Celsius Holdings Inc (CELH) 2021 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to Celsius Holdings Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Financial Results. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎來到攝氏控股公司 2021 年第四季度和全年財務業績。 （操作員說明）作為提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Cameron Donahue, Investor Relations for Celsius Holdings. Thank you. You may begin.

現在我很高興向您介紹攝氏控股投資者關係部的主持人 Cameron Donahue。謝謝你。你可以開始了。

Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today for Celsius Holdings' Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Earnings Conference Call. Joining me on the call today are John Fieldly, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Edwin Negron, Chief Financial Officer. Following prepared remarks, we'll open the call to your questions, and instructions will be given at that time.

謝謝大家，大家下午好。感謝您今天加入我們參加攝氏控股公司的 2021 年第四季度和全年收益電話會議。今天和我一起參加電話會議的是總裁兼首席執行官 John Fieldly；和首席財務官 Edwin Negron。在準備好的評論之後，我們將打開您的問題的電話，屆時將給出說明。

The company released its earnings press release upon market close this afternoon with its preliminary, unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2021, and all materials are available on the company's website, celsiusholdingsinc.com, under the Investor Relations section. As a reminder, before turning the call over to John, an audio replay will be available on the company's website later today.

該公司在今天下午收盤時發布了收益新聞稿，其中包括截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日的第四季度和全年未經審計的初步財務業績，所有材料均可在公司網站 celsiusholdingsinc.com 的投資者關係下獲得部分。提醒一下，在將電話轉給約翰之前，今天晚些時候將在公司網站上提供音頻重播。

Preliminary financial information, financial guidance and growth disclosures have been prepared by management based on information available to it as of the date hereof, and should not be viewed as a substitute for full financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Estimated preliminary results are subject to completion of our customary quarterly and annual financial closing, audits and review procedures and are not comprehensive statements of financial results for the 3 months ended and fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, and subject to adjustments as a result of such procedures. Reconciliations of all non-GAAP financial measures can be found in our earnings press release supplement and on our website, celsiusholdingsinc.com.

初步財務信息、財務指導和增長披露是由管理層根據截至本協議發布之日可獲得的信息編制的，不應被視為替代根據公認會計原則編制的完整財務報表。估計的初步結果取決於我們慣常的季度和年度財務結算、審計和審查程序的完成情況，並且不是截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止 3 個月和財政年度的財務業績綜合報表，並可能因以下情況而調整此類程序。所有非 GAAP 財務指標的對賬可以在我們的收益新聞稿補充和我們的網站 celsiusholdingsinc.com 上找到。

Please also be aware that this call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are based on forecasts, expectations and other information available to management as of today, March 1, 2021. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the words such as anticipate, expect, intend, plan, potentially, seek, believe, project, estimate, strategy, future, likely, may, should, will and similar references to future periods.

另請注意，本次電話會議可能包含 1995 年美國私人證券訴訟改革法案安全港條款所指的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述基於截至今天 3 月管理層可獲得的預測、預期和其他信息2021 年 1 月 1 日。在某些情況下，您可以通過預期、預期、打算、計劃、潛在、尋求、相信、項目、估計、戰略、未來、可能、可能、應該、將和等詞語來識別前瞻性陳述。對未來期間的類似參考。

These statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties, including many that are beyond the company's control. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following: economic and business conditions, our business strategy for expanding our presence in our industry, anticipated trends in our financial condition and results of operations, the impact of competition and technology change, existing and future regulations affecting our business, the company's ability to satisfy in a timely manner all Securities and Exchange Commission required filings, the requirements of Section 404 for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules and regulations adopted under that section as well as other risks and uncertainties discussed in our reports Celsius Holdings has filed previously with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

這些陳述涉及許多風險和不確定性，包括許多公司無法控制的。可能導致我們的實際結果和財務狀況與前瞻性陳述中所示內容存在重大差異的重要因素包括（其中包括）以下內容：經濟和業務狀況、我們擴大行業影響力的業務戰略、預期趨勢我們的財務狀況和運營結果、競爭和技術變革的影響、影響我們業務的現有和未來法規、公司及時滿足所有證券交易委員會要求的文件的能力、薩班斯第 404 條的要求- 2002 年奧克斯利法案和根據該部分通過的規則和法規，以及我們在攝氏控股之前向證券交易委員會提交的報告中討論的其他風險和不確定性。

Except as to the extent as required by law, Celsius Holdings undertakes no obligation and disclaims any duty to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, written or oral, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. We encourage you to review in full our Safe Harbor statements contained in today's press release and our SEC filings for additional information.

除法律要求的範圍外，Celsius Holdings 不承擔任何義務且不承擔任何義務公開更新或修改任何這些書面或口頭的前瞻性陳述，無論是由於新信息、未來發展或其他原因。我們鼓勵您完整閱讀今天新聞稿中包含的安全港聲明以及我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件以獲取更多信息。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to President and Chief Executive Officer, John Fieldly, for his prepared remarks. John?

有了這個，我想把電話轉給總裁兼首席執行官約翰·菲爾德利，請他準備好講話。約翰？

Thank you, Cameron. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Our record fourth quarter and full year 2021 financial results mirror our industry-leading growth metrics from third-party data providers, indicating that Celsius is grabbing more market share at an accelerated pace across all channels. For the first time in company history, we delivered over $100 million in sales, and we did this in the fourth quarter.

謝謝你，卡梅倫。大家下午好，感謝您今天加入我們。我們創紀錄的第四季度和 2021 年全年財務業績反映了我們來自第三方數據提供商的行業領先的增長指標，表明攝氏在所有渠道中以更快的速度搶占更多的市場份額。我們公司歷史上第一次實現了超過 1 億美元的銷售額，而且我們在第四季度做到了這一點。

In addition, annual revenues exceeded over $300 million for the first time, which is truly an exciting accomplishment for the team. This is exemplified by our initial material penetration in the convenience channel, where we grew our store locations by over 95% to over 29,000 locations during 2021, now totaling just under 60,000 doors, while at the same time, driving the club channel revenue, and we grew Amazon revenue to new records for the company.

此外，年收入首次超過 3 億美元，這對團隊來說確實是一項令人振奮的成就。這體現在我們最初在便利渠道中的材料滲透，在 2021 年，我們的門店數量增長了 95% 以上，達到 29,000 多家，現在總計不到 60,000 家門店，同時推動了俱樂部渠道收入，以及我們將亞馬遜的收入提高到了公司的新紀錄。

This material expansion in historical underrepresented channels in the convenience channel and club channel has not impacted growth in other channels. Our growth is exemplified not only in sales, but also in our customer demographics. We further diversified our industry-leading consumer base over the past year, historically in the 24 to 44 age range, with our fastest-growing segment in the 18 to 24 age bracket, driving new female energy drink consumers into the category as we maintained our historical 50-50 male-female split. This is in conjunction with driving 20% of our sales from both male and female consumers new to the energy drink category.

便利渠道和俱樂部渠道中歷史代表性不足的渠道的這種實質性擴張並未影響其他渠道的增長。我們的增長不僅體現在銷售額上，還體現在我們的客戶人口統計中。在過去的一年裡，我們進一步多元化了行業領先的消費者群體，歷史上在 24 至 44 歲年齡段，我們在 18 至 24 歲年齡段中增長最快，推動新的女性能量飲料消費者進入這一類別，因為我們保持了我們的歷史上 50-50 的男女分裂。與此同時，我們 20% 的銷售額來自剛接觸能量飲料類別的男性和女性消費者。

Our market share over the past year has been historic, even with the top 2 revenue customers, Amazon and Costco, not incorporated into tracked metrics as well as our fitness channel and vending channel. In third-party tracked channels, our share reached 2.1 share of the total energy drink category, growing 163% in the prior 52 weeks ending January 23, 2022, per IRI, MULO plus convenience data, total U.S. This is in our first full year of leveraging our national DSD network.

我們在過去一年的市場份額一直是歷史性的，即使排名前 2 位的收入客戶亞馬遜和好市多沒有納入跟踪指標以及我們的健身渠道和自動售貨渠道。在第三方跟踪渠道中，根據 IRI、MULO 和便利數據，我們在整個能量飲料類別中的份額達到 2.1%，在截至 2022 年 1 月 23 日的前 52 周中增長了 163%。這是我們第一個全年利用我們的國家 DSD 網絡。

Our future opportunity can be best exemplified by our market share on Amazon, where we are on an even playing field in terms of distribution. As of February 12, 2022, Celsius is the #2 brand with over a 20% share of the energy category. These metrics further validate Celsius as a player in the energy category. And looking at the last 4 weeks' data, scan data, as of January 23, 2022, per IRI total energy U.S., Celsius' share in the energy category increased to a 3.2 share in the category, further demonstrating the momentum behind the portfolio.

我們在亞馬遜上的市場份額最能說明我們未來的機會，我們在分銷方面處於公平競爭的環境中。截至 2022 年 2 月 12 日，Celsius 是排名第二的品牌，在能源類別中的份額超過 20%。這些指標進一步驗證了攝氏在能源類別中的地位。從過去 4 週的數據來看，掃描數據顯示，截至 2022 年 1 月 23 日，根據 IRI 總能源美國，Celsius 在能源類別中的份額增加到該類別中的 3.2 份額，進一步顯示了投資組合背後的動力。

With this growth in revenue, we have also transitioned from a microcap company to a current market cap of over $4 billion over the past 18 months. Our investments in building out our world-class team and operational infrastructure during this time has been just as important as our sales growth. In conjunction with our internal team, we have also made significant investments expanding our Board of Directors as well as engaging Ernst & Young as our new auditor, which we announced in the second quarter of 2021.

隨著收入的增長，我們在過去 18 個月中也從一家微型公司轉變為目前超過 40 億美元的市值。在此期間，我們對建設世界級團隊和運營基礎設施的投資與我們的銷售增長同樣重要。與我們的內部團隊一起，我們還進行了重大投資以擴大我們的董事會，並聘請安永會計師事務所作為我們在 2021 年第二季度宣布的新審計師。

Over the last several quarters, we have accelerated this transition by implementing best practices recommended and brought on by BDO as our internal auditor consultants to assist with this transition. This process has been all encompassing, and unfortunately, we have multiple weeks in January and early February, where a majority of our finance team was out with COVID.

在過去的幾個季度中，我們通過實施 BDO 作為我們的內部審計顧問建議和帶來的最佳實踐來幫助實現這一轉變，從而加速了這一轉變。這個過程包羅萬象，不幸的是，我們在 1 月和 2 月初有好幾個星期的時間，我們的大部分財務團隊都因 COVID 外出。

In addition, we have had multiple open positions, and we have been vigorously recruiting top talent into the company's finance area to support our operations and our strong growth in our business, which was impacted by our ability to finalize the Ernst & Young first full year audit. We filed for an extension on our Form 10-K with the SEC earlier this evening and expect to file our 10-K during the 15 calendar day extension period as of the final audit and internal control procedure work are performed and completed.

此外，我們有多個空缺職位，我們一直在大力招募頂尖人才進入公司的財務領域，以支持我們的運營和我們業務的強勁增長，這受到我們完成安永第一個全年的能力的影響審計。我們今晚早些時候向 SEC 提交了 10-K 表格的延期申請，預計在最終審計和內部控製程序工作完成後的 15 個日曆日延期期間提交我們的 10-K。

We have been able to finalize the majority of the pending items prior to our call today, including as reported today in an 8-K filing, and a prior period error correction has been made to the noncash stock expense in our second and third quarter financial results for 2021 totaling approximately $2.7 million and $12.6 million in additional noncash stock expense for those periods, which was the results of prior stock grants that were awarded to foundational individuals, which were modified to allow for continual vesting past their contracted service dates.

