克羅格 (KR) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Kroger Co third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to turn the conference over to Rob Quast, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

早安，歡迎參加克羅格公司2025年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）現在我將會議交給投資人關係副總裁羅伯‧奎斯特。請繼續。

Good morning. Thank you for joining us for Kroger's third quarter 2025 earnings call. I am joined today by Kroger's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ron Sargent, and Chief Financial Officer, David Kennerley. Before we begin, I want to remind you that today's discussions will include forward-looking statements. We want to caution you that such statements are predictions, and actual events or results can differ materially.

早安.感謝您參加克羅格公司2025年第三季財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的有克羅格公司董事長兼執行長羅恩·薩金特和財務長大衛·肯納利。在開始之前，我想提醒各位，今天的討論將包含前瞻性陳述。我們想提醒您，此類聲明均為預測，實際事件或結果可能與預測有重大差異。

A detailed discussion of the many factors that we believe may have a material effect on our business on an ongoing basis is contained in our SEC filings. The Kroger Company assumes no obligation to update that information. After our prepared remarks, we look forward to taking your questions. In order to cover a broad range of topics from as many of you as we can, we ask that you please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up question, if necessary.

我們在提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中詳細討論了我們認為可能對我們的業務產生持續重大影響的許多因素。克羅格公司不承擔更新該資訊的義務。在我們發言完畢後，期待回答各位的問題。為了盡可能涵蓋大家提出的問題，我們要求每位提問者盡量只提一個問題，如有必要，再提一個後續問題。

I will now turn the call over to Ron.

現在我將把通話交給榮恩。

Thank you, Rob, and good morning, everybody. Thank you for joining our call today. We're happy to deliver another quarter of strong results, reflecting meaningful progress on our strategic priorities. This quarter, we continue to focus on what matters most, serving our customers, running great stores and strengthening our core business. These efforts are improving the customer experience and creating a strong foundation for long-term growth.

謝謝你，羅布，大家早安。感謝您今天參加我們的電話會議。我們很高興地宣布又一個季度取得了強勁的業績，這反映出我們在策略重點方面取得了實質進展。本季度，我們將繼續專注於最重要的事情：服務客戶、經營優質門市和加強核心業務。這些舉措正在改善客戶體驗，並為長期成長奠定堅實的基礎。

Today, we're going to talk about the things we got done this quarter, the proof points of our progress and the ways we're positioning Kroger for continued success. I'd like to start with sharing the results of our e-commerce strategic review. It marks an important step in how we're evolving our business to meet customer needs and also to improve profitability. In today's world, having a strong e-commerce offering is key to delivering a differentiated customer experience and also represents an important growth driver for our business. We've made good progress, building a more than $14 billion business and achieving 6 consecutive quarters of double-digit sales growth.

今天，我們將討論本季我們完成的工作、我們取得進展的證明點以及我們為克羅格持續成功所做的準備。首先，我想和大家分享我們電子商務策略評估的結果。這標誌著我們在業務發展以滿足客戶需求和提高獲利能力方面邁出了重要一步。在當今世界，擁有強大的電子商務產品是提供差異化客戶體驗的關鍵，也是我們業務的重要成長動力。我們取得了良好的進展，打造了超過 140 億美元的業務，並連續 6 個季度實現了兩位數的銷售成長。

Earlier this year, we formed our new e-commerce team headed by Yael Cosset designed to align all of the teams who contribute to the online customer experience. By bringing these teams together, we've created a more integrated structure to support our strategy. Building on that foundation, we conducted a comprehensive review of our entire e-commerce model. This review helped us to identify where we can be more efficient and better meet customer demand.

今年早些時候，我們組建了由 Yael Cosset 領導的新電子商務團隊，旨在協調所有為線上客戶體驗做出貢獻的團隊。透過將這些團隊聚集在一起，我們創造了一個更一體化的架構來支持我們的策略。在此基礎上，我們對整個電子商務模式進行了全面審查。這次評估幫助我們確定了哪些方面可以提高效率，並更好地滿足客戶需求。

Customers increasingly value speed, flexibility and convenience and better leveraging storebased fulfillment helps us meet those expectations. As a result, we're evolving our hybrid fulfillment model by using automated fulfillment in geographies where customer demand supports it and also leveraging store-based fulfillment through our pickup business and relationships with well-established third-party delivery partners.

客戶越來越重視速度、靈活性和便利性，更好地利用門市配送可以幫助我們滿足這些期望。因此，我們正在不斷改進我們的混合履行模式，在客戶需求支援的地區使用自動化履行，並透過我們的自提業務和與成熟的第三方配送合作夥伴的關係，利用門市履行。

These changes are fully consistent with our broader organizational goals to improve operational efficiency, to drive profitability and to more effectively utilize our stores. We will make these changes to our network through a phased approach, ensuring we maintain flexibility to adjust our plans while minimizing operational and customer disruption. In recognition of this shift, we announced the closure of 3 automated fulfillment centers that haven't met operational and financial expectations. We expect these fulfillment centers to close by the end of January 2026.

這些變化與我們提高營運效率、提高獲利能力和更有效地利用門市的更廣泛的組織目標完全一致。我們將分階段對我們的網路進行這些更改，以確保我們能夠靈活調整計劃，同時最大限度地減少對營運和客戶的影響。為了因應這一轉變，我們宣布關閉 3 個未能達到營運和財務預期的自動化配送中心。我們預計這些物流中心將於 2026 年 1 月底關閉。

Based on our customer and store level analysis, in those geographies where we will close sites but continue to operate stores, we expect to retain most of our customers and their ecommerce spend through store-based fulfillment and in-store shopping. We expect these closures to have a neutral impact on identical sales without fuel. With more fulfillment occurring in stores, we recently expanded our relationships with third-party delivery providers, Instacart, DoorDash and Uber Eats. By using our store network, we're improving both geographic coverage and speed with delivery in as little as 30 minutes. Each of our delivery partners brings unique strengths and specific benefits to our customers.

根據我們對客戶和門市層面的分析，在我們將關閉網站但繼續經營門市的地區，我們預計透過門市履行和店內購物，我們將留住大部分客戶及其電子商務支出。我們預計這些門市關閉對不含燃油的同類銷售額不會產生影響。隨著越來越多的訂單在門市完成，我們最近擴大了與第三方配送服務商 Instacart、DoorDash 和 Uber Eats 的合作關係。透過利用我們的門市網絡，我們提高了地理覆蓋範圍和配送速度，最快可在 30 分鐘內送達。我們的每一位配送合作夥伴都為我們的客戶帶來獨特的優勢和具體益處。

They will also create new opportunities for our media business, both on our platform and on theirs, something David will cover later. So in summary, this refreshed hybrid model helps us to attract new customers, improve delivery speeds and leverages our growing store network. We expect these decisions to contribute approximately $400 million in e-commerce profitability improvements in 2026, making our e-commerce business profitable in 2026.

它們還將為我們的媒體業務創造新的機會，無論是在我們的平台上還是在他們的平台上，David 稍後會對此進行介紹。總而言之，這種更新的混合模式有助於我們吸引新客戶、提高配送速度並利用我們不斷成長的門市網路。我們預計這些決策將在 2026 年帶來約 4 億美元的電子商務獲利能力提升，使我們的電子商務業務在 2026 年獲利。

Turning now to store operations, running great stores and delivering an exceptional customer experience are central to our strategy. Our internal composite scores, which measure key metrics such as instocks, fresh quality and customer service continue to show steady improvement. We're also investing in experiences that matter most to our customers, including adding store hours to improve checkout speed, increase service and improve in-stocks.

現在來說說門市經營，經營優秀的門市和提供卓越的客戶體驗是我們策略的核心。我們內部綜合評分（衡量庫存、新品質和客戶服務等關鍵指標）持續穩定提升。我們也投資於對顧客最重要的體驗，包括增加營業時間以提高結帳速度、提升服務和改善庫存。

These investments are delivering tangible results, including significant year-over-year reductions in wait times for our customers. To support these changes, we're utilizing an AI-powered workforce management platform, which enables better coverage during peak periods and gives associates greater flexibility. This tool combines real-time labor insights with intelligent scheduling, allowing store leaders to proactively fill open shifts and ensure the right staffing at the right time, especially during high demand periods like weekends and holidays. Finally, as part of our commitment to simplifying our business, we are making good progress in reviewing all noncore assets to determine their ongoing contribution and role within the company.

這些投資正在帶來切實可見的成果，包括客戶等待時間逐年大幅縮短。為了支援這些變化，我們正在使用人工智慧驅動的勞動力管理平台，該平台能夠在高峰期提供更好的人員配備，並為員工提供更大的靈活性。該工具將即時勞動力資訊與智慧排班相結合，使門市負責人能夠主動填補空缺班次，並確保在合適的時間配備合適的員工，尤其是在週末和假日等需求高峰期。最後，作為我們簡化業務承諾的一部分，我們正在審查所有非核心資產，以確定它們對公司的持續貢獻和作用，並取得了良好的進展。

All of these actions strengthen our business and position Kroger for long-term growth. Before I talk about the results, I want to take a moment to just share what we're seeing from customers and how that's shaping our approach going forward. Macroeconomic uncertainty continues to influence customer behavior, and we're seeing a split across income groups. Spending from higher income households continue strong, while middle income customers are feeling increased pressure similar to what we've seen from lower income households over the past several quarters. They're making smaller, more frequent trips to manage budgets and they are cutting back on discretionary purchases.

所有這些舉措都增強了我們的業務實力，並為克羅格的長期發展奠定了基礎。在談到結果之前，我想花點時間分享我們從客戶那裡了解到的情況，以及這些情況將如何影響我們未來的做法。宏觀經濟的不確定性持續影響消費者的行為，我們看到不同收入群體之間的消費行為出現了分化。高收入家庭的支出仍然強勁，而中等收入消費者則感受到了與過去幾季低收入家庭類似的壓力。為了控制預算，他們減少了出行次數，每次出行的次數也相應減少，並且他們正在削減非必要支出。

Food spend has been more resilient than nonfood spend. Categories like natural and organics continue to perform well, reflecting continued interest in healthy and premium options. At the same time, customers are turning to promotions and our brands as smart ways to save without sacrificing quality. Ready-to-eat and other meal solutions are providing another way for households to get quality and convenience at a great value. Inflation and uncertainty around government funding combined with the pause in SNAP benefits during the final weeks of the quarter, added incremental pressure to our third quarter identical sales without fuel.

