Brown-Forman Corp (BF.B) 2026 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Brown-Forman Corporation second quarter and first half of fiscal 2026 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

您好，感謝您的耐心等待。歡迎參加布朗-福曼公司2026財年第二季及上半年業績電話會議。（操作人員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Sue Perram, Vice President, Director, Investor Relations. You may begin.

現在，我謹將會議交給今天的第一位發言人，投資者關係副總裁兼總監 Sue Perram。你可以開始了。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. I would like to thank each of you for joining us today for Brown-Forman's second quarter and first half of fiscal year 2026 earnings call. Joining me today are Lawson Whiting, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Leanne Cunningham, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. This morning's conference call contains forward-looking statements based on our current expectations.

謝謝大家，大家早安。感謝各位今天蒞臨布朗-福曼公司 2026 財年第二季及上半年財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的有總裁兼執行長勞森‧惠廷，以及執行副總裁兼財務長莉安‧坎寧安。今天上午的電話會議包含基於我們目前預期的前瞻性陳述。

Numerous risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or projected in these statements. Many of the factors that will determine future results are beyond the company's ability to control or predict. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, and except as required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to update any of these statements, whether due to new information, future events or otherwise.

諸多風險和不確定因素可能導致實際結果與這些聲明中預期或預測的結果有重大差異。決定未來業績的許多因素超出了公司的控製或預測能力。您不應過度依賴任何前瞻性陳述，除法律要求外，本公司不承擔因新資訊、未來事件或其他原因而更新任何此類陳述的義務。

This morning, we issued a press release containing our results for the second quarter and first half of fiscal year 2026, in addition to posting presentation materials that Lawson and Leanne will walk you through momentarily. Both the release and the presentation can be found on our website under the section titled Investors, Events and Presentations. In the press release, we have listed a number of the risk factors you should consider in conjunction with our forward-looking statements. Other significant risk factors are described in our 2025 Form 10-K and from time to time, in our Form 10-Q reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

今天上午，我們發布了一份新聞稿，其中包含了我們 2026 財年第二季度和上半年的業績，此外還發布了演示材料，勞森和莉安稍後將帶您了解這些材料。新聞稿和簡報均可在我們的網站「投資者、活動和簡報」欄位下找到。在新聞稿中，我們列出了您在閱讀我們的前瞻性聲明時應考慮的一些風險因素。其他重大風險因素已在我們的 2025 年 10-K 表格以及不時向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-Q 表格報告中進行了描述。

During this call, we will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures. These measures, a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures and the reasons management believes they provide useful information to investors regarding the company's financial condition and results of operations are contained in the press release and investor presentation.

在本次電話會議中，我們將討論一些非GAAP財務指標。這些措施、與最直接可比較的 GAAP 財務指標的調節表以及管理層認為這些措施能夠為投資者提供有關公司財務狀況和經營業績的有用信息的原因，都包含在新聞稿和投資者演示文稿中。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Lawson.

接下來，我想把電話交給勞森。

Thank you, Sue, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to share our second quarter and first half of fiscal 2026 results with you today. I'll start by sharing a few comments on the operating environment and then provide the key drivers and highlights of our top line results, including our geographic performance, strategic innovation and the two unique headwinds Brown-Forman is currently facing. Then I'll turn it over to Leanne, who will share additional insights on other financial highlights, including gross margin and operating expenses and our full year fiscal 2026 outlook, which we are now reaffirming.

謝謝你，蘇，大家早安。今天我很高興與大家分享我們2026財年第二季和上半年的業績。首先，我將分享一些關於營運環境的看法，然後介紹我們主要業績的關鍵驅動因素和亮點，包括我們的地域表現、策略創新以及布朗-福曼目前面臨的兩個獨特的逆風。接下來，我將把發言權交給 Leanne，她將分享有關其他財務亮點的更多見解，包括毛利率和營運費用以及我們 2026 財年的全年展望，我們現在重申這一展望。

While the operating environment remains challenging and uncertain, it has been relatively consistent with our expectations and the themes from the second quarter remain largely consistent with those from the first quarter of this fiscal year. We believe cyclical pressures related to ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties continued to negatively impact consumer confidence and reduced discretionary spending in the US and many developed international markets.

儘管經營環境依然充滿挑戰和不確定性，但與我們的預期基本一致，第二季的主題與本財年第一季的主題基本一致。我們認為，與持續的宏觀經濟和地緣政治不確定性相關的周期性壓力繼續對美國和許多已開發國際市場的消費者信心產生負面影響，並減少了可自由支配的支出。

On the other hand, we continue to see resilient consumers in a number of our emerging international markets where trends are generally much stronger. We expect cyclical headwinds to ease over time while also acknowledging that we're operating in a very dynamic industry and some current headwinds may persist over time. With that in mind, our focus remains sharply on managing the factors that we can influence.

另一方面，在我們一些新興國際市場，消費者依然保持著強大的韌性，這些市場的趨勢通常也更加強勁。我們預期週期性不利因素會隨著時間的推移而緩解，但我們也意​​識到我們所處的產業瞬息萬變，而一些當前的不利因素可能會持續存在。有鑑於此，我們的重點仍然是管理我們能夠影響的因素。

Now, moving to our first half fiscal 2026 top line performance. Our first half fiscal 2026 reported net sales declined 4% with organic net sales flat after adjusting for the A&D impact related to Korbel and Sonoma-Cutrer, which are no longer in our current portfolio.

接下來，我們來看看 2026 財年上半年的營收表現。2026 財年上半年報告淨銷售額下降 4%，經調整與 Korbel 和 Sonoma-Cutrer 相關的併購影響後，有機淨銷售額持平，這兩家公司已不在我們目前的投資組合中。

From a geographic perspective, our organic net sales results were led by the collective strength of the emerging international markets, which provided double-digit growth of 12% and the Travel Retail channel, which increased 6%. While this growth was partially offset by a 6% decline in the developed international markets collectively and flat performance in the United States, it's important to note that both performance in developed international markets and the US sequentially improved from our first quarter results. Diving deeper into the emerging international markets, Mexico and Brazil continued to deliver strong double-digit growth.

從地理角度來看，我們的有機淨銷售額主要得益於新興國際市場的強勁成長，實現了 12% 的兩位數成長，以及旅遊零售通路 6% 的成長。儘管已開發國際市場整體下滑 6% 以及美國市場表現平平部分抵銷了這一成長，但值得注意的是，已開發國際市場和美國市場的表現均較第一季有所改善。深入分析新興國際市場，墨西哥和巴西持續保持強勁的兩位數成長。

While the economic environment in Mexico remains subdued with consumers seeking value and trading down, these conditions have benefited our RTD portfolio, which helped fuel 18% organic net sales growth in the first half of fiscal 2026. New Mix, the world's first tequila-based RTD delivered very strong double-digit growth as the brand continued to lead the category and gain share in Mexico. Our distribution of brands within the William Grant & Sons portfolio also provided incremental organic net sales.

儘管墨西哥的經濟環境仍然低迷，消費者追求性價比並傾向於購買更低價位的產品，但這些情況有利於我們的即飲產品組合，從而推動了 2026 財年上半年 18% 的有機淨銷售額增長。New Mix 是世界上第一款以龍舌蘭酒為基底的即飲飲料，實現了非常強勁的兩位數增長，該品牌繼續引領該品類並在墨西哥獲得市場份額。我們在 William Grant & Sons 旗下品牌的經銷也帶來了增量的有機淨銷售額。

We continue to believe this complementary portfolio provides us additional strength to achieve greater development and growth of our portfolio of brands in Mexico, particularly in the on-trade and in the super premium segment.

我們仍然相信，這種互補的產品組合將為我們在墨西哥的品牌組合帶來更大的發展和成長，尤其是在餐飲通路和超高端市場。

In Brazil, our strategic approach to building the Jack Daniel's family of brands continues to produce strong results with organic net sales growing more than 20% in the first half of fiscal '26. Jack Daniel's Tennessee Apple and Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey led the growth and gained share as we continue to expand our geographic reach, increased distribution and leverage our revenue growth management capabilities. In addition, as we mentioned last quarter, we believe premiumization is an opportunity in Brazil, and we continue to focus on increasing distribution for our super premium whiskey portfolio.

在巴西，我們打造傑克丹尼品牌家族的策略方法持續取得強勁的成果，2026 財年上半年有機淨銷售額成長超過 20%。隨著我們不斷擴大地理覆蓋範圍、增加分銷渠道並利用我們的收入增長管理能力，傑克丹尼田納西蘋果酒和傑克丹尼田納西威士忌引領了增長並獲得了市場份額。此外，正如我們在上個季度所提到的，我們認為高端化在巴西是一個機遇，我們將繼續專注於擴大我們超高端威士忌產品組合的分銷管道。

The Global Travel Retail channel delivered organic net sales growth of 6% in the first half of fiscal 2026, with growth in most of the major regions as passenger numbers continue to increase, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. The travel retail channel is not only a growth contributor, but also a critical brand building platform. As we shared during our recent Investor Day, the global Jack Daniel's campaign, That's What Makes Jack, JACK has launched in select international airports to position us to reach consumers on this global stage.

2026 財年上半年，全球旅遊零售通路實現了 6% 的有機淨銷售額增長，隨著旅客人數持續增長並超過疫情前水平，大多數主要地區都實現了增長。旅遊零售通路不僅是成長的推動力，也是重要的品牌建立平台。正如我們在最近的投資者日上分享的那樣，傑克丹尼全球推廣活動「這就是傑克丹尼的魅力所在」已在部分國際機場啟動，旨在讓我們能夠在全球舞台上接觸到消費者。

Turning to our developed markets. Consumer sentiment and confidence both remain pressured in most European economies, creating a difficult operating environment. While the outlook remains challenging, we are maintaining or gaining share of the whiskey category in six of our eight top European markets. In the UK, economic conditions are negatively impacting consumer spending and total distilled spirits trends in both the on- and off-premise. Organic net sales declined 13% as we lapped tougher comparisons in the year ago period related to wholesaler and key retailer buying patterns.

轉向我們發達的市場。歐洲大多數經濟體的消費者情緒和信心依然承壓，造成了艱困的經營環境。儘管前景依然充滿挑戰，但我們在八個歐洲主要市場中的六個市場保持或擴大了威士忌品類的份額。在英國，經濟狀況對消費者支出和現場及非現場消費的蒸餾酒總趨勢都產生了負面影響。由於去年同期批發商和主要零售商的採購模式受到更嚴峻的比較影響，有機淨銷售額下降了 13%。

While off-premise takeaway trends for total distilled spirits as well as the whiskey category are in low single-digit decline, the trends have improved slightly and Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey continues to gain market share. Organic net sales declined 8% in Germany, where similar to the UK, consumers have been impacted by challenging economic conditions.