我們已經能夠在今天的電話會議之前完成大部分未決項目，包括今天在 8-K 文件中報告的內容，並且在我們的第二和第三季度財務報告中對非現金庫存費用進行了前期錯誤更正2021 年的業績總計約為 270 萬美元，這些期間額外的非現金股票費用為 1260 萬美元，這是先前授予基礎個人的股票贈款的結果，這些贈款經過修改以允許在其合同服務日期之後繼續歸屬。

This was an error of interpretation of a Class III modification rule, technical rule, which resulted in an immediate mark-to-market adjustments for the prior periods' stock grants as a noncash expense. We highlighted this financial impact in our full year updated totals on our flash results table at the beginning of our earnings supplement as well as the financial statements on the earnings supplement included in the 8-K filing today, which outlines the prior period of changes reflected in the noncash stock expense for those periods.

這是對 III 類修改規則（技術規則）的解釋錯誤，導致對前期股票授予的即時按市價調整作為非現金費用。我們在我們的收益補充開始時在我們的快速結果表以及今天提交的 8-K 文件中包含的收益補充財務報表中強調了這一財務影響，其中概述了反映的前期變化在這些期間的非現金庫存費用中。

In addition, in light of this error, our management has then concluded that a material weakness existed in the company's internal controls of our financial reporting for the company's disclosure controls and procedures, which were not affected as of December 31, 2021, which was disclosed in our 8-K filing earlier today and which will be further discussed in our upcoming filing. To close these nonoperational updates in regards to our previously disclosed SEC investigation, the matter is ongoing, and we are continuing to cooperate with the SEC staff. There has been no material developments in the investigation since the last disclosure.

此外，鑑於這一錯誤，我們的管理層隨後得出結論，公司的財務報告內部控制存在重大缺陷，截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日，該公司的披露控制和程序不受影響，已披露在我們今天早些時候提交的 8-K 文件中，這將在我們即將提交的文件中進一步討論。為了結束與我們之前披露的 SEC 調查有關的這些非操作性更新，此事仍在進行中，我們將繼續與 SEC 工作人員合作。自上次披露以來，調查沒有重大進展。

Now moving to the financial highlights for the fourth quarter. As stated, sales hit another quarterly record, and this was our first quarter to total over $100 million, which is a major accomplishment for the company. Revenue growth was driven by continued new store count additions, SKU expansion, cold placements, DSD coverage expansion as well as the continual transition of existing accounts to DSD as well as the unrepresented channel growth in the convenience, club and vending.

現在轉到第四季度的財務亮點。如前所述，銷售額再創季度記錄，這是我們第一季度的總銷售額超過 1 億美元，這對公司來說是一項重大成就。收入增長是由持續的新店數量增加、SKU 擴張、冷投放、DSD 覆蓋範圍擴大以及現有賬戶向 DSD 的持續過渡以及便利店、俱樂部和自動售貨機的無代表渠道增長推動的。

Total sales for the quarter of $104.3 million, up 192% from $35.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. Our domestic sales increased 238% to a record $95.9 million, up from $28.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. With both of these percentage growth rates, the highest in our history, we continue to see our 2 hardest-hit channels from COVID in 2020, our fitness and vending channel, not only rebound but drive growth in sales. Fitness was up 91% for the year, and vending was up 186%, which when combined, contributed approximately $14.7 million of incremental revenue for the full year. International sales grew 15% to $8.3 million for the quarter and 17% for the year, with record annual revenues from the Nordics.

本季度總銷售額為 1.043 億美元，比 2020 年第四季度的 3570 萬美元增長 192%。我們的國內銷售額從 2020 年第四季度的 2840 萬美元增長 238% 至創紀錄的 9590 萬美元。這兩個百分比增長率，這是我們歷史上最高的，我們繼續看到我們在 2020 年受到 COVID 打擊最嚴重的兩個渠道，我們的健身和自動售貨渠道，不僅反彈，而且推動了銷售增長。健身今年增長了 91%，而自動售貨機增長了 186%，兩者合計為全年貢獻了約 1470 萬美元的增量收入。本季度國際銷售額增長 15% 至 830 萬美元，全年增長 17%，北歐地區的年收入創歷史新高。

Our gross profit margins continue to be impacted, as we previously addressed in our third quarter results. We made a strategic decision in late 2020 and early 2021 to import cans to fulfill our demand, sacrificing some efficiencies on the margin side. As a result, we are seeing the impacts of these onetime short-term impacts as we run through these higher cost sourced cans. We anticipate margins will continue to be impacted through the third quarter of 2022 as we process through these sourced cans. As we move forward, we are confident that U.S.-sourced cans making up the majority of our production will be normalized our can input cost going forward.

正如我們之前在第三季度業績中提到的那樣，我們的毛利率繼續受到影響。我們在 2020 年底和 2021 年初做出了一項戰略決定，進口罐頭來滿足我們的需求，犧牲了一些利潤率方面的效率。因此，當我們通過這些成本較高的罐頭時，我們看到了這些一次性短期影響的影響。我們預計到 2022 年第三季度，隨著我們處理這些採購的罐頭，利潤率將繼續受到影響。隨著我們向前邁進，我們相信，占我們生產大部分的美國採購的罐頭將在未來使我們的罐頭投入成本正常化。

In addition, we are experiencing inflationary costs in our operations, which is further impacting our business from increased cost of freight and raw materials. We have implemented promotional pricing strategies to mitigate some of these immediate changes in our business environment, which will start to realize in the coming months.

此外，我們的運營成本正在上漲，這進一步影響了我們的業務，因為運費和原材料成本增加。我們已實施促銷定價策略，以緩解我們的商業環境中的一些直接變化，這些變化將在未來幾個月開始實現。

In addition, we further optimized our warehouse supply chain to reduce miles on cases to better service our customers and reduce costs. We anticipate when cycling through the imported cans, our margin will normalize to full year 2020 levels based on current volume run rates.

此外，我們進一步優化了我們的倉庫供應鏈，以減少案件里程，從而更好地為我們的客戶服務並降低成本。我們預計，在循環進口罐頭時，我們的利潤率將根據當前的批量運行率正常化至 2020 年全年水平。

To conclude our margin analysis, as we recognize revenue growth rates more than double in North America to over 200%, we made a conscious decision to ensure that we had operational infrastructure to support our revenue growth and take full advantage of the opportunity to take share at an increasing pace. As such, we accelerated initiatives on several operational improvements to position us for future growth, which would impact our margins in the short term. Additional incremental near-term margin and benefit will be realized through pricing and promotional strategies, operational efficiency gains through our supply chain and a move to locally sourced cans on a go-forward basis.

總結我們的利潤率分析，由於我們認識到北美的收入增長率翻了一番以上，達到 200% 以上，我們做出了一個有意識的決定，以確保我們擁有運營基礎設施來支持我們的收入增長並充分利用機會來分享以越來越快的速度。因此，我們加快了多項運營改進的舉措，為未來的增長做好準備，這將在短期內影響我們的利潤率。通過定價和促銷策略、通過我們的供應鏈提高運營效率以及在前進的基礎上轉向本地採購的罐頭，將實現額外的近期利潤和收益。

The company continued to improve our order fill rates toward normalized levels through the fourth quarter from an 80% fill rate at the end of Q1 to the end of this year at a 97% fill rate in the fourth quarter and expect to maintain normalized levels even with accelerated growth rates due to the improvements in our warehousing expansion to a 6-orbit infrastructure model where input -- will be put in place into the third quarter and expansion in our inventory, which is key as we enter the spring resets and anticipate material new placements as well as further expansion into the club channel.

公司在第四季度繼續將我們的訂單履行率從第一季度末的 80% 提高到正常水平，到今年年底第四季度的履行率達到 97%，並希望保持正常水平，即使由於我們的倉儲擴展到 6 軌道基礎設施模型的改進，增長速度加快，其中投入將投入到第三季度和我們的庫存擴張，這是我們進入春季重置和預期材料的關鍵新的位置以及進一步擴展到俱樂部渠道。

Some additional highlights for the fourth quarter. Our domestic revenues of approximately $96 million was driven by accelerated triple-digit growth in traditional channels of trade, expansion with worldwide retailers and further activation and growth from our distribution partners.

第四季度的一些額外亮點。我們的國內收入約為 9600 萬美元，這得益於傳統貿易渠道的三位數加速增長、與全球零售商的擴張以及我們分銷合作夥伴的進一步激活和增長。

Direct-store-delivery, DSD, network delivered over 400% growth rate versus the prior year in our distribution revenues. We secured additional distribution agreements during the quarter, expanding availability in new regions as Celsius continues to build out its network, now totaling over 276 regional direct-store-delivery service centers, covering approximately 98% of the U.S. population. And we began 2021 with only 150 DS partners and 80% coverage. We made substantial improvements throughout the year.

與上一年相比，我們的分銷收入的直接商店交付、DSD 網絡實現了超過 400% 的增長率。我們在本季度獲得了額外的分銷協議，隨著攝氏繼續建立其網絡，擴大了在新地區的可用性，目前共有超過 276 個區域直營店交付服務中心，覆蓋約 98% 的美國人口。我們在 2021 年開始時只有 150 個 DS 合作夥伴和 80% 的覆蓋率。我們全年都取得了實質性的進步。

Our vending channel grew over 210% in the fourth quarter. We added over 1,200 vending machines in micro markets in '21, increasing the number of locations by 96% for the year and expect that growth to continue in 2022. In the fitness vitamin specialty channel, Celsius launch with Lifetime Fitness and is now available in over 150 of their locations and their LifeCafe. We also signed partnership agreements with CycleBar as their official energy drink and expect more clubs than ever to join before -- as the country continues to reopen in 2021 as we gain more awareness and placements in the fitness channel.

我們的自動售貨渠道在第四季度增長了 210% 以上。 21 年，我們在微型市場增加了 1,200 多台自動售貨機，全年門店數量增加了 96%，預計 2022 年將繼續增長。在健身維生素專業頻道中，Celsius 與 Lifetime Fitness 一起推出，現已在他們的 150 多個地點和他們的 LifeCafe。我們還與 CycleBar 簽署了合作協議，將其作為他們的官方能量飲料，並期待比以往更多的俱樂部加入——隨著我們在健身頻道中獲得更多知名度和展示位置，該國將在 2021 年繼續重新開放。

Our mass club channel to accelerate growth following of the rollout of 561 Costco stores in Q2. Costco's fourth quarter established a new record, growing over 1,100% for the fourth quarter versus the prior year. We're also seeing significant opportunities in the club channel in other markets, to include Sam's Club and BJ's through 2022.

在第二季度推出 561 家 Costco 商店後，我們的大眾俱樂部渠道將加速增長。 Costco 第四季度創下新紀錄，第四季度與去年同期相比增長超過 1,100%。我們還在其他市場的俱樂部渠道中看到了重要的機會，包括到 2022 年的 Sam's Club 和 BJ's。

In the convenience channel, our convenience channel store locations increased by 95%, as I said, to over 29,000 locations for the full year, totaling 60,000. We recently signed a national contract with Circle K, which will drive further expansion in the channel in 2022. The convenience store channel has the largest growth in number of doors in 2021 and expects similar growth trends to continue through 2022.

在便利渠道方面，我們的便利渠道門店數量增長了 95%，正如我所說，全年門店數量超過 29,000 家，總計 60,000 家。我們最近與 Circle K 簽訂了一份全國性的合同，這將推動 2022 年渠道的進一步擴張。便利店渠道在 2021 年的門數增長幅度最大，預計類似的增長趨勢將持續到 2022 年。

Industry-backed third-party data continues to show Celsius' accelerating growth metrics, and we are confident that Celsius will continue to drive sales even higher as we increase our ACV across channels through additional launches with new nationwide retailers and further transitioning existing accounts to our DSD network.

由行業支持的第三方數據繼續顯示Celsius加速增長的指標，我們相信Celsius將繼續推動銷售額更高，因為我們通過與新的全國性零售商的額外推出以及進一步將現有賬戶轉移到我們的渠道來增加我們的ACV。渠務署網路。

Consumer data for Celsius accelerates through the fourth quarter of 2021 and through February of 2022 to record levels, with the most recent Nielsen scan data as of February 12, 2022, showing Celsius sales were up 233% year-over-year for 2 weeks, up 234% for the 4 weeks, up 227% for the 12 weeks, with a 3% share of the energy category over the last 2 weeks.

