Synchronoss Technologies Inc (SNCR) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings and welcome to the Synchronoss Technologies fourth quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

問候並歡迎參加 Synchronoss Technologies 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）提醒一下，本次會議正在錄音。

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Ryan Gardella of Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

現在我很高興介紹你們的主持人，投資者關係部門的 Ryan Gardella。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Thanks, Matt. Good afternoon and welcome to the Synchronoss Technologies fourth quarter and full year 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Joining us today are Synchronoss Technologies President and CEO, Jeff Miller; and CFO, Louis Ferraro. By now, everybody should have access to the company's fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings press release issued this afternoon, which is available on the Investor Relations section of our website.

謝謝，馬特。下午好，歡迎參加 Synchronoss Technologies 2024 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。今天與我們一起參加活動的有 Synchronoss Technologies 總裁兼執行長 Jeff Miller；和財務長 Louis Ferraro。現在，每個人都應該可以看到今天下午發布的公司第四季度和 2024 年全年收益新聞稿，該新聞稿可在我們網站的投資者關係部分查閱。

Today's call will begin with remarks from Jeff and Lou, after which we will host a question-and-answer session. Before we conclude, I'll provide the necessary cautions regarding the forward-looking statements made by management during this call. I would like to remind everyone that this call will be recorded and made available for replay via the link Investor Relations section of the company's website.

今天的電話會議將以傑夫和盧的演講開始，之後我們將舉辦問答環節。在我們結束之前，我將對管理層在本次電話會議中做出的前瞻性陳述提供必要的警告。我想提醒大家，本次電話會議將會被錄音，並可透過公司網站的投資人關係部分連結重播。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to Jeff Miller, President and CEO of Synchronoss.

現在我想將電話轉給 Synchronoss 總裁兼執行長 Jeff Miller。

Thank you, Ryan. Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining today's call. 2024 was a landmark year for Synchronoss, one which saw the completion of our strategic transformation to a high-margin global cloud solutions provider that is generating positive free cash flow and approximately 29% adjusted EBITDA margins.

謝謝你，瑞安。歡迎大家，感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。 2024 年對於 Synchronoss 來說是具有里程碑意義的一年，這一年我們完成了策略轉型，成為一家高利潤的全球雲端解決方案提供商，並產生了正的自由現金流和約 29% 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率。

We're pleased to have concluded 2024 with 6% year-over-year subscriber growth in the fourth quarter, which contributed to a full year revenue of $173.6 million, a 5.7% increase year-over-year and above the midpoint of our outlook.

我們很高興看到 2024 年第四季用戶數量年增 6%，全年營收達到 1.736 億美元，年增 5.7%，高於我們預期的中位數。

We also achieved over $50 million of adjusted EBITDA for the full year, an increase of approximately 61% year-over-year and above the high end of our revised annual outlook range. This improved profitability resulted in more than $20 million in positive income from operations and generation of $8.8 million in net cash flow.

我們還實現了全年超過 5000 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA，同比增長約 61%，高於我們修訂後的年度展望範圍的高端。獲利能力的提高帶來了超過 2000 萬美元的正營業收入和 880 萬美元的淨現金流。

Our teamwork has worked hard and diligently to beat expectations, and I'm proud of their efforts that they've put forth to achieve it. Our transformation to a global cloud solutions provider has resulted in stable recurring revenue model, now with 90% of our revenues of total revenues greater in the recurring revenue bucket and approximately 30% adjusted EBITDA margins in the fourth quarter and free cash flow generation.

我們的團隊努力拼搏，超越預期，我為他們為實現這一目標所付出的努力感到自豪。我們向全球雲端解決方案供應商的轉型帶來了穩定的經常性收入模式，目前我們的總收入中有 90% 以上來自經常性收入，第四季度調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率約為 30%，並產生了自由現金流。

In addition to our financial results, during the quarter, we signed two significant multiyear contract extensions with existing customers, AT&T and SFR. The successful three-year extension of the AT&T contract through 2027 marks a key milestone for us in that we now have over 90% of our 2025 projected revenue under multiyear contract with global Tier 1 customers, further strengthening the foundation of our business and making us poised for future growth.

除了財務業績外，在本季度，我們還與現有客戶 AT&T 和 SFR 簽署了兩份重要的多年合約續約協議。AT&T 合約成功續約三年至 2027 年，這對我們來說是一個重要的里程碑，因為我們現在有超過 90% 的 2025 年預計收入來自與全球一級客戶簽訂的多年期合同，這進一步加強了我們的業務基礎，並使我們為未來的增長做好準備。

As a reminder, in 2023, we extended our contractual relationship with Verizon through the year 2030. That year also kicked off the Five-year agreement with SoftBank, which carries into 2028. We also introduced additional enhancements to our cloud platform during the quarter, which we've showcased at this year's Consumer Electronics Show and last week's global industry event known as Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

提醒一下，2023 年，我們將與 Verizon 的合約關係延長至 2030 年。同年也啟動了與軟銀的五年協議，該協議將持續到 2028 年。我們也對本季我們的雲端平台進行了額外的增強，並在今年的消費電子展和上週在巴塞隆納舉行的全球產業盛會世界行動通訊大會上進行了展示。

Leveraging AI and machine learning, we enhance the presentation inquiries for our subscribers, inviting them to revisit and share their most precious moments in the form of a slide show with atmospheric soundtracks, which also increases user engagement with our platform.

