Booz Allen Hamilton Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
July 28, 2023

There are 9 speakers on the call.

Operator

Morning. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to Bruce Allen Hamilton's Earnings Call covering First Quarter Fiscal Year twenty twenty four Results. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. Later, there will be an opportunity for your questions. I'd now like to turn the call over to Mr.

Operator

Nathan Rutledge.

Speaker 1

Good morning and thank you for joining us for Booz Allen's 1st Quarter Fiscal Year 20 24 Earnings Call. We hope you had an opportunity to read the press release we issued earlier this morning. We have also provided presentation slides on our website and are now on Slide 2. With me today to talk about our business and financial performance are Horacio Rozanski, our President and Chief Executive Officer and Matt Calderon, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. As shown in the disclaimer on Slide 3, please keep in mind that some of the items we will discuss this morning are forward looking and may relate to future events or future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from forecasted results discussed in our SEC filings and on this call.

Speaker 1

All forward looking statements are expressly We undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. During today's call, we will also discuss some non GAAP financial measures and other metrics, which we believe provide useful information for investors. We include an explanation of adjustments and other reconciliations of our non GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures in our Q1 fiscal year 2024 earnings release and slides. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to our CEO and President, Rachio Rozanski. We are now on Slide 4.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Nathan, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining the call. This morning, Matt and I are excited to share outstanding financial results for the Q1 of fiscal year 2024. Our business is performing extremely well across all metrics. In the Q1, Revenue grew 18% year over year with industry leading organic growth.

Speaker 2

The bottom line was exceptional and our headcount grew at a record pace to more than 32,000 Booz Allen employees. I believe these numbers speak for themselves. I could not be more proud of our people For delivering a truly tremendous Q1 as we advance our Vault strategy and serve our clients' most critical missions. This morning, I will put the results in context of our investment thesis and current year outlook. Then I'll discuss how our people and culture are foundational to our sustained performance.

Speaker 2

And later, Matt will cover the Q1 results and expectations for the full fiscal year in-depth. Before I go on, As you know, on July 21st, we announced settlement of the U. S. Department of Justice civil investigation into highly technical elements of our government cost accounting and indirect cost charging practices. The settlement is within the expected range we previously disclosed in our 4th quarter earnings in May and has been factored into our updated cash guidance.

Speaker 2

We believe the company acted lawfully and responsibly. The settlement provides certainty to our employees, clients and shareholders and allows us to return to regular order with the important work of our DCMA and DCAA regulators. And yesterday, the SEC informed us that they had concluded their investigation into Booz Allen. Returning to this quarter's performance. As always, it is important to view our latest results in the context of long term objectives.

Speaker 2

Our multi year investment thesis centers on growing adjusted EBITDA to $1,200,000,000 to $1,300,000,000 by fiscal year 2025. We have said we expect to achieve that goal through a combination of above market organic revenue growth, strong and stable margins with capacity to invest in our people and capabilities and capital deployment that prioritizes strategic acquisitions. Our first quarter results demonstrate we are on track to achieve our adjusted EBITDA target. We have excellent momentum and remain above expectations on organic growth and profit. While strategic acquisitions continue to be a priority, our pipeline of opportunities is more limited than we expected.

Speaker 2

On balance, this probably means that we will reach our multi year targets through greater organic contribution, while simultaneously retaining increased flexibility to deploy capital in response to market conditions. Shifting to our current fiscal year's expectations, on our May earnings call, We described the growth pattern for the year as a strong first half with less certainty in the second half. At that time, The debt ceiling and federal budget negotiations were ongoing. As a result, we outlined guidance that reflected our momentum and the range of federal funding scenarios after September 30. We also said we expected to start the year at or above the top end of our revenue guidance.

Speaker 2

1 quarter in, our performance is ahead of the expectations we set in May. Demand for our services and solutions, combined with record headcount growth, continue to fuel our momentum. While we're pleased that Congress raised the debt ceiling in June, Significant uncertainty still remains about the budget for the government's next fiscal year. For us, the key to achieving and exceeding our expectations is our success in selling and starting work before September 30. That was our premise going into the year.

