Simply Good Foods Co (SMPL) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to The Simply Good Foods Company's Fiscal Third Quarter 2023 Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. At this time, I would now like to hand the call over to Mark Pogharian, Vice President of Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

早上好，歡迎參加 Simply Good Foods Company 2023 年第三季度財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。現在，我想將電話轉交給投資者關係副總裁 Mark Pogharian。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator. Good morning. I'm pleased to welcome you to The Simply Good Foods Company Earnings Call for the fiscal third quarter ended May 27, 2023. Joe Scalzo, CEO; Geoff Tanner, President, COO and CEO-elect; and Shaun Mara, CFO, will provide you with an overview of results, which will then be followed by a Q&A session. The company issued its earnings release early this morning at approximately 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time. A copy of the release and accompanying presentation are available under the Investors section of the company's website at www.thesimplygoodfoodscompany.com. This call is being webcast and an archive of today's remarks will be available.

謝謝你，接線員。早上好。我很高興歡迎您參加 Simply Good Foods 公司截至 2023 年 5 月 27 日的第三季度財報電話會議。 Joe Scalzo，首席執行官； Geoff Tanner，總裁、首席運營官兼候任首席執行官；首席財務官 Shaun Mara 將為您提供結果概述，然後進行問答環節。該公司於美國東部時間今天早上 7:00 左右發布了財報。該新聞稿和隨附演示文稿的副本可在該公司網站 www.thesimplygoodfoodscompany.com 的投資者部分獲取。此次電話會議正在網絡直播，並且將提供今天講話的存檔。

During the course of today's call, management will make forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. The company undertakes no obligation to update these statements based on subsequent events. A detailed listing of such risks and uncertainties can be found in today's press release and the company's SEC filings. Note that on today's call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures that we believe will provide useful information for investors. Due to the company's asset-light strong cash flow business model, we evaluate our performance on an adjusted basis as it relates to EBITDA and diluted EPS. We have included a detailed reconciliation from GAAP to adjusted items in today's press release. We believe these adjusted measures are a key indicator of the underlying performance of the business.

在今天的電話會議期間，管理層將做出前瞻性聲明，這些聲明受到各種風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果出現重大差異。公司不承擔根據後續事件更新這些聲明的義務。此類風險和不確定性的詳細清單可以在今天的新聞稿和公司向 SEC 提交的文件中找到。請注意，在今天的電話會議上，我們將提及某些非公認會計準則財務指標，我們相信這些指標將為投資者提供有用的信息。由於公司輕資產、現金流強勁的業務模式，我們在調整後的基礎上評估我們的業績，因為它與 EBITDA 和稀釋每股收益相關。我們在今天的新聞稿中包含了 GAAP 與調整項目的詳細調節。我們相信這些調整後的指標是業務基本績效的關鍵指標。

The presentation of this information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. Please refer to today's press release for a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Joe Scalzo, Chief Executive Officer.

此信息的呈現不應被孤立地考慮或作為根據 GAAP 呈現的財務信息的替代品。請參閱今天的新聞稿，了解非公認會計原則財務指標與根據公認會計原則編制的最具可比指標的調節表。現在，我將把電話轉給首席執行官喬·斯卡爾佐 (Joe Scalzo)。

Thank you, Mark. Good morning and thank all of you for joining us. Today, I'll recap the company's third quarter results and Geoff will provide you with some perspective on the performance of our brands. Then Shaun will discuss our financial results in a little bit more detail before we wrap it up with the discussion of our outlook as well as taking your questions.

謝謝你，馬克。早上好，感謝大家加入我們。今天，我將回顧公司第三季度的業績，傑夫將為您提供有關我們品牌業績的一些觀點。然後，肖恩將更詳細地討論我們的財務業績，然後我們將討論我們的前景並回答您的問題。

Moving on to the third quarter results, retail takeaway and our overall financial performance were greater than our expectations. Simply Good Foods third quarter point of sale and the combined U.S. measured and unmeasured channels increased about 11%. As expected, retail takeaway growth outpaced Q3 net sales growth of 2.6%, principally due to the prior year retail customer inventory build. Shaun will provide more details on the difference between net sales and point-of-sale growth in a bit. Net sales growth was driven by North American performance as international business sales were about the same as last year. Quest momentum continued, resulting in a net sales increase of about 9%.

繼續看第三季度業績，零售外賣和我們的整體財務業績都超出了我們的預期。 Simply Good Foods 第三季度銷售點以及美國已測量和未測量渠道的合計增長了約 11%。正如預期，零售外賣增長超過第三季度 2.6% 的淨銷售增長，這主要是由於上一年零售客戶庫存的增加。肖恩稍後將提供有關淨銷售額和銷售點增長之間差異的更多詳細信息。淨銷售額增長是由北美業績推動的，因為國際業務銷售額與去年大致相同。 Quest 勢頭持續，淨銷售額增長約 9%。

Third quarter gross margin was 36.7% and exceeded our estimate as input costs moderated versus our forecast. Gross margin declined 80 basis points compared to last year as ingredient and packaging costs were higher than the year ago period. Encouragingly, and as we expected, the magnitude of these cost increases eased substantially from those in the first half of the year. Adjusted EBITDA in the third quarter was $66.6 million versus $63.3 million in the year ago period. The $3.3 million increase was greater than our forecast due to the better-than-expected net sales and gross margin performance as well as good SG&A cost control. This provides us with some flexibility to make additional investments as we move into the fourth quarter.

第三季度毛利率為 36.7%，超出了我們的預期，因為投入成本與我們的預測相比有所放緩。由於原料和包裝成本高於去年同期，毛利率比去年下降了 80 個基點。令人鼓舞的是，正如我們預期的那樣，這些成本增加的幅度較今年上半年大幅放緩。第三季度調整後 EBITDA 為 6,660 萬美元，去年同期為 6,330 萬美元。由於好於預期的淨銷售額和毛利率表現以及良好的 SG&A 成本控制，330 萬美元的增長高於我們的預期。這為我們在進入第四季度時進行額外投資提供了一定的靈活性。

Now I'd like to pause here to just say thank you. It's been a pleasure to lead the company. I'm so proud of our team and everything that we've accomplished during the past 6 years. I've always appreciated the insights and the questions that you provided in all of the various calls and meetings that I participated with you. You've made me a better leader and The Simply Good Foods Company, a better company. So thank you.

現在我想在這裡暫停一下，只是說聲謝謝。領導這家公司是我的榮幸。我為我們的團隊以及我們在過去六年中所取得的一切感到自豪。我一直很欣賞您在我與您一起參加的所有各種電話會議和會議中提供的見解和問題。你們讓我成為了一個更好的領導者，也讓 The Simply Good Foods Company 成為了一家更好的公司。所以謝謝。

As we announced in January, Geoff Tanner will become President and CEO on July 7, and I'm pleased to be staying on as Executive Vice Chair of the Board. I know you have all heard me say more than a few times that I love this category, and I love the hand that I've gotten to play as CEO of Simply Good Foods. While I can't think of no better person to take over this hand than Geoff. I've gotten to know one better over the past few months. He has an infectious enthusiasm for our company, for our brands and for driving growth. He brings passion and ideas to the business that will only makes us a better company. I know many of you have met Geoff and know that he's an experienced leader with superb marketing and commercial capabilities.

正如我們在 1 月份宣布的那樣，Geoff Tanner 將於 7 月 7 日成為總裁兼首席執行官，我很高興繼續擔任董事會執行副主席。我知道你們都多次聽我說過我喜歡這個類別，我喜歡我作為 Simply Good Foods 首席執行官所扮演的角色。雖然我想不出比傑夫更適合接手這手牌的人了。在過去的幾個月裡，我對一個人有了更多的了解。他對我們的公司、我們的品牌和推動增長充滿感染力的熱情。他為企業帶來了熱情和想法，這只會讓我們成為一家更好的公司。我知道你們很多人都見過傑夫，知道他是一位經驗豐富的領導者，具有出色的營銷和商業能力。

So now let me turn the call over to him to provide you a summary of third quarter brand performance and some of his initial observations of the company. Geoff?

現在讓我將電話轉給他，向您提供第三季度品牌表現的摘要以及他對公司的一些初步觀察。傑夫？

Thank you, Joe, and good morning to everybody. Simply Good Foods year-to-date retail takeaway in measured channels increased 11.6%, driven by both pricing and volume. Similar to the last few quarters, total unmeasured channel growth was additive to total company POS, resulting in combined measured and unmeasured channel growth of about 13%. Atkins and Quest combined measured and unmeasured channel growth was about 2% and 24%, respectively. Let me now turn to Quest Q3 performance. Retail takeaway was strong, driven by an increase in household penetration and buy rates. In Q3, measured and unmeasured channel retail takeaway was similar, about 25%. Quest Q3 POS at Amazon increased about 29% versus the year ago period.

謝謝你，喬，祝大家早上好。在定價和銷量的推動下，Simply Good Foods 今年迄今在可測渠道的零售外賣量增長了 11.6%。與過去幾個季度類似，未衡量的渠道增長總額與公司 POS 總額相加，導致衡量和未衡量的渠道綜合增長約 13%。 Atkins 和 Quest 的已測量和未測量渠道綜合增長率分別約為 2% 和 24%。現在讓我談談 Quest Q3 的表現。在家庭滲透率和購買率上升的推動下，零售外賣強勁。第三季度，實測和未實測渠道零售額相似，約為 25%。亞馬遜 Quest 第三季度 POS 較去年同期增長約 29%。

What I like is how balanced the growth continues to be on the brand, balanced across product forms and retail channels as well as balanced across key drivers, namely distribution, velocity and innovation. Despite the size of the business and growth we've seen, household penetration is only 15%, and aided brand awareness is well below competitors, indicating Quest has a long runway for growth ahead of it. Measured channel Q3 POS growth of bars and snacks were both about 25%. Quest bars growth was solid across the portfolio. Quest snacks momentum continued with growth similar to last quarter across all forms.

