勞氏公司 (LOW) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Lowe's Companies Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Rob, and I'll be your operator for today's call. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Kate Pearlman, Vice President of Investor Relations.

各位早上好，歡迎來到勞氏公司 2022 年第三季度收益電話會議。我叫 Rob，今天的電話我是你的接線員。提醒一下，這次會議正在錄製中。我現在將把電話轉給投資者關係副總裁凱特珀爾曼。

Thank you, and good morning. Here with me today are Marvin Ellison, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Bill Boltz, our Executive Vice President, Merchandising; Joe McFarland, our Executive Vice President of Stores; and Brandon Sink, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝，早上好。今天和我在一起的是董事長兼首席執行官馬文·埃里森 (Marvin Ellison)； Bill Boltz，我們的營銷執行副總裁；我們的門店執行副總裁 Joe McFarland；和我們的執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Brandon Sink。

I would like to remind you that our notice regarding forward-looking statements is included in our press release this morning, which can be found on Lowe's Investor Relations website. During this call, we will be making comments that are forward-looking, including our expectations for fiscal 2022.

我想提醒您，我們關於前瞻性陳述的通知已包含在今天上午的新聞稿中，您可以在 Lowe 的投資者關係網站上找到該新聞稿。在此次電話會議中，我們將發表前瞻性評論，包括我們對 2022 財年的預期。

Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied as a result of various risks, uncertainties and important factors, including those discussed in the risk factors, MD&A and other sections of our annual report on Form 10-K and our other SEC filings. Additionally, we'll be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these items to U.S. GAAP can be found in the quarterly earnings section of our Investor Relations website.

由於各種風險、不確定性和重要因素，包括在風險因素、MD&A 和我們關於 10-K 表格的年度報告和我們的其他 SEC 備案文件的其他部分中討論的那些，實際結果可能與明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異。此外，我們將討論某些非 GAAP 財務指標。這些項目與美國公認會計原則的對賬可以在我們的投資者關係網站的季度收益部分找到。

Now I'll turn the call over to Marvin.

現在我將電話轉給馬文。

Thank you, Kate, and good morning, everyone. In the third quarter, our total company comparable sales increased 2.2%, while U.S. comps increased 3%. These better-than-expected sales were driven by improved DIY demand supported by fall nesting trends as travel slowdown and children return to school.

謝謝你，凱特，大家早上好。第三季度，我們公司的可比銷售額總額增長了 2.2%，而美國的可比銷售額增長了 3%。這些好於預期的銷售額是由於旅行放緩和兒童重返學校導致秋季嵌套趨勢的支持，從而推動了 DIY 需求的改善。

We also saw continued momentum in Pro, reflecting the success of our Pro initiatives and the resilience of home improvement demand. In addition to strong sales growth, our persistent focus on productivity once again drove improved operating performance with substantial improvement in adjusted operating margin of 54 basis points and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $3.27, an increase of 20% as compared to last year.

我們還看到了 Pro 的持續發展勢頭，反映了我們 Pro 計劃的成功以及家裝需求的彈性。除了強勁的銷售增長外，我們對生產力的持續關注再次推動了經營業績的改善，調整後的營業利潤率大幅提高 54 個基點，調整後的稀釋後每股收益為 3.27 美元，與去年相比增長了 20%。

These outstanding results enable us to make critical investments in our most important asset, our associates. In this quarter, we announced an incremental $170 million investment in permanent wage increases for our frontline hourly associates. These increases are designed to ensure that our more tenured associates continue to receive market-competitive wages.

這些出色的業績使我們能夠對我們最重要的資產——我們的員工進行關鍵投資。在本季度，我們宣布增加 1.7 億美元的投資，用於增加一線小時工的永久工資。這些增長旨在確保我們的資深員工繼續獲得具有市場競爭力的工資。

And in further recognition of the hard work and dedication, we are awarding $200 million in bonuses to our frontline hourly associates ahead of the holiday season. At Lowe's, we make every effort to ensure that our associates share in our financial success, and I am very pleased that we are once again able to award a discretionary bonus because our performance is tracking ahead of our expectations.

為了進一步表彰辛勤工作和奉獻精神，我們將在假期前向我們的一線小時工發放 2 億美元的獎金。在 Lowe's，我們盡一切努力確保我們的員工分享我們的財務成功，我很高興我們能夠再次發放酌情花紅，因為我們的表現超出了我們的預期。

This is a true win-win outcome for the company, for our shareholders and for our associates. All of these investments reflect our efforts and our commitment to become the employee of choice in retail, where we continually invest in our associates and help them support their families and grow their careers at Lowe's.

這對公司、我們的股東和我們的員工來說是一個真正的雙贏結果。所有這些投資都反映了我們為成為零售業首選員工所做的努力和承諾，我們不斷投資於我們的員工，幫助他們養家糊口並在 Lowe's 發展事業。

Now turning to Pro. We delivered growth of 16% and 36% on a 2-year basis, the tenth consecutive quarter that we've driven double-digit Pro growth. We are building on our greatly improved Pro product and service offerings with our new MVP Pro Rewards and Partnership Program and our enhanced Pro CRM, which Joe will discuss later on the call. We recently completed our annual Pro Pulse Survey, which provides real-time insights into what's on the minds of our Pros and how they view their future business opportunities, and we're encouraged to hear that Pros remain optimistic with over 70% saying that they expect even more work in 2023 than they had in 2022. This is just another proof point of the resilience of home improvement demand even in this uncertain macro environment.

現在轉向專業版。我們在 2 年的基礎上實現了 16% 和 36% 的增長，這是我們連續第十個季度推動兩位數的 Pro 增長。我們正在通過我們新的 MVP Pro 獎勵和合作夥伴計劃以及我們增強的 Pro CRM 來構建我們大大改進的 Pro 產品和服務產品，Joe 將在稍後的電話會議上討論。我們最近完成了年度 Pro Pulse 調查，該調查提供了對我們的專業人士的想法以及他們如何看待未來商業機會的實時洞察，我們很高興聽到專業人士保持樂觀，超過 70% 的人表示他們預計 2023 年的工作量將比 2022 年更多。這再次證明了即使在這種不確定的宏觀環境下，家裝需求仍具有彈性。

On Lowes.com sales grew 12% this quarter over 4x our U.S. growth rate, representing a sales penetration of 10%. We continue to enhance the online user experience as well as our fulfillment capabilities as we focus on driving this critical growth initiative within our Total Home Strategy.

本季度 Lowes.com 的銷售額增長了 12%，超過我們美國增長率的 4 倍，銷售滲透率為 10%。我們將繼續提昇在線用戶體驗以及我們的履行能力，因為我們專注於在我們的 Total Home 戰略中推動這一關鍵增長計劃。

Turning to our supply chain transformation. We've made significant strides in our rollout of our market delivery model for big and bulky products this quarter, spanning the country from Southern California to Southern Illinois to Atlanta, Georgia. We've now reached an important milestone with 8 geographic regions covering more than half our stores converted to the new model, and we're on track to complete the rollout by the end of next year.

轉向我們的供應鏈轉型。本季度，我們在推出大件和笨重產品的市場交付模式方面取得了重大進展，覆蓋了從南加州到南伊利諾伊州到佐治亞州亞特蘭大的整個國家。我們現在已經達到了一個重要的里程碑，覆蓋 8 個地理區域的一半以上的商店都轉換為新模式，我們有望在明年年底前完成推出。

This is a centerpiece of our supply chain transformation as the market delivery model will enable us to further consolidate our industry leadership position in appliances and position us for profitable growth in other big and bulky products like grills, riding lawn mowers, stock cabinets and vanities. This also improves the customer experience through expanded fulfillment options and a seamless omnichannel shopping experience powered by technology.

這是我們供應鏈轉型的核心，因為市場交付模式將使我們能夠進一步鞏固我們在家電領域的行業領導地位，並使我們能夠在其他大型產品（如烤架、騎乘式割草機、儲物櫃和梳妝台）中實現盈利增長。這還通過擴展的履行選項和由技術支持的無縫全渠道購物體驗改善了客戶體驗。

We also just announced that we will be opening a new coastal holding facility in the port city of Suffolk, Virginia. Our expanded coastal holding facility network is opening up capacity for us to hold product upstream from our distribution centers, which creates the flexibility we need to flow the products quickly and where and when is needed. This helps us to not only capture sales, but also mitigates markdown risk because we avoid stranding product unnecessarily in our stores.

我們還剛剛宣布，我們將在弗吉尼亞州薩福克的港口城市開設一個新的沿海控股設施。我們擴大的沿海控股設施網絡為我們開放了從我們的配送中心持有產品上游的能力，這創造了我們需要的靈活性，可以在需要的地方和時間快速流動產品。這不僅可以幫助我們獲得銷售額，還可以降低降價風險，因為我們可以避免在商店中不必要地滯留產品。

And now I'd like to discuss the macro environment and specifically address some misperceptions that I've heard about the home improvement market. You've heard me talk about this before, but demand drivers for home improvement are distinctly different from those that drive home building. So it's important not to confuse the two. And as a reminder, at Lowe's, the 3 highest correlating factors of home improvement demand are home price appreciation, age of housing stock and disposable personal income.

現在我想討論一下宏觀環境，特別是要解決我聽說過的關於家裝市場的一些誤解。你以前聽我說過這個，但家居裝修的需求驅動因素與推動房屋建設的需求驅動因素截然不同。所以不要混淆兩者很重要。提醒一下，在 Lowe's，家居裝修需求的 3 個最相關因素是房價升值、住房存量年齡和可支配個人收入。

So let's start with home price appreciation. Even if there is a broad-based decline in home prices, homeowners currently have a record amount of equity in their homes, nearly $330,000 on average, which remains supportive of home improvement investment. And even in the select U.S. markets where home prices have declined after a particularly steep run-up during the pandemic, we are not seeing any impact to sales; second, the average age of homes in the U.S. is over 40 years old and roughly 3 million more homes built during the housing boom in the mid-2000s, will be entering prime remodeling years by 2025, which is a key inflection point for big-ticket repairs.

