Simulations Plus Inc (SLP) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings and welcome to the Simulations Plus fourth-quarter fiscal 2023 financial results conference call. (Operator Instructions)

歡迎參加Simulations Plus 2023 財年第四季財務業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）

As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

謹此提醒，本次電話會議正在錄音中。

It is now my pleasure to introduce Tamara Gonzalez from Financial Profiles. Thank you, Ms. Gonzalez. You may now begin.

現在我很高興向大家介紹來自 Financial Profiles 的 Tamara Gonzalez。謝謝你，岡薩雷斯女士。你現在可以開始了。

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Simulations Plus fourth-quarter and fiscal 2023 financial results conference call. With me today are Shawn O'Connor, Chief Executive Officer; and Will Frederick, Chief Financial Officer of Simulations Plus.

大家下午好，歡迎參加Simulations Plus 第四季和 2023 財年財務業績電話會議。今天與我在一起的有首席執行官肖恩·奧康納 (Shawn O'Connor)；以及 Simulations Plus 財務長 Will Frederick。

Please note that we updated our quarterly earnings presentation, which will serve as a supplement to today's prepared remarks. You can access the presentation on our Investor Relations website at www.simulations-plus.com. After management's commentary, we will open the call for questions.

請注意，我們更新了季度收益報告，這將作為今天準備好的評論的補充。您可以在我們的投資者關係網站 www.simulations-plus.com 上存取簡報。在管理層發表評論後，我們將開始提問。

As a reminder, the information discussed today may include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Words like believe, expect, and anticipates refer to our best estimates as of this call. There can be no assurances that these will actually take place. So our actual future results could differ significantly from these statements.

提醒一下，今天討論的資訊可能包括涉及風險和不確定性的前瞻性陳述。相信、期望和預期等詞語是指我們截至本次電話會議的最佳估計。無法保證這些確實會發生。因此，我們未來的實際結果可能與這些陳述有很大不同。

Further information on the company's risk factors is contained in the company's quarterly and annual reports and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

有關公司風險因素的更多資​​訊包含在公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的季度和年度報告中。

With that said, I'll turn the call over to Shawn O'Connor. Shawn?

話雖如此，我會將電話轉給肖恩·奧康納。肖恩？

Thank you, Tamara. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today to discuss our fourth-quarter and fiscal 2023 results. We delivered strong revenue and earnings results for fiscal 2023. And I'd especially like to acknowledge our team's impressive execution on building strong customer relationships.

謝謝你，塔瑪拉。大家下午好，感謝您今天加入我們討論我們的第四季和 2023 財年業績。我們在 2023 財年實現了強勁的營收和獲利業績。我特別要感謝我們的團隊在建立牢固的客戶關係方面令人印象深刻的執行力。

Our team's effort and dedication throughout the year while navigating a challenging environment helped to drive growth and demonstrated the strength of our customer-centric business model. Conditions in our market remain similar to what we have spoken to over the past several quarters. We continue to see a slowdown from small biotech customers who have been impacted by funding scarcity that has, in turn, affected renewal rates in this segment.

我們的團隊在充滿挑戰的環境中全年的努力和奉獻幫助推動了成長，並展示了我們以客戶為中心的業務模式的優勢。我們的市場狀況與我們過去幾季所說的情況仍然相似。我們繼續看到小型生技客戶的成長放緩，這些客戶受到資金短缺的影響，進而影響了該領域的續訂率。

Purchasing from large pharmaceuticals also remains delayed driven by macroeconomic uncertainties and conservativeness. That said, these challenges were offset by our ability to upsell and to pass on price increases throughout the course of fiscal 2023, helping us to achieve our guidance targets for both revenue and adjusted diluted earnings per share for the fiscal year.

由於宏觀經濟的不確定性和保守性，大型藥品的採購也仍然被推遲。也就是說，這些挑戰被我們在 2023 財年期間追加銷售和轉嫁價格上漲的能力所抵消，幫助我們實現了本財年收入和調整後稀釋每股收益的指導目標。

The underlying fundamentals of our market are resilient. As such, we believe the slow pace of investing in modeling and simulation that we have seen over the past few quarters will eventually reverse, given tremendous needs in drug development and the essential need for pharmaceutical companies to find faster, more efficacious ways to bring drugs to market.

我們市場的基本面是有彈性的。因此，我們相信，鑑於藥物開發的巨大需求以及製藥公司迫切需要找到更快、更有效的方法來生產藥物，過去幾個季度我們所看到的建模和模擬投資緩慢的步伐最終將得到扭轉。市場。

We anticipated these challenges last year when we provided our fiscal 2023 guidance for revenues to grow 10% to 15%, and we met that guidance, delivering 11% revenue growth for fiscal 2023. Based on early anecdotal customer feedback we have been receiving, we are cautiously optimistic as we enter fiscal 2024 as we have seen a slight uptick in biotech funding and budget cycle optimism at some large pharmaceutical companies. But still, not to the levels we've seen historically.

去年，當我們提供2023 財年收入成長10% 至15% 的指導時，我們就預見了這些挑戰，並且我們實現了這一指導，實現2023 財年收入增長11%。根據我們收到的早期客戶回饋，我們隨著我們進入 2024 財年，我們持謹慎樂觀態度，因為我們看到一些大型製藥公司的生物技術資金和預算週期樂觀情緒略有上升。但仍然沒有達到我們歷史上看到的水平。

Against this backdrop, our revenues and earnings were in line with our expectations. Fourth-quarter revenues of $15.6 million were up 33% over this time last year, driven by a 59% increase in software revenues with services up 8%. For the year, total revenues were $59.6 million, up 11%, driven by software growth of 12% and services of 8%.

在此背景下，我們的收入和利潤符合我們的預期。第四季營收為 1,560 萬美元，較去年同期成長 33%，其中軟體營收成長 59%，服務營收成長 8%。今年總收入為 5,960 萬美元，成長 11%，其中軟體成長 12%，服務成長 8%。

Turning to profitability, gross margins and adjusted EBITDA remained solid. Fourth-quarter gross margins were 78% and for the year were 80%, reflecting a favorable mix of higher margin software sales and our ability to pass along price increases. Adjusted EBITDA was 31% of revenue for the fourth quarter and 35% of revenue for the year.

談到獲利能力，毛利率和調整後的 EBITDA 保持穩健。第四季毛利率為 78%，全年毛利率為 80%，反映出軟體銷售利潤率較高和我們轉嫁價格上漲的能力的有利組合。調整後 EBITDA 佔第四季營收的 31%，佔全年營收的 35%。

Net income in the fourth quarter was $534,000 or $0.03 per share. Adjusted net income for the quarter was $3.7 million, or $0.18 per share. For the fiscal year, net income was $10 million or $0.49 per diluted share. And adjusted net income for the fiscal year was $13.8 million, or $0.67 per diluted share. This is at the high end of our $0.63 to $0.67 fiscal 2023 guidance. I'm very proud of the results our team delivered for both the quarter and the year.

第四季淨利為 534,000 美元，即每股 0.03 美元。該季度調整後淨利潤為 370 萬美元，即每股 0.18 美元。本財年，淨利為 1,000 萬美元，或攤薄後每股收益 0.49 美元。該財年調整後淨利為 1,380 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.67 美元。這是我們 2023 財年指導價值 0.63 美元至 0.67 美元的上限。我對我們的團隊在本季和本年度所取得的成果感到非常自豪。

Moving on to our software segment performance. Software revenue increased 59% for the quarter and 12% year over year. Our renewal harmonization initiative to simplify and align contract renewals played out as expected and is essentially complete. And we do not anticipate future occurrences to have the same impact on quarterly revenue flow in fiscal 2024.

繼續我們的軟體部門的表現。本季軟體營收成長 59%，年增 12%。我們旨在簡化和調整合約續約的續約協調計劃已按預期進行，並且已基本完成。我們預期未來發生的事件不會對 2024 財年的季度營收流產生相同的影響。

We now have greater visibility into our revenues. And with contract harmonization now embedded in the normal course of our business process, we expect that both Simulations Plus and our customers will see the benefits going forward. There will, however, always be accounts that become candidates for harmonization during any year as we upsell additional licenses.

我們現在可以更清楚地了解我們的收入。現在，隨著合約協調已融入我們業務流程的正常過程中，我們希望Simulations Plus 和我們的客戶都能看到未來的好處。然而，隨著我們追加銷售額外的許可證，在任何一年中總會有一些帳戶成為協調的候選人。

Our software revenue renewal rate in the fourth quarter was negatively impacted by several non-renewals as a result of M&A activity in our client base and lower purchasing in pharma, biotech, and CRO markets. Additionally, a couple of QSP model licenses were not renewed due to and program cancellations.

