Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (SMG) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. Welcome to Scotts Miracle-Gro third quarter 2025 earnings webcast. I'm Brad Shelton, Head of Investor Relations. Speaking today are Chairman and CEO, Jim Hagedorn; and Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer, Mark Scheiwer. Jim will provide a business update, followed by Mark with a review of our financial results.

早安.歡迎收聽 Scotts Miracle-Gro 2025 年第三季財報網路直播。我是投資者關係主管 Brad Shelton。今天發言的嘉賓包括董事長兼執行長 Jim Hagedorn，以及財務長兼首席會計官 Mark Scheiwer。 Jim 將介紹公司業務最新動態，隨後 Mark 將回顧我們的財務表現。

In conjunction with our commentary today, please review our earnings release and supplemental financial presentation slides, which were published on our website at investor.scotts.com prior to this webcast. During our review, we will make forward-looking statements and discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please be aware that our actual results could differ materially from what we shared today. Please refer to our Form 10-K filed with the SEC for details of the full range of risk factors that could impact our results.

結合我們今天的評論，請同時參閱我們的收益報告和補充財務演示幻燈片，這些幻燈片已在本次網絡直播之前發佈在我們的網站 investor.scotts.com 上。在審查期間，我們將做出前瞻性陳述並討論某些非公認會計準則 (non-GAAP) 財務指標。請注意，我們的實際結果可能與今天分享的結果有重大差異。有關可能影響我們業績的各種風險因素的詳細信息，請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 提交的 10-K 表格。

Following the webcast, President and Chief Operating Officer, Nate Baxter; and Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff, Chris Hagedorn, will join Jim and Mark for an audio-only Q&A session. To listen to the Q&A, simply remain on this webcast. To participate, please join by the audio link shared in our press release.

網路直播結束後，總裁兼營運長 Nate Baxter 和執行副總裁兼首席幕僚長 Chris Hagedorn 將與 Jim 和 Mark 一起參加純音訊問答環節。如需收聽問答，請繼續觀看此網路直播。如需參與，請透過我們新聞稿中提供的音訊連結加入。

As always, today's session will be recorded. An archived version will be published on our website. For further discussion after the call, please e-mail or call me directly.

像往常一樣，今天的會議將被錄音。存檔版本將在我們的網站上發布。會議結束後，如需進一步討論，請發送電子郵件或直接致電我。

With that, let's get started with Jim's business update.

下面，讓我們開始了解 Jim 的業務更新。

Thanks, Brad, and good morning everyone. Today I'm going to focus on two big topics. The first is our performance. We're delivering on all our key financial metrics. We've also gained another 2% of market share on top of last year's share gains. What's even more impressive is POS units across our categories are up 8% on the year.

謝謝布拉德，大家早安。今天我想重點談兩點。首先是我們的業績。我們所有關鍵財務指標都達到了預期。我們的市佔率在去年的基礎上又成長了2%。更令人印象深刻的是，我們各類別的POS機數量較去年同期增加了8%。

They're keeping pace with fiscal '24 trend that saw us drive 9% gains last year. It's clear our marketing and activation programs are working and our consumer is highly engaged. The year is playing out the way we had hoped, even though weather was not particularly great in the early season.

他們與2024財年的趨勢保持同步，去年我們實現了9%的成長。顯然，我們的行銷和活化計劃正在發揮作用，消費者的參與度也很高。儘管年初的天氣不太好，但今年的業績正如我們所希望的那樣。

The second thing I'll cover is our transformation and where we're headed. For most of the past two years, we've been focusing on internal initiatives to get our cost structure right, achieve efficiencies, and reorganize around our superpowers, our brands, supply chain, salesforce, and R&D.

我要談的第二件事是我們的轉型和未來發展方向。在過去兩年的大部分時間裡，我們一直專注於內部舉措，以完善成本結構、提高效率，並圍繞我們的超級優勢、品牌、供應鏈、銷售團隊和研發進行重組。

We put completely new teams in place to lead many facets of our business from marketing and sales to supply chain. And we've made a ton of progress. We've improved our balance sheet, gotten our leverage to a more normal level, increased profitability, and given ourselves greater flexibility to reinvest in those superpowers. We continue to adopt technology to drive further productivity and efficiency improvements well into the future.

我們組建了全新的團隊，領導從行銷、銷售到供應鏈等各個業務領域。我們取得了巨大的進步。我們的資產負債表得到了改善，槓桿率已降至更正常的水平，盈利能力有所提升，並且賦予了我們更大的靈活性，可以對這些超級優勢進行再投資。我們將繼續採用技術，以在未來進一步提升生產力和效率。

The next thing in our transformation checklist is a shift to outward facing initiatives involving our brands and our relationships with our consumers. We have the most powerful franchise in lawn and garden, and we're going to make it even better. We're deploying more resources and injecting new thinking into our approaches to marketing, messaging, channel expansion, and innovation.

我們轉型清單中的下一項是轉向面向外部的舉措，涉及我們的品牌和與消費者的關係。我們擁有草坪和花園領域最強大的特許經營權，我們將使其更加出色。我們正在投入更多資源，並在行銷、資訊傳遞、管道擴展和創新方面注入新的思維。

We'll connect with consumers differently, communicate with them differently, and advertise differently. All this transformation work, both internally and externally, is setting us up to create a world-class consumer goods company that brings more consumers into our category and achieves greater levels of growth.

我們將以不同的方式與消費者建立聯繫，以不同的方式與他們溝通，並以不同的方式進行廣告宣傳。所有這些內部和外部的轉型工作，都是為了打造一家世界級的消費品公司，吸引更多消費者關注我們的產品類別，並實現更大的成長。

Before I dig deeper into the transformation, I want to address our results this year. With a clear view into the final months of fiscal 25, we're reaffirming our EBITDA guidance and expect to fully deliver on our top and bottom line metrics. US consumer sales are in line with our guidance of low single digit growth. Year-to-date, EBITDA increased 9%, EPS rose 24%.

在深入探討轉型之前，我想先談談我們今年的表現。展望25財年的最後幾個月，我們重申EBITDA指引，並預期全面實現營收和利潤指標。美國消費者銷售額符合我們低個位數成長的指引。年初至今，EBITDA成長9%，每股盈餘成長24%。

Leverage improved by more than 1.25 turns and gross margin is above 30%. We're accomplishing what we set out to do. As I said, POS is a good story. The POS unit increase so far this year has been led by soils at 12%, mulch increased 8%, controls up 3%.

槓桿率提高了1.25倍以上，毛利率超過30%。我們正在完成既定目標。正如我所說，POS業務表現不錯。今年迄今，POS業務成長最快的是土壤業務（成長12%）、覆蓋物業務（成長8%）和農作物控制業務（成長3%）。

Lawns is a special example. POS units for branded lawn fertilizers are up 1%. Halts, our early season fertilizer product, had a 25% unit increase over prior year, while grass seed units were up 16%. You may recall that I asked the team to hold the line on this high margin business. It's been on a unit volume decline in recent years.

草坪業務就是一個特殊的例子。品牌草坪肥料的銷售點銷售成長了1%。我們的早熟肥料產品Halts的銷售量比去年增長了25%，而草籽銷量增長了16%。你可能還記得，我曾經要求團隊控制這項高利潤業務。近年來，該業務的銷量一直在下降。

They've done a great job of putting together a program to start reversing the trend. There's a regional component underlying these POS numbers. Weather challenges in early Q3 impacted the lawn's business. It was an extremely late breaking spring in the Northeast, and Texas was saddled with lingering cold and rain. But we're better at navigating this unpredictability.

他們出色地制定了扭轉趨勢的計劃。這些POS數據背後隱藏著區域因素。第三季初的天氣挑戰影響了草坪業務。當時東北部春季來得極為晚，德州則持續受到寒冷和降雨的困擾。但我們更擅長應付這種不可預測的天氣。

Nate and his planning group have a lot of tools that enable us to adjust and maximize our promotional and advertising activities. If one region is getting bad weather, we strategically shift our media plans to where it's better, and that's what we did in lawns.

Nate 和他的策劃團隊擁有豐富的工具，可以幫助我們調整和最大化我們的宣傳和廣告活動。如果某個地區天氣惡劣，我們會策略性地將媒體計畫轉移到天氣較好的地方，我們在草坪廣告方面就是這麼做的。

When it became clear that challenges in Texas would cause us to miss our Bonus S target for POS and consistent poor weather in the Northeast would push back the season, we redirected those resources to the Midwest.

當我們意識到德州的挑戰將導致我們無法實現 POS 的 Bonus S 目標，而東北地區持續惡劣的天氣將推遲這個季節時，我們將這些資源重新分配到中西部。

Let me take you through those Midwest numbers through Q3. Of the big regions that had more traditional weather patterns and best reflects the results of the changes that we made. Across the entire branded lawn's portfolio, POS units were up 16% in the Midwest region.

讓我來跟大家回顧一下截至第三季的中西部地區數據。在氣候模式較為傳統、最能體現我們變革成果的幾個大地區中，我們在整個品牌草坪產品組合中，中西部地區的POS機數量增加了16%。

Lawn fertilizer exceeded expectations at 9%, as did grass seed, which increased 23%. Spreader POS units often indicate newer users entering the category, also grew by 24%. What lawns was able to drive in the Midwest more than offset what we're dealing with in Texas and the Northeast.

草坪肥料的銷售量超出預期，達到9%，草籽的銷售量也成長了23%。撒播機POS機的銷售通常預示著有新用戶進入該類別，也成長了24%。草坪肥料在中西部地區的銷售量遠遠超過了我們在德州和東北部地區的銷售量。

Overall, our company's performance demonstrates the strength of our consumer business. Lawn and garden is extremely healthy and no one can provide the solutions we do, and no one can drive consumer engagement like we can.

整體而言，我們公司的業績反映了我們消費者業務的實力。草坪和花園業務極其健康，沒有人能像我們一樣提供解決方案，也沒有人能像我們一樣推動消費者參與。

Here's some more context. Our unit buying growth since 2019 is plus 30%. Lawn and garden is resilient, and there aren't many industries out there that can achieve this kind of growth. US consumer sales are also tracking to one of our longer term priorities, sustained sales growth averaging 3% annually.

以下是更多背景資訊。自2019年以來，我們的單位採購量增加了30%。草坪和花園產業具有韌性，很少有產業能夠實現這樣的成長。美國消費者的銷售額也符合我們的長期目標之一，即維持年均3%的持續銷售成長。

In 2024, our consumer sales were up 6%. Add that to this year's growth path and we're tracking to be where we said we want to be. When we first embarked on our transformation journey, I told my team members we must be willing to challenge the status quo and stop doing things the same way.

2024年，我們的消費者銷售額成長了6%。加上今年的成長軌跡，我們正朝著我們所謂的目標邁進。當我們最初踏上轉型之旅時，我告訴團隊成員，我們必須勇於挑戰現狀，不再墨守成規。

We had to reprioritize, streamline, and find ways to invest more in our superpowers. That's the impetus behind the internal transformation work. We have significantly reduced costs and driven efficiencies. At the same time, we're ramping up technology in our supply chain, from automated packaging and advanced assembly robotics to drone technology for inventory control. And we still have more work to do.

我們必須重新調整優先級，精簡流程，並尋找方法加大對自身優勢的投入。這正是內部轉型工作的動力。我們大幅降低了成本，並提高了效率。同時，我們正在加強供應鏈技術升級，從自動化包裝、先進的組裝機器人到用於庫存控制的無人機技術。我們還有很多工作要做。

In fact, a sizable part of our planned capital investment spend from fiscal '25 through '28 is earmarked for transformation-related projects. And we continue to expand our use of AI. Marketing is in the early stages of using it to churn out consumer facing content, and an AI bot is giving our in-store sales teams fast access to product information.

