Technology

BGC Group Updates its Outlook for the Second Quarter of 2024

Published

2 years ago

June 28, 2024

NEW YORK, June 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — BGC Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: BGC), today announced that it has updated its outlook for the quarter ending June 30, 2024.

Updated Outlook
BGC reaffirmed its previously stated outlook ranges for revenue and pre-tax Adjusted Earnings for the second quarter of 2024. The Company’s outlook was contained in BGC’s financial results press release issued on April 30, 2024, which can be found at http://ir.bgcg.com.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The non-GAAP definitions below include references to certain equity-based compensation instruments, such as restricted stock awards and/or restricted stock units (“RSUs”), that the Company has issued and outstanding following its corporate conversion on July 1, 2023. Although BGC is retaining certain defined terms and references, including references to partnerships or partnership units, for purposes of comparability before and after the corporate conversion, such references may not be applicable following the period ended June 30, 2023.

This document contains non-GAAP financial measures that differ from the most directly comparable measures calculated and presented in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States (“GAAP”). Non-GAAP financial measures used by the Company include “Adjusted Earnings before noncontrolling interests and taxes”, which is used interchangeably with “pre-tax Adjusted Earnings”; “Post-tax Adjusted Earnings to fully diluted shareholders”, which is used interchangeably with “post-tax Adjusted Earnings”; “Adjusted EBITDA”; “Liquidity”; and “Constant Currency”. The definitions of these terms are below.

Adjusted Earnings Defined
BGC uses non-GAAP financial measures, including “Adjusted Earnings before noncontrolling interests and taxes” and “Post-tax Adjusted Earnings to fully diluted shareholders”, which are supplemental measures of operating results used by management to evaluate the financial performance of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries. BGC believes that Adjusted Earnings best reflect the operating earnings generated by the Company on a consolidated basis and are the earnings which management considers when managing its business.

As compared with “Income (loss) from operations before income taxes” and “Net income (loss) for fully diluted shares”, both prepared in accordance with GAAP, Adjusted Earnings calculations primarily exclude certain non-cash items and other expenses that generally do not involve the receipt or outlay of cash by the Company and/or which do not dilute existing stockholders. In addition, Adjusted Earnings calculations exclude certain gains and charges that management believes do not best reflect the underlying operating performance of BGC. Adjusted Earnings is calculated by taking the most comparable GAAP measures and adjusting for certain items with respect to compensation expenses, non-compensation expenses, and other income, as discussed below.

Calculations of Compensation Adjustments for Adjusted Earnings and Adjusted EBITDA

Treatment of Equity-Based Compensation Line Item for Adjusted Earnings and Adjusted EBITDA
The Company’s Adjusted Earnings and Adjusted EBITDA measures exclude all GAAP charges included in the line item “Equity-based compensation and allocations of net income to limited partnership units and FPUs” (or “equity-based compensation” for purposes of defining the Company’s non-GAAP results) as recorded on the Company’s GAAP Consolidated Statements of Operations and GAAP Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. These GAAP equity-based compensation charges reflect the following items:

Charges related to amortization of RSUs, restricted stock awards, other equity-based awards, and limited partnership units;Charges with respect to grants of exchangeability, which reflect the right of holders of limited partnership units with no capital accounts, such as LPUs and PSUs, to exchange these units into shares of common stock, or into partnership units with capital accounts, such as HDUs, as well as cash paid with respect to taxes withheld or expected to be owed by the unit holder upon such exchange. The withholding taxes related to the exchange of certain non-exchangeable units without a capital account into either common shares or units with a capital account may be funded by the redemption of preferred units such as PPSUs;Charges with respect to preferred units and RSU tax accounts. Any preferred units and RSU tax accounts would not be included in the Company’s fully diluted share count because they cannot be made exchangeable into shares of common stock and are entitled only to a fixed distribution or dividend. Preferred units are granted in connection with the grant of certain limited partnership units that may be granted exchangeability or redeemed in connection with the grant of shares of common stock, and RSU tax accounts are granted in connection with the grant of RSUs. The preferred units and RSU tax accounts are granted at ratios designed to cover any withholding taxes expected to be paid. This is an alternative to the common practice among public companies of issuing the gross amount of shares to employees, subject to cashless withholding of shares, to pay applicable withholding taxes;GAAP equity-based compensation charges with respect to the grant of an offsetting amount of common stock or partnership units with capital accounts in connection with the redemption of non-exchangeable units, including PSUs and LPUs;Charges related to grants of equity awards, including common stock, RSUs, restricted stock awards or partnership units with capital accounts;Allocations of net income to limited partnership units and FPUs. Such allocations represent the pro-rata portion of post-tax GAAP earnings available to such unit holders; andCharges related to dividend equivalents earned on RSUs and any preferred returns on RSU tax accounts.

