Roper Technologies Inc (ROP) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. The Roper Technologies Conference Call will now begin. Today's call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

早安. Roper Technologies 電話會議現在開始。今天的通話正在錄音。 （操作員說明）

I would now like to turn the call over to Zack Moxcey, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在想將電話轉給投資者關係副總裁 Zack Moxcey。請繼續。

Good morning, and thank you all for joining as we discuss the first quarter 2024 financial results for Roper Technologies. Joining me on the call this morning are Neil Hunn, President and Chief Executive Officer; Jason Conley, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Brandon Cross, Vice President and Principal Accounting Officer; and Shannon O'Callaghan, Vice President of Finance.

早安，感謝大家參與我們討論 Roper Technologies 2024 年第一季的財務表現。今天早上與我一起參加電話會議的還有總裁兼執行長 Neil Hunn； Jason Conley，執行副總裁兼財務長； Brandon Cross，副總裁兼首席會計長；奧卡拉漢 (Shannon O'Callaghan)，財務副總裁。

Earlier this morning, we issued a press release announcing our financial results. The press release also includes replay information for today's call. We have prepared slides to accompany today's call, which are available through the webcast and are also available on our website.

今天早些時候，我們發布了一份新聞稿，宣布了我們的財務表現。新聞稿還包括今天電話會議的重播資訊。我們準備了伴隨今天電話會議的幻燈片，這些幻燈片可以透過網路廣播獲取，也可以在我們的網站上取得。

Now if you please turn to Page 2. We begin with our safe harbor statement. During the course of today's call, we will make forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties as described on this page, in our press release and in our SEC filings. You should listen to today's call in the context of that information.

現在請翻到第 2 頁。在今天的電話會議期間，我們將做出前瞻性聲明，這些聲明受到本頁、我們的新聞稿和 SEC 文件中所述的風險和不確定性的影響。您應該在該資訊的背景下收聽今天的電話會議。

And now please turn to Page 3. Today, we will discuss our results primarily on an adjusted non-GAAP and continuing operations basis. For the first quarter, the difference between our GAAP results and adjusted results consists of the following items: amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets; financial impacts associated with minority investments; and lastly, transaction-related expenses associated with the completed acquisitions. Reconciliations can be found in our press release and in the appendix of this presentation on our website.

現在請翻到第 3 頁。第一季度，我們的 GAAP 業績與調整後業績之間的差異包括以下項目： 與收購相關的無形資產攤銷；與少數股權投資相關的財務影響；最後，與已完成的收購相關的交易相關費用。調節表可以在我們的新聞稿和我們網站上的本簡報的附錄中找到。

And now if you please turn to Page 4, I'll hand the call over to Neil. After our prepared remarks, we will take questions from our telephone participants. Neil?

現在請翻到第 4 頁，我會將電話轉交給尼爾。在我們準備好的發言之後，我們將回答電話參與者的問題。尼爾？

Thank you, Zack, and thanks to everyone for joining our call. We're looking forward to sharing our first quarter results and our increased outlook for the year.

謝謝你，扎克，也謝謝大家加入我們的電話會議。我們期待分享我們第一季的業績以及我們對今年的展望。

As we turn to Page 4, you can see the topics we'll cover today. I'll start by highlighting our strong performance in Q1. Jason will then go through our financial results in more detail, review our balance sheet, including our M&A capacity; and finally, our notable cash flow performance. Then I'll walk through our segment highlights and discuss our increased guidance for the full year and initiate our Q2 guidance. After our closing remarks, we'll open the floor for your questions.

當我們翻到第 4 頁時，您可以看到我們今天將要討論的主題。首先我將強調我們在第一季的強勁表現。然後，傑森將更詳細地了解我們的財務業績，審查我們的資產負債表，包括我們的併購能力；最後，我們顯著的現金流表現。然後，我將介紹我們的細分市場亮點，討論我們增加的全年指導，並啟動我們的第二季指導。結束語結束後，我們將開始提問。

So let's go ahead and get started. Next slide, please. As we turn to Page 5, 3 key takeaways for today's call. First, we delivered another strong quarter results. Second, we're increasing our full year outlook. And third, we continue to be very well positioned relative to capital deployment. We double-click a bit. We grew total revenue by 14%, organic revenue by 8% and EBITDA by 16%, with EBITDA margin expanding by 60 basis points to 40.2%.

那麼就讓我們開始吧。請下一張投影片。當我們翻到第 5 頁時，今天的電話會議有 3 個要點。首先，我們再次交付了強勁的季度業績。其次，我們提高了全年展望。第三，我們在資本部署方面仍然處於非常有利的位置。我們雙擊一下。我們的總收入成長了 14%，有機收入成長了 8%，EBITDA 成長了 16%，EBITDA 利潤率擴大了 60 個基點，達到 40.2%。

We grew DEPS by 13% to $4.41 beating our guidance range. We grew free cash flow 15% year-over-year with free cash flow margins of 31%. We also completed the acquisition of Procare Solutions, a leading provider of software and integrated payments for the early childhood education market for $1.75 billion. Procare is a great addition to Roper. We remain very excited about the business and are especially pleased with the initial results and progress we've made during the onboarding process.

我們將 DEPS 成長了 13%，達到 4.41 美元，超出了我們的指導範圍。我們的自由現金流年增 15%，自由現金流利潤率為 31%。我們也以 17.5 億美元完成了對 Procare Solutions 的收購，Procare Solutions 是幼兒教育市場軟體和整合支付的領先提供者。 Procare 是 Roper 的一個重要補充。我們對這項業務仍然感到非常興奮，並對我們在入職過程中取得的初步結果和進展感到特別滿意。

We're also increasing our full year 2024 guidance for total revenue, organic revenue and DEPS reflecting our strong momentum and continued confidence in our outlook. And we continue to be very active in the M&A market, an environment that continues to improve and one where we have a very large pipeline of high-quality and attractive opportunities.

我們也提高了 2024 年全年總收入、有機收入和 DEPS 的指導，反映了我們的強勁勢頭和對前景的持續信心。我們在併購市場中繼續非常活躍，這個環境不斷改善，我們擁有大量高品質和有吸引力的機會。

Net-net, we're quite bullish about our ability to be active on the M&A front this year. As you can see, we had a great start to 2024, and we're well positioned to deliver yet another strong year of performance and growth. Now let me turn the call over to Jason. Jason?

Net-net，我們非常看好我們今年在併購方面的活躍能力。正如您所看到的，我們在 2024 年有了一個良好的開端，並且我們已做好準備，將迎來又一個強勁的業績和增長年。現在讓我把電話轉給傑森。傑森？

Thanks, Neil. Let's dive right in on Slide 6. Q1 was an excellent first installment to 2024. Revenue was 14% over prior year to $1.68 billion. Organic growth of 8% was led by double-digit growth at our TEP segment and solid mid-single-digit growth across our application software and network software segments.

謝謝，尼爾。讓我們直接進入幻燈片 6。 8% 的有機成長得益於我們的 TEP 部門的兩位數成長以及我們的應用軟體和網路軟體部門的穩定中個位數成長。

Of note, organic recurring revenue grew 7% and despite known headwinds at our Freight Match and Foundry businesses. Acquisitions contributed 6 points of growth led by Syntellis, which is a large bolt-on for our Strata platform that closed in Q3 of last year, and Procare, which closed at the end of February.

值得注意的是，儘管我們的貨運匹配和鑄造業務面臨已知的阻力，但有機經常性收入仍增加了 7%。收購貢獻了 6 個百分點的成長，其中 Syntellis 是去年第三季關閉的 Strata 平台的一個重要補充，而 Procare 則在 2 月底關閉。

Regarding Procare, integration is going really well, and we're excited to work with [Joe and Kinzel] and her team to drive continued growth and innovation in the attractive early childhood education market. EBITDA was $676 million, which was 16% over prior year. EBITDA incremental margin of 44% translated into EBITDA margin of 40.2% and represented 60 basis points of expansion. This was fueled by gross margin expansion of 100 basis points to 70.3%.

關於 Procare，整合進展非常順利，我們很高興與 [Joe 和 Kinzel] 及其團隊合作，推動有吸引力的幼兒教育市場的持續成長和創新。 EBITDA 為 6.76 億美元，比上年增長 16%。 44% 的 EBITDA 增量利潤率轉化為 40.2% 的 EBITDA 利潤率，相當於擴張了 60 個基點。毛利率成長 100 個基點至 70.3%，推動了這一成長。

Our market-leading businesses compete on customer intimacy and deliver demonstrable value to their customers which we consistently realize in our high gross margin profile. Debt of $4.41 was above our guidance of $4.30 to $4.34. Importantly, free cash flow was strong at $513 million, up 15% over prior year and our trailing 12-month free cash flow surpassed $2 billion for the first time in Roper's history.

