Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (SMG) 2026 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. Welcome to Scotts Miracle-Gro's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Webcast. I'm Brad Chelton, Head of Investor Relations. Speaking today are Chairman and CEO, Jim Hagedorn; President and Chief Operating Officer, Nate Baxter; and Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer, Mark Scheiwer. Jim will provide a strategic overview, Nate will provide a business update, and Mark will follow with a review of our financial results.

早安。歡迎收看 Scotts Miracle-Gro 2026 會計年度第二季財報網路直播。我是投資人關係主管 Brad Chelton。今天出席的講者包括董事長兼執行長 Jim Hagedorn；總裁兼營運長 Nate Baxter；以及財務長兼會計長 Mark Scheiwer。Jim 將提供策略概覽，Nate 將提供業務更新，Mark 隨後將回顧我們的財務結果。

In conjunction with our commentary today, please review our earnings release, 8-K filing 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.

配合我們今天的說明，請在本次網路直播前，先行查閱我們發布於 investor.scotts.com 的財報新聞稿、8-K 申報文件以及補充財務簡報投影片。在回顧過程中，我們將作出前瞻性陳述，並討論若干非 GAAP 財務衡量指標。請注意，我們的實際結果可能與今天分享的內容存在重大差異。關於可能影響我們業績的完整風險因素範圍之詳細資訊，請參閱我們向 SEC 提交的 Form 10-K。

Following the webcast, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff, Chris Hagedorn, will join Jim, Nate 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. 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 An archived version will be published on our website.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. With that, let's get started with Jim's update.

網路直播結束後，執行副總裁兼幕僚長 Chris Hagedorn 將與 Jim、Nate 與 Mark 一同參加僅音訊的問答環節。如欲收聽問答，請持續留在本網路直播。如欲提問，請透過我們新聞稿中分享的音訊連結加入。一如往常，今天的會議將會錄音。存檔版本將發布於我們的網站。若在會後需要進一步討論，請以電子郵件或直接致電與我聯繫。那麼，我們就從 Jim 的更新開始。

Good morning, everyone. Results count and ours speak for themselves. Through our first six months of the fiscal year, we continued on our growth trajectory and made progress toward every single one of our full year financial imperatives. This marks over two years of driving improved results and four years of hard choices, self-help and financial recovery.

各位早安。結果最重要，而我們的表現不言自明。在本會計年度前六個月，我們持續沿著成長軌道前進，並在全年各項財務要務上都取得進展。這代表我們已連續兩年推動成果改善，也經歷了四年的艱難抉擇、自助改善與財務復原。

More importantly, we delivered two major accomplishments that are the final pieces of our journey. They include closing the quarter with leverage at 3.71 times debt-to-EBITDA, the first time in four years that we're below 4 times and the divestiture of Hawthorne. We're at the point where everything we've been working toward is coming together.

更重要的是，我們達成了兩項重大里程碑，這些是我們旅程的最後拼圖。包括本季結束時槓桿比率（債務對 EBITDA）為 3.71 倍，這是四年來首次低於 4 倍，以及完成 Hawthorne 的剝離。我們已來到所有努力開始匯聚成形的階段。

Leverage is in a normal state where we're comfortable operating. Gross margin expansion is on track for our targets. Our mix strategy to focus on high-margin branded products is working. And free cash flow, EBITDA and EPS are all exceeding expectations. When you look at our total performance, here's where we find ourselves today.

槓桿比率已回到正常狀態，讓我們能安心營運。毛利率擴張正按目標推進。我們聚焦高毛利品牌產品的組合策略正在奏效。而自由現金流、EBITDA 與 EPS 皆超出預期。綜觀整體表現，我們目前所處的位置如下。

We continue to hone our superpowers and invest in strengthening our brands, R&D, supply chain and sales. We have substantial growth opportunities and are taking market share. Our retail relationships are stronger than ever. Our consumer is healthy and engaged.

我們持續精進自身的核心優勢，並投資強化品牌、研發、供應鏈與銷售。我們擁有可觀的成長機會，並正在取得市占。我們與零售通路的關係比以往任何時候都更緊密。我們的消費者狀況良好且高度投入。

We have a proven and battle-tested leadership team. And we've lived up to all of our commitments.

我們擁有一支經過驗證、久經考驗的領導團隊。而且我們已兌現所有承諾。

The real question is where do we go from here? First, we're ready to embark on the first tranche of the multiyear share repurchase program we announced last quarter and said would begin once leverage was comfortably in the 3s. We're there. The ultimate goal is to buy back at least one-third of our outstanding shares.

真正的問題是：接下來要往哪裡走？首先，我們已準備啟動上季宣布的多年期庫藏股回購計畫的第一階段；我們當時表示，當槓桿比率穩健落在 3 倍區間時就會開始。我們已達成。最終目標是回購至少三分之一的流通在外股數。

It will be earnings accretive, won't add to our debt level and has zero implementation risk. That's why it's the only significant M&A we're interested in. I've asked Mark to move forward with the repurchases in a way that can be easily modulated based on our results and capital allocation needs while maintaining leverage in the 3s.

此舉將增厚每股盈餘，不會提高我們的負債水位，且執行風險為零。這也是為什麼它是我們唯一感興趣的重大併購（M&A）。我已請 Mark 推進回購，並以可依據我們的業績與資本配置需求而容易調整的方式進行，同時將槓桿比率維持在 3 倍區間。

When you look at our accomplishments in total, it's clear we're one of the best consumer product franchises in America. It's just not showing up in our share price. And that's okay because it makes the timing of our share repurchase even more attractive. We don't think we're properly valued. And when you layer in our growth plans, were the type of investment that should appeal to anyone who wants to be part of a market leader with a lot of upside.

綜合我們的成就，很明顯我們是美國最優秀的消費品特許經營之一。只是這點尚未反映在股價上。但這沒關係，因為這讓我們進行庫藏股回購的時點更具吸引力。我們認為公司目前未被合理估值。再加上我們的成長計畫，我們屬於那種應能吸引任何希望參與具高度上行空間之市場領導者的投資標的。

There's a second answer to the what's next question and that involves moving to the next stage of growth. The 2030 target of an incremental $1 billion in top line sales, a gross margin rate approaching 40% and total EBITDA north of $1 billion. And this is where Nate comes in.

對於「下一步是什麼」還有第二個答案：邁向下一階段的成長。也就是 2030 年目標：營收新增 10 億美元、毛利率接近 40%，以及總 EBITDA 超過 10 億美元。而這正是 Nate 要登場的地方。

He's created the building blocks to unlock this growth through a multiyear plan he calls SMG 2.0. Among the building blocks are channel and category expansion in conjunction with deep investments in our brands, innovation, marketing, advertising, and supply chain.

他透過一項多年期計畫（稱為 SMG 2.0）打造出解鎖成長的基礎建設。這些基礎建設包括通路與品類擴張，並同步對品牌、創新、行銷、廣告與供應鏈進行深度投資。

We think upwards of $800 million of top line sales growth under SMG 2.0 will be generated through e-commerce alone. We, like our brick-and-mortar retail partners are shifting more resources to activation initiatives and marketing approaches to drive consumer takeaway into this channel.

我們認為在 SMG 2.0 之下，僅電子商務就可帶來高達 8 億美元以上的營收成長。我們與實體零售夥伴一樣，正把更多資源轉向促動（activation）計畫與行銷方法，以推動消費者在此通路的購買帶動（takeaway）。

I want to make it clear that legacy retailers will continue to play an important role as the incremental sales we are projecting will primarily come from POS through their online sites and our joint partnerships.

我想明確表示，傳統零售商仍將扮演重要角色，因為我們所預估的增量銷售，主要將來自他們線上網站的 POS（銷售點）以及我們的共同合作夥伴關係。

To maximize our potential in this area, our product assortment must change to reflect the type of SKUs that are more conducive to selling online while addressing consumer unique needs. This is where much of the innovation work will focus.

為了在此領域最大化我們的潛力，我們的產品組合必須調整，以反映更適合線上銷售的 SKU 類型，同時滿足消費者的獨特需求。這也將是多數創新工作的重點所在。

Nate is putting together a strong team that is future-oriented and can help us execute upon SMG 2.0. We're also expanding our capabilities with data and analytics for better insights and we're advancing the use of automation, technology and AI.

Nate 正在組建一支面向未來的強大團隊，協助我們落實 SMG 2.0。

Nate is strengthening our marketing function and our approach to business development and product assortment. In line with this, I have executive level news to share. We're announcing the hiring of a Chief Brand Officer to serve as Nate's partner in leading the brands and marketing.

Nate 正在強化我們的行銷職能，以及我們在業務開發與產品組合上的方法。基於此，我有一則高階主管層級的消息要分享。我們宣布聘任一位首席品牌長（Chief Brand Officer），作為 Nate 在領導品牌與行銷方面的夥伴。

This is particularly important as we create new and more powerful consumer experiences. The person we've selected has agreed to start in June and we'll make a formal introduction in the coming weeks. The only reason I'm delaying the announcement is to allow our new Chief Brand Officer to work with his current organization on a transition plan.

這點在我們打造全新且更強大的消費者體驗之際尤其重要。我們選定的人選已同意於 6 月到任，我們將在未來幾週正式介紹。我之所以延後宣布，唯一原因是讓我們的新任首席品牌長能與其現任組織共同制定交接計畫。

Here's what I can tell you today. He's a significant talent who has served in a leadership role at a global New York agency known for its innovative work in digital marketing, social media and emerging trends. He's a real talent who 100% understands the changing nature of marketing and where we need to go. We know him and he knows us.

我今天能告訴各位的是：他是一位重要人才，曾在一家位於紐約、具全球規模且以數位行銷、社群媒體與新興趨勢創新著稱的代理商擔任領導職務。他確實是頂尖人才，百分之百理解行銷本質的變化以及我們必須前往的方向。我們認識他，他也了解我們。

With his solid creative instinct and experience in brand, media and campaign strategies, he will jump-start our marketing mission, especially as we move further into the online space.

憑藉他扎實的創意直覺，以及在品牌、媒體與活動（campaign）策略方面的經驗，他將為我們的行銷使命注入加速度，尤其是在我們進一步深入線上領域之際。

Another plus is he's passionate about Scotts Miracle-Gro and our category.

