BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings Inc (BJ) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Drew, and I'll be coordinating your call today. (Operator Instructions)

大家早安，歡迎參加 BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。我叫德魯，今天我將協調您的電話。 （操作員說明）

I'll now pass the call over to your host, Cathy Park. Please go ahead.

我現在將把電話轉給主持人 Cathy Park。請繼續。

Good morning, and welcome to BJ's Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2023 Earnings Call. On the call with me today are Bob Eddy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Laura Felice, Chief Financial Officer; and Bill Werner, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Development.

早安，歡迎參加 BJ 2023 財年第四季財報電話會議。今天與我通話的是董事長兼執行長鮑伯艾迪 (Bob Eddy)；勞拉‧菲利斯，財務長； Bill Werner，策略與發展執行副總裁。

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. 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.

請記住，在本次電話會議中，我們可能會做出聯邦證券法含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述是基於我們目前的預期，涉及風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與我們在本次電話會議中描述的預期有重大差異。請參閱我們向 SEC 提交的最新 10-K 表格和 10-Q 表格中的「風險因素」部分，以了解這些風險和不確定性的描述。

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. Please refer to today's press release and latest investor presentation 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.

最後，請注意，在今天的電話會議上，我們將提及某些非公認會計準則財務指標，我們相信這些指標將為投資者提供有用的信息。此資訊的呈現不應被孤立地考慮或作為根據 GAAP 呈現的財務資訊的替代品。請參閱今天的新聞稿和我們投資者關係網站上發布的最新投資者介紹，以了解這些非公認會計原則財務指標與根據公認會計原則制定的最具可比較指標的對帳情況。

And now I'll turn the call over to Bob.

現在我將把電話轉給鮑伯。

Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us today to discuss our fourth quarter and full year results for 2023. We ended the year with strong results, highlighted by robust growth in the fourth quarter. This growth in membership, traffic, units and market share capped off another dynamic year. I'm proud of how our team managed through the changing landscape while maintaining our focus on long-term priorities and never losing focus on delivering value to our members. We finished the year with momentum, and I believe we are well positioned for long-term growth.

大家，早安。感謝您今天加入我們討論 2023 年第四季度和全年業績。我們以強勁的業績結束了這一年，第四季度的強勁增長凸顯了這一點。會員數量、流量、單位數量和市場份額的增長為另一個充滿活力的一年畫上了圓滿的句號。我為我們的團隊如何在不斷變化的環境中進行管理，同時保持對長期優先事項的關注，並且始終專注於為我們的會員提供價值而感到自豪。我們以強勁的勢頭結束了這一年，我相信我們已經為長期成長做好了準備。

Our comparable club sales excluding gas sales, grew by 0.5 point in the fourth quarter. This result was at the high end of our guidance range and landed us at 1.7% for the full year. Traffic, which has been positive all year, accelerated even further in the quarter, contributing about 3 percentage points to our comp. Critically, we also turned the corner on unit volumes in Q4 with positive comp units led by our consumables business. As a result, we continue to gain market share in the quarter as we have all year. We believe our strong commitment to value is resonating with our members as they increasingly rely on BJ's for their shopping needs.

我們的可比較俱樂部銷售額（不包括天然氣銷售額）在第四季度增長了 0.5 個百分點。這一結果處於我們指導範圍的高端，全年增長率為 1.7%。全年的流量都呈現正值，本季進一步加速，為我們的業績貢獻了約 3 個百分點。至關重要的是，我們在第四季的單位銷售方面也出現了轉機，在消耗品業務的帶動下，單位銷售量呈現正向成長。因此，我們在本季繼續獲得與全年相同的市場份額。我們相信，我們對價值的堅定承諾會引起會員的共鳴，因為他們越來越依賴 BJ's 來滿足購物需求。

Our perishables, grocery and sundries divisions delivered comp growth of nearly 1% in the fourth quarter. This was driven entirely by year-over-year volume growth, unlike the rest of the market, which continued to face unit declines. Household essentials, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, water, paper and laundry were leading drivers of demand. Inflation continued to moderate during the quarter as it has all year with fourth quarter inflation about flat year-over-year.

我們的易腐食品、雜貨和雜貨部門在第四季度實現了近 1% 的複合成長率。這完全是由銷售量年成長推動的，與市場上其他持續面臨銷售下降的市場不同。新鮮水果和蔬菜、牛奶、水、紙張和洗衣等家庭必需品是需求的主要動力。本季通膨持續溫和，與全年一樣，第四季通膨與去年同期基本持平。

Many categories are still running slightly inflationary. Other perishable categories, such as eggs, underwent considerable swings in cost in fiscal 2023, with average pricing in the fourth quarter, declining double digits year-over-year. I should note that we generally see elasticity as prices decline and comp egg units were up in the quarter.

許多類別仍然存在輕微通膨。雞蛋等其他易腐爛類別的成本在 2023 財年經歷了相當大的波動，第四季的平均價格比去年同期下降了兩位數。我應該指出的是，隨著本季價格下降和雞蛋數量增加，我們通常會看到彈性。

Amid the compounding impact of inflation over the past 2 years, we have relentlessly focused on delivering compelling pricing every day. In the fourth quarter, our pricing index against our grocery competitors improved against the same index a year ago. And for the full fiscal year, we improved by about 100 basis points.

在過去兩年通貨膨脹的複合影響下，我們每天都堅持不懈地致力於提供具有吸引力的定價。在第四季度，我們相對於雜貨競爭對手的定價指數比一年前的相同指數有所改善。在整個財年，我們提高了約 100 個基點。

It's easy to see why our member base continues to grow. Consumers choose to shop at BJ's, because we consistently save them money and time. I'd like to take a moment and talk about our strengthening general merchandise business, which accelerated significantly during the fourth quarter and delivered close to a positive 2% comp. This represents a sequential acceleration of approximately 1,200 basis points over the third quarter and a 650 basis point acceleration when comparing the same 2 periods on a 2-year stack.

很容易理解為什麼我們的會員群不斷增長。消費者選擇在 BJ's 購物，因為我們始終為他們節省金錢和時間。我想花點時間談談我們不斷增強的百貨業務，該業務在第四季度顯著加速，並實現了接近 2% 的正值增長。這意味著第三季連續加速約 1,200 個基點，而在 2 年堆疊中比較相同的兩個時期時，加速了 650 個基點。

Our entire commercial team, merchandising, marketing, ops and supply chain, has been focused heavily on reigniting growth in these categories, and I love the progress we are seeing. Member demand was especially strong for us during our Black Friday events. Our performance was driven by an enhanced assortment focused on great brands at great value. We reinforced this with an improved approach to product presentation and a competitive timing of offers.

我們的整個商業團隊，包括銷售、行銷、營運和供應鏈，一直致力於重振這些類別的成長，我喜歡我們所看到的進展。在黑色星期五活動期間，會員需求對我們來說尤其強烈。我們的業績是由專注於具有巨大價值的偉大品牌的增強品種所推動的。我們透過改進產品展示方式和具競爭力的報價時間來強化這一點。

As a result, we delivered a positive 9% comp in consumer electronics, led by double-digit unit growth in television, audio and video games. We also produced another positive 5% comp in apparel, driven by an elevated cleaner assortment and stronger partnerships with brands such as Champion, Carter's, Levi's and Skechers. In addition, Berkley Jensen apparel sales, our own brand, more than doubled year-over-year in the fourth quarter, meaningfully supporting our apparel strength.

結果，在電視、音訊和電玩的兩位數單位成長的帶動下，我們在消費性電子產品領域實現了 9% 的正成長。由於更乾淨的產品系列以及與 Champion、Carter's、Levi's 和 Skechers 等品牌更牢固的合作關係，我們在服裝領域的表現也實現了 5% 的正成長。此外，我們自有品牌 Berkley Jensen 的服裝銷售額在第四季度同比增長了一倍以上，有力地支持了我們的服裝實力。

Our holiday set this past season consisted of vastly improved assortment and marketing. This created a much better shopping experience than I've seen in a very long time. We drove strong engagement through investments in quality and sharp price points designed to meet our members' needs, particularly in the current environment.

上一季我們的假日系列包括大幅改進的品種和行銷。這創造了比我很長一段時間以來見過的更好的購物體驗。我們透過對品質和價格點的投資來推動強有力的參與，旨在滿足會員的需求，特別是在當前環境下。

Our toy category, for example, featured 90% new assortment anchored by popular brands, including LEGO, Disney, Hot Wheels and Barbie, generating sales that outpaced the market in the quarter. Our fourth quarter results demonstrate clear progress on our GM transformation and reinforce our confidence in sustainably growing this segment of our business over time. As we look ahead to the new year, we will continue the evolution with higher levels of quality and exceptional value. Rebuilding credibility in GM remains a crucial part of our long-term strategy. and we will continue to innovate to realize the significant potential we see in this space.

例如，我們的玩具類別中 90% 的新品種均來自流行品牌，包括樂高、迪士尼、風火輪和芭比娃娃，本季的銷售額超過了市場。我們第四季的業績表明我們在通用汽車轉型方面取得了明顯進展，並增強了我們對隨著時間的推移可持續發展這一業務領域的信心。展望新的一年，我們將繼續以更高水準的品質和卓越的價值不斷發展。重建通用汽車的信譽仍然是我們長期策略的重要組成部分。我們將繼續創新，以實現我們在這個領域看到的巨大潛力。

Gas is a daily necessity for many of our members, and it is another meaningful way in which we deliver great value. We gained share once again in the fourth quarter as we grew comp gallons by nearly 3% year-over-year versus the overall market, which was down about 5%. For the full year, our comp gallons grew about 1%, as expected, a top double-digit comp gallon growth in each of the past 2 years. This compares to the broader industry whose same-store volumes have decreased by double digits. This growth contributed to strong gas profits in the fourth quarter and for the year.

