汽車地帶 (AZO) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to the AutoZone's 2024 Q2 Earnings Release Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this conference is being recorded. Before we begin, the company would like to announce the following forward-looking statements.

問候。歡迎參加 AutoZone 2024 年第二季財報發布電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，本次會議正在錄製中。在我們開始之前，該公司謹宣布以下前瞻性聲明。

Before we begin, please note that today's call includes forward-looking statements that are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Please refer to this morning's press release and the company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a discussion of important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations.

在我們開始之前，請注意，今天的電話會議包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受到 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》安全港條款的約束。前瞻性陳述並不能保證未來業績。請參閱今天早上的新聞稿、公司最新的 10-K 表格年度報告以及向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件，以了解可能導致實際結果與預期存在重大差異的重要風險和不確定性的討論。

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update such statements. Today's call will also include certain non-GAAP measures. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures can be found in our press release.

前瞻性陳述僅代表截至做出之日的情況，本公司不承擔更新此類陳述的義務。今天的電話會議還將包括某些非公認會計準則措施。您可以在我們的新聞稿中找到 GAAP 與非 GAAP 財務指標的調整表。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today for AutoZone's 2024 Second Quarter Conference Call. With me today are Jamere Jackson, Chief Financial Officer; and Brian Campbell, Vice President, Treasurer, Investor Relations and Tax. Regarding the second quarter, I hope you had an opportunity to read our press release and learn about the quarter's results. If not, the press release, along with the slides complementing our comments today, are available on our website at www.autozone.com under the Investor Relations link. Please click on the quarterly earnings conference call to see them.

早安，感謝您今天參加我們的 AutoZone 2024 年第二季電話會議。今天與我在一起的有財務長傑米傑克森 (Jamere Jackson)；布萊恩·坎貝爾 (Brian Campbell)，副總裁兼財務主管，負責投資者關係和稅務。關於第二季度，我希望您有機會閱讀我們的新聞稿並了解本季的業績。如果沒有，您可以在我們的網站 www.autozone.com 的投資者關係連結下查看新聞稿以及補充我們今天評論的幻燈片。請點擊季度收益電話會議查看它們。

As we begin this morning, I'd like to say how honored I am to talk with you on behalf of our more than 120,000 AutoZoners, as today marks my first conference call as AutoZoners' President and Chief Executive Officer. At AutoZone, our first priority is to provide what we call WOW! Customer Service. This quarter, the efforts of our AutoZoners increased our total sales by 4.6% and total company same-store sales by 1.5% on a constant currency basis. Both our operating profit and earnings per share grew by a very impressive double-digit rates. We continue to build on the phenomenal performance we had over the last several years. Congratulations to our AutoZoners everywhere who helped us achieve this amazing growth.

在我們今天早上開始時，我想說，我非常榮幸能夠代表我們超過 120,000 名 AutoZoners 與您交談，因為今天是我作為 AutoZoners 總裁兼首席執行官的第一次電話會議。在 AutoZone，我們的首要任務是提供我們所說的“WOW！”客戶服務。本季度，在 AutoZoners 的努力下，以固定匯率計算，我們的總銷售額成長了 4.6%，公司同店總銷售額成長了 1.5%。我們的營業利潤和每股盈餘均以令人印象深刻的兩位數成長率成長。我們將繼續在過去幾年的出色表現的基礎上再接再厲。恭喜我們各地的 AutoZoners 幫助我們實現了這一驚人的成長。

Before I begin my comments regarding our second quarter sales, as a reminder, this is always our most volatile quarter to predict as the timing and severity of winter weather is both meaningful and variable. It is also our lowest sales volume quarter. This year, the Christmas and New Year's Day holidays fell on a Monday compared to Sunday last year. For commercial sales, this really mattered. Sunday is a very low sales day while Monday is one of the best. While weather across the U.S. was very mild for the first 8 weeks of the quarter, we experienced a polar vortex and snow in the last 4 weeks.

在我開始對第二季度銷售發表評論之前，提醒一下，這始終是我們預測的最不穩定的季度，因為冬季天氣的時間和嚴重程度既有意義又多變。這也是我們銷量最低的季度。與去年的周日相比，今年的聖誕節和元旦假期都在周一。對於商業銷售來說，這確實很重要。週日是銷售量非常低的一天，而週一則是銷售量最好的一天。雖然本季前 8 週美國各地的天氣非常溫和，但在過去 4 週我們經歷了極地渦旋和降雪。

This extreme weather helped to propel us to stronger results in DIY, but muted our sales in commercial as snow in much of the Eastern United States, stayed on the ground for an extended period of time. Again, weather extremes either hot or cold, drive hard part failures and accelerate maintenance over time. For the second quarter, our total company same-store sales were 1.5% on a constant currency basis. As international has become a more important part of our growth story in an area where we are increasingly deploying capital, we will continue reporting on our international performance.

這種極端天氣幫助我們在 DIY 方面取得了更好的成績，但由於美國東部大部分地區的降雪在地面停留了很長一段時間，我們的商業銷售受到抑制。同樣，極端天氣，無論是炎熱還是寒冷，都會導致硬體部件故障，並隨著時間的推移加速維護。第二季度，以固定匯率計算，我們公司同店總銷售額成長了 1.5%。在我們越來越多地部署資本的領域，國際已成為我們成長故事中更重要的一部分，因此我們將繼續報告我們的國際表現。

We encourage you to focus on the same-store sales, constant currency number where International, again, had a strong quarter, up 10.6%. We are very excited about the short- and long-term growth prospects internationally, and we plan to accelerate new store openings over the next several years. Our domestic same-store sales were up 0.3% this quarter compared to 1.2% last quarter and 5.3% in Q2 of last year. Breaking our 12 weeks of sales into the first 8 weeks and then the last 4 weeks, you can see the impact of the holiday shift and the weather volatility.

我們鼓勵您專注於同店銷售額（以固定匯率計算），其中國際業務再次表現強勁，成長了 10.6%。我們對國際上的短期和長期成長前景感到非常興奮，並計劃在未來幾年加速新店開幕。本季我們的國內同店銷售額成長了 0.3%，而上季成長了 1.2%，去年第二季成長了 5.3%。將我們 12 週的銷售情況分為前 8 週和最後 4 週，您可以看到假期變化和天氣波動的影響。

Domestically, we ran a negative 1.8% comp across the first 8 weeks and a positive 4.4% comp in the last 4 weeks. This was even more pronounced when splitting these time frames up between commercial and DIY. Our commercial business grew 2.7% against very strong sales last year of 13.1%. Although our commercial business finished stronger than we started, our results were below our expectations. Across the 12-week quarter, we were up 4.1% for the first 4 weeks, then down 0.7% over the second 4-week segment and up 4.4% over the last 4 weeks.

在國內，我們前 8 週的年成長率為 1.8%，過去 4 週的年成長率為 4.4%。當這些時間範圍分為商業和 DIY 時，這一點更加明顯。我們的商業業務成長了 2.7%，而去年的銷售額則非常強勁，達到 13.1%。儘管我們的商業業務最終比開始時強勁，但我們的業績低於我們的預期。在為期 12 週的季度中，前 4 週上漲 4.1%，第二個 4 週下跌 0.7%，最後 4 週上漲 4.4%。

Although better in the last 4 weeks segment, of the quarter, our sales were depressed due to the winter storms shutting down many commercial customers, particularly in the mid-south. The holiday shift combined with weather negatively impacted our sales by roughly 2% for the quarter. Despite all this volatility in commercial sales, we are encouraged that we finished the quarter stronger. Commercial sales growth continues to be driven by the key initiatives we have been working on over time. Improved satellite and store inventory availability, material improvements in Hub and Mega-Hub coverage, the strength of the Duralast brand with an intense focus on high-quality products and technology enhancements to make us easier to do business with.

儘管本季最後 4 週的業績有所好轉，但由於冬季風暴導致許多商業客戶（尤其是中南部地區）關閉，我們的銷售額受到抑制。假期轉變加上天氣對我們本季的銷售額產生了約 2% 的負面影響。儘管商業銷售存在如此多的波動，但我們對本季的強勁表現感到鼓舞。商業銷售的成長持續受到我們長期以來致力於的關鍵舉措的推動。衛星和商店庫存可用性的改善、樞紐和巨型樞紐覆蓋範圍的材料改進、Duralast 品牌的實力以及對高品質產品和技術增強的高度關注，使我們更容易開展業務。

We recently launched initiatives focused on improving customer service with faster delivery times in commercial, while very early, we are encouraged by the initial results. In commercial, we continue to see higher growth rates for traffic relative to ticket. In Q2, we opened 20 net new commercial programs. We now have commercial programs in 92% of our domestic stores.

我們最近推出了一些舉措，重點是透過更快的商業交付時間來改善客戶服務，雖然很早，但我們對初步結果感到鼓舞。在商業領域，我們繼續看到流量相對於門票的成長率更高。第二季度，我們淨開設了 20 個新商業項目。現在我們國內92%的門市都有商業項目。

Domestic commercial sales represented 30% of our domestic auto part sales for Q2. We believe our commercial business will get stronger and growth rates will improve as we move through the year. Sales growth comparisons get easier in the back half of the year and our execution, customer delivery times, in-stock levels and parts availability continue to improve.

第二季國內商業銷量占我們國內汽車零件銷量的 30%。我們相信，隨著這一年的發展，我們的商業業務將會變得更加強勁，成長率也會提高。下半年的銷售成長比較變得更加容易，我們的執行力、客戶交貨時間、庫存水準和零件可用性持續改善。

Regarding domestic DIY, we had a negative 0.3% comp this quarter versus last year's comp of positive 2.7%. DIY ran 0.7% across the first 4 weeks of the quarter, a negative 6.2% across the second 4-week segment and a positive 4.8% comp over the last 4 weeks. The last 4-week time segment was accelerated due to the winter weather. As a reminder, last year, the polar vortex hit in the second 4-week segment.

就國內 DIY 而言，本季我們的年成長率為 0.3%，而去年的年成長率為 2.7%。 DIY 在本季的前 4 週內上漲了 0.7%，在第二個 4 週內下跌了 6.2%，在過去 4 週內上漲了 4.8%。由於冬季天氣，最後 4 週的時間加快了。提醒一下，去年，極地渦旋在第二個為期 4 週的時段來襲。

I'd like to add some color on our regional performance as well. The Northeast and the Midwest markets underperformed the remainder of the country by 500 basis points in the middle 4-week segment, only to swing to a positive 1,250 basis points overperformance for the last 4-week segment. For the quarter, we saw a 270 basis point favorable performance in the Northeast and the Midwest versus the remainder of the country.

我也想為我們的地區表現增添一些色彩。東北部和中西部市場在 4 週中期的表現比全國其他地區低 500 個基點，但在最後 4 週的表現卻比全國其他地區高出 1,250 個基點。本季度，東北部和中西部地區的表現較全國其他地區高出 270 個基點。

Although the Midwest had some extreme cold, we frankly would like to see more winter weather along the East Coast markets, where the winter has been persistently mild for more than 2 years now. Overall, for the quarter, the West performed least favorably. Headed into the third quarter, we are planning for a more normal weather pattern, meaning we feel weather will not play a big story, one way or the other.

