elf Beauty Inc (ELF) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for joining us today to discuss e.l.f. Beauty's fourth quarter and fiscal '22 results. I'm KC Katten, Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations. With me today are Tarang Amin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Mandy Fields, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

感謝您今天加入我們討論 e.l.f. Beauty 的第四季度和 22 財年業績。我是 KC Katten，企業發展和投資者關係副總裁。今天與我在一起的有董事長兼首席執行官塔朗·阿明 (Tarang Amin)；以及高級副總裁兼首席財務官 Mandy Fields。

We encourage you to tune into our webcast presentation for the best viewing experience, which you can access on our website at investor.elfbeauty.com. Since many of our remarks today contain forward-looking statements, please refer to our earnings release and reports filed with the SEC, where you'll find factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. In addition, the company's presentation today includes information presented on a non-GAAP basis. Our earnings release contains reconciliations of the differences between the non-GAAP presentation and the most directly comparable GAAP measure. With that, let me turn the webcast over to Tarang.

我們鼓勵您收聽我們的網絡廣播演示，以獲得最佳觀看體驗，您可以在我們的網站 Investor.elfbeauty.com 上訪問該演示。由於我們今天的許多言論都包含前瞻性陳述，請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的收益報告和報告，您會發現可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述存在重大差異的因素。此外，該公司今天的演示文稿還包括基於非公認會計原則（Non-GAAP）的信息。我們的收益報告包含非公認會計原則表述與最直接可比的公認會計原則衡量指標之間差異的調節。接下來，讓我將網絡廣播轉交給塔朗。

Thank you, KC, and good afternoon, everyone. Today, we will discuss the drivers of our Q4 results and outlook for fiscal '23. I want to start by recognizing the e.l.f. Beauty team. We have much to be proud of in fiscal '22. Our innovation, digitally-led strategy, core value proposition and ability to adapt at e.l.f speed continues to fuel our performance.

謝謝你，KC，大家下午好。今天，我們將討論第四季度業績的驅動因素和 23 財年的前景。我想從認識 e.l.f 開始。美容團隊。在 22 財年，我們有很多值得自豪的事情。我們的創新、數字主導的戰略、核心價值主張和快速適應能力繼續推動我們的業績。

Our results speak for themselves. Q4 marked our 13th consecutive quarter of net sales growth. In fiscal '22, we grew net sales by 23% and adjusted EBITDA by 22%, well above our original expectations for the year. We also continued to gain market share with 5.9% of the mass cosmetics category, up 25 basis points. We're the only top 5 brand to grow share above pre-pandemic levels by a wide margin.

我們的結果不言而喻。第四季度標誌著我們連續第 13 個季度實現淨銷售額增長。在 22 財年，我們的淨銷售額增長了 23%，調整後的 EBITDA 增長了 22%，遠高於我們當年的最初預期。我們還繼續獲得大眾化妝品類別的市場份額，達到 5.9%，上升 25 個基點。我們是唯一一個份額大幅增長至疫情前水平以上的前 5 名品牌。

Before I detail our recent accomplishments, I want to briefly touch on a few topics that are likely top of mind. First, on category outlook and our guidance. We remain bullish on the mass cosmetics category. Overall, trends have improved, and in recent weeks are positive on both a 1- and 2-year basis as consumer usage occasions increase. More importantly, we remain optimistic about our ability to continue to gain share. Our consumption trends are strong, giving us the confidence to issue initial guidance at the 10% to 12% net sales growth for the year with double-digit growth expected in each quarter.

在詳細介紹我們最近取得的成就之前，我想簡要談談一些可能是最受關注的主題。首先，關於品類展望和我們的指導。我們仍然看好大眾化妝品類別。總體而言，趨勢有所改善，並且最近幾週隨著消費者使用次數的增加，一年和兩年的情況都呈積極趨勢。更重要的是，我們對繼續獲得份額的能力保持樂觀。我們的消費趨勢強勁，使我們有信心發布今年淨銷售額增長 10% 至 12% 的初步指引，預計每個季度實現兩位數增長。

Second, on price increases. We increased prices on majority of e.l.f SKUs and select Keys Soulcare and W3LL PEOPLE products in mid-March. While still early, price elasticity is better than expected, underscoring the power of our brands.

二是關於物價上漲。我們在 3 月中旬提高了大多數 e.l.f SKU 以及部分 Keys Soulcare 和 W3LL PEOPLE 產品的價格。雖然還為時過早，但價格彈性好於預期，凸顯了我們品牌的力量。

Third, on supply chain. Like many companies, we faced additional COVID restrictions in China where our products are manufactured. While the situation remains dynamic, I feel great about how our team has responded. We continue to ship product despite the recent lockdowns. We've successfully navigated a variety of supply chain challenges throughout the years and expect to do so in fiscal '23. Over the past 3 years, I've provided proof points on the relentless execution of our 5 strategic imperatives and the growth it has driven. Today, I want to take a step back and talk through our strategic framework and key areas of competitive advantage.

第三，在供應鏈上。與許多公司一樣，我們在生產我們產品的中國面臨著額外的新冠疫情限制。雖然情況仍然不穩定，但我對我們團隊的應對方式感到滿意。儘管最近實行封鎖，我們仍繼續運送產品。多年來，我們成功應對了各種供應鏈挑戰，並預計在 23 財年實現這一目標。在過去 3 年裡，我提供了有關我們 5 項戰略要務的不懈執行及其所推動的增長的證據。今天，我想退一步談談我們的戰略框架和競爭優勢的關鍵領域。

e.l.f. was born to disrupt. It's in our DNA. We were founded 17 years ago with the idea of selling premium quality cosmetics for $1 over the Internet. We are known for our core value proposition. We make the best of beauty accessible to every eye, lip and face. The superpowers our consumers can't get enough of are our 100% cruelty-free, clean, inclusive premium quality beauty products at accessible price points. Our 7 key areas of competitive advantage give me confidence that we can continue to grow sales, EBITDA and market share.

e.l.f.生來就是為了顛覆。它存在於我們的 DNA 中。我們成立於 17 年前，最初的想法是通過互聯網以 1 美元的價格銷售優質化妝品。我們以核心價值主張而聞名。我們讓每一個眼睛、嘴唇和臉部都能享受到最好的美麗。我們以實惠的價格提供 100% 無殘忍、清潔、包容的優質美容產品，這是我們的消費者無法滿足的超能力。我們的 7 個關鍵競爭優勢領域讓我相信我們能夠繼續增長銷售額、EBITDA 和市場份額。

First, we have the right team. We have a deep commitment to diversity and inclusion. Our employee base, which is over 80% women, over 40% diverse and over 60% millennial and Gen Z is representative of the communities we serve. And it's not just our overall employee base. Our executive officers and Board of Directors is majority women and nearly 40% diverse. We have a high-performance team culture that fosters employee engagement. Our most recent employee engagement scores were 15 points higher than the consumer goods and services industry benchmark. Importantly, all 300 of our employees are shareholders in e.l.f. Beauty, with the total employee ownership at nearly 15% of shares outstanding. Issuing equity to all employees is rare among public consumer products companies, aligns our team with the long-term interest of our shareholders and incentivizes our employees to deliver enterprise value.

首先，我們有合適的團隊。我們堅定地致力於多元化和包容性。我們的員工群體中，超過 80% 為女性，超過 40% 為多元化員工，超過 60% 為千禧一代和 Z 世代，他們是我們所服務社區的代表。這不僅僅是我們的整體員工基礎。我們的執行官和董事會大部分是女性，並且近 40% 是多元化的。我們擁有培養員工敬業度的高績效團隊文化。我們最近的員工敬業度得分比消費品和服務行業基準高出 15 分。重要的是，我們的 300 名員工都是 e.l.f. 的股東。 Beauty，員工持股總額接近已發行股票的 15%。向全體員工發行股權在大眾消費品公司中是罕見的，這使我們的團隊與股東的長期利益保持一致，並激勵我們的員工創造企業價值。

Our second area of advantage is that we know how to attract and engage consumers. Our disruptive digital-first marketing engine moves at the speed of culture. Over the past 3 years, we've increased our marketing investment from 7% of net sales to 16%. Our marketing investment is working, driving high ROI and strong levels of consumer engagement. We are now a 4-time TikTok billionaire with our latest #elfitup hashtag challenge generating nearly 14 billion views. We are a pioneer in music, gaming and collaborating with like-minded cultural disruptors.

我們的第二個優勢領域是我們知道如何吸引和吸引消費者。我們顛覆性的數字優先營銷引擎以文化的速度前進。過去 3 年裡，我們將營銷投資從占淨銷售額的 7% 增加到 16%。我們的營銷投資正在發揮作用，帶來高投資回報率和高水平的消費者參與度。我們現在已四次成為 TikTok 億萬富翁，我們最新的 #elfitup 標籤挑戰產生了近 140 億次觀看。我們是音樂、遊戲以及與志同道合的文化破壞者合作的先驅。

Following our award-winning makeup collaboration with Chipotle that generated 4 billion earned media impressions, our recent collaboration with Dunkin' once again generated buzz, garnering almost 5 billion impressions. e.l.f is a Gen Z favorite. In Q4, e.l.f. jumped to the #1 favorite cosmetics brand among teens, up from #2 last year and #4, 2 years ago. We still see significant opportunity to bring in new consumers. We're encouraged that our annual attitude and usage study showed considerable improvement in our overall consumer awareness levels with millennials and Gen X in particular. That said, we continue to have significant opportunity with unaided awareness compared to some of the legacy color cosmetics brands.

繼我們與 Chipotle 的彩妝合作屢獲殊榮並獲得了 40 億次媒體印象之後，我們最近與 Dunkin' 的合作再次引起了轟動，獲得了近 50 億次印象。 e.l.f 是 Z 世代的最愛。在第四季度，e.l.f.從去年的第二名和兩年前的第四名躍升至青少年最喜愛的化妝品品牌第一名。我們仍然看到引入新消費者的重大機會。我們感到鼓舞的是，我們的年度態度和使用情況研究顯示，我們的整體消費者意識水平有了顯著提高，尤其是千禧一代，尤其是 X 一代。也就是說，與一些傳統彩妝品牌相比，我們在無輔助意識的情況下仍然擁有巨大的機會。

Looking at Nielsen track channel data, we're the #5 cosmetics brand today with 5.9% share. The #1 brand has 17% share. We see a lot of runway to grow.

根據尼爾森跟踪渠道數據，我們是當今排名第五的化妝品品牌，佔有 5.9% 的份額。第一品牌擁有 17% 的份額。我們看到了很多增長的空間。

Our third area of advantage is that we're an innovation powerhouse. Our innovation engine has built leadership across time across 5 key segments: brushes, primers, concealers, brows and sponges, which make up approximately half of e.l.f cosmetic sales. We have the #1 or 2 position in all 5 segments and drove double-digit sales growth in each last year. Our innovation focus remains on delivering holy grails with staying power.

我們的第三個優勢領域是我們是創新強國。我們的創新引擎在 5 個關鍵領域建立了長期的領導地位：刷子、底漆、遮瑕膏、眉毛和海綿，這些產品約佔 e.l.f 化妝品銷售額的一半。我們在所有 5 個細分市場中均排名第一或第二，並在去年推動了兩位數的銷售額增長。我們的創新重點仍然是提供具有持久力的聖杯。

Our Putty Primer and Camo families are great examples of how multiyear innovation has driven our share leadership in key segments. Our recently launched Power Grip Primer builds upon our strength in the primer category. Its jaw-dropping value of $10 versus a prestige equivalent at $34 propelled it to become the #1 selling product on elfcosmetics.com in Q4 and a viral sensation across social media.