The amounts of certain quarterly equity-based compensation charges are based upon the Company’s estimate of such expected charges during the annual period, as described further below under “Methodology for Calculating Adjusted Earnings Taxes.”

Virtually all of BGC’s key executives and producers have equity stakes in the Company and its subsidiaries and generally receive deferred equity as part of their compensation. A significant percentage of BGC’s fully diluted shares are owned by its executives, partners and employees. The Company issues RSUs, restricted stock, limited partnership units (prior to July 1, 2023) as well as other forms of equity-based compensation, including grants of exchangeability into shares of common stock (prior to July 1, 2023), to provide liquidity to its employees, to align the interests of its employees and management with those of common stockholders, to help motivate and retain key employees, and to encourage a collaborative culture that drives cross-selling and revenue growth.

All share equivalents that are part of the Company’s equity-based compensation program, including REUs, PSUs, LPUs, HDUs, and other units that may be made exchangeable into common stock, as well as RSUs (which are recorded using the treasury stock method), are included in the fully diluted share count when issued or at the beginning of the subsequent quarter after the date of grant.

Compensation charges are also adjusted for certain other cash and non-cash items.

Certain Other Compensation-Related Adjustments for Adjusted Earnings
BGC also excludes various other GAAP items that management views as not reflective of the Company’s underlying performance in a given period from its calculation of Adjusted Earnings. These may include compensation-related items with respect to cost-saving initiatives, such as severance charges incurred in connection with headcount reductions as part of broad restructuring and/or cost savings plans.

Calculation of Non-Compensation Adjustments for Adjusted Earnings
Adjusted Earnings calculations may also exclude items such as:

Non-cash GAAP charges related to the amortization of intangibles with respect to acquisitions;Acquisition related costs;Non-cash GAAP asset impairment charges;Resolutions of litigation, disputes, investigations, or enforcement matters that are generally non-recurring, exceptional, or unusual, or similar items that management believes do not best reflect BGC’s underlying operating performance, including related unaffiliated third-party professional fees and expenses; andVarious other GAAP items that management views as not reflective of the Company’s underlying performance in a given period, including non-compensation-related charges incurred as part of broad restructuring and/or cost savings plans. Such GAAP items may include charges for professional fees and expenses, exiting leases and/or other long-term contracts as part of cost-saving initiatives, as well as non-cash impairment charges related to assets, goodwill and/or intangible assets created from acquisitions.

Calculation of Adjustments for Other (income) losses for Adjusted Earnings
Adjusted Earnings calculations also exclude gains from litigation resolution and certain other non-cash, non-dilutive, and/or non-economic items, which may, in some periods, include:

Gains or losses on divestitures;Fair value adjustment of investments;Certain other GAAP items, including gains or losses related to BGC’s investments accounted for under the equity method; andAny unusual, non-ordinary, or non-recurring gains or losses.

Methodology for Calculating Adjusted Earnings Taxes
Although Adjusted Earnings are calculated on a pre-tax basis, BGC also reports post-tax Adjusted Earnings to fully diluted shareholders. The Company defines post-tax Adjusted Earnings to fully diluted shareholders as pre-tax Adjusted Earnings reduced by the non-GAAP tax provision described below and net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest for Adjusted Earnings.

The Company calculates its tax provision for post-tax Adjusted Earnings using an annual estimate similar to how it accounts for its income tax provision under GAAP. To calculate the quarterly tax provision under GAAP, BGC estimates its full fiscal year GAAP income (loss) from operations before income taxes and noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries and the expected inclusions and deductions for income tax purposes, including expected equity-based compensation during the annual period. The resulting annualized tax rate is applied to BGC’s quarterly GAAP income (loss) from operations before income taxes and noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries. At the end of the annual period, the Company updates its estimate to reflect the actual tax amounts owed for the period.