利用人工智慧和機器學習，我們增強了訂閱者的簡報查詢，邀請他們以帶有氛圍音軌的幻燈片形式重新回顧和分享他們最珍貴的時刻，這也增加了用戶對我們平台的參與度。

Our performance in the fourth quarter was the result of a cloud focus of our business and the execution of our full team, which delivered year-over-year revenue growth and generated significant value for our key stakeholders.

我們第四季的業績得益於我們業務的雲端重點以及整個團隊的執行力，這實現了同比增長，並為我們的主要利益相關者創造了巨大的價值。

Today, I also want to spend some time talking about the future of our business, our growth prospects and our 2025 financial guidance. First, let's discuss the growth opportunities with our current customers, where we continue to see significant opportunity to grow organically within the blue-chip customer base. We're continuing to work with our operator partners to expand the offering of our Personal Cloud solution to end users outside of the traditional phone upgrade cycle.

今天，我還想花一些時間談談我們業務的未來、我們的成長前景以及我們的 2025 年財務指引。首先，讓我們與現有客戶討論成長機會，我們繼續看到在藍籌客戶群中實現有機成長的巨大機會。我們將繼續與營運商合作夥伴合作，向傳統手機升級週期之外的最終用戶擴展我們的個人雲端解決方案。

By drawing upon a variety of relevant customer channels, including retail, digital, prepaid or value brands and the small and medium business market, or SMB, we're creating new inflection points in the customer journey to ensure that Synchronoss' white label solution remains front and center for our customers and users throughout their relationship with the operator.

透過利用各種相關的客戶管道，包括零售、數位、預付費或價值品牌以及中小型企業市場（SMB），我們正在客戶旅程中創造新的轉折點，以確保 Synchronoss 的白標解決方案在客戶和用戶與營運商的整個關係中始終處於中心位置。

We've seen positive early indicators of success here, including increased take rates through retail channels across all of our carrier partners, and are confident that continued expansion of these efforts will drive subscriber adoption for our Personal Cloud solution.

我們已經看到了積極的早期成功指標，包括透過所有營運商合作夥伴的零售管道提高的接受率，並且有信心，這些努力的持續擴展將推動用戶採用我們的個人雲端解決方案。

AT&T is demonstrating excellent subscriber growth momentum following their recent contract extension. In addition to expanding our Personal Cloud solution offering outside the traditional upgrade cycle, we've taken steps to improve the availability and ease of adoption of their offering in the phone onboarding process at AT&T. And we're experiencing very positive results from this improvement.

AT&T 在近期續約後展現出了出色的用戶成長勢頭。除了在傳統升級週期之外擴展我們的個人雲端解決方案之外，我們還採取措施提高其產品在 AT&T 電話入職流程中的可用性和易用性。我們從這項改進中獲得了非常積極的成果。

And following the recent launch of the new Samsung Galaxy product line, we're seeing dramatically improved frequency of cloud offer presentment and higher take rates. We also have exciting plans to continue our growth in adoption with SoftBank in Japan, bringing the Anshin Data Box to more subscribers throughout their retail and digital channels.

隨著三星 Galaxy 產品線近期的推出，我們看到雲端服務呈現頻率顯著提高，接受率也更高。我們還制定了令人興奮的計劃，繼續與日本軟銀合作，擴大我們的應用範圍，透過零售和數位管道將安心數據盒帶給更多的用戶。

We're encouraged at the early pace of cloud subscriber adoption during the first full year of operation, yet (technical difficulty) with SoftBank's mobile customers is less than 2%. And therefore, we believe there is a large and growing opportunity in Japan to add to our subscriber base.

我們對營運第一年雲端用戶採用的早期速度感到鼓舞，但軟銀行動客戶的（技術難度）不到 2%。因此，我們相信，日本擁有龐大且不斷成長的擴大我們用戶群的機會。

Now let's talk about our attention -- turn our attention to Verizon, whose subscriber base represents a significant number of Synchronoss Personal Cloud users. In the fourth quarter, we continued to invest heavily in sales and training measures, which have been paying dividends in new subscriber additions.

現在讓我們來談談我們的關注點——將注意力轉向 Verizon，其用戶群代表了相當數量的 Synchronoss Personal Cloud 用戶。第四季度，我們繼續大力投資銷售和培訓措施，這些措施已在增加新用戶方面產生了回報。

During this time, we launched incentives through Verizon retail channels, which generated significant improvements in attach rates and in-store Verizon Cloud app downloads, which has translated to positive momentum that has continued in the first quarter.