儘管中西部地區出現了一些極端寒冷的天氣，但坦白說，我們希望看到東海岸市場出現更多的冬季天氣，那裡的冬季已經持續溫和兩年多了。整體而言，本季西方表現最差。進入第三季度，我們正在計劃一種更正常的天氣模式，這意味著我們認為天氣不會發揮重要作用，無論怎樣。

Our Q3 performance is always contingent on a normalized tax refund season and we expect this year to be similar to last year. Regarding our merchandise categories and DIY business, our sales floor categories underperformed hard parts as we saw a more discretionary pullback, particularly from the low-end consumer.

我們第三季的業績始終取決於正常的退稅季，我們預計今年的表現與去年相似。就我們的商品類別和 DIY 業務而言，我們的銷售區域類別表現落後於硬零件，因為我們看到了更多的可自由支配的回調，特別是來自低端消費者的回調。

Regarding this quarter's traffic versus ticket growth, our DIY traffic was down 2.2%, while our ticket average was up 1.7%. We expect our ticket growth will return to more normalized levels in the 2% to 4% range as we get further removed from higher inflation last year. We attribute our share gains to improve customer service levels in our store, and our in-stock nearing pre-pandemic levels driven by improved productivity in our distribution centers.

關於本季的流量與門票成長情況，我們的 DIY 流量下降了 2.2%，而我們的門票平均流量增加了 1.7%。隨著我們進一步擺脫去年通膨上升的影響，我們預計門票成長將恢復到 2% 至 4% 的正常水平。我們將份額成長歸因於商店客戶服務水準的提高，以及配送中心生產力提高的推動，我們的庫存接近疫情前的水準。

While we are up against exceptionally strong same-store sales from a year ago, particularly in commercial, we believe we are making progress. We've made many changes across the organization. From doubling down on many of our long-term execution processes, ensuring that we are hiring the best AutoZoners and reducing turnover, our execution is improving, and we're making steady progress.

雖然我們面臨著一年前異常強勁的同店銷售，尤其是商業銷售，但我們相信我們正在取得進展。我們在整個組織中做出了許多改變。透過加倍加強我們的許多長期執行流程，確保我們僱用最好的 AutoZoners 並減少人員流動，我們的執行力正在不斷提高，並且正在取得穩步進展。

Before handing the call to Jamere, I'd like to highlight and give some color on our international business. At 859 stores opened internationally or 12% of our total store base, the business had impressive performance last quarter and should continue to grow at a robust pace for the remainder of fiscal 2024. We are leveraging many of the learnings we have in the U.S. to refine our offerings in our international markets.

在將電話交給 Jamere 之前，我想強調並介紹我們的國際業務。該業務在國際上開設了859 家門市，占我們門市總數的12%，上季度的業績令人印象深刻，並且在2024 財年剩餘時間內將繼續保持強勁增長。我們正在利用在美國學到的許多知識來完善我們在國際市場上的產品。

And finally, before Jamere discusses our financial results, I'd like to remind you of our overarching objectives for fiscal 2024. We are focused on growing our domestic commercial business and believe our improved service levels will lead to continued sales growth. We also continue to focus on our supply chain with two initiatives that are in flight and drive improved availability.

最後，在 Jamere 討論我們的財務表現之前，我想提醒您我們 2024 財年的總體目標。我們專注於發展國內商業業務，並相信我們提高的服務水準將帶來持續的銷售成長。我們也繼續關注我們的供應鏈，有兩項正在進行中的舉措，旨在提高可用性。

First is our expanded Hub and Mega-Hub rollouts. And secondly, we're making good progress on transforming our distribution network. We have two domestic distribution centers currently under construction in the U.S.: Chowchilla, California; and New Kent, Virginia. We are also nearing the completion of our expanded Tepeji, Mexico distribution center.

首先是我們擴展的中心和巨型中心的推出。其次，我們在分銷網絡轉型方面取得了良好進展。我們目前在美國有兩個國內配送中心正在興建中：加州喬奇拉；和弗吉尼亞州新肯特。我們還即將完成墨西哥特佩吉配送中心的擴建。

Additionally, we have broken ground on a larger facility that will house our relocated Monterrey distribution center. Our strategy is focusing on leveraging the entire network to carry more inventory closer to the customer, driving sales growth with improved speeds, expanded parts availability and improved efficiency.

此外，我們還破土動工建造了一座更大的設施，該設施將容納我們搬遷後的蒙特雷配送中心。我們的策略重點是利用整個網路將更多庫存運送到離客戶更近的地方，透過提高速度、擴大零件可用性和提高效率來推動銷售成長。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to Jamere Jackson.

現在我想把電話轉給傑米爾傑克森。

Thanks, Phil, and good morning, everyone. As Phil has previously discussed, we had a solid second quarter, marking our fifth sequential quarter of double-digit EPS growth. This quarter, we delivered 4.6% total company sales growth with a 0.3% domestic comp, a 10.6% international comp on a constant currency basis, a 10.9% increase in EBIT and a 17.2% increase in EPS. We continue to deliver solid results and the efforts of our AutoZoners in our stores and distribution centers continue to enable us to drive growth in a meaningful way.

謝謝菲爾，大家早安。正如菲爾之前討論的那樣，我們的第二季度表現強勁，標誌著我們連續第五個季度實現兩位數每股收益成長。本季度，我們公司總銷售額成長 4.6%，其中以固定匯率計算，國內銷售額成長 0.3%，國際銷售額成長 10.6%，息稅前利潤成長 10.9%，每股收益成長 17.2%。我們繼續取得紮實的成果，我們的商店和配送中心的 AutoZoners 的努力繼續使我們能夠以有意義的方式推動成長。

To start this morning, let me take a few moments to elaborate on the specifics in our P&L for Q2. For the quarter, total sales were up -- were $3.9 billion, up 4.6% and let me give a little color on our sales and our growth initiatives. Starting with our domestic commercial business, our domestic DIFM sales increased 2.7% to $980 million and were up 15.8% on a 2-year stack basis. Sales to our domestic DIFM customers represented 25% of our total company sales and 30% of our domestic auto part sales.

從今天早上開始，讓我花一些時間詳細說明第二季損益表的具體細節。本季總銷售額成長了 39 億美元，成長 4.6%，讓我稍微介紹一下我們的銷售額和成長計畫。從我們的國內商業業務開始，我們的國內 DIFM 銷售額增長了 2.7%，達到 9.8 億美元，在 2 年基礎上增長了 15.8%。國內 DIFM 客戶的銷售額占公司總銷售額的 25%，佔國內汽車零件銷售額的 30%。

Our average weekly sales per program were $14,051, down 2.8% versus last year. Once again, the weekly sales averages were impacted by the addition of a significant number of immature programs over the last couple of quarters. I'll also remind you that Q1 and Q2 are our toughest comparisons this fiscal year and we expect our year-over-year comparisons to be somewhat easier in the back half of our fiscal year.

每個項目的平均每週銷售額為 14,051 美元，比去年下降 2.8%。過去幾季增加的大量不成熟項目再次影響了每周平均銷售量。我還要提醒您，第一季和第二季是我們本財年最艱難的比較，我們預期在本財年後半段，我們的年比比較會更容易一些。

We now have our commercial program in approximately 92% of our domestic stores, which leverages our DIY infrastructure and we're building our business with national, regional and local accounts. This quarter, we opened 20 net new programs finishing with 5,823 total programs. Our commercial acceleration initiatives continue to make progress as we seek to grow share by winning new business and increasing our share of wallet with existing customers.

現在，我們大約 92% 的國內商店都有我們的商業計劃，該計劃利用了我們的 DIY 基礎設施，並且我們正在透過國家、地區和當地客戶來建立我們的業務。本季度，我們淨開設了 20 個新項目，總計 5,823 個項目。我們的商業加速計劃不斷取得進展，我們尋求透過贏得新業務和增加現有客戶的錢包份額來增加份額。

Importantly, we have a lot of runway in front of us and we will continue to aggressively pursue growth opportunities in commercial, which we believe is our single largest growth opportunity. To support our commercial growth, we now have 101 Mega-Hub locations. Our Mega-Hubs continue to average significantly higher sales than the balance of the commercial programs and grew more than 3x the rate of our overall commercial business in Q2.

重要的是，我們面前有很多跑道，我們將繼續積極尋求商業成長機會，我們認為這是我們最大的成長機會。為了支持我們的商業成長，我們現在擁有 101 個超級中心地點。我們的巨型中心的平均銷售額持續顯著高於商業計劃的其餘部分，第二季的成長率是我們整體商業業務的 3 倍以上。

Our Mega-Hubs typically carry roughly 100,000 SKUs, drive tremendous sales lift inside the store box and serve as an expanded fulfillment source for other stores. These assets are performing well individually, and the fulfillment capability for the surrounding AutoZone stores is giving our customers access to tens of thousands of additional parts and lifting the entire network. We will continue to aggressively open Mega-Hubs for the foreseeable future, and we expect to have north of 200 Mega-Hubs at full buildout.

我們的大型中心通常承載約 100,000 個 SKU，大大提升店內銷售量，並作為其他商店的擴展履行來源。這些資產單獨表現良好，周圍 AutoZone 商店的履行能力使我們的客戶能夠獲得數以萬計的額外零件，並提升整個網路。在可預見的未來，我們將繼續積極開放巨型樞紐，預計全面擴建後將擁有超過 200 個巨型樞紐。

On the domestic retail side of our business, our comp was negative 0.3% for the quarter. As Phil mentioned, we saw traffic down 2.2%, offset by 1.7% ticket growth. As we move forward, we would expect to see slightly declining transaction counts, offset by low to mid-single-digit ticket growth in line with the long-term historical trends for the business, driven by changes in technology and the durability of new parts. While DIY discretionary purchases were challenged in Q2, we continue to see a growing and aging car park, a challenging new and used car sales market and a consumer that is likely to continue to invest in their existing vehicles.

在我們業務的國內零售方面，本季我們的業績為負 0.3%。正如 Phil 所提到的，我們看到客流量下降了 2.2%，但被門票增加 1.7% 所抵消。隨著我們的前進，我們預計交易數量將略有下降，但在技術變革和新零件耐用性的推動下，交易數量將被低至中個位數的門票增長所抵消，這與業務的長期歷史趨勢一致。雖然 DIY 隨意購買在第二季度受到挑戰，但我們仍然看到停車場不斷增長和老化，新車和二手車銷售市場充滿挑戰，消費者可能會繼續投資現有車輛。

In addition, miles driven are back to pre-pandemic levels. As such, we believe our DIY business will remain resilient for the remainder of FY '24.

此外，行駛里程恢復到疫情前的水平。因此，我們相信我們的 DIY 業務將在 24 財年剩餘時間內保持彈性。

Now I'll say a few words regarding our international business. We continue to be pleased with the progress we're making internationally, our same-store sales grew an impressive 23.9% on an actual basis and 10.6% on a constant currency basis. During the quarter, we opened 6 stores in Mexico to finish with 751 stores and 4 stores in Brazil, ending with 108. We remain committed to international and given our success, we're bullish on international being an attractive and meaningful contributor to AutoZone's future growth.

