BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings Inc (BJ) 2022 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the BJ's Wholesale First Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Victoria, and I will be coordinating your call today. (Operator Instructions) I'll now pass over to your host, Cathy Park, to begin. .

大家好，歡迎參加 BJ's Wholesale 2022 年第一季財報電話會議。我的名字是維多利亞，今天我將協調您的通話。 (操作員指示) 現在我將把麥克風交給主持人 Cathy Park 開始。 。

Good morning, and thank you all for joining BJ's Wholesale Club's First Quarter Fiscal 2022 Earnings Conference Call. Bob Eddy, (inaudible) and Chief Executive Officer; Laura Felise, Chief Financial Officer; and Bill Werner, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Development, are on the call.

早安，感謝大家參加 BJ 批發俱樂部 2022 財年第一季財報電話會議。鮑勃·埃迪（Bob Eddy）（聽不清楚）兼執行長； Laura Felise，財務長；以及策略與發展部執行副總裁比爾·沃納（Bill Werner）也參加了電話會議。

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 sections 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，我們可能會根據聯邦證券法做出前瞻性陳述。這些聲明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。請參閱我們最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-K 表和 10-Q 表的風險因素部分，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 posted on the Investors section of our website for a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. With that, I'll turn the call over to Bob.

最後，請注意，在今天的電話會議上，我們將參考某些非 GAAP 財務指標，我們認為這些指標將為投資者提供有用的信息。此資訊的呈現並非旨在單獨考慮或取代根據 GAAP 呈現的財務資訊。請參閱我們網站「投資者」部分發布的今天的新聞稿，以了解這些非 GAAP 財務指標與根據 GAAP 編制的最具可比性的指標的對照表。說完這些，我會把電話轉給鮑伯。

Good morning. Thank you for joining us today. In the first quarter, we continued to build on the transformational gains we have driven over the last 2 years. Our membership continues to get stronger, achieving new all-time records in key membership metrics, including eclipsing 6.5 million members in the first quarter. Our digital business remains a key competitive advantage. We are quickly expanding our footprint, opening 3 clubs already this year. Our recent acquisition of our perishable distribution network from Burris Logistics will support our future growth efforts. And with this environment of high inflation and waning government stimulus stretching consumer wallets, value is becoming a necessity in purchasing decisions being made today. As a result, the club channel remains more relevant than ever and we are delivering more value to our members while executing on our key initiatives to drive membership lifetime value.

早安.感謝您今天加入我們。第一季度，我們持續鞏固過去兩年來所取得的轉型成果。我們的會員數量持續增加，關鍵會員指標創下了歷史新高，包括第一季會員數突破 650 萬。我們的數位業務仍然是關鍵的競爭優勢。我們正在迅速擴大我們的足跡，今年已經開設了 3 傢俱樂部。我們最近從 Burris Logistics 收購了易腐貨物分銷網絡，這將支持我們未來的成長努力。在高通膨和政府刺激措施逐漸減弱的環境下，消費者的錢包越來越鼓，價值已經成為當今購買決策的必要條件。因此，俱樂部管道比以往任何時候都更具相關性，我們在執行推動會員終身價值的關鍵舉措的同時，為會員提供更多價值。

Our performance in the first quarter was strong as we navigated what is already shaping up to be another dynamic year here in 2022. Our first quarter comp sales were up over 4%. Adjusted EBITDA grew 9% to $221 million, and adjusted EPS grew 21% to $0.87. Our comps were driven by significant gains in traffic and market share, and our sales were led by our grocery and perishable categories.

我們在第一季的表現非常強勁，2022 年將是另一個充滿活力的一年。調整後的 EBITDA 成長 9% 至 2.21 億美元，調整後的 EPS 成長 21% 至 0.87 美元。我們的同店銷售額的成長得益於客流量和市場佔有率的大幅成長，而我們的銷售額主要由雜貨和易腐品類所驅動。

The current consumer environment in the gasoline business drove continued increases in comp gallons, up 23% versus last year and up 51% on a 2-year stack basis. This dramatic increase in market share and the rapidly increasing price of gasoline during the first quarter drove traffic into our clubs as members continue to recognize the value of their BJ's membership.

目前汽油產業的消費環境推動了同類汽油銷售的持續成長，較去年同期成長了 23%，以兩年累積計算則成長了 51%。第一季市場份額的急劇增加和汽油價格的快速上漲為我們的俱樂部帶來了客流量，因為會員們不斷認識到 BJ 會員資格的價值。

We made further progress in the first quarter on our strategic priorities, which are: growing and retaining members; delivering value; improving convenience with digital; and expanding our footprint. Let me briefly touch on each.

我們在第一季在策略重點方面取得了進一步進展，這些策略重點是：發展和留住會員；傳遞價值；以數位化提高便利性；並擴大我們的足跡。讓我簡單談談。

Our membership stats are as strong as I've seen in my history with the company. In the first quarter, our member count grew 5% year-over-year, reaching 6.5 million members. We achieved this milestone earlier than expected driven by a combination of strong renewals as well as membership acquisition related to new club growth.

我們的會員統計數據是我在公司歷史上見過的最強勁的。第一季度，我們的會員數量年增5%，達到650萬會員。我們比預期更早實現了這一里程碑，這得益於強勁的續約以及與新俱樂部成長相關的會員獲取。

In terms of membership quality, we made great progress here as well. Easy renewal enrollment was just shy of 76% compared to roughly 72% in the prior year quarter. Higher tier membership penetration grew to 36% in the first quarter, representing a 4-point improvement from the first quarter of last year. Higher tier members are more valuable to BJ's given higher spending and loyalty. Therefore, as the penetration of these members increases the quality of our membership improves meaningfully.

在會員品質方面，我們也取得了很大進步。輕鬆續約註冊率略低於 76%，而去年同期約為 72%。第一季高階會員滲透率成長至36%，比去年第一季提高了4個百分點。由於消費額和忠誠度較高，較高階層的會員對 BJ 來說更有價值。因此，隨著這些會員的滲透力增強，我們的會員品質也顯著提高。

Not only are we driving growth in membership count and quality but in MFI per member as well. In fact, in the first quarter, our average MFI dollars per member crossed the $60 mark for the first time in the company's history, up 5% from last year. We're also taking meaningful strides toward achieving our targeted 90% tenured renewal rate, having hit a record 89% last year.

我們不僅在推動會員數量和品質的成長，也在推動每位會員的 MFI 的成長。事實上，在第一季度，我們每位會員的平均 MFI 資金在公司歷史上首次突破 60 美元大關，比去年增長了 5%。我們也朝著實現 90% 的終身續約率目標邁出了有意義的一步，去年我們已經達到了創紀錄的 89%。

Within the membership cohorts that we track, we see encouraging shopping behavior. Trips are increasing, and while we see some pressure on the lower end of the economic spectrum, that is more than offset by gains at the higher end as those members increasingly search for value. We will invest to continue delivering value in order to foster long-term growth. The gains in membership count, quality and rates over the past quarters and years will power us into the future.

在我們追蹤的會員群中，我們看到了令人鼓舞的購物行為。旅行次數正在增加，雖然我們看到經濟範圍的低端存在一些壓力，但隨著這些成員越來越追求價值，高端的成長足以抵消這種壓力。我們將進行投資以繼續創造價值，以促進長期成長。過去幾個季度和幾年來，會員數量、品質和會員率的提高將為我們的未來提供動力。

One of the many benefits of our membership model is that it allows us to truly focus on delivering unbeatable value to our members. Earlier this month, we closed on our acquisition of our perishable supply chain from Burris Logistics. I mentioned last quarter that our fresh foods are a major reason why our members shop at our clubs. Having full control over our perishable food supply chain will allow us to provide more value through network efficiencies and also opens the door to long-term growth of the business. There's a lot we can do here to elevate our fresh offering over the long run. But in the meantime, we are thrilled to welcome the over 800 new team members to our BJ's family.

我們的會員模式的眾多優勢之一是，它使我們能夠真正專注於為會員提供無與倫比的價值。本月初，我們完成了 Burris Logistics 易腐貨物供應鏈的收購。我上個季度提到過，新鮮食品是我們會員來俱樂部購物的主要原因。全面控制我們的易腐食品供應鏈將使我們能夠透過網路效率提供更多價值，並為業務的長期成長打開大門。從長遠來看，我們可以做很多事情來提升我們的新鮮產品。但同時，我們很高興歡迎 800 多名新團隊成員加入 BJ 大家庭。

Improving our merchandising is a crucial element to providing great member experience, and the key is having the right talent. Over the past year, we have been very deliberate and focused on building a best-in-class merchandising team by promoting our star merchants from within as well as recruiting the best talent externally. In addition to Rachael Vegas, our Chief Merchant, we now have 2 incredibly talented individuals heading up our own brands and B2B initiatives. We also hired a fantastic new Head of General Merchandise. Growth in our general merchandise business is at the top of our list of merchandising improvements to come.

改善我們的商品推銷是提供良好會員體驗的關鍵因素，而關鍵在於擁有合適的人才。在過去的一年裡，我們非常注重並致力於透過從內部提拔明星商家以及從外部招募最優秀的人才來建立一支一流的行銷團隊。除了我們的首席商務官 Rachael Vegas 之外，我們現在還有 2 位非常才華橫溢的人才來領導我們自己的品牌和 B2B 計劃。我們也聘請了一位優秀的新百貨商品主管。我們的百貨商品業務的成長是我們未來商品改進計劃中的首要任務。

The transformation of this company over the last handful of years can be directly linked to attracting and retaining the best talent. Continuing those improvements is my first priority. With respect to our assortment improvement initiatives, we continue to make progress on our sundry simplification work in the first quarter. Our clubs typically carry more SKUs than our warehouse from peers yet compete in fewer categories, thus eroding our members' ability to efficiently shop our clubs. We're looking to change that by reducing SKUs in categories where we feel there is unnecessary choice and introducing new categories or increasing SKUs in categories where we feel there is too little choice. The simplified categories performed well in the first quarter and are much easier to shop and serve us.