由於我們客戶群的併購活動以及製藥、生物技術和 CRO 市場採購量的減少，我們第四季度的軟體收入續訂率受到了幾次非續訂的負面影響。此外，由於專案取消，一些 QSP 模型許可證沒有續約。

GastroPlus in our PDPK business had a strong quarter. Revenues increased 76% for the fourth quarter and 11% for the year. The strong growth in the quarter was largely due to the shift in contract renewals to the fourth quarter. GastroPlus was referenced in 22 peer-reviewed journal articles and added 10 new customers. The team also booked 11 commercial client upsells.

我們的 PDPK 業務中的 GastroPlus 季度表現強勁。第四季營收成長 76%，全年營收成長 11%。本季度的強勁成長主要是由於合約續約轉移到了第四季度。 GastroPlus 被 22 篇同行評審期刊文章引用，並增加了 10 個新客戶。該團隊還預訂了 11 名商業客戶追加銷售。

ADMET Predictor, our AI-powered solution and cheminformatics business, saw revenues increase 46% in the quarter due to the shift in contract renewals. The team booked five upsells during the quarter and added six new customers. For the year, ADMET Predictor revenues grew 6%.

ADMET Predictor 是我們的人工智慧驅動的解決方案和化學資訊學業務，由於合約續約的轉變，本季營收成長了 46%。該團隊在本季度預訂了五次追加銷售，並增加了六名新客戶。今年，ADMET Predictor 營收成長了 6%。

Revenues for MonolixSuite, one of the most user-friendly tools and pharmacometrics modeling, increased 18% in the quarter, thanks to five customer upsells and the addition of seven new customers in the quarter. For the year, MonolixSuite revenues grew 15%.

MonolixSuite 是最用戶友好的工具和藥物計量學建模之一，該季度的收入增長了 18%，這得益於本季 5 個客戶的追加銷售和 7 個新客戶的增加。今年，MonolixSuite 營收成長了 15%。

During the fourth quarter, our software team held a highly successful PK analytics summer school. This program educated over 450 scientists from 40 countries and served to increase community awareness of the benefits and features of this user-friendly validated tool for noncompartmental and compartmental analysis and bioequivalence evaluations. This event has supported growing attention and leads for MonolixSuite in the NCA scientific community.

第四季度，我們的軟體團隊舉辦了一次非常成功的 PK 分析暑期學校。該計劃對來自 40 個國家的 450 多名科學家進行了教育，並提高了社區對這種用戶友好的經過驗證的非區室和區室分析以及生物等效性評估工具的優點和功能的認識。該活動支持了 NCA 科學界對 MonolixSuite 日益增長的關注和引導。

Looking at our services segment, revenues grew 8%, both for the fourth quarter and for the year, representing 40% of total revenues and completed 201 projects. Services is entering the new fiscal year with a healthy backlog of $20 million, 25% higher than this time last year. The backlog increase is primarily due to the investments we've made in sales and marketing, the addition of Immunetrics, and the exemplary efforts of this team.

看看我們的服務部門，第四季和全年營收均成長 8%，佔總營收的 40%，並完成了 201 個專案。進入新財年的服務業積壓金額達 2,000 萬美元，比去年同期高出 25%。積壓訂單的增加主要歸功於我們在銷售和行銷方面的投資、免疫學的增加以及該團隊的模範努力。

PKPD services revenue was down 1% in the fourth quarter and increased 10% for the year. During the quarter, PKPD saw excellent bookings that contributed to overall growth. During the fourth quarter, fixed price projects versus time and materials garnered the majority of billable hours and had some effect on revenue growth.

PKPD 服務營收第四季下降 1%，全年成長 10%。本季度，PKPD 的預訂量出色，推動了整體成長。在第四季度，固定價格項目與時間和材料佔據了大部分計費時間，並對收入成長產生了一定影響。

With the exception of this quarter, the trend for higher time and materials as a percentage of projects would appear to likely continue into fiscal 2024. This is based upon the nature of the backlog as we enter the year. The revenue benefit of timing materials as compared to fixed price projects is that these projects typically bring higher margins and have contributed to the growth of services margins to reach the mid-60s and above.

除本季度外，時間和材料在專案中所佔比例增加的趨勢似乎可能會持續到 2024 財年。這是基於進入今年時積壓的性質。與固定價格項目相比，定時材料的收入優勢在於，這些項目通常會帶來更高的利潤，並有助於服務利潤的成長，達到 60 年代中期及以上。

QSP/QST revenue grew 60% for the fourth quarter and 1% for the year, benefiting from our acquisition of Immunetrics in terms of revenue contribution. PDPK services revenue was down 1% in the quarter, but up 22% for the year. Although the fourth quarter was impacted by lower billable hours related to temporary staffing availability related to life events, the team saw excellent growth for the year. Our outlook for PDPK services growth remains strong and staffing hours are expected to return to normal as we start the new fiscal year.

QSP/QST 營收第四季成長 60%，全年成長 1%，在營收貢獻方面受益於我們收購 Immunetics。 PDPK 服務收入本季下降 1%，但全年成長 22%。儘管第四季度受到與生活事件相關的臨時人員配置相關的計費時間減少的影響，但該團隊今年仍實現了出色的成長。我們對 PDPK 服務成長的前景依然強勁，隨著新財年的開始，員工工作時間預計將恢復正常。

Services had a good year. We recruited top talent, hired 14 new scientists for the year, and saw strong retention amongst our talent pool. We also added 13 in the Immunetrics acquisition.

服務業今年表現不錯。我們招募了頂尖人才，今年聘用了 14 名新科學家，並在我們的人才庫中看到了強勁的保留率。我們還在 Immunetics 收購中增加了 13 筆。

We also had some notable highlights in the quarter. Our QSP liver study safety tool was cited in a key public document this summer. The FDA cited some results in their public medical review documents as part of identification and justification of the proper dose range for a subsequent and successful Phase 3 study and lead to approval of a widely blockbuster drug.

本季我們還有一些值得注意的亮點。今年夏天的一份重要公開文件引用了我們的 QSP 肝臟研究安全工具。 FDA 在其公共醫學審查文件中引用了一些結果，作為後續成功的 3 期研究的適當劑量範圍的識別和論證的一部分，並導致了一種廣泛的重磅藥物的批准。

Our QSP team also completed some very important and large projects with large pharma partners in multiple myeloma and pulmonary fibrosis that are already leading to follow-on work in license requests with the same clients. These projects emphasize the compelling value we provide our clients when we pair our software solutions with the expertise provided by our services consultants.

我們的 QSP 團隊也與大型製藥合作夥伴在多發性骨髓瘤和肺纖維化方面完成了一些非常重要的大型項目，這些項目已經導致與相同客戶的許可請求的後續工作。這些項目強調了當我們將軟體解決方案與服務顧問提供的專業知識相結合時，我們為客戶提供的引人注目的價值。

We supported a client's submission of new solutions specifications, which were accepted by the EMA. And GastroPlus model was developed across multiple dose strengths of a commercial formulation and applied to support the development of a biopredictive dissolution method. With this dissolution data in hand, a safe space was established and used to justify dissolution acceptance criteria which was wider than the allowed specifications in the regulatory guidance documents.

我們支持客戶提交新的解決方案規範，該規範已被 EMA 接受。 GastroPlus 模型是針對商業製劑的多個劑量強度而開發的，並應用於支持生物預測溶出方法的開發。有了這些溶出數據，就建立了一個安全空間，並用於證明溶出驗收標準的合理性，該標準比監管指導文件中允許的規格更廣泛。

The EMA accepted the GastroPlus modeling results. The estimated return on investment from the Regulatory Flexibility using a GastroPlus PBDM approach ranged from 12x to 45x greater than the alternatives, which included running a clinical bioequivalence trial or doing nothing and wasting 10% to produce batches to the out-of-scope specification.

EMA 接受了 GastroPlus 建模結果。使用GastroPlus PBDM 方法的監管靈活性的估計投資回報比替代方案高12 倍到45 倍，其中包括運行臨床生物等效性試驗或不採取任何措施並浪費10% 來生產符合範圍之外規格的批次。

We supported a first-in-human dosing recommendation for a client that resulted in an investigational new drug or IND approved. In this project, animal PK data was utilized to build PBPK models to predict systematic and gastrointestinal concentrations for a new GI disease therapy.

