家得寶 (HD) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to The Home Depot Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Isabel Janci. Please go ahead.

各位好，歡迎參加家得寶（The Home Depot）2022 年第三季財報電話會議。（接線員指示）提醒各位，本次會議將被錄音。現在很榮幸為各位介紹今天的主持人 Isabel Janci。請開始。

Thank you, Christine, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Home Depot's Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. Joining us on our call today are Ted Decker, Chair, President and CEO; Jeff Kinnaird, Executive Vice President of Merchandising; and Richard McPhail, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Following our prepared remarks, the call will be open for questions. (Operator Instructions) If we are unable to get your questions during the call, please call our Investor Relations department at (770) 384-2387.

謝謝你，Christine，各位早安。歡迎參加家得寶 2022 年第三季財報電話會議。今天與會的有：董事長、總裁暨執行長 Ted Decker；商品部執行副總裁 Jeff Kinnaird；以及執行副總裁兼財務長 Richard McPhail。在我們的事先準備發言之後，將開放提問。（接線員指示）若我們在會議中無法回答您的問題，請致電投資人關係部門：(770) 384-2387。

Before I turn the call over to Ted, let me remind you that today's press release and the presentations made by our executives include forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the factors identified in the release and in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Today's presentations will also include certain non-GAAP measures. Reconciliation of these measures is provided on our website.

在我把電話交給 Ted 之前，先提醒各位：今天的新聞稿以及我們主管所做的簡報，包含《1995 年私人證券訴訟改革法》（Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995）所定義的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述受到風險與不確定性影響，可能導致實際結果與我們的預期與推估有重大差異。這些風險與不確定性包括但不限於新聞稿以及我們向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）申報文件中所揭露的因素。今天的簡報也將包含若干非 GAAP 衡量指標。這些指標的調節表已提供於我們的網站。

Now let me turn the call over to Ted.

現在我把電話交給 Ted。

Thank you, Isabel, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us on our call this morning.

謝謝你，Isabel，各位早安。感謝各位今天早上加入我們的電話會議。

Sales for the third quarter were $38.9 billion, up 5.6% from the same period last year. Comp sales were up 4.3% from the same period last year, and our U.S. stores had positive comps of 4.5%. Diluted earnings per share were $4.24 in the third quarter compared to $3.92 in the third quarter of last year.

第三季銷售額為 389 億美元，較去年同期成長 5.6%。同店銷售較去年同期成長 4.3%，我們美國門市同店銷售為正成長 4.5%。第三季稀釋後每股盈餘為 4.24 美元，去年第三季為 3.92 美元。

From a geographical perspective, each of our 19 U.S. regions delivered positive comps versus last year, while Mexico posted comps above the company average and Canada below the company average, both in local currency. The team has done a fantastic job serving our customers while continuing to navigate global supply chain disruptions, inflation in a tight labor market.

從地理區域來看，我們在美國的 19 個區域同店銷售皆較去年呈現正成長；墨西哥以當地貨幣計算的同店銷售高於公司平均，而加拿大以當地貨幣計算的同店銷售低於公司平均。團隊在持續因應全球供應鏈中斷、以及緊俏勞動市場下的通膨之際，仍出色地服務我們的顧客。

This quarter also marked another active hurricane season. As they always do, our associates and suppliers did an incredible job supporting those in the path of both Hurricanes Fiona and Ian and our thoughts continue to be with those impacted by these storms.

本季也再次迎來活躍的颶風季。如同以往，我們的同仁與供應商在颶風 Fiona 與 Ian 影響路徑上的支援工作表現卓越；我們也持續關心所有受這些風暴影響的人們。

Our results in the quarter reflect continued solid demand for home improvement projects. While we did see some deceleration in certain products and categories, as Jeff will detail, the project business remains strong across most of our departments. We also saw year-over-year growth with both our Pro and DIY customers in the quarter.

本季的業績反映居家改善專案需求持續穩健。雖然如 Jeff 將詳細說明，我們確實在部分產品與品類看到一些放緩，但在我們多數部門中，專案型業務仍然強勁。本季我們也看到 Pro 與 DIY 顧客皆較去年同期成長。

While the business performed very well and our consumer remains resilient, we are navigating a unique environment. We can't predict how the evolving macroeconomic backdrop will impact our customer going forward. However, we continue to closely monitor elasticities and trends across our business and believe we have the tools, team and the experience to effectively manage in any environment. Despite near-term uncertainties, we believe the long-term underpinnings of demand for home improvement remains strong, and we are well positioned to leverage our distinct competitive advantages to capitalize on compelling growth opportunities in our space.

雖然業務表現非常好、消費者仍具韌性，但我們正處於一個獨特的環境。我們無法預測不斷演變的總體經濟背景未來將如何影響顧客。然而，我們持續密切監控全公司各項業務的需求彈性與趨勢，並相信我們具備工具、團隊與經驗，能在任何環境下有效管理。儘管短期存在不確定性，我們相信居家改善需求的長期基本面仍然強勁，而我們也已做好準備，運用我們獨特的競爭優勢，把握本產業具吸引力的成長機會。

We are pleased with the traction we are seeing in our interconnected business as we continue to build on our momentum with both our Pro and DIY customers. For example, as we have better functionality and capabilities in our Home Depot app, we see greater engagement. In fact, throughout the year, we have seen strong double-digit growth in monthly active users versus last year.

我們很高興看到互聯式業務（interconnected business）持續取得進展，並在 Pro 與 DIY 顧客兩端延續動能。舉例來說，隨著我們在 Home Depot App 上提供更好的功能與能力，我們看到更高的互動參與度。事實上，今年以來，我們的每月活躍用戶數相較去年呈現強勁的雙位數成長。

The growth is attributable to several enhancements we have made, including an improved online experience for our Pro Loyalty program, the seamless connectivity we've provided for a military program and the launch of our new store mode feature, which makes navigating the store and interacting with products much easier. These enhancements translate to less friction of our customers as they navigate the digital world and connect into the physical world.

這項成長歸因於我們所做的多項強化，包括：改善 Pro Loyalty 計畫的線上體驗、為軍人方案提供無縫連結，以及推出全新的「門市模式」（store mode）功能，使顧客在門市內的導覽與與商品互動更為容易。這些強化讓顧客在數位世界中操作並連結到實體世界時，摩擦更少、更順暢。

We also remain focused on driving continuous improvement in productivity within the 4 walls of our store to enhance both the associate and customer experience. We are currently launching a new application on our in-store mobile devices called Sidekick, which is an in-aisle tasking tool designed to direct associates to the highest value tasks in real time.

我們也持續專注於提升門市四面牆內的生產力，以同時改善同仁與顧客體驗。我們目前正在門市行動裝置上推出一款名為 Sidekick 的新應用程式，這是一個走道內任務指派工具，旨在即時引導同仁執行最具價值的工作。

The tool direct associates to key bays were on-shelf availability is low or out exists. By simplifying our operations, we can generate productivity to enhance both the customer and associate experience.

該工具會引導同仁前往關鍵貨架區（bay），也就是貨架可得性偏低或出現缺貨的區域。透過簡化營運，我們能提升生產力，進而改善顧客與同仁的體驗。

For the Pro customer, we remain focused on investing in an ecosystem of capabilities, including enhanced fulfillment, a more personalized online experience as well as other business management tools to drive deeper engagement with these customers. While we are focused on removing friction from the shopping experience, we are also onboarding capabilities to help our Pros run their businesses more efficiently.

針對 Pro 顧客，我們仍專注於投資一套能力生態系，包括強化履約（fulfillment）、更個人化的線上體驗，以及其他業務管理工具，以推動與這些顧客更深度的互動。在致力於降低購物體驗摩擦的同時，我們也導入各項能力，協助 Pro 顧客更有效率地經營其業務。

Our Pros tell us that finding qualified skilled labor is a pain point in their business. To that end, we recently announced our Tap to Pro platform, connecting skilled trades people with hiring trades professionals. This unique and proprietary platform is available at no cost to all Pro Xtra members. It already contains thousands of candidates and Pros have begun posting their open jobs.

我們的 Pro 顧客告訴我們，尋找合格的技術勞工是其業務的一大痛點。為此，我們近期宣布推出 Tap to Pro 平台，將技術工種人才與招募技術專業人士的雇主連結起來。這個獨特且專有的平台對所有 Pro Xtra 會員皆免費提供。目前平台已包含數千名候選人，且 Pro 顧客已開始張貼其職缺。

Our team remains focused on what is most important, our associates and customers, our merchants, store MET teams, supplier partners and supply chain teams did an outstanding job delivering value and service to our customers throughout the quarter.

我們的團隊仍專注於最重要的事：同仁與顧客。我們的採購團隊、門市 MET 團隊、供應商夥伴與供應鏈團隊，在整個季度中為顧客提供價值與服務方面表現出色。

I'd like to close by thanking them for their dedication and hard work. With that, let me turn the call over to Jeff.

最後，我要感謝他們的投入與辛勤付出。接下來我把電話交給 Jeff。

Thank you, Ted, and good morning, everyone. I want to start by also thanking all of our associates and supplier partners for their ongoing commitment to serving our customers and communities. As you heard from Ted, during the third quarter, we continued to see solid demand for home improvement projects and strong execution from our teams and supplier partners.

謝謝你，Ted，各位早安。我也想先感謝所有同仁與供應商夥伴，持續致力於服務我們的顧客與社區。正如 Ted 所提到的，第三季我們持續看到居家改善專案的穩健需求，以及我們團隊與供應商夥伴強而有力的執行力。

Turning to our comp performance during the third quarter. 11 of our 14 merchandising departments posted positive comps: build materials, plumbing, lumber, millwork, paint and hardware had comps above the company average. All other departments with the exception of appliances, flooring and indoor garden were positive, but below the company average. During the third quarter, our comp average ticket increased 8.8% and comp transactions decreased 4.4%. The growth in our comp average ticket was driven primarily by inflation across our product categories as well as demand for new and innovative products.

