好市多 (COST) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Krista, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Costco Wholesale Corporation fourth-quarter 2024 conference call. (Operator Instructions)

女士們先生們，謝謝你們的支持。我叫克里斯塔，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此時此刻，我歡迎大家參加好市多批發公司 2024 年第四季電話會議。 （操作員說明）

Thank you. I will now turn the conference over to Gary Millerchip, Chief Financial Officer. Gary, the floor is yours.

謝謝。我現在將會議交給財務長加里‧米勒奇普 (Gary Millerchip)。加里，地板是你的。

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining Cosco's fourth-quarter 2024 earnings call. I'd like to start by reminding you that these discussions will include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results and/or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those outlined in today's call as well as other risks identified from time to time in the company's public statements and reports filed with the SEC.

大家下午好，感謝大家參加中遠集團2024年第四季財報電話會議。首先我想提醒您，這些討論將包括1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。不同。風險和不確定性包括但不限於今天電話會議中概述的風險和不確定性以及公司向 SEC 提交的公開聲明和報告中不時發現的其他風險。

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the company does not undertake to update these statements, except as required by law. Comparable sales and comparable sales excluding impacts from changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange are intended as supplemental information and are not a substitute for net sales presented in accordance with GAAP.

前瞻性陳述僅代表截至其作出之日的情況，本公司不承諾更新這些陳述，除非法律要求。可比銷售額和不包括汽油價格和外匯變化影響的可比銷售額旨在作為補充信息，不能替代根據公認會計原則提出的淨銷售額。

Now before we dive into our financial results for the quarter, I'm delighted to say that Ron Vachris is joining us for the call today. I'll now hand over to Ron for some opening comments.

現在，在我們深入了解本季的財務表現之前，我很高興地說 Ron Vachris 今天將加入我們的電話會議。現在我將請羅恩發表一些開場評論。

Thank you, Gary, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. As we turn the page on fiscal year 2024, let me make a few comments on our progress during the year as a whole. Throughout the fiscal year 2024, we continued to execute on our strategy of growing the top line through delivering the highest-quality goods at the lowest possible price to our members.

謝謝你，加里，大家下午好。感謝您今天加入我們。在我們翻過 2024 財年這一頁之際，讓我對我們全年的進展發表一些評論。在整個 2024 財年，我們繼續執行透過以盡可能低的價格向會員提供最優質的商品來增加收入的策略。

As a management team, we continue to be incredibly proud of our 333,000 employees worldwide and the culture that they foster. The consistency of our financial results is a reflection of the commitment of our entire team to member service and the Costco experience. Most of these employees are led by our fantastic warehouse managers who we view as executives in our company. Succession planning continues to be a key focal point for us as we're continually working on identifying the future leaders of our company.

作為管理團隊，我們繼續為全球 333,000 名員工以及他們所營造的文化感到無比自豪。我們財務表現的一致性反映了我們整個團隊對會員服務和 Costco 體驗的承諾。這些員工中的大多數由我們出色的倉庫經理領導，我們將他們視為公司的高階主管。繼任計畫仍然是我們的重點，因為我們不斷致力於物色公司未來的領導者。

In fiscal year '24, we promoted 95 new warehouse managers. 85% of those promoted started at Costco as an hourly employee. This promote from within culture and the long-term career it helps to build is core to who we are as a company, community member, and retailer.

在 24 財年，我們晉升了 95 位新倉庫經理。 85% 的晉升者是從好市多 (Costco) 的時薪開始的。這種從文化內部進行的促進以及它有助於建立的長期職業生涯是我們作為公司、社區成員和零售商的核心。

A few other highlights I'd like to mention, in fiscal 2024, we hit our target of 30 new warehouse openings. This included one relocation and resulted in 29 net new buildings. Highlights included our first-ever building in Maine, bringing us to 47 states and our 600th US building in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

我想提一下其他一些亮點，在 2024 財年，我們實現了開設 30 個新倉庫的目標。其中包括一次搬遷，最終淨增 29 座新建築。亮點包括我們在緬因州建造的第一座建築，使我們的足跡遍布 47 個州，以及我們在威斯康辛州歐克萊爾市的第 600 座建築。

We also continue to see significant opportunities worldwide. And our fiscal 2025 plan has 12 of our planned 29 openings coming outside of the US, including our fifth building in Spain, which we've opened in Zaragoza two weeks ago. With three of these warehouses being relocations, we expect to add 26 net new buildings in fiscal '25.

我們也繼續在全球範圍內看到重大機會。在我們的 2025 財年計畫中，計畫開設的 29 個新辦公室中有 12 個位於美國境外，其中包括兩週前在薩拉戈薩開設的西班牙第五座大樓。由於其中三個倉庫正在搬遷，我們預計在 25 財年將淨增加 26 座新建築。

We continue to grow our e-commerce business, and Costco logistics has had a remarkable year. Appliances and furniture and big and bulky has led the way, and logistics delivered over 4.5 million items this last year, up 29% over the year prior.

我們持續發展電子商務業務，Costco 物流也度過了非凡的一年。家電和家具以及大件商品處於領先地位，去年物流交付了超過 450 萬件商品，比上年增長 29%。

The improvements in our item assortment, delivery times, and scheduling functionality all enhance the member experience. We have great momentum with this business and expect big and bulky items will be a key part of our continued progress with e-commerce in the coming year.

我們的商品分類、交貨時間和調度功能的改進都增強了會員體驗。我們的這項業務勢頭強勁，預計大件商品將成為我們來年電子商務持續進步的關鍵部分。

Turning to technology. We're starting to realize the benefits from the work that was done this past year. Members are very excited about being able to check warehouse inventory via the Costco app. And the membership card scanners installed at the front doors have delivered on the goal of speeding up the checkout process. This has been very well received by our members.

轉向技術。我們開始意識到去年所做工作的好處。會員對於能夠透過 Costco 應用程式檢查倉庫庫存感到非常興奮。安裝在前門的會員卡掃描器實現了加快結帳流程的目標。這受到了我們會員的熱烈歡迎。

More improvements are currently underway, which should further benefit our business, both online and in our warehouses.

目前正在進行更多改進，這將進一步有利於我們的線上業務和倉庫業務。

With that, I'll turn it back over to Gary to discuss the results for the quarter, and I'll jump back on during Q&A to field some questions.

這樣，我將把它轉回給加里討論本季的結果，我將在問答期間繼續回答一些問題。

Thanks, Ron. In today's press release, we reported operating results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 for 16 weeks ended September 1. As we did last quarter, we published a slide deck on our Investor site under Events and Presentations with supplemental information to support today's press release. You might find it helpful to have this presentation in front of you as I walk through our results.

謝謝，羅恩。在今天的新聞稿中，我們報告了截至9 月1 日的2024 財年第四季度16 週的經營業績。 ，其中包含支持今天新聞稿的補充資訊。當我介紹我們的結果時，您可能會發現在您面前展示此簡報很有幫助。

Throughout this discussion, when we're comparing to last year's fourth quarter, the best way to normalize for the extra week is to multiply last year's results by 16, 17. Net income for the 16-week fourth quarter came in at $2.354 billion, or $5.29 per diluted share, up from $2.16 billion and $4.86 per diluted share in the 17-week fourth quarter last year. This year's results included a non-recurring net tax benefit of $63 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, related to a transfer pricing settlement and true ups of various tax reserves.

在整個討論中，當我們與去年第四季進行比較時，使額外一周正常化的最佳方法是將去年的業績乘以 16、17。股攤薄收益為5.29 美元，高於去年第四季17 週的每股21.6 億美元和4.86 美元。今年的業績包括 6,300 萬美元的非經常性淨稅收收益，或稀釋後每股 0.14 美元，與轉讓定價和解和各種稅收儲備的真實增加有關。

Reported net income was up 9% year over year. Excluding this year's non-recurring tax benefit and normalized for the extra week last year, net income and earnings per diluted share were up 12.7% and 12.6%, respectively. Net sales for the fourth quarter were $78.2 billion, an increase of 1% from $77.4 billion in the fourth quarter last year. Adjusting for the extra week last year, net sales would have been up 7.3%.

報告淨利潤年增 9%。剔除今年的非經常性稅收優惠以及去年額外一周的正常化，淨利潤和稀釋每股收益分別增長了 12.7% 和 12.6%。第四季淨銷售額為782億美元，比去年第四季的774億美元成長1%。如果去年多出的一周進行調整，淨銷售額將成長 7.3%。

The following comparable sales reflect comparable locations year over year and 16 comparable retail weeks. US comp sales were up 5.3%, or 6.3%, excluding gas deflation. Canada comp sales were up 5.5%, or 7.9%, excluding gas deflation and FX. And other international comp sales were up 5.7%, or 9.3% adjusted. This all led to total company comp sales of plus 5.4% or plus 6.9% adjusted for gas deflation and FX.

以下可比較銷售額反映了可比較地點的年比情況以及 16 個可比較零售週的情況。美國公司銷售額成長 5.3%，若不包括天然氣通貨緊縮，則成長 6.3%。加拿大公司銷售額成長 5.5%，若不包括天然氣通貨緊縮和外匯，則成長 7.9%。其他國際公司銷售額成長 5.7%，調整後為 9.3%。這一切導致公司總銷售額成長 5.4%，或根據天然氣通貨緊縮和外匯調整後成長 6.9%。

Finally, e-commerce comp sales were up 18.9%, or 19.5% adjusted for FX. In terms of Q4 comp sales metrics, foreign currencies relative to the US dollar negatively impacted sales by approximately 0.9%, while gasoline price deflation negatively impacted sales by approximately 0.6%.

最後，電子商務銷售額成長了 18.9%，按匯率調整後成長了 19.5%。就第四季的銷售指標而言，外幣相對於美元的匯率對銷售產生了約 0.9% 的負面影響，而汽油價格通貨緊縮對銷售產生了約 0.6% 的負面影響。

Traffic or shopping frequency increased 6.4% worldwide and 5.6% in the US. Our average transaction or ticket was negative 0.9% worldwide and negative 0.3% in the US. This includes the headwinds from gas deflation and FX. Adjusted for those items, ticket would have been positive 0.5% worldwide and positive 0.6% in the US.

全球客流量或購物頻率增加了 6.4%，美國增加了 5.6%。我們的平均交易或門票在全球下降了 0.9%，在美國則下降了 0.3%。這包括天然氣通貨緊縮和外匯的不利因素。在這些項目進行調整後，全球票價將為正 0.5%，美國為正 0.6%。

Moving down the income statement to membership fee income. We reported membership fee income of $1.512 billion, an increase of $3 million, or 0.2% on one less week year over year. FX negatively impacted membership fee income by 0.9%. Excluding the impacts from the extra week last year and FX, normalized membership fee income was up 7.4%.