Speaker 2

It remains our top priority given the potential for protracted federal budget negotiations. Transitioning to a longer term view. Over the last three earnings calls, I discussed the 3 key dimensions of our Voalte strategy, Velocity, Leadership and Technology. Booz Allen's extraordinary team of leaders and colleagues have achieved significant progress in all three dimensions. And perhaps one of the best indicators of our progress is the headcount growth we have experienced in the last 4 quarters.

Speaker 2

Therefore today, I would like to spend a few moments sharing some insights into our people and culture. First of all, credit for our hiring momentum goes to our leaders and team. While it is True that the hiring market is less frantic than a year ago, our record hiring goes well beyond that. Over the past year, our business and recruiting leaders worked together to transform our talent acquisition processes. We have streamlined the hiring life cycle and made meaningful improvements to the experience of becoming a new Booz Allen employee.

Speaker 2

Together, these outcomes set us up well to efficiently hire at speed and scale. 2nd, I firmly believe we have an industry leading employee value proposition. We care for our people and we invest in our people. That means we continuously seek to understand what our employees need to thrive in their lives and careers. And then we align our actions, policies and benefits accordingly.

Speaker 2

This level of responsiveness was evident and the bold actions we took to protect the health and safety of all our people throughout the COVID-nineteen pandemic. And today, we continue to respond to the evolving personal and professional needs of our talent. Here are some examples. From a well-being perspective, we have expanded our mental health resources, created new wellness incentives and offer greater access to services and treatments at a time of nationwide shortages. We also know learning and professional development are important to our employees, particularly as technological change accelerates.

Speaker 2

Through our technically focused employee groups, boot camps and upskilling programs, we empower our highly technical workforce to stay on the leading edge. For example, our AI training programs offer a progressive learning journey from basic AI literacy through expert proficiency. This provides all of our employees with the opportunity to hone their skills and thrive as they serve our clients' pressing needs. We have also taken the best of what we've learned in recent years to provide new ways of working that offer more flexibility. And we are investing in leadership development to foster a culture that optimizes performance and strengthens belonging As we grow in a hybrid work environment, ultimately, people thriving in our culture are the heart of our sustained growth quarter after quarter.

Speaker 2

Across the firm, Our diverse talent unite around our purpose and live our values as they contribute to something bigger than themselves. We have veterans, clinicians and technologists working together to help improve access to benefits across the VA. Scientists and digital architects collaborating and innovating to make climate resiliency a reality. Intel and cyber experts working around the clock to secure our homeland. Cross functional teams of data scientists, ethicists, mission experts and physicists using emerging technologies like generative AI and quantum as a force for good and employees giving back by bringing STEM Education to youth in underserved communities.

Speaker 2

In sum, we work hard every day to make Booz Allen a place of empowerment, Opportunity, accountability and belonging, a place where each person can reach her or his full potential And change the world. Our amazing people, empowered by our unique culture are the reason our strategy works. Our results are repeatable and we create sustainable shareholder value. And this is why On these quarterly earnings calls, Matt and I are so proud, so proud to represent the incredible work of the over 32,000 Booz Allen employees. And with that, Matt, over to you.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Horacio, And thanks to all of you for joining us on today's call. As Horacio noted, we are extremely pleased with our start to the fiscal year. Given the momentum in our business, we anticipated that we would come out of the gates strong. On our last call, I indicated that our Q1 growth would be at or above the top end of our guided range. As these numbers demonstrate, our team exceeded these expectations.

Speaker 3

Thus, while it is early in the year and significant funding uncertainty remains, we are very well positioned against our fiscal 2024 guidance And we remain on track to deliver on our multiyear investment thesis objectives. Now Please turn to Slide 6 as I cover our Q1 results in detail. Total revenue for the quarter grew 18% year over year to approximately $2,700,000,000 Organic revenue was up 16.7% year over year, including double digit growth across all of our federal markets. Revenue excluding billable expenses grew 16.9% to approximately 1.8 This is our strongest growth quarter since we went public in 2010. Our Volt strategy has positioned us well in areas that are primed for long term growth.

