Burlington Stores Inc (BURL) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Hello, everyone. My name is Ellie. I'm going to be your operator, and welcome to the Burlington Stores, Inc., second-quarter 2025 earnings conference and webcast call. Please note that this call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

大家好。我的名字是艾莉。我將擔任您的接線員，歡迎參加伯靈頓商店公司 2025 年第二季收益會議和網路電話會議。請注意，本次通話正在錄音。（操作員指示）

I'd now like to hand the call over to David Glick, Group Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Investor Relations. You may now go ahead, please.

現在我想將電話交給集團高級副總裁、財務主管和投資者關係大衛·格里克 (David Glick)。現在您可以繼續了。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate everyone's participation in today's conference call to discuss Burlington's fiscal 2025 second 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，大家早安。我們感謝大家參加今天的電話會議，討論伯靈頓 2025 財年第二季的營運表現。今天的演講者是我們的執行長 Michael O'Sullivan 和我們的執行副總裁兼財務長克里斯汀沃爾夫 (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 expressed permission. A replay of the call will be available until September 4, 2025. We take no responsibility for inaccuracies that may appear in transcripts of this call by third parties.

在我將電話轉給麥可之前，我想告知聽眾，未經我們明確許可，不得轉錄、錄製或廣播此通話。該通話的重播將保留至 2025 年 9 月 4 日。對於第三方在本次通話記錄中可能出現的不準確之處，我們不承擔任何責任。

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. 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 and in our other filings with the SEC, all of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

我們的評論和隨後的問答的版權歸伯靈頓商店所有。本次電話會議上有關未來預期、事件、策略、目標、趨勢或預期財務結果的評論受到一定風險和不確定性的影響。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。這些風險和不確定性包括公司 10-K 報告和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件中所描述的風險和不確定性，所有這些文件均透過引用明確納入本文。

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結果和預期是基於持續經營的基礎。我們今天討論的非 GAAP 指標與 GAAP 指標的對帳已包含在今天的新聞稿中。

As a reminder, as indicated in this morning's press release, all profitability metrics discussed in this call exclude costs associated with bankruptcy acquired leases. These pretax costs amounted to $11 million and $3 million, respectively, during the fiscal second quarters of 2025 and 2024, and $17 million and $9 million, respectively, for the first half of 2025 and 2024.

提醒一下，正如今天上午的新聞稿中指出的那樣，本次電話會議中討論的所有盈利指標均不包括與破產租賃相關的成本。2025 財年第二季及 2024 財年的稅前成本分別為 1,100 萬美元及 300 萬美元，2025 財年上半年及 2024 財年的稅前成本分別為 1,700 萬美元及 900 萬美元。

Now, here's Michael.

現在，這是邁克爾。

Thank you, David. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. I would like to cover three topics this morning. Firstly, I will briefly review our second quarter results. Then I will discuss our third quarter and updated full year guidance. And lastly, we believe that our exceptional performance in the second quarter can be directly attributed to Burlington 2.0 initiatives that we have pursued over the last few years. So I would like to spend some time this morning providing additional color on some of these initiatives.

謝謝你，大衛。大家早安。感謝您加入我們。今天早上我想談三個話題。首先，我將簡要回顧我們第二季的業績。然後我將討論我們的第三季和更新的全年指導。最後，我們相信，第二季的出色表現可以直接歸功於我們過去幾年來推行的伯靈頓 2.0 計劃。因此，今天早上我想花一些時間來進一步闡述這些舉措。

Okay, let's talk about our second quarter results. We are pleased with our very strong sales performance in the quarter. Total sales grew 10% on top of 13% total sales growth last year. These double-digit growth rates demonstrate the power of our business to consistently take market share even in an uncertain retail environment.

好的，我們來談談第二季的業績。我們對本季強勁的銷售業績感到非常滿意。總銷售額在去年 13% 的總銷售額成長基礎上又成長了 10%。這些兩位數的成長率證明了我們的業務即使在不確定的零售環境中也能持續佔據市場份額的實力。

In Q2, these market share gains were driven by new store openings and by very strong comp store sales growth. Comp store sales increased 5% on top of 5% comp sales growth last year. The trend in Q2 started out slowly with weather in the Midwest and Northeast in May being cooler than last year, but then our trend picked up in June and July as the weather normalized.

在第二季度，市場份額的成長得益於新店開業和同店銷售額的強勁增長。同店銷售額在去年 5% 的同店銷售額成長基礎上又成長了 5%。第二季的趨勢一開始比較緩慢，5 月中西部和東北部的天氣比去年涼爽，但隨著 6 月和 7 月天氣恢復正常，我們的趨勢開始回升。

We are also very pleased with our strong earnings performance in Q2. Our operating margin expanded 120 basis points versus last year. This was a very high-quality earnings beat driven by stronger merchandise margins and expense efficiencies across the P&L. Our EPS of $1.72 was $0.42 above the high end of our guidance range.

我們對第二季強勁的獲利表現也感到非常滿意。我們的營業利益率比去年增加了 120 個基點。這是一次非常高品質的獲利成長，得益於更高的商品利潤率和整個損益表的費用效率。我們的每股收益為 1.72 美元，比我們的指導範圍上限高出 0.42 美元。

Let me move on to the outlook for the rest of the year. Despite our very strong performance in the second quarter, we remain concerned about the external outlook for the back half. We are maintaining our comp guidance of 0% to 2% for Q3 and Q4.

讓我繼續談談今年剩餘時間的展望。儘管我們在第二季度表現非常強勁，但我們仍然對下半年的外部前景感到擔憂。我們維持第三季和第四季 0% 至 2% 的業績預期。

Let me comment on Q3 specifically. As we have discussed in the past, our strong heritage in outerwear means that we are more sensitive than most retailers to seasonal weather variations in the third quarter. If temperatures in late September through October turn out to be warmer or cooler than last year, this can have a big impact on our trend. We have terrific outerwear buys in reserve inventory, so we are well positioned to chase a stronger trend if that happens. We will manage the business cautiously and see how the trend develops.

讓我具體評論一下第三問題。正如我們過去所討論過的，我們在外套領域的悠久歷史意味著我們比大多數零售商對第三季的季節性天氣變化更為敏感。如果九月下旬至十月的氣溫比去年更熱或更冷，這會對我們的趨勢產生很大影響。我們在儲備庫存中有大量外套可供購買，因此，如果發生這種情況，我們可以很好地追逐更強勁的趨勢。我們將謹慎管理業務並觀察趨勢如何發展。

I am not planning to comment in detail on the fourth quarter at this point. We'll have more to say in November. But it is worth calling out that in Q4, we will be up against 6% comp sales growth from the fourth quarter of last year. So the upside in Q4 is probably limited.

我目前不打算對第四季發表詳細評論。十一月我們會有更多消息要透露。但值得一提的是，第四季我們的銷售額將比去年第四季成長 6%。因此第四季的上行空間可能有限。

Moving on to earnings. We are raising our full year guidance and passing along most of the Q2 earnings beat. We are not flowing through the entire earnings beat. This is because of incremental tariff pressure in the back half. Tariffs for most countries are higher now than when we last discussed earnings guidance on our Q1 call in May. Our updated full year guidance assumes that we will be able to offset most, but not all, of this incremental tariff pressure.

繼續討論收益。我們正在提高全年業績預期，並將第二季的大部分獲利預期傳遞給股東。我們並沒有順應整個獲利趨勢。這是因為下半年關稅壓力增加。目前大多數國家的關稅都高於我們 5 月第一季電話會議上討論獲利預測時的水平。我們更新的全年指引假設我們將能夠抵銷大部分（但不是全部）增量關稅壓力。

I would like to move on now and talk about the direct link that we see between our very strong Q2 sales and earnings results and the key Burlington 2.0 initiatives that we have pursued over the last few years. Many of these initiatives are in the early stages of their potential impact. We are excited because we expect this impact to grow over time and to drive our longer-term performance. I will focus on three items: Merchandising 2.0, Stores 2.0, and the impact of recently opened stores once they join the comp base.

現在我想繼續討論我們第二季度強勁的銷售和盈利結果與我們過去幾年推行的伯靈頓 2.0 關鍵計劃之間的直接聯繫。許多此類舉措尚處於發揮其潛在影響的早期階段。我們感到很興奮，因為我們預計這種影響會隨著時間的推移而增長，並推動我們的長期業績。我將重點放在三個方面：商品銷售 2.0、商店 2.0 以及新開的商店加入同類商店後的影響。

I will start with Merchandising 2.0. As you know, Merchandising 2.0 is our collective name for the new systems, processes and tools that we have developed and rolled out to enable our buyers and planners to more effectively and rapidly respond to changes in the external environment and the sales trend.