接著談第三季的同店表現。我們 14 個商品部門中有 11 個同店銷售為正成長：建材、管路（plumbing）、木材（lumber）、木作成品（millwork）、油漆與五金的同店表現高於公司平均。除家電、地板與室內園藝外，其餘部門同店皆為正成長，但低於公司平均。第三季同店平均客單價上升 8.8%，同店交易筆數下降 4.4%。同店平均客單價的成長主要來自各產品品類的通膨，以及對新穎創新產品的需求。

Inflation from core commodity categories positively impacted our average ticket growth by approximately 200 basis points during the third quarter, driven by inflation in build materials, lumber and copper. Big ticket comp transactions or those over $1,000 were up 10.1% compared to the third quarter of last year. We saw a big ticket strength across many Pro-heavy categories like fasteners, pipe and fittings and gypsum.

第三季核心大宗商品品類的通膨，對我們平均客單價成長帶來約 200 個基點的正向影響，主要由建材、木材與銅的通膨所帶動。大額交易（big ticket）同店交易筆數（即單筆超過 1,000 美元者）較去年第三季成長 10.1%。我們在多個以 Pro 為主的品類看到大額交易的強勁表現，例如緊固件、管材與配件，以及石膏板。

During the third quarter, both Pro and DIY sales growth were positive, with Pro outpacing DIY. We're encouraged by the continued momentum we are seeing with both our Pro and DIY customers. In addition, our Pros tell us their backlogs remain strong.

第三季 Pro 與 DIY 的銷售成長皆為正，其中 Pro 的成長快於 DIY。我們對 Pro 與 DIY 顧客持續展現的動能感到鼓舞。此外，我們的 Pro 顧客也告訴我們，他們的在手訂單（backlogs）仍然強勁。

During the quarter, our project business remained healthy. This can be seen in the double-digit comp performance of our build materials, plumbing, lumber and new work departments as well as in other categories like fencing, siding, conduit boxes and fittings, hubs and showers and cabinets.

本季我們的專案型業務維持健康。這可從建材、管路、木材與新建工程（new work）部門的同店雙位數表現看出，也反映在其他品類，例如圍籬、外牆板（siding）、導管盒與配件、接線盒（hubs）、淋浴設備與櫥櫃。

We're also encouraged by the momentum we continue to see with our larger Pro customers. These medium to large repair remodel Pros continue to post strong double-digit comps. We believe we are building a unique interconnected Pro ecosystem that will increase our ability to grow share in a $450 billion addressable Pro space. To serve the Pro, it's about removing friction through a multitude of enhanced product offerings and capabilities. We feel confident that the investments across our Pro ecosystem are resonating and that we continue to gain share with this important customer.

我們也對大型 Pro 顧客持續展現的動能感到鼓舞。這些中大型維修與翻新（repair remodel）Pro 持續繳出強勁的同店雙位數成長。我們相信，我們正在打造一個獨特的互聯式 Pro 生態系，將提升我們在可服務的 4,500 億美元 Pro 市場中擴大市占的能力。服務 Pro 的關鍵在於透過多元的強化商品供給與能力來降低摩擦。我們對於在 Pro 生態系上的各項投資正產生共鳴、且我們持續在這個重要顧客族群中提升市占，充滿信心。

As you know, we've been on a journey to remove friction from our interconnected shopping experience. A great example of this was our announcement in December of 2017 to own more of the appliance delivery end-to-end. And in the third quarter, we achieved an important milestone. We now have 100% of our appliance delivery volume managed through our market delivery operations. This has significantly improved the customer experience. On-time and complete deliveries have increased meaningfully and customer satisfaction metrics have increased by approximately 6 percentage points compared to the third quarter of last year.

如各位所知，我們一直在推動一段旅程，以降低互聯式購物體驗中的摩擦。一個很好的例子是，我們在 2017 年 12 月宣布要端到端（end-to-end）掌握更多家電配送環節。而在第三季，我們達成了一個重要里程碑：目前我們 100% 的家電配送量皆透過我們的市場配送營運（market delivery operations）進行管理。這已顯著改善顧客體驗。準時且完整的配送大幅提升，顧客滿意度指標也較去年第三季提高約 6 個百分點。

Turning to total company online sales. We are very pleased with the performance of our digital assets. Sales leveraging our digital platforms increased nearly 10% compared to the third quarter of last year. This was driven by our continued investments, which are resonating with our customers. For example, during the quarter, lead times improved across different fulfillment capabilities, which drove greater conversion.

接著談談全公司線上銷售。我們對數位資產的表現感到非常滿意。透過我們數位平台帶動的銷售額，較去年第三季成長近10%。這主要來自我們持續的投資，並且正與顧客產生共鳴。舉例來說，本季我們在不同履約能力上的交付前置時間皆有所改善，進而帶動更高的轉換率。

For those customers that chose to transact with us online during the third quarter, approximately 50% of our online orders were fulfilled through our stores, a testament to the power of our interconnected retail strategy. We're excited about the holiday season. During the third quarter, we hosted our Halloween event and could not be happier with the results. 2022 was a record sales year for our Halloween program, both in-store and online, as our customers continue to add to their collection with our unique and exclusive assortment.

對於在第三季選擇透過線上與我們交易的顧客而言，我們約有50%的線上訂單是由門市完成履約，這證明了我們互聯零售策略的強大。我們對假期旺季感到振奮。第三季期間，我們舉辦了萬聖節活動，對成果再滿意不過。2022年是我們萬聖節專案的銷售創紀錄年度，無論在門市或線上皆然，因為顧客持續以我們獨特且獨家的商品組合擴充他們的收藏。

As we turn our attention to the fourth quarter, we intend to continue this momentum with our annual holiday, Black Friday and gift center events. Our teams have sourced the most compelling artificial tree assortment we have ever had, which makes it easier for our customers to find the perfect tree for their holiday. In terms of our decorative holiday program, we couldn't be happier with our industry-leading assortment with extraordinary features and functionality that looks great and also reflects exceptional value.

隨著我們把重心轉向第四季，我們打算透過年度假期、黑色星期五以及禮品中心活動延續這股動能。我們的團隊採購了我們歷來最具吸引力的人造聖誕樹商品組合，讓顧客更容易找到最適合他們節慶需求的樹款。就節慶裝飾專案而言，我們對於具備卓越特色與功能、外觀出色且同時展現極高價值的業界領先商品組合感到非常滿意。

In our gift center, we continue to lean into brands that matter most for our customers with our assortment of Milwaukee, RYOBI, Makita, DEWALT, RIDGID, Husky and more. Earlier this fall, we launched the next generation of the Milwaukee drill and Drive M18 fuel lineup, offering more power, run time and increased safety for our customers. In our gift center, we are featuring this innovation in combo kits with 4 tools and 2 tools. And we have our exclusive RIDGID 4 tool, 18-volt brushless combination kit with 2 free tools, all backed by our lifetime service agreement.

在禮品中心方面，我們持續聚焦對顧客最重要的品牌，提供 Milwaukee、RYOBI、Makita、DEWALT、RIDGID、Husky 等等的商品組合。今年秋季稍早，我們推出新一代 Milwaukee 電鑽與 Drive M18 Fuel 產品線，為顧客帶來更強動力、更長續航時間以及更高安全性。在禮品中心，我們以包含4件工具與2件工具的組合套裝呈現這項創新。此外，我們也提供獨家 RIDGID 4件工具、18伏無刷組合套裝，並加贈2件工具，且全數享有我們的終身服務協議保障。

And in appliances, we have exciting offers on LG, Samsung, Flash, Oraple, GE and Frigidaire. We have multiple exclusive offers, including the LG side-by-side refrigerator with craft ice, a great innovation and ice-making. As with prior years, we've extended these events over several weeks, and we believe we are well positioned with the right brands, the right inventory and a great customer experience.

在家電方面，我們針對 LG、Samsung、Flash、Oraple、GE 與 Frigidaire 推出令人振奮的優惠。我們有多項獨家方案，包括配備 craft ice 的 LG 對開門冰箱，這是一項很棒的製冰創新。如同往年，我們將這些活動延長至數週進行；我們相信，憑藉正確的品牌、適當的庫存以及優質的顧客體驗，我們已做好充分準備。

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

接下來，我想把電話會議交給 Richard。

Thank you, Jeff, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，Jeff，各位早安。

In the third quarter, total sales were $38.9 billion, an increase of $2.1 billion or 5.6% from last year. During the third quarter, our total company comps were positive 4.3%, with positive comps of 7.1% in August, 4.4% in September and 2.1% in October. Comps in the U.S. were positive 4.5% for the quarter, with positive comps of 7.2% in August, 4.2% in September and 2.5% in October. On a 3-year basis, monthly comps were consistent across the quarter.

第三季總銷售額為389億美元，較去年增加21億美元，增幅5.6%。第三季全公司同店銷售（comps）成長4.3%，其中8月同店成長7.1%、9月成長4.4%、10月成長2.1%。美國市場同店在本季成長4.5%，其中8月成長7.2%、9月成長4.2%、10月成長2.5%。以三年為基礎來看，各月份同店表現於本季期間維持一致。

In the third quarter, our gross margin was approximately 34%, a decrease of approximately 10 basis points from last year primarily driven by supply chain investments. We continue to successfully offset significant transportation and product cost pressures while maintaining our position as the customer's advocate for value.

第三季毛利率約為34%，較去年下降約10個基點，主要是由供應鏈投資所致。我們持續成功抵銷顯著的運輸與產品成本壓力，同時維持我們作為顧客價值倡議者的定位。

During the third quarter, operating expense as a percent of sales decreased 18 basis points to 18.2%. Our operating expense performance was in line with our expectations, which reflected continued wage investments as well as planned investments designed to drive efficiency in our store environment.

第三季營業費用占銷售額比重下降18個基點至18.2%。我們的營業費用表現符合預期，反映了持續的薪資投資，以及為提升門市環境效率而規劃的投資。

Our operating margin for the third quarter was 15.8% compared to 15.7% in the third quarter of 2021. Interest and other expense for the third quarter increased by $80 million to $406 million due primarily to higher long-term debt levels than 1 year ago. In the third quarter, our effective tax rate was 24.4%, down from 24.5% in the third quarter of fiscal 2021. Our diluted earnings per share for the third quarter were $4.24, an increase of 8.2% compared to the third quarter of 2021.

