Petco Health and Wellness Company Inc (WOOF) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon and welcome to the Petco fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that this event is being recorded.

下午好，歡迎參加 Petco 2024 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，此事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Tina Romani, Head of Investor Relations and Treasury. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給投資者關係和財務主管蒂娜·羅馬尼 (Tina Romani)。請繼續。

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining Petco's fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings conference call. In addition to the earnings release, there is a presentation available to download on our website at ir.petco.com summarizing our results. On the call with me today are Joel Anderson, Petco's Chief Executive Officer; and Sabrina Simmons, Petco's Chief Financial Officer.

大家下午好，感謝您參加 Petco 2024 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。除了收益報告外，我們的網站 ir.petco.com 上還有一份可供下載的演示文稿，其中總結了我們的業績。今天與我一起通話的還有 Petco 的執行長 Joel Anderson；以及 Petco 財務長 Sabrina Simmons。

Before they begin, I'd like to remind everyone that on this call, we will make certain forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. These risks and uncertainties include those set out in our earnings materials and SEC filings.

在開始之前，我想提醒大家，在這次電話會議上，我們將做出某些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受許多風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與這些陳述有重大差異。這些風險和不確定性包括我們的收益資料和美國證券交易委員會文件中列出的風險和不確定性。

In addition, on today's call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these measures can be found in our earnings release, presentation, and SEC filings.

此外，在今天的電話會議上，我們將參考某些非公認會計準則財務指標。這些措施的對帳可以在我們的收益報告、簡報和美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 文件中找到。

With that, let me turn it over to Joel.

說完這些，讓我把麥克風交給喬爾。

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the Petco brand. What started as a single store in 1965 has grown into a fleet of over 1,500 stores in North America, allowing us to reach approximately three in four people in the United States who live within 10 miles of a Petco.

大家下午好，感謝大家今天的參與。 2025年是Petco品牌成立60週年。Petco 成立於 1965 年，最初只有一家門市，如今已發展成為北美擁有 1,500 多家門市的大型連鎖企業，能夠覆蓋居住在 Petco 門市 10 英里範圍內的美國約四分之三的居民。

As we celebrate the company's history, we also have an opportunity to reinvent our iconic brand for the future and position the business to regain share in the large but highly fragmented market. This includes broadening our brand and vision from a singular focus on health and wellness to serving all pets and pet parents while tapping into the emotional connection to pets inherent in our brand DNA.

在我們慶祝公司歷史的同時，我們也有機會重塑我們未來的標誌性品牌，並使業務重新獲得龐大但高度分散的市場中的份額。這包括拓寬我們的品牌和願景，從單一關注健康和保健到服務所有寵物和寵物父母，同時挖掘我們品牌 DNA 中固有的與寵物的情感聯繫。

Before I discuss today's results, I want to briefly reflect on my tenure to date at Petco. Culture is something that has always been important to me as a CEO. It is an area of Petco that needed immediate attention but is also not something that changes overnight. It takes consistency and authenticity to evolve the mindset of our broader teams for increased transparency, accountability, and teamwork. As part of this, I've been actively engaged, visiting and working in our pet care centers, distribution warehouses, holding small group listening sessions, which I call Coffee Connects, as well as large town halls.

在討論今天的結果之前，我想先簡單回顧一下我在 Petco 任職至今的情況。作為一名首席執行官，文化對我來說一直很重要。這是 Petco 需要立即關注的領域，但也不是一夕之間就能改變的。我們需要一致性和真實性來改變我們更廣泛團隊的思維方式，以提高透明度、責任感和團隊合作精神。作為其中的一部分，我積極參與，參觀和工作在我們的寵物護理中心、配送倉庫，舉辦小組聽力會議（我稱之為“咖啡連接”）以及大型市政廳。

I found our team members responding well to the message and appreciative of the openness about what we need to do to improve this great brand once again. I want all 30,000 partners to know how committed I am to them and express my opportunism about the long-term opportunity in front of us. In my prepared remarks today, I will provide you with specific details of what we have accomplished and what is on the horizon to continue our progress.

我發現我們的團隊成員對這條訊息反應良好，並且對我們需要做些什麼來再次改善這個偉大的品牌表示讚賞。我想讓所有 30,000 名合作夥伴知道我對他們的承諾，並表達我對我們面前的長期機會的機會主義。在我今天的準備好的發言中，我將向你們提供我們已經取得的成就以及我們將繼續取得進展的具體細節。

In addition to the internal changes underway, we also benefit from operating in a resilient market. The pet category is expected to reach $200 billion in the next five years, and the ongoing humanization of pets continues to be a powerful tailwind, one that we are all well positioned to benefit. Additionally, services is the fastest-growing area of the pet category, where we have an established leadership position and a differentiated model of owned grooming and vet locations at scale.

除了正在進行的內部變革之外，我們還受益於在有彈性的市場中運作。預計未來五年寵物類別的市場規模將達到 2000 億美元，而寵物的持續人性化將繼續成為強大的推動力，我們都將從中受益。此外，服務是寵物類別中成長最快的領域，我們在該領域擁有穩固的領導地位，並擁有規模化的自有美容和獸醫診所的差異化模式。

Most importantly, our Petco team brings our mission to life with their passion for pets and dedication to serving our customers. It is against this backdrop I believe firmly that Petco is the only retailer that can deliver complete care for pets and expert support for pet parents in one stop.

最重要的是，我們的 Petco 團隊憑藉對寵物的熱愛和對服務客戶的奉獻精神將我們的使命變為現實。正是在這樣的背景下，我堅信 Petco 是唯一一家能夠一站式提供全面寵物護理和寵物主人專家支援的零售商。

Let's turn to our results. In the fourth quarter, we delivered revenue of $1.55 billion, in line with our prior outlook, and adjusted EBITDA of $96.1 million, which was ahead of our expectations. Our results demonstrate the progress we've made to return the business model to retail operating excellence and drive structural cost out. While there is more work ahead, I am confident we are going to reset our long-term economic model starting this year and are well positioned to build on this early momentum and deliver double-digit growth on adjusted EBITDA year-over-year in 2025.

讓我們來看看我們的結果。第四季度，我們的營收達到 15.5 億美元，符合我們先前的預期，調整後 EBITDA 為 9,610 萬美元，超出我們的預期。我們的結果表明，我們在將業務模式恢復到卓越的零售營運並降低結構性成本方面取得了進展。雖然未來還有更多工作要做，但我相信，我們將從今年開始重新設定我們的長期經濟模式，並有能力在這一早期勢頭的基礎上再接再厲，在 2025 年實現調整後 EBITDA 同比增長兩位數。

Let me now unpack in greater detail our long-term phased approach to delivering on Petco's full potential. Starting with Phase 1, which is well underway. Over the last six months, I have relentlessly focused on: one, improving the operating model; two, giving our stores a voice; and three, restoring our retail fundamentals.

現在，讓我更詳細地闡述我們為充分發揮 Petco 潛力而採取的長期分階段措施。從第一階段開始，目前進展順利。在過去的六個月裡，我一直堅持不懈地專注於：一、改善營運模式；二、讓我們的商店發出聲音；第三，恢復我們的零售基本面。

Quite frankly, our foundational practices were not those of a successful consumer business and needed overhauling. We have made great progress on all three and are strengthening the foundation for Petco to return to sustainable, profitable growth.

坦白說，我們的基礎實踐並不符合成功的消費品業務的實踐，需要徹底改革。我們在這三個方面都取得了巨大進展，並正在為 Petco 恢復可持續獲利成長奠定基礎。

The successful evolution of our leadership team is a critical enabler of this work. Each of our leaders bring a wealth of retail industry expertise and a proven track record for delivering and driving results, and they are already accelerating our operational improvements. Specifically, as CFO, Sabrina Simmons brings more than 20 years of executive financial leadership experience in consumer retail. She will help us harness the collective expertise of the wider leadership team by driving increased financial rigor and discipline around our initiatives.

我們領導團隊的成功演變是這項工作的關鍵推動因素。我們的每位領導者都擁有豐富的零售業專業知識和交付和推動成果的良好記錄，他們已經在加速我們的營運改善。具體來說，身為財務官，Sabrina Simmons 在消費零售領域擁有 20 多年的高階主管財務領導經驗。她將幫助我們利用更廣泛的領導團隊的集體專業知識，推動我們各項計劃的財務嚴謹性和紀律性。

As Chief Customer and Product Officer, Michael Romanko will drive the transformation of the Petco brand from product development to presentation to messaging with a focus on tapping into the unparalleled joy and love pets bring to our lives. This spans the uniqueness of proprietary brands, how well we tell the story of our national brands and customer-centric marketing strategies. And Jack Stout transitioned into our Chief Merchant role, where he has been institutionalizing best-in-class retail practices across our buying teams as well as merchandising operations and supply chain.

