BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings Inc (BJ) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Adam, and I will be coordinating your call today. (Operator Instructions)

大家好，歡迎來到 BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. 2022 年第三季度收益電話會議。我叫亞當，今天我將負責協調您的來電。 （操作員說明）

I'll now pass the call over to your host, Cathy Park, to begin. Please go ahead, when you are ready.

我現在將電話轉給主持人 Cathy Park，開始。請繼續，當你準備好了。

Good morning, and thank you for joining BJ's Wholesale Club's Third Quarter Fiscal 2022 Earnings Conference Call. On the call today are Bob Eddy, President and Chief Executive Officer; Laura Felice, Chief Financial Officer; and Bill Werner, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Development.

早上好，感謝您參加 BJ's Wholesale Club 的 2022 財年第三季度收益電話會議。今天接聽電話的是總裁兼首席執行官 Bob Eddy； Laura Felice，首席財務官；和戰略與發展執行副總裁 Bill Werner。

Please remember that during this call, we may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are based on our current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations described on this call.

請記住，在本次電話會議期間，我們可能會做出聯邦證券法意義上的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述基於我們目前的預期，涉及可能導致實際結果與我們在本次電話會議上描述的預期存在重大差異的風險和不確定性。

Please see the Risk Factors section of our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filed with the SEC for a description of those risks and uncertainties. Finally, please note that on today's call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures that we believe will provide useful information for investors. The presentation of this information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information presented in accordance with GAAP.

請參閱我們最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-K 表格和 10-Q 表格的風險因素部分，了解對這些風險和不確定性的描述。最後，請注意，在今天的電話會議上，我們將參考某些我們認為將為投資者提供有用信息的非 GAAP 財務指標。此信息的呈現不應被孤立地考慮或替代根據 GAAP 呈現的財務信息。

Please refer to today's press release posted on our Investor Relations website for a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.

請參閱今天在我們的投資者關係網站上發布的新聞稿，了解這些非 GAAP 財務指標與根據 GAAP 編制的最具可比性指標的對賬情況。

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

有了這個，我會把電話轉給鮑勃。

Good morning. Thank you for joining us today. This morning, we reported another quarter of strong results, demonstrating the power of our business model. This was the most profitable third quarter in our history. Our consistent focus on delivering value to our members, especially when they need it most, has put us in a position of strength. Our member base is growing in both size and quality. We are improving our merchandising to deliver unbeatable value. We're offering more convenience for our members through a great digital experience. We are expanding our footprint into new and existing markets and doing it successfully. We have a great team and a competitive strategy and the investments we continue to make position us well for long-term growth and sustainable value creation.

早上好。感謝您今天加入我們。今天早上，我們又公佈了一個季度的強勁業績，展示了我們商業模式的力量。這是我們歷史上利潤最高的第三季度。我們始終專注於為會員提供價值，尤其是在他們最需要的時候，這使我們處於優勢地位。我們的會員群在規模和質量上都在增長。我們正在改進我們的商品陳列，以提供無與倫比的價值。我們通過出色的數字體驗為我們的會員提供更多便利。我們正在將我們的足跡擴展到新的和現有的市場並取得成功。我們擁有一支優秀的團隊和一個有競爭力的戰略，我們繼續進行的投資使我們在長期增長和可持續價值創造方面處於有利地位。

In the third quarter, our comp sales were up 9.7% overall, and up 5.3%, excluding gas. Our food categories continued to anchor our strength with comps increasing double digits over last year's performance. When we entered the year, we expected Q3 to be our most challenging quarter from a comp sales perspective given the difficult compare. Our business has exceeded our expectations given the continued strong membership and shopping behaviors.

第三季度，我們的整體銷售額增長了 9.7%，不包括天然氣在內增長了 5.3%。我們的食品類別繼續鞏固我們的實力，與去年的業績相比增長了兩位數。當我們進入這一年時，鑑於比較困難，我們預計第三季度從競爭銷售的角度來看將是我們最具挑戰性的季度。鑑於持續強勁的會員和購物行為，我們的業務超出了我們的預期。

As we've seen all year, traffic growth has been a positive driver of our comp and sales per member have been greater than last year in each of our income cohorts.

正如我們全年看到的那樣，流量增長一直是我們收入的積極推動力，並且我們每個收入群體的每位會員銷售額都高於去年。

I'd like to put Q3 in perspective relative to 2019. Our third quarter merchandise comp sales were nearly 30% on a 3-year stack, which is a sequential acceleration from last quarter's results. The combination of membership growth, higher quality of membership and our club growth continue to highlight our company as a structural long-term growth story.

我想相對於 2019 年看待第三季度。我們第三季度的商品銷售額在 3 年的堆棧中增長了近 30%，這比上一季度的結果連續加速。會員增長、更高質量的會員和我們俱樂部的增長相結合，繼續突出我們公司作為結構性長期增長的故事。

Adjusted EBITDA grew 19% to $272 million and adjusted EPS grew 9% to $0.99 per share. Finally, another strong gas quarter contributed nicely to our profits. Gas is an emotional purchase for many of our members, so we set our prices to showcase value and drive member loyalty. This led to comp gallon growth of 11% in the third quarter despite the broader market's decline in gas consumption. Our 30% 2-year stack in gas gallons highlights a tremendous gain in market share.

調整後的 EBITDA 增長 19% 至 2.72 億美元，調整後的每股收益增長 9% 至 0.99 美元。最後，另一個強勁的天然氣季度為我們的利潤做出了很好的貢獻。對於我們的許多會員來說，汽油是一種情感購買，因此我們設定價格以展示價值並提高會員忠誠度。儘管更廣泛的市場天然氣消費量下降，但這導致第三季度的加侖加侖增長 11%。我們 30% 的 2 年加侖氣堆棧突顯了市場份額的巨大增長。

In addition to the growth in gallons, our business has been more profitable. Gasoline is structurally more profitable than it was a few years ago, and the last several years and this year, in particular, have seen increased levels of volatility. The resulting higher than normal profit per gallon has served as a significant tailwind to our business this quarter and this year.

除了加侖數的增長，我們的業務利潤也更高。汽油在結構上比幾年前更有利可圖，過去幾年，尤其是今年，波動性有所增加。由此產生的高於正常水平的每加侖利潤對本季度和今年的業務起到了重要推動作用。

We are executing on our strategic priorities, which are growing and retaining members, bringing more value to our members through better merchandising, improving convenience with digital and expanding our footprint. These priorities are key to driving long-term sustainable growth in our business.

我們正在執行我們的戰略優先事項，這些優先事項正在增加和留住會員，通過更好的商品銷售為我們的會員帶來更多價值，通過數字提高便利性並擴大我們的足跡。這些優先事項是推動我們業務長期可持續增長的關鍵。

Let me briefly touch on each. The long-term success of our business is grounded in the strength of our membership. In the third quarter, our membership fee income grew 9% year-over-year to nearly $100 million. I'm proud of the progress we've made in growing and retaining our members over the past several years. We've evolved our membership acquisition campaigns to optimize our marketing. We're utilizing digital capabilities to expand our reach. We've gotten smarter about how we leverage data to remain relevant with new and existing members, yielding better renewal rates. And as we enter new markets, we're working to strategically build membership well ahead of our grand openings.

讓我簡要談談每一個。我們業務的長期成功取決於我們會員的實力。第三季度，我們的會員費收入同比增長 9%，達到近 1 億美元。我為過去幾年我們在發展和留住會員方面取得的進步感到自豪。我們發展了我們的會員獲取活動以優化我們的營銷。我們正在利用數字能力來擴大我們的影響力。我們在如何利用數據來保持與新會員和現有會員的相關性方面變得更加聰明，從而產生更高的續訂率。隨著我們進入新市場，我們正在努力在盛大開業之前戰略性地建立會員資格。

Our member count stands at over 6.5 million members, up 6% year-over-year in the third quarter. Effective acquisition efforts across new and existing clubs as well as growing digital acquisition have contributed to the increase. In addition to overall member growth, we are improving the quality of our membership. Our higher tier membership penetration in the third quarter was 38%, up roughly 4 points year-over-year.

我們的會員人數超過 650 萬，第三季度同比增長 6%。新俱樂部和現有俱樂部的有效收購工作以及不斷增長的數字收購都為這一增長做出了貢獻。除了整體會員增長外，我們還在提高會員質量。我們第三季度的高級會員滲透率為 38%，同比增長約 4 個百分點。

Our co-branded credit card program has meaningfully contributed to our higher tier membership base. And this quarter, we formally announced our transition to Capital One. As we look back, the decision we made to invest in lifetime value by creating the best card value proposition in the club space has paid dividends, with our cardholder base growing over 10x since we launched the program in 2014.

我們的聯名信用卡計劃為我們更高級別的會員基礎做出了有意義的貢獻。本季度，我們正式宣布向 Capital One 過渡。回顧過去，我們通過在俱樂部空間創造最佳卡價值主張來投資終身價值的決定已經產生了回報，自 2014 年推出該計劃以來，我們的持卡人數量增長了 10 倍以上。

As we look to the next leg of growth, I'm excited about our new partnership. Capital One's market-leading customer service and digital experience are widely recognized in the card space and we're especially thrilled to offer an enhanced value proposition to our members as part of this new program. Our data shows that members with our co-branded card have profoundly better lifetime values, driven by renewal rates well above the chain average.

當我們展望下一階段的增長時，我對我們的新合作夥伴關係感到興奮。 Capital One 市場領先的客戶服務和數字體驗在銀行卡領域得到廣泛認可，作為這一新計劃的一部分，我們特別高興能為我們的會員提供增強的價值主張。我們的數據顯示，在遠高於連鎖店平均水平的續費率的推動下，擁有我們聯名卡的會員擁有更高的終身價值。

As the penetration of these members increases, so does the quality of our membership. Ensuring a successful transition with Capital One will be one of our highest priorities over the next handful of quarters, and we are confident that this is the right next step for the company as we continue to grow with the best partner in the business.

隨著這些會員滲透率的提高，我們會員的質量也隨之提高。確保與 Capital One 的成功過渡將是我們接下來幾個季度的首要任務之一，我們相信這是公司正確的下一步，因為我們將繼續與業務中最好的合作夥伴一起成長。

A final point on membership strength. Our first year and tenured renewal rates are improving over last year's levels and I believe we will achieve another all-time high at year-end. Persistently high levels of inflation are diminishing consumer purchasing power. In the U.S., food at home CPI has grown in the double-digit territory year-over-year for most of this year and households with waning government aid have been further constrained. Overall energy costs, including gas, have come down a touch since summer, but are still running higher than last year's levels.

