Boyd Gaming Corp (BYD) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Boyd Gaming Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Conference Call. My name is David Strow, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Boyd Gaming. I will be the moderator for today's call, which is being recorded on Thursday, February 8, 2024. (Operator Instructions)

下午好，歡迎參加 Boyd Gaming 2023 年第四季和全年電話會議。我是 David Strow，Boyd Gaming 企業傳播副總裁。我將擔任今天電話會議的主持人，該電話會議將於 2024 年 2 月 8 日星期四錄製。（操作員說明）

Our speakers for today's call are Keith Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Josh Hirsberg, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

今天電話會議的發言人是總裁兼執行長 Keith Smith；執行副總裁兼財務長 Josh Hirsberg。

Our comments today will include statements that are forward-looking statements within the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. All forward-looking statements in our comments are as of today's date, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statement. There are certain risks and uncertainties, including those disclosed in our filings with the SEC that may impact our results.

我們今天的評論將包括《私人證券訴訟改革法案》中的前瞻性陳述。我們評論中的所有前瞻性陳述均截至今天，我們不承擔更新或修改前瞻性陳述的義務。實際結果可能與任何前瞻性聲明中預測的結果有重大差異。存在某些風險和不確定性，包括我們向 SEC 提交的文件中揭露的風險和不確定性，可能會影響我們的業績。

During our call today, we will make reference to non-GAAP financial measures. For a complete reconciliation of historical non-GAAP to GAAP financial measures, please refer to our earnings press release and our Form 8-K furnished to the SEC today, both of which are available at investors.boydgaming.com. We do not provide a reconciliation of forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures due to our inability to project special charges and certain expenses.

在今天的電話會議中，我們將參考非公認會計準則財務指標。有關歷史非 GAAP 與 GAAP 財務指標的完整對賬，請參閱我們的收益新聞稿和今天向 SEC 提供的 8-K 表格，兩者均可在 Investors.boydgaming.com 上獲取。由於我們無法預測特殊費用和某些費用，因此我們不提供前瞻性非公認會計原則財務指標的調節表。

Today's call is being webcast live at boydgaming.com and will be available for replay in the Investor Relations section of our website shortly after the completion of this call.

今天的電話會議將在 boydgaming.com 上進行網路直播，並將在電話會議結束後不久在我們網站的投資者關係部分進行重播。

So with that, I would now like to turn the call over to Keith Smith. Keith?

因此，我現在想將電話轉給基斯史密斯。基思？

Thanks, David, and good afternoon, everyone. 2023 was another great year for our company as we continue to build upon the record performances we have delivered over each of the last several years.

謝謝大衛，大家下午好。 2023 年對我們公司來說又是偉大的一年，我們將繼續在過去幾年創下的業績記錄基礎上再接再厲。

We achieved full year records for both revenues and EBITDAR, with operating margins remaining well above historical levels. 2023 was the third consecutive year we set revenue and EBITDAR records on a full year basis.

我們的收入和息稅折舊攤提前利潤 (EBITDAR) 均創下全年記錄，營業利潤率仍遠高於歷史水準。 2023 年是我們連續第三年創下全年收入和 EBITDAR 記錄。

This full year performance is a tribute to our diversified portfolio with strong growth from both our online and managed businesses. This growth was complemented by stable revenues from our property operations as we saw continued strength in play from our core customers and growth in our non-gaming business. And we finished the year strong with a solid fourth quarter performance.

這項全年業績歸功於我們多元化的投資組合，以及我們的線上和託管業務的強勁成長。這一成長得到了我們房地產業務穩定收入的補充，因為我們看到核心客戶的持續成長和非博彩業務的成長。我們以強勁的第四季業績結束了這一年。

During the fourth quarter, company-wide revenues rose 3% to $954 million, driven by growth in our online segment. EBITDAR for the quarter was $355 million, down slightly from our record fourth quarter last year.

第四季度，在線上業務成長的推動下，全公司營收成長了 3%，達到 9.54 億美元。本季的 EBITDAR 為 3.55 億美元，略低於去年第四季創紀錄的水平。

Looking at property operations, gaming revenues for the fourth quarter were down less than 1%, a notable improvement from the last several quarters.

從物業營運來看，第四季的博彩收入下降了不到1%，較前幾季有顯著改善。

During the quarter, play from our core customers grew at the strongest rate of the year. While this growth was offset by lower retail play, the year-over-year decline in retail play was the smallest we have seen since the first quarter of 2023, and non-gaming revenue for the quarter continued to grow, rising 1.5% over prior year.

在本季度，我們的核心客戶的遊戲成長率達到了全年最高水準。雖然這一增長被零售業的下降所抵消，但零售業的同比降幅是自 2023 年第一季以來我們所見過的最小水平，本季度的非博彩收入繼續增長，比上一季增長 1.5%年。

Property level operating margins for the quarter exceeded 40%, this is in line with the margins we have delivered over the last 3 years, reflecting our team's ability to operate efficiently through a variety of economic conditions.

本季房地產層面的營運利潤率超過 40%，這與我們過去 3 年交付的利潤率一致，反映了我們團隊在各種經濟條件下高效運作的能力。

Now moving to results for each segment. In our Las Vegas Locals segment, both revenue and EBITDAR for the fourth quarter were in line with our expectations. Play from our core customers grew at a rate similar to the third quarter, demonstrating the continued strength of this customer segment. Retail play was also sequentially consistent with third quarter levels.

現在轉向每個細分市場的結果。在我們的拉斯維加斯當地人部門，第四季度的收入和 EBITDAR 都符合我們的預期。我們的核心客戶的成長速度與第三季相似，顯示該客戶群的持續實力。零售業也與第三季的水平保持一致。

Our non-gaming business continues to perform well with hotel revenues up 4% during the quarter.

我們的非博彩業務持續表現良好，本季飯店營收成長 4%。

Finally, our property teams did an excellent job managing expenses in a difficult environment, with margins once again exceeding 50% in our Locals operations in the fourth quarter.

最後，我們的物業團隊在困難的環境中出色地管理了開支，第四季度本地業務的利潤率再次超過 50%。

Looking ahead to 2024 in our Locals segment. Recall that we produced a record first quarter performance last year, so we are facing tougher year-over-year comparisons.

展望 2024 年我們的本地業務。回想一下，我們去年第一季的業績創下了紀錄，因此我們面臨著更嚴峻的同比比較。

In addition, we also expect to see some impact from the recent opening of a new competitor in the Las Vegas Locals market and the room remodel project at our Gold Coast Hotel.

此外，我們也預計最近在拉斯維加斯當地人市場開設新競爭對手以及我們黃金海岸酒店的客房改造項目會產生一些影響。

Having said this, we are encouraged that customer trends in the Las Vegas Locals segment are holding steady so far in the first quarter, with overall play volumes looking similar to fourth quarter levels through early February.

話雖如此，令我們感到鼓舞的是，第一季迄今為止，拉斯維加斯當地人細分市場的客戶趨勢保持穩定，整體遊戲量看起來與截至 2 月初的第四季度水平相似。

Moving next to Downtown Las Vegas. Revenues rose slightly, while EBITDAR equaled last year's record fourth quarter performance. These results benefited from the completion of construction projects at both Main Street Station and the Fremont during the quarter.

搬到拉斯維加斯市中心旁邊。收入小幅增長，而息稅折舊攤銷前利潤 (EBITDAR) 與去年第四季創紀錄的業績持平。這些業績得益於本季主街車站和弗里蒙特建設項目的完成。

While these construction projects impacted our Downtown results throughout most of the year, these investments are beginning to pay off. The Fremont performed at record levels during the fourth quarter, while Main Street had its best quarterly performance of 2023.

雖然這些建設項目全年大部分時間都影響了我們市中心的業績，但這些投資已開始獲得回報。弗里蒙特酒店第四季的表現創歷史新高，而主街酒店則創下 2023 年最佳季度表現。

Our Downtown segment also saw solid growth in play from our core customers during the quarter, while retail play also rose.

本季度，我們的市中心業務也見證了核心客戶的穩健成長，而零售業務也有所成長。

Looking ahead, we are optimistic about the direction of our Downtown Las Vegas segment. With our construction projects now complete and the Fremont performing at record levels, our Downtown Las Vegas business is poised for healthy growth in 2024.

展望未來，我們對拉斯維加斯市中心業務的發展方向持樂觀態度。隨著我們的建設項目現已完成，弗里蒙特的業績達到創紀錄的水平，我們拉斯維加斯市中心的業務預計將在 2024 年實現健康成長。

Our optimism for our Las Vegas operations is supported by the continued strength of the Southern Nevada economy. In the near term, we are excited about Las Vegas' first Super Bowl this weekend, as we are experiencing strong demand in cash hotel business at both our Locals and Downtown properties.

內華達州南部經濟的持續強勁支持了我們對拉斯維加斯業務的樂觀態度。短期內，我們對本週末拉斯維加斯首屆超級盃比賽感到興奮，因為我們的當地人和市中心酒店的現金酒店業務需求強勁。

In the longer term, the direction of the tourism sector remains vibrant, with nearly 41 million people visiting Nevada in 2023, exceeding the prior year by more than 5%.

從長遠來看，旅遊業的發展方向仍充滿活力，2023年將有近4,100萬人次前往內華達州，比上年增加5%以上。

Gaming revenues in Southern Nevada reached a record $13.5 billion in 2023, a 5.5% increase over 2022. And convention business was up 20% in 2023, about 10% below its all-time high in 2019. Average daily room rates continue to trend higher, increasing 12% for the year across the Southern Nevada market. And more than 57 million people pass through the Las Vegas Airport last year, topping the record set in 2022 by more than 9%.