將損益表下移至會員費收入。我們報告會員費收入為 15.12 億美元，年增 300 萬美元，即減少一周，成長 0.2%。外匯對會員費收入產生了 0.9% 的負面影響。排除去年額外一週和外匯的影響，正常會員費收入增加了 7.4%。

In terms of renewal rates, at Q4 end, our US and Canada renewal rate was 92.9%, down 0.001% from Q3 end. This slight decrease is related to an online membership promotion that we ran for a short period in fiscal year 2023, which resulted in over 200,000 new sign-ups.

從續訂率來看，第四季末，我們的美國和加拿大續訂率為92.9%，較第三季末下降0.001%。這一小幅下降與我們在 2023 財年短期內進行的線上會員促銷活動有關，該促銷活動導致新註冊人數超過 20 萬。

As those members entered the renewal rate calculation during Q4 fiscal year '24, the lower renewal rates for that cohort, which is typical for digital promotions, had a negative impact on the overall US renewal rate. Outside of those sign-ups, there were no meaningful changes in the US renewal rate. The worldwide rate came in at 90.5%, the same as Q3, with improvement internationally offsetting the slight negative in the US.

由於這些會員在 24 財年第四季進入續訂率計算，該族群的續訂率較低（這是數位促銷的典型特徵），對美國整體續訂率產生了負面影響。除了這些註冊之外，美國的續訂率並沒有發生任何有意義的變化。全球比率為 90.5%，與第三季相同，國際範圍內的改善抵消了美國的輕微負面影響。

We ended Q4 with 76.2 million paid household members, up 7.3% versus last year; and 136.8 million cardholders, up 7% year over year.

截至第四季度，我們有 7,620 萬付費家庭成員，比去年增長 7.3%；持卡人數1.368億，較去年成長7%。

About half of new member sign-ups in fiscal year 2024 were under 40 years of age. This percentage has been growing since COVID and has lowered the average age of our member over the last few years. At Q4 end, we had 35.4 million paid executive memberships, up 9.6% versus last year. Executive members now represent 46.5% of paid members and 73.5% of worldwide sales.

2024 財年新註冊會員中約有一半年齡在 40 歲以下。自新冠疫情爆發以來，這一比例一直在增長，並且在過去幾年中降低了我們會員的平均年齡。截至第四季末，我們擁有 3,540 萬付費高階主管會員，比去年成長 9.6%。執行會員目前佔付費會員的 46.5%，佔全球銷售額的 73.5%。

Turning to gross margin. Our reported rate in the fourth quarter was higher year over year by 40 basis points, coming in at 11% compared to 10.6% last year, and up 33 basis points, excluding gas deflation. Core was lower by 5 basis points and lower by 11 basis points without gas deflation. In terms of core margins on their own sales, our core-on-core margins were higher by 9 basis points. Ancillary and other businesses gross margin was higher 44 basis points and higher 42 basis points, excluding gas deflation.

轉向毛利率。我們報告的第四季成長率為 11%，較去年同期高出 40 個基點，而去年為 10.6%，上升了 33 個基點（不含天然氣通貨緊縮）。核心匯率下降了 5 個基點，在沒有天然氣通貨緊縮的情況下，核心匯率下降了 11 個基點。就其自身銷售的核心利潤率而言，我們的核心間利潤率高出 9 個基點。輔助及其他業務的毛利率分別高出 44 個基點和 42 個基點（不包括天然氣通貨緊縮）。

This increase year over year was driven by gas and e-commerce. E-commerce benefited from strong sales growth, item mix, and fulfillment productivity. And gas margins benefited from some moderate tailwinds and lapping a slightly weaker quarter last year, but nothing as significant as the benefit in Q1 2024 as a result of the volatility from world events in that quarter.

這一同比增長是由天然氣和電子商務推動的。電子商務受益於強勁的銷售成長、商品組合和履行效率。天然氣利潤率受益於一些溫和的推動因素，去年季度略有疲軟，但由於該季度世界事件的波動，2024 年第一季的收益沒有那麼顯著。

2% rewards was higher by 4 basis points, or 3 basis points without gas deflation, reflecting higher sales penetration from our executive members. And LIFO was a benefit of 5 basis points. We had an $8 million LIFO credit in Q4 this year compared to a $30 million charge in Q4 last year.

2% 的獎勵提高了 4 個基點，或在沒有天然氣通貨緊縮的情況下提高了 3 個基點，反映出我們執行成員的銷售滲透率更高。 LIFO 帶來了 5 個基點的好處。今年第四季我們有 800 萬美元的 LIFO 信貸，而去年第四季的費用為 3,000 萬美元。

Moving to SG&A. Our reported SG&A rate in the fourth quarter was higher year over year by 8 basis points, coming in at 9.04% compared to last year's 8.96%. SG&A was higher by 2 basis points adjusted for gas deflation. The operations component of SG&A was higher 4 basis points but was flat excluding gas deflation.

轉向 SG&A。我們報告的第四季 SG&A 比率年上升 8 個基點，達到 9.04%，而去年為 8.96%。經天然氣通貨緊縮調整後，SG&A 上漲了 2 個基點。 SG&A 的營運部分較高 4 個基點，但排除天然氣通貨緊縮後持平。

Higher wages went into effect for the last six weeks of the quarter in the US and Canada, which was a headwind for the quarter of approximately 4 basis points. Investing in our employees remains a key part of our strategy, and we will continue to focus on driving top-line sales and improving productivity to mitigate the incremental costs.

美國和加拿大在本季最後六週開始實行更高的工資，這對本季來說是約 4 個基點的阻力。對員工的投資仍然是我們策略的關鍵部分，我們將繼續專注於推動營收成長和提高生產力，以降低增量成本。

Central was higher by 3 basis points and 2 basis points without gas deflation. Stock compensation was flat year over year and preopening was higher 1 basis point but flat without gas deflation.

中央指數上漲 3 個基點，在沒有天然氣通貨緊縮的情況下上漲 2 個基點。股票薪資與去年同期持平，開盤前上漲了 1 個基點，但持平，沒有天然氣通貨緊縮。

Below the operating income line, interest expense was $49 million versus $56 million last year, reflecting $1 billion of debt paydown in the second week of Q4 this year. Interest income for the quarter was $138 million versus $201 million last year, primarily due to the $6.7 billion special dividend paid in January 2024. Interest income will continue to be a headwind in the first half of this year due to lower year-over-year cash balances and lower interest rates.

在營業收入線以下，利息支出為 4,900 萬美元，而去年為 5,600 萬美元，反映出今年第四季第二週償還了 10 億美元的債務。本季利息收入為 1.38 億美元，去年為 2.01 億美元，主要是由於 2024 年 1 月支付了 67 億美元的特別股息。低的利率。

FX and other was an $18 million loss this year versus a $37 million gain last year. This was primarily due to foreign exchange.

外匯及其他業務今年虧損 1,800 萬美元，去年則獲利 3,700 萬美元。這主要是由於外匯。

In terms of income taxes, our tax rate in Q4 was 24.4% compared to 27.1% in Q4 last year. As mentioned earlier, this year's rate benefited from $63 million of net tax discrete items. Adjusted for this benefit, the tax rate for the quarter would have been 26.4%.

在所得稅方面，我們第四季的稅率為24.4%，而去年第四季為27.1%。如前所述，今年的稅率受益於 6,300 萬美元的淨稅收離散項目。對此收益進行調整後，本季的稅率將為 26.4%。

Turning now to some key items of note in the quarter. We opened 14 new warehouses in the fourth quarter: 10 in the US, 2 in Japan, and 1 each in Korea and China. Capital expenditure in Q4 was approximately $1.58 billion, bringing the total year spend to $4.71 billion.

現在轉向本季值得注意的一些關鍵項目。我們在第四季開設了 14 個新倉庫：美國 10 個、日本 2 個、韓國和中國各 1 個。第四季的資本支出約為 15.8 億美元，使全年支出總額達到 47.1 億美元。

Taking a deeper look into core merchandising sales, once again, non-foods led the way with the highest comparable sales in Q4. Our buyers have done a fantastic job finding new and exciting items at great values. Gold and jewelry, gift cards, toys and seasonal, home furnishings, tires and housewares, all were up double digits in the quarter. Health and beauty aids also performed well as we have expanded and elevated that category with new high-end SKUs, both online and in warehouse, including assorted luxury fragrances at a 30% to 70% value to retail.

更深入研究核心商品銷售，非食品類商品再次以第四季最高可比銷售額領先。我們的買家在尋找物超所值的新的、令人興奮的商品方面做得非常出色。黃金和珠寶、禮品卡、玩具和季節性商品、家居用品、輪胎和家庭用品，本季均上漲了兩位數。健康和美容輔助品也表現出色，我們透過線上和倉庫的新高端 SKU 擴展和提升了該類別，其中包括零售價值 30% 至 70% 的各種奢華香水。

Across the fresh departments, we saw high single-digit growth as our continued focus on value is resonating with our members. An example of this in the meat department is our Kirkland Signature boneless chicken tenderloins, where we lowered the price 13% and saw a 21% lift in pounds sold. In food and sundries, the introduction of more international food products such as Paneer cheese, Punjabi cookies, and fried tofu kimbap, are resonating extremely well with our members.

在新部門中，我們看到了高個位數的成長，因為我們對價值的持續關注引起了會員的共鳴。肉類部門的一個例子是我們的 Kirkland Signature 無骨雞裡肌肉，我們將價格降低了 13%，銷量增加了 21%。在食品雜貨方面，引入了更多國際食品，如帕尼爾起司、旁遮普餅乾、炸豆腐紫菜包飯等，引起了會員的強烈共鳴。

We're also delivering greater value by adding some new Kirkland Signature items such as our KS organic golden maple syrup and KS aerosol whipped cream. Kirkland Signature offers significant member value compared to the national brands and continues to grow at a faster pace than our business as a whole.

我們也透過添加一些新的 Kirkland Signature 產品（例如 KS 有機金楓糖漿和 KS 氣溶膠鮮奶油）來提供更大的價值。與全國品牌相比，Kirkland Signature 提供了顯著的會員價值，並且繼續以比我們整體業務更快的速度成長。

Our goal is always to be the first to lower prices where we see the opportunities to do so. And just a few examples this quarter include KS standard foil, reduced from $31.99 to $29.99; KS macadamia nuts, reduced from $18.99 to $13.99; KS spanish olive oil 3 liter, reduced from $38.99 to $34.99; and KS baguette two-pack, reduced from $5.99 to $4.99.

