Burlington Stores Inc (BURL) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Burlington Stores, Inc. first-quarter 2024 earnings and webcast. (Operator Instructions)

女士們先生們，謝謝你們的支持。此時此刻，我歡迎大家觀看 Burlington Stores, Inc. 2024 年第一季財報和網路廣播。（操作員說明）

I would now like to turn the conference over to David Glick, Senior Vice President. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議交給資深副總裁 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 2024 first quarter operating results. Unless otherwise indicated, our discussion of results for the 2024 first quarter exclude the impact of certain expenses associated with the acquisition of Bed, Bath & Beyond leases.

謝謝接線員，大家早安。我們感謝大家參加今天的電話會議，討論伯靈頓 2024 財年第一季的營運表現。除非另有說明，我們對 2024 年第一季業績的討論不包括與收購 Bed、Bath & Beyond 租賃相關的某些費用的影響。

Our presenters today are Michael O'Sullivan, our Chief Executive Officer, and Kristin Wolfe, EVP and Chief Financial Officer. 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 June 6, 2024.

今天的主講人是我們的執行長邁克爾·奧沙利文 (Michael O'Sullivan) 和執行副總裁兼首席財務官克里斯汀·沃爾夫 (Kristin Wolfe)。在我將電話轉給麥可之前，我想通知聽眾，未經我們明確許可，不得轉錄、錄製或廣播此電話。電話會議的重播將持續到 2024 年 6 月 6 日。

We take no responsibility for an accuracies 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. Remarks made on this call concerning future expectations, events, strategies, objectives, trends, or projected financial results are subject to certain risks and uncertainties.

我們對第三方通話記錄中可能出現的準確性不承擔任何責任。今天，我們的言論以及隨後的問答的版權歸伯靈頓商店所有。本次電話會議中有關未來預期、事件、策略、目標、趨勢或預期財務結果的言論存在一定的風險和不確定性。

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 2023. In addition, other filings with the SEC, all of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

實際結果可能與此類前瞻性陳述中預測的結果有重大差異。此類風險和不確定性包括公司 2023 財年 10-K 中所述的風險和不確定性。此外，向 SEC 提交的其他文件均透過引用明確併入本文。

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.

請注意，我們今天討論的財務表現和預期是在持續經營的基礎上進行的。我們今天討論的非公認會計原則措施與公認會計原則措施的調節包含在今天的新聞稿中。

Now here's Michael.

現在麥可來了。

Thank you, David.

謝謝你，大衛。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I would like to cover three topics this morning. Firstly, I will discuss our Q1 results. Secondly, I will talk about our Q2 guidance. And finally, I will comment on our full year outlook. After that, I will hand over to Kristin to walk through the financial details of our Q1 results and our updated 2024 guidance. Then we will be happy to respond to your questions.

大家早安，感謝您加入我們。今天早上我想談三個話題。首先，我將討論我們第一季的業績。其次，我將談談我們的第二季指導。最後，我將評論我們的全年展望。之後，我將交給 Kristin 詳細介紹我們第一季業績和更新的 2024 年指導的財務細節。那麼我們將很樂意回答您的問題。

Okay, let's talk about our first quarter results. And so to start with total sales, we believe that total sales growth compared to other retailers is the best proxy indicator for what is happening with market share. Our total sales in Q1 grew by 11% compared to the first quarter of 2023. That was on top of 11% total sales growth versus Q1 of 2022.

好的，我們來談談第一季的業績。因此，從總銷售額開始，我們認為與其他零售商相比，總銷售額的成長是衡量市場佔有率變化的最佳代理指標。與 2023 年第一季相比，我們第一季的總銷售額成長了 11%。與 2022 年第一季相比，總銷售額成長了 11%。

New stores are a key driver of this top line growth. In Q1, we added 14 net new stores and ended the quarter with 1,021 stores. We are on track to open 100 net new stores this year. The other driver of top-line sales is comp store sales growth. Comp store sales for the first quarter increased 2% versus our guidance of flat 2%. This 2% comp store sales growth was on top of last year's Q1 comp store sales increase of 4%-plus .

新店是營收成長的關鍵驅動力。第一季度，我們淨增 14 家新店，本季末門市數量達到 1,021 家。今年我們預計將淨開設 100 家新店。頂線銷售的另一個驅動因素是同店銷售成長。第一季比較店銷售額成長了 2%，而我們的指引值為持平 2%。這一 2% 的同店銷售成長高於去年第一季同店銷售 4% 以上的增幅。

As we described in our last earnings call on March 7, our February sales trend was softer than we had anticipated, but we believe that this was attributable to disruptive winter weather as well as the slower pace of tax refunds versus February of 2023.

正如我們在3 月7 日的上次財報電話會議中所述，我們2 月份的銷售趨勢比我們預期的要疲軟，但我們認為這是由於冬季天氣的破壞性以及退稅速度較2023 年2 月放緩所致。

As we have discussed in the past, our core lower-income shopper is sensitive to the timing of tax refunds, specifically refunds related to earned income tax credit. As you might expect as tax refunds began to normalize, our sales trend improved as the quarter unfolded.

正如我們過去所討論的，我們的核心低收入購物者對退稅的時間很敏感，特別是與所得稅抵免相關的退稅。正如您所預料的那樣，隨著退稅開始正常化，我們的銷售趨勢隨著本季的展開而有所改善。

In the March, April period combined, our comp sales increased a solid 4% because of the timing of Easter Sunday, it is very important to look at the comp sales trend for these two months combined. Similar to the fourth quarter, our regular-price selling was particularly strong. For the quarter as a whole, our regular price comp growth was positive 4%, and for the March, April period, it was positive 6%.

在 3 月和 4 月期間，由於復活節週日的時間，我們的贈品銷售額穩定成長了 4%，因此了解這兩個月的贈品銷售趨勢非常重要。與第四季類似，我們的正常價格銷售特別強勁。整個季度，我們的常規價格比較成長為正 4%，而 3 月和 4 月期間，為正 6%。

These growth rates more than offset a double-digit decrease in clearance sales. This level of regular-priced selling is very healthy. It shows shoppers are responding well to the assortments and great values they are finding in our stores.

這些成長率足以抵銷清倉銷售兩位數的下降。這種正常價格的銷售水平非常健康。這表明購物者對我們商店中的商品種類和物超所值反應良好。

Before I turn to our outlook for the second quarter and the full year, I would like to comment on our strong profit growth in Q1.

在我對第二季和全年的前景進行展望之前，我想先談談我們第一季的強勁利潤成長。

Our EBIT margin increased a robust 170 basis points, and our adjusted EPS was up 68% over last year. As Kristin will explain in a moment, this favorability was partially driven by expense timing. But even after adjusting for this, our margin and earnings performance was well ahead of our guidance.

我們的息稅前利潤率強勁成長了 170 個基點，調整後每股盈餘比去年成長了 68%。正如克里斯汀稍後將解釋的那樣，這種好感部分是由費用時間決定的。但即使在對此進行調整後，我們的利潤率和獲利表現仍遠遠超出了我們的指導。

There were two major drivers of this strong margin expansion. Firstly, as I mentioned a moment ago, our regular-price selling was very strong. This grows faster turns and lower markdowns. Second major driver was faster than expected progress on our supply chain efficiency initiatives. We are encouraged by the strong early results that we are seeing from this program.

利潤率的強勁成長有兩個主要驅動因素。首先，正如我剛才提到的，我們的正常價格銷售非常強勁。這會帶來更快的周轉和更低的降價。第二個主要驅動因素是我們的供應鏈效率計劃的進展快於預期。我們對該計劃所看到的強勁的早期成果感到鼓舞。

Okay. Let me move on to the outlook for the second quarter. Our comp guidance for Q2 is flat to 2%. We recognize that based on our most recent trend, there could be upside to this forecast. But there are a couple of reasons to remain cautious. Firstly, we believe that our strong March and April trends was driven by the catch-up in tax refunds, and we expect that at some point this tailwind could abate.

好的。讓我繼續展望第二季。我們對第二季的比較指引持平於 2%。我們認識到，根據我們最近的趨勢，這項預測可能有上行空間。但有幾個理由需要保持謹慎。首先，我們認為 3 月和 4 月的強勁趨勢是由退稅追趕推動的，我們預計在某個時候這種順風可能會減弱。

Secondly, our comp growth for each of the past two quarters as being 2%-plus. So it feels reasonable to keep our guidance headed to 2%-plus. If our Q2 trend turns out to be stronger than this guidance, I am confident that we will be able to chase it. It is worth calling out that in the first quarter as the comp trend picked up rapidly in March and April, our merchandising and supply chain teams did a nice job ramping up receipt flow case these sales. So to reiterate, our Q2 comp guidance is 0% to 2%. So we hope to do better.