我喜歡的是品牌持續增長的平衡性、產品形式和零售渠道的平衡性，以及分銷、速度和創新等關鍵驅動因素的平衡性。儘管我們看到了業務規模和增長，但家庭滲透率僅為 15%，並且輔助品牌知名度遠低於競爭對手，這表明 Quest 的增長還有很長的路要走。測得的酒吧和零食渠道第三季度 POS 增長均約為 25%。整個投資組合中的 Quest 金條增長穩健。 Quest 零食繼續保持增長勢頭，所有形式的增長與上季度相似。

The star here is chips, nearly half of the Quest snacks business, which continues to be a meaningful driver of growth. Snacks represents nearly 45% of total Quest measured channel retail sales, reinforcing the opportunity for the brand to expand into adjacent categories, day parts and usage occasions.

這裡的明星是薯片，佔 Quest 零食業務的近一半，它仍然是增長的重要推動力。零食佔 Quest 測量渠道零售總額的近 45%，這增強了該品牌擴展到相鄰類別、日常用品和使用場合的機會。

Turning to Atkins. Q3 retail takeaway and the combined measured and unmeasured channels is expected to climb 2%. POS softness was primarily due to incremental programming in the year ago period that we did not repeat this year and a lack of innovation on our bar business that led to TDP declines on this form over the last year. As a result, in measured channels, Atkins Q3 POS was off 3.4%. Strength at a large mass retail customer and at Amazon, which was up 16%, was offset by declines across the broader retail landscape.

轉向阿特金斯。第三季度零售外賣以及已測和未測渠道的綜合預計將增長 2%。 POS 疲軟主要是由於去年我們沒有重複的增量編程，以及我們的酒吧業務缺乏創新，導致去年這種形式的 TDP 下降。結果，在測量渠道中，阿特金斯第三季度 POS 下降了 3.4%。大型大眾零售客戶和亞馬遜的強勁增長了 16%，但被更廣泛的零售領域的下滑所抵消。

Moving on to performance by forms (inaudible) and shakes and Meal Bars, about 60% of Atkins retail sales was offset by declines in snack bars and [Endulge] confections. Recall, as discussed, the last couple of quarters, the underperformance of our snack bar business was driven by a lack of innovation that also led to distribution losses. Year-to-date, snack TDPs are off about 25%. Year-to-date total buyers are about the same as in the year ago period, resulting in flat household penetration over the last 52 weeks. Performance in the third quarter slowed versus the first half of the year, largely due to the aforementioned snack bar distribution losses. Getting Atkins back to its full potential by form and channel is my #1 focus as the incoming CEO and work here is already underway.

轉向形式（聽不清）以及奶昔和餐棒的業績，大約 60% 的阿特金斯零售額被零食棒和 [Endulge] 糖果的下降所抵消。回想一下，正如所討論的，過去幾個季度，我們的小吃店業務表現不佳是由於缺乏創新，這也導致了分銷損失。今年迄今為止，零食 TDP 下降了約 25%。今年迄今為止的總購買者數量與去年同期大致相同，導致過去 52 週的家庭滲透率持平。第三季度的業績較上半年放緩，主要是由於上述零食店分銷損失。通過形式和渠道讓阿特金斯恢復其全部潛力是我的首要任務，因為即將上任的首席執行官和這裡的工作已經開始。

In the near term, we're actively working to shore our bar innovation and regain TDPs. We'll continue to focus on accelerating our e-commerce success with the right pack sizes, and we're also working with each of our retail customers to strengthen programming. Concurrently, as you would expect, we are committed to ensuring Atkins remains a vibrant, culturally relevant brand that is built for today and tomorrow's consumers. The consumer demand and need for weight wellness has never been greater and low carb, low sugar weight wellness is broadly and well understood as a highly effective solution.

短期內，我們正在積極努力支持我們的酒吧創新並重新獲得 TDP。我們將繼續專注於通過合適的包裝尺寸加速電子商務的成功，並且我們還將與每個零售客戶合作以加強編程。同時，正如您所期望的那樣，我們致力於確保阿特金斯仍然是一個充滿活力、與文化相關的品牌，為當今和未來的消費者打造。消費者對體重健康的需求從未如此強烈，低碳水化合物、低醣體重健康作為一種高效的解決方案已被廣泛且深入地理解。

Finally, Atkins has 98% brand awareness. Given the brand's unique positioning in the space, we'll look at opportunities and levers to ensure and strengthen the brand's long-term growth. We expect Atkins Q4 retail takeaway to be better than Q3, but it will not be where we want it to be. The aforementioned work underway will take some time, but you have my commitment that we will make the investments necessary to accelerate growth and to get Atkins back to full potential.

最後，阿特金斯擁有98%的品牌知名度。鑑於該品牌在該領域的獨特定位，我們將尋找機會和槓桿來確保和加強該品牌的長期增長。我們預計阿特金斯第四季度零售外賣會好於第三季度，但不會達到我們想要的水平。上述正在進行的工作需要一些時間，但我向您承諾，我們將進行必要的投資，以加速增長並讓阿特金斯充分發揮潛力。

Now shifting gears, and before I turn it over to Shaun, I wanted to provide you with some of my early observations on the company. Over the last 3 months, I've dived into the business, spending time with Joe, the leadership team, employees, our Board of Directors, top customers and suppliers. I don't officially transition to the CEO role for about a week. However, I wanted to share my observations of the opportunities I'll focus on for continued delivery of top-tier shareholder value.

現在換檔，在我把它交給肖恩之前，我想向你們提供我對公司的一些早期觀察。在過去的 3 個月裡，我全身心投入到業務中，與 Joe、領導團隊、員工、董事會、頂級客戶和供應商共度時光。大約一周後我才正式轉任首席執行官。然而，我想分享我對持續交付頂級股東價值的機會的觀察。

You'll see no major deviations from the strategy Joe and team have been executing against, rather a doubling down an acceleration of key elements. The first pillar is accelerating category growth. Most [center-of-store] categories in North America are mature with household penetration in the high 80s with legacy brands. Hence, it's mostly a share gain. The nutritional snacking category in comparison is a virtual teenager. Household penetration is in the 50s, and there's the potential to continue to bring new product forms like salty snacks to further expand penetration and buy rate. In addition, there's the twin tailwinds of consumers wanting to live a healthier lifestyle and the relentless growth in snacking, now half of all eating occasions.

您將看到與喬和團隊一直執行的策略沒有重大偏差，而是關鍵要素的加速加倍。第一個支柱是加速品類增長。北美的大多數[商店中心]品類都已經成熟，傳統品牌的家庭滲透率已達到 80 歲以上。因此，這主要是股票收益。相比之下，營養零食類別實際上是青少年。家庭滲透率在 50 多歲，有潛力繼續推出鹹味零食等新產品形式，以進一步擴大滲透率和購買率。此外，消費者想要更健康的生活方式，以及零食的不斷增長，零食現在已佔所有飲食場合的一半，這是雙重推動力。

I think this category will be twice its current size, and I'm committed to working with my team and customers to get it there as fast as we can. I don't know the exact sequence or pacing but the opportunity is there. Bricks and mortar e-commerce retailers, they see it, too, and we'll be working closely with them to build this future together, especially in how we create more category space.

我認為這個類別的規模將是目前的兩倍，我致力於與我的團隊和客戶合作，盡快實現這一目標。我不知道確切的順序或節奏，但機會就在那裡。實體電子商務零售商也看到了這一點，我們將與他們密切合作，共同建設這個未來，特別是在我們如何創造更多品類空間方面。

The second pillar is driving top-tier growth. Starting with Quest, with nearly $700 million in net sales by year-end fiscal 2023, Quest has approximately doubled since the acquisition and continues to disproportionately win with Gen X and millennials. Despite its size, we see a very long runway of growth. So what would this look like? First, continuing to press on innovation, close-in and further out and expanding distribution. Second, a step change in marketing. Brand awareness is extremely low, given the brand size, which speaks to the opportunity for increased media investment, broader reach and iconic creative.

第二個支柱是推動頂級增長。從 Quest 開始，到 2023 財年年底，Quest 的淨銷售額接近 7 億美元，自收購以來，Quest 的銷售額大約翻了一番，並繼續在 X 一代和千禧一代中贏得不成比例的勝利。儘管規模很大，但我們看到了很長的增長道路。那麼這會是什麼樣子呢？一是繼續加大創新力度，進深出遠，擴大佈局。二是營銷方式發生重大轉變。考慮到品牌規模，品牌知名度極低，這意味著增加媒體投資、擴大影響力和標誌性創意的機會。

Turning to Atkins. With any brands, you need to pay close attention to short-term performance and to long-term brand health. As mentioned, in the short term, we will strengthen the brand through addressing our lack of innovation on bars, improved merchandising execution and doubling down on e-commerce. And currently, though, we're working to ensure the brands remains fresh and culturally relevant for today and tomorrow's consumers. The first phase of this is talking with consumers, customers and other stakeholders, which will then inform us of the opportunities and levers to pull. The brand is iconic, enjoys tremendous awareness and is uniquely positioned at a time when the need for weight wellness has never been greater. Plus, the products are absolutely delicious. I'm excited to work with the team to accelerate Atkins growth so that the brand can achieve its full potential.