現在我就我們的國際業務說幾句話。我們仍然對我們在國際上的進展感到滿意，我們的同店銷售額實際增長了 23.9%，按固定匯率計算增長了 10.6%。本季度，我們在墨西哥開設了6 家商店，最終達到751 家商店，在巴西開設了4 家商店，最終達到108 家。我們仍然致力於國際化，鑑於我們的成功，我們看好國際化對AutoZone 的未來具有吸引力和有意義的貢獻生長。

Now let me spend a few minutes on the rest of the P&L and gross margins. For the quarter, our gross margin was 53.9%, up 160 basis points, driven primarily by a significant improvement in our core business gross margins and 63 basis points from a noncash $10 million LIFO charge in last year's quarter versus a $14 million LIFO credit this year. Excluding LIFO from both years, we had a very strong 97 basis points improvement in gross margin which increased from last quarter's 70 basis point improvement.

現在讓我花幾分鐘時間討論其餘的損益表和毛利率。本季度，我們的毛利率為53.9%，成長了160 個基點，這主要是由於我們的核心業務毛利率顯著改善，以及去年季度1000 萬美元的非現金LIFO 費用比本季度1400 萬美元的LIFO信貸提高了63 個基點。年。排除這兩年的後進先出法，我們的毛利率大幅提高了 97 個基點，高於上季 70 個基點的提高。

We've had exceptional gross margin improvement. And in fact, Q2's gross margin was at the highest gross margin rate we've had since Q2 of FY 2021. I'll point out that we now have $43 million in cumulative LIFO charges yet to be reversed through our P&L, and we expect this credit balance to reverse over time. We're currently modeling $15 million in LIFO credits for Q3 based on the deflation experienced in Q1 and Q2. This compares to the $17 million LIFO credit we had in Q3 last year, which means we'll have a $2 million net LIFO headwind in gross profit in Q3.

我們的毛利率得到了顯著改善。事實上，第二季的毛利率是自2021 財年第二季以來的最高毛利率。我要指出的是，我們現在有4,300 萬美元的累積後進先出費用尚未透過我們的損益表逆轉，我們預計這種信貸餘額會隨著時間的推移而扭轉。目前，我們正在根據第一季和第二季經歷的通貨緊縮情況，對第三季 1500 萬美元的 LIFO 信貸進行建模。相較之下，我們去年第三季擁有 1,700 萬美元的後進先出信貸，這意味著我們第三季的毛利將面臨 200 萬美元的淨後進先出逆風。

As I've said previously, once we credit back to $43 million through the P&L, we will not take any more credits, and we will begin to rebuild an unrecorded LIFO reserve.

正如我之前所說，一旦我們透過損益表貸記回 4300 萬美元，我們將不再獲取任何貸記，並且我們將開始重建未記錄的 LIFO 儲備。

Moving to operating expenses. Our expenses were up 6.1% versus last year's Q2 as SG&A as a percentage of sales deleveraged 49 basis points. The accelerated growth in SG&A has been purposeful as we continue to invest in store payroll and IT to underpin our growth initiatives. These investments are paying dividends and customer experience, speed and productivity. We're committed to being disciplined on our SG&A growth as we move forward, and we will manage expenses in line with sales growth over time.

轉向營運費用。由於 SG&A 佔銷售額的百分比去槓桿化了 49 個基點，我們的費用比去年第二季增加了 6.1%。 SG&A 的加速成長是有目的的，因為我們繼續投資商店薪資和 IT 以支持我們的成長計劃。這些投資正在帶來紅利、客戶體驗、速度和生產力。我們致力於在前進的過程中嚴格控制銷售及行政管理費用的成長，並且我們將根據銷售成長來管理費用。

Moving to the rest of the P&L. EBIT for the quarter was $743 million, up 10.9% versus the prior year driven by our positive same-store sales growth and gross margin improvements. Interest expense for the quarter was $102.6 million, up 56% from Q2 a year ago as our debt outstanding at the end of the quarter was $8.6 billion versus $7 billion at Q2 end last year. We're planning interest in the $105 million range for the third quarter of FY '24 versus $74.3 million last year. Higher debt levels and borrowing rates across the curve are driving this increase.

轉向損益表的其餘部分。在同店銷售積極成長和毛利率改善的推動下，本季息稅前利潤為 7.43 億美元，較上年增長 10.9%。本季利息支出為 1.026 億美元，比去年第二季增加 56%，因為本季末我們的未償債務為 86 億美元，而去年第二季末為 70 億美元。我們計劃 24 財年第三季的興趣為 1.05 億美元，而去年為 7,430 萬美元。整個曲線上較高的債務水準和借款利率正在推動這一成長。

For the quarter, our tax rate was 19.6% and down from last year's second quarter of 21.2%. This quarter's rate benefited 360 basis points from stock options exercised, while last year, it benefited 222 basis points. For the second quarter of FY '24, we suggest investors model us at approximately 23.4% before any assumption on credits due to stock option exercises.

本季度，我們的稅率為 19.6%，低於去年第二季的 21.2%。本季利率因股票選擇權行使而受益 360 個基點，而去年則受益 222 個基點。對於 24 財年第二季度，我們建議投資者在對因股票選擇權行使而產生的信貸做出任何假設之前，將我們的利率模型定為約 23.4%。

Moving to net income and EPS. Net income for the quarter was $515 million, up 8.1% versus last year. Our diluted share count of 17.8 million was 7.8% lower than last year's second quarter. The combination of higher net income and lower share count drove earnings per share for the quarter to $28.89, up 17.2% for the quarter.

轉向淨利和每股收益。該季度淨利潤為 5.15 億美元，比去年同期成長 8.1%。我們的稀釋後股票數量為 1,780 萬股，比去年第二季減少了 7.8%。較高的淨利潤和較少的股票數量相結合，推動本季每股收益達到 28.89 美元，成長 17.2%。

Now let me talk about our free cash flow for Q2. For the second quarter, we generated $179 million in free cash flow. We had higher CapEx spending this quarter versus a year ago, and we expect to spend close to $1.1 billion in CapEx this fiscal year as we complete the addition of our distribution center capacity expansion ahead of schedule.

現在讓我談談我們第二季的自由現金流。第二季度，我們產生了 1.79 億美元的自由現金流。我們本季的資本支出高於一年前，隨著提前完成配送中心產能擴張，我們預計本財年的資本支出將接近 11 億美元。

I'll also remind you that we generate a majority of our free cash flow in the back half of our fiscal year. We expect to continue to be an incredibly strong cash flow generator going forward, and we remain committed to returning meaningful amounts of cash to our shareholders.

我還要提醒您，我們大部分的自由現金流都是在本財年後半段產生的。我們預計未來將繼續成為一個極其強大的現金流發生器，並且我們仍然致力於向股東返還大量現金。

Regarding our balance sheet, our liquidity position remains very strong and our leverage ratio finished Q2 at 2.4x EBITDAR. Our inventory per store was up 1.6% versus last year, while total inventory increased 4.2% driven by new store growth. Net inventory, defined as merchandise inventories less accounts payable on a per store basis was a negative $164,000 versus negative $227,000 last year and negative $197,000 last quarter. As a result, accounts payable as a percentage of inventory finished the quarter at 119.8% versus last year's 127.7%.

就我們的資產負債表而言，我們的流動性狀況仍然非常強勁，第二季末我們的槓桿率為 2.4 倍 EBITDAR。我們每家商店的庫存比去年增加了 1.6%，而在新店成長的推動下，總庫存增加了 4.2%。淨庫存（定義為每家商店的商品庫存減去應付帳款）為負 164,000 美元，而去年為負 227,000 美元，上季度為負 197,000 美元。因此，本季應付帳款佔庫存的百分比為 119.8%，而去年為 127.7%。

Lastly, I'll spend a moment on capital allocation and our share repurchase program. We repurchased $224 million of AutoZone stock in the quarter. And at quarter end, we had just over $2.1 billion remaining under our share buyback authorization. We've bought back over 100% of the then outstanding shares of stock since our buyback inception in 1998, while investing in our existing assets and growing our business. We remain committed to a leverage target in the 2.5x area and a disciplined capital allocation approach that will enable us to invest in the business and return meaningful amounts of cash to shareholders.

最後，我將花一點時間討論資本配置和我們的股票回購計畫。我們在本季回購了價值 2.24 億美元的 AutoZone 股票。截至季末，我們的股票回購授權剩餘金額略高於 21 億美元。自 1998 年回購開始以來，我們已經回購了超過 100% 的當時已發行股票，同時投資於我們現有的資產並發展我們的業務。我們仍然致力於 2.5 倍的槓桿目標和嚴格的資本分配方法，這將使我們能夠投資於業務並向股東返還大量現金。

So to wrap up, we remain committed to driving long-term shareholder value by investing in our growth initiatives, driving robust earnings and cash and returning excess cash to our shareholders. We're growing our market share, expanding our margins and improving our competitive positioning in a disciplined way. And as we look forward to the remainder of FY '24, we remain bullish on our initiatives to grow sales behind a resilient DIY business, a fast-growing international business and a domestic commercial business that remains underpenetrated and should accelerate in the back half of the fiscal year.

因此，總而言之，我們仍然致力於透過投資我們的成長計劃、推動強勁的利潤和現金並將多餘現金返還給股東，來推動長期股東價值。我們正在以嚴格的方式擴大市場份額、擴大利潤並提高我們的競爭地位。當我們展望 24 財年的剩餘時間時，我們仍然看好我們在彈性 DIY 業務、快速增長的國際業務和國內商業業務的基礎上增加銷售的舉措，這些業務仍然滲透不足，應該會在下半年加速增長。財政年度。

I continue to have tremendous confidence in our strategy and our ability to drive significant and ongoing value for our shareholders. And now I'll turn it back to Phil.

我仍然對我們的策略以及為股東帶來重大和持續價值的能力充滿信心。現在我會把它轉回給菲爾。

Thank you, Jamere. I want to stress how proud I am to represent the company as only the fifth CEO over the almost 45 years we have been in business. As you've heard, we have a lot of initiatives in flight and we have a great team of AutoZoners in place to take us to the next level. We truly believe we will continue to improve from here. We are well positioned to grow sales across our domestic and international store bases with both our retail and commercial customers.

謝謝你，傑米爾。我想強調的是，作為我們從業近 45 年來的第五任首席執行官，我非常自豪能夠代表公司。正如您所聽說的，我們有很多正在實施的舉措，我們擁有一支優秀的 AutoZoners 團隊，可以帶領我們更上一層樓。我們堅信我們將從這裡繼續改進。我們處於有利地位，可以增加我們國內和國際商店基地與零售和商業客戶的銷售。

Our gross margins are solid, and our operating expense structure is appropriate for future growth. We are putting our capital expenditures where it matters most. Our stores, our distribution centers and leveraging technology to build a superior customer experience where we are able to say yes to our customers' needs.

