Confluent Announces First Quarter 2022 Financial Results
-
Total revenue of
$126 million , up 64% year over year -
Confluent Cloud revenue of
$39 million , up 180% year over year -
Remaining performance obligations of
$551 million , up 96% year over year -
791 customers with
$100,000 or greater in ARR, up 41% year over year
“Data streaming is gaining momentum and adoption as a foundational component to delivering real-time customer experiences and optimized operations,” said
“We delivered a strong first quarter exceeding the high end of our guidance on all metrics. RPO growth accelerated year over year and Confluent Cloud revenue grew 180% year over year, with a world-class dollar-based net retention rate for Confluent Cloud of greater than 150%,” said
First Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights |
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(In millions, except per share data and percentages) |
||||||
|
Q1 2022 |
|
Q1 2021 |
|
Y/Y Change |
|
Total Revenue |
|
|
|
|
64% |
|
Remaining Performance Obligations |
|
|
|
|
96% |
|
GAAP Operating Loss |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-GAAP Operating Loss |
|
|
|
|
|
|
GAAP Operating Margin |
(88.4%) |
|
(58.6%) |
|
(29.8) pts |
|
Non-GAAP Operating Margin |
(41.0%) |
|
(40.9%) |
|
(0.1) pts |
|
GAAP Net Loss Per Share |
|
|
|
|
- |
|
Non-GAAP Net Loss Per Share |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Free Cash Flow |
|
|
|
|
|
A reconciliation of each non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is provided in the financial statement tables included in this press release. For a description of these non-GAAP financial measures, including the reasons management uses each measure, please see the section titled “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”
Financial Outlook
For the second quarter and fiscal year 2022, Confluent expects:
|
Q2 2022 Outlook |
|
FY 2022 Outlook |
|
Total Revenue |
|
|
|
|
Non-GAAP Operating Margin |
~ (41%) |
|
~ (38%) |
|
Non-GAAP Net Loss Per Share |
|
|
|
A reconciliation of forward-looking non-GAAP operating margin and non-GAAP net loss per share to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is not available without unreasonable effort, as certain items cannot be reasonably predicted because of their high variability, complexity and low visibility. In particular, the measures and effects of our stock-based compensation expense specific to our equity compensation awards and employer payroll tax-related items on employee stock transactions are directly impacted by the timing of employee stock transactions and unpredictable fluctuations in our stock price, which we expect to have a significant impact on our future GAAP financial results.
Conference Call Information
Confluent will host a video webcast to discuss the company’s first quarter 2022 results as well as its financial outlook today at
Confluent uses its investor relations website and may use its Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook accounts as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release and the earnings call referencing this press release contain forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding our financial outlook, including our commitment to driving accelerating annual improvements in our non-GAAP operating margin and free cash flow margin and achievement of positive non-GAAP operating margin by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024; the potential growth runway for Confluent Cloud; ability for Confluent Cloud to provide cost savings for users and customers; increased adoption of our platform and data streaming in general; our ability and position to capitalize on the shift to cloud; the degree of market acceptance of our products; our ability to sustain relationships and integration with cloud providers; growth in and growth rate of revenue, including Confluent Cloud revenue, customers, remaining performance obligations and dollar-based net retention rate; our market opportunity; our go-to-market strategy; our product differentiation and market acceptance of our products; our ability to improve margins, on an annual basis or at all; our ability to meet near-term and mid-term financial targets; our potential for value creation; our investment priority and philosophy; and our overall future prospects. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “seek,” “plan,” “project,” “target,” “looking ahead,” “look to,” “move into,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements represent our current beliefs, estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this press release and information contained in this press release should not be relied upon as representing our estimates as of any subsequent date. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. If the risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. Risks include, but are not limited to: (i) the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on our business, as well as our customers, prospects, partners, and service providers, (ii) our ability to sustain and manage our rapid growth, (iii) our limited operating history, (iv) our ability to attract new customers and retain and sell additional features and services to our existing customers, (v) our ability to increase consumption of our offering, including by existing customers and through the acquisition of new customers, and successfully add new features and functionality to our offering, (vi) our ability to achieve or sustain profitability and improve margins annually or at all, (vii) the estimated addressable market opportunity for our offering, (viii) our ability to compete effectively in an increasingly competitive market, including achieving market acceptance over competitors and open source alternatives, (ix) our ability to successfully execute our go-to-market strategy and initiatives, (x) our ability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel, (xi) breaches in our security measures or unauthorized access to our platform, our data, or our customers’ or other users’ personal data, (xii) our reliance on third-party cloud-based infrastructure to host Confluent Cloud, and (xiii) general market, political, economic, and business conditions. These risks are not exhaustive. Further information on these and other risks that could affect Confluent’s results is included in our filings with the
