Energizer Holdings Inc (ENR) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Energizer Holdings, Inc. third quarter FY2025 results conference call. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded on Monday, August 4, 2025. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jon Poldan.

女士們、先生們，早安。歡迎參加 Energizer Holdings, Inc. 2025 財年第三季業績電話會議。（操作員指示）此通話於 2025 年 8 月 4 日星期一錄製。現在我想將會議交給喬恩·波爾丹。

Please go ahead.

請繼續。

Good morning And welcome to Energizer's third quarter fiscal 2025 conference call. Joining me today are Mark LaVigne, President and Chief Executive Officer; and John Drabik, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

早安，歡迎參加 Energizer 2025 財年第三季電話會議。今天與我一起出席的還有總裁兼執行長馬克·拉維涅 (Mark LaVigne) 和執行副總裁兼財務長約翰·德拉比克 (John Drabik)。

In just a moment, Mark will share a few opening comments, and then we'll take your questions. A replay of this call will be available on the Investor Relations section of our website, energizerholdings.com. In addition, please note that our earnings release, prepared remarks and the slide deck are also posted on our website.

稍後，馬克將發表一些開場白，然後我們將回答大家的問題。本次電話會議的重播將在我們網站 energizerholdings.com 的「投資者關係」板塊提供。此外，請注意，我們的獲利報告、準備好的演講稿和投影片也已發佈在我們的網站上。

During the call, we will make forward-looking statements about the company's future business and financial performance, among other matters. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. We do not undertake to update these forward-looking statements. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements are included in the reports we file with the SEC. We also refer to the presentation to non-GAAP financial measures.

在電話會議中，我們將對公司未來業務和財務表現等做出前瞻性陳述。這些聲明是基於管理層目前的預期，並受風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與這些聲明有重大差異。我們不承諾更新這些前瞻性陳述。我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的報告中也包含了可能導致實際結果與這些聲明有重大差異的其他因素。我們也參考了非公認會計準則財務指標的呈現。

A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to comparable GAAP measures is shown in our press release issued earlier today, which is available on our website. Information concerning our categories and estimated market share discussed on this call relates to the categories where we compete and is based on Energizer's internal data, data from industry analysis and estimates we believe to be reasonable. The battery category information includes both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce retail sales. Unless otherwise noted, all comments regarding the quarter and year pertain to Energizer's current fiscal year and all comparisons to prior year relate to the same period in fiscal 2024.

我們今天稍早發布的新聞稿中顯示了非 GAAP 財務指標與可比較 GAAP 指標的對帳情況，該新聞稿可在我們的網站上查閱。本次電話會議討論的有關我們的產品類別和預計市場份額的資訊涉及我們競爭的類別，並基於 Energizer 的內部數據、行業分析數據和我們認為合理的估計。電池類別資訊包括實體店和電子商務零售銷售。除非另有說明，有關季度和年度的所有評論均與 Energizer 的當前財政年度有關，與上一年的所有比較均與 2024 財年的同一時期有關。

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Mark.

說完這些，我想把電話轉給馬克。

Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us today. As you can see, we have altered our approach for releasing earnings. I hope you've had a chance to review our press release, along with our prepared remarks posted on our website this morning. I'll open today's call with a high-level summary and then open it up for questions. We had a strong third quarter.

大家早安，感謝大家今天加入我們。如您所見，我們已經改變了發布收益的方式。我希望您有機會閱讀我們的新聞稿以及今天早上在我們網站上發布的準備好的發言稿。我將以高層總結開始今天的電話會議，然後開放提問。我們的第三季表現強勁。

Results came in ahead of expectations, and that's a direct reflection of the work we've done over the past few years to strengthen our business. We've been focused on restoring margins, investing in growth and building a more agile operation, and it's paying off. Let me hit a few highlights. First, our categories remain resilient in spite of a cautious consumer. We had a solid performance in batteries and lights.

結果超出了預期，這直接反映了我們過去幾年為加強業務所做的工作。我們一直致力於恢復利潤率、投資成長和建立更靈活的運營，並且正在取得成效。讓我來強調一下幾個重點。首先，儘管消費者謹慎，但我們的產品類別仍保持彈性。我們在電池和燈光方面表現穩健。

And while Auto Care was a bit softer due to mild weather, our new Podium Series is off to a great start. Second, the projected impact of tariffs on our business has materially improved. Current tariff rates are significantly lower relative to our guidance last quarter, and we have a comprehensive plan under which we have already executed several initiatives to mitigate any remaining impact to earnings. Through a combination of pricing, cost initiatives and production credits, we now expect to fully offset the earnings impact from tariffs in both fiscal 2025 and 2026. A big part of that is the production credits we're now receiving as a result of our continued investment in US production.

儘管由於天氣溫和，汽車保養業務略顯疲軟，但我們的新 Podium 系列賽卻取得了良好的開端。其次，關稅對我們業務的預期影響已大幅改善。目前的關稅稅率相對於我們上個季度的指導稅率明顯較低，並且我們有一個全面的計劃，根據該計劃我們已經實施了多項舉措來減輕對收益的任何剩餘影響。透過定價、成本措施和生產信貸的結合，我們現在預計在 2025 財年和 2026 財年完全抵銷關稅對獲利的影響。其中很大一部分是我們由於持續投資美國生產而獲得的製作信貸。

These credits are meaningful. We expect them to contribute $35 million to $40 million of gross margin, net earnings and free cash flow on an annual basis prior to any reinvestment. We also completed the acquisition of Advanced Power Solutions in May. The acquisition further expands our ability to manufacture in-region-for-region and provides additional optionality to mitigate the impact of tariffs and supply chain disruption.

