Wolverine World Wide Inc (WWW) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to today's Wolverine World Wide third quarter fiscal 2024 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that this call is being recorded, and I will be standing by if you should need any assistance.

大家好，歡迎參加今天的 Wolverine World Wide 2024 財年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）請注意，此通話正在錄音，如果您需要任何協助，我將隨時待命。

It is now my pleasure to turn the conference over to Alex Wiseman, Senior Vice President of Finance.

現在我很高興將會議交給財務高級副總裁 Alex Wiseman。

Good morning and welcome to our third quarter fiscal 2024 conference call. On the call today are Chris Hufnagel, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Taryn Miller, Chief Financial Officer. Earlier this morning, we issued our earnings press release and announced our financial results for the third quarter of 2024. The press release is available on many news sites and can be viewed on our corporate website at wolverineworldwide.com.

早上好，歡迎參加我們的 2024 財年第三季電話會議。今天參加電話會議的是總裁兼執行長 Chris Hufnagel；和首席財務官塔倫·米勒。今天早些時候，我們發布了收益新聞稿，並公佈了 2024 年第三季的財務表現。新聞稿可在許多新聞網站上找到，也可以在我們的公司網站 wolverineworldwide.com 上查看。

This morning's earnings press release and comments made during today's earnings call include non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures were reconciled to the most comparable GAAP financial measures in attached tables within the body of the release or on our Investor Relations page' on our website. References made regarding financial results and outlook for 2024 and comparable results from 2023 in each case for our ongoing business exclude the impact of Keds, Wolverine Leathers, and Sperry.

今天早上的收益新聞稿和今天的收益電話會議上的評論包括非公認會計準則財務指標。這些非公認會計準則財務指標與新聞稿正文中的附表或我們網站上的「投資者關係」頁面上最具可比性的公認會計準則財務指標進行了調整。關於 2024 年財務表現和展望以及 2023 年可比較業績的參考資料均不包括 Keds、Wolverine Leathers 和 Sperry 的影響。

I'd also like to remind you that statements describing the company's expectations, plans, predictions and projections such as those regarding the company's outlook for fiscal year 2024, growth opportunities and trends expected to affect the company's future performance made during today's conference call are forward-looking statements under US Securities laws.

我還想提醒您，在今天的電話會議上做出的描述公司預期、計劃、預測和預測的陳述，例如有關公司2024 財年展望、增長機會和預計影響公司未來業績的趨勢的陳述，均屬前瞻性陳述。

As a result, we must caution you that there are a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These important risk factors are identified in the company's SEC filings and in our press releases.

因此，我們必須提醒您，有許多因素可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中所述的結果有重大差異。這些重要的風險因素已在公司向 SEC 提交的文件和我們的新聞稿中確定。

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Chris Hufnagel.

現在，我將把電話轉給克里斯·赫夫納格爾 (Chris Hufnagel)。

Thanks, Alex. Good morning, and thanks to everyone for joining us on this morning's call. Starting with the headlines. In the third quarter, we delivered better-than-expected revenue and earnings. Notably, Merrell returned to growth and Saucony and Sweaty Betty were approximately flat when adjusted for business model changes and currency fluctuation, respectively.

謝謝，亞歷克斯。早安，感謝大家參加今天早上的電話會議。從頭條新聞開始。第三季度，我們的營收和獲利好於預期。值得注意的是，在分別根據業務模式變化和貨幣波動進行調整後，梅雷恢復了成長，而索康尼和汗水貝蒂則大致持平。

We drove record gross margin for the third quarter, the second quarterly record we've set this year. Finally, at the bottom-line, we more than doubled our earnings from a year ago. It was a good quarter for the company, further confirming our strategic direction and the great work our teams are doing. Based on these results and our outlook for the fourth quarter, we're raising both our top and bottom line guidance for the year. Taryn Miller, our Chief Financial Officer, will provide more color here in a few minutes.

我們第三季的毛利率創下了歷史新高，這是我們今年創下的第二季紀錄。最後，從底線來看，我們的收入比一年前增加了一倍以上。對於公司來說，這是一個很好的季度，進一步確認了我們的策略方向和我們團隊正在做的出色工作。根據這些結果和我們對第四季的展望，我們提高了今年的頂線和底線指引。我們的財務長 Taryn Miller 將在幾分鐘內提供更多資訊。

A year ago, we outlined an ambitious plan to turn around Wolverine World Wide and in the process, build a new company for the future. We started by taking fast and bold actions to stabilize the company and strengthen the balance sheet by significantly paying down our debt and reducing inventory, both of which are now well under half of where they stood 24 months ago.

一年前，我們制定了一項雄心勃勃的計劃，旨在扭轉 Wolverine World Wide 的局面，並在此過程中建立一家面向未來的新公司。我們首先採取快速而大膽的行動，透過大幅償還債務和減少庫存來穩定公司並強化資產負債表，目前這兩項指標均遠低於 24 個月前的一半。

At the same time, we moved quickly to transform Wolverine World Wide for the future. rationalizing our brand portfolio, restructuring the global organization and working to improve our profitability. Today, we continue to execute with great pace against this agenda, focus squarely on delivering the progress needed quarter after quarter to build a better business and ultimately deliver better returns for our shareholders.

同時，我們迅速採取行動，對《金鋼狼世界》的未來進行改造。合理化我們的品牌組合，重組全球組織並努力提高我們的獲利能力。今天，我們繼續快速執行這項議程，專注於逐季取得所需進展，以建立更好的業務，並最終為我們的股東帶來更好的回報。

While we have more work to do to fully realize the potential, I believe our company, brands and teams possess, we're getting better in building new muscle each and every day. Replacing our consumers and brands at the center of our approach and developing the talent, tools, capabilities, and processes needed to execute our enterprise and brand strategies with distinction moving forward.

雖然我們還有更多工作要做才能充分發揮潛力，但我相信我們的公司、品牌和團隊擁有，我們每天都在增強新力量方面做得更好。將消費者和品牌置於我們方法的中心，並發展執行我們的企業和品牌策略所需的人才、工具、能力和流程，以卓越的方式向前發展。

As we secure the turnaround and advance the transformation of our organization, we're thoughtfully navigating the reinvigoration of our brands and our inflection to growth as a company. We've worked hard to establish a healthier foundation for growth, cleaning up the marketplace, expanding margins, and working to better position and manage our brands at wholesale and in our own channels of distribution.

在確保組織扭虧為盈並推動轉型的同時，我們正在深思熟慮地推動我們品牌的重振以及公司發展的轉變。我們努力建立更健康的成長基礎，清理市場，擴大利潤，並努力在批發和我們自己的分銷管道中更好地定位和管理我們的品牌。

As we guided at the start of the year, we've now driven sequential improvement in top line revenue for the past two quarters. We have a plan to inflect the growth as the company in the final quarter of the year and more importantly, carry this momentum into 2025.

正如我們在年初所指導的那樣，我們現在已經推動了過去兩個季度營收的連續改善。我們計劃在今年最後一個季度扭轉公司的成長勢頭，更重要的是，將這種勢頭延續到 2025 年。

While the macro environment remains choppy and the consumer outlook is still a bit murky, our teams continue to manage the variables they can control. Focusing on our global brand building model and prioritizing, designing awesome products that are innovative, trend-right, place strike and price strike, telling amazing stories that not only convey the functional benefits of our brand's products, but also resonate with consumers on an emotional level and driving the business each and every day. The third quarter was another positive chapter in our turnaround and transformation story.

儘管宏觀環境仍然不穩定，消費者前景仍然有點暗淡，但我們的團隊繼續管理他們可以控制的變數。專注於我們的全球品牌建立模式和優先順序，設計出創新、潮流、定位和價格的優質產品，講述令人驚嘆的故事，不僅傳達我們品牌產品的功能優勢，而且在情感上與消費者產生共鳴每天提升並推動業務發展。第三季是我們扭虧為盈和轉型故事的另一個正面篇章。

Before handing over to Taryn to detail our financial results in the quarter and updated outlook for the remainder of the year, I'd like to provide some additional insight on our brand's performance, starting with Merrell. As a leader in the hike footwear category, the brand remains intently focused on modernizing the trail through faster, lighter and more versatile product.

在交給 Taryn 詳細介紹我們本季的財務業績和今年剩餘時間的最新展望之前，我想從 Merrell 開始，提供一些關於我們品牌業績的額外見解。作為健行鞋類的領導者，該品牌始終專注於透過更快、更輕和更多功能的產品來實現徒步旅行的現代化。

Over the course of this year, the Moab Speed 2 has meaningfully advanced this effort and established itself as an important franchise for the brand. It continues to sell through well at key outdoor accounts and encouragingly, is also performing well at certain lifestyle retailers.

今年，Moab Speed 2 有意義地推進了這項努力，並將自己確立為該品牌的重要特許經營產品。它繼續在主要戶外客戶中暢銷，令人鼓舞的是，在某些生活方式零售商中也表現良好。

Next week, the brand anticipates launching its second collaboration with Jeep, this iteration on the Moab Speed 2 platform an opportunity to increase the brand's awareness and continuing to build on the product franchises' success.

下週，該品牌預計將與 Jeep 展開第二次合作，這次在 Moab Speed 2 平台上的迭代將是提高品牌知名度並繼續鞏固產品特許經營成功的機會。

Merrell's premier, Trail Runner, the Agility Peak 5, is also selling through well in both performance and lifestyle channels. The brand has plans to continue to leverage collaborations on both of these franchises for the trail moving forward, further broadening their reach. Merrell's modernized product offering has enabled the brand to partner with several of its key accounts to reset assortments with the goal of evolving consumers' perceptions of the brand and driving sell-through.

Merrell 的首款產品 Trail Runner Agility Peak 5 在性能和生活風格管道上也暢銷。該品牌計劃繼續利用這兩個特許經營權的合作來向前發展，進一步擴大其影響力。Merrell 的現代化產品使該品牌能夠與其幾個重要客戶合作，重新調整產品組合，以期改變消費者對品牌的看法並推動銷售。

As a result of our proactive approach, the brand again accelerated share gains in the high category in the US last quarter. Merrell's created traction on the lifestyle side as well, successfully testing new products with several influential retailers. Outside the US, the brand was up mid-teens in EMA and drove mid-single-digit growth in Asia-Pacific in the quarter in part due to the execution of our key city strategy in Tokyo with brand activations in our Shibuya Square Scramble and Harajuku stores.

