切遲杜威 (CHD) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Church & Dwight's third quarter 2024 earnings conference call.

早安，女士們、先生們，歡迎參加 Church & Dwight 的 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。

Before we begin, I have been asked to remind you that on this call, the company's management may make forward-looking statements regarding among other things the company's financial objectives and forecasts. These statements are subject to risk and uncertainties and other factors that are described in detail in the company's SEC filings.

在我們開始之前，我被要求提醒您，在這次電話會議上，公司管理層可能會就公司的財務目標和預測等做出前瞻性陳述。這些聲明受到風險和不確定性以及公司向 SEC 文件中詳細描述的其他因素的影響。

I would now like to introduce your host for today's call. Mr. Matt Farrell, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Church & Dwight. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我想介紹一下今天電話會議的主持人。Matt Farrell 先生，Church & Dwight 董事長、總裁兼執行長。請繼續，先生。

Hey, good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us today. I'll begin with a review of the Q3 results. Then I'll turn the mic over to Rick Dierker, our CFO and Head of Business Operation. And once Rick is done, we'll open the call up for some Q&A.

嘿，大家早上好，感謝您今天加入我們。我將首先回顧第三季度的結果。然後我會將麥克風交給我們的財務長兼業務營運主管 Rick Dierker。一旦 Rick 完成，我們將開始進行一些問答。

All right. Q3 was another solid quarter for Church & Dwight. Reported sales growth was 3.8%, which beat our outlook of 2.5% and that was thanks to strong results from our domestic, international and specialty products businesses.

好的。對 Church & Dwight 來說，第三季是另一個穩健的季度。報告的銷售成長為 3.8%，超出了我們 2.5% 的預期，這要歸功於我們國內、國際和特色產品業務的強勁業績。

Organic sales grew 4.3% which exceeded our 3% Q3 outlook with volume accounting for a very healthy 3.1% of our growth. Adjusted gross margin expanded 60 basis points. At the same time, we increased marketing spending, and we gained market share in the majority of our categories. Adjusted EPS was $0.79, which was $0.12 higher than our $0.67 outlook. Nice beat.

有機銷售額成長 4.3%，超過我們第三季 3% 的預期，銷售量占我們成長的 3.1%，非常健康。調整後毛利率擴大 60 個基點。同時，我們增加了行銷支出，並在大多數類別中獲得了市場份額。調整後每股收益為 0.79 美元，比我們的預期 0.67 美元高出 0.12 美元。好節奏。

The quality results were driven by higher-than-expected sales growth and gross margin expansion. Our online class of trade continues to perform well with online sales as a percentage of global sales at approximately 21%.

高於預期的銷售成長和毛利率擴張推動了優質業績。我們的線上貿易類別持續表現良好，線上銷售額佔全球銷售額的比例約為 21%。

Next, I'm going to comment on each of the three businesses and the first step will be the US business with 3.3% organic sales growth. Volume growth was 2.6% and this is the fifth consecutive quarter of volume growth in our US business with five of our seven power brands gaining market share in the quarter.

接下來，我將分別對這三家業務進行評論，第一步將是美國業務，有機銷售額成長 3.3%。銷量成長了 2.6%，這是我們美國業務銷售連續第五個季度增長，我們的七個強勢品牌中有五個在本季度獲得了市場份額。

Now, let's look at a few important categories in the US. Innovation, of course, is a big contributor to our success this year and every year. As I comment on the categories, I'll highlight the success of the new product launches. Start off with laundry detergent. ARM & HAMMER liquid launch in detergent consumption grew 2% which outpaced a flat category with ARM & HAMMER share in the quarter reaching 14.7%.

現在，讓我們來看看美國的幾個重要類別。當然，創新是我們今年和每年成功的重要因素。當我評論這些類別時，我將強調新產品發布的成功。從洗衣粉開始。ARM & HAMMER 液體洗滌劑消費增長了 2%，超過了持平類別，本季 ARM & HAMMER 份額達到 14.7%。

Now, the unit dose category declined 1.1%. However, ARM & HAMMER unit dose saw consumption growth of 16.5% and we grew share 70 bps to 4.8% of unit dose. Regarding new products, this year, we launched two new products into the detergent category, ARM & HAMMER Deep Clean and ARM & HAMMER POWER SHEETS.

現在，單位劑量類別下降了 1.1%。然而，ARM 和 HAMMER 單位劑量的消費量增加了 16.5%，我們的份額增加了 70 個基點，達到單位劑量的 4.8%。在新產品方面，今年我們在洗滌劑類別中推出了兩款新產品：ARM & HAMMER Deep Clean 和 ARM & HAMMER POWER SHEETS。

Deep Clean is our most premium laundry detergent where we entered the mid-tier of liquid laundry. Deep Clean accounted for a little over 40% of ARM & HAMMER liquid laundry detergent consumption growth in the quarter and it's highly incremental to our franchise.

Deep Clean 是我們最優質的洗衣粉，我們進入了液體洗衣的中端市場。Deep Clean 佔本季 ARM & HAMMER 液體洗衣粉消費成長的 40% 多一點，它對我們的特許經營業務來說是一個巨大的增量。

The second new product is POWER SHEETS. This is a new form of laundry detergent, and you may remember in [August of 2023], ARM & HAMMER was the first major brand to offer this new unit dose form in the US. Our fresh linen scented sheet is now the number two sheet on Amazon.

第二個新產品是POWER SHEETS。這是一種新型洗衣粉，您可能還記得 [2023 年 8 月]，ARM & HAMMER 是第一個在美國提供這種新單位劑量形式的主要品牌。我們的新鮮亞麻香味床單現在是亞馬遜上排名第二的床單。

And since launching this product into bricks and mortar this year, we have seen high consumer interest in the form. ARM & HAMMER is the number one sheet brand at Kroger. It's also the number two brand in [all of food]. We feel great about the future prospects for this new form.

自從今年將該產品推出實體店以來，我們發現消費者對此形式表現出很高的興趣。ARM & HAMMER 是克羅格排名第一的床單品牌。也是國內第二大品牌[所有食物]。我們對這種新形式的未來前景感到非常樂觀。

Now I'm going to switch over to litter. The category was flat in Q3. That's the category consumption as expected ARM & HAMMER litter consumption declined 1.5%. And this reflects the absence of a competitor out of stock situation which benefited our prior year market share. The good news is we've held on to about half of our prior year share gains.

現在我要轉向垃圾了。第三季該類別持平。ARM & HAMMER 垃圾消耗量下降了 1.5%，此類別的消耗量與預期一致。這反映出沒有競爭對手缺貨的情況，這有利於我們去年的市佔率。好消息是我們保住了上一年份額收益的一半左右。

A new lightweight ARM & HAMMER Clumping Litter which is our new product this year is outperforming our expectations as our share of the lightweight category continues to grow. This is important because lightweight accounts for [17%] of the Clumping Litter category. Hardball became the number two major brand in lightweight segment in Q3.

隨著我們在輕量級類別中的份額持續增長，我們今年的新產品新型輕量級 ARM & HAMMER Clumping Litter 的表現超出了我們的預期。這很重要，因為輕質垃圾佔「結塊垃圾」類別的 [17%]。Hardball 在第三季成為輕量化領域第二大品牌。

And I'm going to switch over to personal care. The gummy vitamins business continues to be a drag on the company's organic growth. The gummy vitamin category declined 0.3%. We can call that flat in Q3, which is an improvement from the category decline for the past few quarters.

我將轉向個人護理。維生素軟糖業務繼續拖累公司的有機成長。維生素軟糖類別下降了 0.3%。我們可以稱第三季持平，這比過去幾季的類別下滑有所改善。

The bad news is our consumption was down even greater. We were down 10%. The improvement of this business is taking far longer than we expected. And as you saw on the release has reduced our expectations about the long-term growth and profit of the business. This resulted in a $357 million write down of the book value of the assets.

壞消息是我們的消費下降幅度更大。我們下跌了 10%。這項業務的改善所花費的時間遠遠超出我們的預期。正如您在新聞稿中看到的那樣，我們降低了對該業務的長期成長和利潤的預期。這導致資產帳面價值減記 3.57 億美元。

We continue to move forward with our stabilization actions which include new packaging, upgraded formulas to improve the consumer experience and higher marketing investments, which gives us some degree of optimism for the business is the innovation that we have coming in 2025.

我們繼續推動穩定行動，包括新包裝、升級配方以改善消費者體驗和增加行銷投資，這讓我們對 2025 年的創新業務感到一定程度的樂觀。

Next up is BATISTE, which continues to see strong growth with consumption of 6% in Q3, growing share to 46%. BATISTE continues to be the global leader in dry shampoo. This year, we launched BATISTE Sweat Activated and BATISTE Touch Activated. These innovations continue to bring new users to the category which is very important.

接下來是 BATIST，該公司繼續強勁成長，第三季消費量成長 6%，市佔率成長至 46%。BATISTER 繼續成為乾洗洗髮精的全球領導者。今年，我們推出了 BATITE Sweat Activated 和 BATITE Touch Activated。這些創新不斷為該類別帶來新用戶，這一點非常重要。

And already these two new products account for 2% of the dry shampoo category. And Sweat Activated is the number one new product on dry shampoo. Over in mouthwash, THERABREATH continues to perform extremely well. The mouthwash category was up 5% in Q3. But here's a few stats. Alcohol based mouthwash was down 1%, while non-alcohol category grew 11%.

這兩款新產品已經佔乾洗洗髮精類別的2%。而Sweat Activated是乾洗洗髮精領域排名第一的新產品。在漱口水中，THERABREATH 繼續表現出色。第三季漱口水類別成長了 5%。但這裡有一些統計數據。含酒精漱口水下降 1%，而非含酒精漱口水則增加 11%。

THERABREATH is the number one alcohol free mouthwash with 35% share and it's the number three brand in total mouthwash with an 18% share. I'm getting over to new products this year. We entered the antiseptic segment of the category with the launch of THERABREATH Deep Clean Oral Rinse.

THERABREATH 是排名第一的無酒精漱口水，擁有 35% 的市場份額，也是漱口水總量中排名第三的品牌，擁有 18% 的市場份額。今年我開始接觸新產品。隨著 THERABREATH 深層清潔口腔沖洗劑的推出，我們進入了這個類別的抗菌領域。

It's important to note that the antiseptic subcategory represents about 30% of the $2 billion mouthwash category. And our launch into antiseptics has accounted for 100 basis points of our 400 basis points of year over year growth in market share. So great indicator of the future for the antiseptic launch.

值得注意的是，抗菌劑子類別約佔價值 20 億美元的漱口水類別的 30%。我們的市佔率年增了 400 個基點，而我們推出的防腐劑佔了 100 個基點。對於抗菌劑的推出來說，這是一個很好的未來指標。

HERO is the number one brand in acne care with the 22% share and continues to drive the majority of the growth in the category. The patch category grew 42%. Well, HERO grew patch market share by 1.7 basis points to 57% share. HERO continues to launch innovative solutions and patches, and we're very bullish about the future of that brand.

HERO 是痤瘡護理領域的第一品牌，佔有 22% 的份額，並繼續推動該類別的大部分成長。補丁類別增加了 42%。嗯，HERO 補丁市佔率成長了 1.7 個基點，達到 57%。HERO 不斷推出創新的解決方案和補丁，我們非常看好品牌的未來。

I'm going to provide you with a couple of remarks on promotional levels in our household categories. In the liquid laundry detergent, we've seen stable sold on promotion in the low-30s over the last few quarters. Over in unit those, pretty much the same story percentage sold on, promotion is also stable averaging in the low-30s over the last few quarters.