第三季營業利益率為15.8%，相較於2021年第三季的15.7%。第三季利息及其他費用增加8,000萬美元至4.06億美元，主要因長期負債水準較一年前更高。第三季有效稅率為24.4%，低於2021會計年度第三季的24.5%。第三季稀釋後每股盈餘為4.24美元，較2021年第三季成長8.2%。

During the third quarter, we opened 3 new stores, 1 in the U.S. and 2 in Mexico, bringing our total store count to 2,319. Retail selling square footage was approximately 241 million square feet. At the end of the third quarter, inventories were $25.7 billion, up $5.1 billion compared to the third quarter of 2021. Inventory turns were 4.3x, down from 5.4x last year. And our inventory growth primarily reflects product cost inflation and strategic decisions in response to continued global supply chain disruption.

第三季我們新開3家門市，其中美國1家、墨西哥2家，使門市總數達2,319家。零售銷售面積約為2.41億平方英尺。第三季末庫存為257億美元，較2021年第三季增加51億美元。庫存周轉率為4.3倍，低於去年的5.4倍。我們的庫存成長主要反映產品成本通膨，以及因應全球供應鏈持續受擾所做的策略性決策。

Turning to capital allocation. After investing in our business and paying our dividend, it is our intent to return excess cash to shareholders in the form of share repurchases. During the third quarter, we invested $770 million back into our business in the form of capital expenditures. And during the quarter, we paid approximately $1.9 billion in dividends to our shareholders and we returned approximately $1.2 billion to shareholders in the form of share repurchases.

接著談資本配置。在投資業務並支付股利之後，我們的意圖是以股票回購的形式將多餘現金回饋給股東。第三季我們以資本支出形式回投7.70億美元至業務中。本季我們向股東支付約19億美元股利，並以股票回購形式向股東回饋約12億美元。

Computed on the average of beginning and ending long-term debt and equity for the trailing 12 months, return on invested capital was approximately 43.3%, down from 43.9% in the third quarter of fiscal 2021.

以過去12個月期初與期末長期負債與權益的平均值計算，投入資本報酬率約為43.3%，低於2021會計年度第三季的43.9%。

Now I will comment on our guidance for fiscal 2022. As you heard from Ted, we are very pleased with the solid performance we saw during the third quarter. Today, we are reaffirming our guidance for 2022. We expect comp sales growth of approximately 3% for fiscal 2022. We expect comp sales to be positive for the fourth quarter. We expect our fiscal 2022 operating margin to be approximately 15.4% for the year. And we expect mid-single-digit percentage growth and diluted earnings per share compared to fiscal 2021.

現在我將說明我們對2022會計年度的財測指引。如同各位從 Ted 那裡聽到的，我們對第三季所見到的穩健表現感到非常滿意。今天，我們重申2022年的指引。我們預期2022會計年度同店銷售成長約3%。我們預期第四季同店銷售將為正成長。我們預期2022會計年度全年營業利益率約為15.4%。此外，我們預期相較2021會計年度，營收將呈現中個位數百分比成長，稀釋後每股盈餘亦將成長。

As we've said throughout the year, we find ourselves in a unique environment with many cross-currents. We are operating in a broad-based inflationary environment, not seen in 4 decades while managing through constrained global supply chain conditions, all against the backdrop of monetary policy shifts intended to moderate demand.

正如我們今年以來一再提到的，我們正處於一個獨特且多股力量交錯的環境。我們在一個廣泛性的通膨環境中營運，這是四十年來未見的情況；同時還要在全球供應鏈受限的條件下運作，而背景則是貨幣政策轉向，意在抑制需求。

To date, our customer has proven resilient. We feel confident that we will continue to manage with flexibility through a dynamic environment while growing faster than our market and delivering exceptional shareholder value.

截至目前，我們的顧客展現出韌性。我們有信心能在多變的環境中以彈性方式持續管理，同時以高於市場的速度成長，並為股東創造卓越價值。

Before opening the call for questions, we are pleased to announce that we will be holding an investor conference on June 13, 2023 in New York City. We will share more details in the near future, but for now, please hold the date.

在開放提問之前，我們很高興宣布將於2023年6月13日在紐約市舉辦投資人會議。我們將在近期分享更多細節，但目前請先預留該日期。

Thank you for your participation in today's call. And Christine, we are now ready for questions.

感謝各位參與今天的電話會議。Christine，我們現在準備開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Michael Lasser with UBS.

（接線員指示）我們的第一個問題來自 UBS 的 Michael Lasser。

The sentiment and narrative around your stock is so heavily focused right now on factors that are out of the Home Depot's control, like the state of the housing market and its ultimate impact on home improvement demand. So can you help frame what easing your control? If home improvement demand, for example, was down 5% next year, is the state of your initiative such that Home Depot could gain a couple of hundred basis points of market share. And in that environment, you'd only be down, call it, 3%.

目前市場對你們股票的情緒與敘事，極度聚焦在一些不在 Home Depot 控制範圍內的因素上，例如房市狀況及其對居家修繕需求的最終影響。所以你能否協助界定哪些是在你們可控範圍內？例如，如果明年居家修繕需求下滑5%，以你們目前各項計畫的狀態，Home Depot 是否能夠提升幾百個基點的市占率？在那樣的環境下，你們的跌幅可能就只有大約3%。

And if your comps were only down 3%, given the flexibility that you have with your cost structure coupled with your current capitalization that affords you to buy back a lot of stock, you could actually grow earnings in that sort of scenario.

而如果你們的同店只下滑3%，考量你們成本結構的彈性，再加上目前的資本結構讓你們可以回購大量股票，在那種情境下你們其實可能還能讓獲利成長。

Michael, thanks for the question. A lot of detail there that I won't get into specifics, but assure you that we look forward to taking share in any environment. There is a lot of noise around housing and home improvement. And you've heard some of this before, but if I can just step back a minute and lay out the environment the way we see it. I mean, we still feel very good, Michael, about our business. We just reported another strong quarter and reaffirmed our guidance for the year.

Michael，謝謝你的問題。你提到很多細節，我不會逐一深入到具體數字，但我可以向你保證，我們期待在任何環境下都能取得市占。市場上對房市與居家修繕有很多雜音。你之前也聽過其中一些觀點，但如果我可以先退一步，用我們的角度來描述我們所看到的環境：Michael，我們對自己的業務仍然感到非常有信心。我們剛公布了又一個強勁的季度，並重申了全年指引。

And remember, we've grown this business $47 billion in the last 2 and 3 quarters a year. From our core customer, we think our customer is still healthy. I mean our customer tends to have a good job, growing wages, strong balance sheets. They own their home and have seen increased home equity. However, as Richard said in his prepared notes, I mean it is a unique environment, lots of cross-currents, inflation and rising interest rates, et cetera.

而且請記住，我們在過去 2 年又 3 個季度的時間裡，已將這項業務成長了 470 億美元。就我們的核心客群而言，我們認為客戶仍然健康。我的意思是，我們的客戶通常有份好工作、薪資成長、資產負債表強勁。他們擁有自住房，並且看到房屋淨值增加。不過，正如 Richard 在他事先準備的講稿中所說，我的意思是，這是一個獨特的環境，有很多相互牽動的因素，通膨與利率上升等等。

But given all that, our customer has remained resilient and engaged. As we said, both our Pro and DIY customers grew again in this past quarter. Project demand, in particular, is very strong. Our Pro sales are strong and our Pro intercepts with our customers indicate that their backlogs are still very healthy.

但即便如此，我們的客戶仍保持韌性並持續參與。如我們所說，我們的 Pro 與 DIY 客戶在上一季都再次成長。尤其是專案需求非常強勁。我們的 Pro 銷售表現強勁，而我們與客戶的 Pro 攔截訪談顯示，他們的在手訂單仍然非常健康。

Customers are still spending lots of time at home. We're not all back at work 5 days a week. These homes continue to age. And they're worth 40% more than they were pre pandemic. Now I'm sure we'll get into some housing questions in housing values may go down a bit, but we're still going to be up meaningfully on a 2-year basis.

客戶仍然花很多時間待在家裡。我們並不是所有人都回到每週 5 天到辦公室上班。這些房屋持續老化。而且它們的價值比疫情前高出 40%。現在我相信我們會談到一些住房問題，房價可能會小幅下滑，但以兩年為基準，我們仍將顯著高於先前水準。

We did see some deceleration in certain products and categories. And again, that's difficult to get at a root cause. Is it a consumer pulling back in general? Is there a reaction to price inflation? Do we have some pull forward in certain categories that people bought so much of certain categories during the pandemic? Or are they moving on to other projects?

我們確實看到某些產品與品類出現一些放緩。而且再次強調，這很難追溯到根本原因。是消費者整體在縮手嗎？是對價格通膨的反應嗎？是否某些品類在疫情期間因為大家買了太多而出現提前拉貨？或者他們正在轉向其他專案？

Our transactions have been stronger than initially thought with this inflation. I mean that's why we have raised guidance throughout the year is that the price sensitivity wasn't as strong as we thought it would be. However, our guidance implies that fourth quarter comps will be the lowest for the year, albeit positive and we have tougher comps from Q4 last year.

在這波通膨下，我們的交易量比最初預期更強。我的意思是，這也是為什麼我們今年一路上調指引，因為價格敏感度並沒有像我們原先想的那麼強。不過，我們的指引意味著第四季的同店銷售成長將是全年最低，儘管仍為正成長，而且我們也面臨去年第四季較高的比較基期。

So with all of that as a backdrop, I mean, as I said in my comments, we believe we have the team, the strategy, the initiatives with each of our consumer and Pro that we'll continue to take share in any operating environment. And while there may be some of these cross-currents in the next X quarters in housing, we still feel the backdrop of housing, the fundamental shortage of housing in this country and the aging of homes is incredibly strong for our space in the medium to long term.