To determine the non-GAAP tax provision, BGC first adjusts pre-tax Adjusted Earnings by recognizing any, and only, amounts for which a tax deduction applies under applicable law. The amounts include charges with respect to equity-based compensation; certain charges related to employee loan forgiveness; certain net operating loss carryforwards when taken for statutory purposes; and certain charges related to tax goodwill amortization. These adjustments may also reflect timing and measurement differences, including treatment of employee loans; changes in the value of units between the dates of grants of exchangeability and the date of actual unit exchange; changes in the value of RSUs and/or restricted stock awards between the date of grant and the date the award vests; variations in the value of certain deferred tax assets; and liabilities and the different timing of permitted deductions for tax under GAAP and statutory tax requirements.

After application of these adjustments, the result is the Company’s taxable income for its pre-tax Adjusted Earnings, to which BGC then applies the statutory tax rates to determine its non-GAAP tax provision. BGC views the effective tax rate on pre-tax Adjusted Earnings as equal to the amount of its non-GAAP tax provision divided by the amount of pre-tax Adjusted Earnings.

Generally, the most significant factor affecting this non-GAAP tax provision is the amount of charges relating to equity-based compensation. Because the charges relating to equity-based compensation are deductible in accordance with applicable tax laws, increases in such charges have the effect of lowering the Company’s non-GAAP effective tax rate and thereby increasing its post-tax Adjusted Earnings.

BGC incurs income tax expenses based on the location, legal structure and jurisdictional taxing authorities of each of its subsidiaries. Certain of the Company’s entities are taxed as U.S. partnerships and are subject to the Unincorporated Business Tax (“UBT”) in New York City. Any U.S. federal and state income tax liability or benefit related to the partnership income or loss, with the exception of UBT, rests with the unit holders rather than with the partnership entity. The Company’s consolidated financial statements include U.S. federal, state, and local income taxes on the Company’s allocable share of the U.S. results of operations. Outside of the U.S., BGC operates principally through subsidiary corporations subject to local income taxes. For these reasons, taxes for Adjusted Earnings are expected to be presented to show the tax provision the consolidated Company would expect to pay if 100% of earnings were taxed at global corporate rates.

Calculations of Pre- and Post-Tax Adjusted Earnings per Share
BGC’s pre- and post-tax Adjusted Earnings per share calculations assume either that:

The fully diluted share count includes the shares related to any dilutive instruments, but excludes the associated expense, net of tax, when the impact would be dilutive; orThe fully diluted share count excludes the shares related to these instruments, but includes the associated expense, net of tax, when the impact would be anti-dilutive.

The share count for Adjusted Earnings excludes certain shares and share equivalents expected to be issued in future periods but not yet eligible to receive dividends and/or distributions. Each quarter, the dividend payable to BGC’s stockholders, if any, is expected to be determined by the Company’s Board of Directors with reference to a number of factors. The declaration, payment, timing, and amount of any future dividends payable by the Company will be at the discretion of its Board of Directors using the fully diluted share count. For more information on any share count adjustments, see the table titled “Fully Diluted Weighted-Average Share Count under GAAP and for Adjusted Earnings” in the Company’s most recent financial results press release.

Management Rationale for Using Adjusted Earnings
BGC’s calculation of Adjusted Earnings excludes the items discussed above because they are either non-cash in nature, because the anticipated benefits from the expenditures are not expected to be fully realized until future periods, or because the Company views results excluding these items as a better reflection of the underlying performance of BGC’s ongoing operations. Management uses Adjusted Earnings in part to help it evaluate, among other things, the overall performance of the Company’s business and to make decisions with respect to the Company’s operations.

The term “Adjusted Earnings” should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to GAAP net income (loss). The Company views Adjusted Earnings as a metric that is not indicative of liquidity, or the cash available to fund its operations, but rather as a performance measure. Pre- and post-tax Adjusted Earnings, as well as related measures, are not intended to replace the Company’s presentation of its GAAP financial results. However, management believes that these measures help provide investors with a clearer understanding of BGC’s financial performance and offer useful information to both management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends related to the Company’s financial condition and results of operations. Management believes that the GAAP and Adjusted Earnings measures of financial performance should be considered together.