這些學分很有意義。我們預計，在任何再投資之前，他們每年將貢獻 3,500 萬至 4,000 萬美元的毛利、淨收益和自由現金流。我們也於五月完成了對 Advanced Power Solutions 的收購。此次收購進一步擴大了我們在區域內生產的能力，並提供了額外的選擇，以減輕關稅和供應鏈中斷的影響。

The acquisition also provides greater scale to our European business and provides the opportunity to expand with key retailers in strategic markets. We expect the acquisition to contribute $40 million to $50 million of net sales in the current fiscal year. We returned $84 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases this quarter.

此次收購也擴大了我們歐洲業務的規模，並提供了與戰略市場主要零售商共同擴張的機會。我們預計此次收購將為本財年貢獻 4,000 萬至 5,000 萬美元的淨銷售額。本季我們透過股利和股票回購向股東返還了 8,400 萬美元。

We also repurchased an additional $27 million of shares in July while maintaining leverage, demonstrating our confidence in the business and our commitment to disciplined capital allocation. We are increasing our outlook to reflect the higher level of earnings generated by pricing, tariff mitigation efforts and the inclusion of production credits. We now expect adjusted EPS of $3.55 to $3.65 and adjusted EBITDA between $630 million and $640 million. We have a high level of confidence in delivering our fiscal 2025 outlook and generating continued earnings growth in fiscal year 2026.

我們還在 7 月回購了價值 2700 萬美元的額外股票，同時保持了槓桿率，這表明了我們對業務的信心以及我們對嚴格資本配置的承諾。我們正在提高我們的預期，以反映定價、關稅減免措施和生產信貸納入所產生的更高收益水準。我們現在預計調整後的每股收益為 3.55 美元至 3.65 美元，調整後的 EBITDA 在 6.3 億美元至 6.4 億美元之間。我們對實現 2025 財年願景和在 2026 財年繼續獲利成長充滿信心。

With that, let's open the call for questions.

現在，讓我們開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Lauren Lieberman, Barclays.

（操作員指示）巴克萊銀行的勞倫·利伯曼。

There was a lot to digest this morning in the release and having the prepared remarks that earlier definitely helped explain all the moving pieces. But just to be clear, I wanted to know if you could first lay out for us kind of key fundamental underlying drivers for the quarter, this quarter and next and really just thinking about organic sales and profitability and kind of stepping away from the production credits. And then I have a follow-up question on the credits.

今天早上發布的新聞稿中有很多內容需要消化，而之前準備好的發言肯定有助於解釋所有進展。但為了清楚起見，我想知道您是否可以先為我們列出本季、本季和下一季的關鍵基本驅動因素，並且真正只考慮有機銷售和盈利能力，而不是生產信用。然後我有一個關於學分的後續問題。

Sure. Lauren. Look, I'll start with kind of overall themes, and then I'll turn it over to John for a little more detail. I think key takeaways from this morning's release, we delivered a very good third quarter, and we're in a position of strength moving forward. For the quarter, we delivered organic growth, gross margin improvement and earnings growth.

當然。勞倫。你看，我會從整體主題開始，然後再交給約翰講更多細節。我認為今天早上發布的信息的關鍵要點是，我們第三季度的業績非常好，並且我們在未來處於有利地位。本季度，我們實現了有機成長、毛利率提高和獲利成長。

For the fiscal year, we expect to deliver growth gross margin improvement as well as 7% to 10% EPS growth. I think the most important and exciting part of this quarter is that we have done an exceptional job setting up to drive earnings growth not only this year but into fiscal 2026. And so John, I think if you just want to walk through a little bit more of those details.

在本財年，我們預期毛利率將有所提高，每股盈餘也將成長 7% 至 10%。我認為本季最重要、最令人興奮的部分是，我們出色地完成了工作，不僅在今年，而且在 2026 財年也推動了獲利成長。所以約翰，我想如果你只是想稍微了解這些細節。

Sure, Lauren. The organic sales were strong in the quarter. That was very helpful. Battery category continues to perform well for us. Auto was a little bit lower, but the Podium Series has been launching very well.

當然，勞倫。本季有機銷售額強勁。這非常有幫助。電池類別對我們來說繼續表現良好。自排稍微低了一點，但 Podium 系列的推出非常順利。

We're in 15,000 doors and beating the plan that we had set up. And as we've called out, EPS for the quarter was at $0.78, excluding the credits. So that was well out of our outlook and the consensus. So even -- even on that basis, it was a really strong operating quarter for us. As Mark mentioned, the tariff impact has really materially improved.

我們已經進入了 15,000 個市場，並且超越了我們制定的計劃。正如我們所指出的，本季每股收益為 0.78 美元（不包括信貸）。這完全超出了我們的觀點和共識。因此，即使基於此，這對我們來說也是一個非常強勁的營運季度。正如馬克所提到的，關稅影響確實有了實質的改善。

So I think we're going to see a little bit of noise as we get through the fourth quarter. But heading into next year, we believe that the exposure is minimal, and we really have plans in place to fully offset the bottom-line impact. And then the production credits as a domestic manufacturer of qualifying battery and battery inputs, we qualify for production tax credits. So that -- our expectation is that we're going to see about $35 million to $40 million in our base earnings now, and that's really going to come through gross margin, net earnings and free cash flow, and that's through about 2032. So really bolster our earnings as we go forward.

所以我認為，在進入第四季時，我們會看到一些噪音。但進入明年，我們相信風險敞口很小，而且我們確實有計劃完全抵消底線影響。然後，作為合格電池和電池投入的國內製造商，我們有資格獲得生產稅收抵免。因此，我們預計現在我們的基本收益將達到約 3500 萬至 4000 萬美元，而這實際上將透過毛利率、淨收益和自由現金流實現，這將持續到 2032 年左右。因此，隨著我們不斷前進，我們的收益將得到切實的提升。

And then the other big thing is we acquired the legacy Panasonic Europe battery business. We're actively transitioning customers to the Energizer portfolio right now. We think for the full year, we're going to get about $40 million to $50 million in revenue. but there is no bottom line impact to earnings that we're expecting this year. So really strong quarter, really strong position heading into next year.