由於我們採取積極主動的策略，該品牌上季度在美國高品類市場的份額再次加速成長。Merrell 在生活方式方面也引起了關注，成功與多家有影響力的零售商測試了新產品。在美國以外，該品牌在EMA 中的銷量上升了10%，並在本季度推動了亞太地區的中個位數增長，部分原因是我們在東京的關鍵城市戰略的執行以及在Shibuya Square Scramble 和Shibuya Square Scramble 的品牌啟動。

Looking ahead to 2025, Merrell plans to launch its most innovative franchise to date in January. The all-new Speed Arc Collection, led by the award-winning SpeedArc Surge Boa, last week named one of Time's Best New inventions of the Year. It employs advanced materials and the brand's new Speed Arc platform, including its Float ProPlus Supercritical Foam and a stabilizing FlexPlate.

展望 2025 年，Merrell 計劃於 1 月推出迄今為止最具創新性的特許經營權。由屢獲殊榮的 SpeedArc Surge Boa 領銜的全新 Speed Arc 系列上週被《時代》雜誌評為年度最佳新發明之一。它採用先進材料和該品牌的全新 Speed Arc 平台，包括 Float ProPlus 超臨界泡沫和穩定的 FlexPlate。

The result is a remarkably unique and comfortable ride with exceptional energy return that outperforms the industry in extensive lab testing packaged in a visually disruptive, modern silhouette. Merrell is pushing the innovation boundaries of the trail as the category leader and generating momentum around the world.

其結果是一種非常獨特和舒適的乘坐體驗，具有卓越的能量回報，在廣泛的實驗室測試中優於行業，並以視覺上顛覆性的現代輪廓包裝。作為品類領導者，梅雷爾正在不斷突破該領域的創新界限，並在全球範圍內產生動力。

Moving on to Saucony. As the original running brand, Saucony has been an innovator in the category for decades, earning the trust of serious runners around the world with lead products like the award-winning endorphin collection.

繼續前往索康尼。作為原創跑步品牌，索康尼幾十年來一直是該類別的創新者，憑藉屢獲殊榮的內啡肽系列等主導產品贏得了世界各地認真跑步者的信任。

A little over a year ago, we overhauled the brand strategy to sharpen its focus on everyday runners and the broader run life opportunity by bringing better innovation into its core four franchises, the Ride, Guide, Triumph and Hurricane and by enhancing its design to provide more versatile, wearable styling.

一年多前，我們徹底改革了品牌策略，透過將更好的創新引入其四大核心系列（Ride、Guide、Triumph 和 Hurricane），並透過增強其設計以提供更加百搭、耐穿的造型。

Saucony has made this important pivot while simultaneously advancing innovation in its most elite offerings. And the consumer is responding positively to the brand's evolution.

索康尼在實現這一重要轉變的同時，也在其最精英的產品中推動創新。消費者對品牌的演變做出了正面的反應。

Saucony is pardoned closely this year with a host of key accounts to prove the power of the brand and its key product franchises and has delivered strong results in several distribution channels, including run specialty sporting goods, outdoor specialty, and beyond. And the critical US run specialty channel, in particular, the brand drove strong growth and took market share in the third quarter. Internationally, the brand grew in EMEA and was up significantly in Asia-Pacific after adjusting for last year's business model change in China.

索康尼今年獲得了許多重要客戶的密切關注，以證明該品牌及其主要產品特許經營權的力量，並在多個分銷渠道中取得了強勁的業績，包括經營專業體育用品、戶外專業用​​品等。尤其是關鍵的美國自營專業管道，該品牌在第三季度推動了強勁增長並佔領了市場份額。在國際上，該品牌在歐洲、中東和非洲地區取得了成長，並在根據去年中國的業務模式變化進行調整後，在亞太地區大幅成長。

Saucony executed a similar approach on the lifestyle side as well. The brand's deep authentic product archive with key styles like the Pro Grid Omni and Ride Millennium coupled with relevant and compelling collaborations with the likes of J Tips, Minted New York, Sarkal Paris, 316, and Undefeated and others right up through last week has helped fuel strong brand heat. As of today, the brand expects to thoughtfully increase its store count in relevant US lifestyle and athletic specialty channels from nascent distribution this past spring to over 900 doors in spring 2025.

索康尼在生活方式方面也採取了類似的做法。該品牌深厚的正宗產品檔案，包括Pro Grid Omni 和Ride Millennium 等關鍵款式，以及截至上週與J Tips、Minted New York、Sarkal Paris、316 和Undefeated 等相關且引人注目的合作，為該品牌帶來了幫助激發強勁的品牌熱度。截至今天，該品牌預計將精心增加其在美國相關生活方式和運動專業通路的門市數量，從去年春季的初期分銷增加到 2025 年春季的 900 多家。

Saucony anticipates building on a strong momentum in 2025 by kicking off the year with a fresh offering of the rapidly growing Pro Grid Omni and lifestyle, along with the introduction of new guide and ride models on the performance side. The latest iterations of two of the brand's biggest franchises. To continue to advance tip-up sphere innovation, the brand also plans to launch the Endorphin Elite 2 this coming spring, featuring

Saucony 預計在 2025 年將繼續保持強勁勢頭，以快速增長的 Pro Grid Omni 和生活方式的新產品拉開新年序幕，並在性能方面推出新的引導和騎行模型。該品牌最大的兩個特許經營權的最新版本。為了繼續推進翻轉球體創新，該品牌還計劃在今年春天推出 Endorphin Elite 2，其特點

In Credit Run Foam, most innovative and responsive film ever, delivering unmatched energy return and cushioning. Saucony expects to build on its key cities strategy to help activate the brand in a strong pipeline in an impactful way as well with continued sponsorship of the London 10-K and the opening of our first pioneer store in London's Covent Garden in Spring 2025.

Credit Run Foam 是迄今為止最具創新性和反應性的薄膜，可提供無與倫比的能量回報和緩衝效果。Saucony 預計將在其重點城市策略的基礎上，透過繼續贊助倫敦10-K 賽事以及於2025 年春季在倫敦考文特花園開設第一家先鋒店，以有影響力的方式幫助激活品牌的強大管道。

2024 has been a pivotal, transitional, and transformational year for Saucony. I believe we've positioned the brand for the opportunity to deliver strong growth in 2025 and beyond. Sweaty Betty also delivered a solid quarter with year-over-year increases in both its e-commerce and wholesale businesses, while our stores finished flat. The brand launched its new fem tech collection, aimed at empowering its female consumer at every life stage, which was met with an overwhelming consumer response.

2024 年對索康尼來說是關鍵、過渡和轉型的一年。我相信我們已經為該品牌定位了在 2025 年及以後實現強勁增長的機會。Sweaty Betty 的電子商務和批發業務也實現了穩健的季度成長，而我們的商店則持平。該品牌推出了全新女性科技系列，旨在增強女性消費者在各個人生階段的能力，並得到了消費者的熱烈回應。

In addition, the brand drove strong growth in its biggest category, leggings, powered by its cornerstone franchise Power. Importantly, the brand's lifestyle offerings, led by the Explorer Collection also contributed to growth in the quarter, helping the brand diversify beyond its core performance silhouettes.

此外，在其基石特許經營權 Power 的推動下，該品牌推動了其最大類別緊身褲的強勁增長。重要的是，以探索者係列為首的該品牌的生活方式產品也為本季度的成長做出了貢獻，幫助該品牌在其核心性能輪廓之外實現多元化。

Finally, the Wolverine brand saw encouraging proof points in its business trends as well. While we experienced some delayed product deliveries that impacted the brand shipments for the quarter, retail sell-through in the US was up compared to the prior year, and the brand's market share trend sequentially improved. However, we have more work to do in our work group, and it's art of bolstering the innovation in our product pipeline.

最後，金鋼狼品牌在其業務趨勢中也看到了令人鼓舞的證據。雖然我們遇到了一些產品交付延遲的情況，影響了本季的品牌出貨量，但美國的零售銷售量與去年相比有所上升，並且該品牌的市佔率趨勢也持續改善。然而，我們的工作團隊還有更多工作要做，這是支持我們產品線創新的藝術。

To that end, we recently appointed a new product Chief for the group. As for 2025, I'm excited for several new launches for Wolverine beginning with the Vantage and the Rancho Pro collections, both featuring the brand's new hyper-rest technology for improved cushioning and energy return. And to help accelerate brand heat, the brand will launch a partnership next February with Country Music Superstar, Jordan Davis.

為此，我們最近為該團隊任命了一位新產品主管。至於 2025 年，我對 Wolverine 的幾款新產品感到興奮，首先是 Vantage 和 Rancho Pro 系列，這兩個系列都採用了該品牌全新的超級休息技術，以改善緩衝和能量回報。為了加速品牌熱度，該品牌將於明年二月與鄉村音樂巨星喬丹戴維斯 (Jordan Davis) 建立合作關係。

While we know the path forward won't be perfectly straight or smooth, I believe our company is headed in the right direction with great pace, executing our strategies, driving the business, and beginning to deliver better results.

雖然我們知道前進的道路不會完全筆直或順利，但我相信我們的公司正在朝著正確的方向快速前進，執行我們的策略，推動業務發展，並開始交付更好的成果。

With that, I'd now like to hand the call over to Taryn to take you through our results and updated outlook in more detail. Taryn?

現在，我想將電話轉交給 Taryn，讓您更詳細地了解我們的結果和更新的前景。塔林？

Thank you, Chris and welcome everyone. We are pleased to report that our results for the third quarter exceeded expectations across key financial metrics. The sequential improvement in both top and bottom-line performance demonstrates the success of our strategic initiatives and the dedicated execution by our team in driving the turnaround.

謝謝克里斯，歡迎大家。我們很高興地報告，我們第三季的業績在關鍵財務指標上超出了預期。頂線和底線績效的連續改善證明了我們策略舉措的成功以及我們團隊在推動扭虧為盈方面的專注執行。

Third quarter revenue for our ongoing business of $440 million was $20 million above our outlook of approximately $420 million. Approximately half of the over-delivery was primarily driven by increased demand in the active group with favorable foreign currency also contributing.

我們持續業務的第三季營收為 4.4 億美元，比我們預期的約 4.2 億美元高出 2,000 萬美元。大約一半的超額交付主要是由活躍群體的需求增加所推動的，有利的外幣也有所貢獻。

The remaining amount resulted from a net timing shift between the third and fourth quarters as certain wholesale orders shipped earlier than originally expected. Revenue for our ongoing business declined 7% versus the prior year compared to a decline of 24.5% in the first quarter, a decline of 18.4% in the second quarter.

