Exponent Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
October 26, 2023

There are 7 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good day, and welcome to the Exponent's Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen only mode. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Joni Constantellos of Investor Relations.

Operator

Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Thank you. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining us on Exponent's 3rd quarter 2023 financial results conference call. Please note that this call will be simultaneously webcast on the Investor Relations section of the company's corporate website atwww.exponent.com/investors. This conference call is the property of Exponent and any taping or other reproduction is expressly prohibited without prior written consent.

Speaker 1

Joining me on the call today are Doctor. Catherine Corrigan, President and Chief Executive Officer And Rich Schlenker, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we start, I would like to remind you that the discussion contains forward looking statements, including, but not limited to, Exponent's market opportunities and future financial results that involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed here. Additional information that could cause actual results to differ from forward looking statements can be found in Exponent's periodic CC filings, including those factors discussed under the caption Risk Factor in Exponent's most recent Form 10 Q. The forward looking statements and risks in this conference call are based on current expectations as of today and Expoint assumes no obligation to update or revise them whether as a result of new developments or otherwise.

Speaker 1

And now I will turn the call over to Doctor. Catherine Corrigan, Chief Executive Officer. Catherine?

Speaker 2

Thank you, Joni, and thank you everyone for joining us today. I will start off by reviewing our Q3 2023 business performance. Rich will then provide a more detailed review of our financial results and outlook, and we will then open the call for questions. During the Q3, we once again delivered broad based revenue growth and earnings with our diversified portfolio of services Our ability to anticipate client needs throughout the product or assets or technology lifecycle Is and will continue to be a significant differentiator for Exelon. Of course, uncertainty exists in the broader markets we serve, But our exceptional team of integrated experts and our expansive capabilities provide us the ability to remain nimble And adapt our business to align with these dynamic market trends.

Speaker 2

Turning to our Q3 in a bit more detail. Growth in the quarter was driven by continued strong demand for our reactive services. Our proactive engagements were driven by increased demand in the Chemicals and Life Sciences sectors, offset by continued moderation in the consumer electronics sector. Overall, I am pleased with the strength we are seeing across the majority of the business. Within our reactive services, we continue to see robust demand for domestic and international dispute related offerings involving large capital projects in the energy, utilities and transportation sectors spanning various geographic regions.

Speaker 2

Additionally, consumer and automotive product liability and recall related work increased in the quarter. Our proactive engagements were driven by increased demand for regulatory consulting work in the chemicals industry and engagements in the life sciences sector. This was offset by ongoing moderation in the consumer electronics industry due in part to the timing of product life cycles as well as ongoing macroeconomic headwinds. As a result, we saw declines in data collection and human subject research engagements as well as product development consulting. While we do expect this moderation to continue, we are optimistic about the long term market drivers in this sector and we remain well positioned to support our clients as these challenges begin to abate in 2024.

Speaker 2

With regard to our segments, Exponent's Engineering and Other Scientific Segment represented 83% of our net revenues in the 3rd quarter, increasing 8% in the 3rd quarter and 10% for the 1st three quarters compared to the prior year. Growth in the quarter was driven by strong demand for Exponent Services across the transportation, energy and construction sectors. Exponent's Environmental and Health segment represented 17% of our net revenues in the 3rd quarter, increasing 13% in the 3rd quarter and 7% for the 1st 3 quarters compared to the prior year. Evolving regulatory requirements drove increased Safety related engagements evaluating the impacts of chemicals on human health and the environment and we also saw increased activity in the life sciences sector. As we close out the year, we remain focused on excellence in execution and expanding our differentiated capabilities to meet the dynamic needs of our clients.

Speaker 2

The investments I mentioned earlier will continue to be a priority to drive organic growth and development within Exponent and to foster the essential trust Our clients placed in our team of experts to address their most complex needs. Further, managing resources in line with the growth of the business remains top of mind. To that end, as we expected, full time equivalent employees in the 3rd quarter decreased 2.5% compared to the 2nd quarter As we continue to strategically align our resources with demand across the business, we are taking a 2 pronged approach to Our headcount is aligned with not only current demand, but also with the longer term demand and opportunities we are seeing. 1st, We are focused on recruiting in areas of the business where resources are constrained, but where we see opportunity to meet current and future market demands. 2nd, we continue to focus on performance management to ensure that our retained consultants are on a strong development path that will contribute to the future growth of the firm.