我們的目標始終是在我們看到機會時率先降低價格。本季的幾個例子包括 KS 標準箔，從 31.99 美元降至 29.99 美元； KS 澳洲堅果，從 18.99 美元降至 13.99 美元； KS西班牙橄欖油3公升，從$38.99降至$34.99； KS 法國長棍麵包兩件裝，從 5.99 美元降至 4.99 美元。

Our commitment to sustainability and achieving lower emissions is also presenting opportunities to lower our costs. A great example of this is our KS laundry packs, which we recently converted from a rigid plastic tub to a pouch. This allowed us to reduce the plastic packaging by 80% and pass these cost savings on to the member, lowering the price by $1 from $19.99 to $18.99.

我們對永續發展和降低排放的承諾也為降低成本提供了機會。一個很好的例子是我們的 KS 洗衣包，我們最近將其從硬塑膠桶轉變為小袋。這使我們能夠減少 80% 的塑膠包裝，並將節省的成本轉嫁給會員，將價格從 19.99 美元降低到 18.99 美元，降低了 1 美元。

We've also found success working with suppliers to localize production of bulky items such as water, paper, and laundry detergents. By manufacturing these goods closer to the countries in which they're sold, both costs and emissions associated with the shipment of these goods are greatly reduced. This quarter, we introduced our new Japan-produced Kirkland Signature paper towels. In addition to the emissions benefits from no longer shipping millions of units of paper towels from the US to Asia, the reduced freight allowed us to lower the price by approximately 30%, or $8 per unit in that market.

我們也與供應商成功合作，實現了水、紙張和洗衣粉等大件物品的在地化生產。透過在距離銷售國家更近的地方生產這些商品，與這些商品運輸相關的成本和排放量都大大降低。本季度，我們推出了新的日本生產的 Kirkland Signature 紙巾。除了不再從美國向亞洲運送數百萬單位紙巾帶來的排放效益外，運費的減少還使我們能夠將該市場的價格降低約 30%，即每單位 8 美元。

As production ramps up, we are in the process of transitioning our other Asian markets to locally produce SKUs. Shifting the production country of this one product will result in annual member savings of $30 million.

隨著產量的增加，我們正在將其他亞洲市場轉向本地生產的 SKU。改變這項產品的生產國每年將為會員節省 3000 萬美元。

Within ancillary businesses, pharmacy had the strongest sales percentage increase driven by double-digit growth in script counts. Our optical department also performed well as more members have taken advantage of the exceptional values in brand-name frames and sunglasses.

在輔助業務中，受處方數兩位數成長的推動，製藥業的銷售百分比成長最為強勁。我們的光學部門也表現出色，因為越來越多的會員利用了名牌鏡框和太陽眼鏡的卓越價值。

On a like-for-like 16-week basis, gas sales were negative low single digits in the quarter as a result of the average price per gallon being 5% lower. This was partially offset by gallon growth of 3%.

與 16 週同期相比，由於每加侖平均價格下降 5%，本季天然氣銷售量為負低個位數。這被 3% 的加侖增長部分抵消。

Inflation was once again effectively flat in the quarter across all core merchandise. Food and sundries and fresh foods were slightly inflationary, and this was offset by deflation in non-foods.

本季所有核心商品的通膨率再次有效持平。食品及雜貨和生鮮食品略有通膨，但被非食品通貨緊縮所抵銷。

In the supply chain, we are seeing good flow of products through Panama and Baltimore. The Red Sea is a remaining pain point and is causing some relatively minor shipping delays.

在供應鏈中，我們看到巴拿馬和巴爾的摩的產品流動良好。紅海是一個仍然存在的痛點，導致了一些相對較小的運輸延誤。

Product availability has generally been good with a few exceptions. Egg supplies are still being negatively impacted by Avian influenza and prime beef and a handful of vegetable SKUs have been tight.

除少數例外，產品可用性總體上良好。雞蛋供應仍受到禽流感的負面影響，優質牛肉和少數蔬菜庫存單位緊張。

As Ron shared earlier, we are pleased with the momentum in our digital business and continue to make good progress with our technology priorities. Our app was downloaded 3.5 million times in the quarter, bringing total downloads to approximately 39 million. And we recently upgraded the native search function on our US mobile app, leading to a doubling of the click-through rate on search results.

正如羅恩之前分享的那樣，我們對數位業務的發展勢頭感到高興，並繼續在我們的技術優先事項上取得良好進展。我們的應用程式在本季的下載量為 350 萬次，使總下載量達到約 3,900 萬次。我們最近升級了美國行動應用程式的原生搜尋功能，導致搜尋結果的點擊率翻了一番。

E-commerce traffic, conversion rates, and average order value were all up year over year, helping to drive another strong quarter of comparable sales growth. While continued strength in bullion was a meaningful tailwind to e-commerce comps, appliances, health and beauty aids, tires, toys, gift cards, hardware, housewares, home furnishings, optical, and pharmacy all grew double digits year over year.

電子商務流量、轉換率和平均訂單價值均較去年同期成長，有助於推動可比銷售額的另一個強勁成長。雖然金銀的持續走強對電子商務公司來說是一個有意義的推動力，但家電、健康和美容輔助品、輪胎、玩具、禮品卡、硬體、家居用品、家居用品、光學和藥品都同比增長了兩位數。

The rollout of buy online and pickup in warehouse for TVs in the US market was also completed in Q4. This allows same-day pickup of a new TV for members who prefer not to wait for delivery.

美國市場電視的網購倉提業務也在第四季完成。這樣，不想等待送貨的會員就可以在當天領取新電視。

While buy online pickup in warehouse isn't cost effective for us on lower-priced items, for high-value items with high shipping costs like TVs, the freight savings more than offset the added labor required in warehouses to fulfill those orders. We're now testing a similar program on laptops.

雖然在線購買倉庫提貨對於我們的低價商品來說並不具有成本效益，但對於電視等運輸成本較高的高價值商品來說，節省的運費足以抵消倉庫完成這些訂單所需的額外勞動力。我們現在正在筆記型電腦上測試類似的程式。

Costco Next, our curated marketplace, while still small, continued to grow nicely in the quarter. We added 11 new vendors, bringing the total to 86. And adjusting for the extra week, gross sales grew nearly 40% year over year.

我們精心策劃的市場 Costco Next 雖然規模仍然很小，但在本季持續保持良好成長。我們增加了 11 家新供應商，使供應商總數達到 86 家。

A brief comment on the membership fee increase that went into effect on September 1. Due to deferred accounting, this will have minimal impact early in the year. The vast majority of the benefit will come in the back half of fiscal year 2025 and into fiscal year 2026. With that being said, our commitment to invest in our employees and members is continuous as evidenced by the July wage increase and lower prices such as the example shared on today's call.

對 9 月 1 日生效的會員費增加的簡要評論。絕大多數福利將在 2025 財年下半年和 2026 財年實現。分享的例子。

In closing, we are encouraged by our momentum exiting fiscal year 2024 and are excited about the growth opportunities ahead as we continue to execute our strategy of delivering exciting new items and greater value for members, innovating with Kirkland Signature, and growing our warehouse footprint and digital capabilities globally.

最後，我們對2024 財年結束的勢頭感到鼓舞，並對未來的成長機會感到興奮，因為我們將繼續執行我們的策略，為會員提供令人興奮的新產品和更大的價值，與Kirkland Signature 進行創新，並擴大我們的倉庫足跡和全球數位化能力。

In terms of upcoming releases, we will announce our September sales results for the five weeks ending Sunday, October 6, on Wednesday, October 9 after market close.

對於即將發布的產品，我們將在 10 月 9 日星期三收盤後公佈截至 10 月 6 日星期日的五週 9 月份銷售結果。

That concludes our prepared remarks. We'll now open the line up for Q&A.

我們準備好的演講到此結束。我們現在將開始問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Simeon Gutman, Morgan Stanley.

（操作員指令）Simeon Gutman，摩根士丹利。

(technical difficulty) our question. On the previous earnings call, there was a discussion about possibility of greater SG&A leverage in the future as a lot of foundational investments have already been made shortly after Costco announced a membership fee increase and reinvestment into employee wages as well.

（技術難度）我們的問題。在先前的財報電話會議上，討論了未來提高SG&A槓桿的可能性，因為在Costco宣布增加會員費並重新投資於員工工資後不久，已經進行了大量基礎投資。

While wage investments are clearly the right thing for the business and instrumental for Costco's culture and success, how should we reconcile this potential posture of driving more leverage but also adopting the same prior approach of putting upside back into wages?

雖然薪資投資顯然對企業來說是正確的事情，並且有助於Costco 的文化和成功，但我們應該如何協調這種潛在的姿態，即推動更多的槓桿作用，同時也採用與之前相同的方法，將上漲空間重新投入薪資中？

Hi, yes. Good afternoon. Thanks for the question. As we think about our overall model for the company, our focus is on really achieving a balance across the business. And as you know, over the years, what we've done successfully at Costco is continue to invest in members, continue to invest in lowering prices and value for our members, and continuing to invest in our employees. And we believe that's going to be a critical part of our overall strategy going forward to make sure that we keep driving our top-line sales growth.

嗨，是的。午安.謝謝你的提問。當我們考慮公司的整體模式時，我們的重點是真正實現整個業務的平衡。如您所知，多年來，我們在 Costco 取得的成功就是繼續投資於會員，繼續投資於降低會員的價格和價值，並繼續投資於我們的員工。我們相信，這將成為我們未來整體策略的關鍵部分，以確保我們繼續推動營收成長。

You're absolutely right. During the quarter -- and in fact, I think three times during the year, we shared we made various investments in our employees. Back in September 2023, we announced an increase in the starting wage. And then in March this year, we announced that we were increasing wages for a number of our managerial roles in the warehouses. And as you mentioned, we recently announced a further increase for all of our hourly employees in the warehouses and across our distribution network.

你是絕對正確的。在本季——事實上，我想這一年裡，我們曾三次分享我們對員工的各種投資。早在 2023 年 9 月，我們就宣布提高起薪。然後在今年三月，我們宣布提高倉庫中一些管理職位的薪資。正如您所提到的，我們最近宣布進一步增加倉庫和分銷網絡中所有小時工的工資。

And so from our perspective, we think that's an important part of continuing to support the top-line growth in the company. As you saw in the quarter, when you adjust SG&A for gas deflation and for looking particularly at the operational part of the business, the good news was we were able to effectively offset that cost -- those cost increases by driving productivity and driving sales leverage. And I think we've done that pretty consistently over time. And our expectation of ourselves is that we'll continue to do that.

