Pool Corp (POOL) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Pool Corp third quarter 2025 conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加 Pool Corp 2025 年第三季電話會議。（操作說明）請注意，本次活動正在錄影。

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

現在我將把會議交給高級副總裁兼財務長梅蘭妮·哈特。請繼續。

Welcome everyone to our third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. During today's call, our discussion, comments and responses to questions may include forward-looking statements, including management's outlook for 2025 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.

歡迎各位參加我們2025年第三季財報電話會議。在今天的電話會議中，我們的討論、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 2025 年及未來時期的展望。實際結果可能與今天討論的內容有重大差異。有關可能導致實際結果與預期結果不同的因素和變數的信息，請參閱我們的 10-K 表格。

In addition, we may make references to non-GAAP financial measures in our comments. A description and reconciliation of any non-GAAP financial measures included in our press release will be posted to our corporate website in the Investor Relations section. Additionally, we have provided a presentation summarizing key points from our press release and today's call, which can also be found on our Investor Relations website.

此外，我們在評論中可能會提及非GAAP財務指標。我們將在公司網站的投資者關係欄位中發布新聞稿中包含的任何非GAAP財務指標的說明和對帳資訊。此外，我們還提供了一份演示文稿，總結了我們新聞稿和今天電話會議的要點，該演示文稿也可在我們的投資者關係網站上找到。

We will begin today's call with comments from Peter Arvan, our President and CEO.

今天，我們將首先由我們的總裁兼執行長彼得·阿爾文發表講話。

Thank you, Melanie, and good morning, everyone. I'm excited to share that our teams have maintained the momentum we established in the second quarter, delivering another solid performance in Q3. Thanks to their hard work and dedication, we continue to drive growth with topline sales up 1% and gross margin expansion of 50 basis points. This was fueled by consistent maintenance activity and encouraging signs of stabilization in both new pool construction and remodel.

謝謝你，梅蘭妮，大家早安。我很高興地告訴大家，我們的團隊保持了第二季建立的良好勢頭，在第三季又取得了穩健的業績。由於他們的辛勤工作和奉獻精神，我們繼續推動成長，營收成長 1%，毛利率提高 50 個基點。這得歸功於持續不斷的維護工作，以及新建泳池和改造泳池方面令人鼓舞的穩定跡象。

I'm also pleased to see that we achieved year-over-year growth in building materials for the first time since Q3 of 2022, driven by improvements in remodel activity and share gain. As you know, we have continued innovating and investing in our Pool360 applications, and I'm pleased to say that our adoption rate of these industry-leading tools continues to grow as our customers realize their full potential.

我也很高興地看到，在翻新活動的改善和市場份額的提升的推動下，自 2022 年第三季以來，我們在建築材料方面首次實現了同比增長。如您所知，我們一直在不斷創新和投資 Pool360 應用程序，我很高興地告訴大家，隨著我們的客戶充分發揮這些行業領先工具的潛力，這些工具的採用率也在持續增長。

Building on these successes, we recently shared our strategic roadmap for the next year and beyond with the entire management team at our International Sales Conference, and their excitement was palpable. The innovative products and ambitious growth plans we unveiled are already gathering a buzz, and our teams are ready to hit the ground running as new initiatives start rolling out immediately.

在這些成功的基礎上，我們最近在國際銷售大會上與整個管理團隊分享了我們未來一年及更長遠的策略路線圖，他們的興奮之情溢於言表。我們推出的創新產品和雄心勃勃的成長計畫已經引起了廣泛關注，隨著新措施立即開始推出，我們的團隊也已做好準備，全力以赴。

We're focused on key areas of our business where we know we can win. This forward-looking approach not only positions us to close 2025 with momentum but also lays a strong foundation for an even more dynamic 2026.

我們專注於我們業務中那些我們知道能夠取得成功的關鍵領域。這種前瞻性的方法不僅使我們能夠以強勁的勢頭結束 2025 年，而且還為更充滿活力的 2026 年奠定了堅實的基礎。

Looking at the macroeconomic environment, uncertainty around tariffs and elevated borrowing rates continue to weigh on consumer sentiment and limit discretionary demand, particularly for pool projects that require financing.

從宏觀經濟環境來看，關稅和高企的借貸利率帶來的不確定性持續打壓消費者信心，限制了可自由支配的需求，特別是對於需要融資的資金池項目而言。

While we observed overall permit data down mid-single-digits year over year through August with considerable variability across the country, recent easing of interest rates policy offers a promising path forward towards relief. For clarity here, we believe it will take further reductions to bring borrowing rates to a level that will motivate potential entry level pool owners to build. Despite these challenges, however, our new pool construction sales have outperformed industry permit data indicating continuous share expansion.

雖然我們觀察到截至 8 月份，整體許可證數據同比下降了個位數百分比，且全國各地差異很大，但最近利率政策的放鬆為緩解困境提供了一條有希望的前進道路。為了更清楚地說明這一點，我們認為需要進一步降低貸款利率，才能使貸款利率達到足以激勵潛在的入門級泳池業主建造泳池的水平。儘管面臨這些挑戰，但我們的新泳池建造銷售額超過了行業許可數據，表明市場份額持續擴張。

On the remodel side, consumers remain focused on essential repairs and targeted improvements rather than large scale upgrades. In response, our teams are leveraging our robust product portfolio, our strong private label offerings, and enhanced technology while partnering with vendors to deliver innovative solutions and drive future growth. Overall, I am more than confident in our team's ability to adapt, execute, and position us for long-term success.

在房屋改造方面，消費者仍然專注於必要的維修和有針對性的改進，而不是大規模的升級。為此，我們的團隊正在利用我們強大的產品組合、強大的自有品牌產品和增強的技術，同時與供應商合作，提供創新解決方案，推動未來的成長。總的來說，我對我們團隊的適應能力、執行力和為長期成功做好準備的能力充滿信心。

Now, I will walk through our third quarter results. We reported $1.5 billion in net sales, up 1%, building on the growth we generated during peak season. Maintenance product sales performed well, particularly parts and private label chemical volumes. As mentioned, we saw growth in building materials used in new construction and remodel projects. Mid-season price increases created a slight lift on top-line but were deluded some by chemical deflation.

接下來，我將介紹我們第三季的業績。我們公佈的淨銷售額為 15 億美元，成長 1%，延續了我們在旺季期間的成長。維修產品銷售表現良好，尤其是零件和自有品牌化學品銷售。如前所述，我們看到新建和改建項目中使用的建築材料有所增長。季中漲價使營收略有成長，但有些人卻被化學通貨緊縮所蒙蔽。

Related to our geographic markets, Florida produced 1% growth with Texas flat. And California and Arizona each down 3%. Florida remains steady across our product categories and leads the country with new pools being built in 2025. While flat, Texas showed sequential improvement compared to recent quarters. New pool builds in Texas remain pressured, but continued to improve throughout the year, and maintenance-related product sales showed resilience.

從地理市場來看，佛羅裡達州實現了 1% 的成長，而德州則持平。加州和亞利桑那州均下降了3%。佛羅裡達州在我們所有產品類別中保持穩定，並在 2025 年新建游泳池數量方面領先全國。儘管德州經濟持平，但與最近幾季相比，環比有所改善。德州新建游泳池的市場仍面臨壓力，但全年持續改善，與維護相關的產品銷售也表現出韌性。

In California, we see continued pressure on new pool builds, particularly in areas affected by recent wildfires. Arizona showed some deceleration in permits compared to earlier this year, but we believe this may be related to timing versus reversion while maintenance held up for both California and Arizona during the quarter.

在加州，我們看到新建游泳池的壓力持續增加，尤其是在最近受野火影響的地區。與今年稍早相比，亞利桑那州的許可證發放速度有所放緩，但我們認為這可能與時間安排與許可證發放的恢復有關，而加州和亞利桑那州在本季度的維護工作都保持了正常水平。

In Europe, net sales decreased 1% for the quarter in local currency and increased 6% in the USD. Similar to last quarter, we saw growth in the southern countries while impacts from political strain and related consumer uncertainty pressured sales in France. For Horizon, net sales increased 3% in the quarter, supported by solid maintenance growth and improvement in sales for outdoor living products like landscape lighting, hardscapes, and synthetic turf.

在歐洲，本季淨銷售額以當地貨幣計算下降了 1%，以美元計算增加了 6%。與上個季度類似，我們在南方國家看到了成長，而政治緊張局勢和相關的消費者不確定性對法國的銷售造成了壓力。Horizo​​n 的淨銷售額在本季度增長了 3%，這得益於穩健的維護業務增長以及景觀照明、硬景觀和人造草坪等戶外生活產品的銷售改善。

Shifting to product categories, total chemical sales declined 4% this quarter, reflecting some additional deflation. Overall, I consider the demand for chemicals in our performance to be stable. Our private label offerings generated volume growth during the quarter, showing that our teams are being successful in showing the power of our brands and the innovative products and systems that we offer.

從產品類別來看，本季化學品總銷售額下降了 4%，反映出進一步的通貨緊縮。整體而言，我認為我們演出中對化學品的需求是穩定的。本季度，我們的自有品牌產品銷售實現了成長，這表明我們的團隊成功地展現了我們品牌的實力以及我們提供的創新產品和系統。

With our new product, showroom displays, and marketing support, our customers continue to see strength of our value proposition, and this bodes well for the upcoming selling season. Building material sales increased 4%, again driven by our expansive private label offering and elevated customer experience.

憑藉我們的新產品、展廳展示和行銷支持，我們的客戶不斷感受到我們價值主張的優勢，這對即將到來的銷售季來說是個好兆頭。建材銷售額成長了 4%，這再次得益於我們廣泛的自有品牌產品和不斷提升的客戶體驗。

We recently rebranded NPT, formerly National Pool Tile to National Pool Trends to align our brand name and marketing efforts to highlight our many offerings. The new name brings greater clarity to our value proposition showing NPT as our customers partner for complete backyard transformations using our tile, pool finish, decking, to name a few.

我們最近將 NPT（原名 National Pool Tile）更名為 National Pool Trends，以統一品牌名稱和行銷策略，突出我們的眾多產品和服務。新名稱更清楚地展現了我們的價值主張，表明 NPT 是我們客戶的合作夥伴，我們使用瓷磚、泳池飾面、露台等產品，為客戶打造完整的後院改造方案。

Our premier product offering, product sales specialists, and consumer showrooms offer a one of a kind customer experience, and it is shown in our results. Equipment sales, which exclude cleaners, increased 4% during the quarter, mostly reflecting benefit from price and steady replacement volume for critical components.