因此，以這一切作為背景，我的意思是，正如我在評論中所說，我們相信我們擁有團隊、策略與各項計畫，無論面對消費者或 Pro 客群，都能在任何營運環境下持續提升市占。即使未來幾個季度住房市場可能出現一些相互牽動的因素，我們仍認為住房的背景條件——本國住房的結構性短缺以及房屋老化——在中長期對我們所處的領域而言依然極為有利。

That's very helpful framework. But in light of some of the deceleration that you're seeing, one might assume that, that might be a prelude to what could be a more pronounced deceleration into '23, especially as some of the material benefit from inflation that the Home Depot has experienced this year fades. So is it best to recalibrate our expectations and think and model more about a negative comp in 2023 for the Home Depot, even if it's just slightly negative?

這個框架非常有幫助。但鑑於你們看到的一些放緩，有人可能會認為，這可能是 2023 年更明顯放緩的前兆，尤其是 Home Depot 今年從通膨中獲得的部分實質助益逐漸消退之際。所以，我們是否最好重新校準預期，在 2023 年對 Home Depot 的同店銷售成長做更多負成長的假設與建模，即便只是小幅負成長？

Well, we'll talk about '23 after our fourth quarter earnings call in February. Again, we remain incredibly bullish. There are certainly factors outside of our control, are the Fed actions going to ultimately take us to a recession? If so, how deep that might be? Those are things that we're all wrestling with and everyone has an opinion. But we're focused on what we can control, rolling out our strategies, delighting our customers and taking share in any environment.

嗯，我們會在 2 月的第四季財報電話會議之後再談 2023 年。再次強調，我們仍然非常看多。當然也有一些我們無法控制的因素，例如聯準會的行動最終是否會把我們帶入衰退？如果是，衰退會有多深？這些都是我們都在思考的問題，而且每個人都有自己的看法。但我們專注於我們能控制的事：推進我們的策略、讓客戶滿意，並在任何環境下提升市占。

Our next question comes from the line of Simeon Gutman with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自 Morgan Stanley 的 Simeon Gutman。

Focusing on housing. So housing metrics are decelerating much quicker than your comps or your comp stacks. Is this just a lag effect? I don't know if this lag is longer than other lags or -- and Ted, you just made the case that maybe sales decouple from these metrics. I assume it's temporary because of home equity, and we're spending more time in our home? Or are you suggesting that maybe it's not temporary because we're spending more time in our home?

聚焦在住房。住房相關指標的放緩速度比你們的同店銷售或同店堆疊（comp stacks）快得多。這只是落後效應嗎？我不知道這個落後期是否比其他落後期更長，或者——Ted，你剛才提出也許銷售會與這些指標脫鉤。我假設這是暫時的，因為有房屋淨值，而且我們在家裡待的時間更長？還是你在暗示，因為我們在家裡待的時間更長，所以這可能不是暫時的？

So Simeon, it's Richard. Just to maybe sort of put some further points on Ted's backdrop, a lot is made of home prices and -- home price appreciation change and home price appreciation, we think, has always driven home improvement demand, and we've talked that to you for a long time. But what we also really ran into even, I'd call it, the middle part of the last decade was that as home prices begin to call it, become more steady, price discovery, in our view, became a little bit harder.

Simeon，我是 Richard。也許再補充一些 Ted 所提背景的要點。大家很常談到房價以及——房價漲幅的變化；我們認為房價上漲一直以來都會帶動居家修繕需求，我們也跟你們談這件事很久了。但我們在上個十年的中段也確實遇到一個情況：當房價開始變得更穩定時，在我們看來，價格發現（price discovery）變得更難一些。

And so the question has always been, number one, is there a lag to spending? Are you going to spend in that specific period when you know your home price is appreciated or is there a halo effect that lags over multiple periods? And our hypothesis is yes. That's what we saw in the last decade. And I think that, that just sort of holds true from an intuitive perspective.

所以問題一直是：第一，支出是否存在落後？你會在你知道房價上漲的那個特定期間就花錢，還是會有一種延續到多個期間的光環效應（halo effect）？我們的假設是會的。這就是我們在上個十年看到的情況。我認為從直覺角度來看，這也說得通。

But I think there's another -- there are so many points that are important and I think we are all somewhat anchored to what we observed in 2008 and '09, and many of the folks on this call, in fact, almost all of us were here during 2008, 2009. You have a situation where 25% of homeowners were underwater on their mortgages. You had really a relationship that we saw in our comp sales driven by acceleration in foreclosures.

但我認為還有另一點——有太多重要的點，而且我想我們多少都被 2008、2009 年的觀察所錨定；事實上，這通電話上的許多人，幾乎我們所有人，當時都在 2008、2009 年。當時的情況是，有 25% 的屋主房貸處於資不抵債（underwater）。我們看到同店銷售與法拍加速之間有非常明顯的關係。

So it wasn't -- we were not in a period of home price depreciation that you're talking about single digits. We had a massive price correction in 2006 to 2008. There was price discovery every single day on the front of the newspaper and millions of forced sellers that were creating that price discovery.

所以那不是——我們並不是在你所說那種個位數的房價下跌期間。我們在 2006 到 2008 年經歷了大幅的價格修正。每天報紙頭版都有價格發現的資訊，數以百萬計的被迫賣方在推動那種價格發現。

When I look at the situation now, as Ted said, we have home price appreciation of essentially 40% year-over-year -- sorry, over the last 3 years. In fact, year-over-year home prices are up 13%. Since December, home prices are up 8%. It is decelerating. But I think if you ask -- or you listen to most observers, and I think most people are calling for, if there is a correction, a modest one.

當我看現在的情況，如 Ted 所說，過去 3 年房價累計上漲基本上達到 40%——抱歉，是過去 3 年。事實上，年增率房價上漲 13%。自 12 月以來，房價上漲 8%。確實在放緩。但我認為如果你去問——或你去聽大多數觀察者的看法，我想多數人都認為，即便有修正，也會是溫和的修正。

So my question is, how will the price discovery occur? And then second, is that price depreciation actually meaningful enough to change folks' spending behavior? Because as Ted said, if you're a homeowner, you've done quite well from a balance sheet perspective. You likely have a job, you likely have cash in the bank. And then we're seeing another just interesting dynamic where with mortgage rates increasing, our customer is becoming more and more likely to stay in place and begin a project. So improved in place.

所以我的問題是，價格發現將如何發生？第二，這種房價下跌是否真的足以改變人們的支出行為？因為如 Ted 所說，如果你是屋主，從資產負債表角度來看你表現得相當不錯。你很可能有工作，你很可能銀行裡有現金。然後我們也看到另一個很有趣的動態：隨著房貸利率上升，我們的客戶越來越可能選擇留在原地並開始做專案，也就是就地改善（improve in place）。

And so just sort of going back to the health of the homeowner back in over a decade ago, 25% of mortgages were underwater back then. Let's look at the credit standing of the housing stock in the U.S. now. Of owner-occupied households, 40% are owned outright, no mortgage. Of the 60% that do have a mortgage, 90% of those mortgages are fixed rate, 73% of those mortgages are fixed rate below 4%.

再回到十多年前屋主的健康狀況，當時有 25% 的房貸是資不抵債。現在來看看美國住房存量的信用狀況。在自住戶中，40% 是完全持有，沒有房貸。在有房貸的 60% 當中，其中 90% 是固定利率房貸，而其中 73% 的固定利率房貸利率低於 4%。

So we are now seeing a dynamic of stay in place and improve their home. And that's what our customers are telling us, and that's what the Pros are telling us their customers are telling them.

所以我們現在看到的是「留在原地並改善住房」的動態。這是我們的客戶告訴我們的，也是 Pro 告訴我們他們的客戶跟他們說的。

That's helpful. A follow-up on another very easy to forecast variable, inflation. Can you frame maybe what percentage of your sales could be at risk from disinflation? Is it 100? Or it shouldn't be 100 because some parts of your product mix aren't going to be vulnerable?

這很有幫助。追問另一個非常容易預測的變數：通膨。你能否說明一下，若出現通膨降溫（disinflation），你們有多少比例的銷售可能面臨風險？是 100% 嗎？或者不應該是 100%，因為你們的產品組合中有些部分不會那麼脆弱？

It's Jeff Kinnaird. We're watching inflation very carefully. We have seen some deceleration in inflation in the recent months which is good for our consumers. But broadly, we are still experiencing some inflation in some specific categories. I'll call it the lumber market. We have seen a deflationary market in lumber over the recent weeks. In fact, we've seen a lot of stabilization in that industry versus the prior 2 years.

我是 Jeff Kinnaird。我們正非常密切地關注通膨。近幾個月我們確實看到通膨有所放緩，這對消費者是好事。但整體而言，我們在某些特定品類仍然經歷一些通膨。我會以木材市場為例。最近幾週我們在木材看到通縮性的市場。事實上，相較於前兩年，我們也看到該產業出現了更多的穩定。

I did call out an impact from inflation in lumber for the quarter that was more representative of early days in the quarter. But we're looking at it carefully or managing category by category. We're working closely with our suppliers in terms of managing cost and cost components. We have a very good and deep understanding of virtually all cost components of all products that we sell. And again, we're managing it very closely.

我確實提到本季木材通膨帶來的影響，這更能代表本季早期的情況。但我們會逐一品類仔細觀察並加以管理。我們與供應商密切合作，以管理成本與成本構成。我們對幾乎所有我們所銷售產品的各項成本構成都有非常良好且深入的理解。而且再次強調，我們正非常緊密地管理這件事。

Our next question comes from the line of Chris Horvers with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自 JPMorgan 的 Chris Horvers。

So maybe to summarize your comments today, I guess, it's that you are incrementally more cautious because you're seeing certain categories maybe become slowing or more volatile but it's not dramatic and it's more the uncertainty of what the Fed's rate raising is going to affect the business in the future potentially?