我將向您提供一些關於我們家居類別促銷水平的評論。在液體洗衣粉方面，我們看到過去幾季的促銷活動銷量穩定在 30 多美元左右。就這些單位而言，銷售的故事百分比幾乎相同，過去幾季的促銷平均也穩定在 30 左右。

Litter is a different story. In litter, conditions are different, and promotional levels have increased and here's the trend line. So if you look at Q1, sold on deal was 15.5%. Q2 was a little over 18%. In Q3, it was 19.5%. So it's going to be even higher in Q4. The increase in litter promotions is primarily driven by one major competitor. We're sold on deal fees 40%.

垃圾是一個不同的故事。在垃圾方面，情況有所不同，促銷力道增加，這是趨勢線。因此，如果你看看第一季度，成交率為 15.5%。第二季略高於 18%。第三季為 19.5%。所以第四季會更高。垃圾促銷活動的增加主要是由一個主要競爭對手所推動的。我們以 40% 的交易費出售。

All right. Turning now to international, especially products. Our international business delivered organic growth of 8.1% in Q3. That's right on our algorithm of 8%. This was driven by strong growth in every one of our subsidiaries as well as our global markets group.

好的。現在轉向國際，尤其是產品。我們的國際業務在第三季度實現了 8.1% 的有機成長。這與我們的演算法 8% 相符。這是由我們每一家子公司以及我們的全球市場集團的強勁成長所推動的。

Finally, specialty products, organic sales increased 7.5%. That's three quarters now of solid organic growth for this business. We're confident that this division will achieve 5% organic sales growth this year and we hit our evergreen growth target. So we feel great about our progress and specialty products.

最後，特色產品有機銷售額成長了7.5%。這意味著該業務目前已經有四分之三實現了穩健的有機成長。我們有信心該部門今年將實現 5% 的有機銷售成長，並實現常青成長目標。因此，我們對我們的進步和特色產品感到非常滿意。

This commentary on the consumer. In July, we noted a deceleration in consumption in our categories. This continued in Q3 as we expected. After seeing 4.5% growth in our categories for the first five months of the year, June, July and August were closer to 2.5%.

這是對消費者的評論。七月份，我們注意到我們類別的消費減速。正如我們預期的那樣，這種情況在第三季繼續存在。在今年前 5 個月我們的品類成長了 4.5% 後，6 月、7 月和 8 月的成長接近 2.5%。

Now, in September, we saw consumption in our category strengthen to about 3%. And then in October, category consumption was up 5%. But let's all remind ourselves that the hurricane and the port strike, no doubt influenced those results. So we remain cautious in Q4 regarding the US consumer and category growth rate.

現在，在 9 月份，我們看到該類別的消費成長至 3% 左右。然後在 10 月份，品類消費成長了 5%。但我們都要提醒自己，颶風和港口罷工無疑地影響了這些結果。因此，我們對第四季美國消費者和品類成長率保持謹慎態度。

I don't want to wrap up my comments by reiterating that the company is performing well with all three divisions delivering strong growth. I want to thank all the Church & Dwighters out there for doing such a great job each and every day, great team.

我不想透過重申公司表現良好，所有三個部門都實現強勁成長來結束我的評論。我要感謝所有 Church & Dwighters 每天都在做著如此出色的工作，這是一個偉大的團隊。

And now I'm going to turn over to Rick to provide more color on the quarter and full year outlook.

現在我將請 Rick 提供有關季度和全年展望的更多資訊。

All right. Thank you, Matt and good morning, everybody. We'll start with EPS. On a reported basis made a loss of $0.31 a share, primarily due to non-cash asset pyramid of our vitamin business. Third quarter adjusted EPS with $0.79, up almost 7% from the prior year. The $0.79 was better than our $0.67 outlook and is a high-quality beat, primarily driven by higher-than-expected operating profit.

好的。謝謝你，馬特，大家早安。我們將從 EPS 開始。根據報告，每股虧損 0.31 美元，主要是由於我們維生素業務的非現金資產金字塔。第三季調整後每股收益為 0.79 美元，比去年同期成長近 7%。0.79 美元的股價好於我們 0.67 美元的預期，是一個高品質的突破，主要是由高於預期的營業利潤推動的。

Reported revenue was up 3.8% and organic sales were up 4.3%. Organic sales were driven by volume of 3.1% and positive price mix of 1.2%. Volume was again the primary driver of organic growth, and we expect volume growth to continue in Q4. Our third quarter adjusted gross margin was 45%, a 60 basis point increase from a year ago, primarily due to productivity, volume, mix, net of the impact of higher manufacturing costs.

報告營收成長 3.8%，有機銷售額成長 4.3%。有機銷售由 3.1% 的銷量和 1.2% 的積極價格組合推動。銷量再次成為有機成長的主要驅動力，我們預計第四季銷售將繼續成長。我們第三季調整後的毛利率為 45%，比去年同期成長 60 個基點，這主要是由於生產率、產量、產品組合（扣除製造成本上升的影響）所致。

Let me walk you through the Q3 bridge. Gross margin was made up of the following. Positive 140 basis points impact from volume and mix, a positive 130 basis point impact from productivity and a 10 basis points positive impact related to acquisitions. This was partially offset by 220 basis points from higher manufacturing costs.

讓我帶您穿過 Q3 橋。毛利率由以下組成。數量和組合帶來 140 個基點的正向影響，生產力帶來 130 個基點的正向影響，以及與收購相關的 10 個基點的正向影響。這被較高的製造成本部分抵消了 220 個基點。

Moving to marketing. Marketing was up $18 million year-over-year. Marketing expense as a percent of net sales was 12.3% or 80 basis points higher in Q3 last year and helped drive share gains. For Q3, adjusted SG&A increased 20 basis points year-over-year, primarily due to international R&D and IT investments. Other expense decreased by $11.9 million. We now expect other expense for the full year to be approximately [$65 million] on an adjusted basis.

轉向行銷。行銷費用年增 1800 萬美元。去年第三季度，行銷費用佔淨銷售額的百分比增加了 12.3%，即 80 個基點，有助於推動份額成長。第三季度，調整後的 SG&A 年成長 20 個基點，主要得益於國際研發和 IT 投資。其他費用減少 1,190 萬美元。我們現在預計全年其他費用調整後約為 [6500 萬美元]。

In Q3, there was a tax benefit of 25.9%, and this was related to the vitamin impairment. Excluding that impact, our effective rate was 23.8% and that compares to 24.1% in Q3 of 2023. The expected adjusted effective tax rate for the full year is now approximately 22.5% versus the previous outlook of 23%.

第三季度，稅收優惠為25.9%，這與維生素減損有關。排除此影響，我們的有效率為 23.8%，而 2023 年第三季為 24.1%。全年預期調整後有效稅率目前約為 22.5%，而先前的預期為 23%。

And now to cash. For the first nine months of 2024, cash from operating activities was $864 million, an increase of almost $70 million driven by higher cash earnings. We now expect full year cash flow from operations to be approximately $1.1 billion. We're having a great year in regards to cash.

現在要兌現。2024 年頭 9 個月，經營活動產生的現金為 8.64 億美元，由於現金收益增加，增加了近 7,000 萬美元。我們目前預計全年營運現金流約為 11 億美元。我們在現金方面度過了美好的一年。

CapEx for the first nine months was $125 million, almost a $4 million increase from the prior year as capacity expansion projects proceeded as planned. We expect 2024 CapEx of approximately [$180 million] as we complete the majority of those investments that were initiated in 2023, and we continue to expect CapEx to return to historical levels of 2% of sales in 2025 and beyond.

前 9 個月的資本支出為 1.25 億美元，比上年增加近 400 萬美元，因為產能擴張項目按計劃進行。隨著我們完成 2023 年啟動的大部分投資，我們預計 2024 年的資本支出約為 [1.8 億美元]，並且我們繼續預計資本支出將在 2025 年及以後恢復到佔銷售額 2% 的歷史水平。

And now for the full year outlook. As Matt mentioned, while we saw US consumption in our categories improved slightly towards the end of the third quarter, we remain cautious regarding the US consumer and category growth rates for the remainder of the year. We continue to expect our organic revenue outlook to be approximately 4% and reported sales growth to be approximately 3.5%. We continue to expect full year adjusted EPS to be approximately 8%.

現在是全年展望。正如馬特所提到的，雖然我們看到我們類別的美國消費在第三季末略有改善，但我們對今年剩餘時間的美國消費者和類別成長率保持謹慎態度。我們繼續預期我們的有機收入前景約為 4%，報告的銷售成長約為 3.5%。我們繼續預計全年調整後每股收益約為 8%。

Turning to gross margin. We now expect expansion of approximately 110 basis points at the high end of the previous range and we now expect marketing as a percent of sales to be above 11%. And as you read in the release, to the extent our business does better than our outlook, we plan on incrementally investing behind marketing and SG&A to help enter 2025 with momentum.

轉向毛利率。我們現在預計在先前範圍的高端上擴張約 110 個基點，並且我們現在預計行銷佔銷售額的百分比將超過 11%。正如您在新聞稿中所讀到的那樣，如果我們的業務表現比我們的前景更好，我們計劃在行銷和 SG&A 方面進行增量投資，以幫助我們充滿動力地進入 2025 年。

And with that, Matt and I would be happy to take any questions.

因此，馬特和我很樂意回答任何問題。

(Operator Instructions) Chris Carey, Wells Fargo Securities.

（操作員指示）Chris Carey，富國銀行證券。

Hey, good morning, guys. Thanks for the question. Hey, how are you? I'm going to start with the outlook for Q4. I want to understand if there are any inventory timing dynamics, which are going into Q3 or Q4? Or if this outlook is primarily reflecting, I guess, a view that consumption trends should start to decelerate through the quarter as you lapse some of these a typical benefits that maybe you've seen of late.

嘿，早上好，夥計們。謝謝你的提問。嘿，你怎麼樣？我將從第四季的前景開始。我想了解第三季或第四季是否有任何庫存時間動態？或者，我想，如果這種前景主要反映了這樣一種觀點，即隨著您失去了最近可能看到的一些典型好處，整個季度的消費趨勢應該會開始減速。

And so, we should be expecting that? And perhaps just some lingering conservatism about not trying to call any improvement in category growth rates versus, say, again, some inventory or shipment timing dynamic?

那麼，我們應該期待這一點嗎？也許只是一些揮之不去的保守主義，即不試圖稱品類成長率有任何改善，而不是某些庫存或出貨時間動態？

Yeah. I'll take the first one, part of it on inventory, maybe Matt will talk about the category consumption growth rates. We hear small things on retail inventory, but not anything that we would call out and not enough to impact anything. There's small examples, but not enough to influence what we would be calling.

是的。我將採取第一個，其中一部分是庫存，也許馬特會談論品類消費成長率。我們聽到了有關零售庫存的小事，但沒有任何我們會指出的事情，也不足以影響任何事情。有一些小例子，但不足以影響我們的稱呼。

Yeah. And Chris, as far as the categories grow, if you just look at Q1, Q2 and Q3 for some of our major categories. So if you look at the liquid laundry detergent, Q1, Q2, Q3, the category was up 3%, up 1%, flat. And you look at litter, up 5%, up 2%, flat.

是的。克里斯，就類別的成長而言，如果你只看我們的一些主要類別的第一季、第二季和第三季。因此，如果你看看液體洗衣粉，第一季、第二季、第三季度，該類別上漲了 3%，上漲了 1%，持平。你看看垃圾，增加了 5%，增加了 2%，持平。

And then going to mouthwash, up 13%, up 9% and then 5%. Patches are pretty steady, high double-digits. But the acne category is 14%, 8%, 7%, but obviously, HERO being patches. So we're somewhat unaffected by that.