我們的 Putty Primer 和 Camo 系列是多年創新如何推動我們在關鍵領域保持領先地位的絕佳範例。我們最近推出的 Power Grip Primer 建立在我們在底漆類別上的優勢之上。其 10 美元的售價令人瞠目結舌，而同等聲望的產品售價為 34 美元，使其成為第四季度 elfcosmetics.com 上銷量第一的產品，並在社交媒體上引起轟動。

Looking ahead, we believe our innovation pipeline has never been stronger. Skin care remains a major focus of our brand portfolio. In fiscal '22, e.l.f skin consumption was up 19% compared to the category that was up 8%. New product launches, such as our Pure Skin line, helped propel us in the top 20 skin care brand rankings for the first time ever in both Q3 and Q4. Amongst teens, our skin care rankings are even higher. We're particularly excited about Key Soulcare's latest skin care offering, the Let Me Glow Illuminating Serum. This complexion and makeup priming serum is the first in a series of color skin care hybrids. This product offering quickly became a viral sensation across social media, selling out in recent weeks at both keyssoulcare.com and ulta.com.

展望未來，我們相信我們的創新渠道從未如此強大。護膚仍然是我們品牌組合的主要焦點。在 22 財年，e.l.f 皮膚消費量增長了 19%，而同類產品的消費量增長了 8%。新產品的推出，例如我們的 Pure Skin 系列，幫助我們在第三季度和第四季度首次進入前 20 名護膚品牌排名。在青少年中，我們的護膚排名甚至更高。我們對 Key Soulcare 的最新護膚產品 Let Me Glow Illuminating Serum 感到特別興奮。這款膚色和彩妝底霜是彩妝混合系列中的首款產品。該產品迅速在社交媒體上引起轟動，最近幾週在keysoulcare.com 和ulta.com 上均已售罄。

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Our fourth area of advantage is that we're digital-first. Founded as a digitally native brand, e.l.f., remains the only top 5 mass cosmetics brand with a direct-to-consumer site. In April, we launched a new mobile app, also becoming the only top 5 mass cosmetics brand with a native mobile app. Our digitally led strategy powers our entire business and continues to serve us well. Fiscal '22 digital consumption trends were up triple digits on a 2-year stack basis.

我們的第四個優勢領域是我們數字化優先。 e.l.f. 作為數字原生品牌創立，至今仍是唯一擁有直接面向消費者網站的前 5 名大眾化妝品品牌。 4月，我們推出了新的移動應用程序，也成為唯一擁有原生移動應用程序的前五名大眾化妝品品牌。我們的數字主導戰略為我們的整個業務提供動力，並繼續為我們提供良好的服務。 22 財年數字消費趨勢在兩年基礎上增長了三位數。

Digital channels drove 14% of our total consumption in fiscal '22 as compared to 17% a year ago and 9% 2 years ago. We see opportunity to increase our digital penetration, particularly as we're able to grow our Beauty Squad loyalty members and enhance our loyalty experience. In fiscal '22, we grew Beauty Squad membership by 20% versus prior year. Our 2.9 million loyalty members are a highly valuable part of our digital ecosystem and an integral source of first-party data.

數字渠道在 22 財年占我們總消費的 14%，而一年前為 17%，兩年前為 9%。我們看到了提高數字滲透率的機會，特別是當我們能夠增加 Beauty Squad 忠誠度會員並增強我們的忠誠度體驗時。在 22 財年，我們的 Beauty Squad 會員人數比上一年增加了 20%。我們的 290 萬忠誠會員是我們數字生態系統中非常有價值的一部分，也是第一方數據的重要來源。

Our fifth area of advantage is that we have world-class operations. We believe we have the best combination of cost, quality and speed in our industry. Our hybrid supply chain model combines outsourced asset-light manufacturing in China with the depth of expertise of our nearly 80 employees in Shanghai, across R&D, quality, sourcing, logistics and lean manufacturing.

我們的第五個優勢領域是我們擁有世界一流的運營。我們相信我們擁有行業中成本、質量和速度的最佳組合。我們的混合供應鏈模式將中國的外包輕資產製造與上海近 80 名員工在研發、質量、採購、物流和精益製造方面的專業知識深度結合起來。

I am proud of the e.l.f. Beauty team for how we've leveraged this competitive advantage to navigate external challenges over the years. In 2019, we overcame 25% China tariffs on the majority of our products. In early 2020, we were the first beauty company to come out of COVID-19 restrictions in China fully operational. Our suppliers are back in business in the first week, and we are running at full capacity after just 5 weeks. In 2021, we faced a global container imbalance and port congestion. Our operations team again executed with excellence. -- managing SKUs at the store level to sustain in-stock rates around 95%.

我為 e.l.f 感到驕傲。美容團隊多年來如何利用這一競爭優勢應對外部挑戰。 2019 年，我們的大部分產品克服了 25% 的中國關稅。 2020 年初，我們是中國第一家擺脫 COVID-19 限制並全面運營的美容公司。我們的供應商在第一周就恢復營業，僅僅 5 週後我們就滿負荷運轉。 2021年，我們面臨全球集裝箱失衡和港口擁堵的問題。我們的運營團隊再次表現出色。 -- 在商店級別管理 SKU，以將庫存率維持在 95% 左右。

To help mitigate the financial impact of increased transportation cost, we leaned on our pricing power early in 2022, and are pleased with the initial consumer response. More recently, and like many other companies, we faced additional COVID restrictions on our supply chain in China. We feel great about how our team has risen to the challenge. Our key suppliers are producing goods, and we've managed the logistics to continue shipping our products. We've also proactively taken up our inventory levels. Looking ahead, we believe the challenges in China are transitory and will normalize as restrictions ease.

為了幫助減輕運輸成本增加的財務影響，我們在 2022 年初依靠了我們的定價能力，並對消費者的初步反應感到滿意。最近，與許多其他公司一樣，我們在中國的供應鏈面臨著新冠疫情的額外限制。我們對我們的團隊如何迎接挑戰感到非常高興。我們的主要供應商正在生產貨物，我們管理物流以繼續運輸我們的產品。我們還積極提高庫存水平。展望未來，我們相信中國面臨的挑戰是暫時的，並將隨著限制的放鬆而正常化。

Our sixth area of advantage is we know how to win in the market. Over the past 8 years, we've expanded our retail footprint from 11,000 linear feet of space to over 130,000 linear feet. Even with this growth, we see opportunity to gain space with each of our retailers. What gives me even more confidence for the year ahead is how we've continued to drive best-in-class productivity with our retail partners. Target is a great example. Target is our most developed and longest-standing national retailer. Our average store footprint today is about 11 feet and we grew our Target business by over 20% in fiscal '22 without incremental space gains.

我們的第六個優勢是我們知道如何贏得市場。在過去 8 年裡，我們的零售足跡已從 11,000 線性英尺的空間擴大到超過 130,000 線性英尺。即使有了這樣的增長，我們仍然看到了與每個零售商贏得空間的機會。讓我對未來一年更有信心的是我們如何繼續與零售合作夥伴一起推動一流的生產力。目標就是一個很好的例子。 Target 是我們最發達、歷史最悠久的全國零售商。目前，我們的平均商店佔地面積約為 11 英尺，在 22 財年，我們的 Target 業務增長了 20% 以上，而空間卻沒有增加。

We're quite pleased with the early results from our recent spring resets. We continue to deliver strong consumption trends in March and Q1 to date even as we lapped weeks of stimulus-related spending.

我們對最近春季重置的初步結果感到非常滿意。儘管我們已經經歷了數週的刺激相關支出，但迄今為止，我們在 3 月份和第一季度仍繼續呈現強勁的消費趨勢。

Looking beyond the U.S., International represents major white space at just 11% of our business today. We grew our international business by over 20% in fiscal '22 as we strengthen our position in both Canada and the U.K. Canada is a great example of our disciplined international expansion. In the past 7 years, we went from having no sales in the country to e.l.f. now the #7 cosmetics brand, up from #8 last year and the second fastest-growing brand.

放眼美國以外的地區，國際業務佔據了主要空白，目前僅占我們業務的 11%。隨著我們加強在加拿大和英國的地位，我們的國際業務在 22 財年增長了 20% 以上。加拿大是我們有紀律的國際擴張的一個很好的例子。 7年時間，我們從國內無銷量，到e.l.f.現在是排名第七的化妝品品牌，高於去年的排名第八，並且是增長第二快的品牌。

We expanded our retail presence last year with the launch of e.l.f in Shoppers Drug Mart, adding to our business with Walmart Canada and our local elfcosmetics.com site. Q4 marked another big milestone in Canada: our first brand entry into Sephora with the launch of Keys Soulcare in Sephora Canada. Keys Soulcare continues to elevate our global retail strategy and open doors to new retail partners.

去年，我們在 Shoppers Drug Mart 推出 e.l.f，擴大了零售業務，增加了我們與加拿大沃爾瑪和當地 elfcosmetics.com 網站的業務。第四季度標誌著加拿大的另一個重大里程碑：我們的第一個品牌進入絲芙蘭，在加拿大絲芙蘭推出了 Keys Soulcare。 Keys Soulcare 繼續提升我們的全球零售戰略，並向新的零售合作夥伴敞開大門。

(presentation)

（推介會）

Our seventh area of advantage is our commitment to building a different kind of beauty company. Our mission is to build brands that disrupt industry norms, shape culture and connect communities through positivity, inclusivity and accessibility. Our deep commitment to clean, cruelty-free beauty with exceptional quality for the price has fueled the success of our flagship e.l.f. Cosmetics brand since 2004 and allowed us to strategically expand our portfolio of brands that support our purpose and values. With our acquisition of W3LL PEOPLE, the launch of Keys Soulcare and the unveiling of e.l.f Skin, we have built a portfolio of distinct yet complementary brands. Looking ahead, we see potential to add fast-growing brands to our portfolio, to expand our capabilities into adjacent categories or different consumer segments while leveraging our multiple areas of advantage.

我們的第七個優勢領域是我們致力於打造一家不同類型的美容公司。我們的使命是打造顛覆行業規範、塑造文化並通過積極性、包容性和可及性連接社區的品牌。我們對清潔、無殘忍的美麗以及卓越的品質和價格的堅定承諾推動了我們旗艦產品 e.l.f. 的成功。自 2004 年起成為化妝品品牌，使我們能夠戰略性地擴展支持我們的宗旨和價值觀的品牌組合。通過收購 W3LL PEOPLE、推出 Keys Soulcare 以及推出 e.l.f Skin，我們建立了一系列獨特但互補的品牌組合。展望未來，我們看到了將快速增長的品牌添加到我們的產品組合中的潛力，將我們的能力擴展到相鄰類別或不同的消費群體，同時利用我們的多個領域的優勢。

In summary, as we look ahead, we believe we are still in the early stages of realizing the full potential of our business. We believe our 7 areas of competitive advantage and differentiated brand portfolio will fuel our ability to win in fiscal 2023 and beyond. I'll now turn the call over to Mandy.

總之，展望未來，我們相信我們仍處於充分發揮業務潛力的早期階段。我們相信，我們的 7 個競爭優勢領域和差異化品牌組合將增強我們在 2023 財年及以後取得勝利的能力。我現在將電話轉給曼迪。

Thank you, Tarang. I'm pleased to share the highlights of our fourth quarter and full year fiscal '22 results as well as our outlook for fiscal '23. We ended the year strong. Our fourth quarter net sales grew 13% year-over-year, driven by broad-based strength across our national and international retailers.

謝謝你，塔朗。我很高興與大家分享我們 22 財年第四季度和全年業績的亮點，以及我們對 23 財年的展望。我們以強勁的勢頭結束了這一年。在我們國內和國際零售商廣泛實力的推動下，我們第四季度的淨銷售額同比增長 13%。

We continued to deliver positive consumption trends in the quarter, even as we lapped weeks of significant stimulus related spending. This exceeded our expectations, and importantly, was supported by strength in both our core products and spring innovation. Q4 gross margin of 64% was up approximately 100 basis points compared to prior year. We saw gross margin benefits from cost savings and margin accretive mix, including benefits from the launch of recent innovation. We also benefited from the price increases we implemented in May 2021 and in March 2022. These gross margin benefits more than offset the impact of FX and elevated transportation costs.

