Torrid Holdings Inc (CURV) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Torrid Holdings Incorporated third-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

您好，歡迎參加 Torrid Holdings Incorporated 2024 財年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Chinwe Abaelu. Thank you. You may begin.

提醒一下，本次會議正在錄製中。現在我很高興向您介紹 Chinwe Abaelu。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining Torrid's call today to discuss our financial results for the third-quarter of fiscal 2024, which we released this afternoon and can be found on our website at investors.torrid.com. With me today on the call are Lisa Harper, Chief Executive Officer of Torrid; Paula Dempsey, Chief Financial Officer; and Ashlee Wheeler, our Chief Strategy and Planning Officer. Before we get started, I would like to remind you of the company's Safe Harbor language, which I'm sure you're already familiar with. Management may make forward-looking statements, including guidance and underlying assumptions. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements containing the words except, believe, plan, anticipate, will, may, should, estimate and other words in terms of similar meaning.

大家下午好，感謝您今天參加 Torrid 的電話會議，討論我們今天下午發布的 2024 財年第三季度的財務業績，該業績可在我們的網站 Investors.torrid.com 上找到。今天與我一起參加電話會議的是 Torrid 執行長麗莎哈珀 (Lisa Harper)； Paula Dempsey，財務長；以及我們的首席策略和規劃官 Ashlee Wheeler。在我們開始之前，我想提醒您公司的安全港語言，我相信您已經熟悉了。管理階層可能會做出前瞻性陳述，包括指導和基本假設。前瞻性陳述可能包括但不限於包含“除外”、“相信”、“計劃”、“預期”、“將”、“可能”、“應該”、“估計”等詞語的陳述以及具有類似含義的其他詞語。

All forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions as of today, December 3, 2024. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For a further discussion of risks related to our business, see our filings with the SEC. This call will contain non-GAAP financial measures, such as adjusted EBITDA. Reconciliations to these non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures are included in the earnings release furnished to the SEC and available on our website.

所有前瞻性陳述均基於截至 2024 年 12 月 3 日的當前預期和假設。這些陳述存在風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果有重大差異。有關與我們業務相關的風險的進一步討論，請參閱我們向 SEC 提交的文件。此次電話會議將包含非公認會計準則財務指標，例如調整後的 EBITDA。這些非公認會計準則衡量標準與最具可比性的公認會計準則衡量標準的調節包含在向美國證券交易委員會提供的收益報告中，並可在我們的網站上取得。

With that, I will turn the call over to Lisa.

這樣，我就把電話轉給麗莎。

Thanks, Chinwe. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I will begin by discussing our third quarter performance and our strategy moving forward then I will turn the call over Ashlee to discuss our merchandising initiatives. Paula will then provide our third quarter financials and outlook. Let me start by acknowledging that we are clearly disappointed with our results this quarter.

謝謝，欽威。大家好，感謝您今天加入我們。我將首先討論我們第三季的業績和未來的策略，然後我將把電話轉給阿什莉，討論我們的銷售計劃。然後，保拉將提供我們第三季的財務數據和展望。首先我要承認，我們對本季的業績顯然感到失望。

Sales trends began to soften in late-September, and this continued through October. In hindsight, our fall assortments did not offer enough newness and novelty. Despite the weaker top line sales, we delivered 285 basis points of gross profit expansion while carefully managing expenses. We ended the quarter with clean inventory levels down 19% to last year and $44 million in cash, which is $28 million higher than last year. Let me provide a little more color on our sales trend.

銷售趨勢在九月下旬開始疲軟，這種情況一直持續到十月。事後看來，我們的秋季系列並沒有提供足夠的新穎性和新穎性。儘管營收疲軟，我們在謹慎管理開支的同時實現了 285 個基點的毛利擴張。本季結束時，我們的清潔庫存水準比去年下降了 19%，現金為 4,400 萬美元，比去年增加了 2,800 萬美元。讓我對我們的銷售趨勢提供更多資訊。

During the quarter, customers responded to products that were new and inspirational, such as our novelty sweaters and our relaunched denim program. However, we saw softness in our core collection, which was not innovative enough in an environment where consumer spending was constrained. We now recognize that our core product was too similar to what had been offering her, and we did not infuse it with enough freshness and fashion. In short, it was too much of the same thing she already had in her closet. Macro trends also had an outsized impact on our business.

本季度，客戶對新穎且鼓舞人心的產品做出了反應，例如我們新穎的毛衣和重新推出的牛仔布計劃。然而，我們看到了我們的核心系列的疲軟，在消費者支出受到限制的環境下，它的創新性不夠。我們現在認識到，我們的核心產品與之前為她提供的產品太相似，並且我們沒有為其註入足夠的新鮮感和時尚感。簡而言之，這與她衣櫃裡已有的東西太多了。宏觀趨勢也對我們的業務產生了巨大影響。

Trends in both traffic and regular price comp were positive in August until mid-September, softened in late-September and deteriorated in October. The severe hurricanes in October, which occurred during our largest event of the quarter toward cash, also weighed on our sales trends.

8 月至 9 月中旬，客流量和正常價格比較趨勢均呈現正面趨勢，9 月下旬趨於疲軟，10 月則惡化。十月份的嚴重颶風發生在我們本季最大的現金活動期間，也影響了我們的銷售趨勢。

We estimated that hurricanes impacted our full price comps by 100 basis points for the quarter. In addition, we found that our core customers behave very differently in October, which we believe indicated hesitancy to spend prior to the election. We have seen improvement in customer engagement post-election and expect the trends to normalize over time.

我們估計颶風對本季的整體價格影響影響達 100 個基點。此外，我們發現我們的核心客戶在 10 月的表現非常不同，我們認為這表明他們在選舉前猶豫不決。我們看到選舉後客戶參與度有所改善，並預計隨著時間的推移，這一趨勢將趨於正常化。

We recognize that the mindset of our customer has changed over the past few years, and she's more willing to take fashion risks. In the past, we relied too much on what had worked and were hesitant to push boundaries. Our customer surveys tell us again and again that she wants more novelty and innovation from us. She wants to be inspired. Our organizational culture has now embraced this mindset and our upcoming collections reflect more inspirational and relevant styling.

我們意識到，過去幾年客戶的心態發生了變化，她更願意承擔時尚風險。過去，我們過度依賴有效的方法，對於突破界線猶豫不決。我們的客戶調查一次又一次地告訴我們，她希望我們提供更多新奇和創新。她想要受到啟發。我們的組織文化現在已經接受了這種心態，我們即將推出的系列反映了更多鼓舞人心和相關的風格。

Rest assured, we are not firing our core customer. We are just addressing more of her lifestyle needs. Looking ahead, we are excited about the changes we have made to our business and believe the balance of newness improves beginning in the fourth quarter. Denim was the first category to be updated in late Q2 and continues to positive comp. Resort, which recently delivered shows the first impact of the core product initiatives.

請放心，我們不會解僱我們的核心客戶。我們只是在滿足她更多的生活方式需求。展望未來，我們對我們對業務所做的改變感到興奮，並相信新事物的平衡從第四季度開始會有所改善。牛仔布是第二季末第一個更新的類別，並且繼續保持積極的競爭。最近交付的度假村展示了核心產品計劃的第一個影響。

Later this month, our first full deliveries of our new merchandise sub-brands will arrive in stores. These deliveries offer differentiated aesthetics to appeal to a broader audience. We know our customers options are highly segmented and underpenetrated relative to the potential market size. Our customers continue to tell us in our surveys and mall intercepts that she prefers a store that is dedicated to her specific size range but wants more fashion. We believe that our new product concepts address these needs and position us to deliver on our mission to provide everything in her closet.

本月晚些時候，我們的第一批新商品子品牌將抵達商店。這些產品提供了差異化的美學，以吸引更廣泛的受眾。我們知道，相對於潛在的市場規模，我們的客戶選擇高度細分且滲透率較低。我們的顧客在我們的調查和商場攔截中繼續告訴我們，她更喜歡一家專門針對她的特定尺寸範圍的商店，但想要更多時尚。我們相信，我們的新產品概念可以滿足這些需求，並使我們能夠履行我們的使命，為她提供衣櫃裡的一切。

All of our concepts serve to encourage frequency in our existing customer, re-engage our last customer and bring new customers to the brand with extensive integrated influencer campaigns. Our strategy is to provide an internally developed marketplace that leverages our core fit and product capabilities.

我們所有的理念都是為了鼓勵現有客戶的頻率，重新吸引我們最後的客戶，並透過廣泛的綜合影響者活動為該品牌帶來新客戶。我們的策略是提供一個內部開發的市場，利用我們的核心配合和產品能力。

We will have a curtains up release of our first capsule, Festi, on December 27, in 250 stores and online. We know our customers are looking for new products right after the holidays, and our stores will be ready. Festi is a younger Bohemian expression of fashion that introduces many looks in silhouettes with fresh fabrics and finishes.

我們將於 12 月 27 日在 250 家商店和線上推出我們的首個膠囊系列 Festi。我們知道我們的客戶在假期結束後正在尋找新產品，我們的商店將做好準備。Festi 是一種年輕的波西米亞時尚表達方式，推出了許多採用新鮮面料和飾面的輪廓造型。

We will launch two more niche concepts in January, Nightfall and Retro Chic. We will also re-launch our active assortment in early spring, which is called True by Torrid. This is more lifestyle-based rather than the historical performance focus of our activewear product. We will be launching additional concepts in April and June of 2025. We are protecting our core merchandise while broadening our approach to relevant fashion by leveraging our robust digital capabilities.

