羅斯百貨 (ROST) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon and welcome to the Ross Stores Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2023 Earnings Release Conference Call. The call will begin with prepared comments by management followed by a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

下午好，歡迎參加 Ross Stores 第四季和 2023 財年財報發布電話會議。電話會議將首先由管理層準備好評論，然後進行問答環節。 （操作員說明）

Before we get started, on behalf of Ross Stores, I would like to note that the comments made on this call will contain forward-looking statements regarding expectations about future growth and financial results, including sales and earnings forecasts, new store openings and other matters that are based on the company's current forecast of aspects of its future business. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical performance or current expectations. Risk factors are included in today's press release and the company's fiscal 2022 Form 10-K and fiscal 2023 Form 10-Qs and 8-Ks on file with the SEC.

在我們開始之前，我謹代表 Ross Stores 指出，在本次電話會議中發表的評論將包含有關未來增長和財務業績預期的前瞻性陳述，包括銷售和盈利預測、新店開業和其他事項這些數據基於公司目前對其未來業務各方面的預測。這些前瞻性陳述存在風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與歷史績效或當前預期有重大差異。風險因素包含在今天的新聞稿以及公司向 SEC 備案的 2022 財年 10-K 表格以及 2023 財年 10-Q 和 8-K 表格中。

And now I'd like to turn the call over to Barbara Rentler, Chief Executive Officer.

現在我想將電話轉給執行長芭芭拉·倫特勒 (Barbara Rentler)。

Good afternoon. Joining me on our call today are Michael Hartshorn, Group President, Chief Operating Officer; Adam Orvos, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Connie Kao, Group Vice President, Investor Relations. We'll begin our call today with a review of our fourth quarter and 2023 performance followed by our outlook for 2024. Afterwards, we'll be happy to respond to any questions you may have.

午安.今天參加我們電話會議的還有集團總裁兼營運長 Michael Hartshorn； Adam Orvos，執行副總裁兼財務長；以及投資者關係集團副總裁 Connie Kao。我們今天將首先回顧第四季度和 2023 年的業績，然後展望 2024 年。之後，我們將很樂意回答您可能提出的任何問題。

As noted in today's press release, we are pleased with our fourth quarter sales and earnings results that were well ahead of our expectations. Our above-plan sales were driven by our customers' positive response to the improved assortments of quality branded bargains throughout our stores. Earnings per share for the 14 weeks ended February 3, 2024, were $1.82, up from $1.31 per share for the 13 weeks ended January 28, 2023. Net income for the period rose to $610 million versus $447 million last year.

正如今天的新聞稿所述，我們對第四季度的銷售和盈利結果感到滿意，遠遠超出了我們的預期。我們高於計劃的銷售是由於客戶對我們商店內優質品牌特價商品種類的改進的積極反應所推動的。截至2024年2月3日的14週每股收益為1.82美元，高於截至2023年1月28日的13週每股收益1.31美元。該期間的淨利潤增至6.1億美元，去年為4.47億美元。

Sales for the fourth quarter of 2023 grew to $6 billion, driven by robust comparable store sales gain of 7%. For the 2023 fiscal year, earnings per share were $5.56, up from $4.38 for the 52 weeks ended January 28, 2023. Net income for the fiscal 2023 was $1.9 billion compared to $1.5 billion last year.

受可比商店銷售額強勁成長 7% 的推動，2023 年第四季的銷售額成長至 60 億美元。 2023 財年，每股收益為 5.56 美元，高於截至 2023 年 1 月 28 日的 52 週的 4.38 美元。2023 財年的淨利潤為 19 億美元，而去年為 15 億美元。

Total sales for the year increased to $20.4 billion, up from $18.7 billion in the prior year period. Comparable store sales for the 52 weeks ended January 27, 2024, grew a solid 5%. As noted in our press release, the sales results for both the 2023 fourth quarter and fiscal year included a $308 million benefit from the 53rd week. Earnings per share for both periods also benefited from the extra week by approximately $0.20 per share. Fourth quarter operating margin grew 165 basis points to 12.4%, up from 10.7% in 2022. This improvement was mainly due to the strong gains in same-store sales and lower freight costs that were partially offset by higher incentives. The 53rd week also benefited operating margin by 80 basis points.

全年總銷售額從去年同期的 187 億美元增至 204 億美元。截至 2024 年 1 月 27 日的 52 週內，可比商店銷售額穩定成長 5%。正如我們在新聞稿中指出的，2023 年第四季和財年的銷售業績包括第 53 週的 3.08 億美元收益。這兩個時期的每股收益也因額外一周而增加了約 0.20 美元。第四季營業利潤率成長165 個基點，達到12.4%，高於2022 年的10.7%。這項改善主要是由於同店銷售的強勁成長和貨運成本的下降，但部分被更高的激勵措施所抵消。第 53 週營業利益率也提高了 80 個基點。

Now let's turn to additional details on our fourth quarter results. For the holiday selling season, cosmetics, home and Children's were the best-performing merchandise areas, while geographic results were broad-based. Dd's discount sales trends slightly trailed Ross' growth. While dd's top line results were respectable in fiscal 2023, we are disappointed with the performance in newer markets.

現在讓我們來看看第四季業績的更多細節。在假期銷售季，化妝品、家居和兒童商品是表現最好的商品領域，而地理結果也很廣泛。 Dd 的折扣銷售趨勢略微落後於 Ross 的成長。儘管 dd 在 2023 財年的營收業績相當可觀，但我們對新市場的表現感到失望。

We are currently conducting an in-depth analysis of dd's to better understand and address the different wants and needs of their diverse customer base, particularly as we expand outside our current existing geographies. Until this work is completed, we believe it is wise over the near term to moderate dd's store growth in newer markets and focus new store openings, primarily in existing regions.

我們目前正在對 dd 進行深入分析，以更好地了解和滿足其不同客戶群的不同需求，特別是當我們向現有地域之外擴張時。在這項工作完成之前，我們認為，短期內明智的做法是減緩 dd 在新市場的門市成長，並將重點放在現有地區開設新店。

Now let's turn to inventory. As we ended the quarter and the year, consolidated inventories were up 8%. Average store inventories were up 9% compared to 2022's holiday period due primarily to the 53rd week shift. Packaway represented 40% of total inventories similar to last year. Regarding our store expansion program, we added 94 net new stores in 2023, including 71 Ross Stores, Ross Dress for Less and 23 dd's DISCOUNTS. We ended 2023 with 2,109 stores, including 1,764 Ross Dress for Less and 345 dd's DISCOUNTS locations. As we noted in today's release, for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2023, we repurchased a total of 1.9 million and 8.2 million shares of common stock, respectively, for an aggregate purchase price of $247 million in the quarter and $950 million for the fiscal year. These purchases were made pursuant to the 2-year $1.9 billion program announced in March 2022, which we have now completed as planned.

現在讓我們轉向庫存。截至本季末和本年度末，綜合庫存成長了 8%。與 2022 年假期期間相比，商店平均庫存增加了 9%，這主要是由於第 53 週輪班。 Packaway 佔總庫存的 40%，與去年類似。關於我們的門市擴張計劃，我們在 2023 年淨新增 94 家門市，其中包括 71 家 Ross Stores、Ross Dress for Less 和 23 家 dd's DISCOUNTS。截至 2023 年，我們擁有 2,109 家商店，其中包括 1,764 家 Ross Dress for Less 店和 345 家 dd's DISCOUNTS 店。正如我們在今天的新聞稿中指出的，在第四季度和2023 財年，我們分別回購了總計190 萬股和820 萬股普通股，本季的總購買價格為2.47 億美元，本財年的總購買價格為9.5 億美元。這些採購是根據 2022 年 3 月宣布的為期 2 年 19 億美元的計劃進行的，目前我們已按計劃完成。

Our Board of Directors also recently approved a new 2-year, $2.1 billion stock repurchase authorization or approximately $1.05 billion for each fiscal year. This new plan represents an 11% increase over the recently completed repurchase program. In addition, the Board approved a 10% increase in our quarterly cash dividend to $0.3675 per share to be payable on March 29, 2024, to stockholders of record as of March 15, 2024. The increases to our stock repurchase and dividend programs reflect our continued commitment to enhancing stockholder value and returns, given the strength of our balance sheet and our ongoing ability to generate significant amounts of cash after funding growth and other capital needs of business.