雖然蒸餾酒和威士忌類別的非現場外賣趨勢呈現個位數低幅下降，但趨勢略有改善，傑克丹尼田納西威士忌的市場份額持續增長。德國的有機淨銷售額下降了 8%，與英國類似，德國消費者也受到了嚴峻的經濟狀況的影響。

This has led to higher rates of saving, softening of total distilled spirits trends and an increase in competitive promotional activity. Despite the operating environment, our super premium brands, Diplomatico Rum, Gentleman Jack and Woodford Reserve delivered double-digit growth in the first half of fiscal 2026. The last market I'll focus on today is the United States. Total distilled spirits trends have decelerated but continue to decline at a low single-digit rate as consumers are pressured to make their dollars stretch further.

這導致儲蓄率上升，蒸餾酒總消費趨勢放緩，以及競爭性促銷活動增加。儘管經營環境不佳，但我們的超高端品牌 Diplomatico Rum、Gentleman Jack 和 Woodford Reserve 在 2026 財年上半年仍實現了兩位數的成長。今天我要重點關注的最後一個市場是美國。蒸餾酒總銷售量成長放緩，但仍以個位數低速下降，因為消費者面臨著讓每一分錢都花得更值的壓力。

Even in this environment, we continue to close the gap with TDS and organic net sales were flat in the first half of fiscal 2026. These results continue to be ahead of our depletion-based results as well as takeaway trends driven by the powerful combination of our US distributor changes and the launch of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Blackberry. With distributor transitions now complete, we have turned our focus from transition to execution, especially during the important holiday season.

即使在這種環境下，我們仍在不斷縮小與 TDS 的差距，2026 財年上半年有機淨銷售額保持穩定。這些結果繼續領先於我們基於消耗量的結果以及外賣趨勢，這得益於我們美國分銷商的變化以及傑克丹尼田納西黑莓的推出。隨著經銷商過渡工作的完成，我們已將工作重點從過渡轉向執行，尤其是在重要的假期季節期間。

Two key objectives for the transitions were increased distributor investment funds and improved margin structure, and I'm pleased to see these two areas contributing positively to organic net sales results. Increased dedication and focus from our distributor partners was another goal of our route to consumer transformation in the US and has driven increased distribution for Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey as well as Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, Fire and Apple.

此次轉型的兩個關鍵目標是增加經銷商投資資金和改善利潤結構，我很高興看到這兩個方面對有機淨銷售額做出了積極貢獻。我們分銷合作夥伴的投入和專注度提高是我們實現美國消費者轉型路線的另一個目標，並推動了傑克丹尼田納西威士忌以及傑克丹尼田納西蜂蜜、火焰和蘋果威士忌的分銷量增加。

The launch of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Blackberry continued to exceed expectations as we progress through the first half of fiscal 2026. As we shared during our Investor Day in October, Blackberry is getting wonderful feedback and buzz from distributors, retailers, consumers, both new and existing and the media. This continued excitement drove shipments to exceed depletions, though the difference between the two decreased as we move through the first half of the fiscal year. We remain encouraged by the strong start in the US and are using the excitement to sustain momentum and drive consumer takeaway.

隨著我們進入 2026 財年上半年，傑克丹尼田納西黑莓手機的上市繼續超出預期。正如我們在 10 月的投資者日上分享的那樣，黑莓手機獲得了來自分銷商、零售商、新老消費者以及媒體的絕佳反饋和熱度。這種持續的興奮情緒推動出貨量超過消耗量，儘管隨著本財年上半年的推進，兩者之間的差距逐漸縮小。我們對美國市場的強勁開局感到鼓舞，並正利用這股熱情來保持勢頭，推動消費者購買。

As I mentioned before, Blackberry is a globally relevant flavor trend across food and beverage categories, and Jack Daniel's has a proven track record of leveraging our global footprint and capabilities to extend the impact of new flavor launches. We also began a phased launch of Jack Daniel's Blackberry outside of the US in select international markets, including the UK, Germany and France as well as the global travel retail channel.

正如我之前提到的，黑莓是全球食品和飲料類別中一個重要的口味趨勢，而傑克丹尼在利用我們的全球佈局和能力擴大新口味推出的影響方面有著良好的記錄。我們也開始在美國以外的特定國際市場分階段推出傑克丹尼黑莓手機，包括英國、德國和法國，以及全球旅遊零售通路。

Similar to the US, the initial response from retailers and consumers has been incredibly strong. In the UK, at Tesco, Jack Daniel's Blackberry was the best new product development launch in the spirits category with more than half of the consumers that purchased the product being new to the spirits category.

與美國的情況類似，零售商和消費者的初步反應非常強烈。在英國，Tesco 的 Jack Daniel's Blackberry 是烈酒類別中最好的新產品開發推出，超過一半的購買該產品的消費者都是烈酒類別的新用戶。

The brand also generated a double-digit repeat purchase rate. In Germany, Amazon sold out the Jack Daniel's Blackberry in the preorder shop. And in France, the brand is listed in the major retailers with positive media impressions, visibility in the main aisle and promising initial sell-through in both the off- and on-premise channels. Again, we're pleased with the early stages of the Blackberry launch, and we'll continue executing our strategic phased launch to support scalable and sustainable geographic expansion for the next few years.

該品牌還實現了兩位數的複購率。在德國，亞馬遜預售商店裡的傑克丹尼黑莓手機已經售罄。在法國，該品牌已入駐各大零售商，媒體評價積極，在主要通道擁有可見度，並且在店內和店外渠道的初步銷售情況都令人滿意。再次重申，我們對黑莓手機上市初期的進展感到滿意，我們將繼續執行分階段策略性上市計劃，以支持未來幾年可擴展且可持續的地域擴張。

Finally, I'll briefly share an update on two headwinds that are somewhat unique to Brown-Forman. Many of you will recall from our previous communications that used barrel sales and the trade dispute between the US and Canada are substantial headwinds for us this fiscal year, and they significantly impacted our first half organic net sales results. Organic net sales for used barrels decreased by more than 60% as the current industry operating environment, particularly for the Scotch and Irish whiskey suppliers continues to pressure demand and pricing.

最後，我將簡要分享布朗-福爾曼公司特有的兩個不利因素的最新情況。許多人可能還記得我們先前的溝通內容，二手油銷售和美國與加拿大之間的貿易爭端對我們本財年構成了重大不利因素，並嚴重影響了我們上半年的有機淨銷售業績。由於當前行業經營環境（尤其是蘇格蘭威士忌和愛爾蘭威士忌供應商的經營環境）持續對需求和價格構成壓力，二手酒桶的有機淨銷售量下降了 60% 以上。

Canada's organic net sales also declined over 60% as beverage alcohol products produced in the United States continue to be off the shelves in the majority of Canadian provinces. Our much smaller non-US brands, such as Diplomatico and the Glendronach continued to deliver organic net sales growth, but they were not able to offset the decline of our brands that are produced in the US. Overall, the first half of fiscal 2026 has unfolded largely as we anticipated, and we believe we remain positioned to achieve our full year guidance, driven by a series of key actions we've been taking.

由於美國生產的酒類飲品在加拿大大多數省份仍然缺貨，加拿大的有機淨銷售額也下降了 60% 以上。我們規模小得多的非美國品牌，如 Diplomatico 和 Glendronach，繼續實現有機淨銷售額增長，但它們無法抵消我們在美國生產的品牌的下滑。總體而言，2026 財年上半年的發展基本上符合我們的預期，我們相信，在我們採取的一系列關鍵行動的推動下，我們仍然有能力實現全年目標。

These include navigating the current environment with a balanced focus on the short and long term, strengthening our portfolio of brands through strategic innovation as well as a focus on our premium plus brands and RTDs to address consumer trends, making key route-to-consumer transitions, including the US, Japan and Italy and streamlining our workforce structure to increase our agility, leverage synergies and enhance our ways of working, which we believe will enable us to fuel the growth of our brands, our business and our people at a more rapid pace.

這些措施包括：在當前環境下，平衡專注於短期和長期發展；透過策略創新加強我們的品牌組合；專注於發展我們的高端品牌和即飲飲料，以滿足消費者趨勢；進行關鍵的消費者通路轉型，包括美國、日本和義大利；精簡我們的員工結構，以提高我們的靈活性，發揮協同效應，並改善我們的工作方式。我們相信，這些措施將使我們能夠以更快的速度推動我們的品牌、業務和員工的成長。

I remain fully confident in the potential of Brown-Forman, our brands and our people, and I'd like to extend my thanks and appreciation to our dedicated team of employees for their resilience and commitment. Before I conclude my comments, I also want to provide an update on our CFO recruitment process. In August, we announced Leanne had made the decision to retire at the end of the current fiscal year on April 30. Our recruitment process for her successor is well underway. And as you would expect, we are being very thoughtful in our approach to ensure we select a successor who will best position Brown-Forman for the long term.

我對布朗-福曼公司、我們的品牌和我們的員工的潛力仍然充滿信心，我要對我們敬業的員工團隊的韌性和奉獻精神表示感謝和讚賞。在結束我的演講之前，我還想介紹一下我們財務長的招募流程。8 月，我們宣布 Leanne 已決定在本財政年度結束時（4 月 30 日）退休。她的繼任者招募工作正在順利進行中。正如您所料，我們在選擇繼任者時非常謹慎，以確保我們選擇的繼任者能夠最好地為布朗-福曼公司的長期發展奠定基礎。

With that in mind, we anticipate that the process may extend into early next calendar year. In the meantime, I appreciate Leanne's continued leadership, and I'm personally grateful for the opportunity to continue working closely together until her replacement is on board in the next few months.

考慮到這一點，我們預計這個過程可能會持續到明年年初。同時，我感謝 Leanne 的持續領導，我個人也非常感謝有機會繼續與她密切合作，直到她的繼任者在未來幾個月內到任。

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

接下來，我將把電話交給莉安。

Thank you, Lawson, and good morning, everyone. As Lawson mentioned, I will provide additional insights on other financial highlights, including gross margin and operating expenses and conclude our prepared remarks with comments on our full year fiscal 2026 outlook.

謝謝你，勞森，大家早安。正如勞森所提到的，我將提供更多關於其他財務亮點的見解，包括毛利率和營運費用，並在我們準備好的發言結束時，對我們 2026 財年的全年展望發表評論。

First to our gross margin. In the first half of fiscal 2026, our reported gross profit decreased 4%, resulting in a reported gross margin of 59.5%. Our gross profit margin expanded 30 basis points due to a 190 basis points A&D benefit largely related to the conclusion of our relationship with Korbel and the absence of the prior year transition services agreement for Sonoma-Cutrer. This benefit was partially offset by 110 basis points of higher costs, largely due to lower production levels. inflation on our input costs and timing of cost fluctuations and 50 basis points of unfavorable price/mix due to the strong growth of New Mix and lower used barrel sales.