我們的毛利率穩定，我們的營運費用結構適合未來的成長。我們將資本支出放在最重要的地方。我們的商店、配送中心並利用科技打造卓越的客戶體驗，讓我們能夠滿足客戶的需求。

Fiscal 2024's top priority is enhanced execution. Additionally, we have many strategic projects in various stages of completion. We will continue opening new Mega-Hubs and Hubs, completing construction on the new distribution centers and optimizing our new direct import facility. We are also in the early stages of ramping up our domestic and international store growth. As you noticed, our international teams posted same-store sales comps on a constant currency basis of 10.6%, much higher than our domestic comps.

2024 財年的首要任務是增強執行力。此外，我們還有許多處於不同完成階段的策略項目。我們將繼續開設新的大型樞紐和樞紐，完成新配送中心的建設並優化我們新的直接進口設施。我們也處於加速國內和國際商店成長的早期階段。正如您所注意到的，我們的國際團隊公佈的以固定匯率計算的同店銷售業績為 10.6%，遠高於我們的國內業績。

International has been strong for several years now. While I mentioned all these investments in FY 2024, AutoZone's biggest opportunity remains growing share in our domestic commercial business. While Q2 was below our expectations, we believe we have a solid plan in place for growth over the remainder of the year. We know our focus on parts availability and WOW! Customer Service will lead to additional sales growth. We are excited about what we can accomplish and our AutoZoners are committed to delivering results. Now I'd like to open up the call for questions.

國際化多年來一直表現強勁。雖然我提到了 2024 財年的所有這些投資，但 AutoZone 最大的機會仍然是增加我們國內商業業務的份額。雖然第二季低於我們的預期，但我們相信我們已經制定了今年剩餘時間的可靠成長計劃。我們知道我們對零件可用性的關注，哇！客戶服務將帶來額外的銷售成長。我們對我們能夠取得的成就感到興奮，我們的 AutoZoners 致力於交付成果。現在我想開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question for today is from Chris Horvers with JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）今天您的第一個問題來自摩根大通的 Chris Horvers。

My first question for you is, on the domestic Pro business, what's your sense of what the market is actually growing, especially in light of your mix? Obviously, your largest and most relevant competitor has a much smaller mix of national accounts. So I don't think that's obvious to us from the outside. So how are you seeing the performance of national accounts? Are you seeing that start to get better? Do we have to wait to lap that starting in June and July? And how do you think that you're growing relative to the market on the Pro side?

我問你的第一個問題是，關於國內專業版業務，你對市場實際成長的感覺是什麼，特別是考慮到你的組合？顯然，你最大和最相關的競爭對手的國民帳戶組合要小得多。所以我認為從外部來看這對我們來說並不明顯。那麼您如何看待國民帳的表現？您看到情況開始好轉了嗎？我們是否必須等到六月和七月開始才能完成這一圈？您認為相對於專業版市場，您的成長情況如何？

Yes. So if you kind of segmented the business, I think an area of customer growth on the commercial side that's been more challenged has been the folks that are more focused on under car. So think brakes, suspension, those types of areas related to the tire, one of the four corners of the car, those have probably been the areas that have been more challenged. So for us, that's categories like brakes and suspension, which we talked quite extensively about that over the last year.

是的。因此，如果您對業務進行細分，我認為商業方面的客戶成長領域面臨更大的挑戰，那就是更關注汽車下的人。因此，想想煞車、懸吊、與輪胎相關的那些類型的區域、汽車的四個角落之一，這些可能是受到更大挑戰的區域。對我們來說，這就是煞車和懸吊等類別，去年我們對此進行了廣泛的討論。

And that's probably been where we've been most challenged, but I'll go back to the growth opportunities we have in the commercial. At the end of the day, we still have pretty low share and there's a big opportunity for us to continue to grow share in both terms of share of wallet for the customer as well as new customers.

這可能是我們面臨最大挑戰的地方，但我將回到廣告中的成長機會。歸根結底，我們的份額仍然很低，而且我們有很大的機會繼續增加客戶和新客戶的錢包份額。

So does that mean that -- I mean, I guess, if you were going to isolate more of the up and down the street account? Or are you seeing better relative performance? And I know you're reluctant to give too much detail in breaking out more detail, but like any commentary of like what the performance gap between like a national account business versus and an up and down the street account would be really helpful?

那麼，這是否意味著——我想，如果你要隔離更多的街頭帳戶呢？或者您看到更好的相對錶現？我知道您不願意透露太多細節，但就像任何評論一樣，國民帳戶業務與街頭帳戶之間的績效差距是否真的有幫助？

I would say the national accounts, depending on who they are, they can be wildly positive or negative depending on as your pick up business or your mature business, et cetera. I probably should have mentioned another area that's been challenged for us really for the last 18 months has been the Buy Here, Pay Here segment and the Used Car segment. Those have been pretty challenged as well as they've struggled with inventory. They had incredible sales coming out of the pandemic, and that's probably been a pretty challenged segment as well.

我想說的是，國民帳戶，取決於他們是誰，它們可能會非常積極或消極，這取決於你的業務或成熟的業務等等。我可能應該提到過去 18 個月裡我們真正面臨挑戰的另一個領域是「在這裡購買、在這裡付款」細分市場和二手車細分市場。這些都面臨著相當大的挑戰，並且在庫存方面也遇到了困難。他們在大流行中取得了令人難以置信的銷售額，這可能也是一個充滿挑戰的細分市場。

Got it. And then on the -- you mentioned tax refund is expected to be normal this year. I mean, based on the data that we track, it does seem to be lagging year-over-year. So can you talk about what you mean in terms of the expectation on tax refunds. It would seem like it actually plays out a little more inverted where you get benefit later in this quarter versus some headwinds at the start of the quarter?

知道了。然後，您提到今年退稅預計將正常進行。我的意思是，根據我們追蹤的數據，它似乎確實同比滯後。那麼您能談談您所說的退稅預期是什麼意思嗎？與本季度初的一些不利因素相比，在本季度晚些時候你會受益，但情況似乎實際上有點相反？

We're effectively 2 weeks into our quarter, a couple of weeks into our quarter. And the taxes may be pushed back a week or two. But I think over the 12-week quarter, we expect them to be pretty similar to last year and it's -- the vast majority of the taxes should land well within our 12-week time frame. So maybe slightly moved back a little bit, but not meaningful to the quarter. We expect it to be normal.

實際上，我們的季度已經過去兩週了，而且已經過去幾週了。稅收可能會推遲一兩週。但我認為在 12 週的季度中，我們預計它們將與去年非常相似，並且絕大多數稅收應該在我們的 12 週時間範圍內完成。因此，可能會稍微向後移動一點，但對本季沒有意義。我們希望它是正常的。

Your next question is from Bret Jordan with Jefferies.

你的下一個問題來自傑弗里斯的布雷特喬丹。

I guess a question on the competitive landscape as it relates to WDs. They seem to get better after maybe '22 into '23. Could you talk about the up and down the street business? Is that a pretty stable competitive environment? Do they still improve? Or are they sort of plateauing?

我想這是一個與 WD 相關的競爭格局問題。他們似乎在22年到23年後變得更好了。能談談街頭商業嗎？這是一個相當穩定的競爭環境嗎？他們還有進步嗎？或者它們已經趨於穩定？

Well, on the -- sorry, just to make sure I'm clear on your question. Questions relative to the WDs or to the actual...

好吧，抱歉，只是為了確保我清楚地回答你的問題。與 WD 或實際相關的問題...

Yes, WD competitors. It seemed like they were raising their game for a bit after the pandemic and whether they're kind of stable where they are or are they still -- are they becoming more competitive still?

是的，WD 的競爭對手。在疫情大流行之後，他們似乎在提高自己的水平，無論他們現在的情況是否穩定，還是仍然——他們是否仍然變得更具競爭力？

Yes. I think it's hard to tell exactly what's going on in their business. But from my sense, and we see it in our business as well, the vast majority of the supply chain constraints that you had in the latter half of the pandemic have resolved themselves for the most part. We'll still continue to improve.

是的。我認為很難確切地說出他們的業務正在發生什麼。但從我的感覺來看，我們在我們的業務中也看到了這一點，在疫情後半段遇到的絕大多數供應鏈限制已經在很大程度上得到了解決。我們仍將繼續改進。

In-stocks are not quite back to where they were previous to the pandemic. I suspect they will continue to improve slightly. And I would also think that the vast majority of the WDs that had the inventory issues in the latter half of the pandemic have probably recovered for the most part.

庫存尚未完全恢復到大流行之前的水平。我懷疑他們會繼續略有進步。我還認為，絕大多數在疫情後半段出現庫存問題的WD可能已經大部分恢復了。

So I think they're better, but I don't think they're going to have -- they're not going to materially get better over the next short period of time. I would say everybody is pretty much back to slightly lower than pre-pandemic levels.

所以我認為他們更好了，但我認為他們不會——他們不會在接下來的短時間內實質地變得更好。我想說，每個人都幾乎回到了略低於大流行前的水平。

Great. And then I guess a question on international. O'Reilly has gone and acquired Vast, and it seems like there's some Carquest assets for sale out there. Is Canada a market that you think about is -- or are really focused in Mexico and sort of secondarily Brazil?

偉大的。然後我猜一個關於國際的問題。 O'Reilly 已經收購了 Vast，而且似乎還有一些 Carquest 資產可供出售。您認為加拿大是一個市場嗎？或者說，您真正關注的市場是墨西哥，其次是巴西？

I would say we have -- I mean, we've got two markets that we're trying to expand in today, which are obviously Mexico and Brazil. And we like where we are in our international footprint. Canada is interesting. I would say -- I would never say we would not look at Canada, but it does have a pretty solid competitive base up there. And we just think there's better opportunities for us at the moment in the current markets that we have. We've got plenty of expansion opportunities in both markets, and we like our performance internationally. It doesn't mean we'd never go to Canada, but it's not a focus for us at the moment.

我想說的是，我們今天正在努力拓展兩個市場，顯然是墨西哥和巴西。我們喜歡我們在國際足跡中所處的位置。加拿大很有趣。我想說——我永遠不會說我們不會考慮加拿大，但它確實在那裡擁有相當堅實的競爭基礎。我們只是認為目前在我們現有的市場上有更好的機會。我們在這兩個市場都有大量的擴張機會，我們喜歡我們在國際上的表現。這並不意味著我們永遠不會去加拿大，但這不是我們目前的焦點。

Not in '24?

不是24年嗎？

No. You got 6 months left in '24 -- in our '24 anyway.

不。24 賽季還剩 6 個月——無論如何，我們 24 賽季還剩 6 個月。

Your next question for today is from Michael Lasser with UBS.

今天的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團 (UBS) 的 Michael Lasser。

Do you still see an opportunity return the commercial business back to a double-digit growth rate over time? Why or why not?

隨著時間的推移，您是否仍然認為商業業務有機會恢復兩位數成長率？為什麼或為什麼不？

Michael, great question, and thanks for the question. At the end of the day, we have -- let me go back to our comment on share. We have very low share in this marketplace. I think we will improve from here. Can I tell you exactly when we're going to get back to double-digit growth? No. I would expect that we would grow faster.