內華達州南部的博彩收入在2023 年達到創紀錄的135 億美元，比2022 年增長5.5%。2023 年會議業務增長20%，比2019 年的歷史最高水平低約10%。平均每日房價繼續呈上升趨勢，全年內華達州南部市場成長 12%。去年，超過 5,700 萬人次經過拉斯維加斯機場，比 2022 年創下的紀錄高出 9% 以上。

With the strength of the Southern Nevada economy goes beyond tourism. Of the nation's 30 largest metro areas, Las Vegas ranked #1 for job creation last year, with total employment rising more than 4% in 2023. This employment growth was broad-based, with growth across 8 of 11 major job sectors. And with billions of dollars in projects under development across the Las Vegas Valley, the construction sector continues to serve as an economic engine for the Southern Nevada economy.

內華達州南部的經濟實力不僅限於旅遊業。在全國30 個最大的都會區中，拉斯維加斯去年在創造就業機會方面排名第一，2023 年總就業人數成長超過4%。這種就業成長基礎廣泛，11 個主要就業領域中有8個領域都有成長。隨著拉斯維加斯谷各地正在開發的項目價值數十億美元，建築業繼續成為內華達州南部經濟的經濟引擎。

Moving outside of Nevada, our Midwest and South segment returned to growth in the fourth quarter. Both revenue and EBITDAR increased over the prior year, with operating margins of more than 38%. Gaming revenues were essentially even with the prior year, the strongest quarterly performance we saw from our Midwest and South segment all year. And we saw encouraging results from the various property investments we made in 2023. Our new amenities have been well received by customers and helped drive a 4% increase in food and beverage revenue during the quarter.

在內華達州以外的地區，我們的中西部和南部部門在第四季度恢復了成長。收入和 EBITDAR 均較上年有所成長，營業利潤率超過 38%。遊戲收入與去年基本持平，這是我們全年中西部和南部地區表現最強勁的季度表現。我們在 2023 年進行的各種房地產投資取得了令人鼓舞的成果。我們的新設施受到了客戶的好評，並幫助推動本季餐飲收入成長了 4%。

Looking ahead, the first quarter results have been impacted by January's severe winter weather. But with these storms now passed, customer trends over the past 2 weeks have rebounded to fourth quarter levels, giving us optimism in the direction of this business.

展望未來，第一季業績受到一月嚴冬天氣的影響。但隨著這些風暴過去，過去兩週的客戶趨勢已反彈至第四季的水平，這讓我們對這項業務的方向感到樂觀。

Next, in our online segment, revenue and EBITDAR growth in the fourth quarter was primarily driven by the introduction of sports betting in Ohio in early 2023. On a full year basis, our online segment performed in line with our earlier estimates, with total EBITDAR of $62 million for 2023.

接下來，在我們的線上細分市場中，第四季度的收入和EBITDAR 成長主要是由於2023 年初在俄亥俄州引入體育博彩所推動的。從全年來看，我們的線上細分市場的表現與我們先前的估計一致，EBITDAR 總額2023 年將達到 6,200 萬美元。

Looking ahead, we expect the online segment to maintain this level of performance in 2024, with $60 million to $65 million in full year EBITDAR, as no new sports betting markets are expected to come online this year. And finally, our managed and other business produced another strong quarterly performance.

展望未來，我們預計線上細分市場將在 2024 年保持這一業績水平，全年 EBITDAR 為 6,000 萬至 6,500 萬美元，因為預計今年不會出現新的體育博彩市場。最後，我們的託管業務和其他業務再次產生了強勁的季度業績。

Both revenue and EBITDAR grew over prior year in the fourth quarter, thanks to continued strong results at Sky River in Northern California. For the full year, this segment generated EBITDAR of $84 million, including management fees earned from Sky River.

由於北加州 Sky River 持續強勁的業績，第四季度營收和 EBITDAR 均較上年同期成長。全年，該部門產生的 EBITDAR 為 8,400 萬美元，其中包括從 Sky River 賺取的管理費。

In 2024, we expect our managed and other business will maintain its current level of performance, with full year EBITDAR of approximately $85 million driven mainly by Sky River. And given the strong performance of Sky River, the Wilton Rancheria Tribe is exploring a significant expansion of the property, including additional casino space, a hotel tower and meeting and convention facilities. While plans have not been finalized, we are optimistic about the long-term growth potential of this property.

到 2024 年，我們預計我們的託管業務和其他業務將保持目前的業績水平，全年 EBITDAR 約為 8500 萬美元，主要由 Sky River 推動。鑑於 Sky River 的強勁表​​現，Wilton Rancheria Tribe 正在探索對該地產的重大擴建，包括額外的賭場空間、酒店塔樓以及會議設施。雖然計劃尚未最終確定，但我們對該物業的長期成長潛力持樂觀態度。

So in all, the fourth quarter of 2023 was a strong close to another record year for our company, with continued strength from our core customers, solid growth from our online and managed businesses and strong returns from our recent property investments. The property investments we have been making are improving the customer experience, supporting growth in play from our core customers, and driving increased visitation throughout the business.

總而言之，2023 年第四季是我們公司又一個創紀錄年份的強勁收官，我們的核心客戶持續強勁，我們的線上和託管業務穩健成長，以及我們最近的房地產投資帶來的強勁回報。我們一直在進行的房地產投資正在改善客戶體驗，支持我們核心客戶的成長，並推動整個業務的訪問量增加。

After opening nearly a dozen new or upgraded restaurants and bars across the country in 2023 and completing casino renovations at the Fremont, we plan to renovate or upgrade a similar number of food and beverage outlets in 2024. Beyond these investments in our food and beverage offerings, we plan to renovate hotel rooms at the Gold Coast, Blue Chip, Ameristar St. Charles and Valley Forge in 2024. This follows the completion of our room remodel project at Main Street Station in late 2023.

2023 年在全國開設近十幾家新的或升級的餐廳和酒吧，並完成弗里蒙特賭場的翻新後，我們計劃在2024 年翻新或升級類似數量的餐飲店。除了對我們的食品和飲料產品的這些投資之外我們計劃於 2024 年翻新黃金海岸、Blue Chip、Ameristar St. Charles 和 Valley Forge 的酒店客房。在此之前，我們已於 2023 年底完成了 Main Street Station 的客房改造項目。

In addition to these property investments, we continue to make excellent progress on our project to transform our Treasure Chest Casino near New Orleans from a 3-level river boat to a spacious single-level, land-based facility with expanded gaming space and additional non-gaming amenities. Once complete around midyear, this investment will significantly enhance the guest experience of Treasure Chest and position it for long-term growth.

除了這些房地產投資之外，我們的項目繼續取得出色進展，將新奧爾良附近的寶箱賭場從三層河船改造成寬敞的單層陸地設施，並提供擴大的遊戲空間和額外的非公共設施。 -遊戲設施。一旦在年中左右完成，這項投資將顯著提升 Treasure Chest 的賓客體驗，並為其長期成長奠定基礎。

As we near completion of the Treasure Chest project, we are finalizing plans for our next set of growth projects, and we'll have more details to share with you in the near future.

隨著我們接近完成寶箱項目，我們正在敲定下一組成長項目的計劃，我們將在不久的將來與您分享更多細節。

Another important element of our long-term strategy is our balanced approach to capital allocation. As part of this strategy, we plan to continue our current pace of $100 million in quarterly share repurchases in 2024, supplemented by regular dividend payments while keeping our focus on maintaining a strong balance sheet.

我們長期策略的另一個重要因素是我們平衡的資本配置方法。作為該策略的一部分，我們計劃在 2024 年繼續目前 1 億美元的季度股票回購步伐，並輔以定期股息支付，同時繼續專注於維持強勁的資產負債表。

In conclusion, this was another strong quarterly performance by our company, as we completed our third consecutive year of full year record results. But beyond producing record results, 2023 was a year of significant achievement.

總之，這是我們公司的另一個強勁季度業績，我們連續第三年創下全年業績記錄。但除了取得創紀錄的成果之外，2023 年也是取得重大成就的一年。

First, we maintained our focus on our core customers, resulting in continued growth from this important customer segment.

首先，我們保持對核心客戶的關注，導致這個重要客戶群的持續成長。

Second, our growth initiatives delivered strong results with excellent returns from online gaming, Sky River, the Fremont expansion project and our recent hotel and food and beverage investments.

其次，我們的成長計畫帶來了強勁的業績，線上遊戲、Sky River、弗里蒙特擴建項目以及我們最近的酒店和餐飲投資帶來了豐厚的回報。

Third, our management teams continue to execute at a high level of efficiency, with property level margins exceeding 40% for the quarter, a level we have now consistently delivered for 3 years.

第三，我們的管理團隊繼續以高效率執行，本季的物業利潤率超過 40%，這是我們三年來一直保持的水平。

And finally, we continue to pursue a balanced approach to capital allocation, returning more than $475 million in capital to our shareholders in 2023, while maintaining the strongest balance sheet in our company's history.

最後，我們繼續追求平衡的資本配置方法，在 2023 年向股東返還超過 4.75 億美元的資本，同時維持公司史上最強勁的資產負債表。

Strong performance in 2023 is attributable to our strategy, our leadership team and our operating model. But most importantly, it is a result of the dedicated efforts of our team members who provide consistently memorable service that keeps our customers coming back.

2023 年的強勁表現歸功於我們的策略、領導團隊和營運模式。但最重要的是，這是我們團隊成員辛勤努力的結果，他們提供始終如一的令人難忘的服務，讓我們的客戶成為回頭客。

I'd like to thank every Boyd team member for their contributions to our company's success. Thank you for your time today.

我要感謝每一位博伊德團隊成員為我們公司的成功所做的貢獻。感謝您今天抽出時間。

I would now like to turn the call over to Josh.

