American Eagle Outfitters Inc (AEO) 2011 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings and welcome to the American Eagle third quarter 2011 earnings conference call.

您好，歡迎參加 American Eagle 2011 年第三季度財報電話會議。

At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode.

此時，所有參與者都處於只聽模式。

A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation.

正式演講之後將進行簡短的問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

（操作員說明）作為提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Ms.

現在我很高興向您介紹您的主人，女士。

Judy Meehan, Vice President of Investor Relations.

投資者關係副總裁 Judy Meehan。

Thank you, Ms.

謝謝你，女士。

Meehan, you may begin.

米漢，你可以開始了。

Good morning everyone.

大家，早安。

Joining me today are Jim O'Donnell, Chief Executive Officer, Roger Markfield, Vice Chairman and Executive Creative Director and Joan Hilson, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer.

今天加入我的還有首席執行官 Jim O'Donnell、副主席兼執行創意總監 Roger Markfield 和執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Joan Hilson。

If you need a copy of our third quarter press release it is available on our website AE.com.

如果您需要我們第三季度新聞稿的副本，請訪問我們的網站 AE.com。

Before we begin today's call, I need to remind you that during this conference call we will make certain forward-looking statements based upon information which represents the Company's current expectations or beliefs.

在開始今天的電話會議之前，我需要提醒您，在本次電話會議期間，我們將根據代表公司當前預期或信念的信息做出某些前瞻性陳述。

The results actually realized may differ materially from those expectations or beliefs based on risk factors included in our quarterly and annual reports filed with the SEC.

基於我們向 SEC 提交的季度和年度報告中包含的風險因素，實際實現的結果可能與那些預期或信念存在重大差異。

Now, I'd like to turn the call over to Jim.

現在，我想把電話轉給吉姆。

Thanks, Judy.

謝謝，朱迪。

Good morning everyone.

大家，早安。

Today I will begin with an overview of our third quarter results including an update on each of the brands as well as AEO Direct.

今天，我將首先概述我們第三季度的業績，包括每個品牌的更新以及 AEO Direct。

Next I'll turn it over to Roger for a perspective on design, merchandising and marketing.

接下來，我將把它交給羅傑，以了解設計、銷售和營銷方面的觀點。

And before we move on to Q&A, Joan will provide additional details on the third quarter and discuss our outlook.

在我們繼續進行問答之前，瓊將提供有關第三季度的更多詳細信息並討論我們的前景。

In the quarter consolidated sales increased 11% reaching a record sales level for the third quarter and comparable store sales rose 5%.

第三季度綜合銷售額增長 11%，達到創紀錄的第三季度銷售額，可比店面銷售額增長 5%。

EPS of $0.27 was at the high end of our guidance.

每股收益 0.27 美元處於我們指導的高端。

We made meaningful progress in several major areas of our business.

我們在業務的幾個主要領域取得了有意義的進展。

Merchandise improvements, combined with powerful promotions during peak shopping periods led to strong sales results.

商品的改進，加上購物高峰期的強力促銷，帶來了強勁的銷售業績。

Our inventory investments in key items were spot on, enabling us to capitalize on traffic and maximize sales.

我們對關鍵項目的庫存投資很到位，使我們能夠利用流量並最大限度地提高銷售額。

This resulted in record conversion rates and double-digit unit sales growth.

這導致了創紀錄的轉化率和兩位數的單位銷售增長。

Importantly, we continued to see a positive customer response to both strong value and on-trend fashion assortments.

重要的是，我們繼續看到客戶對高價值和流行時尚品類的積極反應。

Strong sales growth enabled us to overcome significant pressure from higher cotton costs and resulted in a slight decline in gross profit of just 1%.

強勁的銷售增長使我們克服了棉花成本上漲帶來的巨大壓力，導致毛利潤僅小幅下降 1%。

As anticipated, cotton prices will continue to affect merchandise profit in the fourth quarter and it will be well into the spring season before we start to see a correction.

正如預期的那樣，棉花價格將繼續影響第四季度的商品利潤，並且在我們開始看到回調之前將進入春季。

However, we do expect to benefit from lower cotton costs beginning the second half of 2012.

然而，我們確實預計將從 2012 年下半年開始的棉花成本下降中受益。

Looking forward, each brand has a critical role to play in our growth.

展望未來，每個品牌都在我們的成長中發揮著關鍵作用。

Through our portfolio of brands we are reaching targeted markets.

通過我們的品牌組合，我們正在進入目標市場。

Additionally, we are leveraging our multi-channel platform with technology to build awareness, loyalty and most importantly, commerce.

此外，我們正在利用我們的多渠道平台和技術來建立知名度、忠誠度，最重要的是，建立商業。

Beginning with AE, we are set to build on current momentum.

從 AE 開始，我們將在當前勢頭的基礎上再接再厲。

We will capitalize on the popularity of our brand and continue to offer compelling promotions that truly wow our customers.

我們將利用我們品牌的知名度，繼續提供引人注目的促銷活動，真正讓我們的客戶驚嘆不已。

As we did this quarter, our priority is to deliver on trend key items supported by the right inventory to drive our business and increase market share.

正如我們本季度所做的那樣，我們的首要任務是交付由正確庫存支持的趨勢關鍵項目，以推動我們的業務並增加市場份額。

We will design and source into items that offer compelling day in and day out value.

我們將設計和採購提供引人注目的日復一日價值的物品。

As we look forward, the primary source for the AE brand include, first, maintain and build our leadership in bottoms categories.

正如我們所期待的那樣，AE 品牌的主要來源包括，首先，保持和建立我們在底部類別中的領導地位。

Two, build on our current momentum in tops.

第二，在我們目前的頂部勢頭基礎上再接再厲。

And three, continue to refine and expand accessories.

三、不斷細化和拓展配件。

Now moving on to Aerie.

現在轉到 Aerie。

Our goal over the next few years is to become a recognized force in the intimates business.

我們未來幾年的目標是成為內衣行業公認的力量。

There's a significant market opportunity as demonstrated by our third quarter performance.

正如我們第三季度的表現所證明的那樣，這是一個重要的市場機會。

The launch of the Drew bra, along with Aerie's first ever campaign was an outstanding success.

Drew 文胸的推出以及 Aerie 的第一次活動取得了巨大的成功。

We experienced double-digit increases in bra sales and a substantial lift to store and online traffic.

我們的胸罩銷售額實現了兩位數的增長，商店和在線流量大幅提升。

The launch event served to introduce new customers to the brand and reinvigorated existing customer excitement.

發布活動旨在向品牌介紹新客戶，並重振現有客戶的熱情。

We achieved an 8% comp overall with improved operating margins compared to last year.

與去年相比，我們整體實現了 8% 的比較，營業利潤率有所提高。

I remain very pleased with the progress and continue to view Aerie as a unique and exciting new brand opportunity.

我仍然對進展感到非常滿意，並繼續將 Aerie 視為一個獨特而令人興奮的新品牌機會。

On to kids.

給孩子們。

77kids posted positive sales results during the third quarter, particularly in our well developed online business.

77kids 在第三季度公佈了積極的銷售業績，特別是在我們發展良好的在線業務方面。

We remain very pleased with the progress to date with developing strength in key items.

我們仍然對迄今為止在關鍵項目上發展實力所取得的進展感到非常滿意。

Adding 77kids to our Times Square flagship store is really building brand awareness as well as providing key insights into our international kids customer.

將 77kids 添加到我們的時代廣場旗艦店確實可以提高品牌知名度，並為我們的國際兒童客戶提供關鍵見解。

We will continue to evolve the assortments, focus on innovation, both online and in the stores, to build brand awareness and grow a strong customer base.

我們將繼續發展品類，專注於在線和商店的創新，以建立品牌知名度並發展強大的客戶群。

Next, an update on AEO Direct.

接下來，關於 AEO Direct 的更新。

With high operating margins and strong sales, Direct is one of our most promising growth vehicles.

憑藉高營業利潤率和強勁銷售，Direct 是我們最有前途的增長工具之一。

The online business is an extension of all of our brands.

在線業務是我們所有品牌的延伸。

We offer expanded assortments, category shops and showcase outfitting with complete lifestyle.

我們提供豐富的品類、品類商店和具有完整生活方式的展示裝備。

The online shop enables us to pulse customers' preferences, fashion trends as well as promotional messages.