轉向阿特金斯。對於任何品牌，您都需要密切關注短期表現和長期品牌健康狀況。如前所述，短期內，我們將通過解決酒吧缺乏創新的問題、改進銷售執行和加倍加大電子商務力度來強化品牌。不過，目前我們正在努力確保這些品牌對當今和未來的消費者保持新鮮感和文化相關性。第一階段是與消費者、客戶和其他利益相關者交談，然後我們將了解機會和槓桿。該品牌具有標誌性，享有極高的知名度，並且在人們對體重健康的需求空前強烈的時代具有獨特的定位。另外，產品絕對美味。我很高興與團隊合作，加速阿特金斯的發展，使該品牌能夠充分發揮其潛力。

The third pillar is to fuel margins and brand reinvestment. Recently, the CPG industry has operated under a confluence of challenges that have stressed how we operate the business. Simply Good Foods has performed well. But as in every business, there are opportunities to improve execution. I will work with Shaun to enhance our continuous improvement mindset. Very specifically, we are committed to sequential gross margin improvement. This will ensure advertising and marketing gets back to our target level.

第三個支柱是提高利潤和品牌再投資。最近，消費品行業面臨著一系列挑戰，這些挑戰給我們的業務運營方式帶來了壓力。 Simply Good Foods 表現良好。但與每個行業一樣，都有提高執行力的機會。我將與肖恩合作，增強我們持續改進的心態。非常具體地說，我們致力於毛利率的連續改善。這將確保廣告和營銷回到我們的目標水平。

The final pillar is Simply Good Foods as a platform for scaled growth. We have a bold mission for health and wellness and a bold vision for the category, supported by scaled go-to-market capabilities. We like the profile of our P&L and our profitability and asset-light model results in strong cash generation. This provides us with the flexibility to opportunistically participate in M&A or share buybacks. Now we have a tremendous organic growth runway in front of us, which is where we'll be focused. However, if the asset is right and the price is right, M&A has a role, and we would consider higher leverage.

最後一個支柱是 Simply Good Foods 作為規模化增長的平台。我們對健康和保健有著大膽的使命，對這一類別也有大膽的願景，並以規模化的上市能力為支持。我們喜歡我們的損益表以及我們的盈利能力和輕資產模式帶來的強勁現金生成。這為我們提供了機會性參與併購或股票回購的靈活性。現在，我們面前有一條巨大的有機增長跑道，這也是我們將重點關注的地方。但如果資產合適、價格合適，併購就有作用，我們會考慮更高的槓桿。

I want to close my prepared remarks by thanking and recognizing Joe. Very few people have the distinction of establishing large publicly traded companies, especially in the food and beverage space and then delivering outsized returns year after year. I don't mind admitting that Joe leaves and pretty large shoes to fill. The good news for me is that Joe isn't going anywhere and will transition to Executive Vice Chair on our Board.

我想通過感謝和認可喬來結束我準備好的發言。很少有人能夠建立大型上市公司，尤其是在食品和飲料領域，然後年復一年地帶來巨額回報。我不介意承認喬離開了，還有很大的空缺需要填補。對我來說，好消息是喬不會去任何地方，並將轉任我們董事會的執行副主席。

Now I'll turn the call over to Shaun, who will provide you with some additional financial details.

現在我將把電話轉給肖恩，他將為您提供一些額外的財務詳細信息。

Thank you, Geoff. Good morning, everyone. I will begin with an overview of our net sales. Total Simply Good Foods third quarter net sales of $324.8 million increased 2.6% versus the year ago period. Looking at the Q3 drivers of growth, net price realization was about 7.3 percentage points and volume was off about 4.6 percentage points. As Joe stated earlier, retail takeaway growth outpaced the net sales change. On the bottom of this slide, we attempt to reconcile Q3 POS of 11% to Q3 North America net sales growth of 3%.

謝謝你，傑夫。大家，早安。我將首先概述我們的淨銷售額。 Simply Good Foods 第三季度淨銷售額為 3.248 億美元，較去年同期增長 2.6%。從第三季度的增長驅動因素來看，淨價格實現下降了約 7.3 個百分點，成交量下降了約 4.6 個百分點。正如喬早些時候所說，零售外賣的增長超過了淨銷售額的變化。在這張幻燈片的底部，我們嘗試將第三季度 11% 的 POS 與第三季度北美淨銷售額增長 3% 進行協調。

The biggest driver is in the prior year period, as last year, retailers did not deplete inventory in Q3 as they would normally do. As we have discussed on our last 2 calls, last year, retailers increased their inventory levels to address supply chain challenges in the first half of the fiscal year and held these inventory levels through Q3 of fiscal '22. Retailers largely depleted this inventory in Q4 of fiscal '22, and we exited the year with more normal retail inventory levels. As I've said before, last year was atypical. As normally, retailers build a week or so of inventory in the first half of the fiscal year in anticipation of New Year, New You and then largely deplete that inventory build in the third quarter. We saw the return to historical operating norms this year.

最大的推動因素是去年同期，與去年一樣，零售商沒有像往常一樣在第三季度耗盡庫存。正如我們在最近兩次電話會議中所討論的那樣，去年，零售商提高了庫存水平，以應對本財年上半年的供應鏈挑戰，並在 22 財年第三季度保持了這些庫存水平。零售商在 22 財年第四季度基本上耗盡了庫存，我們以更正常的零售庫存水平結束了這一年。正如我之前所說，去年是非典型的一年。與往常一樣，零售商會在本財年上半年建立一周左右的庫存，以迎接新年、新的生活，然後在第三季度基本耗盡庫存。今年我們看到了歷史運營正常的回歸。

As a result, in the third quarter of fiscal '23, we estimate the change in retail inventory compared to last year to be about an 8 percentage point headwind.

因此，我們預計 23 財年第三季度零售庫存的變化與去年相比將下降約 8 個百分點。

Moving on to other P&L items for Q3. Gross profit was $119.2 million, an increase of $0.6 million from the year ago period, resulting in gross margin of 36.7%. The 80 basis points decline versus the year ago period was primarily due to higher ingredients and packaging costs. This was slightly better than our estimate due to input cost moderation versus our forecast. Net income was $35.4 million versus $38.8 million last year. Adjusted EBITDA was $66.6 million, an increase of $3.3 million from the year ago period. Selling and marketing expenses were $30.2 million versus $32.3 million, a decline of 6.7%, largely due to the timing of spend within the year. GAAP G&A expense was $30.5 million, an increase of $3.8 million versus last year, primarily due to fees associated with the Term Loan B reprice and maturity extension and executive transition costs. Excluding these costs as well as stock-based compensation, G&A declined $0.2 million to $23.3 million.

繼續討論第三季度的其他損益項目。毛利潤為1.192億美元，較去年同期增加60萬美元，毛利率為36.7%。與去年同期相比下降 80 個基點主要是由於原料和包裝成本上升。由於投入成本與我們的預測相比有所放緩，這比我們的估計略好。淨利潤為 3,540 萬美元，去年為 3,880 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 為 6660 萬美元，比去年同期增加 330 萬美元。銷售和營銷費用為 3,020 萬美元，較 3,230 萬美元下降 6.7%，這主要是由於年內支出的時間安排所致。 GAAP G&A 費用為 3050 萬美元，比去年增加 380 萬美元，主要是由於與定期貸款 B 重新定價、期限延長和高管過渡成本相關的費用。除去這些成本以及基於股票的薪酬，G&A 下降了 20 萬美元，至 2,330 萬美元。

For the full fiscal year 2023, we expect selling, marketing and G&A expense to be slightly down versus the year ago period.

對於 2023 整個財年，我們預計銷售、營銷和一般管理費用將比去年同期略有下降。

Moving to other items in the P&L. Net interest income and interest expense increased $2.4 million to $7.2 million due to higher variable interest rates related to the term loan and our tax rate in Q3 was about 24.8%, about 170 basis points higher than last year. We anticipate the full year fiscal 2023 tax rate to be in the 24% to 25% range.

轉向損益表中的其他項目。由於定期貸款相關的可變利率上升，淨利息收入和利息支出增加了 240 萬美元，達到 720 萬美元，而且我們第三季度的稅率約為 24.8%，比去年高出約 170 個基點。我們預計 2023 財年全年稅率將在 24% 至 25% 範圍內。

Turning to EPS. Third quarter reported EPS was $0.35 per share diluted compared to $0.38 per share diluted for the comparable period of 2022. In fiscal Q3 2023, depreciation and amortization expense was about $5 million and similar to the year ago period. Stock-based compensation was $4.1 million. Fees associated with the Term Loan B reprice maturity extension were $2.4 million and executive transition costs were $0.7 million. Adjusted diluted EPS, which excludes these items, was $0.44, the same as the year ago period. Note that we calculate adjusted diluted EPS as adjusted EBITDA, less interest income, interest expense and income taxes.

轉向每股收益。第三季度報告的攤薄後每股收益為 0.35 美元，而 2022 年同期攤薄後每股收益為 0.38 美元。2023 財年第三季度，折舊和攤銷費用約為 500 萬美元，與去年同期相似。股票薪酬為 410 萬美元。與定期貸款 B 重新定價期限延長相關的費用為 240 萬美元，高管過渡成本為 70 萬美元。不包括這些項目的調整後攤薄每股收益為 0.44 美元，與去年同期相同。請注意，我們將調整後稀釋每股收益計算為調整後 EBITDA 減去利息收入、利息支出和所得稅。

Please refer to today's press release for an explanation and reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures. Moving to the balance sheet and cash flow. As of May 27, 2023, the company had cash of $68.8 million. Year-to-date cash flow from operations was $110.4 million, an increase of about 64% versus the year ago period. In Q3, the company repaid $40 million of its term loan debt. And at the end of the third quarter, the outstanding principal balance was $325 million, resulting in a trailing 12-month net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio of 1.1x. We anticipate net interest expense for the year to be about $28 million to $30 million, including noncash amortization expense related to deferred financing fees. Year-to-date capital expenditures and depreciation were $10.1 million and $15 million, respectively. Capital expenditures included an investment of about $8 million to secure specialized equipment at a co-manufacturer. an investment of about $8 million to secure specialized equipment at a co-manufacturer.