所以也許總結一下你今天的評論，我想，你是逐步變得更謹慎，因為你看到某些品類可能開始放緩或波動變大，但並不劇烈；更多是因為不確定聯準會升息未來可能會如何影響業務？

That's -- yes, I think that's a fair representation, Chris.

那個——是的，我認為這是很公平的描述，Chris。

Okay. And then -- so can you talk about some of the KPIs you're watching? I guess, what category specifically are concerning you? Are you seeing DIY trade down? Are you seeing maybe unit trends in the project business slowing? It seems like the commodity inflation is driving some of your best project categories. And are you seeing any more sort of volatility from the consumer, I guess, over the past couple of months that is adding that element of caution.

好的。然後——你能談談你正在關注的一些KPI嗎？我想，具體哪些品類讓你擔心？你有看到DIY客群往下換購（trade down）嗎？你有看到專案型業務的單位趨勢放緩嗎？看起來大宗商品通膨正在推動你們一些最好的專案品類。那麼你是否在過去幾個月看到消費者端出現更多波動，從而增加了這種謹慎的因素？

Well, I would say that the healthiest thing we see, and as you can imagine, we look at every data set and by geography and category, et cetera. The healthiest thing about the business is the project nature of the demand. We are a project-oriented business and all the categories that Jeff called out that is driving that project demand remains incredibly strong. And we look at it with both our Pro customers, household Pros versus consumers, and that project demand remains strong with each of the Pro and the consumer.

嗯，我會說我們看到最健康的一點是——如你所想像，我們會看每一個資料集，按地理區域、品類等等來看。這個業務最健康的地方在於需求的專案屬性。我們是一個以專案為導向的業務，而Jeff點出的所有那些推動專案需求的品類依然非常強勁。我們也從專業客戶（Pro）端、家庭型Pro與消費者端兩方面來看，而這種專案需求在Pro與消費者兩端都仍然強勁。

Some of the caution is -- and again, was it pull forward? Is it finally some price sensitivity on some of these whole good items? We've talked about certain appliance categories or grills. Those definitely have come off the boil. And again, as everyone has purchased in the last 3 years, a lot of those categories, and they've moved into more project and home improvement. Or is there a reaction to inflation. That's what's a little harder to tease out.

一些謹慎之處在於——再說一次，是不是需求提前透支（pull forward）？是不是在某些整機類商品上終於出現了一些價格敏感度？我們談過某些家電品類或烤爐。那些確實已經降溫了。再者，過去3年大家都買了很多那類商品，然後轉向更多專案與居家改善。或者這是對通膨的反應。這些就比較難以釐清。

Here's a case in point. You look at our indoor garden business, 2 big categories, you might say, are more discretionary, grills and patio. Grills was down. But patio, we had one of the strongest patio quarters that I can remember. So there are definitely some mixed signals. It's definitely got our attention, and that's why we're cautious.

這裡有個例子。你看我們的室內園藝業務，有兩個大品類，你可能會說更偏可選消費：烤爐和庭院（patio）。烤爐是下滑的。但庭院方面，我們有我記憶中最強的庭院季度之一。所以確實有一些互相矛盾的訊號。這確實引起了我們的注意，也因此我們保持謹慎。

And I guess just following up, you talked about consistent 3-year trends over the month. Obviously, October was an incredibly strong month last year. I guess is it -- was that just -- we've heard a lot about the consumer shopping early last year and the holiday season is normalizing. To what extent do you think maybe the election has had an impact on the business in November? And just overall, how are you thinking about the positioning today and then into the holiday season.

我再追問一下，你提到這個月度表現的三年趨勢一致。顯然去年10月非常強。我想問——那是不是只是——我們聽到很多說法是去年消費者提早購物，而假期季正在回歸正常。你認為選舉在11月對業務有多大影響？以及整體而言，你們如何看待目前的佈局，以及進入假期季之後的定位？

Yes, Jeff Kinnaird. Look, we see some normalization back to 2019 in terms of the consumer trend. In the last couple of years, we've seen pull forward in concerns of supply chain-driven shortages across retail. So we do see potentially just the return back to more normal holiday spend by the consumer. As I commented in our prepared remarks, we feel very good about our Black Friday, our gift center, our decorative holiday assortments, and we're excited about the overall Black Friday season.

是的，我是Jeff Kinnaird。你看，我們在消費者趨勢方面確實看到一些回歸到2019年的正常化。過去幾年，因為供應鏈驅動的缺貨擔憂，整個零售業都出現了需求提前透支。所以我們確實看到，消費者可能只是回到更正常的假期支出。正如我在事先準備的發言中提到的，我們對黑色星期五、我們的禮品中心、我們的節慶裝飾商品組合感到非常有信心，也對整體黑五檔期感到興奮。

And just in case you don't have the numbers in front of you, Chris, you called out monthly cadence. So really, our comps were consistent across the months, so not just a 3-year but also a 2-year basis. Just keeping in mind that last year's comps in August, September and October were [3 1], [4 5] and [9 9] sequentially. So if you look at a 2- or 3-year basis, maybe smoothing some of that out, the 1-year months don't tell you quite as much.

另外，以防你手邊沒有數字，Chris，你提到月度節奏。其實我們的同店（comps）在各月份之間是一致的，所以不只是三年基礎，兩年基礎也是一致。只要記得去年8月、9月和10月的同店分別是[3 1]、[4 5]和[9 9]，呈現逐月變化。所以如果你用兩年或三年的基礎來看，可能能把這些波動平滑掉；單看一年期的月份數字，其實不會告訴你那麼多。

Our next question comes from the line of Steven Zaccone with Citi.

我們下一個問題來自Citi的Steven Zaccone。

Congrats on the strong results. To follow up on Chris' commentary about the recent performance. Has there been any impact from the hurricane recovery spend to call out maybe the end of the third quarter and thus far in 4Q?

恭喜你們的強勁業績。延續Chris對近期表現的評論。颶風災後修復支出是否對第三季末以及目前第四季迄今的表現有任何影響，值得特別指出？

It was relatively minimal. So we think we had about $120 million impact from hurricanes this quarter. But keep in mind, we were overlapping a similar amount from last year. So these hurricanes and storm impacts extend across quarters. What we're more concerned about is the health and safety of our customers and our associates. And our minds and hearts are certainly with them right now.

影響相對不大。所以我們認為本季颶風帶來的影響大約是1.2億美元。但請記住，我們也在對比去年類似的金額。因此這些颶風與風暴的影響會跨季度延續。我們更關心的是客戶與同仁的健康與安全。我們此刻的心思與關懷確實與他們同在。

Okay. A lot of discussion around the top line outlook given the housing uncertainty, but I wanted to focus on margin. I know there's not a target in place on a multiyear basis. But can you help us think through the levers to protect margin rate if sales growth were to weaken in the future? I guess, specific to gross margin, is there an opportunity for gross margin rate improvement as supply chain costs ease?

好的。鑑於住房市場不確定性，大家對營收展望討論很多，但我想聚焦在毛利率/利潤率。我知道你們沒有設定多年的目標。但如果未來銷售成長走弱，你能幫我們梳理一下有哪些槓桿可以用來保護利潤率嗎？具體到毛利率，隨著供應鏈成本緩解，毛利率是否有改善的機會？

We're managing margin closely, Steven. We look at it quarter-on-quarter. There's a lot of ins and outs when it comes to margin as we look forward.

Steven，我們正在密切管理利潤率。我們按季來看。有很多因素進進出出，會影響我們對未來利潤率的判斷。

We -- look, I'd just add that we think we have the tools and the experience and the people to manage pricing costs as well above than anyone else here. We've proven that. Over the last 3 years, there's been a mix disruption, right, in our value chain. And yes, I think the proof is in the playing when you look back at our history.

我們——我再補充一點：我們認為在管理定價成本方面，我們擁有工具、經驗與人才，表現不輸在座任何人，甚至更好。我們已經證明了這一點。過去3年，我們的價值鏈確實出現了組合（mix）擾動，對吧？而且是的，我認為回顧我們的歷史，你會看到成績就是最好的證明。

Our next question comes from the line of Scot Ciccarelli with Truist.

我們下一個問題來自Truist的Scot Ciccarelli。

So I think everyone here kind of understands there's some uncertainty around the broader home improvement environment given what's happening with interest rates. But how are you guys thinking about the growth potential prospects of the large Pro business as we roll out to '23 because you guys will obviously have a lot more infrastructure and more relationships still at that stage?

我想在座各位都理解，鑑於利率的變化，整體居家改善環境存在一些不確定性。但你們如何看待大型Pro業務在我們推進到2023年的成長潛力？因為到那個階段，你們顯然會有更多基礎設施與更多關係。

Thanks for the question, Scot. That actually, we couldn't be more excited as we've identified a $450 billion addressable market. And an understanding of what capabilities we need to deliver to get a larger share of wallet with that large Pro repair remodeler. I've been here, as you may know, over 22 years, and we've always known what we needed to do to capture our share of wallet with that Pro.

謝謝你的問題，Scot。其實我們再興奮不過了，因為我們已經識別出一個4,500億美元的可服務市場（addressable market），並且也更清楚要交付哪些能力，才能在大型Pro維修翻新承包商（repair remodeler）那裡取得更高的錢包份額（share of wallet）。如你所知，我在這裡已經超過22年，我們一直都知道要做什麼，才能在那位Pro客戶身上拿到我們應得的錢包份額。

And what's so exciting is that Hector and his team right now are actually building out the capability set to get more share of wallet with that large Pro. And as we build out these capabilities, introduce them to the customers, we're seeing the engagement and the incrementality of sales growth take off and Hector, can you give us a little more insight of what you're building would be great.

而令人振奮的是，Hector和他的團隊現在正在打造一整套能力，來從大型Pro那裡取得更多錢包份額。隨著我們建置這些能力、把它們介紹給客戶，我們看到客戶參與度提升，增量銷售成長也開始加速。Hector，你能再多分享一些你們正在建置的內容就太好了。

Yes, Scot, just -- we continue to be super excited about the response from our Pros as we continue to enable capabilities to remove friction from our ecosystem. Very excited about the expansion of our outside sales resources and the growth of those customers are driving. We're seeing those customers grow, not just with direct sales with our outside sales associates, but they're also engaging more on our digital platform and engaging more in our stores for that unplanned purchase.