作為首席客戶和產品官，Michael Romanko 將推動 Petco 品牌從產品開發到展示再到訊息傳遞的轉型，重點是挖掘寵物為我們的生活帶來的無與倫比的快樂和愛。這涉及專有品牌的獨特性、我們如何講述我們的國家品牌的故事以及以客戶為中心的營銷策略。傑克·斯托特 (Jack Stout) 轉任我們的首席商務官，負責在我們的採購團隊以及商品銷售營運和供應鏈中製度化一流的零售實踐。

Additionally, last year, we welcomed Joe Venezia as Chief Revenue Officer, who is focused on optimizing our real estate portfolio while maximizing growth in our existing store and hospital fleet; Dan Calista, as Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, who is building the internal capabilities to execute on our transformation; and Holly May, who has supported all these leadership changes as our Chief Human Resources Officer. I'm incredibly excited to be working along this fantastic team to unlock Petco's full potential.

此外，去年我們歡迎 Joe Venezia 擔任首席營收官，他專注於優化我們的房地產投資組合，同時最大限度地促進我們現有商店和醫院隊伍的增長；丹·卡利斯塔 (Dan Calista) 擔任首席戰略和轉型官，負責構建內部能力以執行我們的轉型；以及 Holly May，她作為我們的首席人力資源官支持所有這些領導層變動。我非常高興能夠與這個出色的團隊一起努力釋放 Petco 的全部潛力。

Across our pet care, distribution, and support centers, our leadership team is helping the entire organization, fundamentally change the way we think and work to ensure all aspects of the business are operating effectively and seamlessly. Collectively, we are committed to reinvigorating our culture, and I believe we now have the right cost controls in place and are executing against them with urgency.

在我們的寵物護理、分銷和支援中心，我們的領導團隊正在幫助整個組織從根本上改變我們的思維和工作方式，以確保業務的各個方面有效、無縫地運作。總的來說，我們致力於重振我們的文化，我相信我們現在已經實施了正確的成本控制措施，並且正在緊急執行。

As we enter 2025, we will continue to identify additional opportunities to drive savings and unlock value. This brings me to Phase 2. With a seasoned leadership team in place and greater control over our cost footprint, we are currently in Phase 2 of our long-term strategy, which is all about implementing and executing to strengthen our retail fundamentals. Specifically, merchandising continues to be the greatest near-term opportunity for us to drive gross profit improvement. We have completed negotiations with our vendors and put in place a rigorous product cost framework designed to reduce product costs and support gross margin improvement in 2025 and beyond.

進入 2025 年，我們將繼續尋找更多機會來推動節約並釋放價值。這讓我進入了第二階段。我們擁有經驗豐富的領導團隊，對成本足跡有了更好的控制，目前正處於長期策略的第二階段，該策略旨在實施和執行以加強我們的零售基本面。具體來說，商品銷售仍然是我們推動毛利成長的最大近期機會。我們已經完成與供應商的談判，並建立了嚴格的產品成本框架，旨在降低產品成本並支持 2025 年及以後的毛利率提高。

In today's more challenging economic and consumer environment, we recognize the consumer remains discerning, and it is critical that we always have the right products at the right price. To that end, we conducted a detailed review of our product assortment and are optimizing it to more closely align to consumer demand and preferences. Specifically, we are allocating more of our focus in shelf space to top-selling brands and high-velocity SKUs across categories.

在當今更具挑戰性的經濟和消費環境中，我們認識到消費者仍然具有辨別力，因此我們始終以合適的價格提供合適的產品至關重要。為此，我們對我們的產品組合進行了詳細審查，並對其進行了最佳化，以更貼合消費者的需求和偏好。具體來說，我們將把更多的貨架空間重點分配給各個類別的暢銷品牌和高週轉率 SKU。

In addition, we're continuing to sharpen our approach to pricing and have established a strategic pricing framework by category. This allows us to offer quality across the value spectrum with competitive price points while also protecting margins.

此外，我們正在繼續完善我們的定價方法，並已按類別建立了策略定價框架。這使我們能夠以具有競爭力的價格提供各種價值範圍內的優質產品，同時也能保護利潤。

Next, to further lower costs and strengthen the economic model, we are laser-focused on driving efficiencies throughout the organization. Part of our pricing work, we have refocused our promotional strategy to move away from low-margin revenue and toward more impactful targeted opportunities. We are now executing more targeted promotions and seeing favorable initial results.

其次，為了進一步降低成本和加強經濟模式，我們致力於提高整個組織的效率。作為定價工作的一部分，我們重新調整了促銷策略，從低利潤收入轉向更有影響力的目標機會。我們現在正在實施更有針對性的促銷活動，並看到了良好的初步效果。

We're also optimizing our customer support infrastructure, which includes our call center, vendor partnerships and physical locations of our support teams. We expect these actions to reduce friction for the customer while also removing costs from the system. And within e-commerce, we've identified opportunities to reduce the cost per order in the number of split shipments, increasing overall shipping efficiencies, and delivering speed.

我們也正在優化我們的客戶支援基礎設施，其中包括我們的呼叫中心、供應商合作夥伴關係和支援團隊的實際位置。我們希望這些措施能夠減少客戶的摩擦，同時降低系統成本。在電子商務領域，我們發現了透過分批發貨來降低每筆訂單成本、提高整體運輸效率和交貨速度的機會。

Taken together, these actions are not only improving profitability, but they are delivering exceptional customer service. Across our pet care centers, we are continuing to evolve our labor model to reduce in-store tasking and free our team up to spend more time with our customers. And we're taking actions to improve overall customer satisfaction, including reducing click-to-delivery time for our e-commerce customers and increasing visibility into order tracking for omnichannel customers.

總的來說，這些措施不僅提高了獲利能力，而且還提供了卓越的客戶服務。在我們的寵物護理中心，我們正在不斷改進我們的勞動模式，以減少店內任務，讓我們的團隊有更多的時間與客戶相處。我們正在採取行動提高整體客戶滿意度，包括減少電子商務客戶的點擊到交付時間，並提高全通路客戶的訂單追蹤可見度。

In addition, during this phase of implementing and executing, the entire leadership team is busy studying the pet category, the market opportunities, the competition and getting to know the superpowers of our internal teams. It is important that before we turn our full attention to growth, our actions are rooted in deep data and analysis. I'm pleased with the early Phase 2 progress to further strengthen the fundamentals of the business as well as the identification of additional opportunities to drive savings and unlock value.

此外，在實施和執行階段，整個領導團隊正忙於研究寵物類別、市場機會、競爭並了解我們內部團隊的超能力。重要的是，在我們全力專注於成長之前，我們的行動必須植根於深度資料和分析。我對第二階段的早期進展感到滿意，這進一步加強了業務基礎，並發現了推動節省和釋放價值的更多機會。

Let me spend a few minutes now on Phase 3, which should begin in earnest late 2025. While we are 100% focused on executing on our initiatives to drive profit improvement, we are also preparing for the third phase of our trajectory, revenue growth. As we position the business to return to offense, we will begin to see and test revenue growth initiatives. Allow me to share several examples.

現在，請容許我花幾分鐘時間討論第三階段，該階段將於 2025 年底正式啟動。在我們全力以赴執行推動利潤成長的措施的同時，我們也在為發展軌蹟的第三階段——營收成長——做準備。當我們將業務定位為重返進攻時，我們將開始觀察和測試收入成長計劃。請容許我分享幾個例子。

One, central to the growth will be the customer and product work currently underway led by Michael Romanko. In his initial days, he has begun to evaluate a more cohesive approach to communicating with our customer. He is also focused on better utilizing our internal product development capabilities to source unique products just for Petco, both differentiating us from the market and increasing our relevance with pet parents.

首先，成長的核心是目前正在進行的由 Michael Romanko 領導的客戶和產品工作。在他任職初期，他就開始評估一種與客戶溝通的更具凝聚力的方法。他也致力於更好地利用我們的內部產品開發能力，為 Petco 採購獨特的產品，既使我們在市場上脫穎而出，又提高了我們與寵物主人的相關性。

Two, we are engaged in a comprehensive North Star project to fully understand our positioning in the competitive landscape and where the clear white space is for Petco to win with customers. We expect to complete that work by the end of second quarter.