首先是我們的毛利率。2026 財年上半年，我們報告的毛利下降了 4%，導致報告的毛利率為 59.5%。由於與 Korbel 的合作關係結束以及前一年 Sonoma-Cutrer 過渡服務協議的取消，我們的毛利率增長了 30 個基點，A&D 收益增長了 190 個基點。這項收益部分被成本上漲110個基點所抵消，這主要是由於產量下降、投入成本通膨以及成本波動的時間因素，此外，由於新混合產品強勁增長和舊桶銷量下降，價格/產品組合不利，也造成了50個基點的損失。

Continuing with our other financial highlights, I'll turn to our operating expenses. In the first half, organic advertising expense decreased 1%, which is largely aligned with our depletion-based top line results. We continue to believe our level of investment behind our brands is healthy with a focus on Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey to support the, That's What Makes Jack, JACK global campaign as well as the launch of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Blackberry.

接下來，我們繼續介紹其他財務亮點，我將談談我們的營運費用。上半年，有機廣告支出下降了 1%，這與我們基於消耗的營收結果基本一致。我們仍然認為我們對旗下品牌的投資水平是健康的，重點是傑克丹尼田納西威士忌，以支持“這就是傑克丹尼的魅力所在”全球推廣活動以及傑克丹尼田納西黑莓手機的上市。

As we shared during our Investor Day, the Jack Daniel's global campaign represents our largest in brand history with the majority of fiscal 2026 expenses to occur during the key selling months of October, November and December.

正如我們在投資者日上分享的那樣，傑克丹尼的全球推廣活動是我們品牌歷史上規模最大的一次，2026 財年的大部分支出將發生在 10 月、11 月和 12 月這幾個關鍵銷售月份。

Our organic SG&A investment decreased 4% following our strategic workforce restructuring initiative. In total, reported operating income decreased 9% and organic operating income decreased 4% in the first half of fiscal 2026. In addition to the $22 million nonoperating post-retirement expense related to our workforce initiatives, these results led to a 13% diluted earnings per share decrease to $0.83 per share. Before moving to our outlook, I'd like to take the opportunity to provide you with a few comments related to our capital allocation philosophy. We approach our capital deployment decisions with the core objective of sustainable long-term value creation.

在我們實施策略性勞動力重組計劃後，我們的有機銷售、一般及行政費用投資減少了 4%。2026 財年上半年，報告營業收入整體下降 9%，有機營業收入整體下降 4%。除了與我們的人力資源計劃相關的 2,200 萬美元非經營性退休後支出外，這些結果導致稀釋後每股收益下降 13%，至每股 0.83 美元。在展望未來之前，我想藉此機會就我們的資本配置理念談幾點看法。我們在進行資本部署決策時，始終以創造可持續的長期價值為核心目標。

Our capital allocation philosophy balances ongoing investment in the business, including organic investments and acquisitions alongside shareholder returns such as regular dividends, share repurchases and special dividends.

我們的資本配置理念是平衡對業務的持續投資（包括內生投資和收購）與股東回報（如定期分紅、股票回購和特別分紅）。

First, in the first half of fiscal 2026, capital expenditures decreased by $16 million compared to the year ago period. While we continue to fully invest behind our business, we have completed a number of projects and expansions, which reduced our working capital requirements and improved cash generated. We grew cash flows from operations by $163 million to $292 million, primarily reflecting disciplined working capital management.

首先，在 2026 財年上半年，資本支出比去年同期減少了 1,600 萬美元。在繼續全力投資業務的同時，我們已經完成了一些專案和擴張，這減少了我們的營運資金需求，並提高了現金流。我們的經營活動現金流增加了 1.63 億美元，達到 2.92 億美元，主要反映了我們嚴格的營運資本管理。

Free cash flow, defined as net cash provided by operating activities less purchase of PP&E as presented in the statement of cash flows increased by $179 million to $236 million, reflecting strong operating cash flow generation and lower capital expenditure needs. Secondly, on November 19, 2025, our Board of Directors approved a 2% increase in the quarterly cash dividend, marking 42 consecutive years of dividend increases and 82 consecutive years of paying a regular cash dividend. This is a powerful testament to the strength of our balance sheet, the confidence we have in our ability to generate strong cash flow and to our commitment to returning cash to shareholders.

自由現金流（定義為經營活動產生的現金淨額減去購置固定資產的現金，如現金流量表所示）增加了 1.79 億美元，達到 2.36 億美元，這反映出強勁的營運現金流產生和較低的資本支出需求。其次，2025 年 11 月 19 日，我們的董事會批准將季度現金股息提高 2%，標誌著連續 42 年提高股息，並連續 82 年支付定期現金股息。這有力地證明了我們資產負債表的穩健性，我們對自身創造強勁現金流的能力充滿信心，以及我們對向股東返還現金的承諾。

Finally, as you may recall, on October 2, 2025, the Brown-Forman Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $400 million of our outstanding shares of Class A and Class B common stock. As of October 31, 2025, we have repurchased $99 million of our outstanding shares of Class A and Class B common stock. Our enduring commitment to our valued shareholders, coupled with a long-term perspective and the focus on building valuable brands is the foundation of our capital allocation philosophy and guides our decisions.

最後，您可能還記得，2025 年 10 月 2 日，布朗福曼董事會授權回購最多 4 億美元的已發行 A 類和 B 類普通股。截至 2025 年 10 月 31 日，我們已回購了價值 9,900 萬美元的已發行 A 類和 B 類普通股。我們對尊貴的股東始終如一的承諾，加上長遠的眼光和對打造有價值品牌的專注，是我們資本配置理念的基礎，並引導我們的決策。

Now turning to our full year fiscal 2026 outlook, which, as Lawson shared, we are reaffirming. We continue to navigate a spirits sector facing headwinds and still expect that the behavior of the consumer and the level of trade inventories will not change meaningfully during the 2026 fiscal year. Our guidance also continues to assume that there will be no change to the current tariff impact, direct and indirect on our products. We strongly believe that we will navigate these short-term challenges through the strength of our portfolio, including strategic innovation, the benefits of our route-to-consumer transitions and our evolved workforce structure.

現在讓我們來看看 2026 財年的全年展望，正如勞森所說，我們重申這項展望。我們仍在努力應對烈酒產業面臨的逆風，並仍預計在 2026 財年期間，消費者的行為和貿易庫存水準不會發生實質變化。我們的指導意見仍然假設目前的關稅對我們的產品（包括直接和間接關稅）的影響不會改變。我們堅信，憑藉我們強大的產品組合，包括策略創新、通路轉型帶來的益處以及不斷發展的員工團隊結構，我們將克服這些短期挑戰。

Our expectations from a geographic perspective remain the same as well. We still forecast continued growth in our emerging markets and the global travel retail channel and expect the depletion-based trends in the US and developed international markets to remain similar to fiscal 2025 with the exception of Canada. The continued unavailability of American Spirits products in Canada resulted in a significant impact to our top line performance. While we are hopeful for the return of American products to Canadian store shelves, we continue to assume this headwind will persist for our full fiscal year and is reflected in our full year guidance.

從地理角度來看，我們的預期也保持不變。我們仍預測新興市場和全球旅遊零售通路將持續成長，並預期美國和已開發國際市場的消耗趨勢將與 2025 財年類似，加拿大除外。美國烈酒產品在加拿大持續缺貨，對我們的營收業績造成了重大影響。雖然我們希望美國產品能夠重返加拿大商店貨架，但我們仍然認為這種不利因素將持續整個財政年度，並且已反映在我們的全年業績預期中。

In addition to Canada, the other cyclical headwind, largely specific to Brown-Forman is the year-over-year change in our used barrel sales. Used barrel sales have returned to levels that reflect the challenging and uncertain operating environment for the spirits industry. We continue to expect used barrel sales to be lower by more than half of fiscal 2025 level.

除了加拿大市場之外，另一個主要針對 Brown-Forman 的周期性不利因素是二手油桶銷售額的同比變化。二手酒桶的銷售量已經回落到反映烈酒行業充滿挑戰和不確定性的經營環境的水平。我們仍預期二手油桶銷量將比 2025 財年水準下降一半以上。

While we continue to execute our long-term pricing strategy and expect to benefit from our revenue growth management activities and strategic innovation, particularly Jack Daniel's Tennessee Blackberry, we anticipate product mix headwinds due to the faster growth of our RTD portfolio and agency brands in Japan and Mexico. We still anticipate that shipments will roughly be in line with depletions in fiscal 2026.

儘管我們繼續執行長期定價策略，並期望從收入成長管理活動和策略創新中受益，特別是傑克丹尼田納西黑莓，但我們預計由於我們在日本和墨西哥的即飲飲料組合和代理品牌的快速增長，產品組合將面臨不利因素。我們仍預期 2026 財年的出貨量將與消耗量大致持平。

We anticipate that ordering patterns in the second half of the year will reflect more typical seasonality as our US distributor network moves beyond the phasing impact of the initial transitions and the launch of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Blackberry concludes. For fiscal 2026, based on the currently known factors, we continue to expect a low single-digit decline in organic net sales, and reported gross margin expansion as we believe the benefit from A&D will more than offset the headwinds from negative price/mix and higher costs.

我們預計，隨著美國經銷商網路逐步擺脫初期過渡階段的影響，以及傑克丹尼田納西黑莓手機上市的結束，下半年的訂單模式將反映出更典型的季節性。2026 財年，根據目前已知的因素，我們仍然預期有機淨銷售額將出現個位數低幅下降，但報告毛利率將有所增長，因為我們相信 A&D 帶來的收益將足以抵消價格/產品組合不利和成本上升帶來的不利影響。

While input costs will continue to benefit from lower agave cost, we project higher costs compared to the prior year, largely driven by the impact of inflation and lower production volumes. In addition, as we shared previously, following the divestiture of Sonoma-Cutrer, we entered into a transition services agreement, which had a negative impact on our overall reported gross margin. The TSA has ended, resulting in a positive impact on a year-over-year basis, and the absence of Korbel is expected to benefit reported gross margin.

雖然投入成本將繼續受益於龍舌蘭成本的下降，但我們預計成本將比前一年更高，這主要是由於通貨膨脹和產量下降的影響。此外，正如我們之前分享的那樣，在剝離 Sonoma-Cutrer 之後，我們簽訂了一項過渡服務協議，這對我們整體報告的毛利率產生了負面影響。TSA 已結束，對同比業績產生了積極影響，預計 Korbel 的離職將有利於報告的毛利率。

Our outlook for organic operating expenses reflects continued management of controllable expenses. Our A&P spend will continue to reflect investment behind our brands that is aligned with our depletion-based top line outlook. We also continue to expect a reduction in SG&A following our strategic workforce restructuring initiative. Based on the above, we are forecasting organic operating income to decline in the low single-digit range. We also continue to expect our effective tax rate to be in the range of approximately 21% to 23%.

