Caleres Inc (CAL) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Caleres Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. My name is Melissa, and I will be your conference coordinator. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Logan Bonacorsi, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Ms.

早上好，歡迎來到 Caleres 第三季度收益電話會議。我叫 Melissa，我將擔任你們的會議協調員。此時，所有參與者都處於只聽模式。如果有人在會議期間需要接線員幫助，請按電話鍵盤上的星號零。問答環節將在正式介紹之後進行。提醒一下，這次會議正在錄製中。在這個時候，我想把電話轉給投資者關係副總裁 Logan Bonacorsi。請繼續，女士。

Good morning. I would like to thank you for joining our third quarter 2022 earnings call and webcast. A press release with detailed financial tables as well as our quarterly slide presentation are available at caleres.com. Please be aware today's discussion contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially due to various risk factors, including, but not limited to, the factors disclosed in the company's Form 10-K and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Please refer to today's press release and our SEC filings for more information on risk factors and other factors, which could impact forward-looking statements. Copies of these reports are available online. In discussing the results of our operations, we will be providing and referring to certain non-GAAP financial measures. You can find additional information regarding these non-GAAP financial measures as well as others used in today's earnings release and our presentation on the Investors section of our website. The company undertakes no obligation to update any information discussed in this call at any time. Joining me on the call today is Diane Sullivan, Chairman and CEO; Jay Schmidt, President; and Jack Calandra, Senior Vice President and CFO. We will begin this morning's call with our prepared remarks and thereafter, we'll be happy to take your questions. I would now like to turn the call over to Diane. Diane?

早上好。感謝您加入我們 2022 年第三季度的財報電話會議和網絡廣播。可在 caleres.com 上獲取包含詳細財務表格的新聞稿以及我們的季度幻燈片演示。請注意，今天的討論包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受到許多風險和不確定因素的影響。由於各種風險因素，包括但不限於公司 10-K 表格和向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件中披露的因素，實際結果可能存在重大差異。請參閱今天的新聞稿和我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件，了解有關可能影響前瞻性陳述的風險因素和其他因素的更多信息。這些報告的副本可在線獲取。在討論我們的運營結果時，我們將提供並參考某些非 GAAP 財務指標。您可以在我們網站的投資者部分找到有關這些非 GAAP 財務指標以及今天的收益發布和我們的介紹中使用的其他信息的更多信息。公司不承擔隨時更新本次電話會議中討論的任何信息的義務。今天和我一起參加電話會議的是董事長兼首席執行官黛安·沙利文 (Diane Sullivan)；傑·施密特，總裁；和高級副總裁兼首席財務官 Jack Calandra。我們將以準備好的發言開始今天上午的電話會議，之後，我們將很樂意回答您的問題。我現在想把電話轉給黛安。黛安？

Thank you, Logan, and good morning, everyone. It's an exciting time at Caleres with our team's energy running high as our momentum continues. Today, I'm very happy to report that Caleres continued its strong performance in the third quarter of 2022. We built on our excellent first half results, which were driven by another period of outstanding operational and financial execution. These results are further proof of the strength of our brands, of our compelling product and product creation power of our disciplined inventory management and of course, the agility and resiliency of our operating model that is showing strength. For the third quarter and even as the consumer navigates this challenging macroeconomic environment, we achieved record quarterly sales of $798 million, nearly 2% higher than the third quarter of 2021, with improvement once again driven by a 7.6% year-over-year increase from the Brand Portfolio segment. We delivered another strong return on sales, reaching more than 7% as the brand portfolio recorded robust third quarter earnings and Famous held its operating margin in the double digits, achieving 12.3%. All in, this generated operating earnings of $57 million and earnings per share of $1.15. I will note that at $1.15, we've ended the first 9 months of 2022 with $3.86 of earnings per share or $1.66 above our pre-pandemic record. In addition, during the period, we also grew total Caleres market share. We continue to manage our inventory well and ultimately ended the period nearly 16% lower than the second quarter of 2022. We returned $24 million to our shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. All in, excellent results with a team that is determined to continue to drive this momentum. Now as you know, this will be the last time that I speak with all of you as CEO as I will transition to Executive Chairman in mid-January. I cannot express how much of an honor serving as CEO of Caleres has been for me. I'm proud of what we've accomplished and proud of the diversified portfolio, the consumer and product-driven organization and the inclusive culture that we've built during that time. You can absolutely count on the fact that the strategic focus areas of delighting consumers, building products that fits and is relevant, creating inspiring experience and engaged chains are well embedded into the fabric of who we are. That will never change. I want to thank my leadership team for their collaboration, creativity and drive for results and of course, their commitment to all of our colleagues, consumers and our partners. I want to thank all of you in the investment community for your interest and support of me and our organization. To say that I'm excited about the future of Caleres would be an understatement. I see tremendous potential for the earnings power of the company. In fact, with the record earnings performance in 2021 and our expectations for another record this year, I am confident our pre-pandemic earnings level is firmly in the rear view. Furthermore, I believe in the resiliency in the portfolio, and I'm completely confident in our ability to create long-term value for our many stakeholders. I believe our expertise and capabilities and brand building and product creation, marketing, digital commerce and our supply chain management provide a unique foundation from which to continue to build. I'm also confident that this will be a successful executive transition. As you well know, Jay and I have been working side by side for many years. I can say that without reservation, he has an unending commitment to excellence. He knows the footwear category, our business and our consumers very well, and he is ideally suited to lead the organization through its next chapter. His leadership roles, numerous ones at Caleres, and his distinctive merchant mind has prepared him well to steer the company into the future. Although many of you may have met him by now, I would like to take a moment to introduce Jack as well, who joined us in September as CFO and is joining his first Caleres quarterly earnings call today. As you get to know Jack in this role, I'm confident that you'll be impressed by his strong financial background and his consumer goods expertise. As you can imagine, this next step in my personal career is as exciting as it is bittersweet. That said, I'm thrilled to move to my new role as Executive Chairman, and I look forward to supporting Jay, Jack and the rest of the Caleres leadership team. as they build on what we've accomplished together. I also look forward to focusing on continuing to enhance the Caleres culture, drive strategic initiatives to unlock growth and assist in ensuring we have a value-enhancing pipeline of growth opportunities ready for when the timing is right. Now I'll turn the call over to Jay to share more detail about our third quarter results. Jay?

謝謝你，洛根，大家早上好。這是 Caleres 的激動人心的時刻，隨著我們的勢頭持續，我們團隊的能量高漲。今天，我很高興地向大家報告，Caleres 在 2022 年第三季度繼續保持強勁表現。我們以出色的上半年業績為基礎，這是由另一段出色的運營和財務執行推動的。這些結果進一步證明了我們品牌的實力、我們引人注目的產品和我們嚴格的庫存管理的產品創造能力，當然還有我們正在顯示實力的運營模式的敏捷性和彈性。第三季度，即使消費者在這個充滿挑戰的宏觀經濟環境中前行，我們的季度銷售額也達到了創紀錄的 7.98 億美元，比 2021 年第三季度增長近 2%，同比增長 7.6% 再次推動了改善來自品牌組合部分。我們再次實現了強勁的銷售回報率，達到 7% 以上，因為品牌組合在第三季度錄得強勁的收益，而 Famous 的營業利潤率保持在兩位數，達到 12.3%。總而言之，這產生了 5700 萬美元的營業收入和 1.15 美元的每股收益。我會注意到，以 1.15 美元的價格，我們在 2022 年前 9 個月結束時的每股收益為 3.86 美元，比大流行前的記錄高出 1.66 美元。此外，在此期間，我們還增加了 Caleres 的總市場份額。我們繼續妥善管理我們的庫存，最終結束時比 2022 年第二季度低近 16%。我們通過股票回購和派息向股東返還了 2400 萬美元。總而言之，一支決心繼續推動這一勢頭的團隊取得了優異的成績。正如你們所知，這將是我最後一次以首席執行官的身份與大家交談，因為我將在 1 月中旬轉任執行主席。我無法表達擔任 Caleres 首席執行官對我來說有多大的榮幸。我為我們所取得的成就感到自豪，並為多元化的投資組合、消費者和產品驅動的組織以及我們在那段時間建立的包容性文化感到自豪。您絕對可以相信，取悅消費者、打造合適且相關的產品、創造鼓舞人心的體驗和參與的連鎖店等戰略重點領域都很好地融入了我們的組織結構中。那永遠不會改變。我要感謝我的領導團隊的協作、創造力和追求成果的動力，當然還有他們對我們所有同事、消費者和合作夥伴的承諾。我要感謝投資界的所有人，感謝你們對我和我們組織的關注和支持。說我對 Caleres 的未來感到興奮是輕描淡寫的說法。我看到了公司盈利能力的巨大潛力。事實上，鑑於 2021 年創紀錄的盈利表現以及我們對今年再創紀錄的預期，我相信我們的大流行前盈利水平已穩居榜首。此外，我相信投資組合的彈性，我對我們為眾多利益相關者創造長期價值的能力充滿信心。我相信我們的專業知識和能力以及品牌建設和產品創造、營銷、數字商務和我們的供應鏈管理為繼續建設提供了獨特的基礎。我也相信這將是一次成功的高管交接。眾所周知，Jay 和我並肩工作了很多年。我可以毫無保留地說，他對卓越有著永無止境的承諾。他非常了解鞋類品類、我們的業務和我們的消費者，非常適合領導該組織開啟新的篇章。他的領導角色（在 Caleres 的眾多角色）以及他獨特的商人頭腦為他帶領公司走向未來做好了充分準備。儘管你們中的許多人現在可能已經見過他，但我想花點時間介紹一下傑克，他於 9 月加入我們擔任首席財務官，今天將參加他的第一個 Caleres 季度收益電話會議。當您在這個職位上認識傑克時，我相信您會對他強大的財務背景和他在消費品方面的專業知識印象深刻。你可以想像，我個人職業生涯的下一步既令人興奮又苦樂參半。也就是說，我很高興擔任執行主席的新角色，我期待著支持 Jay、Jack 和 Caleres 領導團隊的其他成員。因為他們建立在我們共同取得的成就之上。我也期待專注於繼續提升 Caleres 文化，推動戰略舉措以釋放增長，並協助確保我們在適當的時候準備好增值增長機會管道。現在我將電話轉給 Jay，分享有關我們第三季度業績的更多細節。傑？