請參閱今天的新聞稿，了解非公認會計原則財務指標的解釋和調節。轉向資產負債表和現金流量。截至2023年5月27日，該公司擁有現金6880萬美元。年初至今的運營現金流為 1.104 億美元，比去年同期增長約 64%。第三季度，該公司償還了 4000 萬美元的定期貸款債務。截至第三季度末，未償本金餘額為 3.25 億美元，導致過去 12 個月的淨債務與調整後 EBITDA 的比率為 1.1 倍。我們預計今年的淨利息支出約為 2800 萬至 3000 萬美元，包括與遞延融資費用相關的非現金攤銷費用。年初至今的資本支出和折舊分別為 1010 萬美元和 1500 萬美元。資本支出包括投資約 800 萬美元，用於確保聯合製造商的專業設備。投資約 800 萬美元，在一家聯合製造商處購買專用設備。

In summary, third quarter results were slightly better than our expectations, giving us an opportunity to make some additional investments in our business in the fourth quarter. While early, fourth quarter POS is off to a good start. Through the first 3 weeks of the quarter, retail takeaway increased about 11%. The recessionary economy continues to be a concern as shopper traffic shifts away from grocery to more value-oriented channels. As we get late into our fourth quarter, we will lap last year's price increase. As such, we expect our retail takeaway growth will moderate slightly from current levels over the remainder of the year. Net sales will outpace POS growth in Q4 as we lap a significant retail customer inventory reduction in the year ago period.

總而言之，第三季度業績略好於我們的預期，使我們有機會在第四季度對我們的業務進行一些額外的投資。雖然還很早，但第四季度 POS 已經有了一個良好的開端。本季度前 3 週，零售外賣增長約 11%。隨著購物者流量從雜貨店轉向更注重價值的渠道，經濟衰退仍然是一個令人擔憂的問題。隨著第四季度末的到來，我們將追隨去年的價格上漲。因此，我們預計今年剩餘時間內我們的零售外賣增長將較目前水平略有放緩。由於去年同期零售客戶庫存大幅減少，第四季度淨銷售額將超過 POS 增長。

The overall cost environment is improving, and we're on a path for gross margin recovery. Gross margin is expected to sequentially improve again in the fourth quarter from the third quarter and should continue to improve as we move into fiscal 2024. We will continue to execute against our priorities and remain committed to doing the right thing over the near and long term for our brands, customers and consumers.

整體成本環境正在改善，我們正在走上毛利率恢復的道路。預計第四季度的毛利率將比第三季度再次有所改善，並且隨著我們進入 2024 財年，毛利率應該會繼續改善。我們將繼續執行我們的優先事項，並繼續致力於在近期和長期內做正確的事情為了我們的品牌、客戶和消費者。

Now to wrap up. The company has a portfolio of brands aligned with consumer megatrends of both health and wellness, convenience and on-the-go nutrition. As such, despite the challenging economic environment, the company believes it is well positioned to deliver on its objectives. Therefore, we anticipate the following in fiscal 2023. We reaffirm a net sales increase slightly greater than our 4% to 6% long-term algorithm. Gross margin will decline versus last year, although at a lower rate than fiscal 2022. Full year fiscal 2023 adjusted EBITDA will increase, but slightly less than the net sales growth rate. And adjusted diluted EPS will increase less than the adjusted EBITDA growth rate due to the company's expectation of higher interest expense. Retail takeaway growth in our category and our brands remain solid.

現在總結一下。該公司擁有一系列符合消費者健康、便利和隨身營養大趨勢的品牌組合。因此，儘管經濟環境充滿挑戰，但該公司相信自己有能力實現其目標。因此，我們預計 2023 財年將出現以下情況。我們重申淨銷售額增幅略高於我們 4% 至 6% 的長期算法。毛利率將較去年下降，但增速低於 2022 財年。2023 財年全年調整後 EBITDA 將增加，但略低於淨銷售額增長率。由於公司預計利息費用將上升，調整後稀釋每股收益的增幅將低於調整後 EBITDA 增長率。我們的品類和品牌的零售外賣增長依然強勁。

As such, we are excited about our near- and long-term growth prospects, and we'll continue to execute against our strategies as a path to increase shareholder value. We appreciate everybody's interest in our company, and we are now available to take questions.

因此，我們對近期和長期的增長前景感到興奮，我們將繼續執行我們的戰略，作為增加股東價值的途徑。我們感謝大家對我們公司的興趣，我們現在可以回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Matt Smith with Stifel.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Matt Smith 和 Stifel 的線路。

I wanted to ask about the performance of the Atkins brand in the quarter. Consumption slowed sequentially, and there was an expectation for that given the tough comparison lapping promotional activity in the prior year. But could you talk about the path to recovery there. There was a comment about near-term priorities to shore up the brand. Is that reliant on shelf resets? Or are there things -- initiatives you can take on to improve the sequential performance there ahead of the fall shelf resets?

我想問一下阿特金斯品牌本季度的表現。消費量連續放緩，考慮到去年促銷活動的艱難對比，人們對此有所預期。但您能談談那裡的複甦之路嗎？有人評論了支撐該品牌的近期優先事項。這依賴於貨架重置嗎？或者，在秋季貨架重置之前，您可以採取一些措施來提高順序性能嗎？

Yes, I'll start, Matt and I'll turn it over to Geoff to kind of talk about how he sees it playing out from a timing standpoint. As we've communicated, I think, on the last few calls, the slowdown in the Atkins business has been primarily driven by the loss of distribution points, in particular, on our snack bar business that occurred about a year ago. And the losses were pretty significant, somewhere around a 25% TDP loss. We lost almost half the items that we had in the lineup. And so we've been accelerating the innovation pipeline to get bars back into distribution.

是的，我會開始，馬特和我會把它交給傑夫，從時間的角度談談他如何看待它的發展。正如我們在過去幾次電話中所傳達的那樣，我認為阿特金斯業務的放緩主要是由於分銷點的損失，特別是大約一年前發生的我們的小吃店業務。而且損失相當大，TDP 損失約為 25%。我們失去了陣容中幾乎一半的物品。因此，我們一直在加速創新渠道，以使金條重新進入分銷領域。

As we are executing on the most recent shelf sets, we have one item that is building distribution as we speak. We'll start lapping some of the TDP losses. So we'll start seeing some of the TDP losses just because we're lapping last year's losses start to ease. But the true recovery on it will be our ability to get back kind of to full distribution kind of where we started about a year ago. And I'll talk to Geoff because I know Geoff has been knee-deep in the details of the innovation pipeline. I'll turn it over to him for some color commentary.

當我們在最新的貨架上執行時，我們有一個項目正在建立分銷。我們將開始彌補一些 TDP 損失。因此，我們將開始看到一些 TDP 損失，只是因為去年的損失開始緩解。但真正的複蘇將是我們有能力恢復到大約一年前開始的全面分銷狀態。我會和傑夫談談，因為我知道傑夫一直深入研究創新渠道的細節。我會將其轉交給他進行一些色彩評論。

Yes. Thanks, Joe. Thanks for the question. Look, I look at Atkins, look at in 2 time periods, strengthening the business in the short run and then working to strengthen it for the long term. And as Joe mentioned in the short run, we're very focused on accelerating bar innovation to market, working with the teams, working with them most of yesterdays, and I'm pleased with the new innovation pipeline on bars. As you know, though, it does take time, but sequentially over the coming launch windows, you'll see us build that distribution back.

是的。謝謝，喬。謝謝你的提問。看，我看阿特金斯，看兩個時間段，在短期內加強業務，然後努力加強長期業務。正如喬在短期內提到的那樣，我們非常專注於加速酒吧創新進入市場，與團隊合作，昨天大部分時間都與他們合作，我對酒吧的新創新渠道感到滿意。不過，正如您所知，這確實需要時間，但在接下來的發布窗口中，您將看到我們重新構建該發行版。

In addition, you'll see us work with customers to strengthen our merchandising, and we also see a near-term opportunity to accelerate our e-commerce business. As you look a little further afield, I think as you would expect, and as I mentioned in the scripted remarks, we'll be taking a step back on the brand, talking to consumers and other stakeholders and determining how we can ensure that this brand delivers on the full potential that is clearly evident given the need for weight wellness and how well positioned this brand is. That takes a little bit longer, and we're looking at different levels. But that's how I would think about how we're approaching Atkins. Really shoring it up in the short term while working to ensure it delivers its full potential in the long term.

此外，您還會看到我們與客戶合作加強我們的銷售，而且我們還看到了加速電子商務業務的近期機會。當你看得更遠一點時，我認為正如你所期望的那樣，正如我在腳本評論中提到的那樣，我們將在品牌問題上退後一步，與消費者和其他利益相關者交談，並確定我們如何確保這一點考慮到對體重健康的需求以及該品牌的定位，該品牌充分發揮了顯而易見的潛力。這需要更長的時間，而且我們正在考慮不同的級別。但這就是我對我們如何接近阿特金斯的看法。真正在短期內支撐它，同時努力確保它在長期內發揮其全部潛力。

Our next question comes from the line of John Baumgartner with Mizuho Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞穗證券的約翰·鮑姆加特納。

Maybe a follow-up on Matt's question, just sticking with Atkins. It sounds, Geoff, it sounds as though you're taking, I guess, moving the time frame back for recovery in the brand. And it's been through a lot the last couple of years with the mobility during COVID and some of the missteps on innovation and merchandising. But I'm curious, to what extent is just a simple elasticity a factor here. I mean, this is a category where we're seeing more brands, more formats. And it seems as though elasticities vary quite a bit between the brands and the formats.

