Central Garden & Pet Co (CENT) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to Central Garden & Pet's fiscal 2025 first quarter earnings call. My name is Julian and I'll be operator conference operator for today. (Operator Instructions). As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

女士們、先生們，感謝你們的支持。歡迎參加 Central Garden & Pet 2025 財年第一季財報電話會議。我叫朱利安，今天我將擔任接線生會議的接線生。（操作員指令）。提醒一下，本次電話會議正在錄音。

I will now turn the call over to Friederike Edelmann, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please proceed.

現在我將把電話轉給投資者關係副總裁 Friederike Edelmann。請繼續。

Good afternoon, everyone and thank you for joining Central's first quarter fiscal 2025 earnings call. Joining me today are Niko Lahanas, Chief Executive Officer; Brad Smith, Chief Financial Officer; John Hanson, President of Pet Consumer Products; and J.D. Walker, President of Garden Consumer Products.

大家下午好，感謝大家參加 Central 2025 財年第一季財報電話會議。今天與我一起出席的還有執行長 Niko Lahanas；財務長布拉德史密斯 (Brad Smith)；寵物消費品總裁約翰漢森 (John Hanson)；以及 Garden Consumer Products 總裁 J.D. Walker。

In a moment, Niko will share today's key takeaways followed by Brad who will discuss these in more detail. After their prepared remarks, J.D. and John will join us for our Q&A session. Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that all forward-looking statements made during this call are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from what those forward-looking statements express or imply today.

稍後，Niko 將分享今天的重點內容，然後 Brad 將更詳細地討論這些內容。在發表準備好的發言後，J.D. 和 John 將加入我們的問答環節。在我們開始之前，我想提醒大家，本次電話會議中所做的所有前瞻性陳述都存在風險和不確定性，這些風險和不確定性可能導致我們的實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述今天表達或暗示的結果有重大差異。

A detailed description of central's risk factors can be found in our annual report filed with the SEC. Please note that Central undertakes no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or other developments. Our press release and related materials including a GAAP reconciliation for the non-GAAP measures discussed on this call are available on ir.central.com.

關於中央風險因素的詳細描述可以在我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的年度報告中找到。請注意，Central 不承擔公開更新前瞻性聲明以反映新資訊、未來事件或其他發展的義務。我們的新聞稿和相關資料（包括本次電話會議討論的非 GAAP 指標的 GAAP 對帳）可在 ir.central.com 上查閱。

Lastly, unless otherwise specified, all growth comparisons discussed during this call are made against the same period in the prior year. If you have any further questions after the call or any point during the quarter, please feel free to reach out to me directly and with that, let's begin, Niko.

最後，除非另有說明，本次電話會議中討論的所有成長比較均與去年同期相比。如果您在通話後或本季的任何時候有任何其他問題，請隨時直接與我聯繫，讓我們開始吧，尼科。

Thank you, Friederike, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for taking the time to join us today. I'd like to begin by highlighting the three key takeaways from this call.

謝謝你，Friederike，大家下午好。感謝您今天抽出時間來參加我們的活動。首先，我想強調一下這通通話的三個關鍵要點。

First, a strong start to the fiscal year. Thanks to excellent execution by team Central. Second, steady progress in simplifying our business and driving efficiency through footprint rationalization, portfolio optimization and cost structure improvements and third confidence in our outlook for the year. Now let me expand on these points.

首先，本財年開局強勁。感謝中央團隊的優秀執行。第二，透過合理化佈局、優化產品組合和改進成本結構，我們在簡化業務和提高效率方面取得了穩步進展；第三，我們對今年的前景充滿信心。現在讓我詳細闡述一下這些觀點。

First quarter achievements. We delivered a solid performance in the first quarter with growth in both earnings per share and net sales. This was driven by timing of shipments across pet and garden categories and channels supported by favorable weather conditions for the garden business and timing of promotional activities in our pet business.

第一季的成績。我們在第一季取得了穩健的業績，每股盈餘和淨銷售額均有所成長。這是由於寵物和花園類別的出貨時間和管道的推動，以及花園業務的有利天氣條件和寵物業務的促銷活動時間。

Most notably, margins improved due to disciplined cost management and easing inflationary pressures. We're particularly encouraged by the robust continued growth in e-commerce which reflects our enhanced digital capabilities. These achievements are a testament to the dedication and hard work of team Central; their grit and unwavering commitment drive our success and because of them, we're building an even stronger future.

最值得注意的是，由於嚴格的成本管理和通膨壓力的緩解，利潤率有所提高。電子商務的持續強勁成長令我們感到特別鼓舞，這反映了我們數位化能力的增強。這些成就證明了中央團隊的奉獻精神和辛勤工作；他們的勇氣和堅定不移的承諾推動了我們的成功，並且由於他們的努力，我們正在建立一個更強大的未來。

Second, cost simplicity program. Our cost and simplicity program drives meaningful results. Initiatives implemented in prior periods are yielding tangible benefits and we continue to roll out new projects. Highlights of the first quarter include distribution optimization. Our new distribution center in Covington, Georgia has now been operational for over 100 days.

第二，成本簡化計劃。我們的成本和簡化計劃帶來了有意義的成果。前期實施的措施正在產生切實的效益，我們正在繼續推出新的專案。第一季的亮點包括分銷優化。我們位於喬治亞州卡溫頓的新配送中心現已投入 100 多天。

This facility replaced seven legacy facilities significantly reducing our distribution footprint while increasing efficiency. Safety and productivity enhancements across all [BUs] we have implemented measures to improve safety, particularly within our merchandizing teams. These efforts have boosted productivity and overall output.

該設施取代了七個舊設施，大大減少了我們的分銷足跡，同時提高了效率。所有 [BU] 的安全性和生產力增強我們都已實施措施來提高安全性，特別是在我們的商品銷售團隊中。這些努力提高了生產力和整體產量。

Ecommerce expansion. We recently expanded our ecommerce operations to Eastern Pennsylvania. This new facility strengthens our ability to manage and fulfill our own direct to consumer business as well as drop shipments for retail partners more effectively.

電子商務擴張。我們最近將電子商務業務擴展到賓州東部。這個新設施增強了我們管理和履行直接面向消費者的業務以及為零售合作夥伴提供直運服務的能力。

These initiatives are part of our broader strategy to make central leaner, more agile and more efficient. Positioning us for margin expansion while freeing up resources to support organic growth, strategic M&A and our commitment to social responsibility and environmental stewardship.

這些措施是我們更廣泛策略的一部分，旨在使中央更加精簡、更有彈性、更有效率。幫助我們擴大利潤率，同時釋放資源來支持有機成長、策略併購以及我們對社會責任和環境管理的承諾。

On that note, we're proud to share some of our business units and teams have collaborated to support several animal welfare organizations, assisting communities impacted by the wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Our contributions include essential pet supplies such as dog beds, training pads, food and toys, along with a cash donation to LA County Animal Care & Control and Best Friends Animal Society.

就此而言，我們很自豪地分享我們的一些業務部門和團隊已經合作支持了幾個動物福利組織，以幫助受洛杉磯地區野火影響的社區。我們的捐贈包括寵物必需用品，如狗床、訓練墊、食物和玩具，以及向洛杉磯縣動物護理與控制中心和最佳朋友動物協會捐贈的現金。

Third, our outlook for the fiscal year. We're confident in our strategy. Our team and the deliberate actions we're taking to drive sustainable and profitable growth in fiscal 2025 and beyond. As such, we're reaffirming our fiscal 2025 guidance for non-GAAP EPS of $2.20 or higher, maintaining our focus on delivering long term value.

第三，我們對本財年的展望。我們對我們的策略充滿信心。我們的團隊以及我們正在採取的深思熟慮的行動，旨在推動 2025 財年及以後的可持續盈利增長。因此，我們重申 2025 財年非 GAAP 每股盈餘指引為 2.20 美元或更高，並繼續專注於實現長期價值。

Looking ahead, we'll continue to exercise disciplined cost and cash management while strategically investing in critical capabilities particularly in e-commerce, digital and innovation. Our strategic M&A efforts remain focused on enhancing growth priorities, expanding capabilities and strengthening our portfolio.

展望未來，我們將繼續實行嚴格的成本和現金管理，同時對關鍵能力進行策略性投資，特別是在電子商務、數位和創新領域。我們的策略併購工作仍集中在加強成長重點、擴大能力和加強我們的投資組合。

That said, we recognize the complexity of the external environment which includes macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties such as potential tariffs.

