Roper Technologies, Inc. (ROP) 2026 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. The Roper Technologies conference call will now begin. Today's call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to turn the call over to Zack Moxcey, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

早安。Roper Technologies 電話會議現在開始。今天的電話會議將被錄音。(接線員指示) 現在我想把電話交給投資人關係副總裁 Zack Moxcey。請開始。

Good morning, and thank you all for joining us as we discuss the third-quarter 2026 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 Chief Accounting Officer; and Shannon O'Callaghan, Senior Vice President of Finance.

早安，感謝各位加入我們，一同討論 Roper Technologies 2026 年第三季財務業績。今天早上與我一同參與電話會議的有：總裁兼執行長 Neil Hunn；執行副總裁兼財務長 Jason Conley；副總裁兼首席會計長 Brandon Cross；以及財務資深副總裁 Shannon O'Callaghan。

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

今天稍早，我們發布新聞稿公告我們的財務結果。新聞稿也包含今天電話會議的重播資訊。我們準備了投影片搭配今天的電話會議，投影片已可取得。可透過網路直播取得，並且也可在我們的網站上取得。

Now if you'll please turn to page 2. We begin with our Safe Harbor statements. 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。我們先從安全港聲明開始。在今天電話會議的過程中，我們將做出前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受本頁、我們新聞稿以及我們向 SEC 提交文件中所述之風險與不確定性影響。您應在該等資訊的脈絡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 basis. For the third quarter, the difference between our GAAP results and adjusted results consists of the following items: amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, transaction-related expenses associated with completed acquisitions, financial impacts associated with our minority investment in Indicor, and lastly, cash collected on Outgo's beneficial interest, which is the residual amount owed to Outgo after it sells receivables to a third-party and is classified within cash flows from investing activities.

接著請翻到第 3 頁。今天我們將主要以調整後的非 GAAP 基礎來討論我們的業績。就第三季而言，我們 GAAP 結果與調整後結果之差異包含以下項目：併購相關無形資產攤銷、與已完成併購相關的交易費用、我們對 Indicor 少數股權投資相關的財務影響，以及最後，Outgo 受益權所收取的現金，亦即 Outgo 將應收帳款出售給第三方後仍應收取的剩餘金額，並分類於投資活動現金流量之內。

Reconciliations can be found in our press release and in the appendix of this presentation on our website. And now if you please turn to page 4, I'll hand the call over to Neil. After our prepared remarks, we'll take questions from our telephone participants. Neil?

對帳表可在我們的新聞稿以及本簡報於我們網站上的附錄中找到。現在請翻到第 4 頁，我將把電話交給 Neil。在我們的準備發言之後，我們將接受電話與會者的提問。Neil？

Thank you, Zach, and thanks to everyone for joining us this morning. You can see our agenda on page 4, so let's get into it. Next slide, please. As we turn to page 5, I want to highlight three takeaways. First, we delivered solid third-quarter results, including 7% organic revenue growth and increased DEPS guidance for the year.

謝謝你，Zach，也感謝各位今天早上加入我們。您可以在第 4 頁看到我們的議程，那我們就開始吧。請下一張投影片。翻到第 5 頁時，我想強調三點重點。第一，我們交出穩健的第三季成果，包括 7% 的有機營收成長，並上調全年 DEPS 指引。

Second, AI momentum continues to build, and we're pleased with the progress in the quarter. Our businesses are bringing new products to market, and we're increasingly encouraged by the breadth of that progress and what these products will do for our customers.

第二，AI 動能持續增強，我們對本季的進展感到滿意。我們的事業正在將新產品推向市場，而我們也愈來愈受到這些進展的廣度所鼓舞，以及這些產品將為客戶帶來的價值。

And third, we're active again on the acquisition front, completing three bolt-ons with our long-standing capital allocation discipline. Starting with our results, total revenue grew 8%, organic revenue grew 7%, EBITDA grew 7%, and DEPS grew 15%.

第三，我們在併購方面再次積極出手，並以我們長期以來的資本配置紀律完成了三項補強型收購（bolt-on）。從業績來看，總營收成長 8%，有機營收成長 7%，EBITDA 成長 7%，DEPS 成長 15%。

At high level, we had a strong quarter. And to spike out a few of our larger businesses, we had another encouraging quarter for Deltek, although we continue to take a wait-and-see approach, we continue to see nice supply-side recovery at DAT, and unfortunately, Neptune continues to face subdued meter market conditions.

整體而言，我們本季表現強勁。若點出幾個較大的事業單位，Deltek 再度交出令人鼓舞的一季；儘管我們仍採取觀望態度，DAT 端仍持續看到供給端的良好復甦；而不幸的是，Neptune 仍持續面臨水表市場需求偏弱的環境。

Based on these results, we're also increasing our full-year DEPS guidance. It was a solid quarter, and Jason will walk you through the financial details in a moment. Turning to AI, since our last call, our businesses have introduced a broad range of products that apply AI to the specialized tasks and workflows our customers manage every day.

基於這些結果，我們也上調全年 DEPS 指引。這是一個穩健的季度，Jason 稍後將帶各位了解財務細節。談到 AI，自上次電話會議以來，我們的事業推出了廣泛的產品，將 AI 應用於客戶每天管理的專業任務與工作流程。

Let me share a few examples. First, Vertafore launched agents for submission processing, benefit plans, and docket research, and has now added two agents that automate policy processing for independent agencies. Since the beginning of the year, Vertafore has developed and launched 12 workflow automation agents with many, many more in development.

我分享幾個例子。首先，Vertafore 推出了用於投保申請處理、福利計畫與案卷研究（docket research）的代理（agents），並新增兩個代理，為獨立代理機構自動化保單處理。自年初以來，Vertafore 已開發並推出 12 個工作流程自動化代理，且還有非常非常多正在開發中。

At Aderant, seven AI agents are now in early access to help law firms build more accurately and collect cash faster. The appeals agent helps draft billing appeals, the collection agent prioritizes overdue accounts, and the time agent improves billing descriptions. These are practical uses of AI to reduce administrative work and help law firms run more efficiently. Another example is PowerPlan. Where a new Intelligent Unitization product tackled a significant industry challenge, more than $180 billion of capital investments awaiting detailed asset classification across the US Electric utilities.

在 Aderant，目前有七個 AI 代理處於早期存取階段，協助律師事務所更精準地開立帳單並更快收回現金。申訴代理協助起草帳單申訴文件，催收代理為逾期帳款排定優先順序，而工時代理則改善帳單描述。這些都是 AI 的務實應用，可減少行政作業並協助律所更有效率地營運。另一個例子是 PowerPlan。其新的 Intelligent Unitization 產品解決了一項重大的產業挑戰：美國電力公用事業中，超過 1,800 億美元的資本投資正等待進行細緻的資產分類。

Our purpose-built AI capability analyzes project and accounting data and recommends how costs should be allocated to individual assets. By accelerating that process, it helps utilities recover their capital investments and earn returns sooner, bringing forward revenue, earnings, and cash flow, and the productivity gains are substantial. Customers are completing this work in minutes that previous of days or weeks.

我們為此打造的 AI 能力會分析專案與會計資料，並建議成本應如何分攤至各個資產。透過加速該流程，它能協助公用事業更快回收資本投資並更早取得報酬，進而提前帶動營收、獲利與現金流，而生產力提升相當可觀。客戶現在可在幾分鐘內完成過去需要數天或數週的工作。

This is another powerful example of our focus across Roper, putting AI to work to help our customers grow, perform better, and operate more efficiently. Great work by Rafi and the team at PowerPlan. At Strata, financial decision intelligence helps healthcare finance teams identify what needs attention and understand what is driving performance. In a few minutes, I'm going to double-click on this specifically.

這是我們在整個 Roper 持續聚焦的另一個有力例證：讓 AI 發揮作用，協助客戶成長、表現更佳並更有效率地營運。PowerPlan 的 Rafi 與團隊做得非常出色。在 Strata，財務決策智慧可協助醫療照護財務團隊辨識需要關注的事項，並了解績效的驅動因素。幾分鐘後，我會針對這點再更深入說明。

CentralReach report draft AI is designed to improve provider productivity and economics. Clinical reauthorization reports typically take 9 to 12 hours per learner, much of which is non-billable. By automating data gathering and preparing a draft for clinician input and review, the product frees up substantial capacity for billable care, creating opportunities for providers to serve more learners, supporting revenue growth, and improving operational efficiency with their existing clinical teams.

CentralReach 的報告草稿 AI 旨在提升服務提供者的生產力與經濟效益。臨床再授權（reauthorization）報告通常每位學員需要 9 到 12 小時，其中多數時間無法計費。透過自動化資料蒐集並準備草稿供臨床人員輸入與審閱，該產品釋放出大量可用於可計費照護的產能，讓服務提供者有機會服務更多學員、支持營收成長，並在既有臨床團隊下提升營運效率。

And Foundry introduced new AI capabilities for visual effects, while Subsplash launched work management products that bring AI and automation into church operations. What is encouraging is both the breadth of this activity and how specific these products are to the markets we serve. They address work our customers know well, work that takes time, requires specialized knowledge, and matters how their organizations operate.

此外，Foundry 為視覺特效導入新的 AI 能力，而 Subsplash 則推出工作管理產品，將 AI 與自動化帶入教會營運。令人鼓舞的是，這些活動不僅範圍廣，而且產品都非常貼近我們所服務的市場。它們解決的是客戶非常熟悉的工作：耗時、需要專業知識，並且攸關其組織如何運作。

We continue to see a substantial opportunity to help customers do work more efficiently and effectively, and we're excited to partner with our customers from across the enterprise to realize the promise of AI. Our confidence and opportunity is grounded in the same advantages that have always made our vertical market software businesses strong: deep-domain expertise, embedded workflows, unique data assets, trusted customer relationships, and scaled distribution.

我們持續看到龐大的機會，能協助客戶以更高效率與更佳成效完成工作；我們也很期待與全企業範圍內的客戶夥伴合作，實現 AI 的承諾。我們的信心與機會，奠基於那些一直以來讓我們垂直市場軟體事業強大的優勢：深厚的領域專業、嵌入式工作流程、獨特的資料資產、值得信賴的客戶關係，以及具規模的通路與分銷能力。

Our businesses know their customers' workflows and where AI can save time and approve decisions. Each business develops products close to its customers, while our AI accelerator team helps speed development and share reasonable approaches across the portfolio. We're still early in commercialization and are starting to see adoption and monetization of our AI solutions. Importantly, our products change how customers do work, so adoption will develop over time.

我們的各項業務了解客戶的工作流程，以及 AI 能在哪些環節節省時間並核准決策。各業務單位在貼近客戶的地方開發產品，而我們的 AI 加速器團隊則協助加快開發速度，並在整個產品組合中分享合理的方法。我們仍處於商業化的早期階段，並開始看到我們 AI 解決方案的採用與變現。重要的是，我們的產品會改變客戶的工作方式，因此採用將隨時間逐步發展。

As customers use our products, that experience will help our businesses refine the products and expand their capability remit. There's more work ahead, but we love the progress. We have new products reaching customers across a broad range of markets and a meaningful opportunity to build from here.