儘管我們已經經歷了數週的重大刺激相關支出，但我們在本季度繼續呈現積極的消費趨勢。這超出了我們的預期，重要的是，這得到了我們核心產品和彈簧創新實力的支持。第四季度毛利率為 64%，比去年同期增長約 100 個基點。我們看到了成本節約和利潤增值組合帶來的毛利率收益，包括最近推出的創新帶來的收益。我們還受益於 2021 年 5 月和 2022 年 3 月實施的提價。這些毛利率收益足以抵消外彙和運輸成本上漲的影響。

On an adjusted basis, SG&A as a percentage of sales was 57%, up approximately 220 basis points versus last year. The increase was primarily related to compensation, benefits and marketing investments. For the full year, adjusted SG&A was 51%, down approximately 90 basis points versus last year. Marketing and digital investment for the quarter was approximately 17% of net sales, as compared to 20% in Q4 last year. For the year, marketing and digital investment was approximately 16% of net sales, in line with our expectations.

調整後，SG&A 佔銷售額的百分比為 57%，比去年增加約 220 個基點。這一增長主要與薪酬、福利和營銷投資有關。全年調整後的 SG&A 率為 51%，比去年下降約 90 個基點。本季度的營銷和數字投資約占淨銷售額的 17%，而去年第四季度為 20%。今年，營銷和數字投資約占淨銷售額的 16%，符合我們的預期。

Q4 adjusted EBITDA was $13 million. Adjusted net income was $7 million or $0.13 per diluted share compared to $9 million or $0.16 per diluted share a year ago. Let's now turn to our full year fiscal '22 results. In short, our results were exceptional as our team navigated a dynamic environment. For the year, we grew net sales by 23% and adjusted EBITDA by 22%. Our liquidity remains strong with the combination of our cash balance and access to our revolving credit facility sitting at approximately $140 million. We ended the quarter with $43 million in cash on hand compared to a cash balance of $58 million a year ago. Our ending inventory balance was $85 million, in line with our expectations as compared to $57 million a year ago. As a reminder, we plan to carry higher inventory levels due to the combination of longer lead times, higher transportation costs, and our continued business momentum.

第四季度調整後 EBITDA 為 1300 萬美元。調整後淨利潤為 700 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.13 美元，而一年前為 900 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.16 美元。現在讓我們來看看 22 財年全年業績。簡而言之，我們的團隊在充滿活力的環境中航行，結果非常出色。今年，我們的淨銷售額增長了 23%，調整後的 EBITDA 增長了 22%。我們的現金餘額和循環信貸額度約為 1.4 億美元，流動性依然強勁。本季度結束時，我們手頭現金為 4300 萬美元，而一年前的現金餘額為 5800 萬美元。我們的期末庫存餘額為 8500 萬美元，符合我們的預期，而一年前為 5700 萬美元。提醒一下，由於交貨時間更長、運輸成本更高以及我們持續的業務勢頭，我們計劃保持更高的庫存水平。

We have benefited from this proactive inventory strategy during the recent COVID-related disruptions in China. We expect our cash priorities for the coming year to remain on investing behind our 5 strategic imperatives and supporting strategic extensions.

在中國最近發生的與新冠疫情相關的中斷期間，我們受益於這種主動的庫存策略。我們預計來年的現金優先事項仍將是投資於我們的 5 項戰略要務並支持戰略擴展。

Now let's turn to fiscal '23 guidance. For the full year, we expect net sales growth of approximately 10% to 12%, adjusted EBITDA between $80.5 million to $82 million, adjusted net income between $43.5 million to $45.5 million and adjusted EPS of $0.78 to $0.81 per diluted share. We expect a fully diluted share count of approximately 56 million shares and our fiscal '23 adjusted tax rate to be approximately 27% to 28%.

現在讓我們轉向 23 財年指導。我們預計全年淨銷售額增長約10% 至12%，調整後EBITDA 在8050 萬美元至8200 萬美元之間，調整後淨利潤在4350 萬美元至4550 萬美元之間，調整後稀釋每股收益為0.78 美元至0.81 美元。我們預計完全稀釋後的股數約為 5600 萬股，23 財年調整後的稅率約為 27% 至 28%。

Let me provide you with additional color on our planning assumptions for fiscal '23. Starting with top line. We expect to post double-digit top line growth in each quarter of fiscal '23. As Tarang discussed, we are bullish on the cosmetics category and our ability to gain share. Our consumption trends remain strong. After significant variability in consumption trends over the past year from the combination of COVID and stimulus-related spending, we believe our weekly sales levels have rebased to higher and more normalized go-forward rates.

讓我為您提供有關我們 23 財年規劃假設的更多信息。從頂線開始。我們預計 23 財年每個季度的營收將實現兩位數增長。正如塔朗所討論的，我們看好化妝品類別以及我們獲得份額的能力。我們的消費趨勢依然強勁。過去一年，由於新冠疫情和刺激相關支出的影響，消費趨勢發生了顯著變化，我們相信，我們的每週銷售水平已重新調整為更高、更正常化的前進率。

Turning to gross margin. We expect gross margin to be flat to slightly up year-over-year with benefits from pricing, margin accretive mix and cost savings helping to offset elevated transportation costs. As we discussed last quarter, we increased prices mid-March to help offset the elevated cost environment we're seeing. These price increases impacted approximately 2/3 of e.l.f. cosmetic SKUs, as well as certain items within Keys Soulcare and W3LL PEOPLE. While this round of pricing was broader than previous rounds, our opening price points on e.l.f. remain unchanged, enabling us to continue to deliver high-quality products at an extraordinary value. It's still early days, but we are encouraged that initial volume elasticities are trending better than our expectations.

轉向毛利率。我們預計毛利率將同比持平或略有上升，受益於定價、利潤增長組合和成本節約，有助於抵消運輸成本的上升。正如我們上季度所討論的，我們在三月中旬提高了價格，以幫助抵消我們所看到的成本上升的環境。這些價格上漲影響了大約 2/3 的 e.l.f.化妝品 SKU，以及 Keys Soulcare 和 W3LL PEOPLE 中的某些商品。雖然本輪定價範圍比前幾輪更廣泛，但我們在 e.l.f. 上的開盤價為保持不變，使我們能夠繼續以非凡的價值提供高質量的產品。現在還處於早期階段，但我們感到鼓舞的是，初始成交量彈性的趨勢好於我們的預期。

Turning now to adjusted EBITDA. We expect adjusted EBITDA to grow approximately 8% to 10% year-over-year. While we expect cost pressures to weigh on adjusted EBITDA margin this year, like many companies, we still anticipate healthy adjusted EBITDA growth on top of the 22% growth in fiscal 2022. Our outlook bakes in anticipated cost pressures in our non-marketing SG&A related to outbound fuel and logistics costs, in addition to the inbound transportation costs captured in our gross margin.

現在轉向調整後的 EBITDA。我們預計調整後 EBITDA 將同比增長約 8% 至 10%。儘管與許多公司一樣，我們預計今年的成本壓力將影響調整後EBITDA 利潤率，但我們仍然預計，除了2022 財年22% 的增長之外，調整後EBITDA 還將實現健康增長。我們的前景取決於非營銷SG&A 相關的預期成本壓力。除了毛利率中包含的入境運輸成本外，還包括出境燃料和物流成本。

From a marketing perspective, we're planning to step up marketing and digital investment to approximately 17% to 19% of net sales, up from 16% in fiscal '22. As Tarang discussed, our marketing investments are driving strong ROI and high levels of consumer engagement. We're investing from a position of strength and believe these increased marketing investments will fuel long-term growth. Overall, we're energized by our fiscal '22 results and optimistic about fiscal '23. Our performance, both on an absolute basis and relative to the category demonstrates how our competitive advantages are driving results. We remain confident in the long-term potential for our portfolio of brands. With that, operator, you may open the call to questions.

從營銷角度來看，我們計劃將營銷和數字化投資從 22 財年的 16% 增加到約淨銷售額的 17% 至 19%。正如 Tarang 所討論的，我們的營銷投資正在推動強勁的投資回報率和高水平的消費者參與度。我們的投資具有優勢，並相信這些增加的營銷投資將推動長期增長。總體而言，我們對 22 財年的業績感到振奮，並對 23 財年的業績感到樂觀。我們的表現，無論是在絕對基礎上還是相對於該類別而言，都表明我們的競爭優勢如何推動業績。我們對我們品牌組合的長期潛力仍然充滿信心。這樣，接線員，您就可以開始提問。

And before we dive into questions, we actually want to acknowledge the devastating events that took place in Texas yesterday. It's another tragedy and an unsettling trend of mass shootings targeted at innocent and defenseless people. Our hearts are deeply saddened and our thoughts are with all of the families who have been impacted by these recent tragedies. We may now open it to questions.

在我們深入討論問題之前，我們實際上想承認昨天在德克薩斯州發生的毀滅性事件。這是另一場悲劇，也是針對無辜者和手無寸鐵的人的大規模槍擊事件的令人不安的趨勢。我們的心深感悲痛，我們與所有受到最近這些悲劇影響的家庭同在。我們現在可以開放提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

The first question comes from Dara Mohsenian with Morgan Stanley.

第一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Dara Mohsenian。

I just wanted to start on top line. You're expecting double-digit growth in fiscal Q1 despite the toughest comp by far on a 1- or 2-year basis, and then for the full year, you're expecting 11% revenue growth, so really not much more in the balance of the year. So I just wanted to get a sense of how you guys are thinking about that. What's sort of built into the full year revenue guidance? And I know you guys typically start conservative and don't assume everything goes right, and you've done a great job ending up sort of beating those initial numbers. But with another year of strong growth on top of strong growth last year, maybe you can talk about if you'd assume sort of some wiggle room or some areas that don't go right given the external volatility. So clarity on balance of the year versus Q1 revenue and then sort of what's built in given some of the external volatility would be helpful.

我只是想從頂線開始。儘管在一年或兩年的基礎上迄今為止最艱難的競爭，你預計第一財季將實現兩位數的增長，然後全年，你預計收入增長11%，所以實際上不會有更多增長。年結餘。所以我只是想了解一下你們是如何看待這個問題的。全年收入指導中有哪些內容？我知道你們一開始通常都很保守，並不認為一切都會順利，但你們做得很好，最終超過了最初的數字。但在去年強勁增長的基礎上又迎來了一年的強勁增長，也許你可以談談，考慮到外部波動，你是否會假設有一些迴旋餘地或一些不正常的領域。因此，明確今年的平衡與第一季度的收入，以及考慮到一些外部波動的內置內容將會有所幫助。

Yes. So I'll go ahead and take that. So one, I'll just start by saying that I'm very pleased with our fiscal '23 net sales guidance range of 10% to 12%. And -- and additionally, the momentum that we're seeing behind our brands, as you see in tracked channel data as well. That gave us confidence to come out with this range in this dynamic environment.

是的。所以我會繼續接受它。首先，我首先要說的是，我對 23 財年 10% 至 12% 的淨銷售額指導範圍感到非常滿意。而且，此外，我們在品牌背後看到了動力，正如您在跟踪的渠道數據中看到的那樣。這讓我們有信心在這個充滿活力的環境中推出這個系列。

Now I mentioned on the call that we are expecting double-digit growth in each quarter of fiscal '23, even as we cycle through stimulus, to your point, on Q1, still expect double-digit growth in Q1. I think it's prudent for us to take a balanced approach, as I always have with guidance, especially in this dynamic environment. So that's where we see initial guidance, 10% to 12%, and we'll take it from there.