關於會員實力的最後一點。我們的第一年和終身續約率比去年的水平有所提高，我相信我們將在年底再創歷史新高。持續高企的通貨膨脹正在削弱消費者的購買力。在美國，今年大部分時間，家庭食品 CPI 同比增長兩位數，政府援助減少的家庭進一步受到限制。自夏季以來，包括天然氣在內的整體能源成本略有下降，但仍高於去年的水平。

As sustained cost pressures continue to weigh on consumers' pockets, we have remained focused on delivering great value to our members.

由於持續的成本壓力繼續壓在消費者的口袋上，我們一直專注於為我們的會員提供巨大的價值。

Specifically, we have continued to invest in price, resulting in significant savings for our members. In fact, our internal analysis shows that our pricing positions remained stronger against our competitors in the third quarter compared to the same time last year. Having the right value is especially important to us during the holidays. This year, our members who spent $150 or more at our clubs during the first 10 days of November are offered a turkey for free. Consider the savings from this one transaction alone, our members can save about 25% or more when they shop with us when compared to our supermarket competitors. That 25% savings from our member's $150 basket, combined with the free Turkey basically covers a 1-year BJ's membership fee.

具體來說，我們繼續在價格方面進行投資，從而為我們的會員節省了大量資金。事實上，我們的內部分析表明，與去年同期相比，我們在第三季度的定價地位仍然優於我們的競爭對手。在假期期間，擁有正確的價值對我們來說尤為重要。今年，我們的會員在 11 月的前 10 天在我們的俱樂部消費 150 美元或以上，即可免費獲得一隻火雞。僅考慮這一筆交易的節省，與我們的超市競爭對手相比，我們的會員在我們這裡購物時可以節省大約 25% 或更多。從我們會員的 150 美元籃子中節省 25%，再加上免費的火雞，基本上可以支付 BJ 一年的會員費。

This offer and the examples highlighted on our last 2 earnings calls, rotisserie chicken and our deli offering, are meant to highlight our outstanding value. We aim to offer our members as many ways as possible to get a return on their membership fee.

此優惠以及我們在最近 2 次財報電話會議上突出顯示的示例、烤雞和我們的熟食店產品，旨在突出我們的卓越價值。我們的目標是為我們的會員提供盡可能多的方式來獲得會員費的回報。

We are leveraging our competitive advantages to drive market share gains in the near term while investing in initiatives to further optimize assortment and deliver more value to our members in the long run. Our fresh business, for example, is a major reason why our members shop our clubs, and we aim to offer the freshest assortment at a compelling price. Bringing our perishable supply chain capabilities in-house with the natural first step in this process. We are now in the early stages of working through everything from sourcing to packaging to supply chain lead times, all the way to marketing and in-club presentation.

我們正在利用我們的競爭優勢在短期內推動市場份額的增長，同時投資於進一步優化分類並從長遠來看為我們的會員提供更多價值的計劃。例如，我們的新鮮業務是我們的會員購買我們俱樂部的主要原因，我們的目標是以極具吸引力的價格提供最新鮮的商品。將我們的易腐爛供應鏈能力引入內部，自然是這個過程的第一步。我們現在正處於從採購到包裝到供應鏈交貨時間，一直到營銷和俱樂部內展示的所有工作的早期階段。

In addition to our work in fresh, we are leaning into our own brand strategy as our members look to maximize their savings with quality products. In the third quarter, our own brands penetration grew to 24% despite a difficult compare.

除了我們的新鮮工作外，我們還傾向於採用自己的品牌戰略，因為我們的會員希望通過優質產品最大限度地節省開支。在第三季度，我們的自有品牌滲透率增長到 24%，儘管比較困難。

Our third strategic pillar is driving convenience through digital, and we are generating robust growth in this area led by BOPIC and curbside. In fact, our digitally enabled sales are trending towards 9% of our overall net sales this year, up from 8% last year. Digitally engaged members typically have higher average baskets and shop with us more frequently, which increases the likelihood of membership renewal.

我們的第三個戰略支柱是通過數字化推動便利，我們在 BOPIC 和路邊銀行的帶領下在這一領域實現了強勁增長。事實上，我們今年的數字化銷售額佔總淨銷售額的比例從去年的 8% 上升到 9%。參與數字化的會員通常有更高的平均購物籃，並且更頻繁地在我們這裡購物，這增加了會員更新的可能性。

With the expansion of these offerings, our member experience is more convenient than ever, and we will continue to invest in enhancing our digital efforts.

隨著這些產品的擴展，我們的會員體驗比以往任何時候都更加方便，我們將繼續投資加強我們的數字化工作。

Finally, as you know, we have dramatically accelerated our real estate plans. We've opened 7 new clubs this year, including our entry into Indiana in September. Last month, we opened in Greenburgh, New York and we also opened in New Albany, Ohio a couple of weeks ago, expanding our presence in the state to the Columbus market. We're almost set to open our doors in Wayne, New Jersey this weekend, and we have a few more clubs slated to open over the next few months. The clubs that we've opened in the past several years continue to perform better than our initial plans, giving us the confidence to sustain 4% to 5% unit growth in the foreseeable future.

最後，如您所知，我們已經大大加快了我們的房地產計劃。今年我們開設了 7 個新俱樂部，包括我們在 9 月進入印第安納州。上個月，我們在紐約州格林堡開業，幾週前我們還在俄亥俄州新奧爾巴尼開業，將我們在該州的業務擴展到哥倫布市場。我們幾乎準備好在本週末在新澤西州韋恩開門營業，並且我們計劃在接下來的幾個月內開設更多的俱樂部。我們在過去幾年開設的俱樂部的表現繼續好於我們最初的計劃，這讓我們有信心在可預見的未來保持 4% 至 5% 的單位增長。

Our commitment and ability to bring value to our members remains a powerful advantage in times like these. As a result, we've grown our top line and market share throughout the year while navigating a pressured margin environment. Gas has driven considerable upside to our results, granting us the ability to further invest in our members and our team members.

在這樣的時代，我們為會員帶來價值的承諾和能力仍然是一個強大的優勢。因此，我們在全年的收入和市場份額中都取得了增長，同時應對了利潤率壓力大的環境。 Gas 為我們的業績帶來了可觀的增長，使我們能夠進一步投資於我們的成員和團隊成員。

Our grocery business is strong, and we feel good about how we're managing our inventory through the holiday season. There's no doubt that inflation is impacting consumer decisions, and it's looking likely that inflation will continue into next year, albeit at a moderating pace.

我們的雜貨業務很強勁，我們對在假期期間管理庫存的方式感到滿意。毫無疑問，通貨膨脹正在影響消費者的決定，而且看起來通貨膨脹可能會持續到明年，儘管速度有所放緩。

No matter how the macro ends up playing out, we will remain true to being there for our members and delivering unbeatable value, which I believe will deepen loyalty, reinforce our brand and drive long-term growth.

無論宏觀經濟最終如何發展，我們都將忠實於我們的會員並提供無與倫比的價值，我相信這將加深忠誠度，鞏固我們的品牌並推動長期增長。

Before I wrap, I'd like to acknowledge and thank our team members for their dedication in serving our members and the communities in which we operate. I'm especially heartened by the incredible support our team members have provided to those impacted by Hurricane Ian. Our emergency response teams' work in the days leading up to Ian's landfall insured inventory preparedness, asset security and the safety of our team members and members.

在結束之前，我想感謝並感謝我們的團隊成員為我們的成員和我們運營所在的社區服務的奉獻精神。我們的團隊成員為受颶風伊恩影響的人們提供了難以置信的支持，這讓我感到特別鼓舞。我們的應急響應團隊在 Ian 登陸之前的工作包括庫存準備、資產安全以及我們團隊成員和成員的安全。

Our clubs were up and running so long as we deemed that safety was not compromised. Our teams work with our partners to provide essentials such as water, snacks, baby formula and cleaning supplies to local shelters. As they always do, our team members showed up for our members and communities through this crisis.

只要我們認為安全沒有受到損害，我們的俱樂部就會正常運轉。我們的團隊與合作夥伴合作，為當地避難所提供水、零食、嬰兒配方奶粉和清潔用品等必需品。一如既往，我們的團隊成員在這場危機中為我們的成員和社區現身。

To our team members who are listening in today, thank you for your hard work. Your efforts to make a real difference in our company and in our communities.

感謝今天收聽的團隊成員，感謝你們的辛勤工作。您為真正改變我們公司和社區所做的努力。

I'll now turn it over to Laura to provide more details on our results and outlook for the rest of the year.

我現在將其轉交給勞拉，以提供有關我們今年剩餘時間的結果和展望的更多詳細信息。

Thank you, Bob. Before I begin, I'd like to reiterate Bob's gratitude for our team members across our clubs, club support center and distribution centers. We are navigating a challenging operating environment and our continued strength is the result of our team members' hard work.

謝謝你，鮑勃。在開始之前，我想重申鮑勃對我們俱樂部、俱樂部支持中心和配送中心的團隊成員的感謝。我們正在應對充滿挑戰的經營環境，我們的持續實力是我們團隊成員辛勤工作的結果。

Now let's dig into our results. Net sales in the third quarter were $4.7 billion, a 12% increase over the prior year. Third quarter comp sales were 9.7%. Merchandise comp sales, which exclude sales of gasoline, increased by 5.3% and was driven by about equal parts, traffic and basket growth.

現在讓我們深入研究我們的結果。第三季度的淨銷售額為 47 億美元，比上年增長 12%。第三季度比較銷售額為 9.7%。不包括汽油銷售的商品銷售額增長了 5.3%，並受到大致相等的部分、交通和購物籃增長的推動。

Our 2-year stack was up 11%, reflecting a 3-year stack of up 29.5%. The Q3 effect of inflation was slightly more than last quarter as we passed on a portion of growing input costs, while maintaining our strong pricing positions by strategically investing in our key value items. Comps in our grocery, perishables and sundries division grew by approximately 6% in the third quarter, up 12% on a 2-year stack and up 31% on a 3-year stack.

我們 2 年的籌碼增長了 11%，反映出 3 年的籌碼增長了 29.5%。通貨膨脹對第三季度的影響略高於上一季度，因為我們轉嫁了一部分不斷增長的投入成本，同時通過戰略性投資於我們的關鍵價值項目來保持我們強大的定價地位。我們雜貨、易腐食品和雜貨部門的收入在第三季度增長了約 6%，兩年增長 12%，三年增長 31%。

We grew market share during the quarter, and our overall market share remains well above pre-COVID levels.