天然氣是我們許多會員的日常必需品，也是我們提供巨大價值的另一種有意義的方式。我們在第四季度再次獲得了市場份額，我們的加侖數同比增長了近 3%，而整體市場下降了約 5%。全年，我們的比較加侖增長了約 1%，正如預期的那樣，是過去兩年中每年最高的兩位數加侖增長。相比之下，更廣泛的行業的同店銷量下降了兩位數。這一成長為第四季度和全年強勁的天然氣利潤做出了貢獻。

We reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.11 for the fourth quarter, at the high end of our expectations and $3.96 for the full year due to our strong fundamentals.

我們報告第四季度調整後每股收益為 1.11 美元，處於我們預期的上限，由於我們強勁的基本面，全年調整後每股收益為 3.96 美元。

Our 4 strategic priorities remain cornerstones of our long-term growth. These priorities are improving member loyalty, giving our members an unbeatable shopping experience, delivering value conveniently and growing our footprint. We have a lot to be proud of in each of these areas.

我們的 4 項策略重點仍是我們長期成長的基石。這些優先事項是提高會員忠誠度、為我們的會員提供無與倫比的購物體驗、方便地提供價值並擴大我們的足跡。我們在這些領域都有很多值得自豪的地方。

Membership delivered another milestone year with us delivering impressive growth and a 90% renewal rate. Membership is arguably the most important product that we sell, and it's worth considering the profound growth our team has delivered since our IPO. From fiscal 2018, our member count has grown by about 35%, and we currently serve well over 7 million members. While our strong value prop has certainly contributed to our success, we've also gotten better at acquiring members over the years.

會員資格又迎來了里程碑式的一年，我們實現了令人矚目的成長和 90% 的續約率。會員資格可以說是我們銷售的最重要的產品，值得考慮的是我們的團隊自首次公開募股以來所實現的深刻成長。自 2018 財年以來，我們的會員數量增加了約 35%，目前我們為超過 700 萬會員提供服務。雖然我們強大的價值支撐無疑為我們的成功做出了貢獻，但多年來我們在獲取會員方面也取得了更好的成績。

We are expanding membership in both new and existing markets with our digital platforms becoming a dominant source of that growth. Our focus on lifetime value has paid dividends in the form of membership quality, too. Higher tier membership penetration is now 38% having grown over 13 points from fiscal 2018. 2023 was marked by the transition of our co-brand portfolio to Capital One, and we are already seeing the benefits of this change.

我們正在擴大新市場和現有市場的會員數量，我們的數位平台成為這項成長的主要來源。我們對終身價值的關注也以會員品質的形式帶來了回報。較高等級的會員滲透率現已達到 38%，較 2018 財年增長了 13 個百分點。2023 年我們的聯名品牌組合向 Capital One 過渡，我們已經看到了這一變化的好處。

With one of the best card value propositions in retail, we expect to deliver over $300 million in rewards back to our members in the program's first full year. This 35% increase in rewards has supported a double-digit percentage increase in $110 members in fiscal 2023, with a large majority of the growth happening in the highest tier credit card. These members exhibit the highest spend and our most loyal customers, contributing to our membership fee income growing by 6% in fiscal 2023.

憑藉零售業最佳卡價值主張之一，我們預計將在該計劃的第一個全年為我們的會員提供超過 3 億美元的獎勵。獎勵增加 35%，支持 2023 財年 110 美元會員的兩位數百分比增長，其中大部分增長來自最高級別的信用卡。這些會員的消費最高，也是我們最忠誠的客戶，促使我們的會員費收入在 2023 財年成長 6%。

We believe that the growth this year and the expected growth to come will result in long-term value creation for both our members and shareholders. A great shopping experience keeps our members coming back to shop with us, deepening their loyalty and driving higher renewals. That's why we continually strive to improve the member experience through better merchandising, digital and in-club conveniences and, of course, amazing value.

我們相信，今年的成長和未來的預期成長將為我們的會員和股東創造長期價值。出色的購物體驗可以讓我們的會員再次光顧我們的商店，加深他們的忠誠度並推動更高的續約量。這就是為什麼我們不斷努力透過更好的行銷、數位化和俱樂部內的便利設施，當然還有驚人的價值來改善會員體驗。

As you already know, the advantages inherent in our warehouse club model allow us to deliver more value to our members compared to other less efficient forms of retail. In a low SKU count environment, members rely on us for a highly curated well-presented assortment that delivers the most value.

如您所知，與其他效率較低的零售形式相比，我們的倉儲俱樂部模式固有的優勢使我們能夠為會員提供更多價值。在 SKU 數量較少的環境中，會員依靠我們精心策劃、精心呈現的產品組合來提供最大價值。

Over the years, we have built and refined a comprehensive process that optimizes our assortment with relevant brands and products and stronger value, resulting in profitable growth. This continuous improvement process requires data-driven insights, strong relationships with our vendors and discipline in execution.

多年來，我們建立並完善了一個全面的流程，優化了我們的相關品牌和產品的分類，並增強了價值，從而實現了盈利增長。這種持續改進過程需要數據驅動的洞察力、與供應商的牢固關係以及執行紀律。

To put this into context, let's take a category like coffee where high levels of inflation have resulted in us breaking price cliffs across various articles last year. As costs moderated for the commodity, we took the opportunity to reevaluate our assortment. As a result of this process, we are rolling out a refined assortment that will reduce duplicative roast offerings, expand and elevate our own brands, and introduce relevant local offerings. These changes helped our coffee unit performance exceed the market by over 100 basis points in the fourth quarter.

為了將這一點放在背景中，讓我們以咖啡這樣的類別為例，去年高通膨導致我們打破了各種物品的價格懸崖。隨著商品成本的下降，我們藉此機會重新評估了我們的品種。透過這個過程，我們正在推出精緻的品種，以減少重複的烘焙產品，擴大和提升我們自己的品牌，並引入相關的本地產品。這些變化幫助我們的咖啡部門業績在第四季度超過市場 100 個基點。

We believe our new assortment will allow us to recapture margin and move more units at better values to our members, especially relative to our grocery competitors. This is just one example of how we're constantly improving our assortment to offer unbeatable member experiences and drive traffic, market share and long-term growth. We will continue to invest our time and resources to deliver the best value for our members.

我們相信，我們的新品種將使我們能夠重新獲得利潤，並以更好的價格向我們的會員運送更多單位，特別是相對於我們的雜貨競爭對手。這只是我們如何不斷改進產品種類以提供無與倫比的會員體驗並提高流量、市場份額和長期增長的示例。我們將繼續投入時間和資源，為我們的會員提供最大的價值。

Our own brands, Wellsley Farms and Berkley Jensen, provide our members with high-quality products and deep savings. I'm pleased to report another record year in fiscal 2023 as our own brand sales grew approximately 3x faster than our broader business, outpacing the market's growth of own brands. This was led by our sundries categories. And for the year, our paper category alone delivered about 750 basis points of growth in dollar share and 850 basis points of growth in unit penetration.

我們的自有品牌 Wellsley Farms 和 Berkley Jensen 為我們的會員提供高品質的產品和豐厚的折扣。我很高興地報告 2023 財年再創紀錄的一年，我們的自有品牌銷售額增長速度比我們更廣泛的業務快約 3 倍，超過了市場上自有品牌的增長速度。這是由我們的雜貨品類主導的。今年，光是我們的紙張類別就實現了美元份額增長約 750 個基點和單位滲透率增長 850 個基點。

Member penetration and repeat purchase rates have grown nicely as well, signifying deeper loyalty to our brand. On the heels of this success, we are leaning into additional categories this year, including food storage, snacking nuts and coffee, as I highlighted earlier. Own brand sales now make up over 1/4 of our business, and we're confident in our goal of reaching 30% over time.

會員滲透率和重複購買率也有了很好的成長，這顯示對我們品牌的忠誠度更高。繼這一成功之後，我們今年將轉向其他類別，包括食品儲存、零食堅果和咖啡，正如我之前強調的那樣。自有品牌銷售現在占我們業務的 1/4 以上，我們對隨著時間的推移達到 30% 的目標充滿信心。

Our digital comp sales grew by 28% in the fourth quarter, with digital comprising over 11% of our business. Our digitally enabled sales have grown sevenfold since fiscal 2018 with more members leveraging our convenience offerings over the past 5 years. In fiscal 2023, members who shopped with us digitally spent about 90% more than those who solely shopped us in club. We believe we've only scratched the surface in our digital efforts, and we'll continue to augment our conveniences in areas such as same-day delivery, in-app capabilities and personalization to deliver even more value to our members.

第四季我們的數位產品銷售額成長了 28%，其中數位業務占我們業務的 11% 以上。自 2018 財年以來，我們的數位化銷售額成長了七倍，過去 5 年有更多會員利用我們的便利產品。 2023 財年，透過我們的數位方式購物的會員比僅在俱樂部購物的會員多花費約 90%。我們相信，我們的數位化努力僅僅觸及了表面，我們將繼續在當日送達、應用內功能和個人化等領域增強我們的便利，為我們的會員提供更多價值。

Finally, we are growing our real estate portfolio profitably and at a faster pace than recent history, having opened 6 new clubs since the third quarter. Our chain currently stands at 244 clubs and 175 gas stations. This fiscal year, we expect to open about 12 new plots. This includes our third Tennessee club, which opened in Goodlettsville a few weeks ago, along with 2 relocations and our exciting entry into our 21st state in Louisville, Kentucky.

