La-Z-Boy Inc (LZB) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to the La-Z-Boy fiscal 2025 second-quarter conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Mark Becks, Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Development of La-Z-Boy Incorporated. You may begin.

問候。歡迎參加 La-Z-Boy 2025 財年第二季電話會議。（操作員說明）請注意，本次會議正在錄製中。我現在將會議交給主持人、La-Z-Boy Incorporated 投資者關係和企業發展總監 Mark Becks。你可以開始了。

Thank you, Holly. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us to discuss our fiscal 2025 second quarter. With us today are Melinda Whittington, La-Z-Boy Incorporated's President and Chief Executive Officer; Bob Lucian, La-Z-Boy's SVP and CFO; and Taylor Luebke, VP-Finance and Treasurer. Melinda will open and close the call, and Bob will speak to segment performance and the financials midway through. We will then open the call to questions.

謝謝你，霍莉。大家早安，感謝您加入我們討論 2025 財年第二季。今天與我們在一起的有 La-Z-Boy Incorporated 總裁兼執行長 Melinda Whittington； Bob Lucian，La-Z-Boy 的高級副總裁兼財務長；財務副總裁兼財務長 Taylor Luebke。梅琳達將開始和結束電話會議，鮑勃將在中途談論部門業績和財務狀況。然後我們將開始提問。

Slides will accompany this presentation, and you may view them through our webcast link, which will be available for one year. And a telephone replay of the call will be available for one week beginning this afternoon. Before we begin the presentation, I would like to remind you that some statements made in today's call include forward-looking statements about La-Z-Boy Incorporated's future performance and other matters. Although we believe these statements to be reasonable, our actual results could differ materially. The most significant risk factors that could affect our future results are described in our annual report on Form 10-K.

本簡報將附有幻燈片，您可以透過我們的網路廣播連結觀看它們，該連結的有效期為一年。從今天下午開始，電話重播將持續一週。在我們開始簡報之前，我想提醒您，今天的電話會議中所做的一些陳述包括有關 La-Z-Boy Incorporated 未來業績和其他事項的前瞻性陳述。儘管我們認為這些陳述是合理的，但我們的實際結果可能存在重大差異。我們的 10-K 表格年度報告中描述了可能影響我們未來業績的最重要的風險因素。

We encourage you to review those risk factors, as well as other key information detailed in our SEC filings. Also, our earnings release is available under the News Events tab on the Investor Relations page of our website and includes reconciliations of certain non-GAAP measures, which are also included as an appendix at the end of our conference call slide deck.

我們鼓勵您查看這些風險因素以及我們向 SEC 提交的文件中詳細說明的其他關鍵資訊。此外，我們的收益發布可在我們網站投資者關係頁面的新聞事件標籤下查看，其中包括某些非公認會計原則措施的調節，這些也作為附錄包含在我們的電話會議幻燈片末尾。

With that, I will now turn the call over to Melinda Whittington, La-Z-Boy Incorporated's President and Chief Executive Officer. Melinda?

現在，我將把電話轉給 La-Z-Boy Incorporated 總裁兼執行長 Melinda Whittington。梅琳達？

Thanks, Mark, and good morning, everyone. Yesterday, following the close of market, we reported results for our October ended second quarter. We were pleased with the strong results led by our retail segment despite a continued challenging macro environment and sluggish home furniture and furnishings industry. Our total delivered sales grew for the second consecutive quarter despite these headwinds, driven by our iconic brand and outstanding execution across the company. Highlights for the quarter included consolidated delivered sales of $521 million, up 2% versus the prior year.

謝謝，馬克，大家早安。昨天收盤後，我們公佈了截至 10 月的第二季業績。儘管宏觀環境持續充滿挑戰，家具和陳設行業低迷，但我們對零售部門的強勁業績感到滿意。儘管存在這些不利因素，但在我們的標誌性品牌和整個公司出色的執行力的推動下，我們的總交付銷售額連續第二季成長。該季度的亮點包括綜合交付銷售額 5.21 億美元，比上年增長 2%。

And within these results, our retail segment sales increased 3%, led by acquisitions of independent La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries, new store openings and record Labor Day results. GAAP and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.71, quarterly dividend of $0.22, an increase of 10% and continued progress against our Century Vision growth strategy, including opening three new company-owned La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries and completing the acquisition of a two-store independent La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries network in Florida during our second quarter, and signing an agreement to acquire another two-store independent dealer in the Midwest, which is expected to close in our third quarter.

在這些業績中，我們的零售部門銷售額成長了 3%，這主要得益於收購獨立的 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries、新店開幕和創紀錄的勞動節業績。GAAP 和非GAAP 攤薄後每股收益為0.71 美元，季度股息為0.22 美元，增長10%，並根據我們的Century Vision 增長戰略繼續取得進展，包括開設三個新的公司擁有的La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries 以及完成對一家我們第二季度在佛羅裡達州建立了兩店獨立的La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries 網絡，並簽署了收購中西部另一家兩店獨立經銷商的協議，預計將在第三季度完成。

Our results for the second quarter exceeded guidance on both sales and non-GAAP operating margin. This demonstrates the impact of our outstanding execution and strategic investments, controlling what we can to drive positive outcomes even against an uncertain consumer macroeconomic backdrop.

我們第二季的業績超越了銷售和非公認會計原則營業利潤率的指導。這證明了我們出色的執行力和策略性投資的影響力，即使在不確定的消費者宏觀經濟背景下，我們也能控制力以推動正面成果。

Consumers are gravitating towards our comfortable, high-quality custom furniture with strong speed to delivery. And in our Furniture Galleries, our associates build on this foundation and wow the consumer with a superior shopping experience. We're optimistic that we will build on our progress and continue to outperform the industry in the back half of our fiscal year and beyond as we benefit from our strategic investments.

消費者被我們舒適、高品質的訂製家具所吸引，交貨速度很快。在我們的家具畫廊中，我們的員工以此為基礎，以卓越的購物體驗讓消費者驚嘆不已。我們樂觀地認為，隨著我們從策略性投資中受益，我們將在本財年後半段及以後繼續取得進步並繼續跑贏產業。

The furniture industry remains challenged. Home-related spending continues to be impacted by higher mortgage rates and lack of housing affordability and availability. However, our strong performance is further proof that consumers are choosing brands they trust during these tough times. And La-Z-Boy Incorporated with its nearly 100-year heritage of delighting the consumer with comfort and quality, stands apart.

家具產業仍面臨挑戰。與住房相關的支出繼續受到抵押貸款利率上升以及住房負擔能力和可用性缺乏的影響。然而，我們的強勁表現進一步證明消費者在困難時期選擇了他們信任的品牌。La-Z-Boy Incorporated 以其近 100 年的傳統以舒適和品質取悅消費者而脫穎而出。

While recovery of industry momentum to more historic levels is certain, timing of that recovery continues to be deferred. However, I am more confident than ever that we are favorably positioned to capture a disproportionate share of consumer demand in the fragmented furniture and home furnishings industry. We continue to play offense with our Century Vision strategy, and we are winning.

儘管行業勢頭肯定會恢復到歷史水平，但復甦的時間仍然被推遲。然而，我比以往任何時候都更有信心，我們處於有利地位，可以在分散的家具和家居裝飾行業中抓住不成比例的消費者需求份額。我們繼續實施我們的世紀願景策略，並且我們正在取得勝利。

Shifting to forward-looking trends, as demonstrated within our written sales, total written sales for our company-owned retail segment increased 6% versus last year's second quarter. Written same-store sales for our company-owned retail segment, which exclude the benefit of newly opened stores and acquired stores, declined 1% versus the prior year second quarter, an improvement sequentially versus our down 3% year on year in Q1.

