American Eagle Outfitters Inc (AEO) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the American Eagle Outfitters Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎來到 American Eagle Outfitters 2022 年第三季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，正在錄製此會議。

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Judy Meehan, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications and IR. Thank you, Judy. You may begin.

現在我很高興向大家介紹主持人，企業傳播和 IR 高級副總裁 Judy Meehan。謝謝你，朱迪。你可以開始了。

Good morning, everyone. Joining me today for our prepared remarks are Jay Schottenstein, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Jen Foyle, President, Executive Creative Director for AE and Aerie, Michael Rempell, Chief Operating Officer; and Mike Mathias, Chief Financial Officer.

大家，早安。今天與我一起發表準備好的講話的有執行主席兼首席執行官 Jay Schottenstein； AE 和 Aerie 總裁兼執行創意總監 Jen Foyle，首席運營官 Michael Rempell；和首席財務官 Mike Mathias。

Before we begin today's call, I need to remind you that we will make certain forward-looking statements. These statements are based upon information that represents the company's current expectations or beliefs. Results actually realized may differ materially based on risk factors included in our SEC filings.

在我們開始今天的電話會議之前，我需要提醒您，我們將做出某些前瞻性陳述。這些陳述基於代表公司當前期望或信念的信息。根據我們提交給 SEC 的文件中包含的風險因素，實際實現的結果可能存在重大差異。

The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Also, please note that during this call and in the accompanying press release, certain financial metrics are presented on both a GAAP and non-GAAP adjusted basis.

公司不承擔公開更新或修改任何前瞻性陳述的義務，無論是由於新信息、未來事件或其他原因，除非法律要求。此外，請注意，在本次電話會議和隨附的新聞稿中，某些財務指標是根據 GAAP 和非 GAAP 調整後的基礎提出的。

Reconciliations of adjusted results to the GAAP results are available in the tables attached to the earnings release, which is posted on our corporate website at www.aeo-inc.com in the Investor Relations section. Here, you can also find the third quarter investor presentation.

調整後結果與 GAAP 結果的對賬可在收益發布所附的表格中找到，收益發布發佈在我們公司網站 www.aeo-inc.com 的“投資者關係”部分。在這裡，您還可以找到第三季度的投資者介紹。

And now I'll turn the call over to Jay.

現在我會把電話轉給 Jay。

Good morning. Thank you for joining us today. I'm pleased that we delivered third quarter results well above our expectations despite current macro conditions and tough comparisons as we lap significant pent-up demand and stimulus.

早上好。感謝您今天加入我們。我很高興我們第三季度的業績遠高於我們的預期，儘管當前的宏觀環境和艱難的比較是我們應對大量被壓抑的需求和刺激措施的結果。

While down to last year's record performance, revenue of $1.2 billion was our second highest third quarter in history and our operating profit of $118 million exceeded the third quarter of 2019.

雖然低於去年的創紀錄業績，但 12 億美元的收入是我們歷史上第二高的第三季度，我們 1.18 億美元的營業利潤超過了 2019 年第三季度。

I'm also pleased that our profit margins reflected a material improvement compared to the first half of the year. Our aggressive actions to reset inventory and reduce expenses are paying off. We continue to make progress and entered the fourth quarter very well positioned. Our brands are strong and customer engagement continues at a healthy pace.

我也很高興我們的利潤率與今年上半年相比有了實質性的改善。我們為重置庫存和減少開支而採取的積極行動正在取得成效。我們繼續取得進展並進入第四季度非常有利。我們的品牌很強大，客戶參與度也在以健康的速度持續增長。

Aerie remains a standout in the industry, and I'm very proud of the multiyear growth we've achieved. I'm also encouraged with performance of our new Aerie and OFFLINE stores, which demonstrate strong acceptance by our customers. AE profits and margins improved compared to the third quarter of 2019 reflecting strong product assortment as well as the team's focus on rationalizing unpredictive SKUs and closing unprofitable stores.

Aerie 仍然是業內的佼佼者，我為我們取得的多年增長感到非常自豪。我也對我們新的 Aerie 和 OFFLINE 商店的表現感到鼓舞，這表明我們的客戶對我們的接受度很高。與 2019 年第三季度相比，AE 的利潤和利潤率有所提高，這反映出強大的產品分類以及團隊專注於合理化不可預測的 SKU 和關閉無利可圖的商店。

Comp sales relative to 2019 were flat and as Jen will review, we have plans in place to improve the trend. Quiet Platforms is providing significant operational efficiencies and needed capacity for our brands as Michael will review.

相對於 2019 年的 Comp 銷售額持平，正如 Jen 將回顧的那樣，我們制定了改善趨勢的計劃。正如邁克爾將回顧的那樣，Quiet Platforms 正在為我們的品牌提供顯著的運營效率和所需的能力。

The third-party customer base is ramping up as other brands look to upgrade their supply chain operations and drive efficiencies to better compete in the current retail environment.

隨著其他品牌尋求升級其供應鏈運營並提高效率以更好地在當前零售環境中競爭，第三方客戶群正在擴大。

I remain also excited about the potential for Quiet. As we evaluate go-forward plans, we are exploring different options to support future growth. Overall, our third quarter was a strong step in the right direction yet we remain highly focused on driving further improvement.

我仍然對 Quiet 的潛力感到興奮。在評估未來計劃時，我們正在探索不同的選擇來支持未來的增長。總體而言，我們的第三季度是朝著正確方向邁出的重要一步，但我們仍然高度關注推動進一步改進。

In an uncertain macro environment, we are leveraging the strength of our operations to control what we can and best position ourselves to respond effectively to changing macro conditions. As the supply chain environment continues to normalize, we are using this to our advantage. We are planning inventories tightly and exercising our capabilities to chase into demand.

在不確定的宏觀環境中，我們正在利用我們的運營優勢來控制我們可以做的事情並最好地定位自己以有效應對不斷變化的宏觀環境。隨著供應鏈環境繼續正常化，我們正在利用這一優勢。我們正在嚴格規劃庫存，並運用我們的能力來追逐需求。

At the same time, we are also reducing expenses and capital expenditures with a firm focus on improving the bottom line and driving stronger free cash flow. As we navigate the near term, we will cautiously invest across key strategic initiatives that provide a competitive advantage and allow our business to emerge from the current environment even stronger.

與此同時，我們也在減少開支和資本支出，堅定地專注於提高利潤和推動更強勁的自由現金流。在短期內，我們將謹慎地投資於提供競爭優勢並使我們的業務從當前環境中脫穎而出的關鍵戰略計劃。

I want to thank our teams for their hard work and dedication over the past several months. We were swift and took decisive actions across the business, and this is now showing up in our results. Looking ahead, we will remain focused and disciplined, our brands remain incredibly strong. I am confident we will continue to make great progress. Now I'll turn it to Jen.

我要感謝我們的團隊在過去幾個月的辛勤工作和奉獻精神。我們在整個業務中迅速採取了果斷行動，這現在正在我們的業績中體現出來。展望未來，我們將保持專注和自律，我們的品牌仍然非常強大。我相信我們會繼續取得長足進步。現在我會把它交給珍。

Thanks, Jay, and good morning, everyone. Although we faced difficult comparisons to a stellar year in 2021, we made good progress across our brands.

謝謝，傑伊，大家早上好。儘管我們很難將 2021 年與輝煌的一年進行比較，但我們在各個品牌中都取得了良好的進步。

During the third quarter, demand levels improved from August as we cycled past peak weeks of our record back-to-school seasons last year. Despite a less robust macro, I'm pleased that we delivered results ahead of our expectations. We also saw meaningful recovery in profit margins compared to the first half for both AE and Aerie.

在第三季度，需求水平較 8 月份有所改善，因為我們已經度過了去年創紀錄的返校季高峰期。儘管宏觀經濟不太強勁，但我很高興我們取得了超出預期的結果。與 AE 和 Aerie 的上半年相比，我們還看到了利潤率的顯著回升。

Earlier this year, we took very deliberate steps to adjust forward receipts and clear through spring and summer goods. As a result, inventory is in much better shape, which enabled us to control promotional levels in a highly competitive environment.

今年早些時候，我們採取了非常慎重的措施來調整遠期收貨並清算春夏商品。因此，庫存狀況要好得多，這使我們能夠在競爭激烈的環境中控制促銷水平。

In fact, we achieved our second best third quarter AUR down just 5% to last year's record high and up nicely across brands to 2019. As I step back and look at the business, our brands are very healthy. Given the current environment, there are clearly different dynamics at play by brands. Aerie remains on a strong multiyear growth path.

事實上，我們在第三季度實現了第二好的 AUR，僅下降 5% 至去年的歷史新高，並且在 2019 年所有品牌中都取得了不錯的增長。當我退一步審視業務時，我們的品牌非常健康。鑑於當前的環境，各品牌顯然在發揮不同的作用。 Aerie 仍處於強勁的多年增長道路上。

Since the third quarter of 2019, revenues have nearly doubled, growing roughly $170 million. Record profits have more than tripled since 2019 and also increased to last year.

自 2019 年第三季度以來，收入幾乎翻了一番，增長了約 1.7 億美元。創紀錄的利潤自 2019 年以來增長了兩倍多，而且比去年有所增長。

New store expansion and great brand affinity are fueling increased awareness, and I'm excited to note that Aerie crossed 2 new milestones this quarter hitting 10 million customers for the first time and achieving an all-time high AUR. Compared to last year, core intimates, fleece and apparel showed up well. I continue to be extremely pleased with our -- with the expansion of OFFLINE where new stores are performing very well.