我們的董事會最近也批准了一項為期 2 年、價值 21 億美元的新股票回購授權，即每個財年約 10.5 億美元。這項新計劃比最近完成的回購計劃增加了 11%。此外，董事會也批准將我們的季度現金股利增加10%，至每股0.3675 ​​美元，將於2024 年3 月29 日支付給截至2024 年3 月15 日在冊的股東。我們股票回購和股息計劃的增加反映了我們鑑於我們的資產負債表實力以及在為業務增長和其他資本需求提供資金後持續產生大量現金的能力，我們繼續致力於提高股東價值和回報。

Now Adam will provide further details on our fourth quarter results and additional color on our outlook for fiscal 2024.

現在，Adam 將提供有關我們第四季度業績的更多詳細信息，以及我們對 2024 財年展望的更多信息。

Thank you, Barbara. As previously mentioned, comparable store sales rose a strong 7% for the quarter, entirely driven by higher traffic and shoppers positive response to our improved assortments throughout our stores.

謝謝你，芭芭拉。如前所述，本季度可比商店銷售額強勁增長 7%，這完全是由於客流量增加以及購物者對我們整個商店改進的商品種類的積極反應所推動的。

As Barbara noted earlier, fourth quarter operating margin of 12.4% was up 165 basis points from 10.7% in 2022 and included about an 80 basis point benefit from the 53rd week in 2023. Cost of goods sold as a percent of sales improved by 265 basis points versus last year, benefiting from a combination of factors.

正如Barbara 早些時候指出的那樣，第四季度營業利潤率為12.4%，比2022 年的10.7% 增長了165 個基點，其中包括比2023 年第53 週提高約80 個基點的收益。銷售成本佔銷售額的百分比提高了265 個基點受益於多種因素，與去年相比，得分有所提高。

Merchandise gross margin increased by 110 basis points, primarily due to lower ocean freight costs. Distribution costs declined by 75 basis points partially driven by favorable timing of packaway-related costs. Domestic freight and occupancy costs levered by 75 and 45 basis points, respectively. Partially offsetting these benefits were buying costs that increased 40 basis points, mainly from higher incentives. SG&A for the period delevered by 100 basis points, mostly driven by higher incentive costs and wages.

商品毛利率增加了 110 個基點，主要是因為海運成本下降。分銷成本下降了 75 個基點，部分原因是包裝相關成本的有利時機。國內貨運和佔用成本分別上升 75 和 45 個基點。購買成本增加了 40 個基點，部分抵消了這些好處，這主要是由於更高的激勵措施。該期間的SG&A 去槓桿化了100 個基點，主要是由於激勵成本和薪資上漲。

Now let's discuss our outlook for fiscal 2024. As mentioned in our press release, we are encouraged by the sustained sales momentum that began in the second quarter of 2023 and continued through the holiday season. That said, there remains ongoing uncertainty in the macroeconomic and geopolitical environments. In addition, while inflation has moderated, prices for necessities like housing, food and gasoline remain elevated and continue to pressure the low to moderate income customers' discretionary spend. While we hope to do better, we believe it is prudent to continue to take a conservative approach to forecasting our business in 2024. For the 52 weeks ending February 1, 2025, we are planning comparable store sales to increase 2% to 3% on top of a solid 5% gain in 2023. If sales perform in line with this plan, we expect earnings per share for 2024 to be in the range of $5.64 to $5.89 compared to $5.56 in fiscal 2023. As a reminder, fiscal 2024 is a 52-week year compared to 53 weeks in 2023. As previously mentioned, our 2023 earnings per share benefited from an additional $0.20 of EPS from the extra week.

現在讓我們討論一下我們對 2024 財年的展望。正如我們在新聞稿中提到的，我們對 2023 年第二季度開始並持續整個假期季節的持續銷售勢頭感到鼓舞。儘管如此，宏觀經濟和地緣政治環境仍存在持續的不確定性。此外，雖然通貨膨脹有所緩和，但住房、食品和汽油等必需品的價格仍然很高，並繼續對中低收入客戶的可自由支配支出構成壓力。雖然我們希望做得更好，但我們認為繼續採取保守的方法來預測2024 年的業務是謹慎的做法。在截至2025 年2 月1 日的52 週內，我們計劃將可比商店銷售額增長2%至3%。預計2023 年將實現5% 的穩健增長。如果銷售表現符合該計劃，我們預計2024 年每股收益將在5.64 美元至5.89 美元之間，而2023 財年為5.56 美元。提醒一下， 2024 財年是一個與 2023 年的 53 週相比，這一年為 52 週。如前所述，我們 2023 年的每股收益受益於額外一周額外增加 0.20 美元的每股收益。

Turning to our guidance assumptions for the 2024 year. Total sales are planned to grow by 2% to 4% for the 52 weeks ending February 1, 2025, versus the 53 weeks ended February 3, 2024. This year-over-year increase in total revenue is affected by last year's 53rd week, which added approximately $308 million to sales in the fourth quarter and fiscal year of 2023. If same-store sales perform in line with our plan, operating margin for the full year is expected to be in the range of 11.2% to 11.5% compared to 11.3% last year, which benefited by 25 basis points from the 53rd week. This year-over-year change also includes the benefit of anniversarying higher incentive costs in 2023, given our outperformance. In addition, for fiscal 2024, we expect merchandise margins to be pressured as we plan to offer even more brands that are sharply priced to deliver the strong value proposition that our customers expect from us. For 2024, we expect to open approximately 90 new locations, comprised of about 75 Ross and 15 dd's DISCOUNTS. These openings do not include our plans to close or relocate about 10 to 15 older stores.

轉向我們對 2024 年的指導假設。截至2025年2月1日的52週，總銷售額計劃增長2%至4%，而截至2024年2月3日的53週。總收入的同比增長受到去年第53週的影響，這使得2023年第四季和財年的銷售額增加了約3.08 億美元。如果同店銷售表現符合我們的計劃，預計全年營業利潤率將在11.2% 至11.5% 之間。去年為11.3%，較第53週上漲25個基點。鑑於我們的優異表現，這項同比變化還包括 2023 年周年紀念更高激勵成本的好處。此外，在 2024 財年，我們預計商品利潤率將受到壓力，因為我們計劃提供更多昂貴的品牌，以提供客戶期望我們提供的強大價值主張。到 2024 年，我們預計將開設約 90 個新地點，其中包括約 75 個 Ross 折扣店和 15 個 dd's DISCOUNTS。這些空缺不包括我們關閉或搬遷約 10 至 15 家老店的計劃。

Net interest income is estimated to be $143 million. Depreciation amortization expense inclusive of stock-based amortization is forecast to be about $610 million for the year. The tax rate is projected to be about 24% to 25% and diluted shares outstanding are expected to be approximately $332 million. In addition, capital expenditures for 2024 are planned to be approximately $840 million as we make further investments in our stores, supply chain and merchant processes to support our long-term growth and to increase efficiencies throughout the business.

淨利息收入預計為 1.43 億美元。包括股票攤銷在內的今年折舊攤銷費用預計約為 6.1 億美元。稅率預計約為 24% 至 25%，攤薄後的流通股預計約為 3.32 億美元。此外，隨著我們對商店、供應鏈和商業流程進行進一步投資，2024 年的資本支出計劃約為 8.4 億美元，以支持我們的長期成長並提高整個業務的效率。

Let's turn now to our guidance for the first quarter. We are planning comparable store sales for the 13 weeks ending May 4, 2024, to be up 2% to 3% versus a 1% gain in last year's first quarter. If sales perform in line with this range, we expect earnings per share for the first quarter of 2024 to be $1.29 to $1.35 versus $1.09 last year. The operating statement assumptions that support our first quarter guidance include the following: total sales are planned to be up 6% to 8% versus last year's first quarter. We would then expect first quarter operating margin to be 11.1% to 11.4% compared to 10.1% last year. The expected increase mainly reflects our forecast for lower incentives and freight costs that are partially offset by lower merchandise margin and higher wages. We plan to add 18 new stores consisting of 11 Ross and 7 dd's DISCOUNTS during the period. Net interest income is estimated to be $44 million. Our tax rate is expected to be approximately 24% to 25% and diluted shares are forecasted to be about $335 million.