事實上，我們25財年至28財年的資本投資計畫中，相當一部分已指定用於轉型相關項目。我們也持續拓展人工智慧的應用。行銷部門正處於利用人工智慧大量生產面向消費者內容的早期階段，而人工智慧機器人則幫助我們的店內銷售團隊快速獲取產品資訊。

An AI chat agent is on our brand sites and providing consumers with support. As we look to Q4 and fiscal '26, our transformation work will shift outward. To bring new consumers into Scotts Miracle-Gro, we must get better at addressing their needs and wants.

我們的品牌網站上有一位人工智慧聊天代理，為消費者提供支援。展望第四季和2026財年，我們的轉型工作將轉向外部。為了吸引新消費者加入Scotts Miracle-Gro，我們必須更好地滿足他們的需求和願望。

Here's what our research shows. Lawn and garden is part of a broader wellness lifestyle for more consumers. It's no longer just about outdoor upkeep. It's a source of well-being and expression in outdoor and indoor spaces.

我們的研究顯示：草坪和花園已成為更多消費者更廣泛健康生活方式的一部分。它不再只是戶外維護的需要，而是成為人們在室內外空間中感受幸福感和表達自我的來源。

Consumers discover and engage brands through digital experiences first. They expect the brands to be where they spend time. Consumers are personalizing lawn and garden purchases based on their values. This includes native plants for biodiversity, container gardens for smaller spaces, and organic herbs for cooking.

消費者首先透過數位體驗發現並接觸品牌。他們希望品牌出現在他們所花時間的地方。消費者正在根據自己的價值觀定制草坪和花園產品的購買。這包括為了生物多樣性而購買的本地植物、適合較小空間的盆栽花園，以及用於烹飪的有機香草。

Today's consumers want options that align with their priorities, and that includes products that are safe around their families and their pets. As part of our continued success, we'll focus on the following. One, we'll meet consumers where they are.

如今的消費者希望獲得符合其優先考慮的選擇，其中包括對家人和寵物安全的產品。為了持續取得成功，我們將專注於以下幾點。首先，我們將滿足消費者的需求。

The retail store is important for most consumers, and will continue to invest in driving store traffic through joint retailer programs and television news, and sports advertising. But we'll also shift more advertising and marketing resources to where younger consumers gather and go for information.

零售店對大多數消費者來說都很重要，我們將繼續透過聯合零售商計畫、電視新聞和體育廣告來增加門市客流量。但我們也會將更多的廣告和行銷資源轉移到年輕消費者聚集和獲取資訊的地方。

This includes streaming services, social media sites, influencers, and places like Substack, YouTube, and Reddit. There's a huge potential on these online venues. The gardening thread alone on Reddit has over 8 million members.

這包括串流媒體服務、社交媒體網站、網紅以及 Substack、YouTube 和 Reddit 等平台。這些線上平台潛力巨大。光是 Reddit 上的園藝主題貼文就有超過 800 萬會員。

Two, we'll develop fresh messaging that speaks to their needs, often building on our work with the OG influencer, Martha Stewart, our Chief Gardening Officer. We're creating a bank of young influencers who inspire consumers to come into our world.

第二，我們將打造全新的品牌訊息，滿足消費者的需求，這通常會以我們與首席園藝官、資深園藝影響者瑪莎·斯圖爾特的合作為基礎。我們正在打造一個年輕影響者庫，激勵消費者走進我們的世界。

Traditionally, our marketing message have centered on product efficacy and results. While that's important, our creative approaches will paint a bigger picture for consumers, one that creates emotional connections to lawn and garden as being integral to their lifestyles.

傳統上，我們的行銷訊息以產品功效和效果為中心。雖然這很重要，但我們的創意方法將為消費者描繪出更廣闊的圖景，讓消費者與草坪和花園建立情感聯繫，使其成為他們生活方式中不可或缺的一部分。

Three, we will expand in e-commerce, including retailer sites, our own e-comm platform, and social media. We'll be on Instagram, TikTok, and other places in bigger ways. This year, we made a stronger push to engage consumers through e-commerce.

第三，我們將拓展電商業務，包括零售商網站、我們自己的電商平台以及社群媒體。我們將在Instagram、TikTok等平台上進行更大規模的推廣。今年，我們加大了透過電商吸引消費者的力度。

And we've driven a 54% increase in online POS unit sales. This month, we launched Ortho's new mosquito control product for the first time through a TikTok store, and we sold out in one day. We will go further down this digital road in 2026.

我們的線上POS機銷量成長了54%。本月，我們首次透過TikTok店推出了Ortho的新款蚊蟲控制產品，並在一天內售罄。 2026年，我們將在數位化道路上更進一步。

Four, our R&D pipeline is healthy and leans more heavily to emerging consumers, who will be our core consumer in the next 10 years. It includes more natural and organic solutions, along with products that are simpler to use. We also have a team committed to the future development of biological solutions as an alternative to synthetics.

第四，我們的研發產品線健康，並且更專注於新興消費者，他們將成為我們未來10年的核心消費者。這其中包括更多天然有機的解決方案，以及更易於使用的產品。我們還有一個團隊致力於未來開發生物解決方案，以取代合成產品。

Miracle-Gro organic demonstrates how effective this can be. It's now about 1/5 of our total soil sales, and it's increasing. Much of the engagement with this product line has come from new consumers. All of this transformation talk takes me back to lawns.

Miracle-Gro 有機產品證明了這一點的有效性。它目前約占我們土壤總銷售額的五分之一，而且還在持續成長中。該產品線的用戶大多來自新消費者。所有這些轉型話題都讓我回想起草坪。

The team established a foundation this year by simplifying promotions and refocusing marketing efforts around the value of feeding. Not just once, but multiple times, to get the best results, and it's working. This is a down payment on the future of this business. The team is now remaking the entire portfolio, starting in fiscal '26, and I've asked John Sass, our Senior Vice President of Lawns, to tell you about it.

今年，團隊簡化了促銷活動，並將行銷重點重新集中在餵食價值上，奠定了堅實的基礎。為了取得最佳效果，我們不只一次地進行了改進，而且效果顯著。這是對公司未來發展的預付款。團隊目前正在重塑整個產品組合，從26財年開始，我已經邀請草坪業務高級副總裁約翰·薩斯來向大家介紹一下。

Thanks, Jim, and hello everyone. As you just heard, we're in the middle of a radical transformation of our lawns business, and the early success we're seeing this year is just the first step in remaking of our Turf Builder portfolio.

謝謝，吉姆，大家好。正如你們剛才聽到的，我們正在徹底轉型草坪業務，今年的初步成功只是重塑草坪建造商產品組合的第一步。

Now, I don't use the word transformation lightly when it comes to what we're doing on lawns. We have hit the reset button, challenging every aspect of this business and our conventional way of thinking. And I could tell you this has been an all hands on deck effort, and the result is going to be an entirely new product line, laser focused on the needs for the next generation of consumers.

現在，談到我們在草坪領域所做的一切，我絕對不會輕率地使用「轉型」這個詞。我們按下了“重啟鍵”，挑戰了這項業務的各個方面以及我們傳統的思維方式。我可以告訴你們，這是全員齊心協力的努力，最終的結果將是一個全新的產品線，它將專注於滿足下一代消費者的需求。

Simply put, consumers want to have a great lawn they can enjoy with their family and pets, and that's what we're going to give them. So what are we doing? Well, I'll boil it down to these three major work streams. First, a completely revamped product line. This new lineup will have new enhanced formulas that perform better, and will give consumers an incredible result.

簡而言之，消費者希望擁有一片可以與家人和寵物共享的優質草坪，而這正是我們要滿足他們的願望。那麼，我們究竟在做什麼呢？我將其歸結為三大主要工作方向。首先，全新升級的產品線。這一系列產品將採用全新升級的配方，性能更佳，將為消費者帶來意想不到的效果。

We're standardizing the sizes, and we're going to roll out a fresh new packaging design as well, but here's the best part, lower retail price points. Our supply chain is the best in the business, and their efforts have enabled us to build an entirely new pricing structure that's going to be hard for others to match.

我們正在統一尺寸，還將推出全新的包裝設計，但最棒的是，零售價更低。我們的供應鏈是業內最好的，他們的努力使我們能夠建立一個全新的定價結構，而其他公司很難效仿。

With a new product lineup like that, it requires an entirely new media and advertising strategy, which is our second major work stream. You see, having a great lawn is easy as long as you feed on a regular basis. Our shift in media will evolve and expand beyond just a heavy spring campaign.

像這樣的新產品陣容，需要全新的媒體和廣告策略，這是我們第二大的工作重點。要知道，只要定期施肥，擁有一片美麗的草坪並不難。我們的媒體轉型將持續發展和拓展，而不僅僅是大規模的春季宣傳活動。

You're going to start to hear and see our messages pulsing throughout the entire year, reminding consumers when it's time to feed. We will continue with our Citizens of the Lawn campaign highlighting the lawn enjoyment and the fact that it is safe to use our products around kids and pets.

您將全年都能聽到和看到我們不斷更新的訊息，提醒消費者何時需要餵食。我們將繼續進行「草坪公民」活動，強調草坪的樂趣，以及在兒童和寵物周圍使用我們的產品是安全的。

And thirdly, as we get consumers excited about the category, we're working closely with our retail partners to build promotional programs that incentivize consumers for multiple feedings. So as you can see, we are transforming this entire business and we're excited about where we're taking this category. This approach will give consumers an incredible lawn, one that they can feel just as good about what they're putting on it as they do playing on it.

第三，隨著消費者對這個類別的興趣不斷升溫，我們正在與零售合作夥伴密切合作，制定促銷計劃，激勵消費者多次餵食。如您所見，我們正在徹底改變整個行業，我們對這個類別的未來發展充滿期待。這種方法將為消費者帶來一片令人讚嘆的草坪，讓他們在草坪上玩耍時，既能感受到草坪的舒適，也能感受到草坪的樂趣。

Thanks, John. The performance of our lawns business is very important to the SMG P&L and our overall financial health. John and the team have made tremendous progress, and I'm really comfortable where they're taking us.

謝謝，約翰。草坪業務的業績對SMG的損益表和整體財務狀況至關重要。約翰和他的團隊取得了巨大的進步，我對他們未來的發展充滿信心。

I want to go back and emphasize something for our retailers. Our partnerships are essential to both our success and their success. While we will expand our channels and marketing approaches, we view our retail activation programs as powerful tools in driving consumer takeaway.

我想再次強調我們零售商的一些觀點。我們的合作關係對於我們和零售商的成功至關重要。雖然我們會拓展通路和行銷方式，但我們認為零售活化計畫是推動消費者外送的有力工具。

Retailers who leaned in with us this year took market share and grew their lawn and garden business by double digits. Those who didn't go all in, did not see the same level of growth. It's a winning formula and it has to be a team effort. We'll continue to fund future investments in retailer activations, which exceed our advertising spend as long as the participating retailers help drive our POS.

今年與我們攜手的零售商搶佔了市場份額，草坪和花園業務實現了兩位數成長。而那些沒有全力以赴的零售商則沒有達到同樣的成長水準。這是一個成功的秘訣，需要團隊共同努力。我們將繼續為未來零售商活動投入資金，只要參與活動的零售商能夠推動我們的銷售點 (POS) 銷售量，這些投入將超過我們的廣告支出。

Shifting to Hawthorne, divesting this business is transformation too. We'll continue to work toward a solution, and I expect to make progress on this front by the close of Q4. As I stated before, the divestiture would put us where we need to be.

轉移到霍桑，剝離這項業務也是一種轉型。我們將繼續努力尋找解決方案，我預計在第四季末在這方面取得進展。正如我之前所說，剝離將使我們達到我們需要的目標。

The consumer lawn and garden leader with consistent earnings, less share price volatility, and enhanced ability to invest in growth. In the meantime, Hawthorne continues to do the right things to move the business forward. They've now delivered three straight quarters of profitability.

消費性草坪和花園產業的領導者，獲利穩定，股價波動較小，並增強了投資成長的能力。與此同時，Hawthorne 繼續採取正確措施推動業務發展。他們已連續三個季度獲利。

When you're looking at what we're doing across our business, we're building a world-class consumer goods company with financials to match. This includes delivering greater shareholder returns and achieving these three high-level targets we've established to start the year.