二，我們正在進行一項全面的北極星項目，以充分了解我們在競爭格局中的定位以及 Petco 贏得客戶的明顯空白所在。我們預計在第二季末完成這項工作。

Three, it is important we identify ways to make our store fleet more productive as well as study which DMAs are underserved by Petco. That work kicked off in Q1 of this year.

第三，重要的是我們要找到提高門市生產力的方法，並研究 Petco 對哪些 DMA 的服務不足。這項工作於今年第一季啟動。

Four, we will also look to enhance our omnichannel capabilities and digital experience to stimulate growth, including revisiting and scaling our membership program in 2026.

第四，我們還將尋求增強全通路能力和數位體驗以刺激成長，包括在 2026 年重新審視和擴展我們的會員計畫。

And five, we will continue to invest in services opportunities, the fastest-growing area of the pet category, where we have an established leadership position and a differentiated model. All these actions and more will gain momentum once we have successfully implemented the actions of Phase 2 that I outlined for you earlier. Collectively, they are designed to identify new ways to elevate the Petco brand, enhance the customer experience, and build top line momentum. I look forward to providing periodic updates on our progress as we prepare the organization to shift to offense.

第五，我們將繼續投資服務機會，這是寵物類別中成長最快的領域，我們在該領域已確立領導地位並擁有差異化模式。一旦我們成功實施了我先前為您概述的第二階段行動，所有這些行動以及更多行動都將獲得動力。總的來說，它們旨在尋找提升 Petco 品牌、增強客戶體驗和打造營收成長動能的新方法。當我們為組織轉向進攻做準備時，我期待定期更新我們的進度。

Before I hand it over to Sabrina, let me reiterate that I'm pleased with the progress we have made in 2024 to strengthen our retail fundamentals and set the foundation for sustainable, profitable growth. While there is more work ahead, we are operating from a stronger position today, and we have a detailed multi-phased approach in place for continued improvements. I am confident we have the right strategy and team in place to reach our full potential over time. Sabrina?

在將權力移交給薩布麗娜之前，請允許我重申，我對我們在 2024 年取得的進展感到滿意，這些進展鞏固了我們的零售基本面，為可持續的盈利增長奠定了基礎。雖然未來還有更多的工作要做，但我們今天的營運狀況更加良好，並且我們制定了詳細的多階段方法來持續改進。我相信我們擁有正確的策略和團隊，能夠隨著時間的推移充分發揮我們的潛力。薩布麗娜？

Thank you, Joel, and good afternoon, everyone. I'm thrilled to be joining all of you today. I feel fortunate to step into this position at such a pivotal time for Petco. So I didn't really imagine I'd be taking on another operating role. The potential before us was frankly just too hard to resist. Echoing Joel's comments, Petco is an incredible brand. And with the work the teams have underway, we'll hold an increasingly differentiated position within the large and resilient pet category.

謝謝你，喬爾，大家下午好。我很高興今天能和大家一起參加這次會議。我很幸運能夠在 Petco 如此關鍵的時刻擔任這個職位。所以我真的沒有想到我會擔任另一個營運職務。坦白說，我們面前的潛力實在太難抗拒了。與喬爾的評論一致，Petco 是一個令人難以置信的品牌。隨著團隊的不斷努力，我們將在大型且有彈性的寵物類別中佔據越來越差異化的地位。

Serving on the Board over the past few years has allowed me a running start in focusing on the key areas that will support improvement in our operating and financial performance. As you've heard from Joel over the past several quarters, our focus remains improving profitability, which we believe in large part will result from improved execution. Our number one financial priority is clear, restoring the health of our economic model, which in turn will improve our earnings power and set the foundation for sustainable, profitable growth over the long term.

過去幾年在董事會任職的經驗讓我能夠優先關注那些有助於改善我們營運和財務表現的關鍵領域。正如您在過去幾個季度從喬爾那裡聽到的那樣，我們的重點仍然是提高盈利能力，我們相信這在很大程度上將源於執行力的提高。我們的首要財務重點很明確，那就是恢復經濟模式的健康，這反過來會提高我們的獲利能力，並為長期可持續的獲利成長奠定基礎。

Specifically, we are focused on three areas. First is an intense focus on driving gross margin improvement both in terms of rate and dollars. Principally, this means we will no longer chase sales at the expense of margin. Instead, we will look to maximize all levers at our disposal, including AUC, pricing and promotions and mix to improve our gross margin rate. While this takes time and requires great attention to detail, it represents a foundational tenet of managing a healthier business. And that's what excites me. The focus on simply strengthening retail fundamentals presents such opportunity to improve our earnings power.

具體來說，我們將重點放在三個方面。首先，要高度重視提高毛利率和毛金額。原則上，這意味著我們將不再以犧牲利潤為代價來追求銷售。相反，我們將尋求最大限度地利用我們掌握的所有槓桿，包括 AUC、定價和促銷以及組合，以提高我們的毛利率。雖然這需要時間並且需要高度重視細節，但它代表了管理更健康業務的基本原則。這就是令我興奮的事情。僅僅專注於加強零售基本面就為提高我們的獲利能力提供了機會。

A great example would be our services business. Work on our existing fleet of vet hospitals is underway, where the teams are optimizing our current locations that are not at full utilization. Optimizing existing hospitals is a highly efficient way to drive services growth and improve our services margin with minimal capital. That is just one example, but again, a simple back-to-retail fundamentals approach that will have a meaningful benefit to our margin structure over time.

我們的服務業務就是一個很好的例子。我們現有的獸醫院隊伍的建設工作正在進行中，團隊正在優化目前尚未充分利用的醫院位置。優化現有醫院是推動服務成長、以最少的資本提高服務利潤率的有效方法。這只是一個例子，但同樣，簡單的回歸零售基本面方法將隨著時間的推移對我們的利潤結構產生重大影響。

Moving to our second priority. Leveraging SG&A will be a key pillar of our strengthened economic model, ensuring all aspects of our business are operating effectively while instilling cost discipline across the organization. To be clear, this is not a onetime cost-cutting exercise but rather an operating principle and shift in our mindset, resulting in greater efficiency, agility, and increased productivity, all of which will require a higher level of accountability and discipline across every aspect of our business, which brings me to our third priority, the imperative to improve our return on invested capital by installing new rigor and discipline into our capital allocation decisions.

轉向我們的第二要務。利用銷售、一般及行政費用將成為我們強化經濟模式的重要支柱，確保我們業務的各個方面有效運作，同時在整個組織內灌輸成本紀律。需要明確的是，這不是一次性的成本削減措施，而是一種經營原則和思維方式的轉變，從而提高效率、靈活性和生產力，所有這些都要求我們業務的各個方面都具備更高水平的責任感和紀律性，這讓我想到了我們的第三個優先事項，即通過在我們的資本配置決策中引入新的嚴謹性和投資紀律性來提高我們的資本品回報率。

Our focus on these three pillars, gross margin expansion, SG&A leverage, and ROIC, will improve profitability, and quite importantly, free cash flow generation. I look forward to discussing all of these topics further both today and in our conversations to come.

我們重點關注這三大支柱，即毛利率擴張、銷售、一般及行政費用槓桿和投資回報率，這將提高盈利能力，而且相當重要的是，提高自由現金流的產生。我期待在今天以及未來的對話中進一步討論所有這些主題。

Now, I'll go into our fourth quarter results, followed by our outlook for 2025. Fourth quarter comparable sales were up 50 basis points year-over-year. For the quarter, net sales were $1.55 billion, in line with the prior outlook. When comparing net sales to the prior year, it's important to note that the fourth quarter of 2023 benefited from an additional week.

現在，我將介紹我們第四季的業績，然後介紹我們對 2025 年的展望。第四季可比銷售額較去年同期成長50個基點。本季淨銷售額為 15.5 億美元，與先前的預期一致。當將淨銷售額與上一年進行比較時，值得注意的是，2023 年第四季受益於額外一周的時間。

Fourth quarter gross profit decreased about 3% to $589 million, primarily reflecting the impact from the loss of the 53rd week in 2024. Fourth quarter gross margin increased 180 basis points to 38%. The majority of the increase is driven by the lapping of an inventory impairment charge in the fourth quarter of last year, with the remainder driven by progress on margin management.

