Hibbett Inc (HIBB) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Hibbett Inc.'s Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2023 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎來到 Hibbett Inc. 的 2023 財年第四季度財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，正在錄製此會議。

I would now like to turn the call over to Gavin Bell, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasury. Thank you. You may begin.

我現在想把電話轉給投資者關係和財政部副總裁加文貝爾。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Thank you, and good morning. Please note that we have prepared a slide deck that we will refer to during our prepared remarks. The slide deck is available on hibbett.com via the Investor Relations link found at the bottom of the home page or at investors.hibbett.com and under the News and Events section. These materials may help you follow along with our discussion this morning.

謝謝，早上好。請注意，我們準備了一張幻燈片，我們將在準備好的發言中參考。幻燈片可以在 hibbett.com 上通過主頁底部的投資者關係鏈接或在 investors.hibbett.com 的新聞和事件部分下找到。這些材料可能會幫助您跟進我們今天上午的討論。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that some of management's comments during this conference call are forward-looking statements. These statements, which reflect the company's current views with respect to future events and financial performance, are made in reliance on the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are subject to uncertainties and risks. It should be noted that the company's future results may differ materially from those anticipated and discussed in the forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that could cause or contribute to such differences have been described in the news release issued this morning and are noted on Slide 2 of the earnings presentation and the company's annual report on Form 10-K and in other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒大家，管理層在本次電話會議中發表的一些評論是前瞻性陳述。這些陳述反映了公司目前對未來事件和財務業績的看法，是根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的安全港條款作出的，並受到不確定性和風險的影響。需要注意的是，公司未來的業績可能與前瞻性陳述中預期和討論的業績存在重大差異。可能導致或促成此類差異的一些因素已在今天上午發布的新聞稿中進行了描述，並在收益報告的幻燈片 2 和公司 10-K 表格的年度報告以及向證券和證券交易所提交的其他文件中註明。交易委員會。

We refer you to those sources for more information. Also to the extent non-GAAP financial measures are discussed on this call, you may find a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measures on our website. Lastly, I'd like to point out that management's remarks during the conference call are based on information and understandings believed accurate as of today's date. Because the time-sensitive nature of this information, it's the policy of Hibbett Inc to limit the archived replay of this conference call to a period of 30 days.

我們建議您參考這些來源以獲取更多信息。此外，就本次電話會議討論的非 GAAP 財務指標而言，您可能會在我們的網站上找到與最直接可比的 GAAP 指標的對賬。最後，我想指出，管理層在電話會議期間的言論是基於截至今天為止被認為準確的信息和理解。由於此信息的時間敏感性，Hibbett Inc 的政策是將此電話會議的存檔重播限制在 30 天內。

The participants on this call are Mike Longo, President and Chief Executive Officer; Jared Briskin, Executive Vice President of Merchandising; Bob Volke, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Bill Quinn, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Digital; and Ben Knighten, Senior Vice President of Operations.

此次電話會議的參與者是總裁兼首席執行官 Mike Longo；營銷執行副總裁 Jared Briskin； Bob Volke，高級副總裁兼首席財務官；營銷和數字高級副總裁 Bill Quinn；和運營高級副總裁 Ben Knighten。

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

我現在將電話轉給 Mike Longo。

Good morning, and welcome to the Hibbett City Gear Q4 earnings call. For those of you following along in the slides, I'm on to Slide 3 entitled Results. Before we get started, I would note that we've used FY '20 calendar 2019 as a basis of comparison for some time now because of the effects of the pandemic stimulus and all the other effects that you already know.

早上好，歡迎來到 Hibbett City Gear Q4 財報電話會議。對於跟隨幻燈片的那些人，我將轉到名為“結果”的幻燈片 3。在我們開始之前，我要指出的是，由於大流行刺激的影響以及您已經知道的所有其他影響，我們已經使用 20 財年 2019 年日曆作為比較基礎一段時間了。

Now that we've experienced a relatively normal seasonality last year, this quarter will be the last time we need to make these types of comparisons. Q4 was a strong performance of the comp sales increase of 15.5% versus last year and almost 40% increase versus FY '20. Operating margin for the quarter was 11.1%, and diluted earnings per share was $2.91, an increase of 133% last year and up eightfold versus FY '20. These results came from strong demand for popular footwear brands and a recovery in inventory levels. Despite that these results did not meet our high expectations for ourselves and fell short of our guidance. We are going to address that particular issue through the course of this call.

既然去年我們經歷了相對正常的季節性，本季度將是我們最後一次需要進行此類比較。第四季度表現強勁，與去年相比增長了 15.5%，與 20 財年相比增長了近 40%。本季度營業利潤率為 11.1%，攤薄後每股收益為 2.91 美元，比去年增長 133%，是 20 財年的八倍。這些結果來自對流行鞋類品牌的強勁需求和庫存水平的回升。儘管如此，這些結果並沒有達到我們對自己的高期望，也沒有達到我們的指導。我們將通過本次電話會議解決該特定問題。

But first, some history around the results. So I'm moving on to Slide 4 entitled History. Last 4 years, as you well know, have been eventful for all of us, in Hibbett in particular. And while nobody needs a history lesson, it is instructive to review it through the Hibbett point of view. By the end of FY '20, Hibbett was substantially complete with the transformation from a sporting goods retailer to a fashion retailer. A retailer that was squarely focused on a narrower, well-defined customer base in underserved markets, selling athletically inspired footwear and apparel.

但首先，關於結果的一些歷史。因此，我將轉到題為“歷史”的幻燈片 4。眾所周知，過去 4 年對我們所有人來說都是多事之秋，尤其是在希貝特。雖然沒有人需要上一堂歷史課，但從希貝特的角度來回顧它是很有啟發性的。到 20 財年末，Hibbett 基本上完成了從體育用品零售商到時裝零售商的轉型。一家專注於服務不足市場中範圍更窄、定義明確的客戶群的零售商，銷售以運動為靈感的鞋類和服裝。

In FY '21, of course, the pandemic struck and changed everything. Hibbett made some good decisions on how to navigate through the crisis and those decisions drove the business higher, much higher. In FY '22, the reopening of the economy, coupled with stimulus and market disruptions, drove us another leg higher. And last year, we dealt with the aftermath of the supply chain crisis and its uneven effects, including inventory shortages. Since FY '20, we have rebased the business at a higher level with sales 50% higher, gross margin percentage 300 basis points higher, non-GAAP EBIT dollars 3x higher and non-GAAP earnings per share 4x higher.

當然，在 21 財年，大流行病襲來並改變了一切。希貝特就如何渡過危機做出了一些不錯的決定，這些決定推動了業務的發展，甚至更高。在 22 財年，經濟的重新開放，加上刺激措施和市場動盪，使我們又走高了一步。去年，我們處理了供應鏈危機的後果及其不均衡的影響，包括庫存短缺。自 20 財年以來，我們將業務重新定位在更高的水平上，銷售額提高 50%，毛利率提高 300 個基點，非 GAAP 息稅前利潤提高 3 倍，非 GAAP 每股收益提高 4 倍。

Last year, we were able to consolidate those gains to produce sales of $1.7 billion and earnings per share of $9.62. We achieved that by focusing on our 3 competitive advantages. And by now very familiar with them, but I'll say them again, superior customer service, a compelling assortment of hard-to-access product and a best-in-class omnichannel experience. It was our investment in these advantages and our strategy that drove our results, but none of this is inexpensive. With these investments came incremental costs, especially regarding managing in a chaotic environment.

去年，我們鞏固了這些收益，實現了 17 億美元的銷售額和 9.62 美元的每股收益。我們通過專注於我們的 3 個競爭優勢來實現這一目標。現在對他們非常熟悉，但我會再說一遍，卓越的客戶服務，令人信服的難以訪問的產品和一流的全渠道體驗。正是我們對這些優勢的投資和我們的戰略推動了我們的成果，但這些都不便宜。這些投資帶來了增量成本，尤其是在混亂環境中的管理方面。

Now that we're operating in a somewhat more normal environment, it's time to address our SG&A and some areas where costs have increased. As a result, we are conducting a systematic review of our operating expense structure with a particular focus on SG&A. In other words, we're committed to improving operating cost leverage while still investing in the business model.

現在我們在一個更正常的環境中運營，是時候解決我們的 SG&A 和一些成本增加的領域了。因此，我們正在對我們的運營費用結構進行系統審查，特別關注 SG&A。換句話說，我們致力於提高運營成本槓桿率，同時仍在投資於商業模式。

These investments are outlined in somewhat greater detail on Slide 5 entitled Strategic Imperatives. Our focus within that is to drive effectiveness and efficiency of the existing franchise and to drive growth in the future. And of course, the 4 pillars, category offense, increasing traffic, improving conversion and leveraging our investments are our strategic imperatives.

這些投資在題為“戰略要務”的幻燈片 5 中有更詳細的概述。我們的重點是提高現有特許經營權的有效性和效率，並推動未來的增長。當然，4 大支柱、類別進攻、增加流量、提高轉化率和利用我們的投資是我們的戰略要務。

So in summary, before we move on, I would like to thank all of our teammates in the stores, the distribution centers and the store support center. They are the ones who make all of these results possible. I'll now turn the call over to Jared.

所以總而言之，在我們繼續之前，我要感謝我們在商店、配送中心和商店支持中心的所有隊友。他們是使所有這些結果成為可能的人。我現在將電話轉給 Jared。

Thank you, Mike. Good morning. Please turn to Slide 6 titled Merchandising. Our category offense continued to yield strong results in the fourth quarter. Intense focus on toe-to-head merchandising while leading with sneakers through the lens of Men's, Women's, Kids and City Gear has proven successful and we see additional opportunities to optimize our business as we move into the future. We continue to believe that for the fourth quarter, due to impacts of COVID and stimulus, the comparative fiscal 2020 calendar 2019 is still relevant.

謝謝你，邁克。早上好。請轉到標題為營銷的幻燈片 6。我們的類別進攻在第四季度繼續取得強勁成果。事實證明，在通過男裝、女裝、童裝和 City Gear 的鏡頭以運動鞋為主導的同時，高度關註腳趾對頭的商品銷售是成功的，我們看到了更多的機會來優化我們的業務，因為我們邁向未來。我們仍然認為，由於 COVID 和刺激措施的影響，第四季度的 2020 財年日曆與 2019 年相比仍然具有相關性。

Beginning in fiscal '24, as Mike mentioned, we will no longer provide detailed commentary regarding the comparison to fiscal 2020. From a year-over-year category standpoint, when compared to fiscal '22, calendar 2021, we saw strong results in Footwear and Team Sports. This was offset by a weak performance across apparel. Footwear was our strongest category during the quarter, growing in the mid-40s. Footwear sales were driven by strong launches as well as strength across our lifestyle, basketball and casual categories. Team Sports was driven by strong results in cleats and cold weather accessories. Apparel was negative mid-teens in the quarter, up against significant increases in the prior year and a more challenging and promotional apparel and garment.