食品支出比非食品支出更具韌性。天然和有機產品等類別持續表現良好，反映出消費者對健康和高端產品的持續興趣。同時，顧客們將促銷活動和我們的品牌視為在不犧牲品質的前提下節省開支的明智之選。即食食品和其他餐飲解決方案為家庭提供了另一種以實惠的價格獲得優質、便捷食品的途徑。通貨膨脹和政府資金的不確定性，再加上本季最後幾週 SNAP 福利的暫停，給我們的第三季不計燃料的同店銷售額帶來了額外的壓力。

These trends reinforce the importance of delivering value through lower prices, affordable quality in our brands products and more promotions for customers to save. Turning to our third quarter results. Identical sales without fuel grew 2.6% year-over-year and accelerated on a two year stack basis, up 4.9%. Sales growth was led by pharmacy and e-commerce. Gaining market share continues to be a top priority.

這些趨勢強化了透過降低價格、提供物美價廉的品牌產品以及推出更多促銷活動來幫助顧客省錢的重要性。接下來來看看我們第三季的業績。不含燃料的同店銷售額年增 2.6%，以兩年累計計算，增速加快至 4.9%。銷售成長主要由藥局和電子商務帶動。擴大市場佔有率仍然是首要任務。

In a challenging macroeconomic environment, we delivered share trend improvement again this quarter after adjusting for closed stores, reflecting the progress we're making in strengthening our competitive position. We also increased our price investments this quarter. Toward the end of the quarter, when SNAP benefits were held up, we increased promotions to help customers save. We are disciplined in those investments, balancing our gross margin rate to ensure we deliver value in a sustainable way. Our brands had another strong quarter with sales outpacing national brands.

在充滿挑戰的宏觀經濟環境下，本季在調整了關閉門市的影響後，我們的市佔率趨勢再次有所改善，這反映了我們在加強競爭地位方面取得的進展。本季我們也增加了價格方面的投資。在本季末，由於 SNAP 福利發放受阻，我們加強了促銷力度，以幫助客戶節省開支。我們對這些投資非常謹慎，透過平衡毛利率來確保以可持續的方式創造價值。我們的品牌又迎來了一個強勁的季度，銷售額超過了全國性品牌。

Customers continue to choose these products because they deliver high quality at a great value. Our premium lines, Simple Truth and Private Selection were the strongest performers again this quarter. Our brands products carry a more favorable margin profile and also improved profitability during the quarter. These results highlight the strategic importance of our brands, driving sales, building loyalty, and improving profitability. E-commerce sales were strong again this quarter, growing 17%, led by delivery.

顧客之所以持續選擇這些產品，是因為它們物美價廉。本季度，我們的高階產品線 Simple Truth 和 Private Selection 再次成為表現最強勁的產品。我們的品牌產品利潤率更高，本季獲利能力也有所提高。這些結果凸顯了我們品牌的策略重要性，它們能夠推動銷售、建立忠誠度並提高獲利能力。本季電子商務銷售額再次強勁成長，達到 17%，其中外送配送業務表現尤為突出。

We also improved e-com profitability with both pickup and delivery showing strong quarter over quarter improvement. We're encouraged by the early results from our DoorDash relationship in its first month alone, we fulfilled 1 million orders, bringing new customers and incremental meal occasions to Kroger. As we evolve our hybrid model, we expect to continue to ramp up both sales and profitability. This quarter's results show the progress we're making. We also know we have more to do.

電子商務獲利能力也得到了提升，自提和配送業務均實現了強勁的環比增長。我們與 DoorDash 合作的第一個月就取得了令人鼓舞的初步成果，我們完成了 100 萬份訂單，為 Kroger 帶來了新客戶和更多用餐機會。隨著我們不斷完善混合模式，我們預期銷售額和獲利能力將持續成長。本季的業績顯示了我們所取得的進展。我們也知道我們還有更多工作要做。

Looking toward the future, as we've shared previously, we're accelerating expansion of our store footprint. We expect to break ground on 14 new stores in the fourth quarter, marking a meaningful acceleration in activity. Earlier this quarter, we announced expansion plans for Harris Teeter, one of our strongest and most successful banners. These plans include opening additional new stores in the Southeast and entering Jacksonville, Florida, which is an important adjacent geography that positions us to grow households and gain share. Looking ahead, we plan to accelerate capital investment in new stores beyond 2025 to strengthen our competitive position, expand into high-potential geographies and support long-term growth.

展望未來，正如我們之前分享的那樣，我們正在加快擴大門市規模。我們預計在第四季度破土動工興建 14 家新店，這將標誌著業務活動顯著加速。本季早些時候，我們宣布了旗下最強大、最成功的品牌之一 Harris Teeter 的擴張計畫。這些計劃包括在東南部開設更多新店，並進軍佛羅裡達州傑克遜維爾市，這是一個重要的鄰近地區，使我們能夠拓展客戶群並擴大市場份額。展望未來，我們計劃在 2025 年以後加快對新店的資本投資，以增強我們的競爭地位，拓展到高潛力地區，並支持長期成長。

As we expand our footprint, our approach to site selection and store format starts with the customer, then prioritizes improving ROIC with a focus on delivering greater shareholder value. We also see significant opportunity to continue taking costs out of our business, starting with procurement, both cost of goods sold and goods not for resale are areas with significant potential for savings, and we are acting to capture those benefits. At the same time, we are rethinking how we work. This includes leveraging technology and artificial intelligence to simplify tasks and operate more efficiently, putting talent closer to the customer and building a more streamlined organization. As part of this effort, we are returning to in-office work five days a week to strengthen collaboration, accelerate decision-making and better support our stores.

隨著我們業務版圖的擴大，我們在選址和門市形式方面始終以客戶為中心，優先考慮提高投資回報率，並致力於為股東創造更大的價值。我們也看到了繼續降低業務成本的巨大機會，首先從採購入手，無論是銷售成本還是非轉售商品，都是有很大的節省潛力的領域，我們正在採取行動來獲得這些收益。同時，我們正在重新思考我們的工作方式。這包括利用技術和人工智慧來簡化任務並提高營運效率，讓人才更貼近客戶，以及建立更精簡的組織。作為這項工作的一部分，我們將恢復每週五天的辦公室工作，以加強協作、加快決策速度並更好地支持我們的門市。

Working together also creates a better environment for our associates to learn and develop. These changes will allow us to move faster and lead to a more efficient organization. We're also looking to emerging technologies, such as Agentic AI to enhance the customer experience. We plan to introduce new Agentic shopping capabilities, starting with Instacart's AI-powered card assistant on the Kroger website and mobile app in the first quarter of 2026. The card assistant will help customers shop more effortlessly by making it easier to build personalized baskets, find meal ideas and save time.

共同協作也能為我們的員工創造更好的學習和發展環境。這些改變將使我們能夠加快步伐，並打造一個更有效率的組織。我們也關注新興技術，例如智慧體人工智慧，以提升客戶體驗。我們計劃推出新的智慧購物功能，首先在 2026 年第一季在 Kroger 網站和行動應用程式上推出 Instacart 的人工智慧驅動的卡片助理。卡片助理將幫助顧客更輕鬆地購物，讓他們更容易創建個人化購物籃、尋找餐點創意並節省時間。

We'll embrace this technology while making sure it complements what differentiates Kroger today, fresh products, unique our brands products and an industry-leading loyalty program. While the landscape continues to evolve, we're confident we'll be able to use technology to improve the customer experience. Finally, we're continuing the foundational work towards refreshing our go-to-market strategy with the customer of the future in mind. This includes a deep dive into customer data and a rigorous assessment of our competitive positioning. This work is shaping the foundation for our next phase of growth.

我們將擁抱這項技術，同時確保它與克羅格如今的特色——新鮮的產品、獨特的自有品牌產品和行業領先的會員計劃——相輔相成。儘管市場環境不斷變化，但我們相信我們能夠利用技術來改善客戶體驗。最後，我們將繼續進行基礎性工作，以面向未來的客戶為中心，更新我們的市場進入策略。這包括深入分析客戶數據和嚴格評估我們的競爭地位。這項工作正在為我們下一階段的發展奠定基礎。

Now I'll turn it over to David, who will review our financial results in more detail. David?

現在我將把發言權交給大衛，他將更詳細地審查我們的財務表現。大衛？

Thank you, Ron, and good morning, everyone. Kroger delivered another strong set of results this quarter, driven by solid execution in our core grocery business and continued growth in ecommerce and pharmacy. In a challenging environment, marked with cautious consumer spending, the government shutdown and a pause in Snap distributions we improved market share trends, excluding the impact of store closures by delivering meaningful value for customers. We delivered these results while continuing to balance the right investments for the customer with disciplined margin management. I'll now walk through our financial results for the third quarter.

謝謝你，羅恩，大家早安。克羅格本季再次取得了強勁的業績，這得益於我們核心食品雜貨業務的穩健執行以及電子商務和藥房業務的持續成長。在充滿挑戰的環境下，消費者支出謹慎，政府停擺，Snap 配送暫停，我們透過為顧客提供有意義的價值，改善了市場份額趨勢，排除了門市關閉的影響。我們在取得這些成果的同時，繼續在為客戶進行正確投資的同時，維持嚴格的利潤率管理。接下來我將詳細介紹我們第三季的財務表現。

We achieved identical sales without fuel growth of 2.6% moderating slightly from last quarter as we cycle the impact of last year's hurricane Helen and Port strike as well as the pause in Snap distributions during our final week of the quarter. On a two year stack basis, identical sales without fuel accelerated by 20 basis points to 4.9%, reflecting continued strength in our business. Our identical sales without fuel growth was again led by strong pharmacy and e-commerce results.

我們實現了與上季度相同的銷售額，燃油增長為 2.6%，略低於上季度，這是因為我們正在消化去年颶風海倫和港口罷工的影響，以及本季最後一周 Snap 分發暫停的影響。以兩年的累積計算，不計燃料的同店銷售額成長了 20 個基點，達到 4.9%，反映出我們業務的持續強勁。剔除燃油銷售數據後，我們的同店銷售成長再次得益於藥局和電子商務的強勁表現。

Food inflation increased moderately compared to the prior quarter with notable inflation in certain commodities, particularly beef. Our pharmacy business delivered another strong quarter fueled by growth in both core pharmacy scripts and GLP-1s. While the strong growth in pharmacy sales impacts our margin rates, it contributes positive gross profit dollar growth and supports our overall operating profit. Our FIFO gross margin rate, excluding rent, depreciation and amortization and fuel increased 49 basis points in the third quarter compared to the same period last year.