我現在想把電話轉給喬希。

Thanks, Keith. 2023 was another record year for our company, highlighted by a strong fourth quarter. This was our third year in a row of generating record revenue and EBITDAR on a company-wide basis.

謝謝，基斯。 2023 年是我們公司又一個創紀錄的一年，其中第四季的強勁表現尤為突出。這是我們連續第三年在全公司範圍內創造創紀錄的收入和息稅折舊攤銷前利潤 (EBITDAR)。

Our revenue and EBITDAR growth in 2023 was driven by our online and managed business segments, reflecting the benefits of our diversification. Our properties have faced challenges all year from a softer retail customer and inflationary pressures. However, we are also seeing improving conditions in our property operations. Our focus on our core customer is paying off, as we continue to see growth in play from this customer segment.

我們 2023 年的收入和 EBITDAR 成長是由我們的線上和託管業務部門推動的，反映了我們多元化的好處。我們的物業全年都面臨零售客戶疲軟和通膨壓力帶來的挑戰。然而，我們也看到我們的房地產營運狀況有所改善。我們對核心客戶的關注正在得到回報，因為我們繼續看到該客戶群的成長。

And during 2023, our retail customer trends across the country have been improving. And while cost pressures are not completely going away, they appear to be moderating. Our property operating teams have done a very good job managing in this environment with quarterly property EBITDAR margins consistently above 40% for the last 3 years.

2023 年期間，我們在全國各地的零售客戶趨勢一直在改善。儘管成本壓力並未完全消失，但似乎正在緩解。我們的物業營運團隊在這種環境下管理得非常出色，過去 3 年季度物業 EBITDAR 利潤率始終高於 40%。

Beyond property operations and our other operating segments, as Keith mentioned, we expect our online segment to generate $60 million to $65 million of EBITDAR in 2024.

正如 Keith 所提到的，除了房地產業務和我們的其他營運部門之外，我們預計我們的線上部門將在 2024 年產生 6,000 萬至 6,500 萬美元的 EBITDAR。

As you may recall, our online results include a tax pass-through related to our online partnerships. These amounts are recorded as both revenue and expense. During the fourth quarter, the tax pass-through amount was $97 million compared to $73 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.

您可能還記得，我們​​的線上結果包括與我們的線上合作夥伴關係相關的稅務轉嫁。這些金額記錄為收入和支出。第四季的稅收轉嫁金額為 9,700 萬美元，而 2022 年第四季為 7,300 萬美元。

For the full year, the tax pass-through amount in 2023 was $328 million compared to $208 million in 2022.

就全年而言，2023 年的稅收轉嫁金額為 3.28 億美元，而 2022 年為 2.08 億美元。

And moving to our managed and other segment, we expect to generate approximately $85 million of EBITDAR in 2024. We expect EBITDAR from this segment to be more evenly spread throughout the year as compared to 2023.

轉向我們的託管和其他部門，我們預計 2024 年將產生約 8500 萬美元的 EBITDAR。與 2023 年相比，我們預計該部門的 EBITDAR 全年分佈將更加均勻。

One additional housekeeping item related to this segment. In 2023, we generated interest income from an outstanding loan to the Wilton Rancheria Tribe. The loan has now been completely repaid and therefore, we will not generate $24 million in interest income that we earned during 2023. As a result, net interest expense in 2024 should approximate $170 million.

與此細分市場相關的一項額外內務管理項目。 2023 年，我們透過向 Wilton Rancheria 部落提供的未償還貸款產生了利息收入。該貸款現已完全償還，因此，我們將不會產生 2023 年賺取的 2,400 萬美元利息收入。因此，2024 年的淨利息支出應約為 1.7 億美元。

In terms of capital expenditures, we finished 2023 investing $95 million in the fourth quarter, for a total of $374 million for the year.

在資本支出方面，我們在 2023 年第四季投資了 9,500 萬美元，全年投資總額為 3.74 億美元。

For 2024, we expect our capital expenditure program to include maintenance capital of about $200 million to $250 million, plus a recurring $100 million for growth investments.

到 2024 年，我們預計我們的資本支出計畫將包括約 2 億至 2.5 億美元的維護資本，加上 1 億美元的經常性成長投資。

This year, our growth capital plans include completing the new Treasure Chest land-based facility and starting additional growth projects in the second half of this year. We also expect to spend an incremental $100 million on the room renovations that Keith spoke about.

今年，我們的成長資本計畫包括完成新的寶箱陸基設施，並在今年下半年啟動更多成長項目。我們也預計將額外花費 1 億美元用於基斯談到的房間翻修。

So for 2024, we estimate total capital expenditures of about $400 million to $450 million.

因此，我們預計 2024 年的總資本支出約為 4 億至 4.5 億美元。

With respect to our capital return program, during the most recent quarter, we repurchased $100 million in stock, acquiring approximately 1.7 million shares at an average price of $59.15 per share.

關於我們的資本回報計劃，在最近一個季度，我們回購了 1 億美元的股票，以每股 59.15 美元的平均價格收購了約 170 萬股。

For the full year, we repurchased $413 million of stock, representing 6.5 million shares. When combined with our ongoing dividend program, we have returned more than $475 million to shareholders during calendar year 2023.

全年我們回購了價值 4.13 億美元的股票，相當於 650 萬股。結合我們正在進行的股息計劃，我們在 2023 年向股東返還了超過 4.75 億美元。

Since we resumed our capital return program in late 2021, we've returned more than $1.1 billion to our shareholders and reduced our overall share count by 14%. We ended the year with an actual share count of 96.8 million shares and had $326 million remaining under our current repurchase authorization. We remain committed in 2024 to $100 million per quarter in share repurchases.

自 2021 年底恢復資本返還計畫以來，我們已向股東返還超過 11 億美元，並將總股數減少了 14%。截至年底，我們的實際股數為 9,680 萬股，目前的回購授權剩餘 3.26 億美元。我們仍承諾在 2024 年每季回購 1 億美元的股票。

We finished 2023 with total leverage of 2.3x and lease-adjusted leverage of 2.7x. With low leverage, no near-term maturities and ample borrowing capacity under our credit agreement, we have created the strongest balance sheet in our company's history. We also generate significant amounts of free cash flow from a diversified portfolio of assets.

截至 2023 年，我們的總槓桿率為 2.3 倍，租賃調整後槓桿率為 2.7 倍。憑藉著低槓桿、無短期到期以及信貸協議下充足的借貸能力，我們創造了公司歷史上最強勁的資產負債表。我們也從多元化的資產組合中產生大量的自由現金流。

In 2023, we generated free cash flow of more than $725 million or more than $7.50 per share. As a result of our significant free cash flow and strong balance sheet, we were able to pursue a balanced approach to capital allocation, investing for organic growth in our existing portfolio and returning capital to our shareholders while pursuing opportunities to further grow our company.

2023 年，我們產生了超過 7.25 億美元的自由現金流，即每股超過 7.50 美元。由於我們擁有大量的自由現金流和強勁的資產負債表，我們能夠採取平衡的資本配置方法，投資於現有投資組合的有機成長，並向股東返還資本，同時尋求進一步發展公司的機會。

David, that concludes our remarks, and we're ready to take any questions.

大衛，我們的演講到此結束，我們準備好回答任何問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Steve Wieczynski of Stifel.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Steve Wieczynski。

So Josh, look, you guys don't give formal guidance for the full year. You have given some guidance here around certain parts of your business. And Keith in his prepared remarks talked about some of the headwinds you guys might face in like the Locals market and coming up the record first quarter of last year and stuff like that.

所以喬希，聽著，你們並沒有給出全年的正式指導。您在此針對您業務的某些部分提供了一些指導。基斯在他準備好的演講中談到了你們可能面臨的一些阻力，例如當地人市場以及去年第一季創紀錄的情況等等。

But just wondering if you could maybe help us from a high level, maybe help us think about how you're thinking about the Locals market, Downtown, Midwest and South this year? And if there's anything else that we need to be thinking about as we build out the cadence for 2024?

但只是想知道您是否可以從高層幫助我們，也許可以幫助我們思考您如何看待今年的當地人市場、市中心、中西部和南部？在製定 2024 年的節奏時，我們是否還需要考慮其他任何事情？

Sure, Steve. So look, I think we've tried to outline it pretty well, in our prepared remarks. I think as we think about the Las Vegas Locals market, while it's still early, our properties are performing consistently and very well.

當然，史蒂夫。所以看，我認為我們已經在準備好的演講中很好地概述了它。我認為，當我們考慮拉斯維加斯當地人市場時，雖然還為時過早，但我們的房產表現始終如一且非常好。

As Keith laid out for you some of the challenges that we may face as we go through the year with respect to the Las Vegas Locals with the new competitor, little early, and so we need to see how that plays out. We've got construction related to Coast that we'll go through third quarter. And then we have the first quarter that we think will be a little bit of a challenge of a comp.

正如基思（Keith）為您列出的那樣，我們在這一年中可能會面臨拉斯維加斯本地人與新競爭對手的一些挑戰，所以我們需要看看結果如何。我們有與海岸相關的建設，我們將在第三季進行。然後我們認為第一季對比賽來說會有點挑戰。

I think the underlying customer trends give us some level of confidence from where we sit today, in terms of the Las Vegas Locals and the trends in that business.

我認為，就拉斯維加斯當地人和該業務的趨勢而言，潛在的客戶趨勢給了我們今天所處的位置一定程度的信心。

Downtown, I think Downtown has been really plagued with construction disruption on and off throughout the year, and really, 2024 for Downtown will be a year without construction disruption. So it should do better.

