American Eagle Outfitters Inc (AEO) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the American Eagle Outfitters Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call.

您好，歡迎參加 American Eagle Outfitters 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。

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

（操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Judy Meehan. Thank you. You may begin.

現在我想將電話轉給主持人朱迪·米漢 (Judy Meehan)。謝謝。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; and Mike Mathias, Chief Financial Officer.

大家，早安。今天與我一起發表準備好的演講的是執行主席兼執行長傑伊‧蕭滕斯坦 (Jay Schottenstein)； Jen Foyle，AE 和 Aerie 總裁兼執行創意總監；和首席財務官邁克·馬蒂亞斯。

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. 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. Additionally, you can find our third quarter investor presentation posted on our corporate website at www.aeo-inc.com in the Investor Relations section.

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聲明。這些陳述是基於代表公司當前期望或信念的資訊。根據我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中所包含的風險因素，實際實現的結果可能會存在重大差異。除非法律要求，否則本公司不承擔公開更新或修改任何前瞻性聲明的義務，無論是由於新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。此外，您還可以在我們公司網站 www.aeo-inc.com 的投資者關係部分找到我們發布的第三季投資者簡報。

And now I will turn the call over to Jay.

現在我將把電話轉給傑伊。

Good morning. Overall, I'm pleased with our third quarter performance. Although the macro environment remains highly dynamic, we are seeing encouraging trends. Our brands remain stronger than ever, and our strategic priorities are propelling us forward. AEO's customers are at the center of our strategy, driving constant innovation that enables us time and time again to deliver exciting collections. And this fall was no exception.

早安.總的來說，我對我們第三季的表現感到滿意。儘管宏觀環境仍然高度活躍，但我們看到了令人鼓舞的趨勢。我們的品牌比以往任何時候都更強大，我們的策略重點正在推動我們前進。 AEO 的客戶是我們策略的核心，推動不斷創新，使我們能夠一次又一次地推出令人興奮的產品系列。今年秋天也不例外。

Additionally, we provided an industry-leading customer experience, reflecting our investments in data-driven insights and operational excellence. With the launch of our profit improvement program, structural initiatives to drive growth and higher margins are taking hold.

此外，我們還提供了領先業界的客戶體驗，反映了我們對數據驅動的洞察力和卓越營運的投資。隨著我們利潤改善計畫的啟動，推動成長和提高利潤率的結構性舉措正在落地。

Now a few financial and strategic highlights from the quarter. Third quarter revenue hit a record of $1.3 billion, driven by 5% comp growth, reflecting growing brand momentum and terrific fall merchandise collection. Our market-leading brands are true lifestyle destinations for our customers, and that was evident this quarter. Aerie returned to double-digit revenue and comp growth and AE generated positive revenues and comps. We also saw significant strength across digital and stores with new merchandise and strong execution, driving improved traffic across AE and Aerie.

現在介紹本季的一些財務和策略亮點。在 5% 的同比增長的推動下，第三季度收入達到創紀錄的 13 億美元，反映出不斷增長的品牌勢頭和出色的秋季商品系列。我們的市場領導品牌是我們客戶真正的生活方式目的地，這一點在本季顯而易見。 Aerie 恢復了兩位數的收入和比較成長，AE 產生了正的收入和比較。我們也看到數位和商店的巨大實力，新商品和強大的執行力，推動了 AE 和 Aerie 的流量增加。

The digital channel was a star performer, accelerating to 10% growth. We are seeing great momentum here. Under the leadership of our new Head of Digital, David Zhang, we have introduced innovative customer engagement tactics, enhance our use of data and analytics to drive stronger KPIs. This work has yielded a remarkable improvement in our e-commerce business will receive plenty of runway ahead.

數位通路表現出色，成長率加速至 10%。我們在這裡看到了巨大的勢頭。在我們新任數位主管張大衛的領導下，我們引入了創新的客戶參與策略，加強了對數據和分析的使用，以推動更強大的 KPI。這項工作取得了顯著的進步，我們的電子商務業務將迎來廣闊的發展空間。

Stores were also positive in the quarter. We are pleased with early results from new store designs, including our Gateway store in SoHo. The store encompasses all of our collections across AE, Arie, OFFLINE, AE77, AE 24/7 and our unsubscribed seamlessly under one roof. New Arie and OFFLINE stores are also coming out of the gate positive to expectations.

本季的商店也表現積極。我們對新店設計的早期成果感到滿意，包括我們位於 SoHo 的 Gateway 店。商店囊括了我們所有的 AE、Arie、OFFLINE、AE77、AE 24/7 系列產品以及我們無縫取消訂閱的產品。新的 Arie 和 OFFLINE 商店的開張也符合預期。

Turning to profit. We achieved our second highest third quarter gross margin and operating income in over a decade. This was only -- second only to 2021 when stimulus fueled exceptional results across the industry. Margin expansion to last year was driven by improved markup as well as numerous structural changes aligned with our ongoing focus on profit improvement.

轉向盈利。我們實現了十多年來第二高的第三季毛利率和營業收入。這是僅次於 2021 年的第二次刺激措施，當時整個產業都取得了非凡的表現。去年利潤率的成長是由於加價的提高以及與我們持續關注利潤改善一致的眾多結構性變化所推動的。

A few highlights of this work include maintaining tight inventory and promotional discipline, changing our clearance strategy to yield higher profit, scaling Aerie and shift in the product mix into higher-margin categories, modernizing our delivery network to reduce costs and optimize AE's Real Estate footprint. As we continue to drive strong demand and build momentum on this work, we are raising our full year operating income guidance to the high end of our prior range. We now expect to be in the range of $340 million to $350 million from $325 million to $350 million prior.

這項工作的一些亮點包括保持緊張的庫存和促銷紀律、改變我們的清倉策略以產生更高的利潤、擴大Aerie 規模並將產品組合轉向利潤率更高的類別、現代化我們的交付網絡以降低成本並優化AE 的房地產足跡。隨著我們繼續推動強勁的需求並為這項工作建立動力，我們將全年營業收入指引提高到先前範圍的高端。我們現在預計的收入範圍為 3.4 億美元至 3.5 億美元，之前為 3.25 億美元至 3.5 億美元。

Lastly, our capital allocation priorities remain unchanged. We are committed to investing in our brands and continued growth while returning capital to shareholders. Our balance sheet is resilient and we maintain a healthy liquidity position. We ended the quarter with $241 million in cash and nearly $900 million in total liquidity with no debt.

最後，我們的資本配置優先順序保持不變。我們致力於投資我們的品牌和持續成長，同時向股東返還資本。我們的資產負債表具有彈性，並且保持健康的流動性狀況。本季結束時，我們擁有 2.41 億美元的現金和近 9 億美元的總流動資金，沒有債務。

Looking ahead, we remain intently focused on advancing our long-term strategic priorities to; one, drive consistent growth across our portfolio of brands; and two, generate efficiencies and cost savings for improved profit flow-through. We continue to advance towards our priorities and investing in talent, which further positions us for future success.

展望未來，我們仍然專注於推進我們的長期策略重點：第一，推動我們品牌組合的持續成長；第二，提高效率並節省成本，以改善利潤流動。我們繼續推進我們的優先事項並投資於人才，這進一步為我們未來的成功奠定了基礎。

During the quarter, as part of our COO, Michael Rempell succession plan, we made 2 key leadership appointments. We are excited to welcome Sarah Clarke, our new Chief Supply Chain Officer, who is responsible for ensuring operational excellence across our global supply chain from sourcing through distribution. And a welcome to Valerie van Ogtrop, our new Head of Brand Operations, a role we created to drive greater collaboration and synergies across AE and Aerie's growth and profit plan. Sarah and Valerie nicely complement our teams of experienced executives and excellent bench of division leaders and associates.

本季度，作為營運長 Michael Rempell 繼任計畫的一部分，我們任命了 2 項關鍵領導層。我們很高興歡迎新任首席供應鏈長 Sarah Clarke，她負責確保我們的全球供應鏈從採購到分銷的卓越營運。歡迎 Valerie van Ogtrop，我們的新任品牌營運主管，我們設立這個職位是為了推動 AE 和 Aerie 的成長和利潤計劃之間更大的合作和協同效應。莎拉和瓦萊麗很好地補充了我們經驗豐富的高階主管團隊以及優秀的部門領導和同事團隊。

There's a high level of focus and energy across the organization around our profit improvement project. We've had strong engagement from our leadership teams with great support from our Board of Directors. We are harnessing our innovative spirit to rethink how we operate every day and with work streams focused on unlocking both revenue growth and efficiencies moving forward. We intend to host an Investors Meeting in Spring of 2024, where we will unveil specifics on our go-forward strategy and provide long-term financial targets. And in near term, with incentives fully embedded in our 2023 expense base and early benefits from our profit improvement initiatives, I am confident of our ability to leverage expenses, even on modest sales growth in 2024.

整個組織對我們的利潤改善項目高度關注和充滿活力。我們的領導團隊積極參與，並得到了董事會的大力支持。我們正在利用我們的創新精神重新思考我們的日常營運方式，以及專注於未來收入成長和效率的工作流程。我們計劃於 2024 年春季舉辦投資者會議，屆時我們將公佈未來策略的具體細節並提供長期財務目標。短期內，由於激勵措施完全納入我們 2023 年的費用基礎，以及我們利潤改善計劃的早期收益，我對我們利用費用的能力充滿信心，即使 2024 年銷售增長不大。

AEO has enduring brands, robust operations and strong talent. I am confident that with our strong foundation and new strategic direction, we have the right recipe in place to build revenue and profit from here and deliver shareholder returns.

AEO擁有持久的品牌、穩健的營運和強大的人才。我相信，憑藉我們堅實的基礎和新的策略方向，我們擁有正確的方法來增加收入和利潤，並為股東帶來回報。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Jen.

這樣，我會將電話轉給 Jen。

Thanks, Jay, and good morning, everyone. As Jay noted, we had a strong quarter with sequential improvement across brands and channels. All collections were well received, and I am proud of how the teams executed on our brand strategies. It was incredibly exciting to see American Eagle return to growth with revenue and comps of 2%. We delivered a winning assortment that showcased our incredible brand heritage and an exciting customer experience.