也許是馬特問題的後續，只是堅持阿特金斯。聽起來，傑夫，我猜你似乎正在推遲品牌復甦的時間。過去幾年，新冠疫情期間的流動性以及創新和營銷方面的一些失誤，經歷了很多事情。但我很好奇，簡單的彈性在多大程度上是一個因素。我的意思是，在這個類別中，我們看到了更多的品牌、更多的形式。不同品牌和不同形式的彈性似乎差異很大。

So given data or insights that would suggest elasticity has not been a material factor here, and it's not something as simple as just the price point, given the Atkins consumer relative to a Quest consumer or somebody else who may be more, I don't know, loyal, but just stickier in terms of the price point.

因此，鑑於數據或見解表明彈性在這裡並不是一個重要因素，而且它不僅僅是價格點那麼簡單，考慮到阿特金斯消費者相對於 Quest 消費者或其他可能更多的人，我不認為知道，忠誠，但在價格方面更具粘性。

Yes, I think great question. And I'll start, and I'll turn it over to Geoff. So if you just look at the brand from a product standpoint, as we've -- since kind of last Labor Day, when people started going back to work, we saw a real shift in what people were buying on the brand, and I'll get to elasticities once I touch on this. So shakes and Meal Bars, which tend to be meal replacement on-the-go meal replacement, somewhat driven by kind of being on-the-go and being back to work. We've seen those businesses pick up. Where we've seen the slowdown has been in kind of the more snackier portion of the portfolio, snack bars and [Endulge]. And they have, in fact, been slightly more elastic in their response to the price increase. So we've tactically done some spending back on the business.

是的，我認為這是一個很好的問題。我將開始，並將其交給傑夫。因此，如果你只從產品的角度來看這個品牌，就像我們一樣——自從去年勞動節以來，當人們開始重返工作崗位時，我們看到人們在該品牌上購買的商品發生了真正的轉變，我一旦我觸及這一點，就會談到彈性。因此，奶昔和代餐棒往往是代餐，在旅途中代餐，在一定程度上是由在旅途中和重返工作崗位所驅動的。我們已經看到這些業務有所回升。我們看到增長放緩的是產品組合中零食較多的部分，即零食棒和[Endulge]。事實上，他們對價格上漲的反應稍微更有彈性。因此，我們在戰術上對業務進行了一些支出。

So we'll get a better sense of how that's going to play out because we start lapping that price increase in July and August, and we'll see whether -- how consumers respond to that. But we have seen the snackier portion of the portfolio tends to be the last thing in the basket, last thing purchased and the first thing out when people feel a little squeezed from a financial standpoint. So we have seen that behavior in the confection business and the snack bar business. And actually, even as part of the Quest business, we've seen some confections and chip sets more -- slightly greater sensitivity to pricing than kind of the more mainstream kind of meal replacement or full snack [forms].

因此，我們將更好地了解這將如何發揮作用，因為我們在七月和八月開始關注價格上漲，我們將看看消費者對此有何反應。但我們已經看到，投資組合中的零食部分往往是籃子裡的最後一樣東西，最後購買的東西，也是當人們從財務角度感到有點擠壓時首先拿出來的東西。所以我們在糖果行業和小吃店行業中看到了這種行為。實際上，即使作為 Quest 業務的一部分，我們也看到了一些糖果和芯片組，它們對定價的敏感度比更主流的代餐或全零食[形式]略高。

Anything to add, Geoff?

傑夫，還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes. I mean all I would probably say is taking a step back year-to-date, POS on Atkins was up 2%. But you're right, we're not immune from elasticity like any other brand. But to Joe's point, when you disaggregate the business, you're seeing growth in [RTD], you're seeing growth in Meal Bars. And where you're seeing a disproportionate impact is in, as Joe said, the snackier part of the business, which is where we've lost distribution and not innovated as we should have.

是的。我想說的是，今年迄今為止，阿特金斯的 POS 增長了 2%。但你是對的，我們並不能像其他品牌一樣免受彈性影響。但就喬的觀點而言，當你分解業務時，你會看到 [RTD] 的增長，你會看到餐吧的增長。正如喬所說，你會看到不成比例的影響出現在業務中的零食部分，也就是我們失去了分銷並且沒有進行應有的創新的地方。

So yes, I think you're absolutely right, elasticity is a factor. But disaggregating the business, you can see where the business has strength, where we have gaps and the plans we have put -- we're putting in place to solidify where we're seeing more of the impact.

所以是的，我認為你是完全正確的，彈性是一個因素。但分解業務後，你可以看到業務在哪些方面有優勢，我們在哪些方面存在差距，以及我們制定的計劃——我們正在實施的計劃是為了鞏固我們看到的更大影響力的地方。

Our next question comes from the line of Pamela Kaufman with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的帕梅拉·考夫曼。

You've highlighted the initiatives to improve Atkins innovation. Can you talk about what you see as some of the gaps in the product portfolio and where you think the innovation has lagged. I guess just in terms of the opportunity to improve innovation on bars versus innovation on some of the snackier formats, which you've seen some elasticity on, but I guess, how are you thinking about the balance of where the innovation is focused?

您強調了改善阿特金斯創新的舉措。您能否談談您認為產品組合中的一些差距以及您認為創新滯後的地方。我想只是就改善酒吧創新的機會與某些零食形式的創新而言，您已經看到了一些彈性，但我想，您如何考慮創新重點的平衡？

Yes. Let me do one thing first. I think Geoff started to do this. I just want to remind the callers that our POS year-to-date (inaudible) total company is up 12%, 13%, right? So we're zooming in on one piece of the business and one form of the business. But I want to highlight the diversification of the portfolio by brand and by form and by channel has enabled us despite some slowdowns in part of the Atkins business to continue to show strong growth.

是的。讓我先做一件事。我認為傑夫開始這樣做了。我只是想提醒來電者，我們公司今年迄今為止（聽不清）的 POS 總銷售額增長了 12%、13%，對嗎？因此，我們正在專注於一項業務和一種業務形式。但我想強調的是，儘管阿特金斯業務的部分業務有所放緩，但按品牌、形式和渠道劃分的投資組合多元化使我們能夠繼續表現出強勁增長。

So kind of how to think about (inaudible) where the gaps in the portfolio were in the innovation pipeline. It was kind of a confluence of 2 factors a year ago. Factor number one was, as I mentioned from the previous call, we saw heightened sensitivities to our first price increase, which would have been in October of 2021. We saw some velocity slowdowns in our snacking portfolio. So when those shelf resets were starting in September, we had some items in our snack portfolio that were weaker than we originally anticipated. And as we were putting new items in, those items fell out.

如何思考（聽不清）創新渠道中投資組合中的差距在哪裡。一年前，這是兩個因素共同作用的結果。正如我在上次電話會議中提到的，第一個因素是，我們對首次提價（原定於 2021 年 10 月）的敏感度更高。我們的零食產品組合速度有所放緩。因此，當九月份開始重新調整貨架時，我們的零食產品組合中的一些商品比我們最初預期的要弱。當我們放入新物品時，這些物品掉了出來。

And just to give you some context, year-to-date, Atkins distribution is up 6%, 7% nationally. So it's not like we've lost shelf space. We've actually lost items in a particular part of the portfolio, and that trade out has been actually detrimental to the brand. And then the second factor was innovation -- in any innovation pipeline, you're putting ideas at the top of the funnel, eventually products commercialize out the bottom. The rate of success on those commercializations was below what we normally would have experienced. So the combination of losing more items than what we anticipated and not as many items come falling down to commercialization led to the gap. And roughly, the gap was, call it, 4 to 5 items lost in distribution spring of last year. That takes time to rebuild that.

為了給您提供一些背景信息，今年迄今為止，阿特金斯在全國范圍內的分銷量增長了 6%、7%。所以我們並沒有失去貨架空間。實際上，我們已經失去了產品組合中特定部分的商品，這種換貨實際上對品牌不利。第二個因素是創新——在任何創新渠道中，你都將想法放在漏斗的頂部，最終產品從底部商業化。這些商業化的成功率低於我們通常的水平。因此，損失的物品比我們預期的要多，而且沒有那麼多物品進入商業化，這兩者結合在一起導致了差距。粗略地說，去年春季的配送中損失了 4 到 5 件商品。這需要時間來重建。

Geoff and the team are on it. It will happen as we play out the next fiscal year, the resets in the spring, fall and next spring, and we're pretty confident that we'll rebuild the snacking portfolio and the brand, and the brand will get back to the kind of growth we wanted to have.

傑夫和他的團隊正在努力。當我們下一個財年、春季、秋季和明年春季的重置時，這種情況就會發生，我們非常有信心我們將重建零食產品組合和品牌，而品牌將恢復到原來的樣子我們想要的增長。

Yes. The only build for me would be, as I mentioned in the scripted comments, I've been on the road talking with all our top retailers. They love this category, and they really love Atkins. And so we expect we're going to get a lot of support when we bring these new items to market over the sequential launch windows.

是的。正如我在腳本評論中提到的，對我來說唯一的構建是，我一直在路上與我們所有的頂級零售商交談。他們喜歡這個類別，他們真的很喜歡阿特金斯。因此，我們預計，當我們通過連續發布窗口將這些新產品推向市場時，我們將獲得大量支持。

Okay. Yes, I was just curious if the innovation is going to be around flavors or different pack sizes, I guess, how you think about the opportunity to innovate and where you see attractive segment?

