Culp Inc (CULP) 2026 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Culp, Inc. third-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Drew Anderson. Please go ahead.

大家好，歡迎參加 Culp, Inc. 2026 財政年度第三季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 請注意，本活動將被錄音。現在我想把會議交給 Drew Anderson。請開始。

Good morning and welcome to the CULP conference call to review the company's results for the third quarter of fiscal 2026. As we start, let me state that this morning's call will contain forward-looking statements about the business, financial condition, and prospects of the company. Forward-looking statements are statements that include projections, expectations, or beliefs about future events or results, or otherwise are not statements of historical fact.

各位早安，歡迎參加 CULP 電話會議，回顧公司 2026 財政年度第三季的業績。在開始之前，我先聲明，今天上午的電話會議將包含有關公司業務、財務狀況與前景的前瞻性陳述。前瞻性陳述係指包含對未來事件或結果的預測、期望或信念之陳述，或其他非歷史事實之陳述。

The actual performance of the company could differ materially from that indicated by the forward-looking statements because of various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are described in our regular SEC filings, including the company's most recent filings on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Additional risks and uncertainties that we do not presently know about or that we currently consider to be immaterial may also affect our business operations and financial results.

由於各種風險與不確定性，公司的實際表現可能與前瞻性陳述所示有重大差異。這些風險與不確定性已在我們例行向 SEC 提交的文件中說明，包括公司最近提交的 Form 10-K 與 Form 10-Q。此外，我們目前尚未知悉或目前認為不具重大性的其他風險與不確定性，也可能影響我們的營運與財務結果。

You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements made today, and each such statement speaks only as of today. We undertake no obligation to update or to revise forward-looking statements. In addition, during this call, the company will be discussing non-GAAP financial measurements. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measurements to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measurement is included in the tables to the press release included as an exhibit to the company's 8K filed yesterday and posted on the company's website at CULP.com. An investor relations presentation is also available on the company's website as part of the webcast of today's call. I will now turn the call over to Is CULP, President and Chief Executive Officer of CULP. Please go ahead.

提醒各位不要過度依賴今日所作的前瞻性陳述，且每一項陳述僅代表截至今日的觀點。我們不承擔更新或修訂前瞻性陳述之義務。此外，在本次電話會議中，公司將討論非 GAAP 財務衡量指標。這些非 GAAP 財務衡量指標與最直接可比的 GAAP 財務衡量指標之調節表，已收錄於新聞稿所附表格中；該新聞稿作為附件包含在公司昨日提交的 8-K 中，並已發布於公司網站 CULP.com。投資人關係簡報亦可於公司網站取得，作為今日電話會議網路直播的一部分。現在我將把電話會議交給 CULP 總裁兼執行長 Is CULP。請開始。

Thank you, Drew, and good morning and thank you to everyone for joining us today. With me on the call is Ken Bolling, our Chief Financial Officer. I will begin the call with some detailed comments, and as mentioned in the introduction, we did post a slide presentation to our website that provides some information that is supplemental to what we will speak about today relating to our results and strategies. That slide presentation is simply entitled Third Quarter FY26 Supplemental Information. Ken will then review the financial results for the quarter. After that, I'll briefly review our business outlook for the remainder of fiscal 26, and we will take some questions.

謝謝你，Drew，各位早安，也感謝大家今天加入我們。與我一同參與電話會議的是我們的財務長 Ken Bolling。我將先做一些較為詳細的說明；如同開場提到的，我們已在網站上發布一份投影片簡報，提供與我們今天將談及的業績與策略相關、作為補充的資訊。該投影片簡報標題為「2026 財年第三季補充資訊」。接著 Ken 將回顧本季的財務結果。之後，我會簡要說明 2026 財年剩餘期間的業務展望，並開放提問。

Our third-quarter results are candidly frustrating, given all that we've done over the last year and a half to transform our company and position it to generate value for shareholders. The prolonged low demand environment across the home furnishings industry just continues to pressure our top line and inhibit our ability to leverage all the cost and efficiency enhancements we've made in recent periods. Compounding our frustration was untimely severe weather in the southeast that caused us to lose the last week of our quarter of shipping from Stokesdale.

坦白說，我們第三季的結果令人沮喪，因為在過去一年半裡，我們已做了許多工作來轉型公司並使其具備為股東創造價值的定位。家居用品產業長期處於低需求環境，持續壓抑我們的營收，並抑制我們運用近幾期所完成的各項成本與效率提升的能力。更令我們挫折的是，東南部地區不合時宜的惡劣天候，導致我們位於 Stokesdale 的出貨在本季最後一週完全中斷。

This was a significant one-time impact, especially to our betting revenue results, which I will touch on a bit more shortly. Regardless, I'm extremely proud of our team for staying focused and executing on integration and restructuring initiatives that touch pretty much every area of our company and doing so both on time and according to plan.

這是一項重大的單次性影響，尤其對我們的床墊（bedding）營收結果影響更大，我稍後會再多談一些。無論如何，我對我們的團隊感到非常自豪，因為大家始終保持專注，並執行幾乎涵蓋公司各個領域的整合與重整計畫，而且能按時並依照既定計畫完成。

I'm confident that the benefits of this work will become more and more evident in our results. I'd like to thank all of our associates across the United States, China, Haiti and Dominican Republic, and Vietnam as well as our former associates in Canada and our global network of strategic supply partners for all of their heavy lifting to get us to where we are today with a fully optimized manufacturing engine ready to pounce on any improvements in demand. Importantly, our revamped platform is poised to scale and absorb capacity without adding any significant expense.

我有信心，這些工作的效益將在我們的結果中愈來愈明顯。我要感謝我們在美國、中國、海地與多明尼加共和國、以及越南的所有同仁，也感謝我們先前在加拿大的同仁，以及我們遍布全球的策略供應夥伴網絡；大家為了讓我們走到今天、打造一個完全最佳化的製造引擎、隨時準備在需求改善時迅速出擊，付出了大量努力。重要的是，我們重新打造的平台已具備擴張能力，能在不增加任何重大費用的情況下擴大規模並吸收產能。

We just need the unit volume. As I mentioned in our release, we are confident that industry conditions will eventually stabilize and skew favorable in our core bedding and furniture markets. Both our own operating history and the market data are indicating a current historical deficit in overall industry units, but also conditions that are ripe, perhaps even overripe, according to some, for a product replacement cycle that should energize the top line. The pockets of positive demand activity that we've seen in recent periods on the betting side also support that proposition.

我們只需要出貨量（unit volume）。如同我在新聞稿中提到的，我們相信產業狀況終將趨於穩定，並在我們核心的床墊與家具市場轉向有利。我們自身的營運歷史與市場數據都顯示，目前整體產業的出貨單位數存在歷史性的缺口；同時也出現一些條件，依部分人士所言，甚至可能已「過熟」，足以引發產品汰換週期，進而帶動營收成長。我們近期在床墊（bedding）端所看到的部分正向需求活動，也支持這項論點。

However, we agree with the industry consensus that housing activity, particularly affordability and availability trends in housing, and consumer competence and discretionary spending all need to level up to drive any meaningful market recovery. We've included some data in our supplemental presentations on pages 14 through 18 providing additional context for the impacts of housing activity, consumer confidence levels, and other related factors, as well as some historical industry unit trends.

然而，我們也同意產業共識：要推動任何有意義的市場復甦，住房活動（特別是住房可負擔性與供給可得性趨勢）、以及消費者信心與可支配支出，都需要提升。我們在補充簡報第 14 至 18 頁納入了一些數據，提供住房活動、消費者信心水準與其他相關因素之影響的更多背景，以及一些歷史性的產業出貨單位數趨勢。

Our commercial team, led by Chief Commercial Officer Tommy Bruno, has done an outstanding job of being proactive in increasing our share of the available business despite the top-line current environment where overall sales growth is so hard to come by if not unheard of on the supplier side. One thing we've always done really well at Colt is to take the time to listen to our customers, fully understand what their needs are, and meet those needs on their timetable with competitive and fashionable fabrics and sewn covers.

在首席商務長 Tommy Bruno 的帶領下，我們的商務團隊表現非常出色；即使在目前整體營收成長極難取得、甚至在供應商端幾乎聞所未聞的環境下，他們仍主動出擊，提升我們在可取得業務中的市占率。我們在 Culp 一直做得很好的其中一件事，就是花時間傾聽客戶、充分理解他們的需求，並在他們的時程內，以具競爭力且符合潮流的布料與縫製套件（sewn covers）滿足這些需求。

We have continued to do this well and prioritize our customers above all else, which has resulted in a fairly steady stream of program wins with major customers on both the betting and upholstery sides of our business, and what we believe is a larger market share within the key segments we target. In our betting business, we were on pace this quarter to comp sales in the prior year period, which is no small feat in this market. But multiple snowstorms in the southeastern US caused us to basically lose the entire last week of shipping for the quarter at our most important facility in that business. Up to that point in the quarter, we believe that our betting sales velocity was outpacing the industry.

