Star Equity Holdings Inc (STRR) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Star Equity Holdings' First Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call.

各位女士、先生，大家好，歡迎參加 Star Equity Holdings 2026 年第一季財務業績電話會議。

Please be advised that the discussions on today's call may include forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements.

敬請注意，今天電話會議中的討論可能包含前瞻性陳述。此類前瞻性陳述涉及若干風險與不確定性，可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述所載內容出現重大差異。

Please refer to Star Equity's most recent 10-K, 10-Q, and other filings for a more complete description of risk factors that could affect these projections and assumptions.

請參閱 Star Equity 最新的 10-K、10-Q 及其他申報文件，以取得可能影響這些預測與假設之風險因素的更完整說明。

The company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Please also note that on this call, management may reference non-GAAP financial measures, including EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, and adjusted earnings per share, which are all financial measures not recognized under U.S. GAAP.

本公司不承擔因新資訊、未來事件或其他原因而更新前瞻性陳述之任何義務。另請注意，在本次電話會議中，管理層可能會提及非 GAAP 財務衡量指標，包括 EBITDA、調整後 EBITDA、調整後淨利以及調整後每股盈餘，這些皆為美國GAAP 未予認列的財務衡量指標。

As required by SEC rules and regulations, these non-GAAP financial measures are reconciled to the most comparable GAAP financial measures in our earnings release issued yesterday afternoon.

依據美國證券交易委員會（SEC）之規則與法規要求，這些非 GAAP 財務衡量指標已在我們昨天下午發布的盈餘新聞稿中，與最具可比性的 GAAP 財務衡量指標進行調節。

If you did not receive a copy of the earnings release and would like one after the call, please contact Star Equity at 203-489-9500 or its investor relations representative, Lena Cati, of the Equity Group at 212-836-9611.

若您未收到盈餘新聞稿副本，並希望在會後索取，請致電 Star Equity：203-489-9500，或聯絡其投資人關係代表 Equity Group 的 Lena Cati：212-836-9611。

Also, this call is being broadcast live over the internet and may be accessed at the Star Equity's website via www.starequity.com. Shortly after the call, a replay will also be available on the company's website.

此外，本次電話會議將透過網際網路進行即時直播，可於 Star Equity 網站 www.starequity.com 收聽。會議結束後不久，公司網站亦將提供重播。

It is now my pleasure to introduce Jeff Eberwein, Chief Executive Officer of Star Equity.

現在我很榮幸介紹 Star Equity 執行長 Jeff Eberwein。

Thank you, operator, and welcome everyone. We greatly appreciate your interest in Star Equity Holdings, and we thank you for joining us today.

謝謝主持人，並歡迎各位。我們非常感謝各位對 Star Equity Holdings 的關注，也感謝各位今天與會。

I'll begin by reviewing the first quarter results for 2026 at the holding company level. After that, Jake Zabkowicz, Global CEO of Hudson Talent Solutions will give us an update on the performance of our Business Services division, finally, Rick Coleman, our Chief Operating Officer, will provide additional insights into the performance of our Building Solutions and Energy Services divisions.

我將先在控股公司層級回顧 2026 年第一季的業績。接著，Hudson Talent Solutions 全球執行長 Jake Zabkowicz 將更新我們商業服務事業部的表現；最後，我們的營運長 Rick Coleman 將就建築解決方案與能源服務事業部的表現提供更多洞見。

As highlighted on slide 3 of our earnings slides deck.

如我們盈餘簡報投影片第 3 頁所強調。

Our first quarter results reflect the merger we completed last August with revenue and gross profit showing strong year-over-year growth. These increases were driven largely by the inclusion of star operating companies results beginning after the merger closed August 22, 2025. We have realized approximately $2.6 million of merger synergies on an annualized basis, as shown on Slide 4, and that beats our initial expectation of about $2 million in merger synergies.

我們第一季的業績反映了去年 8 月完成的合併，營收與毛利均呈現強勁的年增成長。這些增幅主要來自於合併於 2025 年 8 月 22 日完成後，納入 Star 營運公司之業績。如投影片第 4 頁所示，我們已實現約 260 萬美元（年化）的合併綜效，且優於我們原先約 200 萬美元的合併綜效預期。

Going back to the first quarter, we were impacted by the timing of new project starts and broader macroeconomic conditions. Despite these near-term pressures, we continued to make progress advancing our strategic priorities and strengthening our operating platform.

回到第一季，我們受到新專案啟動時點以及更廣泛的總體經濟情勢影響。儘管面臨這些短期壓力，我們仍持續推進策略重點並強化營運平台。

Revenue increased 57% year-over-year to $50.1 million, Gross profit increased 25% to $20.6 million. We reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.6 million compared to a loss of $0.7 million in the prior-year period.

營收年增 57% 至 5,010 萬美元，毛利增加 25% 至 2,060 萬美元。我們報告的調整後 EBITDA 虧損為 160 萬美元，較去年同期虧損 70 萬美元擴大。

At the division level, our performance was mixed. Energy services delivered a strong quarter and continued to gain market share across key end markets.

在事業部層級，我們的表現好壞參半。能源服務交出強勁的一季，並持續在主要終端市場擴大市占率。

Business services was worse than expected in a challenging talent environment, and we continue to invest for growth.

商業服務在具挑戰的人才環境下表現不如預期，而我們仍持續投入以推動成長。

Building solutions was impacted by delayed project awards and weather-related disruptions. That said, we're already seeing signs of improvement as we move through the second quarter, supported by new business wins, improving activity levels, and continued operational and cost focus across the organization.