剩餘金額是由於第三季和第四季之間的淨時間變化造成的，因為某些批發訂單的出貨時間早於最初預期。我們持續業務的收入比去年同期下降了 7%，而第一季下降了 24.5%，第二季下降了 18.4%。

The third quarter of 2023 included approximately $30 million of revenue that did not repeat in the third quarter of this year, including revenue from excess end-of-life inventory liquidation and business model changes. Excluding these discrete items, third quarter revenue this year was approximately flat to 2023.

2023 年第三季包括約 3,000 萬美元的收入，今年第三季沒有重複，其中包括過多的報廢庫存清算和業務模式變化帶來的收入。排除這些離散項目，今年第三季的營收與 2023 年大致持平。

Merrell revenue grew 1.4% in the quarter, with growth in both DTC and wholesale. Saucony declined 10% in the quarter, a meaningfully lower rate of decline than expected due to continued demand momentum, particularly in e-commerce and US wholesale.

Merrell 本季營收成長 1.4%，DTC 和批發業務均實現成長。索康尼本季下滑 10%，由於持續的需求勢頭，尤其是電子商務和美國批發市場的需求勢頭，下滑幅度明顯低於預期。

Sweaty Betty grew 3% in the quarter, in line with expectations. The work group declined 11% in the quarter, which fell short of our original expectations of a high single-digit decline. Compounding supply chain disruptions that started with the challenges in Bangladesh had a bigger impact on the work group than originally estimated. Shipping delays limited our ability to meet the full demand for work boots in the quarter. We expect to recover most of the shortfall in the fourth quarter.

Sweaty Betty 本季成長 3%，符合預期。該工作小組本季下降了 11%，低於我們最初預期的高個位數下降。孟加拉的挑戰引發的供應鏈中斷對工作小組的影響比最初估計的還要大。運輸延誤限制了我們滿足本季工作靴全部需求的能力。我們預計第四季將彌補大部分缺口。

Turning to profitability. We are encouraged by the growth achieved this quarter, which underscores our effective cost management and improved operational efficiency. We are seeing the rewards of our efforts over the past year to restructure the company and reduce costs, including both cost of goods sold and selling, general and administrative expenses. Adjusted gross margin of 45.3% increased 380 basis points versus last year and represents record gross margin for the quarter.

轉向盈利能力。我們對本季實現的成長感到鼓舞，這突顯了我們有效的成本管理和營運效率的提高。我們看到了過去一年中公司重組和降低成本（包括銷售成本和銷售成本、一般費用和管理費用）的努力的回報。調整後毛利率為 45.3%，較去年增加 380 個基點，創下本季毛利率紀錄。

Gross margins were in line with our expectations and reflect a healthier sales mix and the benefit of supply chain cost saving initiatives. Adjusted operating margin of 7.7% exceeded our outlook for the quarter driven by operating cost leverage on the stronger revenue performance. As a result of the improvement in revenue and operating margin, adjusted diluted earnings per share improved from $0.20 in the first half of 2024 to $0.29 in the third quarter.

毛利率符合我們的預期，反映了更健康的銷售組合以及供應鏈成本節約措施的好處。受營運成本槓桿和強勁收入表現的推動，調整後營運利潤率為 7.7%，超出了我們對本季的預期。由於收入和營業利潤率的改善，調整後的稀釋每股收益從 2024 年上半年的 0.20 美元提高到第三季的 0.29 美元。

When we laid out our turnaround plan, we said profit margin expansion would lead revenue growth. With the third quarter results, year-to-date adjusted earnings per share performance is up by nearly 20% versus the prior year. We also continue to make solid progress on strengthening the balance sheet. Inventory at quarter end was $286 million, down approximately 40% from last year for the ongoing business as we further optimize inventory levels and reap the benefits of improved planning and execution.

當我們制定扭虧為盈計畫時，我們表示利潤率擴張將帶動收入成長。從第三季業績來看，年初至今調整後每股盈餘較上年成長近 20%。我們也持續在加強資產負債表方面取得紮實進展。隨著我們進一步優化庫存水準並獲得改善規劃和執行的好處，持續業務的季度末庫存為 2.86 億美元，比去年下降約 40%。

During the August earnings call, I mentioned that while we were chasing demand and had lower inventories in Saucony, we still had work to do in Merrell and the work group. We plan to address specific areas of excess inventory, mainly through our DTC channel.

在八月的財報電話會議上，我提到，雖然我們正在追逐需求並且索康尼的庫存較低，但我們在梅雷和工作小組中仍有工作要做。我們計劃主要透過 DTC 管道解決特定領域的庫存過剩問題。

Although there is still work to be done to fully optimize inventory, current levels are nearing our target ensuring we have adequate coverage for the business' future needs. Net debt was $563 million, down approximately $100 million versus second quarter and down $370 million versus last year.

儘管在全面優化庫存方面仍有工作要做，但目前的水平已接近我們的目標，確保我們有足夠的能力滿足業務的未來需求。淨債務為 5.63 億美元，比第二季減少約 1 億美元，比去年減少 3.7 億美元。

Now, turning to our updated outlook for 2024. We are raising our revenue and earnings guidance for the full year. Solid year-to-date results, combined with the development of our order book for our global wholesale business has strengthened our confidence in our outlook.

現在，轉向我們更新的 2024 年展望。我們正在提高全年的收入和盈利指導。年初至今的穩健業績，加上全球批發業務訂單的發展，增強了我們對前景的信心。

Fiscal 2024 revenue from our ongoing business is now expected to be in the range of $1.73 billion to $1.745 billion, an increase of $18 million at the midpoint versus our August outlook. Increase in the active group demand drives $11 million of the raise and favorable foreign currency drive the remaining increase.

目前，我們現有業務的 2024 財年收入預計在 17.3 億美元至 17.45 億美元之間，比我們 8 月的預期增加了 1,800 萬美元。活躍團體需求的增加推動了 1,100 萬美元的融資，有利的外匯推動了剩餘的成長。

This compares to 2023 revenue from our ongoing business of $1.99 billion and represents a decline of 12.8% at the midpoint of the range. As we shared in previous calls, there were discrete items in 2023 that are not recurring in 2024 related to end-of-life inventory liquidation, business model changes and a timing shift of international distributor shipments.

與 2023 年我們持續業務的收入 19.9 億美元相比，該範圍的中位數下降了 12.8%。正如我們在先前的電話會議中分享的那樣，2023 年有一些離散項目在 2024 年不會重複出現，這些項目與報廢庫存清理、業務模式變化和國際分銷商發貨時間變化有關。

Total revenue generated by these items was $185 million, with 90% occurring in the first three quarters of the year. Excluding the discrete items, full year 2024 revenue at the midpoint is expected to decline approximately 3.8%. We continue to expect full year 2024 active group revenue to decline by mid-teens percentage year-over-year and work group revenue to decline by a percentage in the high single-digits year-over-year. Brand performance expectations can be found in our investor presentation on our website.

這些項目產生的總收入為 1.85 億美元，其中 90% 發生在今年前三個季度。排除離散項目，2024 年全年收入中位數預計將下降約 3.8%。我們繼續預期 2024 年全年活躍集團收入將年減中位數百分比，工作組收入將年減高個位數百分比。品牌表現預期可以在我們網站上的投資者介紹中找到。

Turning to gross margin. As a result of the actions we've taken over the last year, we continue to expect strong margin expansion compared to 2023. These actions include supply chain and product cost savings, the benefit of healthier inventory level, better mix of full price sales, and brand protection actions.

轉向毛利率。由於我們去年採取的行動，我們預計與 2023 年相比，利潤率將出現強勁增長。這些行動包括供應鏈和產品成本節約、更健康的庫存水準的好處、更好的全價銷售組合以及品牌保護行動。

Adjusted gross margin is expected to be approximately 44.5% at the midpoint of the outlook range, a record for Wolverine Worldwide and up approximately 460 basis points compared to 2023. Adjusted selling, general, and administrative expenses are expected to be approximately $650 million at the midpoint of the outlook range compared to $716 million in 2023. The lower operating cost structure includes restructuring savings partially offset by incremental investments in our business, normalized incentive compensation, and inflation.

調整後的毛利率預計約為 44.5%，處於展望範圍的中點，這是 Wolverine Worldwide 的記錄，比 2023 年增長約 460 個基點。調整後的銷售、一般和管理費用預計約為 6.5 億美元（按展望範圍的中點計算），而 2023 年為 7.16 億美元。較低的營運成本結構包括重組節省，部分被我們業務的增量投資、標準化激勵薪酬和通貨膨脹所抵消。

We're investing in our brand building model to drive sustainable growth building awesome products, telling amazing stories and driving the business. Key initiatives include modernizing product line management tools to drive innovation sponsoring the Saucony London 10-K to elevate brand awareness, establishing our first innovation hub in Boston and building talent and capabilities.

我們正在投資我們的品牌建立模型，以推動永續成長，打造出色的產品，講述精彩的故事並推動業務發展。主要措施包括現代化產品線管理工具以推動創新、贊助 Saucony London 10-K 以提升品牌知名度、在波士頓建立第一個創新中心以及培養人才和能力。

Adjusted operating margin is expected to be approximately 7.2% at the midpoint of the outlook range compared to 3.9% in 2023. Net interest and other expenses are projected to be approximately $36 million, down from $63 million in 2023, which reflects the benefit from the significant debt reduction over the last year. The effective tax rate is projected to be approximately 16.5%.

調整後營業利潤率預計約為 7.2%，處於展望範圍的中點，而 2023 年為 3.9%。淨利息和其他支出預計約為 3,600 萬美元，低於 2023 年的 6,300 萬美元，這反映了去年大幅債務削減帶來的好處。有效稅率預計約為16.5%。

Adjusted diluted earnings per share is now expected to be in the range of $0.80 to $0.90, an increase of $0.05 at the midpoint versus our August outlook. This compares to adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.15 in 2023. Working capital and cash flow optimization continues to be a priority in 2024. We expect inventory to decline by approximately $85 million by year-end compared to the prior year-end as we continue to work through specific areas of excess inventory.

調整後的稀釋每股收益目前預計在 0.80 美元至 0.90 美元之間，與我們 8 月的預期相比，中間值增加了 0.05 美元。相比之下，2023 年調整後稀釋每股收益為 0.15 美元。營運資本和現金流優化仍然是 2024 年的優先事項。隨著我們繼續解決特定領域的庫存過剩問題，我們預計到年底庫存將比上年末減少約 8,500 萬美元。

Operating free cash flow is expected to be in the range of $120 million to $130 million with approximately $30 million of capital expenditures. We expect net debt to be $545 million at year-end, an improvement of nearly $195 million versus year-end 2023. Given this outlook for the full year, we expect the fourth quarter revenue to be in the range of $475 million to $490 million. This reflects continued improvement in revenue performance and at the midpoint, an inflection to growth.