轉向前瞻性趨勢，正如我們的書面銷售所示，我們公司擁有的零售部門的總書面銷售額比去年第二季度增長了 6%。我們公司自有零售部門的同店銷售額（不包括新開店和收購店的收益）較去年第二季下降了 1%，較第一季年減 3% 有所改善。

Consistent with recent trends and heightened consumer interest around key holidays, same-store sales were strongest during the Labor Day sales period as traffic accelerated. And once again, across the quarter, our superior in-store execution led to increasing conversion rates, average ticket, and design sales relative to the same period last year. Written same-store sales for the entire La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries network of 358 stores was also down just 1% versus the prior year. According to the US Census Bureau data, the furniture and home furnishings industry grew 1% during our fiscal second quarter, driven by relative strength in the sundry furnishings subcategory of that measure.

與最近的趨勢和關鍵假期前後消費者興趣的增加一致，隨著客流量的增加，同店銷售在勞動節銷售期間最為強勁。在整個季度中，我們卓越的店內執行力再次導致轉換率、平均門票和設計銷售額與去年同期相比有所提高。由 358 家商店組成的整個 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries 網路的同店銷售額也較前一年僅下降了 1%。根據美國人口普查局的數據，在雜項家具子類別的相對強勢推動下，家具和家居用品行業在第二財季增長了 1%。

Given the recent widening disparity in performance between the furniture and furnishings subcategories, I'd like to provide some additional commentary on this externally-sourced measure. The measure includes both furniture, which is our primary focus for our business as well as furnishings, sundry items related to the home, which are not our company's primary focus. The furniture portion of the Census Bureau measure, most relevant to us, is reported on a one-month lag. To note, within the Census Bureau data, furniture results have trailed home furnishings results in five of the past six quarters.

鑑於最近家具和家具子類別之間的性能差異不斷擴大，我想對此外部來源的衡量標準提供一些額外的評論。此措施既包括家具（我們業務的主要重點），也包括家具、與家居相關的雜貨（不是我們公司的主要重點）。人口普查局措施中與我們最相關的家具部分的報告滯後了一個月。值得注意的是，根據人口普查局的數據，過去六個季度中有五個季度家具業績落後於家居用品業績。

And in August and September, that gap widened to over 800 basis points. Therefore, we have provided additional perspective on both the all-in furniture and furnishings data, consistent with what we have provided in previous quarters, as well as perspective on the two months of furniture-only data, which was down 5% across August and September for the industry. Turning to Joybird written sales. Joybird increased 1% on the quarter versus a year ago as conversion improved versus the prior year.

8 月和 9 月，這一差距擴大至 800 多個基點。因此，我們對全部家具和陳設品數據​​提供了額外的視角，與我們前幾季提供的數據一致，同時也對兩個月的純家具數據進行了展望，該數據在8 月和8 月下降了5%。轉向 Joybird 書面銷售。由於轉換率較上年有所改善，Joybird 本季較上年同期成長 1%。

Looking to the longer term, I want to recap our progress during the quarter to strengthen our enterprise for the future. Recall, Century Vision is our strategic framework, setting up La-Z-Boy Incorporated for the next 100 years as we celebrate our first century in 2027. This is measured by our plan to grow top line at a pace double the market and deliver consistent double-digit operating margins over the long term. As one of the largest furniture brands in the United States, we are well-positioned to continue to strategically grow our iconic La-Z-Boy branded business. We have consistently expanded La-Z-Boy's brand reach over the past two years, supported by our North American manufacturing footprint, which allows us to offer the highest quality, on-trend products with both breadth and depth, as we bring to market fully personalized solutions in a wide variety of fabric and leather options. A key pillar of our expanded brand reach is our total Furniture Galleries network, which ended the quarter with 358 stores, and we remain on track to grow the total La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries network to approximately 400 stores the next several years.

展望更長期，我想回顧我們在本季的進展，以加強我們未來的企業。回想一下，世紀願景是我們的策略框架，在 2027 年慶祝我們成立的第一個世紀之際，為未來 100 年建立了 La-Z-Boy Incorporated。這是透過我們的計劃來衡量的，即我們的收入成長速度是市場的兩倍，並在長期內提供穩定的兩位數營業利潤率。作為美國最大的家具品牌之一，我們處於有利地位，可以繼續策略性地發展我們標誌性的 La-Z-Boy 品牌業務。在我們北美製造足跡的支持下，我們在過去兩年中不斷擴大La-Z-Boy 的品牌影響力，這使我們能夠在廣度和深度上提供最高品質、流行的產品，同時我們將全面推向市場提供多種面料和皮革選擇的個性化解決方案。我們擴大品牌影響力的一個關鍵支柱是我們的整個家具畫廊網絡，該網絡截至本季度共有358 家商店，並且我們仍有望在未來幾年將整個La-Z-Boy 家具畫廊網絡擴大到約400 家商店。

Additionally, we are expanding the company-owned portion of that network. Our retail segment has increased to 193 stores, up 16 from prior year, and now represents 54% of the total La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries network. We are excited to have opened three new stores in the quarter in Topeka, Kansas; Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Saskatoon, Canada. Furthermore, we acquired two stores in Florida during the quarter, and we recently signed an agreement to acquire an additional two-store network from an independent dealer in the Midwest, scheduled to close in our third quarter.

此外，我們正在擴大該網路中公司擁有的部分。我們的零售部門已增加到 193 家商店，比去年增加 16 家，目前佔 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries 網路總數的 54%。我們很高興本季在堪薩斯州托皮卡開設了三家新店；北卡羅來納州費耶特維爾；和加拿大薩斯卡通。此外，我們在本季度收購了佛羅裡達州的兩家商店，並且最近簽署了一項協議，從中西部的一家獨立經銷商處收購另外兩家商店網絡，計劃於第三季度關閉。

Growing our company-owned La-Z-Boy Furniture Gallery stores is important as we control the entire end-to-end consumer experience and are able to develop more sophisticated consumer insights. And these store acquisitions are immediately accretive to our profitability, allowing the company to benefit from the integrated wholesale and retail margins. We're also growing the business through our refined channel strategy. The La-Z-Boy brand is showing up in more showrooms as we continue to grow share of voice with major dealers and provide a broader range of consumers access to the La-Z-Boy brand. Our strategic partnerships with national and regional retailers like Slumberland, Furniture Row, Rooms To Go, and Gardner-White help us reach a broader audience and bring beloved products like the iconic La-Z-Boy recliner into more homes.

發展我們公司自有的 La-Z-Boy Furniture Gallery 商店非常重要，因為我們控制著整個端到端的消費者體驗，並且能夠開發更複雜的消費者洞察。這些商店收購立即增加了我們的獲利能力，使公司能夠從批發和零售的綜合利潤中受益。我們也透過完善的通路策略來發展業務。隨著我們在主要經銷商中的話語權份額不斷增加，並為更廣泛的消費者提供接觸 La-Z-Boy 品牌的機會，La-Z-Boy 品牌將出現在更多的展廳中。我們與Slumberland、Furniture Row、Rooms To Go 和Gardner-White 等國家和地區零售商建立策略合作夥伴關係，幫助我們吸引更廣泛的受眾，並將標誌性La-Z-Boy 躺椅等深受喜愛的產品帶入更多家庭。

In October, we opened our newly renovated showroom for our wholesale customers and our supply partners at the industry's High Point Furniture Market. It was a pleasure to welcome our key stakeholders and supporters of the company over the years to our reinvigorated floor space. We introduced new products that demonstrated our integration of consumer insights that enable us to design more on-trend merchandise in our core upholstery categories, particularly reclining and motion furniture. Consumers are looking for more functionality and modern streamlined motion styles. And with our foundation in North American manufacturing, we are able to design and manufacture this with strong speed to market. Another core pillar of our Century Vision growth strategy to expand La-Z-Boy brand reach is our, Long Live the Lazy brand campaign, which launched in August 2023 on National Lazy Day.