縱觀我們各項業務的進展，我們發現我們正在打造一家世界級的消費品公司，並擁有與之相匹配的財務表現。這包括實現更高的股東回報，以及實現我們在年初設定的三大目標。

Annual sustained US consumer sales growth of at least 3%, a gross margin rate of 35% or higher, and EBITDA gains in the mid to high single digit percentages. That leads me to fiscal '26. Our plans are coming together. And as usual, we'll tell you more about that in our Q4 call.

美國消費者銷售額年均持續成長至少3%，毛利率達到或超過35%，EBITDA增幅達到中高個位數百分比。這引領我展望26財年。我們的計劃正在逐步成型。和往常一樣，我們將在第四季電話會議上進一步透露相關資訊。

It is our intent to take pricing next year, and these discussions are happening now with our retailers. We've held the line on price in the past few years while our costs, like everyone else's, have risen. Pricing helps us drive the business, and it is not purely about making more money. It will give us more resources to invest in innovation and activation too.

我們計劃明年開始定價，目前正在與零售商進行討論。過去幾年，我們的成本和所有公司一樣上漲，但我們一直保持價格穩定。定價有助於我們推動業務發展，而不僅僅是為了賺錢。定價也能讓我們有更多資源投入創新和活化方面。

I'll close with this. We're doing exactly what we said we would do. We've improved our financials and strengthened our balance sheet. We're investing in our superpowers and the fundamentals that make our consumer franchise unique. And we're making all the right moves that will result in a premium valuation of our equity.

最後，我想說的是：我們正在按照我們承諾的去做。我們的財務狀況得到了改善，資產負債表也得到了加強。我們正在投資我們的超級能力以及使我們的消費者業務與眾不同的基本面。我們正在採取所有正確的舉措，這將使我們的股權獲得溢價估值。

I appreciate the work of our leadership team and our associates and the support and guidance of our Board of Directors. I also want to thank our banks and our retailers for their partnership. As always, I appreciate our shareholders for being part of our company. Thank you.

我感謝我們領導團隊和員工的努力，以及董事會的支持和指導。我還要感謝銀行和零售商的合作。一如既往，我感謝股東們對我們公司的支持。謝謝大家。

Thank you, Jim. And hello everyone. We delivered a strong quarter, continuing the momentum we've built through the year. Jim discussed the substantial progress we've made on the financial metrics that are foundational to our fiscal '25 plan.

謝謝吉姆。大家好。我們本季業績強勁，延續了全年的良好勢頭。吉姆談到了我們在2025財年計劃基礎財務指標方面取得的重大進展。

When you look at our performance we are well positioned to deliver on the fiscal '25 guidance for US consumer sales, gross margin, EBITDA, EPS, free cash flow, and leverage. We have momentum and you can expect us to drive continued improvements in our financial performance through fiscal year end and well into the future as we increase confidence in our growth plans.

從我們的業績來看，我們完全有能力實現2025財年美國消費者銷售額、毛利率、EBITDA、每股盈餘、自由現金流量和槓桿率的預期目標。我們勢頭強勁，隨著我們對成長計畫的信心不斷增強，您可以期待我們在本財年末乃至未來繼續提升財務表現。

With this background, I'll review the financial details. The overarching story is the power and health of our US consumer business. For the quarter, US consumer net sales were $1.03 billion versus $1.02 billion last year, an increase of 1%.

在此背景下，我將回顧一下財務細節。最重要的一點是我們美國消費者業務的強勁和健康。本季，美國消費者業務淨銷售額為10.3億美元，去年同期為10.2億美元，成長了1%。

When you exclude the non-reoccurring AeroGarden and bulk raw material sales from fiscal '24, US consumer sales increased 2% over the prior year quarter. Year-to-date through our third quarter, US consumer net sales were $2.68 billion, down 1% versus $2.7 billion in the corresponding period last year.

若剔除24財年非經常性AeroGarden及大宗原物料銷售額，美國消費者銷售額較上年同期成長2%。截至第三季度，美國消費者淨銷售額為26.8億美元，較去年同期的27億美元下降1%。

However, when you exclude the non-recurring sales I just mentioned, US consumer sales increased 1% over prior year. These gains were driven by organic volume growth, along with continued strong performance of new products such as the expanded Miracle-Gro organics line that were initially listed in fiscal '24.

然而，如果剔除我剛才提到的非經常性銷售額，美國消費者銷售額年增1%。這些成長主要得益於有機銷售的成長，以及新產品的持續強勁表現，例如最初於24財年上市的Miracle-Gro有機產品系列。

At the start of the year Jim outlined his priorities for our business, that included driving sustained average annual sales growth of 3%. When looking at our combined sales growth over fiscal '24 and '25 for US consumer, we are on pace to deliver on this target.

今年年初，Jim 概述了他為我們的業務制定的優先事項，其中包括推動年均銷售額持續成長 3%。縱觀我們 24 財年和 25 財年在美國消費者市場的綜合銷售成長，我們正穩步實現這一目標。

US Consumer sales for both the quarter and the year are tracking to the guidance we provided for fiscal '25, which is low single digit increase, excluding the non-reoccurring AeroGarden and bulk raw material sales from fiscal '24.

本季和全年的美國消費者銷售額均與我們為 25 財年提供的指引一致，即低個位數成長，不包括 24 財年的非經常性 AeroGarden 和大宗原物料銷售額。

From a trend perspective, I want to call out a shift this year. Many retailers have modified their replenishment activities to align more closely with the POS sales curve as they balance their inventories not just in lawn and garden but across multiple categories.

從趨勢角度來看，我想指出今年的一個轉變。許多零售商已經調整了補貨活動，使其與POS銷售曲線更加緊密地保持一致，因為他們不僅平衡草坪和花園產品的庫存，還平衡了多個品類的庫存。

Our supply chain and sales teams are working closely with retailers to navigate this adjusted approach and ensure we are positioned to capture all sell through opportunities through the fall season.

我們的供應鏈和銷售團隊正在與零售商密切合作，以適應這種調整後的方法，並確保我們能夠抓住秋季的所有銷售機會。

This said, as we prepare to close July, our order book is strong, giving us confidence in steady retail replenishment as we load in for the fall season.

話雖如此，隨著我們準備結束 7 月份，我們的訂單量很大，這讓我們對秋季進貨時的穩定零售補貨充滿信心。

Now let's look at Hawthorne and our total company net sales. For the quarter, Hawthorne net sales were $31 million, down from $68 million in the prior year, but roughly flat to the last quarter. Year-to-date through Q3, Hawthorne net sales were $116 million versus $214 million a year ago. The decline is a result of the continued hydroponic market softness, combined with the expected impact of our exit from third party distribution last year.

現在讓我們來看看Hawthorne和我們公司的整體淨銷售額。本季度，Hawthorne的淨銷售額為3,100萬美元，低於去年同期的6,800萬美元，但與上一季基本持平。截至第三季度，Hawthorne的年初至今淨銷售額為1.16億美元，去年同期為2.14億美元。這一下降是由於水耕市場持續疲軟，以及我們去年退出第三方分銷業務的預期影響。

It's worth noting that Hawthorne continues to be positive EBITDA levels for the past three quarters and year-to-date has earned around $6 million in an adjusted EBITDA. Total company net sales for the third quarter were $1.19 billion, down 1% versus $1.2 billion a year ago.

值得注意的是，Hawthorne 的 EBITDA 在過去三個季度持續保持正值，年初至今的調整後 EBITDA 利潤約為 600 萬美元。第三季公司淨銷售額為 11.9 億美元，較去年同期的 12 億美元下降 1%。

Year-to-date, total net sales were $3.03 billion versus $3.14 billion, a decline of 3.6%. The decline is attributable to the lower Hawthorne sales, combined with the non-reoccurring AeroGarden and bulk raw material sales for fiscal '24.

年初至今，總淨銷售額為 30.3 億美元，去年同期為 31.4 億美元，下降 3.6%。下降的原因是 Hawthorne 銷售額下降，加上 2024 財年非經常性 AeroGarden 和大宗原物料銷售下降。

Getting back to the US consumer business, POS is strong. And in the third quarter, POS units exceeded prior year by 6%. Year-to-date POS units were up 8%. Excluding mulch, POS units increased 10% in the third quarter and 8% through the first nine months of our fiscal year.

回到美國消費者業務，POS 表現強勁。第三季度，POS 台數較上年同期成長 6%。年初至今，POS 台數增加了 8%。不包括地膜業務，POS 台數在第三季成長了 10%，本財年前九個月成長了 8%。

E-commerce sales are a good story as well. Year-to-date, POS through online and retailer e-comm sites are up 24% versus prior year, a reflection of our proactive efforts to drive more business through these channels. E-commerce sales now reflect approximately 10% of our total POS dollars, with plenty of room to grow in the future.

電子商務銷售也表現不俗。年初至今，透過線上和零售商電商網站的POS機銷售額較上年增長了24%，這反映了我們積極透過這些管道推動業務成長的努力。目前，電子商務銷售額約占我們POS機總銷售額的10%，未來仍有龐大的成長空間。

As for specific categories, a 1% POS unit gain year-to-date in branded lawn fertilizers reversed a multi-year downward trend. Other POS unit bright spots include grass seed up 16%, soils up 12%, mulch up 8%, and controls up 3% all year-to-date.

具體品類來看，品牌草坪肥料的銷售點（POS）銷售量年初至今成長1%，扭轉了多年來的下降趨勢。其他銷售點銷售亮點包括草籽銷量成長16%，土壤銷量成長12%，覆蓋物銷量成長8%，以及農業化學品銷量年初至今成長3%。

Within the controls category, selective and non-selective weed control products were down versus the same period last year, due to cooler and wetter weather extending into the spring and early summer, along with competitive pressures.

在控制類別中，選擇性和非選擇性除草產品的銷售量與去年同期相比有所下降，原因是春季和初夏天氣轉冷、潮濕，加上競爭壓力。

This trend has reversed as heat impacting much of the country is now contributing to elevated weed and insect pressure. As a result, beginning in late June and continuing in July, we've seen double-digit increases in POS units for key controls products.

這一趨勢已經逆轉，因為目前美國大部分地區正遭受高溫侵襲，導致雜草和害蟲滋生壓力加大。因此，從6月底開始一直持續到7月，我們觀察到主要防控產品的POS銷售量呈現兩位數成長。

Looking at POS dollars, they were flat in the quarter, and through the first nine months were up 1%. The difference between our POS unit and dollar growth is primarily a reflection of strong POS for our soils and mulch products, which have lower unit dollar values, combined with the increase in joint promotional activities with our retailers.

從POS銷售額來看，本季持平，前九個月則成長了1%。 POS單位銷售額和銷售成長之間的差異主要體現在我們土壤和覆蓋物產品POS銷售額強勁，這些產品的單位銷售額較低，加上我們與零售商聯合促銷活動的增加。

These promotions, along with our continued strong investment in advertising, have played a critical role in driving increased consumer engagement in an environment of macroeconomic volatility and uncertainty.

這些促銷活動，加上我們在廣告方面的持續大力投資，在宏觀經濟波動和不確定的環境中，在推動消費者參與度提高方面發揮了關鍵作用。

Moving to gross margin, we delivered strong improvement for the quarter. The non-GAAP adjusted gross margin rate improved nearly 300 basis points, and we are on track to achieve our target of a 30% non-GAAP adjusted gross margin rate for the full fiscal year.

談到毛利率，本季我們實現了強勁成長。非公認會計準則 (Non-GAAP) 調整後毛利率提升了近 300 個基點，我們預計將實現全年非公認會計準則 (Non-GAAP) 調整後毛利率 30% 的目標。

Primary drivers of the third quarter increase are improved product mix and lower material, manufacturing, and distribution costs. The impact of tariffs on our fiscal '25 gross margin is minimal, as 90% of cost of goods sold is domestically sourced, and our total cost of goods is greater than 95% locked for the current fiscal year.

