Pool Corp (POOL) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Pool Corporation second-quarter 2024 conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that this event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Pool Corporation 2024 年第二季電話會議。（操作員說明）請注意，該事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Melanie Hart, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議交給副總裁兼財務長梅蘭妮·哈特 (Melanie Hart)。請繼續。

Welcome to our second-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Our discussion, comments, and responses to questions today may include forward-looking statements, including management's outlook for 2024 and future periods. Actual results may differ materially from those discussed today. Information regarding the factors and variables that could cause actual results to differ from projected results are discussed in our 10-K.

歡迎參加我們的 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。我們今天的討論、評論和對問題的回答可能包含前瞻性陳述，包括管理階層對 2024 年及未來時期的展望。實際結果可能與今天討論的結果大不相同。我們的 10-K 中討論了有關可能導致實際結果與預測結果不同的因素和變數的資訊。

In addition, we may make references to non-GAAP financial measures in our comments. A description and reconciliation of our non-GAAP financial measures are included in our press release and posted to our corporate website in the Investor Relations section.

此外，我們可能會在評論中提及非公認會計準則財務指標。我們的非公認會計原則財務指標的描述和調節包含在我們的新聞稿中，並發佈在我們公司網站的投資者關係部分。

As we introduced last quarter, we have included a brief presentation on our Investor website to summarize key points for our press release and call comments. Unless otherwise stated within our prepared remarks, all comparisons refer to second-quarter 2024 versus second-quarter 2023.

正如我們在上季度介紹的那樣，我們在投資者網站上做了簡短的介紹，總結了我們新聞稿和電話會議評論的要點。除非我們準備好的評論另有說明，否則所有比較均指 2024 年第二季與 2023 年第二季。

We are now ready to begin with comments from Pete Arvan, our President and CEO.

我們現在準備開始聽取我們的總裁兼執行長 Pete Arvan 的評論。

Thank you, Melanie. And good morning, everyone. As we reported this morning, we generated $1.8 billion in net sales during the second quarter, reflecting a solid performance in the maintenance portion of our business during the busiest time of the year. This performance showcases our crisp execution, progress on strategic initiatives, and our ability to continue gaining share by providing an unmatched value proposition.

謝謝你，梅蘭妮。大家早安。正如我們今天早上報導的那樣，我們第二季度的淨銷售額為 18 億美元，反映出我們業務的維護部分在一年中最繁忙的時期表現強勁。這項業績展現了我們的乾脆執行力、策略性舉措的進展，以及我們透過提供無與倫比的價值主張繼續獲得市場份額的能力。

As we discussed in our June release, the trends we observed in discretionary spending for new pool construction and large renovation projects and some larger discretionary items based continued economic headwinds, while the non-discretionary demand is solid and in line with our expectations.

正如我們在6 月發布的報告中所討論的，我們觀察到的新水池建設和大型改造項目以及一些較大的可自由支配項目的趨勢是基於持續的經濟逆風，而非可自由支配的需求是穩定的，符合我們的預期。

Our customers who primarily focus on new pool construction and renovation and remodel continue to report lower demand for low- to mid-range pools, while demand remained solid at the higher end. The trend remains unchanged from recent quarters. A similar pattern is seen in renovations. High-end renovation project interest is reported to be solid, although the summer, when people are using their pool, is the slow season for renovation.

主要關注新泳池建設和翻新改造的客戶繼續表示，對中低檔泳池的需求較低，而高端泳池的需求仍然穩定。這一趨勢與最近幾個季度相比沒有變化。類似的模式也出現在裝潢中。據報道，高端改造項目的興趣濃厚，儘管人們使用游泳池的夏季是改造的淡季。

Similar to new construction of low-end pools, smaller renovation projects are being deferred frequently in this environment. Dealers are reporting more inbound calls. However, many consumers remain hesitant to pull the trigger in the current economic cycle. We view this as a positive sign for the future.

與新建低階泳池類似，小型改造工程在這種環境下經常被推遲。經銷商報告呼入電話增多。然而，在當前的經濟週期中，許多消費者仍然猶豫是否要扣動扳機。我們認為這對未來來說是一個正面的訊號。

So far this year, we have made progress in several strategic areas of our business that excite us and drive our ability to capture future industry opportunity and extend our leadership position going forward. We remain deeply focused on our customers and areas of our business where we can position ourselves for sustainable future growth as we leverage the power of our widespread and highly integrated distribution network.

今年到目前為止，我們在業務的幾個策略領域取得了進展，這讓我們興奮不已，並提高了我們抓住未來產業機會並擴大我們未來領導地位的能力。我們仍然高度關注我們的客戶和業務領域，利用我們廣泛且高度整合的分銷網絡的力量，我們可以為未來的可持續成長做好準備。

We have strengthened our commitment to providing our customers exceptional service and value-added tools to grow their business, while advancing our digital ecosystem development. Adoption of our POOL360 tool continues to increase. We closed the second quarter with 14.5% of our sales completed on our POOL360 digital platform, which is our highest level to date, as our customers experience next-level service and convenience, which ultimately creates capacity not only for POOLCORP, but for our customers as well.

我們加強了為客戶提供卓越服務和增值工具以發展業務的承諾，同時推動我們的數位生態系統發展。我們的 POOL360 工具的採用率持續增加。截至第二季度，我們的銷售額中有14.5% 是在POOL360 數位平台上完成的，這是我們迄今為止的最高水平，因為我們的客戶體驗到了更高水平的服務和便利，這最終不僅為POOLCORP也為我們的客戶創造了產能以及。

Our new digital marketing programs continue to gain traction as our dealers experience unmatched capabilities in driving demand for the brands that they carry and lead generation for their core business function. We are also increasing utilization rates at our chemical packaging facility. Since we acquired the chemical packaging operation from Porpoise Pool & Patio, we have increased the production at the plant by almost 60%, which gives us, again, unmatched capabilities and drives incremental profitability for our business.

我們新的數位行銷計劃繼續受到關注，因為我們的經銷商在推動對其所經營的品牌的需求並引領其核心業務功能的發展方面擁有無與倫比的能力。我們也提高了化學包裝設施的使用率。自從我們從 Porpoise Pool & Patio 收購化學包裝業務以來，我們工廠的產量增加了近 60%，這再次為我們提供了無與倫比的能力，並推動了我們業務的盈利能力增量。

We continue to expand our sales center network, adding both convenience and needed capacity to support our growth as the industry's installed base continues to grow, and we continue gaining share. So far this year, we have opened eight new sales centers in line with our strategic plan.

隨著行業裝置的不斷增長，我們不斷擴大我們的銷售中心網絡，增加便利性和所需的容量來支持我們的成長，並且我們不斷獲得份額。今年到目前為止，我們已經根據我們的策略計劃開設了八個新的銷售中心。

Now moving to our second-quarter results, total sales in the second quarter declined 5%, which is an improved trend compared to the year-over-year changes that we have seen in recent quarters. As we mentioned in our press release, the last week of June showed a notable improvement in the daily sales, which was sparked by favorable weather and strong execution from the team.

現在來看我們的第二季業績，第二季的總銷售額下降了 5%，與我們最近幾季看到的同比變化相比，這是一個改善的趨勢。正如我們在新聞稿中提到的，六月最後一周的日銷量顯著改善，這是由有利的天氣和團隊的強大執行力所推動的。

Our maintenance business is strong, our software platforms are gaining traction, and our building material products performed better than new pool construction trends and external permit data would suggest. While we take some encouragement from this slightly improved trend, we are maintaining our top-line guide along with our year-to-date results sales trend.

我們的維護業務強勁，我們的軟體平台越來越受歡迎，我們的建築材料產品的表現優於新水池建設趨勢和外部許可數據所顯示的結果。雖然我們從這一略有改善的趨勢中得到了一些鼓勵，但我們仍維持我們的營收指南以及今年迄今的業績銷售趨勢。

Once we pass the midpoint of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, the discretionary portion of our business can have a greater impact on our total sales based on the seasonality of the industry. So we also considered this dynamic in our full-year guide.

一旦我們過了第三季中點並進入第四季度，根據行業的季節性，我們業務的可自由支配部分可能會對我們的總銷售額產生更大的影響。因此，我們在全年指南中也考慮了這一動態。

Our gross margin for the second quarter finished at 30%, down 60 basis points from the prior year. Remember that last year, we were still selling through our strategic excess and lower-cost inventory in the second quarter. Lower levels of our higher margin in building material sales also inhibited the gross margin in the quarter. So our ability to deliver 30% gross margin under these circumstances highlights some of the underlying structural improvements on supply chain, value-added pricing, and our strategic priorities.

我們第二季的毛利率為 30%，比去年同期下降了 60 個基點。請記住，去年第二季我們仍在透過策略過剩和低成本庫存進行銷售。我們建築材料銷售利潤率較高的較低水準也抑制了本季的毛利率。因此，我們在這種情況下實現 30% 毛利率的能力凸顯了供應鏈、增值定價和我們的策略重點方面的一些潛在結構性改進。

From a profitability standpoint, we produced an operating income of $271.5 million and an operating margin of 15.3%. Although down from the 17.6% operating margin from the same period last year, it reflects continued strategic investment in technology, a continuation of planned new sales center openings, acquisitions, and further expansion of our Pinch A Penny network.

從獲利能力的角度來看，我們的營業收入為 2.715 億美元，營業利益率為 15.3%。儘管營業利潤率較去年同期 17.6% 有所下降，但這反映了對技術的持續策略投資、繼續計劃開設新銷售中心、收購以及進一步擴大我們的 Pinch A Penny 網路。

Melanie will give you a more detailed commentary on expenses. While we are without a doubt managing controllable expenses, we also continue to invest in the long-term success of our business, recognizing that we are working through an economic cycle and that the business is getting stronger. We finished the quarter reporting diluted earnings per share, including the $0.01 tax benefit at $4.99 per share.

梅蘭妮將為您提供有關費用的更詳細的評論。雖然我們無疑在管理可控的開支，但我們也繼續投資於我們業務的長期成功，並認識到我們正在經歷一個經濟週期，並且業務正在變得更加強大。我們在本季結束時報告了每股 4.99 美元的稀釋每股收益，其中包括 0.01 美元的稅收優惠。

Looking at sales by geography, Florida saw the strongest performance, with sales being down just 1%. In Texas, sales declined 6% as we observed incredibly wet conditions through May, making construction difficult and impeding maintenance spend. California and Arizona were down 5% and 8%, respectively, with a similar overall trend of solid maintenance and aftermarket sales dragged by lower new construction and remodel.