十月，我們在行業高點家具市場為批發客戶和供應合作夥伴開設了新裝修的陳列室。多年來，我們很高興歡迎公司的主要利害關係人和支持者來到我們煥然一新的辦公空間。我們推出的新產品展示了我們對消費者洞察的整合，使我們能夠在核心室內裝飾類別中設計更多流行商品，特別是躺椅和運動家具。消費者正在尋找更多功能和現代流線型運動風格。憑藉我們在北美製造的基礎，我們能夠以極快的速度設計和製造該產品並將其推向市場。我們 Century Vision 擴大 La-Z-Boy 品牌影響力成長策略的另一個核心支柱是我們的「懶惰萬歲」品牌活動，該活動於 2023 年 8 月全國懶惰日啟動。

A little over a year into the campaign, we have been successful in increasing unaided awareness, consideration, and purchase attempts among those who have seen Long Live the Lazy and connected to La-Z-Boy. I'm also delighted to share that over that same period, we have lowered the average age of our consumer by two years, reflecting our broadening appeal. During our second quarter this year, we activated our second National Lazy Day on August 10 with media takeovers across New York Times Games, Amazon, ESPN, Meta, and Pinterest. We also had a satellite media tour with influential thought leader, Dr. Sue Varma, promoting the health benefits of laziness.

活動開展一年多來，我們成功地提高了看過《懶人萬歲》並與 La-Z-Boy 有聯繫的人們的獨立意識、考慮度和購買嘗試。我還很高興地告訴大家，在同一時期，我們將消費者的平均年齡降低了兩年，這反映出我們的吸引力不斷擴大。今年第二季度，我們於 8 月 10 日啟動了第二個全國懶惰日，媒體接管了紐約時報遊戲、亞馬遜、ESPN、Meta 和 Pinterest。我們還與有影響力的思想領袖 Sue Varma 博士一起進行了衛星媒體巡演，宣傳懶惰對健康的好處。

And as we continue to drive the Long Live the Lazy campaign, we are focused on broadening the impact to achieve our goal of connecting with both new and existing consumers. Joybird is another core pillar of Century Vision, where we are optimizing the brand to deliver a balance of sales growth and profitability. Joybird had a solid quarter with positive delivered and written sales trends and operating performance improving against prior year comparable period. This resulted in profits at breakeven for the quarter as we continue to get more efficient with targeted marketing and advertising as well as a more profitable product mix. We continue to believe in the long-term growth prospects of Joybird and will implement a disciplined approach to growing the business and have begun exploring additional store expansion.

隨著我們繼續推動「懶惰萬歲」活動，我們致力於擴大影響力，以實現與新舊消費者建立聯繫的目標。Joybird 是世紀願景的另一個核心支柱，我們正在優化品牌以實現銷售成長和獲利能力的平衡。Joybird 的季度業績表現強勁，交付和書面銷售趨勢良好，營運表現較去年同期有所改善。由於我們繼續透過有針對性的行銷和廣告以及利潤更高的產品組合來提高效率，因此本季的利潤達到了盈虧平衡。我們仍然相信 Joybird 的長期成長前景，並將採取嚴格的方法來發展業務，並已開始探索額外的商店擴張。

Strengthening our foundational capabilities, including building a more agile supply chain is our final pillar of Century Vision. Clearly, there have been, and will likely continue to be, a significant amount of disruption to global supply chains. We will -- we are well-positioned to design and manufacture our comfortable, customized furniture with strong speed-to-market across our business on the foundation of our North American footprint. As we enter the third quarter, we continue to expect a challenging macro environment for the remainder of our fiscal year. While there is a recent disconnect between interest rate cuts by the Fed and long-term interest rates, which correlate to mortgage rates, we believe ongoing Fed rate reductions will eventually filter through the economy and positively impact housing activity.

加強我們的基礎能力，包括建立更敏捷的供應鏈，是我們世紀願景的最後一個支柱。顯然，全球供應鏈已經並且可能會繼續遭受嚴重破壞。我們將——我們有能力在北美業務的基礎上設計和製造舒適的定製家具，並以極快的速度將我們的業務推向市場。隨著進入第三季度，我們仍然預計本財年剩餘時間的宏觀環境將充滿挑戰。儘管最近聯準會降息與與抵押貸款利率相關的長期利率之間存在脫節，但我們認為聯準會持續降息最終將滲透到經濟中並對房地產活動產生積極影響。

In the meantime, we remain optimistic about our ability to continue to outperform the market while investing in our business through our Century Vision so that when trends rebound, we are poised to disproportionately benefit. Now, before I turn it over to Bob, as many of you know, this will be Bob's last earnings call as our CFO. And I want to recognize and thank him for the impact he has made at La-Z-Boy Incorporated. He has been an exceptional partner to me and a strong leader for our entire team. We wish him all the best in his retirement at the end of the fiscal year.

同時，我們對我們繼續跑贏市場的能力保持樂觀，同時透過我們的世紀願景投資我們的業務，以便當趨勢反彈時，我們將獲得不成比例的受益。現在，在我將其交給鮑勃之前，正如你們許多人所知，這將是鮑勃作為我們的財務長的最後一次財報電話會議。我想表彰並感謝他對 La-Z-Boy Incorporated 所產生的影響。他是我的傑出合作夥伴，也是我們整個團隊的強大的領導者。我們祝福他在本財年結束時退休後一切順利。

Now, let me turn the call over to Bob to review the results in more detail.

現在，讓我將電話轉給鮑勃，以更詳細地查看結果。

Thank you, Melinda, and good morning, everyone. As a reminder, we present our results on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. We believe the non-GAAP presentation better reflects underlying operating trends and performance of the business. Non-GAAP results exclude items which are detailed in our press release and in the tables in the appendix section of our conference call slides. On a consolidated basis, fiscal 2025 second quarter sales increased 2% to $521 million versus the prior year, primarily driven by higher delivered volume within our retail segment and Joybird business.

謝謝梅琳達，大家早安。提醒一下，我們在 GAAP 和非 GAAP 基礎上公佈我們的結果。我們認為，非公認會計原則的演示更好地反映了基本的營運趨勢和業務績效。非 GAAP 結果不包括我們的新聞稿和電話會議投影片附錄部分的表格中詳細介紹的項目。綜合來看，2025 財年第二季銷售額較上年成長 2%，達到 5.21 億美元，主要是由於我們的零售部門和 Joybird 業務的交付量增加所致。

Consolidated GAAP operating margin was $39 million and non-GAAP operating margin was also $39 million, a decrease of 4% versus last year's second quarter. Consolidated GAAP operating margin was 7.4% and non-GAAP operating margin was 7.5%, reflecting a 40 basis points decline versus last year due to demand challenges in our case goods import business and a significant temporary customer disruption in our international wholesale business. GAAP diluted EPS was $0.71 for the second quarter versus $0.63 in the prior year quarter. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $0.71 versus $0.74 last year. As I move to the segment discussion, my comments from here will focus on our non-GAAP reporting, unless specifically stated otherwise.

綜合 GAAP 營業利潤率為 3,900 萬美元，非 GAAP 營業利潤率為 3,900 萬美元，比去年第二季下降 4%。綜合 GAAP 營業利潤率為 7.4%，非 GAAP 營業利潤率為 7.5%，較去年下降 40 個基點，原因是我們的箱貨進口業務面臨需求挑戰以及國際批發業務中客戶暫時受到嚴重干擾。第二季 GAAP 稀釋後每股收益為 0.71 美元，去年同期為 0.63 美元。非 GAAP 攤薄後每股收益為 0.71 美元，去年為 0.74 美元。當我進入分部討論時，除非另有明確說明，否則我的評論將集中在我們的非公認會計準則報告上。

Starting with the retail segment. For the quarter, delivered sales were $222 million, a 3% increase over the prior year second quarter, primarily due to growth from acquired stores. Importantly, conversion rates, average ticket, and design sales all remained strong, improving year over year. Retail non-GAAP operating margin was 12.6% versus 13% in the prior year quarter. This was driven by slightly lower same-store sales and an increase in selling expense and fixed costs, supporting our long-term strategy of growing our retail business through new and acquired stores, partially offset by gross margin improvements resulting from a favorable shift in product mix.

