(ULTA) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to Ulta Beauty's conference call to discuss results for the third quarter of fiscal '22. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. And it is now my pleasure to introduce Ms. Kiley Rawlins, Vice President of Investor Relations. Thank you, Ms. Rawlins, please proceed.

下午好，歡迎參加 Ulta Beauty 的電話會議，討論 22 財年第三季度的業績。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，正在錄製此會議。現在我很高興介紹投資者關係副總裁 Kiley Rawlins 女士。謝謝羅林斯女士，請繼續。

Thank you, John. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for our discussion of Ulta Beauty's results for the third quarter of fiscal 2022. Hosting our call are Dave Kimbell, Chief Executive Officer; and Scott Settersten, Chief Financial Officer. Kecia Steelman, Chief Operating Officer, will join us for the Q&A session.

謝謝你，約翰。大家下午好，感謝您今天加入我們，討論 Ulta Beauty 2022 財年第三季度的業績。主持我們電話會議的是首席執行官 Dave Kimbell；和首席財務官 Scott Settersten。首席運營官 Kecia Steelman 將加入我們的問答環節。

This afternoon, we announced our financial results for the third quarter. A copy of the press release is available in the Investor Relations section of our website.

今天下午，我們公佈了第三季度的財務業績。新聞稿的副本可在我們網站的投資者關係部分獲得。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind you of the company's safe harbor language. The statements contained in this conference call, which are not historical facts, may be deemed to constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual future results may differ materially from those projected in such statements due to a number of risks and uncertainties, all of which are described in the company's filings with the SEC.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您公司的安全港語言。本次電話會議中包含的陳述並非歷史事實，可被視為構成 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。由於以下原因，未來的實際結果可能與此類陳述中預測的結果存在重大差異許多風險和不確定性，所有這些都在公司提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中有所描述。

We caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today, December 1, 2022. We have no obligation to update or revise our forward-looking statements, except as required by law, and you should not expect us to do so.

我們告誡您不要過分依賴這些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅在今天，即 2022 年 12 月 1 日生效。我們沒有義務更新或修改我們的前瞻性陳述，除非法律要求，您應該不要指望我們這樣做。

We'll begin this afternoon with prepared remarks from Dave and Scott. Following our prepared comments, we'll open the call for questions. To allow us to accommodate as many questions as possible during the hour scheduled for this call, we respectfully ask that you limit your time to one question and one follow-up question. If you have additional questions, we ask that you requeue. And as always, the IR team will be available for any follow-up questions after the call.

今天下午，我們將從 Dave 和 Scott 準備好的發言開始。在我們準備好的評論之後，我們將開始提問。為了讓我們在本次電話會議安排的時間內盡可能多地解決問題，我們謹請您將時間限制在一個問題和一個後續問題上。如果您有其他問題，我們要求您重新排隊。與往常一樣，IR 團隊將在電話會議後回答任何後續問題。

Now I'll turn the call over to Dave. Dave?

現在我會把電話轉給戴夫。戴夫？

Thank you, Kiley, and good afternoon, everyone. We appreciate your interest in Ulta Beauty. The Ulta Beauty team delivered outstanding performance this quarter with strong revenue growth driving operating margin expansion and double-digit earnings growth. We accomplished these results because the Ulta Beauty teams continue to execute at a high level, and I want to thank all of our associates for their commitment to delivering great guest experiences, ensuring operational excellence, strengthening our culture and working together as one team to move our business forward as the leader in beauty.

謝謝 Kiley，大家下午好。感謝您對 Ulta Beauty 的關注。 Ulta Beauty 團隊本季度表現出色，收入增長強勁，推動營業利潤率擴張和兩位數的收益增長。我們取得這些成果是因為 Ulta Beauty 團隊繼續保持高水平執行，我要感謝我們所有的員工致力於提供卓越的客戶體驗、確保卓越運營、加強我們的文化以及作為一個團隊共同努力，以推動我們的業務發展成為美容領域的領導者。

For the third quarter, net sales increased 17.2% to $2.3 billion, and comp sales increased 14.6%. Operating margin increased to 15.5% of sales and diluted EPS increased 35.5% to $5.34 per share. Reflecting these results and our updated fourth quarter expectations, we have increased our outlook for the full year. Scott will share more details about our expectations later in the call.

第三季度，淨銷售額增長 17.2% 至 23 億美元，同期銷售額增長 14.6%。營業利潤率增至銷售額的 15.5%，稀釋後每股收益增 35.5% 至 5.34 美元。為反映這些結果和我們更新的第四季度預期，我們提高了對全年的展望。斯科特將在稍後的電話會議中分享更多關於我們期望的細節。

Our third quarter results are a testament to the resilience of the beauty category and our team's ability to drive strong guest engagement that fueled broad-based growth across our business. All major categories exceeded our expectations, and we increased our market share in prestige beauty versus the fiscal third quarter last year based on dollar sales according to point-of-sale data from the NPD Group.

我們第三季度的業績證明了美容品類的彈性以及我們團隊推動強大的賓客參與度的能力，從而推動了我們業務的廣泛增長。所有主要類別都超出了我們的預期，根據 NPD Group 的銷售點數據，基於美元銷售額，與去年第三財季相比，我們在高端美容方面的市場份額有所增加。

We delivered growth across our store and digital channels and achieved record loyalty membership of 39 million members. Additionally, we continue to see growth in spend per member across all income demographics.

我們在我們的商店和數字渠道實現了增長，並實現了創紀錄的 3900 萬會員忠誠度。此外，我們繼續看到所有收入人群的每位會員支出都在增長。

Our strategic framework, anchored by the power of our differentiated model, continues to drive our ambitions and successes as we work to expand our market leadership and drive profitable growth. This afternoon, I will share an update on our progress against several of our strategic pillars.

我們的戰略框架以我們差異化模式的力量為基礎，在我們努力擴大市場領導地位和推動盈利增長的過程中，繼續推動我們的雄心壯志和成功。今天下午，我將分享我們在幾個戰略支柱方面取得的最新進展。

Starting with our efforts to drive disruptive growth through an expanded definition of All Things Beauty, our strategy to engage and delight beauty enthusiasts with a thoughtfully curated assortment focused on inclusivity and leading trends is delivering results. Our double-digit comp this quarter was a result of growth from our core assortment, price increases executed this year and compelling newness.

從我們通過擴大對萬物之美的定義來推動顛覆性增長的努力開始，我們通過精心策劃的以包容性和引領趨勢為重點的產品組合來吸引和取悅美容愛好者的戰略正在取得成果。我們本季度的兩位數收入是我們核心產品組合增長、今年執行的價格上漲以及引人注目的新產品的結果。

Although pricing contributed more to our comp than last quarter, the majority of our third quarter comp was fueled by growth from our core assortment and newness. Historically, sales of new products have averaged 20% to 30% of our sales, and the overall mix of newness this year has been in line with our historical experience.

儘管定價對我們的貢獻比上一季度更大，但我們第三季度的大部分收入是由我們的核心品種和新品的增長推動的。從歷史上看，新產品的銷售額平均占我們銷售額的 20% 到 30%，今年的整體新品組合符合我們的歷史經驗。

Turning to performance by category. Skincare, fragrance and bath, hair care and makeup all delivered double-digit comp growth against the third quarter last year. From a segment perspective, we saw double-digit sales growth across both prestige and mass, with mass generally outperforming prestige. While it's hard to know with certainty if we are starting to see consumers trade down, as the only beauty retailer that offers a wide variety of price points from entry level mass to high-end luxury and everything in between, Ulta Beauty is uniquely positioned to capture any consumer shifts within price points in the beauty category.

轉向按類別劃分的性能。與去年第三季度相比，護膚、香水和沐浴、護髮和化妝品均實現了兩位數的收入增長。從細分市場的角度來看，我們看到聲望和大眾的銷售額都實現了兩位數的增長，其中大眾的表現普遍優於聲望。雖然很難確定我們是否開始看到消費者開始購買，但作為唯一一家提供從入門級大眾到高端奢侈品以及介於兩者之間的各種價位的美容零售商，Ulta Beauty 具有獨特的定位捕捉美容品類價格點內的任何消費者變化。

Turning to the performance of our core categories, starting with our fastest-growing category, skincare. Beauty enthusiasts are maintaining their skincare routines with a focus on science-backed and dermatologist-recommended products. Guests are engaging with newer brands, like Drunk Elephant, Super Goop and Good Molecules, while new products from established brands like the Ordinary Hero Cosmetics and the Roche-Posay also contributed to sales growth.

談到我們核心品類的表現，首先是我們增長最快的品類護膚品。美容愛好者正在維持他們的護膚程序，重點關注有科學依據和皮膚科醫生推薦的產品。賓客們正在接觸 Drunk Elephant、Super Goop 和 Good Molecules 等新品牌，而 Ordinary Hero Cosmetics 和 Roche-Posay 等知名品牌的新產品也為銷售額增長做出了貢獻。

To drive discovery and support guest education, this quarter, we introduced our Skincare We Love All in all stores. This curated presentation highlights exciting brands and best-selling items across key categories. The fragrance and bath category delivered another impressive quarter, as Gen Z guests engaged with the category, leveraging multiple fragrances to express themselves. Recently launched Ulta Beauty exclusive Billie Eilish, as well as Nescens from Burberry, Gucci and Victor and Ralph drove meaningful sales growth. While our monthly fragrance crush program drove engagement with established brands including Versace and Jimmy Choo.

為了推動發現和支持顧客教育，本季度，我們在所有商店推出了我們都愛的護膚品。這個精心策劃的演示突出了關鍵類別中令人興奮的品牌和最暢銷的商品。香水和沐浴類產品又創造了一個令人印象深刻的季度，因為 Z 世代客人參與了該類別，利用多種香水來表達自己。最近推出的 Ulta Beauty 獨家 Billie Eilish，以及 Burberry、Gucci 和 Victor and Ralph 的 Nescens 推動了有意義的銷售增長。我們的月度香水迷戀計劃推動了與 Versace 和 Jimmy Choo 等知名品牌的互動。

In addition, the category benefited from strong guest engagement with our holiday fragrance gift sets, which were available earlier this year.

此外，該類別還受益於我們今年早些時候推出的節日香水禮品套裝的強烈反響。

Haircare, our second largest category, delivered solid growth, primarily driven by newness and innovation. Key category trends include hair health, damage repair and targeted treatments. Prestige brands, including Way and Briogeo, saw strength in treatments and core assortments, while masstige brands, including EBA, NYC, (inaudible) and Kristin S., and professional brands such as Pure Allergy, Redken and Kenra, continued to resonate with guests.

