Burlington Stores Inc (BURL) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Burlington Stores, Inc. Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Webcast. I would now like to turn the call over to David Glick, Group Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasurer. Please go ahead.

女士們，先生們，感謝你們的支持，歡迎收看 Burlington Stores, Inc. 2022 年第四季度收益網絡廣播。我現在想把電話轉給集團投資者關係高級副總裁兼財務主管 David Glick。請繼續。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate everyone's participation in today's conference call to discuss Burlington's fiscal 2022 fourth quarter operating results. Our presenters today are Michael O'Sullivan, our Chief Executive Officer; and Kristin Wolfe, our EVP and Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝接線員，大家早上好。我們感謝大家參加今天的電話會議，討論伯靈頓 2022 財年第四季度的經營業績。今天的主持人是我們的首席執行官 Michael O'Sullivan；和我們的執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Kristin Wolfe。

Before I turn the call over to Michael, I would like to inform listeners that this call may not be transcribed, recorded or broadcast without our express permission. A replay of the call will be available until March 9, 2023. We take no responsibility for inaccuracies that may appear in transcripts of this call by third parties. Our remarks and the Q&A that follows are copyrighted today by Burlington Stores.

在我將電話轉給邁克爾之前，我想通知聽眾，未經我們的明確許可，不得轉錄、錄製或廣播此電話。通話重播將在 2023 年 3 月 9 日之前提供。我們對第三方通話記錄中可能出現的不准確之處不承擔任何責任。今天，我們的評論和隨後的問答版權歸伯靈頓商店所有。

Remarks made on this call concerning future expectations, events, strategies, objectives, trends or projected financial results are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those that are projected in such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include those that are described in the company's 10-K for fiscal 2021 and in other filings with the SEC, all of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference. Please note that the financial results and expectations we discuss today are on a continuing operations basis. Reconciliations of the non-GAAP measures we discuss today to GAAP measures are included in today's press release.

在本次電話會議上就未來預期、事件、戰略、目標、趨勢或預計財務結果發表的評論存在一定的風險和不確定性。實際結果可能與此類前瞻性陳述中預測的結果存在重大差異。此類風險和不確定性包括公司 2021 財年的 10-K 和向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件中描述的風險和不確定性，所有這些均通過引用明確納入本文。請注意，我們今天討論的財務結果和預期是在持續經營的基礎上得出的。我們今天討論的非 GAAP 措施與 GAAP 措施的調節包含在今天的新聞稿中。

Now here's Michael.

現在是邁克爾。

Thank you, David. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I would like to cover 3 topics this morning. Firstly, I will discuss our fourth quarter results. Secondly, I will talk about our 2023 guidance. And finally, I'll offer some comments on our longer-term outlook. After that, I will hand over to Kristin to walk through the financial details of our fourth quarter results and our 2023 guidance. Then we will be happy to respond to any questions. Okay. Let's talk about our Q4 results.

謝謝你，大衛。大家早上好，感謝您加入我們。今天早上我想討論 3 個主題。首先，我將討論我們的第四季度業績。其次，我將談談我們的 2023 年指導方針。最後，我將就我們的長期前景發表一些評論。之後，我將交給 Kristin 來介紹我們第四季度業績和 2023 年指導的財務細節。那麼我們將很樂意回答任何問題。好的。讓我們談談我們第四季度的結果。

Comp store sales for the fourth quarter decreased 2%. This was on top of 6% comparable store sales growth last year. As we have done on previous calls, today, when we are describing our comp trend, we will use a 3-year geometric stack. This metric is defined in more detail in today's press release.

第四季度的 Comp Store 銷售額下降了 2%。這是在去年可比店面銷售額增長 6% 的基礎上取得的。正如我們在之前的電話會議上所做的那樣，今天，當我們描述我們的趨勢時，我們將使用 3 年的幾何堆棧。該指標在今天的新聞稿中有更詳細的定義。

Our 3-year geometric stack was positive 4% for the fourth quarter. As we shared on our Q3 call, our 3-year geometric stack for November was flat to the prior year. As the quarter progressed, our sales trend improved sequentially. On a 1-year basis and a 3-year basis, our comp growth in both December and January was positive, with January stronger than December. We believe that there were 2 drivers of this improvement in our trend. Firstly, we took a number of actions in the back half of last year to sharpen our values. We describe these in some detail on our November call. So this morning, I'm just going to summarize a couple of points.

我們 3 年的幾何堆棧在第四季度為正 4%。正如我們在第三季度電話會議上分享的那樣，我們 11 月份的 3 年期幾何堆棧與去年持平。隨著本季度的推進，我們的銷售趨勢環比改善。在 1 年和 3 年的基礎上，我們在 12 月和 1 月的收入增長都是正的，其中 1 月強於 12 月。我們認為，我們的趨勢有所改善有兩個驅動因素。首先，我們在去年下半年採取了一系列行動來提升我們的價值觀。我們在 11 月的電話會議上詳細描述了這些。所以今天早上，我只想總結幾點。

Number one, we backed off our original plan to raise prices. The consumer and promotional environment changed rapidly last year, and it became clear that this was not the right time to be raising prices. Instead, in the fourth quarter, we sharpened our values on fresh receipts, and we aggressively used markdowns to drive faster terms on existing inventory. We focused especially heavily on expanding opening price points in our assortment.

第一，我們放棄了原定的提價計劃。去年的消費者和促銷環境變化很快，很明顯現在不是提價的好時機。相反，在第四季度，我們提高了新收據的價值，並積極利用降價來推動現有庫存的更快條款。我們特別注重擴大我們產品系列的開盤價。

Number two, we significantly raised receipt plans and inventory levels in our strongest businesses and focused this open to buy on great opportunistic deals. The off-price supply environment was very strong in Q4, and we were able to take advantage of some incredible buys, especially on branded merchandise. We flowed many of these receipts to stores to fuel the stronger trend, and we also tucked away some of these goods in reserve for later release. These actions worked. Shoppers responded to our sharper values, expanded opening price points and great branded buys. This led to a significant improvement in customer conversion and in average transaction size. In other words, shoppers like the values that they found when they walk into our stores.

第二，我們顯著提高了我們最強大的業務的收貨計劃和庫存水平，並將這種公開購買集中在偉大的機會主義交易上。第 4 季度的低價供應環境非常強勁，我們能夠利用一些令人難以置信的購買機會，尤其是品牌商品。我們將這些收據中的許多流向了商店以推動更強勁的趨勢，我們也將其中一些商品藏起來以備日後發布。這些行動奏效了。購物者對我們更清晰的價值觀、擴大的開盤價和大量的品牌購買做出了回應。這顯著提高了客戶轉化率和平均交易規模。換句話說，購物者喜歡他們走進我們商店時發現的價值。

In Q4, we also saw an improvement in traffic. This points to the second driver of our stronger trend. We interpret this improvement in traffic as a sign that the macro headwinds may have started to abate. In particular, although inflation is still elevated, we are beginning to lap the significant spike that occurred in late 2021 into early 2022. Let me move on now and talk about the outlook for the year ahead.

在第四季度，我們還看到了流量的改善。這指出了我們走強趨勢的第二個驅動因素。我們將這種交通狀況的改善解釋為宏觀逆風可能已經開始減弱的跡象。特別是，儘管通貨膨脹率仍然很高，但我們開始將 2021 年底出現的大幅飆升延續到 2022 年初。讓我繼續談談來年的前景。

As we said in November, we anticipate that in 2023, the economy will slow down, and then inflation will continue to fall. We expect the inventory overhang across retail to diminish, and this should lead to less promotional activity. If the external environment unfolds, as I have just described, we believe that this could have 3 major implications to Burlington.

正如我們在 11 月份所說，我們預計 2023 年經濟將放緩，然後通脹將繼續下降。我們預計零售業的庫存積壓將減少，這應該會導致促銷活動減少。如果外部環境如我剛才所描述的那樣展開，我們認為這可能對伯靈頓產生 3 大影響。

First, the economic slowdown should create a greater consumer focus on value, potentially driving some trade-down activity from middle- and higher-income groups. Second, our value differentiation versus other retailers could grow as promotions moderate, and this should be a tailwind for traffic, conversion and transaction size. And third, we expect that the external expense environment will improve compared to last year. We are already seeing this start to happen with freight rates.

首先，經濟放緩應該會讓消費者更加關注價值，這可能會推動中高收入群體的一些降價交易活動。其次，隨著促銷活動的減少，我們與其他零售商的價值差異可能會增加，這應該是流量、轉化率和交易規模的順風。第三，我們預計外部支出環境將比去年有所改善。我們已經看到運費開始出現這種情況。

There is one other factor that is important to call out, and this one is specific to Burlington. We executed poorly in 2022, and this hurt our trend. Once we corrected these mistakes late in the year, we saw an improvement. Obviously, in 2023, we will be lapping these issues, and we expect to drive stronger results.

還有一個重要因素需要指出，這是伯靈頓特有的。我們在 2022 年執行不力，這損害了我們的趨勢。一旦我們在年底糾正了這些錯誤，我們就看到了進步。顯然，在 2023 年，我們將解決這些問題，我們預計會取得更強勁的成果。

These are the major reasons why we feel optimistic about 2023. But with all that being said, we recognize that there are some uncertainties and potential headwinds ahead. In particular, we remain concerned about the lower-income customer, our core customer. In 2022, this customer group bore the brunt of the impact of inflation on real household incomes. We think the impact of inflation will moderate this year, but there are other factors that could hurt this customer, such as a rise in unemployment and the ending of expanded SNAP benefits.