Thank you, Diane, for your kind words, your confidence and your support. We've worked together for a long time, and I feel so fortunate for that opportunity. In the past 12 years, as our CEO, you have led the transformation of our financial performance, our portfolio of brands, our digital business and our employee culture. I want to thank you for your leadership and mentorship and I look forward to your ongoing counsel as Executive Chairman. Now let's talk about our third quarter performance. Caleres did deliver another period of strong results. We leaned into our diversified brand portfolio and our advantaged inventory position to meet the robust demand in key trending segments of the footwear market. At the same time, we continue to prioritize investment areas, namely consumer marketing and experience that is value driving and essential for future growth. I'll begin with our Famous Footwear segment. Payments continued to perform at a high level during the third quarter. Up against the blockbuster period last year, Famous beat our expectations, delivering a modest year-over-year sales decline. However, by limiting promotional activity, the business generated margins higher than pre-pandemic levels, which were also in line with our plan. Jack will walk through the specific key financial metrics of each segment in more detail in just a few minutes, but I would like to call out a few highlights that drove our quarterly performance at Famous, namely kids, brand curation, fashion acceleration and consumer experience. First, our back-to-school kids business was a highlight, outpacing last year's robust performance. In fact, our kids business increased 3% in the 10-week back-to-school period versus 2021. The results for the full quarter were even better, up 6% as we position the right inventory behind the right brands and styles. Clearly, the kids category is a strategic differentiator and a long-term growth driver for Famous, and its recent performance further solidifies our position as the destination for back-to-school footwear.. Second, the curated assortment of national brands and styles continue to resonate with the Famous consumer target, the millennial family. Famous' top 25 brands represented 89% of sales during the period, and we saw acceleration of those key brands as inventory strengthened later in the quarter. Famous also experienced strength in its nonathletic business aligning with the demand we saw with the rest of our Caleres brands. Third, we are seeing meaningful progress in our effort to meet the consumer and to build our competency on the fashion side of the business. We know that when she buys for her family and for herself, she is spending more, connecting more and returning more often. This was accelerated by growth in top key market brands as well as by the vertical integration with our Caleres brands. Our own Caleres brands performed very well at Famous during the period with sales increasing 19% versus last year. LifeStride in particular was a standout, breaking into the top 10 of all selling brands at Famous for the quarter. Our Dr. Schoill's footwear experienced similar results, posting a double-digit increase across both men's and women's segments. I will also call out Naturalizer, which had impressive year-over-year sales performance, increasing our fashion component for the Famous consumer while offering a strong comfort proposition. All of these improvements demonstrate our ability to take our extensive understanding of our consumer and deliver the right brands and styles in the right quantities and locations to drive highly profitable incremental sales. This is all in addition to the core athletic and sport business that Famous is known for. Lastly, Caleres has continued to invest in the consumer experience at Famous, amplifying a tangible brand image across our omnichannel. In recent quarters, we have replatformed famousfootwear.com updated high-potential and high-performing stores, initiated a new store concept that brings the best footwear brands and trends to life and showcases all of the enhanced visual assets and communication focused on the family that we display on our website. So far, the results seem very promising. Our digital performance improved 2% in the quarter, and our early read from our new store concept show a significant uplift in financial performance. We are encouraged by these developments and look forward to providing more updates at year-end. Overall, Famous has delivered a strong performance during the first 9 months, holding its powerful double-digit operating margin while underscoring the strength of the Famous brand. While we recognize that there is uncertainty for consumers given the threat of mounting inflationary pressures, Famous is well positioned to compete and win even in a challenging market due to its leadership position with the family, its advantaged assortment of national brands, retail locations in key markets across the country with exceptional service by our team and enhanced consumer experience in stores and online, supported by customer insights. Next, I'd like to move to the Brand Portfolio. Brand Portfolio turned in an outstanding performance in the third quarter of 2022, achieving another period of year-over-year improvements across all key financial metrics and putting us well on our way to delivering a significant step-up in the segment's overall annual earnings contribution in 2022. This performance was driven by robust demand and strong consumer reaction to our fashion products, with most of our lead brands delivering positive sales trends during the quarter. These results reflect the progress the team has made against specific key initiatives, including elevating our product, design, fit and relevance, sharpening our brand positions and messaging and aligning inventory with demand with our Edit to Win strategy playing nicely for more of the right styles, SKUs, quantities and sizes to meet the consumers' needs. While you've heard from our peers that retailers are being more conservative with inventory, our capabilities have allowed us to minimize the impact to Caleres. For example, our drop ship partnerships continue to support meaningful sales outcomes. We expect this trend to continue through 2023 and it serves as another example of how we can continue to connect with consumers, maximize our inventory investment and provide our retail partners flexibility in periods of uncertainty. Also during the quarter, the brand portfolio achieved an outstanding performance in our brands owned website sales, highlighting the power of our brands and our improved digital capabilities. This included a nearly 22% growth from our owned e-commerce sites, with solid year-over-year increases from nearly every brand with the largest gains coming from Sam Edelman and Naturalizer. In total, the portfolio sites saw an increase of 24% in new customers versus 2021. Clearly, these results demonstrate how we can leverage our powerful brands, our customer analytics and our growing expertise in this area to unlock more value from the total Caleres customer file going forward. I'd now like to highlight some brand level detail, focusing primarily on the portfolio's lead brands. Beginning with Naturalizer, which has delivered an outsized performance all year long, gaining market share and driving sales, earnings and average unit retail improvements. During the third quarter, Naturalizer sales increased nearly 60% over 2021 with gains in dress, casual and boots, especially tall-shaft boots. Average unit retails increased by 20% over last year, driven by newness in style and innovation. The brand's focus on inclusive sizing has resonated with consumers, not only through offering extended sizes and widths but also by offering wide-shaft proportions in its tall boot assortments. The brand also launched an elevated look with improved functionality on naturalizer.com. The new site emphasizes the strength of elegance and utility, along with comfort and fit, and it connects with consumers through authentic product concepts and stories. The results, sales of naturalizer.com grew more than 50% in the third quarter and new customers to the site grew by 19% with over half of this increase in younger consumer demographics. Naturalizer performance serves as another example of the power of our brands, combined with the power of our capabilities and our talented team members. The ongoing evolution here has placed the brand in the top 12 of all fashion brands and sales performance for third quarter, according to NPD. Next, our Sam Edelman brand delivered continued strong results, with sales increasing 26% year-over-year. While the brand's wholesale performance showed strength across all footwear categories via trend-right styling, the samedelman.com business more than doubled in the quarter. Key to driving this performance was a heightened focus on the aspirational luxury consumer, including all direct mail and a global marketing campaign featuring supermodel Naomi Campbell. These initiatives translated to a 75% increase in web traffic, a 55% increase in new consumers and a new record in digital sales for the month of September. Clearly, there is a lot of momentum with Sam. Next to Allen Edmonds, where newness and its well-known brand icons as well as sneaker and boot offerings showed continued improvement versus last year with higher average unit retail and margins. Product collaborations and limited drop events continue to delight consumers and drive full price selling. Our Cordovan Trunk Show was our most successful ever and our collaboration with the brand, Barber, on exclusive styles became immediate bestsellers. Both these events highlight the brand's commitment to authenticity and craft, which is at the heart of the Allen Edmonds brand. Also new this quarter is a relaunch of our collectors loyalty program, allowing us to enhance our relationship with our best customers. There are many other brand examples I could give but to summarize, the consumer continues to respond to newness and fashion aligned with the brand's clear DNA. Our brand portfolio is more diversified and relevant and focused than ever, and our teams and processes are flexible and able to pivot to meet changing consumer demand. Looking ahead across the entire portfolio, the brand teams will lean into their strong product creation ability, build on consumer insights and build on our own e-commerce business, manage inventories using speed to market as a catalyst and further our Edit to Win initiative, all to unlock opportunities for future growth. Overall, 2022 is progressing in line with our expectations. In light of the more challenging macroeconomic environment, the entire team at Caleres will be focused on controlling what we can, managing expenses and reducing our overall debt levels. However, our strong execution through the first 9 months allows us to say with confidence that despite the uncertainty in consumer spending and the broader economy, we are confident in our ability to deliver record earnings per share this year. In closing, I am energized to be taking on the CEO role at this moment in Caleres' evolution. Our team has established a great foundation from which to build, and I am optimistic about our prospects for long-term profitability. Further, I am highly confident in our ability to generate strong levels of cash and drive additional shareholder value. With that, I will now hand it over to Jack for a more detailed view of our financials. Jack?

