美元樹 (DLTR) 2022 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone. Welcome to the Dollar Tree, Inc. First Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded.

今天是個好日子。歡迎來到 Dollar Tree, Inc. 2022 年第一季度財報電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。

At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Mr. Randy Guiler, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

在這個時候，我想把電話轉給投資者關係副總裁 Randy Guiler 先生。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, Alan. Good morning, and welcome to our call to discuss results for Dollar Tree's First Fiscal Quarter 2022. With me on today's call are Executive Chairman, Rick Dreiling; President and CEO, Mike Witynski; and CFO, Kevin Wampler.

謝謝你，艾倫。早上好，歡迎參加我們的電話會議，討論 Dollar Tree 2022 年第一財季的業績。今天與我通話的是執行主席 Rick Dreiling；總裁兼首席執行官邁克·維滕斯基；和首席財務官 Kevin Wampler。

Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that various remarks that we will make about our expectations, plans and prospects for the company constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and our actual results may differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements. For information on the risks and uncertainties that could affect our actual results, please refer to the Risk Factors, Business and Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations sections in our annual report filed March 15, 2022, our Form 10-Q for the most recently ended fiscal quarter, our most recent press release and 8-K and other filings we make from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We caution against reliance on the forward-looking statements made today, and we disclaim any obligation to update or revise these statements, except as required by law.

在開始之前，我想提醒大家，我們將對公司的預期、計劃和前景發表的各種評論構成前瞻性陳述，就 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》下的安全港條款而言。這些陳述受到風險和不確定性的影響，我們的實際結果可能與這些前瞻性陳述中的結果大不相同。有關可能影響我們實際結果的風險和不確定性的信息，請參閱我們於 2022 年 3 月 15 日提交的年度報告中的風險因素、業務和管理層對財務狀況和運營結果的討論和分析部分，我們的表格 10-Q對於最近結束的財政季度，我們最近的新聞稿以及我們不時向證券交易委員會提交的 8-K 和其他文件。我們告誡不要依賴今天做出的前瞻性陳述，並且我們不承擔更新或修改這些陳述的任何義務，除非法律要求。

Following our prepared remarks, Mike and Kevin will take your questions. (Operator Instructions). And before I turn the call over to Rick, I want to make one quick clarification to our earnings release as I've received a few questions this morning. Our original fiscal 2022 EPS outlook of $7.60 to $8 per share did not include the $0.43 per share of cost outlined in today's earnings release. $0.13 of the $0.43 per share was incurred in Q1 and reduced our Q1 earnings. Our updated outlook for EPS of $7.80 to $8.20 per share does include the $0.43 per share of cost.

在我們準備好的發言之後，邁克和凱文將回答您的問題。 （操作員說明）。在我把電話轉給里克之前，我想對我們的收益發布做一個快速的澄清，因為我今天早上收到了一些問題。我們最初的 2022 財年每股收益預期為每股 7.60 美元至 8 美元，不包括今天收益發布中概述的每股 0.43 美元的成本。每股 0.43 美元中的 0.13 美元是在第一季度產生的，減少了我們第一季度的收益。我們更新後的每股 7.80 美元至 8.20 美元每股收益預期確實包括每股 0.43 美元的成本。

And I'll now turn the call over to Rick.

現在我將把電話轉給 Rick。

Thank you, Randy, and good morning, everyone. It's been an extremely busy 10 weeks since joining the Dollar Tree team. I've been actively meeting with the leaders throughout the organization to get to know them and their businesses and to discuss priorities and opportunities. We see a massive opportunity ahead of us to drive long-term sustainable value creation through the combined Dollar Tree and Family Dollar brands. It's abundantly clear to us that to deliver this long-term opportunity, we're going to be going from a great company and that change is needed.

謝謝蘭迪，大家早上好。自從加入 Dollar Tree 團隊以來，這 10 周非常忙碌。我一直在積極與整個組織的領導會面，以了解他們和他們的業務，並討論優先事項和機會。我們看到了一個巨大的機會，可以通過合併的 Dollar Tree 和 Family Dollar 品牌來推動長期可持續的價值創造。我們非常清楚，要提供這個長期機會，我們將從一家偉大的公司出發，並且需要做出改變。

We are fully committed to transform Dollar Tree from a good company today to a great company tomorrow. We have this unique opportunity to become a growth engine that delivers profitable growth with attractive returns on capital for many years to come. However, to get from here to there, we must build the foundation to fuel this engine. We need to invest in the areas that most positively impact the associate and shopper experience. These investments are intended to greatly improve the performance of the Family Dollar segment and our supply chain as well as support the continued momentum at Dollar Tree.

我們完全致力於將 Dollar Tree 從今天的優秀公司轉變為明天的優秀公司。我們有這個獨特的機會成為增長引擎，在未來許多年實現盈利增長和具有吸引力的資本回報。但是，要從這裡到那裡，我們必須為這台發動機打下基礎。我們需要在對員工和購物者體驗產生最積極影響的領域進行投資。這些投資旨在大大改善 Family Dollar 部門和我們的供應鏈的表現，並支持 Dollar Tree 的持續發展勢頭。

We'll be focusing on our people, most importantly, our teams from store and distribution center associates to field leadership through competitive wages, improved store and DC conditions and enhanced safety. The distribution center network and supply chain presents us with a golden opportunity to amplify efficiencies and deliver greater support to our stores and elevated service to our shoppers through improved in-stock positions.

我們將專注於我們的員工，最重要的是，我們的團隊從商店和配送中心的員工到現場領導，通過有競爭力的工資、改善的商店和 DC 條件以及增強的安全性。配送中心網絡和供應鍊為我們提供了一個千載難逢的機會，可以通過改善庫存狀況來提高效率並為我們的商店提供更大的支持並為我們的購物者提供更高的服務。

Pricing at Family Dollar and the value proposition at both banners, we need to be right on price at Family Dollar, on par with our primary competitors, and we will work directly with our suppliers to drive greater store productivity. Dollar Tree has a long history of exceeding customer expectations by offering extreme value. We will continue to place a great emphasis on the value proposition at Dollar Tree.

Family Dollar 的定價和兩個橫幅的價值主張，我們需要在 Family Dollar 的價格上與我們的主要競爭對手保持一致，我們將直接與我們的供應商合作以提高商店的生產力。 Dollar Tree 通過提供極致價值來超越客戶期望的悠久歷史。我們將繼續高度重視 Dollar Tree 的價值主張。

And finally, technology. We are simply not where we need to be from a systems perspective to reach our potential. We have recently begun a comprehensive review of all of our systems and infrastructure to make the right decisions and investments to take Dollar Tree and Family Dollar to the next level.

最後，技術。從系統的角度來看，我們根本不是我們需要達到的地方來發揮我們的潛力。我們最近開始對我們所有的系統和基礎設施進行全面審查，以做出正確的決策和投資，將 Dollar Tree 和 Family Dollar 提升到一個新的水平。

I felt great about the long-term opportunity for Dollar Tree and Family Dollar before I got here. Now that I've been inside the organization for 2 months, I feel better than ever. I have full confidence in the team and our Board of Directors as we embark on this much needed transformational growth journey. The Dollar Tree banner is generating renewed momentum, and we will be taking the necessary steps to enable Family Dollar to seize the opportunity to deliver long-term operating performance improvements.

在我來到這里之前，我對 Dollar Tree 和 Family Dollar 的長期機會感到非常高興。現在我已經在組織內工作了 2 個月，感覺比以往任何時候都好。在我們踏上這一急需的轉型增長之旅時，我對團隊和我們的董事會充滿信心。 Dollar Tree 橫幅正在產生新的動力，我們將採取必要措施，使 Family Dollar 能夠抓住機會，實現長期的經營業績改進。

We are in the midst of a very challenging time for consumers as many are living paycheck to paycheck. They are facing the highest inflation since the early 1980s, record high gas prices, the effects from the pandemic, geopolitical uncertainty and much more. In tough times, value retail can be part of the solution to help families stretch their dollars to meet their evolving needs. Dollar Tree and Family Dollar provide convenience as our 16,000-plus stores are located close to millions of households to live and work.

對於消費者而言，我們正處於一個非常具有挑戰性的時期，因為許多人都靠薪水過活。他們面臨著自 1980 年代初以來的最高通脹、創紀錄的高油價、大流行的影響、地緣政治的不確定性等等。在困難時期，價值零售可以成為幫助家庭擴大資金以滿足不斷變化的需求的解決方案的一部分。 Dollar Tree 和 Family Dollar 提供便利，因為我們的 16,000 多家商店靠近數百萬家庭生活和工作。

Mike and I view our organization as a growth company. Now is the ideal time to shift gears for us to make change happen to unlock shareholder value and enable the next wave of profitable growth for Dollar Tree and Family Dollar.

邁克和我將我們的組織視為一家成長型公司。現在是我們換檔以實現改變以釋放股東價值並為 Dollar Tree 和 Family Dollar 實現下一波盈利增長的理想時機。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Mike.

有了這個，我想把電話轉給邁克。

Thank you, Rick. And it's good to have you here with us, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. The team delivered a solid start to the year with a 6.5% top line sales expansion, a 19.2% lift to gross profit and a 48.1% increase to earnings per share. During the quarter, the Dollar Tree team successfully completed its conversion to the $1.25 price point, contributing to both sales and margin improvements. Shoppers are responding favorably as the new greater value products hit our shelves.

謝謝你，瑞克。很高興你和我們在一起，大家早上好。感謝您今天加入我們。該團隊今年開局穩健，營收增長 6.5%，毛利潤增長 19.2%，每股收益增長 48.1%。在本季度，Dollar Tree 團隊成功完成了對 1.25 美元價格點的轉換，為銷售額和利潤率的提高做出了貢獻。隨著新的更有價值的產品上架，購物者反應良好。

Importantly, other key strategic initiatives, including the expansion of the $3 and $5 Plus assortment in our Dollar Tree stores, as well as our Combo Stores and H2 renovations at Family Dollar are all working. Rick outlined the types of additional strategic investments we will be making over the next several years that are designed to position the company for improved operating performance and long-term sustainable growth.