在此期間，我們透過 Verizon 零售管道推出了激勵措施，顯著提高了附加率和店內 Verizon Cloud 應用下載量，這轉化為第一季持續的積極勢頭。

Verizon has also been shifting their strategy for their cloud offering to attract premium subscribers through their MyPlan Perks offering in recognition of the value that the Personal Cloud solution provides.

Verizon 也一直在改變其雲端產品策略，透過其 MyPlan Perks 產品吸引高階用戶，以認可個人雲端解決方案所提供的價值。

Following many years of bundling our product, Verizon is now transitioned to selling our Personal Cloud as one of their highly promoted and most successful perks on a stand-alone basis within their MyPlan offerings. This has dramatically increased the stickiness and engagement with new premium subscribers who pay monthly for Verizon Cloud.

經過多年捆綁銷售我們的產品之後，Verizon 現已轉型將我們的個人雲作為其 MyPlan 產品中獨立銷售的一項備受推崇且最成功的額外福利。這極大地提高了每月為 Verizon Cloud 付費的新高級用戶的黏性和參與度。

Additionally, Verizon is prioritizing the unlimited cloud offer as the lead customer option, increasing the average selling price of the solution and placing a spotlight on the compelling economic value of the unlimited offer versus the competition. We believe this will be a net positive for our business in 2025 as we work through the national -- natural transition of customers rolling off the bundled plans and in opting into individual perk options through MyPlan. In aggregate, we're expecting mid-single-digit subscriber growth across our existing customer base in 2025.

此外，Verizon 將無限雲端運算服務作為主要客戶選項，提高該解決方案的平均售價，並專注於無限雲端運算服務相對於競爭對手的顯著經濟價值。我們相信，隨著我們努力實現全國範圍內客戶從捆綁計劃自然過渡到透過 MyPlan 選擇個人福利選項，這對我們 2025 年的業務將產生淨利好。總體而言，我們預計 2025 年現有客戶群的用戶數量將實現中等個位數成長。

Next, let's talk about new customers and prospects. Our targeted sales efforts in 2024 have yielded a growing number of prospects that are evaluating our Personal Cloud solution as they seek new opportunities to drive revenue growth and customer retention.

接下來，我們來談談新客戶和潛在客戶。我們在 2024 年的目標銷售努力已經吸引了越來越多的潛在客戶，他們正在評估我們的個人雲端解決方案，尋求推動收入成長和客戶保留的新機會。

This engagement is providing us increased confidence in the potential sign -- to sign additional customer contracts to expand the reach of our global Personal Cloud solution. While obviously, we cannot provide any more information on these prospects until commercial terms and contracts are finalized, we believe that this will provide us with the additional subscribers needed over time to achieve our projected double-digit revenue growth in the coming years.

此次合作讓我們對潛在簽約更有信心——簽署更多客戶合同，擴大我們全球個人雲端解決方案的覆蓋範圍。雖然顯然，在商業條款和合約最終確定之前，我們無法提供有關這些前景的更多信息，但我們相信，這將為我們提供未來幾年實現預計的兩位數收入增長所需的額外用戶。

Now I want to talk about a new go-to-market strategy to accelerate adoption and global availability of our Personal Cloud solution, which supports our growth and goals and objectives. As you know, our business model is currently based on a white label resale of our Personal Cloud solution to major carriers and home broadband service providers. This model requires a certain level of investment and time to integrate for our carrier partners, which can limit the markets and geographies it's profitable to sell into.

現在我想談談新的市場進入策略，以加速我們的個人雲端解決方案的採用和全球可用性，這支持我們的成長和目標。如您所知，我們的業務模式目前是基於向主要營運商和家庭寬頻服務供應商轉售我們的個人雲端解決方案的白標轉售。這種模式需要我們的營運商合作夥伴投入一定程度的投資和時間來整合，這可能會限制其有利可圖的市場和地區。

During this year's Mobile World Congress event, we announced the general availability of Capsule, which is our Synchronoss-branded Personal Cloud product that we will be offering to smaller and international operators around the world, including in regions previously where it was not economical to offer the white label solution.

在今年的世界行動通訊大會上，我們宣布了 Capsule 的全面上市，這是我們的 Synchronoss 品牌個人雲端產品，我們將向世界各地的小型和國際營運商提供該產品，包括以前提供白標解決方案不經濟的地區。

We believe this is a large, long-term opportunity for Synchronoss with tens of millions of potential new subscribers being unlocked by knocking down financial obstacles for carriers since it requires no customization or integration to the carrier's ecosystem, yet does not sacrifice any of the features or functionality of our white label solution.

