(CHWY) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. Thank you for attending today's Chewy Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year '22 Earnings Call. My name is Hannah, and I will be your moderator for today's call. (Operator Instructions).

下午好。感謝您參加今天的 Chewy 22 財年第四季度財報電話會議。我叫漢娜，我將擔任今天電話會議的主持人。 （操作員說明）。

I would now like to pass the conference over to our host, Bob LaFleur, with Chewy. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議轉交給我們的主持人 Bob LaFleur 和 Chewy。請繼續。

Thank you for joining us on the call today to discuss our fourth quarter and full year results for fiscal 2022. Joining me today are: Chewy's CEO, Sumit Singh; and CFO, Mario Marte. Our earnings release and letter to shareholders, which were filed with the SEC on Form 8-K earlier today, have been posted to the Investor Relations section of our website, investor.chewy.com. A link to the webcast of today's conference call is also available on our site.

感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議，討論我們 2022 財年第四季度和全年業績。今天加入我的是：Chewy 的首席執行官 Sumit Singh；和首席財務官 Mario Marte。我們今天早些時候以 8-K 表格向美國證券交易委員會提交的收益發布和致股東的信函已發佈到我們網站 investor.chewy.com 的投資者關係部分。我們的網站上還提供了指向今天電話會議網絡廣播的鏈接。

On our call today, we will be making forward-looking statements, including statements concerning Chewy's future prospects, growth, financial results, business strategies, industry trends and our ability to successfully respond to macroeconomic conditions and business risks. Such statements are considered forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by our forward-looking statements.

在我們今天的電話會議上，我們將做出前瞻性陳述，包括關於 Chewy 的未來前景、增長、財務業績、業務戰略、行業趨勢以及我們成功應對宏觀經濟狀況和業務風險的能力的陳述。根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》，此類陳述被視為前瞻性陳述，並受某些風險和不確定因素的影響，這可能導致實際結果與我們的前瞻性陳述中預期的結果存在重大差異。

Reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance. Also note that the forward-looking statements on this call are based on information available to us as of today's date. We disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. For further information, please refer to the risk factors and other information in Chewy's 10-K and 8-K filed earlier today and in our other filings with the SEC.

報告的結果不應被視為未來業績的指標。另請注意，本次電話會議的前瞻性陳述是基於截至今天我們可獲得的信息。除非法律要求，否則我們不承擔任何更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。有關更多信息，請參閱今天早些時候提交的 Chewy 的 10-K 和 8-K 以及我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件中的風險因素和其他信息。

Also, during this call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP items to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are provided on our Investor Relations website and in our earnings release and letter to shareholders, which were filed with the SEC on Form 8-K earlier today and in our 10-K. These non-GAAP measures are not intended as a substitute for GAAP results.

此外，在本次電話會議中，我們將討論某些非 GAAP 財務指標。這些非 GAAP 項目與最直接可比的 GAAP 財務措施的對賬在我們的投資者關係網站和我們的收益發布和致股東的信中提供，這些內容在今天早些時候以表格 8-K 和我們的 10- K.這些非 GAAP 措施無意替代 GAAP 結果。

Finally, this call in its entirety is being webcast on our Investor Relations website. A replay of this call will also be available on our IR website shortly. I'd now like to turn the call over to Sumit.

最後，本次電話會議的全部內容正在我們的投資者關係網站上進行網絡直播。我們的 IR 網站也將很快提供此次通話的重播。我現在想把電話轉給 Sumit。

Thanks, Bob, and thanks to all of you for joining us on the call. Our fourth quarter results capped an incredible year. Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing operating and economic environment, Chewy produced record high revenue, profitability and free cash flow. Chewy's dedication to serving pet parents and partners with a widening ecosystem of offerings led to another year of market share gains in the pet category, which once again demonstrated its historical resilience despite evolving macro conditions.

謝謝 Bob，也感謝大家加入我們的電話會議。我們第四季度的業績為令人難以置信的一年畫上了句號。在快速變化的經營和經濟環境的背景下，Chewy 創造了創紀錄的高收入、盈利能力和自由現金流。 Chewy 致力於為寵物父母和合作夥伴提供更廣泛的產品生態系統，這導致寵物類別的市場份額又一年增加，這再次證明了它在宏觀環境不斷變化的情況下的歷史彈性。

Looking ahead, we continue to be excited about the growth opportunities for our business. The pet category has a U.S. total addressable market that is over $130 billion, which has grown consistently through the ups and downs of economic cycles. Importantly, we continue to see significant white space for expansion, and we remain committed towards innovating at a high pace across both new product and service offerings as well as technological and operational advancements.

展望未來，我們對業務的增長機會繼續感到興奮。寵物類別在美國的潛在市場總額超過 1300 億美元，並且在經濟周期的起伏中持續增長。重要的是，我們繼續看到巨大的擴張空間，我們仍然致力於在新產品和服務產品以及技術和運營進步方面快速創新。

Most importantly, our strategy remains focused on relentlessly advancing our mission of being the most trusted and convenient destination for pet parents and partners everywhere. Now let's review our Q4 and full year 2022 performance followed by a discussion of our operating philosophy. After that, I will turn the call over to Mario to discuss our results in greater detail and share our 2023 guidance.

最重要的是，我們的戰略仍然專注於不懈地推進我們的使命，即成為世界各地寵物父母和合作夥伴最值得信賴和方便的目的地。現在讓我們回顧一下我們的第四季度和 2022 年全年業績，然後討論我們的經營理念。之後，我將把電話轉給馬里奧，更詳細地討論我們的結果並分享我們的 2023 年指導。

Q4 net sales increased 13% to $2.71 billion, which brought our full year 2022 net sales to $10.1 billion, reflecting annual growth of approximately 14%. Nondiscretionary categories, including consumables and health care, remained pillars of strength with the offset coming from discretionary categories such as hard goods. Our top line expansion reflects our success in managing the dynamic pricing environment as well as the recurring nature of our business model and our ability to expand share of wallet from our customers over time.

第 4 季度淨銷售額增長 13% 至 27.1 億美元，這使我們 2022 年全年的淨銷售額達到 101 億美元，年增長率約為 14%。消耗品和醫療保健等非非必需品類仍然是強勁的支柱，而耐用品等非必需品類則起到了抵消作用。我們的收入擴張反映了我們在管理動態定價環境方面的成功，以及我們商業模式的反复性質以及我們隨著時間的推移擴大客戶錢包份額的能力。

Autoship customer sales increased 18% and generated 73% of our Q4 net sales, representing a 260 basis point increase over the prior-year period. We further deepened our customer engagement with net sales per active customer, or NSPAC, growing 15% year-over-year to reach nearly $500 in Q4. With nearly 60% of our customers having joined our platform within the last 3 years, we believe there remains significant runway for our customers to spend progressively more with us the longer they stay.

Autoship 客戶銷售額增長 18%，占我們第四季度淨銷售額的 73%，比去年同期增長 260 個基點。我們通過每位活躍客戶的淨銷售額 (NSPAC) 進一步加深了客戶參與度，在第四季度同比增長 15% 達到近 500 美元。我們有近 60% 的客戶在過去 3 年內加入了我們的平台，我們相信，我們的客戶在我們停留的時間越長，在我們這裡消費的時間就越長，仍然有很長的路要走。

Moving on to customers. We ended Q4 with 20.4 million active customers. We believe the modest sequential decline in active customers reflects the continued softness in discretionary spending experienced across the broader economy, as well as the residual impact of attrition from our 2020 and 2021 cohorts. We anticipate returning to positive active customer growth this year and expect NSPAC will continue to strengthen.

轉向客戶。我們在第四季度末擁有 2040 萬活躍客戶。我們認為，活躍客戶的連續溫和下降反映了整個經濟體可自由支配支出的持續疲軟，以及我們 2020 年和 2021 年客戶流失的殘餘影響。我們預計今年將恢復積極的活躍客戶增長，並預計 NSPAC 將繼續加強。

Turning to profitability metrics. Fourth quarter 2022 gross margin expanded 270 basis points to 28.1%. The significant improvement in year-over-year Q4 gross margin was driven by favorable pricing comps relative to Q4 of last year and, to a lesser degree, by our ongoing supply chain transformation. Full year 2022 gross margin improved by 130 basis points to 28%, in line with the high end of our long-term guidance. Continued pricing strength combined with the progress we have made in our supply chain initiatives enabled us to deliver these results.

轉向盈利指標。 2022 年第四季度毛利率擴大 270 個基點至 28.1%。與去年第四季度相比，有利的定價組合推動了第四季度毛利率的同比顯著提高，並且在較小程度上，我們正在進行的供應鏈轉型。 2022 年全年毛利率提高 130 個基點至 28%，符合我們長期指引的上限。持續的定價優勢加上我們在供應鏈計劃中取得的進展使我們能夠取得這些成果。

In 2023, we are excited about our ongoing work to grow high-margin verticals, many of which remain in early stages and are expected to provide gross margin tailwinds in the current year and beyond. At the same time, we expect these contributions to be balanced against our expectation of continued suppressed demand in the discretionary categories such as hardgoods and the flexibility that we wish to retain to manage overall demand elasticity.