隨著客戶使用我們的產品，這些經驗將幫助各業務單位精進產品並擴大其能力範疇。前方仍有更多工作要做，但我們很喜歡目前的進展。我們有新產品正觸及廣泛市場的客戶，並且有一個重要的機會能在此基礎上持續打造。

And third, we continue to execute our disciplined capital allocation strategy and are encouraged that we're able to execute three bolt-on acquisitions during the quarter. Specifically, we deployed $436 million towards bolt-on acquisitions for iPipeline, Procare, and Strata. The common theme is expanding the capabilities and reach of our existing businesses, adding complementary products, expertise, and customer relationships in markets we know well. Each acquisition builds on our existing domain expertise and distribution, creating more opportunities to serve customers and drive long-term organic growth.

第三，我們持續執行嚴謹的資本配置策略，並且很受鼓舞的是，我們在本季得以完成三項補強型併購。具體而言，我們投入 4.36 億美元用於 iPipeline、Procare 與 Strata 的補強型併購。共同主題是擴大我們既有業務的能力與觸及範圍，在我們熟悉的市場中加入互補的產品、專業能力與客戶關係。每一項併購都建立在我們既有的產業領域專長與通路之上，創造更多服務客戶並推動長期內生成長的機會。

Our approach remains consistent. Evaluate each opportunity carefully and deploy capital receive attractive long-term returns. So a solid quarter with another impactful step on our AI journey. With that, let me turn the call over to Jason to walk through our finance results, capital allocation activity, and balance sheet position. Jason.

我們的方法一貫如一。審慎評估每一個機會，並部署資本以獲得具吸引力的長期報酬。因此，這是一個穩健的季度，也是在我們 AI 旅程上又一個具影響力的步伐。接下來我把電話交給 Jason，請他帶大家回顧我們的財務結果、資本配置活動以及資產負債表狀況。Jason。

Thanks, Neil, and good morning, everyone. Please turn with me to slide 6 to review our financial performance. Our third quarter was highlighted by solid organic revenue growth and strong DEPS growth. We delivered revenue of $2.2 billion, which is up 8% over prior year, underpinned by organic growth of 7%.

謝謝，Neil，大家早安。請和我一起翻到投影片第 6 頁，回顧我們的財務表現。我們第三季的亮點是穩健的內生營收成長與強勁的 DEPS 成長。我們實現營收 22 億美元，較去年同期成長 8%，其中內生成長 7% 提供支撐。

Digging deeper here, organic recurring revenue grew 8% across our two software segments. Our enterprise software gross retention remains very high, consistently in the mid-90s%. And further, core enterprise bookings were up mid-single-digits on a TTM basis. EBITDA of $864 million was up 7% and converted to EBITDA margin of 39.8%.

更深入來看，我們兩個軟體部門的內生經常性收入成長 8%。我們企業軟體的毛留存率仍然非常高，長期穩定維持在 90% 中段。此外，以過去十二個月（TTM）計算，核心企業訂單（bookings）成長為中個位數。EBITDA 為 8.64 億美元，成長 7%，對應 EBITDA 利潤率 39.8%。

Core EBITDA margin was down 30 basis points, with our software segments in aggregate slightly expanding, while our Tech segment was down 90 basis points. Our Neptune business delivered more mechanical meters in the quarter, which has a dilutive impact on revenue dollars and margin. Over a longer arc, we expect a continued migration to ultrasonic meters, which drives higher lifetime value for customers and Neptune. DEPS of $5.89 was up 15% over prior year and above our guided range of $5.75 to $5.80 on better margin performance.

核心 EBITDA 利潤率下滑 30 個基點；我們的軟體部門合計略有擴張，而科技（Tech）部門下滑 90 個基點。我們的 Neptune 業務本季交付了更多機械式水表，這對營收金額與利潤率具有稀釋影響。從更長期的趨勢來看，我們預期將持續轉向超音波水表，這將為客戶與 Neptune 帶來更高的終身價值。DEPS 為 5.89 美元，較去年同期成長 15%，並因利潤率表現優於預期而高於我們指引區間 5.75 至 5.80 美元。

Free cash flow of $805 million represents 37% of revenue, but was down 4% versus prior year given we had timing of interest coupon payments on bonds issued in 2025 and we had a temporary lag in collections at our Illumia business as they moved through an ERP implementation. For the year, we expect free cash flow to be 30% or more of revenue, and with our share repurchase activity, free cash flow per share is expected to grow in the double-digits area.

自由現金流為 8.05 億美元，占營收 37%，但較去年同期下降 4%，原因是 2025 年發行債券的利息票息支付時點影響，以及 Illumia 業務在推進 ERP 導入期間出現短暫的收款延遲。就全年而言，我們預期自由現金流將達到營收的 30% 或以上；配合我們的庫藏股回購活動，每股自由現金流預期將以雙位數幅度成長。

Now, if you turn with me to slide 7, I'll walk through our financial position at capital employment. Enabled by seasonally strong free cash flow and proceeds from the divestiture of Indicor's instrumentation businesses, we reduced our net debt to EBITDA by half a turn within the quarter to land at 2.9 times, all while simultaneously deploying $436 million towards acquisitions.

現在，請和我一起翻到投影片第 7 頁，我將說明我們的財務狀況與資本運用。在季節性強勁的自由現金流以及出售 Indicor 儀器業務所得款項的支持下，我們在本季將淨負債對 EBITDA 比率降低了半個 turn，降至 2.9 倍，同時仍部署了 4.36 億美元用於併購。

We finished with over $300 million of cash and $1.3 billion drawn on our $3.5 billion revolver. In the quarter, Indicor announced the sale of the remaining flow controls businesses to Xylem. We expect around $600 million of pre-tax proceeds sometime in Q4 as the transaction moves through regulatory clearance. Also in the quarter, we acquired three tuck-in businesses for iPipeline, Procare, and Strata.

期末我們持有超過 3 億美元現金，並在 35 億美元的循環信貸額度（revolver）中動用 13 億美元。本季，Indicor 宣布將其剩餘的流體控制（flow controls）業務出售給 Xylem。隨著交易通過監管核准，我們預期在第四季某個時間點取得約 6 億美元的稅前收益。同樣在本季，我們為 iPipeline、Procare 與 Strata 收購了三家補強型（tuck-in）企業。

Consistent with our acquisition criteria, these tuck-ins play directly into the strategy of increasing organic growth where we have the highest right to win. All three tuck-ins are growing faster than their acquiring platforms and, coupled with synergies, are expected to generate very attractive returns.

依循我們的併購標準，這些補強型併購直接契合我們的策略：在我們最具勝算的領域提升內生成長。這三項補強標的的成長速度都快於其收購平台，並且在綜效加持下，預期將帶來非常具吸引力的報酬。

Looking ahead, we now have more than $6 billion of capacity for capital deployment over the next 12 months, given strong free cash flow, which will be enhanced by proceeds from Indicor sale of its flow controls businesses.

展望未來，鑑於強勁的自由現金流，且將再加上 Indicor 出售其流體控制業務的所得款項，我們在未來 12 個月可用於資本部署的額度已超過 60 億美元。

In summary, we will remain well positioned to deploy capital towards the highest risk-adjusted return opportunities through a disciplined and analytical process and approach. Neil, with that, I'll turn the call back over to you.

總結來說，我們將透過嚴謹且以分析為基礎的流程與方法，持續保持良好定位，把資本部署到風險調整後報酬最高的機會上。Neil，接下來我把電話交回給你。

As we turn to page 9, let's review our Application Software segment. Revenue grew 7% total with organic growth of 6%. EBITDA margins were 43.7%, up 30 basis points year over year. Looking across the segment, AI momentum continues to build with more of our businesses bringing new solutions to market. We also continue to see solid progress on cloud conversions, including encouraging signals at Deltek.

接著翻到第 9 頁，我們來回顧應用軟體（Application Software）部門。營收總計成長 7%，其中內生成長 6%。EBITDA 利潤率為 43.7%，年增 30 個基點。從部門整體來看，AI 動能持續累積，更多業務正把新解決方案推向市場。我們也持續在雲端轉換方面看到穩健進展，包括 Deltek 出現令人鼓舞的訊號。

Turning to the business highlights. Aderant had another excellent quarter. The team continued to expand its AI agent platform, as previously mentioned, with capabilities across rates, compliance, and general ledger forecasting.

接著看業務亮點。Aderant 再度交出非常出色的一季。如先前提到，團隊持續擴展其 AI 代理（agent）平台，能力涵蓋費率、合規與總帳預測。

Vertafore delivered growth across its agency, MGA, and carrier businesses and launched six new AI agents. Along with its value-based credit model. This value-based pricing model is a key enabler of product-led growth as customers will utilize credits towards any current and future agentic solutions on the Velocity platform.

Vertafore 在其代理商（agency）、MGA 與保險公司（carrier）業務均實現成長，並推出六個新的 AI 代理。同時也推出其以價值為基礎的點數（credit）模型。這種以價值為基礎的定價模式，是產品驅動成長（product-led growth）的關鍵推動力，因為客戶可將點數用於 Velocity 平台上任何現有與未來的代理式（agentic）解決方案。

As we discussed last quarter, Vertafore's strategy starts with high-volume, labor-intensive work, embedding agents directly into the systems customers already use. The latest launches expand the work those agents can do and build on the foundation established with velocity. Deltek had another encouraging quarter with continued strength in its private sector solutions. Government contracting bookings have been solid over the last couple of quarters, although the broader market remains at uncertainty.

如同我們上季所討論，Vertafore 的策略從高量、勞力密集的工作著手，將代理直接嵌入客戶既有使用的系統中。最新的產品發布擴大了這些代理可執行的工作範圍，並建立在 Velocity 所奠定的基礎之上。Deltek 也交出另一個令人鼓舞的季度，其民間（private sector）解決方案持續強勁。政府承包（government contracting）訂單在過去幾季表現穩健，儘管整體市場仍存在不確定性。

Against that backdrop, customers are showing increased interest in moving from perpetual license to our cloud-based offerings. As we discussed earlier, we also saw new AI solution launches at CentralReach with Report Draft AI and PowerPlan with Intelligent Unitization.

在此背景下，客戶對於從永久授權轉向我們雲端式產品的興趣正在提升。如同先前所述，我們也看到 CentralReach 推出 Report Draft AI，以及 PowerPlan 推出 Intelligent Unitization 等新的 AI 解決方案。

Finally, we completed two bolt-on acquisitions. At Procare, we added Playground, which helps child care centers manage enrollment, building and daily operations. Playground has exceptional product market fit and is highly complementary to the existing Procare product stack. We're excited about the growth opportunity from pairing that product with Procare's distribution and payments infrastructure. And at Strata, we added C Myers, which helps banks and credit unions plans for growth and manage financial risk.

最後，我們完成了兩項補強式收購。在 Procare，我們新增了 Playground，其協助托育中心管理招生、帳務與日常營運。Playground 具備卓越的產品市場契合度，並與既有的 Procare 產品組合高度互補。我們對於將該產品與 Procare 的通路與支付基礎設施結合所帶來的成長機會感到振奮。而在 Strata，我們新增了 C Myers，其協助銀行與信用合作社規劃成長並管理財務風險。

This quarter, I spent a full day with the Strata team and finance leaders from nine of our health system customers at a co-designed workshop for financial decision intelligence, or FDI, Strata's new AI capability for healthcare and finance. FDI became generally available on September 1.