因此，讓我們從房價升值開始。即使房價普遍下跌，房主目前擁有創紀錄的房屋淨值，平均接近 330,000 美元，這仍然支持家居裝修投資。即使在大流行期間房價特別急劇上漲後房價下跌的特定美國市場，我們也沒有看到對銷售有任何影響；其次，美國房屋的平均年齡超過 40 年，在 2000 年代中期的房地產繁榮期間建造的房屋將增加約 300 萬套，到 2025 年將進入主要改建年，這是大的關鍵拐點票務維修。

This is one of the key reasons why 2/3 of home improvement spend is nondiscretionary on repair or maintenance projects that cannot be delayed; third, consumer savings are near record highs, while disposable personal income remained strong. And more than 90% of homeowners either own their home or are locked into a low fixed mortgage insulating them from rising rates.

這是 2/3 的家居裝修支出不可隨意用於不能延遲的維修或維護項目的關鍵原因之一；第三，消費者儲蓄接近歷史高位，而個人可支配收入依然強勁。超過 90% 的房主要么擁有自己的房子，要么被鎖定在低利率的固定抵押貸款中，使他們免受利率上升的影響。

On top of these 3 factors, there is a persistent 1.5 million to 2 million under supply of homes and 250,000 first-time millennial homebuyers are expected per year through 2025. This unique combination of factors is causing homeowners to trade up in place, preferring to invest in repairs and renovations to make their current homes meet their families evolving needs rather than buying a new home. And this is why we're so confident about the outlook for the home improvement industry even in a period of high inflation and rising interest rates because the key drivers of our business remain supportive.

除了這 3 個因素之外，到 2025 年，每年仍有 150 萬至 200 萬套房屋供應不足，預計每年將有 25 萬名千禧一代首次購房者。這種獨特的因素組合導致房主進行原地交易，更願意購買投資維修和翻新以使他們目前的房屋滿足家庭不斷變化的需求，而不是購買新房。這就是為什麼我們對家居裝修行業的前景如此有信心，即使在高通脹和利率上升的時期也是如此，因為我們業務的主要驅動因素仍然是支持性的。

And with the investments that we've made to transform our business, we also have the operating agility needed to rapidly pivot if market conditions worsen. And we have a very experienced leadership team of home improvement veterans who have developed a proven playbook to respond to a slowdown. At the same time, we would not lose our focus on investing in long-term growth. Now before I close, I'd like to take a moment to discuss our recent announcement regarding our intention to sell our Canadian retail business to Sycamore Partners.

通過我們為業務轉型所做的投資，我們還擁有在市場狀況惡化時快速調整所需的運營敏捷性。我們擁有一支經驗豐富的領導團隊，由經驗豐富的家庭裝修老手組成，他們制定了行之有效的應對經濟放緩的策略。同時，我們不會失去對長期增長投資的關注。在我結束之前，我想花點時間討論一下我們最近宣布的有關我們打算將我們的加拿大零售業務出售給 Sycamore Partners 的公告。

Lowe's first entered Canada in 2007 and later expanded with the acquisition of RONA in 2016. Over the last few years, we focus on the retail fundamentals of our Canadian operations, which brought the Canadian business to profitability and improved its operating cash flows. However, for this business to achieve the profitability in line with the U.S. significant incremental capital investments would be required to streamline the banners and improve operating margins.

Lowe's 於 2007 年首次進入加拿大，隨後在 2016 年通過收購 RONA 進行擴張。在過去幾年中，我們專注於加拿大業務的零售基本面，這使加拿大業務實現盈利並改善其運營現金流。但是，要使該業務實現與美國一致的盈利能力，將需要大量增量資本投資來簡化橫幅並提高營業利潤率。

By contrast, we have tremendous opportunity for continued market share and profitable growth in our U.S. home improvement business. This transaction will simplify our business model, improve our operating margins and return on invested capital while enabling us to deliver sustainable value to our shareholders.

相比之下，我們在美國家居裝修業務中擁有持續市場份額和盈利增長的巨大機會。該交易將簡化我們的商業模式，提高我們的營業利潤率和投資資本回報率，同時使我們能夠為股東創造可持續的價值。

Brandon will provide details regarding the financial impact of the transaction later on the call. I would like to thank our entire Canadian team for their hard work and dedication to our customers, and we look forward to collaborating with Sycamore Partners and executing a seamless transition. I'd like to also extend my appreciation to our team in the U.S. for their ongoing commitment to serving customers and the communities. And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Bill.

布蘭登將在稍後的電話會議上提供有關交易財務影響的詳細信息。我要感謝我們整個加拿大團隊的辛勤工作和對客戶的奉獻，我們期待與 Sycamore Partners 合作並執行無縫過渡。我還要感謝我們在美國的團隊，感謝他們一直致力於為客戶和社區服務。有了這個，我想把電話轉給比爾。

Thanks, Marvin, and good morning, everyone. In the third quarter, U.S. comparable sales increase 3%, reflecting solid core home improvement demand across both Pro and DIY customers. This quarter, we drove positive comps in our building products and home decor divisions, fueled by momentum with the Pro and improve DIY demand. In hardlines, comps were down slightly as we cycled over significant storm prep activities in Louisiana from Hurricane Ida in 2021 and that did not repeat at the same scale when flu radiances prepared for Hurricane Ian in 2022.

謝謝，馬文，大家早上好。第三季度，美國可比銷售額增長 3%，反映出專業和 DIY 客戶對核心家居裝修的強勁需求。本季度，在 Pro 的發展勢頭和 DIY 需求的推動下，我們在建築產品和家居裝飾部門取得了積極的業績。在強硬派中，當我們從 2021 年的颶風艾達開始在路易斯安那州進行重要的風暴準備活動時，補償略有下降，而當流感輻射為 2022 年的颶風伊恩做準備時，這種情況並沒有以同樣的規模重複。

Overall, growth was well balanced with 8 of our 15 merchandising departments above company average. Beginning with our home decor division, the fall nesting trends that Marvin mentioned led to standout performance across core interior categories, including appliances, paint, kitchens and bath and flooring. Appliance sales were bolstered by a strong Labor Day event and higher online sales as we continue to enhance our Lowes.com user experience.

總體而言，我們的 15 個銷售部門中有 8 個部門的增長非常平衡，高於公司平均水平。從我們的家居裝飾部門開始，馬文提到的秋季嵌套趨勢導致核心室內類別的表現突出，包括電器、油漆、廚房、浴室和地板。隨著我們繼續提升我們的 Lowes.com 用戶體驗，強勁的勞動節活動和更高的在線銷售額推動了家電銷售。

As an example, this quarter, we began displaying delivery dates earlier in the purchase process to highlight our improved next-day delivery options. If customer needed to quickly replace a refrigerator or washer that's just stopped working, this feature now helps them focus their attention to product that's immediately available. This is especially important for Lowe's as our appliance business is skewed toward replacement within existing homes versus new housing starts. As I mentioned last quarter, we also continue to see customers trading up for innovation, like with our new Maytag Pet Pro washer with technology that removes pet hair from clothes in the wash cycle, which is exclusive to Lowe's.

例如，本季度，我們開始在購買流程的早期顯示交貨日期，以突出我們改進的次日交貨選項。如果客戶需要快速更換剛剛停止工作的冰箱或洗衣機，此功能現在可以幫助他們將注意力集中在立即可用的產品上。這對 Lowe's 尤其重要，因為我們的家電業務傾向於在現有房屋內進行更換，而不是新建房屋。正如我在上個季度提到的那樣，我們還繼續看到客戶為創新進行交易，例如我們新的 Maytag Pet Pro 洗衣機，其技術可以在洗滌週期中去除衣服上的寵物毛髮，這是 Lowe's 獨有的。

This quarter, we also launched a new exclusive home center partnership with Miele, a global leader known for high-end premium appliances. This reflects our ongoing commitment to ensuring that we have new high-quality offerings across all price points with leading products from All-Star brands like Trex, DEWALT, Owens Corning, John Deere, EGO, Honda, KitchenAid, Samsung, LG, Kohler, Moen, Whirlpool, Husqvarna and Aaron's.

本季度，我們還與以高端優質家電聞名的全球領導者 Miele 建立了新的獨家家庭中心合作夥伴關係。這反映了我們一貫的承諾，即確保我們擁有來自 Trex、DEWALT、Owens Corning、John Deere、EGO、Honda、KitchenAid、Samsung、LG、Kohler、 Moen、Whirlpool、Husqvarna 和 Aaron's。

Paint delivered strong positive comps this quarter across both Pro and DIY. Many of our Pros, especially those who focus on repair and remodel work, paint is part of their larger jobs. In other words, these are Pros who paint rather than professional painters. And these Pros are starting to see the value of our new MVPs Pro Paint Rewards Program paired with our expanded job site delivery for paint. These enhanced benefits and capabilities are making it more convenient and cost-effective for Pros to purchase their paint directly from Lowe's, earning us more of their business. In our continued partnership with Sherwin-Williams, we are also upgrading our paint departments across the U.S., including a new color wall that converts all HGTV colors to Sherwin-Williams colors, which resonates with both DIY and Pro customers.

Paint 本季度在 Pro 和 DIY 方面都取得了強勁的積極業績。我們的許多專業人士，尤其是那些專注於維修和改造工作的專業人士，油漆是他們更大工作的一部分。換句話說，這些是畫畫的專業人士，而不是專業畫家。這些專業人士開始看到我們新的 MVP 專業油漆獎勵計劃與我們擴大的油漆工作現場交付相結合的價值。這些增強的優勢和功能使專業人士可以更方便、更經濟地直接從 Lowe's 購買油漆，從而為我們贏得更多業務。在我們與宣偉的持續合作中，我們還升級了美國各地的油漆部門，包括一個新的顏色牆，將所有 HGTV 顏色轉換為宣偉顏色，這引起了 DIY 和 Pro 客戶的共鳴。

With our new color wall, we are bringing all the colors together so that customers can easily match their favorite Sherwin-Williams paint color at our paint desk. We are also resetting some categories to pull relevant, higher margin and more frequently purchased products closer to the front of the department, make it easier for customers to get everything they need for their paint project in one trip. We plan to have half of our stores converted to this new color wall by the end of this year and roll it out everywhere by the end of next year. We are very pleased with the progress we've made in this core category in just a few short years. We are gaining traction with both the Pro and DIY, and this recent update highlights just a few ways that we plan to continue to take market share in paint.