另一件大事是我們收購了松下歐洲的電池業務。我們目前正積極引導客戶轉向 Energizer 產品組合。我們預計全年收入將達到約 4,000 萬至 5,000 萬美元，但這不會對我們今年預期的盈利產生任何影響。因此本季的業績非常強勁，明年的市場地位也非常強勁。

Okay. Great. And then just on the production credits, maybe a little bit of a remedial question. But just if you could explain a little bit more the genesis of these, sort of why recognize it now because there's this retroactive piece as well as the go forward. And you mentioned investment, and I wasn't clear if that was before any like chosen reinvestment in the business that you would have maybe done otherwise or if there's a required level of continued investment domestically to maintain these credits going forward?

好的。偉大的。然後就製作人員名單而言，也許這是一個有點補救的問題。但是如果你可以進一步解釋這些的起源，那麼為什麼現在要認識到這一點，因為這裡有追溯部分以及前進部分。您提到了投資，我不清楚這是否是在選擇對業務進行再投資之前進行的，或者是否需要在國內進行一定程度的持續投資才能維持這些信貸？

So there's no required investment required. This is a production credit. So we just need to continue producing the batteries and the inputs kind of as we have. And that should get us $35 million to $40 million, a little bit about the timing. So you do file for these credits with your tax returns.

因此不需要任何投資。這是一份製作榮譽。因此，我們只需要繼續像以前一樣生產電池和輸入。這樣我們就能獲得 3,500 萬到 4,000 萬美元，時間上稍微有點問題。因此，您確實需要在報稅單中申請這些抵免。

We just filed our '24 return. We're going to amend our '23. Those are the catch-ups that you're seeing that we're excluding from our normal ops, and that's the $78 million or so. We've got about $34 million coming through, which is the first three quarters of '25, and we're effectively accruing that. So we will file a return next year to get our '25 credits back. And then every year thereafter, you should be getting kind of one year of activity in the P&L and one year of cash back into the business.

我們剛剛提交了 24 年的報稅表。我們將修改我們的‘23’。這些就是我們從正常營運中排除的追趕金額，約 7,800 萬美元。我們已經獲得了大約 3400 萬美元的收入，這是 2025 年前三個季度的收入，我們正在有效地累積這筆收入。因此，我們明年將提交申報表以取回我們的 25 點。此後每年，您都應該獲得一年的損益表活動和一年的業務現金回饋。

Rob Ottenstein, Evercore.

奧滕斯坦（Rob Ottenstein），Evercore。

A couple of questions for me. So first, can you put the latest acquisition of basically capacity, Advanced Power Solutions within the framework of multiple initiatives to improve your overall manufacturing footprint? And maybe just talk about how that has been transformed over the last three, four, five years in terms of reliability, cost advantage, logistics and then present net that you'll be able to do local production in terms of the US.

我有幾個問題。那麼首先，您能否將最新收購的先進電源解決方案納入多項措施的框架內，以改善您的整體製造足跡？也許只是談論過去三、四、五年來在可靠性、成本優勢、物流方面發生了怎樣的變化，然後目前您可以在美國進行本地生產。

Yes. Sure, Rob. Great question. I think as we take a step back and look at all of the evolution of our network over the past four to five years, I think it starts during the pandemic, we made an acquisition of a facility in Indonesia in 2021. We followed up with an acquisition of a facility in Belgium in 2023 with the latest one with Advanced Power Solutions in May.

是的。當然，羅布。好問題。我認為，當我們回顧過去四、五年來我們網路的整個發展時，我認為它始於大流行期間，我們在 2021 年收購了印尼的一家工廠。我們隨後於 2023 年收購了比利時的一家工廠，最近一次收購是在今年 5 月，收購了 Advanced Power Solutions。

Those were the acquisition-related elements of the network changes. But we also undertook for the past three years, Project Momentum, which was altering and optimizing our network across the globe, including in North America, where we've made significant investment in North America. We've made a $50 million investment to increase the workforce, increase innovation, increase automation and really been driving the in-region for-region attribute of our network that you mentioned.

這些是與網路變化相關的收購元素。但在過去三年中，我們也開展了“動量計劃”，該計劃正在改變和優化我們在全球的網絡，包括北美，我們在北美進行了大量投資。我們已投資 5000 萬美元來增加勞動力、增加創新、提高自動化程度，並真正推動您提到的我們網路的區域內屬性。

All of those pieces sort of click together and create a dynamic network for us to address tariffs, supply chain disruptions, optimize costs. And it's all starting to come together, and we're really well positioned from a network standpoint moving forward.

所有這些部分結合在一起，為我們創建了一個動態網絡，以解決關稅、供應鏈中斷和優化成本等問題。一切都開始走到一起，從網路角度來看，我們已經做好了良好的準備。

Great. And then kind of maybe kind of veering off that, you bought back stock, which you hadn't for a little while. Can you talk about how we should be thinking about capital allocation over the next one to two years? Where are you thinking about in terms of taking the leverage down? Are there further capacity acquisitions that are on the radar screen? What does CapEx look like, dividend? Just kind of update us on the general outlook for cash flow and capital allocation over the next one to two years?

偉大的。然後，也許有點偏離了這一點，你買回了股票，而你已經有一段時間沒有買股票了。您能談談我們應該如何考慮未來一到兩年的資本配置嗎？您在考慮如何降低槓桿？是否有進一步的產能收購正在考慮中？資本支出是什麼樣的？股息是多少？您能否向我們介紹未來一到兩年現金流和資本配置的整體前景？

Yes, Rob. Let me start with the cash flow because we have invested a fair amount into inventory this year for two reasons. One is really the plastic-free packaging transition that we're undertaking in North America. And then we've got a fair amount of inventory that we built up as we were working to offset some of these tariff impacts. We really expect that to start coming out next quarter, our fourth quarter here. I think that's going to bolster the cash flow.