與上一季相比，食品通膨溫和上升，某些商品（尤其是牛肉）的通膨率明顯上升。在核心藥局處方和 GLP-1 藥物成長的推動下，我們的藥局業務又迎來了一個強勁的季度。雖然藥局銷售額的強勁成長影響了我們的利潤率，但它帶來了正的毛利成長，並支持了我們的整體營業利潤。不計租金、折舊、攤提和燃料費用，我們第三季的先進先出毛利率比去年同期增加了 49 個基點。

The improvement in rate was primarily attributable to the sale of Kroger Specialty Pharmacy, our brands performance, lower supply chain costs and lower shrink partially offset by the mix effect from growth in pharmacy sales, which has lower margins and price investments. After excluding the effect from the sale of Kroger Specialty Pharmacy our FIFO gross margin rate increased 24 basis points. As we communicated last quarter, we expect our gross margin rate for the full year on an underlying basis to be relatively flat as we balance the impact of pharmacy mix margin enhancement initiatives and price investments.

成長率的提高主要歸功於 Kroger Specialty Pharmacy 的出售、我們品牌的業績表現、供應鏈成本的降低以及損耗的減少，但部分被藥房銷售成長帶來的組合效應所抵消，因為藥房銷售的利潤率較低，且需要投入更多資金。在剔除出售 Kroger Specialty Pharmacy 的影響後，我們的先進先出毛利率提高了 24 個基點。正如我們上個季度所溝通的那樣，我們預計全年毛利率基本上保持平穩，因為我們將平衡藥房產品組合利潤率提升計劃和價格投資的影響。

The operating, general and administrative rate, excluding fuel and adjustment items, increased 27 basis points in the third quarter compared to the same period last year. The increase in rate was primarily attributable to the sale of Kroger Specialty Pharmacy and investments in associate wages and benefits, partially offset by lower incentive plan costs and improved productivity. After adjusting for the sale of Kroger Specialty Pharmacy, our adjusted OG&A rate increased 9 basis points on an underlying basis. As we did in the first quarter this year, we took the opportunity to make an accelerated pension contribution in Q3, which was worth 8 basis points on our OG&A rate. This reflects a proactive approach to reducing future liabilities and most importantly, help secure long-term benefits for our associates.

不包括燃料和調整項目在內的營運、一般及行政費率，第三季比去年同期成長了 27 個基點。費率上漲主要歸因於克羅格特藥局的出售以及對員工工資和福利的投資，部分被激勵計劃成本的降低和生產力的提高所抵消。在扣除 Kroger Specialty Pharmacy 的出售費用後，我們調整後的 OG&A 費率以基礎計算增加了 9 個基點。正如我們在今年第一季所做的那樣，我們在第三季度抓住機會加速繳納退休金，這相當於我們 OG&A 費率的 8 個基點。這反映了我們積極主動地減少未來負債，更重要的是，幫助確保我們員工的長期利益。

Our LIFO charge for the quarter was $44 million, compared to a LIFO charge of $4 million last year, resulting in a $0.04 headwind to EPS this quarter. Our adjusted FIFO operating profit in the quarter was $1.1 billion, and adjusted EPS was $1.05, both reflecting 7% growth compared to last year. Fuel is an important part of Kroger's strategy and builds loyalty with customers through our Kroger Plus fuel rewards program. Fuel sales were lower this quarter compared to last year, attributable to fewer gallons sold. Fuel profitability was in line with expectations, just slightly ahead of the same period last year. We expect gallons sold to remain lower on a year over year basis for the fourth quarter.

本季我們的後進先出法費用為 4,400 萬美元，而去年同期後進先出法費用為 400 萬美元，導致本季每股收益下降 0.04 美元。本季經調整的先進先出法營業利潤為 11 億美元，經調整的每股收益為 1.05 美元，均比去年同期成長 7%。燃油是 Kroger 策略的重要組成部分，並透過 Kroger Plus 燃油獎勵計畫建立客戶忠誠度。本季燃油銷量較去年同期下降，主要原因是銷量減少。燃油獲利能力符合預期，略高於去年同期水準。我們預計第四季銷量將年減。

Turning now to e-commerce. Our e-commerce business delivered 17% growth this quarter, driven by an increase in both households and order frequency. Orders delivered within 2 hours or less, grew by more than 30%, reflecting the growing media demand. Building on what Ron shared earlier, the recent update to our e-commerce strategy reflects a thoughtful evolution of how we serve our customers and drive sustainable growth.

接下來我們來談談電子商務。本季度，我們的電子商務業務實現了 17% 的成長，這主要得益於家庭用戶數量和訂單頻率的增加。2 小時內送達的訂單成長超過 30%，反映出媒體需求的成長。在 Ron 之前分享的內容的基礎上，我們最近對電子商務策略的更新體現了我們對如何服務客戶和推動永續成長的深思熟慮的演變。

Our refreshed hybrid fulfillment model allows us to leverage the strength of both automation and store-based fulfillment to meet evolving customer expectations. This also allows us to optimize the performance and use of automated fulfillment centers when the right conditions exist and utilize third-party partners for faster delivery while reaching new customers and incremental trips. Our new model positions us for both strong, sustainable growth and improved flexibility. From a financial perspective, we're significantly accelerating the profitability of our ecommerce business. closing three fulfillment centers and increasing store-based delivery will deliver approximately $400 million in incremental e-commerce operating profit in 2026.

我們更新的混合履行模式使我們能夠同時利用自動化和門市履行的優勢，以滿足不斷變化的客戶期望。這也使我們能夠在合適的條件下優化自動化履行中心的效能和使用，並利用第三方合作夥伴加快交貨速度，同時觸達新客戶並增加出行次數。我們的新模式使我們能夠實現強勁、可持續的成長，並提高靈活性。從財務角度來看，我們正在大幅提升電子商務業務的獲利能力。關閉三個物流中心並增加門市自提服務，預計在2026年帶來約4億美元的額外電子商務營業利潤。

As a result, we now expect our e-commerce business to be profitable in 2026. The benefits from these decisions will be primarily used to reinvest in our business to increase value for customers and improve the shopping experience as we look to accelerate sales. We also remain focused on expanding operating margins and a portion of these benefits will be used to increase shareholder value. Given the financial performance of our automated fulfillment network and the closure of specific sites and as previously announced, we recorded an impairment and related charges of $2.6 billion in the third quarter. We will continue to monitor our retained sites with a focus on improving operating efficiency and strengthening financial performance.

因此，我們現在預計我們的電子商務業務將在 2026 年實現盈利。這些決策帶來的收益將主要用於再投資我們的業務，以增加客戶價值並改善購物體驗，同時我們力求加速銷售。我們將繼續專注於擴大營業利潤率，並將部分收益用於提升股東價值。鑑於我們自動化履行網路的財務表現以及特定站點的關閉，正如先前宣布的那樣，我們在第三季度提列了 26 億美元的減損及相關費用。我們將繼續監控我們保留的站點，重點是提高營運效率和增強財務表現。

Our updated hybrid model also creates new opportunities for our media business. Our broad reach and unmatched food retail capabilities are attractive to delivery partners and we structured these relationships to benefit our media business. For example, our unique approach to collaboration with Instacart, DoorDash and Uber unlocks new media opportunities across both platforms and we're already seeing strong interest from several large CPG brands. By integrating our customer data and loyalty insights with third-party platforms, we can bring more targeted and innovative media campaigns to reach new customer segments and create additional monetization opportunities. Our media business had a strong quarter with doubledigit growth and continues to be a meaningful contributor to profitability.

我們更新的混合模式也為我們的媒體業務創造了新的機會。我們廣泛的覆蓋範圍和無與倫比的食品零售能力對配送合作夥伴極具吸引力，我們建立了這些合作關係，以使我們的媒體業務受益。例如，我們與 Instacart、DoorDash 和 Uber 的獨特合作方式，為這兩個平台帶來了新的媒體機遇，我們已經看到幾家大型消費品品牌對此表現出濃厚的興趣。透過將我們的客戶數據和忠誠度洞察與第三方平台整合，我們可以開展更有針對性和創新性的媒體宣傳活動，以接觸到新的客戶群，並創造更多獲利機會。我們的媒體業務本季表現強勁，實現了兩位數的成長，並繼續為獲利做出重要貢獻。

We're encouraged by the momentum and believe we have an opportunity to accelerate growth even further as we leverage new capabilities and improved coordination between our media and merchandising teams. I'd now like to turn to capital allocation and financial strategy. Kroger delivered strong adjusted free cash flow this quarter, which reflects the strength of our operating performance. Free cash flow is important to our model, providing liquidity for our operations and strengthening our balance sheet. At quarter end, our net total debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio was 1.73%, which is below our target ratio range of 2.3% to 2.5%.

我們對目前的勢頭感到鼓舞，並相信隨著我們利用新的能力以及媒體和商品團隊之間的更好協調，我們有機會進一步加速成長。現在我想談談資本配置和財務策略。克羅格本季實現了強勁的調整後自由現金流，反映了我們強勁的經營業績。自由現金流對我們的商業模式至關重要，它為我們的營運提供流動性，並增強我們的資產負債表。截至季末，我們的淨總負債與調整後 EBITDA 比率為 1.73%，低於我們 2.3% 至 2.5% 的目標比率範圍。

This provides us with financial flexibility to pursue growth investments and other opportunities to enhance shareholder value. We expect to return to our target leverage ratio over time and we'll share more details about our plans for 2026 next quarter. Our capital allocation priorities remain consistent and are designed to deliver total shareholder return of 8% to 11% over time. We are focused on investing in projects that will maximize return on invested capital over time while remaining committed to maintaining our current investment-grade rating, growing our dividend, subject to Board approval, and returning excess capital to shareholders. During the third quarter, we completed our $5 billion ASR program under Kroger's $7.5 billion share repurchase authorization.

這為我們提供了財務靈活性，可以進行成長投資和其他提升股東價值的機會。我們預計隨著時間的推移，槓桿率將恢復到目標水平，我們將在下個季度分享更多關於我們 2026 年計畫的細節。我們的資本配置優先事項保持不變，旨在長期實現 8% 至 11% 的股東總回報。我們專注於投資能夠長期最大化投資資本回報的項目，同時致力於維持我們目前的投資等級評級，在獲得董事會批准後提高股息，並將多餘的資本回饋給股東。第三季度，我們完成了克羅格公司75億美元股票回購授權下的50億美元ASR計畫。

We are currently executing open market repurchases and expect to complete the remaining $2.5 billion under the authorization by the end of the fiscal year, which is contemplated in full year guidance. Improving ROIC is a key priority. As we shared earlier, we expect our updated hybrid e-commerce model and investments in new storing to drive stronger returns going forward. Building on that, we continue to sharpen our focus on cost structure. We've made meaningful progress so far, but we see greater opportunities ahead by modernizing operations and ways of working across our organization, from stores to support centers.

