CubeSmart (CUBE) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the CubeSmart first-quarter 2026 earnings call. After today’s prepared remarks, we will host a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

各位好。感謝各位加入，歡迎參加 CubeSmart 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。在今天的預先準備發言之後，我們將進行問答環節。（接線員指示）

I will now hand the call over to Josh Schutzer, Senior Vice President of Finance. Josh, please go ahead.

現在我將把電話交給財務資深副總裁 Josh Schutzer。Josh，請開始。

Thank you, Paige. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CubeSmart’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call. Participants on today’s call include Chris Marr, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Tim Martin, Chief Financial Officer. Our prepared remarks will be followed by a Q&A session. In addition to our earnings release which was issued yesterday evening, supplemental operating and financial data is available under the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at www.cubesmart.com.

謝謝你，Paige。各位早安。歡迎參加 CubeSmart 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。今天參與電話會議的成員包括總裁兼執行長 Chris Marr，以及財務長 Tim Martin。我們的預先準備發言之後將進行問答環節。除昨晚發布的財報新聞稿外，補充的營運與財務資料可於公司網站 www.cubesmart.com 的投資人關係（Investor Relations）專區取得。

The company’s remarks will include certain forward-looking statements regarding earnings and strategy that involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. The risks and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements are provided in documents the company furnishes to or files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the Form 8-K we filed this morning together with our earnings release filed with the Form 8-K and the Risk Factors section of the company's annual report on Form 10-K.

公司發言將包含若干關於獲利與策略的前瞻性陳述，涉及風險、不確定性及其他因素，可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述存在重大差異。可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述存在重大差異的風險與因素，已載於公司提交或向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）申報的文件中，特別是我們今天上午提交的 Form 8-K（其中包含隨 Form 8-K 一併提交的財報新聞稿），以及公司 Form 10-K 年報中的「風險因素」章節。

In addition, the company's remarks include reference to non-GAAP measures. A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP measures can be found on the first-quarter financial supplement posted on the company's website at www.cubesmart.com.

此外，公司發言亦會提及非 GAAP 指標。GAAP 與非 GAAP 指標之間的調節表，可於公司網站 www.cubesmart.com 上發布的第一季財務補充資料中查閱。

I’ll now turn the call over to Chris.

我現在把電話交給 Chris。

Thank you, Josh. Good morning. The first quarter showed a continuation of trends from late last year with results that were in line with our expectations. We are encouraged to finally see the inflection in same-store revenue growth this quarter, as the stabilization and operating trends we experienced in late 2025 are flowing through the financial metrics. We expect continued gradual improvement throughout 2026, albeit without a projected catalyst coming from the macro environment. Positive move-in rates and same-store revenues were supported by steady demand trends and lessening headwinds from new supply. We are encouraged that the wave of new stores from the last couple of years continues to lease up, while the forward pipeline remains lighter.

謝謝你，Josh。各位早安。第一季延續了去年年底以來的趨勢，結果符合我們的預期。我們很高興本季終於看到同店營收成長出現拐點，因為我們在 2025 年下半年所經歷的穩定化與營運趨勢，正反映在財務指標上。我們預期 2026 年將持續逐步改善，儘管宏觀環境並無預期中的催化因素。正向的入住（move-in）比率與同店營收，受到穩定的需求趨勢以及新增供給帶來的逆風逐漸減弱所支撐。我們也樂見過去幾年新增門店的這一波供給持續完成出租（lease up），同時未來的開發管線仍相對偏輕。

This environment continues to showcase the strength of our quality-focused strategy, with primary markets outperforming and showcasing their lower beta characteristics. Steady demand, when combined with fewer vacates, resulted in a 240% increase in net rentals for the quarter, helping to narrow the year-over-year occupancy gap to now 20 basis points by the end of April and putting us in a good position entering the spring/summer busy season.

此一環境持續展現我們以品質為核心策略的優勢，主要市場表現領先，並呈現其較低 beta 的特性。穩定的需求加上退租（vacates）減少，使本季淨出租（net rentals）增加 240%，有助於將年對年入住率差距進一步縮小；截至 4 月底，差距已縮至 20 個基點，讓我們在進入春夏旺季前處於良好位置。

Our more stable urban markets in the Northeast and Midwest continue to outperform, while our more transient supply-impacted markets across the Sunbelt and the West Coast are beginning to see green shoots in the form of second derivative improvement. We are also encouraged by pricing trends. Last year, we began seasonally pushing rates a little earlier, which for us created a tougher March comp, but move-in rates have improved throughout the month. They ended the quarter up 2%, and that plus 2% spread held through the month of April.

我們在東北與中西部較為穩定的都會市場持續領先；而在陽光帶（Sunbelt）與西岸那些受新增供給影響、人口流動性較高的市場，則開始以「二階導數」改善的形式出現回溫跡象。我們也對定價趨勢感到鼓舞。去年我們開始在季節性上更早推升價格，對我們而言造成 3 月較具挑戰的比較基期，但入住價格在整個月份持續改善。季度末入住價格年對年上升 2%，且這個 +2% 的差距延續到 4 月。

Across all markets, our existing customer metrics remain strong, with no change to attrition rates or credit. Our pricing and operating strategies, when combined with a best-in-class portfolio, are attracting a high-quality customer who is remaining in the portfolio longer. Looking at performance across markets, 21 of the top 25 MSAs saw sequential improvement in same-store revenue growth during the quarter.

在所有市場中，我們既有客戶相關指標仍然強勁，流失率與信用狀況均無變化。我們的定價與營運策略，結合業界一流的資產組合，正吸引高品質客戶，並使其在資產組合中停留更久。就各市場表現而言，前 25 大都會統計區（MSA）中有 21 個在本季同店營收成長出現連續改善（sequential improvement）。

The Acela Corridor continues its outperformance, led by New York, Austin, and Washington, DC MSAs. Midwest markets, led by Chicago, maintained their steady pace of improvement. Major Sun Belt markets showed encouraging signs, with Miami swinging to positive same-store revenue growth and Phoenix and Atlanta making meaningful progress in their recovery from the influx of new supply. We are proud of the work our operations team has done to have us well positioned to capitalize on the opportunities presented as we transition into our busiest time of the year. We remain committed to our strategy of building the highest quality portfolio in the storage sector.

Acela 走廊地區持續表現領先，由紐約、奧斯汀與華盛頓特區等 MSA 帶動。以芝加哥為首的中西部市場維持穩健的改善步調。主要陽光帶市場也出現令人鼓舞的跡象，邁阿密同店營收成長轉為正值，而鳳凰城與亞特蘭大在從新增供給湧入所造成的衝擊中復甦方面亦取得顯著進展。我們為營運團隊所做的努力感到自豪，使我們在進入一年中最繁忙的時期時，已做好把握機會的準備。我們仍致力於打造儲存（storage）產業中最高品質的資產組合之策略。

Through cycles, our target markets and their strong demographics produce long-term risk-adjusted returns. The strength of our portfolio demographics and the density of populations around our stores ensure stability of demand and insulate our portfolio from some of the cyclicality faced by more transient and supply-impacted markets. We are confident that our focus on building the highest quality portfolio in the self-storage sector, by acquiring high-quality assets in top markets, will create meaningful value for our shareholders over the long term.

在不同景氣循環中，我們的目標市場及其強勁的人口結構（demographics）可帶來長期的風險調整後報酬。我們資產組合的人口結構優勢，以及門店周邊人口密度，確保需求的穩定性，並使我們的資產組合免於部分更具流動性且受供給影響市場所面臨的景氣循環波動。我們有信心，透過在頂級市場收購高品質資產、專注打造自助倉儲（self-storage）產業中最高品質的資產組合，將在長期為股東創造可觀價值。

Thank you, and I will now turn the call over to our Chief Financial Officer, Tim Martin, for his comments.

謝謝各位。接下來我將把電話交給我們的財務長 Tim Martin，請他發表評論。

Thanks, Chris. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking a few minutes out of your day to spend it with us. First-quarter results were encouraging, coming in at the high end of our expectations, giving us a nice positive start to the year. Same-store revenue growth was 0.6% over last year, and as Chris mentioned, nice to see top-line growth flip to positive for the first time since mid-2024. Move-in rates remain positive year over year, while the occupancy gap further narrowed to down 30 basis points from down 70 basis points at year-end. The early months of 2026 were a continuation of trends from last year with generally stable overall levels of demand.

