ARR 指導。我只是想知道是否有——如何看待這些動態？這只是對旅遊業的謹慎嗎？只是想知道您對此動態的看法。

Yes. No, good observation. As you pointed out, we did raise our subscription revenue number, and that had a lot to do with what we saw in the third quarter. Mainly, we had a good level of linearity. And as Andres commented, we had a really strong B2B quarter as well. And so that put us in a position to see more revenue in the third quarter, which is, as you point out, why we carried that through to the rest of the year as well.

是的。不，觀察力好。正如您所指出的，我們確實提高了訂閱收入數字，這與我們在第三季度看到的情況有很大關係。主要是，我們有很好的線性度。正如 Andres 所說，我們的 B2B 季度也非常強勁。因此，這使我們能夠在第三季度看到更多的收入，正如您所指出的，這就是我們將其延續到今年剩餘時間的原因。

From a subscription ARR perspective, the fourth quarter is our largest quarter, typically from a booking standpoint. And there's still, as I like to say, a lot of wood chop between here and getting home in terms of our overall plan. So we didn't really want to get ahead of ourselves much.

從訂閱 ARR 的角度來看，第四季是我們最大的季度，通常從預訂的角度來看。正如我想說的，就我們的整體計劃而言，從這裡到回家之間仍然有很多困難。所以我們真的不想太超前。

And then I commented on this earlier, and Belinda made a comment as well that there is a number of things happening in the world these days with the -- we talked about the Boeing strike. We talked about some geopolitical tensions. And so we wanted to make sure that we had that in our mind as well, not to get again ahead of ourselves.

然後我早些時候對此發表了評論，貝琳達也發表了評論說，這些天世界上發生了很多事情，我們談到了波音罷工。我們討論了一些地緣政治緊張局勢。因此，我們希望確保我們也牢記這一點，而不是再次超前。

And so the guidance we established is essentially consistent with how we were viewing the second half of the year the last 90 days ago. And so that's how we're thinking about our guidance at this point in time.

因此，我們所製定的指引與過去 90 天前我們對下半年的看法大致一致。這就是我們目前如何考慮我們的指導意見。

Nehal Chokshi, Northland Capital Markets.

Nehal Chokshi，北國資本市場。

My congrats to the company for the improved profitability as well as Andres, your retirement. You will be missed. So I recognize you'll be with us for quite, still another year probably.

我祝賀公司獲利能力的提高，也祝賀安德烈斯退休。我們會想念你的。所以我知道你可能還會和我們一起度過相當長的一年。

I want to turn to the acquisition, the M&A stance. It's been few and far between, but you are coming close to a three-year anniversary of the EveryMundo acquisition. So I would love to get a review of the synergies that you've been able to realize with this acquisition.

我想談談收購、併購的立場。雖然這種情況很少見，但收購 EveryMundo 的三週年紀念日即將來臨。因此，我很想了解您透過此次收購所實現的綜效。

Yeah. I would say we're very pleased with the EveryMundo acquisition. It's a key part of our product offering. Andres talked a lot about some of the things that we're doing to address the travel market and the offer marketing product suite that the EveryMundo team brings to the table is one of the best ways in which we can show value in a very fast way for a lot of new airlines and quite frankly, even some existing airlines.

是的。我想說，我們對 EveryMundo 的收購非常滿意。這是我們產品的關鍵部分。Andres 談了很多我們為應對旅遊市場而採取的一些措施，EveryMundo 團隊帶來的優惠營銷產品套件是我們能夠快速展示價值的最佳方式之一對於許多新航空公司來說，坦率地說，甚至對於一些現有的航空公司來說也是如此。

And we highlighted, I think, in Andres' prepared remarks, a couple of wins with Dan Air and South African. So while it's been very, very good for us on the travel side, it also has some benefits for us on the B2B side.

我認為，在安德烈斯準備好的演講中，我們強調了丹航空和南非航空的幾場勝利。因此，雖然這對我們在旅行方面非常非常有利，但它在 B2B 方面也為我們帶來了一些好處。

I'd say we're in the very early innings of how we're going to be able to benefit that. But the recent launch that we just talked about with our SEM product and infusing AI into that solution is going to really help us on the B2B side as well. So I would say it's been a tremendous acquisition. The people have -- their culture that EveryMundo team had was a very nice fit with PROS, and it's really been a hand-in-glove type of relationship for the last three years.

