Bio-Techne Corp (TECH) 2026 Q2 法說會逐字稿

(Operator Instructions) Good morning, and welcome to the Bio-Techne earnings conference call for the second quarter of fiscal year 2026. (Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）早安，歡迎參加 Bio-Techne 2026 財年第二季財報電話會議。（操作說明）

I would now like to turn the call over to David Clair, Bio-Techne's Vice President, Investor Relations.

現在我將把電話交給 Bio-Techne 的投資者關係副總裁 David Clair。

Good morning and thank you for joining us. On the call with me this morning are Kim Kelderman, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Jim Hippel, Chief Financial Officer of Bio-Techne.

早安，感謝各位的參與。今天早上和我一起通話的是 Bio-Techne 的總裁兼執行長 Kim Kelderman 和財務長 Jim Hippel。

Before we begin, let me briefly cover our safe harbor statement. Some of the comments made during this conference call may be considered forward-looking statements, including beliefs and expectations about the company's future results. The company's 10-K for fiscal year 2025 identifies certain factors that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements made during this call. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements because of any new information or future events or developments. The 10-K as well as the company's other SEC filings are available on the company's website within its Investor Relations section.

在開始之前，讓我先簡單介紹一下我們的安全港聲明。本次電話會議中發表的一些評論可能被視為前瞻性陳述，包括對公司未來業績的看法和預期。公司 2025 財年的 10-K 文件中列出了一些可能導致公司實際業績與本次電話會議中作出的前瞻性聲明所預測的業績存在重大差異的因素。本公司不承諾因任何新資訊、未來事件或發展而更新任何前瞻性聲明。10-K 表格以及公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件均可在公司網站的投資者關係欄位中找到。

During the call, non-GAAP financial measures may be used to provide information pertinent to ongoing business performance. Tables reconciling these measures to most comparable GAAP measures are available in the company's press release issued earlier this morning on the Investor Relations section of the Bio-Techne Corporation website at www.bio-techne.com.

在電話會議期間，可能會使用非公認會計準則財務指標來提供與持續業務績效相關的資訊。將這些指標與最可比較的 GAAP 指標進行核對的表格，可以在公司今天早上發布的新聞稿中找到，該新聞稿可在 Bio-Techne Corporation 網站 www.bio-techne.com 的投資者關係部分找到。

Separately, in the coming weeks, we will be participating in the Cowen and Leerink Healthcare Conferences. We look forward to connecting with many of you at these upcoming events.

此外，在接下來的幾周里，我們將參加 Cowen 和 Leerink 醫療保健會議。我們期待在即將舉行的活動中與大家見面。

I will now turn the call over to Kim.

現在我將把通話轉給金。

Thank you, Dave, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Bio-Techne's second quarter earnings call of fiscal 2026.

謝謝你，戴夫，大家早安。歡迎參加 Bio-Techne 2026 財政年度第二季財報電話會議。

Our second quarter performance was largely in line with our expectations. Continued strength from our large pharma customers was offset by a soft yet improving biotech end market and a soft but stable US academic end market.

我們第二季的業績基本上符合預期。大型製藥客戶的持續強勁成長被疲軟但正在改善的生物技術終端市場和疲軟但穩定的美國學術終端市場所抵消。

As anticipated, order timing impact from two of our largest cell therapy customers receiving FDA Fast Track designations also created a temporary headwind. And taken together, these factors resulted in flat organic revenue growth for the quarter. Overall, these end market dynamics, combined with solid execution across the organization, drove sequential year-over-year organic revenue growth improvement in most of our product categories.

正如預期的那樣，我們最大的兩家細胞療法客戶獲得 FDA 快速通道資格，也對訂單時間造成了暫時的不利影響。綜合以上因素，導致本季有機收入成長停滯不前。總體而言，這些終端市場動態，加上整個組織的穩健執行，推動了我們大多數產品類別的有機收入逐年成長。

I would like to mention the following highlights. Our core reagents and assays, proteomic analysis instruments and diagnostic kits all grew modestly more in Q2 than during Q1. Cell therapy, excluding our two largest FDA Fast Track customers, delivered strong sequential improvement in year-over-year growth.

我想重點提及以下幾點。我們的核心試劑和檢測方法、蛋白質體分析儀器和診斷試劑盒在第二季度均比第一季略有成長。除我們最大的兩個 FDA 快速通道客戶外，細胞療法業務實現了強勁的同比增長。

In our spatial biology franchise, we saw a meaningful acceleration in bookings for our automated common platform. In addition, we delivered our third consecutive quarter of growth in China, alongside notable strength across the rest of Asia. The team delivered these top line results with a continued focus on our sector-leading profitability profile.

在我們的空間生物學業務中，我們看到自動化通用平台的預訂量出現了顯著增長。此外，我們在中國實現了連續第三個季度的成長，同時在亞洲其他地區也表現強勁。團隊在保持業界領先的獲利能力的同時，也取得了這些亮眼的表現。

Adjusted operating margins expanded like in our first quarter by approximately 100 basis points year-over-year to 31.1%. This performance reflects our disciplined approach to productivity and cost management while continuing to invest in the strategic growth verticals that will continue to shape Bio-Techne's future.

經調整後的營業利潤率與第一季一樣，年增約 100 個基點，達到 31.1%。這項業績反映了我們在生產力和成本管理方面嚴謹的態度，同時我們也持續投資於策略成長垂直領域，這些領域將繼續塑造 Bio-Techne 的未來。

These four strategically important growth verticals: cell therapy, proteomic analytical instrumentation, spatial biology, and precision diagnostic tools now represent 47% of our total revenue, up from 32% in fiscal 2020 and with that, delivering an upper teens CAGR over the past five years. Notably, our core portfolio of reagents, assays and diagnostic controls delivered a competitive mid-single-digit CAGR over the same period.

這四個具有重要戰略意義的成長垂直領域：細胞療法、蛋白質體分析儀器、太空生物學和精準診斷工具，目前占我們總收入的 47%，高於 2020 財年的 32%，並在過去五年中實現了兩位數以上的複合年增長率。值得注意的是，我們的核心試劑、檢測和診斷控制產品組合在同一時期實現了具有競爭力的中等個位數複合年增長率。

Calendar 2026 is a milestone year as we celebrate Bio-Techne's 50th anniversary. Several events are planned to mark the occasion, including ringing the NASDAQ closing bell on the 25th of February. Over the past five decades, we have built one of the most durable and differentiated portfolios in life science tools, addressing high-growth, high-value applications aligned with global health care megatrends. We recently highlighted several of these high-value applications during our presentation at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference.

2026 年是具有里程碑意義的一年，因為我們將慶祝 Bio-Techne 成立 50 週年。為慶祝這一盛事，計劃舉辦多項活動，其中包括在 2 月 25 日敲響納斯達克收市鐘。在過去的五十年裡，我們建構了生命科學工具領域最持久、最具差異化的產品組合之一，以滿足與全球醫療保健大趨勢相符的高成長、高價值應用需求。我們最近在摩根大通醫療保健大會上重點介紹了其中幾個高價值的應用。

As a case in point, we often emphasize the essential role our GMP reagents and proteomic analysis instruments play in enabling cell therapy workflows. But these capabilities extend well beyond cell therapy as our tools support development and manufacturing across a broad range of advanced therapies. Our ProteinSimple franchise, for example, is an essential component in the development, manufacturing and quality processes of monoclonal antibodies, antibody drug conjugates and other advanced biological treatments.

舉例來說，我們經常強調我們的 GMP 試劑和蛋白質體學分析儀器在實現細胞治療工作流程中發揮的關鍵作用。但這些能力遠不止於細胞療法，因為我們的工具支持各種先進療法的開發和生產。例如，我們的 ProteinSimple 產品線是單株抗體、抗體藥物偶聯物和其他先進生物療法的開發、生產和品質控制過程中的重要組成部分。

Turning now to the performance of our end markets in the most recent quarter, beginning with the biopharma customers, excluding cell therapy. The divergence between large pharma and emerging biotech persisted in Q2, although the gap narrowed.

現在轉向我們最近一個季度的終端市場表現，首先是生物製藥客戶，不包括細胞療法。第二季大型製藥公司與新興生技公司之間的分歧依然存在，儘管差距有所縮小。

Revenue from our large pharma customers remained strong, increasing low double digits for the fourth consecutive quarter. In contrast, emerging biotech declined mid-single digits, reflecting continued pressures stemming from negative funding conditions during the first half of calendar 2025. While growth from these smaller biotech customers remained challenging, we did see sequential improvement. As many of you know, biotech funding rebounded meaningfully in the second half of calendar 2025, positioning this end market for improvement going forward.

來自大型製藥客戶的收入依然強勁，連續第四個季度實現兩位數低成長。相較之下，新興生物技術下降了個位數百分比，反映出 2025 年上半年資金狀況持續惡化的壓力。儘管來自這些規模較小的生物技術客戶的成長仍然充滿挑戰，但我們確實看到了持續改善。正如許多人所知，生物技術融資在 2025 年下半年出現了顯著反彈，為該終端市場未來的改善奠定了基礎。

In academia, stabilization in the US continued with constructive developments on the federal funding front. Both the House and Senate appropriation bills include a roughly 1% NIH budget increase, maintaining indirect funding rates and capping multiyear grants at fiscal 2025 levels. While these bills must still be reconciled, the proposals are far more supportive of academic research than originally feared. For Bio-Techne, a modest decline in our US academic business was partially offset by stable growth in Europe, and this resulted in a low single-digit decline for this end market overall.