Speaker 3

Our defense business continued to accelerate in the Q1 with revenue increasing approximately 19% year over year. In defense, we remain focused on bringing differentiated, scaled solutions to the war fighting mission. In Civil, revenue was up approximately 20% year over year. We continue to position ourselves as a critical partner in the federal digital transformation. Our intelligence business grew by approximately 18% year over year, including several exciting new wins and a healthy pipeline of opportunities.

Speaker 3

We continue to expect the pace of revenue growth in Intel to slow over the balance of the fiscal year due to challenging year over year comps and the roll off of a large classified contract. Finally, our Global Commercial business, which accounted for 2% of revenue in the quarter, declined approximately 23% year over year. This reflects the sale of our MENA and Managed Threat Services businesses in the 2nd and third quarters of fiscal year 2023. Turning now to headcount. As of June 30, Booz Allen had more than 32,000 people Working directly and indirectly in support of our clients' missions.

Speaker 3

We had a record setting 12.5% annual increase in client staff. This is the result of continued hiring to meet demand, a more efficient talent acquisition process and enhanced value proposition. Total headcount, inclusive of corporate staff, increased 11.2%. Attrition remains well below historical levels. While we very much remain in a growth posture, we do anticipate headcount growth to moderate in comparison to the brisk pace we set last fiscal year.

Speaker 3

Pivoting to demand, we still see a strong pace and volume of award activity. Net bookings for the Q1 were approximately $2,700,000,000 This translates to a quarterly book to bill of 1.03x, an improvement from 0.72x in the prior year quarter. Our trailing 12 month book to bill as of June 30 was 1.24 times, in line with our current growth expectations. Total backlog was up approximately 9.3% year over year to $31,300,000,000 Funded backlog grew 22 percent to $4,900,000,000 unfunded backlog fell 9.5 percent to $9,000,000,000 and priced options grew 18.6 percent to $17,300,000,000 Looking forward, our qualified pipeline of $41,900,000,000 is up approximately 12% compared to this time last year. With this pipeline and backlog, we believe we can continue to convert Strong demand into industry leading organic growth.

Speaker 3

Moving now to the bottom line, We earned $307,000,000 in adjusted EBITDA in the Q1, up 21.5% from the prior year period. Our adjusted EBITDA margin of 11.6 percent was approximately 40 basis points higher than the same period a year ago. This was a function of our overall growth, strong contract level performance and efforts to operate the business more efficiently. 1st quarter net income increased 16.9% year over year to $161,000,000 Adjusted net income grew 28% year over year to $193,000,000 This excluded The incremental legal reserve of approximately $28,000,000 recorded in the Q1 in connection with the now settled DOJ matter. Diluted earnings per share grew 18.4% year over year to $1.22 Adjusted diluted earnings per share, which excludes the incremental reserve, grew 30.1% year over year to $1.47 Moving now to the balance sheet.

Speaker 3

We ended the Q1 with $210,000,000 of cash on hand. Free cash flow for the quarter was negative $82,000,000 the result of $71,500,000 of cash used for operating activities and $10,500,000 of CapEx. This was in line with our expectations As the Q1 is typically our low point in cash flow for the year, operating cash was seasonally light due to the timing of bonus payouts, but was aided by strong collections and overall revenue growth. We continue to spend on strategic investments and use working capital to support our outsized growth. Our net debt at the end of the first quarter was approximately $2,700,000,000 and our net leverage ratio was approximately 2.5 times adjusted EBITDA.

Speaker 3

Our balance sheet remains strong with ample capacity to generate strong future cash flow and to deploy capital to drive additional shareholder value. Turning to Slide 8. During the Q1, we returned approximately $175,000,000 of capital to shareholders. This included $63,000,000 in quarterly cash dividends and approximately $112,000,000 in share repurchases at an average price of $96.04 per share. On capital deployment, we are staying patient and disciplined As we navigate macroeconomic conditions, budget uncertainty and a challenging M and A environment.