從零售領域開始。本季交付銷售額為 2.22 億美元，比去年第二季成長 3%，主要得益於收購門市的成長。重要的是，轉換率、平均門票和設計銷售均保持強勁，並逐年改善。零售非 GAAP 營業利益率為 12.6%，去年同期為 13%。這是由同店銷售額略有下降以及銷售費用和固定成本增加所推動的，支持我們透過新店和收購商店發展零售業務的長期策略，但部分被產品有利轉變帶來的毛利率改善所抵消混合。

For our wholesale segment, delivered sales for the quarter were flat at $364 million as higher sales to our retail segment mostly offset lower delivered sales in our international wholesale business. Non-GAAP operating margin for the wholesale segment was 6.8% versus 7.7% in last year's second quarter. This was driven by demand and macroeconomic challenges in our casegoods import business and fixed cost deleverage on lower sales in our international wholesale business, partially offset by an improvement in non-GAAP operating margin for the core North America La-Z-Boy brand wholesale business.

對於我們的批發部門，本季的交付銷售額持平於 3.64 億美元，因為我們零售部門的銷售額增加大部分抵消了國際批發業務交付銷售額的下降。批發部門的非 GAAP 營運利潤率為 6.8%，而去年第二季為 7.7%。這是由我們的成箱貨物進口業務的需求和宏觀經濟挑戰以及國際批發業務銷售額下降導致的固定成本去槓桿化推動的，但部分被核心北美La-Z-Boy 品牌批發業務的非公認會計原則營業利益率的改善所抵銷。

I want to spend a moment on our international business. If you recall, last quarter, we called out a temporary customer disruption negatively impacting this business. I'm excited to report that in September, we announced a major partnership with DFS, the leading UK furniture retailer. Our brands are closely aligned in the mission of delivering high-quality, comfortable furniture. This is an exclusive partnership in the UK and Ireland, where DFS will introduce a range of La-Z-Boy reclining furniture in-store and online. The product has begun to reach DFS showrooms, and we expect sales to begin to accelerate in the fourth quarter of this fiscal.

我想花點時間談談我們的國際業務。如果您還記得，上個季度，我們曾指出暫時的客戶中斷對該業務產生了負面影響。我很高興地向大家報告，九月份，我們宣布與英國領先的家具零售商 DFS 建立重要合作夥伴關係。我們的品牌與提供高品質、舒適家具的使命緊密結合。這是在英國和愛爾蘭的獨家合作夥伴關係，DFS 將在店內和線上推出一系列 La-Z-Boy 躺椅。該產品已開始進入 DFS 展廳，我們預計銷售將在本財年第四季開始加速。

For Joybird, reported in corporate and other, delivered sales were $39 million, up 20% versus the prior year quarter on stronger sales trends in Joybird retail stores. Joybird operating margin performance saw year-over-year improvement from higher gross margins, driven by favorable product mix and fixed cost leverage on higher sales. This resulted in breakeven operating margin for the quarter. Moving on to our consolidated non-GAAP gross margin and SG&A performance for the quarter.

根據企業和其他部門報告，Joybird 的銷售額為 3,900 萬美元，比去年同期成長 20%，這得益於 Joybird 零售店銷售趨勢的強勁。Joybird 的營業利潤率表現因毛利率上升而實現同比改善，這得益於有利的產品組合和較高銷售額帶來的固定成本槓桿。這使得本季的營業利潤達到損益兩平。接下來是我們本季的綜合非 GAAP 毛利率和 SG&A 業績。

Consolidated non-GAAP gross margin increased slightly across all reportable segments, up 10 basis points versus the prior year second quarter. Gross margin expansion was primarily driven by the positive shift in consolidated mix towards our retail segment, which has a higher gross margin rate than our wholesale segment, mostly offset by lower gross margins in our casegoods business. Non-GAAP SG&A as a percentage of sales for the quarter increased by 50 basis points compared with the same period last year, primarily due to reduced leverage in our wholesale segment due to a significant temporary international customer disruption and the mix shift to our retail segment, which carries a fixed cost -- higher fixed cost structure relative to wholesale. Our effective tax rate on a GAAP basis for the second quarter was largely unchanged at 26.3% compared to 26.5% for the prior year.

所有可報告部門的綜合非 GAAP 毛利率均略有成長，與去年第二季相比成長了 10 個基點。毛利率的擴張主要是由於合併組合向我們的零售部門的積極轉變所推動，該部門的毛利率高於我們的批發部門，但大部分被我們的箱包業務毛利率較低所抵消。非 GAAP SG&A 佔本季銷售額的百分比與去年同期相比增加了 50 個基點，這主要是由於國際客戶暫時性重大中斷以及向零售部門的組合轉移導致批發部門的槓桿率下降，它具有固定成本——相對於批發來說，固定成本結構更高。我們第二季以 GAAP 計算的有效稅率基本保持不變，為 26.3%，而去年同期為 26.5%。

Turning to cash. We ended the quarter with a strong balance sheet, $303 million in cash and no externally funded debt. We generated $16 million in cash from operating activities in the quarter, and year-to-date, cash flow from operations was $68 million, up 20% from last year's comparable period. We invested $17 million in capital expenditures during the quarter, primarily related to La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries, including new stores and remodels. We also spent $11 million on acquisitions during the period. For the quarter, we returned approximately $28 million to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases, including $8 million paid in dividends.

轉向現金。本季結束時，我們的資產負債表強勁，現金 3.03 億美元，沒有外部融資債務。本季我們從經營活動中產生了 1,600 萬美元的現金，年初至今，營運現金流為 6,800 萬美元，比去年同期成長了 20%。本季我們投資了 1700 萬美元的資本支出，主要與 La-Z-Boy 家具畫廊相關，包括新店和改造。在此期間，我們還花了 1,100 萬美元進行收購。本季度，我們透過股利和股票回購向股東返還約 2,800 萬美元，其中支付股利 800 萬美元。

Additionally, we repurchased 467,000 shares in the quarter, which leaves 4.3 million shares available under our existing share repurchase authorization. Year-to-date, $70 million has been returned to shareholders, approximately double the same period last year. And finally, subsequent to quarter end, reflecting the confidence in the company's long-term growth prospects, the Board of Directors increased the regular quarterly dividend by 10%. This takes our per share dividend to $0.22. We continue to view share repurchases and our dividend as an attractive use of our cash and a positive return to shareholders.

此外，我們在本季回購了 467,000 股股票，這使得我們現有的股票回購授權下還有 430 萬股可用。年初至今，已向股東返還 7,000 萬美元，約為去年同期的兩倍。最後，在季度末之後，董事會將定期季度股息增加了 10%，這反映了對公司長期成長前景的信心。這使我們的每股股息達到 0.22 美元。我們仍然認為股票回購和股利是對我們現金的有吸引力的用途，也是對股東的正面回報。

Our capital allocation target is to reinvest approximately 50% of operating cash flow back into the business and return approximately 50% to shareholders in share repurchases and dividends over the long term. Now before turning the call back to Melinda, let me highlight several important items for the back half of fiscal 2025 and our third quarter. Looking forward, we expect the industry to continue to be challenged by lower consumer demand, driven by higher mortgage rates and low housing turnover. Against that backdrop, we expect to continue to outperform the market throughout fiscal 2025, similar to our performance in fiscal 2024. Consistent with our Century Vision strategy, we continue to target sales growth double the industry growth rate and double-digit operating margins over the long term with the benefit of more normalized industry growth rates.

我們的資本配置目標是將約 50% 的營運現金流重新投資回業務，並將約 50% 透過股票回購和長期股利返還給股東。現在，在將電話轉回梅琳達之前，讓我強調一下 2025 財年下半年和第三季的幾個重要事項。展望未來，我們預期該產業將繼續面臨抵押貸款利率上升和房屋週轉率低消費者需求下降的挑戰。在此背景下，我們預期整個 2025 財年的表現將持續跑贏市場，與 2024 財年的表現類似。與我們的世紀願景策略一致，我們繼續將長期目標是銷售成長兩倍於產業成長率和兩位數的營業利潤率，並受益於更正常化的產業成長率。

Third quarter's delivered sales are generally lower than the second quarter due to multiple holiday periods of downtime at our North America plants. Additionally, recall that we experienced adverse winter weather events in January last year, which shifted some sales from the third quarter into the fourth quarter. Taking this into account, we expect third quarter delivered sales in the range of $505 million to $525 million, representing growth versus last year. Further, we expect second quarter non-GAAP operating margin to be in the range of 6% to 7%. As we continue investment in our Century Vision pillar of growing retail, we expect near-term margin compression versus the prior year, primarily driven by expected negative same-store sales trends from the continuing, challenging demand environment, which will more than offset the margin accretion from independent La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries acquisitions in our retail segment.