從地理位置來看，佛羅裡達州的銷售表現最為強勁，銷售額僅下降了 1%。在德州，銷售額下降了 6%，因為我們觀察到 5 月的天氣極其潮濕，導致施工困難並阻礙了維護支出。加州和亞利桑那州分別下降了 5% 和 8%，受新建和改建工程下降的拖累，維護和售後市場銷售的整體趨勢類似。

In total, our year-round markets were off 5%, while the seasonal markets were down 6%. Europe was down 11% and remains challenged with a tough consumer sentiment and was further impacted by cold and rainy weather and late pool openings this season. We continue to make operating improvements that will position us well in this area when sentiment improves.

總體而言，我們的全年市場下跌了 5%，而季節性市場則下跌了 6%。歐洲下降了 11%，仍面臨消費者情緒低迷的挑戰，並受到本季寒冷多雨天氣和泳池開放較晚的進一步影響。我們將繼續進行營運改進，這將使我們在市場情緒改善時在這一領域處於有利地位。

For Horizon, net sales declined 6% compared to the second quarter last year and at the same level of sales decline as we saw in the first quarter. Our irrigation business is more impacted by commodity pricing than the swimming pool business and has seen some irrigation project deferrals in both commercial and residential during the quarter.

對於 Horizo​​n 來說，淨銷售額與去年第二季相比下降了 6%，與第一季的銷售額下降水準相同。我們的灌溉業務比游泳池業務更容易受到商品定價的影響，並且本季商業和住宅的一些灌溉項目被推遲。

Moving to our product and end market details, the 1% increase in chemicals reflects a 3% growth in volume, with a 2% deflationary impact on price, still primarily driven by trichlor. We see the positive effects of our efforts in this area, particularly noting that our private-label chemical sales grew at double-digit rates and outpaced the growth of the rest of our chemical portfolio.

轉向我們的產品和終端市場細節，化學品 1% 的成長反映出銷量成長 3%，對價格產生 2% 的通貨緊縮影響，這仍然主要由三氯推動。我們看到了我們在這一領域的努力所產生的積極影響，特別是注意到我們的自有品牌化學品銷售額以兩位數的速度增長，並且超過了我們其他化學品產品組合的增長。

On building materials, the 10% quarterly sales decline is better than what we are seeing in overall new pool builds and our remodel expectations. Equipment sales ended flat for the quarter and is an area that we have seen improvement, particularly around lights, pumps, heaters, and parts. Remember that our equipment results exclude cleaners, which is a discretionary area that remains challenged.

在建築材料方面，季度銷售額 10% 的下降幅度好於我們在整體新泳池建設和改造預期中看到的情況。本季度設備銷售持平，這是一個我們看到有所改善的領域，特別是在燈、泵浦、加熱器和零件方面。請記住，我們的設備結果不包括清潔劑，這是一個仍面臨挑戰的自由裁量領域。

The equipment performance is noteworthy, considering the new pool construction trends and the maintenance of our aftermarket business. As an example, we estimate that pumps used for maintenance versus new pool construction is four-to-one, so we expect our maintenance and repair business on equipment to continue to hold up well.

考慮到新泳池建設趨勢和我們售後業務的維護，設備性能值得注意。例如，我們估計用於維護的泵浦與用於新建水池建設的泵浦是四比一，因此我們預計我們的設備維護和維修業務將繼續保持良好狀態。

Price on equipment came in at up 2% to 3%. Related to price in other areas, we did see some pressure during the quarter on certain commodities, like pipes and rebar, which show up in our building materials and irrigation business results and on chemicals, as discussed. Commodity prices moved with the market and represent a relatively small portion of our overall business.

設備價格上漲 2% 至 3%。與其他領域的價格相關，我們確實看到本季度某些商​​品（如管道和螺紋鋼）面臨一些壓力，這些商品出現在我們的建築材料和灌溉業務業績以及化學品上，正如所討論的那樣。大宗商品價格隨市場波動，僅占我們整體業務的一小部分。

Looking at our end markets and commercial business, sales increased 16%, rising after a flat first quarter and in line with another travel-rich summer and openings of community pools. Sales to independent retail pool customers declined close to 6%, which represents sell-in to those stores. We believe that this is reflective of consumers being more selective on some discretionary purchases and a later start to the season in some markets. Our Pinch A Penny franchisee sales to their end consumers collectively increased 4%, which reflects a high concentration of stores in year-round markets and a strong customer value proposition.

看看我們的終端市場和商業業務，銷售額在第一季持平後增長了 16%，這與又一個旅遊旺盛的夏季和社區泳池的開放相一致。獨立零售池客戶的銷售額下降了近 6%，這意味著這些商店的銷售情況。我們認為，這反映出消費者對一些可自由支配的購買更加挑剔，以及一些市場的季節開始較晚。我們的 Pinch A Penny 特許經營商對最終消費者的銷售額總共增加了 4%，這反映了全年市場中商店的高度集中和強大的客戶價值主張。

Circling back to POOL360, we are pleased with our progress since launching our POOL360 service platform in February and the POOL360 water test application last summer. As we have discussed, these tools ultimately link into our enhanced B2B POOL360 platform, the foundation for our digital ecosystem.

回到 POOL360，自 2 月推出 POOL360 服務平台和去年夏天推出 POOL360 水測試應用程式以來，我們對取得的進展感到滿意。正如我們所討論的，這些工具最終連結到我們增強的 B2B POOL360 平台，這是我們數位生態系統的基礎。

Our POOL360 water test tool provides optimal water chemistry recommendations to ensure safe water and an enhanced swimming environment directly tied to our private-label products. To date, we are very pleased with the number of retail stores using the software, which we soft launched after the season began in 2023. Our retail solutions team has been fully engaged with water test in the first half of this year and continues to onboard dealers.

我們的 POOL360 水質測試工具提供最佳的水化學建議，以確保與我們的自有品牌產品直接相關的安全用水和改善的游泳環境。到目前為止，我們對使用該軟體的零售商店數量感到非常滿意，我們在 2023 年銷售季開始後軟啟動了該軟體。我們的零售解決方案團隊已於今年上半年全面投入試水，並持續為經銷商提供服務。

As peak season comes to a close and customers have more time to schedule onboarding, we will again be focused on driving our technology and offering in conjunction with our 2025 retail and service programs. POOL360 service allows our customers to expand their businesses by automating manual tasks like quotations, scheduling, routing, billing, and collections, all while providing direct purchase access to the POOL360 tool.

隨著旺季即將結束，客戶有更多時間安排入職，我們將再次專注於推動我們的技術和產品與 2025 年零售和服務計畫的結合。POOL360 服務使我們的客戶能夠透過自動執行報價、計劃、路由、計費和收款等手動任務來擴展業務，同時提供對 POOL360 工具的直接購買存取。

Orders processed through the traditional B2B POOL360 platform increased to 14.5% of total sales this quarter, growing from 13% in the second quarter of last year and 11% in the first quarter of this year.

透過傳統B2B POOL360平台處理的訂單佔本季總銷售額的14.5%，高於去年第二季的13%和今年第一季的11%。

Technology is a key source of differentiation and continues to be an effective tool to grow sales and create stronger partnerships with our customers. We continue to strategically expand our network, opening another three sales centers in the second quarter and acquiring one. Our second-quarter acquisition offers us a premier presence in the Atlanta market with a central location.

技術是差異化的關鍵來源，並且仍然是增加銷售和與客戶建立更牢固的合作關係的有效工具。我們繼續策略性地擴展我們的網絡，在第二季度開設了另外三個銷售中心並收購了一個。我們第二季的收購為我們提供了在亞特蘭大市場的首要地位和中心位置。

Combined with our established presence in the market, this gives us the greater ability to serve the entire metro to fulfill demand in this major Sunbelt market. These additions bring our global sales center network to 445 locations.

結合我們在市場上的既定地位，這使我們更有能力為整個地鐵提供服務，以滿足這個主要陽光地帶市場的需求。這些新增服務使我們的全球銷售中心網路達到 445 個地點。

Our Pinch A Penny franchise network added three new stores, each in the strategic Texas market, ending the quarter with a total of 292 franchise stores. Continuing to build on our franchise network, along with expanding support offerings provided to our independent retail dealers, will allow us to expand our reach and continue to capture the do-it-yourself maintenance market.

我們的 Pinch A Penny 特許經營網絡新增了 3 家新店，每家都位於德克薩斯州戰略市場，截至本季度末，特許經營店總數達到 292 家。繼續建立我們的特許經營網絡，以及擴大為我們的獨立零售經銷商提供的支援服務，將使我們能夠擴大我們的影響力並繼續佔領自助維護市場。

Taking all of this into consideration, in view of the peak season activities and our current outlook, we are confirming our full-year diluted EPS guidance range of $11.05 to $11.45, including an updated $0.20 estimated benefit from ASU.

考慮到所有這些，考慮到旺季活動和我們當前的前景，我們確認全年攤薄後每股收益指導範圍為 11.05 美元至 11.45 美元，其中包括 ASU 更新的 0.20 美元估計收益。

Even under somewhat challenging operating conditions, our strong cash flow allowed us to return a total of $173 million to our shareholders through dividends and share repurchase so far this year. During the quarter, our Board increased our quarterly dividend to 9%, marking the 14th consecutive year of dividend rate increase and increased our repurchase authorization to $600 million, reflecting our commitment to generating returns for our shareholders.

即使在經營條件有些困難的情況下，我們強勁的現金流使我們今年迄今透過股利和股票回購向股東返還了總計 1.73 億美元。本季度，我們的董事會將季度股息提高至 9%，這是連續第 14 年提高股息率，並將回購授權增加至 6 億美元，體現了我們為股東創造回報的承諾。

For the remainder of 2024, we plan to center our focus on execution and our strategic growth initiatives. From an industry perspective, pools and expanded outdoor living space remains highly attractive to homeowners. Pools remain one of the most frequently searched terms in the online real estate sites.

在 2024 年剩餘時間內，我們計劃將重點放在執行和策略成長計劃上。從行業角度來看，游泳池和擴大的戶外生活空間仍然對房主極具吸引力。泳池仍然是在線房地產網站中搜尋最頻繁的術語之一。

Home values remain strong. Demographic trends, such as southern migration, the large millennial population [were] driving household formation, and continued new home builds, all support the long-term industry dynamics even during the period of higher interest rates and suppressed existing home turnover.

房屋價值依然強勁。南方移民、大量千禧世代人口推動家庭形成以及持續的新房屋建設等人口趨勢，即使在利率較高和現有房屋成交量受到抑制的時期，也都支持長期的行業動態。

As we have seen for well over a year now, high-end consumers appear to be making up a large portion of the new pool build again in 2024. It is unclear when the mix will shift based on the amount and timing of interest rate reductions and the economic indications needed for consumers to feel less pressured.

