羅斯百貨 (ROST) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon and welcome to the Ross Stores third quarter 2025 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，歡迎參加羅斯百貨2025年第三季財報電話會議。電話會議將首先由管理層發表準備好的講話，然後進行問答環節。（操作說明）

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 in the company's fiscal 2024 Form 10-K and fiscal 2025 Form 10-Qs and 8-Ks on file with the SEC.

在正式開始之前，我謹代表羅斯百貨公司指出，本次電話會議中的發言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、新店開業以及其他基於公司目前對其未來業務各方面預測的事項。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。風險因素已包含在今天的新聞稿以及公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的 2024 財年 10-K 表格和 2025 財年 10-Q 表格和 8-K 表格中。

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

現在我想把電話交給執行長吉姆·康羅伊。

Good afternoon. Joining me on our call today are Michael Hartshorn, Group President and Chief Operating Officer; Bill Sheehan, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Connie Kao, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations.

午安.今天與我一起參加電話會議的有：集團總裁兼營運長麥可·哈特肖恩；執行副總裁兼財務長比爾·希恩；以及高級副總裁兼投資者關係主管康妮·高。

As noted in today's press release, we are very pleased with our third quarter sales results, which accelerated from the prior quarter. Total sales for the period grew 10% to $5.6 billion, with comparable store sales increasing a strong 7%. Our merchants delivered a compelling assortment of brand name values, which led to broad-based growth across all major merchandise categories. Those assortments, coupled with our new marketing campaigns drove excitement, higher customer engagement and increased store traffic. We had an excellent back-to-school selling season with strong trends that continued through the balance of the quarter.

正如今天的新聞稿所述，我們對第三季的銷售業績非常滿意，該季度比上一季有所成長。該期間總銷售額成長 10% 至 56 億美元，同店銷售額強勁成長 7%。我們的商家提供了極具吸引力的品牌商品組合，從而帶動了所有主要商品類別的全面成長。這些產品組合，再加上我們新的行銷活動，激發了顧客的熱情，提高了顧客的參與度，並增加了門店客流量。我們的返校季銷售業績非常出色，強勁的銷售趨勢一直延續到本季剩餘時間。

Additionally, the stores and supply chain organizations executed extremely well to support the elevated sales and inventory flow. The strength in topline, coupled with our continued focus on expense control, resulted in an operating margin of 11.6% that was much stronger than expected.

此外，門市和供應鏈組織也表現出色，為提升的銷售額和庫存週轉提供了強有力的支援。營收成長強勁，加上我們持續專注於成本控制，使得營業利潤率達到 11.6%，遠超預期。

Earnings per share for the 13 weeks ended November 1, 2025, were $1.58 on net income of $512 million. Included in this year's third quarter earnings is an approximate $0.05 per share negative impact from tariff-related costs. These results compared to $1.48 per share on net earnings of $489 million in the prior year period. For the first nine months, earnings per share were $4.61 on net earnings of $1.5 billion compared to $4.53 per share on net income of $1.5 billion for the same period last year. Included in year-to-date 2025 earnings are an approximate $0.16 per share negative impact from tariff-related costs.

截至 2025 年 11 月 1 日的 13 週內，每股收益為 1.58 美元，淨收入為 5.12 億美元。今年第三季財報中包含了關稅相關成本帶來的每股約 0.05 美元的負面影響。相比之下，去年同期每股收益為 1.48 美元，淨收益為 4.89 億美元。前九個月，每股收益為 4.61 美元，淨利潤為 15 億美元，而去年同期每股收益為 4.53 美元，淨利潤為 15 億美元。2025 年迄今的收益中包含了關稅相關成本帶來的每股約 0.16 美元的負面影響。

Sales for the year-to-date period grew to $16.1 billion with comparable store sales up 3% over last year. For the third quarter at Ross, Cosmetics, Shoes and Ladies were the strongest merchandise areas. By geography, we saw broad-based strength with the Southeast and the Midwest performing the best. dd's DISCOUNTS strong value and fashion offerings continue to resonate with its shoppers and delivered comp gains relatively similar to Ross for the period. At quarter end, total consolidated inventories were up 9% versus last year and average store inventories were up 15% as we advanced the inventory build for the holiday season into the tail end of October.

今年迄今的銷售額成長至 161 億美元，同店銷售額比去年增長 3%。在羅斯百貨第三季度，化妝品、鞋類和女裝是銷售業績最好的商品類別。從地理上看，整體表現強勁，其中東南部和中西部地區表現最佳。 dd's DISCOUNTS 憑藉其物美價廉的商品和時尚的產品繼續受到消費者的青睞，同期同店銷售額增長與 Ross 基本持平。截至季末，合併總庫存較去年同期成長 9%，平均門市庫存成長 15%，因為我們將假日季的庫存累積提前到了 10 月底。

Packaway merchandise represented 36% of total inventories compared to 38% last year. We feel very good about the health and levels of our inventory and are well positioned to deliver a broad assortment of values this holiday selling season.

易打包商品佔總庫存的 36%，而去年這一比例為 38%。我們對庫存的健康狀況和水準感到非常滿意，並已做好充分準備，在這個假日銷售季提供種類繁多的超值商品。

During the third quarter, we opened 36 new Ross and four dd's DISCOUNTS stores. Similar to our summer opening group, we are pleased with the performance of our fall openings, particularly the results in the new markets, including the New York Metro Area. The openings in the third quarter completed our expansion program for 2025. For the year, we added a total of 90 locations comprised of 80 Ross and 10 dd's. We plan to close and/or relocate 10 locations in the fourth quarter and expect to end the year with 1,903 Ross stores and 360 dd's locations.

第三季度，我們新開了 36 家 Ross 門市和 4 家 dd's DISCOUNTS 折扣店。與夏季開幕團隊類似，我們對秋季開幕團隊的表現感到滿意，尤其是在新市場（包括紐約都會區）的表現。第三季的開幕標誌著我們2025年的擴張計劃圓滿完成。今年，我們新增了 90 個地點，其中包括 80 家 Ross 門市和 10 家 dd's 門市。我們計劃在第四季度關閉和/或搬遷 10 個地點，預計到年底將擁有 1,903 家 Ross 門市和 360 家 dd's 門市。

At this point, I would like to provide an update on our branded strategy, which has now been fully embedded in our merchandising approach for more than a year. Over this period of time, the merchants have been laser-focused on delivering high-quality branded bargains at compelling values. They've been able to deliver an assortment that spans good, better and best brands to ensure that we are providing exceptional values to our diverse customer base. We would attribute a portion of the sequential improvement in the business to the successful implementation of the branded strategy. This strategy has particularly helped the Ladies business, which further accelerated this quarter and comped above the chain average.

在此，我想就我們的品牌策略提供最新進展，該策略已全面融入我們的商品銷售方法一年多了。在此期間，商家一直專注於以極具吸引力的價格提供高品質的品牌商品。他們能夠提供涵蓋好、更好和最好的品牌的各種產品，以確保我們為多元化的客戶群提供卓越的價值。我們認為，公司業績的持續成長部分歸功於品牌策略的成功實施。這項策略尤其有助於女裝業務的發展，該業務在本季進一步加速成長，並高於連鎖店的平均水準。

Additionally, the increased emphasis on brands has further strengthened our vendor partnerships and increased closeout opportunities. These efforts not only drove higher sales, but also helped us partially offset tariff impacts, resulting in better-than-expected merchandise margins for the third quarter. While tariff uncertainties persist, we are encouraged by the exceptional product availability in the marketplace. This has enabled us to secure opportunistic buys that position us favorably for the holiday season. As a result, we now expect tariff-related costs in the fourth quarter to be negligible.

此外，對品牌的日益重視進一步加強了我們與供應商的合作關係，並增加了清倉甩賣的機會。這些努力不僅推動了更高的銷售額，而且還幫助我們部分抵消了關稅的影響，從而使第三季的商品利潤率高於預期。儘管關稅方面的不確定性依然存在，但市場上極佳的產品供應情況令我們感到鼓舞。這使我們能夠抓住機會進行收購，從而在假期季節佔據有利地位。因此，我們現在預計第四季與關稅相關的成本將微乎其微。

From a pricing perspective, it is clear the consumer is prioritizing value and our updated assortment is driving stronger customer engagement. While pricing has increased across the retail environment, our commitment to delivering value remains unchanged. We will continue to maintain a strong value proposition relative to traditional retailers while working to mitigate the impact on our merchandise margin. Bill will now provide further details on our third quarter results and fourth quarter guidance.

