Ulta Beauty Inc (ULTA) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to Ulta Beauty's conference call to discuss results for the second quarter of fiscal 2023.

下午好，歡迎參加 Ulta Beauty 的電話會議，討論 2023 財年第二季度的業績。

(Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

（操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。

It is now my pleasure to introduce Ms. Kiley Rawlins, Vice President of Investor Relations. Ms. Rawlins, you may proceed.

現在我很高興向大家介紹投資者關係副總裁 Kiley Rawlins 女士。羅林斯女士，您可以繼續了。

Thanks, Paul. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for a discussion of Ulta Beauty's Results for the Second Quarter of Fiscal 2023. Hosting our call today 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，保羅。大家下午好，感謝您加入我們討論 Ulta Beauty 2023 財年第二季度的業績。今天主持我們電話會議的是首席執行官 Dave Kimbell；斯科特·塞特斯滕 (Scott Settersten)，首席財務官。首席運營官 Kecia Steelman 將參加我們的問答環節。

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 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. We caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today, August 24, 2023. 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.

在開始之前，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，可能被視為構成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，實際結果可能與此類陳述中的預測存在重大差異：許多風險和不確定性，所有這些都在該公司向 SEC 提交的文件中進行了描述。我們提醒您不要過分依賴這些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅截至今天（2023 年 8 月 24 日）。除非法律要求，否則我們沒有義務更新或修改我們的前瞻性陳述，並且您不應期望我們這樣做。

We'll begin this afternoon with prepared remarks from Dave and Scott. Following our comments, we'll open up the call for questions.

我們將從今天下午戴夫和斯科特准備好的發言開始。在我們發表評論後，我們將開放提問。

(Operator Instructions) As always, the IR team will be available for any follow-up questions after the call.

（操作員說明）與往常一樣，IR 團隊將在通話後回答任何後續問題。

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

現在我將把電話轉給戴夫。戴夫？

Thank you, Kiley, and good afternoon. We appreciate your interest in Ulta Beauty. The Ulta Beauty team delivered strong performance again this quarter with sales, gross profit and SG&A expenses all better than planned.

謝謝你，凱利，下午好。我們感謝您對 Ulta Beauty 的興趣。 Ulta Beauty 團隊本季度再次表現強勁，銷售額、毛利潤和銷售、一般行政費用均好於計劃。

Net sales increased 10.1% to $2.5 billion, and comparable sales increased 8%. Operating profit was 15.5% of sales and diluted EPS increased 5.6% to $6.02 per share. In addition to delivering great financial results, our teams executed against our operational priorities. During the quarter, we drove growth across all major categories, increased the number of loyalty program members, strengthened our brand engagement and achieved important milestones within our multiyear transformation initiatives.

淨銷售額增長 10.1%，達到 25 億美元，可比銷售額增長 8%。營業利潤佔銷售額的 15.5%，攤薄後每股收益增長 5.6%，達到每股 6.02 美元。除了提供出色的財務業績外，我們的團隊還根據我們的運營優先事項執行任務。在本季度，我們推動了所有主要類別的增長，增加了忠誠度計劃會員的數量，加強了我們的品牌參與度，並在我們的多年轉型計劃中實現了重要的里程碑。

Through the first half, our financial results are ahead of our internal expectations, and I remain confident we can deliver against our updated guidance for fiscal 2023. I want to express my sincere appreciation to all Ulta Beauty associates for their continued commitment to delivering great guest experiences while working collaboratively to execute our ambitious transformational agenda.

上半年，我們的財務業績超出了我們的內部預期，我仍然相信我們能夠按照更新後的2023 財年指引實現目標。我想對所有Ulta Beauty 員工表示衷心感謝，感謝他們持續致力於為優質客戶提供服務合作執行我們雄心勃勃的轉型議程時積累的經驗。

Starting with the discussion of our operational results, we saw strong sales -- solid sales performance across both our store and digital channels, driven by double-digit traffic growth. All major categories delivered comp growth for the quarter, supported by strong engagement with the overall beauty category, compelling product newness and innovation and successful execution of cross-category promotional events, including our reimagined Big Summer Beauty Sale.

從討論我們的運營業績開始，我們看到了強勁的銷售——在兩位數流量增長的推動下，我們的商店和數字渠道的銷售業績強勁。所有主要類別在本季度都實現了同比增長，這得益於對整個美容類別的大力參與、引人注目的產品新穎性和創新以及跨類別促銷活動的成功執行，包括我們重新設計的夏季美容大促銷。

Building on last year's promotional events, we consolidated key summer events like our popular Jumbo Love and Mix & Match Minis into a broader, more cohesive event with holistic storytelling and impactful messaging. The 3-week long Big Summer Beauty Sale drove market disruption, member conversion and strong sales across our hair care, makeup and skin care categories.

在去年促銷活動的基礎上，我們將重要的夏季活動（例如廣受歡迎的Jumbo Love 和Mix & Match Minis）整合為更廣泛、更具凝聚力的活動，並通過整體故事講述和有影響力的信息傳遞。為期三週的夏季美容大促銷推動了我們護髮、彩妝和護膚品類的市場顛覆、會員轉化和強勁銷售。

Turning to performance by category. Skin care continues to be 1 of our strongest categories, even as we lap unprecedented growth during the pandemic. For the quarter, both Prestige and mass skin care delivered double-digit growth. Newer brands, including Bubble, BIOMA and Beautycounter and innovation from existing brands like The Ordinary, Drunk Elephant and Supergoop! contributed to the strong sales results. Reflecting consumer interest in dermatologist recommended brands, La Roche-Posay and CeraVe continued to perform well, and brands like Good Molecules, Hero Cosmetics and Peach Slices continue to benefit from social virality.

轉向按類別劃分的性能。儘管我們在大流行期間實現了前所未有的增長，但皮膚護理仍然是我們最強的類別之一。本季度，Prestige 和大眾護膚品均實現了兩位數的增長。較新的品牌，包括 Bubble、BIOMA 和 Beautycounter，以及來自 The Ordinary、Drunk Elephant 和 Supergoop 等現有品牌的創新！為強勁的銷售業績做出了貢獻。 La Roche-Posay 和 CeraVe 繼續表現良好，反映出消費者對皮膚科醫生推薦品牌的興趣，而 Good Molecules、Hero Cosmetics 和 Peach Slices 等品牌繼續受益於社交病毒式傳播。

The fragrance and bath category delivered double-digit comp growth again this quarter. Layering and wardrobing scents as a form of self-expression, especially among Gen Z consumers, continues to drive category engagement. Newness from Ariana Grande, Valentino and Burberry contributed to the category's performance, and key gift-giving events like Mother's Day and Father's Day drove growth for luxury brands like Carolina Herrera, Chanel and YSL.

香水和沐浴品類別本季度再次實現兩位數的同比增長。分層和衣櫃香味作為一種自我表達的形式，尤其是在 Z 世代消費者中，繼續推動品類參與度。 Ariana Grande、Valentino 和 Burberry 的新品推動了該類別的表現，母親節和父親節等重要送禮活動推動了 Carolina Herrera、Chanel 和 YSL 等奢侈品牌的增長。

The hair care category delivered mid-single-digit comp growth driven by newness and guest engagement with our strategic events. Hair care focused on bonding, scalp treatments and other repair solutions as well as products that offer healthy heat styling options continue to drive consumer engagement. Trend-relevant products from professional brands, Redken, Biolage and Matrix as well as newness from prestige brands, (inaudible) and IGK resonated strongly. New brands, including exclusive brands LolaVie, created by Jennifer Anderson, and Donna's Recipe also contributed to growth this quarter. While still challenged as we lap several years of strong growth, sales trends in hair tools improved from the first quarter, driven by compelling newness from Dyson and innovation from Bio Ionic.

在新穎性和賓客對我們戰略活動的參與度的推動下，護髮品類實現了中個位數的複合增長。專注於粘合、頭皮護理和其他修復解決方案的護髮產品以及提供健康熱定型選項的產品繼續推動消費者參與。來自專業品牌 Redken、Biolage 和 Matrix 的潮流相關產品以及來自知名品牌（聽不清）和 IGK 的新穎產品引起了強烈共鳴。新品牌，包括 Jennifer Anderson 創建的獨家品牌 LolaVie 和 Donna's Recipe 也為本季度的增長做出了貢獻。雖然我們在經歷了幾年的強勁增長後仍面臨挑戰，但在戴森引人注目的新品和 Bio Ionic 的創新推動下，美髮工具的銷售趨勢較第一季度有所改善。

Finally, makeup delivered low single-digit comp growth, driven by strong performance in mass cosmetics. New brands like Dior, NATASHA DENONA and Beautycounter drove growth during the quarter, while new and exclusive products from a wide range of brands, including e.l.f, NYX and OPI also contributed positively. Compelling events, including our Big Summer Beauty Sale, National Lipstick Week and our foundation event as well as successful Barbie and Little Mermaid collaborations drove guest engagement. While the performance of mass cosmetics benefited from engaging newness in social content, our prestige makeup business was challenged as we lapped the significant impact of the Fenty launch last year.

最後，在大眾化妝品強勁表現的推動下，化妝品實現了低個位數的複合增長。 Dior、NATASHA DENONA 和 Beautycounter 等新品牌推動了本季度的增長，而 e.l.f、NYX 和 OPI 等眾多品牌的全新獨家產品也做出了積極貢獻。引人注目的活動，包括夏季美容特賣、全國口紅周和基金會活動，以及芭比娃娃和小美人魚的成功合作，提高了賓客的參與度。雖然大眾化妝品的業績受益於社交內容的新穎性，但我們的高端化妝品業務受到了挑戰，因為我們去年推出了 Fenty 帶來的重大影響。

Our services business delivered double-digit comp growth again this quarter, primarily driven by increased appointments. Guests are engaging in core cut, color and blowout services as well as newer services, including extensions and scalp and hair treatments. We continue to enhance our service offering, and this quarter, we launched ear piercings chain-wide and introduced a new Keratin Express treatment.

我們的服務業務本季度再次實現兩位數的複合增長，這主要是由於預約增加所致。客人可以享受剪髮、染髮和吹髮服務以及更新的服務，包括接發、頭皮和頭髮護理。我們繼續增強我們的服務，本季度，我們在整個連鎖店推出了耳洞穿孔服務，並推出了新的 Keratin Express 治療方法。

The beauty category growth remains healthy across both prestige and mass price tiers as consumers maintain their post-pandemic routines and expand their definition of beauty. When we look at the total beauty market, our analysis demonstrates we continue to gain market share. In mass beauty, we gained share this quarter across all major categories. In prestige, we continue to drive solid gains in skin and fragrance but saw pressure in makeup and hair based on Circana's beauty sales data.