正如 Mike 提到的，從 24 財年開始，我們將不再提供與 2020 財年比較的詳細評論。從同比類別的角度來看，與 2021 財年的 22 財年相比，我們在鞋類領域看到了強勁的業績和團隊運動。這被服裝的疲軟表現所抵消。鞋類是本季度我們最強勁的類別，在 40 年代中期增長。鞋類銷售受到強勁的發布以及我們在生活方式、籃球和休閒類別中的實力的推動。防滑釘和寒冷天氣配件的強勁業績推動了 Team Sports 的發展。服裝在本季度出現了負增長，而去年同期則出現了顯著增長，而且服裝和服裝更具挑戰性和促銷性。

When compared to fiscal '20, calendar 2019, we saw positive comp results across all merchandise categories. Footwear drilled with the largest increase comping in the mid-50s. Apparel was up in the mid-20s and Team Sports was up mid-single digits. Specific to footwear and apparel, men's, women's and kids, all show significant growth when compared to fiscal '22 under 2021. Kids was our standout area growing in the high 20s, Men's and Women's, both grew in the mid-teens. When compared to fiscal '20, calendar '19, Women's grew in the mid-70s, Kids in the low 50s and Men's in the mid-30s.

與 2019 財年的 20 財年相比，我們在所有商品類別中都看到了積極的競爭結果。 50 年代中期鞋類鑽孔的增幅最大。服裝在 20 年代中期上漲，而 Team Sports 上漲了中等個位數。具體到鞋類和服裝，男裝、女裝和童裝，與 2021 財年的 22 財年相比，都顯示出顯著增長。童裝是我們在 20 多歲時增長的突出領域，男裝和女裝都在十幾歲左右增長。與 20 財年、19 財年相比，女裝在 70 年代中期增長，童裝在 50 年代中期增長，男裝在 30 年代中期增長。

Investments in leadership, process improvements and technology in our supply chain have helped to mitigate challenges in product delivery and flow of inventory. These investments have increased our capacity and speed to market, enabling our strong inventory position and sales results. As a reminder, the prior year was significantly impacted by supply chain delays, primarily in footwear and are in-stock position on key footwear franchises and launch products drove our strong footwear results.

在我們的供應鏈中對領導力、流程改進和技術的投資有助於減輕產品交付和庫存流動方面的挑戰。這些投資提高了我們的能力和上市速度，使我們擁有強大的庫存狀況和銷售業績。提醒一下，前一年受到供應鏈延誤的重大影響，主要是鞋類，主要鞋類特許經營權和推出產品的庫存狀況推動了我們強勁的鞋類業績。

Due to the supply chain disruption in fiscal 2022, we believe the most meaningful comparison regarding inventory is comparing to fiscal '20 calendar '19. When compared to fiscal '20 calendar '19, inventory levels were up 46% at the end of the quarter, roughly in balance with our 40.9% sales gain. This increase is largely due to price inflation as well as positive impacts on our mix of inventory and footwear. When compared to fiscal 2020 and calendar 2019, unit inventory levels were plus 4%. Our focus over the last 3 years was to secure enough of the most relevant inventory to provide strong consumer experience, both in-store and online. The chaos for the last 3 years certainly was challenging, but our team delivered, and our results have been outstanding.

由於 2022 財年的供應鏈中斷，我們認為關於庫存最有意義的比較是與 20 財年 19 財年的比較。與 20 財年 19 財年相比，本季度末庫存水平上升了 46%，與我們 40.9% 的銷售增長大致持平。這一增長主要是由於價格上漲以及對我們的庫存和鞋類組合的積極影響。與 2020 財年和 2019 日曆年相比，單位庫存水平增加了 4%。我們在過去 3 年的重點是確保獲得足夠多的最相關的庫存，以提供強大的消費者體驗，包括店內和在線。過去 3 年的混亂無疑是具有挑戰性的，但我們的團隊交付了成果，而且我們的成果非常出色。

As we look forward to fiscal '24, we believe that the supply chain will be more predictable, allowing more precision regarding delivery timing and inventory levels. Year-over-year inventory compares will be volatile due to the challenges in the supply chain during fiscal 2023. Our expectations are for year-over-year inventory growth in the first half of the year and year-over-year declines in the second half of the year.

當我們期待 24 財年時，我們相信供應鏈將更具可預測性，從而使交貨時間和庫存水平更加精確。由於 2023 財年供應鏈面臨挑戰，同比庫存比較將出現波動。我們預計上半年庫存同比增長，下半年同比下降半年。

I will now hand the call over to Bob to cover our financial results.

我現在將把電話轉給鮑勃來報導我們的財務結果。

Thank you, Jared. Please refer to Slide 7 entitled Q4 Fiscal '23 results. Our results are reported on a consolidated basis that includes both the Hibbett and City Gear brands. Total net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 increased 19.6% to $458.3 million with $383.3 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal '22. Overall comp sales increased 15.5% versus the prior year fourth quarter. In comparison to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, the most relevant period, part of the pandemic, comp sales have increased by 39.6%. Brick-and-mortar comp sales were up 14.3% compared to the prior year's fourth quarter and have increased by 32.6% versus the fourth quarter of fiscal '20.

謝謝你，賈里德。請參閱標題為 Q4 Fiscal '23 結果的幻燈片 7。我們的結果是在合併的基礎上報告的，包括 Hibbett 和 City Gear 品牌。 23 財年第四季度的總淨銷售額增長 19.6% 至 4.583 億美元，22 財年第四季度為 3.833 億美元。整體 comp 銷售額與去年第四季度相比增長了 15.5%。與 2020 財年第四季度相比，最相關的時期是大流行病的一部分，銷售額增長了 39.6%。與去年第四季度相比，實體店銷售額增長了 14.3%，與 20 財年第四季度相比增長了 32.6%。

E-commerce sales have increased 21.4% compared to last year's fourth quarter and have increased by 79.8% on a 3-year stack. E-commerce sales accounted for 17.4% of net sales during the current quarter compared to 17.1% in the fourth quarter of last year and 14.2% in the fourth quarter of fiscal '20. Gross margin was 35.2% of net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 compared with 35.1% in the fourth quarter of last year. This slight increase was driven by approximately 30 basis points of store occupancy leverage, approximately 25 basis points resulting from lower freight costs and approximately 15 basis points of efficiency gains in our logistics operations. These favorable factors were primarily offset by a decline in average product margin of approximately 60 basis points due to increased promotional activity.

與去年第四季度相比，電子商務銷售額增長了 21.4%，三年累計增長了 79.8%。電子商務銷售額佔本季度淨銷售額的 17.4%，而去年第四季度為 17.1%，20 財年第四季度為 14.2%。 23 財年第四季度毛利率占淨銷售額的 35.2%，而去年第四季度為 35.1%。這一小幅增長是由大約 30 個基點的商店佔用率驅動的，大約 25 個基點來自較低的貨運成本以及大約 15 個基點的物流運營效率收益。由於促銷活動的增加，這些有利因素主要被平均產品利潤率下降約 60 個基點所抵消。

Smaller operating, selling and administrative expenses were 21.6% of net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 compared to 26.4% of net sales for the fourth quarter of last year. This approximate 470 basis point decrease is primarily a result of leverage from the higher current quarter revenue. Although wage inflation continues to be a headwind, other spend categories that were favorable to the prior year as a percent of sales, including incentive compensation, professional fees, advertising and repairs and maintenance.

較小的運營、銷售和管理費用佔 23 財年第四季度淨銷售額的 21.6%，而去年第四季度占淨銷售額的 26.4%。這大約 470 個基點的減少主要是由於本季度收入較高的槓桿作用。儘管工資上漲仍然是一個不利因素，但其他支出類別佔銷售額的百分比比上一年有利，包括激勵薪酬、專業費用、廣告以及維修和保養。

Depreciation and amortization in the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 increased approximately $1 million in comparison to the same period last year, reflecting increased capital investment on organic growth opportunities and infrastructure projects. We generated $50.7 million of operating income or 11.1% of net sales in the fourth quarter compared to $23.1 million or 6% of net sales in the prior year's fourth quarter. Diluted earnings per share were $2.91 for this year's fourth quarter compared to $1.25 per share in the fourth quarter of fiscal '22. We did not have any non-GAAP items in either period.

與去年同期相比，'23 財年第四季度的折舊和攤銷增加了約 100 萬美元，反映了對有機增長機會和基礎設施項目的資本投資增加。我們在第四季度產生了 5070 萬美元的營業收入，占淨銷售額的 11.1%，而去年第四季度為 2310 萬美元，占淨銷售額的 6%。今年第四季度的稀釋後每股收益為 2.91 美元，而 22 財年第四季度的每股收益為 1.25 美元。我們在這兩個時期都沒有任何非 GAAP 項目。

Next, I will discuss the fiscal full year '23 results. I'm now referencing Slide 8. So please move forward to that page. Thank you. Total net sales for fiscal 2023 were $1.71 billion compared to $1.69 billion in fiscal 2022, an increase of 1%. Overall comp sales decreased 2.2% versus last year. In comparison to fiscal 2020, comp sales have increased by nearly 41%. Brick-and-mortar comp sales decreased 4.9% for the year, but are up 31.5% compared to fiscal '20. E-commerce sales increased 14% compared to fiscal '22 and have increased by 115.5% over a 3-year period. E-commerce sales accounted for 15.6% of net sales in fiscal '23 compared to 13.8% in the prior year and 10.4% versus fiscal '20.

接下來，我將討論 23 財年的全年業績。我現在引用的是幻燈片 8。所以請轉到該頁面。謝謝。與 2022 財年的 16.9 億美元相比，2023 財年的總淨銷售額為 17.1 億美元，增長 1%。整體 comp 銷售額與去年相比下降了 2.2%。與 2020 財年相比，comp 銷售額增長了近 41%。實體店銷售額全年下降 4.9%，但與 20 財年相比增長了 31.5%。與 22 財年相比，電子商務銷售額增長了 14%，並且在 3 年期間增長了 115.5%。電子商務銷售額佔 23 財年淨銷售額的 15.6%，而去年為 13.8%，與 20 財年相比為 10.4%。

Gross margin was 35.2% of net sales for the full year fiscal '23, compared with 38.2% in fiscal '22. The approximate 300 basis point decline was primarily due to the following factors: lower average product margin of approximately 195 basis points due to promotional activity, primarily in apparel and a higher mix of e-commerce sales, which carry a lower margin than brick-and-mortar sales. Increased cost of freight and transportation of approximately 65 basis points. This is driven by higher fuel costs and increase in our e-commerce mix. Deleverage of store occupancy costs of approximately 65 basis points mainly due to higher utility and store security costs. These unfavorable impacts to gross margin were partially offset by expense leverage of approximately 25 basis points in our logistics operations.

