Steven Madden Ltd (SHOO) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Steven Madden First Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Steven Madden 2024 年第一季業績電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Danielle McCoy, VP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人，企業發展和投資者關係副總裁 Danielle McCoy。請繼續。

Thanks, Didi, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our first quarter 2024 earnings call and webcast.

謝謝迪迪，大家早安。感謝您參加我們的 2024 年第一季財報電話會議和網路廣播。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that our remarks made 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.

在開始之前，我想提醒您，我們接下來的言論，包括對您問題的回答，包含我們認為屬於《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述的陳述。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有重大差異的風險。

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.

這些風險包括我們在今天早些時候發布的新聞稿以及我們向 SEC 提交的文件中描述的事項等。我們不承擔更新這些前瞻性聲明的義務，這些聲明可能要等到我們下一次季度財報電話會議才會更新（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表現均經過調整。我們的收益報告中包含了與最直接可比較的公認會計準則財務指標和其他相關揭露的調節。

Joining me on the call today is Ed Rosenfeld, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Zine Mazouzi, Chief Financial Officer. With that, I'll turn the call over to Ed.

今天與我一起參加電話會議的是董事長兼執行長 Ed Rosenfeld；和財務長 Zine Mazouzi。這樣，我就把電話轉給艾德。

All right. Thank you, Danielle, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to review Steve Madden's first quarter 2024 results.

好的。謝謝丹妮爾，大家早安，謝謝您與我們一起回顧 Steve Madden 的 2024 年第一季業績。

So we got off to a strong start to 2024 with first quarter revenue increasing 19% and diluted EPS rising 30% compared to the same period in 2023. And these results are the direct result of our team's disciplined execution of our strategy for long-term growth. The foundation of that strategy is creating deeper connections with our consumers through the combination of outstanding product and effective marketing, thereby enabling our success with our four key business drivers.

因此，我們在2024 年取得了良好的開局，與2023 年同期相比，第一季營收成長了19%，稀釋後每股盈餘成長了30%。 。該策略的基礎是透過卓越的產品和有效的行銷相結合，與消費者建立更深入的聯繫，從而使我們的四個關鍵業務驅動力取得成功。

Our first key driver is expanding our business in international markets. Revenue in international grew 15% in the first quarter compared to the same period in the prior year, including strong gains in each of our three international regions, EMEA, the Americas ex U.S. and APAC.

我們的第一個關鍵驅動力是擴大我們在國際市場的業務。第一季國際營收與去年同期相比成長了 15%，其中歐洲、中東和非洲、美洲（除美國外）和亞太地區這三個國際區域均實現強勁成長。

The EMEA region remains the biggest driver of growth. We continue to buck the trend in Europe and deliver solid growth there despite the challenging operating environment. Our Middle East JV has strong momentum and is ramping quickly. And our JV in South Africa continues to see explosive growth, driven by the exceptional brand heat we have in that market.

歐洲、中東和非洲地區仍然是最大的成長動力。儘管營運環境充滿挑戰，我們仍持續在歐洲逆勢而上，實現穩健成長。我們的中東合資企業勢頭強勁，發展迅速。在我們在南非市場的非凡品牌熱度的推動下，我們在南非的合資企業繼續呈現爆炸性成長。

Our second key business driver is growing our business outside of footwear. In the first quarter, overall accessories and apparel revenue rose 73%, or 28% excluding the newly acquired Almost Famous business. Our Steve Madden handbag business continues to be outstanding. Revenue there increased more than 45% compared to the same period in the prior year for the third consecutive quarter. Steve Madden apparel also saw strong growth, increasing 23% in the quarter, driven by additional doors and expanded assortments within key wholesale accounts.

我們的第二個關鍵業務驅動力是發展鞋類以外的業務。第一季度，配件和服裝整體收入成長了 73%，若不包括新收購的Almost Famous 業務，則成長 28%。我們的 Steve Madden 手袋業務繼續表現出色。其營收連續第三個季度較去年同期成長超過45%。 Steve Madden 服裝也實現了強勁增長，在主要批發客戶增加門市和擴大品種的推動下，本季度增長了 23%。

And Almost Famous contributed $41 million in revenue in its first full quarter under our ownership. A critical part of our strategy with this acquisition is to utilize the Almost Famous platform to introduce and build a Madden Girl apparel business. We launched Madden Girl apparel at Macy's in the first quarter and initial sell-through performance has been very strong.

在我們擁有的第一個完整季度，Almost Famous 貢獻了 4,100 萬美元的收入。我們此次收購策略的關鍵部分是利用Almost Famous 平台引進和建立Madden Girl 服裝業務。我們第一季在梅西百貨推出了 Madden Girl 服裝，最初的銷售表現非常強勁。

Our third key business driver is expanding our direct-to-consumer business, led by digital. DTC revenue grew 13% compared to the first quarter of 2023, including double-digit percentage gains in both digital and brick-and-mortar channels. We achieved these top line results while also meaningfully expanding DTC gross margin as a combination of on-trend merchandise assortments and effective inventory management enabled us to increase full-price selling and reduce discounting.

我們的第三個關鍵業務驅動力是擴大以數位化為主導的直接面向消費者的業務。與 2023 年第一季相比，DTC 營收成長了 13%，其中數位通路和實體通路均實現兩位數百分比成長。我們取得了這些營收成果，同時也有意義地擴大了 DTC 毛利率，因為流行商品分類和有效的庫存管理相結合，使我們能夠增加全價銷售並減少折扣。

And finally, our fourth key business driver is strengthening our core U.S. wholesale footwear business. This business was under pressure in 2023 as many of our largest wholesale customers entered last year with too much inventory and reduced orders significantly in order to rightsize inventory levels. Fortunately, those wholesale customers have much healthier overall inventory levels this year.