黛安，謝謝你的美言、信任和支持。我們一起工作了很長時間，能有這樣的機會我感到很幸運。在過去的 12 年裡，作為我們的首席執行官，您領導了我們的財務業績、品牌組合、數字業務和員工文化的轉型。我要感謝你的領導和指導，我期待著你作為執行主席的持續建議。現在讓我們談談我們第三季度的表現。 Caleres 確實取得了又一段強勁的業績。我們依靠多元化的品牌組合和有利的庫存狀況來滿足鞋類市場主要趨勢細分市場的強勁需求。與此同時，我們繼續優先投資領域，即消費者營銷和對未來增長至關重要的價值驅動和體驗。我將從我們的著名鞋類部分開始。第三季度支付繼續保持高水平。與去年的重磅炸彈時期相比，Famous 超出了我們的預期，銷售額同比略有下降。但是，通過限制促銷活動，該業務產生的利潤率高於大流行前的水平，這也符合我們的計劃。 Jack 將在幾分鐘內更詳細地介紹每個細分市場的具體關鍵財務指標，但我想提出一些推動 Famous 季度業績的亮點，即兒童、品牌策展、時尚加速和消費者體驗.首先，我們的返校兒童業務是一大亮點，超過了去年的強勁表現。事實上，與 2021 年相比，在為期 10 週的返校期間，我們的童裝業務增長了 3%。整個季度的業績甚至更好，增長了 6%，因為我們將合適的庫存置於合適的品牌和款式背後。顯然，童裝類別是 Famous 的戰略差異化因素和長期增長動力，其最近的表現進一步鞏固了我們作為返校鞋類目的地的地位。其次，精選的民族品牌和款式繼續與 Famous 的消費目標千禧一代家庭產生共鳴。在此期間，Famous 的前 25 大品牌佔銷售額的 89%，隨著本季度晚些時候庫存增加，我們看到這些主要品牌的銷售加速。 Famous 的非運動業務也表現強勁，這與我們對其他 Caleres 品牌的需求保持一致。第三，我們在迎合消費者和打造時尚業務能力方面取得了有意義的進展。我們知道，當她為家人和自己買東西時，她會花更多錢，聯繫更多，回頭客也更多。這得益於主要市場品牌的增長以及與我們的 Caleres 品牌的垂直整合。在此期間，我們自己的 Caleres 品牌在 Famous 的表現非常出色，銷售額比去年增長了 19%。 LifeStride 尤為突出，躋身本季度 Famous 所有暢銷品牌的前 10 名。我們的 Dr. Schoill's 鞋類產品也取得了類似的成績，男款和女款均實現了兩位數的增長。我還會提到 Naturalizer，它的年度銷售業績令人印象深刻，它增加了我們為 Famous 消費者提供的時尚成分，同時提供了強烈的舒適主張。所有這些改進都表明我們有能力利用對消費者的廣泛了解，在合適的數量和地點提供合適的品牌和款式，以推動高利潤的增量銷售。這還不包括 Famous 著名的核心運動和運動業務。最後，Caleres 繼續投資於 Famous 的消費者體驗，在我們的全渠道中擴大有形的品牌形象。在最近幾個季度，我們對 famousfootwear.com 進行了平台更新，更新了高潛力和高績效的商店，發起了一個新的商店概念，將最好的鞋類品牌和趨勢帶到生活中，並展示了所有增強的視覺資產和專注於家庭的溝通我們顯示在我們的網站上。到目前為止，結果似乎很有希望。本季度我們的數字化業績提高了 2%，我們從新店概念中了解到的早期數據顯示，我們的財務業績有了顯著提升。我們對這些發展感到鼓舞，並期待在年底提供更多更新。總體而言，Famous 在前 9 個月表現強勁，保持了強勁的兩位數營業利潤率，同時凸顯了 Famous 品牌的實力。雖然我們認識到，鑑於通脹壓力不斷上升的威脅，消費者面臨不確定性，但由於 Famous 在家族中的領導地位、其優勢的全國品牌組合、關鍵地區的零售地點，即使在充滿挑戰的市場中，Famous 也處於競爭和獲勝的有利位置我們的團隊提供卓越的服務，並在客戶洞察力的支持下，在商店和網上增強消費者體驗。接下來，我想轉到品牌組合。 Brand Portfolio 在 2022 年第三季度表現出色，在所有關鍵財務指標上實現了又一個同比改善，並使我們在該部門的整體年度收益貢獻方面取得了顯著提升2022 年。這一業績是由強勁的需求和消費者對我們的時尚產品的強烈反應推動的，我們的大多數領先品牌在本季度都呈現出積極的銷售趨勢。這些結果反映了團隊在特定關鍵舉措方面取得的進展，包括提升我們的產品、設計、合身性和相關性，強化我們的品牌定位和信息傳遞，以及通過我們的 Edit to Win 戰略使庫存與需求保持一致，從而更好地發揮更多合適的風格，SKU，數量和尺寸以滿足消費者的需求。雖然您從我們的同行那裡聽說零售商對庫存更加保守，但我們的能力使我們能夠將對 Caleres 的影響降到最低。例如，我們的直運合作夥伴關係繼續支持有意義的銷售成果。我們預計這一趨勢將持續到 2023 年，它是我們如何繼續與消費者建立聯繫、最大化我們的庫存投資並在不確定時期為我們的零售合作夥伴提供靈活性的另一個例子。同樣在本季度，品牌組合在我們品牌擁有的網站銷售方面取得了出色的表現，凸顯了我們品牌的力量和我們改進的數字能力。這包括我們自有電子商務網站的近 22% 的增長，幾乎每個品牌都實現了穩健的同比增長，其中最大的增長來自 Sam Edelman 和 Naturalizer。總體而言，與 2021 年相比，投資組合站點的新客戶增加了 24%。顯然，這些結果表明我們可以如何利用我們強大的品牌、我們的客戶分析以及我們在該領域不斷增長的專業知識，從整個 Caleres 客戶中釋放更多價值文件前進。我現在想強調一些品牌層面的細節，主要關注投資組合的領先品牌。從 Naturalizer 開始，它全年都表現出色，贏得了市場份額並推動了銷售、收益和平均單位零售的改善。第三季度，Naturalizer 的銷售額比 2021 年增長了近 60%，其中包括連衣裙、休閒裝和靴子，尤其是高筒靴。在風格新穎和創新的推動下，平均單位零售量比去年增長了 20%。該品牌對包容性尺碼的關注引起了消費者的共鳴，不僅通過提供更大的尺碼和寬度，還通過在其高筒靴系列中提供寬筒比例。該品牌還在 naturalizer.com 上推出了具有改進功能的高級外觀。新網站強調優雅和實用以及舒適和合身的優勢，並通過真實的產品概念和故事與消費者建立聯繫。結果是，第三季度 naturalizer.com 的銷售額增長了 50% 以上，該網站的新客戶增長了 19%，其中一半以上是年輕消費者群體。 Naturalizer 的表現是我們品牌力量的另一個例子，結合了我們的能力和我們才華橫溢的團隊成員的力量。根據 NPD 的數據，這裡的持續發展使該品牌在第三季度的所有時尚品牌和銷售業績中名列前 12 位。接下來，我們的 Sam Edelman 品牌繼續取得強勁業績，銷售額同比增長 26%。雖然該品牌的批發業績通過引領潮流的款式在所有鞋類類別中都表現強勁，但 samedelman.com 的業務在本季度增長了一倍多。推動這一業績的關鍵是更加關注有抱負的奢侈品消費者，包括所有直郵和以超模娜奧米坎貝爾為主角的全球營銷活動。這些舉措使網絡流量增加了 75%，新消費者增加了 55%，9 月份的數字銷售額創下了新紀錄。顯然，Sam 的勢頭很大。在 Allen Edmonds 旁邊，新品及其知名品牌標誌以及運動鞋和靴子產品與去年相比持續改善，平均單位零售和利潤率更高。產品合作和限量發售活動繼續取悅消費者並推動全價銷售。我們的 Cordovan Trunk Show 是我們有史以來最成功的一次，我們與 Barber 品牌合作推出的獨家款式立即成為暢銷產品。這兩項活動都突出了品牌對真實性和工藝的承諾，這是 Allen Edmonds 品牌的核心。本季度還重新啟動了我們的收藏家忠誠度計劃，使我們能夠加強與最佳客戶的關係。我可以舉出許多其他品牌示例，但總而言之，消費者繼續對符合品牌清晰 DNA 的新穎性和時尚做出反應。我們的品牌組合比以往任何時候都更加多元化、相關性和重點突出，我們的團隊和流程非常靈活，能夠滿足不斷變化的消費者需求。展望整個產品組合，品牌團隊將依靠其強大的產品創造能力，以消費者洞察為基礎，並以我們自己的電子商務業務為基礎，以加快上市速度為催化劑管理庫存，並進一步推進我們的 Edit to Win 計劃，所有這些都是為了釋放未來增長的機會。總體而言，2022 年的進展符合我們的預期。鑑於更具挑戰性的宏觀經濟環境，Caleres 的整個團隊將專注於控制我們能做的事情、管理開支和降低我們的整體債務水平。然而，我們在前 9 個月的強勁執行讓我們可以自信地說，儘管消費者支出和整體經濟存在不確定性，但我們有信心在今年實現創紀錄的每股收益。最後，在 Caleres 的發展過程中，我很高興能在此時擔任首席執行官一職。我們的團隊已經建立了良好的基礎，我對我們的長期盈利前景感到樂觀。此外，我對我們產生大量現金和推動額外股東價值的能力充滿信心。有了這個，我現在將它交給傑克，以更詳細地了解我們的財務狀況。傑克？