Speaker 2

In summary, Exponent continues to position itself at the forefront of innovation As a trusted advisor to our clients across the product lifecycle, market drivers including the increasing complexities around safety, health and the environment We remain strong and continue to drive opportunity across our business. We remain focused on expanding our capabilities, strengthening our relationships And driving profitable growth and value for our shareholders. I'll now turn the call over to Rich to provide more detail on our Q3 results as well as discuss our outlook for the Q4 and the full year 2023.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Catherine, and good afternoon, everyone. Let me start by saying all comparisons will be on a year over year basis unless otherwise noted. For the Q3 of 2023, total revenues increased 4.8% to 133,300,000 And revenues before reimbursements or net revenues as I will refer to them from here on increased 8.5% to 125,000,000 as compared to the same period of 2022. This includes a decline of approximately $8,000,000 In our Consumer Electronics business, which created a 6% to 7% headwind as compared to the Q3 of 2022. Net income for the Q3 was $24,500,000 or $0.48 per diluted share as compared to $24,400,000 or $0.47 per diluted share in the prior year period.

Speaker 3

Exponent's consolidated tax rate was 27.9% in the 3rd quarter as compared to 27.0 For the same period in 2022. EBITDA for the quarter was 34,500,000 Producing a margin of 27.6 percent of net revenues as compared to $34,600,000 Or 30% of net revenues in the same period of 2022. This year over year decline in margins Was anticipated as expenses normalized post pandemic and utilization was lower due to the growth in headcount. Billable hours in the Q3 were approximately 380,000, an increase of 4.1% year over year, Which is significant considering the headwinds in electronics. The average technical full time equivalent employees in In the Q3, we're 10.50, which is an increase of 9.6% as compared to 1 year ago.

Speaker 3

This was the result of successful recruiting efforts in the second half of twenty twenty two, coupled with improved retention in 2023. As Catherine mentioned, full time equivalent employees decreased 2.5% compared to the Q2 Of 2023, reflecting our progress on strategically aligning our resources with the current and long term demand opportunities. Utilization in the Q3 was 70%, down from 73% in the same period of 2022. The realized rate increase was approximately 4.4% for the Q3 as compared to the same period a year ago. In the Q3, after adjusting for gains and losses and deferred compensation expense, Compensation expense increased 13.4%.

Speaker 3

Included in total compensation expense is a loss And deferred compensation of $2,800,000 as compared to a loss of $4,900,000 in the Q3 of 2022. As a reminder, gains and losses in deferred compensation are offset to miscellaneous income and have no impact on the bottom line. Stock based compensation expense in the 3rd quarter It was $4,900,000 as compared to $4,600,000 in the prior year period. Other operating expenses in the 3rd quarter We're up 24.7 percent to $11,000,000 driven primarily by increased employee engagement at our offices, Included in other operating expenses is depreciation and amortization expense of $2,400,000 for the 3rd quarter. G and A expenses declined 10.6 percent to $6,000,000 for the 3rd quarter.

Speaker 3

This decrease was due to a reduction in the use of outsourced personnel and a smaller annual company meeting. Interest income increased to $1,900,000 for the 3rd quarter, driven by an increase in interest rates. Miscellaneous expenses excluding deferred compensation loss was approximately $1,000,000 During the quarter, capital expenditures were $3,300,000 We distributed $13,200,000 to shareholders through dividend payments and repurchased $17,000,000 in common stock. We ended the Q3 with $137,100,000 in cash and cash equivalents. Turning to our outlook.

Speaker 3

For the Q4 of 2023 as compared to 1 year prior, We expect revenues before reimbursements to grow in the middle single digits and EBITDA margin to be 20 We expect revenue before reimbursements to grow in the high single digits and EBITDA margin to be 27.4% to 27.8 percent of revenues before reimbursements. This assumes approximately the same headwinds of 6% to 7% from consumer electronics business in the 4th quarter as we experienced in the 3rd quarter. The full year margins remain at or above pre pandemic levels. As Catherine mentioned, We are taking actionable steps to strategically align our resources with the current and long term demand trends within our business through targeted recruiting and ongoing performance management. As a result, we expect our average We expect utilization in the 4th quarter to be 66% to 68% as compared to 69% in the same quarter last year.