我們一流的產品、專業的銷售人員和麵向消費者的展廳，為客戶帶來獨一無二的體驗，而我們的業績也證明了這一點。本季設備銷售額（不包括清潔設備）成長了 4%，主要反映了價格上漲和關鍵零件穩定更換量的好處。

Turning to end markets, our commercial sales increased 2% in the third quarter, showing steady momentum from a strategic focus area. We continue to make investments in our team during the quarter and created greater connections to key designers and builders to better support commercial aquatic projects.

從終端市場來看，我們的商業銷售額在第三季成長了 2%，顯示策略重點領域取得了穩定成長動能。本季我們繼續對團隊進行投資，並與主要設計師和建造商建立了更緊密的聯繫，以更好地支持商業水上專案。

Sales to our independent retail customers declined 3%. Chemical deflation created mild headwinds here while DIY consumers continue to be hesitant with discretionary purchases like cleaners and aboveground pools, spas, and some equipment.

對獨立零售客戶的銷售額下降了 3%。化學品通貨緊縮給這裡帶來了一些不利影響，而DIY消費者仍然對清潔劑、地上游泳池、水療中心和一些設備等非必需品購買猶豫不決。

For our Pinch A Penny franchise group, sales represented our franchisee sales to their end customers declined 1% during the quarter. Also of note, we've not seen any meaningful shift between do-it-for-me and do0it-yourself customers.

對於我們的 Pinch A Penny 特許經營集團而言，本季加盟商向其終端客戶的銷售額下降了 1%。另外值得注意的是，我們還沒有看到「幫我做」的客戶和「自己動手做」的客戶之間發生任何實質的變化。

Before covering progress on our initiatives, I want to briefly highlight gross margin ahead of Melanie's prepared remarks. I'm extremely pleased with the team's effort to expand gross margin by 50 basis points this quarter. Although the operating environment remains challenging, our teams continue to deliver by making strategic and efficient supply chain choices, refining our network and applying disciplined buying and sale strategies, all while providing an unparalleled customer experience.

在介紹我們各項措施的進展之前，我想先簡單介紹一下毛利率，然後再聽梅蘭妮的發言。我對團隊本季將毛利率提高 50 個基點的努力感到非常滿意。儘管經營環境依然充滿挑戰，但我們的團隊透過做出策略性和高效的供應鏈選擇、改進我們的網路以及應用嚴謹的採購和銷售策略，不斷交付成果，同時提供無與倫比的客戶體驗。

A key investment area and differentiator for pool Corp is our technology suite. Pool360 is the largest and most comprehensive set of customer facing tools in the industry, and our adoption rate continues to grow. For the quarter, sales through the tool represented an all-time high of 17% of our total sales for the third quarter, which demonstrate the customer's desire for technology that creates value.

pool Corp 的一個關鍵投資領域和差異化優勢在於我們的技術套件。Pool360 是業界規模最大、功能最全面的客戶導向的工具集，而且我們的用戶採納率還在持續成長。本季度，透過該工具實現的銷售額佔第三季度總銷售額的 17%，創歷史新高，這表明客戶渴望獲得能夠創造價值的技術。

While still in the early stages, this growth shows the output of our technology investment over the past few years. Our targeted spend in our digital ecosystem is driving technology adoption and fueling not only growth in private label chemicals but also service and traditional B2B offerings.

雖然仍處於早期階段，但這一增長表明了我們過去幾年在技術投資方面的成果。我們在數位生態系統中的定向投入正在推動技術應用，並不僅促進自有品牌化學品的成長，也促進服務和傳統 B2B 產品的成長。

Our deliberate investments in innovation and enhancements of our tools have been key drivers of Pool360's impressive sales results. These advancements empower us to support higher sales efficiently while creating capacity for future growth.

我們對創新和工具改進的刻意投入，是 Pool360 取得令人矚目的銷售業績的關鍵驅動因素。這些進步使我們能夠更有效率地支持更高的銷售額，同時為未來的成長創造條件。

Increased Pool360 transaction, adoption deliver significant benefits, not only strengthening our margins, but also elevating the customer experience, accelerating private label and exclusive product growth, and enhancing our long-term competitive advantage.

Pool360 交易量的增加和採用帶來了顯著的收益，不僅提高了我們的利潤率，還提升了客戶體驗，加速了自有品牌和獨家產品的成長，增強了我們的長期競爭優勢。

We completed one acquisition during the quarter, adding two locations in key markets. Additionally, we opened one greenfield, bringing our year-to-date opening to six sales centers. We remain on track for additional openings in the fourth quarter to reach 8- to 10 new sales centers for the full year. Our Pinch A Penny franchise network added one new store in the quarter, adding to our Arizona presence and bringing the Pinch A Penny locations to 303 franchise stores.

本季我們完成了一項收購，在重點市場新增了兩個地點。此外，我們還開設了一家新店，使我們今年迄今開設的銷售中心達到六個。我們仍有望在第四季繼續開設更多銷售中心，以期全年新增 8 至 10 個銷售中心。本季度，我們的 Pinch A Penny 特許經營網絡新增了一家門市，進一步擴大了我們在亞利桑那州的業務，使 Pinch A Penny 的特許經營門市數量達到 303 家。

Touching on guidance, as we exit the pool season and enter the fourth quarter, we expect full year sales performance to be relatively flat to up slightly. We are confirming our diluted EPS guidance for the year to a range of $10.81 to $11.31 updated to reflect the $0.11 and realize ASU benefits year-to-date.

展望未來，隨著泳池季結束和第四季的到來，我們預計全年銷售業績將保持相對穩定或略有成長。我們確認本年度稀釋後每股收益預期為 10.81 美元至 11.31 美元，已更新以反映 0.11 美元並實現 ASU 帶來的收益。

At Pool Corp, our relentless pursuit of continuous improvement is driving us to lead the way on innovation across products and processes. Recognizing the industry's need for fresh ideas and solutions, we are making a new and intentional push to discover, shape, and bring new innovation to market for our customers and as the strongest channel to market for our supplier partners.

在 Pool Corp，我們孜孜不倦地追求持續改進，引領我們在產品和流程創新方面的發展。我們意識到業界需要新的理念和解決方案，因此我們正有意識地大力探索、塑造和推出創新產品，為我們的客戶以及我們的供應商合作夥伴提供最強大的市場管道。

By identifying emerging opportunities and thoughtfully guiding them from concept to market, we are helping to expand the total addressable market while delivering value unique to Pool Corp.

透過識別新興機會並精心引導其從概念到市場，我們正在幫助擴大潛在市場總量，同時為 Pool Corp. 提供獨特的價值。

Our team's product expertise is unmatched, backed by superior inventory availability, robust operating system, and customer relationships that span decades in nearly every market we serve. Even as the macroeconomic environment presents challenges, the underlying strength of our industry and Pool Corp's distinctive capabilities remain clear. Our long-term growth trajectory is secure, pools continue to be highly desirable, and no company is better positioned than Pool Corp to help build and maintain the growing installed base.

我們團隊擁有無可比擬的產品專業知識，並擁有卓越的庫存可用性、強大的操作系統以及在幾乎所有我們服務的市場中長達數十年的客戶關係作為支撐。即使宏觀經濟環境面臨挑戰，我們產業的潛在優勢和 Pool Corp 的獨特能力仍然顯而易見。我們的長期成長軌跡是穩固的，游泳池仍然非常受歡迎，沒有任何一家公司比 Pool Corp 更有能力幫助建立和維護不斷增長的客戶群。

We have a strong competitive advantage, and we are continually strengthening it through strategic investments in our people, facilities, acquisitions, digital platforms, innovative private label, and exclusive products, retail support systems, advanced chemical repackaging capabilities, and consumer facing marketing tools. Our commitment is focused and our path forward is clear.

我們擁有強大的競爭優勢，我們透過對員工、設施、收購、數位平台、創新自有品牌和獨家產品、零售支援系統、先進的化學品重新包裝能力以及面向消費者的行銷工具的策略性投資，不斷加強這一優勢。我們目標明確，前進方向清晰。

We mark our 30th anniversary as a public company. I want to thank our entire team for their exceptional dedication, which has driven our long-term success and positions us for the future. Over the past three decades, our growth and sustained success have been driven by the talent and commitment of our field leadership and support teams, all united by a focus on delivering the best customer experience and cultivating a go to market relationship with our valued suppliers.

我們慶祝公司上市30週年。我要感謝我們整個團隊的傑出奉獻精神，正是這種精神推動了我們的長期成功，並為我們的未來發展奠定了基礎。在過去的三十年裡，我們的發展和持續成功得益於我們現場領導和支援團隊的才華和奉獻精神，他們都致力於提供最佳的客戶體驗，並與我們重視的供應商建立良好的市場關係。

Looking ahead, I am confident that this foundation and our continued investment will equip us to enhance the differentiated value we provide to the pool and outdoor living industry while growing sales, expanding margin, and generating strong cash flows and delivering exceptional returns for our shareholders.

展望未來，我相信，憑藉這一基礎和我們持續的投資，我們將能夠提升我們為泳池和戶外生活行業提供的差異化價值，同時實現銷售增長、利潤率擴大、現金流強勁增長，並為我們的股東帶來卓越的回報。

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

現在我將把電話交給我們的高級副總裁兼財務長梅蘭妮·哈特，請她詳細評論。梅蘭妮？

Thank you, Pete. For the third quarter, we saw year-over-year improvement in sales driven by increased maintenance on the install base, favorable pricing, and market share gains, while noting that the impact from lower discretionary spend levels was less of a drag on a comparable basis compared to the third quarter of prior year.

謝謝你，皮特。第三季度，由於安裝基礎維護增加、價格優惠和市場份額成長，銷售額年增；同時，與去年同期相比，可自由支配支出水準下降的影響較小。

During the quarter, we realized a 3% benefit from pricing, reflecting the full quarter impact of price realization on the mid-season vendor price increases implemented in April and May. Trichlor selling prices continue to be impacted by the lower level of spend in the industry and somewhat offset our positive price realization in the quarter.