謝謝傑伊，大家早安。正如傑伊所指出的那樣，我們度過了一個強勁的季度，各個品牌和管道都取得了連續的進步。所有系列都受到好評，我為團隊執行我們品牌策略的方式感到自豪。看到 American Eagle 恢復成長，營收和利潤成長 2%，真是令人興奮不已。我們提供了一個成功的產品系列，展示了我們令人難以置信的品牌傳統和令人興奮的客戶體驗。

Women's was particularly strong where we wrote positive comps across tops and bottoms. We are seeing strong demand for fleece, tees, skirts and newer bottoms such as twills, cargoes and wider legs. Men's saw strength in tees, sweaters, twill bottoms and shorts.

女裝尤其強勁，我們在上衣和下裝上都寫下了正面的對比。我們看到羊毛、T 卹、裙子和斜紋布、工裝褲和寬腿褲等新型下裝的需求強勁。男裝在 T 卹、毛衣、斜紋布下裝和短褲中表現強勁。

AE also delivered strong operating profit growth, up 6% to last year, aligned with the strategic plan we laid out in 2021. We have made significant progress in improving the health of the AE brand over the last few years. We stepped away from low-margin sales, rationalized SKUs to eliminate unprofitable offerings and optimize our brand's Real Estate footprint.

AE 也實現了強勁的營業利潤成長，比去年成長了 6%，這與我們在 2021 年制定的策略計畫一致。過去幾年，我們在改善 AE 品牌的健康狀況方面取得了重大進展。我們放棄了低利潤銷售，合理化了 SKU，以消除無利可圖的產品並優化我們品牌的房地產足跡。

As a proof point, third quarter brand profit is up 20% and relative to third quarter 2019 levels with revenue modestly down 2%. With profit restored to a healthy level as discussed in prior quarters, we are strategically focused on growth. Early initiatives have been highly impactful, and I'm pleased to note that AE returned to growing its customer file this quarter. Casual wear is a lifestyle that continues to evolve providing exciting new trends for us to drive and play into.

作為一個證明，第三季的品牌利潤成長了 20%，相對於 2019 年第三季的水平，營收小幅下降了 2%。隨著利潤恢復到前幾季討論的健康水平，我們的策略重點是成長。早期的舉措非常有影響力，我很高興地註意到 AE 本季恢復了擴大客戶檔案的勢頭。休閒裝是一種不斷發展的生活方式，為我們推動和參與提供令人興奮的新趨勢。

We are focused on expanding our dominance in denim, leveraging our industry-leading fits and fabrics to deliver newness. At the same time, we are also making investments to better penetrate categories and occasions that are important to our customers with collections like AE 24/7 and men's activewear and AE 77, our premium capsule.

我們致力於擴大我們在牛仔布領域的主導地位，利用我們領先業界的版型和布料來提供新穎性。同時，我們也進行投資，以更好地滲透對客戶重要的類別和場合，推出 AE 24/7 和男士運動服以及我們的高級膠囊系列 AE 77 等系列。

We are also continuing to invest in our store fleet to improve productivity and ensure we put our best foot forward. We have seen a positive response to AE's new store design with remodeled stores delivering significantly improved comps. Based on the success of these initial tests, we are expanding our remodel program next year to include additional stores while continuing to close and reposition low productivity locations, and we are also focused on improving inventory allocation and replenishment to better serve our customers.

我們也繼續投資我們的門市隊伍，以提高生產力並確保我們全力以赴。我們看到了對 AE 的新商店設計的積極回應，改造後的商店提供了顯著改善的競爭。基於這些初步測試的成功，我們將在明年擴大改造計劃，以納入更多商店，同時繼續關閉和重新定位低生產力地點，我們也致力於改善庫存分配和補貨，以更好地為我們的客戶服務。

And lastly, we continue to leverage and innovate marketing campaigns and amplifying excitement around the AE brand. This fall, we collaborated with the Ziegler sisters on a limited-edition capsule to showcase key fashion items for back-to-school season, this included our (inaudible) event, a powerful takeover on the High Line in New York City and immersive installation that stopped New Yorkers in their tracks. We showcase the quality and versatility of our iconic denim assortment underscoring and our strong heritage and dominance in the category. The campaign outperformed our expectations, driving strong sales, both online and in stores.

最後，我們持續利用和創新行銷活動，增強 AE 品牌的吸引力。今年秋天，我們與齊格勒姐妹合作推出了一個限量版膠囊系列，展示返校季節的關鍵時尚單品，其中包括我們的（聽不清楚）活動、紐約市高線公園的強勢接管以及沉浸式裝置這讓紐約人停下了腳步。我們展示了我們標誌性牛仔布系列的品質和多功能性，強調了我們在該類別中的深厚傳統和主導地位。該活動超出了我們的預期，推動了線上和商店的強勁銷售。

Now turning to Aerie. We had an exceptional quarter with revenue and comps 12% and profits expanding 34%. Newness and assortment changes in our core intimates business drove a nice sequential recovery. We grew market share and had our best-ever third quarter performance in core brand. We also continue to see rapid growth in our core apparel business with particular strength in fleece and sweaters where new collections are resonating very well. And our activewear collection OFFLINE also had a great quarter, achieving double-digit growth.

現在轉向艾瑞。我們度過了一個出色的季度，收入和比較增長了 12%，利潤增長了 34%。我們核心內衣業務的新穎性和品種變化推動了良好的連續復甦。我們的市佔率有所成長，並且在核心品牌方面取得了有史以來最好的第三季業績。我們也繼續看到我們的核心服裝業務快速成長，尤其是羊毛衫和毛衣業務，新系列引起了很好的反響。我們的 OFFLINE 運動服系列也有一個出色的季度，實現了兩位數的成長。

Aerie has seen incredible expansion over the last few years, growing into a beloved destination for exciting fashion and comfy cozy fits in intimates, apparel, slimmer and activewear. Since 2019, we have doubled our sales and quadrupled our profit. We are gaining new customers every season with our total customer file now over 10 million. Yet with just a low single-digit share of close to $80 billion total addressable market, we are just scratching the surface. Activewear, in particular, provides an attractive opportunity fueled by strong demand for athleisure. We see a unique opportunity to build share here with OFFLINE. Aerie's vibrant and playful take on activewear as we continue to develop the assortment. We are focused on continuing to build brand awareness as we leverage investments in our store fleet and innovative marketing strategies to grow our customer base and share of wallet.

Aerie 在過去幾年中取得了令人難以置信的擴張，現已發展成為令人喜愛的目的地，提供令人興奮的時尚和舒適合身的內衣、服裝、修身服和運動服。自 2019 年以來，我們的銷售額翻了一番，利潤翻了兩番。我們每個季節都在吸引新客戶，目前我們的客戶檔案總數已超過 1,000 萬。然而，在接近 800 億美元的總目標市場中，我們所佔的份額僅為個位數，我們才剛剛觸及表面。尤其是運動服，在運動休閒的強勁需求推動下提供了一個有吸引力的機會。我們看到了與 OFFLINE 建立共享的獨特機會。隨著我們不斷開發產品系列，Aerie 對運動服的詮釋充滿活力和俏皮。我們致力於持續建立品牌知名度，利用對商店隊伍的投資和創新的行銷策略來擴大我們的客戶群和錢包份額。

New store performance remained strong, providing a positive lift to comps as they come into the company. Additionally, OFFLINE openings are exceeding plan. On the marketing side, Aerie's fall campaigns were focused on elevating the brand as the go-to for high-quality, fashionable and comfortable intimates and apparel. We showed up across the season within the way of notable influencer talent and programs. This included a first-to-market partnership with a popular dating app Bumble, encouraging users to find their company match with Aerie. We also hosted the Hidden Gems Marketplace, a fun, interactive customer event in New York City that generated strong marketing KPIs.

新店表現依然強勁，為公司的競爭對手提供了積極的推動力。此外，線下空缺數量也超出了計劃。在行銷方面，Aerie 的秋季活動重點是將品牌提升為高品質、時尚和舒適的內衣和服裝的首選。我們整個賽季都以著名影響者的才華和節目的方式出現。其中包括與流行的約會應用程式 Bumble 建立首次市場合作夥伴關係，鼓勵用戶透過 Aerie 找到他們的公司配對。我們還在紐約舉辦了 Hidden Gems Marketplace，這是一場有趣的互動客戶活動，產生了強大的行銷 KPI。

We have 2 of the best brands in retail. Through over a decade, we have consistently ranked in the top 3 brands in the Piper Sandler Taking Stock with Teens survey. AE is the market leader in denim in the age 15 to 25 cohort, the #2 brand across all ages and the #1 brand for women in particular. Aerie is one of the most exciting brand platforms in fashion, celebrating body positivity and empowering women to feel their best selves every day. It's a strategic priority to profitably grow our portfolio of brands and I see meaningful opportunity ahead.

我們擁有零售業最好的兩個品牌。十多年來，我們在 Piper Sandler 青少年盤點調查中始終名列前三名。 AE 是 15 至 25 歲年齡層牛仔布市場的領導者，也是所有年齡層的第二大品牌，尤其是女性的第一品牌。 Aerie 是時尚界最令人興奮的品牌平台之一，倡導身體積極性，讓女性每天都能感受到最好的自己。以獲利方式發展我們的品牌組合是一項策略重點，我看到了未來的重大機會。

Before I turn this call over to Mike, a big thank you to the AE and Aerie teams for their hard work in delivering a strong quarter. Our brand, category and channel strategies are gaining momentum, which is a true testament to this talented team.

在我將這個電話轉給 Mike 之前，非常感謝 AE 和 Aerie 團隊為強勁的季度業績所做的辛勤工作。我們的品牌、品類和通路策略正在蓄勢待發，這是對這個才華橫溢的團隊的真實證明。

And with that, I will turn the call over to Mike.