到 2023 年，我們對我們正在進行的發展高利潤垂直行業的工作感到興奮，其中許多垂直行業仍處於早期階段，預計將在今年及以後提供毛利率增長。與此同時，我們預計這些貢獻將與我們對耐用品等可自由支配類別的需求持續受到抑制的預期以及我們希望保留以管理整體需求彈性的靈活性的預期相平衡。

To elaborate on demand elasticity, considering the magnitude of price increases that consumers have already experienced and may yet continue to experience, we will continue to take a surgical approach to optimize pricing. Additionally, with supply chains recovering, we are closely monitoring our catalog to ensure we remain competitive in light of current consumer mindset. At this point in the year, we expect the overall result of these drivers to produce a net neutral impact on gross margin in 2023. That said, over a longer time horizon, given the nascency of many of our initiatives, such as private brands, Chewy Health, including insurance, sponsored ads and more, we believe there is additional runway left for incremental gross margin expansion.

為了詳細說明需求彈性，考慮到消費者已經經歷並可能繼續經歷的價格上漲幅度，我們將繼續採取外科手術的方法來優化定價。此外，隨著供應鏈的恢復，我們正在密切監控我們的目錄，以確保我們根據當前的消費者心態保持競爭力。在今年的這個時候，我們預計這些驅動因素的總體結果將對 2023 年的毛利率產生淨中性影響。也就是說，在更長的時間範圍內，鑑於我們的許多舉措（例如自有品牌）還處於初期階段， Chewy Health，包括保險、贊助廣告等，我們相信還有更多的跑道可以增加毛利率。

Staying on profitability. Q4 adjusted EBITDA was $92 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin was 3.4%, an increase of $120 million and 460 basis points, respectively. The strong gross margin performance and SG&A leverage were the primary drivers of Q4 adjusted EBITDA growth. We saw these same key drivers manifest themselves in our full year 2022 results as adjusted EBITDA nearly quadrupled from 2021 levels to over $300 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 210 basis points to 3%.

堅持盈利。第 4 季度調整後 EBITDA 為 9200 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 3.4%，分別增加 1.2 億美元和 460 個基點。強勁的毛利率表現和 SG&A 槓桿率是第四季度調整後 EBITDA 增長的主要驅動力。我們看到這些相同的關鍵驅動因素在我們 2022 年的全年業績中體現出來，因為調整後的 EBITDA 比 2021 年的水平增長了近四倍，達到 3 億美元以上，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率擴大了 210 個基點，達到 3%。

Moving away from fiscal 2022, let me now spend some time sharing our operating philosophy for 2023 and beyond as well as various growth and margin-enhancing initiatives that we plan to launch. Delivering long-term profitable growth remains our North Star. Over the past 4 years, we have increased revenues from $3.5 billion to over $10 billion while concurrently expanding gross margins from 20% to 28% and adjusted EBITDA margins from negative 6.5% to positive 3%. These results are both a testament to our team's focus on scaling our core businesses and our ability to ideate new ways to improve customer experience or to launch new services for customers and partners and following through with disciplined high bar execution.

從 2022 財年開始，讓我現在花一些時間分享我們 2023 年及以後的經營理念，以及我們計劃推出的各種增長和提高利潤率的舉措。實現長期盈利增長仍然是我們的北極星。在過去 4 年中，我們將收入從 35 億美元增加到超過 100 億美元，同時將毛利率從 20% 提高到 28%，並將 EBITDA 利潤率從負 6.5% 調整為正 3%。這些結果既證明了我們團隊專注於擴展我們的核心業務，也證明了我們有能力想出新方法來改善客戶體驗或為客戶和合作夥伴推出新服務，並通過嚴格的高標準執行來貫徹執行。

Our 2023 strategy is consistent with this operating philosophy: scale our existing cost base and simultaneously make purposeful investments to drive sustainable growth and profits over a multiyear period. Let me provide a few examples of each of these, starting first with how we have already driven cost leverage in our business and how we plan on further scaling our existing cost base. The supply chain transformation initiatives that we began in 2021 have helped us expand our gross margin while simultaneously improving customer experience.

我們的 2023 年戰略與這一經營理念一致：擴大我們現有的成本基礎，同時進行有目的的投資，以推動多年的可持續增長和利潤。讓我舉幾個例子，首先是我們如何在我們的業務中推動成本槓桿，以及我們如何計劃進一步擴大我們現有的成本基礎。我們於 2021 年開始的供應鏈轉型計劃幫助我們擴大了毛利率，同時改善了客戶體驗。

As a reminder, these efforts included areas such as import routing, inventory planning and placement and middle mile. Additionally, our decision to invest in fulfillment center automation in 2019 and is now providing significant leverage in SG&A with meaningful upside left to go. In 2023, we plan to continue scaling these efforts and drive further SG&A leverage.

提醒一下，這些工作包括進口路線、庫存規劃和放置以及中間里程等領域。此外，我們決定在 2019 年投資履行中心自動化，現在正在為 SG&A 提供顯著影響力，還有很大的上升空間。 2023 年，我們計劃繼續擴大這些努力並進一步推動 SG&A 的槓桿作用。

For starters, given the success of our automation initiatives and the productivity benefits we are realizing in ramping our first 3 automated facilities, we have made the decision to close our 2 oldest FCs, both of which are nonautomated assets. Each of the facilities are located near one of our new automated FCs, which allows us to combine operations and offer team members the ability to transfer locations. We believe that this action will enable incremental order volume to flow through our automated facilities, which we expect will allow us to realize approximately 50 basis points of additional SG&A leverage in 2023.

首先，鑑於我們的自動化計劃取得成功，以及我們在提升前 3 個自動化設施中實現的生產力優勢，我們決定關閉我們最老的 2 個 FC，它們都是非自動化資產。每個設施都位於我們新的自動化 FC 之一附近，這使我們能夠合併操作並為團隊成員提供轉移位置的能力。我們相信，此舉將使增量訂單量流經我們的自動化設施，我們預計這將使我們能夠在 2023 年實現大約 50 個基點的額外 SG&A 槓桿。

Furthermore, we are on track to open our fourth automated facility in Nashville in the first half of this year. The punchline here is that in 2023, we expect to continue benefiting from the strategic investments we made just a few years ago in warehouse automation. Moving forward, we remain committed to demonstrating strong operating discipline in running the business and tightly managing expenses along the way.

此外，我們有望在今年上半年在納什維爾開設我們的第四個自動化設施。這裡的重點是，到 2023 年，我們預計將繼續受益於我們幾年前在倉庫自動化方面進行的戰略投資。展望未來，我們將繼續致力於在經營業務和嚴格管理費用方面展示強大的運營紀律。

Now moving on to the investments and innovation part of our operating philosophy. In addition to leveraging our existing cost base, in 2023, we plan on making conscious investments in areas that we believe will create sustainable growth and profits over the long term and generate high ROI for our shareholders. Such areas include our higher-margin verticals, where we plan to accelerate growth. Additionally, having strengthened our fundamentals over the past few years, we believe that the time is right to bring the Chewy brand and our superior value proposition to pet parents outside of the U.S.

現在轉向我們經營理念的投資和創新部分。除了利用我們現有的成本基礎外，我們還計劃在 2023 年對我們認為可以長期創造可持續增長和利潤並為股東帶來高投資回報率的領域進行有意識的投資。這些領域包括我們計劃加速增長的利潤率較高的垂直領域。此外，在過去幾年鞏固了我們的基礎後，我們相信現在是時候將 Chewy 品牌和我們卓越的價值主張帶給美國以外的寵物父母了。

We are actively building the capabilities and team to launch our first international market over the next few quarters. We expect this important development to unlock meaningful incremental TAM, and we are excited to introduce Chewy to a broader customer base with whom we believe our brand and mission will resonate strongly. We look forward to discussing more specific plans with you on our Q1 call.

我們正在積極建設能力和團隊，以在未來幾個季度推出我們的第一個國際市場。我們希望這一重要的發展能夠釋放有意義的增量 TAM，我們很高興將 Chewy 介紹給更廣泛的客戶群，我們相信我們的品牌和使命將與他們產生強烈共鳴。我們期待在第一季度電話會議上與您討論更具體的計劃。

Our operating history demonstrates a strong track record of making such capital allocation decisions. Chewy Pharmacy is a powerful example of investment and execution behind a new vertical that began 4 years ago and is now contributing superior growth and profit at scale. Today, we operate the largest pet pharmacy in the U.S. As we have demonstrated in the past, we plan to remain highly disciplined about our level of commitment to and support of the investments that we seed and will continually evaluate them against our expectations.