最後，我們正在以比近期歷史更快的速度成長我們的房地產投資組合併實現盈利，自第三季以來已開設了 6 個新俱樂部。我們的連鎖店目前有 244 個俱樂部和 175 個加油站。本財年，我們預計將開放約 12 個新地塊。其中包括幾週前在古德利茨維爾開業的第三家田納西州俱樂部，以及兩次搬遷和令人興奮的進入肯塔基州路易斯維爾的第 21 個州。

We're planning about 15 new gas stations as well as we open gas in existing clubs without a gas offering in addition to new clubs. Looking beyond this year, we're also continuing to build our pipeline and currently have more units in the pipeline than any time in the last 20 years.

我們計劃新建約 15 個加油站，並在新俱樂部以外的現有俱樂部中開設加油站，但不提供加油服務。展望今年，我們也將繼續建造我們的管道，目前管道中的裝置數量比過去 20 年來的任何時候都要多。

As we assess the state of the consumer over the past year, our members have been incredibly resilient. We have, as always, remain committed to helping them stretch their dollars in this value-seeking backdrop. Our mid- to higher income members, while choosier and their spending are still exhibiting strong shopping behavior with trips and spend continuing to grow.

當我們評估過去一年的消費者狀況時，我們的會員表現出了令人難以置信的彈性。我們一如既往地致力於幫助他們在這種追求價值的背景下充分利用資金。我們的中高收入會員雖然更挑剔，但他們的支出仍然表現出強勁的購物行為，旅行和支出持續成長。

Our lower income member shopped us with greater frequency in the fourth quarter even as their wallets remain pressured, particularly by lapping government aid. These members continued supplementing their purchases with other forms of tender and more so than in the third quarter, serving as another proof point of our growing wallet share. These crucial underlying behaviors drive member loyalty and retention, which is what we're after longer term.

我們的低收入成員在第四季度更頻繁地購買我們的產品，儘管他們的錢包仍然受到壓力，特別是在拒絕政府援助的情況下。這些會員繼續透過其他形式的投標來補充購買量，而且比第三季度更多，這是我們錢包份額不斷增長的另一個證據。這些關鍵的潛在行為可以提高會員忠誠度和留任率，這是我們長期追求的目標。

As we look ahead, there's no doubt that this year will have its own set of challenges for us to navigate. These include broad economic uncertainty, geopolitical risk and ongoing disinflation. However, we remain confident in our ability to continue driving our business forward. Our operating model, intense focus on our long-term growth priorities and dedication to delivering value keep us positioned to win no matter the macro.

展望未來，毫無疑問，今年我們將面臨一系列挑戰。其中包括廣泛的經濟不確定性、地緣政治風險和持續的通貨緊縮。然而，我們仍然對繼續推動業務發展的能力充滿信心。我們的營運模式、對長期成長優先事項的高度關注以及對創造價值的奉獻精神使我們無論宏觀形勢如何都能贏得勝利。

I'd like to close my remarks with my thanks to our team members, who move mountains to take care of the families who depend on us, to any of our team members listening in today, thank you for your dedication and your hard work. I remain excited about our future as we continue to grow our company together.

在結束演講時，我要感謝我們的團隊成員，他們不辭辛勞地照顧依賴我們的家庭，感謝今天聆聽的所有團隊成員，感謝你們的奉獻和辛勤工作。隨著我們繼續共同發展我們的公司，我對我們的未來仍然感到興奮。

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

現在我將把它交給勞拉，以提供有關我們今年業績和前景的更多詳細資訊。

Thank you, Bob. I'd like to join Bob in thanking our team members across our clubs, club support center and distribution centers, whose efforts delivered another year of strong financial results amid a challenging operating environment.

謝謝你，鮑伯。我想與鮑伯一起感謝我們俱樂部、俱樂部支援中心和配送中心的團隊成員，他們的努力在充滿挑戰的營運環境中又取得了強勁的財務業績。

Let's now discuss the fourth quarter results. Net sales in the quarter were approximately $5.2 billion, growing 8.7% over the prior year. Total comparable club sales in the fourth quarter, including gas sales, decreased by 0.4% year-over-year as average retail gas prices fell below $3 a gallon. Merchandise comp sales, which exclude gas sales, increased by 0.5% year-over-year and by over 9% on a 2-year stack.

現在讓我們討論第四季的業績。該季度淨銷售額約為 52 億美元，比上年增長 8.7%。由於平均零售汽油價格跌至每加侖 3 美元以下，第四季可比俱樂部總銷售額（包括天然氣銷售額）年減 0.4%。商品銷售（不包括天然氣銷售）年增 0.5%，連續 2 年成長超過 9%。

As Bob mentioned, we are pleased to see traffic accelerate. Continued disinflation pressured our overall basket, but we were excited to see units turn positive in the quarter. Our fourth quarter comp in our grocery, perishables and sundries division grew by nearly 1% year-over-year and 13% on a 2-year stack. We drove gains in market share during every single quarter this year, which supports our belief in a growing and loyal member base that relies on BJ's for its shopping needs.

正如鮑伯所提到的，我們很高興看到流量加速。持續的通貨緊縮給我們的整體籃子帶來了壓力，但我們很高興看到單位在本季度轉正。我們的雜貨、易腐食品和雜貨部門第四季度的業績年增近 1%，兩年增長 13%。今年每季我們的市佔率都在成長，這支持了我們對依賴 BJ's 來滿足購物需求的忠誠會員群不斷增長的信念。

Our general merchandise and services division comp decreased by about 1% in the fourth quarter. But as Bob mentioned, our general merchandise comp was positive as our improvement efforts continue to gain traction, particularly around the holidays. Other components of our business unfavorably impacted the overall divisional comp, partially due to a strong year in our home improvement business, creating a tougher lap this year in addition to a ramping new co-brand business.

我們的百貨和服務部門第四季的利潤下降了約 1%。但正如鮑伯所提到的，隨著我們的改進工作不斷取得進展，特別是在假期期間，我們的一般商品比較是積極的。我們業務的其他組成部分對整個部門的業績產生了不利影響，部分原因是我們的家居裝修業務表現強勁，除了新的聯合品牌業務不斷增長之外，今年的業績也更加艱難。

Digitally enabled comp sales in the fourth quarter grew 28% year-over-year reaching over 11% of our net merchandise sales in the quarter. About 90% of our digitally enabled sales are fulfilled by our clubs with services like buy online, pick up in club as well as same-day delivery, which remain the primary drivers of our digital growth. In fact, BOPIC alone contributes to about half of our digital business today.

第四季數位化產品銷售額年增 28%，佔本季商品淨銷售額的 11% 以上。我們約 90% 的數位銷售是由我們的俱樂部完成的，這些服務包括線上購買、俱樂部提貨以及當日送達等服務，這些仍然是我們數位成長的主要驅動力。事實上，光是 BOPIC 就貢獻了我們今天約一半的數位業務。

We believe that digital convenience is a key advantage for us, and we will continue to enhance member conveniences to expand our reach. Membership fee income, or MFI, grew 6.5% to approximately $108.4 million in the fourth quarter, delivering another record year in overall member counts, higher tier penetration and MFI. We're also pleased to have maintained our strength in retaining our members with another 90% in tenured renewal rate this year on top of a growing new member base.

我們相信數位化便利是我們的關鍵優勢，我們將繼續增強會員便利性以擴大我們的覆蓋範圍。第四季會員費收入 (MFI) 成長 6.5%，達到約 1.084 億美元，在會員總數、會員滲透率和 MFI 方面再創歷史新高。我們也很高興能夠維持我們在留住會員方面的優勢，在新會員數量不斷增長的基礎上，今年的終身會員續約率又達到了 90%。

Moving to our gross margins. Excluding the gasoline business, our merchandise gross margin rate declined by approximately 40 basis points year-over-year. We continued to invest across the business and similar to the past couple of quarters, experienced some unfavorable lapping of co-brand financial flows in the wake of our transition. On a full year basis, merchandise gross margins grew year-over-year by approximately 50 basis points. Our fiscal 2023 merchandise gross margin rate remains higher than each of the prior 3 years.

轉向我們的毛利率。剔除汽油業務後，我們的商品毛利率年減約40個基點。我們繼續對整個業務進行投資，與過去幾季類似，在轉型後，聯合品牌資金流經歷了一些不利的影響。全年商品毛利率年增約50個基點。我們 2023 財年的商品毛利率仍高於前三年。

SG&A expenses for the quarter were approximately $741.1 million. The year-over-year increase was primarily attributable to our new unit growth and other investments to drive our strategic priorities. We drove slight SG&A leverage as a percentage of net sales, driven by lower variable compensation compared to prior year.

本季的 SG&A 費用約為 7.411 億美元。同比成長主要歸功於我們的新單位成長和其他投資來推動我們的策略重點。由於可變薪酬低於上年，我們推動了銷售管理及行政費用 (SG&A) 槓桿佔淨銷售額的百分比小幅上升。

We reported fourth quarter and full year adjusted EBITDA of approximately $290.7 million and $1.1 billion, respectively. These exclude approximately $5.5 million and $13.9 million of fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023 restructuring costs, respectively, incurred to streamline our organizational structure to drive efficiencies at our club support center.

我們報告第四季度和全年調整後 EBITDA 分別約為 2.907 億美元和 11 億美元。其中不包括第四季和 2023 財年分別約 550 萬美元和 1,390 萬美元的重組成本，這些成本是為了精簡我們的組織結構以提高俱樂部支持中心的效率而產生的。

After several years of significant growth, we have taken a step back to reassess what the appropriate org structure should be to facilitate our future growth. As part of this work, we are reorganizing certain functions and centralizing processes to reallocate more of our resources to executing our key strategic priorities. This will be a multiyear efficiency effort that we expect will ultimately yield up to $50 million in annual savings, most of which would be reinvested in the business to fuel profitable growth.