建築解決方案受到專案授標延遲及天候相關干擾影響。儘管如此，隨著我們進入第二季，在新業務得標、活動水準改善，以及全組織持續聚焦營運與成本的支持下，我們已開始看到改善跡象。

As shown on slide 5, we ended the first quarter with $10.3 million of total cash, including $2.2 million of restricted cash.

如投影片第 5 頁所示，我們在第一季末的現金總額為 1,030 萬美元，其中包含 220 萬美元的受限制現金。

During Q1, we used $1.4 million in operating cash flow. We generated a little over $3 million from the sale-leaseback transactions. We repurchased about $700,000 of stock on our share repurchase program, and we have $1.8 million remaining under the current authorization.

第一季期間，我們在營運現金流方面使用了 140 萬美元。我們透過售後回租交易產生了略高於 300 萬美元的資金。我們在庫藏股回購計畫下回購了約 70 萬美元的股票，而目前核准額度尚餘 180 萬美元。

Over the last 12 months, we've repurchased approximately $3.3 million of stock, and we continue to believe our stock is undervalued, and we view share repurchases as an extremely attractive use of our capital.

在過去 12 個月中，我們已回購約 330 萬美元的股票；我們仍認為公司股價被低估，並將股票回購視為資本運用上極具吸引力的選項。

Across the company, we remain focused on disciplined execution, cost management, and investing in growth initiatives that we believe will enhance our competitive position and drive improved financial performance over the balance of the year.

在全公司範圍內，我們仍專注於紀律執行、成本管理，並投資於我們相信能提升競爭地位、並在今年剩餘期間帶動財務表現改善的成長計畫。

Now, I'll turn it over to Jake to discuss our Hudson Talent Solutions business.

接下來我把時間交給 Jake，請他說明我們 Hudson Talent Solutions 業務。

Thank you, Jeff, and good morning.

謝謝你，Jeff，大家早安。

Our Business Services division continued to demonstrate solid top-line growth in the first quarter despite the challenging macroeconomic environment impacting many industries.

儘管總體經濟環境具挑戰、影響多個產業，我們的商業服務事業部在第一季仍持續展現穩健的營收成長。

As shown on Slide 10 of the deck, revenue increased by 9.8% and HTS year-over-year gross profit increased 6.4%, reflecting steady improvement despite continued macroeconomic sustained pressures in the talent market.

如簡報投影片第 10 頁所示，營收成長 9.8%，HTS 的年增毛利成長 6.4%；在人才市場持續承受總體經濟壓力之下，仍反映出穩步改善。

Regionally, the Americas and EMEA performed well with gross profit growth of 21% and 11%, respectively, partially offset by an 8% decline in Asia-Pac market, where the conditions remain more challenging.

就區域而言，美洲與 EMEA 表現良好，毛利分別成長 21% 與 11%；部分被亞太市場毛利下滑 8% 所抵銷，該區域的市場狀況仍較具挑戰。

We have maintained a strong focus on innovation and operational efficiencies, including the expanded deployment of our agentic AI solutions to enhance recruiter productivity, improve candidate matching, and deliver greater value to our clients. These efforts are helping us navigate the current environment while positioning us to capitalize on improving market conditions in the future.

我們持續高度聚焦創新與營運效率，包括擴大部署我們的代理式（agentic）AI 解決方案，以提升招募人員生產力、改善候選人媒合，並為客戶創造更高價值。這些努力正協助我們因應當前環境，同時讓我們在未來市場狀況改善時具備把握機會的有利位置。

As an example, new business activity accelerated meaningfully in the first quarter of 2026, exceeding levels seen in any quarter of 2025. We've also achieved multiple renewals in Q1 with many of our existing clients opting for a non-competitive engagement process. This shows the depth and breadth of our partnerships in a very competitive market.

例如，2026 年第一季的新業務活動明顯加速，超過 2025 年任何一季的水準。我們也在第一季與多家既有客戶完成多項續約，且許多客戶選擇採用非競爭性的合作流程。這顯示在競爭激烈的市場中，我們合作關係的深度與廣度。

We continue to take steps to strengthen our partnerships, maintain a disciplined approach to our investments and grow the business. We're executing our playbook of land and expand with recent wins coming off the acquisition in Japan, giving us a foothold to address previously untapped opportunities. We have also taken steps to recalibrate our business in the Middle East, maintaining our commitment to have a presence in the region, but being realistic about the opportunity there given the broader macroeconomic environment.

我們持續採取措施以強化合作夥伴關係，對投資維持紀律化作法並推動業務成長。我們正執行「先落地、再擴張（land and expand）」的策略劇本；近期的勝利來自日本的收購案，讓我們取得立足點以開拓先前未被觸及的機會。我們也已採取措施重新校準中東地區的業務：我們仍承諾在該區域維持據點，但在更廣泛的總體經濟環境下，也務實看待當地的機會。

Additionally, the enhancements to our geographical footprint and our product offerings, particularly our digital offering, have driven robust new logo interest. We have seen an uptick in customer conversations in recent months and are focused on forging long-term client relationships.

此外，我們在地理版圖與產品供給（特別是數位化產品）方面的強化，帶動了強勁的新客戶（new logo）興趣。近幾個月我們看到與客戶對話增加，並專注於建立長期的客戶關係。

We'll continue to take a disciplined approach as we execute our playbook for the remainder of the year. Looking ahead, we're focused on creating a more resilient, agile, and growth-oriented business for a longer-term.