我們持續把這件事做得很好，並將客戶置於一切之上；因此，在我們業務的床墊（bedding）與沙發／軟體家具（upholstery）兩大領域，與主要客戶之間持續取得相當穩定的專案得標（program wins），並使我們相信在所鎖定的關鍵細分市場中擁有更高的市占率。在我們的床墊（bedding）業務方面，本季原本有望與去年同期的銷售持平（comp），在這樣的市場環境下這並不容易。但美國東南部多場暴風雪，導致我們在該業務最重要的廠區於本季最後一週幾乎完全失去出貨。在本季截至那個時間點之前，我們相信我們的床墊（bedding）銷售動能（sales velocity）是領先產業的。

Despite this difficult backdrop, we have solid opportunities in mattress covers, which is a key growth area for us that carries higher sales dollars and margin, and we look for the momentum we saw in our overall betting business for most of that third quarter to resume in our fourth quarter. Sales velocity in our upholstery business was more elusive this quarter, with residential furniture purchases continuing to be affected by muted housing and consumer spending activity along with heightened tariff sensitivity due to the primarily offshore supply chain for furniture and especially for furniture components. In addition, we've continued to see project delays in the commercial and hospitality upholstery markets we serve that have in turn delayed sales of fabric and window treatments into those channels.

儘管大環境艱難，我們在床墊套（mattress covers）方面仍有扎實的機會；這是我們的關鍵成長領域，具有較高的銷售金額與毛利。我們預期第三季大部分時間在整體床墊（bedding）業務所看到的動能，將在第四季恢復。本季我們在沙發／軟體家具（upholstery）業務的銷售動能較不明顯；住宅家具購買持續受到疲弱的住房與消費支出活動影響，同時由於家具、尤其是家具零組件主要依賴海外供應鏈，關稅敏感度也升高。此外，我們持續看到我們所服務的商用與飯店／旅宿（hospitality）軟體家具市場出現專案延遲，進而延後布料與窗飾產品在這些通路的銷售。

We see the project delays in our commercial channel as temporary, and we continue to build relationships with major hotel brands and prioritize our preferred supplier certifications under their design and construction standards. We have built a strong competitive position in both the residential as well as the commercial and hospitality markets, and this advantage creates some natural hedge for our revenue and supply chains. In recent prior periods, hospitality and commercial performed well relative to residential, but Q3 was an anomaly with weaker sales in both areas that is expected to be non-recurring as we look forward. One bright spot for us in upholstery during the quarter was in the upholstery kit product category.

我們認為商用通路的專案延遲屬於暫時性，我們也持續與主要飯店品牌建立關係，並優先取得其設計與施工標準下的優選供應商認證。我們在住宅以及商用與飯店／旅宿市場都建立了強勁的競爭地位，而這項優勢也為我們的營收與供應鏈帶來某種天然的避險效果。在近期先前的期間，飯店／旅宿與商用相對於住宅表現較佳，但第三季屬於異常情況，兩個領域的銷售都較弱；展望未來，我們預期這將不會重複發生。本季在軟體家具（upholstery）方面的一個亮點，是在 upholstery kit（軟體家具套件）產品類別。

This is a high-growth area for us where we typically generate higher per unit revenue. and we were able to achieve double-digit growth there that we look to continue in the fourth quarter. Also at Upholstery, Tommy and his team continue to focus on expanding our customer base to include more brands and retailers playing in the higher price point areas. Our current customer base primarily targets consumers buying at the mid- and lower-tier furniture price points. And one of our strategic priorities is to maintain our market-leading position in these segments while also diversifying more into the higher-end customer segment that caters to consumers less affected by economic cycles.

這對我們而言是一個高成長領域，我們通常能在此創造較高的單位收入。而且我們在該領域達成了兩位數成長，並希望在第四季延續。此外，在家具布料（Upholstery）方面，Tommy 與其團隊持續專注於擴大客戶基礎，納入更多位於較高價位帶的品牌與零售商。我們目前的客戶基礎主要鎖定在中低價位家具的消費者。我們的策略重點之一，是在維持我們於這些區隔的市場領先地位之同時，也進一步多元化，拓展至較高端的客群，該客群的消費者較不受景氣循環影響。

One of the other things we've always done well at Culp across both businesses is invest in the resources necessary to maintain market-leading position in product design and development, whether that's creating or adopting new fabric technology and performance capabilities or staying ahead of design trends and other innovation efforts. Our noted growth in furniture upholstery kits and in sewn mattress covers, despite the tough market conditions, provide good examples of our consistency in development and will continue to leverage our advantages and expertise going forward.

在 Culp，跨兩大事業我們一向做得很好的另一件事，是投資必要資源以維持在產品設計與開發上的市場領先地位，無論是創造或採用新的布料技術與機能表現，或是領先設計趨勢與其他創新工作。即使在艱困的市場環境下，我們在家具用包覆套件（upholstery kits）以及縫製床墊套（sewn mattress covers）方面的成長，都是我們在開發上保持一致性的良好例證；未來我們也將持續運用我們的優勢與專業。

This current season we're in also offers several great opportunities to meet with customers and show new products. This week, our key sales leaders for bedding are attending the International Sleep Products Association's bi-annual trade show and displaying in tandem with our long-term partner in Turkey. This ISPA show puts us in front of many of the industry leaders and major customers we target. We'll follow that up with a bedding design showcase here at our Innovation Center at Congdon Yards in High Point, where we'll host our bedding customers by appointment during the week of March 23rd to review all of our new products, our cut-and-sew prototypes and our open line. Both of these customer windows allow us great opportunity to continue placing new products and to grow our market position in bedding. Likewise, in upholstery, we have recently opened a new dedicated showroom in Vietnam to host customers anytime they need to review new fabrics.

我們目前所處的這個季節，也提供了數個與客戶會面並展示新產品的絕佳機會。本週，我們寢具業務的主要銷售主管正在參加國際睡眠產品協會（International Sleep Products Association, ISPA）的半年一次展會，並與我們在土耳其的長期合作夥伴同步展出。這場 ISPA 展會讓我們能接觸到許多產業領導者與我們鎖定的主要客戶。接著，我們將在高點（High Point）Congdon Yards 的創新中心舉辦一場寢具設計展示會，並於 3 月 23 日當週以預約方式接待寢具客戶，檢視我們所有新產品、裁剪與縫製（cut-and-sew）原型，以及我們的開放式產品線（open line）。這兩個客戶交流窗口，讓我們有很好的機會持續導入新產品並提升我們在寢具市場的地位。同樣地，在家具布料方面，我們近期在越南新開設了一間專屬展示間，方便客戶在需要檢視新布料時隨時來訪。

Our showroom is placed conveniently in the Ho Chi Minh City area, and the opening corresponds with a traditional Vietnam furniture show called the Vifa Expo for furniture and accessories. We are pleased with customer engagement so far, and the showroom allows us to meet with visiting US customers as well as Asia-based visitors and customers from all over the world. We are excited to have this global reach to display our latest introductions. The VIFA Expo also serves as a nice lead-in to our main fabric show, Interwoven, that will be in High Point at Congon Yards in May. At a summarized and big-picture level, We feel very good about our position as a key supplier to the major players in both our core betting and upholstery markets and believe that our market share gains will ultimately be reflected in our top-line growth, certainly once demand normalizes.

我們的展示間位於胡志明市地區，地點便利；其開幕也配合越南傳統的家具展——Vifa Expo（家具與配件展）。截至目前，我們對客戶互動情況感到滿意，而該展示間也讓我們能與來訪的美國客戶會面，同時接待亞洲地區的訪客以及來自全球各地的客戶。我們很高興能以這樣的全球觸及範圍來展示我們最新的產品導入。VIFA Expo 也為我們的主要布料展 Interwoven 暖身；該展將於 5 月在高點（High Point）的 Congon Yards 舉行。從概括與宏觀的角度來看，我們對於自己作為核心寢具與家具布料市場主要參與者之關鍵供應商的地位感到非常有信心，並相信我們的市占提升最終將反映在營收成長上，尤其是在需求回歸常態之後。

On the betting side particularly, we believe that our strategic focus aligns nicely with the ongoing consolidation trends among the major betting brands and retailers that we believe are likely to continue. What we've learned over our many years as a supplier is that customers value optionality and compliance in their supply chains and the redundancy and reliability we offer for production planning purposes. Our restructured global platform with flexible options across the full range of supply strategies is designed with that need foremost in mind, and it has continued to garner even more perceived value to larger customers that have complexity and diversity in their product lines. A basic map of our global platform and production options is displayed on page 12 of that supplemental deck. Turning now to the global trade and tariff landscape, particularly all of the change and unpredictability we are seeing there, we believe the recent volatility of trade policy can actually be a net positive for us, given that it serves to highlight the strategic value of our global platform to our customers. This was certainly the case before the recent IEPA tariff developments, but even more so now, given the fluidity and status with those tariffs and other new tariffs either announced or under consideration.