經過幾年的顯著成長，我們退後一步，重新評估適當的組織結構應該是什麼，以促進我們未來的成長。作為這項工作的一部分，我們正在重組某些職能並集中流程，以重新分配更多資源來執行我們的關鍵策略優先事項。這將是一項多年的效率工作，我們預計最終將每年節省高達 5,000 萬美元的成本，其中大部分將重新投資於業務，以推動獲利成長。

Returning to our adjusted EBITDA for a moment. Please note that we have amended our adjusted EBITDA definition in consultation with the SEC and are no longer adding back preopening and noncash rent expense to the calculation. Specifically, our fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2023 adjusted EBITDA reported within this morning's press release are approximately $10 million and $28 million lower, respectively, than what we would have reported under our prior methodology.

暫時回到我們調整後的 EBITDA 上來。請注意，我們已與 SEC 協商修改了調整後的 EBITDA 定義，並且不再在計算中添加開業前費用和非現金租金費用。具體來說，我們在今天上午的新聞稿中報告的 2023 財年第四季度和全年調整後 EBITDA 比我們根據先前的方法報告的數據分別低了約 1000 萬美元和 2800 萬美元。

All in, our fourth quarter adjusted EPS was $1.11, reflecting growth led by our strategic priorities in membership, merchandising, digital and new clubs as well as a 53rd week benefit of approximately $13.4 million in net income equating to approximately $0.10 of earnings per share.

總而言之，我們在第四季度調整後每股收益為1.11 美元，反映了我們在會員、商品銷售、數位和新俱樂部方面的戰略重點以及第53 週淨收入約1340 萬美元的收益帶動的增長，相當於每股收益約0.10 美元。

Moving to our balance sheet. We continue to feel good about our inventory position. We ended the fourth quarter with inventory up 5.5% year-over-year, which was driven by strategic investments in our business, including supporting new clubs and in-stock improvements in our consumable categories. Our capital allocation strategy is consistent with the framework we set forth a year ago at our Investor Day. We continue to believe that the best use of our cash is applying it towards profitably growing the business.

轉向我們的資產負債表。我們對庫存狀況繼續感覺良好。截至第四季末，我們的庫存年增 5.5%，這是由我們業務策略投資推動的，包括支援新俱樂部和消耗品類別的庫存改進。我們的資本配置策略與我們一年前在投資者日制定的框架一致。我們仍然相信，現金的最佳用途是將其用於盈利性的業務成長。

As such, investments to support membership, merchandising, digital and real estate initiatives will continue to be funded by our cash flows and enabled by our strong balance sheet. Our fiscal 2023 capital expenditures, net of sale leasebacks were approximately $455 million as we continued to invest in these priorities.

因此，支持會員資格、商品推銷、數位和房地產計劃的投資將繼續由我們的現金流提供資金，並由我們強大的資產負債表支持。隨著我們繼續投資於這些優先事項，我們 2023 財年的資本支出（扣除售後回租）約為 4.55 億美元。

In recognition of the choppy rate environment this year, we also opportunistically repriced our debt agreements and proactively reduced our debt levels to minimize interest expense. We ended the fourth quarter with 0.6 turns of net leverage, which remains consistent with our long-term target of sub-1 turn. We are returning excess cash to shareholders, too. In fiscal 2023, we've repurchased nearly 2 million shares for approximately $130 million, and we now have $189 million remaining under our current authorization. We will continue to take a disciplined and balanced approach to deploying our capital to maximize shareholder value.

考慮到今年波動的利率環境，我們還機會性地重新定價了債務協議，並主動降低了債務水平，以盡量減少利息支出。截至第四季末，我們的淨槓桿率為 0.6 倍，這與我們低於 1 倍的長期目標保持一致。我們也將多餘的現金回饋給股東。在 2023 財年，我們以約 1.3 億美元的價格回購了近 200 萬股股票，目前我們的授權還剩 1.89 億美元。我們將繼續採取嚴格和平衡的方法來部署我們的資本，以最大限度地提高股東價值。

Let me now address our outlook for fiscal year 2024. While we are mindful that our business and the broader industry continue to navigate uncertainty, we believe our structural advantages and value prop will continue to translate to strength in membership, traffic and market share this year. We expect our general merchandise improvements will drive incremental member engagement to a strong consumable base.

現在讓我談談我們對2024 財年的展望。雖然我們注意到我們的業務和更廣泛的行業繼續面臨不確定性，但我們相信我們的結構優勢和價值支撐今年將繼續轉化為會員資格、流量和市場佔有率的優勢。我們預計我們的一般商品改進將推動會員參與度不斷提高，從而建立強大的消費品基礎。

Starting at the top of the P&L, we expect our fiscal 2024 comp sales, excluding gas, to range from 1% to 2%. We are currently planning for fiscal 2024 to be slightly inflationary overall with slight deflation in Q1 as we lap high single-digit inflation from Q1 of last year and also proactively work to bring stronger value to our members. We expect to return to inflation for the rest of the year and also expect the quarterly flow of comps to follow a similar trajectory, getting closer to our long-term algorithm towards the back half.

從損益表頂部開始，我們預計 2024 財年公司銷售額（不包括天然氣）將在 1% 至 2% 之間。我們目前計劃2024 財年總體上會出現輕微通膨，第一季會出現輕微通貨緊縮，因為我們經歷了去年第一季的高個位數通膨，並積極努力為我們的會員帶來更大的價值。我們預計今年剩餘時間將回歸通膨，並預期季度的複合股流量將遵循類似的軌跡，在下半年更加接近我們的長期演算法。

We expect to deliver merchandise gross margin rate improvement of approximately 20 basis points for fiscal 2024 driven by strong cost management and continued growth in our own brand penetration. From a cadence perspective, we expect the dynamics and timing of our co-brand credit card transition to continue into the first quarter with impacts easing as the program continues to ramp through the year.

在強有力的成本管理和自有品牌滲透率持續成長的推動下，我們預計 2024 財年的商品毛利率將提高約 20 個基點。從節奏的角度來看，我們預計我們的聯合品牌信用卡過渡的動態和時機將持續到第一季度，隨著該計劃在全年中繼續推進，影響將有所緩解。

We are planning for continued SG&A deleverage in fiscal 2024 as we invest in our growth initiatives, particularly in unit growth as new club sales continue to ramp over a multiyear period. Note that we are also lapping a previously mentioned variable compensation tailwind from fiscal 2023. Our strong value in gas has become even stronger with our new co-brand program, and we expect to continue to drive share gains with slight comp gallon growth in fiscal 2024. Our gas business has also become structurally more profitable, and we are planning for profit per gallon in the mid-teens range this year. We are planning for an effective tax rate of approximately 28% this year.

我們計劃在 2024 財年繼續去槓桿化，因為我們投資於我們的成長計劃，特別是隨著新俱樂部銷售在多年期間持續成長而在單位成長方面進行投資。請注意，我們也從2023 財年開始享受前面提到的可變薪酬順風。透過我們的新聯名品牌計劃，我們在天然氣領域的強大價值變得更加強勁，我們預計2024 財年將繼續推動份額成長，並實現小幅補償加侖增長我們的天然氣業務在結構上也變得更加有利可圖，我們計劃今年每加侖的利潤在十幾歲左右。我們計劃今年的有效稅率約為 28%。

Putting all this together, we expect to deliver adjusted EPS in the $3.75 to $4 range. This year, we also expect capital expenditures of approximately $500 million, the majority of which will be put towards new clubs and gas stations. Longer term, we remain confident in the underlying strength of our business and believe we are well positioned to deliver sustainable growth to maximize shareholder value.

綜上所述，我們預計調整後每股收益將在 3.75 美元至 4 美元範圍內。今年，我們也預計資本支出約為 5 億美元，其中大部分將用於新俱樂部和加油站。從長遠來看，我們對業務的潛在實力仍然充滿信心，並相信我們有能力實現永續成長，從而最大限度地提高股東價值。

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

至此，我將把它轉回給鮑伯進行結束語。

Thanks, Laura. We have considerably improved our business over the years, and our team executed well this past year. We maintained our focus on the important drivers of long-term success, resulting in consistent growth in membership, traffic and market share. Our strategic growth priorities continue to guide our future with delivering the best value as our North Star.

謝謝，勞拉。多年來，我們的業務有了很大的改善，我們的團隊在過去的一年表現也很好。我們始終關注長期成功的重要驅動因素，從而實現會員數量、流量和市場份額的持續成長。我們的策略成長重點繼續指導我們的未來，作為我們的北極星提供最佳價值。

We will grow the size and quality of our membership. We will offer an unbeatable members experience through our merchandising improvements. We will grow our digital business and profitably expand our footprint. Above all, we will continue delivering value to our members. I'm proud of our entire team, and I'm excited for the future of our business.

我們將擴大會員規模並提高會員品質。我們將透過我們的行銷改進為會員提供無與倫比的體驗。我們將發展我們的數位業務並以盈利方式擴大我們的足跡。最重要的是，我們將繼續為我們的會員提供價值。我為我們的整個團隊感到自豪，並對我們業務的未來感到興奮。

Thanks again for joining us today and for your support of BJ's Wholesale Club. I'll now turn it back over to the operator to take your questions.

再次感謝您今天加入我們並感謝您對 BJ's Wholesale Club 的支持。我現在將其轉回接線員以回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today comes from Robby Ohmes from Bank of America.

（操作員說明）今天我們的第一個問題來自美國銀行的 Robby Ohmes。

Great quarter, and thanks for the outlook commentary. Bob, Laura, maybe the traffic comps of almost 3% sounds great. It does imply a good ticket pressure still. Can you maybe give more color on sort of the expectations for ticket versus traffic in your comp guidance you gave and a little more color on general merchandise versus the food side? And then I have a quick follow-up.