隨著消費者保持大流行後的生活習慣並擴大對美的定義，美容品類在高端和大眾價格層面都保持健康增長。當我們審視整個美容市場時，我們的分析表明我們繼續獲得市場份額。在大眾美容領域，我們本季度在所有主要類別中都獲得了份額。在聲譽方面，我們繼續推動皮膚和香水業務的穩步增長，但根據 Circana 的美容銷售數據，我們看到化妝品和頭髮業務面臨壓力。

Our proprietary insights suggest consumers are becoming less focused on product pricing tiers and are trading around, choosing to engage with brands that offer on-trend newness and compelling social media content. As the only beauty retailer to offer a curated assortment of products from entry-level mass to luxury and everything in between, we are uniquely positioned to capture share of the total beauty market as consumers shift. We remain confident in the resilience of beauty. Our strategic framework guides our priorities and positions us to expand our market leadership and drive long-term profitable growth.

我們的專有見解表明，消費者越來越不那麼關注產品定價層級，而是在進行交易，選擇與提供流行新穎和引人注目的社交媒體內容的品牌互動。作為唯一一家提供從入門級大眾到奢侈品以及介於兩者之間的各種產品的美容零售商，我們具有獨特的優勢，可以隨著消費者的轉變而佔領整個美容市場的份額。我們對美麗的彈性仍然充滿信心。我們的戰略框架指導我們的優先事項，並使我們能夠擴大市場領導地位並推動長期盈利增長。

Let me share some highlights of the progress we made against this framework in the second quarter. Starting with our efforts to drive growth with an expanded definition of All Things Beauty. Newness and innovation are critical growth drivers for beauty. Newness comes to life in the form of new brands, products and product lines, shade extensions and reformulations, and fuels discovery and drive trips and engagement. As we seek to continuously delight guests with all Things Beauty, we continue to expand our assortment and innovate -- with innovative and emerging brands.

讓我分享第二季度我們在該框架方面取得的一些進展的亮點。首先，我們努力通過擴展“萬物之美”的定義來推動增長。新穎和創新是美容行業的關鍵增長動力。新鮮感以新品牌、產品和產品線、色調擴展和重新配方的形式出現，並推動發現、駕駛旅行和參與。在我們力求不斷為賓客帶來美麗的同時，我們也不斷擴大產品種類並不斷創新——推出創新和新興品牌。

Building on newness introduced in the first half, we have several exciting launches planned for the third quarter, including Half Magic, a vegan and cruelty-free makeup brand created by Euphoria makeup artist Donni Davy, exclusive to Ulta Beauty. Polite Society, a prestige makeup brand exclusive to Ulta Beauty curated -- created by the founders of Too Faced Cosmetics. Rabanne, a contemporary and relevant Spanish fashion brand launching cosmetics exclusively at Ulta Beauty. Hair styling tools at accessible price points from Shark Beauty; PanOxyl, a dermatologist recommended brand popular with Gen Z; and Sniff, an emerging fragrance band offering gender neutral sense available only at Ulta Beauty.

在上半年推出的新產品的基礎上，我們計劃在第三季度推出幾款令人興奮的產品，其中包括Half Magic，這是由Euphoria 化妝師Donni Davy 創建的純素、無殘忍化妝品品牌，是Ulta Beauty 的獨家產品。 Polite Society 是 Ulta Beauty 獨家策劃的知名化妝品牌，由 Too Faced Cosmetics 的創始人創建。 Rabanne 是一個當代且相關的西班牙時尚品牌，在 Ulta Beauty 獨家推出化妝品。 Shark Beauty 提供價格實惠的髮型設計工具； PanOxyl，深受Z世代歡迎的皮膚科醫生推薦品牌；和 Sniff，一個新興的香水樂隊，提供中性的感覺，僅在 Ulta Beauty 出售。

Reflecting the growth and popularity of luxury products with younger generations, last quarter, we launched Luxury at Ulta Beauty in 200 stores and on ulta.com. The program has exceeded our expectations, and we continue to see strong guest engagement with our offerings across all categories. Building on this success, we are excited to launch Pat McGrath Labs, a BIPOC luxe artistry makeup brand. Pat McGrath is a trusted expert who has shaped and disrupted the cosmetic category.

上季度，我們在 Ulta Beauty 的 200 家商店和 ulta.com 上推出了 Luxury at Ulta Beauty，這反映了奢侈品在年輕一代中的增長和受歡迎程度。該計劃超出了我們的預期，我們繼續看到賓客對我們所有類別的產品的強烈參與。在此成功的基礎上，我們很高興推出 Pat McGrath Labs，一個 BIPOC 奢華藝術化妝品牌。 Pat McGrath 是一位值得信賴的專家，他塑造並顛覆了化妝品類別。

Now, let me share an update on our key cross-category platforms, which lean into broader emerging trends in beauty, products that are good for the world, inclusivity and wellness. As we seek to provide guests with a diverse assortment that reflects their personal values and individual needs, we continue to expand our assortment of brands featuring clean, cruelty-free and vegan ingredients, leveraging sustainable packaging and driving positive impact through our Conscious Beauty platform.

現在，讓我分享我們主要跨品類平台的最新動態，這些平台關注美容、有益於世界的產品、包容性和健康等更廣泛的新興趨勢。我們致力於為客人提供反映個人價值觀和需求的多樣化產品，因此我們不斷擴大以清潔、零殘忍和純素成分為特色的品牌種類，利用可持續包裝，並通過我們的Conscious Beauty 平台推動積極影響。

At the end of the quarter, 314 brands were certified in at least 1 pillar, with more than 270 brands certified in multiple pillars. To ensure all guests feel connected and reflected at Ulta Beauty, we continue our important efforts to drive inclusivity. In addition to amplifying our portfolio of BIPOC brands through informative marketing and in-store presentations, this quarter, we hosted a summit for our BIPOC brands, providing them with opportunities to network with peers while learning more about the beauty industry and operational best practices.

截至本季度末，有 314 個品牌獲得了至少 1 個支柱的認證，超過 270 個品牌獲得了多個支柱的認證。為了確保所有客人在 Ulta Beauty 都能感受到聯繫和體現，我們將繼續努力推動包容性。除了通過信息營銷和店內演示擴大我們的BIPOC 品牌組合外，本季度我們還為BIPOC 品牌舉辦了一次峰會，為他們提供與同行建立聯繫的機會，同時了解更多有關美容行業和運營最佳實踐的信息。

Lastly, as the importance of beauty as a form of self-care and wellness continues to build, we enhanced the wellness shop assortment with the launch of 2 exciting supplements: Lemme Gummies created by Kourtney Kardashian, and the introduction of Big Brain Probiotics from Love Wellness.

最後，隨著美容作為一種自我護理和健康形式的重要性不斷增強，我們推出了2 種令人興奮的補充劑，增強了健康商店的品種：考特尼·卡戴珊(Kourtney Kardashian) 創造的Lemme 軟糖，以及Love 推出的Big Brain 益生菌健康。

Turning now to our second strategic pillar, All In Your World, we are enhancing guest experiences across all of our touch points. Guests continue to shift effortlessly between physical and digital channels, depending on their individual needs, and we are committed to meeting them wherever they are in their beauty journey. Reflecting our efforts to enhance our buy anywhere fill anywhere capabilities, we have expanded our same-day delivery option to essentially every store and improved our store fulfillment process to drive greater efficiency and speed.

現在轉向我們的第二個戰略支柱“一切盡在您的世界”，我們正在增強所有接觸點的賓客體驗。客人可以根據自己的個人需求，在實體渠道和數字渠道之間輕鬆切換，我們致力於滿足他們在美容之旅中的任何階段的需求。我們已將當日送達選項擴展到幾乎所有商店，並改進了商店履行流程，以提高效率和速度，這反映了我們為增強隨處購買、隨處填充能力所做的努力。

Between BOPIS, same-day delivery and ship from store capabilities, 31% of our e-commerce sales and 39% of our digital orders were fulfilled by our store teams this quarter. Our consumer insights and member data confirm the importance of physical shopping in beauty. More than 75% of our members choose to transact with us only in stores, and yet we know many of these members use our digital platforms for discovery, try-on and inspiration. Converting these members to omnichannel members is a meaningful opportunity to increase engagement and spend per member as omnichannel shoppers spend 2.5x to 3x more than single channel shoppers.

通過 BOPIS、當日送達和商店發貨功能，本季度我們 31% 的電子商務銷售額和 39% 的數字訂單是由我們的商店團隊完成的。我們的消費者洞察和會員數據證實了實體購物在美容領域的重要性。我們超過 75% 的會員選擇僅在商店與我們進行交易，但我們知道其中許多會員使用我們的數字平台來發現、試穿和激發靈感。將這些會員轉變為全渠道會員是提高參與度和每位會員支出的有意義的機會，因為全渠道購物者的支出是單一渠道購物者的 2.5 倍到 3 倍。

Importantly, the increase in spend is largely incremental.

重要的是，支出的增加很大程度上是增量的。

Expanded engagement with our mobile app is 1 way we are driving omnichannel conversion. Through our digital store refresh, we enhanced the user search and discovery experience, seamlessly blending commerce and content for a more personalized experience. We also continue to expand and enhance our digital try-on capabilities. This quarter, we launched a virtual try-on tool that enables guests to try multiple nail looks simultaneously, and we upgraded our virtual hair try-on experience with expanded color options and enhanced transfer quality and speed. These enhancements, combined with awareness campaigns, unique offers to drive utilization and increased associate education have delivered meaningful growth.

擴大與我們的移動應用程序的互動是我們推動全渠道轉化的一種方式。通過數字商店的更新，我們增強了用戶搜索和發現體驗，將商業和內容無縫融合，以獲得更加個性化的體驗。我們還繼續擴展和增強我們的數字試穿能力。本季度，我們推出了虛擬試戴工具，使客人可以同時嘗試多種指甲外觀，並且我們升級了虛擬試戴體驗，提供了更多的顏色選項以及增強的傳輸質量和速度。這些增強功能，再加上宣傳活動、提高利用率的獨特優惠以及增加的員工教育，帶來了有意義的增長。

Over the last 12 months, 9 million active members have engaged with our mobile app, double the number of members who engaged with the app before the pandemic. And we're seeing stronger engagement, with more than 55% of e-commerce sales coming through our mobile app.