營運自由現金流預計在 1.2 億至 1.3 億美元之間，其中資本支出約為 3,000 萬美元。我們預計年底淨債務為 5.45 億美元，比 2023 年底增加近 1.95 億美元。鑑於全年前景，我們預計第四季營收將在 4.75 億美元至 4.90 億美元之間。這反映了收入表現的持續改善以及中點成長的轉折點。

We are executing our plan and seeing momentum in our brands from increased new product introductions improvements in product design and cleaner and lower inventory levels at retail. This momentum is showing up in our wholesale and international distributor order books as expected, and e-commerce initiatives are in place for the holiday season.

我們正在執行我們的計劃，並從增加新產品推出、產品設計改進以及更清潔和更低的零售庫存水平中看到了我們品牌的勢頭。正如預期的那樣，這種勢頭在我們的批發和國際分銷商訂單中顯現出來，電子商務計劃也已在假期期間到位。

Fourth quarter gross margin is expected to be approximately 44%, an increase of 700 basis points from 2023. Last year's fourth quarter gross margin was adversely affected by a decline in full-price business, resulting from excess inventory in the wholesale channel. This issue has significantly improved over the course of 2024.

第四季毛利率預計約44%，較2023年增加700個基點。去年第四季的毛利率受到批發通路庫存過剩導致全價業務下降的不利影響。這個問題在 2024 年得到了顯著改善。

We expect improvements in operating margin and earnings with fourth quarter adjusted operating margins of approximately 9% and adjusted diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.31 to $0.41. While it's too early to discuss the 2025 outlook in detail, there are a few key points I'd like to highlight. We anticipate cleaner year-over-year comparisons in 2025 as the discrete headwinds we faced this year will be largely behind us.

我們預計營業利潤率和收益將有所改善，第四季度調整後營業利潤率約為 9%，調整後攤薄每股收益將在 0.31 美元至 0.41 美元之間。雖然現在詳細討論 2025 年前景還為時過早，但我想強調一些關鍵點。我們預計 2025 年的年比比較會更加清晰，因為我們今年面臨的離散阻力基本上將成為過去。

While we recognize there is more work to be done, we feel good about the momentum of the business. In this dynamic operating environment, we remain focused on what we can control, investing in our brands, our team, and the technology to build new capabilities, drive growth, and deliver value to our shareholders.

雖然我們意識到還有更多工作要做，但我們對業務的發展勢頭感到滿意。在這個充滿活力的營運環境中，我們仍然專注於我們可以控制的事情，投資我們的品牌、團隊和技術，以建立新的能力、推動成長並為股東創造價值。

And with that, let me hand the call back to Chris before we open it up for questions.

就這樣，在我們開始提問之前，讓我把電話轉給克里斯。

Thanks Taryn. Looking ahead, I believe we possess tremendous competitive advantages. We have a portfolio of authentic global brands positioned in attractive categories that are focused on making people's lives better, healthier, happier, and more productive.

謝謝塔林。展望未來，我相信我們擁有巨大的競爭優勢。我們擁有一系列真正的全球品牌，定位於有吸引力的類別，致力於讓人們的生活更美好、更健康、更快樂、更有效率。

Our brands are considered leaders in their categories and are long respected for making great innovative products. In addition, we've developed an extensive global distribution network over decades with best-in-class partners to reach our consumers in every corner of the world.

我們的品牌被認為是同類產品中的領導者，長期以來因製造出色的創新產品而受到尊重。此外，數十年來，我們與一流的合作夥伴建立了廣泛的全球分銷網絡，以覆蓋世界各個角落的消費者。

While these are certainly invaluable advantages, as we've said before, brands have to do more to win in today's dynamic and competitive marketplace. To enable our brands to compete and win, we've been hard at work strengthening key capabilities for the new Wolverine Worldwide.

雖然這些無疑是無價的優勢，但正如我們之前所說，品牌必須採取更多措施才能在當今充滿活力和競爭的市場中獲勝。為了讓我們的品牌能夠競爭並獲勝，我們一直在努力加強新的 Wolverine Worldwide 的關鍵能力。

Beginning with the consumer, we create a collective last fall to better identify consumer trends and innovation insights to guide product innovation, design and storytelling. As a part of this initiative, we also established The Den, an in-house creative studio designed to equip our brands with the tools they need to quickly and efficiently develop creative assets to tell amazing stories in today's always-on digital world.

從消費者開始，我們去年秋天創建了一個集體，以便更好地識別消費者趨勢和創新見解，以指導產品創新、設計和講故事。作為該計劃的一部分，我們還建立了The Den，這是一個內部創意工作室，旨在為我們的品牌提供所需的工具，以快速有效地開發創意資產，以便在當今永遠在線的數位世界中講述精彩的故事。

We've tested a key city strategy through focused initiatives in Tokyo and London with our biggest brands, Maryland Saucony, and we're encouraged by the early results. To help us run about our business, we're enhancing our integrated business planning approach by redesigning related processes, bolstering our tool get and adding new talent.

我們透過在東京和倫敦與我們最大的品牌馬裡蘭索康尼的重點舉措測試了一項關鍵城市策略，我們對早期結果感到鼓舞。為了幫助我們開展業務，我們正在透過重新設計相關流程、增強我們的工具獲取和增加新人才來增強我們的綜合業務規劃方法。

We anticipate this new competency will be fully online early next year. On the product front, just three weeks ago today, we cut the ribbon to open our first ever innovation hub located in the heart of the West End of Boston to tap into the region's deep product talent and augment the teams here in Michigan.

我們預計這項新功能將於明年初全面上線。在產品方面，就在三週前的今天，我們在波士頓西區的中心地帶剪綵開設了第一個創新中心，以利用該地區深厚的產品人才並增強密西根州的團隊。

Finally, we've hired new critical product and marketing talent for our brands over the past year. And just last week, we announced the appointment of Susie Kuhn as our President of the Active Group. An industry veteran, she's a tremendous addition to the team and I look forward to partnering with her and her leadership of our company's biggest brands.

最後，我們在過去的一年為我們的品牌聘請了新的關鍵產品和行銷人才。就在上週，我們宣布任命 Susie Kuhn 為 Active Group 總裁。作為一名行業資深人士，她是團隊的重要補充，我期待與她合作以及她對我們公司最大品牌的領導。

We've been busy, but we're unequivocally not slowing down. All of the work we've done to this point in our turnaround we believe has prepared the organization to better compete and win, the opportunity to drive for better and the privilege to write the next chapter in our company's 141-year story.

我們一直很忙，但我們毫不含糊地沒有放慢腳步。我們相信，到目前為止，我們在扭虧為盈中所做的所有工作已經讓組織做好了更好的競爭和獲勝的準備，讓我們有機會追求更好，並有幸在我們公司141 年的故事中寫下新的篇章。

Before concluding our prepared remarks, I'd like to thank our teams for being all in and dedicating themselves to the work we've done together over the last 455 days. You've been simply great and I'm incredibly grateful for and motivated by your work passion, grit and drive. And while we've written a good story together to date, the most important chapter is the next one.

在結束我們準備好的演講之前，我要感謝我們的團隊在過去 455 天全力以赴並致力於我們共同完成的工作。你真是太棒了，我非常感激你的工作熱情、毅力和乾勁，並受到你的激勵。雖然迄今為止我們已經一起寫了一個好故事，但最重要的一章是下一章。

With that, thank you to all of you on the call this morning for taking the time to be with us, and we're happy to answer your questions. Operator?

在此，感謝今天早上參加電話會議的所有人抽出時間與我們在一起，我們很高興回答您的問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Laurent Vasilescu, BNP Paribas Exane.

洛朗·瓦西萊斯庫，法國巴黎銀行 Exane。

Good morning. Thank you very much for taking my question. And Chris and team congrats on the continued progress here. Chris, I think in your prepared remarks, you talked about the momentum for both key brands, Merrell and Saucony heading into 2025.

早安.非常感謝您回答我的問題。克里斯和團隊祝賀這裡的持續進步。Chris，我認為在您準備好的演講中，您談到了 Merrell 和 Saucony 這兩個主要品牌進入 2025 年的勢頭。

I would love to drill in a little bit more on that comment. I know you've recently parted with a number of key retail accounts for those two brands. Can you maybe just give us some color for the audience here on what's the reception so far with these key accounts?

我很想進一步深入探討該評論。我知道您最近與這兩個品牌的一些重要零售客戶分手了。您能否為這裡的觀眾介紹一下到目前為止這些重要客戶的反應如何？

Sure. Thanks Laurent. Appreciate the question. Yes, I think certainly, as we've sort of thought about the reset at Wolverine and the work we needed to go do, we took a healthy look at our biggest brands and first starting with products. and what products did we have, what was in the pipeline, what innovation did we need to bring? And where could we improve and where could we streamline and focus on doing fewer things, bigger and better and certainly paying attention to where the consumer was moving and how we could tap into that.

當然。謝謝勞倫特。感謝這個問題。是的，我想當然，當我們考慮了金剛狼的重置以及我們需要做的工作時，我們對我們最大的品牌進行了健康的審視，並首先從產品開始。我們有什麼產品、正在醞釀什麼產品、需要帶來什麼創新？我們可以在哪些方面進行改進，在哪些方面可以簡化並專注於做更少的事情，更大更好，當然要關註消費者的動向以及我們如何利用這一點。

And with Merrell and Saucony specifically, we've got new leadership in those brands. We've got new sales leadership in those brands. And we looked at the distribution and is really focused on the US and said, where are our brands showing up, what channels were growing, what partners would we want to be with?

尤其是 Merrell 和 Saucony，我們在這些品牌中獲得了新的領導地位。我們在這些品牌中獲得了新的銷售領導地位。我們研究了分銷情況，真正關注的是美國，並說，我們的品牌出現在哪裡，哪些管道正在成長，我們希望與哪些合作夥伴合作？

And then how could we go in and take advantage of that. And credit to those brands and certainly credit to the partners and thanks to the partners for opening up and being open to thinking about our brands in different ways.

然後我們如何才能進入並利用這一點。感謝這些品牌，當然也感謝合作夥伴，感謝合作夥伴以不同的方式開放並開放地思考我們的品牌。

So, you certainly will see both Merrell and Saucony showing up in new accounts as we brought great relevant products that's resonating with consumers. And I think a thoughtful distribution expansion and a really heavy eye towards a proper segmentation is going to be critically important. So, the new door count growth both opening new accounts, expanding to new accounts and then showing a broader breadth of the assortment in existing accounts is certainly part of the growth thesis and certainly some of the momentum we've built. And as we think about where the brands can go in 2025.