然後是漱口水，上漲13%，上漲9%，然後上漲5%。補丁相當穩定，高兩位數。但痤瘡類別是14%、8%、7%，但顯然，HERO 是補丁。所以我們在某種程度上不受此影響。

But if you just look at the trend, you can see a deceleration. So that's one of the reasons why I would say, hey, we're still cautious about the economy. That's the categories. We tend to be doing better because we're taking share.

但如果你只看趨勢，你會發現減速。所以這就是為什麼我會說，嘿，我們仍然對經濟持謹慎態度的原因之一。這就是類別。我們往往會做得更好，因為我們正在分享份額。

But that's always the only lever you have when things are starting to slow down. So yeah, we feel good about our performance. We call it 3% in Q3. We put up the 4%. We had some good performance in our brands and some share take, but like where we are going into Q4.

但當事情開始放緩時，這始終是你擁有的唯一槓桿。所以，是的，我們對自己的表現感覺良好。我們稱之為第三季的 3%。我們提供了 4%。我們的品牌表現良好，也取得了一些份額，但就像我們進入第四季度的情況一樣。

Okay. That makes sense. Then one quick follow-up would be there's an expectation over time for the US business to be delivering 4% topline growth. Clearly, you're still trying to figure out what the appropriate level is in the current environment relative to where the categories are going.

好的。這是有道理的。接下來的一個快速跟進是，隨著時間的推移，美國業務預計將實現 4% 的營收成長。顯然，您仍在嘗試找出當前環境中相對於類別走向的適當級別。

But how much visibility do you think you have in that topline growth objective in the US from here? It's not really a 2025 guidance question per se, but just the ability to deliver against an objective which came up by about a 1 point relative to past in the current environment? And if not, how long do you think you'd need to get there again?

但您認為您對美國營收成長目標的可見度有多少？這本身並不是一個真正的 2025 年指導問題，而只是在當前環境下實現相對於過去約 1 個百分點的目標的能力？如果沒有，您認為需要多長時間才能再次到達那裡？

Yeah. That was sort of a veiled attempt at the 2025 guidance (multiple speakers) I want to correct you on one thing. As far as our algorithm goes, when we moved from 3% to 4% top line, US portion of that was going from 2% to 3%. So obviously, that's the big dog. It's the lion's share of our business. So the expectation is that we're going to grow a 3% going forward.

是的。這是對 2025 年指南（多位發言者）的隱晦嘗試，我想糾正你一件事。就我們的演算法而言，當我們將收入從 3% 提高到 4% 時，美國的部分將從 2% 提高到 3%。很明顯，那是一隻大狗。這是我們業務的最大份額。因此，我們預計未來將成長 3%。

So 3% for the domestic business, and 8% for International, 5% for SPD. That's what, how we get to our 4% --

因此，國內業務為 3%，國際業務為 8%，SPD 為 5%。這就是我們如何達到 4% 的目標——

Yeah. Sorry, if I didn't come across. That was really embedded in the question. Thanks.

是的。抱歉，如果我沒有遇到的話。這確實嵌入在問題中。謝謝。

Yeah. And looks good. We look at our portfolio and say, when you have a long-term algorithm, it's not just '25, it's '25, '26 to '27. So we look at the strength of our brands. We look at the innovation we have planned over a three-year basis, '25, '26, '27.

是的。而且看起來不錯。我們審視我們的投資組合併說，當你有一個長期演算法時，它不僅僅是“25”，而是“25”、“26”到“27”。因此，我們著眼於我們品牌的實力。我們著眼於三年（25 年、26 年、27 年）計畫的創新。

And consequently, we're encouraged that if you look back, our history is we hit our algorithms is about every year. In fact, you know yourself over the last 10 years, we've hit 4%. That's one of the reasons why we said, hey, we make that our algorithm going forward.

因此，我們感到鼓舞的是，如果你回顧過去，我們的歷史是我們每年都會遇到我們的演算法。事實上，你了解自己，在過去 10 年裡，我們已經達到 4%了。這就是為什麼我們說，嘿，我們將其作為我們未來的演算法的原因之一。

Yeah. And I think just to add to that, why do we take share over time? Well, one of the reasons is we have great innovation, and we're putting support by innovation to go drive trial, to grow households, and that's also where we're reinvesting as we overdeliver in 2024. So that's why we think we're going to enter 2025 with momentum.

是的。我想補充一點，為什麼我們會隨著時間的推移而佔據份額？原因之一是我們擁有偉大的創新，我們正在透過創新提供支援來推動試驗、擴大家庭數量，這也是我們在 2024 年超額交付時進行再投資的地方。這就是為什麼我們認為我們將充滿動力地進入 2025 年。

Yeah. So when you have contracting categories, the way home is always going to be innovation and share gain.

是的。因此，當你有承包類別時，回家的路永遠是創新和分享利益。

Rupesh Parikh, Oppenheimer.

魯佩什·帕里克，奧本海默。

Good morning and thanks for taking my question. So just going back to the vitamin business. So an impairment this quarter, how are you thinking about the path to stabilization and then growth? Do you think in '25, we maybe start to see stabilization in that business? And just any green shoots maybe you're seeing with the efforts there?

早安，感謝您提出我的問題。回到維生素業務。那麼本季出現減值，您如何考慮穩定然後成長的道路？您認為在 25 年，我們可能會開始看到該業務的穩定性嗎？透過那裡的努力，您可能看到了任何新芽嗎？

Yeah. We've been at this now for probably more than a year and half. The things such as graphics and packaging and messaging, those things that we can control are in place. As far as innovation goes, that has not hit the market. We really haven't had any meaningful innovation for a few years now. And that's what, as I said in my earlier remarks, that's what gives us some optimism about stabilizing this business in 2025.

是的。我們現在已經這樣做了一年半多了。圖形、包裝和訊息傳遞等我們可以控制的東西都已就位。就創新而言，它還沒有進入市場。我們確實已經好幾年沒有任何有意義的創新了。正如我在之前的演講中所說，這就是讓我們對 2025 年穩定這項業務感到樂觀的原因。

Yeah. Maybe it's other green shoots. And as Matt said, we have probably 10 different things that are happening. But the core of it is we got to get the consumer being delighted in our product again and making sure that we're doing all of our reformulations so that consumers are picking our product and our brand that they know, and they love for a long period of time.

是的。也許這是其他的綠芽。正如馬特所說，我們可能正在發生 10 件不同的事情。但其核心是我們必須讓消費者再次對我們的產品感到滿意，並確保我們進行所有的重新配方，以便消費者選擇他們了解並長期喜愛的我們的產品和品牌一段時間。

But some green shoots, I would say, we've seen some lift and some retailers where a few of these things are kind of ahead of the curve. And so, that's been encouraging. We did one of the 10 levers was looking at price gaps, and we adjusted the price gaps in couple of areas and units are up dramatically. So there's good progress. Like Matt said, innovation really is coming in March, April of next year. So we have to get a better shot and we're optimistic.

但我想說的是，我們已經看到了一些復甦，一些零售商的一些東西已經走在了前面。所以，這令人鼓舞。我們採取了 10 個槓桿之一來研究價格差距，我們調整了幾個地區的價格差距，並且單位大幅上漲。所以有很好的進展。正如馬特所說，創新確實會在明年三月、四月到來。所以我們必須獲得更好的機會，而且我們很樂觀。

Yeah. If you're looking for green shoots, the one -- this is a smaller part of the business, but L'IL CRITTERS has been really responsive so far. In fact, L'IL CRITTERS gained some share in the past quarter. So that's a good thing. But really, the lion's share of the business is dealt, and that's where we need the innovation.

是的。如果您正在尋找新芽，那麼這只是業務的一小部分，但到目前為止，L'IL CRITTERS 的反應確實非常積極。事實上，L'IL CRITTERS 在上個季度獲得了一些份額。所以這是一件好事。但實際上，大部分業務都在處理，這就是我們需要創新的地方。

Bonnie Herzog, Goldman Sachs.

邦妮·赫爾佐格，高盛。

All right. Thank you. Good morning. I had a question on your marketing investment scene. You called out expected stepped up spend in Q4, and you raised your guidance a bit this year to more than 11% as a percentage of sales. So could you give us more color behind the greater investments in terms of types of spend, any changes with strategy, either channel, medium, et cetera?

好的。謝謝。早安.我有一個關於你們行銷投資場景的問題。您預計第四季度的支出將增加，並將今年的指導方針略微提高至銷售額的 11% 以上。那麼，您能否在支出類型、策略（管道、媒介等）方面的任何變化等方面為我們提供更多投資背後的資訊？

And then I would be curious to hear if more of the dollars will be shifted internationally. And then, if I may, finally, just on a go-forward basis, should we assume you're going to continue to step up this spend as a percentage of sales in the next several years to support your 4% organic sales growth expectations as you've called out in your evergreen model. Thank you.

然後我很想知道是否會有更多的美元轉移到國際上。最後，請允許我展望一下，我們是否應該假設您在未來幾年內將繼續增加這筆支出佔銷售額的百分比，以支持您 4% 的有機銷售增長預期正如您在常青模型中所說的那樣。謝謝。

Hey, Bonnie. It's good, detailed question. I'll start, and I'm sure Matt wants to add a couple of thoughts. But when you look at our raise of marketing spend, I mean, going to 11% to somewhere between probably 11% and 11.5%, that's meaningful. That's $20 million-plus in some cases. And some of that is international across markets because we're driving different brands, and they're doing really well too. But THERABREATH expansion, HERO expansion, Sterimar, BATISTE internationally.

嘿，邦妮。這個問題很好，很詳細。我先開始，我確信馬特想補充一些想法。但當你看看我們的行銷支出增加時，我的意思是，增加到 11% 到 11% 到 11.5% 之間，這是有意義的。在某些情況下，這一數字甚至超過 2000 萬美元。其中一些是跨市場的國際化，因為我們正在推動不同的品牌，而且它們也做得很好。但 THERABREATH 擴張、HERO 擴張、Sterimar、BATIST 國際化。

But in the US, we have a lot of places where we're spending, but most of that spend is bedind our innovation again. Like this is one of our best years of innovation. We believe that's why we're getting share in many cases, that's why we're doing so well and overdelivering even our timing expectations. And so, a lot of the marketing spend goes behind things like Deep Clean on laundry, things like SHEETS on laundry, things like Hardball on litter, and our new BATISTE Touch.

但在美國，我們在許多地方都進行了支出，但大部分支出都再次用於我們的創新。這是我們創新最好的年份之一。我們相信這就是為什麼我們在許多情況下都能獲得份額，這就是為什麼我們做得這麼好，甚至超出了我們的時間預期。因此，許多行銷支出都花在了諸如洗衣上的深度清潔、洗衣上的床單之類的東西、垃圾上的硬球之類的東西以及我們新的 BATISTE Touch 等項目上。

Yeah. And the other thing I would add to that is 85% of our advertising is digital right now. So we have a great ability to move around and take advantage of different vehicles at different times of the year. So I wouldn't say any more than that and go brand by brand. But Rick is right, international is part of where the spend is in fourth quarter as is domestic, even a little bit in specialty products.

是的。我要補充的另一件事是，目前我們 85% 的廣告都是數位化的。因此，我們有很強的能力在一年中的不同時間四處走動並利用不同的車輛。所以我不會再多說了，而是逐一介紹。但里克是對的，國際市場和國內市場一樣，是第四季度支出的一部分，甚至在特色產品上也有一點。

And as far as our future looking marketing as a percentage, our algorithm is around 11%. It all depends on how our share. Share is the score card. So our shares are doing fantastically. Well, you heard in the release, 5% or 7%. I think year-to-date, we're 14% for all of our brands, all of our old POWER brands. So that score card is what really matters. And as long as we're gaining share and more often than not, I think that's the right level. And if we feel like it's not, then we'll adjust.

