Americold Realty Trust Inc (COLD) 2026 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Americold Realty Trust third quarter 2026 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

各位好，歡迎參加 Americold Realty Trust 2026 年第三季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 請注意，本活動將被錄音。

I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Rich Leland, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我想將會議交給投資人關係副總裁 Rich Leland 先生。請開始。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today for Americold Realty Trust's third quarter 2026 earnings conference call. In addition to the press release distributed this morning, we have filed a supplemental financial package with additional detail on our results. These materials are available on the Investor Relations section of our website at www.americold.com.

各位早安，感謝各位今天參加 Americold Realty Trust 2026 年第三季財報電話會議。除今早發布的新聞稿外，我們也已提交一份補充財務資料包，提供關於我們業績的更多細節。這些資料可於我們網站 www.americold.com 的「投資人關係」專區取得。

This morning's conference call is hosted by Americold's Chief Executive Officer, Rob Chambers, along with Chris Papa, our Chief Financial Officer. Management will make some prepared comments, after which we'll open up the call to your questions.

今天早上的電話會議由 Americold 執行長 Rob Chambers 主持，並由財務長 Chris Papa 一同參與。管理團隊將先發表準備好的談話，之後我們將開放提問。

Before we begin, let me remind you that management's remarks today may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions and beliefs as well as information available to us at this time and speak only as of the date they are made.

在開始之前，提醒各位管理團隊今天的發言可能包含前瞻性陳述。前瞻性陳述受到多項風險與不確定性影響，可能導致實際結果與預期有重大差異。這些前瞻性陳述係基於目前的預期、假設與信念，以及我們此時可取得的資訊，且僅截至其作出之日有效。

Management undertakes no obligation to update publicly any of these statements in light of new information or future events. During this call, we will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures, including NOI, same-store NOI, core and adjusted core EBITDA and net debt to pro forma core EBITDA and AFFO, among others. The full definitions of these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the comparable GAAP financial measures are contained in the supplemental financial package available on the company's website. Please note that all warehouse financial results are in constant currency and reflects the third quarter 2026 same-store pool which excludes the sites contributed to the EQT joint venture, unless otherwise noted.

管理團隊不承擔因新資訊或未來事件而公開更新任何此等陳述之義務。在本次電話會議中，我們也將討論若干非 GAAP 財務衡量指標，包括 NOI、同店 NOI、核心與調整後核心 EBITDA、淨負債對備考核心 EBITDA，以及 AFFO 等。上述非 GAAP 財務衡量指標的完整定義，以及與可比 GAAP 財務衡量指標之調節表，均載於公司網站上的補充財務資料包中。請注意，除非另有說明，所有倉儲財務結果均以固定匯率呈列，並反映 2026 年第三季同店樣本池（不含貢獻至 EQT 合資企業的據點）。

Now I'll turn the call over to Rob for his prepared remarks.

現在我將電話交給 Rob，請他發表準備好的談話。

Thank you, Rich. And thank you all for joining our third quarter 2026 earnings conference call. I'm very pleased to report that Americold had another strong quarter. A combination of continued industry stabilization along with best-in-class execution and continued market share gains has allowed us to deliver increases across all of our key operating metrics. Our third quarter results also demonstrate the ongoing successful execution against our five strategic priorities, which are strengthening our operating and financial foundation.

謝謝你，Rich。也感謝各位參加我們 2026 年第三季財報電話會議。我很高興向各位報告，Americold 本季再度交出強勁表現。在產業持續趨於穩定的同時，結合業界領先的執行力與持續的市占提升，使我們得以在所有關鍵營運指標上實現成長。我們第三季的結果也展現了我們在五項策略優先事項上的持續成功執行，這些優先事項旨在強化我們的營運與財務基礎。

While the operating environment remains challenging, our efforts are yielding visible results, and we have seen a multiquarter improvement in key metrics across the business. I could not be more proud of our team.

儘管營運環境仍具挑戰，我們的努力已產生可見成果，且我們已在多個季度中看到全公司關鍵指標的改善。我對我們的團隊感到無比自豪。

I'd like to spend some time discussing our results for the quarter, and the progress on these key priorities. Then Chris will discuss the details of our outlook for the rest of the year. Starting with our Q3 operating metrics, we once again saw meaningful year-over-year improvements in physical occupancy, economic occupancy, throughput and pricing, both storage and handling and all while bringing down our total G&A expense. Physical occupancy for the quarter was 70%, a 460 basis point improvement year over year and up 150 basis points sequentially. This continues the rebound we saw last quarter and is largely attributable to a more stable environment combined with the onboard of new customer wins and ongoing market share gains as customers continue to gravitate towards the higher quality service offerings that Americold provides.

我想花一些時間說明本季的業績，以及這些關鍵優先事項的進展。接著 Chris 將說明今年剩餘期間展望的細節。先從第三季營運指標談起，我們再次看到實體入住率、經濟入住率、吞吐量與定價（包含倉儲與裝卸）皆有顯著的年增改善，同時也降低了整體 G&A 費用。本季實體入住率為 70%，年增 460 個基點，且較前一季提升 150 個基點。這延續了我們上季看到的回升趨勢，主要歸因於更穩定的環境、導入新客戶得標，以及在客戶持續轉向 Americold 所提供的更高品質服務方案下，我們持續取得市占。

Along with these strong occupancy gains, we also saw throughput pallets increased 410 basis points in the quarter. From an economic occupancy perspective, we also saw increases both year over year and on a sequential basis. Economic occupancy in the quarter was 78.5%, up 210 basis points over the prior year and up 160 basis points compared to Q2. The gap between physical and economic occupancy this quarter was 850 basis points, a healthier and more sustainable long-term level for the business. Our revenue from fixed commitments came in at 57%, a solid result given the ongoing industry pressures while further demonstrating the value of our fixed committed contract structure to customers.

在入住率大幅提升的同時，我們也看到本季吞吐棧板量增加 410 個基點。從經濟入住率角度來看，我們也在年比與季比上均有所提升。本季經濟入住率為 78.5%，較去年同期提升 210 個基點，較第二季提升 160 個基點。本季實體入住率與經濟入住率之間的差距為 850 個基點，屬於對公司而言更健康且更可持續的長期水準。固定承諾收入占比為 57%，在產業壓力仍存的情況下仍屬穩健表現，也進一步展現我們固定承諾合約結構對客戶的價值。

Our churn rate in the quarter also remained low at 2.2%. While we are encouraged by these trends, it's important to note that end consumer demand remains pressured and customers are continuing to manage inventory levels in line with historically low demand. As a result, we would still characterize the current environment as stabilizing, but not yet inflecting.

本季客戶流失率亦維持在低檔，為 2.2%。雖然我們對這些趨勢感到鼓舞，但仍需注意，終端消費需求依然承壓，客戶也持續依照歷史低需求水準管理庫存。因此，我們仍會將目前環境形容為正在穩定，但尚未出現明顯拐點。

Turning to our price performance. We saw rent and storage revenue for economic pallet increased by 120 basis points this quarter, while services revenue per throughput pallet increased by 190 basis points. Both are ahead of our expectations and our commercial teams have done an excellent job of navigating through this environment and maintaining our pricing discipline across varying market conditions. This is a testament to our operational excellence as well as the value of the comprehensive range of solutions that we provide for our customers. Importantly, this consistent approach has allowed us to preserve our pricing structure and therefore, has us well positioned for a more stable operating backdrop.

接著談定價表現。本季每經濟棧板的租金與倉儲收入提升 120 個基點，而每吞吐棧板的服務收入提升 190 個基點。兩者皆優於我們的預期，我們的商務團隊在此環境下表現出色，能在不同市場條件下維持我們的定價紀律。這證明了我們的營運卓越能力，以及我們為客戶提供之全方位解決方案的價值。重要的是，這種一致的作法使我們得以維持定價架構，因此在更穩定的營運背景下，我們也具備良好定位。

While today's pricing environment is more competitive than it was several years ago, we remain focused on balancing occupancy, pricing and long-term customer relationships. The strong operating performance allowed us to achieve a record handling margin this quarter of 15.9%. This is an incredible accomplishment as only a few short years ago, our handling margins were in the low single digits. This achievement was made possible by a targeted strategy to drive retention and productivity, increase our value-added service offerings and leverage our technology investments for a more efficient cost structure. We remain committed to receiving fair value for the mission-critical services that we provide to customers and continuing to protect price in a competitive and inflationary environment.

雖然目前的定價環境較數年前更具競爭性，我們仍專注於在入住率、定價與長期客戶關係之間取得平衡。強勁的營運表現使我們本季達成創紀錄的裝卸毛利率 15.9%。這是一項了不起的成就，因為就在幾年前，我們的裝卸毛利率仍僅為低個位數。此成果得以實現，來自於一項聚焦策略：提升留存與生產力、增加加值服務供給，並運用我們的科技投資以建立更有效率的成本結構。我們仍致力於就我們為客戶提供的關鍵任務服務取得合理價值，並在競爭與通膨環境中持續守住價格。

I also want to highlight the strong performance of our Transportation business in the quarter. Our large food customers remain focused on improving efficiency and minimizing costs. And for most customers, transportation is a much larger percentage of their cost profile than warehousing costs. So taking miles out of their supply chain offers compelling savings. Our solutions teams are equipped with tools to help customers optimize their supply chain, consolidate inventory within our network and take out transportation miles in the process to deliver bottom line savings.