是的，羅布。讓我先從現金流開始，因為今年我們出於兩個原因在庫存上投入了相當多的資金。一是我們在北美正在進行的無塑膠包裝轉型。我們在努力抵銷部分關稅影響的過程中累積了相當數量的庫存。我們確實希望這項成果能夠在下個季度，也就是我們的第四季開始實現。我認為這將會增強現金流。

And our expectation is that over the coming couple of years, we should be generating 10% to 12% free cash flow compared to sales. So I think that's going to put us in a good position. I'll turn it over to Mark to kind of talk about the capital allocation.

我們的預期是，在未來幾年內，我們將產生佔銷售額 10% 至 12% 的自由現金流。所以我認為這會讓我們處於有利地位。我將把話題交給馬克來談論資本配置。

Yes, Robert, I think just a general capital allocation discussion. I mean, obviously, over the last couple of years, we prioritized debt reduction and felt that was really important to do. As we look at our debt capital structure, it is fixed at very favorable rates. And following the Q2 earnings, we saw a material decline in our equity value. And that created -- that presented an opportunity to pivot and to create an outsized return through share repurchase.

是的，羅伯特，我認為這只是一般的資本配置討論。我的意思是，顯然，在過去的幾年裡，我們優先考慮減少債務，並認為這非常重要。當我們審視我們的債務資本結構時，我們發現它的利率固定得非常優惠。在第二季收益之後，我們的股權價值大幅下降。這就創造了——這提供了一個轉變的機會，並透過股票回購創造超額回報。

We've been able to repurchase about 5% of our outstanding shares over the last quarter. Going forward, I would expect us to continue to prioritize debt reduction. It is an important and a primary focus for us, but we also have to continue to evaluate all options to drive the highest return. So we're not going to be overly rigid in our approach, and we're going to pivot as opportunities present themselves from a capital allocation perspective.

上個季度我們已經回購了約 5% 的流通股。展望未來，我希望我們繼續優先考慮減少債務。這對我們來說是一個重要且主要的關注點，但我們也必須繼續評估所有選擇以獲得最高的回報。因此，我們的方法不會過於僵化，而且我們會隨著資本配置角度出現的機會而進行調整。

And just can you just help us model out kind of tying in a little bit with Lauren's question. Just help us model out CapEx over the next couple of years?

您能否幫我們模擬一下與勞倫的問題相關的情況？只是幫助我們模擬未來幾年的資本支出嗎？

Yes. We've been running at, I'd say, a relatively elevated rate. Mark mentioned some of the production assets that we've invested in this year. We've also had a lot going into digital transformation. My expectation is that we'll run closer to 2% of net sales for the next couple of years.

是的。我想說，我們的運行速度一直比較快。馬克提到了我們今年投資的一些生產資產。我們在數位轉型方面也取得了很大進展。我的預期是，未來幾年我們的淨銷售額將接近 2%。

Bill Chappell, Truist Securities.

Truist Securities 的 Bill Chappell。

Mark, quite a journey. Question just on the competitive landscape because we can see the Energizer brand in the US continues to do well, but maybe your largest competitor, Duracell, has lost some more of the share to private label to others. And so just as you're going in or currently, this is, I guess, the time frame where you're competing for holiday sets and stuff like that. Do you see more competitive activity coming out of your main competitor? Do you see it staying fairly stable? Is that a concern at all?

馬克，真是一段奇妙的旅程。僅就競爭格局提出問題，因為我們可以看到美國的 Energizer 品牌繼續表現良好，但也許您最大的競爭對手 Duracell 已經將更多的市場份額拱手讓給了其他自有品牌。所以，正如你所說，或者現在，我想，這就是你們爭奪假日套裝和類似東西的時間範圍。您是否發現主要競爭對手的競爭活動增加？您認為它會保持相當穩定嗎？這真的值得擔心嗎？

Bill, I think as we look at the competitive landscape, both in the US and international, I mean, the shares are stable, private label is flat. I think we're in a great position. I think when we take a step back and look at our business holistically, we're the best positioned battery business. We have the strongest portfolio of brands.

比爾，我認為，當我們觀察美國和國際的競爭格局時，我的意思是，股票是穩定的，自有品牌是持平的。我認為我們處於非常有利的位置。我認為，當我們退一步全面審視我們的業務時，我們的電池業務定位最佳。我們擁有最強大的品牌組合。

We have the best performing products. We just talked about with Robert; we've created a dynamic network to manage through any macro environment that we need to. And that optionality, we have the ability to partner with our retailers to bring their particular strategies to life. And so we have the opportunity to meet consumers where they are. With all of those assets at our disposal, it gives us -- and we expect to deliver consistent year-over-year growth.

我們擁有性能最好的產品。我們剛剛與羅伯特討論過；我們已經創建了一個動態網路來管理我們需要的任何宏觀環境。透過這種可選性，我們有能力與我們的零售商合作，將他們的特定策略變為現實。因此，我們有機會在消費者所在地與他們見面。有了這些資產，我們就能獲得持續的年成長。

It may take different forms online versus in-store. It may take different forms retailer to retailer. But at the end of the day, the results are going to be there. Consumers, as we mentioned, they're a little bit cautious, and that manifests itself differently depending upon which category you're talking about. But when consumers engage in the battery category, as you said, they're purchasing our brands.