很棒的季度，感謝您的展望評論。鮑伯、蘿拉，也許近 3% 的流量比較聽起來不錯。這確實意味著門票壓力仍然很大。您能否在您提供的比較指南中對門票與交通的期望提供更多的信息，以及對一般商品與食品方面的更多信息？然後我會進行快速跟進。

Robby, look, I think we're pretty pleased with the complexion underneath the comp during the quarter. As we talked about 3% gains in traffic and turn the corner on units, obviously, that means there's some pricing pressure, as you mentioned, that's about, I don't know, 10 percentage points of this inflation year-over-year in the quarter. So knowing that, that's out there, we spent more time making sure that our members are visiting us, engaging with us, putting things in their basket. And we saw a great performance from that perspective during the quarter.

羅比，你看，我認為我們對本季比賽中的膚色非常滿意。正如我們談到的流量增長 3% 並扭轉單位數量，顯然，這意味著存在一些定價壓力，正如您所提到的，我不知道，通貨膨脹率同比增長了 10 個百分點。該季度。因此，我們知道，就在那裡，我們花了更多的時間確保我們的會員拜訪我們，與我們互動，將東西放入他們的籃子裡。從這個角度來看，我們在本季看到了出色的表現。

And certainly, the acceleration in traffic was, I think, probably the thing that we were most proud of during the quarter as it really #1 shows of engagement. From a long-term perspective, it's the biggest predictor of membership renewal as we've told you a lot. And you brought up the split between food and general merchandise, it really reflected the progress that we made during the quarter in our general merchandise business. As we talked about GM comps led the entire business. And that's a new thing for us. Hopefully, that continues. We're certainly expecting it to -- GM to have a good year in this new year as we look to really grow that segment of our business over time, it's an incredibly important part of our strategy.

當然，我認為，流量的加速可能是我們在本季最引以為傲的事情，因為它確實排名第一，顯示了參與度。從長遠來看，這是會員續約的最大預測因素，正如我們已經告訴您的許多內容。您提到了食品和百貨業務之間的劃分，這確實反映了我們本季在百貨公司方面取得的進展。正如我們所討論的，通用汽車公司在整個業務中處於領先地位。這對我們來說是新事物。希望這種情況能夠持續下去。我們當然期望通用汽車在新的一年度過美好的一年，因為我們希望隨著時間的推移真正發展我們的業務部分，這是我們策略中極其重要的一部分。

Nobody that I know really loves to shop for groceries even when they come to us and save 25%, but they do love to buy electronics and apparel and home goods and things, particularly quality that we're seeing now at the values that we're putting forth as well. So we're pretty happy with the complexion of the business during the quarter, and it made us feel like we have a lot of momentum going into the next year.

據我所知，沒有人真正喜歡購買雜貨，即使他們來到我們這裡可以節省25%，但他們確實喜歡購買電子產品、服裝、家居用品和物品，尤其是我們現在看到的質量，以及我們的價值觀。也提出來了。因此，我們對本季的業務狀況非常滿意，這讓我們感覺明年有很大的動力。

That's really helpful. And just a quick follow-up. I think I saw you guys and also Sam's Club doing some membership discounting in the fourth quarter. I'm not sure a lot of that's going on anymore. But just curious how -- if you have any thoughts on how you think members gotten on discount, will they behave? Will you hold them similar as other members? Any thoughts on how that will work for you guys?

這真的很有幫助。只是快速跟進。我想我看到你們和山姆會員店在第四季做了一些會員折扣。我不確定很多事情還會發生。但只是好奇 - 如果您對會員如何享受折扣有任何想法，他們會表現如何？你會像其他成員一樣看待他們嗎？對你們來說這將如何發揮作用有什麼想法嗎？

Yes. It's a good question. Membership underlies the entire business. We had a strong year from our membership perspective and Q4 was better than the full year, all the metrics that we care about, our ability to attract members, our ability to attract the right members in terms of their quality. Our long-term renewal rate, as we talked about, still at 90%. Our higher tier members are at 38% and the co-brand has really helped us lever up that portfolio into the highest levels of our tiers. So lots to be proud of there.

是的。這是一個好問題。會員資格是整個業務的基礎。從會員的角度來看，我們度過了強勁的一年，第四季度比全年都要好，我們關心的所有指標，我們吸引會員的能力，我們吸引合適會員的能力（就其品質而言） 。正如我們所說，我們的長期續約率仍為 90%。我們的高級會員佔 38%，聯合品牌確實幫助我們將該產品組合提升到了最高級別。那裡有很多值得驕傲的地方。

We're very judicious from a discounting perspective. It is something that we do. It is something our competitors do. As we've talked about, to avail yourself of a discount, we ask you to participate in our Easy Renewal program. So discounting is an important way to catch somebody's attention and get them in, in the first year. It's up to us to properly engage you during that first year and then you renew at full freight through our Easy Renewal program in the second year.

從折扣的角度來看，我們非常明智。這是我們所做的事情。這是我們的競爭對手所做的事情。正如我們所討論的，為了享受折扣，我們要求您參加我們的輕鬆續訂計劃。因此，折扣是第一年吸引人們注意並吸引他們加入的重要方式。我們有責任在第一年與您進行適當的接觸，然後您在第二年透過我們的輕鬆續約計畫全額續約。

So again, very proud of our membership progress. It, again, is part of why we feel bullish about the business. And built upon several years now of growth in members. This is not just the COVID phenomenon. This is something we've been able to stack membership gains on membership gains for a few years now, and we don't see any reason why that would slow down.

再說一次，我們對我們的會員資格進步感到非常自豪。這也是我們對這項業務感到樂觀的部分原因。並建立在會員數年來不斷增長的基礎上。這不僅是新冠病毒的現象。幾年來，我們一直能夠將會員收益疊加到會員收益上，而且我們看不出有任何理由會放慢速度。

Our next question today comes from Simeon Gutman from Morgan Stanley.

今天我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的西蒙·古特曼。

Bob, I wanted to ask you first, the top line environment has been constrained, and we've seen that across retail. You're talking a lot about investments and thinking about where the business could be in a couple of years from now. Is there any degree to which you're holding back to manage short-term profitability? Or are some of these changes you're making, some of the cost saves designed, so that you don't have to hold back over the interim?

鮑勃，我想先問你，頂線環境受到了限制，我們在整個零售業都看到了這一點。您談論了很多關於投資的問題，並思考了幾年後業務的發展方向。您在管理短期獲利能力方面是否有所保留？或者您正在做出一些改變，或者設計一些成本節約措施，以便您不必在過渡期間猶豫不決？

Yes, Simeon, it's a really good question. We talk a lot about here investing for the long term. And -- so very few conversations around here about investment for a quarter or for a year. It's where we're going to be in 2 years, 3 years, 5 years. And that's really the point of the membership business. We want to create a franchise for the next 5 or 10 years. So certainly, we have opportunities for in-period investments. We tend to make those as they come. But the more important ones to us are other long-term ones. And those tend to fall in the membership arena.

是的，西蒙，這是一個非常好的問題。我們在這裡談論了很多關於長期投資的內容。而且——這裡很少有人談論一個季度或一年的投資。這就是我們 2 年、3 年、5 年後的目標。這確實是會員業務的重點。我們希望在未來 5 年或 10 年打造特許經營權。因此，我們當然有進行期內投資的機會。我們傾向於在它們出現時就製作它們。但對我們來說更重要的是其他長期問題。這些往往屬於會員領域。

So we're really proud of what we've been able to do. It's certainly one of the things that has really transformed the business over time. And in a quarter like this past one, where we had a great bottom line number, you've heard us talk about spending into the beat a little bit as well. Every time we know we have a good quarter going, we ramp up the investment a little bit, not necessarily for this particular quarter but for the next year, the next 2 years, the next 5 years. And that won't change.

因此，我們對我們所做的事情感到非常自豪。這無疑是隨著時間的推移真正改變了業務的事情之一。在像過去這樣的一個季度，我們有一個很好的底線數字，你也聽到我們談論在節拍上花一點錢。每當我們知道季度表現良好時，我們就會稍微增加投資，不一定是針對這個特定季度，而是針對明年、未來兩年、未來五年。這不會改變。

So probably the best example of that is the co-brand credit card certainly was a more lucrative deal than our prior deal with our prior bank, but we took all of those additional monies and invested them back into the value proposition for our members. And we talked about in the prepared remarks, 35% more rewards in the first year than in last year. That's an incredibly powerful thing for our members, whether it's 5% back on what they buy or $0.15 back on every gallon of gas that they pump. That really drives people's behavior in a lucrative fashion over the long term.

因此，最好的例子可能是聯合品牌信用卡肯定比我們之前與之前銀行的交易更有利可圖，但我們拿走了所有這些額外的資金並將其投資回我們會員的價值主張中。我們在準備好的演講中談到，第一年的獎勵比去年增加了 35%。這對我們的會員來說是一件非常強大的事情，無論是購買商品 5% 的返利，還是每加侖汽油返還 0.15 美元。從長遠來看，這確實會以有利可圖的方式推動人們的行為。

It's not particularly accretive in the first year, as we've seen here in this first year of that new program. But it allows the program to grow so that it will be really a juggernaut in 2 or 3 or 5 years. So we will continue to invest in the business for the long term. That's really our job is to create that long-term value for our shareholders.

正如我們在新計劃的第一年所看到的那樣，第一年的增長並不是特別明顯。但它允許該計劃不斷發展，使其在 2、3 或 5 年內成為真正的主宰者。因此，我們將繼續對該業務進行長期投資。我們的工作其實就是為股東創造長期價值。

And then one follow-up on general merchandise. How well do you know the customer who's buying it? Meaning, is it the most loyal? Is it a new member? And then the breadth across the different categories in general merchandise. And anything that's observable between a mature center or an existing market versus new markets?

