Steven Madden Ltd (SHOO) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Q1 2023 Steve Madden Limited Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, today's event is being recorded.

大家早上好，歡迎參加 2023 年第一季度 Steve Madden Limited 收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的活動正在錄製中。

At this time, I'd like to turn the floor over to Danielle McCoy, VP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在，我想請企業發展和投資者關係副總裁 Danielle McCoy 發言。請繼續。

Thanks, Jamie, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our first quarter 2023 earnings call and webcast.

謝謝，傑米，大家早上好。感謝您加入我們的 2023 年第一季度財報電話會議和網絡廣播。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that our remarks that follow, including answers to your questions, contain statements that we believe to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks that could cause actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks include, among others, matters that we have described in our press release issued earlier today and filings we make with the SEC. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, which may not be updated until our next quarterly earnings conference call, if at all.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，我們接下來的評論，包括對您問題的回答，包含我們認為是《私人證券訴訟改革法》含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述存在可能導致實際結果與此類前瞻性陳述明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異的風險。這些風險包括我們在今天早些時候發布的新聞稿和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中描述的事項。我們不承擔任何更新這些前瞻性陳述的義務，這些陳述可能要到我們下一次季度收益電話會議才會更新（如果有的話）。

The financial results discussed on today's call are on an adjusted basis, unless otherwise noted. A reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure and other associated disclosures are contained in our earnings release.

除非另有說明，否則今天電話會議上討論的財務結果是經過調整的。我們的收益發布中包含與最直接可比的 GAAP 財務指標和其他相關披露的對賬。

Joining me on the call today is Ed Rosenfeld, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Zine Mazouzi, Chief Financial Officer.

今天和我一起參加電話會議的是董事長兼首席執行官 Ed Rosenfeld；和首席財務官 Zine Mazouzi。

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

有了這個，我會把電話轉給埃德。埃德？

Thanks, Danielle. And good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to review Steve Madden's first quarter 2023 results. When we spoke to you on the last earnings call, we talked about the challenging setup we faced in the first quarter, including a choppy retail environment as consumers were pulling back on discretionary spending, conservative order patterns from our wholesale customers as they were prioritizing inventory control, and extremely tough comparisons with the prior year as we were lapping a quarter where revenue was up 35% and diluted EPS was up 121% to pre-COVID 2019.

謝謝，丹妮爾。各位早上好，感謝您加入我們回顧 Steve Madden 的 2023 年第一季度業績。當我們在上次財報電話會議上與您交談時，我們談到了我們在第一季度面臨的挑戰，包括零售環境動盪不安，因為消費者正在減少可自由支配的支出，批發客戶的保守訂單模式，因為他們優先考慮庫存控制，並且與上一年進行了極其艱難的比較，因為我們在一個季度中收入增長了 35%，稀釋後的每股收益比 2019 年 COVID 之前增長了 121%。

In light of the difficult backdrop, we were pleased to deliver Q1 revenue and earnings slightly ahead of expectations. We also significantly reduced our inventory levels, while driving strong gross margin performance despite the promotional retail landscape, demonstrating the benefits of our business model, including our industry-leading inventory turns, in challenging operating environments.

鑑於艱難的背景，我們很高興第一季度的收入和收益略高於預期。我們還大幅降低了庫存水平，同時在促銷零售環境下推動了強勁的毛利率表現，展示了我們的商業模式的優勢，包括我們行業領先的庫存周轉率，在充滿挑戰的運營環境中。

As we move forward, we remain focused on executing our strategic initiatives. Most importantly, we are leaning into our proven model, which combines our talented design teams led by Steve test and react strategy and speed to market capability to create trend-right products and bring them to market quickly. This agile model enables us to run lean on inventory and chase goods in season when needed, a critical advantage in periods of economic uncertainty and when wholesale customers are cautious about placing significant orders upfront.

在我們前進的過程中，我們仍然專注於執行我們的戰略舉措。最重要的是，我們正在依靠我們經過驗證的模型，該模型結合了我們由 Steve 領導的才華橫溢的設計團隊測試和反應戰略以及快速上市能力，以創造符合趨勢的產品並將它們快速推向市場。這種靈活的模式使我們能夠依靠庫存運行並在需要時趕貨，這在經濟不確定時期以及批發客戶對提前下大訂單持謹慎態度時是一個關鍵優勢。

We also continue to support our brands and products with targeted marketing investment in order to drive closer connections with our consumers and increased brand relevance across the globe. These remain our foundational initiatives and the enablers of our 4 key long-term business drivers: driving our direct-to-consumer business led by digital, expanding in categories outside of footwear like handbags and apparel, growing in international markets and strengthening our core U.S. wholesale footwear business.

