A-Mark Precious Metals Inc (AMRK) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the A-Mark Precious Metals Conference Call for the Fiscal Third Quarter ended March 31, 2023. My name is Kelly, and I will be your operator this afternoon. Before this call, A-Mark issued its results for the fiscal third quarter 2023 in a press release, which is available in the Investor Relations section of the company's website at www.amark.com. You can find the link in the Investor Relations section at the top of the home page.

下午好，歡迎參加截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日的第三財季 A-Mark 貴金屬電話會議。我叫凱利，今天下午我將是你的接線員。在此電話會議之前，A-Mark 在新聞稿中發布了 2023 財年第三季度的業績，該新聞稿可在公司網站 www.amark.com 的投資者關係部分獲取。您可以在主頁頂部的“投資者關係”部分找到該鏈接。

Joining us today for today's call are A-Mark's CEO, Greg Roberts; President, Thor Gjerdrum; and CFO, Kathleen Simpson-Taylor. Following their remarks, we will open the call to your questions. Then before we conclude the call, I'll provide the necessary cautions regarding the forward-looking statements made by management during this call.

今天與我們一起參加今天電話會議的有 A-Mark 的首席執行官 Greg Roberts；總裁 Thor Gjerdrum；首席財務官 Kathleen Simpson-Taylor。在他們發表評論之後，我們將開始對您的問題進行通話。然後，在我們結束電話會議之前，我將針對管理層在此次電話會議期間所做的前瞻性陳述提供必要的警告。

I would like to remind everyone that this call is being recorded and will be made available for replay via a link available in the Investor Relations section of A-Mark's website. Now I would like to turn the call over to A-Mark's CEO, Mr. Greg Roberts. Sir, please proceed.

我想提醒大家，這個電話正在錄音中，可以通過 A-Mark 網站投資者關係部分的鏈接進行重播。現在我想把電話轉給 A-Mark 的首席執行官 Greg Roberts 先生。先生，請繼續。

Thank you, Kelly, and good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining us on our call today. As we reported in our earnings release just a few minutes ago, the third quarter marked another period of solid financial performance for A-Mark, highlighted by $35.9 million of net income and diluted EPS of $1.46, yielding a quarterly return on equity of 6%. These results further demonstrate the effectiveness of our fully integrated platform, particularly in times of macroeconomic uncertainty and increased market volatility.

謝謝你，凱利，大家下午好，感謝你今天加入我們的電話會議。正如我們在幾分鐘前發布的收益報告中所報告的那樣，第三季度標誌著 A-Mark 又一個穩健的財務業績期，突出體現在 3590 萬美元的淨收入和 1.46 美元的攤薄後每股收益，季度股本回報率為 6% .這些結果進一步證明了我們完全集成平台的有效性，尤其是在宏觀經濟不確定性和市場波動加劇的時期。

Our integrated capabilities allow us to optimize access to inventory, providing us with a consistent source of supply during periods of increased demand, which contributed to quarter-over-quarter increases of 19% in revenue and 18% in gross profit during the third quarter. Our direct-to-consumer segment continued to contribute significantly and impressively to our overall results, generating 57% of our consolidated gross profit for the quarter driven by a 124 basis point increase in the segment's gross margin percentage compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2022. We remain active in our pursuit of investment opportunities that align with our strategic vision and to expand our geographic footprint.

我們的綜合能力使我們能夠優化對庫存的訪問，在需求增加期間為我們提供一致的供應來源，這有助於第三季度收入環比增長 19%，毛利潤環比增長 18%。與 2022 財年第三季度相比，該部門的毛利率增長了 124 個基點，推動我們的直接面向消費者的業務繼續為我們的整體業績做出顯著而令人印象深刻的貢獻，佔本季度綜合毛利潤的 57% . 我們仍然積極尋求符合我們戰略願景的投資機會，並擴大我們的地域足跡。

Our minting business remains a consistent contributor to our overall performance with production output currently near record levels. The mint is consistently producing over 1 million ounces per week. During the third quarter, SilvertownMint achieved ISO certification in recognition of the facility's high standards for quality management. The certification not only reaffirms the mint's long-standing reputation as a leading manufacturer of silver bullion products, but also allows its products to be accepted into individual retirement accounts or IRAs, further expanding A-Mark's strong customer base. Jamie Meadows and his team have worked tirelessly to achieve this, and we congratulate them.

我們的鑄幣業務始終對我們的整體業績做出貢獻，產量目前接近創紀錄水平。薄荷每週生產超過 100 萬盎司。在第三季度，SilvertownMint 獲得了 ISO 認證，以表彰該工廠在質量管理方面的高標準。該認證不僅重申了該鑄幣廠作為銀條產品領先製造商的長期聲譽，而且允許其產品被納入個人退休賬戶或 IRA，進一步擴大了 A-Mark 強大的客戶群。 Jamie Meadows 和他的團隊為實現這一目標不懈努力，我們向他們表示祝賀。

Finally, I'm pleased to report that the company purchased 335,735 shares of its common stock during the quarter for an aggregate value of $9.8 million. We view our share repurchase program as an attractive investment opportunity for the company and another way to deliver value to our shareholders. Now I'll turn it over to our CFO, Kathleen Simpson-Taylor, to walk you through our financials in more detail. Then our President, Thor Gjerdrum, will discuss our key operating metrics. Afterwards, I will provide a further update on our business and growth strategy and take questions. Kathleen, take it away.

最後，我很高興地報告，該公司在本季度購買了 335,735 股普通股，總價值為 980 萬美元。我們將我們的股票回購計劃視為對公司有吸引力的投資機會，也是為股東創造價值的另一種方式。現在我將把它交給我們的首席財務官 Kathleen Simpson-Taylor，讓您更詳細地了解我們的財務狀況。然後，我們的總裁 Thor Gjerdrum 將討論我們的關鍵運營指標。之後，我將進一步介紹我們的業務和增長戰略並回答問題。凱瑟琳，把它拿走。

Thank you, Greg, and good afternoon, everyone. Our revenues for fiscal Q3 2023 increased 10% to $2.3 billion from $2.1 billion in Q3 of last year. Excluding an increase of $312.5 million of forward sales, revenues decreased $104.5 million or 6%, which was due to a decrease in gold ounces sold and lower average selling prices of silver, partially offset by an increase in silver ounces sold and higher average selling prices of gold.

謝謝 Greg，大家下午好。我們 2023 財年第三季度的收入從去年第三季度的 21 億美元增長 10% 至 23 億美元。不包括增加 3.125 億美元的遠期銷售額，收入減少 1.045 億美元或 6%，這是由於銷售的黃金盎司減少和白銀的平均銷售價格下降，部分被銷售的銀盎司增加和平均銷售價格上漲所抵消金子的。

The DTC segment contributed 23% of the consolidated revenue in fiscal Q3 2023 and 28% of the consolidated revenue in Q3 of last year. Revenue contributed by JM Bullion JMD represented 20% of the consolidated revenues for fiscal Q3 of 2023 compared to 26% in Q3 of last year. For the 9-month period, our revenues increased 2% to $6.2 billion from $6.1 billion in the same year ago period.