現在我在電話會議上提到，我們預計23 財年每個季度都會出現兩位數增長，即使我們循環實施刺激措施，就您的觀點而言，在第一季度，仍然預計第一季度將出現兩位數增長。我認為我們採取平衡的方法是明智的，就像我一直在指導下所做的那樣，尤其是在這個充滿活力的環境中。這就是我們看到的初步指導，10% 到 12%，我們將從那裡開始。

Okay. That makes sense. And then just 2 quick follow-ups. Tarang, as you think about the level of macro risk potentially on your business, maybe you can take us through some thoughts both from a category perspective and then more so from an e.l.f perspective, particularly given in theory, there could be trade down that could benefit you from a macro perspective. So just how you think through the macro environment and consumer spending and potential impact to both the category and e.l.f.

好的。這就說得通了。然後只需 2 個快速跟進。 Tarang，當您考慮您的業務可能面臨的宏觀風險水平時，也許您可​​以從品類角度和 e.l.f 角度引導我們進行一些思考，特別是在理論上，可能會出現交易下降從宏觀角度讓你受益匪淺。那麼，您如何看待宏觀環境和消費者支出以及對該類別和 e.l.f. 的潛在影響？

And then on supply chain, just given there's so much occurring in China and a lot of companies have struggled with supply chain, how do you think about the level of risk this year to your business, particularly with very robust top line guidance and maybe sort of mitigating plans if you do see issues emerge in terms of supply chain.

然後在供應鏈方面，鑑於中國發生瞭如此多的事情，並且許多公司都在供應鏈方面陷入困境，您如何看待今年您的業務面臨的風險水平，特別是在非常強勁的營收指導和可能排序的情況下如果您確實發現供應鏈方面出現問題，請制定緩解計劃。

Thanks, Dara. As far as the macro environment, I would say there are more positives than risks for e.l.f. Beauty. I'll start first with the category. I'm quite bullish on the color cosmetics category. We've seen, particularly over the last couple of months, strong consumer response and growth rates above pre-pandemic levels. Within the category, e.l.f. is particularly well positioned. Our combination of providing the best of beauty at accessible price points, I think, sets us apart. And it's been one of the reasons we've been able to grow share so robustly in this environment and fully expect to continue to grow share.

謝謝，達拉。就宏觀環境而言，我認為對於 e.l.f 來說，利多於風險。美麗。我首先從類別開始。我非常看好彩妝品類。我們看到，特別是在過去幾個月裡，消費者反應強烈，增長率高於大流行前的水平。在該類別中，e.l.f.位置特別好。我認為，我們以實惠的價格提供最好的美感，這讓我們與眾不同。這是我們能夠在這種環境下如此強勁地增長份額並完全期望繼續增長份額的原因之一。

In terms of the other things, I'd say from a macro environment, I know everyone has fears right now on inflation and what happens if there's a recession. I think mass cosmetics has been pretty resilient in that environment. And e.l.f. particularly so. Again, it comes back to our fundamental value proposition of being able to give the best at these incredible price points, and we're clearly seeing that strategy work in the marketplace.

就其他事情而言，我想說，從宏觀環境來看，我知道現在每個人都擔心通貨膨脹以及經濟衰退會發生什麼。我認為大眾化妝品在這種環境下表現得相當有彈性。還有 e.l.f.尤其如此。再次，這又回到了我們的基本價值主張，即能夠以令人難以置信的價格提供最好的產品，而且我們清楚地看到該策略在市場上發揮了作用。

On supply chain, I'm incredibly proud of our team, our entire operations team, but particularly our team in China and our suppliers on how we've navigated the lockdowns. All of our key suppliers have remained in production, have been shipping product. I think it's just yet another indication of how resilient our supply chain is. In terms of our overall performance and how we factored that in, I think our guidance embeds a pretty balanced view of what we'd expect from a fulfillment standpoint how that will play out through the year. But I don't have any worries right now in terms of our ability to be able to meet consumer demand and particularly given the trends that we're seeing.

在供應鏈方面，我為我們的團隊、整個運營團隊，尤其是我們在中國的團隊和我們的供應商如何度過封鎖感到無比自豪。我們所有的主要供應商都仍在生產，並一直在運輸產品。我認為這只是我們供應鏈彈性的又一個跡象。就我們的整體表現以及我們如何考慮這一點而言，我認為我們的指導對我們從實現的角度的期望以及全年的表現抱有相當平衡的看法。但就我們滿足消費者需求的能力而言，我現在並不擔心，特別是考慮到我們所看到的趨勢。

So overall, I'm feeling confident in the category even more so in e.l.f.. And I'd say, this latest test over the last 2 months of the lockdowns in China once again show just how resilient our supply chain is.

總的來說，我對這個類別充滿信心，對 e.l.f 更是如此。我想說，中國過去兩個月的封鎖期間的最新測試再次表明我們的供應鏈有多麼有彈性。

Our next question comes from Andrea Teixeira with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Andrea Teixeira。

Congrats on the numbers. I wanted to ask the top line growth algorithm a little bit of a different angle in between the pricing and the volume. If I'm doing my math, I'm assuming you're still increasing prices on the retail level like $1 so that keeps the price points like easy to understand. And I understand also that entry-level ones were not changed, which is great. But on average, you're probably getting into your algorithm at the low end with just the price increase or, call it, 800 basis points coming from pricing. I just wanted to ask if that makes sense? And if so, you're assuming a low single-digit volume growth despite your gains in shelf, and that's what gives you confidence that you can get there? Is that the way to think?

恭喜你的數字。我想詢問營收增長算法在定價和銷量之間的一些不同角度。如果我進行數學計算，我假設您仍在提高零售價格，例如 1 美元，以便使價格點易於理解。我還了解到入門級的沒有改變，這很好。但平均而言，您可能只是在價格上漲時進入低端算法，或者稱其為來自定價的 800 個基點。我只是想問這樣有道理嗎？如果是這樣，儘管貨架數量增加，但您仍假設銷量增長幅度較低，只有個位數增長，這就是讓您有信心實現這一目標的原因？是這樣的想法嗎？

Andrea, so from a price volume standpoint, I'm not quite getting to those numbers that you quoted there. But you're right, we did take pricing in $1 dollar increments. We did keep our entry-level price point the same. So we left those unchanged. And what I can tell you on the pricing front is that we're pleased with what we're seeing thus far from an elasticity standpoint. So I think that's great. I think that we want to have a couple more weeks here to read the data before we take all of that and say this is what it's going to be. And so probably by the August call, we'll be able to give more clarity around what we're expecting to see from a pricing standpoint, but your initial thoughts on $1 and maintaining those entry price points are correct.

安德里亞，所以從價格數量的角度來看，我不太了解您在那裡引用的那些數字。但你是對的，我們確實以 1 美元為增量定價。我們確實保持入門級價格不變。所以我們保留這些不變。在定價方面我可以告訴你的是，從彈性的角度來看，我們對迄今為止所看到的情況感到滿意。所以我認為這很棒。我認為我們需要再花幾週的時間來閱讀數據，然後再考慮所有這些並說這就是它將要發生的事情。因此，到 8 月份的電話會議時，我們將能夠更清楚地說明我們從定價角度期望看到的情況，但您對 1 美元和維持這些入門價格點的最初想法是正確的。

Great. If I can follow up, Mandy, on that. So in terms of like -- I'm assuming you still have gains in distribution from what you called out in some of the -- in your footage that you've gained and some international gains. You called out Canada before and other places of the world. So if you think about that algorithm like the 10 to 12 and then you have the pricing, if my math is correct, like if you're getting like to mid-single benefit, you're saying like your volume -- can you give us like a little bit of a color in terms of distribution gains against what can be, of course, a headwind in terms of price elasticity?

偉大的。曼迪，我可以跟進一下嗎？因此，就比如——我假設你仍然從你在一些視頻中所呼籲的內容中獲得了發行收益和一些國際收益。您之前提到過加拿大和世界其他地方。因此，如果你考慮像 10 到 12 這樣的算法，然後你就有定價，如果我的數學是正確的，就像你得到中等單項收益一樣，你會說你的數量 - 你能給出我們喜歡在分配收益方面有一點色彩，當然，在價格彈性方面可能是一種逆風？

Yes. So you're right, distribution gains, we did secure space expansion. We've talked previously about CVS and internationally with Boots and Superdrug and different ones that we've mentioned previously. So that is giving us some momentum into fiscal '23. But I would say, and you can even see this in the Nielsen data, our volume has remained pretty strong. Unit volume growth has remained pretty strong even with the price increases. And so like I said, we want to give it a little bit more time in the market to see full consumer reaction. But yes, we do have distribution gains in that. But I can tell you, our core business momentum even outside of those gains, just as we mentioned, with Target, delivering over 20% growth for us last year in the absence of distribution gains was strong for us. So productivity remains strong for us. We do have distribution gains and then we do have the pricing as well as the component helping to drive that top line.

是的。所以你是對的，分銷收益，我們確實確保了空間擴張。我們之前已經討論過 CVS 以及國際上的 Boots 和 Superdrug 以及我們之前提到過的其他產品。因此，這為我們進入 23 財年提供了一些動力。但我想說，你甚至可以在尼爾森數據中看到這一點，我們的交易量仍然相當強勁。即使價格上漲，單位銷量的增長仍然相當強勁。正如我所說，我們希望在市場上多花一點時間來觀察消費者的全面反應。但是，是的，我們確實在這方面獲得了分配收益。但我可以告訴你，即使在這些收益之外，我們的核心業務勢頭也很強勁，正如我們提到的，塔吉特去年在沒有分銷收益的情況下為我們帶來了超過20% 的增長，這對我們來說是強勁的。因此，我們的生產力仍然強勁。我們確實有分銷收益，然後我們確實有定價以及有助於推動營收的組件。

And Andrea, this is Tarang. What I'd add to that is the confidence we have in our initial guidance of 10% to 12% is based on that balance. We see pricing benefit, unit benefits, distribution and the most significant, productivity. Just 1 note on the productivity numbers since Mandy did mention Target and our growth there. Just in the last 6 months, if you combine both cosmetics and facial skin care, e.l.f. just surpassed Neutrogena to be the second biggest brand that Target carries amongst their color cosmetics and facial skin care brands. We passed L'Oreal, I think, a year or so ago to be the #3 position. I'm very pleased that we just passed Neutrogena and -- according to Nielsen and Nielsen track channels. And so we feel really great about our momentum, including in environments where we've been without incremental space and the productivity model we have.

安德里亞，這是塔朗。我要補充的是，我們對 10% 至 12% 的初步指導的信心是基於這種平衡。我們看到定價效益、單位效益、分銷以及最重要的生產力。自從曼迪提到塔吉特和我們在那裡的增長以來，僅對生產力數字做一點說明。就在過去的6個月裡，如果你把化妝品和麵部護膚結合起來，e.l.f.剛剛超越露得清 (Neutrogena)，成為塔吉特旗下彩妝和麵部護膚品牌中的第二大品牌。我認為，大約一年前，我們超過了歐萊雅，成為第三名。我很高興我們剛剛超越了露得清，並且——根據尼爾森和尼爾森跟踪頻道的報導。因此，我們對我們的勢頭感到非常滿意，包括在我們一直沒有增量空間和生產力模型的環境中。

Congratulations and best of luck.

恭喜並祝你好運。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Our next question comes from Linda Bolton-Weiser with D.A. Davidson.

我們的下一個問題來自 Linda Bolton-Weiser 和 D.A.戴維森。

Yes. So can you make kind of on the pricing front, obviously, competitors are facing the same cost pressures you are. Can you make any comments about what movements you've seen competitors making as well? Have you seen pricing go up there as well? Anything unusual that you've seen on the competitive front?