23 財年全年毛利率為淨銷售額的 35.2%，而 22 財年為 38.2%。下降約 300 個基點主要是由於以下因素：由於促銷活動（主要是服裝）和更高的電子商務銷售組合（其利潤率低於實體店），平均產品利潤率降低約 195 個基點-砂漿銷售。運費和運輸成本增加了約 65 個基點。這是由更高的燃料成本和我們電子商務組合的增加所推動的。商店佔用成本的去槓桿化約為 65 個基點，這主要是由於更高的公用事業和商店安全成本。這些對毛利率的不利影響被我們物流業務中約 25 個基點的費用槓桿部分抵消。

SG and expenses for the -- were 22.8% in fiscal 2023, compared with 22.6% of net sales in fiscal '22. This approximately 20 basis point increase is primarily as a result of deleveraging wages and employee benefits. Appreciation and amortization of fiscal '23 increased approximately $8.1 million in comparison to last year, reflecting our ongoing commitment to invest in organic growth opportunities and infrastructure improvement projects. We generated $168.4 million of operating income or 9.9% of net sales in fiscal '23, compared to $228.2 million or 13.5% of net sales in fiscal '22. Diluted earnings per share were $9.62 for fiscal '23 compared to $11.19 per share in fiscal '22. We did not have any non-GAAP items in either fiscal year.

2023 財年的 SG 和費用為 22.8%，而 22 財年的淨銷售額為 22.6%。這大約 20 個基點的增長主要是由於工資和員工福利去槓桿化的結果。與去年相比，23 財年的增值和攤銷增加了約 810 萬美元，反映了我們對投資有機增長機會和基礎設施改善項目的持續承諾。我們在 23 財年的營業收入為 1.684 億美元，占淨銷售額的 9.9%，而 22 財年的營業收入為 2.282 億美元，占淨銷售額的 13.5%。 23 財年的攤薄後每股收益為 9.62 美元，而 22 財年的每股攤薄收益為 11.19 美元。我們在兩個財政年度都沒有任何非 GAAP 項目。

Now a few comments on the balance sheet and cash flow. We ended the fourth quarter fiscal '23 with $16 million of available cash and cash equivalents on our unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet and $36.3 million of debt outstanding. Effective February 28, 2023, we replaced our former $125 million unsecured credit facility with a new $160 million unsecured credit facility. This new credit facility increases our financial strength and provides us with greater operational flexibility.

現在就資產負債表和現金流量發表一些評論。我們在未經審計的簡明合併資產負債表上以 1600 萬美元的可用現金和現金等價物以及 3630 萬美元的未償債務結束了 23 財年第四季度。自 2023 年 2 月 28 日起，我們用新的 1.6 億美元無擔保信貸額度取代了之前的 1.25 億美元無擔保信貸額度。這項新的信貸安排增強了我們的財務實力，並為我們提供了更大的運營靈活性。

Net inventory at the end of fiscal '23 was $420.8 million, a 90.2% increase from the end of fiscal '22. Much of this dollar increase has been driven by product cost increases and unit volumes have grown at a much slower pace. We also had a higher accounts payable balance at year-end compared to previous periods due to the timing of inventory received throughout the fourth quarter. Capital expenditures during the fourth quarter were $15.4 million, bringing the full year total to $62.8 million. Capital spend consists primarily of store development, technology and infrastructure projects.

23 財年末的淨庫存為 4.208 億美元，比 22 財年末增長 90.2%。美元增長的主要原因是產品成本增加，單位銷量增長速度要慢得多。由於整個第四季度收到存貨的時間安排，我們年末的應付賬款餘額也高於往年。第四季度的資本支出為 1540 萬美元，使全年總額達到 6280 萬美元。資本支出主要包括商店開發、技術和基礎設施項目。

For the year, our store count increased by a net of 37 units comprised of 43 new locations and 6 closures. Our total store count stands at 1,133 as of the end of fiscal '23. During the fourth quarter, we did not repurchase shares as we focused our cash flow on investments in inventory and capital expenditures. On a full year basis, we bought back approximately 797,000 shares under our share repurchase plan at a total cost of $38.5 million. We paid a recurring quarterly dividend during the fourth quarter in the amount of $0.25 per eligible common share for a total outflow of $3.2 million. For fiscal '23, dividend payments amounted to $12.9 million.

今年，我們的門店數量淨增加了 37 家，其中包括 43 家新門店和 6 家關閉門店。截至 23 財年末，我們的門店總數為 1,133 家。在第四季度，我們沒有回購股票，因為我們將現金流集中在庫存投資和資本支出上。按全年計算，我們根據股票回購計劃回購了約 797,000 股股票，總成本為 3850 萬美元。我們在第四季度支付了每股合格普通股 0.25 美元的經常性季度股息，總流出 320 萬美元。對於 23 財年，股息支付額為 1290 萬美元。

I'll now turn the call over to Bill Quinn to discuss our customers.

我現在將電話轉給 Bill Quinn 來討論我們的客戶。

Thank you, Bob. Despite pervasive inflationary impacts, our customers continued to increase their shopping with us during the fourth quarter. Loyalty sales increased double digits, driven by double-digit increases in shoppers and average unit retail. We see both increased customers and higher AUR as structural in nature, keeping our business rebaseline well above FY '20.

謝謝你，鮑勃。儘管普遍存在通貨膨脹影響，但我們的客戶在第四季度繼續增加他們在我們這裡的購物。在購物者和平均零售單位兩位數增長的推動下，忠誠度銷售額增長了兩位數。我們認為增加的客戶和更高的 AUR 本質上都是結構性的，使我們的業務重新調整基準遠高於 20 財年。

In Q4, we continue to see increased sales from new shoppers and most notably, large growth from our existing customers. We had more existing customers shop. They spent more per visit, and they increased their visits. We believe these results were driven by our continued investments in the customer experience. Regarding this upcoming year, our consumer research indicates that our customers, like most U.S. consumers, are concerned about various financial aspects of life, most notably food and utility costs. When it comes to discretionary spend, we anticipate that customers will make reductions in entertainment, travel and eating out before reducing retail expenditures. Also, our research indicates that customers likely plan to spend the same or more as last year on footwear and specific key brands.

在第四季度，我們繼續看到新購物者的銷售額有所增加，最顯著的是我們現有客戶的大幅增長。我們有更多的現有客戶購物。他們每次訪問花費更多，並且他們增加了訪問次數。我們相信這些結果是由我們對客戶體驗的持續投資推動的。關於即將到來的一年，我們的消費者研究表明，我們的客戶與大多數美國消費者一樣，關心生活的各個財務方面，最顯著的是食品和公用事業成本。在可支配支出方面，我們預計客戶會在減少零售支出之前減少娛樂、旅行和外出就餐。此外，我們的研究表明，客戶可能計劃在鞋類和特定主要品牌上花費與去年相同或更多的錢。

Turning to our e-commerce business. In Q4, sales increased 21.4% versus last year and 79.8% versus FY '20. These results were driven by increases in traffic, average order value and investments in our digital customer experience. Last year and this year, our focus has been and will continue to be improving the digital customer experience by reducing friction points on 2 dimensions: one, improving the prepurchase experience; and two, improving the post-purchase experience. Improvements to the prepurchase experience include making it easier to find and discover products and making it easy to purchase. Our post-purchase efforts remain focused on improving fulfillment speed and enhancing customer service capability to resolve issues quickly, as well as intercepting and preventing issues from occurring.

轉向我們的電子商務業務。在第四季度，銷售額與去年相比增長了 21.4%，與 20 財年相比增長了 79.8%。這些結果是由流量增加、平均訂單價值和對我們數字客戶體驗的投資推動的。去年和今年，我們的重點一直是並將繼續通過減少兩個方面的摩擦點來改善數字客戶體驗：一是改善購前體驗；第二，改善購後體驗。對預購體驗的改進包括讓查找和發現產品變得更容易，以及讓購買變得更容易。我們的售後工作仍然專注於提高履行速度和增強客戶服務能力以快速解決問題，以及攔截和預防問題的發生。

I will now turn the call to Ben to discuss our store experience.

我現在將電話轉給 Ben 來討論我們的商店體驗。

Thanks, Bill. Our store culture is sales focused. The last 2 years, we focused on developing and implementing tools to drive that culture. This includes investing heavily in creating a true mobile experience for both our consumers and our associates. Our store level infrastructure and systems required an overhaul to go mobile. This included ensuring every store has high-speed Internet, WiFi, multiple mobile devices and the apps required to deliver on that experience. The investments were significant, but were also required to achieve increased sales while lowering operating costs over time.

謝謝，比爾。我們的商店文化以銷售為中心。在過去的 2 年裡，我們專注於開發和實施工具來推動這種文化。這包括大力投資為我們的消費者和我們的員工創造真正的移動體驗。我們的商店級基礎設施和系統需要進行大修才能實現移動化。這包括確保每家商店都有高速互聯網、WiFi、多個移動設備和提供這種體驗所需的應用程序。這些投資是巨大的，但也需要在增加銷售額的同時降低運營成本。

The mobile environment enables process improvements to both customer-facing and nonfacing tasks. We've reengineered the way we operate. This includes not only what tasks are done, but also how they are completed. Most importantly, we've redefined how we interact with the consumer on the sales floor. The things Bill mentioned about driving the e-commerce business also hold true for the in-store consumer. The investments we made allow associates to leverage the inventory across our supply chain. They also improve the conversion rate, which leads to an improved consumer experience. This year is a payoff year. Much of the calls were front loaded. Now we can begin to leverage these investments. The productivity gains will allow us to take cost out of our model while improving our best-in-class omnichannel experience.

移動環境可以改進面向客戶和非面向客戶的任務的流程。我們重新設計了我們的運作方式。這不僅包括完成了哪些任務，還包括完成任務的方式。最重要的是，我們重新定義了在銷售現場與消費者互動的方式。比爾提到的關於推動電子商務業務的事情也適用於店內消費者。我們所做的投資使員工能夠利用我們整個供應鏈中的庫存。它們還提高了轉化率，從而改善了消費者體驗。今年是收穫的一年。許多電話都是預先加載的。現在我們可以開始利用這些投資了。生產力的提高將使我們能夠從我們的模型中降低成本，同時改善我們一流的全渠道體驗。

I will now turn the call back to Bob to discuss our guidance.