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release includes the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses (research and development, sales and marketing, general and administrative), non-GAAP operating loss, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss per share, free cash flow, and free cash flow margin. We use these non-GAAP financial measures and other key metrics internally to facilitate analysis of our financial and business trends and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures, when taken collectively, may be helpful to investors because they provide consistency and comparability with past financial performance by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our business, results of operations, or outlook. However, non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as an analytical tool and are presented for supplemental informational purposes only. They should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. In particular, other companies, including companies in our industry, may report non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses (research and development, sales and marketing, general and administrative), non-GAAP operating loss, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss per share, free cash flow, free cash flow margin, or similarly titled measures but calculate them differently, which reduces their usefulness as comparative measures. Further, free cash flow is not a substitute for cash used in operating activities. The utility of free cash flow is limited as such measure does not reflect our future contractual commitments and does not represent the total increase or decrease in our cash balance for any given period. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, as presented below. We define non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses (research and development, sales and marketing, general and administrative), non-GAAP operating loss, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net loss, and non-GAAP net loss per share as the respective GAAP balances, adjusted for, as applicable, stock-based compensation expense; employer taxes on employee stock transactions; common stock charitable donation expense; amortization of debt issuance costs; and income tax effects associated with these adjustments. We define free cash flow as net cash used in operating activities less capitalized internal-use software costs and capital expenditures and free cash flow margin as free cash flow as a percentage of revenue. We believe that free cash flow and free cash flow margin are useful indicators of liquidity that provide information to management and investors about the performance of core operations and future ability to generate cash that can be used for strategic opportunities or investing in our business.
Other Business Metrics
Remaining performance obligations (“RPO”) represent the amount of contracted future revenue that has not yet been recognized as of the end of each period, including both deferred revenue that has been invoiced and non-cancelable committed amounts that will be invoiced and recognized as revenue in future periods. RPO excludes pay-as-you-go arrangements. RPO may also fluctuate due to a number of factors, including the timing of renewals, average contract terms, seasonality, and dollar amount of customer contracts. RPO as a metric is not necessarily indicative of future revenue growth because it does not account for the actual timing of customers’ consumption or future expansion.
Customers with
Dollar-based net retention rate (“NRR”) as of a period end is calculated by starting with the ARR from the cohort of all customers as of 12 months prior to such period end (“Prior Period Value”). We calculate the ARR from these same customers as of the current period end (“Current Period Value”), which includes any growth in the value of subscriptions and is net of contraction or attrition over the prior 12 months. Services and pay-as-you-go arrangements are excluded from the calculation of ARR. We then divide the Current Period Value by the Prior Period Value to arrive at our dollar-based NRR. The dollar-based NRR includes the effect, on a dollar-weighted value basis, of our subscriptions that expand, renew, contract, or attrit, but excludes ARR from new customers in the current period. Our dollar-based NRR is subject to adjustments for acquisitions, consolidations, spin-offs, and other market activity.
About Confluent
Confluent is the data streaming platform that is pioneering a fundamentally new category of data infrastructure that sets data in motion. Confluent’s cloud-native offering is the foundational platform for data in motion – designed to be the intelligent connective tissue enabling real-time data, from multiple sources, to constantly stream across the organization. With Confluent, organizations can meet the new business imperative of delivering rich, digital front-end customer experiences and transitioning to sophisticated, real-time, software-driven backend operations.