是的，Scot，補充一下——隨著我們持續啟用各項能力、移除我們生態系中的摩擦，我們對Pro客戶的回應感到非常振奮。我們也非常期待外勤銷售資源的擴張，以及這些客戶所帶動的成長。我們看到這些客戶不僅透過外勤銷售同仁的直接銷售在成長，他們也更常在我們的數位平台上互動，並且更常到門市進行那些非計畫性購買。

And as we continue to grow around other capabilities, whether it's in the B2B digital platform, or in-store platform, we just continue to be super excited about the response of our Pros. And we are just removing friction, we are removing friction from all the different channels, and our customers continue to engage with us more and more.

而且當我們持續在其他能力上擴展，不管是在B2B數位平台，或是門市端的平台，我們都持續對Pro客戶的回應感到非常振奮。我們就是在移除摩擦——我們在所有不同通路上移除摩擦，而客戶也持續越來越多地與我們互動。

Is there a way to potentially size or at least for us to conceptually think about kind of what the potential revenue ramp is as these capabilities get filled out?

是否有辦法大致量化，或至少讓我們在概念上理解，隨著這些能力逐步到位，潛在營收爬坡（revenue ramp）可能會是什麼樣子？

As Ted said, we're excited. One of the reasons we're so excited because it's such a fragmented market, such a fragmented market of suppliers. And so we just think the opportunity is exciting and tremendous and part of the excitement is sort of its size.

如Ted所說，我們很興奮。我們之所以如此興奮，其中一個原因是這是一個非常分散的市場，是一個供應商高度分散的市場。所以我們認為機會令人振奮且非常巨大，而興奮的一部分也來自於它的規模。

But I can say, I mean, we don't break out these numbers, but each of Pro and consumer grew again this quarter, and the Pro yet again grew meaningfully faster than the consumer. And our large Pro, the ones who are engaging with what Hector and team are developing, are growing the fastest yet.

但我可以說——我們不會把這些數字拆開揭露——不過本季Pro與消費者兩端都再次成長，而且Pro再一次顯著快於消費者成長。而我們的大型Pro，也就是那些正在使用Hector和團隊所開發能力的客戶，成長速度是最快的。

Our next question comes from the line of Chuck Grom with Gordon Haskett.

我們下一個問題來自Gordon Haskett的Chuck Grom。

Overall transaction is down a little over 4%. I was wondering if you could pack that for us across the Pro and DIY customer base.

整體交易筆數下降了略高於4%。我想知道你們能否幫我們拆解一下，在Pro與DIY客群之間各自的情況。

I don't know if we break that out, but the strongest, again, was the large Pro.

我不確定我們是否有把那個拆開，但最強的——再說一次——是大型Pro。

Okay. All right.

好的。好。

Look, I'd say -- I mean maybe the way to put it, too, is our Pros shop across our assortment. So you're going to sort of see similar dynamics, ticket transaction across the business, generally speaking. But as Ed said, the strength is with Pro.

你看，我會說——我的意思是，也許換個說法：我們的Pro客戶會在我們的商品組合中跨品類購買。所以一般來說，你會在整個業務中看到類似的動態——客單價與交易情況。但如Ed所說，強勁表現是在Pro端。

Okay. Makes sense. And then on the cost pressure front, as costs start to ease, how do you think about the pricing environment? Do you think you and peers are likely to hold on to prices as costs start to moderate and you retain that margin as a result? Or are you likely to lower prices and try to maintain the same gross profit margin dollars?

好的。很有道理。那麼在成本壓力方面，隨著成本開始緩解，你們如何看待定價環境？你認為當成本開始趨於溫和時，你們以及同業是否可能維持價格，從而把這部分利潤率保留下來？還是你們更可能降價，並試圖維持相同的毛利額（以美元計）？

Chuck, we watch this very closely. We are the customer's advocate for value, and we watch the market and our competitors very closely. I will say that there has been an enormous shift to trading up to more innovation and more innovative products. We see that in our tool category. We see that in the outdoor garden business. We could see it across multiple categories. We still see that willingness to trade up for great value and great innovation.

Chuck，我們非常密切地關注這件事。我們是顧客價值的倡議者，也非常密切地觀察市場與競爭對手。我想說的是，市場已經出現了非常明顯的轉變：消費者更願意「升級」到更具創新、更新穎的產品。我們在工具品類看到這點，在戶外園藝業務也看到這點，甚至在多個品類都能看到。我們仍然看到，對於高價值與高度創新的產品，消費者依然願意升級購買。

But -- and on the cost side, Chuck, it's definitely easing. So if you look at commodities, in particular, commodities have been down 6, 7 months in a row. Lumber is obviously way down from peaking at nearly $1,500 to now under $500 from peak to current during these last 3 years. However, we still see inflation across the store. So while some will be coming down in certain categories with costs and retails, our forecast at this point is that net inflationary cost pressures continue into 2023.

不過——在成本端，Chuck，確實正在緩解。若看大宗商品，尤其是大宗商品已經連續下跌了 6、7 個月。木材顯然也從接近 1,500 美元的高點大幅回落，過去 3 年從高點到目前已降到 500 美元以下。然而，我們仍然看到全店範圍的通膨。因此，雖然在某些品類中，隨著成本與零售價格調整，價格會有所回落，但就目前我們的預測而言，整體淨通膨性的成本壓力仍將延續到 2023 年。

Our next question comes from the line of Brian Nagel with Oppenheimer.

下一個問題來自 Oppenheimer 的 Brian Nagel。

Nice quarter. So my first question, I think I want to ask that -- to Chuck's question, maybe a little bit differently. But I mean, with regard to inflation, what we've seen now for a while as Home Depot has done a remarkable job kind of strategically pass along inflation. So Ted, you've mentioned a few times now you're starting to see some inflationary pressures ease.

這一季表現不錯。我的第一個問題，我想用稍微不同的方式延伸 Chuck 的問題。關於通膨，我們已經看到一段時間了，Home Depot 在策略性地轉嫁通膨方面做得非常出色。Ted，你剛才也提到好幾次，你們開始看到一些通膨壓力在緩解。

Just the question I have is, are you seeing or would you expect that as inflationary pressures ease, even if pricing doesn't necessarily slowly go down, you see some type of elasticity and demand meaning that unit demand would pick up in that type of environment?

我想問的是：當通膨壓力緩解時，即使價格未必會逐步下滑，你們是否看到、或是否預期會出現某種需求彈性，也就是單位需求在那樣的環境下會回升？

Well, it's a great question, and you could say, hey, if elasticities weren't as sensitive on the up, would they also likely not be on the moderation, if you will. It's to be determined. I think broadly, the price sensitivity wasn't as sharp as we expected the last 2 years. That's why we started each year more or less a flat forecast expectation and has beaten that each of the past 2 years.

這是個很好的問題。你也可以說，如果在價格上行時彈性沒有那麼敏感，那麼在價格趨緩時是否也可能同樣不敏感——這還有待觀察。我認為整體而言，過去兩年價格敏感度沒有我們預期那麼高。這也是為什麼我們每年一開始的預測大致偏向持平，但過去兩年每一年實際表現都優於預期。

On certain commodities, lumber, copper wire, where we're pricing to market weekly, you see a much more classic reaction to price and unit productivity. With other categories, and I hate to bring up grills again. But there's some classic price points on some plastic grills. And when we saw those grills get up over $600, we saw a more dramatic drop off in engagement.

在某些大宗商品上，例如木材、銅線，我們是按週依市場定價，你會看到更典型的價格與單位產出（unit productivity）反應。至於其他品類——我不想又提烤爐，但確實如此——某些塑膠烤爐有一些典型的價格帶。當我們看到那些烤爐漲到 600 美元以上時，參與度出現了更明顯的下滑。

And when Jeff and the teamwork those prices down even to the low 400s or high 400s, low 500s, you saw a response with unit productivity. Across the board, though, there has been -- and Jeff mentioned this, there has been so much innovation across our categories. If you think of the dramatic shift of outdoor power equipment in power tools, in appliances and what the features and benefits of these products are, the technology embedded in these products. I'm not sure it's quite an iPhone, but we're getting close to power tools being in that genre.

而當 Jeff 和團隊把那些價格往下調，回到 400 多美元的低段或高段、以及 500 出頭時，你就會看到單位產出有所回應。不過整體來看——Jeff 也提到過——我們各品類的創新非常多。若你想想戶外動力設備在電動工具上的巨大轉變、家電產品的功能與效益、以及這些產品內建的技術。我不確定是否已經到 iPhone 的程度，但電動工具正逐漸接近那個類別。

And people love the newness and the innovation and they're albeit higher prices, but people are responding in buying. So I think it's a mix, Brian, across the categories, and that's what Jeff and our merchant teams do such a great job managing every day.

而消費者喜歡新穎性與創新；即便價格更高，大家仍然有購買反應。所以我認為，Brian，這在各品類之間是個混合情況，而 Jeff 與我們的採購團隊每天都在非常出色地管理這些變化。

Got it. That's very helpful. And then my follow-up and a quick one, just for Richard, you gave us like the cadence of comps through the quarter, obviously, we saw the reiteration of guidance, but any commentary more specific on just the trended business here into Q4?

了解。這很有幫助。接著我的追問、也是個簡短的問題，想請教 Richard：你剛才提供了本季同店銷售（comps）的節奏走勢，且我們也看到你們重申了指引。不過，對於進入第四季（Q4）後的業務趨勢，有沒有更具體的評論？

Nothing in the first 2 weeks of Q4 changes our view on 2022 guidance. And as we said, we expect comps to be positive in the quarter.

第四季前兩週的情況沒有改變我們對 2022 年指引的看法。而且如我們所說，我們預期本季同店銷售將為正成長。

Our next question comes from the line of Zach Fadem with Wells Fargo.