新店擴張和強大的品牌親和力正在推動知名度的提高，我很高興地註意到 Aerie 本季度跨越了 2 個新的里程碑，首次吸引了 1000 萬顧客，並達到了歷史最高的 AUR。與去年相比，核心內衣、羊毛和服裝表現良好。我繼續對我們的 - 隨著 OFFLINE 的擴張感到非常高興，新店表現非常好。

Aerie's cult-like following in leggings is driving momentum and has given us the ability to expand into adjacent categories like sports bras and active tops, all are seeing great results. We expanded our winning Real Me leggings franchise, introducing a new holdup technology to our waistband.

Aerie 在緊身褲方面的狂熱追隨者正在推動勢頭，並使我們能夠擴展到運動文胸和運動上衣等相鄰類別，所有這些都取得了很好的成績。我們擴大了我們獲獎的 Real Me 緊身褲特許經營權，在我們的腰帶上引入了一種新的支撐技術。

We incorporate this fabrication into our sports bras and have seen amazing results for matching sets, which are a big trend. For the holiday season, I'm really excited for the new campaign, I want Aerie, our broadest campaign positioning Aerie as the gift-give destination.

我們將這種面料融入到我們的運動文胸中，並且已經看到了搭配套裝的驚人效果，這是一個大趨勢。對於假期，我對新活動感到非常興奮，我想要 Aerie，這是我們最廣泛的活動，將 Aerie 定位為送禮目的地。

Turning to American Eagle. Pressure was anticipated as we cycled last year's record results, yet we did better than expected. Our actions to intentionally reduce inventory contributed to a nice profit improvement from the first half. As noted at last year's analyst meeting, we've been focused on resetting the brand, reducing SKU counts and promotions and selectively closing unproductive stores. As a result of these efforts, we are seeing profits improve with operating income up 14% to 2019 and better margins across channels. Rationalizing excess SKUs is providing greater focus. We are making adjustments to address emerging fashion trends and feel really good about the newness we're bringing into the customer.

轉向美國之鷹。當我們循環去年創紀錄的結果時，壓力是預料之中的，但我們的表現好於預期。我們有意減少庫存的行動促成了上半年利潤的可觀改善。正如在去年的分析師會議上指出的那樣，我們一直專注於重置品牌、減少 SKU 數量和促銷活動以及有選擇地關閉非生產性商店。由於這些努力，我們看到利潤有所改善，營業收入到 2019 年增長了 14%，並且跨渠道的利潤率更高。合理化多餘的 SKU 提供了更大的關注點。我們正在做出調整以應對新興的時尚趨勢，並對我們為客戶帶來的新鮮感感到非常滿意。

For example, the Strigid denim collection launched last quarter and is doing very well. We've also shifted our assortment to emphasize new trends in woven bottoms such as cords, cargos and wider silhouettes, all of which are seeing nice demands.

例如，上個季度推出的 Strigid 牛仔系列表現非常好。我們還改變了我們的產品種類，以強調編織底部的新趨勢，例如繩索、工裝褲和更寬的廓形，所有這些都看到了不錯的需求。

As the supply chain environment continues to improve, we are becoming more nimble. We are getting back into a test and chase rhythm, which is a meaningful positive as we plan ahead. With new fashions, fabrics and silhouettes all emerging on the horizon and our renewed agility to respond to near-term shifts in consumer demand, we should have a great setup going into 2023.

隨著供應鏈環境不斷改善，我們變得更加靈活。我們正在回到測試和追逐的節奏，這對我們提前計劃來說是一個有意義的積極因素。隨著新的時尚、面料和輪廓的出現，以及我們對近期消費者需求變化做出響應的新的敏捷性，我們應該有一個很好的準備進入 2023 年。

We are also excited to launch a new sub-brand in men's, bringing innovation and newness to our men's business. Prelaunch tests have been very encouraging. We continue to leverage social commerce to explore new ways to engage with our customers. Our efforts across TikTok and the Metaverse continue to drive strong engagement.

我們也很高興推出一個新的男裝子品牌，為我們的男裝業務帶來創新和新鮮感。啟動前測試非常令人鼓舞。我們繼續利用社交商務探索與客戶互動的新方式。我們在 TikTok 和 Metaverse 上的努力繼續推動強大的參與度。

Additionally, this quarter, we became the first major fashion brand to launch on BeReal. While the macro is certainly not easy, my confidence in our brands and overall consumer affinity for great casual wear is stronger than ever.

此外，本季度，我們成為第一個在 BeReal 上推出的主要時尚品牌。雖然宏觀肯定不容易，但我對我們的品牌和消費者對優質休閒裝的整體親和力的信心比以往任何時候都強。

We remain intensely focused on innovation and seeking opportunities to drive profitable growth across our businesses. A big thank you, as always, to the Aerie and AE team for staying focused and forging ahead. I'm incredibly excited for our holiday collections, and I look forward to updating you on our performance next quarter.

我們仍然高度關注創新並尋找機會來推動我們業務的盈利增長。一如既往地非常感謝 Aerie 和 AE 團隊保持專注和銳意進取。我對我們的假期系列感到非常興奮，我期待著向您介紹我們下個季度的最新表現。

Thank you and wishing everyone a safe and healthy holiday. And now I'll turn the call over to Michael.

謝謝並祝大家度過一個安全健康的假期。現在我會把電話轉給邁克爾。

Okay. Thanks, Jen, and good morning, everyone. Overall, I'm pleased with how we managed the business in the third quarter, particularly as we navigated through an unpredictable environment. Let me start with a review of our channel performance -- this year, we faced a more constrained macro environment than amplified pressure from tough compares.

好的。謝謝，珍，大家早上好。總體而言，我對我們在第三季度管理業務的方式感到滿意，尤其是在我們渡過不可預測的環境時。讓我先回顧一下我們的渠道表現——今年，我們面臨的宏觀環境更加受限，而不是艱難比較帶來的放大壓力。

Store revenue declined 4% to last year, while digital revenue declined 5%. However, compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels, I'm really pleased with what we're seeing in the business. For example, brand revenue was up 14% with growth across both store and digital channels.

商店收入比去年下降了 4%，而數字收入下降了 5%。然而，與 2019 年大流行前的水平相比，我對我們在業務中看到的情況感到非常滿意。例如，隨著商店和數字渠道的增長，品牌收入增長了 14%。

Our digital business, in particular, has grown 35% over this period, with digital penetration expanding to 33% from 28%. We continue to invest in the speed and functionality of our digital platforms. Our mobile app business continues to be a powerhouse, driving strong engagement for both brands and approximately 40% of total digital spend. Investments in digital capabilities is going to remain a strategic focus.

尤其是我們的數字業務在此期間增長了 35%，數字滲透率從 28% 擴大到 33%。我們繼續投資於數字平台的速度和功能。我們的移動應用業務繼續保持強勁勢頭，推動了兩個品牌的強大參與度和約 40% 的數字支出總額。對數字能力的投資仍將是戰略重點。

As we noted last quarter, we have brought together store and digital operations, creating greater efficiencies and better integration of the customer experience. I see incredible opportunities as we ensure our go-to-market strategy is best aligned with how customers are shopping. Lifestyles have changed dramatically over the past several years and shopping behaviors continue to evolve, including the dramatic shift to digital, the need for speed and how, where and when customers are visiting stores.

正如我們在上個季度指出的那樣，我們將商店和數字運營結合在一起，提高了效率並更好地整合了客戶體驗。我看到了難以置信的機會，因為我們確保我們的上市戰略最符合客戶的購物方式。在過去幾年裡，生活方式發生了巨大變化，購物行為也在不斷演變，包括向數字化的巨大轉變、對速度的需求以及顧客光顧商店的方式、地點和時間。

Connecting the experience across all channels and creating a more seamless view of customers are top priorities. Our new mobile point-of-sale system is a great example of innovative technologies that we're leveraging to further elevate the customer experience.

連接所有渠道的體驗並創建更無縫的客戶視圖是首要任務。我們新的移動銷售點系統是創新技術的一個很好的例子，我們正在利用這些技術進一步提升客戶體驗。

All U.S. stores have now upgraded to the new system, and they're seeing improved transaction speeds and shorter checkout lines. This is going to be especially beneficial as we come up on the holiday rush. The new system is flexible, it provides a compelling mobile checkout experience and it incorporates several new capabilities including a much more seamless integration of our loyalty program.

現在，所有美國商店都已升級到新系統，交易速度得到提高，結賬隊伍更短。當我們趕上假期高峰時，這將特別有益。新系統非常靈活，它提供了引人入勝的移動結賬體驗，並融合了多項新功能，包括更加無縫地集成我們的忠誠度計劃。

We have an exciting road map to build out the customer engagement capabilities in 2023. This holiday, AE and Aerie will be offering virtual shopping sessions through Shop Live, a new platform connecting customers to our talented store associates for one-on-one style advice from the comfort of their homes and other one-to-many live stream shopping experiences that we're testing with Aerie.

我們有一個令人興奮的路線圖，以在 2023 年建立客戶參與能力。這個假期，AE 和 Aerie 將通過 Shop Live 提供虛擬購物會議，這是一個將客戶與我們才華橫溢的店員聯繫起來的新平台，以獲得一對一的風格建議從他們舒適的家中和我們正在與 Aerie 測試的其他一對多直播購物體驗。

We are also focused on updating and modernizing our most productive stores, relocating in some markets to ensure we're in the best locations, leveraging data to customize our assortments and inventory levels by market, continuing to close our least productive stores where we can confidently consolidate sales to other stores or transition to e-commerce and investing in new technology and leveraging artificial intelligence to improve inventory visibility, placement and ultimately, productivity across channels. There is significant value to be unlocked by all these focus areas.

我們還專注於更新和現代化我們生產力最高的商店，在一些市場重新定位以確保我們處於最佳位置，利用數據按市場定制我們的分類和庫存水平，繼續關閉我們可以自信地關閉生產力最低的商店將銷售整合到其他商店或過渡到電子商務，投資新技術並利用人工智能來提高庫存可見性、佈局，並最終提高跨渠道的生產力。所有這些重點領域都可以釋放出巨大的價值。

By approaching our physical store footprint from a variety of angles, we believe we can truly maximize our brands, elevate the customer experience and operate with a more efficient cost structure.