我現在將把電話轉回給鮑勃，討論我們的指導意見。

Thanks, Ben. The business outlook for fiscal '24 is complex and constantly evolving. There are a number of challenges considered, but also a handful of tailwinds that will help to mitigate these headwinds as noted on Slide 11. Inflation has a broad impact not only on consumer sentiment and spending patterns, but also contributes to operating cost increases in the form of wage pressure and higher prices paid for goods and services. We expect the promotional environment to be more significant than in fiscal '23, and we'll be dealing with higher cost of borrowing and some intermittent lingering supply chain disruptions throughout the year.

謝謝，本。 24 財年的業務前景複雜且不斷變化。如幻燈片 11 所述，我們考慮了許多挑戰，但也有一些有利因素將有助於減輕這些不利因素。通貨膨脹不僅對消費者情緒和支出模式產生廣泛影響，而且還導致運營成本增加形式的工資壓力和更高的商品和服務價格。我們預計促銷環境將比 23 財年更為重要，我們將在全年應對更高的借貸成本和一些間歇性揮之不去的供應鏈中斷。

On the flip side, low unemployment and higher wages provides consumers with more purchasing power. We feel our inventory assortment has become much healthier in the past several months and the unique and hard defined products that we offer is expected to attract more customers to our stores and website. In addition, investments in store development, the customer experience and to back office infrastructure will begin to yield operating cost leverage as we move forward.

另一方面，低失業率和更高的工資為消費者提供了更多的購買力。我們覺得我們的庫存分類在過去幾個月裡變得更加健康，我們提供的獨特和明確的產品有望吸引更多顧客到我們的商店和網站。此外，隨著我們向前發展，對商店開發、客戶體驗和後台基礎設施的投資將開始產生運營成本槓桿。

Slide 12 summarizes fiscal 2024 guidance. Total net sales for the full year, including the impact of the 53rd week are anticipated to increase mid-single digits compared to our fiscal 2023 results. The 53rd week is expected to be approximately 1% of full year sales. We anticipate full year sales will break down as follows: approximately 26% in the first quarter, approximately 22% in the second quarter, approximately 24% in the third quarter and approximately 28% in the fourth quarter. Comparable sales are expected to grow in the low single-digit range for the full year. Full year brick-and-mortar comparable sales are expected to grow in the low single-digit range while full year e-commerce revenue growth as anticipated in the high single-digit range.

幻燈片 12 總結了 2024 財年的指導方針。與我們 2023 財年的業績相比，全年淨銷售額（包括第 53 週的影響）預計將增長中個位數。第 53 週預計約為全年銷售額的 1%。我們預計全年銷售額將細分如下：第一季度約為 26%，第二季度約為 22%，第三季度約為 24%，第四季度約為 28%。預計全年可比銷售額將以較低的個位數增長。全年實體店可比銷售額預計將在低個位數範圍內增長，而全年電子商務收入增長預計將在高個位數範圍內增長。

As anticipated, the total comparable sales in the first half of the year will increase in the low to mid-single-digit range and will be flat to up low single digits in the second half of the year. Net new store growth is expected to be in the range of 40 to 50 stores. We anticipate that fiscal 2024 will be more promotional than the prior year. In addition, a higher mix of e-commerce sales, intermittent supply chain challenges and inflationary pressures on some elements of store occupancy costs result in anticipated gross margin decline of approximately 20 to 30 basis points compared to fiscal '23 results. The projected full year gross margin rate of 34.9% to 35.0% as a percentage of net sales exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

正如預期的那樣，今年上半年可比銷售額總額將在中低個位數範圍內增長，下半年將持平至低個位數增長。淨新店增長預計在 40 至 50 家之間。我們預計 2024 財年將比上一年更具促銷性。此外，與 23 財年的結果相比，電子商務銷售的更高組合、間歇性供應鏈挑戰以及商店佔用成本某些要素的通脹壓力導致預期毛利率下降約 20 至 30 個基點。預計全年毛利率占淨銷售額的 34.9% 至 35.0% 超過大流行前水平。

SG&A as a percent of net sales is expected to increase by approximately 40 to 50 basis points compared to the fiscal '23 results due to new store growth, wage inflation and increased incentive compensation costs and higher data and transaction processing fees. The expected full year SG&A expense range of 23.2% to 23.3% of net sales is favorable to pre-pandemic levels as well. SG&A as a percent of sales will vary depending on the quarter as higher sales volumes allow us to more effectively leverage the fixed cost components of SG&A. Operating margin for the year is expected to be in the range of 9% to 9.3% of net sales, also remaining above prepandemic levels. We do not expect operating margin as a percent of sales to vary significantly between the first half and second half of the year.

由於新店增長、工資上漲和激勵補償成本增加以及數據和交易處理費用增加，與 23 財年的結果相比，SG&A 占淨銷售額的百分比預計將增加約 40 至 50 個基點。預計全年 SG&A 費用占淨銷售額的 23.2% 至 23.3% 也有利於大流行前的水平。 SG&A 佔銷售額的百分比將因季度而異，因為更高的銷量使我們能夠更有效地利用 SG&A 的固定成本部分。今年的營業利潤率預計將在淨銷售額的 9% 至 9.3% 之間，也將保持在大流行前的水平之上。我們預計營業利潤率佔銷售額的百分比在今年上半年和下半年不會有顯著差異。

And looking more specifically at the first half of the year, we anticipate first quarter operating profit percentage will be similar to the first quarter of fiscal '23, while the second quarter will be a more challenging comparison to the prior year. Additional operating margin guidance for the third and fourth quarter will be provided at a later date. It is anticipated that there will be debt outstanding on our line of credit for a majority of the year. We believe borrowings will be more significant in the first half of the year as current inventory levels are not expected to decline significantly until after the back-to-school season.

更具體地看一下今年上半年，我們預計第一季度營業利潤百分比將與 23 財年第一季度相似，而第二季度與上一年相比將更具挑戰性。稍後將提供第三和第四季度的額外營業利潤率指導。預計在今年的大部分時間裡，我們的信貸額度將存在未償債務。我們認為，在今年上半年，借貸將更為重要，因為目前的庫存水平預計在開學季結束之前不會大幅下降。

Interest expense for the full year is projected to be approximately 25 to 30 basis points of net sales. Diluted earnings per share are anticipated to be in the range of $9.50 to $10 using an estimated full year tax rate of 24% and an estimated weighted average diluted share count of 12.7 million shares. We are projecting capital expenditures in the range of $60 million to $70 million, with the largest allocation focused on new store growth, remodels, relocations, new store signage and improving our customer experience. Our capital allocation strategy continues to include share repurchases and recurring dividends in addition to the capital expenditures noted above.

全年的利息支出預計約為淨銷售額的 25 至 30 個基點。使用 24% 的估計全年稅率和 1270 萬股的估計加權平均稀釋股數，預計稀釋後每股收益將在 9.50 美元至 10 美元之間。我們預計資本支出在 6000 萬至 7000 萬美元之間，其中最大的分配集中在新店增長、改造、搬遷、新店標牌和改善我們的客戶體驗上。除了上述資本支出外，我們的資本配置策略繼續包括股票回購和經常性股息。

That concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, please open the line for questions.

我們準備好的發言到此結束。接線員，請打開問題線路。

(Operator Instructions) Our first questions come from the line of Sam Poser with Williams Trading.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Williams Trading 的 Sam Poser。

Just a little -- I have a couple -- just a little color on the inventory. It sounds to me -- just based on what you said, Jared, it sounds like the apparel inventory is -- are you heavier in apparel right now than in footwear, relative to need? Is that accurate?

只是一點點——我有幾個——只是庫存上的一點顏色。在我看來——根據你所說的，賈里德，這聽起來像是服裝庫存——相對於需求，你現在的服裝比鞋類更重嗎？那是準確的嗎？

Yes, Sam, I think there's obviously a little more of a struggle in Apparel right now, consumer demand for Apparel in the fourth quarter (inaudible) We certainly don't see that necessarily changing anytime soon based on the level of inventory in the market and the promotional environment. So we certainly have some things to work through. But the biggest impact of our inventory is certainly the price inflation. And we want to ensure that we have an appropriate level of units to provide the best consumer experience that we can. So that's where we sit today. The team is certainly focused on inventory productivity as the supply chain becomes hopefully a more normalized and more predictable, but apparel is our toughest area at the moment with regard to liquidations of inventory.

是的，山姆，我認為現在服裝行業顯然有更多的掙扎，第四季度消費者對服裝的需求（聽不清）我們當然不會根據市場庫存水平很快看到這種情況發生變化和宣傳環境。所以我們當然有一些事情需要解決。但我們庫存的最大影響肯定是價格上漲。我們希望確保我們擁有適當水平的單位，以提供我們所能提供的最佳消費者體驗。這就是我們今天坐的地方。隨著供應鏈有望變得更加規範化和更可預測，該團隊當然專注於庫存生產率，但服裝是我們目前在清算庫存方面最困難的領域。

And just to follow up on that, you mentioned the supply chain. The supply chain in '20 -- I mean, I understand there's going to be ongoing issues with the supply chain potentially in fiscal '24. But isn't it -- I mean, given all the craziness that happened last year, is that probably still going to end up being a tailwind rather than a headwind?

為了跟進，你提到了供應鏈。 20 世紀的供應鏈——我的意思是，我知道 24 財年的供應鏈可能會持續存在問題。但不是嗎——我的意思是，考慮到去年發生的所有瘋狂事件，這可能最終會成為順風而不是逆風嗎？

Well, I think this year, as I mentioned, I think the predictability and the normalizing is something that our team is really looking forward to. The last couple of years with the chaos, planning inventory levels, tracking inventory, ensuring we had enough units for a positive customer experience was really, really difficult. As we go forward, we can be way more precise based on that predictability that will give the team a little bit more of a luxury to make decisions in a more timely manner than we have in the past. So yes, I would agree with you. We would expect that to be a tailwind as we move forward.

好吧，我認為今年，正如我提到的，我認為可預測性和正常化是我們團隊真正期待的。在過去幾年的混亂中，規劃庫存水平、跟踪庫存、確保我們有足夠的單位來提供積極的客戶體驗真的非常困難。隨著我們的前進，我們可以根據這種可預測性更加精確，這將使團隊比過去更及時地做出決策。所以是的，我同意你的看法。我們希望這會成為我們前進的順風。

And just 2 more things. Number one, you mentioned -- gave sort of specific year-over-year numbers on the various merchandise categories, but you didn't -- you sort of gave more vague on Team Sports year-over-year. I wonder if you could just give us a more specific -- what the change year-over-year was in the fourth quarter in Team.