正如我們一年多以來所看到的那樣，高端消費者似乎將在 2024 年再次建造的新泳池中佔據很大一部分。目前尚不清楚這種組合何時會根據降息的幅度和時間以及消費者減輕壓力所需的經濟指標而改變。

We are best positioned to provide the widest product offering in the industry, support enhanced outdoor living features and aesthetics through our NPT-branded products, and partner with our vendors to unveil the latest available automation offerings. We remain ready to serve our customers with everything they need to help them create the outdoor living oasis that people want, while providing the tools and support to grow their business.

我們最有能力提供業界最廣泛的產品，透過我們的 NPT 品牌產品支援增強的戶外生活功能和美學，並與我們的供應商合作推出最新的可用自動化產品。我們隨時準備為客戶提供所需的一切服務，幫助他們打造人們想要的戶外生活綠洲，同時提供發展業務的工具和支援。

Although we expect a lower number of new pools to be built this year at roughly 60,000 new units, this still represents a 1% increase in the installed base of pools that will need to be maintained going forward. We remain relentless in expanding our network to best serve the professional and do-it-yourself maintenance customer and improving the customer experience, enhancing our capacity creation and launching our industry-leading digital ecosystem.

儘管我們預計今年新建泳池的數量將有所減少，約為 60,000 個新單元，但這仍然意味著泳池安裝基數將增長 1%，且未來需要維持這一增長。我們繼續不懈地擴展我們的網絡，以最好地服務於專業和自助維護客戶並改善客戶體驗，增強我們的能力建設並推出我們行業領先的數位生態系統。

I will now turn the call over to Melanie Hart, our Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, for her detailed commentary.

我現在將把電話轉給我們的副總裁兼財務長梅蘭妮·哈特，聽取她的詳細評論。

Thank you, Pete. And good morning again, everyone. We reported net sales of $1.8 billion in our seasonally largest second quarter, a decrease of 5% from prior year. We experienced an approximate 1% inflation benefit during the quarter. From a product perspective, price increases on equipment sales continue to hold in the 2% to 3% range.

謝謝你，皮特。大家早安。我們報告稱，季節性最大的第二季淨銷售額為 18 億美元，比去年同期下降 5%。本季我們經歷了約 1% 的通膨收益。從產品角度來看，設備銷售價格漲幅持續維持在2%至3%的範圍內。

While seeing positive volume trends on chemicals, there were negative effects on pricing of chemicals and other commodities impacting sales by 1%. Selling prices, specifically for chemicals, will likely remain lower than last year for the remainder of the year.

雖然化學品銷售呈現正面趨勢，但化學品和其他商品的定價卻受到負面影響，銷售量下降了 1%。今年剩餘時間裡，銷售價格，特別是化學品的銷售價格可能會低於去年。

From an end market and business line perspective, as we stated in our recent update, the trends regarding new pool construction and remodel activity are less than projected at the end of last quarter. As discussed in our June pool season update release, we now expect around 15% to 20% lower levels of new pool construction compared to the prior year, which impacted total sales by around 3% for the quarter.

從終端市場和業務線的角度來看，正如我們在最近的更新中所述，新泳池建設和改造活動的趨勢低於上季末的預期。正如我們在 6 月泳池季節更新發布中所討論的那樣，我們現在預計新泳池建設水準將比上一年減少約 15% 至 20%，這將影響本季總銷售額約 3%。

As discussed, we believe that remodel activity may be down as much as 15% for the full year and that lower level of remodel activity adversely affected total sales by about 2% from prior year during the quarter. Declines in sales at Horizon in Europe had an approximate 1% negative impact on total net sales for the quarter.

正如所討論的，我們認為全年改造活動可能會減少 15%，而改造活動水準的降低對該季度的總銷售額產生了約 2% 的不利影響。歐洲 Horizo​​n 銷售額的下降對該季度總淨銷售額產生了約 1% 的負面影響。

Our gross margin for the quarter finished at 30%, down 60 basis points from the prior year. As we expected, gross margin in the current year is lower than last year when we were reducing our inventory levels and selling down lower cost inventory, which, for the most part, has now been normalized. And we do not expect any significant quarter-over-quarter changes from this effect in the second half of the year.

本季毛利率為 30%，較上年下降 60 個基點。正如我們預期的那樣，今年的毛利率低於去年，當時我們正在降低庫存水準並出售低成本庫存，而現在大部分情況已經正常化。我們預計今年下半年這種影響不會有任何重大的季度環比變化。

Benefits realized over the last several years from growth of higher gross margin building material sales did not occur in the quarter, although other factors such as acquisition contribution, pricing optimization, and supply chain actions have benefited gross margin and should continue to support margins going forward.

儘管收購貢獻、定價優化和供應鏈行動等其他因素使毛利率受益，並應繼續支持未來的利潤率，但過去幾年建築材料銷售毛利率的增長並沒有在本季度實現。

Operating expenses this quarter were $259 million, $18 million higher than prior year, representing 14.6% as a percentage of net sales. The year-over-year increase in the quarter of 7.4% is higher than the 2.6% increase reported in the first quarter as we had a higher level of spend in the quarter to accelerate our sales center network expansion and technology development.

本季營運費用為 2.59 億美元，比上年同期增加 1,800 萬美元，佔淨銷售額的 14.6%。本季 7.4% 的年增幅高於第一季 2.6% 的增幅，因為本季我們為加速銷售中心網路擴張和技術開發支出水準較高。

Specific to the quarter, through July, we have opened up eight new sales centers and have also rolled out several enhancements to our customer-facing technology platform, providing our customers with even better digital tools for use during the peak pool season. Additionally, we closed three Horizon locations, two in June and one in July, where performance did not meet our return criteria and we did not see appropriate near-term improvement opportunity.

具體到本季度，截至 7 月，我們開設了 8 個新的銷售中心，並推出了面向客戶的技術平台的多項增強功能，為客戶提供了更好的數位工具，供客戶在泳池旺季使用。此外，我們還關閉了 3 個 Horizo​​​​n 地點，其中 2 個在 6 月，1 個在 7 月，因為這些地點的業績不符合我們的回報標準，而且我們沒有看到適當的近期改進機會。

Expenses related to these locations were close to $1 million during the quarter and will not be continuing into the rest of the year. These locations for projects we used to evaluate different product or location offerings and have characteristics outside of our traditional Horizon business, and thus does not reflect any changes to our expected results on the remaining part of the business.

本季與這些地點相關的費用接近 100 萬美元，並且不會持續到今年剩餘時間。我們用來評估不同產品或地點的項目的這些地點具有我們傳統 Horizo​​n 業務之外的特徵，因此並不反映我們對業務其餘部分的預期結果的任何變化。

In light of the mid-season sales trends, we intensified our focus on controllable expenses during the second quarter in an effort to improve cost leverage, and we'll see the benefits of these incremental efforts as expenses in the second half of the year are expected to increase in the low single-digit range with the third quarter expenses expected to increase similar to first quarter and slightly higher growth expected in the fourth quarter.

根據中季銷售趨勢，我們在第二季加強了對可控費用的關注，努力提高成本槓桿，隨著下半年費用的增加，我們將看到這些增量努力的好處。個位數範圍內成長，第三季的支出預計將與第一季類似，第四季的成長預計將略高。

Operating income of $271 million was down $56 million or 17% compared to prior year. We continue to operate with less debt outstanding, and we're able to reduce interest expense, $2.8 million, during the quarter compared to the second quarter of last year.

營業收入為 2.71 億美元，比上年減少 5,600 萬美元，即 17%。我們繼續以較少的未償債務運營，與去年第二季相比，本季的利息支出減少了 280 萬美元。

Overall, second-quarter net income of $192 million compares to $232 million in prior year. For the quarter, our results reflect a $0.01 benefit from ASU. Diluted earnings per share of $4.99 decreased 16% compared to $5.91 in the second quarter of 2023.

整體而言，第二季淨利為 1.92 億美元，去年同期為 2.32 億美元。本季度，我們的業績反映了 ASU 帶來的 0.01 美元收益。稀釋後每股收益為 4.99 美元，較 2023 年第二季的 5.91 美元下降 16%。

Moving to our cash flows and balance sheet, second-quarter cash flows remained strong, reflecting normalized contribution after early buy deferred payment terms, which came due during the quarter. Cash flows from operating activities of $172 million year to date is on pace to meet or slightly exceed our target of approximately 100% of net income for the full year.

轉向我們的現金流量和資產負債表，第二季現金流仍然強勁，反映了本季到期的提前購買延期付款條款後的正常貢獻。今年迄今為止，來自經營活動的現金流量為 1.72 億美元，預計將達到或略超過我們全年淨利潤約 100% 的目標。

On the working capital side, our accounts receivable days outstanding of 26.8 days remains consistent with the 26.9 days from last quarter. Inventory of $1.3 billion is $97 million less than prior year. As of June 30, 2023, we had completed $186 million of our stated inventory reduction goal of over $200 million during 2023. Thus, the prior-year second-quarter number already reflected some destocking from the end of the prior year.

在營運資金方面，我們的應收帳款未償天數為 26.8 天，與上季的 26.9 天保持一致。庫存為 13 億美元，比上年減少 9,700 萬美元。截至 2023 年 6 月 30 日，我們已完成 1.86 億美元的目標，即 2023 年期間減少庫存超過 2 億美元的目標。因此，去年第二季的數字已經反映出去年年底以來的一些去庫存情況。

Our inventory days on hand have reduced from 141 to 131, a similar improvement to what we reported in first quarter. Our prior-year inventory positions were normalized as we got to the end of the season at the end of the third quarter.

我們的現有庫存天數從 141 天減少到 131 天，與我們第一季報告的情況類似。隨著第三季末季結束，我們去年的庫存狀況已恢復正常。

Total debt of $1.1 billion is $68 million less than last year as strong cash flows provided funds for repayment. Debt leverage ratio of 1.4x as of the end of the quarter was just below our 1.5x to 2x target, reflecting significant capacity for funding future growth opportunities.

由於強勁的現金流提供了償還資金，債務總額為 11 億美元，比去年減少了 6,800 萬美元。截至本季末，債務槓桿率為 1.4 倍，略低於我們 1.5 倍至 2 倍的目標，反映出為未來成長機會提供資金的巨大能力。

Moving to capital allocation, we continue to support the ongoing business and organic growth with $34.9 million of capital expenditures, including new sales center openings. We completed another acquisition during the quarter for a total of two additional sales centers added through acquisitions year to date.