通過從多個角度研究我們的實體店足跡，我們相信我們可以真正最大化我們的品牌，提升客戶體驗並以更有效的成本結構運營。

Turning to supply chain. The environment has continued to improve. Although some volatility still remain, lead times have normalized and factory capacity has freed up. This presents a dramatically different planning environment compared to the constraints we were operating under this time last year. We have far greater agility in our operations, which is giving us the option to buy lean, lean more open and chase into demand.

轉向供應鏈。環境持續改善。儘管仍然存在一些波動，但交貨時間已經正常化，工廠產能已經釋放。與我們去年這個時候的運營限制相比，這呈現出截然不同的規劃環境。我們的運營更加靈活，這讓我們可以選擇購買精益、更開放的精益並追逐需求。

On the sourcing side, costs continue to stabilize. Cotton pricing has eased and freight costs are down significantly from levels seen over the past 12 months, which is going to provide a significant tailwind in 2023. On the outbound side, our investment in Quiet Platforms continues to fuel efficiencies and cost savings.

在採購方面，成本繼續穩定。棉花價格有所回落，運費較過去 12 個月的水平大幅下降，這將為 2023 年提供重要的推動力。在出境方面，我們對 Quiet Platforms 的投資繼續提高效率和節約成本。

I really want to underscore that the Quiet node network provided much needed capacity to AE and Aerie over the past several months, enabling us to seamlessly handle higher inventory levels. Digital delivery costs in the third quarter were down to last year as we fulfilled orders more cost effectively and with fewer shipments.

我真的想強調 Quiet 節點網絡在過去幾個月為 AE 和 Aerie 提供了急需的容量，使我們能夠無縫處理更高的庫存水平。第三季度的數字交付成本與去年同期相比有所下降，因為我們以更具成本效益的方式履行訂單並且減少了發貨量。

We're also leveraging Quiet's advanced fulfillment capabilities located near customers to further reduce delivery times with approximately 80% of online orders reaching our customers within 3 business days following checkout.

我們還利用 Quiet 位於客戶附近的高級履行功能進一步縮短交貨時間，大約 80% 的在線訂單在結帳後的 3 個工作日內到達我們的客戶。

Our third-party customer base service with the Quiet node, continues to expand. Interest from prospective customers remain strong, as awareness of the business continues to grow. We are also signing new transportation, fulfillment and technology partners onto the platform, which is further expanding our capabilities.

我們使用 Quiet 節點的第三方客戶群服務繼續擴展。隨著對業務的認識不斷提高，潛在客戶的興趣依然濃厚。我們還在該平台上簽署了新的運輸、履行和技術合作夥伴，這進一步擴展了我們的能力。

As Jay mentioned, we believe Quiet is a very exciting business that's early in its growth curve and has the potential to transform our industry Thanks. And with that, I'm going to turn the call over to Mike.

正如 Jay 所提到的，我們相信 Quiet 是一項非常令人興奮的業務，它處於增長曲線的早期，並且有可能改變我們的行業謝謝。有了這個，我要把電話轉給邁克。

Thanks, Michael. Good morning, everyone. The third quarter results exceeded our expectations across both revenue and profitability.

謝謝，邁克爾。大家，早安。第三季度的收入和盈利能力都超出了我們的預期。

As the team noted actions to reduce inventory levels cleared through excess spring goods in the second quarter and lower expenses resulted in a profit recovery from the first half of the year.

正如該團隊所指出的那樣，第二季度通過過剩的春季商品清除了庫存水平的行動以及較低的支出導致了上半年的利潤回升。

As we continue to manage through the current environment, we remain focused on improving profitability, cash generation and the health of our balance sheet. Third quarter consolidated revenue was $1.2 billion, down 3% to last year, including 2 points of growth from Quiet Platforms. Brand revenue declined 5%. The gross margin rate of 38.7% was ahead of our expectations of mid-30s due to better demand and lower than anticipated markdowns.

在我們繼續應對當前環境的過程中，我們仍然專注於提高盈利能力、現金生成和資產負債表的健康狀況。第三季度合併收入為 12 億美元，比去年同期下降 3%，其中 Quiet Platforms 的收入增長了 2 個百分點。品牌收入下降 5%。 38.7% 的毛利率高於我們對 30 年代中期的預期，原因是需求好轉且降價幅度低於預期。

As noted last quarter, we ended the third quarter in a better inventory position with fresh fall goods. As a result of our inventory actions, we were able to control our promotional activity while successfully moving through units.

正如上個季度所述，我們在第三季度結束時庫存狀況更好，秋季新鮮商品。由於我們的庫存行動，我們能夠在成功地通過單位移動的同時控制我們的促銷活動。

We ended the quarter with more progress on inventories as I'll review in a moment. Compared to last year, the gross profit dollar declined 15%, with a gross margin rate down 560 basis points against a very strong rate last year. Higher markdowns and increased product costs drove approximately 400 basis points of the decline.

我們在本季度結束時在庫存方面取得了更多進展，我稍後會回顧一下。與去年相比，毛利潤下降了 15%，毛利率比去年非常強勁的水平下降了 560 個基點。更高的降價幅度和增加的產品成本推動了大約 400 個基點的下降。

The integration of Quiet Platforms drove approximately 70 basis points of incremental deleverage. Rent and warehousing also increased as a rate to sales, offset by lower compensation costs.

Quiet Platforms 的整合推動了大約 70 個基點的增量去槓桿化。租金和倉儲費也隨著銷售額的增加而增加，但被較低的補償成本所抵消。

SG&A dollars declined $3 million compared to last year due to lower incentive accruals and expense actions announced earlier this year. We continue to make progress in resetting our expense base. As noted last quarter, these actions should result in over $100 million in annualized expense reductions from our original plan. We expect SG&A to be approximately flat in the fourth quarter.

由於今年早些時候宣布的應計激勵和費用行動減少，SG&A 美元與去年相比減少了 300 萬美元。我們在重置費用基礎方面繼續取得進展。正如上個季度所述，這些行動應該會導致我們最初計劃的年化費用減少超過 1 億美元。我們預計第四季度的 SG&A 將大致持平。

Although operating profit was below third quarter 2021, it was up to 2019. Operating profit of $118 million reflect a 9.5% margin. This included a $10 million loss from Quiet Platforms. As volumes ramp up into the holiday selling season, we expect Quiet's bottom line to improve sequentially.

儘管營業利潤低於 2021 年第三季度，但已達到 2019 年。1.18 億美元的營業利潤反映了 9.5% 的利潤率。其中包括 Quiet Platforms 的 1000 萬美元損失。隨著假期銷售旺季銷量的增加，我們預計 Quiet 的利潤將連續改善。

EPS was $0.42 per share, included a $1 million interest add back to net income linked to the outstanding convertible securities. Our diluted share count was 196 million, down from 205 million last year.

每股收益為 0.42 美元，其中包括 100 萬美元的利息加回與已發行可轉換證券相關的淨收入。我們的稀釋股數為 1.96 億，低於去年的 2.05 億。

Now I'll provide some color by brand. Aerie revenue increased 11%, driven by new stores. Comparable sales declined 3%, following an 18% increase last year. Aerie operating margin of 16.2%, marking a solid recovery back into the double digits as planned. Compared to 2019, total revenue nearly doubled with operating income more than tripling to $56 million. Continued strong growth, combined with higher merchandise margins are driving improved profitability for Aerie. This combination creates a durable path of profitable growth for the brand. Additionally, as new stores continue to ramp up, we're seeing improved productivity.

現在我將按品牌提供一些顏色。在新店的推動下，Aerie 收入增長了 11%。繼去年增長 18% 之後，可比銷售額下降了 3%。 Aerie 的營業利潤率為 16.2%，標誌著按計劃穩步恢復到兩位數。與 2019 年相比，總收入幾乎翻了一番，營業收入增長了兩倍多，達到 5600 萬美元。持續強勁的增長，加上更高的商品利潤率，正在推動 Aerie 盈利能力的提高。這種結合為品牌創造了一條持久的盈利增長之路。此外，隨著新店的不斷增加，我們看到了生產力的提高。

American Eagle comps declined 10% following a 21% increase last year, fueled by an exceptionally strong back-to-school season. AE achieved an operating margin of 21%, also showing improved profit flow-through relative to the second quarter. Markdowns were more controlled, reflecting more appropriate inventory levels.

American Eagle 的收入在去年增長 21% 後下降了 10%，這是受異常強勁的返校季推動。 AE 實現了 21% 的營業利潤率，與第二季度相比，利潤流轉也有所改善。減價更受控制，反映了更合適的庫存水平。

As Jen mentioned, our continued focus on initiatives to improve profitability is driving results. While revenue was down 4% compared to third quarter 2019, I'm pleased to note that operating profit was up 14% over the same period, and brand operating margin expanded 330 basis points to 20.8%.

正如 Jen 所提到的，我們繼續關注提高盈利能力的舉措正在推動成果。雖然與 2019 年第三季度相比收入下降了 4%，但我很高興地註意到同期營業利潤增長了 14%，品牌營業利潤率擴大了 330 個基點至 20.8%。

Consolidated inventory at cost was up 8% compared to last year with units up 7%. This reflects a meaningful improvement from last quarter's increase of 36% as we work to bring receipts more in line with demand. Inventory is current for the holiday season. We continue to expect sequential improvement with fourth quarter ending inventory plan down to last year.