第三季業績成長的主要驅動力在於產品組合的最佳化以及材料、製造和分銷成本的降低。關稅對我們25財年毛利率的影響微乎其微，因為90%的銷售成本來自國內採購，而我們本財年的總成本已鎖定95%以上。

As you might recall, we planned for this improvement, which included $75 million of US consumer supply chain cost savings and material cost deflation this year. And our supply chain team has more than delivered on this goal, so a big shout out to the team for their outstanding execution.

您可能還記得，我們​​制定了這項改進計劃，其中包括今年在美國消費者供應鏈上節省7500萬美元的成本，並降低材料成本。我們的供應鏈團隊已經超額完成了這一目標，因此，我們要向團隊的出色執行表示由衷的感謝。

Looking ahead, as a reminder, our supply chain team is working hard on delivering an additional $75 million of cost savings over the course of fiscal '26 and '27 as part of our previously communicated long-term commitment to gross margin recovery and reinvestments in our brands.

展望未來，需要提醒的是，我們的供應鏈團隊正在努力在 26 財年和 27 財年期間額外節省 7500 萬美元的成本，這是我們之前傳達的對毛利率恢復和對我們品牌的再投資的長期承諾的一部分。

Lastly, as we look to our fourth quarter, we will lap one-time inventory write-offs of $29 million recorded in last year's fiscal fourth quarter. For the third quarter, the GAAP gross margin rate was 31.8% versus 29.5% in prior year. And the non-GAAP adjusted gross margin rate was 32.1% versus 29.2%.

最後，展望第四季度，我們將計入去年第四財季記錄的2,900萬美元一次性庫存註銷。第三季度，GAAP毛利率為31.8%，去年同期為29.5%。非GAAP調整後毛利率為32.1%，去年同期為29.2%。

Year-to-date, the GAAP gross margin rate was 33.7% versus 28% in prior year, and the non-GAAP adjusted gross margin rate was 34.3% versus 30.2%.

年初至今，GAAP 毛利率為 33.7%，去年同期為 28%，非 GAAP 調整後毛利率為 34.3%，去年同期為 30.2%。

Looking down the P&L, SG&A for the quarter increased 4% from $148 million to $153 million, and year-to-date, SG&A increased 6% from $441 million to $467 million. This increase was planned and is attributable to performance incentive accruals, incremental investments in our brands, and transformation-related investments. We continue to expect our current year SG&A to be approximately 17% of net sales versus 16% last year.

從損益表來看，本季銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 成長 4%，從 1.48 億美元增至 1.53 億美元；年初至今，銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 成長 6%，從 4.41 億美元增至 4.67 億美元。這一成長符合計劃，歸因於績效獎勵應計項目、品牌增量投資以及轉型相關投資。我們預計本年度銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 佔淨銷售額的比例約為 17%，而去年為 16%。

Moving to EBITDA, in the third quarter, adjusted EBITDA improved from $237 million to $256 million. Through the first nine months, adjusted EBITDA increased over 9%, a $56 million improvement from $607 million in fiscal '24 to $663 million this year. This year-over-year gain reflects our strong gross margin improvement, partially offset by higher SG&A.

談到息稅折舊攤提前利潤 (EBITDA)，第三季調整後EBITDA從2.37億美元增加至2.56億美元。前九個月，調整後EBITDA成長超過9%，從2024財年的6.07億美元增至今年的6.63億美元，增幅達5,600萬美元。這一同比增長反映了我們強勁的毛利率提升，但銷售、一般及行政費用的增加部分抵消了這一增長。

As we've consistently stated, we reaffirmed our adjusted EBITDA guidance of $570 million to $590 million. Below the line, we are outperforming on all key metrics. For the quarter and year-to-date, interest expense continued to fall as we lowered debt balances and benefited from more favorable interest rates.

正如我們一貫強調的，我們重申了調整後EBITDA（息稅折舊攤提前利潤）5.7億美元至5.9億美元的預期。低於預期的EBITDA，我們在所有關鍵指標上均表現出色。本季及年初至今，由於我們降低了債務餘額並受益於更優惠的利率，利息支出持續下降。

In the quarter, interest expense declined $7 million, and through the first nine months, interest expense was $102 million, down from $126 million, a 19% decline over prior year. Leverage is also a very good story. We are more than comfortable with where we are, and even more importantly, where we're headed.

本季度，利息支出下降了700萬美元。前九個月，利息支出為1.02億美元，低於去年同期的1.26億美元，較去年同期下降19%。槓桿率也表現良好。我們對目前的狀況非常滿意，更重要的是，我們對未來的發展方向也非常滿意。

We ended the quarter at 4.15 times net debt to adjusted EBITDA, a more than 1.25 turn improvement from last year's 5.46 times. We are well below our covenant maximum of 5 times. We continue to deploy free cash flow to debt reduction, and our borrowings at the end of the third quarter were approximately $300 million lower versus prior year, as we're on track to deliver our free cash flow guidance for fiscal '25 of around $250 million.

本季末，我們的淨債務與調整後EBITDA比率為4.15倍，較去年同期的5.46倍提升了1.25倍以上。我們遠低於契約規定的5倍上限。我們繼續利用自由現金流來削減債務，第三季末的借款較上年同期減少了約3億美元，我們預計將實現25財年約2.5億美元的自由現金流預期。

Our non-GAAP adjusted tax rate for the quarter and first nine months was 29% and 27.4%, respectively. For the full year, the tax rate is still expected to be in the 27% to 29% range. Speaking of tax policy, I do want to address favorable tax implications, resulting from the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill signed into law by President Trump.

我們本季和前九個月的非公認會計準則調整後稅率分別為29%和27.4%。預計全年稅率仍將在27%至29%之間。說到稅收政策，我想談談川普總統最近簽署的「一攬子美好法案」帶來的有利稅收影響。

The restoration of these key TCJA provisions, that include a bonus depreciation, R&D expensing, and increasing the deductible interest limitation, will provide us with meaningful cash tax benefits going forward. These changes will allow us to drive further investment in our business for years to come.

恢復這些關鍵的《減稅與就業法案》(TCJA) 條款，包括獎金折舊、研發費用以及提高可抵扣利息限額，將為我們未來帶來豐厚的現金稅收優惠。這些變化將使我們能夠在未來幾年進一步推動業務投資。

The third quarter GAAP net income was $149.1 million, or $2.54 per share, compared with the prior year of $132.1 million, or $2.28 per share. The non-GAAP adjusted net income for the quarter was $151.5 million, or $2.59 per share, versus prior year of $133.8 million, or $2.31 per share a year ago.

第三季GAAP淨利為1.491億美元，合每股2.54美元，去年同期淨利為1.321億美元，合每股2.28美元。本季非GAAP調整後淨利為1.515億美元，合每股2.59美元，去年同期非GAAP調整後淨利為1.338億美元，合每股2.31美元。

On a year-to-date basis through the third quarter, GAAP net income was $297.1 million, or $5.07 per share, compared with the prior year of $209.1 million, or $3.64 per share. Non-GAAP adjusted net income year-to-date was $332.7 million, or $5.68 per share, versus $263.5 million, or $4.58 per share a year ago. For the full year, we are on track to deliver non-GAAP adjusted net income of greater than $3.50 per share.

截至第三季度，該公司年初至今的GAAP淨利為2.971億美元，合每股5.07美元，去年同期為2.091億美元，合每股3.64美元。年初至今的非GAAP調整後淨利為3.327億美元，合每股5.68美元，去年同期為2.635億美元，合每股4.58美元。全年來看，我們可望實現非GAAP調整後每股淨利超過3.50美元的目標。

Looking ahead to our final quarter, we will continue to make progress against our financial objectives for fiscal '25, and are reaffirming our guidance across all metrics. These include delivering sustainable net sales growth, driving margin recovery, and strengthening our balance sheet.

展望最後一個季度，我們將繼續推進2025財年的財務目標，並重申所有指標的指導方針。這些目標包括實現可持續的淨銷售額成長、推動利潤率復甦以及增強資產負債表。

As Jim explained, we are in negotiations with retailers on pricing for fiscal '26, which will be a contributor to our growth strategy for next year. We are fine-tuning other elements of our growth plans, aimed at enhancing our core consumer business and building greater shareholder value.

正如吉姆所解釋的，我們正在與零售商就26財年的定價進行談判，這將有助於我們明年的成長策略。我們正在對成長計畫的其他部分進行微調，旨在增強我們的核心消費者業務，並創造更高的股東價值。

At the center of these plans is the transformation initiative that Jim addressed. From an internal standpoint, we are investing in technology, AI tools, automation, to drive operational and cost efficiencies. Outward-facing, we will market Scotts Miracle-Gro and our leading brands in new ways to bring younger and newer consumers into our business.

這些計劃的核心是Jim提到的轉型計劃。從內部來看，我們正在投資技術、人工智慧工具和自動化，以提高營運效率和成本效益。從外部來看，我們將以新的方式推廣Scotts Miracle-Gro和我們的領先品牌，以吸引更年輕、更新的消費者。

We have much to look forward to, and we are confident in our trajectory and excited about the opportunities ahead as we plan to finish the year strong. Thank you, and I'll turn it over to the operator for the Q&A.

我們充滿期待，對未來發展充滿信心，對未來機會充滿期待，並計劃以強勁勢頭結束這一年。謝謝大家，接下來請接線生進行問答環節。

All right, guys, Jim Hagedorn here. I'm going to just rant a little bit, not for kind of any reason, except I want to look back at the last quarterly call we had where the shares, I think, went down about 15%. So we had a great result.

好的，各位，我是吉姆‧哈格多恩。我只是想吐槽一下，沒什麼特別的，只是想回顧一下我們上次的季度電話會議，當時股價大概下跌了15%。所以我們的業績還不錯。

I think I'm so proud of the company with what we're doing, and the progress we've made that you're seeing today. But it was the same in the last quarter call, and there were like nonsense headlines that came out that we pulled guidance, that we didn't make our numbers, and the stocks -- the stock reacted to that.

我覺得我為公司現在的所作所為以及你們今天看到的進步感到非常自豪。但上個季度的電話會議也出現了同樣的情況，當時出現了一些荒謬的新聞，說我們撤回了業績指引，說我們沒有達到預期，而股價也因此做出了反應。

The next day, it went up 15%, back to where it was, about a third of our shares traded, and I have not been able to get the SEC or the New York Stock Exchange to show any interest in compliance against who is behind that.

第二天，股價上漲了 15%，回到原來的水平，大約有三分之一的股票進行了交易，但我未能讓美國證券交易委員會或紐約證券交易所對幕後黑手錶示任何興趣。

And I don't think it's orderly, and I don't think it's right for the New York Stock Exchange or the US public markets to sort of allow that kind of stuff. I'm really talking to Cleveland Research here, where I view Eric as one of the best analysts traditionally in our space.

我認為這不規範，紐約證券交易所或美國公開市場也不應該允許這種事情發生。我實際上正在和克利夫蘭研究公司溝通，我認為埃里克是我們這個領域傳統上最優秀的分析師之一。

But if I look at sort of what he's saying about private label, we are not losing share. As long as I've been the CEO, guys, we have been reducing the share of private label and gaining share in our marketplace. And so this sort of nonsense about private label, I think there is a retailer out there that is playing with private label.

但如果我看看他關於自有品牌的說法，我們並沒有失去市場份額。夥計們，自從我擔任執行長以來，我們一直在減少自有品牌的份額，同時增加市場份額。所以，關於自有品牌的這種胡言亂語，我認為肯定有零售商在玩自有品牌。

I'm not going to name them mostly because they're friends of mine, but I can tell you, it doesn't work. The news about being sort of my age and having been in this industry as long as I have, I've kind of seen it all. And look, it's a tough time out there with Amazon and non-traditional marketplaces, and looking where there's going to be growth.