第四季毛利下降約3%至5.89億美元，主要反映了2024年第53週損失的影響。第四季毛利率增加180個基點至38%。大部分成長是由於去年第四季庫存減損費用的累積，其餘成長則是由於利潤率管理的進展。

Moving on to expenses. Total SG&A was $571.9 million or 36.8% of net sales, an increase of approximately 60 basis points versus last year, primarily driven by consulting fees and incentive compensation associated with our ongoing transformation efforts. Adjusted EBITDA was $96.1 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin rate of 6.2%, down approximately 10 basis points versus last year.

繼續討論費用。銷售、一般及行政費用總額為 5.719 億美元，佔淨銷售額的 36.8%，比去年增加約 60 個基點，主要原因是我們正在進行的轉型工作相關的諮詢費和獎勵薪酬。調整後的 EBITDA 為 9,610 萬美元，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 6.2%，較去年下降約 10 個基點。

Regarding the balance sheet and cash flow, a critical goal for us is to achieve a debt-to-EBITDA leverage ratio below 2 times. Clearly, this will take time and will require profitability improvement through the tenets I spoke about earlier, which we are pursuing with urgency. In the short term, we're focused on making incremental progress as evidenced by the steps forward we made in 2024, including $50 million of positive free cash flow and an improved cash balance of $182 million.

關於資產負債表和現金流，我們的一個關鍵目標是實現債務與 EBITDA 槓桿率低於 2 倍。顯然，這需要時間，並且需要透過我之前談到的原則來提高獲利能力，我們正在緊急追求這一目標。短期內，我們專注於取得漸進式進展，正如我們在 2024 年取得的進展所證明的那樣，包括 5000 萬美元的正自由現金流和 1.82 億美元的改善現金餘額。

Now, turning to our outlook for 2025. Of note, our outlook excludes any estimated impact of potential tariffs, where the dynamics remain quite volatile. To be helpful in providing some perspective on potential impact, there are a few points I can share. The most direct tariff exposure sits within our own brands. Inventory purchases from China, Canada, and Mexico for our own brands represent only about 5% of our total merchandise cost of goods sold.

現在，我們來展望一下 2025 年。值得注意的是，我們的展望不包括任何潛在關稅的預期影響，因為關稅的動態仍然相當不穩定。為了有助於提供一些關於潛在影響的觀點，我可以分享幾點。最直接的關稅風險來自於我們自己的品牌。我們自有品牌從中國、加拿大和墨西哥購買的庫存僅占我們總商品銷售成本的 5% 左右。

Our indirect exposure sits primarily within our national brands. We are fortunate to have strong vendor relationships at scale, which provide productive conversations and supply flexibility as we partner together to navigate fluid dynamics and uncertainty. We, like everyone, are closely monitoring the situation as developments continue to unfold, and we'll leverage our flexible supply chain to mitigate any potential impact.

我們的間接曝光主要集中在我們的國家品牌。我們很幸運能夠與規模龐大的供應商建立牢固的關係，這為我們合作應對流體動力學和不確定性提供了富有成效的對話和供應靈活性。與所有人一樣，我們正在密切關注事態發展，並將利用我們靈活的供應鏈來減輕任何潛在的影響。

With that, for the full year, we expect overall net sales to be down low single digits to last year. Of note, we closed 25 net locations in 2024 and ended the year with 1,398 pet care centers in the US. In 2025, we expect to close between 20 to 30 net locations. We expect adjusted EBITDA to be between $375 million and $390 million. Within this guidance and following the framework laid out earlier in my remarks, our goal would be to expand gross margin rate each quarter on a year-over-year basis, albeit modestly initially, and to leverage SG&A.

因此，我們預計全年整體淨銷售額將比去年下降個位數。值得注意的是，我們在 2024 年關閉了 25 個網路地點，年底在美國擁有 1,398 個寵物護理中心。2025 年，我們預計將關閉 20 至 30 個網路網點。我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 將在 3.75 億美元至 3.9 億美元之間。在此指導下並遵循我之前發言中列出的框架，我們的目標是每個季度都比去年同期提高毛利率（儘管最初幅度不大），並利用銷售、一般和行政費用。

With regards to other guidance items for the full year, we expect depreciation and amortization to be approximately $200 million, net interest expense of approximately $130 million and approximately $130 million to $140 million of capital expenditures with a greater focus on ROIC.

關於全年的其他指導項目，我們預計折舊和攤提約為 2 億美元，淨利息支出約為 1.3 億美元，資本支出約為 1.3 億至 1.4 億美元，更加重視 ROIC。

Now, let me share some perspective on our outlook for the first quarter. Broadly, we expect the first quarter to align to the economic model framework I've outlined for the year. Specifically, we expect net sales to be down low single digits versus the prior year and adjusted EBITDA to be between $82 million and $83 million, up approximately 9% year-over-year at the midpoint.

現在，讓我分享一些我們對第一季展望的看法。總體而言，我們預計第一季將與我為今年概述的經濟模型框架保持一致。具體而言，我們預計淨銷售額將比上年下降個位數，調整後的 EBITDA 將在 8,200 萬美元至 8,300 萬美元之間，中間值年增約 9%。

Before opening up for Q&A, I just wanted to reiterate my optimism for the opportunities in front of us. With a seasoned leadership team now in place, a defined framework to strengthen our economic model and operational improvements underway, I'm confident we are establishing a solid foundation for Petco to return to long-term profitable growth.

在開始問答之前，我只想重申我對我們面前的機會的樂觀態度。現在，我們擁有一支經驗豐富的領導團隊，一個明確的框架來加強我們的經濟模式，並且正在進行營運改進，我相信我們正在為 Petco 恢復長期盈利增長奠定堅實的基礎。

With that, we welcome your questions.

我們歡迎您提出問題。

(Operator Instructions) Guggenheim, Steve Forbes.

（操作員指示）古根漢，史蒂夫福布斯。

Joel, I'd be curious, right? You lay out the phases here, Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3. A lot of us want to look out to Phase 3 and the return to growth. So maybe just talk about the infrastructure, whether it's supply chain infrastructure or digital capabilities that you may need to invest behind and/or improve now that you've got the people in place. Like what other sort of larger moves or larger investments do you need to lean into to really ready the business for that Phase 3?

喬爾，我很好奇，對吧？您在這裡佈置各個階段，第 1 階段、第 2 階段、第 3 階段。我們很多人都希望看到第三階段和恢復成長。因此，也許只談論基礎設施，無論是供應鏈基礎設施還是數位化能力，現在您已經擁有了人員，您可能需要對其進行投資和/或改進。例如，您需要採取哪些其他更大規模的措施或進行更大規模的投資，才能真正為第三階段做好業務準備？

So I think it was important I laid out for all of you a specific plan for our long-term growth objectives. And clearly, Phase 1 is something I started in on right away. And I'd summarize that as stabilized profitability, as you said, get the leadership team in place and improve culture. And right now, we are right smack in the middle of this whole phase of implementing and executing. And then as it relates to Phase 3, which I'm sure you're all anxious about, what's more important, though, is that we've really got to stay focused on this implementation and execution phase of getting our costs back under control and delivering improved EBITDA.

因此，我認為向大家製定一個關於長期成長目標的具體計畫非常重要。顯然，我馬上就開始了第一階段的工作。正如您所說，我將其總結為穩定的盈利能力、建立領導團隊並改善文化。現在，我們正處於整個實施和執行階段的中間。然後，關於第三階段，我相信你們都很焦慮，但更重要的是，我們必須真正專注於這個實施和執行階段，以控制我們的成本並提高 EBITDA。

I don't see any significant infrastructure investments that we've got to make, but we just got to be more disciplined, Steve, about how we go about delivering improved EBITDA. And specifically, Sabrina talked a lot about our discipline around ROIC. And I think that is something that we weren't probably as diligent on as we had to before. But there's not a significant infrastructure investment we've got to make in order to start to get back to driving offense.

我認為我們不需要進行任何重大的基礎設施投資，但我們必須更加自律，史蒂夫，關於如何實現更高的 EBITDA。具體來說，薩布麗娜談了很多關於 ROIC 的學科。我認為我們可能沒有像以前那樣勤奮地對待這件事。但是，我們不需要進行大量的基礎設施投資就可以開始恢復駕駛違規行為。

Yeah. Maybe just to add on to what Joel said, Steve. Of our total CapEx spend this year, about 40% is against what we'd call expansion capital. So within that 40%, we are investing in IT infrastructure, including digital. And we are investing in a lot of testing like for remodels and all of that. So we are queuing up for our phase to regrowth within that capital spend. I just wanted you to know rest assured that it's not all just maintenance capital.