與去年相比，按成本計算的綜合庫存增長了 8%，單位增長了 7%。這反映出與上一季度 36% 的增幅相比有了有意義的改善，因為我們努力使收入更符合需求。假日季節的庫存是最新的。我們繼續預計隨著第四季度末庫存計劃下降至去年的環比改善。

We ended the quarter with $82 million in cash and total liquidity of $423 million. Capital expenditures totaled $71 million in the quarter and $199 million year-to-date. For the full year, we continue to expect capital expenditures of approximately $250 million.

本季度結束時，我們擁有 8200 萬美元的現金和 4.23 億美元的總流動資金。本季度資本支出總計 7100 萬美元，年初至今為 1.99 億美元。對於全年，我們繼續預計資本支出約為 2.5 億美元。

As mentioned last quarter, we've made significant strategic investments to support the future growth of our business. This includes 85 new Aerie and OFFLINE stores over the past year, which should provide comp benefits and fuel profit expansion in Aerie in the coming years. As we focus on absorbing and growing into these investments, we expect annual CapEx to be significantly lower in 2023.

正如上個季度所述，我們已經進行了大量戰略投資以支持我們業務的未來增長。這包括過去一年中 85 家新的 Aerie 和線下商店，這應該會在未來幾年為 Aerie 帶來競爭優勢和燃料利潤擴張。由於我們專注於吸收和發展這些投資，我們預計 2023 年的年度資本支出將大幅降低。

Before I move on to our outlook, I want to highlight that our third quarter operating margins for both American Eagle and Aerie surpassed pre-pandemic rates achieved in the third quarter of 2019. As we think about the opportunity for margin expansion in the long run, this is a notable point. The quarter we just completed was far from perfect. Product and freight costs, while easing, were still elevated compared to third quarter 2019. We have a significant number of new Aerie and OFFLINE stores that are still in the process of ramping up to reach average fleet profitability. We're operating in an intense promotional environment as the industry works through historical levels of excess inventory. Additionally, we still see significant opportunities to improve inventory productivity. Assessing these factors, I'm confident that our third quarter margin performance, while reflecting a nice improvement from the first half of the year is not our ceiling.

在我繼續我們的展望之前，我想強調的是，我們第三季度的 American Eagle 和 Aerie 的營業利潤率超過了 2019 年第三季度大流行前的水平。從長遠來看，我們考慮擴大利潤率的機會，這是一個值得注意的點。我們剛剛完成的季度遠非完美。產品和運費雖然有所下降，但與 2019 年第三季度相比仍然有所上升。我們有大量新的 Aerie 和 OFFLINE 商店仍在增加以達到平均車隊盈利能力。我們在激烈的促銷環境中運營，因為該行業正在經歷歷史上的過剩庫存水平。此外，我們仍然看到提高庫存生產率的重要機會。評估這些因素後，我相信我們第三季度的利潤率表現雖然反映了今年上半年的良好改善，但並不是我們的上限。

Now on to our outlook. With key holiday selling weeks still ahead, the bulk of the quarter is yet to play out. With what is likely to be a highly promotional season in the broader market, we're guiding fourth quarter brand revenue down mid-single digits. This implies brand comps trending similar to the third quarter.

現在談談我們的展望。由於重要的假日銷售週仍在進行中，因此本季度的大部分時間尚未結束。由於更廣闊的市場可能是一個高度促銷的季節，我們將第四季度的品牌收入引導至中等個位數。這意味著品牌組合趨勢與第三季度相似。

We expect fourth quarter gross margins to be between 32% and 33% on the higher end of our prior outlook of low 30s. While we made significant progress in rightsizing our inventory position, we're taking a cautious view given the factors I just discussed.

我們預計第四季度毛利率將在 32% 至 33% 之間，高於我們之前 30 多歲的低預期。雖然我們在調整庫存頭寸方面取得了重大進展，但鑑於我剛才討論的因素，我們持謹慎態度。

Our tax rate assumption is in the high 20s and weighted average share count at approximately 196 million. We've made significant progress over the last 2 quarters in resetting our business, and we'll continue to prioritize profitability and cash flow improvement moving forward.

我們的稅率假設在 20 多歲左右，加權平均股數約為 1.96 億股。在過去的兩個季度中，我們在重新調整業務方面取得了重大進展，我們將繼續優先考慮盈利能力和現金流的改善。

Additionally, as the team noted, we've regained the utility in our supply chain, and we intend to use this to our advantage. For 2023, we're planning expenses and inventory tightly, knowing we have the ability to read and react to the demand signals as they evolve.

此外，正如該團隊指出的那樣，我們已經重新獲得了供應鏈中的效用，我們打算利用它來發揮我們的優勢。對於 2023 年，我們正在嚴格規劃開支和庫存，因為我們知道我們有能力在需求信號變化時閱讀需求信號並做出反應。

I look forward to providing more detail on our 2023 outlook on the next call.

我期待在下一次電話會議上提供更多關於我們 2023 年展望的細節。

With that, I'll open it up for questions.

有了這個，我會打開它來提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Matthew Boss with JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自摩根大通的 Matthew Boss。

And congrats on a nice quarter. So maybe one for Jen. Could you just elaborate on the bold inventory actions that you took in the third quarter across both brands?

祝賀一個不錯的季度。所以也許是給珍的。您能否詳細說明您在第三季度對兩個品牌採取的大膽庫存行動？

And maybe any early read on holiday trend? And just how do you feel your assortments are positioned into the fourth quarter and holiday to potentially take market share in this competitive backdrop?

也許有任何關於假期趨勢的早期閱讀？在這個競爭激烈的背景下，您如何看待您的產品在第四季度和假期中的定位，從而有可能佔據市場份額？

Of course. Thank you, Matt. Look, we really did move swiftly as we mentioned in the commentary, starting back in -- actually even back as far as Q1. And as a reminder, in the AE brand, just remember what we've been up to, we've been rationalizing SKUs for over 2 years right now to ensure that we are just very highly focused on what the items are and what we want to stand for.

當然。謝謝你，馬特。看，我們確實確實像評論中提到的那樣迅速行動，重新開始——實際上什至可以追溯到第一季度。提醒一下，在 AE 品牌中，請記住我們一直在做的事情，我們已經對 SKU 進行了 2 年多的合理化，以確保我們非常專注於產品是什麼以及我們想要什麼代表。

Certainly, denim and bottoms' at the helm of everything we do there. But back for both brands, we just -- we knew what was coming, and we certainly took serious action on getting our inventories in shape.

當然，牛仔布和下裝是我們在那裡所做的一切的掌舵人。但是回到這兩個品牌，我們只是——我們知道會發生什麼，我們當然採取了認真的行動來整理我們的庫存。

I like what I'm seeing in holiday. It's still early, Mike mentioned it. It's a little early right now, we have a big week ahead of us. But I -- we just went to all the malls, we saw our competition and we are certainly playing in our own terms. I'd like to say it that way.

我喜歡我在假期看到的東西。現在還早，邁克提到過。現在有點早，我們還有重要的一周。但是我——我們剛剛去了所有的購物中心，我們看到了我們的競爭，我們當然是在按照自己的方式比賽。我想這樣說。

While we want to be competitive, as you can see by our earnings performance, we are certainly ensuring that our promotions are strong. But like I said on our terms, we don't -- we want to stand, and this is a long-term strategy, Mike mentioned it. And I think we're really living up to what we told the analysts a few years back -- a couple of years back, I should say, on what our strategy is, and that is to deliver bottom line results.

雖然我們希望具有競爭力，正如您從我們的盈利表現中看到的那樣，我們當然會確保我們的促銷活動強有力。但正如我所說的那樣，我們不想——我們想堅持下去，這是一項長期戰略，邁克提到了這一點。而且我認為我們真的實現了幾年前我們告訴分析師的內容 - 幾年前，我應該說，我們的戰略是什麼，那就是實現底線結果。

I feel good about our inventory positioning, Matt, because at the end of the day, I think we're going to be cleaner coming into January, less clearance inventory, and that should really help us position our earnings again where -- and we feel confident about that.

我對我們的庫存定位感覺很好，馬特，因為歸根結底，我認為我們將在 1 月份變得更乾淨，清倉庫存減少，這應該真的有助於我們再次定位我們的收益——我們對此充滿信心。

And then maybe just a follow-up for Mike. So with your fourth quarter gross margin guidance more or less flat to a year ago, could you just elaborate maybe on the puts and takes if we're thinking about markdowns versus freight versus Quiet logistics? And I guess, even more so, if we think into next year, is there any reason why you couldn't see merchandise margin expansion as we lap these inventory actions?

然後也許只是邁克的後續行動。因此，由於您的第四季度毛利率指導或多或少與一年前持平，如果我們正在考慮降價、運費和安靜物流，您能否詳細說明看跌期權和看跌期權？而且我想，更重要的是，如果我們考慮到明年，當我們採取這些庫存行動時，有什麼理由看不到商品利潤率的增長？

Thanks, Matt. Yes, for the fourth quarter, it's a continuation with our revenue guide of the brands being down 5. As Jen just mentioned, we're being strategic and competitive with our promotions, but not being overly promotional, but we're ready to be competitive where we need to be.

謝謝，馬特。是的，第四季度，我們的品牌收入指南繼續下降 5。正如 Jen 剛才提到的，我們在促銷方面具有戰略性和競爭力，但不會過度促銷，但我們已經準備好在我們需要的地方競爭。

And then on that revenue guide and with negative comps implied. We've got BOW deleverage that we'd expect again in the quarter. And then Quiet will have a similar strain on gross margin as well. So if you piece those different aspects together, that's -- we're on the higher end of our previous low 30s guide, but feel good about that cautious stance at the moment.

然後在該收入指南中暗示了負補償。我們預計本季度將再次出現 BOW 去槓桿化。然後 Quiet 也會對毛利率產生類似的壓力。因此，如果你將這些不同方面拼湊在一起，那就是——我們處於之前 30 多歲低點指南的高端，但目前對這種謹慎立場感覺良好。

And then for next year, something Michael and I can both -- or maybe tag team here, I think we actually see some tailwind going into next year as just to recap where we've been for the last 4 or 5 quarters.