通過我們的新顏色牆，我們將所有顏色匯集在一起，以便客戶可以在我們的油漆台上輕鬆匹配他們最喜歡的宣偉油漆顏色。我們還重新設置了一些類別，以將相關的、利潤更高的和更頻繁購買的產品拉近部門的前端，使客戶更容易一次獲得油漆項目所需的一切。我們計劃在今年年底之前將我們一半的商店轉換為這種新的彩色牆，並在明年年底之前將其推廣到所有地方。我們對在短短幾年內在這一核心類別中取得的進展感到非常高興。我們在 Pro 和 DIY 方面都獲得了關注，最近的更新突出了我們計劃繼續佔據油漆市場份額的幾種方式。

We also had strong positive comps in kitchens and bath, largely driven by improved in-stocks for cabinets and customers opting to trade up for larger, higher quality in-stock cabinets versus waiting for custom orders. Within flooring, vinyl flooring once again led the way as busy homeowners returning to durable, low maintenance flooring options available in popular brands like Pergo and STAINMASTER. And we're gaining momentum across our private brand portfolio, especially in STAINMASTER, Origin 21, allen + roth and Cobalt as this is just another indication of the traction that we are gaining with our Total Home Strategy.

我們在廚房和浴室方面也有強勁的積極表現，這主要是由於櫥櫃庫存的增加以及客戶選擇購買更大、質量更高的庫存櫥櫃而不是等待定制訂單。在地板方面，乙烯基地板再次引領潮流，因為忙碌的房主回歸耐用、維護成本低的地板選項，這些流行品牌包括 Pergo 和 STAINMASTER。我們的自有品牌組合正在獲得動力，尤其是 STAINMASTER、Origin 21、allen + roth 和 Cobalt，因為這只是我們通過整體家居戰略獲得牽引力的另一個跡象。

Turning to our performance in building products division. We continue to see broad-based balanced growth across Pro and DIY in millwork, rough plumbing, electrical, lumber and building materials, driven by strong project-related demand. We are encouraged by the DIY strength that emerged in building products this quarter as lumber prices have come down DIY consumers are reengaging in home improvement projects, they had previously put on hold leading to double-digit lumber comps in the quarter.

談到我們在建築產品部門的表現。在與項目相關的強勁需求的推動下，我們繼續看到 Pro 和 DIY 在木製品、粗管道、電氣、木材和建築材料方面的廣泛平衡增長。我們對本季度建築產品中出現的 DIY 實力感到鼓舞，因為木材價格已經下降 DIY 消費者正在重新參與家庭裝修項目，他們之前擱置了導致本季度兩位數的木材補償。

In our hardlines division, as lumber demand increased, so as demand for related attachments categories like fasteners, leading to our strong positive comps in hardware. We also continue to see a trend of customers investing in innovation. Our EGO battery now powers 75 different tools, everything from traditional outdoor power equipment like mowers, trimmers and leaf blowers to lifestyle products like camping generators and misting fans. And with the accelerated growth in battery-powered products that we're seeing, it's not surprising that EGO continues to lead the pack in battery-powered outdoor power equipment.

在我們的硬線部門，隨著木材需求的增加，對緊固件等相關附件類別的需求也隨之增加，導致我們在硬件方面表現強勁。我們還繼續看到客戶投資於創新的趨勢。我們的 EGO 電池現在可為 75 種不同的工具供電，從割草機、修剪機和吹葉機等傳統戶外動力設備到野營發電機和霧化風扇等生活方式產品，應有盡有。隨著我們看到的電池供電產品的加速增長，EGO 繼續在電池供電的戶外電源設備領域處於領先地位也就不足為奇了。

Given the concerns in the marketplace, some of you have asked if we're seeing a shift away from discretionary purchases, which is what we typically expect to see in a softer macro environment. And the straightforward answer is no. We had a strong sell-through in Halloween this year with an early sell-out of our 12-foot Lighted Animated Mummy at a price point over $300. One could argue that this is one of the most discretionary items we sell. And with Halloween in total being a highly discretionary category, this continues to give us a positive indication of the strength of our consumer.

考慮到市場上的擔憂，你們中的一些人問我們是否看到了自由支配購買的轉變，這是我們通常期望在較疲軟的宏觀環境中看到的情況。直截了當的答案是否定的。今年萬聖節，我們的 12 英尺發光動畫木乃伊以超過 300 美元的價格提前售罄，銷售情況非常好。有人可能會爭辯說這是我們出售的最隨意的商品之一。由於萬聖節總體上是一個高度自由裁量的類別，這繼續給我們一個積極的跡象，表明我們的消費者實力。

We kicked off the holiday season with our trim and tree sets early in the quarter. We are seeing early sell-through on taller, higher-end artificial Christmas trees, which is another example of both discretionary purchasing and consumers trading up. Before I close, I'd like to thank our merchants, supply chain team and our vendor partners for their hard work and the continued partnership as they continue to provide our customers with the products that they need as we support our stores and communities in the recovery efforts from Hurricane Ian.

我們在本季度初以我們的修剪和樹木套裝開始了假期。我們看到更高、更高端的人造聖誕樹提前售罄，這是隨意購買和消費者交易的另一個例子。在我結束之前，我要感謝我們的商家、供應鏈團隊和我們的供應商合作夥伴的辛勤工作和持續的合作夥伴關係，因為他們繼續為我們的客戶提供他們需要的產品，因為我們支持我們的商店和社區颶風伊恩的恢復工作。

Thank you, and I'll now turn the call over to Joe.

謝謝，我現在將電話轉給喬。

Thank you, Bill, and good morning, everyone. Let me begin with a heartfelt thank you to our associates. Our strong performance this quarter is a direct reflection of their hard work and dedication to providing excellent customer service. That's why we are so focused on becoming the employer of choice in retail where associates choose to stay to build their careers. At its core, that means providing good, stable jobs, comprehensive benefits, competitive wages and bonus opportunities.

謝謝你，比爾，大家早上好。首先讓我向我們的同事表示衷心的感謝。我們本季度的強勁表現直接反映了他們為提供優質客戶服務所做的辛勤工作和奉獻精神。這就是為什麼我們如此專注於成為零售業的首選雇主，讓員工選擇留下來發展自己的職業生涯。其核心是提供良好、穩定的工作、綜合福利、有競爭力的工資和獎金機會。

As Marvin mentioned, this quarter, we announced $170 million in permanent wage increases and we are awarding $200 million in bonuses ahead of the holiday season for our frontline hourly associates. This translates to up to $1,000 for eligible full-time associates and up to $500 for eligible part-time associates. As someone who started my career as an hourly associate in home improvement, I understand how meaningful this type of financial recognition can be.

正如馬文所提到的，本季度，我們宣布了 1.7 億美元的永久性加薪，並在假期前向我們的一線小時工發放了 2 億美元的獎金。這相當於符合條件的全職員工最高 1,000 美元，符合條件的兼職員工最高 500 美元。作為一個開始我的職業生涯的人，我的職業生涯是在家裝行業做小時工，我明白這種財務認可的意義。

Our executive leadership team is passionate about rewarding our associates and taking care of our customers, which is demonstrated in the investments we make in both our people and in the communities we serve.

我們的執行領導團隊熱衷於獎勵我們的員工和照顧我們的客戶，這體現在我們對我們的員工和我們所服務的社區所做的投資中。

Another example of these investments in action is the transformation of our disaster response capabilities over the last few years, which dramatically improved our ability to support communities through devastating storms like Hurricane Ian. Year round, Lowe's now has a cross-functional command center dedicated to supporting our disaster response efforts. In fact, it was these enhanced capabilities that enabled us to respond so effectively to the pandemic.

這些行動投資的另一個例子是過去幾年我們災難響應能力的轉變，這極大地提高了我們在颶風伊恩等毀滅性風暴中支持社區的能力。全年，Lowe's 現在擁有一個跨職能指揮中心，致力於支持我們的救災工作。事實上，正是這些增強的能力使我們能夠如此有效地應對這一流行病。

We also deploy our emergency response teams to the hardest hit areas. These associates volunteer to lead their home stores, giving their colleagues in the impacted areas, a chance to focus on their families, and we go a step further to help impacted associates by deploying refueling stations and our mobile disaster relief trailers with showers, washers, dryers and meals and offering financial assistance through our Lowe's employee relief fund.

我們還將應急響應小組部署到受災最嚴重的地區。這些員工自願領導他們的家庭商店，讓他們在受災地區的同事有機會關注他們的家人，我們更進一步幫助受影響的員工，部署加油站和我們的移動救災拖車，配備淋浴、洗衣機、烘乾機和膳食，並通過我們的 Lowe's 員工救濟基金提供經濟援助。

In addition to demonstrating the importance of our improved disaster response capabilities, Hurricane Ian also spotlighted the value of our expanded omnichannel fulfillment options. Earlier in the quarter, Lowe's rolled out same-day delivery nationwide with more than 1,700 stores now supported by Instacart.

除了證明我們改進災難響應能力的重要性外，颶風伊恩還突出了我們擴展的全渠道履行選項的價值。本季度早些時候，Lowe's 在全國范圍內推出了當日送達服務，Instacart 現在支持 1,700 多家商店。

This partnership allows us to deliver over 30,000 items stocked in our stores that weigh up to 60 pounds to our customers. In the days leading up to the storm, we received thousands of these same-day orders to help customers prepare and protect their homes. Customers were able to get critical items they needed like water, sand, buckets and batteries without having to leave their homes, and it continues to be a helpful option for many who need supplies in the wake of the storm.

這種合作關係使我們能夠向客戶交付我們商店中庫存的 30,000 多件重達 60 磅的商品。在風暴來臨前的幾天裡，我們收到了數以千計的此類當日訂單，以幫助客戶準備和保護他們的家園。客戶無需離開家就能獲得他們需要的關鍵物品，如水、沙子、水桶和電池，對於許多在風暴過後需要物資的人來說，這仍然是一個有用的選擇。

And we continue to optimize our parcel network in Q3, another important step in our journey to enhance our omnichannel fulfillment capabilities. We rebalanced our network to ensure our parcel stores are optimally located close to shipping hubs, and we have upgraded our technology and hardware to support faster fulfillment. Ahead of the holidays, we are on track to meet our goal of decreasing shipping times by 50%. And these are just a few of many examples of our tenacious focus on perpetual productivity improvements or PPI that are scaling across our stores over time.