DTC 部門貢獻了 2023 財年第三季度綜合收入的 23% 和去年第三季度綜合收入的 28%。 JM Bullion JMD 貢獻的收入佔 2023 財年第三季度綜合收入的 20%，而去年第三季度為 26%。在 9 個月期間，我們的收入從去年同期的 61 億美元增長 2% 至 62 億美元。

Excluding an increase of $596.1 million of forward sales, our revenue decreased $498.3 million or 10%, which was due to a decrease in gold ounces sold and lower average selling prices of gold and silver partially offset by an increase in silver ounces sold. The DTC segment contributed 23% and 27% of the consolidated revenue for the 9 months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

不包括增加的 5.961 億美元的遠期銷售額，我們的收入減少了 4.983 億美元或 10%，這是由於銷售的黃金盎司減少以及黃金和白銀的平均售價下降部分被銷售的銀盎司增加所抵消。截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日和 2022 年 3 月 31 日止的 9 個月，DTC 部門分別貢獻了合併收入的 23% 和 27%。

Revenue contributed by JMB represented 21% of the consolidated revenues for the 9 months ended March 31, 2023, compared to 25% in the same year ago period. Gross profit for fiscal Q3 2023 increased 5% to $75.5 million or 3.26% of revenue from $72.1 million or 3.42% of revenue in Q3 of last year.

JMB 貢獻的收入佔截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日的 9 個月綜合收入的 21%，而去年同期為 25%。 2023 財年第三季度的毛利潤從去年第三季度的 7210 萬美元或收入的 3.42% 增長 5% 至 7550 萬美元或收入的 3.26%。

Excluding the $312.5 million increase in forward sales, gross margin percentage increased to 4.5% of revenue from 4.0% of revenue last year. The overall increase in gross profit was due to higher gross profits earned from both the wholesale sales and ancillary services and direct-to-consumer segments.

不包括 3.125 億美元的遠期銷售額增長，毛利率從去年佔收入的 4.0% 增至佔收入的 4.5%。毛利的整體增長是由於批發銷售和輔助服務以及直接面向消費者的分部的毛利增加所致。

Gross profit contributed by our DTC segment represented 57% of the consolidated gross profit in fiscal Q3 2023 compared to 58% in the same year ago period. Gross profit contributed by JMB represented 47% of the consolidated gross profit in fiscal Q3 2023 compared to 48% in Q3 of last year.

我們的 DTC 部門貢獻的毛利佔 2023 財年第三季度綜合毛利的 57%，而去年同期為 58%。 JMB 貢獻的毛利佔 2023 財年第三季度綜合毛利的 47%，而去年第三季度為 48%。

For the 9-month period, gross profit increased 11% to $216.1 million or 3.5% of revenue from $194.0 million or 3.2% of revenue in the same year ago period. Excluding the $596.1 million increase in forward sales, gross margin percentage increased to 4.7% of revenue from 3.8% of revenue. The gross profit increase was due to higher gross profits earned from both the wholesale sales and ancillary services and DTC segments. Gross profit contributed by the DTC segment represented 56% of the consolidated gross profit in both of the 9-month periods ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

前 9 個月，毛利潤從去年同期的 1.94 億美元或收入的 3.2% 增長 11% 至 2.161 億美元或收入的 3.5%。不包括 5.961 億美元的遠期銷售額增長，毛利率從占收入的 3.8% 增至佔收入的 4.7%。毛利潤增加是由於批發銷售和輔助服務以及 DTC 部門的毛利潤增加。在截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日和 2022 年 3 月 31 日止的 9 個月期間，DTC 分部貢獻的毛利分別佔綜合毛利的 56%。

Gross profit contributed by JMB represented 48% and 46% of consolidated gross profit for the 9 months ended March 31, 2023, and 2022, respectively. SG&A expenses for fiscal Q3 2023 increased 16% to $23.8 million from $20.5 million in Q3 of last year. The increase was primarily due to an increase in compensation expense, including performance-based accruals of $2.6 million, higher advertising costs of $0.5 million, an increase in computer-related expenses of $0.3 million and an increase in insurance costs of $0.2 million, partially offset by lower consulting and professional fees of $0.5 million.

截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日和 2022 年 3 月 31 日止的 9 個月，JMB 貢獻的毛利分別佔綜合毛利的 48% 和 46%。 2023 財年第三季度的 SG&A 費用從去年第三季度的 2050 萬美元增長 16% 至 2380 萬美元。增加的主要原因是薪酬費用增加，包括基於績效的應計費用 260 萬美元、廣告費用增加 50 萬美元、計算機相關費用增加 30 萬美元以及保險費用增加 20 萬美元，部分抵消通過降低 50 萬美元的諮詢和專業費用。

For the 9-month period, SG&A expenses increased 12% to $62.4 million from $55.9 million primarily due to a $4.3 million decrease in amortization of acquired intangibles related to JMB. For the 9-month period, depreciation and amortization expense decreased 59% to $9.8 million from $24.1 million in the same year ago period. The decrease was primarily due to a $14.4 million decrease in amortization of acquired intangibles related to JMB.

在 9 個月期間，SG&A 費用從 5590 萬美元增加 12% 至 6240 萬美元，這主要是由於與 JMB 相關的收購無形資產攤銷減少了 430 萬美元。前 9 個月，折舊和攤銷費用從去年同期的 2410 萬美元下降 59% 至 980 萬美元。減少的主要原因是與 JMB 相關的收購無形資產攤銷減少 1,440 萬美元。

Interest income for fiscal Q3 2023 increased 14% to $6.1 million from $5.3 million in Q3 of last year. The aggregate increase in interest income was primarily due to higher other finance product income, partially offset by lower interest income earned by our Secured Lending segment. For the 9-month period, interest income increased 0.3% to $16.2 million from $16.1 million in the same year ago period. The aggregate increase in interest income was primarily due to an increase in other finance product income, partially offset by lower interest income earned by our Secured Lending segment.

2023 財年第三季度的利息收入從去年第三季度的 530 萬美元增長 14% 至 610 萬美元。利息收入的總增長主要是由於其他金融產品收入增加，部分被我們的擔保貸款部門賺取的較低利息收入所抵消。前 9 個月，利息收入從去年同期的 1610 萬美元增長 0.3% 至 1620 萬美元。利息收入的總增長主要是由於其他金融產品收入的增加，部分被我們的擔保貸款部門賺取的較低利息收入所抵消。

Interest expense for fiscal Q3 2023 increased 70% to $9.2 million from $5.4 million in Q3 of last year. The increase in interest expense was primarily driven by $3.1 million associated with our trading credit facility and the AMCF notes, including amortization of debt issuance costs and $0.9 million related to product financing arrangements, partially offset by a decrease of $0.3 million of loan servicing fees.

2023 財年第三季度的利息支出從去年第三季度的 540 萬美元增長 70% 至 920 萬美元。利息支出的增加主要是由於與我們的交易信貸設施和 AMCF 票據相關的 310 萬美元，包括債務發行成本的攤銷和與產品融資安排相關的 90 萬美元，部分被 30 萬美元的貸款服務費減少所抵消。

For the 9-month period, interest expense increased 39% to $22.6 million from $16.3 million in the same year ago period. The increase was primarily driven by $4.9 million associated with our trading credit facility and the AMCF notes, including amortization of debt issuance costs, $1.8 million related to product financing arrangements and $0.4 million in interest associated with liabilities on borrowed metals, partially offset by a decrease of $0.7 million of loan servicing fees.