美國學術界持續趨於穩定，聯邦​​撥款方面也取得了建設性進展。眾議院和參議院的撥款法案都包括將美國國立衛生研究院的預算增加約 1%，維持間接撥款率，並將多年期撥款上限設定為 2025 財政年度水準。雖然這些法案仍需協調，但這些提案比最初擔心的更有利於學術研究。對於 Bio-Techne 而言，美國學術業務的小幅下滑被歐洲的穩定成長部分抵消，因此該終端市場整體僅出現個位數的下滑。

Shifting to performance by geography. The Americas declined high single digits. However, after adjusting for cell therapy order timing headwinds, revenue in the region grew low single digits. EMEA was flat against a strong double-digit comparison from the prior year as strength in diagnostics was offset by order timing dynamics.

按地理位置劃分績效。美洲地區經濟下滑幅度接近兩位數。然而，在調整了細胞療法訂單時間方面的不利因素後，該地區的收入實現了低個位數成長。EMEA 地區與上年同期強勁的兩位數成長相比持平，原因是診斷業務的強勁成長被訂單時間動態所抵消。

China grew mid-single digits, marking its third consecutive quarter of growth, supported by R&D investments from CDMO, CRO and biotech customers working on advanced therapies. This activity level is driving demand for reagents and proteomic analytical tools.

中國經濟實現個位數中段成長，連續第三個季度實現成長，這得益於 CDMO、CRO 和生物技術客戶在先進療法研發方面的投資。這種活躍程度正在推動對試劑和蛋白質組學分析工具的需求。

Across the APAC region, we saw strong broad-based performance with growth approaching 20%. We remain encouraged by the momentum in both China and APAC and believe that these regions are well positioned for continued growth.

亞太地區整體表現強勁，成長率接近 20%。我們對中國和亞太地區的成長勢頭感到鼓舞，並相信這些地區已做好持續成長的準備。

Let's now turn to our segments, starting with the Protein Sciences segment, which declined 1% organically. As expected, Fast Track designation from the FDA for our two largest cell therapy customers reduced near-term GMP reagent demand given that these customers had already secured the materials necessary to complete their clinical programs. Therefore, the revenue in our cell therapy business declined over 30%, including a 50% drop in the GMP reagents specifically. However, excluding the two customers that are progressing through priority review with the FDA, GMP reagents grew nearly 30%, which underscores the strength of our offering and improving end market demand.

現在讓我們來看看各個業務板塊，首先是蛋白質科學板塊，該板塊的有機成長率下降了 1%。正如預期的那樣，由於我們最大的兩個細胞治療客戶已經獲得了 FDA 的快速通道資格，因此近期 GMP 試劑需求有所下降，因為這些客戶已經獲得了完成其臨床項目所需的材料。因此，我們的細胞治療業務收入下降了 30% 以上，其中 GMP 試劑的收入下降了 50%。然而，除了正在接受 FDA 優先審查的兩家客戶外，GMP 試劑增加了近 30%，這凸顯了我們產品的實力和不斷提高的終端市場需求。

Sticking with cell therapy, I'd also like to give an update on Wilson Wolf. As a reminder, Wilson Wolf manufactures the market-leading G-Rex line of bioreactors used to efficiently and economically scale cell therapies. We currently own 20% of Wilson Wolf and will complete the full acquisition by the end of calendar year 2027 or sooner based upon achievement of certain milestones. Wilson Wolf's G-Rex bioreactor remains highly synergistic with our cell therapy offering. This single-use system requires media and GMP proteins to efficiently scale cell therapies and is fully compatible with our closed ProPak cytokine delivery solutions. Wilson Wolf performed exceptionally well, delivering 20% organic revenue growth in the quarter and upper teens growth on a trailing 12-month basis.

繼續談到細胞療法，我還想介紹一下威爾遜沃爾夫的最新情況。需要提醒的是，威爾遜沃爾夫公司生產的 G-Rex 系列生物反應器是市場領先的產品，用於高效經濟地擴大細胞療法的規模。我們目前持有 Wilson Wolf 20% 的股份，並將於 2027 年年底或根據某些里程碑的實現情況提前完成全部收購。Wilson Wolf 的 G-Rex 生物反應器與我們的細胞療法產品仍然具有高度協同效應。此一次性系統需要培養基和 GMP 蛋白質才能有效擴大細胞療法規模，並且與我們的封閉式 ProPak 細胞因子輸送解決方案完全相容。Wilson Wolf 表現異常出色，本季實現了 20% 的有機收入成長，過去 12 個月實現了超過 10% 的成長。

We also continue to advance our organoid initiatives during the quarter. Organoids, lab-grown 3D representations of human organs depend heavily on cell culture matrices, small molecules, growth factors and cytokines, all of which are long-standing strength for Bio-Techne. The FDA's recent validation of organoid solutions as acceptable replacements for animal-based models further underscores the rising importance of these cell-based systems. To support this shift, we recently launched Cultrex Synthetic Hydrogel, a fully defined synthetic matrix designed to reduce variability relative to the traditional animal-based products and to align with the growing adoption of nonanimal-derived models.

本季我們也將繼續推進類器官研究計畫。類器官，即實驗室培育的人體器官的三維模型，嚴重依賴細胞培養基、小分子、生長因子和細胞因子，而這些都是 Bio-Techne 的長期優勢。美國食品藥物管理局 (FDA) 最近對類器官解決方案作為動物模型的可接受替代品的認可，進一步凸顯了這些基於細胞的系統日益增長的重要性。為了支持這一轉變，我們最近推出了 Cultrex 合成水凝膠，這是一種完全定義的合成基質，旨在減少相對於傳統動物源產品的變異性，並符合非動物源模型的日益普及。

Now let's discuss our proteomic analytical instruments collectively marketed under the ProteinSimple brand. The productivity and precision these platforms deliver across research, biopharma manufacturing and QA/QC applications continue to resonate strongly with customers. Even in a challenging capital equipment environment, particularly among biotech and academic laboratories, instrument sales grew upper single digits in the quarter with strength across all three major platforms.

現在讓我們來討論一下我們以 ProteinSimple 品牌銷售的蛋白質體學分析儀器。這些平台在研發、生物製藥生產和品質保證/品質控制應用方面所展現的生產力和精確度，持續引起客戶的強烈共鳴。即使在資本設備環境充滿挑戰的情況下，尤其是在生物技術和學術實驗室中，儀器銷售額在本季度仍實現了接近兩位數的成長，三大主要平台均表現強勁。

We continue to advance innovation across our instrumentation portfolio, highlighted by the introduction of ultrasensitive assays on our automated multiplexing immunoassay platform called Ella. These new assays enable femtogram level detection of low abundance biomarkers in blood, which represents a two to fivefold improvement in sensitivity over legacy Ella assays. We launched the first application of this enhanced capability for research use only, supporting the detection of neurological biomarkers.

我們不斷推動儀器產品組合的創新，其中最引人注目的是在名為 Ella 的自動化多重免疫分析平台上推出的超靈敏檢測方法。這些新的檢測方法能夠檢測血液中低豐度生物標記的飛克含量，與傳統的 Ella 檢測方法相比，靈敏度提高了 2 到 5 倍。我們推出了這項增強功能的第一個應用，僅供研究用途，支援神經生物標記的檢測。

Within our Simple Western franchise, demand for Leo, our next-generation high-throughput automated Western blot system remained exceptionally strong. Leo exceeded our expectations once again, driven by continued robust adoption and an expanding order funnel.

在我們的 Simple Western 特許經營體系中，對我們新一代高通量自動化 Western blot 系統 Leo 的需求仍然非常強勁。在持續強勁的用戶成長和不斷擴大的訂單管道的推動下，Leo 再次超出了我們的預期。

This past quarter, we further enhanced the platform by adding fluorescence detection, enabling multiplexing workflows and providing deeper insight into protein expression and pathway characterization. These enhancements meaningfully broaden Leo's utility in advanced proteomic applications and address significant needs in the biopharma end markets. Wrapping up Protein Sciences, our core reagent and assay portfolio, which includes more than 6,000 proteins and 400,000 antibody types delivered low single-digit growth for the quarter. The portfolio's lot-to-lot consistency, high bioactivity and broad catalog continue to differentiate this offering. Stabilization across US academia and biotech, combined with ongoing strength in pharma supported overall performance in the quarter.

上個季度，我們透過添加螢光檢測進一步增強了該平台，實現了多重工作流程，並提供了對蛋白質表現和通路表徵的更深入見解。這些改進顯著拓寬了 Leo 在高級蛋白質組學應用中的用途，並滿足了生物製藥終端市場的重要需求。總結蛋白質科學業務，我們的核心試劑和檢測產品組合（包括 6,000 多種蛋白質和 400,000 種抗體類型）在本季度實現了低個位數成長。該產品組合批次間的一致性、高生物活性和廣泛的產品目錄使其在眾多產品中脫穎而出。美國學術界和生技領域的穩定，加上製藥業的持續強勁表現，支撐了本季的整體業績。

Now let's turn to our Diagnostics and Spatial Biology segment, which delivered 3% organic growth. Within Spatial Biology, our RNAscope product suite generated low single-digit growth. RNAscope enables researchers to detect and visualize RNA sequences at single cell resolution within intact tissue samples, offering best-in-class specificity and sensitivity. Customers are increasingly leveraging RNAscope and miRNAscope probes and assays to assess biodistribution and toxicity for nucleic acid-based therapeutics, including antisense oligonucleotides and small interfering RNA therapies. Adoption of RNAscope in our diagnostic settings, which we do through our platform partners also continued to expand rapidly with growth exceeding 20% for both the quarter and the first half of the fiscal year.