因此，您肯定會看到 Merrell 和 Saucony 出現在新帳戶中，因為我們帶來了與消費者產生共鳴的相關產品。我認為深思熟慮的分銷擴張和對適當細分的高度關注將至關重要。因此，新的門數增長包括開設新帳戶、擴展到新帳戶，然後顯示現有帳戶的更廣泛的分類，這無疑是增長主題的一部分，當然也是我們建立的一些動力。當我們思考 2025 年品牌的發展方向。

Okay, wonderful. That's great to hear. And then, Taryn, I think last call, we were talking about during the Q&A about the longer-term opportunity for gross margins to go to 45% to 47%. I know you're not prepared to guide for 2025.

好吧，太棒了。很高興聽到這個消息。然後，Taryn，我想在上次電話會議中，我們在問答期間討論了毛利率達到 45% 至 47% 的長期機會。我知道您還沒有準備好為 2025 年提供指導。

But high level, as we think about not just the gross margin, is there an opportunity to get back to 10% operating margins? Or is there an environment that leads us to where, yes, the operating margin of 10% plus is no longer in the realm of possibilities?

但從高水準來看，我們考慮的不僅僅是毛利率，是否有機會回到 10% 的營業利潤率？或者是否存在某種環境導致我們的營業利潤率不再可能達到 10% 以上？

And then a quick follow-up. I think last call, it was mentioned that China is less than 19% or it was really explicitly called out that Bangladesh was 19% of your sourcing. And then China is less, not to get from you guys. What is your China sourcing into the US?

然後快速跟進。我想上次電話會議提到中國不到 19%，或者確實明確指出孟加拉國佔你們採購的 19%。然後中國就少了，不是從你們那裡得到的。中國向美國採購什麼？

Thanks. I'll take the first one on the China situation and then turn it over to Taryn to talk about gross margin, operating margin. We worked really hard, really hard over the last handful of years from a sourcing standpoint to diversify our sourcing footprint.

謝謝。我將討論第一個關於中國情況的問題，然後將其交給 Taryn 討論毛利率、營業利潤率。在過去的幾年裡，從採購的角度來看，我們非常非常努力地工作，以實現我們的採購足跡多元化。

We have a new leader in our global supply chain, who I'm really pleased with and our exposure, 2018, 2019 would have been north of 40% from China. And today, we're well down sort of in the mid-teens and mid-teens is much a significant reduction from where we were.

我們的全球供應鏈有了一位新的領導者，我對他非常滿意，2018 年、2019 年我們的曝光度將超過 40% 來自中國。今天，我們的水平已經下降到十幾歲左右，而且比我們原來的水平有很大的下降。

I'd also add the vast majority of that production we still do in China, we have the ability to dual source. So, as things develop, as things change, we worked really hard on that sourcing footprint to be more diversified to reduce our exposure in China. And certainly, as things sit today, I'm pleased that we've done that work and pleased that we sit where we are as we think about how things move forward from here.

我還要補充一點，我們的絕大多數生產仍在中國進行，我們有能力進行雙重來源。因此，隨著事情的發展，隨著事情的變化，我們非常努力地使採購足跡更加多元化，以減少我們在中國的風險。當然，就目前的情況而言，我很高興我們已經完成了這項工作，也很高興我們坐在現在的位置上思考事情如何從這裡向前發展。

To answer your question -- sorry, I think there was one more question in terms of margins. In terms of gross and operating margin expansion, we're pleased with the improvements that we're seeing in both gross margins and operating margins in 2024, largely coming through as we had laid out in our initial guide.

回答你的問題——抱歉，我認為還有一個關於利潤率的問題。就毛利率和營業利潤率的擴張而言，我們對 2024 年毛利率和營業利潤率的改善感到滿意，這很大程度上正如我們在最初的指南中所闡述的那樣。

And that really is a combination of seeing the top line improvement each and every quarter as we go through 2024 and building on that momentum as our cost saving initiatives, both in terms of the supply chain improvements as well as in the spending optimization that we've been doing and really seeing that come through in the year-to-date results as well as implied in the guide that we've given for the fourth quarter.

這確實是我們在 2024 年每個季度看到收入改善的結合，並以此為基礎，作為我們的成本節約舉措，無論是在供應鏈改進方面，還是在我們的支出優化方面。 ，並且確實在今年迄今為止的業績中看到了這一點，並且在我們為第四季度提供的指南中也暗示了這一點。

If you look at 2024, the Q4 implied guidance, the operating margins would be in that 9% range. So approaching the 10% that you're speaking to there, Laurent, but I'm going to resist the temptation to talk about 2025 and leave it to encouraged with the momentum that we're seeing and the continued focus on that margin improvement.

如果你看看 2024 年第四季的暗示指導，營業利潤率將在 9% 的範圍內。因此，勞倫特，接近您所說的 10%，但我將抵制談論 2025 年的誘惑，並以我們所看到的勢頭和對利潤率改善的持續關注來鼓勵它。

Ashley Owens, Keybanc Capital Markets.

歐文斯 (Ashley Owens)，Keybanc 資本市場。

Hi, good morning and congrats. Just quickly looking at the investor deck, I see work group is now guided to grow low double-digits in this all factors, the shipment delays? Or is there more impact there? Are we capturing all the demand that was missed in the third quarter. Just want to make sure I understand the dynamics there.

你好，早安，恭喜你。只要快速查看投資者的信息，我發現工作小組現在在所有因素的引導下實現低兩位數增長，發貨延遲？還是那裡有更大的影響？我們是否抓住了第三季錯過的所有需求？只是想確保我了解那裡的動態。

It's a good question, and thanks for bringing it up. As it relates to the work group in 4Q, I'd say there's three factors at play which support that revenue growth assumption, a, the delays that we experienced in 3Q from both production and sourcing. Work Group does about north of 40% of its production in Bangladesh. And Bangladesh has just faced a handful of issues lately from civil and rest to floods to some logistics issues. So, the missing 3Q, we believe, will be gained back in 4Q.

這是一個很好的問題，感謝您提出這個問題。由於它與第四季度的工作組相關，我想說有三個因素在起作用支持收入增長假設，a，我們在第三季度經歷的生產和採購延遲。Work Group 大約 40% 的產量在孟加拉生產。孟加拉最近剛面臨一些問題，從民事和休息到洪水，再到一些後勤問題。因此，我們相信，缺失的第三季將在第四季度得到彌補。

At the same time, the work Group's fourth quarter last year was challenged. So we just have an easier comparison, frankly, in the fourth quarter. And then also, as there is demand in the marketplace, we plan to pull ahead a little bit from the first quarter of next year, reacting to consumers who want product earlier. And really, it's those three factors that give us confidence in the work group's guide for 4Q.

同時，工作小組去年第四季的業績也受到了挑戰。因此，坦白說，我們在第四季度進行了更簡單的比較。此外，由於市場有需求，我們計劃從明年第一季提前一點，對想要更早產品的消費者做出反應。事實上，正是這三個因素讓我們對工作小組的第四季指南充滿信心。

Okay, got it. That's super helpful. And then just a bigger picture question. Saucony outperformed expectations pretty candidly. You've seen (inaudible), et cetera, more newness scaling in (inaudible) et cetera. I know we're currently still in a period of work through and adding on that newness aspect, but would just be curious to hear your thoughts on brand growth from here, what we should be looking for to drive and raise awareness in 2025 and just your overall thoughts as to how big Saucony could get?

好的，明白了。這非常有幫助。然後是一個更大的問題。索康尼的表現相當坦率地超出了預期。您已經看到（聽不清楚）等等，更多的新穎性縮放（聽不清楚）等等。我知道我們目前仍處於研究和增加新鮮感方面的時期，但我很想聽聽您對品牌成長的想法，我們應該在 2025 年尋求什麼來推動和提高知名度，以及您對索康尼能發展到多大的整體想法？

Yes. Thanks for calling that out. Obviously, we're not going to guide for Saucony today. But certainly, there are a lot of things we're working in that brand's favor right now. And I take you back to sort of a reset and overhaul of the brand strategy, sort of opening up that aperture to service a broader run as one of the best performing categories in the marketplace.

是的。感謝您指出這一點。顯然，我們今天不打算為索康尼提供指導。但當然，我們現在正在做很多有利於品牌的事情。我帶大家回顧一下品牌策略的重新設定和徹底改革，打開了一個窗口，為更廣泛的業務提供服務，成為市場上表現最好的類別之一。

And I think our change in strategy pivot as we think about that consumer, both from the performance run from the lifestyle run has helped that brand sort of resuscitate in very short order. We're seeing good growth and momentum in the performance category, the core four, The Ride, The Guide, The Triumph, The Hurricane, which we're encouraged by. At the same time, there's a lifestyle thing happening, and we're capitalizing in Saucony benefits from a very deep product archive and this retro-tech fashion thing that's happening right now, Saucony has the ability to capitalize.

我認為，當我們考慮消費者時，我們對策略重點的改變，無論是從生活方式的表現來看，都幫助品牌在很短的時間內復甦。我們看到演出類別的良好成長和勢頭，核心四項：The Ride、The Guide、The Triumph、The Hurricane，我們對此感到鼓舞。同時，生活方式正在發生，我們正在利用索康尼深厚的產品檔案和目前正在發生的復古科技時尚的優勢，索康尼有能力利用它。

It's important to note, though, that we're not walking away from Elite run. And I think one of Saucony's best innovations is going to be dropped early next year with the Endorphin Elite 2 and the new foam that we're going to introduce. So, I think from a product side, that brand is firing right now on all cylinders. At the same time, we've really taken a hard approach of how we build awareness and affinity in the marketplace.

但值得注意的是，我們並沒有放棄精英跑。我認為 Saucony 最好的創新之一將在明年初推出，即 Endorphin Elite 2 和我們將推出的新型泡沫。所以，我認為從產品方面來看，該品牌現在正在全力以赴。同時，我們確實採取了嚴格的方法來建立市場知名度和親和力。

And I'd point to London our key city strategy, investing more -- being the sponsor for the London 10-K. They're working hard on the activation, doing run clubs. We're seeing all-time record search interest for Saucony in the UK. And this is really before we fully activated. We'll open our first Saucony store next year as well in London, which we're encouraged by. And I certainly think from a brand heat buzz standpoint, Saucony is having a moment.