前 9 個月，利息支出從去年同期的 1630 萬美元增長 39% 至 2260 萬美元。增加的主要原因是與我們的貿易信貸安排和 AMCF 票據相關的 490 萬美元，包括債務發行成本的攤銷、與產品融資安排相關的 180 萬美元以及與借入金屬負債相關的 40 萬美元利息，部分被減少抵消70 萬美元的貸款服務費。

Earnings losses from equity method investments in Q3 2023 decreased 104% to a loss of $0.1 million compared to earnings of $1.6 million in the same year ago quarter. The net decrease was primarily due to lower earnings of our equity method investees.

與去年同期的 160 萬美元收益相比，2023 年第三季度權益法投資的收益損失減少了 104% 至 10 萬美元。淨減少主要是由於我們的權益法投資對象的收益較低。

For the 9-month period, earnings from equity method investments increased 69% to $7.3 million from $4.3 million in the same year ago period. The net increase of $3 million was primarily due to our additional 40% ownership interest in Silver Gold Bull, which was acquired in June 2022.

前 9 個月，權益法投資收益從去年同期的 430 萬美元增長 69% 至 730 萬美元。 300 萬美元的淨增長主要是由於我們在 2022 年 6 月收購的 Silver Gold Bull 額外 40% 的所有權權益。

Net income attributable to the company for the third quarter of fiscal 2023 totaled $35.9 million or $1.46 per diluted share. This compares to net income attributable to the company of $37.4 million or $1.53 per diluted share in Q3 of last year. Adjusted for the effect of the 2 for 1 stock split in the form of a stock dividend in June 2022.

2023 財年第三季度歸屬於公司的淨收入總計 3590 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 1.46 美元。相比之下，去年第三季度歸屬於公司的淨收入為 3740 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 1.53 美元。針對 2022 年 6 月以股票股息形式進行的 2 股拆股的影響進行調整。

For the 9-month period, net income attributable to the company totaled $114.5 million or $4.64 per diluted share, which compares to net income attributable to the company of $95.2 million or $3.92 per diluted share in the same year ago period, adjusted for the effect of the 2 for 1 stock split in the form of a stock dividend that occurred in June 2022.

前 9 個月，歸屬於公司的淨利潤總計 1.145 億美元或每股攤薄收益 4.64 美元，而去年同期歸屬於公司的淨收益為 9520 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 3.92 美元（根據影響進行調整） 2022 年 6 月以股票股息形式進行的 2 股拆股中的 1 股。

Adjusted net income before provision for income taxes, a non-GAAP financial performance measure, which excludes acquisition expenses, amortization and depreciation for Q3 fiscal 2023 totaled $49.2 million, a decrease of 10% compared to $54.3 million in the same year ago quarter. Adjusted net income before provision for income taxes for the 9-month period totaled $156.9 million, a 9% increase from $144.4 million in the same year ago period.

2023 財年第 3 季度扣除收購費用、攤銷和折舊的非 GAAP 財務績效衡量指標——扣除所得稅準備金前的調整後淨收入總計 4920 萬美元，與去年同期的 5430 萬美元相比下降了 10%。前 9 個月的調整後所得稅撥備前淨收入總計 1.569 億美元，比去年同期的 1.444 億美元增長 9%。

EBITDA, a non-GAAP liquidity measure for Q3 fiscal 2023 totaled $52.3 million, a 2% decrease compared to $53.6 million in Q3 fiscal 2022. EBITDA for the 9-month period totaled $163.1 million, a 14% increase compared to $143.7 million in the same year ago period.

EBITDA 是 2023 財年第三季度的非 GAAP 流動性衡量指標，總計 5230 萬美元，與 2022 財年第三季度的 5360 萬美元相比下降 2%。9 個月期間的 EBITDA 總計 1.631 億美元，與上一季度的 1.437 億美元相比增長 14%。同年同期。

Now turning to our balance sheet. At quarter end, we had $78.1 million of cash compared to $37.8 million at the end of fiscal year 2022. Our tangible net worth at the end of the quarter was $396.9 million, up from $321.6 million at the end of the prior fiscal year.

現在轉向我們的資產負債表。截至季度末，我們擁有 7810 萬美元現金，而 2022 財年末為 3780 萬美元。本季度末我們的有形淨資產為 3.969 億美元，高於上一財年末的 3.216 億美元。

Finally, as we announced in the prior press release, A-Mark's Board of Directors reaffirmed its previously announced regular quarterly cash dividend policy of $0.20 per common share, which the company paid in April. It is expected that the next quarterly dividend will be declared and paid in July 2023. The declaration of regular cash dividends in the future, including the next quarter is subject to the determination each quarter by the Board of Directors based on a number of factors, including the company's financial performance, available cash resources, cash requirements and alternative uses of cash and applicable bank covenants.

最後，正如我們在之前的新聞稿中宣布的那樣，A-Mark 的董事會重申了其先前宣布的每股普通股 0.20 美元的定期季度現金股息政策，該公司已於 4 月份支付了該政策。預計下一季度股息將於2023年7月宣派和支付。未來包括下一季度的定期現金股息的宣派取決於董事會每個季度根據多項因素確定，包括公司的財務業績、可用現金資源、現金需求和現金的替代用途以及適用的銀行契約。

That completes my financial summary. Now I will turn the call over to Thor, who will provide an update on our key operating metrics. Thor?

這完成了我的財務摘要。現在我將把電話轉給 Thor，他將提供我們關鍵運營指標的最新信息。雷神？

Thank you, Kathleen. Looking at our key operating metrics for the third quarter of fiscal 2023, we sold 659,000 ounces of gold in Q3 fiscal 2023, which was down 9% from Q3 of last year but was up 17% from the previous quarter. For the 9-month period, we sold 1.9 million ounces of gold, which was down 9% from the same year ago period.

謝謝你，凱瑟琳。從我們 2023 財年第三季度的主要運營指標來看，我們在 2023 財年第三季度銷售了 659,000 盎司黃金，比去年第三季度下降了 9%，但比上一季度增長了 17%。在 9 個月期間，我們賣出了 190 萬盎司黃金，比去年同期下降了 9%。

We sold 36.9 million ounces of silver in Q3 fiscal 2023, which was up 7% from Q3 of last year, but was down 3% from last quarter. For the 9-month period, we sold 111 million ounces of silver, which is up 17% from the same year ago period.

我們在 2023 財年第三季度售出了 3690 萬盎司白銀，比去年第三季度增長了 7%，但比上一季度下降了 3%。前 9 個月，我們售出 1.11 億盎司白銀，比去年同期增長 17%。

The number of new customers in our DTC segment, which is defined as the number of customers that have registered or set up a new account or made a purchase for the first time during the period was 64,700 in Q3 fiscal 2023, which is down 40% from Q3 of last year and was down 51% from last quarter.

2023 財年第三季度，我們 DTC 部門的新客戶數量（定義為在此期間註冊或設立新賬戶或首次購買的客戶數量）為 64,700，下降了 40%與去年第三季度相比，比上一季度下降了 51%。

It is important to note approximately 55% of the new customers in the previous quarter were attributable to the acquired customer list of BGASC in October of 2022. For the 9-month period, the number of new customers in our DTC segment was 244,900, which was up 35% from 182,000 new customers in the same year ago period. Approximately 30% of the new customers in the 9-month period were attributable to the acquired customer list of BGASC in October of 2022.