到 2021 年第四季度和到 2022 年 2 月，Celsius 的消費者數據加速達到創紀錄水平，截至 2022 年 2 月 12 日的最新 Nielsen 掃描數據顯示，Celsius 銷售額連續兩周同比增長 233%， 4 週增長 234%，12 週增長 227%，過去 2 週能源類別的份額為 3%。

And on Amazon, as I said, Celsius is the second-largest energy drink with a 20% share of the energy category, an approximately 7% share ahead of Red Bull at a 13% share and moving closer to the #1 spot, just 4 share points behind Monster at a 24% share. This is according to the last 4 weeks' data ending February 12, 2022, Stackline energy drink category, total U.S. In addition, Celsius has a year-over-year growth rate of about 94% compared to Amazon's energy growth rate of 37%. That's just over 2.5x the category for the last 4 weeks ending February 12, 2022, and according to Stackline.

正如我所說，在亞馬遜上，Celsius 是第二大能量飲料，在能量類別中佔有 20% 的份額，比 Red Bull 以 13% 的份額領先大約 7%，並且更接近第一名，只是以 24% 的份額落後 Monster 4 個份額點。這是根據截至 2022 年 2 月 12 日的最後 4 週數據，Stackline 能量飲料類別，美國總量。此外，Celsius 的年增長率約為 94%，而亞馬遜的能源增長率為 37%。根據 Stackline 的數據，在截至 2022 年 2 月 12 日的最後 4 週內，這只是該類別的 2.5 倍多一點。

Our U.S. store count now exceeds 135,000 locations nationally, growing over 53,000 doors or 65% from 82,000 at the beginning of 2021, with additional expansion plans throughout 2022 as retailer resets take place. On our co-packing front, we continue to expand with our partners in scaling at existing locations, improving our line time priority. Our total U.S. co-packer footprint now totals over 13 that are active, which will help protect for future out-of-stocks and support our massive growth as we continue to improve efficiencies in our supply chain.

我們在美國的門店數量現在在全國范圍內超過 135,000 家，比 2021 年初的 82,000 家增加了 53,000 多家或 65%，隨著零售商的重置，整個 2022 年還有額外的擴張計劃。在我們的聯合包裝方面，我們繼續與我們的合作夥伴一起擴大現有地點的規模，提高我們的生產線時間優先級。我們在美國的總合作包裝商足跡現在總計超過 13 個，這將有助於在我們繼續提高供應鏈效率的同時防止未來缺貨並支持我們的大規模增長。

In the fourth quarter, Europe mainly derived from Nordics totaled $7.4 million compared to $6.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of 7%. Our market share in our largest market, Sweden, increased through the fourth quarter to just over 10%. For the full year, sales in Europe reached a record with an annual growth rate of 13% for 2021. We recently launched on Amazon EU. Expansion begins with Great Britain, which was launched with 3 SKUs of CELSIUS and 6 FAST protein bars. And in Germany, we launched 3 great flavors of CELSIUS. We are also expanding to additional EU markets to include France and Italy launching in early 2022.

第四季度，主要來自北歐的歐洲總額為 740 萬美元，比 2020 年第四季度的 690 萬美元增長 7%。我們在最大市場瑞典的市場份額在第四季度增長至略高於 10%。全年，歐洲的銷售額達到了創紀錄的水平，2021 年的年增長率為 13%。我們最近在亞馬遜歐盟推出。擴張始於英國，推出 3 個 SKU 的 CELSIUS 和 6 個 FAST 蛋白棒。在德國，我們推出了 3 種很棒的 CELSIUS 口味。我們還將擴展到更多的歐盟市場，包括在 2022 年初推出的法國和意大利。

In China, we maintain a licensing royalty model in the market with a fixed royalty rate through 2024, which then becomes a volume-based royalty starting in the first year of 2024 with a minimum royalty of $2.2 million annually. In our international markets, additionally, annually in 2021 drove about $3.2 million, an increase of 109% from $1.5 million in the prior year period. Material markets to include Malaysia, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore where we saw great growth.

在中國，我們在市場上維持許可使用費模式，到 2024 年使用固定使用費率，然後從 2024 年第一年開始成為基於數量的使用費，每年最低使用費為 220 萬美元。此外，在我們的國際市場上，2021 年每年的銷售額約為 320 萬美元，比去年同期的 150 萬美元增長了 109%。材料市場包括馬來西亞、香港、韓國和新加坡，我們看到了這些市場的巨大增長。

Now moving to the marketing. On the marketing front, we continue to activate, targeting new and existing consumers where they live, work and play, building meaningful emotional connections through robust integrated marketing programs. Our momentum is accelerating, and our brand is resonating with a reverse consumer base, expanding the category demographics. Focus on health and wellness is beyond the trend now. Functional energy is recognized throughout the industry as a driver of future growth with retailers and customers.

現在轉向營銷。在營銷方面，我們將繼續激活新的和現有的消費者，在他們生活、工作和娛樂的地方，通過強大的整合營銷計劃建立有意義的情感聯繫。我們的勢頭正在加速，我們的品牌正在與反向消費者群產生共鳴，擴大了類別人口統計。關注健康和保健已經超越了現在的趨勢。功能性能源在整個行業中被認為是零售商和客戶未來增長的驅動力。

We are driving and leading growth in the energy category across all channels, expanding the demographic while bringing an industry-leading percentage of consumers from outside and new to the category, while accelerating our share in the growing energy market. We have committed the resources, both in personnel and operational infrastructure, to maximize our opportunity.

我們正在推動和引領能源類別在所有渠道的增長，擴大人口，同時將行業領先的外部消費者和新消費者引入該類別，同時加快我們在不斷增長的能源市場中的份額。我們已在人員和運營基礎設施方面投入資源，以最大限度地利用我們的機會。

I'll now turn the call over to Edwin Negron-Carballo, our Chief Financial Officer, for his prepared remarks. Edwin?

我現在將把電話轉給我們的首席財務官 Edwin Negron-Carballo，請他準備好講話。埃德溫?

Thank you, John. I wanted to start by providing additional clarity on the adjustments that John highlighted regarding the noncash stock compensation expense. During Q2 and Q3, the company calculated and recognized non-cash stock-based compensation expense related to options and RSUs held by former foundational employees and retired directors ratably over their vesting period. However, because the options and the RSUs were allowed to continue to pass after the employees separated and the directors retired from the company, those awards were deemed to have been modified. And the expense should have been calculated and recognized using the firm market value of the stock as of the date of termination or retirement.

謝謝你，約翰。我想首先提供關於約翰強調的關於非現金股票補償費用的調整的額外說明。在第二季度和第三季度，公司計算並確認了與前基礎員工和退休董事在其歸屬期內持有的期權和 RSU 相關的非現金股票補償費用。但是，由於在員工離職和董事從公司退休後，期權和 RSU 被允許繼續通過，這些獎勵被視為已被修改。並且該費用應使用股票在終止或退休之日的固定市場價值計算和確認。

This led to the adjustments that John discussed, which resulted in the understatement of the stock compensation expense in Q2 in the amount of $3.1 million and $12.1 million for Q3. These aspects are further detailed in the 8-K that we filed today.

這導致了約翰討論的調整，導致第二季度的股票補償費用被低估了 310 萬美元和第三季度的 1210 萬美元。這些方面在我們今天提交的 8-K 中有進一步的詳細說明。

As a result of this situation, the company's management and the Audit Committee of its Board of Directors have determined that the company's previously issued interim unaudited financial statements contained in the company's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for each of the affected quarters should no longer be relied upon. The company's management has also concluded that in light of this situation, as previously described, a material weakness existed in the company's internal control over the proper valuation of stock compensation expense regarding the modifications performed to stock awards for some former employees and retired directors.

由於這種情況，公司管理層及其董事會審計委員會已確定，公司先前發布的中期未經審計的財務報表包含在公司季度報告中的表格 10-Q 中，每個受影響的季度不應再可以依賴。公司管理層還得出結論，鑑於這種情況，如前所述，公司內部控制存在重大缺陷，即在對一些前僱員和退休董事的股票獎勵進行修改的股票補償費用的正確估值方面存在重大缺陷。

Now turning to our fourth quarter financial results. We had a record fourth quarter revenue for the 3 months ended December 31, 2021, of $104.3 million, an increase of $68.6 million or a strong 192% increase from $35.7 million for the 3 months ended December 31, 2020. Approximately 98% of this growth was a result of increased revenues from North America. For 2021, 4th quarter revenues were $96 million, an increase of $67.5 million or a robust 238% increase from $28.4 million in the 2020 quarter.

現在轉向我們的第四季度財務業績。截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止 3 個月的第四季度收入創紀錄，為 1.043 億美元，比截至 2020 年 12 月 31 日止 3 個月的 3570 萬美元增加 6860 萬美元或強勁增長 192%。其中約 98%增長是北美收入增加的結果。 2021 年第四季度的收入為 9600 萬美元，比 2020 年季度的 2840 萬美元增加了 6750 萬美元或 238% 的強勁增長。

The balance of the revenues for the 2021 quarter were mainly related to European revenues of $7.4 million, or 7% higher when compared to $6.9 million in the year ago period. Asian revenues, which included royalty revenues from our China licensee, contributed an additional $680,000, an increase of 203% from $224,000 from the prior year quarter. Other international markets generated $265,000 in revenues during the 3 months ended December 31, 2021, an increase of $148,000 or 127% from $117,000 for the prior year quarter.

2021 年季度的收入餘額主要與 740 萬美元的歐洲收入有關，與去年同期的 690 萬美元相比增長 7%。亞洲收入（包括我們中國被許可方的特許權使用費收入）額外貢獻了 680,000 美元，比去年同期的 224,000 美元增加了 203%。在截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日的 3 個月內，其他國際市場的收入為 265,000 美元，比上一季度的 117,000 美元增加了 148,000 美元或 127%。

Gross profit for Q4 increased by $24.2 million or 139% to $42.4 million from $17.4 million for the 3 months ended December 31, 2021. Gross profit margins reflected a decrease to 39.9% for the 3 months ended December 31, 2021, from 48.9% for the 2020 quarter. Excluding freight out, as some of our competitors did not -- do not include this expense as part of cost of goods sold, our adjusted gross margin for the fourth quarter was 48.4% compared to 57.2% for the fourth quarter of 2020. The increase in gross profit dollars is related to increase in volume, while the decrease in gross profit margins is mainly related to increase in costs pertaining to imported cans, higher raw material costs, ocean freights and transportation costs and repackaging costs.

第四季度的毛利潤從截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止三個月的 1,740 萬美元增加 2,420 萬美元或 139% 至 4,240 萬美元。毛利率從截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止三個月的 39.9% 下降至 48.9% 2020 年季度。不包括運費，因為我們的一些競爭對手沒有 - 不將此費用計入銷售成本的一部分，我們第四季度的調整後毛利率為 48.4%，而 2020 年第四季度為 57.2%。以毛利潤計，與銷量增加有關，而毛利率下降主要與進口罐頭成本增加、原材料成本、海運和運輸成本以及重新包裝成本增加有關。

Sales and marketing expenses for the 3 months ended December 31, 2021, were approximately $24.6 million, an increase of approximately $13.4 million or 119.2% from $11.2 million for the 3 months ended December 31, 2020. This increase was primarily attributable to higher marketing investment activities, which resulted in an increase of $8.2 million when compared to the prior year quarter.

截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止 3 個月的銷售和營銷費用約為 2460 萬美元，比截至 2020 年 12 月 31 日止 3 個月的 1120 萬美元增加約 1340 萬美元或 119.2%。這一增長主要歸因於營銷投資增加活動，與去年同期相比增加了 820 萬美元。

Additionally, employee costs increased by approximately $1.5 million from the year ago quarter as we continued to invest in this area in order to have the proper infrastructure to support our growth as well as incurring in additional travel and business expenses since we are now able to resume in-person marketing events and selling activities. Additionally, storage and distribution expenses as well as broker costs accounted for the remainder of the increase in this area in the amount of $4.2 million from the 2020 quarter, basically related to the increase in business and revenue volume.

