Petco Health and Wellness Company Inc (WOOF) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon and welcome to the Petco third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

下午好，歡迎參加 Petco 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作說明）請注意，本次活動正在錄影。

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

現在我將把會議交給投資者關係和財務主管蒂娜·羅馬尼。請繼續。

Good afternoon and thank you for joining Petco's third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. In addition to the earnings release, there is a presentation available to download on our website at ir.petco.com.

下午好，感謝各位參加 Petco 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。除了財報發布外，您還可以從我們的網站 ir.petco.com 下載簡報。

On the call with me today are Joel Anderson, Petco's Chief Executive Officer; and Sabrina Simmons, Petco's Chief Financial Officer.

今天和我一起通話的是 Petco 的執行長 Joel Anderson 和 Petco 的財務長 Sabrina Simmons。

Before we 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，在本次電話會議中，我們將做出一些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受到許多風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與此類陳述有重大差異。這些風險和不確定性包括我們在獲利材料和提交給美國證券交易委員會的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，我們將提及一些非GAAP財務指標。這些措施的核對情況可在我們的獲利報告、簡報和提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中查閱。

With that, I'll turn it over to Joel.

接下來，我將把麥克風交給喬爾。

Thanks, Tina, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us to discuss our third quarter results, where I'm pleased to share that we delivered another profitable quarter in line with our plan. We've continued to strengthen the foundation of our operating model, improve retail fundamentals, and position Petco for sustainable, profitable growth over the long term.

謝謝蒂娜，大家下午好。感謝各位參加我們第三季業績討論會，我很高興地告訴大家，我們又實現了盈利，符合我們的計劃。我們不斷加強營運模式的基礎，改善零售基本面，使 Petco 能夠實現長期可持續的獲利成長。

We delivered sales in line with our outlook and meaningfully improved our profitability, increasing operating income over the last year by over $25 million, generating $99 million in adjusted EBITDA and more than $60 million in free cash flow.

我們實現了符合預期的銷售額，並顯著提高了盈利能力，去年營業收入增加了 2500 多萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 9900 萬美元，自由現金流超過 6000 萬美元。

I want to thank our teams across the organization for their dedication, focus, and execution on our transformation initiatives that are continuing to gain traction, as reflected in our improvement in profitability and cash flow in Q3 and year-to-date.

我要感謝我們整個組織的團隊，感謝他們對我們轉型計劃的奉獻、專注和執行，這些計劃正在不斷取得成效，正如我們在第三季度和年初至今的盈利能力和現金流改善所反映的那樣。

You've heard me talk about the importance of culture, and you will continue to hear that as a key theme of our transformation. When I joined Petco, we had a strong culture centered around pets first. The passion of our 30,000 partners was one of the many things that attracted me to joining. Over the last nine months, as a collective leadership team, we've been building on that culture in two ways.

你們都聽我說過文化的重要性，你們還會繼續聽到文化作為我們轉型的關鍵主題。當我加入 Petco 時，我們擁有以寵物為中心的強大企業文化。我們3萬名合作夥伴的熱情是吸引我加入的眾多原因之一。在過去的九個月裡，作為一個集體領導團隊，我們透過兩種方式來鞏固這種文化。

First, reinstilling retail fundamental discipline, which is driving increased financial rigor and accountability. This is a testament to how the organization has embraced new ways of working with strengthened operating principles and was a large contributor to our results.

首先，要重新確立零售業的基本紀律，這將推動財務嚴格性和問責制的加強。這證明了該組織如何接受了新的工作方式和更完善的營運原則，並為我們的業績做出了巨大貢獻。

Second, creating a culture that is playing to win. We are fostering a culture equally focused on operating discipline and a winning mindset.

第二，要營造力爭勝利的文化。我們正在營造一種既注重操作紀律又注重必勝信念的企業文化。

Last month, I had the opportunity to spend time with our support center and store leaders at our leadership summit. Together, we aligned on what our go-forward values will be for a reimagined Petco, and what that means for our customers and our plans to execute on our One Petco vision.

上個月，我有機會在領導力高峰會上與我們的支援中心和門市領導者共度時光。我們共同確定了重塑後的 Petco 的未來價值觀，以及這對我們的客戶和我們實現「一個 Petco」願景的計劃意味著什麼。

We are squarely in phase two of our transformation, which is centered on improving profitability and strengthening our foundation from which to grow. The success to date has fundamentally changed the way we think and work to continuously identify future areas of opportunity that will further unlock long-term value. At the same time, we are now strategically shifting resources towards phase three, a return to growth, now that our bottom line has meaningfully been improved.

我們正處於轉型的第二階段，而這個階段的核心是提高獲利能力並加強我們發展的基礎。迄今為止的成功從根本上改變了我們的思維和工作方式，使我們能夠不斷發現未來的機會領域，從而進一步釋放長期價值。同時，鑑於我們的獲利狀況已得到顯著改善，我們正在策略性地將資源轉移到第三階段，即恢復成長階段。

Last quarter, I outlined the four pillars that support Petco's return to growth. First, delivering compelling product and merchandise differentiation. Second, delivering a trusted store experience. Third, winning with integrated services at scale. And finally, serving our customer with a seamless omni experience.

上個季度，我概述了支撐 Petco 重回成長的四大支柱。首先，要提供具有吸引力的產品和商品差異化優勢。其次，提供值得信賴的門市體驗。第三，透過大規模的整合服務贏得市場。最後，為我們的客戶提供無縫的全通路體驗。

Let me now provide you more specific color on each pillar, starting with compelling product and merchandise differentiation. I view this in two categories. On the consumables side, we have improved shoppability with higher in-stock availability. Our customers rely on us to have everyday go-to products. Better integrated assortment planning and merchandising teams have been created and improved in-store experience as well as online.

現在讓我從引人注目的產品和商品差異化著手，為大家提供每個支柱更具體的見解。我認為這可以分為兩類。在消耗品方面，我們提高了庫存可用性，從而改善了購物體驗。我們的客戶依賴我們提供日常所需的各種產品。我們組建了更完善的商品組合規劃和銷售團隊，從而改善了店內和線上購物體驗。

On the discretionary side, we are focused on infusing a steady stream of newness in 2026 that complements our evergreen product assortment with more seasonal and trend-driven buys. Previously, there's been a set-it-and-forget-it mentality, which is not a very aspirational shopping experience and one that we are changing.

在非必需品方面，我們專注於在 2026 年不斷注入新鮮元素，以更多當季和潮流產品來補充我們常青的產品系列。以前人們普遍抱著「設定好就不用管了」的心態，這種購物體驗並不令人嚮往，而我們正在改變這種現狀。

As we look forward, we see significant opportunity to change our collective merchandise mindset from solely a needs-based business to also a wants-based business, by overhauling our product offering and surprising our customers with unexpected ideas for their pets.

展望未來，我們看到了一個重大的機會，可以透過徹底改革我們的產品供應，為顧客提供意想不到的寵物用品創意，從而將我們的整體商品思維從單純的需求導向型業務轉變為需求導向型業務。

A great example is the success of our online pilot. Our new My Human product line was expanded into over 200 stores. This is a small milestone, but exemplifies our team's focus and ability to lean into trend-forward impulse purchases.

我們的線上試點計畫取得成功就是一個很好的例子。我們全新的「My Human」產品線已拓展至200多家門市。這是一個小小的里程碑，但它體現了我們團隊的專注力和掌握潮流前沿衝動消費的能力。

Next, moving to a trusted store experience. Joe Venezia, our Chief Revenue Officer, who joined us just about a year ago, leads our operations and services team. Since joining, he has been focused on store simplification, standardizing processes across our fleet, and taking costs out of our operations. He is now shifting his focus to additionally include revenue-driving KPIs like increasing transaction size, driving sales contests, and increasing customer interactions. With our passionate partners, strong customer engagement, and a full suite of services, we can create both a fun and convenient experience that pet parents are unable to get anywhere else.

