MillerKnoll Inc (MLKN) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good evening, and welcome to MillerKnoll's Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, this call is being recorded.

晚上好，歡迎來到 MillerKnoll 第三季度收益電話會議。提醒一下，此通話正在錄音中。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Vice President of Investor Relations, Carola Mengolini.

現在我想介紹一下今天會議的主持人，投資者關係副總裁 Carola Mengolini。

Thank you, Lisa. Good evening, and welcome to MillerKnoll's Third Quarter Fiscal 2023 Conference Call. I am joined by Andi Owen, Chief Executive Officer; and Jeff Stutz, Chief Financial Officer. Also available during the Q&A session are John Michael, President of Americas Contract; and Debbie Propst, President of Global Retail.

謝謝你，麗莎。晚上好，歡迎來到 MillerKnoll 的 2023 財年第三季度電話會議。首席執行官 Andi Owen 也加入了我的行列；和首席財務官 Jeff Stutz。在問答環節中，美洲合同總裁 John Michael 也有空；和全球零售總裁 Debbie Propst。

Before I turn the call over to Andi, please remember our safe harbor regarding forward-looking information. During the call, management may discuss information that is forward-looking and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results to be different than those expressed or implied.

在我把電話轉給安迪之前，請記住我們關於前瞻性信息的安全港。在電話會議中，管理層可能會討論具有前瞻性的信息，涉及已知和未知的風險、不確定性和其他因素，這可能導致實際結果與明示或暗示的結果不同。

Please evaluate the forward-looking information in the context of these factors, which are detailed in today's press release. The forward-looking statements are as of today and assume no obligation to update or supplement these statements. We may also refer to certain non-GAAP financial metrics, which are reconciled and described in our press release posted on our Investor Relations website at millerknoll.com.

請在今天的新聞稿中詳細介紹的這些因素的背景下評估前瞻性信息。前瞻性陳述截至今日，不承擔更新或補充這些陳述的義務。我們還可能參考某些非 GAAP 財務指標，這些指標在我們的投資者關係網站 millerknoll.com 上發布的新聞稿中進行了協調和描述。

With that, I will turn the call over to Andi. Andi?

有了這個，我會把電話轉給安迪。和我？

Thanks, Carola. Good evening, everyone, and thank you so much for joining our call.

謝謝，卡羅拉。大家晚上好，非常感謝您加入我們的電話會議。

Throughout this quarter, our team delivered strong earnings and margin improvement despite challenging economic conditions. We have many competitive advantages. We have a collection of strong design brands, which are sold across multiple business channels and that cater to a different customer segments around the globe, and we're nimble. We're capturing synergies, reducing our cost structure and optimizing our capabilities so that we're positioned to capture opportunities as and when the macroeconomic picture improves.

在整個本季度，儘管經濟形勢充滿挑戰，我們的團隊仍實現了強勁的收益和利潤率改善。我們有很多競爭優勢。我們擁有一系列強大的設計品牌，這些品牌通過多個業務渠道銷售，迎合全球不同的客戶群，而且我們很靈活。我們正在捕捉協同效應，降低我們的成本結構並優化我們的能力，以便我們能夠在宏觀經濟形勢改善時抓住機遇。

To be sure, this is a disruptive period. Traditional office usage and layouts are not as relevant as they want for and new opportunities exist to help our customers design more hybrid, collaborative work environments. Our contract clients continue to engage us in conversations around reimagining their work spaces both to enhance their employee experience and to create multiuse spaces. Because of this, the volume of customer discussion remains very high, and the funnel of potential project opportunities is robust, albeit somewhat uncertain in terms of timing.

可以肯定的是，這是一個顛覆性時期。傳統的辦公室使用和佈局並不像他們想要的那樣相關，並且存在新的機會來幫助我們的客戶設計更多混合、協作的工作環境。我們的合同客戶繼續與我們就重新構想他們的工作空間進行對話，以增強他們的員工體驗並創建多用途空間。正因為如此，客戶討論的數量仍然非常高，潛在項目機會的漏斗是強大的，儘管在時間上有些不確定。

These customer interactions continue to emphasize the importance of nontraditional product categories to home and office settings. We believe that this pivot to premium ancillary product solution gives MillerKnoll and our distribution partners, a distinct competitive advantage given our best-in-class collective of brands.

這些客戶互動繼續強調非傳統產品類別對家庭和辦公室環境的重要性。我們相信，鑑於我們一流的品牌集體，這種向優質輔助產品解決方案的轉變為 MillerKnoll 和我們的分銷合作夥伴提供了獨特的競爭優勢。

To this end, I will highlight the great performance of some of our smaller luxury brands such as Holly Hunt, Muuto and Spinneybeck FilzFelt, which support our strategy towards a diversified global business model that includes luxury ancillary products that cater to both the residential and commercial client base.

為此，我將重點介紹我們一些較小的奢侈品牌的出色表現，例如 Holly Hunt、Muuto 和 Spinneybeck FilzFelt，它們支持我們實現多元化全球商業模式的戰略，其中包括同時滿足住宅和商業需求的豪華配套產品客戶群。

As we continue to build our presence as one collective of MillerKnoll brand, we're also seeing a new pattern emerge with our dealers and the way we're winning businesses. Now with more offerings across our portfolio, we are better suited to win whole floor plan solutions than ever before. We're also using a transitional period across our industry as a strategic opportunity on many fronts, introducing innovative products, pursuing new sector expansion and investing in our digital capabilities, all of which permits us to further our reach and remove friction points for our dealers and our customers.

隨著我們作為 MillerKnoll 品牌的一個集體繼續建立我們的存在，我們也看到我們的經銷商出現了一種新模式以及我們贏得業務的方式。現在，隨著我們產品組合中的更多產品，我們比以往任何時候都更適合贏得整體平面圖解決方案。我們還在許多方面利用整個行業的過渡期作為戰略機遇，推出創新產品，尋求新的部門擴張並投資於我們的數字能力，所有這些都使我們能夠擴大我們的影響力並消除我們經銷商的摩擦點和我們的客戶。

As it pertains to our retail segment, we believe that higher interest rates have temporarily slowed new and second home buying and in some cases, also delayed decisions to upgrade and renovate current spaces. Additionally, we're seeing customers temporarily shift more of their discretionary spend towards travel and leisure. And although we believe this is a short-term trend due to pent-up demand after an extended period of pandemic-related isolation (inaudible) we are preparing for a nearing term slowdown in our demand environment. And although this won't jeopardize our long-term growth strategies, we know that it's happening.

由於它與我們的零售部門有關，我們認為較高的利率暫時減緩了新房和二套房的購買，在某些情況下，還推遲了升級和翻新現有空間的決定。此外，我們看到客戶暫時將更多可自由支配的支出轉移到旅遊和休閒上。儘管我們認為這是一種短期趨勢，因為在與大流行相關的長時間隔離（聽不清）後需求被壓抑，但我們正在為近期需求環境放緩做準備。儘管這不會危及我們的長期增長戰略，但我們知道它正在發生。

To the end, we're analyzing and reviewing our retail footprint. We will continue to expand our reach through targeted channel development and digital experiences. During the quarter, we finished converting HAY stores in the U.S. into DWR spaces in several key marketplaces. On the other hand, and based on the success of a HAY's wholesale business in Europe, we opened our first HAY's shop-in-shop with [Nordstorm] here in the U.S. Moreover, through a wholesale partner, we also opened our first Herman Miller and Knoll stores in Shanghai.