在資本配置方面，我們繼續以 3,490 萬美元的資本支出（包括開設新的銷售中心）支持持續的業務和有機成長。我們在本季完成了另一項收購，透過年初至今的收購總共增加了兩個銷售中心。

Also during the quarter, our Board of Directors increased our quarterly dividend by $0.10 or 9% to $1.20 per share, reflecting our confidence in the future earnings beyond the current economic cycle and expected ongoing strong cash flows. The Board also increased our share repurchase authorization back up to $600 million, adding $316 million in additional repurchase capacity. We made repurchases of $68 million during the quarter and an additional $10 million through today's earnings call. We currently have $572 million remaining under our share repurchase authorization.

同樣在本季度，我們的董事會將季度股息增加了 0.10 美元或 9%，達到每股 1.20 美元，這反映了我們對當前經濟週期之外的未來收益的信心以及預期持續強勁的現金流。董事會也將我們的股票回購授權增加至 6 億美元，額外回購能力增加了 3.16 億美元。我們在本季回購了 6,800 萬美元，並透過今天的財報電話會議額外回購了 1,000 萬美元。目前我們的股票回購授權還剩 5.72 億美元。

Looking ahead to the second half, our expectations for pricing for the remainder of the year are similar to actual results seen to date. The estimated lower number of new pool builds and reduced renovation activity are expected to continue to negatively impact sales around 4% to 5% collectively for the year. Horizon and Europe are expected to represent an additional 1% decrease.

展望下半年，我們對今年剩餘時間的定價預期與迄今為止的實際結果相似。據估計，新泳池建設數量的減少和翻新活動的減少預計將繼續對今年的銷售額產生約 4% 至 5% 的負面影響。Horizo​​n 和 Europe 預計將再下降 1%。

Seasonal gross margins held up well in the second quarter although impacted by lower building material sales year over year. For the remainder of the year, we expect gross margin to be in a similar range to last year, with internal strategic initiatives offsetting the drag from building materials. Full-year gross margins we anticipate to be approximately 30%.

儘管受到建築材料銷量年減的影響，但第二季的季節性毛利率保持良好。在今年剩餘時間內，我們預期毛利率將與去年持平，內部策略措施將抵銷建築材料的拖累。我們預計全年毛利率約為 30%。

Operating expenses for the full year, as mentioned above, are expected to see a low- to mid-single-digit percentage increase year over year and will include continuing technology investments of approximately $20 million and costs associated with the newly opened greenfield locations estimated to be around $12 million and the acquisitions we've completed to date.

如上所述，全年營運費用預計將同比出現低至中個位數的百分比增長，其中將包括約 2000 萬美元的持續技術投資以及與新開設的綠地地點相關的成本估計為迄今為止我們已完成的收購金額約為1200 萬美元。

Our rate of expense increase, after considering inflation and these incremental investments, reflect substantial efficiency improvement benefits from our capacity creation and operating initiatives. Full-year interest expense is expected to come in closer to $50 million from our previous estimated range of $50 million to $53 million. Our annual tax rate is expected to be approximately 25%, excluding the ASU benefit with a lower rate to be reported in Q3 and a slightly higher rate similar to our second-quarter rate in the fourth quarter.

考慮到通貨膨脹和這些增量投資後，我們的費用成長率反映了我們的產能建設和營運舉措帶來的巨大效率改進效益。全年利息支出預計將接近 5,000 萬美元，而我們先前的估計範圍為 5,000 萬美元至 5,300 萬美元。我們的年稅率預計約為 25%，不包括 ASU 福利，第三季報告的稅率較低，第四季的稅率略高於第二季的稅率。

Excluding the effects of additional share buybacks, we anticipate that fully diluted weighted average shares outstanding would be approximately 38.5 million shares for the third and fourth quarter and 38.6 million shares for the full year, reflecting a reduction of approximately 140,000 shares from year-to-date share repurchase activity. Consistent with our June update, we expect that our 2024 diluted EPS will range from $11.05 to $11.45, including the $0.20 of ASU realized year to date.

排除額外股票回購的影響，我們預計第三季和第四季的完全稀釋加權平均流通股約為3850萬股，全年約為3860萬股，較去年同期減少約14萬股。購活動。與我們 6 月的更新一致，我們預計 2024 年稀釋後每股收益將在 11.05 美元至 11.45 美元之間，包括今年迄今為止實現的 ASU 0.20 美元。

We completed our third annual corporate responsibility report last month. This year's report included expanded disclosures, in particular, around our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions and our workforce. And it is also aligned with the SASB framework, a leading framework that identifies important environmental, social, and governance topics, typically most relevant to stakeholders.

我們上個月完成了第三份年度企業責任報告。今年的報告擴大了揭露範圍，特別是圍繞我們的範圍 1 和範圍 2 排放以及我們的員工隊伍。它也與 SASB 框架保持一致，該框架是一個領先的框架，用於確定重要的環境、社會和治理主題，通常與利害關係人最相關。

As we wrap up our comments today, we are reiterating our focus on managing the business through the current cycle while continuing to invest in strategic technology tools, sales center network expansion, and selective acquisitions that will enable our long-term growth, superior operating performance, and attractive shareholder return.

在我們今天結束評論時，我們重申我們的重點是在當前週期中管理業務，同時繼續投資於戰略技術工具、銷售中心網絡擴張和選擇性收購，這將使我們實現長期增長和卓越的經營業績，以及有吸引力的股東回報。

We will now begin the Q&A portion of our call.

我們現在將開始電話會議的問答部分。

(Operator Instructions) Susan Maklari, Goldman Sachs.

（操作員指示）Susan Maklari，高盛。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone.

謝謝。大家，早安。

Good morning.

早安.

Good morning, Pete. My first question is, maybe talking about pricing and the gross margin, you mentioned that you're seeing some success and some optimization initiatives there. Can you talk a bit about how we should think about that coming through over the next couple of quarters and what it could mean for the gross margin over time?

早安，皮特。我的第一個問題是，也許在談論定價和毛利率時，您提到您在那裡看到了一些成功和一些優化舉措。您能否談談我們應該如何考慮未來幾季的情況以及隨著時間的推移這對毛利率意味著什麼？

Sure. As you know, Susan, there's a lot of components related to gross margin. If you just look at the simple transaction count that we'll have between now and the end of the year, it's going to be several million transactions made up of a variety of products.

當然。蘇珊，如你所知，有很多因素與毛利率相關。如果你只看一下從現在到今年年底我們將擁有的簡單交易數量，它將是由各種產品組成的數百萬筆交易。

So of course, you have mix that plays into that. And as Melanie mentioned and I think I mentioned in my comments, mix, as it relates to construction material, which is typically a higher-margin product, is not particularly helping us this year with a decline in new pool construction and renovation and remodel. So that would be a headwind. But I don't think it gets any worse than what it is right now. I think that just kind of continues.

所以當然，你有可以發揮作用的混音。正如梅蘭妮所提到的，我想我在評論中也提到過，混合，因為它與建築材料有關，而建築材料通常是利潤率較高的產品，所以今年新泳池建設和翻新改造的減少並沒有特別幫助我們。所以這將是一個逆風。但我認為情況不會比現在更糟。我認為這種情況會持續下去。

And then we mentioned that there are things that we've done around our strategic pricing and I think things that we have done related to our private-label programs and our supply chain initiatives that help. So as I've mentioned, the gross margin rate that we saw for the quarter of 30%, I think, is very admirable. We're very pleased with the outcome for the quarter.

然後我們提到，我們圍繞戰略定價做了一些事情，我認為我們所做的一些事情與我們的自有品牌計劃和供應鏈計劃有關，有幫助。正如我所提到的，我們在本季看到的 30% 的毛利率，我認為是非常令人欽佩的。我們對本季的結果非常滿意。

So between now and the end of the year, I mean, we would maintain that it is going to be approximately 30%. It might get -- stray a little bit up or down depending on mix. It sure could, but I think it's generally going to be in that range. And I think that's supported by the activities that we've been working on, as I mentioned.

所以從現在到今年年底，我的意思是，我們將維持這一比例約為 30%。根據混音的不同，它可能會稍微向上或向下偏離。當然可以，但我認為通常會在這個範圍內。正如我所提到的，我認為這得到了我們一直在進行的活動的支持。

Okay. That's helpful. And then it sounds like the POOL360 investments are gaining some nice traction as we think about the first half of this year. Can you give a bit more color there on how some of that is coming through and how you're thinking about that as we think of the back half of this year and then maybe even into 2025?

好的。這很有幫助。回顧今年上半年，POOL360 的投資似乎正在獲得一些不錯的吸引力。您能否詳細介紹其中的一些進展，以及當我們考慮今年下半年甚至 2025 年時您是如何看待這個問題的？

Sure. So I'll talk about the three separate applications, and they all basically, as I mentioned, are part of the POOL360 ecosystem. So if I start with the water test software that we have, that is tied to our private-label program. So the dealers that are on that, they're full-line stocking distributors of our private-label chem programs. They have kind of best-in-class water testing and prescription developing solutions that they can give the consumer when they come in.

當然。因此，我將討論這三個獨立的應用程序，正如我所提到的，它們基本上都是 POOL360 生態系統的一部分。因此，如果我從我們擁有的水質測試軟體開始，它將與我們的自有品牌計劃相關聯。因此，參與其中的經銷商是我們自有品牌化學計劃的全系列庫存分銷商。他們擁有一流的水質測試和處方開發解決方案，可以在消費者進來時提供給他們。

There's also a CRM function in there, where they can capture the data about the pool and about the consumer, which helps them every time the consumer goes into the store. But as you can imagine, there is a selling season for that, right? So during the season right now, when typically the pool retail stores are very, very busy, is not the time that any of them are going to convert.

那裡還有一個 CRM 功能，他們可以捕獲有關池和消費者的數據，這可以在消費者每次進入商店時為他們提供幫助。但你可以想像，它有一個銷售季節，對嗎？因此，在現在這個季節，泳池零售店通常非常非常繁忙，但並不是他們中任何一個都打算轉變的時候。

So this is the season where the people that signed up before are leaning into the software, and they are using it. And frankly, they're helping us with feedback on features and functionality, which we're using to develop our software because as you know, with software, you're never done. There will be a constant stream of enhancements that continue to improve the user's experience.

因此，在這個季節裡，之前註冊的人開始傾向於使用該軟體，並且正在使用它。坦白說，他們正在幫助我們提供有關特性和功能的回饋，我們用這些回饋來開發我們的軟體，因為如您所知，對於軟體，您永遠不會完成。將會有源源不絕的增強功能不斷改善使用者體驗。

So good progress on the water test. We still -- believe it or not, there are still some dealers that are onboarding even this time of the year, but we expect that as the season winds down that we'll see a much larger number of dealers that onboard during the off-season.