另一個加分點是，他對 Scotts Miracle-Gro 以及我們所處的品類充滿熱情。

With Chris Hagedorn coming off Hawthorne, he'll be able to devote more time to our core business, filling a real need for us. His remit will be expansive as he takes responsibility for some of the big things that are critical to SMG 2.0 and our growth targets.

隨著 Chris Hagedorn 自 Hawthorne 事業卸任後，他將能投入更多時間在我們的核心業務上，補足我們的一項實際需求。他的職責範圍將相當廣泛，將負責若干對 SMG 2.0 與我們成長目標至關重要的大項目。

Chris will lead company strategy with focus on business development. He'll also work on product assortment to ensure we're giving consumers what they want and need in the online marketplace. Government relations, corporate communications and sustainability are within his purview as will be the strategic application of AI.

Chris 將領導公司策略，重點聚焦於業務發展。他也將負責產品組合配置，確保我們在網路市場提供消費者想要且需要的商品。政府關係、企業傳播與永續發展亦在其職掌範圍內，並將推動 AI 的策略性應用。

All this plays into the SMG 2.0 playbook. As we look to the rest of the year, we're reaffirming our guidance and will not let commodities steer us off course despite global supply pressures from the Iran war. Most of our commodities are locked where we are exposed to higher costs, we can cover them within our existing budget and plans.

這一切都納入 SMG 2.0 的作戰手冊。展望今年剩餘時間，我們重申既有指引；儘管伊朗戰爭造成全球供應壓力，我們也不會讓大宗商品使我們偏離航道。我們的大多數大宗商品成本已鎖定；對於面臨較高成本的部分，我們可在既有預算與計畫內加以吸收。

Fiscal '27 is a bigger unknown. I can assure everyone we will control what we can control and take pricing in fiscal '27 if necessary. We will not sacrifice our gross margin goals. This point in time is the result of a righteous endeavor. We have worked our way out of four very tough years that were filled with hard work and many unpleasant choices.

2027 會計年度的不確定性更大。我可以向各位保證，我們會管控所有可控事項，必要時將在 2027 會計年度採取調價。我們不會犧牲毛利率目標。此刻的成果來自一項正當而堅定的努力。我們走過四個非常艱難的年頭，期間充滿辛勤付出與許多令人不快的抉擇。

There were suffering along the way. But the management team, our associates and Board did what needed to be done and it worked. SMG 2.0 marks a new starting point for us, another journey that will take our business well into the future.

一路上確實有過煎熬。但管理團隊、同仁與董事會做了必須做的事，而且奏效了。SMG 2.0 標誌著我們新的起點，是另一段將帶領公司走向未來的旅程。

Next up is Nate.

接下來請 Nate。

Welcome, everyone. I want to start by thanking our associates for their hard work this past quarter. We are executing this year's operating plan with discipline and focus. Our first half performance reflects the impact of this work and demonstrates we're on a clear path to the 2030 targets that Jim outlined.

各位好，歡迎大家。我想先感謝同仁在本季的辛勤付出。我們以紀律與專注執行今年的營運計畫。上半年表現反映了這些工作的成效，也顯示我們正清楚地朝 Jim 所提出的 2030 目標邁進。

I first want to provide clarity around SMG 2.0. It is grounded in two realities: the evolving consumer and the evolving retail environment. The face of our core consumer is changing as we move from baby boomers and Gen X to millennials and Gen Z.

我先釐清 SMG 2.0 的內涵。它建立在兩個現實之上：消費者在演變，以及零售環境在演變。隨著我們的核心消費者從嬰兒潮世代與 X 世代轉向千禧世代與 Z 世代，其樣貌正在改變。

At the same time, how all consumers shop is shifting. They're in more control than ever. They increasingly buy online, through retailers, social platforms and direct-to-consumer channels. They want organics, naturals, and products that fit their lifestyles. They take recommendations from influencers and they become influencers themselves.

同時，所有消費者的購物方式也在轉變。他們比以往任何時候都更能掌控。他們愈來愈常透過線上、零售商、社群平台以及 DTC（直面消費者）通路購買。他們想要有機、天然，以及符合其生活型態的產品。他們會參考網紅推薦，也會自己成為網紅。

Our retail partners are changing too, concentrating more on sell-through via their online sites. We are there with them. This is reflected in our double-digit e-com sales increase for multiple quarters. The marketplace is dynamic and there are more competitive pressures from digitally native startups with low barriers of entry to traditional CPG companies expanding their presence.

我們的零售合作夥伴也在改變，更加聚焦於透過其線上網站提升銷售出清（sell-through）。我們與他們並肩同行。這反映在我們連續多季電商銷售達雙位數成長。市場充滿動態變化，競爭壓力也更大：從進入門檻低的數位原生新創，到擴大布局的傳統民生消費品（CPG）公司。

The good news is there is more than enough opportunity for us. We have an incredible advantage with our superpowers and market position.

好消息是，我們面前的機會綽綽有餘。憑藉我們的核心優勢與市場地位，我們擁有極大的競爭優勢。

Delivering on Jim's 2030 goals will require us to create a more rich lawn and garden experience for consumers. That's what SMG 2.0 is all about, transforming for future growth. Here are the building blocks. Innovation and SKU rationalization to optimize our portfolio, including moving with greater speed to bring new products to market, channel expansion, primarily e-commerce, but also in expanded retail partnerships and professional do-it-for-me space.

要達成 Jim 的 2030 目標，我們必須為消費者打造更豐富的草坪與園藝體驗。這正是 SMG 2.0 的核心：為未來成長而轉型。以下是關鍵構成要素。創新與 SKU 精簡以優化產品組合，包括以更快速度將新產品推向市場、通路擴張（以電商為主，同時擴大零售合作夥伴關係），以及拓展專業「代做」（do-it-for-me）市場。

Category growth by bringing emerging consumers in more demographic groups into our world, connecting them through new approaches to marketing, including positioning Scotts Miracle-Gro as a lifestyle brand, operational efficiencies and savings to support margin expansion and ensure the best-in class supply chain.

類別成長：將更多不同人口族群的新興消費者帶入我們的世界，並透過新的行銷方式與其連結，包括將 Scotts Miracle-Gro 定位為生活風格品牌；同時透過營運效率與節省支出來支持毛利擴張，並確保打造同級最佳的供應鏈。

Let me walk you through each of these, starting with innovation and SKU rationalization. We are realizing the benefits of a multiyear effort to optimize our portfolio through new products, including extensions into spaces where we have not played and the sunsetting of low-margin lines in favor of the higher-margin SKUs. The rationale is twofold.

我將逐一說明，先從創新與 SKU 精簡開始。我們正收穫一項多年努力的成果：透過新產品優化產品組合，包括延伸至我們過去未涉足的領域，並逐步淘汰低毛利產品線，轉而聚焦於高毛利 SKU。其背後理由有兩點。

One, it supports top line sales and margin growth; and two, it makes room for new products that appeal to emerging consumers and are better suited to selling and shipping online.

第一，它支持營收（top line）與毛利成長；第二，它為吸引新興消費者、且更適合線上銷售與配送的新產品騰出空間。

So far in fiscal '26, we've introduced 83 new product SKUs, accounting for $41 million in revenue. These range from K-31 grass seed and Turf Builder liquid lawn food to Miracle-Gro Indoor plant food and small bag soils, and we have more innovation to come.

截至 2026 會計年度目前為止，我們已推出 83 個新產品 SKU，帶來 4,100 萬美元營收。這些產品涵蓋 K-31 草籽、Turf Builder 液態草坪肥料，到 Miracle-Gro 室內植物肥料與小包裝培養土；後續還會有更多創新。

We are also moving with speed. We brought the Ortho Mosquito and flying insect traps to market within just six months. And Chris and his strategy team are targeting tuck-in M&A to help us fill other portfolio gaps quickly.

我們也在加速推進。我們僅用六個月就將 Ortho 蚊蟲與飛行昆蟲誘捕器推向市場。此外，Chris 與其策略團隊正鎖定補強型併購（tuck-in M&A），以快速填補其他產品組合缺口。

On the SKU rationalization front, we have line of sight to eliminate 30% of our lowest-performing SKUs by next fiscal year. This will be margin accretive, while reducing complexity and providing better choices for consumers. Turning to channel expansion. E-commerce is clearly the growth engine. In partnership with our retailers, we have a team dedicated to maximizing POS through digital marketing and product assortments optimized for online.

在 SKU 精簡方面，我們已清楚掌握路徑，預計在下一個會計年度前淘汰 30% 表現最差的 SKU。此舉將增厚毛利，同時降低複雜度，並為消費者提供更好的選擇。接著談通路擴張。電商顯然是成長引擎。我們與零售商合作，成立專責團隊，透過數位行銷與針對線上優化的產品組合，最大化 POS（銷售點）表現。

But brick-and-mortar is still important. We have product gaps here and are addressing them by strengthening partnerships with retailers across channels. Some of our new SKUs include bigger sizes suited to rural property owners with larger loans, for example.

但實體通路仍然重要。我們在此仍有產品缺口，正透過強化跨通路的零售合作夥伴關係來補足。例如，我們部分新 SKU 包含更大規格，適合擁有較大草地的鄉村地產屋主。

We're also exploring channel diversification through the do-it-for-me with the recent launch of a pilot program for small- and medium-sized professional lawn and garden service providers. It's early days, but we're seeing sales traction with fertilizers, grass seed and controls for larger coverage areas.

我們也在探索通路多元化，透過「代做」（do-it-for-me）模式，近期推出針對中小型專業草坪與園藝服務商的試點計畫。目前仍在早期階段，但我們已看到肥料、草籽與防治產品在較大覆蓋面積需求上的銷售動能。

The full season performance will gauge our future here. Our foray in the do-it-for-me reflects a start-up mentality we're instilling throughout the company. Move with speed, test the market, gather learnings and fail or succeed fast. This entrepreneurial spirit is part of the cultural shift we're making.

完整季節的表現將用以衡量我們未來在此領域的發展。我們切入「代做」市場，反映出我們正將新創心態注入全公司。快速行動、測試市場、汲取學習，並快速失敗或快速成功。這種創業精神是我們正在推動的文化轉變之一。

Turning to category growth. We are attacking this through marketing and consumer activation efforts to engage emerging consumers and drive frequency of product use. We have campaigns this spring, specifically for Hispanic consumers, a key demographic group for us. These coincide with more product listings in Hispanic-centric retail stores.