是的。那麼，您能否在定價方面做出一些努力，顯然，競爭對手也面臨著與您相同的成本壓力。您能對您所看到的競爭對手做出的動作發表評論嗎？您是否看到那裡的價格也上漲了？您在競爭方面看到過什麼不尋常的事情嗎？

Yes. So I'd say it's still difficult for us. We don't tend to track competitor pricing moves or announcements. But what I'd tell you is a little difficult right now just because during spring resets, you see AUR often go up through innovation mix. So we haven't been able to tease apart how much of this is true straight price increases versus the normal spring innovation mix. As Mandy said, come August, we'll have a much clearer picture of who followed us on pricing, what that looks like. And again, are pleased with our initial elasticities, and we hope that holds.

是的。所以我想說這對我們來說仍然很困難。我們不傾向於跟踪競爭對手的定價變動或公告。但我要告訴你的是，現在有點困難，因為在春季重置期間，你會看到 AUR 經常通過創新組合而上升。因此，我們無法弄清楚其中有多少是真正的直接價格上漲與正常的春季創新組合。正如曼迪所說，到了八月，我們將更清楚地了解誰在定價方面關注我們，以及定價是什麼樣的。再次，我們對我們最初的彈性感到滿意，我們希望這一點能夠保持下去。

Okay. And then -- can you just -- I heard some questions from investors just on the kind of absolute like door performance of Alicia Keys. I guess there's some doubters out there that the brand is performing well, but your verbiage is certainly very positive and it's gaining space among retailers. But is there any way you can convey like sort of the growth of Alicia Keys kind of on a like door basis?

好的。然後——你能不能——我聽到投資者提出了一些關於艾麗西亞·凱斯（Alicia Keys）絕對像門的表現的問題。我想有些人懷疑該品牌表現良好，但你的措辭肯定非常積極，並且它在零售商中贏得了空間。但有什麼方法可以像艾麗西亞·凱斯那樣在類似的門基礎上成長呢？

We haven't broken out Alicia Keys or any of our brands as a single reporting unit. What I will tell you though is a couple of things. One is we continue to see sequential improvement at Ulta, which is the one customer we've been in the longest -- the second would be Douglas, it was the second customer we entered into. So we like the builds that we're seeing at both customers. In particular, in the quarter, we had a viral hit with our illuminating serum. That product quickly sold out. We just recently got some more. I bet you it sells out again. So it's great to see that momentum in our first color skin hybrid product. And so again, we feel good about where we are with Keys Soulcare and including our recent entry into Sephora Canada.

我們尚未將 Alicia Keys 或我們的任何品牌作為單一報告單位進行分類。我要告訴你的是幾件事。一是我們繼續看到 Ulta 的連續改進，這是我們接觸時間最長的一個客戶——第二個是 Douglas，這是我們接觸的第二個客戶。因此，我們喜歡在這兩個客戶身上看到的構建。特別是在本季度，我們的亮膚精華液受到了病毒式的打擊。該產品很快就賣完了。我們最近又得到了一些。我敢打賭它又賣光了。因此，很高興在我們的首款彩膚混合產品中看到這種勢頭。再說一次，我們對 Keys Soulcare 的進展感到滿意，包括我們最近進入加拿大絲芙蘭。

Our next question comes from Steph Wissink with Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Steph Wissink。

We have a question about marketing, and maybe this is a 2-part question. Tarang, for you, just a philosophical question. I think 16% was kind of a targeted level that you had modeled us to over several years. Now you're taking it up again, 17% to 19%. Maybe talk a little bit about what you think the right level of marketing is for the brand. And I think historically, you were powering that marketing spend through gross margin advancement, but you're guiding to flat to up slightly this year. So you're effectively borrowing from EBITDA growth.

我們有一個關於營銷的問題，也許這是一個由兩部分組成的問題。 Tarang，對你來說，只是一個哲學問題。我認為 16% 是您多年來為我們建模的目標水平。現在你又開始了，17%到19%。也許可以談談您認為品牌的正確營銷水平是什麼。我認為，從歷史上看，你是通過毛利率提高來推動營銷支出的，但今年你的指導方針是持平到略有上升。因此，您實際上是在從 EBITDA 增長中藉錢。

So talk a little bit about that philosophically. And then, Mandy, if you could just share with us the 2% more at the midpoint. Is there ad rate revenue or excuse me, ad rate cost that's going up that's a part of that inflation? Or is it truly kind of like-for-like more marketing, more impact?

所以從哲學角度談談這一點。然後，Mandy，您能否與我們分享中間多 2% 的費用。是否有廣告費收入，或者對不起，廣告費成本正在上漲，這是通貨膨脹的一部分？或者這真的是一種類似的更多營銷、更大影響力嗎？

Steph. So what I'd tell you on our marketing and our philosophy is it's working. I'd take a look at our strong ROI, what we've been able to deliver in top line. And we like the momentum that we're seeing. And so our approach over time is we have stair-stepped it; sometimes we stair-stepped it within a fiscal year. So we said let's start in terms of our strategy, just come out and say what we expect the range to be this year and feel good about that range relative to our plans. So I'd say the 17% to 19% is reflective of both the strong ROI, what we're seeing from a top line and engagement standpoint, we feel great about it. One of the proof points of feeling great about it is if you just look at our fiscal '22 relative to where we started, our guidance to where we ended up, not only did we have 23% top line growth, but we had 22% adjusted EBITDA growth. So we feel that, that model works really well.

斯蒂芬.所以我要告訴你的是我們的營銷和理念是有效的。我會看看我們強大的投資回報率，以及我們能夠提供的收入。我們喜歡我們所看到的勢頭。因此，隨著時間的推移，我們的方法是逐步實施；有時我們會在一個財政年度內逐步提高它。因此，我們說讓我們從我們的戰略開始，說出我們今年的預期範圍，並相對於我們的計劃對該範圍感到滿意。所以我想說，17% 到 19% 反映了強勁的投資回報率，我們從營收和參與度的角度來看，我們對此感覺很棒。感覺良好的證據之一是，如果你看看我們 22 財年相對於我們開始的地方，我們對最終結果的指導，我們不僅有 23% 的營收增長，而且有 22%調整後的 EBITDA 增長。所以我們覺得這個模型效果非常好。

The second thing I would tell you is I don't think it's borrowing from EBITDA growth. If you recall, we're still carrying 1,000 basis points of cost headwinds. And so we do not expect all of them to persist over time. So we do see this tremendous leverage in this business, not only the leverage we got in the nonmarketing parts of SG&A in fiscal '22. But also as we take a look at the cost environment going forward, we feel we've done a pretty good job of capturing the known cost -- the cost that we know. And depending on what ends up happening with the tariff environment, with some of these other transportation costs over time, we think there's tremendous leverage in the business, but we like the formula we've been having. Over the last 3 years, I think we're the only company and our -- only brand in our space that's grown share all 3 years that's had 13th consecutive quarters of net sales growth and is now starting to see pretty strong profit growth in addition. And that profit growth potentially could get higher depending on what happens on the cost front.

我要告訴你的第二件事是，我不認為它是從 EBITDA 增長中藉來的。如果您還記得的話，我們仍然面臨 1,000 個基點的成本阻力。因此，我們並不期望所有這些都會隨著時間的推移而持續存在。因此，我們確實看到了這項業務的巨大槓桿作用，而不僅僅是我們在 22 財年 SG&A 非營銷部分獲得的槓桿作用。但當我們審視未來的成本環境時，我們覺得我們在捕獲已知成本（我們知道的成本）方面做得相當不錯。根據關稅環境最終發生的情況，以及隨著時間的推移而產生的其他一些運輸成本，我們認為該業務具有巨大的槓桿作用，但我們喜歡我們一直以來的公式。在過去的 3 年裡，我認為我們是我們領域中唯一一家在這 3 年裡份額不斷增長的公司和品牌，連續 13 個季度實現淨銷售額增長，而且現在開始看到相當強勁的利潤增長。利潤增長可能會更高，具體取決於成本方面的情況。

And then to answer your question, Steph, on the 2 points more at the midpoint, there is a portion related to inflation, just cost inflation from an advertisement standpoint. But the majority of that is just putting further investment, as Tarang spoke to, behind those high ROI marketing investments.

然後回答你的問題，斯蒂芬，在中間的兩點上，有一部分與通貨膨脹有關，只是從廣告的角度來看成本通貨膨脹。但正如塔朗所說，其中大部分只是在這些高投資回報率的營銷投資背後進行進一步的投資。

Next question comes from Olivia Tong with Raymond James.

下一個問題來自 Olivia Tong 和 Raymond James。

First 1 is just around -- obviously, you sound very bullish with double-digit growth every quarter. Pricing coming in nicely and shelf space gains. Could you just talk a little bit about performance during prior downturns, obviously, the great recession being one period. And whether you've seen some trade into your brands? Or how you think about the impact to you from what could potentially be a more pinched consumer in the near future?

第一個即將到來——顯然，您聽起來非常樂觀，每個季度都會實現兩位數的增長。定價很好，貨架空間也增加了。您能否簡單談談之前經濟衰退期間的表現，顯然，大衰退只是一個時期。您是否看到過一些對您品牌的交易？或者您如何看待在不久的將來消費者可能會更加拮据的情況對您的影響？

Olivia, this is Tarang. So what I'd tell you is as we've taken a look at some of our data, in past recessionary times, mass cosmetics has actually held up pretty well. I think it's been pretty resilient. I think, in recessions, prestige cosmetics tends to take a much bigger hit. And then within mass color cosmetics, e.l.f. has done well. Now I'll caveat that by saying we were a much smaller business the last recession that we saw versus where we are right now. But I feel good in terms of the fundamentals of the business, particularly our consumption trends post taking pricing. We've seen a real strength in terms of our tracked consumption over the last couple of months, which gives me confidence as we head into this.

奧利維亞，這是塔朗。所以我要告訴你的是，根據我們的一些數據，在過去的經濟衰退時期，大眾化妝品實際上表現得很好。我認為它非常有彈性。我認為，在經濟衰退期間，名牌化妝品往往會受到更大的打擊。然後在大眾彩妝中，e.l.f.做得很好。現在我要警告一下，與我們現在的情況相比，上次經濟衰退時我們的企業規模要小得多。但我對業務的基本面感覺良好，特別是定價後的消費趨勢。在過去的幾個月裡，我們在跟踪消費方面看到了真正的優勢，這讓我在我們進入這一領域時充滿信心。

Now we're always very balanced and cautious as we take a look at the consumer sentiment. Nobody really knows where it's going to go. But I'd say part of what I liked about our pricing approach is, as Mandy said, while we took prices up on 2/3 of items, we kept 1/3 of our items, which are our best price points, our opening price points $2, $3, unchanged.

現在，當我們審視消費者情緒時，我們總是非常平衡和謹慎。沒有人真正知道它會去哪裡。但我想說的是，正如曼迪所說，我喜歡我們的定價方法的部分原因是，雖然我們提高了2/3 商品的價格，但我們保留了1/3 的商品，這是我們的最佳價格點，我們的開盤價格點為 2 美元、3 美元，不變。

So I think it gives the consumer really 2 different options to find e.l.f. Beauty. First is we're -- our unique capability, bringing prestige quality products and making them more accessible. So like our $10 Power Grip Primer, which is our #1 item, still compares to a prestige item that's over $34. And then two, if you are pinched because of the inflationary environment, you still have a wealth of $2, $3, $4 items that you can get from e.l.f. So we like that approach in terms of being able to bring the best of beauty, make it accessible and have extraordinary value in even difficult times.