我們在第三季度繼續優化我們的包裹網絡，這是我們增強全渠道履行能力的又一重要步驟。我們重新平衡了我們的網絡，以確保我們的包裹商店位於靠近航運中心的最佳位置，並且我們升級了我們的技術和硬件以支持更快的履行。在假期之前，我們有望實現將運輸時間減少 50% 的目標。這些只是我們堅持不懈地關注永久生產力改進或 PPI 的眾多例子中的幾個，隨著時間的推移，這些例子在我們的商店中不斷擴展。

Shifting to Pro, I would like to thank our Pro team for delivering outstanding results once again this quarter, driving Pro comps over 16% for the quarter and 36% on a 2-year basis. We are leveraging our new MVPs Pro Rewards and Partnership Program to capitalize on this continued demand by engaging Pros and incentivizing purchases and building long-term loyalty. Our program is laser-focused on helping Pros grow their business because we know that when Pros succeed, we succeed. This partnership-based approach is already paying off with higher-than-expected adoption rates and overwhelmingly positive feedback from our Pros.

轉向 Pro，我要感謝我們的 Pro 團隊在本季度再次取得出色的成績，推動 Pro comp 本季度超過 16%，在 2 年的基礎上達到 36%。我們正在利用我們新的 MVP 專業獎勵和合作夥伴計劃，通過吸引專業人士並激勵購買和建立長期忠誠度來利用這種持續的需求。我們的計劃專注於幫助專業人士發展業務，因為我們知道，當專業人士成功時，我們也會成功。這種基於合作夥伴關係的方法已經取得了回報，採用率高於預期，我們的專業人士也給予了壓倒性的積極反饋。

We recently asked all of our regional Vice Presidents to find Pros who do not want to sign up for our loyalty program so we can talk to them and understand why, but that proved to be a real challenge because once Pros hear the benefits, they are eager to join. So awareness and continued execution will be the key to our ongoing success. As I close, I would like to thank our associates once again for their commitment to Lowe's and our customers. Without them, the strong results that we delivered this quarter would not be possible.

我們最近要求我們所有的區域副總裁找到不想註冊我們的忠誠度計劃的專業人士，以便我們可以與他們交談並了解原因，但這被證明是一個真正的挑戰，因為一旦專業人士聽到好處，他們就會渴望加入。因此，意識和持續執行將是我們持續成功的關鍵。在結束之際，我想再次感謝我們的員工對 Lowe's 和我們的客戶的承諾。沒有他們，我們本季度取得的強勁業績是不可能的。

Now I'll turn it over to Brandon.

現在我將把它交給布蘭登。

Thank you, Joe. I would like to begin this morning by providing additional details regarding our recent announcement of our intention to sell our Canadian business. As Marvin mentioned, despite making meaningful progress in improving our Canadian retail business over the past few years, it has continued to lag our U.S. operations and sales growth, operating profit and return on invested capital. In fact, the Canadian business represents approximately 60 basis points of dilution on our full year operating margin outlook. And during the quarter, we recorded a pretax noncash impairment charge of $2.1 billion related to this business.

謝謝你，喬。今天早上，我想首先提供有關我們最近宣布打算出售加拿大業務的更多詳細信息。正如馬文所提到的，儘管過去幾年我們在改善加拿大零售業務方面取得了有意義的進展，但它仍然落後於我們在美國的業務和銷售增長、營業利潤和投資資本回報率。事實上，加拿大業務代表了我們全年營業利潤率前景的稀釋約 60 個基點。在本季度，我們記錄了與該業務相關的 21 億美元稅前非現金減值費用。

Looking ahead, this transaction makes us a U.S.-focused business and gives us a clear line of sight to meaningful long-term improvement of our sales productivity, operating margin and return on invested capital in particular. We are excited to share our updated financial targets at our upcoming Analyst and Investor Conference in December.

展望未來，這項交易使我們成為一家以美國為中心的企業，並讓我們清楚地看到我們的銷售生產力、營業利潤率和投資資本回報率的有意義的長期改善。我們很高興在即將於 12 月召開的分析師和投資者大會上分享我們最新的財務目標。

Turning to our Q3 results. We generated GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.25 compared to $2.73 last year. Now my comments from this point forward will include certain non-GAAP comparisons where applicable. Excluding the $2.1 billion asset impairment charge, we generated adjusted diluted earnings per share of $3.27, an increase of 20% compared to third quarter of 2021. This increase was driven by a combination of top line growth, strong P&L management and disciplined capital allocation.

轉向我們的第三季度業績。我們產生的 GAAP 攤薄後每股收益為 0.25 美元，而去年為 2.73 美元。現在我從這一點開始的評論將在適用的情況下包括某些非 GAAP 比較。不包括 21 億美元的資產減值費用，我們的調整後攤薄每股收益為 3.27 美元，比 2021 年第三季度增長 20%。這一增長是由收入增長、強大的損益管理和嚴格的資本配置共同推動的。

Q3 sales were $23.5 billion with comparable sales up 2.2%. Comparable average ticket increased 8%, driven by product inflation, 80 basis points of commodity inflation and higher Pro sales. Of note, FX represented a 30-basis point headwind to consolidated comps. Higher average ticket was partly offset by comp transactions declining 5.8%.

第三季度銷售額為 235 億美元，可比銷售額增長 2.2%。受產品通脹、80 個基點的商品通脹和更高的 Pro 銷售額的推動，可比平均票價增長了 8%。值得注意的是，FX 代表了 30 個基點對合併 comps 的逆風。較高的平均票價部分被補償交易下降 5.8% 所抵消。

Of note, comp transactions have improved significantly as we move through the year with Q3 over 730 basis points higher than Q1 and 60 basis points higher than Q2. U.S. comp sales were up 3% in the quarter, while sales in Canada were down 10.2% in USD, with roughly half of the decline attributable to a stronger dollar.

值得注意的是，隨著我們今年第三季度比第一季度高出 730 個基點，比第二季度高出 60 個基點，補償交易有了顯著改善。美國同店銷售額在本季度增長了 3%，而加拿大銷售額以美元計算下降了 10.2%，其中大約一半的下降歸因於美元走強。

Pro sales were up 16% in the quarter, driven by broad-based strength across all categories. DIY sales trends improved from Q2 with strong performance across many core home improvement categories as consumers spent more time at home following summer travel activity. DIY project-related demand also increased sequentially due to lower lumber prices. On Lowes.com, sales increased 12% in the quarter partly driven by strong appliance sales. Finally, we estimate that the net effect of storm-related sales year-over-year was relatively flat as we cycled over Hurricane Ida in the prior year.

在所有類別的廣泛實力推動下，本季度專業銷售額增長了 16%。 DIY 銷售趨勢從第二季度開始有所改善，許多核心家居裝修類別都表現強勁，因為消費者在夏季旅行活動後花更多的時間在家裡。由於木材價格下跌，與 DIY 項目相關的需求也環比增加。在 Lowes.com 上，該季度的銷售額增長了 12%，部分原因是家電銷售強勁。最後，我們估計與颶風相關的銷售同比淨效應相對平穩，因為我們在前一年經歷了艾達颶風。

Our U.S. monthly comps were up 4% in August, 3.4% in September and 1.4% in October. On a 3-year basis, U.S. comps increased 33.5% in August, 37.8% in September and 42.1% in October. Gross margin was 33.3% of sales in the third quarter, up 20 basis points from last year. Product margin rate was up 110 basis points versus the prior year as we cycled over a lumber margin pressure in the third quarter of 2021, which was triggered by a steep decline in prices that began last July.

我們在美國的月度收入在 8 月份增長了 4%，在 9 月份增長了 3.4%，在 10 月份增長了 1.4%。在 3 年的基礎上，美國 8 月份的收入增長了 33.5%，9 月份增長了 37.8%，10 月份增長了 42.1%。第三季度毛利率為銷售額的 33.3%，比去年同期上升 20 個基點。產品利潤率比上一年上升了 110 個基點，因為我們在 2021 年第三季度的木材利潤率壓力中循環，這是由去年 7 月開始的價格急劇下跌引發的。

Higher product margin rate was partly offset by 30 basis points related to higher domestic and import transportation costs as well as the expansion of our supply chain network, along with 35 basis points of pressure from shrink. Adjusted SG&A of 18.7% of sales levered 41 basis points driven by higher sales and substantial improvement in productivity. Adjusted operating profit was $3 billion, up 7% versus the prior year.

較高的產品利潤率部分被國內和進口運輸成本上升以及供應鍊網絡擴張相關的 30 個基點以及收縮帶來的 35 個基點壓力所抵消。調整後的 SG&A 佔銷售額的 18.7%，在銷售額增加和生產率顯著提高的推動下槓桿化了 41 個基點。調整後營業利潤為 30 億美元，比上年增長 7%。

Operating margin rate of 12.71% of sales levered 54 basis points, driven by both higher gross margin and SG&A leverage. The adjusted effective tax rate was 24.5% below the prior year rate. Inventory ended the quarter at $19.8 billion, up $3.1 billion from the same quarter last year largely driven by product inflation and higher freight costs with units roughly flat to prior year.

銷售額的 12.71% 的營業利潤率槓桿化了 54 個基點，這得益於較高的毛利率和 SG&A 槓桿率。調整後的實際稅率比上年低 24.5%。庫存在本季度結束時為 198 億美元，比去年同期增加 31 億美元，這主要是受產品通脹和運費上漲的推動，單位數量與去年同期基本持平。

This morning, we are increasing our full year 2022 financial outlook based on stronger-than-expected flow-through year-to-date. Please note that our outlook for operating margin, diluted EPS and return on invested capital are all adjusted to exclude asset impairment and expected transaction costs associated with the sale of our Canadian retail business.

今天早上，我們基於今年迄今強於預期的流量，上調了 2022 年全年的財務展望。請注意，我們對營業利潤率、攤薄每股收益和投資資本回報率的展望均已調整，以排除資產減值和與出售我們的加拿大零售業務相關的預期交易成本。

We now expect 2022 sales of approximately $97 billion to $98 billion, representing comparable sales of flat to a decline of 1% as compared to prior year. Please note that at the midpoint of the range, this implies that fourth quarter comparable sales will be slightly positive. This reflects our expectations of continued strong Pro performance and steady DIY trends.

我們現在預計 2022 年的銷售額約為 970 億美元至 980 億美元，與上一年相比，可比銷售額持平或下降 1%。請注意，在該範圍的中點，這意味著第四季度可比銷售額將略微為正。這反映了我們對持續強勁的 Pro 性能和穩定的 DIY 趨勢的期望。

As a reminder, our 2022 sales outlook includes a 53rd week, which equates to approximately $1 billion to $1.5 billion in sales. We continue to expect gross margin rate to be up slightly as compared to the prior year. As you look ahead to the fourth quarter, keep in mind that we are cycling over the second round of lumber inflation in 2021, which benefited product margins. We also expect continued shrink pressure next quarter.