現在讓我們來看看我們的診斷和空間生物學業務板塊，該板塊實現了 3% 的有機增長。在太空生物學領域，我們的 RNAscope 產品系列實現了個位數低成長。RNAscope 使研究人員能夠在完整組織樣本中以單細胞分辨率檢測和可視化 RNA 序列，提供一流的特異性和靈敏度。客戶越來越多地利用 RNAscope 和 miRNAscope 探針和檢測方法來評估核酸療法（包括反義寡核苷酸和小幹擾 RNA 療法）的生物分佈和毒性。RNAscope 在我們診斷環境中的應用（我們透過平台合作夥伴進行應用）也持續快速成長，本季和本財年上半年的成長率均超過 20%。

Momentum also continued with our COMET instrument, which delivered nearly 40% growth in bookings, marking the second consecutive quarter of strong booking activity. COMET's fully automated multiomics capabilities are increasingly valued by both academic and biopharma customers as a powerful tool for uncovering novel biological insights.

我們的 COMET 工具也延續了強勁勢頭，預訂量增長了近 40%，連續第二個季度預訂活動表現強勁。COMET 的全自動多組學功能越來越受到學術界和生物製藥客戶的重視，被視為發現新的生物學見解的強大工具。

Spatial Biology remains the business within our portfolio with the highest academic concentration and a meaningful presence in biotech. Despite ongoing challenges across both of these end markets, we remain encouraged by the sustained momentum in this franchise.

太空生物學仍然是我們投資組合中學術水平最高、在生物技術領域佔有重要地位的業務。儘管這兩個終端市場都面臨著持續的挑戰，但我們仍然對該特許經營的持續發展勢頭感到鼓舞。

Lastly, our Diagnostics business delivered high single-digit growth, supported by balanced performance across both clinical controls and molecular diagnostic kits. Recent innovation within our molecular diagnostics portfolio is driving increased customer interest, evaluation and adoption, particularly among oncology and carrier screening reference laboratories. This includes our ESR1 exosome-based mutation kit, which is used to monitor resistance to breast cancer therapies, as well as our AmplideX Carrier Screening Plus kit, which interrogates 11 of the most common genes associated with elevated risk for genetic disorders.

最後，我們的診斷業務實現了高個位數成長，這得益於臨床控制和分子診斷試劑盒的均衡表現。我們分子診斷產品組合的最新創新正在推動客戶興趣、評估和採用的增加，尤其是在腫瘤學和攜帶者篩檢參考實驗室中。這包括我們的 ESR1 外泌體突變檢測試劑盒（用於監測乳癌療法的抗藥性）以及我們的 AmplideX Carrier Screening Plus 檢測試劑盒（用於檢測 11 個與遺傳疾病風險升高相關的最常見基因）。

In summary, the Bio-Techne team continues to execute extremely well while navigating an end market environment that is stabilizing but still challenging. Our disciplined focus on productivity and cost management remains a key driver of our operating margin expansion. And although funding uncertainty has influenced customer behavior in emerging biotech and US academia, recent strength in biotech funding activity and the favorable fiscal 2026 US appropriation bills position both these end markets for continued stabilization and gradual improvement.

總而言之，Bio-Techne 團隊在終端市場環境趨於穩定但仍充滿挑戰的情況下，繼續保持著極佳的執行力。我們始終堅持以生產效率和成本控制為核心，這仍然是我們營業利潤率擴張的關鍵驅動力。儘管資金的不確定性影響了新興生物技術和美國學術界的客戶行為，但近期生物技術融資活動的強勁勢頭以及有利的 2026 財年美國撥款法案使這兩個終端市場都處於持續穩定和逐步改善的狀態。

As we enter our 50th year as a company, I remain confident in the durable moat surrounding our core portfolio and in our competitive positions across our fast-growing verticals of cell therapy, proteomic analysis, spatial biology and molecular diagnostics.

在公司成立 50 週年之際，我對我們核心產品組合的持久護城河以及我們在細胞治療、蛋白質組學分析、空間生物學和分子診斷等快速增長的垂直領域的競爭地位仍然充滿信心。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Jim. Jim?

這樣，我就把電話交給吉姆了。吉姆？

Thanks, Kim. I'll begin with additional details on our Q2 financial performance, followed by thoughts on our forward outlook. Adjusted EPS for the quarter was $0.46, up 10% year-over-year with foreign exchange having a favorable impact of $0.04. GAAP EPS came in at $0.24, up from $0.22 in the prior year period.

謝謝你，金。我將首先詳細介紹我們第二季的財務業績，然後談談我們對未來前景的看法。本季調整後每股收益為 0.46 美元，年增 10%，其中外匯匯率產生了 0.04 美元的有利影響。以美國通用會計準則計算，每股收益為 0.24 美元，高於去年同期的 0.22 美元。

Total revenue for Q2 was $295.9 million, flat year-over-year on both an organic and reported basis. Foreign currency exchange contributed a 2% tailwind, while businesses held for sale created a 2% headwind. Excluding the timing impact from our two largest cell therapy customers who received FDA Fast Track designation, organic growth was 4% for the quarter.

第二季總營收為 2.959 億美元，與去年同期相比，無論以自然成長或按報告數據計算均持平。外匯匯率波動帶來了 2% 的利好，而待售企業則造成了 2% 的不利影響。剔除我們兩家最大的細胞療法客戶獲得 FDA 快速通道資格認定帶來的時間影響，本季有機成長率為 4%。

From a geographic lens, North America declined upper single digits as strength from large pharma was offset by order timing in cell therapy, continued funding pressure in biotech and soft but sequential stabilization from our academic customers. In Europe, revenue was flat against a very strong prior year comparison with low single-digit growth in academia, offsetting a modest decline from biopharma in the region. We are encouraged by the third consecutive quarter of growth in China, where revenue increased mid-single digits. APAC, excluding China, increased almost 20% as the Asian geography continues to show signs of sustained momentum.

從地理角度來看，北美地區的業務下滑幅度接近兩位數，大型製藥公司的強勁表現被細胞療法的訂單時間安排、生物技術持續的資金壓力以及學術客戶緩慢但逐步的穩定所抵消。在歐洲，由於去年同期基數非常高，收入與去年持平，學術界實現了個位數低成長，抵消了該地區生物製藥行業的小幅下滑。我們對中國市場連續第三個季度實現成長感到鼓舞，收入實現了中等個位數的成長。亞太地區（不包括中國）成長近 20%，亞洲地區持續展現持續成長的勢頭。

By end market, biopharma declined mid-single digits overall. However, excluding our largest cell therapy customers, biopharma grew mid-single digits, driven by strong pharma demand, but partially offset by emerging biotech softness. Academia declined low single digits with low single-digit growth in Europe, partially offsetting low single-digit declines in the US.

依終端市場劃分，生物製藥產業整體出現中等個位數的下滑。然而，若不計入我們最大的細胞療法客戶，生物製藥業務在強勁的製藥需求推動下實現了中等個位數的增長，但新興生物技術業務的疲軟部分抵消了這一增長。學術界出現個位數百分比的下降，但歐洲實現了個位數百分比的成長，部分抵消了美國個位數百分比的下降。

Below the revenue line, adjusted gross margin was 68.5%, down from 70.5% last year. The decline was driven by unfavorable product and customer mix, which we expect to gradually improve as the calendar year progresses.

在營收方面，調整後的毛利率為 68.5%，低於去年的 70.5%。業績下滑是由於產品和客戶組合不利所致，我們預計隨著時間的推移，這種情況會逐漸改善。

Adjusted SG&A was 29.6% of revenue, down 240 basis points compared to 32% last year. R&D expense was 7.8% compared to 8.5% in the prior year. The operating leverage reflects the benefits of structural streamlining and disciplined expense management, partially offset by targeted investments in strategic growth initiatives.

經調整後的銷售、一般及行政費用佔收入的 29.6%，比去年的 32% 下降了 240 個基點。研發費用佔 7.8%，而上年度為 8.5%。經營槓桿反映了結構精簡和嚴格的費用管理的好處，但部分被對策略成長計畫的定向投資所抵消。

Adjusted operating margin reached 31.1%, up 100 basis points year-over-year. This improvement was fueled by the Exosome Diagnostics divestiture and productivity gains, partially offset by unfavorable product mix. Our better-than-expected margin reflects deliberate management of productivity and cost containment measures aimed at maximizing operating leverage in a dynamic environment.

經調整後的營業利益率達到 31.1%，較去年同期成長 100 個基點。外泌體診斷業務的剝離和生產效率的提高推動了這一改善，但不利的產品組合部分抵消了這種改善。我們超出預期的利潤率反映了我們在動態環境中為最大限度地提高營運槓桿而採取的精心管理的生產力和成本控制措施。

Below operating income, net interest expense was $1.1 million, up $0.5 million year-over-year due to the expiration of interest rate hedges. Bank debt at quarter end stood at $260 million, down $40 million sequentially. Other adjusted nonoperating income was $1.9 million, up $3.2 million from the prior year, primarily due to nonrecurring foreign exchange losses in the prior year related to overseas cash pooling arrangements. Our adjusted effective tax rate was 22.3%, up 80 basis points year-over-year, driven by geographic mix.

營業收入以下，淨利息支出為 110 萬美元，較上年同期增加 50 萬美元，原因是利率對沖到期。截至季末，銀行債務為 2.6 億美元，季減 4,000 萬美元。其他調整後的非經營性收入為 190 萬美元，比前一年增加 320 萬美元，主要是由於上年度與海外現金池安排相關的非經常性外匯損失。調整後的實際稅率為 22.3%，較去年同期上升 80 個基點，主要受地域組合變化的影響。

Turning to cash flow and capital deployment. We generated $82.4 million in operating cash flow with $5.9 million in net capital expenditures. Also during Q2, we returned $12.5 million to shareholders via dividends and ended the quarter with 157 million average diluted shares outstanding, down 2% year-over-year. Our balance sheet remains strong with $172.9 million in cash and a total leverage ratio well below 1x EBITDA. M&A remains a top priority for capital allocation.