水測試進展順利。不管你信不信，即使在每年的這個時候，仍然有一些經銷商加入，但我們預計，隨著季節的結束，我們會看到更多的經銷商在休市期間加入。

Similarly, if I refer to the POOL360 service, it's really the same cycle. So everybody in the pool industry right now is busy. So the service folks that would have to onboard on the software and load their data into the software so that they could derive the benefits, as I mentioned, which is scheduling, it's routing, it's one-time service, it's pricing, it's everything that they need to essentially run their business, this is again not the time of year when we expect to see a lot of people onboarding.

同樣，如果我參考 POOL360 服務，這確實是相同的週期。所以現在泳池業的每個人都很忙。因此，服務人員必須使用軟體並將資料載入到軟體中，以便他們能夠獲得好處，正如我所提到的，這是調度、路由、一次性服務、定價，等等。 ，但現在又不是我們期望看到很多人加入的時候。

But we are doing some selling this time of year, so we have a roadshow that's basically going around the country and going into several key markets where we are spending time with the customers.

但我們每年的這個時候都會進行一些銷售，所以我們有一個路演，基本上是在全國範圍內進行，並進入我們與客戶共度時光的幾個關鍵市場。

And frankly, the feedback we're getting on that is extremely positive because people see the benefit in the tool and that unlike the original version of POOL360, which didn't have nearly the same benefits for the customer as it did for us, that tool is, in particular, designed to provide most of the benefit for the pool service company, which again expands their capacity, allows them to grow, allows them to tap into our digital marketing program, and frankly, become stickier with us.

坦白說，我們得到的回饋非常積極，因為人們看到了該工具的好處，並且與 POOL360 的原始版本不同，POOL360 為客戶帶來的好處與為我們帶來的好處幾乎不同，特別是，該工具旨在為池服務公司提供大部分利益，這再次擴大了他們的能力，使他們能夠成長，使他們能夠利用我們的數位行銷計劃，坦率地說，對我們變得更加粘稠。

And then, of course, you have just our POOL360 platform, which we talked earlier -- we talked about on the last quarter call that we have updated significantly to improve the user experience. That's really kind of a year-round tool that allows people to put their order in, put an order and priority pick, avoid the lines at our sales center. And again, we're seeing more adoption on that as well.

當然，還有我們之前討論過的 POOL360 平台，我們在上個季度的電話會議上討論過該平台，我們已對其進行了重大更新，以改善用戶體驗。這確實是一種全年可用的工具，允許人們下訂單、下訂單和優先選擇，避免在我們的銷售中心排隊。同樣，我們也看到了更多的採用。

So overall, very pleased. We never expected that this was going to be an overnight success. We thought that it was going to be something that was going to take time to get the customers comfortable with. And then frankly, the more people are on it, then their voices are the best form of advertising that we can have. So overall, very pleased.

總的來說，非常滿意。我們沒想到這會一夜成名。我們認為這需要時間才能讓客戶感到滿意。坦白說，參與其中的人越多，他們的聲音就是我們可以擁有的最好的廣告形式。總的來說，非常滿意。

Okay, that's great color. Thank you for everything, Pete. Good luck with the quarter.

好吧，這個顏色真棒。謝謝你所做的一切，皮特。祝本季好運。

David Manthey, Baird.

大衛曼蒂，貝爾德。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Melanie, quick question for you on the gross margin. So I think you said in your monologue that the back half of this year would be similar to the back half of last year. And if we just run that through, we're coming in a little bit below 30% with the 29.7%, 29.8% range. Is that what you mean by approximately 30%?

謝謝。大家，早安。梅蘭妮，請教您一個關於毛利率的快速問題。所以我想你在獨白中說今年下半年會跟去年下半年類似。如果我們仔細算一下，我們會發現這個比例略低於 30%，範圍為 29.7%、29.8%。你說的大約30%就是這個意思嗎？

Yes. I think that range, within 20 or 30 basis points -- as Pete mentioned, there are some many different components that go into gross margin. It's certainly very hard to pinpoint it this early in the year. We know that the full-year margins are going to be impacted by those building materials, that lower level of building materials, and we've seen that so far to date. And I expect that that would continue throughout the rest of the year.

是的。我認為這個範圍在 20 或 30 個基點之內——正如皮特所提到的，毛利率有很多不同的組成部分。在今年年初肯定很難確定這一點。我們知道全年利潤率將受到這些建築材料、較低水平的建築材料的影響，到目前為止我們已經看到了這一點。我預計這種情況將持續到今年剩餘時間。

We are -- because of our purchasing -- higher purchasing from last year, we're seeing slightly higher vendor incentives, but a good portion of that is being offset by -- the flip side to that is higher purchases also include higher freight in. So that's impacting it.

由於我們的採購，我們的採購量比去年有所增加，我們看到供應商的激勵措施略有增加，但其中很大一部分被抵消了，另一方面，更高的採購量也包括更高的運費。所以這正在影響它。

And then we do still expect to see that chemical pricing coming in lower year over year for the rest of the year. And then we are continuing to see, as we had mentioned last quarter, that our larger customers are really outperforming some of the smaller customers. So I think with all of those factors in play, your estimates there wind up in a very reasonable range.

然後，我們仍然預計今年剩餘時間化學品價格將同比下降。然後，正如我們在上個季度提到的那樣，我們繼續看到我們的大客戶的表現確實優於一些小客戶。因此，我認為考慮到所有這些因素，您的估計最終將處於非常合理的範圍內。

Yes. Okay. And then I know it's too early to maybe talk about 2025. But when we're thinking about that 30% Mendoza line, if new pools and major renovation and the building materials are roughly in line with the maintenance as we go forward here, again, I think you picked up a bit of a benefit in the first quarter from a reversal of an accrual or something.

是的。好的。然後我知道現在談論 2025 年可能還為時過早。但是，當我們考慮 30% 的門多薩線時，如果新的游泳池和重大整修以及建築材料與我們在此進行的維護大致一致，我認為您在以下方面獲得了一些好處第一季度應計費用逆轉或其他原因。

But as you think about that 30% into 2025, maybe just qualitatively, what are the factors that could improve gross margin from this year relative to next year, assuming that the mix doesn't change all that much?

但當你想到 2025 年的 30% 時，也許只是定性地考慮，假設混合情況沒有太大變化，哪些因素可以提高今年的毛利率相對於明年的水平？

So assuming that the mix doesn't change with -- we certainly -- we don't know when, but we are hopeful, and we know that it will change at some point. And we'll get those benefits that we're missing out on in the current year related to the building materials.

因此，假設這種混合不會隨著——我們當然——而改變，我們不知道什麼時候，但我們充滿希望，而且我們知道它會在某個時刻改變。我們將獲得今年我們錯過的與建築材料相關的好處。

But outside of that, what we're really focused on right now are things that we manage and we control. So we're very much focused on our efforts around pricing. We're continuing to focus on our expansion of our private-label chemicals as well as some additional actions that we're taking on the supply chain side.

但除此之外，我們現在真正關注的是我們管理和控制的事情。因此，我們非常關注定價方面的工作。我們將繼續專注於自有品牌化學品的擴張以及我們在供應鏈方面採取的一些其他行動。

I appreciate it. Thank you.

我很感激。謝謝。

Scott Schneeberger, Oppenheimer.

史考特‧施內伯格，奧本海默。

Thanks very much. Good morning. Pete, one for you and then one for Melanie. Pete, a common question is just the confidence -- and it is tough post-pandemic on anticipating these years what we're going to see with regard to new pool build and renovation. And so the heart of the question is, how confident are you here with this reset guidance level for the remainder of the year, and maybe a little bit of discussion in the visibility you have into that? Thanks.

非常感謝。早安.皮特，一張給你，一張給梅蘭妮。皮特，一個常見的問題是信心——在大流行後，很難預測這些年來我們將看到的新泳池建設和翻新的情況。因此，問題的核心是，您對今年剩餘時間的重置指導水平有多大信心，也許可以就您對此的可見性進行一些討論？謝謝。

Yes. I think we are -- that's a good question and one, as you can imagine, that we spent a lot of time discussing here and discussing, frankly, with our dealers. So on one hand, I look at the new construction activity. If I look at permits and then I look at our building material sales, it appears that we're doing better than the market would indicate in terms of new pool construction, meaning that my sales of building material products are not down nearly as much as the permit data would suggest.

是的。我認為這是一個很好的問題，正如你可以想像的那樣，我們花了很多時間在這裡討論，坦率地說，與我們的經銷商進行了討論。因此，一方面，我關注新的建設活動。如果我查看許可證，然後查看我們的建築材料銷售，我們在新泳池建設方面的表現似乎比市場顯示的要好，這意味著我的建築材料產品銷售下降幅度並不像我們的建築材料產品銷售下降那麼多。

I think overall permits are down about 17%. I think our building material sales, as we reported, are much better than that, albeit still off double digit. So the comments we're getting back from dealers, which I mentioned, is that there's a lot of -- I'm not saying a lot. There are more inbound calls than they've seen earlier in the year and towards the end of last year.

我認為整體許可證下降了約 17%。我認為，正如我們報導的那樣，我們的建築材料銷售額比這要好得多，儘管仍低於兩位數。因此，我們從經銷商那裡得到的評論，正如我所提到的，是有很多——我並沒有說太多。來電數量比今年早些時候和去年年底還要多。

So inquiries are good. I think people are waiting for a sign to say, all right, the Fed is actually serious about cutting interest rates, the economy is going to expand a bit, and the consumers get a little bit healthier. As I mentioned, if you look at the online real estate sites and you look at the words that are being searched, the word pool comes up near the very right top of the list. So people still want a pool.

所以詢問是好的。我認為人們正在等待一個跡象表明，好吧，美聯儲實際上正在認真考慮降息，經濟將有所擴張，消費者會變得更健康。正如我所提到的，如果您查看線上房地產網站並查看正在搜尋的單字，單字池就會出現在清單的最右上方。所以人們還是想要一個游泳池。

I think this year was a tough year. Frankly, it was worse than what we anticipated in the beginning of the year, hence the guidance update that we put out in June. But at this point, I think we are -- we're fairly comfortable with the level that we see, and dealers are not telling us that it is getting any worse. And I think we're slightly outperforming the industry in our participation in the number of pools that are being built.

我認為今年是艱難的一年。坦白說，情況比我們年初的預期更糟糕，因此我們在 6 月發布了指導更新。但在這一點上，我認為我們對所看到的水平相當滿意，經銷商並沒有告訴我們情況正在變得更糟。我認為，在參與正在建造的礦池數量方面，我們的表現略勝於產業。

Great. Thanks. I appreciate that. And Melanie, for you, just on managing the margin, the operating margin, the -- just a few things here in today's call. I think it was three locations closed on Horizon. And I heard $1 million impact. I didn't get the context of the timing on that, if you could repeat that.

