威瑞信 (VRSN) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone. Welcome to Verisign's Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded. Recording of this conference is not permitted unless preauthorized. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Mr. David Atchley, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Treasurer. Please go ahead, sir.

大家好。歡迎參加威瑞信 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。除非預先授權，否則不允許本次會議進行錄音。現在，我想將會議交給投資者關係副總裁兼公司財務主管 David Atchley 先生主持。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, operator. Welcome to Verisign's Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. Joining me are Jim Bidzos, Executive Chairman and CEO; Todd Strubbe, President and COO; and George Kilguss, Executive Vice President and CFO. .

謝謝你，接線生。歡迎參加威瑞信 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。與我一起的還有執行董事長兼執行長吉姆‧比索斯 (Jim Bidzos)；斯特魯布 (Todd Strubbe)，總裁兼營運長；以及執行副總裁兼財務長 George Kilguss。 。

This call and presentation are being webcast from the Investor Relations website, which is available under About Verisign on verisign.com. There, you will also find our earnings release. At the end of this call, the presentation will be available on that site, and within a few hours, the replay of the call will be posted. Financial results in our earnings release are unaudited, and our remarks include forward-looking statements that are subject to the risks and uncertainties that we discuss in detail in our documents filed with the SEC, specifically the most recent report on Form 10-K.

本次電話會議和簡報透過投資者關係網站進行網路直播，該網站位於 verisign.com 上的「關於威瑞信」下。在那裡，您還可以找到我們的財報。本次電話會議結束後，該簡報將在該網站上發布，幾個小時內，將發布電話會議的重播。我們的收益發布中的財務表現未經審計，我們的言論包括前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受到我們在向SEC 提交的文件（特別是10-K 表格的最新報告）中詳細討論的風險和不確定性的影響。

Verisign does not update financial performance or guidance during the quarter unless it is done through a public disclosure. The financial results in today's call and the matters we will be discussing today include GAAP results and 2 non-GAAP measures used by Verisign, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation information is appended to the slide presentation, which can be found on the Investor Relations section of our website available after this call.

威瑞信不會更新本季的財務表現或指導，除非以公開揭露的方式進行。今天電話會議的財務表現以及我們今天將討論的事項包括 GAAP 業績和威瑞信使用的 2 項非 GAAP 指標、調整後 EBITDA 和自由現金流。幻燈片簡報中附有 GAAP 與非 GAAP 調節訊息，您可以在本次電話會議後在我們網站的投資者關係部分找到該資訊。

Jim and George will provide some prepared remarks. And afterward, we will open the call for your questions. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Jim.

吉姆和喬治將提供一些準備好的演講。之後，我們將開啟電話詢問您的問題。說到這裡，我想把電話轉給吉姆。

Thank you, David. Good afternoon to everyone, and thank you for joining us. We delivered another solid quarter by focusing on our mission as a critical Internet infrastructure operator. In addition to delivering on our mission during the third quarter, I'm pleased with the financial results, which show the continued strength of our business model during this uncertain macroeconomic period.

謝謝你，大衛。大家下午好，感謝您加入我們。透過專注於我們作為關鍵網路基礎設施營運商的使命，我們再次實現了穩健的季度業績。除了在第三季履行我們的使命之外，我對財務表現感到滿意，這表明我們的業務模式在這個不確定的宏觀經濟時期保持了持續的優勢。

For the third quarter, revenues grew 5.4% year-over-year, while EPS grew 15.8% year-over-year. At the end of September, the domain name base in .com and .net totaled 173.9 million domain names, up slightly from 173.8 million names at the end of 2022. During the third quarter, the domain name base decreased by 0.5 million domain names. From a new registration perspective, the third quarter ended with 9.9 million new registrations, flat with the same quarter last year.