我先從「商品銷售2.0」開始。如大家所知，「商品銷售2.0」是我們開發和推出的一系列新系統、流程和工具的統稱，旨在幫助我們的買手和策劃人員更有效、更快速地應對外部環境和銷售趨勢的變化。

The last several months and the uncertainty created by tariffs have provided a showcase for the power of these capabilities. In the weeks leading up to the tariff announcements in early April, we began to make multiple detailed revisions to our assortment plans for Q2 and the fall season, pivoting away from categories with the greatest tariff exposure to those with less tariff impact and with stronger, more reliable supply.

過去幾個月以及關稅造成的不確定性展現了這些能力的力量。在 4 月初關稅公告發布前的幾週內，我們開始對第二季和秋季的商品分類計畫進行多次詳細修改，從受關稅影響最大的類別轉向受關稅影響較小、供應更強勁、更可靠的類別。

These forecast provisions and scenarios also involved remixing and remodeling our margin plans to find offsets to the impact of tariffs. It seems like a long time ago now, but in April and early May, the tariff on imports from China was 145%. This rate represented an effective embargo on Chinese imports, and it created an interruption or an air pocket, if you like, to the flow of receipts across the retail industry. There are some merchandise categories, for example, decorative bedding, cookware, and toys, but there are very few alternative sources of supply outside of China.

這些預測條款和情境也涉及重新混合和重塑我們的利潤計劃，以找到抵消關稅影響的方法。現在看來已經是很久以前的事了，但在四月和五月初，對來自中國的進口商品徵收的關稅高達145%。這項稅率實際上對中國進口商品實施了禁運，並且對整個零售業的收入流動造成了乾擾，或者說造成了空洞。有一些商品類別，例如裝飾床上用品、炊具和玩具，但中國以外的替代供應來源很少。

In these merchandise categories, the interruption in imports in April and May impacted inventory levels across the retail industry in the second quarter. These categories were a drag on the sales trend in our home business during the quarter.

在這些商品類別中，4月和5月的進口中斷影響了第二季整個零售業的庫存水準。這些類別拖累了我們本季家居業務的銷售趨勢。

But what I am really excited about is that despite this headwind, we were able to deliver 5% comp growth across the store. Our buyers and planners deserve huge credit. They did an amazing job rapidly responding and pivoting into other businesses. The key point, though, is that Merchandising 2.0 gave them the visibility and the tools to do this.

但真正讓我興奮的是，儘管面臨這種不利因素，我們仍然能夠在整個商店實現 5% 的同比增長。我們的買家和規劃人員值得高度讚揚。他們迅速做出反應並轉向其他業務，做得非常出色。但關鍵在於，Merchandising 2.0 為他們提供了實現這一目標的可見性和工具。

Let me move on to Stores 2.0. Historically, the customer perception of Burlington was a big, old, difficult-to-shop stores, consistent with our Coat Factory heritage. But that is not who we are anymore. Over the last few years, you have heard us talk a lot about the actions we are taking to drive incredible value.

讓我繼續談談「商店2.0」吧。從歷史上看，顧客對伯靈頓的印像是規模龐大、歷史悠久、難以購物的商店，這與我們的「大衣工廠」的傳統一致。但我們已不再是那樣了。在過去的幾年裡，您已經聽到我們多次談論我們為實現巨大價值而採取的行動。

We've talked less about stores, but in parallel, we've also been working very hard to improve the shopping experience. This starts with the standards that we set for ourselves, our store managers and our field teams. It also involves new systems, processes, tools and reports to drive consistency and efficiency.

我們較少談論商店，但同時，我們也一直在努力改善購物體驗。這首先要從我們為自己、我們的店長和我們的現場團隊設定的標準開始。它還涉及新系統、流程、工具和報告，以提高一致性和效率。

In the past year, we have seen the impact of these programs really start to take off. Our customer service scores are running at historical all-time highs, and we have seen improvements across all major operational metrics. Our store teams have really embraced these changes and our associate engagement levels have risen sharply.

在過去的一年裡，我們看到這些項目的影響開始真正顯現。我們的客戶服務評分達到了歷史最高水平，並且所有主要營運指標都有所改善。我們的商店團隊確實接受了這些變化，我們的員工參與度水準也大幅提高。

In addition, as I mentioned during our call in May, we have reimagined and redesigned our store layout, signage and fixturing. The objective of this redesign is to make our stores feel new and more exciting, easier to shop, more fun, more off-price and more Burlington 2.0. At this point, we have retrofitted about half of the chain to this new design. Customer feedback has been very positive, and we are seeing a nice sales lift in these stores. This lift helped drive our 5% comp growth in the second quarter. There is more to come as we retrofit the rest of the chain in 2026.

此外，正如我在五月的電話會議中提到的那樣，我們重新構想並重新設計了我們的商店佈局、標誌和固定裝置。這次重新設計的目標是讓我們的門市煥然一新，更加精彩紛呈，購物更便捷，樂趣更多，價格更優惠，更貼近伯靈頓2.0的理念。目前，我們已經將大約一半的連鎖店改造成新的設計。顧客的回饋非常積極，我們看到這些商店的銷售額大幅提升。這一成長幫助我們在第二季度實現了 5% 的年增長。隨著我們在 2026 年對剩餘鏈條進行改造，未來還會有更多改進。

Okay, let me move on to new stores. In fact, I want to talk specifically about the impact of recently opened stores once they turn comp. Our new stores join our comp base 15 months after opening. As we've discussed in the past, we expect new stores to ramp up over time and to comp ahead of the chain for their first few years. That is indeed what is happening.

好的，讓我繼續去看看新店。事實上，我想特別談談新開的商店一旦恢復營業會產生的影響。我們的新店開業 15 個月後就加入我們的公司。正如我們過去所討論過的，我們預計新店的擴張速度會隨著時間的推移而加快，並在前幾年領先連鎖店。這確實是正在發生的事情。

When we analyze comp stores that were opened over the last several years, we see very strong comp sales growth rates, well ahead of our original expectations. Again, these recent new store cohorts helped drive our very strong 5% comp sales growth in the second quarter. This is very exciting because as we look ahead over the next few years, the mix of younger stores in our comp base is going to grow. So we anticipate that the impact of this comp tailwind will increase over time.

當我們分析過去幾年開設的同店時，我們發現同店銷售成長率非常強勁，遠遠超出了我們最初的預期。再次，這些近期新開的門市幫助我們在第二季度實現了 5% 的強勁銷售成長。這是非常令人興奮的，因為展望未來幾年，我們同業中新開商店的數量將會成長。因此，我們預計這種順風效應的影響將隨著時間的推移而增強。

Okay. At this point, I would like to turn the call over to Kristin. Kristin?

好的。現在，我想把電話轉給克莉絲汀。克里斯汀？

Thank you, Michael, and good morning, everyone. I plan to cover a couple of topics this morning. I will start with some additional color on our second quarter performance. Then I will share details on our updated guidance.

謝謝你，邁克爾，大家早安。我計劃今天上午討論幾個話題。我將首先對我們第二季的業績進行一些補充說明。然後我將分享我們更新後的指南的詳細資訊。

Starting with the second quarter, total sales grew 10%, while comp store sales increased 5%, well above the high end of our guidance range. Traffic was flattish in the quarter. Our comp was driven by a higher transaction size. Our average unit retail was up mid-single digits versus last year.

從第二季開始，總銷售額成長了 10%，而同店銷售額成長了 5%，遠高於我們預期範圍的高端。本季的客流量持平。我們的業績受到更高交易規模的推動。我們的平均單位零售額與去年相比增長了中個位數。

The gross margin rate for the second quarter was 43.7%, an increase of 90 basis points versus last year. This was driven by a 60-basis point increase in merchandise margin and a 30-basis point decrease in freight expense.

第二季毛利率為43.7%，較去年同期增加90個基點。這是由於商品利潤率增加 60 個基點以及運費減少 30 個基點所致。

On merchandise margin, the 60-basis point expansion was driven by improvement in shortage and lower markdowns, which more than offset the lower markup due to tariffs. While there was significant pressure on markup from tariffs in the quarter, we took several effective offsetting actions to reduce the impact. The net result of these actions was that our Q2 markup was only modestly lower than last year.

就商品利潤率而言，60 個基點的擴張是由於短缺狀況的改善和降價幅度的降低，這足以抵消關稅導致的較低加價幅度。雖然本季關稅對加價產生了巨大壓力，但我們採取了多項有效的抵銷措施來減輕影響。這些行動的最終結果是，我們的第二季加價僅比去年略低。

The second quarter product sourcing costs were $209 million versus $191 million in the second quarter of 2024. Product sourcing costs were flat as a percentage of sales compared to last year. Adjusted SG&A costs in Q2 decreased 30 basis points versus last year, driven by savings initiatives primarily in stores and leverage on higher comp sales.