然後，我會將電話轉給麥克。

Thanks, Jen. Good morning, everyone. As Jay mentioned, third quarter results marked continued progress on our strategic priorities to grow our brands and set us up for improved profit flow-through. Strong brand momentum, combined with actions taken on our profit improvement initiatives, resulted in improved gross margins and operating income year-over-year. We entered in the quarter with momentum that continued into the early holiday season, fueling a strong top line result.

謝謝，珍。大家，早安。正如傑伊所提到的，第三季的業績標誌著我們在發展品牌和提高利潤流動方面的策略重點方面取得了持續進展。強勁的品牌勢頭，加上我們採取的利潤改善計劃，導致毛利率和營業收入較去年同期增加。我們進入本季時的勢頭一直持續到假期初期，推動了強勁的營收業績。

Consolidated revenue of $1.3 billion was up 5% to last year, and comparable sales also rose 5%. Operating income of $125 million reflected a 9.6% operating margin. Gross profit of $544 million increased $64 million, representing a gross margin of 41.8%, up 310 basis points to last year. As Jay noted, we achieved some of our highest merchandise margins on record, reflecting strong demand, lower costs and a number of benefits from our profit improvement initiatives.

綜合營收為 13 億美元，比去年成長 5%，可比銷售額也成長 5%。營業收入為 1.25 億美元，營業利益率為 9.6%。毛利為 5.44 億美元，增加了 6,400 萬美元，毛利率為 41.8%，比去年提高了 310 個基點。正如傑伊所指出的那樣，我們實現了有史以來最高的商品利潤率，反映出強勁的需求、較低的成本以及我們的利潤改善計劃帶來的許多好處。

Inventory discipline resulted in lower markdowns as we maintained healthy promotions. With the change in our clearance model announced last quarter, we continue to sell through end-of-season merchandise at better margins. We also saw leverage on rent, reflecting our focus on strengthening fleet productivity at AE and the ramp-up of new Aerie stores as well as delivery, distribution and warehousing costs with efficiencies across several key metrics, including lower shipments per order and lower cost per shipment.

由於我們保持健康的促銷活動，庫存控制導致降價降低。隨著上季宣布的清倉模式的改變，我們繼續以更高的利潤銷售季末商品。我們也看到了租金槓桿，反映出我們專注於加強AE 的車隊生產力和新Aerie 商店的增加，以及交付、分銷和倉儲成本，以及幾個關鍵指標的效率，包括降低每筆訂單的出貨量和降低每筆訂單的成本。運輸。

SG&A expense of $362 million was up 16% from last year and in line with guidance. Consistent with strong business trends, roughly half of the increase was driven by incentive expense after 0 accruals last year. As discussed last quarter, incentives are weighted to the back half of this year. The payroll also increased largely due to higher wages. Depreciation was up year-over-year and in line with guidance provided last quarter, primarily reflecting our investment in new stores.

SG&A 費用為 3.62 億美元，比去年成長 16%，與指引一致。與強勁的業務趨勢一致，去年的應計費用為零後，大約一半的成長是由激勵費用推動的。正如上季所討論的，激勵措施的重點是今年下半年。由於工資上漲，工資也有所增加。折舊年上升，與上季提供的指引一致，主要反映了我們對新店的投資。

As noted previously, we have reset incentives to reflect improving business performance with incentives now on our base and an ongoing focus on cost efficiencies, we're well positioned to leverage our expense based on modest top line growth next year. EPS for the third quarter of $0.49 per share.

如前所述，我們重新設定了激勵措施，以反映業務績效的改善，現在我們的基礎上有激勵措施，並且持續關注成本效率，我們處於有利地位，可以在明年適度的收入增長的基礎上利用我們的費用。第三季每股收益為 0.49 美元。

Turning to our brands. Aerie revenue and comparable sales increased 12% in the third quarter, a positive noncomp lift from these stores was offset by lower third-party fell off, reflecting greater inventory control and our shift to a more profitable clearance model. Aerie's operating margin of 19.3% hit an all-time high, expanding over 3 points to last year as the brand continued to scale, and we saw improved markups, lower markdowns and early benefits from the clearance shift. American Eagle revenue and comps increased 2% with the operating margin expanding 70 basis points to 21.5%. As we discussed on numerous occasions, our focus over the past several years has been strengthening the profitability of the AE brand. I'm extremely pleased with the progress we've made, expanding profit margin by 400 basis points since third quarter of 2019.

轉向我們的品牌。第三季度，Aerie 收入和可比銷售額增長了12%，這些商店的非營利正面提升被第三方下滑的減少所抵消，反映出我們加強了庫存控制，並轉向了利潤更高的清倉模式。隨著品牌規模的不斷擴大，Aerie 的營業利潤率達到了歷史新高，達到了19.3%，比去年增長了3 個百分點以上，而且我們看到了加價的改善、降價的降低以及清倉轉移帶來的早期效益。 American Eagle 的營收和比較成長了 2%，營業利潤率擴大了 70 個基點，達到 21.5%。正如我們多次討論的那樣，過去幾年我們的重點是加強 AE 品牌的獲利能力。我對我們的進展感到非常滿意，自 2019 年第三季以來，利潤率擴大了 400 個基點。

We're now turning our attention to growing the top line with a sharp eye on profit flow-through. Consolidated ending inventory cost was down 4% compared to last year with units down 3%. Inventory levels remain healthy and controlled as we maintain buying discipline and case demand. We ended the quarter with a balance sheet in a strong position, including $241 million of cash and total liquidity of $875 million, including our revolver.

我們現在將注意力轉向增加收入，並密切關注利潤流動。與去年相比，綜合期末庫存成本下降了 4%，單位數量下降了 3%。由於我們維持採購紀律和案件需求，庫存水準保持健康且受控。本季結束時，我們的資產負債表狀況良好，其中包括 2.41 億美元的現金和 8.75 億美元的總流動資金（包括我們的左輪手槍）。

Capital expenditures totaled $43 million, and we continue to expect full year CapEx to be in the range of $150 million to $175 million. Our plan for our consolidated store count in 2023 remains roughly flat to last year, reflecting approximately 25 new Aerie store openings offset by approximately 25 net closures for the AE brand.

資本支出總計 4,300 萬美元，我們繼續預期全年資本支出將在 1.5 億至 1.75 億美元之間。我們對 2023 年合併門市數量的計劃與去年基本持平，反映出大約 25 家新開的 Aerie 門市被 AE 品牌淨關閉的大約 25 家門市所抵消。

Before I move on to our outlook, I'd like to provide more color on our ongoing profit improvement work. Last quarter remained an important change to our clearance model. This is tracking in line with plan to generate $25 million in savings in 2023 and $50 million in savings on an annualized basis. As we continue to lock down efficiencies that have supported our gross margin expansion, other significant work streams within SG&A have also been identified and are being actioned on.

在展望我們的前景之前，我想對我們正在進行的利潤改善工作提供更多資訊。上季我們的清關模式仍然發生了重要變化。這符合 2023 年節省 2500 萬美元、每年節省 5000 萬美元的計劃。隨著我們繼續提高支持毛利率擴張的效率，SG&A 內的其他重要工作流程也已確定並採取行動。

We are instilling an internal culture around continuous improvement and expense management. The results of which are incorporated into our 2024 plans. As a result, next year, we expect to drive continued gross margin expansion, leverage on SG&A and depreciation, operating rate expansion and healthy earnings growth, structuring the business to deliver this at low single-digit revenue growth. A more positive trend would drive incremental leverage and profit flow-through. We'll give further details in future months as we provide our specific expectations for 2024 and beyond in the spring.

我們正在灌輸圍繞持續改善和費用管理的內部文化。其結果已納入我們的 2024 年計劃。因此，明年，我們預計將推動毛利率持續擴張、SG&A 槓桿率和折舊、營運率擴張和健康的獲利成長，從而建立業務以實現低個位數的收入成長。更積極的趨勢將推動槓桿率和利潤的增加。我們將在未來幾個月提供更多詳細信息，並在春季提供 2024 年及以後的具體預期。

Quarter-to-date, we are seeing sustained momentum across our brands with revenue up in the mid-single digits. Additionally, we continue to make good progress in executing on profit improvement initiatives. With this background, we're raising our full year outlook for operating income to the high end of prior guidance. We now expect to be in the range of $340 million to $350 million. This reflects revenue up mid-single digits with comps up low to mid-single digits.

本季度迄今為止，我們看到我們的品牌保持了持續的成長勢頭，收入成長了中個位數。此外，我們在執行利潤改善計劃方面繼續取得良好進展。在此背景下，我們將全年營業收入預期上調至先前指引的上限。我們現在預計該金額將在 3.4 億至 3.5 億美元之間。這反映了收入成長了中個位數，而比較成長了低至中個位數。

For the fourth quarter, this implies operating income in the range of $105 million to $115 million, with revenue up in the high single digits, including a 4-point tailwind from the 53rd week. Comp sales are projected to be up in the mid-single digits. SG&A is expected to be up approximately 20%, including a 5-point impact from the 53rd week. As previously discussed, it also includes higher incentive accruals, which are skewed to the back half of this year. As Jen mentioned, we look forward to providing more color on our long-term strategic priorities and financial goals at our Spring Investor Meeting.

對於第四季度，這意味著營業收入在 1.05 億美元至 1.15 億美元之間，收入增長高個位數，其中比第 53 週增長 4 個百分點。比較銷售額預計將成長中個位數。 SG&A 預計將上漲約 20%，其中較第 53 週上漲 5 個百分點。正如前面所討論的，它還包括更高的應計獎勵，這些獎勵預計會在今年下半年進行。正如 Jen 所提到的，我們期待在春季投資者會議上為我們的長期策略重點和財務目標提供更多色彩。

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

有了這個，我將打開它來提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of 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。

So Jen, could you speak to key areas of acceleration at Aerie in the third quarter and just how you see the brand position for holiday? And on the return to growth at American Eagle this quarter, how do you view sustainability of positive comps at this concept moving forward? And then, Mike, could you just elaborate on the profit improvement project and maybe the modest top line to leverage SG&A next year? Just taking a step back how that compares to historical flow-through in the model.