其次，過去兩季我們的複合成長率均超過 2%。因此，將我們的指引保持在 2% 以上是合理的。如果我們的第二季度趨勢強於這一指導，我相信我們將能夠追趕它。值得一提的是，在第一季度，隨著三月和四月的競爭趨勢迅速回升，我們的銷售和供應鏈團隊在增加這些銷售的收貨流程方面做得很好。因此，重申一下，我們第二季的比較指引是 0% 到 2%。所以我們希望能做得更好。

Let me segue now to our outlook for the remainder of the year. At this point, we are maintaining our comp guidance for the full year at flat to 2%. That said, based on the strength of our first quarter margin and earnings performance, we are raising our full year margin and adjusted EPS. Kristin will provide further details on this in a few moments.

現在讓我繼續談談我們對今年剩餘時間的展望。目前，我們將全年的比較指引維持在 2% 不變。也就是說，根據我們第一季利潤率和獲利表現的強勁表現，我們正在提高全年利潤率和調整後每股收益。克里斯汀稍後將提供有關此事的更多詳細資訊。

Reflecting on our start to 2024, I am very pleased with our underlying sales trends and our margin performance. We are well positioned for Q2 and the rest of the year. I'm even more excited about the longer-term opportunity in front of us.

回顧 2024 年的開局，我對我們的基本銷售趨勢和利潤率表現非常滿意。我們為第二季和今年剩餘時間做好了準備。我對我們面前的長期機會感到更加興奮。

As we have discussed before, over the next five years, we believe that we can grow our sales to $16 billion and our operating income to $1.6 billion. That is almost 3 times our 2023 operating profit.

正如我們之前討論的，在未來五年內，我們相信我們的銷售額可以成長到 160 億美元，營業收入可以成長到 16 億美元。這幾乎是我們 2023 年營業利潤的 3 倍。

Now I would like to turn the call over to Kristin, who will share more details on our first quarter financial results, our outlook for Q2 and our updated full year 2024 guidance. Kristin?

現在我想將電話轉給 Kristin，她將分享有關我們第一季財務業績、第二季展望以及更新後的 2024 年全年指引的更多詳細資訊。克里斯汀？

Thank you, Michael, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，邁克爾，大家早安。

Okay, let's now move on to the details of our first quarter results. Total sales grew 11% and comp sales grew 2%, both at the high end of our guidance. Our adjusted EBIT margin expanded 170 basis points versus last year, and adjusted earnings per share increased 68% compared to last year. Both significantly ahead of guidance.

好的，現在讓我們繼續了解第一季業績的詳細資訊。總銷售額成長 11%，比較銷售額成長 2%，均處於我們指導值的上限。我們調整後的息稅前利潤率比去年增長了 170 個基點，調整後每股收益比去年增長了 68%。兩者均大幅領先指引。

The drivers of the better than expected margin expansion in Q1 were a much higher gross margin, improved expense leverage and supply chain and a timing shift of approximately $9 million of expenses.

第一季利潤率擴張優於預期的推動因素是毛利率大幅提高、費用槓桿和供應鏈改善以及約 900 萬美元費用的時間轉移。

Let me walk through the details. The gross margin rate for the first quarter was 43.5%, an increase of 120 basis points versus last year. This was driven by a 90 basis points increase in merchandise margin due to strong regular-price selling was generated faster inventory turns and lower markdowns.

讓我來詳細介紹一下。第一季毛利率為43.5%，較去年成長120個基點。這是由於正價銷售強勁、庫存週轉加快和降價降低導致商品利潤率增加了 90 個基點。

Freight expenses leveraged 30 basis points, primarily due to lower freight rates and cost savings initiatives. Product sourcing costs were $183 million versus $187 million in the first quarter of 2023, decreasing 100 basis points as a percentage of sales, 80 basis points of this favorability came from supply chain.

運費槓桿率上升了 30 個基點，主要是因為運費下降和成本節約措施。產品採購成本為 1.83 億美元，而 2023 年第一季為 1.87 億美元，佔銷售額的百分比下降了 100 個基點，其中 80 個基點來自供應鏈。

There were two drivers of this supply chain leverage. First and most significantly, we made faster than expected progress on our distribution center productivity initiatives. And secondly, we benefited from the timing of receipts between Q1 and Q2.

這種供應鏈槓桿有兩個驅動因素。首先也是最重要的是，我們在配送中心生產力計畫方面取得了比預期更快的進展。其次，我們受惠於第一季和第二季之間的收貨時間。

Adjusted SG&A costs in Q1 were 60 basis points higher than last year. This was partly driven by $6 million of dark rent and other expenses related to the Bed Bath & Beyond leases. Excluding these expenses, adjusted SG&A deleverage was 40 basis points, driven primarily by increase investments is store payroll. Q1 EBIT margin was 5.7%, 170 basis points higher than last year compared with guidance for an increase of 20 basis points to 60 basis points.

第一季調整後的 SG&A 成本比去年高出 60 個基點。這部分是由於 600 萬美元的暗租以及與 Bed Bath & Beyond 租賃相關的其他費用造成的。不包括這些費用，調整後的 SG&A 去槓桿率為 40 個基點，主要是由於商店薪資投資增加所致。第一季息稅前利潤率為 5.7%，比去年同期提高 170 個基點，而指導值則提高 20 個基點至 60 個基點。

Our adjusted earnings per share in the first quarter was $1.42, which was well above the high end of our range of $0.95 to $1.10. This results and the guidance range exclude approximately $6 million of pretax expenses associated with the Bed Bath & Beyond leases.

第一季調整後每股收益為 1.42 美元，遠高於我們 0.95 至 1.10 美元區間的上限。這一結果和指導範圍不包括與 Bed Bath & Beyond 租賃相關的約 600 萬美元的稅前費用。

At the end of the quarter, our comparable store inventories were 6% below 2023, while our reserved inventory was 40% of our total inventory versus 44% last year. We are very happy with the quality of the merchandise and the values that we have in reserve.

截至本季末，我們的可比商店庫存比 2023 年低 6%，而我們的預留庫存佔總庫存的 40%，而去年為 44%。我們對商品的品質和我們所保留的價值非常滿意。

During the quarter, we repurchased $63 million in common stock. As of the end of the first quarter, we had $442 million remaining on our share repurchase authorization that expires in August of 2025.

本季度，我們回購了 6,300 萬美元的普通股。截至第一季末，我們的股票回購授權仍有 4.42 億美元，該授權將於 2025 年 8 月到期。

In the first quarter, we opened 14 net new stores, bringing our store count at the end of the quarter to 1,021 stores. This included 36 new store openings, 11 relocations and 11 closings. We continue to expect to open 100 net new stores in fiscal 2024.

第一季度，我們淨新開 14 家門市，季末門市數量達到 1,021 家。其中包括 36 家新店開幕、11 家搬遷和 11 家關閉。我們仍預計 2024 財年將淨開設 100 家新店。

Now I will turn to our outlook for the full fiscal year, the second quarter and the back half of the year. We are increasing our full year earnings guidance and maintaining our comp sales outlook of flat to up 2%. In addition, due to slightly later timing of new store openings, we are making a modest adjustment to our expected total sales growth to an increase of 8% to 10% for the full fiscal year, just below our original guidance of 9%, still 11%.

現在我將談談我們對整個財年、第二季和下半年的展望。我們正在提高全年獲利指引，並將公司銷售前景維持在持平至成長 2% 的水平。此外，由於新店開幕時間稍晚，我們對整個財年的總銷售成長預期進行了適度調整，將成長8%至10%，略低於我們最初9%的指導，但仍11%。

Based on our strong first quarter financial performance, we are increasing our margin and adjusted earnings per share guidance for the full fiscal year. We now expect our full year adjusted EBIT margin to increase by 40 basis points to 60 basis points, up from our original guidance for an increase of 10 basis points to 50 basis points. This updated margin outlook now translates to an adjusted earnings per share range of $7.35 to $7.75, up from our original guidance of $7 to $7.60.

基於我們第一季強勁的財務業績，我們正在提高整個財年的利潤率和調整後的每股盈餘指引。我們現在預計全年調整後息稅前利潤率將增加 40 個基點至 60 個基點，高於我們最初預期的增加 10 個基點至 50 個基點。更新後的利潤展望現在意味著調整後的每股收益範圍為 7.35 美元至 7.75 美元，高於我們最初指導的 7 美元至 7.60 美元。

For the second quarter we are guiding to a comp increase of flat to 2%-plus and a total sales increase of 9% to 11%. This will result in operating margin expansion of up 30 basis points to up 50 basis points versus Q2 of 2023. This translates to earnings per share guidance for the second quarter of $0.83 to $0.93 which includes an approximately $0.09 negative impact from the timing of expenses from Q1.