最後，我們正在分析和審查我們的零售足跡。我們將通過有針對性的渠道開發和數字體驗繼續擴大我們的影響力。在本季度，我們完成了將美國的 HAY 商店轉換為幾個主要市場的 DWR 空間。另一方面，基於 HAY 在歐洲批發業務的成功，我們在美國與 [Nordstorm] 開設了我們的第一家 HAY 店中店。此外，通過批發合作夥伴，我們還開設了我們的第一家 Herman Miller和上海的 Knoll 商店。

In addition, we're strategically expanding our International business. Around the world, different regions are in varying phases of return to office. Due to our global footprint, we continue to capture business in areas with more favorable economic conditions such as the Middle East, Asia and India, to name a few. Our global reach, our unmatched product portfolio and our expertise in various areas such as health care, education and hospitality are a meaningful advantage. We're also making strategic choices to prioritize projects and opportunities that drive sales and margin expansion across all channels.

此外，我們正在戰略性地擴展我們的國際業務。在世界各地，不同地區正處於不同的複工階段。由於我們的足跡遍布全球，我們繼續在中東、亞洲和印度等經濟條件更有利的地區開展業務。我們的全球影響力、無與倫比的產品組合以及我們在醫療保健、教育和酒店等各個領域的專業知識是一個有意義的優勢。我們還在做出戰略選擇，以優先考慮推動所有渠道銷售和利潤擴張的項目和機會。

I'll show a few examples. Through our integration work, we continue to compare -- I'm sorry, we continue to capture cost synergies with $123 million of implemented savings to date as we work our way towards that goal of about $140 million. We're creating centers of excellence to deliver improved quality, reliability and production lead times. Our Geiger facility in Hildebran, North Carolina does incredible work and we are shifting more MillerKnoll production there, creating a center of excellence for premium upholstery and craft wood products.

我會舉幾個例子。通過我們的整合工作，我們繼續比較 - 對不起，我們繼續獲得成本協同效應，迄今為止已實施節省 1.23 億美元，因為我們正在努力實現約 1.4 億美元的目標。我們正在創建卓越中心，以提供改進的質量、可靠性和生產提前期。我們位於北卡羅來納州希爾德布蘭的 Geiger 工廠開展了令人難以置信的工作，我們正在將更多 MillerKnoll 生產轉移到那裡，打造優質室內裝潢和工藝木製品的卓越中心。

We're also looking across our global operations network and identifying where we have available capacity and unharnessed capabilities. We will move production to the places that are best suited to manufacture items versus having solely brand-dedicated facilities. For example, during the quarter, we shared our decision to shift the metal fabrication work from Toronto to East Greenville, Pennsylvania. And we're fine-tuning our brand portfolio. With multiple brands and channels, we can select where and how we sell items.

我們還在審視我們的全球運營網絡，並確定我們在哪些地方擁有可用的能力和未利用的能力。我們會將生產轉移到最適合製造產品的地方，而不是只擁有品牌專用設施。例如，在本季度，我們分享了將金屬製造工作從多倫多轉移到賓夕法尼亞州東格林維爾的決定。我們正在微調我們的品牌組合。通過多個品牌和渠道，我們可以選擇銷售商品的地點和方式。

This quarter, we began the work to wind down fully as a stand-alone branded sales channel. Going forward, select Fully products will be sold through our existing Design Within Reach and Herman Miller channels.

本季度，我們開始作為獨立品牌銷售渠道全面結束工作。展望未來，部分 Fully 產品將通過我們現有的 Design Within Reach 和 Herman Miller 渠道銷售。

So before I hand the call over to Jeff, I want to highlight that we continue to lead through innovative design. During the third quarter, we launched a variety of exciting new products across our collective of brands. In addition, we continue to deliver against our sustainability goals, reducing our carbon footprint and using sustainable materials. For example, Herman Miller was recently recognized by the Chemical Footprint Project for our commitment to minimizing chemical footprints and integrating criteria for better alternatives into our design practices.

因此，在我將電話轉交給 Jeff 之前，我想強調我們將繼續通過創新設計引領潮流。在第三季度，我們在我們的品牌組合中推出了各種令人興奮的新產品。此外，我們繼續實現我們的可持續發展目標，減少我們的碳足跡並使用可持續材料。例如，Herman Miller 最近因致力於最大限度地減少化學足跡並將更好的替代品標準納入我們的設計實踐而獲得化學足跡項目的認可。

In the months ahead, we'll continue to manage our business, taking into consideration the macroeconomic pressures we are all experiencing. We vigorously controlling the factors that we can, leaning into our strategy and adapting our business priorities to anchor on our best assets and to continue to develop areas where we see future success.

在接下來的幾個月裡，我們將繼續管理我們的業務，同時考慮到我們都在經歷的宏觀經濟壓力。我們大力控制我們可以控制的因素，調整我們的戰略並調整我們的業務優先級以錨定我們最好的資產並繼續開發我們看到未來成功的領域。

As we navigate a variety of market conditions around the world, we're prioritizing our work around innovation and what drives our business, where there is margin to gain, where there are opportunities to build for future success and ensuring that our customers turn to us first.

當我們應對全球各種市場條件時，我們將圍繞創新和推動我們業務的因素優先開展工作，哪裡有利潤空間，哪裡就有機會為未來的成功而努力，並確保我們的客戶轉向我們第一的。

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Jeff for his prepared remarks.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給傑夫，讓他發表準備好的言論。

Thanks, Andi, and good evening, everyone. I appreciate you joining us. During this quarter, we delivered adjusted earnings of $0.54 per share, beating our guidance and significantly outperforming the same period last year. While net sales came in lower than the same time last year, we experienced another quarter of strong margin expansion that contributed to our improved performance.

謝謝，安迪，大家晚上好。感謝您加入我們。本季度，我們實現了每股 0.54 美元的調整後收益，超出了我們的指引，並且顯著優於去年同期。雖然淨銷售額低於去年同期，但我們又經歷了一個季度的強勁利潤增長，這有助於我們提高業績。

At the consolidated level, net sales in the third quarter of $984.7 million decreased 4.4% on a reported basis and 2.7% organically compared with the same quarter last year. Consolidated orders for the quarter were $885.4 million, reflecting an organic decline of 17.6% from the same quarter last year. Softer demand tied to global macroeconomic uncertainty and elevated comparables in the third quarter of last year resulted in the year-over-year pressure for orders in each of our business segments.

在綜合層面，第三季度的淨銷售額為 9.847 億美元，與去年同期相比，報告基礎上下降 4.4%，有機下降 2.7%。本季度的合併訂單為 8.854 億美元，較去年同期有機下降 17.6%。與去年第三季度全球宏觀經濟不確定性和可比性上升相關的需求疲軟導致我們每個業務部門的訂單同比壓力。

Within our Americas Contract segment, net sales for the quarter totaled $484.6 million. This represents a year-over-year decrease of 4.9% on a reported basis and an organic decrease of 4.5%. New orders for this segment came to $461.6 million, reflecting a decrease of 12.6% from the same quarter last year on a reported basis and down 11.8% organically.

在我們的美洲合同部門，本季度的淨銷售額總計 4.846 億美元。這表示在報告基礎上同比下降 4.9%，有機下降 4.5%。該部門的新訂單為 4.616 億美元，較去年同期下降 12.6%，有機下降 11.8%。

During the past few months, general economic uncertainty and the impact of rising interest rates have weighed on the business and consumer sentiment levels. The result has been slowing demand patterns and further delays in customer return to office timeline. So with all that said, gross and operating margins in the Americas segment have continued to improve as expected, driven by net pricing benefit and the impact of integration cost synergies. For the quarter, operating margins for this segment improved 980 basis points on an adjusted basis versus the same period last fiscal year.