然後對於明年，邁克爾和我都可以——或者也許在這裡標記團隊，我認為我們實際上看到明年會出現一些順風，只是為了回顧過去 4 或 5 個季度的情況。

We know last year was -- the fourth quarter was the start of the significant impact of product costs, both in ocean freight and air freight rates, incurring that air freight in the fourth quarter to get our goods here, everything we've talked about for a year now.

我們知道去年是 - 第四季度是產品成本產生重大影響的開始，無論是海運費還是空運費率，第四季度發生空運，將我們的貨物運到這裡，我們談論的一切一年了。

As we look forward now, it's with our chase capabilities back in place, I think freight costs look like they could be a tailwind into next year. Product costs in general, looking beneficial. We think we can get back to almost pre-pandemic types of IMUs, which would be a benefit to gross margin next year.

正如我們現在所期待的那樣，隨著我們的追逐能力恢復到位，我認為運費成本看起來可能會成為明年的順風。產品成本一般，看著有利。我們認為我們可以回到幾乎大流行前的 IMU 類型，這將有利於明年的毛利率。

Michael, I don't know if you -- anything you want to add to that?

邁克爾，我不知道你是否 - 你想補充什麼？

No, you said it well. I think merch margin should be better next year. We have IMU benefit. Supply chains are much tighter, so we could run the business leaner and chase into demand. And we're up against a year, Matt, that was really unprecedented.

不，你說的很好。我認為明年的商品利潤率應該會更好。我們有 IMU 優勢。供應鏈更加緊張，因此我們可以更精簡地經營業務並追逐需求。我們即將迎來一年，馬特，這真的是前所未有的。

It had very long lead times. We are going against stimulus fueled demand. And next year, we're up against a much more normalized environment. So between IMU benefits and ending this quarter in a very good inventory position and being able to react to the business next year, which is something we couldn't do this year, I absolutely believe that we're going to have higher merch margins next year.

它的交貨時間很長。我們反對刺激刺激的需求。明年，我們將面對一個更加規範化的環境。因此，在 IMU 收益和本季度結束時庫存狀況非常好以及能夠對明年的業務做出反應之間，這是我們今年無法做到的，我絕對相信我們明年會有更高的商品利潤率年。

Our next question is from Jay Sole with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀的 Jay Sole。

I have 2 questions. Jen, my first question is that you made some comments about Aerie in the opening prepared remarks. It sounded really bullish. Just talk about what gives you conviction behind that bullishness given the comp was negative in the quarter.

我有兩個問題。 Jen，我的第一個問題是你在開場白中對 Aerie 發表了一些評論。這聽起來真的很樂觀。考慮到本季度的 comp 為負，只需談談是什麼讓你相信這種看漲。

And then secondly, for Michael, can you talk about the logistics platform a little bit. And maybe give us an idea what has developed over the last 90 days and kind of the path to profitability as you see it if it's next year or beyond.

其次，對於邁克爾，你能談談物流平台嗎？也許讓我們了解過去 90 天的發展情況，以及您在明年或以後看到的盈利之路。

Yes. And Mike said it well, Jay, I think we believe that when we start to anniversary these new store openings, we're going to gain market share in those particular markets.

是的。邁克說得好，傑伊，我認為我們相信，當我們開始慶祝這些新店開業時，我們將在這些特定市場獲得市場份額。

And then we're just -- we believe that that's going to be something that we're going to annualize next year, and we really feel good about that.

然後我們只是——我們相信這將是我們明年要實現的年度目標，我們對此感到非常滿意。

Second of all, there's been a lot of commentary about slowdown on casual wear, but we're definitely not seeing it in Aerie. Look, we have this OFFLINE brand that is really -- it's amazing. The early-on results here for a business that we launched during COVID, I've never seen anything like it to be perfectly honest. I feel really good about that product offering, our leggings, it is a cult following. I said that in my opening remarks. I mean, it's true. These leggings are best in show. And that team is innovating year-over-year. I feel so good about the innovation there. and it's something new to talk about to our Aerie customer.

其次，有很多關於休閒裝放緩的評論，但我們絕對不會在 Aerie 看到它。看，我們有這個 OFFLINE 品牌，它真的——太棒了。我們在 COVID 期間推出的一項業務的早期結果，老實說，我從來沒有見過這樣的事情。我對我們的緊身褲產品感到非常滿意，它受到了狂熱的追捧。我在開場白中已經說過了。我的意思是，這是真的。這些緊身褲最適合展示。該團隊每年都在創新。我對那裡的創新感覺很好。這是與我們的 Aerie 客戶談論的新事物。

So we feel strong about these categories. We're not seeing a softness in some of these more casual-type businesses. And I think Aerie really has a cornerstone there. So not only a cult-like following on our leggings, but just the brand and what we stand for.

所以我們對這些類別感覺很強烈。我們沒有看到一些休閒型企業出現疲軟。而且我認為 Aerie 確實有一塊基石。因此，不僅是我們的緊身褲的狂熱追隨者，還有品牌和我們所代表的東西。

So we're just going to continue to deliver and innovate and we're doing that in both brands, honestly, Jay. Some of the newness in AE, I'm so proud about. We're pivoting into the right new bottoms categories. and just some of those qualities and new ideas, I think are like no other. And I also feel really good about a new launch that we're going to have early spring -- spring one. I can't say what it is, but pretty excited around that as well.

所以我們將繼續提供和創新，我們正在兩個品牌中這樣做，老實說，Jay。 AE 中的一些新穎之處，我為此感到非常自豪。我們正在轉向正確的新下裝類別。我認為其中一些品質和新想法是獨一無二的。我也對我們將在早春推出的新產品感到非常滿意——春季產品。我不能說它是什麼，但對此也很興奮。

Yes. And Jay, just for Aerie, building on what Jen was saying, I just want to make sure it's totally clear that -- we've opened a ton of new stores in the last year or so. I think Mike said it in his prepared remarks. That -- all of those openings were a headwind for comp over the early part of this year and even through third quarter.

是的。而 Jay，就 Aerie 而言，根據 Jen 所說的，我只想確保完全清楚——我們在過去一年左右開設了大量新店。我想 Mike 在他準備好的發言稿中已經說過了。那——所有這些空缺在今年年初甚至整個第三季度都對 comp 不利。

Starting with fourth quarter, that becomes a tailwind -- so as these stores anniversary themselves, they become more mature, those stores should provide actually -- those new stores, if history repeats itself, and we believe it will, based on what we're seeing. Those new stores should provide a multiyear comp tailwind for Aerie starting in the fourth quarter.

從第四季度開始，這成為順風——隨著這些商店本身的周年紀念日，它們變得更加成熟，這些商店實際上應該提供——那些新商店，如果歷史重演，我們相信它會，基於我們的重新看到。從第四季度開始，這些新店應該會為 Aerie 提供多年的競爭優勢。

And as it relates to Quiet, yes, we continue to be really excited about Quiet, its third-party customer revenue is planned to be up significantly. I think it's up in the neighborhood of 60%, 70%, 80% this year. And when you look at our results, if you look at the American Eagle results, for the quarter, we had a lower cost per order, okay, and fewer split shipments in our results.

就 Quiet 而言，是的，我們仍然對 Quiet 感到非常興奮，它的第三方客戶收入計劃大幅增長。我認為今年增長了 60%、70%、80% 左右。當您查看我們的結果時，如果您查看 American Eagle 的結果，在本季度，我們的每筆訂單成本較低，好吧，我們的結果中拆分出貨量也較少。

Again, those results in retail, I think, are incredibly unusual. They might be unprecedented. And as we're talking to other brands, other retailers, other people in the industry, everyone wants this kind of benefit in their business. We've proven the business case for it. And the pipeline for new customers for Quiet is extremely healthy. So we'll have more new customers that we'll talk about at the end of the fourth quarter.

同樣，我認為零售業的這些結果非常不尋常。它們可能是前所未有的。當我們與其他品牌、其他零售商、業內其他人交談時，每個人都希望在他們的業務中獲得這種好處。我們已經證明了它的商業案例。 Quiet 的新客戶渠道非常健康。因此，我們將在第四季度末討論更多新客戶。

But again, it's a business that's delivering results for American Eagle and providing very unique benefits in the industry that we're confident that other brands and retailers are going to want to take advantage of.

但同樣，這是一項為 American Eagle 帶來成果並在行業中提供非常獨特優勢的業務，我們相信其他品牌和零售商將希望利用這些優勢。

Our next question is from Paul Lejuez with Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗的 Paul Lejuez。

Just want to follow up on the response to the last question about Aerie being a drag, and all those openings being a drag through the first 3 quarters of this year. I guess, curious what the plan is in terms of openings for next year and if you would expect a similar drag from a new class of openings?

只想跟進對關於 Aerie 拖累的最後一個問題的回應，而所有這些空缺都是今年前三個季度的拖累。我想，好奇明年的開放計劃是什麼，以及您是否會期望新類別的開放帶來類似的拖累？

Also would love to hear if you can give any detail about stand-alone performance of Aerie versus the side by sides. And then I think you mentioned product costs were going to be a tailwind? Curious how that looks first half -- first, second half of '23.

如果您能提供有關 Aerie 的獨立性能與並排性能的任何細節，也很想听聽。然後我認為你提到產品成本將成為順風？很好奇上半場看起來如何 - 23 年的上半場和下半場。

Thanks, Paul. I'll start and Michael can maybe add on to your -- or answer your product cost question. But for the Aerie stores, Michael just said a few things, let me add on to what we said about prepared -- in my prepared remarks.