邁克爾，很好的問題，謝謝你的提問。最後，讓我回到我們對分享的評論。我們在這個市場上的市佔率非常低。我想我們會從這裡開始改進。我能確切地告訴你我們什麼時候才能恢復兩位數的成長嗎？不，我希望我們能成長得更快。

We have initiatives in place that we'll think we will accelerate our sales growth, particularly in the back half of this year, and it will continue to nail the date when I think we get back to a positive double-digit number, is frankly tough to do. There's a lot of variables in there. I think we'll see consistent share growth and consistent same-store sales and total growth in the commercial market for a long time to come, probably because we have -- we're better than we were as we continue to expand our Hubs and Mega-Hubs, improve our assortments and take share. We see a long-term growth trajectory for the commercial side of the business.

我們已經採取了一些舉措，我們認為我們將加速我們的銷售成長，特別是在今年下半年，坦白說，我認為我們將繼續確定我們回到正兩位數數字的日期。很難做到。這裡面有很多變數。我認為，在未來很長一段時間內，我們將看到商業市場的持續份額成長、同店銷售和整體成長，這可能是因為我們——隨著我們繼續擴大我們的中心和巨型中心，改善我們的品種並分享。我們看到該業務商業方面的長期成長軌跡。

Got you. That's helpful, Phil. My follow-up question is that AutoZone's gross margin has really been growing nicely for some time now. But at what point does the gross margin get too high such that they invite more competition within the sector, especially on the commercial side?

明白你了。這很有幫助，菲爾。我的後續問題是，一段時間以來，AutoZone 的毛利率確實一直在良好成長。但什麼時候毛利率會變得過高，以致引發業界更多的競爭，特別是在商業方面？

Yes, I don't think we're over-earning from a gross margin standpoint. We've been very disciplined about gross margin expansion. We've been very disciplined about pricing. And what we're actually seeing in our gross margins today is we come out of the period where we had very high freight costs. We had a supply base that was very challenged from a cost standpoint when we looked at what was happening with transportation costs, wages and just overall inflation in general.

是的，我認為從毛利率的角度來看我們並沒有超額獲利。我們對於毛利率的擴張一直非常嚴格。我們在定價方面一直非常嚴格。我們今天在毛利率中實際看到的是，我們已經走出了貨運成本非常高的時期。當我們考慮運輸成本、工資和整體通貨膨脹的情況時，從成本角度來看，我們的供應基地面臨很大的挑戰。

As we've moved past those periods, it gives us an opportunity now to start to negotiate deflation with our supply base. And at the same time, as we took pricing during those higher inflationary periods, we're not giving back retails. So what you're actually seeing is sort of a natural evolution of gross margins, if you will. The other thing I'll remind you is that our supply chain was particularly challenged during this time frame.

隨著我們已經度過了這些時期，現在我們有機會開始與我們的供應基地協商通貨緊縮問題。同時，由於我們在通膨較高的時期進行定價，因此我們不會回饋零售。因此，如果您願意的話，您實際上看到的是毛利率的自然演變。我要提醒您的另一件事是，我們的供應鏈在這段時間內受到了特別的挑戰。

And as our supply chain has improved its cost performance and its efficiencies, we're seeing some gross margin improvement in the -- from our supply chain. So this industry has been very, very disciplined for decades. We'll continue to be disciplined for decades. We don't believe that we're over earning and it's been a very disciplined approach to gross margin expansion and growing market share over time.

隨著我們的供應鏈提高了成本績效和效率，我們看到我們的供應鏈的毛利率有所改善。所以這個行業幾十年來一直非常非常有紀律。幾十年來我們將繼續遵守紀律。我們不認為我們獲利過多，而且隨著時間的推移，我們對毛利率的擴張和市場份額的成長採取了非常嚴格的方法。

Your next question is from Scot Ciccarelli with Truist.

您的下一個問題來自 Scot Ciccarelli 和 Truist。

Jamere, can I follow up on something you just said. So you're trying to negotiate deflation. So is the idea to drive down procurement costs, but fully hold retails?

Jamere，我可以跟進你剛才說的事情嗎？所以你正在努力應對通貨緊縮。那麼這個想法是降低採購成本，但完全保留零售嗎？

Yes. I mean if you look at what's happened in this industry literally for decades is during periods where we have high inflation or even hyperinflation, we've raised retails to basically cover those additions and cost. And then as those cost pressures abate, this industry typically does not lower retails.

是的。我的意思是，如果你看看這個行業幾十年來發生的事情，那就是在高通膨甚至惡性通膨時期，我們提高了零售額，基本上覆蓋了這些增加和成本。然後，隨著這些成本壓力的減輕，該行業通常不會降低零售額。

So what you're seeing is sort of the natural progression that we've seen from a gross margin standpoint as we're now in a period where things are becoming a little bit more deflationary. It gives us an opportunity to expand our margins, if you will. And we've been very disciplined about doing that as has the entire industry over this time period.

因此，您所看到的是我們從毛利率角度看到的自然進展，因為我們現在正處於通貨緊縮的時期。如果你願意的話，它為我們提供了擴大利潤的機會。就像整個行業在這段時間內的做法一樣，我們在這方面一直非常自律。

Can I add another -- just another comment on that. I think if you go back and look at some of the gross margin pressures we had in the -- specifically in the latter half of the pandemic where the supply chain was most stressed. Some of those costs that we had in logistics, either overseas or internal in the U.S., not all of those costs got pushed on to the consumer because we didn't want to kill unit demand. So we've hurdled some of that.

我可以添加另一個——只是對此的另一個評論。我想，如果你回顧我們在疫情期間所面臨的一些毛利率壓力，特別是在疫情後半段，供應鏈壓力最大。我們在物流方面的一些成本，無論是在海外還是在美國國內，並不是所有這些成本都轉嫁到了消費者身上，因為我們不想扼殺單位需求。所以我們已經克服了其中的一些障礙。

To Jamere's point, we took those prices up and as the underlying logistics cost basis comes down, that margin is what you're seeing today. We don't think we'll give the pricing back because this industry has been very price rational over, to Jamere's point, decades. We just don't see that retail pricing having to come back down.

就賈米爾的觀點而言，我們提高了這些價格，隨著基礎物流成本基礎的下降，這個利潤率就是您今天看到的。我們認為我們不會退還定價，因為按照 Jamere 的觀點，幾十年來這個行業的價格一直非常理性。我們只是不認為零售價格必須回落。

So just to clarify. So unless we see a spike in logistics or freight costs, the assumption should be where your current run rate of gross margin is, should be kind of the forward number we should be thinking of?

所以只是為了澄清一下。因此，除非我們看到物流或貨運成本激增，否則假設應該是您目前的毛利率運行率，應該是我們應該考慮的遠期數字？

Yes. And the only thing that I would add to that is that we do expect our commercial business to grow faster as we move forward. And so that naturally will put some drag on the gross margin percentage, if you will. We'll take that trade-off because it will give us an opportunity to have more gross margin dollars.

是的。我唯一要補充的是，我們確實期望我們的商業業務隨著我們的前進而成長得更快。如果你願意的話，這自然會對毛利率造成一些拖累。我們會採取這種權衡，因為這將使我們有機會獲得更多的毛利率。

So there'll likely be a mix pressure as we move forward with our faster growing commercial business. But the underlying fundamentals of what we're seeing in gross margin in terms of deflation, in terms of improving supply chain profile is something that is sustainable as we move forward.

因此，當我們推進更快成長的商業業務時，可能會面臨混合壓力。但我們在通貨緊縮、改善供應鏈狀況方面看到的毛利率的基本面是隨著我們前進而可持續的。

Your next question is from Simeon Gutman with Morgan Stanley.

您的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的西蒙古特曼。

Phil, I know it's tricky to prescribe when the commercial comps get back to double digit. Can you give us a sense, I don't know if innings is the right way to think about it, where your efforts are in totality. You mentioned faster delivery times, labor normalizing, there's some supply chain investments. So the collective of those, where you are on that journey to where you want to get to?

菲爾，我知道當商業競爭回到兩位數時開藥是很棘手的。你能否給我們一種感覺，我不知道局局是否是正確的思考方式，你的努力是全部的。您提到更快的交貨時間、勞動力正常化以及一些供應鏈投資。那麼，在這些人的共同努力下，您在通往您想去的地方的旅程中處於什麼位置？

Yes. the part of your question there is what are we doing that have helped stabilize our business and get it back on a more stable footing. Our in-stocks have come back to very close to pre-pandemic levels. We've expanded our Hubs and our Mega-Hubs. We have a long way to go to get to our ultimate goals of North of 200 Mega-Hubs. And significantly more hubs as well, those hard-to-find parts in the market where we can get those parts to our commercial customers, in particular, faster. It also helps DIY.

是的。你的問題是我們正在做什麼來幫助穩定我們的業務並使其恢復到更穩定的基礎上。我們的庫存已恢復到非常接近大流行前的水平。我們擴大了我們的樞紐和巨型樞紐。要實現「北 200 個超級樞紐」的最終目標，我們還有很長的路要走。還有更多的樞紐，那些在市場上很難找到的零件，我們可以將這些零件更快地交付給我們的商業客戶。它還有助於 DIY。

It will take us quite a few innings, if you will, to get to more than 200 of those hubs. They just take longer to set up and get in place. But that is improving our efforts on delivery times. We've put in -- we've invested in technology. We've been talking about this for quite some time. We continue to leverage the technology we put in the hands of our commercial AutoZoners, and we've got some tests in place and some early innings where we're able to show better delivery times by enabling better technology and leveraging that technology.

如果你願意的話，我們需要花費相當多的局數才能到達 200 多個這樣的樞紐。他們只是需要更長的時間來設置和就位。但這正在改善我們在交貨時間上的努力。我們已經投入——我們已經投資於科技。我們已經討論這個問題有一段時間了。我們繼續利用我們商業 AutoZoners 手中的技術，並且我們已經進行了一些測試和一些早期階段，我們能夠透過啟用更好的技術並利用該技術來展示更好的交付時間。

So that will take time to roll out and it will take time for our AutoZoners to digest the change management. So in the quarter of -- in the number of innings, if we're going to play baseball, which starts pretty soon this year, we'll -- maybe we're in the third or the fourth inning. But hopefully, we'll have a rally in the ninth inning.

因此，這需要時間來推出，我們的 AutoZoners 也需要時間來消化變革管理。因此，在四分之一局中，如果我們要打今年很快開始的棒球比賽，我們可能會在第三局或第四局。但希望我們能在第九局比賽。

Good. I wanted to ask you, I think we asked Jamere when he joined, but since you've taken over, I wanted to ask about the EBIT dollar growth question versus margin. And part of it is timely because one of your competitors has been leading into SG&A, and it seems to be working and you know you're having a bifurcation in performance now in the sector. So your thought process on that balance and then leaning into SG&A over a longer period of time to take advantage of some displacement.