在過去幾個月中，總體經濟不確定性和利率上升的影響對企業和消費者情緒水平造成了壓力。結果是需求模式放緩，客戶返回辦公室的時間進一步延遲。因此，儘管如此，在淨定價收益和整合成本協同效應的推動下，美洲分部的毛利率和營業利潤率如預期一樣繼續改善。本季度，該部門的營業利潤率在調整後的基礎上比上一財年同期提高了 980 個基點。

Within our Global Retail segment, net sales in the quarter were $257.6 million, a decrease of 7.7% compared to the same period last year on a reported basis and down 5.5% organically. New orders totaled $213.7 million in the second -- in the third quarter, down 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year on a reported basis and down 21% organically.

在我們的全球零售部門，本季度的淨銷售額為 2.576 億美元，與去年同期相比下降 7.7%，有機下降 5.5%。第二季度和第三季度的新訂單總額為 2.137 億美元，與去年同期相比下降 23.5%，有機下降 21%。

Here again, macroeconomic pressures and increased stock market volatility have eroded consumer sentiment and buying activity. Overall margin performance in this segment did improve sequentially from the second quarter, but remained lower on a year-over-year comparison due to elevated freight expenses and higher inventory costs that we outlined for you last quarter.

同樣，宏觀經濟壓力和股市波動加劇削弱了消費者信心和購買活動。該細分市場的整體利潤率表現確實從第二季度開始有所改善，但由於我們上個季度為您概述的運費增加和庫存成本增加，與去年同期相比仍然較低。

As Andi mentioned, this quarter, we made the decision to cease operating Fully as a stand-alone brand. By integrating Fully into our global retail organization, we will reduce operating costs and further optimize our retail structure. As part of our commitment and focus to drive profitable growth and streamline our organization, we're constantly reviewing our channels to market, products and processes to identify ways to leverage our strengths. And this decision is an example of that.

正如 Andi 所說，本季度，我們決定停止將 Fully 作為獨立品牌運營。通過將 Fully 整合到我們的全球零售組織中，我們將降低運營成本並進一步優化我們的零售結構。作為我們推動盈利增長和精簡組織的承諾和重點的一部分，我們不斷審查我們的市場渠道、產品和流程，以確定利用我們優勢的方法。這個決定就是一個例子。

Turning to our International Contract and Specialty segment. Net sales for the quarter were $242.5 million, reflecting an increase of 0.6% on a reported basis and an increase of 4.3% organically. New orders in this segment were $210.1 million, which is down 27.2% year-on-year on a reported basis and down 24.5% organically. From an adjusted operating margin perspective, this segment delivered strong year-over-year improvement with an increase of 270 basis points, mostly driven by pricing actions taken earlier in the year and favorable product mix.

轉向我們的國際合同和專業部門。本季度淨銷售額為 2.425 億美元，較報告增長 0.6%，有機增長 4.3%。該部門的新訂單為 2.101 億美元，按報告基礎同比下降 27.2%，有機下降 24.5%。從調整後的營業利潤率來看，該部門實現了強勁的同比增長 270 個基點，這主要是由於今年早些時候採取的定價行動和有利的產品組合。

Shifting back to the enterprise level results. We were pleased this quarter to report a meaningful improvement in margin performance. Our consolidated adjusted gross margin in the period was 35.7% and the adjusted operating margin was 7.5%. And these results are 260 and 340 basis points higher than the same period last year, respectively. Higher pricing, benefits from cost synergies and reduction in variable compensation more than offset higher commodity costs and other inflationary pressures to drive these positive increases.

回到企業層面的結果。我們很高興本季度報告了利潤率表現的顯著改善。我們在此期間的綜合調整後毛利率為 35.7%，調整後的營業利潤率為 7.5%。這些結果分別比去年同期高出 260 和 340 個基點。更高的定價、成本協同效應帶來的好處和可變薪酬的減少，足以抵消更高的商品成本和其他推動這些積極增長的通脹壓力。

Turning to cash flows in the balance sheet. This quarter, we generated $75.7 million of cash flow from operations and paid down $18.1 million of debt. And moreover, as part of our focus on maintaining a strong balance sheet, this quarter, we executed an interest rate hedge, which provides an immediate reduction in current interest expense and together with our previous 3 hedge instruments has provided a fixed interest of 65% of our total bank debt. We ended the period with a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio as defined in our credit agreement of 2.6x.

轉向資產負債表中的現金流量。本季度，我們從運營中產生了 7,570 萬美元的現金流，並償還了 1,810 萬美元的債務。此外，作為我們專注於維持穩健資產負債表的一部分，本季度我們執行了利率對沖，立即減少了當前利息支出，並且與我們之前的 3 種對沖工具一起提供了 65% 的固定利率我們的銀行債務總額。我們以 2.6 倍的信貸協議中定義的淨債務與 EBITDA 比率結束了這一時期。

Now I'll talk about our guidance for next quarter. The outlook reflects a revenue guide that is informed by the recent order trends. To this end, we expect net sales to range between $930 million and $970 million, and adjusted earnings to be between $0.37 and $0.43 per share. So before we open the call for your questions, I just want to highlight that our focus on actions toward diversifying our business, driving profitable growth and capturing cost synergies are helping us navigate short-term macroeconomic challenges, but most importantly, they're strategically positioning us to capture further top line and margin expansion when the macroeconomic trends improve.

現在我將談談我們對下一季度的指導。前景反映了受近期訂單趨勢影響的收入指南。為此，我們預計淨銷售額將在 9.3 億美元至 9.7 億美元之間，調整後每股收益將在 0.37 美元至 0.43 美元之間。因此，在我們開始徵求您的問題之前，我只想強調，我們專注於實現業務多元化、推動盈利增長和獲得成本協同效應的行動正在幫助我們應對短期宏觀經濟挑戰，但最重要的是，它們在戰略上是當宏觀經濟趨勢改善時，使我們能夠進一步擴大收入和利潤率。

With those prepared remarks, I'll now turn the call back over to the operator, and we'll take your questions.

有了這些準備好的評論，我現在將把電話轉回給接線員，我們會回答你的問題。

(Operator Instructions) We'll take our first question from Greg Burns with Sidoti & Company.

（操作員說明）我們將與 Sidoti & Company 一起接受 Greg Burns 的第一個問題。

Can you just talk about the order trends in the early part of this quarter? Have you seen any improvement? Or has it stayed about the same?

能否簡單談談本季度初的訂單趨勢？你有看到任何改善嗎？或者它保持大致相同？

Greg, this is Jeff. I'll take that. So the good news is we did see improved trends as we made our way through the quarter, really across each of our 3 business segments. So while we ended the quarter in the organic numbers that I gave you in my prepared remarks, order entry levels in the month of February, for example, were actually better than the full quarter trend in each of the 3 segments. So we did see some improvement. And in the first couple of weeks of Q4, I would say, generally, that's continued.

格雷格，這是傑夫。我會接受的。所以好消息是，隨著我們在本季度的發展，我們確實看到了改善的趨勢，真正跨越了我們的 3 個業務部門。因此，雖然我們以我在準備好的評論中給你的有機數字結束了本季度，但例如，2 月份的訂單輸入水平實際上好於 3 個細分市場中每個細分市場的整個季度趨勢。所以我們確實看到了一些改進。在第四季度的前幾週，我會說，一般來說，這種情況還在繼續。

Okay. And then just specifically, the decline you saw internationally, the International segment has kind of been an outperformer relative to North America, but it seems like it's catching down. Is there anything in particular going on there?

好的。然後具體來說，你在國際上看到的下降，國際部分相對於北美來說表現得更好，但它似乎正在迎頭趕上。那裡有什麼特別的事嗎？

I think there's a couple of things, Greg, and then I'll turn it back to Jeff. I think the International business is a little lumpier as far as timing and placing orders. I think that if you think about last year, they had an amazing quarter with the price increase that we instituted and so they're up against really significant comps. So I think there's a little bit of timing in quarter-over-quarter, and there's a little bit of comparison to last year in International. We are seeing more weakness in the European business than we are across the globe. And we're seeing China come back a little more slowly than we had thought. But I think on the whole, long term, we feel very optimistic. Jeff, I'll let you add.