美髮產品是我們的第二大品類，實現了穩健的增長，主要受新穎性和創新的推動。主要類別趨勢包括頭髮健康、損傷修復和靶向治療。 Way 和 Briogeo 等知名品牌在護理和核心產品組合方面表現強勁，而 EBA、NYC（聽不清）和 Kristin S. 等大眾品牌以及 Pure Allergy、Redken 和 Kenra 等專業品牌繼續引起客人的共鳴.

Within the category, strong hair product growth was offset by softer performance in hair tools as we lapped strong performance last year.

在該類別中，美髮產品的強勁增長被美髮工具的疲軟表現所抵消，因為我們去年表現強勁。

Finally, our largest category, makeup, delivered double-digit comp growth, driven by newness and the strength of our key events, including 21 Days of Beauty and Fall Haul. Growth in foundation, concealers, blush and lip continue to lead the category. New brands like (inaudible), R.E.M. Beauty and [Numero OneChannel] drove sales during the quarter, while new products from a wide range of brands, including Clinique, e.l.f. and NYX also contributed to growth. In addition, the expansion of MAC, Chanel Beaute and Bobby Brown into more stores has continued to drive prestige sales.

最後，我們最大的品類化妝品實現了兩位數的收入增長，這得益於我們主要活動的新鮮感和實力，包括 21 天的美容和秋季活動。粉底、遮瑕膏、腮紅和唇膏的增長繼續引領該類別。新品牌，如（聽不清）、R.E.M.美容和 [Numero OneChannel] 推動了本季度的銷售，而來自眾多品牌的新產品，包括 Clinique、e.l.f. NYX 也為增長做出了貢獻。此外，MAC、Chanel Beaute 和 Bobby Brown 進駐更多門店繼續推動高端品牌的銷售。

Now let me give you an update on our key cross-category platforms. Conscious Beauty, Black-Owned and by pack brands and wellness. With 290 certified brands, Conscious Beauty continues to resonate strongly with beauty enthusiasts, reflecting growing interest in products that are good for the world. This quarter, we certified 15 new brands, including 8 cosmetics, Morphe and Dime Beauty, and introduced the Conscious Beauty essentials kit, featuring minis for more than 15 brands, such as Dermalogica, Koula and our own Ulta Beauty Collection.

現在讓我向您介紹一下我們主要的跨品類平台的最新情況。 Conscious Beauty、Black-Owned 以及包裝品牌和健康。 Conscious Beauty 擁有 290 個認證品牌，繼續引起美容愛好者的強烈共鳴，反映出人們對有益於世界的產品的興趣日益濃厚。本季度，我們認證了 15 個新品牌，包括 8 個化妝品、Morphe 和 Dime Beauty，並推出了 Conscious Beauty 必備套裝，其中包含超過 15 個品牌的迷你套裝，例如 Dermalogica、Koula 和我們自己的 Ulta Beauty 系列。

During the quarter, we expanded our buy pack brand assortment with 4 new buy pack brands: Pebble, Bread Beauty Supply, Sugar Dough and Undefined Beauty. As another way we look to create foundational industry change, we proudly launched our MUSE Accelerator program to support early-stage buy pack brands as they prepare for retail readiness. Our inaugural class included 8 buy pack founders, with innovative brands across skin care, makeup, fragrance, haircare and wellness.

在本季度，我們通過 4 個新的購買包品牌擴大了購買包品牌的種類：Pebble、Bread Beauty Supply、Sugar Dough 和 Undefined Beauty。作為我們尋求創造基礎性行業變革的另一種方式，我們自豪地推出了 MUSE 加速器計劃，以支持處於零售準備階段的早期購買包裝品牌。我們的首屆課程包括 8 位 buy pack 創始人，他們的創新品牌涵蓋護膚、彩妝、香水、護髮和健康領域。

In addition to financial support, each MUSE Accelerator participant took part in an intensive 10-week training program, learning from Ulta Beauty leaders, industry subject matter experts and leading buy pack brand owners. We are honored and excited to be a part of their journey as they build their business and expand their reach.

除了經濟支持外，每位 MUSE 加速器參與者還參加了為期 10 週的強化培訓計劃，向 Ulta Beauty 領導者、行業主題專家和領先的購買包品牌所有者學習。在他們建立業務和擴大業務範圍的過程中，我們很榮幸也很高興能成為他們旅程的一部分。

Finally, we continue to increase our presence in wellness. During the quarter, we further enhanced our assortment to reflect our guest evolving needs. And in September, we expanded our offering to include intimate wellness as the sixth online-only pillar of the wellness shop.

最後，我們繼續增加我們在健康方面的影響力。在本季度，我們進一步增強了產品種類，以反映客人不斷變化的需求。 9 月，我們擴大了產品範圍，將私密健康作為健康商店的第六大在線支柱。

While wellness represents a small part of our overall business today, we believe it is a significant longer-term growth opportunity given the incrementality of the purchase and the strong emotional connection consumers have with self-care.

雖然健康只占我們今天整體業務的一小部分，但我們認為，鑑於購買的增量以及消費者與自我保健的強烈情感聯繫，這是一個重要的長期增長機會。

Turning now to our efforts to evolve the omnichannel experience through a connected physical and digital ecosystem, all in your world. Store traffic trends accelerated this quarter and exceeded pre-pandemic levels for the first time, representing an important milestone in our COVID recovery. In addition to strong sales growth from stores, we continue to deliver growth in e-commerce, further reinforcing the incrementality of this important channel. The convenience of BOPIS for e-commerce orders continues to resonate with guests. During the quarter, BOPIS increased 18% to 23% of e-commerce sales, compared to 20% last year. Our services business accelerated and delivered another quarter of double-digit comp growth, primarily due to higher stylist retention, increased stylist productivity and increased capacity in our salons as we lap capacity constraints due to the pandemic.

現在轉向我們的努力，通過一個連接的物理和數字生態系統，在您的世界中發展全渠道體驗。本季度商店客流量趨勢加速，並首次超過大流行前的水平，這是我們 COVID 恢復過程中的一個重要里程碑。除了商店的強勁銷售增長外，我們還繼續實現電子商務的增長，進一步加強這一重要渠道的增量。 BOPIS 對電子商務訂單的便利性繼續引起客人的共鳴。本季度，BOPIS 的電子商務銷售額增長了 18% 至 23%，而去年同期為 20%。我們的服務業務加速並實現了另外四分之一的兩位數增長，這主要是由於更高的造型師保留率、更高的造型師生產力以及我們沙龍的容量增加，因為我們因大流行而受到產能限制。

Our targeted CRM efforts to drive awareness, trial and frequency are working, delivering increases in salon appointments from both existing and new members. Additionally, our in-store back bar events continue to drive product attachment and new guest acquisition for participating brands.

我們有針對性的 CRM 努力提高了知名度、試用次數和頻率，正在發揮作用，增加了現有會員和新會員的沙龍預約。此外，我們的店內酒吧活動繼續推動參與品牌的產品依戀和新客獲取。

As industry leaders, we're always working to enhance guest experiences across all of our platforms. During the quarter, we introduced a new layout in about a dozen stores to showcase our categories better, improve navigation, enhance the services experience and create more opportunities for discovery. The most noticeable changes include the repositioning of skincare, an important growth category to the front of the store. All products grew by category with delineated fixtures and visuals and a flow from prestige to masstige to mass.

作為行業領導者，我們一直致力於提升我們所有平台的賓客體驗。本季度，我們在大約 12 家商店中引入了新佈局，以更好地展示我們的品類、改進導航、增強服務體驗並創造更多發現機會。最顯著的變化包括重新定位護膚品，這是商店前面的一個重要增長類別。所有產品都按類別增長，具有明確的固定裝置和視覺效果，以及從聲望到大眾再到大眾的流動。

Elevated gondolas that showcase key iconic and service brands, new beauty bars that offer our brow and makeup services, as well as supporting in-store events, dedicated space in the front of the store to feature brand and product launches across categories and a relocated checkout closer to the salon. We are excited to introduce this new store layout to guest. And as we've done in the past, we intend to introduce this new experience in new stores, remodels and relocations. At this time, we have no plans to retrofit existing stores.

展示主要標誌性和服務品牌的高架吊船，提供我們的眉毛和化妝服務以及支持店內活動的新美容吧，商店前面的專用空間用於展示跨類別的品牌和產品發布以及搬遷的收銀台靠近沙龍。我們很高興向客人介紹這種新的商店佈局。正如我們過去所做的那樣，我們打算在新店、改建和搬遷中引入這種新體驗。目前，我們沒有改造現有商店的計劃。

Stores are a critical part of our ecosystem. And while most Ulta Beauty's transactions occur in stores, we know the guest journey often begins online. To assist guests along their journey, we offer a suite of virtual digital tools, including GLAMlab, Skin Advisor and our hairstyle tool, among others.

商店是我們生態系統的重要組成部分。雖然 Ulta Beauty 的大部分交易都發生在實體店，但我們知道客人的旅程通常是從網上開始的。為了在旅途中為客人提供幫助，我們提供了一套虛擬數字工具，包括 GLAMlab、Skin Advisor 和我們的髮型工具等。

The latest addition is a fragrance finder designed to help guests explore fragrances by favorite brand or ingredient, launched just in time for the holiday season. Finally, we continue to be excited about the long-term opportunity with our strategic Target partnership. This touch point enables us to connect and reconnect with members. And while the partnership isn't material yet to our overall member growth, it has contributed positively. Importantly, we are seeing members bounce back to Ulta Beauty after becoming an active member while at the Ulta Beauty at Target shop.

最新增加的是一個香水搜索器，旨在幫助客人按最喜歡的品牌或成分探索香水，正好趕上假期。最後，我們繼續對與我們的戰略目標合作夥伴關係的長期機會感到興奮。這個接觸點使我們能夠與會員建立聯繫並重新建立聯繫。雖然合作夥伴關係對我們的整體會員增長還不是很重要，但它做出了積極貢獻。重要的是，我們看到會員在 Target 商店的 Ulta Beauty 成為活躍會員後又回到了 Ulta Beauty。

Now let me give you an update on some of the steps we're taking to drive love, loyalty and emotional connection with Ulta Beauty. Recognizing the beauty is personal. We are on a multiyear journey to create stronger, more emotional connections with our guests and bring our brand purpose to life. Launched in September, our latest brand building campaign Beauty And is rooted in insights from cultural leaders and beauty enthusiasts. The creative content on owned and paid channels has driven broad improvement in top-of-mind awareness and is resonating with our guests, particularly Black and Latin beauty enthusiasts.