Thanks, Jay, and good morning, everyone. I am thrilled to be speaking with you on my first Caleres earnings call. Today, I'll provide additional details on our strong third quarter results, discuss our capital allocation progress and plans and share our improved outlook for full year 2022 financial performance. As a reminder, my comments will be on an adjusted basis and will focus on the comparable period in 2021 with some supplemental comparisons to the third quarter of 2019 where helpful. Please see today's press release for a reconciliation of adjusted results. Sales were $798 million, an increase of 1.8% versus last year. As Diane mentioned, this performance was driven by a 7.6% increase in brand portfolio sales. Famous Footwear sales declined 2.6%, slightly better than expectation and comparable sales were down 0.8%. Gross margin was 42.6%, effectively in line with last year, reflecting a decrease in Famous gross margin, an increase in brand portfolio gross margin and a higher contribution of brand portfolio sales to total company. Famous gross margin was 44.7%, down 290 basis points versus last year. The decline reflects more normalized pricing and increased promotional activity versus last year when inventories were exceptionally low due to supply chain constraints. Notably, gross margin was up 370 basis points versus the third quarter of 2019. Brand Portfolio gross margin was 37.9%, a 490 basis point increase versus last year due to higher wholesale prices, which were up 16% on average, growth in higher margin sales from the direct-to-consumer channel and a favorable brand mix. Gross margin and brand portfolio increased 70 basis points versus the third quarter of 2019. SG&A expense was $283 million or 35.5% of sales. As communicated on our second quarter call, this includes approximately $9 million of higher stock and incentive compensation expense, most of which is a timing shift from Q2. Operating earnings were $57 million and operating margin was 7.1%. Operating margin was 12.3% at Famous and 6.9% at Brand Portfolio. Net interest expense was $4 million, about $900,000 higher than last year, given higher borrowings on our revolving credit facility and a higher borrowing rate given the increase in LIBOR. Diluted earnings per share were $1.15 at the high end of our previous guidance. EBITDA for the trailing 12 months was $299 million or 10.1% of sales. Turning now to the balance sheet and cash flow. We ended the third quarter with approximately $365 million in borrowings on our revolving credit facility and no long-term debt. Inventory at quarter end was $649 million, up 19.5% versus last year and up slightly compared to the third quarter of 2019. On hand and available to sell inventory was up and goods in transit were down materially. Notably, inventory was down 15.8% sequentially. By segment, inventory at Famous was up 17.5% versus last year and down 11.5% versus 2019. At Brand Portfolio, inventory was up 22.6% versus last year and up 14.1% versus 2019. We recognize the importance of maintaining a healthy relationship of inventory to sales and expect continued improvement in inventory levels in Q4. Regarding cash flow from operations, we generated $19 million during the quarter and deployed cash for strategic investments in the business, paying our dividend and buying back shares. In the third quarter, we repurchased 838,000 shares at an average price of $25.72 per share for a total cost of $21.6 million. Including the dividend, we returned $24 million in cash to shareholders in the quarter. Looking ahead, we expect to generate a significant amount of cash flow from operations in the fourth quarter. While we have 6.4 million shares remaining under our current Board authorization, and we'll continue to consider share repurchases based on market conditions, we believe at this time, the best use of free cash flow after maintaining the dividend is to reduce our revolver borrowings and increase overall liquidity. As such, our guidance does not assume additional share repurchases this year. Given our strong performance year-to-date and our current expectations for Q4, we are tightening our fiscal year 2022 earnings outlook to the upper end of our previous guidance range. As such, we now expect full year 2022 diluted earnings per share to be between $4.30 and $4.40. We are reaffirming our previous guidance for full year 2022 sales to be up between 4% and 6% versus 2021. We are providing guidance on several additional metrics as follows. We are planning continued improvement in inventory levels and expect Q4 ending inventory to be up mid-single-digit percent versus last year. Given the recent increases in interest rates and the likelihood of an additional increase from the Fed in December, we expect our interest expense to be about $14 million for the year. Finally, we expect full year capital expenditures of about $55 million. With that, I'll turn the call back to Diane for some closing remarks.

謝謝，傑伊，大家早上好。我很高興能在我的第一次 Caleres 財報電話會議上與您交談。今天，我將提供有關我們強勁的第三季度業績的更多詳細信息，討論我們的資本配置進展和計劃，並分享我們對 2022 年全年財務業績的改進展望。提醒一下，我的評論將在調整後的基礎上進行，並將重點放在 2021 年的可比時期，並在有幫助的情況下與 2019 年第三季度進行一些補充比較。請參閱今天的新聞稿，了解調整後的結果。銷售額為 7.98 億美元，比去年增長 1.8%。正如黛安所說，這一業績是由品牌組合銷售額增長 7.6% 推動的。 Famous Footwear 銷售額下降 2.6%，略好於預期，可比銷售額下降 0.8%。毛利率為 42.6%，與去年基本持平，反映出 Famous 毛利率下降、品牌組合毛利率上升以及品牌組合銷售額對公司整體的貢獻增加。名品毛利率為44.7%，較去年下降290個基點。與去年相比，由於供應鏈限制，庫存異常低，這一下降反映了更正常的定價和更多的促銷活動。值得注意的是，與 2019 年第三季度相比，毛利率上升了 370 個基點。品牌組合毛利率為 37.9%，比去年增長 490 個基點，原因是批發價格上漲，平均上漲 16%，利潤率增長較高來自直接面向消費者的渠道的銷售和有利的品牌組合。與 2019 年第三季度相比，毛利率和品牌組合增長了 70 個基點。SG&A 費用為 2.83 億美元，佔銷售額的 35.5%。正如我們在第二季度電話會議上所傳達的那樣，這包括大約 900 萬美元的更高股票和激勵補償費用，其中大部分是從第二季度開始的時間轉移。營業收入為 5700 萬美元，營業利潤率為 7.1%。 Famous 的營業利潤率為 12.3%，Brand Portfolio 的營業利潤率為 6.9%。淨利息支出為 400 萬美元，比去年高出約 900,000 美元，原因是我們的循環信貸額度的借款增加以及 LIBOR 增加導致借款利率上升。稀釋後每股收益為 1.15 美元，處於我們先前指引的上限。過去 12 個月的 EBITDA 為 2.99 億美元，佔銷售額的 10.1%。現在轉向資產負債表和現金流量。第三季度末，我們的循環信貸額度借款約為 3.65 億美元，沒有長期債務。季度末庫存為 6.49 億美元，與去年同期相比增長 19.5%，與 2019 年第三季度相比略有上升。現有和可供出售的庫存增加，而在途貨物大幅下降。值得注意的是，庫存環比下降了 15.8%。按細分市場劃分，Famous 的庫存比去年增長 17.5%，比 2019 年下降 11.5%。Brand Portfolio 的庫存比去年增長 22.6%，比 2019 年增長 14.1%。我們認識到保持健康的庫存關係的重要性銷售，並預計第四季度庫存水平將繼續改善。關於運營現金流，我們在本季度產生了 1900 萬美元，並將現金用於業務戰略投資、支付股息和回購股票。第三季度，我們以每股 25.72 美元的平均價格回購了 838,000 股股票，總成本為 2160 萬美元。包括股息在內，我們在本季度向股東返還了 2400 萬美元現金。展望未來，我們預計第四季度將從運營中產生大量現金流。雖然我們目前的董事會授權還剩下 640 萬股，我們將繼續根據市場情況考慮股票回購，但我們認為目前，維持股息後自由現金流的最佳用途是減少我們的循環借款並增加整體流動性。因此，我們的指引不假設今年會進行額外的股票回購。鑑於我們年初至今的強勁表現和我們目前對第四季度的預期，我們將 2022 財年的盈利前景收緊至我們之前指導範圍的上限。因此，我們現在預計 2022 年全年攤薄後每股收益將在 4.30 美元至 4.40 美元之間。我們重申我們之前對 2022 年全年銷售額的指導，與 2021 年相比增長 4% 至 6%。我們提供以下幾個額外指標的指導。我們計劃繼續改善庫存水平，並預計第四季度末庫存將比去年同期增長中個位數百分比。鑑於近期利率上升以及美聯儲 12 月進一步加息的可能性，我們預計今年的利息支出約為 1400 萬美元。最後，我們預計全年資本支出約為 5500 萬美元。有了這個，我會把電話轉回給黛安，讓她做一些結束語。

Thanks, Jack. And as you can see, we are extremely encouraged by our results year-to-date and even with the uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment, we're very confident we'll close the year in a record-setting manner. Going forward, our portfolio is strong, our teams are aligned, and we still have plenty of runway for growth, so we're poised to generate significant value for all of our stakeholders. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to the operator for some questions and answers. Operator?

