Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

David Larsen: Okay, great. And then just my last question. I guess visibility into fiscal 4Q revenue sounds like it would be pretty high, especially on the software side. Is that correct?

Shawn O’Connor: Yes. We’ve always have a good view to the renewal process, good book of our business. 80% plus or minus of our software revenue in any given quarter comes from renewal. We’ve had pretty good predictability in terms of the harmonization, which has moved those license renewal dates around. So pretty good eyesight in terms of the software business. The service business, as we start getting into the summer months, which can be disruptive, but coming to the quarter with good backlog to support expectations in the fourth quarter. Our visibility is pretty good fourth quarter this year.

David Larsen: Okay. And then just a quick one for Will. Will, did I see that this was the best cash flow quarter of the past seven quarters?

Will Frederick: From a cash flow standpoint, we mentioned the free cash flow for the year. But I mean, we continue to have pretty good free cash flow that we’re paying dividends out from.

David Larsen: Okay. I appreciate it. Thanks. I’ll hop back in the queue.

Will Frederick: Thanks.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Yuan Zhi with B. Riley. Please proceed with your question.

Yuan Zhi: All right. Shawn and Will congrats on the quarter, and thank you for taking our question. Just one from us. Can you provide more clarity on that $16 million backlog? Are those project time-sensitive? Does it mean or does it make sense to hire more consultants to complete the backlog sooner? Thank you.

Shawn O’Connor: Yeah, sure. Thank you. Backlog is good. We’ve made a transition really post-COVID timeframe here, transition in terms of contracting business that often comes in multiple stages and initial upfront discussion and contracting those in pieces as opposed to one large amount. The benefit of that is that the — really the quality of the backlog is much stronger. There is a reduction in the amount of backlog that is eliminated through a drug cancellation, for example, because these contracts are shorter term. And the metric there is that this backlog pretty high content that is deliverable within 12 months. There’s not much that exceeds the 12 month factor. And most of it still is in that three to six months’ time window of expected performance.

In terms of the headcount capacity required to deliver on that backlog, certainly in the near term, in the fourth quarter sort of horizon, we have capacity on hand to deliver to our expectation in that sort of short-term expectation as we look out beyond the next quarter. It’s a continuous process of managing our capacity to our needs. We’ve had a good year this year in terms of bringing on, I think, it’s seven or eight new consultants to add to the team. And it’s always something we have to manage closely, but we’ve got a little bit of time to prepare for that short-term needs ought to be addressable right now.

Yuan Zhi: Got it. Thanks for the insight. Thank you.

Shawn O’Connor: Take care.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Francois Brisebois with Oppenheimer. Please proceed with your question.

Francois Brisebois: Hi, thanks for the question. So just to be clear in the guidance there, I think you mentioned, but just to be clear on it, the fiscal year ’23 guidance does include the Immunetrics acquisition, correct?

Shawn O’Connor: Yes. Their contribution into the stub window of the fourth quarter is going to be positive, but it’ll still keep us in that 10% to 15% range.

Francois Brisebois: Okay. And if you — have you discussed at all Immunetrics the kind of mix of software to services in terms of that business and maybe on its own? And then once completely integrated with you guys, does that change the mix of software and services?