接著談類別成長。我們透過行銷與消費者啟動（activation）活動來推進，吸引新興消費者並提升產品使用頻率。今年春季我們推出行銷活動，特別針對西語裔消費者——這是我們的重要族群。同時也在更多以西語裔為主的零售門市上架更多產品。

In Q2, we also launched an initiative with Bonnie Plants and Gardenuity to provide ready-made growing kits for people who are new to the category. These kits remove the barriers to gardening, simplify the process of growing and set new gardeners up for success. The goal is to convert them into lifelong gardeners.

在第二季，我們也與 Bonnie Plants 與 Gardenuity 推出一項計畫，為剛接觸此類別的消費者提供即用型種植套組。這些套組降低園藝門檻、簡化種植流程，並幫助新手園丁更容易成功。目標是將他們轉化為終身園丁。

On this note, our live goods venture with Bonnie Plants is performing really well this season. They have focused on improved sell-through and quality and the results are starting to show.

同樣在此方面，我們與 Bonnie Plants 的活體商品（live goods）業務本季表現非常出色。他們聚焦於提升銷售出清（sell-through）與品質，成果已開始顯現。

And finally, on operational effectiveness, we continue to invest in our business, mainly focusing on factory automation and technology implementation across the enterprise. We're pursuing a dual-track approach to AI transformation.

最後，在營運效能方面，我們持續投資於業務，主要聚焦於工廠自動化與全企業的技術導入。我們正採取雙軌並進的 AI 轉型策略。

On one hand, we're investing in the foundational work, building a modern data lake and implementing SAP S/4HANA is our next-gen enterprise resource planning system, because organized accurate data is the bedrock of any successful AI deployment.

一方面，我們投資於基礎工程，建置現代化資料湖，並導入 SAP S/4HANA 作為我們的新一代企業資源規劃（ERP）系統，因為有組織且準確的資料是任何成功 AI 部署的基石。

But we're not waiting for that foundation to be fully in place before we act. In parallel, we're reimagining core processes with an AI-first lens, embedding intelligence directly into how we operate. The data foundation and the AI transformation are advancing together each reinforcing the other.

但我們不會等到那個基礎完全到位才採取行動。同時，我們以 AI 優先的視角重新構想核心流程，將智慧直接嵌入我們的營運方式之中。資料基礎與 AI 轉型正同步推進，彼此相互強化。

AI is already playing a role in back office and data insights as well as consumer experiences. To date, we're working on about 40 use cases of AI ranging from consumer chat and voice agents to automated content generation, intelligent product search and productivity tools.

AI 已經在後台作業與資料洞察，以及消費者體驗方面發揮作用。截至目前，我們正在推進約 40 個 AI 用例，涵蓋從消費者聊天與語音代理，到自動化內容生成、智慧型產品搜尋與生產力工具。

Beyond efficiency, AI is directly contributing to top line growth through optimized e-commerce performance and personalized consumer engagement while protecting the bottom line through cost avoidance in areas like data security and process automation.

除了提升效率之外，AI 也透過優化電商表現與個人化消費者互動，直接帶動營收成長；同時在資料安全與流程自動化等領域透過避免成本來守住獲利底線。

As an example, we've developed three commercials in this past quarter using AI, saving about $0.5 million in production costs. All our tech investments support our operational efficiency goals and have the potential to deliver significant savings.

例如，我們在過去一季使用 AI 製作了三支廣告，節省約 50 萬美元的製作成本。我們所有的科技投資都支持營運效率目標，並有潛力帶來可觀的節省。

When you combine them with our investments in automation and other efficiencies, we are striving to deliver supply chain and savings of at least 1% annually. That equates to around $35 million in high-return cost savings each year contributing to gross margin improvement.

當把這些與我們在自動化及其他效率提升方面的投資結合起來時，我們力求每年帶來至少 1% 的供應鏈節省與成本節約。這相當於每年約 3,500 萬美元的高報酬成本節省，並有助於毛利率改善。

We've covered a lot of ground. If you take anything away from today, it's this. Jim has set the financial targets and SMG 2.0 is our road map to achieve them. We are making progress on its building blocks, while at the same time, remaining highly focused on our fiscal '26 plan. We have many great things happening across our company and its go time for our teams. Everyone is rising to the occasion.

我們已經涵蓋了很多內容。如果今天你只帶走一個重點，那就是這個。Jim 已設定財務目標，而 SMG 2.0 是我們達成這些目標的路線圖。我們正在推進其各項基石，同時仍高度聚焦於我們 2026 財年的計畫。公司各處都有許多令人振奮的進展，現在正是團隊全力以赴的時刻。每個人都挺身而出、迎接挑戰。

Here's Mark with the financial details.

接下來由 Mark 說明財務細節。

Thank you, and hello, everyone. Jim and Nate provided an excellent update on our growth strategies and consistent progress towards our financial targets. We have early season momentum, and we've delivered on strong performance, further galvanizing our confidence in the full-year outlook, supported by disciplined execution despite dynamic macro environment.

謝謝，大家好。Jim 和 Nate 對我們的成長策略以及朝財務目標穩健推進的進展，提供了非常出色的更新。我們在季初展現動能，並交出強勁表現，進一步強化我們對全年展望的信心；即使宏觀環境多變，我們仍以嚴謹執行作為支撐。

While we're halfway through fiscal '26, I'll remind everyone that the first six months represent approximately 25% of our full-year POS. The season is in front of us, and consumer sell-through remains the primary focus with increased investments in marketing, media and consumer activation now kicking into high gear. We're tracking to our targets for net sales growth, gross margin expansion and leverage reduction.

雖然我們已經走到 2026 財年的一半，我要提醒大家，前六個月約占我們全年 POS 的 25%。旺季仍在前方，消費者銷售動能（sell-through）仍是首要重點；我們對行銷、媒體與消費者啟動的投資正在全面加速。我們正按計畫達成淨銷售成長、毛利率擴張與槓桿降低的目標。

As Jim previously explained, in moving towards the execution of the multiyear share repurchase program, I will be the gatekeeper and we will be mindful of maintaining leverage comfortably in the 3s.

如 Jim 先前所說，在推進多年期庫藏股回購計畫的執行上，我將擔任把關者，我們也會留意將槓桿率舒適地維持在 3 倍區間。

Looking at our results. You'll recall, we are excluding Hawthorne, having classified it as a discontinued operation last quarter and completing its divestiture in early April. In the second quarter, total company net sales increased 5% to $1.46 billion. For the first six months, net sales increased 3% to $1.81 billion, in line with our full year net sales guidance of low single digits in our US consumer business.

來看我們的業績。各位會記得，我們已排除 Hawthorne，因為上季已將其列為停業單位，並於 4 月初完成出售。第二季，全公司淨銷售成長 5%，達 14.6 億美元。前六個月，淨銷售成長 3%，達 18.1 億美元，符合我們對美國消費者業務全年淨銷售低個位數成長的指引。

Our focus on higher-margin branded products is meeting expectations. Sales of branded products through the first half increased 8%, partially offset by expected declines in mulch and nonbranded product sales. We discussed in previous calls that we expected retailers to increase purchases as we drew closer to the POS consumer sales curve. This has played out in the second quarter.

我們聚焦於高毛利品牌產品的策略符合預期。上半年品牌產品銷售成長 8%，部分被覆蓋物（mulch）與非品牌產品銷售如預期下滑所抵銷。我們在先前的電話會議中提到，隨著接近 POS 消費者銷售曲線，我們預期零售商會增加採購。這一點在第二季已經實現。

The increase in shipments to retailers is attributable to three factors: one, strong, seasonal and retailer support of our branded products initiative, including year-over-year growth in branded soils and grass seed; two, an increase in early season fertilizer sales compared to the second quarter of fiscal '25.

對零售商出貨增加可歸因於三個因素：第一，季節性強勁表現，以及零售商對我們品牌產品策略的支持，包括品牌土壤與草籽的年增成長；第二，與 2025 財年第二季相比，季初肥料銷售增加。

Last year, through joint consumer activation efforts, reinforcing our multi bag purchases, our retail partners experienced strong demand and sell-through of our fertilizer products. This year, our customers are doubling down in anticipation of a stronger spring performance, and three, early replenishment orders related to higher-than-expected POS sell-through of controls products due to more favorable weather conditions in the West, one of our early season markets.

去年，透過共同的消費者啟動活動並強化我們的多袋購買策略，我們的零售夥伴在肥料產品上經歷了強勁需求與良好銷售動能。今年，我們的客戶因預期春季表現更強而加碼投入；第三，由於西部（我們的季初市場之一）天候條件較佳，控制類產品 POS 銷售動能高於預期，帶動提前補貨訂單。

From a regional perspective, consumer takeaway was strongest in the West, where POS dollars were up nearly 15% from the previous year-to-date.

從區域角度來看，西部的消費者帶走量（takeaway）最強，POS 金額較去年同期累計成長近 15%。

As a reminder, beginning in the last quarter, we expanded our POS data to include our 15 largest customers, including e-commerce and only for branded products, excluding mulch, private label and commodity items.

提醒一下，從上一季開始，我們擴大 POS 數據範圍，納入我們最大的 15 家客戶（包含電商），且僅涵蓋品牌產品，排除覆蓋物、自有品牌與大宗商品項目。

Taking a closer look at consumer engagement through the first six months, POS dollars were plus 4%, closely mirroring our total net sales growth. That was driven by fertilizers, plant food, Ortho and Roundup, coupled with consistent e-commerce growth.

更深入看前六個月的消費者互動，POS 金額成長 4%，與我們總淨銷售成長幾乎一致。成長動能來自肥料、植物營養品、Ortho 與 Roundup，加上電商持續成長。

E-commerce POS trends continue to demonstrate the effectiveness of our channel expansion. Year-to-date e-comm POS dollars were up 22% with growth in every category and customer. Gross margin continues to be a strong story.

電商 POS 趨勢持續展現我們通路擴張的成效。年初至今，電商 POS 金額成長 22%，各品類與各客戶皆有成長。毛利率仍是一大亮點。

Year-to-date, we delivered over 200 basis point improvement over prior year driven by favorable mix and sales of higher-margin branded products, along with supply chain savings from ongoing efficiencies. Pricing actions early in the year also contributed.

年初至今，我們較去年提升超過 200 個基點，主要受惠於有利的產品組合與高毛利品牌產品銷售增加，以及持續效率提升帶來的供應鏈節省。年初的定價措施也有所貢獻。

In the quarter, the GAAP and non-GAAP gross margin rate was 41.8%, a 280 basis point improvement and a 240 basis point improvement, respectively, over prior year. For the first six months, the GAAP gross margin rate was 38.5%, a 260 basis point improvement and the non GAAP adjusted gross margin rate was 38.6%, up 230 basis points from a year ago.