現在讓我們轉向第一季的指導。我們計劃截至 2024 年 5 月 4 日的 13 週內，可比商店銷售額將增長 2% 至 3%，而去年第一季的增幅為 1%。如果銷售表現符合此範圍，我們預計 2024 年第一季的每股收益將為 1.29 至 1.35 美元，而去年為 1.09 美元。支持我們第一季指引的營運報表假設包括：總銷售額計畫比去年第一季成長 6% 至 8%。我們預計第一季營業利潤率為 11.1% 至 11.4%，而去年為 10.1%。預期成長主要反映了我們對激勵措施和貨運成本降低的預測，但商品利潤率下降和薪資上漲部分抵消了這一影響。我們計劃在此期間增加 18 家新店，其中包括 11 家 Ross 和 7 家 dd's DISCOUNTS。淨利息收入預計為 4,400 萬美元。我們的稅率預計約為 24% 至 25%，稀釋後的股份預計約為 3.35 億美元。

Now I'll turn the call back to Barbara Rentler for closing comments.

現在我將把電話轉回芭芭拉·倫特勒 (Barbara Rentler) 以徵求結束意見。

Thank you, Adam. To sum up, as Adam noted, while we hope to do better than our forecast this year, the external environment remains uncertain and our low to moderate income customers' discretionary spend continues to be impacted by elevated cost of living. Despite these headwinds last year, our shoppers responded positively to the strong values we offered across our stores which drove our better-than-expected sales and earnings growth throughout 2023.

謝謝你，亞當。總而言之，正如亞當指出的那樣，雖然我們希望今年的表現比我們的預測更好，但外部環境仍然不確定，我們的中低收入客戶的可自由支配支出繼續受到生活成本上漲的影響。儘管去年存在這些不利因素，但我們的購物者對我們在商店中提供的強大價值做出了積極反應，這推動了我們在 2023 年全年的銷售和收入成長優於預期。

In 2024, we plan to build upon these efforts and offer even more brands that are sharply priced to deliver the strong value proposition that our customers expect from us. We believe the diligent execution of this plan will result in increased market share gains this year and in the future. At this point, we'd like to open the call and respond to any questions you may have.

到 2024 年，我們計劃在這些努力的基礎上再接再厲，提供更多價格合理的品牌，以實現客戶對我們期望的強大價值主張。我們相信，該計劃的認真執行將導致今年和未來市場份額的增加。此時，我們想開始通話並回答您可能提出的任何問題。

(Operator Instructions) And the first question comes from the line of Lorraine Hutchinson with Bank of America.

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自美國銀行的 Lorraine Hutchinson 線。

Barbara, I was hoping to better understand the dynamic around the sharply priced brands and their impact on merchandise margins. How big of the -- how large of a percentage of the assortment were you planning to take down to these sharper price points? And is there other opportunity to improve on the gross margins through domestic freight or other line items as the year progresses?

芭芭拉，我希望更了解昂貴的品牌的動態及其對商品利潤的影響。您計劃將多大比例的產品降低到這些更高的價格點？隨著時間的推移，是否還有其他機會透過國內貨運或其他項目來提高毛利率？

Sure, Lorraine. So let's just talk about the sharply priced brands. Obviously, I wouldn't talk about what type of penetration we're going to shift to. What I would say to you about the sharply priced brands is that during '23, we strengthened our value offerings. We kept saying that we were doing that, and we were doing that. And that really results in the acceleration of sales and started in Q2 and then persisted through the whole holiday season. And so that's really how we came up with in 2024, that we planned to build upon those successes that we had in '23 by offering more brands that are sharply priced to deliver that value proposition the customer wants. But what I would say to you also is it's a tiered strategy; a good, better, best strategy.

當然，洛林。那我們就來談談價格昂貴的品牌吧。顯然，我不會談論我們將轉向哪種類型的滲透。關於價格昂貴的品牌，我想對您說的是，在 23 年期間，我們加強了我們的價值產品。我們一直說我們正在這樣做，我們也正在這樣做。這確實導致了銷售加速，並從第二季開始，然後持續整個假期季節。這就是我們在 2024 年的想法，我們計劃在 23 年取得的成功的基礎上，提供更多定價合理的品牌，以實現客戶想要的價值主張。但我還要對你說的是，這是一個分層策略；一個好的、更好的、最好的策略。

So in terms of gross margin expansion from the pure merchandising side. What I would say to you is this strategy really -- we really believe that this will drive sales and it will drive market share. And that's really how we're looking at it. Because that's what the customer has voted on all year, and we feel like it's a strategy that's broad-based in the entire box. Certainly, there are some businesses that have more opportunities than others. But that's really how we came to this conclusion and the customer has been voting, and that's really what she's been voting on.

所以從純商品銷售方面的毛利率擴張來看。我要對你們說的是這個策略——我們真的相信這將推動銷售並推動市場份額。我們確實是這樣看待它的。因為這是客戶全​​年投票的結果，我們認為這是一個在整個領域中具有廣泛基礎的策略。當然，有些企業比其他企業有更多的機會。但這確實是我們得出這個結論的方式，而且客戶一直在投票，而這正是她一直在投票的內容。

Lorraine, then on just the other margin opportunities from a freight standpoint, from a domestic freight standpoint, we do expect to see some improvement for the full year, but to a lesser extent than we saw last year.

洛林，那麼從貨運的角度來看，從國內貨運的角度來看，我們確實預計全年會出現一些改善，但程度要小於去年。

And the next question comes from the line of Matthew Boss with JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自摩根大通的馬修·博斯（Matthew Boss）。

And congrats on another great quarter. So Barbara, I guess maybe could you elaborate on drivers that you think really were behind? I think this is the best fourth quarter performance in more than 10 years, if I exclude the pandemic. Maybe what you saw across categories, do you think that you're attracting a new customer? And maybe just the decision to raise your initial comp view for 2024 to the 2% to 3% relative to historical 1% to 2%? And then just one for Adam. Any change to bottom line flow-through in the model for 2024 as we think about incremental comp potential upside?

恭喜又一個偉大的季度。所以芭芭拉，我想你能詳細說明一下你認為真正落後的司機嗎？如果排除疫情影響，我認為這是十多年來最好的第四季表現。也許您在各個類別中看到的內容，您認為您正在吸引新客戶嗎？也許只是決定將 2024 年的初步薪酬預期從歷史上的 1% 到 2% 提高到 2% 到 3%？然後只給亞當一張。當我們考慮增量競爭的潛在上行空間時，2024 年模型中的底線流量是否會改變？

It's Michael Hartshorn. Just on the customer overall. It's hard to see whether it's a new customer or the existing customer is spending more. What we did see is our performance, as we said in the commentary was broad-based across region, but it was broad-based really across all aspects of our business, including geographically, income levels and age.

我是麥可·哈特肖恩。僅就客戶整體而言。很難看出是新客戶還是現有客戶花費更多。我們確實看到的是我們的業績，正如我們在評論中所說的那樣，在整個地區都有廣泛的基礎，但它實際上在我們業務的各個方面都有廣泛的基礎，包括地理位置、收入水平和年齡。

And in terms of -- Matthew, in terms of the drivers, the categories, the ones that I said, cosmetics, home and Children's were really the best, Accessories was slightly above the chain and apparel trailed the chain. But again, it performed above our plan. And I think part of the things that really drove it was we had a big push this year in home on gifting, and we added some new classifications and the customer responded.

就馬修而言，就驅動力、類別而言，我所說的化妝品、家居和兒童確實是最好的，配件略高於連鎖店，服裝則落後於連鎖店。但再次，它的表現超出了我們的計劃。我認為真正推動這一趨勢的部分原因是我們今年在國內大力推動送禮，我們添加了一些新的分類，並且客戶做出了回應。

Yes. And on the flow-through question, this is Adam. Nothing has changed. We expect EBIT margin flow-through of about 10 to 15 basis points for each additional point of above-plan sales. And with our guide of plus 2% to 3%. And on a 52-week basis, you see margin rate expansion. We're getting some benefit also this year of lower incentive costs based on our outperformance from 2023.

是的。關於流程問題，這是亞當。什麼也沒有變。我們預計，高於計畫的銷售額每增加一個點，息稅前利潤率將增加約 10 至 15 個基點。根據我們的指導，加收 2% 到 3%。以 52 週為基礎，您會看到保證金率擴張。基於我們 2023 年的優異表現，今年我們也從較低的激勵成本中獲得了一些好處。

And the next question comes from the line of Mark Altschwager with Baird.