For more information regarding Adjusted Earnings, see the sections of this document and/or in the Company’s most recent financial results press release titled “Reconciliation of GAAP Income (Loss) from Operations before Income Taxes to Adjusted Earnings and GAAP Fully Diluted EPS to Post-Tax Adjusted EPS”, including the related footnotes, for details about how BGC’s non-GAAP results are reconciled to those under GAAP.

Adjusted EBITDA Defined
BGC also provides an additional non-GAAP financial performance measure, “Adjusted EBITDA”, which it defines as GAAP “Net income (loss) available to common stockholders”, adjusted to add back the following items:

Provision (benefit) for income taxes;Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest in subsidiaries;Interest expense;Fixed asset depreciation and intangible asset amortization;Equity-based compensation and allocations of net income to limited partnership units and FPUs;Impairment of long-lived assets;(Gains) losses on equity method investments; andCertain other non-cash GAAP items, such as non-cash charges of amortized rents.

The Company’s management believes that its Adjusted EBITDA measure is useful in evaluating BGC’s operating performance, because the calculation of this measure generally eliminates the effects of financing and income taxes and the accounting effects of capital spending and acquisitions, which would include impairment charges of goodwill and intangibles created from acquisitions. Such items may vary for different companies for reasons unrelated to overall operating performance. As a result, the Company’s management uses this measure to evaluate operating performance and for other discretionary purposes. BGC believes that Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors to assist them in getting a more complete picture of the Company’s financial results and operations.

Since BGC’s Adjusted EBITDA is not a recognized measurement under GAAP, investors should use this measure in addition to GAAP measures of net income when analyzing BGC’s operating performance. Because not all companies use identical EBITDA calculations, the Company’s presentation of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. Furthermore, Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to be a measure of free cash flow or GAAP cash flow from operations because the Company’s Adjusted EBITDA does not consider certain cash requirements, such as tax and debt service payments.

For more information regarding Adjusted EBITDA, see the section of this document and/or in the Company’s most recent financial results press release titled “Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income (Loss) Available to Common Stockholders to Adjusted EBITDA”, including the footnotes to the same, for details about how BGC’s non-GAAP results are reconciled to those under GAAP.

Timing of Outlook for Certain GAAP and Non-GAAP Items
BGC anticipates providing forward-looking guidance for GAAP revenues and for certain non-GAAP measures from time to time. However, the Company does not anticipate providing an outlook for other GAAP results. This is because certain GAAP items, which are excluded from Adjusted Earnings and/or Adjusted EBITDA, are difficult to forecast with precision before the end of each period. The Company therefore believes that it is not possible for it to have the required information necessary to forecast GAAP results or to quantitatively reconcile GAAP forecasts to non-GAAP forecasts with sufficient precision without unreasonable efforts. For the same reasons, the Company is unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information. The relevant items that are difficult to predict on a quarterly and/or annual basis with precision and may materially impact the Company’s GAAP results include, but are not limited, to the following:

Certain equity-based compensation charges that may be determined at the discretion of management throughout and up to the period-end;Unusual, non-ordinary, or non-recurring items;The impact of gains or losses on certain marketable securities, as well as any gains or losses related to associated mark-to- market movements and/or hedging. These items are calculated using period-end closing prices;Non-cash asset impairment charges, which are calculated and analyzed based on the period-end values of the underlying assets. These amounts may not be known until after period-end; andAcquisitions, dispositions, and/or resolutions of litigation, disputes, investigations, or enforcement matters, or similar items, which are fluid and unpredictable in nature.

Liquidity Defined
BGC may also use a non-GAAP measure called “liquidity”. The Company considers liquidity to be comprised of the sum of cash and cash equivalents, reverse repurchase agreements (if any), financial instruments owned, at fair value, less securities lent out in securities loaned transactions and repurchase agreements (if any). The Company considers liquidity to be an important metric for determining the amount of cash that is available or that could be readily available to the Company on short notice.

For more information regarding Liquidity, see the section of this document and/or in the Company’s most recent financial results press release titled “Liquidity Analysis”, including any footnotes to the same, for details about how BGC’s non-GAAP results are reconciled to those under GAAP.