網上商店使我們能夠了解客戶的喜好、流行趨勢以及促銷信息。

As we look forward, the opportunity to build on current offerings and extend brand loyalty by leveraging mobile technology and social media outlets is really exciting.

正如我們所期待的那樣，利用移動技術和社交媒體建立現有產品並擴大品牌忠誠度的機會確實令人興奮。

We are also reaching to new international customers with country focused capabilities such as currency conversion and translation.

我們還通過貨幣轉換和翻譯等以國家為中心的能力接觸新的國際客戶。

I'd like to say a word on technology beyond our online business.

我想談談我們在線業務之外的技術。

One of the most rapidly growing new technologies is mobile.

移動技術是發展最快的新技術之一。

Our new AE app adds greater functionality and importantly drives customers to the stores with rewards tied to in-store activities.

我們新的 AE 應用程序增加了更強大的功能，重要的是通過與店內活動相關的獎勵將顧客吸引到商店。

Additionally, customers can easily place online orders, put outfits together and grab additional information.

此外，客戶可以輕鬆地在線下訂單、組合服裝並獲取更多信息。

It's highly functional and fully integrated with our loyalty program and promotional offerings.

它功能強大，並與我們的忠誠度計劃和促銷產品完全集成。

The AE app also features full integration with social media sites and we've seen mobile sales more than triple over the last year and we expect rapid growth to continue.

AE 應用程序還具有與社交媒體網站的完全集成，我們看到移動銷售在去年增加了兩倍多，我們預計將繼續快速增長。

We are committed to being at the forefront with new technologies and will continue to work with a variety of partners and proprietary tools.

我們致力於在新技術方面走在最前沿，並將繼續與各種合作夥伴和專有工具合作。

The Shopkick rewards app is a great example and has generated positive traffic and transaction growth.

Shopkick 獎勵應用程序就是一個很好的例子，它產生了積極的流量和交易增長。

Exciting new technologies include Google Wallet which brings ease of online checkout to our stores.

令人興奮的新技術包括 Google Wallet，它為我們的商店帶來了輕鬆的在線結賬。

We were one of the launch partners for both of these new technologies.

我們是這兩項新技術的啟動合作夥伴之一。

Moving on to international.

繼續走向國際。

We ship to 77 countries through our website with Italy being the most recent addition.

我們通過我們的網站向 77 個國家/地區發貨，其中意大利是最新添加的。

And under our franchise business model, we are currently operating 17 locations in 9 countries.

在我們的特許經營模式下，我們目前在 9 個國家經營 17 個地點。

And our plan is to open approximately 20 international stores next year including our entrance into Japan and Israel.

我們計劃明年開設大約 20 家國際商店，包括進入日本和以色列。

We're extremely pleased with the demand for AE globally and we will continue to pursue opportunities in new markets.

我們對全球對 AE 的需求感到非常滿意，我們將繼續在新市場尋求機會。

I'm encouraged by the momentum in our business as well as the results of our work to drive growth and improve overall performance.

我對我們業務的發展勢頭以及我們推動增長和提高整體績效的工作成果感到鼓舞。

We have three strong brands, a premium store fleet, a leading edge online business, and well-placed resources in technology and international expansion.

我們擁有三個強大的品牌、優質的商店車隊、領先的在線業務，以及在技術和國際擴張方面的得天獨厚的資源。

Looking ahead, I'm pleased to welcome Robert Hanson to our Company and I look forward to watching AEO's continued success.

展望未來，我很高興歡迎 Robert Hanson 加入我們公司，我期待看到 AEO 繼續取得成功。

Now I'll turn it over to Roger.

現在我把它交給羅傑。

Thanks, Jim.

謝謝，吉姆。

Good morning everyone.

大家，早安。

Overall I'm pleased with our third quarter results, as we continue to face a sluggish economy and significant pressure from higher cotton costs.

總體而言，我對我們第三季度的業績感到滿意，因為我們繼續面臨經濟低迷和棉花成本上漲帶來的巨大壓力。

As we reviewed on our last conference call, we invested in core categories to accelerate our business by offering strategic and targeted promotions.

正如我們在上次電話會議上回顧的那樣，我們投資於核心類別，通過提供戰略性和有針對性的促銷來加速我們的業務。

We said we were going on the offense and we did just that.

我們說我們要進攻，我們就是這麼做的。

We started the season with positive sales and saw an acceleration with our Labor Day sale event which drove strong traffic, double-digit volume growth and record conversion rates.

我們以積極的銷售開始了本賽季，並看到我們的勞動節銷售活動加速，推動了強勁的流量、兩位數的銷量增長和創紀錄的轉化率。

Our inventory investment provided the fuel to capitalize on traffic during peak periods.

我們的庫存投資為在高峰期利用流量提供了動力。

The back-to-school assortment was well-received.

返校活動廣受好評。

Denim continued to deliver, particularly in women's, with strong positive comps even while facing significant competitive pressures.

即使在面臨巨大競爭壓力的情況下，牛仔布仍繼續提供強勁的正面效果，尤其是在女裝方面。

Denim achieved a high single digit comp increase through a combination of new styles and strong demand for our heritage jeans.

通過結合新款式和對我們傳統牛仔褲的強勁需求，牛仔布實現了高個位數的複合增長。

In fact, we gained market share in denim according to NPD data and remain the number one leading specialty store denim brand for the 15 to 25-year-old.

事實上，根據 NPD 數據，我們在牛仔布領域獲得了市場份額，並且仍然是 15 至 25 歲人群中排名第一的專賣店牛仔布品牌。

We're not stopping here, as we continue to see denim as a powerful future growth category.

我們並沒有就此止步，因為我們繼續將牛仔布視為一個強大的未來增長類別。

Other areas of strength included men's and women's knit tops and women's accessories with key items delivering extremely robust unit sales increases.

其他優勢領域包括男裝和女裝針織上衣和女裝配飾，其中關鍵商品的銷量增長極為強勁。

We are extremely pleased to see our momentum continue into holiday.

我們非常高興地看到我們的勢頭持續到假期。

Unit sales were strong, fueled by investments in key categories.

在關鍵類別投資的推動下，單位銷售強勁。

We stand for denim in a major way, gets the additional opportunity across bottoms.

我們在很大程度上代表牛仔布，在底部獲得額外的機會。

In tops we are building on strength in men's core basics and fueling women's with trend-right fashion silhouettes, new fabrics and the right balance of core and fashion basics.

在上衣方面，我們正在加強男裝核心基礎款的實力，並為女裝提供符合潮流的時尚廓形、新面料以及核心和時尚基礎款的適當平衡。

Finally, our accessory shops give customers exciting newness and more ways to express personal style.

最後，我們的配飾店為顧客提供了令人興奮的新鮮感和更多表達個人風格的方式。

For holiday, accessories have taken on an even more important role in the store, creating the gift destination for our customers.

節日期間，配飾在商店中扮演著更加重要的角色，為我們的顧客創造了禮物目的地。

Our new personal care launch for holiday is also performing well and adding an exciting element to holiday gifting.

我們新推出的假日個人護理產品也表現出色，為節日禮物增添了令人興奮的元素。

On the marketing front we are driving a renewed focus on customer connections.

在營銷方面，我們正在重新關注客戶關係。

A recent example was our social media photo contest.

最近的一個例子是我們的社交媒體攝影比賽。

AE BestShot which garnered over 0.5 million participants.

AE BestShot 吸引了超過 50 萬參與者。

Our marketing priorities include delivering a 360-degree marketing approach to achieve greater awareness of our pricing strategies and highlight key categories in a brand-right way.

我們的營銷重點包括提供 360 度營銷方法，以提高對我們定價策略的認識，並以品牌正確的方式突出關鍵類別。

Moving forward, we have an opportunity to improve the shopping experience by creating greater energy and excitement in our stores.

展望未來，我們有機會通過在我們的商店中創造更大的活力和興奮來改善購物體驗。

We are showcasing the AE brand in new and exciting ways, with greater emphasis on outfitting ideas, highlighting denim, fashion tops, and using accessories as a way to make each look special.

我們以全新的、令人興奮的方式展示 AE 品牌，更加強調裝扮理念，突出牛仔布、時尚上衣，並使用配飾讓每件造型都與眾不同。

Now regarding Aerie, based on the success of our fall advertising initiative, we will invest in additional campaigns in the future.