謝謝你，Chris。各位早安。感謝各位在百忙之中撥冗與我們交流。第一季結果令人鼓舞，落在我們預期的高端，為今年帶來良好的正向開局。同店營收較去年成長 0.6%；如 Chris 所提，這是自 2024 年年中以來首次看到營收端成長轉為正值。入住價格年對年仍為正，而入住率差距也進一步收斂，從年末的下降 70 個基點縮小至下降 30 個基點。2026 年前幾個月延續了去年的趨勢，整體需求水準大致穩定。

Demand does vary across markets and submarkets, with a continued bifurcation in performance between the outperforming core urban markets in the Northeast and Midwest and the more volatile performance across the supply-impacted markets throughout the Sun Belt and Southwest. However, we have seen second-derivative improvements across most markets. Same-store operating expenses grew 5.8% over last year, in line with our expectations.

需求在不同市場與次級市場（submarkets）之間確實有所差異，東北與中西部表現領先的核心都會市場，與陽光帶及西南地區受供給影響市場較為波動的表現之間，仍呈現明顯分化。然而，我們已在多數市場看到二階導數的改善。同店營運費用較去年成長 5.8%，符合我們的預期。

After four straight years leading the industry in expense control, our expectation is for more inflationary-type growth this year, with some particularly tough comps early in the year leading to outsized growth in the quarter. We knew snow removal costs were going to be elevated over the prior year, and those elevated costs accounted for about 120 basis points of our overall quarterly same-store expense growth. We entered the year with attractive return opportunities across our primary marketing channels and a plan to frontload some of our spending to take advantage. When combined with a tough comparison, as we had historically low spending in the first quarter of 2025, the year-over-year growth was robust. We expect that for the full year, marketing as a percentage of revenues will align with historical trends.

在連續四年於費用控管方面領先同業之後，我們預期今年費用成長將更接近通膨型態；加上年初比較基期特別艱難，導致本季成長偏高。我們早已預期除雪成本將高於去年，而這些增加的成本約占本季同店費用總成長的 120 個基點。我們在年初於主要行銷渠道上看到具吸引力的報酬機會，並規劃提前投入部分支出以把握機會。再加上比較基期偏低（因為 2025 年第一季我們的支出歷史性地偏低），使年對年成長顯得強勁。我們預期就全年而言，行銷費用占營收比重將與歷史趨勢一致。

Personnel expense growth reflects our continued focus on delivering the experience our customers tell us they desire. Two-thirds of our customers tell us they want some level of in-person service. As we continue to fine-tune staffing based on our data-driven prediction models as well as our first-person customer feedback, we expect personnel expense to grow at current levels throughout the first half of the year, tapering a bit in the back half as year-over-year comparisons ease. Revenue growth of 0.6% combined with 5.8% expense growth yielded negative 1.5% NOI growth for the quarter. We reported FFO per share, as adjusted, of $0.63 for the quarter, which was at the high end of our guidance entering the quarter.

人事費用成長反映我們持續專注於提供客戶告訴我們他們所期望的體驗。三分之二的客戶表示，他們希望獲得某種程度的面對面服務。隨著我們持續依據數據驅動的預測模型以及第一手客戶回饋來微調人力配置，我們預期人事費用在上半年將以目前水準成長，並在下半年因年對年比較趨於容易而略為放緩。營收成長 0.6% 結合費用成長 5.8%，使本季 NOI 成長為負 1.5%。我們本季每股 FFO（經調整）為 0.63 美元，位於我們在季度開始時所提供指引的高端。

On the external growth front, we continue to execute on our disciplined capital allocation strategy, looking for creative avenues to attractive risk-adjusted returns in this environment where the disconnect between public and private market valuations persists. We again repurchased shares in the quarter, as the relative value of our portfolio made it our most attractive investment option. We own the highest quality portfolio of self-storage assets, and at the low valuation levels during the quarter, the best risk-adjusted return we had was investing in our existing high-quality portfolio rather than the relatively higher private market valuations for what are ultimately inferior assets. Year-to-date, this has been our most attractive avenue for capital deployment.

在外部成長方面，我們持續執行嚴謹的資本配置策略，在公開與私募市場估值落差仍然存在的環境下，尋找能創造具吸引力之風險調整後報酬的創新途徑。我們在本季再次回購股份，因為就相對價值而言，我們的投資組合使其成為最具吸引力的投資選項。我們擁有最高品質的自助倉儲資產組合，而在本季的低估值水準下，我們能取得的最佳風險調整後報酬，是投資於我們既有的高品質投資組合，而非以相對較高的私募市場估值去購買最終仍屬較劣質的資產。年初至今，這一直是我們最具吸引力的資本部署途徑。

We also closed on our first store in our recently announced new joint venture with CBRE IM, with a $250 million mandate to invest in high-growth markets, allowing us to continue to grow the portfolio with enhanced returns. In the current environment and our current cost of capital, joint ventures such as the CBRE venture are a good investment option for us to pursue.

我們也完成了與 CBRE IM 近期宣布之新合資企業的第一家門市交割，該合資企業具備 2.5 億美元的投資授權，將投資於高成長市場，使我們得以在提升報酬的同時持續擴大投資組合。在目前的環境以及我們當前的資金成本下，像 CBRE 合資案這類的合資企業是我們值得追求的良好投資選項。

On the third-party management front, we added 30 stores to the platform in the first quarter and ended the quarter with 854 third-party stores under management. Our balance sheet remains well positioned with conservative leverage and access to a wide range of capital sources to fund potential growth. We have a bond maturity late in the year that we will address with existing capacity or through accessing the debt markets opportunistically in the coming quarters.

在第三方管理方面，我們於第一季新增 30 家門市納入平台，並於季末達到 854 家受管理的第三方門市。我們的資產負債表仍維持良好狀態，槓桿保守，且可取得多元資金來源以支應潛在成長。我們在年底有一筆債券到期，將以既有額度處理，或在未來幾季視市場情況適時進入債務市場。

Details of our 2026 earnings guidance and related assumptions were included in our release last night. As I opened with, performance in the first quarter was encouraging and in line with our expectations, resulting in no change in our guidance range and underlying assumptions with the small exception of a slightly lower share count resulting from our share repurchase activity.

我們昨晚發布的新聞稿中已包含 2026 年盈餘指引的細節及相關假設。如同我開場所述，第一季表現令人鼓舞且符合我們的預期，因此我們的指引區間與基本假設維持不變，僅有一個小例外：由於我們的股票回購活動，流通股數略為下降。

Thanks again for joining us on the call this morning. At this time, Paige, why don't we open up the call for some questions?

再次感謝各位今早參與本次電話會議。此時，Paige，我們是否可以開放進行提問？

(Operator Instructions) Samir Khanal, Bank of America.

（接線員指示）Samir Khanal，美國銀行。

Chris, looking at your advertising expense growth was up year-over-year. I guess when do we see the impact of that come through? Average occupancy was up slightly sequentially, and just help us understand kind of how to think about occupancy with the spend you're doing? Should we expect a bit of a ramp-up in 2Q? And maybe you can unpack that for us.

Chris，從你們的廣告費用來看，年增幅度上升。我想問的是，這些投入的效果大概何時會反映出來？平均入住率（occupancy）季比略有上升，請協助我們理解在你們目前的支出水準下，該如何看待入住率？我們是否應該預期第二季會有一些加速提升？也請你為我們拆解說明一下。

Sure, thanks for the question. So as Tim touched on, there was a lot of variables that went into the marketing growth in Q1. And obviously, starting with relatively by historical standards, low spend in the first quarter of 2025. So a very difficult comp. We knew we had -- we were experiencing late last year and going into the beginning of this year, a good ROI on the spend across all of our channels, continue to see some good opportunities through not only paid search, but also as the LLM continue to evolve some interesting opportunities there as well as in social and in those channels.