好的。我想問你，我想我們在 Jamere 加入時問過他，但自從你接手後，我想問關於息稅前利潤增長與利潤率的問題。其中一部分是及時的，因為你的一個競爭對手已經領先於SG&A，而且它似乎正在發揮作用，你知道你現在在該行業的績效出現了分歧。因此，你的思考過程是在這種平衡上進行的，然後在較長一段時間內傾向於SG&A，以利用一些位移。

Yes. On the SG&A front, I would -- we have investments that are some in CapEx, some obviously in SG&A. To the degree we can invest and grow sales and EBIT dollars, we'll make those investments all day every day. I think over time, you should see us get our EBIT -- our SG&A growth should start to bend down slightly. I wouldn't expect a radical change, but we've had a lot of investments as we continue to improve our operational efficiencies in our distribution centers, in our stores, as our AutoZoners get longer tenured and we hold on and reduce turnover things of that nature, they will obviously start bringing down some of the SG&A on the margins.

是的。在SG&A方面，我想──我們的投資有些是資本支出，有些則顯然是SG&A。在我們可以投資並增加銷售額和息稅前利潤的程度上，我們將每天都進行這些投資。我認為隨著時間的推移，你應該會看到我們獲得息稅前利潤——我們的銷售及管理費用成長應該會開始略有下降。我不希望發生根本性的變化，但我們已經進行了大量投資，因為我們不斷提高配送中心和商店的營運效率，因為我們的 AutoZoners 的使用壽命更長，而且我們堅持並減少營業額出於這種性質，他們顯然會開始降低一些銷售管理費用（SG&A）。

But we would invest in a kind of -- I think maybe part of your question is, would we take lower margin rates in commercial as a mix of sales like Jamere mentioned to get higher gross profit dollars? Absolutely. I think we can slightly expand our margins on both DIY and commercial over time? Yes. And in an effort to increase EBIT dollars, we'll do that all day long. Those are good exchanges for us.

但我們會投資一種——我想你的問題的一部分可能是，我們是否會像 Jamere 提到的那樣，採用較低的商業利潤率作為銷售組合，以獲得更高的毛利？絕對地。我認為隨著時間的推移，我們可以稍微擴大 DIY 和商業方面的利潤嗎？是的。為了增加息稅前利潤，我們將整天這樣做。這些對我們來說都是很好的交流。

Your next question for today is from Seth Sigman with Barclays.

今天的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的塞思‧西格曼。

I wanted to follow up on a couple of those points around the commercial. A lot of noise this quarter. If you step back, there was a lot of momentum in this business pre-2020 and then you clearly outperformed very significantly for multiple years, right? And then the business has slowed, reverting back to maybe more like industry growth, I'm not sure.

我想跟進廣告中的一些要點。本季有很多噪音。如果你退一步看，這個業務在 2020 年之前有很大的發展勢頭，然後你多年來的表現顯然非常顯著，對嗎？然後業務放緩，恢復到可能更像行業增長的水平，我不確定。

But I guess the real question is what gives you confidence that this is the right go-forward strategy, particularly from a supply chain perspective, as you think about the next leg of growth. Your Mega-Hubs has been the central part of that strategy. Is that right? Are there other options that you've thought about? I'd love to get some perspective on that.

但我想真正的問題是，當你考慮下一步的成長時，是什麼讓你相信這是正確的前進策略，特別是從供應鏈的角度來看。您的超級中心一直是該策略的核心部分。是對的嗎？您考慮過其他選擇嗎？我很想對此有一些看法。

Yes. We're extremely excited about both of our -- both our Hub and our Mega-Hub strategy. And I'll use the previous comments around innings. We think we'll have well North of 200 Mega-Hubs and significantly larger growth of Hubs. We're roughly in the third inning or so in Hub growth -- Mega-Hub growth, if you kind of said that. That strategy works for us. We see significantly higher growth in those stores -- those types of stores, and they help feed harder to find inventory to what we call our satellite stores, the markets that are close to those hubs.

是的。我們對我們的樞紐和超級樞紐策略感到非常興奮。我將使用之前有關局局的評論。我們認為，我們將擁有超過 200 個大型樞紐，並且樞紐的成長速度將顯著加快。我們大約處於樞紐增長的第三局左右——巨型樞紐增長，如果你這麼說的話。這個策略對我們很有效。我們看到這些商店（這些類型的商店）的成長顯著更高，它們有助於為我們所謂的衛星商店（靠近這些中心的市場）提供更難找到的庫存。

So yes, we believe that is the right strategy. We will continue to modify and enhance our assortment strategies in both our satellite stores and our mega hubs and hubs to get more relevant inventory closer to the customer. The faster we can get those hard-to-find parts into the shop, the better we will grow market share. And oh, by the way, all of that inventory we add for the commercial customer also finds its way to sales on the DIY customer.

所以，是的，我們相信這是正確的策略。我們將繼續修改和增強我們在衛星商店和大型樞紐中心的分類策略，以使更多相關庫存更貼近客戶。我們越快將這些難以找到的零件放入商店，我們的市佔率就越大。哦，順便說一句，我們為商業客戶添加的所有庫存也可以在 DIY 客戶身上進行銷售。

Okay. I guess just thinking about the programs that you've added over the last year or so. You've talked about the drag from some of these newer programs. Just any perspective on how the new programs are ramping and if that's any different than what you've seen in the past?

好的。我想只是想一下您在過去一年左右添加的程序。您已經談到了其中一些新程式的拖累。您對新計劃的進展有何看法？這與您過去看到的有何不同？

Yes. I mean the math on that is we've added over the last couple of years or so, almost 600 new programs. So we went back and retrofitted several stores that didn't have commercial programs. If you remember, historically, we ran sort of 80% to 85% of our stores had a commercial program. That number is now up over 92%. We really accelerated that over the last several quarters.

是的。我的意思是，從數學上看，我們在過去幾年左右的時間裡添加了近 600 個新程式。所以我們回去改造了幾家沒有商業項目的商店。如果你還記得，從歷史上看，我們 80% 到 85% 的商店都有商業計劃。該數字現已成長超過 92%。在過去的幾個季度中，我們確實加速了這一進程。

So right now, we've got probably 300 to 400 immature commercial programs that are ramping up in terms of sales and efficiency and performance. And as those programs mature, it will certainly provide a tailwind to our business. So when Phil talks about this notion of our commercial business improving from an execution standpoint, we not only have that working in our favor, but we also have these maturing programs that have only been in operation for the last couple of quarters.

所以現在，我們可能有 300 到 400 個不成熟的商業項目，它們的銷售額、效率和績效正在不斷提高。隨著這些計劃的成熟，它肯定會為我們的業務提供推動力。因此，當菲爾談到我們的商業業務從執行角度改進的概念時，我們不僅有利於我們，而且我們還有這些在過去幾個季度才開始運作的成熟計劃。

And so if we think about the commercial business very broadly, I just keep grounding on this fact or this notion that we're underpenetrated. We have a [4% or 5%] share in what's approaching a $100 billion market. We've put a number of things in place that are delivering and have delivered exceedingly well for us. And as we move forward, we like the competitive hand that we have with growing Mega-Hub footprints, with improving execution, with adding more commercial programs. It's our #1 growth priority inside the company, and we're all hands on deck there.

因此，如果我們非常廣泛地思考商業業務，我就會繼續立足於這個事實或我們滲透不足的觀念。我們在接近 1000 億美元的市場中佔有 [4% 或 5%] 的份額。我們已經採取了一些措施，這些措施正在交付，並且為我們帶來了非常好的成果。隨著我們的前進，我們喜歡我們擁有的競爭力，因為巨型中心的足跡不斷擴大，執行力不斷提高，並增加了更多的商業項目。這是我們公司內部的第一要務，我們全力以赴。

And the last thing I'll just say is as you think about commercial is just if you think about the back half of this year. The front half of this year, we had -- we were up against a 15% comp and then a 13% comp. The back half of the year, the comps get a little bit easier.

我要說的最後一件事是，當你想到商業時，你會想到今年下半年。今年上半年，我們面臨 15% 的競爭，然後是 13% 的競爭。下半年，比賽變得容易一些。

So the comments that we made earlier in our prepared comments are just along the notion that the comparisons get a little bit easier. And as we have all of these things from an initiative standpoint, working in our favor, it gives us a lot of confidence about our back half execution.

因此，我們之前在準備好的評論中所做的評論只是為了讓比較變得更容易一些。從主動的角度來看，所有這些事情都對我們有利，這讓我們對後半場的執行充滿信心。

Let me add a little bit on to that, too, specifically around new stores, and I'll maybe take a little bit of a history lesson here. If you go back to FY 2017 or those types of number of years, our productivity per store, we have been on a pretty heavy diet of opening up new programs. And then we decided, from a strategy perspective, we would slow down our new store openings for commercial and really start trying to drive per store productivity. Back then, our per store productivity was in the $7,000 to $8,000 range.

讓我也補充一點，特別是關於新商店的內容，我可能會在這裡上一點歷史課。如果你回顧 2017 財年或那些年數，我們每家商店的生產力，我們一直在大力開發新項目。然後我們決定，從策略角度來看，我們將放慢商業新店的開設速度，並真正開始努力提高每家商店的生產力。當時，我們每家商店的生產力在 7,000 美元到 8,000 美元之間。

Today, as Jamere quoted earlier in the prepared comments, we're significantly higher than that. The other thing that's happened is as we open up new programs in today's environment versus years ago, they are maturing at a faster rate and get to a higher, more plateaued rate. So we like that math. We're probably not going to open up 600 stores in the next 2 years or so like we have over the recent history. That will probably slow a little bit. But we like the way the new stores come out of the box and the maturity curves that we get versus, frankly, 2017 or '18.

今天，正如傑米爾早些時候在準備好的評論中所引用的那樣，我們的水平明顯高於這一水平。發生的另一件事是，與幾年前相比，當我們在今天的環境中開設新專案時，它們正在以更快的速度成熟，並達到更高、更穩定的速度。所以我們喜歡數學。我們可能不會像最近一樣在未來 2 年左右開設 600 家商店。這可能會慢一點。但坦白說，我們喜歡新店開箱即用的方式以及與 2017 年或 18 年相比的成熟度曲線。

The next question is from Steven Forbes with Guggenheim Securities.

下一個問題來自古根漢證券公司的史蒂文·福布斯。

Good morning. Maybe just a follow-up on Seth's question. And just a way to sort of maybe contextualize the Mega-Hub strategy for us. Is there any way to think through or maybe discuss the contribution to growth or how ROI is trending behind these investments versus what the potential should be as we look out sort of a couple of few years? Like any sort of numeric contextualization of where we are in the maturity curve of the initiatives?

早安.也許只是賽斯問題的後續。這可能只是我們了解巨型樞紐策略的一種方式。有沒有什麼方法可以思考或討論對成長的貢獻，或者這些投資背後的投資報酬率趨勢如何，以及我們展望幾年後的潛力？就像我們在計劃成熟度曲線中所處的位置的任何數字情境一樣？

Yes. I think a couple of things stand out to us. The first is that the Mega-Hubs are growing from a commercial perspective and from an overall perspective, significantly faster than our satellite stores. And it's over 3x what we see on a total domestic business basis. So we've been very pleased with the tremendous sales lift that we're getting inside of the box, both on the DIY and the commercial side.