Speaker 3

As a reminder, utilization is seasonably lower in the 4th quarter due to more holidays and vacations compared to other quarters. Our expectations for full year utilization is in the range of 69% to 69.5% as compared to 73.8 percent in 2022. We still believe our long term target of sustained Mid-70s utilization is achievable as we continue to strategically manage headcount And balance utilization based on market demands. We expect the 2023 year over year Realized rate increase to be 4.75% to 5.25%. For the 4th quarter, We expect stock based compensation to be $4,500,000 to $5,000,000 For the full year, we expect Stock based compensation to be $21,500,000 to $22,000,000 For the Q4, we expect other operating expenses to be $11,200,000 to $11,700,000 For the full year, we expect other operating expenses to be $42,000,000 to 42,500,000 As we as in office activities continue to pick up, for the Q4 of 2023, we expect G and A expenses to be $6,600,000 to $7,000,000 For the full year, we expect G and A expenses to be $25,100,000 to $25,500,000 We expect interest income to be approximately $1,800,000 for the Q4.

Speaker 3

In addition, we expect miscellaneous income to be approximately $750,000 in the 4th quarter. For the remainder of 2023, we do not anticipate any additional tax benefit from share based awards. So the year over year tax benefit associated with share based awards are expected to be $2,400,000 lower than they were in 2022, which is a $0.05 per diluted share impact to EPS. For the Q4 of 2023, we expect our tax rate to be approximately 28.2% as compared to 26.2% in the same quarter a year ago. For the full year 2023, The tax rate inclusive of the tax benefit from share based awards is expected to be 25.7% as compared to 22.6 percent in 2022.

Speaker 3

In closing, we continue to be confident in the strength of the business and our ability to drive further profitable growth. I will now turn the call back to Catherine for closing remarks.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Rich. For many years, Exponent has been a trusted advisor in supporting our clients throughout the product lifecycle. As the complexities of innovation create new challenges, Exponent will leverage our world class team of experts and diversified services portfolio to guide our clients through the dynamic changes in their industries. We remain confident in our ability to drive long term profitability and value for our shareholders. Operator, we are now ready for questions.

Operator

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. At this time, we'll pause momentarily to assemble our roster. Our first question comes from Tobey Sommer from Truist. Please go ahead.

Speaker 4

Thank you.

Speaker 5

What sort of run rate do you think that the Company may be on in terms of billable headcount growth as you exit the Q4 into next year?

Speaker 3

Yes. I anticipate that we will end the year With the headcount that puts us right around give or take around 1025 is where we'll end the year at. And then we will continue to I would expect it hopefully that puts us in a good position To be able to grow throughout 2024. We are still in our Planning phase, we're sort of in the middle of that part where our business units are working on their 2024 plans And the executive team will be meeting with each of those business units later on this quarter and but our Expectations is based on the demand environment that we have across a number of our industries that That will set us up in a good position to be able to really grow in those areas where the demand is increasing.

Speaker 5

Thanks. And Catherine, the company doesn't often Missed expectations, and I was wondering if you could describe the changes in demand Throughout the quarter, whether it was just sort of a bit at a time in each of the months And into perhaps October as well? Or was there sort of an episode or a month at which Many things changed and then sort of leveled off from there.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thanks, Tobey. It's important to sort of look at That's from a portfolio perspective. And when I do that, we're very much focused In terms of the headwinds in the consumer electronics sector as Rich described, And even more granularly, around some of that human subject type of work that we've been doing around data collection, machine Team learning and things like that. It's very much related to the product lifecycle timing That we've been seeing and also by some of those macroeconomic headwinds.

Speaker 2

But I think the as I look across the business, What I'm seeing is a portfolio that is performing well and as a design, Because what we've done is really design a portfolio that is diverse across industries, right? And so we're seeing growth in just about every one of Those other industries, whether that's transportation, which is very strong, whether that's the life sciences side, whether that's the energy side or the construction side, And being up 8.5% despite the headwinds, I think really exemplifies the Strength of that portfolio and being able to deliver profitability that's at or above where we were pre pandemic Without with all of those expenses layered back in. So it is a focused area, where there are Some moderation and we expect that to continue in Q4, but we also are seeing some nice activity in the pipeline. We've got requests coming in for scopes of work and proposals. And so that pipeline is filling.

Speaker 2

And that's why we feel like these headwinds are going to start to abate once we hit Q1 of 2024 And then progress even further into 2024.