我們的經營歷史證明了做出此類資本分配決策的良好記錄。 Chewy Pharmacy 是 4 年前開始的新垂直行業背後的投資和執行的有力例子，現在正在大規模貢獻卓越的增長和利潤。今天，我們經營著美國最大的寵物藥房。正如我們過去所證明的那樣，我們計劃在我們對我們播種的投資的承諾和支持水平上保持高度自律，並將根據我們的預期不斷評估它們。

In closing, I'm proud of our team's relentless execution that has enabled us to deliver strong results over the course of another dynamic year. As we enter 2023, I remain incredibly optimistic about our road map ahead. With that, I will turn the call over to Mario. Mario?

最後，我為我們團隊的不懈執行感到自豪，這使我們能夠在又一個充滿活力的一年中取得強勁的成果。當我們進入 2023 年時，我對我們未來的路線圖仍然非常樂觀。有了這個，我會把電話轉給馬里奧。馬里奧？

Thank you, Sumit, and thank you all for joining us today. Fourth quarter net sales were $2.71 billion, a $319 million or 13.4% increase year-over-year. Our nondiscretionary consumables and health care categories continued to demonstrate strength in the quarter as they had collectively represented 82% of total net sales and grew at a combined rate of 18.5% year-over-year.

謝謝 Sumit，也感謝大家今天加入我們。第四季度淨銷售額為 27.1 億美元，同比增長 3.19 億美元或 13.4%。我們的非必需消費品和醫療保健品類在本季度繼續表現強勁，它們合計占淨銷售額的 82%，同比增長 18.5%。

These favorable trends were modestly offset by a decline in sales in our hardgoods category. For the full year, net sales reached $10.1 billion, increasing $1.2 billion or 13.6% year-over-year. Our Autoship business saw another year of strong growth as pet parents increasingly value the convenience and benefits of the program. Q4 Autoship customer sales increased 17.5% to $1.98 billion, exceeding the pace of our overall sales growth by 410 basis points.

這些有利趨勢被我們耐用品類別的銷售額下降所抵消。全年淨銷售額達到 101 億美元，同比增長 12 億美元或 13.6%。我們的 Autoship 業務又迎來了強勁增長，因為寵物父母越來越重視該計劃的便利性和好處。第 4 季度 Autoship 客戶銷售額增長 17.5% 至 19.8 億美元，超過我們整體銷售額增長速度 410 個基點。

For the quarter, Autoship customer sales as a percent of total net sales reached 73.3%. For the full year, Autoship customer sales increased 18% to $7.4 billion, with Autoship customer sales representing 73% of total net sales, a new record high on an annual basis. In Q4, Chewy continued to consolidate share of wallet from pet parents who shop with us as NSPAC reached a new record high of $495, up 15.1% or $65 year-over-year.

本季度，Autoship 客戶銷售額佔總淨銷售額的百分比達到 73.3%。全年，Autoship 客戶銷售額增長 18% 至 74 億美元，其中 Autoship 客戶銷售額佔總淨銷售額的 73%，創年度新高。在第四季度，隨著 NSPAC 達到 495 美元的歷史新高，Chewy 繼續鞏固與我們一起購物的寵物父母的錢包份額，同比增長 15.1% 或 65 美元。

As we have shared on previous calls, top line growth for Chewy CE is driven by our ability to attract and retain over time while capturing an increasing portion of their annual pet spend. In 2022, our active customer count remained relatively flat versus 2021 as we work through the short-term attrition of our record-sized cohorts acquired in the preceding 2 years.

正如我們在之前的電話會議上所分享的那樣，Chewy CE 的收入增長是由我們隨著時間的推移吸引和保留的能力推動的，同時在他們的年度寵物支出中佔據越來越大的份額。到 2022 年，我們的活躍客戶數量與 2021 年相比保持相對平穩，因為我們正在努力應對前兩年獲得的創紀錄規模的客戶群的短期流失。

At the same time, customers continue to consolidate their shopping with us with our 3 oldest cohorts each spending over $1,000 in 2022 and all but our 2 most recent cohorts spending over $500. Said differently, we believe a tremendous opportunity remains ahead of us to fully unlock the revenue potential of our existing customer base.

與此同時，客戶繼續鞏固他們在我們這裡的購物，我們的 3 個最老的隊列在 2022 年每人花費超過 1,000 美元，除了我們最近的 2 個隊列之外的所有隊列都花費超過 500 美元。換句話說，我們相信我們面前還有一個巨大的機會來充分釋放我們現有客戶群的收入潛力。

Moving down the financials. Fourth quarter gross margin expanded 270 basis points to 28.1%. More than half of the improvement was the result of favorable comping relative to Q4 2021. The balance came from our continued supply chain transformation initiatives, leverage in freight and packaging due to increased basket sizes and other onetime true-ups. The items that were onetime in nature contributed approximately 40 basis points of benefit to our Q4 gross margin. Relative to our expectations, the lower-than-expected spend on promotions and fuel this holiday season drove the outperformance in the quarter.

向下移動財務。第四季度毛利率擴大 270 個基點至 28.1%。超過一半的改善是由於與 2021 年第四季度相比有利的競爭。平衡來自我們持續的供應鏈轉型計劃、由於籃子尺寸增加而在貨運和包裝方面的槓桿作用以及其他一次性調整。這些屬於一次性性質的項目為我們第四季度的毛利率貢獻了大約 40 個基點的收益。與我們的預期相比，這個假期低於預期的促銷和燃料支出推動了本季度的出色表現。

Full year 2022 gross margin increased 130 basis points to 28%, a new full year record high. As Sumit noted in his comments, our ability to maintain pricing strength overcame persistent cost inflation, and our team's hard work across various supply chain and logistics initiatives continued through Q4. Collectively, they also helped achieve gross margin outperformance relative to our expectations at the beginning of the year.

2022 年全年毛利率增長 130 個基點至 28%，創全年新高。正如 Sumit 在他的評論中指出的那樣，我們保持定價優勢的能力克服了持續的成本通脹，我們的團隊在各種供應鍊和物流計劃中的辛勤工作一直持續到第四季度。總的來說，它們還幫助實現了相對於我們年初預期的毛利率。

Moving to OpEx. SG&A, which includes all fulfillment and customer service costs, credit card processing fees, corporate overhead and share-based compensation, totaled $561 million in the fourth quarter or 20.7% of net sales, scaling 90 basis points compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. On a full year basis, 2022 SG&A deleveraged by 50 basis points to 21%, sorely due to higher share-based compensation.

轉向運營支出。 SG&A 包括所有履行和客戶服務成本、信用卡手續費、公司管理費用和基於股份的薪酬，第四季度總計 5.61 億美元，占淨銷售額的 20.7%，比 2021 年第四季度增長 90 個基點。按全年計算，2022 年 SG&A 去槓桿化 50 個基點至 21%，主要是由於更高的基於股票的薪酬。

Excluding share-based compensation, SG&A totaled $510.8 million or 18.9% of net sales. This is an improvement of 210 basis points compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. On a full year basis, SG&A, excluding share-based compensation, leveraged 20 basis points to 19.4%. Now I'll take a moment to walk through the details of how we were able to scale SG&A, excluding share-based compensation in Q4.

不包括基於股份的薪酬，SG&A 總計 5.108 億美元，占淨銷售額的 18.9%。與 2021 年第四季度相比提高了 210 個基點。按全年計算，SG&A（不包括基於股份的薪酬）槓桿化 20 個基點至 19.4%。現在我將花點時間詳細介紹我們如何擴展 SG&A，不包括第四季度的基於股份的薪酬。

All fulfillment and customer service costs provided 170 basis points of year-over-year SG&A leverage in the fourth quarter. Our variable fulfillment costs declined as a result of productivity gains and continued volume shift into our automated facilities, which collectively drove a 13% year-over-year reduction in system-wide variable fulfillment cost per order. Additionally, our improving in-stock position, supply chain initiatives and technology deployments across our customer care organization have improved overall customer experience, resulting in fewer customer contacts. This led to a 15% year-over-year reduction in customer service cost per order.

所有履行和客戶服務成本在第四季度提供了 170 個基點的同比 SG&A 槓桿。由於生產力的提高和持續的批量轉移到我們的自動化設施，我們的可變履行成本有所下降，這共同推動全系統每個訂單的可變履行成本同比下降 13%。此外，我們改善的庫存狀況、供應鏈計劃和整個客戶服務組織的技術部署改善了整體客戶體驗，從而減少了客戶聯繫。這導致每筆訂單的客戶服務成本同比降低 15%。

We drove additional leverage of 70 basis points through our automated fulfillment centers as they absorb more incremental fixed carrying costs alongside with our ongoing management of corporate expenses. Partially offsetting these gains are the investments in personnel and technology we began making in Q4 2021 to support the many initiatives we shared with you throughout the year as well as the higher D&A costs associated with the facilities we launched in the last year.