它可能在網上和店內採取不同的形式。不同零售商可能採取不同的形式。但最終，結果還是會出現的。正如我們所提到的，消費者有點謹慎，而且根據您所談論的類別，這種謹慎有不同的表現。但正如您所說，當消費者購買電池產品時，他們購買的就是我們的品牌。

So we're in a great position, and we're going to continue to drive our business going forward.

因此，我們處於有利地位，並將繼續推動我們的業務向前發展。

So a follow-up, what is your initial outlook for the upcoming holidays in terms of -- I realize it's fiscal '26, but in terms of both category sets and where you're placed and the consumer?

那麼後續問題，您對即將到來的假期的初步展望是什麼——我知道這是 26 財年，但就類別集以及您所處的位置和消費者而言？

I would say, right now, we're planning for a normal holiday season. And I think the one alteration you're starting to hear from retailers is that holiday season is going to start a little bit earlier this year and consumers are going to stretch out their shopping season. And so we need to be ready to address that and be ready to pivot from a timing standpoint. So as of now, we are planning for kind of basically normal holiday season.

我想說，現在我們正在計劃一個正常的假期。我認為您從零售商那裡聽到的一個變化是，今年的假期季節將開始得稍早一些，消費者將延長購物季。因此，我們需要做好準備來解決這個問題，並準備好從時間角度進行調整。因此，截至目前，我們正在為基本正常的假期做計劃。

Dara Mohsenian, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的達拉‧莫森尼安 (Dara Mohsenian)。

You've talked about investing to drive top line growth. You've talked about expansion in emerging markets, expanding Auto Care internationally, investing in innovation, digital, expanding distribution, et cetera, et cetera. I won't run through everything. But just curious, strategically, as you take a step back, as you think about these production credits coming in longer term, so looking beyond this year and even next year when you have the tariff impacts, does this allow you to spend incrementally behind the business? Where might those incremental investments be?

您曾談到透過投資來推動營業額成長。您談到了新興市場的擴張、汽車護理的國際擴張、創新投資、數位化、擴大分銷等等。我不會把所有事情都講一遍。但只是好奇，從策略上講，當您退一步考慮這些生產信貸的長期影響時，那麼展望今年甚至明年，當您受到關稅影響時，這是否允許您在業務背後逐步支出？這些增量投資可能在哪裡？

And I guess, b, just are you actually spending some of this back? How do you think about that net amount as you look out longer term?

我想，b，你實際上花掉了其中的一部分嗎？從長遠來看，您如何看待這個淨額？

Dara, I think you mentioned the five growth areas we've mentioned in the past. And on those, we've mentioned distribution, and we're seeing $15 million of distribution wins in North America and international this quarter. In e-commerce, we grew 15% in Q3. We've grown 25% year-to-date. Market expansion, we continue to see strong growth in developing markets.

達拉，我想您提到了我們過去提到的五個成長領域。在這些方面，我們提到了分銷，本季我們在北美和國際上獲得了 1500 萬美元的分銷收益。在電子商務方面，我們在第三季成長了 15%。今年迄今，我們的成長已達 25%。市場擴張，我們持續看到發展中市場的強勁成長。

Pricing, we have innovation-based pricing and then innovation, you see Podium Series. So we have continued to leverage those sort of five key areas to drive growth going forward. And certainly, the production credits allow us to invest in our business, both from a network standpoint, but also on a growth standpoint. But that production credit is only adding to what we've already done with Project Momentum.

定價，我們有基於創新的定價，然後是創新，你可以看到 Podium 系列。因此，我們將繼續利用這五個關鍵領域來推動未來的成長。當然，製作人員名單使我們能夠從網路角度和成長角度投資我們的業務。但這項製作榮譽只是我們在 Project Momentum 中已經完成的工作的補充。

So we've driven $200 million of savings through Project Momentum over the last three years, which not only helped us restore margins, it also allowed us to have greater ability to invest for growth. So all of these things add up to the ability to invest where we need to, to be able to drive the top line growth that you expect.

因此，我們在過去三年中透過「動力項目」節省了 2 億美元，這不僅幫助我們恢復了利潤率，還使我們擁有了更大的投資能力以實現成長。因此，所有這些因素加起來就使我們有能力在需要的地方進行投資，從而能夠推動您所期望的營收成長。

Okay. But I guess, generally, it sounds like you feel like you've already been stepping up the investment. So it's not like most of this is reinvested back when you look out a couple of years, you could see a decent amount of the production credits drop to the bottom line. Is that a fair way to look at it?

好的。但我想，總的來說，聽起來你感覺你已經在加大投資了。因此，這並不意味著其中大部分都會被重新投資，當你回顧幾年時，你會看到相當一部分製作費用下降到了底線。這是公平的看法嗎？

Dara, what I'd say is we've called up our earnings for '25, and I would view that as kind of a new base. And I think as you head out over a longer period of time from here, we should expect to grow algorithmically off that. I think the credits will really help to drive it.

達拉，我想說的是，我們已經估算出了 25 年的收益，我認為這是一種新的基礎。我認為，從現在開始，經過更長的時間，我們應該期望演算法能夠隨之發展。我認為這些信用確實有助於推動這一進程。

Okay. Great. And that gets me to my next question, which is the comment about growing EPS and EBITDA in '26, is that just meant to communicate, look, we've got a higher base in '25, but we also think we can grow off that even with tariffs and giving us a little more insight given the various factors out there, including tariffs? Or are you signaling more that '26 could be a really outsized growth year? Just wanted to understand a bit more the motivation behind that.

好的。偉大的。這就引出了我的下一個問題，即關於 26 年 EPS 和 EBITDA 增長的評論，這是否只是為了傳達，你看，我們在 25 年有一個更高的基數，但我們也認為即使有關稅，我們也可以在此基礎上實現增長，並讓我們對包括關稅在內的各種因素有更多的了解？或者您是在暗示 2026 年可能會成為真正超額成長的一年？只是想進一步了解背後的動機。

You opened up the window a bit to ask. I understand you won't be giving us a specific number, but there's also a lot of sort of puts and takes as we think about the production credit tariffs and reinvestment. So again, just trying to understand the motivation there and a bit how those three areas, some of which offset each other, some insight into how we should think about that next year?