因此，從我們的角度來看，我們認為這是繼續支持公司營收成長的重要組成部分。正如您在本季度所看到的，當您根據天然氣通貨緊縮調整 SG&A 並特別關注業務的運營部分時，好消息是我們能夠有效抵消該成本 - 通過提高生產率和提高銷售槓桿來增加這些成本。我認為隨著時間的推移，我們一直在這樣做。我們對自己的期望是我們將繼續這樣做。

So I think for us, it's less about giving specific guidance on a particular measure but more looking over the long term of how we expect to be able to keep making those investments, but also driving leverage in our model to ensure we're sustainably driving top line and driving profitable growth.

因此，我認為對我們來說，這不是針對特定措施提供具體指導，而是更多地著眼於長期我們期望如何繼續進行這些投資，而且還要提高我們模型中的槓桿作用，以確保我們可持續地推動營收並推動利潤成長。

Ron, anything you'd like to add?

羅恩，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No. I had to agree with you, Gary.

不，我不得不同意你的觀點，加里。

Got it. That's really helpful. And just a quick follow-up. Can you speak to the impact of the card readers at the different stores you rolled out so far? Should we be modeling potentially a lift in member counts or growth in addition to the MFI bump from the fee increase as well?

知道了。這真的很有幫助。只是快速跟進。您能談談您迄今為止在不同商店推出的讀卡機的影響嗎？除了費用增加帶來的 MFI 成長之外，我們是否還應該對會員數量或成長的潛在成長進行建模？

This is Ron. The purpose of the card readers at the front door, this is a system we've been using for over two years now in Europe and especially in the UK. And we have piloted here in the US for about six months.

這是羅恩。前門讀卡機的用途是我們在歐洲，尤其是英國已經使用了兩年多的系統。我們已經在美國進行了大約六個月的試點。

Several different benefits for it. It gives our operators real-time traffic counts throughout the day. So we're able to adjust front-end lines that we need to open and close lines based on the fluctuations of business. We can monitor our fresh foods a little better because we know what the traffic counts look like and so forth.

它有幾個不同的好處。它為我們的運營商提供全天的即時流量統計。這樣我們就可以根據業務的波動來調整我們需要開通和關閉的前端線路。我們可以更好地監控我們的新鮮食品，因為我們知道客流量是什麼樣的等等。

And it is also taking the friction of membership verification away from the front-end registers and move that to the front door, where we're able to look at people's membership status, we let them know if their renewal is due before they get to the front end. So we've really we've realized some very nice, healthy front-end improvements in productivity, and it's allowed our operators to manage the business much better throughout the day.

它還消除了前端登記冊中會員資格驗證的麻煩，並將其轉移到前門，我們可以在其中查看人們的會員資格狀態，在他們到達之前讓他們知道他們的續訂是否到期。因此，我們確實實現了一些非常好的、健康的前端生產力改進，它使我們的操作員能夠全天更好地管理業務。

Chris Horvers, JPMorgan.

克里斯霍弗斯，摩根大通。

Thank you. Good evening. I'm on a train, so hopefully you can hear me.

謝謝。晚安.我在火車上，希望你聽得到我的聲音。

We can, yes.

我們可以，是的。

The question is can you talk about the risk around the port strike that's emerging here. What percentage of the product do you -- comes through those defected ports. Any description on maybe the categories that are more exposed versus the others? And to what extent have you tried to bring in product early for the holidays to try to manage that risk?

問題是你能談談這裡出現的港口罷工的風險嗎？您有多少百分比的產品是透過這些有缺陷的連接埠來的。有沒有關於與其他類別相比更容易暴露的類別的描述？您在多大程度上嘗試在假期前提前引入產品來管理這種風險？

Yeah, this is Ron again. Yes, I'll take that question. The port strike is something we've been watching very closely for some time. We knew about the timing of this as well.

是的，這又是榮恩。是的，我會回答這個問題。一段時間以來，我們一直密切關注港口罷工事件。我們也知道這個時間。

When you think about the impact to our business, we import primarily non-foods and some limited food and sundries come in, but non-foods is less -- about 25% of our total business, and only a subset of that is imported. There are some domestic goods in there as well that are not imported in non-food.

當你考慮對我們業務的影響時，我們主要進口非食品，還有一些有限的食品和雜貨進口，但非食品較少——約占我們總業務的25%，而且只有其中的一小部分是進口的。那裡還有一些非食品類非進口的國產商品。

We have done a little bit of everything that you spoke about. We've got contingency plans, we've cleared the ports, we've pre-shipped. We've done several different things that we could to get holiday goods in ahead of this time frame and looked at alternate plans that we could execute with moving goods to different ports and coming across the country if needed.

你所說的一切我們都做了一點點。我們已經制定了應急計劃，我們已經清關了港口，我們已經預先發貨。我們已經做了幾項不同的事情，我們可以在這個時間範圍之前獲得節日商品，並研究了我們可以執行的替代計劃，將貨物轉移到不同的港口，並在需要時穿越全國。

It could be disruptive based on how impactful. I can't tell you until we know length and what could happen out there. But it is in our sights. Our buyers are all over it. They're watching it closely, and we've taken as many preemptive measures as we could to prepare for this.

根據影響力的大小，它可能會具有破壞性。在我們知道長度以及外面可能發生什麼之前我不能告訴你。但它就在我們的視線之內。我們的買家都在關注它。他們正在密切關注此事，我們已採取盡可能多的先發制人措施為此做好準備。

And then just as a quick follow-up. As you think about the risk around ocean freight rates, is your expectation that freight rates are maybe elevated right now because of all this and perhaps come down into next year as we think about contract renewal periods? Thank you.

然後作為快速跟進。當您考慮海運費率的風險時，您是否預計運費率可能會因為這一切而上升，並且可能會在明年我們考慮合約續約期時下降？謝謝。

I'm not good at predicting the future, but I can tell you that from what we're seeing a big chunk of our freight comes in under contract. So we've been insulated from that. The spot market has peaked in the last quarter. We see that coming off now.

我不擅長預測未來，但我可以告訴你，從我們所看到的情況來看，我們的大部分貨運都是根據合約進行的。所以我們已經免受這種影響。現貨市場在上季已見頂。我們現在看到這種情況正在消失。

If a port disruption could happen or something else could happen in the Red Sea, could that go up? Absolutely, it could go up. But from what we're seeing now, the spot market did increase is coming off at this point. And again, our team did a great job by insulating us with good solid contracts for this year.

如果紅海可能發生港口中斷或其他事情，那麼這個數字會上升嗎？毫無疑問，它可能會上漲。但從我們現在看到的情況來看，現貨市場目前確實在上漲。再一次，我們的團隊做得很好，今年為我們提供了良好可靠的合約。

Thanks so much.

非常感謝。

Chuck Grom, Gordon Haskett.

查克·格羅姆，戈登·哈斯克特。

Thanks. Good afternoon, Gary and Ron. Just to go back to the membership card scanners, can you just speak to where you are on the rollout of that across the US and any positive reactions you've seen so far? Our checks have shown that in some locations, you guys are actually seeing a double-digit increase in new sign-ups.

謝謝。下午好，加里和羅恩。回到會員卡掃描儀，您能否談談在美國推廣該掃描儀的進展以及迄今為止您看到的任何積極反應？我們的調查顯示，在某些地方，新註冊人數實際上出現了兩位數的增長。

Yeah. We have about 350 US warehouses rolled out at this point and through the process. Reaction has been very positive, myself, all our operators. And we really rely on feedback of our warehouse managers on what's been done. And our Head Operator, Ross Miller, and myself, have been met with great positive reactions both from the members and from the operators as well.

是的。目前，我們已在美國開設了約 350 個倉庫並完成了整個流程。我自己以及我們所有的操作員的反應非常正面。我們確實依賴倉庫經理對已完成工作的回饋。我們的首席操作員羅斯·米勒（Ross Miller）和我自己都得到了會員和操作員的積極回應。

We have seen some lift in member sign-ups from that. We've also seen a lift in renewals because before people get to the front end, now they are aware that my renewal is going to be do want to get to the registers. So our members are very appreciative of that. They know that and they get up to the front, and they're not shocked by that process as well.

我們看到會員註冊量增加。我們也看到續訂量增加，因為在人們到達前端之前，現在他們知道我的續約將確實想要進入登記冊。所以我們的會員對此非常感激。他們知道這一點，而且他們走到了前面，而且他們也沒有對這個過程感到震驚。

So our improved productivity, improved interaction. And as we know, as our volumes grow, we're looking for everything we can find to use technology to help get our members through the front ends in a good, smooth manner.

因此我們提高了生產力，並改善了互動。正如我們所知，隨著我們數量的增長，我們正在尋找一切我們能找到的東西來使用技術來幫助我們的會員以良好、順利的方式通過前端。

That's very helpful. And my follow-up just, Gary, on the other business line within the margin [build], 42 basis points ex-gas. Can you talk a little bit of color on the sequential change? How much came from e-commerce? How much came from the improvement in gas margins? Thank you.

這非常有幫助。我的後續行動是，加里，在利潤率 [build] 內的其他業務領域，42 個基點（不含天然氣）。您能談談順序變化的一些色彩嗎？有多少來自電子商務？有多少來自天然氣利潤率的改善？謝謝。

Sure, yeah. We called those two out because they were the two biggest factor in the results. I think of them as being in a relatively similar in terms of the impact. E-commerce actually has been a nice trend that we've seen for the last couple of quarters. We've been really pleased with the momentum in e-commerce across the headline.

當然，是的。我們把這兩個因素排除在外，因為它們是影響結果的兩個最大因素。我認為它們在影響方面相對相似。電子商務實際上是過去幾季我們看到的一個很好的趨勢。我們對電子商務的發展動能感到非常滿意。

Sales growth has been very positive, which is a great starting point. But then the teams' done a really nice job of improving fulfillment efficiency and driving better sell through in terms of the product and the inventory management as well.

銷售成長非常積極，這是一個很好的起點。但隨後團隊在提高履行效率以及在產品和庫存管理方面推動更好的銷售方面做得非常出色。

And the mix has improved. As I mentioned on the prepared remarks, we've seen really good growth, really a balance across the board around e-commerce growth. So e-commerce has been a sort of a sustained trend that we've been pleased over the last couple of quarters.