現在關於 Aerie，基於我們秋季廣告計劃的成功，我們將在未來投資更多的活動。

The Aerie brand will drive growth through ongoing focus on its core intimate business including frequent newness in bras, undies and fitness.

Aerie 品牌將通過持續關注其核心私密業務來推動增長，包括頻繁推出文胸、內衣和健身產品。

Carefully selected apparel and accessories will round out the assortment and complete the Aerie lifestyle.

精心挑選的服裝和配飾將完善產品系列並完善 Aerie 生活方式。

As you probably hear from my voice I am excited.

正如你可能從我的聲音中聽到的那樣，我很興奮。

It's my favorite time of the year and the teams are ready to rock.

這是我一年中最喜歡的時間，球隊已經準備好搖滾了。

In fact, they're rocking.

事實上，他們正在搖擺不定。

Our process is working well and the teams are aligned and working in sync.

我們的流程運行良好，團隊協調一致並同步工作。

We look forward to sharing further progress in the future.

我們期待在未來分享進一步的進展。

Now let me turn the call over to Joan.

現在讓我把電話轉給瓊。

Thanks, Roger, and good morning everyone.

謝謝，羅傑，大家早上好。

Our third quarter performance demonstrated the strength of our brands and the benefit of many improvements we've made over the past several years in merchandising, expense controls, and new technologies to support top line growth and operate more efficiently.

我們第三季度的業績展示了我們品牌的實力，以及我們在過去幾年在銷售、費用控制和新技術方面所做的許多改進，以支持收入增長和更有效地運營。

Sales were fueled by our promotional activity, targeted inventory investments and overall improved assortment.

我們的促銷活動、有針對性的庫存投資和整體改進的分類推動了銷售。

Strong sales enabled us to offset the pressure from higher cotton costs.

強勁的銷售使我們能夠抵消棉花成本上漲帶來的壓力。

For the quarter, we achieved operating income of $83 million versus $91 million last year.

本季度，我們實現了 8300 萬美元的營業收入，而去年為 9100 萬美元。

Total third quarter sales of $832 million increased 11%, and comparable store sales increased 5%, compared to a 1% increase last year.

第三季度總銷售額為 8.32 億美元，增長 11%，可比商店銷售額增長 5%，而去年增長 1%。

We were pleased to see continued improvement at both AE and Aerie this quarter.

我們很高興看到本季度 AE 和 Aerie 的持續改進。

AE brand comps increased 5% for women's and 6% for men's.

AE 品牌的女裝和男裝分別增加了 5% 和 6%。

Aerie comps increased 8%, and AEO Direct achieved record sales rising 21%, driven by higher traffic and conversion.

在更高的流量和轉化率的推動下，Aerie 組合增長了 8%，AEO Direct 實現了創紀錄的銷售額增長 21%。

Including our Direct business, consolidated comps increased 7%.

包括我們的直接業務在內，綜合薪酬增長了 7%。

Looking at the third quarter metrics we saw a strong customer reaction to our promotions and improved merchandise.

從第三季度的指標來看，我們看到客戶對我們的促銷和改進的商品反應強烈。

Transactions grew 9% fueled by higher traffic and conversion.

由於更高的流量和轉化率，交易量增長了 9%。

While the AUR declined in the low single digits as a result of promotional offerings, the transaction value was down only slightly due to strong unit selling.

雖然由於促銷產品，AUR 以較低的個位數下降，但由於強勁的單位銷售，交易價值僅略有下降。

Consistent with our plan, the number of units sold increased in the low double digits.

與我們的計劃一致，售出的單位數量以兩位數的低位增長。

Now moving on to margins.

現在轉向利潤。

As we indicated on our last conference call, our strategy was to mitigate the significant pressure from higher cotton costs by driving top line sales and to leverage fixed costs.

正如我們在上次電話會議中指出的那樣，我們的策略是通過推動頂線銷售和利用固定成本來減輕棉花成本上漲帶來的巨大壓力。

Our results were in line with our plan and expectations.

我們的結果符合我們的計劃和預期。

Gross profit of $309 million declined 1%, as a rate to sales was down 450 basis points, driven by 11% sales increase.

毛利潤為 3.09 億美元，下降 1%，銷售率下降 450 個基點，銷售額增長 11%。

BOW leveraged by 30 basis points.

BOW 槓桿 30 個基點。

Turning now to operating expense.

現在轉向運營費用。

SG&A improved 170 basis points as a rate to sales.

SG&A 作為銷售率提高了 170 個基點。

We continued to achieve savings across most operating items.

我們繼續在大多數運營項目中實現節約。

The dollar increase resulted from strong sales, new store openings, and our planned investment in advertising.

美元的增長是由於強勁的銷售、新店開業以及我們計劃的廣告投資。

Looking ahead, we continue to expect full year SG&A growth in the range of 2% to 3%.

展望未來，我們繼續預計全年 SG&A 增長在 2% 至 3% 之間。

Turning to the balance sheet.

轉向資產負債表。

As we indicated last quarter, we are investing in a key item strategy to expand market share and underscore our strong value offering.

正如我們上個季度所指出的，我們正在投資一項關鍵項目戰略，以擴大市場份額並強調我們強大的價值產品。

The quarter end inventory position supports that initiative.

季度末庫存狀況支持這一舉措。

As expected, ending inventory at cost per foot increased 35% with a portion of the increase related to higher costs.

正如預期的那樣，以每英尺成本計算的期末庫存增加了 35%，其中一部分增加與成本增加有關。

Additionally, ending units per foot were up 20% with about half of the increase related to our accessory expansion to 400 shop in shops.

此外，每英尺的最終單位增長了 20%，其中約一半的增長與我們將配件擴展到 400 家店中店有關。

Fourth quarter inventory is planned similar to the third quarter to support key holiday shopping periods.

第四季度庫存計劃與第三季度相似，以支持關鍵的假日購物期。

As we transition into next year, we expect the increase to moderate compared to the back half of 2011.

隨著我們過渡到明年，我們預計與 2011 年下半年相比增長將放緩。

CapEx for the third quarter totaled $31 million, compared to $26 million last year.

第三季度的資本支出總額為 3100 萬美元，而去年為 2600 萬美元。

For the year, we expect CapEx to be approximately $100 million, which includes the holiday accessory expansion.

今年，我們預計資本支出約為 1 億美元，其中包括假日配件的擴張。

We ended the third quarter with cash and investments of $482 million, after repurchasing 1.4 million shares for a total of $15 million.

在以總計 1500 萬美元的價格回購了 140 萬股股票後，我們以 4.82 億美元的現金和投資結束了第三季度。

Now let me review our outlook.

現在讓我回顧一下我們的前景。

We are pleased with quarter-to-date sales trends and especially with business over Thanksgiving weekend which was very strong and exceeded our plan.

我們對季度至今的銷售趨勢感到滿意，尤其是感恩節週末的業務非常強勁，超出了我們的計劃。

Sales metrics were positive across the board including average unit retail price.

銷售指標全面正面，包括平均單位零售價。

We achieved outstanding unit sales growth reflecting a positive customer response to our holiday assortment and planned promotions, supported by our inventory investment.

在我們的庫存投資的支持下，我們實現了出色的單位銷售增長，反映了客戶對我們的假期分類和計劃促銷活動的積極反應。

Regarding our fourth quarter outlook, we expect EPS to be in the range of $0.40 to $0.44.

關於我們第四季度的展望，我們預計每股收益將在 0.40 美元至 0.44 美元之間。

Our guidance assumes sales momentum continues, especially during peak holiday shopping periods.

我們的指導假設銷售勢頭持續，尤其是在假日購物高峰期。

Additionally, we expect margin pressure related to higher cotton costs and our planned promotional strategy.

此外，我們預計與較高的棉花成本和我們計劃的促銷策略有關的利潤率壓力。

Now I'll turn the call back to Judy.

現在我會把電話轉回給朱迪。

Thanks, Joan.

謝謝，瓊。

Now we'll move on to questions and answers.

現在我們將繼續進行問題和答案。

So that more participants can ask a question today, please limit your time in queue.

為了讓更多的參與者今天可以提問，請限制您的排隊時間。

Louis?

路易斯?

Thank you.

謝謝你。

We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session.

我們現在將進行問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Kimberly Greenberger, Morgan Stanley.

（操作員說明）Kimberly Greenberger，摩根士丹利。

Thank you.

謝謝你。

Good morning.