是的。也許只是想補充喬爾所說的話，史蒂夫。我們今年的總資本支出中，約有 40% 是我們所謂的擴張資本。因此，在這 40% 中，我們正在投資 IT 基礎設施，包括數位基礎設施。我們正在投資大量測試，例如改造等。因此，我們正在排隊等待在資本支出範圍內重新成長的階段。我只是想讓你放心，這不僅僅是維護資本。

Thanks, Sabrina.

謝謝，薩布麗娜。

That's super helpful. And then maybe a follow-up on that. As we think about sort of this ROIC fixation and as you deploy capital, Sabrina, I think you mentioned optimizing, right, existing vet hospitals. So can you maybe talk about what is the current -- like what's driving the difference in performance among the hospitals today? Is it just an issue with like real estate location? Or is it operations? Like -- because that was obviously a big initiative of the past team. Like what are you guys doing as you think about optimizing that initiative?

這非常有幫助。然後也許會對此進行跟進。當我們考慮這種 ROIC 固定以及您部署資本時，薩布麗娜，我想您提到了優化現有的獸醫醫院。那麼，您能否談談目前的情況—是什麼導致了當今各醫院的績效差異？這僅僅是房地產地點的問題嗎？還是操作？就像——因為這顯然是過去團隊的重大舉措。當你們考慮優化該計劃時，你們做了什麼？

Yeah, Steve, that strategy remains very important to us. First of all, we have a relatively new fleet of hospitals. So the first thing we've got to do is continue to staff up all those hospitals, more marketing to them, making customers aware we have them. And that is a very low capital investment and a strong return on investment as we've already invested in the capital to build them. And so now we've got to really get them staffed and tell people that they're there.

是的，史蒂夫，這個策略對我們來說仍然非常重要。首先，我們的醫院隊伍相對較新。因此，我們要做的第一件事就是繼續為所有醫院配備人員，向他們進行更多的行銷，讓客戶知道我們有這些醫院。這是一項非常低的資本投資，但投資回報率很高，因為我們已經投入了資金來建造它們。所以現在我們必須為他們配備人員並告訴人們他們的存在。

Steven Zaccone, Citi.

花旗銀行的史蒂文‧扎科內 (Steven Zaccone)。

Sabrina, I was curious for your assessment coming into the business. When you look at the opportunity here for EBITDA improvement, what do you see as some of the low-hanging fruit that maybe should have done years ago? And what gets you most excited about getting some margin opportunity in the future?

薩布麗娜，我很好奇你對這個行業的評價。當您看到這裡提高 EBITDA 的機會時，您認為哪些是幾年前就應該實現的、唾手可得的成果？那麼，什麼事情最讓您對未來獲得一些利潤機會感到興奮呢？

Thanks for the question, Steve. I mean, you could probably hear in my voice. I've just been so excited to be here because I think the opportunity before us is immense. And I know that many of my colleagues who are new to the team also saw this enormous opportunity for this great brand to return to greater economic health. And as Joel has said in a couple of his past calls, the most exciting part of looking at this is it's really just fundamental retail that it's not something super unique. It's really about working every lever of the business properly to improve profitability.

謝謝你的提問，史蒂夫。我的意思是，你可能從我的聲音中聽出來了。我很高興來到這裡，因為我認為我們面前的機會是巨大的。我知道，許多新加入團隊的同事也看到了這個偉大品牌恢復更大經濟健康的巨大機會。正如喬爾在過去的幾次電話會議中所說的那樣，最令人興奮的是，這實際上只是基本的零售，並不是什麼非常獨特的東西。這其實就是要合理利用業務的每個槓桿來提高獲利能力。

And so this year, as I said in my remarks, we have an opportunity to really go after in a disciplined manner gross margin expansion. And that means every lever, working with our vendors on the AUC part, working on pricing, stopping promo stacking, all sorts of levers within that line item.

因此，正如我在演講中所說，今年我們有機會以有紀律的方式真正追求毛利率的擴大。這意味著每一個槓桿，與我們的供應商在 AUC 部分合作，制定定價，停止促銷堆疊，以及該專案中的各種槓桿。

And then on the SG&A line, we're so committed. Like I said, it's really a mindset change, where we're just looking at efficiency and effectiveness everywhere we go and commitment to leveraging SG&A. And you guys know the retail math. If you're able to do that, when we start to regrow sales, that flow-through of sales is just a beautiful thing. And that's the opportunity on EBITDA before us, and it's, I think, super exciting.

然後在銷售、一般及行政費用方面，我們非常投入。就像我說的，這實際上是一種思維方式的轉變，我們只關注所到之處的效率和效益，並致力於利用銷售、一般和行政費用 (SG&A)。你們了解零售數學。如果你能做到這一點，當我們開始重新增加銷售時，銷售額的流動將是一件美好的事情。這就是我們面臨的 EBITDA 機會，我認為這非常令人興奮。

And then I guess the commentary, Joel, about merchandise improvement, could you just elaborate a little bit more there? How much of that is working more with stuff that's already in the store versus getting better allocations of stuff that you don't already have? I'm curious because we've gone through a period where prior team talked about not having enough mass product. We've added that to the store. So just help us understand what the merchandise improvements are.

然後我想問一下，喬爾，關於商品改進的評論，您能否再詳細闡述一下呢？其中有多少是更多地利用商店中已有的物品，而不是更好地分配您還沒有的物品？我很好奇，因為我們經歷過一個時期，之前的團隊談論沒有足夠的大眾產品。我們已將其添加到商店。所以請幫助我們了解商品改進是什麼。

Yeah, Great question, Steve. And it's -- there's two sides to that. One is when I look at our unique merchandising model, what got me excited about this business is this nice balance between consumables and discretionary. On the consumables side, what we've been really focused on is improving our in-stock. And so we put in place a new inventory system last year. That's helped significantly. And on the discretionary side, that's about innovation, newness and trend right. And I think that we have a big opportunity there to drive a better impulse buying. So that's on the merchandise side.

是的，史蒂夫，問得好。這有兩面性。一是，當我看到我們獨特的行銷模式時，讓我對這項業務感到興奮的是消耗品和非必需品之間的良好平衡。在消耗品方面，我們真正關注的是改善我們的庫存。因此我們去年就建立了新的庫存系統。這有很大幫助。從自由裁量權的角度來看，這涉及創新、新穎性和趨勢。我認為我們有很大機會推動更好的衝動購買。這就是商品方面的情況。

On the initiatives that are underway that are already starting to gain traction, we've gotten better at vendor negotiation. We've gotten better at assortment optimization, and we've sharpened our pricing approach. And all of those combined is what you'll start to really see take traction here in this Phase 2 that I call implementing and executing. But hopefully, that gives you a really good overview of how we're thinking about the merchandising model.

在正在進行並已開始獲得關注的舉措中，我們在供應商談判方面已經取得了更好的成績。我們在產品分類優化方面取得了更好的進展，我們的定價方法也更加完善。所有這些結合起來，你會開始真正看到在第二階段（我稱之為實施和執行）中取得進展。但希望這能讓您很好地了解我們對商品銷售模式的看法。

Michael Lasser, UBS.

瑞銀集團的麥可拉瑟。

Joel, given some of the commentary and the plan that you've outlined, along with comparing Petco's performance in the fourth quarter to its largest pure-play pet specialty competitor, it would seem like the message is we are willing to sacrifice some sales and market share, at least in the short run, to improve the profitability and establish the foundation for the long run. So a, is that a fair interpretation? And b, how do you get the market share back, especially if customers are gravitating to other outlets? How do you rewin those customers over the long term?

喬爾，根據您所概述的一些評論和計劃，並將 Petco 在第四季度的表現與其最大的純寵物專業競爭對手進行比較，似乎我們願意犧牲一些銷售額和市場份額，至少在短期內，以提高盈利能力並為長期奠定基礎。那麼，這是一個公平的解釋嗎？b、您如何重新獲得市場份額，尤其是當顧客轉向其他門市時？您如何才能長期重新贏得這些客戶？

I think that's a fair assessment. And take that as an example of how disciplined we are about returning this great brand to growth. And so part of that discipline is really understanding all levers that we had. And quite frankly, we were chasing sales in several instances that long term had no LTV to them. And so while in the short term that was needed, that by no means is our long-term goal. And I think -- if I think of the long-term potential, I think success looks like we've strengthened our profitability. We've improved our cash flow. We've lowered our leverage, which Sabrina outlined in detail. And then Petco is a growing retailer.