我也想強調我們運輸業務本季的強勁表現。我們的大型食品客戶仍專注於提升效率並將成本降至最低。對多數客戶而言，運輸成本在其成本結構中的占比遠高於倉儲成本。因此，縮短其供應鏈中的運輸里程可帶來相當可觀的節省。我們的解決方案團隊配備相關工具，可協助客戶優化供應鏈、在我們的網路內整合庫存，並在過程中減少運輸里程，以帶來損益底線的節省。

Many of our facilities have multiple vendors, and our transportation is purpose built around a consolidation offering that gives customers access to preferred truckload rates even if they individually have less than truckload volumes.

我們許多設施有多家供應商，而我們的運輸服務是以整併（consolidation）方案為目的所打造，使客戶即使各自的貨量不足整車（LTL），仍可取得偏好的整車（truckload）運價。

We operate this type of multi-vendor consolidation program for several of our large retail customers. Our Transportation segment NOI is up 23% this year, showing the attractiveness of this service offering. Additionally, we utilized an industry standard fuel surcharge mechanism that reprices the business weekly to offset any volatility and margin impacts from changes in fuel prices. As a result of the strong operating performance, we were able to deliver Q3 AFFO of $0.35 per share, which also outperformed our expectations. This marks our fifth straight quarter of either meeting or beating expectations, further demonstrating our consistent track record of execution across the business.

我們為數家大型零售客戶營運此類多供應商整併計畫。我們運輸事業部門的 NOI 今年迄今成長 23%，顯示此服務方案的吸引力。此外，我們採用業界標準的燃油附加費機制，每週重新定價以抵銷燃油價格變動所帶來的波動與對毛利的影響。受惠於強勁的營運表現，我們第三季每股 AFFO 達 0.35 美元，同樣優於我們的預期。這是我們連續第五個季度達成或超越預期，進一步展現我們在全公司一貫且穩定的執行紀錄。

Delivering on our financial commitments is a key priority for this management team. But beyond our quarterly financial results, we are also focused on unlocking long-term value for our shareholders.

履行我們的財務承諾是本管理團隊的首要重點之一。但除了我們每季的財務成果之外，我們也專注於為股東釋放長期價值。

And next, I'd like to spend some time discussing the progress we made on advancing our key strategic priorities. Certainly, the most impactful accomplishments in the quarter, both financially as well as strategically was the closing of our $1.3 billion joint venture with EQT on August 31. The proceeds from this transaction allowed us to immediately repay $1.15 billion of our outstanding debt and eliminate all of our 2026, 2027 and 2028 debt maturities reducing leverage and enhancing our financial flexibility. Going forward, we will also benefit from reduced interest expense of nearly $50 million annually.

接下來，我想花一些時間說明我們在推進關鍵策略優先事項方面所取得的進展。毫無疑問，本季在財務與策略層面最具影響力的成就，是我們於8月31日完成與EQT的13億美元合資案交割。此交易所得使我們得以立即償還11.5億美元的未償債務，並消除所有於2026、2027與2028年到期的債務，降低槓桿並提升我們的財務彈性。展望未來，我們也將受惠於每年近5,000萬美元的利息費用降低。

The JV assets are performing well, and as you can see by our Q3 same-store results, which exclude the sites contributed to the JV, trends remain strong across the entire portfolio. Longer term, EQT is a large and sophisticated partner for America with substantial capital resources and cold storage experience. Together, we have created a platform with the scale, expertise and resources to pursue future growth opportunities, and I believe this will be an important strategic advantage for us going forward. The 7% blended cap rate for this transaction also highlights the significant difference in public versus private market valuations and demonstrates the value that sophisticated private investors place on high-quality cold storage assets. We will continue evaluating any future portfolio and capital allocation decisions through the lens of maximizing long-term shareholder value.

合資（JV）資產表現良好，且從我們第三季同店表現（不含貢獻至JV的據點）可見，整體投資組合的趨勢依然強勁。從長期來看，EQT是Americold的重要且成熟的合作夥伴，擁有充足的資本資源與冷鏈倉儲經驗。我們共同打造了一個具備規模、專業與資源的平台，以追求未來成長機會；我相信這將成為我們未來的重要策略優勢。本次交易7%的加權平均資本化率（cap rate）也凸顯公開市場與私募市場估值之間的顯著差異，並展現成熟的私募投資人對高品質冷鏈倉儲資產所賦予的價值。我們將持續以最大化股東長期價值的角度，評估任何未來的投資組合與資本配置決策。

Turning to our second key priority which is our ongoing portfolio management initiatives, we completed the exit of three additional assets this quarter for a total cash proceeds of about $50 million. Since beginning this program last year, we've exited a total of 13 sites and generated nearly $100 million in proceeds. In total, this represents approximately 210,000 pallet positions of capacity that has been removed from the industry as the majority of these facilities were repurposed for other alternative uses. We are continuing to methodically scrub the portfolio for assets that no longer meet our strategic or return objectives and have 14 sites that are currently available for sale totaling another 330,000 pallet positions and several hundred million dollars in potential proceeds for additional deleveraging.

談到我們第二項關鍵優先事項，也就是持續進行的投資組合管理計畫，本季我們完成退出另外三項資產，合計現金收益約5,000萬美元。自去年啟動此計畫以來，我們已退出合計13個據點，並創造近1億美元的收益。整體而言，這相當於約21萬個棧板位（pallet positions）的產能已自產業中移除，因為其中多數設施已改作其他用途。我們正持續有系統地檢視投資組合，找出不再符合我們策略或報酬目標的資產；目前有14個據點可供出售，合計約33萬個棧板位，並可能帶來數億美元的收益，用於進一步去槓桿。

Our third priority is to expand the aperture and drive greater utilization across our network by broadening the customers and product categories we serve. Americold has one of the most comprehensive and diverse network of locations and solutions in the industry with facilities strategically located across all four nodes in the cold chain. This allows us to support customers in moving product from each stage from production through the final distribution to consumers. We think about leveraging these capabilities in three different ways. First is increasing the business we do with food manufacturers and sectors where we are underpenetrated such as seafood and fresh produce.

我們第三項優先事項，是擴大視野並透過拓展我們服務的客戶與產品類別，提升整體網路的使用率。Americold在產業中擁有最全面且多元的據點與解決方案網路之一，設施策略性地分布於冷鏈的四個節點。這使我們能支援客戶在各階段移動產品，從生產一路到最終配送至消費者。我們從三個不同面向思考如何運用這些能力。第一，是增加我們與食品製造商的業務量，並在我們滲透率較低的領域（如海鮮與生鮮蔬果）擴張。

The second opportunity is to grow with customers in food distribution channels such as grocery, convenience, QSR and e-commerce.

第二個機會，是與食品流通通路的客戶共同成長，例如雜貨零售、便利商店、QSR（快速服務餐飲）以及電商。

Over the past year, we have successfully established a retail footprint in Europe with wins at Jeronimo Martins and plus retail, and we entered the convenience store sector in Australia with on the run. We are pleased to announce that during the third quarter, we signed our first QSR customer in Europe with the Little Caesars brand. As part of this 4PL agreement, we will handle procurement inventory management and distribution to their stores for the next five years, leveraging our best-in-class QSR operating expertise. The breadth and scale of our portfolio, operational expertise in servicing demanding categories and strong customer relationships position us well to take advantage of these opportunities.

過去一年，我們在歐洲成功建立零售版圖，贏得Jeronimo Martins與Plus Retail等客戶，並在澳洲與On the Run合作，進入便利商店領域。我們很高興宣布，第三季期間我們在歐洲與Little Caesars品牌簽下首位QSR客戶。作為此4PL協議的一部分，未來五年我們將負責採購、庫存管理以及配送至其門市，並運用我們同級最佳的QSR營運專業。我們投資組合的廣度與規模、在服務高要求品類方面的營運專長，以及強健的客戶關係，使我們具備良好條件把握這些機會。

The third avenue for growth is to explore new categories beyond food. As we have discussed in the past, we believe that our assets and capabilities are product-agnostic and therefore translate nicely to multiple other industries as the demand for temperature-controlled logistics extends across a broad range of product categories, including pharmaceuticals, electronics, chemicals, aerospace and defense and several others. Many of these categories are among the fastest-growing sectors of the economy. And similar to food producers, these customers also need solutions that move products from production through distribution while maintaining a temperature-controlled environment.