謝謝，傑克。正如您所看到的，我們對年初至今的業績感到非常鼓舞，即使在宏觀經濟環境存在不確定性的情況下，我們也非常有信心以創紀錄的方式結束這一年。展望未來，我們的產品組合很強大，我們的團隊是一致的，而且我們仍然有足夠的增長空間，因此我們準備為所有利益相關者創造巨大的價值。有了這個，我想把電話轉給接線員詢問一些問題和答案。操作員？

Thank you. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star 2 if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star key. Our first question comes from the line of Steve Marotta with CL King & Associates. Please proceed with your question.

謝謝你。如果您想提問，請按電話鍵盤上的星號 1。確認音將表明您的線路在問題隊列中。如果您想從隊列中刪除您的問題，可以按星號 2。對於使用揚聲器設備的與會者，可能需要在按星號鍵之前拿起聽筒。我們的第一個問題來自 CL King & Associates 的 Steve Marotta。請繼續你的問題。

Good morning, Diane, Jay, Jack and Logan. Diane, congratulations again on a just incredible career and an incredible run at Caleres. You're going to be very missed I'm sure, on the calls.

早上好，黛安、傑伊、傑克和洛根。黛安，再次祝賀你在卡萊雷斯取得了令人難以置信的職業生涯和令人難以置信的表現。我敢肯定，你會非常想念電話。

Thank you, Steve. I really appreciate that.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。我非常感謝。

And Jay, of course, welcome again.

傑伊，當然，再次歡迎。

Thank you.

謝謝你。

Can you talk a little bit about November to date and if it's differed at all from the rate of sales in the third quarter at both Branded Portfolio and Famous?

你能談談 11 月至今的情況嗎，它是否與品牌組合和著名品牌第三季度的銷售率完全不同？

Yes, sure. Let me start and I'll kick the ball around a little bit this morning with both Jay and Jack. But on this one, as it relates to our Brand Portfolio business, quite honestly, our trends going into the fourth quarter have continued to be as good, if not better, than what we saw in the third quarter. So we're feeling very good about how that is looking for the fourth quarter. As it relates to the Famous side of the business, as you've heard from many folks, that certainly, the customers have been a bit under stress. There was some weather-related issues out there and sentiment has been a little off. So Steve, we're trying to be super thoughtful in our guidance given both the strength of BP and a little softer on the Famous side, how did we put those pieces together to really guide very smartly for the fourth quarter? So Jack, maybe you could just talk a little bit about what the assumptions are around that? I think that's probably the most helpful way to share our thinking.

是的，當然。讓我開始吧，今天早上我會和 Jay 和 Jack 談一談。但在這一點上，因為它與我們的品牌組合業務相關，老實說，我們進入第四季度的趨勢與我們在第三季度看到的情況一樣好，甚至更好。因此，我們對第四季度的情況感覺非常好。正如您從許多人那裡聽到的那樣，這與業務的著名方面有關，當然，客戶有點壓力。那裡有一些與天氣有關的問題，情緒有點低落。所以史蒂夫，考慮到 BP 的實力和 Famous 方面的軟弱程度，我們正在努力在我們的指導中考慮周全，我們如何將這些部分放在一起以真正巧妙地指導第四季度？所以傑克，也許你可以談談圍繞它的假設是什麼？我認為這可能是分享我們想法的最有幫助的方式。

Sure. Thanks, Diane. Hi, Steve. So really at the low end of our guidance at the $430 million, we would assume that famous comparable sales could be down as much as low double digits. Then at the high end, Famous would be down sort of mid-single digits on comparable sales. What I would say is where we are quarter-to-date, is kind of in between those 2 numbers. So I feel really comfortable with the range we've given, both to protect on the downside and then think of some upside opportunity as well.

當然。謝謝，黛安。嗨，史蒂夫。因此，實際上在我們 4.3 億美元指導的低端，我們假設著名的可比銷售額可能下降低至兩位數。然後在高端，Famous 的可比銷售額將下降到中個位數。我要說的是我們本季度迄今的情況，介於這兩個數字之間。所以我對我們給出的範圍感到非常滿意，既要保護下行，又要考慮一些上行機會。

Yes. Then reiterating that brand portfolio, we feel very good about the current trends on that, and they seem to be continuing.

是的。然後重申該品牌組合，我們對當前的趨勢感到非常滿意，而且它們似乎還在繼續。

That's right.

這是正確的。

Is that helpful. Steve?

有幫助嗎。史蒂夫？

Yes. Absolutely, 100%. Then I think I asked this on the last call as well, and I know you don't specifically provide order book information, but as we look out through the first half of 2023, can you talk a little bit about what you're seeing? Maybe how much drop ship has increased as a percent of sales during the quarter, so that maybe the initial order book is not completely reflective of what is ultimately sold during the quarter? Maybe provide a little bit of, it might be a scale of 2 halves next year.

是的。絕對是，100%。然後我想我在上次電話會議上也問過這個問題，我知道你沒有具體提供訂單簿信息，但是當我們展望 2023 年上半年時，你能談談你所看到的嗎？也許在本季度內，drop ship 增加了多少佔銷售額的百分比，因此最初的訂單可能不能完全反映本季度最終售出的產品？也許提供一點，明年可能是減半的規模。

Yes. That great question, and I'll let Jay talk a little bit about the order book and drop ship because that's really, the drop ship business has been, we were early adopters, I think, in that, and that's continued to be a real advantage for us. Particularly in the, I would say, the last 6 months, Jay, wouldn't you?

是的。這是一個很好的問題，我會讓 Jay 談談訂單簿和直接發貨，因為這確實是，直接發貨業務一直是，我認為我們是早期採用者，並且這仍然是一個真實的對我們有利。尤其是在過去的 6 個月裡，Jay，不是嗎？

Yes. It really provides a lot of flexibility and really a way to maximize our inventory going directly to the consumers. I would say 2 things. Number one, the drop ship business has continued to grow high double digits during the quarter. We're seeing that to be around 20% of our business. So again, it's supplemental to the total, but still very, very important, significant to the Brand Portfolios business. The other thing is that our order book is actually really in line with where we've been going into the quarters as we go through with so much of it being dynamic now with our drop ship and our replenishment business that we're really seeing more of that come through that way. So we feel pretty confident in our order book as we go into spring right now.

是的。它確實提供了很大的靈活性，並且確實是一種最大限度地提高我們直接提供給消費者的庫存的方法。我會說兩件事。第一，直運業務在本季度繼續保持兩位數的高增長。我們看到這大約占我們業務的 20%。同樣，它是對整體的補充，但對品牌組合業務仍然非常非常重要。另一件事是，我們的訂單實際上與我們進入季度的情況一致，因為我們經歷了這麼多，現在我們的直運和補貨業務是動態的，我們真的看到了更多那是通過那種方式來的。因此，在我們進入春季時，我們對我們的訂單非常有信心。

Jay, when you say in line, I just want to understand that, is that roughly flat with last year?

傑，當你說排隊的時候，我只是想了解一下，這與去年大致持平嗎？

Where it is, is we actually, it's in the same percentage of where we've gone into each quarter. So it allows us to really capture the rest of it into there. So yes, it's been in line with, I would say, historical new normal quarters. I think 2022 was a funny year, and it was a little lopsided as we went quarter-to-quarter, but this really reflects where we've been in the third and fourth quarter. So we feel quite confident that.

它在哪裡，我們實際上是在我們進入每個季度的地方的相同百分比。因此，它使我們能夠真正將其餘部分捕獲到那裡。所以是的，我想說，它符合歷史新常態。我認為 2022 年是有趣的一年，當我們按季度進行時有點不平衡，但這確實反映了我們在第三和第四季度的情況。所以我們對此很有信心。

It has evolved, right? We used to look at order book only. We've got to look at the drop ship capabilities. We look at our own direct-to-consumer businesses. So it's a mix. All of that is very much in line now with what our outlook looks like. So feeling pretty positive about that. I think, Steve, the other thing on that point is we really did have the inventory on the brand portfolio this fall, which really helps accelerate our business. When you have a good business going into the next season, that is very helpful as well. So you know how that all works.

它進化了，對吧？我們過去只看訂單。我們必須看看直降船的能力。我們著眼於我們自己的直接面向消費者的業務。所以這是一個混合。現在所有這些都非常符合我們的前景。所以對此感覺非常積極。我認為，史蒂夫，關於這一點的另一件事是，今年秋天我們確實擁有品牌組合的庫存，這確實有助於加速我們的業務。當您在下一季有好生意時，這也非常有幫助。所以你知道這一切是如何運作的。

Sure, sure, sure. Excellent. One more question. As it pertains to cost and pricing, can you talk a little bit about what is going on in the first half of 2023? Is there the potential actually for sourcing deflation in the second half of 2023 compared to the second half of 2022?