在過去 12 個月中，有 900 萬活躍會員使用了我們的移動應用程序，是大流行之前使用該應用程序的會員數量的兩倍。我們看到參與度越來越高，超過 55% 的電子商務銷售額來自我們的移動應用程序。

Turning to our partnership with Target. We opened 62 Ulta Beauty at Target shops during the quarter, ending the quarter with 421 shops. Our marketing teams work closely with our target partners to build awareness for newer brands, including Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande Fragrances, Glamnetic, and Living Proof, while also amplifying Summer prestige Must-Haves and minis. As the partnership scales, we are learning more about the Ulta Beauty at Target guests and the role this touchpoint plays in their beauty journey, and we will continue to leverage our expertise to develop unique assortments that reflect the preferences of the Ulta Beauty at Target guests.

談談我們與 Target 的合作夥伴關係。本季度我們在 Target 開設了 62 家 Ulta Beauty 商店，本季度末開設了 421 家商店。我們的營銷團隊與我們的目標合作夥伴密切合作，提高新品牌的知名度，包括 Billie Eilish 和 Ariana Grande Fragrances、Glamnetic 和 Living Proof，同時還擴大了夏季必備品和迷你香水的知名度。隨著合作規模的擴大，我們正在更多地了解Ulta Beauty at Target 客人以及這個接觸點在他們的美容之旅中所扮演的角色，我們將繼續利用我們的專業知識開發獨特的產品組合，以反映Ulta Beauty at Target 客人的喜好。

Moving to our third strategic pillar, operating at the Heart of the Beauty community, we are focused on driving greater love, loyalty and emotional connection with Ulta Beauty. We began this quarter with a Mother's Day campaign that highlighted exclusive cross-category gifts, including our luxury assortment and hero fragrances. Moving into June, we positioned Ulta Beauty as the destination for Summer Beauty, driving top-of-mind awareness and traffic with compelling points offers and special deals across the assortment to celebrate our members.

轉向我們的第三個戰略支柱，即美容社區的核心，我們致力於推動與 Ulta Beauty 更大的愛、忠誠度和情感聯繫。我們從本季度開始開展了母親節活動，重點介紹獨家跨類別禮物，包括我們的奢華品類和英雄香水。進入六月，我們將 Ulta Beauty 定位為夏季美容目的地，通過引人注目的積分優惠和各種特別優惠來慶祝我們的會員，從而提高人們的認知度和流量。

Finally, we closed the quarter with our Big Summer Beauty Sale, a bold and disruptive event that offered opportunities to save on fan favorite beauty items across all categories and price points from a variety of established and emerging brands. These key events, paired with our culturally-relevant content amplifications drove record-level highs in unaided awareness with our greatest gains among Gen Z consumers.

最後，我們以夏季美容大促銷結束了本季度，這是一項大膽而顛覆性的活動，提供了從各種知名品牌和新興品牌購買所有類別和價位的粉絲喜愛的美容產品的機會。這些關鍵事件，加上我們與文化相關的內容放大，推動了我們在 Z 世代消費者中的獨立認知度創下歷史新高。

Turning to our loyalty program. We ended the quarter with 41.7 million active members, 9% higher than last year, driven by strong member acquisition and reactivation, combined with healthy retention of existing members. Spend per member also increased, driven by greater shopper frequency. The strength of our loyalty program continues to be a powerful and differentiated strategic asset for Ulta Beauty, and we are pleased with its elevated growth and performance.

轉向我們的忠誠度計劃。在強勁的會員獲取和重新激活以及現有會員的健康保留的推動下，本季度末我們的活躍會員數量為 4170 萬，比去年增長 9%。由於購物頻率增加，每位會員的支出也有所增加。我們的忠誠度計劃的優勢仍然是 Ulta Beauty 強大且差異化的戰略資產，我們對其快速增長和業績感到滿意。

Our continued efforts to nurture the member life cycle is driving results. We accelerated new member acquisition and continue to engage and retain members with meaningful events, compelling points offers, personalized content and special guests. These strategies also delivered growth in our Diamond and Platinum tiers, which increased nearly 30% compared to the same period last year, reflecting strong loyalty and engagement with all Ulta Beauty offers.

我們對培育會員生命週期的持續努力正在取得成果。我們加快了新會員的獲取速度，並繼續通過有意義的活動、引人注目的積分優惠、個性化內容和特邀嘉賓來吸引和留住會員。這些策略還促進了我們的鑽石級和白金級的增長，與去年同期相比增長了近 30%，反映出對所有 Ulta Beauty 優惠的強烈忠誠度和參與度。

Turning now to our efforts to drive operational excellence and optimization. We are executing an ambitious multiyear road map of transformation initiatives intended to unlock new capabilities and efficiencies to fuel our future growth. As we have discussed on previous calls, we are expanding and optimizing our supply chain, upgrading our enterprise resource planning platform, transitioning our digital store to a new platform, enhancing our data management systems and upgrading store POS systems.

現在談談我們推動卓越運營和優化的努力。我們正在執行一項雄心勃勃的多年轉型計劃路線圖，旨在釋放新的能力和效率，推動我們未來的增長。正如我們在之前的電話會議中討論的那樣，我們正在擴展和優化我們的供應鏈，升級我們的企業資源規劃平台，將我們的數字商店過渡到新平台，增強我們的數據管理系統併升級商店POS系統。

I am pleased to share that our teams have delivered several key milestones. Our new Greer, South Carolina market fulfillment center began receiving inventory last month, and we expect to start shipping to stores next week. We completed the installation of a new automated storage and retrieval system in our Greenwood distribution center, which will increase capacity and enable greater productivity. We expanded our ship from store capabilities to an additional 276 stores. Today, we fulfill e-commerce orders from 400 strategically-located stores, enabling faster, more cost-effective delivery to the guest. We successfully transitioned 2 distribution centers, Jacksonville and Greer, to our new ERP platform.

我很高興地告訴大家，我們的團隊已經實現了幾個關鍵的里程碑。我們位於南卡羅來納州的新格里爾市場履行中心上個月開始接收庫存，預計下週開始向商店發貨。我們在格林伍德配送中心完成了新的自動化存儲和檢索系統的安裝，這將增加容量並提高生產力。我們將門店數量從門店數量擴大到了 276 家。如今，我們履行來自 400 家戰略位置商店的電子商務訂單，從而能夠更快、更具成本效益地向客人交付產品。我們成功地將傑克遜維爾和格里爾這兩個配送中心遷移到新的 ERP 平台。

As part of our digital store transformation, we successfully completed a large-scale upgrade of our end-to-end e-commerce platform and migrated to a new modernized platform that includes a new promotion engine, guest account, cart and checkout. This is a significant milestone in our multiyear effort to elevate our digital experience in a way that positions us for long-term growth in this critical channel.

作為數字商店轉型的一部分，我們成功完成了端到端電子商務平台的大規模升級，並遷移到一個新的現代化平台，其中包括新的促銷引擎、訪客帳戶、購物車和結帳。這是我們多年來努力提升數字體驗的一個重要里程碑，使我們能夠在這一關鍵渠道實現長期增長。

Finally, we completed the POS upgrade in all stores. While our transformation agenda is not finished, we have made significant progress, and I am proud of how our teams have worked to execute our plans while limiting disruption to guests and associates.

最終，我們完成了所有門店的POS升級。雖然我們的轉型議程尚未完成，但我們已經取得了重大進展，我對我們的團隊如何努力執行我們的計劃，同時限制對客人和員工的干擾感到自豪。

Looking forward, we continue to operate in a dynamic environment. While consumer confidence has strengthened, there are signs pointing to moderating growth going forward. Many consumers have begun to reduce overall spending, credit card debt remains high and the restart of student loan repayments is approaching. It is unclear how these factors will impact consumer behavior in the near term, but despite these factors, beauty has remained a bright spot.

展望未來，我們將繼續在充滿活力的環境中運營。儘管消費者信心有所增強，但有跡象表明未來增長將放緩。許多消費者已經開始減少總體支出，信用卡債務仍然居高不下，學生貸款還款重啟即將到來。目前尚不清楚這些因素在短期內將如何影響消費者行為，但儘管有這些因素，美容仍然是一個亮點。

Based on Circana beauty sales data, total U.S. beauty sales for the first half of 2023 increased double digits compared to the same period last year, with prestige beauty channels delivering higher growth than mass beauty channels. Looking to the rest of the year, we believe growth for the U.S. beauty market will remain healthy but normalize into the mid-single digits as we lap 2 years of strong growth, experienced less impact from pricing and face more economic uncertainty.

根據 Circana 美容銷售數據，2023 年上半年美國美容銷售總額較去年同期增長兩位數，其中高端美容渠道的增長速度高於大眾美容渠道。展望今年剩餘時間，我們認為美國美容市場的增長將保持健康，但隨著我們經歷了兩年的強勁增長、定價影響較小並面臨更多經濟不確定性，美國美容市場將正常化至中個位數。

As category growth normalizes, we continue to expect promotional activity within the category will also normalize. Over the last 2 years, unprecedented category growth and strong demand limited promotional activity. As a result, the promotional environment in 2021 and 2022 was unsustainably low. Reflecting these factors, we planned for higher promotional activity this year but continue to expect promotions will remain well below 2019 levels.

隨著類別增長正常化，我們繼續預計該類別內的促銷活動也將正常化。在過去的兩年裡，前所未有的品類增長和強勁的需求限制了促銷活動。因此，2021 年和 2022 年的促銷環境不可持續。考慮到這些因素，我們計劃今年開展更多促銷活動，但仍然預計促銷活動將遠低於 2019 年的水平。

In closing, we operate in an attractive and growing category. We have a strong, proven business model and a winning culture and outstanding teams. Through the first half of fiscal 2023, we have exceeded our internal financial expectations, and we remain confident we can deliver our updated expectations for the rest of the year.

最後，我們經營的是一個有吸引力且不斷增長的類別。我們擁有強大的、經過驗證的商業模式、致勝的文化和優秀的團隊。到 2023 財年上半年，我們已經超出了內部財務預期，並且我們仍然有信心能夠實現今年剩餘時間的最新預期。

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，討論財務業績。斯科特？

Thanks, Dave, and good afternoon, everyone. As Dave shared, we delivered second quarter financial results that were ahead of our expectations. Strong sales growth supported by healthy guest engagement and strong in-store sales performance drove better-than-expected gross margin. SG&A spend was also lower than planned, resulting in an operating margin of 15.5%.