是的。我認為有幾件事對我們來說很突出。首先是，從商業角度和整體角度來看，巨型中心的成長速度明顯快於我們的衛星店。這是我們所看到的國內業務總量的三倍多。因此，我們對 DIY 和商業方面的巨大銷售提升感到非常滿意。

I think the second thing that gives us a lot of confidence is we talked about this notion of testing multiple mega hubs in major metro markets. And we've done that over the last few years or so. And the idea there was to jam more Mega-Hubs in a market and jam more parts closer to the customer to see really how high is high.

我認為給我們很大信心的第二件事是我們討論了在主要地鐵市場測試多個大型樞紐的概念。在過去幾年左右的時間裡，我們已經做到了這一點。這個想法是在市場上塞滿更多的巨型中心，並在離客戶更近的地方塞滿更多的零件，看看到底有多高。

And what we experienced in that time frame was the fact that we didn't see the kind of cannibalization that we would have anticipated, which suggested that the number of Mega-Hubs that we could actually operate was significantly higher. And if you'll recall, we had Mega-Hub targets that went from 100 to North of 200 over a very short period of time. So we like what we see from a sales standpoint. We like what we see from an earnings standpoint. And we -- and it's not only what we're seeing inside the 4 walls, but it's also the fact that these Mega-Hubs are an important fulfillment source for the surrounding satellite stores.

我們在這段時間內經歷的事實是，我們沒有看到我們預期的那種蠶食，這表明我們實際上可以運作的巨型樞紐的數量要多得多。如果你還記得的話，我們的巨型樞紐目標在很短的時間內從 100 個增加到 200 個以上。所以我們喜歡從銷售的角度看到的情況。我們喜歡從獲利的角度看到的情況。而我們——這不僅是我們在 4 堵牆內看到的，而且還表明這些巨型中心是周圍衛星商店的重要履行來源。

So when you put all that together in the mix, I mean, it's a pretty attractive story for us, both in terms of sales and earnings and return on investments. And we're going to go as fast as we possibly can to accelerate.

因此，當你把所有這些放在一起時，我的意思是，這對我們來說是一個非常有吸引力的故事，無論是在銷售、收入還是投資回報方面。我們將盡可能快地加速。

Maybe just a quick follow-up on the outlook for expense growth. I think you mentioned how it should curve downward. But obviously, we also have the store growth acceleration plan, looking at the '26 and beyond. And so maybe just help provide additional clarity on why there's sort of no disconnect in maybe sort of leaning into the investment cycle ahead of a ramp in store growth? I mean is there any risk that EBIT margin could or should take a step back as you sort of ramp the business for a more accelerated growth period?

也許只是對費用成長前景的快速跟進。我想你提到了它應該如何向下彎曲。但顯然，我們還有商店成長加速計劃，著眼於 26 年及以後。因此，也許只是有助於進一步澄清為什麼在商店成長加速之前可能會傾向於投資週期，但為什麼沒有脫節？我的意思是，當您為業務加速成長時，息稅前利潤率是否可能或應該退後一步？

Yes. I mean we've invested in SG&A in a very disciplined fashion over the last several years or so. And what we've always said is that over time, SG&A growth should be in line with what we see in terms of the top line. Now in the near term, to your point, we've invested at an accelerated pace behind technology, behind store payroll, all of those things to drive near-term growth for us.

是的。我的意思是，在過去幾年左右的時間裡，我們以非常嚴格的方式投資了銷售、管理和行政費用。我們一直說的是，隨著時間的推移，SG&A 的成長應該與我們在營收方面看到的情況一致。現在，就您的觀點而言，在短期內，我們加快了對技術、商店工資等方面的投資，所有這些都是為了推動我們的近期成長。

And we won't hesitate to go do that. To the extent that there are opportunities for us to invest in SG&A to drive our growth initiatives, we will do that as we've done historically. As we move out and look to accelerate our store growth, there will be some drag on SG&A, but we should be able to manage that within that framework that I talked about.

我們會毫不猶豫地這麼做。如果我們有機會投資銷售、管理和行政費用來推動我們的成長計劃，我們將像以往一樣這樣做。當我們搬出並尋求加速商店成長時，SG&A 將會受到一些拖累，但我們應該能夠在我談到的框架內進行管理。

Your next question is from Greg Melich with Evercore ISI.

您的下一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 Greg Melich。

I would just like to follow up on inflation. So if ticket was up 1.7%, is it fair to say that same SKU inflation was sort of near that number and that -- how did items of basket and mix, et cetera, out in the quarter?

我只想跟進通膨情況。因此，如果機票價格上漲 1.7%，那麼可以公平地說，相同的 SKU 通膨率有點接近這個數字，而且本季購物籃和混合商品等商品的表現如何？

Yes. So what we've seen on ticket growth was something in the low single digits right now. And we're seeing same SKU inflation somewhere in that same ZIP code, Greg. I think the important thing to recognize from an inflation standpoint is we came off a period of significantly higher inflation. That's tempered some. Most of that inflation was driven by freight.

是的。所以我們現在看到的門票成長是低個位數。格雷格，我們在同一郵遞區號的某個地方看到了相同的 SKU 膨脹。我認為從通膨的角度來看，需要認識到的重要一點是，我們已經度過了一段通膨大幅上升的時期。這脾氣有些大了大部分的通貨膨脹是由貨運推動。

So as freight costs have come down, we've seen some of that inflation start to come down as well. And I think the overarching point is that we're continuing to be very disciplined about pricing. Where there are opportunities for us to take retails, we will do so. And where there's an opportunity for us to get deflation in our cost to drive gross margin, we'll do that as well.

因此，隨著貨運成本的下降，我們看到通貨膨脹也開始下降。我認為最重要的一點是我們在定價方面繼續保持嚴格的紀律。只要有機會進行零售，我們就會這麼做。如果我們有機會透過降低成本來提高毛利率，我們也會這樣做。

We're not expecting sort of the same levels of inflation to drive ticket growth that we have in the last year or so. And so you should expect ticket at some point to normalize back in that low to mid-single-digit range to offset the decline that we naturally see on the DIY side from transactions.

我們預計通膨水準不會像去年左右那樣推動門票成長。因此，您應該預期門票在某個時候會恢復正常，回到低至中個位數的範圍，以抵消我們在 DIY 方面自然看到的交易下降。

Got it. But presumably, that -- a little bit of acceleration in ticket comes from mix and items of basket rather than inflation ticking up, same SKU?

知道了。但據推測，門票的成長有點來自於組合和購物籃中的商品，而不是通貨膨脹的上升，同樣的 SKU？

I think that's right. And as we move forward, I mean, it's a pretty dynamic environment out there even from an inflation standpoint. We'll stay very close to and be disciplined about how we manage our business.

我認為這是對的。我的意思是，隨著我們前進，即使從通貨膨脹的角度來看，這也是一個非常動態的環境。我們將密切關注並嚴格遵守我們的業務管理方式。

Go back over long periods of time, decades, I mean, this industry has had a slight decline in transactions and units and an increase in ticket average and average unit retails in that somewhere between 2% to 4% range on average, predominantly because of changes in technology, better parts and some -- it's great to think about belts on a car. They used to -- the average car used to have four belts on it. Today, they have one. And the belt used to be $4 or $5. Today, a belt maybe $60 or $70.

回顧很長一段時間，幾十年來，我的意思是，這個行業的交易量和數量略有下降，而平均門票和平均零售量則增加了 2% 到 4% 之間，主要是因為技術的變化、更好的零件等等——想到汽車上的安全帶真是太好了。過去，普通汽車上有四個安全帶。今天，他們有了一個。腰帶過去要 4 美元或 5 美元。如今，一條皮帶可能要 60 美元或 70 美元。

So that technology change is probably going to continue. And that's been -- it's been a pretty understandable decline in units and a change in average unit retail and we generally have pretty good line of sight to this because the product development takes years and an item may stay in our stores for 20 years. It's the beauty of having a, frankly, a lower term business that's very predictable.

因此，技術變革可能會持續下去。單位數量的下降和平均單位零售量的變化是可以理解的，我們通常對此有很好的視野，因為產品開發需要數年時間，而一件商品可能會在我們的商店裡停留 20 年。坦白說，擁有一項非常可預測的短期業務的美妙之處。

I'd love to follow up on SG&A and investment there. Jamere, maybe could you level set us on just what wage inflation is running now and what you're looking at for the next few quarters? And if you think about these pilots that you're doing on the faster delivery, it sounds like it's a lot of tech investment. But is there -- are there delivery people as well? Just help us understand that a little bit more, the reacceleration of commercial there.

我很樂意跟進 SG&A 和那裡的投資。 Jamere，也許您能否向我們介紹一下現在的薪資通膨情況以及您對未來幾季的預期？如果您考慮一下您正在為更快的交付而進行的這些試點，聽起來似乎需要大量的技術投資。但是還有送貨員嗎？只是幫助我們了解更多一點，商業的重新加速。

Yes. So from an average wage standpoint, we're thrilled that we're starting to see average wages now with a two handle versus a three or four that we've seen over the last few years or so. So as things have cooled down, we've seen some of the hyperinflation go away in the labor markets. We're now back to more normalized sort of wage inflation, if you will.

是的。因此，從平均工資的角度來看，我們很高興現在開始看到平均工資有兩個手柄，而不是過去幾年左右的三到四個手柄。因此，隨著局勢降溫，我們看到勞動市場的一些惡性通貨膨脹已經消失。如果你願意的話，我們現在又回到了更正常化的薪資通膨。

Now in terms of the investments that we're making, nearly every investment that we have from a growth initiative standpoint is underpinned by some changes in technology. Whether that's on the commercial side with what we're looking to do with some of our commercial acceleration initiatives or on the retail side, nearly all of those growth initiatives are underpinned by some changes that we're making in technology.

現在就我們正在進行的投資而言，從成長計畫的角度來看，我們幾乎每項投資都以一些技術變革為基礎。無論是在商業方面，還是在零售方面，幾乎所有這些成長舉措都以我們在技術方面所做的一些變革為基礎。

Our technology teams have done a tremendous job, doing that in a very cost-efficient way. And we -- and as we move forward, we'll continue to invest in a very disciplined way as we move forward.

我們的技術團隊以非常經濟高效的方式完成了巨大的工作。隨著我們的前進，我們將繼續以非常嚴格的方式進行投資。

In terms of the commercial business and how we improve delivery, I mean we've been very efficient in terms of how we've deployed our physical assets in terms of vehicles and our people assets in terms of labor to manage that commercial business over time, and there hasn't been a meaningful change in what we're doing there.

就商業業務以及我們如何改進交付而言，我的意思是，我們在如何部署車輛方面的實體資產和勞動力方面的人員資產方面非常高效，以隨著時間的推移管理商業業務，而且我們在那裡所做的事情並沒有發生有意義的改變。

Your next question is from Max Rakhlenko with TD Cowen.