我認為這是一個公平的評價。以此為例，說明我們如何嚴格要求自己，讓這個偉大的品牌恢復成長。因此，該學科的一部分實際上是了解我們擁有的所有槓桿。坦白說，在許多情況下，我們都在追求長期沒有 LTV 的銷售。因此，雖然短期內這是必要的，但這絕對不是我們的長期目標。我認為——如果我考慮長期潛力，我認為成功看起來就像我們增強了盈利能力。我們改善了現金流。我們已經降低了槓桿率，薩布麗娜對此進行了詳細說明。然後 Petco 是一家成長中的零售商。

And so what you'll see in Phase 3, which will start to emerge in the back half of this year and the beginning of next year, is that we will begin to identify levers of growth. And I outlined specifically four or five areas that I'm focused on, Michael. And we will test our way into those and make sure that they are promising. And -- but that will be the third phase, absolutely, that we'll focus on.

因此，您將在第三階段看到，該階段將在今年下半年和明年年初開始出現，我們將開始確定成長槓桿。我具體概述了我關注的四、五個領域，麥可。我們將對這些方法進行測試，並確保它們有前景。而且——但這絕對是我們重點關注的第三階段。

And if I could ask a quick follow-up question. I look like your guidance for this year is embedding an expectation that your comps are flat to maybe slightly negative. So if that's the case, how do you manage your SG&A in light of that? And at some point, do you run the risk of touching customer-facing activities that could result in it being more challenging to return to growth when that phase will occur?

我可以問一個簡單的後續問題嗎？我看起來，您對今年的指導嵌入了這樣一種預期：您的同店銷售額將持平甚至略微下降。那麼如果情況確實如此，您如何管理銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A)？在某個時候，您是否會冒著接觸面向客戶的活動的風險，這可能會導致在該階段恢復成長變得更具挑戰性？

I'll start. It's a great question, Michael. We are absolutely customer-focused. And part of this whole foundation building that we're talking about in 2025, which is so critical before we turn even more of our focus to regrowth, is really making sure that we are addressing our customer needs.

我先開始。這是一個很好的問題，邁克爾。我們絕對以客戶為中心。我們在 2025 年談論的整個基礎建設的一部分，在我們將更多的注意力轉向重新增長之前，這一點至關重要，它實際上是為了確保我們能夠滿足客戶的需求。

So SG&A, again, it's about leverage. It's not about onetime cut programs. It's all about leveraging what we have. And there's many, many areas to go after. And this is something in my former life I have lots and lots of experience with. There are so many areas to go after that don't touch our customer with in no way harm our customer experience. That's our number one goal, is to please our customers.

因此，銷售、一般和行政費用再次與槓桿有關。這與一次性削減計劃無關。一切都是為了充分利用我們所擁有的一切。還有許多領域需要探索。這是我過去生活中經歷過的很多事情。我們還有很多工作要做，既不影響我們的客戶，也不以任何方式損害我們的客戶體驗。我們的首要目標就是讓客戶滿意。

Yeah. And Michael, I might just add to that. If you allow me some rounding, don't look too far deep into that because we shared with you we closed 25 stores last year. Most of those happened right at the end of the fourth quarter and then closing 20 to 30 this year. That right there just adds up to a couple of points of decline. And those were -- obviously, we wouldn't be closing those stores if they were profitable. So a lot of the improved EBITDA comes just from removing some stores that were dragging us backwards. But I think Sabrina, you outlined it perfectly.

是的。邁克爾，我可能還會補充一點。如果您允許我進行一些四捨五入，請不要深入研究，因為我們告訴過您，我們去年關閉了 25 家商店。其中大多數發生在第四季度末，今年則接近 20 到 30 個。這就意味著下降了幾個點。顯然，如果這些商店盈利的話，我們就不會關閉它們。因此，EBITDA 的提高很大程度上來自於關閉一些拖累我們發展的商店。但我認為薩布麗娜，你的概述非常完美。

Oliver Wintermantel, Evercore.

奧利佛·溫特曼特爾，Evercore。

My question is regarding your EBITDA, the flow-through to free cash flow. If you maybe could give us a little bit of details of how you think the EBITDA is converting into free cash flow in 2025.

我的問題是關於您的 EBITDA，即流入自由現金流。您能否向我們詳細介紹一下您認為 2025 年 EBITDA 將如何轉換為自由現金流。

Yeah. There's a lot of variables, as you know, a number of factors that impact free cash flow. If you think about how we've just guided 2025 adjusted EBITDA, up 14% at the midpoint, one of the biggest levers to cash flow in 2025 will be that improved profitability. After that, we will continue working all our working capital levers. And there are several there. We may even look during the year to do a little investing of inventory, again, with this obsession about making sure our customers' needs are met. We may do a little bit of investing in inventory to make sure we're in stock, but we have other levers within working capital to offset that. So that's how we're thinking about cash flow for 2025.

是的。如您所知，有很多變量，許多因素都會影響自由現金流。如果您想想我們剛剛指導的 2025 年調整後 EBITDA（中點增長 14%），那麼 2025 年現金流的最大槓桿之一就是盈利能力的提高。此後，我們將繼續運用所有營運資金槓桿。那裡有好幾個。我們甚至可能在年內考慮對庫存進行一些投資，同樣是為了確保滿足客戶的需求。我們可能會對庫存進行少量投資以確保有庫存，但我們在營運資金中還有其他槓桿來抵消這一點。這就是我們對 2025 年現金流的思考。

And then maybe as a follow-up, can you talk a little bit how you expect the mix shift to be playing out this year, supplies, hard goods versus services?

然後作為後續問題，您能否稍微談談您預計今年的組合轉變將如何發生，供應、耐用品與服務？

Yeah, I guess the good news is we are not relying on any mix shift into supplies out of consumables to meet our guidance. If that happens, wonderful tailwind, fantastic. But we're not relying on that to deliver our guidance.

是的，我想好消息是我們不會依賴任何混合轉移到消耗品供應來滿足我們的指導。如果發生這種情況，那將是美妙的順風，太棒了。但我們並不依賴它來提供指導。

Simeon Gutman, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的西蒙古特曼。

I wanted to ask about your perception on price and vital care. Stepping back, looking at the offering how much value there is. I think this company has done a lot of work on pricing and narrowing gaps. And I'm asking also in the context because one of the competitors has that rewards program where they're giving 5% back. It seems like your offering is still in the right place, but I wanted to get your perception.

我想詢問您對價格和重要護理的看法。退一步來看，看看這個產品有多少價值。我認為這家公司在定價和縮小差距方面做了很多工作。我問這個問題也是因為其中一個競爭對手有一個獎勵計劃，可以回饋 5%。看起來您的提議仍然是正確的，但我想聽聽您的看法。

Look, price was one of the things we were working on before I even got in here, and we implemented thousands of price changes in the fall to be more competitive, both up and down. And so I feel like we're in a really good place on price right now. And -- but obviously, that's something that's dynamic. And we've now gotten better at just monitoring that week in, week out, month in, month out.

你看，價格是我們在我來這裡之前就一直在努力的事情之一，我們在秋季實施了數千次價格調整，以提高競爭力，包括上漲和下跌。所以我覺得我們現在的價格處於一個很好的位置。而且 — — 但顯然，這是動態的。現在，我們已經能夠更好地進行週復一周、月復一月的監控。

So our price is in a good spot from a perception place. And then as far as vital care goes, long term, the membership program is really important for us. And we're in the process of making that even better, doing some enhancements to it. And I think that will be one of the levers we'll look at that will help us drive growth in 2016 and beyond.

因此從感知角度來看，我們的價格處於一個良好的位置。就長期的重要照護而言，會員計畫對我們來說確實非常重要。我們正在努力使它變得更好，並對它進行一些增強。我認為這將是我們要考慮的槓桿之一，幫助我們推動2016年及以後的成長。

But we feel really good about our membership program and expect to see that continue to grow as we have both a free membership program and a paid membership program. So we're pretty far down that path, and I think we can make it better, Simeon.