我們還繼續通過有針對性的營銷投資來支持我們的品牌和產品，以拉近與消費者的聯繫並提高品牌在全球的相關性。這些仍然是我們的基本舉措，也是我們 4 個關鍵長期業務驅動力的推動因素：推動我們以數字為主導的直接面向消費者的業務，擴展手袋和服裝等鞋類以外的類別，在國際市場上增長，並加強我們的核心美國市場。鞋類批發業務。

So turning to our performance by business in Q1. In wholesale, revenue was under pressure due to the combination of conservative initial spring orders from our wholesale customers and very tough comparisons with the prior year. In the first quarter of 2022, we had our largest ever quarter in wholesale shipping, with revenue up 29% versus pre-COVID 2019.

所以轉向我們在第一季度的業務表現。在批發方面，由於我們的批發客戶保守的初始春季訂單以及與上一年的非常艱難的比較相結合，收入面臨壓力。 2022 年第一季度，我們迎來了有史以來最大的批發航運季度，與 2019 年 COVID 之前相比，收入增長了 29%。

Against that record performance, this year's first quarter wholesale revenue declined 19%. On the positive side, we did see a number of wholesale customers pull forward orders on key items and trends from the second quarter into March, which enabled us to come in ahead of our expectations for wholesale revenue for Q1.

與創紀錄的業績相比，今年第一季度的批發收入下降了 19%。從積極的方面來看，我們確實看到一些批發客戶將關鍵項目和趨勢的訂單從第二季度提前到 3 月，這使我們能夠超過我們對第一季度批發收入的預期。

Our direct-to-consumer business, on the other hand, came in below expectations for the quarter. Consistent with what's been reported by others in the industry, we saw sales trends decelerate in the latter part of the quarter, particularly in March. DTC revenue was down 8% in Q1. And so far in Q2, we have seen a similar year-over-year decline.

另一方面，我們的直接面向消費者的業務在本季度低於預期。與業內其他人的報告一致，我們看到銷售趨勢在本季度後半段放緩，尤其是在 3 月份。第一季度 DTC 收入下降了 8%。到目前為止，在第二季度，我們看到了類似的同比下降。

Across both wholesale and DTC, our international business was a bright spot. International revenue increased 13% in the quarter and accounted for over 18% of consolidated revenue for the third consecutive quarter.

在批發和 DTC 方面，我們的國際業務是一個亮點。本季度國際收入增長 13%，連續第三個季度佔綜合收入的 18% 以上。

Looking ahead, we expect the operating environment to remain turbulent in the near-term. That said, we have a proven ability to navigate difficult market conditions and a track record of taking share during challenging economic periods. And looking out further, we remain as confident as ever that by leveraging our core strengths, our people, brands and business model, and executing on our strategy, we can drive growth and create significant value for our stakeholders over the long term.

展望未來，我們預計短期內經營環境仍將動盪。也就是說，我們有能力應對困難的市場條件，並在充滿挑戰的經濟時期取得份額。展望未來，我們一如既往地相信，通過利用我們的核心優勢、我們的員工、品牌和商業模式，並執行我們的戰略，我們可以推動增長並為我們的利益相關者創造長期的重要價值。

Now, I will turn it over to Zine to review our first quarter financial results in more detail and provide our outlook for 2023.

現在，我將把它交給 Zine 來更詳細地回顧我們第一季度的財務業績，並提供我們對 2023 年的展望。

Thanks, Ed, and good morning, everyone. Our consolidated revenue in the first quarter was $463.8 million, a 17.1% decrease compared to 2022. Our wholesale revenue was $362.1 million, down 19.3% compared to the prior year. Wholesale footwear revenue was $282.3 million, an 18.6% decrease from 2022. The branded business declined 16%, while private label, which is primarily done in the mass channel, decreased 29%, as our large private label customers continue to work to reduce overall inventory level in our categories. Wholesale accessories and apparel revenue was $79.8 million, down 22% to last year. The branded business declined 14%.

