Post Holdings Inc (POST) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Post Holdings third quarter 2025 earnings conference call and webcast. (Operator Instructions)

歡迎參加郵政控股 2025 年第三季財報電話會議及網路廣播。（操作員指示）

I would now like to turn the call over to Daniel O'Rourke, Investor Relations for Post.

現在我想將電話轉給郵政投資者關係部門的丹尼爾·奧羅克 (Daniel O'Rourke)。

Good morning. Thank you for joining us today for Post's third quarter fiscal 2025 earnings call. I'm joined this morning by Rob Vitale, our President and CEO; Jeff Zadoks, our COO; and Matt Mainer, our CFO and Treasurer. Rob, Jeff and Matt will make prepared remarks, and afterwards, we'll answer your questions.

早安.感謝您今天參加 Post 2025 財年第三季財報電話會議。今天早上與我一起出席的還有我們的總裁兼執行長 Rob Vitale、我們的營運長 Jeff Zadoks 以及我們的財務長兼財務主管 Matt Mainer。Rob、Jeff 和 Matt 將發表準備好的講話，之後我們將回答您的問題。

The press release that supports these remarks is posted on both the Investors and the SEC filings portions of our website and is also available on the SEC's website. As a reminder, this call is being recorded, and an audio replay will be available on our website at postholdings.com.

支持這些言論的新聞稿已發佈在我們網站的投資者和美國證券交易委員會備案部分，也可在美國證券交易委員會的網站上查閱。提醒一下，本次通話將被錄音，音訊回放將在我們的網站 postholdings.com 上提供。

Before we continue, I would like to remind you that this call will contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties that should be carefully considered by investors as actual results could differ materially from these statements. These forward-looking statements are current as of the date of this call, and management undertakes no obligation to update these statements.

在我們繼續之前，我想提醒您，本次電話會議將包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受風險和不確定性的影響，投資者應仔細考慮，因為實際結果可能與這些陳述有重大差異。這些前瞻性陳述截至本次電話會議召開之日均為最新，管理階層不承擔更新這些陳述的義務。

This call will discuss certain non-GAAP measures. For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the nearest GAAP measure, see our press release issued yesterday and posted on our website.

本次電話會議將討論某些非公認會計準則指標。有關這些非 GAAP 指標與最接近的 GAAP 指標的對照表，請參閱我們昨天發布並在我們網站上發布的新聞稿。

With that, I will turn the call over to Rob.

說完這些，我將把電話轉給 Rob。

Thank you, Daniel, and good morning, everyone. Before commenting on the quarter, I want to mention the leadership announcements from last evening. Jeff has decided to retire at the end of the year. Jeff and I started at Post the same day, and he has been instrumental to our success. While I'm happy for him, he will be sorely missed.

謝謝你，丹尼爾，大家早安。在對本季度發表評論之前，我想提一下昨晚的領導公告。傑夫已決定在今年底退休。傑夫和我同一天開始在 Post 工作，他對我們的成功起到了至關重要的作用。雖然我為他感到高興，但我會非常想念他。

Nico is being named COO effective at the same time. For the time being, he will also continue as CEO of PCB. Nico has done an outstanding job leading PCB, especially the integration of our Pet business. I look forward to working with him in this role.

Nico 同時被任命為營運長。目前，他也將繼續擔任PCB的執行長。Nico 在領導 PCB 方面做得非常出色，尤其是我們寵物業務的整合。我期待與他合作。

Turning to the business. We had strong results in Q3 despite the challenging macro environment with adjusted EBITDA approaching $400 million. Diversification in our business segments continues to benefit us as we sequentially saw significant improvement in our cold chain businesses, more than offsetting a pullback at PCB. While these dynamics were anticipated heading into the quarter, the magnitude of each was a bit bigger than expected.

轉向業務。儘管宏觀環境充滿挑戰，但我們在第三季仍取得了強勁的業績，調整後的 EBITDA 接近 4 億美元。我們業務部門的多元化繼續使我們受益，因為我們連續看到冷鏈業務的顯著改善，足以抵消 PCB 的回調。雖然這些動態預計在本季會出現，但每個動態的幅度都比預期的要大一些。

Rounding out the portfolio, Weetabix maintained a steady improvement from the first half that was impacted by their ERP conversion. Another highlight of Q3 was our acquisition of 8th Avenue, which closed on July 1. We are pleased to have the business fully back in the Post portfolio. And while we see very clear synergies to PCB within nut butter and granola, we are waiting until FY '26 to start integrating to provide some normalcy and stabilization for the business.

維他麥 (Weetabix) 的投資組合在上半年保持了穩定成長，這主要得益於其 ERP 轉換的影響。第三季的另一個亮點是我們對 8th Avenue 的收購，該收購於 7 月 1 日完成。我們很高興該業務能夠完全回歸郵政業務組合。雖然我們看到堅果醬和格蘭諾拉麥片與 PCB 之間存在非常明顯的協同作用，但我們要等到 26 財年才開始整合，以使業務恢復正常和穩定。

Meanwhile, the broader M&A environment remains challenged given market volatility. However, we view the recently announced Kellogg's transaction as an encouraging sign, highlighting the potential for larger, more transformative transactions.

同時，由於市場波動，更廣泛的併購環境仍面臨挑戰。然而，我們認為最近宣布的凱洛格交易是一個令人鼓舞的信號，凸顯了更大規模、更具變革性的交易的潛力。

Beyond M&A, we continue to be aggressive in share buybacks, having bought back 8% of the company fiscal year-to-date. Subsequent to the closure of the 8th Avenue transaction, we remain in a great spot from both a leverage and liquidity position to remain opportunistic with our capital allocation.

除了併購之外，我們也持續積極回購股票，本財年迄今已回購了該公司 8% 的股票。第八大道交易結束後，我們在槓桿率和流動性方面仍處於有利地位，可以掌握資本配置的機會。

While tariffs and regulatory changes to food ingredients continue to increase costs and create uncertainty, the recent tax law changes are projected to result in substantial financial benefits to Post. Specifically, bonus depreciation and interest deductibility changes will drive an estimated $300 million in reduction in cash taxes paid over the next five years.