接下來，轉向打造值得信賴的門市體驗。首席營收長喬·韋內齊亞 (Joe Venezia) 加入我們大約一年後，領導我們的營運和服務團隊。自加入公司以來，他一直致力於簡化門市營運、規範車隊流程以及降低營運成本。他現在正將重點轉移到增加收入驅動型 KPI 上，例如增加交易規模、推動銷售競賽以及增加客戶互動。憑藉我們充滿熱情的合作夥伴、強大的客戶互動以及全套服務，我們可以創造出寵物主人在其他任何地方都無法獲得的有趣而便捷的體驗。

Our store partners are a unique differentiator for Petco. We benefit from having longtime, passionate, and knowledgeable partners that serve our pets and our pet parents. Our opportunity today is around making it easier to run our stores, freeing up our store associates to interact with customers and use what we call their superpowers of pet knowledge. Improving these areas will make it easier for us to drive sales growth in 2026.

我們的門市合作夥伴是Petco的獨特優勢。我們受益於擁有長期、充滿熱情且知識淵博的合作夥伴，他們為我們的寵物和寵物主人提供服務。我們今天的機會在於讓門市營運更加輕鬆，讓我們的門市員工能夠騰出時間與顧客互動，並運用我們稱之為他們寵物知識超能力的技能。改善這些方面將使我們更容易在 2026 年推動銷售成長。

Moving now to services at scale. Our nationwide, wholly owned and operated services business continues to be our fastest-growing category and is our competitive moat, given its in-person nature, high barriers of entry, and difficulty to replicate. The holistic ecosystem between grooming, owned hospitals, clinics, and center of store can only be found at Petco.

現在轉向規模化服務。我們遍布全國的全資擁有和運營的服務業務仍然是我們增長最快的類別，並且由於其面對面的性質、高准入門檻和難以複製，它是我們的競爭護城河。只有在 Petco 才能找到寵物美容、自有醫院、診所和門市中心之間的完整生態系統。

What especially excites me here is the opportunity we have with our existing assets. I think about it in three ways: one, improving utilization through increased staffing and appointment availability; two, improving engagement through enhanced digital capabilities; and three, improving integration of services and center of store.

最令我興奮的是我們現有資產所帶來的機會。我從三個方面考慮這個問題：一、透過增加人員配備和預約服務來提高利用率；二、透過增強數位化能力來提高參與度；三、改善服務和門市中心的整合。

With regards to veterinarian staffing, I'm pleased to share that we are ahead of our doctor hiring goals that we set at the start of the year with record-high doctor retention. During the quarter, we also promoted two of our longtime leaders to Chief Veterinarians, reinforcing our commitment to growing our veterinary business. Simultaneously, we are fostering a culture of team development, top talent recruitment, and execution of our strategic veterinary initiatives. All of this is foundational and critical to increasing the utilization of our hospitals.

關於獸醫人員配備方面，我很高興地告訴大家，我們已提前完成了年初設定的醫生招募目標，醫生留任率也創歷史新高。本季度，我們也提拔了兩位資深領導者擔任首席獸醫，進一步鞏固了我們對發展獸醫業務的承諾。同時，我們正在營造一種團隊發展、頂尖人才招募和策略獸醫計劃執行的文化氛圍。所有這些都是提高醫院利用率的基礎和關鍵。

Additionally, we are increasing access to care by strategically adding hours back on peak client demand and making appointments easier to book. We're standardizing processes across our fleet to secure in-store follow-up bookings. We are increasing efficiency through our refined grooming apprenticeship model, freeing up both appointment availability and increasing volume.

此外，我們正在透過在客戶需求高峰期有策略地增加服務時間，並簡化預約流程，來提高獲得醫療服務的機會。我們正在規範車隊的各項流程，以確保店內後續預約。我們透過改進美容學徒制模式來提高效率，從而既增加了預約名額，又提高了業務量。

And finally, we are enhancing online appointment scheduling to ensure we have better coverage and better flexibility for our customers. Clearly, Q3 has been a busy, yet productive time for our services businesses.

最後，我們正在改進線上預約服務，以確保為客戶提供更好的服務覆蓋範圍和更大的靈活性。顯然，第三季對我們的服務業務來說既忙碌又富有成效。

Let me spend a moment on improving integration between services and center of store, as the opportunity here may not be well understood. Historically, Petco stores and services operations were run relatively siloed, which was a missed opportunity. There is tremendous value unlocked when better integrating our stores and services experience.

我想花一點時間來談談如何改善服務與門市中心之間的整合，因為這方面的機會可能還沒有被充分認識到。從歷史上看，Petco 的商店和服務運作相對獨立，這錯失了一個良機。更好地整合我們的門市和服務體驗，可以釋放巨大的價值。

I'll give you a simple example: previously, our veterinarians did not have access to customer purchase data. We're in the process of fixing that, and in 2026, our veterinarians will be able to see purchase history and make more informed diet recommendations based on overall pet health and specific needs.

我舉個簡單的例子：以前，我們的獸醫無法取得客戶的購買資料。我們正在著手解決這個問題，到 2026 年，我們的獸醫將能夠查看購買記錄，並根據寵物的整體健康狀況和具體需求提出更明智的飲食建議。

Taking that a step further, the veterinarian will be able to direct the customer to the recommended product in store, and a store associate will assist. This is a simple example, but illustrates how increased integration of services and stores can create a better outcome for pets and improved experiences for our customers.

更進一步，獸醫可以指導顧客在店內找到推薦的產品，並且會有店員提供協助。這是一個簡單的例子，但它說明了服務和商店的進一步整合如何能為寵物創造更好的結果，並為我們的客戶帶來更好的體驗。

Now moving on to our fourth and final pillar, seamless omni integration. Layered onto everything I just discussed are enhanced digital capabilities, a more compelling membership offering, and a frictionless digital or in-store experience to customers wherever they choose to engage. I'm happy to report we are on plan with our improvements, and in fact, we are starting to implement some of these changes in Q4 of this year.

現在我們進入第四個也是最後一個支柱：無縫全通路整合。在我剛才討論的所有內容之上，還包括增強的數位化能力、更具吸引力的會員服務，以及無論顧客選擇在哪裡互動，都能提供的流暢的數位化或店內體驗。我很高興地報告，我們的改進工作進展順利，事實上，我們將在今年第四季開始實施其中一些改進措施。

For example, we are transitioning the way we buy media, beginning with better targeting, and bidding strategies, which we expect to drive efficiencies in our marketing spend.

例如，我們正在轉變購買媒體的方式，首先從更精準的定位和競價策略入手，我們期望這將提高行銷支出的效率。

We continue to strengthen Petco's reintroduction of our tagline, Where the Pets Go, I'm pleased with the progress on the membership program, and we will begin live testing and pilot the program this quarter in a small handful of districts. Our focus on these four pillars will fuel our growth, which we still expect to see in 2026.

我們將繼續加強 Petco 重新推出的標語“寵物去處”，我對會員計劃的進展感到滿意，我們將在本季度開始在少數幾個地區進行實地測試和試點。我們將專注於這四大支柱，這將推動我們的成長，我們預計到 2026 年仍將實現成長。

In closing, as you can hear in my voice, this has been a productive quarter at Petco, and I'm pleased with the progress we continue to make on the commitments I outlined at the beginning of the year. As each quarter passes, we get better at celebrating amazing pet experiences, executing our strategies, and delivering on our promises internally and externally. The initiatives planned for the fourth quarter will advance the Petco transformation, and I look forward to sharing updates with you in March.