我們對有機營運費用的展望反映了對可控費用的持續控制。我們的廣告和促銷支出將繼續反映對我們品牌的投資，這與我們基於損耗的營收預期相符。我們也預計，隨著我們策略性勞動力重組計畫的實施，銷售、管理及行政費用將持續降低。基於上述情況，我們預測有機營業收入將出現個位數百分比的下降。我們也預計實際稅率將在 21% 至 23% 左右。

We are updating our estimated capital expenditures outlook from a range of $125 million to $135 million to a range of $110 million to $120 million for the full year. While this range is lower than previous years, we have completed a number of projects and expansions and remain committed to our long-held capital allocation philosophy to first invest fully behind our business. And we also continue to focus on reducing our finished goods inventory, which should further reduce our working capital needs and significantly improve cash generated.

我們將全年資本支出預期從 1.25 億美元至 1.35 億美元調整為 1.1 億美元至 1.2 億美元。雖然這一範圍低於往年，但我們已經完成了許多專案和擴張，並將繼續秉持我們長期以來堅持的資本配置理念，首先全力投資於我們的業務。我們將繼續致力於減少成品庫存，這將進一步降低我們的營運資金需求，並顯著提高現金流。

Again, our performance in the first half of fiscal 2026 is largely in line with our expectations and provides us the confidence to reaffirm our full year 2026 outlook. As we enter the second half of fiscal 2026, we will continue to focus on growing our portfolio of brands, capitalizing on our strategic route to consumer changes and leveraging our evolved workforce structure. We are committed to thoughtfully and strategically managing through the current volatility and uncertainty while positioning the company to deliver long-term growth.

再次強調，我們在 2026 財年上半年的業績基本上符合預期，這使我們有信心重申我們對 2026 年全年的展望。進入 2026 財年下半年，我們將繼續專注於發展我們的品牌組合，利用我們應對消費者變化的策略路線，並發揮我們不斷完善的員工結構優勢。我們致力於以深思熟慮和策略性的方式應對當前的波動和不確定性，同時使公司實現長期成長。

This concludes our prepared remarks. Please open the line for questions.

我們的發言稿到此結束。請開通提問專線。

(Operator Instructions) Lauren Lieberman, Barclays.

（操作說明）勞倫·利伯曼，巴克萊銀行。

Just wanted to talk a little bit again about the new distribution partners. It seems like you're starting to see impact, but really gearing up now into the holiday season. So maybe I would just love a little perspective on how you might compare the plans that are in place for this year's holiday season versus last. And then also the level of caution that you're seeing from these brand-new distributor partners who are going to be excited, but you've also got the known headwinds and questions around the consumer and the category environment.

想再簡單談談新的經銷合作夥伴。看來你們已經開始看到成效了，但現在正全力備戰假期。所以，我或許很想聽聽您對今年假期計畫與去年計畫的比較看法。此外，這些全新的經銷合作夥伴也表現出一定的謹慎態度，他們雖然感到興奮，但同時也面臨著消費者和品類環境方面已知的阻力和疑問。

All right. Let me take a try at this. So a little bit of context, particularly for those that haven't followed us closely this year around what we've done in the US in terms of RTC changes. So California was the first.

好的。讓我來試試。所以，這裡提供一些背景信息，特別是對於那些今年沒有密切關注我們在美國 RTC 變更方面所做工作的人來說。所以加州是第一個。

That was back on May 1. And I think generally, we would say, while the transition took longer than we expected, it is now moving and improving quickly. It's been a strong recovery in Q2. And for the most part, have the teams hired and are -- I call the transition complete. The other 13 markets went live on August 1.

那是5月1日的事了。總的來說，雖然過渡期比我們預期的要長，但現在進展迅速，情況正在好轉。第二季出現了強勁復甦。大部分團隊已經招募完畢——我認為過渡已經完成。其餘 13 個市場於 8 月 1 日上線。

So we always have to keep reminding ourselves that was only three months ago -- three months now. It was really all off of Q2, but we had a lot of new partners, obviously -- not obviously, but the largest transition markets for Texas and New York. In those places, the teams are in place. Everything is moving pretty much as planned, I think. So -- the one learning, I think we had, the primary area where we had more disruption with the emerging brands where it just took a little bit longer.

所以我們必須不斷提醒自己，那隻是三個月前的事——現在已經過了三個月。這一切都發生在第二季度，但我們有很多新的合作夥伴，顯然——雖然並不明顯，但德州和紐約州是最大的轉型市場。這些地方的隊伍都已經到位了。我認為一切都基本上按計劃進行。所以——我認為我們學到的一點是，在新興品牌方面，我們遇到了更多幹擾，這需要更長的時間。

We -- as always happens, when you change a distributor, you get -- you tend to lose some menus, some drinklist, things like that. So that takes a little bit of time. We've been addressing that quite a bit. So overall, I'd say we're happy with our new and our existing partners and how everybody is performing. We've closed the gap to TDS quite a bit in the first half of this year. And actually, if you exclude RTDs, we're actually above TDS. So there are some green shoots and some good news there.

我們——就像往常一樣，當你更換經銷商時，你往往會失去一些菜單、一些飲料單之類的東西。所以這需要一些時間。我們已經多次著手解決這個問題。總的來說，我對新舊合作夥伴以及大家的表現都很滿意。今年上半年，我們與TDS的差距已經縮小很多了。事實上，如果排除即飲飲料，我們的實際銷售額實際上高於總銷售額。所以，情況出現了一些好轉的跡象，也傳來了一些好消息。

Now, to your question, Lauren, about the consumer itself and how we -- sort of how we're seeing things, I guess, these days, it hasn't changed significantly. We were talking yesterday as a team that this seemed like a boring quarter.

現在，勞倫，回答你的問題，關於消費者本身以及我們——我想，我們現在看待事物的方式，並沒有發生顯著變化。昨天我們團隊討論的時候就覺得，這季好像很沉悶。

But in a lot of ways, it was because they're -- one, we've had a lot of volatility in the last couple of years, and that seems to be slowing down a bit. But the consumer behavior in the emerging markets continues to be very strong. Global Travel Retail was very strong. We continue to see softness in the US and some of our larger markets in Europe.

但從很多方面來看，這是因為——首先，過去幾年市場波動很大，而這種波動似乎正在放緩一些。但新興市場的消費行為依然非常強勁。全球旅遊零售業務表現非常強勁。我們持續看到美國市場以及歐洲一些較大市場出現疲軟跡象。

But in aggregate, I do think -- look, you've seen all the other categories within the CPG world of food and personal care and QSRs and retail and a bunch of others, all of whom have gotten more conservative in the last, say, 6 months or so, and we see some of that, too. I think it's important to look at the takeaway trends at TDS for the US they're still declining. They haven't moved a lot, but they have weakened a bit.

但總的來說，我認為——你看，你已經看到了消費品行業的其他所有類別，例如食品、個人護理、快餐、零售等等，在過去的六個月左右的時間裡，所有這些類別都變得更加保守，我們也看到了其中的一些趨勢。我認為有必要關註一下美國 TDS 的外賣趨勢，它們仍在下降。它們移動的幅度不大，但力量有所減弱。

So in terms of total distilled spirits takeaway, that is a little bit concerning. But as I said, we're closing the gap on that. Some of that is, we're improving better and some of it is the market is going down a little bit. So I think another important point within TDS, innovation remains the big driver. And that's not only for us with Jack Daniel's Tennessee Blackberry, which has been very important, and I'm sure we're going to talk more about that this morning. But innovation in general is a big factor in the US market these days.

所以就蒸餾酒的總出口量而言，這有點令人擔憂。但正如我所說，我們正在縮小差距。部分原因是我們的業績提升，部分原因是市場略有下滑。所以我認為TDS的另一個重要方面是，創新仍然是其主要驅動力。這不僅適用於我們傑克丹尼田納西黑莓威士忌，它一直非常重要，我相信我們今天早上會談到這一點。但總的來說，創新是當今美國市場的重要因素。

The RTD category is really the only category gaining share. And while not -- we'd like to say, while not a trend, we are seeing some weakening for the first time in terms of trade down. And that's really the first time. So I don't want to make too big of a deal about it. But certainly, when you look at $100 and above or $50 to $100, those price points have weakened considerably from where they were, say, six months or a year ago.

即飲飲料是唯一市場佔有率不斷成長的類別。雖然——我們想說，雖然這不是一種趨勢，但我們首次看到貿易向下行情出現一些疲軟跡象。那真的是第一次。所以我不想把這件事鬧得太大。但可以肯定的是，當你查看 100 美元及以上或 50 至 100 美元的價格區間時，這些價格點與六個月前或一年前相比已經大幅下降。

So -- and the only -- I don't -- not that I don't want to get into structural versus cyclical, you didn't ask that, but I do find it interesting trade down is clearly a cyclical factor, not a structural factor, at least in my head. So if you're weighing out the factors that are out there between structural and cyclical, this is one more that says the consumer is pinched. They are trading down just a little bit, but we do think that's a temporary thing and will turn.

所以——而且唯一的——我——不是說我不想討論結構性因素與週期性因素，你也沒問這個問題，但我確實覺得很有趣的是，下跌顯然是一個週期性因素，而不是結構性因素，至少在我看來是這樣。因此，如果你正在權衡結構性和週期性因素，那麼這又是一個顯示消費者經濟拮据的因素。他們目前的交易量略有下降，但我們認為這只是暫時的，情況會好轉。

And then what I'll build on to that is we've been saying for several quarters, we've been trying to strategically navigate the volatile environment at pace, and then we're beginning to see the benefits of those strategic initiatives, like we said in our prepared remarks. Lawson said that innovation is driving growth, and we have our strategic innovation of Blackberry.

然後我要補充的是，我們已經連續幾個季度都在努力快速地以戰略性的方式應對動蕩的環境，現在我們開始看到這些戰略舉措帶來的好處，就像我們在準備好的發言稿中所說的那樣。勞森表示，創新是成長的驅動力，而我們則有黑莓的策略創新。

From a strategic RTC perspective, we've made the changes to our US distributor network as well as own distribution in Japan and Italy, which are contributing. And then from an SG&A perspective, our evolved workforce. I mean, we're really getting to the point where we are seeing benefits from the initiatives that we have been putting in place to drive the results we reported today.

從策略性RTC角度來看，我們對美國經銷商網路以及在日本和義大利的自有分銷管道進行了調整，這些調整都做出了貢獻。從銷售、管理及行政費用的角度來看，我們的員工隊伍也不斷壯大。我的意思是，我們確實已經開始看到我們為取得今天公佈的成果而實施的各項措施所帶來的好處。

Peter Grom, UBS.

Peter Grom，瑞銀集團。

I thought I wanted to follow up on the last point just on what you're seeing in terms of the consumer and the category, but maybe more real time just around the upcoming holiday season, what you've kind of seen through November and a few days here in December. Because you mentioned the categories continue to decelerate in loss, and you kind of touched on the fact that other CPG companies are talking about a weaker performance over the last six months.