本季度，我們從定價中獲得了 3% 的收益，這反映了 4 月和 5 月實施的季中供應商漲價對本季價格實現的全面影響。由於行業支出水平下降，三氯異氰尿酸鈉的售價繼續受到影響，並在一定程度上抵消了我們本季實現的積極價格收益。

Throughout the quarter in certain markets, we saw some positive months where there were permit increases year-over-year from the prior period. However, in total, year-to-date permits remain below last year's levels. Our estimates of new pool construction remains flat to slightly down, consistent with our expectations included in last quarter.

本季某些市場出現了一些積極的月份，許可證數量較上年同期增加。然而，今年迄今的許可證總數仍低於去年同期水準。我們對新建游泳池的預測與上季預期基本持平或略有下降。

Overall, the lower level of discretionary spend had a 2% impact on our sales for the quarter, similar to the impact we saw in the second quarter, with both Horizon and Europe having positive sales growth in the quarter.

總體而言，可自由支配支出的減少對本季度銷售額產生了 2% 的影響，與我們在第二季度看到的影響類似，Horizo​​​​n 和歐洲在本季度均實現了正銷售成長。

As Pete mentioned, we added two new sales centers through acquisition during the quarter, as well as one newly acquired location in October. These additions did not have a significant impact on our base business results, so we have not recorded base business performance separately for the quarter.

正如皮特所提到的，本季我們透過收購新增了兩個銷售中心，10 月又新收購了一個銷售中心。這些新增業務對我們的基本業務業績沒有重大影響，因此我們沒有單獨記錄該季度的基本業務業績。

Our gross margin in the third quarter was 29.6%, representing a 50-basis point improvement over prior year. This improvement was driven by favorable pricing, successful supply chain initiatives, and an increase in sales of our expanded private label offerings. All areas that we continue to focus on and excel in despite the persistent impact of the macro environment and lower levels of consumer discretionary spend. The sequential change from the second quarter margin is consistent with our typical seasonal trends.

第三季毛利率為 29.6%，比去年同期提高了 50 個基點。這項改善得益於有利的定價、成功的供應鏈舉措以及我們擴大的自有品牌產品銷售的成長。儘管宏觀環境持續受到影響，消費者可自由支配支出水準下降，但我們仍在所有領域保持專注並取得優異成績。與第二季利潤率相比，環比變化符合我們典型的季節性趨勢。

Operating expenses increased 5%, slightly ahead of the quarter-over-quarter changes we reported during the first half of the year. This increase includes the impact for our cumulative new greenfield locations that were not open in both periods.

營運費用增加了 5%，略高於我們在今年上半年報告的季度環比變化。這一增長包括了我們在兩個時期內均未開放的累計新綠地計畫的影響。

Also, as Pete described the positive results we have seen with our expanded Pool360 initiative, we accelerated some incremental technology costs during the quarter because we believe that this further differentiates us from our competition and will yield better sales and operating leverage in the future.

此外，正如 Pete 所描述的，我們擴大 Pool360 計劃後取得了積極成果，因此我們在本季度加快了一些新增技術成本的投入，因為我們相信這將進一步使我們與競爭對手區分開來，並在未來帶來更好的銷售和營運槓桿。

Operating income improved $2 million over prior year and was $178 million for the quarter. Interest expense of $12 million continues to compare favorably to prior year. Our effective tax rate was 23.5% for the quarter compared to 23.4% in prior year. ASU benefits contributed $0.01 in both periods presented. We generated diluted earnings per share of $3.40 up 4% from the $3.27 we realized in the third quarter of last year.

本季營業收入比上年同期成長200萬美元，達到1.78億美元。利息支出為 1,200 萬美元，與上年相比仍有較大優勢。本季實際稅率為 23.5%，而上年同期為 23.4%。在所列兩個時期內，ASU福利貢獻了0.01美元。我們實現的稀釋後每股收益為 3.40 美元，比去年第三季的 3.27 美元成長了 4%。

Next I'll discuss our balance sheet cash flows and capital allocations. We finished September with inventory balances of $1.2 billion, up 4%, our lowest level of inventory we expect during the year as we exit the season. The increase includes product inflation and also includes stocking for our nine new locations, including both our greenfields and the acquisition completed during the quarter.

接下來我將討論我們的資產負債表現金流量和資本配置。9 月底，我們的庫存餘額為 12 億美元，成長 4%，這是我們預計在季末達到的年內最低庫存水準。此次成長包括產品通膨，也包括我們九個新地點的庫存，其中包括我們新建的地點和本季完成的收購地點。

Total debt of $1.1 billion resulted in a leverage of 1.58x remaining at the low end of our stated target range of 1.5x to 2x. We generated $286 million in cash flows from operations year-to-date, compared to $487 million in the prior year. The decrease was primarily due to higher tax payments and investments in working capital. We expect to achieve our current year target of converting 90% to 100% of net income into cash flow from operations, which includes the deferred tax payment from prior year.

總債務為 11 億美元，槓桿率為 1.58 倍，仍處於我們設定的目標範圍 1.5 倍至 2 倍的低端。今年迄今為止，我們的營運活動現金流為 2.86 億美元，去年同期為 4.87 億美元。下降的主要原因是稅收支出增加和營運資金投資增加。我們預計今年將淨收入的 90% 至 100% 轉化為經營活動現金流的目標能夠實現，其中包括上一年的遞延所得稅。

We continue to execute on our share repurchases opportunistically under the authorization provided by the Board. We have completed $164 million of share repurchases through the third quarter with an additional $20 million through our earnings call ahead of the $159 million through the third quarter of last year. We have $493 million remaining under our share repurchase authorization.

我們將繼續在董事會授權下，擇機進行股票回購。截至第三季末，我們已完成 1.64 億美元的股票回購，並透過財報電話會議宣布將額外回購 2,000 萬美元，而去年同期回購金額為 1.59 億美元。我們的股票回購授權額度還剩 4.93 億美元。

Throughout the year, we continue to expect full year sales to be relatively flat compared to the prior year with one less selling day. This outlook reflects a modest decline in discretionary spending compared to last year, offset by positive impacts for maintenance growth and pricing realization. In the prior year we bet 1% in the fourth quarter from weather-related hurricane activity, which at this time is not expected to reoccur in the fourth quarter.

預計全年銷售額將與去年持平，但銷售日將減少一天。這項展望反映出與去年相比，可自由支配支出略有下降，但維護成長和定價實現的正面影響抵消了下降。去年，我們押注第四季有 1% 的收益來自與天氣相關的颶風活動，但目前預計第四季不會再次發生這種情況。

Our full year gross margin rate is forecasted to be similar to the prior year, which on an ongoing basis reflects improvement as the prior year rate included a non-recurring import tax benefit recorded in the first quarter of prior year. This would include some improvements on a year-over-year basis in gross margins in the fourth quarter. While customer mix remains less favorable, these impacts are being offset by growth in private label sales, ongoing supply chain improvements, and pricing benefits.

我們預計全年毛利率將與前一年相似，這持續反映出有所改善，因為上一年的毛利率包含了上一年第一季確認的一次性進口稅優惠。這將包括第四季毛利率年減。儘管客戶結構仍然不太有利，但自有品牌銷售的成長、供應鏈的持續改進以及價格優勢正在抵消這些影響。

Our estimates for full year operating expenses remain in line with last quarter, with an expected annual increase over prior year of approximately 3%. This reflects productivity improvements offsetting inflationary cost pressures with increases attributable to our investments in greenfield locations and our focus on technology initiatives.

我們對全年營運費用的估計與上一季保持一致，預計比上年增長約 3%。這反映出生產力的提高抵消了通貨膨脹帶來的成本壓力，而成長則歸功於我們在新建地點的投資和我們對技術措施的關注。

Forecasts for interest expense, estimated tax rates, and share counts for the full year are included in our quarterly earnings presentation posted on our website. There have been no significant changes to these estimates since last quarter, with interest expense updated to include share or purchase activity.

全年利息支出預測、預計稅率和股份數量預測均包含在我們網站上發布的季度收益報告中。與上個季度相比，這些估算值沒有重大變化，利息支出已更新，包括股票或購買活動。

As we typically see, our third quarter tax rate is lower than the annual rate due to discrete timing differences, and we expect our fourth quarter rate to be in line with the first and second quarter rate. We are confirming our diluted EPS range of $10.81 to $11.31 including $0.11 in ASU tax benefits realized year-to-date, of which we reported an additional $0.01 in the third quarter that is now included in the range.

通常情況下，由於時間上的差異，我們的第三季稅率低於年度稅率，我們預計第四季稅率將與第一季和第二季稅率保持一致。我們確認稀釋後每股收益範圍為 10.81 美元至 11.31 美元，其中包括今年迄今實現的 0.11 美元 ASU 稅收優惠，其中我們在第三季度報告的額外 0.01 美元現已計入該範圍。

I am pleased with our team's ability to perform and remain focused on our internal strategic initiatives which have delivered tangible results year-to-date. This highlights the strength of our team and the significant value that industry-specific talent contributes across the outdoor living value chain. While we continue to manage the business effectively, we are also investing in our key strategic growth areas to create long-term value for our shareholders.

我對我們團隊的執行能力以及他們始終專注於內部策略舉措的能力感到滿意，這些舉措在今年迄今為止已經取得了切實成果。這凸顯了我們團隊的實力，以及產業特定人才在整個戶外生活價值鏈中所做的巨大貢獻。在持續有效管理業務的同時，我們也在關鍵策略成長領域進行投資，以創造長期價值，造福股東。

I will now turn the call over to the operator to begin our Q&A session.

現在我將把電話轉交給接線員，開始我們的問答環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Susan Maklari, Goldman Sachs.

蘇珊‧馬克拉里，高盛集團。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Good morning, Pete. My first question is diving in a bit on the comments you made around seeing some early signs of stabilization, which is encouraging given what we've seen in housing and the consumer as we think about this summer and into the fall. Can you talk a bit more about what is driving that and how you're thinking about the trends that you're seeing on the ground as we exit this year and maybe even into early 2026?