在今年剩餘期間，我們將持續以紀律化方式執行我們的策略劇本。展望未來，我們專注於打造更具韌性、更敏捷且更以成長為導向的長期業務。

Now, I'm turning the call over to Rick, who will discuss the financial and operational performance of our Building Solutions and our Energy Services divisions.

現在我把電話會議交給 Rick，他將說明我們建築解決方案與能源服務事業部的財務與營運表現。

Rick.

Rick。

Thanks, Jake, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，Jake，各位早安。

I'll start with Building Solutions highlighted on Slide 8. First quarter performance, which normally-- while normally soft in the quarter, was below our expectations. A combination of delayed contract awards, severe winter weather across our key markets and continued macroeconomic pressures put downward pressure on both commercial and residential construction activity.

我先從投影片第 8 頁所強調的建築解決方案開始。第一季的表現——雖然該季通常偏淡——但仍低於我們的預期。合約授標延遲、我們主要市場遭遇嚴峻冬季天候，以及持續的總體經濟壓力等多重因素，對商用與住宅建築活動均造成下行壓力。

Revenue for the quarter was $11.6 million, gross profit was $1.6 million and adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $900,000. While these results were impacted by near-term factors, our sales pipeline and customer conversations indicate underlying demand remains intact.

本季營收為 1,160 萬美元，毛利為 160 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 為虧損 90 萬美元。儘管這些結果受到短期因素影響，我們的銷售管線與客戶對話顯示，基本需求仍然完好。

We're also encouraged by recent wins, including a $4.2 million New Hampshire multi-family housing project we announced in April.

我們也對近期的得標感到鼓舞，其中包括我們在 4 月宣布的一個新罕布夏州 420 萬美元的多戶住宅專案。

Moving on to Slide 9.

接下來請看第 9 頁投影片。

Our quarter-end backlog was $8.0 million, while the book-to-bill ratio of 0.72 times is a significant decline from Q4, it partially reflects the timing of significant projects, which slipped from Q1 to Q2. We expect backlog to rebuild as activity normalizes throughout the remainder of the year.

季末在手訂單（backlog）為 800 萬美元；雖然 0.72 倍的接單出貨比（book-to-bill）較第 4 季大幅下滑，但部分反映了重大專案時點的影響，這些專案從第 1 季延後至第 2 季。我們預期隨著今年剩餘期間活動恢復正常，在手訂單將回升。

Consistent with the strategy we outlined previously, we remain focused on disciplined project selection, operational execution, and margin management. We believe these priorities, combined with improving market conditions, position the business for stronger performance as the year progresses.

與我們先前所概述的策略一致，我們仍專注於嚴謹的專案篩選、營運執行與毛利率管理。我們相信，這些優先事項結合市場狀況改善，將使公司在今年進展過程中展現更強勁的表現。

Turning to Slide 13.

接著請看第 13 頁投影片。

The Energy Services Division delivered a strong quarter, maintaining the momentum we highlighted last quarter.

能源服務事業部本季表現強勁，延續我們上季所強調的動能。

Revenue was $3.5 million, gross profit was $1.5 million, and adjusted EBITDA was $1 million.

營收為 350 萬美元，毛利為 150 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 100 萬美元。

The business continues to gain share in core markets, with particularly strong mining and geothermal performance. These results reflect disciplined execution and the benefits of our diversified exposure across billing applications, which continues to differentiate the platform and support consistent growth.

該業務持續在核心市場提升市占率，其中採礦與地熱表現尤其強勁。這些成果反映了嚴謹的執行力，以及我們在各類計費應用上的多元曝險所帶來的效益；這點持續使平台具差異化並支持穩健成長。

Importantly, the division's strong growth has come as a result of market share gains in a declining rig count environment. We continue to invest in new tools to support this growth and believe the division is positioned to perform well in all conditions.

重要的是，該事業部的強勁成長是在鑽機數量下滑的環境中，透過市占率提升所達成。我們持續投資新工具以支援此成長，並相信該事業部在各種景氣條件下都具備良好表現的定位。

Recognizing that we represent a relatively small percentage of our customers, our largest customers' purchases, we're also incorporating their specific needs in our investment decisions.

鑑於我們在客戶（尤其是最大客戶）採購中所占比例相對較小，我們也會在投資決策中納入他們的特定需求。

In general, we believe we have significant opportunities to expand our presence in the geographies and markets we serve.

整體而言，我們相信在所服務的地理區域與市場中，仍有顯著機會擴大我們的布局。

I'll now turn the call back over to Jeff for closing remarks.

我現在把電話交回 Jeff，請他做結語。

Jeff.

Jeff。

Thank you, Rick.

謝謝你，Rick。

While the first quarter reflected expected seasonality and some near-term challenges, we're encouraged by improving activity levels, recent business wins, and the continued strength of our energy services platform.

雖然第 1 季反映了預期的季節性以及一些短期挑戰，但我們對活動水準改善、近期業務得標，以及能源服務平台持續強勁的表現感到鼓舞。

As we look ahead, our priorities remain consistent, driving organic growth, improving operational efficiency, and maintaining a rigorous approach to capital allocation.

展望未來，我們的優先事項仍然一致：推動內生成長、提升營運效率，並維持嚴謹的資本配置方法。

In parallel, we continue to evaluate accretive M&A opportunities across our operating divisions, as well as potential new verticals where we can apply our operating model.