該公司過去幾年的轉型與吸引和留住最優秀人才直接相關。繼續這些改進是我的首要任務。關於我們的商品組合改進計劃，我們在第一季繼續在雜項簡化工作方面取得進展。我們的俱樂部通常擁有比同行倉庫更多的 SKU，但競爭的類別較少，從而削弱了我們會員高效地在我們的俱樂部購物的能力。我們希望透過減少我們認為沒有必要選擇的類別的 SKU 並引入新類別或增加我們認為選擇太少的類別的 SKU 來改變這種狀況。簡化的品類在第一季表現良好，讓我們購物和服務變得更容易。

As you know, one of our ongoing initiatives is increasing the penetration of our own brands, Wellsley Farms and Berkley Jensen. We continue to gain traction in the first quarter with own brands penetration up 200 basis points to an all-time high of 24%. I can't think of a better time that in these economic circumstances to lean into our own brands, showcasing value and deepening member loyalty.

如您所知，我們正在進行的舉措之一是提高我們自有品牌 Wellsley Farms 和 Berkley Jensen 的滲透率。我們在第一季繼續保持成長勢頭，自有品牌滲透率上升了 200 個基點，達到 24% 的歷史新高。我認為，在當前的經濟狀況下，沒有比現在更好的時機來依靠我們自己的品牌，展示價值並加深會員忠誠度。

A recent example of success here is our new Wellsley Farms Wellefarm single-cup coffee pods, which we introduced in March. Based on an understanding of our members' needs and extensive benchmarking of competitive offerings, we invested in a better quality product and deliver savings for our members, bringing our price per cup down by 20% and giving our members more than 40% savings per comp against branded competitors. 8 weeks in, we're already seeing strong sales and repeat rate. This is just one example of our efforts to broaden our own brand's reach.

最近一個成功的例子是我們三月推出的 Wellsley Farms Wellefarm 單杯咖啡包。基於對會員需求的了解以及對競爭產品的廣泛基準測試，我們投資了更優質的產品，並為會員節省開支，將每杯咖啡的價格降低了20%，並為會員節省了超過40% 的每杯咖啡費用。八週過去了，我們已經看到了強勁的銷售量和重複率。這只是我們努力擴大自有品牌影響力的一個例子。

On the digital front, we are driving robust growth across all of our digital channels, particularly in BOPIC and curbside. We also continue to expand the ways in which our members conveniently shop with us. We know that digitally engaged members tend to have higher average baskets and shop with us more frequently and members who make more trips have a higher likelihood of renewing. Our growth in digitally enabled sales continues as we develop new offerings like our partnership with DoorDash and strive towards frictionless shopping. We believe that adding convenient shopping offerings to the significant value offered by the club channel is a long-term winner.

在數位領域，我們正在推動所有數位通路的強勁成長，尤其是 BOPIC 和路邊通路。我們也將持續拓展會員便捷購物的方式。我們知道，數位參與的會員往往有更高的平均購物金額並更頻繁地在我們這裡購物，而購物次數較多的會員續約的可能性更高。隨著我們開發與 DoorDash 合作等新產品並努力實現無摩擦購物，我們的數位化銷售持續成長。我們相信，在俱樂部管道提供的重要價值基礎上添加便利的購物服務才是長期的成功之道。

We also launched same-day select in the first quarter, which offers BJ's members the ability to pay a onetime fee for either unlimited or 12 same-day grocery deliveries over a 1-year period. While it's still in the early days, we are encouraged with the adoption rates and are thrilled to see our efforts resonating with our members.

我們也在第一季推出了當日精選服務，BJ 的會員只需支付一次性費用，即可在 1 年內享受無限次或 12 次當日雜貨配送服務。雖然還處於早期階段，但我們對採用率感到鼓舞，並很高興看到我們的努力得到了會員的共鳴。

Finally, we remain on track with our real estate plans, and our confidence in our expansion strategy continues to grow with each new club opening. Year-to-date, we have opened 3 new clubs and 2 new gas stations. This includes our small box pilot, BJ's market in Warwick, Rhode Island. BJ's market is about half the size of a typical club. It will serve as a place where we can test assortments, displays, product demonstrations and convenience initiatives and then apply those lessons across the broader portfolio to strengthen our operations over time. We continue to expect to open a total of 11 new clubs this year and see a path to opening another 10 next year.

最後，我們的房地產計劃仍在按計劃進行，隨著每個新俱樂部的開業，我們對我們的擴張策略的信心不斷增強。今年迄今為止，我們已經開設了 3 家新俱樂部和 2 家新加油站。這包括我們的小型箱體試點，位於羅德島州沃里克的 BJ 市場。 BJ 的市場規模大約是典型俱樂部的一半。在這裡，我們可以測試產品分類、展示、產品演示和便利計劃，然後將這些經驗應用到更廣泛的產品組合中，以逐步加強我們的營運。我們繼續預計今年將開設總共 11 家新俱樂部，並且明年將再開設 10 家。

I'm proud of the significant transformation we've made at this company. We are a much stronger company with a clear path for sustainable long-term growth and value creation. This is evident in our membership base, digital business and footprint expansion, and our conviction is further validated by our share repurchases executed in the first quarter.

我為我們公司所取得的重大轉變感到自豪。我們是一家更強大的公司，擁有明確的長期永續成長和價值創造道路。這在我們的會員基礎、數位業務和足跡擴張中得到了體現，而我們在第一季執行的股票回購進一步驗證了我們的信念。

These are turbulent economic times. Inflation is continuing, gasoline prices are high and last year's stimulus benefits are winding down. In light of all this, we have continued to invest in our value proposition. In fact, our internal competitive pricing benchmarks show our pricing positions have improved over the past few quarters. A good example is our signature rotisserie chicken, which, at $4.99, maintains industry-leading pricing despite robust inflation impacting this item. We've made similar investments in select categories such as paper and water, which we know are key member value items.

目前正處於動盪的經濟時期。通貨膨脹仍在持續，汽油價格高企，去年的刺激政策效益逐漸減少。鑑於這一切，我們將繼續對我們的價值主張進行投資。事實上，我們的內部競爭定價基準顯示，我們的定價地位在過去幾季有所改善。我們的招牌烤雞就是一個很好的例子，儘管受到強勁的通貨膨脹的影響，其售價為 4.99 美元，但仍保持著行業領先的定價。我們對紙張和水等特定類別也進行了類似的投資，我們知道這些都是關鍵的會員價值項目。

These are the times that our business and the club industry overall was made for. When consumer wallets are pressured, they search for value. When they search for value, they come to us. We believe we are well positioned for the future.

這正是我們的業務和整個俱樂部產業蓬勃發展的時代。當消費者的錢包受到壓力時，他們會尋找價值。當他們尋找價值時，他們就會來找我們。我們相信，我們已為未來做好了準備。

Our results remain a testament to the strength of our team members and their continued dedication to the company and serving our members. To our team members who are listening in today, thank you again for all of your hard work. With that, I will turn it over to Laura to provide more details on our results and outlook for the rest of the year. Laura?

我們的成績證明了我們團隊成員的實力以及他們對公司和服務我們成員的持續奉獻。對於今天聆聽我們節目的團隊成員，我再次感謝你們的辛勤工作。接下來，我將把話題交給勞拉，讓她提供有關我們的業績和今年剩餘時間展望的更多詳細資訊。勞拉？

Thank you, Bob. First, I'd like to quickly share Bob's gratitude for our team members across our clubs, distribution centers and home office. The success of our company is the result of their hard work. .

謝謝你，鮑伯。首先，我想快速表達鮑伯對我們俱樂部、配送中心和總部團隊成員的感謝。我們公司的成功是他們辛勤工作的成果。 。

Now let's dig into our results. Net sales for the first quarter were $4.4 billion, a 16% increase over the prior year quarter. Merchandise comp sales, which exclude sales of gasoline, increased by over 4% and were driven by traffic growth. Our 2-year stack was negative 1%, reflecting a 3-year stack of over 26% as our business continues to settle into a higher normal base than pre-pandemic levels.

現在讓我們深入研究結果。第一季淨銷售額為 44 億美元，較去年同期成長 16%。商品銷售額（不包括汽油銷售額）成長超過 4%，主要得益於客流量的成長。我們的兩年期堆疊為負 1%，反映出三年期堆疊超過 26%，因為我們的業務繼續穩定在比大流行前水平更高的正常基數。

Comps in our grocery, perishable and sundries division grew by 7% in the first quarter, which equates to down approximately 3% on a 2-year stack and up nearly 30% on a 3-year stack. This division was led by continued strength in our food business and particularly in grocery, where comps were approximately 15% in the first quarter and up 3% and nearly 36% on a 2-year and 3-year stack respectively.

我們食品雜貨、易腐壞商品和雜貨部門的同店銷售額在第一季成長了 7%，相當於兩年內下降約 3%，三年內上漲近 30%。該部門的成長得益於食品業務尤其是雜貨業務的持續強勁增長，該部門第一季的同店銷售額增長了約15%，兩年期和三年期的同店銷售額分別增長了3% 和近36%。

Our general merchandise and services division comps were down 10% for the first quarter and up 22% and up 19% on a 2-year and 3-year stack respectively. as discretionary spend normalizes towards a new higher base from the past 2 years. Weather also played a role in our first quarter comp as our core Northeast markets experienced cold and rainy weather.