我們在本季度增加了市場份額，我們的整體市場份額仍遠高於 COVID 之前的水平。

Our general merchandise and services division comp grew by 3% in the third quarter. The growth was led by optical home improvement and tires where we've made tweaks to our offering to provide greater value. Comps in this division were up 7% and up 21% on a 2-year and 3-year stack respectively, as discretionary spending continues to normalize toward a new higher base from the past 2 years.

我們的一般商品和服務部門收入在第三季度增長了 3%。增長是由光學家居裝修和輪胎引領的，我們對我們的產品進行了調整以提供更大的價值。該部門的 Comps 在 2 年和 3 年的堆棧中分別增長了 7% 和 21%，因為可自由支配的支出繼續正常化，朝著過去 2 年的新的更高基數邁進。

Our digital offerings have made the member shopping experience more convenient. Digitally enabled sales for the third quarter grew 43% year-over-year and over 280% on a 3-year stack. Over 80% of our digitally enabled sales are fulfilled by our clubs with services like BOPIC and same-day delivery. Our curbside delivery offering continues to resonate with our members making up approximately 60% of our BOPIC business.

我們的數字產品使會員購物體驗更加便捷。第三季度數字化銷售額同比增長 43%，三年累計增長超過 280%。我們超過 80% 的數字化銷售是由我們的俱樂部通過 BOPIC 和當日送達等服務實現的。我們的路邊交付產品繼續引起我們會員的共鳴，這些會員約占我們 BOPIC 業務的 60%。

In our gas business, our comp gallons grew by 11% in the third quarter, which performed in line with our expectations of continued market share gains. Our gas margins, on the other hand, trended higher than our expectations and resulted in gas profits that outperformed our internal plans.

在我們的天然氣業務中，我們的壓縮加侖數在第三季度增長了 11%，這符合我們對市場份額持續增長的預期。另一方面，我們的天然氣利潤率高於我們的預期，導致天然氣利潤超過我們的內部計劃。

Membership fee income, or MFI, grew 9% to $99.5 million in the third quarter and continues to underscore the progress we have made improving our business. We are pleased with our membership trends, including higher tier penetration, easy renewal and first year and tenured renewal rates.

會員費收入 (MFI) 在第三季度增長了 9%，達到 9,950 萬美元，這繼續凸顯了我們在改善業務方面取得的進展。我們對我們的會員趨勢感到滿意，包括更高級別的滲透率、輕鬆續訂以及第一年和終身續訂率。

Moving on to gross margins. Excluding the gasoline business, our merchandise gross margin rate decreased by 30 basis points primarily due to a higher supply chain costs and inflation, a trend that has remained consistent with prior quarters this year.

轉向毛利率。不包括汽油業務，我們的商品毛利率下降了 30 個基點，這主要是由於供應鏈成本上升和通貨膨脹，這一趨勢與今年前幾個季度保持一致。

Let me touch briefly on inventory, where our teams have made significant progress. We ended the third quarter with $249 million more inventory on our balance sheet than last year. Excluding the impact of inventory on our books as part of the acquisition of our perishable distribution centers, our inventory increased by $152 million or 12% year-over-year and the growth made up of inflation and new club growth.

讓我簡要談談庫存，我們的團隊在這些方面取得了重大進展。我們在第三季度結束時資產負債表上的存貨比去年多 2.49 億美元。不包括作為收購我們易腐爛的配送中心的一部分的庫存對我們賬面的影響，我們的庫存同比增長 1.52 億美元或 12%，增長由通貨膨脹和新俱樂部增長組成。

SG&A expenses for the quarter were $674 million. The year-over-year increase was primarily attributable to increased labor and occupancy costs as a result of new club and gas station openings as well as $6 million in costs associated with the transition to our new club support center.

本季度的 SG&A 費用為 6.74 億美元。同比增長主要是由於新俱樂部和加油站的開業導致勞動力和入住成本增加，以及與向新俱樂部支持中心過渡相關的 600 萬美元成本。

Our third quarter adjusted EBITDA grew by 19% to $272 million, reflecting our sales growth and outside gas profits. Finally, adjusted net income for the third quarter was $136 million or $0.99 per share and reflected a 9% increase year-over-year growth on a per share basis.

我們第三季度調整後的 EBITDA 增長了 19%，達到 2.72 億美元，反映了我們的銷售增長和外部天然氣利潤。最後，第三季度調整後淨收入為 1.36 億美元或每股 0.99 美元，每股收益同比增長 9%。

Turning to our capital structure. The current rate environment has slightly altered our near-term thinking around our debt, which is entirely floating rate today. In efforts to partially mitigate our interest expense risk, we paid down $154 million of debt during the quarter, including $100 million of our first lien term loan. We ended the third quarter with less than one turn of net leverage and may further reduce our debt if rates continue to rise.

轉向我們的資本結構。當前的利率環境略微改變了我們對債務的近期想法，今天的債務完全是浮動利率。為了部分減輕我們的利息支出風險，我們在本季度償還了 1.54 億美元的債務，包括我們第一筆留置權期限貸款的 1 億美元。我們在第三季度末的淨槓桿率不到一圈，如果利率繼續上升，我們可能會進一步減少債務。

We are generating robust free cash flow with $79 million in the third quarter and $333 million year-to-date. As we allocate our capital going forward, we will continue to be flexible in our approach where our priority remains growing our business. Investments to support membership, digital and our real estate growth plan will be funded by these cash flows and enabled by our balance sheet, which remains strong. We continue to return excess cash to shareholders through share repurchases. And in the third quarter, we bought back nearly 685,000 shares for approximately $50 million.

我們正在產生強勁的自由現金流，第三季度為 7900 萬美元，今年迄今為 3.33 億美元。在我們未來分配資金的過程中，我們將繼續採取靈活的方式，我們的首要任務仍然是發展我們的業務。支持會員、數字和我們的房地產增長計劃的投資將由這些現金流提供資金，並由我們仍然強勁的資產負債表提供支持。我們繼續通過股票回購向股東返還多餘的現金。在第三季度，我們以大約 5000 萬美元的價格回購了近 685,000 股股票。

Let me now touch on our current outlook for the year. As we noted various times in our prepared remarks today, our grocery business remains strong, and we believe we can continue gaining market share because of our intense focus on value. Inflation is still impacting many aspects of our business, although recently we have seen some relief in commodities such as chicken, milk and cheese. And as we head into the winter holidays, we will remain nimble in maintaining our competitive advantages to drive traffic into our clubs and online channels.

現在讓我談談我們目前對今年的展望。正如我們今天在準備好的評論中多次指出的那樣，我們的雜貨業務依然強勁，我們相信由於我們對價值的高度關注，我們可以繼續獲得市場份額。通貨膨脹仍在影響我們業務的許多方面，儘管最近我們看到雞肉、牛奶和奶酪等商品有所緩解。隨著我們進入寒假，我們將保持敏捷，保持我們的競爭優勢，以吸引流量進入我們的俱樂部和在線渠道。

Starting at the top of the P&L, we now expect our fiscal 2022 comparable club sales, excluding gas, to increase in the 5% to 5.5% range, which continues to imply about 4% to 5% of comp for the fourth quarter. In October, we officially announced our new co-brand partnership with Capital One, which we believe will bring an enhanced value proposition to our members and serve as another catalyst to grow and strengthen our membership base.

從損益表的頂部開始，我們現在預計我們 2022 財年的可比俱樂部銷售額（不包括天然氣）將增長 5% 至 5.5%，這繼續意味著第四季度的收入約為 4% 至 5%。 10 月，我們正式宣布與 Capital One 建立新的聯合品牌合作夥伴關係，我們相信這將為我們的會員帶來更高的價值主張，並成為發展和加強我們會員基礎的另一種催化劑。

The ultimate benefits of these changes are crystal clear to us. At the same time, we also acknowledge that it will take us multiple quarters to complete the transition, which may temporarily impact our membership KPIs, including higher-tier penetration. We will aim to be transparent as possible through this period.

這些變化的最終好處對我們來說是非常清楚的。同時，我們也承認我們需要多個季度才能完成過渡，這可能會暫時影響我們的會員 KPI，包括更高級別的滲透率。我們的目標是在此期間盡可能保持透明。

For our gas business in the fourth quarter, we continue to assume gas gallon comp growth in the low-teen range, with slightly higher than normal profit per gallon. Recall that our gas profitability was the strongest in the fourth quarter last year.

對於我們第四季度的天然氣業務，我們繼續假設天然氣加侖價格增長處於低端範圍內，每加侖利潤略高於正常水平。回想一下，去年第四季度我們的天然氣盈利能力最強。

Moving down the P&L. Our outlook on margin also remains unchanged in that we still see ongoing but slightly easing merchandise margin pressure, driven by investments in price and elevated supply chain costs. As such, we expect the year-over-year change in merchandise margin rate to remain negative in the fourth quarter but better than the 30 basis point decrease we delivered in the third quarter.

向下移動損益表。我們對利潤率的展望也保持不變，因為在價格投資和供應鏈成本上升的推動下，我們仍然看到商品利潤率壓力持續但略有緩解。因此，我們預計第四季度商品利潤率的同比變化仍為負，但好於我們在第三季度實現的 30 個基點的下降。

As it relates to interest expense, we expect continued pressure in the fourth quarter, and we'll continue to monitor movements in the rate environment. Taking all of this into consideration, we now expect our full year EPS to be in the $3.70 to $3.80 range.

由於與利息支出有關，我們預計第四季度將繼續承受壓力，我們將繼續監測利率環境的走勢。考慮到所有這些因素，我們現在預計全年每股收益將在 3.70 美元至 3.80 美元之間。

Before turning it back to Bob, I'd like to reiterate our confidence in the strength of our business and the transformation we have made. As a result of the improvements we've made in membership, footprint expansion and digital, further amplified by our advantages inherent in the warehouse club model, we believe we are positioned to deliver a solid long-term growth profile.

在把它轉回 Bob 之前，我想重申我們對我們的業務實力和我們所做的轉型的信心。由於我們在會員資格、足跡擴張和數字化方面所做的改進，再加上我們在倉儲俱樂部模式中固有的優勢，我們相信我們有能力實現穩固的長期增長。

With that, I'll turn it back over to Bob for closing remarks.

有了這個，我會把它轉回給鮑勃作結束語。

Thanks, Laura. We've made significant progress in strengthening our business, and I believe we are well positioned today to drive long-term growth by executing on our strategic initiatives and prioritizing value in everything we do. We will continue to allocate our capital towards investments to maximize shareholder value.