市中心，我認為市中心全年都受到斷斷續續的施工中斷的困擾，實際上，2024 年對於市中心來說將是沒有施工中斷的一年。所以它應該做得更好。

In the Midwest and South, I think what we're seeing is more stabilization in the retail customer segment, gradually getting better year-over-year or less bad year-over-year than it has been. While combined with a stronger and improving core customer, which is really true across all of our business segments. I think what's made it difficult -- and looking at the Midwest and South, has just been the difficult weather that we've seen in -- beginning with January. But once we've got that behind us, the customer trends feel very similar to what we've been seeing.

在中西部和南部，我認為我們看到的是零售客戶群更加穩定，逐年逐年好轉或逐年不那麼糟糕。與更強大、不斷進步的核心客戶相結合，這在我們所有的業務部門都是如此。我認為，從一月開始，中西部和南部地區的天氣變得很困難，這就是我們所看到的。但一旦我們了解了這一點，客戶趨勢就會與我們所看到的非常相似。

So it's been a difficult start to the year. We've got a difficult comparison in Q1 related to LVL, but as we get some of this behind us, it feels like the customers are not getting worse, but at this point, at least very stable.

所以今年的開局很難。我們在第一季對 LVL 進行了艱難的比較，但當我們把其中一些拋在腦後時，感覺客戶並沒有變得更糟，但在這一點上，至少非常穩定。

Keith, I don't know if there's anything you want to add to that?

Keith，不知道你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No, Josh, I think between our prepared remarks, where we talked about a lot of this in Josh's comments, I think it summarizes it well. Nothing else to add.

不，喬什，我認為在我們準備好的發言中，我們在喬什的評論中討論了很多這一點，我認為它很好地總結了這一點。沒什麼好補充的了。

And then, Josh, if we go back to the fourth quarter and think about the Midwest, it's the one market or the one segment that grew margins year-over-year. And just wondering if that essentially was a clean quarter, meaning there was no benefit in there on the cost line. Just want to make sure that's kind of a clean number that you guys put up there in the fourth quarter.

然後，喬什，如果我們回到第四季度並考慮中西部地區，就會發現這是一個利潤率同比增長的市場或細分市場。只是想知道這是否本質上是一個乾淨的季度，這意味著在成本線上沒有任何好處。只是想確保這是你們在第四季提出的一個乾淨的數字。

Well, look, I think there is some seasonality into our business. And so from our perspective, when we look at our expenses, we don't necessarily think Q4 is really a good run rate for -- really any segments of our business. I think we would ask people to look back at Q1, Q2 and Q3 and use some combination of that. recognizing we have seasonality with certain aspects of our expenses. So I don't think Q4 is a good run rate in terms of expenses for any of our segments, really.

嗯，我認為我們的業務存在一些季節性。因此，從我們的角度來看，當我們考慮我們的支出時，我們不一定認為第四季度對於我們業務的任何部分來說確實是一個很好的運行率。我認為我們會要求人們回顧 Q1、Q2 和 Q3，並使用它們的某種組合。認識到我們的開支的某些方面具有季節性。因此，我認為就我們任何細分市場的費用而言，第四季度的運作率都不是很好。

Okay. Got you. And Josh, one quick housekeeping. Do you have an idea what corporate expense would look like for '24?

好的。明白你了。還有喬希，快速整理家事。您知道 24 世紀的公司開支會是多少嗎？

Since most of it is really headcount-related and that's going up like 3% or so, I think that's generally where you should expect that level of increase in corporate expense over what we delivered in 2023.

由於其中大部分確實與員工人數相關，而且增幅約為 3% 左右，我認為這通常是您應該預期企業費用相對於 2023 年交付的增幅水平。

Our next question comes from Carlo Santarelli of Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的卡洛桑塔雷利。

I just kind of -- I wanted to essentially try and understand the Locals commentary for the first quarter. Seasonally speaking, historically, 1Q trends relative to 4Q trends, the 1Q has tended to be a little bit better than the 4Q from an EBITDAR perspective. Clearly, you're going to have a full month of competition but you talked about play levels and volumes quarter-to-date being similar to the 4Q. I do see, obviously, you have a little bit of a tougher comp in the first quarter last year relative to what was experienced in the 2Q through the 4Q.

我只是想嘗試理解當地人對第一季的評論。從季節性來看，從歷史上看，第一季的趨勢相對於四季的趨勢，從EBITDAR的角度來看，第一季往往比第四季好一些。顯然，您將進行一整月的競爭，但您談到本季迄今為止的遊戲水平和數量與第四季度相似。顯然，我確實看到，相對於第二季到第四季的情況，去年第一季的競爭情況更加嚴峻。

So from a level of magnitude perspective, is the first quarter expected to be the most challenging quarter? And should it differ materially from historical seasonality when compared to the 4Q?

那麼從規模角度來看，第一季是否預計將是最具挑戰性的季度？與第四季相比，它是否應該與歷史季節性有重大差異？

So Carlo, I think you're right. I think that the first quarter, what we tried to lay out was a very challenging comp because of our record results last year. So we will -- Q1 will be the most challenging quarter of the year. We -- customer trends, as we indicated in January and through the first few days of February, look a lot like Q4, which implies we haven't seen any significant impact as a result of the opening of Durango. Now it's still early, the property has only been open 60 days, but we haven't seen any significant impact. So (inaudible) it other than that.

所以卡洛，我認為你是對的。我認為，由於去年我們取得了創紀錄的業績，所以第一季我們試圖佈置的比賽非常具有挑戰性。因此，第一季將是一年中最具挑戰性的季度。正如我們在一月和二月的前幾天所指出的，我們的客戶趨勢看起來很像第四季度，這意味著我們沒有看到杜蘭戈開幕帶來的任何重大影響。現在還為時過早，該物業才開業60天，但我們還沒有看到任何重大影響。所以（聽不清楚）除此之外。

I think as you think about the rest of the year in the Locals market, absent some disruption from a room remodel of Gold Coast, which will have half of its rooms out of service at a time, the year should look a lot like 2023.

我認為，當你考慮今年剩餘時間的當地人市場時，如果黃金海岸的房間改造沒有造成一些幹擾（一次將有一半的房間停止服務），那麼這一年看起來應該很像 2023 年。

Yes. I think it's helpful just to remind people, the reason Q1 was so strong last year, in particular for Las Vegas Locals had to do with COVID and the removal of some mask restrictions and things of that nature that was going on, and so that's why I think the seasonality that you referenced, Carlo, correctly is not -- probably not going to play out this quarter.

是的。我認為提醒人們是有幫助的，去年第一季如此強勁的原因，特別是對於拉斯維加斯當地人來說，與新冠病毒和取消一些口罩限制以及正在發生的類似性質的事情有關，這就是為什麼我認為卡洛，你提到的季節性是正確的——可能不會在本季度發揮作用。

Okay. Meaning, Josh, just to simplify, historically, 1Q better than 4Q, this quarter perhaps not better, but (inaudible)...

好的。喬許，意思是為了簡化，從歷史上看，第一季比第四季好，這個季度也許不是更好，但（聽不清楚）...

That's right.

這是正確的。

Okay. Okay. All right. And then -- yes, sorry. Just as a quick follow-up, as you think about the numerous projects, the room remodels across, I think it was 4 regional properties. There are 3 regional properties and Gold Coast that you mentioned. And I -- based on the $100 million of CapEx on that stuff in second half, more weighted, it seems like should we be taking into consideration those being at all disruptive? Or is that somewhat seamless in the way you can go about that?

好的。好的。好的。然後——是的，抱歉。作為一個快速的後續行動，當你想到眾多的項目時，房間的改造，我認為這是 4 個區域性的房產。您提到的有 3 間區域性飯店和黃金海岸。我——基於下半年在這些方面的 1 億美元資本支出，權重更大，看來我們是否應該考慮那些具有破壞性的因素？或者說，這在某種程度上是無縫的嗎？

So I think with respect to the regional room remodels, we're able to do them differently. There are some structural issues with the Gold Coast that causes us to take more rooms out of service at a time. The other room remodels that will be happening at Blue Chip and Valley Forge and Ameristar St. Charles, we'll be able to do where there'll be smaller number of rooms out of service that will have limited impact on the business. So I would not be factoring in any real disruption from those.

所以我認為對於區域房間的改造，我們能夠以不同的方式進行。黃金海岸存在一些結構性問題，導致我們一次停止使用更多房間。 Blue Chip、Valley Forge 和 Ameristar St. Charles 將進行其他房間改造，我們將能夠在停運的房間數量較少的情況下進行改造，這對業務的影響有限。所以我不會考慮這些帶來的任何真正的干擾。

Our next question comes from Joe Greff of JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的喬·格雷夫。

Back to the Las Vegas Locals market. I know it's only been about 70 days since Durango opened up. But do you think at this point that you've hit the impact of peak trial from your gaming patrons going over to Durango, or do you think the trial impact is different than say, other times when you faced new competitive supply in the Locals market?

回到拉斯維加斯當地人市場。我知道距離杜蘭戈開業才過去大約70天。但是，您是否認為此時您已經受到遊戲顧客轉向杜蘭戈的高峰試用的影響，或者您是否認為試用影響與其他時候您在當地人市場面臨新的競爭性供應時的影響不同？

It's a really hard question to answer, Joe. Look, it's been open, as you say, 60 or 70 days, we haven't seen a significant impact. We're pleased with the way our operating teams have been able to manage through this. And other than that, we're going to continue to be very cautious very diligent about how we approach the business. But I'm not ready to say that we've hit peak trial and the worst is behind us, so to speak. So every market is different, every opening is different, every property is different. And so it's really tough to peg that.