謝謝，艾德，大家早上好。我們第一季度的綜合收入為 4.638 億美元，比 2022 年下降 17.1%。我們的批發收入為 3.621 億美元，比上年下降 19.3%。鞋類批發收入為 2.823 億美元，比 2022 年下降 18.6%。品牌業務下降 16%，而主要在大眾渠道完成的自有品牌業務下降 29%，因為我們的大型自有品牌客戶繼續努力減少整體我們類別中的庫存水平。配飾和服裝批發收入為 7980 萬美元，比去年下降 22%。品牌業務下降了 14%。

Steven Madden handbags was a bright spot with a modest year-over-year increase, driven by strong growth in international markets. As in footwear, private label was significantly softer, decreasing 39%. In our direct-to-consumer segment, revenue was $99.6 million, an 8.1% decrease compared to 2022. We experienced declines in both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce channels. We ended the quarter with 235 brick-and-mortar retail stores, including 68 outlets as well as 5 e-commerce websites and 21 company-operated concessions in international markets.

Steven Madden 手袋是一個亮點，在國際市場強勁增長的推動下，同比增長溫和。與鞋類一樣，自有品牌明顯更軟，下降了 39%。在我們直接面向消費者的細分市場，收入為 9960 萬美元，與 2022 年相比下降 8.1%。我們在實體店和電子商務渠道均出現下滑。本季度結束時，我們在國際市場上擁有 235 家實體零售店，包括 68 家門店以及 5 個電子商務網站和 21 家公司經營的特許經營店。

Turning to our licensing segment. Our licensing royalty income was $2.1 million in the quarter compared to $1.6 million last year. As we discussed previously, the company no longer operates under the buying agency model and as a result, no longer reports under the first cost segment. In last year's first quarter, we generated approximately $800,000 in revenue in the first cost segment.

轉向我們的許可部門。本季度我們的許可使用費收入為 210 萬美元，而去年為 160 萬美元。正如我們之前所討論的，該公司不再在採購代理模式下運營，因此不再在第一成本部分下報告。在去年第一季度，我們在第一成本部分產生了大約 800,000 美元的收入。

Consolidated gross margin was 42.1% in the quarter, expanding 140 basis points from the prior year. Wholesale gross margin was 37%, a 180 basis points improvement compared to last year driven by a strong increase in wholesale accessories and apparel.

本季度綜合毛利率為 42.1%，比去年同期擴大 140 個基點。由於批發配飾和服裝的強勁增長，批發毛利率為 37%，與去年相比提高了 180 個基點。

Direct to consumer gross margin was 59.2% compared to 62.3% last year driven by an increase in promotional activity. Operating expenses in the first quarter were $147.4 million or 31.8% of revenue compared to $133.5 million or 23.8% of revenue in the prior year. Looking ahead, we expect year-over-year operating expense growth for the balance of the year to moderate to roughly 3% and as a result of easing comparisons, combined with cost control initiatives.

受促銷活動增加的推動，直接面向消費者的毛利率為 59.2%，而去年為 62.3%。第一季度的運營費用為 1.474 億美元，佔收入的 31.8%，上年同期為 1.335 億美元，佔收入的 23.8%。展望未來，我們預計今年剩餘時間的營業費用同比增長將放緩至 3% 左右，這是由於比較寬鬆，加上成本控制舉措。

Operating income for the quarter totaled $47.7 million or 10.3% of revenue, down from $94.4 million or 16.9% of revenue last year. Our effective tax rate for the quarter was 24.2% compared to 22.3% in 2022. Finally, net income attributable to Steve Madden Limited for the quarter was $37.6 million or $0.50 per diluted share, down from $73.4 million or $0.92 per diluted share in 2022.

本季度營業收入總計 4770 萬美元，佔收入的 10.3%，低於去年的 9440 萬美元，佔收入的 16.9%。我們本季度的有效稅率為 24.2%，而 2022 年為 22.3%。最後，本季度歸屬於 Steve Madden Limited 的淨收入為 3760 萬美元或攤薄後每股收益 0.50 美元，低於 2022 年的 7340 萬美元或攤薄後每股收益 0.92 美元。

Moving to the balance sheet. Our financial foundation remains very strong. As of March 31, 2023, we had $223.7 million of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, and no debt. Inventory ended at $179.9 million compared to $233.4 million last year, a 22.9% decline. Our CapEx in the quarter was $3.8 million.

轉到資產負債表。我們的財務基礎仍然非常穩固。截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日，我們擁有 2.237 億美元的現金、現金等價物和短期投資，沒有債務。存貨期末為 1.799 億美元，而去年為 2.334 億美元，下降 22.9%。我們本季度的資本支出為 380 萬美元。

During the quarter, we repurchased $38.5 million of the company's common stock, which includes shares acquired through the net settlement of employee stock awards. The company's Board of Directors approved an increase of $189.9 million in the share repurchase authorization, bringing the total to $250 million. The Board also approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.21 per share. The dividend will be payable on June 23, 2023, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on June 12, 2023.