特別是在寢具端（betting side），我們認為我們的策略聚焦與主要寢具品牌與零售商持續整併的趨勢高度契合，而我們相信這些趨勢很可能會延續。我們多年作為供應商的經驗告訴我們，客戶重視其供應鏈中的選擇彈性與合規性，以及我們為生產規劃所提供的備援與可靠性。我們重整後的全球平台，提供涵蓋各種供應策略的彈性選項，設計時即以此需求為首要考量；對於產品線更複雜且多元的大型客戶而言，該平台也持續獲得更高的認知價值。我們全球平台與生產選項的基本示意圖，載於該補充簡報第 12 頁。接著談全球貿易與關稅環境，尤其是我們所看到的各種變動與不可預測性；我們認為近期貿易政策的波動，實際上可能對我們是淨正面，因為它凸顯了我們全球平台對客戶的策略價值。在近期 IEPA 關稅發展之前確實如此，而在目前更是如此，因為這些關稅及其他已宣布或正在考慮的新關稅，其狀態與變動性更高。

We are watching tariff developments very closely, from the Supreme Court decision to strike down [IEPA] tariffs to the administration's immediate enactment of new Section 122 tariffs and recent activity under Section 301. A summary of the tariff impacts and our mitigation strategies are displayed on page 11 of our supplemental deck. Our decision to consolidate our North American operations within our own Stokesdale facility in the US provides our bedding customers with a robust domestic production and distribution option that has proven to be prescient in this current environment.

我們正非常密切關注關稅發展，從最高法院推翻 [IEPA] 關稅的裁決，到政府立即施行新的第 122 條關稅，以及近期在第 301 條下的相關動作。關稅影響與我們的因應／緩解策略摘要，載於我們補充簡報第 11 頁。我們決定將北美營運整併至美國自有的 Stokesdale 廠區，為寢具客戶提供強健的國內生產與配送選項；在目前環境下，這項決策已證明相當具有前瞻性。

Similarly, our platform in Haiti on the border with the Dominican Republic gives customers a near-shore and low-tariff option, while our Vietnam and Turkey supply chains provide nice supplemental offshore options to complement our China production. Encouragingly, we're seeing customers lean more and more into the various sourcing alternatives we offer, as they are continually forced to factor the cost of new and changing tariffs into their models and build more flexibility into their strategies. Our global platform presents customers with what we believe is the best opportunity out there to source in multiple geographies and tariff regimes, but with the operational and administrative ease of dealing with a single turnkey supplier partner.

同樣地，我們位於海地、與多明尼加共和國接壤的據點，為客戶提供近岸（near-shore）且低關稅的選項；而我們在越南與土耳其的供應鏈，則提供良好的補充性離岸（offshore）選項，以搭配我們在中國的生產。令人鼓舞的是，我們看到客戶愈來愈多地採用我們提供的各種採購替代方案，因為他們持續被迫將新增與變動的關稅成本納入模型，並在策略中建立更高的彈性。我們的全球平台為客戶提供我們認為市場上最佳的機會：可在多個地理區域與不同關稅制度下進行採購，同時又能以與單一交鑰匙（turnkey）供應商夥伴合作的方式，享有營運與行政上的便利。

Looking at that tariff issue from a pure cost perspective and how they directly affect our financials, we believe that the current go-forward tariff rates applicable to our business are manageable and, in some cases, improved versus what we've had to absorb in prior periods. Additionally, our pricing adjustments and surcharges implemented in recent periods are appropriately calibrated and are expected to offset tariff costs on a cost-neutral basis over the near to medium term, absent, of course, any unanticipated governmental changes or sudden increases. I have stated for multiple quarters that we believe our strategic platform is an advantage for CULT in an uncertain tariff environment.

若從純成本角度來看關稅議題，以及其如何直接影響我們的財務，我們認為目前未來適用於我們業務的關稅稅率是可控的，且在某些情況下，相較於過去期間我們必須吸收的水準已有所改善。此外，我們在近期期間所實施的價格調整與附加費（surcharges）已適當校準，預期在短至中期內可在成本中性（cost-neutral）的基礎上抵銷關稅成本；當然，前提是不出現任何未預期的政府變動或突然上調。我已連續多個季度表示，我們相信在不確定的關稅環境下，我們的策略平台是 CULP 的一項優勢。

The problem we had for most of this year was keeping pace with the sweeping changes in tariff rates. The quick cadence of the changes often created a natural lag between tariff effective dates and price adjustments that resulted in pressured profitability. I again want to reiterate that we are now covered with known tariffs present today, and overall we feel positive about where we are on the tariff issue going forward. both from the perspective of our competitive positioning in the market and from a product cost perspective. Before I move on from tariffs, I want to mention that we are, of course, taking the steps necessary to be in position to obtain any available refunds on the IEPA tariffs we've paid that were subject to the recent court decisions on that issue.

我們今年大部分時間面臨的問題，是難以跟上關稅稅率的大幅變動。變動節奏過快，往往造成關稅生效日與價格調整之間的自然時間落差，進而使獲利能力承壓。我再次重申，我們目前已就現行已知關稅完成覆蓋；整體而言，對於未來關稅議題我們感到正面——無論是從我們在市場中的競爭定位角度，或從產品成本角度。在我結束關稅話題之前，我也要提到，針對我們已支付且受近期法院裁決影響的 IEPA 關稅，我們當然正在採取必要步驟，以確保具備取得任何可得退稅的條件。

We have filed all the necessary protests related to reliquidated entries and have also filed a lawsuit with the Court of International Trade. Over the last 14 months, we've paid over $15 million in total baseline duties and tariffs, with an estimated $6 to $7 million in IEPA tariffs over that same period. It is those IEPA tariffs where we are entitled to refund. Depending, of course, on how the refund issue ultimately plays out, our receipt of the amount of IEPA tariffs we've paid would be significant and would offset some previous period losses. Again, that pace of tariff implementation has been punitive to our profitability, so any refunds would help to remedy the lag impacts we experience adjusted to those policy changes.

我們已就重新清算（reliquidated）進口項目提出所有必要的抗議（protests），並且也已向國際貿易法院（Court of International Trade）提起訴訟。在過去 14 個月中，我們合計支付超過 1,500 萬美元的基準關稅與稅費，其中估計約有 600 萬至 700 萬美元為同期間的 IEPA 關稅。我們有權獲得退還的，正是這些 IEPA 關稅。當然，退稅結果最終如何仍取決於後續發展；若我們能收回已支付的 IEPA 關稅金額，影響將相當顯著，並可抵銷部分前期期間的虧損。再次強調，關稅實施的速度對我們的獲利能力具有懲罰性，因此任何退稅都有助於彌補我們因應政策變動所經歷的時間落差影響。

Lastly, on tariffs, in addition to those IEPA tariffs, we're also anticipating some refunds on the baseline duties on Haiti-produced zone covers we paid in recent periods, before the reinstatement of the Haiti Hope Help Trade Program, which gives Haiti imports duty-free treatment. I'd now like to take some time to update all of the work we've completed on our lower cost structure and add efficiencies across both our betting and upholstery businesses. Our third quarter was a capstone to the efforts we began at the beginning of last fiscal year to comprehensively restructure our operating platform as well as integrate our business and the way we go to market. We've now completed the last of several major initiatives associated with the integration of our two former standalone divisions,

最後，關於關稅，除了那些 IEPA 關稅之外，我們也預期就近期期間所支付、海地 Hope Help 貿易計畫恢復之前海地生產之區域罩套（zone covers）基準關稅，獲得部分退稅；該計畫使海地進口享有免稅待遇。接下來我想花一些時間，更新我們在降低成本結構以及在床墊布料（bedding）與家具裝潢（upholstery）兩大業務中提升效率方面已完成的所有工作。我們第三季可說是自上一財年年初開始、為全面重整我們的營運平台並整合我們的業務與市場進入方式所做努力的階段性成果。我們現已完成與整合先前兩個獨立事業部相關的數項重大計畫中的最後一項。

Mattress and Upholstery, or what we called CHF and CUF, into a unified, cult-branded business which we called Project Blaze internally. The fiscal year 26 substantive actions of this comprehensive reorganization are detailed on pages 9 and 10 of the supplemental presentation. And Q4 will be the first quarter with all projects completed and savings and efficiencies fully enacted. As a reminder, our project blaze initially involved the transition of our division presidents into company-wide chief commercial officer and chief operating officer roles. And we followed that with the blending of other division operations and resources. During the third quarter, we completed two key related initiatives. A

床墊與家具裝潢（我們稱之為 CHF 與 CUF）整合為一個統一的、以 Culp 品牌為核心的事業體，我們在內部稱之為 Project Blaze。此一全面重組在 26 財年的實質行動詳載於補充簡報第 9 與第 10 頁。而第四季將是所有專案完成、節省與效率全面落地後的第一個季度。提醒一下，Project Blaze 起初包含將各事業部總裁轉任為公司層級的首席商務長（CCO）與首席營運長（COO）。之後我們進一步整合其他事業部的營運與資源。在第三季，我們完成了兩項關鍵的相關計畫。A

nd thanks to the hard work of our team, we now have all of our US distribution operations consolidated under one roof with our own facility in Stokesville, North Carolina, with a single management team overseeing both our bedding and upholstery businesses' distribution activities in our largest market. We also completed a similar transition in our reed window business, operated within our upholstery segment during the quarter. Our fixed costs in that business are now significantly reduced through the relocation of our former operations in a leased facility in Tennessee to a shared management model within our Stokesdale facility and the increased usage of strategic outsourcing partners.