最後，正如你們從我的語氣中聽出來的那樣，Petco 在這個季度取得了豐碩的成果，我對我們繼續朝著年初我提出的各項承諾取得進展感到滿意。隨著每個季度的過去，我們在慶祝精彩的寵物體驗、執行我們的策略以及兌現我們對內部和外部的承諾方面都做得越來越好。第四季計畫推出的各項舉措將推動 Petco 的轉型，我期待在三月與大家分享最新進展。

Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, I want to personally express my gratitude for our partners who put pets first every day and boldly reflect who we are and what we stand for. Our Petco Love Foundation has demonstrated our long-standing commitment to saving lives, finding loving homes for over 7 million pets, to improve the welfare of animals.

在感恩節假期到來之際，我謹代表公司向所有合作夥伴表達我的感激之情，他們每天都把寵物放在第一位，並勇敢地展現了我們是誰以及我們所代表的價值觀。我們的 Petco 愛心基金會展現了我們長期以來致力於拯救生命、為超過 700 萬隻寵物找到溫暖的家、改善動物福利的承諾。

With that, I'll hand the call over to Sabrina Simmons, to take you through the specifics of our third quarter results and outlook for the remainder of the year. Sabrina?

接下來，我將把電話交給薩布麗娜·西蒙斯，由她為大家詳細介紹我們第三季度的業績以及對今年剩餘時間的展望。薩布麗娜？

Thank you, Joel. Good afternoon, everyone. In the third quarter, Petco once again delivered against our commitments while building a stronger foundation from which to grow. As we've discussed all year, strengthening the health of Petco's economic model has been our top priority. I'm pleased with our progress, as demonstrated in our expanding gross margin, expense leverage and operating margin expansion, not only in the quarter but year-to-date.

謝謝你，喬爾。大家下午好。第三季度，Petco 再次履行了我們的承諾，同時為未來的發展奠定了更堅實的基礎。正如我們今年一直在討論的那樣，增強 Petco 經濟模式的健康性一直是我們的首要任務。我對我們的進展感到滿意，這體現在我們不斷擴大的毛利率、費用槓桿率和營業利潤率上，不僅在本季度，而且在今年迄今為止都是如此。

In line with our outlook, which reflects our decision to move away from unprofitable sales. Net sales were down 3.1%, with comp sales down 2.2%. As a reminder, the difference between total sales and comp is driven by the 25 net store closures in 2024 and the additional nine net store closures year-to-date.

與我們的願景一致，這反映了我們決定停止無利可圖的銷售。淨銷售額下降 3.1%，同店銷售額下降 2.2%。提醒一下，總銷售額與同店銷售額之間的差異是由於 2024 年淨關閉 25 家門市以及今年迄今為止淨關閉的 9 家門市造成的。

We ended the quarter with 1,389 stores in the US. Gross margin expanded approximately 75 basis points to 38.9%. Similar to the first half, gross margin expansion was primarily driven by a more disciplined approach to average unit retail and average unit cost, including stronger guardrails and more disciplined processes to effectively manage our pricing and promotional strategies. It's important to note that in this quarter, tariffs began to more meaningfully impact our cost of goods sold.

本季末，我們在美國擁有1389家門市。毛利率成長約75個基點至38.9%。與上半年類似，毛利率的成長主要得益於對平均單位零售價和平均單位成本採取了更嚴格的控制措施，包括加強監管和改進流程，以有效管理我們的定價和促銷策略。值得注意的是，在本季度，關稅開始對我們的銷售成本產生更顯著的影響。

Moving to SG&A. For the quarter, SG&A decreased $32 million below last year and leveraged 97 basis points. As we've discussed previously, our shift in mindset an increase in rigor around expense management is evident in our results. Savings were achieved across the board and especially in G&A areas. Notably, marketing spend was about flat year-over-year.

移至銷售、一般及行政管理部門。本季銷售、一般及行政費用比去年同期減少了 3,200 萬美元，槓桿率為 97 個基點。正如我們之前討論過的，我們在費用管理方面思維方式的轉變和嚴格程度的提高，在我們的結果中顯而易見。各項開支均有所節省，尤其是在一般及行政管理方面。值得注意的是，行銷支出與去年基本持平。

Our expanded gross margin and expense leverage resulted in operating margin expansion of over 170 basis points. Adjusted EBITDA increased 21% or $17 million to $99 million and adjusted EBITDA margin expanded nearly 140 basis points to 6.7% of sales.

我們擴大了毛利率和費用槓桿作用，使營業利潤率提高了 170 多個基點。調整後 EBITDA 成長 21% 或 1,700 萬美元，達到 9,900 萬美元；調整後 EBITDA 利潤率成長近 140 個基點，達到銷售額的 6.7%。

Moving to the balance sheet and cash flow. Q3 ending inventory was down 10.5% while achieving higher in-stocks for our customers. We continue to manage inventory with discipline, which is one of the drivers of our improving cash profile. Free cash flow for the quarter was $61 million, and year-to-date was $71 million. Both the quarter and year-to-date were significantly above the prior year.

接下來來看資產負債表和現金流量表。第三季末庫存下降了 10.5%，同時提高了客戶的庫存可用性。我們繼續嚴格管理庫存，這是我們現金流狀況改善的驅動因素之一。本季自由現金流為 6,100 萬美元，年初至今為 7,100 萬美元。本季和年初至今的業績均顯著高於去年同期。

Notably, year-to-date cash flow from operations has nearly doubled versus the prior year to $161 million. We ended the quarter with a cash balance of $237 million and total liquidity of $733 million including the availability on our undrawn revolver.

值得注意的是，今年迄今的營運活動現金流與前一年相比幾乎翻了一番，達到 1.61 億美元。本季末，我們的現金餘額為 2.37 億美元，總流動資金為 7.33 億美元，其中包括我們未提取的循環信貸額度。

And now turning to our outlook for the full year. We are once again raising our adjusted EBITDA outlook for 2025. We now expect adjusted EBITDA to be between $395 million and $397 million, an increase of roughly 18% year-over-year at the midpoint. For the full year, given we are entering the last quarter, we are narrowing our range for net sales and now expect net sales to be down between 2.5% and 2.8%.

現在讓我們展望一下全年情況。我們再次上調了對 2025 年調整後 EBITDA 的預期。我們現在預計調整後的 EBITDA 將在 3.95 億美元至 3.97 億美元之間，以中間值計算，年成長約 18%。鑑於我們即將進入最後一個季度，我們對全年淨銷售額的預期範圍進行了縮小，現在預計淨銷售額將下降 2.5% 至 2.8%。

For the fourth quarter, we expect net sales to be down low single digits versus the prior year as we continue to execute on the initiatives we've outlined. We expect adjusted EBITDA to be between $93 million and $95 million. It's important to note that the impact of tariffs is sequentially more meaningful in Q4. Additionally, the significant progress we've made year-to-date against strengthening our economic model and improving our earnings profile has provided us the option to begin selectively investing behind the business where it may make sense as part of our ongoing efforts to set the stage for phase three, a return to profitable sales growth.

由於我們將繼續執行已製定的各項舉措，預計第四季度淨銷售額將比上年同期下降個位數百分比。我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 將在 9,300 萬美元至 9,500 萬美元之間。值得注意的是，關稅的影響在第四季會更加顯著。此外，今年迄今為止，我們在加強經濟模式和改善盈利狀況方面取得了重大進展，這使我們能夠選擇對業務進行有選擇的投資，以期為第三階段（恢復盈利性銷售增長）的持續努力奠定基礎。

With regard to other guidance items. For the full year, we expect depreciation to be about $200 million, net interest expense of approximately $125 million, about 20 net store closures and $125 million to $130 million of capital expenditures with a greater focus on ROIC.