同時，我們持續評估在各營運事業部具增益性的併購（M&A）機會，以及我們可運用營運模式切入的潛在新垂直領域。

Our confidence in the path forward is grounded in the progress made over the past year.

我們對前進路徑的信心，建立在過去一年所取得的進展之上。

2025 marked a pivotal period for Star following the August merger. We're beginning to realize the benefits of shared services, enhanced collaboration, and a more diversified holding company structure. This has strengthened our operating and financial position, expanded our strategic flexibility, and increased our capacity to execute on a multi-pronged growth strategy.

2025 年在 8 月合併後，對 Star 而言是關鍵的轉折期。我們正開始實現共享服務、強化協作，以及更為多元化的控股公司架構所帶來的效益。這已強化我們的營運與財務狀況，擴大策略彈性，並提升我們執行多管齊下成長策略的能力。

Across the organization, we're investing in people, technology, and processes to enhance scalability, deepen competitive advantages, and drive margin expansion and cash generation. This disciplined approach, combining organic execution with targeted external growth positions us to compound value over time.

在整個組織中，我們正投資於人才、科技與流程，以提升可擴展性、深化競爭優勢，並推動毛利率擴張與現金創造。這種紀律性的做法，將內生執行與有針對性的外部成長結合，使我們能隨時間累積價值。

With a stronger platform and a clear strategic roadmap, we believe we're well positioned to navigate the current environment and deliver improved performance over the balance of the year.

憑藉更強的平台與清晰的策略路線圖，我們相信我們已具備良好定位，能因應當前環境，並在今年剩餘期間交出更佳表現。

We remain confident in our long-term outlook and continue to believe our shares are undervalued relative to the strength of our business and the opportunities ahead.

我們對長期展望仍具信心，並持續認為相較於我們業務的實力與未來機會，我們的股價被低估。

Operator, can you please open the line for questions?

接線員，請開放提問線路，好嗎？

We will now begin the question-and-answer session.

我們現在開始問答環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

Joe Gomes, NOBLE Capital Markets.

Joe Gomes，NOBLE Capital Markets。

Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions.

早安。謝謝讓我提問。

Jeff, I don't know if you could give us a little more insight into your recent announcement on GEE Group and what you think your game plan for that investment is?

Jeff，我不確定你是否能就你們最近關於 GEE Group 的公告提供更多洞見，以及你認為這項投資的行動計畫會是什麼？

Sure. Thanks for asking, Joe.

當然可以。謝謝你的提問，Joe。

We identified GEE Group as an interesting investment, partly because it was trading below cash per share, which you don't see very often. And also, we thought it could potentially be a good fit for our business services division and could have some synergies with our Hudson Talent business.

我們將 GEE Group 視為一項有趣的投資，部分原因是它的交易價格低於每股現金價值，這種情況並不常見。此外，我們認為它可能與我們的商業服務事業部相當契合，並可能與我們的 Hudson Talent 業務產生一些綜效。

And on top of that, Star itself is an amalgamation of a few different companies, and we completed a merger last year where we initially thought we would realize cost savings of $2 million, and that number came in at $2.6 million. So, we've shown-- we believe we've shown that merging another micro-cap into our structure, we can reduce a significant amount of unneeded duplicative costs.

另外，Star 本身就是由幾家不同公司整合而成；我們去年完成一項合併，當時原先預期可實現 200 萬美元的成本節省，最終達到 260 萬美元。因此，我們已經展現——我們相信我們已展現——將另一家微型市值公司併入我們的架構中，能夠降低相當可觀且不必要的重複成本。

And on GEE Group specifically, we were glad that they hired a financial advisor and that they decided to run a more formal process and we are participating from the outside. We only have public information. We don't have any material non-public information on GEE group at this time. And we decided to really kick off the bidding process, for lack of a better term, by throwing a number out there and importantly our bid is contingent on the management team there, agreeing to more normal and customary severance

至於 GEE Group 具體而言，我們很高興他們聘請了財務顧問，並決定啟動更正式的流程，而我們是以外部身分參與。我們僅掌握公開資訊。目前我們沒有任何關於 GEE Group 的重大非公開資訊。而我們決定——姑且這麼說——透過提出一個數字來真正啟動競標流程；重要的是，我們的出價以該處管理團隊同意更為正常且慣常的資遣條件為前提。

So, we'll see how it plays out. There's scenarios where we could be the winning bidder there's scenarios where other people outbid us. And when we enter into these situations, we like to own somewhere between 5% and 10% of the target. So, if we are outbid, we make money in our investment, and it also gives us more credibility when we go public and bid that we are also a shareholder. So we'll just have to wait and see how it plays out.

所以，我們會看看結果如何。有些情境下我們可能成為得標者，也有些情境下其他人會出更高的價。而在進入這類情況時，我們通常希望持有標的約 5% 到 10% 的股份。因此，如果我們被更高價超越，我們在投資上仍能獲利；同時，當我們公開提出收購時，作為股東也能提升我們的可信度。所以只能等待看看後續發展。

But either way, either one of those outcomes would be positive for us if we end up being a winning bidder or if someone outbids us and we make a nice profit on our investment.

但無論如何，若我們成為得標者，或是有人出更高價而我們在投資上獲得不錯的利潤，這兩種結果對我們而言都是正面的。

Thanks for the update. And then, one of the things we talked about in the past is monetization of some of the real estate assets and/or some of the private investments that you guys have, and maybe you could give us an update there. And kind of similarly, you've got the Oxford Maine plant that you've talked about potentially restarting, where does that stand at this point?