我想有幾件事，格雷格，然後我會把它轉回給傑夫。我認為國際業務在時間安排和下訂單方面有點笨拙。我認為，如果你想想去年，他們在我們制定的價格上漲方面有一個驚人的季度，因此他們面臨著非常重要的競爭。所以我認為每個季度都有一些時間安排，並且與國際去年有一些比較。我們看到歐洲業務的疲軟程度超過全球。我們看到中國的複蘇比我們想像的要慢一些。但我認為總體而言，從長遠來看，我們感到非常樂觀。傑夫，我會讓你補充。

Yes. And the only thing I would add, Greg, and I think this is an important reminder really for all of the comps across our consolidated group that a year ago Q3, we had an amazingly strong quarter in order entry in particular. And just to kind of remind everybody, we had 74% order growth in the third quarter of last year in our International segment. We've never seen anything even that touches those types of percentages, so remarkable growth. So these are real tough comps. And even in the Americas segment, we had growth that was up 37% in the year-ago period. So I'm always cautious about pointing to comps, but this is one of those moments where it matters because I do think that those were remarkably strong numbers a year ago.

是的。格雷格，我唯一要補充的是，我認為這對我們合併集團的所有公司來說都是一個重要的提醒，一年前的第三季度，我們的訂單輸入特別強勁。提醒大家，去年第三季度，我們國際部門的訂單增長了 74%。我們從未見過任何觸及這些類型的百分比，如此顯著的增長。所以這些都是真正艱難的組合。即使在美洲市場，我們的增長率也比去年同期增長了 37%。所以我總是對 comps 持謹慎態度，但這是重要的時刻之一，因為我確實認為這些在一年前是非常強勁的數字。

Okay. And then in terms of your synergy targets. I know Fully was a Knoll brand. So -- is this part of that $140 million of the savings there? Or is this incremental to that? And do you -- are there any other brands that are up for maybe being absorbed into the -- your broader network?

好的。然後就您的協同目標而言。我知道 Fully 是 Knoll 的品牌。那麼——這是 1.4 億美元儲蓄的一部分嗎？或者這是增量嗎？你 - 是否有任何其他品牌可能被吸收到 - 你更廣泛的網絡中？

Yes. This is part of the synergy savings, Greg. It's a great question. And as part of the integration process, we will continue for the next however many months to go through and evaluate what is profitable, what are the right decisions. And certainly, we'll let you guys know when we make those decisions and when they're public. But right now, Fully is the only place that we've made that decision, and it is the right thing to do; always hard to do, but the right thing to do.

是的。這是協同效應節省的一部分，Greg。這是一個很好的問題。作為整合過程的一部分，我們將在接下來的幾個月裡繼續進行評估，評估什麼是有利可圖的，什麼是正確的決定。當然，我們會在做出這些決定以及它們公開的時候讓你們知道。但是現在，Fully 是我們做出該決定的唯一地方，而且這是正確的做法；總是很難做，但要做正確的事。

We'll take our next question from Reuben Garner with Benchmark Company.

我們將接受 Benchmark Company 的魯本·加納 (Reuben Garner) 提出的下一個問題。

Jeff, maybe to start, operating expenses in the third quarter came in, I think, lower than what you guys were looking for and it looks like there's a step-up in dollars in the next revenue. Can you kind of walk through maybe what was different for you in the third quarter? And is there any seasonality of spending or anything else that would lead to the step up in the next quarter?

傑夫，也許首先，我認為第三季度的運營費用低於你們所期待的，而且看起來下一個收入的美元有所增加。你能說說第三節對你來說有什麼不同嗎？是否有任何季節性支出或其他任何因素會導致下一季度增加？

Yes. Happy to, Reuben. You're spot on. We did -- and I would tell you that given order trends, just in general terms, we are really taking every measure to manage costs in line with lower demand levels. So that's just the general overview comment. I would tell you that one of the big factors in the third quarter, and this speaks to our guide for Q4 as well is the impact of declining volumes around incentive compensation as an example. So we did see some of those accruals come down in the third quarter. So you won't get a repeat of that in Q4, if that makes sense. So that's one of the factors that's causing some lumpiness there.

是的。很高興，魯本。你是正確的。我們做到了——我會告訴你，給定訂單趨勢，就一般而言，我們確實在採取一切措施來管理成本，以適應較低的需求水平。這只是一般性的概述意見。我會告訴你，第三季度的一個重要因素，這也說明了我們對第四季度的指南，例如激勵薪酬數量下降的影響。所以我們確實看到其中一些應計利潤在第三季度有所下降。所以你不會在第四季度重複這一點，如果這有意義的話。所以這是導致那裡出現一些腫塊的因素之一。

But I would also tell you that we historically, and I think you know this from past, we tend to see some seasonal uptick between Q3 and Q4 in spend rates just as we ready ourselves for the -- for new product releases and so forth that tend to be seasonal as we move into the early part of summer. So I think all of those factors combined cause that. But look, I would tell you that those programs work as designed. They're variable in nature. And when you see volume levels drop, you see those come down. And so I think it's no surprise, but it is a factor that influenced the comparison to the guide.

但我還要告訴你，從歷史上看，我想你從過去就知道這一點，我們往往會看到第三季度和第四季度之間支出率出現一些季節性上升，就像我們為新產品發布等做好準備一樣隨著我們進入夏初，往往是季節性的。所以我認為所有這些因素共同導致了這一點。但是看，我會告訴你這些程序按設計工作。它們本質上是可變的。當您看到音量水平下降時，您會看到它們下降了。所以我認為這並不奇怪，但這是影響與指南比較的一個因素。

Okay. And then same kind of line of questioning on the gross margin side. It looks like with your guidance for the next quarter, you're still kind of on the path that you laid out at the end of last year, and that's what I think is despite less volume than you probably would have otherwise thought and then maybe less mix of the higher-margin retail. Is that right? And I -- and if so, can you kind of walk through what's kind of improved sequentially? Is it simply price flowing through and finally, some deflation or inflationary release?

好的。然後在毛利率方面提出同樣的質疑。看起來你對下一季度的指導，你仍然在你去年年底制定的道路上，這就是我的想法，儘管數量比你想像的要少，然後也許較少的高利潤零售組合。是對的嗎？我——如果是這樣的話，你能介紹一下順序改進的內容嗎？它只是價格流動，最後，通貨緊縮或通貨膨脹釋放嗎？

Yes. I think you're hitting on a couple of the key points, Reuben. And by the way, I appreciate the observation because we -- this is an area that we wanted to make sure we emphasize and that we feel really good about. I mean the margin expansion across the business is every bit as strong as we had expected it to be. And I think it's encouraging to see it even as demand levels have fallen. And that's been a message that we've consistently been sending that we think we can achieve that.

是的。 Reuben，我認為你抓住了幾個關鍵點。順便說一下，我很欣賞這種觀察，因為我們——這是一個我們想要確保強調並且我們感覺非常好的領域。我的意思是整個業務的利潤率擴張與我們預期的一樣強勁。我認為即使在需求水平下降的情況下看到它也是令人鼓舞的。這是我們一直在傳達的信息，我們認為我們可以實現這一目標。

So we feel really good about that. I think our guide, if you look just sequentially from Q3, a couple of things that inform that, pricing is one of them. And you mentioned that that's somewhere on the order of 30 basis points. We're going to get a little bit of lift from commodities. So we are seeing a couple of areas where we're starting to see market prices move around even some reinflation. Look at market price of steel, for example, that's been ticking up of late, but we still believe that as a basket commodities will be favorable to us sequentially.