但我們對我們的會員計劃感到非常滿意，並希望看到它繼續增長，因為我們既有免費會員計劃，也有付費會員計劃。所以我們在這條道路上已經走了很遠了，我認為我們可以做得更好，西緬。

And one follow-up. I mean, no one explicitly asked what the implied comp is. I know we are talking -- we talked about it, but curious if you can share what implied comp is. And then what does the industry do in -- because it looks like it's growing slightly again. And curious if it ends up being better or what kind of assumptions that you're building in such that you can get comp to positive.

還有一個後續行動。我的意思是，沒有人明確詢問隱含的補償是什麼。我知道我們正在談論——我們談論過這個，但我很好奇你是否可以分享一下隱含補償是什麼。那麼這個行業會做什麼呢——因為它看起來又開始略微成長了。我很好奇最終結果是否會更好，或者您建立了什麼樣的假設，以便可以獲得積極的結果。

Yeah. Look, our assumption on it is that we're not waiting for the industry to recover. This 2025 is a self-help year for Petco. And we can clearly deliver on what we shared with you today by driving internal operational and profit improvements that are not dependent on the industry. So like other things Sabrina shared, if the industry grows and we take our fair share, that's another tailwind for us.

是的。看，我們的假設是，我們不會等待產業復甦。2025年對Petco來說是自救的一年。我們可以透過推動不依賴產業的內部營運和利潤改進，明確兌現我們今天與你們分享的目標。因此，就像薩布麗娜分享的其他事情一樣，如果產業發展壯大，我們也能獲得公平的份額，那麼這對我們來說就是另一個順風。

Yeah, And just to underscore that, with the guidance down low single digits on sales, that's the range. We're not counting on a positive comp to achieve our adjusted EBITDA guidance. But there, again, if it comes, and we welcome all customers, if it comes, great, it's just tailwind.

是的，只是為了強調這一點，由於銷售額預期下降了個位數，這就是範圍。我們並不指望透過積極的業績來實現調整後的 EBITDA 指引。但是，如果它來了，我們歡迎所有顧客，如果它來了，那就太好了，這只是順風。

Zach Fadem, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的紮克法德姆。

This is David Lantz on for Zach. With sales expected down by single digit in Q1, curious if you can talk about the shape of Q2 to Q4 in a bit more detail and whether there's anything to keep in mind in terms of timing of store closures this year.

大衛·蘭茲 (David Lantz) 代替扎克 (Zach) 發言。預計第一季銷售額將下降個位數，我很好奇您是否可以更詳細地談談第二季至第四季的情況，以及在今年門市關閉時間方面是否有需要注意的事項。

Yeah, I'll start off there. I mean, where we try to be really helpful is giving you the shape of the P&L that we are trying to achieve as a goal each and every quarter. So again, just as a reminder, our goal would be to expand gross margin every quarter on a year-over-year basis. I'm not talking sequentially. I'm talking year-over-year and to leverage SG&A. And so we just march that economic model right through every single quarter, and that is the goal.

是的，我就從那裡開始。我的意思是，我們真正想要提供幫助的是向您提供我們每季想要實現的損益表的形狀。所以，再次提醒一下，我們的目標是每季的毛利率都比去年同期增加。我不是照順序講的。我指的是逐年成長並利用銷售、一般及行政開支。因此，我們每季都會推行這種經濟模式，這就是目標。

And as far as store closures, we can't give you anything definitive on that. But I think if you thought about it as one-third, two-third, first half of the year, second half of the year, I think that's a reasonable range. And then obviously, we handle them on an individual basis as their leases come up.

至於商店關閉的問題，我們無法給您任何明確的消息。但我認為，如果你把它想像成三分之一、三分之二、上半年、下半年，我認為這是一個合理的範圍。顯然，隨著他們的租約到期，我們會根據具體情況進行處理。

And then Fresh Frozen remains a standout. So I was just curious if you could talk about the drivers of that and how that's performing relative to the industry.

而《新鮮冰凍》依然是其中的佼佼者。所以我很好奇您是否可以談談其驅動因素以及其相對於行業的表現。

Look, I mean, Fresh Frozen relative to the industry is still one of the faster growers. It's an area we've been in for a long time, invested in, and it's an area you should see us continue to expand in. I feel really strong about our Fresh Frozen capabilities, and that will be another potential growth lever for us down the road as we explore that further.

我的意思是，相對於整個產業而言，新鮮冷凍食品仍然是成長較快的食品之一。我們已經在這個領域深耕了很長時間，進行了投資，而且您應該會看到我們在這個領域繼續擴張。我對我們的新鮮冷凍能力感到非常滿意，隨著我們進一步探索，這將成為我們未來的另一個潛在成長槓桿。

Peter Benedict, Baird.

彼得·本尼迪克特，貝爾德。

One, just staying on the stores. The 20 to 30 net closures this year, is that a run rate that we should expect to continue maybe in out years? Just curious kind of what the longer-term viewpoint is on kind of the store fleet. That's my first question.

第一，只留在商店。今年淨關閉 20 至 30 家門市，我們是否應該預期這種關閉速度在未來幾年內還會持續？只是好奇對於商店車隊的長期觀點是什麼。這是我的第一個問題。

Yeah, I wouldn't read too much into that. With a fleet of 1,500 store -- sorry, 1,400 stores, you're going to do some optimizing every single year. I think probably the way to think about the net closure number is we're not actually opening a lot of stores against that, and that's why maybe the net closure looks a little bit bigger. But the theme here is that we own a lot of assets already on our balance sheet that we strongly believe we can make more productive.

是的，我不會對此進行過多的解讀。擁有 1,500 家商店——抱歉，是 1,400 家商店，您每年都需要進行一些優化。我認為，考慮淨關閉門市數量的方式可能是，我們實際上並沒有開設很多門市，這就是為什麼淨關閉門市數量看起來更大一些的原因。但這裡的主題是，我們的資產負債表上已經擁有大量資產，我們堅信我們可以提高這些資產的生產力。

And so job one is taking the assets we own on our balance sheet and really making those work. And then we will look to the future to regrow. And some of that may come in the form of course of more stores, more to come. But I wouldn't read into too much of the two years of about 25 closures.

因此，首要任務是將我們擁有的資產納入資產負債表並真正發揮其作用。然後我們將展望未來，重新成長。當然，其中的一些可能形式是開設更多的商店，將來還會有更多。但我不會對這兩年約 25 家門市倒閉事件進行過多解讀。

And then my next question was on the merchandise differentiation efforts. You kind of talked a little bit just recently here about the Fresh Frozen. I'm just curious if there's anything else in consumables that you have your eyes on. Is it brands? Is it owned brands. And also on supplies, how do you achieve that? I know there's been some efforts around that already. But just curious, any more insights you can share on where you're looking to go.

我的下一個問題是關於商品差異化努力。您最近在這裡談論了一點有關新鮮冷凍食品的事情。我只是好奇您是否還在關注其他消耗品。是品牌嗎？是自有品牌嗎？還有關於供應，您是如何實現這一目標的？我知道已經有人為此做了一些努力。但只是好奇，您能否分享更多關於您想去的地方的見解？

Look, I think the best insight to share on that is just to be a little bit broad with you all, is -- as I've gotten firmly planted, we've named Jack as our Chief Merchant. I'm starting to get out in the field and doing some top-to-tops with our top suppliers. And I would tell you we just have great relationships with our vendors. They want to see Petco succeed. They like the discipline we put in place, the transparency we're having at the top. And what that will translate into is opportunities. And they are talking to us about brands they're working on, ideas they're working on.

聽著，我認為最好的見解就是與大家分享一點，那就是——正如我已經牢牢紮根的那樣，我們已任命傑克為我們的首席商人。我開始走出去，與我們的頂級供應商進行一些高層合作。我想告訴你，我們與供應商的關係非常好。他們希望看到 Petco 取得成功。他們喜歡我們實行的紀律和高層的透明度。而這將轉化為機會。他們正在和我們談論他們正在建立的品牌和正在實施的想法。

And I'm really excited about the prospects that are out there. But I think specifically, that will all come as we move down the year. And as shared with you right now, we're optimizing our store, really focused on the top sellers and what's driving the business. So we're in the middle of a big reset that's going to happen here and a big optimization of our overall consumables. But I don't see any limit to some new ideas. We talked about fresh and frozen. Cat business is really strong, and we'll get more specific as we move on down the year. But this has really been focused on redeveloping relationships with the vendor community.