謝謝，勞拉。我們在加強業務方面取得了重大進展，我相信我們今天已做好充分準備，通過執行我們的戰略計劃並在我們所做的每一件事中優先考慮價值來推動長期增長。我們將繼續將資本分配給投資，以實現股東價值最大化。

Our warehouse club model remains a structural advantage with a growing annuity in the form of membership, lower operational costs and a foundational focus on great value. When the consumer outlook is uncertain, our members find comfort in being able to stretch their dollars with us. I believe that the reliability and loyalty that we have worked hard to build with our members over the years will remain key to our success, no matter their circumstances.

我們的倉儲俱樂部模式仍然是一個結構性優勢，會員形式的年金不斷增長，運營成本更低，並且從根本上關注巨大的價值。當消費者前景不明朗時，我們的會員會因為能夠在我們這里花錢而感到欣慰。我相信，多年來我們努力與會員建立的可靠性和忠誠度將仍然是我們成功的關鍵，無論他們的情況如何。

With that, I will now turn it back over to the operator to take your questions.

有了這個，我現在將把它交還給接線員來回答你的問題。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question today comes from Mike Baker from D.A. Davidson.

（操作員說明）我們今天的第一個問題來自 D.A. 的 Mike Baker。戴維森。

I just wanted to ask you about your overall view on the consumer heading into the holidays. I guess you've given us guidance, so that helps us. But maybe one way to flesh it out is the pace of sales throughout the third quarter. A lot of retailers saw a big drop-off in October. Did you see anything like that? Or maybe another way to think about it is, are you seeing consumers just really focus on promotional activity or trade down or anything like that, that would give another sort of opinion on what's going on with the consumer as we head into the holidays?

我只是想問一下您對進入假期的消費者的總體看法。我想你已經給了我們指導，所以這對我們有幫助。但也許充實它的一種方法是整個第三季度的銷售速度。許多零售商在 10 月份出現了大幅下滑。你見過這樣的東西嗎？或者另一種思考方式是，您是否看到消費者真的只關注促銷活動或降價交易或類似的事情，這會對我們進入假期時消費者的情況給出另一種看法？

Mike, thanks for your questions. I think it's a good one. Overall, I think our consumer is in very healthy shape as we've seen through the entire year. As we talked about in the prepared remarks, our membership statistics are doing great, we're gaining market share through the year. The thing I'm most excited about is we continue to gain CRPs as well as we show our members incredible value.

邁克，謝謝你的提問。我認為這是一個很好的。總的來說，我認為我們的消費者在全年都處於非常健康的狀態。正如我們在準備好的評論中談到的那樣，我們的會員統計數據做得很好，我們在這一年中獲得了市場份額。讓我最興奮的是我們繼續獲得 CRP，並向我們的會員展示不可思議的價值。

The refrain that we've been talking about all year is really throughout the income cohorts that we look at, we've seen more sales and more trips per member as well. So I think our consumers are very healthy at this point.

我們一整年都在談論的克制實際上是在我們看到的整個收入群體中，我們已經看到更多的銷售和每個成員的更多旅行。所以我認為我們的消費者在這一點上非常健康。

As you think about the pace through 3Q, certainly, October was lower for us than the preceding 2 months. A lot of that, I think, though, is really the compare to what we had last year, we had an incredibly strong October last year. And so if you look at it on a 2-year stack, the months were very equal for us. So I don't see that October performance this year sort of running into November or 4Q.

考慮到第三季度的步伐，當然，10 月份對我們來說比前兩個月要低。不過，我認為，其中很多確實與我們去年的情況相比，去年 10 月我們的表現非常強勁。因此，如果您從 2 年的堆棧來看，幾個月對我們來說是非常平等的。所以我不認為今年 10 月的表現會延續到 11 月或第 4 季度。

So we're very pleased with where our consumer is. They're really reacting to the value that we put out there and hopefully that continues.

所以我們對我們的消費者在哪裡感到非常滿意。他們真的對我們提供的價值做出反應，並希望這種情況繼續下去。

Great. One more quick follow-up. Just wondering how that -- wondering how that turkey offer went? Did it actually drive new membership growth?

偉大的。又一次快速跟進。只是想知道那是怎麼回事——想知道火雞報價是怎麼回事？它真的推動了新會員的增長嗎？

So it certainly had a good reaction. We're still in the period where people are redeeming the offer. So you didn't get the free turkey on the -- the day that you spent the $150. You have to come back, it's sort of a bounce back free turkey offer. And so we're still in the redemption period. We've got a little ways to go to see how it actually works out.

所以它肯定有很好的反應。我們仍處於人們兌換優惠的時期。所以你沒有在你花掉 150 美元的那一天得到免費火雞。你必須回來，這是一種反彈免費火雞優惠。所以我們仍處於贖回期。我們有一些方法可以了解它的實際效果。

But certainly the number of people that took advantage of the offer, I think, is looking higher than our expectations, and it certainly drove some traffic into our buildings, too.

但我認為，利用該優惠的人數肯定比我們的預期要高，而且它肯定也為我們的建築物帶來了一些流量。

Yes. It's a great idea and a great offer for consumers.

是的。這是一個好主意，對消費者來說也是一個很好的選擇。

The next question comes from Edward Kelly from Wells Fargo.

下一個問題來自富國銀行的愛德華凱利。

A nice quarter once again. Bob, you've been, I think, very optimistic around the new co-branded credit card and what that could mean for you over time. Could you maybe just give us a little bit more color on how we should think about that? Both sort of like the upfront benefit that you could see, which I would imagine there are some better economics here, but also what it does to the member?

又是一個不錯的季度。鮑勃，我認為你對新的聯名信用卡非常樂觀，以及隨著時間的推移這對你意味著什麼。您能否就我們應該如何考慮這一點給我們更多的顏色？兩者都有點像您可以看到的前期收益，我想這裡有一些更好的經濟學，但它對會員有什麼作用？

And then Laura mentioned the potential impact of member KPIs. Could you just maybe give a little bit more color there in terms of how you are mitigating that risk?

然後 Laura 提到了成員 KPI 的潛在影響。就如何降低這種風險而言，您能否提供更多顏色？

Thanks for your question. Maybe I'll kick it off and Bill and Laura can fill in. I look at our current co-brand program and see it as a tremendous success. As we talked about, it's grown over ten-fold in the year since we launched it. It is a great source of member value. We think it's the best value prop in the wholesale club space at this point and that will only get better as we go forward.

謝謝你的問題。也許我會開始，Bill 和 Laura 可以填補空缺。我審視了我們目前的聯合品牌計劃，認為它取得了巨大的成功。正如我們所說，自我們推出以來，它在一年內增長了十多倍。這是會員價值的重要來源。我們認為這是目前批發俱樂部空間中最具價值的道具，而且隨著我們的前進，它只會變得更好。

As we talk about it as a team, we think it will be tremendously valuable to our members, given we will improve the value prop. And the question becomes one of lifetime value, right? We are in the value business. We can use this as a vehicle to provide more value to our members. That has shown to come back to us in better purchasing habits and higher renewal rates.

當我們作為一個團隊談論它時，我們認為這對我們的成員來說非常有價值，因為我們將提高價值支撐。問題變成了終生價值，對吧？我們從事價值業務。我們可以將其用作為我們的會員提供更多價值的工具。事實證明，這會以更好的購買習慣和更高的續訂率回到我們身邊。

So that's the game that we're playing. We'll continue to play it. I think it could be one of the more valuable things we do in the next set of years and looking forward to the transition to our new partner.

這就是我們正在玩的遊戲。我們將繼續播放它。我認為這可能是我們在未來幾年做的更有價值的事情之一，並期待著過渡到我們的新合作夥伴。

And maybe I'll hand it over to Bill. He is the architect of this program and running the transition. So he can give you a few comments as well.

也許我會把它交給比爾。他是該計劃的架構師並負責過渡。所以他也可以給你一些意見。

Thanks, Bob. And Ed, good to speak with you. No, I'll just echo what Bob said. We made -- as we think about the co-brand program, we've talked about this with The Street a little bit. We made the strategic decision back when we launched the current version of the program to invest all the economics back into the members with the goal of driving lifetime value, and we really pleased with how that's performed over the last several years.

謝謝，鮑勃。埃德，很高興和你說話。不，我只是重複 Bob 所說的。我們製作了 - 當我們考慮聯合品牌計劃時，我們已經與 The Street 討論過這個問題。當我們啟動當前版本的計劃時，我們做出了戰略決策，將所有經濟重新投資到會員身上，以推動終身價值為目標，我們對過去幾年的表現感到非常滿意。

Yes, as we think about the transition to Cap One, we're not going to come away from that -- from that point of view and strategy in terms of investment. It's an unbelievable way for us to give value back to our members. And we'll take some of the enhanced economics and roll them back through the value prop, so we could deliver it back to the members. So -- we're really excited about Cap One.

是的，當我們考慮向 Cap One 過渡時，我們不會放棄這一點——從投資的角度和戰略來看。這是我們回饋會員價值的一種令人難以置信的方式。我們將採用一些增強的經濟效益，並通過價值支撐將它們回滾，這樣我們就可以將它交還給會員。所以 - 我們對 Cap One 感到非常興奮。

The team across the board at Cap One is incredible in everything that they do. And as we think how that plays through to the growth of next program, we think that there is a substantial leg higher from here in terms of the growth with the membership base.

Cap One 的整個團隊在他們所做的一切方面都令人難以置信。當我們考慮這將如何影響下一個項目的增長時，我們認為就會員基礎的增長而言，從這裡開始還有很大的提升。

So there'll be a little bit -- in terms of the KPIs, it'll be a little bit of a slowdown here -- not a slowdown but a pause, as we shut off acquisition in the coming days on the current program as we work through the transition. So you'll likely see a pause in the higher-tier membership penetration as we report Q4. And then as we get the program launched in the first half of next year, you'll see it then reaccelerate from then as we start acquisition under the new program.

所以會有一點 - 就 KPI 而言，這裡會有點放緩 - 不是放緩而是暫停，因為我們在未來幾天關閉當前計劃的收購我們通過過渡工作。因此，在我們報告第 4 季度時，您可能會看到高層會員滲透率出現停頓。然後，當我們在明年上半年啟動該計劃時，您會看到它從那時起重新加速，因為我們在新計劃下開始收購。

Okay. Great. And just a quick follow-up, if I may. Bob, as we think about 2023 -- and I know it's still early and the backdrop is uncertain. But the consensus to me looks a little high, especially given that you have the fuel margin compare. Could you just maybe help us with some puts and takes that we should be thinking about for the out year?

好的。偉大的。如果可以的話，只是快速跟進。鮑勃，當我們考慮 2023 年時——我知道現在還早，而且背景不確定。但對我來說，共識看起來有點高，特別是考慮到你有燃料利潤率比較。你能不能幫我們做一些我們應該在今年考慮的問題？

Yes, sure. Certainly, when we think about next year and the long-term positioning of our company, we're very excited as we talk about a lot. Our membership is growing. The performance and the quality of our membership is much better than it has been and continues to improve. And what we've just talked about with co-brand is just one more lever on improving that count and quality.