這些是我們對 2023 年感到樂觀的主要原因。但話雖如此，我們認識到未來存在一些不確定性和潛在的不利因素。我們尤其關注低收入客戶，即我們的核心客戶。 2022 年，這一客戶群首當其沖地受到通貨膨脹對實際家庭收入的影響。我們認為今年通貨膨脹的影響將有所緩和，但還有其他因素可能會傷害該客戶，例如失業率上升和擴大 SNAP 福利的結束。

Putting all these factors together, we are guiding full year comp sales growth in the range of positive 3% to positive 5%. We believe that there may be upside to this range, and we are managing our business to chase potential upside. Given this comp range, we expect to be able to drive 80 to 120 basis points of margin expansion in 2023.

將所有這些因素放在一起，我們將指導全年 comp 銷售額增長在正 3% 到正 5% 之間。我們相信這個範圍可能有上行空間，我們正在管理我們的業務以追逐潛在的上行空間。鑑於這個範圍，我們預計 2023 年能夠推動利潤率增長 80 到 120 個基點。

As we said in November, we believe we can get back to pre-pandemic margin levels within the next few years. But there are 2 reasons to be cautious on our 2023 margin. Firstly, our #1 priority, as we developed our budget and operating plans for 2023, was to drive sales. This means keeping our values as sharp as possible. Given the strong supply environment, we expect an increase in merchant margin, but this is balanced by the need to pass along great value to our customers to drive the trend.

正如我們在 11 月所說，我們相信我們可以在未來幾年內恢復到大流行前的利潤率水平。但有兩個理由讓我們對 2023 年的利潤率持謹慎態度。首先，在我們制定 2023 年預算和運營計劃時，我們的首要任務是推動銷售。這意味著盡可能保持我們的價值觀。鑑於強勁的供應環境，我們預計商家利潤率會增加，但這與向我們的客戶傳遞巨大價值以推動趨勢的需要相平衡。

The second reason to be cautious relates to expenses. As described earlier, we expect the external expense environment, specifically freight rates, to improve in 2023. But it is difficult to predict how significant an impact this might have over the full year. Also, as Kristin will explain, in Q4, we incurred higher supply chain expenses as we pushed more aggressively into great opportunistic off-price buys. This merchandise drives sales and value, but it is typically more difficult and expensive to process.

謹慎的第二個原因與費用有關。如前所述，我們預計 2023 年外部支出環境，特別是運費將有所改善。但很難預測這對全年的影響有多大。此外，正如 Kristin 將解釋的那樣，在第四季度，由於我們更積極地推動機會主義的低價購買，我們產生了更高的供應鏈費用。這種商品推動銷售和價值，但通常更難處理且成本更高。

For the last couple of years, we have been taking actions to make our distribution centers more off-price and more efficient. But we still have work to do, and this work will take time.

在過去的幾年裡，我們一直在採取行動，使我們的配送中心價格更低、效率更高。但我們還有工作要做，這項工作需要時間。

So let me sum up our 2023 guidance. We are planning and managing our business to support positive 3% to 5% comp growth, but we are ready to chase the trend if it is stronger. As for operating margin, we believe that we can get back to pre-pandemic operating margins within the next few years. For 2023, we are planning 80 to 120 basis points of expansion on 3% to 5% comp growth.

因此，讓我總結一下我們的 2023 年指南。我們正在規劃和管理我們的業務以支持 3% 至 5% 的正複合增長，但如果趨勢更強勁，我們準備好追逐趨勢。至於營業利潤率，我們相信我們可以在未來幾年內恢復到大流行前的營業利潤率。到 2023 年，我們計劃以 3% 至 5% 的複合增長率擴張 80 至 120 個基點。

I would like to move on now and talk about our new store opening plans for 2023. We continue to be very pleased by the relative performance of our new stores, especially our new store format. In 2023, we are planning to open 90 to 100 gross new stores. After relocations and closures, this should yield 70 to 80 net new stores. This is lower than we would like and reflects the current lack of high-quality real estate locations as well as supply issues within the construction industry. That said, we believe that this situation could be about to change.

我想繼續談談我們 2023 年的新店開業計劃。我們繼續對我們新店的相對錶現感到非常滿意，尤其是我們的新店形式。 2023 年，我們計劃新開 90 到 100 家門店。在搬遷和關閉之後，這應該會產生 70 到 80 家淨新店。這低於我們的預期，反映了目前缺乏優質房地產位置以及建築行業的供應問題。也就是說，我們相信這種情況可能即將改變。

Over the next couple of years, we think that there could be a wave of consolidation in bricks-and-mortar retail, and we anticipate that this could drive a significant increase in the number of high-quality new store locations. So once we get through 2023, we believe that we can grow our new store program, such that we will open 500 to 600 net new stores over the following 5 years.

在接下來的幾年裡，我們認為實體零售可能會出現一波整合浪潮，我們預計這可能會推動高質量新店位置數量的顯著增加。因此，一旦我們度過 2023 年，我們相信我們可以發展我們的新店計劃，這樣我們將在接下來的 5 年內開設 500 到 600 家淨新店。

Before I hand over to Kristin, let me make some high-level comments about the longer-term outlook for Burlington. As I said earlier, we are optimistic about 2023. But looking further out, we also see reasons to be bullish about the longer term.

在我交給克里斯汀之前，讓我對伯靈頓的長期前景發表一些高層次的評論。正如我之前所說，我們對 2023 年持樂觀態度。但展望更遠的未來，我們也看到了對長期前景持樂觀態度的理由。

There are 2 factors in particular that I would like to highlight. Firstly, we anticipate that the external environment for full-price retail will remain difficult. -- and uncertainty over the next few years. We expect that many traditional retailers may struggle. This should drive strong off-price merchandise supply and, as I mentioned a moment ago, may lead to additional bricks-and-mortar retail consolidation. In this environment, we believe that off-price retailers have a major opportunity to take share.

我想特別強調兩個因素。首先，我們預計全價零售的外部環境依然艱難。 ——以及未來幾年的不確定性。我們預計許多傳統零售商可能會陷入困境。這應該會推動強勁的低價商品供應，並且正如我剛才提到的，可能會導致更多的實體零售整合。在這種環境下，我們認為低價零售商有很大的機會分得一杯羹。

Secondly, here at Burlington, over the last 2 to 3 years, we have been busy investing in our business to transform ourselves into a stronger off-price retailer. For example, we have invested in our merchandising capabilities. We have made major changes in our stores organization to be more flexible and off-price, and we have changed our new store prototype to be more productive and efficient.

其次，在伯靈頓，在過去的 2 到 3 年裡，我們一直忙於投資我們的業務，以將我們自己轉變為一個更強大的低價零售商。例如，我們投資於我們的營銷能力。我們對商店組織進行了重大更改，使其更加靈活和便宜，並且我們更改了新商店原型以提高生產力和效率。

As I acknowledged in November, some of these initiatives are a work in process. But the overall strategic direction is clear. We are working to transform ourselves into a stronger off-price retailer. So as we look beyond 2023, we are very excited. We believe that the combination of these factors: firstly, the potential dislocation and consolidation of traditional retail; and secondly, the transformation of Burlington into a stronger off-price retailer, could drive significant growth in sales, earnings and shareholder value over the next several years.

正如我在 11 月份所承認的那樣，其中一些舉措仍在進行中。但總體戰略方向是明確的。我們正在努力將自己轉變為更強大的低價零售商。因此，展望 2023 年以後，我們感到非常興奮。我們認為，綜合這些因素：首先，傳統零售的潛在錯位和整合；其次，伯靈頓轉型為更強大的折扣零售商，可能會在未來幾年推動銷售額、收益和股東價值的顯著增長。

I would now like to turn the call over to Kristin to provide more details on our Q4 results and our 2023 guidance.

我現在想將電話轉給 Kristin，以提供有關我們第四季度業績和 2023 年指導的更多詳細信息。

Thanks, Michael, and good morning, everyone. Let me start with some additional financial details for the fourth quarter. Total sales in the quarter grew 5%, while comp sales were down 2%. As Michael mentioned, our 3-year geometric comp stack was a positive 4%.

謝謝，邁克爾，大家早上好。讓我從第四季度的一些額外財務細節開始。本季度總銷售額增長 5%，而同類產品銷售額下降 2%。正如邁克爾所提到的，我們 3 年的幾何組合堆棧是正 4%。

Comp sales and adjusted EPS came in above our guidance range. For Q4, our adjusted EPS was $2.96, which was above our guidance range of $2.45 to $2.75. The gross margin rate was 40.7%, an increase of 90 basis points versus 2021's fourth quarter rate of 39.8%. This was driven by a 130 basis point improvement in freight expense, that was partially offset by a 40 basis point decline in merchandise margin. The decline in merchandise margin was primarily driven by higher markdowns as we move to sharpen our values, as Michael discussed earlier in the call.

比較銷售額和調整後的每股收益高於我們的指導範圍。對於第四季度，我們調整後的每股收益為 2.96 美元，高於我們 2.45 美元至 2.75 美元的指導範圍。毛利率為 40.7%，較 2021 年第四季度的 39.8% 增長 90 個基點。這是由於運費增加了 130 個基點，但部分被商品利潤率下降 40 個基點所抵消。正如邁克爾在電話會議早些時候所討論的那樣，商品利潤率的下降主要是由於我們努力提高我們的價值觀而導致的降價幅度更大。

Product sourcing costs were $187 million compared to $159 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, increasing 70 basis points as a percentage of sales. This deleverage was primarily driven by higher supply chain costs. We worked a higher mix of true closeout merchandise, which is more labor-intensive to process. In addition, the movement in and out of our reserve inventory to chase the trend was less efficient and drove higher supply chain expense.