本季度，我們回購了 3850 萬美元的公司普通股，其中包括通過員工股票獎勵淨額結算獲得的股票。公司董事會批准增加 1.899 億美元的股份回購授權，使總額達到 2.5 億美元。董事會還批准了每股 0.21 美元的季度現金股息。股息將於 2023 年 6 月 23 日支付給截至 2023 年 6 月 12 日營業結束時在冊的股東。

Turning to our outlook. We are reiterating our revenue and earnings per share guidance. We continue to expect revenue for 2023 to decrease 6.5% to 8% compared to 2022 and we continue to expect diluted EPS to be in the range of $2.40 to $2.50. While our first half outlook is in line with our previous expectations overall, the pull-forward of wholesale orders into Q1 resulted in a shift of revenue and earnings from Q2 to Q1. As such, we expect Q2 revenue and EPS to be modestly below Q1 amounts.

轉向我們的前景。我們重申我們的收入和每股收益指導。我們繼續預計 2023 年的收入將比 2022 年下降 6.5% 至 8%，我們繼續預計攤薄後每股收益將在 2.40 美元至 2.50 美元之間。雖然我們上半年的展望總體上符合我們之前的預期，但批發訂單提前到第一季度導致收入和收益從第二季度轉移到第一季度。因此，我們預計第二季度收入和每股收益將略低於第一季度。

Now, I'd like to turn the call over to the operator for questions. Jamie?

現在，我想將電話轉給接線員提問。傑米？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today comes from Aubrey Tianello from BNP Paribas.

（操作員說明）我們今天的第一個問題來自法國巴黎銀行的 Aubrey Tianello。

I wanted to start on the revenue guide for 2023. I appreciate that you reiterated the overall guide. But within that, is there any change to what's embedded for wholesale and DTC revenue for 2023?

我想從 2023 年的收入指南開始。感謝您重申了總體指南。但在此範圍內，2023 年批發和 DTC 收入的嵌入內容是否有任何變化？

Yes. Yes. We have -- we've taken the DTC expectation down a little bit, and we've taken the wholesale expectation up a little bit. And that's how we've kept the consolidated guidance the same. But DTC, we're now looking to be up low to mid-singles and wholesale down low doubles.

是的。是的。我們已經 - 我們已經將 DTC 預期降低了一點，並且我們已經將批發預期提高了一點。這就是我們保持統一指南不變的方式。但是 DTC，我們現在正在尋找從低到中的單打和批發低雙打。

And then just going back to your comments on the pull-forward in wholesale in 1Q. Any more color you can provide in terms of just quantifying the size of that? And then separately, I think previously you had mentioned that 2Q was kind of the earliest you potentially could go back in the Chase mode. Just curious if you're seeing any of that play out at all so far in this quarter.

然後回到你對 1Q 批發的前瞻性評論。就量化其大小而言，您可以提供更多顏色嗎？然後分別地，我想你之前提到過 2Q 是你可能最早回到追逐模式的一種。只是想知道本季度到目前為止您是否看到其中任何一個發揮作用。

Yes. I mean so the pull-forward from Q2 to Q1, it was approximately $10 million or maybe even a little bit more of wholesale orders that we pulled forward from Q2 into Q1. In terms of the Chase business, we're still not seeing that materialize to the levels that we'd like to see. Here and there, we've seen some retailers react to strong selling items and either move forward orders or jump on some reorders. But overall, the dynamics in the wholesale channel, particularly in North America, remain very challenging. And we still continue to see a really high degree of conservatism and caution amongst those retailers.

是的。我的意思是，從第二季度提前到第一季度，我們從第二季度提前到第一季度的批發訂單約為 1000 萬美元，甚至可能更多一點。就大通業務而言，我們仍然沒有看到它實現到我們希望看到的水平。時不時地，我們看到一些零售商對銷售強勁的商品做出反應，要么提前訂購，要么增加一些重新訂購。但總的來說，批發渠道的動態，尤其是在北美，仍然非常具有挑戰性。我們仍然繼續看到這些零售商非常保守和謹慎。

And then, I guess, just one last follow-up on that point. I mean, can you -- how can you -- I guess could you quantify, I guess, like how much Chase is embedded in guidance? Or if any at all would you kind of bake that into guidance? Or is that incremental?

