ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Gregory Burns: Okay. Thanks. And then I guess just lastly, can you — I know you drew down the inventory and were able to deliver on some of that backlog. But how does that backlog look, I guess, relative to maybe historic levels, is it still elevated, and maybe can you give us a sense of your pipeline?

Mark Marron: Pipeline is within where we would think it would be for this quarter. The one thing I would tell you, Greg, that I got to highlight again. Last year, in Q3, we had a really strong tech quarter. Our net sales were up over 28%. The adjusted gross billings were up almost 30% in that quarter. So it’s kind of a tough compare there. But with that said, as compared to traditional Q3 quarters pipeline, backlog, all the things that we’re tracking is in play. The only caveat I’d put on that is we are seeing some deals that are taking a little bit longer as customers try to figure out what they want to spend from a priority standpoint. And they’re trying to do some cost optimization across some of their cloud and security plays. And the other thing, too, some of it’s ratable, too, Greg, which affects that.

Gregory Burns: Okay. And the sales cycles, is that getting longer across customer segments, or is it mainly in the large enterprise like…

Mark Marron: Mainly enterprise but higher mid-market, but it varies by customer, Greg. You’d be surprised with customers in terms of sometimes how long it takes to turn things around through their legal, through their procurement team. So it varies by customers. But normally, the enterprise, the bigger deals are normally the ones that take a little bit longer.

Gregory Burns: Okay, thank you.

Mark Marron: No problem.

Operator: Our next question comes from Matt Sheerin with Stifel. Please go ahead.

Matthew Sheerin: Yes, thanks. I just wanted to follow-up on Greg’s question regarding backlog. Could you tell us what the backlog levels look like now versus 60 days or a quarter ago, and versus traditional or historic levels?

Mark Marron: So sorry, Matt, I missed that. What was the question regarding backlog?

Matthew Sheerin: Yes, I was just looking for the back — what is the backlog? Greg had asked that question, but I’m not sure we got an answer because you’ve been talking for a few quarters about very elevated backlog because of the component shortage. It looks like the supply is coming nicely and you’re shipping to backlog. So a potential concern would be that backlog gets worked off and what happens to growth after that. So I’m just hoping to get some color on that.

Mark Marron: Yes, I got you. Yes, open orders are down but they’re still higher than traditional levels, if you will. So they did trend down. Backlog is actually up. Pipeline is actually in line with what we’re expecting for the quarter. So besides the tough compare, we wouldn’t see anything that would dramatically affect the numbers, if you will, whether it’s related to open orders, backlog and/or pipeline just yet. With that said, the caveat is, Matt, as we mentioned previously, is the timelines are extending with some of the customers, so it gets tougher and tougher to kind of forecast.

Matthew Sheerin: Okay. Fair enough. And I know you’re reiterating your revenue forecast for the year. As we think about the next couple of quarters, it looks like in terms of seasonality, you typically have sequential growth in the December quarter and then down in the March quarter. I’m wondering if that’s how we should think about modeling or are things different just because of the backlog and the way things are trending. So is that — should we think about that seasonality playing out again or no?

Mark Marron: Yes, very much so, Matt. But once again, if I could just highlight, the tech quarter last year was from a compare was extreme where gross billings — adjusted gross billings were up almost 30%. So that would be the only caveat. But I think what you said is very fair and very realistic.