早上好。

I was wondering if, Joan, you could look at the basis point decline in merchandise margin and help us understand which piece of it was driven by higher costs and which piece of it was driven by higher mark downs.

我想知道，瓊，您是否可以查看商品利潤率的基點下降，並幫助我們了解其中哪一部分是由更高的成本驅動的，哪一部分是由更高的降價驅動的。

Kimberly, the change in gross margin rate is half related to the product cost increase and about half of it related to the promotional strategy that was successful during the quarter.

Kimberly 表示，毛利率的變化有一半與產品成本增加有關，大約一半與本季度成功的促銷策略有關。

Okay.

好的。

Great.

偉大的。

And any way we could understand the magnitude of the moderate in the inventory growth rate into next year?

我們有什麼辦法可以理解到明年庫存增長率溫和的幅度？

Are there some dimensions you could put around that to help us understand?

是否有一些維度可以幫助我們理解？

What I would tell you Kimberly is that as we transition into the first quarter you will see the unit position come down about half and the cost as a result of continued product cost increase, that will not moderate until the back half of the year.

我要告訴你的是金佰利，隨著我們過渡到第一季度，你會看到單位位置下降了大約一半，並且由於產品成本持續增加，成本在今年下半年之前不會放緩。

Okay.

好的。

Tom Filandro, SIG.

湯姆·菲蘭德羅，SIG。

Hi, guys, thanks.

嗨，伙計們，謝謝。

Good quarter.

好季度。

On accessories, can you provide some commentary maybe on the successes there as well as any misses?

關於配件，您能否就那裡的成功和失敗提供一些評論？

And how should we think about the positioning from both the merchandising standpoint and an inventory standpoint for the fourth quarter and if I could just also -- I don't know if you guys said this, I may have missed it.

我們應該如何從商品的角度和庫存的角度考慮第四季度的定位，如果我也可以 - 我不知道你們是否這麼說，我可能錯過了。

Did you provide how accessories impacted performance in the third quarter?

您是否提供了配件對第三季度業績的影響？

Thank you.

謝謝你。

Tom, we're really pleased on the feminine side of the accessory business.

湯姆，我們對配飾業務的女性化方面感到非常滿意。

It kind of distinguishes us.

它使我們與眾不同。

It gives us a help on the units per transaction and it makes -- as I said before -- the store much more exciting.

它為我們提供了關於每筆交易的單位的幫助，它使 - 正如我之前所說的 - 商店更加令人興奮。

It allows us to accessorize a complete vertical lifestyle unlike most of our competitors.

與大多數競爭對手不同，它使我們能夠裝飾完整的垂直生活方式。

With respect to the inventory, Tom, on accessories, about half of the unit increase related to the accessory expansion.

在庫存方面，湯姆在配件方面，大約有一半的單位增加與配件擴張有關。

Next question, Louis.

下一個問題，路易斯。

Janet Kloppenburg, Jacobs, Jenner and Kent.

珍妮特·克洛彭伯格、雅各布斯、詹納和肯特。

Hi, everybody.

大家好你們好。

Good progress.

進展順利。

Roger, I think you guys have talked about the fact that your business trends improved in October, up from the beginning of the back-to-school period.

羅傑，我想你們已經談到了這樣一個事實，即從返校期間開始，你們的業務趨勢在 10 月份有所改善。

I'm wondering if you could outline for us the product attributes of the product categories that drove that improvement and what categories you look to improve here in the holiday period as well.

我想知道您是否可以為我們概述推動改進的產品類別的產品屬性，以及您希望在假期期間在這裡改進哪些類別。

And secondly, I'm just wondering if in your guidance you contemplated the fact that you may have pulled forward some business because your promotional strategy was so much more aggressive this year versus last.

其次，我只是想知道在您的指導中，您是否考慮過您可能已經推進了一些業務，因為您的促銷策略今年比去年更加激進。

Thanks so much.

非常感謝。

Well, we're really pleased, pretty much across the board we were relatively strong, but obviously the ability to grow the denim business on top of the levels of where we are, we just feel terrific about that and it's hard for me to walk down the street and not see our signature back pocket on every other girl that's walking, whatever city I happen to be in.

好吧，我們真的很高興，幾乎所有方面我們都相對強大，但顯然有能力在我們目前的水平上發展牛仔佈業務，我們對此感到非常棒，我很難走路走在街上，無論我碰巧在哪個城市，都看不到我們標誌性的後袋在每一個正在走路的女孩身上。

But the real nice thing was the knit business both in men's and in women's really took off.

但真正令人高興的是男裝和女裝的針織業務真正起飛了。

We really have solved to the issue of women's knits and the men's knit business is very powerful for us.

我們確實解決了女士針織的問題，男士針織業務對我們來說非常強大。

Could that improve as we move into the spring, Roger.

羅傑，隨著我們進入春天，情況會有所改善嗎？

When I leave, I have a Board meeting after this and then I'm on my way to Pittsburgh to sign off on the spring set.

當我離開時，我將在此之後召開董事會會議，然後我將前往匹茲堡簽署春季片場。

I have Fred in here with me who was in charge of setting it up and he tells me it looks spectacular but I haven't seen it myself.

我讓 Fred 和我一起負責設置它，他告訴我它看起來很壯觀，但我自己沒見過。

And Janet, with respect to the guidance, yes, we did contemplate the fact that some of the volume would have pulled forward into the powerful Thanksgiving weekend and we also considered the fact that there will be a lull post Thanksgiving and shopping again peaking closer into the Christmas holiday and certainly post Christmas.

珍妮特，關於指導，是的，我們確實考慮過這樣一個事實，即一些銷量會提前進入強大的感恩節週末，我們還考慮過感恩節後會有一段平靜期，購物再次接近高峰的事實聖誕節假期，當然聖誕節後。

Michelle Tan, Goldman Sachs.

米歇爾·譚，高盛。

Great.

偉大的。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Hey, guys.

大家好。

I was wondering about two things.

我想知道兩件事。

I guess as you look at the assortment against some of the issues that you experienced at holiday last year.

我想當你看一下你去年度假時遇到的一些問題的分類時。

Roger, can you kind of talk about what the biggest opportunities you see from an overarching merchandising perspective are against some of the challenges you had last year.

羅傑，你能談談你從總體營銷的角度看到的最大機會是什麼，與你去年遇到的一些挑戰相比嗎？

And then I was wondering if there's any -- if you guys can be any more specific about the kind of momentum you saw so far in November?

然後我想知道是否有任何 - 如果你們能更具體地說明你們在 11 月看到的那種勢頭嗎？

Sure.

當然。

Michelle, last year we were not quite ready yet, didn't have the teams in place, the process was being fine-tuned and as we came through last holiday, we were very disappointed in the performance in the month of December.

米歇爾，去年我們還沒有準備好，團隊還沒有到位，流程正在微調，當我們度過上個假期時，我們對 12 月份的表現感到非常失望。

And most of it, quite frankly, as I said was self-inflicted.

坦率地說，正如我所說，大部分都是自己造成的。

We did a great hindsight.

我們做了一個偉大的事後諸葛亮。

We knew what those errors were.

我們知道這些錯誤是什麼。

We then had the right people in place.

然後，我們安排了合適的人員。

We had the marketing under our control and directing it instead of it controlling us.

我們將營銷置於我們的控制之下並指導它，而不是它控制我們。

And we were at the mercy last year of the competition.

我們在去年的比賽中受到了擺佈。

We didn't have the inventory to drive this brand, which is the most powerful brand out there in the 15 to 25-year-old space.

我們沒有庫存來推動這個品牌，這是 15 到 25 歲空間中最強大的品牌。

We were short of inventory well over $40 million on the men's side of the business.

在男性業務方面，我們的庫存短缺超過 4000 萬美元。

This year we have that inventory.

今年我們有那個庫存。

We have it in the key items and those items are performing for us.

我們在關鍵項目中有它，這些項目正在為我們執行。

Joan, you want to take the second part?

瓊，你想拍第二部嗎？

What's important about the November momentum and the Thanksgiving weekend is that we've been running positive through prior to the Thanksgiving weekend and the promotional cadence which began on Wednesday was very strong.

關於 11 月的勢頭和感恩節週末，重要的是我們在感恩節週末之前一直保持積極的態度，並且從周三開始的促銷節奏非常強勁。

And our unit sales in fact exceeded the unit inventory position that we came into the fourth quarter.