我們市場領先的業務在客戶親密度上競爭，並為其客戶提供明顯的價值，而我們始終在高毛利率中實現這一點。債務為 4.41 美元，高於我們 4.30 美元至 4.34 美元的指導值。重要的是，自由現金流強勁，達到 5.13 億美元，比上年增長 15%，我們過去 12 個月的自由現金流在 Roper 歷史上首次超過 20 億美元。

Looking over a 4-year horizon, revenue and EBITDA CAGRs are 13% on a quarterly basis. For free cash flow, we take a broader lens and a review on a trailing 12-month basis, which generated an 11% CAGR over this period. Adjusting for cash tax payments related to Section 174 which went into effect and impacted the period -- the current period's free cash flow by $80 million.

展望 4 年，季度營收和 EBITDA 複合年增長率為 13%。對於自由現金流，我們採取了更廣泛的視角，並在過去 12 個月的基礎上進行了審查，在此期間產生了 11% 的複合年增長率。調整與第 174 條相關的現金稅款，該條款生效並影響了本期——本期自由現金流增加了 8,000 萬美元。

The normalized CAGR is 13% over this period. For 2024, we still expect free cash flow margins of 30% or more. With that, we can turn to Slide 7 to talk about our balance sheet. Following our Procare acquisition, our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio came in at 2.9x at quarter end. Our revolver, which provides us with $3.5 billion of immediate liquidity was utilized to fund the Procare acquisition, bringing the drawn balance to $1.75 billion.

在此期間的標準化複合年增長率為 13%。 2024 年，我們仍預期自由現金流利潤率為 30% 或更高。這樣，我們就可以轉向投影片 7 來討論我們的資產負債表。收購 Procare 後，季末我們的淨負債與 EBITDA 比率達到 2.9 倍。我們的左輪手槍為我們提供了 35 億美元的即時流動資金，用於為 Procare 收購提供資金，使提取餘額達到 17.5 億美元。

With strong, consistent cash generation and a well-positioned balance sheet, we have the capacity to deploy $4 billion or more towards high-quality acquisitions. And I'll reiterate our commitment to remain a solid investment-grade issuer as access to investment-grade capital markets is fundamental to Roper's strategy. In terms of what we're seeing in deal markets, our pipeline of acquisition opportunities is growing and quite attractive. As always, we will remain patient and disciplined in allocating capital to opportunities with highest risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders.

憑藉強勁、持續的現金產生能力和良好的資產負債表，我們有能力部署 40 億美元或更多資金進行高品質收購。我將重申我們的承諾，繼續成為可靠的投資級發行人，因為進入投資等級資本市場是羅博策略的基礎。就我們在交易市場上看到的情況而言，我們的收購機會正在不斷增長並且非常有吸引力。一如既往，我們將保持耐心和紀律，將資本分配給為股東帶來最高風險調整回報的機會。

With that, I'll turn it back over to Neil to talk through our segment detail and updated guidance.

這樣，我會將其轉回尼爾，以討論我們的細分詳細資訊和更新的指導。

Thanks, Jason. As we turn to Page 9, let's review our Application Software segment results. Revenues here grew by 18% in total and organic revenue grew by 6%. EBITDA margins were 43.3%. We experienced strong performance across this portfolio of businesses.

謝謝，傑森。當我們翻到第 9 頁時，讓我們回顧一下我們的應用軟體部門的結果。這裡的總收入成長了 18%，有機收入成長了 6%。 EBITDA 利潤率為 43.3%。我們的業務組合表現強勁。

We'll start with Deltek. Our enterprise software business survey the government contracting, architecture, engineering and construction contractor markets. Deltek continued to grow at SaaS solutions, especially within their private sector markets. Importantly, in the quarter, Deltek launched a new GenAI-powered digital assistant Dela which will be integrated across Deltek's core software applications. We also welcome Bob Hughes as the new CEO of Deltek. Bob brings a wealth of software and leadership experience to the role having most recently served as the Chief Customer and Strategy Officer at UKG. Bob, we're thrilled to be working with you.

我們將從 Deltek 開始。我們的企業軟體業務調查了政府承包、建築、工程和施工承包商市場。 Deltek 在 SaaS 解決方案領域繼續發展，尤其是在私營部門市場。重要的是，在本季度，Deltek 推出了由 GenAI 驅動的新型數位助理 Dela，它將整合到 Deltek 的核心軟體應用程式中。我們也歡迎 Bob Hughes 擔任 Deltek 的新任執行長。 Bob 最近擔任 UKG 首席客戶和策略官，為這個職位帶來了豐富的軟體和領導經驗。鮑勃，我們很高興與您合作。

We also welcome Mike Corkery into his new role as a full-time group executive within Roper. For those who do not know, Mike was Deltek's CEO for nearly 12 years, more than standing our entire ownership period. Mike, thank you for building a tremendous market-leading company. Not only is Deltek grown multifold during their leadership tenure, the underlying quality has massively improved and the culture has never been better. Thank you for everything you've accomplished and we're very much looking forward to working with you in your new leadership capacity at Roper.

我們也歡迎 Mike Corkery 擔任 Roper 的全職集團高管。也許有人不知道，Mike 擔任 Deltek 執行長已近 12 年，比我們整個所有權時期還要長。麥克，感謝您建立了一家巨大的市場領導公司。 Deltek 在他們的領導任期內不僅取得了成倍的成長，其基本品質也得到了大幅提高，文化也變得前所未有的好。感謝您所取得的一切成就，我們非常期待在羅珀新的領導職位上與您合作。

Aderant continues to perform incredibly well in the market and had another great quarter with continued SaaS momentum and GenAI-focused innovation. Vertafore also performed well with solid growth in their ARR base.

Aderant 繼續在市場上表現出色，並憑藉持續的 SaaS 勢頭和以 GenAI 為重點的創新，又迎來了一個出色的季度。 Vertafore 也表現出色，ARR 基礎穩定成長。

Turning to PowerPlan. Our financial planning and tax software business serving the heavy fixed asset industries, PowerPlan was impressive in the quarter and grew its ARR with strong customer retention and adoption of its new SaaS solution. Great job here. Our healthcare IT businesses led by Strata and Data Innovations were also strong in the quarter. We're especially pleased to see the solid go-to-market execution at both businesses.

轉向電源計劃。我們服務於重型固定資產行業的財務規劃和稅務軟體業務 PowerPlan 在本季度表現出色，憑藉強勁的客戶保留率和新 SaaS 解決方案的採用，其 ARR 有所增長。這裡幹得好。由 Strata 和 Data Innovations 領導的醫療保健 IT 業務在本季也表現強勁。我們特別高興地看到這兩家公司的紮實的上市執行力。

Finally, as I mentioned a few minutes ago, we completed the acquisition of Procare Solutions, which is off to a good start and complements this segment with a higher organic growth profile. For the remaining 3 quarters of the year, we expect to see mid-single-digit organic revenue growth for this segment.

最後，正如我幾分鐘前提到的，我們完成了對 Procare Solutions 的收購，這是一個很好的開端，並以更高的有機成長狀況補充了該細分市場。在今年剩餘的三個季度，我們預計該細分市場的有機收入將實現中個位數的成長。

Please turn with us to Page 10. Revenues in our Network Software segment grew 5% in total and 4% on an organic basis despite the fact we continue to experience pressure with our Freight Matching businesses and the impact on Foundry related to the recent actor strike and writer strike. EBITDA margins continue to be strong at 55.9% and grew about 10% and year-over-year. As we dig into the details of it, we'll start with our Freight Matching businesses, DAT & Loadlink which declined slightly as expected due to the challenging freight market conditions that affected each of these businesses.

請隨我們翻到第 10 頁。 。 EBITDA 利潤率持續保持強勁，達到 55.9%，較去年同期成長約 10%。當我們深入研究細節時，我們將從我們的貨運匹配業務、DAT 和 Loadlink 開始，由於貨運市場條件的挑戰影響了這些業務，這些業務按預期略有下降。

As is typical for Roper, we invest for long-term sustainable and improving levels of organic growth. In DAT's case, we're leading the industry with GenAI-enabled fraud detection and prevention tools. As many know, fraud across the transport ecosystem remains a cause of great concern and economic loss.

正如羅博的典型做法，我們投資於長期可持續和不斷提高的有機成長水平。就 DAT 而言，我們以支援 GenAI 的詐欺偵測和預防工具引領業界。眾所周知，整個運輸生態系統中的詐欺仍然是引起人們高度關注和經濟損失的一個原因。

Turning to Foundry, which continues to innovate at an impressive clip both in terms of major product enhancements and customer productivity-based AI/ML innovations. That said, Foundry declined a bit in the quarter as expected, given the recent industry strikes. Notwithstanding the headwinds of DAT, Loadlink and Foundry, we grew 4% organically in this segment based on the strength across the balance of this portfolio.