我們將在一月推出另外兩個小眾概念：Nightfall 和 Retro Chic。我們也將在早春重新推出我們的活躍產品系列，名為 True by Torrid。這更多的是基於生活方式，而不是我們的運動服產品的歷史表現重點。我們將於 2025 年 4 月和 6 月推出更多概念。我們在保護我們的核心商品的同時，利用我們強大的數位能力拓寬我們對相關時尚的態度。

We'll also be distributing more modern choices throughout the entire store chain as our fulfillment capabilities allow us to expose more newness to the customer with the ability to open all of our inventory to web demand. This allows for margin optimization while improving the store experience for the customer.

我們還將在整個連鎖店中提供更多現代選擇，因為我們的履行能力使我們能夠向客戶展示更多新奇事物，並能夠根據網路需求開放我們的所有庫存。這樣可以優化利潤，同時改善顧客的商店體驗。

We've implemented new inventory planning, allocation and assortment systems that will allow us to drive progress here. As part of our ongoing strategy to strengthen our product offerings, we have made significant progress in refining our sourcing approach. With the upcoming launches of new concepts and progression of the core line, we expect the percentage of products sourced from China to decrease to the mid-teens, reflecting our efforts to diversify and optimize our supply chain.

我們已經實施了新的庫存規劃、分配和分類系統，這將使我們能夠推動這裡的進展。作為我們加強產品供應的持續策略的一部分，我們在完善採購方法方面取得了重大進展。隨著新概念的推出和核心產品線的進展，我們預計從中國採購的產品比例將下降至十幾歲左右，這反映了我們為多元化和優化供應鏈所做的努力。

To that end, we have also invested in additional resources in design, product development as well as merchandising. We have opportunity in all categories of our business, apparel, accessories and intimates. Historically, Torrid has approached Intimates similarly to apparel. This category requires different strategies, time lines and product development processes than apparel. And I'm pleased to announce today that Kate Horton, our current Chief Merchandising Officer, is now dedicating 100% of her focus to drive the growth in Intimates.

為此，我們也在設計、產品開發和行銷方面投入了額外的資源。我們的業務、服裝、配件和內衣的所有類別都有機會。從歷史上看，Torrid 對待內衣的態度就像對待服裝一樣。此類別需要與服裝不同的策略、時間軸和產品開發流程。今天我很高興地宣布，我們現任行銷長 Kate Horton 現在將 100% 的精力用於推動內衣業務的成長。

She has extensive experience in this category and is now focused on driving that business exclusively. In addition, I'm thrilled to announce that Laura Willensky has joined Torrid as the Chief Merchandising Officer for apparel and accessories. Laura is an extremely talented merchandising executive with broad experience in specialty apparel, including J.Crew, Madewell, Victoria's Secret and Talbots as well as pure-play direct selling at Away, where she was most recently the Chief Commercial Officer. Laura brings a laser focus on the customer as well as a dynamic and strategic approach to the product assortment. All of this development has been exciting for the organization as we are able to reevaluate historical norms and constraints and add new ideas to excite our customer.

她在這一領域擁有豐富的經驗，現在專注於推動這項業務。此外，我很高興地宣布 Laura Willensky 已加入 Torrid，擔任服裝和配件部門的首席行銷長。Laura 是一位才華橫溢的銷售主管，在 J.Crew、Madewell、Victoria's Secret 和 Talbots 等特色服裝領域以及 Away 的純粹直銷領域擁有豐富的經驗，她最近擔任 Away 的首席商務官。勞拉 (Laura) 高度關注客戶，並對產品分類採取動態和策略性的方法。所有這些發展對於組織來說都是令人興奮的，因為我們能夠重新評估歷史規範和限制，並添加新的想法來激發我們的客戶。

Our customers are hungry for this. Our operational capabilities, expense management and inventory improvements have provided a foundation to allow us to move quickly with a reinvigorated approach to product. Although we underperformed in the third quarter relative to our expectations, we are confident that we have put in place the necessary changes to the business. What gives us this confidence is that when we have moved product forward by injecting more newness and innovation, those categories are already comping positive. We have an unprecedented influx of new product planned for Q4 and expanding next year.

我們的客戶對此非常渴望。我們的營運能力、費用管理和庫存改善為我們能夠快速採取重振產品的方法奠定了基礎。儘管我們第三季的表現低於我們的預期，但我們有信心我們已經對業務進行了必要的改變。給我們信心的是，當我們透過注入更多新鮮感和創新來推動產品向前發展時，這些類別已經產生了積極的影響。我們計劃在第四季推出前所未有的新產品，並在明年擴大規模。

In fact, we have more newness coming in the next six months than we have had in the past six years. We are pleased with our sales trends over Black Friday weekend as customers responded to our latest offerings. Black Friday and Cyber sales were flat year-over-year with an improvement in product margin. But given the volatility we have seen in our business and recognizing that there is still a considerable amount of the quarter ahead of us, we are taking a prudent approach to our fourth quarter outlook, while we are encouraged by our start to holiday.

事實上，未來六個月的新事物比過去六年還要多。我們對黑色星期五週末的銷售趨勢感到滿意，因為客戶對我們的最新產品做出了反應。黑色星期五和網路銷售較去年同期持平，產品利潤率有所提高。但鑑於我們在業務中看到的波動性，並認識到本季度仍有相當長的時間，我們對第四季度的前景採取謹慎的態度，同時我們對假期的開始感到鼓舞。

2025 is the year of product, and we are excited with the direction that we are moving with assortments that will inspire our customer.

2025 年是產品之年，我們對我們的產品分類方向感到興奮，這將激勵我們的客戶。

With a surge in new products and continued fine-tuning of our core assortments, we anticipate delivering positive comparable sales in fiscal 2025. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Ashlee and Paula to provide more detail on the quarter's results.

隨著新產品的激增以及我們核心品種的持續微調，我們預計 2025 財年將實現可比銷售額的正成長。現在我想將電話轉給 Ashlee 和 Paula，以提供有關本季度業績的更多詳細資訊。

Thank you, Lisa. Let me start by reiterating that despite a third quarter that fell short of our expectations, we remain confident in our long-term strategy of driving growth through product innovation and assortment initiatives. Our regular price sales comp increased 1% year-over-year and while our total comp was down 6.5%, this was attributable to a 47% decline in clearance sales, which reflects our strategic shift away from empty calorie sales. This favorable price type mix, combined with cost of goods improvement, yielded over 285 basis points improvement in gross margin year-over-year. We expect the comp headwind from clearance sales to lessen in the fourth quarter to negative 25% to negative 30% and flatten in Q1 2025 as we begin to lap more reasonable inventory levels.

謝謝你，麗莎。首先我要重申，儘管第三季的業績未達到我們的預期，但我們仍然對透過產品創新和品種計畫推動成長的長期策略充滿信心。我們的正常價格銷售年增 1%，而我們的總銷售年減 6.5%，這是由於清倉銷售下降 47%，這反映了我們從空熱銷售的策略轉變。這種有利的價格類型組合，加上商品成本的改善，使毛利率比去年同期提高了 285 個基點以上。我們預計，隨著我們開始達到更合理的庫存水平，清倉銷售帶來的競爭阻力將在第四季度減少至負 25% 至負 30%，並在 2025 年第一季趨於平穩。

We are already seeing this improvement now. We are pleased with our management of inventory during the quarter despite a top line sales miss, having ended the quarter with 19% less inventory in total and 34% less markdown inventory than last year. Torrid Cash redemption, which remains our most productive loyalty event, was particularly impacted by hurricanes in late-September and October. As a result, traffic was down mid-single digits for the quarter, which was lower than our expectations. We estimate the impact of hurricanes during Torrid Cash to have had 100 basis points impact to our full price comp for the quarter, resulting in a plus-1 comp versus what would have otherwise been a plus-2 regular price comp.

我們現在已經看到了這種改進。儘管銷售額未達標，但我們對本季的庫存管理感到滿意，本季末庫存總量比去年減少了 19%，降價庫存減少了 34%。炎熱的現金兌換仍然是我們最有成效的忠誠度活動，尤其受到 9 月底和 10 月颶風的影響。因此，本季的流量下降了中個位數，低於我們的預期。我們估計，Torrid Cash 期間颶風的影響對該季度的全價比較產生了 100 個基點的影響，導致加 1 的比較，而原本的加 2 正常價格比較。

We saw our customers behave very differently in late September and October, particularly our most engaged customers, resulting in a need to promote more heavily to drive demand and ensure we did not carry forward fall product into the fourth quarter.

我們看到我們的客戶在 9 月底和 10 月的表現非常不同，尤其是我們最活躍的客戶，因此需要加強促銷以推動需求，並確保我們不會將秋季產品結轉到第四季度。

From a product standpoint, we saw continued growth and positive comps in denim driven by freshness and innovation in fabric, wash treatment and a broad range of leg shapes, which built on the momentum from Q2 as well as sweaters where the assortment offered a variety of newness and novelty. Additionally, intimate apparel foundations categories delivered strong regular price comps.