關於其他指導事項。預計全年折舊約 2 億美元，淨利息支出約為 1.25 億美元，淨關閉約 20 家門市，資本支出為 1.25 億美元至 1.3 億美元，並將更加重視投資報酬率 (ROIC)。

In closing, as Joel discussed, we're in a period of significant change, and I want to extend my deepest appreciation to all of our teams for embracing that change to deliver better outcomes for all of our stakeholders.

最後，正如喬爾所說，我們正處於一個重大變革的時期，我要向我們所有的團隊表示最深切的感謝，感謝他們接受這種變革，為我們所有的利害關係人帶來更好的結果。

With that, we welcome your questions.

那麼，我們歡迎大家提問。

(Operator Instructions) Simeon Gutman, Morgan Stanley

（操作說明）西蒙古特曼，摩根士丹利

Let me -- I was intrigued by something you talked about some of the wants. Can you talk about -- can you frame what mix of the business is wants versus needs today and it may be far out there but what's the vision? And my guess is the wants aren't truly wants. I think it's -- given your background, there's probably some unique merchandising that's partially wants but curious how you can frame that and maybe tease it out a little.

讓我說說——你剛才談到的一些需求讓我很感興趣。您能否談談－能否描述一下，目前企業的需求與願望之間的平衡？這可能有點超前，但願景是什麼？我猜想，這些所謂的「想要」並非真正的想要。我認為——鑑於你的背景，可能有一些獨特的商品，部分人想要，但我很好奇你會如何包裝它，也許可以稍微引出一些。

Thanks, Simeon. It's a great question. And yeah, if you think about it in the traditional sense, consumables is traditionally a needs business. And it's the overwhelming majority of our business but even that business, Simeon, I think, has some elements to it that can be more of a want in principle. And what I mean by that, and I alluded to it in my prepared remarks, we've just had this said-it-and-forget-it mentality for our entire business.

謝謝你，西蒙。這是一個很好的問題。是的，如果你從傳統意義上思考，消費品產業歷來都是必需品產業。而且這佔據了我們業務的絕大部分，但西蒙，我認為，即使是這項業務，也有一些方面更多的是一種原則上的願望。我的意思是，我在事先準備好的演講稿中也提到過，我們整個企業一直秉持著這種「說完就忘」的心態。

And if I just focus on consumables for a second, for example, in 2025, we our dog food business was largely all surrounded around 1 big episodic reset in the middle of the year.

如果我暫時只專注於消耗品，例如，到 2025 年，我們的狗糧業務基本上都圍繞著年中的一次重大調整而展開。

And we're really going to change that in '25, and as our big vendor partners come out with innovation, newness, different types of product, new flavors, cat extensions, we're going to roll that out in line with their timing, not our timing. So that's going to make more of a perception of wants rather than just needs in the sense that somebody walks in and -- is a sense of discovery and we just haven't been good at that in the past, Simeon.

我們將在 2025 年徹底改變這種情況，隨著我們的大型供應商合作夥伴推出創新產品、新產品、不同類型的產品、新口味、貓咪護理產品等，我們將按照他們的時間表推出這些產品，而不是按照我們自己的時間表推出。所以，這將更多地讓人產生一種想要的感覺，而不僅僅是需要的感覺，因為當有人走進來時，會有一種發現的感覺，而我們過去在這方面做得併不好，西蒙。

So I think the whole business has an opportunity to create more of a exploration throughout our store, not just our supplies business which is traditionally probably the way you were thinking there's an element to it in consumables as well. And certainly, when we get on the call in March, we'll go through that in more detail. I cut you off, Simeon.

所以我認為整個業務有機會在我們的商店裡創造更多的探索機會，而不僅僅是我們的供應業務（這可能是你傳統上認為的方式），消耗品中也包含著探索的元素。當然，等我們三月開電話會議的時候，我們會更詳細地討論這個問題。我打斷你了，西蒙。

No, I cut you off. My follow-up, it's related. You talked about integrating the store functions. You talked about wants versus need, and then there was a little bit of maybe forward investing, I think, Sabrina just mentioned. So if you -- and by the way, the business itself is getting close to lapping like whatever tough compares.

不，是我打斷你的。我的後續問題與此相關。您提到過整合商店功能。你談到了想要和需要，然後還有一點前瞻性投資，我想，就像 Sabrina 剛才提到的那樣。所以如果你——順便說一句，這個行業本身正在接近超越任何與之相比的艱難行業。

It seems like it's naturally getting back to positive territory. So what kind of clicks or what's the priority among the things we heard where the top line starts to move or? Is it something we haven't heard yet?

看來情況正自然而然地重回正軌。那麼，在我們聽到的這些訊息中，哪些點擊量或優先事項能夠推動營收成長呢？這是我們之前沒聽過的事情嗎？

No, I don't think it's something you heard. I think, look, we're going to approach 2026 from the top line, the same way we approached 2025 from the bottom line. In 2024, we came out with the strategies that would fix the bottom line, and then we executed them in 2026 -- in 2025. We're doing the same thing for top line growth.

不，我覺得你沒聽過這件事。我認為，我們將以關注整體業績的方式來應對 2026 年，就像我們以關注整體業績的方式來應對 2025 年一樣。2024 年，我們提出了能夠改善公司獲利狀況的策略，然後在 2026 年——也就是 2025 年——執行了這些策略。我們也採取了同樣的方式來促進營收成長。

I outlined four pillars. We backed it up with building blocks which I talked about many of them today. And then we're going to execute against those with the same rigor and discipline. And so it's not just to cross your fingers and hope. We've got plans around four pillars with a lot of building blocks for each one of them.

我列出了四大支柱。我們用各種建造模組來支撐它，我今天談到了其中的許多模組。然後我們將以同樣的嚴謹和紀律來應對這些挑戰。所以，這不僅僅是祈禱和希望的問題。我們的計劃圍繞著四大支柱展開，每個支柱包含許多組成部分。

And I'm really excited about all four of them. I alluded to some of them that we're already testing here in Q4 but all of them are making traction and some just take longer to implement than others but teams are all focused and we got a good plan.

我對他們四個都非常興奮。我暗示過其中一些我們已經在第四季度進行了測試，所有這些測試都取得了進展，只是有些需要比其他測試更長的時間才能實施，但所有團隊都專注於此，我們制定了一個很好的計劃。

Oliver Wintermantel, Evercore.

奧利佛·溫特曼特爾，Evercore。

Joel, what is the realistic time line for comp stabilization? And which categories or customer behaviors would represent the biggest swing factors there?

Joel，合成穩定化的實際時程是什麼？那麼，哪些類別或客戶行為會成為影響最大的決定性因素呢？

Yeah. Look, I'm not going to get into 2026 today on this call and the timing of it. But certainly, what you should expect from me in March is to not only give you guidance for Q1 but we'll give you an outlook on the full year. But specifically, I can tell you all four of the pillars I went through today are getting traction. And -- so I would expect all four of them to contribute towards comp in 2026, and then we'll just outline the timing for you on the March call.

是的。聽著，今天我不會在這次電話會議上討論2026年以及相關的時間安排。但可以肯定的是，在三月份，我不僅會提供大家第一季的業績指引，還會展望全年的業績。但具體來說，我可以告訴大家，我今天談到的四個支柱都取得了進展。因此，我預計他們四人將在 2026 年為薪酬做出貢獻，我們將在 3 月的電話會議上向您概述具體時間表。

Got it. That makes sense. And then just on the free cash flow side, strong improvements there year-to-date and in the quarter. But how much of the Q3 working capital improvement is sustainable, and what financial or operational levels continue to support the cash generation for next year?