還有兩件事。第一，你提到過——給出了各種商品類別的具體同比數字，但你沒有——你在團隊運動方面給出了更模糊的同比數據。我想知道你是否可以給我們一個更具體的信息——第四季度團隊的同比變化是什麼。

Yes, it was up in the mid-single-digit area, largely driven by cleats. And then a positive impact around accessories for cold weather. Some of that, frankly, is due to some chaos in some of the cold weather accessory inventory in the year prior from a compare standpoint, but it was in the mid-single-digit area.

是的，它處於中等個位數區域，主要由防滑釘驅動。然後對寒冷天氣的配件產生積極影響。坦率地說，從比較的角度來看，其中一些是由於前一年一些寒冷天氣配件庫存的一些混亂，但它處於中個位數區域。

Okay. And then lastly, in the gross margin, and I'm not sure who this one is for. In the gross margin, are you seeing some of your larger accounts basically cutting your margins, like charging you more or cutting a discount or anything like that? And is that also impact -- is that impacting the margins that you're seeing or the gross margin guidance, I guess?

好的。最後，在毛利率方面，我不確定這個是給誰的。在毛利率方面，您是否看到一些較大的客戶基本上削減了您的利潤率，比如向您收取更多費用或削減折扣或類似的東西？這是否也有影響——我猜這是否會影響您看到的利潤率或毛利率指導？

Yes. There's some impact that we started experiencing last year. But I would say the bigger impact the growth at this point is certainly the promotional environment and some of our liquidation efforts to ensure that our inventory remains healthy. As well as with the marketplace, as you know, the marketplace has been extremely promotional. So certainly in categories that have pressure on them, we want to ensure that we're competitive.

是的。我們從去年開始經歷了一些影響。但我想說，此時增長的更大影響肯定是促銷環境和我們為確保我們的庫存保持健康而進行的一些清算工作。正如您所知，與市場一樣，市場一直非常促銷。因此，當然在對他們有壓力的類別中，我們希望確保我們具有競爭力。

Okay. And then last, I'm sorry. Bob, in the first quarter, you sort of gave a little direction. I'm assuming you're expecting an increase. Are you expecting an earnings -- an EPS increase in Q1 and then a decrease in Q2? Is that sort of the way to think about it, specific as you want to get would be greatly helpful.

好的。最後，對不起。鮑勃，在第一季度，你有點給出了方向。我假設你期望增加。您是否期待收益 - 第一季度每股收益增加，然後第二季度減少？是那種思考它的方式，具體如你所願將非常有幫助。

Yes. I guess I'm not quite ready to be that specific, Sam. But again, thanks for the question. I mean, I think what we're looking at here is, again, as we kind of feel like seasonality is starting to more normalize. Again, I think you go back and you look at previous years, excluding kind of a couple of pandemic years. And we did see that first quarter is a fairly profitable quarter for us. So we expect that we'll see a little bit of returning to that normalized. That's why I said, our guidance is from an EBIT percentage, you definitely will see something fairly similar to what we saw in Q1 of last year, but we do have a little bit -- obviously, additional interest, I mentioned as well going in. So there will be some impact on EPS as we move throughout the year.

是的。我想我還沒有準備好說得那麼具體，山姆。但再次感謝您的提問。我的意思是，我認為我們在這裡看到的是，再次，因為我們有點覺得季節性開始變得更加正常化。再一次，我想你回去看看前幾年，不包括大流行的幾年。我們確實看到第一季度對我們來說是一個利潤豐厚的季度。所以我們希望我們會看到一點點回歸到正常化。這就是為什麼我說，我們的指導來自息稅前利潤百分比，你肯定會看到與我們在去年第一季度看到的非常相似的東西，但我們確實有一點 - 顯然，額外的興趣，我提到過. 因此，隨著我們全年的變動，每股收益將受到一些影響。

Our next questions come from the line of Alex Perry with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Alex Perry。

Just first, Jared, I think you just said market place extremely promotional. Is that all Apparel? And is there any buildup of Footwear inventory? Are there pockets where Footwear is requiring discounts? And then maybe, Bob, on the gross margin guidance for the year, is the expectation that 1H declines will be more significant than 2H as you work through that sort of elevated Apparel inventory?

首先，賈里德，我想你剛才說市場非常促銷。這就是所有服裝嗎？鞋類庫存是否有增加？鞋類是否有需要打折的地方？然後，鮑勃，關於今年的毛利率指導，當您處理這種高架服裝庫存時，預計 1H 下降將比 2H 更顯著嗎？

The first part of the question, Alex. So yes, I mean, the marketplace obviously has been very promotional around Apparel, but really, it's been promotional around everything. There's certainly been pressure on secondary and tertiary brands and franchises and footwear, and we expect that to continue throughout the year and the marketplace gets a little bit more balanced inventory levels.

問題的第一部分，亞歷克斯。所以是的，我的意思是，市場顯然圍繞服裝進行了非常大的促銷，但實際上，它在所有方面都在進行促銷。二級和三級品牌以及特許經營權和鞋類肯定存在壓力，我們預計這一年將持續下去，市場的庫存水平會更加平衡。

As far as the margin is concerned, I don't think we're seeing a huge difference between the first half and the second half of the year. There's a lot of moving parts. Obviously, we are -- talking about Jared some of the promotional stuff, but we're also going to continue to try to get more efficient with some of our other costs. Obviously, store occupancy is 1 thing that we think that there's still some headwinds when it comes to utility costs, but also if we can get to the sales figures we're talking about, there's some opportunity to get some leverage there as well. So I don't think there's a wide discrepancy between the margin as we work throughout the year.

就利潤率而言，我認為我們在上半年和下半年之間沒有看到巨大差異。有很多活動部件。顯然，我們 - 談論賈里德的一些促銷活動，但我們也將繼續努力提高我們其他一些成本的效率。顯然，商店入住率是我們認為在公用事業成本方面仍然存在一些不利因素的一件事，但如果我們能夠獲得我們正在談論的銷售數據，那麼也有機會在那裡獲得一些影響力。所以我不認為我們全年工作的利潤率之間存在很大差異。

Great. So it's fair to say that the sort of launch, the high heat footwear franchises from like Nike or some of your largest vendors aren't requiring a lot of markdowns. It's more sort of the secondary, tertiary brands. Is that fair?

偉大的。因此，可以公平地說，耐克或一些最大的供應商推出的耐高溫鞋類特許經營權不需要大量降價。它更像是二級、三級品牌。這公平嗎？

That's fair. Yes. I mean the primary focus of our assortment has seen excellent throughput, phenomenal liquidations, and we would expect that to continue. But there is some pressure on some secondary and some of the tertiary investments that we'll need to work through.

這還算公平。是的。我的意思是，我們產品組合的主要焦點是出色的吞吐量、驚人的清算，我們希望這種情況會繼續下去。但是我們需要解決的一些二級和一些三級投資存在一些壓力。

Yes. And then my last question is, can you just maybe talk about how the launch calendar for the first quarter stacks up versus last year? Or I guess another way of putting that I think you were still dealing with some inventory issues on the footwear side through the later part of March last year. Is that sort of correct? So how should we think about -- will 1Q be driven by the same sort of unevenness of the inventory compares that 4Q is driven by?

是的。然後我的最後一個問題是，你能不能談談第一季度的發布日曆與去年相比如何？或者我想換一種說法，我認為你在去年 3 月下旬仍在處理鞋類方面的一些庫存問題。這樣對嗎？那麼我們應該如何考慮——與第四季度相比，第一季度是否會受到與第四季度相同的庫存不均衡的驅動？

That's correct. I mean, last year's inventory levels, where we began a year from a first quarter standpoint, was not acceptable to deliver the experience that we look to deliver to our consumers. That inventory really did not build and started getting into the latter part of the quarter. So that's certainly a part of this year's comparison and the comparison of inventory will be significantly heavier to the prior year as we get throughout the balance of the year that will level off as we get back to normal with our expectation of declines in inventory in the back half of the year.

這是正確的。我的意思是，去年的庫存水平，即我們從第一季度的角度開始的一年，是不可接受的，無法提供我們希望提供給消費者的體驗。該庫存確實沒有增加並開始進入本季度的後半部分。因此，這肯定是今年比較的一部分，並且庫存的比較將比前一年大得多，因為我們在今年餘下的時間裡隨著我們恢復正常以及我們對庫存下降的預期而趨於平穩回到半年。

Our next questions come from the line of Justin Kleber with Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自 Justin Kleber 與 Baird 的對話。

Just a follow-up on the gross margin here, Bob, you're expecting more promotions, higher digital mix. You talked about occupancy cost inflation, but you're only forecasting gross margin down 20 to 30 basis points. So few questions there. What's embedded from a product margin perspective in that guide? And then what are some of the offsetting levers you see in gross margin this year to only allow the margins to dip 20 to 30 basis points?

只是這裡的毛利率跟進，鮑勃，你期待更多的促銷活動，更高的數字組合。你談到了入住成本通脹，但你只預測毛利率下降 20 到 30 個基點。那裡的問題很少。該指南中從產品利潤率的角度來看嵌入了什麼？然後，您在今年的毛利率中看到哪些抵消槓桿只允許利潤率下降 20 到 30 個基點？

Yes. So obviously, as Jared touched on, I think the promotional environment is clearly the biggest headwind against this year as we've worked through some of the product categories. The flip side is, we are still looking at a pretty significant sales growth year-over-year. And so we're probably going to get -- we expect -- we anticipate that we'll get some leverage out of store occupancy. And also we peaked in freight rates in the middle of last year, and we continuing to see some additional lowering of those costs, more efficiency within our own operations. So we think there's some good news in the freight component as well.

是的。很明顯，正如賈里德所說，我認為促銷環境顯然是今年最大的阻力，因為我們已經研究了一些產品類別。不利的一面是，我們仍然看到銷售額同比增長非常顯著。因此，我們可能會——我們預計——我們預計我們將從商店入住率中獲得一些影響力。而且我們的運費在去年年中達到頂峰，我們繼續看到這些成本進一步降低，我們自己的運營效率更高。因此，我們認為貨運部分也有一些好消息。

And so I think what you see is, despite the fact there's a little bit of pure product margin or register margin pressure, I think we can do some offsetting with continued efficiency in our logistics operations, store occupancy and some freight costs.