謝謝，保羅。我會開始，邁克爾也許可以添加到您的 - 或者回答您的產品成本問題。但對於 Aerie 商店，邁克爾只是說了幾句話，讓我在我準備好的發言中補充一下我們所說的準備好的內容。

We have 85 stores over the last year. But if you actually look back across all of '21 and all of '22, it'll be over 130 stores. So as we've talked about for quite some time, our digital halo effect and what happens within the brand as we invest that aggressively, you typically see a digital impact with all that new store growth and in cases where we're adding stores to existing markets, you see an impact to the stores that were already there.

去年我們有 85 家商店。但如果你真的回顧整個 21 年和整個 22 年，就會有超過 130 家商店。因此，正如我們已經討論了很長一段時間，我們的數字光環效應以及我們積極投資時品牌內部發生的事情，您通常會看到所有新店增長的數字影響以及我們將商店添加到現有市場，您會看到對已經存在的商店的影響。

So over a 6- to 12-month period, then we see a bit of a comp -- a negative comp impact sometimes in markets. And then as we're describing, after that 6- to 12-month period, you start to see the total market lift. So we've played that out over these past 2 years. As Michael said, as we head into the fourth quarter, we actually believe that the comp performance in Aerie could improve.

因此，在 6 到 12 個月的時間裡，我們會看到一些競爭——有時會對市場產生負面影響。然後正如我們所描述的那樣，在 6 到 12 個月的時間之後，你開始看到整個市場的提升。所以我們在過去的兩年裡已經解決了這個問題。正如 Michael 所說，當我們進入第四季度時，我們實際上相信 Aerie 的比賽表現可以改善。

We talked about guiding to similar comps, but depending on the mix of business within Aerie, we could actually see a positive comp or a better result in the fourth quarter. And then as you play this forward into '23, we're only contemplating opening maybe 30 locations next year. So you won't have any -- really any significant comp impact from that growth, many of these 130-plus stores coming around in '23 and ramping up their maturity.

我們談到了指導類似的公司，但根據 Aerie 內部的業務組合，我們實際上可以在第四季度看到積極的公司或更好的結果。然後當你把它玩到 23 年時，我們只考慮明年開設大約 30 個地點。所以你不會有任何 - 這種增長真的有任何重大的影響，這些 130 多家商店中的許多商店在 23 年左右出現並提高了它們的成熟度。

So that's what we're talking about in terms of the tailwind in the next year and beyond is some really aggressive openings, really aggressive investment in the brand, and that's next year, we're excited about what that means to overall growth and comp growth.

所以這就是我們在明年及以後談論的順風是一些非常積極的開放，對品牌的真正積極的投資，那是明年，我們很高興這對整體增長和競爭意味著什麼生長。

Stand-alone and side-by-side performance, I think you asked about. I don't think we're seeing a significant difference between formats right now. So I think you can assume that. And then Michael, on product costs into next year, you can take that.

獨立和並排性能，我想你問過。我不認為我們現在看到格式之間的顯著差異。所以我認為你可以假設。然後邁克爾，關於明年的產品成本，你可以接受。

Yes. Paul, the question was what are we seeing first half, second half. We really haven't -- it's too early to comment on the second half of next year. In the first half, we certainly see markup being better than it was this year.

是的。保羅，問題是我們在上半場、下半場看到了什麼。我們真的沒有——現在對明年下半年發表評論還為時過早。上半年，我們肯定會看到加價比今年要好。

And actually, we're seeing a lot of -- we're just seeing a lot of benefit in the business. I think the fact that we're ending the fourth quarter with inventories [so clean, so] we're getting the full benefit of a weaker demand environment as we're sourcing spring and summer products.

實際上，我們看到了很多——我們只是在業務中看到了很多好處。我認為我們在第四季度結束時的庫存 [如此乾淨，所以] 我們在採購春季和夏季產品時充分利用了需求疲軟的環境。

So I see markup better than 2022 in the first half. And as we're [preparing] for spring and summer, in any way, we're seeing markup is better than prepandemic 2019.

所以我認為上半年的加價幅度要好於 2022 年。在我們為春季和夏季 [做準備] 時，無論如何，我們看到加價比 2019 年大流行前要好。

Our next question is from Janet Kloppenburg with JJK Research Associates.

我們的下一個問題來自 Janet Kloppenburg 和 JJK Research Associates。

And congrats on the improved results. Jen, can you just talk a little bit about what kind of levels of promotional activity we should see in the fourth quarter on a year-over-year basis?

並祝賀改進的結果。 Jen，你能談談我們應該在第四季度看到什麼樣的促銷活動與去年同期相比嗎？

Inventories are in great shape and you're excited about the product and the comparison is relatively easy. So I'm wondering what we should be watching for in the fourth quarter? And on SG&A, as we look out to next year, are there any investments that were put off for this year that we should consider for next year?

庫存狀況良好，您對產品感到興奮，比較也相對容易。所以我想知道我們應該在第四季度關注什麼？在我們展望明年的 SG&A 方面，是否有任何我們應該考慮明年推遲的投資？

And just lastly, Jay, if you could enlighten us on your thoughts about consumer spending next year and how that may impact your business, it would be terrific.

最後，Jay，如果你能告訴我們你對明年消費者支出的想法以及這將如何影響你的業務，那就太好了。

Look, I think what you're going to see is we're going to remain competitive through these next couple of weeks. They're big weeks for us, and we want to step up our A-game for sure.

看，我認為你將看到的是我們將在接下來的幾週內保持競爭力。這對我們來說是重要的幾週，我們肯定想加強我們的 A-game。

So we will be competitive. But then what I -- hopefully, through my crystal ball, I do believe that we have opportunity in December to run better businesses. If you recall last year, Aerie definitely had opportunity on the margin side in Q4. So we're definitely going to step that up and make sure that we're protecting that.

所以我們會很有競爭力。但我希望，通過我的水晶球，我相信我們在 12 月有機會經營更好的業務。如果你還記得去年，Aerie 在第四季度肯定有機會獲得利潤。所以我們肯定會加強這一點，並確保我們正在保護它。

And December, we believe that's our opportunity, including January, like I mentioned, where we don't have the inventory levels that some of our competition has, and it will allow us to really pull back on promotion in January when it's a highly liquidation period, as you know, and set us up for success for early spring. I just approved the spring store set. They look phenomenal. That's when you'll see our new surprise in men's. And -- yes, we're just going to keep on trying to deliver our newness, Janice, again -- Janet, and so we can compete on our terms.

12 月，我們相信這是我們的機會，包括 1 月，就像我提到的那樣，我們沒有我們的一些競爭對手所擁有的庫存水平，這將使我們能夠在 1 月份的高度清算時真正取消促銷活動如您所知，為早春的成功做好準備。我剛剛批准了春季商店套裝。他們看起來很了不起。屆時您會看到我們在男裝方面的新驚喜。而且 - 是的，我們將繼續努力提供我們的新鮮感，Janice，再次 - 珍妮特，所以我們可以按照我們的條件進行競爭。

And on SG&A, Mike?

在 SG&A 方面，邁克？

Look, yes, we're very pleased with our progress to date. It's been a focus since the beginning of the year. I thank the teams cross-functionally for all their efforts. We achieved flat or a slightly down in Q3, we believe we'll be flat again for the fourth quarter. But the work is not done. It's still work in progress.

看，是的，我們對迄今為止的進展感到非常滿意。自年初以來，它一直是一個焦點。我感謝跨職能團隊所做的所有努力。我們在第三季度取得了持平或略有下降，我們相信我們將在第四季度再次持平。但工作還沒有完成。它仍在進行中。

We're working through plans for next year. I think the other fact is that we're not -- it's not just an SG&A focus even though it's what we tend to talk about the most. And you ask -- you guys asked the most questions about SG&A, but it's really only half our expense base.

我們正在製定明年的計劃。我認為另一個事實是我們不是——這不僅僅是 SG&A 的焦點，儘管這是我們最常談論的話題。你問——你們問的關於 SG&A 的問題最多，但這實際上只是我們費用基數的一半。

So as we look at plans for next year and on a sort of longer-term basis, even for the next few years, we're looking across every category in every area that impacts gross margin down through SG&A and even depreciation impacts. So work in progress. We'll talk more on the next quarter about expectations for 2023 and beyond. And just know we're not done.

因此，當我們審視明年的計劃和更長期的計劃時，即使是未來幾年，我們也在研究每個領域的每個類別，這些類別會通過 SG&A 甚至折舊影響影響毛利率。所以工作正在進行中。我們將在下一季度更多地討論對 2023 年及以後的預期。只知道我們還沒有完成。

As you add -- in this business, you have to be an optimist otherwise, you can't be in the retail business. And I'm excited about a lot of things. I think some of these new product launches that Jen was talking about that it's going to be very exciting for the company. We have the ability, as Michael was saying earlier, we see our costs coming down. We see the cost of freight going down back to the 2019 levels.

正如你所補充的——在這個行業，你必須是一個樂觀主義者，否則，你就不能從事零售業務。我對很多事情都很興奮。我認為 Jen 談到的一些新產品發布對公司來說將是非常令人興奮的。正如邁克爾之前所說，我們有能力看到我們的成本下降。我們看到貨運成本回落至 2019 年的水平。

So there's reason for optimism. We see we have the ability to work closer to need and be able to chase the merchandise. So everything is pretty positive, and we can only control what we could control. But I'm optimistic. I think that there's a lot of good signs. I was reading that the mortgage rates will start coming down, hopefully, interest will follow that. And I think it's going to be better than people expect.

因此，我們有理由保持樂觀。我們看到我們有能力更貼近需求並能夠追逐商品。所以一切都非常積極，我們只能控制我們能控制的。但我很樂觀。我認為有很多好的跡象。我讀到抵押貸款利率將開始下降，希望利息會隨之下降。而且我認為它會比人們預期的更好。

Our next question is from Dana Telsey with Telsey Advisory Group.