雖然食品原料的關稅和監管變化繼續增加成本並產生不確定性，但最近的稅法變化預計將為Post帶來巨大的財務利益。具體來說，獎金折舊和利息扣除額的變化將導致未來五年支付的現金稅減少約 3 億美元。

I am pleased with the overall state of our portfolio as we continue to perform well in a really tough environment. Foodservice has successfully navigated severe HPAI impacts this year and is executing a soft landing to normalcy. Pet is working through a challenging but much needed portfolio transition while continuing to sustain over 2x our acquisition underwriting pace. Meanwhile, on the grocery side of PCB, we remain focused on executing cost optimization to offset pressured cereal volumes. Finally, both refrigerated retail and Weetabix continue to pursue their pipelines for targeted volume growth and cost reduction.

我對我們的投資組合的整體狀況感到滿意，因為我們在非常艱難的環境中繼續表現良好。今年，餐飲服務業成功應對了嚴重的高致病性禽流感疫情，並正在實現軟著陸，恢復正常。Pet 正在進行一項充滿挑戰但又非常必要的投資組合轉型，同時繼續保持超過 2 倍的收購承銷速度。同時，在 PCB 的食品雜貨方面，我們仍然專注於執行成本最佳化以抵消穀物銷售壓力。最後，冷藏零售和維他麥都繼續追求各自的銷售管道，以實現目標銷售成長和成本降低。

With that, I will turn the call over to Jeff.

說完這些，我會把電話轉給傑夫。

Thanks, Rob, and good morning, everyone. Post Consumer Brands continued to face volume challenges in both Cereal and Pet, which drove the segment's performance decline. Cereal category volumes were down 4.1% year-over-year, and our branded portfolio was slightly behind the category with a 4.9% decline. We remain on track with our previously announced cereal plant closures at the end of the calendar year to optimize our cost structure, and we will continue to pursue additional cost-out opportunities to mitigate the current cereal category trajectory.

謝謝，羅布，大家早安。消費後品牌在穀物和寵物領域繼續面臨銷售挑戰，這導致該部門的業績下滑。穀物類產品的銷售量較去年同期下降 4.1%，而我們的品牌產品組合銷售量則略微落後，下降了 4.9%。我們將繼續按照先前宣布的計劃在年底關閉穀物工廠，以優化我們的成本結構，並將繼續尋求額外的成本削減機會，以緩解當前穀物類別的走勢。

In fact, cost optimization efforts already implemented, along with favorable product mix enabled us to maintain cereal profitability relatively flat sequentially despite the volume challenges. Our pet volume consumption was down 3.7% year-over-year versus a flat category as we saw continued Gravy Train price elasticities and accelerating declines in Nutrish from its relaunch.

事實上，已經實施的成本優化措施以及良好的產品組合使我們能夠在面臨產量挑戰的情況下保持穀物盈利能力相對平穩。由於 Gravy Train 價格彈性持續，且 Nutrish 自重新推出以來加速下滑，我們的寵物消費量同比下降 3.7%，而其他類別則持平。

As we learned from our MOM cereal reset a few years ago, we expected short-term volume challenges as we overhauled the Nutrish brand, but the magnitude has been larger than anticipated. We're making some course corrections based on market feedback and therefore, expect the brand recovery timeline to be extended. With regard to Gravy Train, we have some price pack architecture changes hitting the market over the next few quarters, which we believe will set the proper balance between profitability and volumes for that brand.

正如我們幾年前從 MOM 穀物食品重置中學到的教訓一樣，在對 Nutrish 品牌進行全面改革時，我們預計短期內銷售會面臨挑戰，但挑戰的嚴重程度超出了我們的預期。我們正在根據市場反饋做出一些調整，因此預計品牌恢復時間將會延長。關於 Gravy Train，我們將在未來幾季內對市場推出一些價格包架構變化，我們相信這將為該品牌的獲利能力和銷售量之間建立適當的平衡。

Turning to Foodservice. As expected, Q3 was a much stronger quarter sequentially driven by temporary Avian Influenza pricing to recover Q2 costs ahead of pricing and to offset continued elevated egg costs. In addition, we saw volume growth in both eggs and potatoes driven by improved market egg availability and improved breakfast food traffic for our end customers.

轉向餐飲服務。正如預期的那樣，第三季度表現比上一季度更加強勁，這得益於禽流感臨時定價提前收回了第二季度的成本，並抵消了雞蛋成本持續上漲的影響。此外，由於市場雞蛋供應增加以及終端客戶早餐食品流量增加，雞蛋和馬鈴薯的銷售量均有所成長。

We expect to wind down our temporary HPAI pricing and fully recover our egg supply by the end of Q4, setting us up to enter fiscal '26 at a normalized run rate. Although still early in our planning process, our early read of the normalized quarterly adjusted EBITDA run rate of our Foodservice business is approximately $115 million.

我們預計將在第四季度末逐步降低高致病性禽流感 (HPAI) 的臨時定價並完全恢復雞蛋供應，從而讓我們能夠以正常的運行率進入 26 財年。儘管我們的規劃過程仍處於早期階段，但我們初步估計食品服務業務的標準化季度調整後 EBITDA 運作率約為 1.15 億美元。

Similar to Foodservice, Refrigerated Retail benefited in the quarter from temporary Avian Influenza-driven pricing adders in liquid eggs, along with the shifting of the Easter holiday into Q3. Volumes were higher in nearly all categories. We are progressing well on the integration of the recently acquired PPI business, seeing the benefits of optimized manufacturing mix and elimination of tolling charges. We are also seeing further benefit from warehousing and freight efficiencies.

與餐飲服務類似，冷藏零售在本季也受惠於禽流感導致的液態蛋價格暫時上漲，以及復活節假期轉移到第三季。幾乎所有類別的銷量都有所增加。我們對最近收購的 PPI 業務的整合進展順利，看到了優化製造組合和取消加工費用的好處。我們也看到了倉儲和貨運效率的進一步提升。

Turning to Weetabix. Our flagship yellow box product grew consumption volumes 2.4% year-over-year in a category that was down 1.8%. We attribute this to a return to marketing and promotion after limiting those activities in the first half of the fiscal year as we executed an IT systems conversion.