且混合情況有所改善。正如我在準備好的發言中提到的，我們看到了非常好的成長，真正圍繞電子商務成長實現了全面平衡。因此，電子商務已經成為一種持續的趨勢，我們在過去幾季對此感到滿意。

On the gas side of thing, it was really -- I wouldn't say there was anything unusual during the quarter, it was really more a case of that. We had a little bit of tailwind in margin. And as I mentioned earlier, we're cycling some lighter margin in the same quarter in 2023.

在天然氣方面，我不會說本季有什麼不尋常的事情，這確實是一個例子。我們的利潤率有一點順風。正如我之前提到的，我們在 2023 年同一季度的利潤率將有所下降。

Paul Lejuez, Citigroup.

保羅‧勒胡埃斯，花旗集團。

Hey, everyone. This is Brandon Cheatham on for Paul. Hey, Gary and Ron. I want to talk about new store growth. You mentioned 26 net in 2025, with, I guess, an increasing focus on international. Anything you can share on why the US would step down from 24 levels? Should we think about international as being a more important growth vertical for you?

嘿，大家。我是布蘭登·奇塔姆（Brandon Cheatham）替補保羅。嘿，加里和羅恩。我想談談新店的成長。你提到 2025 年的 26 net，我猜，26 net 會越來越關注國際。能分享一下為什麼美國要退出 24 級嗎？我們是否應該將國際視為對您來說更重要的垂直成長？

And then on the US side, how many of those are new markets versus infill where you're trying to alleviate traffic congestion from a nearby store? .

然後在美國方面，其中有多少是新市場，而不是您試圖緩解附近商店交通擁堵的填充市場？ 。

On the international to domestic new openings, it really is based on timing through the system. I mean, in larger markets, we may have a building that's taken us three years to get to fruition, where some markets move quite quickly. So there's no specific plan that we have.

國際到國內的新空缺，實際上是基於系統的計時。我的意思是，在更大的市場中，我們可能花了三年才取得成果，而有些市場的發展速度相當快。所以我們沒有具體的計劃。

We put the buildings in queue. We agree that we're going to go there. And then it's following the process all the way through to how utilities come along, infrastructure, those types of things.

我們把建築物排成隊列。我們同意我們要去那裡。然後它會一直追蹤整個過程，直到公用事業、基礎設施等類型的事物如何出現。

As far as the outlook on international versus domestic growth, it's pretty balanced, again, more of a timing thing than anything. I think we've got 12 next year that will be outside of the US. And we've got some -- you could imagine in some countries, it takes us a few more years to get a building opened up. So it really is about the cadence of them opening.

就國際與國內成長的前景而言，這再次相當平衡，更多的是時機問題。我認為明年我們將有 12 個在美國以外的地區。我們有一些——你可以想像在某些國家，我們需要幾年的時間才能開放一棟大樓。所以這其實與它們打開的節奏有關。

But we continue to look forward that we feel pretty good, balanced growth. We see infills as being very positive for us, both in US, Canada, and all of North America that we have plenty of opportunities for infills in North America for the next several years ahead.

但我們繼續期待我們感覺良好、平衡的成長。我們認為填充物對我們來說非常積極，無論是在美國、加拿大還是整個北美，未來幾年我們在北美都有大量的填充機會。

And then a good market of new regions of the world. I don't think we have anything lined up for next year, but new markets. I'd say that we're probably looking at five to six new markets that we'll be expanding into next year.

然後是世界新地區的良好市場。我認為我們明年沒有什麼計劃，除了新市場。我想說，我們可能會考慮明年將擴展到五到六個新市場。

Got it. Okay, thanks. And just one follow-up on the MFI fee increase. I know you all typically reinvest in the member experience and price. And I think we already talked about wages.

知道了。好的，謝謝。這只是小額信貸機構費用增加的後續行動。我知道你們通常都會對會員體驗和價格進行再投資。我想我們已經討論過工資問題了。

How should we think about the timing of that because you realize the MFI fee increase over a longer period? Is there any near-term pressure that might flow through the P&L as you do kind of focus on delivering that value to the member after you've increased that fee? Thanks, guys.

因為您意識到 MFI 費用會在較長時期增加，所以我們應該如何考慮這個時間點？當您增加費用後，您確實專注於向會員提供該價值，是否有任何短期壓力可能會流經損益表？謝謝，夥計們。

Sure, yeah. Thanks for the question. We mentioned a couple of these things in the prepared comments too, but we certainly think about as we increase the membership fee, our goal is always to find ways to deliver more value for the member. And we think about that pretty holistically.

當然，是的。謝謝你的提問。我們在準備好的評論中也提到了一些這樣的事情，但我們當然會考慮，當我們增加會員費時，我們的目標始終是找到為會員提供更多價值的方法。我們非常全面地考慮這一點。

It can be lowering prices. It can be launching new Kirkland Signature products. It's also investing in ways that we can improve the member experience and some of the things that Ron mentioned earlier. And we believe a critical part of delivering a better experience for our members is also in employee wages.

它可以降低價格。它可能會推出新的 Kirkland Signature 產品。它還投資於改善會員體驗的方法以及羅恩之前提到的一些事情。我們相信，為會員提供更好體驗的關鍵部分也是員工薪資。

So we very much look at it holistically and how do we make sure we feel confident that we're delivering more value to our members over time. And some of those things that you heard in Q4, we've already started that journey with some of the wage increases and some of the ways in which we've been able to lower prices and deliver more value through new Kirkland Signature products in the quarter.

因此，我們非常全面地看待它，以及如何確保我們有信心隨著時間的推移為我們的會員提供更多價值。 And some of those things that you heard in Q4, we've already started that journey with some of the wage increases and some of the ways in which we've been able to lower prices and deliver more value through new Kirkland Signature products in the四分之一.

To answer maybe the broader question that you mentioned, as you know, we generally don't provide guidance as part of our updates for the results of the company. That being said, I would say, overall, we feel very good about our momentum ending fiscal year '24. And as we head into the new fiscal year, we feel very good about the opportunity ahead of us.

為了回答您提到的更廣泛的問題，如您所知，我們通常不會在公司業績更新中提供指導。話雖如此，我想說，總體而言，我們對 24 財年結束時的勢頭感到非常滿意。當我們進入新的財政年度時，我們對眼前的機會感到非常滿意。

As always, we've set ourselves high internal expectations for how we expect to grow the top line and to do so profitably. And we'll be doing that by continuing to invest in member value and employees while driving efficiencies and leverage. And we still see many opportunities to find ways to improve gross margin and SG&A in terms of opportunities to fund those investments.

一如既往，我們對如何增加收入並實現盈利設定了很高的內部期望。為此，我們將繼續投資於會員價值和員工，同時提高效率和影響力。在為這些投資提供資金的機會方面，我們仍然看到許多機會來尋找提高毛利率和銷售管理費用的方法。

We wouldn't normally comment on cadence for the year ahead either. But as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, there are a few unusual items this year with the deferred accounting for the membership fee increase, as you mentioned. And that will generally -- sort of really the most part of that will come in in the second half of 2025 and the first half of 2026.

我們通常也不會評論未來一年的節奏。但正如我在準備好的發言中提到的，正如你所提到的，今年有一些不尋常的項目，會員費增加的遞延會計處理。一般來說，其中大部分將在 2025 年下半年和 2026 年上半年實現。

And then there were also a couple of specific factors to Q1, namely the interest income, where we'll be cycling higher cash balances and higher interest rates from last year. And gas profit, while it's really been pretty stable over the years, there was certainly some volatility due to world events in Q1 last year.

第一季還有幾個具體因素，即利息收入，我們將比去年循環更高的現金餘額和更高的利率。天然氣利潤雖然多年來確實相當穩定，但由於去年第一季的世界事件，肯定會出現一些波動。

So the one thing I think I would say is that as you think about our cadence of our earnings growth across '25, it's likely to be less linear than you would probably typically expect.

因此，我想我要說的一件事是，當你考慮我們 25 年獲利成長的節奏時，你會發現它的線性可能不如你通常預期的那樣。

John Heinbockel, Guggenheim Securities.

約翰·海因博克爾，古根漢證券公司。

Hey, Gary, I wanted to start with -- I think you said core-on-core was up 9 bps. What was the color by product category of fresh foods, sundries, and non-food?

嘿，加里，我想首先——我想你說核心對核心上升了 9 個基點。生鮮食品、雜貨和非食品的產品類別顏色為何？

Yeah. Food and sundries were slightly negative, fresh was slightly positive, and non-food was the strongest of the three, which was really, again, I think, from the mix perspective and the strong sell-through in the year, but that was sort of the breakout of it, John.

是的。食品和雜貨略有負面影響，新鮮食品略有正面影響，非食品是三者中最強的，我認為，從組合角度和今年強勁的銷售情況來看，這確實是最嚴重的，但那是排序約翰，它的突破。

And then maybe second for both of you guys. When you think about Kirkland Signature, you talked about -- you gave some price decreases that you've taken, and all of those that you cited anyway were Kirkland Signature. So maybe talk about that, those price decreases maybe versus brand-name product, where Kirkland signature penetration is now.

然後也許是你們兩個的第二個。當你想到 Kirkland Signature 時，你談到了——你已經採取了一些降價措施，而你引用的所有這些都是 Kirkland Signature。所以也許可以談談，這些價格下降可能是與品牌產品相比，柯克蘭簽名產品現在的滲透率。

Is that business because you're getting scale? Is that just becoming a lot more profitable than it used to be? Or you're trying to manage a flatter and unchanged margin on Kirkland Signature?

這是因為你正在擴大規模嗎？難道這只是變得比以前更有利可圖嗎？或者您正試圖在 Kirkland Signature 上實現更平坦且不變的利潤？

I guess I'll take that one. We continue to see the penetration grow. And it's in the high-20s now as it continues to grow as our penetration across the board goes. We are not only seeing investment in price in Kirkland Signature, but with Claudine and her team, they have a commitment that if we're going to expect that of our suppliers, we're going to start with setting that example and showing the benefits of investing in price and driving unit volume.

我想我會接受那個。我們繼續看到滲透率成長。現在它已處於 20 多歲的水平，隨著我們全面滲透率的提高，它還在繼續增長。我們不僅看到了對 Kirkland Signature 的價格投資，而且與 Claudine 和她的團隊一起，他們承諾，如果我們希望我們的供應商也能做到這一點，我們將首先樹立榜樣並展示其好處投資價格和推動單位數量。

So we are doing that, but we're also seeing great support from our suppliers and our partners around the world that are also interested in driving their business and using Costco as that partner to get that done. So we continue -- I think we've got some great items coming up this next year in Kirkland Signature that will continue to enhance that value proposition to our members and continues to build the loyalty with our members because this is a place you come to get Kirkland Signature.