|
||||||||
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets |
||||||||
(in thousands) |
||||||||
(unaudited) |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
||||
ASSETS | ||||||||
Current assets: | ||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents |
$ |
1,047,589 |
|
$ |
1,375,932 |
|
||
Marketable securities |
|
943,048 |
|
|
640,085 |
|
||
Accounts receivable, net |
|
124,504 |
|
|
137,491 |
|
||
Deferred contract acquisition costs |
|
28,433 |
|
|
27,646 |
|
||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets |
|
51,675 |
|
|
44,919 |
|
||
Total current assets |
|
2,195,249 |
|
|
2,226,073 |
|
||
Property and equipment, net |
|
18,486 |
|
|
14,428 |
|
||
Operating lease right-of-use assets |
|
34,814 |
|
|
37,281 |
|
||
Deferred contract acquisition costs, non-current |
|
54,001 |
|
|
51,178 |
|
||
Other assets, non-current |
|
14,951 |
|
|
13,769 |
|
||
Total assets |
$ |
2,317,501 |
|
$ |
2,342,729 |
|
||
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | ||||||||
Current liabilities: | ||||||||
Accounts payable |
$ |
8,151 |
|
$ |
7,591 |
|
||
Accrued expenses and other liabilities |
|
71,924 |
|
|
98,974 |
|
||
Operating lease liabilities |
|
8,540 |
|
|
9,236 |
|
||
Deferred revenue |
|
235,119 |
|
|
220,920 |
|
||
Liability for early exercise of unvested stock options |
|
6,995 |
|
|
11,467 |
|
||
Total current liabilities |
|
330,729 |
|
|
348,188 |
|
||
Operating lease liabilities, non-current |
|
29,674 |
|
|
31,645 |
|
||
Deferred revenue, non-current |
|
30,565 |
|
|
25,557 |
|
||
Convertible senior notes, net |
|
1,081,637 |
|
|
1,080,701 |
|
||
Other liabilities, non-current |
|
8,827 |
|
|
6,357 |
|
||
Total liabilities |
|
1,481,432 |
|
|
1,492,448 |
|
||
Stockholders’ equity: | ||||||||
Preferred stock |
|
- |
|
|
- |
|
||
Class A common stock |
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
||
Class B common stock |
|
2 |
|
|
2 |
|
||
Additional paid-in capital |
|
1,703,449 |
|
|
1,599,962 |
|
||
Accumulated other comprehensive loss |
|
(5,542 |
) |
|
(830 |
) |
||
Accumulated deficit |
|
(861,841 |
) |
|
(748,854 |
) |
||
Total stockholders’ equity |
|
836,069 |
|
|
850,281 |
|
||
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity |
$ |
2,317,501 |
|
$ |
2,342,729 |
|
||
|
||||||||
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations |
||||||||
(in thousands, except share and per share data) |
||||||||
(unaudited) |
||||||||
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
Three Months Ended |
||||||
|
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
||||
Revenue: | ||||||||
Subscription |
$ |
113,920 |
|
$ |
67,992 |
|
||
Services |
|
12,219 |
|
|
9,036 |
|
||
Total revenue |
|
126,139 |
|
|
77,028 |
|
||
Cost of revenue: | ||||||||
Subscription(1)(2) |
|
33,603 |
|
|
15,757 |
|
||
Services(1)(2) |
|
12,174 |
|
|
8,081 |
|
||
Total cost of revenue |
|
45,777 |
|
|
23,838 |
|
||
Gross profit |
|
80,362 |
|
|
53,190 |
|
||
Operating expenses: | ||||||||
Research and development(1)(2) |
|
57,661 |
|
|
24,313 |
|
||
Sales and marketing(1)(2) |
|
106,702 |
|
|
58,509 |
|
||
General and administrative(1)(2) |
|
27,481 |
|
|
15,512 |
|
||
Total operating expenses |
|
191,844 |
|
|
98,334 |
|
||
Operating loss |
|
(111,482 |
) |
|
(45,144 |
) |
||
Interest income |
|
566 |
|
|
844 |
|
||
Other expense, net |
|
(1,382 |
) |
|
(336 |
) |
||
Loss before income taxes |
|
(112,298 |
) |
|
(44,636 |
) |
||
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes |
|
689 |
|
|
(110 |
) |
||
Net loss |
$ |
(112,987 |
) |
$ |
(44,526 |
) |
||
Net loss per share, basic and diluted |
$ |
(0.41 |
) |
$ |
(0.41 |
) |
||
Weighted-average shares used to compute net loss per share, basic and diluted |
|
272,890,829 |
|
|
108,731,605 |
|
(1) Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:
Three Months Ended |
||||||||
2022 |
|
2021 |
||||||
Cost of revenue - subscription |
$ |
5,313 |
|
$ |
975 |
|
||
Cost of revenue - services |
|
1,862 |
|
|
544 |
|
||
Research and development |
|
20,085 |
|
|
3,511 |
|
||
Sales and marketing |
|
21,062 |
|
|
4,976 |
|
||
General and administrative |
|
9,047 |
|
|