轉向 Weetabix。我們的旗艦黃盒產品消費量較去年同期成長 2.4%，而同類產品的消費量則下降了 1.8%。我們認為這是因為我們在上半年實施了 IT 系統轉換，限制了行銷和促銷活動，現在又恢復了行銷和促銷活動。

In addition, UFIT had a strong quarter, growing volumes by 31% over the prior year. We are looking to expand the UFIT brand with new high-protein cereal and granola products that are now in stores. More broadly, we remain focused on executing our cost-out opportunities to drive our multiyear margin recovery.

此外，UFIT 本季表現強勁，銷量較上年同期成長 31%。我們希望透過目前在商店中銷售的新型高蛋白穀物和格蘭諾拉麥片產品來擴大 UFIT 品牌。更廣泛地說，我們仍然專注於執行我們的成本削減機會，以推動我們多年的利潤率復甦。

Despite the challenging macro backdrop, we are expecting a strong finish for fiscal 2025 as we remain focused on the things we can control, such as cost-out optimization and making targeted investments to drive volumes.

儘管宏觀背景充滿挑戰，我們仍預計 2025 財年將取得強勁成績，因為我們仍然專注於我們能夠控制的事情，例如成本優化和有針對性的投資以推動銷售。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Matt.

說完這些，我會把電話轉給馬特。

Thanks, Jeff, and good morning, everyone. Third quarter consolidated net sales were $2 billion and adjusted EBITDA was $397 million. Sales increased 2% as Avian Influenza-driven pricing and volume growth in our cold chain businesses was partially offset by lower pet food and cereal volumes.

謝謝，傑夫，大家早安。第三季綜合淨銷售額為 20 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 3.97 億美元。由於禽流感導致的冷鏈業務定價和銷售成長被寵物食品和穀物銷售下降部分抵消，銷售額成長了 2%。

Turning to our segments. Post Consumer Brands net sales decreased 9%, driven by lower volumes in both Grocery and Pet. Cereal volumes decreased 6% due to category dynamics with private label seeing steeper declines than branded. In Pet, our volume declines accelerated to down 13%.

轉向我們的部分。由於食品雜貨和寵物銷量下降，Post Consumer Brands 淨銷售額下降了 9%。由於品類動態變化，穀物銷售量下降了 6%，其中自有品牌的降幅大於品牌。寵物方面，我們的銷量下降加速至 13%。

As a reminder, we expected high single-digit declines for the second half of fiscal '25 until we lapped prior year profit-enhancing decisions and completed the relaunch of Nutrish. Bridging the additional decline this quarter is twofold. First are the incremental consumption declines Jeff discussed for both Nutrish and Gravy Train. And the second is the loss of some private label business for which we expect to replace by early FY '26.

提醒一下，我們預計 25 財年下半年的利潤將出現高個位數下滑，直到我們完成上一年提高利潤的決策並完成 Nutrish 的重新推出。彌補本季進一步下滑的措施有兩個面向。首先是 Jeff 討論過的 Nutrish 和 Gravy Train 的增量消費下降。第二是一些自有品牌業務的損失，我們預計這些業務將在 2026 財年初得到彌補。

Segment adjusted EBITDA decreased 8% versus prior year as improved cost performance for both grocery and pet was not enough to offset the impact of lower volumes, particularly in Pet. One call out is the better cost performance is net of a $5 million severance charge taken this quarter as PCB optimized its SG&A workforce to better align with our smaller cereal footprint.

由於食品雜貨和寵物用品成本績效的提高不足以抵消銷售下降的影響（尤其是寵物用品），因此部門調整後的 EBITDA 較上年下降了 8%。值得一提的是，由於 PCB 優化了銷售、一般及行政管理部門的員工隊伍，以更好地適應我們較小的穀物足跡，因此本季度更好的成本績效扣除了 500 萬美元的遣散費。

Moving to Foodservice. Net sales increased 19% and volumes increased 7%. Excluding the impact of our PPI acquisitions, volumes increased 4%, driven by the inclusion of shake volumes in the quarter and higher customer food traffic benefiting both eggs and potatoes. Beyond volume, Avian Influenza-driven pricing drove the revenue increase. Adjusted EBITDA increased 32%, driven by increased pricing to recover elevated egg costs and continued volume growth in both our value-added egg and potato products.

轉向餐飲服務。淨銷售額成長 19%，銷量成長 7%。不計 PPI 收購的影響，銷量增長了 4%，這得益於本季度奶昔銷量的增加以及客戶食品流量的增加，雞蛋和土豆均從中受益。除了銷售量之外，禽流感驅動的定價也推動了營收的成長。調整後的 EBITDA 成長了 32%，這得益於提高價格以收回雞蛋成本的上漲以及增值雞蛋和馬鈴薯產品的銷售持續成長。

Refrigerated Retail net sales increased 9% and volumes, excluding the impact of PPI increased 1%. Volumes across all products benefited from the timing of Easter, which was in Q2 last year. Segment adjusted EBITDA increased 94% as we lapped a particularly weak quarter last year marked by trade over spend, while this year, we benefited from Avian Influenza pricing adders and Easter-driven volume increases.

冷藏零售淨銷售額成長 9%，不包括 PPI 的影響，銷售成長 1%。去年復活節正值第二季度，所有產品的銷售量均受益。由於去年一個季度的貿易額超過支出額，我們度過了一個特別疲軟的季度，因此部門調整後的 EBITDA 增長了 94%，而今年，我們受益於禽流感價格上漲和復活節推動的銷量增長。

Weetabix net sales increased 1% versus the prior year. Foreign currency represented a tailwind of 560 basis points. Volumes decreased 3% driven by noncore discontinuations. However, as Jeff mentioned, our core cereal product grew volumes 3% and UFIT grew volumes 31%. Segment adjusted EBITDA decreased 4% versus prior year, led by lower volumes and increased inflation-driven costs.

Weetabix 淨銷售額較前一年成長 1%。外幣表現為 560 個基點的順風。由於非核心業務停產，銷量下降了 3%。然而，正如傑夫所提到的，我們的核心穀物產品銷量成長了 3%，UFIT 銷量成長了 31%。分部調整後的 EBITDA 較前一年下降 4%，主要原因是銷售下降和通貨膨脹導致的成本增加。

Turning to cash flow. We generated $226 million from operations and approximately $95 million in free cash flow, net of accelerated capital spend on our key investments in both PCB and Foodservice. From a capital allocation standpoint, we have repurchased approximately 1.6 million shares since the beginning of Q3, bringing our fiscal year total to approximately $5 million or 8% of the company.