我們的下一個問題來自 Telsey Advisory Group 的 Dana Telsey。

Nice to see the progress. As you think about the tailwinds of some of the freight expenses with cotton costs and what you're seeing, how do you see that unfolding in the margins?

很高興看到進展。當您考慮一些運費與棉花成本的順風以及您所看到的情況時，您如何看待利潤率的變化？

And then on the Aerie business, Jen very exciting about the new spring launch. Anything we should be watching for as we go through the holiday season besides the leggings that could indicate even a further pickup in sales go forward in terms of levels of demand.

然後在 Aerie 業務上，Jen 對新的春季發布感到非常興奮。除了緊身褲，我們在整個假期期間應該注意的任何事情都可能表明，就需求水平而言，銷量甚至會進一步回升。

And then just on the core American Eagle business, denim trends, in particular for men and women, any differentiation that you're seeing?

然後就核心 American Eagle 業務而言，牛仔趨勢，尤其是男性和女性，您看到了什麼差異化趨勢？

Okay, Dana. On the trends with freight going down, cotton going down, it's all positive. That's good news. The last 2 years, it was the opposite. I remember 8 months ago, everybody was forecasting freight to keep going up, cotton to keep going up, commodity keep going up and everybody was positive 8 months ago, prices were going to go -- keep going higher and higher and it's going the opposite way.

好的，達娜。運費下降、棉花價格下降的趨勢都是積極的。那是好消息。過去兩年，情況恰恰相反。我記得 8 個月前，每個人都預測運費會繼續上漲，棉花會繼續上漲，大宗商品會繼續上漲，8 個月前每個人都很樂觀，價格會上漲——越來越高，但情況恰恰相反方法。

So I think things are positive. I think also we just don't compete against stores like in the United States, it's a world market. And I think that a lot of the factories that we deal with sell other countries, other continents. Softer in Europe, it's softer around the world and that gives us advantage of buying our products at better cost. So that's a positive sign to be able to off -- and one thing I'm proud is that we give the customer a great selection. I think we have the -- one of the best lineups in retail. Our quality is a #1 and our value is a #1. So we're very excited. We think the designers and the buyers and our team have done a great job I know that as far as was planned for next year, it's very exciting. And I think Jen will talk about that later. So I think it's all positive.

所以我認為事情是積極的。我認為我們也不會像美國那樣與商店競爭，這是一個世界市場。我認為與我們打交道的很多工廠都在銷售其他國家和其他大陸。歐洲更軟，世界各地也更軟，這讓我們有優勢以更優惠的成本購買我們的產品。所以這是一個能夠關閉的積極信號——我感到自豪的一件事是我們為客戶提供了一個很好的選擇。我認為我們擁有 - 零售業最好的陣容之一。我們的質量是第一，我們的價值是第一。所以我們非常興奮。我們認為設計師、買家和我們的團隊做得很好，我知道就明年的計劃而言，這是非常令人興奮的。我想 Jen 稍後會談到這一點。所以我認為這一切都是積極的。

Yes. And I agree, Jay. And Dana, as far as how it unfolds, I see it getting better throughout the spring season. So -- the reason I keep saying ending -- our ending inventory is clean is so important. I think if you're a retailer and you're carrying over inventory from this year into next year, you're going to be carrying that -- the higher transportation costs and cotton cost with it as it flows through the P&L.

是的。我同意，傑伊。而 Dana，就它的發展方式而言，我看到整個春季它都在變得更好。所以——我一直說結束的原因——我們的結束庫存是乾淨的非常重要。我認為，如果你是一家零售商，並且你要將庫存從今年轉移到明年，那麼你將承擔這一點——更高的運輸成本和棉花成本，因為它會流經損益表。

For us, we'll have very little of that. So we have some fabric platforms that we'll work through. But in general, we're seeing obviously, huge benefit in transportation costs. Nice benefit, as Jay was saying, in product costs. And as the spring season builds, we're going to start spring season with a markup benefit and as it builds, that markup benefit should grow throughout the season.

對我們來說，我們將擁有很少的東西。因此，我們將使用一些結構平台。但總的來說，我們顯然看到了運輸成本的巨大好處。正如 Jay 所說，產品成本方面的好處很大。隨著春季的建立，我們將以加價收益開始春季，隨著它的建立，加價收益應該會在整個季節增長。

Michael, I just want to add one thing. You talk about cotton. We play by the rules. We're very careful what cotton we use, we're very careful where we manufacture our goods. And we expect our competition to follow the same way, too.

邁克爾，我只想補充一件事。你說的是棉花。我們遵守規則。我們非常小心我們使用的棉花，我們非常小心我們製造我們的產品。我們希望我們的競爭也能遵循同樣的方式。

And I think in fairness to the retailers in America, it should be a level playing field. And I think that certain retailers who are not based there who get advantages of not paying tariffs, shipping their goods in, not being responsible where they're doing their sourcing and not following by the rules should be punished for it.

我認為，為了公平對待美國的零售商，這應該是一個公平的競爭環境。而且我認為，某些不在當地的零售商可以享受不支付關稅、運送貨物、不對採購地點負責以及不遵守規則等優勢，因此應該受到懲罰。

And I think it's wrong, what's going on. I think the Congress should wake up and make a level playing to offer American companies, period. And I thank the U.S. analysts who follow, should be writing that that's not fair for American companies to play by the rules and other companies that come in this country, violate the rules and get away with it.

我認為這是錯誤的，這是怎麼回事。我認為國會應該清醒過來，公平競爭，為美國公司提供服務。我感謝跟隨的美國分析師，他們應該寫道，美國公司遵守規則和進入這個國家的其他公司違反規則並逍遙法外是不公平的。

Well, that was well said, Jay, that's a tough act to follow there. Yes, Dana, just let's start with American Eagle. I do want to be -- make sure that I was clear on my prior answer. We have a new launch in the American Eagle brand, specifically in men's for the spring one delivery.

好吧，說得好，傑伊，要做到這一點很難。是的，Dana，讓我們從 American Eagle 開始吧。我確實希望——確保我清楚我之前的回答。我們推出了 American Eagle 品牌的新品，特別是春季推出的男裝。

So we're pretty excited about it. We've had early reads on what we're about to launch, and the early results have been great. And certainly, we're going to do it with integrity and caution to ensure that we're not going to overdrive a new business, but we're pretty excited about what we're seeing.

所以我們對此感到非常興奮。我們已經提前了解了我們即將發布的內容，並且早期的結果非常好。當然，我們將以誠信和謹慎的態度來做這件事，以確保我們不會過度推動一項新業務，但我們對我們所看到的感到非常興奮。

Regarding denim, look, denim is the heritage of our brand but so is bottoms. And we're definitely seeing a shift into new bottom silhouettes, cargo, cords and some wider silhouettes.

關於牛仔布，你看，牛仔布是我們品牌的傳承，但下裝也是。我們肯定會看到新的底部輪廓、貨物、繩索和一些更寬的輪廓的轉變。

And with what we've been up to as far as rationalizing our denim SKUs, it's allowing us to be more flexible and getting into those businesses as we ride out a slightly softer trend that we're seeing.

就我們在合理化牛仔布 SKU 方面所做的工作而言，它使我們能夠更加靈活地進入這些業務，因為我們已經度過了我們所看到的略微疲軟的趨勢。

But we strongly believe in denim. It's here to stay. As Jay mentioned, we're an American brand and certainly Denim will always be at the helm of everything we do in American Eagle, and we're really proud of that category. And we have newness there as well, Dana, that we're excited about. You'll see that in early spring.

但我們堅信牛仔布。它會留在這裡。正如 Jay 提到的，我們是一個美國品牌，當然牛仔布將永遠是我們在 American Eagle 所做的一切的掌舵人，我們為這個類別感到非常自豪。我們也有新鮮事物，Dana，我們對此感到興奮。你會在早春看到這一點。

For Aerie, we're just getting going with OFFLINE. It is -- as you know, it's a fairly new business for us, it's a couple of years old. I mean our legging innovation is like no other, and we're focused on that and OFFLINE. But we also have incredible other categories. Our fleece categories, they are like no other out there. I'm so proud of that price value equation that we offer in Aerie and we're certainly not seeing any softness there. So excited about that category. And newness, again, it's a content evolution. We're looking at new ways to deliver the business and market it. We really talk about it, but our marketing campaigns in Aerie, they're so innovative and so fun. And I think it really sets us apart in the mall. So there's a lot more to come there.

對於 Aerie，我們只是開始使用 OFFLINE。這是——如你所知，這對我們來說是一項相當新的業務，已經有幾年的歷史了。我的意思是我們的緊身褲創新與眾不同，我們專注於此和離線。但我們也有令人難以置信的其他類別。我們的抓絨類產品與眾不同。我為我們在 Aerie 提供的價格價值方程式感到非常自豪，我們當然不會看到那裡有任何疲軟。對那個類別很興奮。新意，再次，它是一種內容演變。我們正在尋找新的方式來提供業務和營銷它。我們真的在談論它，但我們在 Aerie 的營銷活動非常有創意，也很有趣。我認為這真的讓我們在購物中心與眾不同。所以還有很多事情要做。

I just -- like I said, for both brands, I just approved the spring early sets and, oh my gosh, I mean is it fun and new and just feels -- again, hopefully, we're going to stand out in the mall and stand for what we do in each brand. Intimate, certainly, again, in Aerie is not an oversight. We're continually innovating in our bras. I like what I'm seeing on the go forward. So hopefully, we can please and delight our customers as well because that's what we're up to.