第三季營收年增5.4%，每股盈餘較去年同期成長15.8%。截至 9 月底，.com 和 .net 域名總數為 1.739 億個域名，略高於 2022 年底的 1.738 億個域名。從新註冊量來看，第三季末新註冊量為990萬，與去年同季持平。

We believe that the renewal rate for the third quarter of 2023 will be approximately 73.4% compared to 73.7% a year ago. While there are many factors that drive demand for domain names, the core value proposition for domain names remain strong, and we're seeing broad-based engagement from our registrar channel. However, even with those fundamentals intact, low demand from China remains the primary source of drag on the overall domain name base growth, excluding registrars based in China, both our domain name base and new registrations are up year-over-year through Q3. With this current trend, we now expect the change in the domain name base for full year 2023 to be between negative 0.4% and positive 0.4%. This updated range reflects continued uncertainty primarily due to the weakness we're seeing from China.

我們認為 2023 年第三季的續約率約為 73.4%，而去年同期為 73.7%。儘管推動網域需求的因素有很多，但網域的核心價值主張仍然強勁，而且我們看到註冊商管道的廣泛參與。然而，即使這些基本面完好無損，中國的低需求仍然是拖累整體域名基礎增長的主要根源，不包括中國的註冊商，我們的域名基礎和新註冊量在第三季度均同比增長。按照目前的趨勢，我們預計 2023 年全年域名基數的變化將在負 0.4% 到正 0.4% 之間。這項更新的範圍反映出持續的不確定性，主要是因為我們看到中國的疲軟。

Our financial and liquidity position remained stable with $943 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at the end of the quarter. During the third quarter, we repurchased 1.1 million shares for $220 million. At quarter end, $1.34 billion remained available and authorized under the current share repurchase program.

我們的財務和流動性狀況保持穩定，截至本季末現金、現金等價物和有價證券為 9.43 億美元。第三季度，我們以 2.2 億美元回購了 110 萬股股票。截至季末，目前股票回購計畫仍有 13.4 億美元可供使用和授權。

Regarding .web, Today, ICANN posted Altanovo's IRP complaint and ICANN's answer to its website. I urge anyone interested in this issue to read it as I believe it will help you understand our current and past statements on .web. We think ICANN's answer is informative, and I'd like to read the concluding paragraph from ICANN's document. First, I just want to clarify that the reference to NDC here is a company new .co, which is Verisign's partner in the .web application. The conclusion reads as follows: "after an exhaustive first .web IRP and an extremely thorough evaluation process following that IRP, ICANN determined that NDC did not violate the guidebook or the auction rules. ICANN fully compled with its articles, bylaws and internal policies and procedures when it made that determination, and the Board's resolution is entitled to difference under the bylaws' enshrinement of the business judgment rule.

關於.web，今天，ICANN 在其網站上發布了 Altanovo 的 IRP 投訴和 ICANN 的答案。我敦促對此問題感興趣的任何人閱讀本文，因為我相信它將幫助您了解我們當前和過去在 .web 上的聲明。我們認為 ICANN 的回答內容豐富，我想閱讀 ICANN 文件的結論段落。首先，我想澄清一下，這裡提到的 NDC 是一家新公司 .co，它是 Verisign 在 .web 應用程式中的合作夥伴。結論如下：「經過詳盡的第一個 .web IRP 以及該 IRP 之後極其徹底的評估流程，ICANN 確定 NDC 沒有違反指南或拍賣規則。ICANN 完全遵守其條款、章程和內部政策，並且做出該決定時的程序，並且董事會的決議有權根據章程規定的商業判斷規則提出異議。

Accordingly, Altanovo's IRP request should be denied. We agree with ICANN. We continue to believe that this IRP followed by Altanovo and its backers has been filed for the purpose of delay. I will also repeat our intention, which is to bring .web to market by this company that has operated .com and .net with reliability and confidence for nearly 30 years.

因此，Altanovo 的 IRP 請求應被拒絕。我們同意 ICANN 的觀點。我們仍然認為 Altanovo 及其支持者提出的 IRP 是出於延遲的目的而提交的。我還要重申我們的意圖，即由這家可靠且充滿信心地運營 .com 和 .net 近 30 年的公司將 .web 推向市場。

With its newly available namespace, .web will add more choice of registrations for our global channel of thousands of registrars and there are millions of potential customers in a new generic top level domain.