然後是一般商品的後續行動。您對購買該產品的客戶了解多少？意思是，它是最忠誠的嗎？是新會員嗎？然後是一般商品不同類別的廣度。成熟中心或現有市場與新市場之間有什麼可觀察到的？

GM was a great story during the quarter, as we talked about, so led the business almost at a positive 2% comp and a huge acceleration off of the third quarter. This was the first quarter where you could really see the new and better assortment across many categories in GM. As you know, we started to renovate in apparel last year and saw some great results. And a lot of the Q4 categories were long lead time categories.

正如我們所討論的，通用汽車在本季度表現出色，因此帶領該業務實現了幾乎 2% 的正收益，並且比第三季度大幅加速。這是第一季度，您可以在通用汽車的許多類別中真正看到新的、更好的分類。如您所知，我們去年開始在服裝領域進行革新，並取得了一些不錯的成果。第四季的許多類別都是交貨時間較長的類別。

The first time to really see that benefit was in the fourth quarter. The great news is it really resonated with our members. We took huge important categories like consumer electronics and just knock them out of the park. Apparel continued to do well. We had great business in other categories as well.

第一次真正看到這種好處是在第四季。好消息是它確實引起了我們會員的共鳴。我們選擇了消費性電子產品等重要的類別，並將它們淘汰出局。服裝繼續表現良好。我們在其他類別也有很好的業務。

And you brought up the point of member engagement. We're not just looking at the sales for these things or the margin for these things. We're looking at how many members are participating, what's the growth in those members, what are they look like and they are members from across our portfolio. It doesn't surprise me to see that, right? If you put a fantastic brand with a fantastic value in front of somebody, their tenure as a member doesn't really matter. It's really about that great quality item at a great value.

您提出了會員參與的問題。我們不僅僅關注這些東西的銷售額或這些東西的利潤。我們正在研究有多少會員參與，這些會員的成長情況如何，他們是什麼樣子，以及他們是來自我們投資組合的成員。看到這一點我並不感到驚訝，對吧？如果你把一個具有非凡價值的出色品牌擺在某人面前，那麼他們作為會員的任期並不重要。這確實是關於物超所值的優質商品。

So we are very pleased with what we saw. It's one inning in a long game. We need to continue to do this over and over and over to rebuild the credibility and general merchandise with our members. But for the first time in a long time, just hearing from friends and neighbors and colleagues that our assortment was much, much better than in the past. It was a really good first step for our team, and I couldn't be more proud of what they did during the quarter.

所以我們對所看到的感到非常滿意。這是一場漫長比賽中的一局。我們需要繼續一遍又一遍地這樣做，以重建我們會員的信譽和一般商品。但很長一段時間以來第一次，只是從朋友、鄰居和同事那裡聽說我們的品種比過去好得多。對於我們團隊來說，這是非常好的第一步，我對他們在本季所做的事情感到非常自豪。

Our next question today comes from Michael Baker from D.A. Davidson.

今天我們的下一個問題來自 D.A. 的 Michael Baker。戴維森。

Okay. I wanted to ask, Bill, about real estate. Can you update us on how you're doing in some of the newer markets and intrigued with another new state in Kentucky, just overall, what you're seeing from new markets and why that gives you continued confidence to continue to grow the footprint?

好的。比爾，我想問有關房地產的問題。您能否向我們介紹一下您在一些新市場的進展情況，以及對肯塔基州另一個新州的興趣，總體而言，您從新市場看到了什麼，以及為什麼這讓您有信心繼續擴大足跡？

Mike, thanks for the question. Yes, we feel great about the real estate program. We -- as we talked about in the release, we did 8 clubs last year. We opened up a ninth just last month. And as we look forward to this year, we see continued growth on the horizon. And as Bob said in the prepared remarks, as we step back and look across the club growth plus what we now have in the pipeline, with the pipeline the strong it's been at any point in my tenure at the company. We feel really good about what's ahead.

麥克，謝謝你的提問。是的，我們對房地產計劃感覺很好。正如我們在新聞稿中談到的，去年我們做了 8 個俱樂部。上個月我們剛開了第九家。展望今年，我們看到持續成長即將到來。正如鮑伯在準備好的演講中所說，當我們退後一步，審視俱樂部的成長以及我們現在正在醞釀的內容時，在我在公司任職期間的任何時候，這些管道都非常強大。我們對未來感覺非常好。

In terms of the recent club performance, I think this past year, we've seen what we've seen over the last couple of years is that the clubs are outperforming on the sell side, and we see really great member acquisition, member engagement. So we continue to work hard. Bob reminds me every day to go a little bit faster on real estate, and we've done a great job in adding to the pipeline this year. So I think more club growth ahead.

就最近的俱樂部表現而言，我認為在過去的一年裡，我們在過去幾年中看到的是俱樂部在賣方方面表現出色，我們看到了非常好的會員獲取和會員參與度。所以我們繼續努力。鮑伯每天都提醒我在房地產方面要快一點，今年我們在增加管道方面做得很好。所以我認為未來俱樂部會有更多的成長。

And it's an important reflection, Mike. It wasn't too long ago that we stopped opening clubs, because we really didn't know how to do it well. We weren't doing it profitably. We didn't have enough members when we opened the clubs. And now the recent results are just spectacular over the last couple of years. And as Bill said, I'm pushing pretty hard to go even faster than where we are today.

這是一個重要的反思，麥克。不久前我們就不再開俱樂部了，因為我們真的不知道該如何做好。我們這樣做並沒有獲利。我們開俱樂部時沒有足夠的會員。現在，最近幾年的結果非常驚人。正如比爾所說，我正在努力推動比今天更快的速度。

I'm proud of where we are going from no club growth to about 10 a year. That's no terrible performance there. It's fantastic. But this is really clubs time, right? You think about the shopping environment that's out there where value is paramount, there's no better value than the club business. And so we need to be as aggressive as possible in bringing what we offer to new markets and to really extending our reach in existing markets as well.

我為我們從沒有俱樂部成長到每年大約 10 個俱樂部的發展感到自豪。那裡的表現並不糟。這是夢幻般的。但這確實是俱樂部時間，對嗎？你想想外面的購物環境，價值至上，沒有比俱樂部業務更有價值的了。因此，我們需要盡可能積極地將我們提供的產品引入新市場，並真正擴大我們在現有市場的影響力。

Yes, makes sense. If I could ask one, I guess, follow-up, but admittedly unrelated. You talked about the strength in general merchandise, particularly over the holidays, that opens the door, maybe wondering if you're willing to make any comments on monthly trend during the fourth quarter and then into early first quarter where it sounds like there's a little bit of disinflation? Does that mean maybe a negative comp in the first quarter? Or should all quarters perhaps comp positively?

是的，有道理。如果我可以問一個，我想，後續行動，但不可否認的是無關的。您談到了一般商品的強勢，特別是在假期期間，這打開了大門，也許想知道您是否願意對第四季度以及第一季度初的月度趨勢發表任何評論，聽起來似乎有一點有點通貨緊縮？這是否意味著第一季的業績可能為負數？或者各方都應該積極競爭嗎？

Look, we had a fantastic November. We were very proud of as we talked about the new GM assortment and all the offers that we put out there. It was really a great 360-degree program that our team put together and executed very, very well. That resonated early in the quarter. December was slightly less than November, January came back a little bit. So there were slight differences from month-to-month, but all through the quarter, we saw really good performance.

看，我們度過了一個美好的十一月。當我們談論新的通用汽車產品系列以及我們在那裡提供的所有優惠時，我們感到非常自豪。這確實是一個很棒的 360 度計劃，我們的團隊將其整合在一起並執行得非常非常好。這在本季度初引起了共鳴。 12月比11月略少，1月又回來了一點。因此，每個月之間存在細微的差異，但在整個季度中，我們看到了非常好的表現。

I'll refrain from getting into the first quarter all that much other than to say and Laura can build on this, however she'd like. I feel like the first quarter, given the pretty significant pricing lap year-over-year, the first quarter should look a lot like the like the fourth quarter of last year. And then the comps should build as we go as that comp lap gets a little bit easier from a disinflation perspective. And we also expect some easing pressure on the low-end consumer as we go through the year as well.

我不會過多地談論第一季度，只是說勞拉可以在此基礎上繼續發展，無論她願意。我覺得第一季度，考慮到年比價格大幅上漲，第一季應該看起來很像去年第四季。然後，補償應該隨著我們的進展而建立，因為從通貨緊縮的角度來看，補償圈會變得更容易一些。我們也預計，今年低端消費者的壓力也會有所緩解。

So by the end of the year, we made sure to put this in the prepared remarks. By the end of the year, we feel like we should be at or near our long-term comp algorithm.

因此，到今年年底，我們確保將其納入準備好的發言中。到今年年底，我們覺得我們應該達到或接近我們的長期補償演算法。

Our next question comes from Oliver Chen from Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cowen 的 Oliver Chen。

Bob and Laura, as we think about what's ahead with the merchandise margin opportunity, what's underlying the cost management opportunity and also what you see with the own brands helping the merchandise margins? And this quarter, on the merchandise margins, that headwind, which has left some detail on us that relates to anything going forward.

鮑伯和蘿拉，當我們思考商品利潤機會的前景時，成本管理機會的背後是什麼，以及您認為自有品牌對商品利潤的幫助是什麼？本季度，在商品利潤方面，逆風給我們留下了一些與未來相關的細節。

Follow-up is on your articulation on reorganizational functions and centralization. I was curious about why this was the right time for that? And how it will help your business in terms of customer centricity, et cetera?