重要的是，其他關鍵戰略舉措，包括在我們的 Dollar Tree 商店中擴展 3 美元和 5 美元以上的商品，以及我們在 Family Dollar 的 Combo Store 和 H2 裝修都在發揮作用。 Rick 概述了我們將在未來幾年內進行的額外戰略投資類型，這些投資旨在幫助公司提高運營績效和實現長期可持續增長。

Before I discuss Q1 performance by segment, I want to share a few details regarding a very eventful quarter for the company. In mid-March, our Board was reconstituted. We now have a new Executive Chair, a new Vice Chair and Lead Director -- Lead Independent Director and a total of 7 new directors. We also have 2 new Board committees, a Finance Committee and a Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility Committee.

在我按部門討論第一季度業績之前，我想分享一些關於公司非常多事的季度的一些細節。 3 月中旬，我們的董事會進行了重組。我們現在有一位新的執行主席、一位新的副主席和首席董事——首席獨立董事以及總共 7 名新董事。我們還有兩個新的董事會委員會，一個財務委員會和一個可持續發展和企業社會責任委員會。

This week, we published our new 2022 CSR report. I am proud of the progress we are making as a company and the team's effort on sustainability. Please check out the new CSR report in the Corporate Governance portion of our website at DollarTreeinfo.com.

本週，我們發布了新的 2022 年企業社會責任報告。我為我們作為一家公司所取得的進步以及團隊在可持續發展方面所做的努力感到自豪。請在我們網站 DollarTreeinfo.com 的公司治理部分查看新的 CSR 報告。

Rick and I have been working very closely together. We share a common vision for a long-term growth opportunity for the Dollar Tree organization. That value will be created by a combination of Dollar Tree's unique and resilient business model that is demonstrating its earnings power and momentum with its recent initiatives, along with a material improvement over time, and the operating performance of our Family Dollar banner. We are well underway with plans and priorities to address the performance at Family Dollar. I will share more detail later on this call.

瑞克和我一直密切合作。我們對 Dollar Tree 組織的長期增長機會有著共同的願景。這一價值將由 Dollar Tree 獨特而有彈性的商業模式創造，該商業模式通過最近的舉措展示了其盈利能力和勢頭，以及隨著時間的推移取得的實質性改進，以及我們 Family Dollar 旗幟的經營業績。我們正在製定計劃和優先事項以解決 Family Dollar 的績效問題。稍後我將在此電話會議上分享更多細節。

Also, 2 weeks ago, we announced the addition of 2 key executives to our leadership team. John Flanigan joined the company as Chief Supply Chain Officer. John brings decades of leadership experience in retail logistics, including grocery, drugstore and the value sectors. John will be extremely focused on elevating our supply chain capabilities through improved distribution operations, hiring and retaining of teams, the efficiency improvements throughout supply chain designed to drive greater store productivity through improved in-stock position. He plans to lead productivity improvements across the logistics function by the use of data analytics, process improvement and automation.

此外，兩週前，我們宣布將 2 名關鍵高管加入我們的領導團隊。 John Flanigan 加入公司擔任首席供應鏈官。 John 在零售物流領域擁有數十年的領導經驗，包括雜貨店、藥店和價值行業。 John 將非常專注於通過改進分銷運營、招聘和保留團隊來提升我們的供應鏈能力，整個供應鏈的效率改進旨在通過改善庫存狀況來提高商店的生產力。他計劃通過使用數據分析、流程改進和自動化來提高整個物流部門的生產力。

Additionally, Larry Gatta has joined the team as Chief Merchandising Officer for the Family Dollar segment. Larry brings more than 35 years of retail merchandising and marketing experience. He is well known and respected throughout the vendor community and will be leading plans to drive our business, and in turn, the business of our supply partners. Larry will be focused on improving Family Dollar's operating performance and productivity through sales-driving initiatives that provide great value for our shoppers.

此外，Larry Gatta 已加入團隊，擔任 Family Dollar 部門的首席採購官。 Larry 擁有超過 35 年的零售營銷和營銷經驗。他在整個供應商社區中享有盛譽並受到尊重，並將領導推動我們業務的計劃，進而推動我們供應合作夥伴的業務。 Larry 將專注於通過為我們的購物者提供巨大價值的銷售推動計劃來提高 Family Dollar 的運營績效和生產力。

In addition to the investments we are outlining today, components of our transformation were driven by a number of factors, including continuing to enhance our culture, elevated store standards, better use of private brands, improved category adjacencies, enhancing our product mix, optimizing our vendor partnerships and many, many more.

除了我們今天概述的投資之外，我們轉型的組成部分還受到許多因素的推動，包括繼續提升我們的文化、提高商店標準、更好地利用自有品牌、改善品類鄰接、增強我們的產品組合、優化我們的供應商合作夥伴關係等等。

To some degree today, and especially in the quarters ahead, you can expect to receive more details, improved transparency and greater management engagement in shareholder communications as we progress on our plans to improve the operating performance and reassess the long-term opportunities for the company. We are currently in the process of planning an Investor Day targeted for October time frame.

今天在某種程度上，尤其是在未來幾個季度，隨著我們推進改善經營業績和重新評估公司長期機遇的計劃，您可以期待在股東溝通中獲得更多細節、更高的透明度和更多的管理層參與.我們目前正在計劃以 10 月份為目標的投資者日。

Now to Q1 performance. The Dollar Tree banner delivered its strongest quarter in company history. Among the highlights: an 11.2% comp, the best quarterly comp performance in more than 20 years, which is including our largest sales day ever, which was the Saturday before Easter; a 40.6% gross profit margin, nearly 700 basis points above the prior year's quarter; and a company record 20.2% operating margin, more than 800 basis points over Q1 of last year.

現在到第一季度的表現。 Dollar Tree 橫幅發布了公司歷史上最強勁的季度。其中亮點包括：11.2% 的業績比，這是 20 多年來最好的季度業績表現，其中包括我們有史以來最大的銷售日，即復活節前的星期六； 40.6%的毛利率，比去年同期高出近700個基點；一家公司創紀錄的營業利潤率為 20.2%，比去年第一季度高出 800 多個基點。

Margins in Q1 did receive an outsized temporary benefit from the initial transition to the new price point as well as selling through the current inventories. We are modeling a moderation of the margin level as we focus on providing our shoppers with new assortments at greater value for the $1.25 price point. The 11.2% comp sales increase was driven by a 15.4% increase in average ticket partially offset by a traffic decline of 3.6%. For the quarter, the discretionary side of the business delivered a strong 14.1% comp increase, while consumables increased 8%. April, which benefited from the later Easter holiday this year, was the strongest month in terms of both sales and traffic.

第一季度的利潤率確實從最初過渡到新價格點以及通過當前庫存銷售獲得了巨大的暫時收益。我們正在模擬利潤率水平的緩和，因為我們專注於以 1.25 美元的價格為購物者提供價值更高的新品類。 11.2% 的綜合銷售額增長是由 15.4% 的平均票價增長推動的，部分抵消了 3.6% 的客流量下降。本季度，可自由支配的業務實現了 14.1% 的強勁增長，而消耗品增長了 8%。得益於今年晚些時候的複活節假期，4 月是銷售和客流量最強勁的月份。

Importantly, we successfully completed the conversion to a primary price point of $1.25 across the chain. Credit to our teams. This project was announced in September of 2021 and was completed by the end of February with minimal disruption. By the end of Q1, our customers have already seen more than 960 of our projected 2,000 new greater value product SKUs on the shelves. Our shoppers are responding to the new items. We are seeing much improved results in the categories since rolling out the enhanced offering.

重要的是，我們成功地完成了向整個鏈條上 1.25 美元的主要價格點的轉換。感謝我們的團隊。該項目於 2021 年 9 月宣布，並於 2 月底以最小的中斷完成。到第一季度末，我們的客戶已經看到了我們預計的 2,000 個新的更高價值產品 SKU 中的 960 多個上架。我們的購物者正在對新商品做出回應。自從推出增強版產品以來，我們看到這些類別的結果有了很大改善。

Examples of the consumables category comp improvements where we've put in these new items: carbonated beverage, from a 3% decline to a 12% increase now; in snacks and cookies, before the new SKUs, we had a decline of 8%, now a 12% increase in comp; and in our food category, from a 10% decline before to now experiencing a 2% increase. The majority of the changes at this early stage are now traffic-driving consumable side of the business. The discretionary changes will occur throughout the back half of the year.

我們在這些新項目中加入的消耗品類別組合改進示例：碳酸飲料，從 3% 下降到現在的 12% 增長；在零食和餅乾方面，在新的 SKU 之前，我們下降了 8%，現在增加了 12%；在我們的食品類別中，從之前的 10% 下降到現在的 2% 增長。這個早期階段的大部分變化現在都是業務的流量驅動消耗品。可自由支配的變化將在整個下半年發生。

The $1.25 assortment changes are notable and easy to see when you visit Dollar Tree stores. In today's environment, where consumers are seeing higher prices everywhere, shoppers know they can rely on Dollar Tree as their destination for extreme value and evolving meaningful assortment and a thrill of the hunt.

當您訪問 Dollar Tree 商店時，1.25 美元的分類變化是顯著且容易看到的。在當今的環境中，消費者到處都看到更高的價格，購物者知道他們可以依靠美元樹作為他們的目的地，以獲得極高的價值和不斷發展的有意義的分類和狩獵的快感。

The Family Dollar banner had a big hurdle to climb in Q1. In 2020, Family Dollar had a 15.5% quarterly comp increase at the onset of COVID. And in last year's quarter, there was a record release of stimulus dollars that positively impacted both top line sales and margin with the lift in discretionary sales.

Family Dollar 橫幅在第一季度的攀登遇到了很大的障礙。 2020 年，Family Dollar 在 COVID 爆發時季度收入增長了 15.5%。在去年的季度，刺激性資金的釋放創紀錄，隨著可自由支配銷售額的增加，對頂線銷售額和利潤率產生了積極影響。

For Q1, Family Dollar's comps declined 2.8%, which represents a nearly 10% comp since 2019. The 2.8% comp sales decrease was comprised of 3.7% decline in traffic partially offset by a 1% increase in average ticket. For the quarter, the consumable side of the business delivered a 1.2% comp increase, while discretionary comps were down 14.7% as we cycled the massive release of stimulus dollars last year. February represented the best comp month for the quarter, and April was slightly better than the quarter's comp.