我想說，我們正處於如何從中受益的早期階段。但我們剛剛談到的最近推出的 SEM 產品以及將人工智慧融入到該解決方案中也將在 B2B 方面真正幫助我們。所以我想說這是一次巨大的收購。EveryMundo 團隊的員工文化與 PROS 非常契合，在過去的三年裡，這確實是一種密切合作的關係。

Yeah. I would just echo that. It's an amazing team. I'm extremely proud of them. The innovation that they brought to the organization and how they've impacted us has been great. So I'm extremely proud.

是的。我只是重複這一點。這是一支了不起的團隊。我為他們感到非常自豪。他們為組織帶來的創新以及對我們的影響是巨大的。所以我感到非常自豪。

And I would say the potential of that technology to impact every company is really about the future. If you think about B2B, it is going to move more and more to digital channels. As B2B companies move to digital channels, they're going to have to power marketplaces. They're going to have to power digital offers. We're going to be ready.

我想說的是，這項技術影響每家公司的潛力確實關乎未來。如果你考慮 B2B，它將會越來越多地轉向數位管道。隨著 B2B 公司轉向數位管道，他們將不得不為市場提供動力。他們必須為數位產品提供動力。我們會做好準備的。

So if you think about -- our innovation strategy is really future-proofing a lot of the B2B businesses in bringing the technology they're going to need to compete in the future. So as I've always said, travel is probably a decade ahead of any industry in the levels of sophistication. And we're going to be launching more and more capabilities like our Offer Marketing product for B2B industries in helping them as they move more to digital channels. So excited about that particular acquisition, and it's performed very well.

因此，如果您想一想，我們的創新策略確實能夠為許多 B2B 企業帶來未來競爭所需的技術。正如我一直說的，旅遊業的複雜程度可能比任何行業領先十年。我們將推出越來越多的功能，例如針對 B2B 行業的優惠行銷產品，以幫助他們更多地轉向數位管道。對這次特別的收購感到非常興奮，而且表現得非常好。

And then just a follow-up. With the company now generating a nice amount of free cash flow, will the intention be to pay down debt? Or will you guys continue to be opportunistic with acquisitions?

然後只是後續行動。公司現在產生了大量的自由現金流，其目的是償還債務嗎？還是你們會繼續投機收購？

Yeah. I think it really depends on what happens down the road and what opportunities we see. But our main focus now is continuing to leverage the products and the capabilities we have and the leadership position we have in the marketplace and the efficiencies that we talked about earlier to expand that and generate more cash flow and build up a bigger amount of capital to actually make those decisions.

是的。我認為這實際上取決於未來會發生什麼以及我們看到什麼機會。但我們現在的主要重點是繼續利用我們擁有的產品和能力、我們在市場中的領導地位以及我們之前談到的效率來擴大規模，產生更多的現金流，並累積更多的資本，實際上做出這些決定。

It's hard to say right now how much we're going to be looking at whether it's a debt repayment or whether it's M&A, but we remain open to M&A opportunities that are fit with what we want to execute from a strategic perspective. And that's consistent with how we've done in the past. And we're fairly selective in the process we go through, and that will continue to be the case as we go forward.

現在很難說我們會在多大程度上考慮是債務償還還是併購，但我們仍然對符合我們從策略角度想要執行的目標的併購機會持開放態度。這與我們過去的做法是一致的。我們在經歷的過程中相當有選擇性，隨著我們的前進，情況將繼續如此。

Yeah. As Stefan said, we're in a great position like from a competitive mode and competitive position, we're at the strongest we've ever been. So we really don't need to do M&A to achieve our growth projections. But where we see strategic opportunities in adjacencies, obviously, we would look at them like we look at them in the past, think of more tuck-ins, but very strategic assets and right cultural fit.

是的。正如斯特凡所說，我們處於一個很好的位置，從競爭模式和競爭地位來看，我們處於有史以來最強大的狀態。因此，我們確實不需要進行併購來實現我們的成長預測。但顯然，當我們在鄰近地區看到戰略機會時，我們會像過去一樣看待它們，考慮更多的補充，但非常戰略性的資產和正確的文化契合度。

But overall, I don't believe that's something we have to do. And I think that as we continue to drive profitability and generate free cash flow, it puts us in a position of strength to be more strategic around that.