憑藉其新推出的命名空間，.web 將為我們由數千名註冊商組成的全球管道添加更多註冊選擇，並且在新的通用頂級網域中擁有數百萬潛在客戶。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to George. I will return when George has completed his financial report with closing remarks. George?

現在我想把電話轉給喬治。當喬治完成他的財務報告並發表結束語時，我會回來。喬治？

Thanks, Jim, and good afternoon, everyone. For the quarter ended September 30, 2023, the company generated revenue of $376 million, up 5.4% from the same quarter of 2022 and delivered operating income of $254 million, an increase of 7.4% from the same quarter a year ago.

謝謝吉姆，大家下午好。截至2023年9月30日的季度，該公司實現營收3.76億美元，比2022年同季度增長5.4%，實現營業收入2.54億美元，比去年同期增長7.4%。

Operating expense in the third quarter totaled $122 million compared to $123 million last quarter and $120 million a year earlier. Net income totaled $188 million compared to $169 million a year earlier, which produced diluted earnings per share of $1.83 for the third quarter of 2023 compared to $1.58 for the same quarter of 2022. Operating cash flow for the third quarter of 2023 was $245 million, and free cash flow was $217 million compared with the $262 million and $255 million, respectively, in the year ago quarter. Operating cash flow and free cash flow for the 9-month period ended September 30, 2023, totaled $650 million and $609 million, respectively, and were up from $614 million and $595 million for the same 9-month period a year ago.

第三季營運費用總計 1.22 億美元，上季營運費用為 1.23 億美元，去年同期營運費用為 1.20 億美元。淨利潤總計1.88 億美元，而去年同期為1.69 億美元，2023 年第三季攤薄後每股收益為1.83 美元，而2022 年同期為1.58 美元。美元，自由現金流為 2.17 億美元，去年同期分別為 2.62 億美元和 2.55 億美元。截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日的 9 個月期間，營運現金流和自由現金流總計分別為 6.5 億美元和 6.09 億美元，高於去年同期的 6.14 億美元和 5.95 億美元。

I'll now discuss our updated full year 2023 guidance. Revenue is now expected to be in the range of $1.490 billion to $1.495 billion. Operating income is now expected to be between $995 million and $1 billion. Interest expense and nonoperating income net, which includes interest income estimates, is now expected to be an expense of between $25 million to $35 million. Capital expenditures are still expected to be between $45 million to $55 million. And the GAAP effective tax rate is now expected to be between 21% and 24%.

我現在將討論我們更新的 2023 年全年指南。目前預計收入在 14.90 億美元至 14.95 億美元之間。目前營業收入預計在 9.95 億美元至 10 億美元之間。利息支出和營業外收入淨額（包括利息收入估算）目前預計支出為 2,500 萬至 3,500 萬美元。資本支出預計仍將在 4,500 萬至 5,500 萬美元之間。目前 GAAP 有效稅率預計在 21% 至 24% 之間。

In summary, Verisign continued to demonstrate sound financial performance during the third quarter of 2023 and we look forward to continuing to deliver on our mission and our objectives to finish the year.

總之，威瑞信在 2023 年第三季繼續展現出良好的財務業績，我們期待繼續履行我們的使命和目標，以完成今年的工作。

Now I'll turn the call back to Jim for his closing remarks.

現在我將把電話轉回給吉姆，讓他作結束語。

Thank you, George. We strongly believe our strategic focus and disciplined management continue to serve us well, allowing us to deliver another solid quarter in which we provided secure and reliable infrastructure services, managed our business responsibly and efficiently and return value to our shareholders. While there is ongoing turbulence in the economy due to macroeconomic and geopolitical issues and there continues to be low demand from China, the fundamentals of our business remain strong. These strong business fundamentals and our focus on managing items within our control continues to deliver strong financial results, including steady growth in revenue, operating income and EPS. Thanks for your attention today. This concludes our prepared remarks, and now we'll open the call for your questions. Operator, we're ready for the first question.