偉大的。謝謝。我很感激。梅蘭妮，對你來說，只是管理利潤、營業利潤，只是今天電話會議中的幾件事。我認為地平線號上的三個地點都關閉了。我聽說影響達 100 萬美元。我不明白具體的時間安排，如果你能重複一遍的話。

But are you -- and then you've talked also about supply chain efficiencies. I'm just curious what -- if you could take us a little deeper on both as you're pursuing efficiencies in the model, particularly in a year like this, where you're seeking out some cost savings. Thanks.

但您也談到了供應鏈效率。我只是好奇——當你追求模型效率時，你是否可以讓我們更深入地了解這兩個問題，特別是在像今年這樣的情況下，你正在尋求一些成本節約。謝謝。

Yes, so the $1 million was the number for the quarter as it related to those three sales centers that we closed. So that was the expense in the quarter that will be non-recurring throughout the remainder of the year. And then on the supply chain, there's multiple different things that we're focused on there. There's areas that we're focused on around product costs that will impact the gross margin.

是的，所以 100 萬美元是本季的數字，因為它與我們關閉的三個銷售中心有關。這就是本季的費用，在今年剩餘時間內不會經常發生。然後在供應鏈上，我們將重點放在多種不同的事情上。我們重點關注會影響毛利率的產品成本領域。

But specifically, as it relates to the operating margin, the biggest driver there is going to be fleet and delivery expenses. And so we're very much focused on that. As we look to expand in different markets, we are able to leverage our vehicles and leverage our drivers and leverage our deliveries. So that's one of the things that our competitors don't really -- they don't have the ability for that same model that we have.

但具體而言，由於與營運利潤率相關，最大的驅動因素將是車隊和交付費用。所以我們非常關注這一點。當我們尋求在不同市場擴張時，我們能夠利用我們的車輛、司機和交付。所以這是我們的競爭對手實際上不具備的事情之一——他們沒有能力開發與我們相同的模型。

So particularly, as we continue to expand our NPT-branded building material offerings, we have the ability within a market to utilize one location to do those deliveries. And so the freight expense, which is a significant side of our overall expenses, is an area that we've been focused on as well as we've also continued to expand our CFL.

特別是，隨著我們繼續擴大 NPT 品牌的建築材料產品，我們有能力在市場內利用一個地點進行這些交付。因此，貨運費用是我們整體費用的重要組成部分，也是我們一直在關注的領域，我們也正在繼續擴大我們的 CFL。

So that's, for us, our central shipping location, of which we have four within the network. And that allows us to bring in the product at a lower cost from our vendors and then redistribute it within the network. It allows us to better manage our inventory over time as well as to have lower cost and lower delivery and then more product availability on a quicker basis to our customers.

因此，對我們來說，這就是我們的中心運輸地點，我們在網路內擁有四個中心運輸地點。這使我們能夠以較低的成本從供應商引入產品，然後在網路內重新分發。它使我們能夠隨著時間的推移更好地管理我們的庫存，並降低成本和交貨時間，然後更快地向客戶提供更多產品。

Great. Thanks very much.

偉大的。非常感謝。

David MacGregor, Longbow Research.

大衛‧麥格雷戈，長弓研究中心。

Thanks for taking my questions. And good morning, everyone. I wanted to just start off by talking about some of the share growth and just the extent to which you're exceeding market growth right now. Can you talk about the composition of that difference and the extent to which some of that might be acquisitions versus other factors?

感謝您回答我的問題。大家早安。我想先談談一些份額增長以及目前超過市場增長的程度。您能否談談這種差異的組成以及其中一些因素與其他因素相比可能在多大程度上可能是收購造成的？

Yes. As you know, David, the hallmark of Pool is we're an organic growth company. So if you look at the acquisitions that we've done this year, they're important, but they're relatively small, certainly in the grand scheme of things or in context of the whole company.

是的。如你所知，大衛，Pool 的標誌是我們是一家有機成長的公司。因此，如果你看看我們今年所做的收購，它們很重要，但它們相對較小，當然在宏偉的計劃或整個公司的背景下。

So the growth that you're seeing is really driven from a share perspective. It's driven organically. It's driven by our new sales centers that opened up in the critical areas and the places that we need better capacity, and quite frankly, where we improve the value proposition for our customers.

因此，您所看到的成長實際上是從份額角度推動的。它是有機驅動的。這是由我們在關鍵領域和需要更好產能的地方開設的新銷售中心推動的，坦白說，我們在這些地方提高了客戶的價值主張。

If you look at the concentration that we have of locations in the market, and frankly, the focus on customer experience, you won't find that same concentration or focus on customer experience with anyone. So if I look at -- so you're probably wondering what [it looks like]. How do you think and where does it show up? And if I look at our chemical business.

如果你看看我們在市場上的位置的集中度，坦白說，對客戶體驗的關注，你不會發現任何人都對客戶體驗有同樣的關注或關注。所以如果我看——那麼你可能想知道什麼[看起來像]。您如何看待以及它出現在哪裡？如果我看看我們的化學業務。

Our volumes on chemicals are up 3% this year. And that is with a late start to the season, tougher weather in many key markets, and the fact that the volumes are up 3% when the installed base is not up 3% is an indication that we continuing to take share because we are the places that people need product, and we are focused on customer experience, is second to none.

今年我們的化學品銷量成長了 3%。由於季節開始較晚，許多主要市場的天氣更加惡劣，而且安裝量未增長 3% 時銷量卻增長了 3%，這一事實表明我們將繼續佔據份額，因為我們是人們需要產品的地方，而我們專注於客戶體驗，是首屈一指的。

And then when you add the private-label capabilities that we have on chemicals, that's certainly a big differentiator. As I mentioned on new pool construction, when we look at our building material sales, I mean, nobody would be happier if they built more pools this year than me, maybe Melanie. But certainly, I'd be happy.

然後，當您添加我們在化學品方面擁有的自有品牌功能時，這無疑是一個很大的差異化因素。正如我在新泳池建設中提到的，當我們查看建築材料銷售時，我的意思是，如果他們今年建造的泳池比我（也許是梅蘭妮）更多，沒有人會更高興。但當然，我會很高興。

But if I look at the permit data and what I believe to be the drag in new pool construction and then I look at our building materials, where certainly there's not a big lift in price, then it certainly shows that again, we are getting a bigger slice of the pie.

但是，如果我查看許可證數據以及我認為新泳池建設的阻力，然後查看我們的建築材料，價格肯定沒有大幅提升，那麼它肯定再次表明，我們正在獲得更大的一塊餡餅。

And then again, when I look at equipment sales, which we're pleased, equipment sales overall, are flat. Heaters is a key area for us where our heaters were one of the first areas that took off during the pandemic, and they also had one of the biggest corrections. That is a product that we're starting to see growth again, and which is very encouraging as well as things like pumps and light and [coronation] and such.

話又說回來，當我查看設備銷售時，我們很高興看到設備銷售總體持平。加熱器是我們的關鍵領域，我們的加熱器是疫情期間最早起飛的領域之一，也是調整幅度最大的領域之一。這是一個我們開始再次看到增長的產品，這是非常令人鼓舞的，還有泵、燈和[加冕]等。

So overall, I just think that there has been a tremendous focus on customer experience and making sure that nobody does it better for the customer and that we continue to provide those value-added services that there is no equal to in the industry.

總的來說，我認為我們非常關注客戶體驗，並確保沒有人為客戶做得更好，並且我們將繼續提供業內無與倫比的增值服務。

That's helpful. Thank you. My second question, really with respect to operating margins, just what is the opportunity to achieve operating margin improvement at the store level? And I know at the analyst meeting, you talked about the focus of those centers and trying to improve four walls profitability at that level. In a softer environment, like we're in right now, is the expectation around that get pushed out a little bit, or do you think you can still maintain the momentum?

這很有幫助。謝謝。我的第二個問題，實際上就營業利潤率而言，在商店層級實現營業利潤率改善的機會是什麼？我知道在分析師會議上，您談到了這些中心的重點，並試圖提高該水平的四牆盈利能力。在一個更疲軟的環境中，就像我們現在所處的那樣，圍繞這一點的期望是否會被推遲一點，或者你認為你仍然可以保持這種勢頭嗎？

I mean there's a few groups, right? So certainly, even in the focused locations, even in a down market, there is certainly an opportunity to continue to improve operating margins, and it's really a function of execution, right? It's a function of doing things right in the sales center and managing the inventory, managing the customer experience, and managing our costs and ultimately, growth.

我的意思是有幾個小組，對嗎？因此，當然，即使在重點地區，即使在低迷的市場中，也肯定有機會繼續提高營業利潤率，這確實是執行力的功能，對嗎？它是在銷售中心正確行事、管理庫存、管理客戶體驗、管理成本以及最終實現成長的職能。

I mean, the biggest lever you have for operating margin improvement is growth. And as you can imagine, the -- I would imagine that our focus centers are the ones that are going to be trailing the rest of the business in terms of sales growth.

我的意思是，提高營業利潤率的最大槓桿是成長。正如你可以想像的那樣，我想我們的重點中心將在銷售成長方面落後於其他業務。

Now there's a couple of reasons for that. One is every new sales center that we open, by definition, goes on the focus list to make sure that it gets the appropriate attention given the investment that we just made. Virtually, every acquisition that we make operates well below the fleet average. So those two go on the focus list.

現在有幾個原因。一是我們開設的每個新銷售中心，根據定義，都會列入焦點列表，以確保考慮到我們剛剛進行的投資，它得到適當的關注。事實上，我們每次收購的營運情況都遠低於船隊平均水準。所以這兩個人進入了焦點名單。

And if you look at our overall operating margin, if you look at a continuum, it's not like the mean and the median are the same number. There's a fairly wide distribution in operating margins. So we see, even in a down market at the individual sales center level, there's still plenty of things we can do.

如果你觀察我們的整體營業利潤率，如果你觀察一個連續體，你會發現平均值和中位數並不相同。營業利益率分佈相當廣泛。所以我們看到，即使在單一銷售中心層級的低迷市場中，我們仍然可以做很多事情。

Having said that, overall, the biggest lever that there is, is sales growth, right? And sales growth in a down market becomes much more difficult, but it is achievable. And we have some locations that are up year over year.