從定價角度來看，很明顯消費者優先考慮的是性價比，而我們更新的產品系列正在推動更強大的客戶參與度。儘管零售環境整體價格上漲，但我們對提供價值的承諾始終不變。我們將繼續保持相對於傳統零售商的強大價值主張，同時努力減輕對商品利潤率的影響。比爾接下來將詳細介紹我們第三季的業績和第四季的業績預期。

Thank you, Jim. As previously stated, comparable store sales rose 7% in the quarter. The gain was a result of both higher transactions and a larger average basket size. Operating margin decreased by 35 basis points to 11.6%, mainly due to the impact of tariffs. Cost of goods sold increased by 35 basis points in the quarter. Distribution costs were higher by 60 basis points, primarily due to the opening of a new distribution center earlier this year and tariff-related processing costs. Merchandise margin deleveraged by 10 basis points, while buying expenses were flat compared to the prior year. Partially offsetting the higher costs in the quarter were lower domestic freight and occupancy costs of 25 and 10 basis points, respectively. SG&A costs were flat year-over-year despite the headwinds from CEO transition costs. During the quarter, we repurchased 1.7 million shares of common stock for an aggregate cost of $262 million. We remain on track to buy back a total of $1.05 billion in shares this year. Now let's discuss our fourth quarter guidance. We're encouraged by our business momentum as we enter the critical holiday season. As a result, for the 13 weeks ending January 31, 2026, we are raising our comparable store sales forecast to be up 3% to 4% with earnings per share in the range of $1.77 to $1.85. This updated guidance range reflects approximately $0.03 earnings per share of unfavorable timing of packaway-related expenses that benefited the third quarter.

謝謝你，吉姆。如前所述，本季同店銷售額成長了7%。交易量增加和平均客單價上漲共同導致了這一增長。營業利益率下降 35 個基點至 11.6%，主要原因是關稅的影響。本季銷售成本上升了35個基點。分銷成本上漲了 60 個基點，主要是由於今年稍早開設了一個新的分銷中心以及與關稅相關的處理成本。商品毛利率下降了 10 個基點，而採購費用與前一年持平。本季成本上升的部分原因是國內貨運成本和佔用成本分別下降了 25 個基點和 10 個基點。儘管受到執行長過渡成本等不利因素的影響，銷售、一般及行政費用仍與前一年持平。本季度，我們以總成本 2.62 億美元回購了 170 萬股普通股。我們仍有望在今年回購總計 10.5 億美元的股票。現在我們來討論一下第四季業績預期。隨著關鍵假日季的到來，我們的業務發展勢頭令人鼓舞。因此，對於截至2026年1月31日的13週，我們將同店銷售額預期上調至成長3%至4%，每股盈餘預期在1.77美元至1.85美元之間。此次更新後的預期範圍反映了與包裝相關的費用在第三季因時間安排不利而導致的每股收益約0.03美元的損失。

Based on our year-to-date results and updated fourth quarter forecast, we are increasing our earnings per share guidance for fiscal 2025 to be in the range of $6.38 to $6.46. As for tariffs, we now forecast the fourth quarter impact to be negligible, leading to a full year cost of approximately $0.16 per share. These estimates are based on the current level of tariffs. In addition, and as a reminder, 2024 fourth quarter and full year earnings per share of $1.79 and $6.32, respectively, included a benefit of approximately $0.14 in earnings per share related to the sale of a packaway facility. The operating statement assumptions that support our fourth quarter guidance include the following: Total sales are projected to increase 6% to 8%. We expect operating margin to be in the range of 11.5% to 11.8% compared to 12.4% last year. The year-over-year change primarily reflects last year's benefit from the sale of a packaway facility that was worth about 105 basis points. Net interest income is estimated to be about $30 million. Our tax rate is expected to be approximately 24% and weighted average diluted shares outstanding are projected to be about 322 million. Now I'll turn the call back to Jim for closing comments.

根據我們年初至今的業績和更新後的第四季預測，我們將2025財年的每股盈餘預期上調至6.38美元至6.46美元之間。至於關稅，我們現在預測其對第四季的影響可以忽略不計，全年成本約為每股0.16美元。這些估算是基於當前的關稅水準。此外，提醒一下，2024 年第四季和全年每股收益分別為 1.79 美元和 6.32 美元，其中包括與出售包裝設施相關的約 0.14 美元的每股盈餘。支持我們第四季業績指引的經營報表假設包括：預計總銷售額將成長 6% 至 8%。我們預計營業利潤率將在 11.5% 至 11.8% 之間，而去年為 12.4%。與去年同期相比，這項變更主要反映了去年出售一家包裝廠所帶來的收益，價值約 105 個基點。淨利息收入預計約3000萬美元。我們的稅率預計約為 24%，加權平均稀釋後流通股預計約為 3.22 億股。現在我把電話轉回給吉姆，請他做總結發言。

Thank you, Bill. To sum up, we are pleased with our third quarter results and encouraged by our sales momentum. With a strong merchandising plan and a terrific product assortment in place, we are optimistic about our prospects for the fourth quarter. Additionally, the store and supply chain teams are well positioned for the holiday season, and our marketing campaigns have continued to build excitement. We believe that this multifaceted approach will help us continue our positive momentum and enable us to capture additional market share.

謝謝你，比爾。總而言之，我們對第三季的業績感到滿意，並對銷售動能感到鼓舞。憑藉強大的商品銷售計劃和豐富的產品組合，我們對第四季度的前景充滿信心。此外，門市和供應鏈團隊已為假日季節做好充分準備，我們的行銷活動也持續營造節慶氣氛。我們相信，這種多管齊下的方法將有助於我們保持積極的發展勢頭，並使我們能夠獲得更多的市場份額。

Finally, I would like to thank the entire organization for their hard work and solid execution, which enabled us to deliver a strong third quarter performance. Despite the ongoing challenges and uncertainty in the macro environment, we remain focused on our core strategies and executed well as a cohesive team across the entire company.

最後，我要感謝整個組織的辛勤工作和紮實執行，正是他們的努力才使我們能夠取得強勁的第三季業績。儘管宏觀環境持續面臨挑戰和不確定性，但我們仍然專注於核心策略，並作為一個團結的團隊在整個公司範圍內出色地執行了這些策略。

At this point, we would like to open the call and respond to any questions you might have. John?

現在，我們想開啟通話，回答大家可能提出的任何問題。約翰？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Matthew Boss, JPMorgan.

馬修‧博斯，摩根大通。

Thanks and congrats on a really great print.

謝謝，恭喜你印出這麼棒的作品。

Thank you, Matt.

謝謝你，馬特。

So Jim, could you help break down the inflection in same store sales or the 500 basis point sequential acceleration that you saw? How much would you attribute to company-specific initiatives as we think about marketing or the early stages of store experience relative to the macro backdrop? And could you just elaborate on the strong momentum that you cited in November that supported the fourth quarter raise?

吉姆，你能幫忙分析同店銷售額的轉折點，或是你觀察到的 500 個基點的環比加速成長嗎？在考慮行銷或門市體驗的早期階段時，相對於宏觀背景，您認為公司特有的舉措應該佔多大比重？您能否詳細說明您在 11 月提到的支撐第四季度業績成長的強勁勢頭？

Sure. It was a really nice sequential improvement and I think in the prepared remarks, we used the word broad-based.

當然。這是一個非常好的循序漸進的改進，我想在準備好的演講稿中，我們使用了「基礎廣泛」這個詞。

So the merchandise categories—every single merchandise category in the third quarter, every single major merchandise category anyway—was positive or nicely positive. We had some businesses in the second quarter that were somewhat underperforming and they've really caught up, and we've seen some really great improvement in most categories across the business.

所以商品類別——第三季每一個商品類別，每個主要商品類別——都是正成長或相當正面的。第二季我們有一些業務表現欠佳，但現在它們已經迎頭趕上，我們看到公司大部分業務類別都取得了非常顯著的進步。

We also had broad-based strength across the country in terms of our geographic regions, including regions that you would otherwise think would be under pressure.

從地理區域來看，我們在全國範圍內也擁有廣泛的實力，包括一些你可能認為會面臨壓力的地區。

So broad-based strength across the business. How much of it is internal versus external? It's hard to say, and we acknowledge that there probably have been some tailwinds out there. Some people are calling out that weather may have been a help.

因此，公司擁有廣泛的實力。其中有多少是內部因素，又有多少是外在因素？很難說，我們也承認可能存在一些順風因素。有人認為天氣可能起到了幫助作用。

Last year we called out that weather was a hindrance to our business a little bit, but then in terms of headwinds, there's a whole bunch of other macro uncertainties that have probably left consumers a little bit uneasy in their shopping.

去年我們曾指出天氣對我們的業務造成了一定阻礙，但就不利因素而言，還有許多其他宏觀不確定因素，這些因素可能讓消費者在購物時感到有些不安。

So I give a lot of credit to the team. The product team leads the charge. The assortments look fantastic. They've navigated through tariffs and very strategically have maneuvered AURs. The marketing team has done a very nice job. The stores team has stepped up. Really the whole company.

所以，我非常讚賞團隊的努力。產品團隊率先行動。這些商品種類看起來棒極了。他們巧妙地規避了關稅問題，並且非常有策略地處理了AUR問題。行銷團隊做得非常出色。門市團隊已經全力以赴。實際上是整個公司。

So it's -- I'm sure there might be something in the macro backdrop that's a tailwind to us, but I also give some credit to the team for just executing extremely well.

所以——我確信宏觀背景中可能有一些對我們有利的因素，但我也要讚揚團隊的出色執行力。

Corey Tarlowe, Jefferies.

科里·塔洛，傑富瑞。

Great. Thanks and good afternoon. Congrats on the strong results. Jim, I just wanted to hone in on this element of change. And you've come into the business, and we were comping flat to start the year, and we've really substantially accelerated. And I wanted to get a flavor for what, in your view, are the major drivers of this improvement in the momentum? And then what do you think is perhaps the stickiest of all of these changes that is going to propel the business on a multi-year trajectory for continued growth and improvement in outperformance?