我想指出倫敦是我們的關鍵城市策略，加大投資——成為倫敦 10-K 的贊助商。他們正在努力激活，舉辦跑步俱樂部。我們看到索康尼在英國的搜尋熱度創歷史新高。這確實是在我們完全激活之前。明年我們也將在倫敦開設第一家索康尼商店，對此我們感到鼓舞。我當然認為，從品牌熱度的角度來看，索康尼正在享受一段時光。

So, your call out about how big Saucony can be. I can tell you that's something we're spending a lot of time here as an organization thinking about too, because we think there's tremendous potential with that brand and with that team really up and down the product line. And certainly, from a global standpoint, that brand has tremendous exposure and great partners. So, we remain encouraged and optimistic about the growth prospects for Saucony.

所以，你大聲疾呼索康尼有多大。我可以告訴你，這也是我們作為一個組織花了很多時間思考的事情，因為我們認為品牌以及團隊在產品線的各個方面都有巨大的潛力。當然，從全球的角度來看，該品牌擁有巨大的曝光度和優秀的合作夥伴。因此，我們對索康尼的成長前景仍然感到鼓舞和樂觀。

Mitch Kummetz, Seaport Research.

米奇·庫梅茨，海港研究中心。

Yes, thanks for taking my questions. Chris, just to start, how are you guys planning for potential new tariffs next year? Are you guys thinking about changing your pricing architecture at this point at all for maybe the back half of the year, fall 2025 product or anything? What can you share there?

是的，感謝您回答我的問題。克里斯，首先，你們對明年潛在的新關稅有何計畫？你們是否正在考慮改變今年下半年、2025 年秋季產品或其他產品的定價架構？你可以在那裡分享什麼？

Yes. Thanks, a very relevant topic. And I think us, along with just about everyone is sort of digesting the news and the new reality and to contemplate what's going to be on the horizon. I will tell you this, Wolverine's a 141-year-old company. We've seen 15 Republican administrations, 10 Democratic administrations. We've been through a civil war, two world wars, a cold war, and a couple of global pandemics. And I think our job really is to build a durable and resilient business model that can weather those changes.

是的。謝謝，一個非常相關的話題。我認為我們和幾乎每個人都在消化新聞和新的現實，並思考即將發生的事情。我告訴你，Wolverine 是一家擁有 141 年歷史的公司。我們已經經歷了 15 屆共和黨政府和 10 屆民主黨政府。我們經歷了一場內戰、兩次世界大戰、一場冷戰和幾次全球流行病。我認為我們的工作實際上是建立一個持久且有彈性的商業模式，能夠經得起這些變化。

As it relates to tariff question, I answered Laurent's question earlier, exposure to China is down dramatically from where we were just a couple of years sort of in that mid-teens range. other important regions are Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia are an important piece as the new realities are there.

由於涉及關稅問題，我早些時候回答了勞倫特的問題，對中國的曝險比幾年前的十幾歲範圍大幅下降。其他重要地區包括越南、孟加拉、印度尼西亞，因為新的現實在那裡，它們也是重要的一塊。

And as we hear more, we'll obviously contemplate things that we need to go do to make sure we can protect and see to grow the business. I'm incredibly thankful though that a lot of our heavy work on stabilization is behind us.

當我們聽到更多資訊時，我們顯然會考慮需要做的事情，以確保我們能夠保護並促進業務成長。儘管我們在穩定方面所做的大量工作已經過去，但我還是非常感激。

The restructuring work, the consolidation out of our portfolio work and I'd obviously point to the fact that two of the last three quarters, we've delivered all-time record gross margins and the hard work we've done around our costs, cleaning up the inventory and building a more full-priced premium business is important to that.

重組工作，我們投資組合工作的整合，我顯然要指出這樣一個事實：過去三個季度中的兩個季度，我們創造了歷史最高的毛利率記錄，並且我們在成本方面所做的努力，清理庫存並建立更全價的優質業務對此很重要。

So, we're obviously thinking about what the future holds and implications as it relates to that. But one of my goals is to build a durable and resilient company that can weather changes like this, and the company has a long history of doing that. And I certainly am thankful that a lot of the work that we've done over the past year and a half is behind us. And we can think about growth, at the same time, manage different factors that may come our way.

因此，我們顯然正在考慮未來會發生什麼以及與之相關的影響。但我的目標之一是建立一家持久且有彈性的公司，能夠經得起這樣的變化，而該公司在這方面有著悠久的歷史。我當然很慶幸我們在過去一年半所做的許多工作都已經過去了。我們可以考慮成長，同時管理可能出現的不同因素。

And as a follow-up, I just want to dig in a little deeper on the Saucony distribution expansion. Are you guys still kind of cleaning up removing accounts. Can you say kind of maybe what the net account growth is for our net door growth is for spring 2025?

作為後續行動，我只想更深入地探討索康尼的分銷擴張。你們還在清理刪除帳號嗎？您能否說一下 2025 年春季我們的淨帳戶成長情況是多少？

And any more color in terms of kind of where you're seeing more door growth? Is it US versus international? Is it lifestyle versus performance anymore, you parse these things out a little bit more, if possible?

就您看到更多門的增長而言，還有更多的顏色嗎？是美國還是國際？是生活方式還是表現了，如果可能的話，你會進一步解析這些東西嗎？

Yes, I'm not going to give a net count sort of year-over-year. In the prepared remarks, we did talk about an additional 900 doors in the US around supporting that lifestyle distribution. And I will tell you, it was thoughtful distribution because honestly, it probably could be more than that. We're trying to build a great brand for the long term, make sure we can capitalize on growth opportunities in front of us. At the same time, be thoughtful about where we want to sell.

是的，我不會給出同比的淨計數。在準備好的發言中，我們確實談到了在美國另外開設 900 個門來支持這種生活方式的分發。我會告訴你，這是經過深思熟慮的分配，因為老實說，它可能不只如此。我們正在努力建立一個長期的偉大品牌，確保我們能夠利用眼前的成長機會。同時，要考慮我們要在哪裡銷售。

Certainly, I think I talked about new sales leadership and Merrell new sales leadership and Saucony new brand leadership and certainly the addition of Susie Kuhn, President of our Active Group with our two biggest brands reporting to her, and she is an industry veteran and expert probably understands the commercial side of the business, the go-to-market side of the business, the wholesale side of the business extraordinarily well.

當然，我想我談到了新的銷售領導層、邁樂新的銷售領導層和索康尼的新品牌領導層，當然還有我們的Active 集團總裁蘇西·庫恩(Susie Kuhn) 的加入以及我們兩個最大的品牌向她匯報，她是一位行業資深人士和專家可能非常了解業務的商業方面、業務的上市方面、業務的批發方面。

So, we certainly will both prune doors that we don't think are additive or accretive to what we're trying to accomplish. At the same time, I think our brands have the effort to show up to consumers in more places. And it's both for both Merrell and Saucony.

因此，我們當然會修剪那些我們認為不會對我們想要實現的目標起到附加作用或增值作用的門。同時我認為我們的品牌有努力在更多的地方展現給消費者。這對 Merrell 和 Saucony 來說都是如此。

And there are places where it's just hard to find our product. And I think as we think about the growth of these brands and certainly, as we think about the broader sort of active outdoor sport lifestyle component, which there is so much momentum in from a footwear standpoint. And we have to show up, where she shops and beyond just the normal players. And that applies globally. I'm really pleased by the work that Saucony has done in Europe as they thought about distribution. And then certainly, we're very thankful for a very strong partnership in China with Xtep for both Merrell and Saucony and the expansion that we're seeing for those brands there.

有些地方很難找到我們的產品。我認為，當我們考慮這些品牌的成長時，當然，當我們考慮更廣泛的積極戶外運動生活方式組成部分時，從鞋類的角度來看，它有很大的動力。我們必須出現在她購物的地方，而不僅僅是普通玩家。這在全球範圍內都適用。我對索康尼在歐洲所做的工作感到非常滿意，因為他們考慮了分銷。當然，我們非常感謝邁樂和索康尼與特步在中國建立了非常牢固的合作關係，以及我們看到這些品牌在中國的擴張。

So, that distribution piece is critically important. I think we have done a good job. We've taken the last years, we sort of reset the business to walk away from doors that we don't think helped us at the same time, be thoughtful about where we want to expand, and I'm certainly optimistic for what our brands can go to do in the future.

因此，該分發部分至關重要。我認為我們做得很好。我們在過去的幾年裡，對業務進行了重新調整，擺脫了那些我們認為對我們沒有幫助的門，同時思考我們想要擴張的領域，我對我們的業務感到樂觀。 。

Jim Duffy, Stifel.

吉姆·達菲，斯蒂菲爾。

Thank you. And I'll go on to the question. I'll start following on the Saucony business. Lot of noise related to wholesale adjustments creating year-to-year comparisons that are difficult to interpret. Can you maybe talk to us about Saucony's e-commerce growth in the quarter and how that splits between performance and lifestyle?

謝謝。我將繼續回答這個問題。我將開始關注索康尼的業務。大量與批發調整相關的噪音造成了難以解釋的逐年比較。您能否與我們談談索康尼本季的電子商務成長以及業績和生活方式之間的關係？

Yes. Saucony had a good third quarter, up sort of mid-single-digits. I think as we think about that, I think the good thing about Saucony is we're seeing growth in both performance and lifestyle. It's not an either or, it's actually both.

是的。索康尼第三季表現不錯，實現了中個位數的成長。我認為當我們思考這個問題時，我認為索康尼的好處是我們看到了性能和生活方式的成長。這不是非此即彼，而是兩者兼具。

And I'd actually say Saucony's dot-com growth was probably a little bit constrained by the fact that we couldn't bring product in fast enough. And even if you shop saucony.com today in certain key styles, we're going to disappoint you because we don't have full-size runs in all colors.

事實上，我想說索康尼的網路成長可能有點受到我們無法足夠快地推出產品這一事實的限制。即使您今天在 saucony.com 上購買某些主要款式，我們也會讓您失望，因為我們沒有所有顏色的全尺寸商品。

So, I said in the last call that we made a decision a year ago that we would probably -- we prefer to miss some demand then find ourselves in a big inventory issue again and continue to perpetuate and exacerbate that situation.

因此，我在上次電話會議中表示，我們一年前做出了一個決定，我們可能會——我們寧願錯過一些需求，然後發現自己再次陷入嚴重的庫存問題，並繼續延續和加劇這種情況。

So, I would say Saucony's growth was a little bit constrained probably because we just didn't have enough goods there to sell because we have been running tight. But in total Saucony.com, up mid-single-digits and again, seeing both growth -- both on the performance side as well as the lifestyle piece.