最後，我們的第四個關鍵業務驅動力是加強我們的核心美國鞋類批發業務。該業務在 2023 年面臨壓力，因為我們許多最大的批發客戶去年進入時庫存過多，並大幅減少了訂單，以調整庫存水準。幸運的是，這些批發客戶今年的整體庫存水準要健康得多。

And as expected, we were able to return to year-over-year growth in the U.S. wholesale footwear business in the first quarter with revenue increasing 5% compared to Q1 of 2023. While our wholesale customers for branded products remain cautious overall, our private label business, which is primarily done in the mass channel, has improved significantly and experienced strong growth in the quarter.

正如預期的那樣，我們的美國批發鞋類業務在第一季度恢復了同比增長，收入比2023 年第一季度增長了5%。的私人主要在大眾管道完成的標籤業務在本季度有了顯著改善並經歷了強勁增長。

So overall, we delivered tangible results across each of these areas, which not only drove strong top line performance but also enabled us to expand our consolidated operating margin for the quarter to 11%, up from 10.3% in the first quarter of 2023 despite a headwind from the inclusion of Almost Famous.

因此，總體而言，我們在每個領域都取得了切實的成果，這不僅推動了強勁的營收業績，而且使我們能夠將本季的綜合營業利潤率從2023 年第一季的10.3% 擴大到11%，儘管《幾近成名》的加入帶來了逆風。

Looking ahead, our first quarter performance and the success we are seeing across each of our key strategic initiatives gives us confidence that we are not only on track to meet our financial goals for 2024, but that we are well positioned to continue to drive sustainable top and bottom line growth for years to come.

展望未來，我們第一季的業績以及我們在每項關鍵策略舉措中看到的成功讓我們相信，我們不僅有望實現 2024 年的財務目標，而且我們有能力繼續推動永續發展以及未來幾年的利潤增長。

And now I'll turn it over to Zine to review our first quarter financial results in more detail and provide our outlook for 2024.

現在我將把它交給 Zine，更詳細地回顧我們第一季的財務業績，並提供我們對 2024 年的展望。

Thanks, Ed, and good morning, everyone. In the first quarter, our consolidated revenue was $552.4 million, a 19.1% increase compared to the first quarter of 2023. Excluding Almost Famous, consolidated revenue grew 10.3% compared to the same period in the prior year.

謝謝艾德，大家早安。第一季度，我們的綜合收入為 5.524 億美元，比 2023 年第一季度增長 19.1%。

Our wholesale revenue was $438.2 million, up 21% to the first quarter in the prior year, or 9.7% excluding Almost Famous. Wholesale footwear revenue was $295.7 million, a 4.7% increase from the comparable period in 2023, driven by strong growth in the private label business.

我們的批發收入為 4.382 億美元，比去年第一季成長 21%，如果不包括“Almost Famous”，成長 9.7%。在自有品牌業務強勁成長的推動下，鞋類批發收入為 2.957 億美元，較 2023 年同期成長 4.7%。

Wholesale accessories and apparel revenue was $142.6 million, up 78.6% to the first quarter in the prior year, or 27.4% excluding Almost Famous. Our Steve Madden handbag business was the primary growth driver. And Steve Madden apparel also saw a strong gain.

配件和服裝批發收入為 1.426 億美元，比去年第一季增長 78.6%，若不包括“Almost Famous”，增長 27.4%。我們的 Steve Madden 手袋業務是主要的成長動力。史蒂夫馬登 (Steve Madden) 服裝也出現了強勁增長。

In our direct-to-consumer segment, revenue was $112.3 million, a 12.8% increase compared to the first quarter of 2023. Brick-and-mortar revenue grew 15% or 8% on a comp store basis. And owned and operated e-commerce revenue rose 11%.

在我們的直接面向消費者細分市場，營收為 1.123 億美元，與 2023 年第一季相比成長 12.8%。自有和經營的電子商務收入成長了11%。

We ended the quarter with 253 company-operated brick-and-mortar retail stores, including 69 outlets as well as 5 e-commerce websites and 25 company-operated concessions in international markets.

截至本季末，我們擁有 253 家公司經營的實體零售店，其中包括 69 家直營店以及 5 個電子商務網站和國際市場上 25 家公司經營的特許經營店。

Turning to our licensing segment. Our licensing royalty income was $1.8 million in the quarter compared to $2.1 million in the first quarter of 2023.

轉向我們的許可部分。本季我們的授權使用費收入為 180 萬美元，而 2023 年第一季為 210 萬美元。

Consolidated gross margin was 40.7% in the quarter versus 42.1% in the comparable period in 2023. The inclusion of Almost Famous negatively impacted consolidated gross margin by approximately 120 basis points.

本季綜合毛利率為 40.7%，而 2023 年同期為 42.1%。

Wholesale gross margin was 35.1% compared to 37% in the quarter -- in the first quarter of 2023, driven primarily by the impact of Almost Famous and a mix shift in wholesale footwear to the private label business. Direct-to-consumer gross margin was 61.9%, up 270 basis points from the comparable period in 2023, driven by a reduction in promotional activity.

批發毛利率為 35.1%，而 2023 年第一季為 37%，這主要是受到「Almost Famous」的影響以及批發鞋類向自有品牌業務的混合轉變的推動。由於促銷活動減少，直接面向消費者的毛利率為 61.9%，較 2023 年同期成長 270 個基點。

Operating expenses as a percent of revenue were 29.7%, down from 31.8% in the first quarter of 2023. Operating income for the quarter was $61 million or 11% of revenue, up from $47.7 million or 10.3% of revenue in the comparable period in the prior year. The effective tax rate for the quarter was 23.5% compared to 24.2% in the first quarter of 2023.

營運費用佔收入的百分比為29.7%，低於2023 年第一季的31.8%。 %。本季的有效稅率為 23.5%，而 2023 年第一季的有效稅率為 24.2%。

Finally, net income attributable to Steven Madden, Ltd. for the quarter was $47 million or $0.65 per diluted share compared to $37.6 million or $0.50 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2023.