好的，謝謝你的提問。如 Tim 所提到，第一季行銷費用成長受到許多變數影響。當然，首先是 2025 年第一季的支出以歷史標準來看相對偏低，因此比較基期非常困難。我們知道在去年底到今年初，我們在各個渠道的投放都取得了良好的投資報酬率（ROI），而且我們仍看到一些不錯的機會，不僅在付費搜尋（paid search），也包括隨著 LLM 持續演進所帶來的一些有趣機會，以及社群等渠道。

The spend in terms of the translation, it's always going to be that balance between occupancy and rate. So certainly, as we think about the ROI on that spend, it's a combination of those two. Are we getting more customers into the top of the funnel? That answer is, yes. Are we able to convert those customers at better rates?

就投放的轉化而言，這永遠是在入住率與價格之間取得平衡。因此，當我們思考該投放的 ROI 時，會同時考量這兩者。我們是否把更多客戶帶進漏斗上端（top of the funnel）？答案是肯定的。我們是否能以更好的轉換率把這些客戶轉化？

That answer is, yes, and then ultimately, as you've seen in the trends in asking rates. And as I mentioned, that continued to be in positive territory, up about 2% in April. That occupancy gap, as I said, continue to contract was 20 basis points at the end of April. So we're starting to see it fairly quickly in both rate and occupancy and would expect that trend to continue.

答案也是肯定的。最終，如你在要價（asking rates）的趨勢中所看到的，以及我提到的，該指標仍維持正成長，4 月約上升 2%。我也提到，入住率缺口（occupancy gap）持續收斂，至 4 月底為 20 個基點。因此，我們在價格與入住率兩方面都相當快地開始看到成效，並預期該趨勢將持續。

Again, that being said, this is a weekly decision as we think about how to allocate capital to our marketing line item. And so it will continue to ebb and flow. But as we sit here today, as Tim mentioned, for the full year, our expectation is as a percent of revenue, marketing will be in line with what we would have seen from historical trends.

再次強調，當我們思考如何將資本配置到行銷費用項目時，這是一個每週都會做的決策，因此支出會持續有起伏。但以目前來看，如 Tim 所提到，全年而言，我們預期行銷費用占營收比重將與歷史趨勢一致。

And I guess just my second question is on New York certainly holding up well. Maybe talk about kind of the demand trends you're seeing in New York and certainly anything on supply would be great as well.

我第二個問題是關於紐約。紐約顯然表現得很好。能否談談你們在紐約看到的需求趨勢？另外，若能分享供給面的情況也會很有幫助。

Yes. I think New York continues to be a star performer for us. It's why we love the market incredibly resilient through cycles. What we're seeing is almost a complete absence of new supply in the outer boroughs, certainly, that competes well overall. And then for stores that compete within existing Cube.

好的。我認為紐約對我們而言仍是明星市場。這也是我們喜愛這個市場的原因——它在景氣循環中展現出極強的韌性。我們看到外區（outer boroughs）幾乎完全沒有新增供給，尤其是能形成有效競爭的供給。至於與既有 Cube 內部門市競爭的門市也是如此。

So that sharp decline in supply that we've seen now over the last couple of years is being very helpful as we think about the performance of our same stores. It was a very challenging rental housing market in terms of cost in New York. So you are seeing folks looking for solutions to that issue. And certainly, we are one of those solutions that folks are finding. So continue to be productive.

因此，過去幾年我們看到的供給大幅下滑，對我們同店（same stores）表現非常有利。紐約的租賃住宅市場在成本方面非常具挑戰性，所以你會看到人們在尋找解決方案，而我們確實是他們找到的解決方案之一。因此，表現仍持續良好。

Manhattan, where we have one owned and a few managed, they're getting some supply, and you are seeing some of those stores, particularly those that may have overweighted the unit mix to the really small, blocker-sized units are a little bit softer there, but the outer boroughs continue to perform really, really well.

曼哈頓方面，我們有一家自有門市以及幾家受管理門市，那裡仍有一些供給進入市場；你也會看到部分門市，特別是單位組合（unit mix）偏重非常小、像「阻擋型（blocker-sized）」單位的門市，表現稍微偏弱一些，但外區仍持續表現非常、非常好。

Michael Goldsmith, UBS.

Michael Goldsmith，瑞銀（UBS）。

Chris, in your prepared remarks, you noted a 240% increase in net rentals in the quarter. Maybe you can break that number down a bit, both the steady demand and fewer vacates and what that could mean for trends going forward?

Chris，在你準備好的發言中，你提到本季淨租賃（net rentals）增加了 240%。你能否把這個數字拆解一下，包括需求穩定與退租（vacates）減少各自的貢獻，以及這對未來趨勢可能意味著什麼？

Yes. I think the trend in the quarter is pretty consistent with what we had what we had seen historically over the last bit, we disclosed it on page 16 of the supplemental package. So rentals in the first quarter were down 1.8%. Here in April, we actually had rentals that were up about 1% year-over-year. So good top funnel demand in April at good prices. So very encouraging trend to start off the second quarter.

好的。我認為本季的趨勢與我們過去一段時間所見的歷史情況相當一致，我們在補充資料（supplemental package）第 16 頁也有揭露。第一季租賃量下降 1.8%。而在 4 月，我們的租賃量年增約 1%。因此，4 月在良好價格水準下，漏斗上端需求（top funnel demand）表現不錯。這是第二季開局非常令人鼓舞的趨勢。

Vacates were down 3.9% in the quarter. Again, that's just what I think we're seeing a little bit across the industry. The existing customer base is particularly sticky, staying longer than certainly pre-COVID historical trends.

本季退租下降 3.9%。同樣地，我認為這是整個產業都略有出現的現象。既有客群特別黏著（sticky），停留時間比 COVID 前的歷史趨勢更長。

And my follow-up question relates to the guidance or reaffirmation. Regarding that, is that just a function of it's early the year and you -- the decreasing season is really going to determine the trajectory of the annual results? Or is there just a level of -- is there a level of conservative? Just trying to get a understanding of the thought process behind reiterating the guidance.

我的追問與指引或重申指引有關。就此而言，這只是因為現在仍在年初，而接下來的旺季租賃季（leasing season）將真正決定全年結果的走勢？還是說其中包含某種程度的保守性？我只是想理解重申指引背後的思考邏輯。

Thanks, Michael. So we just provided the annual guidance not all that long ago. And the first quarter played out, as we mentioned, very consistently with our expectations on both revenue and expenses and overall from an FFO standpoint, just ending up at the high end of our guidance for the quarter. So nothing has really changed. Nothing happened in the first quarter that would cause us to reevaluate the impact for the full year.

謝謝你，Michael。我們不久前才剛提供全年指引。而第一季的表現，如我們所提到的，在營收與費用兩方面都非常符合我們的預期；整體從 FFO 的角度來看，第一季最終落在我們該季指引的高端。因此，基本上沒有任何改變。第一季並沒有發生任何事情會讓我們需要重新評估對全年影響。

And as we sit here, getting ready for our primary leasing season, we're in the same place as we were 60 days ago, ready to go and looking to capitalize on all the opportunities that will present themselves, but nothing has happened in the last 60 days that has had an impact or change on our overall view for the year.

以目前來看，在我們準備迎接主要租賃旺季之際，我們與 60 天前的狀態相同：整裝待發，準備把握所有將出現的機會；但過去 60 天並沒有任何事情對我們的全年整體看法造成影響或改變。

Good luck in the second quarter.

祝你們第二季好運。

Appreciate it.

感謝。

Ravi Vaidya, Mizuho.

Ravi Vaidya，瑞穗（Mizuho）。

I wanted to ask about your thoughts about broader regulation and maybe price moratorium that may be in New York and maybe a couple of other markets. Have you had discussions regarding any sort of pricing restrictions or policy shift or moratorium that you could be anticipating from the current administration here in New York?

我想請教你們對更廣泛的監管、以及可能在紐約、也許還有其他幾個市場出現的價格凍結（price moratorium）的看法。你們是否就任何形式的定價限制、政策轉向或凍結措施進行過討論？你們是否預期紐約現任政府可能會推出相關措施？

We have not engaged directly in those conversations. As we've seen across a variety of different real estate product types as well as other industries, certain municipalities have been focused in on varying factors affecting the consumers. And we believe that we offer a valuable solution to our customers who are experiencing a need to put their valuable possessions in a self-storage facility for a period of time that they define. And we think we provide a good value for that service.