知道了。這很有道理。此外，就自由現金流而言，今年迄今和本季都出現了強勁改善。但第三季營運資金的改善有多少是可持續的？哪些財務或營運水準能夠繼續支持明年的現金流？

Yeah. I mean, I think we view cash flow and all of its levers as continuous improvement. So we certainly are focused on continuing on this path of generating strong free cash. The principal lever of core solver is net earnings. So we're going to continue to focus on our bottom line and growing net earnings.

是的。我的意思是，我認為我們將現金流及其所有影響因素視為持續改進的過程。因此，我們當然會繼續專注於沿著這條創造強勁自由現金流的道路前進。核心求解器的主要槓桿是淨收益。因此，我們將繼續專注於提高獲利能力和淨利潤。

We'll continue to focus on inventory discipline. We're not done. We've made huge strides this year. in terms of rationalizing our SKUs and reducing our inventory compared to our sales which is fantastic. But I wouldn't say we're best-in-class in turns yet.

我們將繼續注重庫存管理。我們還沒完。今年我們在產品種類優化和降低庫存與銷售額之比方面取得了巨大進步，這非常棒。但我認為我們在轉彎方面還不是同類最佳。

We still have a lot of opportunity, so we'll be looking at that lever as well as all of our other levers to continue delivering on strong cash generation.

我們仍然有很多機會，所以我們會研究這個槓桿以及我們所有的其他槓桿，以繼續實現強勁的現金流。

Michael Lasser, UBS.

瑞銀集團的麥可·拉塞爾。

Can you size the magnitude of the potential investments that you would make in what form those are going to come in, whether it's labor, marketing or promotions? And are those investments necessary as you look to 2026 in order to drive top line growth.

您能否估算您可能進行的潛在投資規模，以及這些投資將以何種形式出現，例如勞動力、行銷或促銷？展望 2026 年，為了推動營收成長，這些投資是否必要？

Well, maybe I'll just start, Michael, with the framework, and then Joel can chime in on how he feels -- he's looking at each one. What we've tried to do, and we're really pleased that we banked so much profit improvement through Q3. And this has afforded us, as I said, the option, and it's only an option to consider investing in areas that we think can drive improvements both in Q4, but also for our future.

好吧，邁克爾，或許我可以先從框架開始，然後喬爾可以發表他的感受——他正在逐一審視。我們努力做到了這一點，而且我們非常高興在第三季度實現瞭如此大的利潤成長。正如我所說，這給了我們一個選擇，而且這只是一個選擇，那就是考慮投資於我們認為能夠推動第四季度甚至未來業績提升的領域。

So everything you mentioned is on our plate of options certainly, marketing, certainly looking at labor. And sure, we'll always continue to look at promos to see if we can do them effectively in a way that brings value to our customer but also in a way that's very responsible as we continue to manage our margin expansion. Joel, do you want to --

所以，您提到的所有因素都在我們的考慮範圍內，包括行銷和勞動力方面。當然，我們會持續關注促銷活動，看看能否以有效的方式為顧客創造價值，同時也要以負責任的方式持續控制利潤成長。喬爾，你想…--

Yes. Yes, Sabrina, I think you nailed that pretty good. And when Michael, I look at the four pillars, we outlined. I don't think any of them as it relates to 2026 require any substantial step change from what we're doing today in terms of cash investment or a change in OpEx investment or something. It's really -- you take merchandise, like we're selling through our existing merchandise and we're buying into new.

是的。是的，薩布麗娜，我覺得你做得非常好。而當麥可看著我們概述的四大支柱。我認為就 2026 年而言，這些都不需要我們在現金投資、營運支出投資或其他方面做出任何實質的改變。實際上是這樣的──我們既要銷售現有商品，又要進購新商品。

So that's really just a steady flow change and really don't see any episodic change in 2026 from an investment standpoint from the run rate we're already on today.

所以這實際上只是一個穩定變化，從投資的角度來看，按照我們目前的運行速度，2026 年真的不會出現任何突發性變化。

I guess the question and the critical point is can Petco experience the same magnitude of the improvement in the profitability while reversing what seems like some market share losses this year and be on that path next year?

我想，關鍵問題在於，Petco 能否在扭轉今年市場份額似乎有所下降的局面的同時，實現盈利能力同樣程度的提升，並在明年繼續保持這種增長勢頭？

Yeah. If I'm hearing you, Michael, and I might want you to repeat the question, but we for sure, believe that investments are going to be necessary. Our whole focus and what I talked about all year long in terms of the economic model we're pursuing is delivering leverage on expenses. But as you know, if sales improve, you increase operating expenses and still deliver leverage. So we're very aware that we need to make some investments.

是的。如果我沒聽錯的話，邁克爾，我可能希望你再重複一次這個問題，但我們確信，投資是必要的。我們全年都在關注並強調我們所追求的經濟模式，那就是降低成本。但如你所知，如果銷售額提高，營運費用增加，仍然可以獲得槓桿效應。所以我們非常清楚我們需要進行一些投資。

That's why we're talking about in Q4, we may make some of those investments in advance of entering the new year because we've been able to bank so much profitability and leverage.

這就是為什麼我們談到第四季度，我們可能會在進入新年之前進行一些投資，因為我們已經累積了大量的獲利能力和槓桿。

And we will measure our success in meeting our goals and expanding margin and delivering expense leverage on a full year basis. That's another thing we always said, we never said every single quarter in the same way. It's on a full year basis. So that's why we've given ourselves the option because we know that the next phase will require investment and we are prepared to stand behind that in a responsible way that still delivers on our full year goal to deliver the model.

我們將以全年為單位，衡量我們在實現目標、擴大利潤率和降低成本方面的成功與否。這也是我們一直強調的一點，我們從來沒有每季都用同樣的方式表達過這種觀點。這是按全年計算的。所以，我們給自己留出了選擇權，因為我們知道下一階段需要投資，我們也準備好以負責任的方式支持這些投資，從而實現我們全年交付該模型的目標。

Sabrina, could I just clarify? If we look at what the embedded EBITDA margin is in the fourth quarter versus what Petco has experienced over the last couple of quarters. It looks like the pace of improvement is going to moderate. Should we think about the magnitude of the potential investment, the option for investing would be the difference between what Petco has achieved over the last couple of quarters and what's implied in the fourth quarter? Is that how we should think about quantifying that potential investment?

薩布麗娜，我可以問一下嗎？如果我們看一下第四季度的嵌入式 EBITDA 利潤率與 Petco 在過去幾季的業績對比。看來改善的速度將會放緩。我們是否應該考慮潛在投資的規模？投資選項將是 Petco 在過去幾季所取得的成就與第四季預期成就之間的差額？我們應該這樣考慮如何量化這項潛在投資嗎？

I think that's a fair framework, Michael. I would add to that, as we look to Q4, as I stated, remember, when we think about gross margin, there's more tariff impact. So that's just one factor. It's not enormous as we said all year. It's -- we're pleased that we're in a retail sector that doesn't have mountains of tariffs but it is an impact. So that's one factor.

我覺得這算是個合理的框架，麥可。我還要補充一點，展望第四季度，正如我之前所說，請記住，當我們考慮毛利率時，關稅的影響更大。這只是其中一個因素。正如我們全年所說的那樣，它並不巨大。我們很高興自己身處零售業，而零售業並沒有堆積如山的關稅，但這確實會產生影響。這是其中一個因素。

The second impact is that investment that we're talking about, and how much we will choose to do and how we'll manage through that in the fourth quarter. So yes, I think your statement, broadly speaking, is fair.