下一個問題來自 Mark Altschwager 和 Baird 的對話。

Maybe first, Barbara, just any hypothesis on what might be driving the weaker-than-expected dd's performance in newer markets? And maybe comment also on how the Ross Dress for Less stores in newer markets have been performing relative to your expectations?

芭芭拉，也許首先，關於什麼可能導致 dd 在新市場的表現弱於預期，有什麼假設嗎？也許還可以評論一下 Ross Dress for Less 商店在新市場中的表現相對於您的預期如何？

Just on -- I'll start with the Ross. The Ross new markets have been performing at or above our expectations. From a dd's standpoint, as we said in the commentary, the overall comp was just is slightly below Ross for both the quarter and the year. So while overall comps were respectable, we've been disappointed in the dd's new market performance. Our new markets tend to be more diverse based on ethnicity and income, and we clearly didn't satisfy them with the assortments we've been offering there.

就這樣——我將從羅斯開始。羅斯新市場的表現達到或超越了我們的預期。從 dd 的角度來看，正如我們在評論中所說，本季和全年的整體薪酬都略低於羅斯。因此，雖然整體比較值得尊敬，但我們對 dd 的新市場表現感到失望。我們的新市場往往根據種族和收入而更加多樣化，而且我們顯然無法讓他們滿意我們在那裡提供的產品種類。

Maybe just a follow-up. Can you comment on the buying environment and any changes you're seeing? And how is that impacting the expectations for the merchandise margin pressure this year, if at all?

也許只是後續行動。您能否評論一下購買環境以及您所看到的任何變化？如果有的話，這對今年商品利潤率壓力的預期有何影響？

Well, I think it's a positive buying environment. I mean there's still merchandise in the market. And I've said this on calls before, there are some vendors that are very aggressive in bringing in inventory as they're trying to gain market share and then others, it's more normalized. In terms of merchant margin, our strategy now is really to continue to offer the customer really great value because that is really, really what's working sharp prices. And so even if you're buying some of these really great opportunities, we are really thinking about passing along really that potential savings to the customer because we really do believe that is the best way to drive market -- to gain market share. And so that's really how we're approaching it at this point, and that is what the customer is responding to.

嗯，我認為這是一個積極的購買環境。我的意思是市場上還有商品。我之前在電話中說過，有些供應商非常積極地引入庫存，因為他們試圖獲得市場份額，而其他供應商則更正常化。就商家利潤而言，我們現在的策略實際上是繼續為客戶提供真正巨大的價值，因為這確實是推動價格上漲的真正原因。因此，即使您購買了其中一些非常好的機會，我們也確實在考慮將潛在的節省傳遞給客戶，因為我們確實相信這是推動市場的最佳方式 - 獲得市場份額。這就是我們目前的處理方式，也是客戶的回應。

And the next question comes from the line of Chuck Grom with Gordon Haskett.

下一個問題來自查克·格羅姆和戈登·哈斯克特的台詞。

Great results. From a category perspective, which categories do you view is the biggest opportunities in 2024? And curious, separately what you're seeing on the shrink front in the quarter and what your expectations are for '24? A couple of retailers, including Target today have called out improving shrink results lately.

很好的結果。從品類角度來看，您認為哪些品類是2024年最大的機會？很好奇，您在本季的收縮方面分別看到了什麼以及您對 24 世紀的預期是什麼？包括塔吉特在內的幾家零售商最近都呼籲改善收縮效果。

Sure. In terms of categories for '24, I mean, with the brand strategy we're putting in place, I feel like there's -- it's pretty broad-based the opportunity. But obviously, our apparel business has been trailing the chain. And so we're focused on really trying to improve those assortments and to get the apparel business more in line with the other businesses.

當然。就 24 世紀的類別而言，我的意思是，隨著我們正在實施的品牌策略，我覺得存在著非常廣泛的機會。但顯然，我們的服裝業務一直落後於連鎖店。因此，我們專注於真正努力改進這些品種，並使服裝業務與其他業務更加一致。

Chuck, on the shrink front, I would say we're not immune to the external theft and organized crime environment throughout retail. We do continue to invest in initiatives to hold shortage at bay. For 2023, our shrink levels were in line with 2022. Our guidance assumes that shrink is up a bit. So that's built into the guidance, but we'll continue to make investments there to keep it in line.

查克，在收縮方面，我想說我們不能免受整個零售業外部盜竊和有組織犯罪環境的影響。我們確實繼續投資於遏制短缺的舉措。 2023 年，我們的損耗水準與 2022 年一致。我們的指導假設損耗略有上升。這已納入指南中，但我們將繼續在這方面進行投資以保持一致。

And the next question comes from the line of Michael Binetti with Evercore ISI.

下一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 Michael Binetti。

Congrats on a really nice holiday. And I apologize if you said it, but did you mention how much the extra week impacted the gross margin in the fourth quarter? I heard the operating margin, but just housekeeping on that. And then, I guess, maybe we could talk a little bit about how you built to the comp guidance for the year with the 2% to 3% comp in the first quarter and in the year? I guess, as the comparisons get a little tougher, I think it implies the 2-year accelerates a little bit as we move through the year. So maybe just a little bit on how you were thinking about that. I'm wondering if that's maybe the sharp price merchandise assortment strategy accelerating through the year. Anything you could point to help us think alongside you on that, please?

恭喜您度過了一個非常愉快的假期。如果你這麼說，我很抱歉，但你有沒有提到額外一週對第四季毛利率的影響有多大？我聽過營業利潤率，但只是內務管理。然後，我想，也許我們可以談談你們如何制定今年的薪酬指導，第一季和今年的薪酬為 2% 至 3%？我想，隨著比較變得更加困難，我認為這意味著隨著我們度過這一年，兩年的速度會加快。所以也許只是一點點關於你是如何思考這個問題的。我想知道這是否是今年加速的高價商品分類策略。您能指出什麼來幫助我們與您一起思考這個問題嗎？

Sure. So from the merchandise strategy, we do expect it to accelerate as we go. Obviously, we've been building the strategy off of starting in Q2 of 2023. And now -- I would say now it's more broad-based than we were as we were coming across. Maybe the words I want to use is it's a little more intentional in certain businesses than it was before. And so we do expect that as we come across. We are expecting that our Apparel business as we move through the year will improve.

當然。因此，從商品策略來看，我們確實預期它會隨著我們的發展而加速。顯然，我們從 2023 年第二季開始就一直在製定該策略。現在——我想說，現在它的基礎比我們之前遇到的更加廣泛。也許我想用的詞是，在某些業務中，它比以前更有意義。因此，當我們遇到這種情況時，我們確實期望如此。我們預計今年我們的服裝業務將會有所改善。

And Michael, on the 53rd week question, so we thought operating margin was worth 80 basis points in Q4 and about 25 for the year, and that was largely in gross margin versus SG&A.

邁克爾，關於第 53 週的問題，所以我們認為第四季度的營業利潤率為 80 個基點，全年約為 25 個基點，這主要是與 SG&A 相比的毛利率。

And the next question comes from the line of Alex Straton with Morgan Stanley.

下一個問題來自亞歷克斯·斯特拉頓 (Alex Straton) 與摩根士丹利 (Morgan Stanley) 的對話。

Perfect. Super amazing [trend]. It looks like you guys are further closing the gap to pre-COVID EBIT with every passing quarter, even though fourth quarter still sits somewhat below. So can you just talk about what's hampering you from returning to the pre-COVID levels and how you think about recovering that gap from here? And then maybe Barbara, a big picture question for you. What are your key priorities for the year as you think about Ross?

完美的。超驚人的【趨勢】。看起來你們在每個季度都在進一步縮小與新冠疫情爆發前的息稅前利潤的差距，儘管第四季度仍略低於這一水平。那麼，您能否談談是什麼阻礙您回到新冠疫情前的水平，以及您如何考慮從現在開始恢復這一差距？然後也許是芭芭拉，這是一個對你來說很重要的問題。在您看來，羅斯今年的首要任務是什麼？

Alex, it's Michael Hartshorn. On the long-term kind of what it's going to take to close the EBIT margin gap. Obviously, the biggest drivers are where wages and freight has been over the last couple of years. I would say over the long term, we can -- we believe we can achieve gradual improvement in profitability. As always, EBIT growth will be highly dependent on sustained strong sales growth. We believe the improvements we've made and continue to make to strengthen our value offerings will lead to market share gains in the long run. I'll also say we're investing in capabilities to drive efficiencies and related cost savings that we believe will contribute to profitability as well over time. As you can see in this year's guidance, our EBIT leverage is around 3% with double-digit EPS growth at the top end of that 2% to 3% range on a 52-week basis. Over the long term, we think we can get leverage in the 3% to 4% comp range.