是的，當然。當然，當我們想到明年和我們公司的長期定位時，我們非常興奮，因為我們談論了很多。我們的會員不斷增加。我們會員的表現和質量比以前好得多，而且還在繼續提高。我們剛剛談到的聯合品牌只是提高數量和質量的又一個槓桿。

We're looking for continued market share gains and the flow-through from those increased trips that we're seeing here into renewal rates. And we won't take our eye off the ball from a value perspective, either. So as we go through whatever happens next year from a macro environment, I feel like we're well positioned.

我們正在尋找持續的市場份額增長以及我們在這裡看到的那些增加的旅行對續訂率的影響。從價值的角度來看，我們也不會把目光從球上移開。因此，當我們從宏觀環境中審視明年發生的一切時，我覺得我們已經做好了準備。

You point out that we've had an incredible tailwind from a gasoline income perspective, that is absolutely true. We've also had headwinds all over the business, most notably in margins this year as supply chain costs and general merchandise markdowns really impacted our margins throughout the year. And so I do think it will be tough to lap the gas income that we've seen this year. It's been by far the most profitable gasoline year we've ever seen. We're continuing to see incredible volatility in gas, which could provide more opportunities to get more income next year. But I have long ago stopped trying to predict what would happen in the gasoline market.

你指出，從汽油收入的角度來看，我們有一個令人難以置信的順風，這是絕對正確的。我們在整個業務中也遇到了不利因素，最明顯的是今年的利潤率，因為供應鏈成本和一般商品降價確實影響了我們全年的利潤率。因此，我確實認為我們今年所看到的天然氣收入很難實現。這是迄今為止我們見過的最賺錢的汽油年。我們將繼續看到天然氣市場出現令人難以置信的波動，這可能會在明年提供更多獲得更多收入的機會。但我很久以前就不再試圖預測汽油市場會發生什麼。

So we've got some work to do to figure out whether we can lap the gas profit. I do think it will be tough. I do think some of the margin headwinds that we've seen this year may fall away as well. And so hopefully, we've got some avenue to get back towards flat from an EPS perspective. I don't know that I would project to get flat with this year at this point.

因此，我們需要做一些工作來弄清楚我們是否可以賺取天然氣利潤。我確實認為這會很艱難。我確實認為我們今年看到的一些利潤不利因素也可能會消失。因此，希望從 EPS 的角度來看，我們有一些途徑可以回到持平狀態。我不知道在這一點上我是否會預計今年會持平。

The next question comes from Robby Ohmes from Bank of America.

下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Robby Ohmes。

Actually, 2 questions. One was just on the membership fee income decelerated sequentially. Can you remind us what would be driving the sequential growth deceleration and how we should be thinking about that for the fourth quarter?

實際上，2個問題。一是會員費收入環比減速。您能否提醒我們什麼會推動連續增長減速以及我們應該如何考慮第四季度？

Robby, thanks for your question. Certainly, you're right, it did decel a little bit. I guess I would tell you we're not worried about it. When we started the year, we were thinking about a mid-single-digit increase in MFI and we're up over 10% for the year. So as we think about that, we're -- we look at it and think we're doing well.

羅比，謝謝你的問題。當然，你是對的，它確實減速了一點。我想我會告訴你我們並不擔心。今年年初時，我們考慮的是 MFI 的中等個位數增長，今年我們增長了 10% 以上。因此，當我們考慮這一點時，我們 - 我們看著它並認為我們做得很好。

A lot of it has to do with the timing from quarter-to-quarter or when the new clubs come into play and just general membership flows as well. So again, nothing to be concerned about there. I think it's a great performance all year and kind of right where we want it.

這在很大程度上與每個季度或新俱樂部何時開始發揮作用以及一般會員流動的時間有關。再次重申，沒有什麼可擔心的。我認為這是全年的出色表現，而且正是我們想要的。

And then the other question it was just general merchandise, I think you guys said that the comps were up 7%. Is that right?

然後另一個問題是一般商品，我想你們說的是 comps 上漲了 7%。那正確嗎？

General merchandise and services. Yes.

一般商品和服務。是的。

So the -- that's a really good number against it. It wasn't an easy comparison last year. Can you talk a little more about the discretionary side of the business? I know it's relatively small for you guys, but it sounds like you might be outperforming what other retailers are seeing in discretionary. Maybe what are you seeing in apparel and some of those areas?

所以 - 這是一個非常好的數字。去年這不是一個簡單的比較。你能多談談業務的自由裁量權方面嗎？我知道這對你們來說相對較小，但聽起來你們的表現可能優於其他零售商所看到的自由裁量權。也許您在服裝和其中一些領域看到了什麼？

Yes. I think largely, we've seen what others have seen, Robby. So we saw a very strong performance in our services division. If you think about optical and home improvement and tires and some of those businesses, which shows a healthy consumer, right? Those are not small dollar amount purchases. But we have seen our members be a little bit more choosy about what they're spending on.

是的。我認為在很大程度上，我們已經看到了其他人所看到的，羅比。因此，我們在服務部門看到了非常強勁的表現。如果您考慮光學、家居裝修和輪胎以及其中一些業務，這表明消費者是健康的，對嗎？這些不是小額採購。但我們已經看到我們的會員對他們的消費更加挑剔。

And some of the themes that our competitors have talked about with lower apparel sales and some of the more discretionary items. We definitely saw that in the third quarter. I think some of that is weather-related. I always hate to talk about that, but it's never 75 [degrees] in Boston in November, and it was pretty much the entire front part of the month. So certainly, that's had some part of it as well. And you're seeing some meaningful deflation in some key general merchandise categories like televisions.

我們的競爭對手談論的一些主題與較低的服裝銷售額和一些更隨意的項目有關。我們肯定在第三季度看到了這一點。我認為其中一些與天氣有關。我總是討厭談論這個，但 11 月波士頓的氣溫從來沒有達到 75 度 [度]，而且幾乎是整個月的前半部分。當然，這也有一部分。你會看到一些主要的一般商品類別（如電視）出現明顯的通貨緊縮。

And finally, the last thing I would say is the holiday season seems like it's going to run a little bit late to us.

最後，我要說的最後一件事是假期對我們來說似乎要晚一點。

Last year, consumers were hearing, "Buy it in September and October because it won't be there in November and December," and that seem like they're back on a normal purchasing pattern this year, at least in our business. And a couple of our competitors have noted it that way, too.

去年，消費者聽到“在 9 月和 10 月購買它，因為它不會在 11 月和 12 月出現”，這似乎讓他們今年恢復了正常的購買模式，至少在我們的業務中是這樣。我們的一些競爭對手也以這種方式註意到了這一點。

So we thought GM did okay in the quarter. We're looking forward to a good performance in the fourth quarter, but we've got a lot of room to go in the last part of the quarter here to bring it home.

所以我們認為通用汽車在本季度表現不錯。我們期待著第四季度的良好表現，但我們在本季度的最後一部分還有很大的空間可以把它帶回家。

Robby, it's Laura. I'd just clean up one point on that, is that the 7% that I mentioned in the prepared remarks was the 2-year stack on GM and services. So on the quarter, it was 3%, but still positive.

羅比，是勞拉。我只想澄清一點，我在準備好的評論中提到的 7% 是通用汽車和服務的 2 年堆棧。所以在本季度，它是 3%，但仍然是積極的。

The next question comes from Peter Benedict from Baird.

下一個問題來自 Baird 的 Peter Benedict。

Maybe I'd like to talk a little bit about the club growth opportunity that you guys see. I know you have 4% to 5% unit growth. Maybe talk a little more about kind of the new club economics, how they look today maybe compared to where they were historically? I'm curious on your mix of kind of new versus existing market openings.

也許我想談談你們看到的俱樂部發展機會。我知道你有 4% 到 5% 的單位增長。也許多談談新的俱樂部經濟，他們今天的樣子可能與他們歷史上的情況相比？我很好奇您將新的市場開放與現有的市場開放相結合。

And then longer term, where is the distribution infrastructure? How much can the current -- how many stores can the current infrastructure support? At what point would you guys have to start to invest more in that? That's my first question.

從長遠來看，分銷基礎設施在哪裡？當前的基礎設施可以支持多少家商店？在什麼時候你們必須開始在這方面投入更多？這是我的第一個問題。

Yes. Pete, thanks for the question. I'll just kick it off and Bill can fill in. We've had a great year this year from a new club perspective. We've got 7 in the back already. We open hopefully tomorrow in Wayne, New Jersey. We talked about that on the prepared section of the call, and we've got a few more before the end of the year to meet our target.

是的。皮特，謝謝你的提問。我會開始，比爾可以填補空缺。從新俱樂部的角度來看，我們今年度過了美好的一年。我們後面已經有 7 個了。我們希望明天在新澤西州韋恩開業。我們在電話會議的準備部分談到了這一點，我們在今年年底之前還有一些可以實現我們的目標。

Our pipeline is very healthy at this point. We feel like we're going in the right direction. And all the clubs we've opened in the last few years have outperformed what we thought they would do. So that gives us a ton of confidence to continue to keep our foot on the gas from a real estate perspective. We've invested behind the capability to move this quickly. As you know, we didn't do that in the past. But that has borne some great openings of late and building a team that is dedicated to making sure those new buildings open on time and in great condition.

我們的管道在這一點上非常健康。我們覺得我們正朝著正確的方向前進。我們在過去幾年開設的所有俱樂部都超出了我們的預期。因此，從房地產的角度來看，這給了我們很大的信心繼續保持在天然氣上的地位。我們已經投資支持快速實現這一目標的能力。如您所知，我們過去沒有這樣做。但這帶來了最近一些偉大的開放，並建立了一個團隊，致力於確保這些新建築按時和良好的狀態開放。

And looking forward to continuing -- continuing unit growth. And I'll let Bill talk about economics and some of the other points that you asked about.

並期待繼續 - 持續的單位增長。我會讓比爾談談經濟學和你問到的其他一些要點。

Peter, it's Bill. The -- in terms of the new versus existing markets, right, as you look at our growth this year, you've seen continued expansion in the Midwest with the build-out of Pittsburgh, of Detroit, the push down in Ohio into Columbus, the entry into Indiana for the first time with our club in Noblesville, which is off to an amazing start. So the balance this year is about 50-50.