本季，我與 Strata 團隊以及我們九家醫療體系客戶的財務主管，在一場共同設計的「財務決策智慧」（Financial Decision Intelligence，FDI）工作坊中共度了一整天；FDI 是 Strata 針對醫療與財務推出的新 AI 能力。FDI 已於 9 月 1 日正式全面上市（general availability）。

FDI helps finance teams diagnose what is changing in their business and where to intervene to improve performance. For example, when joint replacement margins decline spike rising procedure volumes, FDI automatically explores the underlying drivers from paired mix and reimbursement to labor and implant costs to identify the source of margin pressure and focus management's response.

FDI 協助財務團隊診斷其業務正在發生哪些變化，以及應在何處介入以改善績效。例如，當關節置換的利潤率下滑、手術量上升時，FDI 會自動探查其背後驅動因素，從病例組合與給付（reimbursement），到人力與植入物成本，以找出利潤率承壓的來源並聚焦管理層的應對。

FDI brings together three advantages we see from across the portfolio. First, proprietary data and ontologies. Every health system has its own accounting procedures and definitions. Two hospitals can both report their margin on joint replacements and mean very different things. Strata has spent decades mapping thousands of provider general ledgers into a specific common structure supported by healthcare cost accounting down to the individual patient encounter. That makes meaningful benchmarking possible and gives FDI its foundation.

FDI 匯集了我們在整體投資組合中看到的三項優勢。第一，專有資料與本體（ontologies）。每個醫療體系都有其自身的會計流程與定義。兩家醫院都可能回報其關節置換的利潤率，但其意涵可能截然不同。Strata 花了數十年時間，將數千家醫療提供者的總分類帳（general ledgers）映射到一個特定的共同結構，並以醫療成本會計支援到單一病患就診層級。這使得有意義的同業對標成為可能，並為 FDI 奠定基礎。

Its calculations use the same governed measures customers rely on to close their books with consistent repeatable results that are traceable to the source. You cannot prompt your way to that, it has earned one customer implementation at a time over years.

其計算使用與客戶用來結帳（close their books）相同、受治理的衡量指標，能以一致且可重複的結果運作，並可追溯至來源。這不是靠提示詞（prompt）就能做到的；它是多年來一次一個客戶導入所累積而成。

Second, turning insight into action. FDI operates inside the Strata platform, delivering answers in seconds and connecting those insights directly to the workflows where customers manage costs, improve margins, and allocate resources.

第二，將洞察轉化為行動。FDI 在 Strata 平台內運作，於數秒內提供答案，並將這些洞察直接連結到客戶用以管理成本、提升利潤率與配置資源的工作流程。

And third, real customer trust. Healthcare finance leaders need confidence in the tools they use to make consequential decisions. Strata has earned that confidence through long customer relationships. Trust is critical to AI adoption and is very hard to replicate. Throughout the workshop, the customer request was simple and consistent, productivity, less time assembling and reconciling analysis, and more time working with operating leaders to improve performance.

第三，真實的客戶信任。醫療財務主管需要對其用來做出重大決策的工具有信心。Strata 透過長期的客戶關係贏得了這份信任。信任對 AI 採用至關重要，且非常難以複製。在整個工作坊中，客戶的訴求簡單且一致：提升生產力——減少彙整與對帳分析所花的時間，把更多時間用於與營運主管合作以改善績效。

One CFO described analysis that took several people hours to being nearly instant and FDI doing a more comprehensive and grounded analysis. This reads finance teams a focus on improving profitability and supporting higher quality care. Strata is selling FDI as an add-on subscription, creating an opportunity to grow recurring revenue.

一位 CFO 形容，原本需要數人耗費數小時的分析幾乎可即時完成，而 FDI 所做的分析更全面且更有依據。這讓財務團隊能更專注於提升獲利能力並支持更高品質的照護。Strata 以加購訂閱（add-on subscription）的方式銷售 FDI，創造了擴大經常性收入的機會。

This is just the beginning for FDI and I'm excited about the roadmap ahead. I'm proud of the Strata team's development speed and close customer collaboration and pleased with its partnership with our Roper AI Accelerator team. Deep vertical data and domain expertise within each business paired with central AI capabilities. That is the model we're scaling across Roper.

FDI 這才剛開始，我對未來的產品路線圖感到非常期待。我為 Strata 團隊的開發速度與緊密的客戶協作感到自豪，也很高興其與我們 Roper AI Accelerator 團隊的合作。在各事業內部具備深厚的垂直領域資料與專業知識，並搭配中央化的 AI 能力。這就是我們正在 Roper 全面擴展的模式。

Now turning to our outlook, we expect to see application software organic growth in the fourth quarter to be similar to that of the third quarter in the mid-single-digit-plus range. Please turn us to page 10. Total revenue in our network software segment grew 8% with organic growth of 5%. EBITDA margins were 52.4%, down 130 basis points year over year. Core margins were essentially flat the prior year.

接著談到我們的展望，我們預期第四季應用軟體的有機成長將與第三季相近，落在中個位數以上（mid-single-digit-plus）的區間。請翻到第 10 頁。我們網路軟體部門的總營收成長 8%，其中有機成長 5%。EBITDA 利潤率為 52.4%，年減 130 個基點。核心利潤率與去年同期基本持平。

Turning to the business highlights, DAT was strong in the quarter and accelerated growth, supported by expansion of its network, higher average revenue per user, and continued adoption of its digital freight marketplace solutions. We continue to see encouraging signs in the freight market with the supply-side recovery progressing. As we've discussed, we would still like to see stronger load volume before calling a broader recovery.

談到業務亮點，DAT 本季表現強勁且成長加速，受惠於其網路擴張、每位用戶平均收入提升，以及其數位貨運市集解決方案持續被採用。我們持續在貨運市場看到令人鼓舞的跡象，供給端復甦正在推進。如同我們先前討論的，在稱之為更廣泛的復甦之前，我們仍希望看到更強勁的貨載量（load volume）。

We also completed the Origo bolt-on acquisition for iPipeline. Origo connects UK pension providers, investment platforms, and financial advisors, automating wealth transfers, enabling secure data exchange. It complements iPipeline solutions for selling and administering financial products, expands its presence in the UK wealth and retirement market. Foundry also continued to grow and reached a record level of ARR.

我們也完成了 iPipeline 的 Origo 補強式收購。Origo 連結英國的退休金提供者、投資平台與財務顧問，自動化財富移轉並支援安全的資料交換。它與 iPipeline 在金融產品銷售與管理方面的解決方案互補，並擴大其在英國財富管理與退休市場的布局。Foundry 也持續成長，並達到創紀錄的 ARR 水準。

SoftWriters grew as adoption of its AI order entry solution continued to expand. As I shared last quarter following my visit to LI Script, this solution addresses a meaningful customer need, reducing the time spent on manual order entry so pharmacy teams can focus more of their capacity on clinical review, customer service, and patient care. Order entry is a starting point, and the team now has additional AI products in beta. Subsplash is tracking in line with our year one target and continues to advance the AI offerings, including enhanced workflow automation.

SoftWriters 隨著其 AI 訂單輸入解決方案的採用持續擴大而成長。如同我在上季於造訪 LI Script 後所分享的，該解決方案滿足了重要的客戶需求，能減少手動訂單輸入所花的時間，讓藥局團隊能將更多產能投入臨床審核、客戶服務與病患照護。訂單輸入只是起點，團隊目前也有其他 AI 產品正在 beta 測試。Subsplash 的進度符合我們第一年的目標，並持續推進 AI 產品，包括強化的工作流程自動化。

Turning to our outlook, we expect network software organic growth in the fourth quarter to be a touch higher than Q3 and be in mid-single-digit plus range. It's based on strength at DAT and Subsplash becoming organic in Q4.

接著談到我們的展望，我們預期第四季網路軟體的有機成長將略高於第三季，並落在中個位數以上（mid-single-digit-plus）的區間。此預期係基於 DAT 的強勁表現，以及 Subsplash 在第四季納入有機成長（becoming organic in Q4）。

Now please turn to page 11 and let's review our Tech segment. Total revenue and organic revenue both grew 10% in the quarter with exceptional growth in NDI and strong performance of Verathon. EBITDA margins were 34.3%, down 90 basis points year over -year. Starting with NDI, the business had another excellent quarter delivering exceptional growth driven by continued demand for its precision measurement solutions.

現在請翻到第 11 頁，我們來檢視 Tech 部門。本季總營收與有機營收皆成長 10%，其中 NDI 成長表現卓越，Verathon 亦表現強勁。EBITDA 利潤率為 34.3%，年減 90 個基點。先從 NDI 開始，該業務再度交出非常出色的一季，在其精密量測解決方案持續需求帶動下，實現卓越成長。

Verathon also delivered a very solid quarter with strength across its BFlex, GlideScope, and BladderScan product families. In addition, we're encouraged by the positive customer response to the BFlex single-use (inaudible) launch, which further expands Verathon's single-use portfolio. Neptune had a softer Q3 following a better-than-expected first half. We now see second-half revenue slightly down versus our prior outlook for modest growth.

Verathon 也交出非常穩健的一季，在其 BFlex、GlideScope 與 BladderScan 產品系列均展現強勢。此外，我們也對客戶對 BFlex 一次性使用（inaudible）上市的正面回饋感到鼓舞，這進一步擴大了 Verathon 的一次性使用產品組合。Neptune 在上半年優於預期之後，第三季表現較為疲弱。我們目前預期下半年營收將較先前對「溫和成長」的展望略為下滑。

Q3 mix skewed toward mechanical meters, putting pressure on both revenue and margins, that mix is likely to continue into Q4. We view this as temporary as a long-term secular demand for static meters remains fully intact.

第三季的產品組合偏向機械式水表，對營收與利潤率皆造成壓力；此組合情況可能延續至第四季。我們認為這是暫時性的，因為靜態式水表的長期結構性需求仍完全不變。

Finally, I want to recognize the team that CIVCO, FMI, Inovonics and rf IDEAS each delivered strong execution and growth in the quarter. Turning to our TEP outlook, we expect organic growth in the fourth quarter to be in the mid-single-digit range.

最後，我想表揚團隊：CIVCO、FMI、Inovonics 與 rf IDEAS 在本季皆展現強勁的執行力與成長。談到我們的 TEP 展望，我們預期第四季有機成長將落在中個位數區間。

With that, please turn with us to page 13. On this page, let's walk through our increased full-year adjusted DEPS guidance as well as our Q4 outlook. For the full year, we're raising and narrowing adjusted DEPS guidance to a range of $22.35 to $22.40. That represents a $0.15 increase at the midpoint from our prior guide and a $0.95 increase from our original guide.

那麼，請各位和我們一起翻到第 13 頁。在這一頁，我們將說明我們上調的全年調整後 DEPS 指引，以及我們對第四季的展望。就全年而言，我們上調並收窄調整後 DEPS 指引至每股 22.35 美元至 22.40 美元的區間。這代表相較於先前指引的中點上調 0.15 美元，較我們最初指引的中點上調 0.95 美元。

Our full-year revenue expectations continue to have total revenue growth north of 8% and organic revenue growth in the 6% area. For Q4, we're establishing our DEPS guidance, adjusted DEPS guidance of $5.95 to $6. Expect your tax rate to be in the 20% to 21% [ZIP code].