第二季產品採購成本為 2.09 億美元，而 2024 年第二季為 1.91 億美元。與去年相比，產品採購成本佔銷售額的百分比持平。第二季調整後的銷售、一般及行政費用較去年同期下降 30 個基點，主要得益於門市的節約措施以及同店銷售額成長帶來的槓桿作用。

Q2 adjusted EBIT margin was 6%, 120 basis points higher than last year, which was well above our guidance range of down 30 basis points to flat. Our adjusted earnings per share in Q2 was $1.72, which came in significantly above our guidance range. This represents a 39% increase versus the prior year.

第二季調整後的息稅前利潤率為 6%，比去年高出 120 個基點，遠高於我們預測的下降 30 個基點至持平的範圍。我們第二季的調整後每股收益為 1.72 美元，大大高於我們的預期範圍。與上一年相比，成長了 39%。

At the end of the quarter, comparable store inventories were down 8% versus the end of the second quarter 2024. Our reserve inventory was 50% of our total inventory versus 41% of our inventory last year. In dollar terms, our reserve inventory was up 43% compared to last year, reflecting the great deals we were able to make to get ahead of tariffs. We are very pleased with the quality of the merchandise and the values and brands that we have in reserve. As Michael said earlier, we are well positioned to chase if the sales trend in Q3 turns out to be stronger than guidance.

本季末，可比店舖庫存較 2024 年第二季末下降了 8%。我們的儲備庫存佔總庫存的 50%，而去年這一比例為 41%。以美元計算，我們的儲備庫存比去年增加了 43%，這反映出我們能夠達成大量交易以避開關稅。我們對商品的品質以及我們儲備的價值和品牌非常滿意。正如麥可之前所說，如果第三季的銷售趨勢強於預期，我們就有能力追逐。

During the quarter, we raised $500 million in additional term loan debt, primarily to fund the purchase of our highly automated West Coast distribution center. Additionally, we upsized and extended our ABL facility in Q2, which is now a $1 billion line that matures in July of 2030.

本季度，我們籌集了 5 億美元的額外定期貸款債務，主要用於資助購買高度自動化的西海岸配送中心。此外，我們在第二季擴大並擴大了 ABL 信貸額度，目前該額度已達 10 億美元，將於 2030 年 7 月到期。

We ended the quarter with approximately $1.7 billion in total liquidity, which consisted of $748 million in cash, and $946 million in availability on our ABL, with no outstanding borrowings at the end of the quarter on the ABL. During the quarter, we repurchased $26 million in common stock. And at the end of Q2, we had $632 million remaining on our share repurchase authorization.

本季末，我們的總流動資金約為 17 億美元，其中包括 7.48 億美元現金和 9.46 億美元的 ABL 可用資金，本季末 ABL 上沒有未償還借款。本季度，我們回購了價值 2,600 萬美元的普通股。截至第二季末，我們的股票回購授權餘額還剩下 6.32 億美元。

In the second quarter, we opened 23 net new stores, bringing our store count at the end of the quarter to 1,138 stores. This includes 30 new store openings, four relocations, and three closings. We continue to expect to open 100 net new stores in fiscal 2025.

第二季度，我們淨開了 23 家新店，使本季末的店數達到 1,138 家。其中包括 30 家新店開業、4 家門市搬遷和 3 家門市關閉。我們仍預計在 2025 財年淨開設 100 家新店。

I will now move on to discuss our outlook for the full fiscal year as well as for the third quarter and fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. Based on our strong performance in the second quarter, we are increasing our full year fiscal 2025 guidance for comp sales, total sales, adjusted EBIT margin and adjusted earnings per share as follows: Comparable store sales are now expected to increase 1% to 2%, with total sales to increase 7% to 8% for the full year 2025. This revised full year guidance factors in our year-to-date comp store sales as well as our guidance for comparable store sales to increase 0% to 2% for the balance of fiscal '25. We now expect our full year adjusted EBIT margins to increase by 20 to 40 basis points.

現在我將繼續討論我們對整個財年以及 2025 財年第三季和第四季的展望。基於我們第二季度的強勁表現，我們上調了 2025 財年全年可比銷售額、總銷售額、調整後息稅前利潤率和調整後每股收益的預期，具體如下：預計 2025 年全年可比門店銷售額將增長 1% 至 2%，總銷售額將增長 7% 至 8%。此次修訂後的全年指引考慮了我們今年迄今的同店銷售額以及我們對 25 財年剩餘時間可比店銷售額增長 0% 至 2% 的指引。我們現在預計全年調整後的息稅前利潤率將增加 20 至 40 個基點。

This is up from our most recent guidance for an increase of flat to 30 basis points. This updated margin outlook now translates to a full year 2025 adjusted earnings per share range of $9.19 to $9.59, up from our original guidance of $8.70 to $9.30. For the third quarter, we expect comparable store sales growth of flat to 2% and a total sales increase of 5% to 7%. This would result in operating margin of down 20 basis points to flat versus the third quarter of 2024. This translates to earnings per share guidance for the third quarter of $1.50 to $1.60.

這高於我們最近提出的從持平狀態增加至 30 個基點的指導。更新後的利潤率預期意味著2025年全年調整後每股收益區間為9.19美元至9.59美元，高於我們最初預期的8.70美元至9.30美元。我們預計第三季可比門市銷售額將持平至2%，總銷售額將成長5%至7%。這將導致營業利潤率與 2024 年第三季相比下降 20 個基點至持平。這意味著第三季每股收益預期為 1.50 美元至 1.60 美元。

Our third quarter guidance excludes approximately $10 million of expenses associated with bankruptcy acquired leases. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, we expect comparable store sales growth of flat to 2% and total sales to increase 7% to 9%. EBIT margins to range from a decrease of 10 basis points to an increase of 30 basis points and adjusted earnings per share in the range of $4.30 to $4.60. Our fourth quarter guidance excludes approximately $7 million of expenses associated with bankruptcy acquired leases.

我們的第三季指引不包括與破產租賃相關的約 1000 萬美元的費用。對於 2025 財年第四季度，我們預計可比店銷售額將成長持平至 2%，總銷售額將成長 7% 至 9%。息稅前利潤率預計將下降10個基點至上升30個基點，調整後每股盈餘預計在4.30美元至4.60美元之間。我們的第四季業績指引不包括與破產收購租賃相關的約700萬美元費用。

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 I turn the call over to the operator for your questions, I would like to emphasize three key points from this morning's discussion. Firstly, we are very pleased with our exceptional performance in Q2. These very strong results demonstrate the power of our business to profitably gain market share even in an uncertain retail environment.

謝謝你，克里斯汀。在我將電話轉給接線員回答您的問題之前，我想強調一下今天上午討論的三個重點。首先，我們對第二季的出色表現感到非常滿意。這些非常強勁的業績證明了即使在不確定的零售環境中，我們的業務也能夠獲利地獲得市場份額。

Secondly, based on our very strong Q2 performance, we are raising our full year guidance. But the external outlook remains uncertain, and we see risks in the back half. We are managing our business cautiously, but we are ready to chase the sales trend if it turns out to be stronger.

其次，基於我們第二季的強勁表現，我們上調了全年業績預期。但外部前景仍不明朗，我們預計下半年將有風險。我們正在謹慎地管理我們的業務，但如果銷售趨勢變得更強勁，我們已準備好追逐它。

Thirdly, we believe that our exceptional performance in Q2 can be attributed to Burlington 2.0 initiatives that we have pursued over the last few years. We are excited because the impact of these initiatives is still in the early stages, and we anticipate that it will grow over time.

第三，我們認為，我們在第二季度的出色表現可以歸功於我們過去幾年來推行的伯靈頓 2.0 計劃。我們感到興奮，因為這些舉措的影響仍處於早期階段，我們預計它會隨著時間的推移而增長。

Now, I would like to turn the call over for your questions.

現在，我想把電話轉交給大家來回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) Matthew Boss, JPMorgan.

（操作員指示）摩根大通的馬修·博斯。

Congrats on a great quarter. So Michael, on your 5% comp in the second quarter, which is a 10% on a two-year stack, how best to think about your back half guide, which implies a material drop off from there? Should we think of this as your usual playbook to plan conservatively and chase, or are you seeing something that's causing you concern about sales in the back half of the year?

恭喜本季取得優異成績。那麼邁克爾，對於您第二季度的 5% 的業績，也就是兩年累計的 10%，您如何最好地考慮後半部分的指導，這意味著從那時起業績將出現實質性的下降？我們是否應該將此視為您通常的保守計劃和追逐策略，或者您是否看到了一些讓您對下半年銷售感到擔憂的事情？

Thank you for the question. The direct answer to your question is this is just our standard playbook. We are planning and managing our business cautiously, and we are ready to chase a stronger trend.