Constant Currency Defined
BGC generates a significant amount of its revenues in non-U.S. dollar denominated currencies, particularly in the euro and pound sterling. In order to present a better comparison of the Company’s revenues during the period, which exhibited highly volatile foreign exchange movements, BGC provides revenues year-over-year comparisons on a “Constant Currency” basis. BGC uses a Constant Currency financial metric to provide a better comparison of the Company’s underlying operating performance by eliminating the impacts of foreign currency fluctuations between comparative periods. Since BGC’s consolidated financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars, fluctuations in non-U.S. dollar denominated currencies have an impact on the Company’s GAAP results. The Company’s Constant Currency metric, which is a non-GAAP financial measure, assumes the foreign exchange rates used to determine the Company’s comparative prior period revenues, apply to the current period revenues. Constant Currency revenue percentage change is calculated by determining the change in current quarter non-GAAP Constant Currency revenues over prior period revenues. Non-GAAP Constant Currency revenues are total revenues excluding the effect of foreign exchange rate movements and are calculated by remeasuring and/or translating current quarter revenues using prior period exchange rates. BGC presents certain non-GAAP Constant Currency percentage changes in Constant Currency revenues as a supplementary measure because it facilitates the comparison of the Company’s core operating results. This information should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, results reported in accordance with GAAP.

About BGC Group, Inc.
BGC Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: BGC) is a leading global marketplace, data, and financial technology services company for a broad range of products, including fixed income, foreign exchange, energy, commodities, shipping, equities, and now includes the FMX Futures Exchange. BGC’s clients are many of the world’s largest banks, broker-dealers, investment banks, trading firms, hedge funds, governments, corporations, and investment firms.

BGC and leading global investment banks and market making firms have partnered to create FMX, part of the BGC Group of companies, which includes a U.S. interest rate futures exchange, spot foreign exchange platform and the world’s fastest growing U.S. cash treasuries platform.

For more information about BGC, please visit www.bgcg.com.

Discussion of Forward-Looking Statements about BGC
Statements in this document regarding BGC that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These include statements about the Company’s business, results, financial position, liquidity and outlook, which may constitute forward-looking statements and are subject to the risk that the actual impact may differ, possibly materially, from what is currently expected. Except as required by law, BGC undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see BGC’s Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors and Special Note on Forward-Looking Information set forth in these filings and any updates to such risk factors and Special Note on Forward-Looking Information contained in subsequent reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q or Form 8-K.

Media Contact:
Erica Chase
+1 212-610-2419

Investor Contact:
Jason Chryssicas
+1 212-610-2426

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SOURCE BGC Group, Inc.

Technology

Ping An Good Doctor Upgrades AI Doctor Service “Ping An AI Doctor”, Expanding Access to Ping An Ecosystem’s 90 Million MAUs

Published

7 minutes ago

June 16, 2026

HONG KONG, June 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited (“Ping An Good Doctor” or the “Company”, Stock Code: 1833.HK) has recently upgraded its AI doctor service — Ping An AI Doctor. The service has been fully integrated into a number of core applications under Ping An Group, including Ping An Jin Guan Jia, Ping An Auto Owner, Ping An Pocket Bank and Ping An Le Health, reaching 90 million monthly active users.

Powered by the Ping An Medical Master® large model, the upgraded Ping An AI Doctor has established a service model centered on “AI responses in seconds + full-process supervision by human doctors”. It is also deeply connected with the platform’s unique “online, in-hospital, in-home, and in-company” healthcare service network. By integrating intelligent medical capabilities with a full-scenario ecosystem, Ping An AI Doctor is expected to promote the scalable, routine and inclusive implementation of premium family doctor services, providing the public with digital solutions for full-cycle health management.

Ping An AI Doctor breaks through the functional limitations of conventional intelligent Q&A tools. By deeply applying AI large models to clinical assistance scenarios, it can standardize professional services such as preliminary symptom screening, condition assessment, medication safety guidance, health risk assessment and personalized plan formulation. The platform supports 24/7 uninterrupted service and intelligent responses within seconds, responding to common daily health consultation needs in as fast as three seconds. This significantly shortens the time required for the public to access basic medical services and lowers the threshold for use.

To ensure medical quality and safety, the platform has established a full-process human doctor review mechanism. All diagnosis and treatment suggestions and health guidance plans generated by AI are reviewed and calibrated by licensed practicing physicians. For difficult conditions, complex chronic diseases or potential risks of serious conditions, the system will also automatically transfer the case to human doctors for follow-up, with specialists providing one-on-one in-depth consultations, thereby achieving “intelligent acceleration and efficiency enhancement, with professional medical support as a safeguard.”