我們支持為客戶提出的首次人體劑量建議，該建議導致研究性新藥或 IND 獲得批准。在這個計畫中，利用動物 PK 數據建立 PBPK 模型，以預測新胃腸道疾病治療的系統和胃腸道濃度。

The validated PBPK model was then translated to humans to simulate local and systemic exposure and optimize the dosing recommendations needed to achieve target therapeutical levels in the colon and blood. The results were incorporated into the company's IND filing with the FDA and played a critical role in its regulatory acceptance to proceed with the Phase 1 trial.

然後將經過驗證的 PBPK 模型轉化為人體，以模擬局部和全身暴露，並優化實現結腸和血液中目標治療水平所需的劑量建議。結果被納入該公司向 FDA 提交的 IND 備案中，並在監管機構接受第一階段試驗的過程中發揮了關鍵作用。

As an example of the critical benefit our team of expert consultants provides, the client utilizes GastroPlus software to build and submit a model in support of a biowaiver request for a bioequivalence trial. The global agency review was harsh, and the request was rejected. After resubmission following the expert guidance from our scientific experts, the agency responded with minimal questions, which were quickly addressed, resulting in the model being accepted in the biowaiver granted.

作為我們的專家顧問團隊提供的關鍵優勢的一個例子，客戶利用 GastroPlus 軟體建立並提交一個模型，以支援生物等效性試驗的生物豁免請求。全球機構審查十分嚴厲，請求被拒絕。在我們的科學專家的專家指導下重新提交後，該機構只回答了很少的問題，這些問題很快就得到了解決，最終該模型被授予生物豁免。

These are just a few examples of the value-creating work our team delivers, and it's testament to the significant value of our business model. Our customer-centric culture of innovation is driving results both for our customers and for our results.

這些只是我們團隊提供的價值創造工作的幾個例子，它證明了我們商業模式的巨大價值。我們以客戶為中心的創新文化正在為我們的客戶和我們的表現帶來成果。

Looking ahead, we remain committed to our strategy that combines organic growth, operating leverage, and inorganic growth to create long-term value for our shareholders. This includes internal investments in product R&D, employee recruitment and retention, and enterprise technologies. From a corporate development perspective, we will continue to evaluate M&A and strategic investments that are in line with our criteria.

展望未來，我們仍致力於將有機成長、營運槓桿和無機成長相結合的策略，為股東創造長期價值。這包括產品研發、員工招募和留任以及企業技術的內部投資。從企業發展的角度來看，我們會持續評估符合我們標準的併購和策略投資。

While we have seen some positive signs surfaced in our market, we are setting guidance based upon the status quo outlook. For fiscal 2024, we expect revenues to increase in the range of 10% to 15% or $66 million to $69 million. From a mix perspective, we expect software to contribute 55% to 60% of revenues and services to contribute 40% to 45%, reflecting the increased services revenue from Immunetrics. Further, we are guiding to diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.66 to $0.68 for an annual increase of 35% to 39%.

雖然我們看到市場出現了一些積極跡象，但我們正在根據現狀前景制定指導。對於 2024 財年，我們預計營收將成長 10% 至 15%，即 6,600 萬美元至 6,900 萬美元。從混合角度來看，我們預計軟體將貢獻 55% 至 60% 的收入，服務將貢獻 40% 至 45%，反映了 Immunetrics 服務收入的增加。此外，我們預計稀釋後每股收益在 0.66 美元至 0.68 美元之間，年增長率為 35% 至 39%。

And with that, I'll turn the call to Will.

說完，我會把電話轉給威爾。

Thank you, Shawn. We had another strong quarter with total revenue increasing 33% to $15.6 million, with software revenue up 59% and services revenue up 8%. Software revenue represented 60% of total revenue for the quarter.

謝謝你，肖恩。我們又經歷了一個強勁的季度，總收入成長了 33%，達到 1,560 萬美元，其中軟體收入成長了 59%，服務收入成長了 8%。軟體收入佔該季度總收入的 60%。

For the fiscal year, total revenue increased 11% to $59.6 million, comprised of a 12% increase in software revenue and 8% increase in services revenue. Software revenue represented 61% of total revenue for the year.

本財年，總營收成長 11%，達到 5,960 萬美元，其中軟體營收成長 12%，服務營收成長 8%。軟體收入佔全年總收入的61%。

Total gross margin for the quarter improved slightly to 78%, benefiting from strength in the software segment. Software gross margin increased to 89% from 86% last year, while services margin decreased to 62%, primarily due to the addition of Immunetrics.

受惠於軟體業務的強勁表現，本季總毛利率小幅提高至 78%。軟體毛利率從去年的 86% 增加到 89%，而服務毛利率則下降至 62%，這主要是由於 Immunetrics 的加入。

The total gross margin for the fiscal year was flat at 80%, with software gross margin at 90% and services margin at 65%. With the addition of Immunetrics, our overall gross margin may be impacted for fiscal 2024 compared to fiscal 2023.

本財年總毛利率持平於 80%，其中軟體毛利率為 90%，服務毛利率為 65%。隨著 Immuntrics 的加入，與 2023 財年相比，我們 2024 財年的整體毛利率可能會受到影響。

Now turning to software for the quarter. GastroPlus represented 54% of software revenue. MonolixSuite was 15%. ADMET Predictor was 21% and other software was 10%. For the fiscal year, GastroPlus represented 54% of software revenue, MonolixSuite was 19%, ADMET Predictor was 19%, and other software was 8%.

現在轉向本季的軟體。 GastroPlus 佔軟體收入的 54%。 MonolixSuite 為 15%。 ADMET Predictor 為 21%，其他軟體為 10%。在本財年，GastroPlus 佔軟體營收的 54%，MonolixSuite 佔 19%，ADMET Predictor 佔 19%，其他軟體佔 8%。

For the quarter, our customer renewal rate declined to 85% based on fees and to 80% based on accounts. Also for the quarter, average revenue per customer increased to $88,000 from $65,000. For the fiscal year, our customer renewal rate declined to 92% based on fees to 82% based on accounts.

本季度，我們的客戶續約率（以費用計算）下降至 85%，以帳戶計算下降至 80%。本季每位客戶的平均收入也從 65,000 美元增加到 88,000 美元。在本財年，我們的客戶續約率（以費用計算）下降至 92%，以帳戶計算下降至 82%。

Average revenue per customer for the fiscal year increased to $126,000, up from $110,000 last fiscal year. While the lower renewal rates are primarily driven by non-renewals from smaller biotech customers, one resulting benefit we are experiencing is an increase in average revenue per customer.

本財年每位客戶的平均收入從上一財年的 110,000 美元增至 126,000 美元。雖然較低的續訂率主要是由於小型生物技術客戶的不續訂造成的，但我們正在經歷的一個由此帶來的好處是每個客戶的平均收入增加。

Shifting to our services business, the services revenue breakdown for the quarter was 39% from PKPD services, 37% from QSP/QST services, 20% from PBPK services, and 4% from other services. The services revenue breakdown for the fiscal year was 45% from PKPD services, 25% from QSP/QST services, 23% from PBPK services, and 7% from other services.

轉向我們的服務業務，本季的服務收入細分為 39% 來自 PKPD 服務，37% 來自 QSP/QST 服務，20% 來自 PBPK 服務，4% 來自其他服務。本財政年度的服務收入細分為 45% 來自 PKPD 服務，25% 來自 QSP/QST 服務，23% 來自 PBPK 服務，7% 來自其他服務。

As a reminder, other services consists primarily of the regulatory services we provide customers to help them meet global regulatory compliance and quality requirements. We also provide comprehensive learning services focused on modeling and simulation training with a variety of options to help our customers succeed.

請注意，其他服務主要包括我們為客戶提供的監管服務，以幫助他們滿足全球監管合規性和品質要求。我們還提供全面的學習服務，專注於建模和模擬培訓，並提供多種選項，以幫助我們的客戶取得成功。

Total services projects work done during the quarter increased to 201 compared to 196 last year and year-end backlog increased to $20 million compared to $16 million last year. Anticipated revenue from backlog within 12 months remains around 70% to 80%.