我只是 - 就像我說的，對於這兩個品牌，我剛剛批准了春季早期套裝，哦，我的天哪，我的意思是它有趣和新穎並且只是感覺 - 再次希望，我們將在商場並代表我們在每個品牌中所做的事情。親密，當然，再一次，在 Aerie 中不是疏忽。我們不斷創新文胸。我喜歡我在前進中看到的東西。所以希望我們也能取悅我們的客戶，因為這就是我們所做的。

our next question is from Adrienne Yih with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Adrienne Yih。

Let me add my congratulations, well done. Jen, just to go back to your enthusiasm, you sound -- it is the best you sounded, I mean, in a while. So I'm really excited about that. But it sounds like the supply chain is back to a level where you're able to test and reorder as well as chase.

讓我表示祝賀，幹得好。珍，回到你的熱情，你聽起來——我的意思是，這是一段時間以來你聽起來最好的。所以我真的很興奮。但聽起來供應鏈又回到了可以測試和重新訂購以及追逐的水平。

So I guess my question is, as you go into the spring season, how much are you buying upfront versus leaving on the table to be able to do that and read demand?

所以我想我的問題是，當你進入春季時，你會預先購買多少而不是留在桌子上以便能夠做到這一點並閱讀需求？

And then for Michael or Mike, on inventory. Can you remind us, it was up 37% at the end of 4Q, 46% and then 37% again in Q1 and Q2.

然後是邁克爾或邁克的庫存。你能提醒我們嗎，第四季度末增長了 37%，第一季度和第二季度增長了 46%，然後又增長了 37%。

Can you remind us what portion of that was in transit? Because if we see your inventory numbers down double digit, and it was all in transit, I just don't want people to get worried that you can't comp, right? Because it was unavailable for sale. It wasn't very high utility and de facto, you in my opinion, I think you're not going to order excess inventory.

你能提醒我們其中的哪一部分是在運輸途中的嗎？因為如果我們看到你們的庫存數量下降了兩位數，而且都在運輸途中，我只是不想讓人們擔心你們無法彌補，對吧？因為賣不出去。它不是很高的實用程序，事實上，在我看來，你不會訂購過多的庫存。

So I just want to make sure that messaging -- that part of it is clear.

所以我只想確保消息傳遞——它的那一部分是清楚的。

We're constantly evaluating our inventory to sales relationship and ensuring that our sales positioning depending on the plan is certainly positioned higher than our inventory position. So that's what we're up to. That's what we've been up to. It's definitely a best practice for both of our brands.

我們不斷評估我們的庫存與銷售關係，並確保我們根據計劃的銷售定位肯定高於我們的庫存位置。這就是我們要做的。這就是我們一直在做的。這絕對是我們兩個品牌的最佳實踐。

And roughly, we leave about I mean I would say I'm going off the top but roughly about maybe 25% open. And as Michael said, we're just way more flexible right now. We're able to get goods here faster and more swiftly, and we're certainly taking advantage of the supply chain and we're leveraging that. So I would like to say that what you're seeing for holiday and what we just released as far as our inventory, you'll see more or the same on the go forward. And with some of the new technologies, we believe we can get even more efficient with our inventory. So I hope that answers your question.

粗略地說，我們離開了我的意思是我會說我會離開頂部但大約大約 25% 開放。正如邁克爾所說，我們現在更加靈活。我們能夠更快、更迅速地在這裡拿到貨物，我們當然正在利用供應鏈，我們正在利用它。所以我想說的是，你在假期看到的和我們剛剛發布的庫存，你會在未來看到更多或相同的東西。借助一些新技術，我們相信我們可以更有效地處理我們的庫存。所以我希望這能回答你的問題。

Our next question is from Kimberly Greenberger with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Kimberly Greenberger。

Jen, I wanted to follow up on what you're seeing on trends in the business. If you could just sort of frame the changing consumer preferences, if you're seeing any this year compared to last year?

珍，我想跟進您所看到的業務趨勢。如果你能對不斷變化的消費者偏好進行某種框架，如果你看到今年與去年相比有什麼變化？

And how are those ebbs and flows and what consumers are gravitating to, how is that informing your buying for 2023?

這些潮起潮落如何，消費者被什麼所吸引，這對您 2023 年的購買有何影響？

Sure. I think I've said this before in my -- for both brands, we're up to comfort, soft and that in conjunction with our price value equation and our quality, I think, is like no other.

當然。我想我之前已經說過——對於這兩個品牌，我們都非常舒適、柔軟，並且結合我們的價格價值方程和我們的質量，我認為，這是獨一無二的。

So where I do -- you're hearing there's conversations out there, and there has been some shift into going out that was earlier on this year -- dresses, some of those categories. But at the end of the day, our core demographics, they want comfort.

所以我在哪裡 - 你聽到那裡有對話，今年早些時候已經發生了一些轉變 - 連衣裙，其中一些類別。但歸根結底，我們的核心人口統計數據，他們想要舒適。

We haven't seen a shift in fleece. We're seeing upticks there for both businesses. They just -- American casual comfort is not going away. And I think that's -- the most important thing any brand can do is stand for what they represent, both brands are fit intensive, so our bra categories in Aerie and our denim bottoms categories in AE, it's so important.

我們還沒有看到羊毛的變化。我們看到這兩家公司都在增長。他們只是——美式休閒舒適並沒有消失。而且我認為那是 - 任何品牌可以做的最重要的事情就是代表他們所代表的東西，這兩個品牌都是合身的，所以我們在 Aerie 的文胸類別和我們在 AE 的牛仔布底部類別，這非常重要。

Our customers want to look good in their clothing, and that's where I think we stand apart. We focus on the best fits in the industry. Comfort, like I said. And on the go forward, I think we're going to continue to deliver what our customer expects from us. We're a bottom space business in American Eagle. We're shifting underneath the covers there. And in Aerie, we're still going to stand for our intimates business, but we like some of these new categories that we're adding. And the thing I like about Aerie is customers are demanding more from us every day. I mean, literally, they want more categories from Aerie because they love what we stand for. They love the platform, and they want to be part of that community.

我們的客戶希望穿著好看，我認為這就是我們與眾不同的地方。我們專注於行業中的最佳選擇。舒適，就像我說的。在前進的道路上，我認為我們將繼續提供客戶對我們的期望。我們是 American Eagle 的底部空間業務。我們正在那裡的掩護下移動。在 Aerie，我們仍將代表我們的內衣業務，但我們喜歡我們正在添加的一些新類別。我喜歡 Aerie 的一點是客戶每天都對我們提出更多要求。我的意思是，從字面上看，他們想要 Aerie 的更多類別，因為他們喜歡我們所代表的東西。他們喜歡這個平台，並且希望成為該社區的一員。

Our next question is from Dan Stroller.

我們的下一個問題來自 Dan Stroller。

Can you hear me? I think it was brought up in the prepared remarks, AUR versus pre-COVID. Was that quantified at the [grants]? And if not, I guess, where is it and where you think opportunity may exist?

你能聽到我嗎？我認為這是在準備好的評論中提出的，AUR 與 COVID 之前。是在 [贈款] 中量化的嗎？如果沒有，我想，它在哪里以及您認為機會可能存在的地方？

We didn't cover it in the prepared remarks, but it is up to pre-pandemic levels for both brands. We don't have specifics for you right now. But yes, AUR is healthy and up in both brands.

我們沒有在準備好的評論中涵蓋它，但這兩個品牌都達到了大流行前的水平。我們現在沒有適合您的具體信息。但是，是的，AUR 在兩個品牌中都是健康的。

Okay, I think we can take one more question.

好的，我想我們可以再回答一個問題。

Our next question will come from Jungwon Kim with Cowen.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Jungwon Kim 和 Cowen。

Just one question on marketing costs. We are seeing some elevated costs for customer acquisition. Curious as to how you're managing your costs at the moment and what your plans are for next year?

只有一個關於營銷成本的問題。我們看到客戶獲取的成本有所增加。想知道您目前如何管理成本以及明年的計劃是什麼？

Thank you. Yes. Yes, you're correct. There's definitely sort of headwinds in terms of advertising and marketing costs. We've got a lot of different moving parts within our advertising spend. So we are prioritizing that spend to make sure that we can offset those costs, not incrementally incur expense for the company, but then redirect spend where we need to for customer acquisition and retention. So the teams are hard at work at that.

謝謝你。是的。是的，你是對的。在廣告和營銷成本方面肯定存在一些不利因素。我們的廣告支出中有很多不同的活動部分。因此，我們正在優先考慮這筆支出，以確保我們能夠抵消這些成本，而不是為公司增加支出，然後將支出重定向到我們需要的地方，以獲取和保留客戶。所以團隊正在努力工作。

It's kind of week-to-week, month-to-month conversation in terms of where investments are made. And then on a kind of preseason planning basis. That's definitely the focus they have looking into next year. But we believe we can spend to similar levels and similar rate of sales to generate what we need to from an acquisition retention perspective without incrementally incurring expense -- as the opportunities we're uncovering.

就投資地點而言，這是一種每週、每月的對話。然後在季前賽計劃的基礎上。這絕對是他們明年關注的重點。但我們相信，我們可以花費類似的水平和類似的銷售率來從收購保留的角度產生我們需要的東西，而不會增加費用——正如我們正在發現的機會。

All right. And on that note, as Mike has said, we are intently focused on improving profitability and cash flow and while maintaining strong discipline around inventory expenses and capital expenditures. Our brands are healthy, our operations are resilient, and I'm confident we will emerge from the current macro stronger.

好的。在這一點上，正如邁克所說，我們專注於提高盈利能力和現金流，同時在庫存費用和資本支出方面保持嚴格的紀律。我們的品牌很健康，我們的運營很有彈性，我相信我們會從當前的宏觀經濟中走出來變得更強大。

I look forward to updating you on our continued progress. I wish everyone a happy and a safe holiday season. And on a personal note, go Buckeyes.

我期待著向您通報我們持續取得的進展。祝大家度過一個快樂安全的假期。就個人而言，去 Buckeyes。

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。