所以，我想說索康尼的成長有點受到限制，可能是因為我們沒有足夠的商品來銷售，因為我們一直吃緊。但總體而言，Saucony.com 的銷售額再次實現中個位數成長，無論是在性能方面還是在生活方式方面都實現了成長。

Thank you, Chris. And then overall, really great execution across the year. The guide has you tracking to inflection to growth in the fourth quarter. Chris, could you just kind of give us an update on where you stand on the turnaround 10 months ago, you were speaking about the turnaround in the chapters are you confident the business is now successfully rebased? And is there any reason business couldn't inflect to that aspirational growth algorithm for 2025? Thanks.

謝謝你，克里斯。總的來說，這一年的執行力非常出色。該指南將帶您追蹤第四季的成長轉折點。Chris，您能否向我們介紹一下您在 10 個月前的轉型方面的最新情況，您在章節中談到了轉型，您是否有信心業務現在已成功轉型？企業是否有任何理由無法適應 2025 年的理想成長演算法？謝謝。

Great question. I appreciate it. Sort of acknowledging that you followed our story and appreciate sort of acknowledging the journey we've been on. And about a year ago, we talked about a turnaround in three chapters, stabilization, transformation, and then ultimately inflection to growth. And we said the margin improvement would lead revenue growth. And all of those things have played out as we had planned, and I'm thankful for that.

很好的問題。我很感激。某種程度上承認您關注了我們的故事，並感謝承認我們所經歷的旅程。大約一年前，我們分三個章節討論了轉變：穩定、轉型，然後最終轉向成長。我們表示，利潤率的提高將帶動收入的成長。所有這些事情都按照我們的計劃進行，我對此表示感謝。

I think the stabilization work is largely behind us. Stabilization work really was focused on attacking the debt situation, reducing and better managing inventories and then certainly adjust our cost structure from a restructuring standpoint to have a cost structure that better match the size and profit profile of the organization.

我認為穩定工作基本上已經過去了。穩定工作的重點實際上是解決債務問題，減少並更好地管理庫存，然後從重組的角度調整我們的成本結構，使成本結構更好地匹配組織的規模和利潤狀況。

At the same time, allowed us to invest in things that are critical capabilities going forward whether it's teams or marketing or demand creation or new tools that we need. So, I would say that the stabilization is largely behind us, and I certainly am thankful for that.

同時，使我們能夠投資於未來的關鍵能力，無論是團隊、行銷、需求創造或我們需要的新工具。所以，我想說，穩定基本上已經過去，我當然對此表示感謝。

As it relates to transformation, I think brands and companies they always have to be in some level of transformation. I think the world is moving extraordinarily fast and if we don't continue to evolve and pay attention to where the world is moving, I think you're going to get left behind.

就轉型而言，我認為品牌和公司總是必須進行某種程度的轉型。我認為世界正在飛速發展，如果我們不繼續發展並關注世界的發展方向，我認為你就會被拋在後面。

So, I think the transformation continues, but key components of our transformation have been really putting the brands at the center, restructuring the organization building new capabilities like the collective integrated business planning, the new PLM tool and then certainly investing in things that get our brands out in front of the consumer through increased demand creation, whether it's marketing investment whether it's a key city strategy in Tokyo or London and soon to be more cities.

因此，我認為轉型仍在繼續，但我們轉型的關鍵組成部分實際上是將品牌置於中心，重組組織，建立新的能力，例如集體整合業務規劃、新的PLM 工具，然後肯定投資於那些能夠讓我們成功的事物。

And then as it relates to the inflection to growth. We had talked about the inflection of growth happening in the fourth quarter as a company. We certainly are pleased by some of the early progress we've made in 2Q and then the additional growth and progress we made in 3Q and then obviously, we have a lot riding on the next 50 or so days as we deliver the full year and then carry the momentum into 2025.

然後，因為它與增長的拐點有關。我們曾討論過公司第四季出現的成長轉折點。我們當然對第二季度取得的一些早期進展以及第三季度取得的額外增長和進步感到高興，顯然，在接下來的50 天左右的時間裡，我們有很多事情要做，因為我們將交付全年業績，然後將這一勢頭延續到 2025 年。

We'll obviously provide formal guidance in February for how 2025 looks, but the visibility that we have in these early days to the order book gives us some comfort that we're going to be able to continue the momentum that we've been able to build and then certainly build a flywheel and a healthy growth algorithm for our biggest brands right now led by Saucony.

顯然，我們將在 2 月就 2025 年的情況提供正式指導，但我們在早期對訂單簿的了解讓我們感到一些安慰，我們將能夠繼續保持我們已經能夠實現的勢頭為我們現在由索康尼領導的最大品牌建立並肯定建立一個飛輪和一個健康的成長演算法。

Thank you so Much.

太感謝了。

Thanks Jim.

謝謝吉姆。

Sam Poser, Williams Trading.

薩姆·波塞爾，威廉斯貿易公司。

Thank you very much I've got a follow-up on the tariffs and then another question. On the tariffs, what percent of your units are international sales? And because the tariff sounds like it's going to affect a lot more than China. So what percent of your units are international these days?

非常感謝您，我收到了關稅的後續訊息，然後還有另一個問題。關於關稅，你們的產品中有多少百分比是國際銷售？因為關稅聽起來影響的範圍遠不止中國。那麼現在你們的單位有多少是國際單位呢？

Units, international, I would say, north of 50% approaching 60% from a unit standpoint.

我想說的是，從單位的角度來看，國際單位的比例超過 50%，接近 60%。

So, would you consider to offset on a volume perspective, converting distributors to subs, which would then theoretically take relief off the US?

那麼，您是否會考慮從銷售角度進行抵消，將分銷商轉變為分銷商，這理論上可以減輕美國的壓力？

That's not something that we're currently contemplating. We like the model that's been built. We're thankful for some of the changes we made over the past handful of months. the changes we made in the China structure to a distributed model from the JV, we've licensed our kids business.

這不是我們目前正在考慮的事情。我們喜歡已經建立的模型。我們感謝過去幾個月所做的一些改變。我們在中國的結構從合資企業轉向分散式模式，我們已經獲得了兒童業務的許可。

We're obviously always evaluating our international model. That model, we're lucky that, that was established really in 1959 and we benefit from the decades of partners that we have. We have adjusted and sort of tweaked the international model over time. But right now, as we sort of think about the impending tariff issue, that's not something that we're currently contemplating.

顯然，我們一直在評估我們的國際模式。我們很幸運，這種模式實際上是在 1959 年建立的，我們從數十年的合作夥伴中受益。隨著時間的推移，我們對國際模式進行了調整和調整。但現在，當我們考慮即將到來的關稅問題時，這不是我們目前正在考慮的事情。

Thank you. And then secondly, can you talk about the expectations you have for Susie Kuhn coming in? And what she's going to bring to the table for the brands with any the most specificity you could give, please?

謝謝。其次，您能談談您對蘇西·庫恩（Susie Kuhn）加入的期望嗎？她將為品牌帶來什麼，請您提供最具體的資訊？

Yes, sure. I'm excited about this hire. We did an extend sort of global search for a leader of our Active Group. Merrell, Saucony, and Chaco will report into Susie, Susie reports into me. Susie brings a really unique skill set. She's an industry veteran. She knows both the wholesale and the retail side of the business. She started her career as a merchant and she really understands the go-to-market process and really a commercial driver of the business.

是的，當然。我對這次聘用感到很興奮。我們在全球廣泛尋找活躍團隊的領導者。Merrell、Saucony 和 Chaco 將向 Susie 匯報，Susie 向我報告。蘇西帶來了非常獨特的技能。她是行業資深人士。她了解批發和零售業務。她的職業生涯始於一名商人，她真正了解進入市場的流程，並且真正是業務的商業驅動力。

At the same time, she has global experience. She's lived in China, she's lived in Europe, and she's worked for leading brands; Foot Locker, Nike, Converse, to name just a few.

同時，她擁有全球經驗。她在中國生活過，在歐洲生活過，也曾在領先品牌工作過； Foot Locker、Nike、匡威等等。

Early days, I think today is maybe a ninth stay with the business. She's really learning the teams right now and learning sort of where the brands are. She's a product person. She loves product, so she's getting familiar with the product line and then really close to how we're segmented and distributed in the marketplace. So, those are her early priorities.

早期，我認為今天可能是第九次入住該公司。她現在正在真正了解團隊並了解品牌的位置。她是個產品人。她熱愛產品，因此她正在熟悉產品線，然後真正了解我們在市場上的細分和分佈方式。所以，這些都是她早期的優先事項。

At the same time, learning the partners. She's got tremendous relationships across the industry, levering those relationships and really sort of getting her feet underneath across Wolverine Worldwide. So I'm very optimistic about Susie.

同時，向夥伴學習。她在整個行業中擁有巨大的關係，利用這些關係，真正在《金鋼狼世界》中站穩了腳步。所以我對Susie非常樂觀。

I think he's a great addition to the leadership team. I think she'll provide amazing day-to-day leadership for Merrell and Saucony, our two biggest brands to help our brand Presidents. So, I'm bullish on what she brings -- she builds a little bit of a white space in our team, too. We're looking to bring new talent. I would say, if I'm critical of us, we haven't always brought outside expertise and experiences to the business as well as we could have and that was something that I've worked hard on since I took this chair, and I think Susie checks a lot of boxes for us.

我認為他對領導團隊來說是一個很好的補充。我認為她將為我們兩個最大的品牌邁樂和索康尼提供令人驚嘆的日常領導，以幫助我們的品牌總裁。所以，我看好她帶來的東西——她也在我們的團隊中建立了一點空白。我們希望引進新的人才。我想說，如果我對我們持批評態度，我們並沒有總是盡可能地為企業帶來外部專業知識和經驗，這是我自從擔任主席以來一直在努力的事情，而且我想蘇西為我們做了很多檢查。

If I can just follow-up, what are your expectations that she's bringing to those brands? I mean, I just like you hired her for a reason. I understand there's a learning curve and her background and all that. But what are your expectations? What is she going to do, I guess, it's not going to be tomorrow.

如果我可以跟進一下，您對她為這些品牌帶來什麼期望？我的意思是，我只是喜歡你僱用她是有原因的。我知道有一個學習曲線和她的背景等等。但你的期望是什麼？她要做什麼，我猜，不會是明天。

Yes. Accelerate growth. I think she has been there and done that for big brands. She understands both the wholesale and the retail side of the business. She really understands commercialization distribution segmentation, which I think are very close to your heart. She has merchandising experience.

是的。加速成長。我認為她已經在那裡為大品牌做到了這一點。她了解批發和零售業務。她非常了解商業化分銷細分，我認為這非常貼近你的心。她有推銷經驗。

So, we hired her not just to sort of maintain status quo for us. We hired her to accelerate and encase opportunity. We need to be a growth company again and then needs to be led by Merrell and Saucony. And while I think we've made really good progress there, I think opportunity for us to be better.