事實上，我們的單位銷售額超過了我們進入第四季度的單位庫存狀況。

It's very strong momentum which makes us feel very good about the content of our inventory and the promotional plans that we have on deck for the balance of the quarter.

這是非常強勁的勢頭，這讓我們對我們的庫存內容和本季度剩餘時間的促銷計劃感到非常滿意。

Okay, Louis, we're ready for the next question.

好的，路易斯，我們準備好回答下一個問題了。

Jeff Black, Citigroup.

花旗集團的傑夫·布萊克。

Yes, thanks.

對了謝謝。

Joan, talking about the key item strategy, do we see -- I know we're not talking about 2012 specifically yet, but looking at next year do we see any refinement to that strategy?

瓊，談到關鍵項目戰略，我們是否看到——我知道我們還沒有具體談論 2012 年，但看看明年，我們是否看到該戰略有任何改進？

What kind of merchandise margin pressure should we expect from the strategy, given the higher level of promotions associated?

考慮到更高水平的促銷活動，我們應該從該策略中預期什麼樣的商品利潤率壓力？

And really the question is just looking at the merch margins, what's possible given or against your historical levels of merchandise margins, given the key item strategy for next year?

真正的問題是只看商品利潤率，考慮到明年的關鍵商品策略，給定或與您的歷史商品利潤率水平相比，有什麼可能？

Thanks.

謝謝。

Well, as we said earlier, the unit position are improved to support the targeted promotions.

好吧，正如我們之前所說，改善了單位職位以支持有針對性的促銷活動。

But we can refine how we flow and turn that inventory which certainly provides margin opportunity for us.

但是我們可以改進我們的流動方式和庫存周轉方式，這無疑為我們提供了利潤機會。

However, we need to keep in mind that the product cost, we really don't expect that to abate until the back half of the year and we believe that the promotions that we have in place will continue to deliver strong top line sales that will enable us to offset some of the structure, Jeff, just like we saw here in the third quarter.

但是，我們需要記住產品成本，我們真的不希望它在今年下半年之前下降，我們相信我們的促銷活動將繼續帶來強勁的頂線銷售，這將讓我們能夠抵消一些結構，傑夫，就像我們在第三季度看到的那樣。

Dana Telsey, Telsey Advisory Group.

Telsey 諮詢小組 Dana Telsey。

Good morning, everyone.

大家，早安。

Good morning, Dana.

早上好，達娜。

Hi.

你好。

Can you talk a little about IMU and how you're thinking about IMU going forward with the mix of product costs and how you see pricing settling in.

您能否談談 IMU 以及您如何看待 IMU 與產品成本的組合以及您如何看待定價的穩定。

And lastly, on the accessories business which is gaining traction, where do you see that as a percentage of sales moving forward and impact on the margin?

最後，在日益受到關注的配件業務中，您認為這佔銷售額的百分比以及對利潤率的影響在哪裡？

Thank you.

謝謝你。

Dana, the impact of the cost of goods, Joan has been saying it consistently.

達納，對商品成本的影響，瓊一直在說。

Second half of the year there should be a dramatic improvement and that will affect the IMU.

今年下半年應該會有顯著的改善，這將影響 IMU。

Instead of having headwinds, we'll have tailwinds.

我們不會遇到逆風，而是順風。

And the pricing in Asia at this point is coming down very nicely.

目前亞洲的價格正在下降得非常好。

But that will not be felt until the third and strongly in the fourth quarter and obviously into a year ago next spring.

但這要到第四季度的第三季度才能感受到，而且顯然要到一年前的明年春天。

On the accessory business we're really happy with where it is and I don't want to giving any percentages out.

在配件業務上，我們對它的現狀非常滿意，我不想給出任何百分比。

Thank you.

謝謝你。

Next question, please.

下一個問題，請。

Adrienne Tennant, Janney Montgomery Scott.

艾德麗安·田納特，珍妮·蒙哥馬利·斯科特。

Good morning, everyone.

大家，早安。

Nice quarter.

漂亮的季度。

My first question is I know you didn't give any Thanksgiving comp or anything but should we think about it as -- you're using words like powerful unit growth and outstanding performance so I'm thinking of that in sort of that double-digit range.

我的第一個問題是我知道你沒有提供任何感恩節補償或任何東西，但我們是否應該將其視為 - 你使用了強大的單位增長和出色的表現之類的詞，所以我在考慮這種雙重-位數範圍。

Then when I add the AUR price increase, I can get to sort of like a mid-teen perhaps minimum comp.

然後，當我加上 AUR 的價格上漲時，我可以得到有點像 10 歲左右的最低補償。

So is that how we should be looking at it?

那麼我們應該這樣看待它嗎？

And when you say momentum should continue, is that the type of momentum we should think about continuing for the fourth quarter?

當你說勢頭應該繼續時，我們應該考慮在第四季度繼續這種勢頭嗎？

And then Roger really quickly, on the inventory, can you tell us what categories are more long lived and what categories are sort of more holiday specific.

然後羅傑很快，在清單上，你能告訴我們哪些類別更長壽，哪些類別更適合假期。

Thank you.

謝謝你。

So on the quarter, with respect to sales, as I said momentum in November started off positive.

因此，在本季度，就銷售而言，正如我所說，11 月份的勢頭開始積極。

We have targeted -- we have a targeted promotion over the Thanksgiving weekend which was very strong.

我們有針對性 - 我們在感恩節週末有針對性的促銷活動，非常強大。

As we move into December, we know that there will be a valley and we expect that in terms of customer traffic.

隨著我們進入 12 月，我們知道會有一個山谷，我們預計在客戶流量方面會出現這種情況。

And as we then move into peak selling prior to Christmas and post Christmas, we expect unit sales to pick up.

隨著我們在聖誕節前和聖誕節後進入銷售高峰期，我們預計單位銷售量將會回升。

What we should keep in mind is that last year our December was down 11%.

我們應該記住的是，去年我們的 12 月下降了 11%。

So we are comping a month that we feel we have a much stronger strategy and a better assortment to pull into the high selling period.

因此，我們正在準備一個月，我們認為我們有一個更強大的策略和更好的分類來進入高銷售期。

Jeff Klinefelter, Piper Jaffray and Company.

Jeff Klinefelter, Piper Jaffray and Company。

Yes, thank you.

是的，謝謝。

Two quick things.

兩件快事。

One, what impact has Aerie and separately 77kids had on the P&L year-to-date and what do you expect it to do for the year?

一，Aerie 和單獨的 77kids 對年初至今的損益表有什麼影響，您預計它今年會做什麼？

And then also on the denim, sounds very encouraging in the comps in that category.

然後在牛仔布上，在該類別的組合中聽起來非常令人鼓舞。

Just curious what the combination is of pricing and unit velocity in those denim comps.

只是好奇這些牛仔布組合中的定價和單位速度的組合是什麼。

So I'll take the Aerie and 77kids.

所以我會選擇 Aerie 和 77kids。

Aerie had a very nice quarter as Jim and Roger both mentioned, we had our first advertising campaign launching, the Drew bra which was very effective, drove traffic and conversion in the Aerie brand.

正如 Jim 和 Roger 都提到的那樣，Aerie 有一個非常好的季度，我們推出了我們的第一個廣告活動，Drew 胸罩非常有效，推動了 Aerie 品牌的流量和轉化。

And what was very important to us as a business is we need to consider Aerie across all of our channels because what we saw with that promotion is a lift in the web business as well, which is very good in terms of the dual customer shopping experience.

作為一家企業，對我們來說非常重要的是，我們需要在所有渠道中考慮 Aerie，因為我們在這次促銷活動中看到的也是網絡業務的提升，這在雙客戶購物體驗方面非常好.

So Aerie across all channels is profitable as a brand.

因此，Aerie 作為一個品牌在所有渠道上都是有利可圖的。

The standalone stores in the quarter were very close to breakeven on a four wall basis and we expect those stores to be breakeven in the fourth quarter on a fully loaded basis.

本季度的獨立門店在四壁基礎上非常接近盈虧平衡，我們預計這些門店將在第四季度滿負荷的基礎上實現盈虧平衡。

So Aerie has a very good story and as a backdrop, this is with a few stores that are underperforming up against some very strong performers.

所以 Aerie 有一個非常好的故事，作為背景，這是與一些表現不佳的商店相比，一些表現非常出色的商店。

So very good news in Aerie.