下一個問題來自 Wells Fargo 的 Zach Fadem。

As you think about your DIY customers specifically and the well-documented challenges in the first half of the year, is it fair to say that your DIY customer improved on a 1- and 3-year basis this quarter? And as you think about consumer behavior in tighter economic and housing conditions ahead, is there a scenario where the DIY category outperforms Pro as customers trade down or maybe pull back on bigger projects?

當你們特別看待 DIY 客戶，以及今年上半年眾所周知的挑戰時，是否可以說本季你們的 DIY 客戶在 1 年與 3 年的基礎上都有所改善？另外，當你們思考未來更緊縮的經濟與房市條件下的消費者行為時，是否存在一種情境：DIY 類別會優於 Pro，因為客戶可能會降級消費或縮減較大型的專案？

Zack, I may have to get you to repeat the second part of the question. On the first part of the question, look, we're really pleased with our consumer business through the year. Q1, we had what we always refer to as bathtub effect in some respects. And so we had a seasonal impact to consumer in Q1 of this year. Q2 and Q3 have both been positive, and we're very happy with that business. Could you -- would you mind repeating the second part of your question?

Zack，我可能得請你把問題的第二部分再說一次。先回答第一部分：我們對今年以來的消費者業務表現非常滿意。第一季在某些方面出現了我們常說的「浴缸效應」（bathtub effect），因此第一季消費者端受到季節性影響。第二季與第三季都呈現正成長，我們對這塊業務非常高興。你介意把第二部分再重複一次嗎？

Yes. Is there a scenario where DIY outperforms Pro as customers trade down or pull back on bigger projects?

好的。是否存在一種情境：當客戶降級消費或縮減較大型專案時，DIY 的表現會優於 Pro？

Well, I don't think that there's an easy way to conjecture that. I do think that what we walk about this business is it's all end customer demand regardless of the channel that appears through. But we are -- we don't have a target Pro penetration for the business. And what we've seen through cycles is that, number one, we do very well with both. And you can see some fluctuation between the 2. But really, what we have going right now is what we're observing, which is the Pro business is leading the company that shows us that the demand for large projects is very healthy right now.

我認為這不太容易直接推論。我確實認為，我們談論這門生意時，核心是終端客戶需求——不論需求透過哪個渠道呈現。不過，我們並沒有為業務設定一個目標的 Pro 滲透率。而我們在不同景氣循環中看到的是：第一，我們在兩者上都做得很好；第二，你確實會看到兩者之間有些波動。但就目前而言，我們觀察到的是 Pro 業務正在帶動公司，這顯示大型專案的需求目前仍然非常健康。

And we -- someone asked this question before I'm not sure we answered it. We are not seeing a trade down. If you take my grill or appliance example, it's not that people ultimately bought and they traded down. I think it's that people have already purchased in the past few years. And when people do purchase, again, they're buying innovation. Our Traeger business, for example, is incredibly strong as they bring out innovation, customers response.

另外——之前有人問過這個問題，我不確定我們是否回答到了——我們沒有看到「降級消費」。以我剛才的烤爐或家電例子來說，並不是說人們最後買了但改買更低階。我認為是人們在過去幾年已經買過了；而當人們再次購買時，他們買的是創新。例如我們的 Traeger 業務，當他們推出創新時表現非常強勁，客戶也會做出回應。

Got it. And when you think about your sixth straight quarter of transaction declines and the fact that there is a more stable repair and maintenance component of your business, to what extent do you believe we fully cycled away from all the pull-forward in excess discretionary category demand in 2020 and 2021? And when would you expect this to translate to a more normalized positive transaction cadence?

了解。當你們想到交易筆數已連續第六季下滑，以及你們業務中有較穩定的維修與保養（repair and maintenance）成分時，你們認為在多大程度上，我們已經完全走過了 2020 與 2021 年在非必需、可自由支配品類需求被提前拉動（pull-forward）的影響？你們預期何時會反映為更正常化、轉為正向的交易筆數節奏？

Well, that's such a great question, and it's something we observe and build our theories of the case. When you go back now, what are we, we're 11 quarters of this pandemic. And the first 5, 6, we had tremendous transaction growth, right? We all know the story of what happened. Not necessarily a lot of cost inflation at that point. And then the last 6 quarters, we start to lap that tremendous activity but also saw for all the reasons we know, supply chain, commodities, global cost pressures, we saw significant cost in our business, and comps were driven as they were this past quarter with ticket over transactions.

這是個非常好的問題，也是我們持續觀察並建立我們情境假設的事情。回頭看，我們現在算是疫情以來的第 11 個季度。前 5、6 個季度，我們的交易筆數成長非常強勁，對吧？大家都知道當時發生了什麼。那時成本通膨不一定很明顯。接著在最近 6 個季度，我們開始與那段強勁活動的基期相遇，同時也因為大家都知道的原因——供應鏈、大宗商品、全球成本壓力——我們看到業務成本顯著上升，而同店銷售就像本季一樣，更多是由客單價（ticket）而非交易筆數所帶動。

What we see now as you step back approaching 3 years is our transaction run rate, our sort of 3-year CAGR at this point, is more or less pre-pandemic rates. And you could look at that at one hand and say, "Wow, here's the slowdown." On the other hand, Richard views the term holding serve, you can look and say, "Oh my gosh, this industry erupted with demand for 1.5 years.

而現在，當你把時間拉長、接近 3 年來看，我們的交易筆數運行水準，也就是大約 3 年的年複合成長率（CAGR），大致回到疫情前的水準。你可以從一個角度看，說「哇，這是放緩」。但從另一個角度，Richard 用的說法是「守住陣地」（holding serve），你也可以說：「天啊，這個產業在 1.5 年內需求爆發。」

Then it cycled significant cost increases, the customer hung in there and was resilient and your net over this 3-year period up in transactions and units despite what we believe you'll hold on to these price levels. I think that all goes back to my opening comments of what is the dynamic of this overall industry and the health and the engagement level of this customer.

接著又經歷了顯著的成本上升循環，客戶仍然撐住、展現韌性；而在這 3 年期間，儘管我們認為你們會維持這些價格水準，交易筆數與銷量（units）淨額仍是上升的。我認為這一切都回到我開場的評論：這個產業整體的動態是什麼？以及這位客戶的健康程度與參與度有多高？

And if we normalize from here, gosh, more than great. There's obviously all these questions about recession that we can't answer any better than you all can. But when you digest and look back on what's happened in the last 3 years, you'd say, wow, that's a pretty incredible market segment.

如果我們從這裡開始回到常態化，那就太好了。當然，還有很多關於衰退的問題，我們也不比各位更能回答。但當你消化並回顧過去 3 年發生的事情，你會說：哇，這真的是一個相當驚人的市場區隔。

Our next question comes from the line of Mike Baker with D.A. Davidson.

我們的下一個問題來自 D.A. Davidson 的 Mike Baker。

Okay. I appreciate the color you gave on the fourth quarter outlook. But you've done such a great job improving your holiday business. In fact, in 10 of the last 13 years, your fourth quarter comp has been better than your third quarter comp. And by definition, that's occurring on tougher comparisons. Can you talk about what you've done to make the fourth quarter such a bigger quarter for you? And why that might be different this year?

好的。感謝你們對第四季展望所提供的補充說明。不過你們在改善假期業務方面做得非常出色。事實上，在過去 13 年中的 10 年，你們第四季的同店銷售（comp）表現都優於第三季。而按定義來說，這是在更具挑戰性的比較基期下發生的。你能談談你們做了哪些事情，讓第四季成為對你們而言更大的季度嗎？以及為什麼今年可能會有所不同？

Mike, it's Jeff. Yes, we've had an exceptional fourth quarter. We've -- in the past year, we've built the business on the backs of decorative holiday. And the customer's advocate for value in that category, and we have great involution and gain great value for our customers. Second, we've built the business of gifting in our gift centers. And you look at the innovation that we're delivering to our Pro and to our consumer, it's exceptional.

Mike，我是 Jeff。是的，我們第四季表現一直非常出色。我們——在過去一年裡，我們以裝飾性節慶商品為核心來打造業務。客戶在這個品類上非常重視價值，而我們在該品類有很好的選品深度，並為客戶帶來很高的價值。第二，我們在禮品中心建立了送禮（gifting）業務。你看看我們為專業客戶（Pro）與一般消費者所帶來的創新，確實非常出色。

I spoke earlier about the M18 Milwaukee drill and driver combo kit, the innovation is just exceptional, as Ted talked to earlier. And then appliances. Appliances is an enormous category for The Home Depot. It's been a category that we've built at an incredible rate. We're investing in capabilities like I spoke earlier, in terms of delivery. We're investing in dot-com capabilities, in terms of our customers' willingness to review and purchase online.

我先前提到 M18 Milwaukee 電鑽與起子組合套件，正如 Ted 先前談到的，那項創新確實非常出色。再來是家電。家電對 The Home Depot 來說是非常龐大的品類，而且我們以驚人的速度建立起這個品類。我們正在投資能力建置，如我先前提到的配送能力；也在投資電商（dot-com）能力，讓客戶更願意在線上查看評價並完成購買。

Then I'd also say we're building a great project and business in the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter is a great time for a project. We see a lot of consumers eating, doing smaller projects around their home and getting ready for the holidays. And then finally, I'd say, storage. Storage organization. We have an incredible storage event. We gain on the customer's advocate for value when it comes to storage across the business.

另外我也會說，我們在第四季建立了很強的專案型業務。第四季是做專案的好時機。我們看到很多消費者在家用餐、做一些較小的居家專案，並為假期做準備。最後我會說是收納。收納整理。我們有一個非常強的收納活動；在收納相關的全業務範圍內，我們在「為客戶提供價值」這件事上取得了優勢。

And then finally, we've built an incredible dot-com business. And this is -- we called out the performance in Q3. We're expecting a great Q4 with Cyber Monday and a big part of that is our digital performance, our app performance. I've got Jordan Broggi here, our President of online. Jordan, do you want to make a couple of comments around the app?