第二個影響因素是我們正在討論的投資，以及我們將選擇進行多少投資，以及我們將在第四季度如何管理這些投資。所以，總的來說，我認為你的說法是合理的。

Kendall Toscano, Bank of America Global Research.

Kendall Toscano，美國銀行全球研究部。

I was just wondering if you could talk more about the impact of tariffs during the quarter. I know you mentioned they became more meaningful in 3Q but maybe not as much as you're expecting for the fourth quarter. But just curious what you saw in terms of COGS impact, if any, and then in maybe some categories where there was tariff impact on price? What did you see in terms of consumer elasticity?

我想請您詳細談談本季關稅的影響。我知道你提到它們在第三季變得更有意義，但可能沒有你預期的第四季那麼重要。我只是好奇您觀察到的銷貨成本影響情況（如果有的話），以及某些類別中關稅對價格的影響情況？你觀察到消費者彈性方面的情況如何？

Yeah. Thanks, Kendall. Just to go back to your statement. So the first time we saw a tariff impact flow through our P&L through cost of goods sold in any meaningful way is the third quarter because the second quarter has like, let's call it, de minimis, amounts of that. We had it on our balance sheet, we had an inventory buys but it wasn't flowing through COGS yet.

是的。謝謝你，肯德爾。回到你剛才說的話。因此，我們第一次看到關稅影響透過銷售成本以有意義的方式反映到我們的損益表中是在第三季度，因為第二季度的關稅影響微乎其微。我們已經將其列入資產負債表，我們有庫存採購，但它還沒有計入銷售成本。

The third quarter is the first quarter of that. And my only point was, in the fourth quarter, it becomes a bit more meaningful. So it's just a reminder that sequentially the tariff headwind is a bit more meaningful. But again, in the broad spectrum of things, it's a very manageable number which we've managed all year and have been revising guidance upward in the face of it. So I think that hopefully helps frame it up. We also know that it's mostly in the private label supplies area, as we've said in the past. So hopefully, that helps frame it up, too.

第三季是其中的第一季。我的觀點是，到了第四節，比賽會變得更有意義。所以這只是提醒我們，從時間來看，關稅帶來的不利影響會更顯著。但話說回來，從整體來看，這是一個非常容易控制的數字，我們全年都控制住了這個數字，並且根據實際情況不斷上調業績預期。所以我覺得這應該有助於理清思緒。我們也知道，正如我們之前所說，它主要集中在自有品牌供應領域。希望這也能對理解這個問題有所幫助。

Got it. That's helpful. And then my other question was just in terms of some self-inflicted headwinds in the Services segment as you've deprioritized that program ahead of the planned relaunch. Just curious, as you're now getting closer to relaunching that in 2026, and it sounds like maybe starting to pilot it in the fourth quarter, what kind of tailwind would you expect to see on same-store sales growth or, I guess, just services growth?

知道了。那很有幫助。然後我的另一個問題是關於服務部門的一些自身造成的阻力，因為在計劃重新啟動之前，你們已經降低了該計劃的優先順序。我很好奇，既然你們現在離 2026 年重新推出這項服務越來越近了，而且聽起來可能會在第四季度開始試運行，你們預計同店銷售增長或者服務增長會受到怎樣的提振？

I think you mean our membership program?

您指的是我們的會員計畫嗎？

Yeah, that's what's I meant.

對，我就是這個意思。

Yes, that's what combined with services in the way we report services and others. So probably, Joel, if you want to start with the membership program and --

是的，這就是我們報道服務的方式以及其他方面與服務相結合的原因。所以，喬爾，如果你想從會員計畫開始的話…--

Yeah, because our paid membership rolls into there. But I think the more important thing to take away from that is -- and I alluded to it in my prepared remarks that we are on track with our new membership program. And in fact, here in the fourth quarter, we have begun live end-to-end testing in several markets. And so -- we really haven't seen any major glitches in fact, minor at best. And so that's a really good sign for us.

是的，因為我們的付費會員費都包含在內。但我認為更重要的是——我在事先準備好的演講稿中也提到過——我們的新會員計劃正在按計劃進行。事實上，在第四季度，我們已經在多個市場開始了端到端的即時測試。因此——事實上，我們並沒有看到任何重大故障，充其量只是一些小故障。所以這對我們來說是個非常好的跡象。

We'll then take that to a few more markets and to roll out the new marketing attached to it and are still on track then for a rollout sometime in 2026 with the rest of the fleet. But membership so far has really come together nicely, and it's a really important element to our growth that's going to begin in 2026.

然後我們將這項技術推廣到更多市場，並推出與之相關的新行銷方案，目前仍按計劃在 2026 年的某個時候與其餘產品一起推出。但到目前為止，會員發展勢頭良好，這對於我們將在 2026 年開始的成長來說是一個非常重要的因素。

Yeah. And since you raised it, Kendall, on the services piece, I think you can see that that continues to be not only a strategically important area for us, but it's also an area of nice growth and continues to be.

是的。肯德爾，既然你提到了服務業，我想你應該能看出，這不僅對我們來說是一個具有重要戰略意義的領域，而且也是一個增長良好的領域，並且將繼續保持這種增長勢頭。

Kate McShane, Goldman Sachs.

Kate McShane，高盛集團。

We wanted to ask a little bit more of a higher level question. Just your view on where you think the industry is now from a digestion standpoint where you think the industry can grow in 2026 if we do return to growth in '26 for the industry? And just what you may have been seeing out of the competitive set this most recent quarter as some of these higher tariff costs and prices have come through?

我們想問一個更高層次的問題。從消化產業的角度來看，您認為該產業目前處於什麼狀態？如果該產業在2026年恢復成長，您認為該產業在2026年能夠實現怎樣的成長？那麼，在最近一個季度，隨著關稅成本和價格的上漲，您在競爭對手那裡看到了什麼？

Yeah. Thanks, Kate. Look, overall, the competitive set really hasn't changed much from the last quarter. I would say, the -- what's changed is the consumer has been probably a little bit more cautious. I mean, obviously, with tariffs and political tensions and interest rates still high that's really been bogging down their outlook on the economy a little bit.

是的。謝謝你，凱特。總的來說，競爭格局與上個季度相比並沒有太大變化。我認為，變化之處在於消費者可能變得更加謹慎了。我的意思是，很顯然，關稅、政治緊張局勢和高利率確實在某種程度上拖累了他們對經濟的前景。

But as far as the pet industry goes, it's been pretty stable, flattish in terms of growth I think the progress we've made on our digital side has really been promising and that will be very important to us as we turn to growth next year. But overall, we're positioned nicely. Our services business is -- Sabrina just talked about is already growing, and that is an area of growth in the pet industry, and then we'll layer in the focus we've made and the progress we've made on our digital improvements. But overall, it's pretty stable.

但就寵物產業而言，它一直相當穩定，成長也比較平緩。我認為我們在數位化方面取得的進展確實很有前景，這對我們明年實現成長至關重要。但總的來說，我們的處境不錯。正如 Sabrina 剛才所提到的，我們的服務業務已經在成長，這是寵物產業的一個成長領域，然後我們將結合我們在數位化改進方面所取得的重點和進展。但總體而言，它相當穩定。

Chris Bottiglieri, BNP Paribas

克里斯‧波蒂列裡 (Chris Bottiglieri)，法國巴黎銀行

The first one I had was just hoping to -- now the cash -- free cash flow profile has improved. How do you think about prioritizing the usage of cash? Is it continued debt paydown. Do you think about reaccelerate veterinary practices? Just curious how you think about that over the next few years.