對於第二季度，我們的目標是實現複合成長率持平至 2% 以上，總銷售額成長 9% 至 11%。與 2023 年第二季相比，這將導致營業利潤率擴大 30 個基點至 50 個基點。這意味著第二季每股收益指引為 0.83 美元至 0.93 美元，其中包括第一季費用時間表帶來的約 0.09 美元的負面影響。

Consistent with prior quarters. This guidance excludes expenses associated with the recently acquired leases from Bed Bath & Beyond have approximately $0.03. For the back half of fiscal 2024, this outlook assumes comp store sales of 0% to 2%-plus. Total sales to increase 7% to 9% and EBIT margins to be flat to an increase of 30 basis points. And earnings per share in the range of $5.10 to $5.40, an increase of 7%, 13% compared to last year.

與前幾季一致。該指導不包括與最近從 Bed Bath & Beyond 獲得的租賃相關的費用，約為 0.03 美元。對於 2024 財年下半年，該展望假設同店銷售額成長 0% 至 2% 以上。總銷售額成長 7% 至 9%，息稅前利潤率持平，成長 30 個基點。每股收益在5.10美元至5.40美元之間，年增7%、13%。

I will now turn the call back to Michael.

我現在將把電話轉回給邁克爾。

Thank you, Kristin.

謝謝你，克里斯汀。

Let me recap four key points that we've discussed this morning. Firstly, we are pleased with our sales growth in Q1, 11% total sales growth for the quarter, 2% comp sales growth for the quarter and 4% comp sales growth for March, April combined.

讓我回顧一下我們今天上午討論的四個要點。首先，我們對第一季的銷售成長感到滿意，該季度總銷售成長 11%，該季度比較銷售成長 2%，3 月和 4 月合計銷售成長 4%。

Secondly, we are very pleased with our Q1 margin and earnings results. These were driven by higher merchandise margins from strong regular-priced selling leading to faster turns and lower markdowns and also driven by faster than expected progress on our supply chain initiatives.

其次，我們對第一季的利潤率和獲利結果非常滿意。這是由於正常價格銷售強勁導致商品利潤率提高，導致周轉速度加快和降價幅度降低，同時我們的供應鏈計劃進展快於預期也是推動因素。

Thirdly, we are maintaining our flat to 2% comp guidance for Q2. We recognize that given our recent trends, this may be conservative, but we are very well positioned to chase.

第三，我們維持第二季 2% 的複合指引不變。我們認識到，考慮到我們最近的趨勢，這可能是保守的，但我們已經做好了追逐的準備。

And finally, we are raising and updating our full year earnings guidance to reflect our strong ahead of plan Q1 results.

最後，我們正在提高和更新全年獲利指引，以反映我們提前規劃的第一季業績。

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

現在我想轉接電話回答你們的問題。

Thank you. The floor is now open for your questions.(Operator Instructions)

謝謝。現在您可以提問。

Matthew Boss, JPMorgan.

馬修‧博斯，摩根大通。

Great. Thanks and congrats on a nice quarter. -- So Michael, could you elaborate on the progression of your comp sales trend through the first quarter, walk through some of the factors such as tax refunds that may have impacted the trend? And then could you comment on what you're seeing so far in May?

偉大的。感謝並祝賀您度過了一個愉快的季度。 ——邁克爾，您能否詳細說明第一季的公司銷售趨勢進展，並介紹一些可能影響這一趨勢的因素，例如退稅？那麼您能否評論一下您在五月所看到的情況？

Well, good morning, Matt, and thank you for the question. I think it may be easier if I just share the month by month comp numbers. February was at 2%-minus comp, March was a 1%-plus and April was up 8%. And now to make sense of those numbers. It's important to adjust March and April for the timing of Easter.

嗯，早上好，馬特，謝謝你的提問。我認為如果我只分享每月的比較數據可能會更容易。2 月的年增幅為 2%，3 月的年增幅為 1% 以上，4 月的年增幅為 8%。現在來理解這些數字。根據復活節的時間調整三月和四月很重要。

Our stores like many retailers, our stores are closed on Easter Sunday. This year Easter Sunday fell in March versus April last year. And that means that, March had one less selling day this year and April had one more selling day this year compared with 2023. That shift of selling days were three to four points of comp within each month.

與許多零售商一樣，我們的商店在復活節週日休息。今年的復活節週日在三月，去年則在四月。這意味著，與 2023 年相比，今年 3 月的銷售天數減少了 1 個，4 月的銷售天數增加了 1 個。銷售日期的轉變是每個月內三到四個點的補償。

So if you adjust for the timing of Easter Sunday, then what you see is a strong pickup in the trend in March versus February. And then that momentum continued through April. And we believe that the major driver of this month by month trajectory with the timing of tax refunds.

因此，如果您根據復活節週日的時間進行調整，那麼您會看到三月的趨勢與二月相比出現強勁回升。然後這種勢頭一直持續到四月。我們認為，逐月軌跡的主要驅動力是退稅的時機。

As we've explained in the past, our core lower-income customer, it's very sensitive to the timing of tax refunds, especially for the timing of earned income tax credits. In February, those refunds fell behind last year's levels. They did eventually catch up, but not until the end of March and that timing correlates with the momentum in our sales trend.

正如我們過去所解釋的那樣，我們的核心低收入客戶對退稅的時間非常敏感，特別是對於所得稅抵免的時間。2月份，這些退款低於去年的水平。他們最終確實趕上了，但直到三月底才趕上，而這個時機與我們銷售趨勢的勢頭有關。

I'd say, there is one other factor that we think may have contributed for the monthly trend. This year we made a deliberate decision to slow our seasonal merchandise later in the quarter than we did last year. The benefit of that is that it gave us a chance to read and react more effectively to early-season trends out of business and at the store level by flowing receipts later, we were able to adjust the mix of those receipts and we were able to adjust the allocation of those receipts by store based upon real selling data. And I would say that contributed to faster inventory turns, lower markdowns and stronger sales.

我想說的是，我們認為還有另一個因素可能對月度趨勢做出了貢獻。今年，我們特意決定在本季稍後放慢季節性商品的銷售速度，比去年慢。這樣做的好處是，它讓我們有機會更有效地了解早季停業趨勢並做出反應，並在商店層面通過稍後流動收據，我們能夠調整這些收據的組合，並且我們能夠根據實際銷售數據調整各商店的收入分配。我想說，這有助於更快的庫存週轉、更低的降價和更強勁的銷售。

And I guess the last part of your question was that was about May month to date. I would say that we are happy with how sales have been trending this month Q2 is off to a good start. But as said, there's still a long way to go in the quarter.

我想你問題的最後一部分是大約五月至今的情況。我想說，我們對本月的銷售趨勢感到滿意，第二季有一個好的開始。但正如所說，本季還有很長的路要走。

Great. And then maybe a follow up for Kristin. Then just on your first quarter margin and the expense shift? Could you just provide any additional color on the expenses that shifted out of the first quarter and why and then excluding this shift. Could you just walk through the drivers of operating margin upside that you saw in the first quarter?

偉大的。然後也許是克里斯汀的後續行動。那麼僅根據第一季的利潤率和費用變化？您能否提供有關從第一季轉移出去的費用的任何額外資訊以及原因，然後排除此轉移。您能否簡單介紹一下您在第一季看到的營業利潤率上升的驅動因素？

Matt, good morning. Thanks for the questions. Overall, we did have a strong first quarter in terms of margin expansion, about 170 basis points versus last year. And this expansion does include a benefit from the timing of expenses that's worth about $9 million for around 40 basis points out of Q1 and primarily into Q2. And after accounting for the expense timing, our Q1 adjusted EBIT margin increased 130 basis points versus the first quarter of last year, which was well above our guidance of 20 basis points to 60 basis points.

馬特，早安。感謝您的提問。總體而言，我們第一季的利潤率擴張確實強勁，與去年相比增長了約 170 個基點。這種擴張確實包括從第一季（主要是第二季）約 40 個基點的支出時間安排中獲得的好處，價值約 900 萬美元。考慮到費用時間後，我們第一季調整後的息稅前利潤率比去年第一季增加了 130 個基點，遠高於我們 20 個基點至 60 個基點的指引。

So let me give a little more detail on the expense shift there were really three drivers. The first was in supply chain, which represented approximately $3 million. This was driven by two factors. The biggest piece was the timing of receipts, some receipts expected that we expected to be processed in Q1 shifted to Q2. And then secondly, there were some start-up expenses associated with the opening of our New Jersey distribution center, which opens in the second quarter as we planned.

因此，讓我更詳細地介紹一下費用變化，實際上有三個驅動因素。第一個是供應鏈，價值約 300 萬美元。這是由兩個因素驅動的。最大的問題是收據的時間，一些收據預計我們預計在第一季處理，但轉移到了第二季。其次，還有一些與新澤西配送中心開業相關的啟動費用，該配送中心按我們計劃在第二季開業。

The second factor in the expense timing was on freight. There was about $2 million in freight expenses that shifted from Q1 to Q2, and that was associated with the receipt timing. And then finally, there was approximately $3 million of SG&A items. This includes the timing of marketing spend and select benefit expenses. These shifted out of the first quarter and into the second quarter. And then another $1 million of miscellaneous SG&A items that shifted out of Q1 and into fall. So in total the expense timing shifts included $8 million out of Q1 and into Q2 and $1 million shifting out of Q1 and into fall.