轉向現金流。我們從營運中獲得了 2.26 億美元的收入，並獲得了約 9,500 萬美元的自由現金流，扣除了我們在 PCB 和食品服務方面的關鍵投資的加速資本支出。從資本配置的角度來看，自第三季初以來，我們已經回購了約 160 萬股股票，使我們的財年總額達到約 500 萬美元或公司股份的 8%。

Our Q3 results drove our net leverage down slightly to 4.3 times. However, adjusting for the July 1 closing of 8th Avenue, our leverage is 4.5 times. With our earnings release last night, we increased our adjusted EBITDA guidance range from $1.5 billion to $1.52 billion. At the midpoint, this suggests Q4 will be approximately flat to Q3 with the inclusion of a full quarter of 8th Avenue results, offsetting some normalization within the balance of the portfolio.

我們的第三季業績使我們的淨槓桿率略微下降至 4.3 倍。然而，根據第八大道 7 月 1 日的收盤價進行調整，我們的槓桿率為 4.5 倍。隨著昨晚收益的發布，我們將調整後的 EBITDA 預期範圍從 15 億美元上調至 15.2 億美元。從中間點來看，這意味著如果納入第八大道整個季度的業績，第四季度的業績將與第三季度大致持平，從而抵消投資組合餘額中的部分正常化。

Sequentially, we expect our cold chain businesses to decline as AI pricing adders wind down throughout the quarter. This will be partially offset by an increase in PCB due to back-to-school seasonality in cereal and the absence of Q3 severance charges.

隨後，我們預計，隨著整個季度人工智慧定價機制的逐漸減弱，我們的冷鏈業務將會下滑。由於穀物返校季節和沒有第三季遣散費，PCB 的增加將部分抵消這一影響。

Thank you for joining us today, and I will now turn the call back over to the operator.

感謝您今天加入我們，現在我將把電話轉回給接線生。

(Operator Instructions) Andrew Lazar, Barclays.

（操作員指示）巴克萊銀行的安德魯·拉扎爾。

All the best on your retirement, Jeff, and congratulations to Nico on the COO role. Rob, I know it's early to provide specific guidance on fiscal '26, but maybe you can lay out some of the key puts and takes to consider. I think obviously, as you've talked about foodservice has over delivered this year, suggesting maybe some giveback next year. Cereal category trends obviously have remained quite weak and the pet turnaround is taking more time.

祝傑夫退休一切順利，並祝賀尼科擔任首席營運官。羅布，我知道現在就提供 26 財年的具體指導還為時過早，但也許你可以列出一些需要考慮的關鍵因素。我認為，顯然，正如您所說，今年的餐飲服務已經超額完成了，這意味著明年可能會有所回落。穀物類別的趨勢顯然仍然相當疲軟，而寵物類別的轉變需要更多時間。

I guess, on the flip side, you've got the contribution from 8th Avenue, cost saves from asset optimization moves and I think some contribution from the shake co-packing dynamic. So I guess, am I right on those? What others might I be missing? And then I guess when you net all these out, would you still anticipate at least some modest EBITDA growth in fiscal '26?

我想，另一方面，你得到了第八大道的貢獻，透過資產優化措施節省了成本，我認為還有一些來自奶昔聯合包裝動態的貢獻。所以我想，我的說法正確嗎？我可能還遺漏了什麼？然後我想，當你把所有這些都扣除之後，你還會預期 26 財年的 EBITDA 至少會有一些適度的增長嗎？

I think you laid it out pretty well. And the way we are thinking -- first of all, I should say we are still in the planning process for '26. But the way we are thinking about it is if we normalize Foodservice for the AI impact, it's essentially on algorithm year. So again, with the caveat that we're still in the middle of planning. Beyond that, I think you laid out the different puts and takes pretty well.

我認為你把它佈置得很好。而我們的想法是──首先，我應該說我們仍處於 26 年的規劃過程中。但我們的想法是，如果我們將食品服務標準化以適應人工智慧的影響，那麼它本質上就是演算法年。所以再次聲明，我們仍處於規劃階段。除此之外，我認為您很好地闡述了不同的觀點。

Are there any that you want to add to, Matt?

馬特，您還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No, I think you captured everything, Andrew. And like if you took fiscal '25 and put in a full year of 8th Avenue and then normalize our cold chain businesses for AI. Jeff laid out the run rate we see Foodservice at, and we think it can grow in accordance with algo from there, just given the value proposition and just where we sit in the marketplace. So I think we feel good about our prospects for next year off a normalized '25.

不，我想你捕捉到了一切，安德魯。就好像你拿出 25 財年並投入整整一年的第八大道，然後將我們的冷鏈業務標準化為人工智慧。傑夫列出了我們看到的食品服務的運作率，我們認為只要考慮到價值主張和我們在市場中的位置，它就可以按照演算法成長。因此，我認為，在 25 年正常化的基礎上，我們對明年的前景充滿信心。

Great. Okay. And then I'm curious, Rob, maybe just a little more detail on what you're seeing in the cereal category at this point. And I guess why would -- I'm just curious why private label would be underperforming branded in the category the way that it is?

偉大的。好的。然後我很好奇，羅布，也許您能更詳細地了解一下您目前在穀物類別中看到的情況。我想為什麼——我只是好奇為什麼自有品牌在該類別的表現會不如品牌？

Yeah, it's a bit of a mystery to me as well. I think perhaps some of the degree of promotion is bringing the price gaps down a little more than it should. I think that the pricing opportunity for us there is still compelling, but it just is not as compelling as it has been compared to branded.

是的，對我來說這也有點神秘。我認為某種程度的促銷可能會使價格差距縮小到比應有的程度還要小。我認為那裡的定價機會對我們來說仍然具有吸引力，但與品牌相比並不那麼有吸引力。

Yeah. I think the only thing I'd add, Andrew, is our private label in cereal obviously skews to Walmart and they're seeing -- have seen quite a pullback in food traffic. So we think there's some impact there as well given our exposure there.