我們對全年營收的預期仍為總營收成長超過 8%，有機營收成長約在 6% 左右。就第四季而言，我們提出 DEPS 指引，調整後 DEPS 指引為每股 5.95 美元至 6.00 美元。預期稅率將落在 20% 至 21% 的區間。

Now please turn us to page 14, and then we'll open it up to your questions. We concluded with the same three points with which we started. First, we delivered solid third-quarter results. Revenue grew 8%, organic revenue grew 7%, EBITDA grew 7%, and adjusted DEPS grew 15%. We're raising our full-year earnings outlook again, reflecting the strength of our year-to-date performance.

現在請翻到第 14 頁，接著我們將開放提問。我們最後仍以與開場相同的三點作結。第一，我們交出穩健的第三季成果。營收成長 8%，有機營收成長 7%，EBITDA 成長 7%，調整後 DEPS 成長 15%。我們再次上調全年獲利展望，反映我們年初至今表現的強勁。

Second, AI momentum continues to build across Roper. Our businesses launched several new agentic solutions this quarter, expanding the work we can help our customers accomplish. The Strata Workshop brought that opportunity to life. Our ability to deliver that kind of value rests on advantages built over many years: deep domain expertise, proprietary data, embedded workflows, and customer trust.

第二，AI 動能在 Roper 全面持續增強。本季我們的多項業務推出數個新的代理式（agentic）解決方案，擴大我們能協助客戶完成的工作範圍。Strata Workshop 讓這個機會具體呈現。我們能提供這類價值，仰賴多年累積的優勢：深厚的產業領域專業、專有資料、嵌入式工作流程，以及客戶信任。

Those advantages are unique to our businesses and central to how our businesses are developing and deploying AI. We're still early, but the opportunity is substantial. As our software takes on more valuable customer work, we have the opportunity to expand our addressable markets and earn a greater share of the value we create.

這些優勢是我們各項業務所獨有，也是我們業務開發與部署 AI 的核心。我們仍處於早期階段，但機會相當可觀。隨著我們的軟體承擔更多對客戶更有價值的工作，我們有機會擴大可服務市場（TAM），並在我們所創造的價值中取得更高的份額。

Finally, our capital allocation discipline remains unchanged. This quarter, we deployed $436 million into bolt-on acquisitions for iPipeline, Procare, Strata, adding capabilities to establish businesses in markets we know well. As you heard Jason mention, our leverage now sits at 2.9 times, and we have over $6 billion of capital deployment capacity over the next 12 months.

最後，我們的資本配置紀律維持不變。本季我們投入 4.36 億美元進行 iPipeline、Procare、Strata 的附加型（bolt-on）併購，為我們熟悉市場中的既有業務增添能力。如同各位聽到 Jason 提到的，我們目前槓桿倍數為 2.9 倍，且在未來 12 個月內擁有超過 60 億美元的資本部署能力。

With that, we're pleased to be putting capital back to work through M&A. And we looked at 2027 with cautious optimism about compelling opportunities to deploy capital and accelerate long-term cash flow per share compounding. As always, our standard for deploying capital remains the same. We'll pursue the opportunities that offer the most attractive, durable and long-term cash flow per share compounding, whether through acquisitions or opportunistic shared purchases.

因此，我們很高興能透過併購（M&A）讓資本重新投入運作。同時，我們以審慎樂觀的態度看待 2027 年，認為將有具吸引力的資本部署機會，可加速每股長期現金流的複利成長。一如既往，我們部署資本的標準不變。無論是透過併購或機會性回購股票，我們都將追求能帶來最具吸引力、可持續且長期的每股現金流複利成長的機會。

Looking ahead, our focus is straightforward. Help our customers accomplish more, expand the work our businesses can do for them, and invest the cash we generate where we can compound it most effectively. That is how we will build an even stronger Roper and deliver durable, long-term growth in cash flow per share.

展望未來，我們的重點很明確。協助客戶完成更多工作，擴大我們的業務能為他們做的事情，並將我們產生的現金投資在能最有效複利增值的地方。這就是我們打造更強大的 Roper、並帶來可持續的長期每股現金流成長的方式。

As we wrap up, I'd also like to welcome Abhijit Dubey to our Board of Directors, who is the CEO and Chief AI Officer at NTT DATA. We're delighted to have him join us and look forward to his perspective and contributions as we continue to execute our strategy, broadly deploy AI across our product stacks and our enterprise, and create long-term value for our shareholders.

在結束之前，我也想歡迎 NTT DATA 的執行長暨首席 AI 長 Abhijit Dubey 加入我們的董事會。我們很高興他能加入，並期待在我們持續執行策略、在產品組合與整個企業範圍廣泛部署 AI、以及為股東創造長期價值的過程中，獲得他的觀點與貢獻。

So with that, let's open up to your questions.

那麼，接下來我們開放各位提問。

(Operator Instructions) Joe Giordano, TD Cowen.

（接線員指示）TD Cowen 的 Joe Giordano。

Maybe one just like on a specific company, but I'm sure you saw the journal article the other day on autism care hours, particularly at PE-owned facilities, and I'm just -- maybe it's for the wrong reasons that these hours are going up in some of these places, but I'm just curious like what that means for the rollout of stuff like CentralReach. It seems like almost requirement to have technology like that if you're going to push the hours to the extent that this seems to be happening.

我想先問一個比較針對特定公司的問題；我相信你們前幾天也看到了那篇期刊文章，談到自閉症照護時數，特別是在私募股權（PE）持有的機構。我的意思是——也許有些地方時數上升的原因不一定正當——但我想了解這對像 CentralReach 這類產品的推廣意味著什麼。看起來如果要把時數推到目前似乎正在發生的程度，幾乎就必須要有那樣的科技工具。

Well, I appreciate the question. So I think the thing that is great about CentralReach, CentralReach's solutions is that it's all about appropriate care that is auditable, that's to the standards and there was an article, or there's a flare up on this about a year ago, and we looked across the CentralReach customer base, and it was like the most compliant set of customers. I think it's in Minnesota, I forget where it was a year or so ago, on some fraud claims. And it was the automation with CentralReach was the cleanest set of providers in the jurisdictions. So same thing here, I mean, it's just a. good audit sort of backbone when you sort of use the century to our automated systems here.

謝謝你的提問。我認為 CentralReach 很棒的一點在於，CentralReach 的解決方案核心是「適當的照護」，而且可稽核、符合標準。大約一年前也有一篇文章——或說當時也出現過一波相關討論——我們檢視了 CentralReach 的客戶群，結果顯示那是一群最合規的客戶。我想是在明尼蘇達州，我忘了具體是哪裡；大約一年前左右有一些詐欺指控。而使用 CentralReach 的自動化系統，反而讓那些司法管轄區內的服務提供者成為最乾淨、最合規的一群。所以這次也是同樣的情況，我的意思是，這就是一個——當你使用我們這裡的自動化系統時，它提供了很好的稽核基礎架構。

If I think about the fourth-quarter guidance, I'm just curious, like I know it's early for '27, but like are these exit rates fair starting points for us to think about moving forward? Like I'm curious, like something like Neptune, right? That's a project-centric business, it's hard for us to contextualize. So like if that's -- what are the prospects like kind of.

如果我從第四季指引來看，我有點好奇：我知道談 2027 年還太早，但這些期末（exit）水準是否可以作為我們往後思考的合理起點？例如 Neptune，對吧？那是一個以專案為中心的業務，我們很難把它放進脈絡裡理解。所以如果是那樣——它的前景大概會是怎麼樣？

I would say for the '27 setup, first, it's super important that we're just starting basically next week the planning process. So this is we have to go through all the process with all 29 companies and understand the puts and takes and all the nuances, so we always have to caveat that. But we'd say it's generally a constructive setup, the recurring revenue, sort of exit run rate is encouraging.

我會說，就 2027 年的布局而言，首先非常重要的是，我們基本上從下週才剛開始規劃流程。因此我們必須和 29 家公司逐一走完整個流程，了解各種利弊取捨與所有細節，所以我們一向都要加上這個但書。不過我們會說，整體而言這是一個偏正向的起點；經常性收入的期末運行率（exit run rate）令人鼓舞。

Certainly, the velocity of the product development on the AI side is encouraging now. The caveat there is we've -- and now in the commercialization phase, and we've got to drive the bookings and adoption and consumption. That's sort of where we are in that. I'm sure there'll be questions on that in today's call.

當然，AI 端產品開發的速度目前也令人鼓舞。但需要提醒的是：我們——現在已進入商業化階段，接下來必須推動訂單（bookings）、採用率與使用量（consumption）。我們目前大致處在這個階段。我相信今天的電話會議也會有人就此提問。

And then if you go segment by segment, Deltek has had a couple of good quarters. As I mentioned, we're still in a wait and see. We want to see that continue. And then the other thing about Deltek is, it's the business is definitively turning more recurring, more SaaS, so we have to overlap the perpetual in that business, and then just a reminder, CentralReach, we get a full year of organic in network. Certainly what we're seeing at DAT is encouraging, but it's supply driven.

再來如果逐個事業部來看，Deltek 已經有幾個不錯的季度。如我提到的，我們仍處於觀望階段。我們希望看到這樣的表現能持續。另外，Deltek 的業務也明顯正在轉向更高的經常性收入、更多 SaaS，因此我們必須處理該業務中永久授權（perpetual）模式的重疊與轉換；再提醒一下，CentralReach 方面，我們將取得「Organic in network」的完整一年貢獻。DAT 方面我們看到的情況確實令人鼓舞，但它是由供給端驅動的。

So it'd be more it'd be healthier if it was demand driven, but it's definitely a better setup it coming into next year versus coming into this year at DAT and then remind you Subsplash is fully organic or organic for the full year. And then TEP, Neptune's really the to be determined and it said it has a wider range of outcomes. It had a wider range of outcomes this year that we anticipated, that we're experiencing. And so that's to be determined. We'll have to really spend a lot of time with the management team and understand the industry trends heading in next year. And then NDI, which has been awesome for us this year, will be more normalized next year. But the setup is generally constructive.

所以如果是由需求帶動，會更健康；但相較於今年在 DAT 的狀況，展望明年進入時的配置肯定更好。另外提醒一下，Subsplash 全年都是完全有機成長，或說全年皆為有機。接著是 TEP，Neptune 真的還是「尚待確定」，我們也說過它的結果區間更寬。今年它的結果區間比我們原先預期的更寬，而我們也正在經歷這點。因此這部分仍待確定。我們必須花很多時間和管理團隊深入討論，並了解明年走向的產業趨勢。至於 NDI，今年對我們來說表現非常出色，明年會回到較正常化的水準。

Brent Thill, Jefferies.

Brent Thill，Jefferies。

Hi, this is Rhea on for Brent. Thank you for taking the question. On Deltek last quarter, you mentioned that you wanted to see consistent conversion of the GovCon pipeline before being able to call this an inflection from [OPDD]. Mr. Ray, did this quarter give you that, and I recognize it's early, but maybe just to elaborate on that last question, how are you thinking about Deltek for 2027?