謝謝戴夫，大家下午好。正如戴夫分享的那樣，我們交付的第二季度財務業績超出了我們的預期。健康的賓客參與度和強勁的店內銷售業績支持強勁的銷售增長，推動毛利率好於預期。 SG&A 支出也低於計劃，導致營業利潤率為 15.5%。

Turning to the P&L. Net sales for the quarter increased 10.1%, driven by 8% growth in comp sales, strong new store performance and solid growth in other revenues. Transactions for the quarter increased 9%, primarily, driven by healthy traffic on both channels. Average ticket decreased 1% as the decline in average units per transaction more than offset the impact of higher average selling price. The increase in average selling price was primarily driven by the impact of retail price increases, many of which were executed last year. We estimate price increases contributed about 300 basis points to the overall comp.

轉向損益表。本季度淨銷售額增長 10.1%，主要得益於公司銷售額增長 8%、新店業績強勁以及其他收入的穩健增長。本季度的交易量增長了 9%，這主要是由兩個渠道的健康流量推動的。平均票價下降了 1%，因為每筆交易的平均單位數下降足以抵消平均售價上漲的影響。平均售價的上漲主要是受到零售價格上漲的影響，其中許多是去年執行的。我們估計價格上漲對整體比較貢獻了約 300 個基點。

During the quarter, we opened 3 new stores and relocated 2 stores. In addition, we remodeled 3 stores. Second quarter gross margin decreased 110 basis points to 39.3% compared to 40.4% last year. The decrease was driven by lower merchandise margin, an increase in inventory shrink and higher supply chain costs. Overall merchandise margin was lower due primarily to increased promotional activity, unfavorable category mix and less benefit from the timing of retail price changes. While promotional activity continues to normalize, it is important to note that overall promotions remain well below 2019 levels.

本季度，我們開設了 3 家新店，並搬遷了 2 家店。此外，我們還改造了3家商店。第二季度毛利率下降 110 個基點至 39.3%，而去年同期為 40.4%。下降的原因是商品利潤率下降、庫存縮減加劇以及供應鏈成本上升。整體商品利潤率較低，主要是由於促銷活動增加、品類組合不利以及零售價格變化時機帶來的好處較少。雖然促銷活動繼續正常化，但值得注意的是，整體促銷活動仍遠低於 2019 年的水平。

Inventory shrink continued to be a headwind this quarter. Our efforts to address shrink are having an impact, but the overall environment remains challenging. Today, we have the new fragrance fixtures in more than 50% of our stores and expect to have these installed in 70% of the fleet by year-end. We remain focused on taking action in areas we can control, including continued investment in fixtures, associate training, staffing as well as operational improvements, and leveraging our influence to enact broader changes that will disincentivize unlawful behavior.

庫存縮減仍然是本季度的不利因素。我們解決萎縮問題的努力正在產生影響，但整體環境仍然充滿挑戰。如今，我們超過 50% 的門店都配備了新的香氛裝置，預計到年底將在 70% 的門店安裝這些裝置。我們仍然專注於在我們可以控制的領域採取行動，包括對固定裝置、員工培訓、人員配備以及運營改進的持續投資，並利用我們的影響力實施更廣泛的變革，以抑制非法行為。

Supply chain costs were higher, primarily driven by ongoing investments in our supply chain transformation as we made progress on the retrofit of our Dallas and Greenwood distribution centers and prepared to open our new market fulfillment center in Greer, South Carolina. These gross margin pressures were partially offset by strong growth in other revenue and leverage of store fixed costs due to top line sales growth.

供應鏈成本較高，主要是由於我們對供應鏈轉型的持續投資所致，因為我們在達拉斯和格林伍德配送中心的改造方面取得了進展，並準備在南卡羅來納州格里爾開設新的市場履行中心。這些毛利率壓力被其他收入的強勁增長和頂線銷售增長帶來的商店固定成本槓桿所部分抵消。

SG&A increased 12.4% to $600.7 million. SG&A increased 40 basis points to 23.7% compared to 23.3% last year. The increase in SG&A as a percentage of sales was driven by deleverage of corporate overhead due to strategic investments, planned increases in store payroll and benefits and higher store expenses, which more than offset lower incentive compensation. Corporate overhead expense deleveraged in the quarter primarily due to investments related to our strategic priorities, including Project SOAR, other IT capabilities and UB Media.

SG&A 增長 12.4%，達到 6.007 億美元。 SG&A 比去年的 23.3% 增加了 40 個基點，達到 23.7%。 SG&A佔銷售額百分比的增長是由於戰略投資、計劃增加商店工資和福利以及商店費用增加所導致的公司管理費用的去槓桿化，這足以抵消較低的激勵薪酬。本季度公司管理費用去槓桿化主要是由於與我們的戰略重點相關的投資，包括 Project SOAR、其他 IT 能力和 UB Media。

Year-to-date through the second quarter, we have invested a little less than half of our planned $60 million to $70 million of incremental spend to support our strategic initiatives. The increase in store payroll and benefits was primarily due to the impact of planned growth in average wage rates and increased staffing levels compared to the same period last year. Incentive compensation was a tailwind in the quarter, reflecting operational performance that is more in line with our internal targets compared to last year's significant outperformance.

今年迄今到第二季度，我們已經投入了略低於計劃的 6000 萬至 7000 萬美元增量支出的一半來支持我們的戰略舉措。門店工資和福利的增加主要是由於平均工資率計劃增長以及與去年同期相比人員配備水平增加的影響。激勵性薪酬是本季度的推動因素，反映出與去年的顯著優異表現相比，運營業績更符合我們的內部目標。

Operating income for the quarter was $391.6 million, flat to last year. As a percentage of sales, operating margin decreased 150 basis points to 15.5% compared to 17% last year. Diluted GAAP earnings per share increased 5.6% to $6.02 per share compared to $5.70 per share last year.

該季度營業收入為 3.916 億美元，與去年同期持平。營業利潤率佔銷售額的百分比下降了 150 個基點，降至 15.5%，而去年為 17%。稀釋後 GAAP 每股收益增長 5.6%，達到每股 6.02 美元，而去年為每股 5.70 美元。

Turning to the balance sheet and cash flow statement. Total inventory increased 9% to $1.82 billion compared to $1.67 billion last year, in addition to the impact of 37 additional stores, the increase reflects inventory to support higher demand, increases in product costs and new brand launches.

轉向資產負債表和現金流量表。與去年的16.7 億美元相比，總庫存增加了9%，達到18.2 億美元，除了新增37 家商店的影響外，這一增長還反映了支持更高需求的庫存、產品成本的增加以及新品牌的推出。

Capital expenditures were $95 million for the quarter compared to $49.4 million last year. The increase in capital expenditures was primarily related to investments in IT and supply chain to support our transformational agenda as well as merchandising investments to support the rollout of our luxury assortment and brand expansions.

本季度資本支出為 9500 萬美元，而去年為 4940 萬美元。資本支出的增加主要與支持我們轉型議程的 IT 和供應鏈投資以及支持我們推出奢侈品牌和品牌擴張的商品投資有關。

Depreciation was $61.9 million in the quarter compared to $60.9 million last year. We ended the quarter with $388.6 million in cash and cash equivalents.

本季度折舊額為 6,190 萬美元，而去年為 6,090 萬美元。本季度結束時，我們的現金和現金等價物為 3.886 億美元。

During the quarter, we repurchased approximately 594,000 shares at a cost of $275.5 million. Year-to-date, we have repurchased 1.1 million shares at a cost of $559 million. At the end of the second quarter, we had $541 million remaining under our current $2 billion repurchase authorization.

本季度，我們以 2.755 億美元的成本回購了約 594,000 股股票。年初至今，我們已回購 110 萬股股票，成本為 5.59 億美元。截至第二季度末，我們當前 20 億美元的回購授權還剩 5.41 億美元。

Moving to our outlook. We are updating our guidance for fiscal 2023 to reflect our better-than-expected second quarter performance. We have raised our top line expectations and now project net sales will be between $11.05 million and $11.15 billion, with comp sales growth between 4.5% and 5.5%.

轉向我們的展望。我們正在更新 2023 財年的指導，以反映我們好於預期的第二季度業績。我們提高了營收預期，目前預計淨銷售額將在 1105 萬美元至 111.5 億美元之間，同期銷售額增長率在 4.5% 至 5.5% 之間。

Our updated outlook reflects our strong first half performance while continuing to consider risks and uncertainties that could impact demand in the second half of the year, including rising consumer debt levels and the expected resumption of student loan repayments. We continue to expect comps will moderate to the low single digits in the second half of the year, and we remain on track to open 25 to 30 new stores and renovate or relocate 20 to 30 stores this year.

我們更新的前景反映了我們上半年的強勁表現，同時繼續考慮可能影響下半年需求的風險和不確定性，包括消費者債務水平上升和學生貸款償還的預期恢復。我們仍然預計今年下半年的競爭將放緩至低個位數，並且我們仍有望在今年開設 25 至 30 家新店，並翻新或搬遷 20 至 30 家店。

Reflecting our year-to-date performance, we've raised the low end of the range of operating margin and now expect operating margins for the year will be between 14.6% and 14.8% of sales, with deleverage to come fairly evenly from both gross margin and SG&A. Our expectations reflect the continuation of the trends we experienced through the first half of the year around shrink, promotional activity and supply chain costs as well as greater headwind from lapping the merchandise margin benefits from the timing of retail price increases last year.

為了反映我們今年迄今為止的業績，我們提高了營業利潤率範圍的下限，現在預計今年的營業利潤率將在銷售額的14.6% 至14.8% 之間，去槓桿化將相當均勻地來自於毛利率和毛利率。利潤率和銷售管理費用 (SG&A)。我們的預期反映了我們在今年上半年所經歷的有關收縮、促銷活動和供應鏈成本的趨勢的延續，以及去年零售價格上漲帶來的商品利潤率優勢所帶來的更大阻力。

For modeling purposes, we expect third quarter operating margin will be meaningfully more pressured than what we saw in the second quarter as we lap greater pricing benefits in the third quarter last year as well as a shift of investment spending from Q2 to Q3. As a result, we expect earnings per share for the third quarter will be lower than last year.