我們相信，這對 Synchronoss 來說是一個巨大的長期機遇，透過消除營運商的財務障礙，可以釋放數千萬潛在的新用戶，因為它不需要定製或整合到營運商的生態系統中，也不會犧牲我們白標解決方案的任何特性或功能。

With Capsule, all a carrier needs to do is agree to offer the service to their subscriber base, and we can onboard those subscribers immediately to the Capsule platform. We've already seen promising initial test results in our partnership with Telkomsel in Indonesia, with thousands of subscribers signing up in just the first couple of months.

有了 Capsule，營運商只需同意向其用戶群提供服務，我們就可以立即將這些用戶納入 Capsule 平台。我們與印尼 Telkomsel 的合作已取得了令人鼓舞的初步測試結果，僅在頭幾個月就有數千名用戶註冊。

Finally, I want to talk about our 2025 guidance. There are two items from 2024 that will affect our year-over-year top line revenue growth. First, we have approximately $2 million in professional services revenue from the completion of our SoftBank integration work that we believe will not recur in 2025, and that should be treated as a onetime contribution to our 2024 results.

最後，我想談談我們 2025 年的指導。從 2024 年開始，有兩項因素將影響我們年比營收的成長。首先，我們從完成軟銀整合工作中獲得了約 200 萬美元的專業服務收入，我們認為這筆收入在 2025 年不會再次出現，因此應將其視為對我們 2024 年業績的一次性貢獻。

Second, one of our European customers, BT, who is in the middle of a multiyear business rightsizing and transformation, has decided to wind down their legacy wireline cloud offering as part of a broader cost-reduction effort.

其次，我們的一個歐洲客戶 BT 正在進行多年的業務調整和轉型，作為更廣泛的成本削減措施的一部分，該公司已決定逐步停止其傳統的有線雲端服務。

This was the result of a business and branding consolidation effort and a deliberate shift in strategy by the customer and does not reflect any dissatisfaction with the performance of our cloud offering. In fact, during last week's Mobile World Congress, I met with senior leaders of BT on how to leverage our long-standing partnership and collective cloud experience and apply that to their latest brand strategy for broadband and mobile subscribers going forward. BT contributed approximately $6 million in annualized revenue in 2024 that is not expected to continue in 2025.

這是業務和品牌整合努力以及客戶刻意轉變策略的結果，並不反映對我們的雲端產品性能的任何不滿。事實上，在上週的世界行動通訊大會上，我與英國電信的高層領導會面，討論如何利用我們長期的合作夥伴關係和集體的雲端經驗，並將其應用於他們未來針對寬頻和行動用戶的最新品牌策略。英國電信在 2024 年貢獻了約 600 萬美元的年化收入，但預計 2025 年這一數字不會持續。

But with recurring revenue representing more than 90% of our 2025 total revenue projection, we're confident in our numbers for the next year and anticipate that the projected subscriber growth will compensate for these two events. As we move forward through 2025, I'm filled with confidence based upon the early positive signs of accelerated subscriber adoption at AT&T, the expansion of Verizon Cloud growth through retail, value and the SMB channels, and the significant opportunities that exist with only 2% subscriber penetration at SoftBank.

但由於經常性收入占我們 2025 年總收入預測的 90% 以上，我們對明年的數據充滿信心，並預計預期的用戶成長將彌補這兩件事的影響。隨著我們邁向 2025 年，我充滿信心，因為 AT&T 的用戶採用率加速成長的早期積極跡象、Verizon Cloud 透過零售、價值和 SMB 管道的成長擴張，以及軟銀僅為 2% 的用戶滲透率所存在的巨大機會。

I'm also encouraged by our active conversations with new cloud comer prospects and look forward to expanding the reach of our cloud platform, including our new Capsule offering, and then replicating the success that we've enjoyed with our existing customers.

我們與新的雲端運算潛在客戶的積極對話也讓我感到鼓舞，並期待擴大我們的雲端平台的覆蓋範圍，包括我們的新 Capsule 產品，然後複製我們與現有客戶所取得的成功。

We've taken concrete steps to pivot our business model and emerge as a high-margin, free cash flow-positive cloud provider and believe we are now poised for new customer expansion and continued growth. We're confident in our new business model, our product offering and strategy and feel that there is near-term opportunity for our growth in our existing customers our ability to add new customers and the promising rollout of Capsule.

我們已採取具體措施來調整我們的商業模式，成為高利潤、自由現金流為正的雲端供應商，並相信我們現在已準備好拓展新客戶並持續成長。我們對我們的新商業模式、產品供應和策略充滿信心，並認為我們在現有客戶、增加新客戶的能力以及 Capsule 的良好推出方面存在短期成長機會。

Now I'd like to pass the call over to Lou for a more detailed review of the financials.

現在我想把電話轉給 Lou，讓他更詳細地檢視一下財務狀況。

Thanks, Jeff, and thanks again to everyone joining us here today. First, I'd like to go over our key performance indicators, which we believe serve as an important benchmark for our company's success. Quarterly recurring revenue was 91% of total revenue in the fourth quarter versus 88% in the prior year period. We recorded year-over-year cloud subscriber growth of 6% in Q4.