大家好，我是代替 Brent 的 Rhea。謝謝讓我提問。關於 Deltek，上季你們提到，在能夠稱之為從 [OPDD] 出現拐點之前，你們希望看到 GovCon 管線能持續穩定地轉換。Ray 先生，這一季是否讓你看到這點？我知道現在還早，但也請延伸上一題：你們如何看待 Deltek 到 2027 年的走勢？

Yeah, I think it was a very good quarter for Deltek. What we are seeing, thankfully, is that more customers are starting to move to the clouds. So the bookings were quite strong. That doesn't obviously materialize in revenue immediately like perpetual. It's an uncertain market. I think what Deltek is doing is, and we mentioned this last quarter, is announced the end of support for the CostPoint on-prem solution. The first quarter of '28 so that's creating a catalyst for them to go back to the base and start to do that migration. So despite a sort of uncertain market, they're making growth happen. So we'll see. It's one more quarter before into next year, but momentum is good there.

是的，我認為這一季對 Deltek 來說非常好。我們很欣慰地看到，越來越多客戶開始移轉到雲端。因此訂單（bookings）相當強勁。但這不像永久授權（perpetual）那樣會立刻反映到營收。市場仍然不確定。我認為 Deltek 正在做的事——我們上季也提過——是宣布將終止對 CostPoint 本地部署（on-prem）解決方案的支援。在 2028 年第一季，因此這正在形成一個催化劑，促使他們回到既有客戶基礎並推動移轉。所以即便市場有些不確定，他們仍在推動成長發生。所以我們再看看。距離進入明年還有一季，但那邊的動能不錯。

And then just curious on any incremental updates on the M&A environment since last quarter. I think you mentioned $436 million deployed toward bolt on, but I think I'm wondering more so on the larger deal side of things that you're seeing. So any color you're able to provide there would be helpful.

另外想請教，自上季以來併購（M&A）環境是否有任何增量更新。我記得你們提到已投入 4.36 億美元做補強型收購（bolt-on），但我更想了解你們在較大型交易方面看到的情況。所以若能提供一些看法會很有幫助。

Yeah, I would say, as I mentioned in the prepared remarks, we look to next year with cautious optimism. Janet and her team continues to be very busy. I would say the pipeline tilts more proprietary. And proactive outreaches that large-scale processes are very bespoke. We just had a couple of weeks ago our second annual CEO conference where we had 20 or so target CEOs together for a day, and a half going through Roper and getting into the businesses. So that was well attended and very high-quality targets at that summit.

好的，我會說，正如我在事先準備的發言中提到的，我們以審慎樂觀的態度看待明年。Janet 和她的團隊仍然非常忙碌。我會說管線更偏向專有來源（proprietary）。而且主動外聯下的大型流程都非常量身訂做。就在幾週前，我們舉辦了第二屆年度 CEO 會議，邀請了約 20 位目標公司的 CEO 一起聚集一天半，介紹 Roper 並深入了解各項業務。那場峰會出席踴躍，且目標品質非常高。

And it's -- we're cautiously optimistic. I mean, all the pressures that have been on the private equity firms for now going on three years continue to exist. LP credit, DPI pressure, and -- just coming to grips with where public companies are valued. It takes a little bit of -- there's a lot of psychology in that, and that psychology appears to be coming into reality.

而且——我們是審慎樂觀。我的意思是，過去將近三年一直壓在私募股權公司身上的各種壓力仍然存在。LP 信貸、DPI 壓力，以及——也就是逐步接受上市公司估值水準的現實。這需要一點——其中有很多心理因素，而這種心理似乎正在回到現實。

Got it. Thank you.

了解。謝謝。

Yes, you bet. Thanks for your questions.

好的，沒問題。謝謝你的提問。

Brian Peterson, Raymond James.

Brian Peterson，Raymond James。

Thanks guys, and congrats (technical difficulty)

謝謝各位，恭喜（技術問題）

Oh, Brian, we lost you. Maybe hit star one accidentally. We'll come back. Operator, if we come back to him, that'd be okay.

喔，Brian，我們聽不到你了。可能是不小心按到星號一。我們等一下再回來。接線員，如果之後再讓他回來提問也可以。

Terry Tillman, Truist Securities.

Terry Tillman，Truist Securities。

Yeah. Hey, Neil, Jason, Zach, and the rest of the team. Thanks for taking my primary question and a follow-up. On Vertafore, I care a lot about the insured tech space. I'm curious, how is the -- you called out the ARR growth. How is that faring versus the overall app software growth? And then it's still the first question, it's a multi-parter, the first one. This idea of the value-based credits, well, that just takes some time for that revenue stream to ramp, and then I had a follow-up on the Delta. Thank you.

是的。嗨，Neil、Jason、Zach，以及團隊其他成員。謝謝讓我先問主要問題，還有一個追問。關於 Vertafore，我非常關注保險科技（insured tech）領域。我想了解——你們提到 ARR 成長。相較於整體應用軟體成長，它的表現如何？另外這仍是第一題，是多段式的第一題。關於以價值為基礎的點數（value-based credits）這個概念，我理解那需要一些時間讓這條營收流逐步爬升，然後我還有一個關於 Delta 的追問。謝謝。

Yeah, I'll take the value-based credit when Jason can take the first.

好的，我來回答以價值為基礎的點數，Jason 可以回答第一部分。

Yeah, Terry, they're in line with the segment in terms of the ARR growth.

好的，Terry，就 ARR 成長而言，它們與該事業部（segment）的表現一致。

And on the value-based credit, just to remind everybody, these contracts are being structured as recurring. So you're buying a fixed amount. Those have to be consumed in a specific period of time as a result. Their revenue recognition treatment is recurring, not re-ocurring. So it'll look and feel like subscription revenue.

至於以價值為基礎的點數，提醒大家一下，這些合約的結構是經常性（recurring）的。也就是你購買固定數量。因此它們必須在特定期間內被消耗使用。其營收認列的處理方式是經常性，而不是非經常性（re-occurring）。所以它看起來、感覺起來都會像訂閱營收。

Now, obviously, it's very important for, the Vertafore, if you will, for deployed teams, the customer support implementation teams to make sure there's wide-scale adoption and utilization, so you get the upgrades, the uplifts, the additional sort of credit purchases, and the renewals, and that's where we are right now. It's where I think the Velocity platform was GA'd within the last 60 or 90 days. I mean, the full-GA release has been very recent, and we're in the early adoption phase.

當然，對 Vertafore 來說——如果你願意這麼說——對已部署的團隊、客戶支援與導入團隊而言，確保大規模採用與使用率非常重要，這樣你才能獲得升級、提升（uplifts）、額外的點數購買，以及續約；而這正是我們目前所處的階段。我認為 Velocity 平台在過去 60 到 90 天內才正式全面上市（GA）。也就是說，完整 GA 的發布非常近期，我們正處於早期採用階段。

It's good to know on recurring versus re-ocurring. I'm glad I asked that in terms of Deltek, I don't know if this is kind of a change in tone here, but I forgot where you all last gave an update on the SaaS versus on-prem for Deltek, but it sounds like maybe things are picking up. So it is kind of the real takeaway that the license part of total revenue could be like an incremental headwind in '27. But then you're going to have right behind it this kind of acceleration and recurring. Just anything more you can share on what you're talking about here because it sounds like maybe it is picking up steam.

了解經常性與非經常性的差異很有幫助。很高興我問了這點。回到 Deltek，我不確定這是否算是語氣上的轉變，但我忘了你們上次何時更新 Deltek 的 SaaS 與本地部署（on-prem）狀況，不過聽起來似乎正在加速。所以真正的重點是否是：到 2027 年，授權（license）在總營收中的那一部分可能會形成額外逆風。但緊接著你們會有這種加速、以及經常性收入的提升。關於你們這裡談到的內容，還有沒有更多可以分享？因為聽起來好像正在累積動能。

Yeah, and I think as you can appreciate, Terry, the timing of getting to the cloud is a little harder because it's a different value prop. So that's what we're managing through. But certainly, it's our biggest maintenance base at Roper. And so the timing of getting that to the cloud is certainly would outstrip perpetual. It's just how that phase is over the next few years is a question. But we do feel good about the momentum as we sit here today.

是的，而且我想你也能理解，Terry，上雲的時點比較難掌握，因為它是不同的價值主張。所以這就是我們正在管理與推進的部分。但可以確定的是，它是 Roper 最大的維護（maintenance）客戶基礎。因此，把這部分移轉到雲端的時點，確實會在規模上超過永久授權。只是接下來幾年這個階段如何演進仍是個問題。但以我們今天所看到的狀況，我們對這股動能感到樂觀。

Brian Peterson, Raymond James.

Brian Peterson，Raymond James。

I just wanted to ask on the appetite for AI and the adoption curve. I'm curious, what products are you seeing that ramp a little bit faster than expected? And also just on the customer appetite and the packaging, has that been any challenges or is it more about change management? Just kind of curious what the customer appetite is at this point.

我想請教一下大家對 AI 的接受度以及採用曲線。我很好奇，你們看到哪些產品的成長速度比預期更快？另外就客戶的接受度與產品包裝而言，這是否帶來任何挑戰，還是更多是變革管理的問題？想了解一下目前客戶的接受度大概到什麼程度。

I'll try to be comprehensive in my answer. If I don't, we can certainly take this offline as well. So let me just follow the bouncing ball of this. So it was really a year ago, the models and the capability of AI, we really could do agentic work. So the first question is, can we think of the idea, the customer magic, if you will, sort of put into the products there?

我會盡量把答案講完整。如果沒有講到，我們也可以會後再另外討論。我就順著這條脈絡來說。其實大概一年前，AI 的模型與能力已經讓我們真的可以做具代理能力（agentic）的工作。所以第一個問題是：我們能不能想出這個點子、也就是你說的那種「客戶魔法」，並把它放進產品裡？

That question is absolutely without question, yes. I think it's 18 -- 17 or 18 of the 21 software businesses have agentic solutions in the market. So that's the first question. So first, can we think of the idea. The second one, can we build them? That's -- so that's yes, and that's led us to where we have the majority, the vast majority of the companies having these products in the market.

這個問題毫無疑問，答案是肯定的。我想在 21 個軟體事業中，有 17 或 18 個已經有具代理能力的解決方案在市場上。這是第一個問題。所以第一，能不能想出這個點子。第二個是：能不能把它做出來？這個答案也是肯定的，而這也帶領我們走到現在——大多數、絕大多數公司都已經把這些產品推到市場上。

Now the question is, can we drive early adoption, convert, if you will, the beta customers to early adopters? The answer to that has been yes. Just go back to the remarks I said in the call about Strata and FDI or last quarter of a SoftWriters with pharmacy automation, the answer to that has been yes.

接下來的問題是：我們能不能推動早期採用，把 beta 客戶轉成早期採用者？這個答案也一直是肯定的。回到我在電話會議中提到的 Strata 和 FDI，或是上一季 SoftWriters 在藥局自動化方面的例子，答案都是肯定的。

Now it's about can we get we need to get to broad scale across into the go-to-market teams across all these businesses and get it broadly distributed into our customer bases and drive adoption. So the customer interest has been very, very positive. It's probably the most positive I've seen in my my career in tech because we're literally delivering a but* that does magic things. So that's the good part.