由於北美工廠在多個假期期間停工，第三季的交付銷售量普遍低於第二季。此外，回想一下，去年 1 月我們經歷了惡劣的冬季天氣事件，這將部分銷售從第三季轉移到了第四季。考慮到這一點，我們預計第三季的銷售額將在 5.05 億美元至 5.25 億美元之間，較去年有所成長。此外，我們預計第二季非 GAAP 營運利潤率將在 6% 至 7% 之間。隨著我們繼續投資於不斷增長的零售業的世紀願景支柱，我們預計近期利潤率將比上年有所壓縮，這主要是由於持續且充滿挑戰的需求環境導致預期同店銷售趨勢出現負增長，這將遠遠抵消利潤率我們的零售業務中獨立的 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries 收購帶來了成長。

Additionally, Wholesale margins will continue to be negatively impacted by our casegoods businesses and the start-up of our new partnership with DFS in the UK for the balance of the year. We continue to expect to open 12 to 15 new La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores for the fiscal year. We expect our tax rate for the full fiscal year to be in the range of 25.5% to 26.5%. We anticipate non-GAAP adjustments for purchase accounting charges for the year to be in the range of $0.01 to $0.03 per share.

此外，今年餘下的時間裡，我們的箱包業務以及我們與英國 DFS 建立的新合作夥伴關係將繼續對批發利潤率產生負面影響。我們預計本財年將開設 12 至 15 家新的 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries 商店。我們預計整個財年的稅率將在25.5%至26.5%之間。我們預計今年採購會計費用的非 GAAP 調整將在每股 0.01 美元至 0.03 美元之間。

We continue to expect capital expenditures to be in the range of $70 million to $80 million for fiscal '25 as we invest to strengthen the company for the future, consistent with our Century Vision strategy. This includes land and building investments in stores to maintain the growth rate of our retail network. And finally, presuming no significant worsening in macroeconomic trends, we expect to continue share repurchases at dollar amounts consistent with pre-COVID levels.

我們繼續預期 25 財年的資本支出將在 7,000 萬至 8,000 萬美元之間，因為我們將投資加強公司的未來發展，這與我們的世紀願景策略一致。這包括商店的土地和建築投資，以維持我們零售網路的成長率。最後，假設宏觀經濟趨勢沒有顯著惡化，我們預期將繼續以與新冠疫情前水準一致的美元金額回購股票。

Finally, last month, it was announced that I will be ceding the role of CFO to Taylor Luebke, effective January 1 and retire at the end of our fiscal year. It has been an absolute privilege and honor to lead this company with Melinda. I am proud of the progress the company has made towards realizing our Century Vision and I'm excited for -- very excited for what is in store next. I've known and worked with Taylor for over a decade. He has a thorough understanding of this company, and I am very confident he will continue to deliver on our Century Vision and financial success. It will be a positive and seamless transition.

最後，上個月，我們宣布我將把財務長的職位讓給 Taylor Luebke，從 1 月 1 日起生效，並在我們的財政年度結束時退休。與梅琳達一起領導這家公司是絕對的榮幸。我為公司在實現世紀願景方面取得的進展感到自豪，並且對接下來即將發生的事情感到非常興奮。我認識泰勒並與泰勒共事十多年了。他對這家公司有著透徹的了解，我非常有信心他將繼續實現我們的世紀願景和財務成功。這將是一個積極且無縫的過渡。

With that, I'll turn the call back to Melinda.

這樣，我會將電話轉回給梅琳達。

Thanks, Bob, and congratulations again to you, and welcome to Taylor. In spite of the challenging industry backdrop, we continue to make progress towards achieving our Century Vision goals and outperforming the industry. Our focus remains on the expansion of our La-Z-Boy brand, driving growth of our company-owned retail segment, improving agility across our supply chain, and driving efficiency and margin expansion throughout our business, both now and as our industry rebounds. I'd like to congratulate our entire team for yet another quarter of outstanding execution at both the tactical and strategic levels. Finally, I'd like to wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season, and thanks for joining us today.

謝謝鮑勃，再次恭喜你，歡迎來到泰勒。儘管行業背景充滿挑戰，我們仍繼續在實現世紀願景目標和超越行業方面取得進展。我們的重點仍然是擴大La-Z-Boy 品牌，推動我們公司自有零售部門的成長，提高整個供應鏈的敏捷性，並推動整個業務的效率和利潤率擴張，無論是現在還是隨著我們行業的反彈。我要祝賀我們整個團隊在戰術和戰略層面上又一個季度表現出色。最後，我祝福大家有個愉快、健康的假期，並感謝您今天加入我們。

With that, I'll turn the call back to Mark.

這樣，我會將電話轉回馬克。

Thank you, Melinda. We will begin the question-and-answer period now. Holly, please review the instructions for getting into the queue to ask questions.

謝謝你，梅琳達。我們現在開始問答環節。Holly，請查看有關進入佇列提問的說明。

(Operator Instructions) Bobby Griffin, Raymond James.

（操作員說明）鮑比·格里芬、雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Good morning, everybody. Thanks for taking my questions. I guess, Bob, since this is your last call, I got about six or seven. I'm just going to fire off and make sure I get a little bit more out of you before you go.

大家早安。感謝您回答我的問題。我想，鮑勃，因為這是你最後一次打電話，我大概接到了六、七通電話。我只想在你走之前先從你那裡得到更多的資訊。

Thank you, Bobby.

謝謝你，鮑比。

No, but in all seriousness, congrats on your retirement. It's been fun working with you over the last couple of years. I hope to see you down here in Florida. And Taylor, great meeting you at High Point. Look forward to working with you over the next couple of years.

不，但嚴肅地說，恭喜你退休。過去幾年與您合作非常愉快。我希望在佛羅裡達見到你。泰勒，很高興在海波因特見到你。期待在未來幾年與您合作。

Likewise, Bobby.

同樣，鮑比.

So, I guess, first, maybe can we just talk a little bit about the wholesale side of the business? I understand there's some transition going on internationally. So, when we look at the difference of the year-over-year step down in EBIT margins on that segment, how much of that international transition and kind of what I would deem as short-term disruption was the driver of that year-over-year step down in margins?

所以，我想，首先，也許我們可以談談批發方面的業務嗎？我知道國際上正在發生一些轉變。因此，當我們觀察該細分市場息稅前利潤率逐年下降的差異時，國際轉型和我認為的短期顛覆在多大程度上是該年度的驅動因素- 年利潤率下降？

I'd say about roughly half. It was roughly half in between -- the casegoods impacts that we've been seeing as well as the international impact that we saw with moving from ScS to DFS in the UK.

我想說大約一半。大約介於兩者之間——我們所看到的案例影響以及我們在英國從 ScS 轉向 DFS 所看到的國際影響。

Yeah. So in another way, if you strip out those sort of unique businesses that we usually don't spend a lot of time talking about, our core La-Z-Boy branded North America business was actually positive on margins for the quarter.

是的。因此，換句話說，如果剔除那些我們通常不會花太多時間談論的獨特業務，我們的核心 La-Z-Boy 品牌北美業務實際上在本季度的利潤率上是積極的。

And they've always been positive, but they were positive, and there was an increase.

他們一直都是積極的，但他們是積極的，而且增加。

Yes, correct.

是的，正確。

Quarter over quarter.

季度又季度。

Okay. That's very helpful. And is that growth in the core La-Z-Boy branded margins, is that a reflection of some of this manufacturer efficiencies and the work we've been doing on the plants? Is that starting to show up now? I know we are targeting, I believe, 50 basis points to 60 basis points of total improvement once we are done with some of the manufacturing footprint changes.