本季 GAAP 與非 GAAP 毛利率為 41.8%，分別較去年提升 280 個基點與 240 個基點。前六個月，GAAP 毛利率為 38.5%，較去年提升 260 個基點；非 GAAP 調整後毛利率為 38.6%，較去年提升 230 個基點。

As it relates to potential headwinds from the Iran war, for our full fiscal year, most of our cost of goods sold are locked as we have purchased, produced and hedged a significant portion and are enacting contingency plans to minimize further impacts in the year.

就伊朗戰爭可能帶來的逆風而言，以我們整個財政年度來看，我們大部分銷貨成本已被鎖定，因為我們已採購、生產並對沖了相當大的一部分，同時也在啟動應變計畫，以將今年進一步影響降到最低。

Moving down the P&L. SG&A in the quarter increased 12% and to $199.2 million compared with $177.8 million in the prior year quarter. Year-to-date, SG&A is up 5% from $291.3 million to $305.1 million. The increase in SG&A was expected and reflects our increased media and marketing spend to drive consumer takeaway of our branded products. SG&A spend is on track to our full-year target of around 17% to 18% of sales.

接著往下看損益表。本季 SG&A 年增 12%，至 1.992 億美元，去年同期為 1.778 億美元。年初至今，SG&A 由 2.913 億美元增至 3.051 億美元，成長 5%。SG&A 的增加符合預期，反映我們提高媒體與行銷支出，以帶動品牌產品的消費者帶走量。SG&A 支出正按計畫達成全年約占銷售額 17% 至 18% 的目標。

Moving to non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA. For the quarter, it was $437.4 million versus $401.6 million a year ago. Year-to-date, it was $440.2 million, a nearly $38 million improvement over $402.5 million in the corresponding period. Below the line, interest expense declined from lower debt balances and interest rates.

接著看非 GAAP 調整後 EBITDA。本季為 4.374 億美元，去年同期為 4.016 億美元。年初至今為 4.402 億美元，較對應期間的 4.025 億美元改善近 3,800 萬美元。在損益表下方，利息費用因債務餘額降低與利率下降而減少。

For the quarter, interest expense was $31.3 million compared with $36.6 million in fiscal '25. For the first six months, interest expense was $58.5 million versus $70.5 million in fiscal '25. We leverage at 3.71 times an improvement of 0.7 times versus a year ago was a result of higher EBITDA and continued deployment of free cash flow to debt reduction.

本季利息費用為 3,130 萬美元，2025 財年為 3,660 萬美元。前六個月利息費用為 5,850 萬美元，2025 財年為 7,050 萬美元。我們的槓桿倍數為 3.71 倍，較去年改善 0.7 倍，主要來自 EBITDA 提高，以及持續運用自由現金流降低負債。

Year-to-date, free cash flow was favorable by more than $100 million over prior year from higher net income from continuing operations and our focus on working capital management and disciplined inventory management.

年初至今，自由現金流較去年同期有利超過1億美元，主要來自持續營運淨利提高，以及我們專注於營運資金管理與嚴謹的庫存管理。

Our current year plans and execution are driving improvement on the bottom line. For the quarter, GAAP net income from continuing operations was $263.3 million or $4.46 per share compared with $220.7 million or $3.78 per share a year ago. Adjusted non-GAAP net income from continuing operations in the quarter was $267.8 million or $4.53 per share versus $233.7 million or $4 per share last year.

我們本年度的計畫與執行正推動最終獲利表現改善。就本季而言，依GAAP計算之持續營運淨利為2.633億美元，或每股4.46美元，較去年同期的2.207億美元或每股3.78美元增加。本季經調整之非GAAP持續營運淨利為2.678億美元，或每股4.53美元，相較去年為2.337億美元或每股4.00美元。

For the first six months, GAAP net income from continuing operations was $215.6 million or $3.65 per share compared with $154.7 million or $2.64 per share a year ago. And adjusted non-GAAP net income from continuing operations was $223.3 million or $3.78 per share versus $183.5 million or $3.13 per share in prior year.

就前六個月而言，依GAAP計算之持續營運淨利為2.156億美元，或每股3.65美元，較去年同期的1.547億美元或每股2.64美元增加。而經調整之非GAAP持續營運淨利為2.233億美元，或每股3.78美元，相較去年為1.835億美元或每股3.13美元。

Looking ahead to fiscal '27, commodities are a primary focus. Given the volatility of the Iran war, it is too early to estimate with certainty what we might face next year. But we expect to manage any impacts while continuing to invest in our superpowers and advance our growth initiatives.

展望2027會計年度，大宗商品將是主要關注重點。鑑於伊朗戰爭的波動性，現在仍太早，無法確定估計明年我們可能面臨的情況。但我們預期將在持續投資於我們的「超能力」並推進成長計畫的同時，管理任何影響。

Jim talked about our confidence to cover material cost increases with pricing adjustments which would be consistent with how we've navigated the high inflationary period of fiscal '22 and '23 in the early stages of the war in Ukraine.

Jim談到我們有信心透過價格調整來因應原物料成本上升，這與我們在2022與2023會計年度高通膨期間，以及烏克蘭戰爭初期的應對方式一致。

Nate and his team are also driving supply chain savings and working on sourcing contingencies to ensure we have optionality heading into fiscal '27. As always, we will develop hedging strategies to provide more cost certainty.

Nate與其團隊也在推動供應鏈節省，並著手建立採購備援方案，以確保我們在邁入2027會計年度時具備更多選擇彈性。一如既往，我們將制定避險策略，以提供更高的成本確定性。

Overall, we are pleased with our performance as we enter the peak lawn and garden season. We are reaffirming our fiscal '26 guidance and have a high degree of optimism for the long-term financial goals.

整體而言，在進入草坪與園藝旺季之際，我們對自身表現感到滿意。我們重申2026會計年度的指引，並對長期財務目標抱持高度樂觀。

In early June, we will provide a seasonal update at our William Blair Annual Growth Stock Conference in Chicago, and we will follow that up with a deeper dive into SMG 2.0 and our financial priorities at our Investor Day on August 4 at the New York Stock Exchange. Here's the operator.

6月初，我們將在芝加哥舉行的William Blair年度成長股研討會提供季節性更新；接著在8月4日於紐約證券交易所舉辦的投資人日，將更深入說明SMG 2.0與我們的財務優先事項。接下來交給接線員。

(Operator Instructions)

(接線員指示)

Jon Andersen, William Blair.

Jon Andersen，William Blair。

Hey, good morning, everybody. Two quick questions for you. Could you talk a little bit about what you're seeing in terms of the kind of I guess, the restage on the lawns business and fertilizer, and how some of that -- I know you've done some work on the assortment and pricing structure and how that's performing. And then I know another part of your strategy is to really drive deeper into e-com and would love an update on that as well.

各位早安。我有兩個簡短問題。能否談談你們在草坪業務與肥料方面看到的情況，我想是關於草坪業務的重新陳列/重整（restage）之類的進展，以及其中一些——我知道你們在品項組合與定價架構上做了不少工作——目前表現如何？另外，我知道你們策略的另一部分是更深入推動電商，也想請你們更新一下進展。

And maybe a last point is just, was there any kind of anything unique in the quarter from a shipment perspective and retail inventory level perspective that we need to consider as we think about fiscal third quarter results? Thank you.

最後一點是，本季在出貨面或零售端庫存水位方面，是否有任何特殊情況需要我們在思考第三會計季結果時納入考量？謝謝。

All right. Jon, this is Nate. I'll start. I'll start with the bottom. So shipments remain strong. Obviously, through Q2, they were strong and they remained strong for the first part of Q3. So not seeing any issues there. I'm not concerned about inventory levels. Slightly elevated versus this time last year, but I think supports the bullishness of the retailers and us on the category.

好的。Jon，我是Nate。我先開始。我先從最後一題回答。出貨仍然強勁。顯然到第二季為止都很強勁，且在第三季前段仍維持強勁。所以目前沒有看到任何問題。我對庫存水位不擔心。相較去年同期略高一些，但我認為這反而支撐了零售商以及我們對該品類的樂觀態度。

On e-comm, I'm really happy with where we are. We're up double digits. We've gained both market share and are seeing a real adoption of some of the innovation because we brought a lot of that to market through e-com-first, and we'll talk more about that at Investor Day, but I'm pleased with our progress so far.

在電商方面，我對目前的狀況非常滿意。我們成長達雙位數。我們同時提升了市占率，也看到部分創新產品的實際採用度提升，因為我們有不少創新是以「電商優先」方式推向市場；我們會在投資人日進一步說明，但就目前進展而言我很滿意。

For Lawns, I'm going to let John Sass, our GM of lawns, just comment because I think that's probably the most important point that you asked. So John?

至於草坪（Lawns），我會請我們草坪事業的總經理John Sass來回應，因為我認為那可能是你問的最重要的一點。John？

Yes, Jon, great question. I think our lawns business, we talked about it a lot in the past 1.5 years here, what -- we are transitioning from a product program to a portfolio and really selling a four step type of solution for consumers. The first phase of that was last year when we adjusted media plans and our promotional plans, which we had a great response from consumers and our retail partners.

是的，Jon，問得很好。我想我們的草坪業務——過去一年半我們談了很多——我們正從單一產品方案轉型為產品組合（portfolio），並真正向消費者銷售一套「四步驟」式的解決方案。第一階段是去年，我們調整了媒體投放計畫與促銷計畫，消費者與零售夥伴的回饋都非常好。

And this year is the rollout of the product piece of that. So this year, we just introduced a new Turf Builder lawn food product that's for kids and pets. It's a great solution that is now showing up in retailer stores right now. And our adjustment to our media and advertising continues.

而今年則是其中產品面向的推出。因此今年我們剛推出一款新的Turf Builder草坪肥（lawn food）產品，適用於有小孩與寵物的家庭。這是一個很棒的解決方案，目前已開始在零售商門市上架。同時，我們對媒體與廣告的調整也在持續進行。

So we're really enhancing and showcasing the four feedings a year, really getting consumers back into a program that will give them a great lawn solution. So I would say the early part of the season, we're step one through the program.