謝謝。各位早安。早安，皮特。我的第一個問題是，我想深入探討您之前提到的看到一些早期穩定跡象的評論，考慮到我們目前在住房和消費方面看到的情況，這令人鼓舞，尤其是在我們展望今年夏季和秋季的時候。您能否再詳細談談是什麼因素在推動這一趨勢，以及您如何看待我們在今年年底甚至到 2026 年初所看到的實際趨勢？

Yeah, as I mentioned, the permit data, when you look at that, which again only represents a portion of the market, is very sporadic. And so it's -- there isn't a consistent theme. But, when you look at them from geography to geography. But I guess when we look at them in totality and then combine that with our comments that we're getting from our builder customers and remodel customers, I would tell you that the activity level seems to have firmed up, and we are encouraged.

是的，正如我所提到的，許可證數據，當你查看這些數據時，你會發現它只代表了市場的一部分，而且這些數據非常零散。所以，並沒有一個統一的主題。但是，當你從地理位置的角度來看它們時。但我想，當我們把這些因素綜合起來，再加上我們從建築商客戶和裝修客戶那裡得到的回饋，我會告訴你，市場活動水平似乎已經穩定下來，這讓我們感到鼓舞。

As evidenced by our growth in building material sales in the quarter, which has been -- it's been a long time since we've seen that. So I would say that overall the comments tend to be more positive now. I think it's going to take further interest rate cuts to really drive the entry level pool buyer to jump in. But I think that overall, the consumer sentiment on new construction and large renovation projects seems to be fairly consistent and more optimistic than it was.

從本季建築材料銷售額的成長可以看出，這種情況已經很久沒有出現了。所以我覺得整體而言，現在的評論更偏向正面評價。我認為需要進一步降息才能真正促使入門級泳池買家入場。但我認為，總體而言，消費者對新建房屋和大型翻新項目的看法似乎相當穩定，而且比以前更加樂觀。

Okay, that's good to hear. And then my second question is on the innovation side. You mentioned that you accelerated some spend in the summer. It sounds like you've got some really good initiatives that are coming through the business. Can you talk about how you're thinking of the investments and the trends that we should expect into the fall and year end? And then what that can mean for your ability to outgrow the market even if things do stay relatively more challenging for next year or the next several years?

好的，很高興聽到這個消息。我的第二個問題是關於創新方面的。你提到你在夏季加快了一些支出。聽起來你們公司正在推行一些非常好的措施。您能否談談您對投資的看法，以及我們應該預期秋季和年底的發展趨勢？那麼，即使明年或未來幾年市場狀況依然相對嚴峻，這對您超越市場成長的能力又意味著什麼呢？

Sure. So I'm going to break this down into a couple of areas. I'll talk about technology as it relates to Pool Corp's technology, and then I'll talk about technology related to the market. All of our investments in technology from a Pool Corp-perspective are really designed to enhance the customer experience: to give them greater access, greater convenience, and allow them to be more productive.

當然。所以我會把它分成幾個部分來講解。我將先談談與 Pool Corp 技術相關的技術，然後再談談與市場相關的技術。從 Pool Corp 的角度來看，我們對科技的所有投資都是為了提升客戶體驗：讓他們擁有更大的存取權、更大的便利，並讓他們提高生產力。

I look at our suite of tools, whether it's the Pool360 service which allows our service customers to essentially operate their business, invoice, market, schedule, do everything with the tool, which allows them to be more productive. It allows them access to their catalog of products in Pool360. It allows them to schedule pickups for products, have them delivered, and frankly have access to the entire network, or whether you're talking about our industry-leading water test technology that we provide for our independent retailers that are selling our proprietary pool chemicals.

我查看了我們的一系列工具，例如 Pool360 服務，該服務允許我們的服務客戶基本上運營他們的業務、開票、營銷、安排日程，使用該工具完成所有事情，從而提高他們的生產力。它允許他們存取 Pool360 中的產品目錄。它允許他們安排產品取貨、送貨上門，坦白說，還可以訪問整個網絡，或者說，我們為銷售我們專有泳池化學品的獨立零售商提供的行業領先的水質測試技術。

Again, great product. Very good reviews for the homeowners, and we've also extended that into an at-home app so you can either bring the water test or bring your water to the store for testing or you can buy our proprietary Regal and E-Z Clor strips, take them home and then use our -- again, our proprietary app to test the water and get the same recipe, if you will, for correcting any water chemistry imbalances.

再次強調，這是一款很棒的產品。房主們的評價非常好，我們還將其擴展到了家用應用程序，這樣您就可以攜帶水質測試盒或將水帶到商店進行測試，或者您可以購買我們專有的 Regal 和 E-Z Clor 試紙，帶回家，然後使用我們專有的應用程序來測試水質，並獲得相同的配方，以糾正任何水化學失衡。

So we look at our standard B2B tool, which is the -- where the preponderance of our traffic is. And said, what can we do in order to enhance the customer experience to make that tool easier to use, and the team has been relentless on that which again provides more convenience, more information, more access for our dealers.

所以我們查看了我們的標準 B2B 工具，也就是我們流量最大的地方。他們說，我們可以做些什麼來提升客戶體驗，使該工具更容易使用？團隊在這方面一直不懈努力，這再次為我們的經銷商提供了更多便利、更多資訊和更多訪問權限。

And then the last thing that we have recently started launching is an app that our counter people can use in our branches outside in the yard so that our customers don't even have to come inside. So if they're just getting product that is outside, they'll be met outside with a tablet, and they can tap to pay. If they don't have an account, they can tap to pay or swipe a credit card out in the yard, which again gets them back to work.

最後，我們最近開始推出的是一款應用程序，我們的櫃檯人員可以在分行的室外院子裡使用它，這樣我們的顧客甚至不必進店。所以如果他們只是購買室外商品，他們會在戶外看到一台平板電腦，然後就可以輕觸付款了。如果他們沒有帳戶，他們可以在院子裡輕觸付款或刷信用卡，這樣他們就可以繼續工作了。

So I feel really good about the technology suite that we're rolling out for our customers, and I think that allows us to provide more convenience to our customers, a better experience and allows them to grow their business faster, and those all feed into our marketing tools too, which are consumer facing marketing tools are designed to help our customers grow. So just a plethora of tools available and the adoption rate continues to grow, so very, very pleased with that.

我對我們正在為客戶推出的技術套件感到非常滿意，我認為這使我們能夠為客戶提供更多便利、更好的體驗，並幫助他們更快地發展業務，而這些也都融入到我們的營銷工具中，這些面向消費者的營銷工具旨在幫助我們的客戶發展壯大。因此，現在有大量的工具可供使用，而且採用率還在不斷增長，對此我非常非常滿意。

The other side of technology that I mentioned has to do with the product technology for the industry. I think our industry needs innovation and new product technology in order to grow. I think customers are craving technology, convenience, and value as it relates to those new products, which will give them reasons to invest in their backyard, in their swimming pool to, make the ownership of a pool, whether you're talking about managing the water chemistry or managing your equipment pad, easier, more convenient, and at a price point that is available for everybody.

我提到的技術的另一面與產業產品技術有關。我認為，為了發展壯大，我們的產業需要創新和新產品技術。我認為顧客渴望新技術、便利性和價值，這將使他們有理由投資於自家後院的游泳池，讓擁有游泳池這件事，無論是管理水質化學還是管理設備場地，都變得更加輕鬆、方便，而且價格也人人都能負擔得起。

So we're very excited about how technology will continue to impact this business and Pool Corp's role in driving that.

因此，我們對科技將如何繼續影響這項業務以及 Pool Corp 在推動這一過程中所扮演的角色感到非常興奮。

Okay, thank you for all the color and good luck with the quarter.

好的，謝謝你帶來的所有精彩內容，祝你本季一切順利。

David MacGregor, Longbow Research.

David MacGregor，Longbow Research。

Yes, good morning. I just wanted to start by going back to the graphic in your deck, where you referenced customer risk or customer mix, I guess, and it just -- I presume we're talking about larger consolidated contractors and the kind of growing presence in the remodel work. But just thinking about longer-term margin implications here and what are the levers that you have available to offset against that impact?

是的，早安。我想先回到你簡報中的圖表，你在那裡提到了客戶風險或客戶組合，我想，我們指的是大型綜合承包商以及他們在改造工程中日益增長的影響力。但從長遠來看，這會對利潤率產生哪些影響？您有哪些措施可以抵消這種影響？

I think what it means is that we continue to see consolidation at the customer level. And when you have consolidation at the customer level, they're looking for more tools and more convenience in order to help them be more effective. So for us, I actually think it's a big opportunity because nobody has the technology suite that we have today in order to integrate with them.

我認為這意味著我們將繼續看到客戶層面的整合。當客戶層面進行整合時，他們會尋求更多工具和更多便利，以幫助他們提高效率。所以對我們來說，我認為這其實是一個很大的機會，因為目前還沒有人擁有我們這樣的技術套件來與他們整合。

Though our systems are very flexible, it allows us to integrate with them. It allows -- some of the customers are choosing to use our software to operate their businesses, and some of them are just choosing to integrate with us. So I actually think that it creates a competitive advantage for us.

雖然我們的系統非常靈活，但這也使我們能夠與他們整合。這使得一些客戶選擇使用我們的軟體來經營他們的業務，而有些客戶則選擇與我們整合。所以我認為這實際上為我們創造了競爭優勢。

On one hand, it actually makes it makes them easier to deal with because we get more advanced notice which allows us to be more productive when we're handling their orders and it also gives them access to information on a self-service basis versus having to call and make inquiries, which again is just drives our cost to serve. So very comfortable with our ability to leverage our technology suite in order to help the larger companies be more efficient and grow their business.

一方面，這實際上使他們更容易被對待，因為我們能更早地收到通知，這使我們能夠在處理他們的訂單時更加高效，而且也使他們能夠自助獲取信息，而無需打電話詢問，這又增加了我們的服務成本。我們非常有信心利用我們的技術套件來幫助大型公司提高效率並發展業務。

Yeah, that makes sense. Thank you for that. And just to follow-up, I want to go back to the 4% growth on equipment and how much of that would have been just kind of parts going into maintenance and repair versus equipment sales in the remodel segment?

嗯，有道理。謝謝。最後我想補充一點，關於設備4%的成長，其中有多少是用於維護和維修的零件，又有多少是用於改造領域的設備銷售？

I think most of it right now is -- I mean, of course, every new pool gets a set of equipment. A portion of the renovation and remodel, we'll get new equipment. But the vast majority of the products that we sell are related to a one of the critical components on the pool failed and had to be replaced. Whether it was a pump or whether it was a heater, filter, lights, the vast majority of our equipment sales -- and it's frankly, it's always been this way or for the replacement business for failed components.