彼得，是比爾。就新市場與現有市場而言，正確的，當你看看我們今年的增長時，你會看到中西部的持續擴張，包括匹茲堡、底特律的擴建，以及俄亥俄州向哥倫布的擴張，我們在諾布爾斯維爾的俱樂部首次進入印第安納州，這是一個了不起的開端。所以今年的餘額大概是50-50。

As we look at next year, it will be similar in terms of new and existing markets. In terms of the performance in the existing markets, it's been extremely strong. As we look back on the openings in clubs like Commack on Long Island, Long Island City and Newburgh, New York, where we've added density, where we have a strong membership base to begin with. We see really great member behavior in those clubs where not only are they shopping the new clubs, but for the legacy members that were in those trade areas, they're also shopping at the legacy clubs as well as the new clubs.

展望明年，新市場和現有市場將是相似的。就現有市場的表現而言，它非常強勁。當我們回顧長島、長島市和紐約紐堡等俱樂部的空缺時，我們增加了密度，在那裡我們擁有強大的會員基礎。我們在那些俱樂部中看到非常好的會員行為，他們不僅購買新俱樂部，而且對於那些貿易區的老會員，他們也在老俱樂部和新俱樂部購物。

So we've seen really strong incrementality in that performance in the existing markets at levels that we haven't seen in the past. And that's really positive as we think about building out our existing networks into the future.

因此，我們已經看到現有市場在過去從未見過的水平上表現出非常強勁的增量。當我們考慮在未來構建現有網絡時，這確實是積極的。

In terms of the investments, it's certainly something that we're looking at. We expanded our perishable distribution facilities last year with an opening of a facility in Kentucky. We're looking forward at the build-out of the dry network as we go forward. If you remember, when we went public, we had talked about the ability for the -- our distribution network to support about 100 incremental clubs. And lo and behold, as we've done a 30 stock comp over the last 3 years, we've used a lot of that capacity pretty quickly, which is a great problem to have. So the dry side is certainly something that we're looking about going forward.

就投資而言，這當然是我們正在考慮的事情。去年，我們在肯塔基州開設了一家工廠，擴大了我們的易腐食品配送設施。在我們前進的過程中，我們期待乾網絡的建設。如果你還記得，當我們上市時，我們談到了我們的分銷網絡支持大約 100 個增量俱樂部的能力。瞧，在過去的 3 年裡，我們做了 30 隻股票，我們很快就用掉了很多容量，這是一個很大的問題。因此，乾燥的一面肯定是我們正在尋找的東西。

And I'd be reluctant not to mention the in-sourcing of our Burris acquisition this year. The perishable facilities bring them in-house, gives us great capabilities as we continue to grow our network here forward. So we feel good about the pipeline for next year. We're working now actively on calendar years '24 and '25 and we feel good about the results and what we're seeing.

而且我不願意不提今年收購 Burris 的內包。易腐爛的設施將它們帶到內部，隨著我們繼續在這裡發展我們的網絡，為我們提供了強大的能力。因此，我們對明年的管道感到滿意。我們現在正在為 24 和 25 日曆年積極工作，我們對結果和我們所看到的感到滿意。

No, that's super helpful. And then just a quick follow-up. Just on the general merchandise business. I mean you guys have made some investments in there in personnel. Just maybe a quick update on what the plan is in terms of trying to drive improved execution in that area over the next couple of years?

不，那超級有用。然後只是快速跟進。只是關於一般商品業務。我的意思是你們在人員方面進行了一些投資。也許只是快速更新計劃是什麼，試圖在未來幾年內推動該領域的改進執行？

Yes. So maybe I'll take that one, Pete. As you note, improving our general merchandise business is one of our key priorities. To me, the entire game, no matter what you talk about, but most notably here, it starts with talent. And we've made tremendous upgrades in our merchandising team, both with new talent and improving the capabilities of our outstanding talent that was already here to allow us to, over time, improve our general merchandise business. So whether it's hiring our new Chief Merchant, Rachael Vegas, not so new anymore. It's about a year at this point. Our new head of General Merchandise, Dion Evans, and their teams have just done outstanding work to really start that process of improving our general merchandise business.

是的。所以也許我會接受那個，皮特。正如您所注意到的，改善我們的日用商品業務是我們的主要優先事項之一。對我來說，整個遊戲，無論你談論什麼，但最值得注意的是，它始於天賦。我們對我們的銷售團隊進行了巨大的升級，既有新的人才，也有提高我們已經在這裡的優秀人才的能力，讓我們能夠隨著時間的推移改善我們的一般商品業務。因此，無論是聘請我們的新首席商人 Rachael Vegas，都不再那麼新鮮了。此時大約有一年的時間。我們新的日用商品主管 Dion Evans 和他們的團隊剛剛完成了出色的工作，真正開始了改進我們日用商品業務的過程。

As you know, a lot of these categories are long lead time categories. And so you really won't see the fruits of their efforts until next year. Probably in the second quarter, you'll see some -- some benefit in Q3 and Q4, you really start to see some of the benefits of their decision-making. I can tell you we would -- as one example, we would not have worked through the general merchandise inventory we had over the summer this year without their help. The quality of the conversations and the execution that we're seeing from the team as well as the new planning and allocation folks that we've brought in has really just changed the game for us.

如您所知，其中很多類別都是交貨期較長的類別。所以你真的要到明年才能看到他們努力的成果。可能在第二季度，你會看到一些——在第三季度和第四季度的一些好處，你真的開始看到他們決策的一些好處。我可以告訴你，我們會——舉個例子，如果沒有他們的幫助，我們就不會處理今年夏天的一般商品庫存。我們從團隊中看到的對話質量和執行力以及我們引入的新計劃和分配人員確實改變了我們的遊戲規則。

So I'm very bullish on our GM prospects over the long term with our team and looking forward to getting into next year so we can see how the members react to what we're doing.

因此，從長遠來看，我非常看好我們團隊的通用汽車前景，並期待進入明年，這樣我們就可以看到成員們對我們正在做的事情有何反應。

The next question comes from Chuck Grom from Gordon Haskett.

下一個問題來自 Gordon Haskett 的 Chuck Grom。

Bob, can you talk about the balance between flowing through the excess gas profits that you've generated year-to-date to the bottom line versus taking some of that money and investing in price to showcase value to your customer?

鮑勃，你能談談將今年迄今產生的超額天然氣利潤流向底線與拿走這些錢中的一部分並投資於價格以向客戶展示價值之間的平衡嗎？

Yes. Thanks, Chuck. It's a great question. So as you know, we price our gasoline every day to be the best in the market. And generally, that is on par with our club competitors and better than everybody else. We have a pretty sophisticated pricing model where we'll look at data on who's in the market every single day, sometimes multiple times a day and make sure that our prices are the best.

是的。謝謝，查克。這是一個很好的問題。如您所知，我們每天都為汽油定價，以使其成為市場上最好的。總的來說，這與我們的俱樂部競爭對手不相上下，而且比其他任何人都好。我們有一個非常複雜的定價模型，我們每天都會查看有關誰在市場上的數據，有時一天多次，並確保我們的價格是最好的。

We do that because it changes member behavior, right? Gas stations -- clubs with a gas station perform better than those without. They have more trips, more renewal rate. And that -- the definition of more changes with the price of gas. So over the summer, it was even more traffic and more membership benefit. So we will sort of add gas stations wherever we can, is that point.

我們這樣做是因為它改變了成員的行為，對嗎？加油站——有加油站的俱樂部比沒有加油站的俱樂部表現更好。他們有更多的行程，更高的更新率。而且——更多的定義隨著天然氣價格的變化而變化。所以在整個夏天，流量和會員福利更多。所以我們會盡可能地增加加油站，就是這一點。

But this year has been an interesting one, to the core of your question, right, where we've made so much money in gasoline. We've used that to spend into the beat, if you will. So we have made our gas prices a little bit even lower than normal to showcase even more value. And then we've taken that gas profit and invested it in other places in the business. So think about helping our members through these inflationary times inside the business. We've used gas profits to fund investments in price inside the building. We've done a tremendous amount of incremental marketing this year that we've never done before, both trying to incent purchasing behavior, but also acquiring new members as we go.

但今年是有趣的一年，就你問題的核心而言，我們在汽油方面賺了很多錢。如果你願意的話，我們已經用它來花錢了。因此，我們將汽油價格定得比平時低一點，以展示更多價值。然後我們拿走了汽油利潤並將其投資於業務的其他地方。因此，請考慮幫助我們的成員度過企業內部的這些通貨膨脹時期。我們用天然氣利潤為建築物內部的價格投資提供資金。今年我們做了很多以前從未做過的增量營銷，既試圖刺激購買行為，又在我們前進的過程中獲得新會員。

It's allowed us a tremendous amount of freedom to test things that we've never done before without sort of economic consequences, if you will. And that's been the aim for years, right? You've heard it both of my predecessors talk about spending into the beat and it's something we'll continue to do, whether we're beating inside the box or in gas or anywhere we do it. It's sort of a core part of our strategy and dovetails my suit with when you're trying to show value to members every day.

如果你願意的話，它讓我們有很大的自由來測試我們以前從未做過的事情，而不會產生任何經濟後果。這是多年來的目標，對吧？你聽說過我的兩位前任都在談論花錢，這是我們將繼續做的事情，無論我們是在禁區內、在加油站還是在任何我們做的地方。這是我們戰略的核心部分，當你每天都試圖向會員展示價值時，它與我的訴訟相吻合。

Yes, very smart. My follow-up question is just on the comp. I was wondering if you could maybe unpack the acceleration on a 3-year basis from the second quarter to the third quarter, which it looks like it's about 300 basis points? And then looking ahead, if you do say, a 4.5% comp in the fourth quarter, that implies a real big drop sequentially relative to the third quarter, close to about 1,000 basis points. So just curious like the decision factors behind that comp assumption for 4Q?

是的，非常聰明。我的後續問題只是關於補償。我想知道您是否可以從第二季度到第三季度以 3 年為基礎分解加速，看起來大約是 300 個基點？然後展望未來，如果你確實說第四季度 4.5% 的 comp，這意味著相對於第三季度連續大幅下降，接近 1,000 個基點。所以就像第四季度的補償假設背後的決策因素一樣好奇？

Yes. It's a good question. Maybe I'll start and Laura can pile on. We had a tremendous quarter in our view, in the third quarter, far exceeding what we thought. That was a little bit of inflation. So inflation definitely ticked up 3Q over 2Q, not on a tremendous amount, but certainly was there. And it was continued acceleration in our members' purchasing behaviors.