所以我們對此感覺非常好。我認為我們的指南，如果你從第三季度開始按順序看，有幾件事可以說明這一點，定價就是其中之一。你提到那大約是 30 個基點的數量級。我們將從大宗商品中獲得一點提振。因此，我們看到一些領域開始出現市場價格波動，甚至出現一些再通脹。以鋼鐵的市場價格為例，最近一直在上漲，但我們仍然認為，作為一攬子商品，其順序將對我們有利。

The other thing that I'd point out is there's a mix factor in there that's going to help, but I want to give a shout-out to the retail side of the business. We've had a couple of quarters here where we've had some one-offs that we've talked to about things like inventory storage costs and so forth that have pressured margins. We expect those to meaningfully improve as we move into Q4. So that's another driver of that expected increase in gross margin.

我要指出的另一件事是，其中有一個混合因素會有所幫助，但我想對業務的零售方面大聲疾呼。我們在這裡有幾個季度，我們已經討論過一些一次性的事情，比如庫存存儲成本等等，這些都對利潤率造成了壓力。我們預計，隨著我們進入第四季度，這些情況將得到顯著改善。因此，這是毛利率預期增長的另一個驅動因素。

The last thing I would add, Jeff, is just you start to see synergy capture coming through that line as well. And as we continue to capture more and more synergies, we will also see about the margin as I outlined. So yes, we're very pleased about that.

傑夫，我要補充的最後一件事就是你開始看到協同效應也通過那條線獲得。隨著我們繼續獲得越來越多的協同效應，我們還將看到我概述的利潤率。所以是的，我們對此感到非常高興。

All right. I'm going to sneak one more in, a follow-up on Fully. So can you help -- is that something that you are not able to do because of the developments with hermanmiller.com and internal kind of initiatives versus some kind of structural change? I just thought that Fully was offering something that maybe you guys didn't have before or maybe it was just Knoll didn't. Can you kind of, I guess, dig into that a little bit more?

好的。我打算再偷偷進去一個，完全跟進。那麼，您能提供幫助嗎？是不是因為 hermanmiller.com 的發展和內部舉措與某種結構性變化，您無法做到這一點？我只是認為 Fully 提供的東西可能你們以前沒有，或者只是 Knoll 沒有。我想，你能再深入研究一下嗎？

Yes. It's a great question, Reuben. So I think when Knoll acquired Fully, and I certainly can't speak for that company back then, but it offered them a digital avenue to market that they didn't have. We have that, and we have a very well-established one as well as a retail business. And so as we look across the organization and find redundancies, it's important that we address as we have a great retail channel to market.

是的。這是一個很好的問題，魯本。所以我認為當 Knoll 收購 Fully 時，我當時當然不能代表那家公司，但它為他們提供了他們沒有的數字市場渠道。我們有，我們有一個非常完善的零售業務。因此，當我們審視整個組織並發現冗餘時，重要的是我們要解決這個問題，因為我們有一個很好的零售市場渠道。

We have great Fully products. We don't need the duplication that we've had. And although Fully is a small portion of our business, it has been breakeven to money moving at best. And so for us, this was the right decision, and we can still maintain the great products. We can still bring them to market in a very meaningful way, and we don't need to lose that, but we can lose some of the extra cost that was making it not a profitable equation for us.

我們有很棒的 Fully 產品。我們不需要我們已經擁有的重複。儘管 Fully 只占我們業務的一小部分，但充其量只是資金流動的收支平衡。所以對我們來說，這是一個正確的決定，我們仍然可以保持偉大的產品。我們仍然可以以一種非常有意義的方式將它們推向市場，我們不需要失去它，但我們可以失去一些額外的成本，這些成本使它對我們來說不是一個有利可圖的方程式。

We'll take our next question from Budd Bugatch with Water Tower Research.

我們將從 Budd Bugatch 和 Water Tower Research 提出下一個問題。

Congratulations on managing the margins in this. I think that's impressive. And the difference is at least to my model, mostly center in the Americas, which I don't suspect is a big surprise in terms of particularly the revenue. And I know, John, you said that the order patterns have started to improve. Can you at least put some quantification in that? Or are we looking at a positive orders year-over-year in terms of what you're seeing in the last couple of weeks of the quarter and maybe the first couple of weeks of the next?

祝賀您在這方面管理利潤率。我認為這令人印象深刻。至少在我的模型中有所不同，主要集中在美洲，我不懷疑這在收入方面特別令人驚訝。我知道，約翰，你說過訂單模式已經開始改善。您至少可以對此進行一些量化嗎？或者，根據您在本季度的最後幾週以及下一季度的前幾週所看到的情況，我們是否正在尋找同比積極的訂單？

Yes, Budd, this is Jeff. So what I would tell you is that we started the quarter lagging pretty -- we were down double-digit percentage. We improved in January and February to single digit. The percentage still declined, but an improving trend line, and that has -- it's moved a little bit in the first couple of weeks of Q4, but nowhere near as low as it was to start back in December. So it's still pressure, wouldn't want to leave you with the wrong impression there. But that coupled with the fact that John, maybe you could speak to this a little bit. I think we're getting some feedback by the way.

是的，巴德，這是傑夫。所以我要告訴你的是，我們在本季度開始時相當落後——我們下降了兩位數的百分比。我們在 1 月和 2 月提高到個位數。該百分比仍在下降，但趨勢線正在改善，並且在第四季度的前幾周有所移動，但遠不及 12 月份開始時的低水平。所以它仍然是壓力，不想在那裡給你留下錯誤的印象。但是，再加上約翰，也許你可以談談這個。順便說一句，我想我們正在得到一些反饋。

Operator, are we receiving some feedback on the line? Are you hearing that?

接線員，我們是否在線上收到一些反饋？你聽到了嗎？

Yes, Ma'am. I'm hearing that.

是的女士。我聽到了。

Budd, can you hear it?

巴德，你能聽到嗎？

I can hear you. I can hear you fine. I'm not getting the feedback. So I don't think it's coming to my line.

我可以聽見你。我能聽到你的聲音。我沒有得到反饋。所以我認為這不會出現在我的行列中。

Okay, keep going then.

好的，那你繼續。

Yes. Sorry, we were getting a little feedback in the room. Yes. So I would say that trend, which is at least moving in the right direction, albeit still year-on-year pressure combined with some of the funnel metrics that we're seeing. And I don't know, John, if you want to speak to that, that gives us some encouragement here.

是的。抱歉，我們在房間裡收到了一些反饋。是的。所以我會說這種趨勢至少在朝著正確的方向發展，儘管與我們看到的一些漏斗指標相結合，仍然存在同比壓力。我不知道，約翰，如果你想談這個，這給了我們一些鼓勵。

Yes. Thank you, Jeff. From a funnel perspective, we've seen significant growth in the over $1 million size projects, something we really haven't seen a lot of since we're prepandemic days, if you will. So we've seen a lot of activity there. And the overall funnel is up quarter-to-quarter as well. I think from Q3 to Q4, our net funnel additions were up 38%. So the activity seems to be percolating a bit, and that gives us obviously some encouragement to see some change in order trend over time as well.

是的。謝謝你，傑夫。從漏斗的角度來看，我們已經看到超過 100 萬美元規模的項目有了顯著增長，如果你願意的話，自從我們處於大流行前的日子以來，我們真的沒有看到很多。所以我們在那裡看到了很多活動。整個漏斗也按季度增長。我認為從第三季度到第四季度，我們的淨漏斗增加了 38%。因此，該活動似乎有所滲透，這顯然給了我們一些鼓勵，讓我們看到訂單趨勢也隨著時間的推移發生了一些變化。

And when you're talking about funnel, you're talking about visits and projects you're bidding on? Or is there something more concrete to what you define as the funnel?