出於建模目的，我們預計第三季度營業利潤率將比第二季度面臨更大的壓力，因為我們在去年第三季度獲得了更大的定價優勢，並且投資支出從第二季度轉向第三季度。因此，我們預計第三季度每股收益將低於去年。

Reflecting these updated assumptions, we now expect diluted earnings per share for the year will be between $25.10 and $25.60. As a reminder, fiscal 2023 is a 53-week year. We anticipate the additional week will add between $165 million to $175 million in sales and approximately $0.40 of earnings per share. In closing, our results through the first 6 months of fiscal 2023 highlights the ongoing power and resilience of our business model.

反映這些更新的假設，我們現在預計今年稀釋後每股收益將在 25.10 美元至 25.60 美元之間。提醒一下，2023 財年有 53 週。我們預計額外一周的銷售額將增加 1.65 億至 1.75 億美元，每股收益將增加約 0.40 美元。最後，我們 2023 財年前 6 個月的業績凸顯了我們業務模式的持續力量和彈性。

I'd like to thank our associates for their dedication and commitment to keeping our guests at the center of all we do and giving them more reasons to shop Ulta Beauty. As we look to the future, we are focused on capitalizing on the growth opportunities in the beauty category and executing our strategic framework to deliver long-term sustainable growth for all our stakeholders.

我要感謝我們的員工的奉獻精神和承諾，讓我們的客人成為我們一切工作的中心，並讓他們有更多理由購買 Ulta Beauty。展望未來，我們專注於利用美容領域的增長機會並執行我們的戰略框架，為所有利益相關者實現長期可持續增長。

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) Our first question is from Ashley Helgans with Jefferies.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Ashley Helgans。

To start, maybe any details you can share on how traffic progressed throughout the quarter and what you're seeing now in August? And then also on the fragrances being locked up, have you seen any adverse effects on sales?

首先，您是否可以分享有關整個季度的流量進展以及您在 8 月份看到的情況的任何詳細信息？另外，對於被鎖定的香水，您是否發現對銷售有任何不利影響？

Yes. Ashley, for the quarter, we saw strong traffic throughout the quarter with double-digit traffic. And we continue to be pleased with the engagement that we're seeing, and we saw actual comp performance sequentially accelerate through the quarter as well. And all of those trends are reflected into our updated and elevated guidance for the full year.

是的。阿什利（Ashley），就本季度而言，我們看到整個季度的流量強勁，達到兩位數的流量。我們仍然對所看到的參與度感到滿意，並且我們看到本季度的實際業績也連續加速。所有這些趨勢都反映在我們更新和提高的全年指導中。

On fragrance, the -- I'll let Kecia kind of discuss what we're doing in fragrance and how that's impacting our business.

關於香水，我會讓 Kecia 討論我們在香水方面所做的事情以及這對我們的業務有何影響。

Yes. Actually, we've locked up about 50% of our stores right now. And what we're seeing is in the initial stores that we rolled out the locked fragrance cases for, we actually saw sales improvement because we were in stock with the product and we had it available to the guests. So we're staying very close to that. We're also investing in labor because we don't want to be sales preventative from the guests being able to purchase. So that's a little bit of the investment in labor that you heard earlier from Scott, is that in these stores, we are upping our labor a bit because we want to make sure that we're able to take care of the guests.

是的。事實上，我們現在已經封鎖了大約 50% 的商店。我們看到的是，在我們推出鎖定香水盒的最初商店中，我們實際上看到了銷售的改善，因為我們有該產品的庫存，並且我們可以將其提供給客人。所以我們非常接近這個目標。我們還投資於勞動力，因為我們不想因為客人能夠購買而阻礙銷售。這就是您之前從斯科特那裡聽到的一點勞動力投資，在這些商店中，我們稍微增加了勞動力，因為我們希望確保我們能夠照顧好客人。

So we're staying close to it. The bottom line is that we're pleased that we're able to maintain our in-stock for our guests, and quite frankly, keep the bad actors [out] from coming into our stores.

所以我們正在接近它。最重要的是，我們很高興能夠為客人維持庫存，並且坦率地說，阻止不良行為者進入我們的商店。

Our next question is from Michael Baker with D.A. Davidson.

我們的下一個問題來自 D.A. 的邁克爾·貝克 (Michael Baker)。戴維森。

I'm just curious, you said you expect the beauty industry to grow mid-single digits, yet you're only expecting comps to be up low single digits. And even if you add in store growth, you're still expecting to grow maybe up, but seemingly below the industry. I don't suppose you guys think you're losing share, so I'm just wondering if you can help flesh that out a little bit?

我只是很好奇，你說你預計美容行業將實現中個位數增長，但你只期望競爭將增長低個位數。即使你考慮到商店的增長，你仍然期望增長，但似乎低於行業。我不認為你們認為自己正在失去份額，所以我只是想知道你們是否可以幫助充實這一點？

Yes, I'd say, yes, we do anticipate continuing to gain share. We've done so through the first half of the year, and that is our outlook. The commentary is really as we look into the second half of the year, we see some strength. Engagement continues to be high. Certainly, our business is performing very well. We're attracting new members. We're growing across all key categories, both -- and then in both e-com and stores. But we also see some uncertainty as we get in later into the year.

是的，我想說，是的，我們確實預計會繼續獲得份額。今年上半年我們已經做到了這一點，這就是我們的展望。評論確實是，當我們展望下半年時，我們看到了一些實力。參與度仍然很高。當然，我們的業務表現非常好。我們正在吸引新成員。我們在所有關鍵類別上都在增長，然後在電子商務和商店中都在增長。但隨著今年晚些時候的到來，我們也看到了一些不確定性。

So while we're confident in the category, we're just incorporating into our outlook some full -- some of that. And for the full year, we're looking at revenue in the plus 8% to 9% range, so we anticipate gaining share for the year being ahead of the total category growth. That's -- that will be our plan.

因此，雖然我們對該類別充滿信心，但我們只是將其中的一些內容納入我們的前景中。對於全年，我們預計收入將增長 8% 至 9%，因此我們預計今年的份額增長將領先於整個類別的增長。那就是——這將是我們的計劃。

Our next question is from Olivia Tong with Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題是由 Olivia Tong 和 Raymond James 提出的。

My first question is around prestige versus mass breakout, because you mentioned in skin that you're still seeing strong growth in both prestige and mass. But only in mass for makeup, but you mentioned that the launch of Fenty a year ago was a big contributor. So if you exclude that, are you seeing anything different there? And then going forward, as you think about your expectations on growth in mass versus prestige, what implications may that have on comp, in your view?

我的第一個問題是關於聲望與大眾突破，因為你在皮膚中提到你仍然看到聲望和大眾的強勁增長。但僅限於化妝品，但你提到一年前推出的 Fenty 是一個很大的貢獻者。那麼，如果你排除這一點，你會發現有什麼不同嗎？然後，展望未來，當您考慮對大眾增長與聲望增長的期望時，您認為這可能會對薪酬產生什麼影響？

What was the last part of that question? What was -- could you repeat the last...

這個問題的最後一部分是什麼？是什麼——你能重複一下最後的內容嗎？

Yes. Just the implication on comp, if -- what you're thinking in terms of growth of mass versus prestige across your stores? And what implications that might have in terms of comp if mass becomes a bigger piece of the driver of growth?

是的。只是對補償的影響，如果——您在商店的質量增長與聲望增長方面有何想法？如果質量成為增長驅動力的更大一部分，這可能會對薪酬產生什麼影響？

Well, yes, we -- as I discussed, we've seen strong performance really across our entire assortment as we look at it, but mass has been a bit stronger for a couple of quarters now in -- across our business. And that's driven largely by strong consumer engagement across some key brands in makeup, health, NYX and some others are really hitting the market with great innovation, great marketing, great consumer engagement. And the fact that we offer the full assortment from mass to prestige is a real benefit. We're able to capitalize on strong trends and strong engagements across all aspects of that.

嗯，是的，正如我所討論的，我們在整個產品類別中都看到了強勁的表現，但在我們的業務中，質量在幾個季度以來已經有所增強。這在很大程度上是由化妝品、健康、NYX 等一些主要品牌的消費者的強烈參與推動的，其他一些品牌確實以出色的創新、出色的營銷和消費者參與來打入市場。事實上，我們提供從大眾到聲望的全套產品，這是一個真正的好處。我們能夠利用各個方面的強勁趨勢和強有力的參與。

In skin care, we're seeing brands, particularly in the dermatologist recommended area driving strong growth, and that's great, we -- strong player for us. As we look forward, it's always our intent to continue to adapt and adjust and lean into the areas that are driving growth, find ways to strengthen those that may be more challenged, but we're confident in the outlook going forward. And the fact that we have both is unique. Of course you know that, but the fact that we're the only ones that offer mass, masstige, prestige and a growing, established now, business in luxury.

在皮膚護理領域，我們看到品牌，特別是在皮膚科醫生推薦領域推動強勁增長，這很好，我們是強大的參與者。展望未來，我們始終致力於繼續適應和調整，並專注於推動增長的領域，尋找方法來加強那些可能面臨更大挑戰的領域，但我們對未來的前景充滿信心。事實上，我們兩者都擁有，這是獨一無二的。您當然知道這一點，但事實是，我們是唯一一家提供大眾化、大眾化、聲望以及不斷發展、現已成熟的奢侈品業務的公司。

We're seeing strong points across all. We'll continue to flex and adapt and incorporate it into our comp guidance is our ability to continue to drive growth. But through the first half of the year, we're really pleased with the Mass performance and several brands driving strong growth, and continue to lean in and bring innovation into the prestige side of the business. And collectively, it's working to allow us to gain share across Ulta Beauty.

我們看到了所有方面的優點。我們將繼續靈活調整併將其納入我們的薪酬指導中，這是我們繼續推動增長的能力。但在今年上半年，我們對大眾汽車的表現和幾個品牌推動的強勁增長感到非常滿意，並將繼續努力並將創新帶入業務的聲譽方面。總的來說，它正在努力讓我們在 Ulta Beauty 中獲得份額。

Our next question is from Kate McShane with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的 Kate McShane。

Kate is your line on mute?

凱特，你的線路處於靜音狀態嗎？

Our next question is from Anthony Chukumba with Loop Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 Loop Capital Markets 的 Anthony Chukumba。

Congrats on the solid results. So just a real quick one. You mentioned luxury, and in fact, it's exceeding your expectations. You mentioned launching Pat McGrath Labs. Just -- it's all one related question in just 2 parts.