好的。是的，我只是好奇創新是否會圍繞口味或不同的包裝尺寸進行，我想，您如何看待創新機會以及您在哪裡看到有吸引力的細分市場？

Yes. Look, we'll talk about -- Geoff will talk about the items in distribution as they're in distribution and starting to produce results. We don't like to talk forward about how we think about innovation.

是的。看，我們將討論 - 傑夫將討論分發中的項目，因為它們正在分發並開始產生結果。我們不喜歡談論我們如何看待創新。

Okay. Understood. And my other question is just around reinvestment. You talked about how improved gross margins will allow you to reinvest behind the brands and opportunity to step up investment behind Quest. So can you just talk about how you think about that time line for getting to 10% of sales on marketing and advertising and how you're thinking about spending over the next couple of quarters behind brand building?

好的。明白了。我的另一個問題是關於再投資。您談到毛利率的提高將如何讓您能夠對品牌進行再投資，並有機會加大對 Quest 的投資。那麼您能否談談您如何看待將銷售額的 10% 用於營銷和廣告的時間表，以及您如何考慮未來幾個季度在品牌建設方面的支出？

Yes. Let me just piece -- a lot of pieces to that question. (inaudible) a little bit. So in terms of gross margin, well, we're talking about it because we actually had an over-delivery this quarter, so we're happy about that. About 30, 40 basis points overall, which is about $1 million, not a ton of money overall, but gives us a little bit more flexibility going into the fourth quarter.

是的。讓我來談談這個問題的很多部分。 （聽不清）一點點。因此，就毛利率而言，我們正在談論它，因為本季度我們實際上超額交付了，所以我們對此感到高興。總體上大約有 30、40 個基點，大約是 100 萬美元，總體來說並不是很多錢，但給我們進入第四季度帶來了更多的靈活性。

As we look at the fourth quarter and we look at spending overall, our opportunity, we think, is to basically take advantage of some of the things that Geoff talked about in terms of the pillars he wants to spend money on. So we think we're going to use that money to get the favorability to start work on the growth opportunities that Geoff talked about in each of those pillars overall.

當我們審視第四季度和整體支出時，我們認為，我們的機會基本上是利用傑夫在他想要花錢的支柱方面談到的一些事情。因此，我們認為我們將利用這筆資金來獲得青睞，以開始實現傑夫在每個支柱中談到的增長機會。

As it relates to fiscal '24, I think (inaudible) talking about that, I think at a high level, we just started planning for fiscal '24. So it's pretty early for us to have a discussion about '24 but when we look at that right now, we think sales will be at the high end of our long-term algorithm. EBITDA growth will likely be in the high single digits. Couple of things I want to point out, though, to the group, one, as it relates to sales, shipments and consumption, it should be more aligned now that we've lapped the kind of abnormal fiscal '22 builds. And as it relates to gross margin, it's a little too early in specifics, but we're going to see the progression from first half to our second half this year, Q3 and Q4 is a good setup for fiscal '24. You're going to see sequential improvement from fiscal '23 to '24, not back to full potential, I wouldn't say.

由於它與 24 財年相關，我認為（聽不清）談論這一點時，我認為在較高層面上，我們剛剛開始為 24 財年進行規劃。因此，我們現在討論 '24 還為時過早，但當我們現在考慮這個問題時，我們認為銷售額將處於我們長期算法的高端。 EBITDA 增長可能會達到較高的個位數。不過，我想向該集團指出幾件事，一是因為它與銷售、發貨和消費有關，現在我們已經經歷了那種異常的 22 財年建設，它應該更加一致。由於它與毛利率有關，具體細節還為時過早，但我們將看到今年上半年到下半年的進展，第三季度和第四季度是 24 財年的良好設置。我不會說，你會看到從 23 財年到 24 財年的連續改善，而不是恢復到全部潛力。

We feel really good about the first half gross margin versus this year. And I'll just say what we expect to get back to the algorithm where EBITDA is greater than sales growth, we're not going to see all the gross margin improvement drop to EBITDA. We're going to invest incrementally in consumer communication, marketing and capabilities and again, that will be consistent with the growth pillars Geoff talked about in his prepared remarks overall.

與今年相比，我們對上半年的毛利率感覺非常好。我只想說我們期望回到 EBITDA 大於銷售增長的算法，我們不會看到所有毛利率改善都下降到 EBITDA。我們將在消費者溝通、營銷和能力方面逐步投資，這將與傑夫在他準備好的講話中談到的增長支柱一致。

So one more point on '24, just before I forget, fiscal '24 is a 53-week year for us. So we'll have an extra week. That's about 1 point in both top and bottom line as you guys start building your models out. So with that, that's kind of how we're thinking about the next couple of quarters, years. I'll turn it to Geoff in terms of the Quest investment specifically.

因此，關於“24”，我還要再說一點，在我忘記之前，“24”財年對我們來說是 53 週的一年。這樣我們就有額外一周的時間了。當你們開始構建模型時，這在頂線和底線中大約都是 1 分。因此，這就是我們對未來幾個季度、幾年的看法。我將具體向 Geoff 轉達 Quest 投資的問題。

Yes. I mean if you take a step back, we continue to be really excited about not just the delivery from Quest, but by its potential, consumption up 24% in Q3. As I mentioned in the scripted remarks, we think the brand has had a ton of growth runway in front of it. Brand awareness is very low compared to a number of its peers, which suggests that the brand just has continued runway pushing on innovation, which has been the lifeblood of its success, continuing to push out on distribution, and we feel really good about the results that we continue to get there.

是的。我的意思是，如果你退後一步，我們不僅對 Quest 的交付感到非常興奮，而且對它的潛力感到興奮，第三季度的消費量增長了 24%。正如我在腳本評論中提到的，我們認為該品牌前面有大量的增長跑道。與許多同行相比，品牌知名度非常低，這表明該品牌只是繼續推動創新（這是其成功的命脈），繼續推動分銷，我們對結果感到非常滿意我們將繼續實現這一目標。

And as I mentioned, what you're going to see is a step change in marketing on the business because the awareness is low compared to where a brand of this size should be. And so that will be looking at the media mix, creative as well as stepping up our investment on the brand more towards our targeted levels. So we see nothing about runway in front of this brand despite its size and despite the success that it's had.

正如我所提到的，您將看到企業營銷的逐步變化，因為與這種規模的品牌應有的認知度相比，認知度較低。因此，我們將著眼於媒體組合、創意，以及加大對品牌的投資，以達到我們的目標水平。因此，儘管這個品牌規模龐大、取得了成功，但我們在跑道上看不到任何東西。

Pam, as I answer, if you like, pieces to that question. I'm not sure we got to all of them. Is that -- do we cover those?

帕姆，正如我所回答的，如果你願意的話，我可以回答這個問題。我不確定我們是否已經得到了所有這些。那是——我們涵蓋那些嗎？

Yes. That's helpful.

是的。這很有幫助。

Our next questions come from the line of Rob Dickerson with Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自羅布·迪克森和杰弗里斯的對話。

Great. Maybe just kind of like a broader question of the category as you speak to, I guess, trying to increase overall brand awareness and then just ongoing household penetration upside. I think historically, right, there's been a lot of commentary around the benefits of being kind of the health and beauty aid -- health and beauty area in the store, especially on the profitability side, maybe competitive dynamics.

偉大的。我想，也許就像你所說的一個更廣泛的類別問題，試圖提高整體品牌知名度，然後持續提高家庭滲透率。我認為，從歷史上看，對健康和美容援助的好處有很多評論——商店裡的健康和美容區域，特別是在盈利方面，也許是競爭動態。

Just kind of given your background, Geoff and kind of how you think about, especially your comment on center (inaudible) items with that brand awareness, like could there be like kind of this, I don't want to say a broader rethink of positioning within the store and within channels. But have you thought about almost making it and I'm speaking more specifically to the Atkins brand. Again, kind of more of a brand, kind of for everyday consumption maybe almost a little bit away from such a specific kind of legacy weight loss product in health and beauty aids. And I just -- and I also ask that just kind of what's in the framework of -- there's a lot of competition, right, within the category because the category has done great, and you've helped the category be great.

只是考慮到你的背景，傑夫和你的想法，特別是你對具有品牌知名度的中心（聽不清）項目的評論，就像可能有這樣的事情，我不想說更廣泛的重新思考在商店和渠道內的定位。但你有沒有想過幾乎成功了，我更具體地說是阿特金斯品牌。再說一次，它更像是一個品牌，適合日常消費，可能與健康和美容輔助品中這種特定的傳統減肥產品有一點距離。我只是——我也問，在這個類別的框架內有很多競爭，對吧，因為這個類別做得很好，而且你幫助這個類別變得偉大。

But there's always kind of this ongoing kind of mixing of category positioning between sweet and salt snacking indulgence relative to health and protein fortification, et cetera. So very broad question, just kind of curious how you're thinking about it stepping in.

但相對於健康和蛋白質強化等，甜味和鹹味零食之間的品類定位總是存在著一種持續的混合。這是一個非常廣泛的問題，只是有點好奇你是如何考慮介入的。

Yes, thanks for the question. It's a good one. As I mentioned, I have been on the road and I've been speaking with retailers and talking to them about our business, but also about the category. And as they look at the category, they see the same runway that we do. Several factors in there, but certainly, the low level of household penetration in the 50s versus high 80s for [center-of-store]. They also see the twin tailwinds of health and wellness and snacking as driving that. And so when I've talked to them about how we can build this category together, they certainly look at the space as a differentiated opportunity versus the broader center-of-store . And that's the opportunity that's in front of us.