現在讓我向您介紹我們正在採取的一些步驟，以推動與 Ulta Beauty 的愛、忠誠和情感聯繫。認識美是個人的。我們正在進行多年的旅程，以與我們的客人建立更牢固、更情感化的聯繫，並將我們的品牌目標付諸實踐。我們最新的品牌建設活動 Beauty And 於 9 月推出，植根於文化領袖和美容愛好者的見解。自有頻道和付費頻道上的創意內容推動了大眾認知度的廣泛提升，並引起了我們客人的共鳴，尤其是黑人和拉丁美妝愛好者。

Turning to our loyalty program. Our efforts to nurture loyalty in personalized ways is driving member growth and delivering incremental value. We ended the quarter with 39 million active members, 9% higher than the third quarter last year. Overall spend per member increased driven by increased frequency and higher average ticket. While price increases are having an impact, we are encouraged to see unit growth per member. Our loyalty program is a strategic asset and an important driver of our long-term growth. We prioritize member engagement, loyalty and retention across every Ulta Beauty touch point. The growth and strength of our loyalty program starts with ensuring that our existing guests stay engaged. Nurturing our existing members through our Member Love events and life cycle marketing strategies has enabled us to maintain healthy retention rates, which have contributed to member growth and higher spend per member.

轉向我們的忠誠度計劃。我們以個性化方式培養忠誠度的努力正在推動會員增長並提供增量價值。本季度末，我們擁有 3900 萬活躍會員，比去年第三季度增長 9%。增加的頻率和更高的平均票價推動了每位會員的總支出增加。雖然價格上漲正在產生影響，但我們很高興看到每個成員的單位增長。我們的忠誠度計劃是一項戰略資產，也是我們長期增長的重要驅動力。我們在 Ulta Beauty 的每個接觸點都優先考慮會員參與度、忠誠度和保留率。我們忠誠度計劃的發展和實力始於確保我們現有的客人保持參與。通過我們的會員關愛活動和生命週期營銷策略培養現有會員，使我們能夠保持健康的保留率，這有助於會員增長和更高的每位會員支出。

Member reactivation remains a priority, and we are leveraging CRM tools to personalize offers and reengage members in more targeted ways. And, of course, conversion of new members also contributes to overall member growth, and we continue to acquire new members in our stores, digital platforms and through our partnership with Target.

重新激活會員仍然是當務之急，我們正在利用 CRM 工具以更有針對性的方式提供個性化服務並重新吸引會員。當然，新會員的轉化也有助於會員的整體增長，我們將繼續在我們的商店、數字平台以及通過與 Target 的合作夥伴關係中獲得新會員。

Shifting now to our plans and expectations for holiday. The holiday season is in full flow, and our teams are executing well. While predicting holiday shopping patterns this year is challenging, I am optimistic about the opportunity for Ulta Beauty this holiday season. Our engaging holiday messaging, one-of-a-kind assortment, with exceptional seasonal options and diverse touch points, all paired with our team's unrelenting passion for delivering great guest experiences, position us well to deliver another successful holiday season.

現在轉向我們對假期的計劃和期望。假期如火如荼，我們的團隊表現良好。雖然預測今年的假日購物模式具有挑戰性，但我對 Ulta Beauty 這個假日季的機會持樂觀態度。我們引人入勝的節日信息、獨一無二的產品組合、獨特的季節性選擇和多樣化的接觸點，再加上我們團隊對提供卓越賓客體驗的不懈熱情，使我們能夠順利度過另一個成功的節日季。

Grounded and robust consumer insights, our holiday marketing strategy positions Ulta Beauty as the place for gifting, glamming and self-care this season. Our intent is to empower guests to celebrate the season however they want. And our integrated media plan for the holiday aims to build broad awareness of Ulta Beauty as a holiday destination, spark connection with key audiences, leverage our beauty expertise and drive consideration and purchase.

我們的假日營銷策略基於紮實而強大的消費者洞察力，將 Ulta Beauty 定位為本季送禮、迷人和自我護理的場所。我們的目的是讓客人能夠隨心所欲地慶祝這個季節。我們的假期綜合媒體計劃旨在建立 Ulta Beauty 作為度假勝地的廣泛知名度，激發與主要受眾的聯繫，利用我們的美容專業知識並推動考慮和購買。

Our merchandising team has built an outstanding holiday gifting assortment, whether guests want to get others or treat themselves, we have thoughtfully curated options across every category and budget, with a balanced approach to the mix of seasonal holiday items and core items that make great guests. We entered the holiday season with well-staffed stores in DCs, and our teams are excited, engaged and ready.

我們的營銷團隊打造了出色的節日禮物組合，無論客人是想送別人還是犒勞自己，我們都精心策劃了各種類別和預算的選擇，並以平衡的方式將季節性節日商品和核心商品組合在一起，讓客人感到賓至如歸.我們進入了假日季，配送中心的商店人員配備齊全，我們的團隊興奮、投入並準備就緒。

For the first time since 2019, our store teams gathered in person to review our holiday strategies. And I know their excitement and enthusiasm for our plans will be felt in every guest interaction. And our corporate and DC teams have worked cross-functionally to ensure Ulta Beauty is positioned to deliver for our store teams and our guests.

自 2019 年以來，我們的門店團隊首次齊聚一堂，回顧我們的假期策略。我知道他們對我們計劃的興奮和熱情將在每次與客人的互動中感受到。我們的公司和 DC 團隊進行了跨職能合作，以確保 Ulta Beauty 能夠為我們的商店團隊和客人提供服務。

In closing, I am incredibly proud of our year-to-date results, and I'm excited about our holiday plans. Even as consumers continue to navigate economic headwinds, we believe the beauty category will remain resilient, and we are confident that our differentiated model and growth strategy, combined with our outstanding associates, will continue to position Ulta Beauty as the preferred beauty destination.

最後，我對我們年初至今的業績感到無比自豪，我對我們的假期計劃感到興奮。即使消費者繼續應對經濟逆風，我們相信美容品類仍將保持彈性，我們相信我們的差異化模式和增長戰略，加上我們傑出的員工，將繼續將 Ulta Beauty 定位為首選的美容目的地。

And now I will turn the call over to Scott for a discussion of the financial results. Scott?

現在我將把電話轉給斯科特討論財務結果。斯科特？

Thanks, Dave, and good afternoon, everyone. Today, we reported results that were better than our initial expectations. Strong double-digit revenue growth resulted in record-setting third quarter operating margin performance. These excellent results reflect the continued focus and hard work of our store, DC and corporate teams. And I want to thank all of our Ulta Beauty associates for working together to deliver another outstanding quarter for our shareholders.

謝謝，戴夫，大家下午好。今天，我們報告的結果好於我們最初的預期。強勁的兩位數收入增長導致創紀錄的第三季度營業利潤率表現。這些出色的成績反映了我們商店、配送中心和企業團隊的持續關注和辛勤工作。我要感謝我們所有的 Ulta Beauty 員工共同努力，為我們的股東帶來了另一個出色的季度。

Now to the financial results, starting with the income statement. Net sales for the quarter increased 17.2%, driven by comp sales growth of 14.6% and strong new store performance. In addition, other revenue increased $20 million, primarily due to credit card income growth, higher loyalty point redemptions and an increase in royalty income from our partnership with Target.

現在是財務結果，從損益表開始。本季度淨銷售額增長 17.2%，受 14.6% 的複合銷售額增長和強勁的新店業績推動。此外，其他收入增加了 2000 萬美元，這主要是由於信用卡收入增長、更高的忠誠度積分兌換以及我們與 Target 的合作夥伴關係帶來的特許權使用費收入增加。

Breaking down the comp performance further. Comp transactions for the quarter increased 10.7%, primarily driven by strong growth from in-store transactions. Average ticket increased 3.5% due to an increase in average selling price, partially offset by slightly lower average units per transaction. The increase in average selling price primarily reflects the impact of retail price increases executed this year. We estimate that price increases contributed about 500 basis points to the overall comp increase. While average units per transaction was slightly lower than last year, the total number of units sold increased about 10% on a comp basis.

進一步分解比較性能。本季度比較交易增長 10.7%，主要受店內交易強勁增長的推動。由於平均售價上漲，平均票價上漲 3.5%，部分被每筆交易的平均單位數略有下降所抵消。平均售價的上漲主要反映了今年執行的零售價格上漲的影響。我們估計價格上漲對整體薪酬增長貢獻了約 500 個基點。雖然每筆交易的平均單位數略低於去年，但銷售單位總數同比增長約 10%。

During the quarter, we opened 18 new stores, relocated one store and remodeled 8 stores. For the quarter, gross margin increased 160 basis points to 41.2% of sales compared to 39.6% last year. The increase was primarily due to the leverage of store fixed costs, other revenue growth and higher merchandise margin, partially offset by higher inventory shrink. Robust top line growth and benefits from our ongoing occupancy cost optimization efforts resulted in healthy leverage of store fixed costs.

本季度，我們新開了 18 家門店，搬遷了 1 家門店，改造了 8 家門店。本季度，毛利率增長 160 個基點，佔銷售額的 41.2%，而去年同期為 39.6%。這一增長主要是由於商店固定成本的槓桿作用、其他收入增長和更高的商品利潤率，部分被更高的庫存縮減所抵消。強勁的收入增長和我們持續的入住成本優化工作帶來的好處導致商店固定成本的健康槓桿作用。

The improvement in merchandise margin was primarily due to benefits resulting from the timing of retail price changes, partially offset by brand mix. As we have discussed, we have executed a number of price increases from our brand partners this year. Generally, when the new price is effective at the shelf, we are still selling the inventory purchased at the lower cost. As a result, there's a short-term benefit to cost of goods as we move through the lower cost inventory.