謝謝更新。另外，我們過去談過將部分不動產資產和／或你們持有的一些私募投資變現，你或許可以在這方面提供最新進度。同樣地，你們也提到過可能重啟 Oxford（緬因州）的工廠，目前進展到哪一步？

Yeah, great. Another great question, Joe. So, we have talked about having-- we believe, at least $20 million of assets that don't really generate any EBITDA or certainly not meaningful EBITDA that will get, we believe, will get converted to cash over time. And we did demonstrate that by completing the sale leasebacks on the assets that came with the Alliance Drilling Tools acquisition that we made a little over a year ago.

好的，很好。又是一個很好的問題，Joe。我們確實談過——我們相信至少有 2,000 萬美元的資產，基本上不產生任何 EBITDA，或至少不產生有意義的 EBITDA；我們相信這些資產會隨時間逐步轉換為現金。而我們也透過完成售後回租（sale-leaseback）交易來證明這點，該交易涉及我們在一年多前收購 Alliance Drilling Tools 時一併取得的資產。

And the two remaining significant pieces of real estate we own; one is the real estate that came with the Timber Technology acquisition two years ago. And then, as you pointed out, we have an idol factory in Maine, and both of those pieces of real estate, we believe could either be monetized via sale leaseback transaction or just sold for cash. And I think, I can't remember the estimate off the top of my head, but it's in our investor deck. It's somewhere in the $8 million to $10 million range for those two added together, we believe.

我們目前仍持有的兩項主要不動產：其一是兩年前收購 Timber Technology 時一併取得的不動產。另外，如你所指出，我們在緬因州有一座閒置工廠；我們相信這兩項不動產都可能透過售後回租交易變現，或直接出售換取現金。我一時想不起來確切估值，但在我們的投資人簡報中有提到。我們認為兩者合計大約在 800 萬到 1,000 萬美元的區間。

And then on the Catalyst MedTech investment, the majority shareholder there is a private equity firm in New York City, and that business is doing well once again, completing acquisitions, having nice growth, having a nice future, and like all private equity investments, the private equity firm will exit at some point. And our policy has always been we're just going to mark this investment using the same methodology of the PE firm does. And so there was a downturn a temporary downturn in the performance of that company, and so the PE firm marked it down on their books. This was in the-- I think really the 2024 timeframe that might have continued into 2025. And so, we just marked it down on our books the same way they mark it down on their books. And then now that performance has improved, they have marked it back up to our original mark from when we closed that transaction in May of 2023. But under GAAP accounting, we are not allowed to do that. So, we're in the uncomfortable spot of having a different NAV for the exact same investment as what the PE firm has.

接著談到 Catalyst MedTech 的投資，那邊的大股東是一家位於紐約市的私募股權公司，而那項業務再次表現良好，持續完成併購、成長亮眼、前景也不錯；而且就像所有私募股權投資一樣，那家私募股權公司終究會在某個時間點退出。我們的政策一向是：我們只會用與該私募股權公司相同的方法來對這項投資進行估值調整。因此，該公司業績曾出現一段暫時性的下滑，所以私募股權公司在其帳上將其估值下調。這是在——我想大概是 2024 年期間，可能延續到 2025 年。所以我們也就用他們在帳上如何下調的方式，同樣在我們帳上做下調。而現在業績改善了，他們已把估值調回到我們在 2023 年 5 月完成該交易時的原始估值水準。但依照 GAAP 會計準則，我們不被允許這麼做。因此，我們處於一個不太舒服的狀況：對於完全相同的一項投資，我們的 NAV 與該私募股權公司的 NAV 不一致。

But long story short, that will get converted to cash whenever the PE firm feels like it's right to investigate alternatives.

但長話短說，只要那家私募股權公司覺得是時候評估各種替代方案，這項投資就會轉換成現金。

Okay, thanks for that. I'll get back in queue.

好的，謝謝你的說明。我回到隊列。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Theodore R. O'Neill, Litchfield Hills Research.

Theodore R. O'Neill，Litchfield Hills Research。

Oh, thanks very much.

噢，非常感謝。

For Rick, on the building solutions, can you talk about geographically where you're seeing some strength going here in the second quarter?

想請教 Rick，關於建築解決方案這塊，你能談談在第二季你們在哪些地理區域看到一些走強的跡象嗎？

Go ahead, Rick.

Rick，你來回答吧。

Thanks, Theo, sure. Happy to address that.

謝謝，Theo，當然可以。很樂意回應這個問題。

We have good visibility to our pipeline, particularly in KBS, our modular home company in Maine, where we have larger projects, so higher revenue projects.

我們對管線的能見度很高，特別是在 KBS——我們在緬因州的模組化住宅公司——那裡有較大型的專案，因此是營收較高的專案。

And we can see beginning at the early stage of the pipeline where the opportunities are, and then as we move through the pipeline and we begin talking about building modular components for our construction partners, we call that the active pipeline.

我們在管線的早期階段就能看出機會在哪裡；接著當我們沿著管線往前推進，開始與我們的施工合作夥伴討論為其建造模組化組件時，我們把那稱為「活躍管線」。

The active pipeline are those projects where we're negotiating. The terms, we're doing the initial design work, but we still haven't signed a contract. So as we look into the active pipeline, we feel pretty confident there's strong demand still for more construction activity.