費用時間的第二個因素是運費。從第一季轉移到第二季的運費約為 200 萬美元，這與收貨時間有關。最後，SG&A 計畫約為 300 萬美元。這包括行銷支出和選擇福利支出的時間安排。這些從第一季轉移到第二季。然後，另外 100 萬美元的雜項 SG&A 項目從第一季轉移到秋季。因此，總體而言，費用時間轉移包括從第一季轉移到第二季的 800 萬美元，以及從第一季轉移到秋季的 100 萬美元。

So looking at the quarter, net of these expenses, as was part of your question. EBIT margin, as I mentioned, expanded by 130 basis points, and this is really driven by three primary factors. First, a 90 basis points increase in merchandise margin due to faster inventory turns and lower markdowns.

因此，請看看扣除這些費用後的季度，這也是您問題的一部分。正如我所提到的，息稅前利潤率擴大了 130 個基點，這實際上是由三個主要因素推動的。首先，由於更快的庫存週轉和更低的降價，商品利潤率增加了 90 個基點。

Secondly, 70 basis points of leverage from excluding the timing of expenses, there are 70 basis points of leverage in supply chain and then 20 basis points of leverage on freight. And partly offsetting the leverage of those items was deleverage in SG&A, namely in store payroll. And then also in depreciation given the higher CapEx.

其次，不含費用時間的槓桿為70個基點，供應鏈槓桿為70個基點，運費槓桿為20個基點。SG&A（即商店工資）的去槓桿化部分抵消了這些項目的槓桿作用。由於資本支出較高，折舊也會增加。

Ike Boruchow, Wells Fargo.

艾克·博魯喬（Ike Boruchow），富國銀行。

Good morning, everyone. A great trend. And two questions, first for Michael. Just if we could kind of unpack the low end consumer a little bit more and how you guys have a lot of ties there. And Michael, you spoke about that a little bit. So we've heard a lot of noise and volatility in that consumer. It looks like you guys bucked that trend pretty nicely in the quarter. So I guess my question is, what exactly are you seeing with that cohort of the consumer base today? And then what exactly did you guys do to outperform there?

大家，早安。一個偉大的趨勢。還有兩個問題，先問麥可。如果我們能更多地了解低端消費者以及你們如何在那裡有很多聯繫就好了。邁克爾，你談到了這一點。因此，我們聽到了該消費者的許多噪音和波動。看來你們在本季很好地扭轉了這一趨勢。所以我想我的問題是，您對今天的消費者群到底看到了什麼？那麼你們到底做了什麼才能在這方面表現出色呢？

Well, good morning, Ike. Thank you for the question. And let me start by saying that the we think the external environment is very hard to read right now, but our assessment is that all income groups not just lower-income consumers, all income groups are feeling economic pressure. I know this is not a very sophisticated framework, but we divide the world into two main segments. Need a deal shoppers, who tend to be lower-income and have larger family size. And want a deal shoppers, who tend to have slightly higher incomes and more financial choices. And both of those segments shop off-price.

嗯，早上好，艾克。感謝你的提問。首先我要說的是，我們認為目前的外部環境很難解讀，但我們的評估是，所有收入群體不僅僅是低收入消費者，所有收入群體都感受到了經濟壓力。我知道這不是一個非常複雜的框架，但我們將世界分為兩個主要部分。需要優惠的購物者，他們往往收入較低且家庭規模較大。想要優惠的購物者往往有稍高的收入和更多的財務選擇。而且這兩個細分市場都是以折扣價購物。

Now, the need a deal shopper needs value, especially at opening price points and on moderate brands. And as we've said before, that shopper is very important to us. So, in your question, you can kind of reference sort of noise and I would say investor concerns about those lower income consumers. We actually think that at this point, those that noise, those concerns may be overblown.

現在，折扣購物者需要價值，尤其是在開放價格點和中等品牌上。正如我們之前所說，購物者對我們來說非常重要。因此，在你的問題中，你可以參考某種噪音，我想說投資者對那些低收入消費者的擔憂。我們實際上認為，在這一點上，那些噪音、那些擔憂可能被誇大了。

And we think that at this point, those concerns are mostly in the rear, they concern a phenomenon that's really in the rearview mirror. In 2022 and we certainly felt this. Those lower-income shoppers were crushed by the combination of higher cost of living and the end of pandemic era benefits. But our view is that since then, in other words, over the last five quarters, discretionary income for that demographic appears to have stabilized.

我們認為，在這一點上，這些擔憂主要集中在後方，它們涉及的是真正存在於後視鏡中的現象。2022 年，我們確實感受到了這一點。這些低收入購物者因生活成本上升和大流行時代福利的結束而受到打擊。但我們的觀點是，從那時起，換句話說，在過去的五個季度中，該群體的可自由支配收入似乎已經穩定下來。

Now, the consumer is still fragile, and we saw evidence of that with the delayed tax refunds in February. But inflation has come down and it looks like real incomes at the lower end and not shrinking in the way that they were in 2022. We're not saying that the situation for this customer is getting better, yet, they're not bouncing back. But our assessment is that the situation doesn't seem to be getting any worse.

現在，消費者仍然脆弱，我們在二月的延遲退稅中看到了這一點的證據。但通貨膨脹已經下降，實際收入看起來處於較低水平，並且沒有像 2022 年那樣萎縮。我們並不是說該客戶的情況正在好轉，但他們並沒有反彈。但我們的評估是，情況似乎並沒有變得更糟。

So coming back to your question. How to explain our strong trend in March and April, and I think that there are two factors that explain that trend. Number one, the catch-up in tax refunds in that period meant that lower-income shoppers had some extra money in their pockets. In the last couple of years that shopper has really come to appreciate Burlington as a great place to find value. So it's natural that they would come to us when they have some extra money to spend.

那麼回到你的問題。如何解釋我們在三月和四月的強勁趨勢，我認為有兩個因素可以解釋這個趨勢。第一，這段時期退稅的追趕意味著低收入購物者的口袋裡有一些額外的錢。在過去的幾年裡，購物者真正意識到伯靈頓是一個尋找價值的好地方。因此，當他們有多餘的錢可以花時，他們自然會來找我們。

The second factor is unrelated to lower-income shoppers. When we look at selling, especially on better brands at higher price points. We believe that -- we're benefiting from more trade-down traffic in our stores, and that's helping to support our comp trends. And in 2022, if felt as if moderate to high income shoppers, we're somewhat insulated from the impact of inflation. Perhaps they had excess savings that they could tap into. But we believe that now that demographic is also feeling the pinch and we think that's good for us. And it means that those customers are shopping off-price in search of value.

第二個因素與低收入購物者無關。當我們考慮銷售時，尤其是價格較高的更好品牌。我們相信，我們正在從商店中更多的降價客流量中受益，這有助於支持我們的競爭趨勢。到 2022 年，如果我們感覺自己是中高收入購物者，那麼我們在某種程度上不會受到通貨膨脹的影響。也許他們有多餘的儲蓄可以利用。但我們相信，現在人口也感受到了壓力，我們認為這對我們有好處。這意味著這些顧客正在以折扣價購物以尋求價值。

Got it. Very helpful. And then, Kristin, if I can sneak one more in. Just you referenced the supply chain efficiencies in the quarter benefiting you. Can you just unpack that a little bit more? Just what exactly are those drivers that led to some of that upside in the first quarter? And then I guess a follow-up to that is there more to come there, or is this just a one-time thing in the first quarter? Is there possible more efficiencies to come? Thanks.

知道了。很有幫助。然後，克莉絲汀，如果我能再偷偷溜進去一次的話。您剛剛提到了本季供應鏈效率對您有利的情況。你能再把它拆開一點嗎？究竟是什麼驅動因素導致了第一季的一些上漲？然後我想後續還會有更多的事情發生，或者這只是第一季的一次性事件？是否有可能提高效率？謝謝。

Great, good morning, Ike. That's a good question. We were encouraged by the progress we're making in terms of driving down supply chain costs as a percentage of sales. Excluding that expense shift I just talked about into Q2, supply chain leverage 70 basis points, which is more than we had planned. And as I've shared before, we've talked about a number of productivity initiatives we have in place and in supply chain where we're targeting meaningful cost savings. These are process improvements, industrial engineering oriented improvements that streamline operations, reduce touches, reduced time to process merchandise and ultimately save less labor dollars in our DCs. In the first quarter, we found we harvesting these savings a bit faster than we'd originally expected.