我想就最後一點繼續探討一下您在消費者和品類方面所觀察到的情況，但也許更確切地說，是關於即將到來的假日季的實時情況，以及您在 11 月和 12 月這幾天所觀察到的情況。因為你提到各個品類的虧損持續放緩，你也提到其他消費品公司在過去六個月的業績有所下滑。

But I think a lot of those CPG peers even this week are speaking to an operating environment that actually has gotten a bit more worse, I would say, or more challenged over the last 6 weeks or so. So is that similar to what you're seeing? Are you seeing the category get a lot worse quarter-to-date and kind of what you're expecting from a holiday period? And then I guess just underpinning that, right? You noted on the difference between what we're seeing in terms of category trends and your organic results here in the US. So should that gap narrow looking forward such that what we see in the data is more aligned with kind of your underlying growth?

但我認為，即使在本週，許多消費品行業的同行也表示，他們的經營環境在過去六週左右的時間裡實際上變得更糟了，或者說更具挑戰性。所以，你看到的情況和這類似嗎？您是否發現該類別在本季迄今為止的情況變得更糟，並且符合您對假期期間的預期？然後我想，這只是為了支撐這一點，對吧？您注意到了我們在品類趨勢方面看到的與您在美國的自然搜尋結果之間的差異。那麼，展望未來，這種差距是否應該縮小，使我們從數據中看到的現象與你們的潛在成長更加一致？

Yes. So look, as I said a second ago, the total distilled spirits has weakened in the last 6 months or so, not dramatically, but it has. I don't know about the last month, I don't really track trends quite that short term. But I think the promotional environment, I mean, look, we know the consumer is going to be looking for sort of value and remaining very brand loyal, I think. But the environment remains rational. When you look through the different -- like the Nielsen takeaway numbers and the pricing figures within there, we use this term, we used it a few times in the last year of a rational behavior by the other big suppliers.

是的。所以你看，就像我剛才說的，過去六個月左右，蒸餾酒的總銷量有所下降，雖然下降幅度不大，但確實下降了。我不太了解上個月的情況，我也不太關注那麼短期的趨勢。但我認為，在促銷環境下，我們都知道消費者會追求性價比，並且會維持對品牌的忠誠度。但環境依然理性。當你查看不同的數據——例如尼爾森的收視率數據和其中的價格數據時，我們會用到這個術語，去年我們曾多次用它來形容其他大型供應商的理性行為。

Tequila has felt some pressure, but honestly, not as much maybe as some would have predicted given the massive drop in the agave costs. American whiskey pricing is holding up fairly well -- let's see what is it, down about 0.5 point. So that's pretty close. We're actually a little bit less than that. So holding together. And it seems like just the pricing environment remains rational.

龍舌蘭酒確實感受到了一些壓力，但說實話，考慮到龍舌蘭成本的大幅下降，可能沒有一些人預測的那麼大。美國威士忌的價格表現相當不錯——讓我們來看看具體是多少，大約下降了0.5個百分點。所以差不多就行了。其實我們比那還要少一些。所以，我們團結一致。而且，目前的定價環境似乎依然理性。

And I think our expectations for this holiday season are -- we're trying to be optimistic, but at the same time, we are looking and seeing some of the macro trends that are tough. So I think we're looking forward to a good -- I feel like the teams have got us set up, and we've got our new distributors that are very aware of the importance of getting this season right. And from what we are hearing, we're ready to go. So let's see how it all turns out.

我認為我們對這個假期的期望是——我們努力保持樂觀，但同時，我們也看到了一些嚴峻的宏觀趨勢。所以我覺得我們期待著一個好結果——我覺得各支球隊已經為我們做好了準備，而且我們的新經銷商也非常清楚把這個賽季做好的重要性。據我們所知，我們已經準備就緒。讓我們看看最終結果如何。

And then to your second question on the US, where we are showing a plus 3% for the US on our depletion-based top line results compared to kind of takeaway trends of a minus 3%. What really is driving that gap for us is part of it is the launch of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Blackberry. And as we shared in our last call, it's moving through the process of original shipments impacting our organic results to depletions and then to takeaway.

然後，關於你提出的第二個問題，即美國的情況，根據我們基於消耗的總體結果，美國的業績增長了 3%，而外賣趨勢則下降了 3%。真正導致我們與傑克丹尼田納西黑莓手機差距擴大的原因之一是傑克丹尼田納西黑莓手機的推出。正如我們在上次通話中分享的那樣，它正在經歷從原始發貨到消耗再到外賣的整個過程，這影響了我們的有機產品銷售業績。

Q2 for us was the first full quarter of having full shipments and beginning to move into depletion-based results. And we're seeing it bleed into consumer takeaway. As we get into the next couple of quarters, we should see all of those data points balance out. And then the other piece for the US is that benefit that we are referring to from our US distributor relationship terms and the strategic initiative that we put in place for that.

對我們來說，第二季是第一個實現全面出貨並開始採用基於損耗率的業績統計的完整季度。我們看到這種情況正在蔓延到消費者的外帶產品。接下來幾個季度，我們應該會看到所有這些數據點趨於平衡。此外，對於美國而言，另一部分好處是我們所說的來自美國分銷商關係條款以及我們為此制定的戰略舉措所帶來的益處。

Yes, that's important, actually. We make sure everybody heard that. That improved terms are something that are, I mean, permanent. We're going to have them all year. And so that is giving us some breathing room. It's adding to our top line growth. And I think it is a very successful outcome of what we did. The other point to really highlight, I think, is the lower used barrel sales.

是的，這確實很重要。我們確保每個人都聽到了。這些改善後的條款是永久性的。我們將全年供應。這樣一來，我們就有了一些喘息的空間。它促進了我們營收的成長。我認為這是我們所做工作所取得的非常成功的結果。我認為另一點需要重點強調的是二手槍管銷量下降。

I think maybe a few people underestimated how big of a problem, quite honestly, that is. The sales are down 61% in the first half of the year. It's a pretty big business and a pretty big hit. Our results obviously would have been that much better had that not come through. But that's not -- I know that's not -- really not a consumer thing. It's more of a global slowdown in beverage alcohol, which is now slowing down barrel sales.

說實話，我覺得可能有些人低估了這個問題有多嚴重。今年上半年銷售額下降了61%。這是一個相當大的生意，而且非常受歡迎。如果沒有那件事發生，我們的結果顯然會好得多。但那不是——我知道那不是——真的不是消費者的事。這更多的是全球酒類消費放緩，進而導致桶裝酒銷量下滑。

Yes. And just to build on that just a bit, when we said it in our prepared remarks that when you look at the American produced spirits products being off the shelf in largely all the provinces in Canada and the cyclicality in this environment of used barrel sales, collectively, those two were more than 2 points of impact -- negative impact to our top line.

是的。再補充一點，我們在準備好的發言稿中提到，由於美國生產的烈酒產品在加拿大幾乎所有省份都已下架，以及二手酒桶銷售的周期性波動，這兩點加起來對我們的收入產生了超過 2 個負面影響。

Nadine Sarwat, Bernstein.

Nadine Sarwat，Bernstein。

Two questions from me. Leanne, I'd like to come back to the US. You spoke about takeaway. So by my calculation, your US net sales growth at an underlying level was a plus 3%. You said takeaway was minus 3%. Can you talk to in more detail breaking down how that 6 percentage point gap will play out over the next two quarters?

我有兩個問題。莉安，我想回美國。你剛才提到了外賣。因此，據我計算，貴公司在美國的實際淨銷售額成長率為 3%。你說外送價格下跌了3%。您能否更詳細地分析一下這 6 個百分點的差距將如何在接下來的兩季中產生影響？

And then my second question is, you Lawson touched on pricing. In this lower volumes for longer environment, how should we think about how you're approaching strategy when it comes to pricing and what you're seeing from your peers when it comes to calendar 2026, as I know this is top of mind for many people.

那麼我的第二個問題是，勞森先生，您剛才談到了定價問題。在銷售持續走低的環境下，我們該如何看待你們在定價策略方面的做法，以及你們從同行那裡了解到的 2026 年的市場動態？我知道這是很多人最關心的問題。

Okay. Nadine, I'll start with your first question, which, again, kind of going back to the US top line depletion pace results at a plus 3%, takeaway at a minus 3%. It's really how we are seeing the flow-through of innovation with the impact of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Blackberry launch, which I just spoke to and also the benefit from the US distributor relationship terms that we're seeing flow through. As we go through the rest of the fiscal year, we expect those to narrow. And then I'll turn it over to Lawson for --

好的。Nadine，我先回答你的第一個問題，這個問題再次回到了美國頂級消耗速度的結果，即增長 3%，減少 3%。這正是我們看到創新成果如何惠及消費者的體現，例如傑克丹尼爾田納西黑莓手機的推出（我剛才談到了這一點），以及我們從美國經銷商關係條款中看到的好處。隨著本財年剩餘時間的推移，我們預計這些差距將會縮小。然後我會把它交給勞森。--

Just sort of the pricing environment, look, I really -- we have not changed our sort of philosophy, if you will, on pricing and flow and flow are constantly words that I use with our teams. And so and they're doing that. And the US is tough right now, but like Brown-Forman's pricing across the entire portfolio is down 0.3%. So close to flat in terms of an overall price. And the TDS is a little bit worse than that, but not a lot.

就定價環境而言，你看，我真的——我們並沒有改變我們的定價理念，而流程和流程是我經常與團隊交流時使用的詞語。所以他們正在這樣做。目前美國市場情況嚴峻，但布朗-福曼公司整個產品組合的價格下降了 0.3%。整體價格接近持平。而TDS的情況比這稍微嚴重一些，但也沒嚴重多少。

So I'll go back to the line I used a minute ago on sort of a rational performance. It does seem like the big players are holding together. So I feel pretty good about it. Look, we'll continue to monitor the competitor promotional activity and respond when we have to. But we also are very conscious about protecting our pricing and our margins and ultimately, our brand equity. So as I say, I think we feel pretty good about the pricing environment. It certainly could have been a whole lot worse.

所以，我還是回到剛才我用過的那句話，進行一番理性的詮釋。看起來，各大公司似乎還在團結。所以我感覺還不錯。我們會繼續關注競爭對手的促銷活動，並在必要時做出應對。但我們也非常注重保護我們的定價、利潤率以及最終的品牌價值。正如我所說，我認為我們對當前的定價環境感到相當滿意。情況本來可能更糟。

Robert Ottenstein, Evercore ISI.

Robert Ottenstein，Evercore ISI。

Just a couple of follow-ups, please. Lawson, I think you mentioned kind of the $100-plus area is where you're seeing most of the trade down. Does that mean that in the $20 to $30 area, you're really not seeing any trade down at this point? So that's just question number one. Question number two is, I just love to kind of give your thoughts on why you think the current level of advertising marketing investment is the right area and how you come up with that answer and whether you think, I guess, presumably that increased investment wouldn't stimulate demand.