轉向 Foundry，該公司在主要產品增強和基於客戶生產力的 AI/ML 創新方面繼續以令人印象深刻的速度進行創新。儘管如此，考慮到最近的行業罷工，Foundry 在本季出現了一些下滑，符合預期。儘管面臨 DAT、Loadlink 和 Foundry 的不利影響，但基於該投資組合的整體實力，我們在該領域實現了 4% 的有機成長。

Specifically, iPipeline, our life insurance and annuities network software business had strong renewals, customer expansions and market activity, especially in the annuities market. ConstructConnect continued its solid mark but improved financial results and enhanced its network value with GenAI-powered solutions. And MHA had a strong quarter, benefiting from increased operational focus and rigor revenue timing related to one of MHA's data partnerships and improvement in senior care occupancy rates.

具體來說，我們的人壽保險和年金網路軟體業務 iPipeline 的續約、客戶擴張和市場活動強勁，尤其是在年金市場。 ConstructConnect 繼續保持穩定的成績，但透過 GenAI 支援的解決方案改善了財務表現並增強了其網路價值。 MHA 的季度表現強勁，得益於營運重點的增強、與 MHA 數據合作夥伴之一相關的嚴格收入計時以及高級護理入住率的改善。

For the balance of the year, although we did a touch better than expected in the first quarter, we continue to expect to see low single-digit organic revenue growth for this segment based on the continued difficult freight market conditions and our view that foundries recovery will be extended through this year.

就今年剩餘時間而言，儘管我們第一季的表現優於預期，但基於持續困難的貨運市場狀況以及我們對代工廠復甦的看法，我們仍然預計該細分市場的有機收入將實現低個位數增長將延長至今年。

Now please turn to Page 11, and let's review our TEP segment's results. Revenues here grew 17% on an organic basis and EBITDA margins remained strong at 34.3%. Neptune continued to see notable customer demand, in particular for their ultrasonic meters and meter data management software. In short, Neptune delivered another quarter of growth. Verathon had very strong growth across all 3 of its product families and executed at an exceptional level in the quarter.

現在請翻到第 11 頁，讓我們回顧一下 TEP 部分的結果。這裡的營收有機成長了 17%，EBITDA 利潤率維持在 34.3% 的強勁水準。 Neptune 繼續看到顯著的客戶需求，特別是超音波儀表和儀表數據管理軟體。簡而言之，海王星又實現了一個季度的成長。 Verathon 的所有 3 個產品系列均實現了強勁增長，並在本季度達到了出色的執行水平。

Of note, Verathon had a record number of large account wins further demonstrating their market momentum. Great job by team Verathon. We also had strong execution and growth led by healthcare end markets from CIVCO, Inovonics, IPA and rf IDEAS.

值得注意的是，Verathon 贏得的大客戶數量創紀錄，進一步證明了其市場動能。 Verathon 團隊做得很好。我們還擁有由 CIVCO、Inovonics、IPA 和 rf IDEAS 等醫療保健終端市場引領的強大執行力和成長。

As we turn to the outlook for the balance of the year, let us remind you that we expected to have a stronger first quarter, which we delivered. That said, for the balance of the year, we expect to see organic revenue for this segment to be in the high single-digits area.

在我們展望今年剩餘時間時，讓我們提醒您，我們預計第一季將表現強勁，我們也實現了這一目標。也就是說，在今年剩餘的時間裡，我們預計該細分市場的有機收入將處於高個位數區域。

Now please turn to Page 13. Now let's review our increased full year 2024 guidance and discuss our Q2 outlook. Based on our strong Q1 results, enterprise momentum and our confidence in our outlook, we are raising our guidance for 2024. For the full year, we now expect total revenue to grow in the 12% area, up from our initial guide of 11% to 12%. Organic revenues to grow about 6%, up from 5% to 6% originally and adjusted DEPS to be in the range of $18.05 and $18.25, up from $17.85 to $18.15 previously.

現在請翻到第 13 頁。基於我們強勁的第一季業績、企業發展動能以及對前景的信心，我們提高了 2024 年的指引。 %。有機收入成長約 6%，從最初的 5% 上升到 6%，調整後的 DEPS 範圍從之前的 17.85 美元上升到 18.15 美元，在 18.05 美元到 18.25 美元之間。

Our guidance continues to assume a full year effective tax rate in the 21% to 22% range. For Q2, we expect adjusted DEPS to be in the range of $4.42 and $4.46. Now please turn it to Page 14, and we'll open it up for your questions. As per custom, we'll conclude with the same key takeaways with which we started.

我們的指導繼續假設全年有效稅率在 21% 至 22% 範圍內。對於第二季度，我們預計調整後的 DEPS 將在 4.42 美元至 4.46 美元之間。現在請翻到第14頁，我們將打開它來回答您的問題。按照慣例，我們將以與開始時相同的關鍵要點作為結束語。

First, we delivered another strong quarter results. Second, we're increasing our outlook for the full year. And third, we are very well positioned relative to capital deployment. For the quarter, we delivered double-digit growth in revenue, EBITDA, adjusted DEPS and free cash flow with margin expansion and very strong cash flow conversion. Also in the quarter, we completed the acquisition of Procare Solutions, which is a great addition to our enterprise and our application software segment.

首先，我們再次交付了強勁的季度業績。其次，我們提高了全年的預期。第三，我們在資本部署方面處於非常有利的位置。本季度，我們的營收、EBITDA、調整後的 DEPS 和自由現金流均實現了兩位數成長，利潤率擴大，現金流轉換非常強勁。同樣在本季度，我們完成了對 Procare Solutions 的收購，這對我們的企業和應用軟體部門來說是一個重要的補充。

And we're increasing our full year 2024 guidance for total revenue, organic revenue and DEPS reflecting our confidence in our outlook and continued momentum. Finally, we continue to maintain a strong financial position with $4 billion plus of capacity for capital deployment. The M&A markets are very active. We have a very robust pipeline of attractive acquisition opportunities that we're excited to pursue with our unbiased and disciplined approach.

我們正在提高 2024 年全年總收入、有機收入和 DEPS 的指導，這反映了我們對前景和持續勢頭的信心。最後，我們持續保持強勁的財務狀況，擁有超過 40 億美元的資本部署能力。併購市場非常活躍。我們擁有非常強大的、有吸引力的收購機會，我們很高興能夠透過公正和嚴格的方法來追求這些機會。

We're quite bullish about our ability to execute this part of our strategy over the course of 2024. Now as we turn to your questions, and if you could flip to the final slide, our strategic flywheel, we'd like to remind everyone that what we do at Roper is simple. We compound cash flow over a long arc of time by operating a portfolio of market-leading application-specific and vertically oriented businesses. Once the company is part of Roper, we operate a decentralized environment, so our businesses can compete and win based on customer intimacy. We coach our businesses on how to structurally improve the organic growth rates and underlying business quality.

我們非常看好我們在 2024 年執行這部分策略的能力。做的事情很簡單。我們透過經營市場領先的特定應用和垂直導向的業務組合，在很長一段時間內複合現金流。一旦公司成為儒博的一部分，我們就會經營一個去中心化的環境，這樣我們的企業就可以根據客戶的親密度來競爭並獲勝。我們指導我們的企業如何從結構上提高有機成長率和基本業務品質。

Finally, we run a centralized process-driven capital deployment strategy that focuses on finding the next great business to add to our cash flow compounding flywheel. Taken together, we compound our cash flow over a long arc of time in the mid-teens area.

最後，我們運行一個集中的流程驅動的資本部署策略，重點是尋找下一個偉大的業務來添加到我們的現金流複合飛輪中。總的來說，我們的現金流在很長一段時間內都在十幾歲左右。

With that, we'd like to thank you for your continued interest and support and open the floor to your questions.

在此，我們要感謝您一直以來的關注與支持，並歡迎您提出問題。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Julian Mitchell from Barclays.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Julian Mitchell。

Maybe just a first question on the network software division. So the freight markets, I think there was a fairly sort of down the outlook from some of the U.S. trucking companies in the past couple of weeks. It sounds like that business for you on Freight Matching is playing out as expected.

也許只是關於網路軟體部門的第一個問題。因此，我認為過去幾週一些美國貨運公司對貨運市場的前景相當悲觀。聽起來您的貨運匹配業務正在按預期進行。

Are we expecting sort of down-low single digits for the balance of the year in the freight match business? Is that what you're kind of dialing in? And any comments on where we are on the sort of carrier consolidation?

我們是否預期今年餘下的貨運匹配業務將出現低個位數的成長？這就是你撥通的方式嗎？對於我們在營運商整合方面的進展有何評論？

Why don't you take Jason the first one, I'll say the second one.

為什麼不選傑森第一個，我就說第二個。

So Julian, it's -- like you said, it's about playing out as we expected, down low singles for the year. Not much change from our perspective last quarter. So yes, that's kind of the current guiding assumption.

所以朱利安，就像你說的，這就是按照我們的預期發揮作用，降低今年的低單打數。從我們上個季度的角度來看，沒有太大變化。是的，這就是當前的指導假設。

And as far as on the carrier side, it's actually been pretty stable for the last several months. It hasn't improved. It has been stable. And when you take that stability and you put it against the prior year comp, that's what drives to the outlook for the year.