您的下一個問題來自 Max Rakhlenko 和 TD Cowen。

So in the stores where you're piloting the initiatives to improve DIFM services and speed levels, just how is that going versus your own internal expectations? And then how are you thinking about scaling these initiatives over the coming quarters? Just curious how early those are and when you think that they could be ready to go lighter?

那麼，在您正在試行改善 DIFM 服務和速度等級的措施的商店中，情況與您自己的內部期望相比如何？那麼您如何考慮在未來幾季擴大這些舉措的規模？只是好奇這些時間有多早，以及您何時認為它們可以準備好變得更輕？

Yes. It's -- thank you for the question. And it's early innings in that. We've been testing some stuff, how to use the data and we've had our -- if you think about our handhelds and a lot of technology enhancements that we made over the last couple of years, and now we've got a pretty robust set of data where we can look and figure out what are the best and most efficient ways to use our assets, both human assets, our great AutoZoners, and our trucks and where the inventory is, how do we get the part to the customer the fastest to improve customer service?

是的。這是——謝謝你的提問。現在還處於早期階段。我們一直在測試一些東西，如何使用數據，如果你考慮我們的手持設備以及我們在過去幾年中所做的許多技術改進，現在我們已經有了一個相當強大的數據集，我們可以在其中查看並找出使用我們的資產（包括人力資產、我們出色的AutoZoners 和我們的卡車）的最佳和最有效的方式是什麼，以及庫存在哪裡，我們如何將零件運送到客戶最快改善客戶服務？

It is early innings, but we like what we see, and we're in the process of rolling that out. There's some change management that we have to work through. There's some changes in technology that our AutoZoners need to be comfortable with and some changes in operations in the stores. But we like what we see, and we've had some pauses and evaluate and then move a little further -- pause and evaluate and move a little further.

現在還處於早期階段，但我們喜歡我們所看到的，我們正在推出它。我們必須完成一些變革管理。我們的 AutoZoners 需要適應一些技術變化，以及商店營運方面的一些變化。但我們喜歡我們所看到的，我們有一些暫停和評估，然後再進一步——暫停和評估，然後再進一步。

But we're happy with what we see, and we think it will improve customer service to the shop, and we'll get the parts faster to the customer without having to drive the car any faster because we want to be safe.

但我們對所看到的感到滿意，我們認為這將改善商店的客戶服務，並且我們將更快地向客戶提供零件，而不必更快地駕駛汽車，因為我們希望安全。

Got it. It's very helpful. And then can you just speak to your in-store staff retention rates? How are those trending? And if that's translating into improvements in Pro satisfaction? And then ultimately, better demand trends in those stores?

知道了。這非常有幫助。然後您能談談店內員工的留任率嗎？這些趨勢如何？這是否會轉化為專業人士滿意度的提升？最終，這些商店的需求趨勢會更好嗎？

I'll say two things have happened. One is -- and we've mentioned it a couple of different times. We've -- if you think about staffing in whole, it's not back to pre-pandemic levels, but it's better than it was during the pandemic. We still have work to do to get retention and turnover back down to pre-pandemic levels, both in our stores and in our distribution centers, but improving, and we like the trends that we're seeing, although we'd love it to be faster.

我會說發生了兩件事。其中之一是——我們已經多次提到它。如果你從整體上考慮人員配備，我們並沒有回到大流行前的水平，但比大流行期間要好。我們仍然有工作要做，才能將我們的商店和配送中心的保留率和營業額恢復到大流行前的水平，但有所改善，我們喜歡我們所看到的趨勢，儘管我們很樂意快一點。

The other thing we did on commercial, and Jamere has mentioned it a couple of times, is we've opened up roughly 600 stores in slightly over 2 years. As we did that, obviously, that takes your -- the commercial specialists and the TSMs and things of that nature, those really high caliber people that were concentrated in some stores, we expanded pretty quickly. So you got new promotions and people got to learn their job and learn those new shops and get really ingrained with those long-term relationships, and that will continue to get better as we move forward. So it's kind of two elements.

我們在商業上做的另一件事，Jamere 已經提到過幾次，是我們在兩年多一點的時間裡開設了大約 600 家商店。當我們這樣做時，顯然，這需要你——商業專家和 TSM 以及類似性質的東西，那些集中在一些商店的真正高素質的人才，我們擴張得很快。因此，你得到了新的晉升，人們必須學習他們的工作，了解那些新商店，並真正根深蒂固地建立這些長期關係，隨著我們的前進，這將繼續變得更好。所以這是兩個要素。

Okay. I think we have time for one last call.

好的。我想我們還有時間進行最後一次通話。

The next question is from Brian Nagel with Oppenheimer.

下一個問題是布萊恩·內格爾和奧本海默提出的。

So with my first question -- I know there's been a lot of questions on commercial, and we recognize this has been an ongoing conversation. There's a lot of moving parts here as we look at the kind of the near-term trends. But I guess not at the risk of being too simplistic. I know, we, for a long time have talked about your key measure of success in commercial, so to say, climbing that list -- in each individual store climbing that list of the your mechanic customer.

關於我的第一個問題——我知道有很多關於商業的問題，我們認識到這是一個持續的對話。當我們觀察近期趨勢時，這裡有很多變化的部分。但我想這不會有過於簡化的風險。我知道，我們很長時間以來一直在討論商業成功的關鍵衡量標準，也就是說，攀登該名單 - 在每個單獨的商店中攀登您的機械師客戶的名單。

So the question I have is, as you pull and talk to your stores, are you seeing any indications that you're falling further down those lists or maybe the climb up some of these lists have stalled?

所以我的問題是，當你拉動並與你的商店交談時，你是否看到任何跡象表明你在這些名單上進一步下滑，或者其中一些名單的上升可能已經停滯？

Yes. I mean, to say we're falling down the list, I don't think that would be a good characterization. Is there always opportunities to improve? The answer is yes. Go back to our share comments that we've made several times, we still have under 5% share, we believe. And as we get better and mature in relationships, open up new stores, get better in new stores and drive parts availability and what we call internally, time to shop, the quicker we can get those parts to the shop, the better we'll be.

是的。我的意思是，如果說我們在名單上排名下降，我認為這不是一個很好的描述。總是有改進的機會嗎？答案是肯定的。回到我們多次發表的份額評論，我們相信我們的份額仍然低於 5%。隨著我們在關係方面變得更好和成熟，開設新商店，在新商店中變得更好並提高零件的可用性以及我們內部所說的購物時間，我們越快將這些零件送到商店，我們就越好是。

And this -- I think there's a bit of a misnomer that a customer has a first call. They all -- nobody has every part that's needed in a particular shop. So a customer will have multiple people they call. We think we will continually move up the call list and gain a larger share of wallet for each customer, but to say that you're always first call with any particular customers, that's pretty rare for a customer to put all of their eggs in one basket, because nobody's got all the parts. It's virtually impossible. There's too many SKUs.

我認為「客戶第一次打電話」這個說法有點用詞不當。他們全部——沒有人擁有特定商店所需的所有零件。因此，一個客戶會呼叫多個人。我們認為，我們將不斷提升通話清單的位置，為每個客戶贏得更大的錢包份額，但如果說你總是第一個與任何特定客戶通話，那麼對於客戶來說，將所有雞蛋都放在一個電話上是非常罕見的。籃子，因為沒有人擁有所有零件。這幾乎是不可能的。 SKU 太多了。

So I think we will continue to get better. I think we've gotten better from where we were, and we've got a long road in front of us to continue to take market share and gain new customers.

所以我認為我們會繼續變得更好。我認為我們已經比原來的情況變得更好了，要繼續佔據市場份額並贏得新客戶，我們還有很長的路要走。

That's very helpful. And then a quick follow-up just on weather. And in your prepared comments, you talked about some of the sales volatility we saw through the fiscal Q2 and obviously, weather was a key component of that. But I guess the question I have is as you look at the weather, maybe we're not even through winter yet, but as you look at the weather, has it been enough -- has there been enough winter weather, so to say, give you that normal driver business as we head into spring and even in the summer?

這非常有幫助。然後快速跟進天氣狀況。在您準備好的評論中，您談到了我們在第二財季看到的一些銷售波動，顯然，天氣是其中的關鍵因素。但我想我的問題是，當你觀察天氣時，也許我們還沒有進入冬天，但當你觀察天氣時，是否已經足夠了 - 是否有足夠的冬季天氣，可以這麼說，當我們進入春天甚至夏天的時候，提供你正常的司機業務嗎？

Yes. Great question, and time will tell. We're not completely through winter weather, as you said. I think if I could lay out the weather calendar that I'd love to have, like I said, I would love to have more really cold winter in the big cities on the eastern seaboard. I mean if you're in New York, you've got a little bit of snow this year and it was gone within 24 hours. It's a heck of a lot more than you got last year. But New York, Philadelphia, D.C., those areas really haven't had a lot of really extreme cold weather.

是的。很好的問題，時間會證明一切。正如你所說，我們還沒有完全度過冬天。我想，如果我能列出我想要的天氣日曆，就像我說的那樣，我希望東海岸的大城市能有更多真正寒冷的冬天。我的意思是，如果你在紐約，今年會下一點雪，但 24 小時內就消失了。這比你去年得到的要多得多。但紐約、費城等地區確實沒有出現過許多極端寒冷的天氣。

The Midwest did and the eastern half of the Northeast or the western half, I'm sorry, got some pretty cold weather. But the big metro cities along the East Coast just really haven't for more than 2 years now. So I would love to have had more there, but that's something that we can't control. We're going to do our best to grow market share in those company -- in those areas of the country, no matter what. So thanks for the follow-up question.

中西部地區確實如此，東北部的東半部或西半部，抱歉，天氣相當寒冷。但東海岸的大城市已經兩年多沒有出現這種情況了。所以我很想在那裡擁有更多，但這是我們無法控制的。無論如何，我們將盡最大努力增加這些公司在該國這些地區的市場份額。感謝您提出後續問題。

Fine. So before we conclude the call, I'd like to take a moment and reiterate we believe that our industry is in a strong position, and our business model is solid. We are excited about our growth prospects for the year, but we will take nothing for granted as we understand our customers do have alternatives. We have exciting plans that should help us succeed in the future, but I want to stress that this is a marathon and not a sprint. As we continue to focus on the basics and drive to optimize shareholder value for the future, we are confident AutoZone will be successful. Thank you for participating in today's call.

美好的。因此，在結束電話會議之前，我想花點時間重申一下，我們相信我們的產業處於強勢地位，我們的商業模式也很穩固。我們對今年的成長前景感到興奮，但我們不會認為任何事情都是理所當然的，因為我們知道我們的客戶確實有其他選擇。我們有令人興奮的計劃，應該有助於我們在未來取得成功，但我想強調，這是一場馬拉松，而不是短跑。隨著我們繼續專注於基礎知識並努力優化未來的股東價值，我們對 AutoZone 將取得成功充滿信心。感謝您參加今天的電話會議。

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

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束，此時您可以掛斷電話了。感謝您的參與。