我們沒有直接參與那些對話。正如我們在各種不同的不動產產品類型以及其他產業所看到的，一些地方政府一直聚焦於影響消費者的各種因素。我們相信，對於那些在一段由他們自行界定的期間內，需要把珍貴物品存放在自助倉儲設施的客戶而言，我們提供了有價值的解決方案；而且我們也認為，我們為這項服務提供了良好的性價比。

So from our perspective, we continue to be keenly focused on that customer service element and providing good value and a solution for their need as varying things governmentally, ebb and flow, we'll will continue to be involved as a corporate.

因此，從我們的角度來看，我們仍會高度聚焦於客戶服務這個面向，提供良好的價值與解決方案；而政府層面的各種變化起伏，我們也會持續以企業身分參與其中。

That's really helpful. I wanted to ask also about the fee income realized in the quarter was elevated. This quarter is also elevated last quarter. What's driving that?

這很有幫助。我也想問一下，本季認列的費用收入偏高；上季也偏高。是什麼在驅動這個變化？

Yes. So on the other property income line item. We have -- there are a variety of things that are in that line item. They include merchandise sales, locks, boxes, fees, as you mentioned, truck rental income. We're always looking at ways to enhance and grow our cash flows in those areas.

是的。關於「其他物業收入」這個科目，裡面包含多種項目，包括商品銷售、鎖、紙箱、你提到的各類費用，以及卡車租賃收入。我們一直在尋找方法，在這些領域提升並成長我們的現金流。

And we've had some success in that line item. If you think about the level of growth in that line item in the first quarter, we would expect the first quarter to be a little bit higher than where we would land for the full year as it relates to growth on that line item. But we continue -- we always continue to look for ways to provide many services to our customers, and some of them show up in the line item.

而且我們在這個科目上取得了一些成果。若你看第一季該科目的成長幅度，我們預期第一季會略高於全年最終落點（就該科目的成長而言）。但我們會持續——我們一直都在尋找方法為客戶提供更多服務，其中一些就會反映在這個科目裡。

Juan Sanabria, BMO Capital Markets.

Juan Sanabria，BMO 資本市場（BMO Capital Markets）。

Just hoping you could talk a little bit about the '26 earnings guidance, it implies a bit of an acceleration, but flat on same-store revenues. Just hoping you could talk through the dichotomy and the acceleration versus flat between earnings and same-store revenue?

我想請你們談談 2026 年的盈餘指引；它暗示盈餘會有些加速，但同店營收卻是持平。想請你們說明一下這種落差：為什麼盈餘加速、同店營收卻持平？

I'm trying to understand your question. Certainly, our guidance implies that there is, within the range, there is an opportunity for top line to grow throughout the year, and that's going to be the result of all the trends that Chris touched on a narrowing gap in occupancy. Some better rates to new customers. And so looking at top line growth that could accelerate a little bit.

我想確認我理解你的問題。我們的指引當然意味著，在區間之內，全年營收端有成長的機會；這將來自 Chris 提到的各項趨勢——入住率差距收斂、新客戶的價格（租金）更好。因此，營收成長可能會稍微加速。

We talked about the expense somewhat of anomaly of some really difficult comps. The snow being part of it. Marketing expense year-over-year. And so the first quarter had an expense growth that's higher than the range. So if you're looking at accelerating NOI growth then throughout the year would be the expectation that's embedded in the guidance.

我們也談到費用端有些異常，因為比較基期非常困難；其中一部分是下雪因素，以及行銷費用的年對年變化。因此第一季的費用成長高於全年區間。若你在看 NOI 成長加速，那麼指引所隱含的預期是：全年後續季度的 NOI 成長會逐步加速。

Was there another portion of your question that I missed?

你的問題還有其他部分是我漏掉的嗎？

That's helpful, Tim. And then just switching gears on the third-party management. You guys have had some success on the growth side, growing the relationships with the net number has seeing a little bit of shrinkage. So just curious on how we should think about the net number going forward and the different pushes and pulls within that business?

這很有幫助，Tim。接著換個話題談第三方管理。你們在成長端有一些成功，合作關係增加，但淨店數看起來有些縮減。想請教我們該如何看待未來的淨店數，以及這個業務裡不同的推拉因素？

It's a little bit analogous to our customers and their length of stay. We are -- we continue to add stores to the third-party management platform, again, 33 more this quarter. We have a great pipeline that looks pretty similar to what it would look like this time of year over the past few years. And so our team in the business development side is focused on finding owners or expanding our relationship with existing owners, and what we can control is having an attractive offering and providing great services to our third-party owners and adding stores to the platform.

這有點類似於我們的客戶及其租用期間長短。我們——我們持續把門店加入第三方管理平台，本季又新增了 33 家。我們有一條很好的案源管線，看起來與過去幾年同一時點的狀況相當類似。因此，我們業務開發團隊專注於尋找業主，或擴大與既有業主的合作；而我們能掌控的是：提供具吸引力的方案、為第三方業主提供優質服務，並把門店加入平台。

What we can't control is when they decide to transact and sell their assets. There are times where we are the acquirer of those assets. We've bought over $2 billion worth of assets from stores that we had previously managed. But in an environment where we are today, we oftentimes are not the buyer. And so the majority of the stores that leave our platform are because of a transaction and they sell to somebody who self manages or they choose to -- they have an existing other relationship that they use to manage their stores for, so very difficult to predict.

我們無法掌控的是：他們何時決定交易並出售資產。有些時候我們會成為那些資產的買方；我們已經從先前由我們管理的門店中，收購了超過 20 億美元的資產。但在目前的環境下，我們往往不是買方。因此，離開我們平台的大多數門店，是因為發生交易：他們賣給了自行管理的買家，或買家選擇——他們本來就有其他既有合作關係，用來管理其門店，所以非常難以預測。

But ultimately, when stores leave our platform, in large part, it means that we've -- job well done because we've managed a store for somebody helped to create that value, to put them in a position to be able to seek liquidity and they tend to do pretty well as we create a lot of value for them.

但歸根結底，當門店離開我們的平台，在很大程度上意味著我們——工作做得很好，因為我們替某位業主管理門店、協助創造價值，使他們能夠尋求流動性（變現）；而且在我們為他們創造大量價值的情況下，他們通常表現得相當不錯。

Todd Thomas, KeyBanc.

Todd Thomas，KeyBanc。

First, I just wanted to follow up on April, I think, Chris, you said April rentals were up 1% year-over-year. How did that look on a net rentable square foot basis? And can you discuss occupancy through April and sort of quantify the move-in rents that you discussed a little bit. You said that rentals were at good prices. Can you just elaborate on that a little bit?

首先我想追問一下 4 月的情況。我記得 Chris 你說 4 月租賃量年增 1%。若以可出租平方英尺（net rentable square foot）為基礎，看起來如何？另外能否談談 4 月的入住率，並量化一下你稍早提到的入住租金（move-in rents）的變化？你說租賃價格不錯，能否再多說一點？

So through the month, we continue to see nice demand in April. And the rentals or the move-ins were up just a little bit shy of 1% throughout the month. You combine that with the continued trend in lower vacates and occupancy from March to April, so not to confuse these two 20 basis points occupancy from March through April grew sequentially, about 20 basis points, and that occupancy gap then at the end of April to April of last year was also -- had also shrunk to about negative 20 bps.

整個 4 月我們持續看到不錯的需求。租賃量或入住量在整個月份年增略低於 1%。再加上退租持續下降的趨勢，以及入住率從 3 月到 4 月的變化——為避免混淆，3 月到 4 月的入住率是按月序列成長約 20 個基點；而到 4 月底，相較去年 4 月的入住率差距也——也縮小到約負 20 個基點。

The rent through April, as I mentioned early on, at the end of March, that last few days of the month, we saw average rent rate on rentals right around 2% for those last couple of days of the week or the last week of March. Those trends continued throughout April and the average rent rate on rentals in April was plus 2%.