就運營商方面而言，過去幾個月實際上相當穩定。情況並沒有好轉。它已經穩定了。當你將這種穩定性與前一年的比較進行比較時，這就是推動今年前景的因素。

That's helpful. And then just dialing in on the second quarter EPS guide. I think normally, you'd have maybe sort of a 3%, 4% type sequential increase in earnings in the second quarter, looks like it's basically flat at the guide midpoint for this Q2, is there anything going on sort of sequentially with any of the segment sales or margins that's abnormal or something below the line that's weighing on that?

這很有幫助。然後撥打第二季每股盈餘指南。我認為通常情況下，第二季度的收益可能會出現 3%、4% 的連續增長，看起來基本上與第二季度的指導中點持平，是否有任何連續發生的事情？額或利潤率是否異常，或有低於線的因素對其造成影響？

No, not really. I mean we feel good about our guidance being raised for the full year. And if you look -- we look back a quarter ago, our Q2 guidance is consistent with what we thought 90 days ago. So I think if you go back to like '21 and '22, we were actually flat Q1 to Q2 on like a segment EBITDA basis. And that's usually the normal motion for us. Last year, we did move up sequentially, but that was driven by some (inaudible), there were some strong deliveries led by Verathon and then this year, Verathon is coming out strong out of the gate. So we don't have that dynamic this year.

不，不是真的。我的意思是，我們對全年指導方針的提高感到滿意。如果你看一下——我們回顧一個季度前，我們的第二季度指引與我們 90 天前的想法一致。所以我認為，如果你回到 21 年和 22 年，我們實際上在第一季到第二季的 EBITDA 基礎上持平。這通常是我們的正常動作。去年，我們確實連續上升，但這是由一些（聽不清）推動的，Verathon 領導了一些強勁的交付，然後今年，Verathon 表現強勁。所以今年我們沒有這種動力。

And then usually, AS steps down a little bit in earnings due to some Vertafore timing, but we didn't have that dynamic last year. So I think we feel good about sort of the progression from Q1 to Q2 on an operating basis. And in terms of the second half, we'll start to see the accretion of Procare with this -- it's got sequential growth throughout the year and then we'll have, of course, reduced interest expense as we pay down the revolver. So I feel pretty good about the progression going throughout 2024.

通常，由於 Vertafore 的一些時機，AS 的收益會略有下降，但去年我們沒有這種動態。因此，我認為我們對從第一季到第二季的營運進度感到滿意。就下半年而言，我們將開始看到 Procare 的成長——它全年都在連續增長，然後，當我們還清左輪手槍時，我們當然會減少利息支出。因此，我對 2024 年的進展感到非常滿意。

Your next question comes from Deane Dray with RBC Capital Markets.

您的下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場部的 Deane Dray。

Since it's the newest addition to the team on Procare, just some data points. So what was the contribution in the quarter? And reminds us about any kind of seasonality on the cash flow because it is tied to education. So we know that it tends to be seasonal. And any sort of like first 100-day plans for the business?

由於它是 Procare 團隊的最新成員，因此僅提供一些數據點。那麼本季的貢獻是多少？並提醒我們現金流的任何季節性，因為它與教育有關。所以我們知道它往往是季節性的。還有類似公司前 100 天的計畫嗎？

Yes. So if I can hit that, Deane. So it was about what we expected. We had a couple more days in, but it was a little over $20 million of revenue came in sort of about as we expected in terms of EBITDA margin in the mid-30s or so. And then I think what we -- from a cash flow perspective, it's more of a monthly sort of payment stream. So we don't get -- it's not like a frontline where they've got big renewals and the schools are paying them.

是的。所以如果我能做到的話，迪恩。所以這正是我們所期望的。我們又過了幾天，但營收略高於 2000 萬美元，與我們預期的 EBITDA 利潤率在 30 多歲左右差不多。然後我認為，從現金流的角度來看，我們更多的是每月的付款流。所以我們不明白——這不像前線，他們有很大的續約，學校也付錢給他們。

This is childhood education centers that are just sort of paying on a monthly basis, of course, there's a payment stream there, too, that we get that comes on a monthly basis. So it's more consistent throughout the year. And I think we're just off to a really good start in terms of the integration work.

這是兒童教育中心，只是按月付款，當然，那裡也有付款流，我們得到的是按月付款。所以全年都更加一致。我認為我們在整合工作方面剛剛有了一個好的開始。

Of course, teams are quickly up and running from a financial standpoint. We're working through all the normal integration points around insurance and cyber and things like that. And then beyond that, we've been engaged in weekly conversations on progress against some defined value creation levers that we had around growth, and those are going really well. And super collaborative teams digging in and we're really on track for the milestones we agreed upon right after close. So just feeling really good about the momentum there.

當然，從財務角度來看，團隊的組成和運作速度很快。我們正在解決保險和網路等方面的所有正常整合點。除此之外，我們每週都會就成長方面的一些確定的價值創造槓桿的進展進行對話，這些進展非常順利。超級協作團隊全力以赴，我們確實正在朝著結束後商定的里程碑邁進。所以我對那裡的勢頭感覺非常好。

And the normal cadence for the monthly is revenue cadence is approximately what?

每月收入的正常節奏大約是多少？

It's consistent, right? So it's just -- if you think about software is obviously consistent month-to-month. And then the payments, they might get a little bit more at the beginning of the year, but it's modest. It's pretty consistent throughout the year. Of course, they're growing, right? So it's going to -- it will ramp up sequentially throughout the year. But just overall, in terms of a business model, it's pretty consistent throughout the year, not a lot of seasonality.

是一致的，對吧？所以，如果你考慮一下軟體顯然每個月都是一致的。然後是付款，他們在年初可能會得到更多一點，但數額不大。全年都非常穩定。當然，他們正在成長，對嗎？因此，它將在全年中依次增加。但總體而言，就商業模式而言，全年都相當一致，沒有太多季節性。

If you're comparing this to front line, where most of the cash flow comes in Q3, this is not that. This is much more linear throughout the course of the year.

如果您將其與大部分現金流來自第三季的前線進行比較，則事實並非如此。在這一年中，這種情況更加線性。

That's great. And then just a follow-up on the fastest growth platform right now is surprisingly on the tech-enabled products, Neptune is just how -- what's expectations for this growth rate? How much of this -- because we see similar numbers at like Badger meter. So it looks in line, but how much of this is market growth versus any sort of share gains that you might be realizing?

那太棒了。然後，現在成長最快的平台的後續令人驚訝的是在技術支援的產品上，海王星是如何 - 對這種成長率的預期是什麼？其中有多少——因為我們在 Badger 儀表上看到了類似的數字。所以它看起來是一致的，但其中有多少是市場成長與你可能意識到的任何形式的份額收益的增長？

Yes. So for a long -- Deane, as you know, Neptune over a long arc of time is a slow and steady share gainer for sure. I think it proves out in all the market data we see and continues to research it. Relative short-term performance, we think it's a combination of a couple of things.

是的。因此，在很長一段時間內——迪恩，如你所知，海王星在很長一段時間內肯定是一個緩慢而穩定的份額增長者。我認為我們看到的所有市場數據都證明了這一點，並繼續研究它。相對短期表現，我們認為這是多種因素共同作用的結果。

First is there has been -- they're working through an unprecedented amount of backlog. So that has certainly happened. But then when COVID happened and the Northeast, in particular, where a lot of the meter sets or inside people's homes versus outside, there was basically a stall of that activity yet the customers -- our customers still have obligations to stay on their maintenance schedules.

首先是──他們正在處理前所未有的積壓工作。所以這確實發生了。但是，當新冠疫情發生時，特別是在東北部，那裡的許多電錶或在人們的家中與室外相比，該活動基本上陷入停滯，但客戶 - 我們的客戶仍然有義務遵守其維護計劃。

So if there was 1 year, 1.5 years of slower maintenance schedule sort of execution, that's being deployed now. We think that's happening over a 3-, 4-year period. So if you will, maybe 5 or 5.5 years demand squeezed into 4. So that's the market dynamic that's driving some of the growth that we're very much in the midst of. We expect that to continue well in the next year.

因此，如果維護計畫的執行速度較慢 1 年、1.5 年，那麼現在就正在部署。我們認為這將在三四年內發生。因此，如果你願意的話，也許 5 或 5.5 年的需求會被壓縮為 4 年。我們預計這種情況將在明年繼續良好。

Final thing I'd say is there's just nice momentum on the new technologies that Neptune has in the field, both in terms of solid state ultrasonic meters, both on the resi side and large commercial side as well as just the cellular and the meter data management software that we have that really helps our customers have better network connectivity.