對於第一季度，Family Dollar 的收入下降了 2.8%，自 2019 年以來下降了近 10%。2.8% 的收入下降由 3.7% 的客流量下降部分抵消了 1% 的平均票價增長。本季度，由於我們循環去年大規模釋放刺激資金，該業務的消耗品方面實現了 1.2% 的補償增長，而可自由支配的補償下降了 14.7%。 2 月是本季度表現最好的月份，4 月略好於本季度的表現。

Importantly, Family Dollar's comp sales for the quarter were negatively impacted by an estimated 200 basis points by the temporary closures of approximately 400 Family Dollar stores served by our Arkansas distribution center. All of these stores have now reopened.

重要的是，由於我們的阿肯色州配送中心服務的大約 400 家 Family Dollar 商店暫時關閉，Family Dollar 本季度的銷售受到了大約 200 個基點的負面影響。現在所有這些商店都重新開業了。

Last week, we announced that we will be closing the 30-year-old West Memphis, Arkansas distribution center that we have deemed is no longer part of our go-forward strategy. We are working closely with the impacted associates to support them with their transitions by providing severance plans to those eligible, helping associates with opportunities in our other distribution centers and in our stores as well as providing outplacement services and employee assistant programs. We are reallocating stores to other DCs to fulfill the store deliveries and have sufficient capacity to serve all stores in our remaining fleet of distribution centers. We appreciate the hard work and support of West Memphis associates committed during the transition process.

上週，我們宣布將關閉位於阿肯色州西孟菲斯市的 30 年配送中心，我們認為該配送中心不再是我們前進戰略的一部分。我們正在與受影響的員工密切合作，通過向符合條件的員工提供遣散計劃、幫助員工在我們的其他配送中心和商店獲得機會以及提供新職介紹服務和員工助理計劃來支持他們的過渡。我們正在將商店重新分配到其他配送中心以完成商店交付，並有足夠的能力為我們剩餘的配送中心車隊中的所有商店提供服務。我們感謝西孟菲斯員工在過渡過程中所付出的辛勤工作和支持。

I will now hand the call over to Kevin to provide more color on Q1 and our updated outlook.

我現在將電話交給凱文，以提供更多關於第一季度的信息和我們更新的展望。

Thanks, Mike, and good morning. For the quarter, consolidated net sales increased 6.5% to $6.9 billion comprised of $3.78 billion at Dollar Tree and $3.12 billion at Family Dollar. Enterprise same-store sales increased 4.4% despite cycling the large outflow of stimulus from the prior year's quarter. This represented a 190 basis point sequential improvement from Q4.

謝謝，邁克，早上好。本季度，合併淨銷售額增長 6.5% 至 69 億美元，其中 Dollar Tree 為 37.8 億美元，Family Dollar 為 31.2 億美元。儘管刺激措施從上一季度大量流出，但企業同店銷售額增長了 4.4%。這比第四季度連續改善了 190 個基點。

Costs for the Dollar Tree segment increased 11.2%. Family Dollar same-store sales decreased 2.8%. And on a 3-year stack basis, Dollar Tree is at a 15% comp, and Family Dollar is at a 9.9% comp. Gross profit improved 19.2% to $2.34 billion for the quarter. Gross margin was 33.9% compared to 30.3% in the prior year's quarter.

Dollar Tree 部門的成本增加了 11.2%。 Family Dollar 同店銷售額下降 2.8%。在 3 年的堆棧基礎上，Dollar Tree 的收益為 15%，Family Dollar 的收益為 9.9%。本季度毛利潤增長 19.2% 至 23.4 億美元。毛利率為 33.9%，而去年同期為 30.3%。

Gross profit margin for the Dollar Tree segment increased 690 basis points to 40.6% compared to 33.7% for the same period last year as a result of the net of the following. Merchandise costs, including freight, decreased 590 basis points, primarily due to increased initial mark-on and increased sales of higher-margin discretionary merchandise, partially offset by higher freight costs. Occupancy costs decreased 80 basis points from leverage on the comp sales increase. Distribution costs decreased 50 basis points from leverage and higher capitalized balances resulting from inventory increases in the current quarter partially offset by higher hourly wages. And markdown costs increased 30 basis points primarily from markdowns for clearance items as we move to a higher value assortment at the $1.25 price point.

Dollar Tree 部門的毛利率從去年同期的 33.7% 增加 690 個基點至 40.6%，這是由於以下因素的淨值。包括運費在內的商品成本下降了 590 個基點，主要是由於初始加價增加和利潤率較高的可自由支配商品的銷售增加，部分被較高的運費成本所抵消。佔用成本從補償銷售增長的槓桿作用中降低了 80 個基點。由於本季度庫存增加導致的槓桿和資本化餘額增加，分銷成本降低了 50 個基點，部分被更高的小時工資所抵消。隨著我們以 1.25 美元的價格轉向更高價值的分類，降價成本增加了 30 個基點，主要是由於清倉商品的降價。

Gross profit margin for the Family Dollar segment decreased 100 basis points to 25.8% compared to 26.8% for the same period last year. Markdown costs increased 75 basis points due to higher clearance activity related to the shipping delays for seasonal items and slow-moving merchandise. Occupancy costs increased 45 basis points from deleverage from the comparable store sales decrease and higher real estate taxes.

Family Dollar 業務的毛利率從去年同期的 26.8% 下降 100 個基點至 25.8%。由於與季節性商品的運輸延遲和滯銷商品相關的清關活動增加，降價成本增加了 75 個基點。由於可比商店銷售額下降和更高的房地產稅導致去槓桿化，入住成本增加了 45 個基點。

Shrink increased 25 basis points for more favorable inventory results in relation to accruals in the prior year's quarter. These increases were partially offset by distribution costs that decreased 15 basis points, primarily from higher capitalized balances from inventory increases, partially offset by our higher hourly wages. And merchandise costs, including freight, decreased 35 basis points primarily due to higher initial mark-on, partially offset by higher freight costs and higher sales of lower-margin consumable merchandise.

由於與上一季度的應計相比，庫存結果更有利，收縮增加了 25 個基點。這些增長部分被分銷成本下降 15 個基點所抵消，主要是由於庫存增加導致資本化餘額增加，部分被我們更高的小時工資所抵消。包括運費在內的商品成本下降了 35 個基點，主要是由於較高的初始加價，部分被較高的運費成本和較低利潤的消費品銷售增加所抵消。

Consolidated selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of total revenue increased 100 basis points to 23.3% compared to 22.3% in Q1 last year. For the first quarter, the SG&A rate for the Dollar Tree segment improved 120 basis points to 20.4% when compared to the prior year's quarter. Payroll costs improved 100 basis points from leverage on the 11.2% comp partially offset by hourly wages and investments in store payroll.

綜合銷售、一般和行政費用佔總收入的百分比從去年第一季度的 22.3% 上升 100 個基點至 23.3%。與去年同期相比，第一季度美元樹部門的 SG&A 利率提高了 120 個基點至 20.4%。工資成本比 11.2% 的槓桿率提高了 100 個基點，部分被小時工資和商店工資投資所抵消。

Facility costs improved 25 basis points from leverage. Depreciation costs decreased approximately 10 basis points, partially offset by other SG&A, which increased approximately 15 basis points resulting from higher store supply costs.

設施成本比槓桿率提高了 25 個基點。折舊成本下降了約 10 個基點，部分被其他 SG&A 所抵消，由於商店供應成本增加，折舊成本增加了約 15 個基點。

For the Family Dollar segment, the first quarter SG&A rate as a percentage of total revenue increased 280 basis points to 23% compared to 20.2% in the prior year's quarter. Payroll expenses increased 90 basis points primarily due to hourly wage and investment in store payroll as well as deleverage on the comp sales decline.

對於 Family Dollar 部門，第一季度 SG&A 佔總收入的百分比從去年同期的 20.2% 上升 280 個基點至 23%。工資支出增加了 90 個基點，主要是由於小時工資和對商店工資的投資以及對銷售下降的去槓桿化。

Other SG&A expenses increased 85 basis points due to asset impairment for the West Memphis DC, along with higher store supply expenses for store projects and higher legal fees. Store facility costs increased 65 basis points primarily from costs associated with removal of product from stores in connection with the voluntary product recall as well as deleverage on the comp decline. And depreciation and amortization increased 40 basis points due to increased depreciation related to capital expenditures for store renovations and improvements.

由於西孟菲斯特區的資產減值，以及商店項目的商店供應費用增加和法律費用增加，其他 SG&A 費用增加了 85 個基點。商店設施成本增加了 65 個基點，主要是由於與自願產品召回相關的從商店中移除產品的相關成本，以及對補償下降的去槓桿化。由於與商店裝修和改進的資本支出相關的折舊增加，折舊和攤銷增加了 40 個基點。

Corporate, support and Other expenses as a percentage of total revenue were 1.8% compared to the prior year quarter of 1.4%. The higher costs related to increased legal fees, including the reconstitution of our Board, and incentive compensation.

公司、支持和其他費用佔總收入的百分比為 1.8%，而去年同期為 1.4%。較高的成本與增加的法律費用有關，包括我們董事會的重組和激勵補償。

Operating income improved 40.7% to $731.5 million or 10.6% of total revenue in the first quarter. Nonoperating expenses totaled $34 million comprised of net interest expense, and the effective tax rate was 23.1% for both the current and prior year's quarter. Net income for the quarter improved 43.2% to $536.4 million or $2.30 per diluted share, which includes $0.13 per share for costs related to the West Memphis DC. This compared to net earnings of $374.5 million or $1.60 per diluted share in the prior year quarter.

第一季度營業收入增長 40.7% 至 7.315 億美元，佔總收入的 10.6%。營業外支出總額為 3400 萬美元，其中包括淨利息支出，本季度和上一季度的有效稅率均為 23.1%。本季度的淨收入增長 43.2% 至 5.364 億美元或稀釋後每股 2.30 美元，其中包括與西孟菲斯特區相關的成本每股 0.13 美元。相比之下，上一季度的淨收益為 3.745 億美元或每股攤薄收益 1.60 美元。

Looking at the balance sheet. Combined cash and cash equivalents at quarter end totaled $1.22 billion compared to $985 million at the end of fiscal 2021. Outstanding debt as of April 30 were $3.45 billion. The company repurchased approximately 90,000 shares in Q1 for approximately $14.2 million under the share repurchase authorization.