第三條成長途徑，是探索食品以外的新類別。如同我們過去所討論的，我們相信我們的資產與能力不受產品類型限制，因此能順利延伸至多個其他產業；因為溫控物流的需求橫跨廣泛的產品類別，包括製藥、電子、化學、航太與國防等，以及其他多個領域。其中許多類別屬於經濟中成長最快的產業之一。而且與食品生產商類似，這些客戶也需要能在維持溫控環境的同時，將產品從生產一路運送至配送端的解決方案。

Our efforts in this area are in the early stages, but we recently were awarded an attractive new piece of business with one of the world's leading aerospace companies. These nonfood categories significantly expand the overall potential market opportunity for Americold, often at a margin profile that is more compelling than our core food business. Our objective is not to transform the portfolio overnight, but rather to leverage our existing infrastructure and operating capabilities into adjacent categories where we can drive occupancy and maximize the value of our real estate assets for shareholders. We have attractive leads in several of these sectors, and I look forward to giving you more updates in the future.

我們在此領域的努力仍處於早期階段，但我們近期已獲得全球領先航太公司之一的一項具吸引力的新業務。這些非食品類別大幅擴大了Americold整體可服務市場機會，且其毛利率結構往往比我們核心食品業務更具吸引力。我們的目標不是一夕之間改造投資組合，而是運用既有基礎設施與營運能力，延伸至相鄰類別，以提升入住率並為股東最大化我們不動產資產的價值。我們在其中數個產業已有具吸引力的潛在案源，並期待未來提供更多更新。

On to our fourth key strategic priority, which is to maintain our disciplined approach to inorganic growth. Our legacy DFW expansion remains on track as does our new customer dedicated build for McCain. We have several additional opportunities in the pipeline that would be great candidates for our JV in North America along with several in our international business. That said, the interest rate environment, rising construction costs and current pricing environment all have us on the sidelines for now.

接著談我們第四項關鍵策略優先事項，也就是維持我們在非有機成長方面的紀律做法。我們既有的DFW擴建計畫進展如期，為McCain打造的專屬客戶新建案亦同樣按計畫推進。我們的案源管線中還有數個額外機會，將是我們北美JV的理想候選案，同時在國際業務方面也有數個機會。不過，利率環境、建造成本上升以及目前的定價環境，使我們暫時選擇觀望。

Finally, we continue to make great progress on our cost savings initiatives. Our total SG&A in the quarter decreased by $7.5 million from the prior year, a reduction of nearly 11%. As a reminder, we announced a cost savings initiative last year for $30 million, consisting of two-thirds indirect labor and one-third SG&A. This program was completed by the first quarter of this year and was followed by our fit-for-purpose initiative in the second quarter, targeting an additional $25 million of cost savings primarily focused on SG&A. The benefits from fit-for-purpose are expected to be realized primarily in 2027.

最後，我們在成本節省計畫方面持續取得顯著進展。本季我們的SG&A（銷售、一般及行政費用）較去年同期減少750萬美元，降幅接近11%。提醒一下，我們去年宣布一項3,000萬美元的成本節省計畫，其中三分之二來自間接人力、三分之一來自SG&A。該計畫已於今年第一季完成，並在第二季接續推出我們的「適用目的（fit-for-purpose）」計畫，目標再節省2,500萬美元成本，主要聚焦於SG&A。fit-for-purpose的效益預期將主要於2027年實現。

Both of these initiatives are enabled by our prior investments in our labor force and technology platform, which is delivering tangible results.

這兩項計畫皆得益於我們先前在人力與技術平台上的投資，而這些投資正帶來具體成果。

A great example of combining technology cost savings and innovation is the opening of our Global Operations Command Center or the GOCC, which we announced last week. This initiative centralizes the oversight of our automated warehouses around the globe into one single location here at our corporate headquarters in Atlanta. The GOCC operates around the clock and enhances our operational resilience while delivering cost efficiencies versus a decentralized approach. Anita Nanda, who was recently promoted to our Chief Technology and Solutions Officer, was integral in the design and implementation of the project.

結合科技節省成本與創新的絕佳例子，是我們上週宣布啟用的全球營運指揮中心（Global Operations Command Center，GOCC）。此計畫將全球自動化倉庫的監督管理集中至單一據點，也就是我們位於亞特蘭大（Atlanta）的企業總部。GOCC全天候運作，在提升營運韌性的同時，相較於分散式管理方式也能帶來成本效率。近期晉升為首席科技與解決方案長（Chief Technology and Solutions Officer）的Anita Nanda，在該專案的設計與導入上扮演關鍵角色。

Our experience in engineering, project management, technology deployment and business transformation is a great asset to our company and supports our ability to pursue innovative solutions. Based on our performance this quarter, we are increasing our full year 2026 AFFO outlook to a range of $1.31 to $1.33 per share. This is the second quarter in a row that we've been able to raise our guidance further demonstrating our team's consistent execution throughout the year.

我們在工程、專案管理、技術部署與業務轉型方面的經驗，是公司的一項重要資產，並支援我們追求創新解決方案的能力。基於本季表現，我們將2026全年AFFO展望上調至每股1.31至1.33美元的區間。這是我們連續第二季上調指引，進一步展現團隊全年穩健且一致的執行力。

While we are certainly very pleased with the progress we have made, we remain mindful that the recovery we are seeing is still in its early stages. In this environment, we remain focused on controlling what we can control, executing on our five key priorities and serving our customers well.

雖然我們對已取得的進展確實感到非常滿意，但我們也清楚目前所見的復甦仍處於早期階段。在此環境下，我們仍專注於掌控我們能掌控的事項，落實我們的五項關鍵優先事項，並妥善服務客戶。

Now I'll turn the call over to Chris to discuss our financials and outlook in further detail. Chris?

接下來我把電話交給 Chris，請他更詳細地說明我們的財務表現與展望。Chris？

Thanks, Rob, and good morning, everyone. I would like to take a few moments to provide some additional details on our Q3 results, the impacts of EQT joint venture and our updated full year outlook. As Rob mentioned, we are very pleased with our performance this quarter as the combination of occupancy and pricing gains contributed to a year-over-year increase and same-store warehouse revenue of 4.9% for the quarter.

謝謝你，Rob，各位早安。我想花幾分鐘補充一些關於我們第三季（Q3）業績、EQT 合資企業的影響，以及我們更新後的全年展望的細節。如 Rob 所提到的，我們對本季表現非常滿意，入住率與定價提升的組合，帶動本季同店倉儲營收年增 4.9%。

Combined with our disciplined cost execution, we were able to grow NOI slightly ahead of that rate at 5.5%. Power costs remained elevated in the quarter, increasing 13% year over year and pressuring margins, but the impact on earnings was largely consistent with our expectations and partially mitigated through our ongoing surcharge mechanisms, procurement strategies and operational efficiency initiatives. Handling margin in the quarter improved to 15.9%, an increase of 230 basis points from the prior year, reflecting increased productivity from the higher throughput as well as the benefits from our indirect labor initiatives earlier this year.

再加上我們嚴謹的成本執行，我們得以讓 NOI 的成長略高於該增幅，達到 5.5%。本季電力成本仍維持在高檔，年增 13% 並對利潤率造成壓力，但對獲利的影響大致符合我們的預期，且部分透過我們持續的附加費機制、採購策略與營運效率提升計畫而獲得緩解。本季裝卸毛利率提升至 15.9%，較去年增加 230 個基點，反映更高吞吐量帶來的生產力提升，以及我們今年稍早推動的間接人力措施所帶來的效益。

An important milestone this quarter was the successful closing of our joint venture with EQT in August. Americold received net proceeds of approximately $1.15 billion from the transaction which were immediately used to pay down debt. As a result, we have eliminated all of our near-term maturities with our next scheduled maturity in January of 2029. This provides us with substantial financial flexibility over the next several years, along with a reduction in interest expense of nearly $50 million per year. You can see the significant improvement in our balance sheet reflected in our leverage ratio for the quarter, which came in at 6.2 times or 6.3 times including our pro rata share of debt at the JV level.

本季一項重要里程碑，是我們於 8 月成功完成與 EQT 的合資交易交割。Americold 自該交易取得約 11.5 億美元的淨收益，並立即用於償還債務。因此，我們已消除所有近期到期債務，下一個預定到期日為 2029 年 1 月。這使我們在未來數年具備相當可觀的財務彈性，同時每年利息費用可減少近 5,000 萬美元。你可以從本季的槓桿比率看見資產負債表的顯著改善：本季為 6.2 倍；若包含我們按比例分攤的合資層級債務，則為 6.3 倍。

This reflects a full turn reduction in leverage from last quarter.

這反映相較上季槓桿下降整整 1 倍。

Going forward, we are maintaining our rigorous capital allocation framework that prioritizes balance sheet strength while maintaining a high bar for incremental capital and a focus on opportunities that enhance shareholder returns. We are targeting a long-term stabilized leverage target of 6 times or below supported by ample liquidity and our well-laddered debt maturity profile. We benefit from having access to both public and private sources of capital and I believe we are well positioned to weather the current interest rate environment with minimal impact to AFFO, while being able to take advantage of future opportunities if and when they arise. The JV has also resulted in some changes to our financial reporting that I'd like to highlight for you briefly.