Jen，您能否談談 Aerie 第三季加速發展的關鍵領域以及您如何看待假日品牌定位？關於美國之鷹本季恢復成長，您如何看待這個概念向前發展的積極競爭的可持續性？然後，麥克，您能否詳細說明一下利潤改善項目以​​及明年利用 SG&A 的適度頂線？只是退後一步，將其與模型中的歷史流量進行比較。

Sure. And happy Thanksgiving to all, by the way. Look, I'm going to take a small victory lap here. I just loved what we saw in Q3. And let me just say one thing. This team, okay, my team, Jay's team, all of our American Eagle team, they were in stores last week. We saw almost 20 stores in basically 2.5 days. This is what my team commits to. We're in this for the long haul. That's all I can tell you. To grow year-over-year, day over day, quarter after quarter, you have to have a long-term strategy. And I'd like to say we're delivering on it.

當然。順便說一句，祝大家感恩節快樂。聽著，我要在這裡繞一圈勝利。我很喜歡我們在第三季看到的情況。讓我只說一件事。這支球隊，好吧，我的球隊，傑伊的球隊，我們所有的美國之鷹隊，他們上週都在商店裡了。基本上2.5天內我們就逛了將近20家商店。這就是我的團隊的承諾。我們將長期致力於此。我只能告訴你這些。為了逐年、日復一日、季復一個季度地成長，您必須制定長期策略。我想說我們正在兌現這項承諾。

Really proud of what we accomplished in Q3. Women's, in particular, in AE, we did double down there. Their comps definitely superseded the men's comps and we're going to continue that. And I love what I'm seeing for spring, more fashion, more nudge to what I think is relevant in today's trends. We went back and we decided that we needed to get same as for our (inaudible) categories, and we've been up to that for 3 years now. And now it's time to jump off in American Eagle and well, do I like what I'm seeing in the future for trends.

我們對第三季所取得的成就感到非常自豪。女子組，尤其是AE組，我們在那裡做了雙倍的成績。他們的比賽肯定取代了男子比賽，我們將繼續這樣做。我喜歡我在春季看到的東西，更多的時尚，更多的推動我認為與當今趨勢相關的東西。我們回去後決定需要與我們的（聽不清楚）類別相同，我們已經這樣做了 3 年。現在是時候開始美國之鷹了，好吧，我喜歡我所看到的未來​​趨勢嗎？

In Aerie, well, I think this is long overdue. Keep in mind, Aerie held their market share in bras in a declining business. We held our own in Q3. It's an $80 billion opportunity for us to grow into that category, and the team is up to it. I like what I'm seeing early on. Q4, it's still -- we have many weeks ahead of us. And as you know, the big week ahead heading into what we call Green Friday, not black. I think we're ready to go. Like I said, we were in 18 stores, almost 20, in 2.5 days, and we are ready to compete on our terms. And as Mike alluded to, we're going to talk more in the spring season when we speak to you all about our long-term growth plans. But I can -- I see it. I see what's happening here, and we're going to deliver and build this incredible brand strategy.

在鷹巢城，嗯，我認為這已經是姍姍來遲的事情了。請記住，Aerie 在業務下滑的情況下仍保持著胸罩市場份額。我們在第三季度保持了領先地位。對我們來說，這是一個價值 800 億美元的機會，可以進軍這個領域，我們的團隊已經準備好了。我喜歡我早期所看到的。第四季度，我們還有很多周的時間。如您所知，重要的一周即將進入我們所說的綠色星期五，而不是黑色星期五。我想我們已經準備好出發了。就像我說的，我們在 2.5 天內就進駐了 18 家商店，幾乎是 20 家，我們已經準備好按照我們的條件進行競爭。正如麥克所提到的，當我們與你們談論我們的長期成長計劃時，我們將在春季進行更多討論。但我可以——我看到了。我看到這裡正在發生的事情，我們將交付並建立這個令人難以置信的品牌策略。

Yes. And Jen, when you were in the stores, you would agree that our stores were the best -- we're like the best-looking stores out there, too.

是的。 Jen，當你在商店裡時，你會同意我們的商店是最好的——我們也是那裡最漂亮的商店。

I think so. I think the way we operate. It's one thing to grow your business is another thing to deliver operational excellence. That's what I have to say.

我想是這樣。我認為我們的運作方式。發展業務是一回事，實現卓越營運則是另一回事。這就是我必須說的。

Yes. And on profit improvement work, Matt, the third quarter was another proof point on where we've had the focus, which has been expenses and margin improvement, all generating and providing that gross margin expansion. So now -- for 3 quarters now, we've seen gross margin expansion. We've leveraged the expenses in gross margin. Fourth quarter, we'll do it again. As we talked about, this work is sort of a multiyear journey and the SG&A piece of that would take a little longer as we've looked at labor models, services, things type of contracts and vendor, vendors that we're negotiating either reductions to current rates or looking to consolidate or move vendors. That work, we have line of sight now that we have into 2024, and we know what the benefits look like.

是的。關於利潤改善工作，馬特，第三季是我們重點關注的另一個證據，即費用和利潤率的改善，所有這些都產生並提供了毛利率的擴張。所以現在——三個季度以來，我們已經看到了毛利率的擴張。我們利用了毛利率中的費用。第四季度，我們會再做一次。正如我們所討論的，這項工作是一個多年的旅程，SG&A 部分將需要更長的時間，因為我們已經研究了勞動力模式、服務、合約類型和供應商、我們正在談判的供應商或削減按當前費率或尋求合併或轉移供應商。現在我們已經看到了 2024 年這項工作的前景，並且我們知道它會帶來什麼好處。

So on top of the gross margin expansion that we believe that will continue next year and now we've got the opportunity to leverage SG&A at low single-digit revenue growth next year, if that would be the result. Anything better than that, we'd see even higher leverage against that historical model.

因此，除了我們相信明年將繼續的毛利率擴張之外，現在我們有機會在明年以低個位數的收入增長來利用銷售管理及行政費用（如果這確實是結果的話）。任何比這更好的東西，我們都會看到相對於歷史模型的更高的槓桿作用。

Our next question comes from the line of Paul Lejuez with Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Paul Lejuez。

This is Kelly on for Paul. Could you just talk about how the clearance strategy change impacted the P&L this quarter? Was it a headwind to sales? And how much of a benefit, was it the gross margin at 3Q? And how do we expect -- how do you expect that to impact 4Q and F '24 from both a sales and margin perspective? And then I have a follow-up.

這是凱利替保羅發言。能談談清算策略的變化對本季損益表的影響嗎？這對銷售來說是一個逆風嗎？那麼有多少好處，是第三季的毛利率嗎？我們如何預期——從銷售和利潤率的角度來看，您預計這將如何影響第四季和 24 年財年？然後我有一個後續行動。

Yes. I think the headwind to revenue was 1 or 2 points in the quarter just based on the sell-off revenue not being booked, which is unprofitable. And that's the story around this improvement, the $50 million annualized benefit that will happen over a 12-month basis. Historically, we (inaudible) hits in Q2 and Q4, for the most part, selling off clearance versus clearing it ourselves now, which is what we're doing.

是的。我認為本季收入的逆風是 1 或 2 個百分點，僅僅是因為拋售收入沒有被登記，這是無利可圖的。這就是圍繞著這項改進的故事，將在 12 個月的基礎上實現每年 5000 萬美元的收益。從歷史上看，我們（聽不清楚）在第二季度和第四季度的表現在很大程度上是透過拋售清倉而不是現在自己清倉，這就是我們正在做的事情。

So we'll see this benefit across a 12-month period, saw some benefit in Q2. There's some benefit in the Q3 results. Again, most of that benefit is markdown management, inventory management in total and then leverage of our expenses and gross margin in Q3. And then Q4, we'll see another slight benefit. But again, those other pieces are bigger than the clearance benefit. So it's a 12-month model now versus sort of Q2, Q4 sell-off model, we'll see that $50 million annualized across the 12-month period go forward.

因此，我們將在 12 個月的時間內看到這種好處，並在第二季看到一些好處。第三季的業績有一些好處。同樣，大部分好處是降價管理、整體庫存管理，然後是第三季我們的費用和毛利率的槓桿。然後第四季度，我們將看到另一個輕微的好處。但同樣，這些其他部分比清倉收益更大。因此，現在這是一個 12 個月的模型，而不是第二季、第四季的拋售模型，我們將看到未來 12 個月期間的年化收入為 5,000 萬美元。

And just on the SG&A guidance for the fourth quarter. I think coming into today, we -- you sort of had guided the SG&A up mid-teens in the fourth quarter. So I just trying to understand what's driving the greater growth in fourth quarter relative to your previous expectations? Is that all accrual of incentive comp? Or -- and I guess, on that, I mean, we -- you've been talking about sort of finding cost savings for a while now. Just wondering why we would be seeing more offset.

以及第四季度的銷售及行政管理 (SG&A) 指引。我認為進入今天，我們——你們在第四季度將銷售及管理費用（SG&A）提高到了十幾歲左右。所以我只是想了解是什麼推動了第四季度相對於您之前的預期的更大增長？這就是激勵補償的全部應計嗎？或者——我想，在這一點上，我的意思是，我們——你一直在談論尋找節省成本的方法已經有一段時間了。只是想知道為什麼我們會看到更多的抵消。

Yes. I think the plus 20% includes 5 points from the 53rd week that gets you back to sort of mid-teen growth, which was similar to Q3. And yet half of that is based on changes -- and change to the incentive accrual. So half of that mid-teens would be incentive, the other half have other expenses. Again, the work we talked about on SG&A, we knew it would be a longer path. There are some benefits embedded in there, but not what we're expecting now in 2024 that we've got full line of sight to some of those work streams within the work completing as we speak. The teams are embedding that into 2024. We've always said the SG&A benefits would come more next year and then even into '25. So there's a couple -- there's some components that continue past even this coming year. So we're not -- the gross margin focus is what's coming through the P&L in the back half, really pleased with the proof point that, that's providing of all the work that the teams are executing next year when SG&A and depreciation leverage kick in.