商品利潤率的提高主要是由於零售價格變化的時機帶來的好處，部分被品牌組合所抵消。正如我們所討論的那樣，今年我們已經從我們的品牌合作夥伴那裡進行了多次提價。一般來說，當新價格上架時，我們仍在銷售以較低成本購買的庫存。因此，當我們通過較低成本的庫存時，商品成本會有短期的好處。

As expected, our promotional activity increased from the second quarter, but the impact to margin was not meaningful compared to last year. SG&A increased 18.6% to $597.2 million. As a percentage of sales, SG&A increased 30 basis points to 25.5% compared to 25.2% last year, primarily due to increases in store payroll and benefits and corporate overhead, partially offset by lower marketing expenses.

正如預期的那樣，我們的促銷活動從第二季度開始增加，但對利潤率的影響與去年相比並不顯著。 SG&A 增長 18.6% 至 5.972 億美元。與去年的 25.2% 相比，SG&A 佔銷售額的百分比增加了 30 個基點，達到 25.5%，這主要是由於商店工資和福利以及公司管理費用的增加，部分被較低的營銷費用所抵消。

Store payroll and benefits deleverage this quarter primarily due to increased labor hours to maintain service standards, higher average wage rates to support recruitment and retention and a timing shift of incentive compensation accruals.

本季度商店工資和福利去槓桿化主要是由於增加了工作時間以維持服務標準、更高的平均工資率以支持招聘和保留以及激勵性薪酬應計的時間轉移。

Corporate overhead expense deleveraged in the quarter, primarily reflecting investments related to our strategic priorities including Project SAR and other IT capabilities, UV Media and Ulta Beauty at Target. These headwinds were partially offset by lower marketing expense. As we have discussed on previous calls, this year, we are offsetting the incremental marketing expense of digital campaigns we manage for our brand partners, with vendor income that is a direct reimbursement for these specific costs within total marketing expense.

公司管理費用在本季度去槓桿化，主要反映了與我們的戰略重點相關的投資，包括 Project SAR 和其他 IT 能力、UV Media 和 Target 的 Ulta Beauty。這些不利因素部分被較低的營銷費用所抵消。正如我們在之前的電話會議上所討論的那樣，今年，我們正在抵消我們為品牌合作夥伴管理的數字活動的增量營銷費用，供應商收入是對總營銷費用中這些特定成本的直接報銷。

Similar to what we saw in the first half, this resulted in about 70 basis points of favorable impact to SG&A in the quarter. Operating income for the quarter increased 27.3% to $361.9 million. As a percentage of sales, operating margin increased 130 basis points to 15.5% of sales compared to 14.2% last year. Diluted GAAP earnings per share increased 35.5% to $5.34 per share, compared to $3.94 per share last year.

與我們在上半年看到的情況類似，這對本季度的 SG&A 產生了大約 70 個基點的有利影響。本季度營業收入增長 27.3% 至 3.619 億美元。作為銷售額的百分比，營業利潤率增加了 130 個基點，達到銷售額的 15.5%，而去年為 14.2%。稀釋後的 GAAP 每股收益增長 35.5% 至每股 5.34 美元，而去年同期為每股 3.94 美元。

Moving to the balance sheet and cash flow. Total inventory increased 10.3%. In addition to the impact of 41 additional stores, the increase reflects purchases to support key brand launches and increases in inventory costs, as well as ongoing efforts to maintain strong in-stock to support expected demand.

轉向資產負債表和現金流量。總庫存增加了 10.3%。除了新增 41 家門店的影響外，這一增長還反映了為支持主要品牌發布而進行的採購和庫存成本的增加，以及為支持預期需求而保持強勁庫存的持續努力。

Capital expenditures in the quarter were $83.5 million compared to $51.1 million last year. The increase was primarily related to investments in new remodeled and relocated stores, IT projects and merchandising improvements.

本季度的資本支出為 8350 萬美元，而去年同期為 5110 萬美元。這一增長主要與對新改造和搬遷的商店、IT 項目和商品陳列改進的投資有關。

Depreciation was $58.5 million compared to $65.2 million last year, primarily due to a shift of IT investments from capital to cloud expense. We ended the quarter with $250.6 million in cash and cash equivalents. During the quarter, we repurchased 340,000 shares at a cost of $137.5 million. At the end of the third quarter, we had $1.4 billion remaining under our current $2 billion repurchase authorization.

折舊為 5850 萬美元，而去年為 6520 萬美元，這主要是由於 IT 投資從資本支出轉向雲支出。我們在本季度末擁有 2.506 億美元的現金和現金等價物。本季度，我們以 1.375 億美元的成本回購了 340,000 股股票。截至第三季度末，我們目前的 20 億美元回購授權還剩 14 億美元。

Turning now to our outlook. We have raised our financial guidance for fiscal 2022 to reflect our strong third quarter performance and increased expectations for the fourth quarter. We now expect net sales for the year will be between $9.95 billion and $10 billion, with comp sales growth between 12.6% and 13.2%. This guidance reflects our expectation that fourth quarter comp growth will be between 6% and 8%, up from our previous expectation for low single-digit increase.

現在轉向我們的展望。我們提高了 2022 財年的財務指引，以反映我們強勁的第三季度業績和對第四季度的更高預期。我們現在預計今年的淨銷售額將在 99.5 億美元至 100 億美元之間，銷售額增長率在 12.6% 至 13.2% 之間。這一指引反映了我們對第四季度複合增長率將在 6% 至 8% 之間的預期，高於我們之前對低個位數增長的預期。

Sales growth moderated in November as we lapped last year's strong performance, but we are pleased with the sales trends we saw through the Thanksgiving holiday shopping weekend, including Cyber Monday. We still have several important weeks left in the holiday season, and the operating environment continues to be dynamic. Our Q4 comp outlook, reflects both the expected resilience of the beauty category as well as potential risks from shifts in consumer spending, increased points of distribution for prestige beauty and higher promotional activity.

由於我們超越了去年的強勁表現，11 月份的銷售增長放緩，但我們對感恩節假期購物週末（包括網絡星期一）的銷售趨勢感到滿意。假期還有幾個重要的星期，經營環境繼續充滿活力。我們的第四季度業績展望既反映了美容品類的預期彈性，也反映了消費者支出變化、高端美容產品分銷點增加和促銷活動增加帶來的潛在風險。

For the year, we plan to open approximately 47 net new stores and remodel or relocate 33 stores. Our new store performance continues to be strong. But like many other major retailers, we are seeing project delays resulting from external real estate and construction issues, as well as supply chain disruption for key equipment. These external factors have impacted our fiscal 2022 plans and will likely shift new stores originally planned for fiscal 2023 into 2024. We continue to expect to open about 100 stores over the next 2 years, but the timing of opening between fiscal 2023 and 2024 may shift as we navigate these external challenges.

今年，我們計劃淨開設約 47 家新店，並改造或搬遷 33 家店。我們的新店業績繼續強勁。但與許多其他主要零售商一樣，我們看到項目延誤是由外部房地產和建築問題以及關鍵設備的供應鏈中斷造成的。這些外部因素影響了我們 2022 財年的計劃，並可能將原計劃於 2023 財年開設的新店轉移到 2024 年。我們繼續預計在未來 2 年內開設約 100 家門店，但 2023 財年和 2024 財年之間的開業時間可能會發生變化當我們應對這些外部挑戰時。

The operating environment is fluid, and we will provide specific targets for fiscal 2023 when we report in March. We now expect operating margins for the year will be between 15.5% and 15.6% of sales. We expect gross margin for the year will increase with leverage of fixed costs and growth in other revenue, partially offset by lower merchandise margin, higher shrink and higher supply chain costs. We continue to expect SG&A expense for the year will increase between 15% and 16% or approximately flat as a percentage of sales, driven primarily by $60 million to $65 million of expenses related to our strategic priorities, as well as higher wage rate growth across the enterprise, partially offset by lower marketing expense. Reflecting these assumptions, we now expect diluted earnings per share for the year will be between $22.60 and $22.90.

運營環境多變，我們將在 3 月份報告時提供 2023 財年的具體目標。我們現在預計今年的營業利潤率將在銷售額的 15.5% 至 15.6% 之間。我們預計今年的毛利率將隨著固定成本的槓桿作用和其他收入的增長而增加，部分被較低的商品利潤率、較高的收縮率和較高的供應鏈成本所抵消。我們繼續預計今年的 SG&A 費用佔銷售額的百分比將增長 15% 至 16% 或大致持平，這主要是由於與我們的戰略重點相關的 6000 萬至 6500 萬美元的費用，以及更高的工資率增長企業，部分被較低的營銷費用所抵消。考慮到這些假設，我們現在預計今年攤薄後的每股收益將在 22.60 美元至 22.90 美元之間。

One final update. We now expect to spend between $300 million and $350 million in CapEx in fiscal 2022, including approximately $160 million for supply chain and IT, $140 million for new stores, remodels and merchandise fixtures, and about $30 million for store maintenance and other. We expect depreciation for the year will be around $250 million.

最後一次更新。我們現在預計 2022 財年的資本支出將在 3 億至 3.5 億美元之間，其中約 1.6 億美元用於供應鍊和 IT，1.4 億美元用於新店、改造和商品固定裝置，以及約 3000 萬美元用於店面維護和其他。我們預計今年的折舊約為 2.5 億美元。

While we are not providing guidance for next year on this call, we want to share some high-level thoughts for your consideration as you model fiscal 2023. The beauty category has been stronger this year than expected. Barring a major economic event, we would expect category growth to continue in 2023, albeit at lower rates, reflecting strong consumer engagement with the category, and we remain confident we can deliver comp sales growth in fiscal 2023 within our longer-term targeted range of 3% to 5%.

雖然我們不會在本次電話會議上提供明年的指導，但我們想分享一些高層次的想法，供您在模擬 2023 財年時考慮。今年美容類別的表現強於預期。除非發生重大經濟事件，否則我們預計品類增長將在 2023 年繼續，儘管增長率較低，這反映出消費者對該品類的強烈參與，我們仍然有信心在我們的長期目標範圍內實現 2023 財年的同類產品銷售增長3% 到 5%。

In this sales scenario, we would expect operating margin deleverage versus our fiscal 2022 guidance. In addition to inflationary pressures on wage rates and other operational expenses, we expect to increase investment spending related to our strategic priorities, reflecting timing shifts from fiscal 2022 and the planned ramp-up of key IT and supply chain investments.

在這種銷售情況下，我們預計營業利潤率將低於我們的 2022 財年指引。除了工資率和其他運營費用的通脹壓力外，我們預計將增加與我們的戰略重點相關的投資支出，以反映從 2022 財年開始的時間轉移以及計劃增加關鍵 IT 和供應鏈投資。

Finally, fiscal 2023 will be a 53-week year for Ulta Beauty. We are still finalizing our budget for fiscal 2023 and plan to provide specific financial guidance, and update our longer-term growth targets, if appropriate, on our March earnings call.