祝賀取得了紮實的成果。所以只是一個真正的快速的。你提到奢華，事實上，它超出了你的預期。您提到成立帕特·麥格拉思實驗室。只是——這只是一個相關的問題，分為兩部分。

First off, what -- is luxury -- what percentage of your assortment, I guess, is luxury in the stores that it's in? And is it big enough at this point to be a comp driver?

首先，什麼是奢侈品？我猜，您所在的商店裡的商品種類中，有多少比例是奢侈品？目前它是否足夠大以成為競爭驅動程序？

Yes. Won't break out exact percentages. Again, to reiterate, it's in 200 stores. We're really pleased with it, a strong assortment across a number of the very best brands in luxury. Chanel, Dior, NATASHA DENONA, HOURGLASS, an extension of Chanel with Chanel Número Uno, Lancôme, Absolute, now Pat McGrath. A luxury fragrance business with brands like YSL and TOM FORD and Viktor&Rolf.

是的。不會透露具體的百分比。再次重申，它在 200 家商店中都有銷售。我們對此感到非常滿意，它涵蓋了許多最好的奢侈品牌。香奈兒(Chanel)、迪奧(Dior)、娜塔莎·德諾娜(NATASHA DENONA)、沙漏(HOURGLASS)、香奈兒(Chanel) 的延伸，包括Chanel Nömero Uno、蘭蔻(Lancôme)、Absolute，現在是帕特·麥格拉思(Pat McGrath)。一家奢侈香水公司，擁有 YSL、TOM FORD 和 Viktor&Rolf 等品牌。

So we won't get into exact percentages, but it is an important part of our overall strategy. We know there's growth in the luxury side of the business. We've been in luxury for a while, but now with this expanded presence, it is a contributor to our total comp. We're excited about the addition of Pat McGrath, and we'll continue to innovate and evolve and find ways to drive further growth down the road.

因此，我們不會透露確切的百分比，但這是我們整體戰略的重要組成部分。我們知道奢侈品行業正在增長。我們已經進入奢侈品市場一段時間了，但現在隨著業務範圍的擴大，它對我們的總體薪酬做出了貢獻。我們對 Pat McGrath 的加入感到很興奮，我們將繼續創新和發展，並找到推動未來進一步增長的方法。

So yes, we think it's -- we know it's contributing to our growth, and we're excited about our guest response to an expanded luxury experience.

所以，是的，我們認為這是——我們知道它有助於我們的增長，我們對客人對擴大的奢華體驗的反應感到興奮。

Our next question is from Christopher Horvers with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的克里斯托弗·霍弗斯。

Layered gross margin question. So how did shrink in the promotional environment play out in the second quarter relative to your expectations? Have you changed any of your expectations around those line items in the back half? And do you expect any improvement perhaps in the shrink line?

分層毛利率問題。那麼，與您的預期相比，第二季度促銷環境的萎縮情況如何？您是否改變了對後半部分這些訂單項的期望？您預計收縮線會有任何改善嗎？

And then Scott, could you remind us of the price cost headwind that we faced in the third quarter? Because I know that was pretty significant last year.

然後斯科特，您能否提醒我們第三季度面臨的價格成本逆風？因為我知道去年這非常重要。

Sure, Chris. So yes, versus -- we did say, again, versus our expectations for the quarter, we're very happy with the overall financial results we were able to deliver. So breaking it down a little bit more, I'd say merchandise margin was better than what we expected, and so that speaks partially to the promotional lever that people are focused on here. So again, generally better than what we expected, so we can lean in and lean out. That's 1 of the great strengths of our business, being able to have real-time information and be able to take quick action and be agile.

當然，克里斯。所以，是的，我們確實再次說過，與我們對本季度的預期相比，我們對我們能夠交付的整體財務業績感到非常滿意。因此，稍微細分一下，我想說商品利潤率比我們預期的要好，這在一定程度上說明了人們在這里關注的促銷槓桿。再說一次，總體上比我們預期的要好，所以我們可以向前或向後傾斜。這是我們業務的一大優勢，能夠獲得實時信息並能夠快速採取行動並保持敏捷。

I'd say shrink generally directionally about the same as what we saw in the first quarter. As we look out to the rest of the year, we don't really -- we're not anticipating a significant turn and expectations there. We expect it to be tough the rest of the way. And we'll say maybe the fourth quarter may be slightly less negative than it was early part of the year because remember, last year in the fourth quarter was the first time we really called out and quantified what the shrink impact was, so we did have a little bit of a catch-up there. Over -- and then fixed -- store fixed costs we talked about, that was stronger than what we -- going in expectation because sales were a bit stronger than what we thought. And then channel mix overall helped us as well.

我想說的是，總體方向上的收縮與我們在第一季度看到的情況大致相同。當我們展望今年剩餘時間時，我們並沒有真正預期那裡會出現重大轉變和期望。我們預計接下來的路會很艱難。我們會說，也許第四季度的負面影響可能會比今年早些時候稍微減輕一些，因為請記住，去年第四季度是我們第一次真正呼籲並量化收縮影響是什麼，所以我們做了在那裡有一點追趕。超過我們談到的商店固定成本，這比我們的預期要強，因為銷售比我們想像的要強一些。總體而言，渠道組合也對我們有所幫助。

As we look to think about gross margin the second half of the year, I'd say the drivers, the headwinds are consistent with what we've seen in the first half of 2023. Again, we're taking a prudent approach as we always do with our guidance, and we'll work hard to do better than that.

當我們考慮下半年的毛利率時，我想說的是驅動因素，逆風與我們在 2023 年上半年看到的情況一致。同樣，我們在採取謹慎的態度時始終遵循我們的指導，我們將努力做得更好。

And then the price cost in 3Q?

那麼3Q的價格成本是多少？

Yes. So there was -- we -- third quarter last year is where we saw a significant step-up in the pricing increases across the portfolio, and really, the margin benefit started really rolling through in the second quarter and into the back half of the year. So this is really the toughest anniversary point in the year is ahead of us right now, and that's why we're calling out third quarter. Third quarter is kind of peak on a number of different fronts. Again, every year is a little unique, but the third quarter now, we've got a little bit of delays in some of our project work, which is shifting back some of our IT expense into the third quarter. And a lot of that flows through SG&A.

是的。因此，去年第三季度我們看到整個投資組合的定價大幅上漲，實際上，利潤率收益從第二季度開始真正滾動到下半年。年。因此，這確實是今年最艱難的周年紀念日，現在就在我們面前，這就是我們呼籲第三季度的原因。第三季度在許多不同方面都達到了頂峰。同樣，每年都有一點獨特，但現在第三季度，我們的一些項目工作出現了一些延遲，這將我們的一些 IT 費用轉移到了第三季度。其中很大一部分是通過銷售、管理和行政費用（SG&A）流動的。

So we'll see more pressure there than we saw earlier in the year, and then likewise, with gross margin. And a little -- and more moderate sales growth expectations, coupled with cycling over the margin benefits last year from the price increases step up in the back half of the year, putting more pressure on third quarter than maybe some would expect. But again, by the time we get in the fourth quarter and get back to focusing on sales in the holiday, we expect that to bounce back in a healthy manner.

因此，我們會看到比今年早些時候更大的壓力，毛利率也是如此。還有一點——更溫和的銷售增長預期，加上去年下半年價格上漲帶來的利潤率效益的循環，給第三季度帶來的壓力可能比一些人預期的更大。但同樣，當我們進入第四季度並重新關注假期銷售時，我們預計銷售將以健康的方式反彈。

Our next question is from Adrienne Yih with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Adrienne Yih。

Scott, I'm going to stay on that topic with the third quarter. If I'm not mistaken, it seems like about $10 million to $12 million of the SG&A spend perhaps is moving into the third quarter. And if we have a little bit more gross margin pressure, does that imply that EPS could be down sort of high single-digit range? Just wondering if I'm in the right ballpark.

斯科特，我將在第三季度繼續討論這個話題。如果我沒記錯的話，大約 1000 萬至 1200 萬美元的 SG&A 支出可能會進入第三季度。如果我們的毛利率壓力更大一點，這是否意味著每股收益可能會下降到較高的個位數範圍？只是想知道我是否處於正確的位置。

Yes. We don't want to get into quantifying it specifically, Adrienne. But I'd say directionally, you're in the right zip code. So yes, on the SG&A side, that's roughly kind of the shift back into the third quarter on some of the IT spend. And yes, operating margin is going to be down meaningfully versus what we saw earlier this year, and that's going to result in negative EPS growth year-over-year for the third quarter.

是的。我們不想具體量化它，艾德麗安。但我想說的是，你的郵政編碼是正確的。所以，是的，在 SG&A 方面，部分 IT 支出大致回到了第三季度。是的，與我們今年早些時候看到的相比，營業利潤率將大幅下降，這將導致第三季度每股收益同比負增長。

Super helpful. And then to just follow through with the SG&A. So can you help us walk through the phases? I know there's 4 phases of Project SOAR and all of the other investments. It seems like you're running sort of dual structures perhaps on some of the DCs and then the website or, let's call it, 1/3 or half of the year. How should we think about that rolling off? Because a lot of this kind of redundancy will go away next year. I know you're not giving guidance, but just to help us shape sort of what SG&A growth looks like last -- next year? Because it seems like it comes down a lot on the consensus. I just want to make sure we have that correct in our mind.

超級有幫助。然後繼續執行 SG&A。那麼你能幫助我們完成這些階段嗎？我知道 SOAR 項目和所有其他投資有 4 個階段。看起來您可能在某些 DC 上運行某種雙重結構，然後在網站上運行，或者我們稱之為 1/3 或半年的時間。我們應該如何看待這種情況的發生？因為明年很多此類裁員將會消失。我知道您不是在提供指導，而是為了幫助我們塑造去年和明年的銷售管理及行政費用 (SG&A) 增長情況？因為看起來它在共識上下降了很多。我只是想確保我們的想法是正確的。

Adrienne, I'll start, and then I'll kick it over to Scott. So yes, we're in the middle of an ambitious transformational agenda. That's for sure. And part of this is really positioning all parts of the organization for our future efforts, and overall we're really pleased with how our progress is working. But anyone who's taken on this large scale of a project, we definitely have timing shifts that happen because we want to make sure that while we're staying forward, progressing and moving, we are really limited in our distraction and our disruption for our guests and also for our associates.