謝謝你，喬治。我們堅信，我們的策略重點和嚴格的管理將繼續為我們提供良好的服務，使我們能夠再創一個穩健的季度，提供安全可靠的基礎設施服務，負責任且高效地管理我們的業務，並為股東回報價值。儘管由於宏觀經濟和地緣政治問題，經濟持續動盪，且中國需求持續低迷，但我們業務的基本面仍然強勁。這些強勁的業務基礎以及我們對管理可控項目的關注持續帶來強勁的財務業績，包括收入、營業收入和每股盈餘的穩定成長。感謝您今天的關注。我們準備好的演講到此結束，現在我們將開始提問。接線員，我們準備好回答第一個問題了。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question will come from Rob Oliver with Robert W. Baird.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將由 Rob Oliver 和 Robert W. Baird 提出。

Jim, I'd like to start certainly noted the comments relative to China and that the rest of the business would have been up on the demand front had it not been for China. So loud and clear on that. Just curious to hear your take on the China market right now, maybe what you're hearing from your partners on the ground there as to when things might stabilize or if there's anything else going on in that market that we should be aware of. And then I had a follow-up.

吉姆，首先我肯定注意到了有關中國的評論，如果沒有中國，其他業務的需求將會上升。聲音如此響亮而清晰。只是想聽聽您現在對中國市場的看法，也許您從當地的合作夥伴那裡聽到了什麼，關於情況何時會穩定下來，或者該市場是否有其他我們應該注意的事情。然後我進行了跟進。

Okay. Thanks, Rob. So with respect to China, as we mentioned in our prepared remarks, for the past several quarters, our domain name demand from China-based registrars has been weak as a result of several factors.

好的。謝謝，羅布。因此，就中國而言，正如我們在準備好的發言中提到的那樣，在過去的幾個季度中，由於多種因素的影響，我們對中國註冊商的域名需求一直疲軟。

They include challenging economic conditions, a more stringent regulatory environment and the impact of a weaker local currency combined with retail pricing adjustments. We believe these factors combined have driven down demand in China, which has been offset by domain and gains in other geographies. As you can see in the geographic revenue table filed in our 10-Q this afternoon, we generated $22 million or about 6% of revenue in the quarter from China-based registrars and that revenue was down about $5 million from the year ago quarter. The remaining $354 million of revenue in the quarter from registrars outside of China was up $24 million or about 7%.

其中包括充滿挑戰的經濟狀況、更嚴格的監管環境以及當地貨幣疲軟和零售定價調整的影響。我們認為，這些因素綜合起來壓低了中國的需求，但這項需求已被其他地區的領域和成長所抵消。正如您在今天下午提交的10 季地理收入表中看到的那樣，我們本季從中國註冊商處獲得了2,200 萬美元（約6% 的收入），該收入比去年同期減少了約500 萬美元。本季來自中國境外註冊商的剩餘 3.54 億美元收入成長了 2,400 萬美元，增幅約 7%。

So we're able to drive both top line and operating income growth even as our China registrars adjust to their specific set of factors. To your specific question of when we think things will normalize for our China-based registrars, I would say 2 things. One, the only certainty is change and the future developments that influence that change are not within our control. So your guess would be as good as ours. And two, I think the term 'perfect storm' is overused, but it feels a bit like that here. I feel that the chances that change will be helpful is at least as likely as not.

因此，即使我們的中國註冊商根據其特定因素進行調整，我們也能夠推動營收和營業收入的成長。對於您提出的關於我們認為中國註冊商的情況何時會正常化的具體問題，我想說兩件事。第一，唯一確定的是變化，而影響該變化的未來發展不在我們的控制範圍內。所以你的猜測和我們的一樣好。第二，我認為「完美風暴」這個詞被過度使用了，但這裡感覺有點像。我覺得改變有幫助的可能性至少跟無幫助的可能性一樣。

Okay. Great. Jim, for that very helpful color. My follow-up was around the ICANN post on .web. And I guess, pretty clear their view, but just -- and forgive me if I should know this, but there's been so -- it's been a labor journey here on .web. And so now that, that opinion from ICANN has hit. What -- where does that leave us? And what should we expect next? Or what do you think will happen next?