這是一個很難回答的問題，喬。看，正如你所說，它已經開放了 60 或 70 天，我們還沒有看到重大影響。我們對我們的營運團隊能夠解決這個問題的方式感到滿意。除此之外，我們將繼續對我們開展業務的方式保持非常謹慎和勤奮。但我還沒準備好說我們已經達到了審判的頂峰，最糟糕的時期已經過去了，可以這麼說。所以每個市場都是不同的，每個空缺都是不同的，每個房產都是不同的。所以很難確定這一點。

Great. And then, Josh, it's hard not to hear your comments about cost pressures are moderating. Can you highlight in what specific areas you're seeing the most moderation and maybe the magnitude of those operating expense segments on the enterprise?

偉大的。然後，喬什，很難不聽到您關於成本壓力正在緩和的評論。您能否強調一下您在哪些特定領域看到的最溫和的以及企業中這些營運費用部分的規模？

Yes, I'll do my best to try to help you figure that out, Joe. I think -- look, I'll start at the high level, which is, the 2 largest areas of expense categories that you guys very much know about is labor and marketing. And from a marketing perspective, our cost as a percent of revenues have been very consistent really since coming out of COVID. We've not really deviated from our strategy. Even here in Las Vegas, where we have a new competitor, we continue to remain disciplined with how we will be investing with our customers. So marketing is really not a source of pressure and hasn't been one really coming out of COVID.

是的，我會盡力幫你解決這個問題，喬。我想——看，我將從高層次開始，也就是你們非常了解的兩個最大的支出類別領域是勞動力和行銷。從行銷的角度來看，自從新冠疫情爆發以來，我們的成本佔收入的百分比一直非常穩定。我們並沒有真正偏離我們的戰略。即使在拉斯維加斯，我們有了新的競爭對手，我們仍繼續嚴格遵守與客戶進行投資的方式。因此，行銷其實並不是壓力的來源，也不是真正擺脫新冠疫情的壓力來源。

From a labor perspective, I would say it's -- there's really 2 aspects to it. One is self-inflicted, where we have chosen to increase the minimum wage of our team member to what we think -- consider a livable wage of $15 an hour, and that has been rolled out really over the last 2 years, with the last piece of that happening in the second half of 2023. So if you think about labor in that sense, it's going to take until the second half of next year before we're able to start to anniversary some of those labor increases. We expect still to see increases, but just not to the levels or the pressure that we've seen over the last 2 years.

從勞工的角度來看，我想說這其實有兩個面向。一種是我們自己造成的，我們選擇將團隊成員的最低工資提高到我們認為的水平——考慮每小時 15 美元的宜居工資，這在過去 2 年裡確實已經推出，最後一次這部分發生在2023 年下半年。因此，如果你從這個意義上考慮勞動力，那麼要到明年下半年，我們才能開始慶祝其中一些勞動力增長週年紀念日。我們預計仍會出現成長，但不會達到過去兩年的水平或壓力。

Another big category that we've talked about historically has been utilities. For us, in the fourth quarter, we didn't really see a big increase in utilities. It's obviously a seasonal expense, and we're not expecting the level of increases in that category next year. And so we'll work through that year-over-year as we work through the year in terms of seasonality impact.

我們歷史上討論過的另一個大類別是公用事業。對我們來說，在第四季度，我們並沒有真正看到公用事業的大幅成長。這顯然是季節性支出，我們預計明年該類別的成長水準不會很高。因此，我們將逐年研究季節性影響，就像我們全年研究季節性影響一樣。

And then the last one I would call out that we've talked about before is property insurance. At our renewals, which happened in the second half of the year, we saw big increases in those categories. We don't expect those similar level of increases in 24, but we'll have to get through to the second half of the year before we're on a comparable basis.

我要指出的最後一個是我們之前討論過的財產保險。在下半年進行的續訂中，我們看到這些類別的數量大幅增加。我們預計 24 月不會出現類似的成長水平，但我們必須等到今年下半年才能達到可比的水平。

So those are the bigger categories where we've seen pressure historically. And so it will -- depending on the rollout of those expenses in 2023 will affect how we look at it in 2024. But the main thesis that I think we're saying is, is that we -- we believe we've seen the worst in terms of the increases. We don't expect to see those level of increases. And now we just have to work through what we have experienced. And as I said in an earlier comment, I wouldn't use Q4 as a run rate because it's more like some of the first 2 or 3 quarters of the year 2023.

因此，這些是我們歷史上遇到壓力的更大類別。因此，這將 - 取決於 2023 年這些費用的推出將影響我們在 2024 年的看法。但我認為我們要說的主要論點是，我們 - 我們相信我們已經看到了就增幅而言最差。我們預計不會出現這種水準的成長。現在我們只需要解決我們所經歷的事情。正如我在之前的評論中所說，我不會使用第四季度作為運行率，因為它更像是 2023 年前 2 或 3 個季度的一些季度。

Our next question comes from Barry Jonas of Truist.

我們的下一個問題來自 Truist 的巴里·喬納斯。

I wanted to start with Boyd Interactive. Can you maybe give us some -- any color on how that's performing? And also help us understand how Boyd Interactive factors into the flat online guidance relative to FanDuel?

我想從博伊德互動開始。您能給我們一些關於其表現的任何資訊嗎？並幫助我們了解 Boyd Interactive 如何將相對於 FanDuel 的平面線上指導因素納入其中？

Yes. So Boyd Interactive is obviously still a very new venture for us, a little over a year since we've owned that business. We've been successful in launching online casino in New Jersey and PA, I think both performing well. We launched a social gaming product under the Stardust brand earlier in January, that have been out there, but it being run by somebody else. And so I think we're very happy with the way it's performing. Remember, it also has a smaller or B2B business that it operates that existed when we bought it.

是的。因此，博伊德互動對我們來說顯然仍然是一個非常新的企業，距離我們擁有這項業務已經一年多了。我們已經成功在新澤西州和賓夕法尼亞州推出線上賭場，我認為兩者都表現良好。一月初，我們以 Stardust 品牌推出了一款社交遊戲產品，該產品已經上市，但由其他人經營。所以我認為我們對它的表現非常滿意。請記住，它還有一個較小的或 B2B 業務，該業務在我們購買它時就已經存在。

So look, overall, we're pleased with this performance. The team is doing a great job executing on the plan that's in front of it and looking to continue to grow that business. It is a long-term play for us. It's not about the short term. And when we describe a flat online segment or online business category, I think it's a combination of both the online sports betting as well as Boyd Interactive that we think will be reasonably flat for the year.

總的來說，我們對這一表現感到滿意。團隊正在出色地執行眼前的計劃，並希望繼續發展該業務。這對我們來說是一個長期的遊戲。這與短期無關。當我們描述線上細分市場或線上業務類別持平時，我認為這是線上體育博彩和博伊德互動的結合，我們認為今年將相當持平。

Got it. Got it. And just as a follow-up, can -- maybe just talk about the M&A environment and your appetite for M&A here?

知道了。知道了。作為後續行動，可以—也許只是談談併購環境以及您對併購的興趣？

So look, our main priority every day is making sure that we're running a strong business that we're looking at ways to grow profitable revenues and bring those revenues to the bottom line and just make sure that we have a very, very strong business and that we're reinvesting in our business at the right level.

所以看，我們每天的首要任務是確保我們經營一家強大的業務，我們正在尋找增加盈利收入並將這些收入達到底線的方法，並確保我們擁有非常非常強大的業務業務，並且我們正在以適當的水平對我們的業務進行再投資。

Beyond that, if something interesting happens to come up, we'll take a look at it, but we've talked in the past, we've always been a very, very disciplined investor, a disciplined acquirer of assets. It's got to be the right assets at the right price, at the right market, and be the right strategic fit and have the right strategic reason to do it.

除此之外，如果出現一些有趣的事情，我們會關注它，但我們過去說過，我們一直是一個非常非常有紀律的投資者，一個有紀律的資產收購者。它必須是在正確的市場、以正確的價格提供正確的資產，並且具有正確的策略契合度，並有正確的策略理由來做到這一點。

And once again, our core priority right now is focusing on running a strong business, generating incremental EBITDAR and incremental shareholder value. And if something interesting comes up, we'll probably take a look at it. But we remain very disciplined.

再說一次，我們現在的核心優先事項是專注於經營強大的業務，產生增量的息稅折舊攤提前利潤（EBITDAR）和增量的股東價值。如果出現一些有趣的事情，我們可能會看看。但我們仍然非常自律。

Our next question comes from Dan Politzer of Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的丹‧波利策。

I just wanted to follow up with maybe one more on Durango. Could you maybe talk about the overlap in terms of database or geographic or from a demographic standpoint. And then similarly, Josh, I think last quarter, you maybe conservatively benchmarked a $25 million or so impact. I know we're only 70 days into the opening, but I mean, do you still feel like that's a good number or maybe on the more conservative end of the spectrum there could be upside there?

我只是想再跟進一下杜蘭戈的情況。您能否談談資料庫、地理或人口統計角度的重疊。同樣，喬什，我認為上個季度，您可能保守地設定了 2500 萬美元左右的影響基準。我知道我們開業只有 70 天，但我的意思是，您是否仍然認為這是一個不錯的數字，或者從更保守的角度來看，可能還有上升空間？

Look, from an overlap standpoint, I certainly don't have any insight into what their demographics look like from just a pure geography standpoint, you look at ZIP codes, where our customers come from, what our various properties, what ZIP codes are closest to them, what ZIP codes are in a jump ball category. We understand all that. We understood all that well before they opened and we're able to put the right plans in place.