值得注意的是，上一季度約 55% 的新客戶歸因於 2022 年 10 月獲得的 BGASC 客戶名單。在這 9 個月期間，我們 DTC 部門的新客戶數量為 244,900，這與去年同期的 182,000 名新客戶相比增長了 35%。 9個月期間約30%的新客戶歸因於BGASC在2022年10月獲得的客戶名單。

The number of total customers in our DTC segment at the end of the third quarter was approximately $2.3 million, which was a 15% increase from the prior year. The year-over-year increase in total customers was primarily due to organic growth of our JMB customer base as well as the acquired customer list from BGASC in October of 2022.

第三季度末，我們 DTC 部門的客戶總數約為 230 萬美元，比上年增長 15%。客戶總數的同比增長主要是由於我們的 JMB 客戶群的有機增長以及 2022 年 10 月從 BGASC 獲得的客戶名單。

The DTC segment average order value, which represents the average dollar value of third-party product orders, excluding accumulation program orders delivered to DTC segment customers during Q3 fiscal 2023 was 2,452, which was down $266 from Q3 fiscal 2022. For the 9-month period, our DTC average order value was $2,394, which compares to 2,458 from the same year ago period. For the fiscal third quarter, our inventory turn ratio was 2.4%, which was a 23% decrease from 3.1% in Q3 of last year.

DTC 細分市場平均訂單價值，代表第三方產品訂單的平均美元價值，不包括在 2023 財年第三季度交付給 DTC 細分市場客戶的累積計劃訂單為 2,452，比 2022 財年第三季度下降 266 美元。前 9 個月期間，我們的 DTC 平均訂單價值為 2,394 美元，而去年同期為 2,458 美元。對於第三財季，我們的庫存周轉率為 2.4%，比去年第三季度的 3.1% 下降了 23%。

For the 9-month period, our inventory turnover ratio was 7.0%, which was a 27% decrease from the 9-month period of last year. Finally, the number of secured loans at the end of March totaled 963, a decrease of 8% from December 31, 2022, and a decrease of 64% from March 31, 2022. The dollar value of our loan portfolio at the end of March 2023 totaled $96.9 million, which is down 5% from the end of December and down 34% from March 31, 2022. That concludes my prepared remarks. I'll now turn it over to Greg for closing remarks. Greg?

前 9 個月，我們的庫存周轉率為 7.0%，比去年前 9 個月下降了 27%。最後，3 月底的擔保貸款數量總計 963 筆，比 2022 年 12 月 31 日下降了 8%，比 2022 年 3 月 31 日下降了 64%。我們 3 月底貸款組合的美元價值2023 年總計 9690 萬美元，比 12 月底下降 5%，比 2022 年 3 月 31 日下降 34%。我準備好的發言到此結束。我現在將其轉交給 Greg 作結束語。格雷格？

Thank you, Thor and Kathleen. The exceptional market conditions that we experienced in the latter half of the third quarter post bank crisis have continued, keeping us optimistic about the outlook for A-Mark as we close out our fiscal year. Looking ahead, we continue to evaluate growth opportunities to further expand our customer base and our geographic footprint.

謝謝托爾和凱瑟琳。我們在銀行危機後第三季度後半段經歷的異常市場狀況仍在繼續，這使我們在結束本財年時對 A-Mark 的前景保持樂觀。展望未來，我們將繼續評估增長機會，以進一步擴大我們的客戶群和地理足跡。

We continue to invest in our minting business and are currently in the process of expanding the size of the facility and acquiring additional equipment to further increase minting capacity. We remain optimistic that our proven business model and integrated platform will allow us to realize growth and profitability over the long run. This concludes my remarks. Kelly?

我們繼續投資我們的鑄幣業務，目前正在擴大設施規模和購買額外設備以進一步提高鑄幣能力。我們仍然樂觀地認為，我們經過驗證的商業模式和集成平台將使我們能夠實現長期增長和盈利。我的發言到此結束。凱莉？

(Operator Instructions) Your first question is coming from Thomas Forte with D.A. Davidson.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 Thomas Forte 和 D.A.戴維森。

So Greg, Thor, Kathleen, and Steve, congrats on a fantastic quarter. I had 3 questions, but they're just pretty quick ones. So I'll go one at a time. So Greg, can you give your current thoughts on capital allocation, including dividends, onetime dividends, and buying back shares? I see you bought back shares in the quarter?

所以 Greg、Thor、Kathleen 和 Steve 祝賀一個出色的季度。我有 3 個問題，但他們只是很快的問題。所以我會一個一個去。那麼格雷格，你能談談你目前對資本配置的想法，包括股息、一次性股息和回購股票嗎？我看到你在本季度回購了股票？

Sure. I think that post this quarter, we have added to our capital, added to our tangible net worth. I think that the company had a buyback plan in place, which we've had for a while. We felt in this last quarter that there was an opportunity to deploy capital in a good way. I think the average purchase price for the 335,000 shares was around $29 a share. And so we saw that as an opportunity.

當然。我認為在本季度發布後，我們增加了資本，增加了我們的有形淨資產。我認為公司有一個回購計劃，我們已經有一段時間了。我們在上個季度感到有機會以良好的方式部署資本。我認為 335,000 股的平均購買價格約為每股 29 美元。因此，我們將其視為一個機會。

I think that we continue to have a good pipeline of acquisition targets. And in fact, it's fairly robust right now. So we're very careful about how we're going to deploy capital in that way. Very comfortable with the quarterly dividend. And as we have said before, depending on where we are after the fiscal year, we usually take a close look at a special dividend really depending on all the factors I just discussed and what we think is the proper amount to return to shareholders at that time.

我認為我們繼續擁有良好的收購目標渠道。事實上，它現在相當強大。因此，我們對如何以這種方式部署資本非常謹慎。對季度股息非常滿意。正如我們之前所說，根據我們在財政年度之後的情況，我們通常會仔細研究特別股息，這實際上取決於我剛才討論的所有因素以及我們認為在那個時候回報股東的適當數額時間。

So I think all of those things we look at regularly and pretty comfortable right now that we're in a position to be able to make these decisions and return capital or do things that we think are good for shareholder value.

因此，我認為我們現在能夠做出這些決定並返還資本或做我們認為對股東價值有利的事情，所以我認為所有這些事情我們現在都會定期並且非常自在地看待。

You touched on this twice already. So I don't know what more you can add. But on the strategic M&A front, including international direct-to-consumer expansion, is there anything you want to add beyond what you've already said so far?

你已經提到過兩次了。所以我不知道你還能添加什麼。但在戰略併購方面，包括國際直接面向消費者的擴張，除了你目前已經說過的內容之外，你還有什麼想補充的嗎？

Not really. I mean I think it's the same. I think at the moment, we feel very good about the pipeline, and we have a lot of opportunities that are -- that have developed. No guarantee any of them will happen. We're in the early stages on a few things we're looking at, but optimistic that we can continue to do acquisitions and do as we have done in the past, accretive for the company and the shareholders and that we feel we have a good formula and we're finding opportunities that we believe will be good for those.

並不真地。我的意思是我認為它是一樣的。我認為目前，我們對管道感覺非常好，我們有很多機會 - 已經開發。不能保證它們中的任何一個都會發生。我們正在研究的一些事情還處於早期階段，但樂觀地認為我們可以繼續進行收購併像過去那樣做，為公司和股東帶來收益，我們覺得我們有好的公式，我們正在尋找我們認為對這些人有利的機會。

Whether that's in the DTC segment or the minting business or the wholesale trading business, I think we're always open to acquisitions and opportunities that make sense like what we've done historically.