產品採購成本為 1.87 億美元，而 2021 年第四季度為 1.59 億美元，佔銷售額的百分比增加了 70 個基點。這種去槓桿化主要是由更高的供應鏈成本推動的。我們對真正的清倉商品進行了更高的組合，處理起來更加勞動密集。此外，為追趕趨勢而進出儲備庫存的效率較低，導致供應鏈費用增加。

Adjusted SG&A was $593 million versus $578 million in 2021, decreasing 50 basis points as a percentage of sales. This was driven by strong expense control and a lower bonus accrual. Adjusted EBIT margin was 10%, 80 basis points higher than the fourth quarter of 2021. Relative to our Q4 2019 adjusted EBIT margin, 2022's fourth quarter adjusted EBIT margin declined by 340 basis points, driven entirely by supply chain and freight deleverage. All of this resulted in diluted earnings per share of $2.83 versus $1.80 in Q4 of 2021. Adjusted diluted earnings per share were $2.96 versus $2.53 in the fourth quarter of 2021.

調整後的 SG&A 為 5.93 億美元，而 2021 年為 5.78 億美元，佔銷售額的百分比下降了 50 個基點。這是由強有力的費用控制和較低的應計獎金推動的。調整後的息稅前利潤率為 10%，比 2021 年第四季度高 80 個基點。相對於我們 2019 年第四季度調整後的息稅前利潤率，2022 年第四季度調整後的息稅前利潤率下降了 340 個基點，這完全是受供應鍊和貨運去槓桿化的推動。所有這些導致每股攤薄收益為 2.83 美元，而 2021 年第四季度為 1.80 美元。調整後的攤薄每股收益為 2.96 美元，而 2021 年第四季度為 2.53 美元。

At the end of the quarter, our comparable store inventories were 32% above 2021. As a reminder, last year, as we came into the spring season, our store inventories were too lean, and this hurt our sales trend in Q1. So the significant increase in our comparable store inventories was by design. I should also point out that this is still well below pre-pandemic levels.

在本季度末，我們的可比商店庫存比 2021 年高出 32%。提醒一下，去年，當我們進入春季時，我們的商店庫存太少了，這損害了我們第一季度的銷售趨勢。因此，我們可比商店庫存的顯著增加是有意設計的。我還應該指出，這仍遠低於大流行前的水平。

At the end of the quarter, our reserve inventory was 48% of our total inventory versus 50% last year. We are very happy with the quality of the merchandise and the values we have in reserve.

在本季度末，我們的儲備庫存佔總庫存的 48%，而去年為 50%。我們對商品的質量和我們儲備的價值感到非常滿意。

In the fourth quarter, we opened 34 net new stores, bringing our store count at the end of the quarter to 927 stores. This included 39 new store openings, 5 relocations and no closings. For the full year, we opened 113 new stores while relocating 22 stores and closing 4 stores, adding 87 net new stores to our fleet.

第四季度，我們淨開了 34 家新店，使本季度末的門店數量達到 927 家。這包括 39 家新店開業、5 家搬遷和沒有關閉。全年，我們新開了 113 家門店，搬遷了 22 家門店，關閉了 4 家門店，淨增 87 家門店。

I will now move on to discuss our full year 2022 results. Total sales decreased 7% and comp store sales decreased 13%. Our 3-year geometric comp stack was flat. Our operating margin for the full year contracted by 370 basis points. Merchandise margin decreased by 110 basis points, freight delevered by 10 basis points, product sourcing costs delevered by 120 basis points and adjusted SG&A delevered by 110 basis points versus full year 2021.

我現在將繼續討論我們 2022 年的全年業績。總銷售額下降 7%，同店銷售額下降 13%。我們 3 年的幾何組合堆棧持平。我們全年的營業利潤率收縮了 370 個基點。與 2021 年全年相比，商品利潤率下降 110 個基點，運費下降 10 個基點，產品採購成本下降 120 個基點，調整後的 SG&A 下降 110 個基點。

Let's now move to 2023 guidance. For the 2023 fiscal year, we expect total sales growth in the range of 12% to 14%. This includes an approximately 2% impact related to the 53rd week. We expect comp store sales to increase in the range of 3% to 5% for fiscal 2023 and our adjusted EBIT margin to increase 80 to 120 basis points versus last year.

現在讓我們轉向 2023 年指南。對於 2023 財年，我們預計總銷售額將增長 12% 至 14%。這包括與第 53 週相關的大約 2% 的影響。我們預計 2023 財年的商店銷售額將增長 3% 至 5%，我們調整後的息稅前利潤率將比去年增加 80 至 120 個基點。

Capital expenditures, net of landlord allowances, is expected to be approximately $560 million. This results in adjusted earnings per share guidance in the range of $5.50 to $6, an expected increase of 29% to 41%. This outlook includes an adjusted EPS contribution of $0.05 from the 53rd week.

扣除房東津貼後的資本支出預計約為 5.6 億美元。這導致調整後的每股收益指引在 5.50 美元至 6 美元之間，預計增長 29% 至 41%。該展望包括從第 53 週起調整後的 EPS 貢獻 0.05 美元。

For the first quarter of 2023, we expect total sales growth in the range of 12% to 14%. Comp store sales are assumed to increase between 5% and 7%. We are expecting adjusted EBIT margin to increase in the range of 120 to 150 basis points over the first quarter of 2022, which results in an adjusted EPS outlook in the range of $0.85 to $0.95.

對於 2023 年第一季度，我們預計總銷售額將增長 12% 至 14%。假設 Comp Store 銷售額增長 5% 至 7%。我們預計調整後的息稅前利潤率將在 2022 年第一季度增加 120 至 150 個基點，這導致調整後的每股收益前景在 0.85 美元至 0.95 美元之間。

I will now turn the call back to Michael.

我現在將電話轉回給邁克爾。

Thank you, Kristin. Before we move to questions, let me recap some of the key points that we have covered this morning. We saw a significant and sequential improvement in our sales trend in Q4. We believe that this was partly driven by better execution, specifically our focus on sharper value, but also partly driven by an improvement in the external environment.

謝謝你，克里斯汀。在我們開始提問之前，讓我回顧一下我們今天上午討論的一些要點。我們看到第四季度的銷售趨勢有了顯著的連續改善。我們認為，這部分是由於更好的執行力，特別是我們對更清晰的價值的關注，但也部分是由於外部環境的改善。

We are optimistic about the outlook for 2023. We are planning and managing our business for positive 3% to 5% comp sales growth, but we are ready to chase if the trend is stronger. Our #1 priority in 2023 is to drive sales. On 3% to 5% comp sales growth, we expect to achieve 80 to 120 basis points of margin expansion. Longer term, beyond 2023, we are excited about the prospects for our business. We anticipate that the next few years, we'll see significant disruption and dislocation across retail. We are pushing forward with the transformation of Burlington into a stronger off-price retailer. And this should help us to take advantage of the opportunities this disruption may present.

我們對 2023 年的前景持樂觀態度。我們正在規劃和管理我們的業務，以實現 3% 至 5% 的正銷售增長，但如果趨勢更強勁，我們準備追逐。我們在 2023 年的第一要務是推動銷售。在 3% 至 5% 的銷售增長中，我們預計利潤率將增長 80 至 120 個基點。從長遠來看，2023 年以後，我們對我們的業務前景感到興奮。我們預計未來幾年，我們將看到整個零售業發生重大顛覆和混亂。我們正在推動伯靈頓轉型為更強大的低價零售商。這應該有助於我們利用這種破壞可能帶來的機會。

With that, I would now like to turn the call over for your questions.

有了這個，我現在想把電話轉過來回答你的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Matthew Boss from JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自摩根大通的 Matthew Boss。

Congrats on a great quarter. So maybe, first, on your 2023 comp guidance, is there any additional commentary that you can provide on the 3% to 5% comp range? Or how should we think about whether there's potential upside to this range? And then I have a follow-up.

祝賀一個偉大的季度。因此，也許，首先，在您的 2023 年薪酬指南中，您是否可以就 3% 至 5% 的薪酬範圍提供任何其他評論？或者我們應該如何考慮這個範圍是否有潛在的上行空間？然後我有一個後續行動。

Matt, thanks for the question. As we developed our 2023 comp guidance, I would say that there were 3 -- yes, 3 main reference points that we used. Firstly, we looked at our own multiyear comparisons. I won't drag you through all the numbers, but we looked at our business on a 1-year, a 2-year, a 4-year basis. And we then compare that data with the low single-digit annual comp growth that we would historically have expected before the pandemic. So that was the first reference point.

馬特，謝謝你的提問。在我們制定 2023 年補償指南時，我會說有 3 個——是的，我們使用了 3 個主要參考點。首先，我們查看了我們自己的多年比較。我不會把所有的數字都拖給你看，但我們在 1 年、2 年、4 年的基礎上審視了我們的業務。然後，我們將該數據與我們在大流行之前預期的低個位數年度收入增長率進行比較。這是第一個參考點。

Secondly, we looked at our off-price peers. Our comp performance last year was significantly inferior to theirs. Now we recognize that, that may have been partially driven by differences in customer demographics. But we believe it was also driven by significant differences in execution. We know that we made mistakes last year. And in 2023, we certainly don't intend to repeat those mistakes.

其次，我們查看了我們的低價同行。我們去年的比賽表現明顯不如他們。現在我們認識到，這可能部分是由客戶人口統計數據的差異驅動的。但我們認為，這也是由執行方面的重大差異所驅動的。我們知道我們去年犯了錯誤。在 2023 年，我們當然不打算重蹈覆轍。

Thirdly, the third reference point, if you like, is that we looked at our most recent trend. Our Q4 comp sales were 4% ahead of 2019 levels. Our 2023 comp guide implies that comp sales this year will be 3% to 5% ahead of 2019 levels. In other words, our guide is consistent with Q4.

第三，第三個參考點，如果你願意的話，是我們查看了我們最近的趨勢。我們第四季度的銷售額比 2019 年水平高出 4%。我們的 2023 年比較指南暗示今年的比較銷售額將比 2019 年水平高出 3% 至 5%。換句話說，我們的指南與 Q4 是一致的。

One of the data points that I would offer up, though, is that our quarter-to-date trend is running ahead of our Q1 guidance. And that trend gives us additional confidence in our comp guidance.