我們的日用百貨和服務部門的銷售額第一季下降了 10%，而兩年和三年的銷售額分別成長了 22% 和 19%。隨著可自由支配支出在過去兩年逐漸向新的更高基數正常化。由於我們的核心東北市場經歷了寒冷多雨的天氣，天氣也對我們第一季的業績產生了影響。

General merchandise comps in our Southeastern clubs were 3 points better than the rest of the clubs across the chain.

我們東南部俱樂部的百貨商品銷售額比連鎖店中其他俱樂部高出 3 個百分點。

As we discussed last quarter, and Bob reiterated in his remarks today, we are experiencing the highest levels of inflation in several decades. In fact, cost inflation accelerated sequentially in each month as we progress through the first quarter. We also saw significant increases in freight costs that corresponded to the increase in the price of diesel fuel. Despite these pressures, we manage margin rate well while making investments in key items to maintain outstanding value for our members.

正如我們上個季度所討論的那樣，鮑勃在今天的演講中也重申，我們正在經歷幾十年來最高的通貨膨脹水平。事實上，隨著第一季的到來，成本通膨每個月都在連續加速。我們也看到，隨著柴油價格的上漲，運費也大幅上漲。儘管面臨這些壓力，我們仍然管理好利潤率，同時對關鍵項目進行投資，以保持對會員的卓越價值。

Digitally enabled sales for the first quarter grew 26% year-over-year and over 400% on a 3-year stack. Approximately 80% of our digitally enabled sales are fulfilled by our clubs with services like buy online pick up in club, curbside and same-day delivery.

第一季數位化銷售額年增 26%，三年內成長超過 400%。我們的數位化銷售中約有 80% 是由俱樂部完成的，提供的服務包括線上購買、俱樂部取貨、路邊取貨和當日送達。

In our gasoline business, we continue to gain significant market share as retail prices increased. Gas gallons sold at comp clubs grew by approximately 23% in the first quarter outpacing the overall market by a wide margin. This growth, combined with higher-than-normal gas margins, resulted in gas profits that significantly outperformed our internal plan.

在我們的汽油業務中，隨著零售價格的上漲，我們的市佔率持續大幅增加。第一季度，免費加油站銷售的汽油量成長了約 23%，遠遠超過了整體市場的成長速度。這種成長，加上高於正常的天然氣利潤率，導致天然氣利潤大大超過了我們的內部計劃。

Membership fee income, or MFI, grew by 12% during the first quarter to $97 million and underscores the progress we have made improving the core of our business. We saw strong growth in new members, renewals trending well, and we are thrilled with the continued success we are seeing in our membership KPIs. As Bob noted, our penetration of higher-tier memberships increased to an all-time high of 36% as we continue to improve the quality of our membership base.

會員費收入（MFI）在第一季成長了 12%，達到 9,700 萬美元，這凸顯了我們在改善核心業務方面所取得的進展。我們看到新會員數量強勁成長，續約趨勢良好，我們對會員 KPI 的持續成功感到非常高興。正如鮑勃所說，隨著我們不斷提高會員基礎的質量，我們的高級別會員滲透率上升至 36% 的歷史新高。

Moving on to gross margins. Excluding the gasoline business, our merchandise gross margin rate decreased by 30 basis points. While we passed on a majority of inflationary cost increases, we did make tactical investments in some key items. Rate was also pressured by increasing supply chain costs during the quarter. SG&A expenses for the quarter were $635 million. The year-over-year increase was primarily attributable to increased labor costs associated with the wage investments we made last year, higher occupancy expenses and other costs incurred to drive our strategic priorities.

繼續討論毛利率。除去汽油業務，我們的商品毛利率下降了30個基點。雖然我們轉嫁了大部分通膨成本增加，但我們確實對一些關鍵項目進行了戰術投資。本季供應鏈成本的增加也給利率帶來了壓力。本季的銷售、一般及行政開支為 6.35 億美元。同比成長主要歸因於我們去年的工資投資相關的勞動力成本增加、更高的入住費用以及推動我們戰略重點產生的其他成本。

Our first quarter adjusted EBITDA grew by 9% to $221 million, reflecting sales growth and outsized gas profits. This quarter, we incurred nearly $8 million of onetime costs related to our Burris acquisition, which we closed on May 2. These costs were adjusted for in our adjusted EBITDA metric.

我們第一季的調整後 EBITDA 成長 9% 至 2.21 億美元，反映了銷售額的成長和巨額的天然氣利潤。本季度，我們因收購 Burris 而產生了近 800 萬美元的一次性成本，該收購於 5 月 2 日完成。

Adjusted net income for the first quarter was $118 million or $0.87 per share and reflected a 21% year-over-year growth on a per share basis. Our 21% tax rate within the quarter included a benefit of $8.4 million tax windfall compared to $3.1 million in the first quarter last year. We anticipate the tax rate for the remainder of the year will normalize at approximately 26%.

第一季調整後淨收入為 1.18 億美元，即每股 0.87 美元，年增 21%。我們本季的稅率為 21%，其中包括 840 萬美元的稅收意外收益，而去年第一季為 310 萬美元。我們預計今年剩餘時間的稅率將正常化在 26% 左右。

Our earnings growth continues to highlight our ability to prudently manage costs throughout our P&L in a highly inflationary environment as well as the benefits of a lower share count.

我們的獲利成長持續凸顯了我們在高通膨環境下審慎管理損益成本的能力，以及較低股數帶來的好處。

Our balance sheet remains strong as we ended the quarter with less than 1 turn of net leverage as measured by our net debt to adjusted EBITDA. With respect to our inventory levels, our teams have proactively worked to stay ahead of supply chain challenges that have hampered our business last year. We have also opportunistically made the decision to buy an inventory earlier than usual partially to combat inflation heading into the second quarter. These actions, combined with the impact of cost inflation, have resulted in a year-over-year increase in our balance sheet merchandise inventory net of accounts payable of $98 million.

我們的資產負債表依然強勁，以淨債務與調整後 EBITDA 比率衡量，本季末我們的淨槓桿率不到 1 倍。就我們的庫存水準而言，我們的團隊積極努力，以應對去年阻礙我們業務的供應鏈挑戰。我們也投機性地做出了比平常更早購買庫存的決定，部分原因是為了對抗第二季的通貨膨脹。這些措施加上成本通膨的影響，導致我們的資產負債表商品庫存扣除應付帳款後年增 9,800 萬美元。

As we allocate capital going forward, our first 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 strong balance sheet. We also believe that share repurchases remain a good use of excess capital and expect to continue buying back shares opportunistically. At the end of the first quarter, we had $435 million remaining under our $500 million buyback authorization.

在我們未來分配資本時，我們的首要任務仍然是發展業務。支持會員、數位和房地產成長計畫的投資將由這些現金流資助，並由我們強勁的資產負債表支持。我們也認為，股票回購仍然是利用過剩資本的良好方式，並期望繼續適時回購股票。截至第一季末，我們的 5 億美元回購授權內還剩餘 4.35 億美元。

Let me now touch on the current outlook for the year. Our first quarter results were generally in line with our expectations with the exception of a stronger-than-expected gas business. While our gasoline business has significantly exceeded our plans for the first quarter, as we sit here today, we are back to levels of profitability that are in line with long-term historical averages.

現在讓我談談今年的當前前景。除天然氣業務強於預期外，我們的第一季業績整體符合預期。雖然我們的汽油業務已大大超出了第一季的計劃，但就今天而言，我們的盈利水平已恢復到與長期歷史平均水平相符的水平。

Given the lack of predictability in the drivers of gas, we continue to carry the same philosophical approach of modeling our gas business through the rest of the year, that is assuming normal profit per gallon with a slight year-over-year volume increase over the next 3 quarters.

鑑於天然氣驅動因素缺乏可預測性，我們將繼續採用相同的理念來模擬今年剩餘時間的天然氣業務，即假設每加侖利潤正常，銷量同比略有增長。

As Bob mentioned in his remarks, we are navigating a dynamic macro environment that can create considerable variability in our operations, including record levels of inflation and waiting stimulus. That being said, these circumstances have also resulted in a stronger propensity for customers to gravitate towards value, and we believe our business is favorably positioned to continue to strengthen membership, gain market share and grow member traffic.

正如鮑伯在演講中提到的那樣，我們正在應對一個動態的宏觀環境，這可能會為我們的營運帶來相當大的變化，包括創紀錄的通貨膨脹水平和等待刺激的措施。話雖如此，這些情況也導致客戶更傾向於價值，我們相信我們的業務處於有利地位，可以繼續加強會員數量，獲得市場份額並增加會員流量。

Taking all of these factors into consideration, our fiscal year 2022 EPS outlook of flat year-over-year remains unchanged as we believe our first quarter excess gas profits will be largely offset by heightened margin pressures driven by growing supply chain costs.

考慮到所有這些因素，我們對 2022 財年每股收益同比持平的預期保持不變，因為我們相信第一季的超額天然氣利潤將被供應鏈成本增長導致的利潤率壓力上升所基本抵消。

Finally, subsequent to the first quarter end on May 2, we closed on the acquisition of our perishable distribution centers from Burris . From an individual P&L line item view, we expect minimal impact for each quarter and remain confident the acquisition will deliver approximately $20 million of EBITDA and $0.07 of EPS for the year. As a reminder, this expectation is already embedded in our flat EPS guide for the year.