我認為目前大部分情況都是——我的意思是，當然，每個新游泳池都會配備一套設備。作為翻新和改造的一部分，我們將添置新設備。但我們銷售的大部分產品都與泳池的某個關鍵零件發生故障並需要更換有關。無論是水泵、加熱器、過濾器還是燈具，我們絕大多數的設備銷售——坦白說，一直都是如此——都是用於更換故障部件的業務。

David Manthey, Baird.

David Manthey，Baird。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. First question on chemicals. I was surprised at the weakness there. I think it's been recently flat to moderate growth. And could you talk about inflation-deflation broken down by the, by chemicals, building materials, equipment? And I'm just wondering, is that chemicals, is that something that happened recently at -- it seems like a slight change in trend versus what we've been seeing lately.

謝謝。各位早安。關於化學品的第一個問題。我對此方面的弱點感到驚訝。我認為近期成長動能平穩或溫和。您能否談談按化學品、建築材料、設備等類別細分的通貨膨脹和通貨緊縮情況？我只是想知道，這是化學物質造成的嗎？這是最近發生的事嗎？ ——這似乎是趨勢上的一個輕微變化，與我們最近看到的相比。

Yeah, I'll take that. Dave, I think the way -- here's the way I think about chemicals. I don't know that there's been any trend. I think we've mentioned on the last couple of calls that there's been some deflation on trichlor. Now remember, we break chemicals down into three buckets, right? There's a sanitizer, then there's balancers, and then there's specialty. So the most deflation that we have seen -- and again, I wouldn't put it in the category of significant.

好的，我接受。戴夫，我是這樣思考化學物質的──我是這樣思考的。我不知道是否存在某種趨勢。我想我們在最近幾次電話會議中都提到過，三氯異氰尿酸鈉的價格出現了一些下跌。記住，我們將化學物質分為三類，對吧？有消毒劑，有平衡劑，還有特殊用途的消毒劑。所以，這是我們迄今為止所見到的最大程度的通貨緊縮——而且，我再次強調，我不會將其歸類為顯著的通貨緊縮。

I would just say that there's been some deflation -- is really in the sanitizer category. I don't think it should be -- I don't look at that and alarm. The fact that in my comments, I looked at our overall chemical business and I said what, our sales out the door on chemicals, I would consider a fairly normal. Because you have to remember that our sales of chemicals goes into our service professionals and into our retail stores.

我只想說，這方面出現了一些通貨緊縮——實際上，這屬於消毒劑類別。我不認為應該如此——我看完後並不覺得恐慌。在我的評論中，我審視了我們整體的化學業務，我說，我們的化學產品銷售額，我認為相當正常。因為您必須記住，我們銷售的化學品會用於我們的服務專業人員和我們的零售商店。

So when you're within a few percent of the total, I don't really look at that as an alarming trend one way or the other because that could be absorbed in just inventory on people's trucks when they actually bought an inventory in the store.

所以，當差額與總數相差幾個百分點時，我並不認為這是一個令人擔憂的趨勢，因為這部分差額可能被人們卡車上的庫存吸收了，因為他們實際上在商店裡購買了庫存。

So overall, I would say, there's been slight pressure in the sanitizers, right? And sanitizers in shock. But I would say that the rest of the business balancers and the rest of the specialty products are actually holding up just fine. So nothing really alarming or noteworthy there.

所以總的來說，我認為消毒劑市場略有壓力，對吧？消毒劑們都震驚了。但我認為，其餘的業務平衡器和其他特殊產品實際上都運作良好。所以沒什麼好真正令人擔憂或值得注意的事情。

The rest of the inflation that you mentioned. Building materials I would say not a tremendous amount of inflation there. I would call that slight. And then on the equipment side, the equipment guys are all out with their pricing for the upcoming season, and I can say that's fairly consistent to what we have seen over the last couple of years.

你提到的其餘通貨膨脹部分。我認為建築材料方面的通貨膨脹並不嚴重。我覺得這算是輕微的怠慢。至於裝備方面，裝備供應商都已經公佈了下個賽季的定價，我可以說這和過去幾年我們看到的價格相當一致。

Okay, thank you. That's helpful. And looking out to next year, I'm not asking for guidance. I'm just thinking about how the model works here. And I think typically you talk about -- if you're growing normal kind of 6 to 9 in that in that growth algorithm, you often have talked about keeping SG&A growth to 60% to 80% of the top-line growth rate.

好的，謝謝。那很有幫助。展望明年，我並不需要指導。我只是在思考這個模型是如何運作的。我認為通常情況下，如果你按照該成長演算法以正常的 6% 到 9% 的速度成長，你通常會談到將銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 的成長保持在營收成長率的 60% 到 80% 之間。

And I know there's also some costs that creep back in when you start reinstating bonuses incentive comp and that sort of thing. So I just want to know just how the model works mathematically when we think about year one of mid-single-digit growth, let's say? Do we see that kind of normal 60% to 80% growth rate in SGA leverage, or is it slightly higher than that in year one and then we start to get that leverage as we go forward?

我知道，當你開始恢復獎金、激勵性薪酬等等時，也會有一些成本悄悄出現。所以我想知道，當我們考慮第一年中等個位數成長的情況時，這個模型在數學上是如何運作的？我們會看到 SGA 槓桿率達到正常的 60% 到 80% 的成長率嗎？還是說第一年會略高於這個水平，然後隨著時間的推移，槓桿率會逐漸提高？

Yeah, so the model stays intact. We will see some upfront kind of recovery of expenses. So, incentive compensation, as you mentioned, would be the one area. But of course that would only track as far as our growth track. And then outside of that, what we've talked about from an expense-based standpoint is we've managed variable expenses. And so when you think about kind of volume increases coming back and you know we will have some add backs as it relates to drivers and warehouse personnel.

是的，所以模型保持不變。我們將看到一些前期費用回收。所以，正如您所提到的，激勵性薪酬將是一個需要關注的領域。當然，這只能反映我們自身的成長軌跡。除此之外，從費用角度來看，我們已經控制了變動費用。所以，當您考慮到業務量回升時，您也知道我們會增加一些與司機和倉庫人員相關的職位。

But that will be kind of limited from that standpoint because we've maintained all of our professional staffing, our sales center managers and our BDRs. So, initially there will be the volume-related expenses as well as the incentive compensation that would come back in with the sales growth.

但從這個角度來看，這種影響會比較有限，因為我們保留了所有的專業人員、銷售中心經理和業務拓展代表。因此，初期會有與銷售相關的費用，以及隨著銷售成長而帶來的激勵性薪酬。

So Dave, really nothing new to report in that area. It's the same as we always have done. I guess what is noteworthy though is we continue to invest in the business for the long-term. So we continue to increase the number of sales centers that we have in the markets that we believe are either at capacity now or poised for additional growth and opportunity.

所以戴夫，那方面真的沒什麼新的消息要回報。我們一直都是這麼做的。不過，我認為最值得注意的是，我們會繼續對這項業務進行長期投資。因此，我們將繼續增加在那些我們認為目前已達到產能上限或有望實現進一步成長和機會的市場中的銷售中心數量。

And we also continue to invest in technology because we're convinced that it is something that customers really want and value. It is an area that allows us to differentiate Pool Corp in an area that customers have been very happy with the investments that we've made. Now again, those investments are -- none of those are short-term. Those are all long-term investments that we believe we make. They become foundational and become part of our operating system, become part of the customer's operating system, and the leverage on those will continue to climb in the out years.

而我們還會繼續投資技術，因為我們堅信這是客戶真正想要和重視的東西。在這個領域，Pool Corp 能夠脫穎而出，客戶對我們在該領域的投資非常滿意。再次強調，這些投資都不是短期投資。這些都是我們認為的長期投資。它們將成為基礎，成為我們作業系統的一部分，成為客戶作業系統的一部分，並且在未來幾年裡，這些技術的槓桿作用將繼續攀升。

That's very clear. Thank you both.

這一點很清楚。謝謝你們兩位。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Ryan Merkel, William Blair.

瑞安·默克爾，威廉·布萊爾。

Hey everyone, thanks for the question. I want to start with the commodity pricing down one in the chart. How much is trichlor down year-to-year and then are you also seeing deflation in PVC? Just what else is in there?

大家好，感謝大家的提問。我想先從圖表中向下一位的商品價格開始。三氯乙烯的價格較去年同期下降了多少？ PVC的價格是否也出現了下跌？裡面還有什麼其他東西？

Yeah, so we still are not seeing PVC stabilized. So it's getting better when you look at the quarter over quarter rates on the PVC, but, it is still within the quarter, a decline. And then when you look at trichlor, the overall impact of the pricing is one. But the chemical pricing is down more than that, since it's just a portion is about 12% of the sales overall. So it varies. Right now, it's somewhere kind of in the mid- to high-single-digits down from a pricing standpoint of where it was last quarter.

是的，所以我們還是沒有看到PVC穩定劑。所以，從季度環比來看，PVC利率有所好轉，但就季度整體而言，仍然是下降的。然後，當你觀察三氯異氰尿酸鈉時，價格的整體影響就是其中之一。但化學品價格的下降幅度更大，因為它只佔總銷售額的約 12%。所以情況各不相同。目前，價格比上個季度下降了大約個位數中高段。

Okay. Yeah, it's pretty interesting to see this persistent chemical deflation. I mean, usually that commodity is kind of up 1 point or 2 points pretty consistently every year just cause more of a maintenance item. Like what is different today about trichlor? Why do we continue to see this persistent deflation?

好的。是的，這種持續的化學通貨緊縮現象確實很有趣。我的意思是，通常情況下，這種商品的價格每年都會穩定上漲 1 到 2 個百分點，因為它更像是一種維護性商品。如今的三氯異氰尿酸鈉與以往有何不同？為什麼我們會持續看到這種通貨緊縮？

Yeah, I think Ryan, that trichlor, as went up dramatically during COVID. It went from -- when I look at the price of trichlor today compared to what it was pre-COVID, it is significantly higher than it was. It was a crazy high number. It has come down from what I thought was an unsustainable number at the time. But it is still up significantly over what it was during the COVID era. So again, what's changed? Really nothing has changed from a demand perspective, I think. And any given year, you're going to see ebbs and flows in demand that's tied to overall overall demand, which is whether when the pools open, how hot the weather is, how wet the weather is.