Speaker 3

Strategic acquisitions remain a key part of our investment thesis and we continue to focus on finding small to medium sized tuck in acquisitions that are aligned with our Voalte strategy, act as accelerants to growth, create new pathways for client value and meet our financial parameters. Finally, today I am pleased to announce that our Board has approved A quarterly dividend of $0.47 per share that will be payable on August 31 to stockholders of record as of August 15. Turning now to our full year fiscal outlook, please go to Slide 9. Last quarter, we set annual guidance ranges that anticipated an aggressive first half followed by a more conservative second half. We noted this was due to macroeconomic and budget uncertainty, the pattern of prior year comparable performance and a typical first half, second half pattern in our business.

Speaker 3

These dynamics have not changed and it is still early in our fiscal year. Today, I will give you a little more color on the three factors I indicated will determine where we fall within our guidance range. First, the budget environment. While the recent debt ceiling agreement took certain worst case scenarios off the table, The timing and nature of fiscal 2024 federal appropriations are still unclear. 2nd, our conversion of demand.

Speaker 3

The Q2 is typically our strongest in terms of bookings. As Horacio noted, it is especially crucial this year. Leading up to the government's fiscal year end, there is a big ramp in tactical selling, bids and proposals. Our entire team is focused on staying ahead of pace so that we add to our backlog and efficiently start work on new or extended contracts across our portfolio. The third factor is the timing and pace of headcount growth.

Speaker 3

The net heads we added in the Q1 give us confidence we will meet our target of adding 3% to 5% client staff this fiscal year. In addition, we are still assessing certain aspects of the financial impact of the settlement with the Department of Justice. Apart from the impact on our operating cash flow, which I will walk you through shortly, we expect to see a modest increase to our full fiscal year interest expense and a modest decrease in our provision for income tax expense and adjusted EBITDA. Given our exceptional Q1 performance, we are confident about our outlook. Other than cash, we are not updating guidance at this time.

Speaker 3

As a reminder, our full year fiscal guidance is as follows. At the top line, we expect revenue growth of 7% to 11%, 6% to 10% of which will be organic. We expect adjusted EBITDA margins in the high 10% to 11% range. This translates to an adjusted EBITDA dollar range of between $1,075,000,000 $1,105,000,000 for approximately 6% to 9% growth year over year. Our ADEPS guidance range is between $4.80 $4.95 per share.

Speaker 3

For our updated cash guidance, we now expect operating cash flow of between $160,000,000 $260,000,000 This reflects an estimated net impact of $340,000,000 related to our settlement with the Department of Justice, inclusive of expected tax and interest impacts. In closing, I am extremely proud of our Q1 results I'm confident that we can build on the success. We have the right strategy and more importantly, We have the right people. Our stellar first quarter results are a direct product of their hard work and dedication. With that, operator, let's open the line for questions.

Operator

Thank you. And our first question coming from the line of Sheila Kahyaoglu with Jefferies. Your line is open.

Speaker 4

Hi. Good morning, Horacio and Matt. Thank you so much.

Speaker 3

Good morning.

Speaker 4

Good morning. I don't know if you guys are going to like my question here, but obviously, stellar results on the revenue and Profit line, so nothing to talk about there. But I just wanted to ask about the DOJ settlement And how do you think about Matt, you mentioned some comments about the fiscal 2024 guide. But aside from that, do you think it impacted your ability to win business? It doesn't seem like from the organic growth you've put up, but how do you think it's impacted your business or cash generation over the last few years?

Speaker 2

I mean the specific answer to your question is we remain very close to our clients. We Connect with them all the time. We've been very transparent throughout about all of these and our clients understand it and have put it into context. So I don't believe and I think the numbers would bear out that this has Affected our ability to win business or to execute our business and we're now able to look ahead. I mean, I think to put the whole thing in context, we just had a record quarter.