最後，在 5 月 2 日第一季結束後，我們完成了對 Burris 易腐貨物配送中心的收購。從單一損益項目的角度來看，我們預計每季的影響都很小，並且仍然相信此次收購將為今年帶來約 2,000 萬美元的 EBITDA 和 0.07 美元的 EPS。提醒一下，這項預期已經包含在我們今年的持平每股盈餘指南中。

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 at the company. As a result of the fundamental improvements in our membership, our footprint expansion strategy and the structural advantages of a warehouse club model, we believe we are positioned to deliver a better growth profile than prior to the pandemic. This should result in a long-term algorithm of mid-single-digit revenue growth. With that, I will turn it back to Bob for closing remarks.

在把話題轉回鮑伯之前，我想重申我們對公司業務實力和公司轉型的信心。由於我們會員人數的根本性改善、我們的足跡擴張策略以及倉儲俱樂部模式的結構性優勢，我們相信我們有能力實現比疫情之前更好的成長前景。這應該會導致中等個位數收入成長的長期演算法。最後，我將把話題轉回給鮑勃，請他作最後發言。

Thanks, Laura. I'd like to conclude with some final thoughts. I remain excited about the future of this company, anchored by the continued progress we are making in our core strategic priorities. We're growing the membership size and quality. We're providing great value and convenience to our members, further accelerated by our digital efforts. We are relentlessly working to improve our merchandising and we are broadening our reach into new markets and solidifying our brand in existing ones.

謝謝，勞拉。最後我想說幾句我的看法。我對公司的未來依然感到興奮，這得益於我們在核心策略重點上持續取得的進展。我們正在擴大會員規模並提高會員品質。我們為會員提供巨大的價值和便利，並透過我們的數位化努力進一步加速這一進程。我們正不懈地致力於改善我們的商品推銷、擴大我們的新市場覆蓋範圍以及鞏固我們的品牌在現有市場的地位。

Our efforts to fundamentally strengthen our business served us well through the pandemic, and I believe our business model will continue to resonate with members in the current environment as we remain focused on what we do best, delivering great value. This was evident in our growth in traffic across our clubs during the first quarter, and we believe we will remain favorably positioned to help our members stretch their purchasing dollars when times are tough. I'm incredibly proud of our team, and I'm honored to be working alongside them as we continue to serve our members, provide unbeatable value and grow our business. I'll now turn the call back over to the operator to begin the Q&A session.

我們為從根本上加強業務所做的努力在疫情期間發揮了很好的作用，我相信，在當前環境下，我們的商業模式將繼續引起會員的共鳴，因為我們仍然專注於我們最擅長的領域，提供巨大的價值。這在第一季我們各個俱樂部的客流量成長中得到了明顯體現，我們相信，在困難時期，我們將保持有利地位，幫助我們的會員節省購買開支。我為我們的團隊感到無比自豪，我很榮幸能夠與他們一起工作，繼續為我們的會員服務，提供無與倫比的價值並發展我們的業務。我現在將電話轉回給接線生，開始問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question is from Robert Ohmes at Bank of America.

（操作員指示）我們的第一個問題來自美國銀行的羅伯特·歐姆斯（Robert Ohmes）。

Great quarter. Actually, 2 questions. One was, Bob, I think you mentioned that the -- you are seeing some lower end customer pressures. Can you talk more about the behavior changes that you're seeing and how that's different versus the higher-end customers? And then the second question is just maybe could we get a little more color on the buying inventory early and costs going up and more help on how to think about the timing of that impacting or not impacting margins in the -- as we move through the rest of the year.

非常棒的一個季度。實際上，有兩個問題。一是，鮑勃，我想你提到過——你看到了一些低端客戶的壓力。您能否詳細談談您所看到的行為變化以及與高端客戶相比有何不同？然後第二個問題是，我們能否儘早獲得更多關於購買庫存和成本上漲的信息，以及如何考慮影響或不影響利潤率的時機的更多幫助——隨著我們進入今年剩餘的時間。

Robbie, thanks for your questions. Look, we had a fantastic quarter. From a top line perspective. We thought an incredibly demanding environment our membership was off the charts, right? The membership count up 5% against last year, up 2% against Q4. The quality of the membership up incredibly in terms of higher tier penetration easy (inaudible) all the things that we track. If you sort of peel back and get to your core question in terms of what are these members doing, all of the income cohorts that we track were a little bit better than we thought they would be. The core hypothesis that we had going into the quarter was given the roll-off and stimulus, we would see some headwinds from a lower income perspective. But we would also see some tailwinds at the top of the house with higher income folks, and that's exactly what we saw.

羅比，謝謝你的提問。你看，我們度過了一個非常棒的季度。從營收角度來看。我們認為我們的會員環境要求非常高，對嗎？會員數量較去年同期增長了 5%，較第四季度增長了 2%。就更高層級的滲透率而言，會員品質大幅提高，這很容易（聽不清楚）我們追蹤的所有事情。如果你仔細分析並找到核心問題：這些會員在做什麼，我們追蹤的所有收入群體都比我們想像的要好一些。我們進入本季的核心假設是，鑑於成長放緩和刺激措施，我們將從低收入的角度看到一些阻力。但是，我們也會看到，隨著收入較高的人群，眾議院高層也出現了一些順風，而這正是我們所看到的。

Every one of the income cohorts that we track is spending well versus our expectations. So we're very pleased to see that. We certainly saw more traffic in the higher income cohort as they search for value in these tough times. We also saw gas driving a tremendous amount of traffic. Certainly, it drives traffic in a normal world that drives renewal rates as well. But as you get to levels of the price of gasoline that we've seen in the past couple of weeks and months, certainly, people care more about saving money in gas, and we saw that in our gas clubs as well. So all in all, a pretty strong quarter from a traffic perspective from a spend perspective and certainly from a membership perspective.

我們追蹤的每一個收入群體的支出都符合我們的預期。所以我們很高興看到這一點。我們確實看到高收入群體的流量增加了，因為他們在困難時期尋求價值。我們也看到天然氣推動了龐大的交通量。當然，在正常情況下，它會推動流量，從而也推動更新率。但當你看到過去幾週和幾個月的汽油價格水平時，人們肯定會更關心節省汽油錢，我們在汽油俱樂部也看到了這一點。整體而言，從流量角度、支出角度，當然還有會員角度來看，這是一個相當強勁的季度。

Your second question on inventory, maybe I'll take quickly and then Laura can fill in. Our inventory was up about 30% year-over-year. A large portion of that is just the cost of inventory going up. We made some strategic choices to bring in extra supplies from a food business perspective. And about the last thing I'm worried about is more inventory in our food business given how strong that is. And then, certainly, from a general merchandise perspective, we've got more inventory. Last year was a little bit light. This year is probably a little bit heavy, but we don't see tremendous markdowns coming through our general merchandise business. And maybe I'll ask Laura to comment as well.

關於庫存的第二個問題，也許我會很快回答，然後勞拉可以填寫。其中很大一部分只是庫存成本上漲。從食品業務的角度來說，我們做出了一些策略選擇來引進額外的供應。我最不擔心的是我們的食品業務庫存增加，因為目前我們的食品業務非常強勁。當然，從百貨商品的角度來看，我們有更多的庫存。去年稍微輕鬆一些。今年的銷售可能會有點差，但我們的百貨業務不會大幅降價。也許我也會讓勞拉發表評論。

Yes. I think you got that right, Bob. The only thing I might add is a little context on the general merchandise comment you made. So that inventory, I think, Bob said we feel okay about. I would emphasize that we don't think that there's markdown risk on it as of right now. We feel well positioned. Our general merchandise inventory is not heavily fashion-based or something that we think about as risky as we look forward to the remainder of the year. .

是的。我認為你是對的，鮑伯。我唯一想補充的是，關於您對一般商品的評論，我想補充一些背景資訊。所以我認為，鮑伯說我們對這些庫存感覺還好。我想強調的是，我們認為目前不存在降價風險。我們覺得自己處於有利地位。展望今年剩餘時間，我們的百貨商品庫存並不以時尚商品為主，我們認為這些商品風險不大。 。

Our next question comes from Peter Benedict at Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自貝爾德公司的彼得·本尼迪克特。

I guess first one would just be around inflation. You talked about record levels. I'm not sure if you'd be able to quantify maybe what the inflation impact was on your merch comps. And then on MFI, on the fee income, obviously, great growth there. Any reason why those numbers wouldn't continue to build sequentially in dollars and just how you're thinking about the growth in MFI this year?

我想第一個問題與通貨膨脹有關。您談到了記錄水平。我不確定您是否能夠量化通貨膨脹對您的商品銷售的影響。然後就小額信貸機構而言，費用收入顯然取得了巨大的成長。為什麼這些數字不會以美元計價並連續成長？

Pete, thanks for the questions. So certainly, inflation was a big impact on the quarter. I think, we had talked about 4 points of inflation. In Q4, it's meaningfully higher than that at this point. So think about maybe 7 points of inflation. As Laura talked about, it did increase in every month of the year. I think it's probably going to continue to increase from here, and that drives a tough operating environment. It drives a tough consumer environment. But frankly, I think our merchants and our team overall has done a fantastic job managing the inflation. We've been able to pass through most of it, but the higher it goes, the more time we have to spend with our suppliers, managing the cost and managing what we pass through, I think we need to continue to do what we can to help our members navigate this tough consumer environment.

皮特，謝謝你的提問。因此，通貨膨脹無疑對本季產生了重大影響。我想，我們已經討論過 4 個點的通貨膨脹。在第四季度，這一數字明顯高於目前的水平。因此，考慮一下通貨膨脹率大概是 7 個點。正如勞拉所說，一年中每個月它確實都在增加。我認為從現在起它可能會繼續成長，這將帶來艱難的經營環境。這導致了嚴峻的消費環境。但坦白說，我認為我們的商家和團隊總體上在控制通貨膨脹方面做得非常出色。我們已經能夠通過大部分，但價格越高，我們就越需要花更多的時間與供應商打交道，管理成本和管理我們所要通過的東西，我認為我們需要繼續盡我們所能幫助我們的會員應對這個嚴峻的消費環境。

Certainly, from a membership fee perspective, as I said earlier, we're very proud of the results that we had. Renewal rates are higher. We were able to get a ton of new members for the 3 new clubs that we opened during the year, and we exceeded our own expectations and pretty much in all things MFI-related, including the dollars per member, as you mentioned.