展望未來，我們將維持嚴謹的資本配置框架，優先強化資產負債表，同時對新增資本維持高門檻，並聚焦於能提升股東報酬的機會。我們的長期穩態槓桿目標為 6 倍或以下，並以充足流動性及良好分散的債務到期結構作為支撐。我們同時可取得公開與私募資本來源，我相信我們已具備良好定位，能在目前利率環境下將對 AFFO 的影響降至最低，並在未來機會出現時把握機會。合資案也使我們的財務報導出現一些變動，我想簡要為各位說明。

You will note that both our Q3 same-store and non-same-store tables exclude the sites contributed to the joint venture. We have provided a recast of our prior period results on page 30 of the financial supplement for your convenience, along with a bridge of same-store, non-same-store and total warehouse results on page 33. We also have two new revenue and expense lines on our income statement, reflecting the gross-up of pass-through operating costs. The net of these amounts is the management fee that Americold earns from the venture roughly $1.5 million for the month of September and estimated at approximately $15 million to $20 million annually. In addition, our 30% share of the venture's income is recognized in the line item entitled Income loss from investments in partially owned entities on the income statement.

你會注意到，我們第三季同店與非同店的表格均排除已投入合資企業的據點。為方便各位參考，我們已在財務補充資料第 30 頁提供前期結果的重編（recast），並在第 33 頁提供同店、非同店與總倉儲結果的銜接表（bridge）。我們的損益表也新增兩條營收與費用科目，反映可轉嫁（pass-through）的營運成本以總額法（gross-up）呈列。這些金額相抵後的淨額，即為 Americold 自該合資案取得的管理費：9 月約 150 萬美元，全年估計約 1,500 萬至 2,000 萬美元。此外，我們持有該合資企業 30% 的權益，其損益將在損益表「對部分持有實體之投資損益（Income loss from investments in partially owned entities）」項下認列。

Accordingly, our 30% share of the JV's AFFO is included in our consolidated AFFO, and we have added a supplemental adjusted EBITDA disclosure that includes our share as well.

因此，我們按 30% 持股比例分攤的合資企業 AFFO 會納入我們的合併 AFFO；同時我們也新增一項補充揭露的調整後 EBITDA（adjusted EBITDA），其中亦包含我們的分攤份額。

Finally, you will note that there is a gain on the contribution of these assets of $714 million, net of a current tax impact of $7.3 million. This measure is excluded from AFFO. However, it reiterates a substantial and attractive value of our assets. Finally, I would like to discuss some of the details behind our increased outlook for the year. Based on the ongoing stabilization we are seeing in the market, combined with our strong price and occupancy performance over the first three quarters of the year, we now expect blended pricing to be up approximately 100 basis points in the fourth quarter with economic occupancy increasing about 100 to 150 basis points sequentially, in line with normal seasonal truths.

最後，你會注意到，投入這些資產所產生的收益為 7.14 億美元，已扣除 730 萬美元的當期稅負影響。此項衡量不納入 AFFO。然而，它再次印證我們資產具有可觀且具吸引力的價值。最後，我想說明我們上調全年展望背後的一些細節。基於我們在市場中看到的持續趨穩，再加上今年前三季強勁的定價與入住率表現，我們目前預期第四季混合定價（blended pricing）約上升 100 個基點，經濟入住率（economic occupancy）則按季增加約 100 至 150 個基點，符合正常季節性走勢。

Our commercial teams have done an excellent job of managing through this year's contract renewals while maintaining the correct balance between price, occupancy and customer retention. Based on these assumptions, we have raised our same-store revenue guidance to a range of $2.06 billion to $2.1 billion and now expect our same-store NOI to range between $680 million to $700 million, an increase of approximately $13 million at the midpoint and bringing us to essentially flat on a year-over-year basis.

我們的商務團隊在管理今年的合約續約方面表現出色，同時維持價格、入住率與客戶留存之間的適當平衡。基於上述假設，我們將同店營收指引上調至 20.6 億至 21.0 億美元，並預期同店 NOI 介於 6.8 億至 7.0 億美元；以中位數計約增加 1,300 萬美元，使我們在年對年基礎上基本持平。

Finally, as Rob mentioned, we expect AFFO this year between $1.31 and $1.33 per share. As a reminder, we'll begin to feel the dilutive impact from the joint venture beginning this quarter, which will somewhat dampen AFFO in the fourth quarter. We estimate the headwind would have been approximately $0.10 this year assuming that it had closed on January 1 and will be approximately $0.11 next year. Based on this, we expect roughly a $0.03 impact in Q4 and approximately $0.07 to $0.08 of incremental dilution in 2027. Our other guidance components remain largely the same from our Q2 update on August 6, 2026.

最後，如 Rob 所提到的，我們預期今年每股 AFFO 介於 1.31 至 1.33 美元。提醒各位，我們將自本季開始感受到合資案的稀釋效應，這將在一定程度上壓抑第四季的 AFFO。我們估計，若該交易於 1 月 1 日完成交割，今年的逆風影響約為 0.10 美元；明年約為 0.11 美元。基於此，我們預期第四季約影響 0.03 美元，並在 2027 年出現約 0.07 至 0.08 美元的額外稀釋。我們其他指引項目大致維持與 2026 年 8 月 6 日第二季（Q2）更新時相同。

Next, I'd like to pass it back to Rob for some closing remarks. Rob?

接下來，我想把時間交回給 Rob 做一些結語。Rob？

Thanks, Chris. As I mentioned earlier, I'm extremely proud of our team's performance this year and I believe we are making tangible and long-lasting improvements to our business that will benefit Americold well into the future. At this point in the year, I know many of our investors are turning their attention to 2027.

謝謝你，Chris。如我先前提到的，我對團隊今年的表現感到非常自豪，我相信我們正在對業務做出具體且長期的改善，將在未來很長一段時間持續讓 Americold 受益。在一年進行到這個時間點，我知道許多投資人已將注意力轉向 2027 年。

So I wanted to share some of my initial thoughts. Strategically, I expect that our priorities will remain largely the same, continuing to strengthen our balance sheet, maintain a rigorous approach to capital allocation, drive efficiency by leveraging our past investments in people and technology and increased utilization across our network by expanding the customers and categories we serve. End consumer demand in our core categories, while stabilizing remains low by historical standards. There are some constructive trends on both the demand side, including increased innovation and promotional activity and on the supply side with fewer new announcements and expected deliveries.

因此，我想分享一些我初步的想法。在策略上，我預期我們的優先事項大致不變：持續強化資產負債表、維持嚴謹的資本配置方法、透過運用過去在人員與科技上的投資來推動效率提升，並藉由擴大我們服務的客戶與品類，提高整體網路的使用率。我們核心品類的終端消費需求雖然正在趨穩，但以歷史標準來看仍偏低。在需求端與供給端都出現一些正向趨勢：需求端包括創新增加與促銷活動提升；供給端則是新案公告減少且預期交付量下降。

However, inflation remained elevated, and we don't foresee a meaningful change in consumer behavior. That perspective is largely consistent with what we are hearing across our customer base. In fact, we recently received the results of our fourth annual customer perception study, which ran through the end of September. Over 300 customers participated and I'm very pleased that we received another record engagement score, our third in a row, reinforcing our view that Americold leads the industry in customer satisfaction. This year, we ask customers for their view on inventory levels over the next 12 months.

然而，通膨仍維持在高檔，我們不預期消費者行為會出現有意義的改變。這個觀點大致與我們在客戶群中聽到的情況一致。事實上，我們近期收到第四年度客戶觀感研究的結果，該研究進行至 9 月底。共有超過 300 位客戶參與，我非常高興我們再次獲得創新高的參與度評分，且已連續第三年創下新高，強化了我們對 Americold 在客戶滿意度方面領先業界的看法。今年，我們詢問客戶對未來 12 個月庫存水位的看法。

The results were insightful with 27% planning to increase inventory, 54% planning to remain stable at current levels, planning for decreases and 13% uncertain.

結果相當有啟發性：27% 計畫增加庫存，54% 計畫維持目前水準穩定，另有一部分計畫減少，且 13% 尚不確定。

Given the large sample size, we believe the results are generally representative of the market and reflect the stabilizing trends we've experienced over the past two quarters. While encouraging, we are maintaining a conservative and realistic view of the market until we see clear signs of inflection and are, therefore, planning for the demand environment in 2027 to look broadly similar to 2026. Beyond the demand environment, I also want to share some perspectives on the expected cadence of earnings in 2027 as we will have some unique items affecting the timing of our results, particularly in the early part of the year.

鑑於樣本數龐大，我們相信結果大致能代表市場，並反映我們在過去兩個季度所經歷的穩定化趨勢。雖然令人鼓舞，但在看到明確的拐點訊號之前，我們仍對市場維持保守且務實的看法；因此，我們規劃 2027 年的需求環境整體上將與 2026 年大致相近。除了需求環境之外，我也想分享一些對 2027 年獲利節奏的看法，因為我們將有一些獨特事項會影響業績入帳時點，尤其是在年初。

First, as Chris mentioned earlier, we will have approximately $0.07 to $0.08 of incremental dilution from the EQT JV spread across the first eight months of the year. Second, consistent with normal seasonal trends, we expect a decrease in occupancy from Q4 to Q1. And beyond our typical seasonality, we are also seeing some movement among a handful of our retail customers to rationalize portion of their logistics requirements amid industry consolidation. As these transitions are expected to occur at the start of the year, we expect some throughput impacts that we anticipate will be offset by the positive impact of new customer wins later in the year.