此外，員工成本比去年同期增加了約 150 萬美元，因為我們繼續在該領域進行投資，以便擁有適當的基礎設施來支持我們的增長，並產生額外的差旅和業務費用，因為我們現在能夠恢復面對面的營銷活動和銷售活動。此外，與 2020 年季度相比，存儲和分銷費用以及經紀人成本佔該領域增加的 420 萬美元的其餘部分，主要與業務和收入量的增加有關。

Lastly, there were slight offsets in other sales and marketing expenses in the amount of $487,000, mainly related to savings in trade marketing activities. As a percentage of revenue, sales and marketing charges amounted to 23.6% for the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to 31.5% to the fourth quarter of 2020.

最後，其他銷售和營銷費用略有抵銷 487,000 美元，主要與貿易營銷活動的節省有關。 2021 年第四季度的銷售和營銷費用佔收入的百分比為 23.6%，而 2020 年第四季度為 31.5%。

General and administrative expenses for the 3 months ended December 31, 2021, were $14.2 million, an increase of $8.4 million or 147% from $5.7 million for the 3 months ended December 31, 2020. This increase was mainly related to stock option expense, which amounted to $7.8 million for the 3 months ended December 31, 2021, an increase of $6.2 million, which accounts for 74% of the total increase in this area when compared to the prior year quarter. This increase is mainly related to the noncash expense adjustments that I mentioned at the beginning of my prepared comments.

截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止 3 個月的一般和行政費用為 1420 萬美元，比截至 2020 年 12 月 31 日止 3 個月的 570 萬美元增加 840 萬美元或 147%。這一增加主要與股票期權費用有關，其中截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止 3 個月的總收入為 780 萬美元，增加了 620 萬美元，與去年同期相比，佔該領域總增長的 74%。這一增長主要與我在準備評論開頭提到的非現金費用調整有關。

Additionally, employee costs for the 3 months ended December 31, 2021, reflected an increase of $804,000 or 53.8% as investments in this area are also required to properly support our higher business volume and commercial and operational areas of the business as well as the increased travel and expenses that are now being incurred.

此外，截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止 3 個月的員工成本增加了 804,000 美元或 53.8%，因為該領域的投資也需要適當支持我們更高的業務量和業務的商業和運營領域，以及增加的現在發生的差旅和費用。

Administrative expenses amounted to $3.5 million, an increase of $2.1 million or 153% when compared to the prior year quarter. This variance includes an increase in the bad debt reserve of $425,000 as well as increases in audit costs, legal expenses, insurance cost and office rent, which account for the majority of the remaining fluctuation of $1.7 million.

管理費用為 350 萬美元，與去年同期相比增加了 210 萬美元或 153%。這一差異包括 425,000 美元的壞賬準備金增加，以及審計費用、法律費用、保險費用和辦公室租金的增加，這些費用佔剩餘 170 萬美元波動的大部分。

Depreciation and amortization decreased by approximately $222,000 when compared to the prior year quarter. As a percentage of revenue, G&A costs amounted to 14% for the 3 months ended December 31, 2021, compared to 16% in the prior year. However, excluding the noncash stock option expense for both periods, G&A decreased as a percentage of revenue for the fourth quarter of 2021 to 6.1% compared to 11.5% for the fourth quarter of 2020.

與去年同期相比，折舊和攤銷減少了大約 222,000 美元。截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止 3 個月的 G&A 成本佔收入的百分比為 14%，而上一年為 16%。但是，不包括兩個時期的非現金股票期權費用，2021 年第四季度的 G&A 佔收入的百分比從 2020 年第四季度的 11.5% 下降至 6.1%。

Other income and other expenses. Total net other income for the 3 months ended December 31, 2021, amounted to $250,000, which reflects a decrease of $350,000 when compared to the total net other income of $600,000 for the 3 months ended December 31, 2020. The prior year quarter included a foreign exchange gain of $730,000, which accounts for the majority of the variance from the 2021 4th quarter. The net other income of $250,000 for the fourth quarter of 2021 is composed of foreign currency exchange gains of $175,000 and interest income of $77,400 related to the note receivable from our China licensee, which were partially offset by miscellaneous other interest expenses of $2,100.

其他收入和其他費用。截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止 3 個月的其他淨收入總額為 250,000 美元，與截至 2020 年 12 月 31 日止 3 個月的其他淨收入總額 600,000 美元相比減少了 350,000 美元。上一年季度包括外匯收益為 730,000 美元，佔 2021 年第四季度差異的大部分。 2021 年第四季度 250,000 美元的其他淨收入包括 175,000 美元的外匯收益和與我們的中國被許可人應收票據相關的 77,400 美元的利息收入，這些收入被 2,100 美元的雜項其他利息費用部分抵消。

Net income. Our net income for the 3 months ended December 31, 2021, was $11.9 million, which included a tax benefit of $8.8 million, mainly related to the release of valuation allowances regarding prior year tax losses. As such, earnings for the 3 months ended December 31, 2021, were $0.16 per share based on weighted average of 74.8 million shares outstanding and diluted earnings per share of $0.15, based on a fully diluted weighted average of 78.4 million shares outstanding, which includes the dilutive impact of stock options to purchase 3.6 million shares. In comparison, for the 3 months ended December 31, 2020, the company had fourth quarter net income of $950,000 or $0.01 per basic share and diluted share based on basic shares of 71.9 million shares and 76.5 million fully diluted shares.

淨利。我們截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止 3 個月的淨收入為 1190 萬美元，其中包括 880 萬美元的稅收優惠，主要與釋放有關上一年稅收損失的估值免稅額有關。因此，截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止 3 個月的收益為每股 0.16 美元，基於 7480 萬股已發行股票的加權平均數，每股攤薄收益為 0.15 美元，基於 7840 萬股已發行股票的完全稀釋加權平均數，其中包括購買360萬股股票期權的攤薄影響。相比之下，截至 2020 年 12 月 31 日的 3 個月，該公司第四季度淨收入為 950,000 美元或每股基本股和稀釋股 0.01 美元，基本股為 7190 萬股和 7650 萬股完全稀釋股。

Now focusing on liquidity and capital resources. As of December 31, 2021, and December 31, 2020, we had cash of approximately $16.3 million and $43.2 million, respectively, and working capital of approximately $169 million and $66.8 million, respectively, with no long-term debt. Cash flow used in operation and operating activities totaled $95.8 million during 2021, which compares to $3.4 million provided by operating activities for the 3 -- for the year ended December 31, 2020.

現在專注於流動性和資本資源。截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日和 2020 年 12 月 31 日，我們的現金分別約為 1630 萬美元和 4320 萬美元，營運資金分別約為 1.69 億美元和 6680 萬美元，沒有長期債務。 2021 年用於經營和經營活動的現金流總計 9580 萬美元，相比之下，截至 2020 年 12 月 31 日止年度的經營活動為 340 萬美元。

The use of cash in the 2021 year was primarily driven by higher inventory levels in order to properly service our -- the demand for our products, support our new 6-orbit warehouse model and mitigate the impact of supply chain inefficiencies and inconsistencies as well as also to anticipate our upcoming spring resets. Specifically, our net inventory value increased $172.8 million from $18.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 to $191.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. Excluding the significant increase in inventory, cash flow from operations for the full year, December 31, 2021, would have totaled approximately $84.3 million.

2021 年現金的使用主要是由更高的庫存水平推動的，以適當地滿足我們對我們產品的需求，支持我們新的 6 軌道倉庫模型並減輕供應鏈效率低下和不一致的影響以及還可以預測我們即將到來的春季重置。具體來說，我們的庫存淨值從 2020 年第四季度的 1840 萬美元增加到 2021 年 12 月 31 日止年度的 1.912 億美元，增加了 1.728 億美元。不包括庫存的顯著增加，2021 年 12 月 31 日全年的運營現金流，總額約為 8430 萬美元。

Our current cash position, together with the expected results from operations, should provide us with sufficient cash to operate our business as we're also normalizing and optimizing our inventory levels, which should release significant funds over the next 12 to 15 months.

我們目前的現金狀況以及預期的運營結果應該為我們提供足夠的現金來經營我們的業務，因為我們也在正常化和優化我們的庫存水平，這應該會在未來 12 到 15 個月釋放大量資金。

This concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, you may now open the call for questions.

我們準備好的評論到此結束。接線員，您現在可以打開問題電話了。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Kevin Grundy with Jefferies.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Kevin Grundy 和 Jefferies。

First, just a housekeeping question on the control issue. Can you just confirm that the issues here, as you wait for the audit to wrap up as best you know, are just going to be exclusively isolated to the stock-based comp accounting?

首先，只是一個關於控制問題的家務問題。您能否確認這裡的問題，正如您所知，在等待審計結束時，只會與基於股票的會計核算完全隔離？

That's the indication. Kevin, this is Edwin. Yes, that's the indication right now. But yes, as you well pointed out, we're still going through the audit and, obviously, internal controls as a major aspect of what's remaining. So that's the expectation, but we'll see what happens.

這就是暗示。凱文，這是埃德溫。是的，這就是現在的跡象。但是，是的，正如您所指出的，我們仍在進行審計，顯然，內部控制是剩餘工作的一個主要方面。所以這是期望，但我們會看到會發生什麼。

Okay. Fair enough, Edwin. Two more quick ones for me. John, you were pretty optimistic on the shelf space resets, which is encouraging. I think the comment was you expect material new placements and expansion in the club channel. Maybe just spend a little bit of time on that.

好的。夠公平的，埃德溫。對我來說還有兩個快速的。約翰，你對貨架空間重置非常樂觀，這令人鼓舞。我認為評論是您期望俱樂部頻道中出現實質性的新位置和擴展。也許只是花一點時間在上面。

And John, I guess, within the answer, we can see the really positive trends in Nielsen scan data at about 2% market share. Maybe as part of your response, just talk a little bit about how you expect distribution velocity to kind of play out here and where you expect that share to go within scan channels over the next 12 to 36 months.

約翰，我想，在答案中，我們可以看到尼爾森掃描數據的真正積極趨勢，市場份額約為 2%。也許作為您的回應的一部分，請談談您期望分佈速度如何在這裡發揮作用，以及您期望在未來 12 到 36 個月內，該份額在掃描渠道中的位置。

Yes. No, Kevin, you're absolutely right. I mean, the scan data has been extremely strong, as we were talking earlier about on the call. And when you look at that, what's interesting is, as we're expanding into these reported channels, we're still seeing great increases in velocity in the club channel, mainly at Costco and also on Amazon, seeing that improve. So we anticipate that to level off at some point as we're gaining more broader distribution. But initial feedback has been -- I mean, the data looks really strong as we stand now, especially looking at that February data, the most recent.

是的。不，凱文，你完全正確。我的意思是，掃描數據非常強大，正如我們之前在電話會議上所說的那樣。當你看到這一點時，有趣的是，當我們擴展到這些報導的渠道時，我們仍然看到俱樂部渠道的速度大幅增加，主要是在 Costco 和亞馬遜上，看到這種改善。因此，我們預計隨著我們獲得更廣泛的分佈，這種情況會在某個時候趨於平穩。但最初的反饋是——我的意思是，就我們現在的情況來看，數據看起來非常強勁，尤其是看看 2 月份的最新數據。

When we talk about the club channel, that was a big surprise for us in 2021, seeing how well the product was performing. And we're talking to Sam's Club right now, and hopefully, we will see opportunities with them in 2022 as well as BJ's, as I mentioned. And the big win in Circle K is, for us, in the convenience channel. And that's where about 6,000 stores we're ever getting a national distribution agreement with.