我們目前正在執行公開市場回購，預計在本財年結束前完成剩餘的 25 億美元授權回購，已納入全年業績指引。提高投資報酬率是當務之急。正如我們之前分享的那樣，我們預計我們更新的混合電子商務模式和對新倉儲的投資將在未來帶來更強勁的回報。在此基礎上，我們將繼續更加重視成本結構。到目前為止，我們已經取得了實質的進展，但我們看到，透過對整個組織（從門市到支援中心）的運作和工作方式進行現代化改造，未來還有更大的機會。

We also see opportunities to improve procurement to unlock additional cost savings. The combination of disciplined cost management and capital deployment positions Kroger to deliver stronger returns and create more shareholder value. I would now like to provide some additional detail on our outlook for the rest of the year. We are pleased with the continued momentum in our business, supported by strong performances in pharmacy and e-commerce.

我們也看到了改進採購流程以進一步節省成本的機會。克羅格公司透過嚴格的成本管理和資本部署，能夠實現更高的回報並創造更大的股東價值。現在我想就今年剩餘時間的展望提供一些補充細節。我們對公司業務的持續成長動能感到滿意，這主要得益於藥局和電子商務的強勁表現。

Given our year-to-date results and outlook for the remainder of the year, we are narrowing our range for identical sales without fuel growth to a new range of 2.8% to 3% and raising the lower end of our adjusted earnings per share guidance to a new range of $4.75 to $4.80. This includes the impact of LIFO which is now expected to be a $0.07 headwind compared to what we expected at the start of the year. As we move into Q4, we expect a slight improvement in our OG&A rate to help mitigate the impact of a slight decline in FIFO gross margin rate. One additional factor to note is the impact of the inflation Reduction Act on our pharmacy business.

鑑於我們年初至今的業績以及對今年剩餘時間的展望，我們將不計燃油收入增長的同店銷售額預期範圍收窄至2.8%至3%，並將調整後每股收益預期下限上調至4.75美元至4.80美元。這其中包含了後進先出法（LIFO）的影響，預計將比年初預期帶來0.07美元的不利影響。進入第四季度，我們預計營運、管理及行政費用率將略有改善，這將有助於緩解先進先出毛利率略微下降的影響。另一個需要注意的因素是通貨膨脹抑制法案對我們藥局業務的影響。

Beginning on January 1, this legislation is expected to reduce Medicare drug prices on 10 highly utilized medications. Sales on these medications will be recorded at the new reduced prices. Kroger will continue purchasing these drugs at current acquisition costs and manufacturers will fully reimburse Kroger for the difference through rebates, which will then be recorded as an offset to cost of goods sold. As a result, we expect that this will lower Q4 identical sales without fuel by approximately 30 to 40 basis points, but will have no impact on our earnings. This is reflected in our updated guidance.

從 1 月 1 日起，這項立法預計將降低 10 種常用藥物的聯邦醫療保險藥品價格。這些藥品的銷售量將以新的降價後的價格記錄。克羅格將繼續以目前的採購成本購買這些藥品，製造商將透過返利全額補償克羅格的差價，這筆差價將作為銷售成本的抵扣項記錄在案。因此，我們預計這將使第四季度不計燃油的同店銷售額下降約 30 至 40 個基點，但不會對我們的收益產生任何影響。這一點已體現在我們更新後的指南中。

I will now turn the call back to Ron.

現在我將把電話轉回給羅恩。

Thank you, David. In closing, we're encouraged by the progress we're making. Our priorities are clear and we're executing with greater speed and discipline. We're strengthening our core business and investing in areas that will contribute to long-term growth. We're taking decisive actions today that will make Kroger stronger now and in the future and deliver greater value for our shareholders over time.

謝謝你，大衛。最後，我們對目前的進展感到鼓舞。我們的工作重點很明確，我們正在以更快的速度和更嚴謹的態度執行。我們正在加強核心業務，並投資於有助於長期成長的領域。我們今天採取的果斷行動將使克羅格公司現在和未來都更加強大，並隨著時間的推移為我們的股東創造更大的價值。

Before we move into Q&A, I want to provide a brief update on the CEO search. Our Board remains actively engaged and is making good progress. While we don't have a specific time line to announce today, we're engaged in a thorough process and expect to appoint a new CEO during the first quarter of 2026.

在進入問答環節之前，我想先簡單介紹一下CEO遴選工作的最新進展。我們的董事會仍然積極參與，並且取得了良好進展。雖然我們今天還沒有具體的時間表可以公佈，但我們正在進行一項全面的流程，預計將在 2026 年第一季任命一位新的執行長。

We'll now open it up for questions.

現在開放提問環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

John Heinbockel, Guggenheim.

約翰海因博克爾，古根漢美術館。

Ron, can you talk to -- the accelerated storing program, right? Maybe talk about that cadence. And then when you think about, you've got obviously a fairly far-flung network. How do you think about concentrating that -- and as part of this -- I know the digital review is different. When you think about the portfolio that you currently have, is there -- are there opportunities? Are you looking to -- do you exit some places? Do you double down in others as part of the storing effort?

羅恩，你能跟加速儲存程式談談嗎？或許可以談談節奏。然後你仔細想想，你顯然擁有一個相當廣泛的網路。你覺得應該如何集中精力——而且作為其中的一部分——我知道數位評論有所不同。當你思考目前擁有的投資組合時，是否有機會？你是想──你會從某些地方離開嗎？作為儲備工作的一部分，你會加倍投資其他產品嗎？

Sure. Let me kind of try to answer several of those questions. First of all, we're pretty excited about kind of the new investments in storing because that drives a lot of goodness from the top line and the same-store sales line. And we think we've got a great long runway to grow stores. I think when you think about the things that go into making stores successful, obviously, the right location, the right market, you've got to have great operational infrastructure as well as talent.

當然。讓我試著回答其中幾個問題。首先，我們對倉儲的新投資感到非常興奮，因為這能顯著提升營收和同店銷售。我們認為我們有很長的路要走，可以發展壯大門店。我認為，要讓商店成功，顯然需要合適的地點、合適的市場，還需要優秀的營運基礎設施和人才。

And obviously, you're not going to open a store unless you think it's going to deliver a terrific return. In the fourth quarter, we're going to complete about -- or in the fourth quarter, we plan to complete about four major store projects. We're going to break ground on another 14 stores. And when you look at 2026, we expect to increase new store builds by 30%. In terms of -- and I guess the other thing I should just mention is how excited we are about our entry into Jacksonville with Harris Teeter.

顯然，除非你認為開店會帶來豐厚的回報，否則你是不會開店的。第四季度，我們將完成大約——或者說，我們計劃在第四季度完成大約四個大型門市項目。我們將再開工14家門市。展望 2026 年，我們預期新店建設量將成長 30%。至於——我想我還應該提一下，我們非常高興能與 Harris Teeter 一起進軍傑克遜維爾市場。

Harris Teeter runs a great business. They already operate in Florida in Amelia Island, which is about 40 miles from Jacksonville, Florida itself is a large state. It's a growing state, we expect to do very well there. I think Jacksonville is the tenth largest city in the United States, and I think it's the largest city in Florida. And I think that's kind of an indication of we're going to continue to expand in adjacent markets.

Harris Teeter 是一家經營非常成功的企業。他們已經在佛羅裡達州的阿米莉亞島開展業務，該島距離傑克遜維爾約 40 英里，而佛羅裡達州本身是一個幅員遼闊的州。這是一個正在發展中的州，我們預計在那裡會取得非常好的成績。我認為傑克遜維爾是美國第十大城市，也是佛羅裡達州最大的城市。我認為這在某種程度上表明我們將繼續向鄰近市場擴張。

I think we also have opportunities to grow through acquisition, and we haven't ruled that out despite our last few years with Albertsons. And I think when you look at our long-term aspiration, we expect and plan to be a national retailer. So I'm not sure that answers all your questions. Concentration is important. We'll certainly fill up Jacksonville before we move to adjacent markets.

我認為我們也有機會透過收購來成長，儘管過去幾年我們與 Albertsons 的關係並不融洽，但我們並沒有排除這種可能性。我認為，從長遠來看，我們期望併計劃成為全國性零售商。所以我不確定這是否解答了你所有的問題。集中註意力很重要。我們一定會先把傑克遜維爾的市場填滿，然後再進軍鄰近市場。

But we think we've got great opportunities to grow stores. And I think, frankly, that's been one of our biggest challenges over the last few years is we haven't allocated enough capital to growing stores because we have allocated a lot of capital in other areas like fulfillment centers.

但我們認為我們有很大的機會發展門市。坦白說，我認為過去幾年我們面臨的最大挑戰之一是，我們沒有為發​​展門市分配足夠的資金，因為我們把很多資金投入了其他領域，例如物流中心。

Great. And maybe just a follow-up, totally unrelated. The CEO search has been one of the longest, right? I think we've seen it in a while. I'm curious, you and the Board, what are you looking for? Maybe characteristic-wise, capability-wise. And what does the business need from that person?

偉大的。或許只是個後續問題，與主題完全無關。這次CEO遴選耗時最長，對吧？我想我們已經很久沒見過這種情況了。我很好奇，你和董事會，你們在尋找什麼？或許是就其特性而言，或許是就其能力而言。企業需要這個人具備哪些特質？

Sure, yeah. I think as you know, we've been pretty deliberate in the process. We've also been very thorough in the process. We're working with an executive search firm and we have identified and engaged with really several very highly qualified candidates. I think we have announced publicly that our next CEO will be external.

當然，是的。我想你也知道，我們在這個過程中一直非常謹慎。我們在整個過程中也做得非常細緻。我們正在與一家獵人頭公司合作，已經確定並聯繫了幾位非常優秀的候選人。我認為我們已經公開宣布，下一任執行長將來自外部。

And I think we expect them to bring in fresh perspectives to the organization and also to complement the culture that we have today, which is pretty strong at Kroger as well. In terms of what we're looking for, we want a deep understanding of retail transformation. We want somebody who is very close to the customer. We want somebody who has demonstrated success operating at scale, who knows how to operate and frankly, cultural fit and an alignment with Kroger values is critical as well. And like I said, we're getting closer. We're making good progress, and we expect that decision will be announced in the first quarter.