我要說的最後一件事是，海王星在該領域擁有的新技術勢頭良好，無論是在固態超音波儀表方面，還是在儲油方面和大型商業方面，以及蜂窩和儀表數據方面我們擁有的管理軟體確實可以幫助我們的客戶獲得更好的網路連線。

Your next question comes from Joe Vruwink with Baird.

您的下一個問題來自 Joe Vruwink 和 Baird。

When you consider the businesses that serve clients in the public sector, how are they planning for the balance of the year, just particularly around the election and then the end of stimulus in certain cases? And I ask about stimulus not because a business like frontline has benefited from that. But does just the shifting of revenue sources for a school district perhaps cause a pause in their decision-making?

當您考慮為公共部門客戶提供服務的企業時，他們如何規劃今年剩餘時間，特別是在選舉前後以及在某些情況下刺激計劃結束期間？我詢問刺激措施並不是因為像前線這樣的企業從中受益。但是，僅僅是學區收入來源的轉移就可能會導致他們的決策暫停嗎？

Yes. So we got -- it depends on which part of the market you're talking about. Education, our frontline business was not and has not been a meaningful beneficiary of [ESR] funding. And so as that is coming to an end, we've not been a direct beneficiary of that. There might be some secondhand or thirdhand benefit by that, just having school districts having a lot of money over the last years and feeling good about life.

是的。所以我們得到了——這取決於你所談論的市場的哪個部分。教育，我們的一線業務過去和現在都不是 [ESR] 資金的有意義的受益者。因此，隨著這種情況即將結束，我們還沒有成為直接受益者。這樣做可能會帶來一些二手或三手的好處，只是讓學區在過去幾年裡擁有很多錢並且對生活感覺良好。

But we've not -- none of what -- we don't believe anything that we sell has been directly funded by ESR funding. So the pipeline coverage -- first of all, frontline had a very solid first quarter booking. Pipeline on the second quarter is very good. And so we're cautiously optimistic there.

但我們不相信我們銷售的任何產品都是由 ESR 資金直接資助的。因此，管道覆蓋範圍——首先，前線第一季的預訂量非常穩定。第二季的管道情況非常好。因此我們對此持謹慎樂觀的態度。

The other part of the market that we've talked about is on U.S. Federal Government contractors, the enterprise class, the largest customers, the largest government contractors just with the uncertainty of government spending that has been a more tepid macro environment and slower on the bookings front on the largest of the customers. The SMB portion of that market actually has been quite strong for Deltek. So if you want to talk about other parts of portfolio happy to do it. But Jason, anything you want to add to that?

我們討論的市場的另一部分是美國聯邦政府承包商、企業級、最大的客戶、最大的政府承包商，只是由於政府支出的不確定性，宏觀環境更加不溫不火，經濟增長放緩。面向最大的客戶。對於 Deltek 來說，該市場的中小企業部分實際上相當強勁。因此，如果您想談論投資組合的其他部分，請樂意這樣做。但是傑森，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes, yes. No, those are the 2 that I had in mind. And then if I can ask, I guess this is a pretty targeted segment level question. But the reoccurring revenue sources for application software really look like they jumped this period, maybe about 2 points more in growth contribution than typically you see there. Just what drives that particular part of the business?

是的是的。不，這就是我想到的兩個。如果我可以問的話，我想這是一個非常有針對性的細分級別問題。但應用軟體的經常性收入來源看起來確實在這段時期有所成長，對成長的貢獻可能比您通常看到的高約 2 個百分點。是什麼推動了該業務的特定部分？

Yes. Joe, that's the Procare business coming online, right? So we talked about 75% or so of their revenue is payments. And so that's showing up in the recurring line.

是的。喬，這就是 Procare 業務即將上線，對吧？所以我們談到他們 75% 左右的收入是付款。所以這會出現在重複的行中。

Your next question comes from Scott Davis with Melius Research.

您的下一個問題來自 Melius Research 的 Scott Davis。

I think this was more positive in tone on the M&A side commentary wise, and I think we usually get from you guys. You're never really that bearish. But talk to us about -- a couple of things, a little bit more color there. Is it the number of deals? Is it the valuations have gotten more interesting? Is it the competition on the buy side has gotten a little bit better? I mean just drill down a little bit into that, it would be helpful. And kind of a natural secondary is you say $4 billion of fire price, is that enough? And would you consider tapping equity markets if the deal flow was going to be even more robust?

我認為這對於併購方面的評論來說是更加積極的，我認為我們通常會從你們那裡得到。你從來沒有那麼悲觀。但請和我們談談——一些事情，還有更多的色彩。是交易數量嗎？估值變得更有趣了嗎？是不是買方的競爭變得更好了一些？我的意思是，只要深入研究一下，就會很有幫助。自然而然的次要因素是你說 40 億美元的火災價格，這夠了嗎？如果交易流變得更加強勁，您會考慮利用股票市場嗎？

A lot in there, Jason and I'll do our best to cover all points, if we don't cover one pull us, I'll bring it back to it. So we're very optimistic at the moment. I think it's for really all the reasons you talk about. So there are a very large number of deals in the market and coming to the market.

裡面有很多內容，傑森和我會盡力覆蓋所有要點，如果我們沒有覆蓋其中的一個點，我會把它帶回來。所以我們目前非常樂觀。我認為這確實是出於您所說的所有原因。因此，市場上有大量的交易正在進入市場。

We have very good instrumentation relationships with both the sponsors and all the investment banker intermediaries, the bankers, pipelines are full. And so there is just a lot of stuff coming. So why is that? There was essentially not a lot of stuff for [18] or so months prior. So in the private equity world, it's all about DPI and getting money back to the LPs.

我們與贊助商和所有投資銀行家中介機構都有很好的工具關係，銀行家的管道都滿了。所以會有很多東西出現。那麼這是為什麼呢？ [18] 大約幾個月前基本上沒有太多東西。因此，在私募股權領域，一切都與 DPI 以及將資金回饋給有限合夥人有關。

The LP pressure is mounted to the point where they want the capital return. And so we're just going to compress 2.5 years worth of deals in 1 year, 1.5 years. And so there's going to be a lot of activity. Relative to the competition point, because of this -- this is our belief, my belief for a window of time here that the asset class of private equity that we compete with is going to be a net seller of assets versus a net buyer here for a period of time.

有限合夥人的壓力已經達到了他們想要資本回報的程度。因此，我們將把 2.5 年的交易壓縮在 1 年，1.5 年裡。因此將會有很多活動。相對於競爭點，正因為如此，這是我們的信念，我在一段時間內的信念是，與我們競爭的私募股權資產類別將成為資產的淨賣家，而不是資產的淨買家。

So Procare is an indication for what's to come, then the competition is less. It's not without competition, but it is less than we've seen for in prior periods, which leads to valuation. I mean if you look at the Procare valuation, I mean that was a very high growth, very high quality business at a very reasonable price. I think it's really a combination of the volume of deals that maybe our view on competition. We'll also I mean any of this -- the number of deals is almost for sure going to happen.

因此，Procare 預示著即將發生的事情，然後競爭就會減少。這並非沒有競爭，但競爭比我們之前看到的要少，這導致了估值。我的意思是，如果你看看 Procare 的估​​計值，我的意思是，這是一個成長非常快、品質非常高、價格非常合理的業務。我認為這實際上是交易量的結合，也許是我們對競爭的看法。我也指的是其中任何一個——交易數量幾乎肯定會發生。

This concept of competition could change at any moment. But that's our -- that's what's fueling sort of our optimism. To your point about this $4 billion enough, we're just always about the cash flow compounding of the enterprise being investment grade, using the leverage and being unbiased and disciplined in our approach. And so we're going to stay true to that and look at every deal on a deal-by-deal basis.

這種競爭的概念隨時都可能改變。但這就是我們的——這就是激發我們樂觀情緒的原因。就你的觀點而言，這 40 億美元已經足夠了，我們始終關注投資級企業的現金流複合，利用槓桿，並在我們的方法中保持公正和嚴格。因此，我們將堅持這一點，逐筆交易地審視每筆交易。

Your next question comes from Brent Thill with Jefferies.

您的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的布倫特希爾 (Brent Thill)。

This is David on for Brent. I wanted to ask around there was increased commentary, I think, versus prior quarter around some of the companies and what they're doing around AI. Just if you could just give us an update on the broader AI strategy? And if you guys are charging for any of these AI products, any color there would be helpful on how AI could possibly help with the organic growth of some of your assets in the long term, that would be helpful.

這是布倫特的大衛。我想問周圍的人，我認為，與上一季度相比，關於一些公司以及他們在人工智慧方面所做的事情的評論有所增加。您能否向我們介紹更廣泛的人工智慧策略的最新情況？如果你們對這些人工智慧產品中的任何一個收費，任何顏色都會有助於人工智慧如何幫助你們的一些資產長期有機成長，這將是有幫助的。

Yes. We'll certainly give you an update on that. So we continue to grind away at this. So we have done a lot of work engaging with all 28 of our businesses, both on the internal productivity-based applications around R&D, customer for live customer support go-to-market, admin, HR, finance, regulatory, et cetera, have a call at lunch with a large group of our leaders today on just that topic.