我們通過我們的自動化履行中心將槓桿率提高了 70 個基點，因為它們吸收了更多的增量固定持有成本以及我們對企業費用的持續管理。部分抵消了這些收益的是我們在 2021 年第四季度開始進行的人員和技術投資，以支持我們全年與您分享的許多舉措，以及與我們去年推出的設施相關的更高 D&A 成本。

Altogether, these areas contributed approximately 30 basis points of year-over-year deleveraging. These results are consistent with our stated operating philosophy: scale base costs, fund new initiatives, grow revenue and profits from those new initiatives and redeploy some of the gains into additional areas that we believe will drive further growth and profitability over time.

總而言之，這些領域貢獻了大約 30 個基點的同比去槓桿化。這些結果與我們既定的經營理念一致：擴大基本成本，為新計劃提供資金，增加這些新計劃的收入和利潤，並將部分收益重新部署到我們認為隨著時間的推移將推動進一步增長和盈利的其他領域。

Moving on to marketing. Fourth quarter advertising and marketing was $183.4 million or 6.8% of net sales, a 40 basis point increase from Q4 2021. Sequentially, advertising and marketing expenses scaled by 20 basis point as a result of the marketing efficiencies we normally see in the fourth quarter. On a full year basis, advertising and marketing represented 6.4% of net sales, scaling 60 basis points versus 2021. For both the quarter and year, our marketing spend was in line with our expectation of 6% to 7%.

繼續營銷。第四季度廣告和營銷為 1.834 億美元，占淨銷售額的 6.8%，比 2021 年第四季度增加 40 個基點。因此，由於我們通常在第四季度看到的營銷效率，廣告和營銷費用減少了 20 個基點。從全年來看，廣告和營銷占淨銷售額的 6.4%，比 2021 年增加 60 個基點。在本季度和年度，我們的營銷支出均符合我們 6% 至 7% 的預期。

Wrapping up the income statement, fourth quarter net income was $6.1 million and net margin was 0.2%, a year-over-year improvement of 290 basis points. We marked our first full year of positive GAAP net income in 2022 with a reported $49.2 million in net income, a $123 million improvement versus 2021. Our net margin reached 0.5%, expanding by 130 basis points versus 2021.

總結損益表，第四季度淨收入為 610 萬美元，淨利潤率為 0.2%，同比提高 290 個基點。我們在 2022 年實現了 GAAP 淨收入的第一個全年正數，報告的淨收入為 4920 萬美元，比 2021 年增加了 1.23 億美元。我們的淨利潤率達到 0.5%，比 2021 年擴大了 130 個基點。

Fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA was $92 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 460 basis points to 3.4%, reflecting gross margin momentum and SG&A leverage. Full year adjusted EBITDA was positive for the third year in a row, reaching $305.9 million and adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 210 basis points year-over-year to 3%, both of which are new records for Chewy.

第四季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 9200 萬美元，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率擴大 460 個基點至 3.4%，反映了毛利率勢頭和 SG&A 槓桿。全年調整後的 EBITDA 連續第三年為正，達到 3.059 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率同比增長 210 個基點至 3%，這兩項均是 Chewy 的新紀錄。

Turning now to free cash flow. Fourth quarter free cash flow was $42.1 million, reflecting $100.6 million in net cash flow from operating activities and $58.4 million of capital expenditures. The majority of our capital expenditures in the fourth quarter were focused on future automated fulfillment center launches. For the full year, we generated $119.3 million of positive free cash flow. Full year 2022 is the first year in our history where our free cash flow generation was materially above breakeven. From the end of 2018 through 2021, we were essentially free cash flow neutral, which was in line with our growth strategy, before turning meaningfully positive in 2022.

現在轉向自由現金流。第四季度自由現金流為 4210 萬美元，反映了 1.006 億美元的經營活動淨現金流和 5840 萬美元的資本支出。我們在第四季度的大部分資本支出都集中在未來自動化運營中心的啟動上。全年，我們產生了 1.193 億美元的正自由現金流。 2022 年全年是我們歷史上的第一年，我們的自由現金流量大幅高於收支平衡。從 2018 年底到 2021 年，我們的自由現金流基本上是中性的，這符合我們的增長戰略，然後在 2022 年轉為有意義的正增長。

Over that period, we nearly tripled our net sales, launched 6 new fulfillment centers, opened 3 new pharmacy locations, added 2 new customer service centers, 1 dedicated pharmacy customer service center and scaled multiple other growth initiatives. We accomplished all of this without consuming any cash and while remaining debt free. We finished the year with $677.4 million of cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities on the balance sheet, $74 million higher than 2021.

在那段時間裡，我們的淨銷售額幾乎翻了三倍，推出了 6 個新的履行中心，開設了 3 個新的藥房地點，增加了 2 個新的客戶服務中心，1 個專門的藥房客戶服務中心，並擴大了其他多項增長計劃。我們在沒有消耗任何現金的情況下完成了所有這一切，同時還沒有負債。到年底，我們資產負債表上的現金和現金等價物以及有價證券為 6.774 億美元，比 2021 年增加了 7400 萬美元。

Further boosting our liquidity position in the fourth quarter, we expanded our ABL by $300 million to $800 million with an additional $250 million accordion that will give us incremental liquidity should we choose to exercise it. At year-end, between cash on hand, marketable securities and availability of our newly expanded ABL, total year-end liquidity stood at over $1.4 billion. That concludes my fourth quarter and full year 2022 recap.

為了進一步提高我們在第四季度的流動性頭寸，我們將 ABL 增加了 3 億美元，達到 8 億美元，另外還有 2.5 億美元的手風琴，如果我們選擇行使它，這將為我們提供增量流動性。年末，在手頭現金、有價證券和我們新擴展的 ABL 的可用性之間，年末流動資金總額超過 14 億美元。我的第四季度和 2022 年全年回顧到此結束。

So now let's discuss our first quarter and full year 2023 outlook. Our guidance reflects a balanced view that incorporates the strength and visibility of our business model, while also providing some flexibility against an uncertain economic backdrop. With that, we expect first quarter net sales of between $2.72 billion and $2.74 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 12% to 13%; full year 2023 net sales of between $11.1 billion and $11.3 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 10% to 12%; and full year 2023 adjusted EBITDA margin to be flat to 50 basis points below our full year 2022 adjusted EBITDA margin of 3%.

那麼現在讓我們討論一下我們對 2023 年第一季度和全年的展望。我們的指引反映了一種平衡的觀點，它結合了我們商業模式的優勢和可見性，同時也在不確定的經濟背景下提供了一些靈活性。因此，我們預計第一季度淨銷售額在 27.2 億美元至 27.4 億美元之間，同比增長 12% 至 13%； 2023 年全年淨銷售額在 111 億美元至 113 億美元之間，同比增長 10% 至 12%； 2023 年全年調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率持平至 50 個基點，低於我們 2022 年全年調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率 3%。

Our 2023 adjusted EBITDA margin guidance reflects approximately 50 to 75 basis points of impact across SG&A and marketing as a result of the investments related to the international launch and other growth initiatives. Without the impact of these growth initiatives, our expected 2023 adjusted EBITDA margin would be around 3.5%. As you update your models for 2023, here are a few other things to keep in mind. Regarding net adds, we are maintaining a balanced view in light of the uncertain macro backdrop and the long-tail attrition from our large COVID cohorts.

我們 2023 年調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率指引反映了與國際發布和其他增長計劃相關的投資對 SG&A 和營銷產生的大約 50 到 75 個基點的影響。如果沒有這些增長舉措的影響，我們預計 2023 年調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將在 3.5% 左右。當您為 2023 年更新模型時，請記住以下幾點。關於淨增加，鑑於不確定的宏觀背景和我們大型 COVID 隊列的長尾流失，我們保持平衡的觀點。

Therefore, we anticipate returning to net adds growth during the second half of this year. As such, we expect NSPAC to be the primary driver of revenue growth through the first half of the year before shifting to a blend of customer and NSPAC growth in the second half of the year. We anticipate our overall growth investments to be front-end loaded with adjusted EBITDA margins expected to reaccelerate in the back half of this year.

因此，我們預計今年下半年將恢復淨增加增長。因此，我們預計 NSPAC 將成為今年上半年收入增長的主要驅動力，然後在下半年轉向客戶和 NSPAC 增長的混合。我們預計我們的整體增長投資將在前端加載，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率預計將在今年下半年重新加速。

We expect CapEx in full year 2023 to return to our historical target range of 1.5% to 2% of net sales and full year 2023 share-based compensation, including related taxes, to be approximately $250 million. Finally, after factoring in the investments we intend to make in 2023, we expect to generate meaningfully positive free cash flow at approximately twice the level that we generated in 2022.

我們預計 2023 年全年的資本支出將回到我們的歷史目標範圍，即淨銷售額的 1.5% 至 2%，以及 2023 年全年的股權補償（包括相關稅費）約為 2.5 億美元。最後，在考慮到我們打算在 2023 年進行的投資後，我們預計將產生有意義的正自由現金流，大約是 2022 年水平的兩倍。

To conclude, our 2022 results demonstrate our unwavering focus on day-to-day execution and our ability to get big fast and fit fast. Meanwhile, we remain highly encouraged by the growth road map ahead of us and an ongoing opportunity to maximize value for the millions of pet parents whom we serve, our team members and our shareholders alike.