活躍管線指的是我們正在談判的那些專案。我們在談條款、做初步設計工作，但仍尚未簽約。因此，當我們觀察活躍管線時，我們相當有信心，對更多施工活動的需求仍然強勁。

But with interest rates where they are and a lot of uncertainty about interest rates, as well as now we have a war in the Middle East and a number of other things, it's just been very difficult to move those projects out of the pipeline and into construction-ready mode.

但在目前利率水準，以及對利率走向存在許多不確定性的情況下，再加上現在中東爆發戰爭以及其他一些因素，要把這些專案從管線推進到可進場施工的狀態，一直都非常困難。

But I think that based on what we're seeing here recently, we're going to see significant improvement in the second quarter.

不過我認為，根據我們最近看到的情況，第二季將會出現顯著改善。

Okay. And I don't know if this is a question for you, Rick, but on the energy services, yeah, you or Jeff, could you talk about if there are any dynamics related to the change in oil price and the drilling service business?

好的。另外我不確定這是不是要問你，Rick，但關於能源服務這塊——你或 Jeff 能否談談油價變動與鑽井服務業務之間是否有任何相關的動態？

Yeah, I'll take that, Theo.

Theo，我來回答。

Being from Texas originally, this is a sector I've followed most of my career.

我原本來自德州，這個產業是我職涯大部分時間都在關注的領域。

And we're very happy-- I'll get to your question in a second. We've been very happy with this acquisition, and we feel like it's really thrived inside of Star.

我們對這次收購非常滿意——我等一下回到你的問題。我們一直很滿意這項收購，並且覺得它在 Star 內部確實發展得很不錯。

We have invested for growth. They had a plan to increase their market share, and we've executed really well on that plan since we completed the acquisition in March.

我們已投入資金以支持成長。他們原本就有提升市占率的計畫，而自從我們在 3 月完成收購以來，我們在執行該計畫方面做得非常好。

And if we just look at Q1 results, 2026 versus 2025, for example, like if you look at the pro forma table on our press release, pretty nice year-on-year growth, and that was way before any increase in oil prices, and in fact, the industry shrank in Q1 2026 versus Q1 2025, if you just look at the recount in the U.S., for example. And they did a very good job of growing in some non-traditional sectors and winning business and things like geothermal, which has really a really good growth outlook in the U.S.

如果只看第一季的結果，例如 2026 年第一季相較 2025 年第一季——你看我們新聞稿中的備考（pro forma）表格，年對年成長相當不錯；而那還是在油價上漲之前，事實上，若只看例如美國的鑽機數（rig count），2026 年第一季相較 2025 年第一季整個產業是縮小的。而他們在一些非傳統領域成長得很好、拿下業務，例如地熱，這在美國的成長前景非常好。

They've always been active in mining opportunities, water wells. They've also gotten into some carbon capture and some hydrogen drilling, which were really kind of off the radar screen a few years ago. So, we're excited about that business. It was performing very well, and if activity improves. Later this year and into next year, and we think it will, we're poised to continue to have good growth there. So I'd say it's a little early for the clients to all of a sudden just flip a switch and start spending more capital. But the early indicators are certainly there and the conversations are happening.

他們一直也積極參與礦業相關機會、以及水井業務。他們也切入了一些碳捕捉與氫能鑽井，這些在幾年前其實還不太受關注。所以我們對這項業務感到興奮。它的表現一直非常好，而如果今年稍晚到明年活動量提升——我們認為會——我們也已準備好在那裡持續維持良好成長。

Okay. My last question is about; can you give us any sort of thoughts about Q2 operating expenses and whether we should be looking for them to be similar to the Q1 levels?

好的。我最後一個問題是：你們能否分享一下對第二季營業費用的看法，以及我們是否應該預期其水準會與第一季相近？

We don't get-- that's a really good question, we don't give guidance line by line on that, but we do look at where the consensus is on Bloomberg. And the Q1 results were disappointing to us. We didn't hit our budget.

我們不會——這是個很好的問題，我們不會逐項（line by line）提供那方面的指引，但我們會看 Bloomberg 上的市場共識。第一季的結果讓我們失望。我們沒有達到預算。

And it's short-term temporary factors. But when we look out into Q2, when we look into the second half of the year, I think the Bloomberg consensus for adjusted EBITDA is above $2 million, $2.5 million, something like that. We're comfortable with that, and if we hit that number, we'll be positive, we'll have positive results for the first half of the year. So, in other words, the Q1 positive EBITDA should exceed the-- Q2 positive EBITDA should exceed the Q1 loss.

那是短期的暫時性因素。但當我們展望第二季、以及下半年時，我認為 Bloomberg 對調整後 EBITDA 的共識預估在 200 萬美元以上，約 250 萬美元之類。我們對此感到有把握；如果我們達到那個數字，上半年就會是正向的結果。換句話說，第二季的正向 EBITDA 應該會超過第一季的虧損。

And then if we look out to the second half of the year, the Bloomberg consensus is that our adjusted EBITDA should be, I think it's $9 million. It's in the $8 million to $10 million range, and we're very comfortable with that. Is that an absolute guarantee? No, it's not, but that's what we're projecting internally. Could be higher than that, could be lower than that, but that is our best guess based on everything we're seeing in the business and based on what we see in the market and conversations with customers, what we see in our pipeline, historical conversion rates of that pipeline into backlog, which then translates into revenue.