是的。我認為+ 20% 包括第 53 週的 5 個點，可以讓你回到青少年中期的成長，這與第三季類似。然而其中一半是基於變化——以及應計激勵的變化。因此，其中一半的青少年將用於激勵，另一半則有其他費用。再說一遍，我們談到的 SG&A 工作，我們知道這將是一條更長的路。其中蘊藏著一些好處，但不是我們現在所期望的 2024 年，正如我們所說，我們已經全面了解正在完成的工作中的一些工作流程。團隊正在將其融入 2024 年。我們一直說，SG&A 福利明年會更多，甚至到 25 年。因此，有一些因素甚至會持續到明年。所以我們不是——毛利率重點是後半段損益表中的內容，我們對這一證據感到非常滿意，這提供了明年當SG&A和折舊槓桿啟動時團隊正在執行的所有工作。

Just a follow-up on that. So the mid-teens guidance prior did not include 53rd week?

只是對此的後續行動。那麼之前的青少年指導不包括第 53 週？

It did include 53rd week in the new guidance includes movement in the incentive accrual between quarters.

新指南中確實包括了第 53 週，其中包括季度之間應計激勵措施的變化。

Our next question comes from the line of Dana Telsey with Telsey Advisory Group.

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

As you think about the store remodels, and I was in the 1 on downtown on Broadway on Sunday, and it was busy and it looked good with all the concepts together. How do you think of the remodels? What type of lift are you getting? And how much of CapEx would that play into it? And when you think about the digital and store channel performance by brand this quarter, biggest differences that you saw and how you're planning promotions for holiday in each channel?

當你想到商店的改造時，週日我在百老匯市中心的 1 號店裡，那裡很繁忙，所有概念都放在一起看起來都很好。您如何看待改造？您乘坐什麼類型的電梯？這會佔多少資本支出？當您考慮本季各品牌的數位和商店通路表現時，您看到的最大差異以及您如何規劃每個管道的假期促銷活動？

I'll start, Mike, and then you can take over. The Gateway, we're calling it The Gateway, as a reminder, it's the first facade that you see as you enter Soho. And this incredibly talented team came up with and they did some research. And thus the name The Gateway. And what a place to highlight all of our brands and all the work we're up to. So I could not be more proud on that delivery and there's more to come there. And there's learnings that I think we're going to leverage for the future.

我先開始，麥克，然後你就可以接手。網關，我們稱之為網關，作為提醒，它是您進入 Soho 時看到的第一個外觀。這個非常有才華的團隊想出了並做了一些研究。因此得名「網關」。這是一個展示我們所有品牌和我們所做的所有工作的地方。因此，我對這次交付感到非常自豪，而且還會有更多的事情發生。我認為我們將在未來利用一些經驗教訓。

That said, as we think about the new store design, there's more out there. American Eagle has this incredible new lived in store design. And I mentioned it in my comments, those comps are exceeding, when I say exceeding the average sales comp in the brand. So many learnings there, and we're going to test and scale but we love this new design. It's so fun. And it's been a long time coming for the American Eagle brand to show up the way we deserve. So I love what I'm seeing there.

也就是說，當我們考慮新商店的設計時，還有更多的東西。 American Eagle 擁有令人難以置信的新店面設計。我在評論中提到，當我說超過該品牌的平均銷售比較時，這些比較已經超出了。那裡有很多值得學習的東西，我們將進行測試和擴展，但我們喜歡這個新設計。太有趣了。美國之鷹品牌花了很長時間才以我們應得的方式出現。所以我喜歡我在那裡看到的一切。

As we fast forward, there's so much good in play here. The learnings that we've had over the past 3 years in American Eagle particular. We've definitely rationalized this brand. We've closed stores. We've done everything, and now it's time to forge forward and get what we deserve back. And I love what I'm seeing from the teams. I just looked at spring concept and our windows and the product that's coming in and like a good bottle of wine, it gets better with age. There's a lot to hurdle out there but I feel really proud of what this team is doing Aerie, that's a whole other story. It's about time. We have that halo effect on the comps with the new stores. And we did say that in prior calls. We acknowledge that, that it takes time to halo a new store opening and learning from that, and well, here we are. So we love what happened in Q3.

當我們快轉時，這裡有很多精彩的內容。我們在過去三年中從美國之鷹身上學到的經驗教訓尤其如此。我們確實已經合理化了這個品牌。我們已經關閉了商店。我們已經做了一切，現在是時候繼續前進，拿回我們應得的東西了。我喜歡從團隊中看到的東西。我只是看了春天的概念和我們的窗戶以及即將推出的產品，就像一瓶好酒一樣，隨著年齡的增長它會變得更好。那裡有很多障礙，但我對這支團隊所做的事情感到非常自豪，Aerie，那是完全不同的故事。是時候了。我們對新店的比較產生了光環效應。我們在之前的電話會議中確實說過這一點。我們承認，新店開業需要時間並從中學習，現在我們就到這裡了。所以我們喜歡第三季發生的事情。

And then on direct, well, so everyone talks omni but I think the best retailers look at each channel and drive what they are best at. And this is what the direct team is up to. You heard the comps are at 10%. But I want to say that this company is very modest in its ad spend and so we do it with a lot of return, and I love what this team is up to. David and team have tested and we have so many new ideas that we can launch, and we're going to do this over time so that we see steady growth. That's what we're up to.

然後是直接，所以每個人都在談論全方位，但我認為最好的零售商會關注每個管道並推動他們最擅長的業務。這就是直接團隊要做的事。你聽說補償率為 10%。但我想說的是，這家公司的廣告支出非常有限，因此我們的回報很高，而且我喜歡這個團隊所做的事情。大衛和團隊已經進行了測試，我們有很多可以推出的新想法，我們將隨著時間的推移這樣做，以便我們看到穩定的成長。這就是我們要做的。

Just to add a little bit of color on remodels, we -- as Jen said, we've got the several locations and love what we're seeing out of that store but we also have 4 mall-based locations that we remodeled. We're reading early indications are that we see -- we are seeing significant and positive sales lift from that -- from these locations as well. We're going to be coming out and talking about sort of the detailed plans around the AE brand growth strategy in the spring but part of that will be remodeled supporting a lot of other things as Jen and the team are doing to grow the brand. preliminary number now, which will refine as we get closer, around 50 more remodels is what we're looking at into next year to help fuel that growth strategy.

只是為了在改造上添加一點色彩，我們——正如 Jen 所說，我們已經有了幾個地點，並且喜歡我們從那家商店看到的東西，但我們也改造了 4 個基於購物中心的地點。我們正在閱讀的早期跡象表明，我們也看到這些地點的銷售量也出現了顯著且積極的增長。我們將在春季出來討論圍繞 AE 品牌成長策略的詳細計劃，但其中一部分將進行改造，以支持 Jen 和團隊為發展品牌所做的許多其他事情。現在的初步數字，隨著時間的推移，我們將進一步完善，我們預計明年將進行約 50 次改造，以幫助推動這項成長策略。

Our next question comes from the line of Jay Sole with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Jay Sole。

Jen, you mentioned you're excited about the spring product assortment. Just talk about swim a little bit what you're seeing in that category, how do you think [U Bra] expect to perform versus last year? And then maybe just, Mike, I believe the company has a business in the Middle East through some of its franchise partners. Can you just talk about how that business has trended since October and if that has an impact on the quarter or your guidance for fourth quarter?

Jen，您提到您對春季產品系列感到興奮。簡單談談游泳，您在該類別中看到的情況，您認為 [U Bra] 與去年相比預計表現如何？然後也許只是，麥克，我相信該公司透過其一些特許經營合作夥伴在中東開展業務。您能談談自 10 月以來該業務的趨勢嗎？這是否對本季度或您對第四季度的指導產生影響？

Sorry, I got disconnected. Swim, interesting category for sure. Lots of learnings here. It's still a great business for us, high margin business. I would like to say that the teams have taken away how to think about the business on a more profitable growth trajectory for the future. My teams are just in Brazil actually coming back with what I think are the best trends out there and we're certainly putting them into play and near in. And we're definitely doing a little bit more test and scale there. And for sure, we're looking at -- what's interesting, we have American Eagle and Aerie and we have American Eagle women's and Aerie, which is a women's brand.

抱歉，我斷線了。游泳，肯定是一個有趣的類別。這裡有很多學習的東西。這對我們來說仍然是一項偉大的業務，高利潤業務。我想說的是，團隊已經掌握瞭如何思考業務未來更有利可圖的成長軌跡。我的團隊剛剛在巴西，實際上帶著我認為最好的趨勢回來了，我們肯定會將它們投入使用並即將實施。我們肯定會在那裡做更多的測試和規模。當然，我們正在關注 - 有趣的是，我們有 American Eagle 和 Aerie，我們有 American Eagle 女裝和 Aerie，這是一個女裝品牌。

And so as I think about our opportunities as a company, we take that into play, right? We're better together. And that's what I was -- as we talked about The Gateway stores, you see all of our brands house together. And guess what, we're seeing growth in both women's business, Aerie OFFLINE, both Aerie OFFLINE and then AE. So it's amazing what we can do if you just think about the business that way. So as I think about swim or as I think about trends, not only do I think about Aerie or OFFLINE, I think about American Eagle too and what are the women wanting and how do we position our company for growth in all of the categories. And that's, I think, a competitive edge.

因此，當我思考我們作為一家公司的機會時，我們會考慮這一點，對吧？我們在一起會更好。這就是我——當我們談論 The Gateway 商店時，你會看到我們所有的品牌都聚集在一起。你猜怎麼著，我們看到女性業務、Aerie OFFLINE、Aerie OFFLINE 和 AE 都在成長。因此，如果您以這種方式思考我們的業務，我們就能做出令人驚訝的事情。因此，當我想到游泳或流行趨勢時，我不僅想到 Aerie 或 OFFLINE，還想到 American Eagle，以及女性想要什麼，以及我們如何定位我們的公司，以實現所有類別的成長。我認為這就是競爭優勢。

So going back to swim, as I think about that, that's the way we're thinking about the business. And certainly, we're making sure that we don't over pitch the plan, again, high-margin business and testing and scaling there. And I think we have other businesses that we can leverage in all brands. So more to come there. Spring looks great. And I hope we can continue to deliver.