看著資產負債表。季度末現金和現金等價物合計為 12.2 億美元，而 2021 財年末為 9.85 億美元。截至 4 月 30 日，未償債務為 34.5 億美元。根據股票回購授權，公司在第一季度以約 1420 萬美元的價格回購了約 90,000 股股票。

Compared to last year, inventory levels at Dollar Tree are up 39% due to increased capitalized freight costs plus Dollar Tree Plus inventory and a catch-up in past due inventories. Inventory levels at Family Dollar increased 27% compared to (inaudible) last year due to increased capitalized freight and an increase in the average unit cost. Both banners have less average inventory units in store than at the same period in 2019 pre-pandemic.

與去年相比，Dollar Tree 的庫存水平上升了 39%，原因是資本化運費成本增加加上 Dollar Tree Plus 庫存和逾期庫存的追趕。由於資本化運費增加和平均單位成本增加，Family Dollar 的庫存水平與去年（聽不清）相比增加了 27%。與 2019 年大流行前的同期相比，這兩種橫幅的平均庫存單位都較少。

Capital expenditures were $253.4 million in the first quarter versus $224.9 million in Q1 of last year. And for fiscal 2022, we currently expect that consolidated capital expenditures will be approximately (inaudible), slightly higher than our initial outlook for the year based on additional supply chain projects and construction cost pressures.

第一季度的資本支出為 2.534 億美元，而去年第一季度為 2.249 億美元。對於 2022 財年，我們目前預計綜合資本支出將大約（聽不清），略高於我們基於額外供應鏈項目和建設成本壓力的初步預期。

Depreciation and amortization totaled $188.9 million for Q1 compared to $172.7 million in the first quarter of the last year. And for fiscal 2022, we expect consolidated depreciation and amortization to be approximately $770 million.

第一季度的折舊和攤銷總額為 1.889 億美元，而去年第一季度為 1.727 億美元。對於 2022 財年，我們預計綜合折舊和攤銷約為 7.7 億美元。

In March, our initial outlook for fiscal 2022, diluted EPS was a range of $7.60 to $8. We expect to incur costs totaling an estimated $0.43 per share, which were not included in our original outlook. These costs represent: in Q1, $0.13 per share for asset impairment and the product recall costs related to our West Memphis DC; for Q2, an estimated $0.22 per share for lost sales, freight, merchandise disposal, payroll and legal costs associated with the West Memphis matter; and for full year fiscal 2022, a total of $0.08 per share for stock compensation expense related to an option grant issued to our new Executive Chairman.

3 月份，我們對 2022 財年的初步展望，攤薄後每股收益在 7.60 美元至 8 美元之間。我們預計產生的成本總計約為每股 0.43 美元，這未包含在我們最初的展望中。這些成本代表：在第一季度，每股 0.13 美元的資產減值成本和與我們西孟菲斯特區相關的產品召回成本；對於第二季度，與西孟菲斯事件相關的銷售損失、運費、商品處置、工資和法律費用估計為每股 0.22 美元；對於 2022 財年全年，與向我們的新執行主席頒發的期權授予相關的股票補償費用總計每股 0.08 美元。

Diluted earnings per share for the full year is now expected to range from $7.80 to $8.20, which includes the $0.43 of costs I've just outlined. Consolidated net sales for the year are now expected to range from $27.76 billion to $28.14 billion compared to our previous range of $27.22 billion to $27.85 billion. We expect to deliver a mid-single-digit comparable store sales increase for the year comprised of a high single-digit increase in the Dollar Tree segment and a more or less flat comparable store sales in the Family Dollar segment. Selling square footage is expected to grow by approximately 3.9%.

現在預計全年每股攤薄收益在 7.80 美元到 8.20 美元之間，其中包括我剛剛概述的 0.43 美元成本。今年的合併淨銷售額現在預計在 277.6 億美元至 281.4 億美元之間，而我們之前的範圍為 272.2 億美元至 278.5 億美元。我們預計今年可比商店銷售額將實現中個位數增長，其中包括美元樹部門的高個位數增長和家庭美元部門的可比商店銷售額或多或少持平。銷售面積預計將增長約 3.9%。

For Q2, we estimate consolidated net sales to range from $6.65 billion to $6.78 billion based on a low to mid-single-digit increase in same-store sales for the enterprise. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter is expected to be in the range of $1.45 to $1.55 per share, and this estimate includes approximately $0.24 per share for costs for the West Memphis matter and stock compensation expense.

對於第二季度，基於企業同店銷售額的中低個位數增長，我們估計綜合淨銷售額在 66.5 億美元至 67.8 億美元之間。本季度稀釋後的每股收益預計在每股 1.45 美元至 1.55 美元之間，這一估計包括大約每股 0.24 美元的西孟菲斯事件成本和股票補償費用。

Considerations for our updated 2022 outlook include the following. We anticipate that we will continue to experience uncertainty related to inflation, the global supply chain and geopolitical factors. For example, we have seen diesel costs continue to rise, and natural gas price increases are affecting utility costs throughout the business. We are once again experiencing shortages in the availability of helium and have not been able to procure the volume [to fulfill our] needs, which will negatively affect balloon sales. Our outlook includes our best current estimates of pressures from these factors.

我們更新的 2022 年展望的考慮因素包括以下內容。我們預計我們將繼續面臨與通脹、全球供應鍊和地緣政治因素相關的不確定性。例如，我們看到柴油成本持續上漲，而天然氣價格上漲正在影響整個企業的公用事業成本。我們再次遇到氦氣供應短缺的問題，並且無法採購到滿足我們需求的數量，這將對氣球的銷售產生負面影響。我們的展望包括我們目前對這些因素壓力的最佳估計。

We cycled the third round of stimulus checks that totaled an estimated $386 billion in March of 2021. In Q2, we will begin cycling the monthly advance Child Tax Credit payments that began in mid-July of 2021.

我們在 2021 年 3 月循環了總額約為 3860 億美元的第三輪刺激檢查。在第二季度，我們將開始循環從 2021 年 7 月中旬開始的每月預支兒童稅收抵免付款。

We noted that our original outlook in March that we expected to invest $195 million in store and DC associate wages in 2022. As an update, given the competitive retail environment, we expect that we will likely exceed this amount as we invest in our associates.

我們注意到，我們在 3 月份的最初展望是，我們預計將在 2022 年為商店和 DC 員工的工資投資 1.95 億美元。作為更新，鑑於競爭激烈的零售環境，我們預計隨著我們對員工的投資，我們可能會超過這一數額。

Import domestic freight will present cost pressures due to annualization of fiscal '21 rates in the first half of 2022. As noted in March, we plan for diesel fuel prices to be higher this year. We have increased the forecasted amount for the remainder of the year based on the current market. Additional color for the year regarding our expectations include, for the enterprise, we are forecasting improved operating margin for the business driven by gross margin improvements, partially offset by higher SG&A costs as a percentage of total revenue.

由於 2022 年上半年 21 財年費率的年度化，進口國內貨運將帶來成本壓力。如 3 月份所述，我們計劃今年柴油價格走高。我們根據當前市場增加了今年剩餘時間的預測金額。關於我們預期的今年的其他顏色包括，對於企業，我們預測毛利率提高推動的業務運營利潤率提高，部分被較高的 SG&A 成本佔總收入的百分比所抵消。

The Dollar Tree segment gross margin in Q1 included an outsized benefit from the transition to the new $1.25 price point. We expect to see a gross margin moderation from the Q1 level as new greater value assortments are incorporated into the business. The Dollar Tree segment is expected to deliver improved operating margin for the year with gross margin benefiting from its strategic initiatives as well as leverage on SG&A.

第一季度的美元樹部門毛利率包括過渡到新的 1.25 美元價格點帶來的巨大收益。隨著新的價值更高的產品被納入業務，我們預計毛利率將從第一季度開始放緩。 Dollar Tree 部門預計將在今年提高營業利潤率，毛利率受益於其戰略舉措以及對 SG&A 的影響。

The Family Dollar segment gross and operating margins are expected to be lower year-over-year, impacted by the following: higher costs, including freight and needed investments in the business such as labor and improved store conditions; the impact to product mix as a result of stimulus dollars driving discretionary sales in the prior year; and the impact on sales and expenses related to the West Memphis DC matter.

受以下因素影響，Family Dollar 部門的毛利率和營業利潤率預計將同比下降：更高的成本，包括運費和所需的業務投資，如勞動力和改善的商店條件；刺激資金推動上一年的可自由支配銷售對產品組合的影響；以及對與西孟菲斯特區相關的銷售和費用的影響。

Net interest expense is expected to be approximately (inaudible) in Q2 and $123 million for the year. Our outlook assumes a tax rate of 24.2% for the second quarter and 24% for fiscal 2022. Weighted average diluted share count are assumed to be 226.4 million shares for Q2 and 226.5 million shares for the full year. Our outlook does not include any share repurchase. And as of April 30, we had $2.5 billion remaining in our existing share repurchase authorization.

預計第二季度的淨利息支出約為（聽不清），全年為 1.23 億美元。我們的展望假設第二季度的稅率為 24.2%，2022 財年的稅率為 24%。假設第二季度的加權平均稀釋股數為 2.264 億股，全年為 2.265 億股。我們的展望不包括任何股票回購。截至 4 月 30 日，我們現有的股票回購授權中剩餘 25 億美元。

I'll now turn the call back over to Mike.

我現在將電話轉回給邁克。

Thanks, Kevin. As Rick mentioned in the opening, we are committed to transform Dollar Tree from a good company to a great company. Our initiatives are working and providing increased profits and cash flow. Rick and I both believe now is the ideal time to accelerate investments focused on driving growth through improved associate and shopper experience while propelling greater efficiencies.

謝謝，凱文。正如 Rick 在開場時提到的，我們致力於將 Dollar Tree 從一家優秀的公司轉變為一家偉大的公司。我們的舉措正在發揮作用，並提供增加的利潤和現金流。 Rick 和我都認為，現在是加速投資的理想時機，重點是通過改善員工和購物者體驗來推動增長，同時提高效率。

These strategic initiatives will be designed to position Dollar Tree for long-term sustainable growth. And we are going to invest and incur costs associated with making this journey. It's the right thing to do, and this is the ideal time to invest in our future. Again, to reiterate, we will be investing in our associates and our stores, the DC network and supply chain, Family Dollar pricing and the value proposition and our technology.