好的。偉大的。吉姆，那種非常有用的顏色。我的後續行動是圍繞 .web 上的 ICANN 帖子進行的。我想，他們的觀點非常清楚，但是 - 如果我應該知道這一點，請原諒我，但確實如此 - 這是 .web 上的一次勞動之旅。現在，ICANN 的意見已經生效。什麼——這把我們留在哪裡？接下來我們該期待什麼？或者你認為接下來會發生什麼事？

Okay. Thanks for that question. let's say a couple of things. First of all, I mentioned that in the document, I urge everybody to read the document, I think it's really indicative of obviously what ICANN's response will be. I clarified the term NDC to be new .co, which is a company that we actually partnered with in something called the DAA, the domain acquisition agreement, and you'll see those terms used throughout.

好的。謝謝你提出這個問題。讓我們說幾件事。首先，我在文件中提到，我敦促大家閱讀該文件，我認為它確實清楚地表明了 ICANN 的回應。我將 NDC 一詞澄清為 new .co，這家公司實際上是我們在 DAA（網域收購協議）中與之合作的公司，您會在整個過程中看到這些術語。

And -- so the -- what to expect next? I think the important thing here is that this is a legal proceeding that we are currently not a party to, that might change. So, I think what you're going to see next is they're working to form a panel and then the documents that are going to be filed became public today, and that is the IRP complaint from Altanovo and ICANN's answer. So we'll be watching those developments. We don't know anything beyond that. We urge you to read what's out there now, and I think that gives you some expectation of what the issues on the table would be when the proceedings begin.

那麼接下來會發生什麼事？我認為這裡重要的是，這是一個法律程序，我們目前不是當事人，這可能會改變。因此，我認為接下來您將看到他們正在努力組建一個小組，然後將要提交的文件於今天公開，這就是 Altanovo 的 IRP 投訴和 ICANN 的答案。所以我們將關注這些進展。除此之外我們一無所知。我們敦促您閱讀現在的內容，我認為這讓您對訴訟程序開始時所討論的問題有所期待。

And we'll take our last question from Ygal Arounian with Citi.

我們將回答花旗銀行 Ygal Arounian 提出的最後一個問題。

I want to dig into the pace of domain growth a little bit, and understood the pressures in China. So maybe just a few things around outside of China. You disclosed the revenue growth by geography. And maybe you could just speak a little bit to the domain growth by geography to and if you're seeing different brands. There's some pricing within the geography revenue growth as well.

我想深入研究域名成長的速度，並了解中國的壓力。所以也許只是中國以外的一些事。您揭露了按地區劃分的收入成長。如果您看到不同的品牌，也許您可以按地理位置談談網域的成長。地域收入成長也有一定的定價因素。

So -- what are you seeing overall by geography and domains? And even though it's better than what we're seeing in China, we're still kind of below historical norms, and what you think the contributing factors are there around that?

那麼，您對地理位置和領域的整體看法如何？儘管這比我們在中國看到的情況要好，但我們仍然低於歷史標準，您認為造成這種情況的因素是什麼？

Just a couple of points. I mean there's obviously a lot going on in the world today. Obviously, we have some macroeconomic factors, still high interest rates, so there's still high inflation. Obviously, there's some geopolitical factors going on there. So I think those are -- like other companies, those things are impacting our business. But as Jim mentioned, we are seeing ex-China's registrars growth from those groups, both in new registrations as well as the domain name base there. Again, I would point to, we really don't break out the domain name base for competitive purposes. But I would point you to our geographic revenue disclosure, which really gives you a sense of some of the growth.

只是幾點。我的意思是，當今世界顯然發生了很多事情。顯然，我們有一些宏觀經濟因素，利率仍然很高，所以通貨膨脹仍然很高。顯然，那裡存在一些地緣政治因素。所以我認為，就像其他公司一樣，這些事情正在影響我們的業務。但正如吉姆所提到的，我們看到這些群體中的前中國註冊商不斷增長，無論是新註冊還是域名基礎。我想再次指出，我們確實不會出於競爭目的而破壞域名庫。但我想向您指出我們的地理收入揭露，這確實讓您感受到了一些成長。

We don't -- we charge the same price. We do charge the same price across all markets. So we offer that to everybody. So I think it's a fair comparison for you to take a look at that. But the domain name base continues to be resilient. I think the value proposition of the domain name remains strong. But the declines we're seeing in China, which is a smaller geographical segment, of ours is impacting the total domain name base growth, but we're able to offset that as the other geographies have performed better.