從產品的角度來看，我們看到牛仔布的持續增長和積極的競爭，這得益於面料的新鮮度和創新、水洗處理和廣泛的腿型，這是建立在第二季度的勢頭以及毛衣的基礎上的，毛衣的品種提供了多種新穎性和新穎性。此外，貼身服裝基礎類別提供了強勁的常規價格比較。

In an environment where consumers are more discerning and judicious about spending, we see our customers buying closer to need, particularly in the case of higher ticket categories like jackets and outerwear that experienced downward comp pressure. And yet, she's equally inspired by and responsive to newness, innovation and on-trend styles that give her a reason to purchase.

在消費者對消費更挑剔和明智的環境中，我們看到客戶的購買更接近需求，特別是在經歷了價格下降壓力的夾克和外套等高價品類的情況下。然而，她同樣受到新穎、創新和流行款式的啟發和回應，這給了她購買的理由。

And in categories that we've moved forward in, we saw strong positive full price comps. In the third quarter, our assortment broadly did not offer enough newness and was too similar to seasons past. We conducted extensive customer survey work and intercepts, which reflected consumer sentiment consistent with product sales performance in the third quarter and affirms our strategy for the fourth quarter and beyond.

在我們已經推進的類別中，我們看到了強勁的正全價比較。在第三季度，我們的品種總體上沒有提供足夠的新鮮感，並且與過去的季節過於相似。我們進行了廣泛的客戶調查工作和攔截，反映了與第三季產品銷售業績一致的消費者情緒，並肯定了我們第四季及以後的策略。

Our customer creates inspiring fashion that fills every need in her life at great value. As we move forward, we remain committed to superior fit as table stakes for our customer but acknowledge that our design filter had become too narrow and specific over time.

我們的客戶創造出鼓舞人心的時尚，以巨大的價值滿足她生活中的每一個需求。隨著我們的前進，我們仍然致力於為客戶提供卓越的契合度，但我們也承認，隨著時間的推移，我們的設計過濾器變得過於狹窄和具體。

We are thrilled to answer this call with our upcoming fashion sub-brands, combined with progressive movement in our core line. Moving into the fourth quarter, our collections reflect an improved balance of core, trend-right fashion and novelty.

我們很高興能夠透過即將推出的時尚子品牌以及我們核心產品線的進步運動來響應這一號召。進入第四季度，我們的系列體現了核心、潮流時尚和新穎性之間的更好平衡。

We will also benefit from our ability to chase back into proven winners. While it is still early, we are encouraged by the initial response to our holiday party and shine collection as well as our knit dressing and cozy assortments. As Lisa mentioned, Festi, the first of our new capsules, will arrive in stores in late-December.

我們也將受益於我們追尋經過驗證的贏家的能力。雖然現在還為時過早，但我們對假日派對和閃亮系列以及針織服裝和舒適系列的初步反應感到鼓舞。正如 Lisa 所提到的，我們的第一個新膠囊 Festi 將於 12 月底到達商店。

We are delighted to offer our existing customer new, elevated and differentiated styles and equally excited about reactivating and attracting new customers to the brand by offering something she can't find broadly in the marketplace in a fit that flatters her. We will launch two additional concepts in the first half of 2025, while continuing to energize the core Torrid assortment with a balance of modern on-trend styling.

我們很高興為現有客戶提供新的、提升的和差異化的風格，同時也很高興通過提供一些她在市場上廣泛找不到的、適合她的款式來重新激活和吸引新客戶加入我們的品牌。我們將在 2025 年上半年推出另外兩個概念，同時繼續透過現代流行風格的平衡為核心產品系列注入活力。

The implementation of our merchandise financial assortment and allocation planning system remains on track. By the end of the first quarter of 2025, we will have more robust capability to micro assort by region and store, enabling a wider breadth of assortment choice and sub-brand expansion throughout the fleet and online, better maximizing the return on inventory investments and creating a more inspiring shopping experience for our customers across both channels. Lastly, we are pleased with our performance over the Black Friday and Cyber Holiday period.

我們的商品財務分類和分配計劃系統的實施仍在按計劃進行。到2025年第一季末，我們將擁有更強大的按地區和門市進行微觀分類的能力，從而在整個車隊和線上實現更廣泛的分類選擇和子品牌擴張，更好地最大化庫存投資回報和透過這兩個管道為我們的客戶創造更具啟發性的購物體驗。最後，我們對黑色星期五和網路假期期間的表現感到滿意。

Total sales demand for the period was flat to last year and met our expectations. We're excited about the opportunities ahead of us and look forward to updating you on our continuing progress. With that, I will pass the call to Paula.

期內總銷售需求與去年持平，符合我們的預期。我們對眼前的機會感到興奮，並期待向您通報我們不斷取得的進展。這樣，我就會把電話轉給寶拉。

Thank you, Ashlee. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I will now provide a detailed discussion of our third quarter performance before transitioning into our outlook for fiscal 2024. Starting with the third quarter, we achieved notable gross margin expansion and maintained disciplined expense management. However, these gains were tempered by softer-than-expected sales trends, particularly during the end of September and into October.

謝謝你，阿什莉。大家下午好，感謝您今天加入我們。現在，我將詳細討論我們第三季的業績，然後再展望 2024 財年的前景。從第三季開始，我們實現了顯著的毛利率擴張，並維持了嚴格的費用管理。然而，這些漲幅受到低於預期的銷售趨勢的影響，特別是在 9 月底和 10 月期間。

Despite these challenges, one of our key focus areas has been optimizing inventory levels. I'm pleased to share that we ended the quarter with inventory down 19% year-over-year. This strategic reduction has strengthened our cash position, which now stands at $44 million, representing a $28 million improvement compared to last year. Now let's dive into our financial details. Net sales for the third quarter were $263.8 million compared to $275.4 million last year.

儘管面臨這些挑戰，我們的重點關注領域之一是優化庫存水準。我很高興地告訴大家，本季結束時，我們的庫存年減了 19%。這項策略性削減增強了我們的現金狀況，目前現金狀況為 4,400 萬美元，比去年增加了 2,800 萬美元。現在讓我們深入了解我們的財務細節。第三季淨銷售額為 2.638 億美元，去年同期為 2.754 億美元。

Comparable sales declined 6.5%. Regular price comp was positive 1%, while clearance comp was down 47%. Gross profit grew by 4% to $95.2 million compared to $91.5 million last year. This reflects a significant improvement in gross margin, which expanded by 285 basis points to 36.1%. This increase is primarily due to reduced product costs and an increase in sales of regular priced products.

可比銷售額下降 6.5%。常規價格上漲 1%，而清倉價格下降 47%。毛利成長 4%，達到 9,520 萬美元，而去年為 9,150 萬美元。這反映了毛利率的顯著改善，增加了 285 個基點至 36.1%。這一成長主要是由於產品成本降低和正價產品銷售增加。

SG&A expenses were $74.9 million or 28.4% of net sales compared to $71.9 million or 26.1% of net sales last year. The increase is largely due to performance bonuses, which were not incurred last year. Marketing expenses were $13.1 million, almost flat to last year. As a percentage of net sales, marketing expenses rose slightly, up 35 basis points to 4.9%. This reflects targeted efforts to enhance customer acquisition and strengthen brand engagement.

SG&A 費用為 7,490 萬美元，佔淨銷售額的 28.4%，而去年為 7,190 萬美元，佔淨銷售額的 26.1%。這一增長主要是由於去年沒有發放的績效獎金。行銷費用為 1,310 萬美元，幾乎與去年持平。行銷費用佔淨銷售額的百分比略有上升，上升 35 個基點至 4.9%。這反映了為增強客戶獲取和加強品牌參與度而做出的有針對性的努力。

Net loss was $1.2 million or negative $0.01 per share compared to a net loss of $2.7 million or negative $0.03 per share in the same period last year. Turning to adjusted EBITDA, this metric increased to $19.6 million, slightly up from a year ago of $19.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net sales expanded by 40 basis points to 7.4%. This improvement underscores our ability to deliver operational efficiencies despite the softer top line performance.

淨虧損為 120 萬美元，即每股負 0.01 美元，而去年同期淨虧損為 270 萬美元，即每股負 0.03 美元。至於調整後的 EBITDA，指標增至 1,960 萬美元，略高於一年前的 1,940 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 佔淨銷售額的百分比增加了 40 個基點，達到 7.4%。這項改進凸顯了我們在營收表現疲軟的情況下提高營運效率的能力。

Looking at the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with $44 million in cash and no borrowings on our revolving credit agreement. Total liquidity, which includes our available borrowing capacity, remains robust at $152 million. Additionally, we reduced our total debt to $293 million compared to $314 million at the end of the third quarter last year. Inventory management continues to be a critical area of focus.

看資產負債表。截至本季末，我們的現金為 4,400 萬美元，循環信貸協議中沒有借款。總流動性（包括我們的可用借貸能力）仍保持在 1.52 億美元的強勁水平。此外，我們將總債務減少至 2.93 億美元，而去年第三季末的債務總額為 3.14 億美元。庫存管理仍然是一個關鍵的關注領域。

As mentioned earlier, inventory levels decreased by 19% year-over-year, ending the quarter at $138 million compared to $171 million a year ago. This reduction reflects our commitment to maintaining healthy inventory levels, enhancing cash flow and positioning ourselves for improved agility in response to market demand.