第一，如 Chris 先前提到的，我們將在年初前八個月承擔來自 EQT 合資企業（JV）約每股 0.07 至 0.08 美元的額外稀釋影響。第二，符合正常季節性趨勢，我們預期入住率將從第四季下降至第一季。除了一般季節性之外，我們也看到部分零售客戶在產業整併之際，正調整並精簡其物流需求的一部分。由於這些轉換預期在年初發生，我們預期吞吐量將受到一些影響，但我們預計這些影響將在年內稍晚由新客戶得標所帶來的正面效益所抵銷。

Lastly, the first quarter will also reflect an elevated level of SG&A consistent with normal trends. Based on these factors, we would expect that AFFO per share will be the lowest in Q1 and build sequentially throughout the year. Against that backdrop, our focus remains on the areas we can control with self-help initiatives and continued execution against our key priorities being the primary drivers of performance. Overall, I'm very encouraged by the progress we are making and our actions are producing meaningful results. We have improved our key operating metrics, strength in service margins, reduced our cost structure materially deleverage the balance sheet and have continued improving the quality and productivity of the portfolio.

最後，第一季也將反映出較高水準的 SG&A（銷售、一般及行政費用），這與正常趨勢一致。基於上述因素，我們預期每股 AFFO 將在第一季為全年最低，並在全年逐季走高。在此背景下，我們的重點仍放在可控的領域，包括自助式改善措施（self-help initiatives），以及持續落實我們的關鍵優先事項，作為績效的主要驅動力。整體而言，我對我們取得的進展感到非常振奮，我們的行動正在產生具體且有意義的成果。我們已改善關鍵營運指標、提升服務毛利率的強度、實質降低成本結構、降低資產負債表槓桿，並持續提升投資組合的品質與生產力。

And our long-term value proposition remains compelling.

而我們的長期價值主張依然極具吸引力。

We own a diverse network of mission-critical temperature-controlled infrastructure across all four nodes of the gold chain. This differentiation has allowed us to outperform the market this year and is valuable and difficult to replicate. We have earned our reputation as a trusted provider of high-quality solutions through years of consistent execution for many of the world's leading food producers, and we have significantly improved our financial position with the opportunity to take advantage of white space in our core, adjacent and new sectors of the market to drive occupancy across our network and deliver durable cash flows.

我們在「黃金鏈」四個節點皆擁有多元且關鍵任務型（mission-critical）的溫控基礎設施網路。這項差異化使我們今年能夠優於市場表現，且其價值高、難以複製。多年來，我們為全球許多領先食品生產商持續穩健執行，因而建立了作為高品質解決方案可信賴供應商的聲譽；同時，我們也顯著改善了財務狀況，並有機會利用核心、鄰近及新興市場領域的「白地」機會，推動整體網路的入住率並帶來持久的現金流。

I believe we have the right assets people and strategy to continue building on this progress and create additional value for our customers and shareholders. We will issue our formal guidance for 2027 during our fourth quarter earnings call as we typically do, and remain committed to maintaining the transparency that our investors appreciate. With that, I would like to turn the call over to the operator for questions. Operator?

我相信我們擁有正確的資產、人才與策略，能在此進展基礎上持續前進，並為客戶與股東創造更多價值。我們將如往常一樣在第四季財報電話會議中發布 2027 年的正式財測指引，並持續致力於維持投資人所重視的透明度。接下來，我想把電話交給接線員進行問答。接線員？

(Operator Instructions) Michael Goldsmith, UBS.

（接線員指示）Michael Goldsmith，瑞銀（UBS）。

You've seen improving trends over the last few quarters and physical occupancy and throughput have continued to improve despite end consumer demand remaining pressure. So maybe can you separate how much of that improvement is coming from broader industry stabilization versus market share gains and new customer wins?

過去幾個季度你們看到改善趨勢，且儘管終端消費者需求仍承壓，實體入住率與吞吐量仍持續改善。所以或許你能否拆解一下：這些改善有多少來自整體產業的穩定化，又有多少來自市占提升與新客戶得標？

Sure. Thanks, Michael. We're really pleased, obviously, with the performance across all the metrics. Occupancy is particularly compelling in this quarter to be able to deliver the 460 basis point improvement in physical occupancy year over year, we think is a great story. It's certainly coming from a variety of places.

當然。謝謝你，Michael。我們對各項指標的表現都非常滿意。本季入住率尤其亮眼，實體入住率年增 460 個基點，我們認為這是一個很好的故事。這確實來自多個面向。

I would say we do continue to see the industry stabilize, which is great news. But largely, that would be something that would be driving a kind of flat to slightly up. physical occupancy for the broader industry.

我會說，我們確實持續看到產業正在穩定下來，這是個好消息。但就整體而言，這種因素大多只會推動整個產業的實體入住率大致持平到小幅上升。

The vast majority of what we're seeing in terms of our occupancy gains are coming from market share gains and coming from new business wins that we've been able to achieve over the last one to two years. So we're encouraged by the stabilization, but we're really proud of the outperformance that we've been able to achieve. And it really goes back to the last three, four quarters. I mean it's been a multi-quarter improvement going back to Q3 of last year. So I think the strategy that we have is working.

就我們所看到的入住率提升而言，絕大部分來自市占提升，以及我們在過去一到兩年所取得的新業務得標。因此，我們對產業穩定化感到鼓舞，但也對我們能達成的超越市場表現感到非常自豪。而這其實可追溯到過去三、四個季度。我的意思是，這是一個跨多季度的改善，從去年第三季就開始了。所以我認為我們的策略正在奏效。

I think clearly, customers are gravitating towards that higher quality service offering that Americold is able to offer the depth and the breadth of the value-added services that we have are really resonating with our customers, and our overall value proposition is winning the day in a relatively stable environment. So I would attribute it mostly to those two items. And then when we think about our portfolio management initiatives, maybe about 50 basis points of occupancy related to those.

我認為很明顯地，客戶正傾向於 Americold 能提供的更高品質服務；我們增值服務的深度與廣度確實與客戶產生共鳴，而在相對穩定的環境中，我們整體的價值主張正在勝出。所以我會主要歸因於這兩項因素。另外，若考量我們的投資組合管理措施，與此相關的入住率貢獻大約是 50 個基點。

Michael Griffin, Evercore ISI.

Michael Griffin，Evercore ISI。

Rob, I think you mentioned in your prepared remarks, you've got 14 sites totaling $300 million of potential proceeds you could look to dispose of I'm just curious, it might be early stages, but any kind of sense you can give us on pricing for these potential dispositions, how it might compare to the EQT joint venture, and then more broadly, if you've seen any change in either buyer appetite or the transaction market, given the volatility that we've seen in interest rates over the past couple of months?

Rob，我想你在事先準備的談話中提到，你們有 14 個據點、合計約 3 億美元的潛在處分收益可供評估。我很好奇，雖然可能還在早期階段，但你能否提供一些對這些潛在處分案定價的概念、它可能與 EQT 合資案相比如何；以及更廣泛地說，鑑於過去幾個月利率波動，你是否看到買方意願或交易市場有任何變化？

So it is going to vary pretty widely because if you think about the assets that we have available for sale, I mean we've been pretty public about the fact that we have a few that one in Lancaster and one in Connecticut that are certainly kind of first-generation type that we think would the assets that would be probably at a different pricing point than maybe other conventional assets in different markets. So it's a pretty wide range and it would be hard to give you any discrete expectation around some of those.

這會有相當大的差異，因為如果你想想我們可供出售的資產，我們一直相當公開地提到，我們有幾個資產——例如 Lancaster 的一個以及康乃狄克州的一個——屬於較偏第一代（first-generation）類型，我們認為這些資產的定價點可能會不同於其他市場中的一般傳統資產。因此範圍很廣，要對其中一些給出任何明確的預期都很難。

We did report obviously, this quarter that we had three sites that we exited, and we were able to generate nearly $50 million in proceeds. That brings the total up to about $100 million of the sites that we've already exited. So it can be a wide range depending on the type of the asset and the location. I think given the fact that many of these sites were low NOI sites, low occupancy sites. They're not going to be at the same type of multiple or cap rate that we contributed sites to the JV at given that those were facilities that are operating and generating expected cash flow.

我們本季也已揭露，顯然我們退出了三個據點，並成功產生近 5,000 萬美元的收益。這使我們已退出據點的累計收益提高到約 1 億美元。因此，依資產類型與地點不同，價格區間可能很大。我認為，鑑於這些據點中有許多是 NOI（淨營運收益）較低、入住率較低的據點，它們不會有我們在向 JV 注入資產時那樣的倍數或資本化率（cap rate），因為當時注入 JV 的是正在營運、並能產生預期現金流的設施。

So yes, we think that portfolio management initiative has been very meaningful to us, and we're excited about the opportunity to generate those proceeds for delevering. But we wouldn't expect them to be at the cap rates that we traded or we contributed assets into the JV for.