當你談論漏斗時，你是在談論你正在競標的訪問和項目？或者對於您定義的漏斗有沒有更具體的東西？

It's identified project and account opportunities that our sellers have identified and are pursuing in the market. So they are live projects that we're tracking in pursuit of.

它確定了我們的賣家已經確定並正在市場上追求的項目和客戶機會。因此，它們是我們正在追踪的實時項目。

And the BIFMA numbers, at least as we see them on a monthly basis, looks like we're getting into a situation where orders are just about flat year-over-year, not quite, but getting there. And so the fact that you're still down single digit, does that mean that you're performing a little bit behind BIFMA for the rest of the industry?

BIFMA 的數據，至少在我們每月看到的數據中，看起來我們正處於一種情況，即訂單與去年同期相比基本持平，不完全是，但已經達到了。因此，您仍然下降個位數這一事實是否意味著您在行業其他方面的表現落後於 BIFMA？

I think you have to look at BIFMA with a grain of salt, Budd. I mean, depending on how all of the players are reporting their numbers and what's included in contract and if there's other visit, I wouldn't say that you can make that lead necessarily.

我認為你必須對 BIFMA 持保留態度，Budd。我的意思是，取決於所有球員如何報告他們的數據以及合同中包含的內容以及是否有其他訪問，我不會說你一定能取得領先。

Okay. I always take those numbers with a little bit of a grain of salt indeed.

好的。我總是對這些數字持保留態度。

Okay, good. We appreciate that.

好的。我們對此表示讚賞。

Jeff, can you give us maybe kind of an MD&A read of going from a walk to -- from gross margin, either segment level or overall level as to what drove the difference because where is the contribution margin right now with all the changes that you're experiencing with all the difficulties in the environment.

傑夫，你能不能給我們一些 MD&A 的解讀，從毛利率、細分市場水平或整體水平來看，是什麼導致了差異，因為現在的貢獻率在哪裡，你所做的所有變化正在經歷環境中的所有困難。

Yes, happy to -- I'm going to keep it at the enterprise level, Budd, just because we don't guide at the segment level, but happy to talk kind of at the ink level for the business. And if you -- I'll just walk you year-on-year for the third quarter. Pricing was the big story for us this quarter, and it really has been. But that was a favorable 400-plus basis point move in gross margins.

是的，很高興——我將把它保持在企業層面，巴德，只是因為我們不在細分層面進行指導，但很高興在業務層面談論某種程度的問題。如果你 - 我會在第三季度與去年同期相比走你。定價對我們來說是本季度的大事，而且確實如此。但這是毛利率有利的 400 多個基點變動。

And again, that's particularly encouraging because we have been expecting it and we're getting it, which is great. The other positive is that we had a little bit of positive of around 60 basis points, best we can estimate from overall product mix shifts that have been in our favor. And that's across all of our channels, by the way. So that can be channel mix, and it can also be product mix.

再一次，這特別令人鼓舞，因為我們一直期待它，我們正在得到它，這太棒了。另一個積極因素是我們有大約 60 個基點的積極因素，最好是我們可以從對我們有利的整體產品組合轉變中進行估計。順便說一下，這是我們所有渠道的內容。所以可以是渠道組合，也可以是產品組合。

Commodities are actually, after many, many quarters of significant pressure from commodities, we're starting to see those flatten out. They were slightly negative. We had about a 20 basis point year-on-year drag from net commodity impacts on the business, but much improved from where they've been. We did lose some overhead from lower production levels, again, when -- as you know, when order levels drop in the business and you get less production, you see that on the labor and overhead lines. So we lost about 70 basis points year-on-year from overhead leverage.

大宗商品實際上在經歷了很多很多季度來自大宗商品的巨大壓力之後，我們開始看到這些壓力趨於平緩。他們略顯消極。大宗商品淨影響對業務的影響同比拖累了約 20 個基點，但與過去相比有了很大改善。我們確實因較低的生產水平而損失了一些間接費用，當 - 如您所知，當業務中的訂單水平下降並且您的產量減少時，您會在人工和間接費用線上看到這一點。因此，我們從間接槓桿中同比損失了大約 70 個基點。

And then freight and transportation costs were -- continue to be a pressure in total. We were 90 basis points down year-on-year from freight and transportation. And the thing I'd say about that is we're seeing -- it's stubbornly slow, but we're seeing improvements. And I think particularly in the retail side of our business, we're seeing still elevated inbound freight costs mainly coming out of Europe where container rates and shipping costs just haven't come down as fast as what we've seen out of Asia. So that's one kind of nuance to the business. But in total, for the enterprise, 90 basis points of freight.

然後運費和運輸成本 - 繼續成為總體壓力。貨運和運輸同比下降 90 個基點。我要說的是我們看到了——它非常緩慢，但我們看到了改進。而且我認為，特別是在我們業務的零售方面，我們看到主要來自歐洲的入境貨運成本仍在上升，那裡的集裝箱運費和運輸成本沒有像我們在亞洲看到的那樣快速下降。所以這是對業務的一種細微差別。但總的來說，對於企業來說，90個基點的運費。

And then the last thing I'd point out is, I mentioned this wasn't a surprise as we knew this was going to be a factor, 50 basis points of that storage fee impact that we had in the retail side of the business, that inventory demurrage and storage fees that I talked about on the call last quarter, it was 50 basis points of pressure year-on-year. The good news is that's behind us now and actually...

然後我要指出的最後一件事是，我提到這並不奇怪，因為我們知道這將是一個因素，我們在零售業務方面產生的倉儲費影響的 50 個基點，我在上個季度的電話會議上談到的庫存滯期費和倉儲費，同比有 50 個基點的壓力。好消息是現在已經過去了，實際上......

I'm sorry, that was a negative 140 then with the 90 and the 50. Is that stated average?

抱歉，90 和 50 是負 140。這是規定的平均值嗎？

Yes, freight -- between freight and the retail storage, that's 140 negative. That's correct.

是的，運費——在運費和零售倉儲之間，是 140 負。這是正確的。

Right. And so demurrage is -- where that's -- I hate that word. I hate the fact of paying out money. Unfortunately, it took a lot of my personal wealth about 30 years ago. Can you also give us maybe on a GAAP basis, what the GAAP guidance would be for EPS? I know the adjusted is [$0.37] to [$0.43]. What would the GAAP be? What's the adjustment number?

正確的。所以滯期費是——在那裡——我討厭這個詞。我討厭付錢的事實。不幸的是，大約 30 年前，它花費了我很多個人財富。您是否也可以在 GAAP 的基礎上給我們，EPS 的 GAAP 指南是什麼？我知道調整後的價格是 [$0.37] 到 [$0.43]。 GAAP 是什麼？調整編號是多少？

But the only known adjustment would be the impact of amortization cost of purchased intangibles from the Knoll acquisition. And that's, I think, on the order of $6 million a quarter. Beyond that, we may well have other adjustments, but they're certainly not known at this point.

但唯一已知的調整是從 Knoll 收購中購買的無形資產攤銷成本的影響。我認為，這大約是每季度 600 萬美元。除此之外，我們很可能還有其他調整，但目前還不知道。

And they're not -- they're not in the guidance. So the guidance if you do that. And you're guiding on tax rate is the same as it has been or where is that going to be?

他們不是——他們不在指南中。所以如果你這樣做的話，指導。你對稅率的指導與過去一樣，或者那將是什麼？

Yes. We figured 22% to 24%, same as where we've been.

是的。我們估計是 22% 到 24%，與我們一直以來的情況相同。

Okay. And just a couple more for me, and these are more niche. That $4.6 million, I think, of restructuring, is that all Fully?