而且在團隊的努力下，我們現在已將美國的所有配送作業整併至同一屋簷下，集中於我們位於北卡羅來納州 Stokesville 的自有設施，由單一管理團隊統籌我們在最大市場中床墊布料與家具裝潢兩大業務的配送活動。我們也在本季完成了窗簾布（reed window）業務的類似轉型；該業務在本季係於我們的家具裝潢事業部內運作。透過將先前位於田納西州租賃設施的作業遷移至 Stokesdale 設施下的共享管理模式，並提高策略性外包夥伴的使用，我們該業務的固定成本現已大幅降低。

And finally, we completed our plans to streamline our China operations, which are our second largest after the US during the quarter, which included both facility and headcount reductions. all told, beginning with the restructuring of our betting business last year and continuing through the completion of these most recent initiatives, we've generated over $20 million in annualized cost savings and enhancement, many of which have already began to positively impact our results and the remainder of which should begin to benefit our results in our fourth quarter and in fiscal 2027 in the form of lower costs and better operating margins. Of course, assuming no further significant drop-off in sales.

最後，我們在本季也完成了精簡中國營運的計畫；中國是僅次於美國的第二大營運據點，該計畫包含廠房與人力縮減。總體而言，自去年對我們的床墊布料（bedding）業務進行重整開始，並延續至近期這些計畫的完成，我們已創造超過 2,000 萬美元的年化成本節省與效益提升，其中許多已開始對我們的業績產生正面影響，其餘部分預期將於第四季及 2027 財年以更低成本與更佳營運利潤率的形式開始貢獻。當然，前提是銷售不再出現顯著下滑。

We believe we now have the pricing and cost structure optimized throughout our US nearshore and offshore operations, and we are ready to quickly and profitably increase capacity without additional cost when demand picks up. We look at our rebuilt platform as a high-performance engine that is ready to run. We just need more unit volume for it to fully reflect on our operating results and generate the value for our shareholders that we believe it will.

我們相信，現已在美國本土、近岸與離岸營運中，全面優化了定價與成本結構；當需求回升時，我們已準備好在不增加額外成本的情況下，快速且具獲利性地提升產能。我們將重建後的平台視為一具已準備好運轉的高性能引擎。我們只需要更多的出貨量，讓它能在營運成果上充分反映，並為股東創造我們相信其將帶來的價值。

We estimate that with our revamped lower cross-platform, any increase in our revenue numbers flows to the bottom line at an approximately 25% rate. However, I want to be very clear that our ultimate near-term goal remains getting Colt profitable in these pressured market conditions, and we are fully committed to maintaining a disciplined approach to cash management and cost containment until we get there.

我們估計，在我們重新打造、成本更低的跨平台架構下，營收的任何增加約有 25% 會流向最終盈餘。不過，我想非常清楚地說，我們近期的最終目標仍是在這些承壓的市場環境下讓 Culp 轉虧為盈；在達成之前，我們將全力維持嚴謹的現金管理與成本控管紀律。

One byproduct of our recent restructuring and integration activities that I want to briefly discuss is the excess inventory that we have accumulated in connection with the facility consolidations that were part of those efforts. When we made the decision to close our operations in Canada last year, we chose to build some safety stock in certain fabrics to ensure availability to customers as we transitioned to a single North American facility and stood up our outsourced supply model for damage products in Turkey. We also accumulated some excess inventory as a result of the reduction of our distribution footprint to a single facility with defined capacity, as well as other drivers.

我想簡要談一下我們近期重整與整合活動的一個副產品：因應廠房整併而累積的過剩庫存。去年我們決定關閉加拿大營運時，為了在轉換至單一北美設施、並在土耳其建立受損產品的外包供應模式期間確保對客戶的供貨，我們選擇在部分布料上建立一些安全庫存。此外，由於我們將配送據點縮減為單一且產能明確的設施，以及其他因素，我們也累積了一些額外庫存。

We took some markdowns on this inventory during the quarter that affected our profitability, and we have measurable plans to work through it and turn this inventory into a tailwind and generate cash over the next two quarters. In addition, our team is intensely focused on tightening up our overall inventory management efficiency and minimizing any markdown impacts to profitability going forward. Before I turn the call over to Ken, I want to acknowledge his planned retirement that was announced in January and update you on our success and plans for his Chief Financial Officer role. First of all, I want to thank Ken for his almost 30 years with Cole and for all he's done to help grow our company and lead us both through a variety of challenges and to many successes over the years.

本季我們對這些庫存進行了一些降價處理（markdowns），影響了獲利；我們已有可量化的計畫來消化這些庫存，並在未來兩個季度將其轉化為順風，進而創造現金。此外，我們的團隊正高度專注於強化整體庫存管理效率，並將未來降價對獲利的影響降至最低。在我把電話會議交給 Ken 之前，我想提及他在一月宣布的退休計畫，並向各位更新我們在其財務長（CFO）職務接任方面的進展與規劃。首先，我要感謝 Ken 在 Culp 近 30 年的服務，以及他多年來為協助公司成長所做的一切，並帶領我們面對各種挑戰、也取得許多成功。

Ken will leave very big shoes to fill, to say the least. We're thankful he has agreed to stay with Culp throughout 2026 and help us make a smooth transition to his successor. As we are digesting Ken's decision to retire, we are looking at the chief financial officer role in light of our Project Blaze initiative to integrate our operations and drive efficiencies where it makes sense. I'm pleased to report that we've established a plan for Mary Beth Hunsberger, Our current Chief Operating Officer to begin working closely with Ken over the course of calendar 2026 with the goal of immediately taking on some of the operational functions of the CFO role, specifically the financial planning and analysis, or FP&A, process for our FY27 operating plan.

可以說，Ken 將留下非常難以填補的空缺。我們很感謝他同意在 2026 年期間持續留任 Culp，協助我們順利交接給接任者。在我們消化 Ken 退休決定的同時，我們也從 Project Blaze 整合營運、在合理之處推動效率的角度，重新檢視財務長職務。我很高興向各位報告，我們已制定計畫，讓現任首席營運長 Mary Beth Hunsberger 在 2026 年曆年期間與 Ken 密切合作，目標是立即承接 CFO 職務中的部分營運性職能，特別是針對 FY27 營運計畫的財務規劃與分析（FP&A）流程。

Mary Beth joined us at CULP several years ago as president of what was then our CUF Upholstery Division and subsequently moved into the COO role in May 2025 as part of Project Blaze. Before Colt, Mary Beth spent a significant portion of her career in financial leadership roles, including several with Tempur-Sealy, a key customer of ours now known as Somni Group, in a variety of accounting and executive roles, including CFO, COO, and president of multinational furniture companies.

Mary Beth 幾年前加入 Culp，當時擔任我們原 CUF 家具裝潢事業部的總裁，之後於 2025 年 5 月作為 Project Blaze 的一部分轉任 COO。在加入 Culp 之前，Mary Beth 的職涯有相當長一段時間擔任財務領導職務，其中包括在 Tempur-Sealy（我們目前的重要客戶，現稱 Somni Group）任職的多個職位，涵蓋多種會計與高階管理角色，包括擔任跨國家具公司的 CFO、COO 與總裁。

We are very excited to leverage Mary Beth's skill set in an interim dual role responsible for integrating financial leadership and operational execution across our global platform. We believe it is a natural fit for Mary Beth to combine her operational leadership with financial oversight to accelerate our consolidated improvement and create more efficiencies.

我們非常期待在過渡期間運用 Mary Beth 的能力，讓她以雙重職責整合我們全球平台的財務領導與營運執行。我們相信，讓 Mary Beth 結合其營運領導與財務監督，以加速我們整體改善並創造更多效率，是非常自然且合適的安排。

Mary Beth should also be instrumental in bolstering our FP&A capabilities through system enhancements and upgrades, which is an area she has valuable proven leadership experience. We are extremely grateful to Ken for agreeing to continue serving in the CFO role and as our principal financial and accounting officer until we believe the time is right to make any official leadership transition. Ken has always been willing to share his wealth of knowledge regarding Culp and his financial and accounting functions, and we are all glad to have this time for our teams across the company to work together.

Mary Beth 也應能透過系統強化與升級，在提升我們的 FP&A 能力方面扮演關鍵角色；這是她具備寶貴且經驗證的領導專長領域。我們非常感謝 Ken 同意在我們認為適當的時間點進行任何正式領導交接之前，持續擔任 CFO 以及我們的主要財務與會計主管。Ken 一向樂於分享他對 Culp 以及其財務與會計職能的豐富知識；我們也很高興能有這段時間，讓公司各團隊共同合作。

I'm also excited to report that we've hired an individual to replace our recently departed corporate controller, which we also announced in January. This individual will also have the opportunity to work with Ken this year. As part of this planned transition, we believe he will be a key player for us going forward. Needless to say, we are thrilled to have a comprehensive transition plan in place for our financial leadership team at Culp. Congratulations, Ken and Mary Beth, and welcome to Culp O'Darrow. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Ken, who will review the financial results for the quarter, and then I'll review the outlook we are providing as we look ahead into the fourth quarter of fiscal 26.