不過，我要提供的一個數據點是，我們的季度至今趨勢領先於我們的第一季度指導。這種趨勢使我們對我們的補償指南更有信心。

Now the various points of reference that I've just described suggest that our comp guidance for 2023 is achievable. But it's important to add that there are unknowns out there. There's a lot of economic uncertainty. And we don't know how that uncertainty will play out in 2023. I think I've said before that setting comp guidance is not an exact science, but in our business, that's okay. If we manage our business flexibly, then if the sales trend is stronger, we know that we can check by a trend. So I guess I'd sum it up by saying, we think our guidance is appropriate, but we recognize there may be upside. And if there is, we're ready to chase it.

現在，我剛剛描述的各種參考點表明我們 2023 年的薪酬指導是可以實現的。但重要的是要補充一點，那裡還有未知數。有很多經濟不確定性。而且我們不知道這種不確定性將如何在 2023 年發揮作用。我想我之前說過，設定薪酬指導不是一門精確的科學，但在我們的業務中，這沒關係。如果我們靈活地管理我們的業務，那麼如果銷售趨勢更強，我們知道我們可以通過趨勢來檢查。所以我想我會總結說，我們認為我們的指導是合適的，但我們認識到可能有上行空間。如果有，我們準備追逐它。

Great. And then maybe just to follow-up on your margin guidance. So in the prepared remarks, I think you cited 80 to 120 basis points of operating margin expansion on that 3% to 5% comp range. What are the key drivers of expansion? And again, is there a way to think about potential upside to this forecast as well?

偉大的。然後也許只是跟進您的保證金指導。所以在準備好的評論中，我認為你在 3% 到 5% 的補償範圍內引用了 80 到 120 個基點的營業利潤率擴張。擴張的主要驅動力是什麼？再一次，有沒有辦法考慮這個預測的潛在上行空間？

Matt, thanks for the question. You're right. For the full year 2023, we're guiding a 3% to 5% comp growth, 12% to 14% total sales growth. That includes the 53rd week. And on that 3% to 5% comp growth, as you said, we're modeling 80 to 120 basis points of operating margin expansion. This really comes from 3 main sources: higher merchandise margin, lower freight cost and leverage on fixed expenses. So let me speak quickly to each of these items.

馬特，謝謝你的提問。你說得對。對於 2023 年全年，我們指導 3% 至 5% 的複合增長率，12% 至 14% 的總銷售額增長。這包括第 53 週。正如你所說，在 3% 到 5% 的複合增長率上，我們正在模擬 80 到 120 個基點的營業利潤率擴張。這實際上來自 3 個主要來源：更高的商品利潤率、更低的運費和對固定費用的槓桿作用。因此，讓我快速談談這些項目中的每一項。

On merchandise margin, given the extremely strong off-price environment, we believe we should be able to see some increase in merchandise margin. But as Michael said in the prepared remarks, our #1 goal this year is to drive sales, and that will mean passing along values to our customers. So in other words, while we do expect an increase in merchandise margin, we're not intending to maximize this increase. Our intent is to prioritize sales comp growth.

在商品利潤率方面，鑑於極其強勁的降價環境，我們認為我們應該能夠看到商品利潤率有所增加。但正如邁克爾在準備好的發言中所說，我們今年的第一目標是推動銷售，這意味著將價值傳遞給我們的客戶。所以換句話說，雖然我們確實預計商品利潤率會增加，但我們並不打算最大限度地提高這種增長。我們的目的是優先考慮銷售收入的增長。

The second item I mentioned is the lower freight expenses. So we're up against extraordinarily high freight costs from last year, particularly in the first part of the year. And we expect to see lower freight expenses, especially in Q1 and Q2.

我提到的第二項是較低的運費。因此，我們面臨著去年特別高的運費，尤其是在今年上半年。我們預計運費會降低，尤其是在第一季度和第二季度。

And the third source of margin expansion is the leverage on store fixed expenses, like occupancy. Of course, some of this will depend on the level of comp sales, which is yet another reason why we're focused on the top line. There are also headwinds built into our 2023 guidance. These include limited or less improvement in supply chain, given that increased mix of true closeout merchandise; and also the resetting of incentive comp, assuming that we hit our plan.

利潤增長的第三個來源是對商店固定費用的槓桿作用，比如入住率。當然，其中一些將取決於競爭銷售水平，這也是我們關注收入的另一個原因。我們的 2023 年指南中也存在不利因素。考慮到真正清倉商品的組合增加，這些包括供應鏈的有限或較少改進；假設我們達到了計劃，還會重置激勵補償。

For 2023, I'd like to stay away from specific line item guidance. And the reason is, this year, our overriding strategy is to drive sales. We recognize that means we need to be flexible. So depending on how the year unfolds, there may be times in the year we might want to sharpen our values to further drive sales, which could drive a slightly lower merchandise margin but greater leverage on fixed expenses.

對於 2023 年，我想遠離具體的訂單項指南。原因是，今年，我們的首要戰略是推動銷售。我們認識到這意味著我們需要保持靈活性。因此，根據這一年的發展情況，一年中有時我們可能希望提高我們的價值觀以進一步推動銷售，這可能會導致商品利潤率略有下降，但固定費用的槓桿作用會更大。

So to recap, on the 3% to 5% comp growth, we expect to achieve 80 to 120 basis points of operating margin expansion. We believe this will come from 3 primary sources: merchandise margin, freight and leverage on store fixed expenses. But the contribution from each of these will really depend on how the retail and competitive environment unfolds this year.

因此，回顧一下，在 3% 至 5% 的複合增長率上，我們預計將實現 80 至 120 個基點的營業利潤率擴張。我們認為這將來自 3 個主要來源：商品利潤率、運費和商店固定費用的槓桿作用。但其中每一項的貢獻實際上將取決於今年零售和競爭環境的發展情況。

Our next question comes from the line of Ike Boruchow from Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的 Ike Boruchow。

This is Jesse Sobelson on for Ike. Congratulations on your improved trend in Q4. I just have a couple of questions. Firstly, I am wondering whether the improved trend means that the merchandising mistakes that you described back in November are now behind you. And I have a follow up for Kristin.

這是 Ike 的 Jesse Sobelson。祝賀您在第四季度的改善趨勢。我有幾個問題。首先，我想知道改善的趨勢是否意味著您在 11 月描述的營銷錯誤現在已經過去了。我跟進了克里斯汀。

Jesse, I think to answer that question, and as much as I hate to do this, let me start by describing the specific execution mistakes that contributed to our performance last year. If I was to share our internal postmortem, I would say that there are -- those mistakes fell into 3 main areas. Firstly, given the uncertain environment as we came into 2022, we deliberately planned inventory levels conservatively. This is a year ago. And those conservative inventory levels backfired on us.

傑西，我想回答這個問題，儘管我很討厭這樣做，但讓我首先描述一下影響我們去年業績的具體執行錯誤。如果我要分享我們的內部事後分析，我會說有——這些錯誤分為 3 個主要領域。首先，鑑於我們進入 2022 年的不確定環境，我們有意保守地規劃庫存水平。這是一年前的事了。而那些保守的庫存水平對我們適得其反。

Like many other retailers, in the first -- certainly in the first quarter of last year and coming into the first quarter of last year, we experienced significant receipt volatility and delays. And those delays meant that we just ended up with too little on-hand inventory in our stores, and that really undermined our sales trend.

與許多其他零售商一樣，首先 - 當然是在去年第一季度和進入去年第一季度，我們經歷了嚴重的收貨波動和延誤。這些延誤意味著我們商店的現有庫存太少，這確實破壞了我們的銷售趨勢。

The second thing I would say is in 2021, going back to 2021, we were reluctant to push up prices. Many other retailers at the time were talking about raising retails. We were reluctant to do that. But then as we came into 2022, I think we kind of questioned ourselves and said, "Well, maybe we're wrong. Maybe we should start pushing up prices." So we added higher retails into our 2022 plans to really sort of happen in the summer and into the back half of the year. Now in retrospect, with the impact of inflation on our core customer and with the higher promotional activity across retail, that was just not a good time to be raising prices. As we got into the fall season, we realized that. We began to unwind those increases. Now we should have done that sooner. But anyway, it hurt our sales, especially in Q3, I would say.

第二個我要說的是2021年，回到2021年，我們不願意推高價格。當時許多其他零售商都在談論提高零售額。我們不願意那樣做。但是當我們進入 2022 年時，我想我們有點質疑自己並說，“好吧，也許我們錯了。也許我們應該開始推高價格。”因此，我們在 2022 年計劃中增加了更高的零售額，以便在夏季和下半年真正實現。現在回想起來，由於通貨膨脹對我們核心客戶的影響以及整個零售業促銷活動的增加，那不是提價的好時機。當我們進入秋季時，我們意識到了這一點。我們開始解除這些增加。現在我們應該早點這樣做。但無論如何，它損害了我們的銷售，尤其是在第三季度，我會說。

Thirdly, in 2022, there were some huge shifts in the types of merchandise that the customer was interested in buying. And across our business, we didn't do a good-enough job reacting and responding to those trends and those shifts. So those were the 3 sort of 3 big buckets of mistakes that we think we made last year.

第三，在 2022 年，客戶有興趣購買的商品類型發生了一些巨大的變化。在我們的整個業務中，我們沒有做好應對這些趨勢和變化的工作。所以這些是我們認為去年犯下的 3 類 3 大錯誤。

And to answer your question on a tactical level, I would say, yes, we believe those issues are behind us. We worked to correct the inventory and the receipt issues that we ran into last year. And we've significantly sharpened our values, and we've shifted our assortment into the categories that we believe the customer is most interested in buying. And I think all of those changes paid off and really contributed to our stronger trend in the fourth quarter.