我不會透露他們的名字，主要是因為他們是我的朋友，但我可以告訴你，這行不通。我這個年紀，在這個行業混了這麼久，這些新聞我都見識過了。而且，現在亞馬遜和非傳統電商平台的日子不好過，我正在尋找成長點。

I think our biggest retailer has, and most of -- almost all of our retailers have gotten behind our programs. Part of what you see is when you look at our numbers is lower dollar unit gain increases, much more substantial increases in our unit buying.

我認為我們最大的零售商，以及大多數——幾乎所有的零售商都支持我們的計劃。從我們的數據來看，你會發現美元單位收益增幅較低，但單位購買量增加幅度卻大幅增加。

That's a result of effectively taking price down by taking money with retailers and putting it into what we're calling activation dollars. And it's worked. And we've taken share, to have gains we had last year, to have the market share gains of 200 basis points this year, it's just kind of the most amazing time since I've been running this business as far as taking share.

這是透過從零售商那裡拿錢，然後投入到我們所謂的「激活資金」中，從而有效降低價格的結果。而且這種方法很有效。我們的市佔率得到了提升，與去年相比有所成長，今年的市佔率又增加了200個基點。就市場佔有率而言，這是我經營這項業務以來最令人驚喜的時刻。

And we're not losing to private label. And a strategy that says, I'm going to rely more on private label, it is not going to work. And it's not going to work for that retailer. And it didn't work. And they lost share.

我們並沒有輸給自有品牌。那種「我要更依賴自有品牌」的策略是行不通的。對那家零售商來說，這種策略根本行不通。而這種策略確實沒有奏效。他們失去了市場份額。

Inventory, inventories are down at retail. They're not hurting us. We're going to make our numbers. And it's a really nice tailwind for us next year coming into the season then. So there is not any kind of disruptive inventory motion here.

零售庫存下降了。這不會對我們造成影響。我們會完成目標。這對我們明年進入銷售旺季來說是一個非常好的利好。所以目前沒有任何破壞性的庫存變動。

Pricing, we are going to get pricing. There's probably a little room for Nate to play on pricing in his economics for next year. But pricing is important and we're taking it. And it's what we need to do to get our margins up.

定價，我們得定價。內特明年的財務計畫中，定價方面可能還有點發揮空間。但定價很重要，我們會考慮的。為了提高利潤率，我們需要這麼做。

But if you look at the increase in margin rate, I mean, this year, I don't know, north of 3%, probably south of 4% gain in our gross margin this year. So we are making progress against all the things. Leverage down by 1.25 turns. I'm just really happy with the business. And when I look at some of the headlines out there, I just kind of wonder, like, what it's about.

但如果你看看利潤率的成長，我的意思是，今年我們的毛利率成長幅度大概在3%以上，也可能在4%以下。所以我們在各方面都取得了進展。槓桿率下降了1.25倍。我對目前的業務非常滿意。當我看到一些新聞標題時，我有點好奇，這到底是怎麼回事。

Nate, do you want to add on this?

內特，你想補充一下嗎？

Yeah, I mean, I'll just echo, Jim. I think it certainly is frustrating, I'm really pleased with our performance and more importantly, I'm pleased with the partnership we've got with our retailers. I think given the macroeconomic backdrop of the last two years to see both the lawn and garden category grow as well as our share gains, I think it says a lot.

是的，吉姆，我只是想重複。我認為這確實令人沮喪，但我對我們的業績非常滿意，更重要的是，我對我們與零售商的合作關係感到滿意。考慮到過去兩年的宏觀經濟背景，草坪和花園產品類別的成長以及我們市場份額的提升，我認為這說明了許多問題。

And I think, for me, the last two quarters have been a success story. And I think from an investor standpoint we'll continue to build on that and deliver, just like Mark said in his prepared remarks. So from my perspective, I think we've got momentum behind us, and I think we've got retail partners that are leaning in.

我認為，對我來說，過去兩個季度是成功的。從投資人的角度來看，我們將繼續在此基礎上繼續努力，正如馬克在準備好的發言中所說的那樣。所以，從我的角度來看，我認為我們擁有強勁的勢頭，而且我認為我們的零售合作夥伴也正在積極支持我們。

To Jim's point, we all recognize e-commerce is an important part of the business. By the way, the biggest growth we saw this last quarter has been with our biggest retail partners. And I'll speak personally, I had mulch delivered by pallet through one of our retail partners. It was cheaper and faster to get it than it was in bulk.

正如Jim所說，我們都認識到電子商務是業務的重要組成部分。順便說一句，上個季度我們最大的成長來自我們最大的零售合作夥伴。就我個人而言，我透過我們的零售合作夥伴用托盤運送覆蓋物。這樣比大量運輸更便宜、更快捷。

And I think once we get that message out there with consumers and maybe even some of the small to medium sized professional outfits, there is real opportunity for us. So, again we talked about household penetration, lawns, it's low.

我認為，一旦我們向消費者，甚至一些中小型專業機構傳達了這個訊息，我們就有真正的機會了。所以，我們再次談到家庭滲透率，草坪滲透率很低。

We've got a lot of organic growth, not only for us as a company, but in the industry. And I'm really bullish on where we're headed. So, again, it's frustrating to see those headlines when we know we've got opportunities, and given where we are macroeconomically to have delivered the performance we've been delivering.

我們實現了巨大的有機成長，這不僅體現在我們公司自身，也體現在整個產業。我對我們的未來發展方向非常樂觀。所以，再次強調，看到這些頭條新聞確實令人沮喪，因為我們知道我們擁有機遇，而且考慮到我們目前的宏觀經濟狀況，我們已經取得了這樣的業績。

Alright, Victor, we'll turn it over you to run the Q&A please.

好的，維克多，我們將把時間交給你來進行問答。

(Operator Instructions) Eric Bosshard, Cleveland Research Company.

（操作員指示） Eric Bosshard，克利夫蘭研究公司。

Good morning. Thanks. Two questions. First of all, I'm curious on price and price mix in '25, how that has performed relative to your expectations, and what the strategy is for '26 and the expectations in '26?

早安.謝謝。有兩個問題。首先，我很好奇2025年的價格和價格組合，相對於您的預期，它的表現如何？ 2026年的策略是什麼？對2026年的預期是什麼？

So hey Eric, this is Nate. Yeah, listen for '25, like we've said previously, we took net, call it, just under 1.5% pricing, we invested almost all of that back into the business, mostly through activation with retail partners. So I think for '26, as Jim said, we're still looking to go after pricing just because we have commodities and other things that we need to take into account.

嘿，艾瑞克，我是內特。是的，聽好了，2025年，就像我們之前說的，我們把淨利潤（也就是大概不到1.5%）的定價策略，幾乎全部投入到了業務中，主要是透過與零售合作夥伴的合作。所以我認為，2026年，正如吉姆所說，我們仍然會關注定價策略，因為我們需要考慮商品和其他因素。

It's a little early for me to say our strategy and how we'll reinvest those dollars, but we will. I don't know if we'll reset all of them because we're definitely looking to grow top line. But look, my view is that I'm not going to spend any less on activation with retail partners.

現在談論我們的策略以及我們將如何重新投資這些資金還為時過早，但我們會的。我不知道我們是否會重新調整所有策略，因為我們肯定希望實現營收成長。不過，我的觀點是，我不會減少與零售合作夥伴的活化支出。

I think at this point in the season, the only question is, who am I spending it with and what programs am I spending it on. It worked for us significantly to our benefits this past year, and we'll figure out a way to do it for next year. Mark, any thoughts?

我認為在這個賽季的這個階段，唯一的問題是，我把錢花在誰身上，花在哪些項目上。去年，我們的努力為我們帶來了巨大的收益，我們會想辦法在明年繼續這樣做。馬克，有什麼想法嗎？

Eric, this is Mark Scheiwer. Just as it relates to our expectations going into the year, we were expecting a difference between unit and dollar growth from POS, mix being a big piece of it. And then I think I've said in the past, about two-thirds of it and one-third price. Those have held in line with our expectations.

艾瑞克，我是馬克·謝維爾。正如我們對今年的預期一樣，我們預計POS的單位成長和美元成長之間會有差異，其中很大一部分來自產品組合。我記得我以前說過，大約三分之二來自POS，三分之一來自價格。這些都符合我們的預期。

And the only thing I'll call out versus some of the remarks at the beginning, we've had some great innovation this past year and past two years on Miracle-Gro organics, which has helped with our volume and a lot of our great activity and unit volume growth.

與一開始的一些評論相比，我唯一要說的是，去年和過去兩年我們在 Miracle-Gro 有機產品方面取得了一些重大創新，這對我們的銷量以及我們的許多重大活動和單位銷量增長起到了幫助作用。

So from an expectation standpoint, it was in line from a sales guidance. And then as we look to next year, we're still in the early planning phases, but as that business like soils and mulch continue to grow and do well, there might be a continued disconnect, but we'll see -- we'll give you guidance in Q4.

因此，從預期角度來看，這與銷售指引一致。展望明年，我們仍處於早期規劃階段，但隨著土壤和覆蓋物等業務的持續增長和良好表現，可能會出現持續的脫節，但我們拭目以待——我們將在第四季度提供指引。

Great. And then secondly, in the neighborhood of Jim's comments. The comment about the category growth and you gaining share this year, what do you think the category growth is at retail in '25? And what have your numbers you compare to that?

太好了。其次，關於Jim的評論。關於品類成長和今年市佔率的成長，您認為2025年零售業的品類成長是多少？您的數據與之相比如何？

Yeah. So Eric, our calculus using our external sources as we see the year-to-date market for lawn and garden has grown about 5 points, and we gained about 2 points of that share.

是的。艾瑞克，我們利用外部資源進行運算，發現今年迄今草坪和花園市場成長了約5個百分點，而我們的市佔率成長了約2個百分點。

And so within that, is this dollars or units? I'm sorry.

那麼，這裡面的單位是美元還是單位？抱歉。

Dollars. I would say the market up 5% a year dollars up 7% year-to-date.

美元。我想說市場每年上漲 5%，今年迄今美元上漲 7%。

Okay. Very good. That's all I have. Thank you.

好的。非常好。就這些。謝謝。

Jon Anderson, William Blair.

喬恩安德森、威廉布萊爾。

Good morning. Thank you for the questions. Two questions. First is you commented about the performance of some of the customers that leaned in with you on your traffic driving strategy this year and the relative outperformance.

早安.感謝您的提問。有兩個問題。首先，您評論了一些客戶的表現，他們向您介紹了今年的流量驅動策略，以及相對優異的表現。

Can you talk about how that is influencing your 2026 line reviews? Specifically, those retailers planning to kind of re-up and lean in again with you and maybe those customers that didn't to the same extent rethinking that given their relative underperformance?

您能談談這對您2026年的產品線評估有何影響嗎？具體來說，是那些計劃重新與您合作的零售商，以及那些由於業績相對較差而沒有與您合作的客戶，他們正在重新考慮這一決定嗎？

And then the second question is on margins. Great gross margin improvement last year. It looks like you set up for another significant improvement this year. If you get to 30% and then you have kind of the target in the mid-30s. Can you talk a little bit about your visibility to getting to mid-30s over the next couple few years? And what the cadence of that might look like '26 versus '27? Thank you.

第二個問題是關於利潤率的。去年毛利率大幅提升。看起來你們今年的毛利率還會有顯著提升。如果達到30%，那麼你們的目標大概是35%左右。能否談談未來幾年實現35%左右的目標？ 2026年和2027年的進度會是怎麼樣？謝謝。

All right. Hi, Jon. Hagedorn here. I'm going to sort of take the first part on kind of programs and activation dollars. Remember, we talked about this, which was coming out of kind of our s*** show. We use discounting pretty heavily. And as things turn around, we wanted that money back. Retailers basically said, look, man, customer counts down. Our margins are down. We'd like to keep that money.

好的。嗨，我是喬恩，我是哈格多恩。我先來談談關於專案和啟動資金的第一部分。記得，我們​​討論過這個問題，它出自我們那場爛透了的秀。我們常常打折。但隨著情況好轉，我們想把這筆錢拿回來。零售商基本上會說，瞧，顧客數量減少了。我們的利潤率下降了。我們想保住這筆錢。

And we decided to put that money to work saying, you know what? And when you look at a lot of our retailers, most of our retailers, they're spending more than that, pushing our products and pushing along the garden.