話雖如此，我們認識到外部環境的複雜性，包括宏觀經濟和地緣政治的不確定性，例如潛在的關稅。

Additionally, we expect ongoing consumer pressure, a competitive marketplace driven by promotions and challenges in the brick-and-mortar retail sector. In the garden business, we anticipate continued volatility from extreme weather patterns as a potential new normal.

此外，我們預期消費者壓力將持續存在，促銷活動將推動市場競爭加劇，實體零售業也將面臨挑戰。在園藝產業，我們預期極端天氣模式的持續波動可能會成為一種新常態。

With the 2025 garden season still ahead of us, we're cautious not to overinterpret first quarter results, especially given the significant benefit from the favorable timing of shipments. As retailers work through existing inventories, we anticipate a softer second quarter than last year.

2025 年園藝季節即將到來，我們謹慎地不要過度解讀第一季的業績，尤其是考慮到有利的出貨時機帶來的顯著好處。由於零售商正在消化現有庫存，我們預計第二季的銷售將比去年同期疲軟。

With that. I'll turn it over to Brad.

就這樣。我將把它交給布拉德。

Thank you, Niko. Good afternoon, everyone. Building on Niko's key takeaways, I'll provide an overview of our first quarter results including the results of our two segments and our outlook for the fiscal year. Let's start with our first quarter results.

謝謝你，尼科。大家下午好。根據 Niko 的主要觀點，我將概述我們的第一季業績，包括我們兩個部門的業績以及我們對本財年的展望。讓我們從第一季的業績開始。

Net sales increased 3% to $656 million driven primarily by timing of shipments supported by favorable weather on the garden side and timing of promotional activity on the pet side. Consolidated gross profit for the quarter grew $196 million up from $179 million a year ago and gross margin improved by 160 basis points to 29.8% driven by productivity gains and moderating inflation.

淨銷售額成長 3%，達到 6.56 億美元，主要原因是花園方面天氣有利，以及寵物方面促銷活動時機到位，從而推動了發貨時間的增加。受生產力提高和通貨膨脹緩和的推動，本季綜合毛利從去年的 1.79 億美元增長至 1.96 億美元，毛利率提高 160 個基點至 29.8%。

SG&A expense of $168 million was 2% below the prior year. And SG&A as a percentage of sales decreased by 140 basis points to 25.5% reflecting continued cost discipline across our businesses. Operating income was $28 million compared to $8 million in the prior year quarter.

銷售、一般及行政開支為 1.68 億美元，較上年下降 2%。銷售、一般及行政費用佔銷售額的百分比下降了 140 個基點，至 25.5%，反映出我們業務持續嚴格控製成本。營業收入為 2,800 萬美元，而去年同期為 800 萬美元。

And operating margin improved by 300 basis points to 4.3%. Below the line, net interest expense was $8 million compared to $10 million in the prior year driven by higher interest income as a result of larger cash balances. Other expense was $2 million compared to other income of $1 million a year ago.

營業利益率提高了 300 個基點，達到 4.3%。低於這一水平的淨利息支出為 800 萬美元，而上年同期為 1000 萬美元，這是由於現金餘額增加導致利息收入增加所致。其他支出為 200 萬美元，而去年其他收入為 100 萬美元。

Net income was $14 million compared to 430,000. And earnings per share came in at $0.21 compared to a penny a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $55 million compared to $37 million. And our tax rate for the quarter was 23.5%.

淨收入為 1,400 萬美元，而去年同期為 43 萬美元。每股收益為 0.21 美元，而去年同期為 1 美分。本季調整後的 EBITDA 為 5,500 萬美元，而之前為 3,700 萬美元。本季我們的稅率為 23.5%。

Now provide highlights from our two segments, starting with pet. Pet net sales increased 4% to $427 million with growth primarily in dog and cat more than offsetting lower sales in aquatics driven by our decision to exit low margin skews. Consumable sales grew mid-single digits while durable sales saw single digits decline and encouraging improvement compared to the double-digit declines of the past five quarters.

現在提供我們兩個部分的亮點，從寵物開始。寵物淨銷售額成長 4% 至 4.27 億美元，主要成長來自狗和貓的成長，足以抵消因我們決定退出低利潤率市場而導致的水產品銷售額下降。消耗品銷售額成長了中等個位數，而耐用品銷售額則出現了個位數下降，與過去五個季度的兩位數下降相比，出現了令人鼓舞的改善。

Although consumable shipments were strong during the quarter, POS for consumables remained relatively flat. Overall, we held market share with gains in e-commerce successfully offsetting declines in brick-and-mortar channels.

儘管本季消耗品出貨量強勁，但消耗品 POS 仍然相對穩定。總體而言，我們保持了市場份額，電子商務的成長成功抵消了實體通路的下滑。

E-commerce now accounts for 28% of net of pet sales with net sales growing 6% over prior year. This growth was driven by the addition of new products and further improvements in conversion rates which contributed to share growth across multiple categories online.

電子商務目前佔寵物淨銷售額的 28%，淨銷售額比上年增長 6%。這一增長得益於新產品的增加和轉換率的進一步提高，這有助於在線上多個類別的份額增長。

Operating income for pet was $51 million up from $43 million in the prior year. Operating margin improved by 140 basis points to 12% driven by productivity gains resulting from our cost and simplicity program and moderating inflation. As a result, pet segment adjusted EBITDA increased to $61 million compared to $54 million a year ago.

寵物業務的營業收入為 5,100 萬美元，高於上年的 4,300 萬美元。由於我們的成本和簡化計劃以及通貨膨脹的緩和導致生產力提高，營業利潤率提高了 140 個基點，達到 12%。因此，寵物部門調整後的 EBITDA 從一年前的 5,400 萬美元增加到 6,100 萬美元。

Moving to garden. Garden net sales were $229 million, a 2% increase from a year ago. This growth was driven by strong performance in wild bird and controls and fertilizer which more than compensated for lower sales in our distribution business. Overall, shipments for the quarter exceeded POS reflecting large initial early season shipments for store sets during the month of December.

移至花園。花園淨銷售額為 2.29 億美元，比去年同期成長 2%。這一增長得益於野生鳥類控制和肥料業務的強勁表現，足以彌補我們分銷業務的銷售額下降。總體而言，本季的出貨量超過了 POS，這反映了 12 月商店套裝的早期出貨量較大。

Garden e-commerce sales while less developed than pet had another record quarter growing double digits across pure play and omnichannel retailers. Thanks to new items, optimized content and centralized retail media efforts that boosted engagement and conversion rates across accounts and business units.

儘管花園電子商務銷售額不如寵物電子商務發達，但該季度在純零售商和全通路零售商中均實現了兩位數的增長，創下了新高。由於新產品、優化的內容和集中的零售媒體努力，提高了各個帳戶和業務部門的參與度和轉換率。

Operating income for garden was $2 million compared to $9 million operating loss in the prior year quarter. Operating margin came in at 1.1% compared to a negative 3.9% a year ago, driven by moderating inflation and productivity gains. Finally, garden segment adjusted EBITDA was $14 million compared to $2 million in the prior year quarter.

花園的營業收入為 200 萬美元，而去年同期的營業虧損為 900 萬美元。受通貨膨脹緩和及生產力提高的推動，營業利潤率升至 1.1%，而去年同期為負 3.9%。最後，花園部門調整後的 EBITDA 為 1,400 萬美元，而去年同期為 200 萬美元。

As Niko mentioned, Q1 is typically our smallest quarter particularly for the garden segment where the 2025 season is still ahead of us. While we're pleased with the strong performance in the first quarter, it would be premature to draw conclusions for the full year.

正如 Niko 所提到的，第一季通常是我們最小的季度，特別是對於花園領域來說，因為 2025 年的季節還在我們面前。雖然我們對第一季的強勁表現感到滿意，但對全年業績下結論還為時過早。

Let me now address the balance sheet and cash flows. Cash used by operations was $69 million for the quarter versus $70 million in the prior year quarter. Our ongoing focus on working capital management led to further inventory reductions this quarter compared to the prior year across both the pet and garden segments.