看，從重疊的角度來看，我當然無法從純粹的地理角度了解他們的人口統計數據，你看看郵政編碼，我們的客戶來自哪裡，我們的各種屬性是什麼，哪些郵政編碼最接近對他們來說，哪些郵遞區號屬於跳球類別。我們明白這一切。我們在開業之前就了解了這一切，並且能夠制定正確的計劃。

Our comments we've made a couple of times today about thus far, we have not seen a significant impact to our operations to our customers as a result of that is about all we can say. We know customers has visited as customers always do. And -- but I think the proof is in the numbers, and we're not seeing a significant impact as of yet, but it's only 70 days, and we'll just be very cautious going forward.

我們今天已經多次發表評論，到目前為止，我們還沒有看到我們的客戶營運受到重大影響，因此我們只能說。我們知道客戶一如既往地來訪。而且 - 但我認為證據就在數字中，我們還沒有看到重大影響，但只有 70 天了，我們會非常謹慎地前進。

Yes. And Dan, in terms of our 5% and $25 million, I think we characterized it as conservative. And I think for today, we're going to stick to those numbers just given it's still very early. And we'll just have to see how things play out over the rest of the year.

是的。 Dan，就我們的 5% 和 2500 萬美元而言，我認為我們將其描述為保守的。我認為今天我們將堅持這些數字，因為現在還為時過早。我們只需要看看今年剩下的時間事情會如何發展。

Got it. And just for my follow-up, also on the Locals. This is more of a margin and OpEx question, but you've been running 50%-plus margins, 3 years and certainly, I recognize the first half of this year, you have a couple of headwinds that you called out. But I mean, to the extent that you see things stabilize and overall, the market looks similar to last year. Is there any reason we shouldn't still be in that same margin range over the course of the full year?

知道了。這只是我的後續行動，也是關於當地人的。這更多是一個利潤率和營運支出問題，但三年來你們的利潤率一直在 50% 以上，當然，我認識到今年上半年，你們遇到了一些阻力。但我的意思是，就你看到的情況穩定和整體而言，市場看起來與去年相似。有什麼理由讓我們在全年中不應該保持同樣的利潤範圍嗎？

Yes. I don't -- I think we've been able to maintain LVL margins, Midwest and South margins pretty consistently, overall, property margins in this 40% range for literally 3 years now. So I'm sure there's going to be quarters where things get out of hand, whatever, but it shouldn't be a permanent change because I think we're running our business in this manner with this philosophy of being disciplined around reinvestment, using our tools and capabilities, and it's yielding the results that you're seeing.

是的。我不認為——我認為我們已經能夠將 LVL 利潤率、中西部和南部利潤率相當一致地維持在 40% 的範圍內，總體而言，現在已經有 3 年了。因此，我確信在某些方面事情會失控，無論如何，但這不應該是永久性的變化，因為我認為我們正在以這種方式經營我們的業務，並遵循圍繞再投資進行紀律的理念，使用我們的工具和能力，它正在產生您所看到的結果。

I mean, we're generating a significant amount of free cash flow, a significant level -- consistent level of performance at these levels. So again, I'm sure time to time, we won't deliver, but I think generally, this is what you should expect from us.

我的意思是，我們正在產生大量的自由現金流，一個顯著的水準——在這些水準上保持一致的績效水準。所以再說一遍，我確信我們有時不會交付，但我認為一般來說，這是您應該對我們期望的。

Our next question comes from Jordan Bender of JMP.

我們的下一個問題來自 JMP 的 Jordan Bender。

So the question gets brought up every couple of quarters, but there's a view out there that the FanDuel stake that you own isn't reflected really in your stock. So is there a thought from the company to either look to monetize some of that or all of it, maybe help you recognize some of that value in your shares or I guess, asked another way, I believe in 2028, there's a valuation agreement period between the 2 companies. Like could you imagine a scenario where you would look to monetize it before that date?

所以這個問題每隔幾季就會被提出，但有一種觀點認為，你擁有的 FanDuel 股份並沒有真正反映在你的股票中。那麼，公司是否有想法將其中部分或全部貨幣化，也許可以幫助您認識到股票中的部分價值，或者我猜，換個方式問，我相信在 2028 年，會有一個估值協議期兩家公司之間。就像您能想像一個場景，您希望在該日期之前將其貨幣化嗎？

I think we have historically and currently view our 5% ownership in FanDuel as a very strategic partnership, a very strategic relationship. And through today, we continue to view it that way. What the future brings, if and when we'd monetize it, we don't have any thoughts or comments on that topic, but it is very much an important strategic relationship and drives a significant portion of the $60-plus million we generated in the online portion of the business. So important, and we'll just see what the future brings.

我認為，無論是歷史上還是現在，我們都將 FanDuel 5% 的所有權視為一種非常策略性的合作關係，這是一種非常策略性的關係。直到今天，我們仍然這樣看待它。未來會帶來什麼，如果我們將其貨幣化，我們對此主題沒有任何想法或評論，但這是一種非常重要的戰略關係，並推動了我們在 60 多萬美元中創造的很大一部分。業務的線上部分。如此重要，我們將看看未來會帶來什麼。

Understood. And then just a housekeeping modeling item, $103 million impairment charge in the quarter. Is there anything to call out on that?

明白了。然後只是一個內務建模項目，該季度的減損費用為 1.03 億美元。對此有什麼需要注意的嗎？

No, not really. It's just the accountants doing their thing. So I wouldn't put too much into that. A lot of it has to do with the changes in interest rates and things like that in terms of what they discount the cash flows at. That's really what it comes down to.

不，不是真的。這只是會計師在做他們的事情。所以我不會投入太多。這在很大程度上與利率的變化以及現金流折現等因素有關。歸根結底就是這樣。

Our next question comes from Shaun Kelley of Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的肖恩凱利。

Really, just 2 quick clarifications for me. So first, I think it goes back to Barry's question. But Josh, I mean, with online being flat or the guidance or an outlook being flat, just trying to understand why -- with the market access agreement, why you wouldn't benefit on sort of same-state GGR growth. Appreciate there's no maybe big step function on new state launching. But is there either an offset on the expense base and something else that's there? Or is there something else that caps that number?

真的，只要向我簡單說明兩點。首先，我認為這又回到了巴里的問題。但是喬什，我的意思是，在線業務表現平平，或者指導或前景平淡，只是想了解為什麼 - 通過市場准入協議，為什麼你不會從同州 GGR 增長中受益。感謝新狀態啟動時可能沒有重大步驟的功能。但是否有費用基礎和其他方​​面的抵銷？還是有其他因素限制了這個數字？

I'm just kind of -- yes, why that would be more participatory on a market that still seems like it's growing easily, 15% to 20% a year?

我只是——是的，為什麼在一個看起來仍然很容易成長（每年 15% 到 20%）的市場上，這會更具參與性？

Yes. I guess we just don't share the same view of that. I think -- as we view it as markets open up and then generally mature pretty quickly. And remember, we're just getting a percentage of that growth. I -- it's -- there's no increase in expenses. There's no cap or anything nefarious going on. It's strictly our view of the world that these markets are not just going to keep growing to the sky, and they have more modest growth once they open up and have been around for about a year.

是的。我想我們只是對此看法不同。我認為，正如我們所認為的，隨著市場開放，然後通常很快就會成熟。請記住，我們只是獲得了成長的一部分。我——是的——開支沒有增加。沒有上限，也沒有任何邪惡的事情發生。嚴格來說，我們對世界的看法是，這些市場不僅會不斷增長，而且一旦開放並存在大約一年，它們的成長就會更加溫和。

So to the extent that, that we're off on that, that's -- that will drive our results. But again, it's -- we only get a small percentage of that growth.

因此，在某種程度上，我們正​​在這樣做，這將推動我們的結果。但同樣，我們只獲得了成長的一小部分。

Look, what Josh's saying, to the extent you're right, Shaun, then yes, we'll see that number go up. We don't know. But...

聽著，喬許說的話，肖恩，如果你是對的，那麼是的，我們會看到這個數字上升。我們不知道。但...

That's not what we expect.

這不是我們所期望的。

Okay. So I totally get it and then follow how you underwrote it. So that's helpful.

好的。所以我完全明白了，然後按照你的承保方式進行操作。所以這很有幫助。

And then sort of the other clarification, Josh, I appreciate it's not a number that we should be building our expense base off of, but just to go back to Midwest and South because the margin performance was so stellar and the expenses were down quite materially quarter-on-quarter. I guess, just very explicitly was, was there any either tax reversal or insurance benefit or some one-timer that hit in that? Or again, just for that number -- and again, I appreciate that's not the base we would model off of either way, but just curious if that number is -- if there was anything else that might have driven that margin performance, as it just looked very, very strong?

然後是其他澄清，喬什，我明白這不是我們應該建立費用基礎的數字，而只是回到中西部和南部，因為利潤率表現非常出色，而且費用大幅下降季度環比。我想，非常明確的是，是否有任何稅收逆轉或保險福利或一些一次性的東西？或者再說一次，只是為了這個數字——再說一次，我很感激這不是我們以任何一種方式建模的基礎，但只是好奇這個數字是否是——是否還有其他因素可能推動了利潤率表現，因為它只是看起來非常非常強大？

Yes. No. Nothing that is like unusual that we could call out that would -- that you -- yes, it was -- I mean things happen around year-end and things like that, but it's all just normal stuff. So I can't -- yes, nothing jumps out.

是的。不，沒有什麼不尋常的事情我們可以稱之為 - 你 - 是的，它是 - 我的意思是事情發生在年底左右，諸如此類的事情，但這都是正常的事情。所以我不能——是的，沒有任何東西跳出來。

Our next question comes from David Katz of Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 David Katz。

Appreciate all the details as well. I wanted to just pose a question. It's a bit hypothetical. Leverage down at under 3x, makes sense in an environment with elevated interest rates. As interest rates come down, does it make you a bit more comfortable perhaps letting that rise a bit and therefore, implying that some more capital returns might be enabled along with your earnings growth. Where would your target leverage be, hypothetically, if interest rates started to come back down again?