我也很高興報告，我們已聘用一位人選來接替近期離任的公司控制長（corporate controller），此事我們也在一月對外宣布。這位人選今年也將有機會與 Ken 一起合作。作為這項規劃交接的一部分，我們相信他未來將成為我們的重要關鍵成員。不用說，我們對於在 Culp 的財務領導團隊已建立一套完整的交接計畫感到非常振奮。恭喜 Ken 與 Mary Beth，也歡迎加入 Culp 的 O'Darrow。接下來我把電話會議交給 Ken，由他回顧本季的財務結果，之後我將在展望 26 財年第四季時，說明我們所提供的前景指引。

Thanks, Yves, and thank you also for those kind words. It's been an honor and a privilege to work for Culp, and I'm totally committed to doing everything I can to ensure a very smooth transition. Here are the financial highlights for the third quarter. As mentioned earlier, we continue to face a challenging overall demand environment during the quarter and also lost some sales momentum to close the quarter due to severe weather, which impacted shipping at our most important facility.

謝謝你，Yves，也感謝你那些溫暖的話語。能為 Culp 工作是一種榮幸與特權，我也完全投入，會盡我所能確保交接非常順利。以下是第三季的財務重點。如先前所提到，本季我們仍面臨整體需求環境的挑戰，且由於惡劣天氣影響我們最重要廠區的出貨，導致季末部分銷售動能流失。

These conditions drove net sales of $48 million compared with net sales in the prior year period of $52.3 million. Consolidated gross profit for the quarter was $5.3 million, or 11.1%of sales, compared to the prior year period gross profit of $6.3 million or 12.1% of sales, with the decline driven by lower comparable sales, adjustments related to excess inventory stemming from our restructuring integration initiatives, and unfavorable foreign exchange rates associated with our China operations. The company reported a loss from operations of $3.7 million compared to a loss from operations of $3.9 million for the prior year period. Excluding restructuring and related expenses, adjusted loss from operations was $3.1 million compared to a loss of $1.6 million for the prior year period. Net loss of the third quarter was $3.4 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, a sequential improvement of approximately 20 percent from our second quarter, and an approximately 17 percent increase compared with a net loss of 4.1 million, or 33 cents per diluted share, for the prior year period. Excluding restructuring and related expenses and other non-cast charges, as well as the impact of net proceeds from a legal settlement of approximately $1 million, adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was a negative $2.2 million as compared to the negative $457,000 for the prior year period. The effective income tax rate for the quarter was a negative 9.3% compared with a negative 12.1% for the same period a year ago.

在這些情況下，淨銷售額為 4,800 萬美元，較去年同期的 5,230 萬美元下降。本季合併毛利為 530 萬美元，約占銷售額的 11.1%，相較去年同期毛利 630 萬美元、占銷售額 12.1% 下滑；下滑主因為同店銷售較低、與我們重整與整合計畫所導致的過剩庫存相關調整，以及與中國營運相關的不利匯率變動。公司本季營業損失 370 萬美元，去年同期營業損失為 390 萬美元。排除重整及相關費用後，調整後營業損失為 310 萬美元，去年同期為損失 160 萬美元。第三季淨損為 340 萬美元，稀釋後每股虧損 0.27 美元，較第二季約改善 20%，但較去年同期淨損 410 萬美元（稀釋後每股虧損 0.33 美元）約增加 17%。排除重整及相關費用與其他非現金費用，並剔除約 100 萬美元法律和解淨收益的影響後，本季調整後 EBITDA 為負 220 萬美元，去年同期為負 45.7 萬美元。本季有效所得稅率為負 9.3%，去年同期為負 12.1%。

Our effective income tax rate for the quarter continues to be impacted by the mix of earnings between our US and foreign subsidiaries, with an operating loss in the US and taxable income mostly from China, which has a higher income tax rate compared to the US. Our cash income tax payments total $2.4 million for the first nine months of this fiscal year. Notably, we do not expect to incur any income taxes in the US on a cash basis for the foreseeable future, due to our existing US federal net operating loss carry-forwards totaling almost $90 million as of last fiscal year end, which carry related future income tax benefits of $18.5 million. Now let's take a look at our business segments.

本季有效所得稅率仍受到美國與海外子公司獲利組合的影響：美國為營業虧損，而課稅所得主要來自中國；相較美國，中國的所得稅率較高。本會計年度前九個月，我們的現金所得稅支付合計為 240 萬美元。值得注意的是，由於截至上一會計年度末我們既有的美國聯邦淨營業損失結轉（NOL）合計接近 9,000 萬美元，對應未來所得稅利益為 1,850 萬美元，因此在可預見的未來，我們預期不會在美國以現金基礎繳納任何所得稅。接下來我們來看看各業務部門。

For the betting segment, sales for the third quarter were $27.3 million, down approximately 5% compared to last year's third quarter, with the decrease driven primarily by lower housing and discretionary spending trends, if touched on earlier, along with the tariff-driven pressure on demand and the impacts from severe weather in late January. Gross profit in our betting segment was $2 million, or 7.2% of sales, a decline from gross profit of $2.7 million, or 9.6% of sales in prior year periods driven primarily by adjustments related to excess inventory stemming from our restructuring and integration initiatives, which were partially offset by improved selling margins during the quarter.

就床墊布料（bedding）部門而言，第三季銷售額為 2,730 萬美元，較去年第三季約下降 5%；下降主要受較低的住宅市場與可支配支出趨勢（先前已提及）所致，另加上關稅帶來的需求壓力，以及 1 月下旬惡劣天氣的影響。床墊布料部門毛利為 200 萬美元，約占銷售額的 7.2%，較去年同期毛利 270 萬美元、占銷售額 9.6% 下滑；主因為與我們重整與整合計畫所導致的過剩庫存相關調整，但部分被本季較佳的銷售毛利率所抵銷。

For the upholstery segment, sales in the third quarter were $20.7 million, down approximately 12% compared to the prior year period, with the decline driven by most of the same factors driving the sales decline in Betty. Gross profit on our upholstery segment was $3.4 million, or 16.3% of sales, a decline from gross profit of $4.2 million, or 17.9% of sales in the prior year period, driven primarily by lower comparable sales, and unfavorable foreign exchange impacts related to our China operations. Now let me turn to the balance sheet. We reported [$9.7 million] in total cash and $18.5 million in outstanding debt under our credit facilities as of the end of the third quarter, giving us a net debt position of $8.8 million cash flow from operations was a negative $2.3 million for the first nine months of this fiscal year, and primarily driven by operating losses, which compares favorably to a negative $9.4 million in the prior year period.

就家具用布（upholstery）部門而言，第三季銷售額為 2,070 萬美元，較去年同期約下降 12%，下降原因多與床墊布料部門銷售下滑的因素相同。家具用布部門毛利為 340 萬美元，約占銷售額的 16.3%，較去年同期毛利 420 萬美元、占銷售額 17.9% 下滑；主因為同店銷售較低，以及與中國營運相關的不利匯率影響。接下來我談談資產負債表。截至第三季末，我們的現金總額為 [$9.7 million]，在信用額度項下的未償還債務為 1,850 萬美元，使我們的淨負債部位為 880 萬美元；本會計年度前九個月的營運現金流為負 230 萬美元，主要由營運虧損所致，與去年同期負 940 萬美元相比有所改善。

Adjusted for capital expenditures, proceeds from the sale of property, plant, and equipment, and notes receivable and other items, free cash flow was a negative $1 million, down favorably from a negative $10.1 million in the prior year period. Generating free cash flow and reducing our debt continue to be among our highest priorities. Capital expenditures for the first nine months were $442,000, down from $2.4 million in the prior year period, as we continue to focus on maintenance projects and strategic initiatives with quick payback. We expect capital spending for fiscal 2026 to be in the range of $600,000 to $700,000, as we continue to spend only as necessary.

在調整資本支出、不動產廠房及設備出售所得、應收票據及其他項目後，自由現金流為負 100 萬美元，較去年同期負 1,010 萬美元明顯改善。創造自由現金流並降低負債仍是我們最優先的目標之一。前九個月資本支出為 44.2 萬美元，低於去年同期的 240 萬美元，因我們持續聚焦於維護性專案與回收期短的策略性計畫。我們預期 2026 會計年度的資本支出將落在 60 萬至 70 萬美元區間，因我們將持續僅在必要時支出。

With respect to liquidity, as of the end of the third quarter, we were at 27.7 million, consisting of [$9.7 million] in cash and $18 million in borrowing availability under our domestic and foreign credit facilities. As a reminder for our liquidity purposes, the net book value of our own manufacturing campus in North Carolina, as of the end of the quarter, was around $12 million. And that property has an estimated market value of $40 million to $45 million. Our liquidity highlights are briefly summarized on page seven of our supplemental deck. With that, I'll turn the call over to to discuss the general outlook for the fourth quarter and full year, and we will then take your questions.

就流動性而言，截至第三季末，我們的流動性為 2,770 萬美元，包括現金 [$9.7 million]，以及在國內與海外信用額度下可動用借款額度 1,800 萬美元。提醒一下，就我們的流動性評估而言，截至季末，我們位於北卡羅來納州自有製造園區的淨帳面價值約為 1,200 萬美元。該不動產估計市值為 4,000 萬至 4,500 萬美元。我們的流動性重點已在補充簡報第七頁做了簡要摘要。接下來我把電話交給 ，請他談談第四季與全年整體展望，之後我們將回答各位的提問。

Thank you, Ken. Due to the ongoing macroeconomic and increasing tariff and trade uncertainty, we expect continued industry sales pressure and are only providing limited financial guidance at this time. We expect sequential consolidated sales growth for the fourth quarter of fiscal '26 with solid expectations for our betting segment despite the challenged demand environment from furnishings. We also expect our current pricing to balance tariff pressure in the fourth quarter and for the cost and efficiency benefits of our restructuring integration initiatives to drive improving gross profit and lower SG&A for the fourth quarter and beyond.