亞歷克斯，我是麥可‧哈茨霍恩。從長遠來看，需要採取哪些措施來縮小息稅前利潤率差距。顯然，最大的推動因素是過去幾年的薪資和運費。我想說，從長遠來看，我們可以——我們相信我們可以逐步提高獲利能力。與往常一樣，息稅前利潤的成長將高度依賴持續強勁的銷售成長。我們相信，從長遠來看，我們為加強我們的價值產品所做的和持續做出的改進將帶來市場份額的成長。我還要說，我們正在投資提高效率和節省相關成本的能力，我們相信隨著時間的推移，這也將有助於提高獲利能力。正如您在今年的指導中看到的那樣，我們的息稅前利潤槓桿約為 3%，52 週的每股收益增長率為兩位數，處於 2% 至 3% 範圍的上限。從長遠來看，我們認為我們可以獲得 3% 至 4% 補償範圍內的槓桿。

And in terms of priorities, our priority this year is really to gain market share through a diligent execution of the strategy. We've done a lot of work around what we believe we need to do to gain market share. And so on the Ross side, that really is mine and our key priority. And then on the dd's side to go off and to do some additional work, to understand that customer. So as we go into newer markets, we satisfy her needs.

就優先事項而言，我們今年的首要任務實際上是透過認真執行策略來獲得市場份額。我們圍繞著我們認為需要做的事情做了很多工作來獲得市場份額。因此，在羅斯方面，這確實是我的，也是我們的首要任務。然後在 dd 方面去做一些額外的工作，以了解該客戶。因此，當我們進入新市場時，我們會滿足她的需求。

And the next question comes from the line of Adrienne Yih with Barclays.

下一個問題來自 Adrienne Yih 與巴克萊銀行的對話。

Great. And let me add my congratulations as well. Barbara, on the dd's, I was wondering if you could talk about sort of the new store strategy? Are you clustering them? What regions outside of California or is it within kind of the West Coast are seeing the differences? So any more detail on kind of your early thoughts on what's happening there other than sort of the broader demographic mix. And then Michael or Adam, on the transaction, can you talk about the fourth quarter, the holiday transaction growth versus the AUR component?

偉大的。請容許我也表達我的祝賀。芭芭拉，關於 dd，我想知道你能否談談新店的策略？你正在對它們進行聚類嗎？加州以外的哪些地區或西海岸附近的哪些地區出現了差異？因此，除了更廣泛的人口結構之外，還有更多關於您對那裡正在發生的事情的早期想法的更多細節。然後，邁克爾或亞當，關於交易，您能談談第四季度的假期交易增長與 AUR 組成部分嗎？

Adrienne, on dd's. So our real estate strategy for dd's is a little different than Ross. It's not as a clustered strategy, as you said, as we see for Ross. There is -- after you get outside of our core markets in Texas, Florida and California, they are, as I said, distinct ethnicity differences, which means we have to find the right assortment that's different from our core markets. We'll know more after we go through the customer research, and then we'll make -- start making the adjustments we think we need to improve performance there.

艾德麗安，在 dd 上。因此，我們對 dd 的房地產策略與 Ross 略有不同。正如您所說，這不是一種集群策略，正如我們在羅斯身上看到的那樣。正如我所說，在離開我們德克薩斯州、佛羅裡達州和加利福尼亞州的核心市場之後，它們存在明顯的種族差異，這意味著我們必須找到與我們的核心市場不同的正確品種。在完成客戶研究後，我們會了解更多信息，然後我們將開始進行我們認為需要提高性能的調整。

And Adrienne, on to your question on the components. Our 7% comp was all driven by traffic. Average basket was flat. So we had slightly higher AUR and slightly lower items per transaction.

艾德麗安，關於你關於組件的問題。我們 7% 的報酬都是由流量驅動的。平均籃子持平。因此，我們的 AUR 略高，每筆交易的商品略低。

And the next question comes from the line of Brooke Roach with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自布魯克·羅奇（Brooke Roach）與高盛的對話。

I was hoping you could elaborate on the assumptions embedded in your outlook for SG&A expense for the year. What are you assuming for wage and other investments? And what are you seeing in the wage environment currently?

我希望您能詳細說明您對今年 SG&A 費用前景的假設。您對薪資和其他投資有何假設？您對目前的薪資環境有何看法？

I would say it's somewhat stabilized, Brooke. Really where we're taking wage increases is where the -- where we're required to by the minimum wage changes state by state. I would say from an SG&A standpoint, we'll get the benefit of anniversarying the higher incentive costs. And then, we've generally been able to do a good job while the minimum wage changes are putting pressure in the stores. Through some of the efficiencies that we've invested in, we've generally been able to offset that. So I'm not seeing much overall pressure on the store side on that front.

我想說它已經穩定下來了，布魯克。實際上，我們提高工資的地方是各州最低工資變化所要求的地方。我想說，從SG&A的角度來看，我們將受益於更高的激勵成本。然後，當最低工資的變化給商店帶來壓力時，我們總體上能夠做得很好。透過我們投資的一些效率提高措施，我們通常能夠抵消這一影響。因此，我沒有看到商店方面在這方面面臨太大的整體壓力。

The next question comes from the line of Ike Boruchow with Wells Fargo.

下一個問題來自艾克·博魯喬 (Ike Boruchow) 與富國銀行 (Wells Fargo) 的對話。

Michael, maybe to you, I think to answering your question earlier, you had said that you expect freight to be a benefit this year but less so than in '23. Were you referring to domestic freight specifically? Are you talking to freight, including ocean freight within the merchandise margin loan?

邁克爾，也許對你來說，我想在早些時候回答你的問題時，你曾說過你預計今年貨運會帶來好處，但不如 23 年。您指的是國內貨運嗎？您指的是貨運，包括商品保證金貸款中的海運嗎？

In that one, I was talking about domestic freight, but I'll let Adam take it to speak on this.

在那一期中，我談論的是國內貨運，但我會讓 Adam 來談談這個問題。

Ike, this is Adam. So on the ocean freight side, we'll get a little bit of benefit in Q1, but kind of negligible over the course of the year. Obviously, this is going to be dependent on how the situation plays out in the Suez Canal. And the duration of that conflict if anything changes. But I would also say that impacts a very small portion of our freight, yet we're closely monitoring that situation. On the domestic side, that's what Michael was commenting on earlier because fuel prices are lower than where they were at least this time last year. And based on our contracted rates, we should see some slight benefit throughout the year on the domestic side.

艾克，這是亞當。因此，在海運方面，我們將在第一季獲得一些收益，但在全年中幾乎可以忽略不計。顯然，這將取決於蘇伊士運河的局勢如何發展。如果有變化的話，還有衝突的持續時間。但我還要說，這影響了我們貨運的一小部分，但我們正在密切關注這種情況。在國內方面，這就是邁克爾早些時候所評論的，因為燃油價格至少比去年這個時候要低。根據我們的合約費率，我們應該會看到國內全年會出現一些輕微的好處。

Got it. So slight benefits throughout the year on domestic. Adam, just based on the line of sight you have, is there any point in this year where ocean freight should flip to -- from a tailwind to a headwind? Or is it just kind of like flattening out for you guys?

知道了。因此國內全年略有利多。 Adam，僅根據您的視線，今年海運是否會出現從順風轉為逆風的情況？或者對你們來說這只是一種扁平化？

We'll have to see how that conflict plays out is probably the biggest variable hike. We have a fairly good line of sight other than that variable that we can't control.

我們必須看看衝突如何展開，這可能是最大的變數增加。除了我們無法控制的變數之外，我們還有相當好的視線。

And the next question comes from the line of Simeon Siegel with BMO Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自蒙特婁銀行資本市場部門的西蒙‧西格爾 (Simeon Siegel)。

Nice job. Sorry, if I missed it, but did you talk about whether any of the transaction -- the traffic increases, are you seeing any trade down benefit? And then probably a dumb question, but does the sharply priced brands impact where you are at all, impact where you are or is it really -- is it just creating better value proposition without impacting AUR? And if it does, any order of magnitude we should keep in mind?