至於 4 月的租金，如我先前提到的，在 3 月底、也就是該月最後幾天，我們看到租賃的平均租金漲幅約在 2%，大概是那幾天或 3 月最後一週的水準。這些趨勢在 4 月持續，4 月租賃的平均租金漲幅為正 2%。

Okay. That's great. That's helpful. And then I just wanted to see if you could speak a little bit more around the improvement that you're seeing in some of the Sunbelt markets, some of the more challenged or supply-challenged markets, I guess, that you've discussed. Do you see that trend improving and continuing as you move through the year? Or does it remain sort of choppy in the near term in your view?

好的。很棒，很有幫助。接著我想請你們再多談談你們在部分陽光帶市場看到的改善——也就是你們提過、供給較具挑戰或供給壓力較大的市場。你們認為這個趨勢在今年接下來會改善並延續嗎？還是短期內仍會相對顛簸？

I think as it relates to Miami, does feel as if the wave of supply has been reasonably absorbed, you're still seeing, albeit the velocity is less than what certainly we saw coming out of '21, '22, '23, the velocity of inbound folks into the Greater Miami is reduced a bit, but still pretty healthy. So feeling pretty good about that MSA.

我認為就邁阿密而言，供給浪潮似乎已被相當程度地吸收。你仍然看到——雖然速度低於我們在 2021、2022、2023 年走出來時所看到的——大邁阿密地區的淨流入速度有所放緩，但仍然相當健康。因此對那個都會統計區（MSA）感覺相當不錯。

Phoenix and Atlanta, if you think about where they're heading, this has really been one of the first quarters where we saw some good positive momentum in those two markets in terms of starting to chew into the negative same-store revenue results that we've seen over the last year or so, but cautious on those two, would like to see another quarter or so of that momentum continuing before you would feel much more column about those two.

鳳凰城和亞特蘭大，如果你看它們的走向，這其實是我們首次在這兩個市場看到一些不錯的正向動能：開始逐步侵蝕過去一年左右我們看到的同店營收負成長結果。不過對這兩個市場仍保持謹慎；我們希望再看到一季左右動能延續，之後你才會對這兩個市場更有信心。

Okay. So it doesn't sound like you would continue to expect the Acela corridor or to be outperforming at year-end? Or do you see potential for there to be sort of a handoff during the year or late in the year as we start to think about '27?

好的。所以聽起來您不會在年底仍然預期 Acela 走廊會持續跑贏？還是您認為在今年中或今年稍晚、當我們開始思考 2027 年時，可能會出現某種交棒的機會？

Yes. Maybe a little premature, given as we're starting to get here into the busier season. Certainly, would not be surprised if the Acela corridor from an overall growth for the year is at the top of the pack.

是的。也許現在下結論還稍嫌過早，因為我們正要進入較忙的旺季。當然，如果 Acela 走廊在全年整體成長表現上名列前茅，我也不會感到意外。

Eric Wolfe, Citi.

Eric Wolfe，花旗。

It's Nick Joseph here with Eric. So we continue to see consolidation within the storage sector. So just curious if you think there are benefits to being kind of larger or at a certain point, does it kind of diminish and once you're large enough, there's not incremental benefits to getting even bigger.

我是 Nick Joseph，和 Eric 一起提問。我們持續看到倉儲產業內的整併。所以想請教您是否認為規模做大會有好處？或者到某個程度後效益會遞減，一旦夠大了，再變得更大就沒有額外的增量效益？

Yes. I think -- from our perspective and how we think about portfolio construct, there is value to having scale in market. So I think having a portfolio that has brand awareness and scalable opportunities on both the pricing and the expense side within markets and submarkets, I think, has proven to be a good strategy. I think when you think about scale on a national level, I think those benefits diminish relative to what you can get with within scale and market.

是的。我認為——從我們的角度，以及我們如何看待投資組合的建構——在單一市場具備規模是有價值的。所以我認為，在各市場與次市場中，擁有具品牌知名度的投資組合，並在定價端與費用端都具備可擴張的機會，已被證明是一個好的策略。但當你談到全國層級的規模時，相較於在單一市場內取得規模所帶來的效益，我認為那些好處會遞減。

And then just on the buybacks, as you think about funding continued buybacks, where are you willing to take leverage assuming your stock stays at these levels?

另外關於庫藏股回購，當您思考為持續回購提供資金時，假設股價維持在目前水準，您願意把槓桿拉到什麼程度？

So what we talked about when we execute on the share repurchases last quarter for the first time is that we generate roughly $100 million in free cash flow, and kind of the first level of analysis for us when thinking about the share repurchases is has the valuation been disconnected enough for long enough. And when we got to the fourth quarter, the -- both of those boxes were checked, and so we started to execute on the share repurchases. And so a little bit more than $30 million of those purchases in the fourth quarter, another a little bit more than $30 million in the first quarter. And so you kind of think about that tracking towards utilizing that free cash flow that we generate to repurchase the shares, plus or minus.

我們上季首次執行股票回購時談到的是，我們大約能產生 1 億美元的自由現金流；而在思考回購時，我們第一層的分析是：估值是否已經出現足夠且持續一段時間的脫鉤。到了第四季，這兩個條件都符合，所以我們開始執行回購。因此第四季回購金額略高於 3,000 萬美元，第一季又略高於 3,000 萬美元。你可以把它理解為：大致沿著我們所產生的自由現金流去回購股票，上下會有些差異。

And so to this point, we've been repurchasing shares effectively with no impact on leverage. If you were then thinking about how you would execute on share repurchases above and beyond that $100 million-ish for us on an annual basis. Then you're getting into your question, which is how much leverage would you be willing to use. And I think for us, then that goes up another level. Not only would the disconnect between public and private market valuations have to be big enough for long enough, you're then -- also then taking a view on -- for how long do you think going into the future because our equity capital is precious to us.

到目前為止，我們回購股票基本上對槓桿沒有造成影響。如果你進一步思考，若要在年度約 1 億美元左右的規模之上再加碼回購，那就會回到你的問題：願意使用多少槓桿。我認為對我們而言，那就要再往上一層思考。不僅公私市場估值的脫鉤必須夠大且持續夠久，你也同時是在判斷——你認為這種情況在未來會持續多久，因為我們的股權資本對我們而言非常珍貴。

We need to raise equity capital to support our growth over time. And so we don't take executing on our share repurchases lightly from that perspective.

我們需要募集股權資本來支持長期成長。因此從這個角度來看，我們不會輕率地執行股票回購。

So we talked last quarter about how could we then continue to navigate through an environment where there's this disconnect. And that's where we started looking at and continue to look at opportunities where perhaps we take some assets that we could contribute to a co-ownership vehicle and take some of the proceeds from that to support additional share repurchases above and beyond kind of the $100 million level. And that would be a way to -- for us to continue to navigate and create shareholder value consistent with our long-term strategic objectives of having the highest quality portfolio so we could improve the quality of our portfolio through contributing to some of those assets and take advantage of the arbitrage then between public and private market valuations. It's not super appealing for us to just lever up the balance sheet to repurchase shares for the reasons that I mentioned earlier.

所以上季我們談到，如何在公私市場估值出現脫鉤的環境下持續因應。這也是我們開始、並持續在看的一些機會：也許我們把部分資產投入某個共同持有（co-ownership）的載體，並將部分所得用來支持在約 1 億美元水準之上的額外回購。這會是一種方式——讓我們在符合長期策略目標（擁有最高品質投資組合）的前提下，持續因應並創造股東價值：我們可以透過投入部分資產來提升投資組合品質，同時利用公私市場估值之間的套利。基於我先前提到的原因，單純為了回購而提高資產負債表槓桿，對我們而言並不是特別有吸引力。

Michael Griffin, Evercore ISI.

Michael Griffin，Evercore ISI。

Great. It seems like existing customer trends continue to be strong. But Chris, I'm curious if you can either quantify or give us some color on the rate increases that are going out now versus maybe this time last year? Are you getting more aggressive trying to push on those ECRIs? And have you seen any customer pushback when it comes to getting those rate increases?

了解。看起來既有客戶的趨勢仍然很強勁。不過 Chris，我想請教你是否能量化，或提供一些背景：現在推出的漲租幅度，和去年這個時點相比如何？你們是否更積極地推動那些 ECRI（既有客戶租金調升）？在這些漲租方面，有看到客戶的反彈嗎？

Or are they still generally pretty willing to swallow them.