謝謝你，Ken。由於持續的總體經濟因素，以及關稅與貿易不確定性升高，我們預期產業銷售壓力將延續，因此目前僅提供有限的財務指引。我們預期 2026 會計年度第四季合併銷售額將較前一季成長；儘管家具需求環境仍具挑戰，我們對床墊布料部門仍抱持穩健期待。我們也預期目前的定價可在第四季平衡關稅壓力，且重整與整合計畫帶來的成本與效率效益，將推動第四季及其後毛利改善並降低 SG&A。

We are not providing more specific operating guidance at this time due to the uncertainty around the potential IEPA tariff refunds and, if received, the impacts on our operating results and prior quarter losses. We intend to continue utilizing borrowings as necessary under our credit facilities to fund working capital needs and growth, but will continue to aggressively manage liquidity and capital expenditures and prioritize free cash flow. Additionally, the $4.8 million balance sheet item due from the sale of our former facility in Canada is scheduled to be paid during the fourth quarter. With that, we'll be happy to take some questions.

由於 IEPA 潛在關稅退稅的不確定性，以及若收到退稅其對營運結果與前幾季虧損的影響，我們目前不提供更具體的營運指引。我們打算在必要時持續動用信用額度下的借款，以支應營運資金需求與成長，但也將持續積極管理流動性與資本支出，並優先著重自由現金流。此外，資產負債表上因出售我們先前加拿大廠房而應收的 480 萬美元，預計將於第四季收款。以上，我們很樂意開始回答一些問題。

(Operator Instructions) Anthony Lebiedzinski, Sidoti and Company.

(接線員指示) Anthony Lebiedzinski，Sidoti and Company。

Good morning, gentlemen, and congrats to Ken on his pending retirement. So, you know, you guys talked about green shoes that you're seeing on the betting side, which is certainly good to see. And you also talked about the programs with major customers. Just wondering if you guys could expand on that. And as far as that's concerned, if you could provide more details, that'd be great. Yeah, thank you, Anthony. Good to hear from you. Thanks for checking in with us. And I appreciate the comments about Ken. We're honored by his service. I'm excited for him to retire and think about a positive future for his life, but we'll miss him a lot, and we're really grateful for the formal transition we're working through, so I'm glad you got to say hello to him about that.

早安，各位先生，也恭喜 Ken 即將退休。所以，你們談到在床墊（bedding）端看到一些「綠芽」（green shoots），這當然是好現象。你們也談到與主要客戶合作的專案。想請問你們能否再延伸說明一下。就這部分而言，如果能提供更多細節就太好了。是的，謝謝你，Anthony。很高興聽到你的聲音。謝謝你與我們聯繫。也謝謝你對 Ken 的評論。我們很榮幸有他的服務。我為他即將退休感到高興，也期待他人生未來能有正向的新篇章，但我們會非常想念他；同時也非常感謝我們正在進行的正式交接流程，所以很高興你能就此向他問好。

Yeah, thank you, Anthony. I appreciate that. Thank you.

是的，謝謝你，Anthony。我很感激。謝謝。

Yeah, and to the green shoots you mentioned, Anthony, it's interesting commentary, and we're careful how we want to talk about it. The market's challenged, and I think you know that, and everyone knows it. It's just been a hard market for unit volume. But we were really on a pretty good pace in our third quarter in betting on the forecast that we thought we'd be, and we're, I think, outpacing the industry fairly well. But then we got really crushed by weather, untimely at the end of our quarter, which is, that's just hard to do when you're making a turn like we're trying to make.

至於你提到的「綠芽」，Anthony，這是很有意思的觀察，我們也很謹慎地拿捏要怎麼談。市場確實充滿挑戰，我想你知道，大家也都知道。就出貨量而言，這一直是個艱困的市場。不過在第三季，我們在床墊（bedding）業務的進度其實相當不錯，符合我們原先預期的節奏，而且我認為我們的表現相對於產業整體是相當不錯的。但在季度末遇到不合時宜的天候影響，讓我們受到很大衝擊；當你正試圖像我們這樣扭轉局面時，這真的很難應對。

So that hurt. But the fact, the pace we saw betting operating on and I think we see pretty cool opportunities in some covers and we would certainly never name any customers but we just feel very bullish in our supply chain, our global strategy and our very strong domestic production. Customers are leaning into us and we're finding more opportunities and more chances to drive major national lines. It would just be helpful to us if those products would sell at a higher rate We're definitely building blocks to get our market share up, which we're thrilled about.

所以那確實造成傷害。但就我們看到床墊（bedding）端的運作節奏而言，我們也在某些罩套（covers）品類看到相當不錯的機會；我們當然不會點名任何客戶，但我們對供應鏈、全球策略以及非常強的美國本土產能都非常看多。客戶正在更倚重我們，我們也找到更多機會、更多場合去推動全國性的大型產品線。如果這些產品能以更高的速度賣出，對我們會更有幫助。我們確實正在建立讓市占率提升的基礎，我們對此非常振奮。

Okay, that's good to hear. And then I know you talked about the potential refunds tied to IEPA. I think you said $6 to $7 million, but I heard also some commentary about Haiti. This is something I probably missed as far as, like, or did you say anything about, like, potential Haiti refunds?

好的，這很高興聽到。另外我知道你們談到與 IEPA 相關的潛在退稅。我想你們說是 600 萬到 700 萬美元，但我也聽到一些關於海地的說法。這部分可能是我漏聽了——你們是否有提到類似海地可能的退稅？

We did. Yes, we did. The tariff, yes, no question you'd be confused on this whole thing. The tariff regulations and trade policies have been unbelievable for the last year, and we touched on it in two different ways. The Haiti tariffs, for sure, We are due refunds in process on the duties. Haiti for a long time, which is one of the primary reasons we went there, is a duty-free treatment. That doesn't always override IEPA or reciprocal tariffs or other things, but from a pure baseline duty, Haiti is a duty-free country.

我們有提到。是的，我們有。關於關稅——是的，毫無疑問你會對整件事感到困惑。過去一年關稅法規與貿易政策變化之大令人難以置信，我們用兩種不同方式提到了它。海地關稅方面，確實，我們有一筆應退的關稅正在辦理退還流程。海地長期以來（也是我們前往那裡的主要原因之一）享有免稅待遇。這不一定能凌駕 IEPA 或對等關稅或其他措施，但就基本關稅稅率而言，海地是免稅國家。

During previous government shutdown, not even the one we're in today, the last one, The Haiti Hope Act expired, and before it got renewed, there was a period of some time where duties were being charged. That act has now been renewed, and we're reclaiming those duties back. So that will be some fourth quarter cash for us. That's approved and in process, and those duties will be coming back. The IEPA tariff is a much bigger thing that impacts us at all of our international locations, and with the Supreme Court ruling on that, We are now in line to claim refunds that we are entitled to based on the ruling.

在之前一次政府關門期間——甚至不是我們現在這次，而是上一次——《Haiti HOPE Act》到期了；在它獲得續期之前，有一段時間被課徵了關稅。該法案現在已續期，我們正在把那些已繳的關稅申請退回。因此，這會在第四季為我們帶來一些現金流入。這已獲核准並在處理中，那些關稅會退回來。IEPA 關稅則是更大的議題，會影響我們所有海外據點；隨著最高法院對此作出裁決，我們現在可以依據該裁決申請我們依法應得的退稅。

We understand that the timeline and the mechanism of that is uncertain. We have filed all of our protests. We have a lawsuit filed. We are speaking daily with our customs brokers. We're tracking this really close because we are confident that we should be due somewhere between $6 and $7 million as we check our IEPA tariffs we've paid since they were enacted. And again, we don't know the timeline, and we understand there'll be more to the story, but we're just pushing that and want our investors to understand that's a significant situation that we're following very closely.

我們了解其時間表與執行機制仍不確定。我們已提出所有抗議（protests）。我們也已提起訴訟。我們每天都在與報關行（customs brokers）溝通。我們非常密切追蹤，因為我們有信心，根據我們自 IEPA 關稅實施以來所支付的金額核對後，應可退回約 600 萬到 700 萬美元。再次強調，我們不知道時間表，也理解後續還會有更多發展，但我們正在積極推動，也希望投資人了解這是一個重大議題，我們正非常密切地關注。

We feel like we are Yeah, relative experts in the tariff world. And I'm not proud of that, but it's just been so impactful. And anything that we get back, Anthony, I mean, obviously, everyone sees how we've performed. It's not intended to boost our margins. It's to recoup losses that we took dealing with these tariffs and the lag that we had to deal with putting them in. So we really need to focus on that refund to offset previous period trouble.