是的。我們一定會向您提供最新情況。所以我們繼續在這方面努力。因此，我們與所有 28 家企業開展了大量工作，包括圍繞研發、客戶實時客戶支援、市場推廣、管理、人力資源、財務、監管等基於生產力的內部應用程序，今天在午餐會上與我們的一大群領導人就這個話題進行了電話會議。

We're starting to see some early wins on productivity, like most of us are in code assistance, marketing content generation, things like that. So cautiously optimistic about productivity enhancements. As it relates more directly to your question around products and the market and monetization. This is going to be a slow and steady race about how do you use these tools to create incremental value for our customers.

我們開始看到生產力方面的一些早期勝利，就像我們大多數人在程式碼協助、行銷內容生成等方面所取得的成果一樣。因此對生產力的提高持謹慎樂觀態度。因為它與您有關產品、市場和貨幣化的問題更直接相關。這將是一場關於如何使用這些工具為我們的客戶創造增量價值的緩慢而穩定的競賽。

Again, you know we compete on intimacy. That intimacy leads us to know very specific problems and very specific questions that need to be addressed. We have a new technology set to be able to do that. Companies that have products in the market today using GenAI, Aderant, Deltek, DAT, ConstructConnect and Foundry by our account, there may be a few others. Two quarters ago, I think that the count was 0. And so we like the momentum in that regard.

再說一次，你知道我們在親密關係上競爭。這種親密感使我們知道非常具體的問題和需要解決的非常具體的問題。我們有一項新技術可以做到這一點。根據我們的帳戶，目前市場上擁有使用 GenAI、Aderant、Deltek、DAT、ConstructConnect 和 Foundry 產品的公司，可能還有其他一些公司。兩個季度前，我認為計數為 0。

In terms of monetization, it's still early days. Our belief -- like for the moment at least, we're monetizing the GenAI investments by having -- by adding that toolset and capability to our existing products in unique ways and then that is creating more value in the products, which is driving in almost all cases, bookings acceleration with those products, and in some cases, higher price points because of the value that's achieved through the tools.

就貨幣化而言，現在還處於早期階段。我們的信念 - 至少目前來說，我們正在透過以獨特的方式將工具集和功能添加到我們現有的產品中，從而在產品中創造更多價值，從而推動 GenAI 投資的貨幣化幾乎在所有情況下，這些產品的預訂都會加速，在某些情況下，由於透過這些工具實現的價值，價格也會更高。

So that's where I leave it. Happy to follow up, say, if you want to add, Jason.

這就是我留下的地方。很高興跟進，如果你想補充的話，傑森。

Your next question comes from Terry Tillman with Truist Securities.

您的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Terry Tillman。

Maybe just the first question because it is the most recent addition to the portfolio, and I think you all calculated the opportunity here maybe to continue buying high-quality assets, but maybe even some better growth profiles, good valuations. I'm curious, just an update on where you see kind of on a go-forward basis, the Procare Solutions revenue compounding growth rate where you see that? And then as you've had a little bit of time here, where do you see one of the most untapped growth engines for that? And then I had a quick follow-up for Jason.

也許只是第一個問題，因為它是投資組合中的最新成員，我想你們都計算過這裡可能繼續購買優質資產的機會，但甚至可能有一些更好的成長概況和良好的估值。我很好奇，只是想了解您在未來的基礎上看到的 Procare 解決方案收入複合成長率的最新情況？然後，既然您已經在這裡待了一點時間，您認為最有待開發的成長引擎之一在哪裡？然後我對傑森進行了快速跟進。

Yes. So on Procare when we announced the deal, we talked about how we believe, this is going to be a mid-teens organic growth business. The market is growing 10% or a little north of that. Procare is about 1.5x relative market share. And so with that leadership position and market growth, broker has the right to win that big share and grow above market.

是的。因此，當我們在 Procare 上宣布這筆交易時，我們談到了我們如何相信這將是一個十幾歲左右的有機成長業務。市場正以 10% 或稍高的速度成長。 Procare 的相對市佔率約為 1.5 倍。因此，憑藉這種領導地位和市場成長，經紀商有權贏得巨大份額並超越市場成長。

In terms of your question, Terry, is bolt-on activity inside of Procare, there's a couple of areas that Janet and her team with the leadership team at Procare are exploring, we. Tuck in a couple of bolt-on type products that sell into the network. But I think at Procare, the bolt-ons are going to be modest on a go-forward basis.

就你的問題而言，Terry，這是 Procare 內部的補充活動，Janet 和她的團隊以及 Procare 的領導團隊正在探索幾個領域。塞入一些在網路中銷售的螺栓固定型產品。但我認為在 Procare，未來的補充將會是適度的。

Got it. Okay. And then just a quick follow-up. I think it was 5% to 6% organic growth and now you've firmly set 6%, so that's good to see. Jason, if you had to think about like what is the biggest driver or maybe it's just a bunch of little things. What is the biggest swing factor in just tightening that and effectively raising the organic?

知道了。好的。然後進行快速跟進。我認為有機成長是 5% 到 6%，現在你已經堅定地設定了 6%，所以這是很好的結果。傑森，如果你必須思考什麼是最大的推動因素，也許只是一堆小事。收緊並有效提高有機率的最大搖擺因素是什麼？

Yes. I mean, obviously, we had a really strong Q1. So part of that is just carrying that through and a lot of that was at TEP and then we had some various small beats across software. So I think it's mainly what we saw in Q1 and then just the confidence that we're going to be able to sort of maintain our prior guidance for the out quarters.

是的。我的意思是，顯然，我們的第一季非常強勁。因此，其中一部分只是將其貫徹落實，其中許多都是在 TEP 進行的，然後我們在軟體方面進行了一些不同的小調整。因此，我認為這主要是我們在第一季看到的情況，然後是我們對能夠維持我們之前的季度指引的信心。

Your next question comes from Joe Giordano with TD Cowen.

您的下一個問題來自 Joe Giordano 和 TD Cowen。

Just curious on the jobs in the country, like you look at the jobs data and they're pretty good, but it's generally been like an erosion of white collar type jobs replaced by like part-time blue-collar jobs. And I'm just curious like on a longer term, what are the implications on some of your software businesses that are more headcount driven? Is that trend? I know you won't see it like immediately, but is that -- are you starting to see the implications of that like an outlook basis?

只是對這個國家的工作感到好奇，就像你看看工作數據一樣，它們相當不錯，但通常就像是白領類型工作的侵蝕被兼職藍領工作所取代。我只是很好奇，從長遠來看，這對你們的一些更多由員工驅動的軟體業務有何影響？這是趨勢嗎？我知道你不會立即看到它，但你是否開始看到它的影響，就像展望基礎一樣？

So I would say no, but perhaps the reason is very -- there's some, but very little of our revenue is seat-based pricing. There's some, like I said, -- and where that exists, we're transitioning to a different metric. So as you get more disruption with GenAI or the knowledge workers sort of get more productive, we certainly want to benefit by that, not be penalized by that. But it's not been something that's been brought up by any of our companies in any of our operating or strategy reduce.

所以我想說不，但也許原因是非常——有一些，但我們的收入中很少一部分是基於座位的定價。就像我說的，有一些——如果存在的話，我們正在過渡到不同的指標。因此，當 GenAI 帶來更多幹擾或知識工作者的生產力提高時，我們當然希望從中受益，而不是受到懲罰。但這並不是我們任何一家公司在我們的任何營運或策略縮減中提出的問題。

Interesting. Okay. And then just to follow up on the AI discussion in terms of like deployments and the products you're launching here. Has that been like table stakes now? Or is your competition doing the same? Or do you feel like deploying these tools has been a differentiation for your businesses?

有趣的。好的。然後就類似部署和您在這裡推出的產品方面跟進人工智慧討論。現在這就像賭註一樣嗎？或者你的競爭對手也在做同樣的事情嗎？或者您認為部署這些工具使您的企業脫穎而出？

So far, it's been very differential. I think the expectation is the competitors will have their response for sure. I'm just double-click on that a bit, though, which is we tend -- we are across all 20 of our businesses, we operate in these very small markets, and we are the largest player in the small market.

到目前為止，情況差異很大。我認為我們期望競爭對手肯定會做出回應。不過，我只是雙擊了一下，這就是我們的傾向——我們涉及所有 20 個業務，我們在這些非常小的市場中運營，而且我們是這個小市場中最大的參與者。

So we have that advantage around scale in these small markets to be able to do more product development, do more research and development, do more -- invest more and go to market to get these tools there. And so that is a long-term advantage that we have and why we select the businesses we do to be part of the portfolio. The other thing is when you compete on intimacy with Generative AI, all these verticals that we have, we obviously have the knowledge and the content and the data. And that's only half the question. The other half the problem. The other half of the problem, though, is we are so -- we compete on intimacy so we actually know what questions to answer. So we have the content, the data and the question and now the Generative AI, it's just another tool in the toolkit about how to solve those problems. So we like our long-term competitive positions.