Leveraging Ping An Group’s ecosystem advantages in multi-business collaboration, users do not need to download a separate application or mini-program. Instead, they can access relevant services with one click through high-frequency Ping An ecosystem portals, including insurance, banking and auto owner services. In terms of service system development, Ping An AI Doctor integrates Ping An’s full-scenario medical resources across “online, in-hospital, in-home, and in-company” settings, forming a closed-loop health management service chain. It also offers functions such as health assessments, electronic medical records management, health checkup report interpretation and chronic disease management, covering healthy and sub-healthy populations as well as patients with common chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia.

In medical service scenarios, Ping An AI Doctor connects users with more than 3,500 contracted experts from Grade A tertiary hospitals, over 5,100 partner hospitals and 240,000 branded chain pharmacies, providing one-stop services including precise triage, expert appointment booking, medical accompaniment and hospitalization assistance. Meanwhile, it supports emergency medication delivery in as fast as one hour, as well as in-home services such as home nursing, home-based health and elderly care, and postpartum recovery, further enhancing family health service scenarios.

Ping An Good Doctor will continue to deepen innovation in medical technology, iteratively enhance AI clinical assistance capabilities, and continuously expand high-quality offline medical resources and specialized health and elderly care services. The Company will further enrich full-scenario healthcare services, empower people’s health through technology, safeguard family wellbeing with professional services, and continue contributing to the digital development of Healthy China.

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SOURCE Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited

Technology

Avochato Brings HIPAA-Compliant AI Texting to Healthcare

Published

7 minutes ago

June 16, 2026

Healthcare organizations can now deploy AI agents on a messaging platform independently certified for security and privacy every year since 2019

MILL VALLEY, Calif., June 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Avochato, the AI-powered business messaging platform, today announced HIPAA-compliant AI texting for the healthcare industry, alongside the completion of its seventh consecutive year of SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA compliance certifications by Linford & Company, LLP.

Healthcare teams have been quick to adopt texting because patients read and answer texts far faster than phone calls or emails. But most AI messaging tools were not built to handle protected health information. Avochato closes that gap: hospitals, clinics, healthcare staffing agencies, and home-care providers can now use real-time AI agents, AI-suggested replies, and conversation insights across SMS, RCS, voice, and live chat, all within a platform independently audited for security and privacy seven years running.

“AI is transforming how healthcare organizations communicate, and in this industry trust is the foundation,” said Alex De Simone, Co-founder and CEO of Avochato. “By building on Anthropic’s models with zero data retention, and pairing that with seven consecutive years of SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA compliance, Avochato customers don’t have to choose between moving fast with AI and protecting sensitive data. They can do both.”

AI Built for Regulated Conversations

With Avochato, healthcare teams can:

Fill shifts and confirm appointments faster with automated, personalized outreach at scale, plus AI-suggested responses that keep reply times lowDeploy AI agents that answer common patient and staff questions instantly and hand off seamlessly to a human when a conversation needs oneTrain AI agents on their own content, from intake FAQs to scheduling policies, using custom knowledge basesKeep every conversation visible in a shared, auditable team inbox, so no patient message or shift request slips through the cracksTrack sentiment in real time, with AI-generated ratings, conversation summaries, and suggested next actions for every conversation

“We fill shifts in minutes that used to take hours of phone calls,” said the director of operations at a national healthcare staffing agency with more than 10,000 active clinicians.

Avochato’s HIPAA-compliant AI capabilities run on Claude, Anthropic’s family of frontier AI models known for safety and reliability in enterprise settings. For healthcare customers, Avochato runs Claude under a zero-data-retention configuration, meaning protected health information processed by the AI is never stored or used for model training. The result is AI that meets the standard healthcare compliance teams actually require, not just the standard the industry markets.

Avochato signs Business Associate Agreements with healthcare customers that choose the HIPAA plan. Healthcare organizations can learn more and start a free trial at www.avochato.com/signup.