如前所述，庫存水準年減 19%，本季末庫存水準為 1.38 億美元，而去年同期為 1.71 億美元。這項減少反映了我們對維持健康庫存水準、增強現金流量以及提高回應市場需求敏捷性的承諾。

During our previous earnings call, we outlined our store optimization plan. And today, we're very excited to provide an update on this critical initiative. Over the past year, our comprehensive analysis of the store portfolio confirmed the strong customer preference for outdoor shopping centers, which continue to outperform in closed malls in both conversion rates and profitability.

在先前的財報電話會議上，我們概述了我們的商店優化計劃。今天，我們非常高興能夠提供有關這項重要舉措的最新資訊。過去一年，我們對門市組合的全面分析證實了顧客對戶外購物中心的強烈偏好，戶外購物中心在轉換率和獲利能力方面繼續優於已關閉的購物中心。

At present, 65% of our stores are located in enclosed malls, while 35% operate in outdoor centers. To achieve our goal of a balanced 50-50 mix, we remain on track to close a total of 30 to 40 stores by the end of fiscal 2024. These closures are being carefully timed with lease expirations, ensuring minimal financial disruption this fiscal year, and we estimate to deliver 80 basis points to 100 basis points of EBITDA margin expansion in fiscal 2025.

目前，我們有65%的門市位於封閉式商場，35%位於戶外中心。為了實現平衡 50-50 家門市的目標，我們仍有望在 2024 財年年底前關閉 30 至 40 家門市。這些關閉的時間與租賃到期時間密切相關，以確保本財年的財務幹擾最小化，我們預計 2025 財年 EBITDA 利潤率將擴大 80 個基點到 100 個基點。

We're confident that this strategy will drive adjusted EBITDA expansion with limited revenue impact as customers transition to nearby locations or to our strong e-commerce platform. This ongoing optimization effort reflects our commitment to aligning our store portfolio with evolving consumer preferences and building a stronger, more profitable foundation for future growth.

我們相信，隨著客戶轉向附近地點或我們強大的電子商務平台，這項策略將推動調整後的 EBITDA 擴張，而對收入的影響有限。這種持續的優化工作反映了我們致力於使我們的商店組合適應不斷變化的消費者偏好，並為未來的成長奠定更強大、更有利可圖的基礎。

As leases come up for renewal, we will continue to evaluate opportunities to fine-tune our store fleet for maximum efficiency and profitability. Furthermore, we anticipate that our launch of our sub-brands at the end of this fiscal year and into fiscal 2025 will enhance in-store experience and generate customer excitement. The sub-brands will roll out across 250 to 350 locations with the goal of driving improvements in traffic, conversion rates and customer file growth.

隨著租約的續約，我們將繼續評估調整我們的商店隊伍的機會，以實現最大的效率和盈利能力。此外，我們預計在本財年末和 2025 財年推出子品牌將增強店內體驗並激發顧客興奮。這些子品牌將在 250 至 350 個地點推出，目標是推動流量、轉換率和客戶文件成長的改善。

In summary, our third quarter results demonstrated our ability to execute strategically despite night sales coming softer than anticipated. We achieved significant gross margin expansion, reflecting improved product costs and inventory management.

總之，我們第三季的業績證明了我們策略執行的能力，儘管夜間銷售比預期疲軟。我們實現了毛利率的大幅成長，反映出產品成本和庫存管理的改善。

Our efforts to optimize operations and tightly manage expenses resulted in meaningful gain in profitability with adjusted EBITDA improving year-over-year. We also made substantial progress on our store optimization strategy, which will enhance profitability and align our footprint with evolving customer preferences. These actions underscore our focus on our long-term growth and operational excellence as we prepare for fiscal 2025. Now turning to our outlook for the remainder of 2024. Given our uneven performance, we're taking a more conservative approach to the fourth quarter net sales and EBITDA outlook.

我們優化營運和嚴格管理費用的努力帶來了獲利能力的顯著成長，調整後的 EBITDA 逐年提高。我們還在商店優化策略方面取得了實質進展，這將提高盈利能力並使我們的足跡與不斷變化的客戶偏好保持一致。這些行動強調了我們在為 2025 財年做準備時對長期成長和卓越營運的關注。現在轉向我們對 2024 年剩餘時間的展望。鑑於我們的業績參差不齊，我們對第四季度淨銷售額和 EBITDA 前景採取更保守的態度。

As a reminder, last year's fourth quarter included $22 million in sales and $2.5 million in adjusted EBITDA for the 53rd week. For the fourth quarter, we expect sales to range from $255 million to $270 million and adjusted EBITDA to be between $9 million and $15 million. For the full year, we now expect sales to range between $1.083 billion and $1.098 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $101 million to $107 million. Capital expenditure is expected to be between $20 million to $25 million, which includes investments in technology as well as the opening of 12 to 16 new stores. As we enter fiscal 2025, we are confident that our carefully crafted product strategy, combined with our ongoing operational excellence will drive comparable sales growth in the low to mid-single digits and deliver an improvement in EBITDA margins.

提醒一下，去年第四季第 53 週的銷售額為 2,200 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 250 萬美元。我們預計第四季的銷售額將在 2.55 億美元至 2.7 億美元之間，調整後的 EBITDA 將在 900 萬美元至 1500 萬美元之間。我們目前預計全年銷售額將在 10.83 億美元至 10.98 億美元之間，調整後 EBITDA 為 1.01 億美元至 1.07 億美元。資本支出預計在 2,000 萬至 2,500 萬美元之間，其中包括技術投資以及開設 12 至 16 家新店。隨著我們進入 2025 財年，我們相信，我們精心製定的產品策略，加上我們持續的卓越運營，將推動可比銷售額實現中低個位數成長，並提高 EBITDA 利潤率。

To conclude, our strategic priorities remain firmly aligned and unchanged, driving improvements in comparable sales, healthy margins, making targeted investments to fuel growth and maintaining robust working capital performance. These focus areas position us to deliver sustainable value and continued success.

總而言之，我們的策略重點保持堅定一致且不變，推動可比較銷售額的改善、健康的利潤率、進行有針對性的投資以推動成長並維持強勁的營運資本績效。這些重點領域使我們能夠提供可持續的價值和持續的成功。

I will now turn the call over to the operator to begin the question-and-answer portion of our call.

我現在將把電話轉給接線員，開始我們電話的問答部分。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Brooke Roach, Goldman Sachs.

布魯克·羅奇，高盛。

Good afternoon, thank you for taking the questions. Lisa, I was hoping you could quantify the proportion of newness in the assortment that you have planned in the first-half of '25 in comparison to the third quarter? And then help us understand what marketing and consumer engagement strategies you have to drive traffic with that improved product newness? Should we anticipate any changes in Torrid Cash events or other marketing strategies such as model search?

下午好，感謝您提出問題。麗莎，我希望您能量化一下您在 25 年上半年計劃的品種與第三季度相比的新比例？然後幫助我們了解您必須採取哪些行銷和消費者參與策略來透過改進的產品新穎性來增加流量？我們是否應該預見 Torrid Cash 活動或其他行銷策略（例如模特兒搜尋）的任何變化？

Thanks, Brooke. I don't have an exact percentage of newness. What I will tell you is that we are impacting every category. And there are 12 products, 12 legacy products that generate a substantial amount of our business. They need to be updated and addressed, but we will protect those businesses.

謝謝，布魯克。我沒有確切的新鮮度百分比。我要告訴你的是，我們正在影響每一個類別。有 12 種產品，12 種傳統產品為我們帶來了大量業務。它們需要更新和解決，但我們將保護這些企業。

Categories that we've already updated that we're seeing really strong support and continue strong reaction from the customers, obviously, Denim, we've talked a lot about that. Sweaters, dresses are improving. And so we are impacting every aspect of the business while protecting kind of core franchise programs and updating them. In terms of what we're doing, and I would say separate to the core line, and we talked a lot about it, are the sub-brands that we're launching. And so again, it's crawl walk run for that business.

我們已經更新的類別表明，我們看到了客戶的強烈支持和持續的強烈反應，顯然，牛仔布，我們已經對此進行了很多討論。毛衣、洋裝正在改進。因此，我們正在影響業務的各個方面，同時保護核心特許經營計劃並更新它們。就我們正在做的事情而言，我想說的是，與核心產品線分開的，我們談論了很多，是我們正在推出的子品牌。再說一次，對於這項業務來說，它是爬行運行。

But the first one is Festi, which is a very boho line that we will launch [12-27] when people return to the malls after Christmas. They like to see newness. They get excited about new product. And we'll see that. We have follow-ups on that product about every six weeks, four to six weeks for the balance of the year.

但第一個是 Festi，這是一個非常波西米亞風的系列，當人們在聖誕節後返回購物中心時，我們將推出 [12-27]。他們喜歡看到新鮮事物。他們對新產品感到興奮。我們將會看到這一點。我們大約每六週對該產品進行一次跟進，全年剩餘時間為四到六週。

Then we'll launch Nightfall, which is kind of a traditional legacy-edgy concept for Torrid, where we are able to really speak to that niche customer; and then Retro Chic, which is another niche customer that will appeal to. So it's newness in the core line as well as newness in the sub-brands, with an eye toward protecting core franchises, core knits, core wovens, core non-denim bottoms and denim. And we'll see as we move through the year, the balance between the newness in the Torrid core line and the sub-brands. We're doing this all based on our same kind of table stakes fit and quality and are really excited. What we hear from the customers over and over again is they want newness.