所以我們正在這樣做，但我們也看到了來自世界各地的供應商和合作夥伴的大力支持，他們也有興趣推動他們的業務並使用 Costco 作為合作夥伴來完成這項工作。所以我們繼續——我認為明年我們將在 Kirkland Signature 中推出一些很棒的產品，這些產品將繼續增強我們會員的價值主張，並繼續建立我們會員的忠誠度，因為這是您來到的地方獲得柯克蘭簽名。

So we see good things coming. We see the penetration continue to grow, and we continue to see the value and the benefits to the members improving over time. Gary, if you would --

所以我們看到好事即將來臨。我們看到滲透率持續成長，我們繼續看到會員的價值和利益隨著時間的推移而不斷提高。加里，如果你願意——

Yeah. Maybe, Ron, just to add to the comment also, John, you were asking around the margin opportunity. Obviously, we stay very disciplined about -- we have a cap on the margin that we expect to make on a Kirkland Signature product. But as that mix continues to grow, it definitely creates some overall tailwind in our margin overall.

是的。也許，羅恩，只是想補充一下，約翰，你在詢問邊際機會。顯然，我們保持非常嚴格的紀律——我們對柯克蘭簽名產品的利潤設定了上限。但隨著這種組合的不斷增長，它肯定會為我們的整體利潤率帶來一些整體的推動力。

And I mentioned a couple of examples in the prepared comments. We're also seeing some really great opportunities as we're thinking more globally across our merchandising team is really working together and finding ways to buy more efficiently and in-country production that we mentioned.

我在準備好的評論中提到了幾個例子。我們也看到了一些非常好的機會，因為我們正在更全球化地思考，我們的銷售團隊正在真正合作，尋找更有效地購買我們提到的國內生產的方法。

So when you take all those combined, I think that's creating opportunity for us to win-win in the sense that we can create more value for the member, stick within our commitments around the margins that we work within, but I do think it creates tailwinds and ways to balance the investment in the member while continuing to grow long term.

因此，當你把所有這些結合起來時，我認為這為我們創造了雙贏的機會，因為我們可以為會員創造更多價值，恪守我們在工作範圍內的承諾，但我確實認為它創造了順風順水以及在持續長期成長的同時平衡會員投資的方法。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Scot Ciccarelli, Truist Securities.

斯科特·西卡雷利 (Scot Ciccarelli)，Truist 證券公司。

Hey, guys. Scot Ciccarelli. Another question on the ID scanning. Any feel for how often non-members were shopping at Costco? And then secondly, just given some of the price reductions that you highlighted earlier, can you comment on your broader inflation and deflation expectations for fiscal '25? Thanks.

嘿，夥計們。斯科特·西卡雷利。還有一個關於身分證掃描的問題。您知道非會員在 Costco 購物的頻率嗎？其次，鑑於您先前強調的一些價格下調，您能否評論一下您對 25 財年更廣泛的通膨和通貨緊縮預期？謝謝。

As far as the scanning, I really couldn't give you a number. I mean, we've been exclusive for -- since the inception of the company that we're exclusive to members. There are shop cards and those type of things that people come in with. But I really couldn't give you a set number of what percent of people coming in are non-members.

至於掃描，我實在無法給你一個數字。我的意思是，自公司成立以來，我們一直是會員專屬。人們帶著商店卡和類似的東西。但我真的無法告訴你非會員進來的人所佔的百分比。

And as far as inflation, I think Gary is signing that he'd like to take that one.

就通貨膨脹而言，我認為加里正在表示他願意接受這項政策。

Yeah, happy to. Probably similar to Ron's comment earlier, I don't know we would be particularly good at telling you what we forecast for the market overall, but what I can maybe give you some a little bit more color from what we're seeing, Scott, from our perspective.

是的，很高興。可能與羅恩之前的評論類似，我不知道我們是否特別擅長告訴您我們對整個市場的預測，但我也許可以為您提供我們所看到的更多信息，斯科特，從我們的角度來看。

We shared, for the quarter overall, inflation was essentially flat. We saw a little bit of inflation in fresh. That was mainly driven by produce right now. That was sort of the key category there that drove. But again, very low inflation. Nothing meaningful to talk about. We're still seeing it very quiet in terms of the inflationary impact on prices and on the business.

我們認為，整個季度的通膨率基本上持平。我們剛剛看到了一點通貨膨脹。目前這主要是由農產品推動的。這是推動這一趨勢的關鍵類別。但同樣，通貨膨脹率非常低。沒什麼意義可談。就通膨對價格和業務的影響而言，我們仍然看到它非常安靜。

Food would have been slightly inflationary as well, but it's a remarkable actually how a small range now between the different categories, really nothing between positive 2% and negative 2% and sort of all coming back out to even just very slightly inflationary. But nothing much there either that we're seeing.

食品也會有輕微的通貨膨脹，但值得注意的是，現在不同類別之間的差異很小，正2%和負2%之間實際上沒有什麼，而且所有這些都回到了甚至只是非常輕微的通貨膨脹。但我們也沒有看到太多東西。

We are seeing more of a mixed view on commodities. Things like corn and flower and sugar are all deflationary, which is causing the bakery category as a whole to be deflationary. But then on things like butter and cocoa and eggs, as I mentioned earlier on the call -- and cheese, we're seeing more inflation.

我們看到對大宗商品的看法更加複雜。像玉米、鮮花和糖這樣的東西都是通貨緊縮的，這導致了整個烘焙品類的通貨緊縮。但正如我之前在電話會議中提到的那樣，在黃油、可可和雞蛋以及起司等產品上，我們看到了更多的通貨膨脹。

So I don't know that we're seeing anything today that's causing us to believe that where we are today is what the world looks like. And our goal, of course, is always to find ways to lower our costs and therefore, hold prices down for our members. So I wouldn't say that we're seeing anything dramatically different from how our quarter looked for this quarter. But of course, like everybody, we're susceptible to shocks and changes that can happen in the market.

所以我不知道我們今天所看到的任何東西使我們相信我們今天所處的位置就是世界的樣子。當然，我們的目標始終是找到降低成本的方法，從而為我們的會員壓低價格。因此，我不會說我們看到的情況與本季的情況有很大不同。但當然，像每個人一樣，我們很容易受到市場上可能發生的衝擊和變化的影響。

Helpful. Thanks a lot, guys.

有幫助。非常感謝，夥計們。

Michael Lasser, UBS.

麥可拉瑟，瑞銀集團。

Hi. This is [Zane Burak] on for Michael Lasser. Thanks very much for taking my question. While it's early, what has been the customer response to the MFI increase? And do you expect to see a rise in customer attrition? Why or why not? Thank you.

你好。我是 Michael Lasser 的 [Zane Burak]。非常感謝您提出我的問題。雖然現在還為時過早，但客戶對 MFI 增加的反應如何？您預期客戶流失率會上升嗎？為什麼或為什麼不呢？謝謝。

Yeah. Thanks for the question. As you are familiar with the membership fee increase, we were very deliberate about the timing. In fact, we're really delayed by two years from when we've traditionally increased the fee every five years, and that was initially because of what we thought our members were experiencing with COVID and then we saw higher inflation. So we were very deliberate in delaying the increase until we felt that we started to see inflation dissipate and our members were spending more in non-food categories seeing that they were coming through the inflationary period.

是的。謝謝你的提問。正如您所熟悉的，會員費的上漲，我們對時間安排進行了深思熟慮。事實上，與傳統上每五年增加一次費用相比，我們確實推遲了兩年，這最初是因為我們認為我們的會員正在經歷新冠疫情，然後我們看到了更高的通貨膨脹。因此，我們非常慎重地推遲了增加，直到我們覺得我們開始看到通貨膨脹消散，並且我們的會員在非食品類別上花費更多，因為他們正在經歷通貨膨脹時期。

From a member reaction perspective, I'd say, we haven't really heard a significant member reaction. Our membership renewal rates, there's no real change in trend, as I mentioned in some of my prepared remarks. I think the fact that we've been able to stave off inflation on things like the hotdog pricing at $1.50 and the rotisserie chicken at $4.99.

從會員反應的角度來看，我想說，我們還沒有真正聽到會員的重大反應。正如我在一些準備好的發言中提到的那樣，我們的會員續約率趨勢沒有真正的變化。我認為事實上我們已經能夠透過諸如 1.50 美元的熱狗定價和 4.99 美元的烤雞定價等產品來避免通貨膨脹。

And generally, demonstrating the way that we're lowering prices for members wherever we can, I think there's been a recognition that in the context of what's happened more broadly over the last seven years that we stayed true to our principles of really trying to help the member and deliver the value. And as we mentioned earlier on the call, we've been making investments, whether it be in wages for our employees or in lowering cost to show our members that we want to make sure that the increase is delivering value to them.

總的來說，在展示我們盡可能降低會員價格的方式時，我認為人們已經認識到，在過去七年發生的更廣泛的情況下，我們始終堅持我們真正努力幫助會員的原則。價值。正如我們之前在電話會議中提到的，我們一直在進行投資，無論是在員工薪資方面還是在降低成本方面，以向我們的會員表明我們希望確保增加的費用能為他們帶來價值。

Rupesh Parikh, Oppenheimer.

魯佩什·帕里克，奧本海默。

Good evening. Thanks for taking my question. So just on the consumer front, just curious how you guys are feeling about the health of your consumer? And then any changes in consumer behavior of note during the quarter?

晚安.感謝您提出我的問題。那麼，在消費者方面，只是好奇你們對消費者的健康有何看法？那麼本季消費者行為有什麼值得注意的變化嗎？

Sure. Thanks, Rupesh. I think we see the consumer or member through a course through our lens. And what I would say is that it's very clear that quality and value have never been more important. That's something that has very clearly coming through in our insights and how we're seeing our members shop.

當然。謝謝，魯佩什。我認為我們透過我們的鏡頭來了解消費者或會員的課程。我想說的是，很明顯，品質和價值從未如此重要。這是我們的見解以及我們如何看待會員購物的清晰體現。

I think the encouraging thing for us is, as you know, as you look at our trends in the year to date, we have seen that as inflation has dissipated, our members have started to spend more on non-food items, which is really encouraging in our mind. And what we're really pleased about is the widespread nature of that across the different categories that we've seen in non-foods.