然後，我想，只是關於這一點的最後一次跟進。我的意思是，你能——你怎麼能——我猜你能量化，我猜，就像大通在指導中嵌入了多少？或者如果有的話，你會把它變成指導嗎？還是增量？

Well, we always have some assumption for reorder and Chase in our business. That's a part of our business every year. It goes up and down based on the environment and obviously the strength of our – the selling of our products, but it's always in there. So I would say that it's in there to in line with what we're seeing today. If that -- if those dynamics improve and we start to see wholesale customers start to step up, that's potential upside. But we forecasted based on what it looks like right now.

好吧，在我們的業務中，我們總是對重新訂購和追逐有一些假設。這是我們每年業務的一部分。它根據環境和顯然我們的實力而上下起伏——我們產品的銷售，但它總是在那裡。所以我會說它在那裡與我們今天看到的一致。如果那樣 - 如果這些動態有所改善並且我們開始看到批發客戶開始加強，那就是潛在的好處。但是我們根據現在的情況進行了預測。

And our next question comes from Paul Lejuez from Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗的 Paul Lejuez。

Hi, this is Kelly on for Paul. Just to follow-up on the last question in terms of the dynamics happening in the wholesale channel. I think over the last couple of quarters, you've been pretty frustrated with the lack of orders played despite the strong sell-throughs that you were seeing. So just curious if you did see your wholesale sell-through rates to exceed expectations or any color you can provide there. I'll start with that.

嗨，我是保羅的凱利。只是就批發渠道中發生的動態問題跟進最後一個問題。我認為在過去的幾個季度中，儘管您看到了強勁的銷售量，但您對訂單不足感到非常沮喪。所以只是想知道您是否確實看到您的批發銷售率超過預期或您可以在那裡提供的任何顏色。我會從那開始。

Yes, I think what remains is that our sell-through percentage is fine. We're pleased with the percentage of the goods that we're selling through. But the stock levels are too low and therefore, the retail sales to the consumer are too low. There just -- we just don't have enough of our goods on the floor for these retailers. And so that's what we're attempting to get corrected and to get those inventory levels back up in the store, so we can do more business to the consumer.

是的，我認為剩下的就是我們的銷售率很好。我們對我們銷售的商品的百分比感到滿意。但庫存水平太低，因此對消費者的零售額太低。只是 - 我們只是沒有足夠的商品供這些零售商使用。因此，這就是我們試圖糾正並恢復商店庫存水平的原因，這樣我們就可以為消費者做更多的生意。

Got it. And then on the DTC business, I'm just curious how trends played out in the quarter. I think you mentioned that you saw some deceleration. So just curious what you think drove the deceleration in trends that you got through as you proceed through the first quarter. And as you look at 2Q, I think are you guiding to sort of similar trends? Do you expect sort of weather to kind of start to play a role here? Any color there would be great.

知道了。然後在 DTC 業務上，我很好奇本季度的趨勢如何。我想你提到你看到了一些減速。所以只是好奇你認為是什麼推動了你在第一季度進行時所經歷的趨勢減速。當你看第二季度時，我認為你正在引導類似的趨勢嗎？您是否希望某種天氣開始在這裡發揮作用？任何顏色都會很棒。

Yes. I mean I think it's been pretty widely reported that March was the weakest month of the quarter for discretionary categories pretty much across the board, and that's certainly what we saw as well. We saw a pretty significant step down in March, which caused us to come in below our expectation for DTC for the quarter overall. I'm sure weather was not cooperative. So I think weather played a part of that. But I think there's also a good case to be made that there may be some overall consumer softening that's layered on to that as well.

是的。我的意思是，我認為據廣泛報導，3 月份是本季度可自由支配類別幾乎全面表現最疲軟的月份，這當然也是我們所看到的。我們在 3 月份看到了相當大的下降，這導致我們低於我們對整個季度 DTC 的預期。我敢肯定天氣不合作。所以我認為天氣是其中的一部分。但我認為還有一個很好的理由，那就是可能會有一些整體的消費者軟化，這也是疊加在上面的。

April -- or this quarter-to-date, we've improved compared to where we were in March. But the DTC overall is still soft. We said that for the quarter-to-date, we're in line with the down 8% that we did for the full quarter in Q1. Keep in mind for the -- I am hopeful that that's going to get better as we move forward, if only because remember, our comparisons do get substantially easier starting in June. If you look at our comparisons in DTC last year versus pre-COVID levels, we got about somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,500 basis points easier starting around June.