因此我們正強化並凸顯一年四次施肥的概念，讓消費者回到一個能提供優質草坪成果的方案中。所以我會說，在季節初期，我們正處於整個方案的第一步。

We're seeing another sell-through of our Halts, our first step in the program over 20%, which is a great sort of first indicator for us going into the season. And now we go into the weed and feed part of the season. So off to a great start, a great continuation from last year.

我們看到Halts（方案第一步）的終端銷售（sell-through）再次成長超過20%，這是我們進入旺季時一個很好的初步指標。接下來我們將進入除草與施肥（weed and feed）的季節階段。因此開局非常好，也延續了去年的良好態勢。

I might just throw in, Nate. Davitt, where we had the biggest gap in share is really controlled on the online business on e-com. So you want to talk a little bit about what you're seeing with Ortho?

Nate，我補充一下。Davitt，我們市占差距最大的部分其實是在電商的線上業務、也就是e-com。你要不要談談你在Ortho方面看到的情況？

This is Mike Davitt. When you start to think of the Ortho business, how consumers are searching for controls product has changed over the last few years. Obviously, we have a ton of products that sell multiple solutions. Consumers are moving to specifics.

我是Mike Davitt。當你開始思考Ortho業務時，消費者搜尋防治（controls）產品的方式在過去幾年已經改變。顯然，我們有大量產品可提供多重解決方案。但消費者正轉向更具體、針對性的需求。

If you look at the portfolio we launched with mosquito, with ant, and with specific weed products, we're giving consumers new solutions that they're looking for. So as Nate talked about this next generation of consumer, we're doing it in dot-com first.

如果你看我們推出的產品組合，包含針對蚊子、螞蟻以及特定雜草的產品，我們正提供消費者正在尋找的新解決方案。因此如Nate所說，面對下一代消費者，我們採取「dot-com優先」的方式來推動。

Yes. And it's across all our categories, we have a lot of room to grow with market share. Controls is the biggest opportunity for sure.

是的。而且在我們所有品類中，我們在市占率方面都有很大的成長空間。其中防治（Controls）無疑是最大的機會。

Thank you.

謝謝。

All right. Thanks, John.

好的。謝謝你，John。

Peter Grom, UBS.

Peter Grom，UBS。

Great. Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. So I wanted to ask on SMG 2.0. And I think the commentary was helpful, but I wanted to dig into the $1 billion sales target and gross margin approaching 40%. My guess is we'll get more color in August, but how should we think about building to these targets?

很好。謝謝，接線員。各位早安。我想就SMG 2.0提問。我認為剛才的說明很有幫助，但我想更深入了解10億美元的銷售目標，以及毛利率接近40%。我猜8月會有更多細節，但我們應該如何看待達成這些目標的路徑？

Is it linear because that you'd expect kind of equal contributions to the top line and margin expansion over the next several years? Is it more back-half weighted? Not trying to get fiscal '27 guidance, but I'm just kind of curious how quickly some of these actions can begin to show in the P&L.

這會是線性的嗎？也就是你們預期未來幾年營收成長與毛利率擴張會有大致相等的貢獻？還是會更偏向後半段加速？我不是要你們提供2027會計年度指引，但我只是好奇，這些行動多快能開始在損益表（P&L）上反映出來。

Yes. So you're right, Peter. We'll certainly get into much more detail as we go to Investor Day. I would say right now, I would just look at it as linear. I don't think it will play out that way. But our focus clearly is the biggest piece of the pie to go get is e-comm. So Jim talked about it in his prepared remarks. This is an area that Chris is going to focus on with product assortment, tuck-in M&A.

是的。所以你說得對，Peter。我們在投資人日會更深入地說明。我會說就目前而言，你可以先把它視為線性成長。我不認為實際上會完全照那樣發展。但我們的重點很明確：要去拿下的最大一塊市場是電商。所以 Jim 在事先準備的發言中也提到了。這是 Chris 將會著力的領域，包括產品組合，以及補強型併購（tuck-in M&A）。

But we have strength in other categories, whether it's expanded programs with our retailers as well as focus on Hispanic. So I would say it's early days. We'll lay out a year-by-year road map for you when we get to the August meeting. But from my point of view, I'm really comfortable. Remember, to net $1 billion, we're obviously overshooting. And again, we'll get into that detail during Investor Day.

不過我們在其他品類也有優勢，不論是與零售商擴大合作專案，或是聚焦西語裔（Hispanic）市場。所以我會說現在還在早期階段。等到八月那場會議時，我們會提供逐年（year-by-year）的路線圖給你。但就我個人觀點，我非常放心。記住，要達到淨增 10 億美元，我們顯然是超額達成。而且，我們會在投資人日再把細節講清楚。

But I would -- Hagedorn here. What I would throw in there is just getting share equal to what we have in sort of big box retailers. That's the vast majority of this. So this is one where just getting our share online up. We'll give Nate most of what he needs to get that $1 billion.

不過我會——我是 Hagedorn。我想補充的是，只要把我們的市占提升到類似在大型賣場（big box retailers）那樣的水準。這就占了其中的絕大部分。所以這件事的關鍵就是把我們的線上市占拉上來。我們會給 Nate 大部分他需要的資源，來達成那 10 億美元。

Understood. That's really helpful guys. And then I guess just a quick follow-up on the gross margin for this year. Obviously, really strong performance. It seems like the mix benefit from the branded products emphasis is really showing through. And I don't think that was originally contemplated in kind of the gross margin of plus 32% or what have you.

了解。這真的很有幫助，各位。接著我想快速追問一下今年的毛利率。顯然表現非常強勁。看起來強調品牌產品帶來的組合（mix）效益已經很明顯。而我認為這在原先毛利率 32% 以上之類的指引中，可能並沒有被充分納入。

So can you maybe just speak to maybe what we've seen year-to-date how is it progressing versus what you were anticipating? And then as you think about reiterating the outlook, is that simply conservatism or are there certain headwinds that we need to contemplate in 3Q and 4Q?

所以你們能否談談截至目前（year-to-date）我們看到的情況，與你們原先預期相比進展如何？另外，當你們重申展望時，那只是出於保守，還是我們需要考量第三季與第四季會有某些逆風？

Listen, you guys are constantly thinking like there's some trick here or something. Look, I would say it's good that's happening, right? I mean, so it's a positive. Nate and I were dealing with, and this was a big factor in last year's calls about private label and are you guys losing out on private label. I think you guys are aware that with a couple of giant customers, we basically said, we don't care about the mulch business. Take it, okay? But when we take it, we're taking our promotional money with us.

聽著，你們總是一直在想這裡是不是有什麼花招或什麼。你看，我會說這樣的結果是好事，對吧？我的意思是，這是正面的。Nate 和我一直在處理——而且這也是去年電話會議的一個重要因素——關於自有品牌（private label），以及你們是不是在自有品牌上失利。我想你們也知道，面對幾個非常大的客戶，我們基本上說：我們不在乎覆蓋物（mulch）這門生意。你拿去吧，好嗎？但當我們放手時，我們也會把我們的促銷費用一起帶走。

And if you want that promotional money, then put it into our branded business. So to the extent that you guys were kind of living it live with us last year, and I think some people were criticizing us for it, acting like it was a vulnerability, we took the marketing money and said, if you want the marketing money, you're going to put it behind branded, and they did, okay?

如果你想要那筆促銷費用，那就把它投入到我們的品牌業務上。所以就某種程度而言，去年你們算是跟著我們一起即時經歷了這件事；我想也有人因此批評我們，把它當成弱點。

And so to some extent, a little bit of a surprise because some of the strategy, Nate and I were figuring out on the airplane to go visit some customers and deliver like a sort of hard line which we're not negotiating on this. And so I think the result to some extent is choices we made, not as well planned as you thought, but it was basically saying we're not going to lose money on this stuff.

因此在某種程度上，這有點出乎意料，因為有些策略是 Nate 和我在飛機上、準備去拜訪客戶時才想出來的，並且提出一條比較強硬的底線：這件事我們不談判。所以我認為結果在某種程度上是我們做出的選擇；不像你們以為的那麼周全規劃，但基本上就是在說：我們不會在這些東西上賠錢。

And if you find somebody who can make it cheaper, God bless, but all that money that's going into marketing it, that stays with us unless you want to redeploy it. And so I think that has worked out really well for us.

如果你找到有人能做得更便宜，那祝福你；但所有投入行銷的那筆錢，除非你想重新配置（redeploy），否則就會留在我們這邊。所以我認為這對我們來說運作得非常好。

Yes. It is those two things. It's mix and supply chain and as always, I'm very proud of our supply chain organization and they can continue to deliver and even over-deliver. Jim is right on the mix stuff. If you look at our POS year-to-date, we're ahead in dollars versus units. That reflects we're doing less heavily discounted units. We said we were going to walk away from that. We leaned into the branded. So I think that just performed a little better than we expected, and we're happy with that.

是的。就是那兩件事：產品組合（mix）與供應鏈。而且一如既往，我對我們的供應鏈團隊非常自豪，他們能持續交付，甚至超額交付。Jim 在組合的部分說得沒錯。如果你看我們截至目前的 POS（銷售點）數據，以金額來看我們領先於銷量。這反映出我們做了較少的深度折扣銷售。我們說過我們會退出那種做法。我們更著力於品牌產品。所以我認為表現確實比我們預期好一些，我們也很高興。

You might as well get a finance guy in there because we're talking gross margin and how you feel that.

既然在談毛利率以及你對此的感受，那不如讓財務的人來回答。

Yes, no problem. So I think Nate said it best. As far as the overperformance year-to-date on some of the branded products in the mix. So I think from an expectation standpoint, I think for the first half, we did see some of that. That gives us confidence as we wrap up the back half of the year, which, I mean, we all know that there will be some level of commodity inflation in the back half of the year that we navigate, but we definitely feel like we can deliver on the 32% gross margin guide with additional supply chain efficiencies coming in for the back half of the year as well.

好的，沒問題。我想 Nate 已經說得很好了。就截至目前品牌產品在組合上的超預期表現而言。所以從預期角度來看，我認為上半年我們確實看到了一些這樣的趨勢。這讓我們在進入下半年時更有信心；我的意思是，我們都知道下半年會有一定程度的商品通膨（commodity inflation）需要因應，但我們確實覺得，隨著下半年也會有額外的供應鏈效率挹注，我們能夠達成 32% 的毛利率指引。

But we're learning like, I don't know, you guys could probably criticize and say, this you have to learn. But if you look at like the Halts business. The Halts business was a business that I'm not saying it was in decline, it probably was. But we weren't putting anything behind it. And a couple of years ago, we started putting like some radio in it and got like crazy good results.