所以我認為你看到的是，儘管存在一點純產品利潤率或註冊利潤率壓力，但我認為我們可以通過持續提高物流運營效率、商店入住率和一些運費來抵消。

Got it. Okay. That's very helpful color. And then just a bigger picture question on EBIT margins. Mike, you talked about this focus on delivering operating leverage. I guess I'm just curious if I go back a couple of years ago, you had an investor meeting and you talked about 15 to 25 basis points of annual EBIT expansion. So I mean, do you think the business has reached an EBIT margin level that is sustainable and perhaps you can grow off this base after this fiscal year? Or do you think operating margins are going to continue to drift lower here?

知道了。好的。這是非常有用的顏色。然後是關於息稅前利潤率的更大問題。邁克，你談到了對提供運營槓桿的關注。我想我只是好奇我是否回到幾年前，你召開了一次投資者會議，你談到了每年 EBIT 擴張 15 到 25 個基點。所以我的意思是，您是否認為該業務已達到可持續的息稅前利潤率水平，也許您可以在本財年之後在此基礎上實現增長？或者您認為營業利潤率會繼續下降嗎？

Thank you. Yes, we did address that in the Investor Day. We do expect to continue to grow EBIT. But as you know, it's not linear. And -- so we believe that we have reached a new rebase in that 9% range and we grow from here and will continue to grow it towards 10%. So Bob, any additional color on that?

謝謝。是的，我們在投資者日確實解決了這個問題。我們確實希望息稅前利潤繼續增長。但如您所知，它不是線性的。而且 - 所以我們相信我們已經達到了 9% 範圍內的新基準，我們從這裡增長並將繼續增長到 10%。鮑勃，還有其他顏色嗎？

Yes. Again, I think there's a lot of factors that have played into this over the last 2 to 3 years that obviously, we would not have been able to foresee as we hit our -- that an investor -- kind of conversation a couple of years back. I agree with Mike. I think we are making a lot of investments in the business over the last year, and with that came some additional cost of operations. Inflation has clearly been impactful across a number of different expense categories.

是的。再一次，我認為在過去的 2 到 3 年中有很多因素影響了這一點，很明顯，我們無法預見到我們 - 投資者 - 幾年的對話後退。我同意邁克。我認為去年我們在業務上進行了大量投資，隨之而來的是一些額外的運營成本。通貨膨脹顯然對許多不同的支出類別產生了影響。

I'm also just kind of returning to more normalized business operations where people are traveling a little bit more, getting out into events and meeting with the vendors. So a lot of that stuff has kind of come to roost now over the last 12 months. We think we're going to start, again, building back toward a higher EBIT percentage as we move forward. I don't think it's going to be an overnight significant blip. But again, the commitment we're making is to continue to evaluate our cost structure and move that number up slowly towards as Mike said, into that 10% range again.

我也只是有點回到更規範的業務運營，人們會更多地出差，參加活動並與供應商會面。所以在過去的 12 個月裡，很多這樣的東西現在已經落伍了。我們認為我們將再次開始，隨著我們向前邁進，重新朝著更高的息稅前利潤百分比邁進。我不認為這會是一夜之間的重大曇花一現。但同樣，我們做出的承諾是繼續評估我們的成本結構，並像邁克所說的那樣將這個數字緩慢上升到 10% 的範圍內。

Got it. Okay. That's great to hear. And then just last question, Bob, do you have any estimation on just what you're thinking about free cash flow this year?

知道了。好的。聽到這個消息我很高興。最後一個問題，鮑勃，你對今年的自由現金流有什麼估計嗎？

Again, I think we still have plenty of cash necessary to execute the strategy, which is buying back shares as we see the opportunity in the marketplace. Continuing, as I said, to invest $60 million to $70 million in CapEx. With our sales growth, with the declining inventory in the back half of the year, I mean I feel pretty comfortable with our cash flow position as the year progresses.

同樣，我認為我們仍然有足夠的現金來執行該戰略，即在我們看到市場機會時回購股票。正如我所說，繼續在資本支出上投資 6000 萬至 7000 萬美元。隨著我們的銷售增長，以及今年下半年庫存的下降，我的意思是隨著時間的推移，我對我們的現金流狀況感到非常滿意。

Our next question come from the line of Mitch Kummetz with Seaport Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Seaport Research 的 Mitch Kummetz。

Mike, I guess my first question is for you because in your prepared remarks, you talked about falling short of plan in the quarter. I just want to make sure I am totally clear as to kind of where and why you had that shortfall? Because it looks like it's more on the sales side than the margin side and then kind of the split between footwear and apparel. I know there's been a lot of talk on this call about how footwear had a good quarter, at least the year-over-year increase with strong Apparel was down, but I imagine that was sort of expected as well. So I'm not sure that was -- Apparel was worse than expected and Footwear was sort of in line, but maybe just a little bit more color on kind of where and why you misplanned the quarter.

邁克，我想我的第一個問題是問你的，因為在你準備好的發言中，你談到了本季度未達到計劃。我只是想確保我完全清楚你在哪里以及為什麼會出現這種短缺？因為它看起來更像是在銷售方面而不是利潤方面，然後是鞋類和服裝之間的分裂。我知道在這次電話會議上有很多關於鞋類如何表現良好的討論，至少與強勁服裝的同比增長有所下降，但我想這也是意料之中的。所以我不確定那是 - 服裝比預期更糟糕，鞋類有點符合，但可能只是在你錯誤地計劃季度的地方和原因上有更多的顏色。

Thank you. So footwear, we were very pleased with the performance. We continue to see good sell-throughs, high heat is high heat. Nothing's really changed with that. They may be fractionally lower sell-throughs, but still the compelling product assortment works. Apparel was a bit of a disappointment, not only in terms of units, but in terms of the price and the growth of it. So I think Jared did a good job of going through that a couple of times, but he's going to follow up in just a moment. In the terms of the total revenue, what we had modeled, as everyone knows, and we talk about a higher AUR and a somewhat higher transaction number. So the shortfall really was the transactions number.

謝謝。所以鞋類，我們對錶現非常滿意。我們繼續看到良好的銷售率，高熱度是高熱度。什麼都沒有真正改變。它們的銷售率可能略低，但引人注目的產品分類仍然有效。服裝有點令人失望，不僅是在單位方面，而且在價格和增長方面也是如此。所以我認為 Jared 很好地完成了幾次，但他稍後會跟進。在總收入方面，眾所周知，我們所建模的是更高的 AUR 和更高的交易數量。所以缺口真的是交易數量。

So Jared, do you want to...

那麼賈里德，你想...

Yes. that's exactly right. I mean the shortfall came in the transaction number, and we believe primarily attributed to the Apparel business, which was worse than our expectations. Certainly, we're not expecting a robust Apparel business, but it was -- had a lot more pressure on it. Certainly, as we talked earlier, the market was incredibly promotional. Consumers were spending their money in other categories with us. So I think that added some pressure to the Apparel business, especially when we compare it to the prior year, there wasn't much inventory available in footwear.

是的。這是完全正確的。我的意思是交易數量出現短缺，我們認為這主要歸因於服裝業務，這比我們的預期還要糟糕。當然，我們並不期待一個強大的服裝業務，但它 - 承受了更大的壓力。當然，正如我們之前所說，市場的促銷活動令人難以置信。消費者將錢花在我們的其他類別上。因此，我認為這給服裝業務增加了一些壓力，尤其是當我們將其與上一年進行比較時，鞋類庫存不多。

Okay. That's helpful. And then second question, I know you mentioned that going forward, you're going to stop anchoring against 2020, but I hope you might indulge my question anyway. Because when I look at the comp guide on '24, low singles that implies a 4-year like low 40s. And then when I kind of run your quarterly splits in terms of kind of percentage of sales by quarter, I kind of back into at least kind of pencil into like a Q1 comp on a 4 year like -- in the low 30s and then the balance of the year kind of in the mid-40s. That's a pretty big difference. And I was hoping you might be able to address that a little bit.

好的。這很有幫助。然後是第二個問題，我知道你提到過，未來你將停止錨定 2020 年，但我希望你無論如何都能回答我的問題。因為當我查看 24 年的 comp 指南時，低價單曲意味著 4 年的低價 40 多歲。然後當我按季度的銷售額百分比來計算你的季度拆分時，我至少回到了某種鉛筆，就像 4 年的 Q1 comp - 在 30 年代低點，然後是年度餘額大約在 40 年代中期。這是一個很大的不同。我希望你能稍微解決一下這個問題。

Yes. So I think, again, every year has got a little bit of a different unique cadence over the last 3 to 4 years. So last year, again, as we've touched on a couple of times, inventory was not in a great position as we entered the first quarter. So as you think about tax season being one of our big kind of seasonal peaks, we didn't have a great assortment for the customer. We didn't do a great job of meeting the need. So we feel this first quarter is going to be stronger. And I do think that, that's why we're kind of looking at the mix of sales being a little bit heavier here as far as the first quarter is concerned.

是的。所以我認為，在過去的 3 到 4 年裡，每年都有一些不同的獨特節奏。所以去年，正如我們已經多次提到的那樣，當我們進入第一季度時，庫存並不處於有利位置。因此，當您認為稅收季節是我們最大的季節性高峰之一時，我們沒有為客戶提供很好的分類。我們沒有很好地滿足需求。所以我們覺得第一季度會更強勁。我確實認為，就第一季度而言，這就是為什麼我們在這裡看到銷售組合有點重的原因。

So I think that does give you a little bit more ammunition as far as leverage in the first quarter, and you will see a little bit of lowering as the year goes on. Again, fourth quarter is a big year or a been a big quarter for us as well. But I also want to remind everyone the 53rd week is in that fourth quarter of this year. So that's going to give a little bit of lift to the fourth quarter, but we do not see that 53rd week as being a very accretive week for us. It's a relatively low sales week. We're considering closer to a roughly breakeven type of scenario. So again, I think back to your original question, I do see first quarter being a little bit stronger this year than last year, clearly.

所以我認為，就第一季度的槓桿率而言，這確實給了你更多的彈藥，隨著時間的推移，你會看到槓桿率有所下降。同樣，第四季度對我們來說也是重要的一年或者也是一個重要的季度。但我也想提醒大家第53周是在今年第四季度。所以這會給第四季度帶來一點提振，但我們並不認為第 53 週對我們來說是一個非常有增長的一周。這是一個相對較低的銷售週。我們正在考慮接近大致盈虧平衡的情景。所以，我再次回到你最初的問題，我確實看到今年第一季度明顯比去年強一些。

Okay. And then lastly, a lot of vendors have already reported their Q4 given their December year-end -- or not all of them on a December year-end, but a lot -- some of them have talked about having too much inventory and kind of working through that through the first half of the year, a lot of that going kind of through their direct channels. I'm wondering if you're seeing any impact from vendor discounting and a lot of them have talked about how that should improve in the back half of the year as they get their inventory kind of rightsized by the back half. So I guess maybe just a 2-part question.