最後，本季 Steven Madden, Ltd. 的淨利潤為 4,700 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.65 美元，而 2023 年第一季的淨利潤為 3,760 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.50 美元。

Moving to the balance sheet. Our financial foundation remains strong. As of March 31, 2024, we had $143.1 million of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments and no debt. Inventory at the end of the quarter was $202 million, up 12.2% to the prior year or 7.2% excluding Almost Famous. Our CapEx in the first quarter was $4 million.

轉向資產負債表。我們的財務基礎依然強勁。截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日，我們擁有 1.431 億美元的現金、現金等價物和短期投資，沒有債務。本季末的庫存為 2.02 億美元，比上年同期增長 12.2%，不包括「Almost Famous」的情況下增長 7.2%。我們第一季的資本支出為 400 萬美元。

During the first quarter, the company spent $37.3 million on repurchases of its common stock, including shares acquired through the net settlement of employee stock awards. At the end of the quarter, there was approximately $143 million remaining on the share repurchase authorization.

第一季度，該公司花費 3,730 萬美元回購普通股，其中包括透過員工股票獎勵淨額結算購買的股票。截至本季末，股票回購授權尚剩餘約 1.43 億美元。

The company's Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.21 per share. The dividend will be payable on June 21, 2024, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on June 10, 2024.

公司董事會批准了每股 0.21 美元的季度現金股利。該股將於2024年6月21日支付給截至2024年6月10日收盤時在冊的股東。

Turning to our outlook. We are maintaining our annual guidance. We continue to expect revenue for 2024 to increase 11% to 13% compared to 2023, and we continue to have diluted EPS to be in the range of $2.55 to $2.65.

轉向我們的展望。我們維持年度指導。我們仍然預計 2024 年的收入將比 2023 年增長 11% 至 13%，並且我們繼續將稀釋後每股收益保持在 2.55 美元至 2.65 美元的範圍內。

Now I would like to turn the call over to the operator for questions. Didi?

現在我想將電話轉給接線員詢問問題。迪迪？

(Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from Paul Lejuez of Citi.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Paul Lejuez。

A couple of questions. Curious if you can talk about what was better than planned relative to your expectations during the quarter, if anything? And then also would love to hear about the comp drivers within the DTC business, from the traffic, there's ticket, AUR perspective, what you're seeing? And anything you could share about the start to 2Q relative to 1Q?

有幾個問題。好奇您能否談談本季相對於您的預期而言，哪些方面比計劃更好（如果有的話）？然後也很想聽聽 DTC 業務中的補償驅動程序，從流量、罰單、AUR 角度來看，您看到了什麼？關於第二季相對於第一季的開始，您有什麼可以分享的嗎？

Sure. Yes. In terms of the first quarter, we did come in modestly ahead of our internal forecast. I will point out that, I think, The Street had modeled the year a little bit different from us, or I should say that The Street was in line with us for the full year but had modeled the quarters a little bit differently. And so our internal forecast was higher than The Street's for first quarter.

當然。是的。就第一季而言，我們的業績確實略高於我們的內部預測。我要指出的是，我認為《華爾街日報》對這一年的建模與我們略有不同，或者我應該說《華爾街日報》全年的建模與我們一致，但對季度的建模略有不同。因此，我們對第一季的內部預測高於華爾街的預測。

So while we exceeded our own internal expectations, it was not by the amount that we exceeded The Street expectations. But we were slightly ahead pretty much across the board. We were slightly ahead of our internal forecast across each on revenue, across each of wholesale footwear, wholesale accessories and DTC and even had slightly better gross margin performance on a consolidated basis.

因此，雖然我們超出了我們自己的內部預期，但超出的金額並沒有超出華爾街的預期。但我們在全面方面都略微領先。我們的收入、批發鞋類、批發配件和 DTC 的各項收入均略高於我們的內部預測，甚至在綜合基礎上的毛利率表現也略好一些。

In terms of the comp drivers in DTC, look, traffic has still been weak. Traffic has been negative. Conversion has been not great but a little better. But where we got some nice benefit was in AUR and also UPT, so a nice overall increase in average transaction value.

就 DTC 的競爭驅動程式而言，交通量仍然疲軟。客流量一直為負。轉換雖然不是很好，但也好一點了。但我們在 AUR 和 UPT 方面獲得了一些不錯的好處，因此平均交易價值總體上有了不錯的成長。

And I think the last question was about the performance in April month-to-date in DTC. That has been a little bit softer than what we saw in Q1. But that was expected. That's how we modeled it in part due to the Easter shift. And we still feel that we're on track to be where we thought we'd be for DTC, not only for Q2 but for the year.

我認為最後一個問題是關於 4 月至今 DTC 的表現。這比我們在第一季看到的情況要軟一些。但這是預料之中的。這就是我們建模的方式，部分原因是由於復活節的轉變。我們仍然認為，我們有望達到 DTC 預期的目標，不僅是第二季度，而且是今年。

And we're still looking at that high single-digit overall DTC revenue growth for the year. So we had always planned that it would be slightly -- we did 13% in Q1, we always planned a little bit of slowdown through the balance of the year.

我們仍在關註今年 DTC 整體營收的高個位數成長。所以我們一直計劃會稍微放緩——我們在第一季實現了 13%，我們總是計劃在今年剩餘時間裡稍微放緩。

And our next question comes from Sam Poser of Williams Trading.

我們的下一個問題來自威廉斯貿易公司的薩姆·波瑟。

First of all, Ed and Zine, you were 1 minute off the last time, 12 minutes instead of 11 on the prepared, still very good, better than everybody else. Anyway, on the branded wholesale business, how was that? And can you tell us about sort of -- you talked about caution from those retailers. Can you talk about what's going on there? And I'll probably have a follow-up to whatever you say on that and then I have one other thing.

首先，Ed和Zine，你們上次落後了1分鐘，準備時間從11分鐘變成了12分鐘，仍然非常好，比其他人都好。無論如何，品牌批發業務怎麼樣？您能否告訴我們一些—您談到了那些零售商的謹慎態度。你能談談那裡發生了什麼事嗎？我可能會對你所說的內容進行跟進，然後我還有另一件事。

Yes. The branded wholesale business remains, at least on the footwear side, remains a bit challenging. We continue to see a pretty cautious approach from the big retailers. As you know, many of our largest customers on the branded -- in the branded wholesale footwear business are still comping negative and having some challenges in their own business. And I think that we're feeling the impact of that.