我們覺得自己算是——是的——在關稅領域相對的專家。我並不以此為傲，但它的影響實在太大了。而且任何能退回來的款項，Anthony，我的意思是，很明顯大家都看到我們的表現。這不是要用來拉高我們的毛利率。而是要收回我們因應這些關稅、以及導入關稅時所面臨的時間落差而承受的損失。所以我們真的需要把重點放在這筆退稅上，用來抵銷前期所遇到的困難。

Understood. Certainly. Okay. So, you know, given all this streamlining and restructuring that you guys have done, and certainly it's been quite significant, and I know the environment is still fluid with everything that's going on in the world, but can you give us kind of a rough estimate as to what's your breakeven revenue run rate nowadays?

了解。當然。好的。那麼，考量你們做了這些精簡與重整，確實幅度很大；我也知道在全球各種事件之下環境仍然多變，但你們能否大概估算一下：以目前來看，你們的損益兩平營收「運行率」（run rate）大約是多少？

Hey, this is Ken. I think if you, you know, it is comments. We talked about the inventory markdown or pressure that we're under. We've got to get that fixed, and we are laser-focused on that. And beyond that, I think where we look at where we are today as we look out to Q4 and beyond, we're in that break-even level at about the pace where we are for the for the third and fourth quarter, around that $50 million per quarter level. You know, we feel that that level is – we've got a cost structure to support that. And then, as we've said in Ives' remarks, beyond that, you know, we've got the leverage to really kick in. And so we're just – you know, we've said it throughout the remarks, we just need that higher sales to kick in. We're at that break-even point. Now we just need more revenue to leverage.

嗨，我是 Ken。我想如果你——你知道，這些都是評論。我們談到庫存降價（markdown）或我們所承受的壓力。我們必須把那部分修正好，而且我們正高度聚焦在這件事上。除此之外，從我們今天的位置、展望第四季及之後來看，我們的損益兩平水準大約就在第三季與第四季目前的節奏附近，也就是每季約 5,000 萬美元的水準。你知道，我們覺得這個水準——我們的成本結構足以支撐。然後如同我們在 Ives 的談話中所說，超過這個水準之後，我們就會開始出現明顯的營運槓桿。所以我們只是——你知道，我們在整段談話中一直在說——我們需要更高的銷售額開始進來。我們已在損益兩平點。現在我們只需要更多營收來放大槓桿效益。

Hello? Yes, sir. Yeah, we're here.

喂？是的，先生。是的，我們在。

Yes, sorry. Sorry, you cut off for a couple of seconds. Okay. All right, well, I think I got everything that I needed. Well, thank you very much, and I'll pass it on to others.

是的，抱歉。抱歉，你剛剛斷線了幾秒鐘。好的。好吧，我想我已經拿到我需要的所有資訊了。非常感謝，我會把這些轉達給其他人。

Thank you, Anthony. Thank you, Abby.

謝謝你，Anthony。謝謝你，Abby。

Doug Lane, Water Tower Research.

Doug Lane，Water Tower Research。

Yes, hi. Good morning, everybody. I have to say I'm pretty impressed that you've taken the actions on the tariffs as far as you have by, you know, getting the paperwork filed and what have you so soon and knowing what those numbers are. What's the next step there? What should we be looking for as the next step on the tariff recovery? That's a good question, Doug, and good morning.

是的，你好。各位早安。我得說，我對你們在關稅方面採取行動的進度相當印象深刻——你們很快就把文件提交完成等等，而且也已經掌握那些數字。接下來下一步是什麼？在關稅追回（tariff recovery）方面，我們接下來應該關注什麼？Doug，這是個好問題，早安。

Thanks for checking that. We do feel, as I've said with Anthony, we do feel, sadly, sort of experts on wrestling this. We have our protests in process. We have our lawsuit filed. We have our ACE system set up, which is how the refunds have been said would be reissued. We have our spreadsheets lined up. We are ready to enter the refund by entry or by product, by country. However they want us to do it, we're ready to do it. I think next steps we understand is there's maybe even a closed-door meeting today with the Court of International Trade and the administration's lawyers on that process.

謝謝你確認這點。就像我跟Anthony說的，我們確實覺得——很遺憾地——我們某種程度上已經成了處理這件事的「專家」，一直在跟它纏鬥。我們的抗議（protests）程序正在進行中。我們也已經提起訴訟。我們已經把ACE系統建置好，據說退款會透過這個系統重新發放。我們的試算表也都準備好了。我們已準備好按報關項（entry）或按產品、按國家來輸入退款申請。不管他們要我們用哪種方式，我們都準備好了。我們理解的下一步是，今天可能甚至會有一場閉門會議，由國際貿易法院（Court of International Trade）與政府律師就該流程進行討論。

So we're also waiting. What we understand as of today, and certainly and all this could be changed. We recognize that we understand the uncertainty of this. We don't really think there's a question of if refunds are due to us, but we know there's a lot of uncertainty of when. So I think what the process going on today is what's the timeline, what procedures will be handled by, and what the administration or anyone may do to try to delay that timeline. We're waiting every day looking at when the next hearings are and what the outcomes are to try to be first in line to strike the opportunity. But we understand there could be some further delays, so we're waiting.

所以我們也在等待。就我們今天所理解的情況——當然這一切都可能改變。我們也明白這件事的不確定性。我們不太認為「是否」應該退還給我們有疑問，但我們知道「何時」會退還存在很大的不確定性。所以我想今天正在進行的流程，是釐清時間表、會採用哪些程序，以及政府或任何一方可能會採取什麼方式來試圖延後該時間表。我們每天都在關注下一次聽證會何時舉行、結果如何，力求在機會出現時能排在第一順位把握住。但我們也理解可能還會有進一步延宕，所以我們在等待。

Okay, so it's just unknown at this point.

好的，所以目前就是未知。

Time-wise. I think it's unknown on timing, yes, sir.

就時間而言。我想在時間點上確實是未知的，是的，先生。

On timing, right, exactly. And then, Ken, you mentioned the inventory is up a little bit year over year, and you explained why. Can you give us a feel for how you plan on working off that inventory, and do you expect these non-cash inventory charge markdowns to be recurring in the next quarter or two? Yeah, we have spent a lot of time talking about the reason why, and it was just, again, building inventory to address the restructuring actions. We purposely did that to take care of our customers, and we did a great job throughout that whole process.

時間點，對，沒錯。另外，Ken，你提到庫存年增略有上升，也解釋了原因。你能否讓我們了解一下你們打算如何消化這些庫存？以及你是否預期這些非現金的庫存費用（inventory charge）降價（markdowns）會在接下來一兩季持續發生？是的，我們花了很多時間討論原因，而原因就是——再次強調——為了因應重整（restructuring）措施而建立庫存。我們是刻意這麼做來照顧客戶，而在整個過程中我們做得非常好。

I mean, a lot of different things were going on. So now we recognize that we have inventory that is aging, and we need to get that inventory sold. So we are totally focused today on getting that sold at a good margin, and we've set some very aggressive goals internally to get that inventory down over this quarter and next. And then beyond that, we've looked at aggressive ways to ensure that we turn inventory faster and so that this markdown issue will not be a problem in the future. I mean, you're always going to have aged inventory, and we understand that. But at the same time, we're at a level now where we can make the product to meet customer needs and then get this excess sold, and then as we go into the new year, be on a much, much better cost platform. And so that's our focus today, and we're going to get it done.

我的意思是，當時有很多不同的事情同時在發生。所以現在我們意識到有些庫存正在老化，我們需要把這些庫存賣掉。因此我們目前完全聚焦在以良好毛利把它賣出去，我們也在內部設定了非常積極的目標，要在本季以及下一季把庫存降下來。此外，我們也採取更積極的方式，確保庫存周轉更快，讓這種降價問題未來不會再成為困擾。我的意思是，你永遠都會有一些老化庫存，我們理解這點。但同時，我們現在的水位已經能夠按客戶需求生產，並把這些多餘庫存賣掉；接著在進入新年度時，能站在更好、成本更低的平台上。所以這就是我們目前的重點，我們會把它完成。

And Doug, if I just add a touch of color, can't answer that super, but touch of color just on inventory in general, it's a big impact to us, obviously liquidity purposes and profitability purposes and at the end of Q3, we're at a peak position from a number of reasons. We build up in advance of Chinese New Year, which is normal, so that's part of the Q3 total inventory number and Ken's right, we built up inventory to service customers through our restructuring transition. And that coincides with the trough in the market. Some of those shipments have been delayed. So what we've asked our team to do is be very intensely focused on moving inventory, both aged and current, to turn that into cash. And over Q4 and Q1, we're expecting that working capital effort to drive cash to us. That's an intense focus for the company.

Doug，如果我再補充一點背景——我沒辦法非常精準地回答，但就一般庫存狀況補充一些說明：庫存對我們影響很大，顯然不論是流動性或獲利面；而在第三季末，我們因為多個原因處於高峰水位。我們會在農曆新年前提前備貨，這是正常的，所以這是第三季總庫存數的一部分；而Ken說得對，我們也為了在重整轉換期間服務客戶而增加庫存。而這也剛好碰上市場的低谷。其中一些出貨被延遲了。所以我們要求團隊非常專注於推動庫存去化，不論是老化庫存或當期庫存，把它轉成現金。我們預期在第四季與第一季，這項營運資金（working capital）的努力會為我們帶來現金流入。這是公司非常高度聚焦的重點。

Okay, that's helpful.