但總的來說，我不認為這是我們必須做的事情。我認為，隨著我們繼續提高盈利能力並產生自由現金流，這使我們有能力在這方面更具策略性。

Jeff Van Rhee, Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

Jeff Van Rhee，克雷格-哈勒姆資本集團。

Got it. Just made it in there. Andres, congratulations on the retirement. It sounds like you got some particular interest already scoped out. So I wish you all the best with that.

知道了。剛剛進去。安德烈斯，恭喜你退休。聽起來你已經有一些特別的興趣了。所以我祝你一切順利。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Several questions for me. Maybe starting more from a numbers perspective. Thoughts on the Professional Services line. Obviously, a big disconnect this year between the growth rates between PS and subscriptions, prior years a little closer tie. I know you aren't giving any formal guidance on '25.

有幾個問題問我。也許更多地從數字角度開始。關於專業服務線的想法。顯然，今年 PS 和訂閱的成長率之間存在著很大的脫節，而前幾年的聯繫更緊密。我知道您沒有就 25 給予任何正式指導。

But based on what's in the pipeline, how do you think about the relationship of subscription and PS growth in '25?

但根據正在開發的內容，您如何看待 25 年訂閱量與 PS 成長之間的關係？

Yeah. I would say this is really part of the longer-term plan and what you're seeing fall out in 2024. One of the things you hear us talk a lot about is time to value. and having simpler and easier implementations of our products. And it's been something that not only our professional services team has worked on, but our product and engineering teams have worked on.

是的。我想說，這確實是長期計劃的一部分，也是您在 2024 年看到的結果。你經常聽到我們談論的事情之一就是價值時間。並且更簡單、更容易實施我們的產品。這不僅是我們的專業服務團隊的工作，也是我們的產品和工程團隊的工作。

And we're starting to see the fruits of that work coming through. And even though it's odd for me to say it's coming through in lower growth rates for services, that's exactly what we would plan. And we've actually moved the needle from a percentage of our services to total revenue actually coming down a percentage point. So pretty much in line.

我們開始看到這項工作的成果正在顯現。儘管我說服務業成長率較低很奇怪，但這正是我們的計劃。事實上，我們已經將服務的百分比降低到了總收入的實際下降了一個百分點。所以基本上是在排隊。

I would say we expect that to continue into 2025, while we're not necessarily giving any specific guidance on '25, although I would say I think it will probably grow a bit more than it did between '23 and '24 because a lot of the moves in some of the product shifts that occurred in between '23 and '24. But I don't know that we're going to get that same step function benefit in '25. So just a little color there.

我想說，我們預計這種情況會持續到 2025 年，雖然我們不一定會對 25 年提供任何具體指導，但我想說，我認為它可能會比 23 到 24 年間增長更多一些，因為很多23 至24 年間發生的一些產品轉移的變動。但我不知道我們是否會在 25 年獲得同樣的階躍函數優勢。所以只有一點顏色。

Yeah. Got it. Very helpful. And then as you think about '25 with respect to the ARR growth, the 9% growth this year, I know you don't want to give a formal number for '25, but maybe you could just loosely talk about anything quantitatively, qualitatively that would help us narrow the bounds or get a sense of how you're thinking about that in the out year? Any key drivers? Just any observations there to give us at least some preliminary thought.

是的。知道了。非常有幫助。然後，當您考慮 25 年的 ARR 成長（今年成長 9%）時，我知道您不想給出 25 年的正式數字，但也許您可以寬鬆地談論任何定量、定性的內容這將幫助我們縮小範圍或了解您在過去的一年中如何看待這個問題？有什麼關鍵驅動因素嗎？只是任何觀察至少可以給我們一些初步的思考。

Yeah. I think a lot of it is going to be continued execution of the things that you were seeing in 2024. So as you point out, we'll be giving the typical guidance ranges that we normally do next quarter. I think we would continue to expect to see profitable growth. I know that's a cliche and something a lot of people use, but it's something that is really part and core to our overall strategy as a business.

是的。我認為其中很大一部分將是繼續執行您在 2024 年看到的事情。因此，正如您所指出的，我們將給出下季度通常採用的典型指導範圍。我認為我們將繼續期望看到獲利成長。我知道這是陳腔濫調，很多人都在使用它，但它確實是我們整體業務策略的一部分和核心。

I gave you a little bit of color on the services side and how we're thinking about that. I think we're going to continue to look for margin expansion and more leverage and efficiency on the OpEx line. Obviously, we need to do some investments to drive the growth that we're looking for.