就我們未來行銷的百分比而言，我們的演算法約為 11%。這完全取決於我們如何分享。分享是記分卡。所以我們的股票表現非常好。嗯，你在新聞稿中聽說過，5% 或 7%。我認為今年迄今為止，我們所有品牌、所有舊 POWER 品牌的市佔率為 14%。所以記分卡才是真正重要的。只要我們不斷獲得份額，而且通常情況下，我認為這就是正確的水平。如果我們覺得情況並非如此，那麼我們就會進行調整。

Steve Powers, Deutsche Bank.

史蒂夫鮑爾斯，德意志銀行。

Thanks very much. Actually, to follow up on that -- sorry, I might have missed it in your answer, but the marketing spent in the third quarter came in a little bit lower than least external expectations. Obviously, made up for in the fourth quarter. But was there anything from your perspective that shifted that marketing support from 3Q to 4Q? Or is it just more of anomaly versus how we all on the outside modeled it?

非常感謝。實際上，跟進這一點 - 抱歉，我可能在您的回答中漏掉了這一點，但第三季度的營銷支出略低於外部預期。顯然，第四季得到了彌補。但從您的角度來看，是否有什麼因素將行銷支援從第三季轉移到了第四季？或者這只是與我們外部的建模方式相比更加異常？

Yeah. I think it is more of an anomaly. We're getting very specific, but we were up 80 basis points in Q3, which is a significant increase. We had told everybody that we were going to be down a few hundred in Q4 because we were spreading that spend that was maybe a little higher in Q4 last year over to Q1, Q2 and Q3 to better support innovation.

是的。我認為這更像是一種異常現象。我們變得非常具體，但我們在第三季上漲了 80 個基點，這是一個顯著的成長。我們告訴每個人，我們將在第四季度減少數百美元，因為我們將去年第四季可能稍高的支出分散到第一季、第二季和第三季度，以更好地支持創新。

And I wouldn't even call it timing. It's probably just a disconnect between the outside models and what we were going to do.

我甚至不會稱之為時機。這可能只是外部模型與我們要做的事情之間的脫節。

Okay. Cool. And I guess more of an overarching question. You've touched upon some of this -- some of what I think is going to be in your answer. But the perception among many investors of late is that Church & Dwight is in a relatively fragile position navigating the second half and heading into next year, just given that so much growth has been driven by THERABREATH and HERO.

好的。涼爽的。我想更多的是一個首要問題。你已經談到了其中的一些內容——我認為你的答案中將會包含一些內容。但最近許多投資者的看法是，鑑於 THERABREATH 和 HERO 推動瞭如此多的成長，Church & Dwight 在下半年和進入明年的過程中處於相對脆弱的地位。

Whereas investors view the core legacy business as being a bit more choppy probably with added focus there on categories like vitamins and litter off late. But just how do you respond to that, either with respect to reasons to believe in the resilience of THERABREATH and HERO? Or conversely, reasons for more holistic confidence in that legacy core business?

然而投資者認為核心傳統業務有點不穩定，可能是因為對維生素和垃圾等類別的關注增加了。但您對此有何回應，或有理由相信 THERABREATH 和 HERO 的韌性？或者相反，對傳統核心業務更全面的信心的原因是什麼？

I'll take a swing at that, and Rick can pile on. Look, we manage a portfolio and we're in a lot of different categories. And yeah, it's true that THERABREATH and HERO have delivering outsized performance over the past year. But there's ebbs and flows over the years if you look back over many years, it's different times with different businesses pull the train.

我會嘗試一下，瑞克可以繼續。看，我們管理一個投資組合，並且我們屬於許多不同的類別。是的，THERABREATH 和 HERO 在過去一年中確實取得了出色的表現。但如果你回顧多年，這些年來會有潮起潮落，你會發現不同的時期有不同的企業拉動火車。

So I think the new products that we have in some of the categories that you may be referring to like laundry and litter, are going to be a big part of our growth in the future that will be SHEETS and that will be Hardball. And also, the innovation in other categories outside of patches as well.

因此，我認為我們在您可能提到的某些類別（例如洗衣和垃圾）中推出的新產品將成為我們未來成長的重要組成部分，其中包括床單和硬球。此外，補丁以外的其他類別也有創新。

But if you look long term, the THERABREATH is not done. When we bought this business, we said, hey, this can be a $0.5 billion business over time. Whereas we'd say, yeah, the distribution for that business has probably been achieved as far as number of doors. We haven't done a spread out on shelf with other variants. So I think there's still significant growth for THERABREATH.

但如果你從長遠來看，THERABREATH 還沒有完成。當我們收購這家企業時，我們說，嘿，隨著時間的推移，這可能是一項價值 5 億美元的企業。然而我們會說，是的，該業務的分配可能已經實現了門的數量。我們還沒有與其他變體一起上架。所以我認為 THERABREATH 仍然有顯著的成長。

And as far as HERO goes, we don't want to get distracted by moving into other categories. We want to make sure we nailed and grew patches and created more awareness around that and more household penetration. But the HERO brand has the opportunity to spread to adjacent categories going forward.

就 HERO 而言，我們不想因進入其他類別而分心。我們希望確保我們已經修復並增加了補丁，並提高了對此的認識和更多的家庭滲透率。但 HERO 品牌未來有機會擴展到鄰近類別。

So I think the investors should be confident that those two brands will continue to grow in the future and because of the innovation we have in laundry and litter, dry shampoo, et cetera. We have differentiated products that will drive growth in the future as well.

因此，我認為投資者應該對這兩個品牌未來繼續成長充滿信心，因為我們在洗衣和垃圾、乾洗洗髮精等方面的創新。我們擁有差異化的產品，也將推動未來的成長。

Yeah. And I would just echo a few of those comments. I think THERABREATH and HERO have years of runway. TDPs in some cases, but just household penetration, like mouthwash is an example, 65% household penetration and THERABREATH is around 9%. It's now the number two mouthwash. So there's lots of runway for those two.

是的。我只想回應其中的一些評論。我認為 THERABREATH 和 HERO 已經有多年的跑道了。在某些情況下，TDP 是有的，但只是家庭滲透率，例如漱口水，家庭滲透率為 65%，THERABREATH 約為 9%。現在它是排名第二的漱口水。所以這兩個人有很多跑道。

But really, the crux of your question is what about your base business? And so, I would say a lot of optimism on our base business. Litter, for example, kind of messy right now as you look at year-over-year comps because some competitor was out of stock for such a long period of time. But if you look back before the outage that they had at our share and in our share today, we've maintained about 40% of those share gains.

但實際上，您問題的關鍵是您的基礎業務呢？因此，我對我們的基礎業務非常樂觀。例如，當你查看逐年比較時，垃圾現在有點混亂，因為一些競爭對手缺貨了很長一段時間。但如果你回顧他們對我們的份額造成的中斷之前以及今天我們的份額，我們仍然保持著大約 40% 的份額成長。

And so, I don't really look at the week-over-week or month-over-month numbers are meaningless right now. But if you look at baseline, that's what I look at. And so, I feel like litter is strong and getting stronger. Innovation, as Matt said. Laundry, we're still at all-time high shares.

因此，我並不認為每週或每月的數字現在毫無意義。但如果你看基線，那就是我所看的。所以，我覺得垃圾很強大，而且越來越強大。正如馬特所說，創新。洗衣店，我們的市佔率仍處於歷史最高水準。

We feel like over a long period of time, we have the same stair step up that we've experienced before. We're entering the mid-tier with Deep Clean, that's doing well. It's driving incremental category growth to retailers. Unit dose is hitting all-time share highs and we're going into sheets and sheets is a category that's growing 30%. So a lot of optimism.

我們感覺在很長一段時間裡，我們都在沿著以前經歷過的同樣的樓梯向上走。我們正在透過 Deep Clean 進入中端市場，表現不錯。它正在推動零售商的品類增量成長。單位劑量份額創下歷史新高，我們將進入片材領域，而片材這一類別增加了 30%。所以非常樂觀。

Dara Mohsenian, Morgan Stanley.

達拉莫森尼安，摩根士丹利。

Hey, good morning, guys. So first, just a follow-up on category growth. Matt, you didn't sound particularly excited about the pickup in category growth in September, October. Is that just because you think a lot of it was driven by hurricane volume. And as you parse the underlying data, you didn't necessarily see as much of a pickup.

嘿，早上好，夥計們。首先，我們只是對品類成長進行跟進。馬特，你聽起來對 9 月、10 月品類成長的回升並沒有特別興奮。這只是因為你認為其中很大一部分是由颶風數量驅動的嗎？當您解析基礎資料時，您不一定會看到那麼多的回升。

Is it just a short enough period of time that you're not much more enthusiastic around category growth. And I know you touched on it a bit, but just trying to get a sense as we look beyond Q4, if we're in this more muted category growth environment given the lack of pricing or if you think you're starting to see some green shoots from a category perspective? Thanks.

是不是這段時間太短了，以至於你對品類成長沒有那麼熱情？我知道您稍微談到了這一點，但只是想了解一下，當我們展望第四季度之後，由於缺乏定價，我們是否處於這個更加溫和的類別增長環境中，或者如果您認為您開始看到一些變化從品類角度來看是否出現了新芽？謝謝。

Yeah. I guess, I must have curbed my enthusiasm. So I would say that, Dara, that if you look at the first couple of weeks of October, you saw like double-digit consumption growth in some categories. So that's not sustainable, and it was so different from what we saw in any week in September or since then.

是的。我想，我一定是壓抑了自己的熱情。所以我想說，Dara，如果你看看 10 月的前幾週，你會發現某些類別的消費出現了兩位數的增長。所以這是不可持續的，而且它與我們在 9 月或此後的任何一周所看到的情況都非常不同。

We would say that the hurricane and the ports strike no doubt influenced the results. So consequently, if there's some pantry loading that went on in the first couple of weeks, that's just pulling forward from somewhere else in Q4.

我們可以說，颶風和港口罷工無疑影響了結果。因此，如果前幾週出現了一些食品儲藏室的裝載，那麼這只是從第四季度的其他地方向前推進。

So we would say, hey, I'm going to kind of look at that as October is maybe an anomaly. And maybe the quarter is more like September, where we inflected from June, July, August, our category is up 2.5% versus 3% in September.

所以我們會說，嘿，我要去看看這個，因為十月可能是個反常現象。也許這個季度更像是 9 月，從 6 月、7 月、8 月開始，我們的類別成長了 2.5%，而 9 月為 3%。

But it's not -- our remarks are not necessarily a broad category -- broad commentary on the US economy. We're commenting on our categories. So we look at our categories, that is what we're commenting on. I think 3% to me is pretty healthy.

但這並不是——我們的言論不一定是一個廣泛的類別——對美國經濟的廣泛評論。我們正在對我們的類別進行評論。所以我們看看我們的類別，這就是我們正在評論的內容。我認為 3% 對我來說是相當健康的。

Yeah. If you look back at history, if we are growing 4% as a company, many times the categories will be growing 2% or 3% would be taking share, and that's how we got to the 4%. So as it's in line with history.

是的。如果你回顧歷史，如果我們作為一家公司成長 4%，很多時候，品類成長 2% 或 3% 就會佔據份額，這就是我們達到 4% 的原因。因為它符合歷史。

Great. That's helpful. And then on HERO and THERABREATH, can you give us an update on how much of the business is international today for each of those brands? And how much incrementality you see looking out to 2025 in terms of expansion potential?