現在讓我來談談資產負債表和現金流。本季經營活動所用現金為 6,900 萬美元，去年同期為 7,000 萬美元。我們持續關注營運資本管理，導致本季寵物和花園部門的庫存與去年同期相比進一步減少。

CapEx for the quarter was $6 million which was less than the prior year. Depreciation and amortization for the quarter was $22 million, also slightly below the prior year. During the quarter, we purchased approximately [1 point million shares] or $54 million of our stock. As of quarter end, $131 million remains available under the share repurchase programs, with additional shares authorized under the equity dilution plan.

本季的資本支出為 600 萬美元，低於去年。本季折舊和攤提為 2,200 萬美元，也略低於上年。本季度，我們回購了約 [100 萬股] 或價值 5,400 萬美元的股票。截至季末，股票回購計畫下仍有 1.31 億美元可用，且股權稀釋計畫下也授權發行更多股票。

Total debt of $1.2 billion was in line with the prior year. We ended the quarter with a gross leverage ratio of 2.9 times compared to 3 times a year ago, below our target range of 3 to 3.5 times. We had no borrowings under our $750 million credit facility at the end of the first quarter.

總債務為 12 億美元，與上年持平。本季末，我們的總槓桿率為 2.9 倍，而去年同期為 3 倍，低於我們的目標範圍 3 至 3.5 倍。截至第一季末，我們的 7.5 億美元信貸額度下沒有任何借款。

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the first quarter were $618 million compared to $341 million in the prior year, an increase of $277 million after our usual Q1 working capital build.

第一季末的現金和現金等價物為 6.18 億美元，而去年同期為 3.41 億美元，在我們通常的第一季營運資本增加後增加了 2.77 億美元。

Given our strong financial position, we remain actively focused on identifying high growth, consumable companies with accretive margins. Our goal is to build scale and core categories strategically in adjacent categories and enhance key capabilities to drive long term growth and value creation.

鑑於我們強大的財務狀況，我們將繼續積極致力於尋找具有增值利潤的高成長、消費品公司。我們的目標是在相鄰類別中策略性地建立規模和核心類別，並增強關鍵能力以推動長期成長和價值創造。

Turning to our fiscal '25 outlook. As Nico mentioned, our guidance remains unchanged from November. Given our first quarter performance benefited from favorable timing of shipments and promotional activities, we expect a softer second quarter compared to last year. However, we remain confident in achieving non-GAAP EPS of $2.20 or better for the fiscal year.

談談我們對 25 年財政狀況的展望。正如 Nico 所提到的，我們的指導方針與 11 月相比保持不變。鑑於我們第一季的業績受益於有利的出貨時機和促銷活動，我們預計第二季的業績將比去年同期有所疲軟。不過，我們仍有信心本財年實現非公認會計準則每股收益 2.20 美元或更高。

This outlook underscores our confidence in the strength of our strategy and action plans and in the resilience of our team as we navigate near term macroeconomic, geopolitical and weather uncertainties. As we look at CapEx, we plan to invest approximately $60 million to $70 million this fiscal year. These investments will be focused on productivity enhancing initiatives and essential maintenance across both our segments.

這一前景凸顯了我們對我們的策略和行動計劃的力度以及我們團隊在應對近期宏觀經濟、地緣政治和天氣不確定性時的韌性的信心。從資本支出來看，我們計劃本財年投資約 6,000 萬至 7,000 萬美元。這些投資將集中在我們兩個部門的生產力提高計劃和基本維護上。

Our fiscal year outlook assumes the currently proposed tariffs that excludes potential impacts from acquisitions, divestitures or restructuring activities including initiatives under the cost and simplicity program that may arise during fiscal '25.

我們的財政年度展望假設目前提議的關稅不包括收購、資產剝離或重組活動（包括可能在 25 財年期間出現的成本和簡化計劃下的舉措）的潛在影響。

We would now like to open the line for questions.

我們現在願意開放提問專線。

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session.

謝謝。我們現在將進行問答環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Bill Chappell, Truist Securities.

Truist Securities 的 Bill Chappell。

Hi, good afternoon.

嗨，下午好。

Hey, Bill.

嘿，比爾。

Niko, I don't really know. Am I supposed to say congratulations on the quarter or was this all a pull forward? And so, everything's just exactly as you expected.

尼科，我真的不知道。我是否應該對本季表示祝賀，還是這一切都是為了向前邁進？所以，一切都正如你所期望的。

I wouldn't say it was exactly how we expected otherwise. We would have guided you a little better. Yeah, we had some timing. I wouldn't call it pull forward. I think it was more of a timing of shipments. We had some businesses that just loaded in a little bit earlier than prior year. I would say, but it's a combination as well, right. It's, we had some favorable mix, good weather, a little bit of timing, and some great execution. So, all of it kind of came together. I think you'll see some of that come out of Q2 as we stated in the prepared remarks.

我不會說它和我們預期的完全一樣。我們會為您提供更好的指導。是的，我們有一些時間安排。我不會稱之為向前拉。我認為這更多的是一個發貨時間問題。我們有一些企業的進駐時間比去年稍早。我想說，但這也是一種組合，對吧。事實上，我們有一些有利的組合，良好的天氣，一點點的時機，以及一些出色的執行。所以，所有一切都匯集到了一起。我認為您會在第二季度看到一些結果，正如我們在準備好的評論中提到的那樣。

And I guess we're trying to understand, is how much of that, I mean, is that majority of, and also with that, kind of a bigger question. I understand that the timing of shipments on garden just, and usually that's a bullish sign that the retailers are getting ready earlier for the season. But I don't remember seeing the timing of shipments on pet change that much. So maybe you could help us there.

我想我們試圖了解的是，其中有多少是大多數，這也是一個更大的問題。我了解花園的發貨時間，通常這是一個利好信號，表明零售商正在提前為這個季節做好準備。但我不記得看到寵物出貨時間有這麼大的變化。所以也許您可以幫助我們。

Yeah. So, we do have some seasonal pet businesses, one of which is our cushion business Arden, and that loaded in a little bit earlier as well. That's also obviously outdoor cushion so very much a springtime type business and, we had some earlier orders. So, pet -- a few of the pet business has got pulled along as well. I don't know, John, do you have anything to do?

是的。因此，我們確實有一些季節性的寵物業務，其中之一就是我們的坐墊業務 Arden，而且它也提前加載了一點。這顯然也是戶外坐墊，因此非常適合春季業務，而且我們之前也有一些訂單。因此，寵物——一些寵物生意也受到了影響。我不知道，約翰，你有什麼事要做嗎？

And then we had some promotional activity from early Q2 that got pulled into Q1 that honestly, we just hadn't planned for.

然後，我們在第二季度初開展了一些促銷活動，這些活動被拉到了第一季度，說實話，這是我們之前沒有計劃的。

Yeah, I mean, on the --, this is Brad. I mean, the timing of when the customer needs shipments to go out to plan for those promotional activities can move around on fairly short notice as well. So, we were expecting more of the shipments to hit in Q2 that actually ended up hitting sooner in Q1.

是的，我的意思是——這是布拉德。我的意思是，客戶需要發貨以計劃這些促銷活動的時間也可能在相當短的時間內發生變化。因此，我們預計第二季會有更多出貨量，但實際上第一季的出貨量就更快了。

But this was all normal year over year activity in terms of there were no big new promotions. It was fairly consistent with the prior year and there was certainly, we just underscore there was not a situation where we were intentionally trying to pull forward.

但就沒有大型新促銷活動而言，這都是正常的年度活動。這與前一年的情況相當一致，當然，我們只是強調，我們並沒有故意試圖向前邁進。

No not at all. And even the seasonal businesses that pulled forward, honestly, we view that as a good thing, because customers are excited about the season, they want to take the inventory early, which is a good thing.

不，一點也不。即使是季節性業務提前，老實說，我們也認為這是一件好事，因為客戶對這個季節感到興奮，他們想儘早拿走庫存，這是一件好事。

Got it. And then, you somewhat surprisingly, you said in the release that you have accounted for some tariff activity in your guidance. Maybe you can give us some more color of what you've accounted and where you might expect to see issues.

知道了。然後，您有點驚訝地在新聞稿中說，您已經在指導中考慮了一些關稅活動。也許您可以向我們詳細介紹一下您所考慮的問題以及您可能遇到的問題。

Yeah, so, I mean, we've been obviously like everyone watching very closely where things are heading with tariffs. Obviously, this week, it's been quite a wild ride to say the least. But you know, we've looked at the potential, we sized up the potential impact of the 10% tariff on China as well as 25% on Canada and Mexico and we were able to get comfortable that given our exposure and the timing of when that would hit some of the mitigation strategies we've got in place that we'd be able to tackle those, absorb those and still based on everything we see in front of us, stay within our guide.