謝謝傑夫，再次感謝今天與我們一起參加的每個人。首先，我想介紹我們的關鍵績效指標，我們認為這是我們公司成功的重要基準。第四季經常性收入佔總營收的 91%，去年同期為 88%。我們第四季的雲端用戶數量年增了 6%。

Turning now to our financial results for the fourth quarter and the full year ended December 31, 2024. Total revenue in the fourth quarter increased to $44.2 million from $41.4 million in the prior year period, an increase of 6.8%.

現在來看看我們截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的第四季和全年的財務表現。第四季總收入從去年同期的 4,140 萬美元增至 4,420 萬美元，增幅為 6.8%。

This revenue performance was primarily a result of the growth in cloud subscribers. Adjusted gross profit in the fourth quarter increased 12.7% to $35 million or 79.3% of total revenue from $31.1 million and 75.1% of total revenue in the prior year period.

這項收入表現主要得益於雲端用戶數量的成長。第四季調整後毛利從去年同期的 3,110 萬美元和總營收的 75.1% 成長 12.7% 至 3,500 萬美元或總營收的 79.3%。

Fourth quarter income from operations was $7.3 million, a significant improvement from $2.2 million in the prior year period. The increases in adjusted gross profit and income from operations were primarily due to the rise in revenue, coupled with continued post-divestiture expense management measures taken to streamline operations.

第四季營業收入為 730 萬美元，較去年同期的 220 萬美元有顯著改善。調整後毛利和營業收入的成長主要歸因於收入的成長，加上為精簡營運而採取的持續剝離後費用管理措施。

Looking at the full year. Total revenue increased 5.7% to $173.6 million from $165.2 million in the prior year. For the full year, adjusted gross profit increased 10.5% to $135.7 million or 78.2% of total revenue, up from $122.7 million or 74.7% of total revenue in 2023.

放眼全年。總收入從上年的 1.652 億美元成長 5.7% 至 1.736 億美元。全年調整後毛利成長 10.5% 至 1.357 億美元，佔總營收的 78.2%，高於 2023 年的 1.227 億美元，佔總營收的 74.7%。

Income from operations for the full year was up significantly to $21.7 million compared to a loss from operations of $10.6 million in 2023. This change was primarily the result of an increase in revenue combined with a significant year-over-year decrease in our SG&A expenses.

全年營業收入大幅成長至 2,170 萬美元，而 2023 年的營業虧損為 1,060 萬美元。這項變化主要是由於收入增加以及銷售、一般及行政費用較去年同期大幅下降所致。

As we have discussed on prior calls, while our interest expense line is up sequentially and year-over-year, this is primarily due to replacing our preferred stock and the associated 14% dividend with a lower interest-bearing term loan.

正如我們在之前的電話會議上所討論的那樣，雖然我們的利息支出環比和同比都在上升，但這主要是因為我們用較低利息的定期貸款取代了優先股和相關的 14% 股息。

When all factors are considered, the term loan financing structure results in a new quarterly interest expense of $4.5 million compared to a combined $5.1 million preferred stock dividend and interest expense in the second quarter of 2024.

綜合考慮所有因素，定期貸款融資結構導致新的季度利息支出為 450 萬美元，而 2024 年第二季度的優先股股息和利息支出總計為 510 萬美元。

Additionally, we also expect to benefit from falling interest rates as our financing is based on SOFR. Finally, we expect to amortize 2.5% of the loan per quarter, which will result in a $200,000 reduction in interest expense each year at current interest rates.

此外，由於我們的融資是基於 SOFR，我們也預期會受益於利率下降。最後，我們預計每季攤提 2.5% 的貸款，以當前利率計算，每年的利息支出將減少 20 萬美元。

Net income in Q4 was $7.9 million or $0.71 per diluted share as compared to a net loss of $35 million or $3.56 per diluted share in the prior year period. For the full year, net income was $4.6 million or $0.43 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $64.5 million or $6.62 per diluted share in 2023.

第四季淨收入為 790 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.71 美元，而去年同期淨虧損為 3,500 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 3.56 美元。全年淨收入為 460 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.43 美元，而 2023 年淨虧損為 6,450 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 6.62 美元。

In Q4, adjusted EBITDA improved to $13.9 million, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 31.4%, up from $10 million and 24.1% adjusted EBITDA margin in the prior year period. For the full year 2024, adjusted EBITDA -- decreased 60.6% to $50.4 million 29% of total revenue, up from $31.4 million or 19.1% of total revenue in the prior year.

第四季度，調整後 EBITDA 增至 1,390 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 31.4%，高於去年同期的 1,000 萬美元和 24.1% 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率。2024 年全年，調整後的 EBITDA 下降 60.6% 至 5,040 萬美元，佔總收入的 29%，高於上年的 3,140 萬美元或佔總收入的 19.1%。

Moving on to the balance sheet. Cash and cash equivalents were $33.4 million on December 31, 2024, compared to $25.2 million as of December -- as of September 30, 2024. In the fourth quarter of 2024, free cash flow was $9.1 million and adjusted free cash flow was $12 million compared to a negative $4.4 million of free cash flow and positive adjusted free cash flow of $1.4 million in the prior year period.