所以是的，我們認為這項投資組合管理計畫對我們非常有意義，我們也對能產生這些收益以降低槓桿感到興奮。但我們不預期它們會達到我們交易時、或我們向 JV 注入資產時所採用的那些資本化率。

Viktor Fediv, Scotiabank.

Viktor Fediv，豐業銀行（Scotiabank）。

So same-store services NOI margin improved considerably quarter over quarter and year over year. Can you elaborate on the trends here? And do you expect to continue to see some improvement in that number?

所以同店服務 NOI 利潤率（淨營運收入利潤率）在季比與年比上都有顯著改善。你能否進一步說明這裡的趨勢？你是否預期這個數字還會持續改善？

Thanks. We're thrilled with the performance on the services margin. I think it is just a great story for America. We -- as you know, we were in the low single digits just a few years ago. And to be able to take that from that position and bring our services margins up to now a record 15.9%.

謝謝。我們對服務利潤率的表現感到非常振奮。我認為這對 Americold 來說是一個非常好的故事。我們——如你所知，幾年前我們還在低個位數。而能夠從那樣的水準把服務利潤率提升到現在創紀錄的 15.9%。

And is really a testament to the operational execution and the strategy that we put in place. There are a variety of ways that contributed to that.

這確實證明了我們的營運執行力以及我們所制定的策略。有多種因素促成了這一點。

One is we said we were going to continue to add new value-added services within the portfolio that make the business more attractive, less commoditized, and we've been able to do that. And that resonates with our customers. We're finding that our customers are asking us to do more services for them on their behalf, and that really helps drive up the revenue for throughput pallet, which helps drive up service margins. retention and productivity has been a great story. It's an area where we put a tremendous amount of focus on, and we now have a workforce that does tenure that it's ever been a senior as it's ever been and as productive as it's ever been.

其中之一是，我們說過會持續在資產組合中新增具附加價值的新服務，讓業務更具吸引力、較不商品化，而我們也做到了。而這也引起客戶共鳴。我們發現客戶希望我們代表他們提供更多服務，這確實有助於提升每個周轉棧板的收入，進而推升服務利潤率。留任與生產力一直是個很好的故事。這是我們投入大量心力的領域，而我們現在擁有一支任期比以往更長、資深程度比以往更高、且生產力比以往更高的團隊。

We've also looked at streamlining our regional overhead model, which we accomplished this year. And then we're really leveraging the technology investments. We've talked a lot about those technology investments over the last few years and they're delivering real tangible results. This is not about talking about something that may happen into the future. This is talking about right here and right now, we're delivering tangible results on the technology investments that we've made and all of those things have been able to -- have allowed us to bring the services margins up to a record level.

我們也檢視並精簡了區域間接費用（overhead）模式，並在今年完成。此外，我們也正在充分運用科技投資。過去幾年我們談了很多這些科技投資，而它們正在帶來真實且可量化的成果。這不是在談未來可能會發生的事。我們談的是此時此刻，我們正從已投入的科技投資中交付具體成果；而所有這些因素——都讓我們得以把服務利潤率提升到創紀錄水準。

Despite being an environment where inflation is still high and if you look at our pricing, while we feel like we've led the industry, in terms of pricing discipline, we're still not where we want to be in terms of our year-over-year increases there. So to be able to accomplish that in an inflationary environment where pricing is not yet where we want it to be. I think is just another reason to point to the operational execution being very strong. We set a long-term target of, hey, could we get to 15% for the year. I don't think we're going to come off that again.

儘管目前仍處於通膨偏高的環境，而且如果你看我們的定價，雖然我們覺得在定價紀律方面領先同業，但就年比漲幅而言仍未達到我們想要的水準。因此，能在通膨環境下、且定價尚未達到我們理想狀態時做到這點，我認為這是另一個能證明營運執行非常強勁的理由。我們設定的長期目標是：全年能否達到 15%。我不認為我們會再從這個目標退下來。

This is one quarter. And while we're very pleased with the performance of the quarter we have to stay at it every quarter to continue to drive it.

這只是單一季度。雖然我們對本季表現非常滿意，但我們必須每一季都持續努力，才能繼續推動改善。

Blaine Heck, Wells Fargo.

Blaine Heck，富國銀行（Wells Fargo）。

Rob, I was hoping you could talk a little bit more about the nonfood category additions. And specifically, how the stabilized yield or general economics on these spaces compares with your traditional food storage economics when you take into account any cost to convert the space for nonfood use and any downtime for that process?

Rob，我希望你能再多談一點非食品品類的新增。具體來說，若把將空間改造為非食品用途的成本，以及改造過程中的停機時間納入考量，這些空間的穩定化收益率或整體經濟性，與你們傳統食品倉儲的經濟性相比如何？

Thanks, Blaine. Yes, we think this is a great growth opportunity for Americold over the mid- to long term. I want we remain obviously very focused on continuing to grow in food, but we think opening the aperture on what we can store in our facilities is a great organic growth opportunity for us going forward, we would consider our facilities, product agnostic. We think that customers that are in these other adjacent sectors need the same types of services, the same types of nodes in the supply chain as food producers.

謝謝，Blaine。是的，我們認為這是 Americold 在中長期非常好的成長機會。我們當然仍非常專注於持續在食品領域成長，但我們認為擴大我們設施可儲存品項的範圍，將是我們未來一個很好的內生成長機會；我們認為我們的設施對產品是中性的（product agnostic）。我們認為這些其他相鄰產業的客戶，所需要的服務類型、供應鏈節點類型，與食品生產商相同。

So we do see it as opportunistic. We've been able to make some small inroads. We mentioned this quarter that we had a win in the aerospace and defense sector. And we see that. We see pharmaceutical, we see chemicals, we see electronics all those opportunities where Americold can play over the medium and longer term.

所以我們確實把它視為一個機會型的方向。我們已經取得一些小幅進展。我們在本季提到，我們在航太與國防領域拿下一個案子。而我們也看到——我們看到製藥、化學品、電子等各種機會，這些都是 Americold 在中期與長期可以切入的領域。

The economics from an early indications are that there's the opportunity for many of these deals to be more compelling potentially than just food, given the fact that often times the cost of goods sold of those products are going to be in excess of what you see for food. And so customers are willing to pay a higher percentage of that cost of goods sold for their logistics costs.

從初步跡象來看，這些交易中有許多在經濟性上可能比單純做食品更具吸引力，因為這些產品的銷貨成本往往高於食品。因此，客戶願意為其物流成本支付更高比例的銷貨成本。

So early days, I don't -- I look forward to being able to provide more updates into the future. But we're also finding that the overall requirements aren't that much different. I mean, yes, that sometimes there may be incremental certifications. There may be a requirement for some redundancy in Refrigeration. But the overall architecture of our facilities generally supports this business very well, and we think that it can be a nice growth avenue long term.

所以目前還在早期階段，我——我期待未來能提供更多更新。但我們也發現整體需求其實差異不大。我的意思是，是的，有時可能需要額外的認證。也可能需要冷凍系統（Refrigeration）的備援。但整體而言，我們設施的架構通常能很好地支援這類業務，我們認為長期來看這會是一條不錯的成長途徑。

Samir Khanal, Bank of America.

Samir Khanal，美國銀行（Bank of America）。

I guess, Rob, how are you thinking about pricing next year as contracts reset, right? I mean physical occupancy is up here, but pricing is still down, right? I mean I would assume there's a function of customer mix here and pricing is competitive. So how are you thinking about pricing into next year?

我想問一下，Rob，當合約在明年重設時，你們對定價是怎麼思考的？我的意思是，實體入住率在上升，但定價仍在下降，對吧？我想這可能與客戶組合有關，而且定價競爭激烈。那你們如何看待明年的定價？

Yes. I think you described it right, Samir. I mean, so it's still a competitive environment. We think about pricing in a variety of different ways. I mean first of all, if you're a customer that's in your intra-contract period, we're going to go through and we're going to do -- we're going to follow the agreements, right?

是的。我認為你描述得很對，Samir。也就是說，這仍然是一個競爭激烈的環境。我們從多個面向來看定價。首先，如果你是處於合約期間內的客戶，我們會依照——我們會遵循協議內容，對吧？

So we'll have general rate increases next year for customers that are on long-term agreements. If you are a customer that is on a warehouse rate agreement where the business is repriced generally at the beginning of the year, we'll have increases tied to those agreements.

因此，對於簽有長期協議的客戶，明年我們會有一般性的費率調升。如果你是採用倉儲費率協議、通常在年初重新定價的客戶，我們也會依照這些協議進行調升。

And then it's what happens upon renewal and how do you attract new business. And I think those will be competitive, certainly. We -- our commercial teams have done a great job because we just don't lead with price in the conversations. We lead with our value proposition, and that is really kind of winning the day. And so I would expect the pricing environment.