好的。最後，許多供應商已經在 12 月年末報告了他們的第四季度——或者不是所有供應商都在 12 月年末，但很多——他們中的一些人談到庫存和種類太多通過今年上半年的工作，很多都是通過他們的直接渠道進行的。我想知道你是否看到了供應商折扣的任何影響，他們中的很多人都談到了在今年下半年應該如何改善，因為他們在下半年獲得了庫存的合理化。所以我想也許只是一個由兩部分組成的問題。

One, are you seeing much competition from the Vans meeting on sale of direct? And I guess, if so, does that actually kind of ease up in your plans as you kind of go through the year?

第一，您是否看到來自 Vans 直接銷售會議的競爭激烈？而且我想，如果是這樣，那麼在您度過這一年的過程中，您的計劃真的會有所緩解嗎？

Yes. So the vendor direct pricing cadence, certainly during the holidays was aggressive, but -- so were the partner pricing promotions. So it really was a marketplace overall that was heavily dependent on promotions and very active, again, especially in apparel. So overall, there's a significant impact with regard to the promotional environment. Certainly, the direct businesses are having an impact on that. And my expectation would be as inventory does start to get a little bit more cleaned up and level out across the marketplace, reduced promotions, not just from the direct channels, but also from our competitors can hopefully put a little less pressure on the Apparel business in particular.

是的。所以供應商直接定價節奏，當然在假期期間是積極的，但是 - 合作夥伴定價促銷也是如此。因此，這確實是一個整體上嚴重依賴促銷活動並且非常活躍的市場，尤其是在服裝領域。所以總的來說，對促銷環境有重大影響。當然，直接業務正在對此產生影響。我的預期是，隨著庫存確實開始得到更多清理並在整個市場上趨於平穩，減少促銷活動，不僅來自直接渠道，而且來自我們的競爭對手，有望減輕對服裝業務的壓力尤其。

Our next questions come from the line of Cristina Fernández with Telsey Advisory Group.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cristina Fernández 與 Telsey Advisory Group 的對話。

I have a few. The first one is, I wanted to see if you could talk about how you approach the guidance for the fiscal year different than last year in light of not being able to meet your targets. Do you feel like you have enough cushion or conservatism in the outlook in case the consumer environment remains as it is today through the rest of the year?

我有幾個。第一個是，我想看看你是否可以談談鑑於無法實現你的目標，你如何處理與去年不同的財政年度指導。如果消費者環境在今年餘下時間保持現狀，您是否覺得您對前景有足夠的緩衝或保守主義？

Yes. I mean, I think we go into each period with guidance thinking that we've got a good answer. We're obviously not purposely targeting being overly aggressive or overly conservative. I think as we saw how the fourth quarter played out as we started to look at what we're seeing in the marketplace from some of the other companies that were putting out results and some of the commentary we made, clearly we felt that there were some things that we needed to be a little bit more careful of pushing too far beyond the envelope, so to speak. So again, we still think that the guidance we're giving is fair and reasonable. I don't want to say it's going to be overly aggressive on one end or like sandbagging on the other end.

是的。我的意思是，我認為我們進入每個階段時都認為我們已經找到了一個很好的答案。我們顯然不是故意針對過於激進或過於保守。我認為，當我們開始審視我們在市場上看到的其他一些發佈業績的公司以及我們發表的一些評論時，我們看到了第四季度的表現，很明顯，我們覺得可以這麼說，有些事情我們需要更加小心，不要把事情推得太遠。因此，我們仍然認為我們給出的指導是公平合理的。我不想說它會在一端過於激進或在另一端像沙袋一樣。

Again, we feel this is a reasonable approach for our business based on what we're seeing for fiscal '24. So obviously, a lot of assumptions into those numbers. Still some level of volatility, especially when it comes to consumer behavior and pricing and inflation, et cetera. So again, this is what we think is a reasonable approach for now. Obviously, if circumstances change, we will continue to update and modify that guidance as necessary.

同樣，根據我們在 24 財年所看到的情況，我們認為這對我們的業務來說是一種合理的方法。很明顯，這些數字有很多假設。仍然存在一定程度的波動，尤其是在涉及消費者行為、定價和通貨膨脹等方面。同樣，這是我們認為目前合理的方法。顯然，如果情況發生變化，我們將繼續根據需要更新和修改該指南。

And touching a little bit more on the low single-digit comp outlook. How are you thinking about that level of growth in relation to industry growth? I also want to touch on market share gains. Are you seeing those market share gains from competitors who've left the market? Maybe you can parse out that outlook for the year in more detail.

並更多地涉及低個位數的 comp 前景。您如何看待與行業增長相關的增長水平？我還想談談市場份額的增長。您是否看到退出市場的競爭對手的市場份額增加？也許您可以更詳細地分析今年的展望。

Yes. I think what we've seen so far in estimates is a lower growth rate overall for the next 3 years than what -- certainly what we're guiding to for this year. And obviously, what we've seen over the last 4 years since prepandemic has been a very significant increase in our business that is outsized compared to the market. So we certainly been able to pick up some share. We've made lots of investments in the business model to continue to pick up share. But again, based off the consumer environment and all the pressure points that are out there and inflation, we want to ensure that we don't get too far over our skis with regard to expectations.

是的。我認為到目前為止我們在估計中看到的是未來 3 年的總體增長率低於 - 當然是我們今年的指導。顯然，自大流行前以來的過去 4 年中，我們所看到的是我們的業務增長非常顯著，與市場相比規模過大。所以我們當然能夠獲得一些份額。我們在商業模式上進行了大量投資，以繼續擴大份額。但同樣，基於消費者環境和所有存在的壓力點以及通貨膨脹，我們希望確保我們在預期方面不會太過分。

And then the last question I had was, I mean you mentioned that the higher e-commerce sales are a headwind to the gross margin. Can you update us on where -- what's difference in profitability between those 2 channels, between the store sales and the online sales?

然後我的最後一個問題是，我的意思是你提到較高的電子商務銷售額是毛利率的不利因素。您能否向我們介紹一下這兩個渠道（實體店銷售和在線銷售）之間的盈利能力有何不同？

Yes, I can take that. So this is Bill. We're very pleased with the level of profitability of our e-commerce business. Profit grew in Q4 for our e-commerce business. A few things to mention, actually, quite a few things I mentioned. So our product margin expanded in Q4. We've managed our advertising very well. We leveraged our fixed costs. But as Bob mentioned earlier, fulfillment costs were reduced, and that was largely a function of AUR going up. So our freight expense was lower as a percent of sales. But overall, e-commerce will not be a drag on the company's EBIT.

是的，我可以接受。所以這是比爾。我們對電子商務業務的盈利水平感到非常滿意。我們的電子商務業務在第四季度的利潤有所增長。有幾件事要提，實際上，我提了很多事。因此，我們的產品利潤率在第四季度有所擴大。我們的廣告管理得很好。我們利用了固定成本。但正如 Bob 之前提到的，履行成本降低了，這在很大程度上是 AUR 上升的結果。因此，我們的運費佔銷售額的百分比較低。但總體而言，電子商務不會拖累公司的息稅前利潤。

So Cristina, just to kind of close that gap again, it's pretty traditional that you'd expect at the margin level that e-commerce is going to have a lower overall gross margin level -- yes, overall gross margin result than the brick-and-mortar because of the fulfillment component. So even though we're getting better and more efficient in fulfilling the e-commerce orders, we do believe that there's a little bit of headwind, at least in terms of the mix change on the gross margin level. Again, as Bill touched on, once you kind of factor that growth in sales for the rest of the P&L, you start to gain that leverage back. So by the time you get down to the operating profit or EBIT level, it's pretty close to the same when you look at brick-and-mortar versus e-commerce.

所以克里斯蒂娜，只是為了再次縮小差距，這是非常傳統的，你會期望電子商務的整體毛利率水平較低 - 是的，整體毛利率結果比磚 -和迫擊砲因為實現組件。因此，儘管我們在履行電子商務訂單方面變得更好、更有效率，但我們確實相信有一點逆風，至少在毛利率水平的組合變化方面是這樣。同樣，正如 Bill 談到的那樣，一旦您將其餘損益表中的銷售額增長考慮在內，您就會開始重新獲得這種影響力。因此，當你談到營業利潤或息稅前利潤水平時，你會發現實體店與電子商務的情況非常接近。

Our next questions come from the line of John Lawrence with The Benchmark Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 Benchmark 公司的 John Lawrence。

When you've been in the stores last few weeks and Jared, you may -- can help me here, looking at the promos and one manufacturer, I guess, for a period of time was 50% off across the board anything you buy. Some other guys, I guess your largest guys were just picking select shoes and putting them off at a [$39.99] or very limited SKUs. Is there anything changing in promo strategy? And is that across the board or just select stores?

當你過去幾周和 Jared 去過商店時，你可能 - 可以在這裡幫助我，看看促銷和一個製造商，我猜，在一段時間內，你購買的任何東西都可以享受 50% 的折扣。其他一些人，我猜你們最大的人只是挑選精選的鞋子，然後以 [39.99 美元] 或非常有限的 SKU 出售。促銷策略有什麼變化嗎？是全面的還是只選擇商店？

Well, there's definitely some changes with regard to the promo strategy. I mean, first and foremost, we will have promos now where if you go back a few years, there weren't any based on what was going on during the pandemic and post pandemic, but our strategy has changed some. We're looking at shorter periods, deeper marks to try and reflect the way the consumers are behaving now. And all these things are things that we're testing to assure that the model we use for promotions gives us the right level of margin and the right level of liquidation as we move forward. But there are absolutely changes with regard to our promotional strategy that we're currently executing.

好吧，促銷策略肯定有一些變化。我的意思是，首先，我們現在會有宣傳片，如果你回到幾年前，沒有任何宣傳片是基於大流行期間和大流行之後發生的事情，但我們的策略已經改變了一些。我們正在尋找更短的時間、更深的標記來嘗試反映消費者現在的行為方式。所有這些都是我們正在測試的東西，以確保我們用於促銷的模型在我們前進時為我們提供正確的保證金水平和正確的清算水平。但是我們目前正在執行的促銷策略絕對有變化。

Great. And lastly, just how much has the customer being able to split up the payments for payments for a period of time. Has that helped sales at all to reach some of those customers?