然後我們將推出 Nightfall，這是 Torrid 的一種傳統的前衛概念，我們能夠真正與那個利基客戶交談；然後是復古別緻，這是另一個會吸引的小眾客戶。因此，核心產品線和子品牌都是新穎的，著眼於保護核心特許經營權、核心針織品、核心梭織品、核心非牛仔布下裝和牛仔布。隨著這一年的推移，我們將看到 Torrid 核心產品線和子品牌的新穎性之間的平衡。我們所做的這一切都是基於我們相同類型的賭注適合度和質量，我們非常興奮。我們一次又一次從客戶那裡聽到的是他們想要新奇的東西。

They're big supporters of Torrid and they want newness from us. We think about our brand filter differently than maybe we thought about it about a year ago, which is the filter is the size range and the opportunity is all of the end uses that she has in her life. And that shift is dramatic as we became over time, really attached to the legacy aspect of the Torrid product and less kind of inspirational and creative about all of the needs that she has in her life. And because she's so underserved our ability to deliver that. I'm so proud of what the team has been able to do in a very short amount of time.

他們是 Torrid 的大力支持者，他們希望我們能帶來新鮮感。我們對品牌過濾器的看法與一年前不同，過濾器是尺寸範圍，機會是她生活中的所有最終用途。隨著時間的推移，這種轉變是戲劇性的，我們真的很重視熱火產品的傳統方面，而對她生活中的所有需求都缺乏靈感和創造力。因為她的服務水準太低，我們無法實現這一目標。我對團隊在很短的時間內所取得的成就感到非常自豪。

And I'm excited that the product is starting to roll in, and you'll see it imminently. So all of those are very positive movements. The other thing that we're doing, we talked a lot over the last year about digital marketing, paid social and how we think about those and incremental spends in those areas.

我很高興該產品開始投入使用，您很快就會看到它。所以所有這些都是非常積極的舉措。我們正在做的另一件事是，去年我們談論了很多關於數位行銷、付費社交以及我們如何看待這些以及在這些領域的增量支出。

So model search was incredibly successful for us, and we'll be repeating that this year with some tweaks to it, but a really, really positive engagement, new customer acquisition. We're adding a really robust influencer program to highlight the new concepts and new sub-brands as well as to highlight the newness in Torrid.

因此，模型搜尋對我們來說非常成功，今年我們將重複這一點，並對其進行一些調整，但真正非常積極的參與，新客戶的獲取。我們正在增加一個非常強大的影響者計劃，以突出新概念和新子品牌，並突出 Torrid 的新穎性。

And I'll tell you in photo shoots that we've had so far and the engagement that we've had with influencers and with some of our normal models, there's a lot of enthusiasm about what they're seeing and I'm excited about the customer seeing it and the shareholders being able to see it as well. Torrid Cash, we don't really see a lot of changes in that. The only changes are there will be -- we know that they'll pay more for higher-end product at that time for special items during that time. And so we're feeding that in more actively and with more clarity in terms of that merchandise mix. And we are also kind of -- we're moving them a little earlier in the quarter so that we're not having such a large requirement on an event that ends up at the end of the quarter so that we have a little bit more visibility to the overall results.

我會在照片拍攝中告訴你，到目前為止，我們已經與有影響力的人和我們的一些普通模特進行了接觸，他們對所看到的東西充滿了熱情，我很興奮關於客戶看到它以及股東也能夠看到它。炎熱的現金，我們並沒有真正看到這方面有太多變化。唯一的變化是——我們知道他們會為在那段時間的特殊商品支付更高的價格購買高端產品。因此，我們正在更積極、更清晰地提供商品組合。我們也將在本季度提前一點進行，這樣我們就不會對在本季度末結束的活動有如此大的要求，這樣我們就有更多的時間總體結果的可見性。

So I'm really pleased that we've addressed the product. We've started working on that in spring of this year. And really, again, proud of the team and proud of the organizational and cultural shifts that are allowing us to do this really quickly. And I think it's going to be an exciting year in '25 because we fixed so many operational things, and now we have a chance to listen to our customer and provide product that inspires her as we move forward.

所以我真的很高興我們解決了這個產品的問題。我們從今年春天開始致力於這方面的工作。真的，再次為我們的團隊感到自豪，為組織和文化的轉變感到自豪，這些轉變使我們能夠真正快速地做到這一點。我認為 25 年將是令人興奮的一年，因為我們修復了許多營運問題，現在我們有機會傾聽客戶的意見，並提供能夠激勵她前進的產品。

Great. And if I could just ask a follow-up for Paula. Paula, you gave some helpful guardrails on early thoughts on 2025, low to mid-single-digit sales growth and improvement in EBITDA margins. Can you help us understand the puts and takes of that EBITDA margin expansion? Is it possible for the business to expand margins even if comps don't return to growth next year or if things take a little bit longer than your expectations?

偉大的。如果我可以詢問保拉的後續情況。Paula，您對 2025 年的早期想法、低至中個位數的銷售增長以及 EBITDA 利潤率的改善提出了一些有用的建議。您能幫助我們了解 EBITDA 利潤率擴張的影響嗎？即使明年公司的業績無法恢復成長，或者事情的進展比您的預期要長一些，企業是否有可能擴大利潤率？

Yeah. Brooke, that's a great question. I would say, yes. We would still be able to see EBITDA margin expansion, especially as we focus on optimizing our store footprint. So from that standpoint, we would still see it.

是的。布魯克，這是一個很好的問題。我會說，是的。我們仍然能夠看到 EBITDA 利潤率的擴張，特別是當我們專注於優化我們的商店足跡時。所以從這個角度來看，我們仍然會看到它。

But to Lisa's point, with all the newness that we were going to be bringing in 2025, we feel very good, and we believe that we will return to growth from a comparable sales. I mean we are in a better place now than we were right, a year ago from a comp sales. So we are tracking in the right direction. So I would say, yes, all across. Just looking at all of our operational efficiencies and projects that we have for next year, aside from comp sales growth, we should still see that EBITDA margin expansion.

但就 Lisa 的觀點而言，鑑於我們將在 2025 年推出所有新產品，我們感覺非常好，並相信我們將從可比銷售額中恢復成長。我的意思是，我們現在的處境比一年前的比較銷售更好。所以我們正在朝著正確的方向前進。所以我會說，是的，全面。只要看看我們明年所有的營運效率和項目，除了銷售成長之外，我們仍然應該看到 EBITDA 利潤率的擴張。

Great. Thanks so much. I'll pass it on.

偉大的。非常感謝。我會把它傳遞下去。

Corey Tarlowe, Jefferies.

科里·塔洛，杰弗里斯。

Great, thanks. Lisa, recognizing there was a lot of volatility in the business in the quarter. Could you talk a little bit about your view as to what was maybe macro versus micro? I would be curious to hear your perspective as you assess the business performance throughout the quarter and Black Friday? And then just one thing that I think we've talked a lot about, especially over the last year has been your inventory control. But as you bring in a lot of the newness, I'm curious to get your perspective on the shape of the growth in inventory or change in inventory for the remainder of the year and perhaps into the early parts of next year?

太好了，謝謝。麗莎認識到本季的業務波動很大。能否談談您對宏觀與微觀的看法？我很想聽聽您在評估整個季度和黑色星期五的業務表現時的看法？我認為我們已經談論了很多的一件事，特別是在去年，就是庫存控制。但是，當您帶來大量新內容時，我很想了解您對今年剩餘時間（也許是明年初）庫存增長或庫存變化的看法？

Sure. Thanks, Corey. Micro versus macro, we've had a lot of conversations about this. And most of my prepared remarks today were focused on product because that is the side of this that we can control. But there are core KPIs that were very dramatic shifts for us that were anomalous to anything that we've seen before in October.

當然。謝謝，科里。微觀與宏觀，我們對此進行了許多對話。我今天準備的大部分發言都集中在產品上，因為這是我們可以控制的方面。但有些核心 KPI 對我們來說發生了非常戲劇性的變化，與我們之前在 10 月看到的任何情況都不同。

The good news is, there's been recovery in November. As we said, Black Friday and Cyber was flat to last year with product margin expansion. So we were pleased with that. That hit our forecast. But we saw positive traffic and regular price sales in August, moving on through the quarter to very deep negative traffic trends in October.

好消息是，11 月已經有所復甦。正如我們所說，黑色星期五和網路銷售與去年持平，產品利潤率有所擴大。所以我們對此感到滿意。這符合我們的預測。但我們在 8 月看到了積極的客流量和正常價格銷售，整個季度的客流量趨勢在 10 月非常嚴重。

And so, we had an incremental new line in late-September, fall [tree], and we had an extended Torrid Cash, and we could not -- it was -- besides the traffic, we had -- we promoted regular price to try to drive behavior. The normal elasticity models did not apply. So there really wasn't anything that we could do to entice the customer to change her to go back to a more normalized kind of behavior. The behavior changed pretty dramatically. Now I can attribute that to weather, hurricanes, election, a lot of things, but I can't slice and dice that from my perspective.