偉大的。謝謝，下午好。恭喜你們取得優異成績。吉姆，我只是想專注於這種變化因素。你加入公司後，我們年初的業績基本上持平，但之後業績大幅成長。我想了解一下，在你看來，推動這股勢頭改善的主要因素是什麼？那麼，您認為在所有這些變化中，哪一項最能推動企業在未來幾年內持續成長並取得優異業績？

Sure. Happy to have a shot at that. First, I'd start with, I absolutely inherited a strong company that was being managed extremely well. So the company has been growing for years before I showed up. The first quarter was a bit of an anomaly, right?

當然。我很樂意嘗試一下。首先，我要說的是，我接手的是一家實力雄厚、管理非常優秀的公司。所以在我加入之前，公司已經發展多年了。第一季的情況有點反常，對吧？

We had a lot of macro headwinds that pushed the business to a flat after a challenging latter part of January and a very challenging February, which we called out last year.

去年我們曾預言，在經歷了充滿挑戰的 1 月下旬和 2 月之後，宏觀經濟面臨許多不利因素，導致業務陷入停滯。

In terms of some of the things that have changed, it's not very different than my remarks on some of the first couple of investor calls. The merchandising team is extremely sophisticated and some of the best merchants in the world work for Ross, and that strength continues to propel the business forward. If I’ve added anything to the business is to sort of raise or amplify the voices of the marketing group and the stores team, so we can drive more traffic from a marketing standpoint. And when they get to the stores, they can enjoy a slightly better or hopefully much better in-store shopping environment. And the overarching strategy is quite simple, which is just to get merchandising, marketing and stores, perhaps add supply chain to that mix, operating in unison.

至於一些已經改變的事情，這與我在最初幾次投資者電話會議上的發言並沒有太大不同。羅斯百貨的商品銷售團隊非常專業，世界上一些最優秀的商品銷售人員都在這裡工作，這種實力不斷推動公司向前發展。如果說我對公司有什麼貢獻的話，那就是提高了行銷團隊和門市團隊的聲音，這樣我們就可以從行銷的角度吸引更多客流。當他們到達商店時，他們可以享受稍微好一些，或者希望好得多的店內購物環境。整體策略非常簡單，就是讓商品銷售、行銷和門市，或許還可以加上供應鏈，協同運作。

So we're all kind of pushing the business forward for more growth.

所以我們都在努力推動業務向前發展，以實現更大的成長。

Understood. And then just as a follow-up, the new marketing campaigns have clearly resonated. What is it in your view that you think has materially helped to accelerate the amplification of all of these improvements that you've made in the business, particularly from a branded perspective, that's really working from a marketing standpoint and that's helping to amplify the message even more and resonate with consumers.

明白了。隨後，新的行銷活動顯然取得了迴響。您認為，在業務方面，尤其是在品牌方面，有哪些因素實質地加速了所有這些改進的推廣，從行銷角度來看，這些改進確實有效，並有助於進一步擴大訊息傳播範圍，引起消費者的共鳴？

Sure, sure. Coming in as an outsider, there are some disadvantages. I wasn't an off-price person, and I'm not a true merchant. But perhaps if there was one advantage, it was a set of fresh eyes. So, from a marketing standpoint, we absolutely want to remain rooted in great branded values.

當然，當然。作為外來者，會面臨一些劣勢。我不是那種喜歡打折商品的人，也不是真正的商人。但或許，如果有什麼優勢的話，那就是它帶來了一雙全新的眼睛。因此，從行銷的角度來看，我們絕對希望繼續秉持優秀的品牌價值。

But the challenge that I gave to the marketing team and to the new agency was how do we create cut-through in a -- with a refreshed marketing message. So we've really contemporized how we go to market in terms of a creative standpoint. We've tweaked the merchandise mix a bit. Notably, we haven't increased marketing expense, at least as a percentage of sales. But I think sort of this refreshed view of how you can look at the store and reach out to customers in a slightly different way and perhaps reach out to younger customers in a more aggressive way.

但我向行銷團隊和新代理商提出的挑戰是，我們如何透過全新的行銷訊息脫穎而出。所以，從創意角度來看，我們已經真正實現了市場進入方式的現代化。我們對商品組合做了一些調整。值得注意的是，我們並沒有增加行銷費用，至少沒有增加行銷費用佔銷售額的比例。但我認為，這種對商店的全新視角，以及與顧客接觸的方式，可以稍微不同，或許還可以以更積極的方式接觸年輕顧客。

It seems to be taking root. We are encouraged by it. We're excited by it. We've seen some hard metrics improve, and we've seen some qualitative factors improve nicely. And I certainly don't want to dampen anybody's enthusiasm because it's fantastic to see.

它似乎正在生根發芽。我們深受鼓舞。我們對此感到興奮。我們看到一些硬性指標有所改善，一些定性因素也有了顯著改善。我當然不想澆熄大家的熱情，因為這真的太棒了。

But let's just remember that it's only been a few months now, right? We've got a very busy holiday season to get through. And then we'll see what becomes sticky in your mind. Coming back to that part of your question, I think probably the stickiest thing ultimately will be the power of the Ross brand and just what that means for customers and the promise that it delivers to shoppers. And it's had a great legacy up to this point.

但我們別忘了，這才過了幾個月而已，對吧？我們即將迎來一個非常繁忙的假期。然後我們看看什麼會一直留在你的腦海裡。回到你問題的這一部分，我認為最終最棘手的問題可能是羅斯品牌的實力，以及這對顧客意味著什麼，以及它給購物者帶來的承諾。而且到目前為止，它已經取得了輝煌的成就。

And if I had any impact on it, it's how can we modernize it slightly, so we continue to resonate with all customers, particularly younger customers.

如果說我能對它產生什麼影響的話，那就是我們如何才能稍微現代化一下，以便我們能夠繼續引起所有顧客的共鳴，尤其是年輕顧客的共鳴。

It's a great color. Thanks so much and best of luck.

這個顏色真好看。非常感謝，祝你好運。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Mark Altschwager, Baird.

馬克·阿爾特施瓦格，貝爾德。

Thank you for taking my question. You're expecting tariff costs now to be negligible in Q4, which is great to hear. I was hoping you could update us on the mitigation efforts. What's working, what's giving you the comfort with your ability to fully offset? And with that, hoping you could speak specifically to the AUR trend you're seeing and also how we should interpret that Q4 guide as we think about the wraparound effects of tariffs for early 2026.

感謝您回答我的問題。您預計第四季的關稅成本將微乎其微，這真是個好消息。我希望您能向我們介紹一下緩解措施的進展。哪些方法有效？哪些方法讓你能夠完全抵銷損失，讓你感到安心？因此，希望您能具體談談您觀察到的 AUR 趨勢，以及在考慮 2026 年初關稅的後續影響時，我們應該如何解讀第四季度的指導意見。

Hi Mark, it's Michael Hartshorn. Similar to what happened in the second quarter, as you saw in our commentary, the tariff-related costs came in lower than we expected. And our merchant teams have done a tremendous job balancing cost concessions with modest market-driven price increases where we can maintain our value gap against other retailers. In addition, they were able to take advantage, given the closeout availability, take advantage of closeouts in the marketplace and chase above-plan sales. As we expected, as we imagine the year when we had additional lead time from the initial tariff announcements and had open to buy to fill, our merchant teams have been able to mitigate the impact of tariffs, tariffs as we progress through the year.

嗨，馬克，我是麥可哈特肖恩。正如您在我們的評論中看到的，與第二季度的情況類似，關稅相關成本低於我們的預期。我們的採購團隊在成本讓步和適度的市場價格上漲之間取得了巨大的平衡，從而能夠保持我們與其他零售商之間的價值差距。此外，他們還能夠利用清倉甩賣的機會，在市場上進行清倉促銷，從而實現超出計劃的銷售目標。正如我們所預期的，正如我們所設想的那樣，由於最初的關稅公告給我們帶來了額外的提前期，並且我們有採購空間來滿足需求，我們的採購團隊已經能夠減輕關稅的影響，隨著我們在這一年中的推進，關稅的影響也會逐漸減輕。

In addition, with some tariff stability, we've been able to normalize ticketing activities in our distribution centers.

此外，隨著關稅趨於穩定，我們已能夠使配送中心的出票活動恢復正常。

For going forward, it's too early to speak for 2026, but barring any meaningful changes in the tariff policy, we would expect pricing stability, which would eliminate the need for our merchants to make pricing decisions against a moving target.

至於未來，現在談論 2026 年還為時過早，但除非關稅政策發生任何實質性變化，否則我們預計價格將保持穩定，這將使我們的商家無需根據不斷變化的目標做出定價決策。

Thank you. And then a quick follow-up on the comp acceleration. I believe you said consistency or you said strength across regions, but I'm wondering if there's any call out by demographic or income cohort.