你稍微打開窗戶詢問。我知道您不會給我們一個具體的數字，但在考慮生產信貸關稅和再投資時，我們也會有很多的得失。所以，再次嘗試去理解那裡的動機，以及這三個領域是如何相互抵消的，對於我們明年應該如何考慮這一點，我們能提供一些見解嗎？

I think it goes into the comment that I just made. So we are calling up earnings for '25. And our intention -- and we're not going to give a '26 outlook, but we do believe that that's embedded in the base. And when you net it all out, we can offset the tariffs. We can continue to invest in the business.

我認為它與我剛才發表的評論相符。因此，我們正在計算 25 年的收益。我們的目的——我們不會給出 26 年的展望，但我們確實相信這是根深蒂固的。當你把所有費用都扣除後，我們就可以抵銷關稅。我們可以繼續投資該業務。

At that new higher level of earnings, we think we can grow off of that. We'll have a better visibility and give real numbers in November, but we did want to signal that we had offset a lot of the things we had seen last quarter, and we're going to be able to grow off the new level.

在新的更高獲利水準下，我們認為我們可以實現成長。我們將在 11 月獲得更好的可見性並提供真實的數字，但我們確實想表明我們已經抵消了上個季度看到的許多事情，並且我們將能夠在新的水平上實現成長。

Andrea Teixeira, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的安德里亞特謝拉 (Andrea Teixeira)。

I just wanted to go back to, Mark, what you talked about the underlying consumption trends in both batteries and autos and then across the globe, if you can. I understand that you had some in the US specifically some potential pull forward in the 4th of July and the Prime Day events. If there is any reason that the implied Q4, which is a touch lighter, I think that probably we all thought it would be because you had a better third quarter. So can you talk to us a little bit more on those puts and takes?

馬克，如果可以的話，我只是想回到你談到的電池和汽車以及全球範圍內的潛在消費趨勢。我知道你們在美國有一些特別的推動力，特別是在 7 月 4 日和 Prime Day 活動中。如果有任何理由暗示第四季的業績會略微好一些，我想，這可能是因為我們都認為這是因為第三季的業績更好。那麼，您能否跟我們進一步談談這些利弊呢？

And then a clarification on the pricing. I understand which is your tariff impact came in better than anticipated. About half of it would be coming through -- the mitigation efforts would be coming through pricing, as you put on the comments on the prepared remarks. Any timing of it and how you're going to execute and if that was already announced with your retail partners in the US, how we should be thinking of that pricing action and potential for elasticity there?

然後澄清定價。我理解這意味著關稅影響比預期的要好。其中大約一半將透過——緩解措施將透過定價來實現，正如您在準備好的評論中所說的那樣。有沒有具體時間安排以及如何執行？如果已經與美國的零售合作夥伴宣布了這一消息，我們應該如何考慮那裡的定價行動和彈性潛力？

Andrea. Let me talk a little bit about Q3. I mean just to answer the question simply, there was a 4th of July shipments as well as Prime Day shipments, which shifted into June instead of July. And as a result, we did have a little bit of pull forward into the quarter.

安德里亞。讓我稍微談談 Q3。我的意思是，只是為了簡單回答這個問題，7 月 4 日和 Prime Day 都有發貨，但發貨時間轉移到了 6 月而不是 7 月。因此，我們在本季確實取得了一些進展。

And so that, I think, mainly explains some of the disconnect from what you're seeing from our US consumption numbers versus our financials. On your second question on pricing, I mean, we took pricing earlier this year. It was based on innovation as well as existing tariff headwinds. We did not take any additional pricing in connection with Liberation Day tariffs. We fully worked through these pricing discussions with our retailers.

因此，我認為這主要解釋了您所看到的美國消費數據與財務數據之間的一些脫節。關於定價的第二個問題，我的意思是，我們在今年稍早就考慮過定價。它是基於創新以及現有的關稅阻力。我們沒有採取與解放日關稅相關的任何額外定價。我們與零售商充分討論了這些定價問題。

It's starting to show up on shelf with some retailers. You're going to see that benefit really start to flow through in Q4. And what -- again, as John just talked through, it allows us to deliver earnings growth this year, and it sets up to deliver earnings growth next year. I think from a tariff standpoint, the message we'd leave you with is we fully offset tariffs with a lot of puts and takes, but we fully offset tariffs in '25 and going into '26.

它開始出現在一些零售商的貨架上。您會看到，這種好處在第四季開始真正顯現。而且 — — 正如約翰剛才所說的那樣，它使我們能夠在今年實現盈利增長，並為明年實現盈利增長奠定了基礎。我認為從關稅的角度來看，我們要傳達的訊息是，我們透過大量的付出和收穫完全抵消了關稅，但我們在 2025 年和 2026 年完全抵消了關稅。

And while you answered that, that's super helpful. On the private label pricing, right, I understand that you said private label has been stable. With their production coming mostly from abroad, do you have any indications of like price gaps that you are between because it's hard to -- for us, we can look at it in the track channel data, but not so much with obviously Amazon Choice and things like that and Amazon Basic. If you can comment on what you're thinking would be embedded in your guide, the price gaps for e-commerce.