因此，我們在九月下旬，秋天[樹]增加了一條新線路，並且我們有一個擴展的熱現金，我們不能 - 它是 - 除了交通之外，我們 - 我們將正常價格提升到嘗試驅動行為。正常的彈性模型不適用。因此，我們確實無法做任何事情來吸引客戶改變她回到更正常的行為。人們的行為發生了巨大的變化。現在我可以將其歸因於天氣、颶風、選舉等很多因素，但我無法從我的角度來對它們進行剖析。

All I can -- all that we can tell you is that traffic changed dramatically from the beginning of the quarter to the end of the quarter from positive to negative 11 in the end of the quarter. And again, recovered in November post-election, so we saw that. So that's all I can base on that idea that we really couldn't entice her to spend with normal kind of promotional activities. Our most valuable, highly engaged customer was the least engaged for that time period and the recovery happened post-election. And that's circumstantial.

我所能告訴你的是，從季度初到季度末，流量發生了巨大的變化，從正值變為負值 11。選舉後 11 月再次恢復，所以我們看到了這一點。所以我只能基於這樣的想法：我們真的無法透過正常的促銷活動吸引她花錢。我們最有價值、參與度最高的客戶在那段時間參與度最低，並且在選舉後發生了恢復。這是有條件的。

I understand from my -- I just have my KPIs. I can't layer it in a more broad effort. But those indications to us indicate that there is a substantial macro impact to how the quarter played out very differently than our -- than we've experienced and very obviously different from our expectations. The good news is when we found that out, we went -- when we were experiencing that, we went and did mall intercepts. We did additional surveys.

我從我的理解中了解到——我只有我的 KPI。我無法將其納入更廣泛的努力中。但這些向我們表明的跡象表明，本季的表現與我們經歷的情況非常不同，並且與我們的預期非常明顯不同，因此存在重大宏觀影響。好消息是，當我們發現這一點時，我們就去了——當我們遇到這種情況時，我們去了商場攔截。我們做了額外的調查。

We went out to our customers. And there was no negative about the brand. It was really like I just need to see more fashion. I want to see more fashion. I will spend the money on more fashion on innovative, inspirational product.

我們去找我們的客戶。而且該品牌沒有負面影響。真的就像我只是需要看到更多時尚。我想看更多時尚。我會把錢花在更多時尚、創新、鼓舞人心的產品。

And so, the good news is we already had that in work. We already had that on the water, and we're already starting to see the beginning of that. So micro versus macro, I can take responsibility for the product piece of it, but I do think there was a substantive impact -- macro impact on the quarter. Inventory control, I'm going to give that to Ashlee, if you don't mind.

因此，好消息是我們已經在工作中實現了這一點。我們已經在水上實現了這一點，並且我們已經開始看到它的開始。因此，微觀與宏觀相比，我可以對其中的產品部分負責，但我確實認為存在實質影響——對本季的宏觀影響。庫存控制，如果你不介意的話，我會把它交給阿什莉。

Hi, Corey, so even with all of the newness coming, we expect to end the year, as we've said before, flat to down low single digits and believe that we can return to growth, so positive comp in 2025 on relatively flat inventory year-over-year. So it's really about replacing less productive choices with more productive, new and inspirational ones.

嗨，科里，所以即使所有的新鮮事物即將到來，我們預計到今年年底，正如我們之前所說，業績將持平至低個位數，並相信我們可以恢復增長，因此 2025 年的積極業績相對持平庫存同比。因此，這實際上是用更有成效、新的和鼓舞人心的選擇來取代效率較低的選擇。

Got it. Thank you so much. Best of luck.

知道了。太感謝了。祝你好運。

Thanks, Corey.

謝謝，科里。

Dana Telsey, Telsey Advisory Group.

達納‧特爾西，特爾西諮詢小組。

Hi, good afternoon, everyone. As you think about, I think, last quarter, we talked about opening price point. What did you see as you went through the third quarter in terms of opening price points? Where are the prices relative to where you want to be? And with the introduction of some of these new products, how are the price points going to be versus the average? And then, Lisa, where are you on talent given the addition of the new Chief Merchant?

嗨，大家下午好。正如你所想，我認為上個季度我們討論了開盤價。在第三季的開盤價方面，您有何看法？相對於您想要去的地方，價格在哪裡？隨著其中一些新產品的推出，其價格與平均價格相比如何？然後，麗莎，隨著新首席商人的加入，你的人才水平如何？

What else would you like to -- any other changes you'd like to see? And with these new capsules coming in, how are you planning marketing spend to introduce those? Thank you.

您還想做什麼——您還想看到其他什麼改變嗎？隨著這些新膠囊的上市，您如何規劃行銷支出來推出這些膠囊？謝謝。

Thanks, Dana. We still have OPP in the mix. I would say it's less important in the back half of the year than it is in the front half of the year. Overall, our AOV was up for the year, so for the quarter, excuse me. So I think that the mix was reasonable.

謝謝，達納。我們仍然有 OPP。我想說，下半年的重要性不如上半年重要。總體而言，我們今年的 AOV 有所上升，所以本季的 AOV 有所上升，請原諒。所以我認為這種搭配是合理的。

I would say that the new capsules that we're bringing in the sub-brands are a blend, are a mix. Some of them are higher price points. Some of them are the same price points that we have now and some of them are lower price point concepts. So it really is a marketplace approach where we are targeting each of these sub-brands to speak to a customer that enters the brand through a size range and a need, a problem that she needs solved or an inspiration that she's asking for. And we've broadened that mix.

我想說的是，我們在子品牌中引入的新膠囊是混合體，是混合體。其中一些價格較高。其中一些是我們現在擁有的相同價位，一些是更低價位的概念。因此，這實際上是一種市場方法，我們針對每個子品牌來與透過尺寸範圍和需求、她需要解決的問題或她尋求的靈感進入該品牌的客戶進行對話。我們已經擴大了這種組合。

And so some of the price points on the top end will increase a bit, but we'll also add lower price points. So it's a different -- the blend will end up most likely very similar to where we are now. It will just be more of a broad range. On the talent question, I'm really thrilled to add Laura to the team and have Kate focus completely on Intimates. We have a big opportunity in Intimates.

因此，高端的一些價格點將會增加一點，但我們也會增加較低的價格點。所以這是不同的——混合最終很可能與我們現在的情況非常相似。它的範圍將更加廣泛。關於人才問題，我真的很高興勞拉加入團隊，並讓凱特完全專注於內衣。我們在內衣領域有很大的機會。

And we've always treated it in an organization like apparel, kind of like an adjunct to the apparel process. It's not the appropriate way to manage those product categories and having a dedicated team and the talent to lead that initiative, I think, will pay off as we're able to bring new products to market and manage that side of the business more in an activist way.

我們一直在像服裝這樣的組織中對待它，有點像服裝流程的附屬品。這不是管理這些產品類別的適當方式，我認為，擁有一支專門的團隊和人才來領導這項計劃將會得到回報，因為我們能夠將新產品推向市場，並以更有效的方式管理這方面的業務。

Laura has a lot of experience in specialty. We worked together years ago when she was the merchant that started Janie and Jack. We at Gymboree, she's worked at J.Crew for a long time managing Women's and Kids.

勞拉在專業領域擁有豐富的經驗。幾年前我們曾一起工作，當時她是創辦珍妮和傑克的商人。我們在 Gymboree，她在 J.Crew 工作了很長時間，負責女裝和童裝業務。

She was one of the big -- people who started Madewell. She was most recently at Away as the Chief Commercial Officer. So a great merchandising executive focused on the customer, focused on telling the customer stories and really inspiring and activating that customer. That will be critical as we are broadening our scope in terms of an end-use product for this mix. I know you asked me a question about capsules at the end.

她是創建 Madewell 的大人物之一。她最近在 Away 擔任首席商務官。因此，優秀的銷售主管會以客戶為中心，專注於講述客戶故事並真正激勵和激活客戶。這將是至關重要的，因為我們正在擴大這種組合的最終用途產品的範圍。我知道你最後問了我一個關於膠囊的問題。

And marketing.

和行銷。

Marketing, thank you. Sorry, I didn't get the whole question written down. As I mentioned, I think that one of the big opportunities for us that we've touched on, but I think that we will integrate even more aggressively next year is this opportunity to engage influencers. And I mean, big scale influencers as well as medium and micro influencers into this mix. And so, we're using influencers in our photography campaigns.

行銷，謝謝。抱歉，我沒有寫下整個問題。正如我所提到的，我認為我們已經提到過的重大機會之一，但我認為明年我們將更加積極地整合，那就是吸引有影響力的人的機會。我的意思是，大型影響者以及中型和微型影響者都參與其中。因此，我們在攝影活動中聘請了有影響力的人。

We're really engaging them in the mix broadly. We would expect next year marketing to go up slightly as a percentage of total sales. And we -- so we are adding money to that -- to marketing to be able to support the new customer acquisition. The other thing we're going to do is really front-load some of our marketing spend to drive customer acquisition earlier in the mix. I also think that we have an enormous opportunity.