總而言之，我們 2022 年的業績表明我們堅定不移地專注於日常執行，以及我們快速壯大和快速適應的能力。與此同時，我們仍然對擺在我們面前的增長路線圖以及為我們服務的數百萬寵物父母、我們的團隊成員和股東等實現價值最大化的持續機會感到高度鼓舞。

With that, I'll turn the call over to the operator.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給接線員。

(Operator Instructions). The first question is from the line of Nat Schindler with Bank of America.

（操作員說明）。第一個問題來自美國銀行的 Nat Schindler。

A couple of quick questions. So one, looking at your margin guidance of actually there is slight -- flat to slightly down EBITDA guide for this coming year. Despite the fact you have NSCAP growing, and it looks like given your revenue growth, it's going to be -- revenue growth is going to be driven, as it has been recently, by NSCAP more than customer growth. And considering that your marketing cost is mostly customer acquisition, how would that not result -- other than investments in international and other, how would that not result in meaningful improvement in EBITDA?

幾個簡單的問題。因此，一個，看看你的利潤率指導，實際上有輕微的 - 持平或略微下降 EBITDA 指導來年。儘管 NSCAP 正在增長，而且考慮到您的收入增長，它看起來將會如此——正如最近，NSCAP 將比客戶增長更能推動收入增長。考慮到您的營銷成本主要是客戶獲取，這怎麼可能不會導致——除了國際和其他方面的投資，這怎麼可能不會導致 EBITDA 的有意義的改善？

Second question, and this does look like the first time you've seen orders decline on a year-over-year basis, is there anything that really changed there? Or is it just simply part of that cohort maturation, and you're just shifting to fewer larger orders and that's what's driving that stop? And finally, on the very last question, I'm sorry to do 3 in a row here. Any update on Mario's replacement and what you guys are doing for CFO succession?

第二個問題，這看起來確實是你第一次看到訂單同比下降，那裡真的有什麼變化嗎？或者它只是該隊列成熟的一部分，而您只是轉向更少的大訂單，這就是推動停止的原因？最後，關於最後一個問題，我很抱歉在這裡連續做 3 次。關於馬里奧的繼任者的任何更新以及你們正在為 CFO 繼任做些什麼？

Nat, it's Mario. Great to hear from you. So on -- I'll take the second question first, and then Sumit will talk about the first one. You're asking about the order declining, it's not -- that's not the case. So what you're seeing in the 10-K -- you're referring to it in the 10-K, it's more about packages that we ship out. We've been pretty consistent about the way we explained it in the 10-K.

納特，是馬里奧。很高興聽到你的消息。等等——我會先回答第二個問題，然後 Sumit 會談談第一個問題。你問的是訂單減少，事實並非如此。所以你在 10-K 中看到的——你在 10-K 中指的是它，更多的是關於我們運送的包裹。我們在 10-K 中解釋它的方式一直非常一致。

The reason why we are able to ship out fewer packages is because we are continuing to get better at cartonization, meaning we can fit more of an order into a single package, and therefore, lower our freight costs, as you can imagine, our packaging costs as well and improve the customer experience. So we do that because we're expanding our network and because we're just getting better and better at inventory placement. So a lot of good work has been done behind the scenes. And Sumit will answer the first question.

我們之所以能夠運送更少的包裹，是因為我們在紙箱化方面不斷做得更好，這意味著我們可以將更多的訂單放入一個包裹中，因此，正如您想像的那樣，我們的包裝降低了我們的運費成本以及改善客戶體驗。所以我們這樣做是因為我們正在擴大我們的網絡，因為我們在庫存放置方面越來越好。所以在幕後做了很多好的工作。 Sumit 將回答第一個問題。

Nat, this is Sumit. When you look at margin, I mean, 2022, I think it's important to frame up 2022 EBITDA in the context of kind of how the year has played out. And EBITDA margin for 2022 was a result of strong gross margin performance and, added to that, SG&A leverage that we drove. So when you look at particularly gross margin, that was a result of pricing strength, combined with our work on supply chain transformation, offset by the headwinds that we faced on the freight and logistics side.

納特，這是蘇米特。當你看利潤率時，我的意思是，2022 年，我認為在今年的表現背景下構建 2022 年的 EBITDA 很重要。 2022 年的 EBITDA 利潤率是強勁的毛利率表現的結果，此外，我們推動的 SG&A 槓桿作用。因此，當你特別關注毛利率時，這是定價優勢的結果，加上我們在供應鏈轉型方面的工作，被我們在貨運和物流方面面臨的逆風所抵消。

So when you move that forward to 2023, we do not expect pricing leverage benefit as we did in 2022, including pricing float benefit, where pricing exceeded cost for a few months, if you recall. Further -- I mean we expect continued gross margin expansion driven by our efforts in higher-margin verticals. At the same time, given the uncertainties associated with the current macro backdrop, this guidance reflects a nuanced assessment of risks and opportunities and an appropriate level of cautiousness that we've baked in, which we are constantly monitoring performance around.

因此，當您將其提前到 2023 年時，我們預計不會像 2022 年那樣獲得定價槓桿收益，包括定價浮動收益，如果您還記得的話，定價超過幾個月的成本。此外 - 我的意思是我們預計我們在利潤率較高的垂直領域的努力將推動毛利率持續增長。與此同時，鑑於與當前宏觀背景相關的不確定性，該指南反映了對風險和機遇的細緻評估以及我們已經融入的適當謹慎程度，我們正在不斷監測周圍的表現。

And as always, we'll update guidance. Like for example, we're currently leaving room for the category to be slightly more promotional than last year. And should this not bear out, that could potentially create upside to our outlook. We're also not assuming any hardgoods reacceleration happening in 2023 to any material degree. And to the extent that there's a macro reacceleration in hardgoods, that should actually impact both sales and margin.

一如既往，我們將更新指南。例如，我們目前正在為該類別留出比去年更多的促銷空間。如果這沒有得到證實，那可能會給我們的前景帶來上行空間。我們也不假設 2023 年會發生任何實質性程度的硬貨再加速。就耐用品的宏觀再加速而言，這實際上應該會影響銷售額和利潤率。

And so there's assumptions like those that are built in, which are essentially having us guide to gross margin net neutrality. And then when you come down to the SG&A side, we're basically leveraging SG&A, but we're reinvesting the leverage back into driving growth. And as a result, our EBITDA guide kind of comes out at this point of the year in a way that we're guiding today.

因此，存在諸如內置假設之類的假設，這些假設本質上是讓我們指導毛利率淨中性。然後當你談到 SG&A 方面時，我們基本上是在利用 SG&A，但我們正在將槓桿重新投資到推動增長中。因此，我們的 EBITDA 指南會在今年的這個時候以我們今天指導的方式出現。

Makes sense. But how much are you putting in is assumed in there in the international expansion in costs? So I assume that's almost no revenue.

說得通。但是，在國際成本擴張的情況下，你投入了多少？所以我認為這幾乎沒有收入。

Yes. We haven't -- we're not quantifying the 2 separately. But broadly speaking, 50 to 75 basis of investments in growth initiatives, including international, but it's safe to say that the largest contributor of the 50 to 75 is in the international.

是的。我們沒有——我們沒有單獨量化這兩個。但從廣義上講，50 至 75 基礎投資增長舉措，包括國際，但可以肯定地說，50 至 75 的最大貢獻者是國際。

And then when it comes to top line, active customers NSPAC, Nat, we are not assuming any material impact for those from the launch at this point.

然後，當談到頂線時，活躍客戶 NSPAC，Nat，我們目前不認為發布對這些客戶有任何實質性影響。

Yes. Any impact -- we're not assuming any impact to core as well. Yes.

是的。任何影響——我們也不假設對核心有任何影響。是的。

The next question is from Anna Andreeva with Needham.

下一個問題來自 Anna Andreeva 和 Needham。

Great. Two questions. In the past, I think you talked about international growth and margin expansion simultaneously. So could you talk about the specific buckets of investments in '23? And international typically takes a while to scale to domestic profitability. So does this change your longer-term goal for high single-digit EBITDA margin? That's my first question. And then secondly, you mentioned net adds improving in the back half. Are you seeing any improvements in the business quarter-to-date to give you any confidence for that backdrop improvement?

偉大的。兩個問題。過去，我認為您同時談到了國際增長和利潤率擴張。那麼你能談談 23 年的具體投資領域嗎？國際通常需要一段時間才能擴大到國內盈利能力。那麼，這是否會改變您實現高個位數 EBITDA 利潤率的長期目標？這是我的第一個問題。其次，你提到後半部分的淨增加有所改善。您是否看到本季度迄今為止的業務有任何改善，讓您對背景改善有信心？

Anna, this is Mario. I'll take the first question, and Sumit will answer the second one. But when it comes to the investments in international, most of that you're going to see in SG&A and marketing. As we said, the 50 to 75 basis points, you'll hear us say that a few times. The largest portion of that is going to be international. No real material impact top line, gross margin, et cetera, in terms of investment for international launch.