是的。安德魯，我想我唯一要補充的是，我們的穀物自有品牌顯然偏向沃爾瑪，他們看到——食品流量已經大幅回落。因此，考慮到我們在那裡的曝光度，我們認為那裡也會受到一些影響。

Matt Smith, Stifel.

馬特史密斯（Matt Smith），Stifel。

I wanted to come back to the Foodservice performance in the quarter. There was a comment about the pricing reflecting the AI recovery. Should we -- pricing was up low double digits. Was that full amount of pricing recovery of costs you incurred in 2Q or was there some underlying pricing as well? I guess I'm just trying to get a sense relative to the $30 million or $35 million that you expected to recover, how much was delivered above that?

我想回顧本季的餐飲服務業績。有一條評論稱定價反映了人工智慧的復甦。我們應該——價格上漲了兩位數。這是您第二季產生的全部成本定價回收嗎，還是也有一些潛在的定價？我想我只是想了解一下，相對於您預計收回的 3000 萬美元或 3500 萬美元，實際收回金額有多少？

Yeah. I think there was -- I mean, a couple of factors. One is the recovery of Q2 that largely happened in Q3. And then also, again, we continue to see elevated egg markets. So we have continued pricing to recover that as well. So it's kind of an ongoing process. And once we get our egg supply back as we get through Q4 here, obviously, we'll need that pricing, and we'll see kind of a normalized view, and that's kind of back to the $115 million that Jeff talked about is how we'd like to recalibrate the business.

是的。我認為有幾個因素。一是第二季的復甦主要發生在第三季。而且，我們再次看到雞蛋市場持續上漲。因此，我們也繼續透過定價來恢復這一水平。所以這是一個持續的過程。一旦我們進入第四季度，雞蛋供應恢復正常，顯然我們需要這樣的定價，我們就會看到一種正常化的觀點，這就回到了傑夫所說的 1.15 億美元，這就是我們希望重新調整業務的方式。

And then, the only thing I would add is on a year-over-year basis, there's a normal pricing that we would take as we renegotiate contracts. So there's some of that phenomenon in place as well year-over-year.

然後，我唯一要補充的是，與去年同期相比，我們在重新談判合約時會採取正常的定價。因此，這種現象逐年存在。

And as a follow-up, I wanted to ask about the CapEx moving higher in the guidance for both the PCB projects as well as Foodservice investments. Is that incremental scope to these projects? Or has the cost gone up due to inflation? Just any color there would be helpful, and I'll pass it on.

作為後續問題，我想問 PCB 項目和食品服務投資的資本支出指導中是否出現上漲。這些項目的範圍是否不斷增加？或者成本是否因通貨膨脹而上漲？任何顏色都會有幫助，我會把它傳遞下去。

No, it's really a matter of pacing that more than cost growth. So it's just we're spending a little faster. We have an opportunity to do that, and we want to accelerate those projects where we can. So it's not a matter of higher cost. It's just faster spend.

不，這實際上是一個比成本成長更重要的節奏問題。所以只是我們的支出速度稍微快了一點。我們有機會做到這一點，並且我們希望盡可能地加快這些專案的推進。所以這不是成本更高的問題。這只是花費速度更快而已。

Michael Lavery, Piper Sandler.

麥可拉弗里、派珀桑德勒。

Congrats, Jeff and Nico both. I just want to come back to just thoughts on M&A. You've obviously just done the 8th Avenue deal, but with fairly very modest impact on your balance sheet. Would it be fair -- could you give a sense of just how much appetite you still have for more? And what, if any, challenges you're seeing in the marketplace? Or how to think about just what's on your radar? And I know you've mentioned repurchases as an alternative as well. Obviously, we'll look for those in the absence of a deal. But just any thoughts on how the M&A landscape looks for you, it would be great.

恭喜 Jeff 和 Nico。我只是想回到關於併購的想法。您顯然剛剛完成了第八大道交易，但這對您的資產負債表的影響相當小。這是否公平——您能否透露一下您還有多少渴望？您在市場上看到了哪些挑戰（如果有的話）？或是如何思考你的雷達上到底有什麼？我知道您也提到了回購作為替代方案。顯然，在沒有達成協議的情況下我們會尋找這些。但是，如果您對併購前景有什麼看法，那就太好了。

Yeah. I mean, I think if you look at some of the opportunities right now, they're impacted by the uncertainty of base earnings with tariffs and some of the impacts that could come from food ingredient changes that we called out in the prepared remarks. I think it's an interesting commentary that the two large transactions that have happened in the last couple of months or probably longer than that are both private companies buying public companies. So I think the transactions of public are impacted by the uncertainty I just mentioned.

是的。我的意思是，我認為如果你看一下現在的一些機會，它們會受到關稅基本收入不確定性的影響，以及我們在準備好的評論中提到的食品成分變化可能帶來的一些影響。我認為這是一個有趣的評論，過去幾個月或可能更長時間內發生的兩筆大交易都是私人公司收購上市公司。所以我認為公眾的交易受到了我剛才提到的不確定性的影響。

At the same time, multiples across the segment, including ours are quite low and the opportunity to use our stronger balance sheet to buy back shares is pretty attractive. So as we've talked about, I think, in the past, we look at it as a balancing process of what are the opportunities externally, ie, M&A, what are the opportunities internally, meaning share buybacks and what do we need to do from managing our leverage perspective.

同時，包括我們在內的整個細分市場的本益比都相當低，利用我們更強勁的資產負債表回購股票的機會相當有吸引力。因此，正如我們過去所討論的，我認為，我們將其視為一個平衡過程，即外部機會是什麼，即併購，內部機會是什麼，即股票回購，以及從管理槓桿的角度我們需要做什麼。

So with all of that saying, we continue to be open-minded to transactions, small and large, and we just wait for the time to be right.

所以，儘管如此，我們仍然對交易持開放態度，無論交易規模大小，我們只是在等待合適的時機。

Okay. That's helpful. And just a follow-up on the Foodservice quarterly EBITDA run rate. It feels like it's got upside and some headroom there, especially as mix keeps driving tailwinds and you've got both kind of sticky pricing on top of some of the temporary -- the pull the catch-up from second quarter. Is it just a bit of conservative posture to not push that higher yet? Or are there any kind of incremental headwinds we should keep in mind? And can you give a sense of maybe what some of your assumptions are for shakes in that in terms of the latest on how it's progressing or what maybe utilization assumptions you may have there?