為了在戰術層面回答你的問題，我會說，是的，我們相信這些問題已經過去了。我們努力糾正去年遇到的庫存和收據問題。我們已經顯著提高了我們的價值觀，我們已經將我們的產品分類轉變為我們認為客戶最有興趣購買的類別。而且我認為所有這些變化都得到了回報，並真正促成了我們在第四季度的強勁趨勢。

I do want to just sort of go a little bit further, though, in answering your question and just sort of take a step back and maybe put those rates, if you like, in a bigger strategic context.

不過，我確實想更進一步，在回答你的問題時退後一步，如果你願意的話，也許可以把這些利率放在更大的戰略背景下。

I talked a little bit about this on our call in November. I think it's important to understand that over the last few years, we've been doing a lot to transform our business. In particular, we've invested heavily to strengthen our merchandising capabilities. Since 2019, we've hired or promoted tremendous talent, and we've developed and we're rolling out many, many new tools and processes for our merchants. Our buying team is now about 50% bigger in terms of headcount than it was in 2019.

我在 11 月的電話會議上談到了這一點。我認為重要的是要了解在過去幾年中，我們一直在做很多事情來轉變我們的業務。特別是，我們投入了大量資金來加強我們的營銷能力。自 2019 年以來，我們聘用或提拔了大量人才，我們已經開發並正在為我們的商家推出許多新工具和流程。我們的採購團隊現在的人數比 2019 年增加了約 50%。

Now we know that merchandising is how you win in off-price. So we've assembled all the key ingredients, very experienced off-price merchant leadership, tremendous buying talent, improved buying and planning processes and new tools, training and reports. We've moved very fast. We had to. We're playing catch up.

現在我們知道商品推銷是您在低價中獲勝的方式。因此，我們匯集了所有關鍵要素、非常有經驗的低價商家領導層、巨大的採購人才、改進的採購和規劃流程以及新工具、培訓和報告。我們的行動非常迅速。我們不得不。我們正在追趕。

Now as those -- as they (inaudible) those investments, in my view, are going to drive our growth and success over the next few years. But I have to acknowledge the mistakes we made in 2022 demonstrate that this is a work in process. So I'm pleased that we corrected our mistakes and turned around our performance towards year-end, but we really need to be able to move faster and with greater consistency than we did last year.

現在，在我看來，這些投資（聽不清）將推動我們在未來幾年的增長和成功。但我必須承認我們在 2022 年犯下的錯誤表明這是一項正在進行的工作。因此，我很高興我們在年底前糾正了錯誤並扭轉了業績，但我們確實需要能夠比去年更快、更一致地行動。

Okay. Great. My second question is for Kristin. Can you provide any more detail on the margin puts and takes for Q4? For example, what impacts did incentive comp have on the quarter?

好的。偉大的。我的第二個問題是給克里斯汀的。您能否提供有關第四季度保證金看跌期權和獲利保證金的更多詳細信息？例如，激勵補償對本季度有何影響？

Jesse, thanks for the question. Overall, we're pleased with our fourth quarter results, particularly the improvement in our comp store sales trend and that momentum that built during the quarter and continued into February. But as you noted, the flow-through on those incremental sales was not as strong as typical for us, and that was primarily due to higher supply chain expenses.

傑西，謝謝你的提問。總的來說，我們對第四季度的業績感到滿意，尤其是我們商店銷售趨勢的改善以及在本季度建立並持續到二月份的勢頭。但正如您所指出的，這些增量銷售的流通並不像我們通常那樣強勁，這主要是由於更高的供應鏈費用。

At a high level, our gross margin was pretty much where we expected, as you look at the combination of 130 basis points of freight improvement, more than offsetting slightly lower merchandise margins, which was driven by higher markdowns as we move to sharpen values, as Michael noted. Product sourcing costs did delever somewhat more than we expected, which was primarily due to 60 basis points of supply chain deleverage.

在高水平上，我們的毛利率幾乎達到了我們的預期，因為您看到了 130 個基點的運費改善組合，不僅抵消了略低的商品利潤率，這是由於我們提高價值而導致的更高降價，正如邁克爾指出的那樣。產品採購成本的去槓桿化程度確實比我們預期的要高一些，這主要是由於供應鏈去槓桿化了 60 個基點。

Now on adjusted SG&A, that leveraged 50 basis points. And excluding the incentive comp adjustment, the adjusted SG&A rate would have been flat to the fourth quarter last year, which is still fairly strong expense control, given the negative comp in the quarter.

現在在調整後的 SG&A 上，槓桿為 50 個基點。如果不考慮激勵補償調整，調整後的 SG&A 率將與去年第四季度持平，鑑於本季度的負補償，這仍然是相當強大的費用控制。

Our next question comes from the line of Lorraine Hutchinson from Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Lorraine Hutchinson。

Kristin, in the prepared remarks, you called out supply chain expenses as unfavorable. What drove this? And how should we think about these costs going forward?

克里斯汀，在準備好的發言中，你稱供應鏈費用是不利的。是什麼驅使了這個？我們應該如何考慮未來的這些成本？

Lorraine, thanks for the question. I'd like to separate out 2 different factors that have contributed to higher supply chain cost at Burlington over the last few years. The first is there's a big piece of our higher supply chain costs that we should call externally driven. So over the last few years, there's been significant inflation in distribution center wage costs and then, of course, delays and volatility in global supply chains, which have caused DC operations to be less efficient. This is not unique to Burlington. Other retailers, particularly those with lower average unit retails, have faced the similar pressures. And we believe some of these higher costs, especially the higher wage rates, are likely here to today. But we expect, as global supply chain conditions continue to normalize, we should be able to drive some efficiencies and savings here.

洛林，謝謝你的提問。我想把過去幾年導致伯靈頓供應鏈成本上升的兩個不同因素分開。首先是我們較高的供應鏈成本中有很大一部分我們應該稱之為外部驅動。因此，在過去幾年中，配送中心工資成本大幅上漲，當然還有全球供應鏈的延誤和波動，導致配送中心運營效率降低。這並非伯靈頓獨有。其他零售商，尤其是那些平均單位零售量較低的零售商，也面臨著類似的壓力。我們相信，其中一些更高的成本，尤其是更高的工資率，可能會持續到今天。但我們預計，隨著全球供應鏈狀況繼續正常化，我們應該能夠在這裡提高效率和節省開支。

But the second factor is really -- on supply chain is really more specific to Burlington. Over the last few years, we've changed the mix of type of buy in our business. We now buy a much higher proportion of true off-price goods. And this shift in that buy type mix in Q4 was even more extreme as we took advantage of fantastic opportunistic off-price buys. And these deals, these buys are much more complex to process and have a higher work content in our DCs.

但第二個因素確實是——供應鏈對伯靈頓來說確實更具體。在過去的幾年裡，我們改變了我們業務中購買類型的組合。我們現在購買的真正低價商品比例要高得多。由於我們利用了極好的機會主義低價購買，第四季度購買類型組合的這種轉變更加極端。這些交易，這些購買處理起來要復雜得多，並且在我們的 DC 中具有更高的工作內容。

We also heavily utilized reserve inventory in the quarter as we took advantage of opportunistic buys and to chase the trend. So those are the factors that drove up our supply chain expenses in Q4. And as we look forward, we do expect to maintain a higher mix of true off-price merchandise than we have historically. So it may not be as extreme as it was in the fourth quarter.

我們在本季度還大量使用了儲備庫存，因為我們利用了機會性購買並追逐趨勢。因此，這些是推動我們在第四季度供應鏈支出增加的因素。展望未來，我們確實希望保持比以往更高的真正低價商品組合。所以它可能不會像第四季度那樣極端。

And the final point to make here is that we know we have opportunity in supply chain. We have work to do. Our distribution centers, the systems, the processes were not originally designed and really were never optimized with off-price in mind. So in the last few years, we're working hard to take actions to make our supply chain more flexible, more efficient and more off-price, but we have more work to do here. And there are some of these changes that are going to take time.

最後一點要說的是，我們知道我們在供應鏈中有機會。我們有工作要做。我們的配送中心、系統和流程並非最初設計，也從未真正考慮過降價優化。所以在過去的幾年裡，我們正在努力採取行動，使我們的供應鏈更靈活、更高效、更便宜，但我們在這方面還有更多工作要做。其中一些變化需要時間。

And then, Michael, it sounds like the buying environment has been very strong. What do you think will happen to merchandise availability as we move further into the year? And how will that impact the business?

然後，邁克爾，聽起來購買環境非常強勁。隨著我們進一步進入這一年，您認為商品可用性會發生什麼變化？這將如何影響業務？

Lorraine, I would say that the availability of off-price merchandise has been very strong over the last 5, 6 months. And I think we've heard that reported elsewhere as well. I would also say that I think our merchants have done a really good job leaning into that availability. We've made sure that we've controlled liquidity. So we've been able to take advantage of some really great deals.

Lorraine，我想說的是，在過去的 5、6 個月裡，低價商品的供應非常強勁。我想我們也聽說過其他地方的報導。我還要說的是，我認為我們的商家在利用這種可用性方面做得非常好。我們確保我們控制了流動性。所以我們已經能夠利用一些非常好的交易。

Now it's not difficult to understand why the off-price buying environment has been so strong in that period. In early 2022, we started to see a surge in supply as transportation bottlenecks finally began to clear. And that surge in supply then coincided with a weakening in consumer demand across retail as the year went on. Not surprisingly, too much supply to a little demand equals off-price availability, and that's what's happened.

現在不難理解為什麼低價購買環境在那個時期如此強烈。 2022 年初，隨著運輸瓶頸終於開始消除，我們開始看到供應激增。隨著時間的推移，供應激增恰逢零售業消費者需求減弱。不足為奇的是，過多的供應對少量的需求等於低價可用性，這就是發生的事情。

But there are a couple of other points that I'd like to make about merchandise supply. Firstly, as the third largest stock price retailer, this supply environment has given us the opportunity to open up new vendors and resources and to deepen relationships with existing vendors. We work very hard to partner with vendors to help them move excess inventory over the last few months. Our buyers have been very, very focused on that. We've been very responsive to vendors. And I think those new and expanded relationships are going to be very valuable to us strategically over the longer term.