Speaker 3

And Toby, I'd just add a little bit of granularity On to those numbers, as I mentioned there, we had about $8,000,000 headwind. I think we Thought that, that would probably be closer to $6,000,000 in July when we put together the quarter. And in addition to that, we thought that would be slightly less again In the Q4, instead of holding at that level, we based on what we understood of timing of some projects coming in, We expected those projects to start in Q4 that are now going to come in the Q1, at least that's what we expect now. So Those that provided that additional sort of headwind in the Q4.

Speaker 5

Thanks. Thanks for that. And if I could follow-up on what you said about sort of Visibility into new projects as you go into 2024, how if you could describe How much visibility and how much insight you have into Customer planning and sort of looking out over the horizon to the extent your customers Involve you in that, to just kind of give us a sense for How you can construct a view for 2024 in that consumer electronics area that did demonstrate a little

Speaker 2

bit softness? Yes. And look, I mean across the business, Tobey, there's quite a bit of variability in that. I mean, you can imagine the reactive work that We do have a lot less visibility. But even on the proactive side, that Sort of product development consulting can often be driven by things like early field failures, For example, and so there is a piece of that that the client is not necessarily able to foresee As they're moving into their product launch, let's say.

Speaker 2

So that can limit our ability to sort of See what that pipeline looks like. And that even on the machine learning and the human data collection side, Again, they are often they're iterating in that product lifecycle based on aspects of that that They may or may not be able to visualize themselves, right. So I think what I'm really trying to say is that there we do the best we can To sort of understand where the client is heading and of course we're in dialogue with them, but there is an element of the type of work that we do That is driven through some level of uncertainty.

Speaker 5

Understood. Switching gears, I just have 2 more questions and I'll get back in the queue. Yes. In your business, could you talk to the PFAS opportunity and What you see there? And then, I'm curious what the composition of Your project book looks like relative to large projects, a question that I often ask about on these calls to assess whether there's Sort of upside large project risk represents neutral or downside risk.

Speaker 5

Thank you.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thanks, Tobey. And maybe I'll cover the PFOS and then I can Rich cover the large project piece. So we absolutely are continuing to see Increased activity around Forever Chemicals. We talked about PFOS, these perfluorinated substances.

Speaker 2

And it kind of starts at the original chemical manufacturers, But then what we're seeing is that the issues are cascading down into the supply chain. So these chemicals are used in consumer products, In clothing, in food packaging, in various other applications, in carpeting and Teflon cans You name it, it's there. And so what we're seeing is really that cascade down into that Into that supply chain and we're seeing it in the reactive sense around the litigation environment. So what is the impact on The environment, we're seeing it in the regulatory arena when we talk about that type of work in the chemicals industry. And we're also seeing it more proactively even earlier in the product lifecycle when you think about product stewardship, Clients who need to evaluate potential substitutions for PFOS in their products and they're looking at those sorts of things and We're seeing those engagements.

Speaker 2

So definitely a great opportunity to bring that interdisciplinary team together of our health scientists, our environmental scientists, Our exposure chemists and our material scientists to really help clients in that area.

Speaker 3

Yes. Toby, in relation to the large projects, we don't have any projects Today that historically we've talked about large projects when they've been in that 4% to 5% range And really our portfolio in this past quarter has been made up of projects that are 2% or less In what we're doing, so that fits into the normal portfolio. Some of those will they're part of a Litigation, Madera, and they'll end in the quarter and something else will grow up to that level or a couple Projects will replace that, but it's more of a much more of a normal portfolio of projects at this point in time.

Speaker 5

Thank you very much.

Operator

The next question comes from Josh Chan from UBS. Please go ahead.

Speaker 4

Hi, good afternoon, Catherine and Rich. Thanks for giving the color on the consumer electronics impact. I guess, Conceptually, if you did 8.5% growth in Q3 with the $8,000,000 headwind and then I guess with the same A manu headwind, you're now expecting mid single digit growth in Q4. So is something else outside of consumer electronics Slowing, maybe could you talk about the demand outside of that sector, I guess?

Speaker 3

Yes. Maybe I'll start off and Catherine can fill in. Really, the difference, let's say, there of pick your midpoint on that Of a 3 point difference is really a combination of Where the business was last year in Q4 as what that level of hurdle was, which was pretty Strong that the business was flowing out at that time and just in the mix. I mean last year That headcount was very much ramping in the 4th quarter. That utilization was holding together and extremely strong.