4 月 - 或本季度至今，與 3 月相比，我們有所改善。但DTC整體還是偏軟。我們說，本季度至今，我們與第一季度整個季度下降 8% 的情況一致。請記住——我希望隨著我們的前進，情況會變得更好，因為請記住，從 6 月開始，我們的比較確實變得更加容易。如果你看看我們去年 DTC 與 COVID 之前水平的比較，我們會發現從 6 月左右開始，我們在 1,500 個基點附近的某個地方更容易。

Got it. And just last question for me. I mean any update on the fashion piece of the business, just the fashion. I think you were speaking more optimistically about what you were seeing in terms of fashion trends when we spoke to you last quarter. So, just curious in the update there.

知道了。最後一個問題問我。我的意思是任何關於時尚業務的更新，只是時尚。我認為當我們上個季度與您交談時，您對時尚趨勢的看法更加樂觀。所以，只是好奇那裡的更新。

Yes. In terms of what's been working this spring, I think the big call out I would make is material interest has been very important. So things like raffia, pearls, denim, gold, and metal has been important for us. So a lot of that stuff has worked across category.

是的。就今年春天的工作而言，我認為我要大聲疾呼的是物質利益非常重要。所以拉菲草、珍珠、牛仔布、黃金和金屬等東西對我們來說很重要。所以很多東西都跨類別工作。

The other thing I would –- couple of areas I would call out sandals, well, that's been, I think, a relatively tough category for the industry overall, and we talked about -- excuse me, we talked about weather not being particularly cooperative for sandals for much of the season. That is an area where I think we've been a relative outperformer. We've had a lot of success with flat sandals and footbeds and stretch and a number of things in that category. So that's something we feel good about.

另一件事我會 - 我會稱之為涼鞋的幾個領域，好吧，我認為，對於整個行業來說，這是一個相對艱難的類別，我們談到了 - 對不起，我們談到了天氣不是在本季的大部分時間里特別適合涼鞋。這是我認為我們一直表現相對出色的領域。我們在平底涼鞋、鞋床和彈力鞋以及該類別中的許多產品方面取得了很大的成功。所以這是我們感覺良好的事情。

The one challenge there is it has been lower AUR items that have been the biggest ones. So that has mixed us down in terms of the average unit retail. The other category that is bigger this spring and last spring or has a higher penetration is really closed up casuals, loafers, cap toes, et cetera.

一個挑戰是較低的 AUR 項目是最大的項目。因此，就平均單位零售而言，這讓我們感到困惑。今年春天和去年春天更大或滲透率更高的另一個類別是真正封閉的休閒鞋、便鞋、露趾鞋等。

Our next question comes from Jay Sole from UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀的 Jay Sole。

My question is for Zine. Zine, I think you mentioned that Q2 sales in EPS would be a little bit below Q1 levels. Can you give us an idea about gross margin and SG&A dollars? How do you feel about those 2 stats in Q2 versus Q1?

我的問題是針對 Zine 的。 Zine，我想你提到過第二季度每股收益的銷售額會略低於第一季度的水平。你能給我們一個關於毛利率和 SG&A 美元的想法嗎？您如何看待 Q2 和 Q1 中的這 2 個統計數據？

Yes. For the gross margin, we expect to still see that gross margin improvement from the benefits of freight and mix of retail into the total. But remember, there's always an offset that comes from the reinvestment that we mentioned in price that we're doing and also if we have some additional promos as well that will offset against that. So we should expect similar growth, if not maybe a little bit better than Q1 compared to last year. And what was the second part of your question, I'm sorry?

是的。對於毛利率，我們預計仍會看到毛利率因貨運和零售組合的好處而有所改善。但請記住，我們在價格中提到的再投資總是會產生抵消，如果我們還有一些額外的促銷活動也會抵消這一點。所以我們應該期待類似的增長，如果不是比去年第一季度好一點的話。對不起，你問題的第二部分是什麼？

Operating expenses, just the dollars…

運營費用，只是美元……

Yes. On the operating expenses, Q1 was an unusually low base to compare against, a little bit funky actually. But there was a lot of timing of expenses between quarters, where Q1 was light last year. As we move forward, we expect to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 3% over LY compared to what we've seen in Q1. So we should see it moderate.