是的，所以，我的意思是，我們顯然和所有人一樣，一直在密切關注關稅的走向。顯然，本周至少可以說是一段相當瘋狂的旅程。但你知道，我們已經研究過這種可能性，我們評估了對中國徵收 10% 關稅以及對加拿大和墨西哥徵收 25% 關稅的潛在影響，並且考慮到我們的風險敞口以及關稅何時會對我們已經制定的一些緩解策略產生影響，我們可以放心，我們將能夠解決這些問題，吸收這些問題，並且仍然基於我們所看到的一切，遵守我們的指導方針。

Great, thanks so much.

太好了，非常感謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Brad Thomas, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

KeyBanc 資本市場公司的 Brad Thomas。

Hi. Thanks for taking my question. Niko, I was hoping to follow up just on that topic of some of the policy changes and was wondering if you could talk about your opinion the [de minimis] exemption and it potentially being closed or substantially reduced and, just how much impact do you think that may be having on your pet category right now, for example.

你好。感謝您回答我的問題。Niko，我希望跟進有關一些政策變化的話題，並想知道您是否可以談談您對[最低限度]豁免的看法，以及它可能被關閉或大幅減少，以及您認為這會對您的寵物類別產生多大影響，例如。

Yeah, I'll kick it off and I'll let John fill in. He knows a hell of a lot more than I do about it, but we're very pleased that, you know, Washington finally decided to address the issue. We'll have to see how it plays out. I think it's going to probably affect the durable category the most going forward, but I think we still have to see how that plays out.

是的，我會開始，然後讓約翰填寫。他對此的了解比我多得多，但我們很高興華盛頓最終決定解決這個問題。我們將拭目以待事情將如何發展。我認為這可能會對耐用品類別產生最大影響，但我認為我們仍然需要觀察其結果如何。

I think, if you dig a little bit deeper, we'd still love to see, live animal and petted options really take off and see that household penetration rate increase and I think with that you'll see the durables pick up, but certainly it should level the playing field.

我認為，如果你深入挖掘一下，我們仍然樂於看到活體動物和寵物選擇真正起飛，看到家庭普及率提高，我認為隨之而來的是耐用品銷量的回升，但這肯定應該創造公平的競爭環境。

Yeah. You know, just to build on that a little bit, we've seen durable declines, you know in Q1, I think there were low double digits. Sequentially, you know improvement versus prior quarters, so think around that 12% range for the category.

是的。您知道，僅在此基礎上再進一步，我們已經看到了持續的下滑，您知道在第一季度，我認為下滑幅度是兩位數以下。連續地，你知道與前幾季相比有所改善，因此可以考慮該類別的 12% 左右的範圍。

You know, it's really difficult for us to say, hey, how much of that is, soft pet ownership or soft pet acquisition, versus what is coming out of [Asia], via e-comm and low price goods, we know it's having an impact, no doubt about it because you can just go on the web page and you can look and see what they're offering, the prices they're offering.

你知道，我們真的很難說，嘿，其中有多少是軟寵物所有權或軟寵物購買，與來自[亞洲]透過電子商務和低價商品銷售的產品相比，我們知道它正在產生影響，毫無疑問，因為你可以訪問網頁，看看他們提供的產品和價格。

So, we think it's a really good thing going forward and we're just going to have to wait and see how that impacts the back half.

因此，我們認為這確實是一件好事，我們只需要拭目以待，看看這對後半部有何影響。

I appreciate it and if I could follow up on the live goods category, I know that better weather is a really big opportunity for you all. You know, fingers crossed here for the spring, but just as you think about retail doors that you're in and placements, any color that you could share on just what the underlying business would look like on kind of a like for like basis if weather doesn't change.

我很感激，如果我可以跟進活體商品類別，我知道更好的天氣對你們所有人來說都是一個很大的機會。您知道，我們祈禱春天的到來，但是，當您考慮您所在的零售門市和位置時，如果天氣不變，您可以分享任何顏色，看看基礎業務在類似基礎上會是什麼樣子。

Are you up or down, as we think about lab goods, how should we think about that?

當我們考慮實驗室產品時，您是上升還是下降，我們應該如何考慮？

A great question, Brad. This is J.D., I'll take that. So, first of all, regarding lab goods, obviously, they had a material impact on our performance last year. The lab goods business turned in a very solid quarter in Q1 and I'm proud of the business unit. I think they delivered on their financial commitments, and it reflects a lot of the good work that they've done in getting this, the business to a better business model and overall better business performance.

這個問題問得很好，布拉德。這是 J.D.，我接受。首先，關於實驗室產品，顯然它們對我們去年的業績產生了重大影響。實驗室用品業務在第一季表現非常穩健，我為這個業務部門感到自豪。我認為他們履行了財務承諾，這反映了他們為實現更好的業務模式和整體更好的業務績效所做的大量出色工作。

So, they've rightsized SG&A, rationalized the product offering and that includes exiting some unprofitable geographies or unprofitable skews. They've optimized facilities at least started that process, so getting the footprint right.

因此，他們調整了銷售、一般和行政費用 (SG&A) 規模，合理化了產品供應，其中包括退出一些無利可圖的地區或無利可圖的地區。他們已經優化了設施，至少啟動了這個過程，從而獲得了正確的足跡。

Obviously, that's Q1 and this is --, this business or the season is still in front of us. It's mainly a Q3 season, but we really like the operating [cadence] and the rhythm that they're in right now and if weather cooperates, if mother nature does her role here, I think that this business turns in a much better business performance year over year. So, we feel much better about it.

顯然，這是第一季度，而且這是——，這項業務或這個季節仍在我們面前。現在主要是第三季度，但我們真的很喜歡他們目前的營運節奏和韻律，如果天氣配合，如果大自然發揮其作用，我認為這項業務的業績會逐年好轉。因此，我們對此感覺好多了。

That’s great. And maybe if I could squeeze the last one in just on the new distribution facility that you have, can you think of -- help us think about the capacity, of the facility and perhaps how it might fit into acquisitions and growth going forward here?

那太好了。也許如果我可以將最後一個問題擠在您所擁有的新配送設施上，您能否想到 - 幫助我們思考該設施的容量，以及它如何適應未來的收購和增長？

Yeah, I mean, it's a large, what I would call more [state-of-the-art facility] than what we had before and we've taken, roughly seven other facilities and folded them in there. It's got high ceilings, you know, more doors than, we've ever had before and some room to grow.

是的，我的意思是，它很大，我稱之為比我們以前的設施更先進的設施，我們大約把其他七個設施合併在一起。你知道，它有高高的天花板，比以前任何時候都有更多的門，並且有一定的發展空間。

Largely right now you can think of this as a garden project where we've, put mainly garden products in there, but we had our entire pet segment come and tour the facility. I think, we're very close to, seeing us begin to distribute product, both pet and garden products out of one facility.

現在，您基本上可以將其視為花園項目，我們主要在其中放置花園產品，但我們的整個寵物部門都來參觀該設施。我認為，我們很快就能開始透過一個工廠分銷寵物和花園產品。

We continue to, really shrink the footprint of the business in total, not just garden or pet, but really thinking through mixing centers and, what that looks like across the country and consolidating becoming more efficient.

我們將繼續真正縮小整個業務的足跡，不僅僅是花園或寵物，而是真正思考混合中心以及在全國範圍內的樣子，並整合變得更加高效。

And I think it just allows us to be more agile, particularly on the garden side where, we're dealing with more just in time. This allows us to stage you know, shipments better and just be a more agile fast-moving org going forward. So, we're pretty excited about it.

我認為它讓我們變得更加靈活，特別是在花園方面，我們可以及時處理更多事情。這使我們能夠更好地安排貨運，並在未來成為一個更靈活、快速發展的組織。因此，我們對此感到非常興奮。

Very helpful. Thanks, Niko.

非常有幫助。謝謝，尼科。

Yes.

是的。

Jim Chartier, Monness, Crespi & Hardt.

吉姆·查蒂爾、蒙尼斯、克雷斯皮和哈特。

Hi, thanks for taking my questions. On the tariffs, can you just remind us, you know what percentage of your product is sourced from China, Mexico and Canada?