3,347 |
|
||
Total stock-based compensation expense |
$ |
57,369 |
|
$ |
13,353 |
|
(2) Includes employer taxes on employee stock transactions as follows:
Three Months Ended |
||||||||
2022 |
|
2021 |
||||||
Cost of revenue - subscription |
$ |
333 |
|
$ |
- |
|
||
Cost of revenue - services |
|
77 |
|
|
- |
|
||
Research and development |
|
1,039 |
|
|
121 |
|
||
Sales and marketing |
|
680 |
|
|
103 |
|
||
General and administrative |
|
310 |
|
|
39 |
|
||
Total employer taxes on employee stock transactions |
$ |
2,439 |
|
$ |
263 |
|
||
|
||||||||
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows |
||||||||
(in thousands) |
||||||||
(unaudited) |
||||||||
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
Three Months Ended |
||||||
|
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
||||
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES | ||||||||
Net loss |
$ |
(112,987 |
) |
$ |
(44,526 |
) |
||
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to cash used in operating activities: | ||||||||
Depreciation and amortization |
|
1,250 |
|
|
787 |
|
||
Net amortization of premiums or discounts on marketable securities |
|
705 |
|
|
505 |
|
||
Amortization of debt issuance costs |
|
936 |
|
|
- |
|
||
Amortization of deferred contract acquisition costs |
|
8,470 |
|
|
5,535 |
|
||
Non-cash operating lease costs |
|
2,275 |
|
|
2,856 |
|
||
Stock-based compensation, net of amounts capitalized |
|
57,369 |
|
|
13,353 |
|
||
Deferred income taxes |
|
(4 |
) |
|
(567 |
) |
||
Other |
|
204 |
|
|
439 |
|
||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||||
Accounts receivable |
|
12,782 |
|
|
5,734 |
|
||
Deferred contract acquisition costs |
|
(12,080 |
) |
|
(10,866 |
) |
||
Prepaid expenses and other assets |
|
(7,985 |
) |
|
(2,355 |
) |
||
Accounts payable |
|
177 |
|
|
839 |
|
||
Accrued expenses and other liabilities |
|
(22,853 |
) |
|
1,433 |
|
||
Operating lease liabilities |
|
(2,497 |
) |
|
(2,721 |
) |
||
Deferred revenue |
|
19,207 |
|
|
9,565 |
|
||
Net cash used in operating activities |
|
(55,031 |
) |
|
(19,989 |
) |
||
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES | ||||||||
Capitalization of internal-use software costs |
|
(2,509 |
) |
|
(596 |
) |
||
Purchases of marketable securities |
|
(403,883 |
) |
|
(41,688 |
) |
||
Maturities of marketable securities |
|
95,545 |
|
|
56,763 |
|
||
Purchases of property and equipment |
|
(887 |
) |
|
(643 |
) |
||
Other |
|
- |
|
|
9 |
|
||
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities |
|
(311,734 |
) |
|
13,845 |
|
||
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES | ||||||||
Proceeds from issuance of common stock upon exercise of vested options |
|
16,436 |
|
|
6,215 |
|
||
Proceeds from issuance of common stock upon early exercise of unvested options, net of repurchases |
|
333 |
|
|
7,398 |
|
||
Payments of deferred offering costs |
|
- |
|
|
(153 |
) |
||
Payments of debt issuance costs for convertible senior notes |
|
(786 |
) |
|
- |
|
||
Proceeds from issuance of common stock under employee stock purchase plan |
|
22,485 |
|
|
- |
|
||
Net cash provided by financing activities |
|
38,468 |
|
|
13,460 |
|
||
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash |
|
(46 |
) |
|
(8 |
) |
||
Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash |
|
(328,343 |
) |
|
7,308 |
|
||
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at beginning of period |
|
1,376,682 |
|
|
37,806 |
|
||
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period |
$ |
1,048,339 |
|
$ |
45,114 |
|
||
Reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash within the consolidated balance sheets to the amounts shown above: | ||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents |
$ |
1,047,589 |
|
$ |
44,097 |
|
||
Restricted cash included in other assets, current and non-current |
|
750 |
|
|
1,017 |
|
||
Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash |
$ |
1,048,339 |
|
$ |
45,114 |
|
||
|
||||||||
Reconciliation of GAAP Measures to Non-GAAP Measures |
||||||||
(in thousands, except percentages, share and per share data) |
||||||||
(unaudited) |