是的。在運營費用方面，第一季度的基數異常低，實際上有點古怪。但是季度之間有很多支出時間，去年第一季度很輕。隨著我們向前邁進，與我們在第一季度看到的情況相比，我們預計 LY 將超過 3%。所以我們應該看到它適度。

We do have -- we're tightening the belt. We're controlling expenses everywhere we can, and that applies to all segments, all businesses, domestic and international. And even doing some job eliminations in certain targeted areas, we're not carrying a lot of our ton of fat as we did do a significant cut back around COVID times, but we are definitely looking at every single expense and making sure that we're very controlled.

我們確實有——我們正在勒緊褲腰帶。我們盡可能地控制開支，這適用於所有部門、所有業務、國內和國際。甚至在某些目標領域進行了一些裁員，我們並沒有像我們在 COVID 期間大幅減少時間那樣攜帶大量的脂肪，但我們肯定會考慮每一筆費用並確保我們'我們非常有節制。

Our next question comes from Tom Nikic from Wedbush.

我們的下一個問題來自 Wedbush 的 Tom Nikic。

The gross margin in wholesale was pretty solid. But based on the difference between the branded business and the private label business, I would assume that there was a big mix benefit there. Is there any way you could kind of sort of normalize that or contextualize that kind of absent to the big declines in the private label business, like how would wholesale gross margins have trended in the quarter?

批發的毛利率相當可觀。但基於品牌業務和自有品牌業務之間的差異，我認為那裡有很大的混合優勢。有什麼方法可以使自有品牌業務大幅下滑的那種缺失正常化或背景化，比如本季度批發毛利率的趨勢如何？

Yes. There was a benefit from the mix shift from private label to branded. We could get that number to you after the call, but I will tell you actually what is -- that is not the biggest driver. A bigger driver is freight and better pricing with the factories and particularly on the wholesale accessory side.

是的。從自有品牌到品牌的混合轉變有好處。我們可以在通話後把那個號碼給你，但我會告訴你實際上是什麼——這不是最大的驅動因素。更大的驅動因素是運費和工廠更好的定價，尤其是在批發配件方面。

And a quick follow-up there. Also on the DTC business, on the last call you had talked about bringing, I think it was about 20 Middle East franchise stores in-house, which meant that they would have been a contributor to DTC this quarter. But was there like kind of a meaningful impact to DTC from that conversion? And if so, what was the like-for-like growth in DTC year-over-year?

並在那裡進行快速跟進。同樣在 DTC 業務上，在你談到的最後一個電話中，我認為內部大約有 20 家中東特許經營店，這意味著他們本季度會為 DTC 做出貢獻。但是這種轉換是否對 DTC 產生了某種有意義的影響？如果是這樣，DTC 的同比增長是多少？

Yes. That contributed about 200 basis points. So, we were down 8% in Q1. If you excluded the Middle East conversion, we would have been down 10%.

是的。這貢獻了大約200個基點。因此，我們在第一季度下降了 8%。如果你排除中東轉換，我們會下降 10%。

Our next question comes from Laura Champine from Loop Capital.

我們的下一個問題來自 Loop Capital 的 Laura Champine。

Thanks for taking my question. Just given all the shifting dynamics of the business, can you comment on where overall price per pair is this year versus last year so far in Q2? Just knowing that you've been taking some price increases, but the promotions are back. Kind of where do we net out in terms of pricing so far in Q2?

感謝您提出我的問題。鑑於業務的所有變化動態，您能否評論一下今年第二季度到目前為止每雙鞋的總價格與去年相比？只知道您一直在漲價，但促銷活動又回來了。到目前為止，我們在第二季度的定價方面有哪些淨值？

It's always hard to answer that question because we've got so many different businesses and I honestly don't know that putting them all together gives a particularly meaningful answer because it's always only about the mix. But if you look, for instance, at like our Steve Madden DTC business in the U.S., we're looking at -- we expect to be down mid-singles in AUR in Q2.

這個問題總是很難回答，因為我們有這麼多不同的業務，老實說，我不知道將它們放在一起會給出一個特別有意義的答案，因為它總是只是關於組合。但是，例如，如果你看一下我們在美國的 Steve Madden DTC 業務，我們正在看 - 我們預計第二季度的 AUR 將處於中單。

Got it. And if we look at sort of mix overall, kind of what's the pattern right now? Is that also down?

知道了。如果我們從整體上看某種混合，那麼現在的模式是什麼？那也掉了？

Well, I mean because the private label business is down more than the branded, that actually mixes us back up for a total company. But yes, I'm not sure the -- but that is the answer, yes.