無論是在 DTC 領域、鑄幣業務還是批發貿易業務，我認為我們總是對收購和機會持開放態度，這些收購和機會就像我們過去所做的那樣有意義。

And last one for me. I think that investors may not fully understand this, which I want to ask. So for those investors who may not be familiar, how does a sustained period of elevated gold prices impact your business?

最後一個給我。我想投資者可能不完全理解這一點，我想問一下。那麼對於那些可能不熟悉的投資者來說，金價持續上漲對您的業務有何影響？

I have talked about this almost every quarter for the last 10 years. The price of gold is a little bit less important to our activity level as is the circumstances behind the price of gold. What we saw in the month of March and the month of April was a panic flight to safety. And the price of the metal really didn't matter, particularly in the last 3 weeks of March. People just were taking money out of banks and people were buying safety.

在過去的 10 年裡，我幾乎每個季度都在談論這個問題。黃金價格對我們的活動水平的重要性略低於黃金價格背後的環境。我們在 3 月和 4 月看到的是恐慌逃往安全地帶。金屬價格真的無關緊要，尤其是在 3 月的最後 3 週。人們只是從銀行取錢，購買安全產品。

That is a behavior that our customers have not really exhibited in the past, short term. It was a different feel. It was a different behavior by the client. But there was a tremendous amount of volatility and a tremendous amount of fear of missing out, I believe, at the end of last -- of the quarter we're reporting on. So the price was very strong and near new highs and the sentiment of missing out was evident for us.

這是我們的客戶在過去短期內沒有真正表現出的行為。那是一種不同的感覺。這是客戶的不同行為。但是我相信，在我們報告的最後一個季度末，存在巨大的波動性和對錯過的巨大恐懼。所以價格非常強勁，接近新高，錯過的情緒對我們來說是顯而易見的。

Historically, we've talked about drops in price that really stimulated interest. We still expect to see those in the future. But the macro environment right now is such that there is a belief that there are more crisis to come, there's more uncertainty, there's more volatility. The world seems to be somewhat uneasy right now overall. And that particular sentiment and the environment that we're seeing is favorable to us. And it's a good thing for us.

從歷史上看，我們討論過真正刺激興趣的價格下跌。我們仍然希望在未來看到這些。但現在的宏觀環境讓人們相信會有更多的危機、更多的不確定性、更多的波動。現在整個世界似乎有些不安。我們看到的那種特殊情緒和環境對我們有利。這對我們來說是一件好事。

Generally, our slowest periods happen when the price of gold and silver is very tightly range bound over a long period of time. And we just aren't seeing that right now.

一般來說，我們最慢的時期發生在黃金和白銀的價格在很長一段時間內非常緊密地區間震盪時。我們現在還沒有看到。

Your next question is coming from Lucas Pipes with B. Riley Securities.

你的下一個問題來自 B. Riley Securities 的 Lucas Pipes。

Thank you very much, operator. Good afternoon, everyone. And Greg, you touched on it just there a bit in the prior question, but I wanted to ask a little bit more about the trends since quarter end. You mentioned the uncertainty around the debt ceiling right now. That's an issue a lot of folks are seemingly concerned about. So what have you seen in terms of volume, customer acquisitions, the margin on the product in the DTC segment? I would appreciate maybe some additional color on that and then how it may shape your outlook for the end of the year?

非常感謝你，接線員。大家下午好。格雷格，你在前面的問題中只是提到了一點，但我想多問一點自季度末以來的趨勢。你現在提到了債務上限的不確定性。這似乎是很多人都關心的問題。那麼，您在 DTC 細分市場的數量、客戶獲取和產品利潤方面看到了什麼？我希望能在上面添加一些額外的顏色，然後它會如何影響你對年底的展望？

It seems like I should be asking you that. I saw your last report, and it seemed like you were -- did your homework and you were very attuned to the premiums and what has happened pretty much since the middle of March or the first week of March. We really -- this quarter for us was really like night and day. We reported on our last quarter that December and January had started off fairly slow for us. And there were a number of factors to that. A lot of it was inventory availability. And again, there were some tight range-bound periods.

看來我應該問你這個。我看到了你的上一份報告，你似乎做了功課，你非常了解保費以及自 3 月中旬或 3 月第一周以來發生的事情。我們真的 - 這個季度對我們來說真的就像白天和黑夜一樣。我們在上個季度報告說，12 月和 1 月對我們來說開局相當緩慢。這有很多因素。其中很大一部分是庫存可用性。再一次，有一些狹窄的區間波動期。

February continued to be fairly slow. The week before the SVB crisis, we saw activity pick up, and we saw just a little bit different behavior from our customers. And then the last 3 weeks of March were, for all the reasons that you mentioned and the panic that seemed to ensue, it was extremely good for us. And all aspects of the business perform just as we would expect them to.

二月繼續相當緩慢。在 SVB 危機前一周，我們看到活動有所回升，我們看到客戶的行為略有不同。然後 3 月的最後 3 週，出於您提到的所有原因以及隨之而來的恐慌，這對我們來說非常有利。業務的各個方面都按照我們的預期進行。

And there was a new level of just what seemed like fear and just flight to quality that we hadn't seen compressed into such a short period of time before. I attribute all the work that everybody here has done to the success and being prepared so that we could take advantage of it. We had plenty of inventory. Our DTC businesses took full advantage of the increase in demand.

並且出現了一個新的水平，似乎是恐懼和對質量的逃避，我們以前沒有看到壓縮到這麼短的時間內。我將這裡每個人所做的所有工作歸功於成功和準備，以便我們可以利用它。我們有充足的存貨。我們的 DTC 業務充分利用了需求的增長。

And we have seen the level of activity continue in the first part of this quarter, April was very active for us. And I believe the overall crisis and the overall uncertainty in the market right now and just really kind of a fear of what comes next. It seems like every Sunday afternoon or every early Monday morning, there's a new event that the government is having to deal with. And I think that bodes well for our part of the economy or our part of the world. So we feel like we're well positioned, and we're seeing some good activity right now.

我們已經看到本季度第一部分的活動水平仍在繼續，四月份對我們來說非常活躍。我相信目前市場的整體危機和整體不確定性，以及對接下來會發生什麼的真正恐懼。似乎每個星期天下午或每個星期一早上，政府都必須處理一個新事件。我認為這對我們經濟或世界的一部分來說是個好兆頭。所以我們覺得我們的定位很好，我們現在看到了一些好的活動。

Thank you and also congratulations for being in a position to take advantage of that market opportunity. I wanted to touch on the Mint expansion really quickly. And I wondered what sort of capital outlays the expansion requires, what payback periods you're looking at? And then I saw that you take the certification that qualifies the Mint, I believe, for IRA investments. How does that work? And what's the market opportunity on that front?

謝謝你，也祝賀你能夠利用這個市場機會。我想很快談談 Mint 的擴展。我想知道擴張需要什麼樣的資本支出，您正在尋找什麼樣的投資回收期？然後我看到你獲得了 Mint 資格認證，我相信，可以進行 IRA 投資。這是如何運作的？那方面的市場機會是什麼？

As it relates to the expansion, we've had an opportunity to acquire some new equipment that will expand a certain product line that we are very active in right now. It will require a small construction build, and then we expect the machiner to be online probably in September.