謝謝你的提問。對你的問題的直接回答是，這只是我們的標準劇本。我們正在謹慎地規劃和管理我們的業務，並準備好追逐更強勁的趨勢。

I should add that we are especially confident in our ability to do this right now because merchandise supply is very strong and we also have some great deals packed away in reserve inventory. And add to that, we've just demonstrated in the second quarter that we are very good at flexing up and chasing a stronger sales trend. So with all that, it makes sense to stick with our standard playbook, and we're very confident in our ability to execute it.

我應該補充一點，我們對我們現在做到這一點的能力特別有信心，因為商品供應非常強勁，而且我們的儲備庫存中也有一些很棒的交易。除此之外，我們剛剛在第二季證明，我們非常善於靈活應對並追逐更強勁的銷售趨勢。因此，堅持我們的標準劇本是有意義的，我們對執行它的能力非常有信心。

With that said though, I want to be careful in answering your question. I don't want to understate the external risks. We've just reported an extraordinarily strong Q2, but as you know, in our business, you can't just extrapolate from that. External headwinds can emerge in individual quarters to throw off the trend. As I mentioned in the remarks, the most obvious risk is weather.

儘管如此，我還是想謹慎地回答你的問題。我不想低估外部風險。我們剛剛報告了異常強勁的第二季度業績，但正如你所知，在我們的業務中，你不能僅憑這一點就進行推斷。個別地區可能會出現外部阻力，阻礙此趨勢。正如我在評論中提到的，最明顯的風險是天氣。

Until recently, Coats were literally our middle name. I love this heritage when September and October are colder than last year, but not so much when they are unseasonably warm. Now, on a multiyear basis, the weather averages out. But in an individual quarter, in an individual year, it matters.

直到最近，Coats 才真正成為我們的中間名。當九月和十月比去年更冷的時候，我喜歡這種傳統，但當它們異常溫暖的時候，我就不那麼喜歡了。現在，從多年來看，天氣已經趨於平均。但在某個季度、某個年份，這很重要。

Now, of course, the risks in the back half are not just limited to weather. There are plenty of macroeconomic and other external variables that can have an impact on retail sales, higher employment, rising inflation, changes in consumer outlook. For the back half of this year, all of those risks are real.

當然，後半段的風險不僅限於天氣。許多宏觀經濟和其他外部變數都會對零售額、就業率上升、通貨膨脹上升和消費者前景變化產生影響。對於今年下半年來說，所有這些風險都是真實存在的。

At a high level, I would say there are many experts and analysts who are predicting the tariffs are going to have a significant and potentially negative effect on the economy. Those effects have not really happened yet, and they're highly, highly unpredictable.

從高層來看，我想說，許多專家和分析師都預測關稅將對經濟產生重大且潛在的負面影響。這些影響尚未真正發生，而且極難預測。

The good news for us is that as an off-price retailer, we don't have to take a position on these risks. We don't have to predict the future. What we have to do is manage our business to be nimble and flexible so we can react no matter what happens. That is our standard playbook. It's what our standard playbook is designed to do.

對我們來說，好消息是，作為一家折扣零售商，我們不必承擔這些風險。我們不必預測未來。我們要做的就是管理我們的業務，使其靈活，以便無論發生什麼情況我們都能做出反應。這是我們的標準劇本。這就是我們的標準劇本所設計的目的。

So at the risk of sounding like a broken record, we will manage our business cautiously and aggressively chase the trend.

因此，儘管聽起來像是老生常談，但我們將謹慎管理我們的業務並積極追逐潮流。

Great. And then a follow-up for Kristin to stay on guidance. So it looks like you passed most of your second quarter upside through to the updated annual guide. Could you walk us through the puts and takes on your new fall guidance, impact of tariffs, offsets you have in place? And just any color on the difference between the third and fourth quarter operating margin year-over-year?

偉大的。然後對克里斯汀進行後續指導。因此，看起來您將第二季的大部分收益都歸功於更新後的年度指南。您能否向我們介紹新的秋季指導方針、關稅的影響以及您已實施的抵消措施？第三季和第四季的營業利潤率與去年同期相比有何差異？

It's a very good question. Let me split the answer into two parts. First, on tariffs. As Michael mentioned in the prepared remarks, we do have incremental tariff risk in the fall. Tariffs for many countries are at a higher rate now than they were when we last issued guidance back in May.

這是一個非常好的問題。讓我把答案分成兩個部分。第一，關於關稅。正如邁克爾在準備好的演講中提到的那樣，秋季我們確實面臨增量關稅風險。目前，許多國家的關稅都比我們五月發布指導意見時的水平要高。

And our updated guidance assumes that we will offset most of but not all of this additional tariff pressure. Essentially, our fall guidance reflects our best estimation of the net impacts of tariffs. So tariffs put significant pressure on markup, but we've worked very hard to identify offsetting actions. These offsets include continuously working and negotiating with our vendor partners on costs, adjusting and remixing our assortment, selectively raising retails, driving a faster inventory turn to drive lower markdowns, accelerating planned savings initiatives and then aggressively going after incremental expense savings across the P&L.

我們最新的指導意見假設我們將抵消大部分但不是全部的額外關稅壓力。本質上，我們的秋季指引反映了我們對關稅淨影響的最佳估計。因此，關稅對加價產生了巨大壓力，但我們已經非常努力地尋找抵消措施。這些抵銷措施包括與我們的供應商合作夥伴就成本問題持續進行合作和談判、調整和重新混合我們的產品組合、有選擇地提高零售額、加快庫存週轉率以降低降價幅度、加速計劃中的節約舉措，然後積極追求損益表中的增量費用節約。

On the second part of your question, I can provide some additional color on the specific quarters. For the third quarter, we are assuming gross margin rate to be lower year-over-year due to the impact of tariffs on merch margins. This should more than offset modest year-on-year favorability in freight. And product sourcing costs, we are expecting supply chain savings initiatives to drive leverage. And in SG&A, we expect that our savings initiatives will enable us to show some modest leverage on the high end of our flat to 2% comp outlook.

關於你問題的第二部分，我可以對具體季度提供一些補充說明。對於第三季度，我們假設毛利率年減，因為關稅對商品利潤率的影響。這應該足以抵消貨運量較去年同期略有上漲的影響。對於產品採購成本，我們預期供應鏈節約措施將推動槓桿作用。在銷售、一般及行政費用方面，我們預計我們的節約舉措將使我們能夠在持平至 2% 的可比前景的高端顯示出一定的適度槓桿作用。

And finally, for Q4, the storyline is similar, but there are a couple of line items that are more pronounced. We're expecting more pressure on merch margin from tariffs in the fourth quarter. And offsetting that pressure, we do expect supply chain savings initiatives to drive leverage and product sourcing costs and greater SG&A leverage due to savings initiatives, but also the lapping of last year's higher incentive comp accrual in the fourth quarter of '24. So because of that, we expected EBIT expansion to be somewhat higher in Q4 relative to Q3.

最後，對於第四季來說，故事情節類似，但有幾個項目更為突出。我們預計第四季關稅將給商品利潤帶來更大壓力。為了抵​​消這一壓力，我們確實預計供應鏈節約計劃將推動槓桿率和產品採購成本，以及由於節約計劃而產生的更大的銷售、一般和行政費用槓桿率，但同時也會在 2024 年第四季度抵消去年更高的激勵補償應計額。因此，我們預計第四季度的息稅前利潤成長將比第三季略高。

Ike Boruchow, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的艾克·博魯喬（Ike Boruchow）。

I think just first question, a bigger picture for me, is about pricing. At an industry level, maybe Michael or Kristin, I'm curious, what have you guys seen in terms of competitors taking up AURs? What are you expecting in the back half, and I guess, what's the potential to raise prices in the fall as a way to offset some of this tariff pressure you're talking about?

我認為第一個問題，對我來說更重要的一點，是關於定價。在行業層面，也許是邁克爾或克里斯汀，我很好奇，你們在競爭對手佔據 AUR 方面看到了什麼？您對下半年有什麼期待？秋季漲價的可能性有多大，可以抵消您提到的部分關稅壓力嗎？

Thank you for the question. On the first part of your question, industry-level pricing, the answer is, yes, we are hearing, and in some cases, we are seeing that competitors are taking up retail prices. So far, though, I would say that those price increases have been quite selective and quite restrained.

謝謝你的提問。關於您問題的第一部分，即行業級定價，答案是肯定的，我們聽說，在某些情況下，我們看到競爭對手正在採取零售價格。不過，到目前為止，我想說這些價格上漲是相當有選擇性且相當克制的。

I suspect there are a few reasons for that. Part of it may just be the time lag between imports arriving in the country and those goods showing up in stores. But also my sense is that wholesalers and retailers have been reluctant to make decisions on raising prices until they know what the final tariff rates are going to be. Now, it does feel like there is more clarity on this now than there was a couple of months ago. So it wouldn't be surprising if retail prices were to go up across the industry in the back half of the year.