我們確實讓他們廣泛參與其中。我們預計明年行銷佔總銷售額的百分比將略有上升。我們正在向行銷投入資金，以便能夠支持新客戶的獲取。我們要做的另一件事是真正預先投入一些行銷支出，以推動混合過程中的早期客戶獲取。我還認為我們有一個巨大的機會。

We've done a great job with customer reactivation this year, and I think that will accelerate as we bring new ideas to the marketplace. So some of it is organic and owned customers that we're going to be able to reignite and some of it is investing in -- more broadly in digital, but also specifically in influencer campaigns to support these new ideas.

今年我們在客戶重新激活方面做得非常出色，我認為隨著我們將新想法推向市場，這將會加速。因此，其中一些是我們將能夠重新點燃的有機客戶和自有客戶，其中一些正在投資——更廣泛地投資於數位領域，但也特別投資於支持這些新想法的影響者活動。

Got it. And just broadly speaking, given the newness that's coming in, in the product, how much of the assortment going forward will be core? How much of it will be new? And just how do you frame the assortment in terms of what it should be looking like compared to what you had?

知道了。從廣義上講，考慮到產品中即將出現的新穎性，未來的品種中有多少將成為核心？其中有多少是新的？與您擁有的產品相比，您如何根據其外觀來設計該產品系列？

I really -- the easiest way right now is to use denim as a proxy. And so last year, our skinny denim was 65% of our assortment and our sales in denim. This year, it's in the low-20%s. And our -- we've picked up wide leg, flare, straight, all of the relevant, obviously, all of you know that there's a lot going on in denim right now. But that mix is a very different mix than it was a year ago.

我真的 - 現在最簡單的方法就是使用牛仔布作為代理。去年，我們的緊身牛仔布占我們牛仔布品種和銷售量的 65%。今年，這一數字處於 20% 左右。我們的——我們選擇了闊腿褲、喇叭褲、直筒褲，所有相關的款式，顯然，你們都知道現在牛仔布領域正在發生很多變化。但這種組合與一年前截然不同。

That being said, I still consider those silhouettes as being core, even though they're new to us, flare, wide leg, straight, believe it or not, it took us a while to get to a straight leg in the mix. All of those are -- would now be considered core businesses and some of them were buying as such, we're putting them in the wall, we're investing so that they really are becoming core to our mix. So it's not just the old core, it's also developing new core in those categories. The same thing applies in non-denim. So our 12 business used to be a seasonal business.

話雖如此，我仍然認為這些輪廓是核心，儘管它們對我們來說是新的，喇叭形、闊腿形、直筒形，不管你相信與否，我們花了一段時間才在混合中達到直腿形。所有這些現在都將被視為核心業務，其中一些是這樣購買的，我們將它們放在牆上，我們進行投資，以便它們真正成為我們組合的核心。因此，它不僅僅是舊的核心，它還在這些類別中發展新的核心。同樣的情況也適用於非牛仔布。所以我們的12業務曾經是季節性業務。

It's a year-round business now. We just introduced the wide leg weekend pant, which has had remarkable receptivity by the customer. And so that weekend franchise has now become core. So what we're doing with the capsules, in addition to bringing new ideas like boho or preppy or other ideas to the mix, we're also -- we have more latitude a little bit as we're bringing in these sub-brands to bring in new ideas to see what ignites the customers. And some of those will move to Torrid core products over time.

現在是全年營業。我們剛推出了寬褲週末褲，受到了顧客的熱烈歡迎。因此，週末專營權現在已成為核心。因此，我們對膠囊所做的事情，除了將波西米亞風或預科風或其他想法融入其中之外，我們還——在引入這些子品牌時，我們有更多的自由度引入新想法，看看什麼能激發客戶的興趣。隨著時間的推移，其中一些將轉移到 Torrid 核心產品。

So in Festi even though we're delivering at 250 stores, we identified some woven tops and knit tops out of the Festi development cycle that we feel like are relevant, potential core businesses for Torrid. And those will blend into that mix over time. It's an incubation, but it's also an end use that we think is really exciting moving forward and how we'll move the core brand of Torrid from a very tightly held, controlled legacy-driven business to something that has a lot of legs, a lot of breadth and the opportunity for growth.

因此，在 Festi 中，儘管我們向 250 家商店供貨，但我們還是從 Festi 開發週期中確定了一些梭織上衣和針織上衣，我們認為這些上衣與 Torrid 相關且具有潛在的核心業務。隨著時間的推移，這些都會融入這種混合物中。這是一種孵化，但它也是一種最終用途，我們認為這是真正令人興奮的前進方向，以及我們如何將Torrid 的核心品牌從一個非常嚴格控制、受控的遺留驅動業務轉變為有很多腿的東西，一個很大的廣度和成長機會。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thanks, Dana.

謝謝，達納。

Alex Straton, Morgan Stanley.

亞歷克斯‧斯特拉頓，摩根士丹利。

Thanks a lot for taking the question. Just on the return to growth next year, I just wanted to clarify, is that comp or total sales or both? And then what exactly is the build you're assuming? Is it like pressure on the front half followed by an improvement in the back half? I'm just trying to understand the build to get to positive. And then the second question is just on when you start lapping that change in the strategy on clearance sales.

非常感謝您提出問題。就明年恢復成長而言，我只是想澄清一下，是銷售額還是總銷售額，還是兩者兼而有之？那麼您所假設的構建到底是什麼？是不是就像前半場有壓力，後半場有改善？我只是想了解建構的正面意義。第二個問題是關於你何時開始在清倉銷售策略中進行這種改變。

I think you said the first quarter, but I just wanted to confirm. And I'm wondering just bigger picture, if there's any change you all are having in mindset on whether that was the right strategy to pull back out of that? Thanks a lot.

我想你說的是第一季度，但我只是想確認一下。我想知道更大的前景，你們所有人的心態是否有任何改變，是否是退出這種情況的正確策略？多謝。

So the next year is about comp and top line, so both are positive. We expect it we're going to get -- I'm going to get in trouble for saying this, Alex, but we expect it to be positive for the entire year, by quarter. I would say that the clearance sales are going to return to a more normalized level in Q1, so that's when we lap the deep kind of negative headwind of clearance.

因此，明年的重點是薪資和營收，因此兩者都是正面的。我們預計我們會得到這樣的結果——亞歷克斯，我會因為這麼說而陷入麻煩，但我們預計全年每季都會出現積極的情況。我想說的是，清倉銷售將在第一季恢復到更正常化的水平，所以那時我們就會經歷清倉的嚴重負面阻力。

I think fundamentally it gets us to a much healthier place. Hindsight being 2020, I might have done it over two years instead of one year, but I'm really glad that we are in such a healthy place in terms of inventory and margin expansion.

我認為從根本上來說，它讓我們變得更健康。事後看來，到 2020 年，我可能會用兩年而不是一年的時間完成這件事，但我真的很高興我們在庫存和利潤擴張方面處於如此健康的狀態。

And I think that allows us now to really focus and leverage those capabilities to drive growth through the right investments of the right products and distributed and assorted and allocated properly. So hindsight, maybe it could have done it over two years, but I would -- the number associated with this is a dramatic number, It's tens of millions of dollars of sales -- of empty calorie sales that we walked away from this year that really will drive us to a much healthier place, has driven us to a much healthier place. And so the hard work is done in that sector from both inventory management and how we've managed clearance. And we want to be more emotional and inspirational to the customer as we move forward and wean ourselves off kind of this clearance mentality or being over inventory to manage that as well as kind of our promotional structure. So I feel strongly that we're at the pivot.

我認為，這使我們現在能夠真正關注並利用這些能力，透過對正確產品的正確投資以及正確的分配、分類和分配來推動成長。所以事後看來，也許它可以在兩年內做到這一點，但我會 - 與此相關的數字是一個戲劇性的數字，這是我們今年放棄的空卡路里銷售的數千萬美元的銷售額確實會推動我們走向一個更健康的地方，已經推動我們走向一個更健康的地方。因此，該領域的艱苦工作是從庫存管理以及我​​們如何管理清關方面完成的。當我們前進時，我們希望對客戶更加感性和鼓舞，並擺脫這種清倉心態或過度庫存來管理這種心態以及我們的促銷結構。所以我強烈感覺到我們正處於關鍵時刻。

Third quarter was strange with the October shift, but we feel like everything's on the water coming in to be able to deliver these growth numbers next year. And we've done the hard work of getting the right foundation set for the business and starting from the right place, both from the free cash it delivered as well as really rationalizing what our inventory needs are to drive growth. We feel comfortable.

第三季的十月轉變很奇怪，但我們覺得一切都在順利進行，以便明年能夠實現這些成長數字。我們已經做了艱苦的工作，為業務奠定了正確的基礎，並從正確的地方開始，無論是從它提供的自由現金，還是真正合理化我們的庫存需求來推動成長。我們感覺很舒服。

Thanks a lot. Good luck.

多謝。祝你好運。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Marni Shapiro, Retail Tracker.

Marni Shapiro，零售追蹤者。

Hey guys. Congratulations to Laura. I'm so happy that you guys are back together and that she's gone from throwing blazers, much better to have this girl power moment here. It feels to me like you guys have done a great job now sort of fixing all of the operations and fundamentals. And as you're -- I can't even think of a better way of putting this, but as you're turning on those product spigots and the customer is reacting, it's almost having a magnified effect on things like margin, et cetera. So can you just talk a little bit about that?