當我們談到俱樂部頻道時，看到產品的表現如此出色，這對 2021 年的我們來說是一個很大的驚喜。正如我所提到的，我們現在正在與山姆俱樂部交談，希望我們能在 2022 年看到他們以及 BJ 的機會。對我們來說，Circle K 的最大勝利在於便利渠道。這就是我們與大約 6,000 家商店簽訂全國分銷協議的地方。

So we're going to continue to expand. We had a great NACS. We talked about that in the third quarter. In October, the company had one of the best NACS shows that I've ever attended with the company. So we feel we're in a good spot. We've got a great key accounts team as well that's been working really hard. And we're going to see the fruits of all their hard work here over the next several quarters -- next several months really.

所以我們將繼續擴大。我們有一個很棒的 NACS。我們在第三季度談到了這一點。 10 月，該公司舉辦了我參加過的最好的 NACS 節目之一。所以我們覺得我們處於一個好位置。我們還有一個很棒的大客戶團隊，他們一直在努力工作。在接下來的幾個季度裡，我們將在這裡看到他們所有辛勤工作的成果——真的是接下來的幾個月。

Got it. Just one more for me and then I'll pass it on. I have a number of questions we can take offline. But just the -- on the gross margin, Edwin, maybe just -- I know you guys don't like to guide. But maybe just at a high level now, what the expectation is given commodity cost pressure? You made the comment that you have higher-cost cans sitting in inventory, and inventory is up materially here as you look at inventory days in the fourth quarter. Can you just help give us some directional sort of guidance on how you expect gross margins to sort of trend here as we look out in '22?

知道了。再給我一個，然後我會傳下去。我有很多問題可以離線處理。但只是 - 毛利率，埃德溫，也許只是 - 我知道你們不喜歡指導。但也許現在只是處於高位，商品成本壓力的預期是什麼？您發表評論說，您的庫存中有成本較高的罐頭，當您查看第四季度的庫存天數時，庫存大幅增加。正如我們在 22 年展望的那樣，您能否幫我們提供一些方向性的指導，說明您預計毛利率將如何變化？

And then within that, anything you can give more broadly because there's sort of this near-term pressure, which is a little bit worse to new investors, but this massive longer-term opportunity for margin expansion as you could potentially approach Monster-like EBITDA margins. So maybe just sort of marry up near-term expectation versus sort of the promise of what could be really material margin expansion longer term. And then I'll pass it on.

然後在此範圍內，您可以更廣泛地給予任何東西，因為存在這種近期壓力，這對新投資者來說有點糟糕，但這是一個巨大的長期利潤率擴張機會，因為您可能會接近怪物般的 EBITDA邊距。因此，也許只是將短期預期與長期可能真正實現實質性利潤率擴張的承諾結合起來。然後我會傳下去。

Thanks, Kevin. Yes, sure. I mean, as we said in the past, there are several variables to that equation, to say the least. One of them is kind of the mix between the local-sourced cans and the cans that we source out of the U.S., which are a higher cost. So clearly, that's going to have an impact. And we're seeing that that's probably going to be -- they're going to be flowing through cost of goods sold, at least through Q2, a little bit thereafter as well. So that's going to be an impact.

謝謝，凱文。是的，當然。我的意思是，正如我們過去所說，至少可以說，這個等式有幾個變量。其中之一是本地採購的罐頭和我們從美國採購的罐頭之間的混合，成本更高。很明顯，這會產生影響。而且我們看到這可能會是 - 他們將通過銷售商品成本流動，至少到第二季度，之後也會有一點。所以這將是一個影響。

And then obviously, the issues that we're seeing with the supply chain in terms of freight, we're all seeing the impact of the macroeconomics in terms of the price of oil and all that. So we'll have to see how that plays out as well in terms of transportation cost. We saw at one point freight cost of a container all the way close to $20,000.

然後很明顯，我們在貨運方面看到的供應鏈問題，我們都看到了宏觀經濟對石油價格等方面的影響。所以我們必須看看這在運輸成本方面是如何發揮作用的。我們曾一度看到一個集裝箱的運費接近 20,000 美元。

So again, there's a lot of variables in this equation, which is very difficult at this point to -- for us to kind of evaluate. And as again, the mix between the local cans and the foreign cans is also going to play an important part of this equation as we cycle those cans through.

再說一次，這個等式中有很多變量，在這一點上我們很難進行評估。同樣，當我們循環這些罐子時，本地罐頭和外國罐頭之間的混合也將在這個等式中發揮重要作用。

In terms of the EBITDA or going forward, yes, at one point, hopefully, when this normalizes, there's always talk about this inflationary being transition in nature, so -- or transitory in nature, I should say. So once we normalize, sure, I think the expectation is that we go back to kind of the gross profitability that we were seeing initially in 2020 and, thereafter, also continue to leverage, with the volume that we have, to then improve our EBITDA margin.

就 EBITDA 或未來而言，是的，希望在某一時刻，當這種情況正常化時，總會有人談論這種通貨膨脹本質上是過渡，所以——或者本質上是暫時的，我應該說。因此，一旦我們正常化，當然，我認為我們的預期是我們會回到我們最初在 2020 年看到的那種毛盈利能力，然後，我們也會繼續利用我們擁有的數量來提高我們的 EBITDA利潤。

Yes. I'll just chime in. When we look at our internal forecast, we're expecting to cycle through the import cans, sourced cans currently sometime in the third quarter. So expect that to be more normalized to 2020 levels as we cycle through it. And we are working on a variety of pricing promotional strategies to offset some of this inflationary pressure that we're currently seeing.

是的。我會插話。當我們查看我們的內部預測時，我們預計將在第三季度的某個時候循環通過進口罐，採購罐。因此，預計隨著我們的循環，它將更加規範化到 2020 年的水平。我們正在製定各種定價促銷策略，以抵消我們目前看到的部分通脹壓力。

Our next question comes from the line of Mark Astrachan with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Mark Astrachan 和 Stifel。

I guess, first, just following up on the stock-based comp commentary. Edwin, I think you said that's the expectation, that it was just specific to that. So are you saying that there's nothing else that you're aware of that could potentially come up, at least at this point? I respect the fact that it could potentially come up over the next 15 days. But are you saying there's nothing else that you're aware of beyond that? And then related to that, was this in any way related to the SEC investigation?

我想，首先，只是跟進基於股票的比較評論。埃德溫，我想你說這是期望，它只是針對那個。那麼，您是說至少在這一點上，您沒有意識到可能會出現其他任何情況？我尊重它可能會在未來 15 天內出現的事實。但是你是說除此之外你就沒有其他的了？然後與此相關，這是否與美國證券交易委員會的調查有關？

Well, no, first of all, I mean, it's a first year audit, right? So clearly, when you -- I've been on the other side of that when I was an auditor. And first year audits are more -- you go into a lot more scrutiny, that kind of thing. We're playing now in the big leagues with Ernst & Young. So perhaps there's something that could surface. At this point, we're not seeing something to that nature. But you never know.

嗯，不，首先，我的意思是，這是第一年的審計，對吧？很明顯，當你——當我還是一名審計員時，我一直站在另一邊。第一年的審計更多——你會進行更多的審查，諸如此類。我們現在和安永在大聯盟打球。所以也許有什麼東西可以浮出水面。在這一點上，我們沒有看到這種性質的東西。但你永遠不知道。

That's why kind of leave the door open at that point or at this point. Because, again, they're doing a very thorough job. And that's fine, and that's what we expect them to do, that kind of thing.

這就是為什麼在那一點或此時讓門敞開著的原因。因為，再一次，他們正在做一項非常徹底的工作。這很好，這就是我們期望他們做的事情，那種事情。

In terms of your other comment, I'm not sure as it relates to that, not necessarily. It's more of a situation that happened regarding some of the awards that had to be properly valued at fair market value for some of these employees that were separated and some of the Board members that also retired.

就您的其他評論而言，我不確定是否與此相關，不一定。對於一些已離職的員工和一些也退休的董事會成員，一些獎項必須以公平的市場價值進行適當估值，這更像是一種情況。

And I'll just chime in, in regards to some of the employees, it was also -- it's a technical aspect there because some of them are still providing services through contractual services. So there was just a technicality. That was an error in interpretation there on those stock awards. So it definitely was an oversight and a correction that was noted. And I think also management feels very confident in the numbers we put out in preliminary numbers. So obviously, I think anything can come up. But at this point, we wouldn't put out preliminary numbers unless management felt confident in the numbers provided today.

我會插話，關於一些員工，這也是 - 這是一個技術方面，因為他們中的一些人仍在通過合同服務提供服務。所以這只是一個技術問題。這是對這些股票獎勵的解釋錯誤。所以這絕對是一個疏忽和一個被注意到的更正。而且我認為管理層也對我們在初步數字中提供的數字非常有信心。很明顯，我認為任何事情都可能發生。但在這一點上，除非管理層對今天提供的數字有信心，否則我們不會公佈初步數字。

Got it. Okay. That's helpful. And then switching over to the business, John. If you looked at your market share on a state-by-state basis, it's pretty interesting that your home state share is something slightly in excess of 10% relative to current national share. It's somewhere in the mid-3s based on the latest data that we've seen.

知道了。好的。這很有幫助。然後切換到業務，約翰。如果您逐個州查看您的市場份額，很有趣的是，您所在州的份額相對於當前的全國份額略高於 10%。根據我們看到的最新數據，它在 3 年代中期的某個地方。

So I guess I'm curious if you could talk a bit about how you think about those 2 numbers sort of ultimately working in unison. And is there anything that would potentially prevent your state market share from improving in some material way once you get more distribution? And I guess, sort of related to that, maybe you could talk about the state of distribution the further you move away from Florida from just an overall penetration standpoint.

所以我想我很好奇你能否談談你如何看待這兩個數字最終一致地工作。一旦您獲得更多分銷，是否有任何可能阻止您的州市場份額以某種實質性方式提高的事情？我想，與此相關，也許你可以從整體滲透的角度談論離佛羅里達越遠的分佈狀態。

Yes. Let me -- the share count you referenced in Florida is phenomenal. I mean, the company has been working extremely hard at that. And also, I think you're really seeing the power of the DSD network. Florida has been fully covered now for a little over -- almost going on 2 years now. So you're really seeing that availability, that increased ACV.

是的。讓我 - 你在佛羅里達州引用的股票數量是驚人的。我的意思是，公司在這方面一直非常努力。而且，我認為您確實看到了 DSD 網絡的力量。佛羅里達州現在已經完全覆蓋了一點點——現在幾乎持續了 2 年。所以你真的看到了可用性，增加了 ACV。

Also, you saw Circle K. We did land Circle K in the Southeast. So that came on as well, and 7-Eleven and a variety of other key accounts as well as Publix. So we've been doing extremely phenomenal there. I think it's just an indicator. It's another indicator. Given the same opportunity, CELSIUS will perform at the same level, if not better than the competition. So Florida is extremely a great state for us as well as Texas and California. And several other states around the country are starting to really increase share in those markets as we build out the DSD network and really been able to activate those accounts, those key accounts and gain more distribution.

此外，您還看到了 Circle K。我們確實在東南部登陸了 Circle K。因此，7-11 和其他各種關鍵客戶以及 Publix 也出現了。所以我們在那裡做得非常出色。我認為這只是一個指標。這是另一個指標。如果有同樣的機會，CELSIUS 的表現即使不比競爭對手更好，也將達到同樣的水平。所以佛羅里達州對我們以及德克薩斯州和加利福尼亞州來說都是一個非常棒的州。隨著我們建立 DSD 網絡並真正能夠激活這些賬戶、那些關鍵賬戶並獲得更多分佈，全國其他幾個州開始真正增加在這些市場中的份額。

Got it. Okay. I just want to clarify one thing, going back to the SEC. So Edwin, is the SEC investigation related to this? Or they are separate items?

知道了。好的。我只想澄清一件事，回到 SEC。那麼 Edwin，SEC 的調查與此有關嗎？還是它們是單獨的項目？

Again, they're completely separate aspects here. I mean, this was more, yes, an internal aspect.