||||||||
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
Three Months Ended |
||||||
|
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
||||
Reconciliation of GAAP total gross profit to non-GAAP total gross profit: | ||||||||
Total gross profit on a GAAP basis |
$ |
80,362 |
|
$ |
53,190 |
|
||
Total gross margin on a GAAP basis |
|
63.7 |
% |
|
69.1 |
% |
||
Add: Stock-based compensation expense |
|
7,175 |
|
|
1,519 |
|
||
Add: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions |
|
410 |
|
|
- |
|
||
Non-GAAP total gross profit |
$ |
87,947 |
|
$ |
54,709 |
|
||
Non-GAAP total gross margin |
|
69.7 |
% |
|
71.0 |
% |
||
Reconciliation of GAAP operating expenses to non-GAAP operating expenses: | ||||||||
Research and development operating expense on a GAAP basis |
$ |
57,661 |
|
$ |
24,313 |
|
||
Less: Stock-based compensation expense |
|
20,085 |
|
|
3,511 |
|
||
Less: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions |
|
1,039 |
|
|
121 |
|
||
Non-GAAP research and development operating expense |
$ |
36,537 |
|
$ |
20,681 |
|
||
Non-GAAP research and development operating expense as a percentage of total revenue |
|
29.0 |
% |
|
26.8 |
% |
||
Sales and marketing operating expense on a GAAP basis |
$ |
106,702 |
|
$ |
58,509 |
|
||
Less: Stock-based compensation expense |
|
21,062 |
|
|
4,976 |
|
||
Less: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions |
|
680 |
|
|
103 |
|
||
Non-GAAP sales and marketing operating expense |
$ |
84,960 |
|
$ |
53,430 |
|
||
Non-GAAP sales and marketing operating expense as a percentage of total revenue |
|
67.4 |
% |
|
69.4 |
% |
||
General and administrative operating expense on a GAAP basis |
$ |
27,481 |
|
$ |
15,512 |
|
||
Less: Stock-based compensation expense |
|
9,047 |
|
|
3,347 |
|
||
Less: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions |
|
310 |
|
|
39 |
|
||
Non-GAAP general and administrative operating expense |
$ |
18,124 |
|
$ |
12,126 |
|
||
Non-GAAP general and administrative operating expense as a percentage of total revenue |
|
14.4 |
% |
|
15.7 |
% |
||
Three Months Ended |
||||||||
2022 |
|
2021 |
||||||
Reconciliation of GAAP operating loss to non-GAAP operating loss: | ||||||||
Operating loss on a GAAP basis |
$ |
(111,482 |
) |
$ |
(45,144 |
) |
||
Add: Stock-based compensation expense |
|
57,369 |
|
|
13,353 |
|
||
Add: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions |
|
2,439 |
|
|
263 |
|
||
Non-GAAP operating loss |
$ |
(51,674 |
) |
$ |
(31,528 |
) |
||
Non-GAAP operating margin |
|
(41.0 |
%) |
|
(40.9 |
%) |
||
Reconciliation of GAAP net loss to non-GAAP net loss: | ||||||||
Net loss on a GAAP basis |
$ |
(112,987 |
) |
$ |
(44,526 |
) |
||
Add: Stock-based compensation expense |
|
57,369 |
|
|
13,353 |
|
||
Add: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions |
|
2,439 |
|
|
263 |
|
||
Add: Amortization of debt issuance costs |
|
936 |
|
|
- |
|
||
Add: Income tax effects and adjustments |
|
13 |
|
|
(671 |
) |
||
Non-GAAP net loss |
$ |
(52,230 |
) |
$ |
(31,581 |
) |
||
Non-GAAP net loss per share, basic and diluted |
$ |
(0.19 |
) |
$ |
(0.29 |
) |
||
Weighted-average shares used to compute net loss per share, basic and diluted |
|
272,890,829 |
|
|
108,731,605 |
|
||
The following table presents a reconciliation of free cash flow to net cash used in operating activities, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, for each of the periods indicated (unaudited, in thousands):
Three Months Ended |
||||||||
2022 |
|
2021 |
||||||
Net cash used in operating activities |
$ |
(55,031 |
) |
$ |
(19,989 |
) |
||
Capitalized internal-use software costs |
|
(2,509 |
) |
|
(596 |
) |
||
Capital expenditures |
|
(887 |
) |
|
(643 |
) |
||
Free cash flow |
$ |
(58,427 |
) |
$ |
(21,228 |
) |
||
Free cash flow margin |
|
(46.3 |
%) |
|
(27.6 |
%) |
||
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities |
$ |
(311,734 |
) |
$ |
13,845 |
|
||
Net cash provided by financing activities |
$ |
38,468 |
|
$ |
13,460 |
|
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220504006293/en/
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