現在重點在於：我們需要在所有這些事業的 go-to-market 團隊中推到更大規模，廣泛地分發到我們的客戶群，並推動採用。客戶的興趣一直非常、非常正面。這可能是我整個科技職涯中看過最正面的，因為我們基本上是在交付一個能做出神奇事情的 bot*。所以這是好的一面。

Now what I think all companies, and we're not alone in this, is now you're facing budget cycles, AI committees, all the safeguards and governance of data. And so we're just going through the go-to-market processes. The early indications are positive, but we've said this year was going to be largely year commercialization learnings and adaptations, and again, progressing well, but it's -- we still -- on still to be proven.

不過我認為所有公司——我們也不例外——現在都會面臨預算週期、AI 委員會、以及各種資料保護與治理的防護措施。所以我們正在走這些 go-to-market 的流程。早期跡象是正面的，但我們也說過今年很大程度會是商業化的學習與調整之年；目前進展良好，但——仍然——還有待驗證。

And then I think the first part of the question, where are some of the better customer reaction, certainly CentralReach, certainly Aderant, certainly SoftWriters in pharmacy automation, the early adopters at Vertafore, the early adopters at Strata. I mean, there's really not -- I'm just going through the list in my mind, there's not really been really a flat launch. I mean, again, it's early days and we will not bet thousands across all these products, across all the companies, but we haven't had any abject out of the box failures, if you will.

至於問題的第一部分，哪些地方客戶反應更好：當然是 CentralReach，當然是 Aderant，當然是 SoftWriters 在藥局自動化方面；Vertafore 的早期採用者、Strata 的早期採用者也是。我的意思是，真的——我在腦中把清單過一遍——幾乎沒有出現那種反應平淡的上市。當然，現在還是早期階段，我們也不會在所有產品、所有公司上押上成千上萬的賭注，但我們也沒有看到任何那種一推出就徹底失敗的案例。

I think one of the interesting changes with AI, obviously, is when you launch a product, you can iterate, continue to iterate. So you'll immediate customer feedback. So we've seen some times when something wasn't quite right, but then we've been able to iterate quickly based on feedback from the customer. So that's been helpful.

我覺得 AI 帶來的一個有趣變化是：當你推出一個產品後，你可以持續迭代、繼續迭代。你會立刻收到客戶回饋。所以我們確實看過有些時候某些地方不太對，但我們能根據客戶回饋快速迭代修正。這很有幫助。

I appreciate the color, guys. Maybe just one added element there. As we're thinking about use of kind of frontier models versus some of the lighter weight models, how are you guys thinking about that balance and does that change any views on how we're thinking about AI-oriented margins over the near to medium term?

謝謝你們提供這些細節。也許再加問一個面向。當我們在思考使用所謂前沿模型（frontier models）與一些較輕量模型之間的取捨時，你們怎麼看這個平衡？這會不會改變我們對近到中期 AI 相關毛利率的看法？

Yeah, the punch line is our gross margins on these agentic tools are very positive at our software gross margins. Our philosophy on this at the moment, and this is obviously subject to change, and this is well informed by our leadership team and our central AI accelerator team, is we are 100% optimizing speed of development and deployment. And so we're working with a lot of the models that are on the frontier.

是的，重點結論是：這些具代理能力工具的毛利率非常正面，符合我們軟體的毛利水準。我們目前的理念——當然未來可能會調整——在領導團隊與中央 AI 加速器團隊的充分資訊支持下，是 100% 以開發與部署速度最佳化為優先。因此我們會使用許多前沿的模型。

We don't need the most frontier model. Let's be very clear about that. We don't need [5, 6 Astro or Fable 5], that one or two, whatever the current release is. But we use the cheaper downscaled models from the frontier, but the harnesses that come with them, you can just get moving much, much faster on the product side.

我們不需要最最前沿的模型。這點要講得很清楚。我們不需要 [5, 6 Astro or Fable 5]，也就是當前最新發布的那一兩個版本。但我們會使用前沿模型中更便宜、降規的版本，以及它們所附帶的工具鏈（harnesses），這能讓我們在產品端推進得快很多、很多。

Now over time, every one of the products, 100% of the products have the model routers, and so we have multiple sort of models underneath each product in case when you call Anthropic or OpenAI, if they're not answering the phone with the latency you need, you immediately flip over each other model. That architecture allows us to switch the models either into small language or open-source models over time to manage the cost, but right now we're optimizing for speed and development.

隨著時間推進，每一個產品——100% 的產品——都會有模型路由器（model routers），因此每個產品底下會有多個模型；當你呼叫 Anthropic 或 OpenAI，如果它們的回應延遲無法滿足需求，你可以立刻切換到另一個模型。這種架構讓我們能隨時間把模型切換到小型語言模型或開源模型，以管理成本；但目前我們是在速度與開發上做最佳化。

Great. Thank you.

很好，謝謝。

You bet.

不客氣。

Faith Brenner, William Blair.

Faith Brenner，William Blair。

Thanks for taking my questions and congrats on the quarter. Maybe to pull on a prior thread you talked about, you're seeing that encouraging engagement around adoption and now the focus is scaling that. So as you kind of work through the early process of that, what have you learned? What challenges are still there? And how are you adjusting your go-to-market strategy to address these new challenges? And how do we get to a more clear monetization path, if that makes sense? And then I have a quick follow-up.

謝謝讓我提問，也恭喜本季表現。或許延續你們先前提到的一個脈絡：你們看到採用方面有令人鼓舞的互動，而現在重點是把它規模化。所以在你們推進這個早期流程的過程中，你們學到了什麼？還有哪些挑戰仍然存在？你們如何調整 go-to-market 策略來因應這些新挑戰？以及如果這樣問合理的話，我們要如何走向更清晰的變現路徑？另外我還有一個簡短的追問。

Yeah, I mean this is keep asking this question because so and we'll just share our learnings as we go. The -- I mean obviously, we've had to figure out how to price all of these. And not there's not a one pricing size fits all. It's different per company and per -- I would say per product but per company based on where their customers are and the existing economic relations we have their customers.

是的，我的意思是，請持續問這個問題，因為我們會一路分享我們的學習。——我們顯然必須弄清楚這些產品要怎麼定價。而且並不存在一種「一體適用」的定價方式。不同公司、以及——我會說不只是不同產品，而是依公司而定——會因為客戶所處狀況，以及我們與客戶既有的經濟關係而不同。

So we generally think -- we think we figure that out across the board. Then it's how do you how do you sell this in addition to versus in lieu of everything else that we're selling because there still is strong demand for, if you will, the legacy-software stack. So how we make sure this is on top of and addition to.

所以整體而言，我們認為——我們已經大致把這件事在各面向都釐清了。接下來是：你要怎麼賣這個——是作為額外加購，而不是取代我們原本在賣的其他東西——因為市場對所謂傳統軟體堆疊（legacy-software stack）的需求仍然很強。所以我們要確保這是疊加在原有之上、作為額外增量。

And then it's like I said, like in healthcare in particular, acute care hospitals have an AI governance overlay, and that was a new learning from the Strata team, for instance. It's like it's going, it has a traditional sales cycle and then another piece of it. So it's not a barrier, it's just -- maybe it slows things down a little bit. And those are the things that we're learning right now.

然後就像我說的，特別是在醫療保健領域，急性照護醫院會有一層 AI 治理的覆蓋，而這例如對 Strata 團隊來說就是一個新的學習。就像是它在推進時，既有傳統的銷售週期，然後還有另外一個部分。所以這不是障礙，只是——也許會讓進度稍微慢一點。而這些正是我們現在正在學習的事情。

Okay, that makes sense. And then maybe as we get more cautiously optimistic about M&A, how are you thinking about -- how does AI change your whole thought process on what makes an attractive target, right? So is there different growth considerations, different competitive considerations that you now have to consider, and how are you guys working through that?

好的，這很合理。那麼，當我們對併購（M&A）變得更審慎樂觀時，你們怎麼思考——AI 會如何改變你們對「什麼樣的標的是有吸引力的」這整套思考流程，對吧？所以現在是否有不同的成長考量、不同的競爭考量需要納入，而你們是如何推進這些評估的？

For sure. So the first thing, and we've been doing this since over the last couple three years since AI, since the ChatGPT moment, if you will, we need to certainly make sure and due the diligence that the end customer of the software company we're looking at is a viable long-term customer. The customer is viable.

當然。所以第一件事，而且我們在過去兩三年、從 AI（如果你願意稱之為 ChatGPT 時刻）以來一直在做的，就是我們必須確保並在盡職調查中確認：我們正在評估的那家軟體公司的終端客戶，是一個可行的長期客戶。客戶本身要具備可持續性。

So look at what we did last year, it was autism therapy, so people providing therapy to youth and then people going to church. So the end customer is highly viable and will not be disintermediated by AI, if you will. Then it comes down to what we see in our portfolio. Do you have the defensive moats and offensive moats to be a winner in the AI age, in the AI world, right?

所以看看我們去年做的案子，是自閉症治療，也就是為青少年提供治療的服務提供者，以及去教會的人。因此終端客戶非常可行，而且不會被 AI 所去中介化（disintermediated），如果你願意這麼說的話。接著就回到我們在投資組合中看到的重點。你是否具備防禦性的護城河與進攻性的護城河，能在 AI 時代、AI 世界裡成為贏家，對吧？

So do you have the right amount of data, the data rights, proprietary of the data? Do you have network effects? Do you have configuration lock-in? And et cetera, et cetera. I won't go through the full framework here. So then do you have the preconditions to be successful in AI? That's where I are now. Fast forward a year or two or three from now, it becomes, I think, that it certainly becomes even easier because you'll take -- you have taken, targets will have taken those advantages and will either have proven or not proven that they're winning in the AI with being able to develop products, bring them to the market, monetize the products, drive additional customer value. And so the companies that we're looking at now are in the earlier stages of that.

所以你是否擁有足夠的資料、資料權利、資料的專有性？你是否有網路效應？你是否有配置鎖定（configuration lock-in）？等等等等。我就不在這裡把完整框架都講一遍了。所以接下來是：你是否具備在 AI 上成功的前提條件？這就是我現在所處的階段。再往後看一到兩年或三年，我認為事情肯定會變得更容易，因為你會看到——你已經看到，標的公司會把這些優勢帶進去，並且要嘛證明、要嘛無法證明他們正在 AI 時代勝出：能夠開發產品、把產品推向市場、將產品變現、帶來額外的客戶價值。而我們現在看的公司，仍處於那個過程的較早期階段。

Very helpful. Thanks, guys.

非常有幫助。謝謝各位。

George Kurosawa, Citi.

George Kurosawa，花旗（Citi）。

Hi, thanks for taking the questions. A couple quick ones for me. It looks like buyback activity was paused in the quarter. I think it's something you've kind of messaged you were doing as you're preparing for the M&A environment to potentially warm up. Just maybe how you're thinking about buybacks going forward?