不錯的工作。抱歉，如果我錯過了，但是您是否談論過是否有任何交易——流量增加，您是否看到任何交易下降的好處？然後可能是一個愚蠢的問題，但是價格昂貴的品牌是否會影響您所在的位置，影響您所在的位置，還是真的 - 它只是在不影響 AUR 的情況下創造更好的價值主張嗎？如果確實如此，我們應該記住什麼數量級？

Simeon, on the trade down customer, we did -- I'll just repeat that for us, it's hard to see whether there's a trade down customer performance. Was broad-based, as we said, across geographies, but it was also broad-based across income levels. So hard to really tease out any impact to the trade down. On the transaction data, the comp was entirely driven by traffic or transactions for us. The average basket was flat as slightly higher average unit retails were offset by slightly lower units per transaction. And then on the weather front, it was neutral for us.

西蒙，對於折價客戶，我們做到了－我只是為我們重複一遍，很難看出是否有折價客戶績效。正如我們所說，它具有廣泛的基礎，跨地域，但它也具有廣泛的收入水平。很難真正弄清楚對貿易下降的任何影響。在交易數據上，我們的業績完全由流量或交易驅動。平均籃子持平，因為平均單位零售量的略高被每筆交易的略低的單位所抵消。然後在天氣方面，對我們來說是中性的。

So the sharply priced brands impacting going forward? Should we think about that from an AUR context? Or is that just changing the concentration of brands?

那麼價格昂貴的品牌會影響未來嗎？我們應該從 AUR 背景來考慮這個問題嗎？還是這只是改變了品牌的集中度？

It's -- the AUR fluctuates. It's based on the mix and the value of the goods that we're buying. So there's not a specific AUR pricing strategy. It's really a value strategy as we buy goods and put them at the sharpest price as we can to offer great value. So it's not like we're trying to hit a specific AUR or -- it could move as we go through the year and as we go through different closeouts, products and all of that, we're expecting it to move around.

AUR 波動。它是基於我們購買的商品的組合和價值。因此，沒有具體的 AUR 定價策略。這確實是一種價值策略，因為我們購買商品並盡可能以最優惠的價格出售，以提供巨大的價值。因此，這並不是說我們試圖達到一個特定的 AUR，或者——它可能會隨著我們一年的時間而變化，當我們經歷不同的清倉、產品和所有這些時，我們預計它會發生變化。

And the next question comes from the line of Paul Lejuez with Citi.

下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Paul Lejuez。

At dd's, I'm curious how many stores are in region where you considered disappointing and what percentage of the store base do they represent? I'm curious if they didn't open as strongly as you thought? Or are they not comping as quickly as you thought? And also curious how the Ross Stores are performing in those same regions?

在 dd's，我很好奇您認為令人失望的地區有多少家商店，它們佔商店基數的百分比是多少？我很好奇他們的開放程度是否沒有你想像的那麼強烈？還是他們的配合速度沒有你想像的那麼快？還想知道羅斯商店在這些地區的表現如何？

Paul, I mean there are certain stores outside of our core markets, that's what I would say on number of stores. So you can see our store map. As far as Ross, Ross is performing fine in these markets. And it's really how they opened. Some of them are comping well, but they're comping off a low sales base.

保羅，我的意思是在我們的核心市場之外還有某些商店，這就是我要說的商店數量。所以你可以看到我們的商店地圖。就羅斯而言，羅斯在這些市場表現良好。這就是他們的開業方式。其中一些公司的業績表現不錯，但銷售基礎較低。

Got it. And then you mentioned, I think, 10 to 15 store closings. How did that break down, dd's versus Ross?

知道了。然後你提到，我想，有 10 到 15 家商店關閉。 dd 與 Ross 之間的關係是如何破裂的？

Store closings. So we talked about -- Paul, we talked about 10 to 15 either relocated or closing stores, and we won't get into Ross versus dd's on that front.

商店關門。所以我們談到了——保羅，我們談到了 10 到 15 家商店搬遷或關閉，我們不會在這方面討論羅斯與 dd 的情況。

Nor have we decided yet. Usually, these are stores, I think, Paul, as you know, these are at the end of the lease term or starting a new option period where we'll make that judgment as we progress through the year.

我們也還沒決定。通常，這些是商店，我想，保羅，正如你所知，這些是在租賃期結束時或開始一個新的選擇期，我們將在這一年的進展中做出判斷。

And the next question comes from the line of Marni Shapiro with The Retail Tracker.

下一個問題來自 Marni Shapiro 與 The Retail Tracker 的對話。

Congrats on a really nice quarter. And I'm going to hop in on the pricing question. I'm really sorry. But I want to just clarify the sharp price pricing because it sounds like Barbara, you're thinking about this a little bit more holistically, sort of getting to a better balance of really sharp opening prices and then layering that next level and the next level, versus looking at what you purchased and maybe taking a shorter margin here and a longer margin there. Is that right? Am I hearing that right?

恭喜您度過了一個非常美好的季度。我將談談定價問題。我真的很抱歉。但我想澄清一下急劇的價格定價，因為這聽起來像芭芭拉，你正在更全面地思考這個問題，在真正急劇的開盤價格之間取得更好的平衡，然後將下一個級別和下一個等級分層，而不是查看您購買的商品，並可能在這裡採取較短的利潤，在那裡採取較長的利潤。是對的嗎？我沒聽錯吧？

Whenever you're pricing goods, Marni, you're always doing what you're saying. You're looking at the product and you're looking at the value, right? So it doesn't necessarily always have to do with what you're paying for a product, right? The merchants are looking at it and saying this is the right value and they're doing it. I think the sharp pricing that we're talking about is really adding more brands at all 3 levels, good, better, best, assessing those brands and then putting them out at the values that the customers really responded to. So it's -- it's really built on the products themselves.

Marni，每當你為商品定價時，你總是說到做到。你在看產品，也在看價值，對嗎？所以它不一定總是與你為產品支付的費用有關，對嗎？商家們正在研究它並說這是正確的價值並且他們正在這樣做。我認為我們所說的大幅定價實際上是在所有三個層面（好、更好、最好）添加更多品牌，評估這些品牌，然後將它們按照客戶真正響應的價值進行投放。所以它確實是建立在產品本身的基礎上的。

I don't know how else to say that to you. We have the brands we want to have. We have [visits and] people who are growing. We've opened a lot of new resources this year. The merchants have been out really looking for new resources, looking to expand, looking to remix the products and labels themselves and then to put that mix out at sharp prices. So it's not like I'm looking to have x price point or x in each thing. It is really a value strategy, not a pricing strategy. It's a value strategy.

我不知道還能怎樣對你說這句話。我們擁有我們想要擁有的品牌。我們的[訪問人數和]人員都在成長。今年我們開放了很多新資源。商家一直在尋找新的資源，尋求擴張，尋求重新混合產品和標籤，然後以高價出售。所以我並不是希望每件東西都有 x 價位或 x 。這其實是一種價值策略，而不是定價策略。這是一種價值策略。

And where does beauty -- because it sounds like you had a nice quarter in beauty that typically carries a lower AUR, but can drive a lot of traffic? Does beauty carry a good margin? And where does beauty fit into the strategy for '24?

美妝在哪裡——因為聽起來你在美妝領域度過了一個不錯的季度，通常 AUR 較低，但可以帶來大量流量？美容帶來的利潤豐厚嗎？美麗在 24 世紀的戰略中扮演著怎樣的角色？

Well, Beauty has so many components in there from a margin perspective. Overall, the beauty margins are fine or good. In every business we went in and looked at what our values were, what our brands were, what our product offerings were and we went in and said, some businesses we thought were on track and we're fine. In some businesses, we're learning we have more opportunity after what we've learned starting in Q2 all the way through Q3 and Q4 and building on that. So it's kind of an evolving process. But there's -- again, it's really a merchant-driven process and making sure that we put out the best possible value in the things that the customer wants and that we have the right brands, the right recognizable brands at each level; good, better and best.