但關於商品供應，我還想談幾點。首先，作為第三大股價零售商，這種供應環境讓我們有機會開拓新的供應商和資源，並加深與現有供應商的關係。我們非常努力地與供應商合作，幫助他們在過去幾個月中轉移過剩庫存。我們的買家一直非常非常關注這一點。我們對供應商非常敏感。而且我認為，從長遠來看，這些新的和擴展的關係將對我們在戰略上非常有價值。

The second point to make is our expectation is that the buying environment is likely to remain fairly strong well into 2023, especially if the economy slows down and demand continues to soften. When you look at off-price availability over a longer time period, I think the real aberration is not how strong supply has been over the last 6 months. There have been plenty of times like this in the past. The real aberration is how constrained supply was between mid-2020 and early to mid-2022. Those constraints during that 2-year period were driven by global supply chain issues coming out of the pandemic. We really haven't seen those before. So we think it's possible that the strong merchandise availability that we've seen in the last 6 months, it may just herald a return to normal.

第二點是我們的預期是，到 2023 年，購買環境可能會保持相當強勁，尤其是在經濟放緩且需求繼續疲軟的情況下。當您查看較長時間段內的低價可用性時，我認為真正的偏差不是過去 6 個月的供應量有多強勁。過去有很多次這樣的事情。真正的異常是 2020 年中期到 2022 年初至中期之間的供應受限情況。在那兩年期間的這些限制是由大流行引起的全球供應鏈問題驅動的。我們以前真的沒見過。因此，我們認為過去 6 個月我們看到的大量商品供應可能只是預示著回歸正常。

Our next question comes from the line of John Kernan from TD Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 TD Cowen 的 John Kernan。

Michael, Kristin, David, so first question is just on long-term operating margin. Previously, you said that you thought you'd get back to the 2019 operating margin of 9.4% within the next 2 years. Can you just talk to the path for getting back to those levels? And I just have a follow-up after that.

邁克爾、克里斯汀、大衛，所以第一個問題只是關於長期營業利潤率。此前，您曾表示您認為您會在未來 2 年內恢復到 2019 年 9.4% 的營業利潤率。你能談談回到那些層次的路徑嗎？在那之後我有一個跟進。

John, that's a good question. Once we get through 2023, we plan to provide an update on our long-range financial plan, and that will include a multiyear forecast for operating margin. Frankly, for that update to have credibility, we have to get through 2023 first. But in the interim, and to try and answer your question, let me offer up some comments to illustrate what kind of things might be in that plan and how are we thinking about operating margin. So I'll start with the data.

約翰，這是個好問題。一旦我們度過 2023 年，我們計劃提供我們長期財務計劃的更新，其中將包括對營業利潤率的多年預測。坦率地說，要使該更新具有可信度，我們必須先度過 2023 年。但在此期間，為了嘗試回答你的問題，讓我提出一些評論來說明該計劃中可能包含哪些內容，以及我們如何考慮營業利潤率。所以我將從數據開始。

So our operating margin in 2022 was 430 basis points below our 2019 levels. If you can break out that variance into 4 main components -- 4 main buckets. Firstly, merchandise margin. Now merchandise margin in 2022 was actually about 50 basis points higher than it was in 2019. And that was driven by a higher mix of off-price merchandise and faster -- much faster inventory turns.

因此，我們 2022 年的營業利潤率比 2019 年的水平低 430 個基點。如果您可以將該方差分解為 4 個主要部分—— 4 個主要部分。首先是商品毛利。現在，2022 年的商品利潤率實際上比 2019 年高出約 50 個基點。這是由更多的低價商品組合和更快——更快的庫存周轉率推動的。

Now the environment in 2022, as we said, was very promotional. And that meant that we really had to sharpen our values, and that negatively impacted merchandise margin in 2022. In fact, not to confuse everyone, but although our merchant margin was up 50 basis points in 2022 versus 2019, it actually fell by about 110 basis points versus 2021. So we look at that set of numbers, and we think there's upside to margin over the next couple of years. And we believe we have an opportunity to get back closer to the 2021 levels.

正如我們所說，現在 2022 年的環境非常具有促銷性。這意味著我們真的必須提高我們的價值觀，這對 2022 年的商品利潤率產生了負面影響。事實上，不要讓所有人感到困惑，但儘管我們的商家利潤率在 2022 年比 2019 年上升了 50 個基點，但實際上下降了約 110 個基點基點與 2021 年相比。因此，我們查看了這組數字，我們認為未來幾年利潤率會有上升空間。我們相信我們有機會回到更接近 2021 年的水平。

Now that said, and Kristin emphasized this point, in the near term, we want to be very careful about how aggressively we go after that. As we've said on this call, our priority in 2023 is really to drive sales rather than to maximize margin. Anyway, that's the first sort of driver of variance versus 2019.

話雖如此，Kristin 強調了這一點，在短期內，我們要非常小心我們在這方面的積極性。正如我們在這次電話會議上所說的那樣，我們在 2023 年的首要任務實際上是推動銷售，而不是最大限度地提高利潤率。無論如何，這是與 2019 年相比的第一種差異驅動因素。

The second driver of margin variance in 2022 versus 2019 was higher freight expense. Those expenses were 180 basis points higher than 2019. And the lion's share of that increase was driven by external freight rates. Now we expect to recover a significant proportion of that deleverage as freight rates normalize in the next couple of years. And as we mentioned earlier, we're starting to see some of that.

導致 2022 年與 2019 年利潤率差異的第二個驅動因素是較高的運費。這些費用比 2019 年高出 180 個基點。這一增長的絕大部分是由外部運費推動的。現在，隨著運費在未來幾年正常化，我們預計將恢復很大一部分去槓桿化。正如我們之前提到的，我們開始看到其中的一些。

The third source of variance is higher supply chain expenses. Again, in 2022 versus 2019, those were 230 basis points worse. As global supply chains begin to normalize, we fully expect that the timing of receipt flows will become more predictable and more reliable. And we believe that a slowing economy may dampen labor costs and turnover in our distribution centers. And those 2 factors should drive some savings in supply chain expenses.

第三個差異來源是更高的供應鏈費用。同樣，2022 年與 2019 年相比，差了 230 個基點。隨著全球供應鏈開始正常化，我們完全預計收貨時間將變得更加可預測和可靠。我們認為，經濟放緩可能會抑制我們配送中心的勞動力成本和營業額。這兩個因素應該會節省一些供應鏈費用。

But we're being a little cautious there because, as Kristin said a moment ago, some of the higher costs versus 2019, we believe, have been driven by the shift in our business to becoming more off-price, and it's going to take a bit longer to address those costs.

但我們在那裡有點謹慎，因為正如克里斯汀剛才所說，我們認為，與 2019 年相比，一些成本較高的原因是我們的業務轉向價格更低，而且需要解決這些成本需要更長的時間。

The fourth sort of source of operating margin variance since 2019, I'm going to call all other expenses. Now all other expenses delevered by about 70 basis points in 2022 versus 2019. Now that bucket includes some areas of the business where we've actually driven greater efficiency. But those savings have been more than offset by deleverage on fixed expenses, especially fixed store expenses like occupancy. Now that deleverage is not a surprise. It's the result of a flat comp, essentially flat comp sales over a 3-year period. So that's another reason why our priority in 2023 is to drive the top line. The more we can drive sales and the more leverage we can receive on those set of factors. So I guess to bring my answer back to one place, I guess our path back to 2019 margins is likely to have 4 main components.

自 2019 年以來營業利潤率差異的第四種來源，我將調用所有其他費用。現在，與 2019 年相比，2022 年所有其他支出都減少了約 70 個基點。現在，這一桶包括我們實際上提高效率的一些業務領域。但這些節省已經被固定費用的去槓桿化所抵消，尤其是固定商店費用，如入住率。現在，去槓桿化並不令人意外。這是一個扁平化的結果，在 3 年期間基本上是扁平化的銷售額。因此，這就是我們在 2023 年的首要任務是推動收入增長的另一個原因。我們越能推動銷售，我們就能在這些因素上獲得更多的影響力。所以我想把我的答案回到一個地方，我想我們回到 2019 年利潤率的道路可能有 4 個主要組成部分。

Number one, our focus on higher sales, especially in 2023. Higher sales drive leverage. Number two, lower freight expenses as external rates normalize in the next couple of years, and we're starting to see that happen. Number three, higher merchant margin as the highly promotional environment of last year begins to recede. Number four, supply chain efficiencies, but for the reasons we've outlined, some of those may take a little bit of time. And let me sort of finish up with just one final point.

第一，我們關注更高的銷售額，尤其是在 2023 年。更高的銷售額推動槓桿。第二，隨著未來幾年外部利率正常化，運費降低，我們開始看到這種情況發生。第三，隨著去年的高促銷環境開始消退，商家利潤率更高。第四，供應鏈效率，但出於我們概述的原因，其中一些可能需要一點時間。讓我以最後一點作為結束。

The question you asked was how will we get back to 2019 margins. Now we feel good about the levers I've just outlined, but we don't regard 2019 margins as our final destination. We still believe that we can drive operating margin beyond 2019 levels. The key premise of Burlington 2.0 is that we can drive stronger sales productivity with lower inventory levels and in a smaller store format. By doing all those things, we believe we can drive our operating margin above historic levels and thereby start to close gap versus our off-price peers.

您問的問題是我們將如何恢復到 2019 年的利潤率。現在我們對我剛剛概述的槓桿感到滿意，但我們並不認為 2019 年的利潤率是我們的最終目標。我們仍然相信我們可以推動營業利潤率超過 2019 年的水平。伯靈頓 2.0 的關鍵前提是我們可以通過較低的庫存水平和較小的商店格式來提高銷售效率。通過做所有這些事情，我們相信我們可以將我們的營業利潤率提高到歷史水平以上，從而開始縮小與我們的低價同行的差距。

That's a lot of detail and great color, Michael. I guess, Kristin, inventory levels at the end of January were up a decent amount versus last year, but you may have been under inventoried last spring. Is there any additional commentary you can provide on inventory? And how should we think about inventory levels as we get further into 2023?