我認為我們期待他們能為公司帶來新的視角，並與我們現有的企業文化相輔相成，而克羅格的既有企業文化也相當強大。就我們尋找的對象而言，我們希望對零售業轉型有深刻的了解。我們想要一個與客戶關係非常密切的人。我們希望找到一位在規模化運作方面取得成功的人，一位懂得如何運作的人，坦白說，文化契合度以及與克羅格價值觀的一致性也至關重要。正如我所說，我們越來越接近目標了。我們進展順利，預計將在第一季宣布該決定。

Ed Kelly, Wells Fargo.

艾德凱利，富國銀行。

I wanted to -- maybe first, Ron, could you just kind of step back and maybe talk about how you're feeling about the current grocery ID trend? It seems like you want that to be better. The competitive environment, it seems like it may be picking up a bit. And you did mention some investment in price towards the end of the quarter. How should we think about all of that in the context of maintaining underlying gross margin stability going forward. And I think what you are implying for next year based upon what you're talking about e-com is EBIT, at least maybe some EBIT margin expansion.

我想——或許首先，羅恩，你能先退後一步，談談你對當前超市 ID 趨勢的看法嗎？看來你希望情況能有所改善。競爭環境似乎正在加劇。您也提到在季度末進行一些價格方面的投資。我們應該如何看待所有這些因素，才能在未來維持毛利率的穩定性？我認為，根據你對電子商務的描述，你暗示明年至少會有息稅前利潤（EBIT）的成長，或是息稅前利潤率有所提高。

Sure. Yeah. Let me just talk a little bit about sales. I think this morning, we announced that sales came in a little lighter than we expected, and that was primarily later in the quarter. And that's due to a combination of factors. We saw increased caution and uncertainty among consumers, particularly in October and November due to the concerns about the government shutdown. Also the pause in SNAP benefit distributions created some headwinds at the end of the quarter. I think consumers are becoming more selective. They're buying more on promotion. They're reducing the discretionary purchases, things like general merchandise, general merchandise comped negative during the quarter.

當然。是的。讓我簡單談談銷售方面的事。我認為今天早上我們宣布，銷售額略低於預期，而且這主要是由於季度後期的情況。這是多種因素共同作用的結果。我們看到消費者的謹慎和不確定性增加，尤其是在 10 月和 11 月，這是由於對政府停擺的擔憂造成的。此外，SNAP福利發放的暫停也為季度末帶來了一些不利影響。我認為消費者變得越來越挑剔了。他們趁著促銷活動買得更多了。他們正在減少非必需品的購買，例如一般商品，而本季一般商品銷售額為負成長。

And also, we had a tougher ID comparison in Q3 from the prior year. Despite all that, our two year stacked identical sales were up 20 basis points, and I think that might have been one of the higher quarters of the year. But I think what we're doing going forward is our focus remains on value and serving customers during a pretty uncertain time. If you look at Q4, well Q4 to date, we're feeling pretty good about our quarter-to-date sales. We're slightly ahead of our guidance that we provided this morning.

此外，第三季我們的 ID 資料與去年同期相比也更具挑戰性。儘管如此，我們兩年的累計同店銷售額成長了 20 個基點，我認為這可能是今年業績最好的季度之一。但我認為，我們接下來要做的事情，仍然是專注於創造價值，並在一個相當不確定的時期為客戶提供服務。如果看一下第四季度，或者說第四季至今的銷售情況，我們對本季至今的銷售業績感覺相當不錯。我們目前的狀況略微領先於我們今天早上給出的預期。

But we don't anticipate any meaningful improvement in the consumer environment in Q4. Also, when you do the math, looking at the top line, we're also going to lap harder comparisons in Q4. Last year, we benefited from some weather and maybe we'll have weather again this year. Also, we benefited from egg inflation last year that we won't see this year. And then finally, and I think David mentioned this one is we'll see some headwinds relating to the inflation Reduction Act in pharmacy, and that will hit us in January to the tune of about 30 basis points in overall ID sales.

但我們預期第四季消費者環境不會有任何實質改善。此外，當你進行計算，查看總業績時，我們也會發現，第四季我們將面臨更大的挑戰。去年我們受益於一些好天氣，也許今年也會遇到好天氣。此外，我們去年也受惠於雞蛋價格上漲，而今年不會再出現這種情況。最後，我想大衛也提到過這一點，那就是我們將看到與通貨膨脹削減法案相關的藥房方面出現一些不利因素，這將在 1 月份對我們造成衝擊，導致整體 ID 銷售額下降約 30 個基點。

You asked about competition. I think the environment remains very competitive as it always is in the retail world. I think especially true today when consumers are looking for great value. Frankly, our focus is just running the Kroger playbook -- we want to run great stores. We want to drive ecommerce business. We want to grow alternative profits. We continue to lower prices. We took down another 1,000 items in Q3 and I think we will continue to ramp up promotions during the holidays to drive traffic as well as basket sizes. The good news is that vendor funding continues to be strong to support our initiatives. Maybe I'll give you one example of that on the Thanksgiving meal bundle that we announced a few weeks ago.

你問到了競爭的問題。我認為零售業的競爭環境依然非常激烈，一如既往。我覺得這一點在如今消費者追求高性價比的時代尤其如此。坦白說，我們的重點就是按照克羅格的經營模式來做——我們想把門市經營得非常好。我們希望推動電子商務發展。我們希望拓展其他獲利模式。我們將繼續降低價格。第三季我們又下架了 1000 件商品，我認為我們會在假日期間繼續加大促銷力度，以吸引客流量並提高客單價。好消息是，供應商的資金依然充足，能夠繼續支持我們的各項措施。或許我可以舉個例子，說說我們幾週前推出的感恩節套餐。

We lowered the price this year over last year. And we did not cut the menu to do so. I think the bundle fed 10 people for less than $5 per person. So in answer to your question, yes, the environment remains competitive, and we expect that to continue.

今年我們降低了價格，比去年更低了。我們並沒有因此而縮減菜單。我覺得這套餐夠10個人吃，每人不到5美元。所以回答你的問題，是的，市場環境依然充滿競爭，我們預期這種情況還會持續下去。

Just a couple of things to build on Ron's comments. I think also important to note that in the quarter, our share trends improved. So despite the impact on sales from the things that Ron talked about, we saw sequential improvement in our share trends, which was good. And then in terms of gross margin, I think Q3 shows that we manage gross margin in a very, very responsible way. And I think despite what we've guided to for Q4, you guys should think about us continuing to do that in a responsible way.

我只想補充幾點羅恩的評論。我認為同樣重要的是，本季我們的市佔率趨勢有所改善。儘管羅恩談到的事情對銷售額產生了影響，但我們的市佔率趨勢卻出現了連續改善，這是個好消息。至於毛利率，我認為第三季的數據表明，我們在毛利率管理方面做得非常非常負責。我認為，儘管我們對第四季度的業績做出了預期，但你們應該考慮我們是否會繼續以負責任的方式實現這些預期。

If you look at actually the breakdown of gross margin, selling gross itself actually declined as we invested in pricing, but we were able to offset that with mix on our brands, good sourcing improvements, shrink and other supply chain costs. And I think I'd expect a similar dynamic to what we saw in Q3 going forward.

如果仔細分析毛利率的組成，會發現由於我們在定價方面投入了資金，銷售毛利本身實際上有所下降，但我們透過品牌組合、良好的採購改進、損耗和其他供應鏈成本來抵消了這一影響。我認為未來一段時間內，市場動態將與第三季類似。

Michael Montani, Evercore ISI.

邁克爾·蒙塔尼，Evercore ISI。

Yeah. I guess one thing that I was going to ask about was when you look at the pharmacy drug pricing headwind, should we anticipate that, that annualizes closer to 100 bps for next year? That was part one. And then part 2 is just -- can you parse out some of the tailwinds you might have to offset when you think about Express Scripts impact? Where is that now? How does that mature DoorDash and Uber Eats. Just trying to see what there might be there as offsets.

是的。我想問的一個問題是，考慮到藥品定價面臨的不利因素，我們是否應該預期明年的年化價格漲幅會接近 100 個基點？這是第一部分。第二部分是－你能否分析在考慮 Express Scripts 的影響時，你可能需要抵銷的一些有利因素？現在它在哪裡？DoorDash 和 Uber Eats 的發展前景如何？我只是想看看那裡可能有哪些偏移量。

Thanks for the question. It's David here. So obviously, we're not getting into 2026 guidance today. We'll obviously get into more details on that in our next quarterly earnings. But let me just add a little bit more color on the inflation reduction impacts that we'll see this quarter? And then how you might think about some of the tailwinds that we've got. So I think to provide a little bit more detail. So starting January 1, Medicare will pay 60% to 70% less for the first 10 negotiated drugs. And I think important to stress that this is really only Medicare. Those lower reimbursements will translate into lower sales, i.e., the price at which we sell and that creates the headwind that we've talked about.

謝謝你的提問。我是大衛。所以很顯然，我們今天不會討論 2026 年的指導意見。我們顯然會在下一季財報中詳細介紹這一點。但我想再詳細解釋一下本季我們將看到的通膨下降的影響？然後，你可以想想我們目前擁有的一些有利因素。所以我覺得應該要提供更多細節。因此，從 1 月 1 日起，聯邦醫療保險 (Medicare) 將為前 10 種協商藥品支付 60% 至 70% 的費用。我認為有必要強調，這實際上僅限於聯邦醫療保險（Medicare）。較低的報銷額將轉化為較低的銷售額，即我們的銷售價格，這就造成了我們所說的不利因素。

I think also important to note that manufacturers will offer rebates to us to offset that -- so this will have no margin impact in the quarter and no earnings impact, and we expect that dynamic to continue on an ongoing basis. As we think about the tailwinds that we have, to maintain really good performance in our ID sales. Our long-term trends are -- we're seeing units improve in our core business. We've got expecting to continue to invest in making sure our price gaps. We've got headroom on our brands, we've got, I think, a whole range of different initiatives to keep core momentum in our business moving along strongly to offset some of the impacts from what we're going to see going forward on our pharmacy business.

我認為同樣重要的是，製造商會向我們提供回扣來抵消這部分成本——因此，這不會對本季度的利潤率和收益產生任何影響，我們預計這種動態將持續下去。考慮到我們所擁有的有利因素，我們將繼續保持ID銷售的良好業績。我們的長期趨勢是－我們看到核心業務的銷售正在改善。我們預計將繼續投資，以確保我們的價格差距。我們的品牌還有發展空間，而且我認為，我們還有一系列不同的舉措來保持業務的核心動力強勁發展，以抵消我們未來在藥房業務方面將要看到的一些影響。

Kelly Bania, BMO.