我懷疑這其中有幾個原因。部分原因可能只是進口商品抵達該國和商品出現在商店之間存在時間差。但我的感覺是，批發商和零售商在知道最終關稅稅率之前，不願意做出漲價的決定。現在，感覺這個問題比幾個月前更清楚了。因此，如果今年下半年整個產業的零售價格上漲也就不足為奇了。

Now, of course, we know that our customer is very, very price sensitive. We saw what happened with their discretionary spending levels when the cost of living increased in 2022. It was not good for us. So the prospect of higher inflation, especially if it spreads to nondiscretionary categories like groceries, makes us very nervous. And it's another reason to be cautious on the rest of the year.

當然，我們知道我們的客戶對價格非常敏感。我們看到了當 2022 年生活成本上漲時他們的可自由支配支出水準發生了怎樣的變化。這對我們來說並不好。因此，通膨上升的前景，特別是如果通膨蔓延至食品雜貨等非必需消費品類別，會讓我們非常緊張。這也是我們對今年剩餘時間保持謹慎的另一個原因。

I think that's a good segue to the second part of your question, how are we thinking about the potential to raise our own retails? Now, of course, as a business, we need to deal with economic reality. But as a retailer that is focused on delivering value, we also need to tread very, very carefully.

我認為這很好地引出了你問題的第二部分，我們如何看待提高我們自身零售額的潛力？現在，當然，作為一家企業，我們需要應對經濟現實。但作為一家專注於提供價值的零售商，我們也需要非常非常謹慎地行事。

The important thing, I think, to understand is that in our business, as an off-price retailer, there is a broader competitive reference set. Our strategy is to offer significantly lower prices than traditional retailers. If those retailers raise prices, then this could provide some relief for us. It could potentially drive additional traffic to our stores or it could take some pressure off our own retails. So the answer to your question is, I think we're going to have to wait and see what impact tariffs have on price levels across the retail industry and then make a decision about our own prices.

我認為，重要的是要明白，在我們的業務中，作為一家折扣零售商，有更廣泛的競爭參考。我們的策略是提供比傳統零售商低得多的價格。如果這些零售商提高價格，那麼這可以為我們帶來一些幫助。它可能會為我們的商店帶來更多客流量，或者可以減輕我們自己的零售壓力。所以，對你的問題的回答是，我認為我們必須拭目以待，看看關稅對整個零售業的價格水平有何影響，然後再決定我們自己的價格。

Got it. And then maybe, Kristin, a follow-up. On the 1Q call in May, I think you described some expense timing shifts into 2Q, but -- and I think you guided margin flat, but you did really well. I think it was up 120 bps. Just could you walk us through the drivers of the Q2 margin, what you saw in the quarter and basically the drivers of upside?

知道了。然後也許，克里斯汀，還有後續行動。在 5 月的第一季電話會議上，我認為您描述了一些費用時間轉移到第二季度的情況，但是 - 而且我認為您指導的利潤率持平，但您做得確實很好。我認為它上漲了 120 個基點。您能否向我們介紹第二季利潤率的驅動因素、您在本季看到的情況以及基本上漲的驅動因素？

Great. Yes, thanks for the question. We're really pleased with the margin performance in the quarter. The drivers of that expansion were really broad-based, and I think the team did a really nice job executing and tightly managing costs in the quarter.

偉大的。是的，謝謝你的提問。我們對本季的利潤表現非常滿意。此次擴張的驅動因素確實非常廣泛，我認為團隊在本季的執行和嚴格管理成本方面做得非常出色。

So let me walk through the key drivers. On the top line, the 5% comp, which was 300 basis points above the high end of the guide, this helped drive a faster inventory turn, which drove lower markdowns in the quarter.

那麼讓我來介紹一下關鍵驅動因素。從營收來看，5% 的年增幅比指導價的高端高出 300 個基點，這有助於加快庫存週轉速度，從而降低本季的降價幅度。

And secondly, we took physical inventory in Q2 and the results were better than we had planned. This meaningfully contributed to the merch margin increase in the quarter. So lower shortage, combined with lower markdowns from faster turns, more than offset markup pressure from tariffs in the quarter to drive the 60 basis points of merch margin expansion. And as I mentioned in the prepared remarks, markup was only modestly lower than last year because we took several effective actions to reduce the impact of tariffs.

其次，我們在第二季進行了實體盤點，結果比我們計劃的要好。這對本季商品利潤率的成長做出了重大貢獻。因此，較低的短缺量，加上較快的周轉速度帶來的較低降價幅度，足以抵銷本季關稅帶來的加價壓力，從而推動商品利潤率擴大 60 個基點。正如我在準備好的演講中提到的那樣，由於我們採取了多項有效措施來減少關稅的影響，因此加價幅度僅比去年略低。

So additionally, in gross margins, freight levered 30 basis points. This was really due to savings initiatives in transportation as well as operational efficiencies helped by a higher AUR. Product sourcing costs were slightly better than what we had embedded in our guidance due to savings initiatives in supply chain.

因此，此外，在毛利率方面，貨運槓桿率上升了 30 個基點。這實際上是由於運輸方面的節約措施以及更高的 AUR 帶來的營運效率。由於供應鏈中的節約舉措，產品採購成本略優於我們預期的水平。

And finally, SG&A. SG&A levered 30 basis points despite those Q1 expense timing shifts you referenced. The drivers of the SG&A were twofold. First, leverage on the higher comp sales, and then two, operational savings initiatives we put in place to offset some of the tariff pressures. So taking all these on ends together, drove 120 basis points of EBIT expansion in the quarter.

最後是銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A)。儘管您提到第一季的支出時間發生了變化，但銷售、一般和行政管理費用槓桿仍上升了 30 個基點。銷售、一般及行政費用的驅動因素有兩個。首先，利用更高的銷售額；其次，我們實施營運節約措施來抵銷部分關稅壓力。因此，綜合考慮所有這些因素，推動本季息稅前利潤 (EBIT) 成長 120 個基點。

Lorraine Hutchinson, Bank of America.

美國銀行的洛林‧哈欽森 (Lorraine Hutchinson)。

Michael, I'm wondering what trends you're seeing with different demographic groups. The second quarter was very strong, but is there any additional color you can share about lower-income consumers, Hispanic customers or any other segments that stand out in the data?

邁克爾，我想知道您在不同的人口群體中看到了哪些趨勢。第二季表現非常強勁，但您能否分享一些有關低收入消費者、西班牙裔消費者或數據中突出的其他群體的更多資訊？

Sure. Thank you for the question. Overall, I would describe our comp performance in Q2 as broad-based. Now, as usual, in Q2, we monitored and we analyzed the sales trend of our stores based on the demographics of their local trade area. And between the first quarter and the second quarter, we saw an improvement in trend in all demographic trade areas.

當然。謝謝你的提問。總體而言，我認為我們第二季的業績表現是廣泛的。現在，與往常一樣，在第二季度，我們根據當地貿易區域的人口統計數據監測並分析了我們商店的銷售趨勢。在第一季和第二季之間，我們看到所有人口貿易領域的趨勢都有所改善。

Now, let me talk specifically about the lower-income customer. The lower-income customer, as you know, is especially important to us. When we look at stores in lower-income trade areas, they continue to perform very well with comp sales growth just above the chain average. Now, lower-income stores have performed well for us for the last few years, and that strength is continuing.

現在，讓我具體談談低收入客戶。如您所知，低收入客戶對我們來說尤其重要。當我們觀察低收入貿易區的商店時，它們繼續表現良好，同店銷售額增長略高於連鎖店平均水平。現在，低收入商店在過去幾年中表現良好，而且這種強勁勢頭仍在持續。

Let me move on to the Hispanic customer. Hispanic customer also, as you know, very important to us. My answer here is a little more nuanced. When you look at stores in high-Hispanic trade areas, to make the data meaningful, it's important to pull out Puerto Rico.

讓我繼續談談西班牙裔顧客。如您所知，西班牙裔客戶對我們也非常重要。我的回答在這裡稍微有點微妙。當你查看西班牙裔貿易較多地區的商店時，為了使數據有意義，重要的是將波多黎各排除在外。

Our Puerto Rico stores have been performing very, very strongly. So they kind of distort the number a little bit. It also makes sense to pull out our stores on the southern border. In contrast, those are high-volume stores. But given the issues at the border, they've been comping below the chain this year.

我們的波多黎各商店表現非常非常強勁。所以他們有點扭曲了這個數字。撤出南部邊境的商店也是有意義的。相比之下，那些都是銷量大的商店。但考慮到邊境問題，他們今年一直在邊境以下競爭。

So what you're left with is still a large group of stores that are in high-Hispanic trade areas, but exclude Puerto Rico and the southern border. And the bottom line is, in Q2, the trend in those stores was also slightly above the chain.