謝謝。然後快速跟進一下合成加速的問題。我相信您提到了一致性或跨地區實力，但我想知道是否有按人口統計特徵或收入群體劃分的任何具體情況。

Sure. And just to follow up on your question on AUR. So the comp components for the quarter, traffic, UPT and AUR all increased and transactions were the biggest of those. In terms of demographic performance, we called out in previous quarter our Hispanic stores during the quarter at both Ross and dd's stores that have what I'd say is high trade area Hispanic population saw an improvement that was similar to the chain from quarter-to-quarter and ended up posting solid comps despite trailing the chain slightly.

當然。關於您提出的 AUR 問題，我再補充一下。因此，本季的各項構成要素，包括流量、UPT 和 AUR 都出現了成長，其中交易量成長最為顯著。就人口統計表現而言，我們在上個季度特別提到了我們的西班牙裔門市。在羅斯百貨和 dd's 門市，我認為這些門市所在的商圈西班牙裔人口比例較高，這些門市的業績在一個季度內與連鎖店的業績表現相似，最終實現了穩健的同店銷售額，儘管略低於連鎖店的平均水平。

Other callouts, we did mention in the call, Southeast and the Midwest were our top-performing markets. In terms of bigger markets, California, Florida and Texas were all relatively in line with the chain. Thank you.

我們在電話會議中也提到，東南部和中西部是我們表現最好的市場。就較大的市場而言，加州、佛羅裡達州和德克薩斯州都與連鎖店的情況相對一致。謝謝。

Chuck Grom, Gordon Haskett.

查克·格羅姆，戈登·哈斯克特。

Hey, thanks, good afternoon. On the marketing change, can we double-click on that a little bit? And do you think you're driving new or lapsed customers? Do you think you're increasing engagement with existing customers? Where do you still see opportunity on that front?

嘿，謝謝，下午好。關於行銷方式的改變，我們能再深入探討嗎？你認為你是在吸引新客戶還是老客戶？您認為您正在提高現有客戶的參與度嗎？你認為這方面還有哪些機會？

It's hard to tease out the components of the traffic. We do believe we're gaining some new customers and reengaging with lapsed customers. If you go through the analytics provided by Meta platform and you go through TikTok, I think it's safe to say we have improved our engagement. In terms of where we are in terms of our evolution from a marketing and branding standpoint, it's very, very early, right? We hired an agency in the beginning of the year.

很難將交通流量的各個組成部分區分開來。我們相信我們正在獲得一些新客戶，並重新吸引那些流失的客戶。如果你查看 Meta 平台提供的分析數據，再看看 TikTok，我認為可以肯定地說，我們的用戶互動度已經有所提高。從行銷和品牌推廣的角度來看，我們目前的發展階段還非常非常早期，對吧？年初的時候我們聘請了一家代理公司。

Their first output was in the July time frame. We've just released a couple of new spots for holiday that then translate across all the digital platforms as well. So very early innings. And Deepa and the marketing team have done an unbelievable job. But there's just even more in front of us, I think, for us to continue to learn and react to that and continue to deliver some great messaging.

他們的第一份成果是在7月發布的。我們剛剛發布了幾支新的假日廣告，這些廣告也會在所有數位平台上播放。比賽才剛開始。Deepa和她的行銷團隊做得非常出色。但我認為，我們面前還有更多需要學習和應對的內容，我們需要繼續傳遞一些優秀的訊息。

That's great. And just as a follow-up, you noted that as a percentage of sales, you didn't increase the spend, but it's well known that you spend far less in dollars and as a percentage of sales relative to your largest peer. When you look ahead, do you think you need to grow that? Or do you think you continue to just reinvest and redeploy those dollars?

那太棒了。另外，您提到，按銷售額百分比計算，您的支出沒有增加，但眾所周知，與最大的競爭對手相比，您的支出金額和占銷售額的百分比都少得多。展望未來，你認為你需要發展這方面的能力嗎？還是你認為你應該繼續將這些資金再投資和重新部署？

It's a good question. Right now, we're going to maintain our percent of sales where it is. We have a financial and operating model that I want to kind of work within. Clearly, if we can spur on more business and drive more customers and drive more sales even at the same rate, we'll get some more marketing dollars. So it's too early to say we'll invest any more in it.

這是個好問題。目前，我們將維持目前的銷售佔比。我們有一套財務和營運模式，我希望能夠在這種模式下工作。顯然，如果我們能夠以相同的速度刺激更多業務、吸引更多客戶並提高銷售額，我們就能獲得更多的行銷資金。所以現在說我們會追加投資還太早。

And right now, the amount we're spending seems to be paying dividends. So stay tuned for that. But there's no immediate plans for an increased spend there.

而現在看來，我們投入的資金似乎正在產生回報。敬請期待。但目前還沒有增加這方面支出的計畫。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

Lorraine Hutchinson, Bank of America.

洛琳‧哈欽森，美國銀行。

Thank you. Good afternoon. Jim, you called out the branded strategy as a key driver of the comp acceleration. Can you talk about how this benefit has built over time and how much more opportunity you see going forward?

謝謝。午安.吉姆，你曾指出品牌策略是薪酬加速成長的關鍵驅動因素。您能否談談這項優勢是如何隨著時間推移而累積起來的，以及您認為未來還有多少發展機會？

Sure. Absolutely. And if you want to go through the timeline, in the fourth quarter last year, we had a decent quarter, and we called out the branded strategy touches everything, but it's probably most impactful to Ladies. So if we just look at the Ladies business and how it's sequentially changed over the last few quarters, last year, fourth quarter was pretty strong, but Ladies was a drag on the comp. Then in Q1 and in Q2, the Ladies business was slightly better, but still flattish and a slight drag on the comp in Q1.

當然。絕對地。如果要回顧一下時間線，去年第四季我們表現不錯，我們指出品牌策略影響方方面面，但對女性的影響可能最大。所以，如果我們只看女裝業務以及它在過去幾季中的連續變化，去年第四季表現相當強勁，但女裝業務拖累了同店銷售額。然後，在第一季和第二季度，女裝業務略有好轉，但仍然平淡無奇，並且在第一季對同業比較略有拖累。

In Q2, it started to show some improvement. It was kind of in line with the company, maybe slightly comp enhancing. And in this most recent quarter, the entire business got better, substantially better. And the Ladies business was actually comp enhancing. So if we posted a plus 7%, you can intuit that the Ladies business was better than a plus 7%.

第二季開始出現一些改善。這和公司的做法有點一致，可能略微提升了競爭力。而就在最近這個季度，整個業務狀況都得到了顯著改善。而女性業務其實正在提升競爭力。所以如果我們公佈了 7% 的成長，你可以直觀地看出，女裝業務比 7% 的成長要好。

And how much more opportunity do you see -- yes, how much more opportunity going forward do you see in this Ladies business from the branded strategy?

那麼，您認為品牌策略在女裝事業上還有多少發展機會？是的，您認為未來還有多少發展機會？

A fair amount, I think. I mean we -- as you know, we've been investing in that over four or five quarters. It had a drag on our merchandise margin that we thought would be an investment in the business. And that investment seems to be paying off now. I think with one very solid quarter under our belt, I'd like to think that for the next three quarters until we at least anniversary that, we'll see some outsized growth.

我覺得相當可觀。我的意思是，正如你所知，我們已經在這方面投資了四到五個季度。它拖累了我們的商品利潤率，而我們原本認為這會是對業務的投資。現在看來，這項投資正在獲得回報。我認為，經過一個非常穩健的季度，我們預計在接下來的三個季度（至少到我們迎來該季度週年紀念日之前）實現超常增長。

And then, of course, that team has really started to build excitement, some great leadership there. And I think after -- even after we anniversary this quarter, I think they'll find some opportunities for more comp improvement. There's not a lack of ideas for innovation in that part of the business.

當然，那支球隊也確實開始展現出令人興奮的勢頭，隊裡也湧現了一些優秀的領導者。而且我認為，即使在我們本季週年紀念日之後，他們也會找到一些機會來進一步提高薪資待遇。該業務領域並不缺乏創新想法。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Paul Lejuez, Citibank.

Paul Lejuez，花旗銀行。

Hey, thanks. Jim, sorry if I missed it. Did you say anything about the monthly cadence? Curious if you could share anything on that front, Home versus Apparel and specifically, not just performance, Home versus Apparel, but AURs in each of those categories? And then is there any quantification of how your customer base has changed? Like within that Ladies business, can you isolate that you are getting a customer of a certain age that you did not previously have? Is there any quantification to that?

嘿，謝謝。吉姆，如果我錯過了，請見諒。你有沒有提到每月的發行頻率？我很想知道您能否分享一下這方面的信息，例如家居用品與服裝的對比，特別是不僅僅是性能方面的對比，還有每個類別的平均用戶訪問量（AUR）？那麼，你們的客戶群發生了哪些變化，你們是否有任何量化數據來衡量？例如在女士用品行業，你能否確定你獲得了以前沒有的特定年齡層的顧客？這方面有量化指標嗎？

I'll just start on a couple of those, Paul. During the quarter, we had a very strong back-to-school and held the trend throughout the quarter. So throughout the trends were fairly consistent, and that was true for both Ross and dd's.