再來，如果我們看下半年，Bloomberg 的共識是我們的調整後 EBITDA 應該是——我想是 900 萬美元，約在 800 萬到 1,000 萬美元的區間，我們對此非常有信心。

Okay. Thanks, Jeff. Thanks very much.

好的。謝謝，Jeff。非常感謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

Michael Matheson, Sidoti & Company.

Michael Matheson，Sidoti & Company。

Good morning, you guys.

各位早安。

Good morning.

早安。

A couple of questions from me.

我有幾個問題。

First, sort of the big picture one for Business Services. In light of higher energy prices, global tensions, inflation, all the things we read about, can you comment on hiring trends in the three regions where Business Services operates?

首先是一個關於商業服務（Business Services）的宏觀問題。鑑於能源價格上升、全球緊張局勢、通膨，以及我們讀到的各種因素，你能否評論一下商業服務在其營運的三個地區的招募／聘僱趨勢？

Yeah, I'm going to turn that over to Jake. But just at a high level, I would say our clients predominantly are Fortune 500 companies, and in general, we're asking them to sign multi-year contracts, and we had some really nice, significant long-term contract renewals from two of our Top clients in Q1. And so that was really refreshing. But whenever there's uncertainty, regardless of the cause, just everything else being equal, it's not conducive to the Fortune 500 making long-term commitments.

是的，我把這個交給 Jake。不過就高層次來說，我會說我們的客戶主要是《財富》500 強企業，一般而言，我們會請他們簽訂多年期合約，而我們在第一季也從兩家頂級客戶那裡拿到相當不錯、具規模的長期合約續約。所以那讓人耳目一新。但只要有不確定性，不論原因為何，在其他條件相同的情況下，這不利於《財富》500 強做出長期承諾。

So it's not helpful, but we don't want to use it as an excuse. We want to fight through it and keep pushing and keep providing good services.

所以這並沒有幫助，但我們也不想把它當作藉口。我們想要挺過去、持續推進，並持續提供良好的服務。

Jake, I'm going to turn it over to you to get a little more granular.

Jake，我把時間交給你，請你講得更細一點。

Yeah.

好的。

Thank you, Jeff. And Michael, good morning. How are you today?

謝謝你，Jeff。Michael，早安。你今天過得如何？

Real good, thanks.

很好，謝謝。

Thank you for the question. So, when you look at the overall macro hiring, what we're seeing, it's truly spotty. And what I mean by spotty is, we definitely see some green shoots and some tailwinds in certain areas with some of our businesses, and quite conversely, we've also had some of our clients say, hey, hold on a second. Let's reevaluate where we're investing. But if you look at each region, right, and you take the APAC region in general at first, the hiring volumes in APAC were still relatively strong, but the mix was different.

謝謝你的提問。所以，當你看整體宏觀招募情況時，我們看到的確實是零星不一。我所謂的零星不一是指，我們確實在某些業務領域看到一些復甦跡象與順風；但相反地，也有一些客戶會說，嘿，先等一下。讓我們重新評估投資方向。不過如果你看各個區域，對吧，先看整體亞太（APAC）地區，亞太的招募量仍相對強勁，但組合不同。

And what I mean by the mix, you saw a lot of more internal mobility or internal hiring and movement internally versus hiring externally and bringing new people into the businesses. And in some of our fee structures in that region, an internal placement is on a lower fee structure than an external placement for multiple purposes. One is that we're sourcing internally, and two is there's an optics of that cost of just moving internal placements around.

我所說的組合是指，你看到更多的是內部流動或內部招募、內部調動，而不是對外招募、把新的人才帶進企業。而在該地區我們的一些收費結構中，內部安置的費率會低於外部安置，原因有好幾個。其一是我們是在內部進行人才來源搜尋，其二是從觀感上，內部調動的成本就是把內部人員移動安排。

When you look at EMEA and you look at the broader EMEA market, I don't have to give you guys an update on what's happening over there, but it's causing a lot of pause and rethinking investments across all of the countries in EMEA. As I mentioned in the earnings call, we did take a structured approach to reevaluate our Middle East presence. We're going to continue to be in the Middle East. We're going to continue to have entity and resources there and we'll help support our enterprise-level clients in the Middle East, but it is taking a drain in a lot of the hiring activity there and having our clients rethink again and pause in certain pockets, rethink of where they're going to make investments.

再看歐洲、中東與非洲（EMEA），以及更廣泛的 EMEA 市場，我不需要向各位更新那邊正在發生什麼，但那確實讓 EMEA 各國在投資上出現大量暫停與重新思考。如我在財報電話會議中提到的，我們確實採取了有架構的方法來重新評估我們在中東的布局。我們會繼續留在中東。我們會繼續在那裡保有法人實體與資源，並協助支援我們在中東的企業級客戶，但那確實正在消耗當地許多招募活動，並讓我們的客戶再次重新思考、在某些區塊暫停，重新思考他們將在哪裡進行投資。

In the Americas, we're seeing some pretty good signs of strength in the Americas right now. Latin America continues to be a growth market for us. We're signing new contracts there, a couple this week already, so that's exciting. But it is at a smaller clip and a smaller pace than what we normally see. So, we will see contracts, as Jeff mentioned, multi-year contracts, we can hire anywhere from 100 to 1,000 people, if not north of that every single year. But now we're seeing some more project-based hiring. And what we're seeing, project-based hiring is a specific time frame of less than a year and a specific number of anywhere from 20 to a couple hundred. So, you get to more of the project-based versus that long-term forecast.