是的，Ryan，我認為三氯異氰尿酸鈉在新冠疫情期間大幅上漲。從——當我查看如今三氯異氰尿酸鈉的價格與新冠疫情前的價格相比，它明顯高出很多。這是一個高得離譜的數字。這個數字已經從我當時認為不可持續的數字下降下來了。但與新冠疫情期間相比，目前仍大幅上漲。那麼，究竟發生了什麼變化呢？我認為，從需求角度來看，其實並沒有什麼改變。每年都會出現需求的潮起潮落，這與整體需求密切相關，而整體需求又取決於游泳池何時開放、天氣有多熱、天氣有多潮濕。

But honestly, when I look at it, it's not a number that I think is moving. What would concern me is if it was moving sharply one way or the other. I think the movement is muted, and I don't know that it is affecting anybody's long-termtrend. I think that import regulation can have an impact on that depending on what the administration decides on that because some of the chemical is domestically produced, some of it is sourced from imports. But overall I don't get too excited about that number because, again it's not moving sharply.

但說實話，我看了一下，我覺得這個數字並沒有改變。我擔心的是它是否會急劇地向某個方向移動。我認為這種波動比較平緩，而且我不認為它會影響任何人的長期趨勢。我認為進口管制可能會對此產生影響，這取決於政府的決定，因為有些化學品是國內生產的，有些則是進口的。但總的來說，我對這個數字並不太興奮，因為它並沒有大幅波動。

During COVID when it skyrocketed and like a lot of things that was moving sharply, that was much more of a concern, but I look at the movement today and say, yeah, it's down slightly, but in six months, it could be back where it was too. And I don't know that I could explain why it would be up 4% or down or down 4% one way or the other. Overall though, it's a portion of our chemical mix, and I think trichlor just happens to be the product that everybody pays very close attention to, but when we look at it in total, it's a much smaller part of the total.

在新冠疫情期間，它飆升，就像許多事物一樣急劇變化，這更令人擔憂。但看看今天的走勢，我認為，是的，它略有下降，但六個月後，它可能又會回到原來的水平。我不知道我能否解釋為什麼它會上漲 4% 或下跌 4%，或下跌 4% 或上漲 4%。但總的來說，它只是我們化學混合物的一部分，我認為三氯異氰尿酸酯恰好是每個人都非常關注的產品，但當我們從整體上看時，它只佔總量的一小部分。

Okay, got it. All right. Thanks, that's all.

好的，明白了。好的。謝謝，就這些。

Trey Grooms, Stephens.

Trey Grooms，Stephens。

Hey, good morning. So just from one comment earlier, I want to make sure I have this right. So sales, it still expected to be kind of flat, and I think Pete you said flat to slightly down for the year. But, we're still thinking 4Q overall should be should be up year-over-year. Is that still the right way to think about it?

嘿，早安。所以，就根據前面一則評論，我想確認一下我的理解是否正確。所以銷售額預計仍將保持平穩，我想皮特你說過今年的銷售額將持平或略有下降。但是，我們仍然認為第四季整體業績應該會比去年同期成長。這種思考方式現在還正確嗎？

And then I guess with the EPS range, you reiterated clearly. But given where we are, this kind of late stage with the pool season pretty well behind us. I guess what would maybe get us to the higher end versus the the lower end of the guide range here, giving the expectation for sales? And then I think you mentioned gross margin to be roughly flat year-over-year for the year. So any color on that would be great. Thank you.

然後，關於 EPS 範圍，我想您已經明確地重申了。但就目前的情況來看，泳池季節已經基本結束了，現在才到這個階段已經很晚了。我想，考慮到銷售預期，什麼因素可能會使我們達到指南範圍的高端而不是低端呢？然後，我想您提到過，今年的毛利率與去年同期基本持平。所以任何顏色都行。謝謝。

Sure, so for sales, fourth quarter we would expect that to be kind of flat to slightly up and what we're seeing there is we'll see incremental benefit from a pricing standpoint in fourth quarter. That's really offsetting the weather related hurricane benefits that we got in fourth quarter of last year.

當然，就銷售而言，我們預計第四季度將基本持平或略有成長，而我們看到的是，從定價的角度來看，第四季將會出現增量收益。這實際上抵消了我們去年第四季因颶風天氣帶來的收益。

And then from a margin standpoint for fourth quarter, we are also expecting margin there to be up. So we would expect to continue to see all of the benefits of the things that we've been working on all year long and we'll see that it should be kind of up slightly from where we are in third quarter with some benefits from product mix.

從利潤率的角度來看，我們也預期第四季的利潤率會上升。因此，我們預計會繼續看到我們全年努力的所有成果，並且由於產品組合的一些好處，我們會看到它比第三季度略有上升。

The other thing I want to mention, which is always the case. Our fourth quarter, a portion of what happens in the fourth quarter is construction and remodel, and again that is going to be dictated largely by weather in the seasonal markets is what I'm referring to. So right now, weather up north is still pretty good, pretty warm, and the folks that have contracts to build are still building, which is encouraging. So the longer the weather stays warm, that bodes well for the fourth quarter for us.

還有一點我想提一下，這一點一直都很重要。我們的第四季度，第四季度的一部分活動是建築和改造，而這在很大程度上將取決於季節性市場的天氣，我指的是這一點。所以目前北部的天氣還不錯，很溫暖，那些有合約在建的人也還在繼續施工，這令人鼓舞。所以天氣持續溫暖的時間越長，對我們來說，第四季就越有利。

Yeah, and then in order to get to the higher end of the range, that would really be weather-dependent. So, at this point, thankfully, we don't have any near-term hurricane or weather impacts that we're seeing, but that benefit from last year would -- if we saw that similar benefits, that would be where it would fall on the range.

是的，至於要達到更高的範圍，那就真的要取決於天氣了。所以，值得慶幸的是，目前我們還沒有看到任何近期颶風或天氣的影響，但如果去年的收益與今年的收益類似，那麼它就會落在那個範圍內。

Okay, alright, perfect. Got it. I'll pass it on. Thanks for the color and best of luck.

好的，沒問題，完美。知道了。我會轉達的。謝謝你提供的色彩，祝你好運。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Scott Schneberger, Oppenheimer.

史考特‧施內伯格，奧本海默。

Thanks very much. Good morning. I guess, Melanie, I'll start with you, but Pete, if you have anything to add, I'd love to hear it. In the third quarter gross margin improvement, it looks like pricing and supply chain were about equal. It's a two part question.

非常感謝。早安.我想，梅蘭妮，我就先從你開始吧。皮特，如果你有什麼要補充的，我很樂意聽聽。第三季毛利率的改善，似乎定價和供應鏈因素扮演了同等重要的角色。這是一個包含兩個部分的問題。

In pricing, could you just delve into a little bit now that we have the full impact of the of the tariff increase in the third quarter? A level or two deeper Melanie on what you're seeing, how have competitors reacted, how we should think about that going forward? There's some uncertainty obviously in November 1 as well. But, just how we should think about the sustainability of that trickling forward?

關於定價問題，鑑於第三季關稅上調的全面影響，您能否深入探討？Melanie，能否更深入分析你所看到的現象，競爭對手的反應如何，以及我們接下來該如何看待這些問題？顯然，11月1日也存在一些不確定因素。但是，我們該如何看待這種涓滴效應的可持續性呢？

And then the second half of the question is on the supply chain piece, could you just take us into how structural is that? How permanent are the fixes, maybe some anecdotes of the improvements you're conducting there? Thanks very much.

問題的第二部分是關於供應鏈的，您能否簡單介紹一下供應鏈的結構？這些修復措施的持久性如何？能否分享一些你們正在進行的改進措施的實例？非常感謝。

Okay, yeah. So sure. On the pricing front, we are seeing that -- we did have a full quarter of the price increases that went into effect kind of mid-season, and those are at this point, I would say, fully flushed through the cycle. And so, when we're looking at the acceptance of that pricing overall within the market, that is through the pricing channel and we're not seeing any impact on what we're doing versus our competitors doing as it relates to pricing.

好的，是的。當然可以。在定價方面，我們看到——我們確實有四分之一的價格上漲是在賽季中期生效的，而現在，我認為這些價格上漲已經完全通過了週期。因此，當我們從定價管道觀察市場對這種定價方式的整體接受度時，我們發現，就定價而言，我們與競爭對手相比，並沒有受到任何影響。

And I'll take the second part of the question as it relates to supply chain activity. We have become more and more sophisticated with supply chain over the last couple of years. Very happy with the team's effort in that regard. I think we have better technology. They have embraced the AI tools that we have available to us.

接下來，我將回答問題的第二部分，即與供應鏈活動相關的問題。過去幾年，我們的供應鏈管理變得越來越成熟。非常滿意團隊在這方面的努力。我認為我們擁有更先進的技術。他們已經接受了我們現有的AI工具。

So I look at the actions that the supply chain team, which has to do with what we buy, when we buy, whom we buy, how we buy, and making sure that we are partnering with our vendors to maximize our opportunities and benefits and say that we are as good in that area, if not better than we've ever been. So I would look for the gains that we see in that area to be sustaining.

因此，我關注供應鏈團隊的行動，這關係到我們買什麼、何時買、從誰買、如何買，以及確保我們與供應商合作，最大限度地利用我們的機會和利益。我認為，我們在這一領域做得非常好，甚至比以往任何時候都更好。所以我會關注我們在該領域看到的成果能否持續下去。

Garik Shmois, Loop Capital.

Garik Shmois，Loop Capital。

Oh, hi, thanks. You spoke to equipment price increases that have been announced for the next season. I'm just curious you can speak to the early buy programs and, if your approach for the coming season is taking any different shape than usual?

哦，你好，謝謝。您談到了下個賽季宣布的裝備價格上漲問題。我只是好奇您能否談談提前購買計劃，以及您下個賽季的策略是否與往年有所不同？

Yeah. Really nothing new to report there. The vendors have -- there was only, I think one year during the peak of COVID when the vendors modified their traditional early buy programs. So the early buy programs are very similar to what they've always been, and we are certainly participating in those in a very strategic way as we always have. So, there's really not much new to report on there.