因此，剩下的仍然是大量位於西班牙裔貿易密集區的商店，但不包括波多黎各和南部邊境。底線是，在第二季度，這些商店的趨勢也略高於連鎖店。

Now, the data I've just described, I think is very encouraging. I know that investors have been concerned understandably about lower-income shoppers and about Hispanic shoppers. Those shoppers are very important to us, and they're very sensitive to economic headwinds such as inflation. But based on our second quarter data, we are not seeing any issues at this point.

現在，我認為我剛才描述的數據非常令人鼓舞。我知道投資者對低收入購物者和西班牙裔購物者感到擔憂，這是可以理解的。這些購物者對我們來說非常重要，他們對通貨膨脹等經濟逆風非常敏感。但根據我們第二季的數據，我們目前沒有發現任何問題。

And then how would you characterize off-price availability overall? Do you have any concern about merchandise availability in the second half? And what are you seeing from the vendors in terms of tariff-related cost pressure? Does that pressure create risk to merchandise supply or to merchandise margin in the second half?

那麼，您如何整體描述折扣供應情況？您對下半年的商品供應有什麼擔憂嗎？您從供應商看到了哪些與關稅相關的成本壓力？這種壓力是否會對下半年的商品供應或商品利潤造成風險？

Yes, it's a good question, Lorraine. I'll start with availability with availability -- with merchandise availability. Overall, merchandise availability in the off-price channel is very strong right now across the store. As I mentioned in the prepared remarks, there were a few specific categories in home where inventory levels across the industry dipped in Q2, and that was driven by tariff disruption back in April and May. But the situation even in those categories has caught up and is largely back to normal now.

是的，這是個好問題，洛林。我將從可用性開始——從商品可用性開始。整體而言，目前整個商店折扣通路的商品供應非常充足。正如我在準備好的演講中提到的那樣，第二季度，家居行業中有幾個特定類別的庫存水平出現下降，這是由於 4 月和 5 月的關稅中斷造成的。但即使在這些類別中，情況也已迎頭趕上並基本恢復正常。

More broadly, across the store, I would say that we are seeing plenty of merchandise. And we've been able to take advantage of some great deals that we've packed away in reserve. And most of that reserve inventory, by the way, was bought at pre-tariff pricing. So we're looking forward to flowing those great values to our stores in the back half.

更廣泛地說，我想說，在整個商店裡，我們看到了大量的商品。並且，我們還可以利用一些我們保留下來的優惠。順便說一下，大部分的儲備庫存都是以關稅前的價格購買。因此，我們期待在下半年將這些巨大的價值帶入我們的商店。

Leaving aside reserve, there's strong availability across the board. As evidence of that, actually, I would point to the fact that we were able to chase from our guidance range of 0% to 2% comp in Q2 to an actual comp of 5%. We had no problem finding great deals to fuel that trend.

撇開儲備不談，各方面的可用性都很強。作為證據，實際上，我想指出的是，我們能夠將第二季的指導範圍從 0% 到 2% 的銷售額提高到 5% 的實際銷售額。我們毫不費力地就找到了很好的交易來推動這一趨勢。

Let me move on to the second part of your question, the cost pressure from tariffs. I know we just crushed margin guidance and earnings expectations in Q2. But I want to emphasize that the cost pressure from tariffs is real. We were only able to drive earnings in Q2 because we rapidly and aggressively took actions to offset that cost pressure.

讓我繼續回答你問題的第二部分，關稅帶來的成本壓力。我知道我們在第二季的利潤率和獲利預期都超出了預期。但我想強調的是，關稅帶來的成本壓力是真實存在的。我們之所以能夠在第二季提高獲利，是因為我們迅速且積極地採取行動來抵銷成本壓力。

Now, as Kristin described earlier, those offsetting actions included a number of things, working closely and negotiating with our vendor partners on cost, adjusting and remixing our assortment, selectively raising retails, driving faster turns to reduce markdowns, accelerating planned savings initiatives and aggressively going after other expense savings across the P&L.

現在，正如克里斯汀之前所描述的，這些抵消行動包括許多方面，與我們的供應商合作夥伴密切合作並就成本進行談判，調整和重新混合我們的產品組合，有選擇地提高零售額，加快週轉速度以減少降價，加速計劃中的節約舉措，並積極尋求在損益表中節省其他費用。

As you can see in the numbers, that approach worked very well for us in Q2. So for the back half, assuming tariffs don't increase from their current recently announced levels, we are confident that we can meet or beat our updated guidance. As Kristin said, that updated guidance builds in the additional pressure from tariffs and the impact of numerous offsetting actions and savings that we've identified for the back half.

正如您在數字中看到的，這種方法在第二季度對我們非常有效。因此，對於下半年，假設關稅不會從最近宣布的水平上調，我們有信心達到或超過我們最新的指導目標。正如克里斯汀所說，更新後的指導方針考慮了關稅帶來的額外壓力以及我們為下半年確定的眾多抵銷行動和節約措施的影響。

John Kernan, TD Cowen.

約翰‧科南 (John Kernan)，TD Cowen。

Nice job on the quarter. Couple of questions about inventory following your comments to Lorraine's question. I think the remarks you said that comp store inventory was down 8% at the end of the quarter, but the reserve inventory was up significantly year-over-year. I think it was up to 50% of total inventory. Can you provide any additional commentary on these inventory levels and the composition?

本季表現不錯。根據您對 Lorraine 的問題的評論，我問了幾個有關庫存的問題。我認為您所說的是，本季末同店庫存下降了 8%，但儲備庫存比去年同期大幅增加。我認為它佔總庫存的 50%。您能否對這些庫存水準和構成提供任何其他評論？

Sure. It's Kristin. I'll take that question. Comp store inventory was down at the end of -- down 8% at the end of the second quarter, as we noted. And I'll just provide a little more commentary on comp store inventory.

當然。是克里斯汀。我來回答這個問題。正如我們所注意到的，同店庫存在第二季末下降了 8%。我只想對同類商店庫存提供一些評論。

Comp store inventory is what is available to sell in stores. So we manage this inventory level very tightly. It's obviously important for sales and markdowns. We made the deliberate decision in the March/April time frame to plan faster inventory turns in Q2 and for the rest of the year. This is driving lower markdowns and is helping to offset margin pressure from tariffs. And this strategy worked very well in the second quarter.

同類商店庫存是可在商店出售的商品。因此我們對庫存水準的管理非常嚴格。這對於銷售和降價顯然很重要。我們在三月/四月期間做出了謹慎的決定，並計劃在第二季和今年剩餘時間內加快庫存週轉率。這導致降價幅度降低，並有助於抵消關稅帶來的利潤壓力。這一策略在第二季非常有效。

The most important thing about in-store inventory is not necessarily the level, it's the content. So in Q2, we had the right content, and we were able to drive higher sales, faster turns and lower markdowns. And our in-store inventory levels on a comp store basis are planned down for the rest of the year as we continue this strategy.

店內庫存最重要的不一定是水平，而是內容。因此，在第二季度，我們擁有了正確的內容，並且能夠推動更高的銷售額、更快的周轉率和更低的降價。隨著我們繼續實施這項策略，我們計劃在今年剩餘時間內降低同店店內庫存水準。

Now, to your question about reserve, and Michael spoke to it a few minutes ago, we approach reserve differently. We buy reserve merchandise knowing we're going to pack it away and release it at a later date. And the level of reserve inventory really depends on the deals we find in the market. And this year, to get ahead of tariffs, we encouraged our merchants to buy up great pre-tariff merchandise. And this is what's really driven up the level of reserve inventory.

現在，回答你關於儲備的問題，邁克爾幾分鐘前也談到了這個問題，我們對儲備採取了不同的處理方式。我們購買儲備商品時就知道，我們會將其打包起來，並在以後發布。而儲備庫存水準實際上取決於我們在市場上找到的交易。今年，為了搶佔關稅先機，我們鼓勵商家搶購關稅前的優質商品。這才是真正推高庫存水準的原因。

We're really happy with these goods in terms of quality, values and brands that we have in reserve. And apart from enabling great deals, reserve inventory also gives us more flexibility in the case. We know that if we plan our business cautiously, but then the sales trend takes off, we have goods in reserve that we can flow.

我們對這些商品的品質、價值和我們儲備的品牌感到非常滿意。除了促成大量交易之外，儲備庫存還能讓我們在處理案件時擁有更大的彈性。我們知道，如果我們謹慎地規劃我們的業務，當銷售趨勢開始好轉時，我們就會擁有可供流通的儲備貨物。

That's helpful. Thanks. Just a second question on the balance sheet again. David, Kristin, it looks like you were busy in Q2 from a capital structure perspective. Can you walk us through the changes to the debt structure, whether you expect any additional changes in the near and intermediate term? And how should we think about the direction of interest expense?