在美洲，我們目前在美洲看到一些相當不錯的強勁跡象。拉丁美洲仍是我們的成長市場。我們在那裡簽了新的合約，光是這週就已經有幾份，所以很令人振奮。但其規模與速度比我們平常看到的要小、要慢。因此，我們會看到合約，如 Jeff 所提到的多年期合約，我們每年可以招募從 100 到 1,000 人，甚至更多。但現在我們看到更多以專案為基礎的招募。而我們看到的專案型招募，是在少於一年的特定期間內、針對特定人數，約從 20 人到數百人不等。所以就更偏向專案型，而不是那種長期的預測。

I would say, as a whole, we're still seeing relatively low attrition across all of the markets. There are some pockets where we are continuing to see some growth, which is great in many of our businesses. But to Jeff's point and to what we were talking about before, with our land and expand strategy and offering services and markets that were untapped to us before is a critical strategy for our business, and we're doing that in the likes of Japan, Latin America, and we're going to continue to grow in those areas.

我會說，整體而言，我們在所有市場仍看到相對較低的離職率。有一些區塊我們仍持續看到成長，這在我們許多業務中都很棒。但呼應 Jeff 的觀點以及我們先前談到的，透過我們的「先落地、再擴張」策略，提供過去我們尚未觸及的服務與市場，是我們業務的關鍵策略；我們正在日本、拉丁美洲等地這麼做，並且會持續在這些領域成長。

So, Mike, I hope that answered your question, sir.

所以，Mike，希望這回答了你的問題，先生。

It certainly did. Thank you, Jake. Very helpful.

確實回答了。謝謝你，Jake。非常有幫助。

Turning to Energy Services, the revenue growth is striking, as you pointed out in your prepared remarks, speaking of market share gains and so forth. Do you feel like past a certain point, Alliance will have to invest in more drilling equipment just to fulfill demand?

轉到能源服務（Energy Services），如你在事先準備的發言中指出的，營收成長相當顯著，談到市占率提升等等。你是否覺得，超過某個程度之後，Alliance 需要投資更多鑽井設備才能滿足需求？

Yeah, we feel like we've already done that.

是的，我們覺得我們其實已經做了。

That the Capex levels there might-- we see them basically being flat with the Q1 run rate. So, we did-- after we acquired it, we kind of took a counter-cyclical approach and we saw an opportunity to increase share and enter some of these new markets. And so, we approved one step at a time, a higher Capex spend, and that higher Capex spend very quickly led to revenue growth. And so we got positive feedback on our thesis very quickly. But it's really a lot of that was just kind of a one-time increase that was needed to grow the business. And I think from here we can keep that level flat and still have really good growth.

那邊的資本支出（Capex）水準可能——我們預期基本上會與第一季的運行水準持平。所以，我們在收購之後——我們採取了一種逆週期的做法，並看到一個提高市占、進入一些新市場的機會。因此，我們一步一步核准提高資本支出，而較高的資本支出很快就帶來了營收成長。所以我們很快就從市場回饋中驗證了我們的論點。但其中很大一部分其實只是為了擴大業務所需的一次性增加。我認為從這裡開始，我們可以把該水準維持不變，仍然能有很好的成長。

Great. Great. Thank you.

很好。很好。謝謝。

I'll close out with one more question coming back to building solutions.

我最後再問一個問題，回到建築解決方案（Building Solutions）。

Obviously, the weather in the Northeast was horrendous and that clearly played a role. In the balance of the year, do you see the book-to-bill coming back to 2025 levels?

顯然，東北部的天氣非常糟糕，這顯然也起了作用。在今年剩餘時間，你是否看到訂單出貨比（book-to-bill）回到 2025 年的水準？

Short answer, I oh, I'm sorry, Jeff, why don't you go ahead?

簡短回答，我——喔，不好意思，Jeff，你先說？

Yeah, go ahead. I was going to say short answer, yes, and turn it over to Rick. Go ahead, Rick.

好，你先。我本來要說簡短回答是會，然後把問題交給 Rick。Rick，你說。

The problem is the numerator in that equation. So as revenue picks up, we expect that that's going to continue to improve. So, I guess that's all the color that I can provide on that for now.

問題在於那個等式的分子。所以隨著營收回升，我們預期那會持續改善。所以，我想目前我能提供的補充說明就到這裡。

Okay, well, great.

好的，那太好了。

Thank you for taking my questions and good luck in the coming quarter.

謝謝你回答我的問題，也祝你們接下來一季順利。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

That concludes today's question-and-answer session.

今天的問答環節到此結束。

I will now turn the call over to Jeff Eberwein for closing remarks.

我現在把電話會議交回給 Jeff Eberwein 作結語。

Well, thank you for joining us.

好的，感謝各位加入我們。

Thank you for your interest in our company, and we're available. Our contact information is on our website and is in the press release and our corporate materials. So reach out if you have any follow-up questions.

謝謝各位對我們公司的關注，我們也隨時提供協助。我們的聯絡資訊在網站上，也在新聞稿與公司資料中。如果你有任何後續問題，請與我們聯繫。

Thank you for your interest.

謝謝各位的關注。

Thank you for joining the Star Equity Holdings first quarter conference call.

感謝各位參加 Star Equity Holdings 第一季法說會。

Today's call has been recorded and will be available on the Investors section of our website, www.starequity.com.

今天的電話會議已錄音，並將在我們網站的投資人（Investors）專區提供，www.starequity.com。

Thank you for participating and have a pleasant day.

感謝各位參與，祝各位有美好的一天。