接著就是續約時會發生什麼，以及你如何吸引新業務。我認為這些方面肯定會是競爭性的。我們——我們的商務團隊做得非常好，因為我們在對話中不會只以價格作為切入點。我們以我們的價值主張作為切入點，而這確實正在幫助我們取得優勢。因此我預期定價環境——

I mean, we've been kind of low single digits. And I don't think there's no reason to believe that we would be outsized relative to that. But at the same time, the inflationary environment is going to mandate that we go out and we find a way to drive price. So we'll issue our formal guidance when we get to our call in 2027, but thinking about it in the context of how the current trends look is not a bad way to at least start thinking about it.

我的意思是，我們一直大概在低個位數。我認為沒有理由相信我們會顯著高於那個水準。但同時，通膨環境會要求我們必須走出去，想辦法推動價格。我們會在 2027 年的電話會議上發布正式指引，但以目前趨勢的脈絡來思考，至少是一個不錯的起點。

Todd Thomas, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Todd Thomas，KeyBanc Capital Markets。

Rob, you mentioned that some retail customers are looking to rationalize their logistics networks at the start of '27. What does that mean for America? What are you anticipating that activity to look like? And can you talk about the impact that might have on throughput and occupancy, which have both been improving throughout the year?

Rob，你提到有些零售客戶在 27 年初正尋求合理化其物流網路。這對美國意味著什麼？你預期那樣的活動會呈現什麼樣貌？另外你能談談這可能對吞吐量與入住率的影響嗎？這兩者今年以來都在改善。

Yes. I think it's prudent for us to think about churn getting to a point that's consistent with where it's been historically. We've -- we benefited a lot this year from lower churn rates. So as we go into next year, there's always puts and takes in the business. A lot of transitions tend to happen at the beginning of the year and then you win new business as you go throughout the course of the year.

是的。我認為我們審慎地看待流失率回到與歷史水準一致的程度是合理的。我們——今年因為較低的流失率而受益良多。因此當我們進入明年，業務中總是有利有弊。許多轉換往往發生在年初，然後你在一年進程中持續贏得新業務。

So really, what we wanted to do is we just wanted to sensitize folks to the normal cadence and timing of earnings expectations as we go through the year.

所以我們真正想做的是，讓大家對我們在一年當中獲利預期的正常節奏與時間點有更清楚的認知。

We're going to -- now that we're in a normal seasonal trend, we would expect that there will be a decrease in occupancy from Q4 to Q1. Some of that will be driven by normal seasonal trends. Some of that will be driven by customer transitions. And then that's backfilled with new business wins as we go throughout the course of the year. So I don't think anything outsized to really have to worry about.

我們將會——既然現在處於正常的季節性趨勢，我們預期入住率會從第四季到第一季下降。其中一部分將由正常的季節性趨勢所驅動。其中一部分將由客戶轉換所驅動。然後在一年進程中，會由新業務贏單來補回。所以我不認為有任何特別異常、需要真正擔心的事情。

But at the same time, when the business is a little more retail focused, it tends to have a throughput impact that sometimes your food producer business doesn't. So the goal is just to sensitize everybody to the normal cadence of earnings with Q1 being the lowest and then as we go throughout the year, it would grow from there.

但同時，當業務更偏向零售時，往往會對吞吐量造成影響，而這有時是你們的食品生產商業務不會有的。所以目標只是讓大家了解獲利的正常節奏：第一季通常是最低點，然後隨著一年推進會從那裡開始成長。

Michael Carroll, RBC Capital Markets.

Michael Carroll，RBC Capital Markets。

Rob, I wanted to touch on the nonfood categories again. mean how different is this business versus Americold's traditional business? I mean, can these products be stored in a multi-customer building right next to food? And maybe we could take that aerospace customer that you mentioned. Are they going to be looking to take space in an existing building?

Rob，我想再談一下非食品類別。我的意思是，這項業務與 Americold 的傳統業務有多不同？我的意思是，這些產品可以存放在多客戶的倉庫裡，緊鄰食品嗎？也許我們可以用你提到的那位航太客戶為例。他們會想在現有的倉庫裡租用空間嗎？

Does the product need to be frozen? Or are they just looking for a more tempered environment maybe somewhere in the southern part of the US?

產品需要冷凍嗎？或者他們只是想要一個更溫控的環境，也許是在美國南部某個地方？

Yes. So I'll just speak broadly because every deal is different. The deal that we won in the quarter will be an opportunity that goes into an existing facility where product would be in the same building as we have food product as an example in this instance. Depending on customer requirements, some customers may say, hey, look, we're fine in the same building, but we need to devise a wall or we need to be in our own separate chamber. So there are different requirements depending on the customer and depending on the commodity.

是的。所以我會先概括地說，因為每筆案子都不同。我們在本季贏得的那筆案子，將是一個導入既有設施的機會；以這個例子來說，產品會與我們的食品產品在同一棟建物內。依客戶需求而定，有些客戶可能會說：嘿，你看，我們可以在同一棟建物裡，但我們需要隔一道牆，或需要在我們自己獨立的庫室裡。所以依客戶與品類不同，會有不同要求。

This one, the customer is fine with it being out in a facility with other food.

這一個案子，客戶可以接受在有其他食品的設施裡。

And so I think longer term, there's an opportunity to both grow organically, meaning put these products in facilities that we already have with other products and grow inorganically. I think it could lead to development opportunities down the line. And when we take the total addressable market of some of these categories, I mean it can be 2x what we see with food in terms of a market. So it just makes sense for us to start exploring these. I think our existing network and our existing capabilities in many instances will work very, very well for these products.

因此我認為長期來看，既有有機成長的機會——也就是把這些產品放進我們已經擁有、同時存放其他產品的設施裡——也有非有機成長的機會。我認為這可能在未來帶來開發機會。而當我們看這些類別的整體可服務市場（TAM）時，我的意思是，就市場規模而言，它可能是我們在食品所看到的 2 倍。所以我們開始探索這些領域是合理的。我認為在許多情況下，我們既有的網路與既有能力會非常、非常適合這些產品。

And in other instances, it may lead to some inorganic growth, and we would welcome both.

而在其他情況下，這可能會帶來一些非有機成長，我們兩者都歡迎。

Nick Joseph, Citi.

Nick Joseph，花旗（Citi）。

You touched on the industry stabilization, but that the operating environment hasn't inflected yet. What early indicators are you monitoring to forecast potential inflection? And what are those showing today?

你提到產業正在趨於穩定，但營運環境尚未出現拐點。你們在監測哪些早期指標來預測可能的拐點？而這些指標今天顯示的是什麼？

Well, first of all, I think we -- you go back now, and obviously, we're encouraged by the fact that we're on kind of five straight quarters here where we've seen the occupancy trends improve. So that certainly gives us a lot of confidence that the environment is stabilizing. We -- as we mentioned on the -- in the prepared remarks, we just got done with our customer perception study, which was very broad. I mean we had over 300 customers respond. And I do think those insights, the results were very insightful to see that 81% of our customers either planned on growing or having the same level of inventory over the course of the next year is something that we find very encouraging.

嗯，首先，我認為我們——回頭看，顯然我們受到鼓舞的是，這裡大概連續五個季度，我們看到入住率趨勢在改善。所以這確實讓我們對環境正在穩定更有信心。我們——正如我們在——事先準備的發言中提到的，我們剛完成客戶觀感研究，範圍非常廣。我的意思是，有超過 300 位客戶回覆。而我確實認為那些洞見、結果非常有啟發性：81% 的客戶計畫在未來一年增加庫存或維持相同庫存水準，這讓我們非常振奮。

. But I think for true inflection, you need an inflationary environment to start to get to a point where you have consumers that end up with more disposable income. So while it seems like there, there's some stabilization as well. We haven't yet seen it turn the other way to a point where we feel comfortable declaring an inflection. I think we're more focused on controlling what we can control and making sure that our self-help initiatives are drivers of growth again next year, just like they have been this year.

。但我認為要出現真正的拐點，你需要通膨環境開始走到一個程度，使消費者最終擁有更多可支配所得。所以雖然看起來那裡也有一些穩定。我們還沒有看到它往另一個方向轉變到讓我們有把握宣告出現拐點的程度。我認為我們更專注於控制我們能控制的事情，並確保我們的自助式（self-help）措施在明年再次成為成長動能，就像今年一樣。

So we'll continue to listen to our customers. We'll continue to look at retail sales data. We'll continue to watch the inflation data.

所以我們會持續傾聽客戶。我們會持續觀察零售銷售數據。我們會持續關注通膨數據。

We'll continue to watch the USDA data, look at our customers' earnings releases and have that dialogue. And for now, we're going to continue to take a prudent approach to what we think the business is going to do next year.

我們會持續關注 USDA 數據，查看客戶的財報發布並保持對話。而就目前而言，我們會持續以審慎的方式來看待我們認為明年業務會如何發展。

Michael Mueller, JPMorgan.