當然，從會員費的角度來看，正如我之前所說，我們對所取得的成果感到非常自豪。續約率較高。我們在這一年中新開設了3 個俱樂部，吸引了大量新會員，並且超出了我們自己的預期，而且幾乎所有與MFI 相關的事情都超出了我們的預期，包括正如您所說，每位會員的收入。

I do think -- I don't want to jump in front of Laura's guidance, but I do think we should see a little bit better MFI performance than we initially thought, and that should carry through the remainder of the year as well. Maybe I'll let Laura pile on to that comment.

我確實認為——我不想搶在勞拉的指導之前，但我確實認為我們應該看到 MFI 的表現比我們最初想像的要好一點，而且這也應該會持續到今年剩餘時間。也許我會讓勞拉繼續發表這一評論。

Yes. I think that's right, bob. The only thing I might add is to think about the timing of the MFI and how it rolls into the P&L. So some of that is from the record levels we had in the fourth quarter of last year, and we're getting the benefit from all those members that we added in the fourth quarter of last year rolling through. So I think all of -- everything that Bob said is a fair point from a full year and how to think about it. It should continue. And we're really happy with all of the membership steps that we talked about, including -- I think the one thing is easy renewal and all of our members that are included in that program, and that certainly helps.

是的。我認為那是對的，鮑伯。我唯一想補充的是考慮 MFI 的時間安排以及它如何進入損益表。因此，其中一些是來自我們去年第四季度創下的創紀錄水平，並且我們從去年第四季度新增的所有成員中獲得了收益。所以我認為鮑勃所說的一切都是從全年角度出發的合理觀點以及如何思考它。它應該繼續下去。我們對於所討論的所有會員步驟感到非常高興，包括——我認為一件事就是輕鬆續訂，並且我們所有的會員都包含在該計劃中，這肯定會有所幫助。

No, that's super helpful. If I could -- just one quick follow-up. Just on the pricing and the inflation comments, Bob. You talked about some strategic price investment that was going on. I'm just curious maybe where you feel like that's most useful and how the gaps are right now in grocery and gas relative to maybe where they have been.

不，這非常有幫助。如果可以的話 - 我只想快速跟進。僅就定價和通貨膨脹發表評論，鮑勃。您談到了正在進行的一些策略性價格投資。我只是好奇，也許您覺得這最有用的地方在哪裡，以及目前食品雜貨和汽油方面的差距相對於以前的差距如何。

Yes, no doubt. Thanks for asking that. But simply put, our price gaps are better than they've been in a while, better than last quarter better than last year. We spent a lot of time figuring that out. It's a very detailed analysis every day, every week, every quarter at this point, given the pace of inflation, but our team has done a wonderful job managing it. I feel great about where we are from a price gap perspective. And obviously, that's driving our traffic.

是的，毫無疑問。謝謝你問這個問題。但簡單地說，我們的價格差距比一段時間以來的狀況要好，比上一季的狀況要好，比去年同期的狀況要好。我們花了很多時間來解決這個問題。考慮到通貨膨脹的速度，目前每天、每週、每季都需要非常詳細的分析，但我們的團隊在管理方面做得非常好。從價格差距的角度來看，我對我們所處的狀況感到非常滿意。顯然，這正在推動我們的流量。

And you bring up gas, that's important as well. We sell lots of gasoline. It is not something we look to make a tremendous amount of money on but certainly something we look to provide a tremendous amount of value on to our members. And we did a nice job with that during the quarter, pricing our gasoline as low as we can do it and using that to drive traffic into our buildings.

你提到了天然氣，這也很重要。我們銷售大量汽油。我們並不是想從中賺取巨額利潤，但我們希望從中為我們的會員提供巨大的價值。本季度，我們在這方面做得很好，我們將汽油價格定得盡可能低，並以此吸引客流進入我們的大樓。

We also have built our co-branded credit card portfolio to almost 1.5 million cardholders at this point. Those folks get $0.10 off a gallon every day at the pumps. We've done a number of different promotions to try and get people who are visiting our gas stations to get inside the club during the same trip. And I think our guns really show that, right, up over 20% during this quarter, up over 50% on a 2-year stack basis. Just a tremendous effort to merge those 2 businesses and really take that value that we show every day at the pumps and convert that into traffic on our registers inside the store.

我們也建立了聯名信用卡組合，目前持卡人數量已接近 150 萬。這些人每天在加油站加油時每加侖可優惠 0.10 美元。我們進行了多種不同的促銷活動，試圖吸引前往我們加油站的人們同時進入俱樂部。我認為我們的數據確實表明了這一點，本季上漲超過 20%，兩年累計上漲超過 50%。將這兩家公司合併是一項巨大的努力，真正將我們每天在加油站展示的價值轉化為店內收銀機的客流量。

Our next question comes from Mike Baker at D.A. Davidson.

下一個問題來自 D.A. 的 Mike Baker。戴維森。

Great. Thanks. So couple, I suppose, follow-ups. One, on the general merchandise and your lack of markdown risk. Maybe this is too short term of a question, but how much of that is seasonal. And a lot of other retailers have said that the weather has been better in May, and that's allowed them to work through some of the seasonal product and see a rebound there. Is that one reason why you don't see markdown risk? And how concerned are you that Target and Walmart, their inventories were up massively and they're going to start marking stuff down. Does that impact you at all from a competitive standpoint, even though you don't think you'll mark down stuff If they do, do you have to follow? .

偉大的。謝謝。因此，我想，這是一對後續行動。一、關於一般商品的折扣風險及缺貨情況。也許這個問題太短期了，但其中有多少是季節性的？許多其他零售商也表示，五月天氣好轉，這使得他們能夠銷售一些季節性產品並看到銷售反彈。這是您沒有看到降價風險的原因之一嗎？您是否擔心塔吉特和沃爾瑪的庫存大幅增加，並且他們準備開始降價？從競爭的角度來看，這是否會對您產生影響，即使您認為您不會降價，如果他們這樣做，您是否必須遵循？ 。

Mike -- go ahead, Laura.

麥克——繼續，勞拉。

Okay. I'll jump in, Mike, and then maybe let Bob jump in after. My comment earlier on the general merchandise was pointed at it not being fashion, so no markdown risk. You got that right. I would say it is heavy from a seasonal perspective. So think about everything kind of spring, summer. Your comments on Target and Walmart and their markdown cadence, I think that's something we deal with on a regular normal operating basis. We will continue to watch the markets, figure out what's going on, make sure that we're delivering the right price and value to our members. But as of right now, we feel okay about where we are, and we'll see kind of where the quarter goes.

好的。我先加入，麥克，然後也許讓鮑伯加入。我之前對日用商品的評論指出它不是時尚商品，因此不存在降價風險。你說對了。我想說，從季節角度來看，它影響很大。所以想想春天、夏天的一切。您對 Target 和 Walmart 及其降價節奏的評論，我認為這是我們在正常營運基礎上處理的事情。我們將繼續關注市場，了解最新動態，確保為我們的會員提供合理的價格和價值。但就目前而言，我們對目前的狀況感到還不錯，我們將拭​​目以待本季的走勢。

Okay. And if I could ask one more follow-up. Just on the lower-income customer, can you give a little bit more detail on what you're seeing there in terms of is there any trade-down? I know that maybe that's harder to see in your limited assortment, but is there a trade-down? Is there lower units per transaction? Is it fewer trips than you -- than others? What exactly are you seeing to -- for that lower income customer?

好的。我可以再問一個問題嗎？僅針對低收入客戶，您能否更詳細地介紹您所看到的情況，是否有任何降價現象？我知道，在你們有限的品種中，可能很難看到這一點，但是否存在折衷的情況？每筆交易的單位數是否較低？您的旅行次數是否比其他人少？對於低收入客戶，您到底想做什麼？

Yes. Thanks, Mike. As I said earlier, we're seeing great shopping habits across the income cohorts. We're seeing more trips. We are seeing a little bit of trade down, right? Take a look at our own brands penetration up 200 basis points. That's certainly part of that is us driving that business, but part of it is undoubtedly people searching for value. And that doesn't necessarily surprise us. And then as I said, the higher income cohorts are shopping meaningfully more, and that's making up for any pressure we see at the bottom of the house.

是的。謝謝，麥克。正如我之前所說，我們發現各個收入族群都有著良好的購物習慣。我們看到了更多的旅行。我們看到貿易有所下滑，對嗎？看看我們自己的品牌滲透率上升了200個基點。這當然是我們推動業務的一部分，但毫無疑問還有一部分是人們在尋求價值。這不一定令我們感到驚訝。然後正如我所說的，高收入群體的購物量顯著增加，這彌補了我們在房屋底層看到的任何壓力。

I would characterize the pressure in the lower income cohorts as expected. It's not tremendous. It's not something that worries us. It's right in mind with what we thought would happen. And the benefit at the higher income cohorts is frankly a little better than what we expected, and that gets to the traffic gains that we saw during the quarter.

我認為低收入群體所承受的壓力是可以預期的。沒什麼特別的。這並不是令我們擔心的事。這和我們想到的將要發生的事完全一致。坦白說，高收入群體的收益比我們預期的要好一些，這也與我們在本季看到的流量成長有關。

Makes

品牌

Our next question comes from Edward Kelly at Welfare. .