由於涉及擴張，我們有機會獲得一些新設備，這些設備將擴展我們目前非常活躍的特定產品線。這將需要一個小型建築，然後我們預計該機器可能會在 9 月上線。

The overall capital expense for this small expansion is probably less than $2 million. So I mean it's not a ton of money. As it relates to return on investment, it's going to depend a little bit on where the demand goes between now and September, October, November. But if we're anywhere near the activity level we have right now, this new machine and this expansion could have a 1 to 2-year payback. If the market is super active, it could be quicker, but somewhere in the 1 to 2-year range on this is what we would be shooting for.

這一小規模擴張的總資本支出可能不到 200 萬美元。所以我的意思是這不是一大筆錢。由於它與投資回報有關，這將在一定程度上取決於從現在到 9 月、10 月、11 月之間需求的去向。但是，如果我們的活動水平接近我們現在的水平，那麼這台新機器和這次擴建可能會在 1 到 2 年內收回投資。如果市場非常活躍，它可能會更快，但在 1 到 2 年範圍內的某個地方，這就是我們的目標。

As it relates to the ISO certification, it allows SilverTowne product to be accepted by most of the IRA trustees. It's a very arduous process, and it took quite a bit of time. But now as long as any of our products have either the Silvertown name or the pick axe, which is our logo on the product, anywhere on the product, it will be accepted by the majority of the trustees for IRA inclusion in their ecosystem.

由於它與 ISO 認證相關，它允許 SilverTowne 產品被大多數 IRA 受託人接受。這是一個非常艱鉅的過程，花費了相當多的時間。但現在只要我們的任何產品有 Silvertown 名稱或鎬，這是我們在產品上的標誌，在產品的任何地方，它都會被大多數受託人接受，將 IRA 納入他們的生態系統。

So it's something that Jamie and his team and Brent had worked on for a long time. It's a testament to only the highest quality mints are certified. Our other -- the Mint that we have a minority interest in, Sunshine, they too are certified. And we look at it as a big accomplishment.

所以這是 Jamie 和他的團隊以及 Brent 長期致力於的事情。這證明只有最優質的薄荷糖才能獲得認證。我們的另一個 - 我們擁有少數股權的 Mint，Sunshine，他們也獲得了認證。我們將其視為一項重大成就。

The next question is coming from Andrew Scutt with Roth MKM.

下一個問題來自 Andrew Scutt 和 Roth MKM。

Congrats on the strong quarter. Just kind of going off of some of the questions here regarding the inventory build. You guys had some healthy build in the June quarter and March quarter, and you touched on kind of an opportunistic June quarter here to liquidate some of the inventory. Can you just kind of touch on your guys' thought process behind the inventory management and when you may build or when you may liquidate depending on market conditions?

祝賀強勁的季度。只是解決了這里關於庫存構建的一些問題。你們在 6 月季度和 3 月季度有一些健康的構建，你們在這裡談到了一個機會主義的 6 月季度來清算一些庫存。您能否談談庫存管理背後你們的思維過程，以及您何時可以建造或何時可以清算，具體取決於市場條件？

Well, the demand really dictates where our inventory will be and how fast the inventory turns. We're currently pretty booked up through the end of June for both Sunshine and SilverTowne products. The Royal Canadian Mint continues to be on allocation, and we're not getting enough Royal Canadian Mint product. The U.S. Mint is continuing their allocation program, and we're not getting enough of that product either.

好吧，需求確實決定了我們的庫存將在哪里以及庫存周轉的速度。截至 6 月底，我們的 Sunshine 和 SilverTowne 產品都已經預訂一空。加拿大皇家鑄幣廠繼續分配，我們沒有獲得足夠的加拿大皇家鑄幣廠產品。美國造幣廠正在繼續他們的分配計劃，我們也沒有得到足夠的那種產品。

So I guess the inventory buildup, it depends a lot on the product. A lot of times, you'll see our inventory build up dollar-wise and it might be 400-ounce gold bars or 1,000 ounce silver bars that are very low margin for us. So it really depends about the composition of the inventory and how much of it is fabricated product that will sell through our DTC and how much of it is industrial sized bars that we'll sell to manufacturers or institutions.

所以我猜庫存的增加在很大程度上取決於產品。很多時候，您會看到我們的庫存在美元方面增加，可能是 400 盎司金條或 1,000 盎司銀條，這對我們來說利潤率非常低。因此，這實際上取決於庫存的構成，其中有多少是將通過我們的 DTC 銷售的製成品，以及有多少是我們將出售給製造商或機構的工業尺寸的金條。

So it's not just as easy as saying what -- how we will build up or what we will build up in. Right now, it would be very difficult for us to build up inventory because we're pretty much selling everything we can make, and the demand is driving that. As I mentioned on the last call, towards the end of November and December of '22 and through January and February, we had a significant slowdown in demand.

所以這不僅僅是說我們將如何建立或我們將建立什麼那麼容易。現在，我們很難建立庫存，因為我們幾乎賣掉了我們可以製造的所有東西，需求正在推動這一點。正如我在上次電話會議上提到的那樣，在 22 年的 11 月底和 12 月底以及整個 1 月和 2 月，我們的需求明顯放緩。

And we were able to take that opportunity to build up inventory and have it live on the shelves, and that that was opportunistic for us, and it played out very well as we saw a spike in demand in the first and second week of March. And the demand has continued through the first part of this quarter.

我們能夠藉此機會建立庫存並將其上架，這對我們來說是機會主義的，而且效果非常好，因為我們看到 3 月的第一周和第二週的需求激增。需求一直持續到本季度的第一部分。

But just going by what our inventory is and what it says on the balance sheet can be a little bit more complex than that. It has a lot to do with the makeup. And then strategically, what the company decides, we want to build up for some promotion or some opportunity in the future. So it's just a little more complicated than just what the line item is on the balance sheet.

但是，僅僅根據我們的庫存以及它在資產負債表上的說法可能會比這複雜一點。跟妝容有很大關係。然後在戰略上，公司的決定，我們希望在未來建立一些晉升或機會。所以它比資產負債表上的行項目稍微複雜一點。

And last, just a quick one for me. It's nice to see the healthy -- you said 124 basis point expansion in direct-to-consumer. Can you just unpack that a little bit. Was that driven by spreads and the increased volumes at the end of the quarter? Or is there something else to impact there?

最後，對我來說只是一個快速的。很高興看到健康——你說直接面向消費者的業務擴張了 124 個基點。你能把它拆開一點嗎？這是由價差和本季度末交易量增加推動的嗎？或者還有其他影響嗎？

No, I think it was just our ability to be prepared and to be able to sell a lot of product when our competition in the DTC segment seemed to be a little less prepared or didn't have as much inventory. So I think that when we're taking market share and when we're more taking customers and there's less product available, the market is going to naturally price product a little bit higher. And I think we were able to take advantage of that, and it was good for us.

不，我認為當我們在 DTC 領域的競爭似乎準備不足或沒有那麼多庫存時，這只是我們做好準備並能夠銷售大量產品的能力。所以我認為，當我們搶占市場份額時，當我們更多地吸引客戶並且可用的產品減少時，市場自然會將產品定價高一點。我認為我們能夠利用這一點，這對我們有好處。

We not only saw some increase in margins. We saw -- we had the product to sell. And I believe our new customer counts and our ability to find new customers and service those customers was very good towards the end of the quarter and is reflecting very strongly for the start of the new quarter.

我們不僅看到利潤率有所增加。我們看到了——我們有產品要賣。而且我相信我們的新客戶數量以及我們尋找新客戶和為這些客戶提供服務的能力在本季度末非常好，並且在新季度開始時反映非常強烈。

Your next question is coming from Greg Gibas with Northland Securities.