是的。這是個好問題。也許我會開始，勞拉可以繼續。在我們看來，第三季度我們有一個巨大的季度，遠遠超出了我們的想像。那是一點點通貨膨脹。因此，通貨膨脹肯定在第三季度比第二季度有所上升，雖然幅度不大，但肯定存在。我們會員的購買行為持續加速。

We started this year, we thought 3Q would be negative comp, given what happened last year. And -- and I mean that in sort of the EBT funding sense, the government stimulus sense on the behavior change we saw in 3Q last year was a dramatic pull forward of primarily our sundries business, but some of the rest of our grocery business as well.

我們從今年開始，考慮到去年發生的情況，我們認為 3Q 將是負面的。而且 - 我的意思是，從某種 EBT 資金的角度來看，政府刺激對我們在去年第三季度看到的行為變化的感覺主要是我們的雜貨業務的巨大推動，但我們其他一些雜貨業務出色地。

As we've gone through the year, one of the best things that we've seen is the increases in shopping behavior in all of our income cohorts, as I talked about earlier, but most notably at the bottom of the house. In our past data, we've seen a great linkage between increases and decreases in federal EBT budgets and what those folks actually did.

在過去的一年中，我們看到的最好的事情之一就是我們所有收入人群的購物行為都有所增加，正如我之前談到的那樣，但最顯著的是在房子的底部。在我們過去的數據中，我們已經看到聯邦 EBT 預算的增加和減少與這些人的實際行為之間存在很大聯繫。

So in times where -- but it's contracted, their shopping behavior is contracted. We have not seen that this year. And as I said earlier, the sales per member and trips per member in each of our cohorts has gone up. I think that's a tremendous story about value. I think we have convinced that lower end consumer of our proposition, and they are using different dollars today than what they get from the government because they believe our value story. They believe that we are saving them money, and we are.

所以在某些時候——但它是收縮的，他們的購物行為是收縮的。今年我們還沒有看到。正如我之前所說，我們每個隊列中每個成員的銷售額和每個成員的旅行量都有所增加。我認為這是一個關於價值的偉大故事。我認為我們已經說服了我們的主張的低端消費者，他們今天使用的美元與他們從政府那裡得到的美元不同，因為他們相信我們的價值故事。他們相信我們正在為他們省錢，而我們確實是。

So that, I think, is really the real story behind the third quarter performance. It was over our expectations for sure. I don't know that, that slows down in 4Q. But as our competitors have noted and I talked about earlier, our GM performance was a little bit soft in the third quarter. And you've got a tough market out there and GM becomes a bigger piece of our business in the fourth quarter.

所以，我認為，這才是第三季度業績背後的真實故事。這肯定超出了我們的預期。我不知道，第四季度會放緩。但正如我們的競爭對手所指出的以及我之前談到的那樣，我們的通用汽車在第三季度的表現有點疲軟。而且你有一個艱難的市場，通用汽車在第四季度成為我們業務的更大一部分。

So -- you're absolutely correct. The guidance that we've got out there, comps in the 4% to 5% range for 4Q would imply a decent decel, I hope that doesn't happen. We'll see what we end up with. We're certainly working hard to do what we can from our general merchandise business, and we will capitalize on the great health of our grocery business. That business, we have no issues in, it's comping quite nicely. And our performance has been good here in the opening weeks of 4Q as well.

所以——你是絕對正確的。我們在那裡得到的指導，第四季度在 4% 到 5% 的範圍內，這意味著一個不錯的減速，我希望這不會發生。我們會看到我們最終會得到什麼。我們當然正在努力從我們的一般商品業務中盡力而為，我們將利用我們雜貨業務的健康發展。那項業務，我們沒有問題，它的表現非常好。我們在第四季度的前幾週的表現也很好。

A lot of that is market share, right? We've been gaining market share all year long, both in gas and in our grocery business and I don't see that slowing down at all. The other point I might throw out there, which factored into our thinking was we're going to start lapping some of the inflation we saw last year. So you're going to have a little bit of a base effect coming on in 4Q.

其中很多是市場份額，對吧？我們一整年都在增加市場份額，無論是在天然氣領域還是在我們的雜貨業務中，我都沒有看到這種放緩的跡象。我可能會拋出的另一點，我們考慮的因素是我們將開始應對去年看到的一些通貨膨脹。因此，您將在第四季度產生一些基本效應。

But we are very bullish on our prospects in 4Q. I think we'll do well and hopefully do well in the next year as well.

但我們非常看好第四季度的前景。我認為我們會做得很好，希望明年也能做得很好。

The next question comes from Mark Carden from UBS.

下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的馬克卡登。

So to start, just given the current inflationary environment and what your 2 largest warehouse competitors have done to date, have there been any changes to how you're thinking about the pacing for your next membership fee increase?

因此，首先，考慮到當前的通貨膨脹環境以及您的 2 個最大的倉庫競爭對手迄今為止所做的事情，您對下一次會員費增加的節奏的想法是否有任何變化？

Mark, thanks for being on the call today, and thanks for the question. We haven't given a tremendous amount of thought to a fee increase at this point for 2 reasons. One, our largest competitor hasn't done it yet. And we would not do it unless they do it. And two, we talked about the co-brand transition. That is the most important thing we will do next year is get that right. And I don't want to mess that up with a fee increase.

馬克，感謝您今天接聽電話，也感謝您提出問題。由於兩個原因，我們目前還沒有對增加費用給予大量考慮。第一，我們最大的競爭對手還沒有做到。除非他們這樣做，否則我們不會這樣做。第二，我們談到了聯合品牌轉型。我們明年要做的最重要的事情就是把它做好。我不想因為增加費用而把事情搞砸。

And so I think at a minimum, we're waiting until both of those 2 things happen. And once they do and the sort of the smoke clears, we'll figure out what we will do.

所以我認為至少，我們要等到這兩件事都發生。一旦他們這樣做並且那種煙霧散去，我們就會弄清楚我們將要做什麼。

The one thing we haven't talked about so far is the dollars per member we're seeing already. Over the past few years, we've already seen the effect of a fee increase, right? The average dollars per member is well over $60 at this point, it's up about $5 in the last few years. So we've mixed our business up to really look like it has had a fee increase when we haven't changed the sticker price to our members. So it's sort of an unappreciated thing that we've been able to do over the past few years. And our membership team has done a fantastic job doing that.

到目前為止我們還沒有談論的一件事是我們已經看到的每個成員的美元。在過去的幾年中，我們已經看到了費用增加的效果，對嗎？目前每位會員的平均收入遠遠超過 60 美元，在過去幾年中上漲了約 5 美元。因此，當我們沒有改變會員的標價時，我們把我們的業務混在一起，看起來真的增加了費用。因此，在過去的幾年裡，我們能夠做到這一點，這是一件不受重視的事情。我們的會員團隊在這方面做得非常出色。

That makes sense. And maybe a bit of a follow-up to that. How are you thinking about premium penetration in the current environment? Today, it seems like you have a lot of momentum there. But would you expect shoppers to upgrade less frequently if some of these current economic pressures continue? With just given sticker shock, [get to] market upgrades any more aggressively? Just how are you thinking about that?

這就說得通了。也許是對此的一些後續行動。您如何看待當前環境下的保費滲透率？今天，你似乎有很大的動力。但是，如果當前的一些經濟壓力繼續存在，您是否預計購物者會降低升級頻率？剛剛給出的價格衝擊，[開始] 市場升級更積極？你是怎麼想的？

I think that comes back to value, and we look to provide outstanding value every day. It also comes to one of the core reasons we're doing the co-brand transition, right? That has been the fastest-growing part of our premium tier memberships over the years. And with the new value prop that we'll announce in January, we only expect that to get better.

我認為這又回到了價值上，我們希望每天都能提供卓越的價值。這也是我們進行聯合品牌轉型的核心原因之一，對吧？多年來，這是我們高級會員中增長最快的部分。隨著我們將在 1 月份宣布的新價值支柱，我們只希望它會變得更好。

So as Bill mentioned, we'll probably pause on the growth in Q4 given the federal laws around what we have to do around a card transition. We have to stop acquiring and sort of have to put down our pencils for a little bit. But once we get the conversion done, I expect that the excitement around this program will really help us grow premium tier memberships quite nicely in the future.

因此，正如 Bill 提到的那樣，鑑於聯邦法律圍繞我們必須圍繞卡片過渡所做的事情，我們可能會暫停第四季度的增長。我們必須停止收購，有點不得不放下鉛筆。但是一旦我們完成轉換，我希望圍繞該計劃的興奮將真正幫助我們在未來很好地增加高級會員。

The next question comes Rupesh Parikh from Oppenheimer.

下一個問題來自 Oppenheimer 的 Rupesh Parikh。

Congrats on a nice quarter. So just on the food inflation front. As you guys look out for the balance of the year into next year, it sounds like you expect moderation. Any sense whether it moderates to, I guess, low single-digit type levels? Or just any thoughts in terms of how you see it playing out at this point?

祝賀一個不錯的季度。所以就在食品通脹方面。當你們在尋找今年到明年的平衡時，聽起來你們希望適度。我猜它是否緩和到較低的個位數類型水平有什麼意義嗎？或者只是關於您目前如何看待它的任何想法？

Yes. Thanks, Rupesh. It's a good question. I'm not sure I have a perfect answer. We've certainly seen a ton of inflation this year, as everybody knows, and we have seen a little bit of moderation in the third quarter, as Laura talked about in the prepared remarks.

是的。謝謝，魯佩什。這是個好問題。我不確定我有一個完美的答案。眾所周知，今年我們確實看到了嚴重的通貨膨脹，而且我們在第三季度看到了一點點溫和，正如勞拉在準備好的講話中所說的那樣。

It's really coming in pockets. But I would tell you, on the general basis, we're seeing less inflation today than we were seeing 3 months ago for sure. I don't know what happens from here. As we talk to our supplier partners, they continue to indicate their desire to raise prices, particularly those with very strong brand names or market shares. And some of the commodities are still above where they are last year, and I don't know that folks have passed through all of that increase.

它真的進了口袋。但我要告訴你，總的來說，我們今天看到的通貨膨脹率肯定比 3 個月前要低。我不知道從這裡會發生什麼。當我們與我們的供應商合作夥伴交談時，他們繼續表示希望提高價格，尤其是那些擁有非常強大的品牌或市場份額的公司。有些商品仍高於去年的水平，我不知道人們是否已經經歷了所有這些增長。

So I think we've got a wait and see approach on it. We are working proactively with our supplier partners to avoid any further price increases. I think it's -- as you know, it's bad for -- bad for everybody. So we'd like to forestall that, but I'm not sure we're going to be successful in it. We will continue to do what we've done all year and invest in price, make sure we have the right value and we won't let anything stand in the way of that.