是的。品牌批發業務，至少在鞋類方面，仍面臨一些挑戰。我們繼續看到大型零售商採取相當謹慎的態度。如您所知，我們品牌批發鞋類業務中的許多最大客戶仍然面臨負面競爭，並且在自己的業務中面臨一些挑戰。我認為我們正在感受到它的影響。

Many of them, as we've been talking about -- talking to them about their initial fall plans, I think it looks like the sentiment there is still pretty cautious. The fashion boot business was not great last year. I think people are planning that part of the business conservatively. So overall, while certainly better than last year, we're still seeing quite a bit of caution on that front.

正如我們一直在談論的那樣，他們中的許多人與他們談論他們最初的秋季計劃，我認為看起來人們的情緒仍然相當謹慎。去年時尚靴生意並不景氣。我認為人們正在保守地規劃這部分業務。總的來說，雖然肯定比去年好，但我們在這方面仍然看到相當多的謹慎。

Was that branded footwear business up in the quarter?

該品牌鞋類業務本季有成長嗎？

No, no, sorry, I should put that, it was down low singles in the quarter.

不，不，抱歉，我應該這麼說，本季的單打成績較低。

And is there a difference -- I'm going to ask this, hopefully, in a way you could answer it. Is there a difference between those retailers that write orders to you and your vendor-managed program retailers?

有什麼區別嗎——我會問這個問題，希望你能回答。那些向您寫訂單的零售商和您的供應商管理計劃零售商之間有區別嗎？

Look, we always like to have as much input as possible with our wholesale customers about what they're bringing in. And we partner with everybody as closely as we can, and we'll continue to do that.

看，我們總是希望盡可能多地向我們的批發客戶提供關於他們帶來的產品的意見。

Did your vendor-managed partner retailers outperform the others?

您的供應商管理合作夥伴零售商的表現是否優於其他零售商？

Sam, there's not a lot of them. I'm not going to start telling you about how we're dealing with individual customers.

薩姆，他們的數量並不多。我不會開始告訴您我們如何與個人客戶打交道。

All right. And then how should we think -- I mean, it looks to me like, including myself, the estimates regarding how to think about Almost Famous was wrong. So can you give us some idea of how to think about how big that business is again and the flow of how to think about that? I mean, you did $40 million in the quarter. How should we think about how that looks by quarter? I mean, just so we are -- everybody is not way off base again.

好的。然後我們應該如何思考——我的意思是，在我看來，包括我自己，關於如何思考《幾乎成名》的估計是錯誤的。那麼您能否給我們一些關於如何思考該業務有多大以及如何思考該業務的流程的一些想法？我的意思是，你這個季度賺了 4000 萬美元。我們該如何看待每季的情況？我的意思是，我們就是這樣——每個人都不會再偏離基地。

Yes, I think that the -- it's roughly -- this is about the quarterly revenue that they should do throughout the quarter. It's going to bounce around a little bit. We'll do a little bit more than this going forward per quarter. But there's not heavy seasonality here, what you're going to see. It should still be in this kind of low to mid-40s each quarter.

是的，我認為——粗略地說——這是他們在整個季度中應該實現的季度收入。它會稍微反彈。我們每季都會做更多的事情。但正如您將看到的那樣，這裡並沒有嚴重的季節性。每個季度它應該仍處於這種低至 40 多歲的水平。

And Sam, that applies to pretty much the expenses as well. The flow is pretty similar by quarter.

山姆，這也適用於大部分費用。按季度劃分的流程非常相似。

And our next question comes from Jay Sole of UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團 (UBS) 的傑伊·索爾 (Jay Sole)。

Ed, you mentioned one of the company's key strategies is to expand DTC, led by digital. I'm sort of curious about the stores aspect of DTC. How are you feeling about the stores that the company has added this year? And is there a plan to work in some of the Almost apparel for the Steve Madden brand into the stores? Can you just maybe talk about how you're thinking about that opportunity? That would be helpful.

Ed，您提到公司的關鍵策略之一是擴大以數位化為主導的 DTC。我對 DTC 的商店方面有點好奇。您對公司今年新增的門市感覺如何？是否有計劃將 Steve Madden 品牌的一些Almost 服裝引入商店？您能談談您對這個機會的看法嗎？那會有幫助的。

Sure. Yes, yes, we're pleased with what we're seeing out of DTC so far this year. Obviously, a pretty significant acceleration from where we were in 2023, in Q1, getting to 13% overall DTC growth. And you asked about the brick-and-mortar stores, in particular. We did have an 8% brick-and-mortar comp store sales gain in Q1. So that's quite healthy, and we were pleased with that.

當然。是的，是的，我們對今年迄今為止 DTC 所取得的成果感到滿意。顯然，與 2023 年第一季相比，DTC 整體成長達到 13%，這是一個相當顯著的加速。您特別詢問了實體店。第一季我們的實體比較店銷售額確實成長了 8%。所以這是非常健康的，我們對此感到滿意。

We are also adding some stores this year. Again, those are really primarily or almost all driven from international markets. And we're very pleased with the returns that we're seeing when we do open international stores right now, in fact, seeing a better ROIC in those stores than what we're getting in the U.S.

今年我們還增加了一些商店。同樣，這些實際上主要或幾乎全部來自國際市場。我們對現在開設國際商店時所看到的回報感到非常滿意，事實上，這些商店的投資回報率比我們在美國獲得的投資回報率更高。

In terms of apparel in the stores, look, that's pretty limited today. We don't -- most of our stores are not set up for apparel, don't have dressing rooms and such. But in some of the international markets, we are starting to introduce more apparel and have seen some early success there that's pretty encouraging.