當然，當然，當然。出色的。還有一個問題。關於成本和定價，您能談談 2023 年上半年的情況嗎？與 2022 年下半年相比，2023 年下半年是否真的有可能出現通貨緊縮？

Well, I think I'll start, and Jay can add some color to it. I think we're thrilled with the price elasticity that our brands showed really all through 2022. That price increase of 16% that really stuck on the Brand Portfolio was fantastic. I think our priority, for sure, there may be some deflation in the input costs, but there's also really going to be additional ocean freight savings and other opportunities. So Steve, I think both Jay and Jack would certainly support this point that our focus is absolutely on continuing to hold and maintain these margins going forward. So while we're going to do everything, there will be some tailwinds, there will be some headwinds. All in, our goal is to continue to deliver higher gross margin levels.

好吧，我想我會開始，Jay 可以為它添加一些顏色。我認為我們對我們的品牌在整個 2022 年真正表現出的價格彈性感到非常興奮。真正停留在品牌組合上的 16% 的價格上漲真是太棒了。我認為我們的首要任務，當然，投入成本可能會有所下降，但也確實會節省更多的海運費和其他機會。所以史蒂夫，我認為傑伊和傑克肯定會支持這一點，即我們的重點絕對是繼續保持和維持這些利潤率。因此，當我們要做所有事情時，會有一些順風，也會有一些逆風。總之，我們的目標是繼續提供更高的毛利率水平。

Yes. I would say absolutely. Then the other thing is we'll continue to attack that with speed all the way through the reorder system, and I think that will help us pick up additional scale and savings as we go forward as the supply chain really returns back to what we've seen as more normal lead time levels.

是的。我會說絕對。然後另一件事是我們將繼續通過重新訂購系統一直快速攻擊它，我認為這將幫助我們在前進的過程中獲得額外的規模和節省，因為供應鏈真正恢復到我們的狀態已經看到更正常的交貨時間水平。

That's terrific. Thank you very much.

真了不起。非常感謝你。

Thanks, Steve. Appreciate it.

謝謝，史蒂夫。欣賞它。

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Abigail Zvejnieks with Piper Sandler. Please proceed with your question.

謝謝你。我們的下一個問題來自 Abigail Zvejnieks 與 Piper Sandler 的對話。請繼續你的問題。

Good morning. Thanks so much for taking my question. I just wanted to ask about the inventory moving through to only being up around mid-single digits by the end of the year. It's really impressive. So can you just talk about your strategy on how you're going to move through that inventory, both at Famous and the Brand Portfolio? How are you thinking about promotions at the Brand Portfolio? Are you concentrating those more in your DTC channels versus letting them flow to some of the wholesale partners? On just balancing newness in this product creation that you're talking about to drive demand versus moving through that excess inventory. Thank you.

早上好。非常感謝您提出我的問題。我只是想問問庫存是否會在年底前僅上升到中個位數左右。真是令人印象深刻。那麼，您能否談談您將如何處理 Famous 和 Brand Portfolio 庫存的策略？您如何考慮 Brand Portfolio 的促銷活動？您是否將這些更多地集中在您的 DTC 渠道中，而不是讓它們流向一些批發合作夥伴？只是平衡您正在談論的這種產品創造的新穎性以推動需求與移動過剩庫存。謝謝你。

Yes. So I'll start, Abi, you had a lot of questions. If I don't unpack them in the right way, let us know and we'll certainly add some more color to it. I think our inventory position, we feel will just talk about the Famous Footwear side, I think we're in a terrific position at Famous. As we got some new goods in during the course of the quarter, we actually did see some acceleration in those pockets of in-demand kind of styles that Famous had. We have got plenty of room and have within our guidance to make sure we maintain our competitive position in the marketplace in the fourth quarter of this year. So I feel like, again, through all of our guidance and what we've planned that we don't really see any issue. We want to make sure that we go into the first quarter of next year in a really clean position. In fact, I think, Jay, we saw that almost 60% of our inventory is really new in this quarter. So we're really hoping that newness is going to really motivate the consumer to buy. So we believe we have it pretty well covered there. On the Brand Portfolio side, again, we all know that in the second quarter, our inventories increased as all of the pandemic issues collided and some things came early and some came late. As we've gone through the back half of this year, we have really not been focused on promotion or liquidation at all. It's been fundamentally full price selling because we frankly did not have the inventory. Last year, we were down, I think, at retail somewhere on average about 30% on our inventory levels in Brand Portfolio last year. So the fact that we have some inventories is terrific, and we're planning on ending the year as Jack mentioned, in a good spot. So while it was lumpy through the year here and there, but of course, where wasn't it? As we end this year going into next year, I believe we have tons of opportunity to chase and to manage the business in whatever this new normal kind of looks like.

是的。那麼我要開始了，Abi，你有很多問題。如果我沒有以正確的方式打開它們，請告訴我們，我們一定會為其添加更多顏色。我認為我們的庫存狀況，我們覺得只會談論 Famous Footwear 方面，我認為我們在 Famous 的位置非常好。當我們在本季度推出一些新商品時，我們確實看到 Famous 擁有的那些按需款式的口袋出現了一些加速。我們有足夠的空間並在我們的指導範圍內確保我們在今年第四季度保持我們在市場上的競爭地位。所以我覺得，再一次，通過我們所有的指導和我們的計劃，我們沒有真正看到任何問題。我們希望確保我們以非常乾淨的狀態進入明年第一季度。事實上，我認為，Jay，我們看到本季度幾乎 60% 的庫存確實是新的。所以我們真的希望新鮮感能夠真正激勵消費者購買。所以我們相信我們已經很好地涵蓋了它。在品牌組合方面，我們再次知道，在第二季度，隨著所有大流行問題的碰撞，我們的庫存增加了，有些事情來得早，有些來得晚。今年下半年，我們真的根本沒有專注於促銷或清算。這基本上是全價銷售，因為坦率地說我們沒有庫存。去年，我認為，我們在零售方面的平均水平比去年品牌組合的庫存水平下降了 30%。因此，我們有一些庫存這一事實非常棒，而且我們正計劃像傑克提到的那樣在一個好地方結束這一年。因此，雖然這一年到處都是坎坷的，但當然，哪裡不是呢？隨著今年年底進入明年，我相信我們有大量機會以這種新常態的形式追逐和管理業務。

Yes. I'd just add is that in Brand Portfolio, we really saw it come in early. So we really ended the third quarter exactly where we thought we would with inventory, and we see the fourth quarter coming into that same place. Also, we don't have to front-load anymore because of the supply chain normalizing. So we're going to see it return to a much more manageable type of business with better turns as we go forward. The fall is really exactly what we said. It came in early, and it's really being driven down. Fortunately, it's in the right style that the consumer is demanding.

是的。我只想補充一點，在 Brand Portfolio 中，我們確實看到它很早就出現了。因此，我們確實在第三季度結束時與我們預期的庫存完全一致，我們看到第四季度進入了同一個地方。此外，由於供應鏈正常化，我們不必再進行前期加載。因此，隨著我們的前進，我們將看到它回歸到一種更易於管理的業務類型，並有更好的轉機。秋天確實如我們所說。它來得早，而且真的被壓低了。幸運的是，它的風格正是消費者所要求的。

That's super helpful. Thank you so much.

這非常有幫助。太感謝了。

Thanks, Abi.

謝謝，阿比。

Our next question comes from the line of Laura Champine with Loop Capital Markets. Please proceed with your question.

我們的下一個問題來自 Loop Capital Markets 的 Laura Champine。請繼續你的問題。

Thanks for taking my question. Congratulations to Diane, and welcome again, Jay and Jack. I really just have one question, and it's about when Famous Footwear can be expected to turn that comp positive again? I guess, embedded in that question, is what's going on from an AUR perspective, whether for better or for worse right now in this current period?

感謝您提出我的問題。祝賀黛安，再次歡迎杰伊和傑克。我真的只有一個問題，那就是關於 Famous Footwear 何時有望再次轉正？我想，從 AUR 的角度來看，在這個問題中嵌入的是正在發生的事情，在當前時期是好是壞？

I'll start with the end. Right now, for the third quarter, our AURs were actually slightly up in Famous Footwear for the quarter. So that actually reflects, I would say, good solid demand and health to it. We really saw athletic come down in the third quarter, and we saw nonathletic increase at the same time. So, as we look to move that more to an even balance, I think we're going forward for that for 2023. I think we're still going through in the fourth quarter and really trying. Our forecast really reflects any risk that's out there. I think we'll see that moving into 2023.

我將從結尾開始。現在，對於第三季度，我們的 AUR 實際上在本季度的 Famous Footwear 中略有上升。因此，我想說，這實際上反映了良好的穩健需求和健康狀況。我們確實看到第三節運動能力下降，同時我們看到非運動能力增加。因此，當我們希望進一步實現平衡時，我認為我們將在 2023 年實現這一目標。我認為我們仍在第四季度經歷並且真的在努力。我們的預測確實反映了存在的任何風險。我認為我們會看到這種情況進入 2023 年。

So Laura, I'd add maybe a couple of things, Jay, as well on this topic. If you look at the quarter, right, we were down just 1% on a comparable store basis, which really was not bad in this overall environment. Particularly as you think about the athletic business, which is 60% of our business in the quarter, as a category in the total market was down in the high single digits. We think as the consumer continues to move and a better balance when they start buying athletic in a little more robust way. As Jay and the team continue to build out the other nonathletic and fashion side. So we're balancing the categories within the store. In Famous, we think that actually is going to truly help and lift that comp from down one to what we expect in 2023 to be in a more positive place. So a lot of it is category driven. As we drive the fashion side a little bit stronger in Famous, that will really help, I think that's a big strategic shift for everybody and kids. That's going to allow us to change the momentum.