這些戰略舉措將旨在使 Dollar Tree 實現長期可持續增長。我們將投資並承擔與進行此旅程相關的成本。這是正確的做法，也是投資我們未來的理想時機。再次重申，我們將投資於我們的員工和我們的商店、DC 網絡和供應鏈、Family Dollar 定價以及價值主張和我們的技術。

Both Rick and I are committed, aligned and extremely focused. The ability to execute our key strategic initiatives is paying off and setting a solid foundation for improved operating performance and accelerated growth. We believe an -- we delivered an EPS of $5.80 in fiscal 2021. And the midpoint of our guidance range this year is $8, representing a 38% increase. I believe we are at an inflection point to exhibit our earnings power into the years ahead.

瑞克和我都很投入、一致並且非常專注。執行我們關鍵戰略計劃的能力正在獲得回報，並為提高運營績效和加速增長奠定了堅實的基礎。我們相信——我們在 2021 財年實現了 5.80 美元的每股收益。今年我們指導範圍的中點為 8 美元，增長了 38%。我相信我們正處於一個拐點，可以在未來幾年展示我們的盈利能力。

We are committed to meeting our customers' needs while investing in initiatives that are delivering the best returns. These initiatives, combined with our robust balance sheet, will position us to deliver long-term growth for our stakeholders, associates, customers, suppliers and our shareholders. We all know it is incredibly challenging and uncertain time for the businesses today.

我們致力於滿足客戶的需求，同時投資於能夠帶來最佳回報的計劃。這些舉措與我們穩健的資產負債表相結合，將使我們能夠為我們的利益相關者、員工、客戶、供應商和股東帶來長期增長。我們都知道，對於當今的企業來說，這是一個極具挑戰性和不確定性的時期。

We believe our company offers the following as we manage through these times: stable and resilient business model that has worked at good times and in bad; a 16,000 store footprint that is convenient for shoppers buying their needs; a tremendous value assortment that helps shoppers stretch their budgets; a strong balance sheet that enables us to invest in our business while enhancing our ability to manage and maneuver through the current environment effectively; a road map to deliver shareholder value through improved performance at Family Dollar and improved supply chain and a continued momentum at Dollar Tree.

我們相信，在我們度過這些時期的過程中，我們的公司提供了以下優勢：穩定且有彈性的商業模式，無論好壞都行之有效； 16,000 家門店，方便購物者購買他們的需求；一個巨大的價值分類，幫助購物者擴展他們的預算；強大的資產負債表，使我們能夠投資於我們的業務，同時提高我們有效管理和應對當前環境的能力；通過改善 Family Dollar 的業績和改善供應鏈以及 Dollar Tree 的持續發展勢頭，為股東創造價值的路線圖。

We have a fantastic growth story of opening 590 new stores this year alone, driving top line sales growth through key initiatives and, again, an expected 38% year-over-year earnings growth at the midpoint of our range.

我們有一個驚人的增長故事，僅今年就開設了 590 家新店，通過關鍵舉措推動頂線銷售增長，並且在我們範圍的中點再次預期 38% 的同比收益增長。

Operator, Kevin and I are now ready to take questions.

接線員、凱文和我現在準備回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) We'll take our first question from Matthew Boss with JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）我們將回答摩根大通的 Matthew Boss 提出的第一個問題。

Congrats on a nice quarter, and welcome back, Rick.

恭喜你度過了一個美好的季度，歡迎回來，瑞克。

Thanks, Matt.

謝謝，馬特。

So maybe just a high-level one for you, Rick. I know you've only been back for a few months. But you described the Dollar Tree organization as a growth organization. So maybe just -- is there a way to speak to any potential timing of initiatives across the banners, how you're thinking about the team that you're assembling around you or just even at a high level, the degree of low-hanging fruit that you see across the concepts to drive what it sounds like your goal is sustainable, profitable growth?

所以也許對你來說只是一個高級別的，里克。我知道你才回來幾個月。但是您將美元樹組織描述為一個成長型組織。所以也許只是 - 有沒有辦法在橫幅上談論任何潛在的舉措時機，你如何看待你正在組建的團隊，或者只是在高層次上，低懸的程度您在這些概念中看到的成果，以推動聽起來您的目標是可持續的、盈利的增長？

Yes, Matt. I'll throw a little color out here and then turn it over to Mike. We are really taking a good hard look at the entire organization. We're looking at both banners. And the goal here is sustainable long-term growth. And we've got a very good team here, a lot of really solid people, and we're going to supplement them with incremental people that, quite frankly, I've been involved with in my career.

是的，馬特。我會在這里扔一點顏色，然後把它交給邁克。我們真的在認真審視整個組織。我們正在查看這兩個橫幅。這裡的目標是可持續的長期增長。而且我們這裡有一支非常優秀的團隊，有很多非常可靠的人，我們將用增量人員來補充他們，坦率地說，我在職業生涯中一直參與其中。

But the -- as I reflect on this, you have 2 great banners. Dollar Tree is incredibly exciting and fascinating to me. It's the true treasure hunt. The work that's been done on expanding multiple price points, I think, has been great. And now what we have to do is focus on the fundamentals of consumable retailing in Family Dollar. And Mike, what would you like to add to that?

但是——當我反思這一點時，你有兩個很棒的橫幅。 Dollar Tree 對我來說非常令人興奮和著迷。這才是真正的尋寶。我認為，在擴大多個價格點方面所做的工作非常棒。而現在我們要做的就是專注於 Family Dollar 中消費品零售的基本面。邁克，你想補充什麼？

Yes. Matt, I just -- on the timing of our initiatives, you can -- the way we're thinking about it, the short to midterm, we'll be definitely investing in our associates in our stores. And we'll be working on that throughout the quarters. And that's embedded in the guidance that we gave as well as in our pricing. One of our key initiatives is to get sharper on our pricing and close that gap to our key competitors at Family Dollar. And Larry is working on that right now, and we'll be laying that plan in over the next several quarters.

是的。馬特，我只是 - 關於我們計劃的時間安排，你可以 - 我們正在考慮的方式，短期到中期，我們肯定會投資於我們商店的員工。我們將在整個季度中致力於此。這包含在我們提供的指導和定價中。我們的一項關鍵舉措是提高我們的定價並縮小與 Family Dollar 的主要競爭對手的差距。拉里現在正在努力，我們將在接下來的幾個季度裡制定這個計劃。

The longer-term things that Rick -- for our long-term growth is really leveraging and driving efficiencies in our supply chain. And John Flanigan actually is out in one of our DCs today, assessing those things. And then our IT, and we're looking at all of our systems, especially our supply chain, merchandising and storefront systems. So those are bigger capital items, but they're going to take time as we assess them. And I think over the next 2 to 3 years, you'll see those improvements come into the business.

Rick 對我們長期增長的長期影響是真正利用和提高我們供應鏈的效率。約翰弗拉尼根今天實際上在我們的一個 DC 中評估這些事情。然後是我們的 IT，我們正在研究我們所有的系統，尤其是我們的供應鏈、銷售和店面系統。所以這些是更大的資本項目，但我們評估它們需要時間。而且我認為在接下來的 2 到 3 年內，您會看到這些改進進入到業務中。

That's great color. And then, Mike, just at the Dollar Tree banner, could you help break down upside in the quarter on the comp side maybe relative to plan that drove that first quarter performance at Dollar Tree? And just speak to customer reception that you're seeing to the new product assortment or the product changes as now you're bringing in the product that was bought for the higher price point, just as it's been introduced, what you're seeing from the customer front.

這顏色真好。然後，邁克，就在美元樹的旗幟下，你能否幫助打破本季度在競爭方面的上行空間，可能相對於推動美元樹第一季度業績的計劃？只需與客戶接待處交談，您正在看到新產品分類或產品變化，因為現在您正在引入以更高價格購買的產品，就像它被引入一樣，您所看到的客戶面前。

Yes. That's the exciting part of it. Our Dollar Tree has got such a great reputation for delivering extreme value, and customers have responded well. Our -- throughout the quarter, units were better. Unit decline was better than what we had planned and expected. Unit decline is around the 10-ish mark. Our -- and we shared our transactions are down a little bit more than 4%. Our average ticket is up 15%. So those all feel good for us. And going through the quarter, we're delivering almost half of the new items, and customers are responding very, very favorably.

是的。這是它令人興奮的部分。我們的美元樹因提供超值而享有盛譽，客戶反應良好。我們的 - 在整個季度中，單位都更好。單位下降好於我們的計劃和預期。單位下降幅度在 10 左右。我們 - 我們分享了我們的交易量下降了 4% 以上。我們的平均票價上漲了 15%。所以這些都對我們感覺很好。在整個季度，我們交付了近一半的新產品，客戶的反應非常非常好。

And we did -- so the metrics, they're telling us the customers responded. In those categories that we shared, we're seeing -- the last 18 months prior to this change, we were seeing declines in the consumables side and declines in our traffic because of that. But now we reversed in our salty snacks, in our cookies and in our food.

我們做到了——所以指標，他們告訴我們客戶做出了回應。在我們分享的那些類別中，我們看到了——在此變化之前的最後 18 個月，我們看到消耗品方面的下降以及我們的流量因此而下降。但現在我們改變了鹹味零食、餅乾和食物。

And also externally, we've done some more extensive research of a second round in the quarter. And customers are highly likely to continue shopping at Dollar Tree after the price change. 85% expressed strong likelihood to shop, 77% are recommending our stores. So our customers still appreciate that great find, the extreme value and the meaningful assortment for them.

在外部，我們在本季度對第二輪進行了一些更廣泛的研究。價格變動後，客戶極有可能繼續在 Dollar Tree 購物。 85% 的人表示強烈購物的可能性，77% 的人推薦我們的商店。所以我們的客戶仍然很欣賞這個偉大的發現、極端的價值和對他們有意義的分類。

So we feel good about where we're at right now and as we're moving forward. We've only got one quarter under our belt and looking downstream, we're excited about the new assortment coming in. And this is going to take a while for us to really reset our assortment and our level of margin as we cycle through the new items coming in then, of course, add it to our import items. That will really take throughout the next year as we're incorporating those into our import buys.

所以我們對我們現在所處的位置以及我們前進的方向感覺良好。我們只有四分之一的產品，往下游看，我們對新品類的到來感到興奮。我們需要一段時間才能真正重置我們的品類和利潤率水平，因為我們在循環中新的項目進來了，當然，把它添加到我們的進口項目中。隨著我們將這些納入我們的進口採購，這將真正持續到明年。

(Operator Instructions) We'll next go to Scot Ciccarelli with Truist Securities.