太好了，早安，艾克。這是個好問題。我們在降低供應鏈成本佔銷售額的百分比方面取得的進展感到鼓舞。排除我剛才提到的第二季的費用變化，供應鏈槓桿達到 70 個基點，這超出了我們的計劃。正如我之前分享的那樣，我們討論了我們在供應鏈中實施的一系列生產力舉措，旨在實現有意義的成本節約。這些是流程改進、以工業工程為導向的改進，可以簡化操作、減少接觸、減少處理商品的時間，並最終在我們的配送中心節省更少的勞動力。在第一季度，我們發現節省成本的速度比我們最初預期的要快一些。

And kind of your follow-up question on is there more to come? Yes. As you know, we've said we believe that we have about 400 basis points of EBIT margin opportunity over the next five years. That's using 2023 EBIT of around 6% as the baseline. And we believe about half of this 200 basis points of the margin opportunities, independent of sales and a meaningful part of this 200 basis points, we expect to come from continued supply chain leverage with the balance coming from lower freight and higher merchandise margin. So we feel like we've demonstrated good progress in the first quarter on all three of those line items, particularly supply chain.

您的後續問題是還會有更多嗎？是的。如你所知，我們說過我們相信未來五年息稅前利潤率有約 400 個基點的機會。這是使用 2023 年約 6% 的息稅前利潤作為基準。我們認為，這200 個基點的利潤機會中約有一半（獨立於銷售）以及這200 個基點的有意義的部分，我們預計將來自持續的供應鏈槓桿，其餘部分來自較低的運費和較高的商品利潤。因此，我們認為第一季我們在所有這三個項目（特別是供應鏈）上都取得了良好的進展。

Lorraine Hutchinson, Bank of America

洛琳‧哈欽森，美國銀行

Thank you. Good morning, Michael.

謝謝。早上好，麥可。

Your off-price peers have you talked about increasing your mix of brand as a way to drive comps. In March, you said this might be an opportunity for you as well. If you have any update on this? And also I'm curious if you see any risk to this strategy?

您的低價同行曾談論過增加品牌組合作為推動競爭的一種方式。三月份，您說這對您來說可能也是一個機會。您對此有任何更新嗎？我也很好奇你是否認為這個策略有任何風險？

Well, good morning, Lorraine. Good to hear from you. And yes, we do see an opportunity to increase our mix of brands. And actually more generally, we see an opportunity to elevate our assortments. In fact, we're already seeing some success with that approach in businesses like sportswear, but we plan to lean into that opportunity more, I would say in the back half of the year.

好吧，早上好，洛林。很高興聽到你的消息。是的，我們確實看到了增加品牌組合的機會。事實上，更廣泛地說，我們看到了提升我們產品種類的機會。事實上，我們已經看到這種方法在運動服裝等業務中取得了一些成功，但我們計劃更多地利用這個機會，我想說的是在今年下半年。

But let me spend a minute just sort of talking about the role that brands play in our business and also addressing the last part of your question about the risks or the limits of that strategy. In off-price, brands are important, but the most critical thing by far is value. Brands are just one component of value. Fashion, quality and of course, price also drive the customer's perception of value. And you can have a great brand. But if the fashion the quality or the price or wrong, the customer isn't going to buy it, it's going to end up in the clearance run.

但是，讓我花一點時間談談品牌在我們業務中扮演的角色，並解決您關於該策略的風險或局限性的問題的最後部分。在折扣中，品牌很重要，但迄今為止最關鍵的是價值。品牌只是價值的組成部分之一。時尚、品質，當然還有價格，也會推動顧客的價值認知。你也可以擁有一個偉大的品牌。但如果時裝的品質、價格或錯誤，顧客就不會購買，最終會進入清倉狀態。

And the second point to make is that the role that the brand plays in defining value depends on the category and also depends on the customer and their price sensitivity. And that's why our merchants spend a lot of time planning and styling out the whole rack and then executing our good, better, best strategy. Again, brands are important, but they're just one piece of that. And I should add that calculus may be different for other retailers depending upon their own customer profile.

第二點是，品牌在定義價值中所扮演的角色取決於品類，也取決於顧客及其價格敏感度。這就是為什麼我們的商家花費大量時間來規劃和設計整個貨架，然後執行我們好的、更好的、最好的策略。再說一遍，品牌很重要，但它們只是其中的一部分。我應該補充一點，其他零售商的計算可能會有所不同，這取決於他們自己的客戶資料。

Okay. So with all of that, as context, let me talk about where we see opportunity as I said earlier in the economy, we believe that all shoppers are now focused on value. And we know, I think we do an excellent job when it comes to the low income, need a deal shopper.

好的。因此，作為背景，讓我談談我們在哪裡看到機會，正如我之前在經濟中所說的那樣，我們相信所有購物者現在都專注於價值。我們知道，我認為我們在低收入、需要優惠購物者方面做得非常出色。

And let me emphasize, we intend to continue to do an excellent job with those very important customers, but we think we can also do more to drive sales with trade down or slightly higher-income shoppers. And when those shoppers walk in our store, they are more likely to be drawn to great deals on better brands.

讓我強調一下，我們打算繼續為那些非常重要的客戶做好出色的工作，但我們認為我們還可以採取更多措施來推動貿易下降或收入稍高的購物者的銷售。當這些購物者走進我們的商店時，他們更有可能被更好品牌的超值優惠所吸引。

So as we get further into the year, you'll see more of those brands in our runs. And now as you'd expect, we'll do that selectively in businesses where it works and where brands really matter. But let me maybe finish up by reinforcing the point that we see this as a and strategy, we will go after this trade down opportunity and we're going to continue to deliver for our core need a deal shoppers as well.

因此，隨著今年的深入，您將在我們的營運中看到更多這些品牌。現在，正如您所期望的那樣，我們將有選擇地在有效且品牌真正重要的企業中這樣做。但最後，我想強調一點，我們認為這是一個策略，我們將抓住這個降價機會，我們將繼續為我們的核心需求提供優惠購物者。

Thank you. And then, Kristin, the margin performance in the first quarter was much better than we expected. Obviously, the balance of fiscal 2024, including 2Q is not calling for that kind of increase in EBIT margins. What was unique about the first quarter that enabled such strong flow through and why aren't we seeing the same outlook for the balance of the year also, which we expect in 3Q and 4Q?

謝謝。然後，克里斯汀，第一季的利潤率表現比我們預期的要好得多。顯然，包括第二季度在內的 2024 財年的餘額並不要求息稅前利潤率出現這種增長。第一季的獨特之處是什麼，使得流量如此強勁？ 為什麼我們沒有看到今年剩餘時間的相同前景，正如我們在第三季和第四季所預期的那樣？

Good morning, Lorraine. Thanks for the question. And certainly, we had strong margin performance in Q1. Lower clearance levels and faster turns really helped drive strong merchandise margins and our supply chain leverage is better than we had expected.

早安，洛林。謝謝你的提問。當然，我們在第一季的利潤率表現強勁。較低的清關水準和更快的周轉確實有助於推動強勁的商品利潤，而且我們的供應鏈槓桿比我們預期的要好。

As I spoke about just a few months ago. But to your question and turning to the second quarter, there are a couple of call-outs I want to make. First, we have about $9 million in expenses that shifted out of Q1, of which $8 million shifted into Q2. So that having around a 30 basis points negative EBIT margin impact on the second quarter.

正如我幾個月前所說的。但對於你的問題並轉向第二季度，我想提出幾點要求。首先，我們有大約 900 萬美元的費用從第一季轉出，其中 800 萬美元轉入第二季。因此，第二季息稅前利潤率將受到約 30 個基點的負面影響。

And in addition, our newest distribution center, New Jersey, will be coming online in the second quarter and this quarter, which will add some modest deleverage in supply chain given the start-up and training costs. Now we expect that this will be more than offset by the productivity initiatives, I just talked about in supply chain, but that will likely temper the leverage in supply chain in Q2.

此外，我們最新的配送中心新澤西州將於第二季和本季上線，考慮到啟動和培訓成本，這將在供應鏈中適度去槓桿化。現在我們預計這將被我剛才在供應鏈中談到的生產力舉措所抵消，但這可能會緩和第二季供應鏈的槓桿率。

And then to your last question on the back half of the year, there is a 53 week impact . Fall total sales growth is planned for 7% to 9%, slightly lower than our full year guidance of 8% to 10%. The 53 week has the most acute impact on Q4 sales growth, where we are essentially trading a week in November for a week in January as compared to Q4 last year on it from a total sales growth standpoint.

關於下半年的最後一個問題，有 53 週的影響。秋季總銷售成長計​​畫為 7% 至 9%，略低於我們 8% 至 10% 的全年指引。第 53 週對第四季銷售成長的影響最為嚴重，從總銷售成長的角度來看，與去年第四季相比，我們基本上將 11 月的一周換成了 1 月的一周。

Now we'll share more detail on Q3 and Q4 margin guidance on our call in August. But for now, as you think about modeling Q3 and Q4, keep in mind that the total sales growth for Q3 will be higher than Q4 due to the 53 week calendar impact -- which will thereby impact the relative margin improvement for Q3 versus Q4.