提醒一下，我們 2022 年的銷售展望包括第 53 週，相當於約 10 億至 15 億美元的銷售額。我們繼續預計毛利率與上年相比將略有上升。當您展望第四季度時，請記住，我們正在經歷 2021 年的第二輪木材通脹，這有利於產品利潤率。我們還預計下個季度將繼續面臨收縮壓力。

Given our disciplined focus on expense management, we now expect adjusted operating margin of approximately 13% for the full year. And we are raising our outlook for adjusted diluted earnings per share for the year from $13.10 to $13.60 to our updated range of $13.65 to $13.80. This reflects better-than-expected SG&A leverage as well as higher-than-planned share repurchase activity. We expect capital expenditures of up to $2 billion this year.

鑑於我們對費用管理的嚴格關注，我們現在預計全年調整後的營業利潤率約為 13%。我們將今年調整後的攤薄每股收益預期從 13.10 美元上調至 13.60 美元，上調至 13.65 美元至 13.80 美元的更新範圍。這反映了好於預期的 SG&A 槓桿以及高於計劃的股票回購活動。我們預計今年的資本支出高達 20 億美元。

Additionally, given our larger-than-expected $4.75 billion notes offering in Q3, we expect to accelerate share repurchase activity that we had originally planned for 2023 into this year. We now expect $13 billion in share repurchases in 2022. And finally, we are raising our outlook of adjusted return on invested capital to above 37% for the year.

此外，鑑於我們在第三季度發行的票據超過預期的 47.5 億美元，我們預計會將原定於 2023 年進行的股票回購活動加速到今年。我們現在預計 2022 年將進行 130 億美元的股票回購。最後，我們將調整後的投資資本回報率預期提高到 37% 以上。

Now turning to our best-in-class capital allocation strategy. In Q3, the company generated $1.7 billion in free cash flow. And through a combination of both dividends and share repurchases, we returned $4.7 billion to our shareholders. During the quarter, we repurchased 20.5 million shares for $4 billion. We also paid $666 million in dividends at $1.05 per share. Capital expenditures totaled $403 million in the quarter as we continue to focus on high-return projects that support our growth objectives.

現在轉向我們一流的資本配置策略。第三季度，該公司產生了 17 億美元的自由現金流。通過股息和股票回購的結合，我們向股東返還了 47 億美元。本季度，我們以 40 億美元回購了 2050 萬股股票。我們還以每股 1.05 美元的價格支付了 6.66 億美元的股息。本季度資本支出總計 4.03 億美元，因為我們繼續專注於支持我們增長目標的高回報項目。

We ended the quarter at 2.5x adjusted debt to EBITDA and we are well on track to reach our target leverage of 2.75x in 2023 while also maintaining our BBB+ rating. Finally, we delivered return on invested capital of 27.6% inclusive of a 590 basis point impact related to the asset impairment recorded in the third quarter.

本季度末，我們調整後的債務與 EBITDA 之比為 2.5 倍，我們有望在 2023 年實現 2.75 倍的目標槓桿率，同時維持我們的 BBB+ 評級。最後，我們實現了 27.6% 的投資資本回報率，其中包括與第三季度記錄的資產減值相關的 590 個基點的影響。

In closing, I'm confident that we will continue to deliver shareholder value through our leading capital allocation strategy while investing in our associates and our business to drive long-term sustainable growth. And with that, we'll open it up for questions.

最後，我相信我們將繼續通過我們領先的資本配置戰略為股東創造價值，同時投資於我們的員工和我們的業務以推動長期可持續增長。有了這個，我們將打開它來提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

And our first question today comes from the line of Simeon Gutman from Morgan Stanley.

我們今天的第一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Simeon Gutman。

Marvin, I wanted to maybe play devil's advocate for a second on housing. This idea that it's just taking a long time for all these pressures to catch up to the consumer in the segment. For all the reasons you cited, plus there's been some labor and product shortages. So curious how much you debate that and that there is a certain level of home price depreciation that's going to eventually weigh on this customer.

馬文，我可能想在住房問題上扮演魔鬼的擁護者一秒鐘。這種想法認為所有這些壓力都需要很長時間才能趕上該細分市場的消費者。由於您列舉的所有原因，再加上勞動力和產品短缺。很好奇你對此爭論了多少，並且一定程度的房價貶值最終會對這個客戶造成壓力。

No, I appreciate the question. And here's what I would say. When we look at markets around the country where we saw an aggressive increase in home prices during the pandemic, now you can see some of those prices start to fall. Those markets are performing at the same rate of performance as other markets. So we're already seeing due to the life cycle of home price appreciation and home price declines around the U.S., signals of kind of what the broader macro may look like in months, quarters and years in the future.

不，我很欣賞這個問題。這就是我要說的。當我們觀察全國各地的市場時，我們看到在大流行期間房價大幅上漲，現在你可以看到其中一些價格開始下跌。這些市場的表現與其他市場相同。因此，由於美國各地房價上漲和房價下跌的生命週期，我們已經看到了未來幾個月、幾個季度和幾年更廣泛的宏觀經濟可能是什麼樣子的信號。

The great thing about operating stores in every state and in virtually every ZIP code is that you have a pretty good sample size of kind of what's currently happened, but also what future trends may look like. And we're not trying to spend the data. I mean, trust me, we're looking at this every day like you are, but from a different vantage point, trying to understand demand patterns.

在每個州和幾乎每個郵政編碼區經營商店的好處在於，您擁有相當不錯的樣本量，可以了解當前發生的事情，也可以了解未來的趨勢。而且我們並沒有試圖花費數據。我的意思是，相信我，我們每天都在像您一樣看待這個問題，但從不同的角度來看，試圖了解需求模式。

But the reality still remains that home prices have appreciated at record levels, as I said in my prepared comments, on average, $330,000 per home. The facts are that homes are older than they've been since World War II. And 2/3 of our business is nondiscretionary because when your house get older, things break. That's just commonplace.

但現實仍然是，正如我在準備好的評論中所說，房價已升至創紀錄水平，平均每套房屋升值 330,000 美元。事實是，房屋的歷史比二戰以來的任何時候都要古老。我們 2/3 的業務是非自由裁量的，因為當您的房子變舊時，事情就會崩潰。那隻是老生常談。

The facts are that we have more personal disposable income today than we had before the pandemic. And that's primarily in the bank accounts of homeowners. And the fact we saw it was still 1.5 million to 2 million homes under current demand because of the lack of home building coming out of the financial crisis in 2008, 2009. So those are just facts. And when we look at and try to forecast our business, we have to ask one simple question. historically, what data points correlate closely to demand patterns for lows. And what I just outlined to you are the data points that correlate to demand patterns, and that's what we look at.

事實是，我們今天的個人可支配收入比大流行之前要多。這主要是在房主的銀行賬戶中。事實上，由於 2008 年和 2009 年的金融危機導致房屋建設不足，我們看到目前仍有 150 萬至 200 萬套房屋處於需求之下。所以這些只是事實。當我們審視並嘗試預測我們的業務時，我們必須問一個簡單的問題。從歷史上看，哪些數據點與低點的需求模式密切相關。我剛才向您概述的是與需求模式相關的數據點，這就是我們所關注的。

Yes. That's a fair point. I'll jump off of housing and maybe go back to the business. If you look at the things Lowe's can be doing better, and obviously, you're executing against all the plans that you put in place since you've joined. Does it involve higher CapEx, maybe reallocation of CapEx? Or is it mostly execution in process?

是的。這是一個公平的觀點。我會跳出住房，也許回到企業。如果你看看 Lowe's 可以做得更好的事情，很明顯，你正在執行自加入以來製定的所有計劃。它是否涉及更高的資本支出，也許是資本支出的重新分配？還是主要是在執行過程中？

Well, I would say from a CapEx standpoint, we have no expectation to go above our current capital allocation dollar amount of roughly $2 billion per year. We'll have our investor conference next month, and I can just give you a little bit of a precursor. That's what the number is going to be for next year. So as we look at things that we still have to catch up, and I'll be very transparent, we're not where we want to be. We still have a supply chain transformation process that's underway, but we can get all that accomplished and stay within that $2 billion CapEx dollar amount.

好吧，我想說，從資本支出的角度來看，我們預計不會超過目前每年大約 20 億美元的資本配置金額。下個月我們將舉行投資者會議，我可以給你一點前兆。這就是明年的數字。因此，當我們審視我們仍然需要趕上的事情時，我會非常透明，我們不是我們想要的地方。我們仍在進行供應鏈轉型過程，但我們可以完成所有這些工作並保持在 20 億美元的資本支出金額之內。

We still have significant IT investments that we need to make. We made incredible improvement, but all those things also fall within that current allocation of CapEx. Bill is working to continue to improve merchandising and pricing systems. Again, those things are all mapped out. They're costed out, and we have a good understanding of it. And we feel like at $2 billion of CapEx will allow us to achieve all of these things. And again, we'll speak to those in more specificity next month in New York. But what I will say to you is, yes, are we working on execution? We are, but I can tell you right now, I couldn't be more pleased with our ability to execute at a high level and arguably the most difficult retail environment of our lifetimes.

我們仍然需要進行大量 IT 投資。我們取得了令人難以置信的改進，但所有這些都在當前的資本支出分配範圍內。比爾正在努力繼續改進商品銷售和定價系統。同樣，這些事情都已規劃好。他們已經付出了代價，我們對此有很好的了解。我們覺得 20 億美元的資本支出將使我們能夠實現所有這些目標。再一次，我們將在下個月在紐約與那些更具體的人交談。但我要告訴你的是，是的，我們正在努力執行嗎？我們是，但我現在可以告訴你，我對我們在高水平執行的能力以及可以說是我們一生中最困難的零售環境感到非常高興。

Anytime you could be a $100 billion company, and you can be so dependent on the global supply chain, and you can manage inventory with basically flat to negative units for the whole year as we have, that tells you that the degree of execution and collaboration is at a high level.

任何時候你都可以成為一家價值 1000 億美元的公司，你可以如此依賴全球供應鏈，你可以像我們一樣以基本上持平到負數的單位來管理庫存，這告訴你執行和協作的程度處於高水平。

Our next question comes from the line of Michael Lasser with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Michael Lasser。

Your big competitor yesterday talked about seeing some early signs of deceleration in the business in areas like grills, are you seeing any of those similar signs? And separate what do you think drove the acceleration in October on a monthly -- on a 3-year monthly stack basis?