因此，我們僱用她不僅僅是為了維持我們的現狀。我們聘請她是為了加速並抓住機會。我們需要再次成為一家成長型公司，然後需要由 Merrell 和 Saucony 領導。雖然我認為我們在這方面取得了很好的進展，但我認為我們還有機會做得更好。

And I think her industry experience, the people that she knows her relationships, how she is so familiar with the go-to-market process I think we're already better today having her walking the rooms, working with the teams being out in the marketplace. So, in short order, her job is to accelerate growth, Sam.

我認為她的行業經驗，她認識的人，她的關係，她如何如此熟悉進入市場的流程，我認為我們今天已經更好了，讓她在房間裡走動，與外面的團隊一起工作市場。所以，短期內，她的工作就是加速成長，山姆。

Anna Andreeva, Piper Sandler.

安娜·安德烈娃，派珀·桑德勒。

Great. Thanks so much. Good morning and congrats on all of the results. Great to hear about momentum and innovation. Chris, at Saucony, you have driven some really great brands meet with the collabs. Anything you can share about how we should think about the pace of those next year? And do you see these collabs mostly for the lifestyle piece or performance as well? And do you see a bigger opportunity for collabs at Merrell into 2025?

偉大的。非常感謝。早上好，恭喜所有結果。很高興聽到關於動力和創新的消息。克里斯，在索康尼，你推動了一些非常偉大的品牌與合作。關於我們應該如何考慮明年的步伐，您有什麼可以分享的嗎？您是否認為這些合作主要是為了生活方式或表演？您認為 2025 年 Merrell 的合作機會更大嗎？

And I guess, for Taryn, can you just talk about what's driving that slight reduction in the margin outlook for the year? I think you had talked about marketing and IT being the two only areas of investment. So, just any additional color on how we should think about that would be great. Thank you so much.

我想，Taryn，您能談談是什麼推動了今年利潤率前景的小幅下降嗎？我想您曾談到行銷和 IT 是唯一的兩個投資領域。所以，只要我們能想到任何額外的顏色就很好了。太感謝了。

Thank you. Thanks for the question. Certainly, collaborations are a critical piece as they sort of drive brand awareness and drive brand heat and then us partnering with other like-minded brands or individuals as we think about our brands. That is a tried and true and tested playbook, and I think you've seen Saucony really accelerate that and really do some amazing collaborations this year.

謝謝。謝謝你的提問。當然，合作是一個關鍵部分，因為它們可以提高品牌知名度並提高品牌熱度，然後我們在考慮我們的品牌時與其他志同道合的品牌或個人合作。這是一本久經考驗的真實劇本，我想你已經看到索康尼確實加速了這一進程，並且今年確實做了一些令人驚嘆的合作。

Last year, they had the collaboration of the year with J Tips. They followed up with J Tips again. There was lines around the block for the demented collaborations, and I think you'll continue to see that playbook. And if anything, a faster pace.

去年，他們與 J Tips 獲得了年度最佳合作。他們再次跟進J Tips。瘋狂的合作在街區周圍排起了長隊，我想你會繼續看到這個劇本。如果有的話，那就是更快的節奏。

That is where the consumer is and I give the Saucony team credit for as many as they've come up with and the buzz they're building around those. And I think it's not just a US phenomenon. It should be a global phenomenon as well.

這就是消費者所在的地方，我對索康尼團隊所提出的盡可能多的想法以及他們圍繞這些想法所引起的轟動表示讚賞。我認為這不僅僅是美國的現象。這也應該是全球現象。

Merrell has had a handful of collaborations as well. The most -- the next one is Jeep, which is going to drop next week, which is the year two of the Jeep collaboration and you'll continue to see those in a brand relevant way.

梅雷爾也有過一些合作。最 - 下一個是 Jeep，它將在下週發布，這是 Jeep 合作的第二年，您將繼續以與品牌相關的方式看到這些。

So, I think those are excellent ways for us to sort of build brand awareness and build brand heat and then partner with other cool individuals or cool brands or cool retailers, to get our consumers out there and really work to deepen emotional connections.

因此，我認為這些都是我們建立品牌知名度和品牌熱度的絕佳方式，然後與其他很酷的個人、很酷的品牌或很酷的零售商合作，讓我們的消費者走出去，真正努力加深情感聯繫。

We've talked about this global brand building model, designing awesome products, telling amazing stories. And that amazing story piece is really -- can be helped to be driven by the collaborations that we've done. So, expect more of that from us.

我們討論了這種全球品牌建立模式、設計出色的產品、講述精彩的故事。這個令人驚嘆的故事確實可以透過我們所做的合作來推動。因此，請對我們抱持更多期待。

And regarding your question about margin expectations for the fourth quarter, at the midpoint of the guidance that we gave our fourth quarter gross margin of 43.7% is consistent with the implied guidance that we gave in August for gross margins. And for operating margins of approximately 9%.

關於您關於第四季度利潤率預期的問題，我們給出的第四季度毛利率為 43.7% 的指導中位數與我們 8 月份給出的毛利率隱含指導一致。營業利益率約 9%。

This reflects -- it is modestly lower than what we had guided the implied guidance in August. This is primarily driven by incremental brand spending that we're putting into market for performance marketing to really help support that Q4 growth.

這反映出——它略低於我們八月的隱含指導。這主要是由我們投入效果行銷市場的增量品牌支出所推動的，以真正幫助支持第四季度的成長。

So, I think we're taking the opportunity to put some discretionary spend in to make sure that we're supporting the growth that we have in there. I would point out that for the fourth quarter operating margin it does reflect further sequential improvement. If you look at Q1, we were at 5%, now it's the fourth quarter at around 9%. It shows both a strong sequential improvement in our margins as well as a year-over-year expanding margins.

因此，我認為我們正在藉此機會投入一些可自由支配的支出，以確保我們支持我們在那裡的成長。我想指出的是，第四季的營業利潤率確實反映出了進一步的環比改善。如果你看看第一季度，我們的成長率為 5%，現在是第四季度，約 9%。它顯示了我們的利潤率連續強勁改善以及利潤率逐年擴大。

All right, terrific. Thanks So much.

好吧，太棒了。非常感謝。

Thanks for the questions.

感謝您的提問。

Mauricio Serna, UBS.

毛里西奧·塞爾納，瑞銀。

Great. Good morning and thanks for taking my questions. I was hoping if you could elaborate a little bit more on the DTC growth trends you see across the brands, specifically the activewear brands maybe you don't give like specific numbers but just ranges to have an idea.

偉大的。早安，感謝您提出我的問題。我希望您能詳細說明您在各個品牌（特別是運動服品牌）中看到的 DTC 成長趨勢，也許您不會給出具體數字，而只是給出一個想法的範圍。

And then curious if you could elaborate a little bit more on the share gains that you saw in Merrell because I recall, you've seen an acceleration in the last couple of quarters. So would be interesting in hearing that, considering that. Overall, it seems that it's been a relatively soft outdoor footwear category.

然後我想知道您是否可以詳細說明您在梅雷爾看到的股票收益，因為我記得，您在過去幾個季度中看到了加速成長。考慮到這一點，聽到這個消息會很有趣。總體而言，它似乎是一個相對疲軟的戶外鞋品類。

Yes. Mauricio, thanks for the question. For our two biggest brands, Merrell and Saucony in the quarter, it was essentially mid-single-digit growth in DTC. Both brands sort of comping fairly heavy promotional activity from last year. So, at the same time, we saw growth. We're actually pleased with some of the progress we made on the gross margin side as well. As we work to become less promotional at our dot-com business, as we pivot into the final quarter of the year.

是的。毛里西奧，謝謝你的提問。對於我們最大的兩個品牌 Merrell 和 Saucony，本季的 DTC 基本上實現了中個位數成長。與去年相比，這兩個品牌都進行了相當大的促銷活動。因此，同時，我們看到了成長。事實上，我們對毛利率方面取得的一些進展也感到滿意。當我們努力減少網路業務的促銷活動時，隨著我們進入今年最後一個季度。

As it relates to share gains in Merrell, you are right, the outdoor category certainly has been under pressure for the last couple of years and is incumbent upon the category leader, which Merrell is to help reinvigorate and innovate and draw attention to that category and reverse that.

由於它與梅雷爾的份額增長有關，你是對的，戶外類別在過去幾年中肯定承受著壓力，並且有責任成為該類別的領導者，梅雷爾將幫助重振和創新並吸引人們對該類別的關注，並扭轉這一點。

We've actually accelerated market share gains in Merrell. I think six of the past seven quarters, we have market share gains. And our biggest jump, I think, was just last quarter, approaching 300 basis points of share gain for Merrell.

我們實際上加速了梅雷爾的市場份額成長。我認為過去七個季度中有六個季度我們的市佔率有所成長。我認為，我們最大的跳躍是在上個季度，梅雷爾的股價漲幅接近 300 個基點。

So, Merrell's mission really is to modernize the trail and to build lightweight athletic more versatile footwear. And we certainly are encouraged by some of the progress we've seen specifically with the MOAB SPEED 2, a lighter, faster, more athletic version of the MOAB, which is the number one hiking boot in the world. The consumers are responding to that. It looks great. It performs phenomenally well. It takes color material great. And I think that really is helping to lead.

因此，Merrell 的使命實際上是使越野道現代化並打造輕便的運動鞋，用途更廣泛。我們確實對 MOAB SPEED 2 所取得的一些進展感到鼓舞，MOAB SPEED 2 是世界第一登山靴 MOAB 的更輕、更快、更具運動性的版本。消費者正在對此做出反應。看起來很棒。它的性能非常好。它需要很棒的顏色材料。我認為這確實有助於領導。

So, in total, e-commerce in total, it was up mid-single-digits. Our stores were slightly worse than that. I'm pleased with the progress we made in the e-commerce piece. And now obviously, everyone is turning quickly towards, now, we're post-election, focusing on the critical holiday selling period for our dot-com channels.

因此，總的來說，電子商務總量成長了中個位數。我們的商店比那稍差一些。我對我們在電子商務方面取得的進展感到滿意。現在顯然，每個人都在迅速轉向，現在，我們是在選舉後，專注於我們的網路管道的關鍵假期銷售期。

Very helpful. Thank you and congratulations on the results.

非常有幫助。謝謝並祝賀結果。

Thank You.

謝謝。

Thank you. And it appears that we have no further questions at this time. That concludes today's teleconference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。目前看來我們沒有其他問題了。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。