接下來談談現金流和資本配置。我們透過經營活動產生了 8,240 萬美元的現金流，淨資本支出為 590 萬美元。第二季度，我們透過股息向股東返還了 1,250 萬美元，季末平均稀釋後流通股數為 1.57 億股，年減 2%。我們的資產負債表依然穩健，擁有 1.729 億美元的現金，總槓桿比率遠低於 1 倍 EBITDA。併購仍然是資本配置的首要任務。

Now let's review our segment performance beginning with Protein Sciences. Q2 reported sales were $215.1 million, an increase of 2% year-over-year. Organic revenue declined 1% with a 3% benefit from foreign exchange. Excluding cell therapy timing impacts from our largest customers, organic growth was 4%. Growth was led by our proteomic analytical tools franchise with notable strength from large pharma customers as well as low single-digit growth within our core portfolio of research reagents and assays.

現在讓我們回顧一下我們各個業務板塊的表現，首先從蛋白質科學板塊開始。第二季報告銷售額為 2.151 億美元，年增 2%。有機收入下降了 1%，但外匯收益帶來了 3% 的成長。剔除最大客戶細胞療法的時間安排影響，有機成長率為 4%。成長主要由我們的蛋白質體學分析工具業務帶動，其中大型製藥客戶的強勁表現尤為突出，同時，我們核心的研究試劑和檢測產品組合也實現了個位數低成長。

There was also a large reagent order from an OEM commercial supply customer in Q2 that historically was placed in our fiscal Q3. The timing of this order added an additional 1% growth to Protein Sciences and the company overall. Protein Sciences operating margin was 39.3%, down 190 basis points year-over-year, primarily due to unfavorable product mix, partially offset by ongoing profitability initiatives.

第二季我們也收到了來自 OEM 商業供應客戶的大宗試劑訂單，該訂單歷來都是在我們財年的第三季下的。該訂單的時機恰到好處，為 Protein Sciences 和公司整體帶來了額外的 1% 的成長。Protein Sciences 的營業利潤率為 39.3%，年減 190 個基點，主要原因是產品組合不利，但部分被持續的獲利能力提升計畫所抵銷。

In our Diagnostics and Spatial Biology segment, Q2 sales were $81.2 million, down 4% year-over-year. The divestiture of Exosome Diagnostics negatively impacted reported growth by 8%, while foreign exchange had a favorable impact of 1%, resulting in 3% organic growth for the segment.

在我們的診斷和空間生物學部門，第二季銷售額為 8,120 萬美元，年減 4%。剝離外泌體診斷業務對報告的成長產生了 8% 的負面影響，而外匯匯率產生了 1% 的有利影響，最終該業務板塊實現了 3% 的有機成長。

Diagnostics Products grew upper single digits, while Spatial Biology was relatively flat. It's worth noting that this segment grew low double digits organically in the prior year, creating a challenging comparison. And as Kim already highlighted, our COMET instruments saw a solid double-digit growth in bookings for the second consecutive quarter.

診斷產品實現了接近兩位數的成長，而空間生物學則相對持平。值得注意的是，該細分市場在前一年實現了兩位數的自然成長，這使得今年的比較面臨挑戰。正如 Kim 已經強調的那樣，我們的 COMET 儀器的預訂量連續第二個季度實現了兩位數的穩健成長。

Segment operating margin improved to 10.4%, up from 3.9% last year, driven by the Exosome Diagnostics divestiture and productivity initiatives, partially offset by unfavorable mix among our OEM customers. We expect continued margin expansion as our common spatial biology platform scales.

部門營業利潤率從去年的 3.9% 提高到 10.4%，這主要得益於外泌體診斷業務的剝離和生產力提升舉措，但部分被 OEM 客戶組合不利所抵消。隨著我們通用太空生物學平台的規模擴大，我們預期利潤率將持續成長。

In summary, the team delivered strong second quarter execution in a stable market with improved biotech funding as well as further progression towards more favorable NIH funding outcomes, giving us reasons to believe that customer sentiment should be gradually improving as we progress through the calendar year 2026.

總而言之，在市場穩定、生物技術資金增加以及美國國立衛生研究院 (NIH) 資助結果更加有利的情況下，團隊在第二季度取得了強勁的業績，這讓我們有理由相信，隨著我們進入 2026 年，客戶情緒應該會逐步改善。

We remain excited about the FDA Fast Track designation awarded to our largest cell therapy customers. These designations accelerate clinical timelines but reduce near-term reagent demand. Following strong ordering in fiscal year 2025, these customers are now progressing through Phase 3 trials, resulting in a temporary pause in GMP reagent purchases. We expect this headwind to moderate slightly in Q3, impacting growth by approximately 300 basis points year-over-year before moderating further in our fourth quarter and then being completely out of our year-over-year comparisons in fiscal 2027.

我們對我們最大的細胞療法客戶獲得 FDA 快速通道資格感到非常興奮。這些認定加快了臨床試驗進程，但降低了近期對試劑的需求。由於 2025 財年訂單強勁，這些客戶目前正在進行 3 期試驗，導致 GMP 試劑採購暫時中止。我們預計這一不利因素將在第三季度略有緩解，對同比增速造成約 300 個基點的影響，然後在第四季度進一步緩解，並在 2027 財年完全從同比比較中消失。

Also, as I mentioned in my Protein Sciences commentary, Q2 benefited from the timing of a large commercial supply order from one of our OEM partners that was originally expected in Q3. This timing benefit in Q2 will now be 100 basis points headwinds to Q3.

另外，正如我在 Protein Sciences 評論中提到的，第二季度受益於我們的 OEM 合作夥伴的一筆大型商業供應訂單的到來，該訂單原本預計在第三季度交付。第二季的這一時間優勢，現在將轉​​化為第三季100個基點的不利因素。

Taking these customer-specific headwinds into account, we anticipate overall Q3 organic growth to be consistent with Q2. However, excluding the customer-specific cell therapy and OEM headwinds, we expect underlying growth for the remainder of our business to be mid-single digits. This outlook tracks with the stabilization of our end markets and improving customer sentiment.

考慮到這些客戶方面的具體不利因素，我們預計第三季整體有機成長將與第二季保持一致。然而，撇開客戶特定細胞療法和 OEM 的不利因素不談，我們預計其餘業務的潛在成長將達到中等個位數。這一前景與我們終端市場的穩定和客戶情緒的改善相符。

You will recall that in our fiscal Q1, our underlying organic growth, excluding the largest cell therapy customers, was 1%. In Q2, the underlying growth was 3% when also backing out the favorable timing of the Protein Sciences OEM customer supply order. This near-term outlook also sets us up nicely for continued improvement in Q4 and a great start to fiscal year 2027 as improved biotech funding should translate into higher spending. Resolution of US academic budgets is reached, our company-specific headwinds start to abate, and we begin to lap lower year-over-year comps.

您可能還記得，在我們的第一財季，不包括最大的細胞療法客戶，我們的基本有機成長率為 1%。第二季度，剔除 Protein Sciences OEM 顧客供貨訂單帶來的有利時機因素後，實際成長率為 3%。這種短期前景也為我們第四季度的持續改善以及2027財年的良好開端奠定了良好的基礎，因為生物技術資金的改善應該會轉化為更高的支出。美國學術預算問題得到解決，我們公司特有的不利因素開始減弱，我們開始克服年減的表現。

From a margin perspective, we remain focused on balancing growth investments with operational efficiency. We're pleased with the upside delivered in Q1 and Q2 and remain on track to achieve 100 basis points of operating margin expansion for the full fiscal year.

從利潤率的角度來看，我們仍然專注於平衡成長投資與營運效率。我們對第一季和第二季的成長感到滿意，並預計在整個財年實現營業利潤率成長 100 個基點。

That concludes my prepared remarks. I'll turn the call back over to the operator to open the line for questions.

我的發言稿到此結束。我將把電話轉回給接線員，以便接聽提問。

(Operator Instructions) Matt Larew, William Blair.

（操作說明）Matt Larew，William Blair。

So Jim, just following up on the growth cadence. So 1% ex items in fiscal Q1, then 3%, and you're saying mid-single in F Q3. I believe there's a 100-bps headwind in fiscal Q4. So just reading this through, you're expecting sort of for the calendar year '26 ex these items, mid-single-digit growth with improvement throughout the year. Is that the message?

吉姆，我只是想跟進成長節奏。所以第一財季（不含特定項目）成長 1%，然後成長 3%，而你說第三財季（財季）達到年中水準。我認為第四財季將面臨 100 個基點的不利影響。所以，通讀一遍，你會預期在 2026 年曆年（不包括這些項目）將實現個位數中段的成長，並且全年都會有所改善。這就是你想傳達的訊息嗎？

Make sure -- yes. So we haven't come off our low single-digit view for the full year, and that would require mid-single-digit growth in Q4 at least, yes.

確定——是的。所以我們仍然堅持全年低個位數成長的預期，而要實現這一目標，至少需要第四季來實現中等個位數成長。

And I think, Matt, what you're trying to ask is if you take these two large customers from the GMP headwinds out, would that be the underlying growth? And I think that's in the ballpark.

我想，Matt，你想問的是，如果排除 GMP 帶來的不利因素，這兩個大客戶是否就是潛在的成長點？我覺得這差不多就是這個意思。

Okay. Very good. And then just following up on gross margins. I think the year-over-year step down makes sense because of your two large customers. The quarter-over-quarter initially was less clear, but perhaps it's that large OEM order that shifted from fiscal Q3 into fiscal Q2. So maybe just give a sense for why on a sequential basis, gross margins were down and how those should trend for the balance of the year.