我認為對我們來說令人鼓舞的是，正如你所知，當你看到我們今年迄今為止的趨勢時，我們發現隨著通貨膨脹的消散，我們的會員開始在非食品項目上花費更多，這確實是在我們心中鼓舞。我們真正感到高興的是，這種現像在非食品領域的不同類別中廣泛存在。

I would say that on some categories like appliances and electronics, definitely, they've become more promotional over time. That would be a factor, I think, that members are looking for more deals. And for us, of course, we're always going to be there on price, but we also include within what we're offering to our members, the installation and the removal of the old product, if that's necessary in the delivery. So we kind of trend to try and differentiate there on the overall experience as well as being a great everyday low value. I think they're the kind of key trends in non-foods.

我想說，在電器和電子產品等某些類別上，隨著時間的推移，它們肯定變得更加促銷。我認為，這將是會員尋求更多交易的一個因素。當然，對我們來說，我們始終會在價格上保持一致，但我們也會在向會員提供的服務中包含舊產品的安裝和拆卸（如果交付時有必要的話）。因此，我們傾向於嘗試在整體體驗上實現差異化，並成為日常的低價值產品。我認為它們是非食品領域的主要趨勢。

On the food side of things, we've definitely seen some signals that would suggest that members and consumers in general are maybe shifting a little bit of spend from food away from home to food at home. Under the food and the sundry side of our business, alcohol would still be relatively soft. But as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, we're seeing really strong growth in our ethnic food categories and also in Kirkland Signature products, particularly in the new ones that we've been introducing.

在食品方面，我們確實看到了一些信號，表明會員和廣大消費者可能正在將一部分支出從外出食品轉向在家食品。在我們業務的食品和雜項方面，酒精仍然相對較軟。但正如我在準備好的發言中提到的，我們看到我們的民族食品類別以及柯克蘭標誌產品的強勁增長，特別是我們推出的新產品。

And then on the fresh side of things, really strong growth across meat, produce, and bakery. I would say we've certainly seen a continued acceleration in some of those lower-cost protein items like poultry, cheaper cuts of beef like ground beef and pork. So there's definitely some signs that the consumer is being very choiceful in how they're spending their dollars. But thankfully, with the quality and value that we're offering, it's definitely resonating with our members.

然後在新鮮方面，肉類、農產品和麵包店的成長確實強勁。我想說的是，我們肯定看到一些低成本蛋白質產品（例如家禽）、更便宜的牛肉（例如碎牛肉和豬肉）的銷售持續加速。因此，肯定有一些跡象表明，消費者在花錢的方式上非常有選擇。但值得慶幸的是，憑藉我們提供的品質和價值，它肯定會引起我們的會員的共鳴。

Great. And then maybe just one follow-up question. Big focus out there on alternative revenue streams, including media. Just curious on the latest on the efforts from Costco. Is there maybe a more aggressive push in growing that area?

偉大的。然後也許只是一個後續問題。重點關注其他收入來源，包括媒體。只是好奇 Costco 的最新努力。是否會更積極地推動該地區的發展？

Yeah. I think we still see it as a significant opportunity. It's definitely a journey for us. The foundations of that journey are getting our technology infrastructure in a position where we feel really good about the capabilities that will allow us to deliver to the member in terms of the offers that we can give to them and the level of targeting and personalized capabilities that creates.

是的。我認為我們仍然認為這是一個重要的機會。這對我們來說絕對是一趟旅程。這趟旅程的基礎是讓我們的技術基礎設施處於一個位置，讓我們對我們能夠向會員提供的服務以及我們可以向他們提供的服務以及目標和個性化功能的水平感到非常滿意。

We've already started to build out those plans and starting to identify how we can capture the low-hanging fruit where there are opportunities. But we would see it as a significant opportunity over the long term to drive new revenue. We will approach this probably a little bit differently than many others, and we'll be reinvesting the vast majority of those dollars as we always do to drive top-line growth.

我們已經開始製定這些計劃，並開始確定如何在有機會的地方抓住唾手可得的果實。但從長遠來看，我們認為這是一個推動新收入的重要機會。我們的做法可能與其他許多公司略有不同，我們將像往常一樣將大部分資金進行再投資，以推動營收成長。

And we think that will be a competitive advantage with our CPG partners because it will show them that every dollar they're spending is really intended to drive overall growth for the company. That being said, I do think it will help also with -- the e-commerce business is typically less profitable, on this case, a way to offset some of those costs in delivery and fulfillment as well.

我們認為這將成為我們與 CPG 合作夥伴的競爭優勢，因為這將向他們表明，他們花費的每一美元確實都是為了推動公司的整體成長。話雖這麼說，我確實認為這也會有所幫助——電子商務業務通常利潤較低，在這種情況下，這也是抵消交付和履行方面的部分成本的一種方式。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

Kelly Bania, BMO Capital Markets.

Kelly Bania，BMO 資本市場。

Hi. Good evening, Gary and Ron. Just wanted to ask about e-commerce, obviously, continued strength there. Can you just give us a broad update on the penetration, the profitability, and how that is impacting margins at this growth level? And just an update on what the penetration would be if you included Instacart like others do in that penetration.

你好。晚上好，加里和羅恩。只是想問電子商務，顯然，那裡的持續強勢。您能否向我們介紹一下滲透率、獲利能力以及其在這一成長水準上對利潤率的影響？如果你像其他人一樣將 In​​stacart 納入滲透率中，那麼滲透率會是怎樣的更新。

Yeah. Thanks, Kelly. As we look at the progress, we're really pleased with the momentum that we've seen in digital. Actually, we were looking at the data recently over a 10-year period, and we've grown our compounded annual growth rate in e-commerce. It's been over 20% for that 10-year period. So it's been a significant growth story for us and members clearly evaluating the additional ways in which we're giving them opportunities to find new deals and value for the member.

是的。謝謝，凱利。當我們看到進展時，我們對數位領域所看到的勢頭感到非常滿意。實際上，我們最近查看了 10 年期間的數據，我們的電子商務複合年增長率有所提高。這10年期間已經超過20%。因此，這對我們和會員來說是一個重要的成長故事，他們清楚地評估了我們為他們提供為會員尋找新優惠和價值的機會的其他方式。

Overall, the penetration will be in the sort of high single-digit range based on how we report e-commerce today. To your point earlier, we don't include some of those digitally started sales transactions, if I could say it that way. So Instacart, Uber, the ways in which members might be buying groceries and food and sundries. If you added those in, and of course, we also include gas in our total sales, we'd be into the double-digit penetration when you include all those elements in the number.

總體而言，根據我們今天報告電子商務的方式，滲透率將處於較高的個位數範圍內。對於您先前的觀點，如果我可以這樣說的話，我們不包括一些數位啟動的銷售交易。 Instacart、Uber 以及會員購買雜貨、食品和雜貨的方式。如果您將這些添加進去，當然，我們還將天然氣納入我們的總銷售額中，那麼當您將所有這些元素添加到數字中時，我們的滲透率將達到兩位數。

Okay. And any comments on profitability and how e-commerce is impacting profitability?

好的。對盈利能力以及電子商務如何影響盈利能力有何評論？

Yeah. I would still say it's marginally -- it's lower than the traditional shopping in the warehouse, and that's obviously intuitively makes sense given that we're doing more of the picking and shopping for the member.

是的。我仍然會說它是微乎其微的——它比倉庫中的傳統購物要低，考慮到我們為會員做更多的挑选和購物，這顯然直觀上是有意義的。

As I mentioned in the prepared remarks that we have seen some good improvements as we've grown our sales numbers, that's created some leverage in the model. We're improving the efficiency of our fulfillment costs. So it is continuing on an improving trend over time because of the sales growth and the leverage that's creating, but also some of the improvements the team are making in the business to drive more efficiency as well.

正如我在準備好的評論中提到的那樣，隨著銷售數量的增長，我們看到了一些良好的改進，這在模型中創造了一些槓桿作用。我們正在提高履行成本的效率。因此，隨著時間的推移，由於銷售成長和所創造的槓桿作用，以及團隊在業務中做出的一些改進以提高效率，它正在繼續呈現改善趨勢。

Michael Baker, D.A. Davidson.

麥可貝克，D.A.戴維森。

Great. Thanks. Two questions. One, can you talk about competitive pricing? Particularly in grocer, there's been a lot of talk about some grocery chains investing in price, et cetera. What are you seeing -- how your price gaps? And then I'll have a follow-up after that. Thanks.

偉大的。謝謝。兩個問題。一，您能談談有競爭力的定價嗎？特別是在雜貨店，有很多關於一些雜貨連鎖店在價格等方面進行投資的討論。您看到了什麼—您的價格差距如何？之後我會跟進。謝謝。

Yeah. Thanks for the question. I think the key thing for us is we're our own biggest competitor. As you heard us mention earlier, we want to be the first to lower prices and the last to raise prices. And at every one of our regular budget meetings, we're talking about how can we find ways to do that. And the majority of our price investments are proactive. Not that we're reacting, but of course, we're always watching and staying very close to competition.

是的。謝謝你的提問。我認為對我們來說最重要的是我們是我們自己最大的競爭對手。正如您之前聽到我們提到的，我們希望成為第一個降低價格、最後一個提高價格的人。在我們的每一次定期預算會議上，我們都會討論如何找到實現這一目標的方法。我們的價格投資大多是主動的。並不是說我們正在做出反應，但當然，我們一直在觀察並密切關注競爭。

I would say that the promotional environment has been increasing. That would be with us, as Ron mentioned earlier, that our CPG partners are investing to find ways to drive units, and that would certainly be the case across some of the competition as well.

我想說的是，促銷環境一直在增加。正如羅恩之前提到的，我們的情況就是如此，我們的快速消費品合作夥伴正在投資尋找推動單位的方法，而且在某些競爭中肯定也會出現這種情況。

I mentioned earlier, appliances and consumer electronics would be an area where we've seen more of that activity. But I think if you took it all on balance, we wouldn't say that we're seeing the activity sort of outside of normal in the food space. We feel very good about our position relative to the market and continue to be proactive in finding ways to provide the best quality, best value for our members.

我之前提到過，家電和消費性電子產品將是我們看到更多此類活動的領域。但我認為，如果你權衡一切，我們不會說我們在食品領域看到的活動有點超出正常範圍。我們對我們相對於市場的地位感到非常滿意，並將繼續積極尋找為我們的會員提供最佳品質、最佳價值的方法。

Excellent. Thank you. That makes sense. Follow-up, when gas prices fall -- I think gas prices are down now 15%, 16% year over year, broadly speaking, at least in the latest data. Does that hurt your traffic at all? Because I think you guys, say, 50% of people will come to get gas -- come into the [closet] and buy something, I think the unit growth -- the gallons growth did decelerate a little bit this quarter. Is that something that you guys look at or have any concern over?