嗨，謝謝讓我提問。我這邊有幾個很快的問題。看起來本季的庫藏股回購活動暫停了。我想這也是你們在訊息上提到的：在為併購環境可能回溫做準備時會這麼做。想請教你們未來對回購的思考方向是什麼？

Yeah, thanks, George. I think it's the same as, we've always talked about, which is the relative -- risk-adjusted returns for us. And for us, obviously, the buyback is attractive, but the option value on the M&A, given all the dynamics we've talked about in GE and that everybody really knows about, is worth the deleverage and preparing our balance sheet for that event.

好的，謝謝你，George。我認為這跟我們一直以來談的相同，也就是相對的——風險調整後報酬（risk-adjusted returns）對我們而言如何。對我們來說，回購當然有吸引力，但考量到我們談過的 GE 的各種動態、以及大家其實都很清楚的那些因素，併購（M&A）的選擇權價值，值得我們去降槓桿並為那個事件把資產負債表準備好。

Now, if we fast forward a couple of quarters from now, we still have that option available to us. We still have quite a bit on the authorization, so that's still a viable alternative if M&A markets don't cooperate.

那如果我們把時間往後推幾個季度，我們仍然有那個選項可用。我們的核准額度（authorization）還有不少，所以如果併購市場不配合，這仍然是一個可行的替代方案。

Okay. Great color, and you referenced on the free cash flow side some impact from collections timing near ERP implementation of the Illumia. Maybe if you could quantify the magnitude of that and then ERP implementations have a habit of maybe extending beyond initial timelines. Is that your -- is that -- are those collections issues now addressed or is there any potential that could extend into Q4?

了解。很好的補充說明。另外你在自由現金流方面提到，Illumia 的 ERP 導入附近，收款時點（collections timing）對現金流有一些影響。你能否量化一下影響的幅度？另外 ERP 導入往往可能會超出原先時程。那些收款問題現在已經解決了嗎？還是有可能延續到第四季（Q4）？

Yes, certainly a lot of focus by the team there, and I know they're going to do a good job. They're just powering through some order to cash challenges. They actually went live in January, but the big renewal season is in the summer and fall. So we expect to see some improvement in the fourth quarter. Some of that might spill into the first quarter of next year. But when you take a step back for the year, we expect free cash flow per share to be in line with DEPS growth. Maybe even a little bit better. We'll see how it plays out. So that should all normalize as we close out the year.

是的，團隊在那邊確實投入了很多心力，我也知道他們會做得很好。他們只是正在全力處理一些從接單到收款（order to cash）的挑戰。他們其實在一月就上線了，但最大的續約旺季是在夏季和秋季。所以我們預期在第四季會看到一些改善。其中一部分可能會延伸到明年第一季。但如果你把視角拉回到全年，我們預期每股自由現金流會與 DEPS 成長一致。甚至可能還會好一點。我們再看實際進展如何。所以在年底收官時，這些都應該會回到正常水準。

Got it. Thanks for taking the questions.

明白了。謝謝讓我提問。

You bet.

不客氣。

Daniel Jester, BMO Capital Markets.

Daniel Jester，BMO 資本市場（BMO Capital Markets）。

Good morning and thank you for taking my question. So. I wanted to make sure I caught this right, but I think you said earlier in the call that a majority of your businesses now have an AI solution in the market. And I guess, given the urgency and the sort of moment in time that we're in and the past comments you've made about the ability to sort of speed your development. I guess, what's the timeline to get to 100% in terms of your businesses and software having an AI tool? And are there any commonalities in terms of limiting factors to get there?

早安，謝謝讓我提問。我想確認我有沒有聽對，但我記得你們在電話會議前面提到，目前你們大多數的業務已經有 AI 解決方案在市場上。那我想，考量到我們所處的這個時間點的急迫性，以及你們過去談到能夠加速開發的能力。我想問的是：要讓你們的業務與軟體在 AI 工具方面達到 100%，時間表大概是什麼？另外，在達成這件事上，有沒有一些共通的限制因素？

Yeah, I appreciate the question. When you look at the portfolio, there's basically three companies that don't have an AI tool. One's not a true software company. It's a group purchasing organization, so they don't really have like an agentic software front that reports -- MHA is reported in the Network segment. They're using all sorts of AI inside the business, drive productivity. But so that one, set that aside.

好的，謝謝你的問題。當你看整個投資組合時，基本上有三家公司沒有 AI 工具。其中一家不算是真正的軟體公司。它是一個團體採購組織（group purchasing organization），所以他們並沒有那種代理式（agentic）的軟體前端來做報告——MHA 是被歸在 Network 部門中報告的。他們在企業內部使用各種 AI 來提升生產力。但這一家先放一邊。

Then you have two businesses that are in clinical diagnostics, DI and Clinicys. They have early AI tools. But this is a -- what laboratory software does and this remit, is it's nearly a fully solved technical problem? There's not -- like, this is how you run laboratories and route samples to analyzers and take results off analyzers and report that. And so it's basically an already fully automated process. And so there's not a large agentic remit to do here. Now they're adding some AI tools around it but it's not like these properties are already fully automated. So essentially, a long-winded way of saying, the companies that have AI remit, 100% of those companies have AI tools today.

接著還有兩個業務是在臨床診斷領域，DI 和 Clinicys。他們有早期的 AI 工具。但這是一個——實驗室軟體在這個範疇所做的事情，幾乎是一個已經完全解決的技術問題？沒有——比如說，這就是你如何運營實驗室、如何把樣本路由到分析儀、如何從分析儀取回結果並加以回報。所以基本上這已經是一個完全自動化的流程。因此在這裡並沒有很大的代理式（agentic）範疇可做。當然他們正在在周邊加入一些 AI 工具，但不像其他資產那樣，因為這些本來就已經是完全自動化的。所以簡單講（雖然我講得有點長），有 AI 發揮空間（AI remit）的公司，今天在那些公司裡已經是 100% 都有 AI 工具了。

That's super helpful, and thank you for the color. And then I guess I'll pull on the AI monetization thread as well for my follow-up. I guess as you think about next year, I guess, how diverse across the portfolio do you think that the monetization will be? Do you think that some parts of the business are going to have one type of way of monetization and other parts of the business a very different one?

這非常有幫助，也謝謝你補充的背景說明。接著我想在追問時也延伸到 AI 變現這條主線。我想問的是，當你們思考明年時，你認為在整個投資組合中，變現方式會有多大的多樣性？你覺得業務的某些部分會採用一種變現方式，而其他部分則會是非常不同的方式嗎？

I guess, maybe, at an enterprise level, how should we be thinking about monetization and maybe any color you can provide about the diversity at which parts of the business maybe will come sooner and which parts maybe will be coming a little bit later? Thank you.

我想也許從企業整體層級來看，我們應該如何思考變現？以及你能否補充一些背景，說明哪些業務部分可能會更早出現、哪些部分可能會晚一些？謝謝。

Happy to do it. All right. So on the diversity of pricing models and AI, it comes in three general flavors. The first flavor we already talked about, I'll call it like this. This tokenized fixed budget, use it over a period of time, where you take it as recurring. That appears to be the predominant, the majority of what Vertafore, Aderant, CentralReach. I mean, that's the predominant chunk.

很樂意。好。關於定價模型與 AI 的多樣性，大致可分成三種主要型態。第一種我們已經談過了，我先這樣稱呼它。也就是代幣化的固定預算，在一段期間內使用，並把它視為經常性收入。這看起來是主要、也是大多數的做法，像 Vertafore、Aderant、CentralReach。我的意思是，這是占比最大的那一塊。

Maybe less centuries, but that's the predominant way that our companies are going to monetize early, so it's a consumption-based thing, but you buy a fixed amount of consumption, use it to lose it, as you consume that, you buy additional sort of chunks.

也許不是百分之百，但這會是我們公司在早期最主要的變現方式，所以它是以用量為基礎的模式，但你先買一個固定的用量額度，用多少算多少（用完就得再買），當你消耗掉之後，就再購買額外的「一塊一塊」額度。

The other model, is straight consumption. It's a minority of what we're doing, but we have straight consumption. It's where our customers already buy from us, largely on a consumption basis. So in pharmacy automation, a lot of the tools are already paid on a per-script basis. So we monetize on a per-script basis with AI tools there. Or at DAT, we monetize what we do at Convoy and DAT on a per-load basis. So AI there will be on a per-load basis.

第二種模式是純粹按用量計費。這在我們目前的做法中占比較小，但我們確實有純用量計費。也就是我們的客戶原本就主要以用量方式向我們採購。例如在藥局自動化領域，很多工具本來就是按每張處方（per-script）計費。因此那裡的 AI 工具我們就按每張處方來變現。或者在 DAT，我們在 Convoy 和 DAT 所做的變現是按每筆貨載（per-load）計費。所以那裡的 AI 也會按每筆貨載計費。

The third way is -- and this is like, for example, at Deltek, where their software remit is ERP for government contractors, and so how do you automate the accounting close is one of the product features they're delivering right now. That's going to be basically delivered in the cloud as an add-on, so you're going to see if you will accelerate its move from ground to cloud at a higher price point once you get it to the cloud. So those are the three models.

第三種方式是——例如在 Deltek，他們的軟體範疇是提供政府承包商用的 ERP；那麼像是如何自動化會計結帳（accounting close）就是他們目前正在交付的產品功能之一。這基本上會以雲端加購（add-on）的形式交付，所以一旦把它搬到雲端，你會看到它從地端到雲端的遷移被加速，且在上雲後會以更高的價格點來定價。所以就是這三種模型。

To your point about which ones will show up first, I think it will go in the first two models, the consumption, if you will -- sorry, the subscription model where you have consumption embedded that and the straight consumption, those will be the ones that show up earlier and then the lift and shift to the cloud will take a little bit more time, I would anticipate.

至於你提到哪些會先出現，我認為會先從前兩種模型開始：也就是你說的用量——抱歉，是把用量嵌入訂閱中的訂閱模式，以及純用量計費；這兩種會更早出現。至於把系統搬到雲端（lift and shift）則我預期會需要多一點時間。

Great, thank you.

很好，謝謝。

Ken Wong, Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer 的 Ken Wong。

Great. Thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to circle back to TEP growth, detail from the double-digit that you guys reported this quarter. How much of that is divestiture? How much of that is you guys I think had called out some Neptune softness, any color you can provide there?

很好。謝謝讓我提問。我想回到 TEP 成長，關於你們本季報告的雙位數成長的細節。其中有多少是因為資產剝離（divestiture）？又有多少是你們之前提到的 Neptune 需求偏弱？你能否補充一些說明？

So second-half, we said it was going to be high single-digits and it being a little bit higher in the third quarter, and so that did play out. And so we've got mid-singles for the fourth. I would just say broadly, it has been the Neptune softness, and that's -- it's really a market sort of dynamic. And then specifically for us, volume is okay, but we actually had more mechanical meters, has a lower ASP and lower margins. So that was the driver of the second-half. And we didn't have -- we did divest the industrial businesses a few years ago. We're getting the proceeds from that, but there's no near-term divestiture activity in that segment.

我們先前說過下半年會是高個位數成長，且第三季會稍微高一些，所以確實如預期發生了。第四季我們預期是中個位數。我會概括地說，主要是 Neptune 的疲弱，而那——本質上是市場動態所致。就我們自身而言，出貨量還可以，但我們的機械式儀表（mechanical meters）占比更高，而它的平均售價（ASP）較低、毛利也較低。所以這是下半年的驅動因素。另外，我們幾年前確實已經剝離了工業業務。我們正在收到那筆交易的款項，但在該事業部門沒有近期的資產剝離活動。

Okay, perfect. And then on the EPS guide or DEPS guide, any impact from the bolt-ons that you guys just picked up?