好的。非常好。然後就是跟進毛利率。我認為，由於你們有兩個大客戶，所以同比下降是合理的。季度環比最初不太明朗，但或許是因為那筆從第三財季轉移到第二財季的大額 OEM 訂單造成的。所以，或許可以解釋為什麼毛利率會季減，以及今年剩餘時間的毛利率走勢。

Yes. I mean, unfortunately, it was really driven by an unfavorable mix on a number of fronts, unfavorable mix in terms of our reagents versus our instruments. We talked about the strength in our ProteinSimple franchise, great margins, but still less than our reagents. And we also had some margin pressures in our Diagnostics and Spatial segment there where we had, of course, Spatial underperforming, underperforming the diagnostics side that has higher margin pull-through. So you got mix issues there.

是的。我的意思是，不幸的是，這確實是由許多方面不利因素造成的，例如我們的試劑與儀器之間的不利因素。我們討論了 ProteinSimple 產品線的優勢，利潤率很高，但仍然低於我們的試劑產品線。此外，我們的診斷和空間分析業務也面臨一些利潤率壓力，其中空間分析業務的表現當然不如利潤率較高的診斷業務。所以這裡有混音問題。

But in addition, within the diagnostics orders, a lot of different OEM customers have different margin profiles, and it just so happened that we had a larger influx of lower-margin customers this quarter. But we, again, expect the overall mix, both within Protein Sciences as well within Diagnostics to gradually improve as those mixes start to unwind more favorably in Q3 and Q4.

此外，在診斷訂單中，許多不同的 OEM 客戶有不同的利潤率，而我們恰好在本季度迎來了更多低利潤率的客戶。但我們再次預計，隨著蛋白質科學和診斷領域的整體結構在第三季和第四季開始變得更加有利地展開，整體結構將會逐步改善。

Dan Leonard, UBS.

丹‧倫納德，瑞銀集團。

Maybe I'll take up that gross margin question. Jim, what's the driver of a more favorable unwind on gross margin? Presumably, you still expect ProteinSimple to be strong and Spatial, it sounds like it ought to recover given the growth in bookings.

或許我會探討毛利率的問題。吉姆，是什麼因素導致毛利率出現更有利的回落？想必您仍然預期 ProteinSimple 會保持強勁勢頭，而 Spatial 鑑於預訂量的增長，聽起來應該會復甦。

Yes. So with the overall, we think the market gradually improving and our core has been improving, the margins of our -- the high margins of our reagents will start to flow through more. Again, the customer mix within Diagnostics, we have visibility to what's flowing through there, and we believe that will improve as well. So it truly is more of a mix scenario than anything else. And based on our current view and outlook and what we see ahead of us, we see that mix, again, gradually improving in the back half of the year.

是的。因此，我們認為整體市場正在逐步改善，我們的核心業務也不斷改善，我們試劑的高利潤率將會開始更惠及市場。同樣，關於診斷部門的客戶組成，我們能夠了解業務流動情況，我們相信這種情況也會得到改善。所以，這確實更像是一種混合情況，而不是其他任何一種情況。根據我們目前的觀點和展望，以及我們對未來的展望，我們認為這種組合將在今年下半年逐步改善。

Okay. And then a high-level question. Given the times we're in, I would be curious for your team's thoughts on AI's impact on demand for Bio-Techne. Just given the number of times Pfizer mentioned yesterday, AI is a cost saving and productivity enhancer in R&D.

好的。然後是一個高層次的問題。鑑於我們所處的時代，我很想知道您的團隊對人工智慧對 Bio-Techne 需求的影響有何看法。僅從輝瑞公司昨天多次提到的來看，人工智慧可以節省研發成本並提高生產力。

I can give you a high-level view on that, Dan. The -- overall, we do believe that AI is a great enabler, not only for our customers, also for us, obviously. But our customers will use AI to better understand and to better drive their programs forward. Highly likely, AI will help them to be more specific in what kind of materials they want. And highly likely because of the capabilities, the molecules and the ingredients that they will want to use are going to be more complex. And we've worked for 50 years honing our capabilities in designing but also manufacturing in a reproducible way these ingredients in very high-quality formats. And we believe that these trends will, therefore, play into our cards into the strength that we have built as a company and overall are going to be a tailwind.

丹，我可以提供你一個概括性的看法。總的來說，我們相信人工智慧不僅對我們的客戶來說是一個強大的推動力，顯然對我們自己也是如此。但我們的客戶將利用人工智慧來更好地理解和推進他們的專案。人工智慧很可能會幫助他們更具體地確定他們想要的材料類型。而且很可能由於技術能力的限制，他們想要使用的分子和成分會更加複雜。50年來，我們不斷努力提升自身能力，不僅設計，而且以可重複的方式生產這些高品質的原料。因此，我們相信這些趨勢將有利於我們公司的發展，增強我們已有的實力，並最終成為一股順風。

Puneet Souda, Leerink Partners.

Puneet Souda，Leerink 合夥人。

So first one, I mean, I appreciate the meaningful step-up that needs to happen in the fourth fiscal quarter here in organic growth. And I think you gave some underlying drivers to that. But just wondering, I just want to -- if you could maybe point out a number that we should be thinking about exiting the year? And then on '27, I know it's just two quarters away for you after the guide. I was wondering if you're willing to share any thoughts on potentially reaching high single digit. Or is that visibility not clear yet just given all of the moving parts in the end market?

首先，我理解第四財季有機成長方面需要取得實質進展。我認為你給了一些潛在的驅動因素。不過我只是想問一下，您能否指出一個我們應該考慮在年底前達到的數字？然後到了 27 號，我知道根據指南，對你來說距離比賽只有兩個季度了。我想知道您是否願意分享一些關於達到個位數高位的想法。或者說，由於終端市場中存在許多不確定因素，目前這種前景還不明朗？

Yes. Puneet, let me begin your first question with the underlying business trends, and I'll let Jim talk to what that means for the numbers. But if you look at our last couple of quarters, and I'll segment it in the way we usually do it, we have our core business, which is a little over half of the company, where we can clearly see a recuperation increase of our run rate business, right? You see the underlying business accelerating, and that bodes well for the activity levels in the markets overall.

是的。Puneet，我先從基本的業務趨勢著手回答你的第一個問題，至於這些趨勢對具體數字的影響，就讓Jim來解釋吧。但如果你看看我們最近幾季的情況，我會按照我們通常的方式進行劃分，我們的核心業務占公司總業務的一半多一點，我們可以清楚地看到我們的日常業務正在復蘇增長，對吧？你可以看到基礎業務正在加速發展，這對整體市場活躍度來說是個好兆頭。

And if I then double-click on the performance in our four growth verticals in cell therapy, obviously, the two Fast Track designation accounts play a big role in that. But if you take those out, the business has been growing 30%. And that's in line with where we expect it to be even in tough markets. We have fantastic traction in organoids, which is a strong up-and-coming end market for us.

如果我再雙擊查看我們在細胞療法四個成長垂直領域的業績，很顯然，兩個快速通道指定帳戶在其中發揮了重要作用。但如果剔除這些因素，該業務的成長率為 30%。即使在市場低迷的情況下，這也符合我們的預期。我們在類器官領域取得了巨大的進展，這對我們來說是一個強勁的新興終端市場。

The proteomic analysis, obviously, accelerating business too. We're now sitting back in the mid-single digits, accelerating Spatial 2 times in the black, where we are flattish, but back in positive growth territory for the regions -- sorry, for the reagents and instruments coming along because we have strong order bookings.

蛋白質體學分析顯然也加速了業務發展。我們現在回到了個位數中段，Spatial 2 倍於正常水平，雖然增長較為平穩，但各區域都回到了正增長區間——抱歉，試劑和儀器方面的情況並非如此，因為我們的訂單預訂情況良好。

Sprinkle on top of that, the new product introductions where we have basically every month introduced a significant new feature for every business. And then not that we're banking on it, but we have seen very positive trending in our end markets. China and APAC for the third time, China in positive growth and accelerating. APAC is turning even stronger.

除此之外，我們幾乎每個月都會推出針對各業務的重要新功能。而且，雖然我們並不指望它，但我們已經看到終端市場呈現出非常積極的趨勢。中國和亞太地區第三次並列第一，中國經濟維持正成長並加速成長。亞太地區正在變得更加強大。

And then, as you know, tough markets in academic and biotech, but we've talked about some of the indicators why there's -- why there are positive opportunities there when it comes to the overall end market health. So that is the underlying dynamic, and Jim can actually translate that in numbers.

然後，正如你所知，學術界和生物技術領域的市場情況嚴峻，但我們已經討論了一些指標，說明為什麼在整體終端市場健康狀況方面存在積極的機會。這就是背後的動態，而吉姆實際上可以用數字來解釋這一點。

Yes. So Puneet, let's just start with the comps we're facing from Q3 versus Q4. So we grew 6% as a company in Q3 of last year, and we grew 3% in Q4. That decrease in growth rate from a comp perspective is a combination of -- from a headwind perspective or a tailwind perspective, a combination of lower headwinds from our -- these two cell therapy customers we've talked about, but also easier comps within our both academic and small biotech starting in February. So there's a 3% tailwind sequentially just right there as a combination of those three things. And then as Kim talked about in terms of the underlying momentum we're seeing in our whole entire rest of our business, as I mentioned in my comments, if you exclude these two customers and this one OEM timing that we had, our underlying growth was 1% in Q1, 3% in Q2.