同樣，它們在這裡是完全獨立的方面。我的意思是，這更多，是的，一個內部方面。

Our next question comes from the line of Jeff Van Sinderen with B. Riley.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jeff Van Sinderen 和 B. Riley。

So just wanted to follow up on the Circle K contract, what we're looking at there as far as the rollout. And then also, I wanted to follow up just on the DSD expansion, kind of where we are now in overall percentage. And then what you think is a reasonable target by the end of fiscal '22?

所以只是想跟進 Circle K 合同，我們正在那裡看到的推出。然後，我想跟進 DSD 擴展，我們現在的總體百分比。然後你認為到 22 財年結束時的合理目標是什麼？

Yes, Jeff, thank you. When we look at our overall -- where we're at when we see Circle K, that was a great opportunity. We've been long-term partner with 7-Eleven, and Circle K is a great opportunity for us, and we've been testing in some regions. So getting this national contract and national rollout is really exciting. So it puts us in about -- approximately about 6,000 doors nationwide with about probably around -- right around average about 4 flavors.

是的，傑夫，謝謝。當我們看我們的整體時——當我們看到 Circle K 時，這是一個很好的機會。我們一直是 7-11 的長期合作夥伴，而 Circle K 對我們來說是一個很好的機會，我們一直在一些地區進行測試。因此，獲得這份全國性合同並在全國范圍內推廣真的很令人興奮。因此，它使我們進入了大約 - 全國大約 6,000 家門，大約大約 - 平均大約 4 種口味。

And it's a great really jump start to the DSD network. So we're bringing another great key account to our distribution network. We got a bunch more coming as well. And that's going to further activate and allow us to close that white space that's out there.

這對於 DSD 網絡來說是一個很好的真正起點。因此，我們正在為我們的分銷網絡帶來另一個偉大的關鍵客戶。我們還有更多的人來。這將進一步激活並允許我們關閉那裡的空白。

So we talked about -- I mentioned earlier in the comments, some of the DSD gaps that have been closed in 2021. The team -- the whole DSD management team has done a phenomenal job, really working on closing those gaps, which is extremely difficult to do. We get up to almost over 270 direct store delivery, really warehouses and facilities that are out there that are being managed. We got systems, processes in place, and we're at about 98% of the population covered.

所以我們談到了——我之前在評論中提到過，一些 DSD 的差距已經在 2021 年被彌補了。團隊——整個 DSD 管理團隊做了出色的工作，真正致力於縮小這些差距，這非常很難做到。我們獲得了近 270 多個直接商店交付，真正的倉庫和設施正在那裡進行管理。我們有系統和流程，我們覆蓋了大約 98% 的人口。

So we do have some gaps in certain states we're working to close. The team is getting closer. And we're looking to get a majority coverage and be able to service all of our key accounts nationwide, definitely by the end of 2022. It's definitely the plan. And we're pretty much able to service 98% of the population now. So it's really the next phase. 2022 is all about activation, activating our DSD network, driving more distribution, increasing velocity and getting -- better activating sales and bringing new consumers to the portfolio.

因此，在我們正在努力彌補的某些州，我們確實存在一些差距。隊伍越來越近了。我們希望在 2022 年底之前獲得大多數覆蓋，並能夠為我們在全國范圍內的所有主要客戶提供服務。這絕對是我們的計劃。我們現在幾乎能夠為 98% 的人口提供服務。所以這真的是下一個階段。 2022 年就是激活、激活我們的 DSD 網絡、推動更多分銷、提高速度和獲得——更好地激活銷售並為產品組合帶來新的消費者。

Okay. Great. And then if we could just turn to the 6-orbit warehouse model. Can you give us more detail on, I guess, where you are on ramping that up, what the next milestones are that you're targeting there, time frame around that? And then if you could speak more about what level of benefit you anticipate once the 6-orbit system is fully optimized?

好的。偉大的。然後，如果我們可以轉向 6 軌道倉庫模型。你能不能給我們更多的細節，我猜，你在哪裡加速，你在那裡瞄準的下一個里程碑是什麼，周圍的時間框架？然後，如果您能多談一下，一旦 6 軌道系統完全優化，您預計會帶來什麼水平的收益？

Yes. We started that 6-orbit model in the third quarter, built that out, building the warehouses. We did increase inventories, as you can see in our balance sheet. We feel we're at a really good inventory level, and we're going to be able to activate.

是的。我們在第三季度開始了這個 6 軌道模型，建造了它，建造了倉庫。正如您在我們的資產負債表中看到的那樣，我們確實增加了庫存。我們覺得我們的庫存水平非常好，我們將能夠激活。

Really it's about optimization. So Q4 is about optimizing inventory levels, and also really getting those proper servicing lanes established within the logistics supply chain. So we're working with some of the largest logistics suppliers -- providers to provide us the best rates to service our customers, reducing the number of days to service customers, lead times, and most importantly, driving more efficiency through the networks, full truckloads, full pallet flavors, those types of things, which just really improve your -- we'll be able to improve our freight costs as well so -- and margins.

真的是關於優化。所以第四季度是關於優化庫存水平，並真正在物流供應鏈中建立適當的服務通道。因此，我們正在與一些最大的物流供應商合作——供應商為我們提供最優惠的價格來為我們的客戶提供服務，減少為客戶提供服務的天數，縮短交貨時間，最重要的是，通過網絡提高效率，全面卡車裝載，全托盤口味，那些類型的東西，它們真的可以提高你的 - 我們也將能夠提高我們的運費成本 - 和利潤。

So that's where we're at. We're looking to be really -- when you look at Q1, we're looking to be really further optimized by the end of the first quarter is what the team is really working on. So always optimizing, always trying to improve and get better. But by the end of Q1 2022, we should be really well optimized for 2022.

這就是我們所處的位置。我們真的希望——當你看第一季度時，我們希望在第一季度末得到真正的進一步優化，這是團隊真正在做的事情。所以總是優化，總是試圖改進和變得更好。但是到 2022 年第一季度末，我們應該為 2022 年進行優化。

Our next question comes from the line of Kaumil Gajrawala with Credit Suisse.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的 Kaumil Gajrawala。

If I could follow up on the last question as it relates to how much -- how many of those accounts you've actually changed over of the 98%? I think you gave a lot of examples of accounts, specific names. But are you now 60% converted, 70%? I don't know if I missed it or maybe we never got that figure.

如果我可以跟進最後一個問題，因為它涉及到多少——在 98% 的賬戶中，你實際上改變了多少？我認為您提供了很多帳戶示例，具體名稱。但是你現在是 60% 還是 70%？我不知道我是否錯過了它，或者也許我們從來沒有得到那個數字。

Yes, no worries. Thank you, Kaumil. In regards to -- the 98% is the population coverage. So we're able to service all our key accounts as -- assuming they were all flipped over to our DSD network, we'll be able to service about 98% of the population. So that's really what we meant by the 98%.

是的，不用擔心。謝謝你，考米爾。關於 - 98% 是人口覆蓋率。因此，我們能夠為我們所有的關鍵客戶提供服務——假設它們都被轉移到我們的 DSD 網絡，我們將能夠為大約 98% 的人口提供服務。這就是我們所說的 98% 的真正含義。

When you look at our -- right now, if you break it down, if you look at -- in the press release, we kind of break it out. We have about 65% of our MULO+C, so our MULO convenience stores, are now being serviced by DSD. So we have a lot more optimization to go. And that's what the teams are working on in 2022.

當你看我們的——現在，如果你把它分解，如果你看——在新聞稿中，我們有點把它分解了。我們有大約 65% 的 MULO+C，所以我們的 MULO 便利店現在由 DSD 提供服務。所以我們還有很多優化要做。這就是團隊在 2022 年所做的工作。

So new accounts are all coming on through DSD, and some of our existing established accounts, we're working on converting them over. So like I said on prior calls, it does take time. It's not as easy as an overnight flicking a switch. There is a process that has to take place, and the teams are working hard to move over. Because we know when servicing -- by having CELSIUS serviced by DSD, we increase velocity, increase within the given store. So -- and it benefits everyone, benefits the store owners, it benefits our distributors and benefits us.

因此，新帳戶都通過 DSD 出現，而我們現有的一些已建立帳戶，我們正在努力轉換它們。所以就像我在之前的電話中所說的那樣，這確實需要時間。這不像一夜之間輕按開關那麼容易。有一個過程必鬚髮生，團隊正在努力工作。因為我們知道何時進行維修——通過讓 DSD 為 CELSIUS 提供服務，我們提高了速度，在給定的商店內增加。所以——這對每個人都有好處，有利於店主，有利於我們的經銷商，也有利於我們。

And that MULO+C number is representative of your overall, does that sound fair? 65-ish percent?

MULO+C 的數字代表了你的整體情況，這聽起來公平嗎？ 65%左右？

Yes.

是的。

Yes. Okay. The next question on margins. Can you give maybe a little more context on what the perhaps the spread is on the imported cans versus the domestic cans? We look at how much gross margins were down. Would they have been down half as much if you were sourcing domestically 1/3? Can you maybe just give some context of as you work through that inventory, we have a sense of where margins -- what margin should look like?

是的。好的。下一個關於邊距的問題。您能否就進口罐頭與國產罐頭的價差提供更多背景信息？我們看看毛利率下降了多少。如果您在國內採購 1/3，它們會下降一半嗎？您能否提供一些背景信息，說明當您處理該庫存時，我們對利潤率在哪裡——利潤率應該是什麼樣子有所了解？

Yes. I mean, as we work through the margins, I mean, we said once we cycle through the international cans, we expect to be back to margins somewhere closer to the full year of 2020. So that's really where we see the margins at this current level, where our current run rate is.

是的。我的意思是，當我們通過利潤率工作時，我的意思是，我們說過，一旦我們通過國際罐頭循環，我們預計將在接近 2020 年全年的某個地方恢復利潤率。所以這就是我們目前看到的利潤率水平，我們當前的運行率。

But when you look at the international -- some of these sourced cans, they're coming in, as Edwin mentioned, some of the can costs on containers are $20,000 a container. We're starting to see container prices drop a little bit. We do have some more imported cans that have to come over, and we have some on the water. So that's why we anticipate those to cycle through some time, based on our current internal forecast, right around the third quarter, so 2022. And you're seeing some of those imported cans are right around a 3% -- or 3% to 4% margin impact overall. So it's pretty substantial.

但是，當您查看國際市場時，正如 Edwin 所提到的，其中一些採購罐頭正在進入市場，一些集裝箱罐頭的成本是每個集裝箱 20,000 美元。我們開始看到集裝箱價格略有下降。我們確實有更多的進口罐要過來，我們還有一些在水上。所以這就是為什麼我們預計這些會在一段時間內循環，根據我們目前的內部預測，大約在第三季度，也就是 2022 年。你會看到其中一些進口罐頭大約在 3% 或 3% 到整體利潤率影響為 4%。所以它相當可觀。

And then we have some -- also some transitory freight increases that we've seen, and raw material costs that we're working through. And we're trying to offset and mitigate some of those increases with pricing and promotional strategies that we have implemented.

然後我們有一些 - 還有一些我們已經看到的暫時性運費增加，以及我們正在努力解決的原材料成本。我們正試圖通過我們實施的定價和促銷策略來抵消和減輕其中的一些增長。

Okay. Great. And then finally, if I could ask about marketing spend. You're now -- as you push to fulfill that 98%, as you mentioned, '22 is all about activation. How should we be thinking about your marketing and sales spending?

好的。偉大的。最後，如果我可以問一下營銷支出。你現在——正如你所提到的，當你努力實現這 98% 時，22 年就是激活。我們應該如何考慮您的營銷和銷售支出？

We are investing ahead of revenue based on our -- where we are in our life cycle and our growth cycle. So we're hiring a variety of staff members in all departments from finance, sales, marketing, operations. So we're really building out our team. So we are investing headcount resources in regards to marketing. We're trying to be very methodical on our approach on marketing, but we are, as Edwin mentioned in his comments -- prepared comments, we're getting back into events. We're really seeing some great activation. We're gaining more distribution as well.