現在，我們將在 8 月的電話會議上分享有關第三季和第四季利潤指引的更多詳細資訊。但目前，當您考慮對第三季和第四季進行建模時，請記住，由於53 週日曆的影響，第三季的總銷售額成長將高於第四季度，這將從而影響第三季相對於第四季的相對利潤率改善。

John Kernan, TD Cowen.

約翰·克南，TD·考恩。

Thanks. Good morning, Michael, Kristin and David. Nice job on the top line and the margin flow-through. Kristin let's just keep it on the margin theme here. It looks like freight was a margin driver in Q1. Will freight continue to be a margin tailwind for the rest of the year. Is there any chance to becomes a headwind as you get further into the year? And just a quick follow-up for David after that.

謝謝。早安，麥可、克莉絲汀和大衛。營收和利潤流動都做得很好。克里斯汀，我們就將其保留在邊緣主題上。貨運似乎是第一季的利潤驅動因素。今年剩餘時間裡，貨運是否會繼續成為利潤率的推動因素？隨著今年的深入，是否有機會成為逆風？之後是大衛的快速跟進。

Good morning, John. I appreciate the question. We were pleased with the 30 basis points of leverage we saw on freight in the first quarter, about 10 basis points, as I described was due to the timing of receipts. But the majority of the deleverage was due to favorable freight rates and the specific transportation related cost savings initiatives we have.

早安，約翰。我很欣賞這個問題。我們對第一季貨運槓桿率達到 30 個基點（大約 10 個基點）感到滿意，正如我所描述的，這是由於收貨時間造成的。但去槓桿化的大部分原因是有利的運費以及我們所採取的與運輸相關的具體成本節約措施。

We do expect to continue to receive freight leverage this year. We're unlikely to get all the way back to FY19 freight expense, as we've previously discussed. But we recently finalized our latest round of domestic freight contracts and we're pleased with where we landed. Freight should continue to drive expense leverage through all of 2024. And in addition, diesel fuel rates have begun to become a modest tailwind here.

我們確實預計今年將繼續獲得貨運槓桿。正如我們之前討論的那樣，我們不太可能完全回到 2019 財年的運費水平。但我們最近敲定了最新一輪的國內貨運合同，我們對我們的進展感到滿意。整個 2024 年，貨運應該會繼續推動費用槓桿。此外，柴油價格已開始成為這裡的溫和推動力。

Got it. Thanks, David. Just on the balance sheet in today's release, the convertible notes are expected to become a current liability in Q1. What's the plan on retiring these? Just wondering also if there's any impact to the stock repurchase program or share count, sometimes accounting for converts can be pretty tricky to model.

知道了。謝謝，大衛。就在今天發布的資產負債表中，可轉換票據預計將成為第一季的流動負債。退役這些的計劃是什麼？只是想知道是否對股票回購計劃或股票數量有任何影響，有時考慮轉換的模型可能非常棘手。

Thanks, John. Appreciate glad you asked about the converts. Good question. Before I answer your question directly, just want to talk about our liquidity. We feel very good about our current liquidity. We ended the quarter with $742 million in cash. We had no borrowings on our ABL and about $1.5 billion in total liquidity.

謝謝，約翰。很高興您詢問有關皈依者的問題。好問題。在我直接回答你的問題之前，我想先談談我們的流動性。我們對目前的流動性感覺非常好。本季結束時，我們擁有 7.42 億美元現金。我們的 ABL 上沒有借款，總流動資金約為 15 億美元。

Secondly, we're really comfortable with our total debt levels. And we would expect as hopefully our EBITDA continues to grow, that our leverage ratios would stay on the healthy trend of improvement we've seen over the last few years.

其次，我們對總債務水準感到非常滿意。我們希望我們的 EBITDA 繼續成長，我們的槓桿率將保持在過去幾年中看到的健康改善趨勢。

Getting to your question on the 2025 convertible notes, yes, they became a current liability as of the end of this quarter. There's $156 million outstanding that mature in April 2025, if you recall, John, we did an amend and extend convert transaction in 2023. At that time, it was our intention to ultimately reduce the total amount of converts outstanding on our balance sheet. And we extended $287 million in new convertible notes out to December 2027 while purposely allowing the converts you referenced, the $156 million, 2025 to go to maturity.

關於 2025 年可轉換票據的問題，是的，它們從本季末開始成為流動負債。約翰，如果你還記得的話，還有 1.56 億美元的未償債務將於 2025 年 4 月到期，我們在 2023 年進行了修改和延期轉換交易。當時，我們的目的是最終減少資產負債表上未償還的轉換者總數。我們將 2.87 億美元的新可轉換票據延期至 2027 年 12 月，同時特意允許您提到的 1.56 億美元可轉換票據在 2025 年到期。

So given the strong liquidity that I just referenced, we're very comfortable retiring that $156 million of principal with cash on hand next April. And as you might expect, this is a strategy that we socialized upfront with the rating agencies before we completed the transaction.

因此，考慮到我剛才提到的強勁流動性，我們非常樂意在明年 4 月用手邊現金贖回 1.56 億美元的本金。正如您所料，這是我們在完成交易之前與評級機構預先溝通的策略。

Getting to the heart of your question about buybacks, since we completed the convert transaction last year, we bought back about INR164 million in stock between Q4 of last year and Q1 of this year. And we indicated on our last earnings call that we you'd used reviewed last year's level of buybacks, which was $232 million as a reasonable proxy or target for buybacks this year.

說到回購問題的核心，自從我們去年完成轉換交易以來，我們在去年第四季到今年第一季之間回購了約 1.64 億印度盧比的股票。我們在上次財報電話會議上表示，我們審查了去年的回購水平，即 2.32 億美元作為今年合理的回購指標或目標。

And as you probably note in the press release, we have $442 million remaining on our current share price authorization. So look, we know that our shareholders value a consistent approach to share repurchases and our intention would be given our strong liquidity as well as what we expect to generate in cash flow that we would continue to buy back shares consistently, not only in 2024 or 2025 as well, assuming our financial performance continues as we have it planned.

正如您可能在新聞稿中註意到的那樣，我們目前的股價授權還剩 4.42 億美元。所以看，我們知道我們的股東重視一致的股票回購方式，考慮到我們強大的流動性以及我們期望產生的現金流，我們的意圖是我們將繼續一致地回購股票，而不僅僅是在2024年或假設我們的財務表現繼續按計劃進行，2025 年也是如此。

Brooke Roach, Goldman Sachs.

布魯克·羅奇，高盛。

Good morning and thank you for taking our question. Michael, several retailers have recently announced that they're reducing or sharpening their price and value equation. What impacts could these lower prices have on Burlington and what is your strategy or reaction?

早安，感謝您提出我們的問題。邁克爾，一些零售商最近宣布他們正在降低或提高價格和價值等式。這些較低的價格會對伯靈頓產生什麼影響？

Well, good morning, Brooke. Thank you for the question. You're right, it does feel like a number of retailers have recently talked about, reducing, sharpening or rolling back their prices. As an off-price retailer relative value is critically important to us. We pay close attention to what competitors are saying. And that said, there are a few reasons why I think we are in pretty good shape.

嗯，早上好，布魯克。感謝你的提問。你是對的，確實感覺到許多零售商最近都在談論降低、提高或回滾他們的價格。作為一家折扣零售商，相對價值對我們來說至關重要。我們密切注意競爭對手的言論。儘管如此，我認為我們的狀態相當不錯有幾個原因。

Firstly, many retailers have raised their prices over the last few years and now that the consumer is pushing back, it's not that surprising that some retailers are having to roll their prices back. In contrast, we have not raised prices. In fact, our average retails are lower now than they were two years ago.

首先，許多零售商在過去幾年中提高了價格，而現在消費者正在抵制，一些零售商不得不降低價格也就不足為奇了。相比之下，我們沒有提高價格。事實上，我們現在的平均零售量比兩年前還要低。

And the reason for that is that our core customer has been under significant economic pressure since the end of 2021. So we've had to stay very sharp on value. And so in other words, I feel like we're already starting from a very strong value position.

原因是我們的核心客戶自2021年底以來一直承受著巨大的經濟壓力。因此，我們必須對價值保持非常敏銳的態度。換句話說，我覺得我們已經從一個非常強大的價值定位開始了。

Secondly, our merchants are in our competitors' stores every week, off-price department stores, specialty stores, e-commerce websites and other retailers. They're looking through the assortments, the styles, the prices and looking at what's working and what's not what's left in the clearance ranks.