我們的下一個問題來自福利部的愛德華凱利。 。

Can we just start with -- my first question is on merchandise margin. And can you talk about how you're thinking about second quarter and the rest of the year? As part of this, how does pass-through expectation of inflation changed as it's accelerating? And then you did mention incremental pressure on supply chain. Could you quantify that as well as part of all that?

我們可以先問一下嗎？您能談談您對第二季以及今年剩餘時間的看法嗎？其中，通膨加速上升，其傳導預期如何變化？然後您確實提到了供應鏈的增量壓力。您能量化這一切以及其中的一部分嗎？

Maybe maybe I'll sort of set the tone and let Laura fill on with any specifics. So certainly, pretty proud of where we landed from a membership -- sorry, a margin perspective during the quarter. We were able to make inflation very effectively and, as I said, pass it through on a pretty rational basis. We did make a bunch of tactical investments. We talked about the recosticken is probably the headline example where we haven't moved off the price given double-digit inflation in that particular item because it's such a meaningful thing to our members, smaller categories of paper and bottled water and things. We've been making investments all along and those things, and we'll continue to do that.

也許我應該定下基調，讓勞拉補充具體細節。因此，我們當然對本季的會員額（抱歉，是利潤率）感到非常自豪。我們能夠非常有效地控制通貨膨脹，而且正如我所說的，以相當合理的方式傳導通貨膨脹。我們確實做了大量戰術投資。我們討論的重新定價可能是最典型的例子，考慮到該特定商品的兩位數通貨膨脹，我們並沒有調整價格，因為這對我們的會員、較小類別的紙張、瓶裝水等來說是一件非常有意義的事。我們一直在進行投資等，我們會繼續這樣做。

But for the most part, we've been able to figure out ways to pass through the inflation that we're seeing so far. I do think we are seeing more supply chain costs. You can't take diesel fuel from $4 to $6 without seeing that. We certainly saw it in the first quarter, we anticipate seeing more of it in the second quarter and beyond if those prices continue. We will obviously work to cover that, but I think the risk is there, particularly the longer that goes.

但總體而言，我們已經能夠找到辦法解決目前看到的通貨膨脹。我確實認為我們正在看到更多的供應鏈成本。你不可能在沒有看到這一點的情況下將柴油價格從 4 美元漲到 6 美元。我們確實在第一季看到了這種情況，如果這些價格繼續保持下去，我們預計在第二季及以後還會看到更多這種情況。我們顯然會努力彌補這一點，但我認為風險是存在的，特別是時間拖得越長。

And then we've talked a lot about potential for markdown risk, which we think is pretty limited based on what we see today. So with that as a starting point, let me kick it over to Laura, if you can sort of fill in where she thinks the second quarter might land, and we can go from there.

然後我們討論了很多關於降價風險的可能性，根據我們今天看到的情況，我們認為這種風險非常有限。因此，以此為起點，讓我將其交給勞拉，如果你可以填補她認為第二季可能落腳的地方，我們就可以從那裡開始。

Yes. So I think -- as I think about the second quarter, I certainly think, as you compare it to last year, there is some pressure primarily from what Bob just said, as diesel prices rise, there's not much we can do about those. So certainly some pressure on merch margins in the near term.

是的。所以我認為——當我想到第二季度時，我確實認為，與去年相比，確實存在一些壓力，主要來自鮑勃剛才所說的，隨著柴油價格上漲，我們對此無能為力。因此短期內商品利潤肯定會面臨一些壓力。

Two other things I would add in there. As you think about, we've talked about our import business we are relatively insulated from an import perspective just because, from a mix, we don't have a lot of product that we import on an annual basis. So think about all of the supply chain issues that continue there, and we feel pretty good about that as we look across our peers.

我還要補充另外兩件事。正如您所想，我們已經討論過我們的進口業務，我們相對不受進口角度的影響，因為從組合來看，我們每年進口的產品並不多。因此，請思考那裡持續存在的所有供應鏈問題，當我們回顧我們的同行時，我們對此感覺相當良好。

And then the other thing I'd say is that while there are supply chain pressures on merch margin, the flip side of that is actually that consumers will feel that as well. Probably gas prices will continue to rise or at least stay where they are now, and that will continue to drive traffic. And we think the value that we can provide to our members, they will continue to see that. We saw it in Q1 with traffic patterns and we think that will continue in Q2. So

我想說的另一件事是，雖然供應鏈對商品利潤造成壓力，但另一方面，消費者實際上也會感受到這種壓力。或許，汽油價格將繼續上漲，或至少維持在目前的水平，這將繼續推動交通成長。我們認為，我們能為會員提供的價值，他們將繼續看到這一點。我們在第一季的流量模式中看到了這一點，我們認為這種情況將在第二季繼續延續。所以

I think you've got the story on merch margin there. I think the only other thing is on your point about pass-through and how much of the inflation continue we can continue to pass through. That's something we'll watch. We watch it every day. We watch it weeks, months, and we'll continue to react where we can. And if we have to make investments in certain categories, we will continue to do that as we did in the first quarter. And

我想你已經了解商品利潤的故事了。我認為唯一的其他事情是關於傳導的觀點以及我們能夠繼續傳導多少通貨膨脹。我們會關注這一點。我們每天都看它。我們數週、數月來一直在關注此事，並將繼續盡我們所能做出反應。如果我們必須對某些類別進行投資，我們將繼續像第一季一樣進行投資。和

Maybe I'll just jump back in for one second and put a little bit of a finer point on what Laura said. We're expecting a little bit more margin rate pressure than we saw in the first quarter in the second quarter. So we were down 30 bps in the first quarter, we're sort of forecasting down a little bit more than that in the second quarter. But a chunk of the traffic that we saw in the first quarter was driven by gas. To the degree that gas prices stay high, I would think that benefits our sales line again in the second quarter.

也許我應該再重複一遍並更詳細地闡述勞拉所說的話。我們預計第二季的利潤率壓力將比第一季略大一些。因此，我們在第一季下降了 30 個基點，預計第二季的降幅會比這略大。但我們在第一季看到的大部分流量是由天然氣推動的。如果汽油價格維持在高位，我認為這將再次利好我們第二季的銷售線。

So as we look at Q2, probably a little bit more sales than we initially thought, a little bit less margin rate and more or less the same bottom line.

因此，當我們展望第二季時，可能會發現銷售額比我們最初預想的要多一點，利潤率要低一點，但利潤率大致相同。

Okay. Great. And then just a quick one for you. On new clubs, you've opened up 7 clubs in the last 6 months or so. Just kind of thoughts on what you're seeing there.

好的。偉大的。接下來我再給大家簡單介紹一下。關於新俱樂部，你們在過去 6 個月左右開設了 7 傢俱樂部。只是針對您在那裡看到的事情的一些想法。

Maybe I'll start off maybe I'll start it off and let fill in. We're incredibly proud of the progress of the real estate team. And our team overall has made in expanding our footprint. As you said, we've done a great job in the last 6 months. Great job this quarter, 3 clubs alone in this quarter since we last talked, and each of them is doing spectacularly well. We look forward to getting about 11 clubs in this year and see it grow to 10 more next year. And just very proud of what we've been able to accomplish. So Bill, why don't you take it from there?

也許我會開始，也許我會開始，讓我們填寫。我們的團隊總體上在擴大我們的影響力方面取得了進展。正如您所說，我們在過去六個月裡做得非常出色。本季表現非常好，自從我們上次交談以來，本季就有 3 傢俱樂部，每家都表現得非常出色。我們期望今年能加入約 11 個俱樂部，明年再增加到 10 個。我們對所取得的成就感到非常自豪。那麼比爾，你為什麼不從那裡開始呢？

Yes, sure. Listen, the results have been really good and capped off, I would say, over the last couple of weeks with probably what was our best membership campaign ever in our opening last week in Lady Lake, Florida. So both the membership as well as the sales levels and the clubs have been really, really promising so far. So as Bob mentioned, really happy with the results, really proud of the work the team has put in and excited for the call to going to get open here in the rest of the year.

是的，當然。聽著，我想說，過去幾週的結果非常好，而且，上週在佛羅裡達州 Lady Lake 舉行的開幕典禮可能是我們有史以來最好的會員活動。因此，到目前為止，會員人數、銷售水平和俱樂部都非常有前景。正如鮑勃所提到的那樣，我對結果非常滿意，對團隊所做的工作感到非常自豪，並對今年剩餘時間在這裡開業感到興奮。

Our next question comes from Kate McShane of Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的凱特·麥克沙恩。

I was curious if you could talk a little bit about your thoughts around the cadence of comp throughout the year. I know last time when we spoke with you, I think Q3 was one of the quarters where you maybe had expected tougher compare, a tougher quarter. Just I know we kept the guidance for the year today, but just how you're thinking about each quarter when it comes to the top line, if anything has changed there.

我很好奇，您是否可以談談您對全年比賽節奏的看法。我知道上次我們與您交談時，我認為第三季是您可能預料到的更艱難的季度之一。我只是知道我們今天維持了今年的業績預期，但是當談到營收時，您如何看待每個季度的業績，如果有任何變化的話。

Yes. I think the general gist of it is about the same, and I'll kick it over to Laura in a second. We we thought that Q1 and Q4 would be our strongest and then followed by Q2 and then Q3 would be likely negative comp. I think that still holds albeit given the level of inflation and the traffic that we saw in Q1 were a little bit more bullish on the general comp trend of the business. Let me kick it over to Lars, he can sort of fill it in expectations for Q2.