我們不——我們收取同樣的價格。我們確實在所有市場上收取相同的價格。所以我們向每個人提供這個。所以我認為這是一個公平的比較，讓你看看。但域名基礎仍具有彈性。我認為域名的價值主張仍然很強。但我們在中國（地理區域較小）看到的下降正在影響域名總數的成長，但我們能夠抵消這一影響，因為其他地區的表現更好。

Got it. Okay. That's helpful there. And maybe on the cost side. Also, you guys continue to come in ahead of expectations despite the relative softness on the revenue side. So, as we kind of get to the end of this year and start looking into 2024, just maybe walk us through how you're thinking about cost and investments and what's needed, what's not and how you're approaching that?

知道了。好的。這很有幫助。也許在成本方面。此外，儘管收入方面相對疲軟，但你們的業績繼續超出預期。因此，當我們即將進入今年年底並開始展望 2024 年時，請向我們介紹您如何考慮成本和投資以及需要什麼、不需要什麼以及您將如何實現這一目標？

Yes. We'll provide full year guidance on our next earnings call for 2024. Our expenses or the midpoint of our guidance suggests that our expenses will be lower this year, around 3%, and that's down from prior years. Keep in mind, we did have some costs come out of the business with regard to .tv migrated away from us. That was about $5 million of fees that we paid to .tv that is not picked up this year.

是的。我們將在 2024 年的下一次財報電話會議上提供全年指導。請記住，我們確實因 .tv 遷移而產生了一些業務成本。我們向 .tv 支付的大約 500 萬美元費用今年沒有收回。

But if you were to normalize that out, we're probably at a similar expense growth rate this year than last year. And as you recall, last year, expenses grew about 4% or so. So we'll continue to manage expenses and be responsible. As Jim said, several quarters in a row. During this time of uncertainty, we're trying to control what we can control and that means being responsible, making sure we're making the right investments and areas where we can make some efficiencies, we'll do so. But I can assure you, we're making all the necessary investments we need to execute our mission and our strategic framework to protect the company and meet our SLAs.

但如果你將其標準化，我們今年的費用成長率可能與去年相似。正如您所記得的，去年費用增加了約 4% 左右。因此，我們將繼續管理費用並承擔責任。正如吉姆所說，連續幾個季度。在這個充滿不確定性的時期，我們正在努力控制我們可以控制的事情，這意味著要負責任，確保我們進行正確的投資和我們可以提高效率的領域，我們會這樣做。但我可以向您保證，我們正在進行執行我們的使命和策略框架所需的所有必要投資，以保護公司並滿足我們的 SLA。

Yes. Ygal, this is Jim. George is exactly right. The term responsible expense control for us means that, first and foremost, investment in our infrastructure to provide the critical infrastructure services that we do provide is simply mandatory. We make all of those, but we manage responsibly where we can. And as George said, next round of earnings will give you full 2024 guidance.

是的。伊加爾，這是吉姆。喬治是完全正確的。對我們來說，負責任的費用控制一詞意味著，首先也是最重要的是，對我們的基礎設施進行投資以提供我們確實提供的關鍵基礎設施服務是強制性的。所有這些都是我們製造的，但我們會盡可能負責任地進行管理。正如喬治所說，下一輪財報將為您提供完整的 2024 年指引。

And we will go back to Rob Oliver with Robert W. Baird.

我們將回到羅布·奧利弗（Rob Oliver）和羅伯特·W·貝爾德（Robert W. Baird）。

Great. Just squeezing in here with one more. Jim, my question is for you. You mentioned, I think, in response to my earlier question just around the macro, which you characterized some ongoing turbulence and clearly, China is a part of that. But outside of China, that I know you guys are growing outside of that generally.