Kelly Bania，BMO。

Can you just maybe help parse out more specifically the impact of pharmacy on the quarter? It sounds like you're estimating some slight market share improvements. But I think a lot of investors are really just trying to understand what's happening with the core grocery business with inflation and units and market share? Any color you can give there? And then also just going back to the the reinvestment of the e-commerce losses.

您能否更具體地分析一下藥局業務對本季的影響？聽起來你預計市佔率會略有提升。但我認為很多投資人真正想了解的是，通膨、銷售和市佔率等因素對核心食品雜貨業務的影響是什麼？你能給那裡加點顏色嗎？然後，我們還要回到電子商務虧損的再投資問題。

Maybe can you talk about how much you're planning there? How much is planning to go towards price versus store standards and maybe just your assessment of those two key factors on where your price positioning is and your store standards? Is this going to be a broad-based investment across many stores, more targeted in certain areas? Any color on how we should think about that and what that might do for next year.

或許您可以談談您在那裡的具體計劃？您計劃在價格和門市標準上投入多少精力？或者，您能否評估這兩個關鍵因素對您的價格定位和門市標準的影響？這將是一項涵蓋眾多門市的廣泛投資，還是會更有針對性地集中在某些地區？關於我們該如何看待這個問題，以及這可能會對明年產生什麼影響，大家有什麼看法嗎？

Kelly, let me take that initially, and then I'll turn it over to Ron. So I think pharmacy in the quarter I would think of the impact of pharmacy business similar to what we've been seeing over recent quarters. So I don't think there's a material change in what we've seen from a pharmacy performance this quarter. I think your second question was around units and what we're seeing on the core business. We did see a slight deceleration in our unit trends in Q3 if you sort of dissect where that's coming from, actually discretionary categories were probably the most impacted.

凱莉，先讓我來接手，然後再交給榮恩。所以我認為本季藥局業務的影響應該與我們最近幾季所看到的情況類似。所以我認為，本季藥局的業績並沒有實質變化。我認為你的第二個問題是關於銷售以及我們在核心業務方面看到的情況。我們確實看到第三季的銷售趨勢略有放緩，如果你仔細分析原因，實際上非必需消費品類別受到的影響可能最大。

We also saw some impacts in our meat business due to the higher inflation that we've been seeing. But I think it's also important to say that actually unit trends improved or held up in a number of areas. We saw good improvement in the deli. And actually, natural and organic foods held up really, really well. I think these trends changed given some of the broader dynamics that Ron talked about at the beginning, snap and the sort of broader macro consumer environment.

由於通貨膨脹加劇，我們的肉類業務也受到了一定影響。但我認為同樣重要的是要指出，實際上許多領域的單位趨勢有所改善或保持穩定。熟食店的情況有了顯著改善。事實上，天然有機食品的品質真的非常好。我認為，鑑於 Ron 開頭提到的一些更廣泛的動態因素，例如 Snap 以及更廣泛的宏觀消費環境，這些趨勢發生了變化。

In terms of the tailwind that we have next year from our e-commerce business, we haven't yet declared how we're going to split that money up. Obviously, we'll provide more details when we get into 2026 guidance. But as we've said, we expect to use some of the money to reinvest back into pricing to make ourselves even more competitive. We've got a whole range of different opportunities to invest to improve the customer and in-store experience, which we believe will also help improve composite scores but we're also committed on an ongoing basis, as we've said, to improve the operating margins of the business, and we expect to do that next year as well.

至於明年我們從電子商務業務中獲得的順風，我們還沒有宣布將如何分配這筆資金。顯然，我們會在發布 2026 年指導方針時提供更多細節。但正如我們所說，我們計劃將部分資金重新投入定價中，以使我們更具競爭力。我們有很多不同的投資機會來改善顧客和店內體驗，我們相信這也有助於提高綜合評分，但正如我們所說，我們也致力於持續提高業務的營運利潤率，我們預計明年也能做到這一點。

And David, the only area I would add would be kind of technology. I think we've got some technology spend that is in the pipeline that we want to make sure that we can continue to grow not only our retail business but also our e-commerce business, which is rapidly evolving.

大衛，我唯一要補充的領域就是科技方面。我認為我們正在規劃一些技術方面的支出，以確保我們不僅能夠繼續發展零售業務，還能繼續發展快速發展的電子商務業務。

Michael Lasser, UBS.

瑞銀集團的麥可·拉塞爾。

Two-part unrelated questions. The first is, as you went through your e-commerce review, how did you think about the risk of leaning so heavily on third-party providers to fulfill a core competency, which is to interact with the customer at the point of delivery versus having that function more in-house? And also, as part of the e-commerce review, you mentioned that it's going to be profitable next year.

兩個互不相關的問題。首先，當您進行電子商務審查時，您是如何看待過度依賴第三方供應商來實現核心競爭力（即在交付時與客戶互動）的風險，而不是將此功能更多地放在公司內部？另外，在電子商務評估中，您提到明年將會獲利。

Is that simply a function of the $400 million of losses going away? Or are there other factors that we should consider to drive that profitability? And just one last unrelated point. As you think about 2026, do you expect the rate of growth for the grocery industry just to be more sluggish overall, given this 100 basis point headwind from the pharmacy change along with what could be a headwind from MAX next year?

這只是因為4億美元的損失消失了嗎？或者，還有其他因素值得我們考慮，以提升獲利能力嗎？最後還有一點無關的內容。展望 2026 年，考慮到藥房改革帶來的 100 個基點的不利影響，以及明年 MAX 可能帶來的不利影響，您是否預計食品雜貨行業的整體增長速度會更加緩慢？

Sure. I'll start, and then I'll turn it over to David. In terms of -- you asked the question about the providers that are going to be doing some more of our delivery one, we're really excited about the connection. I think each of those partners really brings distinct customer -- serve distinct customer needs as well as occasions. Some are full basket stock up delivery companies and some are really more about immediate convenience.

當然。我先開始，然後交給大衛。關於－你問到哪些供應商將參與我們更多的配送工作，我們對此感到非常興奮。我認為每個合作夥伴都帶來了獨特的客戶——滿足了不同的客戶需求以及不同的場合。有些公司提供整籃商品配送服務，有些公司則更注重即時便利。

I think we're looking at these incremental -- as these partners as incremental sales opportunities and customer opportunities. The vast majority of our e-com sales come from the Kroger website. And we feel like they give us operational flexibility as well as strategic flexibility. If you think about Instacart, which is our largest partner, they deliver broad geographic reach. They've got great scale.

我認為我們正在將這些合作夥伴視為增量銷售機會和客戶機會。我們絕大部分的電商銷售額都來自 Kroger 網站。我們覺得它們既能為我們帶來營運上的彈性，也能為我們帶來策略上的彈性。以我們最大的合作夥伴 Instacart 為例，他們的服務覆蓋範圍非常廣。它們的規模非常大。

They can handle very large basket sizes. They also -- we also can offer a genetic shopping capability on Kroger's iOS platform. Uber Eats that leverages Uber's existing customer base and the Uber app. And I think the benefits here are add-on economics, customers can order grocery items and do with the restaurant orders. And that certainly appeals to younger customers who want more speed, more convenience.

它們可以處理非常大的籃子。此外，我們還可以在 Kroger 的 iOS 平台上提供基因購物功能。Uber Eats 利用 Uber 現有的客戶群和 Uber 應用程式。我認為這樣做的好處在於附加經濟效益，顧客可以訂購雜貨，並將其用於餐廳訂單。這無疑會吸引那些追求速度和便利的年輕顧客。

And I think those are -- represent new and younger customers for the company. And then DoorDash, David talked about how successful that launch has been. And there, again, we're focusing on speed. We're focusing on convenience. It is ideal for quick small basket needs and again, it appeals to younger customers. In terms of the $400 million, I'll ask David to weigh in on that one.

我認為這代表了公司的新客戶和年輕客戶。然後，David談到了DoorDash的上線有多麼成功。而在這裡，我們再次強調了速度的重要性。我們注重的是便利性。它非常適合快速購買少量商品，而且也更受年輕顧客的喜愛。至於那 4 億美元，我會請大衛發表意見。

Yeah. So Michael, the way I think about e-commerce profitability is I mean, as we've been saying, we're already making good improvements in profitability on the business that as it exists today. In fact, in a we actually cut the losses that we've been making in half. So we're making really, really good quarter-over-quarter improvements in profitability, and I expect that to continue into next year. You then take the $400 million that we've talked about, which is from closing the automated fulfillment centers.

是的。所以邁克爾，我對電子商務盈利能力的看法是，正如我們一直所說，我們已經在現有業務的盈利能力方面取得了很大的進步。事實上，我們已經將先前的虧損減少了一半。因此，我們的獲利能力每個季度都在穩步提升，我預計這種情況會持續到明年。然後，我們再考慮一下我們之前提到的 4 億美元，這筆錢來自關閉自動化配送中心。

You then add in the business that we believe is highly incremental from the new third parties that we're working with, so DoorDash and Uber Eats as well as continued growth from our Instacart business. You've got the media business that we expect to continue to grow. And importantly, the media sharing opportunities that we have with our new partners and when you put all that together, that allows us to expect that we will make money in e-commerce next year.

此外，我們認為與新合作的第三方（例如 DoorDash 和 Uber Eats）帶來的業務成長將非常顯著，而 Instacart 業務的持續成長也將推動業務成長。你們擁有媒體業務，我們預期該業務將持續成長。更重要的是，我們與新合作夥伴擁有媒體共享機會，所有這些加在一起，使我們能夠預期明年在電子商務領域獲利。

And Michael, your third question. I'm not sure I'm qualified to speak for the rate of the grocery industry growth rate for 2026. And I certainly don't want to get into any guidance at this point. We'll do that next quarter. But I don't know that there's any reason why there should be this dramatic slowdown in the grocery industry.

邁克爾，你的第三個問題。我不確定我是否有資格預測 2026 年食品雜貨業的成長率。我目前當然不想提供任何指導。我們下個季度會做這件事。但我不知道有什麼理由會導致食品雜貨業出現如此急劇的放緩。

And certainly, not for us, we've got new store growth coming -- we're closing kind of unproductive and low-performing stores. E-commerce has been -- has had a great year and continues to accelerate. It seems like every month more and more -- so the mix might change a bit there because e-commerce will grow faster than physical stores. But we've got a lot going on in fresh categories. Our brands continues to grow faster than the house. And then finally, we want to continue to execute very well in our stores and customer service matters. And I'm not sure that I see a slowdown for 2026.