我們決定把這些錢用起來，你知道嗎？你看看我們的許多零售商，我們的大多數零售商，他們花的錢都比這多，推銷我們的產品，推銷花園裡的商品。

So we basically said, look, if you use that money for our benefit and your benefit together, we'll do that. I'm trying to, in my head, figure out kind of what that's worth. But I'm going to say that's probably worth at least 5%.

所以我們基本上是說，你看，如果你把這筆錢用於我們和你的共同利益，我們就這麼做。我正在心裡盤算著這筆錢大概值多少錢。但我估計至少值5%。

And Nate made a comment, which is we're not reducing our spend. We're not looking to bring that back. We can make our margin numbers without that. And the work that's happening in the supply chain and on the sort of operating units is really, really good at that.

內特評論說，我們不會削減支出，也不打算恢復支出。即使不削減，我們也能達到利潤目標。而且，我們在供應鏈和營運部門的工作做得非常出色。

But what he did say is we're going to spend more doing that, with people who are using that money. And people who are not going to be part of that program are not going to have access to that money. And I think that for people who are listening, you know who you are. And I don't think we want to go down that path.

但他確實說過，我們將投入更多資金，用於那些使用這些資金的人。不參與該計劃的人將無法獲得這些資金。我認為，聽眾朋友都清楚自己是誰。我認為我們不想走這條路。

So we're looking to spend that money. It definitely works. And we saw it this year and we saw it last year. So the question is on back to this program dollars.

所以我們正在考慮花這筆錢。這絕對有效。我們今年和去年都看到了這一點。所以問題又回到了這個計畫的資金。

Yeah. And I guess I would say, John, it's a little early for us to project. We're in the middle of those discussions with retailers. So whether those programs look the same and each retailer takes the same approach or not is a TBD, and we'll add more color to that next quarter.

是的。約翰，我想說，現在預測還太早。我們正在與零售商進行討論。所以，這些計劃是否相同，以及每家零售商是否採取相同的方法，目前尚不確定，我們將在下個季度提供更多資訊。

Hey, I do want to correct myself. I told Eric, dollars. I really meant units when we talked about the market share. So just I want to stay corrected on that.

嘿，我確實想糾正一下。我跟Eric說的是美元。我們討論市場佔有率的時候，我指的是單位。所以我想糾正一下。

Jon, just a follow-up. This is Mark Scheiwer just following up on your comment on gross margin in the phasing. So what you saw year-to-date has been outstanding performance by our supply chain team and the organization broadly.

喬恩，我來跟進一下。我是馬克·謝維爾，想跟進您關於分階段毛利率的評論。今年迄今為止所看到的是，我們的供應鏈團隊和整個組織都表現優異。

So we've been able to over-deliver year-to-date on our gross margin, including those $75 million of savings. We've overperformed year-to-date, we've realized those, and we've got good line of sight for the balance of this year.

因此，今年迄今為止，我們的毛利率已經超額完成，包括節省的7,500萬美元。今年迄今為止，我們的業績表現超額，我們已經實現了這些目標，並且對今年剩餘的業績也抱有良好的預期。

As I look to next year in '26 and '27, the team has already been doing a lot of planning around this. And the walk generally from 30% to 35% is going to include about 1 point -- I call it about 1 point or 1% benefit, gross margin benefit or 100 basis points from supply chain savings, and then about 100 basis points from net pricing, net of any kind of commodity inflation.

展望2026年和2027年，團隊已經圍繞著這一點做了許多規劃。從30%到35%的增幅，通常將包括大約1個百分點——我稱之為大約1個百分點或1%的收益，毛利率收益或供應鏈成本節省帶來的100個基點，以及扣除任何商品通膨因素後的淨定價帶來的大約100個基點。

So those are kind of the key step-ups that we go from here. And I would say that the team on the sales side is working hard on those pricing and programs, and we'll provide you more color at year-end. I can definitely tell you as well the supply chain team, we have a long history and track record of delivering at least 1% of cost out in our business.

所以，這些都是我們接下來要踏出的關鍵一步。我想說的是，銷售團隊正在努力製定定價和方案，我們將在年底提供更多細節。我也可以肯定地告訴你們，我們的供應鏈團隊長期以來一直致力於降低至少1%的成本。

And I've been already seeing the laddering up of projects. The team is doing a great job. It will be a little bit phased. Like I said, 1%, 1% is generally the nerdy accounting, it's phased, but the team's got to execute on CapEx projects.

我已經看到專案正在逐步推進。團隊做得很好。這將會是一個階段性的過程。就像我說的，1% 通常是比較難懂的會計核算，它是分階段的，但團隊必須執行資本支出項目。

We've got a lot of great CapEx projects we're working on that we spoke to in our prepared remarks around automation activities that are going to deliver a lot of those future savings. So it will be kind of a staggered measured approach.

我們正在進行許多優秀的資本支出項目，這些項目與自動化活動相關，我們在準備好的演講中也提到過，這些活動將在未來帶來大量成本節省。所以，這將是一個分階段衡量的方法。

And I would just add innovation. I think John Sass talked about it in the introductory remarks. As we really go to full launch of the new fertilizer program in '27, that innovation will bring margin accretion with it as well.

我還要補充一點創新。我記得約翰·薩斯在開場白裡提到過這一點。隨著我們在2027年全面啟動新的肥料項目，這項創新也將帶來利潤的成長。

Yeah. Look, I also think that. There's a lot of enthusiasm at retail on lawn and garden. If you look at our unit volume increase over two years, that 17%. So I think there's a lot of enthusiasm. And I don't want anybody to get the idea that there's any trouble kind of in paradise.

是的。你看，我也這麼認為。草坪和花園零售業現在充滿熱情。如果你看看我們兩年來的銷售成長，就知道17%。所以我認為大家的熱情很高。我不希望任何人覺得天堂裡有什麼麻煩。

It's a really good category. It's growing really well. Retailers are highly enthusiastic. And I'm not really hearing any sort of pullback from their sort of outlook, which is positive for lawn and garden.

這是一個非常好的類別，成長勢頭良好。零售商們熱情高漲。我並沒有聽到他們有任何回落的跡象，這對草坪和花園市場來說是一個利好。

Chris Carey, Wells Fargo Securities.

富國證券的克里斯凱裡 (Chris Carey)。

Hey guys. Just regarding -- like more of a mix question, and this is really more strategic longer-term. Can you just give maybe a state in on how you feel about the lawns business, delivery versus expectations this year and really how it informs your thought process over the next one to two years as you look to perhaps improve the mix between some of the growing media and mulch businesses relative to lawns over the medium-term horizon.

大家好。關於這個問題，我的問題比較複雜，而且長遠來看更具戰略意義。您能否簡單談談您對草坪業務的看法，今年的交付情況與預期相比如何，以及這如何影響您未來一到兩年的思考過程？您或許希望在中期內改善一些種植介質和覆蓋物業務相對於草坪業務的配置。

Yeah, I'll start because I am really pleased with where the lawns business is. They had originally come in, I think, with like a minus 5%, I think, with the number. (multiple speakers) This is one of those means where I said, just get out of my office right now and rethink your words here carefully.

是的，我先說，因為我對草坪業務的現狀非常滿意。他們最初的業績，我記得是負5%左右。 （多位發言者）這就是我說的那種方式，現在就離開我的辦公室，仔細想想你剛才說的話。

And John and his team with a lot of support from Nate have done really well. We call the Midwest numbers out because of the two big regions in the Northeast and Midwest. The Midwest had the most normal weather. So I don't know what those numbers were later like plus [15%] or something like that, which I think is way above.

在內特的大力支持下，約翰和他的團隊做得非常好。我們之所以關注中西部的數據，是因為東北部和中西部是兩個大區域。中西部的天氣最正常。所以我不知道後來這些數字是多少，例如增加了[15%]之類的，我認為這個數字要高得多。

If you look at -- the Northeast was just really late, and Texas really never came to fire, and they still held the line. They were still positive. They had a huge increase in crabgrass control products. So that halts business, that is no joke to be up, I think, it was 25%. I'm just looking at people ever made the thumbs up.

如果你看看——東北部真的遲到了，德克薩斯州實際上根本沒有遭遇大火，他們仍然堅守陣地。他們仍然保持樂觀。他們的馬唐草控制產品銷售大幅成長。所以這導致業務停滯，這可不是開玩笑，我想，當時的漲幅達到了25%。我只是看看那些曾經豎起大拇指的人。

To be up 25%, it doesn't just do good for multi bag. There's always a lot of reserves when we do it because a lot of retailers have return rights on that product because it's kind of a short season. So basically, we sold everything that was in the street.

漲幅達到25%，這不僅是為了多袋裝產品。我們這樣做的時候總是會有很多庫存，因為很多零售商對這類產品有退貨權，因為這個季節比較短。所以基本上，我們把街上所有的東西都賣光了。

And so I'm going to say that you might look and say, plus 1% or whatever we said across the line and say, well, that doesn't look that great compared to where they showed up compared to the sort of regional weather effects and sort of picking and thing, did it work?

所以我想說，你可能會看一看，然後說，加上 1% 或我們所說的任何數字，然後說，嗯，與它們出現的位置相比，與區域天氣影響和採摘等相比，這看起來並不那麼好，它有效嗎？

And it's advertising, it's really early days with this multistep, but there's a lot of research that our folks have done on what consumers take away from the new advertising as far as safety of their kids and pets and their willingness to use and do multi-bag and understand the need for multi-bag, I think it's really going well.

這是廣告，這種多步驟產品還處於早期階段，但我們的人員已經對消費者從新廣告中得到的資訊進行了大量研究，包括他們的孩子和寵物的安全、他們使用和使用多袋產品的意願以及對多袋產品的必要性的理解，我認為進展非常順利。

And so much of what we're talking about is go forward. John and the group -- this transformation stuff that's happening here, I'm -- I don't know. I don't think I'm being irresponsible, but my encouragement to Nate is, you can burn this whole place down. I don't care.

我們討論的很多事情都與前進有關。約翰和團隊——這裡正在發生的這些變革，我——我不知道。我不認為我這樣做不負責任，但我鼓勵內特，你可以把這整個地方燒掉。我不在乎。

We'll do what we have to do to make this business the sort of consumer powerhouse that it needs to be. And one of those things where -- I don't know what that facility is worth across the street, our lawn fertilizer facility (inaudible), say, it's $1 billion. That better be a competitive advantage.

我們會竭盡所能，讓這家公司成為它應有的消費巨頭。其中一點是──我不知道街對面的工廠值多少錢，我們的草坪肥料工廠（聽不清楚），大概值10億美元。這最好能成為我們的競爭優勢。

And one of the things I told Nate and John is if Marysville can't produce fertilizer at a price that you can sort of handle with how you want to go to market, close it down, I don't care. And I think that was a revelation for the guys across the street in the supply chain.

我跟內特和約翰說的一件事是，如果瑪麗斯維爾的化肥生產價格不能讓你們承受，你們想怎麼賣就怎麼賣，關掉它也沒關係。我覺得這對供應鏈上那些人而言是一個啟示。

And the work that the business team and the supply chain did, when John says, like you have no idea how competitive we're going to be going forward on fertilizer pricing and without affecting our margins. And so what I'm telling you is we have made huge progress in how we think about it.

業務團隊和供應鏈所做的工作，就像約翰說的，你根本不知道我們未來在化肥定價方面會有多大的競爭力，而且不會影響我們的利潤率。所以，我想說的是，我們在思考這個問題上已經取得了巨大的進步。

And I think even the trajectory of that business just in this one year, it's hidden a little bit by the regionality of the Northeast and sort of Texas. But if you look particularly like the Midwest, which is one of our gigantoregions that had more normal weather, the results were like astounding. And so I'm really pleased.