我向您介紹了服務方面的一些情況以及我們對此的看法。我認為我們將繼續尋求營運支出業務的利潤率擴張以及更高的槓桿率和效率。顯然，我們需要進行一些投資來推動我們所尋求的成長。

And one thing I will also say, you commented on the 9% subscription ARR number. And I think we got a similar question last quarter on this, and that is -- is that how we should be thinking about subscription revenue growth?

我還要說一件事，您對 9% 的訂閱 ARR 數字發表了評論。我認為上個季度我們也遇到了類似的問題，那就是──我們應該如何考慮訂閱收入的成長？

And it's not always a one-for-one relationship. So I would tell you that subscription ARR is certainly a good indicator of what's to come in subscription revenue. But a lot of things such as timing on the times the deals are booked and then timing on the recognition. So the better we are recognizing the transactions earlier, the more likely we can drive bookings into revenue. So more to come on that, but that's kind of what I have prepared for 2025 at this point.

而且這並不總是一對一的關係。因此，我想告訴您，訂閱 ARR 無疑是訂閱收入的一個很好的指標。但是很多事情，例如預訂交易的時間，然後是識別的時間。因此，我們越早認識到交易，我們就越有可能將預訂轉化為收入。接下來還有更多內容，但這就是我目前為 2025 年所做的準備。

And just maybe if I could follow up on that last piece. You had nice outperformance on the subscription versus ARR this year. And when you look at the things that you just referenced, right, timing on billings, recognition, et cetera, would your initial sense be that you'd be in a position to exceed ARR again without putting a number around it, you would see it higher rather than lower?

也許我可以跟進最後一篇文章。今年您在訂閱方面的表現優於 ARR。當你查看你剛才提到的事情時，對了，賬單時間、認可度等等，你最初的感覺是不是你會再次超過 ARR，而不用在它周圍加上數字，你會看到它更高而不是更低？

Yeah. I'll give more color on that in next quarter. We still have a lot of work to do from a planning perspective. We're close, but not quite there yet.

是的。我將在下個季度對此進行更多闡述。從規劃的角度來看，我們還有很多工作要做。我們已經很接近了，但還沒有完全實現。

Got it. One last for me, I promise, and I'll wrap up. On the B2B side, any differences in the demand environment as it relates to the CPQ versus price optimization products?

知道了。最後一次，我保證，我會結束的。在 B2B 方面，與 CPQ 和價格優化產品相關的需求環境有何差異？

No, I would say we're seeing strong demand on both sides. I will also tell you we're seeing also a lot deploy both CPQ and POM together. I think this notion of just not just automating, again, going back to automating deals, but embedding the right guidance and AI to make the best decisions because really, the way we design our CPQ with our POM is to be able to help the rep be more successful.

不，我想說我們看到雙方都有強勁的需求。我也會告訴您，我們也看到很多同時部署 CPQ 和 POM 的情況。我認為這個概念不僅僅是自動化，再次回到自動化交易，而是嵌入正確的指導和人工智慧來做出最佳決策，因為實際上，我們使用 POM 設計 CPQ 的方式是能夠幫助代表更成功。

And I think we are the only solution that allows you to do that with both embedded. So we're seeing both of them resonate well, both on POM and CPQ and both of them combined.

我認為我們是唯一可以讓您在嵌入式情況下做到這一點的解決方案。所以我們看到它們在 POM 和 CPQ 以及兩者的結合上都產生了很好的共鳴。

Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the call back over to Belinda Overdeput for closing remarks.

女士們先生們，我們的問答環節已經結束了。我想將電話轉回給 Belinda Overdeput 進行結束語。

Thank you for listening to today's call. We look forward to speaking with you at conferences and events this quarter. We will be attending the Stifel Midwest 101 Conference on November 7 in Chicago, the Needham Virtual SaaS 101 Conference on November 21, and the Northland Virtual Growth Conference on December 12.

感謝您收聽今天的電話。我們期待在本季度的會議和活動中與您交談。我們將參加 11 月 7 日在芝加哥舉行的 Stifel Midwest 101 會議、11 月 21 日舉行的 Needham Virtual SaaS 101 會議以及 12 月 12 日舉行的 Northland Virtual Growth 會議。

If you have any questions following today's call, please contact us at ir@pros.com. Thank you, and goodbye.

如果您在今天的電話會議後有任何疑問，請透過 ir@pros.com 與我們聯繫。謝謝你，再見。

Thank you. This will conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and thank you for your participation.

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路，感謝您的參與。