嗯，從利潤的角度來看，美容有很多組成部分。總體而言，美麗邊緣還不錯。在每一項業務中，我們都會深入研究我們的價值觀、我們的品牌、我們提供的產品，然後我們會說，我們認為有些業務正在步入正軌，我們的情況也很好。在一些企業中，我們了解到，在我們從第二季開始一直到第三季和第四季所學到的知識之後，我們有更多的機會，並在此基礎上繼續發展。所以這是一個不斷發展的過程。但是，這確實是一個商家驅動的過程，確保我們為客戶想要的東西提供盡可能最大的價值，並確保我們擁有正確的品牌，在每個層級都有正確的可識別品牌；好，更好，最好。

And the next question comes from the line of Aneesha Sherman with Bernstein.

下一個問題來自阿尼莎謝爾曼和伯恩斯坦的對話。

I have two, please. I'm curious about -- can you talk about the cadence of comps through the quarter, particularly coming out of holiday into January and where you were exiting the quarter? And I have another one on stores. You talked about initiatives in the stores, and you've talked about it for the last couple of quarters. Do you see more structural benefits to store 4-wall margins over the next year or so from the store initiatives that you've been rolling out?

我有兩個，拜託。我很好奇——你能談談整個季度的補償節奏，特別是從假期結束到一月份以及你在哪裡退出本季度？我在商店裡還有另一件。您談到了商店的舉措，並且您在過去的幾個季度中都談到了這一點。您是否認為在未來一年左右的時間裡，您所推出的商店計劃將為商店 4 牆利潤帶來更多結構性好處？

Aneesha, it's Michael. On both of those. So we typically don't talk about inter-quarter trends. I will say, on a stack basis, comps were the -- slightly stronger during the peak holiday period, holiday selling period. On the 4-wall margin, so the type of investments we're making in stores, we're making a number of investments to improve efficiencies in the stores. In many cases, that's just offsetting some of the minimum wage -- statutory minimum wage increases we've seen. Some of the things we're doing are technology investments for instance, we're piloting self-checkout in all stores. We don't ever think that that's going to be a full chain rollout, but we'll see how that goes. We've put in place more efficient handheld devices and it's used to check inventory, take markdowns, manage tasks and eventually even allow associate scheduling within the store, all drive efficiency that help us offset the rising minimum wages.

阿尼莎，我是麥可。就這兩點而言。因此，我們通常不會談論季度間趨勢。我想說的是，從堆疊的角度來看，在假期高峰期、假期銷售期，比較結果略強。在四面牆利潤方面，我們在商店中進行的投資類型，我們正在進行大量投資以提高商店的效率。在許多情況下，這只是抵消了部分最低工資——我們看到的法定最低工資增長。我們正在做的一些事情是技術投資，例如，我們正在所有商店試行自助結帳。我們從來不認為這會是一個完整的鏈條推出，但我們會看看情況如何。我們部署了更有效率的手持設備，用於檢查庫存、降價、管理任務，甚至最終允許店內員工調度，所有這些都提高了效率，幫助我們抵消了不斷上漲的最低工資。

Sorry, just a quick follow-up, Michael. Can you give us a sense of how much of that has already been rolled out versus how much is to come over the next fiscal year?

抱歉，邁克爾，請快速跟進。您能否讓我們了解其中有多少已經推出，以及下一財年將推出多少？

Well, I mean there are things beyond that. This fiscal year, we have a number of rollouts. And as Adam said earlier, that's fully offsetting the minimum wage increase. And we continue to have new initiatives in the pipeline going forward.

嗯，我的意思是還有除此之外的事。本財年，我們推出了多項產品。正如亞當早些時候所說，這完全抵消了最低工資的成長。我們也將繼續推出新的措施。

And the next question comes from the line of Dana Telsey with the Telsey Advisory Group.

下一個問題來自特爾西諮詢小組的達納·特爾西。

Congratulations on the very nice results. As you think about the store profile in 2024 for both dd's and Ross, any changes in how you're thinking about it in terms of size? And then Barbara, you've always talked in the past about adding to the merchant team. What does it look like this year in terms of number of buyers, merchants added to the team or how you're thinking about it?

祝賀取得了非常好的結果。當您考慮 dd's 和 Ross 2024 年的商店概況時，您對規模的看法有何變化？然後芭芭拉，你過去總是談論加入商人團隊。今年加入團隊的買家、商家數量如何，或您對此有何看法？

Staying on the store profile, I'll give you the easy answer on that one. No, we're not thinking of any changes to the store prototype as we move into '24.

繼續關注商店簡介，我將為您提供簡單的答案。不，隨著我們進入 24 年，我們不會考慮對商店原型進行任何更改。

And in terms of the size of the merchant team, we have over 900 merchants. So every year, we -- every year, we promote people, move people. But in terms of saying, am I going out to take up the head count substantially? I think it's just -- I think it's more of a normal cadence that we would have. We feel like we have a pretty large team between the two companies.

從商家規模來看，我們有超過900家商家。所以每年，我們每年都會提拔人才、感動人才。但話說回來，我出去是不是大大佔了人頭？我認為這只是——我認為這更像是我們的正常節奏。我們覺得兩家公司之間有一個相當大的團隊。

Just one follow-up. As you went through the quarter in January, we know there were those two weeks that were very cold. Was that an impact for you and the comps and the comps would have even been stronger if you hadn't had that weather issue that happened mid-January?

只是一個後續行動。當您回顧一月份的季度時，我們知道那兩週非常寒冷。這對你和比賽有影響嗎？如果你沒有一月中旬發生的天氣問題，比賽會更加嚴重嗎？

Dana, on the quarter overall, so we take puts and takes all the way November through December, we think the weather impact was neutral for us.

達納，就整個季度而言，我們從 11 月到 12 月一直看跌和看跌，我們認為天氣影響對我們來說是中性的。

And the next question comes from the line of Corey Tarlowe with Jefferies.

下一個問題來自科里·塔洛和傑弗里斯的對話。

Great. In the past, I know you've talked about 60% to 65% new store productivity. Given your comments on dd's, recognizing that it's a smaller portion of the fleet, is that a consistent assumption within your guidance for 2024?

偉大的。過去，我知道您談到 60% 到 65% 的新店生產力。鑑於您對 dd 的評論，認識到它只佔機隊的一小部分，這是您 2024 年指導中的一致假設嗎？

It continues to be because the vast majority of the new stores are Ross. That said, the stores that we are opening for dd's, we expect them to be similar to historical sales levels because they're in the existing markets. But overall, 60% to 65% of a comp.

之所以如此，是因為絕大多數新店都是羅斯的。也就是說，我們為 dd's 開設的商店，我們預計它們將與歷史銷售水平相似，因為它們位於現有市場。但總體而言，60% 到 65% 的比較。

Great. And then just a brief follow-up. Other than new stores, what areas are you investing in, in the CapEx? And how are you thinking about leveraging AI in your business?

偉大的。然後只是一個簡短的後續行動。除了新店之外，您還在哪些領域進行資本支出投資？您如何考慮在您的業務中利用人工智慧？

So first on where else we're investing, about 40% of the capital this year is just expanded capacity. So we're opening a -- plan to open a new DC in early '25 in Arizona, and we have another one, a DC that we're going to start construction on later this year on our next distribution center. So 40% of that capital this year is on increased DC capacity. AI, I would say there's two parts of AI. We already use AI in some of the automated parts of our business. I think generative AI will be a journey for us like it is for others, but it is something we'll be looking at to find efficiencies in the business.

首先，我們在其他方面進行投資，今年大約 40% 的資本只是擴大產能。因此，我們正在計劃於 25 年初在亞利桑那州開設一個新的配送中心，我們還有另一個配送中心，我們將於今年稍後在我們的下一個配送中心開始建造。因此，今年 40% 的資本用於增加直流容量。人工智慧，我想說人工智慧有兩個部分。我們已經在業務的一些自動化部分中使用了人工智慧。我認為生成式人工智慧對我們來說將是一段旅程，就像對其他人一樣，但我們將尋求它來提高業務效率。

And the next question comes from the line of John Kernan with TD Cowen & Co.

下一個問題來自 John Kernan 與 TD Cowen & Co. 的對話。

Great job on the holiday quarter. Just going back to stores. Ross Stores banner grew 4% this year. I think that was the fastest store growth since pre-COVID, dd's is up over 7%. How do we think about store growth not just for fiscal '24, but also beyond that and how that fits into your long-term store targets?