勞拉，我想補充幾件事，傑伊，以及關於這個話題。如果你看一下這個季度，對吧，我們在可比商店的基礎上只下降了 1%，這在整體環境下確實不錯。特別是當你想到體育業務時，它占我們本季度業務的 60%，作為整個市場中的一個類別，下降了高個位數。我們認為，當消費者開始以更強勁的方式購買運動服時，他們會繼續移動並取得更好的平衡。隨著 Jay 和團隊繼續打造非運動和時尚的另一面。所以我們正在平衡商店內的類別。在 Famous 中，我們認為這實際上將真正幫助並提升該組合，使其從下降到我們期望在 2023 年處於更積極的位置。所以很多都是類別驅動的。當我們在 Famous 中推動時尚方面變得更強大時，這真的會有所幫助，我認為這對每個人和孩子來說都是一個重大的戰略轉變。這將使我們能夠改變勢頭。

And get more inventory.

並獲得更多庫存。

Yes, and get more inventory in those categories. Does that help?

是的，並在這些類別中獲得更多庫存。這有幫助嗎？

It does. Thank you guys.

確實如此。感謝你們。

All right. Thank you, Laura.

好的。謝謝你，勞拉。

Our next question comes from the line of Mitch Kummetz with Seaport Research Partners. Please proceed with your questions.

我們的下一個問題來自 Mitch Kummetz 與 Seaport Research Partners 的合作。請繼續回答您的問題。

Thanks for taking my questions and Diane, best of luck to you in your new role. I've got a few questions. I want to start on the Famous side. So the range of guidance in the fourth quarter, obviously, that's below what you delivered in Q3. I'm just trying to better understand that. How much of that is that the macro seems worse than what it was in the third quarter versus maybe the kids business is maybe a little worse? Given that we're post back-to-school, and I'm wondering maybe how boots are influencing kind of the trend that you're seeing right now? Just maybe given a kind of a warm start to the season, although better weather in the last weeks, can you maybe unpack some of that in terms of kind of how you're looking at the current trend in that business and the guide for the quarter?

感謝您提出我的問題，Diane，祝您在新職位上好運。我有幾個問題。我想從著名的一面開始。因此，第四季度的指導範圍顯然低於您在第三季度提供的指導範圍。我只是想更好地理解這一點。其中有多少是宏觀經濟似乎比第三季度更糟糕，而兒童業務可能更糟？考慮到我們已經開學了，我想知道靴子是如何影響你現在看到的那種趨勢的？也許只是給這個季節一個溫暖的開始，雖然最後幾週天氣更好，但你能否根據你如何看待該業務的當前趨勢和指南來解開其中的一些內容四分之一？

Maybe I'll just start, Mitch, and give you a little perspective. The recently, obviously, because of the seasonality of everything and with the weather being a little more challenging, late October into early November, as that's changed, those categories that are more seasonally influenced, not only at Famous, but everywhere has shown really good rebound. So as you would expect, that's very much what our performance looks like. I think the other thing is that there is a tremendous amount of shifting going on in the macro environment that we wanted to make sure that we really had and the right kind of room in the fourth quarter to make sure that we deliver the earnings per share that we laid out there and gave Famous plenty of room and the company to make sure that we could do that and go into 2023 in a way that we felt was really teeing up and continuing to support the momentum. So Jay and Jack, I'm happy to have you add any other comments.

也許我會開始，米奇，給你一點看法。最近，很明顯，由於所有事物的季節性和天氣更具挑戰性，從 10 月下旬到 11 月初，隨著情況的變化，那些受季節性影響更大的類別，不僅在 Famous，而且在所有地方都表現得非常好反彈。所以正如您所期望的那樣，這就是我們的表現。我認為另一件事是，宏觀環境正在發生巨大的變化，我們希望確保我們在第四季度確實擁有合適的空間，以確保我們實現每股收益我們在那里布局並為 Famous 提供了充足的空間和公司，以確保我們能夠做到這一點，並以我們認為真正準備就緒並繼續支持這一勢頭的方式進入 2023 年。 Jay 和 Jack，很高興你們能發表任何其他意見。

I'll just add, we did see boots off to a strong start in September at Famous. Then as it got warmer, it cooled off a little bit, the trend and then going into November, it started to pick up again. So we're feeling good about that piece of it with the fashion part of the boot business being the strongest right now.

我只想補充一點，我們確實看到 9 月份在 Famous 有一個強勁的開端。然後隨著天氣變暖，它稍微冷卻了一點，然後進入 11 月，它又開始回升。所以我們對這部分感覺很好，靴子業務的時尚部分現在是最強大的。

Yes. I would just add that I think the results we've seen quarter-to-date on Famous are pretty consistent with what we've seen in the industry. Just a reminder, which is just probably different from a lot of others, is that Q4 is our smallest quarter. So less material on the full year than I think some of our other players in the industry.

是的。我只想補充一點，我認為我們在 Famous 上看到的季度至今的結果與我們在行業中看到的結果非常一致。提醒一下，這可能與其他許多不同，第四季度是我們最小的季度。與我認為我們業內其他一些參與者相比，全年的材料更少。

Then just a follow-up on boots. Can you just remind me, if I recall correctly, last year, December was particularly warm. I don't know if that was a negative on your boot business last year, plus I think there were a lot of late deliveries. So just as you look at that comparison, as you kind of see the quarter playing out, how much of an opportunity is there on boots over the balance of the quarter? Even on the BP side, just in terms of maybe replenishment, can you kind of walk me through that?

然後只是靴子的跟進。你能不能提醒我一下，如果我沒記錯的話，去年十二月特別暖和。我不知道這是否對您去年的靴子業務造成負面影響，而且我認為有很多延遲交貨。所以就像你看這個比較一樣，就像你看到這個季度結束一樣，在本季度的剩餘時間裡，靴子有多少機會？即使在 BP 方面，就可能補給而言，你能幫我介紹一下嗎？

Yes. Well, on a BP side, I'll start at that piece. Our boots are really a significant portion of our business, up to 30% across the portfolio, and we do see more opportunity. Our inventories really were very out of line last year, and so we really didn't have the boot inventory. We're in good place there now. So we do see some nice sell-throughs coming through as we go into fourth quarter in that piece of it. Even with Famous boots in Q3, we're actually up a little bit on the quarter, and we do feel like we have more opportunity there as we go in, particularly on the fashion part of the boot business, which seems to be the best part right now.

是的。好吧，在英國石油公司方面，我將從那篇文章開始。我們的靴子確實是我們業務的重要組成部分，佔整個產品組合的 30%，我們確實看到了更多機會。去年我們的庫存確實非常不正常，所以我們真的沒有靴子庫存。我們現在在那裡的位置很好。因此，當我們進入第四季度時，我們確實看到了一些不錯的銷售。即使在第三季度有 Famous 靴子，我們實際上在本季度有所上升，我們確實覺得我們在進入時有更多機會，特別是在靴子業務的時尚部分，這似乎是最好的現在分手。

Then, Jack, just aagain on Q4, just maybe I haven't kind of had the chance to sort of back into the margins for the quarter, but can you just talk about some of the puts and takes that you're thinking about Q4? Especially on kind of the merch margin side and kind of how you're anticipating promotions.

然後，傑克，再一次在第四季度，也許我還沒有機會回到本季度的利潤率，但你能談談你正在考慮的第四季度的一些看跌期權和看跌期權嗎？ ？特別是在商品利潤方面以及您對促銷活動的預期方式方面。

Yes. Well, I think we're expecting an increased level of promotional activity, certainly versus last year. Mitch, I think there's a couple of factors there. One is we know that inventories in the industry are higher. We know that the consumer wallet is a bit more stretched than it was last year. I think those 2 factors are inclining us to think that this is going to be a more promotional period. We also have versus last year, we had very little inventory last year because of some of the supply chain constraints. So for those reasons, we're expecting, I think, to get to a more normalized level of pricing and promotional activity in the quarter, and that's factored into our guidance.

是的。好吧，我認為我們預計促銷活動的水平會有所提高，當然與去年相比。米奇，我認為有幾個因素。一是我們知道該行業的庫存較高。我們知道消費者的錢包比去年更加緊張。我認為這兩個因素使我們傾向於認為這將是一個更具促銷性的時期。與去年相比，由於供應鏈的一些限制，我們去年的庫存很少。因此，出於這些原因，我認為我們預計本季度的定價和促銷活動將達到更正常的水平，這已納入我們的指導方針。

I guess final question, just on the famous margins. You mentioned that the gross margin there is up 370 bps from Q3 2019. Maybe remind us some of the structural changes to the business that has allowed you to deliver that level of profitability and how sustainable you feel like those changes are?