也欣賞所有的細節。我只是想提出一個問題。這有點假設。在利率升高的環境下，槓桿率降至 3 倍以下是有意義的。隨著利率下降，是否會讓您感到更舒服一些，也許讓利率上升一點，因此，這意味著隨著您的獲利成長，可能會帶來更多的資本回報。假設，如果利率開始再次下降，您的目標槓桿率會是多少？

Yes. I'll tell you then Keith, jump in. I think that it's not interest rate-driven really. It's overall leverage driven. And I think we said generally, we're comfortable in this range. We're not opposed to leveraging up over time for whatever reason we so choose if it makes strategic sense to do so. But it will be with the goal of deleveraging back down to around these levels.

是的。然後我會告訴你基思，插話。我認為這實際上不是由利率驅動的。這是整體槓桿驅動的。我認為我們總體上說，我們在這個範圍內感到滿意。如果這樣做具有戰略意義，無論出於何種原因，我們都不反對隨著時間的推移增加槓桿。但這的目標是將去槓桿化回到這些水平附近。

So we're comfortable running the business at this leverage level. We think it gives us flexibility to continue to do the things we want to do without being having to deviate from that if something happens economically or if we choose to do an acquisition or something else, and we can keep returning capital to shareholders and keep reinvesting in our existing portfolio. So that's the logic behind the leverage level.

因此，我們可以輕鬆地在這個槓桿水平上經營業務。我們認為，這使我們能夠靈活地繼續做我們想做的事情，而不必在經濟上發生問題或我們選擇進行收購或其他事情時偏離，並且我們可以繼續向股東返還資本並繼續進行再投資在我們現有的投資組合中。這就是槓桿水平背後的邏輯。

So just to follow that up. I mean your -- if you were to sort of drift up into the 3s, it would be with a specific purpose and it sounds like it would be somewhat temporary. But where we're at, that's the new target range where we'd like to be.

所以只是跟進一下。我的意思是你的——如果你想進入 3 歲，那將是有特定目的的，而且聽起來這有點暫時。但我們現在所處的位置，就是我們想要達到的新目標範圍。

Yes. Yes, I think that's right.

是的。是的，我認為這是對的。

Our next question comes from Brandt Montour of Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的布蘭特·蒙圖爾。

So on the improvement that you saw in the retail customer throughout the fourth quarter. I was wondering if you were noticing better traffic or versus sort of spend per visitor coming in the doors. And is it even across the regions in your system? And then what do you think is driving it?

因此，您在整個第四季度看到零售客戶的改善。我想知道您是否注意到流量增加，或者每位訪客的支出增加。甚至是跨系統中的區域嗎？那你認為是什麼推動了它的發展？

I'll take a big picture shot at it and Keith, you can jump in. I would just say that the comments around the retail segment, which is the lower end of our database and unrated segments. What we're just -- what we're trying to say is, sequentially, throughout 2023, year-over-year, the decline has narrowed, that gap has continued to narrow to the narrowest point that is -- that was achieved in Q4. And then as we come out into January and early parts of February, that trend has generally been consistent as well.

我會拍一張大圖，基思，你可以插話。我只想說圍繞零售細分市場的評論，這是我們資料庫和未評級細分市場的低端。我們只是 - 我們想說的是，在 2023 年期間，同比下降幅度已經縮小，差距繼續縮小到最窄點 - 這是在 2023 年實現的Q4。然後，當我們進入一月和二月初時，這種趨勢總體上也是一致的。

So we don't know as much about the unrated segment. So we can't tell you if it's more trips, less trips, more spend, that mix. So -- and that's what makes up the majority of that retail segment. So I'm not sure we're going to be able to give you much more than that at this point. But Keith, I don't know...

所以我們對未評級的部分了解不多。所以我們無法告訴你是更多的旅行、更少的旅行、更多的消費，還是這種組合。所以——這就是零售領域的大部分。因此，我不確定目前我們能否為您提供更多。但基思，我不知道…

Yes, that's about it.

是的，就是這樣。

Okay. And on the -- maybe on the Las Vegas Locals and the rated side of things where you're also seeing decent strength, it sounds like. I was wondering if you think you're seeing benefits in that segment from recently renegotiated union contracts and higher wages related to that flowing back into those customers' wallets and pockets in there and they're spending more at your properties this year from that?

好的。在拉斯維加斯當地人和評級方面，你也看到了不錯的實力，聽起來像是這樣。我想知道您是否認為您從最近重新談判的工會合約中看到了該領域的好處，以及與回流到這些客戶的錢包和口袋相關的更高工資，以及他們今年在您的房產上的支出增加了？

I don't think we can specifically say that we've seen that, but many of those team members that work up and down the (inaudible) beneficiary of those pay package, there are certainly our customers and a number of our properties. And so to the extent that they have more money in their pocket, I assume we're getting some of that, but there's really no way to tell -- no way for us to comment on this at that point -- at this point.

我不認為我們可以具體地說我們已經看到了這一點，但是許多在這些薪酬方案的（聽不清楚）受益人上下工作的團隊成員，其中肯定有我們的客戶和我們的一些財產。因此，就他們的口袋裡有更多的錢而言，我認為我們得到了一些，但實際上沒有辦法告訴——我們當時沒有辦法對此發表評論——在這一點上。

Our next question comes from Chad Beynon of Macquarie.

我們的下一個問題來自麥格理的查德·貝農。

Wanted to ask about Treasure Chest, I know that the boat is going to stay open, I think, until the land-based property opens. But just curious if we should expect any disruption in the first half of the year? And then should we still expect a mid-teens return on CapEx in the first year or 2?

想詢問有關寶箱的問題，我知道船將保持開放，我想，直到陸上財產開放為止。但只是好奇我們是否應該預期今年上半年會出現任何中斷？那麼我們是否還應該預期第一年或第二年的資本支出報酬率會達到十幾歲左右？

In terms of the disruption aspect, look, the boat will stay open. It will technically will close. I'm sure for a few days, 3 to 4 days as we have to move some gear off of the boat on the land-based facility, the rules and regulations in Louisiana require us to have everything in working order before we're able to open the door.

就破壞方面而言，看，船將保持開放。從技術上講它將關閉。我確信幾天，三到四天，因為我們必須在陸上設施上將一些裝備從船上移走，路易斯安那州的規則和法規要求我們先讓一切都處於正常工作狀態，然後才能進行打開門。

So there'll be 3 or 4 days where we'll be out of business, but no other disruption other than that. So in terms of our return, Josh?

因此，我們將有 3 或 4 天停業，但除此之外沒有其他中斷。那麼就我們的回報而言，喬許？

Yes, we're trying to be very thoughtful and disciplined around the investments we're pursuing and every one of those is at least contemplated to generate a -- we need to get at least a 15% to 20% cash on cash return to meet our overall internal hurdles. And so that's what we would expect from Treasure Chest. We'll get half a year of that, hopefully this year. Full year in Treasure Chest and next year.

是的，我們正在努力對我們正在追求的投資進行深思熟慮和嚴格遵守，每一項投資至少都被考慮產生——我們需要獲得至少 15% 到 20% 的現金回報率來滿足我們整體的內部障礙。這就是我們對寶箱的期望。我們將獲得半年的時間，希望今年。全年和明年都在寶箱中。

Perfect. And then just, I guess, a small, maybe more of a personal question, not as much of a financial question. Super Bowl obviously, being in your market. Any approach this year in terms of taking different-sized bets, different environment there? Should it move the needle for Downtown or LVL versus how you historically run that week or weekend for this one?

完美的。然後，我想，這只是一個小問題，也許更多的是個人問題，而不是財務問題。顯然，超級盃在你的市場上。今年在採取不同規模的賭注、不同的環境方面有什麼方法嗎？與您過去在該週或週末的跑步方式相比，它是否應該為市中心或 LVL 帶來改變？

Yes, I wouldn't be thinking about that from a pure sports book standpoint, I think if you be thinking about it more holistically, room rates are strong, cash room rates are strong. There are certainly a lot of people in town. So it will be a stronger weekend than normal. I think the week -- this week, the week leading up to the Super Bowl is stronger than in prior years because there's more people in town. But anything in particular or any thoughts in particular about how the book may operate differently, I wouldn't anticipate that.

是的，我不會從純粹的體育博彩角度考慮這一點，我認為如果你更全面地考慮它，房價很強勁，現金房價也很強勁。城裡一定有很多人。所以這將是一個比平常更強勁的周末。我認為本週——超級盃比賽前的一周比往年更強勁，因為城裡的人更多了。但任何關於這本書如何以不同方式運作的特別的事情或任何特別的想法，我都不會預料到。

Our next question comes from Joe Stauff of Susquehanna.

我們的下一個問題來自薩斯奎哈納的喬·斯塔夫。

Keith, I think you had mentioned this, but I apologize if I missed it, but can you talk about, say, the behavior of your core customer out of the Gulf states and what you saw in the fourth quarter. Obviously, that -- those were the first states to really soften up. And just wondering where that business is in terms of trends right now?

基思，我想你已經提到過這一點，但如果我錯過了，我很抱歉，但是你能談談你的核心客戶在海灣國家的行為以及你在第四季度看到的情況嗎？顯然，這些州是最先真正軟化的州。只是想知道該業務目前的趨勢是什麼？

So I think as we look at our core customer and play patterns from our core customers across the portfolio, it has been strong and it continues to be strong and continues to grow, that is the case here in the Locals market, it's also the case in our Southern states. More of the falloff last year that we saw down in those states had to do with more of the lower-end retail and the unrated.