還是說他們整體上仍然相當願意接受？

The magnitude and the pace of increases to the existing customers is generally unchanged from what we would have seen first quarter of '25 and here into April on a year-over-year basis. So really no fundamental change. And then from an overall customer behavior, and this starts with broad the credit and how we think about units falling into arrears, receivables, units going to auction, et cetera have not seen any measurable change in consumer behavior. We certainly watch all of those metrics quite carefully, particularly given some of the macro impacts we're seeing on the consumer.

對既有客戶的調升幅度與節奏，與 2025 年第一季以及進入 4 月時我們所看到的年對年水準大致相同，所以沒有根本性的改變。至於整體客戶行為，從更廣泛的信用面來看——例如我們如何看待單位逾期、應收帳款、單位進入拍賣等——我們沒有看到任何可衡量的消費者行為變化。我們確實非常仔細地追蹤這些指標，特別是在我們看到一些宏觀因素對消費者造成影響的情況下。

Appreciate the color there. And then on the transaction market, I realized that just given where deals are trading right now, maybe relative to your cost of capital on balance sheet acquisitions and not make sense right now. But can you give us a sense of deal volume, how investors are receptive to self-storage product down the market? And is there any way for you to compete on wholly-owned acquisitions? Or are JV deals probably the more opportune avenue to go down at this juncture?

謝謝你的說明。接著關於交易市場，我理解以目前成交水準來看，相對於你們的資金成本，做資產負債表上的全資收購可能不太合理。但你能否談談交易量的狀況、投資人對自助倉儲產品在市場上的接受度？以及你們是否有辦法在全資收購上競爭？或者在現階段，合資（JV）交易可能是更有利的途徑？

Yes. Thanks, Michael. So the transaction market hasn't really changed all that much. There are still a pretty healthy number of assets that are out there and brokers are representing a lot of potential sellers. I would say the environment has been very similar now for several quarters in that many of the assets that are on the market will trade if they get to the seller's targeted price, many of them don't. So I would say the hit rate on transactions closing remains lighter than certainly at historical levels.

是的，謝謝 Michael。交易市場其實沒有太大變化。市場上仍有相當健康數量的資產，仲介也在代表許多潛在賣方。我會說，這個環境已經連續好幾季都很類似：很多掛牌資產若能達到賣方的目標價格就會成交，但也有很多達不到。因此我會說，交易完成的命中率仍然偏低，當然也低於歷史水準。

Our cost of capital, just back to the share repurchase conversation, when you just think about choices for us and different items on our capital allocation venue, year-to-date, year share repurchases have been more attractive given the quality of our portfolio versus the quality of an opportunity that we see out there.

回到剛才的回購話題，當你只從我們的選擇、以及資本配置的不同選項來看，今年以來，考量我們投資組合的品質，相較於我們在外部看到的機會品質，股票回購更具吸引力。

Our team, our investments team continues to be very active and very busy underwriting a ton of opportunities. It's just the clearing price on where things are trading or where a seller desires them to trade versus a valuation that makes sense for us to acquire that in an accretive way, both short, medium and long term just doesn't work right now.

我們的投資團隊仍然非常積極、也非常忙碌，承作（underwrite）大量機會。只是目前的成交清算價格——也就是資產實際成交的水準，或賣方希望成交的水準——相對於我們認為合理、且能在短中長期都具增益性（accretive）的收購估值，現在仍然對不上。

On the joint venture side, what I was alluding to is we can make our dollars go a lot further in this market by being a piece of a joint venture. And then from our standpoint, we can get some enhanced returns given the fee structures and management fees and the like in our invested dollar in a joint venture investment. So I would say that the result of what you've seen for us for the past many quarters is that there are assets that are trading. There is a strong desire from many, many pockets of capital to be in the storage space just not valuations they're attractive to sellers at the moment.

在合資方面，我剛才想表達的是：透過參與合資，我們在這個市場可以讓每一塊錢發揮更大的效益。從我們的角度，因為費用結構、管理費等因素，我們在合資投資中的投入資金也能取得更高的報酬。所以我會說，你過去很多季看到我們的結果是：確實有資產在成交；也有非常多、非常多不同來源的資金強烈希望進入倉儲領域，只是目前的估值對賣方而言還不夠有吸引力。

Viktor Fediv, Scotiabank.

Viktor Fediv，加拿大豐業銀行。

So you mentioned that you'll be addressing the September 2026 note maturity, potentially like existing past or opportunistic issuance. So given where credit spreads are today, either a time line or tenure you're targeting?

你提到你們將處理 2026 年 9 月到期的票據，可能會透過既有管道或機會性發行。因此，考量目前的信用利差水準，你們鎖定的時間表或期限（tenor）是什麼？

Yes. So we have a nice gap in our maturity schedule, 7 years out and then anything 10 years or longer is wide open on our maturity schedule. So likely pads for us or to evaluate from a tenure perspective, likely either a 7- or a 10-year bond. We do have amounts drawn on our line as we started the year. I think we saw a possibility that maybe we would go twice this year, and we still could and perhaps do a chunk of 7s and a chunk of 10s. Obviously, the world was -- has been pretty volatile here in the beginning part of the year.

是的。所以我們的到期結構上有一個不錯的空檔：往後 7 年那一段，然後 10 年或更長天期在我們的到期排程上都還很寬鬆、彈性很大。因此，從我們的期限配置角度來看，較可能的選項、或我們會評估的，可能是 7 年期或 10 年期債券。我們年初時在循環信貸額度上確實有動用一些金額。我想我們當時看到今年可能會發兩次的可能性，而現在仍然有可能；也許會發一部分 7 年期、再發一部分 10 年期。當然，年初這段時間市場一直——一直都相當波動。

And so we look at -- for us, pricing, if we were to go today on 7 year would be right around 5%, just a little bit higher and then on we would be in the low to pushing mid-5% range for a 10-year bond. So we'll continue to be to onto the markets and be opportunistic, and we're in a great position that if we don't feel. And if we don't see an attractive window to access that market, we have capacity to address that maturity, and we'll be patient and opportunistic.

因此我們會看——就我們而言，若今天去定價，7 年期大約在 5% 左右、略高一些；而 10 年期債券則會落在 5% 初段到接近 5% 中段的區間。所以我們會持續關注市場、把握機會，我們也處在一個很好的位置：如果我們覺得——如果我們看不到一個有吸引力的窗口可以進入該市場，我們仍有能力去處理那個到期需求；我們會保持耐心並伺機而動。

Understood. And then a second question, but just a quick follow-up on your churn because obviously, first quarter was impacted by weather conditions. So you saw a decline in both move-ins and more substantial on vacates. And you mentioned that so far, second quarter is a positive territory for move-ins, but still down year-over-year on vacates. Just trying to understand whether we can expect some acceleration in vacates as kind of flowing through Q1 being slower or you don't see that in the most recent data?

了解。第二個問題，快速追問一下你們的流失（churn），因為第一季顯然受到天候影響。所以你們看到入住（move-ins）下降，而退租（vacates）的下降幅度更大。你們提到目前第二季入住已轉為正成長，但退租仍較去年同期下滑。我想了解的是，我們是否可以預期退租會加速，因為第一季偏慢的部分會在第二季補回來？還是你們從最新數據看不到這種情況？

So as it relates to the weather, I think the reality in the storage business is that it impacts both the move-in and the move-out. If your intention on a miserably snowy Saturday was to vacate, likely defer, but eventually, you're done with the product. So it's something -- when the weather clears and it's comparable to access you depart. Similarly, for the most case, on the move-in side. It's more of a deferral now there if it was -- if it was a move-in from someone who's in transition from point A to point B, then they defer, they still need to transact.

就天候而言，我想倉儲（storage）產業的現實是：它同時影響入住與退租。如果你原本打算在一個大雪紛飛、糟糕透頂的週六退租，你很可能會延後，但最終你還是會結束使用這項產品。所以這件事——當天氣轉好、進出變得方便時，你就會離開。同樣地，多數情況下，入住端也是如此。這比較像是延後；如果是從 A 點到 B 點搬遷過渡中的入住，那他們延後，但仍然需要完成交易。

If it was a solution to another problem where you had some variability to your need, then perhaps that customer doesn't come back within the near term and wait for another day. So it has a little bit of an impact in the near term, but over the course of time, I think it tends to work itself out.