所以我認為它為消費者提供了兩種不同的選擇來尋找 e.l.f.美麗。首先是我們——我們獨特的能力，帶來優質的產品並讓它們更容易獲得。因此，就像我們的 10 美元 Power Grip Primer 一樣，它是我們排名第一的產品，但仍然可以與超過 34 美元的高端產品相比。第二，如果你因為通脹環境而手頭拮据，你仍然可以從 e.l.f. 那裡獲得 2 美元、3 美元、4 美元的財富。因此，我們喜歡這種方法，因為它能夠帶來最好的美感，讓它變得觸手可及，即使在困難時期也具有非凡的價值。

Great. That's helpful. And then in terms of marketing, that 100 to 300 basis point acceleration that you're planning for this year, you talked about how there's some incremental costs associated with just higher cost of marketing. But is there a particular area where you are focusing more spend? Or is it pretty ratable across the various buckets of social versus other areas?

偉大的。這很有幫助。然後在營銷方面，您今年計劃加速 100 到 300 個基點，您談到瞭如何與更高的營銷成本相關的一些增量成本。但您是否會在某個特定領域重點投入更多支出？或者與其他領域相比，它在社交各個領域的評價是否相當高？

Yes. We've seen strength across our various vehicles from a marketing standpoint. So our spending overall is 100% digital. We've seen really good results in terms of our digital advertising, our direct response, particularly strong results in our PR and influencer program. So it really is feeding that. I mentioned from a consumer standpoint, we made major gains in our latest attitude and usage study not only in unaided awareness, but amongst other targets. Advances in addition to the strength we already have in Gen Z amongst millennials, GenX. And so we feel having a bit more on that marketing, being able to reach some of those other audiences is good for our long-term success as well. But I'd say, overall, we see strength across vehicles.

是的。從營銷的角度來看，我們已經看到了我們各種車輛的優勢。所以我們的總體支出是 100% 數字化的。我們在數字廣告、直接響應方面取得了非常好的成果，特別是在我們的公關和影響者計劃方面取得了強勁的成果。所以它確實在助長這一點。我從消費者的角度提到，我們在最新的態度和使用研究中不僅在獨立意識方面取得了重大進展，而且在其他目標方面也取得了重大進展。除了 Z 世代在千禧一代、X 世代中已經擁有的實力之外，還取得了進步。因此，我們覺得在營銷上多做一點，能夠接觸到其他一些受眾，對我們的長期成功也有好處。但我想說，總的來說，我們看到了各種車輛的優勢。

Got it. And then just one sort of housekeeping question. The tax rate being guided to 27% to 28% for next year. That's a fair bit higher than it has been for quite a number of years. So is this just a function of starting the year and not knowing what kind of credits you could potentially get? Or is there some change in terms of either a tax legislation that you're embedding or geographic mix or anything like that that's driving that rate higher?

知道了。然後只是一種內務問題。明年的稅率指導為27%至28%。這比多年來的水平要高一些。那麼，這是否只是在新年開始時不知道你可能獲得什麼樣的學分的原因呢？或者，您正在嵌入的稅收立法或地理組合或類似因素是否發生了一些變化，導致該稅率更高？

Yes. Olivia, it's Mandy. The 27% to 28% is kind of our baseline tax rate. In the years past, we've gotten discrete benefits related to stock-based comp. And so we have just not baked any of those discrete benefits in at this point, and we'll see how that tracks throughout the year.

是的。奧利維亞，我是曼迪。 27% 到 28% 是我們的基準稅率。在過去的幾年裡，我們已經獲得了與股票比較相關的離散收益。因此，我們目前還沒有考慮任何這些離散的好處，我們將看看全年的情況如何。

Next question comes from Oliver Chen with Cowen.

下一個問題來自 Oliver Chen 和 Cowen。

What we're also seeing here at Cowen is definitely a going out cycle. I would love your thoughts on color and cosmetics and where we are within that innovation period as it's had some spasms in the past.

我們在考恩也看到了絕對是一個走出去的周期。我很想听聽您對色彩和化妝品的想法，以及我們在創新時期所處的位置，因為過去曾經歷過一些痙攣。

Second, there are parts of Walmart's and Target's inventories that are over inventoried yet beauty and personal care is still doing great. Are there -- do you have any thoughts on how they're planning inventories and how that impacted your guidance with sell in and sell out?

其次，沃爾瑪和塔吉特的部分庫存過剩，但美容和個人護理品仍然表現出色。您對他們如何計劃庫存以及這如何影響您的售入和售出指導有什麼想法嗎？

All right. So in terms of the going out cycle, I definitely feel that we are seeing the same thing. If you think about our Glossy Lip Stains, for example, that is a lip stain and really speaks to taking off your mask, getting back out there, going to different events, being social, traveling, all of those things. And so we really are pleased with how our innovation is resonating right now. And I would say that we remain bullish on color cosmetics category generally. I think we're at a unique stage where we do have this reopening. 2 years, people have been kind of put away. And this summer, I think people are coming out, they're traveling. They're doing all kinds of things. So I do think that beauty will continue to be a positive recipient of that behavior.

好的。因此，就走出去週期而言，我絕對覺得我們正在看到同樣的事情。例如，如果您想到我們的光澤唇彩，那就是唇彩，真正意味著摘下面具，回到那裡，參加不同的活動，社交，旅行，所有這些事情。因此，我們對我們的創新目前所引起的共鳴感到非常高興。我想說的是，我們總體上仍然看好彩妝品類。我認為我們正處於一個獨特的階段，我們確實重新開放了。 2年了，人們已經有點被拋棄了。今年夏天，我認為人們正在走出去，他們正在旅行。他們正在做各種各樣的事情。所以我確實認為美麗將繼續成為這種行為的積極接受者。

And in terms of Walmart and Target in terms of how they're planning inventory, really no change for us. I mean, Target talked about how beauty continues to be a growth category for them. We've continued to be able to service both of Walmart and Target as well as our other retailers during this time. And so we're feeling great about our ability to kind of fulfill their needs at this point.

就沃爾瑪和塔吉特而言，他們計劃庫存的方式對我們來說確實沒有變化。我的意思是，塔吉特談到了美容如何繼續成為他們的增長類別。在此期間，我們繼續能夠為沃爾瑪和塔吉特以及我們的其他零售商提供服務。因此，我們對目前能夠滿足他們的需求的能力感到非常滿意。

Okay. And your loyalty program, would love an update on using data or artificial intelligence? And any engagement tools as you look ahead, key priorities as that could be an important engagement tool and innovation tool. And you're also ahead of the curve often. So on the topic of Metaverse and NFTs, would love any thoughts.

好的。您的忠誠度計劃是否希望了解有關使用數據或人工智能的最新信息？展望未來，任何參與工具，關鍵優先事項都可能是重要的參與工具和創新工具。而且您也經常走在潮流的前面。因此，關於 Metaverse 和 NFT 的話題，我希望有任何想法。

Oliver, this is Tarang. So what I'd tell you, our loyalty program is absolutely essential, not only for elfcosmetics.com, where our loyalty members make up the vast majority of our sales but also in terms of feeding the rest of our digital ecosystem. The first-party data that we get from our 2.9 million loyalty members which we grew membership 20% this past year is absolutely invaluable for all of our efforts from a targeting digital marketing standpoint. So you'll continue to see greater and greater emphasis on our Beauty Squad loyalty program as we continue to enhance the experience, continue to recruit more members and how that drives the rest of our business. I'd say our team is always at the forefront digitally in terms of blazing new ground and territories. In many respects, I'd say we already are in the metaverse. If you take a look at our efforts on Twitch and both in gaming as well as what we're doing throughout a number of our platforms. And you'll continue to see more from us in that regard throughout the year. So I look forward to sharing some of our initiatives there.

奧利弗，這是塔朗。所以我要告訴你的是，我們的忠誠度計劃絕對重要，不僅對於elfcosmetics.com 來說，我們的忠誠度會員占我們銷售額的絕大多數，而且對於我們數字生態系統的其他部分來說也是如此。從目標數字營銷的角度來看，我們從 290 萬忠誠會員那裡獲得的第一方數據對於我們所有的努力來說絕對是無價的，去年我們的會員數量增長了 20%。因此，隨著我們不斷增強體驗、繼續招募更多會員以及這如何推動我們的其他業務，您將繼續看到我們的 Beauty Squad 忠誠度計劃越來越受到重視。我想說，我們的團隊在開拓新領域和領域方面始終處於數字化前沿。從很多方面來說，我想說我們已經處於虛擬宇宙中了。如果您看一下我們在 Twitch 和遊戲方面所做的努力，以及我們在多個平台上所做的事情。在這一年中，您將繼續從我們這裡看到更多這方面的內容。因此，我期待在那里分享我們的一些舉措。

Okay. Final question, on marketing as you increase the rate as a percentage of sales. What are your priorities here, whether it be top of the funnel, thinking about zero and first-party data collection and/or how you should think about this across your portfolio?

好的。最後一個問題，關於營銷，即提高佔銷售額的百分比。您在這裡的優先事項是什麼，是否是漏斗的頂部，考慮零和第一方數據收集和/或您應該如何在整個投資組合中考慮這一點？

I'd say on our marketing, I've already talked on vehicles. We see opportunity in every one of our vehicles, whether it be overall awareness building, whether it be our PR and influencer programs, even direct response, we -- there's a good approach we have in terms of taking a look at the ROIs as well as holding some of the money to continually test and learn in new territories. That's how we got into TikTok. That's how we got into Twitch. Even our most recent collaboration we did with Dunkin' that had over 5 billion press impressions, generated a lot of buzz, brought in a number of new users. We have a good approach of kind of allocating those dollars between things that we know will drive high ROI and things that really keep the brand top of mind and bring in new users. So I feel really good about the approach that we have there.

我想說的是，關於我們的營銷，我已經談到了車輛。我們在每一輛汽車中都看到了機會，無論是整體意識建設，無論是我們的公關和影響者計劃，甚至是直接反應，我們在考慮投資回報率方面都有一個很好的方法持有一些資金來不斷在新領域進行測試和學習。這就是我們進入 TikTok 的方式。這就是我們進入 Twitch 的方式。即使是我們最近與 Dunkin' 的合作也獲得了超過 50 億次媒體曝光，引起了廣泛關注，並吸引了許多新用戶。我們有一個很好的方法，將這些資金分配在我們知道會帶來高投資回報率的事情和真正讓品牌放在首位並吸引新用戶的事情之間。所以我對我們的做法感覺非常好。

Next question comes from Bill Chappell with Truist Securities.

下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Bill Chappell。

Good afternoon. Just maybe a little more color on elasticity in your comment of we're pleased with where it's gone so far. I mean, just trying to understand what you're thinking for elasticity. I mean, are you viewing that as consumers are going to trade down from higher products within your portfolio to opening price point, which doesn't normally happen. Do you think that you benefit from other cosmetics, even mass cosmetics that are higher priced trading to you? I'm just trying to understand what your even expectations are because you have a very unique kind of price positioning and price proposition. And you would think that there's probably more benefit than offset, but I'm not even sure if there's that much of a trade down within your portfolio or you're expecting that.

下午好。在您的評論中，我們對迄今為止的情況感到滿意，也許在彈性方面有更多的色彩。我的意思是，只是想了解您對彈性的看法。我的意思是，您是否認為消費者會從您的投資組合中的較高產品降價到開盤價格點，這通常不會發生。您認為您會從其他化妝品，甚至是價格較高的大眾化妝品中受益嗎？我只是想了解您的期望是什麼，因為您有非常獨特的價格定位和價格主張。你可能會認為，這可能比抵消帶來更多的好處，但我什至不確定你的投資組合中是否有那麼多的交易下跌，或者你是否期望如此。

That's right, Bill. We do not expect to trade down within our portfolio. When we talk about elasticities, we're talking about the items that we took pricing up $1 on. The approach we used was we modeled it after the pricing that we did -- the successful pricing we did in 2019 and put some more conservative assumptions on just given the magnitude of our price increase this time and the overall inflationary environment we're in. So when we talk about elasticities, it's specifically those elasticities on the items we took up, we're seeing less of a unit loss and in some sense unit gains on those items, which is highly encouraging. As Mandy said, we want more time to go by just to make sure that as prices are fully reflected, we continue to see that. But that's one -- the main elasticity we're talking about.