Speaker 3

So overall, I'd say we're not seeing any material difference In other parts of the business, but Catherine, maybe you want to double click on that.

Speaker 2

Yes. No, thanks, Rich, and thanks, Josh, for that Look, there's again, I'll refer to the portfolio. We have ebbs and flows in that when we go out and We asked our folks about what they're seeing, what's the dispute landscape and what are the kinds of projects either Slowing off or coming on. And when we do that, and we compare to the Q4 of last year, we sort of come out where we are. But When we look broadly just in terms of the business and what's strong, I mean transportation is a great example of an area that is Very robust.

Speaker 2

When we think about the litigation around advanced driver assistance, we're looking at Inquiries we're getting around electric vehicles. We look at what's going on in life sciences. We look at our risk work in utilities. We're generally I'm feeling good about where the portfolio is over the long term. We have to go with the ebbs And flows sort of in that quarter to quarter basis.

Speaker 4

Okay, that's helpful. Thank you. And then on the staffing levels, levels, given the little bit slower demand than expected, do you still expect to achieve This back to normal or desired utilization levels around the start of the year next year or does that timeline get pushed out a little bit?

Speaker 3

Look, I think that we are as we've made points here today, our Objective is to bring our headcount in line with the demand in the environment and as such We begin to see an improvement in the utilization. We're not complete with our plan and exact And ready to sort of give guidance around that level of granularity as it relates to the Q1 or next year. But Very much our focus is to see our utilization improve In 2024.

Speaker 4

Great. Thank you both for your time.

Operator

The next question comes from Andrew Nicholas from William Blair. Please go ahead.

Speaker 6

Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions. I want to take another shot at the consumer products Commentary and maybe more so try to quantify which piece of that business. I think in your K You disclosed how much of revenue is tied to consumer, consumer products. Is this relatively widespread within what I think was 31 percent of mix number or is there a slice of this that's down pretty drastically?

Speaker 6

Just trying to kind of piece together All the moving parts here, if you could help me there.

Speaker 3

Yes. So It is focused primarily it's focused on the consumer electronics side. We're not seeing A decline in the more general consumer products area. So it's focused there. It's predominantly in or almost solely in the data collection human subject study area.

Speaker 3

So it's very much around that, which are which and it is primarily focused around where the clients are in that Product life cycle, but clearly there has been some impact from where clients have been going through in deciding which projects to continue and how to staff things and manage costs in the market Sure. But this is consumer electronics. The majority of it is in the data collection user study area And primarily about where they are in the product life cycle.

Speaker 6

Okay. Thanks, Rich. And then maybe for my follow-up on margin. Can you help me bridge the gap in terms So kind of the revenue guide down versus the margin guide down, it looks like you're still kind of high single digit for full year in 2023 on the top line, which I realize that's below what you were at before at the midpoint, but Still within that full year range and yet guidance for margins is below the prior range, if I'm not mistaken. Is there any other kind of outsized expenses that have come through since you last spoke with us or anything else to call out or is it just a function of the fact that You're kind of hanging in there with fixed costs and people in the consumer products business, the expectation that that comes back around at some point next year?

Speaker 3

Yes. So look, it's almost it's all driven by that Being a few $1,000,000 less in the revenue line, we are hitting on about where we expect The level of staffing to be, so we had indicated where we thought we would make some adjustments in that and did it. The fact that we have slightly lower revenues has led to slightly lower Utilization and the leverage you get out of that is quite high. So it this is really just about as I indicated, if you take a look at this at the last quarter, If that $8,000,000 was only $6,000,000 to $6,500,000 which is sort of what I would have expected In this Q3, probably $1,000,000 of that would have flowed to the margin line And you would have been on the upper half of our EBITDA margin. And the same goes for the Q4.

Speaker 3

We are expecting probably about $3,000,000 more of revenues In that quarter, would have ended up with us $3,000,000 or $4,000,000 That would have put us up in the high single digits, let's say, Had us hitting that range. And as such, you would have ended up seeing a couple of $1,000,000 more In EBITDA and in return gotten yourself another 50 to 80 basis points.

Speaker 6

Makes sense. Thanks, Rich. Thanks, Catherine.

Operator

This concludes our question and answer session and the conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

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Exponent Q3 2023
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