但我們也在學習——我不知道，你們可能會批評說這些本來就該學會。但如果你看像 Halts 這個業務。Halts 這門業務，我不是說它在衰退，但它可能確實是。但我們並沒有投入任何資源在它上面。而幾年前，我們開始投放一些廣播廣告，結果好得驚人。

So we started to invest behind Halts. And the numbers are phenomenal. And there's these giant benefit of this, not only are we selling more. But the more we sell, it's the kind of product they have return privileges on. The more you sell, so you're selling out and you're not dealing with returns on it, it's just a very virtuous thing for us. And so I think we're also learning that advertising, marketing activation works. And so that's also helping our margins at and our mix.

所以我們開始加大對 Halts 的投資。而數字表現非常亮眼。而且這帶來很大的好處：不只是我們賣得更多。而且賣得越多——這類產品是客戶有退貨權利（return privileges）的——你賣得越多，就越是賣到缺貨、也就越不用處理退貨，對我們來說是非常良性的循環。

Correct. And the only other thing, Peter, I'll just bring up. I think in the Q1 call, we talked about a shift in sales from first half to second half. I don't know if we're fully seeing that. So that's part of the overperformance as well.

沒錯。另外還有一點，Peter，我補充一下。我記得在第一季電話會議上，我們談到銷售會從上半年轉移到下半年。我不確定我們是否完全看到那個情況。所以這也是超預期表現的一部分。

Awesome. Yes, I never want to be tricked, Jim. So I appreciate all the color, guys. Thank you.

太棒了。是的，我從來不想被耍，Jim。所以我很感謝各位提供的所有補充說明。謝謝。

I just think you guys asked like somehow is like we're kind of pulling the wool over your eyes. No, not at all. It's just sometimes where as surprised as you are, like?

我只是覺得你們的提問好像在暗示我們是在蒙蔽你們。不，完全不是。只是有時候，我們跟你們一樣驚訝，對吧？

Jonathan Matuszewski, Jefferies.

Jonathan Matuszewski，Jefferies。

Great. Good morning, and thanks for taking my questions. My first one was for you, Mark. And just if you could remind us of the historical quarterly sequencing in terms of how you secure raw materials for the upcoming fiscal year?

很好。早安，謝謝讓我提問。我的第一個問題是問你，Mark。你能否提醒我們，關於為即將到來的會計年度取得原物料，在歷史上各季度的安排（quarterly sequencing）大致是如何進行的？

And just how we should think about maybe the current prices of raw materials, is that leading you to think about deviating from what you lock in during a fiscal 2Q or this year versus history? Any color there? That would be my first question. Thanks.

那麼，我們應該如何看待目前原物料的價格？這是否會讓你們考慮在本財年第二季或今年鎖定的價格，相較於過往做法有所偏離？這方面能否提供一些說明？這是我的第一個問題。謝謝。

Sure. So I'll take a stab and I'll let Nate jump in as well. Generally, I would just say what you see in our P&L is stuff that was purchased most likely six to nine months previously. We have really great suppliers, really reliable sources and so we can leverage our superpower. So just as that as a backdrop.

當然。我先試著回答，之後也讓 Nate 補充。一般來說，你們在我們損益表上看到的，多半是大約六到九個月前採購的項目。我們有非常優秀的供應商、非常可靠的來源，因此我們能運用我們的核心優勢。先以此作為背景。

As we look to '27, really the summer becomes an important part of just working with our suppliers on our plans for next year and our customers. This year is kind of unique, right? Obviously, with the Iran conflict, we're dealing with elevated commodity prices.

當我們展望 2027 年時，夏季其實是與供應商就明年計畫、以及與客戶協作的重要時點。今年有點特殊，對吧？顯然，因為伊朗衝突，我們正面對偏高的商品價格。

So I think our approach this year is a little more of a wait-and-see approach. There are areas where we will start to buy for '27 and lock in supply that will start to happen over the next several months. But really, the summer months here, I would say will really begin to shore up some of those activities. But again, I just go back around six to nine months is kind of the tail as we navigate that.

所以我認為我們今年的做法會更偏向觀望。有些領域我們會開始為 2027 年採購並鎖定供應，這會在接下來幾個月開始發生。但我會說，接下來的夏季幾個月，會真正開始把其中一些活動更扎實地推進。不過再重申一次，我們在應對時大致仍以六到九個月的時間尾端為主。

Yes. Jonathan, it's Nate. I'll just -- urea specifically, we have flexibility. What I would say is we're going to delay purchases a bit this year relative to how we've done it in the past. And we've got the flexibility in our Marysville chem plant to do that. So we've not put production for next year at risk.

是的。Jonathan，我是 Nate。就尿素而言，我們有彈性。我想說的是，相較於過去的做法，我們今年會稍微延後採購。而我們在 Marysville 的化工廠具備這樣做的彈性。所以我們並沒有讓明年的生產面臨風險。

And I think Jim said it well, we just don't know what we don't know, but we've got a great team that's focused on it and we'll manage and we're committed to our margin walk, and we're committed to taking pricing if we have to. So we'll talk more about '27 as we know more. It's a little early for us, but we're definitely thinking through all the scenarios.

而且我覺得 Jim 說得很好：我們不知道我們不知道的事，但我們有一支很棒的團隊專注在這上面，我們會管理好；我們也承諾要達成我們的毛利改善路徑（margin walk），必要時也承諾會採取調價。所以等我們對 2027 年了解更多時，我們會再多談。現在對我們來說還稍早，但我們確實在推演所有情境。

Look, I think as the war has sort of carried on and we've seen whether it's resins, diesel, urea, all of the sort of big commodities for us. I think, first of all, the purchasing team has done a terrific job, like reducing the risk for this year. And I think Nate has been pushing to sort of understand '27 better.

你看，隨著戰事持續，我們看到不論是樹脂、柴油、尿素，這些對我們而言的大宗商品。我認為首先，採購團隊做得非常出色，像是降低了今年的風險。而我也覺得 Nate 一直在推動更深入理解 2027 年的狀況。

I just think that this is one of those things while some of the stuff we just have to manufacture, and we'll get -- it will end up on the balance sheet and inventory. A lot of our purchasing decisions, I think can get much better if the resolves itself.

我只是覺得，這是那種情況：有些東西我們就是必須生產，然後它會——最後會反映在資產負債表與存貨上。但我們很多採購決策，如果情勢能夠化解，我認為是可以做得更好的。

And so the thing that I would like to make sure that everybody on this call is aware, we are not going to sacrifice our margin goals with this idea that by accepting dilution in our margins is somehow okay. Any costs we're seeing, there's not a single company in America that's not dealing with this stuff.

所以我想確保在這通電話上的每個人都清楚：我們不會為了所謂「接受毛利被稀釋也沒關係」這種想法，而犧牲我們的毛利目標。我們看到的任何成本上升，美國沒有任何一家公司不在面對這些事情。

And I'm I am not concerned or shy about saying that where we're headed on margins, if we have to use pricing, everybody else will be as well. And so that if I was talking to my family like right now, I would say we're not going to give up our goals for our plan because somehow we think we're doing the right thing for the consumer.

而且我一點也不擔心、也不避諱地說：就我們的毛利走向而言，如果我們必須透過調價，其他人也會如此。所以如果我現在是在跟家人講，我會說：我們不會因為覺得自己是在為消費者做對的事，就放棄我們計畫中的目標。

The consumer -- it could be that, right, for the consumer. But the good news for us is we know when things are bad to the consumer, people garden. They not travel as much. They haven't got the dinner as much, but they stay home and they take care of their home and their yard and garden and spend time there.

對消費者來說——確實可能是那樣，對消費者而言。但對我們的好消息是，我們知道當消費者日子不好過時，人們反而會園藝。他們不會那麼常旅行。也不會那麼常外出吃晚餐，但他們會待在家裡，照顧自己的家、院子和花園，並把時間花在那裡。

So this is something where if it's bad for the consumer, I also think we'll see goodness in commodities if the economy starts to get a little wobbly. And so my encouragement to Nate is just to try to stay loose as you can.

所以在這件事上，如果對消費者不利，我也認為一旦經濟開始有點搖晃，我們可能會在大宗商品上看到一些正向變化。因此我對 Nate 的鼓勵就是：盡可能保持彈性。

This is not that -- the '27 is not an issue on commodities. We're not going to eat it. But trying to get too far ahead of it and worry about it, I think, is not the issue as long as we say, we're going to take pricing to cover the cost.

這不是那種——2027 年在大宗商品上不是問題。我們不會自己吞下去。但我認為，只要我們說我們會透過調價來覆蓋成本，那麼太早超前部署、過度擔心它，並不是重點。

Correct. And remember, we play in a really broad set of categories within lawn and garden. And the commodities we've just been talking about are limited to a certain segment of those.

沒錯。而且請記得，我們在草坪與園藝領域涵蓋非常廣泛的品類。而我們剛剛談到的這些大宗商品，只限於其中某一部分的業務。

Yes. Jonathan, for perspective urea, for example, less than 10% of our cost of goods sold. So it's like mid-single digits. So it's to Nate's point, we've got a broad portfolio.

是的。Jonathan，提供一個角度：以尿素為例，它占我們銷貨成本不到 10%。大概是中個位數百分比。所以如 Nate 所說，我們有很廣的產品組合。

Right. Thanks for all that color, guys. And then just a quick follow-up on in-store merchandising. Looks like RONA recently rolled out 100 dedicated Shop-in-Shops for your brand ahead of spring. Maybe just speak to any productivity boost you may have seen from initial pilots that led to this rollout? And how you think about the opportunity to replicate something similar in key US retail distribution partners?

好的。謝謝各位提供這麼多說明。接著快速追問一下店內陳列（in-store merchandising）。看起來 RONA 最近在春季前為你們品牌推出了 100 個專屬的店中店（Shop-in-Shop）。能否談談從最初試點到這次擴大導入，你們是否看到任何生產力提升？以及你們如何看待在美國主要零售通路夥伴複製類似模式的機會？

No problem. Well, listen, I'm just going to say, I think it's a little early to really quantify the results from that. But again, in the spirit of retail partnerships, that's an important one. You'll see us do more with other retailers, including in the US, not necessarily all rolling out this year, but over time, whether it's digital or physical like we're seeing at RONA.