保羅，我先從其中幾個開始吧。本季度，我們的返校季銷售非常強勁，整個季度都保持了這一趨勢。因此，整體趨勢相當一致，Ross 和 dd 的情況都是如此。

On the AUR, I said in a previous commentary that it was driven by increases in traffic, UPT and AUR with the traffic or transactions for us, the biggest of those. Traffic and the basket were very similar. In terms of overall category performance, we mentioned Children's and Men's were relatively in line with the chain. Cosmetics, Shoes and Ladies were best performers. Home was slightly below the chain average.

關於 AUR，我在之前的評論中說過，它是由流量、UPT 和 AUR 的成長所驅動的，其中流量或交易量對我們來說是最大的。交通流量和購物籃非常相似。就整體品類表現而言，我們提到童裝和男裝與連鎖店的整體表現相對一致。化妝品、鞋類和女裝類產品表現最佳。房屋價格略低於該連鎖店的平均水平。

You also asked about shifts in business. The things we measure against usually, you see bigger trends over time. We certainly talked about demographics and the Hispanic customer. In terms of household income, the -- not only were the sales very broad-based across geographies and merchandise categories, they're also very broad-based across trade area income levels, and we did not see any significant shifts there.

您也問到了業務轉型方面的問題。我們通常用來衡量的指標，隨著時間的推移，你會看到更大的趨勢。我們當然談到了人口統計和西班牙裔顧客。就家庭收入而言，不僅銷售額在地理和商品類別上分佈非常廣泛，而且在貿易區收入水平上也分佈非常廣泛，我們沒有看到任何重大變化。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Alex Straton, Morgan Stanley.

Alex Straton，摩根士丹利。

Thanks so much. Congrats on a great quarter.

非常感謝。恭喜你本季表現出色。

Maybe just on, maybe for you, Jim, on the upgrading the store experience. I think you highlighted that as an opportunity when you first started. Did any changes there play a role in the comp acceleration and maybe how do you gauge effectiveness of those strategies and what are your priorities on that front as you think about, four Q and into next year?

或許，也許對你來說，吉姆，就是關於提升門市體驗。我認為你一開始就把這看作是一個機會。哪些變化對薪酬加速起了作用？您如何衡量這些策略的有效性？在考慮第四季及明年時，您在這方面的優先事項是什麼？

I can take that. We're addressing the store experience on a couple of different factors. First, we have begun refreshing -- we expect to refresh all stores in the chain, which we believe will provide a more modern look and feel for the customer. This includes new perimeter signing, wayfinding signage along with addressing cosmetic type repairs. We're halfway through the chain there. And though it's very early, the customer feedback has been good.

我可以接受。我們從幾個不同的方面著手改善門市體驗。首先，我們已經開始進行翻新——我們計劃翻新連鎖店的所有門市，我們相信這將為顧客帶來更現代化的外觀和感受。這包括新的周邊標誌、導向標誌以及進行外觀修繕。我們已經完成了一半的流程。雖然現在還處於早期階段，但客戶回饋良好。

The other focus areas within the store is, you can imagine, improving line lengths and throughput through the front end of the store and also improving our recovery throughout the day. And we're finding places to get efficiencies within the store and then reinvest it in those focus areas. In terms of immediate impact in the quarter, I think it's very early days. And if anything, we'd expect to build momentum over time.

您可以想像，店內其他重點領域是改善收銀台的排隊長度和提高收銀效率，以及改善全天的商品回收。我們正在尋找提高店內效率的方法，然後將節省的資金重新投入這些重點領域。就本季的直接影響而言，我認為現在下結論還為時過早。而且，我們預計隨著時間的推移，發展勢頭會越來越強勁。

Great. Thank you. Good luck.

偉大的。謝謝。祝你好運。

Brooke Roach, Goldman Sachs.

Brooke Roach，高盛集團。

Good afternoon and thank you for taking our question. Jim, I wanted to get your thoughts on Ross's approach to value gaps into holiday and 2026 as market prices move up. How much of the AUR growth in the third quarter was driven by price actions versus mix? And are there any categories where you've taken action on pricing where you're starting to see any signs of consumer elasticity?

下午好，感謝您回答我們的問題。吉姆，我想聽聽你對羅斯提出的關於假期和 2026 年市場價格上漲帶來的價值差距的看法。第三季平均使用率 (AUR) 的成長有多少是由價格因素驅動，又有多少是由產品組合因素驅動？在您採取價格調整措施的某些類別中，是否開始出現消費者價格彈性跡象？

Sure. Happy to take it. In terms of the first part of your question, our strategy is, I think, a pretty typical off-price strategy of keeping an umbrella under traditional retailers in terms of pricing. We tend to be very intensely focused on the values that we provide, which is one of the reasons why we were a little bit slower to make any changes to AUR because we really wanted to underscore the customer that we were going to be delivering values, including during a tariff environment. And holding true to that, and we've called out tariff impacts in the last couple of quarters, although they're going away for the fourth quarter, but holding true to that sort of promise perhaps has helped us pull in some new customers or bring back lapsed customers.

當然。樂意接受。關於你問題的第一部分，我認為我們的策略是一種非常典型的折扣策略，即在定價方面對傳統零售商採取保護措施。我們往往非常注重我們提供的價值，這也是我們遲遲沒有對 AUR 進行任何更改的原因之一，因為我們真的想向客戶強調，我們將提供價值，即使在關稅環境下也是如此。我們一直信守承諾，雖然在過去幾季中，關稅的影響已經顯現，但第四季關稅的影響將會消失。正是這種信守承諾的做法，幫助我們吸引了一些新客戶，或是重新贏得了流失的客戶。

So we're excited about that. I think Michael talked about in terms of transactions, AUR and UPT, transactions was still the biggest driver of the comp. As we look at the fourth quarter, we have been pretty much bought up for the fourth quarter for a while. So I wouldn't expect any significant changes in our strategy from a pricing standpoint for the fourth quarter. I think it was encouraging that we were able to have a modest increase in our AUR and not see degradation in units per transaction. That was up a little bit and also continue to see transactions. So hopefully, that's answered the question. I mean it's been a very difficult thing to navigate for the last several months looking at the change in tariffs and the changes in the retail environment and trying to find exactly the right set of prices for every single category. Have we made mistakes within that? Probably. And it's -- what ultimately falls out of that is a business that is -- may start turning slightly slower, so you may mark it down and then you move through it. But on balance, we haven't had any significant footfalls that have created massively increased markdowns or slowdown in our turms.

我們對此感到很興奮。我認為當麥可談到交易量、AUR 和 UPT 時，交易量仍然是薪酬的最大驅動因素。展望第四季度，我們已經為第四季度做好了充分的準備。因此，我預計第四季度我們的定價策略不會有任何重大變化。我認為令人鼓舞的是，我們的平均交易量 (AUR) 能夠小幅增長，而且每筆交易的單位數量也沒有下降。交易量略有上升，而且還在持續成長。希望這能解答你的疑問。我的意思是，過去幾個月來，由於關稅變化和零售環境的變化，要為每個類別找到合適的定價方案，這真的非常困難。我們在這方面有犯過錯嗎？大概。最終導致的情況是，業務可能會開始略微放緩，所以你可能會降低它的估值，然後繼續前進。但總的來說，我們還沒有遇到任何顯著的客流量激增，導致商品大幅降價或交易速度放緩。

Thanks so much. Best of luck going forward.

非常感謝。祝你未來一切順利。

Michael Binetti, Evercore ISI.

邁克爾·比內蒂，Evercore ISI。

Hey guys, thanks for taking our questions here. Congrats on a nice quarter. Jim, I guess as you look at marketing and some of the store refreshes and the state of the fleet today, as you look at some of the initial successes and the topline impact here, how do you think about what to invest in and accelerate those things that are working to keep the topline going versus how you think about flowing through some of the earnings on these initiatives to investors next year? I think just at the highest level, maybe some thinking on the trade-offs between pushing sales harder now you've got some things that are very obviously working and then flow-through versus investment next year. And then separately, you've spoken a little bit about a strong pipeline of dd's stores in the past. How are the Ross banner stores in the Northeast area doing? And do you see an opportunity to accelerate store growth at both chains at Ross in addition to dd's?

各位好，感謝你們回答我們的問題。恭喜你本季業績出色。吉姆，我想當你審視行銷、一些門市翻新以及目前的車隊狀況，審視一些初步的成功以及這些成功對營收的影響時，你會如何考慮應該投資哪些方面，加快那些正在發揮作用以保持營收成長的項目，以及你會如何考慮明年將這些舉措的部分收益分配給投資者？我認為，從最高層面來看，或許應該考慮一下，既然現在有些事情顯然奏效了，那麼應該加大力度推動銷售，並利用這些成果來促進銷售，還是應該在明年進行投資。另外，您之前也曾單獨談到 dd 門市的強大發展潛力。東北地區的羅斯百貨連鎖店經營狀況如何？您是否認為除了 dd's 之外，Ross 和 dd's 這兩家連鎖店都有機會加速門市成長？

Sure. Maybe I'll take the first one, and Michael will take the second piece of that in terms of store growth.

當然。或許我會拿下第一塊，而麥可會拿下第二塊，也就是門市成長的那一塊。

On the invest versus flow-through, yes, I'm not even here a year, and I was very cautious when I first got here to “listen, learn and lead”, right? I really wanted to learn a new business, a much bigger business and the off-price sector, et cetera. And while I had some hypotheses for change as did the team, we -- I really wanted to be respectful of the financial model and the operating model that has been successful for the company for so long. So while we've made some changes over the last couple of quarters and perhaps we're seeing fruits of that -- of those changes now, I'd like to let some more time go before we come out and say, we're going to overinvest betting on the come for future results.