艾德麗安娜，我先開始，然後把它交給斯科特。所以，是的，我們正處於一個雄心勃勃的轉型議程之中。這是肯定的。其中一部分是為我們未來的努力真正定位組織的所有部分，總的來說，我們對我們的進展感到非常滿意。但對於任何承擔如此大規模項目的人來說，我們肯定會發生時間變化，因為我們希望確保在我們保持前進、進步和前進的同時，我們的干擾和對客人的干擾確實受到限制以及我們的同事。

So we've adopted a few of our time lines and have shifted a couple of the projects from Q2 into Q3, and we might even see some shifting from Q3 into Q4, but we're still on track to spend the $60 million to $70 million incremental to the prior year. And while we've got some of those shifts, we still are very confident that we're going to stay with our overall time line and how things wrapped up by the right time line for next year, which is more mid-2024.

因此，我們採用了一些時間表，並將一些項目從第二季度轉移到第三季度，我們甚至可能會看到一些項目從第三季度轉移到第四季度，但我們仍然有望花費6000 萬美元到70 美元較上年增加萬元。雖然我們已經做出了一些轉變，但我們仍然非常有信心，我們將堅持我們的總體時間表，以及如何在明年（即 2024 年中期）的正確時間表上完成工作。

I'll turn it over to Scott.

我會把它交給斯科特。

Yes, and you're exactly right. We're not providing guidance for 2024 here today, but yes, investors should expect that we will cultivate, recoup benefits from the significant investments that we're making in our core systems year 20 -- '22 into '23 and that we're going to see benefits materialized in 2024 and beyond. Again, you've heard us talk about, these are major initiatives here that we expect to see dividends for a number of years into the future, but I would also caution investors just to be prepared. I mean there's -- we are in the business of growing Ulta Beauty for the long term, and so there's plenty of other great growth initiatives out there that we've got in the queue that we're ready to go tackle. As soon as we get through some of more of this, I'd call core transformation work here in '23 and early 2024.

是的，你說得完全正確。我們今天不會在這裡提供 2024 年的指導，但是，是的，投資者應該期望我們將在 20 年（“22 到 23 年”）的核心系統中進行重大投資，並從中獲得收益。我們將在2024 年及以後看到收益的實現。同樣，您已經聽到我們談論過，這些是這裡的重大舉措，我們預計將在未來幾年內看到股息，但我也提醒投資者做好準備。我的意思是，我們的業務是長期發展 Ulta Beauty，因此還有很多其他偉大的增長計劃，我們已經準備好去解決。一旦我們完成了其中的一些工作，我將在 23 年和 2024 年初將其稱為核心轉型工作。

Our next question is from Kelly Crago with Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的凱利·克拉戈 (Kelly Crago)。

I just have a couple of quick ones on categories. Just on makeup, it looks like makeup's growth decelerated from high singles in 1Q to mid-single to 2Q. Was that driven by a slowdown -- a subsequent slowdown in prestige? Did both decelerate? And how should we think about makeup growing in 2H?

我只是簡單介紹幾個類別。僅就彩妝而言，彩妝的增長似乎從第一季度的高單減速到第二季度的中單。這是由經濟放緩導致的——隨後的聲望下降嗎？兩者都減速了嗎？而我們應該如何看待2H的彩妝增長呢？

And then just secondly on skin, we've heard from some of the brands that maybe there's slowing growth in that category, but you do under index versus the category overall. So just curious whether that dynamic can help offset maybe some weaknesses that we're seeing or starting to see in skin? And any thoughts on the growth there would be great.

其次，在皮膚方面，我們從一些品牌那裡聽說，該類別的增長可能正在放緩，但與整個類別相比，您在指數下的情況確實如此。所以只是好奇這種動態是否可以幫助抵消我們在皮膚中看到或開始看到的一些弱點？任何關於那裡增長的想法都會很棒。

Yes. I'd say on makeup, the main driver is while our -- we're bringing a lot of innovation and newness across that prestige portfolio, lapping -- really, one of the biggest launches in the history of Ulta Beauty with Fenty, lapping that fully in the second quarter is probably the biggest driver. We're excited though as we look forward. I mentioned a few launches that we that we have coming out, Rabanne, Pat McGrath, Polite Society, among others that many of which are exclusive to Ulta Beauty and are coming into our business in the second half of the year.

是的。我想說的是，在化妝品方面，主要的推動力是我們的——我們在這個享有盛譽的產品組合中帶來了很多創新和新鮮感，研磨——實際上，這是Ulta Beauty 與Fenty 歷史上最大的產品之一，研磨第二季度的全面增長可能是最大的推動因素。儘管我們期待著，但我們還是很興奮。我提到了我們已經推出的一些產品，例如 Rabanne、Pat McGrath、Polite Society 等，其中許多是 Ulta Beauty 獨家推出的產品，並將在今年下半年進入我們的業務。

But we anticipate as we lap that launch. We'll continue to see pressure on prestige. Mass continues to drive growth behind great innovation, great engagement. And so we're pleased with the total makeup side of the business even as we address some of the pressure in lapping previous launches.

但我們預計當我們完成該發佈時。我們將繼續看到聲譽面臨的壓力。大眾在偉大的創新和偉大的參與背後繼續推動增長。因此，我們對整個業務的化妝方面感到滿意，儘管我們解決了之前發布的一些壓力。

In the skin care side, yes, we are -- we have somewhat lower share than we do in makeup, but our -- we have established over time a meaningful share position and the fact that we're able to continue to drive growth is, again, a testament to our model, our ability, the strength we have across price points. We're seeing strong healthy growth in both mass and prestige, really leaning into dermatologist recommended space, and believe that we can continue to drive growth going forward and continue to drive share.

在皮膚護理方面，是的，我們的份額比化妝品領域的份額要低一些，但是隨著時間的推移，我們已經建立了有意義的份額地位，而且我們能夠繼續推動增長的事實是再次證明了我們的模式、我們的能力、我們在各個價位上的實力。我們看到質量和聲望都在強勁健康增長，真正傾向於皮膚科醫生推薦的空間，並相信我們可以繼續推動未來的增長並繼續推動份額。

The category, we think, is healthy. As I said, with the total beauty category, we do anticipate some moderation. It's unlikely to see double-digit growth forever, but we're leaning in. We've got a great skin business. Our merchants continue to bring strong innovation. Our store teams are doing a great job educating our guests, and we're delivering a lot of growth and we see more coming.

我們認為這個類別是健康的。正如我所說，對於整個美容類別，我們確實預計會有所節制。不太可能永遠看到兩位數的增長，但我們正在努力。我們的皮膚業務很棒。我們的商家不斷帶來強大的創新。我們的商店團隊在對顧客進行教育方面做得非常出色，我們正在實現巨大的增長，並且我們看到更多的增長即將到來。

Our next question is from Kate McShane with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的 Kate McShane。

Thanks for giving me another chance here to ask our question. I wondered if you could talk a little bit about the strategy behind combining your promotional events like you did this past quarter? And did you see a bigger lift as a result of that change versus last year? And will there be any similar approaches to some of your promotional events being taken in the second half?

感謝您再次給我機會提出我們的問題。我想知道您是否可以談談像上個季度那樣結合促銷活動背後的策略？與去年相比，您是否認為這一變化帶來了更大的提升？下半年你們的一些促銷活動是否會採取類似的做法？

Great. Yes, I almost used your silence to answer any question that I wanted to (inaudible) the earlier Kate, but glad you got back in the queue. We're excited. We -- I think what we did in the second quarter, what our teams did, our merchant marketing, digital, store teams, our go-to-market teams, really, we -- they are continually evaluating how we can get better and how we can elevate the impact, and the summer sale is an example of that. We had strong events, solid events that were delivering for years, but the team, through great consumer insights, continued understanding of guest behavior and full understanding of what unique strengths we bring to the table, reevaluated that.

偉大的。是的，我幾乎用你的沉默來回答我早些時候想（聽不清）凱特的任何問題，但很高興你回到隊列中。我們很興奮。我們——我認為我們在第二季度做了什麼，我們的團隊做了什麼，我們的商家營銷、數字、商店團隊、我們的進入市場團隊，真的，我們——他們正在不斷評估我們如何變得更好，我們如何提高影響力，夏季促銷就是一個例子。我們舉辦了多年來一直在舉辦的精彩活動，但團隊通過深入的消費者洞察、對賓客行為的持續了解以及對我們帶來的獨特優勢的充分理解，重新評估了這一點。

And we're pleased with the results of that event, the Big Summer Sale as well as, really, our entire promotional strategy. It was not a huge acceleration in promotional intensity as much as a smarter strategy, and it worked. Our guests engaged, we attracted new members, it delivered strong comp growth. We saw strength in both stores and on our e-commerce business traffic was healthy. So it's -- frankly, didn't surprise me because I know how the team continues to look for ways to elevate, and it's another example of great strategy leading to a strong execution.

我們對這次活動、夏季大促銷以及我們整個促銷策略的結果感到滿意。這並不是促銷強度的大幅提升，而是一種更明智的策略，而且它奏效了。我們的客人參與其中，我們吸引了新會員，這帶來了強勁的業績增長。我們看到兩家商店的實力都強勁，而且我們的電子商務業務流量也很健康。所以坦率地說，這並不讓我感到驚訝，因為我知道團隊如何繼續尋找提升的方法，這是偉大戰略導致強大執行力的另一個例子。

As we look into the second half of the year, we're evaluating, as we always do, every aspect of our go-to-market strategy. We continue to evolve our efforts. We'll adapt competitive changes, consumer insights and make sure we're delivering at a high level. Sunday, Kate, starts 21 Days of Beauty, 1 of our biggest events of the year. And I think you'll see as that rolls out, a program that's been around for a while, continued innovation and ways to engage our guests in new ways, so we're excited to get that going.

當我們展望今年下半年時，我們將像往常一樣評估我們進入市場策略的各個方面。我們繼續努力。我們將適應競爭變化、消費者洞察，並確保我們提供高水平的服務。週日，凱特，我們今年最盛大的活動之一，21 天美麗活動開始了。我認為，隨著該計劃的推出，您會看到這個已經存在了一段時間的計劃、持續的創新以及以新的方式吸引我們的客人的方法，因此我們很高興能夠實現這一目標。

Our next question is from Oliver Chen with TD Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 TD Cowen 的 Oliver Chen。

This is [Neil] here on for Oliver. I would love to hear more about your thoughts on the broader beauty consumer. Someone made a comment about consumers are being less focused on pricing and kind of trading around different price points, so just curious how that behavior holds against the different macro headwinds you mentioned, particularly student loans? What's your exposure to that? Or how do you quantify that impact as we get closer to the October time frame when that becomes more material?