是的，謝謝你的提問。這是一件好事。正如我所提到的，我一直在路上，一直在與零售商交談，與他們談論我們的業務以及該類別。當他們審視這個類別時，他們看到的跑道與我們所看到的相同。其中有幾個因素，但可以肯定的是，[商店中心] 50 年代的家庭滲透率較低，而 80 年代的家庭滲透率較高。他們還認為健康和零食的雙重推動力是推動這一趨勢的因素。因此，當我與他們討論如何共同打造這一類別時，他們肯定將該空間視為與更廣泛的商店中心相比的差異化機會。這就是擺在我們面前的機會。

To your question on where would our brands play in that category, that's what we'll do with them. But I think it's a credit to Joe and the team how they have positioned, let's say, Atkins as more as a lifestyle brand versus a weight management brand. And you can see that as with the recent commercials and bringing [Rob Lowe], et cetera. So on that theme, I agree, broadening the scope of this category to be more of a lifestyle destination is an opportunity. Retailers see it, and we will be working with them, combining our joint capabilities and building that out over the years to come.

對於您關於我們的品牌將在該類別中發揮什麼作用的問題，這就是我們將如何處理它們。但我認為這要歸功於喬和他的團隊，他們將阿特金斯定位為生活方式品牌而不是體重管理品牌。你可以從最近的廣告中看到這一點，並帶來[Rob Lowe]等等。因此，在這個主題上，我同意，擴大這一類別的範圍，使其成為更多的生活方式目的地是一個機會。零售商看到了這一點，我們將與他們合作，結合我們的聯合能力，並在未來幾年內進行建設。

Got it. Great. Very interesting. And before I forget, Joe, always a pleasure. Thank you so much for all of your hard work and diligence and looking forward to staying in touch. And Geoff, good to have you back.

知道了。偉大的。很有意思。在我忘記之前，喬，總是很高興。非常感謝您的辛勤工作和勤奮，並期待保持聯繫。傑夫，很高興你回來。

I guess just one more quick question. You kind of mentioned willingness to operate maybe at a little bit of a higher leverage level. Clearly, right now, leverage is in a great spot. You're in a very balance sheet clean. Clearly, you have some kind of work to do out of the gate with respect to kind of changes and improvements on the distribution side with Atkins. But as we think kind of almost more near term, right, kind of with leverage where it is and kind of what I'm hearing within the space, certain assets being potentially dislodged a little bit coming out of COVID. Is that or could we say acquisition activity is still top of mind given CEO transitional dynamics in the near term? Or is it more hey, let's fix the core, let's support the growth. Let's go for organic opportunity to work with the retailers? And yes, if something comes along, we'll take a look at it, but we're really focused on the other side.

我想還有一個簡單的問題。您提到願意以更高的槓桿水平進行操作。顯然，目前杠桿處於有利位置。你的資產負債表非常乾淨。顯然，您需要在阿特金斯的分銷方面進行一些改變和改進。但正如我們認為的那樣，從短期來看，對吧，在某種程度上具有槓桿作用，以及我在該領域聽到的情況，某些資產可能會因為新冠疫情而被稍微驅逐。考慮到短期內首席執行官的過渡動態，我們是否可以說收購活動仍然是首要考慮因素？或者是更嘿，讓我們修復核心，讓我們支持增長。我們去尋找與零售商合作的有機機會嗎？是的，如果出現什麼情況，我們會關注它，但我們真正關注的是另一面。

Yes. I'll start and then I'll let the other guys jump in. Look, the environment is about as slow as I've seen in the last 6 years, mainly because there's just not a lot of folks transacting given the cost of debt right now. So you're just not seeing a lot of activity and the things that have come to market, frankly, haven't transacted. So we -- I think you've characterized our view, which is we're focused on organic growth until the right opportunity comes along at the right price with the right brands that we like. And we're in a -- from a balance sheet standpoint in a good position to do that.

是的。我會開始，然後讓其他人加入。看，環境就像我在過去 6 年中看到的一樣緩慢，主要是因為考慮到債務成本，沒有很多人進行交易現在。所以你只是沒有看到很多活動，坦率地說，已經上市的東西還沒有交易。因此，我認為您已經描述了我們的觀點，即我們專注於有機增長，直到合適的機會以合適的價格和我們喜歡的合適品牌出現。從資產負債表的角度來看，我們處於一個有利的位置來做到這一點。

But the -- just the activity in the market right now is not particularly heavy given the cost of debt. And I'll turn it over to anyone else who wants to add to that.

但考慮到債務成本，目前市場的活動並不是特別活躍。我會將其轉交給其他想要添加內容的人。

No. I mean we love the leverage situation we're at now, a little over 1x. We'll be in really good shape by the end of the year. As you know that we you generate a lot of cash, and that's helpful from paying down debt. We've done that this year, and we continue to see that runway overall, but we constantly look at stuff. I think the answer to your question is both, we're going to do the things we [wanted to] grow the business organically, but we're also going to look at things and look at opportunities that are out there, and we continue to do that.

不，我的意思是我們很喜歡現在的槓桿情況，略高於 1 倍。到今年年底，我們將處於非常好的狀態。如您所知，我們會產生大量現金，這有助於償還債務。我們今年已經做到了這一點，我們繼續關注整體跑道，但我們不斷地關註一些東西。我認為你問題的答案是，我們將做我們[想要]有機發展業務的事情，但我們也會審視事物並尋找現有的機會，我們將繼續要做到這一點。

Our next question comes from the line of Jason English with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jason English 與高盛的對話。

And Joe, good luck. Enjoy as you find yourself with some more free time. (inaudible) that. And thank you so much for humoring me and my million sometimes aggregating questions over the years.

還有喬，祝你好運。當你發現自己有更多的空閒時間時，盡情享受吧。 （聽不清）那個。非常感謝你多年來對我和我數以百萬計的問題的幽默。

Jason, I asked Mark to make sure you were my last question.

傑森，我請馬克確認你是我的最後一個問題。

I'm going to inaugurate -- Geoff is the one who is going to inaugurate questions, but in a minute, but first a housekeeping item. The growth expectations you gave for next year, were those inclusive or exclusive of the 53rd week?

我要開始提問了——傑夫是要開始提問的人，但很快，但首先是一個內務事項。您對明年的增長預期是包含還是不包含第 53 週？

Those were exclusive of the 53rd week. You probably put another point on top of the numbers I gave. So at high end of our algorithm for top line, high single-digit bottom line, plus the 53rd week.

這些不包括第 53 週。您可能會在我給出的數字之上加上另一點。因此，在我們的頂線算法的高端，高個位數的底線，加上第 53 週。

Great. Great stuff. Okay. Now (inaudible) aggregating question. And I apologize in advance, but it's on my mind, it's on a lot of investors' minds. But you mentioned weight wellness, the broader weight wellness industry is being disrupted by all these new pharmaceutical solutions, and it's still early. The disruption is only going to get bigger as more drugs come to market, more adoption, more insurance coverage. And legacy weight management businesses across the board are under pressure, right? Like the listed programs, [food] and we're all feeling the pain.

偉大的。好東西。好的。現在（聽不清）匯總問題。我提前道歉，但這是我的想法，也是很多投資者的想法。但你提到了體重健康，更廣泛的體重健康行業正在被所有這些新的製藥解決方案所擾亂，而且現在還為時過早。隨著更多的藥物進入市場、更多的採用、更多的保險覆蓋範圍，這種破壞只會變得更大。傳統的體重管理業務全面面臨壓力，對吧？就像列出的項目一樣，[食物]，我們都感受到了痛苦。

And when I look at Atkins in that context, it feels like this is a bigger issue than just a product cycle or innovation. It feels like this could be a bit of a secular turning point in the industry. What gives you confidence that that's not the case, that this is something that can be so easily resolved with a tactical product solution?

當我在這種背景下看待阿特金斯時，感覺這是一個比產品週期或創新更大的問題。感覺這可能是該行業的一個長期轉折點。是什麼讓您相信事實並非如此，而是可以通過戰術產品解決方案輕鬆解決這個問題？

Yes, let -- I'll start, and I'll turn it over to Geoff. Obviously, he's got some fresh eyes on the matter. But look, it's -- the press of the event and the actual number of users, there's a pretty big gap right now. So it's still very early innings on these weight loss drugs because they tend to be [coastal] in their use right now based on everything that we've seen. You're seeing a lot of pickup on the press. So this is still very early innings.

是的，讓——我開始，然後我會把它交給傑夫。顯然，他對此事有了新的看法。但是你看，活動的新聞和實際的用戶數量，現在有一個相當大的差距。因此，這些減肥藥物還處於早期階段，因為根據我們所看到的一切，它們現在的使用往往是[沿海]。你會在媒體上看到很多報導。所以這仍然是很早的幾局。

So we actually don't see this as a threat, but we see it as an opportunity, and I'll provide some color commentary. First of all, typically people that are using these drugs have a significant amount of weight to lose, call it, 20-plus per ounce, 20, 25 pounds of weight to lose, right? That is not the epicenter of the buyer of Atkins anymore and hasn't been for a number of years. The number of our buyers who are actively using the Atkins program to lose a significant amount of weight is kind of mid-single digits as a percent. So it's not a threat from a volume standpoint, but we think actually an opportunity from a marketing standpoint.