這是很多細節和很棒的顏色，邁克爾。我想，克里斯汀，1 月底的庫存水平與去年相比上升了很多，但去年春天你的庫存可能不足。您是否可以提供有關庫存的任何其他評論？隨著我們進入 2023 年，我們應該如何考慮庫存水平？

John, thanks for the question. Yes, you're right. Our comp store inventories were up 32% at the end of January. And as you noted, and I think Michael responded to Jesse's question, last year, we were under inventoried at this time at the end of Q4. At the end of Q4 last year, we were down 30% versus 2019. And so when you adjust these numbers for compounding, this means our comparable store inventories are still well below pre-pandemic levels.

約翰，謝謝你的提問。你是對的。截至 1 月底，我們的 comp 商店庫存增加了 32%。正如你所指出的，我認為邁克爾回答了傑西的問題，去年，我們在第四季度末的這個時候庫存不足。去年第四季度末，我們比 2019 年下降了 30%。因此，當你調整這些數字以進行複合時，這意味著我們的可比商店庫存仍遠低於大流行前的水平。

Last year, the combination of conservative sales and inventory plans, plus significant receipt disruptions and delays meant that our in-store inventories in February and March were well below where they needed to be. But by April, they had recovered, but this situation undermined our sales in Q1, as Michael described earlier. So this year, we deliberately increased inventory levels coming into the quarter. That's what's driving that 32% increase. And as we get into April, our comparable store inventory should be more in line with 2022. And as we move through the rest of this year, there may be variations by month, but inventories will be similar to last year. So that was store inventories. But let me shift quickly to talk about reserve inventories.

去年，保守的銷售和庫存計劃，加上嚴重的收貨中斷和延遲，意味著我們 2 月和 3 月的店內庫存遠低於需要的水平。但到 4 月，他們已經恢復，但這種情況破壞了我們在第一季度的銷售，正如邁克爾之前所描述的那樣。所以今年，我們故意提高了本季度的庫存水平。這就是推動 32% 增長的原因。隨著我們進入 4 月，我們的可比商店庫存應該與 2022 年更加一致。隨著今年剩餘時間的推移，每個月可能會有變化，但庫存將與去年相似。那就是商店庫存。但是，讓我快速談談儲備庫存。

A moment ago, Michael described how, over the last couple of years, we've become more off-price in terms of the type of merchandise we buy. And a key enabler of this is how we use and expanded our reserve inventory. This provides us with the ability to take advantage of great opportunistic deals. Even on merchandise, it does not make sense to flow to stores right away. At the end of 2022, our reserve inventory was significantly higher in dollar terms than it was last year. And this reflects the great buys our buyers have found. We feel very good about the values and the branded content we have in reserve, and this should help us fuel our sales trend this year.

剛才，邁克爾描述了在過去的幾年中，我們如何在購買的商品類型方面變得更加低價。而這其中的一個關鍵推動因素是我們如何使用和擴大我們的儲備庫存。這使我們能夠利用巨大的機會主義交易。即使在商品上，立即流向商店也沒有意義。到 2022 年底，我們的儲備庫存以美元計算明顯高於去年。這反映了我們的買家發現的大量購買。我們對我們保留的價值和品牌內容感到非常滿意，這應該有助於推動我們今年的銷售趨勢。

Our next question comes from the line of Mark Altschwager from Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自 Baird 的 Mark Altschwager。

Great to see the improvement. Are there any particular categories that drove the upside that you delivered in the fourth quarter? And as the sales trends have continued into January and February. Just any underlying shifts you're seeing in consumer behavior? And then I have a quick follow-up.

很高興看到改進。是否有任何特定類別推動了您在第四季度實現的增長？隨著銷售趨勢一直持續到 1 月和 2 月。您在消費者行為中看到的任何潛在變化？然後我有一個快速跟進。

Mark, yes, in terms of categories, I would say, for the fourth quarter as a whole, our footwear and our accessories businesses were our strongest performers. But I think it's important to call out that the improvement, the sequential -- month-to-month sequential improvement that we saw through Q4 actually was fairly broad-based and happened across all of our major businesses. Everything got better. And I think that's mainly because when I go back and think about the key merchandising strategies that we really turned towards in the back half of last year, in particular, the focus on value we did that across all businesses. So that's why I think we saw the improvement across all businesses.

馬克，是的，就類別而言，我想說，就整個第四季度而言，我們的鞋類和配飾業務是我們表現最強勁的業務。但我認為重要的是要指出，我們在第四季度看到的改進，即我們在第四季度看到的連續 - 逐月連續改進實際上是相當廣泛的，並且發生在我們所有的主要業務中。一切都變得更好了。我認為這主要是因為當我回過頭來思考我們在去年下半年真正轉向的關鍵營銷策略時，特別是我們在所有業務中都對價值的關注。所以這就是為什麼我認為我們看到了所有業務的改進。

And then with respect to the store opening plans, a bit lower than you had signaled previously. How quickly do you think you can ramp new stores as availability increases? And are you seeing or hearing any indications that availability could increase more than you're currently expecting through 2023?

然後關於開店計劃，比你之前暗示的要低一點。隨著可用性的增加，您認為您可以多快開設新店？您是否看到或聽到任何跡象表明到 2023 年可用性的增加可能會超過您目前的預期？

Sure. So we -- our real estate process is fairly rigorous. We have a very strong real estate team. And we have, like I said, a very rigorous process for identifying and evaluating new store locations. We look at hundreds of potential sites to build up our pipeline for the year ahead. And as we look to the sites that are available to open in the next 12 months, we believe that there are 70 to 80 net new store locations that sort of meet or beat hurdles. And how hurdles in terms of being EBIT accretive and having a strong return on investment are pretty high.

當然。所以我們——我們的房地產流程相當嚴格。我們有一個非常強大的房地產團隊。就像我說的，我們有一個非常嚴格的流程來識別和評估新的商店位置。我們著眼於數百個潛在地點，以建立我們來年的管道。當我們著眼於未來 12 個月內可供開業的網站時，我們相信有 70 到 80 個淨新店位置可以滿足或克服障礙。在增加 EBIT 和獲得強勁投資回報方面的障礙是多麼的高。

So as I said in the remarks, that 70 to 80 net new stores is a little lower than we would like. But obviously, we're not going to compromise our hurdles to hit a number. Ideally, we'd like to open another 20 or 30 or even more if we had the locations.

所以正如我在評論中所說，70 到 80 家淨新店比我們想要的要少一些。但顯然，我們不會為了達到一個數字而犧牲我們的障礙。理想情況下，如果我們有地點，我們想再開 20 或 30 家甚至更多。

Now I would say that, that's the outlook for the next 12 months. But with new store openings, it's important to look further out, and that's where we see significant opportunity. As I mentioned in the remarks, we think that over the next few years, there could be a wave of retail consolidation among bricks-and-mortar retailers. That wave was kind of happening pre-pandemic. And then I think in the last 3 years, it's been slightly dampened by the sort of -- by the roller coaster that's happened in terms of retailer sales and margins going up and then down. I think as things normalize, we may get back to additional retail consolidation.

現在我要說的是，這就是未來 12 個月的前景。但隨著新店的開張，放眼更遠很重要，而這正是我們看到重大機遇的地方。正如我在評論中提到的，我們認為在未來幾年內，實體零售商之間可能會出現一波零售整合浪潮。那波浪潮有點發生在大流行之前。然後我認為在過去的 3 年裡，它受到了某種形式的輕微抑制——在零售商銷售額和利潤率上升和下降方面發生的過山車。我認為隨著事情的正常化，我們可能會重新進行額外的零售整合。

Now the reason why I'm focusing on retail consolidation, and I think most investors probably realize this, but for us, the biggest source of new store locations comes from other retailers closing stores. So many of our most productive locations were formerly Circuit City or Toys "R" Us or Sports Authority or Linens & Things. In other words, if there's an increase in retail bankruptcies, then that's going to drive real estate opportunities and new store opening opportunities for us.

現在我關注零售整合的原因，我認為大多數投資者可能已經意識到這一點，但對我們來說，新店選址的最大來源來自其他零售商關閉的商店。許多我們最有成效的地點以前是 Circuit City 或 Toys “R” Us 或 Sports Authority 或 Linens & Things。換句話說，如果零售破產數量增加，那麼這將為我們帶來房地產機會和新店開張機會。

Our next question comes from the line of Adrienne Yih from Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Adrienne Yih。

Great. Let me add my congratulations. It's great to see the progress. Michael, most of my questions have been asked, but I did notice a return to pretty aggressive prime-time television in January and then February quarter-to-date. So I'm wondering kind of what the advertising strategy is within the outlook for 2023. And clearly, it seems like it is converting and driving traffic to the stores. So just a quick thought there. And then on the -- for Kristin, on the reserve inventory, is that more short stay that can be deployed sort of intra-season Q1, Q2? Or is that more kind of long stay winter to winter? Thank you so much.

偉大的。讓我表示祝賀。很高興看到進展。邁克爾，我的大部分問題都被問到了，但我確實注意到在 1 月份和 2 月份的季度至今，黃金時段的電視節目又回到了相當激進的狀態。所以我想知道 2023 年展望中的廣告策略是什麼。很明顯，它似乎正在轉化並推動商店的客流量。所以只是一個快速的想法。然後關於 - 對於克里斯汀來說，關於儲備庫存，是否可以在季內 Q1、Q2 部署更多的短期停留？或者更像是一個冬天到冬天的長期停留？太感謝了。

So Adrienne, on the marketing question, we are very excited about our marketing programs. In the last few years, I would say, we've been moving to a much harder-hitting value message with our advertising. And we think that, that value message is going to really resonate in 2023. If we're right that the economy is going to slow down and that the consumer is going to be more value-conscious, then I think our marketing is really going to speak to them and is really going to help to further enhance the traffic coming into our stores.