沒錯，比爾。我們預計不會在我們的投資組合中進行下跌交易。當我們談論彈性時，我們談論的是我們定價上漲 1 美元的商品。我們使用的方法是根據我們所做的定價（我們在2019 年進行的成功定價）進行建​​模，並根據這次價格上漲的幅度和我們所處的整體通脹環境做出一些更保守的假設。因此，當我們談論彈性時，特別是我們所購買的物品的彈性，我們看到這些物品的單位損失較少，並且在某種意義上單位收益增加，這是非常令人鼓舞的。正如曼迪所說，我們希望有更多的時間來確保價格得到充分反映，我們將繼續看到這一點。但這就是我們正在談論的主要彈性。

In terms of the second part of your question, we do believe we're a beneficiary, not only in terms of taking share from other mass brands but from gaining volume from some of the prestige players as well, particularly given the type of innovation we have and the strength of that innovation, we believe that we are actually benefiting both from share gains as well as pulling from the prestige buyers as well.

就你問題的第二部分而言，我們確實相信我們是受益者，不僅從其他大眾品牌的份額中獲益，而且從一些知名品牌的銷量中獲得收益，特別是考慮到我們的創新類型。擁有這種創新的力量，我們相信我們實際上既受益於份額增長，也受益於信譽良好的買家。

Okay. That's helpful. And then, Mandy, you have a pretty tight range. I know you always do in terms of EBITDA for the full year. Is that a kind of an implication that you have a pretty good horizon to see the costs? And I guess within that, kind of thoughts on currency impacting for the full year this year?

好的。這很有幫助。然後，曼迪，你的範圍相當窄。我知道您總是按照全年的 EBITDA 計算。這是否意味著您有很好的視野來了解成本？我想在這之中，對今年全年貨幣影響有什麼樣的想法？

Yes. So yes, we do typically always have a tight EBITDA range. And as I spoke to, the cost pressures that we baked in for this fiscal year are really more around transportation, logistics, container costs, things of that nature. From an FX standpoint, we don't anticipate FX to be a decrement to gross margin as we have -- as we've talked in the past. And so that will be less in the narrative, more focused on the impact that we're seeing from pricing. The cost savings that our team in China continues to work on every year, helping to offset some of those cost pressures that we're seeing.

是的。所以，是的，我們的 EBITDA 範圍通常都很窄。正如我所說，我們本財年面臨的成本壓力實際上更多地集中在運輸、物流、集裝箱成本等方面。從外彙的角度來看，我們預計外匯不會像我們過去所說的那樣導致毛利率下降。因此，敘述中的內容將更少，更多地關注我們從定價中看到的影響。我們在中國的團隊每年都在努力節省成本，這有助於抵消我們所看到的一些成本壓力。

Got it. And then one last one, just to sneak in. On the distribution gains, I know you don't talk about individual brands as much, but it does seem like W3LL PEOPLE has gotten some meaningful national distribution at Target that I'm not sure was always there. Is that part of the gains there? Or am I just -- had missed it before?

知道了。最後一個，只是為了偷偷溜進去。關於分銷收益，我知道你不太談論單個品牌，但似乎 W3LL PEOPLE 在 Target 上獲得了一些有意義的全國分銷，我不確定一直都在那裡。這是那裡的收益的一部分嗎？或者我只是——之前錯過了？

Yes, I'd say, W3LL PEOPLE has had a good presence at Target. One of our focus areas is we believe W3LL PEOPLE can be one of the key lead brands as part of Target's clean beauty initiative. I don't think we've disclosed anything on that front yet, but certainly, it's a focus of ours. We see a lot of potential at Target with W3LL PEOPLE. And in addition to Ulta, we're in a subset of their doors. W3LL PEOPLE remains the gold standard of plant-powered clean beauty that works, and we see a lot of potential for that brand, particularly at those 2 customers, but then others that have an interest in clean beauty.

是的，我想說，W3LL PEOPLE 在 Target 中表現出色。我們的重點領域之一是我們相信 W3LL PEOPLE 可以成為塔吉特清潔美容計劃的主要領先品牌之一。我認為我們還沒有在這方面透露任何信息，但當然，這是我們的重點。我們在 Target 和 W3LL PEOPLE 中看到了巨大的潛力。除了 Ulta 之外，我們還屬於他們的一部分。 W3LL PEOPLE 仍然是有效的植物動力清潔美容的黃金標準，我們看到該品牌有很大的潛力，特別是對這 2 位客戶，以及對清潔美容感興趣的其他客戶。

Our next question comes from Rupesh Parikh with Oppenheimer.

我們的下一個問題來自魯佩什·帕里克和奧本海默。

So 2 financial questions. So first, just on the adjusted EBITDA line, is there any more color you can just give in terms of the quarterly cadence as you think about it for the upcoming year?

那麼2個財務問題。首先，在調整後的 EBITDA 線上，當您考慮來年時，您是否可以在季度節奏方面給出更多的顏色？

So we gave some color on top line of expecting double-digit growth each quarter. We have not given any color on what to expect from an adjusted EBITDA standpoint on each quarter. I think that if you're asking just from a modeling standpoint, you could probably just take what that EBITDA margin rate is, kind of peanut butter it across the quarters and then you can kind of true that up as the quarters come in.

因此，我們對每個季度兩位數增長的預期進行了一些說明。我們沒有給出任何關於每個季度調整後 EBITDA 的預期結果的說明。我認為，如果你只是從建模的角度來問，你可能可以只考慮各個季度的 EBITDA 利潤率，就像花生醬一樣，然後隨著季度的到來，你可以將其修正。

Okay. Great. That's helpful. And then second, just on operating cash flows. I know this year, there's a heavy investment in inventory, just given some of the supply chain challenges out there. I believe also Alicia Keys was in that number as well. Any color on your expectations for operating cash flows this year and whether you expect inventory to be another investment in the upcoming fiscal year?

好的。偉大的。這很有幫助。其次，就是經營現金流。我知道今年，鑑於供應鏈面臨的一些挑戰，庫存方面有大量投資。我相信艾麗西亞·凱斯（Alicia Keys）也屬於這個數字。您對今年經營現金流的預期有何不同，以及您是否預計庫存將成為下一財年的另一項投資？

Yes, we do expect our operating cash flows to be stronger this year. To your point, Rupesh, we did have a big build up in inventory. It was a planned buildup as we had talked for several quarters just to navigate through the supply chain environment. So we don't anticipate having to make that same level of investment behind inventory on a year-over-year basis. So you should see some improvement in operating cash flows this year.

是的，我們確實預計今年的運營現金流將會更強。就你的觀點而言，魯佩什，我們確實有大量庫存積壓。這是一個有計劃的積累，因為我們已經討論了幾個季度，只是為了了解供應鏈環境。因此，我們預計不必逐年對庫存進行相同水平的投資。因此，今年您應該會看到經營現金流有所改善。

Our next question comes from Jon Andersen with William Blair.

我們的下一個問題來自喬恩·安德森和威廉·布萊爾。

Two quick ones for me. One, on the comments in the prepared remarks around willingness to add additional brands to the portfolio. I know you've been talking about this for a while and have actually executed on this through acquisitions and internal brand development. Can you talk about balancing your desire to, let's say, see key brands like Keys Soulcare and W3LL PEOPLE ramp and achieve some kind of critical mass before going out and adding, maybe through acquisition, another brand? And then if you were to add another brand, what kind of categories or technologies would you be kind of looking -- would be high on the priority list, I guess?

對我來說兩個快點。第一，關於準備好的評論中關於願意在產品組合中添加更多品牌的評論。我知道您已經談論這個問題有一段時間了，並且實際上已經通過收購和內部品牌開發來執行此操作。您能否談談如何平衡您的願望，例如，看到 Keys Soulcare 和 W3LL PEOPLE 等關鍵品牌不斷壯大並達到某種臨界質量，然後再出去並添加（也許通過收購）另一個品牌？然後，如果您要添加另一個品牌，我想您會優先考慮哪種類別或技術？

Okay. So Jon, this is Tarang. I'll tell you, our first priority is really realizing the full potential of our current brand portfolio. We see a lot of growth in e.l.f Cosmetics, e.l.f Skin, W3LL PEOPLE and Keys Soulcare. e.l.f Skin is a great example. I mean, we grew in tracked channels, I think, our consumption up 18%. Last year, relative to the category, it was up 9%. You're about to see increased support on e.l.f Skin, our first campaign on e.l.f Skin, the technology pipeline and innovation pipeline on that continues to be extremely strong. So we have high hopes on our current brand portfolio. That's where all our focus is. And so I'd say most of the companies, that's where their focus is.

好的。喬恩，這是塔朗。我告訴你，我們的首要任務是真正實現我們當前品牌組合的全部潛力。我們看到 e.l.f Cosmetics、e.l.f Skin、W3LL PEOPLE 和 Keys Soulcare 的大幅增長。 e.l.f 皮膚就是一個很好的例子。我的意思是，我們在跟踪渠道中實現了增長，我認為我們的消費增長了 18%。去年，相對於該類別，它增長了 9%。您將看到對 e.l.f Skin 的支持增加，這是我們針對 e.l.f Skin 的第一個活動，其技術渠道和創新渠道仍然非常強大。因此，我們對目前的品牌組合抱有很高的期望。這就是我們所有的焦點所在。所以我想說大多數公司，這就是他們的重點。

In terms of M&A, we do think there's a role for it. And I would say it's not dependent on what's the level of scale we get. We intentionally acquired W3LL PEOPLE almost subscale. A big driver of W3LL PEOPLE for us was getting the capabilities of Clean Beauty, really gave us the confidence to reformulate 350 SKUs last year and get e.l.f to a clean standard, also gave us the capability of kind of taking W3LL PEOPLE into other distribution and be able to grow there. But it was a pretty small brand when we acquired it. Keys Soulcare is still a new brand. We feel good about its trajectory, but it's still in the early days. So they have a long way to go.

就併購而言，我們確實認為它有其作用。我想說這並不取決於我們的規模水平。我們有意收購了 W3LL PEOPLE，幾乎是小規模的。對我們來說，W3LL PEOPLE 的一大推動力是獲得Clean Beauty 的功能，這確實給了我們去年重新制定350 個SKU 並使e.l.f 達到清潔標準的信心，也使我們有能力將W3LL PEOPLE 引入其他發行版，能夠在那裡成長。但當我們收購它時，它還是一個很小的品牌。 Keys Soulcare 仍然是一個新品牌。我們對其發展軌跡感覺良好，但仍處於早期階段。所以他們還有很長的路要走。

In the meanwhile, if we do see a brand that can bring and can complement our existing brand portfolio, either leverage the capabilities we have or bring us other capabilities, including in potentially adjacent categories within beauty, we're open to that. But because we have the strong growth, organic growth within our current portfolio, we have the luxury of being highly disciplined there. So we've looked at a number of different things, decided that we didn't think the valuation was right for us and have passed on it. You've seen us kind of disclose some of the costs related to that. So I feel good about where we stand. Main focus being in our current brand portfolio, being open to potential M&A, particularly given the strength of our balance sheet, but there's no gun to our heads in terms of time frame or whether we even have to do an acquisition.