關於投資與流轉，是的，我來這裡還不到一年，我剛來的時候非常謹慎，想“傾聽、學習和領導”，對吧？我真的很想學習新的生意，一個規模更大的生意，像是折扣零售業等等。雖然我和團隊都對變革有一些設想，但我們——我真的想尊重公司長期以來行之有效的財務模式和營運模式。所以，雖然我們在過去幾季做出了一些改變，而且現在可能也看到了這些改變的成果，但我希望再過一段時間，再宣布我們將過度投資，押注未來的業績。

So anything we've done so far has been, again, within the expense structure, within the financial model the company has, and we haven't spent anything in an outsized way from a marketing perspective or really from a stores perspective outside of the sort of the capital plan that was here when I got here.

所以到目前為止，我們所做的一切都在公司的費用結構和財務模型之內，而且從行銷角度或門市角度來看，除了我剛來這裡時制定的資本計劃之外，我們並沒有進行任何超支。

Three months from now, six months from now, if we continue to see positive ROI, to your point, we may then get more aggressive and say, look, if we can break the model slightly from a financial standpoint, will we deliver higher comps and additional earnings? Perhaps. But right now, I think we're all kind of committed to the operating model that's worked for the company for decades.

三個月後、六個月後，如果我們繼續看到正的投資回報率，正如您所說，我們可能會更加積極主動，並說，看，如果我們能從財務角度稍微打破一下這個模式，我們能否帶來更高的同店銷售額和額外的收入？也許。但就目前而言，我認為我們都致力於沿用公司幾十年來行之有效的營運模式。

Michael, on real estate, first on this year's store openings. As we said in the commentary, we opened 80 Ross and 10 dd's. As an entire group, the new stores have outperformed our plan, and we're very excited, although it's very early with the success in both the Northeast and the New York stores and also in our Puerto Rico stores that opened over the summer.

邁克爾，房地產方面，首先是今年新店開幕的情況。正如我們在評論中所說，我們開了 80 家 Ross 和 10 家 dd。作為一個整體，新店的業績已經超過了我們的計劃，我們感到非常興奮，儘管現在下結論還為時過早，但無論是東北部門店、紐約門店還是夏季在波多黎各開業的門店都取得了成功。

So, as I said, what we've seen thus far, we're really optimistic about the Northeast expansion. We feel good about the real estate landscape. We have a very healthy pipeline. We've said before that we're going to reaccelerate the dd's growth. In terms of the combined groups, we'll have more to say when we get to the end of the year in our 2026 guidance.

所以，正如我所說，就我們目前所看到的，我們對東北地區的擴張前景非常樂觀。我們對目前的房地產市場情況感到樂觀。我們的產品線非常健康。我們之前說過，我們將重新加速 dd 的成長。至於合併後的各集團，我們將在年底發布 2026 年業績展望時再做更多說明。

All right guys, congrats again, best of luck to the holiday.

好了各位，再次祝賀你們，祝你們假期愉快。

Boruchow, Wells Fargo.

博魯喬夫，富國銀行。

Hey everyone. Jim, I figured I would ask about self-checkout. I think it's something you've talked about in the past as a driver. Where -- how many stores is that rolled out to? How meaningful can that be maybe over the next 12 months? And just kind of how are you thinking about ROI on that investment?

大家好。吉姆，我想問自助結帳的情況。我想你以前作為車手也談過這個問題。這項服務在哪些門市推出？具體涵蓋多少家店？在接下來的12個月裡，這究竟能有多大意義？那麼，您是如何考慮這項投資的報酬率的呢？

Sure, Ike. It's in 80 stores today, and it's taken us a while to get to this point. We tried a couple of different models, and it's taken us a while to get the shrink aspect of self-checkout correct. We now have a prototype that's worked well for us over the last year, and we're not only seeing lower shrink, but we're seeing higher -- high customer adoption.

當然，艾克。目前這款產品已在 80 家門市銷售，我們花了很長時間才達到這個目標。我們嘗試了幾種不同的模式，花了好長時間才把自助結帳的損耗控制方面做好。我們現在有了一個原型，在過去一年裡它運作良好，我們不僅看到了更低的損耗，而且看到了更高的客戶接受度。

We're seeing sales impacts in the stores that we put it in, and we'll be rolling it out to further stores next year. How big it will be depends on kind of the next phase of rollout, but where it works best for us is in our high-volume stores. So we'll continue to roll it out. We'll have more to say on how many of those stores in the '26 preview.

我們已經看到，在我們推出這項服務的門市中，銷售額受到了影響，明年我們將把這項服務推廣到更多門市。規模大小取決於下一階段的推廣方式，但對我們來說，效果最好的地方是客流量大的門市。所以我們會繼續推廣這項服務。關於這些門市的數量，我們將在 2026 年的預覽中再做更多說明。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

Adrienne Yih, Barclays.

艾德琳伊，巴克萊銀行。

Great, thank you. Good afternoon. Congratulations on the great acceleration into holiday. First question on dd's. Did you see any -- I mean, was it pattern very similarly to the Ross Dress for Less stores? Or did you see any pressure, particularly in the early part of November with the delay of the SNAP benefit. So has that rebounded?

太好了，謝謝。午安.恭喜你假期開局順利。關於dd的第一個問題。你有沒有看到——我的意思是，它的款式和Ross Dress for Less商店的款式非常相似？或者，您是否感受到任何壓力，尤其是在 11 月初 SNAP 福利延遲發放期間？那麼現在情況有所反彈了嗎？

And then secondly, you mentioned that the results fully offset all of the tariff, the gross tariff amount. So should we assume that, that obviously is the case for the fourth quarter, but that kind of the biggest impact because of your turns being so fast, that the biggest impact would have been felt in 2025 and we enter '26 in a pretty normal way state in terms of tariffs or there's probably a little bit of overhang in Q1? Thank you.

其次，您提到這些結果完全抵消了所有關稅，即關稅總額。所以我們應該假設，顯然第四季度的情況就是這樣，但由於你們的周轉速度非常快，最大的影響應該在 2025 年顯現，而我們在 2026 年進入關稅階段時情況相當正常，或者第一季度可能會有一些滯後效應？謝謝。

Adrienne, on the dd's, dd's was very similar to Ross. The business was very consistent across the quarter. So there's nothing that I would call out there.

Adrienne，關於dd's，dd's和Ross非常相似。整個季度業務表現非常穩定。所以，我沒有什麼要特別指出的。

In terms of tariffs, we did say there continued to be an impact in Q3, but it will be neutral in Q4 as we've been able to chase the business with closeouts, we've been able to work with vendors on cost concessions. And I would expect it to be somewhat neutral. It is neutral in Q4 and expect it to be neutral as we move into '26.

關於關稅，我們確實說過第三季關稅繼續產生影響，但第四季將保持中性，因為我們能夠透過清倉甩賣來推動業務，並且能夠與供應商協商成本讓步。我預計結果會比較中立。第四季走勢中性，預計進入 2026 年後也將保持中性。

Okay. And then my quick follow-up is just going to be, there are very few companies that are exiting the third quarter with overall sales growing faster than inventory on an average basis or even at the end of the quarter. Obviously, you've built some inventory up. The availability is fantastic. Is this just sort of do you feel -- I'm going to ask a question because I know the answer to.

好的。然後我的補充是，很少有公司能在第三季結束時，平均而言，甚至在季度末，實現整體銷售額成長速度超過庫存成長速度。顯然，你已經累積了一些庫存。貨源非常充足。是不是有點像「你覺得──我要問一個問題，因為我知道答案」？

I mean, clearly, you can chase that inventory. But I guess as you think about kind of like heading into spring, what are you seeing in terms of kind of being a little bit more maybe disciplined or judicious about taking some of that packaway? Any changes to strategy as we head into spring when we think that broader retail will raise prices across the board?

我的意思是，很明顯，你可以去追逐那些庫存。但我想，當你考慮到即將進入春季時，你覺得在打包行李方面，大家會更加自律或謹慎嗎？隨著春季臨近，我們預計零售業整體價格將會上漲，因此策略上會有任何調整嗎？

On the ending inventory, as we said in the commentary, we did end up 15% on the last day of the quarter. Actually, during the quarter, inventory was in line with sales, which similar to prior years, holiday shopping and promotions are well underway ahead of Thanksgiving holiday and in anticipation of those shifts, we set the sales floor for the holiday as we -- at the end of October, which is earlier than last year and also advanced some of the inventory into the store.

關於期末庫存，正如我們在評論中所說，我們在季度末最後一天確實增加了 15%。事實上，本季庫存與銷售額相符，與往年類似，假日購物和促銷活動在感恩節假期前就已全面展開，為了應對這些變化，我們在 10 月底就佈置好了假日銷售場地，比去年更早，並且提前將部分庫存運入商店。

Okay, perfect. Thanks, best of luck. Great quarter.

好的，完美。謝謝，祝你好運。很棒的季度。

Dana Telsey, Telsey Advisory Group.