我對目前的前景感到非常興奮。但我具體地認為，這一切都將隨著今年的到來而實現。正如現在與您分享的那樣，我們正在優化我們的商店，真正專注於暢銷商品和推動業務發展的因素。因此，我們正處於一次大重置之中，這次重置將對我們的整體消耗品進行大規模優化。但我認為新想法是沒有限制的。我們討論了新鮮和冷凍的問題。貓業務確實很強勁，隨著今年的進展，我們將獲得更具體的資訊。但這實際上側重於重新發展與供應商社群的關係。

Kendall Toscano, Bank of America.

肯德爾·托斯卡諾，美國銀行。

Just curious as you're doing all this work to optimize the assortment. Any update on how you're thinking about differentiation for Petco at a high level and where the opportunities are, whether it's on the consumables or general merchandise?

只是好奇您為何要做這些工作來優化產品分類。您能否介紹一下您如何從高層角度考慮 Petco 的差異化，以及機會在哪裡，無論是在消費品還是日用百貨方面？

I'm not at a point that I want to talk about it openly. But I would tell you the marching orders for the team here has really been about looking at newness, looking at where there's innovation and testing new product out there. And that's why we're in Phase 2 right now, not Phase 3. And what's more important right now is that we get our cost infrastructure back under control and deliver on the three principles that Sabrina outlined in detail.

我還沒到想公開談論此事的地步。但我想告訴你，這裡團隊的行動其實是尋找新事物，尋找創新之處並測試新產品。這就是為什麼我們現在處於第二階段，而不是第三階段。現在更重要的是，我們要重新控製成本基礎設施，並實現薩布麗娜詳細概述的三個原則。

And then if I could just ask one more. Any more color on how traffic versus pricing looked during the quarter within the 0.5% comp?

然後我是否可以再問一個問題。在 0.5% 的比較範圍內，本季的流量與價格狀況還有什麼詳情嗎？

I think we're just -- we're looking at every lever to drive our position that we've guided to. So it's not one lever that we're looking to overuse. So really, there's no big call-out there.

我認為我們只是——我們正在尋找每一個槓桿來推動我們所引導的立場。因此，我們不想過度使用這個槓桿。所以實際上，並沒有什麼大的呼籲。

Seth Basham, Wedbush Securities.

韋德布希證券公司的塞思·巴沙姆（Seth Basham）。

Maybe just to clarify and reiterate in terms of your EBITDA guidance, 14% increase at the midpoint. What are the largest building blocks? And if you can help us quantify those, that would be very helpful.

也許只是為了澄清和重申您的 EBITDA 指導，中間值增加了 14%。最大的構建塊是什麼？如果您能幫助我們量化這些，那將會非常有幫助。

Well, the two biggest levers are this notion of expanding gross margin and leveraging SG&A. And we are going to use both of them. We're not leaning into one at the expense of the other. We're going to be balanced. We're going to be flexible. We're going to be adaptable. And so those are our big two levers, and we're laser-focused on delivering that.

那麼，最大的兩個槓桿就是擴大毛利率和利用銷售、一般和行政費用。我們將同時使用它們。我們不會為了其中一個而犧牲另一個。我們會保持平衡。我們將採取靈活措施。我們將具有適應能力。這就是我們的兩大槓桿，我們專注於實現它們。

The store closures represent a material improvement, I would assume, within that 14% growth you're expecting. Can you clarify or quantify that and tell us what any other primary key drivers are?

我認為，關閉商店代表著實質的改善，在您所預期的 14% 的增長範圍內。您能否澄清或量化這一點並告訴我們其他主要關鍵驅動因素是什麼？

Yes. As Joel mentioned, so in 2024, we closed 25 net stores. And so like broad numbers, just simple assumptions, that's about $50 million in sales and nearly 1% of sales as we come into 2025. And then again, in 2025, we expect to close net 20 to 30. We generally back halfway closures as most retailers would. So that won't have as big of an impact in 2025 as the 24 closures, but it gives you a sense of what the closures mean to the year.

是的。正如喬爾所提到的，到 2024 年，我們關閉了 25 家淨店。因此，就像廣泛的數字一樣，只是簡單的假設，到 2025 年，這意味著銷售額約為 5000 萬美元，佔銷售額的近 1%。並且，到 2025 年，我們預計淨銷售額將達到 2 億至 30 億美元。和大多數零售商一樣，我們通常會支援中途關閉。因此，這不會像 24 家工廠關閉那樣對 2025 年產生那麼大的影響，但它可以讓您了解這些工廠關閉對這一年意味著什麼。

And last follow-up question related to that. When we think about the biggest risk and opportunity to the visibility of your EBITDA improvement in 2025, how do you assess those?

最後一個後續問題與此相關。當我們考慮 2025 年 EBITDA 改善可見度的最大風險和機會時，您如何評估這些風險和機會？

Well, what I like about how we're managing this year is we're not relying on a robust macro or robust consumer. Again, because you see our top line is anchored on a low single-digit decrease in sales, that to me is good news because it forces us to use all the other levers to deliver the adjusted EBITDA. And if we do better macro top line, it's all just great extra tailwind for us.

嗯，我喜歡我們今年的管理方式，因為我們不依賴強勁的宏觀經濟或強勁的消費者。再說一次，因為您看到我們的營業收入穩定在銷售額的個位數低位下降上，所以對我來說這是個好消息，因為它迫使我們使用所有其他槓桿來實現調整後的 EBITDA。如果我們在宏觀收入方面做得更好，那麼這對我們來說就是一個很好的順風。

Chris Bottiglieri, BNP Paribas.

克里斯‧波蒂列裡 (Chris Bottiglieri)，法國巴黎銀行。

Just wanted to ask what you're embedding for inflation within your outlook, if you're seeing any kind of signs from vendors that costs starting to go up again to pass that through? And then not really related, but semi-related. What are you assuming for promos like a percentage of COGS on promo given that you said you're pulling back. Are you -- like is there a way you can frame that for us? Will promos be down year-on-year -- or are you just going to be repurposing those promos into like more productive programs and actually drive profits?

只是想問一下，在您的展望中，您對通貨膨脹有何看法，您是否從供應商那裡看到任何跡象表明成本將再次上漲，從而將通貨膨脹的影響轉嫁出去？然後其實不是相關，而是半相關。既然您說要撤回促銷，那麼您對促銷的 COGS 百分比有何假設？您——有沒有什麼方法可以幫助我們實現這一點？促銷活動會逐年減少？或者您會將這些促銷活動重新用於更有成效的項目並真正帶來利潤？

Yeah. Look, it's pretty steady year-over-year from that. I mean, the market is promotional, but it's generally rational. I think my commentary was more just about chasing empty calorie sales and just being more disciplined that when we do a promo, there's an end game to it. It delivers some lifetime value for us. And so it's just all part of us getting back to executing against retail fundamentals. But overall, I think the promotional environment is pretty steady year-over-year. I don't know.

是的。看起來，與去年同期相比，它相當穩定。我的意思是，市場雖然有促銷活動，但整體來說是理性的。我認為我的評論更多的只是追求空熱量銷售，並且當我們做促銷時要更加自律，有一個最終結果。它為我們帶來了一些終身價值。所以這只是我們重新執行零售基本原則的一部分。但整體而言，我認為促銷環境比去年同期而言相當穩定。我不知道。

Yeah. No, the only thing I'd add to that, Chris, is that we want to offer value to our customer, and we want to be perceived as offering value to our customer. But some of the things that we were allowing systemically in our offering was for example, stacking of promos, which you just don't want to do. That's just cleanup. So when we say managing promos, some of it is just this real cleanup so that we're not allowing destacking of promos. But we're still going to be offering good value, and we're going to be in there with the competition.

是的。不，克里斯，我唯一要補充的是，我們想為客戶提供價值，並希望被視為為客戶提供價值。但是，我們在產品中系統地允許的一些事情是，例如堆疊促銷，這是你不想做的。這只是清理。因此，當我們說管理促銷時，其中一些只是真正的清理，以便我們不允許促銷的拆分。但我們仍將提供良好的價值，並且我們將參與競爭。

Fantastic. Thanks, Joel and Sabrina. That concludes our call today. Thank you, everyone, for your time and your thoughtful questions, and we look forward to continuing the conversation.

極好的。謝謝，喬爾和薩布麗娜。今天的通話到此結束。謝謝大家抽出時間並提出深思熟慮的問題，我們期待繼續討論。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。