偉大的。這很有幫助。關於 HERO 和 THERABREATH，您能否向我們介紹一下這些品牌目前國際化業務的最新情況？展望 2025 年，您認為擴張潛力有多大？

Yeah. What I can tell you without quoting numbers for sales is that we've been running really hard to get THERABREATH and HERO registered in other countries. And our goal is to have HERO registered in 40 countries by the end of 2024 and we're there. So we feel good about that.

是的。我可以告訴你的是，我們一直在努力讓 THERABREATH 和 HERO 在其他國家註冊，而無需引用銷售數字。我們的目標是到 2024 年底讓 HERO 在 40 個國家註冊，我們已經實現了這一目標。所以我們對此感覺良好。

And the impediment of course is regulatory bodies and it vary from country to country. But we're pleasantly surprised that both brands do travel well. Even THERABREATH, THERABREATH is the highest priced mouthwash market today in the US.

當然，障礙是監管機構，而且各國的情況各不相同。但令我們驚訝的是，這兩個品牌的旅行效果都很好。即使是 THERABREATH，THERABREATH 也是當今美國漱口水市場上價格最高的。

Naturally, when you go to international markets, there's a raised eyebrow, and I'm serious how you can be successful with expensive mouthwash. But yet, it has been. So we'll keep that in mind for maybe end of January when we talk to you guys or have an Analyst Day. And we will frame out a little bit better HERO and THERABREATH percentage US versus international, how many countries were registered in and what our expectations are.

當然，當你進入國際市場時，人們會感到驚訝，我很認真地考慮如何透過昂貴的漱口水取得成功。但事實確實如此。因此，我們可能會在一月底與你們交談或舉辦分析師日時牢記這一點。我們將製定出美國與國際上更好的 HERO 和 THERABREATH 百分比、註冊的國家/地區以及我們的期望。

Peter Grom, UBS.

彼得‧格羅姆，瑞銀集團。

Thanks, operator. Good morning, everyone. I just wanted to follow up on Dara's question there. And maybe just to be clear, can you just help us understand what you are assuming for category growth in 4Q. Matt, I think you just said you're kind of assuming the September trends for the quarter rather than the stronger October or the weaker July and August. So I just wanted to clarify that.

謝謝，接線生。大家早安。我只是想跟進達拉的問題。或許需要澄清的是，您能否幫助我們了解您對第四季度品類成長的假設。馬特，我認為您剛剛說過您是在假設本季的 9 月趨勢，而不是 10 月的強勁或 7 月和 8 月的疲軟。所以我只是想澄清這一點。

And then I guess, if that is the case, if you are assuming slightly stronger category growth this quarter, and apologies if I did miss this, but can you maybe help us understand what's driving the sequential slowdown in the 4Q organic sales? Thanks.

然後我想，如果是這樣的話，如果您假設本季度的品類增長稍強，並且如果我確實錯過了這一點，我們深表歉意，但您能否幫助我們了解是什麼推動了第四季度有機銷售的連續放緩？謝謝。

Well, let's go to your first question with respect to categories. It was 4.5% for first five months of the year. The next three months were 2.5%. And then we'd say, September was 3% and October was a really big number. We'd say Q4 on average would be 2.5%. And we'll say, hey, the October is an anomaly and then November, December will be a lot like June, July and August.

好吧，讓我們來回答你關於類別的第一個問題。今年前五個月的成長率為 4.5%。接下來的三個月為2.5%。然後我們會說，9 月是 3%，10 月是一個非常大的數字。我們認為第四季的平均成長率為 2.5%。我們會說，嘿，十月是一個反常現象，然後十一月、十二月將很像六月、七月和八月。

And that's no different than what we thought in July. So consequently, yeah, we had a really good third quarter, but we beat our number organically. But we're saying for second half, we still feel good about 3% in total for the second half. And that's why we said 2% to 3% is fine as a call for Q4.

這與我們七月的想法沒有什麼不同。因此，是的，我們第三季的表現非常好，但我們有機地擊敗了我們的數字。但我們說，對於下半年，我們仍然感覺良好，大約是下半年的 3%。這就是為什麼我們說 2% 到 3% 作為第四季度的預測就可以了。

Anna Lizzul, Bank of America.

安娜·利祖爾，美國銀行。

Hi, good morning. Thanks so much for the question. I wanted to touch on gross margin, which outperformed this quarter. The guidance for the full year seems a bit conservative. So I was just wondering if you could talk about your outlook on commodity costs and manufacturing. I think you noted in Q3 that manufacturing costs were a bit higher. Is that also expected to impact Q4? Thank you.

嗨，早安。非常感謝您的提問。我想談談毛利率，該季度的表現優於本季。全年指引似乎有點保守。所以我想知道您是否可以談談您對商品成本和製造業的看法。我想您在第三季注意到製造成本有點高。預計這也會影響第四季嗎？謝謝。

Yeah. Hey, Anna, it's Rick. I think from a gross margin perspective, you're right, it's a little bit more conservative if you say the full year is at [110]. It means Q4 is up slightly. I would just remind everyone that Q4 a year ago was our high watermark at [44.6]. That's part of it.

是的。嘿，安娜，我是瑞克。我認為從毛利率的角度來看，你是對的，如果你說全年都在[110]。這意味著第四季度略有上升。我只想提醒大家，一年前的第四季是我們的高水位線[44.6]。這是其中的一部分。

Some of the commodities were flat in the first half, like ethylene, they are up in the back half around 9% same for linerboard. We have investments in our warehouse that we talked about at Analyst Day and our network and that built throughout the year.

有些商品上半年表現平平，例如乙烯，下半年則上漲了 9% 左右，箱板紙也同樣上漲。我們對我們在分析師日討論過的倉庫以及全年建立的網路進行了投資。

So yeah, could that be a little conservative? Maybe. I think also we have -- as we look forward, we still are seeing inflation like that's what we're seeing. And our job is to offset that with productivity and we're focused on.

是的，這會不會有點保守？或許。我認為，展望未來，我們仍然會看到通貨膨脹。我們的工作就是用我們所關注的生產力來抵消這一點。

And the other thing on gross margin is as we make investments to support these new products like in trade or couponing that also impacts gross margin. So that's an eclectic and wide-ranging view, but those are the details.

關於毛利率的另一件事是，我們進行投資來支持這些新產品，例如貿易或優惠券，這也會影響毛利率。所以這是一個不拘一格且廣泛的觀點，但這些都是細節。

All right. That's helpful. And just as a follow-up on the category discussion here. Are you seeing any difference in customer purchasing habits between retail channels or on quantities here? Thanks.

好的。這很有幫助。就像這裡類別討論的後續行動一樣。您是否發現零售通路之間的客戶購買習慣或數量有差異？謝謝。

No. I would say -- remember, we've been growing volume for five quarters in a row, and we continue to see most of the categories are volume-driven growth in our categories and purchasing patterns are the same.

不。我想說的是 - 請記住，我們的銷量已經連續五個季度增長，我們繼續看到大多數類別都是銷量驅動的增長，並且購買模式是相同的。

Lauren Lieberman, Barclays.

勞倫·利伯曼，巴克萊銀行。

Good morning. Just want to talk a little bit about promotional environment in laundry in particular. In last year's fourth quarter, you talked about pulling some of the unprofitable promotional activity and scanner sales were down.

早安.只是想談談洗衣店的促銷環境。去年第四季度，您談到取消一些無利可圖的促銷活動，掃描器銷量下降。

So just want to think about 4Q. Is it kind of like an easy comp as you get into fourth quarter? Or is it were at like the right base now and last year was the adjustment period? And anything else you'd add on the promo environment in laundry? Thanks.

所以只想考慮第四季。當你進入第四季度時，這是否有點像一個簡單的比賽？或者說現在的基數是正確的，去年是調整期？您還想在洗衣店的促銷環境中添加什麼嗎？謝謝。

Yeah. I'd say you're right about that, Lauren. We did eliminate some of what we thought weren't profitable or uneconomical investments. What's different this year is we have such a great year of new products particularly in household with litter with Hardball and Deep Clean and sheets in laundry detergent. And so, they will be following the places we'll be investing in Q4 and trade promotion. One of the things that Rick called out in his response to gross margin.

是的。我想說你是對的，勞倫。我們確實取消了一些我們認為無利可圖或不經濟的投資。今年的不同之處在於，我們推出瞭如此出色的新產品，特別是在家庭垃圾中使用 Hardball 和 Deep Clean 以及使用洗衣粉的床單。因此，他們將關注我們將在第四季度和貿易促進方面投資的地方。這是里克在回應毛利率時指出的事情之一。

Yeah. The one that I noticed also Deep Clean has been really successful and maybe me being too picky, but it was interesting to me that some of the Q&A thus far when you've been talking about laundry innovation, you're putting themes like a bit more emphasis on SHEETS versus Deep Clean.

是的。我注意到 Deep Clean 也非常成功，也許是我太挑剔了，但對我來說有趣的是，到目前為止，當你談論洗衣創新時，你所提出的主題有點像與深層清潔相比，更注重床單。

Can you maybe talk about like the direction travel you see for category development. How significant do you think sheets can be? Because (inaudible) of course, has been doing a trial of this as they go, probably really helps to amplify awareness in the category this form.

能否談談您所看到的品類發展方向？您認為床單有多重要？因為（聽不清楚）當然，他們一直在進行嘗試，可能真的有助於擴大這種形式的類別的意識。

So just curious your thoughts on the relevance of SHEETS as a new form. And then the profitability of that versus the traditional liquid business even the higher price point Deep Clean?

所以只是想知道您對 SHEETS 作為一種新形式的相關性的看法。那麼，與傳統液體業務（甚至更高的價格點 Deep Clean）相比，其獲利能力如何？

Yeah. You're right. It is a good question, and it's true we're very excited about sheets. But let me go back to Deep Clean. So the whole idea around Deep Clean was to have a good, better, best strategy. So the good is the [orange bottle] it's based on ARM & HAMMER. The better is ARM & HAMMER with OxiClean. And the best is Deep Clean. And Deep Clean is mid-tier. It's our highest priced laundry detergent.

是的。你說得對。這是一個很好的問題，我們確實對床單感到非常興奮。但讓我回到深層清潔。因此，圍繞著深度清潔的整個想法是製定一個好的、更好的、最好的策略。所以好的就是[橘色瓶子]，它是基於ARM & HAMMER 的。更好的是帶有 OxiClean 的 ARM & HAMMER。最好的是深層清潔。深層清潔屬於中層。這是我們價格最高的洗衣粉。

Just to give you some sense, it's 90% premium to the yellow box -- not the yellow box, but yellow bottle, it's got like a 40% premium to the ARM & HAMMER with OxiClean. But we're still at a 15%-plus discount to premium.

只是為了給你一些感覺，它比黃色盒子溢價 90%——不是黃色盒子，而是黃色瓶子，它比帶有 OxiClean 的 ARM & HAMMER 溢價 40%。但我們仍然享有 15% 以上的溢價折扣。

And if you look at the trend, mid-tier that's been growing. So we feel good about the timing of our launch. It's important that sticks. So we have good, better, best going forward long term. And we think that Deep Clean can be a source of growth for us in the future.