就商店裡的服裝而言，你看，今天的數量相當有限。我們沒有－我們的商店大多不是為服裝而設的，也沒有試衣間等。但在一些國際市場，我們開始推出更多服裝，並看到了一些早期的成功，這非常令人鼓舞。

Got it. And if I can just ask one more, just about Almost Famous on the margins. If we just think about big-picture trajectory over this year to next year, how much opportunity do you see today to improve the margins in the Almost Famous business?

知道了。如果我可以再問一個問題，那就是《幾乎成名》的邊緣。如果我們只考慮今年到明年的整體軌跡，您認為今天有多少機會可以提高「幾近成名」業務的利潤率？

Yes, good question. So I think you'll recall that when we acquired it, the business had about a 7% EBIT margin. And our goal was over time to get that into the high singles. And really, I think that there is an opportunity to get into the low doubles. We're already starting to see some improvement there. So this year, we're looking at -- if you're comparing apples-to-apples to the 7% that they were doing prior to our acquisition, we're looking at about 8%. So we've already gotten about 100 basis points this year.

是的，好問題。所以我想你會記得，當我們收購它時，該業務的息稅前利潤率約為 7%。我們的目標是隨著時間的推移將其納入高單打。事實上，我認為有機會進入低雙打。我們已經開始看到一些改進。因此，今年，如果你將他們與我們收購之前的 7% 進行同類比較，我們會看到大約 8%。所以今年我們已經拿到了大約 100 個基點。

Now keep in mind, in our reported financials, we're still showing more like 7% because there's some amortization of intangibles associated with the transaction that offsets that. But again, on an organic basis, we're getting about 100 basis points here. And I think that I'd like to think there's a path to getting about 100 basis points a year for the next, let's say, 3 years.

現在請記住，在我們報告的財務數據中，我們仍然顯示 7% 左右，因為與交易相關的一些無形資產攤銷抵消了這一點。但同樣，在有機基礎上，我們在這裡獲得了大約 100 個基點。我認為，在接下來的三年裡，我想有一種途徑可以每年獲得大約 100 個基點。

And our next question comes from Janine Stichter of BTIG.

我們的下一個問題來自 BTIG 的 Janine Stichter。

So I wanted to ask about the AUR increases. You mentioned that being a driver of the retail business. How much of that was price increases you took on certain items versus just consumers gravitating towards higher-priced items? And then maybe more broadly, if you could just comment on where we are in kind of the fashion cycle, how you feel about the trends that are out there right now and how well they play into your business?

所以我想問一下 AUR 增加的情況。您提到這是零售業務的驅動力。其中有多少是您對某些商品的價格上漲，而不是消費者傾向於購買價格較高的商品？然後，也許更廣泛地說，如果您能評論一下我們在時尚週期中的位置，您對當前流行趨勢的看法以及它們對您的業務的影響如何？

Sure. Yes, so in terms of the AUR, that's primarily -- it's really not us taking price on like-for-like items. I think there are two things happening. One, we're getting a bit of a mix benefit based on the products people are buying this year compared to last year. And then also because we did pull back on promotional activity in DTC channels, that's also contributing to an AUR increase.

當然。是的，所以就 AUR 而言，這主要是——這實際上不是我們對同類商品的定價。我認為有兩件事正在發生。第一，根據今年人們購買的產品與去年相比，我們獲得了一些混合效益。此外，由於我們確實取消了 DTC 管道的促銷活動，這也導致了 AUR 的成長。

In terms of the fashion cycle and the trend environment, I think it certainly improved over where we were last year. There's some newness in the market. And we're pretty excited about some of the trends we're seeing. Some of the things that are working for us this spring that I would call out, we're having a lot of success with sandals. Footbeds, particularly high footbeds, what we call platforms, are performing very well for us. We've also got some slides that are great. Slingbacks are working, flats as well as kitten heels.

就時尚週期和趨勢環境而言，我認為肯定比去年有所改善。市場上有一些新鮮事。我們對所看到的一些趨勢感到非常興奮。我想說的是今年春天對我們有用的一些事情，我們在涼鞋方面取得了巨大的成功。鞋床，特別是高鞋床，我們稱之為平台，對我們來說表現得非常好。我們還有一些很棒的幻燈片。露跟鞋、平底鞋和貓跟鞋都可以。

And then I think one of the things that we're having some fun with and that we're seeing a lot of success with is there's a lot going on with materials and ornamentation, so raffia, pearls, buckle treatments, flowers, mesh. So there's just a lot going on there that we can capitalize on. And the design team is really executing there, so feel good about that.

然後我認為我們感到有趣並且我們看到很多成功的事情之一是材料和裝飾發生了很多變化，例如酒椰纖維、珍珠、扣環處理、花朵、網布。因此，我們可以利用很多事情。設計團隊確實在那裡執行，所以對此感到滿意。

Great. And then maybe just one more, when we think about the 11% operating margin for the year, can you just remind us what's happening with marketing expense in there? How is it trending as a percent of sales?

偉大的。然後也許還有一個問題，當我們考慮今年 11% 的營業利潤率時，您能否提醒我們其中的行銷費用發生了什麼？它佔銷售額的百分比趨勢如何？

Marketing expenses are -- we continue to invest in marketing, both in the U.S. and globally. So that's going up high single digits.

行銷費用是－我們繼續在美國和全球的行銷方面進行投資。所以這個數字正在上升高個位數。

And our next question comes from Aubrey Tianello of BNP Paribas.

我們的下一個問題來自法國巴黎銀行的 Aubrey Tianello。

Ed, I'd love to get your take on what you're seeing from the consumer right now. Last couple of quarters, you talked about the consumer being more price-conscious, more responsive to promos, outlets outperforming full-price stores. Just curious how you're seeing consumer behavior has evolved so far this year.