好的，完美。那在 EPS 指引或 DEPS 指引方面，最近你們剛收購的那些補強型併購（bolt-ons）有任何影響嗎？

No, I mean, the impact for us will be more next year. The current quarter, that's actually a little bit dilutive as we've got some synergies that will roll through next year. But it's actually, for the fourth quarter, it's a little bit dilutive, two pennies.

沒有。我的意思是，對我們的影響會更多反映在明年。在目前這一季，因為有一些協同效益要到明年才會逐步體現，所以其實是略為稀釋（dilutive）。但就第四季而言，會有一點稀釋，大約兩美分。

Okay, perfect. Thanks a lot, Ed.

好的，完美。非常感謝，Ed。

Joshua Tilton, Wolfe Research.

Wolfe Research 的 Joshua Tilton。

Maybe for my first question, I feel like there's been a lot of hypotheticals and what ifs and how do we see the path of adoption play out around AI and just the monetization framework. And I understand why everyone's asking the question. But unless I misunderstood, I thought you guys called out in the prepared remarks that you are seeing monetization from AI today. So I'd kind of like to focus on that comment. Like, where are you seeing the monetization today? How are you seeing it? And if we're already seeing it in some places today, like, is that where we should expect it to be the most meaningful next year?

作為我的第一個問題，我覺得大家談了很多假設情境、各種「如果」，以及我們如何看待 AI 的採用路徑與變現框架會如何發展。我理解為什麼大家都在問這個。但如果我沒有誤解的話，我以為你們在事先準備的發言中提到，你們今天就已經看到 AI 的變現。所以我想把焦點放在那個說法上。你們目前在哪些地方看到變現？你們是如何看到的？如果今天在某些地方已經看得到，那是否也代表明年最有意義的貢獻會出現在那些地方？

Yeah, I appreciate the question, Josh. So yeah, I mean, this is -- I think the question is more on the how do we scale this, and obviously, this is new not just for us, but for the economy at large, and so we're all trying to figure that out. Where we're seeing early AI monetization is where the product stacks were first to market. So CentralReach.

是的，Josh，我很感謝這個問題。沒錯，我的意思是——我認為問題更多在於我們要如何把它規模化；而且這不只是對我們，對整個經濟體而言都是新的，所以大家都在摸索。我們目前看到的早期 AI 變現，主要出現在那些產品堆疊最早上市（first to market）的地方。例如 CentralReach。

For instance, CentralReach, I will have Jason have to make sure I sort of keep me honest here. But 75% of their bookings are either AI-related, AI-specific or AI-related bookings in that range, for instance. Out or at the numbers like 25% of their bookings are either AI or AI-related.

以 CentralReach 為例，我得請 Jason 幫我確認一下，確保我說得準確。但例如他們大約 75% 的訂單（bookings）是 AI 相關、AI 特定或與 AI 有關的訂單，大概在那個範圍。另外有些則是像 25% 的訂單是 AI 或 AI 相關。

The anticipation for what's now back behind sort of the -- they were, I don't know, a year ahead of the portfolio. Now the portfolio is catching up. 75%, 25% to 75% is a wide range, but it'd be nice to see that as we scale across a dozen of our companies, but it's too early to say it's going to be 10%, 25%, 50% of bookings over time are going to be AI-related. Fast forward three or four years, like everything's AI. Like this whole thing, what's AI, what's not AI, it's going to be indistinguishable. So I think we're in a moment in time in that regard.

對於接下來的預期——他們大概比整個投資組合領先了一年。現在整個投資組合正在追上。75%、25% 到 75% 這個區間很大；如果我們能在旗下十幾家公司擴展時看到類似情況當然很好，但現在還太早，無法斷言長期來看 AI 相關訂單會占 10%、25% 還是 50%。往後三到四年看，像是一切都是 AI。也就是說，這整件事——什麼是 AI、什麼不是 AI——會變得難以區分。所以我認為我們正處在那樣的時間點。

Makes sense. And then maybe just my follow-up. Neptune sounds -- and again, I could be a little bit wrong here, but it sounds like second-half is a little bit less favorable. There's a mixed dynamic. We believe in this view of moving towards the ultrasonic meters over time, better pricing. I understand all that. I guess, is there -- was the mix dynamic unexpected? And I ask it in the sense that is there a correction that can be made into next year where we can go back to maybe a better-than-expected Neptune outcome after we saw what happened this quarter, we step back, we make an adjustment and we go back to being a little bit better? Or do you expect whatever you're seeing pressure the business today last beyond this quarter maybe into next year?

有道理。接著可能是我的追問。Neptune 聽起來——再說一次，我這裡可能有點不太準——但聽起來下半年稍微不那麼有利。這裡有一個混合（產品組合）動態。我們相信隨著時間推進，市場會朝向超音波水表移動，定價也會更好。我都理解。我想問的是——這個組合動態是出乎意料的嗎？我這樣問的意思是：明年是否能做出一些修正，讓我們在看到本季發生的情況後，退一步、做出調整，然後回到 Neptune 的表現可能比預期更好、稍微更強一些？或者你們預期目前看到的壓力會不只影響本季，可能延續到明年？

Appreciate the question. I mean, I think it's the static pipeline from Neptune, customer by customer is strong. So there is definitely a market demand for it. It's just we just had pushes on the pipeline. So we do think coming into next year, it's going to be more favorable for us. Timing is going to be uncertain in terms of kind of the quarterly cadence. But yeah, that secular demand is there, so we feel good about that.

謝謝你的提問。我的意思是，我認為 Neptune 的靜態水表（static）管線，以客戶逐一來看是很強的。所以市場對它確實有需求。只是我們的管線出現了延後（push）。因此我們確實認為進入明年後，對我們會更有利。至於季度節奏（quarterly cadence）在時點上會比較不確定。但沒錯，那個結構性（secular）的需求仍然存在，所以我們對此感覺良好。

That makes sense. Thank you, guys.

了解。謝謝各位。

Brett Linzey, Mizuho.

Brett Linzey，瑞穗（Mizuho）。

Hey, how you doing, guys? Ryan on here for Brett. Thanks for taking my question. Yeah, I wanted to just ask -- get a little bit more color on Neptune, maybe just help us understand the market conditions. The main puts and takes that you guys are watching and then maybe -- how you expect the mix dynamic to play out over the coming quarters? Thanks.

嗨，各位近況如何？我是 Ryan，代 Brett 上線。謝謝讓我提問。是的，我想問——想再多了解一些 Neptune 的情況，或許請你們幫我們理解一下市場狀況。你們主要在觀察哪些利多與利空因素（puts and takes），以及——你們預期未來幾季的組合動態會如何發展？謝謝。

Yeah, I'll take another crack at this. So just remind everybody, the macro, what's happening in the water meter -- the North American water meter end market, just set that first, and we'll get into like the specific quarter and our best look at the outlook.

好的，我再試著回答一次。先提醒大家一下大環境：北美水表終端市場目前發生了什麼，我先把這個背景講清楚，然後再談到本季的具體情況，以及我們對展望的最佳判斷。

So what's happening is during COVID, especially in the Northeast where the water meters in people's basements, they could not be maintained or replaced. So then post-COVID '22, '23, there is a surge, there's a catch up. Now on the backside of this, last year, this year for sure, we're having this comp over that surge.

目前的情況是，在 COVID 期間，特別是在東北部地區，因為水表裝在住戶的地下室，無法進行維護或更換。因此在 COVID 之後的 2022、2023 年出現一波激增，也就是補裝（catch up）。而在這波之後，去年、尤其是今年，我們正在面對相對於那波激增的比較基期（comp）。

And so in the industry, there are fewer meters that are being installed last year and this year versus the years before, you're kind of going from peak to trough. This isn't like a macroeconomic cycle. It's still like a COVID supercycle dynamic that the industry at large is digesting.

所以在整個產業中，去年與今年的安裝量相較於更早的年份更少，你可以說是從高峰走向低谷。這不像是一個總體經濟循環。它更像是產業仍在消化 COVID 超級循環（supercycle）所帶來的動態。

We talked about that in the past, but just level set you and the team and everybody on that. So inside, so we're just sort of on the we believe we're on the tail end of that sort of reset getting into more. Normalized meter market. Now what's also happened inside of that is this mix from mechanical to static. Static meters is a better technology. They last longer. They measure -- perfectly measure the flow of water over the life of the meter where mechanical degrades slowly over time, so it's a better value proposition to the customer. That's why the market is generally going there.

我們過去談過這點，但我想先幫你、你的團隊以及大家把基準重新對齊。所以在內部，我們認為我們正處於那種重置的尾聲，並將走向更——正常化的水表市場。另外，在這個過程中也發生了從機械式（mechanical）到靜態式（static）的產品組合轉換。靜態水表是更好的技術。它們壽命更長。在水表的整個使用壽命期間，它們能更精準地量測水流；而機械式水表會隨時間逐步劣化，因此對客戶而言是更好的價值主張。這也是為什麼市場整體上正朝那個方向發展。

Because it's higher value, it carries a higher price, and so you've had this positive mix that's happened in the industry, in particular. That helped offset some of the meter declines, macro meter declines in the market. In the quarter, as Jason just said, there are projects, large projects, static-meter projects that pushed, which had the total number of meters that Neptune sold in the quarter is actually pretty close to the expectation. But it was a dramatic mix towards mechanical, which had both a revenue implication and a margin implication.

因為它的價值更高、價格也更高，所以產業中出現了這種正向的組合改善，尤其明顯。這有助於抵消市場中水表總量下滑、也就是宏觀層面的水表下滑。就本季而言，如 Jason 剛才所說，有一些專案、一些大型的靜態水表專案延後，導致 Neptune 本季銷售的水表總數其實相當接近預期。但產品組合卻大幅偏向機械式，這同時對營收與毛利率造成影響。

And you just said that likely has a probability that normalizes in the next year. But that's the setup of the mixed dynamic, both of the macro and the mixed dynamic. We believe over the long arc, this is not a call for next year. It's like this has been over our ownership like a mid-single-digit growth business. And we think those dynamics are intact over the long arc.

而你剛才也提到，這種情況在明年很可能會回到正常化。但這就是這個組合動態的背景設定：既有宏觀因素，也有組合因素。我們相信從長期趨勢來看——這不是在對明年做預測——而是說在我們持有期間，這一直是一個中個位數成長（mid-single-digit growth）的業務。我們認為從長期來看，這些動態仍然完好無虞。

Awesome. Super helpful. Thank you, guys.

太好了。非常有幫助。謝謝各位。

Thank you. This concludes our question-and-answer session. I will now hand the call back to Zack Moxcey for any closing remarks.

謝謝。問答環節到此結束。我現在把電話交回給 Zack Moxcey，請他做結語。

Thanks everyone for joining us today and we look forward to speaking with you during our next earnings call.

感謝各位今天參與，我們期待在下一次財報電話會議中與各位交流。

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

謝謝。本次電話會議到此結束。感謝各位出席今天的簡報。您現在可以掛線。