如果你觀察趨勢，你會發現中端市場一直在成長。因此，我們對推出的時機感到滿意。堅持下去很重要。因此，從長遠來看，我們有良好、更好、最好的發展。我們認為深度清潔可以成為我們未來的成長來源。

And that's -- I would say, if you go back to Steve Powers's question about why you feel good going forward about your big businesses like laundry and litter, laundry, in particular, it's reasons like that. And then sheets. Sheet is in its branded form, and it's efficacious. There's no plastic. Could it cannibalize some of your existing business? Yeah, that's true, but we're the first major brand to launch in this form. It's good to be first. So we think that will be a bigger emphasis for us going forward.

那就是——我想說，如果你回到史蒂夫鮑爾斯的問題，為什麼你對洗衣和垃圾處理等大業務感覺良好，特別是洗衣店，就是這樣的原因。然後是床單。床單是品牌形式的，而且很有效。沒有塑膠。它會蠶食您現有的一些業務嗎？是的，確實如此，但我們是第一個以這種形式推出的主要品牌。成為第一名很好。因此，我們認為這將是我們未來更大的重點。

Unit dose today is like 22%, 23% of the category. We have not had a big share in Unit dose historically, which have been bouncing around between 4% and 5% of that very big sub-category. So Sheets then in addition to our existing products is the way home for us to grow unit dose. So I appreciate the question because this all fits together. And that's why we think we're in a good position going forward in the detergent.

如今的單位劑量約為該類別的 22%、23%。從歷史上看，我們在單位劑量方面所佔的份額並不大，在這個非常大的子類別中，單位劑量的份額一直在 4% 到 5% 之間波動。因此，除了我們現有的產品之外，床單是我們增加單位劑量的回家之路。所以我很欣賞這個問題，因為這一切都是相互契合的。這就是為什麼我們認為我們在洗滌劑領域處於有利地位。

Kevin Grundy, BNP Paribas.

凱文·格倫迪，法國巴黎銀行。

Great. Thanks, good morning, everyone. Question on litter and the promotional environment there and how you potentially intend to respond. Matt, as you mentioned, Clorox has stepped up promotion levels to remarkably high levels. Most of the regained share that you're seeing with first step is coming at the expense of ARM & HAMMER.

偉大的。謝謝大家早安。關於垃圾和那裡的促銷環境以及您可能打算如何回應的問題。馬特，正如您所提到的，高樂氏已將促銷等級提高到非常高的水平。您在第一步中看到的大部分重新獲得的份額都是以犧牲 ARM 和 HAMMER 為代價的。

So a couple of questions. Have you been surprised by the magnitude of the spend here on trade support from Clorox. It's taken dollars out of the category. It doesn't do anything to impact consumption. It seems like you're trying to get the share back in one quick swing.

有幾個問題。您是否對高樂氏 (Clorox) 在貿易支援方面的支出規模感到驚訝？它把美元從這個類別中剔除出來。它對消費沒有任何影響。看起來你正試圖迅速奪回份額。

And then how do you intend to respond? It kind of feels like it has ear markings of a potential price war like we saw in laundry, like over a decade ago. But Rick, if I'm interpreting your tone correctly, it seems like you're generally okay relinquishing the share gains over the past year. So your thoughts there would be appreciated. And then I have an unrelated follow up. Thanks.

那你打算如何回應呢？感覺就像十多年前我們在洗衣店看到的那樣，它有潛在價格戰的耳標。但是里克，如果我正確地理解了你的語氣，那麼看起來你一般都同意放棄過去一年的股票收益。因此，您的想法將不勝感激。然後我有一個不相關的後續行動。謝謝。

Yeah. I'll give you a couple of comments, and then Matt will chime in, I'm sure. Like my comments, we're really happy with where we are at litter. This year-over-year -- as Clorox was back in stock is what it is. Our baseline volumes are higher than they were. Our shares are higher than they were. We are really happy with 40% or so share gain if you look back when this whole stuff started.

是的。我會給你一些評論，然後馬特會插話，我確信。就像我的評論一樣，我們對垃圾處理情況非常滿意。與去年同期相比，高樂氏（Clorox）的庫存恢復了。我們的基線量比以前高。我們的股價比以前高了。如果你回顧這一切開始時的情況，我們對 40% 左右的份額增長感到非常高興。

We're not going to go chase share on a race to the bottom to go promote. If we promote, it's going to be behind our innovation to go drive a fair share in lightweight litter because we think that's where the opportunity is. So that's what we're doing. I'm optimistic that we're going to retain share because that over time, it's difficult for cats to switch litters. It just is.

我們不會為了促銷而競相搶佔市場佔有率。如果我們進行推廣，那麼我們的創新就會推動輕量垃圾的公平份額，因為我們認為這就是機會所在。這就是我們正在做的事情。我樂觀地認為我們將保留份額，因為隨著時間的推移，貓很難換窩。確實如此。

After they've been out for a while, and they have one product that's what they get used to. So that's also why maybe the effectiveness of some of the competitor promotions aren't as high as they used to be because it's hard to switch litters or Hardball. So anyway, that's some context. Matt, anything you'd like to add?

當他們出去一段時間後，他們就有了一個他們習慣的產品。因此，這也是為什麼某些競爭對手的促銷活動的有效性不如以前那麼高的原因，因為很難更換垃圾或硬球。無論如何，這是一些背景。馬特，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No. When you see numbers like in a 40% to 45% sold on deal, we're not going to chase that, Kevin. To the extent we promote, it's going to be behind Hardball, which is our new product. And yeah, obviously, when you're hit with like a cyber event, obviously, the expectation was that, yeah, of course, category is going to spend back to try to win back consumers spend. But we're going to be on the sidelines as far as spend a lot of money to chase that number.

不。當你看到像 40% 到 45% 的特價銷售這樣的數字時，我們不會追逐這個數字，凱文。就我們推廣的程度而言，它將落後於我們的新產品 Hardball。是的，顯然，當你遇到網路事件時，顯然，人們的期望是，是的，當然，該類別會花錢以試圖贏回消費者的支出。但只要花費大量資金來追逐這個數字，我們就會持觀望態度。

Okay. A quick follow up, and then I'll pass it on. Just on portfolio pruning. So Rick, I think you've expressed and opened this year, which has generally not been part of the company's strategy for a very long time. We naturally had the CEO transition, which is going to be occurring in March. You need to bring a CFO on board.

好的。快速跟進，然後我會傳遞它。只是投資組合修剪。所以，Rick，我認為你今年已經表達並開放了，這在很長一段時間內一直不是公司策略的一部分。我們很自然地進行了執行長的換屆，這將在三月進行。你需要聘請財務長。

If you could just give us an update on potential parameters, scope, timing of what seems like it will be a potentially newer leg to the stool, if you will, of the company strategy? And then I'll pass it on. Thank you.

您能否向我們提供有關潛在參數、範圍和時間安排的最新信息，如果您願意的話，這似乎將是公司策略的一個潛在更新的部分？然後我會把它傳遞下去。謝謝。

Yeah. I mean, as a backdrop, you got to remember, a lot of stuff that we do and we're going to keep doing. The company is performing extremely well. The strategy is sound. We're leaders in e-com growth as an example, M&A is best-in-class. We can identify, acquire, integrate and grow acquisitions.

是的。我的意思是，作為背景，你必須記住，我們做了很多事情，我們將繼續做。該公司的業績非常好。該策略是合理的。例如，我們是電子商務成長領域的領導者，併購是一流的。我們可以識別、收購、整合和擴大收購。

We do a few things uniquely in the company every year. We value every brand that we have. And we know what brands or businesses are creating value or destroying value. And we take that back, and we usually have internal teams to go turn that around or address root causes and to the extent that we don't, then that's when things -- more strategic conversations are at.

每年我們都會做一些公司獨有的事。我們重視我們擁有的每一個品牌。我們知道哪些品牌或企業正在創造價值或正在破壞價值。我們收回這一點，我們通常有內部團隊來扭轉局面或解決根本原因，如果我們沒有這樣做，那就需要進行更具策略性的對話。

I'm not going to front run any of that. I'd say maybe in early to mid next year, we'll talk more about that. But it's really, we've been doing it for a long time. It's what we do internally, and we got a whole mirror up to all of our brands, just like when we do acquisitions. But remember, we have a great portfolio of brands. We have a high-performing company. We're gaining share in most of our businesses. So we're coming from a position of strength.

我不會搶先一步。我想說也許在明年年初到中期，我們會多討論這個問題。但確實如此，我們已經這樣做很久了。這就是我們內部所做的事情，我們對所有品牌都有一個全面的了解，就像我們進行收購時一樣。但請記住，我們擁有豐富的品牌組合。我們有一家高績效的公司。我們大部分業務的份額都在增加。所以我們處於強勢地位。

Yeah. Hey, Kevin, I want to remind everybody too, if I think back to when I got the job in January '16. Within a couple of years, I had a new Head of Marketing, supply chain, R&D, sales, three of those four came from the outside. So we've been here before.

是的。嘿，凱文，如果我回想起 16 年 1 月我得到這份工作的情況，我也想提醒大家。幾年之內，我有了一位新的行銷、供應鏈、研發、銷售主管，其中四位來自外部。所以我們以前來過這裡。

We just got such a rock-solid core of the company. This is a lot of talent here. There's no way we can get the numbers that we get year after year. We have a lot of talent up and down the line. So yeah, I think we're all excited about, there's a couple of searches to get some new people in the company, new ideas, new energy. So I think we're in a really good place.

我們剛剛獲得如此堅如磐石的公司核心。這裡人才濟濟。我們不可能年復一年地得到這些數字。我們上下都有很多人才。所以，是的，我想我們都很興奮，我們進行了幾次搜尋，以在公司中招募一些新人、新想法、新活力。所以我認為我們處於一個非常好的位置。

Andrea Teixeira, JPMorgan.

安德里亞·特謝拉，摩根大通。

Thank you. Good morning. So on the gross margin side, how should we be thinking about the puts and takes ahead of commodities, and the timing of certain contracts influence your view, especially in fiscal 2025.

謝謝。早安.因此，在毛利率方面，我們應該如何考慮大宗商品之前的看跌期權和賣出期權，以及某些合約的時間表會影響您的觀點，尤其是在 2025 財年。

And a follow-up on the M&A. I think that's the only question we haven't asked yet. In terms of like how you're seeing the landscape. I know you're very purposeful and cautious about what your targets are, but just as a follow-up and an update on how you're thinking about inorganic growth? Thank you.

以及併購的後續行動。我認為這是我們尚未提出的唯一問題。就例如你如何看待風景而言。我知道您對自己的目標非常有目的和謹慎，但只是作為您如何看待無機增長的後續行動和更新？謝謝。

Yeah. I'll take the gross margin question. I would say -- I commented already we do see inflation as we look forward, we see inflation, our job to offset that through productivity. As you take a big step back though, the different macroeconomic indications like China demand and really the US economy stable but not outsized growth.

是的。我將回答毛利率問題。我想說——我已經評論過，我們確實會看到通貨膨脹，我們會看到通貨膨脹，我們的工作是透過生產力來抵消通貨膨脹。不過，當你退一步看時，不同的宏觀經濟指標，如中國需求和美國經濟，確實穩定但沒有大幅成長。

We have taken a position of not hedging as much as we usually do, believing that some of those commodities will come down over time. So I would tell you that's probably a good indication of our expectations as we go forward.

我們採取的立場是不像平常那​​樣進行大量對沖，並相信其中一些商品會隨著時間的推移而下跌。所以我想告訴你，這可能很好地表明了我們對未來的期望。

Andrea, could you clarify your other question about M&A?

Andrea，您能澄清一下有關併購的其他問題嗎？

I was just like thinking more how it's been. I know it's part of your algorithm long term, not necessarily, of course, what you give in the evergreen model does not include that. But indirectly does, because you as you create, as you buy these brands and companies, you create future growth and is part of your long-term algorithm.