我們根據我們在生命週期和增長周期中所處的位置，在收入之前進行投資。因此，我們正在從財務、銷售、營銷、運營的所有部門招聘各種員工。所以我們真的在建立我們的團隊。因此，我們在營銷方面投入了人力資源。我們正在努力對我們的營銷方法非常有條理，但正如埃德溫在他的評論中提到的那樣 - 準備好的評論，我們正在重新參與活動。我們確實看到了一些很棒的激活。我們也獲得了更多的分佈。

So it's very important, as we gain distribution, we continue to market and invest behind the brand to continue to drive those new consumers to the portfolio, to maintain those velocities at retail. So we're working on that. We're going to gain more efficiencies as we go. I think if you look at what -- our current quarter, we're probably somewhere around -- maintain some of those spending levels currently on a go-forward basis through 2022.

因此，非常重要的是，隨著我們獲得分銷，我們將繼續在品牌背後進行營銷和投資，以繼續將這些新消費者吸引到產品組合中，以保持零售業的發展速度。所以我們正在努力。隨著我們的發展，我們將獲得更多的效率。我認為，如果你看一下——我們當前的季度，我們可能在某個地方——在 2022 年之前保持目前的一些支出水平。

And if you look at the G&A, I think if you back out some of the stock-based compensation expense there that was in the fourth quarter, we're right around a 6%, 6.1%. And that does include increased costs associated with accounting and legal and those type of fees as well as consultants that are helping us as well. So there's definitely a lot of leverage in the model as we grow.

如果你看一下 G&A，我認為如果你取消第四季度的一些基於股票的薪酬支出，我們大約是 6%、6.1%。這確實包括與會計和法律相關的成本增加，以及那些類型的費用以及幫助我們的顧問。因此，隨著我們的成長，模型中肯定有很多影響力。

Our next question comes from the line of Sean McGowan with ROTH Capital.

我們的下一個問題來自 ROTH Capital 的 Sean McGowan。

Yes, I wanted to start with a couple of quickies, too. So is -- I mean, is all of the stock-based compensation expense taken in the G&A line? So like 100% of that is in that line?

是的，我也想從幾個快速開始。那麼——我的意思是，所有基於股票的薪酬費用都計入了 G&A 線嗎？所以就像 100% 在那條線上？

Correct. Yes.

正確的。是的。

And is the level that we see then for the fourth quarter, is that -- do you think that's going to be like a normal level that we should expect to see each quarter? Or is there kind of some catch-up from this issue that you flagged, and we would see that level actually go down over time?

我們當時看到的第四季度的水平是 - 你認為這會像我們每個季度應該看到的正常水平嗎？還是您標記的這個問題有一些追趕，我們會看到這個水平實際上會隨著時間的推移而下降？

I mean, it should be around what you're seeing now or what we commented on going forward.

我的意思是，它應該圍繞您現在所看到的或我們對未來的評論。

Okay. Then shifting to a housekeeping on taxes. Can you give us what the dollar amount was of that deferred tax credit reversal [in the release]?

好的。然後轉向稅收管家。你能告訴我們[在新聞稿中]遞延稅收抵免逆轉的美元金額是多少？

Yes, I think it was around $8 million, $8.5 million.

是的，我認為大約是 800 萬美元，850 萬美元。

Okay. That's the whole thing then. What would you expect would be the tax rate going forward then?

好的。這就是全部。你預計未來的稅率會是多少？

Well, we still have some NOLs. So again, and we're cycling through that in terms of the provision and finalizing those computations. So -- but yes, we're still going to have some -- a little bit of NOLs going forward.

好吧，我們還有一些 NOL。再說一次，我們在提供和最終確定這些計算方面進行循環。所以 - 但是是的，我們仍然會有一些 - 一些 NOL 向前推進。

Okay. But it should be higher, I mean, some significantly higher rate than what we've been showing, right?

好的。但它應該更高，我的意思是，比我們展示的要高得多，對吧？

Yes. Obviously, yes, depending on the profitability and so forth. But yes.

是的。顯然，是的，取決於盈利能力等等。但是，是的。

And jurisdiction. Okay. And a couple of other questions, John. On the -- could you provide a little bit more color on the inventory build? How much of that is just pure inflation? And where do you expect maybe more use -- where would you expect days inventory to be 12 months from now?

和管轄。好的。還有幾個其他問題，約翰。關於——你能在庫存構建上提供更多的顏色嗎？其中有多少只是純粹的通貨膨脹？您希望在哪裡使用更多——您希望從現在起 12 個月後的天數庫存在哪裡？

Yes, I'll jump in as well and feel free to chime in. But our days of inventory, we're looking at a -- when you look back, you've got to be able to look forward on a go forward. And we did prepay a lot of -- a big chunk of raw materials. So we got a little -- right around $60 million, $70 million of additional prepaid associated with cans and raw materials.

是的，我也會加入並隨時加入。但是我們的庫存天，我們正在尋找一個 - 當你回顧時，你必須能夠向前看。我們確實預付了很多——一大塊原材料。所以我們得到了一點——大約 6000 萬美元，7000 萬美元與罐頭和原材料相關的額外預付。

It's still a lot -- very difficult out there, environment in raw materials. We took advantage of making strategic prepayments, making sure we secured raw materials as we enter 2022 and enter really this -- start to get in position for resets and summer beverage season as well. So that puts us in a good position, so we maintain stock levels.

它仍然很多——非常困難，原材料環境。我們利用進行戰略性預付款，確保我們在進入 2022 年並真正進入這個階段時獲得原材料 - 開始為重置和夏季飲料季節做好準備。這使我們處於有利地位，因此我們維持庫存水平。

But as you go forward, I mean, in the growth that we're seeing, some of the growth rates, especially in North America, upwards of 200%, you really need to be very close to the inventory levels. It's important that we maintain a higher inventory level as we go forward with these growth rates. But ideally, we want to be, somewhere at this stage, right around 90 to 120 days on hand. We are sitting currently at the end of the year at a higher level just due to the large production runs we made in December, strategically positioning us for 2022.

但隨著你向前發展，我的意思是，在我們看到的增長中，一些增長率，尤其是在北美，超過 200%，你真的需要非常接近庫存水平。在我們推進這些增長率的過程中，保持較高的庫存水平很重要。但理想情況下，我們希望在現階段的某個地方，手頭大約有 90 到 120 天。由於我們在 12 月進行的大規模生產，我們目前在年底處於更高的水平，為 2022 年進行了戰略定位。

Okay. Then final question on international. We've talked quite a bit over the course of last year about North America being the focus because that's where there's so much low-hanging fruit and opportunity. Is there anything else that's constraining international sales from being higher? Can we expect that growth rate to accelerate?

好的。然後是關於國際的最後一個問題。在去年的過程中，我們已經談了很多關於北美成為焦點的話題，因為那裡有很多唾手可得的果實和機會。還有什麼其他因素限制了國際銷售額的增長嗎？我們可以預期增長速度會加快嗎？

I think there's -- what we said on somewhat conservative on international currently. We do see a lot of opportunities there. We did -- you have that opportunity in the Nordics to expand out. We've started to do that on Amazon, as mentioned, entering Great Britain, the U.K. and also into Germany. So there is opportunities also in Asia with Southeast Asia. There's a lot of opportunities there. But we're being very methodical in our approach as we continue to grow in scale. As we see increased velocity, we'll put increased investments in currently. But I think the current -- where we stand now, it's being a very methodical approach and conservative.

我認為有 - 我們目前在國際上所說的有些保守。我們確實在那裡看到了很多機會。我們做到了——你在北歐有機會擴張。如前所述，我們已經開始在亞馬遜上這樣做，進入英國、英國和德國。所以亞洲和東南亞也有機會。那裡有很多機會。但隨著我們的規模不斷擴大，我們的方法非常有條理。隨著我們看到速度的提高，我們將在目前增加投資。但我認為目前 - 我們現在的立場是一種非常有條理的方法和保守的方法。

Yes. What we've said in international, the key aspect is to identify good partners. You own master distributors so that then you avoid having a large footprint. And again, even things like currency exposure and things of that nature. So like John said, it's always about identifying those key partners in those different markets.

是的。我們在國際上說過，關鍵是要找到好的合作夥伴。您擁有主分銷商，這樣您就可以避免佔用大量空間。再一次，甚至像貨幣風險和那種性質的事情。所以就像約翰說的那樣，總是要在那些不同的市場中識別那些關鍵的合作夥伴。

Our next question comes from the line of Sean King with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀的肖恩金。

I guess a question about just looking at how strong growth was in the quarter and thinking about some of the difficult comparisons in the back half of 2022, like how should we be thinking about sort of bumping up against production constraints? And I guess the confidence that you have that you can keep up this level of growth.

我想一個問題是，看看本季度的增長有多強勁，並考慮到 2022 年下半年的一些困難比較，比如我們應該如何考慮應對生產限制？我猜你有信心保持這種增長水平。

Yes. I think when you look at the growth we've had, I mean, we're going to continue -- we're forecasting internally in regards to our inventory levels. We expect to continue to drive continued momentum and share in the category. So as we mentioned, we've got 13 co-packers that are active. We're talking to a variety of others. We have Paul Storey we've brought on last year, who has a great knowledge of the beverage industry, especially with co-packing and associated with energy drinks. So we really feel that we're in a really good position currently as we scale. We have capacity levels.

是的。我認為當你看到我們的增長時，我的意思是，我們將繼續 - 我們在內部預測我們的庫存水平。我們預計將繼續推動該類別的持續發展勢頭和份額。正如我們所提到的，我們有 13 個活躍的聯合包裝商。我們正在與其他各種各樣的人交談。我們有去年聘請的 Paul Storey，他對飲料行業非常了解，尤其是在聯合包裝和與能量飲料相關的方面。所以我們真的覺得隨著我們的規模擴大，我們目前處於一個非常好的位置。我們有能力水平。

We're telling -- internally, we're telling sales to outsell production and having an internal competition on it. So I think we're in really good position. We feel in a really good space. Things happened that can happen out of your control. But as we sit right now, we're ready for -- to continue to drive scale.

我們告訴 - 在內部，我們告訴銷售超過生產並在內部競爭。所以我認為我們處於非常好的位置。我們覺得在一個非常好的空間。發生的事情可能超出您的控制範圍。但正如我們現在坐下來的那樣，我們已經準備好——繼續擴大規模。

Our next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Cohen with Ladenburg Thalmann.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jeffrey Cohen 和 Ladenburg Thalmann 的觀點。

If I could follow up a little bit as far as the co-packers, you're up to 13 now. How does that pace look over the third quarter? And what would you anticipate domestically for '22?

如果我能跟進一下聯合包裝員，你現在已經 13 歲了。這個速度在第三季度看起來如何？您對 22 年在國內的預期是什麼？

Right now, we're at 6 orbits. You're going to see us -- what we want to do is as we drive efficiencies, you want to keep your supply chain in your warehouses in an orbit. You really don't want to ship outside of an orbit to gain efficiencies. So right now where our volumes are at, we're at a 6 orbit. But as we grow in scale, we'll continue to create more orbits, which will further drive efficiencies through the model and the supply chain.

現在，我們處於 6 個軌道。你會看到我們——我們想做的是在我們提高效率的同時，你想讓你的倉庫中的供應鏈保持在一個軌道上。您真的不想在軌道外運送以提高效率。所以現在我們的體積在哪裡，我們在一個 6 軌道上。但隨著我們規模的擴大，我們將繼續創造更多的軌道，這將通過模型和供應鏈進一步提高效率。

So that is really based on how fast and how quickly we scale, and that we're building our plans and you'll see those to come alive. So we're talking to a variety of additional co-packers, strategically placed around the country as well as additional warehouse facilities that we'll be able to -- you want to put the least amount of miles on cases and be as efficient as you possibly can. So that's what we're working on, but we feel we're in a good position right now, given our current growth levels and current volume.