所以回到游泳，我認為這就是我們思考業務的方式。當然，我們會確保我們不會過度宣傳高利潤業務以及在那裡進行測試和擴展的計劃。我認為我們還有其他業務可以在所有品牌中利用。所以更多的人會來這裡。春天看起來很棒。我希望我們能夠繼續交付。

Okay. I'll take the question like about the Middle East. Like we have a strong international business there. There -- like the first couple of weeks, it did get a little whack, but the last couple of weeks, it is coming back pretty strong. So we're very optimistic there. And we're playing for peace as far as like down the road in that area -- in that region.

好的。我將回答有關中東的問題。就像我們在那裡擁有強大的國際業務一樣。就像前幾週一樣，它確實受到了一些打擊，但在過去幾週，它又恢復得相當強勁。所以我們對此非常樂觀。我們正在為該地區的和平而奮鬥。

Our next question comes from the line of Simeon Siegel with BMO Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自蒙特利爾銀行資本市場部的西蒙·西格爾 (Simeon Siegel)。

I just want to say a quick thank you for your show of support at your Times Square store, it meant a lot. Can you -- so any color you can add on to speak to the gross margin drivers into next year would be helpful. And then congrats on the nice growth in the brand level EBIT dollars. Any color on just to think about that growth in general corporate expense dollars that we should think about going forward?

我只想快速感謝您對時代廣場商店的支持，這意義重大。你可以嗎——所以你可以添加任何顏色來與明年的毛利率驅動因素交談都會有所幫助。那就恭喜品牌層面息稅前利潤的良好成長。想想我們未來應該考慮的一般企業支出的成長，有什麼顏色嗎？

On gross margin expansion, we've got line of sight into our first half buys. We see tailwinds fill in our initial markup, so benefiting margin on that front. There's still annualization of a lot of the benefits that we were seeing through expenses and gross margin. So our shipments per order, cost per shipment, we've got line of sight into the first half still as well, see some of those benefits continuing through the expense buckets. We are -- so rent, delivery, distribution, warehousing, we still see benefits that we're capturing that will have an annualized effect of the next year on top of the expansion and markup that we have at least half the year embedded in our plans at this point.

在毛利率擴張方面，我們已經開始關注上半年的採購。我們看到順風填補了我們最初的加價，因此這方面的利潤率受益。我們透過費用和毛利率看到的許多收益仍然按年計算。因此，我們的每份訂單的出貨量、每份出貨的成本，我們也已經看到了上半年的情況，看到其中一些好處透過費用桶繼續存在。我們——因此，在租金、交付、分銷、倉儲方面，我們仍然看到我們正在獲取的好處，除了我們至少有半年的擴張和加價之外，這些好處還將對明年產生年化影響。此時的計劃。

Yes. And Mike like we also see like an opportunity like the international part of the business still growing. We see that as a great growth vehicle, too, international part too.

是的。麥克，我們也看到了一個機會，例如業務的國際部分仍在成長。我們也將其視為一個巨大的成長工具，也是國際部分。

Great. And then just the corporate expense dollars?

偉大的。然後只是公司開支？

Yes. It's again, just tied to everything else we talked about from a profit improvement perspective. There's pieces being embedded into our plans as we speak for next year, really across all areas of the P&L, just expanded on the gross margin opportunity that still exists, and then corporate expenses that really straddle both gross margin and SG&A, making changes to labor models in the next year, services line items, maintenance line items, those tender being embedded, all the benefits we're seeing from the work happening as we speak being embedded in the next year's plan.

是的。這又與我們從利潤改善角度討論的所有其他內容相關。當我們談論明年時，我們的計劃中已經嵌入了一些內容，實際上涉及損益表的所有領域，只是擴大了仍然存在的毛利率機會，然後是真正跨越毛利率和銷售管理費用的企業支出，對勞動力進行了改變明年的型號、服務項目、維護項目、嵌入的招標，我們從我們所說的工作中看到的所有好處都嵌入到明年的計劃中。

Yes. Also, Mike, I think -- I also think Mike is also saying that he doesn't see really the SG&A increasing for next year.

是的。另外，麥克，我認為 - 我還認為麥克也說過，他認為明年的銷售管理及行政費用不會真正增加。

Yes, yes.

是的是的。

Yes. Great. And then just a quick one, it's follow-up. How should we think about the right total sales to comp spread for Aerie at this point?

是的。偉大的。然後只是一個快速的，後續的。此時我們該如何考慮正確的總銷售額來補償 Aerie 的傳播？

It's only a few points now. I think as we anniversary all that store growth in '21 and '22, that comp spread definitely less than digitalist comp. We're only opening 25 stores this year. So really, as we get past this year, you only have those 25 in a noncomp base. So it's maybe a point or 2. It's probably low single-digit spread.

現在只剩下幾點了。我認為，當我們慶祝 21 和 22 年商店增長的周年紀念日時，該競爭的傳播肯定低於數位化競爭。今年我們只開設 25 家店。事實上，隨著今年的過去，非補席基地中只剩下了這 25 名球員。所以可能是一分或兩分。可能只有個位數的低分差。

Our next question comes from the line of Chris Nardone with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Chris Nardone。

Two questions. First, could you clarify how comps are trending quarter-to-date for each brand, specifically? And then as we think about next year, how much do you think operating margins can expand? And is this low single-digit sales growth you mentioned, is that your base case for next year? Or is it more of a point that you can still leverage costs on that level of sales growth?

兩個問題。首先，您能否具體說明每個品牌的季度迄今為止的比較趨勢如何？然後，當我們考慮明年時，您認為營業利潤率可以擴大多少？您提到的低個位數銷售成長是您明年的基本預期嗎？或者更重要的是，您仍然可以在銷售成長水準上利用成本？

I'll have the second part first. Yes, it's more of a -- we're not providing specific revenue guidance in that color. It's just to make the point that we can expand operating rate, leverage expenses on just that level of modest sales growth next year based on how plans are coming together. And then quarter-to-date, it's -- comps are similar. So we're providing guidance at similar on top of the 5% we just achieved in Q3. Right now, we're only a few weeks into the quarter. We've got only about 20% of our revenue and the peak weeks really to start now but we're within the guidance, expecting similar type results for the brands.

我先講第二部分。是的，這更多的是——我們沒有提供那種顏色的具體收入指導。這只是為了表明我們可以擴大開工率，根據計劃的進展情況，在明年適度的銷售增長水平上利用支出。從季度至今來看，比較情況是相似的。因此，我們在第三季剛剛實現的 5% 基礎上提供了類似的指導。現在，距離本季只有幾週了。我們的收入只有 20% 左右，高峰週才真正開始，但我們在指導範圍內，預計各品牌會出現類似的結果。

And I think on operating leverage, I think, look, this year on the low to mid-single-digit comps that we're guiding to the year, we're going to expand operating rate by 100 to 150 basis points. As we get to early next year, provide color and guidance specifically for 2024 in March, we'll provide some level of expected leverage on varying revenue results. Again, the initial color is just to make the point that we see opportunity to leverage and expand gross margin, expand operating rate by leveraging expenses across the P&L, not just in gross margin like we've been able to do in the back half of this year. And that's, again, just an early indications, some early color on what we have -- our line of sight into '24. We'll provide more specifics on that (inaudible).

我認為就營運槓桿而言，我認為，今年，在我們指導的低至中個位數的比較中，我們將把營運率擴大 100 至 150 個基點。當我們到明年初時，我們將在 3 月專門為 2024 年提供色彩和指導，我們將針對不同的收入結果提供一定程度的預期槓桿。同樣，最初的顏色只是為了表明我們看到了槓桿和擴大毛利率的機會，通過利用整個損益表的費用來擴大運營率，而不僅僅是像我們在下半年那樣能夠做到的毛利率。今年。再說一次，這只是一個早期跡象，我們所擁有的一些早期色彩——我們對 24 世紀的視線。我們將提供更多細節（聽不清楚）。

Our next question comes from the line of Jonna Kim with TD Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jonna Kim 和 TD Cowen 的對話。

This is Katy on for Jonna. I just wanted to dig in a little bit to the intimates category and how you're thinking about Aerie's brand positioning there as well as the performance within intimates. I know you mentioned market share was pretty consistent across bras, I believe. And then just briefly, I'm sorry if I missed this, but can you talk a little bit about traffic trends through the quarter?

這是凱蒂為喬娜配音。我只是想深入了解內衣類別，以及您如何看待 Aerie 的品牌定位以及內衣的表現。我知道你提到過胸罩的市場佔有率相當一致，我相信。然後簡單地說，如果我錯過了這一點，我很抱歉，但是您能談談本季的流量趨勢嗎？

Great question. I mentioned we're holding our own in the intimates category as far as market share with -- it's an $80 billion opportunity and we're only just scratching the surface here. I will say that when we launch new idea, so smoothies is now a cornerstone of our business, and we added on to that category in Q3, we win, right? So the customer trusts us in this category. They love the way it feels on their body. It totally represents our brand platform. So more to come there. I think we have now a jumping off point to really sort of compete on our terms. And it's just -- again, it totally fits the bill as far as what Aerie's up to on a day in and day out. This is what we do, right? We make women feel great about themselves and smoothies does that. So more to come there.

很好的問題。我提到過，就市場份額而言，我們在內衣類別中保持著自己的地位——這是一個價值 800 億美元的機會，而我們只是觸及了皮毛。我想說，當我們推出新想法時，冰沙現在已成為我們業務的基石，並且我們在第三季度添加了該類別，我們贏了，對吧？所以客戶在這個類別中信任我們。他們喜歡這種感覺在他們身上的感覺。它完全代表了我們的品牌平台。所以更多的人會來這裡。我認為我們現在有了一個起點，可以真正按照我們的條件進行競爭。再次強調，就 Aerie 日復一日的工作而言，它完全符合要求。這就是我們所做的，對嗎？我們讓女性自我感覺良好，冰沙就能做到這一點。所以更多的人會來這裡。

Look, the bra business has changed. It's not what it used to be. And the one thing I can promise you is the design team and the merchant teams are constantly thinking of new ways to entertain this customer and we have so much in store for the future that I really believe that we're going to really compete again on our terms, that's accounts. How it fits into the bill of our brand platform and how we show up with product categories and more to come. But I can't share all my secrets. I guess that's what I'm saying. But I think there's lots of opportunity as far as the market space, it's been underserved, and we're going to serve up to our customers what she's demanding.