艾德，我很想聽聽您對現在消費者所看到的情況的看法。過去幾個季度，您談到消費者對價格更加敏感，對促銷更加敏感，奧特萊斯的表現優於全價商店。只是好奇今年到目前為止，您如何看待消費者行為的演變。

Yes, good question. I think that mostly, the story is still the same there. So I don't think that overall consumer demand for discretionary goods, fashion goods is still relatively -- it's not the most robust environment I've ever seen. It's relatively metered out there when we talk to many of our key wholesale customers and other players in the industry.

是的，好問題。我認為大多數情況下，故事還是一樣的。因此，我認為消費者對非必需品、時尚商品的整體需求仍然相對較低——這不是我見過的最強勁的環境。當我們與許多主要批發客戶和業內其他參與者交談時，它是相對計量的。

And we do see a customer that still is price-sensitive. So again, we had an outlet business in the U.S. that significantly outperformed full price in terms of comps. We've been talking about roughly 1,000 basis point differential or even more. And we saw that again in Q1.

我們確實看到客戶仍然對價格敏感。再說一遍，我們在美國的直銷業務在比較方面明顯優於全價。我們一直在談論大約 1,000 個基點的差異甚至更多。我們在第一季再次看到了這一點。

Got it. And then if I could just follow up on the operating margin, 11% in 1Q is in line with your 2024 guidance. I know it's been a while since we've had a normal year. But historically, I think 1Q operating margins are usually a little bit lower than the full year. Just curious if there's anything abnormal to call out in terms of timing on SG&A investments or just how we should think about the phasing of EBIT margins this year.

知道了。然後，如果我能跟進營業利潤率，第一季的 11% 與你們 2024 年的指導一致。我知道我們已經有一段時間沒有過正常的一年了。但從歷史上看，我認為第一季的營業利潤率通常略低於全年。只是好奇在SG&A投資的時間安排上是否有任何異常之處，或者我們應該如何考慮今年息稅前利潤率的分階段。

Yes, I think if you recall last year, we had some timing of expenses on the SG&A side. And we think we're up about 10% versus 2022 in Q1. And that's kind of causing most of that shift.

是的，我想如果你還記得去年的話，我們在銷售、管理及行政費用方面有一些支出。我們認為第一季與 2022 年相比成長了約 10%。這就是造成大部分轉變的原因。

Yes. And I think just to follow up on that, yes, I still think that, that 11% is the right way to think about the full year.

是的。我認為只是跟進這一點，是的，我仍然認為 11% 是思考全年的正確方式。

And our next question comes from Corey Tarlowe of Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自傑富瑞 (Jefferies) 的科里·塔洛 (Corey Tarlowe)。

I was just wondering if you could perhaps dimensionalize how much the Easter shift impacted your business in the quarter. And then you also made some pretty encouraging commentary about your private label business in mass. So I was wondering if you could provide a little bit more detail about what you're seeing there.

我只是想知道您是否可以衡量復活節轉變對您本季業務的影響有多大。然後您也對您的自有品牌業務做出了一些非常令人鼓舞的評論。所以我想知道您是否可以提供有關您在那裡看到的內容的更多詳細資訊。

Sure. In terms of the Easter shift, it really wasn't that meaningful for us. We did also move a friends and family promotion back a couple of weeks, which offset part of that Easter shift for us. So it wasn't a big needle mover in the quarter.

當然。就復活節轉變而言，這對我們來說確實沒有那麼有意義。我們確實還將朋友和家人的促銷活動推遲了幾週，這抵消了我們復活節的部分影響。因此，本季這並不是一個大的推動因素。

And then in terms of the private label footwear business, yes, we're pretty pleased about what we're seeing there. Again, that's almost all done in the mass channel. And as we've talked about on previous calls, that was the channel where the big customers identified they had too much inventory in discretionary categories earliest and pulled back the soonest.

然後就自有品牌鞋類業務而言，是的，我們對在那裡看到的情況感到非常滿意。同樣，這幾乎都是在大眾頻道中完成的。正如我們在之前的電話會議中談到的那樣，這是大客戶最早發現他們的非必需品類庫存過多並最早撤回的管道。

And so we felt the pain there first. But we're also feeling the recovery there first. And we've seen a nice bounce-back in that business. And our private label footwear business is up about well north of 30% in Q1. And we expect to see another very strong quarter in that business in Q2.

所以我們首先感受到那裡的疼痛。但我們也先感受到了那裡的復甦。我們已經看到該業務出現了良好的反彈。我們的自有品牌鞋類業務在第一季成長了約 30%。我們預計第二季該業務將再次表現強勁。

That's great. And then just one quick follow-up to an earlier question, I think you mentioned that your Almost Famous margins have increased about 100 basis points. What's driving that? I'm curious to what the reasoning behind that is.

那太棒了。然後，我想對先前的問題進行快速跟進，我想您提到您的「Almost Famous」利潤率增加了約 100 個基點。是什麼推動了這一點？我很好奇背後的原因是什麼。

Yes. Most of that is coming in the form of gross margin. As you know, one of the strategies that we -- or one of the -- part of the rationale -- a big part of the rationale for doing the deal was to use Almost Famous as the platform to do Madden Girl apparel and Madden NYC apparel. And as we build those businesses, where -- which are obviously associated with $1 billion-plus brand with pricing power, we think there's some opportunity to get some margin, and we're starting to see that.

是的。其中大部分以毛利率的形式出現。如你所知，我們的策略之一——或者說其中之一——部分理由——進行這筆交易的一個重要部分就是利用Almost Famous作為平台來製作《Madden Girl》服裝和《Madden NYC》服飾。當我們建立這些業務時，這些業務顯然與具有定價能力的價值超過 10 億美元的品牌相關，我們認為有機會獲得一些利潤，而且我們已經開始看到這一點。

And our next question comes from Laura Champine of Loop.

我們的下一個問題來自 Loop 的 Laura Champine。

Your handbag business is just showing great growth. And I'm wondering if that growth is weighted significantly to any given channel or if it's more broad-based?