後續是您對重組職能和集中化的闡述。我很好奇為什麼現在是合適的時機？它將如何在以客戶為中心等方面幫助您的業務？

Yes. Thanks, Oliver. Maybe I'll take a shot and Laura and Bill can fill in. I guess spend time thinking about gross margins, you really kind of 3 things to think about that impacted Q4 and that will impact next year and a few years in front of us. First is our ability to field the right assortment and the margin profile that, that provides. For those that have been following the story for a while, we have this muscle built. We used to call it CPI. Now it's probably a more wholesome assortment-driven process we call CMP, category management process.

是的。謝謝，奧利佛。也許我會嘗試一下，勞拉和比爾可以填補。我想花時間考慮毛利率，你真的需要考慮三件事，這會影響第四季度，這將影響明年和我們面前的幾年。首先是我們擁有正確品種的能力以及由此提供的利潤狀況。對於那些已經關注這個故事一段時間的人來說，我們已經建立了這種肌肉。我們過去稱之為CPI。現在這可能是一個更健康的分類驅動流程，我們稱之為 CMP，品類管理流程。

And that's along the lines of what we talked about in the prepared remarks around coffee, making sure that we take these categories that might have cost opportunity, margin opportunity and making sure that we carry the right assortment and the right -- make the right investments in our value proposition and balance out the margin. That's a particularly strong effort at this point, the merchandising team and our analytics team have done fantastic work that will benefit us in the next year.

這與我們在有關咖啡的準備好的評論中所討論的內容一致，確保我們選擇這些可能有成本機會、利潤機會的類別，並確保我們擁有正確的品種和正確的投資——做出正確的投資融入我們的價值主張並平衡利潤。在這一點上，這是一項特別有力的努力，銷售團隊和我們的分析團隊做了出色的工作，這將使我們在明年受益。

Own brands you mentioned, that's been a continuing growth effort for us now over 25% of our business with 30 in our sites. Obviously, that comes at a tremendous value to our members with savings for them, and it comes with loyalty for us and arguably better margins somewhere near 1,000 basis points better margins when you compare a typical own brands item against a typical national brand equivalent. So as we continue to grow that, that should provide opportunity for margin rate growth.

您提到的自有品牌，對我們來說是一項持續成長的努力，現在我們的業務超過 25%，我們的網站有 30 個品牌。顯然，這對我們的會員來說具有巨大的價值，可以為他們節省開支，而且可以提高我們的忠誠度，並且當您將典型的自有品牌產品與典型的全國品牌同類產品進行比較時，可以說，利潤率可以提高近1,000 個基點。因此，隨著我們繼續成長，這應該為利潤率成長提供機會。

And then the third thing is co-brand, right? We saw some pressure in the last year on margin rate and frankly, on comps the way that the accounting works. From the first year of the co-brand program, that will continue until the (inaudible). So the first part of this year, this new year, we expect to be pressured a little bit from a margin rate perspective. And that's continuing investment in the business, right?

第三件事是聯合品牌，對嗎？去年我們看到了保證金率和會計工作方式的一些壓力。從聯名品牌計畫的第一年開始，這種情況將持續到（聽不清楚）。因此，今年上半年，即新的一年，從保證金率的角度來看，我們預計會受到一些壓力。這就是對業務的持續投資，對吧？

As I talked about earlier, we take all of the -- we decided to take all the flows from the deal and put it into the value prop. And that's what grew us from 0 to 1.5 million cardholders, and that's what we expect to grow us to 2.5 million or 3 million cardholders in the future. So that's really what we think. We do think a margin rate will grow for the next year as we talked about. And it really should be CMPs and own brands offset by some co-brand pressure in the beginning of the year. Anything else, Laura, on that one?

正如我之前談到的，我們決定將交易中的所有流量放入價值支柱中。這就是我們的持卡人數量從 0 增加到 150 萬的原因，也是我們期望在未來將持卡人數量增長到 250 萬或 300 萬的原因。這就是我們的想法。正如我們所討論的，我們確實認為明年的利潤率將會成長。確實應該是 CMP 和自有品牌在年初抵消了一些聯合品牌的壓力。蘿拉，關於那件事還有什麼要說的嗎？

No. I think the only thing I'd pile on related to the co-brand card is despite that margin pressure that Bob just talked about, as we step back and look at the program, we are incredibly proud of what we accomplished this year during the transition, the new members we brought into the card product and the long-term prospects for the program with Capital One as our partner.

不。我想我唯一要強調的與聯名卡相關的事情是，儘管鮑勃剛才談到了利潤壓力，但當我們退後一步看看這個計劃時，我們對今年所取得的成就感到無比自豪在過渡期間，我們為卡產品引入了新成員，以及與第一資本作為合作夥伴的該計劃的長期前景。

Yes. We didn't make the decision to move based on economics. We made it based on member service and our ability to grow the program. And if you talk to our members, if you talked about general managers out in the field, we are very confident that our members are having a much better service experience with capital on a much better overall experience with the value prop, and that will yield benefits going forward.

是的。我們做出搬遷決定並不是基於經濟考量。我們是基於會員服務和發展該計劃的能力而製定的。如果您與我們的會員交談，如果您談論該領域的總經理，我們非常有信心我們的會員在資本方面獲得更好的服務體驗，在價值支柱方面獲得更好的整體體驗，這將產生未來的好處。

Your follow-up on the reorganization that we put forward. I think the best way to think about this is we've just finished 5 years of tremendous growth going through COVID and post COVID. And we didn't say no to a lot of investments in those years. And so it's the right time for me and for our team to really look at the next 5 years and make sure that we were putting our bets in the right places. And a lot of that was in our club support center here at our headquarters trying to make sure that after years of adding head count that we have it in the right places for the go forward.

您對我們提出的重組的後續行動。我認為思考這個問題的最佳方式是，我們剛經歷了新冠疫情和新冠疫情后的 5 年巨大增長。那些年我們並沒有拒絕很多投資。因此，現在是我和我們的團隊真正審視未來 5 年並確保我們把賭注押在正確的地方的正確時機。其中許多工作都在我們總部的俱樂部支援中心進行，試圖確保經過多年的員工人數增加，我們將其放在正確的位置以繼續前進。

And -- so that yielded this effort that added a bunch of jobs, changed a bunch of jobs and unfortunately, removed some jobs. But we're really confident in the long term of our business, if you can't tell, I'd just say that for effect. And we just wanted to make sure that our underlying administrative structure serves all of the different investments and initiatives that we have going forward.

而且──這樣就產生了這種努力，增加了很多工作崗位，改變了很多工作崗位，不幸的是，取消了一些工作崗位。但我們對我們業務的長期發展非常有信心，如果你說不出來，我只是為了效果而這麼說。我們只是想確保我們的基礎管理結構能夠服務於我們未來的所有不同投資和措施。

Our next question comes from Ed Kelly from Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的艾德凱利。

I wanted to ask about SG&A. As we think about Q4, if you could quantify or maybe help frame the incentive comp benefit, I guess, in Q4? And then I guess as we move through '24, should we think about more normalized operating expense growth, I guess, how do you think about the comp needed to leverage, I guess? And as it pertains to that, CapEx over the last couple of years have risen pretty good and D&A was up quite a bit in Q4. I'm kind of curious as to how we should be thinking about D&A growth over '24 as well related to this?

我想問一下SG&A 的事。當我們考慮第四季度時，我想您是否可以量化或幫助制定第四季度的激勵補償福利？然後我想，當我們進入 24 年時，我們是否應該考慮更正常化的營運費用成長，我想，你如何看待槓桿所需的補償？與此相關的是，過去幾年的資本支出成長得相當不錯，第四季的 D&A 也成長了不少。我有點好奇我們應該如何考慮 24 年以來的 D&A 成長以及與此相關的問題？

Look, I think why don't we start in reverse, CapEX this past year was, I think, the highest CapEx budget in our history and the new year will be even higher, and that is really reflecting our confidence in our ability to grow our chain through additional stores. So you look at about $0.5 billion of CapEx in the new year, about 80% of that, maybe 75% of that is in our real estate portfolio as we try and extend our reach and get into markets that are growing quite quickly. I think that's a great story. That's not something we take lightly. It's a lot of money, but we have tremendous confidence in our ability to spend that money effectively for the long term.

看，我認為我們為什麼不從相反的角度開始，我認為去年的資本支出是我們歷史上最高的資本支出預算，新的一年將會更高，這確實反映了我們對增長能力的信心我們的連鎖店透過其他商店。因此，你會看到新一年的資本支出約為 5 億美元，其中約 80%，也許 75% 是在我們的房地產投資組合中，因為我們試圖擴大業務範圍並進入快速成長的市場。我認為這是一個很棒的故事。我們不能掉以輕心。這是一大筆錢，但我們對長期有效地使用這筆錢的能力充滿信心。

And certainly, you're absolutely right, we did face a sort of favorability in incentive comps this year, which turns into a headwind for next year. And maybe I'll let Laura talk about SG&A in general.

當然，你絕對是對的，我們今年確實在激勵補償方面面臨某種優惠，這將成為明年的逆風。也許我會讓 Laura 談談一般性的 SG&A。

Yes. Thanks, Bob. The thing I'd add, Ed, on CapEx being our largest plan, you're right in that. I think the thing I'd say to think about is that $500 million is largely new clubs and gas stations. And there is a little bit of build that is 2 years out, right? So as we think about our new club openings. For this year, Bill talked about, we've already opened 1 in Goodlettsville, And the remainder of our new clubs this year are back weighted in Q3 and Q4. And the CapEx plan contemplates the start of new club builds for the following year. So a little bit of that is in this year's plan. But you should expect us to continue on that same trajectory going forward. I think we're really proud of the work we've made on our real estate portfolio and then think those are great investments of our dollars.