本季完成的服務項目總數從去年的 196 個增加到 201 個，年底積壓工作從去年的 1,600 萬美元增加到 2,000 萬美元。預計 12 個月內積壓的收入仍維持在 70% 至 80% 左右。

Turning to our consolidated income statement for the quarter, we saw an increase in total R&D costs, primarily due to the increased investment in the development of our software products, the increased cost of Immunetrics for the quarter, and from a general increase in personnel costs. Total R&D costs in the quarter increased to $1.8 million compared to $1.7 million last year. R&D expenses were $1.1 million compared to $0.8 million and capitalized R&D was $0.7 million compared to $0.9 million.

轉向我們本季的合併損益表，我們看到總研發成本有所增加，主要是由於我們軟體產品開發投資的增加、本季Immunetrics成本的增加以及人員成本的普遍增加。本季的總研發成本從去年的 170 萬美元增加到 180 萬美元。研發費用為 110 萬美元，去年為 80 萬美元；資本化研發費用為 70 萬美元，去年為 90 萬美元。

SG&A expense for the quarter increased by 51% to $11.5 million or 73% of revenue compared to $7.6 million or 65% of revenue last year. This increase includes $1 million of M&A costs, a $1.6 million compensation expense for Immunetrics related to its acquisition, an impairment charge of $0.5 million for discontinuing the trade name, and $1.3 million increase in personnel costs related to increased headcount and higher compensation costs. Excluding these expenses, SG&A expense would have been $8.4 million or 54% of revenue for the quarter.

本季的 SG&A 費用增加了 51%，達到 1,150 萬美元，佔營收的 73%，而去年為 760 萬美元，佔營收的 65%。這一增加包括100 萬美元的併購成本、Immunetrics 與其收購相關的160 萬美元補償費用、因終止該商品名稱而產生的50 萬美元減值費用，以及與員工人數增加和補償成本增加相關的130 萬美元人員成本增加。排除這些費用，SG&A 費用將為 840 萬美元，佔該季度收入的 54%。

Income from operations resulted in a loss of $0.3 million for the quarter due to the M&A costs, Immunetrics compensation expense, and impairment charge previously mentioned. Excluding these expenses, income from operations would have been $3.4 million or 22% of revenue for the quarter.

由於併購成本、Immunetrics 補償費用和前面提到的減損費用，本季營運收入虧損 30 萬美元。排除這些費用，營運收入將為 340 萬美元，佔該季度收入的 22%。

Other income was $0.4 million this quarter versus $0.2 million last year due to returns from higher interest rates on our investment portfolio. Other income also included a $0.7 million accounting charge for the change in fair value of contingent consideration for the Immunetrics earnout. For the quarter, income tax benefit was $0.5 million compared to expense of $0.1 million last year.

由於我們投資組合利率上升帶來的回報，本季其他收入為 40 萬美元，而去年為 20 萬美元。其他收入還包括 Immunetics 獲利的或有對價公允價值變動而產生的 70 萬美元會計費用。本季所得稅收益為 50 萬美元，而去年的支出為 10 萬美元。

Net income for the quarter decreased 44% to $0.5 million and diluted earnings per share decreased to $0.03. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $4.9 million and adjusted EBITDA margin was 31% compared to adjusted EBITDA of $2.5 million or 22% margin last year.

該季度淨利潤下降 44% 至 50 萬美元，攤薄後每股收益下降至 0.03 美元。調整後 EBITDA 增至 490 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 31%，而去年調整後 EBITDA 為 250 萬美元，利潤率為 22%。

Adjusted diluted earnings per share for the quarter was $0.18 compared to $0.06 last year. We calculate adjusted EBITDA and adjusted diluted earnings per share by adding back interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, stock-based compensation, gain or loss on currency exchange, any acquisition or financial transaction-related expenses, any asset impairment charges, and any tax provisions or benefits related to these items. We provide a reconciliation of these non-GAAP metrics to net income and diluted earnings per share to relevant GAAP metrics in our earnings release and on our website.

本季調整後攤薄每股收益為 0.18 美元，去年同期為 0.06 美元。我們透過加回利息、稅金、折舊和攤銷、股票薪酬、貨幣兌換損益、任何收購或金融交易相關費用、任何資產減損費用以及任何與這些項目相關的稅務規定或福利。我們在收益報告和網站上提供了這些非 GAAP 指標與淨利潤和稀釋每股收益與相關 GAAP 指標的調整表。

Turning to our consolidated income statement for the fiscal year, our total R&D costs were $7.8 million or 13% of revenue, compared to $6.4 million or 12% of revenue last year. R&D expenses were $4.5 million compared to $3.2 million last year. Capitalized R&D was $3.3 million compared to $3.2 million last year. This reflects increased investment in personnel costs for the newest version of our MonolixSuite product version 2023 R1, which was released on February 28, 2023; the development of the next version of our GastroPlus product, GPX; and the development of the next version of our ADMET Predictor version 11, which includes significant enhancements to the Artificial Intelligence Drug Design or AIDD module.

看看我們本財年的合併損益表，我們的總研發成本為 780 萬美元，佔營收的 13%，而去年為 640 萬美元，佔營收的 12%。研發費用為 450 萬美元，去年為 320 萬美元。研發資本化為 330 萬美元，去年為 320 萬美元。這反映了我們於 2023 年 2 月 28 日發布的最新版本 MonolixSuite 產品版本 2023 R1 的人員成本投資增加；開發 GastroPlus 產品的下一版 GPX；以及 ADMET Predictor 版本 11 下一版本的開發，其中包括對人工智慧藥物設計或 AIDD 模組的重大增強。

For the fiscal year, SG&A expense increased by 39% to $34.7 million or 58% of revenue, compared to $25 million or 46% of revenue last year. This increase was primarily due to a $5.4 million increase in employee and labor-related expenses.

本財年，SG&A 費用增加了 39%，達到 3,470 萬美元，佔營收的 58%，而去年為 2,500 萬美元，佔營收的 46%。這一增長主要是由於員工和勞工相關費用增加了 540 萬美元。

Additionally, the overall increase in SG&A expenses is due to an increase in merger and acquisition costs and the trade name write-off previously mentioned. Absent these costs, SG&A expense would have been $21.2 million for the year or 36% of revenue.

此外，SG&A費用整體增加是由於併購成本增加以及前面提到的商號沖銷。如果沒有這些成本，當年的 SG&A 費用將為 2,120 萬美元，佔收入的 36%。

Income from operations decreased 39% to $8.7 million, while operating margin was 15% due to the M&A costs, Immunetrics compensation expense, and impairment charge previously mentioned. Excluding these expenses, income from operations would have been $12.4 million or 21% of revenue.

由於併購成本、免疫學補償費用和前面提到的減損費用，營運收入下降 39% 至 870 萬美元，而營運利潤率為 15%。排除這些費用，營運收入將為 1,240 萬美元，佔收入的 21%。

Interest and other income was $3 million versus $0.2 million last year due to interest income of $3.4 million, driven by the rise in interest rates this year. As previously mentioned, other income included $0.7 million expense related to the Immunetrics acquisition.

由於今年利率上升，利息收入達到 340 萬美元，利息和其他收入為 300 萬美元，而去年為 20 萬美元。如前所述，其他收入包括與收購 Immunetics 相關的 70 萬美元費用。

Income tax expense was $1.7 million compared to $2.6 million last year, reflecting an effective tax rate of 15% this year versus 17% last year. Our effective tax rate decreased mainly due to favorable foreign income tax rates for the fiscal year. We expect our effective tax rate for fiscal 2024 to be in the range of 20% to 22% without the tax benefit we saw in fiscal 2023.

所得稅費用為 170 萬美元，而去年為 260 萬美元，反映出今年的有效稅率為 15%，而去年為 17%。我們的有效稅率下降主要是由於本財政年度有利的外國所得稅稅率。我們預計 2024 財年的有效稅率將在 20% 至 22% 之間，而沒有 2023 財年的稅收優惠。

Of note, our fiscal 2024 EPS guidance of $0.66 to $0.68 reflects the higher estimated effective tax rate. If we were to realize the same effective tax rate as fiscal 2023, our guidance would be in the range of $0.72 to $0.75.

值得注意的是，我們 2024 財年 EPS 指引值為 0.66 美元至 0.68 美元，反映了較高的估計有效稅率。如果我們要實現與 2023 財年相同的有效稅率，我們的指導將在 0.72 美元至 0.75 美元之間。

Net income for the fiscal year decreased 20% to $10 million and diluted earnings per share decreased to $0.49. Adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.67. The revenue impact for the fiscal year from foreign currency exchange was $0.6 million. Fiscal year adjusted EBITDA was $20.6 million and adjusted EBITDA margin was 35% compared to adjusted EBITDA of $21.5 million or 40% margin last year.