好的。這非常有幫助。La-Z-Boy 品牌核心利潤的成長是否反映了製造商效率和我們在工廠所做的工作？現在開始出現了嗎？我知道，我相信，一旦我們完成了一些製造足跡的變化，我們的目標是整體改進 50 個基點到 60 個基點。

Yes, it is.

是的。

Okay. And the, are we tracking -- we're tracking on towards that goal of 50 basis points to 60 basis points by, I guess, what -- by early fiscal year '26?

好的。我們是否正在追蹤——我們正在追蹤 50 個基點到 60 個基點的目標，我想，到 26 財年初期？

Yes.

是的。

Okay. Perfect. Just switching gears a little. Melinda, we got to see the High Point showroom -- the new High Point showroom, which was great to see. Can you maybe just talk a little bit about kind of the mood from some of your dealers, kind of how the dealers are thinking about calendar year '25? What kind of the view of the new products were, initial orders, we saw some of the new introductions as well.

好的。完美的。只需稍微切換一下齒輪即可。梅琳達，我們參觀了海波因特陳列室——新的海波因特陳列室，真是太棒了。您能否簡單談談您的一些經銷商的情緒，以及經銷商對 25 年的看法？新產品的看法如何，最初的訂單，我們也看到了一些新的介紹。

Yeah. We were pretty excited about the buzz in our showroom, and we heard that from a lot of our customers. And as you say, importantly, those general dealers that carry a lot of brands. I think across the industry, and I've been at multiple industry events even since market, across the industry, it's still -- everyone is still cautious, right? I think the recovery of the consumer, while we know it will be out there eventually as housing availability and affordability improves, we're not seeing a lot of turn on that yet.

是的。我們對陳列室裡的喧囂感到非常興奮，我們從許多客戶那裡聽到了這一點。正如你所說，重要的是那些擁有許多品牌的總經銷商。我認為在整個行業中，我參加了多個行業活動，即使從市場開始，整個行業中，每個人仍然保持謹慎，對嗎？我認為消費者的復甦，雖然我們知道隨著住房供應和負擔能力的改善最終會出現，但我們還沒有看到太多的轉變。

So like us, people are planning prudently. But we were incredibly pleased. Again, there's a lot of these things that we're doing around really understanding the consumer, making sure we're listening to our consumer and our customer and having that play back into the products that we are offering and then the selling experience and then the messaging experience really across all of our businesses, particularly in our La-Z-Boy showroom, we received really positive feedback. There's also a level of just in this ongoing somewhat tumultuous market of the safety of our -- prudent management of our financials and a 100-year history and the North America footprint that drove additional interest and continues to.

所以像我們一樣，人們也在謹慎計劃。但我們非常高興。同樣，我們正在做很多事情來真正了解消費者，確保我們傾聽消費者和客戶的聲音，並將其融入我們提供的產品中，然後是銷售體驗中，然後我們所有業務的消息傳遞體驗，特別是在La-Z-Boy 展廳，我們收到了非常正面的回饋。在這個持續的、有些動盪的市場中，我們的財務安全、我們 100 年的歷史和北美足蹟的審慎管理也帶來了一定程度的安全，這些都推動了額外的興趣，並將持續下去。

Clearly, a lot of going on during the quarter. We had the holiday period, obviously, started and you had the kind of election noise towards the end of it. Anything post-election interesting that you've seen in either orders or commentary from retail -- from customers that's worth calling out? I understand it's a very short period. But just -- obviously, with all the noise leading up to the election, just curious if anything has leveled out and has returned a little bit more normal or something post it?

顯然，本季發生了很多事情。顯然，我們已經開始了假期，並且在假期結束時出現了選舉噪音。選舉後，您在零售訂單或評論中看到哪些有趣的事情——來自客戶的值得呼籲的事情？我知道這是一個很短的時期。但顯然，隨著選舉前的所有喧囂，我只是好奇是否有什麼事情已經趨於平穩並恢復正常，或者是在選舉之後發生了什麼？

Yeah. I mean, obviously, as you said, we're super early into this next quarter and we're pleased with another solid start. As we go into the holidays, that's where -- the devil will be in the details on that side of things, and we're super-excited about where we're positioned going into the holidays. I still think that consumer is going to be bumpy for a while. Certainly, for many having the election behind us, just provides some level of at least knowledge of where we are and just less noise in the system to be able to get back on air.

是的。我的意思是，顯然，正如您所說，我們已經進入下個季度了，我們對另一個良好的開始感到高興。當我們進入假期時，問題就出在這方面的細節上，我們對假期即將到來的情況感到非常興奮。我仍然認為消費者將會經歷一段時期的坎坷。當然，對於許多已經大選結束的人來說，這只是提供了至少某種程度的關於我們所處位置的知識，並且減少了系統中的噪音，以便能夠重新播出。

So, I think those are all positives, but I don't think anybody is going to declare victory just yet. I think we will continue to control what we can here, and we feel good about that piece of things going into some of the bigger selling seasons.

所以，我認為這些都是正面的，但我認為目前還沒有人會宣布勝利。我認為我們將繼續控制我們能做到的事情，我們對進入一些更大的銷售季節的這件事感覺​​良好。

Okay. And then, Melinda, maybe one last one. Notable call out, Joybird back to breakeven. You guys have owned it now for a good bit. Just kind of curious on, with it trending back towards breakeven, what you think the game plan is for that brand, the opportunity for it? Is it moving to more of accelerated growth type investment phase? Or are we kind of still on the plan that we've been talking about before?

好的。然後，梅琳達，也許是最後一位。值得注意的是，Joybird 恢復了盈虧平衡。你們現在已經擁有它一段時間了。只是有點好奇，隨著它恢復盈虧平衡，您認為該品牌的遊戲計劃是什麼，它的機會是什麼？是否正在轉向加速成長型投資階段？或者我們仍然按照我們之前討論過的計劃進行嗎？

Yeah. For Joybird, to be achieving what it is right now, just positive sales trends and at least balancing out to that breakeven in a time when a lot of companies like it are actually shuttering, we feel pretty good about that. But obviously, we still have work to do. So, we're pleased with the discipline of how we're now operating that business. We're pleased with the consumer reaction and even as we strengthen execution across kind of all phases of Joybird, including even what does the brand stand for and what is that messaging to the end consumer.

是的。對於 Joybird 來說，要實現現在的目標，只要是積極的銷售趨勢，至少在許多像它這樣的公司實際上正在倒閉的時候達到收支平衡，我們對此感覺非常好。但顯然，我們還有工作要做。因此，我們對現在經營該業務的紀律感到滿意。我們對消費者的反應感到滿意，甚至我們加強了 Joybird 所有階段的執行力，甚至包括品牌代表什麼以及向最終消費者傳達的訊息是什麼。

One thing we know for sure is, across the stores that we do have, those stores are accretive to our business model, and that's why we are now actively pursuing a slow, but back to pursuing expansion for Joybird stores as we start to look into next year. So, again, it will be prudent. It will be slow and steady. Consumer is still bumpy, and that doesn't make any business easy. But we are a little bit back into -- more into growth mode now in Joybird.

我們確信的一件事是，在我們擁有的所有商店中，這些商店對我們的商業模式都有促進作用，這就是為什麼我們現在正在積極尋求緩慢但又回歸 Joybird 商店的擴張，因為我們開始研究明年。因此，再次強調，這將是謹慎的。它將是緩慢而穩定的。消費者仍然坎坷不平，這並不會讓任何生意變得容易。但我們現在又回到了 Joybird 的成長模式。

Okay. I appreciate the details and congrats on the quarter. I think as we round out earnings season here, we'll see that you're down one same-store, written looks very good versus a lot of peers. So, congrats on that performance. And Bob, again, congrats on retirement and look forward to staying in touch.