你的下一個問題來自 Northland Securities 的 Greg Gibas。

Congrats on the strong results. Most of my questions have been answered here, but I wanted to follow up on the expansion of the facility at Silicon Mint. You kind of covered a little bit regarding timing and everything. But I wanted to get a sense of maybe the magnitude of the expansion or, I guess, the level of production volume that you're kind of seeking to maybe match the demand? I know your comment was we're really selling everything we can make. So I just wanted to get a sense of what -- the degree to the expansion there.

祝賀你取得了優異的成績。我的大部分問題都在這裡得到了解答，但我想跟進 Silicon Mint 設施的擴建。你有點涉及時間和一切。但我想了解一下擴張的幅度，或者，我想，你正在尋求滿足需求的產量水平？我知道你的評論是我們真的在賣我們能做的一切。所以我只是想了解一下那裡的擴張程度。

Right. And there's 2 -- we've talked a little bit before that we bought some property in Winchester, Indiana, that Jamie Meadows was able to acquire for us. And there's a long-term plan for a much bigger expansion, but that's going to take some time. And I would say that's much more long term as it relates to expansion.

正確的。還有 2 個——我們之前談過一點，我們在印第安納州溫徹斯特購買了一些房產，Jamie Meadows 能夠為我們獲得這些房產。並且有一個更大規模擴張的長期計劃，但這需要一些時間。而且我會說這是更長期的，因為它與擴張有關。

As it relates to what I described earlier, this was a specific set of machinery that had been on order with another company and the machinery -- the company decided not to take delivery of the machinery. And so we were able to jump in and get the slot, which is why we're going to be able to take delivery of this set of machinery hopefully in August or September and get online very quickly.

正如我之前所描述的那樣，這是一套特定的機器，已經向另一家公司和機器訂購——該公司決定不接收機器的交付。因此，我們能夠投入並獲得插槽，這就是為什麼我們有望在 8 月或 9 月交付這套機器並很快上線的原因。

Generally, you need to plan on 12 to 18 months lead time for some of this equipment. So this was a real opportunity for us to kind of jump to the front of the line and get something that we really think we need. It's my understanding that when we get this fully online in October, it's likely to add 500,000-plus ounces a week -- I mean, I'm sorry, 500,000 ounces plus a month of additional capacity for us. So a very nice jump. And we're looking forward to getting it online for products right now that we actually can't make enough of.

通常，您需要為其中一些設備計劃 12 到 18 個月的交貨時間。所以這對我們來說是一個真正的機會，可以跳到隊伍的最前面，得到我們真正認為我們需要的東西。據我了解，當我們在 10 月完全上線時，它可能每週增加 500,000 多盎司——我的意思是，對不起，500,000 盎司加上我們一個月的額外產能。所以一個非常好的跳躍。我們現在期待著將它在線用於我們實際上無法生產的產品。

It fits -- this piece of machinery fits a product line that we're having trouble keeping up with. So it worked out very well for us, and it's exactly what we needed, and we're going to be able to get it quicker than we normally would. So very, very happy with the progress we're making on this project.

它適合——這台機器適合我們難以跟上的產品線。所以它對我們來說效果很好，這正是我們所需要的，我們將能夠比平時更快地獲得它。非常非常高興我們在這個項目上取得的進展。

Got it. That's great to hear. I appreciate the color there. And I did want to ask you, I know I asked you in the past, but sometimes you feel like you have some pretty good insights into the supply dynamics from the U.S. Mint and how that will trend going forward. Curious if you have any comments on where you expect that to trend?

知道了。聽到這個消息我很高興。我欣賞那裡的顏色。我確實想問你，我知道我過去問過你，但有時你覺得你對美國鑄幣廠的供應動態以及未來的趨勢有一些很好的了解。想知道您是否對您預期的趨勢有何評論？

Yes. I don't really. I mean it's -- from what I can tell right now, the trends of limited production is continuing. I think certainly, if you look at the premiums on U.S. Mint product, particularly in silver, not so much in gold, but particularly in silver, the premiums continue to be at an elevated level. And that's just a combination of supply and demand.

是的。我真的不知道。我的意思是——據我所知，限量生產的趨勢仍在繼續。我認為當然，如果你看一下美國造幣廠產品的溢價，特別是白銀，而不是黃金，特別是白銀，溢價繼續處於較高水平。這只是供需的結合。

And right now, the premiums would indicate there's not enough supply coming out of the mint for the demand. And that's a good thing for us. We're going to -- we're not going to complain. And we'd always like to have a little bit more product. But I think that continued lack of what -- filling the demand that's there, really long term, plays out well for A-Mark in our private mint products, particularly SilverTowne and Sunshine that the longer this persists, the longer our customers are going to favor and want to buy SilverTowne and Sunshine products and the acceptance level of that -- those products.

而現在，溢價表明鑄幣廠的供應不足以滿足需求。這對我們來說是件好事。我們將——我們不會抱怨。我們總是希望有更多的產品。但我認為，從長遠來看，持續缺乏滿足那裡的需求對 A-Mark 在我們的私人薄荷產品中發揮良好作用，特別是 SilverTowne 和 Sunshine，這種情況持續的時間越長，我們的客戶就會購買的時間越長喜歡並想購買 SilverTowne 和 Sunshine 產品以及對這些產品的接受程度。

And the quality of the product at Sunshine and SilverTowne, our manufacturing rivals a lot of sovereign mints right now. And we've come so far and the product is so good that the brands are stronger than ever and the ISO certification really illustrates that. So the Mint is making a great product. We love their product. We could sell more of it if we had it. And we'll see what happens. But I don't anticipate right now that there's any -- is going to be any significant or material change in what they're able to produce every month.

還有 Sunshine 和 SilverTowne 的產品質量，我們的製造業現在可以與許多主權鑄幣廠相媲美。我們已經走了這麼遠，產品非常好，品牌比以往任何時候都更強大，ISO 認證確實說明了這一點。所以造幣廠正在製造一個偉大的產品。我們喜歡他們的產品。如果我們有它，我們可以賣得更多。我們將看看會發生什麼。但我現在預計他們每個月的生產能力不會有任何重大或實質性的變化。

Sure. That's helpful, Greg. I think you already kind of answered my questions regarding M&A opportunities there. So I'll leave it there for now, but I appreciate that help.

當然。這很有幫助，格雷格。我認為您已經回答了我關於那裡的併購機會的問題。所以我暫時把它留在那裡，但我很感激你的幫助。

The next question is coming from David Sebastian with [Kingan] Capital Advisors.

下一個問題來自 [Kingan] Capital Advisors 的 David Sebastian。

I was curious if you could talk a little bit about counterparty risk when it comes to your hedging on your gold and silver with all the bank runs that have been going on lately?

我很好奇，當涉及到最近發生的所有銀行擠兌對沖黃金和白銀時，您是否可以談談交易對手風險？

Yes. I mean we lived through the '08 crisis, and we've been there, and we've lived through the MF global crisis as it relates to large counterparties. We have what I believe is one of the best risk management strategies in the marketplace. We have not seen any counterparty disruption throughout the last 8 weeks.