是的。沒什麼新的消息要檢舉。供應商們—我記得只有一年，也就是新冠疫情最嚴重的那一年，供應商修改了他們傳統的提前購買計畫。因此，提前購買計劃與以往非常相似，我們當然也會像以往一樣，以非常策略性的方式參與其中。所以，那邊其實沒什麼新的消息可報。

Okay, and then just a follow-up question. This time SG&A and the guide for the year. A little bit of a nitpicky question. But I think Melanie you mentioned in your remarks and outlook for 3% SG&A growth this year. I think the last quarter it was maybe 2% to 3%. I just want to confirm that. Is that different or and if so, is it just related to the expenses that you saw primarily in the third quarter.

好的，那我還有一個後續問題。這次是銷售、一般及行政費用以及年度指南。問個有點吹毛求疵的問題。但我認為梅蘭妮，你在演講中提到了今年銷售、一般及行政費用增長3%的預期。我認為上個季度可能是2%到3%。我只是想確認一下。這是否有所不同？如果有所不同，是否僅與您在第三季看到的主要支出有關？

Yeah. We had the 5% increase for a third quarter. So that increased slightly because we did accelerate some of those technology investments. When we look forward to fourth quarter, we'll expect to see that rate higher than what we saw earlier in the year. I would say in the range of a 3% to 4% increase for the fourth quarter.

是的。第三季我們實現了 5% 的成長。所以這個數字略有成長，因為我們加快了一些技術投資。展望第四季度，我們預計該比率將高於今年稍早的水平。我認為第四季增幅會在 3% 到 4% 之間。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

Jeff Hammond, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Jeff Hammond，KeyBanc Capital Markets。

Hey, good morning.

嘿，早安。

Morning.

早晨。

Just on pricing in the next year. I guess we've gotten the price lists from some of the equipment guys ahead of the early buy. Seems like they're putting kind of normal plus 2- to 3 points with tariff. And I'm just wondering, one, what are you hearing from kind of the rest of like your other categories around pricing in the next year? And just kind of the level of fatigue as we -- it looks like we're seeing kind of another year of above average price increases.

僅就明年的價格而言。我想我們已經從一些設備供應商那裡拿到了提前購買的價格表。看起來他們是在正常價格的基礎上加收 2 到 3 個百分點的關稅。我想知道，第一，您從其他類別（例如，您公司的其他部門）了解到的關於明年定價方面的資訊是什麼？而且，我們似乎已經感到疲憊不堪——看來我們將迎來另一個高於平均水平的價格上漲年。

Yeah, I think as it relates to the rest of the suppliers, I would say, fairly normal cadence. I think the equipment guys are above where most of the rest of our suppliers are. Your comment on that level of fatigue from our customers, that is certainly something that we hear. Quite frankly, all of that is solved with innovation, right?

是的，我認為就其他供應商而言，節奏相當正常。我認為設備供應商的水平比我們大多數其他供應商都要高。您提到的客戶疲勞問題，我們確實也聽到了。坦白說，所有這些問題都可以透過創新解決，對吧？

So new products, new innovation make those price increases far more palatable for the customers because it gives them something new to go sell, and grow their business, and to help address concerns of the homeowners and pool owners.

因此，新產品、新創新使得價格上漲更容易被顧客接受，因為它為商家提供了新的產品進行銷售，從而發展業務，並幫助解決房主和泳池業主的擔憂。

Okay great and then just on Pool360. Continue to see good adoption there. I'm just wondering if you have a target or the way to think about what you think that that percentage of adoption is a couple of years out and what the pushback or feedback is on people that are may be more reticent to adopt?

好的，太好了，然後就在 Pool360 上。該地區的收養情況持續良好。我只是想知道您是否有一個目標，或者您認為幾年後達到這個採用率需要多長時間，以及對於那些可能不太願意接受的人，您會遇到什麼阻力或回饋？

Hey, that's actually a really good question. I would tell you that. When I look at the range, what gives me good comfort on this number as well as many others as I look across the expanse of our quantitative metrics at Pool Corp is the range. So whenever I see a very tight range on something, I look at it and say, okay, if the range is very tight, it tells me that, okay, this is really kind of -- what process capability is for the particular thing that we're talking about.

嘿，這確實是個好問題。我會告訴你這一點。當我查看範圍時，讓我感到安心的是這個數字以及我在Pool Corp的眾多量化指標中看到的其他許多數字的範圍。所以每當我看到某個事物的範圍非常窄時，我就會想，好吧，如果範圍非常窄，那就告訴我，好吧，這實際上就是——我們正在討論的特定事物的過程能力。

In the case of Pool360, I can tell you that our range is pretty broad. Which again, I have people that are well above. I mentioned that we were at 17% for the quarter, which is an all-time high for us. We have people that are nearly double that. In fact, there's a few that are actually above that.

就 Pool360 而言，我可以告訴你，我們的業務範圍相當廣泛。當然，我身邊還有比我能力強得多的人。我提到過，我們本季的收益率達到了 17%，這是我們有史以來的最高紀錄。我們有些人的水平幾乎是這個數字的兩倍。事實上，還有一些人的水平高於這個水平。

So I look at that and say that there is still significant room to improve the adoption of the tool. What we hear consistently from customers. It's an education thing, right? So first of all, we have to have something that is worth using, and I think we have that. I think the teams work very hard to make sure that we have a relevant set of tools that is best-in-class that that exists primarily for the benefit of the customers.

所以我認為，該工具的普及應用仍有很大的提升空間。我們從客戶那裡常聽到這樣的說法。這是教育方面的事情，對吧？首先，我們必須擁有值得使用的東西，我認為我們已經擁有了。我認為團隊非常努力確保我們擁有一套相關的、一流的工具，這些工具的存在主要是為了客戶的利益。

So this is not, hey, how can I operate Pool Corp cheaper? It's about how can we help our customers be more productive and improve the overall customer experience, and I think The teams have worked very hard to do that. So I look at the adoption rate in some areas. It is significantly higher than what it is for the total.

所以這不是「嘿，我怎麼能降低 Pool Corp 的營運成本？」的問題。這關乎我們如何幫助客戶提高生產力並改善整體客戶體驗，我認為團隊為此付出了巨大的努力。所以我關注了一些地區的採用率。它比總數高得多。

So, what's my target? I guess my target is still significantly higher than where we are. Do I think we could be as a company, 25%, 30%? Yeah, I think we could. I think we absolutely could do that. Could it be higher? And the answer to that is probably yes, but we don't have quite enough experience with it, and we need to spend more time with our customers to say, okay, what would it take in order to have this be your go to every time.

那麼，我的目標是什麼呢？我想我的目標仍然比我們目前的水平高得多。我認為我們公司能達到 25% 還是 30% 呢？是的，我覺得我們可以。我認為我們完全可以做到。還能更高嗎？答案很可能是肯定的，但我們在這方面經驗還不夠豐富，我們需要花更多的時間與客戶交流，了解我們需要做些什麼才能讓這款產品成為你們的首選。

Okay, great. Good.

好的，太好了。好的。

Steve Forbes, Guggenheim.

史蒂夫·福布斯，古根漢。

Good morning, Pete. Melanie. Thanks for taking the question.

早安，皮特。梅蘭妮。感謝您回答這個問題。

Yeah, maybe just a follow-up on Jeff's there around Pool360. Is there a way to help frame to us how a customer spend or wallet share evolves sort of six months, 12 months after initial adoption as we sort of build support right around that achievement of target that you just laid out?

是的，或許可以跟進一下 Jeff 在 Pool360 附近的事。能否協助我們了解客戶在最初採用產品後的 6 個月、12 個月內，隨著我們圍繞您剛才提出的目標建立支援體系，客戶的支出或錢包份額是如何變化的？

Yeah. I think, the way I think about it is this. Customers that have a very strong digital connection with their supplier tend to be -- we tend to grow faster with those companies. In particular, when you look at our digital tools related to water test, obviously, the water test was developed to support our private label chemicals, whether that's our Regal or E-Z Clor brand. So every dealer that uses the software, every homeowner that buys the test strips, and tests their water using either the test strips or the in-store experience, they're going to get a recipe, if you will, or prescription of chemicals that add to their water which are all private label products.

是的。我認為，我是這樣看待這個問題的。與供應商建立非常牢固的數位化聯繫的客戶往往——我們與這些公司合作往往發展得更快。特別是，當你查看我們與水質測試相關的數位工具時，很明顯，水質測試是為了支持我們的自有品牌化學品而開發的，無論是我們的 Regal 品牌還是 E-Z Clor 品牌。因此，每個使用該軟體的經銷商，每個購買測試條並使用測試條或店內體驗測試水質的房主，都會得到一份配方，或者說是一份添加到水中的化學品處方，而這些化學品都是自有品牌產品。

So the more -- the faster we drive adoption in that area, the faster we'll be able to grow our chemical business. And it becomes less about, well, I could buy this bottle of algaecide for $1 cheaper from someplace else, it becomes, well, wait a minute, this is part of the recipe and the program that I'm using to manage my pool water that produces these great results in crystal clear.

因此，我們越快推動該領域的應用，就能越快發展我們的化學業務。這樣一來，問題就不再是“我可以從別的地方花1美元買到這瓶除藻劑”，而是“等等，這是我用來管理泳池水質、使其清澈見底的配方和方案的一部分”。

So whether it's that or whether it's the service tech that is using Pool360 service because every time that person needs something, he's drawing the quote from his or her Pool360 account rather than shopping around. So we see much greater stickiness for customers that use that. And frankly, every time we integrate with our customer software, again, that drives stickiness.

所以，要么是因為這個原因，要么是因為服務技術人員在使用 Pool360 服務，因為每次這個人需要什麼的時候，他/她都會從自己的 Pool360 帳戶中獲取報價，而不是四處比價。因此，我們發現使用該功能的客戶黏性較高。坦白說，每次我們與客戶軟體集成，都會再次提高用戶黏性。

So we love the potential of growing the business through closer technological connections with our customers, and as those businesses or as those connections grow, we believe our sales will grow faster than the average if you will.