因此，我認為，當我們審視整個產品組合中的核心客戶和核心客戶的遊戲模式時，它一直很強勁，並且將繼續強勁並繼續增長，當地人市場就是這種情況，也是如此在我們南部各州。去年我們在這些州看到的下滑主要與更多的低端零售和未評級的零售業有關。

So I think we're pleased with the performance of our mid- and upper tier-rated customers and the performance of our core play in the South.

因此，我認為我們對中高端客戶的表現以及我們在南方的核心業務的表現感到滿意。

Okay. And then maybe one follow-up on the Locals market. As you try to anticipate, obviously, it's still early, as you mentioned. But would you expect, say, you're out of town visitors in the Locals market. Is that more the type of customer that's going to experiment at Durango, or do you see that also from, say, 80% of your customers that are local?

好的。然後也許是當地人市場的一個後續行動。正如您所提到的，顯然，正如您試​​圖預測的那樣，現在還為時過早。但你會認為，你是本地市場的外地遊客嗎？這是否是杜蘭戈打算嘗試的更多客戶類型，或者您是否也從 80% 的本地客戶那裡看到這種情況？

I think it would be our view that the majority of the customers of our customers, existing -- Boyd, a lot of these local customers who are visiting Durango or the people who live here local customers and people, once again, who's ZIP code is maybe closer to Durango or in between our properties and Durango, so they have a choice. It may be easier to drive there, just maybe a product that they want to go check out. In some cases, maybe a product they enjoy better. And just better (inaudible) that we have 70 days on our belt, and we're pleased with the overall performance of our business in those first 70 days.

我認為我們的觀點是，我們客戶的大多數客戶，現有的博伊德，許多正在訪問杜蘭戈的當地客戶或住在這裡的當地客戶和人們，再一次，他們的郵政編碼是也許離杜蘭戈更近，或在我們的房產和杜蘭戈之間，所以他們有一個選擇。開車去那裡可能會更容易，也許只是他們想要去看看的產品。在某些情況下，也許他們更喜歡某種產品。更好的是（聽不清楚），我們還有 70 天的時間，我們對前 70 天的業務整體表現感到滿意。

Next question comes from John DeCree of CBRE.

下一個問題來自 CBRE 的 John DeCree。

A lot of ground covered. So maybe I'll try to ask the M&A question a little differently. We certainly appreciate the balanced and disciplined approach to capital allocation that you've taken and in a position to have a very healthy balance sheet now.

覆蓋了很多地面。所以也許我會嘗試以不同的方式提出併購問題。我們當然讚賞你們所採取的平衡和嚴格的資本配置方法，現在能夠擁有非常健康的資產負債表。

So I guess the question is, when you look at growth investments, particularly M&A, are there things that you see that would be a good fit for Boyd and maybe just aren't for sale or the ask is too high. It was, given your size and scale and in the context of margins broadly across the industry. I mean are there opportunities that might exist that would be a good fit? Are there synergies to be had? I mean, is M&A a viable strategy if you can find something that it would be priced accurately in your mind and what you could do with it?

所以我想問題是，當你考慮成長投資，特別是併購時，你是否認為有些東西很適合博伊德，但可能只是不出售或要價太高。考慮到您的規模和規模以及整個行業廣泛的利潤率，確實如此。我的意思是是否有合適的機會？是否存在協同效應？我的意思是，如果你能找到一些可以在你腦海中準確定價的東西以及你可以用它做什麼，那麼併購是一個可行的策略嗎？

Yes. Look, it's a hard question to respond to. So look, as I said, first and foremost, we have to make sure that our core business is running at optimum efficiencies, and that's our focus each and every day.

是的。聽著，這是一個很難回答的問題。因此，正如我所說，首先也是最重要的是，我們必須確保我們的核心業務以最佳效率運行，這是我們每天的重點。

Look, as we think about M&A, clearly, given the size and the scale and the scope of the company today, the opportunity has to be larger as opposed to smaller, given our breadth and our geographic breadth where we go is important. It's got to be a market that makes sense for us. It's got to be strategic. It's got to be a strong market. As you look across the portfolio, could we name a half a dozen assets, it would be interesting, sure. But it probably doesn't matter unless they're actually for sale.

看，當我們考慮併購時，顯然，考慮到公司今天的規模和範圍，考慮到我們的廣度和我們所從事的地理廣度很重要，機會必須更大而不是更小。這必須是一個對我們有意義的市場。這必須是戰略性的。它必須是一個強大的市場。當你瀏覽整個投資組合時，我們能說出六種資產嗎？這當然很有趣。但除非它們真的要出售，否則這可能並不重要。

And so once again, we're going to focus each and every day on building and maintaining a strong business. And when something interesting hits our radar screen. We'll take a look. But as I have said a couple of times, it's got a hit or tick off a number of boxes before we would take a look at it.

因此，我們將再次專注於建立和維持強大的業務。當一些有趣的事情出現在我們的雷達螢幕上。我們來看看。但正如我多次說過的，在我們查看它之前，它已經被點擊或勾選了許多框框。

Great. That's helpful. Keith, I think you probably already answered my follow-up on that, but just to ask anyway. So one of the criteria, most likely it would need to be upscale, that's needle moving. So tuck-in might not really be worth your time. Is that fair?

偉大的。這很有幫助。基思，我想你可能已經回答了我的後續問題，但無論如何還是要問。因此，標準之一很可能需要是高檔的，那就是指針移動。因此，吃東西可能不值得你花時間。這樣公平嗎？

That is fair.

那是公平的。

We have time for one last question from Stephen Grambling of Morgan Stanley.

我們還有時間回答摩根士丹利的史蒂芬‧格蘭布林提出的最後一個問題。

And this will just be a quick follow-up actually on M&A again. I guess coming out from a different approach, would -- is there anything that would make you shy away from a potential transaction such as you generally want to own your own real estate? Or are you willing to look at opcos? And as a related financial question, do the returns that you target on M&A differ from what you'd be looking at for ROI projects?

這其實只是併購的一個快速後續行動。我想從不同的角度來看，是否有什麼事情會讓你迴避潛在的交易，例如你通常想擁有自己的房地產？或是你願意看看opcos嗎？作為一個相關的財務問題，您的併購目標回報是否與您期望的投資報酬率項目不同？

So I have attempted to answer the M&A question a couple of times. I'm going to let Josh take a shot at this one.

所以我曾多次嘗試回答併購問題。我要讓喬許來嘗試這個。

So I think we have -- I think people who listen to these calls generally know that we're not necessarily large fans of doing opco/propco with our existing assets, but we have been willing to do it and consider it as part of a tool for financing acquisitions, whether they're existing tenants of a REIT or otherwise.

所以我認為我們——我認為聽到這些呼籲的人通常都知道，我們不一定是利用現有資產進行 opco/propco 的忠實粉絲，但我們一直願意這樣做，並將其視為融資收購的工具，無論他們是房地產投資信託基金的現有租戶還是其他租戶。

So I think the structure really isn't an impendent, something that keeps us from doing anything like that. I think related to that, people should understand, and I think this is consistent with what we said about other aspects of how we think about things is, look, we're willing to leverage up to do an acquisition and then deleverage over time as well, with the goal of getting back to -- generally in the neighborhood of where we are. So we won't always run the company at 2.5x or less, but that's where we want to be in the long run. So hopefully, that gives you a perspective on it.

所以我認為這個結構確實不是迫在眉睫的事情，也不是阻止我們做類似事情的事情。我認為與此相關的是，人們應該理解，而且我認為這與我們所說的關於我們如何看待事物的其他方面的內容是一致的，看，我們願意利用槓桿進行收購，然後隨著時間的推移去槓桿化好吧，目標是回到我們所在的地方。因此，我們不會總是以 2.5 倍或更低的速度經營公司，但從長遠來看，這就是我們希望達到的目標。希望這能讓您對此有一個看法。

I think the other thing is, I think Keith has described it, obviously correctly, which is, acquisitions are just one component of how we think about our company in terms of its strategic growth going forward, we look at the organic growth of the business. We look at the growth from the $100 million a year that we're making. We look at the value that shareholders get from our dividend, but also from the 6% to 7% of shares we're taking out every year.

我認為另一件事是，我認為基斯的描述顯然是正確的，也就是說，收購只是我們如何看待我們公司未來策略成長的一個組成部分，我們著眼於業務的有機成長。我們著眼於每年 1 億美元的成長。我們不僅關注股東從股息中獲得的價值，還關注我們每年從 6% 到 7% 的股份中獲得的價值。

So all of that accumulates to solid business and then the acquisitions are just purely -- if they make sense, we don't feel like we have to do them. I think we are very well positioned to do them given the strength of our balance sheet and robustness of our cash flow and the diversification of that cash flow. But that's why we generally think about the core business and how we can continue to grow that.

因此，所有這些累積起來都會形成穩固的業務，然後純粹的收購——如果它們有意義，我們覺得我們沒有必要這樣做。我認為，鑑於我們的資產負債表實力、現金流的穩健性以及現金流的多元化，我們完全有能力做到這些。但這就是為什麼我們通常會考慮核心業務以及如何繼續發展它。

And then somewhat, kind of opportunistically the acquisitions, and yes, they have to have the same levels of returns that any investment we're making, whether it's buying back our stock or making investments for organic growth.

然後，有點機會主義的收購，是的，它們必須具有與我們所做的任何投資相同的回報水平，無論是回購我們的股票還是為有機成長進行投資。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I'd now like to turn the call over to Josh for concluding remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我現在想把電話轉給喬許做總結發言。

Thanks, everyone, for your questions today and participating in the call. And if you have anything to follow-up, please feel free to reach out to the company. Hope you have a great rest of your day.

感謝大家今天提出問題並參與電話會議。如果您有任何後續事宜，請隨時與本公司聯繫。希望您今天休息愉快。

This concludes today's 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。