最後，2023 財年對 Ulta Beauty 來說將是 53 週的一年。我們仍在敲定 2023 財年的預算，併計劃提供具體的財務指導，並在適當的情況下在我們 3 月份的財報電話會議上更新我們的長期增長目標。

And now I'll turn the call back over to our operator to moderate the Q&A session.

現在我將把電話轉回給我們的接線員來主持問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from the line of Steven Forbes with Guggenheim Securities.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自古根海姆證券公司的史蒂文福布斯。

Dave, Scott, I wanted to focus and start with member engagement. But Dave, curious if you can expand on how member engagement trends within the recent member cohorts differ or I guess, are similar from the more mature cohorts in terms of retention, repeat behavior, the maturation of wallet share, channel preferences, really just any color that helps maybe underpin your conviction for a positive comp outlook next year?

戴夫、斯科特，我想集中精力並從成員參與開始。但是 Dave，很好奇你是否可以擴展最近的成員群體中的成員參與趨勢有何不同，或者我猜，在保留、重複行為、錢包份額的成熟度、渠道偏好等方面與更成熟的群體相似，真的只是任何可能有助於鞏固您對明年積極的 comp 前景的信念的顏色？

Great. Thanks, Steve. Yes, as I said in the remarks, our loyalty program, our membership, is vital and critical to our long-term success and one that we're extremely proud of what we've built the relationship that we have with our guests. Yes, I guess, a few things that I'd call out. Naturally, our longer tenured. You get -- if you're tenured 3-plus years, we see kind of a higher level of retention, higher level of engagement that tends to grow over time. Greater percentage of our guests, the longer they're here, move into our higher levels platinum and diamond levels. So naturally, with that tenure comes greater engagement.

偉大的。謝謝，史蒂夫。是的，正如我在評論中所說，我們的忠誠度計劃，我們的會員資格，對我們的長期成功至關重要，我們為與客人建立的關係感到非常自豪。是的，我想，我會說一些事情。當然，我們的任期更長。你會得到 - 如果你的任期超過 3 年，我們會看到更高水平的保留，更高水平的參與度會隨著時間的推移而增長。我們的客人比例越大，他們在這裡的時間越長，進入我們更高級別的鉑金和鑽石級別。很自然地，隨著任期的增加，參與度會更高。

And as I mentioned, one of the drivers of our third quarter growth, 9% growth in our total membership was healthy retention and it's been a big focus for our entire team. Our loyalty team, our store teams, our digital, everybody that participates into delivering a great experience. So that's key and really job 1 is engaging and retaining our existing guests.

正如我提到的，我們第三季度增長的驅動力之一，我們的會員總數增長 9% 是健康的保留率，這一直是我們整個團隊的重點。我們的忠誠度團隊、我們的商店團隊、我們的數字化團隊，以及參與提供卓越體驗的每個人。所以這是關鍵，真正的工作 1 是吸引和留住我們現有的客人。

Our newer members that we acquire in stores, online and increasingly with our partnership with Target, play an important role. Their spend per member makes sense. It's on average lower, and we work hard to get them into the full Ulta Beauty experience. Often they enter into one category or one experience. They might come in store, we try to move them online. They might come in to makeup, we try to move them into skincare, get them into services. We have a full suite of activities and experiences designed to engage our new members through -- and including their what we call their sophomore year, their second year with us, which is important pivot year into long-term retention.

我們在商店、網上以及越來越多地通過與 Target 的合作獲得的新成員發揮著重要作用。他們的人均支出是有道理的。它平均較低，我們努力讓他們獲得完整的 Ulta Beauty 體驗。他們通常會進入一個類別或一種體驗。它們可能會進店，我們會嘗試將它們轉移到網上。他們可能會來化妝，我們試圖將他們轉移到護膚品領域，讓他們進入服務領域。我們有一套完整的活動和經驗，旨在讓我們的新成員參與 - 包括他們所謂的大二年，他們在我們這裡的第二年，這是長期保留的重要關鍵年。

So we look across all spectrum, what we're excited about now and encouraged by is we're seeing strength across all sectors, all income demographics, all geographies. We have a healthy member base. That's what's driving the 9% growth in our (inaudible) of course, that, in turn, played a big role in the sales performance we had in the third quarter.

因此，我們縱觀所有領域，我們現在感到興奮和鼓舞的是，我們看到了所有行業、所有收入人口統計數據和所有地區的實力。我們擁有健康的會員基礎。這當然是推動我們（聽不清）增長 9% 的原因，這反過來又對我們第三季度的銷售業績發揮了重要作用。

And our next question comes from the line of Ike Boruchow with Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自 Ike Boruchow 與 Wells Fargo 的對話。

Congrats. Great quarter. I guess, Scott, I was going to focus on the margins with you. Merch margin is better in 3Q. It sounds like you're off to a good start on the promotional side in 4Q as well. You're going to end the year -- I mean, it's a good problem to have. You're going to end the year closer to 16% margins. Your long-term target is 13% to 14%.

恭喜。偉大的季度。我想，斯科特，我打算和你一起關注利潤率。第三季度的商品利潤率更好。聽起來您在第四季度的促銷方面也有了一個良好的開端。你將在今年結束——我的意思是，這是一個很好的問題。你將在年底接近 16% 的利潤率。你的長期目標是 13% 到 14%。

I guess, just with merch margins as elevated as they are and as healthy as they are, are you guys starting to think more longer term about the AUR dynamics in the business and maybe that this elevated level of merch margin that you're at might be more sustainable than maybe what you had originally thought and maybe that 13% to 14% actually can move a bit higher? I mean it more is a high-level question, not necessarily 2023, but that's kind of where I was coming from.

我想，隨著商品利潤率的提高和健康狀況的提高，你們是否開始更長遠地考慮業務中的 AUR 動態，也許您所處的商品利潤率水平可能會提高比你最初想像的更可持續，也許 13% 到 14% 實際上可以移動得更高一點？我的意思是它更多是一個高級問題，不一定是 2023 年，但這就是我的出發點。

Yes. Thanks, Ike. I think probably gets to a larger picture versus the AUR piece of your question there. So let me start it, because I know this is at the top of the list for all investors right now as we're thinking about next year. So let me start by saying we are very proud of what the Ulta Beauty team has been able to deliver over the last several years with respect to our operating margin profile overall.

是的。謝謝，艾克。我認為與你的問題的 AUR 部分相比，可能會得到一個更大的圖景。所以讓我開始吧，因為我知道在我們考慮明年的時候，這是所有投資者目前最關心的問題。因此，讓我首先說，我們對 Ulta Beauty 團隊在過去幾年中就我們的整體營業利潤率狀況所取得的成就感到非常自豪。

We continue to lead the beauty category, capture market share gains and deliver some of the strongest operating margins in all of retail, while also absorbing significant cost pressures, driven by an e-commerce business that we doubled the size of since 2019, along with wage pressures, supply chain disruptions, fuel costs and other inflationary pressures across the business. And also continuing to make significant investments to innovate and build a healthy and vibrant business for the long term.

我們繼續引領美容品類，獲得市場份額增長，並在所有零售業中實現最強勁的營業利潤率，同時也承受巨大的成本壓力，這主要得益於我們自 2019 年以來規模翻了一番的電子商務業務，以及工資壓力、供應鏈中斷、燃料成本和整個企業的其他通脹壓力。並且還將繼續進行重大投資以進行創新並建立長期健康和充滿活力的業務。

Having said that, we've been very transparent with investors all year when discussing the continued beauty rebound in 2022, and that sales trends have been much stronger than what we expected back in the fall of 2021 when we provided our long-term financial outlook. And that sales performance is driving stronger-than-expected operating margins, driven primarily by fixed cost leverage, price increase benefits and gross margin that are extraordinary this year and more moderate promotion levels and that the sales increases have been outpacing the inflationary cost pressures that we've seen in our business.

話雖如此，我們在討論 2022 年美容行業持續反彈時一整年都對投資者非常透明，並且銷售趨勢比我們在 2021 年秋季提供長期財務展望時的預期要強勁得多.銷售業績推動營業利潤率強於預期，這主要是受今年非同尋常的固定成本槓桿、價格上漲收益和毛利率以及更溫和的促銷水平的推動，而且銷售增長一直超過通脹成本壓力我們已經在我們的業務中看到了。

So again, big picture, let me just lay out a couple of the bigger variables here as we're thinking about modeling for next year. So again, back to what we referenced in the script, we do expect we can grow sales next year in line with our longer-term 3% to 5% comp target.

所以，再一次，大局，讓我在這裡列出幾個更大的變量，因為我們正在考慮明年的建模。因此，再次回到我們在腳本中引用的內容，我們確實希望明年的銷售額能夠與我們 3% 至 5% 的長期目標相符。

So on the top line, merchants have done an outstanding job. We feel good about the queue for newness next year. We've got some great things lined up. But we're going to be lapping over some extraordinary newness this year, right, with these leading brands in each of our key categories, Fenty and makeup, Drunk Elephant, skincare and OLAPLEX in haircare, all right?

因此，在最重要的方面，商家做得非常出色。我們對明年的新品隊列感到滿意。我們已經安排了一些很棒的事情。但今年我們將迎來一些非凡的新鮮事物，對吧，在我們的每個關鍵類別中都有這些領先品牌，Fenty 和化妝品、Drunk Elephant、護膚品和護髮品 OLAPLEX，好嗎？

Price increase is another major lever. So we're kind of in uncharted territory right now, right? The percentage of our assortment where we've seen increases and the depth of those increases is something we've never experienced in all the years here at Ulta Beauty. So we're going to be cycling over some of that next year, and it's kind of yet to be seen how the consumer is going to react to that over the longer period of time.

價格上漲是另一個主要槓桿。所以我們現在有點處於未知領域，對吧？我們看到產品種類的百分比和增加的深度是我們多年來在 Ulta Beauty 從未經歷過的。因此，我們將在明年循環其中的一些內容，而消費者在較長時間內將如何對此做出反應還有待觀察。

So elasticity and resilient, while it's been resilient so far, there's a question of how far we're able to push this without seeing some kind of impact.