請容許我再補充幾個問題。勞森，我想你提到過，100 美元以上的價位區間是交易下跌最嚴重的區域。這是否意味著在 20 美元到 30 美元這個價位區間，目前真的看不到任何下跌的交易機會？這是第一個問題。第二個問題是，我很想聽聽你對目前廣告行銷投資水準的看法，以及你是如何得出這個結論的，還有你是否認為增加投資不會刺激需求。

And that's not just for you, but for the industry as a whole, right? Do you think the whole industry is doing the right advertising, marketing out there to create desire and help? Or are we at just a point with the consumer that the returns on those investments don't make sense, both for you and the industry?

這不僅對你而言如此，對整個產業也是如此，對吧？你認為整個產業在廣告和行銷方面做得對嗎？這些廣告和行銷能夠激發消費者的慾望並提供幫助嗎？或者說，我們現在的情況是，消費者對這些投資的回報已經沒有意義了，無論對你還是對整個產業來說都是如此？

Yes. Okay. Let me hit the pricing one first. And I'm just looking at what is Nielsen 3-month value numbers by price points. And yes, the $100 plus is down 18%. But that's a small total volume. Obviously, that's a very small area. But interestingly, from what is this -- from $10 to $30, which would comprise a huge percentage of the total -- in fact, I can do that number in my head.

是的。好的。我先來說說價格問題。我正在查看尼爾森按價格點劃分的 3 個月價值數據。是的，100 美元以上的股票下跌了 18%。但總體積很小。顯然，那是一個非常小的區域。但有趣的是，從 10 美元到 30 美元，這筆錢將佔總數的很大一部分——事實上，我可以心算出這個數字。

It's about 60% or 70% of the total market is in that price range, and they're all down at 4%. So that's where we say trade down. $100 is down that much and the sort of the $30 and below is all down around 4%. The higher price points, ones in between there are more like 6%, 7% down. So it's a pretty clear line of where the pricing environment goes and where the consumer seems to be evolving down.

大約 60% 到 70% 的市場都處於這個價格區間，而且它們的價格都下跌了 4%。所以這就是我們建議做空的地方。 100美元的股票下跌了這麼多，而30美元及以下的股票都下跌了約4%。價格較高的產品，中間價位的產品降價幅度大概在 6% 到 7% 之間。所以，價格環境的走向和消費者消費習慣的下降方向之間的界線非常清楚。

What was the other question --

另一個問題是什麼？--

And then on A&P, yes, we've had our philosophy that A&P spend is going to align with our depletion-based top line growth. But we are continuing to focus on investing behind our brands, and we're focusing on maintaining and growing our share of voice and supporting the long-term brand equity. It is important to remember, we're navigating a challenging environment, and we're carefully managing all of our operating expenses.

至於廣告和促銷，是的，我們一直秉持著這樣的理念：廣告和促銷支出將與我們基於損耗的營收成長保持一致。但我們會繼續專注於投資我們的品牌，專注於維持和擴大我們的市場份額，並支持長期的品牌資產。需要記住的是，我們正處於一個充滿挑戰的環境中，我們正在謹慎地管理所有營運費用。

But it's important to recall that over the last five years, we have added nearly $100 million to brand expense. We continue to work to find initiatives to free up more dollars to continue to reinvest in our brands and our workforce restructuring initiative was one of those where when we get to the place where we can have the right level of benefit, then we will continue to increase. But again, you go back to our portfolio, it's very tight. A large portion of our portfolio falls under kind of that House of Jack. And so we feel like we get a lot of synergies with the structure of our portfolio of brands.

但值得注意的是，在過去的五年裡，我們在品牌支出方面增加了近 1 億美元。我們將繼續努力尋找各種途徑來釋放更多資金，以便繼續對我們的品牌進行再投資。我們的員工重組計畫就是其中之一，當我們達到能夠提供適當福利的水平時，我們將繼續增加投入。但再看看我們的投資組合，就會發現它非常緊湊。我們投資組合中的很大一部分都屬於傑克之家那種類型。因此，我們感覺到我們的品牌組合結構能夠帶來許多協同效應。

Yes. And sort of the end of your question around as an industry, I mean, I don't necessarily know. It is a difficult time, and we are testing different ways of advertising and trying to see what reactions we get. But look, the environment is as subdued as it is.

是的。至於你提出的關於整個行業的問題的最後部分，我的意思是，我並不一定知道。現在情況嚴峻，我們正在嘗試不同的廣告方式，看看會得到怎樣的迴響。但是你看，這裡的環境是如此的沉悶。

When you've got TDS down around [4-ish] it's tough to say we're going to advertise our way out of this. We need -- there are other important tailwinds, I think, that will help. So we'll continue to -- look, we've had the same guidance for years on -- advertising is going to grow about with our depletion-based sales, and I think we're pretty much sticking to that over a full year.

當 TDS 降到 [4 左右] 時，很難說我們可以透過廣告來擺脫困境。我們需要——我認為還有其他一些重要的順風因素會有所幫助。所以我們會繼續——你看，多年來我們一直堅持同樣的指導方針——廣告收入將隨著我們基於消耗的銷售而增長，我認為我們今年將基本堅持這一方針。

Drew Levine, JPMorgan.

Drew Levine，摩根大通。

Lawson, hoping you could talk to how you're viewing performance of the rest of the Jack Daniel's family of brands following the launch of Blackberry. What the interplay is between the brands, how you're viewing cannibalization, if it's coming in line or better than expected? And then also how that's trending international. You mentioned strong response in UK, Germany and France. How incremental has Blackberry been in those markets? And then if you could talk to additional market launches in 2026.

Lawson，希望您能談談在 Blackberry 上市後，您如何看待 Jack Daniel's 旗下其他品牌的表現。品牌之間的互動是什麼？您如何看待產品蠶食現象？它是否符合預期，還是比預期更好？此外，也要了解這種趨勢在國際上的發展。您提到英國、德國和法國的反應很強烈。黑莓在這些市場中取得了多大的進步？然後，如果您能談談 2026 年的其他市場推廣計劃就更好了。

Yes. So look, it's only been three months. So it is difficult to draw on is it impacting Blackberry or is it impacting the rest of your flavors. So historically, there haven't been that much -- the cannibalization has been minimal. We do recognize every time you do a new one that you're going to turn up that a little bit. But in the first 90 days, I can't -- we don't really know yet. So now the whole -- the plan for Blackberry over the next couple of years, we obviously have launched in the United States.

是的。你看，這才過了三個月而已。因此很難判斷這究竟是影響了黑莓口味，還是影響了其他口味。所以從歷史上看，這種情況並不多——蠶食現像一直很少。我們明白，每次你做一個新的專案時，你都會稍微加大力度。但在最初的90天裡，我無法──我們還不能確定。所以現在，關於黑莓未來幾年的計劃，我們顯然已經在美國推出了。

We've launched in a handful of markets in Europe, but we are not global by any means yet. And so our goal or benefit for this is to make it a multiyear benefit to the company, not just a couple of quarters or even 1 year. And that's one of the major, major benefits that Jack has over so many of its competitors in the flavor conversation, it's because it is so global. We also haven't done all sizes.

我們已在歐洲少數市場推出產品，但距離全球市場仍相差甚遠。因此，我們這樣做的目標或好處是，它能為公司帶來多年的好處，而不僅僅是幾個季度甚至一年。而這正是傑克在口味方面相對於眾多競爭對手的主要優勢之一，因為它具有全球性。我們還沒有製作所有尺寸。

I mean there's lots of things that we're doing to try to stretch the launch out to be a benefit for some period of time. And we know that, especially when you do a launch like this, it benefits the whole portfolio or the whole Jack Daniel's family of brands because we get a lot of incremental displays.

我的意思是，我們正在做很多事情來延長產品上市時間，使其在一段時間內帶來好處。我們知道，尤其是在進行這樣的新品發佈時，整個產品組合或整個傑克丹尼品牌家族都會受益，因為我們會獲得大量的額外曝光。

So that was the comment about Tesco and some of the others in France and Germany, where they all want to get on board of this big launch and then that kind of sucks in the rest of the portfolio around it. And so right now, we are pleased. We really are. We've gotten good consumer feedback. We've got great trade feedback. And feel like we've got a very successful innovation.

所以，這就是對 Tesco 以及法國和德國其他一些零售商的評論，他們都想參與這次大型發布會，但這對周圍的其他產品組合造成了影響。所以現在，我們很滿意。我們確實是。我們收到了良好的消費者回饋。我們收到了非常好的交易回饋。感覺我們取得了非常成功的創新。

And then one last detail to your question about the markets. Again, we, as you know, launched in the US in August. This fall, we were launching in the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Czechia, Turkey and GTR, just so you have that information.

最後，關於你提出的市場問題，我還有一個細節要補充。如您所知，我們於 8 月在美國推出了產品。今年秋季，我們在英國、法國、德國、波蘭、捷克、土耳其和GTR地區推出了產品，特此告知。

But we didn't go to a place like Brazil or --

但我們並沒有去巴西之類的地方，或者--

Absolutely --

絕對地--

A lot of others --

還有很多其他人--

It's more developed in Europe at this point.

目前這項技術在歐洲發展得更為成熟。

There are huge flavor markets for us.

我們擁有龐大的口味市場。

Chris Pitcher, Rothschild Company and Redburn.

克里斯皮徹、羅斯柴爾德公司和雷德伯恩。

A follow-up on the reduced CapEx outlook. It still looks like it's a sort of a growth number ahead of depreciation. But in terms of barrels being purchased and warehouse space being expanded, can we read into that, that you're probably getting to a stage now where you're going to maintain or perhaps even reduce the value of your barreled whiskeys? Obviously, we'll get a bit more color with the 10-Q.

關於下調資本支出預期的後續報告。看起來它仍然是一個高於折舊的成長數字。但是，從購買酒桶和擴大倉庫空間的角度來看，我們是否可以從中解讀出，你們現在可能正處於維持甚至降低桶裝威士忌價值的階段？顯然，10-Q 會帶來更多色彩。

Yes. I mean from a capacity perspective, from a CapEx perspective, we currently have the distilling, warehousing and bottling capacities that we need to support the future demand that we look out to. And that was one of the reasons why we were able to reduce our capital expenditure outlook. And then from an inventory perspective, as we have been sharing with you for several quarters, all through F '25 and even into F '26 with the volatility that was caused through the pandemic and supply chain challenges that we had, we're in a position where we are producing at lower levels.

是的。我的意思是，從產能角度和資本支出角度來看，我們目前擁有足夠的蒸餾、倉儲和裝瓶能力來滿足我們預期的未來需求。這也是我們能夠下調資本支出預期的原因之一。從庫存角度來看，正如我們幾個季度以來一直與大家分享的那樣，整個 2025 年秋季甚至 2026 年秋季，由於疫情造成的波動和供應鏈挑戰，我們的生產水準有所下降。

We have been very clear about that and the impact that's having on cost as we are trying to reduce our finished goods inventory levels that we have around the world. We have made really good progress on that as it's -- but we still have to work through some of the strategic tariff mitigation inventories we had out there. And we also took in finished goods inventory to support the new agency brand business that we have. And then from a barrel whiskey perspective, if you look kind of consecutively over the last few quarters, it continues to moderate.