您的手袋業務剛剛呈現出巨大的成長勢頭。我想知道這種成長是否對任何特定管道都有顯著影響，或者是否具有更廣泛的基礎？

Yes, we're really seeing strength across all of the channels that we have Steve Madden handbags in. So that's something that we're pretty excited about. And look, we've been talking about this for a number of years on these calls now, but this is an area that we have made a lot of investment in and put a lot of focus on over the last several years. And we're just really pleased that we think that's really paying dividends.

是的，我們確實看到了所有銷售 Steve Madden 手袋的管道的實力。看，我們已經在這些電話會議上討論這個問題很多年了，但在過去幾年裡，我們在這個領域進行了大量投資並給予了很多關注。我們真的很高興我們認為這確實帶來了紅利。

I think it all for us really always starts with product. And I think that we have worked very hard to build a product engine in Steve Madden handbags that rivals what we have in shoes and is really consistently creating trend-right product with great style and quality that has a great price/value proposition that the customer is responding to. And so is translating to success really across channels.

我認為對我們來說，一切都始於產品。我認為，我們非常努力地在Steve Madden 手袋中建立了一個產品引擎，可以與我們的鞋子產品相媲美，並且始終如一地創造出符合潮流的產品，具有出色的風格和質量，並且具有很高的價格/價值主張，讓顧客滿意正在回應。真正跨渠道轉化為成功也是如此。

So the U.S. wholesale channel is great. But we're also seeing growth in DTC. It's been a big driver of our international growth. And look, this is a business that over the last 5 years is up high-teens on a compounded annual growth basis in revenue. So this is not something that's necessarily just -- we didn't just start having some success here. This has been a multiyear growth journey.

所以說美國的批發管道很棒。但我們也看到 DTC 的成長。這是我們國際成長的重要推手。瞧，這家企業在過去 5 年裡的營收年複合成長率一直在成長。所以這不一定只是——我們並不是剛開始在這裡取得一些成功。這是一個多年的成長歷程。

Are there any points of distribution where you really are underpenetrated in handbags, where you can use the success you've had in same doors to open new doors for handbags? Or do you think that you're fully penetrated at retail?

是否有任何經銷點是您在手袋方面真正滲透不足的地方，您可以利用在同一門領域取得的成功來為手袋打開新的大門？或者您認為您已經完全滲透到零售業了嗎？

Well, look, I mean, I think that there's tons of runway internationally and we've got great momentum there. So there's lots of opportunity for new distribution points there. In the U.S., we're probably in most of the channels that we want to be in. But we can grow within those channels and in particular -- but I think that our #1 focus in the U.S. is going to be growing in our own direct-to-consumer channels.

好吧，我的意思是，我認為國際上有很多跑道，我們在那裡有很大的動力。因此，那裡有很多建立新分銷點的機會。在美國，我們可能進入了我們想要進入的大多數管道。面向消費者的管道。

And our next question comes from Dana Telsey of Telsey Advisory Group.

我們的下一個問題來自特爾西諮詢集團的達納·特爾西。

As you think about the wholesale channel returning to growth, how did off-price do? And are we continuing to see the strength in the off-price retailers? Any change there in that particular channel? And then on the stores, you had mentioned last time beginning a remodel process. Where are you on that? Is it beginning? And lastly, Ed, do you see acquisitions out there? What would you be looking for? What would be attractive?

當您考慮批發管道恢復成長時，折扣表現如何？我們是否會繼續看到折扣零售商的實力？該特定頻道有什麼變化嗎？然後在商店上，您上次提到開始改造過程。你在哪裡？開始了嗎？最後，Ed，您是否看到了收購？您會尋找什麼？什麼會有吸引力？

Great. Thanks, Dana. All right. So in terms of the off-price, yes, that remains, obviously at least in the U.S., maybe the healthiest channel. Certainly, if you look at the comp store sales from those big retailers, they're exceeding what you're seeing from a lot of the other channels.

偉大的。謝謝，達納。好的。因此，就折扣而言，是的，這仍然是最健康的管道，至少在美國是這樣。當然，如果你看看那些大型零售商的比較店銷售額，你會發現它們超過了你從許多其他管道看到的銷售額。

And yes, the demand there for our products remains and our brands remains very strong. So that is definitely an area where we are seeing growth. Obviously, I just want to always remind you that we also make sure that we keep the distribution balance and don't get overweighted in that channel as well.

是的，那裡對我們產品的需求仍然存在，我們的品牌仍然非常強勁。所以這絕對是我們看到成長的領域。顯然，我只是想時刻提醒您，我們也確保保持分配平衡，並且不會在該管道中過度重視。

In terms of remodels, yes, that is in progress. And we're going to be continuing to remodel stores throughout the year and pretty excited for you all to see what we've got coming, especially in some of our flagship locations in places like New York City.

就改造而言，是的，正在進行中。我們將在這一年中繼續改造商店，我們非常高興大家能看到我們即將推出的產品，特別是在紐約市等地的一些旗艦店。

And then in terms of acquisitions, look, we're always going to keep our eyes and ears open and we'll be opportunistic. I don't know that there's a lot of color I can tell you exactly what we would do. But if we find another brand to add to the portfolio that's complementary to what we do and where we can add value and make a difference, that's certainly something we would look at.

然後在收購方面，看，我們總是會保持警惕，我們會抓住機會。我不知道有很多顏色我可以準確地告訴你我們會做什麼。但如果我們找到另一個品牌添加到產品組合中，與我們的業務互補，並且我們可以在其中增加價值並發揮作用，那麼我們肯定會考慮。

Got it. And then just one follow-up on international. Where are you seeing the strength there? Do you see the type of increase you had, the 40s, increasing going forward? Is it wholesale? Is it DTC? And any particular reasons that you'd call out with accelerated growth?

知道了。然後是國際比賽的一個後續行動。你從哪裡看到了那裡的力量？您是否看到 40 歲以後的成長類型會持續成長？是批發的嗎？是DTC嗎？您認為加速成長有什麼特別的原因嗎？

Yes. So the nice thing about -- in particular, what we saw in the first quarter was it was really balanced growth. We saw strong growth across each of our big international regions, again those being EMEA, the Americas ex U.S. and APAC. But the biggest driver of growth has really been EMEA.