所以彈性和彈性，雖然到目前為止它一直具有彈性，但問題是我們能夠在沒有看到某種影響的情況下將其推進多遠。

Lastly, on the top line, I'd say we're going to lean into our very powerful loyalty program, the benefits of our credit card. And of course, we're going to look to continue to see benefit from our Ulta Beauty at Target relationship next year.

最後，最重要的是，我想說我們將依靠我們非常強大的忠誠度計劃，即信用卡的好處。當然，明年我們將繼續從我們的 Ulta Beauty at Target 關係中獲益。

Thinking about the rest of the P&L then, on the gross margin piece of it, promotion levels, we think, will likely be higher next year than they have been the last couple of years. Channel mix then kind of a benefit this year because stores, the big bounce back and traffic we've seen in stores has helped, right, some of the margin headwinds that we see from our digital business. Pricing benefits, we, again, this gross margin benefit from the timing between price versus the inventory change -- it contributed meaningful benefits this year. And again, some of that will recur next year, but the question is to what significance?

然後考慮其餘的損益表，在毛利率方面，我們認為明年的促銷水平可能會比過去幾年更高。今年的渠道組合有點好處，因為商店、我們在商店看到的大幅反彈和客流量幫助了我們從數字業務中看到的一些利潤逆風。定價收益，我們再次從價格與庫存變化之間的時間點中獲益——它在今年貢獻了有意義的收益。同樣，其中一些將在明年再次出現，但問題是有什麼意義？

Wage pressure will continue. Fuel will probably moderate, right? We've seen that here more recently. Supply chain investments will ramp up next year. And of course, UB Media will accelerate, will step up there. So ramp-up will contribute on the margin line, gross margin line.

薪資壓力將持續。燃料可能會適度，對吧？我們最近在這裡看到了這一點。明年供應鏈投資將增加。當然，UB Media 會加速，會加快步伐。因此，增產將對利潤線、毛利率線做出貢獻。

In SG&A, we got store payroll upward pressure on wages, which we expect to continue, maybe not to the same rate we've seen here this year, but certainly will continue upward. Variable cost, inflationary pressures, again, credit card fees, I mean, we're seeing it in every part of our business right now. We've been able to mitigate a lot of that. And super high sales increases help camouflage that a bit as well.

在 SG&A 方面，我們的商店工資單對工資構成了上行壓力，我們預計這種情況將繼續下去，也許不會達到我們今年在這裡看到的相同速度，但肯定會繼續上行。可變成本、通貨膨脹壓力，再次，信用卡費用，我的意思是，我們現在在我們業務的每個部分都看到它。我們已經能夠減輕很多。超高的銷售額增長也有助於掩飾這一點。

And then, of course, our strategic investments, as we mentioned in the script, we plan to ramp those up, and that's coming in 2023. So other digital investments UB Media and UBN and target as well.

然後，當然，我們的戰略投資，正如我們在腳本中提到的那樣，我們計劃在 2023 年增加這些投資。因此，其他數字投資 UB Media 和 UBN 也是目標。

So we've got mitigating strategies in place, right? You've heard us talk about some of these over the years, and we've demonstrated the company we are able to deliver, we've delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in benefits from our EFG efforts, and we've got plenty of margin enhancement and cost optimization opportunities in front of us, and we're building out new continuous improvement capabilities, which, again, you've heard us talk about are building for the long-term cost optimization of the business.

所以我們已經制定了緩解策略，對吧？多年來您已經聽過我們談論其中的一些，我們已經證明了我們能夠提供的公司，我們已經從我們的 EFG 努力中提供了數億美元的收益，並且我們有很多我們面前的利潤率提高和成本優化機會，我們正在建立新的持續改進能力，你已經聽到我們談論的是為業務的長期成本優化而建立的能力。

So I'll close it up by saying, even in what we see as a more uncertain environment, being with us here into next year, we are well positioned. We've got a strong business model. We are in a great category that's growing and we've got a very -- a business that delivers very healthy margins. And we expect to be able to grow the top line next year even off extraordinary performance in 2021 and '22. So we feel good about where we are.

所以我要結束它說，即使在我們認為更加不確定的環境中，與我們一起進入明年，我們也處於有利地位。我們有一個強大的商業模式。我們處於一個不斷增長的偉大類別中，我們有一個非常 - 一個提供非常健康利潤率的業務。我們預計，即使在 2021 年和 22 年的出色表現下，明年也能實現收入增長。所以我們對自己的處境感覺良好。

And our next question comes from the line of Lorraine Hutchinson with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Lorraine Hutchinson。

Your sales guidance continues to include pressure from increased points of distribution for prestige. Can you talk about what you're seeing in the fleet when one of these new stores open and how meaningful it is?

您的銷售指南繼續包括來自增加分銷點聲望的壓力。當這些新店之一開業時，您能談談您在車隊中看到的情況以及它的意義嗎？

Yes. We're certainly watching, monitoring, tracking all competitive activity across the landscape. And as I've said before, our focus continues to really be on offense for us to really leverage what we do best, the unique differentiated model we have. Nobody does what Ulta Beauty does. So our competitive strategy is to lead and to drive our business forward. Having said that, we are watching, there are changes. When stores, competitive stores open, depending on the circumstances of the situation, we can see a relatively minor impact. Typically, over time, our business sustains and recovers any short-term impact. So we're confident.

是的。我們當然在觀察、監控、跟踪整個領域的所有競爭活動。正如我之前所說，我們的重點仍然是進攻，讓我們真正利用我們最擅長的，我們擁有的獨特差異化模式。沒有人做 Ulta Beauty 做的事。因此，我們的競爭戰略是引領和推動我們的業務向前發展。話雖如此，我們正在觀察，有變化。什麼時候開店，競爭店開，看具體情況，可以看到比較小的影響。通常，隨著時間的推移，我們的業務會維持並恢復任何短期影響。所以我們很有信心。

And again, our focus is on delivering what our experience is. What we found over time is doing that allows us to continue to find growth and deliver an experience that our guest continues to want to find at Ulta Beauty.

同樣，我們的重點是提供我們的體驗。隨著時間的推移，我們發現所做的事情使我們能夠繼續尋找增長並提供我們的客人繼續希望在 Ulta Beauty 找到的體驗。

And our next question comes from the line of Ashley Helgans with Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Ashley Helgans。

Congrats on the quarter. So we just wanted to ask about the promotional landscape that you've seen heading into holiday. And if you feel discounting at other retailers has been as heavy as initially expected?

祝賀這個季度。所以我們只想問一下您在假期前看到的促銷情況。如果您覺得其他零售商的折扣力度與最初預期的一樣大？

Yes. I guess, we'd say for holiday, a little early to know exactly. I mean, we're right in the middle of the battle here, I guess, with our biggest, biggest weeks of the holiday period still ahead of us. And we know we've been -- I think we shared this at our last call and really any time we're talking about holiday. Holiday is a more promotional period. The November, December period is different than the other 10 months of the year because the gifting aspects, the idea that we're not just competing with beauty. We're competing with other gift categories across retail.

是的。我想，我們會說是為了假期，確切地知道有點早。我的意思是，我想我們正處於這場戰鬥的中間，假期期間最重要、最重要的幾週還在前面。我們知道我們已經——我想我們在上次電話會議上以及我們談論假期的任何時候都分享了這一點。節假日是比較促銷的時期。 11 月、12 月與一年中的其他 10 個月不同，因為在禮物方面，我們不僅僅是在與美麗競爭。我們正在與零售業中的其他禮品類別競爭。

The landscape, it's hard for us to judge midstream exactly. What we've been delivering is an aggressive promotional, but not wildly different than what we've done in the past. So we've seen consistency there. So far, we're really encouraged by what we're seeing, feeling like Ulta Beauty is well positioned and competing effectively, but we're also monitoring, tracking and ensuring that we close out this next, I guess, 24, 25 days with excellence as we complete the holiday, and that's our focus going forward.

風景，我們很難準確判斷中流。我們一直在進行的是積極的促銷活動，但與我們過去所做的並沒有太大的不同。所以我們在那裡看到了一致性。到目前為止，我們對所看到的情況感到非常鼓舞，感覺 Ulta Beauty 處於有利地位並且有效競爭，但我們也在監控、跟踪並確保我們在接下來的 24、25 天內完成這項工作在我們完成假期時表現出色，這是我們未來的重點。

Our next question comes from the line of Mike Baker with D.A. Davidson.

我們的下一個問題來自 Mike Baker 和 D.A.戴維森。

I just wanted to ask a little bit about cadence, the month throughout the third quarter. And then November, you said it slowed. I guess, I'm just wondering, within your 6% to 8% guidance for the fourth quarter, we know the comparisons get easier in December relative to November. Is that contemplated within the guidance? Or maybe another way to ask it is, is November slow? Did it slow below 6% to 8% and you need to pick up to get there? Or is it within that range?

我只是想問一下節奏，整個第三季度的月份。然後是 11 月，你說它放緩了。我想，我只是想知道，在你對第四季度 6% 到 8% 的指導範圍內，我們知道 12 月的比較相對於 11 月變得更容易。指南中是否考慮到了這一點？或者另一種問法是，11 月慢嗎？它是否低於 6% 至 8%，您需要加快速度才能到達那裡？還是在那個範圍內？

Well, what I will say is, first on the third quarter, we saw a strong growth throughout the quarter, although October was modestly -- decelerated modestly, but still double-digit growth in each period of the quarter. As is suggested in our 6% to 8% guidance for the fourth quarter, we're anticipating deceleration from what we saw in the third quarter and really throughout the year. And we've been kind of anticipating this all year as we -- our comps are strong.

好吧，我要說的是，首先在第三季度，我們看到整個季度都有強勁的增長，儘管 10 月份是適度的——適度減速，但在本季度的每個時期仍然有兩位數的增長。正如我們在第四季度 6% 至 8% 的指導中所建議的那樣，我們預計我們在第三季度乃至全年看到的情況都會減速。我們一整年都在期待這一點，因為我們的公司很強大。

And again, we're in a different type of period in holiday. We're not going to get into specific week-by-week replay yet. We'll, as I said, we're right in the middle of it. We've got big weeks ahead of us. We'll obviously share -- when we share our fourth quarter results, all the details. But what I will say is, again, reflected in the [6 to 8] is an anticipated healthy growth, but not to the level of what we saw in the third quarter, and we're encouraged by what we're seeing so far in the holiday period, knowing that there's a lot of ground still to cover as we complete holiday. And January is a big important period for us as well. So still a lot ahead of us, but encouraged by what we're seeing so far.