是的。那麼 Puneet，我們先來看看第三季與第四季相比面臨的比較情況。所以，去年第三季我們公司成長了 6%，第四季成長了 3%。從比較角度來看，成長率下降是多種因素共同作用的結果——從逆風或順風的角度來看，一方面是來自我們之前提到的這兩家細胞療法客戶的不利因素減少，另一方面是從二月份開始，學術界和小型生物技術公司的比較基數降低。所以，這三件事結合起來，就產生了 3% 的順風。正如 Kim 所談到的，就我們整個業務其他部分所看到的潛在勢頭而言，正如我在評論中提到的，如果排除這兩個客戶和我們遇到的這個 OEM 時機，我們第一季的潛在增長率為 1%，第二季度為 3%。

Our implied guidance would suggest a slight step-up in Q3 and so you see this momentum building within our baseline business. And so we think that will continue to build as we exit the year in Q4, and that's on top of the 3% tailwind we have from a comp perspective. So that's how we're thinking about exiting the year, which is obviously a very strong momentum as we -- an underlying base business growth as the final headwinds from these customers go away at the start of our fiscal year '27. So not giving any fiscal year '27 guidance, obviously, at this point, but the momentum of the business is very encouraging right now.

我們暗示的業績指引表明第三季將略有成長，因此您可以看到這種成長勢頭在我們基礎業務中不斷增強。因此我們認為，隨著第四季度臨近尾聲，這一趨勢將繼續增強，而且這還是在我們同店銷售額增長 3% 的基礎上實現的。所以這就是我們對今年結束的看法，顯然這是一個非常強勁的勢頭，因為我們——隨著這些客戶帶來的最後不利因素在 2027 財年開始時消失，我們的基本業務增長將保持強勁勢頭。因此，目前顯然不會給出 2027 財年的任何業績指引，但目前業務發展勢頭非常令人鼓舞。

Got it. That's helpful, Jim. And then on China, you pointed that out a couple of times throughout the call. What's clearly interesting here is you're growing ahead of the peers indeed consistently. So just could you dive a bit deeper into that? And what's driving this strength, the end market, the customers? What's different here for Bio-Techne versus some of the peers?

知道了。那很有幫助，吉姆。關於中國問題，你在通話中也多次提過。顯而易見，最有趣的是，你的成長速度確實一直領先於同儕。您能否更深入地探討一下這個問題？而這強勁勢頭背後的驅動力是什麼？是終端市場，還是客戶？Bio-Techne 與一些同行相比有何不同之處？

The -- yes, China, it's the third quarter, we are in a positive territory, and it's -- the growth is accelerating. I think the China market is overall gaining momentum. They have approved their 15th five-year funding plan in which life science is, again, a high priority. And we've seen successes from local biotech companies having exits in the form of M&A or through licensing, and you can clearly see a peak of deals done with China biotech. Overall activity in CDMO and CRO is also improving. And I think we're well positioned to capitalize on that, and that's really have been driving our results.

是的，中國，現在是第三季度，我們處於正成長狀態，而且成長正在加速。我認為中國市場整體正在加速成長。他們批准了第 15 個五年資助計劃，生命科學再次成為該計劃的優先領域。我們已經看到本土生物技術公司透過併購或授權等方式成功退出，可以清楚地看到與中國生物技術公司達成的交易數量達到了頂峰。CDMO和CRO的整體活動也在改善。我認為我們已經做好充分準備來利用這一點，而這正是我們取得業績的真正原因。

Patrick Donnelly, Citigroup.

派崔克唐納利，花旗集團。

Helpful rundown there of kind of the moving pieces as we head into year-end and next year. I just want to kind of zone in on a few. It sounds like, again, the message here is mid-single-digit underlying growth if you back out the customers or at least that ballpark for '26.

這份概述很有幫助，讓我們了解了在年底和明年到來之際，各種變化因素的情況。我只想集中精力關注幾個方面。聽起來，這裡的資訊再次表明，如果剔除客戶因素，基本面成長率將達到個位數中段，或至少 2026 年的成長率將達到這個水準。

And then as biotech improves and then these customers flip, you have some things to build on as you get into '27. Can you talk about the biotech piece in particular? Again, still declining for you guys, but it sounds like all the conversations are improving. Obviously, we see the funding numbers, which were quite strong in calendar 4Q. What are you hearing from that customer base?

然後，隨著生技的進步，這些客戶也會改變觀念，到 2027 年，你就可以以此為基礎繼續發展。能具體談談生物科技方面的內容嗎？你們的情況依然在惡化，但聽起來所有的對話都在好轉。顯然，我們看到了融資數據，第四季的數據相當強勁。你從這些客戶群中聽到了什麼回饋？

And what's the right way to think about the timing of that funding improvement showing up for you guys in terms of revenue? Is it kind of that six-month type lag that you've talked about before? What's the right way to think about the path forward on the biotech for you guys?

那麼，對於你們而言，資金改善何時才能真正轉化為收入成長，這種時間上的合理理解是什麼呢？是不是你之前提到的那種六個月的延遲狀況？你們覺得生技產業的未來發展方向該怎麼走？

Patrick, thanks for the question. Sure. Biotech has been a tough end market, right? Obviously, the first half of calendar '25 funding was dismal. That resulted for us in a negative high single-digit Q1 and a negative mid-single-digit Q2, improving, but still not very good.

派崔克，謝謝你的提問。當然。生技終端市場一直都很艱難，對吧？顯然，2025 年上半年的資金狀況非常糟糕。這導致我們第一季虧損接近兩位數，第二季虧損中等個位數，情況有所改善，但仍不太好。

Now we are encouraged because we've really made sure that we are addressing the market with the right products and the right themes. We also have made sure that we're launching new product introductions continuously fit for that end market. And we, of course, keep a close eye on the overall health of the end market, primarily through the funding. And you just mentioned that Q3 -- calendar Q3 funding stabilized, slightly increased, but funding in Q4 increased significantly. And we've also seen very healthy numbers for the first month of the new calendar year.

現在我們感到鼓舞，因為我們已經確保用正確的產品和正確的主題來開拓市場。我們也確保不斷推出適合終端市場的新產品。當然，我們也會密切關注終端市場的整體健康狀況，主要透過資金投入來實現。您剛才提到，第三季（日曆年第三季）的資金趨於穩定，略有成長，但第四季的資金大幅成長。而且，新年第一個月的數據也非常健康。

Overall, M&A activity is an important indicator and has been trending positive in that market. Licensing has been positive and trending in the market. Lower interest rates are important to funding of that market and are doing well.

總體而言，併購活動是一個重要的指標，並且在該市場一直呈現正面趨勢。授權許可業務在市場上一直保持積極發展勢頭。較低的利率對於該市場的融資至關重要，而且目前情況良好。

And then assuming that there will be access to capital, yes, you're right. Typically, the delay of the funding coming trickling through in life science tools is six months. There is quite some underutilized infrastructure in place. So we are anticipating the bell curve to sit at six months, let's say, two quarters plus/minus 1. And that goes from companies switching on or accelerating their programs and ordering a little bit earlier, especially in the reagent side that can go relatively quickly. But then CapEx takes a little bit longer, and that will be the back end of that bell curve. And that's how we look at the dynamics.

如果能夠獲得資金，那麼是的，你是對的。通常情況下，生命科學工具的資金到位需要六個月的時間。目前有許多基礎設施沒有充分利用。因此，我們預期鐘形曲線將位於六個月左右，也就是兩季正負一個季度。這包括各公司啟動或加快其專案進度，並提前訂購，尤其是在試劑方面，因為試劑消耗速度相對較快。但資本支出需要更長時間，這將是鐘形曲線的後端部分。這就是我們看待這種動態的方式。

On the cell therapy piece, it sounds like, again, ex those customers, you're seeing pretty good growth. Can you help us size up? I think at our conference when we were chatting, you were talking about at the peak, those two customers were maybe as much as 40% of the GMP business. Again, you talked about the GMP business down 50%, so that makes sense. Are we to kind of expect this -- the GMP business normalizes as we get into 1Q -- fiscal 1Q '27 for you guys and then gets back to that over 20% growth as a business? I just want to make sure we're thinking about clearly the impact of these customers, when it can flip and again, what the right way to think about the sizing of that business is before the customers after and the right baseline.

關於細胞療法這部分，聽起來，除了那些客戶之外，你們的成長情況相當不錯。能幫我們估算一下尺寸嗎？我想在我們的會議上，我們聊天的時候，你談到在高峰時期，那兩位客戶可能佔了 GMP 業務的 40%。你之前提到GMP業務下降了50%，所以這很合理。我們是否可以預期，GMP 業務會在 2027 財年第一季（貴公司指 2027 財年第一季）趨於正常，然後恢復到 20% 以上的成長速度？我只是想確保我們清楚地思考這些客戶的影響，以及這種情況何時會發生轉變，再次強調，在客戶出現之前和之後，思考企業規模的正確方法是什麼，以及正確的基準線是什麼。

Patrick, thanks for the question. We're excited that these two customers have their Fast Track designation, Obviously, an indication for the importance of the treatments and we've talked about it extensively. So I'll keep that part short. Underlying 700-plus customers, 85 in clinical studies and six in Phase 3. But overall, in much more evenly sized customers. So it's not going to be as lumpy as the two that we are now working through the specific air pocket we talked about. But yes, the air pocket was indeed a 200-basis headwind for Q1, 400 for this quarter, Q2. And then we're thinking of the impact to be 300 basis points and then somewhere around 150 -- anywhere between 100 and 200 for Q4 and then a total reset. So your conclusion is right that from there, we will go back to normalized growth.