當你回答這個問題時，這非常有幫助。關於自有品牌定價，對，我理解您說自有品牌一直很穩定。由於他們的生產主要來自國外，您是否有任何跡象表明存在價格差距，因為這很難 - 對於我們來說，我們可以在跟踪渠道數據中查看它，但顯然 Amazon Choice 和 Amazon Basic 之類的產品並不多。如果您可以評論一下您認為應該在指南中體現的內容，那就是電子商務的價格差距。

Yes, Andrea, I think when we watch price gaps externally, we have seen some movement in private label pricing. One can only presume that has to do with some of the tariffs and the cost of the tariffs. I do think we're in the early days of kind of the impact of tariffs. It's only recently really started to become more settled ground where people can execute pricing against those tariffs. So we have seen some private label pricing move around.

是的，安德里亞，我認為當我們從外部觀察價格差距時，我們已經看到自有品牌定價的一些變化。我們只能推測這與部分關稅和關稅成本有關。我確實認為我們正處於關稅影響的早期階段。直到最近，它才真正開始變得更加穩定，人們可以根據這些關稅進行定價。因此，我們看到一些自有品牌的定價有所變動。

As I mentioned, shares have been largely flat in the latest reporting period. I think it goes back to what I said earlier, I think it was to Bill's question around we're the best positioned battery business out there. We have a portfolio of brands that we can leverage to meet the value needs of consumers, whether that's Energizer or whether that's Rayovac or Eveready. So we have the optionality as the environment settles from a post-tariff regime, and we can respond and leverage our portfolio to maximize the retailer strategy as well as our business with that retailer.

正如我所提到的，最新報告期間股價基本上持平。我想這又回到了我之前所說的，我認為這是比爾關於我們是否是市場上定位最好的電池企業的問題。我們擁有一系列品牌，可以利用它們來滿足消費者的價值需求，無論是 Energizer、Rayovac 還是 Eveready。因此，隨著後關稅制度環境的穩定，我們擁有選擇權，我們可以做出反應並利用我們的投資組合來最大化零售商策略以及我們與該零售商的業務。

Great. And then trends in Europe, if you can comment?

偉大的。那麼歐洲的趨勢如何，您能評論一下嗎？

Yes. What I would say is US has been a little bit softer than the rest of the world. The way I would break it up, Andrea, is sort of modern developed markets following roughly consistent with what you're seeing in the US and then developing, and distributor markets are a little bit healthier.

是的。我想說的是，美國比世界其他國家稍微軟一點。安德里亞，我對此的解釋是，現代已開發市場與你在美國看到的情況大致一致，而發展中國家和經銷商市場則更健康一些。

Peter Grom, UBS.

瑞銀的 Peter Grom。

Maybe just a few housekeeping. Maybe just to follow up on Andrea's question. Just the fourth quarter organic guidance, where I would imagine you have pretty good visibility. But just the step back that you're kind of talking to, is that really just a function of shipment timing? Or is that a sign around maybe underlying trends or category performance deteriorating a bit?

也許只是一些家事。也許只是為了跟進安德里亞的問題。僅就第四季度的有機指導而言，我想您對此會有相當好的了解。但退一步來說，您剛才談到的這真的只是出貨時間的功能嗎？或者這是否預示著潛在趨勢或類別表現可能正在惡化？

Well, you do have the shift from Q4 into Q3. So there is an element of that. You're also -- you have POS trends that were roughly consistent with what our outlook is for top line in the quarter. So I would say the category has proven to be resilient. At times, consumers will make different choices.

嗯，你確實從 Q4 轉向了 Q3。所以有這樣的因素。您也可以看到，您的 POS 趨勢與我們對本季營收的展望大致一致。所以我想說，事實證明該類別具有彈性。有時，消費者會做出不同的選擇。

They'll stretch out their purchasing patterns. They'll shift channels. They'll shift pack size. But at the end of the day, we expect healthy trends in the battery category. It's just from quarter-to-quarter, occasionally, you see some consumer softness, but it doesn't persist for very long.

他們會延長他們的購買模式。他們會轉換頻道。他們會改變包裝尺寸。但最終，我們預期電池類別將呈現健康的趨勢。只是從一個季度到另一個季度，偶爾你會看到一些消費者疲軟，但這種情況不會持續很長時間。

Yes. We haven't changed our full year view. So it's still flat to 2%. You're seeing that move a little bit between third and fourth quarter, but still relatively healthy.

是的。我們沒有改變全年展望。所以它仍然穩定在 2% 左右。您會看到第三季和第四季之間略有變化，但仍然相對健康。

Okay. And then just on that point, just any thoughts in terms of how we should be thinking about the composition of growth between the two segments in the fourth quarter? You alluded to some unfavorable weather. I would imagine that's improved in auto. So just kind of curious how we should be thinking about that from a segment perspective.

好的。那麼就這一點而言，對於我們應該如何看待第四季度這兩個部分之間的成長組成，您有什麼看法嗎？您提到了一些不利的天氣。我想這在汽車領域會有所改善。所以我只是有點好奇我們應該如何從細分角度來考慮這個問題。

Yes. I think the battery, you're going to see roughly in line with our call overall. And obviously, that's 75% to 80% of the business. So that should be pretty synced up. Auto, we expect to do a little better as they do some catching up in the fourth quarter.

是的。我認為，您會看到電池整體情況與我們預期的大致一致。顯然，這佔了業務的 75% 到 80%。所以這應該是相當同步的。汽車產業，我們預計他們會表現得更好一些，因為他們在第四季會迎頭趕上。

Both businesses or both segments should benefit from that pricing that we've taken for tariffs that you'll see come through in the fourth quarter. So I expect pricing to be a little bit of a driver in the quarter, a little bit better on the auto side than battery, though, kind of when you look at the numbers.

這兩個業務或兩個部門都應該受益於我們所採取的關稅定價，您將在第四季度看到這項定價。因此，我預計定價將在本季起到一定推動作用，從數據上看，汽車方面的價格會比電池方面的價格略好一些。

Brian McNamara, Canaccord Genuity.