Dana Telsey，Telsey顧問集團。

Hi, good afternoon, everyone. Congratulations on the terrific results. As you take a look at your customer, particularly an assessment of the lower income customers, are you seeing anything -- are you seeing a trade down to the core Ross? What are you seeing in dd's? And is there any difference in performance of the lower income stores in lower income areas versus others?

大家好，下午好。祝賀你們取得如此優異的成績。當你觀察你的客戶，特別是對低收入客戶進行評估時，你是否發現了什麼——你是否發現交易正在轉移到核心客戶群？你從女兒身上看到了什麼？低收入地區的低收入商店與其他地區的商店相比，業績是否有差異？

And then just lastly, with the expansion into the New York area or the Northeast, as you think about your store expansion plans for next year, will a greater portion of those stores be in the Northeast? And how do you see opening costs? And is there -- is the opportunity for greater sales from those stores in more dense areas, leveraging the cost given it may be a higher cost structure? Thank you.

最後，隨著業務拓展到紐約地區或東北地區，當您考慮明年的門市擴張計畫時，東北地區是否會有更大比例的店家落腳於此？您如何看待開業成本？那麼，在人口較密集的地區開設門市，是否有可能透過利用成本優勢（考慮到成本結構可能較高）來獲得更高的銷售額？謝謝。

Dana, on the trade-down customer, it's really hard to peel apart in the data. We do measure the trade area demographics around the stores and the 7% comp was very broad-based across all income levels. So we didn't see any distinction between the lower, higher income customers.

Dana，對於降級消費的客戶，很難從數據中理清頭緒。我們會對商店周圍的商圈人口統計數據進行測量，7% 的同店銷售額增長在所有收入水平上都非常普遍。因此，我們沒有發現低收入客戶和高收入客戶之間有任何差異。

In terms of entry into the Northeast, today, about 70% of our store openings are in what I call existing markets and 30% in newer markets, which would now include the Northeast and Puerto Rico. Over the last couple of years, it's included the upper Midwest. I'd expect that pace to continue, and we'll gradually continue to add in New York over time into Puerto Rico and continue to expand those markets.

就進入東北地區而言，目前我們約 70% 的門市開設在我所謂的現有市場，30% 的門市開設在較新的市場，這些較新的市場現在包括東北地區和波多黎各。近兩年來，它還涵蓋了美國中西部北部地區。我預期這種速度會持續下去，我們將逐步把業務拓展到紐約、波多黎各，並繼續擴大這些市場。

We don't think our return on opening a new store will decline as we enter the Northeast. As you say, it's more dense population should drive higher sales to support the additional investment and higher cost in some of the store base there.

我們認為，隨著我們進入東北地區，開設新店的回報率不會下降。正如你所說，人口密度更高應該會帶動銷售額成長，以支撐部分門市的額外投資和更高成本。

Got it. And then just one more thing, Jim, in terms of what you're seeing with the store refreshes, the brand enhancements that you're making in brand in general, other categories besides women's where you're seeing this opportunity for? And when you think about the store refreshes, anything that is particularly notable that you see as the opportunity for next year? Thank you.

知道了。吉姆，還有一件事，關於你看到的店鋪翻新、品牌整體提升，以及除了女裝以外的其他品類，你認為這些領域有哪些機會？當您考慮店鋪翻新時，有沒有什麼特別值得注意的地方，您認為這是明年可以抓住的機會？謝謝。

Well, we certainly have some ideas about next year, and we don't want to sort of necessarily divulge those just yet. In terms of categories that have improved, we've seen sequential improvement across a number of different businesses. Perhaps the one to call out is the Home business was a drag in Q2 and was nicely positive in Q3. And we feel well positioned in that piece of the business as we go into the fourth quarter when it spikes as a percent of sales.

嗯，我們對明年確實有一些想法，但我們現在還不想透露這些想法。就取得進步的類別而言，我們看到許多不同業務領域都出現了持續的進步。或許值得一提的是，家居業務在第二季表現疲軟，但在第三季出現了不錯的成長。隨著第四季度該業務佔銷售額的比例飆升，我們感覺我們在這個業務領域處於有利地位。

So I think that's maybe another category that we can talk about some of the wins that merchandise team has pulled together. And yes, I'm glad to hear the enthusiasm on store refreshes and the stores, I think, are looking a bit better. I would come back to some of my earlier comments that it's still very early innings in some of these changes. So maybe that just is good news in terms of the best is yet to come.

所以我覺得這或許是我們可以討論的另一個類別，來談談商品團隊的一些成功。是的，我很高興聽到大家對門市翻新的熱情，而且我認為門市看起來確實好了一些。我想重申我之前的一些觀點，即這些變革目前還處於非常早期的階段。所以，或許這反而是個好消息，因為最好的還在後頭。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

John Kernan, TD Cowen.

約翰·克南，TD Cowen。

All right. Congrats on the great quarter, guys. Just wanted to circle back to gross margin. The merch margin was down slightly. You're now lapping a lot of the initiatives in the branded segment.

好的。恭喜各位，本季業績優異！我只是想再談談毛利率。商品利潤率略有下降。你現在在品牌領域已經領先很多競爭對手了。

I'm just curious what you think the opportunities for merch margin are going forward. You are comfortably above the levels you were at pre-COVID as a benchmark. I'm just curious what you see as long-term drivers. And I just have a quick follow-up on distribution costs.

我只是好奇你認為未來週邊商品利潤空間會有哪些發展機會。作為基準，您目前的水平已遠高於新冠疫情前的水平。我只是好奇你認為哪些因素會成為長期的驅動因素。我還有一個關於分銷成本的後續問題。

I mean, like you said, merch margin although it declined, it was a little better than we expected as we had less ticketing and some stronger shrink results helped there. Moving forward, it's an area of continued focus. And certainly, we would like it to get better. But I think currently, we'd expect it to be relatively stable over time.

我的意思是，就像你說的，雖然商品利潤率有所下降，但比我們預期的要好一些，因為售票數量減少了，而且一些損耗情況有所改善。展望未來，這將是我們持續關注的領域。當然，我們希望情況能好轉。但我認為目前來看，我們預計它會在一段時間內保持相對穩定。

I think there is -- we talked about we're 1.5 years into the brand strategy. I think there's going to continue to be opportunity to gain some leverage as we move through time as we've built the branded relationships with the vendors, gives us opportunity for closeouts. So I think there's still some opportunity there.

我認為確實如此——我們討論過，我們的品牌策略已經實施了1.5年。我認為隨著時間的推移，我們將繼續有機會獲得一些優勢，因為我們與供應商建立了品牌關係，這為我們提供了清倉甩賣的機會。所以我認為這方面仍然存在一些機會。

Within gross margin, the transportation cost will be a year-to-year kind of market-based discussion. But I think there's ongoing improvement capture in merchandise margins.

在毛利率方面，運輸成本將是一個每年根據市場狀況進行討論的問題。但我認為商品利潤率會持續提高。

Obviously, the new DC seems to give you a lot of capacity. Just curious on distribution deleverage. Is that something that continues into next year? It looks like it picked up in Q2 this year, and I'm assuming it continues a little bit in the fourth quarter.

顯然，新的資料中心似乎能提供很大的容量。只是對分銷去槓桿化有點好奇。這種情況會持續到明年嗎？看起來今年第二季有所好轉，我估計第四季還會繼續保持這個勢頭。

Yes. In Q3, that deleverage, like we've talked about a bit before, the full impact of the opening of a new distribution center and also some tariff-related processing costs. As we move forward, we'd expect that pressure from the new DC continued, but that pre-ticketing pressure we've seen before related to tariffs should improve a bit. So we'd expect just a slight headwind in Q4.

是的。第三季度，正如我們之前討論過的，去槓桿化帶來了新配送中心開幕的全面影響，以及一些與關稅相關的處理成本。隨著情況的發展，我們預計來自新DC的壓力會繼續存在，但我們之前看到的與關稅相關的售票前壓力應該會有所改善。因此，我們預計第四季度只會遇到輕微的不利因素。

And as we grow capacity, we look beyond this year, we'll be able to continue to lever that new capacity until we open our next distribution center, which is two to three years away.

隨著產能的成長，展望今年之後，我們將能夠繼續利用新增產能，直到我們開設下一個配送中心，這還需要兩到三年時間。

That's great. Thanks.

那太棒了。謝謝。

Aneesha Sherman, Bernstein.

阿妮莎·謝爾曼，伯恩斯坦。

I want to follow up on the brand strategy. As you've discussed it in the past, you've talked about not changing the good, better, best mix, but rather increasing the availability of branded goods versus unbranded and label. As you're now attracting new customers and growing AUR and basket size, are you rethinking that and potentially considering adding more higher-end brands to expand the mix on the higher side? And then a follow-up on Home. Jim, you talked about Home getting better this quarter, though it was still weaker than the chain for two quarters in a row. Have you pulled back on the assortment at all in response to that weakness? And are there any implications there in terms of holiday and gifting and home decor assortment going into the holiday period? Thank you.