派崔克，謝謝你的提問。我們很高興這兩位客戶獲得了快速通道資格，這顯然表明了治療的重要性，我們已經對此進行了廣泛的討論。所以我這部分就簡單說說。擁有 700 多個潛在客戶，其中 85 個正在進行臨床研究，6 個正在進行 3 期臨床試驗。但整體而言，客戶規模更加均勻。所以它不會像我們現在正在處理的兩個氣泡那樣凹凸不平，我們剛才談到了那個特定的氣泡。但沒錯，氣穴確實為第一季帶來了 200 個基點的不利影響，為本季和第二季帶來了 400 個基點的不利影響。然後我們認為影響會達到 300 個基點，第四季在 150 個基點左右，在 100 到 200 個基點之間，然後徹底重置。所以你的結論是對的，從那以後，我們將恢復正常成長。

As I just mentioned in the first question, the underlying growth in that business was 30% this last quarter. And that is actually a growth that we would expect from this business. But take into account that, that is still under very constrained conditions if you look at academic and biotech markets. So overall, we have a very positive view on the end market in particular. Knowing that our comparables will be flushed out Q1 2027, also knowing that the number of clinical studies has increased in a healthy pace and knowing that the mix of clinical studies has tilted towards cell therapy-related treatments, that really plays into our strength and reads much better on our portfolio. So overall, we're very positive about this division going forward into the new fiscal year.

正如我在第一個問題中提到的，該業務上個季度的基本成長率為 30%。而這其實是我們對這家企業預期中的成長。但要注意的是，如果你觀察學術界和生物技術市場，你會發現這仍然是在非常受限的條件下進行的。所以總的來說，我們對終端市場尤其持非常樂觀的態度。考慮到我們的可比公司將在 2027 年第一季完成，臨床研究的數量也以健康的速度增長，而且臨床研究的組合已經向細胞療法相關治療傾斜，這確實發揮了我們的優勢，也使我們的投資組合看起來更好。總的來說，我們對該部門在新財年的發展前景非常樂觀。

Dan Arias, Stifel.

Dan Arias，Stifel。

Jim, I'm sorry, I just want to go back to the outlook one more time, if I can. Is the picture that you're kind of sketching out for the end of the fiscal year, the mid-single-digit growth in 4Q, does that assume that both academic and biotech are growing at that point? Or is it -- is what gets you there really just continued pharma strength and then normalized spending from these two GMP customers?

吉姆，對不起，如果可以的話，我想再回到展望台那邊看看。你大致勾勒出的本財年末的景象，即第​​四季度個位數的中等增長，是否假設屆時學術界和生物技術界都在增長？或者說，真正讓你達到目標的，其實只是製藥業的持續實力，以及這兩家符合GMP標準的客戶的正常支出？

Yes. Because of the easier comps, we can get there largely without seeing much of a step-up in those two customers. But again, I think any significant improvement in spending in those two partners could be upside.

是的。由於比較容易，我們基本上無需看到這兩類客戶有太大的成長就能達到目標。但我認為，這兩個合作夥伴支出的任何顯著改善都可能是利好消息。

Okay. And then maybe on the Spatial Biology side, you have the academic exposure that obviously impacts the instrument side of the equation. But on consumables, how are you thinking about the pull-through rate for Lunaphore this year? Is that something that you think can grow as an average?

好的。然後，在空間生物學方面，學術接觸顯然會對儀器操作方面產生影響。但是就消耗品而言，您如何看待 Lunaphore 今年的銷售轉換率？你認為這個指標平均而言會成長嗎？

Yes, Dan, thanks for always keeping a keen eye out on the spatial side of the business. I appreciate it. Yes, listen, it has indeed a larger proportion of revenue linked to the academic performance. Academic performance has stabilized. And what we're really pleased to see is that the mix of the grants has tilted from some research areas more to oncology and neurology and a preferred tool for those research end markets is spatial. So you do see, even though the market is under pressure that our comps revenues have gone back into positive growth territory, which we are very happy to see in constrained markets. And therefore, this mix is really playing in our favor.

是的，丹，感謝你一直以來對公司空間的關注。謝謝。是的，聽著，它的收入確實有較大比例與學業成績掛鉤。學業成績已趨於穩定。我們非常高興地看到，資助計畫的組合已經從一些研究領域轉向腫瘤學和神經病學，而空間資訊是這些研究終端市場的首選工具。所以你可以看到，儘管市場面臨壓力，但我們的同店收入已經恢復正成長，這在市場受限的情況下，我們對此感到非常高興。因此，這種組合實際上對我們非常有利。

A very similar story for biotech. And as you know, we are very happy with our competitive position of the COMET, our fully automated multiomics instrument. We're really happy to see that our win-loss rates are very high, right there where we want them to be. And the pull-through now is about $45,000 per instrument per year. But we are working hard on getting the multiomic capabilities rolled out and customers trained on it, and that will drive pull-through from our reagents. And we're actively working on broadening our antibody portfolio for spatial analysis as well.

生物技術領域的情況也非常相似。如您所知，我們對 COMET（我們的全自動多組學儀器）的競爭地位非常滿意。我們很高興看到我們的勝率非常高，完全達到了我們想要的水平。而現在，每台儀器每年的拉動成本約為 45,000 美元。但我們正在努力推出多組學功能並對客戶進行相關培訓，這將推動我們試劑的普及。我們也積極努力擴大用於空間分析的抗體產品組合。

And as you know, we have a broad portfolio of probes in the RNA on the RNA detection side. We will now have a very broad capability and offering from the protein detection side, and we're one of the few that offer true parallel multiomics. And therefore, we are aiming that over time, the pull-through per box on the reagent side would be more in the $90,000 per box per year area. So certainly, a pull-through play that will definitely help driving growth but also drive margins.

如您所知，我們在 RNA 檢測方面擁有廣泛的 RNA 探針產品組合。現在，我們在蛋白質檢測方面將擁有非常廣泛的能力和產品，而且我們是少數幾家能夠提供真正並行多組學的公司之一。因此，我們的目標是，隨著時間的推移，試劑方面每盒的年銷售額能達到每盒 9 萬美元左右。因此，這無疑是一項能夠推動成長並提高利潤率的拉動策略。

Okay. But do you think by the end of this calendar year, you're higher than that $45,000? I mean $90,000 is doubling the pull-through rate would be great. But I mean, is 2026 a year where it's up?

好的。但你認為到今年年底，你的收入會超過 45,000 美元嗎？我的意思是，9萬美元能讓貸款轉換率翻一番，那就太好了。但我的意思是，2026年是它的巔峰之年嗎？

We will certainly be able to see the start of that trend, but that's multi-quarter or maybe even more than a year play that I just talked about. That's a true adoption of multiomics in the space. The space is nascent, but we'll certainly continue to keep pushing forward the ability and the capability that we will offer our customers, and there's certainly demand for it. So that's a longer-term play. But yes, the trend will improve quarter-by-quarter.

我們肯定能夠看到這種趨勢的開端，但這需要幾個季度甚至一年多的時間，就像我剛才說的那樣。這才是多組學在該領域的真正應用。這個領域雖然還處於起步階段，但我們一定會繼續努力提升我們能為客戶提供的能力和功能，而且市場對這方面也確實有需求。所以這是一項長期投資。但確實，這趨勢會逐季改善。

Mac Etoch, Stephens Inc.

Mac Etoch，Stephens 公司

Maybe just given the FDA's focus on reducing animal models, I'd like to just get an update on how interest has trended for your organoid offerings? And can you just give us a sense for how much revenue that's generated from these product lines in the quarter?

鑑於 FDA 目前致力於減少動物模型的使用，我想了解貴公司提供的類器官產品目前的發展趨勢如何？能否簡單介紹一下這些產品線在本季產生的收入是多少？

Yes. Organoids obviously is a very interesting trend that we picked upon early a couple of years ago. It's a $1.4 billion market growing at mid-teens and certainly something that we want to play in, especially because of our broad portfolio of products that are very essential in growing cells and not different for organoids. We -- it's about a $50 million run rate business right now.

是的。類器官顯然是一個非常有趣的趨勢，我們早在幾年前就注意到了它。這是一個價值 14 億美元的市場，正以十幾個百分點的速度成長，我們當然想在這個市場中分一杯羹，尤其因為我們擁有廣泛的產品組合，這些產品對於細胞培養至關重要，對於類器官培養也不例外。我們—目前這項業務的年營業額約為 5,000 萬美元。

And yes, we're definitely aligning our product portfolio, marketing materials and also our new product introductions in favor of that capability. Because if you think at the end of it, it's not only reduced use of animal models, but also the organoid model as such gives you a much better result, much more related to an actual human result than an animal model would. So not only is the quality and the consistency of the data you generate from organoids better, it's also a more humane method of getting that data. So overall, a win-win.

是的，我們正在調整產品組合、行銷材料以及新產品推出方式，以便更好地發揮這項功能。因為歸根究底，這不僅可以減少動物模型的使用，而且類器官模型本身也能提供更好的結果，比動物模型更接近真實的人類結果。因此，不僅從類器官產生的數據的品質和一致性更好，而且獲取這些數據的方法也更人道。總而言之，這是一次雙贏。

And that's also one of the reasons why we just launched our Cultrex Synthetic Hydrogel, which is a gel that helps you grow organoids. And even that gel is now animal-free, and that makes consistency much easier of this medium. And it's also much better to analyze. There's less background noise in any of the analytical methods you would use in organoids. So overall, a very interesting, fast-growing market that makes sense to have a strong adoption in the end markets.

這也是我們推出 Cultrex 合成水凝膠的原因之一，這種凝膠可以幫助您培養類器官。而且現在這種凝膠也不含動物成分，這使得這種介質的稠度更容易控制。而且分析也更好。在類器官分析中，任何分析方法都存在較少的背景噪音。總的來說，這是一個非常有趣、快速成長的市場，在終端市場廣泛應用是合理的。

And then it's not only our cell therapy reagents that read on the opportunity. It's also spatial, the spatial capabilities to interrogate the organoids. And then Maurice and Ella in our protein analysis business also are tools utilized in the analysis of organoids. So overall, a real boost for our Bio-Techne product portfolio.