其次，我們的商家每週都會出現在我們競爭對手的商店、折扣百貨公司、專賣店、電子商務網站和其他零售商中。他們會仔細檢查品種、款式、價格，看看清倉行列中哪些是有效的，哪些是無效的。

And as I mentioned a moment ago, with merchandising 2.0, we have better visibility than we've ever had before into what's on our floor and how when it's turning. That means that we can respond very quickly if we need to make an adjustment.

正如我剛才提到的，借助銷售 2.0，我們比以往任何時候都能夠更好地了解地板上的情況以及其轉動情況。這意味著如果我們需要做出調整，我們可以非常快速地做出反應。

The third and final thing I'd say is in the guidance that we've discussed today already built in some room in case we need to introduce markup later this year in order to make our values even stronger. It's worth calling out that, the Q1 gross margin that we've reported today at 43.5% as a historic record for the first quarter for Burlington. It's even higher than Q1 of 2021.

我要說的第三件事也是最後一件事是我們今天討論的指南中已經建立了一些房間，以防我們需要在今年晚些時候引入標記以使我們的價值觀更加強大。值得一提的是，我們今天公佈的第一季毛利率為 43.5%，創下伯靈頓第一季的歷史紀錄。甚至高於 2021 年第一季。

So we're driving those margins by turning faster and taking fewer markdowns. We think we may have more favorability there. But within our guidance, we have left room in case we need to further sharpen our value and pass along that favorability to shoppers.

因此，我們透過更快的轉變和更少的降價來提高利潤。我們認為我們在那裡可能有更多的好感。但在我們的指導範圍內，我們留有空間，以防我們需要進一步提升我們的價值並將這種好感傳遞給購物者。

That's really helpful. For Kristin, can you elaborate on that point on the expectations for merchandise margin as you move throughout the year, given some of the puts and takes on mark on versus the year-on-your trend on regular-priced selling relative to clearance from last year? Thank you.

這真的很有幫助。對於克莉絲汀，您能否詳細說明全年商品利潤率的預期，考慮到一些看跌期權和看跌期權與上一年正常價格銷售相對於清倉的趨勢的對比年？謝謝。

Sure. No, it's a good question. We certainly saw higher merchandise margin in the first quarter with the lower clearance and faster turns, lower markdowns. Go forward, I'd say we think looking at, we do feel like there's an opportunity to continue seeing a faster turn, faster inventory turns and thereby lower markdowns and maybe not as much opportunity on markup, but do you feel like we have opportunity going forward on a faster turn. We still turn a little bit slower than some of our peers and feel like there's an opportunity there to drive improved merch margin. That's part of that 200 basis points of margin opportunity that's independent of sales, that I talked about earlier. Higher merch margin is part of that really based on a faster turn.

當然。不，這是一個好問題。我們當然看到第一季的商品利潤率更高，清倉率更低，週轉更快，降價幅度更低。展望未來，我想說，我們認為，我們確實覺得有機會繼續看到更快的周轉、更快的庫存週轉，從而降低降價，也許沒有那麼多的降價機會，但你覺得我們有機會嗎？更快的速度前進。我們仍然比一些同行慢一點，並且感覺有機會提高商品利潤。這是我之前談到的獨立於銷售額的 200 個基點的利潤機會的一部分。更高的商品利潤實際上是基於更快的周轉。

Alex Straton, Morgan Stanley

亞歷克斯‧斯特拉頓，摩根士丹利

Great. Thanks for taking my questions. Just firstly, I wanted to dive into new store opening. As you open up new stores, do you think your attracting new customers to Burlington? And then if you are, who do you think you are taking these customers from?

偉大的。感謝您回答我的問題。首先，我想深入研究新店的開幕。當您開設新店時，您認為您會吸引新客戶來到伯靈頓嗎？如果是的話，您認為您是從誰那裡搶走這些客戶的？

Good morning, Alex. That's a great question. As we mentioned in the prepared remarks on total sales growth in Q1 was up 11% versus 2023 and versus Q1 of 2023. And that itself was on top of positive 11% growth versus Q1 of 2022. So obviously, those numbers heavily indicate that we are drawing incremental customers to our stores.

早安，亞歷克斯。這是一個很好的問題。正如我們在準備好的評論中所提到的，第一季總銷售額成長較 2023 年成長 11%，較 2023 年第一季成長 11%。與 2022 年第一季相比，這本身也實現了 11% 的正成長。顯然，這些數字很大程度上表明我們正在吸引越來越多的客戶來到我們的商店。

That said, Burlington has been around for a long time and most of our new stores, our opening end markets and geographies where we already have a presence. So what we're seeing in our data is that, yes, some of the shoppers walking into our stores are completely new. But many others actually shopped Burlington, many years ago, maybe their mother brought them in to buy a coat back in the day.

也就是說，伯靈頓已經存在很長時間了，我們的大多數新店、開放終端市場和地區都已經有我們的業務。所以我們在數據中看到的是，是的，一些走進我們商店的購物者是全新的。但許多其他人實際上在很多年前就去過伯靈頓購物，也許他們的母親當年帶他們來買一件外套。

And what's exciting is that when they walk into one of our stores today, it’s as if they're walking into a completely different retailer, it feels like a new Burlington. And to all intents and purposes, these are essentially new customers for us.

令人興奮的是，當他們今天走進我們的一家商店時，就好像他們走進了一家完全不同的零售商，感覺就像一家新的伯靈頓。無論如何，這些對我們來說本質上就是新客戶。

So I guess one way or another. And we believe that our new store opening program is attracting new customers to Burlington. On the last part of your question, where are these customers coming from? Yes, I would say that there is not one single source.

所以我想是這樣還是那樣。我們相信我們的新店開幕計劃正在吸引新客戶來到伯靈頓。關於你問題的最後一部分，這些客戶來自哪裡？是的，我想說，沒有單一來源。

Of course, at a macro level, we can see that there are certain retail formats such as department stores, and specialty stores that are struggling and are losing share year-on-year. We don't have specific data, but it seems like a reasonable inference that we must be picking up some market share that they are losing.

當然，從宏觀層面，我們可以看到百貨、專賣店等某些零售業態處境艱難，份額逐年下降。我們沒有具體數據，但這似乎是一個合理的推論，我們一定會奪回他們正在失去的一些市場份額。

That said, we operate in a large, fragmented and very competitive space with off-price department stores, specialty stores, e-commerce and other retail formats. And we know from our own customer surveys that our customers cross-shop heavily looking for the best value. So the implication for us is if we offer the best value, then we can draw market share, I think, from a wide range of retail competitors..

也就是說，我們在一個龐大、分散且競爭非常激烈的空間中經營，擁有折扣百貨公司、專賣店、電子商務和其他零售業態。我們從自己的客戶調查中了解到，我們的客戶在跨店購物時大量尋找最佳價值。因此，對我們來說，這意味著如果我們提供最佳價值，那麼我認為我們可以從廣泛的零售競爭對手那裡獲得市場份額。

Great. Maybe just a second one for me. But on the flip side, store closures, it looks like you relocated or closed a lot of stores in the quarter.

偉大的。也許對我來說只是第二個。但另一方面，商店關閉，看起來你在本季度搬遷或關閉了很多商店。

And can you just provide more color on what was going on there? And then how many additional stores you think you ultimately need to close or relocate? Thanks a lot.

您能否提供更多關於那裡發生的事情的資訊？那麼您認為最終需要關閉或搬遷多少家商店？多謝。

Great, good morning, Alex. I’ll take that one - it’s Kristin. It's a good question. We did close or relocate a number of stores in the first quarter on a net basis, we opened 14 new stores. But we opened 36 gross new stores in the first quarter, which means we closed or relocated 22 stores on our base of a little over 1,000 stores.

太好了，早安，亞歷克斯。我選那個——克里斯汀。這是一個好問題。第一季我們確實關閉或搬遷了一些門市，但新開了 14 家門市。但我們在第一季新開了 36 家門市，這意味著我們在 1,000 多家門市的基礎上關閉或搬遷了 22 家門市。

So for the year, we plan to close or relocate approximately 40 stores. And will we plan to open about 140 gross new stores. So this means we're moving out of approximately 40 older oversized stores that tend to be in secondary or tertiary centers. We're moving into higher traffic centers that tend to trade more broadly across income demographics.

因此，今年我們計劃關閉或搬遷約 40 家門市。我們計劃開設約 140 家新店嗎？因此，這意味著我們將搬出大約 40 家較舊的大型商店，這些商店往往位於二級或三級中心。我們正在進入更高的交通中心，這些中心往往會在不同收入人群中進行更廣泛的貿易。

And this year is really representative of what we plan to do over the next several years as leases expires and new locations in these higher traffic centers become available, and we expect to close or relocate about 150 to 200 stores over the next five years.