如果它是用來解決另一個問題、而你的需求有一些彈性，那麼那位客戶可能短期內不會回來，會等到改天再說。所以它在短期會有一些影響，但拉長時間來看，我認為通常會自行消化、回到常態。

So I think the trends we've seen are very consistent with what has been occurring over the last year or so, which is the impact of supply has certainly been felt on the move-in side. Customers have more options within a market. I think, as we said in the earlier remarks, that impact continues to decline, and we expect it to continue to decline. So that's been a bit now more of a helpful tailwind than a headwind.

所以我認為我們看到的趨勢，與過去一年左右發生的情況非常一致，也就是供給的影響在入住端確實已經被感受到。客戶在同一個市場裡有更多選擇。我想，正如我們在先前談話中提到的，那個影響仍在下降，我們也預期會持續下降。因此，這現在更像是一股有利的順風，而不是逆風。

On the vacate side, I think we're seeing a customer base, particularly in the more urban stores for whom we are a more semi-permanent solution to their particular need as opposed to the more typical pre-COVID where it was a transaction in which a customer was simply moving from point A to point B and had a more defined timeline for their length of stay.

在退租端，我認為我們看到一個客群，特別是在較都會型的門店中，對他們而言我們更像是一個半永久性的解決方案，以滿足其特定需求；而不是更典型的疫情前情況——當時比較像是一筆交易，客戶只是從 A 點搬到 B 點，對停留時間有更明確的時程。

Brendan Lynch, Barclays.

Brendan Lynch，Barclays。

Chris, you mentioned large language models in the context of advertising spending. Can you just give us an update on how Cube is using large language models and how it's changing dynamics for acquiring clients?

Chris，你在談到廣告支出時提到了大型語言模型。你能否更新一下 Cube 如何使用大型語言模型，以及它如何改變獲客的動態？

So very early stages in terms of certainly our product and how folks are searching for it. So we're still seeing only about 1% or 2% of the customer conversions to a rental coming through channels search channels, not paid search, but increasing gradually. And again, I think it's interesting because it's creating an opportunity for sort of a longer tail search that brings in a disparate characteristics in terms of what the customer is searching for. So as an example, looking not only for geographic convenience. So self-storage near me continues to be the most searched term but also bringing in the more qualitative of mature convenience, but high-quality service, good value.

目前仍在非常早期的階段，無論是就我們的產品而言，或是人們如何搜尋它而言。我們目前仍只看到大約 1% 到 2% 的客戶轉換為租賃，是透過搜尋渠道進來的——不是付費搜尋——但正在逐步增加。而且我覺得這很有意思，因為它創造了一個較長尾的搜尋機會，帶來在客戶搜尋內容上更分散的特徵。舉例來說，不只是在找地理位置的便利——「我附近的自助倉儲（self-storage near me）」仍然是最常被搜尋的詞——也會帶來更偏質性的需求，例如成熟便利性、高品質服務、良好性價比。

It's creating an opportunity to begin to have a bit more of a spatial surge. So help me understand how to store all the possessions in my one-bedroom apartment, et cetera. And so what feeds into that, though, is not all that different than what we would have seen as we somewhat evolved from Yellow Pages to paid search, it's the geographies of the geography, but being able to have reviews or other content that enhances and validates that your store has those characteristics that, that customer is searching for good value, great customer service, et cetera. So very early stages continues to evolve.

它也創造了一個機會，開始出現更多「空間」相關的搜尋需求。例如：幫我理解如何把我一房公寓的所有物品都收納起來，等等。不過，支撐這些的，其實與我們從黃頁逐步演進到付費搜尋時看到的並沒有那麼不同：仍然是地理位置，但要能透過評論或其他內容來強化並驗證你的門店具備那些特質——也就是客戶正在搜尋的：高性價比、很棒的客戶服務，等等。所以仍在非常早期，且持續演進中。

And then the monetization of that is not quite there yet either in terms of how our some of these LLM ultimately going to monetize the value of having that customer come through that panel. So early and interesting, and we're doing a lot of work with our great team here internally on the marketing side and with a lot of our external partners to continue to make sure that we are well positioned as this evolves.

而在變現方面也還沒完全到位，因為這些 LLM 最終會如何把「讓客戶透過那個介面進來」的價值變現，目前仍不明朗。所以這很早期、也很有趣；我們內部行銷團隊以及許多外部合作夥伴正在做大量工作，以確保在這個演進過程中我們能處於有利位置。

Maybe a follow-up on that. Are you finding that customers who are using the large language models can be more efficient in the amount of space that they take. I'd imagine if you didn't have the capability to assess really what amount of space you needed for, say, a one-bedroom apartment. If you ask a large language model and said you need a 10 by 10, you might have otherwise taken the 10 by 20. So just kind of walk through those considerations about how the customer might be benefiting as well?

我想就此追問一下。你們是否發現使用大型語言模型的客戶，在租用空間大小上可能更有效率？我想像如果你沒有能力評估，例如一房公寓到底需要多少空間；如果你問大型語言模型，它告訴你需要 10x10，你原本可能會租 10x20。能否談談這些考量，以及客戶可能如何因此受益？

Yes. So again, very, very early in this whole journey. So not at a point to draw any conclusions. But one of the headaches, frankly, in our industry is that our customers, in general, are not always the most spatially aware. It's sometimes difficult to understand how all the contents of your one-bedroom apartment may fit into a 10 by 10 storage Cube.

是的。所以同樣地，這整段旅程仍然非常、非常早期，還不到能下任何結論的程度。但坦白說，我們產業的一個痛點是：一般而言，我們的客戶不一定很有空間感。有時候很難理解你一房公寓的所有物品，怎麼可能放得進一個 10x10 的儲物單元（storage Cube）。

So to the extent that the LLM and the various inputs help that customer makes the right decision on the front end, I think that's very helpful from a frictional cost perspective to us because having to have them begin the journey and then discover that they either went too large or too small and they need to relocate to another Cube is an operationally frictional cost to us.

因此，如果 LLM 與各種輸入能幫助客戶在一開始就做出正確決策，我認為這對我們在摩擦成本（frictional cost）角度非常有幫助；因為若客戶開始租用後才發現租太大或太小、需要搬到另一個 Cube，對我們而言在營運上會產生摩擦成本。

Eric Luebchow, Wells Fargo.

Eric Luebchow，Wells Fargo。

Tim, I know you talked a little bit about potential co-ownership or JV structure to contribute some assets. I guess as you think about that potential structure, would you focus more on your core urban assets in the Midwest or Northeast, that have been more stable in the last couple of years or potentially look at more Sunbelt markets where trends have been a little choppier.

Tim，我知道你稍早談到可能透過共同持有或合資（JV）架構來投入一些資產。我想問的是，當你思考那種潛在架構時，你會更聚焦在過去幾年較穩定的中西部或東北部核心都會資產？還是可能會看趨勢較波動的陽光帶（Sunbelt）市場？

Yes, I appreciate the question. Overall, what we would hope to do is to, again, be consistent with our long-term objective to have the highest quality portfolio. So most likely what we would do is look for assets that we contribute that are in perhaps outside of top 40 MSAs or assets within top 40 MSAs that are more on the outer ring of that particular MSA versus kind of the core inside.

是的，謝謝你的問題。整體而言，我們希望做的是——再次——與我們長期目標一致，也就是擁有最高品質的資產組合。因此，我們最可能的做法是尋找我們可投入的資產：可能是位於前 40 大都會統計區（MSA）之外的資產，或是位於前 40 大 MSA 之內但更偏外圍圈層、而不是核心內圈的資產。

Then you go through that analysis and say, do you want to target assets that are in markets that have been underperforming or under pressure from supply and the like, and would you be potentially leaving some meat on the bone for some of those assets as those markets inevitably recover and start to outperform? All those things are considered. All of those things are consideration. So it's complicated and -- but we continue to work through that because at the moment within the current environment, we think it potentially could be a pretty attractive path for us.