當然，我們不會這樣做，因為我們有新的門市即將開業——我們正在關閉一些效率低下、業績不佳的門市。電子商務在過去一年取得了巨大成功，並且仍在加速發展。似乎每個月都在增加——因此，這方面的組成可能會發生一些變化，因為電子商務的成長速度將超過實體店。但我們在新類別中有很多項目正在進行。我們的品牌發展速度持續超過公司整體發展速度。最後，我們希望繼續在門市營運和客戶服務方面保持良好的表現。我不確定2026年經濟是否會放緩。

Jacob Akin-Phillips, Melius Research.

Jacob Akin-Phillips，Melius Research。

So on the last call, you talked about how you're kind of working on how you discuss the Retail Media business with vendors or across the organization. And today, you highlighted some new opportunities with the three partnerships. I'm just curious like as more emissions originate on the partner platforms. How are you structuring the relationship so that you have the right level of first data? And should we think of the economics as comparable first party res third party for Retail Media?

所以在上次通話中，您談到了您正在努力與供應商或整個組織討論零售媒體業務的方式。今天，您重點介紹了這三項合作帶來的一些新機會。我只是好奇，為什麼越來越多的排放源自於合作夥伴平台。您如何建構這種關係，才能獲得合適層次的第一手資料？我們是否應該將零售媒體的第一方和第三方經濟效益視為可比較？

Jacob, let me take that one. It was a little hard to hear your question, your line is breaking up. But hopefully, I got the gist of it. So -- we're seeing good performance from our Retail Media business today. So in Q3, we saw another quarter of double-digit growth, and we think we've got good plans for Q4 and our plans lead us to believe actually that that business will accelerate into Q4.

雅各布，讓我來吧。你的問題有點難聽清，你的線路斷斷續續的。但願我理解了它的意思。所以——我們今天的零售媒體業務表現良好。因此，在第三季度，我們看到了又一個兩位數的成長季度，我們認為我們對第四季度有很好的計劃，而且我們的計劃讓我們相信，這項業務實際上將在第四季度加速發展。

And obviously, we'll share more specific guidance as we get into next year. And I think the foundation of this is great tools with best-in-class capabilities for the brands that choose to operate on the platforms. Now as we think about the new partnerships that we've got going forward, the really important thing that was important for us as we structured those relationships is to make sure that we got to participate in the media opportunities that exist and that may originate on their platform rather than our platform.

顯然，到了明年，我們會分享更具體的指導。我認為這一切的基礎在於為選擇在這些平台上經營的品牌提供一流的工具和卓越的功能。現在，當我們思考未來要建立的新合作關係時，對我們來說真正重要的一點是，在建立這些關係時，確保我們能夠參與現有的媒體機會中，而這些機會可能源自於他們的平台，而不是我們的平台。

Obviously, I don't want to get into the details of the specifics of how we structured those agreements but we've structured them in a way that we benefit what I would call appropriately from that in a way that's very favorable to our economics.

顯然，我不想深入探討我們如何建構這些協議的具體細節，但我們建構這些協議的方式，使我們能夠從中獲得我認為是恰當的利益，這對我們的經濟非常有利。

Seth Sigman, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的塞思‧西格曼。

I think there was a comment that you feel good about quarter to date. I'm not sure if that implies trends have improved or not. But is there anything more you can share about that and what may be driving that if it is improving? And you mentioned price investments. I'm just curious, is that playing a role and then a bigger picture question on price investments. You were doing a lot of testing this year. Is there anything else you can share about what is working versus what is not working?

我記得有人說過你對本季迄今的業績感到滿意。我不確定這是否意味著趨勢有所改善。但關於這一點，您還有什麼可以分享的嗎？如果情況正在好轉，又是什麼原因導致的呢？你提到了價格投資。我只是好奇，這是否會影響價格投資，以及這是否是一個更宏觀的問題。你今年做了很多測試。關於哪些方法有效、哪些方法無效，您還有什麼可以分享的嗎？

Yeah, I think it's a little early to kind of opine about the fourth quarter. We're just three or four weeks into the quarter. Just to be clear, I said that quarter-to-date, we are trending ahead of our guidance that we shared with you this morning. In terms of price investments, it's a little hard to know those in real time. We continue to make price investments. We will continue to do that throughout the quarter. I think what we're seeing with our promotional kind of environment out there is that customers are responding to promotion and we will continue to do that. I don't know, David?

是的，我覺得現在對第四季發表意見還為時過早。本季才過了三、四個星期。需要澄清的是，我說過，本季至今，我們的業績趨勢已經超過了今天早上我們向大家分享的預期。就價格投資而言，要即時了解這些情況有點困難。我們將繼續進行價格投資。本季我們將繼續這樣做。我認為，從我們目前的促銷環境來看，顧客對促銷活動反應積極，我們將繼續這樣做。我不知道，大衛？

Yeah. Just sorry, one slide clarification just to make sure the point on Q4 is crystal clear, we're trending quarter-to-date, slightly above the midpoint of our Q4 guidance. I think there was a second question on there, Seth, about price investments. Listen, we continue to make sure that we offer great value for the consumer. As Ron talked about, a great example was towards the end of the quarter when we knew consumers were struggling given SNAP benefits being withheld, we invested in what we believe was an appropriate way and also a very responsible way with our margins to bring the cost of the Thanksgiving dinner down as well as lower prices through promotions on a number of critical items for households. And I think -- we'll continue to do that. Value is at the foundation of what we do, and we'll continue to do that in a responsible way.

是的。抱歉，我再補充一張投影片，以確保第四季度的情況完全清楚：我們本季迄今的趨勢略高於我們第四季指引值的中點。塞思，我想上面還有第二個問題，是關於價格投資的。聽著，我們始終致力於為消費者提供物超所值的產品和服務。正如 Ron 所說，一個很好的例子是，在季度末，我們知道由於 SNAP 福利被扣發，消費者生活困難，所以我們以我們認為適當且非常負責任的方式，利用我們的利潤率進行投資，以降低感恩節晚餐的成本，並通過促銷一些家庭必需品來降低價格。我認為——我們會繼續這樣做。價值是我們一切工作的基石，我們將繼續以負責任的方式實踐這個理念。

Simeon Gutman, Morgan Stanley.

西蒙古特曼，摩根士丹利。

Two questions. The first, e-commerce, now that you'll be in the green next year, can you talk about the scalability or maybe incremental margins? Does it move quicker or it's still a long evolution and part 2, since you've been in your role Ron, there's been some significant change, strategic change, tactical change. Today's call sounded a little more urgent with some pricing folks coming back to work, et cetera. I don't know if that's a fair read or not. Can you say if it is? And I guess new CEO should be very little interruption as far as execution goes because it sounds like the plans are all being built today.

兩個問題。首先是電子商務，既然你們明年就要獲利了，能否談談可擴展性或增量利潤率？它的發展速度是加快了，還是仍然是一個漫長的演變過程？第二部分，羅恩，自從你擔任這個職位以來，已經發生了一些重大變化，戰略變化，戰術變化。今天的電話會議聽起來氣氛更加緊迫，一些定價人員已經返回工作崗位等等。我不知道這樣的解讀是否公正。你能告訴我是不是嗎？我猜想，新任CEO在執行上應該不會造成太大干擾，因為聽起來所有的計畫都是今天就開始製定的。

Let me ask David to cover the first and then I'll cover the second.

我先請大衛講解第一個問題，然後我再來講解第二個問題。

Yeah, let me take the first one. So obviously, the economics are very commerce business with the outcome of the strategic review have changed. So we now move from a business that was in the red to a business that's now in the green. We've had a really good growing business now for many quarters. And I think with the new partnerships that we've signed with the stores that we're building with the strong growth that we're really seeing across all elements of our e-commerce business.

好，我先來。顯然，經濟情勢與商業息息相關，策略評估的結果已經改變了。所以我們現在從一家虧損的企業轉變為一家獲利的企業。我們的業務已經連續多個季度保持了非常好的成長勢頭。我認為，隨著我們與各大商店建立新的合作夥伴關係，以及我們在電子商務業務的各個方面都看到了強勁的成長，這一切都將推動我們的業務發展。

I think what that allows us to do is continue to scale the business in a way that we now make money. So I think as you think about that going forward, I'm not sure we see a dramatic change in the growth rate. but I'd expect us to see continued strong double-digit growth from the ecommerce business going forward with the change being that, that business is now profitable.

我認為這樣做可以讓我們繼續擴大業務規模，從而實現盈利。所以我認為，展望未來，成長率可能不會發生劇烈變化，但我預計電子商務業務將繼續保持兩位數的強勁增長，而變化之處在於，該業務現在已經實現盈利。

And Simon, just to get into the second point, I've been here. I think this is my tenth month. And my only objective is to set up the company for future success. We got to do the right things, and we're going to do the right things even if some of the decisions are hard. And you ask about urgency. I'm not sure there's any more urgency. I'm always urgent about everything. And I think going fast needs to be a key element of our culture. I think being willing to make the tough decisions needs to be a key part of our culture and to the support we've gotten great support. The board has been very supportive of those things that we need to do to set the company up for future success.

西蒙，關於第二點，我一直在這裡。我想這應該是我入院的第十個月了。我的唯一目標是為公司未來的成功奠定基礎。我們必須做正確的事，即使有些決定很艱難，我們也會去做正確的事。你問的是緊迫性。我不確定是否還有緊迫性。我總是對所有事情都抱持著緊迫感。我認為追求速度應該成為我們文化的關鍵要素。我認為勇於做出艱難的決定應該是我們文化的重要組成部分，為此我們也得到了極大的支持。董事會一直非常支持我們為公司未來的成功所需要做的事情。

And frankly, our management team has really embraced the speed, the decisions, the focus on the customer, the focus on kind of moving some of the influence from our corporate office to our divisions, where our customers are. And then 5 days a week, it's frankly just a function of the fact that that's just retail. I mean we need to be here. We need to collaborate. We need to be able to respond quickly.

坦白說，我們的管理團隊非常認可這種速度、決策方式以及以客戶為中心的理念，即把一些影響力從公司總部轉移到客戶所在的各個部門。而一週五天，坦白說，這只是零售業的必然結果。我的意思是，我們必須待在這裡。我們需要合作。我們需要能夠快速做出反應。

And we need to be able to support our stores that operate seven days a week as long as our -- as well as our manufacturing facilities and our distribution facilities. So I wouldn't say there's more urgency -- but I would say that there's plenty of urgency.