你的主要競爭對手昨天談到在烤架等領域看到一些業務減速的早期跡象，你是否看到任何類似的跡象？並且你認為是什麼推動了 10 月份的每月加速 - 在 3 年的每月堆棧基礎上？

So Michael, I'll take the first part of that. I'll let Bill Boltz come in and provide some perspective. But when we look across all of our merchandising departments. We don't have any really red blinking lights of concern relative to certain categories, certain items, certain SKUs. Obviously, when you start to get into different times of the year, we're going to have performance changing based on customer demand.

邁克爾，我將負責第一部分。我會讓 Bill Boltz 進來並提供一些觀點。但是當我們審視我們所有的銷售部門時。對於某些類別、某些商品、某些 SKU，我們沒有任何真正值得關注的紅色閃爍燈。顯然，當你開始進入一年中的不同時間時，我們將根據客戶需求改變性能。

So we didn't have an anticipation that grills would be a top-selling category in the third quarter. It tends not to be the same with patio. And as we spoke to a lot of detail last quarter, we do believe there was some degree of pull forward in some of these more seasonal discretionary categories. But we are not seeing anything that feels or looks like a trade down or consumer pullback.

所以我們沒有預料到烤架會成為第三季度最暢銷的類別。它往往與露台不同。正如我們在上個季度談到了很多細節一樣，我們確實相信在這些更具季節性的可自由支配類別中有一定程度的推動。但我們沒有看到任何感覺或看起來像是降價交易或消費者退縮的情況。

I mean, to the contrary, the third quarter was our best performing DIY quarter of the year. And that customer segment tends to be kind of the indicator for us on the overall health of our business. The Pro has been strong all year. And the good news is for the first time this year, we saw continued strength in Pro, and we saw sequential improvement in DIY.

我的意思是，恰恰相反，第三季度是我們今年表現最好的 DIY 季度。該客戶群往往是我們業務整體健康狀況的指標。 Pro 全年都很強勁。好消息是今年我們第一次看到 Pro 的持續實力，我們看到 DIY 的持續改進。

So that is something that gives us confidence that things are headed in the right direction. I'll let Bill talk about what performed well in the third quarter relative to product categories that really gave us a really strong 2- to 3-year stack for that mark.

因此，這讓我們有信心事情正朝著正確的方向發展。我將讓 Bill 談談第三季度相對於產品類別表現良好的方面，這些產品類別確實為我們提供了 2 到 3 年的強大堆棧。

Yes. Thanks, Marvin. And Michael, I think just a couple of things. We see -- as we go into Q3, we see a shift away from a heavy reliance on seasonal like we do typically in Q2. Yet there was still some seasonal business to be had in Q3, and that helped us as the weather was favorable. We -- as I said in my prepared remarks, our building products business continued to perform well, and we continue to see strength really across all of our Pro-related categories. And then the shift to indoor, as you see, appliances, kitchen and bath, flooring, paint, those businesses, both on a DIY and the Pro side continue to do well. And then holiday with Halloween and then the early sets of our trim and tree categories were what we saw in Q3. And then our online business continued to perform well in Q3 as well.

是的。謝謝，馬文。邁克爾，我認為只有幾件事。我們看到——當我們進入第三季度時，我們看到了從像第二季度通常所做的那樣嚴重依賴季節性的轉變。然而，第三季度仍有一些季節性業務，這對我們有利，因為天氣有利。我們——正如我在準備好的發言中所說，我們的建築產品業務繼續表現良好，我們繼續看到我們所有專業相關類別的實力。然後轉向室內，如您所見，家電、廚房和浴室、地板、油漆，這些業務，無論是 DIY 還是 Pro 方面，都繼續表現良好。然後是萬聖節假期，然後是我們在第三季度看到的早期修剪和樹木類別。然後我們的在線業務在第三季度也繼續表現良好。

Michael, this is Joe. I'll add just one additional point. And that's our new MVP Pro Rewards Program that we have been discussing. And so when I look at our adoption rates being way better than expected, the new Pro CRM platform and then just a combination of our strong credit offering along with Pro loyalty gives us a lot of confidence in that business as well.

邁克爾，這是喬。我只補充一點。這就是我們一直在討論的新 MVP Pro 獎勵計劃。因此，當我看到我們的採用率比預期的要好得多時，新的 Pro CRM 平台以及我們強大的信貸產品和 Pro 忠誠度的結合也讓我們對該業務充滿信心。

Awesome.

驚人的。

But my follow-up question is at the risk of pulling forward a little bit of your messaging from a couple of weeks now. Your SG&A dollars have been very well contained over the last few quarters, leading to the idea that maybe Lowe's doesn't have as much cushion in its cost structure in the event that there could be a downturn in home improvement demand, either because of housing or just a weakening labor market. Why is that wrong?

但是我的後續問題有可能將您的信息從幾週前提前一點點。在過去的幾個季度中，您的 SG&A 資金得到了很好的控制，這導致人們認為，如果家居裝修需求可能因住房問題而出現下滑，Lowe's 的成本結構可能沒有那麼多的緩衝或者只是疲軟的勞動力市場。為什麼錯了？

Well, I would say it's wrong based on the performance in Q1, just use that as your data point, the season broke late top line was not what we anticipated yet we still leverage operating margin for the quarter. We see that as an example of the levers that we now have in place to be agile. As I said in my prepared comments, we've got a lot of experience sitting around this table. There's very few things that we have not seen.

好吧，我會說，根據第一季度的表現，這是錯誤的，只需將其用作您的數據點，本季度打破的後期收入並不是我們預期的那樣，但我們仍然利用本季度的營業利潤率。我們將其視為我們現在擁有的敏捷槓桿的一個例子。正如我在準備好的評論中所說，我們在這張桌子周圍積累了很多經驗。很少有我們沒見過的東西。

We have a really strong playbook developed. And we think that if the market turns more negative than we may anticipate, then we have the ability to pull those levers and perform really well. As a matter of fact, we're not giving you the details, Brandon is going to spend a bit of time next month at the investor conference outlined some of those levers and the agility we built so that we can be really, really swift to react to any market conditions.

我們開發了一個非常強大的劇本。我們認為，如果市場變得比我們預期的更負面，那麼我們就有能力拉動這些槓桿並表現得非常好。事實上，我們不會向您提供詳細信息，Brandon 將在下個月的投資者會議上花一些時間概述其中的一些槓桿以及我們建立的敏捷性，以便我們能夠真正、非常迅速地對任何市場條件做出反應。

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

你的下一個問題來自 Brian Nagel 與 Oppenheimer 的對話。

Congratz. Nice quarter again. My first question, again, I don't want to have the risk of sign nitpick I mean given the strength in the business, and as Michael just pointed out in his question, the -- basically the 6 accelerating trends through Q3, and then you talked about the initial strength in seasonal with the Mummy sales. Why not lift sales guidance for the year, especially in a when you're lifting earnings guidance?

恭喜。又是一個不錯的季度。我的第一個問題，再次，我不想有挑剔的風險，我的意思是考慮到業務的實力，正如邁克爾剛剛在他的問題中指出的那樣 - 基本上是整個第三季度的 6 個加速趨勢，然後你談到了木乃伊銷售的季節性初步強勢。為什麼不提高今年的銷售指導，尤其是在你提高盈利指導的時候？

So I'll give you the philosophical perspective, and I'll let Brandon give you the financial perspective. As you know, Brian, there's a lot of unknown out there. And so we're not going to be overly bullish for no reason. You had a midterm election that still candidly hadn't been quite determined. You have aggressive action from the Fed. You have global geopolitical events happening. And so we're just being, what I'll describe as appropriately conservative. Do we have confidence in our business? Absolutely.

所以我會給你哲學的觀點，我會讓布蘭登給你金融的觀點。如你所知，布賴恩，那裡有很多未知數。因此，我們不會無緣無故地過度看漲。坦率地說，你的中期選舉還沒有完全確定。美聯儲采取了積極的行動。全球地緣政治事件正在發生。所以我們只是，我將描述為適當保守。我們對我們的業務有信心嗎？絕對地。

Do we have confidence in what we're going to deliver for the holiday season, you bet we do. And we think we have a great plan for the balance of this quarter and going into next year. But in an environment where there's so much concern in the macro. We just felt it was appropriate to just be conservative. So our decision not to live guidance has nothing to do with our lack of confidence. It's just more about being prudent and not being overly aggressive in an environment where there's a lot of on asset micro questions. So I'll let Brandon add some additional detail.

我們對我們將在假期交付的產品有信心嗎，你敢打賭我們有信心。我們認為我們有一個很好的計劃來處理本季度的剩餘時間和明年的情況。但是在一個對宏觀有如此多關注的環境中。我們只是覺得保守是合適的。因此，我們決定不進行現場指導與我們缺乏信心無關。這只是更多關於在存在很多資產微觀問題的環境中謹慎而不是過於激進。所以我讓 Brandon 添加一些額外的細節。

Yes, Brian, this is Brandon. As I indicated in my prepared remarks, we looked at 3-year comps did see sequential improvement as we moved across the quarter. The Q3 exit rates were strong. Bill mentioned the improvement specifically in the interior DIY-related categories. The midpoint of our full year guide is flat to down 1%, which implies a slightly positive comp for Q4. And if you recall back in August, we were guiding actually to the bottom end of that range of flat to down 1%. I will cite that the commodity volatility and the impact Q3 to Q4.

是的，布賴恩，這是布蘭登。正如我在準備好的發言中指出的那樣，我們查看了 3 年期的比較，隨著我們在整個季度的移動，確實看到了連續的改善。第三季度退出率很高。 Bill 特別提到了與室內 DIY 相關類別的改進。我們全年指南的中點持平至下降 1%，這意味著第四季度的業績略有上升。如果你回想一下 8 月份的情況，我們實際上是在指導持平至下降 1% 範圍的底部。我將引用商品波動和第三季度至第四季度的影響。

With lumber where it is, we've actually seen a benefit of 80 basis points to comps in Q3. If the pricing runs out into Q4, we're expecting that to actually flip to a 90-basis point drag. So that's about 170 basis point swing. Again, that's taken where we are from a benchmark perspective of below about $500 and running that out and comparing that to where lumber prices inflated round 2 of last year. So all in, excluding lumber, and the differences I just cited, the Pro comp momentum is expected to continue and the DIY trends that Bill mentioned are expected to continue through Q4.