（操作員說明）接下來我們將與 Truist Securities 一起前往 Scot Ciccarelli。

Welcome back, Rick. So retail transformations almost always take longer and cost more than us on the outside tend to anticipate. Can you guys provide any color regarding the magnitude of incremental investments that may be required to get Dollar Tree and Family Dollar kind of where you want them from an operational and technological standpoint?

歡迎回來，瑞克。因此，零售轉型幾乎總是比我們外部預期的要花費更長的時間和更高的成本。你們能否提供任何關於從運營和技術角度獲得美元樹和家庭美元所需的增量投資規模的顏色？

Well, on the Dollar Tree side, as I've said, we've got a lot of momentum because we've been working on this for quite a while. In fact, in the last 2 years, what I'm excited about is during the 2.5 years of COVID and supply chain disruption, we've come out of this and with 2 formats that we didn't have in 2019. We've got a great Combo Store and we broke the $1 to $1.25, and we were enhancing that with $3 and $5 assortments. So we've got some momentum, and our strategies are working. And our cash flow is strong. We've got a great balance sheet. We've got a new reconstituted Board and with Rick on board and including the new talent that we talked about. So we're in a place where we're coming out of, I believe, the era of COVID with great momentum in our strategies, a great balance sheet, a new Board. And we're going to accelerate our growth. So we're not starting today. We're really going to accelerate this going forward.

好吧，正如我所說，在美元樹方面，我們有很大的動力，因為我們已經為此工作了很長時間。事實上，在過去的 2 年中，讓我感到興奮的是在 2.5 年的 COVID 和供應鏈中斷期間，我們已經走出了困境，並採用了 2019 年沒有的兩種格式。我們已經得到了一個很棒的組合商店，我們將 1 美元打破到 1.25 美元，並且我們通過 3 美元和 5 美元的分類來增強它。所以我們有一些動力，我們的策略正在奏效。而且我們的現金流很強勁。我們有一個很好的資產負債表。我們有一個新的重組董事會，Rick 加入了董事會，包括我們談到的新人才。因此，我相信，我們正處於一個我們正在走出 COVID 時代的地方，我們的戰略勢頭強勁，資產負債表很好，新董事會也成立了。我們將加速我們的增長。所以我們今天不開始。我們真的要加快這一進程。

So I think on -- as the investments, we will get more detail as we continue to work through this. And that's where we said we're going to have our first Analyst Day in October that we'll be really getting into the more of the nuts and bolts of when to expect as we look at this over the next quarters and years on how we lay that in and the benefit according to -- that goes along with those investments.

所以我認為 - 作為投資，隨著我們繼續努力，我們將獲得更多細節。這就是我們說我們將在 10 月舉行第一個分析師日的地方，當我們在接下來的幾個季度和幾年裡審視我們如何將其放入其中並根據這些投資獲得收益。

All right. So there's no way to necessarily bracket or give a general view in terms of how much incremental investment or operating costs might be required?

好的。因此，就可能需要多少增量投資或運營成本而言，沒有辦法一定要括起來或給出一般看法？

No, not right now. We've got everything embedded in our outlook for this year. And then we're working really hard. Both Larry and John are looking at those items as we think about how do the beyond years look, and we'll be sharing that in the future.

不，不是現在。我們已經將所有內容都嵌入了今年的展望中。然後我們真的很努力。拉里和約翰都在研究這些項目，因為我們思考未來幾年的情況，我們將在未來分享。

Next, we'll go to Rupesh Parikh with Oppenheimer.

接下來，我們將與奧本海默一起前往 Rupesh Parikh。

So first, just on Dollar Tree gross margins. I know you indicated that sequentially, you expect them to moderate versus what you saw in Q1. Is there a ballpark level you can help us frame that for maybe Q2 and the balance of the year? And then just any thinking longer term in terms of where their gross margins are for the banner? At 35% to 36%? Or do you think you could do better than that?

首先，就美元樹的毛利率而言。我知道您表示，與您在第一季度看到的相比，您預計它們會按順序進行調整。您是否可以幫助我們為第二季度和今年的餘額制定一個大致水平？然後從長遠來看，他們的橫幅毛利率在哪裡？ 35% 到 36%？或者你認為你可以做得更好嗎？

Rupesh, this is Kevin. As we think through this, and obviously, to Mike's point, we're one quarter in, we're still learning a lot as we work through this. There'll be -- so moving pieces as always. The marketplace continues to move as to what investment into the product is going to be necessary to be a value in the marketplace. I would tell you this year, I think at a minimum, we would hope to be to the higher end of that historical range. And if we can be above it, we'll be above it. I don't know that we -- where that will exactly land.

魯佩什，這是凱文。當我們思考這個問題時，顯然，就邁克而言，我們已經完成了四分之一，我們仍然在學習很多東西。會有 - 像往常一樣動人的作品。市場繼續在變化，需要對產品進行哪些投資才能成為市場價值。今年我會告訴你，我認為至少，我們希望達到這個歷史範圍的高端。如果我們能夠超越它，我們就會超越它。我不知道我們——那將在哪裡落地。

Again, the environment is such that there's enough uncertainty that it's pretty hard to peg given the fact that the newness of the $1.25 price point and some of the things that are going on, on a macro level out there. But it will be a positive in a big way for the overall company.

同樣，環境如此充滿不確定性，鑑於 1.25 美元的價格點的新穎性以及正在發生的一些事情，在宏觀層面上，很難確定這一點。但這對整個公司來說將是一個很大的積極因素。

Okay. Great. And then maybe just my follow-up question. Just on the Family Dollar banner, just given the initiatives that you guys plan to make and some of the capital investments over the coming years, do you guys think you can close the gap with your -- I guess, your closest competitor on the operating margin line? Could you get to a high single-digit operating margin within the Family Dollar banner longer term?

好的。偉大的。然後也許只是我的後續問題。就在家庭美元的旗幟上，考慮到你們計劃在未來幾年採取的舉措和一些資本投資，你們認為你們可以縮小與你們的差距 - 我猜，你們在運營方面最接近的競爭對手邊緣線？從長遠來看，您能否在 Family Dollar 旗幟下獲得高個位數的營業利潤率？

Absolutely.

絕對地。

Next question will come from the line of Karen Short with Barclays.

下一個問題將來自巴克萊銀行的 Karen Short。

I wanted to try this, just a slightly different angle. So there's obviously been expectations in terms of what your new operating profit margin could look like with all the opportunities that you have at both banners. But as I look at today's press release, everything focuses on investing. So I mean, I wanted to see if you could just triangulate that a little bit. And I mean, I see you'll talk about this at the Analyst Day, but every single header that you had in terms of strategies is investing as opposed to operating margin opportunity. And investors clearly have a high -- very high number in terms of what the actual margin opportunity could look like. So any color on that would be helpful.

我想試試這個，只是角度略有不同。因此，對於您在兩個橫幅上擁有的所有機會，您的新營業利潤率可能會是什麼樣子顯然存在預期。但是當我看今天的新聞稿時，一切都集中在投資上。所以我的意思是，我想看看你是否可以對它進行一點三角測量。我的意思是，我看到你會在分析師日討論這個問題，但你在策略方面的每一個標題都是投資，而不是營業利潤機會。就實際保證金機會的情況而言，投資者顯然有一個很高的數字。所以上面的任何顏色都會有幫助。

Yes. I'll throw it to Kevin for a little bit of color. But the way I think about it, yes, we are investing. But also, we're delivering earnings EPS growth throughout the time and top line growth. So as Rick and I said, the things that we are investing, they will have a return for long-term sustainable growth. And if you look at our EPS from the midpoint range up, it's a 40% -- just under a 40% increase in EPS, and we moved our top line up. So yes, we'll be investing in the future, but we're going to be investing with the thought of continuing to drive that top line and the bottom line at the same time.

是的。我會把它扔給 Kevin 來點顏色。但我認為，是的，我們正在投資。而且，我們一直在實現盈利每股收益增長和收入增長。所以正如里克和我所說，我們正在投資的東西，它們將獲得長期可持續增長的回報。如果你從中點範圍向上看我們的每股收益，它是 40% - 每股收益增長不到 40%，我們將我們的最高線向上移動。所以，是的，我們將投資於未來，但我們將在投資時考慮到繼續同時推動收入和利潤。

The other thing I would say, Karen, as Mike mentioned in his early comments, we do have a new Finance Committee. This committee obviously will be very focused on return on invested capital as we think about things. There are some things we have to do because we need to do it, which is -- you can look at our store standards. We want to make sure we have stores that are -- keep the standards that we expect and our customers deserve. So those are investments you make. But if you look, a lot of this is capital investment in systems and in our supply chain that, again, it's about productivity and efficiency and making it easier at the store level for that store manager and the assistant manager and that team there that's working very hard every day. So our job at the end is to make their job easier. And that's where these investments will -- may have a big payoff at the end of the day.

我想說的另一件事，凱倫，正如邁克在他早期的評論中提到的，我們確實有一個新的財務委員會。當我們考慮事情時，該委員會顯然將非常關注投資資本的回報。我們必須做一些事情，因為我們需要這樣做，那就是——你可以看看我們的商店標準。我們希望確保我們的商店——保持我們期望和客戶應得的標準。所以這些是你做的投資。但是，如果您看一下，其中很大一部分是對系統和我們供應鏈的資本投資，這又是關於生產力和效率，並使商店經理和助理經理以及那裡正在工作的團隊在商店級別更容易每天都很辛苦。所以我們最終的工作是讓他們的工作更輕鬆。這就是這些投資將在一天結束時獲得巨大回報的地方。

Yes. And I would just close with our balance sheet and cash flow enables us to do this. We can invest to keep growing our store count to be a growth company. We can invest in the key enablers and supply chain and IT. And we can buy back shares to grow our share. So we've got options going forward. It's not just simply investing in expenses.

是的。我只想結束我們的資產負債表，現金流使我們能夠做到這一點。我們可以投資以不斷增加我們的商店數量，成為一家成長型公司。我們可以投資於關鍵推動因素、供應鍊和 IT。我們可以回購股票來增加我們的份額。所以我們有未來的選擇。這不僅僅是簡單地投資開支。

Next, we'll go to Michael Lasser with UBS.