Canaccord Genuity 的 Brian McNamara。

I'm curious your view on current battery inventories, both at the retailer level and the consumer pantry level. We heard some companies -- other companies talk about retailer destocking in calendar Q1. I'm curious where they stand today.

我很好奇您對目前電池庫存的看法，包括零售商層面和消費者儲藏室層面。我們聽到一些公司——其他公司談論零售商在第一季去庫存。我很好奇他們現在的立場是什麼。

Let's start with consumers first, Brian. I think as consumers sort of stretch out their purchase cycle, I think inventory levels are -- tend to get a little bit lighter in these times. I think when you're looking at retailer inventory levels, I would say right now, they're slightly elevated and that qualification changes retailer to retailer, but we took all that into account as we guided to Q4.

讓我們先從消費者開始，布萊恩。我認為，隨著消費者延長購買週期，庫存水準往往會在這些時候變得稍微低一些。我認為，當您查看零售商的庫存水平時，我會說現在，它們略有升高，並且資格因零售商而異，但我們在指導第四季度時已將所有這些都考慮在內。

Great. And then a quick follow-up. I guess, how would you characterize the overall health of the consumer that you guys serve? You mentioned private label shares are flat, which is a bit counterintuitive based on what we're hearing from other companies...

偉大的。然後進行快速跟進。我想，您如何描述您所服務的消費者的整體健康狀況？您提到自有品牌份額持平，根據我們從其他公司聽到的消息，這有點違反直覺…

From a consumer standpoint, Brian, I think Yes. I think that's a tough question to answer with a succinct answer. I think consumers are certainly acting cautiously. They're seeking value. They're willing to make changes to get what they want.

從消費者的角度來看，布萊恩，我認為是的。我認為這是一個很難用簡潔的答案來回答的問題。我認為消費者肯定會採取謹慎行動。他們正在尋求價值。他們願意做出改變來獲得他們想要的東西。

But how that manifests itself really does change category to category. And when you look at the battery category, as John mentioned, 75% of our business, it is a resilient category. Consumers need batteries. They may stretch out their purchase cycle. They may switch channels.

但其表現方式確實因類別而異。正如約翰所提到的，當你查看電池類別時，它占我們業務的 75%，是一個有彈性的類別。消費者需要電池。他們可能會延長購買週期。他們可能會切換頻道。

They may trade down in pack size. But at the end of the day, it is -- our portfolio serves their needs and allows us to drive the growth that we need.

他們可能會選擇縮小包裝尺寸。但最終，我們的產品組合滿足了他們的需求，並使我們能夠推動所需的成長。

If I could just squeeze one last one in on the pricing element. When does the actual -- the tariff-related price increases actually hit the consumer at the retailer level? Has it happened already? Are you expecting to happen in the next couple of months? Like we've heard mixed messages from other companies.

如果我可以在定價元素上再擠一點的話。與關稅相關的實際價格上漲何時才會真正影響零售商層面的消費者？這已經發生了嗎？您預計在接下來的幾個月內會發生嗎？就像我們從其他公司聽到的混合訊息一樣。

Well, I mean, that's going to be a retailer-based decision. I mean, so we will negotiate our pricing with retailers and then it's retail shelf (inaudible) at their discretion. So that would be a question for retailers.

嗯，我的意思是，這將是一個基於零售商的決定。我的意思是，我們將與零售商協商定價，然後由他們自行決定零售貨架（聽不清楚）。所以這對零售商來說是一個問題。

(Operator Instructions) William Reuter, Bank of America.

（操作員指示）美國銀行威廉·路透。

I just have two quick ones. The first, there was a little bit of a change in your capital allocation. Does your leverage target still remain being below 4x over the long term? And I guess I think M&A has been completely off the table for some time. Does that still remain to be the case?

我只有兩個簡短的問題。首先，你的資本配置發生了一點變化。您的槓桿目標是否長期仍維持在 4 倍以下？我認為併購已經完全不可能一段時間了。情況仍然如此嗎？

Well, I think we will still prioritize paying down debt. So I think getting below 4 is a target that we'd like to continue towards. As far as M&A, we've done small -- very small deals. I think any deals we would look at would not materially change our leverage, at least for the foreseeable future.

嗯，我認為我們仍然會優先償還債務。因此我認為低於 4 是我們希望繼續努力實現的目標。就併購而言，我們做過一些小規模的交易——非常小的交易。我認為，我們所考慮的任何交易都不會實質地改變我們的槓桿作用，至少在可預見的未來不會。

Got it. And then just you kind of touched upon this in the last question, but you mentioned you may see a trade down in pack sizes. Have you seen that thus far? And has this helped on your margins at all in the third quarter? And I guess, do you expect it could in the fourth?

知道了。然後，您在上一個問題中提到了這一點，但您提到您可能會看到包裝尺寸的縮小。到目前為止你看到了嗎？這對您第三季的利潤率有幫助嗎？我想，您認為這在第四階段能夠實現嗎？

Well, so Bill, we have sort of a bifurcation that's going on. Consumers are either trading up to larger pack sizes or they're trading down to smaller pack sizes for an aggregate purchase price. On balance, we sort of -- we sort of work all of those -- the aggregation of those dynamics into our call for the gross margin, which we've provided.

嗯，比爾，我們現在出現了一種分歧。消費者要麼選擇購買更大包裝尺寸的產品，要麼選擇購買更小包裝尺寸的產品，以獲得總購買價格。總的來說，我們將所有這些動態因素匯總到我們所提供的毛利率預測中。

And we have no further questions at this time. I would like to turn it back to Mark LaVigne for closing remarks.

目前我們沒有其他問題。我想請馬克·拉維尼做最後發言。

Thanks all for joining us today. Hope you have a great rest of the day.

感謝大家今天加入我們。祝您今天剩餘的時間過得愉快。

Thank you. And ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的加入。您現在可以斷開連線。