我想最後一個問題，就在著名的邊緣。你提到那裡的毛利率比 2019 年第三季度上升了 370 個基點。也許提醒我們業務的一些結構性變化使你能夠實現這種盈利水平，以及你認為這些變化的可持續性如何？

Well, let me start on that, Mitch, on some of the structural changes that I can really actually speak to it from a total company perspective. There's a couple of probably most the biggest significant areas would be really in the margin rate assumptions across the company, both for Famous and for Brand Portfolio, we really believe that we are going to be able not to maintain things at the high level as the same as in 2021, but somewhere between historical and those 2021 levels, which you're even seeing us do a little bit better than that today. So that's one element. The Brand Portfolio, again, the margin improvement that we're seeing now is getting much higher to the high 30s, let's hold 40 at some point in time. But that structural change has happened. So the whole margin profile of the company because of how we've been able to price the edits we've done, a whole lot of other host of other things have really changed that. The second thing was we exited brands and we exited stores. That structural cost came out of our P&Ls as well. Interest expense was a bit different. Share buyback, depreciation and amortization has been a big factor of it as well. and then even corporate payroll. So when we look at all those pieces and add them up and we take a certain percentage, we don't assume it's all going to be better. It's very, very clear to see that the materiality of that is going to be significant for us going forward. With the most important, we look at this management of SG&A and expense on a day-to-day basis. We took $100 million out a couple of years ago. We continuously look at that to make sure that we're reallocating that spend in the right way. The real one is going to be those margin rates, and that's going to be critical. That's where, I would say, 80% of our focus is on making sure that continues to be where it is today or better as we go forward. I think that's what I'd say with respect to the structure for the entire enterprise. Is that helpful for you?

好吧，米奇，讓我開始談談我可以從整個公司的角度真正談論的一些結構性變化。對於 Famous 和 Brand Portfolio，在整個公司的利潤率假設中，有幾個可能是最重要的領域，我們真的相信我們將無法將事情維持在高水平，因為與 2021 年相同，但介於歷史水平和 2021 年水平之間，您甚至可以看到我們的表現比今天好一點。這是一個要素。品牌組合，我們現在看到的利潤率提高越來越高，達到 30 多歲，讓我們在某個時間點保持 40 分。但這種結構性變化已經發生。因此，由於我們能夠為所做的編輯定價，因此公司的整個利潤率狀況以及其他許多其他事情確實改變了這一點。第二件事是我們退出品牌和商店。這種結構性成本也來自我們的損益表。利息支出有點不同。股票回購、折舊和攤銷也是其中的一個重要因素。然後甚至是公司工資單。因此，當我們查看所有這些部分並將它們加起來並佔一定比例時，我們不會假設一切都會變得更好。非常非常清楚地看到，它的重要性對我們的未來發展具有重要意義。最重要的是，我們每天都會查看 SG&A 和費用的管理。幾年前我們拿出了 1 億美元。我們不斷關注這一點，以確保我們以正確的方式重新分配支出。真正的將是那些保證金率，這將是至關重要的。我想說的是，我們 80% 的重點都放在確保在我們前進的過程中繼續保持今天或更好的狀態。我想這就是我要說的關於整個企業結構的內容。這對你有幫助嗎？

It is and good luck for holiday.

這是假期的好運。

Thank you. Mitch.

謝謝你。米奇。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, our final question comes from the line of Dana Telsey with Telsey Advisory Group.

謝謝你。女士們，先生們，我們的最後一個問題來自 Dana Telsey 與 Telsey Advisory Group 的合作。

Good morning everyone. Congratulations, Diane, and hello, Jay, Jack and Logan.

大家，早安。祝賀你，Diane，你好，Jay、Jack 和 Logan。

Thank you, Dana.

謝謝你，丹娜。

Thank you. So just current trends we've been hearing about end of October into November, can you frame how it's looking for you guys with Famous and the Brand Portfolio? Next up, the path of the brand portfolio is very impressive, both in terms of margins, sales increases and how it combines and interacts with Famous Footwear. With that path of operating margins of the brand portfolio improving, what do you see as the long-term opportunity in terms of that margin? The stickiness of the Famous Footwear operating margin now in that double-digit range with the promotional environment, anything in terms of how you're managing pricing and promotion that maintains that stickiness? Or is the benefits from supply chain reduction can it offset some of the promotional headwinds that may arise. Thank you.

謝謝你。那麼就目前我們聽到的關於 10 月底到 11 月的趨勢，您能否描述一下 Famous 和 Brand Portfolio 對你們的影響？接下來，品牌組合的路徑非常令人印象深刻，無論是在利潤率、銷售額增長方面，還是在與 Famous Footwear 的結合和互動方面。隨著品牌組合營業利潤率的提高，您認為該利潤率的長期機會是什麼？ Famous Footwear 營業利潤率的粘性現在在促銷環境中處於兩位數的範圍內，在您如何管理保持這種粘性的定價和促銷方面有什麼？或者，供應鏈減少帶來的好處是否可以抵消一些可能出現的促銷不利因素。謝謝你。

Well, let me start, Dana, on a couple of those things. I think as the short answer on is the sustainability of this on the operating margin side is yes. We absolutely believe there's enough stickiness with the structural changes that we've made, the way that we're approaching the business, the product creation capabilities we have and our focus on margin, as I just said, is absolutely going to allow us to continue to make progress against that. I know Jay and Jack, as we move into 2023, we'll certainly be sharing more with you about that and we are really planning to do an Investor Day sometime in the first half of 2023, where we share a little bit more about their outlook for the next couple of years. So I think more to come on that, but the short answer is yes. We absolutely believe that we can. Then secondly, Jay, I spoke about it earlier, but maybe on the trends that we're seeing. Then maybe Jack can close it out on reiterating kind of what are some of our assumptions were.

好吧，Dana，讓我開始談其中的一些事情。我認為簡短的回答是，這在營業利潤率方面的可持續性是肯定的。我們絕對相信，正如我剛才所說，我們所做的結構性變化、我們開展業務的方式、我們擁有的產品創造能力以及我們對利潤率的關注絕對會讓我們有足夠的粘性繼續在這方面取得進展。我認識 Jay 和 Jack，隨著我們進入 2023 年，我們肯定會與你們分享更多這方面的信息，我們真的計劃在 2023 年上半年的某個時候舉辦一個投資者日，在那裡我們會分享更多關於他們的信息未來幾年的展望。所以我想更多，但簡短的回答是肯定的。我們絕對相信我們可以。其次，傑伊，我之前談到過它，但也許是關於我們所看到的趨勢。然後也許 Jack 可以通過重申我們的一些假設來結束它。

Well, we're certainly seeing on the nonathletic side of the business, we're seeing multiple categories open up. In terms of loafers and flats are very, very good right now. Again, anything that feels comfortable really trending nicely as consumers continue to select new things to add to their wardrobes. Our boot business on the Brand Portfolio side is good. It was also good on Famous and we see that as starting to tick up as the weather gets colder. I did say more of the fashion side of that is really where the dynamics are. Obviously, our Brand Portfolio fits in perfectly there. you picked up on it, it also works very nicely on our vertical integration there with several of our brands, LifeStride, Scholl's, even Franco Sarto and Naturalizer coming in nicely as we really open up that whole Famous opportunity there as we look to integrate that. It's coming up really nicely. Back to the margin question, we don't see any return on that. We feel like we've made enough structural changes. Also the way that we're running the business, both on the Famous side that has really more of the brands they want at higher retails. We really did change the mix of where we're really focusing on the Brand Portfolio side, and that gives us reason to believe that will continue.

好吧，我們當然看到了業務的非運動方面，我們看到多個類別開放。樂福鞋和平底鞋現在非常非常好。同樣，隨著消費者繼續選擇新的東西添加到他們的衣櫥中，任何感覺舒適的東西都會成為趨勢。我們在品牌組合方面的引導業務很好。它在 Famous 上的表現也很好，我們看到隨著天氣變冷，這種情況開始好轉。我確實說過更多的時尚方面才是真正的動力所在。顯然，我們的品牌組合非常適合那裡。你接受了它，它在我們與我們的幾個品牌、LifeStride、Scholl's，甚至 Franco Sarto 和 Naturalizer 的垂直整合方面也非常有效，因為我們真正打開了整個 Famous 的機會，因為我們希望整合它.它真的很好。回到保證金問題，我們看不到任何回報。我們覺得我們已經做了足夠多的結構性改變。還有我們經營業務的方式，無論是在 Famous 方面，還是在更高的零售店擁有更多他們想要的品牌。我們確實改變了我們真正關注品牌組合方面的組合，這讓我們有理由相信這種情況會繼續下去。

Dana, how is that? Does that get to the core of your question?

丹娜，怎麼樣？這是否觸及您問題的核心？

Yes, works great. Thank you very much.

是的，效果很好。非常感謝你。

Great. All righty. Thanks, Dana.

偉大的。好吧。謝謝，達娜。

Thank you.

謝謝你。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Ms. Sullivan for any final comments.

謝謝你。女士們，先生們，我們的問答環節到此結束。最後請 Sullivan 女士發言。

I just want to say thank you for joining us this morning and wishing everybody a happy Thanksgiving. We'll see many of you next week and looking forward to that. Thank you.

我只想說謝謝你今天早上加入我們並祝大家感恩節快樂。下週我們會見到你們中的許多人，我們對此充滿期待。謝謝你。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝你。今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。