Speaker 2

We're extremely pleased With that, and I think it is a reflection in some ways of how much upside there is in our business When we have a stable environment on the labor side and on the funding side, I think there's 2 underlying drivers there. The first one, which I spoke to in the prepared remarks is, of course, our people, who are the heart of everything. And the second is that for over a decade from Vision 2020 now to Vault, we've been positioning against key issues that matter to our clients the most. I've talked in recent calls about China. I've talked about AI.

Speaker 2

You're going to see us talk more about Quantum and other things Coming forward, and so that's how we're seeing the business. We're looking ahead. We're excited and optimistic and we love this virtuous circle that we can create when amazing people do great work, Clients ask for more, so we grow that allows us to invest in attracting more amazing people and then building new capabilities and the like. So That's hopefully that answers your question.

Speaker 4

Yes. No, it's super helpful. Sir?

Speaker 3

I was going to answer the cash portion of your question, Sheila. As Rossio said, we are very much Looking forward to getting back to normal course with our DCMA and DCA colleagues. And over time, I do believe that will have A benefit to our cash performance as you and others have noted, there is a meaningful unbilled sitting on our balance sheet right now And we look forward to working with our regulators to work through outstanding audits and get back to normal course.

Speaker 4

Great. And I just wanted to ask about Civil as well. I mean, it continues to lead growth of 20% off of a double digit comp. So We got to see Helix. Is there any one particular program driving that growth or is that just your AI capabilities coming through, if you could talk about that a bit?

Speaker 2

Sure. I'll start. What's powered our civil growth now for several years is the emphasis on digital transformation across Multiple civil agencies, a lot of emphasis on the health agencies, not just the VA, but also CDC, NIH, CMS and the like. And so that continues to be a big growth engine. We're seeing really at this point growth Across our entire Civil portfolio, really driven, first it was cloud and digital transformation.

Speaker 2

We're now seeing more demand for cyber, for AI, and all of that comes together because we bring both the mission and the technology aspects together in ways that our clients value and we believe nobody else can.

Operator

Great. Thank you. Thank you. One moment please for our next question. And our next question coming from the line of Brad Sibin with Stifel, your line is open.

Speaker 5

Hi. Hey, good morning.

Speaker 2

Good morning.

Speaker 5

Horacio, just following up to your comments there. You said you're seeing more interest in AI on the civil side. As we think about your comments from last earnings call, have you seen any market change in AI interest from customers? And if so, where is that coming from? Is it civil, intel, defense or some combination?

Speaker 2

I think the short form of the answer is all of the above. This is a topic that, as you know, we've been investing in and thinking about for years. At the beginning, there was Sort of, I'll call it more curiosity than interest, then it turned to interest, then it turned into demand. Our AI team is growing Extraordinarily fast and it's this is permeating really the entirety of our business. I can't say this with absolute precision, but essentially all of our largest contracts have Some form of AI in scope or the possibility for AI in scope.

Speaker 2

I don't think our Visionary clients would write a 5 or 10 year contract now that does not include these capabilities because we all know they're transformational and Booz Allen, I'm proud to say is at the forefront.

Speaker 5

Great. And just following up, Matt, to some of your comments there around guidance, you achieved 30% of the midpoint of your FY 'twenty four ADEPS guide in the Q1, Which compares to 25% last year. As you mentioned sort of those three items, which of those Are you most focused on to hitting or beating your guide? Is it mainly the booking side this quarter as you lose the Intel contract later in the year? Or are there other Discrete headwinds you're watching.

Speaker 3

Yes, I'll pick 2 of the 3. And certainly Q2 sales is critical. It's As we said in the script, it's important every year, particularly this year given the second item I'll highlight, which is the funding uncertainty. And really our Q2 sets us up not just for this fiscal year, but for next fiscal year as well. And That's what we're trying to do not just on the bookings side, but obviously with headcount as well as produce the year over year organic growth that we desire and our investors expect.

Speaker 5

Great. Thank you, Matt, and thank you, Roger.

Speaker 2

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. And our next question coming from the line of Matt Akers with Wells Fargo. Your line is open.