你好，謝謝你回答我的問題。關於關稅，您能否提醒我們，您知道您的產品中有多少比例來自中國、墨西哥和加拿大？

Yeah. We've got about, I think 4% of it that is coming from China. Canada and Mexico are in combination about 2% roughly. And then we've got another 8% roughly of our product -- of our inputs that are coming from other countries.

是的。我認為其中約有 4% 來自中國。加拿大和墨西哥加起來大約佔2%。另外，我們大約 8% 的產品投入來自其他國家。

So, it's total like 15% of cost (multiple speakers) 14% to 15% that's coming abroad from abroad.

因此，總成本的 15%（多個發言者）中有 14% 到 15% 來自國外。

Got it. Thank you. And then could you give us a little more color and kind of what a softer 2Q means? You know, sales down EPS down year over year and then if EPS is down, like, given the margin performance in first quarter, why would we think that the operating margin would be down year over year, second quarter?

知道了。謝謝。然後您能否向我們詳細介紹一下更疲軟的 2Q 意味著什麼？您知道，銷售額年減，每股盈餘也下降，如果每股盈餘下降，考慮到第一季的利潤率表現，我們為什麼會認為第二季的營業利潤率會比去年同期下降？

Well, the margin may not be down. What I would just say is so, first of all, I want to get away from guiding every quarter because as we've said in the past, we're going to be wrong a lot. So, I would just say directionally, it's not going to be what last Q2 was if you remember last Q2 was, pretty strong and we'll probably be below last year's Q2 EPS.

嗯，利潤率可能不會下降。我想說的是，首先，我不想每個季度都進行指導，因為正如我們過去所說的那樣，我們會犯很多錯誤。因此，我只想說，從方向上看，它不會像去年第二季度那樣，如果你還記得的話，去年第二季度的表現相當強勁，而且我們的每股收益可能會低於去年第二季度的每股收益。

With the timing of the shipments, I think, we'll look at the top line could be, down low single digits into the quarter. But beyond that, you know, product mix is going to play a big role. We have every intention of expanding margin and really having a great quarter in Q2 and then weather is going to play a role there as well.

我認為，考慮到出貨時間，我們會看到本季的營收可能會下降個位數。但除此之外，產品組合將發揮重要作用。我們有意擴大利潤率，並在第二季度取得優異的業績，但天氣因素也會對我們產生一定的影響。

So, that's sort of when the garden season starts to really kick off. And then we want to see what POS does early on in Q2.

所以，這就是園藝季節真正開始的時候。然後我們想看看 POS 在第二季初期的表現。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

Yes.

是的。

Bob Labick, CJS Securities.

拉比克（Bob Labick），CJS 證券公司。

Good afternoon. Thanks for taking our question.

午安.感謝您回答我們的問題。

I wanted to stick with the pet durable side. You've talked about it a little bit, maybe we can just dig down a little further, the hard good sales, obviously, there was an impact from the pandemic and pet ownership, and you've talked about some potential competition.

我想堅持寵物耐用的一面。您已經談論了一些，也許我們可以進一步深入探討一下，硬商品的銷售顯然受到了疫情和寵物所有權的影響，而且您還談到了一些潛在的競爭。

What's the line of sight for recovery? Is there innovation that you can introduce, it can drive sales or, how do you see this, getting back to, flat to growth over time or is that (multiple speakers) expectation.

復甦的前景如何？您能否引入創新，它能否推動銷售，或者，您如何看待這種情況，隨著時間的推移恢復平穩增長，或者這是（多位發言者）的期望。

Well, certainly I'd kick it off by saying we believe in these categories long term. You know, we believe in a low to mid-single digit growth in these categories and if you think about COVID, it was a huge pull forward in live animals, right? And we're still working through that.

好吧，我當然會先說，我們長期相信這些類別。您知道，我們相信這些類別將實現低至中等個位數的成長，如果您考慮 COVID，它對活體動物來說是一個巨大的推動，對嗎？我們仍在努力解決這個問題。

There is no doubt about it, and we see that, in all the pet ownership and new pet acquisition numbers that, we get, there's, categories like small animal which include, rabbits and guinea pigs, that we're still seeing declines. So, we had to work through that.

毫無疑問，我們看到，在我們獲得的所有寵物擁有量和新寵物購買量中，包括兔子和豚鼠在內的小動物類別的數量仍然在下降。所以，我們必須解決這個問題。

Durables often go with the live animal because when you buy the live animal, you buy it in enclosure, you buy feeding, watering, filtration if you're in aquatics. So, we got to work through it. I don't have a crystal ball to say, hey, when that's going to recover, but I do see durables.

耐久財通常與活體動物一起購買，因為當您購買活體動物時，您會購買圍欄內的動物，如果您從事水生動物養殖，您也會購買飼料、飲水和過濾設備。所以，我們必須解決這個問題。我沒有水晶球可以預測什麼時候會復甦，但我確實看到了耐用品。

Sequentially, the declines are improving and then we had this wild card thrown at us, you know with, ecommerce direct imports coming in from Asia and those goods were cheap, really, really cheap and they get around that, the [minimus] tariff and that's been closed.

隨後，下降趨勢開始改善，然後我們遇到了一個未知因素，你知道，電子商務直接從亞洲進口商品，這些商品很便宜，真的非常便宜，他們繞過了最低關稅，現在已經關閉。

So, I do think that is going to have an impact as we go forward, and then certainly as live animals pick back up which it will. History says it will, and I believe it will, and we all believe it will. You know, you're going to see durables recover as well.

因此，我確實認為這會對我們今後的發展產生影響，隨著活體動物數量的恢復，它肯定會產生影響。歷史告訴我們它會的，我也相信它會的，我們都相信它會的。你知道，你也會看到耐久財的復甦。

And, and we are innovating with, durables where it makes sense. So, if you think of sort of the razor, razor blade type of concept with our fish tanks, we've got the, you know, the blue IQ app that goes along with that, we've got some proprietary filtration that, you know you have the cartridges, which is the consumable, but they only fit our filtration system.

而且，我們正在對耐用品進行合理的創新。因此，如果您想到我們的魚缸有類似剃刀、刀片的概念，您知道，我們有與之配套的藍色 IQ 應用程序，我們有一些專有的過濾器，您知道我們有濾芯，這是消耗品，但它們只適合我們的過濾系統。

So, we're doing some good innovation there. We're not just walking away from durables because they are important. And again, we try to be smart about how we go into the categories with respect to the durables and try to take, really the viewpoint of more of a razor, razor blade type mentality there, where we can.

所以，我們在那裡進行了一些很好的創新。我們放棄耐用品並不是因為它們很重要。再次，我們嘗試以聰明的方式進入耐用品類別，並盡可能採取更像剃刀、刀片的心態。

Okay, great, appreciate that. And speaking of the crystal ball, you obviously have a very strong balance sheet. And so, I was just curious if you could give us, you'd like to make, as you said, a creative acquisition, margin growth, etc.

好的，太好了，非常感謝。說到水晶球，你的資產負債表顯然非常強勁。所以，我只是好奇您是否可以給我們您想要的，正如您所說的，創造性的收購、利潤增長等。

What's the M&A environment like out there now, given all of the, macroeconomic events and everything else, I'm not going to ask you if you can do something this year, but how has the environment changed? How is your pipeline? How do things look from an M&A perspective?

考慮到所有的宏觀經濟事件和其他一切，現在的併購環境是什麼樣的，我不會問你今年是否可以做些什麼，但環境發生了怎樣的變化？你的管道怎麼樣？從併購的角度來看情況如何？

Yeah, I mean, we were in discussions with a few deals. We currently still sort of are but it's, been more kind of anticipatory right now. I think everyone's waiting for the deal flow really to kick off and get going. There's been a lot of discussions with bankers. I think the activity levels up, we just haven't seen a ton of deals come across our desk as of yet, but I certainly think that there's a lot of anticipation in the market.

是的，我的意思是，我們正在討論一些交易。我們目前仍然處於這種狀態，但現在更多的是預期狀態。我認為每個人都在等待交易流程真正啟動和進展。我們與銀行家進行了許多討論。我認為活動水平有所提高，只是到目前為止我們還沒有看到大量的交易，但我確實認為市場上有很多期待。

I think, sellers are starting to take a hard look. We're hearing, from banks and others that, that pipelines are being formed. We just haven't seen it yet, but it feels like it's starting to come together and hopefully we'll have more to share as the year progresses.