我只是想更多地思考事情是如何發生的。我知道這是您長期演算法的一部分，當然不一定，您在常青模型中給出的內容不包括這一點。但間接確實如此，因為當你創造、購買這些品牌和公司時，你就創造了未來的成長，並且是你長期演算法的一部分。

So I was thinking like more it's been a while since you're accumulating cash since you've done acquisitions. Of course, the last year were very good, very accretive. So just thinking of how we should be approaching that? Or we should be thinking you're focusing more inorganic at this point?

所以我想，自從你進行收購以來，你已經有一段時間沒有累積現金了。當然，去年的情況非常好，非常有成長。那麼只是想一下我們應該如何解決這個問題呢？或者我們應該認為你現在更專注於無機？

Well, look, we're always on the hunt. We generate so much cash. Of course, our criteria is pretty strict. So we do pretty fussy about the things that we'll buy. It is true that you can buy a couple of businesses that could be fast growing for a couple of years, but then they have to grow 3% to 4% or faster depending on which categories are going forward. So I would say, no, we're not saying that we're focusing solely on the existing portfolio.

好吧，看，我們一直在尋找。我們產生了很多現金。當然，我們的標準是相當嚴格的。所以我們對要買的東西非常挑剔。確實，你可以購買一些可能在幾年內快速成長的企業，但隨後它們必須成長 3% 到 4% 或更快，具體取決於未來的類別。所以我想說，不，我們並不是說我們只關注現有的投資組合。

But I'll remind everybody, if you go back in time, we've had periods where we've had droughts before, where we didn't buy a business. I think the longest one was probably between '08 and '11. When '08, we bought Orajel, and the next one was BATISTE in 2011. But if you look at that through a three-year period, we had three great years. So our algorithm isn't dependent upon going for an acquisition.

但我要提醒大家，如果你回顧過去，我們以前也經歷過乾旱時期，我們沒有收購一家企業。我認為最長的可能是在 08 年到 11 年間。08年的時候，我們買了Oajel，下一個是2011年的BATIST。但如果你從三年的角度來看，我們度過了偉大的三年。因此，我們的演算法並不依賴收購。

And the reason we -- as you look back, the reason we are more successful than most to identify and acquire, integrate and grow acquisitions because we're really fussy. And so, that's part of the model, and that's what we're going to continue to be. We want to make sure we do the right deal when we do the deal.

當你回顧過去時，我們之所以比大多數人更成功地識別、收購、整合和擴大收購，是因為我們真的很挑剔。所以，這是模型的一部分，也是我們將繼續採用的模式。我們希望確保在進行交易時做出正確的交易。

Filippo Falorni, Citi.

菲利波·法洛尼，花旗銀行。

Hi. Good morning, everyone. I wanted to ask you about innovation and maybe you can give us some context of the contribution from innovation this year in laundry and the rest of your business? And just any plans for 2025, and like areas of potential further innovation.

你好。大家早安。我想問您有關創新的問題，也許您可以向我們介紹今年洗衣業和其他業務創新所做出的貢獻？以及 2025 年的任何計劃，以及潛在的進一步創新領域。

And then a quick follow-up. So on the gross margin, as we think about elections and potential for tariffs, last time, there was some implication on the WATERPIK business from some portion that were reported from China. Maybe can you remind us any potential exposure on China tariffs? Thank you.

然後快速跟進。因此，就毛利率而言，當我們考慮選舉和關稅潛力時，上次中國報告的某些部分對 WATERPIK 業務產生了一些影響。也許您能提醒我們有關中國關稅的任何潛在風險嗎？謝謝。

Yeah. Thanks for the question. On innovation, we're actually super excited about innovation. It's close to around 2% incremental net sales for us in 2024. So remember, we have a high bar. We don't call gross sales. We don't call gross new product contribution, that's incremental net sales. So about half of our growth is coming from innovation which is fantastic.

是的。謝謝你的提問。在創新方面，我們其實對創新感到非常興奮。到 2024 年，我們的淨銷售額增量接近 2% 左右。所以請記住，我們有一個很高的標準。我們不稱之為銷售總額。我們不稱之為新產品貢獻總額，而是增量淨銷售額。因此，我們大約一半的成長來自創新，這真是太棒了。

That's been accelerated. It used to be 1%, 1.5%. And so, we've built that muscle. We have a lot of different inputs. Carlos, our leader in R&D; Leslie, our leader in PD, all across the commercial team, we are doing really well on innovation. I expect that to continue. I think as we look forward, we have great pipelines over the next two or three years. We're not really even talking about 2025 right now.

這已經加速了。以前是1%、1.5%。所以，我們已經鍛鍊了肌肉。我們有很多不同的投入。卡洛斯，我們的研發領導者； Leslie，我們的 PD 領導者，以及整個商業團隊，我們在創新方面做得非常好。我希望這種情況能夠持續下去。我認為，展望未來，我們在未來兩三年內將擁有大量的產品線。我們現在甚至還沒有真正談論 2025 年。

We're talking about 2026 and even early conversations on '27. So that muscle's alive and well, and we're going to keep investing behind it and driving investment behind it.

我們談論的是 2026 年，甚至是 27 年的早期對話。因此，這塊力量還活著並且運作良好，我們將繼續對其進行投資並推動其背後的投資。

On China, just like everybody, we're well aware of implications there. I would say two things. One is we did reclass a lot of our SIC codes, import codes. And so, that has helped and as you draw a circle around what may or may not be impacted. The second thing is we have moved some production outside of China. So it's most material for the WATERPIK business, but there are plans in place and actions that we've taken to mitigate that impact.

關於中國，就像每個人一樣，我們很清楚那裡的影響。我想說兩件事。一是我們確實重新分類了許多 SIC 代碼、進口代碼。因此，當你在可能或可能不會受到影響的地方畫一個圓圈時，這很有幫助。第二件事是我們已經將一些生產轉移到中國境外。因此，這對 WATERPIK 業務來說最為重要，但我們已經制定了計劃並採取了行動來減輕這種影響。

Bill Chappell, Truist Securities.

比爾‧查普爾 (Bill Chappell)，Truist 證券公司。

Good morning and thanks for squeezing me in. Going back to vitamins. So I guess I'm having a tough time. Help me understand two things. One, just from a business standpoint, I mean, are you now thinking you need to spend more money behind it in '25 because with you being down 10% and the category being down basically flat, I'm not sure, I understand the green shoots. It seems like things are getting worse.

早安，謝謝你讓我進來。回到維生素。所以我想我現在過得很艱難。幫助我理解兩件事。一，僅從商業角度來看，我的意思是，你現在是否認為你需要在25 年花更多的錢來支持它，因為你下降了10%，而該類別基本持平，我不確定，我理解綠芽。事情似乎變得更糟了。

And so, you can either step, up and put a lot of money behind it or you can ease back and manage it more and more for cash. So are we at that point in a decision standpoint?

因此，你可以採取行動，投入大量資金，也可以放鬆下來，越來越多地管理它以獲取現金。那麼我們現在已經處於決策的立場了嗎？

And then second, kind of related. I also don't fully understand maybe the impairment charge 10 years after acquiring the business. So maybe you can help me understand why that was there and the timing and what that says, if anything? Thanks so much.

其次，有點相關。我也不完全理解收購業務10年後的減損費用。所以也許你可以幫助我理解為什麼會出現這種情況、時間安排以及內容（如果有的話）？非常感謝。

Yeah. Sure, Bill. I would say -- let me take, I guess, the second one first is when we do an impairment charge, all that is just looking forward of our model on what our growth rates growth rate assumption is and what the category is growing at and what our expectations are as well as our margin expectations, and they've come down since we originally put all those assets on the book.

是的。當然，比爾。我想說的是，我想，第二個首先是當我們進行減損費用時，所有這一切只是展望我們的模型，即我們的成長率假設是什麼以及該類別的成長速度和我們的預期以及我們的利潤率預期，自從我們最初將所有這些資產記入帳簿以來，它們已經下降。

And so, it's kind of a reconciling of that, right? The original expectations to what our current number is after we have amortization and we have value that versus the intangible numbers, and we say, we have a gap and future growth and profits aren't as strong as they used to be. And so, that's how you take a charge 10 years after.

所以，這算是一種調和，對吧？我們對當前數字的最初預期是在我們進行攤銷後，我們相對於無形數字具有價值，我們說，我們有差距，未來的成長和利潤不像以前那麼強勁。所以，這就是你在 10 年後接受指控的方式。

Your first question was on why do we think will we be putting more money behind it? We're not going to go chase incremental spending on promotions, and trade and advertising. That was a few of the levers that we pulled this year.

你的第一個問題是為什麼我們認為我們會投入更多資金？我們不會去追求促銷、貿易和廣告方面的增量支出。這是我們今年採取的一些措施。

And you're right, some of that is not working as we had hoped. Some of the things are working, and they do have green shoots. The biggest most important single thing that we can do is make sure that our core products are delaying the consumer. And that's why we're so focused on the innovation piece.

你是對的，其中一些並沒有像我們希望的那樣發揮作用。有些事情正在發揮作用，並且確實出現了新芽。我們能做的最重要的一件事就是確保我們的核心產品能夠延遲消費者的購買。這就是我們如此關注創新的原因。

We think this is the first time in a few years that we've put the full strength of the company on reformulating vitamins so that we have our taste advantage back. We're hitting key marks in the market on sugar free, on plusing up our vitamins. So all those things are, I think, putting us in a better position to compete, and they're way more important than spending more on trade or getting displays or do another packaging stuff.

我們認為這是我們幾年來第一次將公司的全部力量用於重新配製維生素，以便我們可以重新獲得口味優勢。我們在無糖和添加維生素方面達到了市場的關鍵目標。因此，我認為，所有這些事情都使我們處於更好的競爭地位，它們比在貿易、展示或其他包裝上花費更多資金更重要。

And the only thing I'd add to that is when you buy a business, the excess that we purchased (inaudible) tangible assets is largely going to be goodwill. So that's always going to be a big part of any write-off, and it's all dependent upon the DCF model.

我唯一要補充的是，當你購買一家企業時，我們購買的（聽不清楚）有形資產的多餘部分很大程度上將是商譽。因此，這始終是任何沖銷的重要組成部分，而這一切都取決於貼現現金流模型。

And as far as green shoots, though, that was not in our commentary. I think somebody offered up that we're asking about green shoots, we would say that we've done the things we can control. We have seen some benefit and some growth in L'IL CRITTERS. It's not the lion's share of the business.

不過，就萌芽而言，這不在我們的評論中。我認為有人提出我們正在詢問新芽，我們會說我們已經做了我們可以控制的事情。我們在 L'IL CRITTERS 中看到了一些好處和一些成長。這不是業務的最大份額。

And this business really struggled through and post COVID, and we have got clients before that by the retailers. And in the meantime, we've been just working on improving our supply chain, which is now we have in a good place and in doing the work on new products. So innovation is ahead of us.

這項業務在新冠疫情期間和之後確實陷入了困境，在此之前我們已經獲得了零售商的客戶。同時，我們一直在努力改善我們的供應鏈，現在我們處於一個良好的位置，並且正在進行新產品的工作。因此，創新就在我們面前。

And we thought 2024 was going to be an inflection point, it was not. That was dependent upon all the things we have talked about, meaning packaging and graphics, and positioning and messaging, advertising. But in the end, it's going to be the innovation, Bill.

我們認為 2024 年將是一個拐點，但事實並非如此。這取決於我們討論過的所有事情，即包裝和圖形、定位和資訊、廣告。但最終，這將是創新，比爾。

And as Rick went through some of the things, we're changing. That's ahead of us in 2025. So this time next year, we hope we have a different conversation with you.