接著你會做完那個分析並思考：你是否要鎖定那些位於表現落後、或因供給等因素而承壓市場中的資產？而當那些市場不可避免地復甦並開始跑贏時，你是否可能會在某些資產上「留下一些肉在骨頭上」（也就是少賺到一些上行空間）？這些事情都會被納入考量。所有這些都是考量因素。所以這很複雜——但我們仍持續推進這項工作，因為在目前的環境下，我們認為這對我們而言可能是一條相當具吸引力的路徑。

Great. Appreciate that. And I guess just rough numbers, are you still seeing acquisition cap rate kind of in the lower 5% range for Class A? Or have those kind of moved at all year-to-date?

很好，感謝說明。我想再問一下大概的數字：你們目前看到的 Class A 收購資本化率（cap rate）是否仍大致落在 5% 出頭的較低區間？還是今年迄今有任何變動？

I think that's a safe characterization. I mean, we see some things to trade even tighter than that. But I would say very low 5s is -- tends to be where things are trading. Sometimes you get into the mid-5s. A lot of sellers based on what they're looking for would imply something very, very tight even inside some of those numbers.

我認為這樣描述是安全的。我的意思是，我們也看到有些交易甚至比那個還要更緊。但我會說，非常低的 5% 出頭——通常是交易成交的區間。有時會到 5% 中段。很多賣方基於他們想要的條件，所隱含的其實是非常、非常緊的水準，甚至比其中一些數字還要更緊。

Mike Mueller, JPMorgan.

Mike Mueller，摩根大通（JPMorgan）。

Just quick one, are you seeing any pockets of opportunity where you're starting to see development make more sense at some point? And where we could see activity pick up in the next few years for you?

快速問一個：你們是否看到任何機會區塊，讓你們開始覺得在某個時間點開發（development）變得更合理？以及未來幾年你們的開發活動可能在哪些地方回升？

No is the short answer, I think there are always going to be a unique opportunity in a market where you don't have supply in the trade ring, whether that be ground up or a conversion of the existing asset. So it's not zero. But I think the inputs in terms of costs and then the ultimate underwriting of rental rate for the new customers to fill up the new store, continue to make development quite challenging on a broad scale.

簡短答案是沒有。我認為市場上永遠都會有一些獨特機會，例如在某個市場裡，你在競爭範圍內看不到供給，不論是從零開始新建（ground up），或是把既有資產改造轉換（conversion）。所以不是完全為零。但我認為，從成本等投入面，以及最終對新客戶租金水準的承作假設（underwriting）——也就是要用什麼租金去把新店填滿——這些因素仍讓大範圍的開發相當具挑戰性。

Got it. Okay. And then maybe just something on ECRI. I know you talked about the consumer being good and accepting ECRI. But if you look at the move outs that tend to happen, do you have a sense as to what portion leaves in conjunction with ECRI versus they just don't need storage anymore and maybe how that compares to the split compares to, I don't know, what you've seen in normal times over the past.

了解。好。那再問一個關於 ECRI 的問題。我知道你提到消費者狀況良好，也能接受 ECRI。但如果看那些通常會發生的退租（move outs），你們是否掌握有多少比例是因為 ECRI 而離開， versus 他們只是已經不需要倉儲了？以及這個拆分與過去正常時期你們看到的情況相比如何？

Yes. To the best that we can get at that again, we are -- we're observing that customer that gets a rate increase and then their behavior in the recent months following that and comparing that to our expectations based on historical data over a long period of time, and we haven't seen any change in that trend. The stated reason the overwhelming amount of time for why a customer chooses to leave the portfolio is because they no longer have the need for the storage Cube that brought them to us in the first place.

是的。就我們能掌握的範圍而言，我們會觀察客戶在被調漲費率後，其在接下來幾個月的行為，並把這些與我們基於長期歷史資料所形成的預期做比較；我們沒有看到這個趨勢有任何改變。客戶選擇離開我們組合（portfolio）的原因，在絕大多數情況下，都是因為他們不再需要當初讓他們來找我們的那個倉儲空間。

Spenser Glimcher, Green Street.

Spenser Glimcher，Green Street。

I appreciate all the color you provided on the third-party management business. Just Curious if you think that over time, you're more sophisticated AI usage or machine learning will bring a greater portion of smaller operators to your platform?

感謝你們就第三方管理業務提供的所有細節。我只是好奇，隨著時間推進，你們更成熟的 AI 使用或機器學習，是否會讓更多小型業者加入你們的平台？

And I think the -- I think you put that in a laundry list or a bucket of a lot of things that we and a handful of sophisticated operators bring to the table. And so I think that's one of those areas where Chris touched on a little while ago, we're early stages. But as the search for the product evolves from an AI perspective, opportunities to improve operational efficiencies, pricing systems, the larger players are going to most likely be the winners and be on the front end of a lot of that evolution.

我認為——我想你可以把那點放在一長串清單或一個「桶子」裡：那是我們以及少數幾家成熟業者能提供的眾多能力之一。所以我認為這也是 Chris 先前稍微提到的領域之一：我們還在早期階段。但隨著從 AI 角度來看，產品搜尋的演進，以及提升營運效率、定價系統等機會的出現，較大型的玩家很可能會成為贏家，並站在許多演進的最前端。

And I would think that if I were an owner of a store and looked at how challenging of an operating business that we're in, that those large players like us have those tools, have those advantages. So I would just put that in a bucket with a whole bunch of other things that have us stand out as to why our platform is going to help create the most value for their self-storage asset.

而且我會認為，如果我是某家店的業主，看到我們這個營運型生意有多具挑戰性，而像我們這樣的大型玩家擁有那些工具、那些優勢。我會把這也放在一個「桶子」裡，和其他很多讓我們脫穎而出的因素一起看：為什麼我們的平台能協助他們的自助倉儲資產創造最大的價值。

Yes, that's fair. Do you think it will be incumbent upon you and the team to go out and make that point like very clear to smaller operators as part of just kind of looking outreach and trying to have others see the growing value of your platform? Or do you think that, that will just naturally bring smaller operators see you without kind of additional work on your end?

是的，這很合理。你認為你和團隊是否需要主動出去，把這個觀點對小型業者講得非常清楚——作為外展（outreach）的一部分，讓更多人看到你們平台日益增加的價值？還是你覺得小型業者會自然地被吸引過來，而不需要你們額外做太多？

I think it will be a combination of those things. Certainly, our business development team, and we're at trade shows and lot of our third-party opportunities come from referrals. And so we need to do a good job and continue to do a good job for our existing owners because their referral is one of our most important contributors to adding stores to the platform. But at trade shows and our, quote-unquote, dog and pony shows certainly we need to do a good job to explain all the things that we do and how we do them in ways that we believe are superior to the way that others do them. And so that, again, that's another piece of that story, and that's another piece of our sophisticated platform that we need to both perform on and do a good job of explaining to potential customers of ours.

我認為會是兩者的結合。當然，我們的業務開發團隊會在展會上活動，而且我們很多第三方機會來自轉介。因此，我們必須把現有業主服務好，並持續把他們服務好，因為他們的轉介是我們把店鋪加入平台最重要的貢獻來源之一。但在展會以及我們所謂的「dog and pony show」上，我們確實需要把我們做的所有事情、以及我們如何做，清楚說明——而且要以我們相信優於他人的方式來說明。因此，這同樣是故事的一部分，也是我們成熟平台的一部分：我們既要把它做出成果，也要把它向潛在客戶解釋清楚。

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Josh for closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題。我現在把電話會議交回 Josh 作結語。

Hey, there, this is Chris. Josh ceded his closing remarks to me. But thank you all for listening. We're very enthusiastic by how the spring has started here for our business and our company. We're quite excited by all of the things we're working on internally, which I think will continue to create value over time and continue to create a great customer service experience for the users of our products.

大家好，我是 Chris。Josh 把他的結語讓給我來說。不過也謝謝各位收聽。我們對今年春季以來我們的業務與公司開局的表現感到非常振奮。我們也對內部正在推進的所有工作感到相當興奮，我認為這些將隨時間持續創造價值，並持續為我們產品的使用者帶來很棒的客戶服務體驗。

So looking forward to the quarter and seeing how the busy season unfolds here, and we'll be excited to report back to you in a few months. Thanks, everyone, and have a great weekend.

因此，我們期待接下來這一季，看看旺季在這裡會如何展開；也很期待在幾個月後向各位回報。謝謝大家，祝各位週末愉快。

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位參與。您現在可以掛線。