假期期間乾得很好。剛回到商店。 Ross Stores 橫幅今年成長了 4%。我認為這是自新冠疫情爆發以來門市成長最快的一次，dd's 成長了 7% 以上。我們如何看待 24 財年以及之後的門市成長，以及這如何符合您的長期門市目標？

Sure. First of all, our long-term store target hasn't changed, and that's 2,900 Ross Stores and 700 for dd's. I think you'd expect about 100 stores a year, depending on how the dd's plays out beyond this. But I think we're comfortable with the 75 Ross stores annually. That's a good fit for us, and we'll see where the dd's roll out after we get through our strategy.

當然。首先，我們的長期門市目標並沒有改變，即2,900家Ross Stores和700家dd's。我想你預計每年大約有 100 家商店，具體取決於 dd 的發展。但我認為我們對每年 75 家 Ross 商店感到滿意。這對我們來說非常適合，我們將在製定策略後看看 dd 會在哪裡推出。

You haven't seen any long-term change in terms of competition for real estate, your peers in off-price are growing a lot of stores, too. I think there's been concerns about some of the availability out there, but it doesn't sound like you have any concerns?

就房地產競爭而言，你還沒有看到任何長期變化，你的低價同行也在增加很多商店。我認為人們對某些可用性有擔憂，但聽起來您沒有任何擔憂？

Well, there is -- I would say there's a lot of -- there's a lot of competition for our locations. But I'd say overall, we feel good about the real estate landscape and have a healthy pipeline.

嗯，我想說，我們的位置存在著很多競爭。但我想說，總的來說，我們對房地產前景感覺良好，並且擁有健康的管道。

The next question comes from the line of Laura Champine with Loop Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自 Loop Capital Markets 的 Laura Champine。

It's related to the way we're reading stores, which to us looks like you're making a conscious decision to sharply control inventories, to maximize profits and minimize markdowns. Are we reading that right? Or is this just a small sample size of stores?

這與我們閱讀商店的方式有關，在我們看來，您正在做出有意識的決定，以嚴格控制庫存，以最大化利潤並最小化降價。我們讀得對嗎？或者這只是商店的一小部分樣本？

Laura, are you just talking about inventory levels at year-end? Is that your question?

勞拉，您只是在談論年底的庫存水準嗎？這是你的問題嗎？

I'm talking about inventory levels that we're seeing currently over the past couple of months in stores really post holiday.

我說的是過去幾個月我們在商店中看到的實際假期後的庫存水準。

I would say post holiday for us is really a clearance period. So -- it is our lowest inventories of the year and it happens to be our lowest sales period. So we want to start off the year correctly. So it doesn't surprise me that it would feel that way if you're looking at the stores in January. I think as you progress through the spring, we manage our in-store inventories based on term, and we set it up. If we can beat the plan, then we can leverage markdowns. So that's the way we run the business, and we try to beat the turn from the previous year.

我想說，假期後對我們來說確實是個清倉期。因此，這是我們今年庫存最低的時期，而且恰好也是我們銷售最低的時期。所以我們希望正確地開始新的一年。因此，如果你在一月逛商店時會有這樣的感覺，我並不感到驚訝。我認為，隨著春季的進展，我們會根據期限管理店內庫存，並進行設定。如果我們能夠完成計劃，那麼我們就可以利用降價。這就是我們經營業務的方式，我們努力扭轉去年的局面。

And the next question comes from the line of Krisztina Katai with Deutsche Bank.

下一個問題來自德意志銀行的克里斯蒂娜‧卡泰 (Krisztina Katai)。

Congratulations on the strong quarter. So I wanted to ask in terms of the competitive backdrop, many of bigger general merchandise retailer are still look fairly lean on inventory, I think especially when we look at apparel and certain discretionary categories as we head into the spring. So I just -- I was just curious how that's sort of incorporated into your thinking on comps and maybe where you see some of the biggest opportunities in the first half to take share.

恭喜季度表現強勁。因此，我想問一下，在競爭背景下，許多大型百貨零售商的庫存看起來仍然相當匱乏，我認為尤其是當我們進入春季時審視服裝和某些非必需品類別時。所以我只是 - 我只是好奇這如何融入你對比賽的思考中，也許你在上半場看到了一些最大的分享機會。

Krisztina, I'm not 100% sure what exactly -- what you're getting at exactly. Could you just say that again?

Krisztina，我不能 100% 確定你到底要表達什麼。你能再說一次嗎？

Sure. It's just that many of your bigger general merchandise peers are still planning inventories very cautiously and they're sort of lean on inventories in many discretionary categories. So as you're sort of planning your business, you're looking at your good, better, best sort of assortment, maybe just how you're thinking about your position for spring and then heading into the summer?

當然。只是許多較大的百貨同行仍在非常謹慎地計劃庫存，並且他們在某種程度上依賴許多可自由支配類別的庫存。因此，當您在規劃自己的業務時，您會考慮自己的好、更好、最好的品種，也許您正在考慮春季和夏季的定位？

So the first part in inventory, as Michael just said, we plan our inventory based off of sales and turn. And so -- and we build that by business, really bottom up, just in terms of pure inventory level and then we drive receipts. We have the inventory base we think we need and then we go to chase, and we drive the receipts, which drives the sales which drives the profits. That's from basic inventory. In terms of which categories, that's a merchant-driven strategy in terms of what businesses we're going to go after, where we see the opportunity in the outside world, where we know we can show great value and where we can add assortment. So there are kind of two different levels of thinking. And remember, it's a flexible business model. So if business really takes off and as we've started to beat our sales plans, we have the ability to take the inventory up or drive the inventory down because the model is flexible, the stores are flexible and the products are flexible. So we go -- we start in with our base plan and then again, build up for sales turn and then we go -- then we react to what the customer is telling us. So it's kind of fluid.

因此，庫存的第一部分，正如邁克爾剛才所說，我們根據銷量和周轉率來規劃庫存。因此，我們透過業務建立這一點，真正自下而上，僅就純粹的庫存水準而言，然後我們推動收入。我們擁有我們認為需要的庫存基礎，然後我們去追逐，我們推動收入，這推動銷售，從而推動利潤。這是來自基本庫存。就哪些類別而言，這是一種商家驅動的策略，即我們要追求哪些業務，我們在哪裡看到外部世界的機會，我們知道我們可以在哪裡展示巨大的價值以及我們可以在哪裡增加品種。所以存在著兩種不同層次的思維。請記住，這是一種靈活的商業模式。因此，如果業務真正起飛，並且當我們開始完成銷售計劃時，我們就有能力增加庫存或降低庫存，因為模型是靈活的，商店是靈活的，產品是靈活的。所以我們從我們的基本計劃開始，然後再為銷售週轉做好準備，然後我們對客戶告訴我們的內容做出反應。所以它是一種流體。

And our final question comes from the line of Jay Sole with UBS.

我們的最後一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Jay Sole。

Barbara, you talked that one of your goals for the year was taking market share. Is your expectation that you're going to take market share from other off-price retailers or department stores or maybe just a little bit of everybody?

芭芭拉，您談到今年的目標之一是佔領市場份額。您是否期望從其他低價零售商或百貨公司手中奪取市場份額，或者只是從每個人手中奪取一點市場份額？

I just think -- look, I just think there's market share to be had. I mean, more stores keep closing. I mean -- and there's just less places for consumers to shop and our job is to satisfy the customer. And if we do that, there are consumers out there for us to pick up and to expand. So we want to be able to satisfy our current customers and get her to come back more. We want to be able to add additional customers because as we know, as there have been many store closures over the last few years, that's also helped to fuel off-price. So as that continues, this is a focus for us.

我只是認為——看，我只是認為有市場份額。我的意思是，更多的商店繼續關門。我的意思是──消費者購物的地方越來越少，而我們的工作就是滿足顧客。如果我們這樣做，就會有消費者可供我們選擇和擴大。因此，我們希望能夠滿足現有客戶的需求，並讓他們更多地回來。我們希望能夠增加更多客戶，因為據我們所知，過去幾年有許多商店關閉，這也有助於推動降價。因此，隨著這種情況的繼續，這是我們的重點。

And there are no further questions at this time. I'd now like to turn the floor back over to Barbara Rentler for any closing comments.

目前沒有其他問題。現在我想把發言權交還給芭芭拉·倫特勒（Barbara Rentler），徵求結束語。

Thank you for joining us today and for your interest in Ross Stores.

感謝您今天加入我們以及您對羅斯商店的興趣。

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

今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。