我最初只是希望——現在現金——自由現金流狀況有所改善。您如何考慮現金使用的優先順序？這是持續償還債務嗎？您是否考慮過重新加速獸醫實踐？只是好奇你對未來幾年這件事的看法。

Yeah. Our first priority would always be to invest in our business to sustain growth going forward. So that's definitely the priority. That said, we go back to our statement that we have a lot of assets on our books already that really are ramping up now, vet hospitals predominantly the #1 on the list that are already on our books that we are ramping up for better returns.

是的。我們的首要任務始終是投資我們的業務，以維持未來的持續成長。所以這絕對是當務之急。也就是說，我們重申我們先前的說法，我們帳面上已經有很多資產正在加速發展，其中獸醫院位列榜首，我們正在加速發展這些資產以獲得更好的回報。

So we don't have to make big capital investments in those, and we, in fact, you'll hear us talk about more in the Q4 call, Chris, we have a set of those that where we're going to focus on bringing utilization up in 2026 as well without any large capital investments. So I view this as really great news because it provides a nice path for return improvement while not having to invest a lot of capital in it.

因此，我們不必在這些方面進行大量資本投資，事實上，克里斯，你會在第四季度電話會議上聽到我們更多地談到這些，我們有一系列項目，我們將重點關注這些項目，以便在 2026 年提高利用率，而無需任何大量資本投資。所以我認為這真是個好消息，因為它提供了一個提高回報率的好方法，而且無需投入大量資金。

So of course, though, we'll be looking at pockets and areas as we move forward and we finalize what kind of remodel prototype we want to land on how we'll start to bring those into our system. But there's no huge big capital spend necessary in the horizon, likely to increase some in '26, but no big, enormous dramatic change overall in profile because we have these assets in our books where we're increasing utilization.

當然，隨著我們不斷推進，我們會關注各個角落和區域，最終確定我們想要採用的改造原型類型，以及如何將這些原型引入我們的系統。但目前看來，無需進行大規模的資本支出，2026 年可能會增加，但整體情況不會發生巨大、劇烈的變化，因為我們帳面上的這些資產正在提高利用率。

Now beyond that, beyond that priority to first invest in our business, the second, of course, is we are always looking, as I stated, on the first call when I talk to you guys, we want to bring down our leverage on an absolute basis. We also want to bring down our ratio. We're doing a terrific job with the growth and profitability of bringing down the ratio. So it's quite remarkable. We started the year at over 4 times debt to EBITDA.

除了優先投資於我們的業務之外，第二重要的當然是，正如我在第一次與你們通話時所說，我們一直在尋求從根本上降低我們的槓桿率。我們也希望降低這個比例。我們在降低比率方面，在成長和獲利能力方面做得非常出色。所以這非常了不起。年初時，我們的債務與 EBITDA 比率超過 4 倍。

And if we hit the midpoint of our new guidance, we should be below 3.5 times net debt to EBITDA. So quite a bit of progress. And indeed, we'll look to opportunities to even potentially do some opportunistic debt pay down.

如果我們達到新指引的中點，我們的淨負債與 EBITDA 的比率應該低於 3.5 倍。所以取得了相當大的進展。事實上，我們也會尋找機會，甚至可能進行一些機會性的債務償還。

Now beyond that priority to first invest in our business. The second, of course, is we're always looking, as I stated, on the first call when I talked to you guys, we want to bring down our leverage on an absolute basis. We also want to bring down our ratio. We're doing a terrific job with the growth and profitability of bringing down the ratio.

現在，首要任務是投資我們的業務。當然，第二點是我們一直在尋求，正如我在第一次和你們通話時所說，我們希望從絕對意義上降低我們的槓桿作用。我們也希望降低我們的比例。我們在降低比率方面，在成長和獲利能力方面做得非常出色。

Got you. That's really helpful. And then your gross margins were, I think, down 20 basis points on the product line. Is that primarily that tariff headwind you're referring to? Or is it also somehow -- or is like -- is the elasticity offsetting the ticket increase and there's also a headwind on top.

抓到你了。這真的很有幫助。然後，我認為，你們該產品線的毛利率下降了 20 個基點。您主要指的是關稅方面的阻力嗎？或者，彈性是否在某種程度上抵消了票價上漲，但同時又面臨不利因素？

Just curious by like tariff headwinds that you're referring to there where it's manifesting?

我很好奇，你提到的關稅阻力具體體現在哪裡？

I have our merch margins expanded both in our products and services.

我已經提高了我們產品和服務的商品利潤率。

Sorry, I meant quarter-on-quarter, not year-on-year.

抱歉，我指的是季度環比，而不是年度同比。

Oh, quarter-on-quarter, sure. Yes, I would say that is primarily a little bit of tariff headwind coming in. Year-on-year, though, we are up in both products and services.

哦，按季度比較，當然。是的，我認為這主要是由於關稅方面的一些不利因素造成的。但與去年同期相比，我們的產品和服務均有所成長。

Steve Forbes, Guggenheim Securities.

史蒂夫福布斯，古根漢證券。

Joel, you spoke about services in stores coming together. And I guess my question is, can you help us frame up sort of how you guys see that opportunity internally, whether it be how spending per customer sort of evolves as they engage in services, if they're a store-only customer or vice versa? Like any way to sort of talk about how like the net sales per customer evolves as they broaden their engagement across the store?

喬爾，你剛才談到了商店服務整合的問題。我想問的是，您能否幫我們梳理一下貴公司內部是如何看待這個機會的，比如，當顧客使用服務時，每位顧客的消費額會如何變化，或者他們是只在實體店消費的顧客，還是反之亦然？有沒有什麼方法可以討論隨著顧客在店內互動範圍擴大，每位顧客的淨銷售額是如何變化的？

Yeah, Look, look, I think any great bricks-and-mortar retailer has to define their moat, has to define what differentiates them from anybody else. And services is definitely one of our moats, right? It's one of our key elements that is really hard for any other pet retailer to replicate in the way we built out grooming, hospitals, vet clinics, dog walking, dog training, all those elements.

是的，你看，我認為任何優秀的實體零售商都必須明確自己的護城河，必須明確自己與其他零售商的區別。服務絕對是我們的一大優勢，對吧？這是我們的關鍵要素之一，其他寵物零售商很難複製，因為我們建立了美容、醫院、獸醫診所、遛狗、訓練狗等所有這些要素。

And so that's obviously an area there for we've leaned in the most, and we've made incredible progress with our existing assets, utilization we've improved, engagement improved. And then what you're getting at is the integration with the center of store with product.

所以很明顯，這是我們投入最多的領域，我們利用現有資產取得了巨大的進步，提高了利用率，提高了參與度。然後，你真正想表達的是與商店中心的產品整合。

And so -- what's key to all that, Steve, as I look to '26 is layering that in with a membership program that really helps us better understand the profile of each one of our customers, how many are you using services? How many use services and merchandise, how many are buying in-store and online. And you put all those elements together, it starts to create profiles of different customers.

所以——史蒂夫，展望 2026 年，關鍵在於建立一個會員計劃，真正幫助我們更好地了解每個客戶的概況，有多少人正在使用我們的服務？有多少人使用服務和商品？有多少人在實體店購買，又有多少人在網路上購買？將所有這些因素結合起來，就可以開始創造不同客戶的畫像。

And we really see -- honestly, the better we get at services, the halo effect that has on the overall business just gets stronger because it's something that's hard for anyone else to replicate. So service is probably the area that we made the most amount of progress, pleased with the results we're seeing there. And you'll continue to see us talk about that and -- but that gives you a little color on how I see it playing out turning into 2026.