因此，我們非常看好透過與客戶更緊密的技術聯繫來發展業務的潛力，隨著這些業務或這些聯繫的成長，我們相信我們的銷售額成長速度將高於平均水平。

Helpful. And then if we think about future innovation and technological advances, when you talk to the builder community today, what's sort of in the pipeline as you think about opportunities to sort of continue to create a digital advantage and sort of drive for share capture? Like, are there certain specific things that the builder community is asking you to innovate beyond or behind?

很有幫助。那麼，如果我們展望未來的創新和技術進步，當你今天與建築商群體交談時，你認為有哪些機會可以繼續創造數位化優勢並推動市場份額的獲取？例如，建築商群體是否希望你在哪些方面進行創新，是超越還是超越了某些特定領域？

Yeah. I don't know that I focus specifically on the builders, right? Because the builder in our mind is the -- certainly it's foundational because that's how the install base grows, but the percentage of our business that is driven from builders as compared to the installed base of pools which is maintenance and repair, the latter is far larger. So that's initially where we are focused.

是的。我不知道我是否專門關注建築商，對吧？因為在我們看來，建造商是——當然，它是基礎性的，因為安裝基礎就是這樣增長的，但是與泳池的安裝基礎（維護和維修）相比，建造商驅動的業務比例要大得多。所以，這是我們最初的關注點。

Now a lot of those tools can be used for the builders too. So we're investing for the builders with our -- a lot of the builders, in particular the smaller builders, if you will, are very much in tune with and use our design centers and our digital catalogs for our building materials. But our focus right now is more with the maintenance and repair operations. Certainly, builders can use the same tools to get to prepare their quotes and order material and order equipment sets for construction projects. That is something.

現在很多這類工具也可以供建築工人使用。所以我們正在為建築商進行投資——很多建築商，特別是規模較小的建築商，都非常關注並使用我們的設計中心和建築材料數位目錄。但我們目前的重點更多在於維護和維修作業。當然，建築商可以使用相同的工具來準備報價、訂購材料和訂購建築項目所需的設備套裝。那可真是件了不起的事。

And then, don't forget about our retailers too because the retailers, many of them are using -- their systems integrated with ours to do essentially replenishment to the stores to manage their inventory. So it is -- I wouldn't focus just on builders. I would just say we are looking to improve our customer experience on all facets of the business. Thank you.

此外，也別忘了我們的零售商，因為許多零售商都在使用與我們系統整合的系統，以便對商店進行補貨，從而管理庫存。確實如此——我不會只關注建築商。我想說的是，我們正在努力從業務的各個方面提升客戶體驗。謝謝。

Sam Reid, Wells Fargo.

山姆·里德，富國銀行。

Awesome. Wanted to touch on the relationship you've historically seen between home equity line of credit rates or HELOC, and the demand for remodel and new pool? Anecdotally, kind of what's the lag typically between lower HELOC rates and spend for some of those more discretionary categories?

驚人的。想談談您以往觀察到的房屋淨值信貸額度（HELOC）利率與房屋改造和新建游泳池的需求之間的關係嗎？根據經驗，較低的房屋淨值信用額度利率與某些可自由支配支出類別的支出之間通常存在多長時間的滯後？

Yeah. I don't know that I could quantify a strong link that says, okay, at this HELOC number, the project is a go at 50 basis points higher, it's a no go. I mean, I would just tell you instinctually, that homeowners today have a higher level of home equity than they've ever had before. And I think pools and the new pools and renovation remodel certainly are still highly desirable.

是的。我不知道我能否量化出一個強有力的聯繫，來說明，好的，在這個房屋淨值信用額度下，項目可以進行；如果高出 50 個基點，項目就不能進行了。我的意思是，我憑直覺就會告訴你，如今的房主擁有的房屋淨值比以往任何時候都高。我認為游泳池，尤其是新建的游泳池和翻新改造的游泳池，仍然非常受歡迎。

It stands to reason that as those rates come down, HELOC is one of the sources of financing that homeowners use to finance those projects. There's also other ways that they are doing it. But we just look for kind of overall more and more of liquidity and lower rates is going to bode well for large renovation projects, and allowing more customers that have been waiting on the sidelines to get a pool to go ahead and pull the trigger and start construction.

不難理解，隨著這些利率的下降，房屋淨值信用額度 (HELOC) 成為房主為這些項目融資的資金來源之一。他們還有其他一些方法。但我們預期整體流動性會越來越強，利率會越來越低，這對大型翻新工程來說是個好兆頭，也能讓更多一直在觀望的客戶下定決心建造游泳池，開始施工。

That helps speed. And the second question here. I know it's early, but I think you're going to be hosting an Analyst Day next year. You know you're going to follow your consistent kind of biannual schedule. So just along those lines, any high-level thoughts at this point around things that you think you might share or not share? Just looking to get a sense for -- are we going to potentially get an update to your algorithm or something along those lines? Thanks.

這樣有助於提高速度。第二個問題。我知道現在說這些還為時過早，但我認為你們明年會舉辦分析師日活動。你知道你會繼續按照你一貫的半年一次的計劃行事。那麼，就此而言，你目前對哪些事情可能會分享或不會分享有什麼初步的想法嗎？我只是想了解一下——你們的演算法是否有可能更新，或類似的事情？謝謝。

I can't give you all of my secrets now. It's way too early. It's not even Christmas. I would just -- I would tell you we put a lot of time and effort into our analyst days to make them -- investor days in order to make them worthwhile and show the best parts of the company and our focus areas and what gives us confidence in the future and what differentiates our value proposition.

我現在不能把所有的秘密都告訴你。現在還太早了。現在甚至還沒到聖誕節。我想告訴大家，我們投入了大量的時間和精力來籌備分析師日和投資者日，力求讓它們物有所值，展現公司最好的一面、我們的重點領域、我們對未來的信心以及我們價值主張的獨特之處。

So at this point that's all I'm going to give you is that I believe you're going to -- hopefully you attend, and I believe that you'll leave there convinced more than ever that nobody is better positioned than Pool Corp to capitalize on this industry.

所以，我現在只能告訴你們這些，我相信你們會——希望你們能參加，而且我相信你們離開時會比以往任何時候都更加確信，沒有人比 Pool Corp 更有能力在這個行業中獲利。

Collin Verron, Deutsche Bank.

科林‧維隆，德意志銀行。

Hi, thanks for taking my questions here. The technology sounds really exciting and it sounds like you've already done quite a bit of investment behind it already. So I was hoping you can just help us think about the magnitude of the spend that you're doing there and how much more investment is there left to drive these initiatives? Or are those pretty much behind you start to reap the benefits as we move out this '26 and '27?

您好，感謝您回答我的問題。這項技術聽起來非常令人興奮，而且聽起來你們已經為此投入了相當多的資金。所以，我希望您能幫我們思考一下您在那裡投入的資金規模，以及還有多少投資可以用來推動這些舉措？或者說，那些遠遠落後於你們的人，隨著我們邁入 2026 年和 2027 年，開始收穫好處了嗎？

Yeah. I think, when you start with technology -- and I look at the spend that we have on it. It's not an alarming number. It's not a huge amount for a company of our size at all. And when I compare it against the benefits that we are seeing and will potentially and should see going forward, I think that -- in order to have anything relevant in the technology world, it's nothing. It's not like, hey, I spent a little bit of money and it's done. Technology changes at a very rapid pace and we have to make sure that we change with it.

是的。我認為，當你從科技開始時——看看我們在技術上的投入。這個數字並不驚人。對於我們這樣規模的公司來說，這筆錢根本不算多。當我將它與我們正在看到、將來可能會看到以及應該看到的好處進行比較時，我認為——在科技界，任何有意義的事情都算不上什麼。這並不是說，嘿，我花了點錢，事情就結束了。科技發展日新月異，我們必須與時俱進。

AI is certainly going to have an impact on our business. The way we develop technology and the way we deploy technology, and I think it's going to be helpful on both ends. But I don't look at the spend and say, wow, okay, we are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on an ERP system. We're spending, as part of our normal course of business to make sure that we have the best, most relevant set of technologically up-to-date tools that create value for our customers, which again drives them to adopt the tools which makes for a stickier transaction because of the value that it creates for the customer.

人工智慧肯定會對我們的業務產生影響。我們開發技術的方式以及我們部署技術的方式，我認為這對雙方都有幫助。但我不會看著支出說，哇，好吧，我們要在ERP系統上花費數億美元。作為正常業務的一部分，我們正在投入資金，以確保我們擁有最好、最相關的最新技術工具，從而為我們的客戶創造價值，這反過來又促使他們採用這些工具，從而由於這些工具為客戶創造的價值而使交易更具粘性。

So I guess that's a long way of saying that I don't think we're spending a lot of money today, but we're certainly not done spending. But like everything we do at Pool Corp, we try and squeeze the nickel just as hard as we can, and I think AI is helping us in that regard.

所以，我想說的是，雖然我認為我們今天並沒有花很多錢，但我們肯定還沒有停止花錢。但就像我們在 Pool Corp 所做的一切一樣，我們會盡一切努力榨取每一分錢，我認為人工智慧在這方面正在幫助我們。

Great, that's really helpful color. And then maybe a more near term question here. Melanie, you mentioned a few times the weather benefits that you guys saw last quarter. Anyway, you help quantify just the magnitude of what you don't expect to repeat this year?

太好了，這個顏色真的很有幫助。那麼，或許我們可以問一個更近期的問題。梅蘭妮，你之前多次提到你們上個季度享受到的天氣帶來的好處。總而言之，您能否幫忙量化一下您預計今年不會重演的事件的規模？

It was a 1% benefit in fourth quarter of last year. That was a top-line sales number.

去年第四季財報為1%。那隻是銷售額的總體數字。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Peter Arvan, President and CEO, for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我謹將會議交還給總裁兼執行長彼得·阿爾文，請他作閉幕致詞。

I just want to thank you all for joining us today. We look forward to hosting our year-end call on February 19 when we will release our fourth quarter 2025 results and full year results. Thank you for your interest and support in Pool Corp, and I hope you all have a happy and safe holiday season and new year.

我只想感謝各位今天能來參加我們的節目。我們期待在2月19日召開年終電話會議，屆時我們將發布2025年第四季業績和全年業績。感謝您對 Pool Corp 的關注和支持，祝您假期和新年快樂平安。

The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議到此結束。感謝各位參加今天的報告會。您現在可以斷開連線。