Speaker 6

Hey guys, thanks for the question. Good morning. I wanted to ask you about how you're thinking about Capital deployment, kind of as we go through this year, obviously, the settlement is a little bit of a drag on cash and how you think about maybe balancing that with maybe

Speaker 3

Yes, Matt, I'll start and Prasanthi may add to it. Certainly, it's a significant payment. So of course, it has an impact. But that said, we're still very much committed to using the balance sheet to drive Incremental strategic and financial value. We have the balance sheet strength to do that and organic performance On the EBITDA side, certainly fortifies that.

Speaker 3

Strategic acquisitions remain our priority, but as we've said, That remark remains challenging. We're leaning into it. We've got a good pipeline that we're prosecuting, but deals are harder to consummate. I'm sure You've heard not just from us, but from others that a lot of deals are dying at the finish line, but we're going to continue to lean into it. That said, we have the flexibility to deploy capital in other ways as appropriate to create shareholder value.

Speaker 3

And I think you saw that last quarter. We bought back a lot of shares.

Speaker 6

Great. Thanks. I'll leave it there. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. And our next question coming from the line of Robert Spingarn with Melius Research. Your line is open.

Speaker 7

Thanks. Good morning. Horacio, we talk about AI all the time. It's already come up a bit on this Call, how are you using AI internally to improve the cost structure or wherever else you can apply it at Booz?

Speaker 2

I appreciate that question. And this has been an actual fair amount of discussion internally because It's important to us, our clients ask us the same question. And so we are looking for the highest opportunity areas where AI would have the Most leverage to our business and the obvious one is talent acquisition. And so we Begun by using somebody else's tool that we purposed into our environment to go through all of our requisitions and make sure that It essentially read all the requisitions for bias language and for things that we didn't want to have in there and to make us be the right kind of face to the market. And we've now moved into another phase, which is for matching.

Speaker 2

As you know, we have thousands of open requisitions at all times. They change all the time. We have hundreds of thousands of resumes coming in. We have 32,000 people internally who want to expand what they know in their career And AI is an extraordinary tool to do that. We have something in prototype that is showing tremendous upside And I think it's going to be really the next wave of our value proposition to really help our people understand, if this is Where I want my career to go, what kinds of opportunities are out there that get me there, what kind of training do I need to have to connect into those opportunities and be qualified to do it, There's a ton of upside there.

Speaker 2

And then beyond that, as you can imagine, every aspect of our business, We need to think through and again, we're prioritizing high leverage areas first.

Speaker 7

Thank you. That's helpful. And then just in terms of the award environment as we look out through the year, I think talked about Intel coming down, but are there any major recompetes that we should be aware of that might point you to the low end or the high end of your range? And At the same time, any big opportunities that we should be on the lookout for?

Speaker 2

It's a Good point. The answer, I guess, would be yes on both sides of it. Our portfolio, as you've known us for a long time, It used to be so many small contracts and very few large ones and now the portfolio has still A lot of small contracts and a lot of small task orders into the 1,000 and a significant share of really large Programs. On the large program side, we those when they get recompeted, each any one of those can move the needle some. What we're seeing there is that recompetes come in generally at larger scope and even larger Sealing than the original programs and that's obviously a source of upside and it's a source of increased competition because they attract More attention and our pipeline is rich.

Speaker 2

We have a good number of recompetes over the next 12 to 18 months. We have a very good number of Things we're going out that are either new or potential takeaways. And all in all, we're optimistic about where we are and how we're

Speaker 3

And if I could add in addition to what we're seeing from book to bill perspective, we're seeing significant Demand from inside existing contracts, particularly in our Civil business. So that's a dynamic that as we produce Tremendous value for clients, we're seeing additional tasking on existing contracts at a pace quite frankly we haven't seen in the past.

Speaker 7

Okay. So there's nothing specific either of you would call out though?

Speaker 2

There's large contracts being competed all the time. We have a couple of large contracts in health that are up for competition. We have a couple of large contracts in our defense business that are up For recompete and obviously we're tracking those very closely. We're well positioned. If we lost any of those, obviously that would not be good.