好的。這很有幫助。這只是對食品服務季度 EBITDA 運作率的後續關注。感覺它還有上行空間和一些上升空間，特別是當混合繼續推動順風，並且在一些暫時因​​素之上還有兩種粘性定價——從第二季度開始追趕。暫時不將其推高是否只是保守的姿態？或者我們應該牢記哪些漸進式的阻力？您能否就其最新進展或可能存在的利用率假設，說明一下您對奶昔的一些假設？

So I'll start with the last part first. The shake contribution in that number is pretty modest, while we're continuing to make progress, and I know we've said that probably three, four quarters in a row, and it's accurate. It's just -- it's a slow slog. So we're still climbing up to where we think normalized profitability would be. So over time, depending on your time horizon over time, that is certainly a tailwind that we would expect to provide incremental profit as we progress through 2026 and beyond.

因此我將首先從最後一部分開始。雖然我們正在繼續取得進展，但這個數字中的震動貢獻相當小，我知道我們已經連續三、四個季度這麼說了，而且這是準確的。這只是——這是一個緩慢的過程。因此，我們仍在努力達到我們認為的正常獲利水準。因此，隨著時間的推移，取決於你的時間範圍，這無疑是一個順風，我們預計它將在 2026 年及以後帶來增量利潤。

In terms of the first part of the question, I think that it's a reflection of what we currently see as the run rate of the business. But recall that we view Foodservice as a modest grower on a year-over-year basis, which has been the case throughout our ownership period and prior to our ownership period. So that's a point in time, and we would expect that over time, it would grow from there.

關於問題的第一部分，我認為這反映了我們目前看到的業務運作率。但請記住，我們認為食品服務業務的同比增長率適中，在我們整個所有權期間以及所有權期間之前都是如此。所以這是一個時間點，我們預計隨著時間的推移，它會從那裡開始成長。

David Palmer, Evercore ISI.

大衛·帕爾默（David Palmer），Evercore ISI。

I was just maybe hoping that we could do a little bit of market insights on the big two categories within PCB. And first of all, Jeff, all the best in retirement. Congratulations in your career and all the best to you, too, Nico. But with regard to Pet and Cereal, the category is up in Pet, a couple of percent. The sales seem to be moving quickly to the premium and private label sides of the category, value brands, big brands, basically across the board are losing share there. And I wonder maybe what the insight is there other than perhaps in dry versus wet and some of those dynamics in terms of fresh.

我只是希望我們可以對 PCB 中的兩大類別做一些市場洞察。首先，傑夫，祝你退休後一切順利。恭喜你的職業生涯，也祝你一切順利，尼可。但就寵物和穀物而言，寵物類別的漲幅為幾個百分點。銷售額似乎正在迅速轉向高端和自有品牌，而價值品牌、大品牌基本上都在失去這些領域的份額。我想知道，除了乾濕對比以及新鮮方面的一些動態之外，還有什麼見解。

And then, in Cereal, the category is down a couple of percent. It's incredible that private label is not really benefiting. It seems maybe to be going to the tidy and low carb type smaller brands seem to be flourishing. So I'm not really sure how all of this is really informing what you're going to be doing and maybe even spending heading into fiscal '26. Do you feel like you have a plan for each to pivot and adjust to these to sort of get back to market share? And just really curious about the plan and the spending levels in particular.

然後，穀物類產品銷售量下降了幾個百分點。令人難以置信的是，自有品牌並沒有真正受益。看起來，小品牌可能會走向整潔和低碳水化合物類型，並蓬勃發展。因此，我不太確定所有這些因素究竟會如何影響你在 26 財年將要做的事情，甚至是支出。您是否覺得您已經為每項計劃制定了調整計劃，以便重新獲得市場份額？我真的很好奇這個計劃，尤其是支出水準。

I think starting with Pet, again, we've got some -- as we talked about at the beginning of the fiscal year, some profit-enhancing items and some decisions we made that we wouldn't lap until we got through the end of this fiscal year. And I think what you saw in the quarter was down 13%. I'd say those are about half of that. So as we lap the year, those would fall away and you're left with the consumption trends, challenges we've seen mainly around Nutrish and then also Gravy Train that Jeff talked about. Again, we've got plans in place to address both those.

我認為從寵物開始，我們再次有一些 - 正如我們在財政年度開始時所討論的那樣，一些提高利潤的項目和一些我們做出的決定，我們不會在本財政年度結束前完成。我認為本季的銷售額下降了 13%。我想說這些大約是其中的一半。因此，隨著時間的推移，這些都會消失，剩下的就是消費趨勢，我們看到的挑戰主要圍繞在 Nutrish 以及 Jeff 談到的 Gravy Train。再次強調，我們已經制定了計劃來解決這兩個問題。

Obviously, the Nutrish launch, and we're making some course corrections as we move through that as well. It's going to take a little more time than I think we initially anticipated. But we feel good about both of those leveling out or improving that consumption as we get into fiscal '26. And then the other piece was around just some private label business that we lost. We've got clear line of sight to replacement of that over the next couple of quarters.

顯然，Nutrish 正在推出，我們也正在進行一些路線修正。我認為這將比我們最初預計的要花費更多的時間。但隨著我們進入 26 財年，我們對這兩項支出將平穩或改善消費感到高興。另一部分則與我們失去的一些自有品牌業務有關。我們已經明確了在接下來的幾個季度內取代它的方法。

So I think from a volume standpoint, we feel by the middle of next fiscal year, we will largely be closing in on flat relative to what we're seeing today. And then, in terms of -- from a spend standpoint, obviously, we're putting some dollars behind Gravy Train and Nutrish in particular, to support the relaunch.