是的。因此，特別是我們在第一季看到的好處是，成長確實平衡。我們在每個大型國際地區都看到了強勁的成長，同樣是歐洲、中東和非洲地區、美洲（不包括美國）和亞太地區。但最大的成長動力其實是歐洲、中東和非洲地區。

And as we pointed out in the prepared remarks, we continue to grow in Europe despite the fact that it's a challenging operating environment over there and a lot of folks are seeing their businesses decline. We're still growing there.

正如我們在準備好的演講中指出的那樣，儘管歐洲的營運環境充滿挑戰，而且許多人的業務正在下滑，但我們仍在歐洲繼續成長。我們仍然在那裡成長。

We're pretty excited about our new Middle East joint venture. And we're getting a lot of traction there and excited about the growth plans we have in that market. And we've been calling out South Africa. It's obviously not a huge market. But it's just -- we're seeing really explosive growth there. And so that's a nice contributor as well.

我們對我們新的中東合資企業感到非常興奮。我們在那裡受到了極大的關注，並對我們在該市場的成長計劃感到興奮。我們一直在呼籲南非。顯然這不是一個巨大的市場。但這只是——我們看到了那裡真正的爆炸性增長。所以這也是一個很好的貢獻者。

In terms of wholesale versus DTC, we're seeing expansion in both channels. But we are more penetrated in DTC in international relative to the U.S. And we think more of the growth will come from DTC channels in the coming years.

就批發與 DTC 而言，我們看到這兩個管道都在擴張。但相對於美國，我們在國際上的 DTC 滲透率更高，我們認為未來幾年更多的成長將來自 DTC 管道。

And for our next question, we have a follow-up from Sam Poser of Williams Trading.

對於我們的下一個問題，我們有來自 Williams Trading 的 Sam Poser 的後續回答。

Just some follow-ups to everybody's questions: one, about international; and then two, about private label competition at wholesale and DTC. I mean, it looks to me like your DTC business is showing off the strength of the Steve Madden footwear brand. And my guess is your outlet business isn't all giving stuff away, given the margins.

對大家提出的問題做一些後續回答：一是關於國際的；二是關於國際的。第二個是關於批發和 DTC 領域的自有品牌競爭。我的意思是，在我看來，你們的 DTC 業務正在展示 Steve Madden 鞋類品牌的實力。我的猜測是，考慮到利潤，你們的直銷業務並不都是免費贈送東西。

But on the wholesale side, retailers seem unwilling to step up to the degree of the product maybe selling through relative to your wholesale -- to your DTC business. So the question is with international and DTC, how do you get the penetration high enough to offset -- how long is it going to take to get the penetration high enough to offset the big wholesale customers not stepping up appropriately?

但在批發方面，零售商似乎不願意提高產品相對於批發（DTC 業務）的銷售程度。所以問題是，對於國際和 DTC，如何才能獲得足夠高的滲透率來抵消——需要多長時間才能使滲透率足夠高，以抵消大批客戶沒有適當加強的影響？

Well, look, we're on a path to and we have been making each of those businesses considerably more important and bigger pieces of our pie. I mean, if you go back to 2019, I think international was about 11% of our business. And now it's around 19%, 20% of our business. If you look at direct-to-consumer in 2019, I think it was 18% of the business. And now it's about 1/4 of the business or maybe a little higher.

好吧，看，我們正在走上一條道路，而且我們一直在使這些業務變得更加重要，並在我們的蛋糕中佔據更大的份額。我的意思是，如果你回到 2019 年，我認為國際業務約占我們業務的 11%。現在它約占我們業務的 19%、20%。如果你看看 2019 年的直接面向消費者，我認為它佔了業務的 18%。現在大約佔業務的 1/4，或者可能更高一點。

So we are increasing the penetration. It takes time. And this is -- we've got to go step-by-step here. But we do anticipate that each of those businesses will continue to increase in penetration and become more important to the overall over time.

所以我們正在增加滲透率。這需要時間。這就是——我們必須在這裡一步一步地進行。但我們確實預計，隨著時間的推移，這些業務中的每一項都將繼續提高滲透率，並對整體變得更加重要。

Does it take -- I mean, does it take more marketing? I mean, is it -- does it mean maybe coming out with a bigger campaign to drive people to you and to the brand overall and stepping up some just some really new enticing advertising, which you've had great success in the past of doing?

我的意思是，這需要更多的行銷嗎？我的意思是，這是否意味著可能會推出一場更大的活動來吸引人們關注你和整個品牌，並加強一些真正新的誘人的廣告，你過去在這方面已經取得了巨大的成功？

Well, look, we have been significantly increasing the marketing investment over the last several years. If you go back a handful of years, we were down below 2% of revenue in marketing. And you've seen that number rise consistently year-after-year. And now we're around 4.5% of revenue. And we've indicated we think that will continue to go north.

好吧，看，過去幾年我們一直在大幅增加行銷投資。如果你回顧幾年前，我們的行銷收入佔收入的比例還不到 2%。您已經看到這個數字逐年持續上升。現在我們的收入約佔 4.5%。我們已經表示，我們認為這種情況將繼續向北發展。

What -- whether that entails much bigger, splashier marketing campaigns or whether we deploy those dollars differently is something that we're continually looking at. But we are committed to investing in the brands and investing in enhanced marketing for our brands.

我們一直在關注什麼——是否需要更大、更引人注目的行銷活動，或者我們是否以不同的方式部署這些資金。但我們致力於投資品牌並投資於加強我們品牌的行銷。

I'm showing no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn it back to Ed Rosenfeld for closing remarks.

我目前沒有提出任何進一步的問題。我想請艾德·羅森菲爾德做結束語。

Great. Well, thanks so much for joining us today. Have a great day, and we look forward to speaking with you on the second quarter call.

偉大的。非常感謝您今天加入我們。祝您有美好的一天，我們期待在第二季的電話會議上與您交談。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。