本財年淨利下降 20%，至 1,000 萬美元，攤薄後每股收益下降至 0.49 美元。調整後攤薄每股收益為 0.67 美元。外幣兌換對該財年的營收影響為 60 萬美元。財年調整後 EBITDA 為 2,060 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 35%，而去年調整後 EBITDA 為 2,150 萬美元，利潤率為 40%。

Now turning to our balance sheet. We ended the year with $115.5 million in cash and short-term investments. The change for the fiscal year was primarily driven by the addition of $21.7 million in free cash flow, plus $4.8 million in dividend payments, $20 million for our accelerated share repurchase, and $9.7 billion net cash paid for the Immunetrics acquisition. We continue to be well capitalized, have strong free cash flow, and seek opportunities for strategic acquisitions, investments, and partnerships.

現在轉向我們的資產負債表。年底，我們擁有 1.155 億美元的現金和短期投資。本財年的變化主要是由於自由現金流增加了 2,170 萬美元，加上 480 萬美元的股息支付、用於加速股票回購的 2,000 萬美元以及為收購 Immunetics 支付的 97 億美元淨現金。我們持續擁有充足的資本，擁有強勁的自由現金流，並尋求策略性收購、投資和合作的機會。

I will now turn the call back to Shawn.

現在我將把電話轉回給肖恩。

Thank you, Will. I'm pleased with the results we delivered in fiscal 2023 while navigating a challenging backdrop. I'm proud of our team's accomplishments this year. We successfully implemented our contract harmonization program, which is leading to greater visibility into revenues. We grew software double digits and saw good performance from our services business with that team finishing the year with a 25% increase in our backlog.

謝謝你，威爾。我對我們在 2023 財年在充滿挑戰的背景下所取得的成果感到滿意。我為我們團隊今年的成就感到自豪。我們成功實施了合約協調計劃，從而提高了收入的透明度。我們的軟體實現了兩位數的成長，我們的服務業務也取得了良好的業績，該團隊在年底時的積壓訂單增加了 25%。

We completed our accelerated share repurchase program as planned as part of our overall capital allocation plan. We completed the acquisition of Immunetrics and are very pleased with how the integration is going. Immunetrics has a strong reputation in the immunology and oncology markets and has a healthy pipeline of activity, including new accounts sourced from our Simulations Plus customer base.

作為整體資本配置計劃的一部分，我們按計劃完成了加速股票回購計劃。我們完成了對 Immunetics 的收購，並對整合的進展感到非常滿意。 Immuntrics 在免疫學和腫瘤學市場中享有盛譽，並擁有健康的活動管道，包括來自我們的Simulations Plus 客戶群的新帳戶。

Importantly, we achieved the guidance we provided last year by building stronger client relationships and maintaining our scientific leadership in model-informed drug development. This achievement was made possible by our team. We made critical investments in talent and added to our scientific resources to meet customer demand, while at the same time, we maintained good retention and strong recruiting.

重要的是，我們透過建立更牢固的客戶關係並保持我們在模型資訊藥物開發方面的科學領先地位，實現了去年提供的指導。這項成就是我們團隊所取得的。我們對人才進行了重要投資，並增加了科學資源以滿足客戶需求，同時我們保持了良好的保留和強大的招募能力。

I'd like to thank all of our colleagues at Simulations Plus for their effort and dedication throughout the year, but I'd especially like to honor Viera Lukacova, Chief Science Officer at the PDPK business unit for being named an AAPS Fellow, richly rewarded for her leadership in the development and advancement of PDPK. We thank her for her 18 years of service at Simulations Plus. And Amparo de la Peña, VP Pharmacometric Services, who was recently elected to the International Society of Pharmacometrics or ISOP Board of Directors.

我要感謝Simulations Plus 的所有同事一年來的努力和奉獻，但我要特別感謝 PDPK 業務部門首席科學官 Viera Lukacova 被任命為 AAPS 院士，並獲得豐厚獎勵表彰她在PDPK 的發展和進步中的領導作用。我們感謝她在Simulations Plus 工作了 18 年。藥理學服務副總裁 Amparo de la Peña 最近被選為國際藥理學協會或 ISOP 董事會成員。

Our talented and esteemed team here at Simulations Plus create value for our clients every day to help develop safer and more effective drug solutions. The spirit of innovation and energy to do more is strong.

Simulations Plus 才華橫溢且受人尊敬的團隊每天都為我們的客戶創造價值，幫助開發更安全、更有效的藥物解決方案。創新精神和幹勁十足。

To conclude, the underlying fundamentals of our market are resilient with our growing revenues, delivering profitable growth and generating cash. We're well positioned to meet our goals for fiscal 2024.

總而言之，隨著我們不斷成長的收入、獲利成長和產生現金，我們市場的基本面具有彈性。我們完全有能力達成 2024 財年的目標。

Thanks for your time today. And with that, I'll turn the call over to the operator for questions.

感謝您今天抽出時間。然後，我會將電話轉給接線員詢問問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

François Brisebois, Oppenheimer.

弗朗索瓦·布里斯布瓦，奧本海默。

Hi, thanks for the question. So just wondering in terms of the challenging environment, obviously biotech funding is going to be difficult. I was just wondering when you talk about your guidance for next year, you mentioned that it would be -- that's with the idea that it's status quo of what's going on. Maybe that 10% to 15%, can you just remind us maybe of the Immunetrics and targeted milestones or revenues that you're hoping to get there? Why it keeps the guidance in the 10% to 15% range on the revenue side for next year? Thank you.

你好，謝謝你的提問。因此，考慮到充滿挑戰的環境，生物技術融資顯然會很困難。我只是想知道，當您談論明年的指導時，您提到過，這就是當前正在發生的事情的現狀。也許是 10% 到 15%，您能否提醒我們您希望達到的免疫學和目標里程碑或收入？為什麼明年的收入指引維持在 10% 至 15% 的範圍內？謝謝。

Yeah. Sure, Frank. The marketplace itself, we always have very good data flow at this time of the year as our clients are in the budgetary cycle, running towards the end of the calendar year, budgets for next year being put together. They always get a good litmus test in terms of the market, two for one, in terms of those calls that we get in terms of budget to spend before the end of the year and as well quoting processes for inclusion and budgets for next year.

是的。當然，弗蘭克。市場本身，我們在每年的這個時候總是有非常好的數據流，因為我們的客戶處於預算週期，接近日曆年年底，明年的預算正在匯總。他們總是在市場方面得到很好的試金石，一舉兩得，就我們接到的年底前支出預算的電話以及明年的包容性和預算的報價流程而言。

In both regards, they say -- we've gotten some good input, positive frequency of those conversations taking place. Certainly when you look back and compare it to last year, it's more active, more positive than it was last year. But not enough to kind of look forward and say that the market has changed.

他們說，在這兩方面，我們都得到了一些很好的意見，這些對話發生的頻率也很高。當然，當你回顧過去並與去年相比時，你會發現它比去年更活躍、更積極。但還不足以展望未來並說市場已經改變了。

So status quo comments in the context of our guidance, we kind of looked out to '24 and we built our guidance based upon status quo, a similar sort of market environment with biotech funding. Being where it is, it has been in the last number of quarters and cautiousness in terms of the large pharma budgets into 2024.

因此，在我們的指導背景下對現狀進行評論，我們有點著眼於 24 世紀，我們根據現狀制定了我們的指導，這是一種與生物技術融資類似的市場環境。就目前情況而言，過去幾季一直對 2024 年的巨額製藥預算持謹慎態度。

Immunetrics has been a great addition. And certainly in the short window of time that they've been onboard, biggest impact in terms of the pipeline, being able to take their expertise, their customer base and immunology, oncology models, bringing them on board certainly brought some backlog into the picture.

免疫學是一個很好的補充。當然，在他們加入的短時間內，對管道方面的影響最大，能夠利用他們的專業知識、客戶群和免疫學、腫瘤學模型，讓他們加入肯定會帶來一些積壓。 。

The most positive has been the embrace out of our customer base in terms of presenting the new capabilities in those therapeutic areas to them. And that's still the pipeline, disproportion of the QSP business at this point in time. So that provides good momentum going into the next year. Minimal contribution to revenue, given the timing of the acquisition here in the fourth quarter, we look for contribution next year.