好的。對我來說還有幾個，這些更小眾。我想，那 460 萬美元的重組費用是全部嗎？

So the Fully restructuring -- well, no, we had total special charge items in the quarter of just over $52 million, I think, Budd, $37 million of which relates to the Fully decision and those were impairment of things like leases, inventory valuation reserve. Yes, so the majority of it was related to Fully, but not the total amount.

所以完全重組——嗯，不，我們在本季度的特殊費用項目總額剛剛超過 5200 萬美元，我認為，巴德，其中 3700 萬美元與完全重組決定有關，這些是租賃、庫存估值等減值預訂。是的，所以其中大部分與 Fully 有關，但不是總量。

But the $4.6 million in restructuring, where did that -- what was the restructuring? What did you do there?

但是 460 萬美元的重組，它在哪裡——重組是什麼？你在那裡做什麼？

That would have related, Budd, to actions that were announced in Q2 associated with the early retirement and some workforce reductions that have a tail as we move through the balance of the fiscal year based on the timing of exits.

巴德，這與第二季度宣布的與提前退休和一些裁員相關的行動有關，這些裁員在我們根據退出時間通過財政年度的餘額時會有尾巴。

Okay. And that's split -- it's primarily mostly in Americas. Is that right? I think that's where it's shipped mostly. Okay. I see it. And last for me is the incentive comp. Can you quantify what that was in the quarter, how much that helped in the quarter?

好的。這是分裂的——主要是在美洲。是對的嗎？我認為那是它主要出貨的地方。好的。我看到了。最後對我來說是激勵補償。您能否量化該季度的情況，該季度的幫助有多大？

We're not -- I'm not going to quantify it, Budd, it was a primary driver in the operating expense reduction year-on-year.

我們不是——我不打算量化它，Budd，它是運營費用同比減少的主要驅動力。

And the reason that doesn't repeat is you've already made that reduction for -- you had a similar reduction last year. I mean you all always have that variable issue when revenues don't quite make expectations.

不重複的原因是你已經做出了減少——你去年也有類似的減少。我的意思是，當收入沒有達到預期時，你們總是會遇到這個可變的問題。

Yes. That is correct.

是的。那是對的。

Yes. It just depends on kind of business conditions at a given point in time and the kind of the outlook for the balance of the year.

是的。這僅取決於給定時間點的業務狀況類型以及當年餘額的前景類型。

So it's already -- we certainly expect that to recur?

所以它已經 - 我們當然希望這種情況再次發生？

Should not. You should not expect that to recur.

不應該。你不應該期望這種情況會再次發生。

You should not. You should not. Correct.

你不應該。你不應該。正確的。

I hope I said that right, or hope I'm still a little confused, but we'll get that squared away at a later time.

我希望我說的是對的，或者希望我仍然有點困惑，但我們稍後會解決這個問題。

We'll take our next question from Steven Ramsey with Thompson.

我們將與湯普森一起接受 Steven Ramsey 的下一個問題。

Maybe to start with just bringing the Americas orders and demand into the context of companies. More companies laying off workers, but the tug of war against companies wanting workers in the office in recognizing the value, realize the near term maybe is a headwind. But how is that shaping conversations for the longer term, maybe as you look into the second half of calendar 2023 and beyond.

也許首先只是將美洲訂單和需求納入公司的背景。越來越多的公司裁員，但與希望員工在辦公室工作的公司認識到價值的拉鋸戰，意識到近期可能是一個逆風。但這如何塑造長期對話，也許當你展望 2023 年下半年及以後時。

It's a great question, Steven. John alluded earlier to the amount of activity that we're seeing, and I think it's directly related to returning to work, to leaders of companies wanting to find ways to get people back in the office. And also, frankly, people coming back into the office and enjoying being together and collaborating again. So we are seeing an uptick in activity looking to find creative ways to change spaces, to adapt to the new workforce, to adapt to hybrid. So more activity than we have in the past. And I think that's shaping how we can help people make these decisions and how they can think about their workspaces. But John, what specifics would you add for the Americas?

這是一個很好的問題，史蒂文。約翰早些時候提到了我們看到的活動數量，我認為這與重返工作崗位直接相關，公司領導希望找到讓人們回到辦公室的方法。而且，坦率地說，人們回到辦公室並享受在一起和再次合作的樂趣。因此，我們看到尋求創造性方法來改變空間、適應新勞動力、適應混合動力的活動有所增加。所以比我們過去的活動更多。我認為這正在塑造我們如何幫助人們做出這些決定以及他們如何思考他們的工作空間。但是約翰，你會為美洲添加什麼細節？

Thanks, Andi. I would add that literally every C-level conversation we're having probably for the last 90 days, those executives are looking for help to get their employees back in the office. I think they understand the importance of return to office for all the reasons we've all talked about in the past, culture connections, collaboration, et cetera.

謝謝，安迪。我要補充一點，在過去的 90 天裡，我們可能進行的每一次 C 級對話，這些高管都在尋求幫助，讓他們的員工回到辦公室。我認為他們了解重返辦公室的重要性，原因我們過去都談到過，文化聯繫、協作等等。

And I think they're becoming bolder in terms of their desire to have people back because they're understanding the business impact of not having their employees back in the workplace. So I think, to your point, ultimately, that will change from a headwind to at least neutral, if not a bit of a tailwind as companies come to grips with that.

而且我認為他們在讓員工回來的願望方面變得更加大膽，因為他們了解不讓員工回到工作場所的業務影響。所以我認為，就你的觀點而言，最終，隨著公司開始著手應對，這將從逆風轉變為至少中性，如果不是一點順風的話。

Okay. Great. And then shifting to International. You talked about new markets and geographies through local accounts. Can you share if this is a new initiative or a stronger push than the past? And is this going to be a major sales benefit in the next couple of quarters? Or will this have to build up over time?

好的。偉大的。然後轉向國際。您通過本地帳戶談到了新市場和新地區。您能否分享這是一項新舉措還是比過去更有力的推動？這會成為未來幾個季度的主要銷售收益嗎？還是這必須隨著時間的推移而積累？

Yes. We have been investing in and developing our International sales team, expanding our dealer network internationally for the last several years. So I would say we stand more ready now than we did a couple of years ago to capture the opportunities in different markets than we did before. We've had great leadership there. We continue to have great leadership there. And because we have such a varied presence, we can capitalize on the markets where we see opportunities. So I would say it's been a conscious effort, not a new one, but one where I think we'll start to reap the benefit as we find these opportunities. Jeff, what would you add?

是的。在過去的幾年裡，我們一直在投資和發展我們的國際銷售團隊，擴大我們的國際經銷商網絡。所以我想說，我們現在比幾年前準備得更充分，可以抓住不同市場的機會。我們在那裡有很好的領導。我們在那裡繼續發揮出色的領導作用。由於我們擁有如此多樣化的業務，我們可以利用我們看到機會的市場。所以我想說這是一種有意識的努力，不是新的努力，而是我認為當我們找到這些機會時我們將開始獲益的努力。傑夫，你會添加什麼？

Yes. And Steven, the only thing that I would add to that is this is one of those areas where I think the combination of Herman Miller and Knoll plays to our advantage here because we now have new tools and new solutions that we can offer existing dealer partners in markets like India or markets like Korea or even in Europe, where the Knoll product lines give us solutions that we couldn't previously offer our customers and it opens doors. So we're very encouraged and have high expectations for that.

是的。 Steven，我唯一要補充的是，這是我認為 Herman Miller 和 Knoll 的結合在這裡發揮優勢的領域之一，因為我們現在擁有可以為現有經銷商合作夥伴提供的新工具和新解決方案在印度等市場或韓國甚至歐洲等市場，Knoll 產品線為我們提供了我們以前無法為客戶提供的解決方案，並打開了大門。因此，我們對此感到非常鼓舞和寄予厚望。

Got you. Okay. And then last quick one for me on the Fully shift. I may have missed this, but how quickly does that help profitability in the retail channel. Is that pretty immediate? Or will that take time to build up?