好的。我很欣賞這些細節，並對本季表示祝賀。我認為，當我們在這裡結束財報季節時，我們會看到您在一家同店中的表現與許多同行相比看起來非常好。所以，恭喜你的表現。鮑勃再次祝賀他退休並期待保持聯繫。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thanks, Bobby.

謝謝，鮑比。

Anthony Lebiedzinski, Sidoti & Company.

安東尼‧萊別津斯基 (Anthony Lebiedzinski)，西多蒂公司 (Sidoti & Company)。

Good morning, everyone. And likewise, Bob, best wishes for your upcoming retirement and look forward to working with you, Taylor, and the rest of the La-Z-Boy team.

大家早安。同樣，鮑勃，祝您即將退休，並期待與您、泰勒以及 La-Z-Boy 團隊的其他成員合作。

Thanks, Anthony.

謝謝，安東尼。

So, I guess -- first, I guess, in terms of my first question here. Looking at the guidance for Q3, as far as that the margin guidance that you provided, is that -- looking at the high-end of your -- if you were at the high-end of your revenue guidance, it still implies that the margin would be down from where you reported for Q2. So, is that mostly just really -- what's going on in the casegoods business? Or what else is driving that?

所以，我想——首先，我想，就我的第一個問題而言。看看第三季的指導，就您提供的利潤率指導而言，如果您處於收入指導的高端，那麼它仍然意味著利潤率將低於您報告的第二季度的水平。那麼，箱包產業到底發生了什麼事？或者還有什麼因素在推動這一點？

It's that, and what I mentioned in the prepared remarks, it's the casegoods business, the continued margin compression there as well as the continued transition with getting DFS up to speed. We're not nearly at the sales rate that we'll be with them long term. We probably won't hit that until the end of the fourth quarter because we've got to get into all those stores and get into their merchandising rotation, et cetera. So that's the biggest compression from a margin standpoint that is -- that we're seeing in Q3 versus last year.

這就是我在準備好的發言中提到的，是箱貨業務、持續的利潤壓縮以及隨著 DFS 的加速而持續的轉型。我們還沒有達到與他們長期合作的銷售速度。我們可能要到第四季末才能實現這一點，因為我們必須進入所有這些商店並進入他們的商品輪換，等等。因此，從利潤率的角度來看，這是我們在第三季度看到的與去年相比最大的壓縮。

The other thing, and I also mentioned that our Q3 margins are generally always a little bit lower just because we have so many holidays during that period where our plants are down. So if you just look historically in what I'll call non-disrupted years, if we ever had one of those, probably in 2019, we would (multiple speakers) you'd always see that Q3 is slightly lower on margin than Q2 just because we don't have the plants running as much, so we're not able to -- there's more inefficiency in the system there.

另一件事，我還提到，我們第三季的利潤率通常總是有點低，因為我們在工廠停工期間有很多假期。因此，如果你從歷史上看，我稱之為無中斷年份，如果我們曾經有過這樣的一年，可能是在2019 年，我們（多個發言者）你總是會看到第三季度的利潤率略低於第二季度因為我們的工廠運作得不夠頻繁，所以我們無法——系統效率低。

Okay. Thanks. And then you guys have talked a while for -- as far as increases in average ticket and also the design piece, obviously, is a very critical and important piece of your business. Can you provide more color on that? And do you think, given the industry headwinds, you guys can continue to increase the average ticket?

好的。謝謝。然後你們已經討論了一段時間——就平均門票的增加以及設計部分而言，顯然，這是你們業務中非常關鍵和重要的部分。你能提供更多的顏色嗎？您認為，鑑於行業逆風，你們可以繼續提高平均票價嗎？

Yes. I always go back to -- well, five years ago, we had a goal of getting to $4 million a store. And that was an incredibly aspirational goal. Now we're looking at $5 million a store, right? And it really comes down to -- it's each one of those things.

是的。我總是回想起——嗯，五年前，我們的目標是每家商店達到 400 萬美元。這是一個令人難以置信的理想目標。現在我們的目標是一家商店 500 萬美元，對嗎？歸根結底，這就是每一件事。

It's the absolute execution in the store. It's every measure around how much we're doing in the way of design, how equipped our sales associates are to really meet the needs of the consumer and make that a really positive selling experience. But it also wraps around making sure you've got the right product, making sure you've got the right messaging to get people into the store, and then making sure you can deliver on a timely basis. And our custom furniture into your home, in four to six weeks is compelling for consumers, and it's something that you can't get to many places. So I do believe we still have room to go there because each time we achieve one set of goals, we find the next one.

這是商店裡絕對的執行力。每個衡量標準都圍繞著我們在設計方面做了多少工作，我們的銷售人員是否具備真正滿足消費者需求並使其成為真正積極的銷售體驗的能力。但它還包括確保您擁有正確的產品，確保您擁有正確的訊息來吸引人們進入商店，然後確保您可以及時交貨。我們的訂製家具在四到六週內就可以裝進您的家中，這對消費者來說是很有吸引力的，但這是很多地方都無法做到的。所以我確實相信我們仍有空間去實現這一目標，因為每次我們實現一組目標時，我們都會找到下一個目標。

And even, to your point on, it is just a tough environment right now. What is -- what our sales associates have done is taken that slower traffic that we're seeing across the industry and making sure they're using that as an opportunity to really invest in the individual consumer that does come in and make sure they get an absolutely outstanding experience.

甚至，就你而言，現在的環境很艱難。我們的銷售人員所做的就是採取我們在整個行業中看到的流量放緩的情況，並確保他們利用這一機會真正投資於確實進來的個人消費者，並確保他們得到絕對出色的體驗。

And I'd just add, it's -- think about discipline and inspiration. On the discipline side, the way the stores are operating with their sales process, with their associate training, et cetera, are helping us to deliver those things. But on the flip side, there's -- on the other side, there's inspiration, and we're spending -- continue to spend money on remodels to make that consumer experience that much better and the focus that we have internally on the design and continuing to increase that design is -- those are two things that will ensure that what Melinda just said will continue to allow us to grow.

我想補充一點，那就是──考慮紀律和靈感。在紀律方面，商店的銷售流程、員工培訓等運作方式正在幫助我們實現這些目標。但另一方面，有靈感，我們正在花錢，繼續花錢改造，讓消費者體驗更好，我們內部也把重點放在設計上，並繼續增加設計是——這兩件事將確保梅琳達剛才所說的將繼續讓我們成長。

Got you. Okay. Yeah, thanks. And then, as far as your inventory, it was up 8% from last year. So a bit higher than what we would have expected. What drove that increase? And do you think your inventory is in good shape?

明白你了。好的。是的，謝謝。然後，就你們的庫存而言，比去年增加了 8%。所以比我們的預期高一些。是什麼推動了這項成長？您認為您的庫存狀況良好嗎？

The inventory increase was a planned increase. We have been spending a lot of time on ensuring that we have the raw materials that we need to make sure that when consumers or customers order product from us, we're able to get that turnaround time and get it to them as quickly as possible. So we've invested in that. Our stock levels in our regional distribution centers for in-stock product, we've taken that to a little bit higher level going into this season. And we've done that with the expectation that this is the busy season.

庫存增加屬於計劃增加。我們花了很多時間來確保我們擁有所需的原材料，以確保當消費者或客戶向我們訂購產品時，我們能夠獲得周轉時間並儘快將其交付給他們。所以我們對此進行了投資。我們在區域配送中心的庫存產品庫存水平，在進入本季時我們已經將其提高到了更高的水平。我們這樣做是因為預計這是一個繁忙的季節。

We want to make sure that we're winning with consumers on delivering to them on as fast as possible timing. And then we typically will always see a little bit of a bump up in Q2 and into Q3, just getting ready with materials coming in from China or Vietnam due to the Chinese New Year and the Tết New Year shutdowns for those suppliers.

我們希望確保我們能夠以盡可能快的時間向消費者交付產品，從而贏得消費者的青睞。然後，我們通常會在第二季和第三季看到一些成長，只是因為農曆新年和春節期間供應商停工而準備好來自中國或越南的材料。

All right. Well, that makes a lot of sense. Well, thank you again and best of luck.