因此，我認為從數量的角度來看，我們認為到下一個財年中期，我們的銷售量將與今天看到的銷售量基本持平。然後，從支出的角度來看，顯然，我們會向 Gravy Train 和 Nutrish 投入一些資金，以支持重新推出。

On the Cereal side, from a spend standpoint, I think we continue to be really rational around spending. And in terms of supporting the brands, we do that on a targeted basis. We still think there's additional network optimization we can do. It's not plants, but maybe more lines. But again, I think we're also keeping an eye on the category. It's been a tough year and thinking as we lap next year, I expect to see some year-over-year comps improving in terms of just the rate of decline we've seen in cereal, but we'll keep an eye on that as we think about additional optimization.

在穀物方面，從支出的角度來看，我認為我們在支出方面仍然非常理性。在支持品牌方面，我們有針對性地開展工作。我們仍然認為我們可以進行額外的網路優化。這不是植物，但可能是更多的線條。但我再次認為我們也在關注這個類別。這是艱難的一年，展望明年，我預計會看到同比有所改善，就穀物的下降速度而言，但我們會密切關注這一點，同時考慮進行額外的優化。

So it sounds just a summary is that you don't expect to have a very significant increase in the spending levels, promotion and otherwise, rather just tactical changes with regard to the brand.

因此，聽起來只是一個總結，即您不希望在支出水平、促銷和其他方面有非常顯著的成長，而只是在品牌方面進行策略性的變化。

Yeah. So I think tactical is a great way to describe it.

是的。所以我認為戰術是描述它的絕佳方式。

Scott Marks, Jefferies.

史考特馬克斯，傑富瑞。

First thing I wanted to ask about, you made a comment in the prepared remarks about some higher input costs because of product reformulations and some regulatory changes. So maybe just wondering if you can kind of walk us through how you're thinking about the shape of the portfolio and how you intend maybe to adjust the portfolio a little bit to meet some of these new trends and policy updates?

我想問的第一件事是，您在準備好的評論中提到了由於產品重新配方和一些監管變化而導致的一些投入成本增加。所以也許我只是想知道您是否可以向我們介紹一下您對投資組合形狀的看法，以及您打算如何稍微調整投資組合以適應這些新趨勢和政策更新？

Well, I think we're going to certainly have some innovation. So to David's question before, one of the things that we're going to do is attempt some innovation in cereal that's more targeted at the types of products that are performing well, protein enhanced cereals, that sort of thing.

嗯，我認為我們肯定會有一些創新。所以對於大衛之前提出的問題，我們要做的事情之一就是嘗試對穀物進行一些創新，這種創新更針對那些表現良好的產品類型，例如蛋白質強化穀物之類的。

More broadly with regard to ingredients, I think we're going to take a pragmatic approach. You've seen some commitments from some of our peers to eliminate some of the ingredients. We're certainly going to look at reformulation of our products over time, but are going to take a pragmatic view as to how quickly we do that and whether we do that across the Board or within certain products.

更廣泛地說，就成分而言，我認為我們將採取務實的方法。您已經看到我們的一些同行承諾消除一些成分。我們肯定會隨著時間的推移研究我們產品的配方改進，但我們會以務實的態度來考慮我們改進的速度以及我們是否在整個產品範圍內或在某些產品範圍內進行改進。

So I think the short answer is to say we're going to take a tactical view. We're going to make tweaks along the edges, but we're not anticipating any major changes in particular in fiscal '26 with regard to those items.

所以我認為簡短的回答就是我們將採取戰術觀點。我們將對一些細節進行調整，但預計 26 財年這些項目不會有任何重大變化。

Got it. And then, maybe as a follow-up, earlier in the call, you also mentioned, obviously, the buyout of WK Kellogg. Maybe if you can share your thoughts around a possible new entrant into the category with deeper pockets for innovation and investment and how you think about that maybe changing the dynamics within the cereal category from here?

知道了。然後，也許作為後續，在早些時候的電話會議中，您顯然也提到了對 WK Kellogg 的收購。也許您可以分享一下您對可能進入該類別的新進入者的看法，該新進入者擁有更雄厚的創新和投資資金，以及您認為這可能會改變穀物類別的動態嗎？

I think you have a situation of one very large and very respected company being acquiring a smaller but also very well-respected company with the likely outcome being the category will be enhanced by the size of the acquirer. But I think until we actually see the transaction close, we would be hesitant to make further comment.

我認為，現在的情況是一家規模很大、非常受人尊敬的公司收購一家規模較小但同樣非常受人尊敬的公司，可能的結果是，收購方的規模將會擴大。但我認為，在我們真正看到交易完成之前，我們不會再發表進一步的評論。

Marc Torrente, Wells Fargo Securities.

富國證券的馬克‧托倫特 (Marc Torrente)。

Jeff, congratulations on the retirement. I guess first on 8th Avenue, kind of two parts. How has that business in its categories been tracking over the last couple of quarters, top line and profitability? And you previously increased your outlook to account for the deal closing, the deal closed on time. Any change to your expected contribution for this year? And then going forward, any seasonality considerations for that business, should that track more or less in line with PCB?

傑夫，恭喜你退休。我想首先是第八大道，分為兩個部分。過去幾個季度，該業務在其類別中的營收和獲利能力表現如何？而且您之前提高了預期以促成交易的完成，而且交易也按時完成了。今年的預期貢獻有改變嗎？那麼，展望未來，該業務是否有任何季節性考慮，是否應該與 PCB 保持一致？

No material changes to this fiscal year contribution. And then as the outlook for next year remains similar, I'd say what we found and not surprising as we watch the business is with the backdrop that was under over the last six or nine months and uncertainty about where the business was going to land, I definitely saw a pullback in performance of the business here as of the last couple of quarters. We see a path to improvement in line with what we called out when we acquired the business for next year. But no seasonality I would really call out that's material within the business.

本財政年度捐款沒有重大變化。然後，由於明年的前景仍然相似，我想說，我們發現，當我們觀察業務時，這並不奇怪，因為在過去六個月或九個月的背景下，業務將走向何方存在不確定性，我確實看到這裡的業務表現在過去幾個季度有所回落。我們看到了一條改進的道路，與我們明年收購該業務時所呼籲的一致。但我真正要說的是，沒有季節性，這是業務中的重要因素。

And I don't know if there's anything else you'd add, Jeff, but I think that's.

傑夫，我不知道您是否還有什麼要補充的，但我認為就是這樣。

No, I think that covers it.