是的。我認為它的大意是大致相同的，我馬上就把它交給勞拉。我們認為 Q1 和 Q4 將是我們最強勁的季度，其次是 Q2，然後 Q3 可能會產生負面影響。我認為這仍然成立，儘管考慮到通貨膨脹水平和我們在第一季看到的流量對業務的整體成長趨勢更加樂觀。讓我把它交給拉爾斯 (Lars)，他可以對 Q2 的期望進行填補。

Yes. That's right, Keith. So I think the framing of it that Bob just gave is right from a cadence perspective. I think there is a big piece that will come from rising prices or inflation. So I would think about it from a cadence off of Q1, Q2 kind of hanging around where Q1 was. And then Q4, certainly will be higher. Q3, we continue to think we'll have pressure from a TI -- perspective as we lap kind of what we talked about last year, that sundries pull forward, so lowest in Q3 as we review it now. .

是的。沒錯，基斯。因此我認為，從節奏的角度來看，鮑伯剛才給出的框架是正確的。我認為很大一部分將來自物價上漲或通貨膨脹。因此，我會從 Q1 的節奏來思考這個問題，Q2 的節奏與 Q1 的節奏差不多。然後第四季肯定會更高。 Q3，我們繼續認為我們將面臨來自 TI 的壓力——正如我們去年談論的那樣，雜項向前推進，所以正如我們現在回顧的那樣，在第三季度處於最低水平。 。

Our next question comes from Chuck Grom at Gordon Haskett Research Advisors. .

我們的下一個問題來自 Gordon Haskett 研究顧問公司的 Chuck Grom。 。

Can you just provide some comment on the cadence of the comp throughout the period? And then if seasonal started to lift now in the month of May, now that the weather started to improve. And you talked about traffic driving the comp. I was wondering if you could unpack the comp between traffic and ticket.

您能否對整個期間的節奏提供一些評論？如果現在五月季節性因素開始緩解，那麼天氣也開始好轉。您談到了流量對公司發展的推動作用。我想知道您是否可以解析交通和罰單之間的矛盾。

So Chuck, so you think the Q1 comp, it was fairly ratable across the quarter, although the first month, February and the last month, April, were better than March. I wouldn't say it's a meaningful difference, but certainly, March was a touch lower. As we sit here in May, the comps look good, but it is very early and may service. I mean, it's a Q2 service range quarter where the 2 holidays, Memorial Day and the 4th of July in there. So it comes in -- the sales come in chunks, you have to hit both of those holidays hit the quarter really well. So I'm not sure I would read anything into where we are at this point, although, as I said, they are looking fine. And remind me what your second question was.

所以查克，您認為第一季的業績在整個季度中都相當可觀，儘管第一個月（二月）和最後一個月（四月）的表現都比三月要好。我不會說這是一個有意義的差異，但三月的數量確實略低。當我們處於五月時，我們的業績看起來不錯，但現在還為時過早，並且可能提供服務。我的意思是，這是第二季度的服務範圍季度，其中包含兩個假期，陣亡將士紀念日和 7 月 4 日。因此，銷售額是成批出現的，你必須在這兩個假期都取得好成績。因此，我不確定我是否會解讀出我們目前的狀況，儘管正如我所說的，他們看起來很好。提醒我你的第二個問題是什麼。

Just the traffic versus ticket composition in the quarter.

僅表示本季的客流量與票務構成情形。

That's right. That's right. So the comp was denominated almost entirely in traffic growth. basket was about flat. And so the rest of it is all traffic. We're really pleased with that, obviously, driven by our membership gains driven by the higher income cohorts within membership spending more making more trips and denominated in the gas benefit that we saw as well.

這是正確的。這是正確的。因此，業績幾乎完全由流量成長決定。籃子幾乎是平的。剩下的都是流量。我們對此感到非常高興，顯然，這得益於我們會員人數的增長，會員中的高收入群體花費更多，出行次數更多，並且我們還看到了汽油補貼。

Okay. Great. And it does seem like you guys are amplifying the gas conversion more than maybe you have in the past. And Costco has talked about how roughly 50% of people who buy gas shop the club and like like-for-like hours. I guess, is that the case for you guys? And I guess why do you think you're gaining share now in gas prices more maybe than you've seen in the past?

好的。偉大的。而且看起來你們正在比過去更大程度地擴大天然氣轉換。 Costco 曾談到，大約 50% 的加油員會在類似營業時間去俱樂部和類似場所購物。我想，你們也是這樣嗎？我想您為什麼會認為現在您在汽油價格方面的份額比過去有所提高？

Yes. It starts with value, Chuck, right? We have the best gas prices around. You layer you layer on the co-brand credit card benefit, you layer on some of the things we're doing promotionally to tie the club together with the gas station. Those all are really what's driving it. Certainly, we didn't really have the gas business flag in the beginning of the pandemic. Like the entire industry, we've been growing it for a couple of years. Undoubtedly, the beginning of that was people consolidating trips from a safety perspective. But I do think that allowed people to give us a try, I understand our value proposition from a gas perspective, understand that we're a one-stop shop where you can get your gas and get everything you need inside the box.

是的。一切都從價值開始，查克，對吧？我們的汽油價格是周邊最優惠的。你可以分層使用聯名信用卡優惠，你也可以分層使用我們正在做的某些促銷活動，以將俱樂部與加油站聯繫在一起。這些都是推動這項進程的真正因素。當然，在疫情開始時，我們並沒有真正樹立起天然氣業務的旗幟。與整個行業一樣，我們已經發展了好幾年。毫無疑問，這一切的開始都是人們從安全角度考慮而整合行程。但我確實認為這讓人們嘗試一下，我從天然氣的角度理解我們的價值主張，了解我們是一站式商店，您可以在這裡獲得天然氣並在盒子裡獲得所需的一切。

And we're very pleased with the 20% gallon growth during the quarter actually was totally unexpected. We didn't model that at all. 50% -- more than 50% 2-year stack gallon growth. So very pleased to see that and it all ties back to value. These times are tough for our consumers, and this is the -- this is the type of environment that the club business and our business specifically was made for. We give great value every day and do it on a one-stop shop basis.

我們對本季 20% 的加侖成長率感到非常高興，這實際上是完全出乎意料的。我們根本沒有對此進行建模。 50%－兩年內堆積加侖成長率超過 50%。我很高興看到這一點，這一切都與價值有關。對我們的消費者來說，現在是一個艱難的時期，而這正是俱樂部業務和我們的業務所針對的環境。我們每天都會提供巨大的價值，並以一站式服務的方式進行。

Okay. Great. And then just one quick for me would be just you're not underwriting an improvement -- continued improvement in gas gallons gained, correct, for the balance of the year?

好的。偉大的。然後對我來說只有一個問題，那就是您沒有承保改進 - 汽油加侖數的持續改善，對嗎，在今年的餘額中？

We're not. We're not. We're sort of modeling gateway, we always model it from a profitability perspective. We do think some increase in gallons is warranted to model, but we haven't continued to model 20% gains in gallons. And as Laura said in her prepared remarks, we're sort of back to normal from a per gallon profitability perspective as we sit here today. So not modeling a huge windfall in gas prices. But usually, as you know, we don't tend to make a lot of money when when gas prices rise, and in fact, in parts of the first quarter as we were losing money every day. If gas prices were to fall, they typically yield higher margins when we fall. So we'll see what happens. We're not modeling anything greater than our normal historical stance at this point.

我們不是。我們不是。我們是一種建模網關，我們總是從獲利能力的角度對其進行建模。我們確實認為加侖數增加是合理的，但我們並沒有繼續模擬加侖數增加 20% 的情況。正如勞拉在準備好的演講中所說的那樣，從今天每加侖的盈利能力角度來看，我們已經恢復正常。因此，不要模擬天然氣價格暴漲的現象。但通常，如你所知，當汽油價格上漲時，我們往往不會賺很多錢，事實上，在第一季的部分時間裡，我們每天都在虧損。如果汽油價格下跌，通常利潤率就會更高。因此我們看看會發生什麼。目前，我們還沒有建模任何超出我們正常歷史立場的東西。

Our next question comes from Paul Lejuez at Citi. Unfortunately, we're still (inaudible) in audio from line. So we will move on to the next question having from Stephanie Wissink at Jefferies..

我們的下一個問題來自花旗的 Paul Lejuez。遺憾的是，我們的通話仍然（聽不清楚）。因此，我們將繼續討論 Jefferies 的 Stephanie Wissink 提出的下一個問題。

It's Blake on for Steph. I wanted to ask first on the ticket versus traffic. Just a follow-up on that. I was wondering how the flattish ticket growth was versus your expectations? And just how we should think about that in terms of overall inflation? I didn't know if there's a tough compare or any mix impacts that might have affected that number as well.

布雷克替換史蒂芬上場。我想先詢問有關罰單和交通的問題。這只是對此的後續行動。我想知道平穩的票價成長與您的預期相比如何？那麼從整體通膨的角度來說我們該如何看待這個問題呢？我不知道是否存在嚴格的比較或任何混合影響可能會影響該數字。

Blake, so when you look underneath the cover, certainly, traffic growth was very strong. It exceeded our estimate for the quarter. And I would expect that to continue given the environment that we're all facing together. Certainly, with the ticket flat, if traffic is up, that means units are down a bit as you unpack that your point on unfavorable lapse comes to the 4, where you see categories like PPE and cleaning driving pretty significant unit declines as folks aren't wearing masks any longer. They're not buying sanitizing products all over the place. And certainly, our general merchandise units were down a bit given the comp there. Outside of that, units are doing fine and more or less in line with our plan. So I think the business is pretty healthy. I'd love to see the traffic gains continue. And given the membership growth that we've seen, I think that's probably a good bet.