安娜，這是馬里奧。我將回答第一個問題，Sumit 將回答第二個問題。但是當談到國際投資時，你會在 SG&A 和市場營銷中看到其中的大部分。正如我們所說，50 到 75 個基點，您會聽到我們多次這樣說。其中最大的一部分將是國際性的。就國際發布投資而言，對收入、毛利率等沒有實質性影響。

The only thing to add, Anna, there is as we ramp up demand, we're going to view the market opportunistically. And if there is an opportunity to invest at the top -- to drive top line, there may be some gross margin impact there, but all of that is built into our guidance today. And then your second question -- go ahead.

唯一要補充的是，安娜，隨著我們增加需求，我們將機會主義地看待市場。如果有機會在最高層進行投資——推動最高收入，那可能會對毛利率產生一些影響，但所有這些都已納入我們今天的指導中。然後你的第二個問題 - 繼續。

Okay. That's helpful. On the net add improvements in the back half. Just curious if you're seeing any improvements in the business quarter-to-date to give you confidence there?

好的。這很有幫助。在網上增加後半部分的改進。只是好奇您是否看到本季度至今的業務有任何改善以給您信心？

Well, what we said on the early remarks was that we expect net adds to begin to improve in the second half of the year for that active customer base to grow in the second half of the year. We're stepping into it carefully into the first half. We still have the long tail attrition from the 2020, '21 cohorts to work through. And of course, there's still somewhat subdued demand for -- in the discretionary categories, hardgoods. So we expect there will be more in the second half of the year.

好吧，我們在早期的評論中所說的是，我們預計淨增加量將在今年下半年開始改善，以便該活躍客戶群在今年下半年增長。我們正在小心翼翼地進入上半年。我們仍然需要解決 2020 年 21 屆的長尾流失問題。當然，在可自由支配的類別中，耐用品的需求仍然有些低迷。所以我們預計下半年會有更多。

And, Anna, our gross adds rate continues at mid- to high single digit higher than pre-pandemic and our reactivations also continue to be strong. So to the extent that those could be considered signals, I think you could take that into account, and then Mario's answer kind of rounds out the perspective.

而且，安娜，我們的總增加率繼續保持在比大流行前高的中高個位數，我們的重新激活也繼續強勁。因此，就這些可以被視為信號的程度而言，我認為你可以考慮到這一點，然後馬里奧的回答有點完善了這個觀點。

Yes. I would add to that, Sumit, the retention for those cohorts is basically in line with what we have said in the past. So that's also a good indicator for us that things are stable on that end.

是的。我要補充一點，Sumit，這些群體的保留率基本上與我們過去所說的一致。所以這對我們來說也是一個很好的指標，表明事情在這方面是穩定的。

The next question is from the line of Mark Mahaney with Evercore ISI.

下一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 Mark Mahaney。

Great. This is [Jen Lee] for Mark Mahaney. First, I want to just ask on -- I guess, higher-level question on the international. If you can just talk through what is kind of the TAM opportunity you see for international market and how are you going about -- like what's the game plan for expansion? Are you thinking about it mostly? It sounds like it's going to be organic expansion. Are you considering inorganic? And if you can kind of talk through the key regions? That's my first.

偉大的。我是 Mark Mahaney 的 [Jen Lee]。首先，我想問——我想，關於國際的更高級別的問題。如果你能談談你在國際市場上看到的 TAM 機會是什麼樣的，你打算怎麼做——比如擴張的遊戲計劃是什麼？你主要是在考慮它嗎？聽起來這將是有機擴張。你在考慮無機物嗎？如果你能談談關鍵地區？那是我的第一次。

Sure, [Jen]. This is Sumit. I'll take it. So international expansion has long been a part of our strategy, as we've noted on prior calls. It was a matter of when, not if, Chewy would take our superior value proposition into new geographies. So we're excited to talk about it now. We took into account the size of TAM, the geographic proximity and consumer behavior similarities to the U.S., among other factors, as we thought about entry markets that possess attractive characteristics for our initial international expansion plans.

當然，[仁]。這是蘇米特。我要買它。因此，正如我們在之前的電話會議上所指出的那樣，長期以來，國際擴張一直是我們戰略的一部分。 Chewy 將我們卓越的價值主張帶入新的地區只是時間問題，而不是是否會發生。所以我們現在很高興談論它。我們考慮了 TAM 的規模、與美國的地理接近度和消費者行為相似性等因素，因為我們考慮了對我們最初的國際擴張計劃具有吸引力的進入市場。

And yes, at this point, this is an organic play, not an acquisition per se. In terms of operationalization, I would say, consistent with our track record of operationalizing investments, such as pharmacy could be one of them, we are thinking about our international plans and stages with certain milestones that will responsibly govern the pace of our expansion.

是的，在這一點上，這是一個有機的遊戲，而不是收購本身。在運營方面，我想說，根據我們運營投資的記錄，例如藥房可能是其中之一，我們正在考慮我們的國際計劃和具有某些里程碑的階段，這些里程碑將負責任地控制我們擴張的步伐。

And then as Mario already noted a few minutes earlier, the revenue active customer and NSPAC impact of launching international operations is fully reflected in our guidance and is not a material contributor to any of those items in the guidance or for core. We -- that's as much as we can share today. We're excited about sharing more details on our Q1 call.

然後正如 Mario 幾分鐘前已經指出的那樣，啟動國際業務的收入活躍客戶和 NSPAC 影響充分反映在我們的指南中，並且不是指南或核心中任何這些項目的實質貢獻者。我們——這就是我們今天可以分享的內容。我們很高興在第一季度電話會議上分享更多細節。

Great. And one more on the gross margin. Beyond this year -- this is, I think, the third quarter that you hit the high end of your current long-term gross margin. So how should we think about kind of an updated long-term gross margin target beyond this year? And what are the key drivers to that? I think you mentioned the -- this year going to accelerate some higher-margin verticals. So if you can kind of expand on that?

偉大的。還有一個關於毛利率。今年以後——我認為，這是您達到當前長期毛利率高端的第三個季度。那麼我們應該如何考慮今年以後更新的長期毛利率目標呢？這其中的關鍵驅動因素是什麼？我想你提到了——今年將加速一些利潤率更高的垂直領域。那麼，您是否可以對此進行擴展？

Sure. This is Sumit again. So we're excited about the continued gross margin or the continued journey that we're on to expand our gross margins. In the core businesses, we have continued work to do on our private brand area. Private brands is mid- to high single digit, and we want to get it to between 15% and 30% of net sales. At that ratio, we expect several hundred basis points higher premium to our core business as that business achieves that penetration level.

當然。這又是蘇米特。因此，我們對持續的毛利率或我們繼續擴大毛利率的旅程感到興奮。在核心業務方面，我們繼續致力於自有品牌領域。自有品牌是中高個位數，我們希望它達到淨銷售額的 15% 到 30%。按照這個比率，我們預計隨著核心業務達到這一滲透水平，其溢價將提高數百個基點。

Number two, when you look at Chewy Health, Chewy Health is in its early stages relative to categories such as pharmacy. And we have a tremendous runway in this category as consumers more and more shift their preferences to online, and Chewy leads in delivering customer value proposition in that particular area. It is also a tremendous NSPAC expansion driver for us and is fueling both our growth and mix impact on our gross margin performance.

第二，當你看 Chewy Health 時，Chewy Health 相對於藥房等類別還處於早期階段。隨著越來越多的消費者將他們的偏好轉向在線，我們在這一類別中擁有巨大的跑道，而 Chewy 在該特定領域引領客戶價值主張。這對我們來說也是一個巨大的 NSPAC 擴張驅動力，並且正在推動我們的增長和對我們毛利率表現的混合影響。

On top of that, then there are verticals which are more nascent in their categories. Sponsored ads is the next one that we are quickly ramping up, happy to click into details if anybody is interested. But we're pleased with the progress there. We will expect to bring sponsor ads live at a more fuller scale this year ramping into 2024. Behind that is our categories like insurance, which are on slightly longer arcs because you have to build customer consideration and the consideration to conversion arc there is slightly longer, and therefore, those might be on a 1- to 3-year arc and can contribute meaningful gross margin expansion opportunities as well.

最重要的是，還有一些垂直領域在其類別中更為新生。贊助商廣告是我們正在迅速增加的下一個廣告，如果有人感興趣，我們很樂意點擊詳細信息。但我們對那裡的進展感到滿意。我們預計今年將以更全面的規模投放贊助商廣告，直至 2024 年。在這背後是我們的類別，如保險，它們的弧線稍長，因為您必須建立客戶考慮，而對轉化的考慮弧線稍長，因此，這些可能會持續 1 到 3 年，並且也可以提供有意義的毛利率擴張機會。

And then last but not least, our continued work on either expanding our Autoship benefits, working towards loyalty programs or continued supply chain initiatives that we've talked about, provide us tailwind opportunities in the future. So we're excited. There's a lot of work in front of us. This will not be easy, but at the same time, we have a clear road map and the team's hard work so far has paid off, and we will continue to remain resilient and focused as we play through 2023 and beyond.