好吧，我的意思是因為自有品牌業務的下滑幅度超過品牌業務，這實際上讓我們支持了一家公司。但是，是的，我不確定 - 但這是答案，是的。

Does it make sense to say that the sales declines that you're experiencing right now are driven more by payers than by price mix?

說您現在遇到的銷售下降更多是由付款人而不是價格組合驅動的，這是否有意義？

If you're looking at the overall company, yes. But by business line, no, I don't think so. Within the individual businesses, the AUR pressure is significant. But again, if you're asking about the total company, because of the decline in private label, that's a big driver of units.

如果你看的是整個公司，是的。但就業務線而言，不，我不這麼認為。在個體業務中，AUR 壓力很大。但同樣，如果你問的是整個公司，由於自有品牌的減少，這是單位的重要推動力。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Dana Telsey from Telsey Advisory Group.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Telsey Advisory Group 的 Dana Telsey。

Ed, as you think about the wholesale business and the shifts that are occurring with second quarter into the first quarter, do you expect additional shifts in third quarter or fourth quarter from the way they're ordering? And at what point do you see Chase begins to resume in a more meaningful manner that's beneficial for you?

Ed，當您考慮批發業務以及第二季度到第一季度發生的變化時，您是否預計第三季度或第四季度他們的訂購方式會發生額外變化？在什麼時候你看到大通開始以對你有益的更有意義的方式恢復？

Yes. At this point, I don't see any meaningful shifts between Q3 and Q4, but that's something we'll obviously have to monitor going forward because there's still a lot we don't know about the back half. In terms of the Chase business, I wish I knew the answer to that. I think we're trying to focus on doing -- controlling what we can control, which is having great products and getting it into the market quickly and having it sell through to the consumer because that's -- ultimately, that's how we can encourage our wholesale customers to step up and get more aggressive. But obviously, there's a lot of uncertainty in the market right now, there's a lot of negative headlines about the direction of the economy and the consumer. And so we are dealing with wholesale customers that are pretty conservative right now.

是的。在這一點上，我沒有看到第三季度和第四季度之間有任何有意義的變化，但這顯然是我們未來必須監控的事情，因為我們對後半部分還有很多不了解。就大通業務而言，我希望我知道答案。我認為我們正努力專注於做 - 控制我們可以控制的事情，即擁有優質產品並迅速將其投放市場並銷售給消費者，因為這 - 最終，這就是我們可以鼓勵我們的方式批發客戶加強並變得更加積極。但顯然，目前市場存在很多不確定性，有很多關於經濟和消費者方向的負面新聞。因此，我們正在與目前相當保守的批發客戶打交道。

Got it. And then just on your own DTC, both e-commerce and your own stores, what are you seeing about the level of promotion in that channel versus the level of promotion in the wholesale channel?

知道了。然後就您自己的 DTC，包括電子商務和您自己的商店，您如何看待該渠道的促銷水平與批發渠道的促銷水平？

Well, look, overall, the retail landscape is pretty promotional, obviously much more promotional than it was in the first half last year when we were unusually -- when we had unusually light levels of promotion. I think we're keeping it pretty well controlled in our own direct-to-consumer channels, but we are participating where it makes sense. And we are seeing a certain segment of our consumer population that does seem to be much more price sensitive and much more driven by promotional activity right now. And so we're trying to keep the appropriate balance while making sure that we still get through the product.

好吧，總的來說，零售業的促銷活動非常活躍，顯然比去年上半年的促銷活動要多得多，當時我們的促銷水平異常低。我認為我們在我們自己的直接面向消費者的渠道中很好地控制了它，但我們在有意義的地方參與。我們看到我們的一部分消費者似乎對價格更加敏感，並且現在更多地受到促銷活動的推動。因此，我們正在努力保持適當的平衡，同時確保我們仍然可以通過產品。

And ladies and gentlemen, with that we'll be concluding today's question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over to Ed Rosenfeld for any closing remarks.

女士們，先生們，我們將結束今天的問答環節。我想將發言權轉回給 Ed Rosenfeld，讓他發表任何結束語。

Great. Well, thanks, everybody, for joining us for today's call. Have a wonderful day. We look forward to speaking with you on the next call. Bye-bye.

偉大的。好吧，謝謝大家參加今天的電話會議。祝你有美好的一天。我們期待在下次通話中與您交談。再見。

And ladies and gentlemen, with that we'll conclude today's conference call and presentation. We thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.

女士們，先生們，我們將結束今天的電話會議和演講。我們感謝您的加入。您現在可以斷開線路。