沒問題。嗯，聽著，我先說，我覺得現在要量化那個計畫的成果還有點早。但同樣地，從零售合作夥伴關係的角度來看，那是一個重要的合作。你們也會看到我們與其他零售商做更多合作，包括在美國；不一定都會在今年全面推出，但會隨時間推進，不論是數位或像 RONA 這樣的實體形式。

I think that just speaks to the nature of where we need to go from a consumer activation standpoint, and we'll be happy to talk more about that test with RONA when we see you in August. I think we'll have more data then.

我認為這也反映出，從消費者啟動（consumer activation）的角度，我們需要前進的方向；等到八月見面時，我們也很樂意再多談 RONA 的這個測試。我想那時我們會有更多數據。

Joseph Altobello, Raymond James.

Joseph Altobello，Raymond James。

Thanks. Hey, guys. Good morning. I guess I'll stay on the pricing subject. But Jim, I think you your thinking on pricing seems to have evolved over the years. There was a time when you were on hesitant to do it, but now you feel like -- it feels like you're more comfortable? And I know the situation is volatile, but if nothing were to change on the cost side. Would you view the pricing that you'll need to take next year as manageable from the consumer's perspective?

謝謝。各位早安。我想我就繼續談定價這個主題。Jim，我覺得你對定價的想法這些年似乎有所演變。曾經有一段時間你對調價比較猶豫，但現在感覺——你更自在了？我知道情勢很波動，但如果成本端沒有任何變化，你會認為明年你們需要採取的調價，從消費者角度看是可控、可承受的嗎？

Thank you. I was going to say 100%, but that's probably unsafe. But yes, I absolutely feel. Look, we were -- Nate and I were down at a big retailer last year, and they were dealing with all the tariff issues like huge. And I think we were down there for like a couple of percent. And I said, seriously, guys, like with all the trouble you have, you're worried about a couple of percent from us.

謝謝。我本來想說 100%，但那可能不太安全。但是的，我完全這麼認為。你看，去年 Nate 和我去拜訪一家大型零售商，他們正被各種關稅議題折騰得很嚴重。而我們那邊大概只是幾個百分點的問題。我就說，認真嗎，各位？你們有那麼多麻煩，卻在擔心我們這幾個百分點。

Yes, I think that the damage we do to this company by not staying on top of our margins is way worse than people who are buying a product once or twice a year in an environment where they're seeing pricing like this all -- in fact, I think we're probably pretty shy compared to a lot of stuff that people buy. So yes, I guess it has evolved.

是的，我認為如果我們沒有緊盯毛利率而對這家公司造成的損害，遠比那些在一年只買一兩次產品、且所處環境中到處都看到這種定價的人要嚴重得多——事實上，我覺得相較於人們購買的許多其他商品，我們的定價可能還算相當保守。所以是的，我想這確實已經有所演變。

But I do think that where we're going with SMG 2.0, that listen, in part, Nate's promotion is based on the results here. And so I am big time encouraging him to get it done. The share repurchases, like I kind of meant what I said, which is I think this is a fabulous opportunity. And I think last year, for those of us who have had the sport of being on these calls, there was a lot of frustration with me on good results that didn't get reflected in the share price.

但我確實認為，就我們在 SMG 2.0 的方向而言，聽著，某種程度上，Nate 的升遷是基於這裡的成果。所以我非常鼓勵他把這件事做成。至於庫藏股回購，就像我之前說的，我是認真的：我認為這是一個絕佳的機會。而且我認為去年，對於我們這些一直參與這些電話會議的人來說，大家對我有不少挫折感，因為良好的業績並沒有反映在股價上。

I think my view right now is we'll buy our own shares back. And so the more money that Nate can create, faster and deeper we can buy shares back at a price that I think is attractive and the Board does as well. So that's kind of where I'm at. And so I think being less comfortable with pricing puts a lot of that stuff at risk.

我現在的看法是，我們會回購自家股票。因此，Nate 能創造的資金越多、越快、越深，我們就能以我認為具吸引力、董事會也同意的價格更快回購股票。這大概就是我目前的立場。所以我認為，對定價越不自在，會讓很多事情面臨風險。

And John, I'll just -- sorry, Joe, I'll just add, remember, I'm looking at this to the lens of a five-plus year strategy, right? So certainly didn't anticipate two months ago what was happening in the Middle East. But like everything else, we've been through this, right? We've seen $900 to $1,000 a ton urea in the past. We've managed through it. We've taken pricing. To Jim's point, I'm keeping my eye on the long ball, which is a commitment to be a branded-first company with a very, very strong gross margin profile.

John，我補充一下——抱歉 Joe，我補充一下：記住，我是用五年以上策略的視角來看這件事，對吧？所以當然，兩個月前我並沒有預期中東會發生現在這些事。但就像其他事情一樣，我們經歷過這些，對吧？我們過去也看過每噸 900 到 1,000 美元的尿素價格。我們也都挺過來了。我們也做過提價。如 Jim 所說，我著眼的是長期，也就是承諾成為一家以品牌優先、且擁有非常、非常強勁毛利結構的公司。

Very helpful. And just to shift gears a little bit to this e-commerce shift, if you will. How does it impact your margin structure? Does it require any investment on your part? Does it required more or less working capital? How does it change your business model, I guess?

非常有幫助。那稍微換個話題，談談這個電商轉移（如果你願意這麼說）。它會如何影響你們的毛利結構？你們需要投入任何投資嗎？它需要更多或更少的營運資金嗎？我想問的是，它如何改變你們的商業模式？

So I mean, it obviously affects all of those. I mean not so much on the working capital, but certainly investing in the people to come in and help us drive e-com with that experience to drive product development, again, is going to pick up a big piece of this. There is a margin delta, but on a like-for-like between brick-and-mortar and e-comm today, and that's something that we'll continue to chip away at by bringing innovation and then bringing costs down on the back end of it. So there's a target, there's a challenge. I'm not particularly worried about it. It's a few hundred basis points delta. And we're putting teams and plans in place to manage that for the long term.

所以我的意思是，它顯然會影響上述所有面向。營運資金方面倒不算太多，但我們確實需要投資在人員上，找具備電商經驗的人進來，協助我們推動電商，並推動產品開發；這會是其中很大的一部分。毛利確實有差異，但就目前同品項比較實體通路與電商而言，確實存在差距；我們會透過導入創新、並在後端降低成本來持續縮小這個差距。所以有目標，也有挑戰。我並不特別擔心。差距大概是幾百個基點。我們正在建立團隊與計畫，以長期管理這件事。

And Joe, what we're talking about leveraging our retail partners. So we're not going to be doing direct-to-consumer like all across the country where we'll have to build out a massive network and stuff from a cost in perspective. So we leverage our customers through that process.

Joe，我們談的是要善用我們的零售合作夥伴。所以我們不會在全國各地全面做直面消費者（DTC），否則從成本角度看，我們就得建立龐大的網路與各種基礎設施。因此我們會在這個過程中透過客戶來槓桿運作。

Listen Joe, personally, I think it's really exciting. And we had a Board meeting last week, Thursday and Friday. And at the dinner, I got on to sort of the soapbox, which a CEO can do at a Board dinner and just talk about not participating is suicide for us. It's -- so this is not something that we really have a choice in.

Joe，聽著，就我個人而言，我覺得這真的很令人振奮。我們上週四、五開了董事會。在晚宴上，我有點站上講台（CEO 在董事會晚宴上可以這麼做），談到如果不參與，對我們來說就是自殺。也就是說——這不是我們真正有選擇的事情。

We're under-penetrated. There's all kinds of opportunity. The retailers from our existing brick-and-mortar to other retailers are incredibly enthusiastic and want to play. So they see the opportunity as well that they are under-penetrated in lawn and garden.

我們的滲透率偏低。機會非常多。從我們既有的實體零售商到其他零售商，都非常熱情、也想參與。所以他們也看到了機會：他們在草坪與園藝品類的滲透率同樣偏低。

And a lot of it remember, 80% of the volume we're talking about is with our existing retailers. And so it's not like we have a choice. I do think that it it's a little bit more expensive to operate. And I think Nate and team will deal with that.

而且很多事情要記得，我們談的量有 80% 來自既有零售商。所以這不像是我們有沒有選擇的問題。我確實認為營運起來會稍微更昂貴一些。我想 Nate 和團隊會處理這件事。

But if you say to yourself, it is not optional that not playing in the sort of dot-com space works. It just doesn't. And so we've got to figure it out, and I think we have a lot of opportunity there. And if margin is sort of the issue and a lot of new products are going to have to happen in that when people are buying online to make it more convenient, to make it ship better just because consumers want more choice. This is an opportunity for Nate in the design process to sort of build margin in.

但如果你告訴自己，不參與所謂的 dot-com 空間也能行得通——那是不可能的。所以我們必須把它搞定，而我認為我們在那裡有很大的機會。如果毛利是問題，那麼當人們在線上購買時，為了更便利、為了更適合運送、也因為消費者想要更多選擇，就必須推出很多新產品。這對 Nate 來說是在設計流程中把毛利「設計進去」的機會。

Yes. And I'll just put a pin in this by saying as we talk about product assortment, we recognize the need for differentiation in these channels and among retailers. And so when I talk about SKU rationalization and innovation, just keep in mind it contemplates that.

是的。我再補一句作為重點：當我們談產品組合時，我們認知到在這些通路之間、以及不同零售商之間，需要做出差異化。所以當我談 SKU 精簡與創新時，請記住這些都已納入考量。

Okay. Thank you, guys.

好的。謝謝各位。

Chris Carey, Wells Fargo Securities.

Wells Fargo Securities 的 Chris Carey。

Hi. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, Chris. I know this was asked. So I apologize for coming back to it, but we get a lot of questions around inflation curve, I guess, if you will, into fiscal '27. I know that you're going to be strategic, as you had mentioned already on the call about locking in for exposure. You would look at pricing. I realize urea, as an example, is quite seasonal through the summer.

嗨。各位早安。早安，Chris。我知道這個問題之前有人問過。所以很抱歉又回到這個話題，但我們收到很多關於通膨曲線的問題，我想是指一路到 2027 財年。我知道你們會如同剛才在電話會議中提到的那樣，採取策略性作法來鎖定曝險。你們會考慮定價。我也理解以尿素為例，它在夏季期間的季節性很強。

At what point is it that you have to kind of make decisions either on locking the current costs or you need to start having those discussions with retailers? And clearly, you have some momentum in fiscal '26. You put strong investments into market.