繼續討論資產負債表。2024 年 12 月 31 日的現金及現金等價物為 3,340 萬美元，而截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日為 2,520 萬美元。2024 年第四季，自由現金流為 910 萬美元，調整後自由現金流為 1,200 萬美元，去年同期自由現金流為負 440 萬美元，調整後自由現金流為正 140 萬美元。

Next, I would like to provide an update on our tax refund status. Recent events and conversations have resulted in our confidence level increasing materially that we are near the end of this extended and painful process for our shareholders.

接下來，我想介紹一下我們的退稅狀況。最近發生的事件和對話使我們的信心水平大幅提升，我們對於股東而言，這一漫長而痛苦的過程即將結束。

During the last quarter and the first part of 2025, we have undertook several active steps to increase the pressure on the regulatory bodies that control this process and express the immediate need for action on their part.

在2025年的最後一個季度和上半年，我們採取了多項積極措施，加大對控制這一進程的監管機構的壓力，並表達了他們立即採取行動的必要性。

These efforts appear to have had an impact, and we continue to receive indications from the IRS that solidifies our high level of confidence in receiving the entire tax refund, including accrued interest in the ensuing months.

這些努力似乎已經產生了影響，我們繼續收到來自美國國稅局的指示，這增強了我們對收到全部退稅（包括接下來幾個月的應計利息）的高度信心。

As a reminder, once we receive the refund, we are obligated under our current term loan to use 50% of the proceeds from the anticipated $28 million IRS tax refund plus half of the applicable interest to prepay a portion of the term loan at par. We'll update the entire financial community as soon as we receive more actionable information.

提醒一下，一旦我們收到退款，我們有義務根據當前的定期貸款，使用預期的 2800 萬美元 IRS 退稅收益的 50% 加上適用利息的一半來按面值預付部分定期貸款。一旦我們收到更多可操作的訊息，我們將立即向整個金融界通報。

Moving now to guidance. We are providing the following financial outlook ranges for the full year of 2025. For revenue, we expect a range of between $170 million and $180 million. For adjusted gross margin, we expect a range of 78% to 80%.

現在轉向指導。我們對 2025 年全年的財務前景做出以下預測。我們預計營收將在 1.7 億美元至 1.8 億美元之間。對於調整後的毛利率，我們預計範圍為 78% 至 80%。

For recurring revenue, we expect for this year to be at least 90% of our total revenue. For adjusted EBITDA, we expect a range of between $52 million and $56 million. And for free cash flow, we were expecting between $11 million and $16 million. This is not reflective of our expected federal tax refund and is purely to be generated by our business operations.

對於經常性收入，我們預計今年將占到總收入的至少 90%。對於調整後的 EBITDA，我們預計範圍在 5,200 萬美元至 5,600 萬美元之間。對於自由現金流，我們預計在 1100 萬美元至 1600 萬美元之間。這並不反映我們預期的聯邦退稅，而純粹是由我們的業務運作所產生的。

I'll now turn the call over to the operator for Q&A. Thank you very much for joining us.

我現在將電話轉給接線員進行問答。非常感謝您加入我們。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Richard Baldry from ROTH Capital.

羅仕資本（ROTH Capital）的理查德·鮑德里（Richard Baldry）。

Can you talk about to what degree you think your cost-cutting or efficiency efforts are completed? And then when you look out to next year, is there any seasonality we should expect either on the revenue side of the table or the OpEx side?

您能談談您認為削減成本或提高效率的努力完成到什麼程度嗎？那麼，展望明年，我們是否應該預期收入方面或營運支出方面會出現季節性變化？

Rich, excellent question. At this point in time, with the actions that we have taken in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the continued actions we took in 2024, we think our cost-cutting actions are substantially complete. However, we will always continue to look at our cost structure for efficiencies, especially as our technology organization continues to adapt and use more relevant AI technologies in their product development road maps. I'll let Jeff handle some of the -- part of your question, Rich, that relates to the seasonality and the timing of some of our revenue actions.

Rich，好問題。目前，憑藉我們在 2023 年第四季採取的行動以及 2024 年持續採取的行動，我們認為我們的成本削減行動已基本完成。然而，我們將始終持續關注我們的成本結構以提高效率，特別是當我們的技術組織在其產品開發路線圖中繼續適應和使用更多相關的人工智慧技術時。我會讓傑夫來處理你的問題中的一些部分，里奇，這部分與我們的一些收入行動的季節性和時間有關。

Great. Rich, thanks for joining us today. In general, I would say that you can anticipate that with 90% recurring revenue, we will have pretty steady revenue throughout 2025 with increases expected from Q1 through Q4. As we look at our range of expectations to hit the top end of the range, we'll probably see some additional lift expected in Q4 related primarily to an opportunity for new customer opportunities to contribute in year in that fourth quarter.