這很有幫助。謝謝。關於資產負債表的第二個問題。大衛、克莉絲汀，從資本結構的角度來看，你們第二季似乎很忙。您能否向我們介紹一下債務結構的變化，您是否預期近期和中期還會發生任何其他變化？而利息支出的方向又該如何思考呢？

Sure. I'll take that one. Thanks for the question. We took several steps during the quarter to strengthen our balance sheet and enhance our liquidity. First, we raised $500 million in additional term loan debt, primarily to fund the purchase of one of our most automated West Coast DC, we call it the Cactus DC, as well as to retire the 2025 converts, which matured back in April.

當然。我要那個。謝謝你的提問。本季我們採取了多項措施來加強我們的資產負債表並提高我們的流動性。首先，我們籌集了 5 億美元的額外定期貸款債務，主要用於資助購買我們自動化程度最高的西海岸配送中心之一（我們稱之為 Cactus DC），以及退役 4 月份到期的 2025 年轉換期貸款。

And in addition, we also extended and upsized our ABL in July. It's now a $1 billion line, up from $900 million, and we extended the maturity by five years out to July 2030. Given our growth, we now have the borrowing base to support a bigger line and enhance our liquidity. Now, as a reminder, we paid down the ABL to $0 during Q2, and there were no borrowings on the ABL at the end of the quarter. And we don't anticipate borrowing on the ABL for the balance of the year.

此外，我們還在 7 月延長並擴大了 ABL。現在，該額度已從 9 億美元增加到 10 億美元，並且我們將期限延長了 5 年，至 2030 年 7 月。鑑於我們的成長，我們現在擁有借貸基礎來支持更大的信貸額度並增強我們的流動性。現在，提醒一下，我們在第二季將 ABL 償還至 0 美元，並且在本季末沒有 ABL 借款。我們預計今年餘下時間不會利用 ABL 進行借款。

Related to the term loan, we hedged $300 million of the $500 million issued, and that's keeping our hedge -- total hedge ratio around 65%, and we're able to lock in rates below current SOFR. And given the level of activity in the quarter, we aren't expecting any changes in the near term and continue to expect to return excess cash to shareholders in the form of share repurchases.

對於定期貸款，我們對已發行的 5 億美元中的 3 億美元進行了對沖，這使我們的對沖總對沖率保持在 65% 左右，我們能夠將利率鎖定在當前 SOFR 以下。鑑於本季的活動水平，我們預計短期內不會發生任何變化，並繼續期望以股票回購的形式向股東返還多餘的現金。

And we did update our interest expense forecast to $50 million in the quarter. It's a little bit lower based on the decision to purchase our Cactus DC and there was some capitalized interest. And a lot of puts and takes. We can certainly take that offline in our follow-up to walk you through that. But our updated forecast is at $50 million.

我們確實將本季的利息支出預測更新為 5,000 萬美元。根據我們購買 Cactus DC 的決定，這個數字略低，並且有一些資本化利息。還有很多付出和收穫。我們當然可以在後續行動中將其離線，以引導您完成該操作。但我們最新的預測是 5000 萬美元。

Alex Straton, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的亞歷克斯·斯特拉頓。

Perfect. Congrats on a great quarter. I've got a couple and first one for Michael. Can you maybe provide some color on the improvements that you made in store standards and conditions? And then I have a quick follow-up for Kristin.

完美的。恭喜本季取得優異成績。我有幾張，第一張是給麥可的。您能否詳細介紹一下您在商店標準和條件方面所做的改進？然後我要快速跟進一下克里斯汀的情況。

Thank you. I'm glad you asked this question. I would describe the improvement in standards in our stores over the past couple of years as extraordinary. As I mentioned in the script, customer service scores are running at historical all-time highs, and we've seen significant improvements in all major operating metrics in stores.

謝謝。我很高興你問了這個問題。我認為過去幾年我們商店標準的提高是非凡的。正如我在腳本中提到的那樣，客戶服務評分正處於歷史最高水平，我們已經看到商店所有主要營運指標都有了顯著改善。

We've also seen a recent improvement in shortage. And at the same time, our productivity levels in stores have improved. In other words, we're leveraging store payroll. That combination of outcomes, higher store standards and lower store payroll is a remarkable accomplishment.

我們也看到短缺情況最近有所改善。同時，我們商店的生產力水平也提高了。換句話說，我們正在利用商店薪資單。這種成果、更高的商店標準和更低的商店工資的結合是一項了不起的成就。

Let me explain how we've done it. It starts with leadership, and I don't mean me. I mean our Head of Stores. She's assembled a terrific team, a combination of internal promotions and external talent. Over the last couple of years, she and this team have set higher expectations for our field leaders, store managers and associates. Those expectations, together with improved tools, better reporting, greater process discipline and a much stronger sense of accountability have driven these great results.

讓我解釋一下我們是如何做到的。一切都從領導力開始，但我指的不是我自己。我指的是我們的商店主管。她組建了一支出色的團隊，既有內部提拔的人才，也有外部人才。在過去的幾年裡，她和這個團隊對我們的現場領導、商店經理和員工提出了更高的期望。這些期望，加上改進的工具、更好的報告、更嚴格的流程紀律和更強的責任感，推動了這些偉大的成果。

I would also add that our store managers and associates have embraced these higher expectations and standards. As we've communicated and rolled out this approach, we've seen significant increases in our associate engagement scores across the chain.

我還要補充一點，我們的店長和員工已經接受了這些更高的期望和標準。隨著我們傳達並推出這種方法，我們看到整個連鎖店的員工敬業度得分顯著提高。

The final point I would like to make is that for all the progress that we've made, we know there is still a lot of opportunity. We want every store to be consistently neat, clean and organized. We want them all to enable and bring to life the treasure hunt. That's the core vision that our Head of Stores and her leadership team are going after. We have a long way to go, but it's already clear from the data that our customers like this vision, and they appreciate the improvements that we've made.

我最後要說的是，儘管我們已經取得了許多進展，但我們知道仍然有很多機會。我們希望每家商店都始終整潔、乾淨、有序。我們希望他們都能讓尋寶活動變得生動有趣。這就是我們的門市主管和她的領導團隊所追求的核心願景。我們還有很長的路要走，但從數據中已經可以清楚地看出，我們的客戶喜歡這個願景，並且他們欣賞我們所做的改進。

Perfect. That's great color. Maybe for Kristin. Can you just provide a little bit more detail on the shortage favorability to gross margin in the quarter? And also how that dynamic may evolve into the back half?

完美的。顏色真棒。也許對克里斯汀來說。您能否提供一些有關本季短缺對毛利率有利影響的更多細節？這個動態將如何演變到後半部？

Yes, it's a good question. The external environment, it still is challenging, continues to be challenging. We're obviously very focused here with great leadership, as Michael just described. And we have made and will continue to make significant investments to mitigate shortage.

是的，這是個好問題。外部環境依然充滿挑戰，而且將持續充滿挑戰。正如邁克爾剛才所描述的，我們顯然非常專注，並且擁有出色的領導力。我們已經並將繼續進行大量投資來緩解短缺。

As I mentioned earlier, we took physical inventory in the second quarter. This showed lower or better shortage performance than we had planned and better than last year, driving the merch margin favorability in the second quarter. We're obviously pleased with this result, although it is only one measurement at one point in time.

正如我之前提到的，我們在第二季度進行了實體盤點。這表明短缺表現低於或好於我們的計劃，並且好於去年，從而推動了第二季度商品利潤率的有利性。儘管這只是在某個時間點進行的一次測量，但我們顯然對這個結果感到滿意。

For the back half, we plan to take another physical inventory in the fourth quarter to get the full year measurement for 2025. And we're hopeful that we continue to see the progress on shortage that we saw in Q2, given the high level of focus on this initiative across the organization. We'll plan to continue our intensified focus on reducing shortage and continue our shortage mitigation investments as well.

對於下半年，我們計劃在第四季度進行另一次實體盤點，以獲得 2025 年全年的數據。鑑於整個組織對這項舉措的高度關注，我們希望能夠繼續看到第二季度在解決短缺問題方面取得進展。我們計劃繼續加強減少短缺，並繼續進行緩解短缺的投資。

Brooke Roach, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的布魯克·羅奇。

Michael, could you provide additional color on back-to-school trends? What are you seeing in July and August so far?

邁克爾，您能否提供有關返校趨勢的更多資訊？到目前為止，您在七月和八月看到了什麼？

Thank you for the question. We've been very pleased with our back-to-school business this year. Early back-to-school selling in July was especially strong. Now, that momentum has moderated somewhat since then. But still for August month-to-date, I would describe our sales trend for back-to-school businesses as solid.