看，胸罩產業已經改變了。這已經不是以前的樣子了。我可以向您保證的一件事是，設計團隊和商家團隊不斷思考新的方式來招待客戶，我們為未來做好了準備，我真的相信我們將再次在以下方面展開競爭：我們的術語，就是帳戶。它如何融入我們品牌平台的帳單，以及我們如何展示產品類別以及未來的更多內容。但我不能分享我所有的秘密。我想這就是我要說的。但我認為就市場空間而言，有很多機會，但服務不足，我們將滿足客戶的需求。

Traffic was healthy throughout the quarter. We saw positive traffic across brands and channels, so both in stores and in digital. And this is sort of kudos to the team. Within our profit improvement work, we're not looking at reducing marketing expense but we've done a ton of work to optimize how we're spending media to drive healthier and more qualified traffic.

整個季度的交通狀況都很健康。我們看到跨品牌和管道的正面流量，無論是在商店還是在數位管道。這對團隊來說是一種榮譽。在我們的利潤改善工作中，我們並不是要減少行銷費用，而是做了大量工作來優化媒體支出方式，以推動更健康、更優質的流量。

And then we're actually seeing significant benefits to digital conversion, especially really conversion in both channels but the work that David and team are doing on the digital side to convert that traffic and make A/B testing, making continual changes to our customer journey and how we're messaging the customers we're seeing the digital benefits. So we've got a lot of work happening on driving healthy traffic and then a lot of work happening on converting that traffic, and we're seeing those benefits to the back half and believe that's going to continue into next year as well.

然後，我們實際上看到了數位轉換的顯著優勢，尤其是兩個管道中的真正轉換，但David 和團隊在數位方面所做的工作是轉換流量並進行A/B 測試，從而不斷改變我們的客戶旅程以及我們如何向客戶傳達我們看到的數位優勢。因此，我們在推動健康流量方面做了很多工作，然後在轉換流量方面做了很多工作，我們看到了後半段的這些好處，並相信這種情況也將持續到明年。

Our next question comes from the line of Corey Tarlowe with Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自科里·塔洛和傑弗里斯的對話。

Great. Jen, you talked about your growing customer fleet, your file, excuse me, I believe it's now over $10 million. Could you maybe provide a little bit more color as to what you think the major drivers of that are perhaps contextualize the growth that you've seen in this customer file and how that's benefiting the overall enterprise?

偉大的。 Jen，您談到了您不斷增長的客戶群、您的文件，對不起，我相信現在已經超過 1000 萬美元。您能否提供更多信息，說明您認為其主要驅動因素可能是您在該客戶文件中看到的增長以及這如何使整個企業受益？

Sure. Let me just (inaudible). Sorry, let me just reiterate that both brands that are customer file groups. So really exciting to see AE take a position on growth as far as not even just their comps but their file and Aerie grew nicely. Both brands are just really dominating on a 360 approach to marketing. So not only are we spending on performance. In fact, when we spend on performance marketing, we ensure that it delivers a return on investment because it's an easy game to go out there and overspend on performance and dominate. It's not that easy to have a 360 approach to marketing, right? So that means when we think about what we did actually, coincidentally but not so when we had installations in the Meatpacking District in Aerie, and in AE, we took over that district in New York City.

當然。讓我（聽不清楚）。抱歉，讓我重申一下，這兩個品牌都是客戶檔案組。看到 AE 採取了成長立場，真的很令人興奮，不僅是他們的比較，還有他們的文件和 Aerie 的成長都很好。這兩個品牌都在 360 度行銷方式上真正佔據主導地位。因此，我們不僅在性能上花錢。事實上，當我們在績效行銷上花錢時，我們確保它能帶來投資回報，因為這是一個很容易在績效上超支並佔據主導地位的遊戲。採用 360 度行銷方式就沒那麼容易，對嗎？因此，這意味著，當我們思考我們實際所做的事情時，巧合的是，但並非如此，當我們在 Aerie 的肉類加工區和 AE 進行安裝時，我們接管了紐約市的那個區域。

Well, how many eyeballs are on our brands, right? Between that, between our influencers, between our store influencers, don't forget about that, our stores represent our customer, right? So when we go to a store, we see our customers, they're our employees. And by the way, they spread the good news of our brands, and they see all the work that we're up to, right, delivering better product, delivering innovation, delivering new store concepts. We haven't stopped.

好吧，我們的品牌吸引了多少眼球，對吧？在這之間，在我們的影響者之間，在我們的商店影響者之間，不要忘記，我們的商店代表我們的客戶，對嗎？因此，當我們去商店時，我們看到的是我們的顧客，他們就是我們的員工。順便說一句，他們傳播了我們品牌的好消息，他們看到了我們正在做的所有工作，對的，提供更好的產品，提供創新，提供新的商店概念。我們還沒有停止。

As a reminder, The Gateway, I find this just as a testament to the team. In July, we came up with this idea to put all of our brands near in together in SoHo and see what it means to our company, AEO, Inc. And well, in July, we came up with a concept and lo and behold, we have a whole new store design, brand new ideas, innovative -- innovation at its max. So again, it's not just one thing when it comes to delivering sustainable long-term growth and brand power. This is what we're up to. We believe we were next in show to the #1 brand out there, I'm not going to say, but trust me, it's a big brand. And top of mind is AEO, Inc. And so when we think about our brands that way, we think about the long-term growth, long-term strategies and how we're going to be one of the most powerful brands in retail. So again, it's not about just one tactic in marketing, it's about thinking about the future and how we're going to be the best in town.

提醒一下，The Gateway，我發現這只是對團隊的證明。七月份，我們提出了這個想法，將我們所有的品牌集中在 SoHo 區，看看這對我們公司 AEO, Inc. 意味著什麼。然後，七月份，我們提出了一個概念，你瞧，我們有全新的商店設計、全新的想法、創新—最大限度的創新。再說一次，在實現可持續的長期成長和品牌影響力方面，這不僅僅是一回事。這就是我們要做的。我們相信我們是下一個展示的第一個品牌，我不會說，但相信我，這是一個大品牌。最重要的是 AEO, Inc.。因此，當我們以這種方式考慮我們的品牌時，我們會考慮長期成長、長期策略以及我們如何成為零售業最強大的品牌之一。再說一次，這不僅僅是一種行銷策略，而是關於思考未來以及我們如何成為城裡最好的。

Jen -- the other thing I'd add that Jen is with the 25 or so we're opening this year since '21, we would have opened 100 very specifically, 150 locations. And that's obviously part of the strategy too, customer file growth, customer acquisition, those stores are still earlier in the maturity curve, we'll be adding more stores again next year. So everything you're talking about from a marketing perspective, combined with that brick-and-mortar expansion for the brand. We still have opportunity to expand the store base and it's just adding to the customer file within -- again, brands that play within a pretty sizable addressable market that we only have a small percentage up still.

Jen——我要補充的另一件事是，自 21 年以來，Jen 與我們今年開設的 25 家左右門市一起，我們將開設 100 個非常具體的 150 個地點。這顯然也是策略的一部分，客戶檔案成長、客戶獲取，這些商店仍處於成熟曲線的早期，我們明年將再次增加更多商店。所以你從行銷的角度談論的一切，都與品牌的實體擴張結合。我們仍然有機會擴大商店基礎，這只是增加了客戶檔案——再說一遍，這些品牌在一個相當大的目標市場中發揮作用，而我們只佔了一小部分。

Got it. And then just to follow up on that, Mike, on the topic of store openings. Could you provide any color as to how to think about the AE store fleet as we look ahead? And then just did you also talk about how AUR trended in the quarter? I know you talked about traffic but could we get color on AUR trends and then how you think about that throughout the remainder of the year?

知道了。麥克，接下來就是關於開店的話題。您能否提供一些關於我們展望未來時如何看待 AE 商店車隊的資訊？那麼您剛才是否也談到了本季 AUR 的趨勢？我知道您談到了流量，但我們能否了解一下 AUR 趨勢，以及您在今年剩餘時間對此有何看法？

I hit AUR first. AUR was up in the quarter. We talked about kind of holding on to that AUR position that we've been able to grow too over the course of the pandemic, the brand equity we've built, we're not giving back up. It's part of the gross margin expansion story for sure. Your question on AE store count, we're still talking about a net 25 closures this year. But we're coming to the point where that, that number will be similar to maybe down. We're actually continuing to explore repositions in market versus net closures, and we're seeing healthy results from some of those strategic moves. So again, as part of an AE brand growth strategy, we'll articulate where we think the fleet is going when we provide more color in spring but square footage reduction won't be as significant as it's been in the last several years as we've reset the profitability of the brand.

我先打了AUR。本季 AUR 有所上升。我們談到了要維持 AUR 的地位，我們在疫情期間也能夠發展這一地位，我們建立的品牌資產，我們不會放棄。這肯定是毛利率擴張故事的一部分。你關於 AE 商店數量的問題，我們仍在談論今年淨關閉 25 家商店。但我們已經到了這樣的地步，這個數字可能會下降。實際上，我們正​​在繼續探索市場重新定位與淨關閉的關係，並且我們看到了其中一些策略舉措的健康結果。因此，作為 AE 品牌成長策略的一部分，我們將闡明當我們在春季提供更多色彩時，我們認為車隊的發展方向，但面積的減少不會像過去幾年那樣顯著。重置了品牌的盈利能力。

Our next question comes from the line of Alex Straton with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自 Alex Straton 與摩根士丹利的對話。

Perfect. Maybe taking a step back, what part of the profit improvement plan has been the most impactful in your eyes so far? And then how should we think about the next leg? And then secondly, I feel like we haven't heard your latest thoughts on the Quiet Logistics business in some time. So perhaps if you could provide an update there, that would be great.