Michael Mueller，摩根大通（JPMorgan）。

Rob, you mentioned that some of the nonfood uses that you're pursuing can have better margins than food uses. Can you walk through some of the mechanics behind that? And do those users tend to use a similar amount of services as well as the traditional food users?

Rob，你提到你們正在追求的一些非食品用途，毛利可能比食品用途更好。你能說明一下背後的一些運作機制嗎？另外，這些用戶使用的服務量，是否也與傳統食品用戶相近？

So I mean, a lot of it comes out -- I mean, storage -- when it comes to the storage as an example, I would say the cost to store the product may not necessarily change a whole lot. But if you think about the cost of goods sold, there's an opportunity, I think, in that end to drive price on that side of the equation. So I think the cost profile on the storage side is relatively similar, but I think there's a price opportunity. On the handling side of the equation, what we're finding in early days is that the general kind of bring the product into the facility, store it, then replenish it and stage it for outbound.

所以我的意思是，其中很多來自——以倉儲為例，我會說存放產品的成本本身未必會有太大變化。但如果你想到銷貨成本（COGS），我認為在那一端有機會在這個等式的一側推動價格。所以我認為倉儲端的成本結構相對類似，但我認為存在定價機會。在作業處理（handling）這一端，我們在早期發現，一般而言就是把產品送進設施、存放，然後補貨並為出庫做集貨/備貨。

The cost to do that very similar to food, but there are both pricing opportunities and incremental value-added service opportunities. And so when you put, I think, the combination of pricing and the opportunity for incremental value-added services we see a more compelling economics in many instances. Again, early days. So hard to really talk too much more discretely than that. but we're encouraged by a lot of these wins that we're starting to see and the pipeline is firming up.

做這些的成本與食品非常相近，但同時存在定價機會以及額外的加值服務機會。因此當你把定價與額外加值服務的機會結合起來時，我們在許多情況下看到更具吸引力的經濟效益。再次強調，這還在早期。所以很難再更具體地談更多細節。但我們對開始看到的許多贏單感到鼓舞，而且案源管線正在變得更扎實。

And when we look at the overall total addressable market, it's definitely a growth opportunity for us longer term.

而當我們觀察整體的可觸及市場總量（TAM）時，這無疑是我們長期的成長機會。

Nick Thillman, Baird.

Nick Thillman，Baird。

Rob, you touched a little bit on evaluating the portfolio and harvesting potential value where you see fit. Maybe just an update on the trends you're seeing in Europe and the Asia Pacific. And then thoughts around those portfolios longer term on holds or exploring sales. Just comment there would be helpful.

Rob，你稍早提到會評估投資組合，並在你認為合適之處收割潛在價值。想請你更新一下你在歐洲與亞太地區看到的趨勢。以及對這些投資組合長期而言，是持有或探索出售的想法。請就此評論會很有幫助。

Well, I mean, let me start by saying both those businesses are performing very well. So our Asia Pacific business, our Europe business are both performing very, very well. They've been able to grow occupancy year over year. They've grown pricing year over year. They grow NOI year over year.

嗯，我先說，這兩項業務的表現都非常好。所以我們的亞太業務、歐洲業務都表現非常、非常好。它們的入住率年增。定價年增。NOI（淨營運收入）也年增。

So we think we have platforms in both geographies that have been delivering growth, and we'll continue to be able to deliver growth. Beyond that, I would just lead you back to the comments in the prepared remarks and said, we'll continue to evaluate all potential capital allocation, capital raising opportunities through the lens of maximizing shareholder value. And like any good company, we're always looking at our portfolio for ways to do that.

因此我們認為，我們在這兩個地理區域都擁有能夠帶來成長的平台，而且未來也將持續交付成長。除此之外，我會請你回到我們事先準備的講稿中的評論：我們將持續以最大化股東價值的角度，評估所有潛在的資本配置與募資機會。而且就像任何一家優秀的公司一樣，我們一直在檢視我們的投資組合，尋找達成這一點的方法。

Rob Simone, Compass Point.

Rob Simone，Compass Point。

I was wondering if you could comment a little or provide some detail on what the either the total or the same-store -- I guess it would have to be same-store, but the same portfolio, but what the NOI growth was within the EQT JV year-over-year?

我想請問你是否能評論一下，或提供一些細節：在EQT合資企業（JV）中，無論是總體或同店——我想應該得是同店、同一投資組合——其NOI年增幅是多少？

I think if you look -- we did provide a breakout in the back of the joint venture results. If you look at page 30, we did recast the historical portfolio for the new same-store. But if you look at the bottom of that page, we did also provide some details on the joint venture results going back the last several quarters. So I would refer you to that. And then also, I would also take a look at additional reconciliation we provided, which was new this quarter on page 33, which does break out the three buckets, essentially same-store, nonsame-store and the sites contributed to the partially owned entity.

我想如果你看——我們確實在合資企業結果的附錄部分提供了拆分資訊。如果你看第30頁，我們針對新的同店口徑重編了歷史投資組合。但如果你看該頁底部，我們也提供了合資企業結果的部分細節，回溯到過去幾個季度。所以我會請你參考那裡。另外，我也建議你看看我們提供的額外調節表，這是本季新增、在第33頁，基本上把三個部分拆開：同店、非同店，以及貢獻給部分持有實體的據點。

So we try to provide some additional detail and color on that. If you have any additional questions, we can certainly take that -- take down on offline.

所以我們試著提供更多細節與補充說明。如果你還有任何其他問題，我們當然可以在會後再私下討論。

Alexander Goldfarb, Piper Sandler.

Alexander Goldfarb，Piper Sandler。

Just going back to the customer survey comments that you provided, which were quite helpful. How are -- what's the feedback been on food inflation? Obviously, we had diesel that ran up. Hopefully, it's coming down, but still elevated. Did any of your customers talk about the impact as far as higher prices that they're passing through or how that affects consumer demand?

回到你提到的客戶調查評論，那些內容很有幫助。關於食品通膨的回饋如何？顯然柴油價格曾大幅上漲。希望正在回落，但仍處於高位。你的客戶是否有談到影響，例如他們轉嫁的較高價格，或這如何影響消費需求？

Or is it just that the overall consumer deal? I'm just trying to understand is it overall inflation in the economy impacting the demand for the food products? Or is there a concern that food will -- prices will go up further because of diesel and therefore, that survey that you had and some of the feedback reflects sort of prospective thoughts on where food pricing may go?

還是說只是整體消費者交易狀況？我想了解的是：是否是整體經濟通膨正在影響食品產品的需求？或者是否擔心因柴油因素食品價格還會進一步上漲，因此你們那份調查與部分回饋反映的是對未來食品定價走向的前瞻看法？

Yes. I mean certainly, the inflation area environment is broad, right? I mean it's across a vast majority of categories, whether it's gas, whether it's food, whether it's home prices, whether it's interest rates. So we -- I think the inflationary environment is pretty broad. Both food manufacturers and grocery retailers are trying to find ways to keep prices as consistent as possible for consumers to drive volumes.

是的。我是說，通膨的環境確實是廣泛的，對吧？涵蓋了絕大多數類別，無論是汽油、食品、房價或利率。所以我認為通膨環境相當全面。食品製造商與雜貨零售商都在設法讓消費者端的價格盡可能維持一致，以帶動銷量。

I think food manufacturers, they acknowledge that their cost inputs are up, so it's very difficult for them to truly bring price down at the moment. But at the same time, retailers are really pushing back on food manufacturers to not bring price increases to them to pass on to consumers. And you see that in a number of different big grocery retailer announcement. So there's some push and pull there on the food side of the equation. I think generally, both the manufacturing and the retailers are doing everything they can to keep price is pretty consistent here for consumers because they know that driving volume is the key to driving growth in terms of profitability in their P&Ls.

我認為食品製造商也承認其成本投入上升，因此目前要真正把價格降下來非常困難。但同時，零售商也在強力反制食品製造商，不希望他們把漲價帶到零售端、再轉嫁給消費者。你可以從多家大型雜貨零售商的公告中看到這一點。因此在食品這一端存在一些拉鋸。整體而言，我認為製造端與零售端都在盡其所能，讓消費者端價格保持相對一致，因為他們知道，推動銷量是其損益表（P&L）中推動獲利成長的關鍵。

And so at the moment, I think we would still categorize the environment overall as inflationary. And at the same time, consumers have been living with this for a while, and they're finding ways to adjust and overcome. So we're not predicting that the environment is going to get worse from here, but we're also going to work really hard to make sure that we're not counting on just an inflection to be able to deliver growth.

因此就目前而言，我們仍會將整體環境歸類為通膨性。同時，消費者已在這樣的環境下生活了一段時間，他們正在想辦法調整並克服。所以我們不預期環境會從現在開始變得更糟，但我們也會非常努力，確保我們的成長不是只仰賴環境出現拐點。

This concludes the question-and-answer session and brings us to the end of our call. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

問答環節到此結束，也代表本次電話會議即將結束。感謝各位參加今天的簡報。各位現在可以掛線。