我們確實看到——說實話，我們的服務越好，它對整個業務產生的光環效應就越強，因為這是其他人很難複製的東西。因此，服務可能是我們取得最大進步的領域，我們對目前所取得的成果感到滿意。你們還會繼續看到我們談論這件事，但這能讓你們對2026年的發展前景有所了解。

And then maybe if I just do a quick follow-up on that. Is there any way to set the baseline here on just what percentage of your customers today actually buy services or any sort of baseline KPI that we can sort of begin to track as we think about your progression in the business?

然後，也許我可以就此做一個簡短的後續跟進。有沒有辦法設定一個基準，來衡量一下目前有多少客戶實際購買了服務，或者設定某種基準KPI，以便我們在考慮貴公司業務發展情況時可以開始追蹤該指標？

Yeah. Look, I think at this point in time, I'm not going to get into the specifics on it at that level of detail. I mean, I think the baseline KPI to track as we look into the future, it will be transactions overall and then let us manage it at the different elements we have to serve up to the customer. But services will definitely be a key component to it, Steve, as we keep growing.

是的。你看，我覺得目前我不會深入討論這個問題的細節。我的意思是，我認為展望未來，我們需要追蹤的基本KPI將是整體交易量，然後讓我們針對我們必須為客戶提供的不同要素進行管理。但隨著我們不斷發展壯大，服務無疑將成為其中的關鍵組成部分，史蒂夫。

Zachary Fadem, Wells Fargo.

扎卡里·法德姆，富國銀行。

Is there a way to quantify the impact of moving away from less profitable sales and deemphasizing the member program in Q3. As it seems like you expect your Q4 comp to step down a bit more. I'm curious to what extent you're expecting those items to also impact Q4?

是否有辦法量化第三季減少利潤較低的銷售項目和降低會員計畫的重要性所帶來的影響？看來你預計第四季薪資還會進一步下降。我很想知道您預計這些因素會在多大程度上影響第四季度？

Yeah. I mean, I'll just start by -- it's a pretty broad range, Zack, the implied Q4, so we can land anywhere in that range. Clearly, what we've stated all year very consistently is our primary focus this year was around expanding our margins, walking those unprofitable sales and building this very strong foundation upon which to start sales growth in 2026. But Joel, I'll let you take it from there, if you want to --

是的。我的意思是，我先從——扎克，隱含的第四季度範圍相當寬泛，所以我們可能會落在該範圍內的任何位置。顯然，我們全年一直強調的是，我們今年的主要重點是擴大利潤率，停止那些不盈利的銷售，並為2026年的銷售成長奠定堅實的基礎。但是喬爾，如果你願意的話，剩下的就交給你了。--

Yeah. I think -- Sabrina, I think you nailed it. And I think I'd add to that, like you asked what's the impact? Well, the impact you're seeing quite clearly is we're growing pet EBITDA market share. And so while sales are down, EBITDA is up.

是的。我覺得──薩布麗娜，我覺得你做得太棒了。我想補充一點，就像你問的那樣，影響是什麼？很明顯，我們寵物 EBITDA 市佔率正在成長。因此，雖然銷售額下降，但 EBITDA 卻上升了。

So clearly, we -- I think we've done a really nice job of identifying which sales are really onetime transactions and our empty calorie as I call them, versus which customers we want to grow lifetime value and be with us for the long term.

所以很明顯，我認為我們已經很好地識別出了哪些銷售是真正的一次性交易，也就是我所說的“空卡路里”，以及哪些客戶是我們希望提升終身價值並與我們長期合作的。

And so you've seen that play out quarter after quarter for us as sales have been down consistently low single digits but bottom lines continue to improve. So as each quarter goes by, we get better at identifying those, largely, getting them out of our base. And you layer in a membership program, more strategic media buying aspect and all that will start to lead towards improvement in the top line with the bottom line as well.

因此，你們也看到了，這種情況每季都在發生：銷售額持續下降個位數，但利潤卻持續改善。因此，隨著每個季度的過去，我們越來越擅長識別這些因素，並將它們從我們的客戶群中剔除。此外，加入會員計畫、更具策略性的媒體購買策略等等，都將開始提升營收和利潤。

Thanks, Joel. And then just to level set as we look ahead to 2026, I mean the expectation is to return to sales growth. I'm curious how generally you would frame broader category performance in dog and cat food, supplies, services, et cetera, and then how you would layer in the impact of both your initiatives? And then net store opening and closings to kind of get to that total sales growth?

謝謝你，喬爾。然後，展望 2026 年，我們設定一個基準，預期是恢復銷售成長。我很好奇您會如何概括犬貓食品、用品、服務等領域的整體品類表現，以及您會如何將兩項舉措的影響納入考慮？然後透過淨開設和關閉門市來實現總銷售成長？

Yeah. Look, I think it's too early now to spell that out specifically for 2026. I mean, clearly, if you look at what we published, you can see the consumables and supplies are negative this year and we're getting growth in services. We expect a return to growth in consumables and supplies going forward. And what I've got to just outline for you or translate for you is what I laid out today in terms of 4 pillars, how does that translate into growth at what time and what period next year.

是的。我覺得現在具體預測 2026 年的情況還為時過早。我的意思是，很明顯，如果你看看我們公佈的數據，你會發現今年的消耗品和用品支出為負，而服務業則實現了成長。我們預計未來消費品和供應價格將恢復成長。我需要向你們概述或解釋我今天提出的四大支柱，以及它們如何在明年的哪個時間和哪個時期轉化為成長。

But a lot -- what you guys can't see is all the progress we're making here internally. And then we just got to put the pieces together for you so you can help you think about your model. But we haven't -- I think I answered on a few questions before. We're approaching '26 the same way we approached '25, outline the strategies and then execute. And the team is just getting better at that as every passing quarter goes by.

但你們看不到的是，我們內部正在取得很多進展。然後我們只需要把這些部分拼湊起來，以便幫助你思考你的模型。但是我們還沒有——我想我之前回答過一些問題。我們對待 2026 年的方式與對待 2025 年的方式相同，即制定策略，然後執行。隨著比賽的進行，球隊在這方面也越來越出色。

Yeah. And Zack, just to emphasize what Joel is saying, for sure, I think your thinking is in line with ours, where you always look at what's your base sales build, then we layer on all the many initiatives, which Joel has been outlining and we'll continue to get more granular as we go into '26 but we have all of those building blocks on top of that base, and they layer on throughout the year.

是的。扎克，我只是想強調喬爾所說的，當然，我認為你的想法和我們一致，那就是始終先看好基礎銷售結構，然後再疊加喬爾一直在概述的各種舉措，隨著我們進入 2026 年，我們將繼續細化這些舉措，但我們所有的構建模組都建立在這個基礎之上，並且它們會在一年中不斷疊加。

So what you can count on is it's a gradual ramp. And then the last thing I'll say as a little bit of a preview is we would expect fewer net closures in 2026 than we had in 2025. And again, the 2025 expectation is about 20 net store closures.

所以你可以肯定的是，這是一個循序漸進的過程。最後，我還要透露一點信息，我們預計 2026 年的淨關閉數量將少於 2025 年。此外，預計到 2025 年將淨關閉約 20 家門市。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Tina Romani for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我謹將會議交還給蒂娜·羅馬尼，請她作總結發言。

Perfect. Thanks so much, Joel and Sabrina, and thanks everyone for your time. That concludes our call, and we hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.

完美的。非常感謝Joel和Sabrina，也感謝大家抽出時間。通話到此結束，祝大家假期愉快。

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

會議已經結束。感謝各位參加今天的報告會。您現在可以斷開連線了。