布萊克，當您查看封面下方時，可以發現流量成長非常強勁。它超出了我們對本季的預期。考慮到我們共同面臨的環境，我希望這種情況能持續下去。 當然，如果客流量增加，票務價格持平，這意味著單位數量會略有下降，正如你所說，你對不利流失的觀點是4，你會看到個人防護裝備和清潔等類別導致單位數量大幅下降，因為人們並不不再戴口罩了。他們不會到處購買消毒產品。當然，考慮到那裡的競爭情況，我們的百貨商品部門確實有所下降。除此之外，各單位運作良好，基本上符合我們的計劃。所以我認為業務非常健康。我很高興看到流量繼續增長。考慮到我們所看到的會員成長情況，我認為這可能是個不錯的選擇。

That's super helpful. And just a follow-up on that, and then I have one more. On the general merch, I didn't know if you could talk any more about -- you just mentioned some of the PPE categories. I didn't know if you could talk any more about some of the other categories within general merch and maybe how those trended throughout the quarter. Maybe anything along the lines of electronics or bigger ticket or maybe any things that you're trying to really increase the penetration of as you build out that business?

這非常有幫助。我只想跟進一下這個問題，然後我還有一個問題。關於一般商品，我不知道您是否可以再談談——您剛才提到了一些 PPE 類別。我不知道您是否可以再談談一般商品中的一些其他類別，以及這些類別在整個季度的趨勢如何。也許是電子產品或更大件的商品，或者是您在拓展業務時真正想要提高滲透率的任何東西？

Look, I think GM jams up against a tough comp with all the free money that was flying around last year. So certainly, the negative comp was expected, came across the business, particularly in the home categories that you would expect given one happened last year. So whether you think about seasonal or home or furniture or electronics those categories had a tougher go than some of the other ones. They were not meaningful below our expectations. And given the membership and the traffic that we've talked about, I think they're perfectly fine for the future, and we look forward to showing our members the best value in those categories as we go through the rest of the year.

看，我認為通用汽車在去年利用大量免費資金的情況下面臨嚴峻的競爭。因此可以肯定的是，負面的比較是可以預料到的，尤其是在家居類別中，因為去年就發生過這樣的情況。因此，無論您考慮季節性、家居、家具或電子產品，這些類別的經營狀況都比其他類別更為艱難。它們低於我們的預期，但意義不大。考慮到我們談到的會員人數和流量，我認為它們對未來來說是完全沒問題的，我們期待在今年剩餘的時間裡向我們的會員展示這些類別中的最佳價值。

Got it. And then last one was on gas. I know you've mentioned profit has kind of normalized here into the second quarter. I don't know if you talked about -- are you still seeing a traffic benefit from gas in May? I don't know if you could talk about that.

知道了。最後一個是關於氣體。我知道您提到利潤在第二季已經趨於正常化。我不知道您是否談論過—您是否仍看到五月天然氣帶來的交通效益？我不知道你是否可以談這個問題。

And the gas benefit on traffic tends to correlate to the absolute price of gas, not to the profitability of gas. So certainly, gas prices remain high. And in fact, they've been going up for the past week or so. And so certainly, we're still seeing folks in our gas stations and improving gallons and improving cross shop where people come in to get gas and then come into our buildings. We continue to see that happening here in May so far.

而且，天然氣對交通帶來的效益往往與天然氣的絕對價格有關，而與天然氣的獲利能力無關。因此，汽油價格肯定仍維持在高點。事實上，過去一周左右，價格一直在上漲。因此可以肯定的是，我們仍然會看到人們來到我們的加油站，提高加侖數並改善交叉購物，人們進來加油然後進入我們的建築物。到目前為止，我們在五月仍然看到這種情況發生。

Our next question comes from Krisztina Katai at Deutsche Bank.

下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Krisztina Katai。

Congrats on a good quarter. I do have a follow-up on gas. I mean we did see you running several promotions on the fuel side. So I was curious if there is any way to quantify gas' contribution to traffic in the quarter and what kind of a customer it is bringing in, if it's any different versus your average customer that's signing up right now?

恭喜本季取得良好業績。我確實對天然氣有後續了解。我的意思是我們確實看到您在燃料方面開展了幾項促銷活動。所以我很好奇，是否有辦法量化天然氣對本季交通量的貢獻，以及它帶來了什麼樣的客戶，與現在簽約的普通客戶相比有何不同？

And then secondly, as you're building inventory and accelerating receipts, you did say limited markdown risk based on what you're seeing today. But I was just wondering how much have you factored in a potential further weakening of the consumer, both at the lower end but also potentially at the mid- to higher-end consumers.

其次，當您建立庫存並加速收貨時，根據您今天看到的情況，您確實說過降價風險有限。但我只是想知道，您在多大程度上考慮了消費者可能進一步疲軟的可能性，包括低端消費者，以及中高端消費者。

Yes. Thanks, Krisztina. Let me take the gas question first. So we've seen tremendous gains in gallons and traffic. As you see that, we expect that to continue going forward. And it's it's about -- as I said earlier, it's about showing members the best value we can every day. I don't particularly care if we make a ton of money in the gas business in any week or day or a quarter or a year. I care that we use that as an avenue to get people into our buildings, right? And it is the most understood commodity in the world because there's a price in on every street corner. So people understand what a good gas price is and what a bad one is. We try and put good ones up there every single day.

是的。謝謝，克里斯蒂娜。讓我先回答一下天然氣的問題。因此，我們看到了加侖數和交通量的巨大增長。正如您所看到的，我們預計這種情況將繼續下去。正如我之前所說，這是為了每天向會員展示我們所能提供的最佳價值。我並不特別關心我們是否在某週、某天、某個季度或某年透過天然氣業務賺了很多錢。我關心的是，我們利用這一點作為吸引人們進入我們大樓的途徑，對嗎？它是世界上最容易理解的商品，因為每個街角都有價格。這樣人們就知道什麼是好的油價，什麼是壞的油價。我們每天都會努力把好的東西發佈到網路上。

The big thing for us over the past periods of time is how do you show even more value. Are there ways to tie the box together with the gas station in a more meaningful way? Bill's great ideas several years ago of giving people a $0.10 per gallon gas discount with the co-branded credit card has been a stalwart in that effort. When we get people into our co-branded credit card, we effectively get all of their gas purchases. They really love that benefit. And as you said, we've done several promotions for a couple of years now, actually, trying to further that tie between the box and the club. So we have promotions where you buy particular items inside the box and you can get $0.10 per item off -- at the pumps. Those are funded by our suppliers. We do other ones where if you have a certain basket size. You get a certain discount on gas. Again, some of those are funded by our suppliers. It's really all about showing the best value, knowing that people sometimes make on economic decisions about gas, it's a very emotional purchase, and we're trying to take advantage of that by showing great value every day and then even better value when you get into the store.

過去一段時間對我們來說最重要的事情是如何展現更多價值。有沒有辦法以更有意義的方式將箱子和加油站連結在一起？幾年前，比爾提出了一個好主意，即使用聯名信用卡為人們提供每加侖 0.10 美元的汽油折扣，這一想法一直是這項努力的堅定支持者。當我們讓人們使用我們的聯名信用卡時，我們實際上就獲得了他們所有的汽油購買量。他們確實很喜歡這個福利。正如您所說，實際上，幾年來我們已經進行了多次促銷，試圖加強包廂和俱樂部之間的聯繫。因此我們推出了促銷活動，您購買盒子裡的特定物品，可以在加油站每件享受 0.10 美元的折扣。這些由我們的供應商資助。如果您的購物籃有特定的尺寸，我們也會提供其他服務。您可以獲得一定的汽油折扣。再次，其中一些是由我們的供應商資助的。這實際上就是為了展示最佳價值，因為我們知道人們有時會根據經濟因素來決定是否購買汽油，這是一種非常情緒化的購買行為，我們試圖利用這一點，每天展示巨大的價值，當你購買時，甚至會展示更好的價值進入商店。

So we'll continue to do that. We'll continue to balance the traffic and membership gains that we get from that with the overall profitability of the business. But again, we're always going to bet on membership and traffic, not gas profit.

因此我們會繼續這樣做。我們將繼續平衡由此獲得的流量和會員數成長與業務的整體獲利能力。但再次強調，我們始終押注的是會員數和流量，而不是汽油利潤。

As you think about inventory, again, we've talked about being a little bit higher than we would have liked. Again, some of that inflation, some of it the food business, which was wholly intentional, the GM business is a touch high at this point but not dramatically so. And we don't see tremendous markdown liability at this point in time. We have taken our best look at that given what we see from our membership cohorts at this point in time. And that continues to be our best guess. We are modeling Q2 to look a little bit like Q1 from a spending perspective. So a little bit of weakness in the bottom part of the house and then some strength in the top part of that. So that's how we thought the year would play out. It's certainly how it's going now. And I don't think that's different in Q2 than what we saw in Q1.

當您考慮庫存時，我們再次談到庫存比我們希望的要高一點。同樣，部分通貨膨脹，部分是食品業務的通貨膨脹，這完全是故意的，基因改造業務目前的通膨率有點高，但並不高。目前我們還沒有看到巨大的降價壓力。根據我們目前從會員群體中看到的情況，我們已經盡力對此進行了研究。這仍然是我們最好的猜測。從支出角度來看，我們對第二季的建模使其與第一季有些相似。因此，房屋底部會比較薄弱，而頂部則會比較堅固。我們認為這一年將會如此發展。現在的情況確實如此。我認為第二季的情況與第一季的情況沒有什麼不同。

We will now terminate our Q&A session, and this concludes today's call. I would like to thank everybody for joining. You may now disconnect.

我們現在將結束問答環節，今天的電話會議就此結束。我想感謝大家的加入。您現在可以斷開連線。