完美的。也許退一步來說，到目前為止，利潤改善計畫的哪一部分在您看來影響最大？那我們該如何考慮下一站呢？其次，我覺得我們已經有一段時間沒有聽到您對安靜物流業務的最新想法了。因此，如果您可以在那裡提供更新，那就太好了。

I think the dates -- I mean we talked -- we've been talking about this for about 9 months. We talked about the focus being within the gross margin area. So (inaudible) margin and markdown the inventory management but the expenses in gross margin, there were 60 basis points of leverage in the -- from those expenses in the third quarter. We've leveraged the expenses in gross margin every quarter now this year. We expect to do that going forward.

我想這些日期——我的意思是我們已經討論過——我們已經討論了大約 9 個月。我們討論的重點是毛利率領域。因此（聽不清楚）利潤率和庫存管理降價，但毛利率中的費用，第三季的這些費用有 60 個基點的槓桿。今年我們每季都利用毛利率支出。我們希望今後能做到這一點。

So that -- so this year's results, that's -- that leverage is a proof point to the work we're doing. And the fact that's where the focus has been, we're driving results there, it gives me a high level of confidence in what we're now landing in our '24 plans around SG&A and depreciation to drive the same thing.

因此，今年的結果就是，槓桿作用是我們正在做的工作的證明。事實上，這就是我們關注的重點，我們正在那裡推動結果，這讓我對我們現在在 SG&A 和折舊方面圍繞 SG&A 和折舊推動同樣目標的計劃充滿信心。

Yes. Yes. And Mike, on the Quiet part of the question, Quiet has provided us like enormous benefits to our brands and we're starting to see a flow through like on the gross margins. We're starting to use it more in our sister company, Todd Snyder will go onto the Quiet platform this year. And we're also seeing an opportunity to still strengthen our third-party business too.

是的。是的。麥克，關於問題的安靜部分，安靜為我們的品牌提供了巨大的好處，我們開始看到毛利率的變化。我們開始在我們的姊妹公司更多地使用它，Todd Snyder 今年將進入 Quiet 平台。我們也看到了繼續加強第三方業務的機會。

Melissa, we have time for one more question.

梅麗莎，我們還有時間再問一個問題。

Our final question today comes from the line of Janet Kloppenburg with JJK Research Associates.

我們今天的最後一個問題來自 JJK Research Associates 的 Janet Kloppenburg。

A couple of questions. First, Mike, could you provide the breakdown of the gross margin improvement? I'm just wondering about how much came from freight and how much came from markdown improvement and what we should look forward to going forward? Also on SG&A, I know you said you'd leverage next year, which is terrific. But when I look at the SG&A increases in the first half of this year, they were mid-single digit. So should we expect first half next year to have higher bonus accrual? I'm not sure there.

有幾個問題。首先，麥克，您能否提供毛利率改善的具體情況？我只是想知道有多少來自貨運，有多少來自降價改進，以及我們應該期待什麼？另外，關於銷售及管理費用（SG&A），我知道您說過明年會利用槓桿，這非常棒。但當我查看今年上半年的銷售、管理及行政費用 (SG&A) 增幅時，發現增幅為中個位數。那麼我們是否應該預期明年上半年會有更高的獎金應計呢？我不確定那裡。

And Jen, if you could help on AE men's, was it positive for the quarter? And what's your outlook book there? And maybe you just talk a little bit about the legging business because I know that's a very high-margin business for you at Aerie.

Jen，如果你能在 AE 男士方面提供幫助，這個季度會帶來正面的影響嗎？您的展望書是什麼？也許您只是談論一下打底褲業務，因為我知道這對 Aerie 的您來說是一項利潤率非常高的業務。

On the gross margin components, we really benefits across the board, product margin benefits, markdown rate management, some lower markdowns as well and then leverage of expenses through gross margin. So it was all 3 components. On SG&A next year, yes, I think the growth in the first half was mid-single. Our plans for -- the plans we're embedding in '24, we talked about 80% of our SG&A spending compensation line items, advertising services, some maintenance areas. There's changes coming that would not have embedded in anything this year. So we're making changes to those -- all those components in our '24 plans. To your point, we may have a little bit of a quarterly flow on incentive comp versus this back half weighting that we're absorbing now but we can provide some more color to exactly how the quarters will look once we get to more specific guidance in March.

在毛利率方面，我們確實全面受益，產品利潤率收益，降價率管理，還有一些較低的降價，然後透過毛利率槓桿化費用。所以它是全部 3 個組成部分。關於明年的SG&A，是的，我認為上半年的成長處於中等水平。我們的計劃——我們在 24 年嵌入的計劃，我們討論了 80% 的 SG&A 支出補償項目、廣告服務和一些維護領域。今年將發生一些不會嵌入任何內容的變化。因此，我們正在對我們的「24 小時計畫」中的所有這些組件進行更改。就您的觀點而言，我們可能會在激勵補償方面有一點季度流量，與我們現在正在吸收的後半權重相比，但一旦我們獲得更具體的指導，我們可以提供更多的色彩來說明季度的具體情況。行進。

For sure, men's was softer than women's but we saw that coming as we entered into Q3. We definitely doubled down on the women's side of the business in American Eagle. And certainly, we reached the results of that the comps were definitely more significant in women's versus men's. Again, that does not mean that we don't have opportunity in men's. In fact, we see that as some little hanging fruit as we get into back half of this year right now, Q4 and as we head into Q1, Q2. So we've been working hard at it. I definitely see men's as an opportunity to be a little bit more productive. I think in the past, maybe we were a little bit over assorted there, and we definitely can have a little bit more productive SKUs as we continue to double down on the women's business.

當然，男裝比女裝更柔軟，但當我們進入第三季時，我們就看到了這一點。我們確實在美國之鷹的女性業務上加倍努力。當然，我們得出的結果是，與男性相比，女性的比較絕對更重要。再說一遍，這並不意味著我們在男子比賽中沒有機會。事實上，當我們進入今年下半年、第四季以及進入第一季和第二季時，我們認為這是一些懸而未決的小成果。所以我們一直在努力。我絕對認為男性是提高工作效率的機會。我認為在過去，也許我們的品種有點多，隨著我們繼續加倍致力於女性業務，我們肯定可以擁有更有生產力的 SKU。

Leggings, I don't know if I should call that my middle name, that business is never going to go away. I think we have a cornerstone as far as innovation there. I just -- if anyone hasn't tried our leggings you must try are lagging the our leggings, the Aerie Real leggings, they are incredible. The Real Me leggings, they sit at 1 of the #1 SKUs in our entire company, and it's because of the outstanding design and the comfortability. And again, everything has to move back to what your brand stands for.

緊身褲，我不知道我是否應該稱其為我的中間名，這項業務永遠不會消失。我認為我們在創新方面擁有基石。我只是 - 如果有人還沒有嘗試過我們的緊身褲，那麼您必須嘗試我們的打底褲，Aerie Real 打底褲，它們令人難以置信。 Real Me 緊身褲是我們整個公司排名第一的 SKU 之一，這是因為其出色的設計和舒適度。再說一次，一切都必須回歸到你的品牌所代表的意義。

And Real Me is what Aerie stands for. So there's so much more good stuff happening in OFFLINE. In fact, we had a rallying cry this week on really what OFFLINE means to the Aerie brand or on its own, wow, you should see in the same mall, we're getting great comps in OFFLINE and in Aerie at the same time. They like what they're seeing. And keep in mind, we still have some crossover categories in both stores in the same mall. So that would tell me that as we continue to test growth for Aerie, there's some more opportunity for both brands in the future.

而 Real Me 就是 Aerie 所代表的。因此，離線狀態下還有更多美好的事情發生。事實上，本週我們大聲疾呼，討論 OFFLINE 對 Aerie 品牌或其本身意味著什麼，哇，你應該在同一個購物中心看到，我們同時在 OFFLINE 和 Aerie 中獲得了很棒的優惠。他們喜歡他們所看到的。請記住，我們在同一商場的兩家商店中仍然有一些交叉類別。因此，這告訴我，隨著我們繼續測試 Aerie 的成長，這兩個品牌未來都會有更多的機會。

So again, wagons, they're not stopping. I don't know what anyone is ever going to see about that business. And what I love about this, I'm going to finalize with this is the denim business in women's, in particular, we're seeing some really great reads early on. And so what I'm saying is we can do both. She can wear things inside, she can go to a gym class in leggings and then she can go out in our denim and that's what we're up to.

再說一遍，馬車，他們不會停下來。我不知道人們會看到有關該業務的資訊。我喜歡這一點，我要最後總結的是女裝牛仔布業務，特別是，我們很早就看到了一些非常好的讀物。所以我想說的是我們可以兩者兼得。她可以穿裡面的東西，她可以穿著緊身褲去上體育課，然後她可以穿著我們的牛仔佈出去，這就是我們要做的。

Thank you. That concludes our question-and-answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Schottenstein for any final comments.

謝謝。我們的問答環節到此結束。我將請 Schottenstein 先生徵求最終意見。

Okay. Thank you, operator, and thank you for all joining the call this morning. I hope this is clear in our third quarter results, we are seeing like -- we're seeing momentum build across our growth and profit improvement initiatives. This is a strong testament that our strategies are working. Like Jen was saying, we're here to build enduring brands, whether it be AE, Arie, OFFLINE and Todd Snyder. We are focused also on driving consistent profit growth and return to our shareholders. Thank you for your interest and investment in the company, and we look forward to updating you in the coming year.

好的。謝謝接線員，也謝謝大家今天早上加入通話。我希望我們第三季的業績能夠清楚地表明這一點，我們看到我們的成長和利潤改善計劃正在形成勢頭。這有力地證明了我們的策略正在發揮作用。正如 Jen 所說，我們致力於打造歷久不衰的品牌，無論是 AE、Arie、OFFLINE 或 Todd Snyder。我們也致力於推動持續的利潤成長和股東回報。感謝您對公司的興趣和投資，我們期待在來年為您提供最新資訊。

Thank you.

謝謝。

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

謝謝。抱歉——謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。