是的。謝謝，鮑伯。 Ed，我要補充的是，資本支出是我們最大的計劃，你是對的。我認為我要考慮的是，5 億美元主要用於新俱樂部和加油站。還有一些建設是兩年後的事，對嗎？當我們考慮開設新俱樂部時。比爾談到，今年我們已經在古德利茨維爾開設了 1 家，今年剩下的新俱樂部將在第三季和第四季重新投入。資本支出計劃考慮了明年開始建造新俱樂部。今年的計劃中有一部分是這樣的。但你應該期待我們繼續沿著同樣的軌跡前進。我認為我們對我們在房地產投資組合上所做的工作感到非常自豪，並認為這些都是我們資金的巨大投資。

You asked about the comp to leverage the business, and that hasn't changed. It's roughly 2% to 3%. So we will continue down that path. I think the thing you're seeing on SG&A, which I talked about in the prepared remarks, is there still is a little bit of deleverage as we continue to build out our real estate portfolio. So there is some ramp time, which we've talked about historically as expenses ramp differently than the top line.

您詢問了利用業務的補償，這一點沒有改變。大約是2%到3%。所以我們將繼續沿著這條路走下去。我認為你在SG＆A上看到的事情，我在準備好的評論中談到，隨著我們繼續建立我們的房地產投資組合，仍然存在一點去槓桿化。因此，存在一定的成長時間，我們在歷史上討論過這一點，因為費用成長與收入成長不同。

So think about kind of year 3 to 4 when a club hits maturity. So we're in our third year, this will be our third year of 10 club growth. So it's just kind of the layering in. And I think over time, we see SG&A kind of hitting a level playing field from a leverage perspective.

因此，想想俱樂部成熟的第三年到第四年。現在是我們的第三年，這將是我們 10 個俱樂部成長的第三年。所以這只是一種分層。我認為隨著時間的推移，我們看到 SG&A 從槓桿角度來看達到了一個公平的競爭環境。

Got it. And Bob, could you just remind us how you're thinking about membership fee increase philosophy? Obviously, you're providing really good value, generating good growth in membership. Are you at the point where you just would not want to disrupt that? Or if you see competition do that? You may be interested in following, just curious on updated thoughts there.

知道了。鮑勃，您能否提醒我們您如何考慮會員費增加的理念？顯然，您提供了非常好的價值，並帶來了會員數量的良好成長。您是否已經不想破壞這一點了？或者如果你看到競爭，你會這麼做嗎？您可能有興趣關注，只是對那裡的最新想法感到好奇。

Yes. It's a good and recurring question. My view on it hasn't changed. We've had such tremendous momentum in the business. I'm a little leery to disrupt that. We will certainly be mindful of what goes on out in the industry. But as we sit here and consider the best way to grow our chain and grow the number of members and the quality of those members.

是的。這是一個很好的、反覆出現的問題。我對它的看法沒有改變。我們的業務發展勢頭如此強勁。我有點擔心破壞它。我們當然會關注該行業正在發生的事情。但當我們坐在這裡考慮發展我們的連鎖店、增加會員數量和會員品質的最佳方式時。

We take that MFI question into that calculus a little bit. I do think the math around it is fairly compelling from a perspective of the dollars that it would yield. If I were you, I would be considering that as an investment pool for us to play with, not so much that it would fall to the bottom line.

我們將 MFI 問題稍微考慮一下。我確實認為從它所產生的美元的角度來看，圍繞它的數學是相當引人注目的。如果我是你，我會考慮把它當作我們玩的一個投資池，而不是讓它跌到底線。

So I don't think it would really initially impact our EBITDA or EPS, all that much, because we would look to reinvest that to further grow our chain. So we'll see how the year plays out, how the future plays out, but there are no plans today, nothing is embedded in our guidance from a fee increase perspective.

所以我認為它最初不會真正影響我們的 EBITDA 或 EPS，因為我們會尋求再投資以進一步發展我們的鏈條。因此，我們將看看今年如何發展，未來如何發展，但今天沒有計劃，從費用增加的角度來看，我們的指導中沒有任何內容。

Our next question comes from Kate McShane from Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的凱特·麥克沙恩。

We noticed that there wasn't much discussion or talk around promotions during the fourth quarter. And I just wondered if you could maybe talk to that what you saw with regards to the promotional environment in Q4? And how you're thinking about it for 2024?

我們注意到第四季沒有太多關於促銷的討論或談論。我只是想知道您是否可以談談您對第四季度促銷環境的看法？您對 2024 年有何看法？

Yes. Okay. Look, I think the promotional environment is fairly normal, right? It was certainly a little bit more promotional than prior quarters. I think as we look at it, it sort of feels like pre-COVID promotional environment at this point, maybe slightly less than that. But the brands, as you know, most of our promotion is funded by our supplier partners. They're certainly more interested in driving units today than they were 2 years ago. They are investing behind places, I think, that they can grow, and we're certainly willing and able to help them do that as well.

是的。好的。你看，我覺得宣傳環境還算正常吧？這肯定比前幾季的促銷力道更大一些。我認為，當我們看到它時，感覺有點像新冠疫情之前的促銷環境，也許比這稍差一些。但正如您所知，品牌的大部分促銷活動都是由我們的供應商合作夥伴資助的。與兩年前相比，他們今天對駕駛裝置當然更感興趣。我認為，他們正在投資那些可以成長的地方，我們當然也願意並且能夠幫助他們做到這一點。

So we did see a slight increase in promotion in the quarter and the full year last year. Probably the biggest and most impactful area for us was in general merchandise trying to make sure that we held that story of improved quality, improved experience, improved value in general merchandise as we renovate that business. That -- our Black Friday promotions, our Thanksgiving promotions were incredibly powerful as I talked to earlier.

所以我們確實看到去年季度和全年的促銷活動略有增加。對我們來說最大、最有影響力的領域可能是日用商品領域，我們努力確保在改造該業務時，我們能夠在日用商品領域實現質量提高、體驗改善、價值提高的故事。正如我之前所說，我們的黑色星期五促銷活動、感恩節促銷活動非常強大。

And we'll look to do a little bit more of those. I think as we as we look back on the past couple of years, when we do the promo schedule correctly and invest behind some weight, we get disproportionate results. And so we won't look to raise our overall level of promotions. We'll probably look to reallocate from one period to another. But our team has done a fantastic job using promotions in a smart way to drive the business.

我們將尋求做更多的事情。我認為，當我們回顧過去幾年時，當我們正確執行促銷計劃並投入一定的重量時，我們會得到不成比例的結果。因此，我們不會尋求提高整體促銷水準。我們可能會考慮從一個時期重新分配到另一個時期。但我們的團隊在利用促銷以明智的方式推動業務方面做得非常出色。

And as a follow-up question, I know there's been a lot discussed already on your thoughts around gross margin and SG&A. But if you could talk specifically to the EPS range given today, how do you think about the drivers of the lower end of the range versus the higher end of the range?

作為一個後續問題，我知道已經就您對毛利率和銷售管理費用的想法進行了很多討論。但如果您可以具體討論今天給出的每股盈餘範圍，您如何看待該範圍下限與上限的驅動因素？

Look, I think there's a couple of big things. One is obviously the sales trend, right? If we see -- we could see more or less inflation or deflation, and that would certainly impact the bottom line. And the other part is the gas business. You know that, that is -- has a tendency to be pretty volatile. It's certainly structurally more profitable today than it ever has been. Embedded in the guidance is some normalization in that from last year's results, which were sort of high double-digit cents per gallon towards $0.15, $0.16 per gallon. That could be better or worse than that assumption there, too. Those are the 2 big ones that I would play around with.

聽著，我認為有幾件大事。一顯然是銷售趨勢，對吧？如果我們看到——我們可能會看到或多或少的通貨膨脹或通貨緊縮，這肯定會影響利潤。另一部分是天然氣業務。你知道，也就是說——有一個非常不穩定的趨勢。從結構上來說，今天的利潤肯定比以往任何時候都高。該指導意見中包含了去年結果的一些標準化，去年的結果是每加侖兩位數美分，達到每加侖 0.15 美元、0.16 美元。這也可能比那裡的假設更好或更糟。這些是我會玩的兩個大的。

We're pretty comfortable in the comp guidance that we've got out there. We're pretty comfortable with the margin rate guidance we've got out there. I mean I think we've got multiple levers to hit the EPS guidance. But every year is a little different at the end of the year from the beginning of the year. So we tend to, as we talked about, invest for the long term and manage the short term.

我們對現有的薪酬指南感到非常滿意。我們對現有的保證金率指引非常滿意。我的意思是，我認為我們有多種手段來達到每股盈餘指引。但每年年底和年初都會有些不同。因此，正如我們所討論的，我們傾向於長期投資並管理短期。

That concludes the Q&A portion of today's call. I will now turn the session back over to Bob Eddy for any final comments.

今天電話會議的問答部分到此結束。我現在將把會議轉回鮑勃·艾迪（Bob Eddy）徵求最終意見。

Great. Thank you. Look, we had a great fourth quarter, a great fiscal year, and that concludes a great 5-year period for us as well. We're very bullish in our future at BJ's Wholesale Club , and we have a lot of irons in the fire to make those dreams come true. So we appreciate your time and effort in attending the call today, and we will talk to you at the end of the first quarter. Thanks so much.

偉大的。謝謝。看，我們度過了一個出色的第四季度，一個出色的財政年度，這也為我們結束了一個偉大的五年期。我們對 BJ's Wholesale Club 的未來非常樂觀，我們有很多努力來實現這些夢想。因此，我們感謝您花時間和精力參加今天的電話會議，我們將在第一季末與您交談。非常感謝。

That brings us to the end. You may now disconnect your lines.

這就是我們的結論。現在您可以斷開線路。