再一次，我們處於不同類型的假期。我們不打算進入具體的每週重播。正如我所說，我們正身處其中。我們前面還有重要的幾週。當我們分享第四季度業績時，我們顯然會分享所有細節。但我要說的是，再次反映在 [6 到 8] 中的是預期的健康增長，但沒有達到我們在第三季度看到的水平，我們對目前所看到的情況感到鼓舞在假期期間，知道假期結束後還有很多事情要做。一月對我們來說也是一個重要的時期。所以我們仍然遙遙領先，但我們對目前所看到的感到鼓舞。

And our next question comes from the line of Adrienne Yih with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Adrienne Yih。

Great. Scott, I was wondering if you can talk about -- you had mentioned sort of the vendor contribution that was offsetting some of the lower marketing spend. So does that mean that they want to present their brands more aggressively, and therefore, are taking more space either on the 21 days of beauty, or if we purchase that type of thing.

偉大的。斯科特，我想知道你是否可以談談——你提到過供應商的貢獻抵消了一些較低的營銷支出。那麼這是否意味著他們想更積極地展示自己的品牌，因此，在 21 天的美容或我們購買那種東西時佔用更多空間。

And then I also wanted to know, Dave, at the beginning of the pandemic, you pulled out of the international Canada opening. Now that the domestic business seems to be on pretty good footing, how are you thinking about kind of reentry into that market?

然後我還想知道，戴夫，在大流行開始時，你退出了加拿大國際開幕式。既然國內業務似乎站穩了腳跟，您如何考慮重新進入該市場？

Yes. So I'll start. So the first part of your question, yes, it's an accounting recognition of how the debits and credits flow through the P&L, Adrienne. So there's really nothing related to the vendor choices or how we work or execute any of those kinds of things. It's just accounting convention. -- matching up expense with income when it's incremental expenses related to these marketing activities and then the rest of it kind of rolls through the gross margin through our inventory accounting.

是的。所以我會開始。所以你的問題的第一部分，是的，這是對借方和貸方如何通過損益表流動的會計確認，Adrienne。因此，與供應商選擇或我們如何工作或執行任何此類事情實際上沒有任何關係。這只是會計慣例。 - 當與這些營銷活動相關的增量費用時，將費用與收入相匹配，然後其餘部分通過我們的存貨會計計算毛利率。

And on your question about Canada and international, as you stated, we obviously stopped that early in the pandemic. Right now, we have no plans, consistent with what we shared at our Analyst Day. No plans to expand internationally at this time, although we are always looking for opportunities to find new growth potential. And so in our future at some point, that's possible, but nothing in our immediate plans for sure.

關於你關於加拿大和國際的問題，正如你所說，我們顯然在大流行早期就停止了。目前，我們沒有任何計劃，這與我們在分析師日分享的內容一致。雖然我們一直在尋找機會尋找新的增長潛力，但目前沒有在國際上擴張的計劃。所以在我們未來的某個時候，這是可能的，但在我們的近期計劃中沒有任何確定。

Our next question comes from the line of Korinne Wolfmeyer with Piper Sandler.

我們的下一個問題來自 Korinne Wolfmeyer 和 Piper Sandler 的對話。

So I'd like to expand a little bit on what you're seeing within the specific product categories. I mean, you did know pretty strong growth for all categories. But as we head into the early parts here of Q4 and the holiday season, can you talk about kind of specific trends you're seeing for cosmetics, skincare, fragrance? What categories are maybe requiring a little bit heavier promotional activity for holiday? Just any color you can provide there would be helpful.

所以我想稍微擴展一下您在特定產品類別中看到的內容。我的意思是，你確實知道所有類別的增長都非常強勁。但是當我們進入第 4 季度和假期的早期階段時，您能談談您看到的化妝品、護膚品和香水的具體趨勢嗎？哪些品類可能需要在假期進行更重的促銷活動？您可以提供的任何顏色都會有所幫助。

Well, I'll start with (inaudible) we're really encouraged by what we saw in the third quarter. And really, we've seen this trend for the first 3 quarters, a strong growth across all categories, which is obviously a great place to be. The strength we're seeing in our business is not outweighted by one specific category. It's balanced across our portfolio. And it's because we've -- our team across both merchandising, marketing, our stores have done a great job engaging our guests in our entire assortment.

好吧，我將從（聽不清）開始，我們對第三季度看到的情況感到非常鼓舞。事實上，我們在前 3 個季度看到了這種趨勢，所有類別都實現了強勁增長，這顯然是一個很好的地方。我們在業務中看到的優勢並沒有被某一特定類別所抵消。它在我們的投資組合中是平衡的。這是因為我們——我們的團隊在銷售、營銷和商店方面做得很好，讓我們的客人參與了我們的整個產品系列。

And so we're excited and encouraged to see strength -- across double-digit growth across all key categories. Each one has unique stories, make up driven by this increased engagement in social activities, plus strong product trends that are highlighted through social media and new product growth that a spectrum of newness that's really working. So a collection of activity that's coming together, both product newness, marketing newness and engagement opportunities. Skincare, continued strength by both science-backed, clinically proven dermatologists recommended solutions. So that engagement that many people elevated through the pandemic has sustained.

因此，我們很高興和鼓勵看到實力——所有關鍵類別的兩位數增長。每個人都有獨特的故事，這些故事是由社交活動參與度的增加所驅動的，加上通過社交媒體和新產品增長突出的強大產品趨勢，這些新產品確實有效。因此，一系列活動匯集在一起，包括產品新穎性、營銷新穎性和參與機會。護膚品，由科學支持、臨床證明的皮膚科醫生推薦的解決方案持續加強。因此，許多人在大流行期間提升的參與度得以持續。

It's actually our fastest-growing category in the third quarter. Haircare, you know we've been driving that growth as a leader in haircare and strong trends, a healthy portfolio of newness that continues to drive great engagement. And then really all year, pleased with fragrance and bath.

它實際上是我們第三季度增長最快的類別。護髮，你知道我們作為護髮領域的領導者和強大的趨勢一直在推動增長，健康的新產品組合繼續推動巨大的參與。然後真的一整年都對香味和沐浴感到滿意。

As I look and the innovation and engagement, I mentioned Gen Z being a part of that, and really the whole portfolio working quite well across that important category. As we look in the fourth quarter, again, not getting in, we won't get into any specifics right now. We're in the middle of holiday. And so there's a lot to cover. I wouldn't say there's anything jumping out uniquely for any category from a promotional standpoint. And we come in really with a focus in the fourth quarter of what we call gifting and glamming. And the gifting component is a mix of holiday-specific, but core items that serve all year long, and the team has done a nice job with a balance there.

在我看來以及創新和參與度方面，我提到 Z 世代是其中的一部分，而且實際上整個產品組合在這個重要類別中運作良好。當我們再次回顧第四季度時，沒有進入，我們現在不會討論任何細節。我們正值假期。所以有很多內容要涵蓋。從促銷的角度來看，我不會說任何類別都有什麼獨特之處。我們真正關注的是第四季度我們所說的天賦和魅力。禮物部分是節日特定的組合，但全年提供的核心項目，團隊在這方面做得很好，平衡了這一點。

So we feel great about our assortment. It's -- again, we're encouraged by what we're seeing at this point in the holiday and confident that we'll be able to deliver a strong holiday across all of our categories.

所以我們對我們的分類感覺很好。這是 - 再次，我們對我們在假期中看到的情況感到鼓舞，並相信我們將能夠在我們所有類別中提供一個強大的假期。

And our next question comes from the line of Olivia Tong with Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題來自 Olivia Tong 和 Raymond James 的台詞。

I have 2 questions. First one on newness. Because you had a few brands that really anchored newness, and I would imagine contributed towards the upper end of your average ranges this year, so could you talk about your view on innovation, the level of innovation as you think about the next 12 months versus the prior 12?

我有兩個問題。第一個關於新穎性。因為你有幾個真正錨定新意的品牌，我想今年對你平均範圍的上限做出了貢獻，所以你能談談你對創新的看法，你認為未來 12 個月的創新水平與前 12？

And then you also mentioned in your prepared comments that mass is outperforming for stage, but in your view, wasn't definitively trade down. So could we dig into that a little? Is there more newness in one versus the other? Or any other reason that you think that mass is starting to outperform prestige if it wasn't related to a stretched consumer.

然後你還在你準備好的評論中提到，大眾在舞台上表現優於舞台，但在你看來，並沒有明確地折衷。那麼我們可以深入研究一下嗎？一個比另一個有更多的新意嗎？或者任何其他你認為質量開始超越聲望的原因，如果它與緊張的消費者無關的話。

Yes. So just on the broader idea of newness, it's important to our business and the beauty category always. And as I mentioned in our remarks, typically 20% to 30% of sales are new items, and that's the range that we will land this year and anticipate we'll be able to continue to be in that range going forward. As I -- we did -- Scott mentioned, we had some really important new brands in 2022. But we're excited and encouraged by the outlook. This category, both big brands like some mentioned, but also new and emerging brands that take off and connect. I mentioned a couple of those like Good Molecules, among others.

是的。因此，就更廣泛的新穎性而言，它對我們的業務和美容類別始終很重要。正如我在評論中提到的那樣，通常 20% 到 30% 的銷售額是新產品，這是我們今年將達到的範圍，並預計我們將能夠繼續保持在該範圍內。正如我——我們所做的——斯科特提到，我們在 2022 年擁有一些非常重要的新品牌。但我們對前景感到興奮和鼓舞。這一類別，既有提到的一些大品牌，也有起飛和連接的新興品牌。我提到了其中的一些，例如 Good Molecules 等。

So we've got a portfolio of brands as we look forward into next year and confident about newness, both new brands and newness from our existing brands. That plays a big role. And as we work with all of them and see their pipeline, we're encouraged by what we're seeing. The trends are strong across each of the categories. And we're seeing healthy growth. And we think newness will play an important part in that going forward, knowing that we've got some of these big brands that Scott mentioned earlier to launch or to lap.