與此同時，如果我們確實看到一個品牌能夠帶來並補充我們現有的品牌組合，無論是利用我們擁有的能力還是為我們帶來其他能力，包括在美容領域潛在的相鄰類別，我們對此持開放態度。但由於我們當前的投資組合擁有強勁的增長和有機增長，因此我們有幸在其中保持嚴格的紀律。因此，我們考慮了許多不同的因素，認為估值不適合我們，因此放棄了它。您已經看到我們披露了一些與此相關的成本。所以我對我們的立場感到滿意。主要重點是我們當前的品牌組合，對潛在的併購持開放態度，特別是考慮到我們資產負債表的實力，但在時間框架或我們是否必須進行收購方面，我們還沒有任何決定。

That makes sense. And then maybe one for Mandy. Mandy, you mentioned, I think that the outlook for gross margin in '23 was flattish to slightly higher. Is there anything from a quarterly progression perspective that we should be aware of? I'm thinking the incurrence of certain costs or the benefit of price adjustments or cost savings programs? I guess it's just a question around the cadence of gross margin through the year.

這就說得通了。然後也許是給曼迪的。 Mandy，你提到，我認為 23 年毛利率的前景是持平或略高。從季度進度的角度來看，有什麼我們應該注意的嗎？我在考慮某些成本的產生或價格調整或成本節約計劃的好處？我想這只是圍繞全年毛利率節奏的問題。

Yes. So I think from a modeling standpoint, Jon, it's probably safe to just assume the annual gross margin across each quarter. I would say that there's probably some variance in the second half -- if you recall, last Q3, we had a really high gross margin because we didn't have that holiday program there. So from a year-over-year growth standpoint, there's probably some variance there. But I would say just since this is the beginning of the year, and we're just kind of resetting everything, I would just kind of use the annual across the quarters, and then we'll update as we go.

是的。因此，我認為從建模的角度來看，喬恩，假設每個季度的年度毛利率可能是安全的。我想說，下半年可能會出現一些差異——如果你還記得，上個季度，我們的毛利率非常高，因為我們在那裡沒有假期計劃。因此，從同比增長的角度來看，可能存在一些差異。但我想說，由於這是今年的年初，我們只是重置一切，我只是在各個季度使用年度報告，然後我們會隨時更新。

Our next question comes from Mark Astrachan with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Mark Astrachan。

Yes. I guess 2 quick questions. One, could you help just reconcile your reported sales results with the scanner data in terms of perhaps just what the untracked channels are doing. Obviously, it would imply that they are a little bit slower growing. So any sort of directional color there would be helpful.

是的。我想有兩個簡單的問題。第一，您能否幫助將報告的銷售結果與掃描儀數據（也許只是未跟踪的渠道正在做的事情）進行協調。顯然，這意味著它們的生長速度要慢一些。所以任何類型的定向顏色都會有幫助。

And then just second question on ad spend over time. Your peers on average are spending a bit more than where you're projecting even for this year, up obviously from prior years. And I guess, how do you think about it kind of holistically longer term, if you get this potential for some of those 1,000 basis points of costs that you've been incurring to come back, how much gets reinvested in the form of that line over time? And kind of what in your minds drives that?

然後是關於一段時間內廣告支出的第二個問題。即使今年，您的同行平均支出也比您預計的要多一些，明顯高於往年。我想，你如何從整體上考慮它，如果你得到了你已經承擔的 1,000 個基點成本中的一些成本的潛力，那麼有多少會以該線的形式進行再投資隨著時間的推移？您認為是什麼推動了這一點？

All right. Thanks for the question, Mark. In terms of reconciling sales results versus scanner data, I think I mentioned this in our prepared remarks, but there has been a lot of just volatility between what you see on the scanner data from a week-to-week basis to kind of how our shipments have flowed, just given kind of the things that we're cycling: stimulus and then before stimulus, there were store closures at Ulta and internationally that were kind of in the base. So I would say that I would take the scanner data as a sign of strength. Certainly, it's a sign of strength for us right now. But I would not necessarily correlate that to a weakness in other parts of our business if our net sales doesn't materialize in that way.

好的。謝謝你的提問，馬克。在協調銷售結果與掃描儀數據方面，我想我在我們準備好的評論中提到了這一點，但是您每週在掃描儀數據上看到的數據與我們的預測之間存在很大的波動性。出貨量一直在流動，只是考慮到我們正在循環的事情：刺激措施，然後在刺激措施之前，Ulta 和國際上基地的商店都關閉了。所以我想說我會將掃描儀數據視為實力的標誌。當然，這對我們來說是力量的象徵。但如果我們的淨銷售額沒有以這種方式實現，我不一定會將其與我們業務其他部分的弱點聯繫起來。

We have been really focused on making sure inventory levels are right at retailers and different things like that. Those can kind of shift things around versus what you see from a consumption standpoint. So I would kind of look to our guidance as that's where we expect to see things for the year, and then we'll take it from there.

我們一直非常專注於確保零售商的庫存水平合適以及類似的事情。這些可能會改變你從消費角度看到的情況。因此，我會關注我們的指導，因為這是我們預計今年會發生的事情，然後我們將從那裡開始。

Yes. And then if you look on a fiscal year basis, the scanner data would basically indicate you're growing faster in non-tracked channels than you are in tracked channels. And so obviously, some noise in the more recent, but if we took that on an annual basis, I think we feel good about growth across our enterprise.

是的。然後，如果您以會計年度為基礎，掃描儀數據基本上表明您在非跟踪渠道中的增長速度比在跟踪渠道中的增長速度更快。顯然，最近出現了一些噪音，但如果我們以每年為基礎，我認為我們對整個企業的增長感到滿意。

That's right.

這是正確的。

And then on your second question in terms of the spending and our approach there. I think there's a healthy tension there. I've mentioned before, the marketing ROIs are quite strong, and that's what really drives us to be able to invest more, what we're seeing from an engagement standpoint, from a top line growth standpoint.

然後是關於支出和我們的方法的第二個問題。我認為那裡存在著健康的緊張氣氛。我之前提到過，營銷投資回報率非常高，這才是真正促使我們能夠進行更多投資的原因，從參與度和營收增長的角度來看，這是我們所看到的。

But we also believe in good profit progression. I'm really proud, even with the cost environment we faced in fiscal '22 to be able to do 23% top line growth and 22% adjusted EBITDA growth. In the cost environment we're in, I think that's phenomenal performance. As we look at FY '23, we continue to have these cost headwinds. So we're hoping that if some of those abate, we're able to flow more of them to the bottom line, but there will always be a debate of how much do we want within marketing versus the bottom line. But I'd say we definitely see the leverage potential of the business given the outsized costs that we've been carrying. And so it's a very long way of saying I think you might see a little bit of both, but probably a little bit more to the profit.

但我們也相信良好的利潤增長。我真的很自豪，即使在 22 財年面臨的成本環境下，我們仍能實現 23% 的營收增長和 22% 的調整後 EBITDA 增長。在我們所處的成本環境中，我認為這是驚人的表現。展望 23 財年，我們仍然面臨這些成本阻力。因此，我們希望，如果其中一些減少，我們能夠將更多的資金投入到利潤中，但總會有一個爭論，即我們在營銷方面想要多少與利潤之間的差距。但我想說，鑑於我們一直承擔的巨額成本，我們肯定看到了該業務的槓桿潛力。所以這是一個很長的說法，我認為你可能會看到兩者都有一點，但可能會帶來更多的利潤。

Our next question comes from Korinne Wolfmeyer with Piper Sandler.

我們的下一個問題來自 Korinne Wolfmeyer 和 Piper Sandler。

So first, I just want to push you a little bit more on the commentary around the trade down of consumers from prestige to more mass. So as that's happening, just how are you thinking about the resiliency of the Keys Soulcare brands and the W3LL PEOPLE brands throughout these maybe recessionary times, if there are some prestige consumers that are trading down?

首先，我只想向大家進一步介紹有關消費者從聲望轉向大眾的評論。那麼，當這種情況發生時，您如何看待 Keys Soulcare 品牌和 W3LL PEOPLE 品牌在經濟衰退時期的彈性，如果有一些信譽良好的消費者正在降價購買？

Yes. I think our strategy overall as a company is best of beauty made accessible and that includes on W3LL PEOPLE and prestige Keys Soulcare. If you take a look at the quality of W3LL PEOPLE as a gold standard of plant-powered clean beauty, its price points average -- I think, price point is around $18 on W3LL PEOPLE is significantly better value than some of the other alternatives there. Same with Keys Soulcare, which I think is about a $23 average unit retail relative to the quality of that brand compared to the prestige brands. So we think they sit well. Now we'll have to see. I'd say I'm particularly bullish on e.l.f color, e.l.f Skin, given my previous commentaries on mass versus prestige. But particularly given that both W3LL PEOPLE and Keys Soulcare are still kind of in their early days, we see there's plenty of growth regardless of the broader economic environment.

是的。我認為作為一家公司，我們的總體戰略是讓美麗變得觸手可及，其中包括 W3LL PEOPLE 和聲望 Keys Soulcare。如果您將 W3LL PEOPLE 的質量視為植物清潔美容的黃金標準，那麼它的平均價格 - 我認為 W3LL PEOPLE 的價格約為 18 美元，明顯比其他一些替代品更有價值。 Keys Soulcare 也是如此，我認為相對於該品牌的質量（與知名品牌相比），其平均單位零售價約為 23 美元。所以我們認為他們坐得很好。現在我們必須看看。我想說，鑑於我之前對大眾與聲望的評論，我特別看好 e.l.f 顏色、e.l.f 皮膚。但特別是考慮到 W3LL PEOPLE 和 Keys Soulcare 仍處於早期階段，我們看到無論更廣泛的經濟環境如何，都有大量增長。

Helpful. And then last one for me is I know you don't break out sales of the various brands, and you've said Keys is doing well and W3LL PEOPLE is obviously growing pretty well. But can you give us any color on how the mix of brands has changed over the past year? And where you think that mix is going to go?

有幫助。最後一件事對我來說是，我知道您沒有公佈各個品牌的銷售情況，而且您說過 Keys 表現良好，W3LL PEOPLE 顯然增長得相當不錯。但您能給我們介紹一下過去一年品牌組合發生了怎樣的變化嗎？您認為這種混合會走向何方？

Yes. So -- and you're right, Korinne, we don't break it out by brand, but I think that you've heard our commentary, the strength that you see in tracked channel really speaks to the strength that you've seen behind the e.l.f Cosmetics and e.l.f Skin brands in the Nielsen data. And I would say that Keys and W3LL are contributors to that as well. And we feel great about the mix of our brands and having diversified really from a single brand color cosmetics brand to now a portfolio of 4 distinct brands and feel great about how that sets us up for the longer term.

是的。所以 - 你是對的，Korinne，我們不會按品牌來細分，但我認為你已經聽到了我們的評論，你在跟踪頻道中看到的實力確實證明了你所看到的實力尼爾森數據中e.l.f Cosmetics 和e.l.f Skin 品牌的背後。我想說 Keys 和 W3LL 也是這方面的貢獻者。我們對我們的品牌組合以及從單一品牌彩妝品牌到現在由 4 個不同品牌組成的產品組合的多元化感到非常滿意，並且對於這如何為我們的長期發展奠定了良好的基礎。

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

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回塔朗·阿米特（Tarang Amit）發表閉幕詞。

Well, thank you, everyone, for joining us. I'm so grateful for our incredible team at e.l.f. for again delivering an outstanding results to close out fiscal '22. We look forward to seeing some of you at our upcoming investor meetings and speaking with you in August when we'll discuss our first quarter results. Thank you, and be well.

好的，謝謝大家加入我們。我非常感謝 e.l.f. 出色的團隊。再次交付出色的業績來結束 22 財年。我們期待在即將舉行的投資者會議上見到你們，並在八月份與你們交談，屆時我們將討論我們的第一季度業績。謝謝你，祝你一切順利。

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

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連接。