所以 Adrienne，關於營銷問題，我們對我們的營銷計劃感到非常興奮。在過去的幾年裡，我想說，我們一直在通過我們的廣告轉向更具影響力的價值信息。我們認為，價值信息將在 2023 年真正引起共鳴。如果我們認為經濟將放緩並且消費者將更加註重價值，那麼我認為我們的營銷真的會與他們交談，確實有助於進一步增加進入我們商店的客流量。

Now I do think that the most important thing in our business is when that customer comes into the store, we can't disappoint them. We have to have the value in the store. And if you'd ask me last summer, I would have said I'm less confident about that. As we move into 2023, I feel like what we all have to offer in the store is much more compelling. And I think our marketing, if we're able to drive more traffic into the store, is really going to sort of -- is really going to work well for us in 2023.

現在我確實認為我們業務中最重要的事情是當顧客走進商店時，我們不能讓他們失望。我們必須在商店中具有價值。如果你去年夏天問我，我會說我對此不太自信。隨著我們進入 2023 年，我覺得我們在商店中提供的一切都更具吸引力。而且我認為，如果我們能夠為商店帶來更多客流量，那麼我們的營銷真的會在某種程度上——在 2023 年對我們來說真的會很好。

And then on your question on reserve inventory, as I noted, we feel really good about the values and the content in our reserve. It's certainly a mix of short stay and pack and hold. And we also measure it in terms of the percent of WOW values and branded penetration. So we feel really good about the content of the reserve from kind of all of those measures.

然後關於你關於儲備庫存的問題，正如我所指出的，我們對儲備的價值和內容感到非常滿意。這肯定是短期停留和打包並持有的混合體。我們還根據 WOW 值和品牌滲透率的百分比來衡量它。因此，我們對所有這些措施的儲備內容感到非常滿意。

Our final question comes from Chuck Grom from Gordon Haskett.

我們的最後一個問題來自 Gordon Haskett 的 Chuck Grom。

My one question is on the buying team. You've increased the organization a lot over the past few years. And I'm curious if the team now is in a good place or are you still upgrading talent and new capabilities. And as a follow-up, given there's a natural learning curve to adding so many new employees to the team, how should we think about the benefits of improved sales and profitability from that asset over the next couple of years?

我的一個問題是關於採購團隊的。在過去的幾年中，您大大增加了組織。我很好奇團隊現在是否處在一個好的位置，或者您是否仍在提升人才和新能力。作為後續行動，鑑於向團隊添加如此多的新員工有一個自然的學習曲線，我們應該如何考慮在未來幾年內從該資產中提高銷售和盈利能力的好處？

Sure. Chuck, thanks for the question. Yes, we -- as I mentioned in the earlier comments, we've really ramped up investment in our merchandising organization over the last 3 years. Just the raw numbers that our headcount -- our merchandising headcount is about 50% bigger now than it was in 2019. Now -- and actually, if you peel back the onion on that, it wasn't -- it's not 50% higher in every business. There are some businesses, especially our fastest-growing opportunity businesses where the headcount growth is higher than 50%, and obviously, some businesses where it's less. So that's a lot of newness. That's a lot of newness, a lot of investment in the organization.

當然。查克，謝謝你的提問。是的，正如我在之前的評論中提到的，我們在過去 3 年中確實加大了對營銷組織的投資。只是我們的員工人數的原始數字——我們的銷售人員現在比 2019 年增加了大約 50%。現在——實際上，如果你剝開洋蔥，它不是——它不是高 50%在每項業務中。有些企業，尤其是我們增長最快的機會型企業，其員工人數增長率超過 50%，顯然，有些企業的員工人數增長率較低。所以這是很多新鮮事。這是很多新事物，對組織的大量投資。

Now I should add that it's actually pretty consistent with what we had said 3 years ago. I think on a similar call like this 3 years ago, I probably would have said that we would have increased merchant headcount by about 15% a year for the next 3 years, and that's kind of the way it's worked out.

現在我應該補充一點，它實際上與我們 3 年前所說的非常一致。我認為在 3 年前這樣的類似電話會議上，我可能會說我們將在接下來的 3 年中每年增加約 15% 的商家人數，這就是它的工作方式。

Now to pivot being forward looking for a minute, I would say that most of the heavy lifting in terms of expanding our merchant team is now behind us. That's not to say that we won't add talent opportunistically, and we will. And there's certainly some areas of our business where we see some opportunity for that. But the big increase, the big expansion has already happened.

現在轉向向前看一分鐘，我想說的是，擴大我們的商業團隊的大部分繁重工作現在已經過去了。這並不是說我們不會機會主義地增加人才，我們會的。當然，在我們的某些業務領域中，我們看到了一些機會。但是大的增加，大的擴張已經發生了。

But let me move away from headcount and just talk about how our merchandising organization operates. Because I feel like in the last few years, we've added headcount, and we've definitely leaned into the main principles of off-price more so than we ever had in the past. So we're turning inventory much faster. We're chasing sales much more aggressively. We're controlling liquidity much more tightly. We're buying opportunistically, things that maybe we did historically, but we're doing them to a much greater extent now. But I would say that we've leaned into being off-price without necessarily having all the tools and the processes that our peers have. And we've been addressing that. Over the past couple of years, we've been developing a lot of those off-price tools, reports, capabilities. And we're rolling out many of those, and we've started rolling them out. And over the next 12, 18 months, we'll roll more of them out. So I do think that there's a dividend that's yet to come in terms of the investment we've made in merchandising. I feel like we should be able to drive sales growth and margin growth over the next few years. I'm very confident that this strategic asset that we've built in recognizing is going to pay dividends for us.

但是，讓我先談談員工人數，談談我們的營銷組織是如何運作的。因為我覺得在過去的幾年裡，我們增加了員工人數，而且我們肯定比過去更傾向於折扣的主要原則。所以我們正在更快地周轉庫存。我們正在更加積極地追逐銷售。我們正在更加嚴格地控制流動性。我們正在機會主義地購買，也許我們過去做過的事情，但我們現在正在更大程度上做這些事情。但我要說的是，我們已經傾向於低價，但不一定擁有我們同行擁有的所有工具和流程。我們一直在解決這個問題。在過去的幾年裡，我們一直在開發許多低價工具、報告和功能。我們正在推出其中的許多產品，並且我們已經開始推出它們。在接下來的 12、18 個月裡，我們將推出更多此類產品。因此，我確實認為，就我們在商品銷售方面的投資而言，紅利尚未到來。我覺得我們應該能夠在未來幾年推動銷售增長和利潤增長。我非常有信心，我們建立起來的這一戰略資產將為我們帶來紅利。

And Michael, just as a quick follow-up. Can you touch on the technology investments? I guess, what have you done and what's left? Because I think that's a key part of the ingredient being able to leverage the buying team that you've added over the past couple of years.

邁克爾，作為快速跟進。你能談談技術投資嗎？我想，你做了什麼，還剩下什麼？因為我認為這是能夠利用您在過去幾年中添加的購買團隊的關鍵部分。

Yes. No, it's absolutely right, Chuck. Yes, when I joined Burlington, I was very nervous that I was going to walk in and find lots of antiquated systems at Burlington. And actually, that wasn't the case. What I found was systems that were pretty up to date. What I did find, though, that those systems hadn't necessarily been configured with off-price in mind. They've been configured with a much more department store sort of preplanned approach to buying. So what we've really done over the last 3 years is sort of change how we configure those systems, but also that drives our planning processes and our buying processes. And it drives the need for those systems to generate different reports that look at different aspects of the business. So that's really the path we've been on.

是的。不，這是絕對正確的，查克。是的，當我加入伯靈頓時，我非常緊張，因為我走進去發現伯靈頓有很多過時的系統。實際上，情況並非如此。我發現的是非常新的系統。不過，我確實發現，這些系統在配置時不一定考慮到低價。他們已經配置了更多的百貨商店類型的預先計劃的購買方式。因此，過去 3 年我們真正做的是改變我們配置這些系統的方式，同時也推動我們的規劃流程和購買流程。它推動了這些系統生成不同報告的需求，這些報告著眼於業務的不同方面。這就是我們一直走的路。

Thankfully, as I say, we haven't had to sort of tear out the old systems and bring in new systems. It's been more about reconfiguring the systems that we have. Now obviously, to do that right, you have to take a step back and you have to sort of say, "Well, let's understand our business needs. What are we trying to do?" So there was a lot of sort of user requirements, business requirements work that was required, but that's all behind us now. And we're at the stage where we are actually rolling out new tools, new processes across the buying and planning organization.

值得慶幸的是，正如我所說，我們不必拆除舊系統並引入新系統。更多的是關於重新配置我們擁有的系統。現在顯然，要做到這一點，你必須退後一步，你必須說，“好吧，讓我們了解我們的業務需求。我們想做什麼？”所以有很多用戶需求，業務需求工作是必需的，但現在這些都已經過去了。我們正處於在整個採購和規劃組織中實際推出新工具、新流程的階段。

I would now like to turn the call over to Michael O'Sullivan for closing remarks.

我現在想把電話轉給 Michael O'Sullivan 作結束語。

Let me close by thanking everyone on this call for your interest in Burlington Stores. We really look forward to talking to you again in May to discuss our first quarter fiscal results. Thank you for your time today.

最後，我要感謝本次電話會議中的每一個人對 Burlington Stores 的關注。我們真的很期待在 5 月份再次與您交談，討論我們第一季度的財務業績。謝謝你今天的時間。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This does conclude today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

謝謝你們，女士們，先生們。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。