因此，我們在這些小市場上擁有規模優勢，能夠進行更多的產品開發、更多的研究和開發、更多的投資，並進入市場以獲得這些工具。因此，這是我們擁有的長期優勢，也是我們選擇我們所做的業務作為投資組合一部分的原因。另一件事是，當你與生成人工智慧進行親密競爭時，我們擁有的所有這些垂直領域，我們顯然擁有知識、內容和數據。這只是問題的一半。另一半的問題。然而，問題的另一半是，我們在親密關係上競爭，所以我們實際上知道要回答什麼問題。所以我們有了內容、數據和問題，現在有了生成人工智慧，它只是工具包中關於如何解決這些問題的另一個工具。因此，我們喜歡我們的長期競爭地位。

Just on that, if I could just sneak in a follow-up on that. Like is this an area -- I know generally, once you acquire a business that kind of runs on its own, but is this an area where like the corporate can flex a little bit because these solutions tend to be expensive to deploy.

就這一點，如果我能偷偷地跟進一下的話。就像這是一個領域——我通常知道，一旦你收購了一家獨立運營的企業，但這是一個像公司一樣可以稍微靈活的領域，因為這些解決方案的部署成本往往很高。

So is this an area where like Roper corporate could be like all we are making a decision to kind of allocate capital to the businesses that need this specifically outside of the natural free cash flow dynamics of that specific firm?

那麼，在這個領域，羅珀公司是否會像我們正在做出的決定一樣，將資本分配給那些在該特定公司的自然自由現金流動態之外特別需要這種資本的企業？

So these tools are not free, but they are substantially less expensive than these large language models that have to be developed, right? And so there is the research and development part of the application of the LLM and what we're doing, and then there's the operational costs. Jason did a teach-in a couple of months ago about the ROI case studies and all of this stuff.

所以這些工具不是免費的，但它們比這些必須開發的大型語言模型便宜得多，對吧？因此，有法學碩士申請的研究和開發部分以及我們正在做的事情，然後是營運成本。 Jason 幾個月前做了一次關於 ROI 案例研究和所有這些內容的講座。

So far, we've not seen an ROI case study that's been challenged in any meaningful way on this front. I'm sure that will happen as you start to work down the curve of opportunities. But we're not -- at the moment, we're not going to try to do a one-size-fits-all Roper Generative AI solution because it would just not work because of the 28 different applications. Jason, anything you want to add.

到目前為止，我們還沒有看到投資報酬率案例研究在這方面受到任何有意義的挑戰。我相信當你開始沿著機會的曲線努力時，這就會發生。但目前，我們不會嘗試打造萬能的 Roper 生成式人工智慧解決方案，因為由於有 28 種不同的應用程序，它根本行不通。傑森，有什麼你想補充的嗎？

Yes. No, that's right. I mean we do have benefits and scale with some of the agreements with our large cloud service providers. So that's been beneficial for companies to do some experimentation at a very low cost. And then we're just allocating a lot of mind share towards that, so we can collectively get better. But in terms of like allocating capital that just hasn't been front-centered out. The company has a really compelling value proposition. We're always going to entertain that, but that's not what we're seeing today.

是的。不，沒錯。我的意思是，透過與大型雲端服務供應商簽訂的一些協議，我們確實獲得了好處並實現了規模化。因此，這對於公司以非常低的成本進行一些實驗是有利的。然後我們為此投入大量精力，這樣我們就可以共同變得更好。但就資本分配而言，還沒有以前沿為中心。該公司有一個非常引人注目的價值主張。我們總是會對此表示歡迎，但這不是我們今天看到的。

Your next question comes from Joe Ritchie with Goldman Sachs.

您的下一個問題來自高盛的喬·里奇。

So in your prepared comments, Neil, you referenced how some of your new SaaS-based offerings were helping certain businesses. I'm just curious as you kind of think a look at the portfolio as a whole, like how far along are you in terms of rolling out additional new platforms? And how much room is there to go from here? And if there are any examples that you want to highlight, that would be great across the portfolio.

Neil，在您準備好的評論中，您提到了一些基於 SaaS 的新產品如何幫助某些企業。我只是很好奇，因為您會從整體上考慮整個產品組合，例如您在推出更多新平台方面走了多遠？距離這裡還有多少空間？如果您想強調任何範例，那麼在整個組合中那就太好了。

So I just want to make sure we understand it or answering the question you're asking is that essentially how far along are we on our SaaS journey? And what's that look like?

所以我只是想確保我們理解它，或回答您所問的問題，即我們的 SaaS 之旅已經走了多遠？那是什麼樣子的？

Yes, that's exactly right. And if there are examples across the portfolio where you think you're -- you have like additional opportunity, I'd love to just hear about some of those examples.

是的，完全正確。如果整個投資組合中有一些你認為你有額外機會的例子，我很想聽聽其中的一些例子。

So Jason why don't you take on the first part, I'll take the second part.

那傑森為什麼你不接第一部分呢，我來接第二部分。

Yes. At the macro level, we're a little over $900 million of maintenance today, maintenance revenue and if you go back maybe in the last 5 years, we've converted the base of maintenance probably like in the mid- to high single-digit area. So we still have a lot of room left, and we convert that maintenance revenue at 2 to 2.5x when we go to SaaS. And so that's kind of where we're at today.

是的。從宏觀層面來看，我們今天的維護收入略高於 9 億美元，如果你回顧過去 5 年，我們的維護基數可能會達到中高個位數區域。因此，我們仍然有很大的空間，當我們轉向 SaaS 時，我們會將維護收入轉換為 2 到 2.5 倍。這就是我們今天所處的情況。

And there's a -- Neil can talk about the specific businesses. There's a handful of businesses that are transitioning. I'd say Aderant is one that's probably had the biggest migration over the last 3 or 4 years, which happened right at co -- that was an industry that was reluctant to move to the cloud and then all of a sudden, once a few firms when they all win. So they're right in the in the thick of things in terms of that cloud migration. But Neil, do you want to talk about some other.

尼爾可以談談具體的業務。有一些企業正在轉型。我想說，Aderant 可能是過去 3 或 4 年來遷移規模最大的一個，這件事就發生在公司——那個行業不願意遷移到雲，然後突然之間，有幾次遷移到了雲端。獲勝時。因此，他們在雲端遷移方面處於最前線。但是尼爾，你想談談其他的嗎？

As Jason said, I mean, it is this $900 million of on-premise maintenance is concentrated in a handful of businesses. The examples we give would start with Deltek. It's both on the cost point, which is our government contracting core product and Vantage Point, which is their private sector, their engineering, architecture product.

正如 Jason 所說，我的意思是，這 9 億美元的在地維護費用集中在少數企業身上。我們給出的例子將從 Deltek 開始。這既是在成本點上，這是我們的政府承包核心產品，也是在優勢點上，這是他們的私部門，他們的工程、建築產品。

You might have seen, for instance, on cost point, this quarter, Deltek achieved FedRAMP Moderate ready status. So there is a requirement the government puts on for security. It's a meaningful checkpoint for cost point in the cloud, almost all net new for the private sector part of Deltek's book is sole and Vantage Point, which is in the cloud and SaaS enabled. Jason talked about Aderant, 80-plus percent of all of Aderant bookings today are in the cloud, talked about PowerPlan. PowerPlan has one, a handful of core applications. I would say their #2 application is cloud-enabled and being deployed today. So we're definitively rolling through that book in that product set and building into this long-term SaaS business.

例如，您可能已經看到，在成本點上，本季度，Deltek 達到了 FedRAMP 中等就緒狀態。因此政府對安全提出了要求。對於雲端中的成本點來說，這是一個有意義的檢查點，Deltek 書中幾乎所有針對私營部門的全新內容都是唯一的和 Vantage Point，它在雲端並啟用了 SaaS。 Jason 談到了 Aderant，今天 80% 以上的 Aderant 預訂都在雲端，談到了 PowerPlan。 PowerPlan 有一個、少數幾個核心應用程式。我想說他們的#2應用程式是支援雲端的並且今天正在部署。因此，我們最終將在該產品集中瀏覽這本書，並將其融入這個長期的 SaaS 業務中。

Got it. That's super helpful. I'll just leave it there.

知道了。這非常有幫助。我就把它留在那裡。

Your next question comes from Brad Hewitt with Wolfe Research.

您的下一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Brad Hewitt。

So you talked about the strength that pipeline in the quarter. I saw you announced a new CFO for that business with a focus on kind of driving the long-term growth strategy. Just wondering if you could update us on kind of the normalized growth profile of that business and what you see as kind of the biggest opportunities to perhaps accelerate growth in that business going forward.