有了木材，我們實際上已經看到第三季度的 comps 有 80 個基點的好處。如果定價在第四季度用完，我們預計它實際上會轉向 90 個基點的拖累。所以這大約是 170 個基點的波動。同樣，這是我們從低於約 500 美元的基準角度來看的地方，並將其與去年第二輪木材價格上漲的地方進行比較。因此，除了木材和我剛才提到的差異之外，Pro comp 的勢頭預計將繼續下去，Bill 提到的 DIY 趨勢預計將持續到第四季度。

That's very helpful. I appreciate the color there. Then my follow-up question, in separate topic. there is with regard to supply chain. So Marvin, you keep talk -- you highlighted that there's a lot of success that you've had in improving the low supply chain internally. By most measures, now the external environment for supply chain is getting better with shipping costs and such. So I guess the question, are you seeing that? And then recognizing you haven't given guidance yet for 2023, but to the extent these external supply chain issues continue to correct. Could that be a tailwind of some sort as we hit over the next several quarters?

這很有幫助。我欣賞那裡的顏色。然後是我的後續問題，在單獨的主題中。關於供應鏈。所以馬文，你繼續說話 - 你強調你在改善內部低端供應鏈方面取得了很多成功。從大多數指標來看，現在供應鏈的外部環境在運輸成本等方面正在好轉。所以我想問題是，你看到了嗎？然後認識到你還沒有給出 2023 年的指導，但這些外部供應鏈問題在一定程度上繼續得到糾正。在接下來的幾個季度中，這會成為某種順風嗎？

Yes. Look, it's a great question, Brian. And without getting in front of what we're going to discuss next month, I would say that the short answer is, yes, there are elements of the supply chain that definitely will give us some cost advantages next year. Brandon is going to be very transparent and very detailed on kind of what we see going into next year.

是的。看，這是一個很好的問題，布賴恩。在我們下個月要討論的內容之前，我想說的是，簡短的回答是，是的，明年供應鏈中的某些元素肯定會給我們帶來一些成本優勢。布蘭登將非常透明和非常詳細地說明我們明年會看到什麼。

And obviously, supply chain is going to be a big component of that. In addition to just the overall cost environment for supply chain, we're going to talk about strategic initiatives as well that we're excited about because as far as much work as we've done in supply chain, as I mentioned earlier, we still see it as one of our key opportunities to improve. There's not a great retailer in the world that doesn't have a great supply chain, and we're committed to having a great supply chain.

顯然，供應鏈將成為其中的重要組成部分。除了供應鏈的整體成本環境之外，我們還將討論我們感到興奮的戰略舉措，因為正如我之前提到的，就我們在供應鏈方面所做的大量工作而言，我們仍然將其視為我們改進的關鍵機會之一。世界上沒有一個偉大的零售商沒有一個偉大的供應鏈，我們致力於擁有一個偉大的供應鏈。

Our next question comes from the line of Liz Suzuki with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Liz Suzuki。

Just as you think about the makeup of comp going forward between transactions and average ticket. You mentioned that in some categories where you saw inflation moderate. You saw a subsequent increase in transactions. Does that give you confidence going forward that as inflation does start to moderate it will be -- that average ticket decline or lower growth rate would be offset by a pickup in transactions?

正如您考慮交易和平均票價之間的補償構成一樣。你提到在某些類別中你看到通貨膨脹溫和。您看到了隨後的交易增加。這是否讓您有信心隨著通貨膨脹開始緩和——平均票價下降或較低的增長率將被交易量的回升所抵消？

Yes, Liz, this is Brandon. I think on the inflation front, we do continue to see high single-digit inflation this quarter, inclusive of about 80 basis points that I mentioned earlier of commodity inflation. Our consumer does continue to be resilient. We haven't seen any significant trade down. In fact, we've actually seen trade up in place across a number of categories.

是的，麗茲，這是布蘭登。我認為在通脹方面，本季度我們確實繼續看到高個位數的通脹，包括我之前提到的大約 80 個基點的商品通脹。我們的消費者確實繼續保持彈性。我們沒有看到任何顯著的交易下降。事實上，我們實際上已經看到許多類別的交易都已到位。

And our Q4 forecast, which we're focused on at this point, we're expecting that to continue at the high single-digit mark. We are going to get some relief related to lumber pricing that I mentioned earlier, so that net 170 basis point swing. But for Q4, that's the forecast is that the inflation is going to continue to lift our ticket, which is going to be the primary driver of our comp and it's going to be offset by transactions being down in Q4.

而我們目前關注的第四季度預測，我們預計其將繼續保持在較高的個位數水平。我們將獲得一些與我之前提到的木材定價相關的救濟，以便淨波動 170 個基點。但對於第四季度，預測是通貨膨脹將繼續抬高我們的票，這將成為我們補償的主要驅動力，並將被第四季度交易下降所抵消。

And then just looking out beyond Q4, as you think about the potential outlook for comps going forward and how that ticket versus transactions could play out. I mean, one of the pushbacks that we get is that if ticket remains -- if ticket starts to come down, but transactions remain negative, that would be a severe headwind to comp. I'm just curious how you're thinking about that outlook going forward.

然後看看第四季度以後的情況，當你考慮未來的潛在前景以及票證與交易的結果如何時。我的意思是，我們遇到的阻力之一是，如果機票仍然存在——如果機票開始下降，但交易量仍然為負，那將是一個嚴重的逆風。我只是好奇你是如何看待未來的前景的。

Yes, Liz, we're going to hold until December to really give you a deep view there. We'll have an updated view of the macro, the comp scenarios within that and specifically the makeup of our comp and we'll plan to go into details there on December 7.

是的，Liz，我們將一直持續到 12 月，以便真正讓您深入了解那裡。我們將更新宏視圖、其中的補償場景，特別是我們的補償構成，我們計劃在 12 月 7 日詳細介紹。

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

我們的下一個問題來自 Zack Fadem 與 Wells Fargo 的對話。

So following up on the SG&A dollar question, as you've been able to take out a couple of hundred million of SG&A in both Q1 and Q2. And while Q3 was basically flat, it looks like your Q4 SG&A embeds a pretty notable step-up in trend, even excluding the extra week. So can you just help me understand the puts and takes on the SG&A line in a little bit more detail and perhaps talk through the impact of the efficiency initiatives? And then also to what extent you're able to flex up and down labor with the lower volumes today.

所以跟進 SG&A 美元問題，因為你已經能夠在第一季度和第二季度拿出幾億美元的 SG&A。雖然第 3 季度基本持平，但看起來您的第 4 季度 SG&A 嵌入了一個非常顯著的趨勢上升趨勢，甚至不包括額外的一周。那麼，您能否幫助我更詳細地了解 SG&A 生產線上的看跌期權和看跌期權，並談談效率舉措的影響？然後還有在多大程度上你能夠在今天較低的產量下上下調整勞動力。

So Zack, I'll take the first part of that, and then I'll let Brandon and maybe, Joe, provide some additional detail. So for us, I think the key thing to understand is we have what we call PPI perpetual productivity improvement initiatives. And we're going to go into some level of detail on how this has become more of cultural process across the whole company at the investor conference next week. But specific to your question, we still believe that we have technology investments that we can make in the store environment specifically to where we can continue to drive SG&A leverage while improving customer service.

所以 Zack，我先講第一部分，然後讓 Brandon 和 Joe 提供一些額外的細節。所以對我們來說，我認為要了解的關鍵是我們有所謂的 PPI 永久生產力改進計劃。我們將在下週的投資者會議上詳細介紹這如何成為整個公司的文化流程。但具體到你的問題，我們仍然相信我們可以在商店環境中進行技術投資，特別是在我們可以繼續推動 SG&A 槓桿作用同時改善客戶服務的地方。

But it's easier to drive SG&A leverage, if you're just pulling payroll out indiscriminately. But what Joe and his team has done we've actually improved leverage in the store from an expense and payable standpoint and concurrently drove up customer service. And that's the key. And that's really all about technology investments. So we think that there's still additional initiatives on our project road map that will continue to give us those benefits. I'll let Brandon take the more financial part of your question and then if Joe can add something else about payroll and how we can adjust it rather quickly relative to the demands that we're seeing from the consumers in our stores.

但如果你只是不分青紅皂白地拉出工資單，那麼推動 SG&A 的槓桿作用就更容易了。但是 Joe 和他的團隊所做的是，我們實際上從費用和應付賬款的角度提高了商店的槓桿作用，同時提高了客戶服務水平。這就是關鍵。這就是技術投資的全部內容。因此，我們認為我們的項目路線圖上仍有其他舉措將繼續為我們帶來這些好處。我會讓 Brandon 回答你的問題中更多的財務部分，然後 Joe 是否可以添加關於工資單的其他內容，以及我們如何根據我們從商店中的消費者那裡看到的需求快速調整它。

Yes, Zack, this is Brandon. The only thing I would add implied our SG&A is expected to lever in Q4. And just as a reminder, we are cycling an incentive payout from 2021 in Q4. But I would just add to what Marvin said, continuing to drive substantial PPI initiatives store tech modernization, front-end transformation, managing back office spend.

是的，扎克，這是布蘭登。我唯一要補充的是暗示我們的 SG&A 預計將在第四季度發揮作用。提醒一下，我們將從 2021 年起在第四季度循環發放獎勵。但我只想補充 Marvin 所說的話，繼續推動實質性的 PPI 計劃商店技術現代化、前端轉型、管理後台支出。

So we're really proud of the progress that we've made, as we mentioned earlier, expecting to significantly outperform from an EBIT standpoint even in declining sales for the full year. And we'll tell you more about what we have in store 2023 in December.

因此，正如我們之前提到的，我們對我們取得的進展感到非常自豪，即使在全年銷售額下降的情況下，從息稅前利潤的角度來看，我們也希望表現出眾。我們將在 12 月告訴您更多有關 2023 年店內商品的信息。

And Zack, I'm going to let Joe talk about the activity-based model that drives our payroll system in the stores. So you can get a sense that we just don't have a blanket approach. We generate payroll based on a number of transactions and footsteps, and we think that's the best way to look at it. So Joe, you can expound on that.