偉大的。里奇，感謝您今天加入我們。總的來說，我想說，您可以預期，憑藉 90% 的經常性收入，我們在 2025 年全年的收入將相當穩定，預計從第一季到第四季的收入將會增加。當我們審視我們的預期範圍以達到最高值時，我們可能會看到第四季度預期會出現一些額外的成長，這主要與第四季度新客戶機會的貢獻有關。

Great. And maybe circling back on part of one of the responses, when you think about AI and what it can do for the company, can you talk about how -- maybe 2 different directions. One, does it offer some new revenue opportunities where it can enhance the platform and offer some new things? Or do you feel like that will just become sort of new table stakes for the base offering?

偉大的。也許回到其中一個回應的部分內容，當您考慮人工智慧及其能為公司做些什麼時，您能否談談——也許是兩個不同的方向。第一，它是否提供了一些新的收入機會，可以增強平台並提供一些新的東西？還是您覺得這只不過是成為基礎產品的一種新籌碼？

And then a lot of companies we're talking to believe that internally, it can help them over time cut material costs, whether that's increasing efficiency of development or back-office efforts in accounting, et cetera. So how much do you view that as an opportunity to continue to kind of drive top line and expand margins?

我們交談過的許多公司都認為，從內部來看，它可以幫助他們隨著時間的推移削減材料成本，無論是提高開發效率還是增加會計後台工作量等等。那麼，您在多大程度上認為這是一個繼續推動營收成長和擴大利潤率的機會？

Thank you. You're looking at AI very much the same way we are. First, we're looking at it on the product platform and how it can both enrich the experience for consumer and has the potential to create additional opportunities for revenue. We have already employed AI extensively through both machine learning to present the types of memories that were going to be most relevant for you. And then we use generative AI through our Genius offering to allow AI to be placed in your hand so that you can take an old form of photo that might have been captured 20 years ago and update it with a 3D filter and make it an entirely new piece of artwork.

謝謝。您看待人工智慧的方式與我們非常相似。首先，我們在產品平台上研究它，以及它如何既能豐富消費者的體驗，又能創造額外的收入機會。我們透過機器學習廣泛運用人工智慧來呈現與您最相關的記憶類型。然後，我們透過 Genius 產品使用生成式人工智慧，讓人工智慧掌握在您的手中，讓您可以拍攝一張可能是 20 年前拍攝的舊照片，並使用 3D 濾鏡進行更新，使其成為一件全新的藝術品。

We have the ability to modularly turn on and turn off capabilities like Genius that in some customer deployments will allow us to charge that as a premium feature. That's not something we've employed to date because introducing this AI technology into the platform, but we have those elements in the platform to enable it.

我們能夠以模組化的方式開啟和關閉 Genius 等功能，在某些客戶部署中，我們可以將其作為高級功能收費。到目前為止，我們還沒有採用這種方法，因為將這種人工智慧技術引入平台，但我們在平台中擁有這些元素來實現它。

Now let me address your opportunities for efficiency. We are employing AI tools both for the operations of our business, just day-to-day, as well as in the development of our products, early phases of that, but we're already seeing mundane QA processes being employed through AI that are improving the operational efficiency of our development efforts. That has the promise of reducing operating expenses and allowing our talented team to focus on more interesting technology and feature enhancements. So we do think we'll see benefits on both sides.

現在讓我來談談您提高效率的機會。我們在日常業務運作以及產品開發的早期階段都使用人工智慧工具，但我們已經看到透過人工智慧應用的普通 QA 流程正在提高我們開發工作的營運效率。這有望降低營運費用，並讓我們的優秀團隊專注於更有趣的技術和功能增強。所以我們確實認為雙方都會受益。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Mike Latimore from Northland Capital.

來自 Northland Capital 的 Mike Latimore。

This is Aditya on behalf of Mike Latimore. Could you give some color on what are your plans on debt refinancing? Do you expect some delay in the repayment of the debt? Or what's the due date like?

我是邁克·拉蒂莫爾 (Mike Latimore) 的代表阿迪亞 (Aditya)。您能否詳細說明您的債務再融資計劃？您預計債務償還會有所延遲嗎？或是預產期是什麼時候？

Sure. So much as the company undertook when we renegotiated our preferred instrument in 2024, the debt refinancing is something that we are actively looking at. We're examining all of our options. And we feel that we will have a very clear and concrete path to refinance our senior notes and our term loan as well in the coming months, and we'll update the financial community once we are further down that path.

當然。正如我們在 2024 年重新談判我們的優先工具時公司所承諾的那樣，債務再融資是我們正在積極考慮的事情。我們正在研究所有的選擇。我們認為，在未來幾個月內，我們將有一個非常清晰和具體的途徑來為我們的優先票據和定期貸款進行再融資，一旦我們進一步推進這一途徑，我們將向金融界通報最新情況。

Got it. And could you also give some color on how important is the prepaid sector to the growth?