我們已經非常明確地表明了這一點，以及隨著我們努力降低全球成品庫存水平，這對成本的影響。我們在這方面已經取得了非常好的進展——但我們仍然需要處理一些我們已有的策略性關稅緩解措施清單。此外，我們也接收了成品庫存，以支援我們新成立的代理品牌業務。從桶裝威士忌的角度來看，如果你連續觀察過去幾個季度，你會發現它持續趨於溫和。

And again, that is just us adjusting to the long-term demand that we see against the supply that we have. And so with some of the performance levels that we have, we have the ability to balance those as we go forward.

再次強調，這只是我們根據我們看到的長期需求與現有供應情況所做的調整。因此，憑藉我們現有的某些績效水平，我們有能力在未來的發展過程中進行平衡。

Yes. Let me just add to that a little bit. You'll notice we did create a Schedule E in our earnings release to get everybody's eyes a little more focused on free cash flow because we do see some opportunities going forward with lower levels of CapEx going forward. And as we wind down or work through the inventory that we have, it's a material change and some good news in terms of benefits to the balance sheet and just the free cash flow. So yes, we feel pretty good about the outlook there.

是的。我再補充一點。你會注意到，我們在收益報告中創建了附表 E，以便讓大家更加關注自由現金流，因為我們確實看到未來在資本支出水平降低的情況下會有一些機會。隨著我們逐步清理或消化庫存，這將帶來實質的變化，對資產負債表和自由現金流而言都是好消息。所以，是的，我們對那裡的前景感到非常樂觀。

Andrea Pistacchi, Bank of America.

安德里亞·皮斯塔基，美國銀行。

My question is on cost savings actually. So your SG&A in Q2, if I calculate more or less correctly, I think declined around 1%, 2%. And the run rate in recent quarters had been more than that, more like 6%, 7%. So could you comment, please, on the momentum of your cost-saving initiatives, particularly as we go into the second half when you'll be lapping some of the more substantial initiatives that you've taken in the last 12 months?

我的問題其實是關於成本節約的。所以，如果我的計算大致正確的話，你們第二季的銷售、一般及行政費用（SG&A）下降了大約 1% 到 2%。而最近幾季的運行率更高，更像是 6%、7%。那麼，您能否就貴公司節約成本舉措的進展情況發表一下看法，尤其是在我們進入下半年之際，因為您將會逐漸超越過去 12 個月中採取的一些更重要的舉措？

And -- I mean this is relevant given the environment which remains -- visibility remains low. So timing of improvement of top line is still a bit uncertain. So just wanted to hear about your ability to potentially accelerate savings in this environment and whether maybe there were any one-off factors in the SG&A in H1, Q2?

而且——我的意思是，考慮到目前的環境——能見度仍然很低，這一點很重要。因此，營收何時改善仍存在一些不確定性。所以我想了解一下，在這種環境下，你們是否有可能加快節省成本，以及上半年和第二季度的銷售、管理及行政費用中是否存在任何一次性因素？

Okay. For SG&A, it really is about the year ago period as we were beginning to envision what our new evolved streamlined, simplified workforce structure would be ahead of that announcement, there were a large number of open roles in the year ago period as well as an adjustment to our full year compensation expectations. So that's why you're seeing that kind of negative one, first half in this first half of this year.

好的。對於銷售、一般及行政費用而言，這確實與一年前的情況有關，因為在宣布之前，我們開始設想我們新的、經過改進的、精簡的員工結構，一年前有大量的職位空缺，並且我們對全年的薪酬預期也進行了調整。所以這就是為什麼你會看到今年上半年出現那種負面數據的原因。

We'll continue to see some benefits as we go forward in the year to go, but you are correct that it will begin to moderate as we lap that mid-January announcement and really that fourth quarter of last year benefit that we'll be lapping from an SG&A perspective. We continue, as we had previously said in our prepared remarks, we are doing in this environment, everything to carefully and tightly manage and control all of our operating expenses and controllable costs where that is available.

在接下來的一年中，我們將繼續看到一些好處，但您說得對，隨著我們度過 1 月中旬的公告以及去年第四季度從銷售、管理及行政費用角度來看我們將要結束的收益，這些好處將會開始減弱。正如我們之前在準備好的演講稿中所說，我們將繼續在這種環境下，盡一切努力謹慎、嚴格地管理和控制所有營運費用和可控成本。

Steve Powers, Deutsche Bank.

史蒂夫鮑爾斯，德意志銀行。

Lawson, in the first half, the shipments across your total business came in slightly ahead of depletions as you've highlighted. I guess, is it fair to assume that, that reverses and that shipments and depletions end up the year essentially in line? Or because of those distributor term favorability items and progressive launches of Blackberry, etc, is it otherwise fair to assume that you end up maybe a little bit ahead on shipments versus depletions? Curious on that.

勞森，正如您所強調的，上半年您整個業務的出貨量略高於消耗量。我想，這樣假設是否合理：出貨量和消耗量最終基本上持平？或者，由於分銷商的優惠條款和黑莓等產品的逐步推出，是否可以合理地假設，出貨量最終可能略高於損耗量？對此我很好奇。

And if you could, within that, I don't know how far you can go on this, but any quantification of the size of those distributor term benefits or any details on exactly what you may have been able to kind of carve out in terms of what makes up those benefits would be helpful.

如果可以的話，我不知道你能做到什麼程度，但任何關於分銷商長期福利規模的量化，或者關於你可能已經梳理出的具體福利構成細節，都將很有幫助。

Okay. Well, I will start with your comment on shipments versus depletions. And again, like we said, we expected stronger shipments in our first half because we had to load in the new distributors in the US, and we were launching Jack Daniel's Tennessee Blackberry. We said in our last call that we expected that to moderate as we got to the first half and that our first half top line organic sales would be in line with our guidance. Now here we are today, a little bit better than that, and that is after the more than 2 points impact from Canada and used barrels.

好的。好的，我先回答你關於出貨量與消耗量的評論。正如我們之前所說，我們預計上半年的出貨量會更大，因為我們必須在美國引入新的分銷商，而且我們還要推出傑克丹尼田納西黑莓手機。我們在上次電話會議中表示，我們預計這種情況會隨著上半年的到來而有所緩和，並且我們上半年的自然銷售額將符合我們的預期。現在情況比以前好一些了，這還是在加拿大和二手桶帶來超過 2 個百分點的影響之後。

But that's really about Jack Daniel's Tennessee Blackberry exceeding our expectations. We do expect that for the full year, the gap between shipments and depletions will narrow. And if you look at the gap between where we were at Q1 and where we are at the first half, it has already narrowed significantly.

但這其實是因為傑克丹尼田納西黑莓威士忌超出了我們的預期。我們預計，全年出貨量與消耗量之間的差距將會縮小。如果你看我們第一季的情況和上半年的情況之間的差距，你會發現這個差距已經顯著縮小了。

We expect for it to narrow more. But except to the extent of the continued launch in this year of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Blackberry. So those shipments might be slightly ahead of depletions. One thing that I will say that we have to keep in mind as we go into the year ago period from an organic top line perspective is that New Mix, which has been one of our strongest drivers of growth in the second half, we will begin to comp and compare against those very strong double-digit growth percentages that we saw in the year ago period.

我們預計它會進一步縮小。但今年傑克丹尼田納西黑莓手機的持續上市除外。因此，這些貨物的到貨量可能略微超過庫存消耗量。從有機營收的角度來看，在回顧去年同期時，我們必須記住一點：新組合（New Mix）是我們下半年成長的最強勁驅動力之一，我們將開始與去年同期兩位數的強勁成長率進行比較。

So we'll just have to keep that in mind as we look in the year-to-go period. And then your other was the benefit from distributor terms. We haven't been specific to that other than to say our expectations are, we'll have greater focus, more dedication, distributor investment on the behalf of our brands and kind of better terms. And we are seeing the benefit of those flow-throughs, but we haven't been more specific than that.

所以，在展望未來一年的計畫時，我們必須牢記這一點。然後，你的另一個好處是經銷商條款帶來的好處。除了表示我們的期望是，我們將更加專注、更加投入，經銷商將為我們的品牌進行更多投資，並爭取更好的條款之外，我們沒有具體說明。我們已經看到了這些流通帶來的好處，但我們還沒有更具體地說明。

Filippo Falorni, Citi.

Filippo Falorni，花旗銀行。

I have two questions. The first one on emerging markets, clearly still solid double-digit year-to-date. But if I compare to the year-to-date in Q1 of 25%, it implies a big deceleration in Q2. So maybe can you walk us through what drove those -- that deceleration? And to your point, Leanne, as we think about the second half of the year, cycling tougher New Mix comps, what are your expectations on emerging markets for the second half?

我有兩個問題。新興市場方面，今年迄今仍維持著兩位數的穩健成長。但如果與第一季迄今的 25% 相比，這意味著第二季增速將大幅放緩。那麼，您能否為我們解釋一下導致減速的原因呢？莉安娜，你說得對，展望下半年，我們將面臨更激烈的 New Mix 比賽，你對下半年新興市場有何預期？

And then my second question is on gross margins. Can you help us understand the puts and takes in the second half? Obviously, you're still going to have the Korbel benefit flowing through from an acquisition divestiture line. The TSA should be largely done -- and then maybe on the commodity cost environment, should we see some benefits from agave in the back half? And is the expectation still for gross margin expansion for the year?

我的第二個問題是關於毛利率的。您能幫我們理解一下下半場的買入和賣出情況嗎？顯然，透過收購剝離業務，你仍然會獲得 Korbel 帶來的收益。TSA 應該基本上已經完成了——然後，在商品成本環境下，我們或許能在下半年看到龍舌蘭帶來的一些好處？今年毛利率是否仍將成長？

Okay. Great. Well, I'll start with -- it's always dangerous from -- on an emerging markets perspective, it's always dangerous to kind of look at one quarter. We never had the expectation that emerging markets were going to stay at a plus 25%. We're very pleased at the end of the first half, we are at a plus 12%.

好的。偉大的。好吧，我先說一句——從新興市場的角度來看，只看一個季度總是很危險的。我們從未預期新興市場會一直維持 25% 的成長率。上半年結束時我們非常滿意，淨利為+12%。

There was just some timing in there. There's so many great things to talk about, and we tried to share them in our prepared remarks, which Mexico is doing great with New Mix being boosted by strong takeaway and gaining share, and we've got the emerging brands.