你們大概在什麼時間點必須做決策：要嘛鎖定目前成本，要嘛就需要開始和零售商進行那些討論？而且很明顯，你們在 2026 財年有一些動能。你們也對市場投入了強勁的投資。

Does that give you a bit more ability to take pricing, justified pricing if indeed you see that inflation prove to be a bit stickier into fiscal '27 such that you can continue to achieve the margin targets that you set out there. I just -- I want to drill in a bit more on that.

如果你們確實看到通膨在 2027 財年仍然比較黏著、沒有那麼快回落，這是否會讓你們更有能力去提價、進行合理的提價，從而持續達成你們所設定的毛利目標？我只是——我想再更深入鑽研一下這點。

Well, first, I think it's a good question, okay. I'm not sure what the guys are going to answer on this. I would say that merchandising decisions, we probably got three months. I'm looking at sales right now too, he's putting up. So I think that you're probably talking 8 to 12 weeks where these decisions need to be made. So I think that sort of frames your question, which is when do you have to get on top of this?

嗯，首先，我認為這是個好問題，好嗎。我不確定各位會怎麼回答這題。我會說，商品企劃（merchandising）的決策，我們大概還有三個月。我也在看他現在做出的銷售表現。所以我認為你大概是在談 8 到 12 週內就必須做出這些決策。所以我想這就界定了你的問題，也就是：你們什麼時候必須開始掌握並處理這件事？

No, I was going to say Q3, our fiscal Q3, Chris, that's exactly when we have to make all these decisions. And like I said, the team has done a great job. We understand the dynamics as they are today. We've done a lot of scenario planning, including some simulations. And it will all come together where we have to go sit and talk to retailers for line reviews, and we'll have those discussions with them. And we're always transparent with our retailers about what we're trying to bring to the table.

不，我本來要說的是第三季，我們的會計年度第三季，Chris，那正是我們必須做出所有這些決策的時點。而且如我所說，團隊做得非常好。我們了解目前的各種動態。我們做了很多情境規劃，包括一些模擬。接下來一切都會匯聚到我們必須坐下來，和零售商就產品線審查進行討論的時候，我們也會和他們進行那些對話。而且我們一向對零售商保持透明，說明我們想帶到桌面上的內容。

Because you're going to see that like what happens is as the finance people start working with the operating team to develop numbers for next year, they're going to start putting standards in for what stuff is going to cost. It's got to be relatively certain within that time frame that the standards are going to be higher than where they are today.

因為你會看到，事情是這樣：當財務人員開始和營運團隊合作，為明年編製數字時，他們會開始把各項成本的標準（standard）放進去，來反映各種東西將會花多少錢。在那個時間範圍內，必須相對確定這些標準會高於今天的水準。

Absolutely.

完全同意。

So I think this sort of drives you that I think pricing is going to have to be a tool in the quiver this year, and we've got to just agree to that. And if we do see prices down that make for opportunity, if retailers are listening to this, we can probably find ways to get money back if it turns out our costs go down. But I do think pricing is going to be something that has to be used this coming year.

所以我認為這會把你導向一個結論：今年定價將不得不成為工具箱裡的一項工具，我們必須接受這一點。如果我們確實看到價格下來而帶來機會——如果有零售商正在聽——那麼若最終我們的成本下降，我們可能可以找到把錢回饋回去的方法。但我確實認為，接下來這一年定價將會是必須使用的手段。

I don't want people focusing on next year, this year, because I think navigating this year is what's important to us. If you look at the results, it's going really well. I think purchasing has sort of minimized sort of pain. I would say, and this -- I had this conversation with the Board. It is a little bit unfortunate.

我不希望大家把焦點放在明年、今年之後，因為我認為把今年走好、把今年的局勢駕馭好，才是我們最重要的事。如果你看結果，進展非常順利。我認為採購在某種程度上把痛感降到最低。我會說——而且我也和董事會談過這件事——這有點不幸。

I think we've talked about sort of headwinds that are entirely manageable, which are built as of this year, it just sucks for the managers of the company who are paid on results that we're seeing incentives being eaten up.

我想我們談到的是一些完全可控的逆風，這些逆風在今年就已經反映進來；只是對公司管理者來說很糟，因為他們的薪酬是看結果的，而我們看到獎酬誘因被侵蝕掉了。

I tried using what the Board force majeure. I think they were somewhat vulnerable to it, which is the ability of like the management team is doing a great job in managing this really well. It just kind of sucks that something that's beyond our control is eating into upside for this year. The good news is we have it covered.

我試著跟董事會用「不可抗力」（force majeure）這個概念。我覺得他們某種程度上能接受，也就是管理團隊在把這件事管理得非常好。只是有點糟的是，一些我們無法控制的因素正在侵蝕今年的上行空間。好消息是，我們已經把它涵蓋住了。

And that's what I want people focusing on now. It's pretty soon, we're going to have to start focusing on next year. And I think we've kind of answered that question.

而這就是我希望大家現在聚焦的重點。很快地，我們就得開始把焦點放到明年。我想我們也算回答了那個問題。

Yes, helpful. I think that's it for me. Thanks so much, Chris.

是的，很有幫助。我這邊就到這裡。非常感謝，Chris。

Thanks, Chris.

謝謝，Chris。

William Reuter, Bank of America.

美國銀行（Bank of America）的 William Reuter。

Good morning. I have two, which I think will be fairly quick. The first is you mentioned price increases Were these the price increases that were taken kind of in normal line review timing? Or were there additional price increases taken, I guess, maybe at the beginning of the second quarter or end of the first?

早安。我有兩個問題，我想都會很快。第一個是，你提到漲價——這些漲價是依照一般產品線審查（line review）的時點所做的調整嗎？還是說另外又做了額外的漲價，例如在第二季初或第一季末？

We haven't taken any additional pricing since establishing with the retailers last quarter.

自從上季和零售商確立之後，我們就沒有再做任何額外的調價。

I mean we talked about it. Should we put a surcharge on for fuel. I think the issue we got into, to be fair, is probably half of what gets picked up from our plants. Retailers are picking up. And we just figured we get into pricing on a fuel surcharge, they're going to say, well, cool, like we're picking stuff up, you should give us a surcharge. And I think we just basically said we got this manageable.

我的意思是，我們有討論過。我們是否要針對燃料加收附加費（surcharge）。但公平地說，我們遇到的問題可能是：大概有一半的貨是由零售商到我們工廠自提。是零售商來提貨。而我們一旦在燃料附加費上做定價，他們就會說，好啊，反正是我們來提貨，那你也應該給我們一個附加費。所以我們基本上就說，這件事我們可以管理得住。

So I think again, for retailers who are listening, we were calm this year in spite of the fact that we had pretty significant increases. But remember, we had a lot of hedges in our diesel. So I think we make money on those hedges. This will be typical line review pricing we're talking about coming up here in the summer months.

所以我想再說一次，對於正在收聽的零售商而言，儘管我們面臨相當顯著的成本上升，但今年我們仍然保持冷靜。但請記得，我們在柴油上做了很多避險。所以我想我們在那些避險上是有賺到錢的。我們在這裡談的，會是接下來夏季月份、典型的產品線審查定價。

It would be pretty distractive to change pricing in the middle of the load and with retailers. So obviously, try to avoid that all costs.

在出貨進行到一半、且與零售商合作的過程中去改價格，會非常分散注意力。所以顯然我們會不惜一切代價避免那樣做。

We've done it before, but it's been an emergency.

我們以前做過，但那是緊急狀況。

Got it. And then, Jim, clearly, you're very focused on the share repurchases as an investment. How should we think about what the leverage profile is going to look like over the next handful of years? Should we assume that more or less, you're going to keep leverage where you are now and that share repurchases will just be at an amount that will kind of keep us where we are today?

了解。另外，Jim，很明顯你把股票回購視為一項投資而非常專注。我們應該如何看待未來幾年槓桿水準（leverage profile）的走勢？我們是否可以假設，你們大致會把槓桿維持在目前水準，而股票回購的規模也會以大致維持現狀為目標？

Yes. I mean that's what I would say. We've talked at the Board level. I know Mark has a point of view. I think Mark would probably like to be closer to 3.5. I -- we said in the 3s. I think notionally, 3.75 is a fine enough place. Remember, this is one where we can't get all screwed up here because all we got to do is like take our foot off the gas pedal.

是的。我的意思是，我會這麼說。我們在董事會層級討論過。我知道 Mark 有他的觀點。我想 Mark 可能希望更接近 3.5 倍。我——我們說的是 3 倍多。我想概念上，3.75 倍是個相當不錯的位置。記住，這件事我們不會把自己搞得一團糟，因為我們要做的只是把油門鬆開。

And what I've told Mark in his gatekeeper role is that -- in the Air Force, when you're in air combat situation, anybody can call knock it off. And the fight stops, everybody says, what just happened. And Mark has knock it off rights here. And I think that's appropriate as our Head of Finance. And so -- and we'll all respect that.

我也跟 Mark 說過，在他擔任把關者（gatekeeper）的角色下——在空軍裡，當你處於空戰情境時，任何人都可以喊「停止」（knock it off）。戰鬥就會停止，大家都會說，剛剛發生什麼事。而 Mark 在這裡也有喊「停止」的權利。我認為以他作為我們財務主管的身分，這是恰當的。所以——我們也都會尊重這一點。

But I'm saying I'm pretty comfortable where we are, and he might like a quarter turn difference. I would just make the sort of argument that to be at, let's say, 3 times or maybe even less, that basically puts it off another year. And I'm not really willing to do that. We talked about at the Board. I got support at the Board level to do this. Mark, I think, is cool. He cares about his knock it off rights, and I'm happy for that. So I think the answer is yes.

但我要說的是，我對我們目前的位置相當放心，而他可能希望再微調四分之一圈。我會提出的論點是，如果要在例如 3 倍、甚至更低，那基本上就會把這件事再往後推一年。而我不太願意這麼做。我們在董事會上談過。我也獲得董事會層級的支持來做這件事。我想 Mark 也沒問題。他在意的是他喊「停止」的權利，而我也很樂見如此。所以我想答案是：是的。

Great. I'll pass to others. Thanks so much.

很好。我把時間留給其他人。非常感謝。

This concludes our question-and-answer session and also today's conference call. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect.

我們的問答環節以及今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位參與，現在可以掛線。