偉大的。就再擠一個進來。吉姆，我的問題是問你的。我認為，您在回答我之前關於宏觀問題的問題時提到，您描述了一些持續的動盪，顯然，中國是其中的一部分。但在中國之外，我知道你們的成長普遍超出了這個範圍。

But just be curious to hear your take on the current macro and whether your characterization earlier was anything incremental or if it was sort of the same now as when you entered the quarter, certainly, in terms of Middle East and headlines out there feels sentiment. I think it feels like things are a bit softer, but just wanted to get a sense on what you're seeing and hearing from your partners.

但只是好奇地想聽聽您對當前宏觀形勢的看法，以及您之前的描述是否有任何增量，或者是否與您進入本季度時的情況相同，當然，就中東和頭條新聞而言，人們感到情緒激動。我認為感覺事情有點溫和，但只是想了解你從伴侶那裡看到和聽到的內容。

Yes. That is all of the events around the world, whether it's Ukraine or the Middle East, all of those, we believe, are impacting the economy and indirectly are part of the geopolitical issues that affect some of the macroeconomic trends and headwinds that we're seeing.

是的。這就是世界各地發生的所有事件，無論是烏克蘭還是中東，我們認為所有這些都在影響經濟，並間接成為地緣政治問題的一部分，影響我們所面臨的一些宏觀經濟趨勢和逆風。

And I think those are broad and you're seeing that effect for companies -- tech companies, I think, across the board. That one is tough to assess how it's going to impact us in the future. It's relatively the events, they are relatively recent. So I don't know that we have any real insight into anything we can identify at this point. I can tell you, at least from what I'm seeing publicly, I think there are certainly challenges in the Chinese market, and that's obviously the biggest impact, and that seems to be felt broadly across the tech space as well.

我認為這些影響是廣泛的，你會看到這種影響對公司——科技公司，我認為是全面的。很難評估它將如何影響我們的未來。這是相對而言的事件，它們是相對較新的。所以我不知道我們對目前可以確定的任何事情有任何真正的洞察力。我可以告訴你，至少從我公開看到的情況來看，我認為中國市場肯定存在挑戰，這顯然是最大的影響，而且整個科技領域似乎也廣泛地感受到了這一點。

But we monitor these things we observe them. Nothing to report right now. I appreciate your question. I just don't have any trend data or transcends even really to share at this point. Certainly, they do have some negative impact. People are more cautious, interest rates rise, all sorts of second and third order effects occur from these.

但我們監控這些我們觀察到的事情。目前沒有什麼好報告的。我很欣賞你的問題。目前我還沒有任何趨勢數據或超越數據可供分享。當然，它們確實產生了一些負面影響。人們更加謹慎，利率上升，由此產生各種二階和三階效應。

And that's what we were alluding to when we talk about them. They do sort of put some pressure on the business. Interest rates, in particular -- no particular order all of the things we mentioned. And as George said, what we do then as a result is we focus on what we can control. We make absolutely certain that we're delivering our services in accordance with our contracts. That's first and foremost.

這就是我們在談論它們時所暗指的。他們確實給企業帶來了一些壓力。特別是利率——我們提到的所有事情沒有特定的順序。正如喬治所說，我們所做的就是專注於我們可以控制的事情。我們絕對確定我們按照合約提供服務。這是首要的。

And secondly, we engage frequently constantly in responsible expense control. Those are the things we can do, and our business model allows us to deliver solid quarters while we wait for better economic climate.

其次，我們經常不斷地進行負責任的費用控制。這些是我們可以做的事情，我們的商業模式使我們能夠在等待更好的經濟環境的同時提供穩定的季度業績。

That does conclude the question-and-answer session. I'll now turn the conference back over to Mr. David Atchley for final comments.

問答環節到此結束。現在我將把會議轉回給 David Atchley 先生徵求最後意見。

Thank you, operator. Please call the Investor Relations department with any follow-up questions from this call. Thank you for your participation. This concludes our call. Have a good evening. .

謝謝你，接線生。如果本次電話會議有任何後續問題，請致電投資者關係部門。感謝您的參與。我們的通話到此結束。祝你晚上愉快。 。

Thank you. This does conclude today's conference. We do thank you for your participation. Have an excellent day.

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。我們非常感謝您的參與。祝你有美好的一天。