Zack，我要讓 Joe 談談在商店中驅動我們工資系統的基於活動的模型。所以你可以感覺到我們只是沒有一攬子方法。我們根據大量交易和足跡生成工資單，我們認為這是查看它的最佳方式。 Joe，你可以解釋一下。

Yes. And so thanks, Marvin. What I'd tell you is with our labor system that we have implemented in the last few years, this is really detailed, is down to by store, by department, by day, by time of day, in addition, as you think back in the last several years, our 60-40 initiatives to align the associates with customers and then the tasking activities.

是的。所以謝謝，馬文。我要告訴大家的是我們這幾年實行的用工製度，這個真的很細，分店，分部門，按天，按時間，另外，你回頭想想在過去的幾年裡，我們的 60-40 項舉措使員工與客戶保持一致，然後是任務分配活動。

We've gone through a series of steps that continued pay go-forward dividends for us. And we have a lot of confidence in our ability to navigate to continue with the large investments we've been making. I think in 2023 will be a transformative year for us from an IT system standpoint and the ease of what we're doing.

我們已經完成了一系列繼續為我們支付前進紅利的步驟。我們對繼續進行大量投資的能力充滿信心。我認為從 IT 系統的角度和我們正在做的事情的便利性來看，2023 年對我們來說將是變革的一年。

Got it. Appreciate all the color there. And then, Marvin, you've mentioned in the past about 2/3 of your business is tied to repair and maintenance activity. And then the remaining 1/3 of your business, to what extent would you say those sales are tied to housing turnover or home price appreciation? And then considering the slowing in these housing metrics, how do you characterize the current demand environment for repair and maintenance activity, which is more stable and recurring versus sales that are perhaps more discretionary or bigger ticket in nature.

知道了。欣賞那裡所有的顏色。然後，Marvin，您過去曾提到您的業務中約有 2/3 與維修和維護活動有關。然後是您業務的其餘 1/3，您認為這些銷售額在多大程度上與房屋周轉率或房價升值相關？然後考慮到這些住房指標的放緩，您如何描述當前維修和維護活動的需求環境，與銷售相比，維修和維護活動更穩定和經常性，而銷售可能更隨意或本質上更大。

No. Zack, it's a fair question. What I will tell you is that we're seeing strength in both areas. So obviously, when you see 19% growth in Pro, 10 consecutive quarters of double-digit Pro growth, then that tells you that there's big ticket projects going on that are remodel in nature but are also what I would call upgrade in nature. We talked about trading up in place, and that is a phenomenon that we're seeing because the 1.5 million to 2 million shortages of homes in the high interest rate environment is just incentivizing homeowners to keep their low fixed rate and modify their existing home.

不，扎克，這是一個公平的問題。我要告訴你的是，我們在這兩個領域都看到了力量。所以很明顯，當你看到 Pro 增長 19%，Pro 連續 10 個季度實現兩位數增長時，這就告訴你正在進行的大型項目在本質上是改造，但我也稱之為本質上的升級。我們談到了就地交易，這是我們看到的一種現象，因為在高利率環境下 150 萬到 200 萬套房屋短缺只是激勵房主保持低固定利率並改造他們現有的房屋。

And so because of that, you're seeing a combination of older homes getting the maintenance and repair to falls in that 2/3. But then you see the other 1/3 to simply upgrading and improving the environment, a new kitchen, finishing the basement, a new bathroom, et cetera. And so we're seeing a combination of all of those things. And as Bill walked through the different merchandising department of performance. You can see it embedded in all of those different results.

正因為如此，你會看到老房子的組合得到維護和修理，佔 2/3。但是你會看到另外 1/3 用於簡單地升級和改善環境、新廚房、裝修地下室、新浴室等等。所以我們看到了所有這些東西的組合。而隨著比爾走過不同的銷售部門的表現。您可以看到它嵌入在所有這些不同的結果中。

The next question comes from the line of Jonathan Matuszewski with Jefferies.

下一個問題來自 Jonathan Matuszewski 與 Jefferies 的對話。

Great. Great results. My first question is on inventory. It looks like the inventory sales spread widened a bit sequentially in 3Q. From our store check, it looks like your in-stock positions are the best they've been in years. So is it safe to say that the majority of that inventory increase year-over-year is tied to average unit cost? And on that topic, how should we think about inventory levels tracking at the end of 4Q? That's my first question.

偉大的。很棒的結果。我的第一個問題是庫存。看起來庫存銷售價差在 3 季度有所擴大。從我們的商店檢查來看，您的庫存狀況似乎是多年來最好的。那麼可以肯定地說，庫存同比增長的大部分與平均單位成本有關嗎？關於這個話題，我們應該如何考慮第四季度末的庫存水平跟踪？這是我的第一個問題。

Yes. Jonathan, this is Brandon. So I would say inventory overall, we feel, is in a really solid position. Balance is up 19% and driven exclusively by product cost inflation and freight units are flat. As you mentioned, our in-stock rates continue to improve across all of our categories.

是的。喬納森，這是布蘭登。所以我想說，我們認為整體庫存處於非常穩固的位置。餘額增長了 19%，這完全是受產品成本上漲和貨運單位持平的推動。正如您提到的，我們所有類別的庫存率都在持續提高。

We're continuing to make investments in Pro specifically in those high demand SKUs. We feel like we got the right levels to support the expected demand that we see for Q4 and into '23. And in reference to Q4, we do expect the inventory to build over Q4 with early ordering, I think for springs consistent compared to pre-pandemic levels. We are seeing a bit of unpredictability in the supply chain due to the zero-COVID policy in China.

我們將繼續對 Pro 進行投資，特別是在那些高需求的 SKU 中。我們覺得我們得到了合適的水平來支持我們在第四季度和 23 年看到的預期需求。關於第四季度，我們確實預計庫存會隨著提前訂購而在第四季度增加，我認為春季與大流行前水平相比是一致的。由於中國的零 COVID 政策，我們在供應鏈中看到了一些不可預測性。

But just also as a reminder, when we look at our seasonal businesses, specifically, we do start setting south and deep south in Q4, and then we're also maneuvering around Chinese New Year, which is the latter part of January. So it's going to be critical that we're in stock for spring, and we're making those decisions based on lead times and supplier health across each of our categories.

但也提醒一下，當我們審視我們的季節性業務時，具體來說，我們確實在第四季度開始向南和向南深入，然後我們也在農曆新年前後機動，也就是 1 月下旬。因此，我們為春季備貨至關重要，我們正在根據我們每個類別的交貨時間和供應商健康狀況做出這些決定。

That's really helpful. And then a quick big picture question on Pro for you, Marvin. Lowe's continues to have great traction there. It looks like the multiyear comp held up this quarter at 36%. So when you think about the recent share gains with the Pro, curious if the drivers have evolved at all. If you could talk through how much new Pro customer acquisition has been driving Pro sales versus greater wallet share from existing Pros? That would be great, and whether you're seeing any change in those 2 drivers?

這真的很有幫助。然後是一個關於 Pro 的快速大問題，Marvin。 Lowe's 在那裡繼續擁有巨大的吸引力。看起來這個季度的多年期 comp 保持在 36%。因此，當您考慮最近 Pro 的份額增長時，就會好奇驅動程序是否有所發展。您是否可以談談新 Pro 客戶的獲取在多大程度上推動了 Pro 銷售，而現有 Pro 的錢包份額增加了多少？那太好了，您是否看到這兩個驅動程序有任何變化？

Thank you for the question. We don't give a lot of external information on number of new customers down to that level of specificity. But what I will tell you is that our new loyalty program is absolutely driving new Pro customers and it's driving more return visits of existing customers, which is exactly what we wanted. And a key data point is this, when a Pro customer is enrolled in our Pro Rewards platform and credit, they shop 3x more.

感謝你的提問。我們不會提供很多關於新客戶數量的外部信息，具體到那種程度。但我要告訴你的是，我們新的忠誠度計劃絕對會推動新的 Pro 客戶，並且會推動現有客戶的更多回訪，這正是我們想要的。一個關鍵數據點是，當 Pro 客戶在我們的 Pro Rewards 平台註冊並獲得信用時，他們的購物量會增加 3 倍。

So that is the key data point. And so in Joe's scripted comments, he talked about the adoption rate and how it really comes down to our ability to engage the Pro. And when we engage them and educate them, they tend to adopt the program. So I'll let Joe provide a little bit more context on Pro. But we're really pleased with the progress and equally pleased that we saw the DIY customer come back strong in third quarter than we've seen them all year.

這就是關鍵數據點。因此，在喬的腳本評論中，他談到了採用率以及它如何真正歸結為我們吸引專業人士的能力。當我們與他們互動並對其進行教育時，他們往往會採用該計劃。所以我會讓 Joe 提供更多關於 Pro 的背景信息。但我們對取得的進展感到非常高興，同樣高興的是，我們看到 DIY 客戶在第三季度的表現比我們全年看到的都要強勁。

Jonathan, and then just a couple of things to add. First off, our Pro team here at Lowe's is just full of deep experience inside sales, outside sales, and they've done a really nice job. And so we're still in the early stages of the MVPs Pro Program, but very, very pleased with the adoption that we're seeing. So we've spoken a little bit in the past about our Pro CRM platform. So we have the ability to better anticipate Pro's needs and drive sales.

Jonathan，然後再補充幾件事。首先，我們在 Lowe's 的專業團隊在內部銷售和外部銷售方面擁有豐富的經驗，他們做得非常好。因此，我們仍處於 MVPs Pro 計劃的早期階段，但對我們所看到的採用率感到非常非常高興。因此，我們過去曾談過一些關於我們的 Pro CRM 平台的內容。因此，我們有能力更好地預測 Pro 的需求並推動銷售。

And then this really does a nice job of what we call leveling the playing field so that every Pro is important and has the ability to earn points no matter what the size. And so things like purchase-based offers, then completing different actions to deepen their relationship with Lowe's. And so we'll continue pressing forward here, but very pleased with the Pro progress.

然後，這確實很好地實現了我們所說的公平競爭環境，這樣每個職業選手都很重要，無論規模大小，都有能力獲得積分。因此，諸如基於購買的報價，然後完成不同的操作以加深他們與 Lowe's 的關係。因此，我們將繼續在這裡向前推進，但對 Pro 的進展非常滿意。

Thank you all for joining us today. We look forward to speaking with you at our Analyst and Investor Conference on December 7.

感謝大家今天加入我們。我們期待在 12 月 7 日的分析師和投資者會議上與您交談。

Thank you. This concludes the Lowe's Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. You may now disconnect.

謝謝你。勞氏 2022 年第三季度財報電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連接。