接下來，我們將介紹瑞銀的邁克爾·拉塞爾。

So some of the skeptics are arguing that Dollar Tree is going to get a bunch of growth this year from raising its prices by 25% on the bulk of its assortment and seeing some timing benefits from selling through some older cost inventory, and now it's talking about investments. So do you think in light of all that, that the core banner or the enterprise, I should say, can grow both sales and margins next year while you're making these investments?

因此，一些懷疑論者認為，Dollar Tree 今年將通過將其大部分產品的價格提高 25% 並看到通過一些較舊的成本庫存銷售帶來的一些時機優勢，從而獲得大量增長，現在它正在談論關於投資。那麼，鑑於所有這些，您是否認為核心橫幅或企業，我應該說，在您進行這些投資的同時，明年的銷售額和利潤都可以增長？

Yes, we do.

是的，我們有。

And my follow-up question is -- yes, that's helpful, Mike. My follow-up question is, as you focus your price investments, how do you ensure that you're not going to spark a race to the bottom in light of the very competitive environment that you operate in with some really large competitors?

我的後續問題是——是的，這很有幫助，邁克。我的後續問題是，當您專注於價格投資時，鑑於您與一些非常大的競爭對手所處的競爭激烈的環境，您如何確保您不會引發一場逐底競爭？

Yes. And that's important. We've got to be meaningful to our customers first and foremost, and that's what we're going to focus on. And on the other side, we've got Larry here who works very closely with the vendor manufacturers, and we will balance it, right? We'll make good decisions to invest where we need to, to meet the customers' needs in the marketplace. We're just going to simply close the gap to where we are on our KVIs, our key value items, and then just make sure the entire shopping experience is at a great value for our customer. And it's a balance.

是的。這很重要。我們必須首先對我們的客戶有意義，這就是我們將要關注的。另一方面，我們有 Larry，他與供應商製造商密切合作，我們會平衡它，對嗎？我們將做出明智的決定，在需要的地方進行投資，以滿足客戶在市場上的需求。我們只是簡單地縮小我們在 KVI 上的差距，我們的關鍵價值項目，然後確保整個購物體驗對我們的客戶來說是一個巨大的價值。這是一種平衡。

Next, we'll go to Chuck Grom with Gordon Haskett.

接下來，我們將和 Gordon Haskett 一起去 Chuck Grom。

Rick, it's really great to hear your voice after all these years. My question is on the traffic decline at Dollar Tree. You talked -- I think you said it was down about 4%. I was just curious how that trended during the quarter, particularly in light of you're introducing more of the new products into the mix. And a follow-up to that would be I think you said 960 SKUs with the plan for 2,000. I think the average Tree store has about 8. So I'm just curious like how many SKUs you want to change? And how do we think about that rollout over the balance of the year?

瑞克，這麼多年後能聽到你的聲音真是太好了。我的問題是關於美元樹的流量下降。你談到了——我想你說它下降了大約 4%。我只是好奇本季度的趨勢如何，特別是考慮到您正在將更多新產品引入組合中。我想你說的是 960 個 SKU，計劃是 2,000 個。我認為平均 Tree 商店大約有 8 個。所以我只是想知道您要更改多少 SKU？我們如何看待今年餘下時間的推出？

Well, the 2,000 were the amount that we needed to change. Remember, at last earnings call, our merchants since last September went item by item and put our item on the table and went out and shopped the entire competitive market to make sure that it's -- at $1.25, it is still a great value. And our customers are telling us that in the results. So the 2,000 items are the ones that we thought we needed to invest more in and turn over and/or bring new that we had to discontinue over the last 18 months or just weren't a value anymore. So the 2,000 is what our goal was, and we're halfway through, 47%. The other half are going to flow through. And as they flow through, we're getting great results.

嗯，2,000 是我們需要更改的數量。請記住，在最後一次財報電話會議上，自去年 9 月以來，我們的商家逐項將我們的商品擺在桌面上，然後走出去在整個競爭激烈的市場上購物，以確保它 - 1.25 美元，仍然是一個很大的價值。我們的客戶在結果中告訴我們這一點。因此，這 2,000 件物品是我們認為需要更多投資和上繳和/或帶來新產品的物品，我們不得不在過去 18 個月中停產，或者不再具有價值。所以 2,000 是我們的目標，而我們已經完成了 47%。另一半將流過。當它們流過時，我們得到了很好的結果。

But also remember, not -- and Kevin talked about it, it's a dynamic situation in market right now. So what we thought 6 months ago has changed already just because of the cost pressures we're seeing. So our Dollar Tree merchants know that at a fixed price point, they don't have to carry every item, and they drop the item and go get a replacement item and at the margin that we need. And our mix of items always changes out. That's the exciting thing about Dollar Tree. It's an extreme value and ever-exchanging meaningful assortment. And it's -- and the customers respond, and it's the thrill of the hunt. That's part of our mission at Dollar Tree. They're used to it. They've always done it at $1. Now they're just doing it at $1.25, and it's working very well.

但也請記住，不是 - 凱文談到了它，這是目前市場上的動態情況。因此，我們在 6 個月前的想法已經改變，僅僅是因為我們看到的成本壓力。所以我們的美元樹商人知道，在固定的價格點上，他們不必攜帶每件物品，他們會丟棄物品並去獲取替換物品，並以我們需要的保證金。而且我們的項目組合總是會發生變化。這就是美元樹令人興奮的地方。這是一個極端價值和不斷交換的有意義的分類。它是 - 客戶回應，這是狩獵的快感。這是我們在美元樹的使命的一部分。他們已經習慣了。他們總是以1美元的價格完成。現在他們只賣 1.25 美元，而且效果很好。

And Chuck, on your question about traffic. This quarter, in particular, is very affected by Easter. Easter was 2 weeks later. So you would have seen the best traffic in the third period and probably the biggest decrease in traffic more than likely in the second period because of the later Easter as well as when the stimulus dollars were released. So I think those are probably kind of the 2 factors. It's pretty lumpy because of those 2, but that's kind of the factors that are in play in Q1.

還有查克，關於你關於交通的問題。尤其是本季度，受復活節影響很大。復活節是兩週後。因此，由於復活節較晚以及刺激資金的釋放，您會看到第三階段的流量最大，並且可能在第二階段出現最大的流量下降。所以我認為這些可能是兩種因素。由於這兩個原因，它非常不穩定，但這是第一季度發揮作用的因素。

One of the things that we're really seeing excitement around are our seasons are accelerating more than they used to at $1.25 and the meaningful assortment and then with our rollout of our $3 and $5 items that we're rolling out to another 1,500 stores this year. So the combination of the $1.25, $3 and $5 in our seasonal business has really given us a lift that we're excited about. And in quarter 2, if you think there's -- in quarter 1, Kevin talked about the great Easter and Valentine's, and we saw great response from the customers. Quarter 2 is summer, and you got Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. But the back half of the year is when back-to-school, Halloween and then Thanksgiving and Christmas that we're really setting ourselves up to have a great back half.

我們真正看到令人興奮的一件事是，我們的季節比以往更快，價格為 1.25 美元和有意義的分類，然後隨著我們推出 3 美元和 5 美元的商品，我們將在今年的另外 1,500 家商店推出年。因此，我們季節性業務中 1.25 美元、3 美元和 5 美元的組合確實讓我們興奮不已。在第 2 季度，如果您認為有 - 在第 1 季度，凱文談到了偉大的複活節和情人節，我們看到了客戶的熱烈反響。第二季度是夏天，你有陣亡將士紀念日和七月四日。但下半年是返校、萬聖節、感恩節和聖誕節的時候，我們真的要為自己的後半年做好準備。

That's great. And just my follow-up would be historically speaking, you look back at other periods of consumer duress, and maybe Rick can opine on this question to a degree. I'm curious how long of a lag it was before you saw that middle-income customer begin to trade down and if you think this current macro environment is going to be different than what we saw over a decade ago.

那太棒了。從歷史上講，我的後續行動是，你回顧一下其他時期的消費者脅迫，也許 Rick 可以在一定程度上對這個問題發表意見。我很好奇在您看到中等收入客戶開始交易之前滯後了多長時間，以及您是否認為當前的宏觀環境將與我們十多年前看到的不同。

Yes. They're just -- it's a different pressure this year. But you're right, in 2008, '09 and '10, both Family Dollar and Dollar Tree saw an acceleration in their comp store sales. And there was just a slight drag, but they saw it a little bit in 2008 when it was happening and then '09, '10 and '11, it was sustained. It's hard to predict what's going to happen now just because it's -- there being pressure for different reasons.

是的。他們只是 - 今年的壓力有所不同。但你是對的，在 2008 年、09 年和 10 年，Family Dollar 和 Dollar Tree 都看到了他們的商店銷售加速。只是輕微的拖累，但他們在 2008 年看到了一點，當時它正在發生，然後是 '09、'10 和 '11，它持續存在。很難預測現在會發生什麼，因為它存在不同原因的壓力。

(Operator Instructions) We'll next go to Edward Kelly with Wells Fargo.

（操作員說明）接下來我們將與富國銀行一起前往 Edward Kelly。

Rick, great to hear your voice. First thing I wanted to ask is just about the $1.25 and the elasticity improving where you're adding value. Just more -- a little bit more detail on the number of categories you've done in terms of adding value back and what's left to do. And then how much bigger is the opportunity within discretionary in terms of like adding value or bringing items back? I mean it does seem like that would be the area where there's potentially a more powerful impact.

瑞克，很高興聽到你的聲音。我想問的第一件事是大約 1.25 美元，以及增加價值的彈性。更多——關於你在增加價值方面所做的類別數量以及剩下要做的事情的更多細節。那麼在增加價值或帶回物品方面，可自由支配的機會有多大？我的意思是，這似乎確實是一個可能產生更強大影響的領域。

Well, actually -- well, thanks for the question. Our discretionary, the value in our discretionary, our customer recognizes, and there wasn't a lot of rework that needed to happen there. And that's evident. That's why our discretionary business comped at 14%, and we really haven't touched it that much.

嗯，實際上- 嗯，謝謝你的問題。我們的全權委託，我們全權委託的價值，我們的客戶認可，並且不需要在那裡進行大量的返工。這很明顯。這就是為什麼我們的可自由支配業務的比率為 14%，而我們真的沒有太多地觸及它。

Where we're focusing the 2,000 items are really concentrated mostly in consumable categories. So in the salty snack, in the carbonated beverage and in the food, that's where these categories we have 47% of the SKUs in. But really, we're going to add more in food. We're going to add more in carbonated beverage and more in salty snack to really drive that consumable. And it will take time. I -- we believe that's a traffic driver. And as the customers experience the items and appreciate the value we're giving them, over time, we believe that, that will help drive traffic into the overall store, not just those categories.