我認為，賣家開始認真檢視了。我們從銀行和其他機構獲悉，管道正在形成。我們只是還沒有看到它，但感覺它開始成形，希望隨著時間的推移我們能有更多東西可以分享。

Okay, great. Thanks.

好的，太好了。謝謝。

Brian McNamara, Canaccord Genuity.

Canaccord Genuity 的 Brian McNamara。

Hey, good afternoon, guys. I guess this one's for Niko. If I'm an investor looking at the stock, you guys have had a lot of stuff go wrong or, I guess out of your control over the last few years, you've had weather, you've had pet ownership, you've had the durables issue.

嘿，大家下午好。我猜這個是給 Niko 的。如果我是個關注股票的投資者，那麼你們肯定遇到過很多問題，或者說，在過去幾年裡，你們遇到了很多無法控制的問題，例如天氣問題、寵物問題、耐用品問題。

What would you say to investors kind of kicking the tires on the stock for the first time? It sounds like things are starting to get a little bit better here, but I don't want to put words in your mouth.

對於那些首次對該股票進行評估的投資者，您有什麼想說的嗎？聽起來情況開始好轉了一點，但我不想把話塞到你的嘴裡。

Yeah, I mean, I would, say that's exactly right. We have had a few rough weather years. We had the big pull forward as John mentioned via COVID on some of the pet categories. I would say if you look at the business, the teams here have done an incredible job of executing both through the pandemic and post pandemic.

是的，我的意思是，我會說這是完全正確的。我們經歷了幾年惡劣的天氣。正如約翰透過 COVID 所提到的那樣，我們在某些​​寵物類別上取得了巨大的進步。我想說，如果你看一下這項業務，你會發現這裡的團隊在疫情期間和疫情後都做得非常好。

So, if you look at our margin profile compared to a lot of the other, you know consumer companies out there, we've, done a really good job and, I think our balance sheet reflects that if you look at our cash position, that's really a sign of, great execution around, you know, working cap, profitability, things like that.

因此，如果你將我們的利潤率狀況與許多其他消費品公司進行比較，你會發現我們做得非常好，而且我認為我們的資產負債表也反映了這一點，如果你看看我們的現金狀況，就會發現這確實表明我們在營運能力、盈利能力等方面的執行力非常出色。

I would say right now, we're in a bit of a cycle, but to your point, and if you look at the numbers, it feels like we're starting to come out of that. We feel very good about the business. We love our categories, and I would say we have a very strong management team that's incredibly focused on the future.

我想說，現在我們正處於一個循環之中，但正如你所說，如果你看看這些數字，感覺我們已經開始走出這種循環了。我們對這項業務感覺非常好。我們熱愛我們的產品類別，我想說我們擁有一支非常強大的管理團隊，他們非常專注於未來。

So, really love the organic business and then a strong balance sheet to go after some accretive M&A. To me, that's pretty exciting.

因此，真的很喜歡有機業務，然後是強勁的資產負債表，以進行一些增值性併購。對我來說，這非常令人興奮。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

Andrea Teixeira, JP Morgan.

摩根大通的安德里亞特謝拉 (Andrea Teixeira)。

Thank you. Good afternoon. I hope you're all well. I have a question and two clarifications, please. One is on the cost and simplicity program. I understand you don't provide outlook on that program, but your margin expansion was notable in the quarter.

謝謝。午安.我希望你們都很好。我有一個問題，請您澄清兩點。一是成本和簡化計劃。我知道您沒有提供該計劃的展望，但本季度您的利潤率成長非常顯著。

Obviously, you had some operating leverage with the shipments being earlier. But what was the magnitude would you say of the savings in Q1? And how much more do you anticipate in savings for the remainder of the fiscal?

顯然，由於發貨較早，您擁有一定的經營槓桿。但您認為第一季的節省幅度有多大？您預計本財政年度剩餘時間還能節省多少？

And the two follow ups. One is that what is actually doing better than expected that offset the impact of the tariffs or are you planning to take pricing against the impact in leading to a neutral, a neutral model line? And, and second, on the upside for the Q1 quarter, we just say that there was about, I think if my math is correct, it's about $20 million that was the beat against our estimates and consensus, that should probably come out from Q2 just as a [cadence]. It's important to model. Thank you very much for all of those.

以及兩個後續行動。一是哪些產品的實際表現比預期更好，從而抵消了關稅的影響，或者您是否計劃透過定價來抵消關稅的影響，從而形成一條中性的、中性的模型線？其次，就第一季的獲利情況而言，我認為如果我的計算正確的話，大約有 2000 萬美元超出了我們的預期和共識，這可能在第二季度就會出現，就像[節奏]。建模很重要。非常感謝你們的幫忙。

Yeah, I would say you're right on the cost and simplicity, a big part of our margin expansion was due to us continuing to take cost out. We're going to continue down that road where and Andrea, we're not going to guide, on the year and how much we're going to take out because again, just like us guiding the quarter, we're going to be wrong.

是的，我想說你關於成本和簡單性的觀點是正確的，我們的利潤率擴大很大一部分是因為我們不斷降低成本。我們將繼續沿著這條路走下去，安德里亞，我們不會指導今年我們將拿出多少資金，因為就像我們指導本季一樣，我們也會出錯。

And so, we're going to instead tell folks about it and you're going to see it in the margins as we go forward and we're going to continue to really optimize the footprint and the business. In terms of tariffs, I would say that, you know, pricing is going to be very difficult to go into retailers and try to take price. I think that's going to be a real challenge.

因此，我們將告訴人們這一點，隨著我們前進，你們將在利潤中看到它，我們將繼續真正優化足跡和業務。就關稅而言，我想說，你知道，定價對零售商來說將非常困難，而且很難定價。我認為這將是一個真正的挑戰。

So, really the [onus] is going to be on us to either work with the suppliers out there to see about some cost cutting. We have our own efforts here, where we're taking cost out in our cost and simplicity program. So, we have a way to expand margin that way.

因此，我們真正需要做的就是與供應商合作，探討如何削減成本。我們在這裡做出了自己的努力，透過成本和簡化計劃來降低成本。所以，我們有辦法透過這種方式來擴大利潤。

But I think taking price, you know, we guided, I think back in November, we said we were going to be net negative on the year in pricing by about $14 million, and I think we were net negative in this quarter. So really, it's being made up on volume and cost savings and just really good execution and I think that's going to have to continue forward. I just, I really don't see us going in with a ton of prices here.

但我認為，就價格而言，你知道，我們給出了指導，我記得在 11 月份，我們說過，今年的定價將淨虧損約 1400 萬美元，我認為本季度我們的定價是淨虧損。所以實際上，這是由數量和成本節約以及非常好的執行所彌補的，我認為這將會繼續下去。我只是，我真的不認為我們會在這裡付出如此高昂的價格。

And I would just echo that, I think working with our suppliers to minimize is a high priority for us. You know, we've looked and continue to look at country of origin, for our suppliers. But you know, as Niko said pricing is going to be very difficult to take.

我只是想重複這一點，我認為與我們的供應商合作以盡量減少損失是我們的首要任務。您知道，我們一直在尋找並將繼續尋找我們供應商的原產國。但你知道，正如尼科所說，定價將非常難以接受。

And on the upside for the quarter, just like thinking $20 million is a good number as Bill was started on the call asking like, it's not a pull forward, but obviously it has been the calendar, I understand like Easter is actually going to fall in your third quarter from what I -- a lot of companies are starting to talk about it because of the calendar shift.

從本季度的積極方面來看，就像比爾在電話中問到的那樣，2000 萬美元是一個不錯的數字，這不是提前，但顯然是日曆問題，我理解復活節實際上會落在第三季度——很多公司因為日曆的變化而開始談論它。

Not sure if, that, for the seeds for the gardening side will make any impact because folks will be more, I'm assuming there's more consumption occasions if they are not on a holiday. I mean, is that anything that impacts, maybe, the gardening is going to be okay. They're going to continue the same pace.

不確定這對園藝方面的種子是否會產生任何影響，因為人們會更多，我假設如果不是在假期，會有更多的消費場合。我的意思是，任何對園藝有影響的事情也許都會沒事的。他們將繼續保持同樣的步伐。

Yeah, I think whether it will be a bigger component to Q2 and Q3 than where Easter falls, I think you're right. It will probably affect garden more than anything and probably live goods. But I would say getting back to your question the top line, I think conservatively, you could take that out of Q2 even though we really don't want to get into the habit of guiding the quarters.