Speaker 2

But at the same time, We have a number of very large, very exciting contracts that we're awaiting word on and so forth. On balance as we think about the business, we think about contract vehicles, obviously they're important, but we think about them as a means To continue to serve a mission, if we lose part of a scope because of a contract going away, if we win something, our commitment is to the mission and to continue to grow into the missions that matter.

Speaker 7

Right. Well, you've certainly managed it well so far. Thanks for the color.

Speaker 2

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. And our next question coming from the line of Cai von Rumohr with Cowen. Your line is open.

Speaker 2

Hello. So

Speaker 8

I'm a little confused. Your headcount went up 2% in the quarter, that's an almost unprecedented first quarter increase. And the top end of your guide assumes that revenues over the next Three quarters will average $110,000,000 less than the Q1 and per your 10 ks Focus Fox was only About $55,000,000 to $60,000,000 a quarter run rate. So it looks like either you have too many people on board or your revenue guide has

Speaker 3

Hey, Kyle, I'll take that one. Look, we had an exceptional Q1. We knew it was going to be strong and as both Rossio and I said, it exceeded expectations and it positions us very, very well within Our guided range and we are seeing as Rossio said significant momentum in the business across all three sectors On both the supply and demand side, it is early. We do want to see how Q2 plays out. There is, As you know, significant uncertainty in the funding environment that remains.

Speaker 3

And as I'm sure you know, our comps do get harder. We've generated 2% to 3% headcount growth each quarter for the last quarter, 4 quarters, which is really unprecedented. We're not going to replicate that. Utilization spiked in Q2, Q3. We added EverWatch.

Speaker 3

There are a handful of reasons why I think the year over year comps get more challenging, but none of this should take away from The underlying momentum that we see, we're just going to see the pace of growth moderate some over the back half.

Speaker 2

Yes, Guy, just to be very specific, we have not over hired. Our team is fully utilized and we are leaning forward.

Speaker 8

Great. And the second one is, now that the DOJ uncertainty is behind you, any thoughts about Kind of taking on some more permanent debt and reducing the exposure of the term?

Speaker 3

Kai, we're always looking at opportunities to revise our capital structure.

Speaker 8

Thank you.

Speaker 2

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. And our next question coming from the line of Louis DiPalma with William Blair. Your line is open.

Speaker 2

Hi, Louis. Good morning. We can't hear you.

Operator

All right. Zoe, your line is open. You might be on mute. Right, sir, you might be having some cell phone issue. I'm not showing any further questions.

Operator

I will now turn the call back over to Mr. Rozanski for any closing remarks.

Speaker 2

Thank you very much and thank you all for your questions and for taking the time to join us this morning. As we close today, I'd like to once again recognize this incredible Booz Allen team. They are the reason that I feel so optimistic about our future. So if you allow me for a moment, let me take a second to just say to all my Booz Allen colleagues, Thank you. Thank you for your hard work and for all that you do.

Speaker 2

Your passion and your commitment are truly awe inspiring. And to everyone on the call, thanks once again for joining us. Have a great day and enjoy the rest of the summer.

Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

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Key Takeaways

  • In Q1 fiscal 2024, Booz Allen delivered 18% year-over-year revenue growth (16.7% organic), marking its strongest quarterly expansion since 2010.
  • The company settled a U.S. Department of Justice civil probe within its previously disclosed range and closed an SEC investigation, with the ~$340 million cash impact incorporated into updated cash guidance.
  • Headcount surged to over 32,000 employees, a record 12.5% rise in client staff, driven by streamlined hiring processes and investments in employee well-being and upskilling.
  • Booz Allen achieved a 1.03x book-to-bill ratio in Q1, grew total backlog 9.3% to $31.3 billion, and expanded its qualified pipeline by 12% to $41.9 billion.
  • The firm reaffirmed full-year FY 2024 guidance of 7–11% revenue growth, adjusted EBITDA of $1.075–$1.105 billion, ADEPS of $4.80–$4.95, and now expects operating cash flow of $160–$260 million.
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Earnings Conference Call
Booz Allen Hamilton Q1 2024
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