所以在鷹巢是個好消息。

And the unit performance in the eagle denim is very strong and the average unit retail interestingly, with all of the competitive pressures out there, is not dissimilar to last year.

老鷹牛仔布的單位表現非常強勁，有趣的是，在所有競爭壓力下，平均單位零售額與去年沒有什麼不同。

Okay, and the 77kids?

好吧，那 77kids 呢？

77kids profit is, again, you need to look at that as two channels.

77kids 的利潤，再次，您需要將其視為兩個渠道。

We have the in-store.

我們有店內。

We have the standalone stores as well as the web.

我們有獨立的商店和網絡。

The bottom line impact at this stage is nominal.

此階段的底線影響是名義上的。

Okay.

好的。

Jennifer Black, Jennifer Black & Associates.

詹妮弗·布萊克，詹妮弗·布萊克 & Associates。

Good morning.

早上好。

Congratulations on making progress.

祝賀你取得進展。

Thank you.

謝謝你。

I wondered how you're doing with your Midnight Luxe and dress categories.

我想知道你的 Midnight Luxe 和連衣裙類別如何。

It looks very different online.

在網上看起來很不一樣。

And also, I wondered how much early spring you will bring in for the day after Christmas in both guys and girls and will it have a preppier twist?

而且，我想知道你會在聖誕節後的第二天給男孩和女孩帶來多少早春，它會不會有一個預科生的轉折？

Thanks.

謝謝。

We're really pleased with this Luxe collection.

我們對這個 Luxe 系列非常滿意。

We hit the fashion right on the note.

我們在紙條上打出了時尚。

It's a whole wall section of the stores and it's what we're calling our fashion approach to holiday and it is a sell-out.

這是商店的一整面牆，這就是我們所說的假日時尚方法，而且是售罄。

If you want to buy it, you better buy it within the next week.

如果你想買，最好在下週內買。

Obviously, we're one of the stores that happens to make 10 floor sets a year and the day when the store closes the night of Christmas, we will set the front of the store with an exciting transitional set.

很顯然，我們是一家恰好每年生產 10 套地板的商店之一，在聖誕節晚上商店關門的那一天，我們將在商店的正面設置一個令人興奮的過渡套件。

Okay.

好的。

Are you still there?

你還在嗎？

We're here.

我們在這裡。

Yes.

是的。

Roger, in light of how well you're doing with the dresses, is that a section that you would expand?

羅傑，鑑於你在連衣裙方面做得很好，你會擴展這個部分嗎？

For spring, absolutely.

對於春天，絕對。

Okay, it looks really good.

好吧，看起來確實不錯。

Thank you and good luck.

謝謝你，祝你好運。

Thank you.

謝謝你。

Randy Konik, Jeffries.

蘭迪·科尼克，杰弗里斯。

Yes, Joan, thanks.

是的，瓊，謝謝。

If you look at the -- I'm just looking at the historical margin trends of the Company both on a gross margin base and an operating margin basis.

如果你看 - 我只是在毛利率基礎和營業利潤率基礎上查看公司的歷史利潤率趨勢。

If we're going to get the -- we're going to trough out this year at around 36% gross margins and your peak is around 47 or so, 48, how do we think about where the margin structure of the Company from a gross margin standpoint with this new promotional kind of posturing, when does the posturing kind of end or does it?

如果我們要得到 - 我們今年的毛利率將達到 36% 左右，而你的峰值在 47 左右，48 左右，我們如何看待公司的利潤率結構從從毛利率的角度來看這種新的促銷形式，這種姿態什麼時候結束？

And is there some sort of range you're kind of targeting longer term for the gross margins?

您是否有某種針對毛利率的長期目標範圍？

And then from an operating margin recovery perspective, are we supposed to be thinking about more of an SG&A leverage story going into next year versus a gross profit -- gross margin story?

然後從營業利潤率恢復的角度來看，我們是否應該更多地考慮明年的 SG&A 槓桿故事而不是毛利潤——毛利率故事？

How should we be thinking about potential margin recovery, thanks.

我們應該如何考慮潛在的利潤恢復，謝謝。

I think there's two parts and Joan will take the second part, the actual statistics.

我認為有兩個部分，瓊將負責第二部分，即實際統計數據。

We obviously understand the strategies we need to have and they're working for us.

我們顯然了解我們需要擁有的策略，並且它們正在為我們工作。

We're very diligent in terms of pre-planning these particular promotions and the costing that we're going to get as we get into the second half of next year is going to be dramatically better than where we are now.

我們在預先計劃這些特定促銷活動方面非常勤奮，並且隨著我們進入明年下半年，我們將獲得的成本將比現在要好得多。

As long as the competitive structure of the business allows us to own the goods at the right price and we want to compete in the marketplace because we are the dominant player and we don't want to lose our share of market, we will continue to be aggressive as necessary.

只要業務的競爭結構允許我們以合適的價格擁有商品，並且我們希望在市場上競爭，因為我們是主導者並且我們不想失去我們的市場份額，我們將繼續必要時具有攻擊性。

But the costs will start to work in our favor.

但成本將開始對我們有利。

And with respect to SG&A, Randy, we will continue to drive profit improvement initiatives so that we will continue to leverage, focus on leveraging of SG&A, but at the same time as we develop our 2012 plans, we need to think about what investments are necessary to continue to drive the top line.

關於 SG&A，Randy，我們將繼續推動利潤改善計劃，以便我們繼續利用，專注於利用 SG&A，但在製定 2012 年計劃的同時，我們需要考慮哪些投資是有必要繼續推動收入增長。

And we'll talk more about that once we get to the fourth quarter conference call.

一旦我們進入第四季度電話會議，我們將更多地討論這個問題。

I mean, can you hear me?

我的意思是，你能聽到我的聲音嗎？

Yes.

是的。

So does that mean -- I mean, is that kind of saying, suggesting that we could continue to see just gross margin pressure continue into next year but you'll have an SG&A leverage opportunity?

那麼這是否意味著 - 我的意思是，這種說法是否表明我們可以繼續看到毛利率壓力持續到明年，但您將擁有 SG&A 槓桿機會？

I'm just trying to get a sense of if we're going to start to see margin recovery, where do we see it in the gross margin bucket or the SG&A bucket?

我只是想了解我們是否會開始看到利潤率恢復，我們在毛利率桶或 SG&A 桶中的哪個位置看到它？

The gross margin recovery you would tend to see in the back half of the year is what we've been saying and that we would be able to leverage our rents on a low single digit next year, so that will provide us an opportunity in gross margin as well.

您將在下半年看到的毛利率回升就是我們一直在說的，明年我們將能夠以較低的個位數利用租金，因此這將為我們提供毛利率的機會保證金也是如此。

And that will continue to drive SG&A costs in a very disciplined way and strive for leverage.

這將繼續以非常嚴格的方式推動 SG&A 成本並爭取槓桿作用。

Stacy Pak, Barclays Capital.

Stacy Pak，巴克萊資本。

Hi.

你好。

First a follow-up on that.

首先對此進行跟進。

Just so I'm clear, Joan, are you saying then that inventories will be in line with sales in the second half of the year as well, so that's when you -- I mean, I understand you get the cost recovery in the second half but do you also get merchandise margin from less mark downs in the second half?

我很清楚，瓊，你是說庫存將在下半年與銷售保持一致，所以那時你——我的意思是，我知道你會在第二年收回成本一半，但您是否也從下半年減少的降價中獲得商品利潤？

And the second question is should we expect SG&A sort of up low single digits in dollars, in '12?

第二個問題是，我們是否應該期待 SG&A 在 12 年以美元計價上漲個位數？

We'll hold on '12 until we get to the fourth quarter call.

我們將堅持到 12 年，直到我們到達第四季度的電話會議。

With respect to the inventories and how we would intend to pitch those for the back half of next year, we will strive and our goal is to position inventories and sales comparably and as we anniversary the inventory models that we have for denim that are working for our basic tees, tanks in both men's and women's, we will see those, the inventory difference between sales and -- moderate, so that we will be closer to turning inventory as comparable to sales.

關於庫存以及我們打算如何在明年下半年推銷這些庫存，我們將努力，我們的目標是使庫存和銷售具有可比性，並且在我們週年紀念時，我們為牛仔布工作的庫存模型我們的基本 T 卹，男裝和女裝背心，我們將看到這些，銷售之間的庫存差異 - 適度，因此我們將更接近將庫存轉為可與銷售額相媲美。

Pamela Quintiliano, Oppenheimer.