我認為，即使只是看今年的業務軌跡，也會因為東北部和德州等地域性而有所遮蔽。但如果你特別關注中西部地區，也就是我們氣候較正常的大區之一，結果令人震驚。所以我真的很高興。

And I think from a competitive -- this issue of lethality, maybe going a little bit back to sort of private label, John can be incredibly legal even in private label, they like. I mean -- I would not want to be -- like they've taken that plant and turned it into a huge competitive advantage.

我認為從競爭角度來看——關於殺傷力的問題，或許可以稍微追溯到某種自有品牌，約翰甚至在他們喜歡的自有品牌中也能做到非常合法。我的意思是──我不希望──他們把這種植物變成了巨大的競爭優勢。

And you're going to see that rolling out really next year and the year after that. It's going to be really fun to watch. And then the other brand teams, this is a whole new group. We got a Board meeting coming up, I guess starting tomorrow for two days up in Vermont.

明年和後年，你們會看到這一切真正落地。這將會非常有趣。其他品牌團隊，這是一個全新的團隊。我們即將召開董事會會議，我想從明天開始，在佛蒙特州舉行為期兩天。

And this is a very important Scott's 2.0 discussion that Nate is really going to be leading with the Board. And his brand teams are insanely on fire. They have a high degree of aggression and appetite. On the controls side, Davitt is just -- he's got a big list of stuff and Nate and I are all about it where he's going, and it's going to be good.

這是斯科特2.0計劃中非常重要的討論，內特將與董事會共同主持。他的品牌團隊正處於瘋狂的活力之中。他們積極進取，胃口大開。在控制方面，戴維特——他有一份很長的清單，內特和我都對他的計劃很了解，一切都會好起來。

Sadie, who runs our gardens business with Martha Stewart are just -- Sadie not only has the biggest business in the company, but you just look at what's happening with sort of for soils business.

和瑪莎·史都華一起經營我們花園業務的薩迪不僅是公司裡業務最大的人，而且你只要看看土壤業務的情況就知道了。

It's some amazing stuff to watch. And Martha is a part of that and Sadie's attack on the business is a part of it. And so this is not commodity soil work. This is premium branded, high-margin soil stuff. And so the gardens business is in really good shape. And so what I think all of the brand teams are all about it.

這真是令人驚喜。瑪莎參與其中，賽迪對業務的進取也是其中的一部分。所以，這不是商品土壤業務。這是高端品牌、高利潤的土壤產品。所以，花園業務發展得非常好。所以我認為所有品牌團隊都在為此努力。

Yeah, I'll just -- listen, Chris, I'll just get back to your question on lawns. You're focused on the right thing, and we talked about this at the last earnings call, we have so much potential. Remember, our household penetration there is about 11%, 12%.

是的，克里斯，聽著，我回到你關於草坪的問題。你關注的重點是正確的，我們在上次財報電話會議上也討論過這個問題，我們有很大潛力。記住，我們在那裡的家庭滲透率大約是11%到12%。

So if you just look at a combination of focusing on frequency, which John talked about, and household penetration increase, there's a lot of organic growth that's possible there. So what Jim talked about in his opening remarks, addressing the consumer in a different way, making sure we have solutions, whether they're time-constrained or budget constrained. You'll start to see that.

所以，如果你把重點放在頻率上（正如約翰所說）以及家庭普及率的提高上，你會發現有很多有機增長的可能性。正如吉姆在開場白中提到的，以不同的方式對待消費者，確保我們有解決方案，無論他們是在時間上還是預算上受限。你會開始看到這一點。

Now the challenge is, we have a transition that will be coming in '26, '27 with this product. So we've got to work with retailers on that. But you get through that transition, we're going to be competitive to a point where I don't think there'll be a distant second.

現在的挑戰是，這款產品將在26、27年迎來轉型。所以我們必須與零售商合作。但只要我們渡過這個轉型期，我們的競爭力就會達到頂峰，我認為我們不會落後於其他競爭對手。

And Chris, this is Mark Scheiwer just on some of the modeling related to mix. So this fiscal year, year-to-date, we actually had positive results from mix. not only because Hawthorne mix is obviously lower, but we saw some good momentum and movement within our US consumer business. The quality of the earnings related to the mix of our products has really improved.

克里斯，我是馬克·謝維爾，主要介紹一些與產品組合相關的模型。本財年，年初至今，我們的產品組合其實有了正面的成果。這不僅是因為霍桑的產品組合明顯較低，而且我們在美國消費者業務中也看到了一些良好的動力和變化。與我們產品組合相關的獲利品質確實有所提高。

And as I look out over the next couple of years, the innovation that's coming and the activities we're doing in the lawns category I view them to be margin accretive, but I'm not even factoring them into my -- as I consider my walk to 35% or mid-30s, I'm more focused on thing cost savings, things we can control like that and then the pricing activities.

展望未來幾年，即將到來的創新和我們在草坪類別中開展的活動，我認為它們會增加利潤，但我什至沒有將它們納入我的考慮範圍——當我考慮邁向 35% 或 35% 左右時，我更關注成本節約、我們可以控制的事情，然後是定價活動。

But mix, definitely, as we see the lawns business continue to grow and perform and get those higher frequencies, that is a very high-margin business that should help us in the future.

但毫無疑問，隨著我們看到草坪業務的持續成長和表現並獲得更高的頻率，這是一個利潤率非常高的業務，應該會對我們未來有所幫助。

Okay, alright, I'm going to leave it there. Thanks so much.

好的，好的，我就先說到這裡了。非常感謝。

Thanks, Chris.

謝謝，克里斯。

Joe Altobello, Raymond James.

喬·阿爾托貝洛、雷蒙·詹姆斯。

Hey, good morning. This is Martin on for Joe. Earlier, you had mentioned that many of the retailers have shifted their replenishment to match the POS curve. Would you mind maybe a little bit more detail as to what's going on there? And sort of what's the shape of the retail inventories?

早安.我是馬丁，請喬為您解答。之前您提到，許多零售商已經調整了補貨計劃，以適應POS曲線。您能否更詳細地介紹一下目前的情況？零售庫存的狀況如何？

Sure. Look, I think if you go back to pandemic and the peak when all of our patterns got completely sideways, we were at peak sort of 60%, 40% in terms of first half, second half load in. Prior to the pandemic, we were roughly 50%, 50%, plus or minus a point, I think, year-over-year. So what we're seeing now is this natural trend back towards the 50%, 50%. By the way, we're supportive of it.

當然。你看，我想，如果你回顧疫情期間的峰值，當時我們所有的模式都完全偏離了軌道，就上半年和下半年的負荷而言，我們的峰值大約是60%到40%。疫情之前，我們的負荷大約是50%到50%，我認為同比上下浮動一點。所以我們現在看到的是回歸50%到50%的自然趨勢。順便說一句，我們支持這一趨勢。

I don't worry too much about retailer any inventories. We definitely lean in with retailers as they want to make those adjustments. By the way, from my point of view, it helps our supply chain. We're probably the only supply chain that can deliver almost just in time.

我不太擔心零售商的庫存。我們肯定會積極配合零售商的調整。順便說一句，在我看來，這有助於我們的供應鏈。我們可能是唯一能夠幾乎準時交貨的供應鏈。

So from my perspective, it actually helps, and I can level load production more. And I think each retailer is in a different place. A couple of our retailers this year have been more aggressive on that. And I think that's good. And I suspect we'll see more of that as we sort of get back to, call it, 50%, 50%. I don't know, Mark, do you want to.

所以從我的角度來看，這實際上很有幫助，我可以更均衡地平衡生產負荷。而且我認為每個零售商的情況都不一樣。今年我們的一些零售商在這方面做得更積極了。我認為這很好。而且我認為，當我們回到所謂的50%左右的時候，我們會看到更多這樣的情況。馬克，我不知道你想不想。

And then just to follow up, Mark Scheiwer again. As far as the going into the year, retailer inventories, we did expect to have an impact from a retailer activity just being down a little bit as far as inventories go. So we had planned that into our sales guide. So that has kind of has shown up as we've navigated.

接下來，我再跟進一下Mark Scheiwer。就今年的零售商庫存而言，我們確實預計零售商活動會略有下降，這會帶來影響。所以我們已經將這一點納入了銷售指南中。所以，在我們進行銷售指南的過程中，這一點已經有所體現。

And as I look to next year, as Nate spoke, as that first half, second half dynamic changes, you would expect probably some shifting mostly between Q2 and Q3. less to do about like a year-end long term, it's more of a shifting between Q2 and into Q3.

展望明年，正如 Nate 所說，隨著上半年和下半年的動態變化，您可能會預期第二季和第三季之間可能會出現一些轉變。從年底的長期來看，變化不大，更多的是第二季和第三季之間的轉變。

But I think what we're seeing and people were correcting me this morning as we were talking about it, I think excluding commodity, retail inventory is about -- down about 10%.

但我認為，我們看到的情況以及今天早上我們在談論這個問題時人們糾正我的情況是，我認為不包括商品，零售庫存大約下降了 10%。

I think down about 4%. Yeah, if you take out mulch. So I think they're healthy. It depends on the retailer.

我認為下降了大約4%。是的，如果你把覆蓋物去掉的話。所以我認為它們是健康的。這取決於零售商。

But again, this -- I think shifting quarter-to-quarter doesn't bother me. What I really look at is the underlying consumer health. And if you just look at those POS gains, last year, where we are this year, 8% year-to-date. The consumer is healthy. So adjusting inventory buys to be closer to the curve, I think it's just -- it's where we're headed as an industry, and we're totally fine with that.

不過，我認為季度變化不會困擾我。我真正關注的是消費者的健康狀況。如果你看看去年POS機的增幅，今年迄今成長了8%。消費者狀況良好。因此，調整庫存採購以更接近曲線，我認為這就是我們行業的發展方向，我們對此完全滿意。

Great, thank you. That's all from me.

太好了，謝謝。我的話說完了。

Peter Grom, UBS.

瑞銀的 Peter Grom。

Thanks operator. Good morning, guys. Mark, I just want to ask a follow-up question on gross margin. I said more of a clarification. So just 100 basis points of cost savings, 100 basis points on price at for each year and for both drivers.

謝謝接線生。早上好，各位。馬克，我只想問一個關於毛利率的後續問題。我之前說得更清楚一些。所以，每年的成本節省和價格上漲各佔100個基點，而且這兩項因素都很重要。

So I guess, all else equal, that bridge would assume kind of going from 30% in fiscal 25% to 32% in fiscal '26. And then building from there, and if something happens with Hawthorne, you could see another, call it, 100 basis points on. Is that the right way to think about it? I just wanted to clarify that.

所以我想，在其他條件相同的情況下，這個過渡利率應該假設從2026財年的30%（25%）上升到2026財年的32%。然後以此為基礎繼續成長，如果Hawthorne出現問題，你可以看到利率再上升，也就是100個基點。這樣想對嗎？我只是想澄清一下。

Yeah. So that would be how the simple math works, Peter. I would just tell you, year-to-date, we're overperforming from a supply chain perspective. So I feel confident when I say the 30%, could we be above that? Absolutely. And so that's -- as we kind of keep working on these additional supply chain savings projects, and work through our pricing activities, those will also be a little bit of a tailwind as we navigate up to 35%.

是的。彼得，這就是簡單的數學計算。我只想告訴你，今年到目前為止，從供應鏈的角度來看，我們的表現超乎預期。所以當我說30%的時候，我很有信心，我們能超過這個數字嗎？絕對可以。所以，隨著我們繼續推動這些額外的供應鏈成本節約項目，並進行定價活動，這些也會對我們達到35%的目標起到一點推動作用。

We just, by the way, we should be pretty close to that next year, I think.

順便說一句，我認為我們明年應該會非常接近這個目標。

Yeah, it will be not 35%, but yeah, we'll definitely make progress and we'll be on a good trajectory, absolutely.

是的，不會是 35%，但是，是的，我們肯定會取得進步，而且我們絕對會走上良好的軌道。

Okay. That's really helpful. And I guess just to the prior question, right, I think in your response to Chris' question, you kind of mentioned that you weren't really including benefits from mix and innovation in this bridge.