Security That’s Verified

Avochato’s seventh consecutive SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA certifications reflect safeguards built into every layer of the platform:

Encryption of all data in transit and at restSingle Sign On with Okta, Microsoft Azure, Salesforce, and GoogleMulti-factor authentication restricts access to verified usersRole-based access controls so administrators can define exactly who sees whatContent obfuscation for sensitive information, including media attachments

About Avochato

Avochato helps teams manage calls, texts, and chats in one secure inbox. Trusted by thousands of businesses across healthcare, professional services, logistics, and more than a dozen other industries, Avochato supports two-way communication through SMS, MMS, RCS, phone calls, and live chat, with integrations for Okta, Salesforce, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and more. Learn more at www.avochato.com.

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SOURCE Avochato

Technology

BluIP and Oracle Hospitality Implement New Platform for Loews Hotels & Co.

Published

7 minutes ago

June 16, 2026

LAS VEGAS, June 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — BluIP completed a new project for the guest engagement center at Loews Hotels & Co. This was a collaboration between Loews Customer Engagement Center and the team at BluIP with support and partnership from Oracle Hospitality OPERA Cloud. The cloud-based solution consists of communication solutions, tightly integrated with Loews’ Central Reservations and PMS platforms.

Loews had a goal to unify channels, integrate with Oracle OPERA Cloud, and provide team members with guest details the instant an interaction begins. BluIP stepped in to architect and deliver the solution.

BluIP deployed the voice, chat, messaging, analytics, and workforce management, and layered on hospitality-specific integrations that BluIP is known for in the industry. As guest inquiries arrive, the system now pulls reservation details, guest profile data, and past interactions from OPERA Cloud and presents them directly inside the agent’s guest engagement center interface. If the guest begins on chat using BluIP AIVA® — asking about pet policies or requesting to change a reservation — context follows the interaction if it’s escalated to a live agent. No one repeats confirmation numbers or dates.

“Loews set a clear bar: make every interaction feel personal and effortless,” said Armen Martirosyan, CEO at BluIP. “By pairing Loews guest engagement center platform with Oracle OPERA Cloud PMS integration and BluIP’s technical, hospitality industry, and operational expertise, we gave agents the context they need the instant they say hello, and we delivered the complete solution in five months.”

Team Members also gained an enterprise-wide, custom routing directory created by BluIP and directly integrated into Loews guest engagement center platform. With it, a call can be transferred to a hotel property, department, or individual extension with a few keystrokes—whether it’s the front desk in Coronado or a chef in Kansas City.

“Our guests should have a seamless and well executed stay,” said Heather Girolami, a Senior Vice President with Loews Hotels & Co. “Team Members now see the reservation, the dates, and the request the moment a chat or call lands. We’re taking care of our guests with less friction.”

BluIP and Oracle Hospitality completed the full deployment and integration in just five months, beginning January 1, 2025, going live in May of that year and now handling over 1.1 million interactions per month.

“Oracle Hospitality is committed to enabling our customers to deliver exceptional, personalized guest experiences at every touchpoint,” said Tanya Pratt, global vice president, strategy and product management, Oracle Hospitality. “The Loews project demonstrates the power of Oracle OPERA Cloud’s open architecture when paired with the right partner. Loews is now delivering context-aware service across every channel via more than 1.1 million interactions per month, anchored by the guest data that lives in Oracle OPERA Cloud.”

For BluIP, this project further proves the thesis: connect platforms properly and deeply, and the interaction model changes. Hotels stop opening conversations by collecting data and can continue their focus on servicing guests.

About BluIP
BluIP is a global carrier and leader in AI-powered communications for hospitality, healthcare, and enterprise. Its AIVA Connect platform delivers conversational AI, omni-channel engagement, analytics, and 2,800+ integrations, including 35+ PMS systems, powering more than 600,000 guest rooms worldwide. Visit bluip.com.

About Oracle Hospitality
Oracle technology serves independent hoteliers, global hotel chains, casinos, and cruise lines in over 230 countries and territories. Our cloud-native solutions connect the entire business from the front desk to the dining room and back office, and our customers use intuitive tools and AI insights to fuel frictionless guest experiences, maximize profitability, and encourage long-term loyalty. To learn more, please visit www.oracle.com/hospitality.

MEDIA CONTACT
Beth McClure
Head of Marketing, BluIP
(866) 443-6494
info@bluip.com

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SOURCE BluIP, Inc.