最後但並非最不重要的是，我們繼續致力於擴大我們的 Autoship 福利，致力於忠誠度計劃或我們已經討論過的持續供應鏈計劃，為我們提供了未來的順風機會。所以我們很興奮。我們面前有很多工作要做。這並不容易，但與此同時，我們有清晰的路線圖，團隊迄今為止的辛勤工作得到了回報，我們將在 2023 年及以後的比賽中繼續保持彈性和專注。

Great. And if I might just add like one quick follow-up to that. Is there any -- I guess, can you quantify how much of sponsored ads is embedded in the full year guide?

偉大的。如果我可以對此添加一個快速跟進。有沒有——我想，你能量化全年指南中嵌入了多少贊助廣告嗎？

Yes. At this point, it's still fairly small. It's still a small expectations for this year. We're just ramping -- we're excited about where it is and the trajectory it's on, but it's still not a meaningful driver yet.

是的。在這一點上，它仍然很小。對今年的期望還是很小的。我們只是在加速——我們對它的位置和軌跡感到興奮，但它仍然不是一個有意義的驅動程序。

The next question is from the line of Doug Anmuth with JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Doug Anmuth。

Just on the international expansion, is it safe to assume that at the core, you'll be looking to replicate the strong and differentiated approach in terms of customer service? So that's number one. And then second, just circling back to the customer growth in '23. Just trying to understand really what drives the confidence there given that you're not really building in either macro improvement or discretionary product really coming back much. It sounds like it's just some improvement or working through the big cohort over the last couple of years.

就國際擴張而言，是否可以安全地假設在核心方面，您將尋求在客戶服務方面複製強大而差異化的方法？所以這是第一。其次，回到 23 年的客戶增長。只是想真正了解是什麼推動了那裡的信心，因為你並沒有真正建立宏觀改善或可自由支配的產品真的回來了。聽起來這只是過去幾年的一些改進或通過大型隊列進行的工作。

Sure. Doug, this is Sumit. So on international, your assumption is 100% right. We plan and expect to bring all components of our value proposition to the international market. And at the same time, we are going to be very actively listening to the voice of the customer and designing our launch working backwards from that. So that there is no dissidence in the way that we show up in the cultural nuances as Chewy's brand enters the international market.

當然。道格，這是蘇米特。所以在國際上，你的假設是 100% 正確的。我們計劃並期望將我們價值主張的所有組成部分推向國際市場。與此同時，我們將非常積極地傾聽客戶的聲音，並以此為基礎設計我們的發布。因此，當 Chewy 的品牌進入國際市場時，我們在文化細微差別中表現出來的方式沒有異議。

On the balance, we are excited and confident about our brands' resilience and extension outside of the United States per se. So that's the first one. In terms of customer adds, there are several programs that we are working internally inside the company, which are -- they're not dependent on the macro, but despite the macro, we are excited about these particular programs. These are -- when you look at kind of the way that we're optimizing our site, improving our search results, maximizing conversion, particularly as it comes to new search traffic that lands on our website.

總的來說，我們對我們品牌本身在美國以外的彈性和擴展感到興奮和自信。所以這是第一個。就客戶添加而言，我們在公司內部開展了幾個項目，它們不依賴於宏觀，但儘管有宏觀，我們對這些特定項目感到興奮。這些是 - 當您查看我們優化網站的方式時，改進我們的搜索結果，最大限度地提高轉化率，特別是當涉及到登陸我們網站的新搜索流量時。

And we're seeing some early, very early signs of goodness there. Number two, we've talked about this in the past where Chewy is not actively invested in CRM-type capability, and we're building out our CRM capability in 2023 to a much more fuller extent than we had in 2022. Now the work will continue through 2023. But again, these are programs that allows us to recognize customers, segment them accordingly, target them and then track them through their life cycle to be able to either incentivize, motivate or offer propositions to be able to reactivate towards Chewy at a greater degree.

我們在那裡看到了一些早期、非常早期的良好跡象。第二，我們過去曾討論過 Chewy 沒有積極投資於 CRM 類型的能力，我們將在 2023 年建立我們的 CRM 能力，其程度將比 2022 年更全面。現在的工作將持續到 2023 年。但同樣，這些計劃使我們能夠識別客戶，相應地對其進行細分，定位他們，然後在他們的生命週期中跟踪他們，以便能夠激勵、激勵或提供能夠重新激活耐嚼的主張在更大程度上。

So the combination of those 2 kind of gives us confidence that there is more than just the market that is happening inside Chewy. But of course, we have to bring these to life and play them through.

因此，這兩種類型的結合讓我們相信，在 Chewy 內部發生的不僅僅是市場。但當然，我們必須將它們帶入生活並播放它們。

The next question is from Corey Grady with Jefferies.

下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Corey Grady。

I wanted to ask about the automated FC initiative. So apologies if I missed this, but what percent of volumes did you say are running through the automated fulfillment centers currently? And where do you think that can get by the end of the year? And then what's assumed in that 50 bps of SG&A leverage?

我想問一下自動化 FC 計劃。如果我錯過了這一點，我深表歉意，但你說目前有多少百分比的數量正在通過自動化履行中心運行？您認為到年底可以達到什麼水平？那麼 50 個基點的 SG&A 槓桿假設是什麼？

Yes, this is -- Corey, this is Mario. I'll answer that. So we've said that we're about 30% of the volume going through automated facilities at this point, which is an increase from where we were certainly in the third quarter and almost double the volume that was going through our quarter at the same time last year, meaning Q4 '21. But we haven't given a target by the end of the year.

是的，這是——科里，這是馬里奧。我會回答的。因此，我們已經說過，此時我們大約有 30% 的數量通過自動化設施，這比我們在第三季度的肯定水平有所增加，幾乎是我們同一季度的數量的兩倍去年的時間，意思是 Q4 '21。但我們還沒有給出年底前的目標。

But you can see that we're going from having 3 out of 13 to now having 4 facilities are automated out of 13 once we launch our -- Nashville in the next couple of months. So we are -- we continue to move volume into the automated facilities for many reasons. One of them, obviously, is a lower cost to variable cost per order, which then flows through to SG&A and EBITDA. So we'll continue to push as much volume as we can into those facilities. Anything to add, Sumit?

但是你可以看到，一旦我們在接下來的幾個月推出我們的 - 納什維爾，我們將從 13 個設施中的 3 個變為現在 13 個設施中有 4 個自動化。所以我們 - 我們繼續將數量轉移到自動化設施中，原因有很多。顯然，其中之一是每個訂單的可變成本成本較低，然後流向 SG&A 和 EBITDA。因此，我們將繼續盡可能多地推動這些設施。有什麼要補充的嗎，Sumit？

No. Corey, did you have a follow-up? Or was that the main question?

不，科里，你有跟進嗎？或者這是主要問題？

Yes. If I can, I'll ask a quick follow-up. I would love for you to just say more about the sponsored ads beta. I mean I don't know if you can share or speak to any initial learnings, customer feedback, any update around timing of full launch and any change in how you're thinking about the long-term opportunity.

是的。如果可以的話，我會要求快速跟進。我希望您多談談搜索廣告測試版。我的意思是我不知道你是否可以分享或談論任何初步的學習、客戶反饋、關於全面發佈時間的任何更新以及你對長期機會的思考方式的任何變化。

Sure, sure. So we're pleased with the progress of the sponsored ads vertical. The beta that we launched in Q4 has continued building towards the full product, which we expect to have live in the first half of 2023 as per original expectations. Our team is hard at work right now on the supply side of the platform, where we expect to deliver a great customer and partner experience with improvements in ad serving, tracking and relevance. The reception from brands has been and continues to be positive, including the reception on our ROAS framework. So we're looking forward to the program launch in first half and then continuing to ramp throughout 2023 and into 2024.

一定一定。因此，我們對垂直贊助廣告的進展感到滿意。我們在第四季度推出的測試版繼續朝著完整產品的方向發展，我們預計將按照最初的預期在 2023 年上半年推出。我們的團隊目前正在平台的供應方努力工作，我們希望通過改進廣告服務、跟踪和相關性來提供出色的客戶和合作夥伴體驗。品牌的接受一直並將繼續是積極的，包括對我們的 ROAS 框架的接受。因此，我們期待該計劃在上半年啟動，然後在整個 2023 年和 2024 年繼續增加。

Our next question is from Seth Basham with Wedbush.

我們的下一個問題來自 Seth Basham 和 Wedbush。

My question is on gross adds. Good to hear your continued mid- to high single-digit growth there. As you look to 2023, you're expecting that type of growth to continue, and what does that mean for advertising growth?