這其中只是時機上的一個小問題。有很多值得討論的精彩內容，我們嘗試在準備好的演講稿中分享它們。墨西哥在這方面做得非常出色，New Mix 品牌憑藉著強勁的外賣需求和不斷增長的市場份額而蓬勃發展，我們還有一些新興品牌。

Brazil continues to be a very strong market for us as we are geographically expanding and we have the growth of Tennessee Whiskey and Jack Daniel's Apple and our super premium. We expect those things to continue. They may moderate more as we go through the year. And specifically with -- I guess I just mentioned, with New Mix being one of our largest contributors to growth. As we get to that second half, it will begin to comp those very strong prior year growth rates in the second half.

隨著我們在地理上的擴張，巴西仍然是我們非常強勁的市場，田納西威士忌、傑克丹尼蘋果威士忌和我們的超高端產品都在成長。我們預計這些情況還會持續下去。隨著時間推移，這些情況可能會有所緩和。具體來說——我想我剛才提到了——New Mix 是我們成長的最大貢獻者之一。進入下半年後，下半年的成長率將開始與去年同期非常強勁的成長率形成對比。

So we're really pleased with our emerging market growth to date, and it will continue to be a growth driver for us for the full year. Then to your gross margin question, as we look at the full year, we do expect to continue to benefit, like we said, from A&D, which is the absence of Korbel and the prior year Sonoma-Cutrer TSA being completed. From our price mix perspective, we continue to benefit from our long-term pricing strategy that Lawson just spoke of, and we'll continue to have positive portfolio mix from Jack Daniel's Tennessee Blackberry and then those higher net pricing across the US from our distributor relationship terms we talked about.

因此，我們對迄今為止新興市場的成長感到非常滿意，它將繼續成為我們全年的成長動力。至於您提出的毛利率問題，展望全年，我們預計將繼續受益於併購交易，正如我們所說，這是由於 Korbel 的退出以及前一年 Sonoma-Cutrer TSA 項目的完成。從價格組合的角度來看，我們將繼續受益於 Lawson 剛才提到的長期定價策略，我們將繼續擁有積極的產品組合，包括 Jack Daniel's Tennessee Blackberry，以及我們之前提到的與經銷商建立的美國地區更高的淨價。

But due to agency brands, RTDs and lower gross margin or lower used barrel sales, we do expect that to be a headwind for us. And we do expect as well continued pressure from input costs, whether we will have some benefit from lower agave cost, but that will be more than offset by higher input inflation costs on our inputs and lower production volumes as we continue to reduce our finished goods inventory that we've talked about to reduce the working capital intensity on our balance sheet. But net-net, for the full year, we do expect A&D will more than offset the headwinds of the negative price mix.

但由於代理品牌、即飲飲料以及較低的毛利率或較低的二手酒桶銷售額，我們預期這將對我們構成不利影響。我們也預計投入成本將繼續承壓，雖然龍舌蘭成本下降可能會帶來一些好處，但這將被投入成本上漲和產量下降所抵消，因為我們將繼續減少成品庫存，正如我們之前所說，這是為了降低資產負債表上的營運資本密集度。但總的來說，我們預計全年A&D收入將足以抵消不利的價格組合帶來的不利影響。

And then to your very last piece, which is on our commodities. From a commodities pricing perspective, it's kind of returned to more historical -- in line with more historical inflation rates, even wage and general inflation are now closer. With agave, there is a benefit to our cost, but it remains high because with the slowing of our demand, it is taking us longer to work through the high-cost bulk tequila that we have, the aging inventory and the finished goods.

最後，我想談談我們的商品。從大宗商品價格的角度來看，它已經回歸到更歷史的水平——與更歷史的通貨膨脹率相符，甚至工資和總體通貨膨脹率現在也更接近了。使用龍舌蘭酒雖然能降低成本，但成本仍然很高，因為隨著需求放緩，我們需要更長時間才能消化掉高成本的散裝龍舌蘭酒、積壓的庫存和成品。

Wood, we've talked about, it is fully outsourced now, and we will see benefits to that in the future, but that will take a period of time as it moves through our aging process. Grains are continuing to be a little bit favorable, and we are seeing a kind of steady pricing to a slight decline. And then our glass is forecasted to be a little bit higher, but that's largely related to the cost of natural gas.

我們已經討論過木材，現在木材生產完全外包了，將來我們會從中受益，但這需要一段時間，因為它會隨著時間的推移而老化。穀物價格繼續保持略微有利的局面，我們看到價格趨於穩定或略有下降。然後，我們預計玻璃價格會略高一些，但這主要與天然氣價格有關。

Kevin Grundy, BNP Paribas.

凱文·格倫迪，法國巴黎銀行。

Nice to see at the Investor Day recently. Two-part question for me, if you indulge here. Just first on the near term. So the organic sales, both on the top line, the organic sales guidance implies down low to mid-single digits in the back half of the year. Just wanted to kind of get your sense of where you think you fall out within the range given all the moving parts that we talked about, some narrowing of the gap with ships and depletes with distributor changes, etc.

很高興最近在投資者日上見到您。如果您不介意的話，我想問您兩個問題。先說說近期的事。因此，無論是營收或有機銷售額，有機銷售額預期都顯示下半年將出現個位數低至中等的下滑。我只是想了解一下，考慮到我們討論過的所有變數，例如船舶數量的減少和分銷商變更導致的供應減少等等，你認為自己在這個範圍內處於什麼位置。

So that would be number one. And then number two, and Lawson, this may bump up against the structural versus cyclical sort of debate, but it's kind of the elephant in the room and worth getting your updated thoughts. What's the level of confidence on the building blocks that Brown-Forman can get back to growth?

所以，那應該是第一點。第二點，勞森，這可能涉及結構性與週期性之爭，但這就像房間裡的大像一樣，值得我們認真思考。布朗-福曼公司對重回成長軌道所需的基本要素有多大信心？

Very specifically, what macro and micro factors are you looking at? I know you're engaging with your consumers constantly. What are they telling you? What are you getting in consumer surveys, etc, is an entirely cyclical dynamic and there's not something more structural going on -- because as you're very well aware, I mean, there's no shortage of sort of data points out there, whether this is cannabis, health and wellness, consumers moving away, etc.

具體來說，您關注的是哪些宏觀和微觀因素？我知道你一直在與消費者互動。他們跟你說了什麼？你在消費者調查等方面得到的結果，完全是一種週期性的動態變化，並沒有什麼更深層的結構性因素在起作用——因為正如你非常清楚的那樣，我的意思是，各種各樣的數據點並不缺乏，無論是關於大麻、健康和保健、消費者流失等等。

So anything you can do there to kind of reaffirm, I guess, confidence that the spirits industry is not sort of going to perpetually be in sector decline?

所以，您能做些什麼來重申人們對烈酒產業不會永遠處於衰退狀態的信心呢？

You want to start with the structural cyclical, my favorite one. Look, I mean, to be honest, we spent a lot of time last quarter talking about this, and there's not that much new information out there. In terms of what hit the media, I think, at least in the last even few weeks around GLP-1s becoming a bigger factor of the potential for an oral -- for a pill as opposed to taking a shot, is that going to increase the number of people on it. I mean that's a future thing.

你想先從結構週期說起，那是我最喜歡的。說實話，我們在上個季度花了很多時間討論這個問題，但並沒有太多新的資訊。就媒體報告而言，我認為，至少在過去幾周里，GLP-1 成為口服藥物（藥丸而不是注射劑）的一個更大因素，這將增加服用該藥物的人數。我的意思是，那是未來的事。

That's not a today thing. So that there's a headwind there. The cyclical one I talked about earlier around the trade down and some of those, I think, is a real factor going on right there. But the rest of it is kind of about the same. It's somewhere in the middle. To say we're seeing a lot of green shoots right now. I mean, you can't say that about the US spirits market in aggregate. I think we've said this morning that our own performance is getting better. So congratulations to the teams for that. But I honestly don't think the environment has changed that much over the last quarter in terms of a structural cyclical argument.

那不是現在才有的事。所以那裡有逆風。我之前提到的周期性因素，例如貿易下跌等等，我認為，這確實是一個正在發生的現實因素。但其餘部分都差不多。介於兩者之間。可以說，我們現在看到了很多積極的跡象。我的意思是，你不能對整個美國烈酒市場做出這樣的評價。我想我們今天早上已經說過，我們自身的表現正在好轉。所以，恭喜各隊取得這樣的成績。但說實話，我認為從結構性週期論證的角度來看，過去一個季度環境並沒有太大變化。

And then I would say to your last question, Kevin, on the top line, I would say with the volatility that continues to be in the marketplace and the operating environment, we're not in a place where we are narrowing our top line range.

然後，對於你最後一個問題，凱文，關於營收方面，我想說，鑑於市場和經營環境持續存在的波動性，我們目前還不打算縮小營收範圍。

It does assume here, we said it flat at the end of the first half. We do expect it to continue to moderate and to come in line with our guidance, and that is about some of the things we've talked about today which is we've loaded in a lot of our initial inventory for the Jack Daniel's Tennessee Blackberry launch and our new distributors in the US that should now begin to normalize in our second half and look like something that is more traditional for the back half of the year, and we'll begin to comp New Mix from last year.

這裡確實假設，我們在上半場結束時已經說得很清楚了。我們預期情況將繼續趨於緩和，並符合我們的預期。今天我們談到的一些事情也與此有關，例如我們已經為傑克丹尼田納西黑莓的上市以及我們在美國的新分銷商準備了大量的初始庫存，這些庫存應該會在下半年開始恢復正常，並呈現出下半年更為傳統的面貌。我們將開始將新混合飲料的銷售量與去年進行比較。

So we do -- we're not at a point yet with the volatility we have and where we sit, but we are very pleased that our half year results have come in kind of in line with our expectations.

所以，我們目前的情況——儘管我們還沒有達到目前這種波動性和我們所處位置的程度，但我們非常高興的是，我們上半年的業績基本上符合我們的預期。

And in the interest of time, we're concluding this Q&A session. I would now like to turn the call back to Sue Perram for closing remarks.

為了節省時間，我們結束本次問答環節。現在我把電話轉回給蘇·佩拉姆，請她作總結發言。

Thank you. And thank you to Lawson and Leanne and to everyone for joining us today for Brown-Forman's second quarter and first half of fiscal year 2026 earnings call. If you have any additional questions, please contact us. With the holiday season upon us, we hope that everyone celebrates the season responsibly and that your spirits are bright. From all of us at Brown-Forman, we wish you the happiest of holidays.

謝謝。感謝 Lawson 和 Leanne，也感謝今天所有參加 Brown-Forman 2026 財年第二季和上半年業績電話會議的各位。如果您還有其他疑問，請與我們聯絡。節慶將至，我們希望大家都能以負責任的方式慶祝節日，並祝福大家心情愉快。布朗-福曼公司全體員工祝您節日快樂！

With that, that concludes our call.

通話到此結束。

And this concludes today's program. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的節目到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線了。