出色的。謝謝。這是有道理的。後續，當天然氣價格下跌時——我認為天然氣價格現在比去年同期下降了 15%、16%，總體而言，至少在最新數據中是如此。這會損害您的交通嗎？因為我認為你們，比如說，50% 的人會來買汽油——走進[壁櫥]買東西，我認為單位增長——加侖增長在本季度確實有所放緩。這是你們關注或關心的事情嗎？

Yeah. This is Ron. I don't see it as a concern. Gallons were up 3%, which was a little bit softer than the prior quarter. So when you do hit those peaks in prices, we will see a greater attraction to the Costco gas stations. But our balance of transactions, dual transactions that we have looks very positive. And so we're not seeing traffic dropping off at all in the warehouse based on the slightly softer gallon growth that we're seeing out in the gas stations.

是的。這是羅恩。我不認為這是一個問題。加侖上漲 3%，比上一季略有疲軟。因此，當價格確實達到峰值時，我們將看到 Costco 加油站具有更大的吸引力。但我們的交易餘額、雙重交易看起來非常正面。因此，由於我們在加油站看到的加侖成長略有放緩，我們並沒有看到倉庫中的交通量下降。

Excellent. Thank you.

出色的。謝謝。

Karen Short, Melius Research.

凱倫·肖特，Melius 研究中心。

Hey, thanks a lot, and good to talk to you again. So thanks for taking my questions. So my question is, when you look at your pre-tax margin, I know you don't manage to that in any way, shape or form. But it obviously has been creeping up. So when you look at the actual delta on a 10-basis-point increase in that margin, it's not immaterial to get to earnings and/or valuation, obviously. So wondering how you think about that.

嘿，非常感謝，很高興再次與你交談。謝謝你回答我的問題。所以我的問題是，當你查看你的稅前利潤率時，我知道你無法以任何方式、形狀或形式做到這一點。但顯然它一直在蔓延。因此，當您查看該利潤率增加 10 個基點的實際增量時，顯然，獲利和/或估值並非不重要。所以想知道你對此有何看法。

Hi, Karen. Yeah, I think the way we think about it is really back to some of the comments that we were referring to earlier is that our goal is always to drive top line. That's the top priority for the company, and we're focused on investing and delivering value for the member and delivering improved investments in our employees as well to make sure that we're an employer of choice.

嗨，凱倫。是的，我認為我們思考這個問題的方式實際上回到了我們之前提到的一些評論，即我們的目標始終是推動營收。這是公司的首要任務，我們專注於為會員投資和創造價值，並改善對員工的投資，以確保我們成為首選雇主。

I think I appreciate the comment because I think we have been successful over the years in doing that because there are ways for us to continue to lower our costs in our gross margin part of our business and drive more value for the member. Some of the things that we've been focused on, like global buying and the Kirkland Signature growth that we've seen, e-commerce growth, as we mentioned earlier.

我想我很欣賞這個評論，因為我認為多年來我們在這方面取得了成功，因為我們有辦法繼續降低業務毛利率部分的成本，並為會員帶來更多價值。我們一直在關注的一些事情，例如全球購買和我們所看到的柯克蘭簽名成長，以及電子商務的成長，正如我們之前提到的。

And there will be opportunities for things like retail media in the future. So I think there are a number of ways in gross margin and also a number of ways in SG&A where we can continue to be more efficient to drive that investment.

未來零售媒體之類的東西也會有機會。因此，我認為在毛利率方面有很多方法，在銷售、一般行政費用方面也有很多方法，我們可以繼續更有效地推動投資。

Our focus is always to drive, as I mentioned, the top line, and if that over time allows us to continue to grow the margins, then obviously, that's something that we're pleased with, and it's a good outcome for our investors. But I wouldn't say, as you mentioned, it's a targeted outcome. It's really about making sure that we're driving that top-line growth, and as you've mentioned, would suggest that when we've done that well as we continue to look for opportunities, it has allowed us to expand margin slightly as well.

正如我所提到的，我們的重點始終是推動營收，如果隨著時間的推移，我們能夠繼續提高利潤率，那麼顯然，這是我們感到滿意的事情，這對我們的投資者來說是一個很好的結果。但正如你所提到的，我不會說這是一個有針對性的結果。這實際上是為了確保我們推動營收成長，正如您所提到的，這表明當我們在繼續尋找機會的同時做得很好時，它使我們能夠略微擴大利潤率，因為出色地。

I would add I agree with Gary. I would add to that. There are several levers that our operators and our buyers have to improve margin. And our buyers speak often about the fact that we can lower prices while improving margin as well. And that comes with the efficiencies that we're seeing, comes with very good sell-throughs that we're realizing in the goods that we're buying, newness and bringing in new items to the market that that could have a little bit better margins.

我想補充一點，我同意加里的觀點。我想補充一點。我們的營運商和買家可以透過多種手段來提高利潤。我們的買家經常談論這樣一個事實：我們可以降低價格，同時提高利潤率。這伴隨著我們所看到的效率，伴隨著我們在購買的商品中實現的非常好的銷售率，新鮮感以及將新商品引入市場，這可能會更好一點邊距。

And our operating shrinkage has been improving. And we saw a nice solid year this year and picked up some margin on improving shrink results in the business as well. So those are some different levers that will augment lowering prices and continue to improve margins.

我們的經營收縮率一直在改善。今年我們的業績表現不錯，在改善業務收縮業績方面也取得了一些利潤。因此，這些是一些不同的槓桿，將有助於降低價格並繼續提高利潤。

But is it fair to think that 4%-ish maybe going up from there is realistic?

但認為 4% 左右的漲幅是現實的嗎？

Yeah. Karen, I think we wouldn't get into it, as you know, into sort of guidance of what we're expecting in the future. I do think, as Ron shared, that we don't see it as a, if you like, a zero-sum game. I think we believe there's an opportunity to continue to find ways to invest in our members and our employees. And we do believe you can do that through the way that we manage the business to continue to improve profitability over time, but I wouldn't want to really provide any specific guidance related to that.

是的。凱倫，正如你所知，我認為我們不會介入其中，以指導我們對未來的期望。我確實認為，正如羅恩所說，如果你願意的話，我們並不認為這是一場零和遊戲。我認為我們相信有機會繼續尋找投資於我們的會員和員工的方法。我們確實相信，您可以透過我們管理業務的方式來做到這一點，以隨著時間的推移繼續提高盈利能力，但我不想真正提供與此相關的任何具體指導。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

Thanks, Karen. Krista, are you there?

謝謝，凱倫。克里斯塔，你在嗎？

Is that all of our questions, Krista? Hello?

這就是我們所有的問題嗎，克麗斯塔？你好？

Laura Champine, Loop Capital.

勞拉·尚平 (Laura Champine)，Loop Capital。

Greg Melich, Evercore ISI.

格雷格·梅里奇，Evercore ISI。

Hi, thanks. I want to go back to the profitability and gross margin, particularly gasoline, the tailwind. Are we now back at $0.20 of penny profit per gallon? Or what should we think of that as sort of a normalized range going forward?

你好，謝謝。我想回到獲利能力和毛利率，尤其是汽油，這是順風車。我們現在是否回到了每加侖 0.20 美元的美分利潤？或者我們應該如何將其視為未來的標準化範圍？

Yeah. I think, Greg, we generally aren't sharing specific breakdown of profitability, and that would be true obviously across a number of areas of the business. But on gas, as I mentioned earlier, I would think of gas as being sort of fairly stable in general for us. There are peaks and troughs because of volatility in the market in the short term sometimes.

是的。我認為，格雷格，我們通常不會分享獲利能力的具體細目，這在許多業務領域顯然都是如此。但就天然氣而言，正如我之前提到的，我認為天然氣對我們來說總體上相當穩定。由於市場的短期波動有時會出現高峰和低谷。

I wouldn't think of this quarter, while it showed up as part of the overall improvement in other businesses, I wouldn't call it out as being like anything that was particularly changing the trajectory of gas or that would cause us to be wanting to share any more sort of detailed color because generally, we're expecting the gas side of the business to be relatively stable.

我不會認為這個季度是其他業務整體改善的一部分，但我不會將其稱為特別改變天然氣軌跡或導致我們想要的任何事情分享更多詳細的顏色，因為一般來說，我們預計天然氣方面的業務相對穩定。

As I mentioned, next quarter -- this quarter, I should say, that was an example of where there was some really very unusual volatility because of world events. But in the main, I would think of gas as not being a major sort of underlying change in trajectory or something to look at differently in our model. Obviously, we do provide color where there's something unusual that pops up, but I wouldn't think of that as being a directional change.

正如我所提到的，下個季度——我應該說這個季度，這是一個例子，說明由於世界事件而出現了一些非常不尋常的波動。但總的來說，我認為天然氣並不是軌跡的主要潛在變化，也不是我們模型中需要以不同方式看待的東西。顯然，我們確實在出現不尋常的情況時提供顏色，但我不認為這是一種方向性的變化。

Got it. And given the recent wage increase, could you help level set us, so maybe on what your average wages are now in the US or globally? I think in the past, the number was something like $26 an hour.

知道了。鑑於最近工資上漲，您能否幫助我們設定水平，也許您現在在美國或全球的平均工資是多少？我想在過去，這個數字大概是每小時 26 美元。

No. Currently, the average wage is just north of $30 an hour.

不會。

Just north of 30%. Great. And that's for the US?

剛超過 30%。偉大的。那是針對美國的嗎？

Yes. US and Canada. (inaudible) in Canada.

是的。美國和加拿大。 （聽不清楚）在加拿大。

Got it. And then perhaps on the --

知道了。然後也許是——

Go ahead.

前進。

So my last question was just given the non-food, the success there, you called out the gold bullion again. I'm just curious, are there any plans to maybe bring Kirkland Signature into the gold bullion market?

所以我的最後一個問題只是給了非食品，那裡的成功，你再次喊出了金條。我只是好奇，是否有計劃將 Kirkland Signature 引入金條市場？

No plans at this time.

目前沒有計劃。

All right. Thanks a lot and good luck as saying.

好的。非常感謝，祝你好運。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, that's all the time we have for questions today. I will now turn the conference back over to Gary for closing comments.

女士們、先生們，今天的提問時間就到此為止。現在我將把會議轉回給加里徵求結束意見。

Thank you, Krista. Thank you, all, for joining the call today, and we look forward to talking to at the next quarterly earnings call. That will conclude our call. Thank you.

謝謝你，克里斯塔。感謝大家今天參加電話會議，我們期待在下次季度財報電話會議上交談。我們的通話就到此結束。謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's conference call. Thank you for your participation and you may now disconnect.

女士們先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。