帕梅拉·昆蒂利亞諾，奧本海默。

Thanks so much.

非常感謝。

Congrats on a good quarter, guys.

伙計們，恭喜你取得了一個好季度。

Can you talk a little bit about who's shopping at Eagle and if you're getting back that core lapsed customer or new customer and if there's any change in the demographic you're attracting and the same thing with Aerie.

你能談談誰在 Eagle 購物嗎？你是否要找回流失的核心客戶或新客戶，以及你吸引的人口結構是否有任何變化，以及與 Aerie 相同的情況。

Based on the traffic number and based on the conversion, we're back to what I think the brand -- Jim and I were talking about that over the last few days.

基於流量數字和轉換，我們回到了我認為的品牌——吉姆和我在過去幾天裡一直在談論這個問題。

The power of this brand we're seeing across every region, every district of the country and we're really pleased and the traffic numbers and the conversion numbers over the weekend were really superlative.

我們在全國每個地區、每個地區都看到了這個品牌的力量，我們真的很高興，週末的流量和轉化率真的是最高的。

And then if I could just follow up one question on the promotions.

然後，如果我能就促銷活動跟進一個問題。

Just to be clear, did you break at all from your planned promotional cadence during the quarter or was it -- I know you were planning on being aggressive and it just -- it worked out with what you already had set.

需要明確的是，您是否在本季度完全打破了計劃的促銷節奏，或者是 - 我知道您計劃變得積極進取，而它只是 - 它與您已經設定的目標一致。

Right on plan.

正按計劃。

Richard Jaffe, Stifel Nicolaus.

理查德·賈菲，斯蒂菲爾·尼古拉斯。

Thanks very much guys.

非常感謝你們。

Looking on to the future, you talked about international growth and 20 more stores in new markets.

展望未來，您談到了國際增長以及在新市場開設 20 家門店。

Will those continue to be on a franchise model or will you start building bricks and mortar?

那些會繼續採用特許經營模式，還是你會開始建造實體店？

Richard, we're going to be on two fronts.

理查德，我們將在兩條戰線上。

We'll continue on the franchise license arrangement where appropriate but we are looking at other parts of the world where we will potentially have Company-owned stores.

我們將在適當的情況下繼續進行特許經營許可安排，但我們正在研究世界其他地區，我們可能會在這些地區擁有公司擁有的商店。

So it will be a model that hopefully will be a little more balanced in the future but right now it's primarily franchise/licensed initiatives.

因此，這將是一個希望在未來更加平衡的模型，但現在它主要是特許經營/許可計劃。

Dorothy Lakner, Caris & Company.

多蘿西·拉克納，Caris & Company。

Thanks and good morning everyone.

謝謝大家早上好。

And congrats everybody.

並祝賀大家。

Question for Roger.

羅傑的問題。

As you look at the success of Aerie as well as the women's business at American Eagle, really coming back nicely, where are the differences in sort of outside of obviously the foundations business and the bra business, where are the differences that are allowing Aerie and American Eagle women's business to do well at the same time?

當你看到 Aerie 的成功以及 American Eagle 的女性業務時，真的很好地回歸，顯然在基礎業務和胸罩業務之外的差異在哪裡，允許 Aerie 和American Eagle 女裝業務要同時做好？

And then just secondly, on the sourcing side of things, I'm wondering after the experience that really all apparel retailers have been through over the last year with the increases in cotton and so forth, how you're thinking about sourcing and different parts of the world?

其次，在採購方面，我想知道在去年所有服裝零售商都經歷過棉花等增加的經歷之後，你是如何考慮採購和不同部分的世界的？

Is there any thought of transitioning to, say, more balance between east and west and how you might approach that?

有沒有想過要過渡到東西方之間的平衡，以及如何實現這一點？

Thanks.

謝謝。

Okay.

好的。

On the women's business, you know us very well, Dorothy.

在婦女事務方面，你非常了解我們，多蘿西。

You've been following us a long time.

你已經關注我們很久了。

You've been a terrific partner.

你一直是一個了不起的伙伴。

We really have the process back in place.

我們確實恢復了流程。

We have the right people in place and the presentation and the marketing of the product is really in sync now.

我們有合適的人選，產品的展示和營銷現在真的是同步的。

It's the way we used to run the business and it's really working for us and it's working across all categories within the intimate business, the foundation business, and within the women's sportswear business including sweaters.

這是我們過去經營業務的方式，它確實對我們有用，它適用於內衣業務、基礎業務以及包括毛衣在內的女性運動服裝業務的所有類別。

We really, really -- and knitwear.

我們真的，真的 - 和針織品。

The business for us is very good.

我們的生意非常好。

Jim wants to make a comment or two on the sourcing.

Jim 想就採購問題發表一兩條評論。

Yes.

是的。

On your question on sourcing, which is a good one, we've actually over the last year and-a-half, almost two years now have re-evaluated and also started to reposition our whole sourcing structure as it relates to where we are going to manufacture in the world.

關於你關於採購的問題，這是一個很好的問題，我們實際上已經在過去一年半，近兩年的時間裡重新評估並開始重新定位我們的整個採購結構，因為它與我們所處的位置有關將在世界範圍內製造。

We still have a very dominant presence in Asia.

我們在亞洲仍然佔據主導地位。

But we are continuing to explore opportunities in the Western Hemisphere and I see that movement continuing as those countries become more competitive and they're able to meet not only our cost expectations but as well as our quantities.

但我們正在繼續探索西半球的機會，我認為隨著這些國家變得更具競爭力並且他們不僅能夠滿足我們的成本預期而且能夠滿足我們的數量，這種運動仍在繼續。

Jennifer Davis, Lazard Capital Markets.

詹妮弗戴維斯，拉扎德資本市場。

Hey, guys.

大家好。

Thanks.

謝謝。

First, a quick clarification.

首先，快速澄清。

Joan, I don't know if you said this.

瓊，我不知道你是不是這麼說的。

Did you see margin improvement at Aerie in the third quarter?

您是否看到第三季度 Aerie 的利潤率有所改善？

And then on inventories, I think you guys said inventory units are up 10% so I assume dollar -- for accessories, units are up 10% so I assume dollars are also so that would put inventory dollars in apparel up about 30% and I guess units up about 10%, so how much of that is denim, since denim is less important in the fourth quarter versus the third quarter.

然後在庫存方面，我認為你們說庫存單位增加了 10%，所以我假設是美元——對於配飾，單位增加了 10%，所以我假設美元也是如此，這樣服裝的庫存美元就會增加約 30%，我猜測單位增加了約 10%，所以其中有多少是牛仔布，因為與第三季度相比，牛仔佈在第四季度的重要性較低。

And then I'm just trying to understand -- you guys did a great job promoting and driving traffic, so congrats on that.

然後我只是想理解——你們在促進和推動交通方面做得很好，所以恭喜。

But there's still a delta between inventory and sales.

但是庫存和銷售之間仍然存在差異。

I'm just trying to get a little more color on that.

我只是想增加一點顏色。

Joan will take most of the questions, but the -- if you take a look at the third quarter in total, the inventory units were up 20% and our sales were up 12% in terms of units.

瓊將回答大部分問題，但如果你看一下第三季度的總體情況，庫存單位增長了 20%，我們的銷售額增長了 12%。

That's a pretty good relationship when we're very heavy bottoms oriented business.

當我們非常注重底部業務時，這是一個非常好的關係。

If you look at our turnover, in a vertical retailer in relationship to anyone else who's in this business, who's dominant in the bottoms business like we are, I think you'd find the turns pretty damn good.

如果你看看我們的營業額，在一家垂直零售商中，與其他任何從事該行業的人的關係，誰像我們一樣在底部業務中占主導地位，我想你會發現轉折非常好。

With respect to Aerie, Aerie improved in the quarter, third quarter, and we expect continued improvement in the fourth quarter, Jennifer.

關於 Aerie，Aerie 在本季度、第三季度有所改善，我們預計第四季度將繼續改善，Jennifer。

With respect to Q4 inventories, the composition of the average inventory is really consistent with the third quarter, denim continues to be an important category for us in the fourth quarter and the content that we're comfortable with is the fact that these core basics and fashion basics make up 50% to 60% of our inventory composition.