隨著瑞克經歷了一些事情，我們正在改變。到 2025 年，我們就已經實現了這個目標。因此，明年的這個時候，我們希望與您進行不同的對話。

Got it. Which leads me to just on next year, we won't be having a conversation. So congratulations on the -- I know, we'll have you for a few more months, Matt, on the retirement and Rick on the promotion? Thanks.

知道了。這讓我想到明年我們不會再進行對話。所以，恭喜你──我知道，我們還會再陪你幾個月，馬特，退休，瑞克升職？謝謝。

Okay. Bill, I hope you make it to New York in January.

好的。比爾，我希望你能在一月到達紐約。

I wouldn't miss it.

我不會錯過它。

Olivia Tong, Raymond James.

唐奧立，雷蒙德詹姆斯。

Great. Thanks so much and congrats on retirement and promotion to you guys as well. My question is primarily around some of the more recent premium price innovation that you benefited from, particularly in laundry with Deep Clean and the POWER SHEET segment and litter as well.

偉大的。非常感謝，也恭喜你們退休和晉升。我的問題主要是圍繞您從中受益的一些最新的高價創新，特別是在帶有深度清潔和電源片部分的洗衣以及垃圾方面。

So as we go into a potentially more -- or we are in a more challenging backdrop, does your trade-up opportunity become more challenging relative to your peers, when macros get more challenging since your consumers, obviously skew a little bit more towards value to you.

因此，當我們進入一個潛在的更具挑戰性的背景時，當宏觀變得更具挑戰性時，您的換購機會相對於您的同行來說是否變得更具挑戰性，因為您的消費者顯然更傾向於價值給你。

Therefore, I would imagine that they are a bit more pressured relative to consumer average. So just wondering about your ability there. And then the mix implications, given that you obviously have been able to continue to eke out a bit of mix benefit in the domestic business despite obviously all the pricing lapping? Thank you.

因此，我認為相對於消費者平均水平，他們面臨的壓力更大一些。所以只是想知道你在那裡的能力。然後考慮到您顯然能夠繼續在國內業務中獲得一些混合效益，儘管顯然所有的定價都在下降，那麼混合影響是什麼？謝謝。

Okay. We got a lot in there. I think if I want to boil it down and you're wondering because of our premium offerings of late, would that disadvantage us. And I would say, if you just take them one at a time for as Hardball goes, Hardball is been contributing to our share growth quarter-after-quarter. And last year, our share was like 4.5% of the category, the lightweight category. And that's grown quite a bit.

好的。我們在那裡得到了很多。我想如果我想把它歸結為你想知道我們最近提供的優質產品，這會對我們不利嗎？我想說，如果你一次只拿一個，因為正如 Hardball 所說，Hardball 正在為我們的份額逐季增長做出貢獻。去年，我們的份額約為輕量級類別的 4.5%。而且已經成長了不少。

We'll update everybody in January about what our share gain was on the entire year, but we think that's going to continue to grow. It's because of the performance of the product, which is it seizes up close to as hard as a rock. There's nothing in the category like it. POWER SHEETS, it's laundry in a box. And I think given over time, maybe it's been a slower roll as far as the consumer willing to pay for sustainable products.

我們將在一月份向大家通報我們全年的份額成長情況，但我們認為這一增長將繼續增長。這是因為該產品的性能，它幾乎像岩石一樣堅硬。該類別中沒有類似的東西。POWER SHEETS，這是一個盒子裡的衣物。我認為隨著時間的推移，消費者願意為永續產品付費的速度可能會變慢。

But this one seems to be a winner for us. So we don't think that simply because our category historically or our portfolio historically has been focused on value that because we now have products in laundry and litter, where our core products, our value, so the yellow box in litter, and the yellow bottle in laundry detergent, those are value products. But over time, we offered premium products.

但這對我們來說似乎是贏家。因此，我們認為這不僅僅是因為我們的類別歷史上或我們的投資組合歷史上一直專注於價值，因為我們現在有洗衣和垃圾產品，我們的核心產品，我們的價值，所以垃圾中的黃色盒子，以及黃色盒子瓶子裡裝著洗衣液，這些都是有價值的產品。但隨著時間的推移，我們提供了優質產品。

And our consumer has traded up to them, and we've had other consumers and other peer brands trade over to us. So again, in the end, I think for most consumer product companies, innovation is always going to be the story in any environment, in any economy. So we feel very positive about those two innovations in particular.

我們的消費者已經向他們進行了交易，我們也讓其他消費者和其他同儕品牌向我們進行了交易。最後，我認為對大多數消費品公司來說，創新始終是任何環境、任何經濟體中的主題。因此，我們對這兩項創新尤其感到非常積極。

Yeah. And just an example, like for Deep Clean, it's mid-tier in the laundry category, that's still a value to the premium tier. So folks can still treat down to that. It's growing categories because folks are trading down and trading up value in other areas. So net-net, we still think it's a positive in mostly economic environment.

是的。舉個例子，就像 Deep Clean 一樣，它在洗衣類別中屬於中檔，但對於高端品牌來說仍然有價值。所以人們仍然可以對待這一點。它的類別不斷增長，因為人們在其他領域進行降價和升值交易。因此，我們仍然認為這在大多數經濟環境中是正面的。

And what was your gross margin question, Olivia?

奧莉維亞，您的毛利率問題是什麼？

It was just around mix more importantly, and the impact of mix as time progresses, but I think you answered that within the top line question.

更重要的是，這只是圍繞著混合，以及隨著時間的推移混合的影響，但我認為你在最重要的問題中回答了這個問題。

Okay. Thanks.

好的。謝謝。

Javier Escalante, Evercore.

哈維爾·埃斯卡蘭特，Evercore。

Hi. Good morning, everyone. I wonder whether you can expand on the international business in the context of the increase. Your reinvestment in Q4, if you can flag geographies or brands that you are seeing most traction? And also, whether there is any measurable contribution of the business that you acquired in Japan? Or is it just too early? And then I have a follow-up?

你好。大家早安。我想知道你們是否可以在增加的背景下拓展國際業務。您在第四季的再投資是否可以標記出您認為最具吸引力的地區或品牌？另外，您在日本收購的業務是否有任何可衡量的貢獻？還是現在還太早？然後我有後續行動嗎？

Yeah. I would say with respect to international, we're doing well like this, considering we have so many countries and so many brands, including region brands as the call goes out to our general managers in our subsidiaries.

是的。我想說，就國際而言，考慮到我們擁有如此多的國家和如此多的品牌，包括地區品牌，我們在這方面做得很好，因為我們子公司的總經理接到了電話。

And so, consequently, where we think we can spend to drive growth or position ourselves well for next year is where we're going to go. But I wouldn't say there's any one particular in international, one particular category or brand that we would be over indexing on in Q4. It's just opportunistic spend.

因此，我們認為可以在明年推動成長或為自己做好定位的支出就是我們要去的地方。但我不會說我們會在第四季度過度索引國際上的任何一個特定類別或品牌。這只是機會主義的支出。

Another was Japan. It's probably too early to talk about that, Javier. I mean, we're optimistic. It is a relatively small business, but we're excited about the opportunity to add a few of our global brands into Japan with a great team that is doing a great job at OxiClean. We think they can also do a great job with a handful of other brands.

另一個是日本。哈維爾，現在談論這件事可能還為時過早。我的意思是，我們很樂觀。這是一家相對較小的企業，但我們很高興有機會將我們的一些全球品牌引入日本，並擁有一支在 OxiClean 出色工作的優秀團隊。我們認為他們也可以與其他一些品牌合作做得很好。

And the follow-up is on the legacy, let's call it that way. The Detergent business, Deep Clean doing well. Do you try -- this is kind of like the second iteration that you go into mid-tier. You need the OxiClean detergent, I believe, and didn't pan out. So what is driving this success time around?

後續是關於遺產的，我們就這樣稱呼它吧。洗滌劑業務、Deep Clean 表現良好。你嘗試一下嗎——這有點像你進入中層的第二次迭代。我相信你需要 OxiClean 清潔劑，但沒有成功。那麼，是什麼推動了這次成功呢？

Do you feel it's a consumer something with the competition from our friends in Germany, is that the retailers are more susceptible to this mid-tier, anything that you can that you can contrast relative to the OxiClean extension in detergent that didn't pan out as well as Deep Clean. That would be very helpful. Thank you.

您是否覺得這是一個消費者與我們德國朋友的競爭，是零售商更容易受到這種中間層的影響，任何您可以與洗滌劑中的 OxiClean 擴展進行對比的東西，但沒有成功以及深層清潔。這將非常有幫助。謝謝。

Yeah. It's a fair question. I think it's a simple answer. OxiClean is (technical difficulty) brand, but it's an additive brand. And it was not a consumer -- there was consumer confusion as we try to go into laundry. It just didn't make the connection. Here, ARM & HAMMER is well known for laundry, and just going up and down the tiers is a much easier proposition. That's why I think we're finding early success.

是的。這是一個公平的問題。我認為這是一個簡單的答案。OxiClean是（技術難度）品牌，但它是一個添加劑品牌。而且這不是消費者——當我們嘗試去洗衣店時，消費者感到困惑。它只是沒有建立聯繫。在這裡，ARM & HAMMER 以洗衣服務而聞名，只需上下幾層就可以輕鬆很多。這就是為什麼我認為我們正在取得早期成功。

Korinne Wolfmeyer, Piper Sandler.

科琳·沃爾夫邁耶，派珀·桑德勒。

Hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. As we think about some of your innovations next year and particularly around the VMS business, how should we be thinking about R&D spend and some of this extra innovation spend.

你好。早安.感謝您提出問題。當我們考慮到明年你們的一些創新，特別是圍繞 VMS 業務的創新時，我們應該如何考慮研發支出和一些額外的創新支出。

Is there any risk to the SG&A as we head into next year due to these investments? And then, anything else we should be considering? I think you called out some IT spend that was a bit of a headwind. Anything else to consider for SG&A as we head into Q4 next year?

由於這些投資，我們明年的銷售管理及行政費用是否有任何風險？那麼，我們還應該考慮什麼呢？我認為您指出了一些 IT 支出，這有點不利。當我們進入明年第四季時，SG&A 還有什麼需要考慮的嗎？

Yeah. We don't -- I mean, over a long period of time, we spent around 2% of SG&A in R&D, and that's been a pretty good number for us. Next year, we're implementing an SAP project, redoing our -- updating our ERP system. The last time we did that was 2009, which is time for an upgrade. But I wouldn't really qualify or call anything at this point in time. We'll do that in January at our Analyst Day.

是的。我們沒有——我的意思是，在很長一段時間內，我們將大約 2% 的 SG&A 用於研發，這對我們來說是一個相當不錯的數字。明年，我們將實施 SAP 項目，重做我們的－更新我們的 ERP 系統。我們上次這樣做是在 2009 年，當時是升級的時候了。但此時我不會真正限定或呼叫任何內容。我們將在一月份的分析師日上這樣做。

And that was our last question. I will turn the call back over to Matt for any additional or closing remarks.

這是我們的最後一個問題。我會將電話轉回給馬特，以獲取任何補充或結束語。

No. I think that wraps it up for today. We're looking forward to seeing everybody at our Analyst Day in New York City at the Exchange at the end of January and until then go on.

不。我想今天的內容就到此結束了。我們期待在一月底在紐約交易所舉行的分析師日上與大家見面，並在此之前繼續下去。

This does conclude today's program. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time, and have a wonderful day.

今天的節目到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以隨時斷開連接，祝您有美好的一天。