我的問題是關於毛增加。很高興聽到您在那裡持續的中高個位數增長。展望 2023 年，您預計這種增長將持續下去，這對廣告增長意味著什麼？

Yes. Seth, this is Mario. So yes, so we are continuing to see strength in gross adds versus the pre-pandemic. In fact, you've heard us talk about all year that we've been in the -- somewhere in the 6% to 10% range, give or take, increase versus the same quarter 2019, and that continued into Q4. So that's a good indicator for us on the strength of the platform. For '23, let me not try to split out between gross adds and net and retention initiatives.

是的。賽斯，這是馬里奧。所以是的，所以我們繼續看到總增加量與大流行前相比的強勢。事實上，你已經聽過我們談論全年我們一直處於 - 在 6% 到 10% 範圍內的某個地方，給予或接受，與 2019 年同一季度相比有所增加，並且這種情況一直持續到第四季度。所以這對我們來說是平台實力的一個很好的指標。對於 23 年，讓我不要嘗試區分總增加和淨增加以及保留計劃。

But you've heard us certainly explain what we think is going to happen to our -- we project is going to happen to our active customer base and how we expect it to grow in the second half of the year. But it's going to be a combination of those 2 things, continue to reactivate and add brand-new customers and work hard to keep the ones that are on the platform.

但是你已經聽到我們肯定地解釋了我們認為會發生什麼——我們的項目將發生在我們活躍的客戶群上，以及我們預計它在下半年將如何增長。但這將是這兩件事的結合，繼續重新激活並增加全新的客戶，並努力留住平台上的客戶。

Okay. Fair enough. And then as a follow-up, just thinking about the 2020, 2021 cohorts with the churn rates. Are those churn rates higher than you expected even just 3 months ago? And how is the 2022 cohort repeat purchase behavior trending?

好的。很公平。然後作為後續行動，想想 2020 年、2021 年的人群流失率。這些流失率是否比您 3 個月前的預期還要高？ 2022 年隊列重複購買行為趨勢如何？

Let me see if I can decouple that into the 2 separate questions. The -- when it comes to the '20 and '21 cohorts, the retention levels have continued to remain more or less what we expected and we have been talking about for several quarters now. High, but it's still low single digits, lower than pre-COVID cohorts. And that has been pretty steady for several quarters at this point.

讓我看看我是否可以將其分解為 2 個單獨的問題。 - 對於 20 歲和 21 歲的人群，保留水平繼續或多或少地保持在我們預期的水平，我們已經討論了幾個季度了。高，但仍然是低個位數，低於 COVID 之前的人群。在這一點上，這幾個季度以來一直相當穩定。

The repeat purchase behavior of the 2022 cohorts. Well, you probably heard us say early in '22 that we were trending to acquire more customers into our nondiscretionary categories, the repeatable categories, consumables, health care. And so that's -- the behavior has proven out throughout the year.

2022 年人群的重複購買行為。好吧，你可能在 22 年初聽過我們說，我們傾向於將更多客戶吸引到我們的非自由裁量類別、可重複類別、消耗品、醫療保健中。這就是 - 全年都證明了這種行為。

The next question is from Brian Fitzgerald with Wells Fargo.

下一個問題來自富國銀行的 Brian Fitzgerald。

We think this is the first time you provided a specific growth breakout for nondiscretionary. Wondering if you could give us some color on how discretionary has been tracking? Have you seen any trend improvement? How are you thinking about cycling the discretionary weakness and potentially getting back to growth at some point in 2023?

我們認為這是您第一次為非自由裁量權提供具體的增長突破。想知道您是否可以給我們一些關於自由裁量權跟踪的顏色？你看到任何趨勢改善了嗎？您如何考慮在 2023 年的某個時候循環可自由裁量的弱點並可能恢復增長？

Brian, this is Mario. Let me try to clarify the question here. You're saying we provide specific guidance. Are you talking about how -- when we talk about the discretionary part, how would you expect to break on the trends that we've seen recently? Is that -- just to be specific about it.

布賴恩，這是馬里奧。讓我試著在這裡澄清這個問題。你是說我們提供了具體的指導。你是在談論如何 - 當我們談論自由裁量部分時，你會如何期望打破我們最近看到的趨勢？那是-- 只是為了具體說明它。

We think this is the first time you kind of broke out discretionary versus nondiscretionary growth. So we're wondering on the discretionary side, how has that been tracking. And are trends improving on the discretionary side? How do you think about cycling through discretionary weakness and when it kind of gets back to stronger growth?

我們認為這是您第一次爆發自由裁量權增長與非自由裁量權增長。所以我們想知道在自由裁量權方面，它是如何跟踪的。自由裁量權方面的趨勢是否有所改善？你如何看待通過自由裁量權的弱點循環以及何時恢復更強勁的增長？

Brian, this is Sumit. So discretionary continues to be suppressed and pressured. When you look at hardgoods, second half was better than first half. That was primarily due to easier comps. When you look at hardgoods sequentially, Q4 ramped because of seasonality and was expected. So at this time, as it comes to discretionary categories, and we're baking in things like hardgoods, crates and stuff like that, we're not expecting a material reacceleration in '23.

布賴恩，這是蘇米特。因此，自由裁量權繼續受到壓制和壓力。當你看硬貨時，下半年比上半年好。這主要是由於更容易的組合。當你按順序查看耐用品時，第四季度因季節性而上升，這是意料之中的。因此，此時，就可自由支配的類別而言，我們正在烘焙耐用品、板條箱之類的東西，我們預計 23 年不會出現材料再加速。

And we stand prepared to invest if we see further deterioration or opportunities alike. Ultimately, specifically as it considers categories such as hardgoods, we believe that this is cyclical and tied to the inputs of the macro environment. And as the macro and those inputs improve, we expect hardgoods to revert to its historical growth mode. But as of right now, we're not providing specific guidance, of course, at the category level, and we're not expecting material reacceleration in '23. That's what's baked into the guidance right now.

如果我們看到進一步惡化或類似的機會，我們隨時準備投資。最終，特別是考慮到耐用品等類別時，我們認為這是周期性的，並且與宏觀環境的投入有關。隨著宏觀經濟和這些投入的改善，我們預計耐用品將恢復其歷史增長模式。但截至目前，我們當然沒有在類別級別提供具體指導，我們也不期待 23 年的材料再加速。這就是現在納入指南的內容。

Our last question is from the line of Lauren Schenk with Morgan Stanley.

我們的最後一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Lauren Schenk。

Great. Just a couple on gross margin, if I can. First, what are you assuming around price increases this year from a manufacturing perspective? Was there one in this current first quarter? And then secondly, Sumit, you mentioned in your prepared remarks, a surgical approach to optimize pricing and in the shareholder letter, you talked about sort of increasing value proposition. Are you looking to lower pricing inflect categories? Any color there would be really helpful.

偉大的。如果可以的話，毛利率只有幾個。首先，從製造業的角度來看，您對今年的價格上漲有何看法？目前的第一季度有嗎？其次，Sumit，你在準備好的發言中提到了一種優化定價的手術方法，在股東信中，你談到了一種增加價值的主張。您是否正在尋找降低定價的變化類別？那裡的任何顏色都會很有幫助。

So starting with the second one, no, we are not looking to actively lower prices. We are certainly vigilant across the catalog, particularly as a result of improving supply chain positions to ensure that if there is heightened market competitiveness or market activity that we stand ready to respond to that. But no, we are not actively looking to price down. Number two, in terms of price increases that we expect or have come through, those are in the low to mid-single-digit range.

所以從第二個開始，不，我們不打算積極降低價格。我們當然對整個目錄保持警惕，特別是由於改善供應鏈地位以確保如果市場競爭力或市場活動增加，我們隨時準備對此做出回應。但不，我們並沒有積極尋求降價。第二，就我們預期或已經實現的價格上漲而言，這些漲幅處於中低個位數範圍內。

Any timing of when you would accept this?

你什麼時候會接受這個？

Sure. So as anticipated, we have experienced cost increases in Q1, and this is already reflected in our pricing. The market is adjusting and has adjusted well, and we're seeing overall good math compliance, Lauren. So at this point, we believe that the frequency and taste of cost increases is largely behind us. But of course, as we receive more information from our suppliers, we'll pass that on, but we're not expecting more cost increases for the balance of the year at this point.

當然。因此，正如預期的那樣，我們在第一季度經歷了成本增加，這已經反映在我們的定價中。市場正在調整併且調整得很好，我們看到總體上數學合規性很好，勞倫。所以在這一點上，我們認為成本增加的頻率和味道在很大程度上已經過去了。但是，當然，隨著我們從供應商那裡收到更多信息，我們會傳遞這些信息，但我們預計今年餘下時間的成本不會增加更多。

We have reached the end of our allotted time for questions, and I will now turn the call over to Sumit for closing.

我們的提問時間已經結束，現在我將把電話轉給 Sumit 結束。

Thank you all for joining. We appreciate it, and we'll see you next time.

謝謝大家的加入。我們很感激，我們下次再見。

That concludes today's Chewy's Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year '22 Earnings Call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.

今天的 Chewy 第 22 財年第四季度收益電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開線路。