好的，這很有幫助。

You mentioned the storms that came through the South and at the end of January and I guess unfortunately for you that's your quarter end. So just to be clear, those sales weren't lost, they were just pushed maybe from the 3rd quarter into the 4th quarter, is that right?

你提到一月底南部遭遇的風暴，我想不幸的是那正好是你們的季末。所以我想確認一下，那些銷售並沒有流失，只是可能從第三季延後到第四季，是這樣嗎？

Okay, that's helpful. You mentioned the storms that came through the South at the end of January, and I guess, unfortunately for you, that's your quarter end. So, just to be clear, those sales weren't lost. They were just pushed maybe from the third quarter into the fourth quarter. Is that right? That's right. I think, you know, I really don't like, I dislike, I don't like to even use the word, hey, but I dislike talking about weather because I know it is what it is, but this was so untimely and so severe for where we live, and part of our consolidation to put all of our work into this location and then to have it close for a week was just tough. So we don't anticipate losing those sales. They don't all ship out the next day, but we're not given a ton of guidance, I realize, but to say that we're expecting sequential growth, particularly in the betting segment, to me shows, Doug, that we're expecting that business to pull through.

好的，這很有幫助。你提到一月底南部遭遇的風暴，我想不幸的是那正好是你們的季末。所以我想確認一下，那些銷售並沒有流失。只是可能從第三季延後到第四季。是這樣嗎？沒錯。我想，你知道，我其實不太喜歡——我不喜歡——甚至不想用「天氣」這個詞來談，因為我知道事情就是如此；但這次對我們所在地而言，發生得非常不是時候，而且非常嚴重。我們把所有作業整併到這個地點，結果又剛好遇到關閉一週，真的很艱難。所以我們不預期那些銷售會流失。它們不會在隔天就全部出貨；我知道我們給的指引不算很多，但我想說的是，我們預期營收會呈現季增，尤其是在博彩（betting）板塊；對我而言，Doug，這表示我們預期那塊業務會順利回補。

Yeah, I mean, it looks like betting, even with that, is still flat through nine months. And I assume the market's down. So are you gaining share in betting? And just maybe give us a couple of minutes on where you see your market position here today and where you want to be when the markets do recover.

是的，我的意思是，看起來博彩（betting）即使考量那個因素，九個月累計仍然持平。而我猜市場是下滑的。所以你們在博彩領域是在提升市占嗎？另外也請你花幾分鐘談談你們目前的市場定位，以及當市場復甦時你們希望達到什麼位置。

Well, I mean, from a cult mentality, it's never enough. We never can have enough. But yes, we do believe we're gaining market share with the right customers. Obviously, we have been through a lot of transition in our business over the last two years, so closing down our Canadian facility, resetting up our US facility in a very strong way, and having really excellent supply partners in different parts of the world.

嗯，我的意思是，從一種狂熱心態來看，永遠都不夠。我們永遠不會覺得足夠。但沒錯，我們確實相信，我們正透過正確的客戶取得市占率。顯然，過去兩年我們的業務經歷了許多轉型，因此關閉加拿大廠房、以非常強勁的方式重新建置我們的美國廠房，並在世界不同地區擁有非常優秀的供應合作夥伴。

We say it a lot, but to have a strong onshore platform backed up by a very good nearshore platform with Haiti and Dominican, and then having our Asia operations and Turkey as well, We just have a lot of ways to service a major customer. We think that large customers today want to blend their sourcing. They don't want their eggs in one basket. They want ability to flex around tariff changes, and we offer that. So with product design and innovation that we do, with cut and sew starting to really be a pickup, we're now doing quilted mattress covers as well. We just have a lot of ways to serve large customers, and we think We think our platform and our product is driving that.

我們常常這麼說，但要有一個強大的本土（onshore）平台，並由海地與多明尼加的優質近岸（nearshore）平台作為支撐，再加上我們在亞洲的營運以及土耳其，我們就有很多方式可以服務大型客戶。我們認為，如今的大型客戶希望把採購來源做混搭。他們不希望把所有雞蛋放在同一個籃子裡。他們希望能因應關稅變動而彈性調整，而我們能提供這點。因此，結合我們所做的產品設計與創新，加上裁剪縫製（cut and sew）業務開始真正回升，我們現在也在做絎縫床墊套。我們有很多方式可以服務大型客戶，我們認為我們的平台與產品正在推動這一點。

So being flat in the down market is probably pretty good, but we're pretty bullish on what we could see with any kind of market push that market share might really show its stuff. So we're encouraged about that, but also recognize that we're still in a tough situation, macro business-wise, and we have to be balanced in our platform.

所以在下行市場中能持平可能已經相當不錯，但我們對於若市場出現任何推動、而市占率可能真正展現實力這件事仍相當樂觀。因此我們對此感到鼓舞，但也認知到，從總體與業務面來看我們仍處於艱難局勢，必須在我們的平台上保持平衡。

Michael Wasserman, Private Investor.

Michael Wasserman，私人投資人。

Good morning, Mike. Good morning. I'm curious as to, given the challenging times we're in, whether the company has given any consideration of a sale leaseback of its headquarters facility just to build cash. Mike, thank you for the question. We have definitely. We've thought about that, and as Ken talked about in his remarks, we're very aware of the value of that operation.

早安，Mike。早安。我想請教，在目前充滿挑戰的時期，公司是否考慮過將總部設施進行售後回租（sale-leaseback），以便增加現金？Mike，謝謝你的問題。我們確實有。我們有考慮過，而且如 Ken 在發言中提到的，我們非常清楚那項營運的價值。

Today, we thought about it, so the answer is yes, we thought about it. We haven't decided to do that because we believe that location is so integral to how we create value going forward, and we think we need to operate that without any encumbrance. Yes, we thought about it, and yes, it's an option, but it's not something we're striking on right now. Right. Okay, thank you.

到目前為止，我們確實想過，所以答案是：是的，我們想過。我們尚未決定這麼做，因為我們相信那個地點對於我們未來如何創造價值至關重要，而且我們認為需要在沒有任何負擔（encumbrance）的情況下運作它。是的，我們想過，而且是的，這是一個選項，但目前我們不打算採取。好的。好，謝謝。

Don Dysher, Pinnacle.

Don Dysher，Pinnacle。

Hi, good morning, Ev and Ken. Appreciate the call you've given so far. I just have one kind of- Good morning, John. Good morning. A minor question. The slide deck shows the headcount of about 900, and reading the 10K at the end of last year was 830. So it was up, I won't say significantly, but noticeably. Why is the headcount up, given all the integration and restructuring and sales decline you've experienced over the last year or so?

嗨，早安，Ev 和 Ken。感謝你們目前為止提供的電話會議內容。我只有一個算是——早安，John。早安。一個小問題。投影片顯示員工人數約 900 人，而我看去年年底的 10-K 是 830 人。所以人數增加了，我不會說很多，但很明顯。在你們過去一年左右經歷了整合、重組以及銷售下滑的情況下，為什麼員工人數會增加？

Yeah, good question, John, and I could need to look at those numbers more refined. I think some of those numbers may not match timeline perfectly, but 10-K would have been, Ken, as of... It could have fallen in mid-July. Yeah, and so maybe the slide deck we have now, and what's happening with that number, John, is we're having significant increase of business in our Haiti slash Dominican Republic location, where we're really striding with some large volumes of quilted mattress covers.

是的，John，這是個好問題，我可能需要更仔細地檢視那些數字。我想其中一些數字在時間點上可能不完全一致，但 10-K 會是——Ken，是截至……可能落在 7 月中旬。對，所以也許我們現在的投影片，以及那個數字的變化，John，是因為我們在海地／多明尼加據點的業務大幅增加，我們在那裡以相當大的量生產絎縫床墊套，進展很快。

And so there's some personnel ads in that location, but those are very low personnel costs in that region. So that would be where increases are. I don't think you're picking up on a good point. We should not be expecting to see headcount growing. It should be going the other way, but I think that's fueled temporarily with some pickup of some business in Haiti.

因此那個據點有增加一些人員，但該地區的人事成本非常低。所以增幅會主要來自那裡。我認為你提出了一個很好的觀點。我們不應該預期員工人數會成長。它應該是往下降的方向，但我想這是因海地那邊暫時接到一些業務回升所帶動。

Do you think that's going to decline then?

那你認為之後會下降嗎？

Headcount? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And our headcounts will be trending the other way. Yes, sir. Okay. That's good to hear. Thank you very much. Thank you.

員工人數？是的，先生。是的，先生。我們的員工人數趨勢會往下降的方向走。是的，先生。好的。很高興聽到。非常感謝。謝謝。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to I cult for any closing remarks.

問答環節到此結束。我想把電話會議交回給 I cult，請其作結語。

Thank you, operator. And thank you again to everyone for your participation and your interest in Culp. We look forward to updating you on our progress next quarter. Have a great day.

謝謝，接線員。也再次感謝各位的參與，以及對 Culp 的關注與興趣。我們期待在下個季度向各位更新我們的進展。祝各位有美好的一天。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

本次電話會議已結束。感謝您參加今天的簡報。您現在可以掛線。