我們關注的 2,000 種物品實際上主要集中在消耗品類別中。因此，在鹹味零食、碳酸飲料和食品中，這些類別中有 47% 的 SKU。但實際上，我們將在食品中添加更多。我們將在碳酸飲料中添加更多，在鹹味零食中添加更多，以真正推動這種消耗品。這需要時間。我——我們相信那是一個交通司機。隨著客戶體驗商品並欣賞我們為他們提供的價值，隨著時間的推移，我們相信這將有助於推動整個商店的流量，而不僅僅是那些類別。

Okay. And then just a quick follow-up on $3 and $5, can you go faster? Why not go faster? The response seems to be good. Just updated thoughts there.

好的。然後只是快速跟進 3 美元和 5 美元，你能走得更快嗎？為什麼不快點？反響似乎不錯。剛剛更新了那裡的想法。

Yes. It's a great question. We would go as fast as we can. We are going as fast as we can. If you remember last year -- it's really supply chain right now that's tempering our speed. Last year, we wanted to open up 500. And if you remember, the customers responding so well that we were selling through and the supply chain was slowing things down. So we slowed down our acceleration of rolling it out throughout the year, but we still ended up at 600 stores. So we're going to do -- we accelerate it to 1,500, and it's really depending on the supply chain because we're buying these products 9 to 12 months out.

是的。這是一個很好的問題。我們會盡可能快地走。我們正在盡可能快地前進。如果你還記得去年——現在真的是供應鏈在緩和我們的速度。去年，我們想開 500 家。如果你還記得的話，客戶的反應非常好，以至於我們一直在銷售，而供應鏈正在放慢速度。所以我們放慢了全年推出它的速度，但最終還是有 600 家門店。所以我們要做 - 我們將其加速到 1,500，這實際上取決於供應鏈，因為我們要在 9 到 12 個月後購買這些產品。

And it's -- we're excited about rolling this out. We're -- our expectations are to get this done as soon in the year as possible, and we're going to continue to roll that out. But we have every expectation to roll this $3 and $5 out throughout the entire network. And that's probably something that we can share at our October Analyst Day is what that -- what's that looking like. Because we really like it. We're putting this product in our stores. We're really seeing a benefit on the seasonal side of it. So our $3 and $5 items, combined with our great value at $1.25, is just lifting that entire seasonal sales in those respective stores. So we're going to keep enhancing the product. We're learning a lot, and it's going to be absolutely dedicated on the discretionary side of the store.

它是 - 我們很高興推出這個。我們 - 我們的期望是在今年盡快完成這項工作，我們將繼續推廣。但是我們完全期望在整個網絡中推出這 3 美元和 5 美元。這可能是我們可以在 10 月分析師日分享的東西——它是什麼樣子的。因為我們真的很喜歡。我們正在把這個產品放在我們的商店裡。我們確實看到了季節性方面的好處。因此，我們 3 美元和 5 美元的商品，加上我們 1.25 美元的超值價格，正在提升這些商店的整個季節性銷售額。因此，我們將繼續改進產品。我們學到了很多東西，它將完全專注於商店的自由裁量權。

We'll go next to Kelly Bania with BMO Capital Markets.

我們將與 BMO Capital Markets 一起討論 Kelly Bania。

Just wanted to just ask first about freight costs. There was a comment about maybe annualizing the increases from last year, and I think that's consistent with last quarter. So just curious if you can help us understand just how you view the state of the global shipping backdrop from your seat, what you're expecting from contract versus spot this year and just the overall cost for that.

只是想先問一下運費。有評論說可能將去年的增幅按年計算，我認為這與上一季度一致。因此，只是想知道您是否可以幫助我們了解您如何從您的座位上查看全球航運背景的狀態，您對今年合同與現貨的預期以及總體成本。

Yes. Kelly, this is Kevin. I'll start with some information on that. And really, in Q1, our freight was up, but it was very consistent with how we had forecasted it. And again, as we had talked about in March, we expected the first half of the year in particular to be affected by the annualization of the rates we saw in the last half of '21. So that feels like a good place to start.

是的。凱利，這是凱文。我將從這方面的一些信息開始。確實，在第一季度，我們的運費上漲了，但這與我們的預測非常一致。同樣，正如我們在 3 月份所討論的那樣，我們預計今年上半年尤其會受到 21 年下半年所看到的利率年化的影響。所以這感覺是一個很好的起點。

Obviously, diesel fuel has increased, and we've increased our forecast for the current market rates. And here is something to maybe give all of you kind of a metric to kind of think about diesel freight. So just a $1 change in rate for the year would be about a $63 million headwind. So that's the annualized number. And so you guys can do the math on what that means on a prorated basis. But that kind of gives you a feel for that. But we have the current market rates as we see it in our forecast and embedded in our guidance.

顯然，柴油燃料有所增加，我們提高了對當前市場價格的預測。這裡有一些東西可能會給你們所有人一種衡量柴油貨運的標準。因此，今年僅 1 美元的利率變化將帶來大約 6300 萬美元的逆風。這就是年化數字。所以你們可以按比例計算這意味著什麼。但是這種感覺會讓你有這種感覺。但我們有當前的市場價格，正如我們在預測中看到的那樣，並嵌入在我們的指導中。

In regards to ocean freight, the backlog is definitely significantly less than a year ago. It's not completely gone, but it's definitely better than it was. It's early. The contract carrier performance has been pretty much on plan at this point. We are still using chartered vessels, which has been successful and been helpful and continuing to move good. And the NVO rates have pretty much been in line with the way we have budgeted them at this point in time. So from our point of view, the way we came into the year looking at it, we're comfortable with where we're at. Obviously, it's -- the market can change rapidly, but we feel good about where we're at, at the moment.

在海運方面，積壓的貨物明顯少於一年前。它並沒有完全消失，但肯定比以前好多了。現在還早。在這一點上，合同承運人的表現幾乎是按計劃進行的。我們仍在使用包租船隻，這些船隻取得了成功，並提供了幫助，並且繼續保持良好狀態。 NVO 費率幾乎與我們目前的預算方式一致。所以從我們的角度來看，我們進入這一年的方式來看，我們對我們所處的位置感到滿意。顯然，市場可以迅速變化，但我們對目前所處的位置感覺良好。

Yes. I would just add that from -- add on to what Kevin said, we've been battling this ocean freight for 2.5 years, and we felt it probably before anybody else did just because of our fixed price and the amount of containers we import. So this year, we've contracted slightly more than our needs. And it's because we're anticipating a continuation of some blank voyages that will continue to disrupt the supply chain. And as Kevin said, to fill our needs, we're using a combination of contracts, the NVO and our own dedicated charters. So -- and we've smoothed out our -- the purchasing of what we need. We've smoothed that out to be more consistent and dependable for the carrier. So we've gone into this year with 2.5 years of disruption experience. And as Kevin said, we're -- we think we have a good handle on the cost of it without unknowing any disruption that could happen going forward.

是的。我只想補充一點——再加上凱文所說的，我們已經與這種海運鬥爭了 2.5 年，我們可能比其他任何人都更早地感受到它，因為我們的固定價格和我們進口的集裝箱數量。所以今年，我們的收縮量略高於我們的需求。這是因為我們預計一些空白航行會繼續，這將繼續擾亂供應鏈。正如凱文所說，為了滿足我們的需求，我們正在使用合同、NVO 和我們自己的專用章程的組合。所以 - 我們已經平滑了我們 - 購買我們需要的東西。我們已經對此進行了平滑處理，以使運營商更加一致和可靠。因此，我們已經進入了 2.5 年的顛覆經驗。正如凱文所說，我們 - 我們認為我們在不知道未來可能發生的任何中斷的情況下很好地控制了它的成本。

That's very, very helpful. And then maybe I'll just ask one more about Dollar Tree. As you merchandise against this new $1.25 price point, are you targeting that 36% gross margin today? Or do you maybe leave a little cushion for some higher costs in the future? And as well, do you consider testing even more price points, $1.50 or $2, just given how this is already going?

這非常非常有幫助。然後也許我會再問一個關於美元樹的問題。當您以 1.25 美元的新價格銷售商品時，您今天的目標是 36% 的毛利率嗎？或者你可能會為未來更高的成本留一點緩衝？而且，考慮到目前的情況，您是否考慮測試更多的價格點，1.50 美元或 2 美元？

Well, we have $1.25 fixed price point that we moved after 35 years, and then we've got the $3 and $5 price points that are fixed price points that we are rolling out as fast as we can over the next couple of years. So we feel really good that we can deliver an unbelievable assortment that is exciting and meaningful and an extreme value for our customers and still delivers on that thrill of the hunt. So we're excited about that. And we -- as you think about our comments about continuing to drive top line and bottom line performance, we will always keep in mind the margins needed to deliver those 2 things.

好吧，我們在 35 年後移動了 1.25 美元的固定價格點，然後我們有了 3 美元和 5 美元的固定價格點，我們將在接下來的幾年內盡快推出。因此，我們感到非常高興，因為我們可以提供令人難以置信的品種，令人興奮且有意義，對我們的客戶來說具有極高的價值，並且仍然可以帶來狩獵的快感。所以我們對此感到興奮。我們 - 當您考慮我們關於繼續推動頂線和底線業績的評論時，我們將始終牢記實現這兩件事所需的利潤。

All right. And that's all the time we have for questions at this time. So I'd like to turn it back over to Mr. Randy Guiler for any additional or closing remarks.

好的。這就是我們目前所有的提問時間。因此，我想將其轉回給 Randy Guiler 先生，以獲取任何補充或結束語。

Thank you, Alan, and thank you all for joining us for today's call. Our next earnings conference call to discuss Q2 results is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, August 25, 2022. Thank you, and have a good day.

謝謝你，艾倫，也感謝大家加入我們今天的電話會議。我們下一次討論第二季度業績的財報電話會議暫定於 2022 年 8 月 25 日星期四舉行。謝謝，祝您有美好的一天。

That does conclude today's conference. We thank everyone again for their participation.

今天的會議到此結束。我們再次感謝大家的參與。