最積極的是我們的客戶群向他們展示這些治療領域的新功能。目前，這仍然是 QSP 業務的管道、不成比例的情況。因此，這為明年提供了良好的動力。對營收的貢獻很小，考慮到收購的時間是在第四季度，我們期待明年的貢獻。

Setting the guidance of 10% to 15% for next year gives us the opportunity of trying to increase our growth rate next year by 50%. And that certainly would be contributed to by Immunetrics. They've got -- and the part of the acquisition agreement was an earn-out outlook, an earn-out that would be achieved if they hit the revenue targets of $5 million, $6 million in the 2023 timeframe and $8 million in the calendar year '24 timeframe. So they could contribute significantly.

為明年設定 10% 至 15% 的指導，使我們有機會嘗試將明年的成長率提高 50%。這肯定會由免疫學做出貢獻。他們已經——收購協議的一部分是盈利前景，如果他們達到 500 萬美元的收入目標，2023 年達到 600 萬美元，日曆上達到 800 萬美元，就可以實現盈利。 '24 年的時間表。所以他們可以做出重大貢獻。

At this point in time in terms of that market, we're being cautious in terms of their contribution going forward, but they certainly provide a boost to our outlook into next year. So overall, we wanted to go into the year with guidance that was not based upon any sort of uptick in the overall market, give us some benefit from the momentum that we seem to be carrying into the next year, gives us some momentum in terms of the contribution Immunetrics will make for the business next year. And setting it in 10% to 15% with 11% performance this year, that gives us a perspective of -- yeah, we likely will do better within that range.

目前，就該市場而言，我們對他們的未來貢獻持謹慎態度，但他們無疑會提振我們明年的前景。因此，總體而言，我們希望以不基於整體市場任何形式上漲的指導進入這一年，讓我們從明年似乎將帶來的勢頭中受益，為我們帶來一些動力Immuntrics 明年將為該業務做出的貢獻。將其設定為 10% 到 15%，今年的業績為 11%，這讓我們看到——是的，我們可能會在這個範圍內做得更好。

Okay, great. Thank you. And then just maybe to remind everyone that the harmonization of the contracts and renewals. Can you just remind us what that process was and how we're coming to the end of it? And why that helps get clarity on revenues going forward? Thanks.

好的，太好了。謝謝。然後也許只是提醒大家合約和續約的協調。您能否提醒我們這個過程是什麼以及我們將如何結束它？為什麼這有助於明確未來的收入？謝謝。

Sure. Sure. No, the harmonization process was a process that mutually our clients, and from our perspective, we saw benefits from. Taking those clients that over the years have accumulated multiple licenses within a single platform or multiple licenses across multiple platforms of our three primary software products: GastroPlus, ADMET Predictor, and MonolixSuite; and working with them to consolidate those differing license renewal dates across an entire year in some cases and identify a focal date to bring them together. So that all of the renewal activity would be more than one timeframe.

當然。當然。不，協調過程是我們的客戶共同受益的過程，從我們的角度來看，我們從中受益。以多年來在我們的三個主要軟體產品（GastroPlus、ADMET Predictor 和 MonolixSuite）的單一平台內累積了多個許可證或跨多個平台的多個許可證的客戶為例；在某些情況下，與他們合作，整合全年不同的許可證續約日期，並確定將它們合併在一起的焦點日期。這樣一來，所有更新活動都將超過一個時間範圍。

Mostly larger accounts obviously, those that have multiple licenses. And that had an impact last year, an impact of pushing renewal dates around our seasonality, which has typically been low first- and fourth-quarter revenues and high second- and third-quarter revenues. As you look back over this past year, that resorted itself into an even lower first quarter.

顯然，大多數是較大的帳戶，即擁有多個許可證的帳戶。這對去年產生了影響，影響了我們的季節性更新日期，通常第一季和第四季的收入較低，而第二季和第三季的收入較高。當你回顧過去的一年時，你會發現第一季的表現甚至更低。

But then evenly dispersed on an absolute dollar basis, second through fourth quarter. And so through one year's cycle time of renewals, we've achieved that harmonization across most of our large accounts. There'll be more of those events that take place next year and other accounts may reach that threshold where can we harmonize. But it won't be the number of accounts that disrupted the seasonality in '23 and in the future, '24. So I think we've reset ourselves into a new seasonality pattern that will hold in '24 and beyond.

但隨後從第二季到第四季，以絕對美元計算，分佈均勻。因此，透過一年的續約週期，我們已經在大多數大型帳戶之間實現了協調。明年將會發生更多這樣的事件，其他帳戶可能會達到我們可以協調的閾值。但破壞 23 年和未來 24 年季節性的因素不會是帳戶數量。所以我認為我們已經將自己重新調整為一種新的季節性模式，這種模式將持續到 24 世紀及以後。

Thank you. That's it for me.

謝謝。對我來說就是這樣。

Matt Hewitt, Craig-Hallum.

馬特·休伊特，克雷格·哈勒姆。

Good afternoon and thank you for taking the questions. Maybe first up and maybe touch a little bit on the harmonization. How should we be thinking about cadence in fiscal '24? Should we anticipate maybe a little bit of a step down here in Q1, just with some of the holidays and whatnot? Maybe the services revenues are a little bit lower, but then kind of bouncing back up and more of a flattish the remainder of the year in line with your revenue guidance for the year? How should we be thinking about the cadence?

下午好，感謝您提出問題。也許首先要談談協調。我們該如何考慮 24 財年的節奏？我們是否應該預期第一季會出現一些下滑，只是因為一些假期之類的原因？也許服務收入會稍微低一些，但隨後會反彈，並在今年剩餘時間與您今年的收入指導保持一致？我們該如何考慮節奏？

Yeah. I mean, I think that's fair, Matt. The first quarter is always a lower quarter last year, and even be historically before that. And that's made more dramatic by our harmonization process last year. And so yeah, revenues in the first quarter of '24 likely be in comparison with the second, third, and fourth quarters, the lowest quarter.

是的。我的意思是，我認為這是公平的，馬特。第一季總是低於去年的季度，甚至從歷史上看也是如此。去年我們的協調進程使這一點變得更加引人注目。所以，是的，24 年第一季的收入可能與第二、第三和第四季相比，是最低的季度。

Second, third, and fourth quarters should be relatively comparable level in terms of absolute dollars. On a year-over-year comparison basis, I mean, we're comparing baseline seasonality in '24 to a seasonality in '23. So on a revenue growth percentage basis, that cadence should be a little bit more consistent as we work our way through next year. So we focus on software and that is 60% of the revenue flow.

就絕對美元而言，第二、第三和第四季應該處於相對可比的水平。我的意思是，在逐年比較的基礎上，我們正​​在將 24 年的基線季節性與 23 年的季節性進行比較。因此，從收入成長百分比的角度來看，我們明年的工作節奏應該會更加一致。所以我們專注於軟體，這佔收入流的 60%。

On the service side, the slowest of quarters is usually our fourth quarter impacted tremendously by holiday -- or not holiday, but the summer season, both the mechanics of our own staff taking some time off, but our clients are taking time off, which has a tendency to slow projects activities.

在服務方面，最慢的季度通常是我們的第四季度，受到假期的巨大影響——或者不是假期，而是夏季，我們自己的員工休息了一些時間，但我們的客戶也在休息，這有減緩項目活動的趨勢。

And that's why in the last fourth quarter, the percentage of projects were mostly fixed-price projects. Time and materials are more interactive delivery. And if the client is on vacation, he is not calling up, time and material support. First quarter is usually a little slower on the consulting side, too. That's driven the holidays. It's a piece of that.

這就是為什麼在去年第四季度，專案所佔比例大部分是固定價格項目。時間和材料更互動傳遞。如果客戶正在度假，他就不會打電話，提供時間和物質支援。諮詢方面的第一季通常也會慢一些。這就是假期的動力。這是其中的一部分。

But it's also driven by -- first quarter is conference season, our industry conferences, most significant ones take place. There's one taking place right now in Orlando. There's another in a couple of weeks, the first week of November. So service revenue is a little bit more of a bell-shaped curve, if you will, in terms of first and fourth quarter, typically being a little bit lower.

但這也受到推動——第一季是會議季節，我們的產業會議，最重要的會議都會舉行。奧蘭多現在正在舉辦一場活動。幾週後，也就是十一月的第一周，還有一次。因此，如果你願意的話，就第一季和第四季而言，服務收入更像是鐘形曲線，通常會稍微低一些。

Got it. That's super helpful. And then maybe looking at the backlog, obviously, there was a nice pop there. Some of that was contribution from Immunetrics versus sounds like the rest of that was just solid effort from your sales and marketing team. Is there any way to break out the contribution from Immunetrics into your backlog?