不，我想這就涵蓋了。

Okay. Great. And then maybe just an update on some of the timing of the plant optimization savings. It sounds as though the step-up in CapEx could pull some of that forward. And then just given how the cereal category has trended, where do you think this takes you for your utilization? And how does that compare versus your optimal outlook?

好的。偉大的。然後也許只是對工廠優化節省的一些時間進行更新。聽起來好像資本支出的增加可以推動其中的一些過程。那麼，考慮到穀物類別的趨勢，您認為這會對您的利用產生什麼影響？這與您的最佳前景相比如何？

Yes. So again, it doesn't really pull forward what the actions we're taking on the plant optimization. They're still on track for the end of the calendar year. And in terms of utilization, we would expect that would get us back up into the mid-80s. And then I think it's really a matter of, like I said, how does the cereal category perform? If it's more like this year, we'd have to move quicker on additional steps. If it levels out and becomes more normalized for what we've seen historically, then feel like we're in a good spot for next fiscal year.

是的。所以，這並沒有真正推動我們在工廠優化方面採取的行動。他們仍有望在今年年底前實現這一目標。就利用率而言，我們預計這將使我們回到 80 年代中期。然後我認為這真的是一個問題，就像我說的，穀物類別的表現如何？如果情況更像今年，我們就必須加快採取額外措施。如果它趨於平穩並且變得更加正常化，就像我們歷史上所見的那樣，那麼我們會覺得下一個財政年度的情況會很好。

John Baumgartner, Mizuho.

瑞穗的約翰·鮑姆加特納。

And Jeff, congrats on retirement. I really appreciate all of your insights over the years. I guess first off for me in pet, I'd like to follow up there given the portfolio adjustments. It seems as though you had a fast start out of the gate rebuilding with existing customers in the old Smucker business.

傑夫，恭喜你退休。我非常感謝您多年來的所有見解。我想先就寵物方面而言，我想跟進投資組合的調整。看起來您很快就開始與舊 Smucker 業務中的現有客戶進行重建。

But as that's normalized, how do you think about portfolio balance at this point? Are there opportunities to maybe participate more heavily in different channels, e-commerce, specialty? Are there opportunities to have a presence in some of the specialized formulas? Just how do you envision the portfolio from where it sits today with steady-state brands and distribution and where it could maybe evolve from here?

但隨著這種情況的正常化，您現在如何看待投資組合平衡？是否有機會更多參與不同的通路、電子商務和專業領域？是否有機會出現在一些專門的公式中？從目前穩定的品牌和分銷情況來看，您如何展望該投資組合的未來，以及它未來可能如何發展？

Well, I think there are many opportunities to change the composition of the portfolio, whether it's channel or price point or even breed. So I think there are many opportunities there. However, I think the most important thing to realize is that we want to make sure that what we bought sticks and part of what we bought was a brand in nutrition that we knew needed work. So we will continue to make sure that Nutrish is where it needs to be before we do too much portfolio management.

嗯，我認為有很多機會可以改變產品組合的組成，無論是通路、價格點或品種。所以我認為那裡有很多機會。然而，我認為最重要的是要認識到，我們要確保我們購買的產品是有效的，而且我們購買的產品中有一部分是我們知道需要改進的營養品牌。因此，在進行過多的投資組合管理之前，我們將繼續確保 Nutrish 處於其應有的位置。

Okay. Great. And then as a follow-up on refrigerated retail and the side dishes business. It looks like the volumes have been performing pretty well, at least in the scanner data, and you've done it with, I guess, reasonably stable pricing. Can you dig in a bit more into the drivers there? What's behind the performance? And how to think about maybe next 12 months in terms of growth through distribution, innovation, next steps for that business?

好的。偉大的。然後跟進冷藏零售和配菜業務。看起來交易量表現相當不錯，至少在掃描器數據中是如此，而且我猜你們已經做到了，而且定價也相當穩定。您能否更深入地了解一下其中的驅動因素？表演背後隱藏著什麼？以及如何考慮未來 12 個月透過分銷、創新和下一步行動實現成長？

Sure. I think we feel good -- yes, to your point, obviously, we had a lift with Easter, and then we've had good performance this quarter. Last year, we had some challenges with trade where we overshot on trade aid into the base performance of the business. And we, of course, corrected that and in a much better spot this year. I think we are seeing additional opportunities and gains within distribution and also price points.

當然。我認為我們感覺很好——是的，正如你所說，顯然，復活節給我們帶來了提振，然後我們本季度的表現也很好。去年，我們在貿易方面遇到了一些挑戰，貿易援助對業務基本表現的影響太大。當然，我們今年已經糾正了這個問題，而且情況好多了。我認為我們在分銷和價格點方面看到了更多的機會和收益。

We've targeted opportunities there as well in terms of alternative products within our that we can offer and diversify similar to what we see in PCB. So I think as we look to next year, I think we feel really good about some top line opportunities for that piece of the business.

我們也瞄準了那裡的機會，我們可以提供和多樣化替代產品，類似於我們在 PCB 中看到的。因此，我認為，展望明年，我們對該業務領域一些營收機會感到非常樂觀。

Carla Casella, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的卡拉·卡塞拉。

Just a quick question. On the 8th Avenue acquisition, you're funding it with revolver and cash, but any thoughts about coming and issuing bonds to eventually or term loan to eventually put in longer-term financing for that?

這只是一個簡單的問題。在收購第八大道時，您使用循環信貸和現金進行融資，但您有沒有想過最終透過發行債券或定期貸款來提供長期融資？

Yeah, it's something that we definitely obviously keep an eye on the markets really closely. I think right now, just more in a monitoring mode. But I think at some point, that certainly could be an option for us. But right now, we're in a really good spot from a cash flow liquidity standpoint. So in no rush, and I think we'll remain opportunistic.

是的，我們顯然會密切關注市場。我認為現在只是處於監控模式。但我認為，在某種程度上，這對我們來說肯定是一個選擇。但目前，從現金流流動性的角度來看，我們的狀況非常好。所以不必著急，我認為我們會保持機會主義。

We've reached the end of the Q&A session. Thanks for joining us. You may now disconnect.

問答環節已經結束。感謝您的加入。您現在可以斷開連線。