話雖如此，總的來說，最大的槓桿是銷售成長，對嗎？在低迷的市場中，銷售成長變得更加困難，但這是可以實現的。我們有一些地點逐年上升。

But getting back to the cadence of continuing to expand on a predictable basis, the operating margins really comes with when the market turns, and the market starts to grow, and we get back to that long-term growth algorithm that we talked about, which is 6% to 9%, which won't come really until we see the reversion in new pool construction. Do we think that's coming? Yes. Do I think it's going to happen between now and the end of the year? As we mentioned, we do not.

但回到在可預測的基礎上繼續擴張的節奏，當市場轉變、市場開始成長時，營業利潤率才真正隨之而來，我們又回到了我們討論過的長期成長演算法，即是6% 到9%，直到我們看到新池建設的恢復才真正實現。我們認為這會到來嗎？是的。我認為從現在到今年年底這會發生嗎？正如我們所提到的，我們沒有。

Very helpful. Thanks, Pete.

很有幫助。謝謝，皮特。

Lauren Ravalli, William Blair.

勞倫·拉瓦利，威廉·布萊爾。

Thank you. Lauren Ravalli on for Ryan Merkel. So first-half sales were better, given a stronger last week of June attributable to hotter weather regionally. Are you seeing these trends continuing into July with hot air weather? Is demand tracking better than expected?

謝謝。勞倫·拉瓦利 (Lauren Ravalli) 替補瑞安·默克爾 (Ryan Merkel)。因此，考慮到 6 月最後一周由於該地區天氣轉熱而表現強勁，上半年銷售情況較好。您是否認為這些趨勢會隨著熱空氣天氣持續到七月？需求追蹤是否比預期更好？

Yes. I would tell you that the results that we see in July so far are encouraging. They're strong, similar to the last week that we saw in June, and that's really a function of we're in season. It's hot. We have, we think, the best value proposition in the industry, and that's what's driving the business.

是的。我想告訴大家，我們在 7 月看到的結果令人鼓舞。它們很強勁，與我們六月看到的上週類似，這確實是我們正處於季節的一個功能。很熱。我們認為，我們擁有業界最佳的價值主張，這就是推動業務發展的動力。

Thank you. I'll take the rest offline and pass it on.

謝謝。我會將其餘部分離線並傳遞給您。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Stephen Volkmann, Jefferies.

史蒂芬‧福克曼，傑弗里斯。

Hi. I don't know if I missed this or maybe you didn't or don't want to say it, but if we have kind of the recurring revenue business sort of flat this year and the building products, I don't know, let's call it down 15% or something, is there any way to ballpark the impact that has on the gross margin, the dilutive impact?

你好。我不知道我是否錯過了這一點，或者也許你沒有或不想說，但如果我們今年的經常性收入業務和建築產品持平，我不知道，讓我們稱之為下降15% 或其他什麼，有什麼辦法可以估計對毛利率的影響，也就是稀釋影響嗎？

So I would probably ballpark it in this manner. So when you look at the way that we have historically built up the bridge from the 29 to 30, we said that roughly half of that was acquisition benefit. And then the remaining half of that, the 50 basis points, was really made up of a combination of the benefit from the building materials, the pricing, the CSL expansion, and the private label with those kinds roughly distributed evenly within that mix.

所以我可能會以這種方式進行預測。因此，當你看看我們歷史上建立從 29 到 30 的橋樑的方式時，我們說其中大約一半是收購收益。然後剩下的一半，即 50 個基點，實際上是由建築材料、定價、CSL 擴張和自有品牌帶來的收益組合而成，這些收益大致均勻地分佈在該組合中。

Okay. So not huge. And I guess maybe a longer-term bigger-picture question maybe for Pete. But pre-COVID, and I guess, for you, Pete, the long-term algo here was kind of growth the way you guys have kind of laid it out, but it included sort of a flattish gross margin with leverage on SG&A over time.

好的。所以不是很大。我想對皮特來說，這可能是一個更長期、更宏觀的問題。但在新冠疫情之前，我想，對你來說，皮特，這裡的長期演算法是你們所製定的增長方式，但隨著時間的推移，它包括了隨著時間的推移，SG&A 槓桿作用下的毛利率持平。

But it sounds like you're talking more about gross margin upside than over the past -- over the next, I don't know, call it, five, 10 years. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but does the new algo actually include a positive trend in gross margin as well as leverage on SG&A?

但聽起來你比過去更常談論毛利率上升——我不知道接下來的五年、十年。我不想在你嘴裡多說，但新演算法實際上是否包括毛利率以及銷售管理費用槓桿的正面趨勢？

I think, longer term, Steve, the way to think about gross margins is we do believe that there is upside in gross margin. But it's not going to come overnight. And frankly, there isn't a silver bullet that we do this, and gross margin goes up.

我認為，從長遠來看，史蒂夫，考慮毛利率的方法是我們確實相信毛利率有上升的空間。但這不會在一夜之間實現。坦白說，我們這樣做並沒有什麼靈丹妙藥，而且毛利率也會上升。

I mean, we've talked about the areas that we're focused on that improved gross margin. We've talked about the work that we're doing around strategic pricing. We talked about improving the mix business that we have. We've talked about leaning into our private label products, in particular, our chemicals. We've talked about improvements in supply chain and leveraging our CSL, which all contribute to, in a positive way, to the gross margin.

我的意思是，我們已經討論了我們重點關注的提高毛利率的領域。我們已經討論了我們正在圍繞戰略定價所做的工作。我們討論了改善我們現有的混合業務。我們已經討論過傾向於我們的自有品牌產品，特別是我們的化學品。我們討論了供應鏈的改進和利用我們的 CSL，這些都對毛利率做出了積極的貢獻。

Now that's going to be offset by competitive pressures, which are in the market. Really, nothing new there, but there's certainly competitive pressures that we have to deal with every day. But if I were to give you a longer-term view that says can we continue to leverage SG&A, yes. Virtually, every facility we have has the ability to leverage SG&A with sales growth.

現在，這將被市場上的競爭壓力所抵消。確實，這並不是什麼新鮮事，但我們每天都必須面對競爭壓力。但如果我要給你一個更長期的觀點，我們是否可以繼續利用 SG&A，那麼是的。事實上，我們擁有的每家工廠都有能力利用銷售成長和管理費用來實現銷售成長。

Now as we have mentioned, when we look at our cost basis, certainly, there's upward pressure on wages, and there should be. Certainly, every time we renew a lease, it is certainly not a branch -- or it's not on our side. The landlords have the advantage right now because there's a scarcity of facilities, in particular, in the areas that we want to grow in.

正如我們所提到的，當我們審視我們的成本基礎時，薪資確實存在上漲壓力，而且應該存在。當然，每次我們續租時，它肯定不是分支機構——或者它不在我們這邊。房東現在有優勢，因為設施匱乏，特別是在我們想要發展的地區。

So we're having to work hard on the SG&A leverage. And I think over time that there is continued upside on gross margin. I don't think you're going to see it go 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 successfully over the next four years. But do I think that we have enough things in our deck that we are working on to continue to drive that number up? Yes, I do.

因此，我們必須努力提高銷售管理及行政費用（SG&A）槓桿率。我認為隨著時間的推移，毛利率將持續上升。我認為你不會在接下來的四年裡看到它成功地達到 30、31、32、33、34。但我認為我們的牌組裡有足夠的東西可以繼續推動這個數字嗎？是的，我願意。

Okay. Thank you, guys.

好的。感謝你們。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Trey Grooms, Stephens.

特雷格魯姆斯、史蒂芬斯。

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. I think the first one that I have is kind of on cash flows and maybe the flow-through there. You pulled back inventory a bit in the quarter. As we look at the full year, should the year-over-year improvement in working capital -- should we continue to see an improvement there? Or is there anything on the working capital front that we should be aware of in the back half, Melanie?

嗨，早安。感謝您回答我的問題。我認為我的第一個是現金流量，也許還有那裡的流量。您在本季稍微減少了庫存。當我們審視全年時，營運資本是否應該比去年同期改善——我們是否應該繼續看到那裡的改善？或者說，梅蘭妮，在後半部分，營運資金方面有什麼我們應該注意的嗎？

Yes. There's nothing unusual in the back half of the year. So as we would typically expect, the third and fourth quarters are a very good cash flow year for us. And we do think that for this year that we should be able to slightly exceed our target of the 100% of net income from a cash flow standpoint. And the biggest benefit, certainly the biggest driver, of that typically is going to be inventory.

是的。下半年並沒有什麼異常。因此，正如我們通常預期的那樣，第三季和第四季對我們來說是現金流非常好的一年。我們確實認為，從現金流的角度來看，今年我們應該能夠略微超過淨利潤 100% 的目標。最大的好處，當然也是最大的驅動力，通常是庫存。

Perfect. Thanks for that. And I guess, one last one for me is on the pricing side. You mentioned that you were seeing some lower pricing clearly on commodity. But is there any other areas where you're seeing any kind of pricing pressure outside of what we we're seeing on the commodity-impacted front?

完美的。感謝那。我想，對我來說最後一個問題是定價方面。您提到您明顯看到商品價格下降。但是，除了我們在受大宗商品影響的方面看到的情況之外，是否還有其他領域存在任何類型的價格壓力？

Yes. I think what we said is that there's a few areas that we're seeing pressure on pricing. So commodities are going to fluctuate, as you mentioned. There's certainly competitive pressures, and we mentioned that on the last call because we had folks that were essentially trying to generate cash to make their early buy payments, so we saw some pretty ridiculous pricing being delivered to the market, which we knew wasn't sustainable and it wasn't. And so that certainly has abated.

是的。我認為我們所說的是，我們在一些領域看到了定價壓力。因此，正如您所提到的，大宗商品將會波動。當然存在競爭壓力，我們在上次電話會議上提到了這一點，因為我們有人本質上是在試圖賺取現金來支付早期購買付款，所以我們看到一些相當荒謬的定價被傳遞到市場，但我們知道這不是可持續的，但事實並非如此。所以這種情況肯定已經減少了。

And then, I guess, overall, when I look at this competition, I would say larger customers on the construction side -- as we mentioned, even though new builds are down, there are people that are getting the lion's share of what's being built is the larger customers. And certainly, larger customers have a lower margin profile. So that's certainly, from a headwind perspective, the areas that we currently see.

然後，我想，總的來說，當我審視這場競爭時，我會說建築方面的大客戶——正如我們所提到的，即使新建築被關閉，仍有人獲得了在建建築的最大份額是較大的客戶。當然，較大的客戶的利潤率較低。因此，從逆風的角度來看，這肯定是我們目前看到的領域。

I guess, what's important to point out here is none of this is new, right? None of this is new. If you go back and you look at our reports over the last 10 years, the comments I just made you will find in every one of them. There's nothing new in that.