因此，我們擁有一系列品牌，展望明年並對新品牌和現有品牌的新品牌充滿信心。這起著很大的作用。當我們與他們所有人合作並看到他們的管道時，我們對所看到的感到鼓舞。每個類別的趨勢都很強勁。我們看到了健康的增長。我們認為新奇將在未來發揮重要作用，因為我們知道斯科特之前提到的一些大品牌即將推出或推出。

As it relates to the mass and prestige, we did see mass growing somewhat faster than prestige. But both sides were strong and healthy. So I wouldn't say the strength in mass or the somewhat higher growth in mass as we look at it and do -- and analyze our members didn't come at the expense of prestige. It's just a came because mass is strong and there's good newness brands like e.l.f., NYX, Ordinary, (inaudible) are strong, newness and engagement. And so they're just capturing and growing. But prestige is doing really well, too. So I don't look at them being a little bit higher than prestige as coming at the expense of just their -- several of these brands and some of our bigger brands are hitting the mark, and that's working.

由於它涉及到質量和聲望，我們確實看到質量的增長速度比聲望增長得更快。但雙方都強壯健康。因此，我不會說我們所看到和所做的質量強度或質量增長稍高——分析我們的成員並沒有以犧牲聲望為代價。這只是一個來了，因為大眾很強大，而且有很好的新品牌，如 e.l.f.、NYX、Ordinary，（聽不清）很強大、新穎和參與。所以他們只是在捕捉和成長。但聲望也做得很好。所以我不認為他們比聲望高一點，因為他們只是犧牲了他們 - 這些品牌中的幾個和我們的一些更大的品牌正在達到目標，而且這是有效的。

All of our analysis suggests that we have not seen clear signs of trade down. But I'd reinforce, if there is that, we are uniquely positioned to deliver and support our guests regardless of what choices they make from a price point.

我們所有的分析表明，我們沒有看到明顯的貿易下降跡象。但我要強調的是，如果有的話，我們具有獨特的優勢來提供和支持我們的客人，無論他們從價格點做出什麼選擇。

Our next question comes from the line of Michael Lasser with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Michael Lasser。

Scott, can you help stress test a couple of the key variables that are going to impact Ulta's gross overall operating margin in 2023 between the expense spending that you slated for this year and the step-up that you had originally planned for 2023. Is it reasonable that we think around about that as like a $50 million (inaudible) increase in the next year? And then the second part of the question, you're on pace to have a 15.5% to 15.6% operating margin this year.

Scott，你能否幫助壓力測試幾個關鍵變量，這些變量將影響 Ulta 在 2023 年的總營業利潤率，介於你計劃今年的費用支出和你最初計劃的 2023 年的提升之間。是嗎？我們認為明年增加 5000 萬美元（聽不清）是否合理？然後是問題的第二部分，您今年的營業利潤率有望達到 15.5% 至 15.6%。

If you were to take the level of promotional activity from 2019 and apply it, all else being equal, to this year, is it reasonable that you would have like a 14.5% operating margin. So a worst case, if promotions go back to 2019 levels, that would be like 100 basis points to the operating margin.

如果你採用 2019 年的促銷活動水平並將其應用到今年，在其他條件相同的情況下，你想要 14.5% 的營業利潤率是否合理。因此，最壞的情況是，如果促銷活動回到 2019 年的水平，那將相當於營業利潤率下降 100 個基點。

Is this the Michael Lasser that I know? I mean -- I appreciate your question, Michael. Yes, and I understand. But we can't -- we're not going to piecemeal out the bits and pieces of the variables and the formula for our EBIT margin for next year. It's just -- it's too hard, and that's why we said we would -- we'll update in March if it's appropriate, okay? And we kind of see how 2022 shakes out here in totality. And then look at our '23 plan, which we're in the heat of battle on right now, finalizing here, which the final step of that is as we get finalized through the holiday season, so to see what the numbers look like.

這是我認識的 Michael Lasser 嗎？我的意思是——我很欣賞你的問題，邁克爾。是的，我明白了。但我們不能——我們不會零散地分解變量的點點滴滴和明年息稅前利潤率的公式。只是 - 這太難了，這就是為什麼我們說我們會 - 如果合適的話，我們會在 3 月份更新，好嗎？我們在這裡看到了 2022 年的整體變化。然後看看我們的 23 計劃，我們現在正處於激烈的戰鬥中，在這裡完成，最後一步是我們在假期期間完成，所以看看數字是什麼樣的。

So we either -- as I've laid out for Ike here a little bit earlier in the call, all the different variables and of course, they're all on wide continuums, right? And so we're doing our best to assess each one of those. And coming up with our best idea of how we think it's going to shake out for next year. Again, we're very optimistic about the long-term options for our business. I mean, we're in a great position. We've got lots of levers to push and pull, to deliver healthy operating margins over the long term.

所以我們要么 - 正如我在電話會議的早些時候為 Ike 所做的那樣，所有不同的變量，當然，它們都在廣泛的連續體上，對嗎？因此，我們正在盡最大努力評估其中的每一個。並提出我們認為明年將如何擺脫困境的最佳想法。同樣，我們對我們業務的長期選擇非常樂觀。我的意思是，我們處於一個很好的位置。我們有很多槓桿可以推動和拉動，以實現長期健康的運營利潤率。

John, I think we have time for one more question, please.

約翰，我想我們還有時間再問一個問題。

And the final question comes from the line of Michael Binetti with Credit Suisse.

最後一個問題來自瑞士信貸的 Michael Binetti。

Maybe since you mentioned it a few times now, how much is shrink versus 2019 as a percent of sales? I'm wondering if that's becoming a meaningful number? And maybe you could just help us orient how much incentive comp influences the margin this year. I don't know if I heard that.

也許既然你現在提到過幾次，那麼與 2019 年相比，收縮率佔銷售額的百分比是多少？我想知道這是否正在成為一個有意義的數字？也許你可以幫助我們確定激勵補償對今年利潤率的影響程度。我不知道我是否聽到了。

And I guess, just maybe touching on Ike and Michael's question, you seem to be getting the higher margins the right way here with all the extra sales and gross profit dollars from driving the business and leveraging the fixed costs. You'll be at a revenue level this year, we didn't expect to see until 2024, and you're still seeing the algo next year. I know you gave the long list to Ike in the middle of the P&L, but it feels like you earn some upside to the framework at that 13% to 14%. I'm just wondering if you can give us color on what you think relative to the framework you laid out remain structurally higher or what you think needs more investment than what you thought at the Analyst Day framework to bring all those extra dollars down to that [13 and 14].

我想，也許就 Ike 和 Michael 的問題而言，您似乎通過推動業務和利用固定成本獲得的所有額外銷售額和毛利潤以正確的方式獲得更高的利潤率。今年你將達到收入水平，我們預計要到 2024 年才能看到，明年你仍然會看到算法。我知道你在 P&L 中間給了 Ike 一個長長的名單，但感覺你在 13% 到 14% 的框架內獲得了一些優勢。我只是想知道你是否可以告訴我們你認為相對於你所製定的框架在結構上仍然更高的想法，或者你認為需要比你在分析師日框架上認為的更多的投資才能將所有這些額外的美元降低到[13 和 14]。

Yes, Michael. So working backwards. So the shrink part of your question, I mean, shrink when you think about our category, we are especially susceptible to some of the trends that you see across retail. But that's not new to us. We've been dealing with this since the very early days because of the category we operate in.

是的，邁克爾。所以向後工作。所以你的問題的收縮部分，我的意思是，當你想到我們的類別時，我們特別容易受到你在零售業中看到的一些趨勢的影響。但這對我們來說並不新鮮。由於我們經營的類別，我們從很早的時候就一直在處理這個問題。

So I want to make sure I say thank you to our teams, to our LP teams, our store operations teams and all the support personnel that have been working hard to try to mitigate the losses that we've seen step up here, accelerate over the last couple of years. Again, when times get tough, shrink goes up. We've seen that in retail over a long period of time.

所以我想確保我對我們的團隊、我們的 LP 團隊、我們的商店運營團隊和所有支持人員說謝謝，他們一直在努力工作，試圖減輕我們在這裡看到的損失，加速結束最近幾年。同樣，當形勢變得艱難時，收縮率會上升。我們已經在很長一段時間內在零售業看到了這一點。

On the incentive compensation, I would say, we -- for the year, it's going to be flattish versus 2021. Again, our performance has been super strong this year. And then back to the operating margin question, which everyone has, again, we really can't provide any more quantitative detail at this point in time. I would just point back to the long laundry list of different variables that I described earlier in the call.

關於激勵薪酬，我想說，我們 - 今年，與 2021 年相比持平。同樣，我們今年的表現非常強勁。然後回到每個人都有的營業利潤率問題，我們現在真的不能提供更多的量化細節。我只想回到我之前在電話會議中描述的一長串不同變量的洗衣清單。

And just that we're a pragmatic team. We're trying to optimize with all the things that we have, the challenges and the opportunities, we're going to do our best to lean in where we can and try to optimize and deliver the best overall financial performance that we're capable of, whether it's the fourth quarter or 2023. You can rely on us for that.

只是我們是一個務實的團隊。我們正在努力優化我們擁有的所有事物、挑戰和機遇，我們將盡最大努力在我們力所能及的地方傾斜並嘗試優化並提供我們能力範圍內的最佳整體財務業績的，無論是第四季度還是 2023 年。你可以依靠我們。

All right. With that, I'm going to wrap it up. But I want to first thank you. Thank you for your interest and engagement in Ulta Beauty. And I want to close by thanking our more than 40,000 Ulta Beauty associates for delivering another excellent quarter, while also executing against our strategic priorities. Our teams have been working hard to get our stores, digital channels and DCs ready for this holiday season, and I sincerely appreciate their focus and commitment to delivering meaningful guest experiences across every single touch point.

好的。有了這個，我要結束它。但我想先謝謝你。感謝您對 Ulta Beauty 的關注和參與。最後，我想感謝我們的 40,000 多名 Ulta Beauty 員工帶來了另一個出色的季度，同時也執行了我們的戰略重點。我們的團隊一直在努力讓我們的商店、數字渠道和 DC 為這個假期做好準備，我衷心感謝他們的專注和致力於在每個接觸點提供有意義的客戶體驗。

We hope you all have a happy and healthy holiday season, and we look forward to speaking to all of you again in early March when we report results for fiscal 2022 and share our plans for fiscal 2023. Have a great evening, everybody. Thanks again.

我們希望大家度過一個快樂健康的假期，我們期待在 3 月初報告 2022 財年的結果並分享我們 2023 財年的計劃時再次與大家交談。祝大家晚上愉快。再次感謝。

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation, and have a great day.

今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與，祝您有美好的一天。