您談到了本季管道的實力。我看到您宣布了該業務的新首席財務官，並專注於推動長期成長策略。只是想知道您是否可以向我們介紹該業務的正常成長概況，以及您認為可能加速該業務未來成長的最大機會是什麼。

Yes, I'll take the first part. I'll let Jason talk about the growth outlook. So -- it's not -- I mean, we have a new president there, Pat McDonald. He is just hired as new CFO, as you referenced, really like the leadership mindset, the competitive orientation, the learning orientation, the building capability to be able to take long term, in that short term that the new leader brings to iPipeline.

是的，我會選擇第一部分。我會讓傑森談談成長前景。所以 - 不是 - 我的意思是，我們有一位新總裁，帕特·麥克唐納。正如您所提到的，他剛剛被聘為新的首席財務官，他非常喜歡新領導者為 iPipeline 帶來的領導思維、競爭導向、學習導向以及能夠長期、短期地開展工作的能力建設。

His predecessor (inaudible), he's been a long-term Roper leader, did a great job for a couple of years setting that business up. Retention is super strong, love sort of the market -- this company is really poised for market share gains. It's good market focus. The competitive environment, one, is tilting our direction for sure. The business has network effects. So I really like the momentum and what we're poised to do in that business. And then, Jason, I will let you take the growth question.

他的前任（聽不清楚）是 Roper 的長期領導者，幾年來在建立這項業務方面做得非常出色。保留率非常高，喜歡市場——這家公司確實為市場份額的成長做好了準備。這是很好的市場焦點。第一，競爭環境一定會改變我們的方向。該業務具有網路效應。所以我真的很喜歡這種勢頭以及我們準備在該業務中做的事情。然後，傑森，我會讓你回答成長問題。

Yes. I mean I think it's playing out as we thought it would when we acquired it back in 2018, 2019 area, it's in the high single-digit plus range and maybe it tilt a little higher down the road. But that's sort of where it's tracking. And just Adam Boone was added to the team a month ago, and we're excited about him joining along with Pat. So we're excited about the process for our pipeline.

是的。我的意思是，我認為它的表現正如我們在 2018 年、2019 年地區收購它時所設想的那樣，它處於高個位數正區間，也許未來會稍微傾斜一點。但這就是它所追蹤的地方。一個月前，亞當·布恩 (Adam Boone) 剛剛加入團隊，我們對他與帕特 (Pat) 一起加入感到非常興奮。因此，我們對管道的流程感到興奮。

Okay. Great. And then it looks like growth in network in Q1 was maybe a few points better than expected. Your guidance for the rest of the year kind of implies revenue flattish sequentially on an absolute basis.

好的。偉大的。然後看起來第一季的網路成長可能比預期好幾個百分點。您對今年剩餘時間的指導意味著收入在絕對基礎上連續持平。

I would assume most of the businesses in that segment would see kind of modest sequential growth throughout the year. So just kind of trying to understand if there are any potential offsets that maybe if that's DAT. Just any thoughts on kind of sequentials relative to Q1 levels in network.

我認為該領域的大多數業務全年都會出現適度的環比增長。所以只是想了解是否存在任何潛在的抵消，也許這就是 DAT。只是對與網路中第一季層級相關的序列類型的任何想法。

Yes, sure. So we talked a little bit about MHA had a really strong quarter, and we think they're still -- they're going to continue to grow this year. But Q1 was especially strong as they had a contract renegotiations. So we got a little bit of a bump in organic growth in the first quarter. And then DAT & Loadlink, they'll continue to be down this year. And so maybe a touch lower than Q1. So that's what's driving the sort of low single digits throughout the rest of the year.

是的，當然。因此，我們討論了 MHA 的季度表現非常強勁，我們認為他們今年仍將繼續成長。但第一季尤其強勁，因為他們進行了合約重新談判。因此，第一季我們的有機成長略有提升。然後是 DAT 和 Loadlink，今年它們將繼續下降。所以可能比第一季低。這就是導致今年剩餘時間出現低個位數的原因。

Your next question comes from Patrick Baumann with JPMorgan.

您的下一個問題來自摩根大通的派崔克鮑曼。

Lot of ground been covered. Just a couple of cleanups here. Sticking with the Network Software segment, it's seen really good margin expansion for a couple of quarters now. Could you remind us what's driving that? And if this 56%, 57% is sustainable and could potentially move up further in coming quarters?

很多地方都被覆蓋了。這裡只需進行幾次清理即可。繼續關注網路軟體領域，幾個季度以來它的利潤率確實出現了良好的成長。您能提醒我們是什麼推動了這個趨勢嗎？如果這個 56%、57% 是可持續的，並且有可能在未來幾季進一步上升？

Yes. So we touched on this last year, just DAT getting ahead of where they saw the market was going and taking some of the fixed costs out of the business. And so we're just realizing that through the first 3 quarters of this year. We think the margins in that -- I don't think it's going to get -- it's going to expand further. We're sort of in the 55%, 56% range. We expect that to continue throughout the year.

是的。所以我們去年就談到了這個問題，只是 DAT 領先於他們看到的市場發展方向，並從業務中削減了一些固定成本。因此，我們在今年前三個季度才意識到這一點。我們認為，我認為這方面的利潤不會進一步擴大。我們大概在 55%、56% 的範圍內。我們預計這種情況將持續全年。

Okay. Got it. And then lastly, just the second quarter. Any color you could give us on organic growth expectations? I know you gave it for 2Q to 4Q. Any difference between second quarter and that 2Q to 4Q guide? And then also on free cash flow, typically lumpy from quarter-to-quarter. So wondering if you could give any kind of color on that relative to the first quarter.

好的。知道了。最後，只是第二季。您能給我們提供有關有機成長預期的任何資訊嗎？我知道你在第二季到第四季提供了它。第二季與第二季至第四季的指引有何不同？然後還有自由現金流，通常每季都不穩定。所以想知道你是否可以給出相對於第一季的任何顏色。

Yes. I mean I think the organic growth expectations are the same in the second quarter as they are for the year. So no real big swings there. And then cash flow on the second quarter, it's always the quarter that we make to federal tax payments. So it's always the lowest of the year. So that's really the only dynamic I would point out there. If you look over prior years, that's always our low point, but still expect to grow, of course.

是的。我的意思是，我認為第二季的有機成長預期與今年相同。所以那裡沒有真正的大波動。然後是第二季的現金流，這始終是我們繳納聯邦稅的季度。所以它總是一年中最低的。所以這確實是我要指出的唯一動力。如果你回顧前幾年，這始終是我們的低點，但當然仍然期望成長。

Your next question comes from Alexander Blanton with Clear Harbor Asset Management.

您的下一個問題來自 Clear Harbor Asset Management 的 Alexander Blanton。

I noticed that you're forecasting or guiding to organic growth of 6% for the year, correct? But you had 8% in the first quarter. So are you factoring in some economic weakness in the U.S. in that forecast?

我注意到您預測或指導今年的有機成長為 6%，對嗎？但第一季你有 8%。那麼您在該預測中是否考慮了美國的一些經濟疲軟因素？

No. I mean, I think it all plays out, Alex, in our products segment and our TEP segment over the first quarter, we just had a better compare and just the ramp that we had in Neptune last year, it's sort of the comps sort of normalize out in the balance of the year. So it's really just that. It's no more complicated than that. And so that's why Q1 was -- and that's -- when we came into the year, that's what we had indicated that Q1 was going to be the kind of the high mark in terms of organic unless things change in our assumptions.

不，我的意思是，我認為這一切都在我們的產品部門和第一季的TEP 部門中發揮作用，亞歷克斯，我們只是進行了更好的比較，只是我們去年在海王星的斜坡，這是一種比較在今年的剩餘時間裡有點正常化。所以確實就是這樣。沒有比這更複雜的了。這就是為什麼第一季——這就是——當我們進入這一年時，我們已經表明，除非我們的假設發生變化，否則第一季將在有機方面取得高分。

And I would just add, Alex, to what Jason said, we assume that there is the freight conditions and whatnot that, that is muted, but we've assumed that all the way through, it's not a new assumption, but there is definitely back half macroeconomic weak impacts in that part of our business. That did not change, but it's embedded from our original guidance.

亞歷克斯，我想補充一點，傑森所說的，我們假設有貨運條件之類的，這是靜音的，但我們一直假設，這不是一個新的假設，但肯定有宏觀經濟疲軟影響了我們這部分業務。這並沒有改變，但它是從我們最初的指導中嵌入的。

And which part of the business? I missed that.

業務的哪一部分？我錯過了。

The transportation part, the DAT & Loadlink inside of network, the Freight Matching business.

運輸部分，網內DAT&Loadlink，貨運匹配業務。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. We will now return back to Zack Moxcey for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。現在我們將回到 Zack Moxcey 進行閉幕致詞。

Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We look forward to speaking with you during our next earnings call.

謝謝大家今天加入我們。我們期待在下次財報電話會議上與您交談。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。