所以這真的取決於我們擴展的速度和速度，我們正在製定我們的計劃，你會看到這些計劃付諸實施。因此，我們正在與戰略性地分佈在全國各地的各種額外的聯合包裝商以及我們能夠提供的額外倉庫設施進行談判——您希望在箱子上花費最少的里程並儘可能高效你可能可以。所以這就是我們正在做的事情，但鑑於我們目前的增長水平和目前的數量，我們覺得我們現在處於一個很好的位置。

Got it. And I wanted to touch base again on the inventory levels and cans specifically. So domestic cans have caught up as far as supply and demand out there. Is that a good way to look at it over the past few months?

知道了。我想再次具體談談庫存水平和罐頭。因此，就供應和需求而言，國內罐頭已經趕上了。這是過去幾個月來看待它的好方法嗎？

I wouldn't say it's -- you're still hearing a lot of capacity constraints out there. So we feel we're in a good position based on some long-term agreements and arrangements we've made. But in general, can supply is still tight. If you look at a lot of the major can manufacturers that are out there and the comments that they're saying, it's tight right now. And that's going to be difficult for a lot of smaller brands. You're still seeing a lot of smaller brands wrapping cans out there. Obviously, that's a lot more expensive than importing cans or sourcing cans abroad.

我不會說它 - 你仍然聽到很多容量限制。因此，根據我們達成的一些長期協議和安排，我們認為我們處於有利地位。但總的來說，罐頭供應仍然緊張。如果您查看許多主要的罐頭製造商以及他們所說的評論，那麼現在很緊張。對於許多小品牌來說，這將是困難的。你仍然會看到很多小品牌包裝罐頭。顯然，這比進口罐頭或在國外採購罐頭要貴得多。

But we feel, based on our volume, we have additional leverage to be able to buy and purchase and secure domestic cans on a go-forward basis, based on our current internal forecast, once we cycle through these sourced cans that we have currently in inventory.

但我們認為，根據我們的數量，一旦我們循環通過我們目前擁有的這些採購罐頭，我們就有額外的籌碼能夠購買和購買並確保國內罐頭繼續前進，根據我們目前的內部預測。存貨。

Okay. And when we think of inventory, could you give us a sense of what percent that is of cans as opposed to fully finished products?

好的。當我們想到庫存時，您能否告訴我們罐頭與成品的百分比是多少？

Yes. We're probably about -- 15% to 20% of our inventory is probably currently within our packaging components.

是的。我們可能大約 - 我們庫存的 15% 到 20% 目前可能在我們的包裝組件中。

Got it. Okay. And the balance is finished products.

知道了。好的。其餘為成品。

We do have some additional raw materials in there as well.

我們那裡也有一些額外的原材料。

Packaging materials. Yes.

包裝材料。是的。

Okay. Got it. And then any sense -- and I know you talked a little bit about some of the challenges of labor and logistics. Any sense of how they may affect the gross profit differential between the outbound freight and the gross profit going forward? Does it feel like it's peaked out? Or does it potentially continue to diverge slightly?

好的。知道了。然後是任何意義——我知道你談到了一些勞動力和物流方面的挑戰。了解它們如何影響出境運費和未來毛利之間的毛利差異嗎？是不是感覺已經達到頂峰了？還是它可能會繼續略有分歧？

There so many macro elements that are happening right now, I mean, gas prices and what's happening in the current environment. So we're sitting in a really unknown area going forward. I mean we're trying to mitigate as much as we can.

現在有很多宏觀因素正在發生，我的意思是，汽油價格以及當前環境中正在發生的事情。因此，我們正處於一個非常未知的領域。我的意思是我們正在盡可能地減輕壓力。

In regards to labor, there's still a lot of labor shortages around. We're having that -- those challenges internally here in all of our departments. We have positions open, where we're trying to get really qualified, good talent into the company. So I think every company is being affected these days in regards to logistics and trucking labor. That is short as well. I don't have the number in front of me. I think I had it in the last call, there was a substantial number of open positions and drivers. And also now you have gas prices that are anticipated to continue to climb. So we're getting into somewhat of an interesting area, which we're going to all be impacted by.

在勞動力方面，仍然存在大量勞動力短缺。我們在所有部門內部都面臨著這些挑戰。我們有職位空缺，我們正在努力讓真正合格的優秀人才進入公司。所以我認為現在每家公司在物流和貨運勞動力方面都受到影響。那也很短。我面前沒有號碼。我想我在上一次電話會議上就知道了，有大量的空缺職位和司機。而且現在您的汽油價格預計將繼續攀升。所以我們正在進入一個有趣的領域，我們都會受到影響。

Yes. The gap in outbound freight has always been around 8% to 10%. So yes, who knows again, with the gas prices and all that, how that's going to further perhaps make that gap broader. But that's what it's been in the past historically.

是的。出境貨運的差距一直在 8% 到 10% 左右。所以，是的，誰又知道，隨著汽油價格和所有這些，這將如何進一步擴大這一差距。但這就是歷史上過去的情況。

Okay. Got it. And then lastly for us, on the CycleBar exclusive, is that with all the national CycleBars? I think there's a couple of hundred out there.

好的。知道了。最後對我們來說，在 CycleBar 獨家上，是所有國家的 CycleBars 嗎？我想那裡有幾百個。

That is -- there's a couple of hundred currently out there. It's a great partnership for us, a great partnership, a great brand, and we're looking for a great year with them. So we've got a lot of things planned , a lot of events planned, cross-promotions planned and it should be exciting.

也就是說——目前有幾百個。這對我們來說是一個很好的合作夥伴關係，一個很好的合作夥伴關係，一個偉大的品牌，我們正在尋找與他們一起度過美好的一年。所以我們計劃了很多事情，計劃了很多活動，計劃了交叉促銷，這應該是令人興奮的。

Our next question comes from the line of Anthony Vendetti with Maxim Group.

我們的下一個問題來自 Maxim Group 的 Anthony Vendetti。

This is actually [Jeremy] on the line for Anthony. Just 2 quick questions. First, regarding store expansion, how much runway do you think you have left for that? You had a really tremendous growth in 2021, and how should we look at the growth in store expansion in 2022?

這實際上是安東尼的[傑里米]。只需 2 個快速問題。首先，關於門店擴張，你認為你還剩下多少跑道？你們在 2021 年實現了巨大的增長，我們應該如何看待 2022 年門店擴張的增長？

Well, I think there's -- the biggest opportunity for us right now, it's twofold. So number one is optimizing existing accounts, so gaining better placements, additional flavors. Cold placements is a big opportunity where we see increased velocities. So that's what our teams are really working on, is really better -- having that perfect store, working towards that perfect store. So -- and that's really leveraging the DSD network and our team. So that is one component. So existing same-store sales opportunities.

嗯，我認為現在對我們來說是最大的機會，它是雙重的。因此，第一是優化現有帳戶，從而獲得更好的展示位置和更多風味。冷放置是一個很大的機會，我們看到速度增加。所以這就是我們的團隊真正在做的事情，真的更好——擁有一家完美的商店，朝著那家完美的商店努力。所以——這真的是在利用 DSD 網絡和我們的團隊。這是一個組成部分。所以現有的同店銷售機會。

And then number two, when you look at where our convenience is, the convenience channel, we're sitting roughly around a 44% ACV. So lots of runway left just in the reported stores in the convenience channel. You're looking at -- we got almost a 56% opportunity of additional distribution and convenience, which is usually the higher -- in the energy space, the higher-velocity location.

然後第二個，當你看看我們的便利在哪裡，便利渠道時，我們的 ACV 大約是 44%。所以很多跑道就在便利頻道的報導商店裡。您正在查看 - 我們獲得了近 56% 的額外分配和便利機會，通常是更高的 - 在能源領域，速度更快的位置。

And then the expansion in nonreported, tracked channels is a great opportunity for us. So it's a little bit of a variety of things, same-store sales optimization, convenience channel, big opportunity, and then some of the opportunities that lie in these untracked channels.

然後擴展未報告的、跟踪的渠道對我們來說是一個很好的機會。所以是一點點的各種各樣的東西，同店銷售優化，便利渠道，大機會，然後是一些機會，隱藏在這些未被跟踪的渠道中。

Okay. And then the Costco contract, I know that you're about -- you said you were in about 500 stores in Costco.

好的。然後是 Costco 合同，我知道你是關於 - 你說你在 Costco 的大約 500 家商店。

We're in 561 today roughly.

我們今天大致在 561。

Right. Okay. And then there -- is there plans to grow? Because I know they have about 880 stores nationwide or warehouses they call them.

正確的。好的。然後——有發展計劃嗎？因為我知道他們在全國范圍內有大約 880 家商店或他們稱之為倉庫的倉庫。

Yes, warehouses. Currently, we're in about 561. I have to check on the expansion number, but roughly 561, I think, was the last count, but should be in a Costco near you. If not, ask for it.

是的，倉庫。目前，我們大約在 561 處。我必須檢查擴展編號，但我認為大約 561 是最後一次計數，但應該在你附近的 Costco 中。如果沒有，請索取。

No, I have seen it, have seen it. So is there any risk that -- I know -- I shop at Costco a lot. I've seen a lot of times products, they have a -- they're there for a little bit and then they're out and you don't see them again. Is there a risk that they have -- you have certain metrics you have to hit? Is there a risk that they could pull that contract? I don't know that works exactly. If you could give us a little more insight into that?

不，我見過，見過。那麼是否有任何風險——我知道——我經常在 Costco 購物。我見過很多次產品，它們有——它們存在一段時間，然後它們就出來了，你再也看不到它們了。他們是否有風險——你必須達到某些指標？他們是否有可能取消該合同？我不知道那確實有效。如果你能給我們更多的了解呢？

Yes. That's the beverage business. So in pretty much any business in retail, so you really have about 6 months to perform otherwise you're out. So retail shelf is expensive, not only at Costco but every single retailer in the country. So it's important to continue to drive velocity, drive consumers, drive growth and share in the category. So that's just the business we operate in, and it's extremely important that we rotate at retail. Otherwise, you start losing distribution. At this point, we're gaining distribution because of the velocity that's happening in existing accounts.

是的。這就是飲料業務。所以在零售業的幾乎所有業務中，你真的有大約 6 個月的時間來執行，否則你就出局了。因此，零售貨架價格昂貴，不僅在 Costco，而且在該國的每一家零售商。因此，重要的是繼續推動速度、推動消費者、推動增長和在該類別中的份額。所以這只是我們經營的業務，我們在零售業進行輪換非常重要。否則，你開始失去分佈。在這一點上，由於現有帳戶中發生的速度，我們正在獲得分配。

This is all the time we have for questions. I'd like to hand the call back over to John Fieldly for closing remarks.

這就是我們要提問的所有時間。我想將電話轉回給 John Fieldly 進行結束髮言。

Thank you. On behalf of the company, I'd like to thank everyone for their continued interest and support. Our results demonstrate the product is gaining considerable momentum. We're capitalizing on today's health and wellness trends and transformation taking place in the energy category. Our active lifestyle position is a global position with mass appeal. We're building upon our core and leveraging best practices. We have a winning portfolio, strategy and team in a rapidly transformation category. We see great opportunities. We believe we will navigate through the challenges ahead, and we are well positioned to thrive in today's energy drink category. Thank you, everyone, for your time today and confidence in the team. Stay safe, stay healthy and lifted. Thank you.

謝謝你。我謹代表公司感謝大家一直以來的關注和支持。我們的結果表明該產品正在獲得相當大的動力。我們正在利用當今的健康和保健趨勢以及能源類別中發生的轉變。我們積極的生活方式定位是具有大眾吸引力的全球定位。我們正在構建我們的核心並利用最佳實踐。我們在快速轉型的類別中擁有成功的投資組合、戰略和團隊。我們看到了巨大的機會。我們相信我們將應對未來的挑戰，並且我們已做好準備在當今的能量飲料類別中蓬勃發展。謝謝大家，感謝你們今天的時間和對團隊的信心。保持安全，保持健康和振奮。謝謝你。

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and have a wonderful day.

女士們，先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。你可以在這個時候斷開你的線路，並度過美好的一天。