偉大的。最後，客戶在一段時間內能夠分攤付款的金額有多少。這是否有助於銷售達到其中一些客戶？

Yes, this is Bill. I'll take that question. We haven't seen a major increase in that. Certainly, that's a service we offer both in stores and online. I spoke earlier about customers being concerned about various financial assets, grocery utility. But a few things to remention or actually something I did, which is the concern of unemployment is lower. So that is good. Also, our customers are going to cut back in other areas before they cut back in retail, travel, entertainment, eating out. And we -- our customers continue to plan to buy more footwear than last year. And also, we're confident in customer demand for our primary brands.

是的，這是比爾。我會回答這個問題。我們還沒有看到這方面的重大增長。當然，這是我們在商店和網上提供的服務。我之前談到客戶關心各種金融資產、雜貨店實用程序。但有幾件事要提醒，或者實際上我做了一些事情，那就是對失業率的擔憂降低了。所以這很好。此外，我們的客戶將在削減零售、旅遊、娛樂和外出就餐之前削減其他領域的開支。而且我們 - 我們的客戶繼續計劃購買比去年更多的鞋類。而且，我們對客戶對我們主要品牌的需求充滿信心。

Our next questions come from the line of Jim Chartier with Monness, Crespi, Hardt.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jim Chartier 與 Monness、Crespi、Hardt 的合作。

I wanted to follow up on the first quarter. Just given kind of the 3-year trend in fourth quarter would kind of imply that first quarter comp should be up more like mid-teens. And again, given the seasonality that you've talked about in the guidance, it looks like guidance implies something more like high single digits in the first quarter. So just curious, anything in terms of timing of launches or shifts that we should be thinking about where -- again, that kind of 3 or 4 year comp trend should be softer in first quarter.

我想跟進第一季度。僅僅考慮到第四季度的 3 年趨勢就意味著第一季度的收入應該更接近十幾歲。再一次，考慮到你在指導中談到的季節性，指導似乎意味著第一季度更像是高個位數。所以很好奇，關於發佈時間或轉變的任何事情，我們應該考慮在哪裡——同樣，這種 3 年或 4 年的補償趨勢在第一季度應該會更加疲軟。

Yes, we feel like we haven't modeled appropriately. I mean, certainly, launch calendar changes all these things that we have to deal with and look at. So we feel reasonably confident with where we sit today and the guidance that we've given that we understand that calendar well, and we've anticipated any potential changes.

是的，我們覺得我們沒有適當地建模。我的意思是，當然，發布日曆會改變我們必須處理和關注的所有這些事情。因此，我們對今天所處的位置以及我們給出的指導感到相當有信心，我們很好地理解了那個日曆，並且我們已經預料到任何潛在的變化。

Jim, one other thing, I guess -- Jim, one other thing I'd add to that is we've probably all seen the steps coming out from IRS. There was obviously some concern that the average refund might be a little bit lower this year. So I think, again, that's also part of the factoring we looked at in the first quarter.

吉姆，我想還有一件事——吉姆，我要補充的另一件事是我們可能都已經看到了來自美國國稅局的步驟。顯然有人擔心今年的平均退款可能會略低一些。所以我再次認為，這也是我們在第一季度看到的因素的一部分。

Okay. Makes sense. And then on -- you mentioned you're conducting a systematic review of the cost structure. I guess first, when do you expect to complete that review? And then does your guidance assume any benefit from cost savings related to that this year?

好的。說得通。然後 - 你提到你正在對成本結構進行系統審查。我想首先，您希望什麼時候完成審查？然後，您的指導是否會從今年與此相關的成本節約中獲益？

It does. This is Mike. We began the process mid-Q4, we were able to achieve some of the results in late Q4. And of course, those trend begin the year in week one, so certainly helpful. All of the other things that we have on the table are in the plan and part of the guidance. So if we're able to find additional cost savings, we'll consider that upside from here.

確實如此。這是邁克。我們在第四季度中期開始了這個過程，我們在第四季度末取得了一些成果。當然，這些趨勢從第一周就開始了，這當然很有幫助。我們擺在桌面上的所有其他事情都在計劃中，並且是指南的一部分。因此，如果我們能夠找到額外的成本節省，我們將從這裡考慮這一優勢。

Okay. And then finally, any thoughts or obsession on the kind of new store performance that you've kind of gotten to more of a 3% to 4% store growth rate, how are the new stores performing?

好的。最後，關於新店業績的任何想法或痴迷，你已經獲得了 3% 到 4% 的商店增長率，新店的表現如何？

This is Jared. Yes, our store development team working with our merchants and ops groups have really done an incredible job with our new stores. Our site selection has been fantastic. We continue to focus on underserved areas that are very, very complementary to the market. They're incremental to our vendor partners, and we've been very successful. And so we do plan to pick up the new store openings during fiscal '24.

這是賈里德。是的，我們的商店開發團隊與我們的商家和運營團隊合作，在我們的新商店方面確實做得非常出色。我們的選址非常棒。我們繼續關注與市場互補性很強的服務不足的地區。它們是我們供應商合作夥伴的增量，我們一直非常成功。因此，我們確實計劃在 24 財年期間開設新店。

Our final question will come from the line of Sam Poser with Williams Trading.

我們的最後一個問題將來自 Sam Poser 與 Williams Trading 的對話。

Mike, I apologize ahead of time for ending on this note. Last year, you missed guidance sort of consistently throughout the year. And so the question really is, is when we look -- has there been a change in the way you're approaching full year guidance now, sort of all things being equal, compared to the way you looked at it last year. I guess that's the best way to ask the question.

邁克，我提前為以這種方式結束而道歉。去年，你錯過了全年一致的指導。所以真正的問題是，當我們看的時候——你現在接近全年指導的方式是否發生了變化，與你去年看待它的方式相比，所有的事情都是平等的。我想這是提出問題的最佳方式。

Well, thanks for the question. I think we read that answer into our script as well as hopefully the tenor of the answers to the questions that you've asked today. Certainly, no one puts a guidance out there and expects to miss it. So our modeling and our forecasting and all the things that we believe going into the year, we continue to believe and we're trying to hit it right down the middle of the fairway. We're not trying to be conservative. We're not trying to exaggerate. We're not trying to pump the stock price.

好吧，謝謝你的提問。我想我們已經將這個答案讀入了我們的腳本中，並希望您今天提出的問題的答案的主旨。當然，沒有人會在那裡發布指南並希望錯過它。因此，我們的建模和預測以及我們相信進入這一年的所有事情，我們繼續相信並且我們正在努力將其擊中球道的中間。我們並不是要保守。我們並不想誇大其詞。我們並不是要推高股價。

We are trying to give you a range that we think is within reasonable estimates. When we entered Q4, we had a lot of confidence. By the end of Q4, we were going to a systematic SG&A review for a reason because we wanted to make sure that we could deliver on our commitments to this year. We believe that our estimates and our guidance are reasonable. They're within a reasonable range. No one is happy about the performance. We put in writing, and we said again that we had high goals. I think you would prefer us to be someone who's attempting to attain those high goals. We'll continue that. The guidance we put forth for the future for FY '24 is believable, reasonable and something we're going to deliver on because that's our commitment.

我們正在努力為您提供一個我們認為在合理估計範圍內的範圍。當我們進入Q4時，我們信心滿滿。到第四季度末，我們將進行系統的 SG&A 審查是有原因的，因為我們想確保我們能夠兌現對今年的承諾。我們相信我們的估計和指導是合理的。他們在一個合理的範圍內。沒有人對錶演感到滿意。我們以書面形式提出，並再次表示我們有遠大的目標。我認為您更希望我們成為努力實現這些高目標的人。我們將繼續這樣做。我們為 24 財年的未來提出的指導是可信的、合理的，我們將兌現，因為這是我們的承諾。

I guess, I think my question really is the way you approach it this year versus the way you approached it last year, are you taking sort of a more -- I would say, are you taking a less optimistic -- yes, are you taking a less optimistic outlook than you did, again, if all things being equal than you did a year ago. That's really the question or have you approached it differently. If you thought the same way you did last year, both this year that you did -- at this time last year. And I gather you probably would have guided a little more aggressively a year ago. And so I'm just trying to understand how things have changed in the way you're looking at things internally now versus this time last year.

我想，我想我的問題真的是你今年處理它的方式與你去年處理它的方式相比，你是否採取了更多 - 我會說，你是否採取了不那麼樂觀的方式 - 是的，你是再一次，如果所有事情都與一年前一樣，那麼你的前景就沒有你那麼樂觀了。這確實是個問題，或者您是否以不同的方式處理它。如果您的想法與去年相同，那麼今年和去年的這個時候一樣。而且我想你可能會在一年前進行更積極的指導。因此，我只是想了解與去年這個時候相比，您現在內部看待事物的方式發生了怎樣的變化。

We are delivering messages in a similar fashion. You would note that the range of the guidance would be lower than you would have expected, right? So -- and so why? Because the situation has changed and the lack of clarity around the consumer has changed somewhat. So we are operating a macroeconomic environment that's a little different this year. So we are being more conservative this year .

我們正在以類似的方式傳遞信息。您會注意到指導的範圍會低於您的預期，對嗎？所以——為什麼？因為情況發生了變化，消費者的不明朗情況也有所改變。因此，我們今年的宏觀經濟環境略有不同。所以我們今年更加保守。

There are no further questions at this time. I would now like to hand the call back over to Mike Longo for any closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題。我現在想將電話轉回 Mike Longo 以聽取任何結束語。

Thank you for everyone attending today. Thank you to the management team. Again, thank you to our teammates who make all of this possible. We look forward to sharing with you in the near future of our Q1 results. As we continue to invest in our business, we continue to invest in financial capital, human capital and most importantly, the consumer experience both online and in stores. And that's the thing that we'll continue to focus on going forward. It's the thing that delivers the results and the thing that's uppermost in our mind. So thank you again, and we look forward to speaking again soon.

感謝大家今天出席。感謝管理團隊。再次感謝我們的隊友，是他們讓這一切成為可能。我們期待在不久的將來與您分享我們第一季度的結果。隨著我們繼續投資於我們的業務，我們繼續投資於金融資本、人力資本，最重要的是，在線上和實體店的消費者體驗。這就是我們將繼續關注的事情。它是提供結果的東西，也是我們心中最重要的東西。再次感謝您，我們期待很快再次發言。

Thank you. This does conclude today's teleconference. We appreciate your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Enjoy your weekend.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。此時您可以斷開線路。週末愉快。