最後，我們也打造了非常出色的電商（dot-com）業務。這——我們在第三季已特別提到其表現。我們預期第四季在「網路星期一」（Cyber Monday）會有很好的表現，而其中很大一部分來自我們的數位表現、我們的 App 表現。我這裡有我們線上業務總裁 Jordan Broggi。Jordan，你要不要就 App 補充幾點？

Yes, sure. Yes. Thanks, Jeff. I mean Ted called out at the front, the experience is what it's all about. We love the experience improvements we've made. A lot of it's around in-store connectivity. We talked about store mode. We talked about military, we talked about loyalty. We've got some features coming out on Pro for in-store checkout experience. And our customers really respond. I mean we love the ratings in the App Store, 4.8 with Apple, 4.7 with Google, but we see it in our numbers as well, strong double-digit performance and growth in downloads and MAUs, monthly average users in our traffic. It's our fastest-growing online property. We're got billions of dollars of sales through the app. We couldn't be more excited.

好的，當然。謝謝，Jeff。Ted 一開始就提到，體驗才是一切的核心。我們很喜歡我們所做的體驗改善，其中很多是圍繞門市端的連線能力。我們談過門市模式（store mode），談過軍人（優惠），談過會員忠誠（loyalty）。我們也將推出一些面向 Pro 的功能，用於改善門市結帳體驗。客戶的反應非常好。我們很喜歡在 App Store 的評分：Apple 是 4.8、Google 是 4.7；而且我們也從數據上看得到——下載量與 MAU（每月活躍用戶）在流量上都有強勁的雙位數表現與成長。這是我們成長最快的線上資產。我們透過 App 產生了數十億美元的銷售。我們非常興奮。

Great. If I could ask one more follow-up. Your buyback did slow a little bit this quarter. Is that maybe a function of higher borrowing costs? Or how should we think about buybacks going forward?

很好。如果我可以再追問一個問題。你們這一季的庫藏股回購確實放慢了一點。這是否可能是因為借款成本上升？或者我們應該如何看待未來的回購？

We don't ascribe to necessarily a smooth cadence of buybacks, and that will typically reflect just sort of how we think about working capital investment through the year and a cash buffer throughout the year. So there's really nothing to read into that.

我們不一定追求回購節奏必須平滑一致；這通常反映的是我們如何看待全年營運資金的投資安排，以及全年現金緩衝的配置。因此，這件事其實沒有什麼需要過度解讀的。

Our next question comes from the line of David Bellinger with MKM Partners.

我們的下一個問題來自 MKM Partners 的 David Bellinger。

So going back to some of the category comments. Are you seeing some evidence that the, call it, more discretionary items are turning lower and at a faster pace? I know last quarter, you mentioned some of those higher ticket $300, $400 Halloween items being pretty much as discretionary as it gets and performing pretty well. We saw some discounts on those items in the weeks preceding Halloween. So any indications that those splurge items are starting to cool off and more quickly than the rest of the business?

回到一些品類的評論。你們是否看到一些跡象顯示，所謂更偏「可選性」的商品正在走弱，而且下滑速度更快？我知道上季你們提到一些單價較高、300 到 400 美元的萬聖節商品，幾乎是最具可選性的類別，但表現相當不錯。我們也看到在萬聖節前幾週這些商品有一些折扣。所以，有沒有任何跡象顯示這些「犒賞型」商品開始降溫，而且比其他業務更快？

David, we had -- we have commented earlier, we had record sales, both in-store and online in Halloween that included the infamous Skelly, which has been one of our best sellers in terms of the innovation and value we offer our customers is really unmatched in the marketplace. And we couldn't be happier with our Halloween performance.

David，我們——我們先前已評論過，我們在萬聖節期間無論門市或線上都創下了創紀錄的銷售，其中包括那個有名的 Skelly。就我們為客戶提供的創新與價值而言，它在市場上確實無可匹敵。我們對萬聖節的表現非常滿意。

If I turn to the fourth quarter, we're really excited about our decor holiday assortment. We've got great innovation and great value for our customers across the assortment of trees, if it's light, if it's decorations, we feel very good about the category. And our consumers are reacting exceptionally well to it.

如果看第四季，我們對節慶裝飾（decor holiday）的商品組合非常興奮。我們在整體樹品類、燈飾、裝飾品等各個組合上，都為客戶帶來很好的創新與價值；我們對這個品類感覺非常好。而消費者的反應也非常熱烈。

Got it. I have a Skelly, so I know exactly what you're talking about. My follow-up, just on the inventory levels. How much of that growth is aimed at Pro customers? So is there a piece of that inventory that's not sitting in the stores? Maybe it's a facilities like in Dallas so that the number looks to be a bit more elevated to us at the store level. Just help us unpack the 25% inventory growth number and just get us comfortable that you aren't sitting on too much at this point, especially with some of the deceleration you're now seeing.

了解。我有一個 Skelly，所以我完全知道你在說什麼。我的追問是關於庫存水位。這些成長有多少是為了 Pro 客戶？所以是否有一部分庫存其實不在門市裡，而是在像達拉斯那樣的設施中，讓門市層面的數字看起來對我們而言偏高？請幫我們拆解一下 25% 的庫存成長數字，並讓我們放心你們目前並沒有囤太多，尤其是在你們現在看到一些放緩的情況下。

Well, so look investment in inventory in our One Supply Chain facility is certainly one of the factors in inventory growth year-over-year. But the primary factor is really just inflation as part of the inventory value. And then we made strategic decisions to land inventory earlier in the year than we have prior. And really, just to give you some numbers around that and to reflect the fact, we feel fantastic about our inventory position.

是的，投資我們 One Supply Chain 設施的庫存，確實是庫存年增的因素之一。但主要因素其實是通膨對庫存價值的影響。再來，我們也做了策略性決策：比以往更早在年內把庫存到港入庫。為了提供一些相關數字，也反映我們對庫存部位感到非常有信心。

In Q2, we grew our inventory 38% year-over-year. In Q3, that number dropped to 27% year-over-year. And actually, if you look throughout our history, we actually typically build inventory from Q2 to Q3. In this case, our inventory actually came down by $400 million from Q2 to Q3. Our inventory is healthy, and we're happy with our position.

在第二季，我們的庫存年增 38%。到第三季，這個數字降到年增 27%。而且如果你看我們過去的歷史，我們通常會從第二季到第三季增加庫存；但這次我們的庫存從第二季到第三季實際下降了 4 億美元。我們的庫存狀況很健康，我們對目前的部位很滿意。

Christine, we have time for one more question.

Christine，我們還有時間再問最後一個問題。

Our final question will come from the line of Steven Forbes with Guggenheim.

我們最後一個問題來自 Guggenheim 的 Steven Forbes。

Maybe just a follow-up or focus on the quarterly performance. If I look at the press release, the selected sales data, obviously excludes HD Supply. So curious, Ted, if you can expand on the performance of that asset in today's backdrop as it looks like it may be driving some upside to the overall performance of the business.

也許只是針對季度表現做個追問或聚焦。如果我看新聞稿中的精選銷售數據，顯然排除了 HD Supply。所以想請教 Ted，你是否能在當前環境下，進一步說明該資產的表現？看起來它可能正在推動整體業務表現出現一些上行。

Yes, Steven, thanks. Yes, another great quarter for HD Supply. We mentioned this last quarter and they are just doing a terrific job. Shane O'Kelly and his team are running the largest and the best focused MRO business for multifamily housing and hospitality, extended living, et cetera. We are -- remain well ahead of all our financial projections, and we made the acquisition. Their integration is tracking, they're integrating sales forces, customer records and now starting the work or on their way in the work of integrating the supply chain. So that one has just been a terrific acquisition that we're super happy about.

是的，Steven，謝謝。是的，HD Supply 又是一個很棒的季度。我們上季也提到過，他們做得非常出色。Shane O'Kelly 和他的團隊正在經營規模最大、且最聚焦的 MRO（維修、修繕與營運）業務，服務多戶住宅與飯店業、長住型住宿等。我們——在收購時所做的所有財務預測之上，表現仍然大幅領先。他們的整合進度也符合預期：正在整合銷售團隊、客戶資料，現在也開始著手或正在推進供應鏈整合的工作。所以這是一筆非常成功的收購，我們非常滿意。

And then maybe just a quick follow-up for Richard or Ted. Given the performance, can you remind us on what percentage of sales that business is today? And then as we look at the sort of spread between comp and net sales growth, any reason to think that the current sort of year-to-date spread doesn't hold into the fourth quarter?

再快速追問 Richard 或 Ted。考量其表現，你能提醒我們該業務目前約占銷售的百分之多少嗎？另外，當我們看同店（comp）與淨銷售成長之間的差距時，有沒有任何理由認為目前這種年初至今的差距在第四季不會延續？

Well, we don't break HD Supply out. But as Ted said, we're so happy with it. On the difference between sales and comp, we've always seen a gap there. It just comp reflect sales. From the POS, sales reflects sales as they're actually delivered or installed. You're going to see that number there. We'll probably -- through the year, sales will be a little higher than comp guide, but the important guide here is comp because that's our activity-based metric around sales.

我們不會把 HD Supply 單獨拆分揭露。但如 Ted 所說，我們對它非常滿意。至於銷售與同店（comp）之間的差異，我們一直都看到兩者存在差距。同店反映的是 POS 端的銷售；而銷售（sales）反映的是商品實際交付或安裝時所認列的銷售。你會在那個數字上看到差異。我們可能——全年來看，銷售會略高於同店指引，但這裡最重要的指引是同店，因為那是我們以活動為基礎衡量銷售的指標。

Welcome Ms. Janci, I would now like to turn the floor back over to you for closing comments.

歡迎 Janci 女士，我現在想把會議交回給您做結語。

Thank you, Christine, and thank you for joining us today. We look forward to speaking with you on our fourth quarter earnings call in February.

謝謝你，Christine，也謝謝各位今天的參與。我們期待在二月的第四季財報電話會議上再與各位交流。

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation, and have a wonderful day.

各位女士、先生，今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以掛斷電話線路。感謝您的參與，祝您有美好的一天。