知道了。您能否解釋一下預付費產業對於成長的重要性？

Yes. Great question. It represents a relatively small percentage of our total customer base, I'd say less than 5% today. However, that prepaid segment, the value segment as Verizon refers to it, is one that is getting extra attention and more marketing and advertising dollars in the Verizon circles. So we believe that, that will be a catalyst for further subscriber growth and adoption through the launch of new brands that they have and/or integration of our cloud offer into the high end of those prepaid subscribers. So we expect it to grow as a percentage of total, and it will be a contributor, including in 2025, to our subscriber revenue projections.

是的。好問題。它占我們總客戶群的比例相對較小，我認為目前不到 5%。然而，預付費部分，即 Verizon 所稱的價值部分，在 Verizon 圈子裡得到了額外的關注以及更多的營銷和廣告費用。因此，我們相信，透過推出他們擁有的新品牌和/或將我們的雲端服務整合到這些預付費用戶的高端市場，這將成為進一步促進用戶成長和採用的催化劑。因此，我們預計其佔總收入的百分比將會成長，並且到 2025 年，它將成為我們用戶收入預測的一個貢獻者。

I'd like to turn the floor back to management for any closing comments.

我想將發言權交還給管理階層，請他們發表最後的評論。

Yes. Simply, before we go into the safe harbor statement, I'd like to first thank the employees of Synchronoss because we did have a transformative year in 2024, and it could not have been accomplished without their focus, their effort and their belief in the platform. I'd also like to thank the investor community for sticking with Synchronoss through many transitions. We feel like we now have a business model, a strategy and a product line that's a great foundation for growth, and we appreciate your ongoing support.

是的。簡單來說，在我們進入安全港聲明之前，我想先感謝 Synchronoss 的員工，因為我們在 2024 年確實經歷了變革的一年，如果沒有他們的專注、努力和對平台的信任，我們就不可能實現這一目標。我還要感謝投資者社群在多次轉型期間對 Synchronoss 的堅持。我們覺得我們現在擁有的商業模式、策略和產品線為成長奠定了良好的基礎，我們感謝您一直以來的支持。

With that, I'll turn it back to you, Ryan.

說完這些，我就把它交還給你，瑞安。

Thanks, Jeff. Before we conclude today's call, I would like to provide the Synchronoss safe harbor statement that includes important cautions regarding forward-looking statements made during this call. During this call, management may discuss certain factors which are likely to influence the company's business going forward.

謝謝，傑夫。在我們結束今天的電話會議之前，我想提供 Synchronoss 安全港聲明，其中包括對本次電話會議期間做出的前瞻性陳述的重要警告。在此次電話會議中，管理階層可能會討論某些可能影響公司未來業務的因素。

Any factors that are discussed today are not historical, particularly comments regarding our prospects and the market opportunities should be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These forward-looking statements include comments about the company's plans and expectations of future performance. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially.

今天討論的任何因素都不是歷史性的，特別是有關我們的前景和市場機會的評論應被視為適用證券法含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述包括對公司計劃和未來業績預期的評論。前瞻性陳述受多種風險和不確定因素的影響，可能導致實際結果大不相同。

All listeners are encouraged to review the company's SEC filings, including its most recent 10-K and 10-Q, for a description of these risks, Statements made during this call are made as of today, and the company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in expectations or otherwise, except where applicable by law.

鼓勵所有聽眾查閱該公司提交給美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 的文件，包括最新的 10-K 和 10-Q 報表，以了解這些風險的描述，本次電話會議中所作的聲明截至今日為止，本公司不承擔更新或修改任何此類前瞻性聲明的義務，無論是由於新資訊、未來事件、預期變化還是其他原因，除非適用。

Please note that today's -- throughout today's call, management will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures such as adjusted EBITDA. Although non-GAAP financial measures are derived from GAAP numbers, adjusted EBITDA does not necessarily equate to cash generated by operations that does not account for such items as deferred revenue or the capitalization of software development. Today's earnings release describes the differences between the company's non-GAAP and GAAP reporting and presents a reconciliation for the periods reported in the release.

請注意，在今天的電話會議中，管理層將討論某些非 GAAP 財務指標，例如調整後的 EBITDA。雖然非 GAAP 財務指標源自 GAAP 數字，但調整後的 EBITDA 並不一定等於不考慮遞延收入或軟體開發資本化等項目的經營活動產生的現金。今天的收益報告描述了公司非 GAAP 和 GAAP 報告之間的差異，並對報告中報告的期間進行了對帳。

Thank you for joining us today for Synchronoss Technologies Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Earnings Call. You may now disconnect.

感謝您今天參加 Synchronoss Technologies 2024 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。您現在可以斷開連線。