是的，我認為它對第二季和第三季的影響會比復活節更大，我想你是對的。它可能對花園的影響比對其他任何東西都大，甚至可能對生物造成影響。但我想回到你的問題，我認為保守地說，你可以把它從第二季度中剔除，儘管我們真的不想養成指導季度的習慣。

And then last but not least, the weather will play a role in Q2. And also, our POS the performance as the quarter goes so things could change as the quarter progresses.

最後但同樣重要的一點是，天氣將在第二季度發揮一定作用。而且，我們的 POS 表現會隨著季度的進展而變化，因此情況可能會隨著季度的進展而改變。

Yeah. Yeah. Niko just building off that. (multiple speakers)

是的。是的。Niko 正是以此為基礎。（多位發言者）

It is favorable to us when we have an earlier Easter. So, last year Easter was at the end of Q2 in late March. That's more preferable than the third week of April like it is this year. But having said that Niko's right, weather far outweighs the impact of having a later Easter. We are getting into peak season in that time, though late April early may will be peak season for us.

提前慶祝復活節對我們來說是有利的。因此，去年的復活節是在第二季末，三月下旬。這比今年四月的第三週更可取。但儘管尼科說得對，天氣的影響遠遠超過復活節延後的影響。那時我們正進入旺季，儘管四月底五月初才是我們的旺季。

And then that's super helpful and then just as obviously the disaster of like the fires, is there any anything we should be cognizant of? Of course, like you know, the human impact is and obviously the [pat] impact, I appreciate that you donated a fair amount as you put it in the prepared remarks but anything we should be aware of in terms of the impacts here.

這非常有幫助，然後就像火災這樣的災難一樣，我們該注意什麼嗎？當然，就像您知道的，對人類的影響，顯然還有 [pat] 影響，我很感激您在準備好的評論中提到了捐贈了相當多的金額，但我們應該注意這裡的影響。

Yeah, we can't really think of anything other than a lot of unfortunate people were displaced but you know, we're doing everything we can to try to help folks down in Southern California.

是的，除了許多不幸的人流離失所之外，我們真的想不出其他辦法，但你知道，我們正在盡一切努力幫助南加州的人們。

Okay, fair enough. Thank you very much. I'll pass it on.

好吧，夠公平。非常感謝。我會傳達的。

William Reuter, Bank of America.

威廉·路透，美國銀行。

Hi guys. Good afternoon. This is [Rob on for Bill]. So, first question from us, you know, I appreciate the commentary around M&A but moving forward, given the large cash balance that you do have I guess absent M&A, what are you expecting? Any uses of cash to be -- Are you --, should we expect a similar level or a similar [cadence] of share purchases moving forward?

嗨，大家好。午安.這是[羅布代替比爾發言]。所以，我們的第一個問題是，我很欣賞有關併購的評論，但展望未來，考慮到您擁有的大量現金餘額，我猜沒有併購，您有何期待？現金的任何用途——您是——我們是否應該預期未來股票購買量會保持類似的水平或類似的節奏？

It’ll, so the way we look at the share purchase, well, first of all, I would say we still want to invest in the business, so that's always going to happen. We have a big balance, and we have a balance that size, really the first place you're going to look at M&A.

所以，從我們看待股票購買的角度來看，首先，我想說我們仍然希望投資這項業務，所以這種情況總是會發生的。我們擁有龐大的餘額，而且我們擁有如此規模的餘額，這確實是您首先要考慮的併購地點。

Secondly, is really internally around CapEx as well as demand, creation, brand building, marketing, things like that. Third is we always look at stock buybacks. A lot of that has to do with where our own stock is trading.

其次，其實是圍繞著資本支出以及需求、創造、品牌建立、行銷等內部問題。第三，我們始終關注股票回購。這很大程度上與我們自己的股票交易地點有關。

So, you saw us buy back pretty aggressively back in October where the stock had dropped, and we went in to support it because at the time, we viewed that as really a great value and an excellent way for us to return, you know, money and value to shareholders.

因此，您會看到我們在 10 月股價下跌時非常積極地回購，並且我們加入以支持它，因為當時我們認為這確實具有很大的價值，也是我們向股東返還金錢和價值的絕佳方式。

So, I think those are really going to be our three areas. They continue to be those three. And I truly believe that M&A will pick up again, right now it's a little bit you know, there's a lot of anticipation. But I think that we're going to see it pick up.

所以，我認為這確實會成為我們的三個領域。他們依然是那三個人。我確實相信併購將再次回升，現在你知道，人們對此有很多期待。但我認為我們會看到它回升。

Great that super helpful. And then just a second from us, I guess maybe, you know, appreciate some of the color around, timing of shipments, but maybe if you could touch on, you know, sentiment and maybe optimism that you might be seeing, I guess, first around, you know, the garden segment, favorable weather and, you know, going into peak season and then as well, any commentary around the sentiment from your pet retailers. Thank you.

太棒了，非常有幫助。然後，再說一下，我想您可能知道，了解一些關於發貨時間的動態，但也許您可以談談您可能看到的情緒和樂觀情緒，我想，首先是花園部分，有利的天氣，進入旺季，然後還有，您對寵物零售商的情緒有何評論。謝謝。

So, this is J.D. I'll go first and talk a little bit about outlook for this season. You know, I'd say that we're out of the gates. Well, a great start to the year. We're pleased with the financial performance of the garden segment, but we have to keep it in perspective, as we've said many times, we still have the season and 85% of our year is still in front of us.

那麼，我是 J.D.，我首先來談談對本賽季的展望。你知道，我想說我們已經走出大門了。嗯，新的一年有一個好的開始。我們對花園部門的財務表現感到滿意，但我們必須保持客觀，正如我們多次說過的那樣，我們仍然處於這個季節，今年的 85% 仍然在我們面前。

I am pleased that our team is executing at a really high level. So, our fall inventory build, gaining support from the retailers for the upcoming season display and promotional support execution at retail, all of those things are happening and that we're executing with excellence. So, I feel very good about that, and I feel like we're ready for the season.

我很高興我們的團隊表現得非常出色。因此，我們的秋季庫存建設、獲得零售商對即將到來的季節展示的支持以及零售促銷支持執行，所有這些事情都在發生，而且我們正在出色地執行。所以，我對此感覺非常好，我覺得我們已經為這個賽季做好了準備。

The retailers are also, highly engaged, very excited about the season. They drive an awful lot of their spring foot traffic through the lawn and garden department. So, they're very much engaged. And I'd say that our relationships with those retailers have never been better. So, kudos to our sales teams for that.

零售商也高度參與，對這個季節感到非常興奮。他們透過草坪和花園部門吸引了大量春季客流量。所以，他們非常投入。我想說我們與這些零售商的關係從未如此好。因此，我們的銷售團隊值得稱讚。

I expect it to be a very competitive marketplace in the upcoming spring. But that's no surprise and I think we're ready for that with that promotional display support that I spoke to. So, I think in general, we feel very good about the controllable causal factors.

我預計即將到來的春季市場將會競爭非常激烈。但這並不奇怪，我認為我們已經準備好提供我所說的促銷展示支援。所以，我認為總的來說，我們對可控的因果因素感覺非常樂觀。

Those things are within our control. We feel great about it and we're ready and I think that if, I said this earlier, but if mother nature does her part and we have decent weather, it doesn't have to be stellar. It was a challenge last year. So, I think just normal weather this year, whatever that looks like will be an improvement year over year and should lead to better results for the garden segment. So, we're cautiously optimistic.

這些事情都在我們的掌控之中。我們對此感覺很好，我們已經做好了準備，我想如果，我之前說過，但如果大自然發揮其作用，我們有不錯的天氣，那麼它就不一定非得是一流的。去年這是一個挑戰。所以，我認為今年的天氣很正常，無論看起來如何，都會比去年有所改善，並且會為園藝行業帶來更好的業績。因此，我們持謹慎樂觀的態度。

And on the pet side, I'd say something pretty similar. You know, we're off to a really good start. We feel good where we're at. You know, we've got strong relationships with our customers. You know, we've done a really nice job, our sales force working with our business units, to identify you know, gaps and opportunities with our customers to drive more distribution.