好的。這真的很有幫助。我想回到之前的問題，對吧，我記得你在回答 Chris 的問題時提到，你並沒有真正把混合和創新帶來的好處納入這個橋樑。

So are there any guardrails you can provide in terms of what that benefit could look like? And is this something that actually could start to show its teeth in kind of the P&L next year? Or is that kind of more of a multiyear process?

那麼，您能提供一些具體措施來明確這項福利的具體內容嗎？這項福利明年會在損益表中反映出來嗎？還是說，這需要多年的時間才能實現？

Peter, this is Mark Scheiwer. At least for me, from a financial modeling, I would view it more as a multiyear process. The team has done a great job coming out of COVID, firing up our innovation funnel again, and so we're doing some cool things there. And you know this in the retail space, as we roll those programs out and build out the advertising, it will be a multiyear approach as we kind of navigate that.

彼得，我是馬克‧謝維爾。至少對我來說，從財務模型來看，我認為這更像是一個多年的過程。團隊在走出新冠疫情後做得很好，再次啟動了我們的創新管道，所以我們在這方面做了一些很酷的事情。你知道，在零售領域，隨著我們推出這些項目並拓展廣告業務，這將是一個多年的過程，我們將逐步推進。

Yeah, I guess I'll just say that a different way. I think, again, we had a very cost-out focus call it, three, four years ago. We've shifted. It takes a little bit of time to get that spun back up, but I think MGO is a great story. We've got new innovation on what that means. Sorry, Miracle-Gro organics.

是的，我想換個說法。我想，三、四年前我們非常注重成本控制。現在我們改變了。重新調整需要一點時間，但我認為MGO是一個很棒的故事。我們對MGO的意義有了新的創新。抱歉，Miracle-Gro有機產品。

That organic line went from nothing to $100 million in two years. So it's, from our perspective, been a success story. I would say we're biased towards more innovation coming out in '27. But here's a difference, Peter.

這條有機產品線在兩年內從零成長到1億美元。所以，從我們的角度來看，這是一個成功的故事。我想說，我們傾向於在2027年推出更多創新產品。但彼得，這裡有一個不同之處。

And you saw it with the mosquito product that was featured on the prepared remarks or the prepared video, we're going to -- as innovation becomes available, we're going to introduce it through digital channels. We're not going to wait for sort of traditional seasonal with the retailers.

大家在準備好的演講稿或影片中也看到了滅蚊產品，隨著創新產品的出現，我們將透過數位管道推出它。我們不會等待零售商傳統的季節性促銷。

And by the way, we're not leaving them out of this. We'll do it through their digital channels as well. So you're going to see us turn on to more of a 365. When we have something ready to go to the market, we're going to take it to market, and we'll do it in a way where we're targeting consumers.

順便說一句，我們不會把他們排除在外。我們也會透過他們的數位管道進行推廣。所以，你會看到我們更加重視365天的營運。當我們的產品準備好上市時，我們會立即將其推向市場，並且會以針對消費者的方式進行推廣。

And I think it takes a little bit of -- when you think about weather in the spring and you think about people going to a garden center or a retailer on a nice sunny day, I think what some of our retailers are seeing is people on e-comm, they'll order it on a rainy day, and they'll wait until the next nice day to apply.

我認為這需要一點——當你想到春天的天氣，想到人們在陽光明媚的日子去花園中心或零售店時，我想我們的一些零售商看到的是電子商務上的人們，他們會在下雨天訂購，然後等到下一個好日子再使用。

So I do think we've got sort of cultural shifts that will favor us as we work with our retail partners to sort of figure out how to address consumers wherever they are, as Jim said.

因此，我確實認為，當我們與零售合作夥伴合作，找出如何滿足各地消費者需求時，我們的文化轉變將對我們有利，正如吉姆所說的那樣。

Look, and I think one of the things that we have talked about is Bonnie has done really well this year. So I think continued progress there. And of also helping out. So not being a drag.

聽著，我想我們討論過的事情之一就是邦妮今年表現得非常好。所以我認為她在這方面會繼續進步。而且她也幫忙了，所以不會拖累她。

Yeah, that makes sense, Jim. I guess one last question for me, and then I'll pass it on. Just Jim, taking all the comments you made are just around the top line, the category and the retail activation, the innovation. Clearly, just a lot of momentum, a lot of enthusiasm.

是的，吉姆，你說得有道理。我想我還有最後一個問題，然後我會繼續問問題。吉姆，你剛才的所有評論都圍繞著營收、產品類別、零售活化和創新。顯然，這股勢頭強勁，熱情高漲。

And I know your comment in the prepared remarks around the long-term algorithm for certain components in the multiyear target. But as you look out to next year, is there any sort of reason why the US consumer business wouldn't see that 3% level of growth that you kind of outlined it previously? Thanks.

我知道您在準備好的評論中談到了多年期目標中某些組成部分的長期演算法。但展望明年，美國消費品產業為何無法實現您先前概述的3%的成長水準？謝謝。

The answer is no. Here's our issue. I'm looking in this has been up probably six months on my big whiteboard in my office, which is kind of what I'm trying to get everybody head around is 2% unit volume, sort of 1% pricing.

答案是否定的。這是我們的問題。我辦公室的大白板上貼了大概六個月了，上面寫著我想讓大家明白的，也就是2%的銷量，相當於1%的定價。

I'm talking not next year, I'm talking kind of long-term, 1% cost out, and I think those are safe numbers. The issue is all the stuff we're doing, I would -- if I was any of the people running businesses, those are embarrassingly low numbers based on, I think, what we know we can do.

我說的不是明年，而是某種長期目標，1%的成本削減，我認為這些數字是安全的。問題是，就我們目前所做的一切而言，如果我是企業經營者，我會覺得這些數字低得令人尷尬，因為我認為，這些數字是基於我們知道自己能做到的。

So I think the challenge is, if you look at just marketing money, that Nate wants, that was probably [$150 million] this year or something like that, but a big increase from last year. I think what Nate's going to show up tomorrow and Friday is say I want $300 million.

所以我認為挑戰在於，如果只看行銷資金的話，內特想要的資金今年大概在1.5億美元左右，但比去年大幅增加。我想內特明天和星期五會說，我想要3億美元。

And so the question is, and I know this is a lot of pressure on Mark is he wants to be safe, okay? And I totally get it. So -- but it is the kind of square corner we're going to run into where we don't want to tell you guys numbers that we can't make.

所以問題是，我知道馬克壓力很大，他想穩妥行事，懂嗎？我完全理解。所以——但這是我們即將遇到的困境，我們不想告訴你們我們無法實現的數字。

I think that's a bad day. But we think we can do more, but they want a lot more investment in the business. And I think the brand teams, I think, need that money. They want that money. They can put that money to use.

我覺得今天很糟糕。但我們認為我們可以做得更多，但他們希望在業務上投入更多資金。我認為品牌團隊需要這筆錢。他們想要這筆錢。他們可以把這筆錢用起來。

And that's a little bit the sort of challenge in the budgeting for multiyear budgeting that we're kind of running into is if we use a low enough number, it's not going to justify the investment that Nate is going to want to make in this business.

這是我們遇到的多年期預算中的一個挑戰，如果我們使用一個足夠低的數字，它就無法證明 Nate 想要在這個業務上進行的投資是合理的。

And it's not just in sort of marketing. I think it's innovation. There's a lot of places where Baxter wants to put money. And I know Mark and I want to give it to him, we're providing that guardrail that you guys were talking about as far as limiting top line growth to a number that we believe is achievable and all day long. And that's the difference.

這不僅是某種行銷手段，我認為這是創新。百特有很多投資機會。我知道馬克和我都想給他機會，我們會提供你們之前提到的護欄，將營收成長限制在我們認為可以實現的範圍內。這就是差別所在。

I think that the natural growth rate of this business should be higher than sort of 2% unit volume growth. And we've seen that. So I guess we just have to figure out how to budget through it because I think what's important is for Nate to make numbers that are higher, he needs the investment that's higher. We want to give it to them. But Mark and I are trying to be safe on sort of --

我認為這項業務的自然成長率應該高於2%左右的單位銷售成長率。我們已經看到了這一點。所以，我想我們只需要想辦法控制預算，因為我認為對內特來說，重要的是創造更高的業績，他需要更高的投資。我們想把這些錢給他們。但馬克和我正在努力確保安全…

And let me tell you guys, I think this year stands as a proof point. We made significant incremental investments in the brands in the business, and we're on track to deliver for guidance.

讓我告訴你們，我認為今年就是一個證明。我們對旗下品牌進行了大量的增量投資，並且正在按計畫實現預期目標。

And Peter, again, Mark Scheiwer. So as our margins continue to improve and what you saw this year, we'll continue to invest in the business from that standpoint. And those would be sales volume driving activities, whether it be incremental advertising or investments from an IT perspective, e-comm, things like that.

還有彼得，還有馬克謝維爾。隨著我們利潤率的持續提升，以及今年大家所看到的，我們將繼續從這個角度投資業務。這些投資將推動銷售成長，無論是增量廣告，或是從IT、電子商務等方面的投資。

So it kind of becomes circular, but we're making great progress on the gross margin activities. And I think those will help fuel growth, and we'll give you a sales guidance in Q4.

所以這有點像是循環，但我們在毛利率方面取得了很大進展。我認為這將有助於推動成長，我們將在第四季度提供銷售預期。

Yeah. And we'll do it in a measured and responsible way.

是的。我們會採取慎重且負責任的方式。

(multiple speakers) I personally very much believe in where Nate and his crew are going. I want to invest hard behind it. And I also understand the need to sort of safety in our outlook with The Street that overpromising and underdelivering where we still produce a great number of people say, well, it's less than you said.

（多位發言者）我個人非常相信內特和他的團隊的目標。我願意為此投入大量資金。我也理解，我們需要在華爾街的眼光中保持安全，因為我們承諾過高，交付不足，但很多人仍然會說，嗯，比你說的要少。

And we do have to figure it out. We were going through just head count here because we're getting ready for a Board meeting. We're talking about this issue of transformation or call it this company from a headcount point of view, is a lot lower. I don't know what our cuts have been. I think we said just $400 million in cuts, $100 million investment. That's what we said kind of last year. I think Nate's pulled out probably another $100 million, if not more. And --

我們確實需要弄清楚。我們之前一直在進行員工人數統計，因為我們正在準備召開董事會會議。我們正在討論轉型問題，或者說，從員工人數的角度來看，這家公司的員工人數要少得多。我不知道我們削減了多少。我記得我們說過只削減4億美元，投資1億美元。我們去年差不多也是這麼說的。我覺得Nate可能又撤出了1億美元，甚至更多。而且——

But I would distinguish just one important point, which is Springboard were cuts. But what we've done, call it, over the last 12 to 18 months has been just strategic transformation, just eliminating workflows that need to be eliminated, automating things.

但我只想強調一點，那就是Springboard專案本身就是削減。但在過去12到18個月裡，我們所做的，也就是所謂的策略轉型，只是消除了那些需要消除的工作流程，實現了自動化。

It's yes, there's a net result in terms of costs. But from my perspective, the long-term health of the business, it's about efficiency and it's about doing more with less and leveraging the technology around us. I mean that's the real story there.

是的，成本確實會增加。但從我的角度來看，企業的長期健康發展關乎效率，關乎用更少的資源做更多的事情，並充分利用我們周圍的技術。我的意思是，這才是真正的關鍵。

Andres Padia, Jefferies. Andres, your line might be on mute.

安德烈斯·帕迪亞，傑弗瑞斯。安德烈斯，你的線路可能處於靜音狀態。

Well, that's easy then.

嗯，那就簡單了。

Alright. And that actually concludes our question-and-answer session for today. Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.

好的。今天的問答環節就到此結束了。感謝大家參加今天的會議。今天的節目到此結束。現在您可以斷開連線了。祝大家有美好的一天。