是的。我的意思是我們經歷了 08 年的危機，我們經歷過，我們也經歷過與大型交易對手相關的 MF 全球危機。我認為我們擁有市場上最好的風險管理策略之一。在過去 8 週內，我們沒有看到任何交易對手中斷。

Our philosophy really, like most people in the country, is we'd like to be engaged with banks and institutions that we believe fall in the too big to fail category. And we have positioned ourselves over the last 15 years to continually have our largest counterparty positions with institutions that we believe are too big to fail. And we've really tried to avoid having positions or having counterparty risk that we deem material in this area with any of the mid-level or smaller counterparties that we could deal with.

我們的理念確實與該國大多數人一樣，我們希望與我們認為屬於太大而不能倒閉類別的銀行和機構合作。在過去的 15 年裡，我們將自己定位為不斷與我們認為大到不能倒的機構保持最大的交易對手頭寸。我們確實已經盡力避免與我們可以處理的任何中級或較小的對手方在這一領域擁有我們認為重要的頭寸或對手方風險。

And I think that's just part of our risk management, and we feel like we do a really good job on this. And I think how we've particularly -- Thor and I have managed this in the last 18 years or 19 years is we feel pretty good about that. You can always -- you always know that a black swan event is out there and you always know that you need to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

我認為這只是我們風險管理的一部分，我們覺得我們在這方面做得非常好。而且我認為我們特別是 - Thor 和我在過去的 18 年或 19 年中已經做到了這一點，我們對此感覺非常好。你總是可以——你總是知道黑天鵝事件就在那裡，你總是知道你需要做最壞的打算，抱最好的希望。

But I believe that in our case, we've been doing this for quite some time, and our philosophy really hasn't changed since '08, '09, where we really moved away from what we felt at the time were higher-risk counterparties, and we focused on doing most of our business with high-level institutions.

但我相信，在我們的案例中，我們已經這樣做了很長一段時間，而且我們的理念自 08 年、09 年以來就沒有改變，我們真正擺脫了當時我們認為風險較高的做法交易對手，我們專注於與高層機構開展大部分業務。

Got it. Very helpful. Do you have any commentary on where sales are trending, especially on the DTC side for Q4 versus what you saw in Q3?

知道了。很有幫助。您對銷售趨勢有何評論，尤其是在第四季度的 DTC 方面與您在第三季度看到的情況相比？

I feel like the businesses -- all segments of the businesses were really excelling at the end of Q3. I feel like everything really worked together. Everything was there. We really took advantage of it. Generated a tremendous amount of gross profit in the last month of the quarter. I think that what we're seeing right now through 5 weeks of Q4, we're very optimistic.

我覺得這些業務——所有業務部門在第三季度末都非常出色。我覺得一切都在一起。一切都在那裡。我們真的利用了它。在本季度的最後一個月產生了巨額的毛利。我認為我們在第四季度的 5 週內看到的情況，我們非常樂觀。

And I can say that the business continues to exceed my expectations as it relates to just the seamless operations that all of our divisions are working together, rowing in the same direction, from getting raw metal to delivering 10 ounces of silver to somebody's door step. It's a very complex and intense process.

我可以說，這項業務繼續超出我的預期，因為它涉及到我們所有部門共同努力的無縫運營，朝著同一個方向划船，從獲取原材料到將 10 盎司白銀送到某人家門口。這是一個非常複雜和激烈的過程。

Throughout the spikes in demand that we saw particularly over a couple of weekends in March towards the end. Our delivery, our ability to get products to DTC customers in a very, very short period of time when people were really panicked and just really wanted anything in their hands as opposed to in a brokerage account or in a bank account, our team really overachieved. So I don't know what's going to happen next week. I can just comment on what I've seen so far, and we feel really firing on what I would say are 12 cylinders right now.

在需求激增的整個過程中，我們特別看到了 3 月底的幾個週末。我們的交付，我們在非常非常短的時間內將產品交付給 DTC 客戶的能力，當時人們真的很恐慌並且真的想要他們手中的任何東西而不是在經紀賬戶或銀行賬戶中，我們的團隊真的超額完成了.所以我不知道下週會發生什麼。我只能評論我到目前為止所看到的，我們現在真的覺得我會說是 12 個汽缸。

At this time, this concludes our question-and-answer session. I'd now like to turn the call back over to Mr. Roberts for his closing remarks.

至此，我們的問答環節到此結束。我現在想把電話轉回給羅伯茨先生，讓他發表結束語。

Thank you, Kelly. I'd like to thank all of our shareholders for joining -- that joined our call today. Thank you for your interest and continued support. I'd also like to thank all of our employees for their dedication and commitment to A-Mark's continued success. We look forward to keeping you apprised of A-Mark's progress. Thank you.

謝謝你，凱利。我要感謝我們所有的股東加入 - 今天加入了我們的電話會議。感謝您的關注和持續支持。我還要感謝我們所有的員工為 A-Mark 的持續成功所做的奉獻和承諾。我們期待讓您了解 A-Mark 的進展。謝謝。

Before we conclude today's call, I would like to provide A-Mark's safe harbor statement that includes important cautions regarding forward-looking statements made during this call. During today's call, there were forward-looking statements made regarding future events. Statements that relate A-Mark's future plans, objectives, expectations, performance, events and the like are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

在我們結束今天的電話會議之前，我想提供 A-Mark 的安全港聲明，其中包括關於本次電話會議期間所做的前瞻性陳述的重要警告。在今天的電話會議中，有關於未來事件的前瞻性陳述。與 A-Mark 的未來計劃、目標、預期、業績、事件等相關的陳述是 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法》和 1934 年《證券交易法》含義範圍內的前瞻性陳述。

Future events, risks and uncertainties individually or in aggregate could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include the following: the failure to execute the company's growth strategy as planned; greater-than-anticipated costs incurred to execute the strategy; changes in the current domestic and international political climate; increased competition for A-Mark's higher-margin services, which could depress pricing; the failure of the company's business model to respond to changes in the market environment as anticipated; general risk of doing business in the commodity markets and other business, economic, financial and governmental risks as described in the company's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

未來事件、風險和不確定性單獨或匯總可能導致實際結果與這些聲明中明示或暗示的結果大不相同。可能導致實際結果不同的因素包括：未能按計劃執行公司的增長戰略；執行戰略所產生的成本高於預期；當前國內和國際政治氣候的變化；對 A-Mark 的高利潤服務的競爭加劇，這可能會壓低定價；公司商業模式未能按預期應對市場環境變化；在商品市場開展業務的一般風險以及公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的公開文件中所述的其他商業、經濟、金融和政府風險。

The words should, believe, estimate, expect, intend, anticipate, foresee, plan and similar expressions and variations thereof identity certain of such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they were made. Additionally, any statements related to future improved performance and estimates of revenues and earnings per share are forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

應該、相信、估計、期望、打算、預期、預見、計劃和類似的表達及其變體標識了某些此類前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅在作出這些陳述的日期發表。此外，任何與未來業績改善相關的陳述以及對收入和每股收益的估計都是前瞻性陳述。公司不承擔公開更新或修改任何前瞻性陳述的義務。告誡讀者不要過分依賴這些前瞻性陳述。

Finally, I would like to remind everyone that a recording of today's call will be available for replay via a link on the Investors section of the company's website. Thank you for joining us today for A-Mark's earnings call. You may now disconnect.

最後，我想提醒大家，今天的電話會議錄音可以通過公司網站投資者部分的鏈接重播。感謝您今天加入我們參加 A-Mark 的財報電話會議。您現在可以斷開連接。