嘿夥計們。恭喜勞拉。我很高興你們又回到了一起，而且她也不再扔西裝外套了，能在這裡擁有這個女孩力量的時刻就更好了。在我看來，你們現在在修復所有操作和基礎方面做得很好。正如你所言——我甚至想不出更好的表達方式，但當你打開這些產品龍頭並且客戶做出反應時，它幾乎對利潤等產生了放大的影響。那你能簡單談談這個嗎？

Because you've -- like you said a lot of newness coming. Corey touched on the inventory. From my vantage point in your stores, any time something new comes in, I never think you have enough inventory. It moves so fast. So can you just kind of pair together a little bit like here's where we are foundationally, and this is how we see turning on these spigots of fashion and how it's kind of dropping kind of quickly.

因為就像你說的，很多新鮮事即將到來。科里談到了庫存。從我在你們商店的有利位置來看，每當有新東西進來時，我從來不認為你們有足夠的庫存。它移動得如此之快。所以你能不能像我們現在所處的位置那樣進行配對，這就是我們看到的時尚龍頭的打開方式以及它是如何快速下降的。

Because I know you're also spending on marketing. If you could just pull it together a little bit cleanly, a little more tightly?

因為我知道你也在行銷上花錢。如果你能把它們更乾淨、更緊密地結合在一起嗎？

Okay. I'll try, Marni. If I understand you correctly, the -- are you asking about the correlation between product expansion and kind of to your words, turning on the product spigots and the inventory levels?

好的。我會盡力的，瑪尼。如果我理解正確的話，您是在問產品擴張與打開產品龍頭和庫存水準之間的相關性嗎？

Yeah, it feels as if foundationally, am I right to say that you guys are in very good shape on an operations kind of perspective here. And so now as you start to kind of turn on these new brands or turn on new fashion product and it's selling, it feels like it should hit the bottom line in almost -- it feels almost in a magnified way because there's not problems in the way anymore, old inventory in the way or old stores or--

是的，從根本上來說，我說你們在營運方面處於非常好的狀態，對嗎？因此，現在當你開始打開這些新品牌或打開新的時尚產品並且它正在銷售時，感覺它幾乎應該達到底線——感覺幾乎以一種放大的方式，因為在不再這樣了，路上的舊庫存或舊商店，或者—

Yeah. So I get that -- absolutely that I feel like the -- what we've done, and we were talking a little bit about that, ripping off the band-aid in terms of inventory, in terms of empty calorie clearance sales, in terms of old kind of legacy product that needed to be refreshed. So like the core [Ponte] business needs to be refreshed. It wasn't -- it went -- it didn't -- we went brought in a lighter weight Ponte. That's working really well, but we stuck a little bit too long to the legacy pieces.

是的。所以我明白了——絕對是我感覺——我們所做的，我們談論了一點，在庫存、空卡路里清倉銷售方面撕掉創可貼，在需要更新的舊類型遺留產品的條款。因此，核心[Ponte]業務需要更新。不是——它去了——它沒有——我們引進了重量更輕的Ponte。這確實運作得很好，但我們在遺留的部分上停留的時間有點太長了。

We're not doing that enough because we have enough newness to be able to inform how we invest going forward. The really exciting part about this is how we rank, how we buy, bringing in these new concepts that allow us almost a white sheet of paper approach to how we broaden this product for the customer without risking the core business, while we update the core business and bring in new ideas broadly.

我們在這方面做得還不夠，因為我們有足夠的新鮮感來告知我們未來如何投資。真正令人興奮的部分是我們如何排名，我們如何購買，引入這些新概念，使我們幾乎可以用一張白紙的方法來為客戶擴展該產品，而不會危及核心業務，同時更新核心業務業務並廣泛地引入新想法。

The operational acumen that we have where we can fulfill from every store and we can do it very effectively allows us to get more fashion deeper into the chain all the way through the chain and be more inspiring in the store environment and align the experience the customer is having on the web with the store experience and be more cohesive in that. And I think by cleaning up the inventory, by adding all these operational acuity and capabilities allow -- and really leveraging this robust product design team and product development team that we have and with what we've done with sourcing and cost of goods last year, all of those things combined to put us in a great place to kind of jump off and jump into this product expansion and growth scenario.

我們擁有的營運智慧可以在每家商店中實現，而且我們可以非常有效地做到這一點，這使我們能夠將更多的時尚深入到整個連鎖店，並在商店環境中更具啟發性，並調整客戶的體驗擁有網路和商店體驗，並在這方面更具凝聚力。我認為，透過清理庫存，透過增加所有這些營運敏銳度和能力，並真正利用我們擁有的強大的產品設計團隊和產品開發團隊，以及我們去年在採購和商品成本方面所做的工作，所有這些因素結合在一起，使我們處於一個很好的位置，可以跳入這個產品擴展和成長場景。

I know it might be hard. I mean you look at it a little bit differently, Marni, but this customer is hungry for what everybody else is wearing. And we have to be able to deliver that in a way that's margin accretive, that's responsible from inventory management and allocation strategies and assortment by channel. And all of those things are in place. We have those capabilities, and now it's the fun part.

我知道這可能很難。我的意思是，Marni，你的看法有點不同，但這位顧客渴望了解其他人穿的衣服。我們必須能夠以一種增加利潤的方式來實現這一目標，這要歸功於庫存管理、分配策略以及通路分類。所有這些都已就位。我們擁有這些能力，現在這是有趣的部分。

Well, that's how it feels to me. That's what I guess I'm getting at. Like all the hard stuff is done. So now as you drop something like all of these new sub-brands or even your holiday assortment when you dropped it into stores because I see it online, but obviously, I go see it in stores, your sparkles, your holiday, your fashion sold in a minute. It was just -- it was gone.

嗯，這就是我的感覺。我想這就是我的意思。就像所有困難的事情都完成了一樣。所以現在，當你把所有這些新子品牌的東西，甚至你的節日系列，當你把它扔進商店時，因為我在網上看到它，但顯然，我會在商店裡看到它，你的閃光，你的假期，你的時尚被賣掉一分鐘後。它只是——它消失了。

And it feels to me, though, if you're dropping things like that on more and more of that without having to do all the grunt work of the other that it should be much margin accretive and it should -- things should just move faster and smoother on top of just getting better sales?

不過，在我看來，如果你在越來越多的事情上放棄類似的事情，而不必做其他人的所有繁重工作，那麼它應該會增加利潤，而且應該——事情應該進展得更快除了獲得更好的銷售之外，還更順利嗎？

Right. So we're looking at top line growth. We're looking at continued margin expansion. We're looking -- and -- but let's be honest, there's a lot of hard work that got to this point. There's still more hard work ahead of us.

正確的。因此，我們正在關注營收成長。我們正在考慮持續擴大利潤率。我們正在尋找——而且——但說實話，我們付出了很多艱苦的努力才走到這一步。我們還有更多艱鉅的工作要做。

But how we assort the merchant mindset that can manage this progression of the core towards the $1 billion core toward business and then also be able to incorporate these additional ideas is incredibly exciting. And I'm happy to have Laura in the mix to do that. I'm happy to have Kate focused on Intimates. I think that's where I felt like the investment needed to be made, and we've made it in merchandising, design and product development. And I think we're excited about what's to come.

但是，我們如何調整商人心態，以管理核心業務向 10 億美元核心業務的發展，然後還能夠整合這些額外的想法，這是非常令人興奮的。我很高興勞拉能加入其中來做到這一點。我很高興凱特專注於內衣。我認為這就是我覺得需要投資的地方，我們已經在銷售、設計和產品開發方面做到了這一點。我認為我們對即將發生的事情感到興奮。

I'll just ask one more quick follow-up. On the product side, is part of the shift to make it a little bit more youthful. And I don't mean trendy teen, just a little bit more youthful? Okay.

我只想再問一個快速跟進問題。在產品方面，是轉變的一部分，使其更加年輕化。我指的不是時尚青少年，只是年輕一點？好的。

Yeah. I talked -- when I left in '16, the average customer age was 35, 36. When I came back, it was 42. I would like it to be 36, and so yes, there's a blend here that I think is the right balance.

是的。我說過──16 年我離開時，顧客的平均年齡是 35 歲、36 歲。當我回來的時候，已經42了。我希望它是 36，所以是的，這裡有一個我認為是正確平衡的混合。

And that is really -- that aging of the customer, I think, is really attributable to the lack of product newness and innovation over those years.

我認為，客戶的老化實際上是由於這些年來缺乏產品新穎性和創新所造成的。

Yeah. Well, best of luck with the holiday season. I'll talk to you guys offline.

是的。好吧，祝你假期好運。我會和你們離線聊天。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Operator, is that the last question?

接線員，這是最後一個問題嗎？

Yes. That is the last question. I would like to turn the floor back to Lisa Harper for closing remarks.

是的。這是最後一個問題。我想請麗莎哈柏 (Lisa Harper) 致閉幕詞。

Okay. Thanks, everyone, for joining us today. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, and we look forward to sharing fourth-quarter results with you next year. Take care.

好的。謝謝大家今天加入我們。希望大家有個愉快的假期，我們期待明年與大家分享第四季的業績。小心。