我們需要能夠支援每週七天營業的門市，以及我們的製造工廠和配送工廠。所以我不會說現在更緊迫了——但我會說現在確實很緊迫。

Thomas Palmer, JPMorgan.

Thomas Palmer，摩根大通。

In the release discussing the fulfillment center closures, there was the mention right of the $400 million in savings. Could you maybe get a little bit of a breakdown of where these savings will be seen. I think some of it might be depreciation, some of it other operating costs? And then when we're thinking about the reinvestment -- how much of this is investment that you probably would have undertaken anyway, and this just gives you kind of better AO to fund it versus things that might not have occurred if the closures had not occurred?

在討論關閉物流中心的公告中，明確提到了節省 4 億美元。能否詳細說明這些節省的費用將反映在哪些方面？我認為其中一部分可能是折舊，一部分可能是其他營運成本？然後，當我們考慮再投資時——其中有多少是你可能無論如何都會進行的投資，而這只是讓你有更好的AO來為這些投資提供資金，而不是如果關閉措施沒有發生，這些投資可能就不會發生？

Yeah, let me take that one. So as you think about the $400 million, you're right that, that splits across what I would call kind of kind of operating profit, kind of EBITDA kind of more cashrelated items. And then, of course, there's a component of it relates to depreciation. So it is split across both. In terms of investments, the way I would think about that, obviously, and we'll get more into that in terms of when we get into guidance for next year, it's a combination.

好的，那我來做吧。所以，當你考慮這 4 億美元時，你說得對，這筆錢一部分是營業利潤，一部分是 EBITDA，還有一些是與現金相關的項目。當然，其中還有一部分與折舊有關。所以它被兩者分割了。就投資而言，我的想法是，很顯然，我們會在給出明年業績指引時更詳細地討論這個問題，這是一個組合。

Clearly, it gives us fuel to be able to make investments that we were likely already going to make. But it also gives us incremental flexibility to invest in things that perhaps we were not going to be able to make. So we'll get into more details on that as we get into 2026 guidance, but hopefully, that gives you sufficient color.

顯然，這為我們提供了資金，使我們能夠進行一些我們原本可能就會進行的投資。但這同時也給了我們更大的彈性，讓我們能夠投資一些原本可能無法生產的東西。所以，當我們談到 2026 年的指導意見時，我們會更詳細地討論這個問題，但希望這些內容能給你足夠的資訊。

And just to add, I mean, the key of e-commerce, it's our -- one of our fastest-growing businesses, and that will continue. In fact, it continues to accelerate. It's 11% of our sales. The focus is we got to make money on a business that's growing that fast. And it was all about we're going to get profitable. We got to get profitable fast because that e-commerce is a key part of our future here.

另外補充一點，電子商務是我們的——也是我們成長最快的業務之一，而且這種成長勢頭還將繼續。事實上，這一趨勢還在持續加速。這占我們銷售額的11%。重點是，我們必須在這個快速成長的企業中賺錢。一切都圍繞著我們要獲利。我們必須盡快實現盈利，因為電子商務是我們未來發展的關鍵組成部分。

Rupesh Parikh, Oppenheimer.

Rupesh Parikh，奧本海默。

So just going back, I guess, just to CapEx. So going forward, more aggressive store openings, obviously, a change in our e-commerce strategy, does anything change in terms of how to think about the baseline CapEx spending for the business?

所以，我想，還是回到資本支出這個主題上來吧。展望未來，隨著更積極的門市開設，以及電子商務策略的改變，企業的基本資本支出計畫是否也會隨之改變？

CapEx.

資本支出。

I don't think anything changes in the immediate term about the CapEx. I think what we're doing is prioritizing the mix differently, so we're reallocating more into our storing program and less into other areas of the business. We think this is good for the ROIC of the company and the returns on our capital as we get good returns from major storing programs. So think of it more as a mix shift.

我認為短期內資本支出方面不會有任何變化。我認為我們正在做的是調整資金組合的優先順序，所以我們將更多資金重新分配到倉儲計畫中，減少對其他業務領域的投入。我們認為這對公司的投資報酬率和資本回報都有好處，因為我們從大型倉儲專案中獲得了良好的回報。所以，不妨把它看成是一種混合方式的轉變。

Karen Koski, North Coast Research.

凱倫‧科斯基，北海岸研究中心。

And looking at your store development -- well, let me back up a bit. It sounds like you talked about the mid-tier customer pulling back some more in line with the lower income customers that a change that you saw during the quarter. and looking at store development, anything going on at Fred Meyer that you might want to talk about? And could you perhaps talk about how it's larger exposure to general merchandise as you're thinking about that banner?

至於你們的店鋪發展——嗯，讓我先回顧一下。聽起來您提到，中等收入顧客的消費水準有所下降，與低收入顧客的消費水準趨於一致，這是您在本季度觀察到的變化。關於門市發展，Fred Meyer方面有什麼進展可以分享嗎？您能否談談您在考慮這個橫幅廣告時，它如何能更廣泛地接觸到一般商品？

Sure. Yeah, I can give you some big picture kind of comments about the what we're seeing on the consumer side, as you've been reading, consumer sentiment has declined a lot over the last four months. And there's a lot of reasons behind that, whether it's a slowing job market or the government shutdown, the SNAP benefits, concern about inflation and categories like beef and coffee and chocolate, I just think customers are managing their budgets carefully, and they're making more trips. They're making smaller trips. The idea of stocking up is declining a bit.

當然。是的，我可以就我們目前在消費者方面看到的情況給出一些宏觀層面的評論。正如你所看到的，過去四個月消費者信心大幅下降。這背後有很多原因，無論是就業市場放緩還是政府停擺，無論是食品券福利、對通貨膨脹的擔憂，還是牛肉、咖啡和巧克力等商品類別，我認為顧客都在謹慎地管理預算，所以他們購物的次數也更多了。他們現在只進行短途旅行。囤貨的風氣正逐漸消退。

And we're seeing this economy where high income premium shoppers, they continue to spend while lower income customers are pulling back more aggressively. In terms of that middle bucket, I would guess, again, they're also looking for value. And the best indicator of that is our Q3 was softer in the later parts of the quarter because of the pause in SNAP benefits. So that would be kind of -- I think going forward, I think the consumer is going to remain cautious. I think there's going to be more focus on food items and less on discretionary categories.

我們看到，在當前的經濟狀況下，高收入的高端消費者仍在繼續消費，而低收入消費者則在更積極地減少支出。至於中間那部分，我猜他們也是在找性價比。最好的證明就是，由於 SNAP 福利暫停，我們第三季的業績在後半段有所下滑。所以我覺得，展望未來，消費者仍會保持謹慎。我認為人們會更關注食品類商品，而減少對非必需品類的關注。

Does that impact Fred Miner? I think it probably does from their mix of higher mix of discretionary and GM merchandise. But it's also -- we're seeing it in adult beverages, snacks, I think the good news is that we're seeing this continued shift from restaurant purchases to food at home purchases, which should be good for our business. And then I think the other big trend we're seeing is e-commerce continues to grow a lot faster than physical stores. Fred Meyer, I don't want to point out a specific division, but Fred Meyer continues to perform well. We got Todd out there, President, Todd Cammie, running it. And I was out there a few months ago, and I'm feeling pretty good about Fred Meyer.

這會對弗雷德·邁納產生影響嗎？我認為這很可能是因為他們的商品組合中非必需品和日用百貨的比例較高。但我們也看到，在成人飲料、點心等領域，這種趨勢也正在發生。我認為好消息是，我們看到人們的消費習慣正從外出用餐轉向在家用餐，這對我們的業務來說應該是個好消息。我認為我們看到的另一個大趨勢是，電子商務的成長速度繼續遠超實體店。我不想具體指出弗雷德·邁耶的哪個部門，但弗雷德·邁耶整體表現依然良好。我們有托德·卡米總裁在那裡負責營運。幾個月前我去過那裡，我對 Fred Meyer 的感覺相當不錯。

I think maybe just one thing just to add on stores and store formats as to how we think about that we'll continue to build kind of large stores around the 123,000 square foot. We've also got a 99,000 square foot format that we're going to continue to build. And I think as we think about the future, we're going to continue to experiment to make sure that we have the right array of store formats to cater consumers wherever they may be located.

我認為或許應該補充一點關於商店和商店形式的考慮，我們將繼續建造面積在 123,000 平方英尺左右的大型商店。我們還有一個佔地 99,000 平方英尺的項目，我們將繼續推進該項目的建設。我認為，展望未來，我們將繼續進行試驗，以確保我們擁有合適的門市形式，以滿足各地消費者的需求。

That concludes today's question and answer. I will now hand back to Ron Sargent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for any closing comments.

今天的問答環節到此結束。現在我將把麥克風交還給董事長兼執行長羅恩‧薩金特，請他作總結發言。

Okay. Well, thanks, everybody. Thanks. We had a lot of great questions today. Before we conclude our earnings call, we'd like to share a few comments with our associates who are listening in. The progress we've made and the strong results we share today reflect your hard work and your commitment. This year, we focused on running great stores, delivering a strong customer experience and strengthening our core business really priorities that are essential to our success going forward. Your efforts are creating a strong foundation for Kroger's long-term growth. We're very proud of what we've accomplished so far, and we're excited for the work ahead. So thanks for everything you do and for your hard work during a really busy holiday season.

好的。謝謝大家。謝謝。今天我們收到了很多很好的問題。在結束本次財報電話會議之前，我們想對正在收聽的同事們說幾句話。我們所取得的進展和今天分享的豐碩成果，都反映了你們的辛勤付出和堅定承諾。今年，我們專注於經營優秀的門市、提供卓越的客戶體驗以及加強核心業務，這些都是對我們未來成功至關重要的優先事項。你們的努力為克羅格的長期發展奠定了堅實的基礎。我們為迄今為止的成就感到非常自豪，並對未來的工作充滿期待。所以，非常感謝你所做的一切，也感謝你在如此繁忙的假期期間的辛勤工作。

Thanks everybody for joining us on the call this morning. We look forward to speaking with all of you again soon. I hope to see you in our stores and happy holidays, everybody.

感謝各位今天上午參加我們的電話會議。我們期待盡快再次與各位交流。希望在我們的門市見到您，祝大家節日快樂！

Thank you, this now concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining and you may now disconnect your lines.

謝謝，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與，現在可以斷開連結了。