今年確實代表了我們未來幾年計劃要做的事情，因為租約到期，這些人流量較大的中心有新店面可用，我們預計在未來五年內關閉或搬遷約 150 至 200 家商店。

Adrienne Yih, Barclays.

艾德麗安‧易 (Adrienne Yih)，巴克萊銀行。

Great. Thank you very much, and let me add my congratulations. Great start to the year. Michael, can you comment on the drivers of comp growth in Q1, traffic, AUR, UPT, and then how those sort of transitioned through the quarter and into the May quarter to date.

偉大的。非常感謝你們，請容許我表達我的祝賀。今年的良好開端。Michael，您能否評論一下第一季的公司成長驅動因素、流量、AUR、UPT，以及這些因素如何在本季過渡到迄今為止的 5 月季度。

And the Kristin, my follow up is on the deleverage that you mentioned on Q1 on store payroll. We're hearing from some other retailers that there's some stability in turnover and maybe like average hourly rate gains are slowing, what drove this? And are you expecting that same deleverage to be the rest of the year? Thank you very much.

克里斯汀，我的後續行動是您在第一季提到的商店薪資單上的去槓桿化。我們從其他一些零售商得知，營業額有些穩定，也許平均每小時費率成長正在放緩，是什麼推動了這個趨勢？您預計今年剩餘時間也會出現同樣的去槓桿化嗎？非常感謝。

Good morning, Adrian. I'll take both your questions. The first was on the components of comp. So the primary drivers of first quarter comp were both traffic and conversion. Together, the increase in total transactions and that's what really drove the comp in the quarter. Higher conversion is great because it tells us when she comes in our store, she sees the content and value that she likes. And we see that in conversion.

早上好，阿德里安。我會回答你的兩個問題。第一個是關於 comp 的組件。因此，第一季業績的主要驅動因素是流量和轉換率。總之，總交易量的增加才是本季業績的真正推動因素。更高的轉換率是很好的，因為它告訴我們當她來到我們的商店時，她看到了她喜歡的內容和價值。我們在轉變中看到了這一點。

AUR was down slightly in the quarter due to mix of business and our continued focus on opening price points and units per transaction were up slightly. Traffic and conversion improved as we moved through the quarter. As you would expect, I think both metrics were stronger in the March April period. Than in February.

由於業務組合，本季的 AUR 略有下降，而且我們繼續關注開盤價，每筆交易的單位數略有上升。隨著本季的進展，流量和轉換率有所改善。正如您所期望的，我認為這兩個指標在 3 月 4 月期間都更強。比二月。

And then your second question was on store payroll. So it's a good question. We mentioned it in the prepared remarks, excluding Bed Bath & Beyond dark rent expenses, SG&A deleverage was 40 basis points, and that was driven primarily by increased investments in store payroll.

然後你的第二個問題是關於商店薪資單的。所以這是一個好問題。我們在準備好的演講中提到，不包括 Bed Bath 和 Beyond 暗租費用，SG&A 去槓桿化為 40 個基點，這主要是由商店工資投資增加所推動的。

As a reminder, in early 2023, we thought we had opportunity to improve our customer shopping experience and improve store conditions, we need to ensure stores were neat, clean, easy to shop. So to address this opportunity, we made a purposeful investment in store payroll beginning in the back half of last year, and we'll lap this payroll investment in the fall of this year.

提醒一下，在 2023 年初，我們認為我們有機會改善顧客購物體驗並改善商店條件，我們需要確保商店整潔、乾淨、易於購物。因此，為了抓住這個機會，我們從去年下半年開始對商店薪資進行了有針對性的投資，我們將在今年秋季完成這項薪資投資。

And typically, you can expect that we see SG&A leverage at around a 3% comp. I think the last part of your question was around store wages. And we tend to take a market-by-market approach. We plan for obviously the legislative increases, but we also plan for competitive and market related wage increases, and we're seeing stability there and our approach of market by market seems to be working.

通常情況下，您可以預期我們的 SG&A 槓桿約為 3%。我認為你問題的最後一部分是關於商店工資的。我們傾向於採取逐個市場的方法。我們顯然計劃立法增加，但我們也計劃競爭性和市場相關的工資增長，我們看到那裡的穩定性，我們逐個市場的方法似乎正在發揮作用。

Dana Telsey, Telsey Advisory Group.

達納‧特爾西，特爾西諮詢小組。

Hi, good morning, everyone, and congratulations on the results. In regards to real estate, two questions. Any update on the Bed Bath & Beyond stores that you took? Are they all open now, how are they doing? And are all the one-time Bed Bath & Beyond expenses behind you?

大家早安，祝賀結果。關於房地產，有兩個問題。您購買的 Bed Bath & Beyond 商店有什麼更新嗎？現在都開門了嗎，生意怎麼樣？您是否已經擺脫了所有一次性床上用品和其他費用？

And just secondly, I saw that you picked up some of the 99 cents Only leases in the bankruptcy auction. Any update or detail on those stores? And are they likely to open this year? Thank you.

其次，我看到你們在破產拍賣中獲得了一些僅 99 美分的租約。這些商店有任何更新或詳細資訊嗎？他們可能會在今年開業嗎？謝謝。

Good morning, Dana. Yes, I think thanks for these questions. It's still early, but we feel very good about the Bed Bath & Beyond stores. As a reminder, we expect that on average new store sales volumes will be about $7 million in the first full year. And we expect that these Bed Bath & Beyond stores as a group will achieve or beat that expectation.

早安，達納。是的，我想謝謝你提出這些問題。現在還早，但我們對 Bed Bath & Beyond 商店感覺非常好。提醒一下，我們預計第一年新店平均銷售額約為 700 萬美元。我們預計這些 Bed Bath & Beyond 商店作為一個整體將實現或超越這一期望。

Of the 64 Bed Bath locations we opened 32 last year in fiscal 2023. The majority of those were in the fourth quarter. In the first quarter of this year, we opened 20 Bed Bath & Beyond stores, and we expect to open the remaining 12 in the second quarter. Although it's possible we could have a few stragglers that fall into Q3.

去年 2023 財年，我們在 64 家 Bed Bath 門市中新開了 32 家。其中大部分發生在第四季。今年第一季度，我們開設了 20 家 Bed Bath & Beyond 門市，預計第二季將開設剩下的 12 家。儘管我們可能會有一些落後者落入第三季。

And as far as the dark rent cost in Q4 of 2023 associated with Bed Bath were about $6 million and in all of fiscal 2023, that cost was about $18 million. In the first quarter of this year in 2024, those Bed Bath & Beyond our rent costs for $6 million. And for Q2, we have modeled in the guidance, we expect about $3 million of Bed Bath & Beyond dark rent expense. And then that after that, it should be largely behind us.

2023 年第四季與 Bed Bath 相關的暗租成本約為 600 萬美元，而在 2023 財年全年，這一成本約為 1,800 萬美元。2024 年第一季度，這些 Bed Bath & Beyond 的租金為 600 萬美元。對於第二季度，我們在指南中進行了建模，預計 Bed Bath & Beyond 暗租費用約為 300 萬美元。然後在那之後，它應該基本上就在我們身後了。

And I think your second question was on 99 cents Only. Yes, it's a good question. We evaluated over 370 store locations that became available and the 99 Cents Only bankruptcy. We really scrutinize these, but really very few of these sites had the characteristics we're looking for. We're looking for busy strip malls, national co-tenants, strong traffic, sales potential or nor did many clear or our new-store financial hurdles.

我想你的第二個問題是關於 99 美分的。是的，這是一個好問題。我們評估了超過 370 個可用的商店位置以及 99 Cents Only 的破產情況。我們確實仔細審查了這些網站，但實際上這些網站很少具有我們正在尋找的特徵。我們正在尋找繁忙的購物中心、全國性的合作租戶、強勁的客流量、銷售潛力，或許多明確的或我們的新店的財務障礙。

So based on our analysis, we'll likely secure just a handful of these locations. If we secure these stores, they’ll join our pipeline in 2025 or even 2026. In August, we’ll plan to offer a more detailed update as some of the negotiations are still ongoing there

因此，根據我們的分析，我們可能只會保護其中的少數位置。如果我們確保這些商店的安全，它們將在 2025 年甚至 2026 年加入我們的頻道。八月，我們計劃提供更詳細的更新，因為一些談判仍在進行中

Thanks for the questions.

感謝您的提問。

There are no further question at this time. Mr. Michael O'Sullivan, I turn the call back over to you.

目前沒有進一步的問題。邁克爾·奧沙利文先生，我將電話轉回給您。

Let me close by thanking everyone on this call for your interest in Burlington Stores. We look forward to talking to you again in August to discuss our second quarter 2024 fiscal results. Thank you for your time today.

最後，我要感謝參加本次電話會議的所有人對伯靈頓商店的興趣。我們期待在 8 月再次與您交談，討論我們的 2024 年第二季財務表現。感謝您今天抽出時間。

This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。