這是奧利弗的[尼爾]。我很想听聽您對更廣泛的美容消費者的看法。有人評論說消費者不太關注定價和圍繞不同價格點進行交易，所以只是好奇這種行為如何應對你提到的不同宏觀阻力，特別是學生貸款？你對此有何了解？或者，當我們接近 10 月份的時間框架時，當這種影響變得更加重要時，您如何量化這種影響？

Yes. Well, I'd say first of all, we're just pleased overall with the continued engagement that beauty enthusiasts are showing for this category. Coming out of the pandemic for these last a couple of years now, just a high level of engagement. You know how over the long term, last 50 years, this has been a strong growth -- consistently growing category because of the emotional connection that it plays in our guest lives, the importance it has and how they express themselves to the world, and that is more true now than ever. And some of the behaviors and engagement tools that emerge coming out of the pandemic continue to fuel the category. Strong innovation, strong connection through marketing and consumer tools and an increased understanding of the role of beauty to wellness and self-care.

是的。嗯，我首先要說的是，總體而言，我們對美容愛好者對這一類別的持續參與感到滿意。疫情已經過去幾年了，人們的參與度很高。你知道，從長遠來看，過去50 年，這是一個強勁的增長——持續增長的類別，因為它在我們的賓客生活中發揮著情感聯繫、它的重要性以及他們向世界表達自己的方式，以及現在比以往任何時候都更是如此。大流行中出現的一些行為和參與工具繼續推動該類別的發展。強大的創新、通過營銷和消費者工具建立的緊密聯繫以及對美容對健康和自我護理的作用的深入了解。

So when we look at the consumer going forward, we remain confident in the long-term outlook for this category and the strength of the beauty enthusiast to fuel it going forward. As I mentioned in the -- in my comments, there's a lot of uncertainty, and there has been, frankly, for the last couple of years. But we look into the remainder of this year, we know we're lapping. We continue to lap strong growth. We've been on this strong category growth for a while now. We have more changes coming, including student loans. So we're cautious and certainly watching carefully how that evolves.

因此，當我們展望消費者的未來時，我們對該類別的長期前景以及美容愛好者推動其前進的力量仍然充滿信心。正如我在評論中提到的，存在很多不確定性，坦率地說，過去幾年一直存在。但我們看看今年剩下的時間，我們知道我們正在努力。我們繼續保持強勁增長。我們的這一類別的強勁增長已經有一段時間了。我們即將做出更多改變，包括學生貸款。因此，我們持謹慎態度，當然也會仔細觀察事態的發展。

Historically, it's been difficult to tease out any kind of economic or stimulus shift and how directly that impacts the category or our business, and our business and the category itself has been largely resilient. Not immune, but largely resilient. So when we look out, I guess I'd say we're optimistic but watching closely and carefully. Staying really close to our guests, understanding what's happening in their lives and what's influencing their decisions and making sure we're adapting.

從歷史上看，很難弄清楚任何類型的經濟或刺激轉變，以及它如何直接影響該類別或我們的業務，而我們的業務和類別本身在很大程度上具有彈性。不能免疫，但很大程度上有彈性。因此，當我們展望未來時，我想我會說我們很樂觀，但會密切關注。與我們的客人保持密切聯繫，了解他們生活中發生的事情以及影響他們決定的因素，並確保我們能夠適應。

Last thing I'd say, and I know I've said this many times, but our position, our unique model of having all price points and a really accessible experience, both in-store and online positions us well. So even if there's shifts, even if there are pressures on consumers, history says we are able to adapt, and I know that's the strategy that we're implementing to make sure we're here for our guests to deliver regardless of what goes on in the broader environment around them.

我要說的最後一件事，我知道我已經說過很多次了，但我們的地位，我們擁有所有價位的獨特模式以及真正可訪問的體驗，無論是在店內還是在網上，都使我們處於有利地位。因此，即使發生變化，即使消費者面臨壓力，歷史證明我們能夠適應，而且我知道這就是我們正在實施的策略，以確保無論發生什麼情況，我們都會為客人提供服務在他們周圍更廣闊的環境中。

Paul, I think we have time for maybe one more question.

保羅，我想我們還有時間再問一個問題。

Our final question is from Steven Forbes with Guggenheim Securities.

我們的最後一個問題來自古根海姆證券公司的史蒂文·福布斯。

Dave, Scott, you both mentioned in your prepared remarks the expectation for promotions to remain well below 2019 levels. And I was hoping you could just maybe clarify that statement? Is it isolated in 2023? Or is it meant to be a longer-term comment? And as we think about merchandise margin risk in the model, any way to frame what the sort of structural change in promotional activity in the category means for the margin profile in and of itself?

戴夫（Dave）、斯科特（Scott），你們在準備好的發言中都提到，晉升的預期將遠低於 2019 年的水平。我希望你能澄清一下這個說法？ 2023年還隔離嗎？或者這是一個長期的評論？當我們考慮模型中的商品利潤風險時，有什麼方法可以框架該類別促銷活動的結構性變化對利潤狀況本身意味著什麼？

Yes. So when we're talking -- again, this has been an evergreen topic, I think, with investors now for quite a while, pointing back to 2019. So the business is in a much different position today than it was back in 2019. Again, for those that have been following 2019, we had some major disruption in the middle of the year in the makeup category, unexpected deceleration there. There were channel mix headwinds that we were dealing with as a business. There was some investment in some international expansion that was causing some significant deleverage on the business. And so during the course of the pandemic some initiatives that have been started pre-pandemic but during the pandemic, we were able to take advantage of making sure that we fully leverage some of our cost optimization initiatives by way of EFG, and now continuous improvement initiatives layered on top of that.

是的。因此，當我們再次討論時，我認為這一直是一個常青話題，投資者在很長一段時間內都將目光轉向 2019 年。因此，今天的業務狀況與 2019 年時有很大不同。同樣，對於那些關注2019 年的人來說，我們在今年年中的化妝品類別中遇到了一些重大干擾，出現了意想不到的減速。作為一家企業，我們面臨著渠道組合的阻力。對一些國際擴張的一些投資導致了業務的顯著去槓桿化。因此，在大流行期間，一些在大流行前就已開始但在大流行期間開始的舉措，我們能夠利用確保我們通過 EFG 充分利用我們的一些成本優化舉措，現在持續改進在此之上的舉措。

I would say the scale of the business, much larger today than it was back in 2019. So we're going to get the benefit of the fixed store cost leverage in the base business far and above what we were looking at pre-pandemic. Things around our capabilities like ship from store and BOPIS capabilities that really did not exist in any meaningful way back in 2019 that now you heard us say again today. 30% of those digital sales are being serviced out of our store fleet, so a much more efficient delivery to the consumer and a much better overall margin profile of those sales. Things like our credit card program, our Ulta Beauty and Target relationship, UB Media, new business for us, just really out of the starting gate here over the course of the last year, puts us in a much better position overall than we were back in those days.

我想說的是，今天的業務規模比 2019 年要大得多。因此，我們將在基礎業務中獲得固定商店成本槓桿的好處，遠遠超出我們在大流行前的預期。圍繞我們的能力的事情，比如從商店發貨和 BOPIS 能力，在 2019 年確實不存在任何有意義的方式，現在你今天又聽到我們再說一遍。 30% 的數字銷售是由我們的商店提供的，因此可以更有效地向消費者交付產品，並且這些銷售的整體利潤狀況也更好。像我們的信用卡計劃、我們的 Ulta Beauty 和 Target 關係、UB Media 以及我們的新業務，在去年才剛剛起步，使我們總體上處於比原來更好的位置那些日子。

So again, that's not promotion directly, but those -- all those elements play a role in gross margin and operating margin and expanding that over the course of time. So we feel confident that the promotion levels, again, they are going to moderate. We've been talking over the last couple of years that extraordinary environment that we saw in '21 and '22 was not sustainable for the long term. And that -- as people got back in the business and people were back in malls and other retail outlets that the promotion level was probably going to come back to us a little bit, and that's kind of how -- what we're seeing play out today.

再說一次，這不是直接促銷，而是那些——所有這些因素都在毛利率和營業利潤率中發揮著作用，並隨著時間的推移而擴大。因此，我們相信促銷水平將會再次放緩。過去幾年我們一直在談論我們在 21 和 22 年看到的非凡環境從長遠來看是不可持續的。隨著人們重新回到商場和其他零售店，促銷水平可能會稍微回饋給我們，這就是我們所看到的情況今天出來了。

So again, there's nothing unexpected here. It was in our forecast, our plans for the year. We're moderating and navigating our way through that in an effective manner, and again, nothing -- I don't think anything that should be overly concerning to investors. Again, we're confident that we're going to be able to manage our way through that with new capabilities, new lines of business, our loyalty program and CRM capabilities being much more mature today than they were back in the pre-pandemic days.

再說一次，這裡沒有什麼意外的。這是我們的預測和今年的計劃。我們正在以有效的方式調節和引導這一過程，再說一次，沒有什麼——我認為投資者不應該過度擔心任何事情。再次強調，我們相信，我們將能夠通過新功能、新業務線、我們的忠誠度計劃和 CRM 功能來管理我們的方式，這些功能比大流行前的日子要成熟得多。

So we're confident, we're going to be able to deliver healthy operating margins in that 14% to 15% range and a very moderate growth expectation of 3% to 5%. So feeling good about our position and where we're headed for the future.

因此，我們有信心能夠實現 14% 至 15% 範圍內的健康營業利潤率以及 3% 至 5% 的非常溫和的增長預期。因此，我們對我們的地位以及我們未來的發展方向感覺良好。

Great. Well, thank you all for joining us today. I appreciate your interest and engagement in Ulta Beauty. I want to close by thanking all of our Ulta Beauty associates for their continued care for our guests while delivering another quarter of strong financial results. We look forward to speaking to all of you again when we report results for the third quarter on November 30.

偉大的。好的，謝謝大家今天加入我們。我感謝您對 Ulta Beauty 的興趣和參與。最後，我要感謝所有 Ulta Beauty 員工對我們客人的持續關懷，同時又取得了強勁的財務業績。我們期待在 11 月 30 日報告第三季度業績時再次與大家交談。

Thanks again, and have a good evening.

再次感謝，祝您晚上愉快。

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。