好的。嗯，這很有道理。嗯，再次感謝您，祝您好運。

Thank you. (multiple speakers)

謝謝。（多個發言者）

Brad Thomas, KeyBanc.

布拉德湯瑪斯，KeyBanc。

Hi. Good morning, everyone. First of all, nice quarter, great results in a still tough environment for the industry. Bob and Taylor, congrats to both of you on new opportunities.

你好。大家早安。首先，這是一個不錯的季度，在行業仍然嚴峻的環境下取得了出色的業績。鮑伯和泰勒，恭喜你們兩位獲得了新的機會。

Thanks, Brad.

謝謝，布拉德。

I guess maybe to jump in on the tariff topic. Could you just help us think about how much exposure you might have, how that kind of flows through the business model, how it may impact the P&L, if at all, if we do start seeing tariffs next year?

我想也許是想切入關稅話題。您能否幫助我們考慮一下您可能擁有多少風險敞口，這種風險如何透過商業模式流動，如果我們明年確實開始看到關稅，它可能會如何影響損益表（如果有的話）？

Yeah, I'll take that one. Obviously, a lot of uncertainty right now on how that will all play out. For us versus our competition, we're in a pretty good position given that the vast majority of our consumer base is US-based, in North America and US, Canada, and that the vast majority of our products are manufactured, final assembly here in the US. That versus competition, that puts us in a pretty good spot with some of the tariff expectations that are out there. Certainly, when you get into, we do have operations in Mexico.

是的，我會接受那個。顯然，目前這一切將如何發展仍有許多不確定性。與我們的競爭對手相比，我們處於非常有利的地位，因為我們的絕大多數消費者基礎都在美國，在北美、美國、加拿大，而且我們的絕大多數產品都是在這裡製造和最終組裝的在美國。與競爭相比，這使我們在一些關稅預期方面處於相當有利的位置。當然，當你進入時，我們確實在墨西哥有業務。

We do some of our cut-and-sew there and so forth, and that's an important part of our business. We've managed through tariffs before. And as an industry, those costs have generally been pretty much passed through to the customer and then the end-consumer through surcharges. And so, we've got some experience with that. And I think the key is to stay agile on that. But overall, I think we're positioned relatively well.

我們在那裡做一些裁剪和縫製工作，這是我們業務的重要組成部分。我們之前已經透過關稅進行了管理。作為一個行業，這些成本通常已經大部分轉嫁給客戶，然後透過附加費轉嫁給最終消費者。因此，我們在這方面有一些經驗。我認為關鍵是要保持敏捷。但總的來說，我認為我們的定位相對較好。

That's helpful. And Melinda, you all have done a really good job, I think, of working with your wholesale partners. Can you just talk a little bit more about how you're thinking about that opportunity over the next year in a backdrop where many of your manufacturing competitors are, I think, really struggling because of volume levels out there right now?

這很有幫助。梅琳達，我認為你們在與批發合作夥伴的合作方面做得非常好。我認為，在您的許多製造競爭對手由於目前的產量水平而陷入困境的背景下，您能否再多談談您如何看待明年的機會？

Yeah. It's definitely an opportunity for us. And I think in particular, like last quarter, you saw year-on-year that general dealer, those retailers that sell multi-brands came on particularly strong year-on-year in our business. So, there's maybe a couple of things at play. One, the folks that we are already doing business with are looking, in many cases, to expand their play with us, additional vignettes, and so forth.

是的。這對我們來說絕對是一個機會。我認為特別是，就像上個季度一樣，您看到總經銷商、那些銷售多品牌的零售商在我們的業務中比去年同期特別強勁。所以，可能有幾件事在起作用。第一，在許多情況下，那些已經與我們開展業務的人正在尋求擴大與我們的合作範圍、額外的小插曲等等。

But then also, we really are building those strategic partnerships. And over the last year or two, we've added some important new partners. We've talked a lot about Rooms To Go, Furniture Row, some of those. And we're looking for compatible distribution that's going to help us reach a consumer base that we're not going to reach with our Furniture Galleries, right? Truly compatible.

但同時，我們確實正在建立這些戰略夥伴關係。在過去的一兩年裡，我們增加了一些重要的新夥伴。我們已經討論了很多關於「Rooms To Go」、「Furniture Row」等的話題。我們正在尋找相容的發行版，這將幫助我們接觸到我們的家具畫廊無法接觸到的消費者群，對吧？真正兼容。

And ideally, they are retailers that advertise a lot. We talk about them being noisy so that they continue to kind of spread the word of La-Z-Boy and keep that top-of-mind regardless of where the consumer wants to shop. But to your very specific point, given that we can provide that surety of our sound financial base and our North America footprint, we are definitely in some additional conversations, and we saw at this last market that maybe we haven't been into for a while where folks are seeing that flight to safety. And again, build on that by strong product, on-trend, high quality. So it's not a hard sell.

理想情況下，他們是經常做廣告的零售商。我們說他們很吵鬧，所以他們會繼續傳播 La-Z-Boy 的訊息，並無論消費者想去哪裡購物，都將這一點放在首位。但就你的具體觀點而言，鑑於我們可以為我們穩健的財務基礎和北美足跡提供保證，我們肯定會進行一些額外的對話，而且我們在最後一個市場上看到，也許我們還沒有進入過一個市場。再次強調，要以強大的產品、跟上潮流、高品質為基礎。所以這並不難賣。

That's helpful. And maybe, Bob, not to let you off the hook, we'll try and rope you in here for one last question. Just as we think about the balance sheet and the cash balance, you all seem to have some pretty nice momentum halfway through your fiscal year to be growing sales and seeing a trough in earnings. Can you all just talk a little bit about how you think about the appropriate level of cash balance to have going forward?

這很有幫助。也許，鮑勃，為了不讓你逃脫困境，我們會試著把你拉到這裡來回答最後一個問題。就像我們考慮資產負債表和現金餘額一樣，你們似乎在財年中期都有一些相當不錯的勢頭，銷售額不斷增長，收入卻觸底。你們能否談談你們對未來適當的現金餘額水準的看法？

Longer term, we expect that we've -- pre-COVID, we were in the $100 million range on average. Longer term, we think with the shift of our business to more retail business, more customer deposits on the balance sheet that we should probably have somewhere in the $200 million, the low-200s range from a millions of dollars of cash on the balance sheet. Over time, I expect those to probably migrate that way. We are also heavily investing in new stores. We've got other capital projects that we're doing, and then, we're always looking for opportunities for the Furniture Gallery acquisitions.

從長遠來看，我們預計在新冠疫情爆發之前，我們的平均收入將達到 1 億美元。從長遠來看，我們認為，隨著我們的業務轉向更多的零售業務，資產負債表上的客戶存款可能會增加到 2 億美元，資產負債表上的 200 美元現金可能會達到數百萬美元。隨著時間的推移，我預計它們可能會以這種方式遷移。我們還大力投資新店。我們正在進行其他資本項目，然後，我們一直在尋找家具畫廊收購的機會。

So, I expect a combination of spending on the business and spending on share repurchase will be how we glide path that down to that level over time, while we continue to generate some pretty healthy operating cash flows year over year.

因此，我預計業務支出和股票回購支出的結合將是我們隨著時間的推移將其下滑到這一水平的方式，同時我們將繼續逐年產生一些相當健康的營運現金流。

Very helpful. Thank you so much.

非常有幫助。太感謝了。

Thanks, Brad. (multiple speakers)

謝謝，布拉德。（多個發言者）

We have reached the end of the question-and-answer session, and I will now turn the call over to Mark for closing remarks.

問答環節已經結束，我現在將電話轉交給馬克做總結發言。

Thanks, Holly. Melinda, Bob, Taylor and I will be in our offices to respond to any follow-up questions. Thanks, and have a great day.

謝謝，霍莉。梅琳達、鮑伯、泰勒和我將在我們的辦公室回答任何後續問題。謝謝，祝你有美好的一天。

This concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束，此時您可以掛斷電話了。感謝您的參與。