不僅我們的細胞治療試劑抓住了這個機會。它也具有空間性，即對類器官進行空間探測的能力。此外，我們蛋白質分析業務中的 Maurice 和 Ella 也是用於類器官分析的工具。總而言之，這對我們的 Bio-Techne 產品組合來說是一次真正的推動。

I appreciate the color there. And then secondly, you've also consistently discussed M&A as a core capability how are you thinking about valuations in the pipeline in front of you today? And are there any particular footholds you think an acquisition might slot in a little bit better?

我喜歡那裡的顏色。其次，您也一直將併購視為一項核心能力，那麼您如何看待目前擺在您面前的估值項目？您認為有哪些特定的切入點，收購可能更有利於其發展？

Yes. M&A has been and will continue to be a core focus for us. We've been very, very busy, not been able to pull a deal off yet, but certainly very interested in deploying our capital that way. We don't really care if it's private or public. We are really looking at where is the best strategic fit.

是的。併購一直是並將繼續是我們的核心關注點。我們一直非常非常忙，雖然還沒有任何交易，但我們當然對以這種方式部署我們的資金非常感興趣。我們並不在意它是私人的還是公開的。我們真正關注的是最佳的策略契合點。

And if you think about it, our core, specifically around novel antibodies, we wouldn't mind at all adding to those capabilities. Cell therapy is obviously an area that we want -- that we address really well, but we wouldn't mind broadening our portfolio.

仔細想想，我們的核心業務，特別是新型抗體方面，我們非常樂意增強這方面的能力。細胞療法顯然是我們想要涉足的領域——我們在這方面做得非常出色，但我們也不介意拓展我們的產品組合。

And then in the proteomic analysis, we're also keen on adding capabilities that would benefit the company and fit our strategic model. So overall, we are very interested. And in the meantime, as you know, we already have kicked off the Wilson Wolf acquisition. We own 20% of it currently, and we will finalize that acquisition at the latest, a little bit less than eight quarters from now at the end of calendar 2027.

此外，在蛋白質體學分析方面，我們也熱衷於增加能夠使公司受益並符合我們策略模式的功能。總的來說，我們非常感興趣。同時，正如您所知，我們已經啟動了對威爾遜沃爾夫的收購。我們目前擁有該公司 20% 的股份，最遲將在 2027 年底，也就是不到八個季度後完成收購。

And as you know, this is a business that fits really nicely with the Bio-Techne cell therapy business and has a fantastic synergy between our product lines. It grew 20% this last quarter, has 70% plus EBITDA margins, so immediately accretive. So we're very excited that if nothing else, we will be working on that integration and completing that acquisition. But we're very interested in doing something in between, if possible.

如您所知，這項業務與 Bio-Techne 的細胞療法業務非常契合，並且我們的產品線之間具有極佳的協同效應。該公司上季度成長了 20%，EBITDA 利潤率超過 70%，因此能夠立即提升收益。所以，我們非常高興，即便沒有其他進展，我們也會著手進行整合並完成收購。但如果可能的話，我們非常有興趣嘗試介於兩者之間的做法。

Brandon Couillard, Wells Fargo.

Brandon Couillard，富國銀行。

Jim, it looks like you're kind of outperforming on operating margin expansion in the first half of the year, even though mix is kind of working against you as you talked about. You're sticking with the 100 basis points for the full year, but you previously talked about maybe exiting up 200 bps year-over-year. So is there some reinvestment that's happening in the back half of the year that kind of brings you back to the original goal? And just kind of unpack how you expect margins to bear or trend in the second half?

吉姆，看起來你上半年的營業利潤率擴張表現相當不錯，儘管正如你所說，產品組合對你有點不利。你堅持全年上漲 100 個基點，但你之前說過可能會比去年同期上漲 200 個基點。那麼，在下半年是否有一些再投資，使你們能夠回到最初的目標？請您具體分析一下您預計下半年利潤率將如何變化或呈現什麼趨勢？

Yes. So if you look at the second half, first of all, we have a bit of an anomaly in Q3. I mean if you kind of look at from Q2 to Q4 sequentially last year, we went from roughly 30% operating margins jumped to 30 -- almost 35% operating margins and then in Q4, we were back down to 32%. There was some timing of expenses as well as some mix, but mostly timing of expenses that occur between Q3 and Q4, which kind of caused that lopsidedness.

是的。所以，如果你看一下下半年，首先，第三季出現了一些異常。我的意思是，如果你看看去年第二季到第四季的連續數據，我們的營業利潤率從大約 30% 躍升至 30%——接近 35%，然後在第四季又回落到 32%。支出的時間安排有些特殊，也有些混合情況，但主要支出發生在第三季和第四季之間，這造成了這種不平衡。

How we're thinking about it is that from a sequential perspective, we'll see continued improvement in gross margin as that mix -- negative mix starts to unwind. And we'll see sequential revenue growth, which we always do seasonality-wise from Q2 to Q3 and usually even a little bit of a step-up from Q3 to Q4 beyond that.

我們的想法是，從順序的角度來看，隨著這種負面組合開始瓦解，我們將看到毛利率持續改善。我們將看到營收環比成長，這通常是由於季節性因素導致的，從第二季到第三季度，通常從第三季到第四季還會略有成長。

So how we're thinking about it is that sequentially, the margin will continue to expand. Roughly half of that expansion will come from the gross margin improvement throughout the back half of the year and the other half will come through the higher revenues that we expect to have in the second half of the year. How that plays out by quarter is Q3 will be a tougher comp on an operating margin perspective, but Q4 will be an easier comp. And when it's all said and done, we think it will be 100 basis points of improvement for the second half.

所以我們的想法是，利潤率會逐年擴大。其中約一半的成長將來自下半年毛利率的提高，另一半的成長將來自我們預計下半年更高的收入。從季度來看，第三季的營業利潤率比較低，但第四季的營業利潤率比較低。最終，我們認為下半年將會提升 100 個基點。

Okay. And then just a question on operating cash flow down pretty meaningfully in the first half. I mean you typically do just under half of the full year operating cash flow in the first half. So is there something going on in terms of a timing dynamic that you'd like to call out? And where do you see cash flow shaking out for the full year right now?

好的。然後還有一個關於上半年營運現金流大幅下降的問題。我的意思是，通常情況下，上半年就能達到全年近一半的營運現金流。那麼，在時間安排方面，有沒有什麼需要特別指出的地方呢？那麼，您目前預計全年現金流狀況如何？

Yes. And we may have mentioned in the last earnings call, but I'll mention it again. So first of all, our Q2 cash flow was very strong. It was on par with last year, as you'd expect with our revenue being on par. It was really a Q1 issue, and it was really two main drivers.

是的。我們可能在上一次財報電話會議上提到過，但我再說一次。首先，我們第二季的現金流非常強勁。正如你所預料的那樣，由於我們的收入與去年持平，所以今年的業績與去年持平。這其實是第一季的問題，主要有兩個原因。

The first one being the amount and timing of our bonus accrual payouts for incentive compensation purposes. If you go back a year ago, Q1, we had a very low payout in our bonuses. And in the fiscal year '25, we had a more normal payout. And so that turned out to be a much larger cash outflow in bonuses from a year-over-year comp perspective in our first quarter.

第一個問題是，為了激勵性薪酬，我們獎金累積支付的金額和時間。如果回顧一年前的第一季度，我們的獎金發放額非常低。2025 財年，我們的支出恢復到了正常水準。因此，從年比薪酬的角度來看，我們第一季的獎金現金支出大幅增加。

We also had some timing of tax payments that impacted Q1, and that timing of tax payments will gradually unwind throughout this fiscal year. Some of it already did in Q2. But the more permanent timing difference for the year will be that Q1 payment of incentive cash bonuses to employees.

第一季我們也遇到了一些稅款支付時間的問題，這些問題將在本財年內逐步解決。其中一些已經在第二季度實現了。但今年更持久的時間差異在於第一季發放激勵性現金獎金給員工的時間。

At this time, we've reached our allotted time for questions. I'll now turn the call back over to Kim Kelderman for any additional or closing remarks.

至此，我們的提問時間已到。現在我將把電話轉回給金凱爾德曼，請她補充或總結發言。

Thank you, everyone, for joining today's call. I want to acknowledge the team's outstanding execution amid a complex and continually evolving market environment. The renewed momentum in biotech funding, progress around the US economic budgets and strong engagement from our large pharma customers all reinforce our confidence in the ongoing recovery of our end markets.

感謝各位參加今天的電話會議。我要稱讚團隊在複雜多變的市場環境下所展現的出色執行力。生物技術融資的復甦勢頭、美國經濟預算的進展以及大型製藥客戶的積極參與，都增強了我們對終端市場持續復甦的信心。

As we enter our 50th year, we do so with a portfolio that is more durable, more differentiated and more strategically aligned with the future of science and medicine than at any point in our history. The strength of our durable core portfolio, combined with our continued investments across cell therapy, proteomic analytical instruments, spatial biology and precision diagnostic tools position Bio-Techne exceptionally well for the opportunities ahead.

在我們邁入第 50 年之際，我們的投資組合比以往任何時候都更加持久、更具差異化，並且與科學和醫學的未來更加戰略契合。憑藉我們強大的核心產品組合，以及我們在細胞療法、蛋白質體分析儀器、太空生物學和精準診斷工具領域的持續投資，Bio-Techne 為迎接未來的機會奠定了非常有利的地位。

Thank you again for your interest in Bio-Techne, and we look forward to updating you on our progress next quarter.

再次感謝您對 Bio-Techne 的關注，我們期待在下個季度向您報告我們的進展。

Thank you. This brings us to the end of today's meeting. We appreciate your time and participation. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。感謝您抽空參與。您現在可以斷開連線了。