就寵物方面而言，我也會說一些類似的話。你知道，我們的開局非常好。我們對目前的狀況感覺很好。你知道，我們與客戶的關係很強。您知道，我們做得非常好，我們的銷售人員與我們的業務部門合作，找出與客戶的差距和機會，以推動更多的分銷。

And I think we're going to see some nice distribution gains in the back half. So, we feel, really good where we're at to be able to, you know, have a really good year. You know, I think, that the challenge with the pet side is, hey, does this a new pet acquisition, pick up? And when does it pick up? And if it does, we get super excited where we're headed.

我認為我們將在下半年看到一些不錯的分銷收益。所以，我們感覺非常好，我們能夠度過非常好的一年。你知道，我認為，寵物方面的挑戰是，嘿，這是一隻新寵物，能被接受嗎？什麼時候開始回升？如果確實如此，我們會對未來的目標感到非常興奮。

I just add on the pet side. I mean, just exceptional execution e-comm and it continues to be a growth area.

我只是在寵物方面添加了。我的意思是，電子商務的出色執行力將持續成為成長領域。

You know, on e-comm, we have invested, we build capability around content, retail media, our data and analytics are much stronger than they were before. You know, we built additional fulfillment capabilities to give us more flexibility about how we get our product direct to the consumer, so we're doing all the right things and feel really good where we're at.

你知道，在電子商務方面，我們已經進行了投資，我們圍繞著內容、零售媒體建立了能力，我們的數據和分析能力比以前強大得多。您知道，我們建立了額外的履行能力，以便我們在如何將產品直接送到消費者手中方面擁有更大的靈活性，因此我們所做的一切都是正確的，並且對目前的狀況感到非常滿意。

Great. Thank you, guys, very much as well.

偉大的。也非常感謝你們。

Carla Casella, JP Morgan.

卡拉‧卡塞拉，摩根大通。

Hi. Most of my questions have been answered, but I'm just wondering if you could give us a little more color on the pet side about whether you're seeing any more stability in that pet specialty channel or if you're still seeing that channel mix shift towards mass and other.

你好。我的大部分問題都已得到解答，但我只是想知道您是否可以在寵物方面給我們更多細節，即您是否看到寵物專業渠道更加穩定，或者您是否仍然看到渠道組合向大眾和其他方向轉變。

Yeah, this is John. It's a challenge channel right now, honestly. And that a lot of that's driven by new pet acquisition, a lot of the consumers when they're looking for new pets, both to understand and get advice from retailers as well as make the purchase that go into pet specialty.

是的，這是約翰。說實話，它現在是挑戰頻道。這在很大程度上是由購買新寵物所驅動的，許多消費者在尋找新寵物時，既要了解零售商的資訊並獲得他們的建議，也要購買寵物專用產品。

So, traffic related to that new pet acquisition has been a bit soft. We stay really close. We've got great relationships, with the customers in that channel and you know, but in the near term, it is challenged.

因此，與購買新寵物相關的流量有點疲軟。我們的關係非常親密。我們與該管道的客戶保持著良好的關係，但在短期內，我們將面臨挑戰。

Okay, great. Thank you.

好的，太好了。謝謝。

Hale Holden, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的黑爾霍爾頓。

Hey, good afternoon. I just had two real quick ones. On the sequential improvement in pet durables, you know, how does that look like on a two-year basis? Are we really seeing [start to flatten out] towards a stabilized trend line that you can grow from or is it just seem ready to decline against easier year over year comps?

嘿，下午好。我剛剛吃了兩個非常快的。關於寵物耐久財的持續改善，您知道，以兩年為基礎的情況如何？我們是否真的看到了 [開始趨於平緩] 並朝著穩定的趨勢線發展，您可以從中實現增長，還是說它只是看起來準備與同比更容易實現的趨勢相比下降？

You know, it's less of a decline on a sequential basis, right? But it's still a year-on-year decline. And again, talking about the pet ownership, but also this [de minimis tariff] exception, it's a bit hard to quantify how much of that is related to inexpensive products coming out of Asia.

您知道嗎，從連續性來看，下降幅度較小，對嗎？但同比來看仍是下降的。再一次，談到寵物所有權，還有這個[最低限度關稅]例外，很難量化其中有多少與來自亞洲的廉價產品有關。

You know, you can go on to some of these websites and look at, like a pet bed and it's very inexpensive coming out of Asia. You know, that is going to, you know, I don't know if it's going to stop but it certainly is going to be more challenging for that to happen. And I do believe that it's going to have a positive impact on our business. It's just hard to say how much right now

你知道，你可以去一些這樣的網站看看，像是寵物床，它來自亞洲，非常便宜。你知道，我不知道這是否會停止，但要實現這一點肯定會更具挑戰性。我確實相信這將對我們的業務產生積極的影響。現在很難說有多少

Yeah. And then the second question I had is I know you guys have covered this a little bit on the call, but just really simplistically. What -- why was the pull forward in garden this quarter? You know, some of the things I heard was maybe the weather was better in December, maybe your customers were loading up a little bit earlier than normal. But I'm sure you got some pretty direct feedback from your larger customers and what drove it?

是的。我的第二個問題是，我知道你們在電話中已經談過這一點，但只是非常簡單。什麼－為什麼本季花園業務要提前推進？你知道，我聽到的一些消息是，也許 12 月的天氣更好，也許你的客戶比平常更早裝貨。但我確信您從大客戶那裡得到了一些非常直接的回饋，是什麼推動了這些回饋？

Sure, Hale, this is J.D. The --, I think that for the most part during the quarter consumption and shipments tracked very closely to one another. But historically, right at the end of December, we always have a number of shipments that go to our larger customers to set the stores for the upcoming spring season.

當然，Hale，我是 J.D.——我認為在本季度的大部分時間裡，消費量和出貨量都非常接近。但從歷史上看，就在 12 月底，我們總會將一定數量的貨物發送給我們的大客戶，為即將到來的春季做好鋪墊。

So, they move from Christmas in their stores right into lawn and garden and that usually starts setting the first week in January. The initial shipments are scheduled to go late December. Now, most of our customers pick up at our DCs, distribution centers.

因此，他們從商店的聖誕節活動直接轉移到草坪和花園活動，這通常在一月的第一周開始。首批貨物預計於 12 月底發貨。現在，我們的大多數客戶都在我們的 DC 和配送中心取貨。

So, it's difficult to predict exactly when those trucks are going to show up. They may show up a day or two before Christmas, some -- a lot of them show up between Christmas and New year. So, it's difficult for us to predict. We got more shipments out than we anticipated.

因此，很難準確預測這些卡車何時會出現。它們可能會在聖誕節前一兩天出現，有些——很多會在聖誕節和新年之間出現。因此，我們很難預測。我們發出的貨物比我們預期的多。

We had the orders, their truck showed up and we were able to get those out in two less shipping days than what we had the prior year. So, all of those variables came into play. It made us, cautious in what we were predicting for the end of December. We actually got a lot more shipments out than we were anticipating.

我們收到了訂單，他們的卡車也來了，我們比去年少用了兩天的運輸時間就將貨物發出。因此，所有這些變數都發揮了作用。這讓我們對 12 月底的預測變得謹慎。事實上，我們發出的貨物比我們預期的要多得多。

Kudos to our supply chain team. But that's what drove a lot of the shipments. Now, it's strictly timing. So, it's whether that ships at the last week of December, the first week of January, it's for the same purpose and it's not consumption driven. It's to set the stores for the coming spring season. So, the early shipments in December most likely normalize and come out of Q2 shipments. So, not a net gain, just a timing difference. That's all. Does that make sense?

向我們的供應鏈團隊致敬。但這正是推動大量貨物運輸的動力。現在，嚴格來說只是時間問題。因此，無論是在 12 月的最後一周還是 1 月的第一周發貨，目的都是一樣的，而且不是由消費驅動的。這是為即將到來的春季做好準備。因此，12 月初的出貨量很可能會恢復正常，並在第二季出貨量中出來。因此，這不是淨收益，只是時間差異。就這樣。這樣有道理嗎？

It makes total sense. I'm going to still give, Niko credit for the beat this quarter though. So, thank you guys.

這完全是有道理的。不過，我仍然會讚揚 Niko 本季的出色表現。所以，謝謝大家。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Absolutely.

絕對地。

This was our last question. Thank you everyone for joining us today. We're available to answer any additional questions you might have after this call.

這是我們的最後一個問題。感謝大家今天的參與。通話結束後，我們隨時可以回答您可能有的任何其他問題。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. This does conclude today's teleconference. We thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的參與。現在您可以斷開線路。