我想，這裡需要指出的重要一點是，這些都不是什麼新鮮事，對吧？這些都不是什麼新鮮事。如果你回頭看看我們過去10年的報告，你會在每份報告中找到我剛才的評論。這並沒有什麼新鮮事。

Yes, that's super helpful. Thanks for the color on that, Pete. But the one question we still get from time to time is -- and I know you touched on this on the last call with your thoughts, but -- maybe any update on -- if you're seeing any kind of change in behavior out of Heritage now that Home Depot has had them under their umbrella for, I guess, a month or so? But it sounds like the answer to that is no.

是的，這非常有幫助。謝謝你的顏色，皮特。但我們仍然不時收到的一個問題是——我知道你在上次電話會議上談到了你的想法，但是——也許有任何更新——如果你看到行為發生任何變化家得寶(Home Depot) 將它們納入保護傘之下，我想，已經有一個月左右的時間了？但聽起來答案是否定的。

Yes, it really isn't. I mean, as you can imagine, I'm sure there -- it's way too soon to have any impact from their new ownership. So nothing has really changed in that. And frankly, as I said, if you go back and look at the market over the last 10 years, remember, all Heritage did was turn around and buy the existing distribution that was out there.

是的，確實不是。我的意思是，正如你可以想像的那樣，我確信他們的新所有權產生任何影響還為時過早。所以這方面並沒有真正改變。坦白說，正如我所說，如果你回顧一下過去 10 年的市場，請記住，Heritage 所做的就是轉身購買現有的發行版。

So much of what they have is the same competitors that we had before. So these same patterns from a competition perspective. And frankly, when you don't have the value add that we do, the best way to compete with us is on price.

他們擁有的很多東西與我們之前的競爭對手相同。從競爭的角度來看，這些模式是相同的。坦白說，當您沒有我們所提供的附加價值時，與我們競爭的最佳方式就是價格。

But again, and I have to point this out to our folks too, it's the same pattern that's happened for years, and I expect it to continue. But it's nothing that we lose a lot of sleep over. I'm hopeful that with Home Depot helping run the show that they become a little more responsible.

但我也必須向我們的人們指出這一點，這是多年來發生的相同模式，我希望它會繼續下去。但這並不是什麼讓我們失眠的事情。我希望透過家得寶的幫助，他們能夠變得更負責任。

Yes, okay. Thanks, Pete. Makes sense to me. Good luck.

是的，好的。謝謝，皮特。我感覺合理。祝你好運。

Garik Shmois, Loop Capital.

Garik Shmois，Loop Capital。

Hi, thank you. Just on OpEx growth, I think if I heard you right, the growth rate is moderating in the third quarter but then increasing somewhat in Q4. I'm just wondering as to the variance there for modeling purposes. And then it might be earlier, but do you think operating expense leverage could revert back to more normalized levels in '25?

嗨，謝謝你。就營運支出成長而言，我想如果我沒聽錯的話，第三季的成長率會放緩，但第四季會有所增加。我只是想知道出於建模目的的差異。然後可能會更早，但您認為營運費用槓桿可能會在 25 年恢復到更正常的水平嗎？

So as it relates to the differences between third and fourth quarter, the bigger difference there really is that the fourth quarter has less variable expenses that we will be able to take out from an efficiency standpoint. So the percentage increase is really just the fixed cost primarily on the rent side. That's going to be a bigger driver in the fourth quarter versus the third quarter.

因此，由於它與第三季度和第四季度之間的差異有關，所以更大的差異實際上是第四季度的可變費用較少，我們從效率的角度來看可以扣除這些費用。因此，增加的百分比實際上只是主要在租金方面的固定成本。與第三季相比，這將成為第四季更大的推動力。

And as we look forward from an expense leverage standpoint, we have looked across the network and taken the opportunity, as we mentioned, with some of those Horizon closures to really evaluate our cost structure from the ground up. And so I believe that the decision that we've made this year will allow us to be quicker on our feet in getting that expense leverage as we move forward with our top-line sales growth.

當我們從費用槓桿的角度展望時，我們已經審視了整個網絡，並利用其中一些地平線關閉的機會，從頭開始真正評估我們的成本結構。因此，我相信，我們今年做出的決定將使我們能夠在推動營收成長的過程中更快地獲得費用槓桿。

Got it. Follow-up question is just more very short term, just with the pickup in June -- the last week in June, and that's continued here into July. Is it primarily on the non-discretionary piece products that you likely would have sold, if not for the weather delays earlier in the second quarter? Or are there any other green shoots that you're seeing that could point to maybe a little bit more optimism on a broader-based recovery?

知道了。後續問題只是更短期的問題，六月的回升——六月的最後一周，這種情況一直持續到七月。如果不是因為第二季早些時候的天氣延誤，您可能會出售非自由裁量的單件產品嗎？或者您看到了其他任何可能表明對更廣泛的復甦更加樂觀的跡象？

No, it's really -- it's the maintenance spend, right? So the more the equipment gets used, the more people that are in the pool, then the larger the demand is for those products. And then we're enjoying a bigger share of that based on the differentiated value proposition that we have. But I'd love to tell you that I'm seeing green shoots on construction and renovation. But as I mentioned, this really is a renovation season, so we don't really know.

不，這確實是維護費用，對吧？因此，設備使用得越多，池中的人數就越多，那麼對這些產品的需求就越大。然後，基於我們擁有的差異化價值主張，我們將獲得更大的份額。但我很想告訴你，我看到了建築和翻新方面的萌芽。但正如我所提到的，這確實是一個裝修季節，所以我們真的不知道。

And on construction, I still think there's a lot of people that want a pool as the dealers are saying, hey, the phones are ringing, people wanting quotes. They want to know. But I just think they're waiting for a little better economic environment to pull the trigger.

在建築方面，我仍然認為有很多人想要一個游泳池，因為經銷商會說，嘿，電話響了，人們想要報價。他們想知道。但我只是認為他們正在等待更好的經濟環境來扣動扳機。

Understood. Thanks for that. I'll pass it on.

明白了。感謝那。我會把它傳遞下去。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Sam Reid, Wells Fargo.

薩姆·里德，富國銀行。

Awesome. Thanks so much. I know it's still too early to be thinking about 2025, but maybe just a quick thought from your vantage point on the top-line algo next year. You're seeing kind of muted new pool construction, and there obviously are some pools that exit the base due to scrappage and other dynamics like that. Maybe just talk through kind of the achievability of the algo next year. If you don't get that, let's call it one to two-point contribution from new pools entering the base.

驚人的。非常感謝。我知道現在考慮 2025 年還為時過早，但也許只是從您對明年頂線演算法的有利角度快速思考。你會看到新的泳池建設進展緩慢，而且顯然有一些泳池因為報廢和其他類似的動態而退出基地。也許只是討論一下明年演算法的可實現性。如果您不明白這一點，我們將其稱為進入基地的新池的一到兩點貢獻。

Yes, so certainly, we would expect that. Looking at kind of what we've seen on the impact from the new build and the remodel activity this year, those are kind of collectively bringing down sales expectations kind of four to five. And so if that -- flat next year, then you would see no impact, positive or negative, from that activity year over year. And then you would see the positive impact coming through from the maintenance activity on the incremental 60,000 or so new tools that we have built this year.

是的，我們當然希望如此。看看我們今年新建和改建活動的影響，這些總體上使銷售預期下降了四到五倍。因此，如果明年持平，那麼您將不會看到該活動逐年產生任何影響，無論是積極還是消極。然後您將看到維護活動對我們今年新增的 60,000 多個新工具的正面影響。

Thanks. And then one final one, just thinking through your chemical packaging operations, it sounds like you've done a great job of scaling that. I think you mentioned up 60% since you purchased it. Maybe just talk through the margin benefit you've gotten from those chemical packaging operations and whether there's any kind of incremental margin beyond that we should be contemplating in our models? Thanks.

謝謝。最後一點，只要考慮一下您的化學包裝操作，聽起來您在擴大規模方面做得很好。我想你提到自購買以來上漲了 60%。也許只是談談您從這些化學包裝業務中獲得的利潤收益，以及是否有任何超出我們應該在模型中考慮的增量利潤？謝謝。

Yes. I think it's a piece of the margin improvement that we have seen, and the margin profile is really different by product. So there are certain products to that, a much better margin profile. Others are going to be certainly better but not as much. We really don't parse that out.

是的。我認為這是我們所看到的利潤率改善的一部分，而且不同產品的利潤率確實有所不同。因此，某些產品的利潤率要好得多。其他人肯定會更好，但不會那麼好。我們真的沒有解析出來。

And the one thing I would remind you is that our view on the chemical packaging operation is we need our chemical partners. We will never be sole sourced in that plant on our chemicals because of surety of supply and redundancy.

我要提醒您的一件事是，我們對化學品包裝業務的看法是我們需要我們的化學品合作夥伴。由於供應的保證和冗餘，我們永遠不會從該工廠唯一採購我們的化學品。

So even if I could supply the entire business out of that facility and have incremental basis points of gross margin by doing that, I wouldn't do it because I wouldn't put all of the eggs of the company in one basket. So our chemical business is going to be a blend of our partner suppliers and the Suncoast facility.

因此，即使我可以透過該設施供應整個業務，並通過這樣做獲得毛利率的增量基點，我也不會這樣做，因為我不會把公司的所有雞蛋放在一個籃子裡。因此，我們的化學品業務將由我們的合作夥伴供應商和陽光海岸工廠混合而成。

Certainly, the things that we run through, the Suncoast facility, are margin accretive to the business. They vary by product. It would be -- at the high end is going to be your liquids and some of the balancers. And then when you get into trichlor, there's certainly an advantage, but nowhere near the differentiation that we see on the other products.

當然，我們經營的陽光海岸設施可以為企業帶來利潤成長。它們因產品而異。高端將是你的液體和一些平衡器。然後當你進入三氯時，肯定有一個優勢，但遠不及我們在其他產品上看到的差異化。

That's super helpful. I'll pass it on.

這非常有幫助。我會把它傳遞下去。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This will conclude our question-and-answer session for today. I would like to turn the conference back over to Peter Arvan for any closing remarks.

我們今天的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回給 Peter Arvan 發表閉幕詞。

Yes. Thank you all for joining us today. We look forward to our next call, which will be on October 24, when we release our third-quarter 2024 results. Thank you for your support and enjoy the rest of your summer.

是的。感謝大家今天加入我們。我們期待 10 月 24 日舉行的下一次電話會議，屆時我們將發布 2024 年第三季業績。感謝您的支持，祝您有個愉快的夏天。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines at this time.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。此時您可以斷開線路。