所以我認為我們對此持觀望態度。我們正積極與我們的供應商合作夥伴合作，以避免價格進一步上漲。我認為這——如你所知，這對——對每個人都不利。所以我們想先發製人，但我不確定我們能否成功。我們將繼續做我們全年所做的事情並投資於價格，確保我們擁有正確的價值，我們不會讓任何事情成為阻礙。

And I'd be remiss if I didn't thank our merchandising team for what they've done this year. I think they've done an outstanding job managing double-digit inflation in an environment that many of us haven't really lived through in the business sense in the past. So our team has done well. We'll continue to do those things well going forward. And whether we see 10 points more inflation or 2 points more inflation, I think the company is really well set up to grow [of term].

如果我不感謝我們的營銷團隊今年所做的一切，那我就是失職了。我認為他們在管理兩位數通貨膨脹方面做得非常出色，而過去我們中的許多人在商業意義上都沒有真正經歷過這種情況。所以我們的團隊做得很好。我們將繼續做好這些事情。而且無論我們看到通貨膨脹率增加 10 個百分點還是 2 個百分點，我認為公司確實已經做好了 [of term] 增長的準備。

Great. And then maybe just one follow-up question. In regards to next year, I know you guys have the big headroom related to fuel. Was your commentary earlier that you hope with some of the margin headwinds that you'll be lapping next year that maybe between the headwinds -- and that may become tailwinds, that could help to make fuel neutral from an EPS perspective. Is that what you were trying to convey earlier?

偉大的。然後可能只是一個後續問題。關於明年，我知道你們在燃料方面有很大的空間。你之前的評論是不是希望明年你會遇到一些逆風，可能在逆風之間——這可能會變成順風，從每股收益的角度來看，這可能有助於使燃料保持中性。這就是你之前想要傳達的意思嗎？

Rupesh, I don't think we will be able to get back to flat, right? We've got a tremendous gas tailwind this year. We've got other headwinds this year that we've talked about and some of them are almost the same thing, right? I think about the cost of diesel fuel running through our supply chain. We've got both headwinds and tailwinds in this year, but the gas income headwind has been bigger than any of the tailwinds, right?

Rupesh，我不認為我們能夠回到平局，對吧？今年我們有一個巨大的順風。今年我們還有其他不利因素，我們已經討論過，其中一些幾乎是同一件事，對吧？我想到了貫穿我們供應鏈的柴油成本。今年我們既有逆風也有順風，但天然氣收入的逆風比任何順風都大，對吧？

So as we think about next year, it looks hard to create that same level of gasoline income next year. That doesn't mean we won't have some of these headwinds flip to tailwinds, right? If diesel goes down, we will have a tremendous tailwind next year from a margin perspective. There are other things under the covers as well that should help. But at this point, as we're modeling next year, we do not see us getting back to our full year EPS that we'll put up this year.

因此，當我們考慮明年時，明年似乎很難創造同樣水平的汽油收入。這並不意味著我們不會讓這些逆風轉變為順風，對吧？如果柴油下降，從利潤率的角度來看，明年我們將獲得巨大的順風。幕後還有其他事情應該有所幫助。但在這一點上，當我們明年建模時，我們看不到我們會回到今年將提出的全年每股收益。

I don't think we'll be too far away from it either, but I don't see us getting flat at this point.

我認為我們也不會離它太遠，但我不認為我們在這一點上會持平。

The next question comes from Paul Lejuez from Citi.

下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Paul Lejuez。

This is Brandon Cheatham on for Paul. I'd like to go back to the commentary about the income cohorts. It sounds like your low income consumer was particularly strong in 3Q. And I think that's a change from the second quarter. I think you all said the higher income consumer was really the bright spot. So I'm just wondering, did you see kind of an inflection in the lower-income consumer cohort behavior? Are you gaining more share of wallet? That's kind of what it sounds like. But any category or anything that you all are doing or communicating that kind of really drove that inflection?

這是 Paul 的 Brandon Cheatham。我想回到關於收入群體的評論。聽起來您的低收入消費者在第三季度特別強勁。我認為這是第二季度的變化。我想你們都說高收入消費者確實是亮點。所以我只是想知道，您是否看到低收入消費者群體行為發生了某種變化？您是否獲得了更多的錢包份額？聽起來就是這樣。但是你們都在做或交流的任何類別或任何事情真的推動了這種變化？

Yes. Brandon, thanks for the question. We've seen growth in all of our -- this year, as we've talked about, at the beginning of the year, we were seeing a ton of higher-income folks come into the business or buy more. We are still seeing that. We're also seeing good purchasing behavior out of our lower income cohorts. And that's been the real story for us, right?

是的。布蘭登，謝謝你的提問。我們已經看到我們所有的增長——今年，正如我們所談到的，在年初，我們看到大量高收入的人進入這個行業或購買更多。我們仍然看到這一點。我們還看到低收入人群有良好的購買行為。這對我們來說是真實的故事，對吧？

In every other down market, we've seen the higher income cohorts come in and try and search for value. And as I talked about earlier, we've seen lower income cohorts sort of trade out or trade down as EBT budgets dried up. That certainly has not happened this year. They have performed very, very well and continue to. And I think they will continue to.

在其他每一個低迷的市場中，我們都看到收入較高的人群進入並嘗試尋找價值。正如我之前談到的，隨著 EBT 預算枯竭，我們已經看到低收入群體在某種程度上折衷或折衷。今年肯定沒有發生這種情況。他們表現得非常非常好，並將繼續如此。我認為他們會繼續這樣做。

So we're very happy with how we see our purchasing behaviors going, both higher and lower income cohorts are showing us very healthy behaviors. And we're looking forward to that continuing. I think the reason why that you're scratching after is value, right? We are showing the best pricing that we've ever shown to folks. We're showing better prices than some of our competitors and people are believing it. We've got some credibility with our members as we continue to prioritize value in everything we do.

因此，我們對我們的購買行為如何發展感到非常滿意，高收入和低收入群體都向我們展示了非常健康的行為。我們期待著這種情況繼續下去。我認為您追求的原因是價值，對嗎？我們正在展示我們向人們展示過的最好的價格。我們展示的價格比我們的一些競爭對手更好，人們也相信這一點。隨著我們繼續在我們所做的每件事中優先考慮價值，我們在我們的成員中獲得了一定的信譽。

So we'll continue to do that, and hopefully, they continue to reward us.

所以我們會繼續這樣做，希望他們會繼續獎勵我們。

Got it. And then one follow-up, if I may, on digital sales. It seems like a meaningful driver of comp these days. Anything different about how that consumer engages with you? What percentage of your members are shopping with you digitally? And is there anything to call out on the margin side from the digital sales business?

知道了。然後是關於數字銷售的後續行動，如果可以的話。如今，它似乎是一個有意義的 comp 驅動程序。該消費者與您的互動方式有何不同？您的會員中有多少人通過數字方式與您一起購物？數字銷售業務的利潤方面有什麼值得一提的嗎？

Yes, thanks for bringing that up. We haven't talked about digital all day. It's been a growing part of our business over the years as -- if you remember, the longer-term story 4 years ago or so, we didn't really have a digital business to speak of. And we've spent a bunch of time building the infrastructure and lo and behold, now we're well over $1 billion in sort of 9-ish percent of our business.

是的，謝謝你提出來。我們一整天都沒有談論數字。多年來，它一直是我們業務中不斷增長的一部分——如果你還記得，4 年前左右的長期故事，我們並沒有真正的數字業務可言。我們花了很多時間建設基礎設施，你瞧，現在我們的業務已經超過 10 億美元，大約占我們業務的 9%。

Our members are really reacting to that, most particularly in the BOPIC and curb side parts of our business where we're really saving them time, right? Our aim is to save people -- save people money as we keep going back to value, but it's also to save our members time. If I can have them not spend time walking around our clubs, throwing things in their basket for their routine shops, that's great. We still want to get them in the clubs for their opportunistic shops. But we've not seen that behavior fall off either.

我們的成員對此做出了真正的反應，尤其是在我們真正為他們節省時間的 BOPIC 和路邊業務部分，對吧？我們的目標是救人——在我們不斷回歸價值的同時為人們省錢，但這也是為了節省我們會員的時間。如果我能讓他們不花時間在我們的俱樂部裡走來走去，把東西扔進他們日常商店的籃子裡，那就太好了。我們仍然想讓他們進入俱樂部，因為他們的機會主義商店。但我們也沒有看到這種行為下降。

We have done things like our ExpressPay products where you can skip the lines if you are in our clubs, you check out on your phone, that saves you 10 minutes. It's been pretty popular. We've also changed the way that we market and promote from a digital perspective. So a huge amount of our acquisition is now coming digital whereas 3 or 4 years ago, I would tell you that was a zero or close to it. And 5 years ago, we were worried about the fact that our primary promotional product is paper coupons. And nobody loves paper coupons. So now well over 2/3, I think it's maybe 3/4 of our promotion is done digitally. You click your coupons on our app or online versus clipping the paper.

我們已經做了一些事情，比如我們的 ExpressPay 產品，如果你在我們的俱樂部，你可以跳過線路，你可以在手機上結賬，這可以節省 10 分鐘。它一直很受歡迎。我們還從數字角度改變了營銷和推廣的方式。所以我們的大量收購現在都是數字化的，而在 3 或 4 年前，我會告訴你那是零或接近它。 5 年前，我們擔心我們的主要促銷產品是紙質優惠券。沒有人喜歡紙質優惠券。所以現在超過 2/3，我認為我們的促銷活動中可能有 3/4 是通過數字方式完成的。您在我們的應用程序或網上點擊您的優惠券而不是剪紙。

So we've made tremendous strides both in product promotion and convenience as we've invested in digital, and we'll continue to do that. The members that engage with us digitally are our best members. They shop with us most often. They buy more when they do so. And they really are starting to sort of prove the case to us on the combination of saving people time and money. And both of those are important parts of the value equation for our members.

因此，隨著我們對數字技術的投資，我們在產品推廣和便利性方面取得了巨大進步，我們將繼續這樣做。以數字方式與我們互動的成員是我們最好的成員。他們最常和我們一起購物。他們這樣做時會購買更多。他們確實開始在某種程度上向我們證明了節省人們時間和金錢的情況。這兩者都是我們會員價值等式的重要組成部分。

So we'll continue to make investments in our digital properties and I believe that our members will reward us for doing that as well.

因此，我們將繼續對我們的數字資產進行投資，我相信我們的會員也會因此而獎勵我們。

This concludes today's Q&A session and thus does conclude today's call. Thank you very much for your attendance, and you may now disconnect your lines.

今天的問答環節到此結束，今天的電話會議也到此結束。非常感謝您的出席，您現在可以斷開您的線路。