所以我們實際上並不認為這是一個威脅，而是將其視為一個機會，我將提供一些色彩評論。首先，通常使用這些藥物的人需要減掉大量的體重，稱之為每盎司 20 多磅、20、25 磅的體重需要減掉，對吧？這已經不再是阿特金斯買家的中心了，而且已經很多年了。我們積極使用阿特金斯計劃來顯著減肥的買家數量佔百分比的中個位數。因此，從銷量的角度來看，這並不是一個威脅，但從營銷的角度來看，我們認為這實際上是一個機會。

So that -- look, the drugs are driving renewed interest in weight management, and that's always a good thing for your business because the challenge as you know from your experience with the brand, the challenge is getting people actually to take interest to action when it comes to how they look and how they feel. And so these drugs, I think, are starting to renew interest in consumers to change behavior. So (inaudible) is a good thing, not unlike keto was for us, right? It wasn't us, but we were able to kind of get on that wave or ride that wave for over 3 years. So as -- I think there's 2 elements of opportunity for us, and Geoff and the team are already on them.

因此，看，這些藥物正在重新激發人們對體重管理的興趣，這對您的企業來說總是一件好事，因為您從該品牌的經驗中知道，挑戰在於讓人們真正對體重管理感興趣並採取行動這取決於他們的外表和感覺。因此，我認為這些藥物開始重新引起消費者改變行為的興趣。所以（聽不清）是一件好事，就像酮對我們來說一樣，對吧？這不是我們，但我們能夠在這股浪潮中趕上或駕馭這股浪潮超過 3 年。因此，我認為我們有兩個機會要素，傑夫和團隊已經在抓住它們。

The first is people come to pharmacies to get the drug, that's where our brand is. There is an opportunity to tap into that. And as you would imagine, major retailers are really interested in having that conversation. The second, the drugs -- and this is the nuance of this, the drugs suppress appetite. So you're eating fewer calories and the calories you actually eat have to be more nutritious. So there is an opportunity for our brand. And I think you're seeing the weight wellness other brands do exactly the same thing, right, that you end up having to help people eat more healthy, i.e., you need to be on a program as you're using these things. Otherwise, you're going to do damage to your body and getting -- not getting enough nutrition to it.

首先是人們來到藥店購買藥物，這就是我們的品牌所在。有機會利用這一點。正如您所想像的那樣，主要零售商確實有興趣進行這種對話。第二，藥物——這就是其中的細微差別，藥物抑制食慾。所以你吃的卡路里更少，而你實際吃的卡路里必須更有營養。所以我們的品牌有機會。我認為你會看到其他體重健康品牌做了完全相同的事情，對吧，你最終必須幫助人們吃得更健康，也就是說，你需要在使用這些東西時參加一個計劃。否則，你的身體就會受到損害，並且無法獲得足夠的營養。

So our strategy, as we're starting to think through it, our strategy is actually to market Atkins as a perfect complement to people thinking about using the drugs. And we have a rich pedigree as a nutrition philosophy to help people think about that and then use our relationships in the pharmacy aisle to market to it. So we're actually pretty optimistic. We like this as a tailwind. We think it's going to be a pretty good wave. I don't think it's going to have the fattish nature of keto. I think it will build, it will build for a sustained period of time. And I think there's a real opportunity for the brand to take advantage of it. And I'll turn it over to Geoff for any thoughts he's got.

因此，當我們開始思考時，我們的策略實際上是將阿特金斯作為對考慮使用該藥物的人們的完美補充來營銷。我們擁有豐富的營養哲學血統，可以幫助人們思考這一點，然後利用我們在藥房過道的關係來推銷它。所以我們實際上非常樂觀。我們喜歡這作為順風。我們認為這將是一波非常好的浪潮。我不認為它會有酮類的脂肪性質。我認為它會建立起來，並且會持續一段時間。我認為該品牌確實有機會利用它。我會把它轉給傑夫，詢問他的任何想法。

Yes. I mean just a couple of builds, perhaps, I think, firstly, as advocates of weight wellness and nutrition. I think it's great that consumers who struggle with us have another option, which is -- I think it's great. In addition, the consumers who are on the drug, Jason, needing nutritional support. I'm equally excited about the opportunity that these consumers when they come off the drugs, I think a very small portion will stay on for a long time. When consumers come off the drug, the last thing they're going to want to do is put the weight back on, especially after experiencing the physical and mental benefits of weight loss.

是的。我的意思是，也許，我認為，首先，作為體重健康和營養的倡導者。我認為與我們鬥爭的消費者有另一種選擇是很棒的，我認為這很棒。此外，服用藥物的消費者傑森需要營養支持。我同樣對這些消費者在戒毒後的機會感到興奮，我認為很少一部分人會長期服用。當消費者停藥後，他們最不想做的就是體重重新增加，尤其是在經歷了減肥對身體和精神的好處之後。

But we see this as an opportunity to position Atkins as a complement to help consumers while they're on the drug and then to help them knock it back on the drug. And lastly, with the digital tools available to us right now, we can find these consumers, and we can message directly through them. And probably not a surprise, but the team is on it right now. So we think this is a wave and we're going to catch it.

但我們認為這是一個機會，可以將阿特金斯定位為補充品，在消費者服用藥物時為他們提供幫助，然後幫助他們戒除藥物。最後，利用我們現在可用的數字工具，我們可以找到這些消費者，並且可以直接通過他們發送消息。也許並不奇怪，但團隊現在正在努力。所以我們認為這是一波浪潮，我們將抓住它。

Our last questions for today will come from the line of Steve Powers with Deutsche Bank.

我們今天的最後一個問題將來自德意志銀行的史蒂夫·鮑爾斯（Steve Powers）。

I don't want to ruin Jason's thunder (inaudible).

我不想毀掉傑森的風頭（聽不清）。

That's okay, Steve. Mark told me he was the last question, not you. I apologize.

沒關係，史蒂夫。馬克告訴我最後一個問題是他，而不是你。我道歉。

Just -- actually just one and relatively tactical. On the gross margin front, the overdelivery this quarter was, as you say, very welcome. As I look at the fourth quarter, I think external estimates based on commentary last quarter, we're looking for gross margins to inflect closer to 38% in the fourth quarter. Your -- the slide today, Slide 15 points at closer to 37%. So just wanted to maybe talk a little bit about the puts and takes there if anything's changed? And sort of how we think about the progress quarter-over-quarter and then sort of the -- what the exit rate implies for momentum into '24.

只是——實際上只是一個，而且是相對戰術性的。在毛利率方面，正如您所說，本季度的超額交付非常受歡迎。當我展望第四季度時，我認為基於上季度評論的外部估計，我們預計第四季度的毛利率將接近 38%。今天的下滑，下滑了 15 個百分點，接近 37%。所以只是想談談看跌期權和看跌期權，如果有什麼變化的話？我們如何看待季度環比的進展，然後是退出率對進入 24 年的勢頭意味著什麼。

Yes, let me take that one. First of all, I'm not going to give you a number for Q4, but that's okay. As we go forward, I think take a step back for a second. We overdelivered our gross margin by about 40 basis points for the quarter. Q3, it's about $1 million, give or take. Favorability was really lower ingredient costs as we started to see that flow through a little sooner than we thought some favorability in the inbound freight. We had no change to the Q4 fiscal year if we budgeted Q4 to kind of this run rate. And so the Q3 beat really wasn't significant enough to move the needle. We do think we'll see sequential improvement from Q3 to Q4 for gross margin.

是的，讓我拿那個。首先，我不會給你第四季度的數字，但這沒關係。當我們前進時，我想先退後一步。本季度我們的毛利率超額實現了約 40 個基點。第三季度，大約是 100 萬美元，無論多少。有利的因素實際上是較低的原料成本，因為我們開始看到原料成本的流動比我們想像的入庫貨運的有利程度要早一些。如果我們按照這個運行率對第四季度進行預算，那麼我們對第四季度財年沒有任何變化。因此，第三季度的表現確實不足以起到推動作用。我們確實認為，從第三季度到第四季度，毛利率將會連續改善。

The last point I want to make to the team here is we had some misses, obviously, in Q1 and Q2. We put fixes in place. They've resulted in better communication, visibility and more efficient operating effectiveness, gives us a greater confidence in our forecast as you see that with the Q3 results. So you're going to see sequential improvement.

我想向團隊提出的最後一點是，顯然，我們在第一季度和第二季度有一些失誤。我們進行了修復。它們帶來了更好的溝通、可見性和更高效的運營效率，讓我們對我們的預測更有信心，正如您在第三季度的結果中看到的那樣。所以你會看到連續的改進。

Thank you for joining us today. I'll now turn the call back over to management for any final comments.

感謝您今天加入我們。我現在會將電話轉回給管理層以徵求最終意見。

Yes. Thanks again for the participation today. Just one note for me, I and the entire Simply Good Foods organization want to thank Joe for his commitment and contributions to the business over the last 10 years. On a personal note, it's been a pleasure to work with him over the last 20 years in various roles in various companies. I wish him nothing but the best in retirement and obviously on the golf course. He will be greatly missed.

是的。再次感謝您今天的參與。我謹謹提請注意，我和整個 Simply Good Foods 組織要感謝 Joe 在過去 10 年中對公司的承諾和貢獻。就我個人而言，在過去 20 年裡，我很高興與他一起在不同公司擔任不同職務。我祝愿他在退休後一切順利，當然在高爾夫球場上也能一切順利。我們將非常懷念他。

On a more tactical note, Mark and I and Geoff will be available today for follow-up questions you have. And Geoff and I look forward to updating you on our fourth quarter results in the fourth -- in October. Have a good day.

從更具戰術性的角度來說，馬克、我和傑夫今天將回答您的後續問題。傑夫和我期待著在第四季度（十月）向您通報我們第四季度的最新業績。祝你有美好的一天。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. This does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation, and enjoy the rest of your day.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與，祝您度過愉快的一天。