第四季度庫存方面，平均庫存構成與第三季度基本一致，牛仔佈在第四季度仍然是我們的重要類別，我們滿意的內容是這些核心基礎和時尚基本款占我們庫存構成的 50% 至 60%。

So we feel very good that we're positioned well, we can support the sales plan and importantly, respond to what the customer wants.

所以我們感覺很好，我們的定位很好，我們可以支持銷售計劃，重要的是，響應客戶的需求。

John Morris, Bank of Montreal.

蒙特利爾銀行的約翰·莫里斯。

Thanks, good morning.

謝謝，早上好。

My congratulations as well on the progress.

我也祝賀取得的進展。

Thank you.

謝謝你。

A quick update on potential store closings planned for next year, is that pretty much the same?

快速更新計劃於明年關閉的潛在商店，這幾乎相同嗎？

And then you talked a little bit about your continued investment in advertising, maybe Roger if you can talk a little bit more about the approach to that, the strategy, what are the forms and what's the plan for that continuing into 2012?

然後你談了一點關於你在廣告方面的持續投資，如果你能多談一些關於這方面的方法、策略、形式是什麼以及持續到 2012 年的計劃是什麼，也許是羅傑？

And then finally, Joan, do you want to just -- you've obviously given us some guidance to how to think about inventory for Q4 in terms of the average levels expected.

最後，瓊，您是否只想-您顯然已經為我們提供了一些指導，以幫助我們根據預期的平均水平來考慮第四季度的庫存。

Do you want to just give us a heads up on what we would expect for that quarter end data point, especially considering some of the shifts in things like Chinese New Year, et cetera?

您是否只想讓我們提前了解我們對該季度末數據點的預期，特別是考慮到中國新年等方面的一些變化？

Thanks.

謝謝。

We're on track with our closing plan, John, so there's really no change to what we've previously guided to.

約翰，我們的結束計劃正在按計劃進行，因此我們之前的指導實際上沒有改變。

We said 75 to 100 stores as we began that closing last year.

去年開始關閉時，我們說有 75 到 100 家商店。

Then with respect to the ending inventories, you know, we don't really give quarter end guidance due to the timing of in transits and so forth.

然後關於期末庫存，您知道，由於運輸時間等原因，我們並沒有真正提供季度末指導。

However, we do expect to see the inventory levels to moderate and come down both on a unit basis, less so on a cost basis, because of the continued product cost increase until we get to the back half of the year.

然而，我們確實預計庫存水平會在單位基礎上放緩和下降，而在成本基礎上則更少，因為產品成本持續上漲，直到我們進入下半年。

And from a marketing aspect of the business, the number one marketing effort we do is the visuality and presentation in our stores and I'm sure you've all seen stores for holiday and I think that on a competitive basis we really look like holiday.

從業務的營銷方面來看，我們所做的第一大營銷工作是我們商店的視覺和展示，我相信你們都看過假期的商店，我認為在競爭的基礎上，我們真的看起來像假期.

It's festive.

是喜慶的。

It's fun.

好有趣。

It's got a lot of energy and it's got a lot of color and our store presentation is pretty strong.

它充滿活力，色彩豐富，我們的商店展示非常強大。

From a marketing perspective, to the outside world in terms of true marketing, we are working on some campaigns that we have not done before but I certainly don't want to talk about that at this point in time.

從營銷的角度來看，就真正的營銷而言，對於外界來說，我們正在開展一些我們以前沒有做過的活動，但我現在當然不想談論這個。

Anna Andreeva, Friedman, Billings and Ramsey.

安娜安德烈耶娃、弗里德曼、比林斯和拉姆齊。

Thanks so much.

非常感謝。

Good morning, guys.

早上好傢伙。

Good morning.

早上好。

You bought back some stock during the quarter.

您在本季度回購了一些股票。

I think this is the first time this year.

我想這是今年第一次。

Obviously you guys have a pretty sizable authorization remaining.

顯然你們還有相當大的授權。

Maybe talk about how the Board views share buybacks going forward.

也許談談董事會如何看待未來的股票回購。

And a follow-up just on the costing, you said costing obviously will be a tailwind in the back half of 2012.

以及關於成本核算的後續行動，你說成本核算顯然會在 2012 年下半年成為順風。

Did you quantify how much you expect costing to be up in the first half?

您是否量化了您預計上半年成本會上漲多少？

We did not quantify that but what we know is that the product cost increases in the back half of this year have been in the low to mid teens and we really don't see that abating until the back half of next year, as we've said.

我們沒有對此進行量化，但我們所知道的是，今年下半年的產品成本增長一直在十幾歲左右，我們真的直到明年下半年才會看到這種情況有所減弱，因為我們我說過。

As we think about share repurchase and our capital strategy, first and foremost we invest in our business and in our growth plans.

當我們考慮股票回購和我們的資本戰略時，我們首先投資於我們的業務和我們的增長計劃。

We are very keen on returning cash to shareholders and have done so over the past four to five years with over $1 billion of cash returned to our shareholders through share repurchase and then $400 million to $500 million in dividends.

我們非常熱衷於向股東返還現金，在過去的四到五年裡，我們通過股票回購向股東返還了超過 10 億美元的現金，然後是 4 億到 5 億美元的股息。

So we'll continue to evaluate that.

所以我們將繼續評估。

As you mentioned, our authorization extends through January 2013 and we will continue to evaluate that with the Board.

正如您所提到的，我們的授權將持續到 2013 年 1 月，我們將繼續與董事會進行評估。

Robin Murchison, SunTrust.

羅賓默奇森，太陽信託。

Hi, thanks very much.

你好，非常感謝。

Roger, wanted to get you to just talk a little more specifically about sweaters.

羅傑，想讓你更具體地談談毛衣。

I think that is a key opportunity for you this holiday season, vis-a-vis last year especially, just in terms of unit levels, content and price points.

我認為這對你來說是這個假期的一個關鍵機會，尤其是與去年相比，就單位水平、內容和價格點而言。

Thank you.

謝謝你。

Well, we like our sweater assortment.

嗯，我們喜歡我們的毛衣分類。

It's doing nicely for us and we think that we really have a terrific design group put together and I look forward to sweaters even growing that much more as we move into 2012.

這對我們來說做得很好，我們認為我們真的有一個很棒的設計團隊，我期待著毛衣在我們進入 2012 年時會增長得更多。

Louis, we'll have time for one more question.

路易斯，我們還有時間再問一個問題。

Roxanne Meyer, UBS.

瑞銀的羅克珊·邁耶。

Great.

偉大的。

I'm happy to have made the last question.

我很高興提出最後一個問題。

I'm just wondering what's been driving the AUR increase that you're seeing so far in the quarter and do you expect that trend to continue as you ramp up accessories and then just a follow-up on inventory.

我只是想知道是什麼推動了您在本季度迄今為止看到的 AUR 增長，您是否希望隨著您增加配件以及庫存的後續行動，這種趨勢會繼續下去。

Just wondering if you could just share the carryover levels of clearance from the third quarter into the fourth quarter.

只是想知道您是否可以分享從第三季度到第四季度的結轉水平。

Not necessarily clearance, but older inventory.

不一定是清倉，而是較舊的庫存。

Our inventory is very fresh, Roxanne and the percentage of clearance remains a little bit less than 10% which is consistent with how we've run the business in the past couple of years.

我們的庫存非常新鮮，Roxanne，清倉百分比仍然略低於 10%，這與我們過去幾年經營業務的方式一致。

The AUR is really driven by the mix of denim in our business as well as a good response to the sweaters and the tops in the business.

AUR 真正受到我們業務中牛仔布的混合以及對業務中毛衣和上衣的良好反應的推動。

So overall, for the month of November, we saw this positive response, which is really what's driving across the board reception to our assortment.

所以總的來說，在 11 月份，我們看到了這種積極的反應，這確實是推動我們的產品全面接受的真正原因。

Terrific.

了不起。

Best of luck.

祝你好運。

Thank you.

謝謝你。

Thank you.

謝謝你。

That concludes our call today.

我們今天的電話到此結束。

We will announce holiday sales on Thursday, January 5, and our fourth quarter announcement is currently scheduled for Wednesday, March 7, 2012.

我們將在 1 月 5 日星期四宣布假日銷售，我們的第四季度公告目前定於 2012 年 3 月 7 日星期三。

Thanks for your participation today and have a great day.

感謝您今天的參與，祝您有美好的一天。