知道了。這非常有幫助。然後也許看看積壓的訂單，顯然，那裡有一個很好的流行。其中一些是 Immunetrics 的貢獻，而聽起來其餘的只是您的銷售和行銷團隊的紮實努力。有什麼方法可以將 Immunetics 的貢獻分解到您的積壓工作中嗎？

We've not broken out the Immunetrics aside. We've not broken out the backlog historically by business unit in terms of the disciplines of PKPD in QSP and PBPK.

除了免疫學之外，我們還沒有突破。在 QSP 和 PBPK 的 PKPD 規則方面，我們尚未按業務部門劃分歷史積壓情況。

I can say that it was Immunetrics that contributed a bit. But they were dealing with a handful of accounts and a handful of projects. So while it's an addition, it's not the most significant. The most significant contributor there was a record quarter in terms of bookings on the PKPD side. I think it was the largest in our history.

我可以說免疫學做出了一些貢獻。但他們處理的是少數幾個帳戶和幾個項目。因此，雖然它是一個補充，但並不是最重要的。最重要的貢獻者是 PKPD 方面的季度預訂量創紀錄。我認為這是我們歷史上最大的一次。

Although we didn't go back all the way through early records there, a very good quarter in terms of that discipline, number of projects that are teed up beginning in the first quarter here, but certainly in the early part, early half of the fiscal '24. And so the largest contributor to that backlog increase was out of the PKPD business.

儘管我們沒有一路回顧那裡的早期記錄，但就該紀律而言，這是一個非常好的季度，從第一季度開始就開始準備的項目數量，但肯定是在早期，上半年的早期。財政' 24。因此，積壓訂單增加的最大貢獻者來自 PKPD 業務。

Got it. And then maybe last one and then I'll hop back into queue. Regarding the cross-selling opportunities, it sounds like there has been a very positive reception and it goes both ways. It sounds like both of your installed base as well as with the Immunetrics customers. But are you having some early success on the actual cross sales? Or is this more about building those relationships and kind of introducing them to the full product offering? Thank you.

知道了。然後也許是最後一個，然後我會跳回隊列。關於交叉銷售機會，聽起來反應非常積極，而且是雙向的。聽起來像是您的安裝基礎以及 Immunetrics 客戶。但您在實際交叉銷售方面是否取得了一些早期成功？或者這更多的是為了建立這些關係並向他們介紹完整的產品？謝謝。

Yes. I'd say, Matt, the biggest activity is within the QSP space in terms of the disciplines for therapeutic areas, I should say, on the Immunetrics side, providing visibility to our customers that don't overlap with theirs, the capabilities that we now have and adding names and opportunities to the pipeline to sell Immunetrics models into that client base.

是的。我想說，馬特，最大的活動是在 QSP 領域內的治療領域學科，我應該說，在免疫學方面，為我們的客戶提供與他們不重疊的可見性，我們的能力現在，我們已經擁有並向該客戶群銷售I​​mmunetics 模型的管道，並增加了名稱和機會。

In the other direction, Immunetrics comes to us with a small number of clients less than one digit in terms of total client. And many of those are large pharma that are customers of our other platform, software products, et cetera. So cross-selling into their installed base is a benefit but not a big contributor. The biggest contributor is in the direction of bringing the Immunetrics models into our much larger client base and creating opportunities to sell those models through to that community.

另一方面，Immunetrics 的客戶總數不到一位數。其中許多是大型製藥公司，他們是我們其他平台、軟體產品等的客戶。因此，交叉銷售到他們的安裝基礎是一個好處，但不是一個很大的貢獻者。最大的貢獻是將免疫學模型引入我們更大的客戶群，並創造機會向該社群銷售這些模型。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

David Larsen, BTIG.

大衛‧拉森，BTIG。

Can you talk a little bit about like GastroPlus? I think you had 10 new customers which looked very good. I think that compares to like four in the previous quarter. And it was the highest quarter, I think, of the year, maybe in the past two years. And then some 11 upsells, which also looked good.

可以談談 GastroPlus 嗎？我認為你們有 10 個新客戶，看起來非常好。我認為與上一季的大約四個相比。我認為這是今年最高的季度，也許是過去兩年中最高的季度。然後還有 11 次追加銷售，看起來也不錯。

But I think your revenue actually for GastroPlus maybe declined sequentially despite the large number of new customers and upsells. Can you just talk a little bit about what drove that? And is it the renewal rates based on both fees and accounts?

但我認為，儘管有大量新客戶和追加銷售，但 GastroPlus 的實際收入可能會持續下降。您能簡單談談是什麼推動了這一點嗎？續訂費率是基於費用和帳戶的嗎？

It's a couple of things there, Dave. One, sequential quarters, keep in mind that the revenue for -- a software revenue for a given product or total software revenues from quarter to quarter because it's not a -- it's a recognition entirely upfront, 12-months license revenue taken on day one.

戴夫，有幾件事。一、連續幾個季度，請記住，特定產品的軟體收入或每季的軟體總收入，因為它不是完全預先確認的、第一天獲得的 12 個月許可收入。

So it doesn't build upon itself. From third quarter to fourth quarter, you're really dealing with what's the population of renewals and back quarter driving that number. And so I think while the harmonization process left us an absolute dollar revenue level equivalency in second, third, and fourth quarter, I think there's a little high -- going to be a little higher than the fourth quarter and that contributed there as well.

所以它不是建立在自身之上的。從第三季度到第四季度，您真正要處理的是續訂人數以及推動該數字的後季度。因此，我認為，雖然協調過程使我們在第二、第三和第四季度的絕對美元收入水平相當，但我認為有點高——將比第四季度略高，這也對此做出了貢獻。

However, as well in the fourth quarter, we saw a couple of non-renewals that impacted the renewal rate numbers that there that you saw were lost opportunities through M&A activity. And so that brought the fourth quarter down from where it could have been at those two acquisitions not contributed to the mix.

然而，在第四季度，我們也看到了一些影響續訂率數字的非續訂，您會看到，您看到的是透過併購活動失去的機會。因此，這使得第四季度的業績低於這兩項收購對組合沒有貢獻的情況。

There were a few biotech non-renewals and a couple of CRO non-renewals. There were a couple by QSP licenses, relatively small dollar amounts, but the programs for which they were being used were discontinued. So we had a few non-renewals in the fourth quarter that contributed to those renewal rates coming down.

有一些生物技術未續簽，還有一些 CRO 未續簽。有幾個 QSP 許可證，金額相對較小，但使用它們的程序已停止。因此，我們在第四季出現了一些未續訂的情況，導致續訂率下降。

Our typical experience here, often those M&A events lead to ultimately one to two companies sort themselves out fully. Those discussions reinvigorate and could come back to us. So they are now in our pipeline, if you will, and some of that can come back to us down the line.

我們在這裡的典型經驗是，這些併購事件通常最終會導致一到兩家公司徹底擺脫困境。這些討論重新煥發活力，並可能回到我們身上。因此，如果您願意的話，它們現在已經在我們的管道中，其中一些可以很快返回給我們。

But oftentimes, the immediate reaction once the combined organizations come together in an environment right now, not renewed and then we'll look at it down the road when the dust settles. So a few impacts from non-renewals in the fourth quarter where those numbers could have been higher.

但通常情況下，一旦合併後的組織在當前的環境中走到一起，就會立即做出反應，而不是更新，然後當塵埃落定後我們會再看看它。因此，第四季度不續約帶來了一些影響，這些數字本來可能會更高。

Thanks very much. That's very helpful. If you had to guess how much the M&A impacted revenue in the quarter, is there any sort of guess or ballpark figure? Could it have been $0.5 million, $1 million, just any sense for that?

非常感謝。這非常有幫助。如果您必須猜測併購對本季收入的影響有多大，是否有任何猜測或大概數字？可能是 50 萬美元、100 萬美元，這樣有意義嗎？

And I don't know if that's the level of sort of estimations I want to get into. You could go back and you could say, geez, you know, our historical fee rate is X and it was Y in the fourth quarter. Probably come to an estimate there of that magnitude. Impactful. And like I said, would look forward to '24 playing out, and we might see some of that revenue come back to us.