謝謝你的提問。我們對今年的返校業務感到非常滿意。七月份返校季的銷售尤其強勁。現在，這種勢頭已經有所緩和。但就八月份迄今為止的情況而言，我認為我們的返校業務銷售趨勢依然穩健。

One other callout. When we look at our back-to-school businesses on a multiyear stack basis, we're very pleased with the growth that we've seen over the last few years. And that was driven by a deliberate strategy by our merchants. We know that compared to other retailers, our customers tend to have a larger family size and more kids in the household. And these customers are very focused on value. They've been particularly hard hit by the higher cost of living over the last few years.

另一個標註。當我們從多年的累積角度審視我們的返校業務時，我們對過去幾年所看到的成長感到非常滿意。這是由我們的商家精心策劃的策略所推動的。我們知道，與其他零售商相比，我們的客戶往往家庭規模更大，家中的孩子也更多。這些客戶非常注重價值。過去幾年裡，他們受到生活成本上漲的嚴重打擊。

So our merchants have been pursuing a deliberate strategy to increase our market share of back-to-school. I think the team has done a nice job meeting the needs of that customer by offering great value, meaning strong fashion, recognizable brands, terrific quality and unbeatable prices. If you look at the two- or three-year stack, it shows that this has worked. We've gained significant market share in back-to-school over the last few years.

因此，我們的商家一直在採取深思熟慮的策略來增加我們的返校市場佔有率。我認為團隊透過提供巨大的價值（即強大的時尚、知名的品牌、卓越的品質和無與倫比的價格）很好地滿足了客戶的需求。如果你看一下兩年或三年的堆棧，你會發現這已經起作用了。在過去幾年裡，我們在返校市場中獲得了相當大的份額。

Great. And then just a follow-up for Kristin. Can you talk a little bit about regional and category performance strengths and weaknesses that you saw in the second quarter?

偉大的。接下來是克里斯汀的後續問題。您能否談談您在第二季度看到的地區和類別表現的優勢和劣勢？

Yes. In terms of regional performance, the Southeast and the Northeast were the strongest regions in the quarter. All regions comped positively. The Midwest was the weakest region in the quarter. And as Michael noted in the prepared remarks, weather was a modest headwind earlier in the quarter.

是的。從區域表現來看，東南部和東北部是本季表現最強勁的地區。所有地區的競爭都十分激烈。中西部是本季表現最弱的地區。正如邁克爾在準備好的發言中指出的那樣，天氣是本季早些時候的一股溫和逆風。

In terms of category performance, our strength was broad-based across the store. We saw the strongest performances in beauty, accessories and shoes, but apparel was also strong across ladies, men's and kids, all comping in line with the chain. In the quarter, home performance was softer for us, comping below the chain.

就品類表現而言，我們的優勢遍佈整個商店。我們看到美容、配件和鞋類產品表現最為強勁，但女裝、男裝和童裝也表現強勁，均與連鎖店保持一致。本季，我們的主場表現較為疲軟，低於連鎖店的表現。

Mark Altschwager, Baird.

馬克·阿爾特施瓦格，貝爾德。

Michael, a couple for you relates perhaps a bit to your commentary just a moment ago on back-to-school. But I was hoping you could update us on your elevation strategy and also speak to the opportunity and trends you're seeing with younger consumers.

邁克爾，有幾點可能與你剛才關於開學的評論有點相關。但我希望您能向我們介紹您的提昇策略，並談談您在年輕消費者中看到的機會和趨勢。

Thank you for the -- those two questions. Obviously, I'll start with an update on our elevation strategy. Yes, we continue to be very pleased by the success that we've seen in our strategy to elevate the assortment.

感謝您提出這兩個問題。顯然，我將首先介紹我們的提升策略的更新。是的，我們對提升產品種類的策略所取得的成功感到非常高興。

As a reminder, we launched that strategy about 1.5 years ago. The core idea was to elevate the assortment by raising the fashion content, the quality of the merchandise and the mix of better and more recognizable brands.

提醒一下，我們大約一年半前就啟動了該策略。核心思想是透過提高時尚內容、商品品質以及更好、更知名的品牌組合來提升商品種類。

The objective was to trade the customer up by offering better value at higher price points, but still to do that within a good, better, best context. I think our merchants have done a terrific job delivering great value at all price points within that elevated assortment. And that's clearly resonated with the customer. You can see it in the results in our comp growth and in our stronger merchandise margins. It's benefited us both in terms of sales and profitability.

目標是透過以更高的價格提供更好的價值來提升客戶，但仍要在好、更好、最佳的環境下實現這一點。我認為我們的商家做得非常出色，在高端產品系列的各個價位上都提供了巨大的價值。這顯然引起了顧客的共鳴。您可以從我們的同店銷售額成長和商品利潤率提高的結果中看到這一點。這對我們的銷售和盈利都有好處。

I'm very excited about our assortments for the back half, especially for holiday. We want -- our goal is to be proud of every hanger and proud of the value that we're offering on every hanger in the store. So when we developed our plans for the fall, our merchants really focused on ways to further reinforce this elevation strategy.

我對我們後半部分的商品組合感到非常興奮，尤其是針對假期。我們希望——我們的目標是對每一個衣架感到自豪，並對我們在商店裡每個衣架所提供的價值感到自豪。因此，當我們制定秋季計畫時，我們的商家真正關注的是進一步強化這項提升策略的方法。

Okay. I'm going to pivot now to the second -- your second question about our opportunity and any key trends with younger customers. Now, my answer here is going to overlap a little bit with my earlier comments on back-to-school. But let me offer a little more context and color.

好的。我現在要轉到第二個問題——關於我們的機會以及年輕客戶的任何主要趨勢的第二個問題。現在，我的回答與我之前關於返校的評論有一點重疊。但請容許我提供更多背景和細節。

At Burlington, we've always had a strong position with younger customers and young families, stronger than most other retailers. Parents, younger shoppers and young families are core and very important segments for us. When you walk into our stores, you can see it. You can see it when you look at the customers in our stores, a lot of young people, a lot of families with kids. You can also see it in the assortment.

在伯靈頓，我們在年輕顧客和年輕家庭中一直佔據著強勢地位，比大多數其他零售商都要強。父母、年輕購物者和年輕家庭是我們的核心且非常重要的群體。當您走進我們的商店時，您就會看到它。你只要看看我們商店裡的顧客就可以看出來，很多是年輕人，很多是有小孩的家庭。您也可以在分類中看到它。

We have a stronger presentation and a greater penetration of juniors, young men's and kids' apparel, accessories and footwear than most of our competitors. Now, we're doing a lot of things to attract and meet the needs of these shoppers, but they already boil down to one word, value. Young shoppers are often financially stretched and very value conscious.

與大多數競爭對手相比，我們在青少年、年輕男士和兒童服裝、配件和鞋類方面擁有更強大的展示力和更高的滲透率。現在，我們正在做很多事情來吸引和滿足這些購物者的需求，但它們已經可以歸結為一個詞，價值。年輕的購物者通常經濟拮据，而且非常注重價值。

Now, our merchants understand value does not mean cheap. Value is much more complex and depends on a mix of fashion, quality, brand and price. So for a shopper in our juniors department, for example, the key driver of value is likely to be fashion and style. In contrast, for a young mother buying clothes for her toddler, quality or brand might be more important. I think our merchant team, especially in these businesses is very skilled at building the assortment with the right mix of those value drivers. And that, more than anything, explains our growing strength with these younger shoppers.

現在，我們的商家明白價值並不代表便宜。價值更加複雜，取決於時尚、品質、品牌和價格等多種因素。因此，對於我們青少年部門的購物者來說，價值的關鍵驅動因素可能是時尚和風格。相較之下，對於為幼兒購買衣服的年輕母親來說，品質或品牌可能更重要。我認為我們的商家團隊，特別是在這些業務中的商家團隊非常擅長透過正確組合這些價值驅動因素來建立商品組合。這最能說明我們在年輕購物者中日益增長的實力。

Thank you. That concludes our question-and-answer session. I'd now like to hand the call back to Mr. Michael O'Sullivan for final remarks.

謝謝。我們的問答環節到此結束。現在我想將發言權交還給邁克爾·奧沙利文先生，請他做最後的發言。

Thank you, Ellie. Let me close by thanking everyone on this call for your interest in Burlington Stores. We look forward to talking to you again in November to discuss our third quarter 2025 results. Thank you for your time today.

謝謝你，艾莉。最後，我要感謝電話會議中各位對伯靈頓商店的關注。我們期待 11 月再次與您交談，討論我們的 2025 年第三季業績。感謝您今天抽出時間。

Thank you for attending today's call. You may now disconnect. Goodbye.

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。您現在可以斷開連線。再見。