我想跟進一下品牌策略。正如你過去所討論過的，你談到的不是改變好、更好、最好的組合，而是增加品牌商品相對於無品牌和貼牌商品的供應量。既然您現在正在吸引新客戶，提高平均單價和客單價，您是否正在重新考慮，並有可能考慮增加更多高端品牌，以擴大高端產品組合？然後是關於「家」的後續報道。吉姆，你提到 Home 在本季度有所好轉，儘管它仍然連續兩個季度弱於連鎖店。針對這項弱點，您是否對產品種類進行了調整？那麼，這對即將到來的節日、送禮和家居裝飾的選擇有什麼影響嗎？謝謝。

Of course. On the Home piece, absolutely not. We feel that the Home business is really building momentum and the team there has just created tremendous sequential improvement. As we get into the fourth quarter, the categories change a bit, right? We -- Toys increases quite a bit, Food increases, et cetera.

當然。至於家居用品，絕對不行。我們認為家居業務正在穩步發展，團隊也取得了巨大的持續進步。進入第四季度後，分類方式會略有變化，對吧？我們——玩具大幅增加，食品增加等等。

So those businesses kind of have nothing to do with the incoming trend line, and we feel extremely well positioned from a Gifting standpoint and from a Toy standpoint. In terms of branded versus unbranded, a couple of points, I guess, I would say is we've -- over the last several years, right, the reason the brand strategy was put in place and certainly predated me was there was a notion that the company had migrated away a little bit too much from known brands chasing higher margin or higher markup kind of tertiary players, and we needed to right that ship. That doesn't always mean higher-end brands, though, right? There are some really great brands at all price points within the store -- and we have a very diverse customer base in every definition of that term. So we want to have the best branded values for a good, better or best pricing tier.

所以這些業務與即將到來的趨勢線幾乎沒有任何關係，從禮品和玩具的角度來看，我們感覺自己處於非常有利的地位。就品牌與非品牌而言，我想說幾點：過去幾年，我們之所以製定品牌策略，而這項策略的實施時間肯定早於我，是因為當時有一種觀點認為，公司已經過度偏離了知名品牌，轉而追求利潤率更高或加價更高的三級競爭對手，我們需要糾正這種局面。但這並不總是意味著高端品牌，對吧？店內各個價位都有許多非常棒的品牌——而且我們的顧客群非常多元化，從這個概念的各個定義來看都是如此。所以我們希望為優質、更優或最優的價格層級提供最佳的品牌價值。

Is there some opportunity to stretch higher? Perhaps. The merchants are always out there looking for the next new brand. It's always a small celebration within the buying office when we've opened a new brand and we've gotten access to new closeouts, et cetera. And over time, perhaps that will be -- that will include reaching up a little bit.

還有機會向上攀登嗎？也許。商家總是四處尋找下一個新品牌。每當我們推出一個新品牌，並獲得新的清倉商品等資源時，採購部門都會小小地慶祝一番。隨著時間的推移，也許會是這樣——這其中也包括向上攀登一點。

But I would say it's across the board.

但我認為這種情況普遍存在。

That's helpful. Thank you.

那很有幫助。謝謝。

Marni Shapiro, Retail Tracker.

Marni Shapiro，零售追蹤器。

Hey guys, congratulations on a great quarter and congratulations on the New York store. I hear it is the place to be. I'm just curious on the marketing. It's what I'm hearing. It's what people said.

嘿，夥計們，恭喜你們本季業績出色，也恭喜紐約門市開幕。我聽說那裡是熱門去處。我只是對行銷方面比較好奇。我聽到的也是這樣。這是人們的說法。

So I'm so curious on the marketing side as you kind of dive a little bit more into marketing, two things. Will you, at some point, consider a loyalty program? And how -- what would that look like if you thought about it? And are you doing even some of the more basic stuff like e-mail or phone number capture so that you can more directly talk to your consumers?

所以，我對行銷方面非常好奇，當你更深入了解行銷時，有兩件事。您是否會在某個時候考慮推出會員積分計劃？那麼，如果你仔細想想，那會是什麼樣子呢？你們是否也做了一些更基本的事情，例如收集電子郵件地址或電話號碼，以便更直接與消費者溝通？

So I'm not sure about the loyalty program. On the e-mail and text, we do have a pretty decent e-mail database in existence today, a few million active e-mail addresses -- and while we don't constantly update that number to the Street, we saw a really nice increase in active e-mails over the last quarter. So that was great. We don't have an active text program at the moment. But who knows?

所以我不太了解這個會員計畫。在電子郵件和簡訊方面，我們目前擁有一個相當不錯的電子郵件資料庫，包含數百萬個活躍的電子郵件地址——雖然我們不會不斷向華爾街更新這個數字，但我們看到上個季度活躍電子郵件的數量確實有了顯著增長。那真是太好了。我們目前沒有活躍的簡訊服務項目。誰知道呢？

We're -- the first order of business from a marketing standpoint was to experiment with some slightly different messaging and maybe a slightly more contemporary aesthetic. And over time, we might try some of these other ideas. Yes, the Brooklyn store has been just a great addition to the portfolio. I'm glad it's the place to be seen. We've seen a lot of interesting people come in recently, and we're constantly kind of spying on it with our CCTV. So we kind of know everybody that goes in and out. But everybody, competitors, everybody. So that store has been a really nice arrow in the quiver. And who knows what it bodes for future stores there. I mean that particular location is pretty unique, very high traffic. There are other stores that we've seen open up in that area in the New York Metro Area that have had very strong openings, perhaps that would probably be the outlier one, the one in Brooklyn that you're talking about.

從行銷的角度來看，我們的首要任務是嘗試一些略有不同的宣傳訊息和略微更現代的美學風格。隨著時間的推移，我們或許可以嘗試其他一些想法。是的，布魯克林門市的開幕無疑為我們的業務組合增添了一大亮點。我很高興這裡是人們爭相亮相的地方。最近我們看到很多有趣的人來來往往，我們一直在用閉路電視監控他們。所以我們基本上認識所有進出的人。但所有競爭對手，所有所有人。所以那家店真是幫了我一個大忙。誰知道這會對那裡的未來商店帶來什麼影響。我的意思是，那個地方位置很特殊，人流非常大。我們在紐約都會區也看到其他一些商店開業，而且開業情況非常火爆，也許你提到的布魯克林那家店是個例外。

Yes, all right. Great, thanks guys. Best of luck for the holiday. Have a nice thanksgiving holiday.

好的。太好了，謝謝各位。祝您假期愉快。祝你感恩節假期愉快。

Jay Sole, UBS.

Jay Sole，瑞銀集團。

Great, thank you so much for taking my question. Jim, my question is about the guidance because you're guiding to 3% to 4% comp. And if I look back ex the post-COVID period, the company hasn't guided above the 2% to 3% in at least 10 years. I'm just wondering what this signals. I mean, are you taking a different approach to guiding now being CEO? Or is it just that the quarter-to-date trends you're seeing are so good that you just felt like 2% to 3% just wasn't even relevant and you had to guide to 3% to 4%, because sometimes the thought is that the guide as much as internal signals and external signal, sort of a signal to sort of plan conservatively and then just be prepared to chase, keep a lot of open liquidity if opportunities materialize in the quarter.

太好了，非常感謝您回答我的問題。吉姆，我的問題是關於指導意見的，因為你給的指導是薪資成長3%到4%。回顧新冠疫情後的時期，該公司至少在過去 10 年裡，業績預期從未超過 2% 至 3%。我只是想知道這顯示了什麼。我的意思是，你現在身為CEO，在指導方面是否採取了不同的方法？或者，是因為你看到的季度至今的趨勢非常好，所以你覺得 2% 到 3% 的預期根本不重要，所以你必須給出 3% 到 4% 的預期？因為有時候人們會認為，這個預期和內部訊號、外部訊號一樣，都是在提醒我們制定一個保守的計劃，然後做好準備去追逐機會，如果本季出現機會，就保持充足的流動資金。

So just kind of wondering how you're thinking about guiding and why you decided to go to 3% to 4% instead of just sticking to the same old 2% to 3%.

所以，我只是有點好奇你對指導的看法，以及你為什麼決定從原來的 2% 到 3% 提高到 4%。

Jay, it's Michael Hartshorn. It's probably less tricky than you think. It is our internal plan. So currently coming off a 7% comp, that's how the underlying business is planned. And we always try to align the internal latest forecast with the plan. So there's no change in methodology. It is really how we're planning the business for the fourth quarter based on the momentum in Q3.

傑伊，我是麥可哈特肖恩。這可能比你想像的還要容易。這是我們的內部計劃。目前，公司業績以 7% 的基準成長率計算，這就是公司目前的業務規劃。我們始終努力使內部最新預測與計劃保持一致。所以方法論上沒有任何改變。這其實是我們根據第三季的發展勢頭，對第四季業務所做的規劃。

Got it. All right. Thank you so much.

知道了。好的。太感謝了。

There are no further questions at this time. And I would like to turn the floor back over to Jim Conroy for closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題了。現在，我想把發言權交還給吉姆·康羅伊，讓他做總結發言。

Very good. Well, thank you, everybody, for your interest in Ross Stores. We wish you all a very happy holiday season. Take care.

非常好。謝謝大家對羅斯百貨的關注。祝大家節日快樂！小心。

And thank you. That does conclude today's teleconference. We thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以在此時斷開線路。