明白了好的。然後是我在 Fully shift 上的最後一個快速。我可能錯過了這一點，但這對零售渠道的盈利能力有多大幫助。這很直接嗎？或者這需要時間來建立？

We'll be unwinding this in the next quarter, and then we'll see it in Q1. But remember, this is a small portion of the piece of the retail business. Jeff, do you want to add something to it?

我們將在下個季度取消它，然後我們將在第一季度看到它。但請記住，這只是零售業務的一小部分。傑夫，你想添加一些東西嗎？

No, I think that's fair.

不，我認為這很公平。

We'll take our next question from Alex Fuhrman with Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

我們將從 Craig-Hallum Capital Group 的 Alex Fuhrman 那裡回答下一個問題。

First and foremost, if I could just ask maybe to square a little bit the differences in what we're hearing about for orders versus your revenue trend? I mean it sounds like orders were down close to 20% in the third quarter and have gotten a little bit better, but obviously, the revenue guidance that you're giving for Q4 is a good amount better than that order trend. So just hoping if you could square the 2 numbers a little bit is part of that improvement you've seen in orders quarter-to-date or maybe just the benefit of working through your existing backlog? Just anything you can kind of give us as we sort of size up what the base case would be heading into next year would be very helpful.

首先也是最重要的，我是否可以問一下我們所聽到的訂單與您的收入趨勢之間的差異？我的意思是，聽起來第三季度訂單下降了近 20%，並且有所好轉，但顯然，您為第四季度提供的收入指導比訂單趨勢好很多。因此，只是希望您能將這 2 個數字稍微平方一下，這是您在季度至今的訂單中看到的改進的一部分，或者可能只是處理現有積壓的好處？在我們估計明年的基本情況時，您可以提供給我們的任何東西都會非常有幫助。

Yes, Alex, this is Jeff. Good question. So I think you kind of hit on a couple of the main points, but just to maybe emphasize them. A, we have seen, as I mentioned earlier, kind of as we move through the quarter, order patterns did get a little better. And so that's part of our calculus. You also have, in particular, in the International business, we've just got -- some of this is -- Andi used the term lumpy earlier, and it is very true in that segment of our business. And so there are -- we have line of sight to orders that we have confidence in early enough in the quarter to influence revenue in Q4.

是的，亞歷克斯，這是傑夫。好問題。所以我認為你抓住了幾個要點，但可能只是為了強調它們。答，正如我之前提到的，我們已經看到，隨著本季度的推進，訂單模式確實有所改善。所以這是我們計算的一部分。你也有，特別是在國際業務中，我們剛剛 - 其中一些是 - Andi 早些時候使用了塊狀這個詞，這在我們的業務領域非常正確。因此，我們可以看到我們在本季度早期有足夠信心影響第四季度收入的訂單。

And then the other point that I would make is, even though in total, the Q4 revenue guide is a little atypical because it's actually -- at our midpoint, it's down from the Q3 number that's just reflective of economic conditions. However, even within that, within some of the segments, you do have some seasonality that is normally expected in Q4. And I would point to the retail business as part of that as well. So, I think, those are the major factors that give us kind of the parts and pieces that inform the fourth quarter guidance.

然後我要說的另一點是，儘管總的來說，第四季度收入指南有點不典型，因為它實際上 - 在我們的中點，它低於僅反映經濟狀況的第三季度數字。然而，即使在其中，在某些細分市場中，您也確實有一些通常預期在第四季度出現的季節性。我也會指出零售業務也是其中的一部分。所以，我認為，這些是為我們提供第四季度指導意見的部分和部分的主要因素。

Okay. That's really helpful, Jeff. And then if I could ask also just about the backlog before COVID and before the acquisition of Knoll, it seemed like your backlog was more or less consistent around the $400 million level. And then, of course, with Knoll and the pandemic, we saw balloon up to $1 billion. Now it's been working its way steadily down for a few quarters and is around $700 million. Can you give us a sense of where we should expect to see that level out with Knoll and in the post-COVID world? Are you expecting that number to continue to work lower throughout next year?

好的。這真的很有幫助，傑夫。然後，如果我還可以問一下 COVID 之前和收購 Knoll 之前的積壓情況，您的積壓情況似乎或多或少保持在 4 億美元左右。然後，當然，由於 Knoll 和大流行病，我們看到了高達 10 億美元的氣球。現在它已經穩步下降了幾個季度，約為 7 億美元。您能否告訴我們，在 Knoll 和後 COVID 世界中，我們應該在哪裡看到這種水平？您是否預計明年這一數字會繼續下降？

Alex, that the -- we're still -- the world has been so disrupted, we're still kind of waiting to see ourselves what kind of the new normal looks like. But I would tell you that I think based on the patterns that we see and based on how orders are scheduling, we're nearing a point where we think the backlog is largely stabilized. It might -- you might argue it's still a bit elevated in total. But I think as we move through Q4 and get into the -- certainly, the Q1 of this next year, our expectations would be that we're that we are, if you will, kind of at that new normal level. So I'm not going to give you an absolute dollar amount because business can -- as soon as I do business conditions will change, but I think we're getting close.

亞歷克斯，我們仍然 - 世界已經如此混亂，我們仍在等待自己看看新常態是什麼樣的。但我會告訴你，我認為根據我們看到的模式和訂單的安排方式，我們正在接近我們認為積壓訂單基本穩定的地步。它可能——你可能會爭辯說它總體上還是有點高。但我認為，隨著我們進入第四季度並進入——當然，明年的第一季度，我們的期望是，如果你願意的話，我們將處於新的常態水平。所以我不會給你一個絕對的美元數額，因為業務可以 - 一旦我這樣做業務條件就會改變，但我認為我們正在接近。

And we do have a follow-up question from Budd Bugatch with Water Tower Research.

我們確實收到了 Budd Bugatch 與 Water Tower Research 的後續問題。

Yes. Sorry to prolong it, but I just wanted to make sure I understood something. Jeff, you said that the only adjustment you would expect in Q4 is really the amortization of purchased intangibles. Are there still acquisition and integration charges continuing? I think you told they would continue for a long time.

是的。很抱歉拖延時間，但我只是想確保我理解了一些東西。傑夫，你說過你在第四季度預期的唯一調整實際上是購買無形資產的攤銷。收購和整合費用是否仍在繼續？我想你告訴他們會持續很長時間。

Well, look, Budd, this is why we're not guiding. We don't have absolute clarity on what those will be. Those are -- That's a live program that will unfold. So that's why we've tried to keep it out of the numbers because it can move around based on actions and levers that get pulled in the quarter. So yes, there are -- there's potential for other things. The only absolute known would be that amortization number that I gave you.

好吧，巴德，這就是我們不指導的原因。我們對這些將是什麼還沒有絕對的清晰度。這些是——這是一個即將展開的現場節目。所以這就是為什麼我們試圖將其排除在數字之外，因為它可以根據本季度採取的行動和槓桿來移動。所以是的，有 - 還有其他事情的潛力。唯一已知的是我給你的攤銷數字。

There are no further questions. We turn the floor back to President and CEO, Andi Owen, for any closing remarks.

沒有其他問題了。我們請總裁兼首席執行官安迪·歐文 (Andi Owen) 發表結束語。

Thanks again, everyone, for joining us on the call. We appreciate your continued support of MillerKnoll, and we look forward to updating you on our progress again next quarter. Thanks again, and have a great night.

再次感謝大家加入我們的電話會議。感謝您對 MillerKnoll 的持續支持，我們期待著在下個季度再次向您通報我們的進展情況。再次感謝，祝您度過一個美好的夜晚。

And that does conclude today's presentation. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

這確實結束了今天的演講。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。