我不知道這是否是我想要進行的估計水平。你可以回去說，天哪，你知道，我們的歷史費率是 X，第四季是 Y。大概可以得出這樣的規模的估計。有影響力。就像我說的，我們期待 24 賽季的結束，我們可能會看到部分收入回到我們身邊。

Okay. And then in terms of price increases, just any color on what you would expect to see in fiscal '24 and what you were able to realize in fiscal '23? And then along, sort of related to that would be sort of wage inflation for your own scientists, like do you have to increase prices in order to recover more wage inflation? Or is it a more temperate environment heading into next year? Any thoughts there would be very helpful.

好的。然後就價格上漲而言，您期望在 24 財年看到什麼以及您在 23 財年能夠實現什麼？然後，與此相關的是你們自己的科學家的薪資通膨，例如你是否必須提高價格才能恢復更多的薪資通膨？還是明年的環境會比較溫和？任何想法都會非常有幫助。

Yeah. No, good question. Top line first, in terms of price increases, as we've stated before, we were more aggressive during fiscal year '23 than we had been in the past and certainly was an environment with macroeconomic inflation, down to specific market compensation increases and the industry put the scientific community in question here, make that increase price increase at least understandable as to its starting point.

是的。不，好問題。首先，就價格上漲而言，正如我們之前所說，我們在 23 財年比過去更加積極，而且肯定是宏觀經濟通膨的環境，具體到特定的市場薪酬上漲和工業界在這裡向科學界提出了質疑，使價格上漲至少在其出發點上是可以理解的。

Not that it didn't come with the negotiation and pushback, but we yielded very well in that environment. And I think it speaks to the capabilities of our team that we put together in terms of our client-facing organization, as well as the partnership we have with our clients there.

並不是說沒有談判和阻力，但我們在那種環境下取得了很好的成果。我認為這說明了我們在面向客戶的組織方面所組成的團隊的能力，以及我們與客戶之間的合​​作關係。

They're accepting of, hey, those increases come back and are returned back to them in terms of it continuing to fund a very robust delivery out of our R&D organization with higher quality or functionality down the road. So our yield was doubled in '24 versus '23. That price increase, which was twice as much as it typically has been in the past.

他們正在接受，嘿，這些增加會回來並返回給他們，因為它將繼續為我們的研發組織提供非常強勁的交付資金，並在未來提供更高的品質或功能。因此，我們的產量在 24 年比 23 年翻了一番。價格上漲幅度是過去通常水準的兩倍。

As we turn to in '24, a little bit different market. Inflation is still present out there. Still, though with an environment in which our clients are pretty budget constrained. And the biggest difference is that on the other side, the expense side, there's been a settling down of the marketplace in terms of the cost of scientists in this field. And the job hopping that somewhat contributes to inflated compensation offers out there has settled down.

當我們轉向 24 年時，市場略有不同。通貨膨脹仍然存在。儘管如此，儘管我們的客戶的預算相當有限。最大的區別是，在另一方面，即費用方面，市場在該領域科學家的成本方面已經穩定下來。跳槽現像在某種程度上導致了薪酬過高，這種情況已經穩定下來。

And so certainly that momentum goes away and our expectations in '24 return back somewhere between '22 and '23 in terms of anticipated price increases as we go forward into next year. So good yield in '23 in terms of price increase more significant than in the past. We still expect the contribution from price increase as we go into '24. but not to the level of 23.

因此，這種勢頭肯定會消失，隨著我們進入明年，就預期價格上漲而言，我們對 24 年的預期將回到 22 年至 23 年之間。所以23年的產量不錯，價格漲幅比過去更顯著。進入 24 年，我們仍然預期價格上漲的貢獻。但還沒達到23級。

On the expense side, I kind of said the story compensation in this community has settled down. I mean, while there is naturally some merit increase that takes place from year to year on a stagnant and salaried environment, but it's nothing compared to the year prior.

在費用方面，我可以說這個社區的故事補償已經穩定下來。我的意思是，雖然在停滯不前的薪資環境中，年復一年自然會出現一些績效成長，但與前一年相比，這根本不算什麼。

Okay. Thanks very much. That's very helpful.

好的。非常感謝。這非常有幫助。

Thanks, Dave.

謝謝，戴夫。

Dave Windley, Jefferies.

戴夫·溫德利，杰弗里斯。

Good evening. Thanks for taking my question. Just a couple of quick ones. And I think bigger picture, Shawn, I'm wondering if the IRA and the changing incentives from that and the potential to restack pipeline priorities presents an opportunity for biosimulation to help in that restacking or reevaluating of opportunities? You know, our pipeline priorities, that might change because of no differential incentives on larger small molecules.

晚安.感謝您提出我的問題。只是幾個快速的。我認為從更大的角度來看，肖恩，我想知道IRA 和由此產生的不斷變化的激勵措施以及重新排列優先順序的潛力是否為生物模擬提供了機會，以幫助重新排列或重新評估機會？你知道，我們的管道優先事項可能會發生變化，因為對較大的小分子沒有差別激勵。

The world of modeling and simulation participate on both sides and actually the sort of development of the modeling applications on the large molecule or biologic side, sort of second in line in terms of most of our work was in small molecule historically.

建模和模擬領域涉及雙方，實際上，大分子或生物方面的建模應用程式的開發，就我們的大部分工作而言，歷史上排在第二位的是小分子。

And so it's a smaller base of activity that is growing quite rapidly, quite frankly. Just the investment in the programs, volume of programs in biologics for large molecules has increased. So I think as we move forward in the year, we continue to meet the demands of providing technology and capability and scientific support on the biologic side and are doing so. And I see that as a disproportionate contributor to our growth going forward.

因此，坦白說，這是一個規模較小的活動，但成長相當迅速。僅項目投資、大分子生物製劑項目數量就有所增加。因此，我認為，隨著我們今年的前進，我們將繼續滿足在生物方面提供技術和能力以及科學支援的需求，並且正在這樣做。我認為這對我們未來的成長做出了不成比例的貢獻。

Got it. Thank you for that. And then in your prepared remarks, you talked about I think it was a PBPK client example at the IND stage. And I know that -- I've seen parts of your company present or market at Society of Toxicology. So I know you have a role to play in that earlier stage.

知道了。謝謝你。然後在您準備好的發言中，您談到我認為這是 IND 階段的 PBPK 用戶端範例。我知道——我已經看到你們公司的部分成員在毒理學協會進行展示或行銷。所以我知道你在早期階段可以發揮作用。

And I'm wondering if the difficulties for biotechs, particularly large molecule, to get access to nonhuman primates in that safety assessment stage, if that has percolated to opportunities for your business and simulation to try to get around that bottleneck in the supply chain.

我想知道生物技術（尤其是大分子）在安全評估階段獲得非人靈長類動物的困難是否會滲透到您的業務和模擬中，以嘗試繞過供應鏈中的瓶頸。

Yeah. Certainly it's a capability -- an issue that we can address our ability in the preset models in terms of species within GastroPlus, for example, provide tremendous impact in terms of situations where animal studies are looking to be reduced in terms of population size and the ability to turn around and predict smaller populations into human. And so yes, no, it's certainly something that -- having a positive impact in terms of our communications with clients and pipeline opportunities.

是的。當然，這是一種能力——我們可以在 GastroPlus 中的預設模型中解決我們在物種方面的能力問題，例如，在動物研究尋求減少族群規模和將較小的族群轉變為人類的能力。所以，是的，不，這肯定會對我們與客戶的溝通和管道機會產生正面的影響。

Super. Thank you again for taking my questions. Have a great night.

極好的。再次感謝您回答我的問題。祝你有個愉快的夜晚。

Yeah. You too, thanks.

是的。你也是，謝謝。

At this time, there are no further questions. I would like to hand the floor back over to Mr. Shawn O'Connor for any closing comments.

目前，沒有其他問題了。我想將發言權交還給肖恩·奧康納先生，請他發表結束語。

Well, thanks, everyone, for your attention. Good year. On our part, we're very cautiously optimistic, I guess, is the best word as we enter 2024 with some good momentum coming out of this past year. And a great team on board that performed very well this past year and look forward to their continued contributions in the next year. Thanks for your attention and look forward to talking to you again soon. Take care.

嗯，謝謝大家的關注。豐年。就我們而言，我想，在我們進入 2024 年之際，我們非常謹慎樂觀，這是最好的詞，過去的一年出現了一些良好的勢頭。船上有一支出色的團隊，在過去的一年中表現出色，並期待他們在明年繼續做出貢獻。感謝您的關注，並期待很快再次與您交談。小心。

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。