Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Michael Lasser: Thank you very much and good luck.

Operator: Thank you. We will take the next question from line Michael Montani from Evercore. The line is open now. Please go ahead.

Michael Montani: Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking the question. Yes. Just wanted to ask, first off, if I could, on the SG&A side, if there’s level of comp that you feel you need natural leverage into the fourth quarter and into 2023 in order to lever some of the expenses there? And then a follow-up.

Mike Witynski: Yes. Michael, it’s a good question. It’s one in which — what would be a natural level to leverage in normal circumstances versus what we are doing, as we had mentioned earlier, a good focus, continued focus and commitment around elevating our store standards investing in not only store standards, but our wage rates for our stores. We’re — and the combination of the two, we have been making some material investments. But if you look over a period of time, we’ve been able to leverage our SG&A, if you will, on about a 2% to 3% comp.

Michael Montani: Okay. Thank you. And then if I could just follow up on CapEx. The past few years, it was trending around $8 a foot and this year, it looks like it could be north of $9. So given some of the inflationary components there and the investments you all are making, is that kind of the right baseline that $9 plus to build off of? Or should we think of this as maybe some more catch-up that could subside?

Mike Witynski: Yes. Once again, I don’t want to give any guidance beyond 2022 other than what we’ve provided. The investments that we’re making this year and technology and supply chain on top of our normal base is what’s really driving the increase. And we believe it’s the right thing to do as we set up for the right capabilities for us to accelerate our growth going forward.

Michael Montani: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. We will take the next question from line Chuck Grom from Gordon Haskett. The line is open now. Please go ahead.

Chuck Grom: Hey, thanks very much. Jeff, on the implied fourth quarter guide, can you help us think about the segments where you see more margin compression relative to the third quarter? It looks like you’re anticipating operating margins to be down about 30 basis points or so. They were up about 70 basis points in the third quarter on a similar comp. So just wondering if you hold our hands on the segment for 4Q a little bit?

Jeff Davis: Yes. We historically have not given guidance necessarily on a banner basis. We look at it in total, the pressure that we’re seeing is, once again, the continued rotation in the consumables and how the customer is responding there, as well as we know that we are continuing to see other inflationary cost pressures across the P&L. But all of this is more — was anticipated back when we gave our earlier guidance, it’s really the product mix shift that is the predominant, sort of, driver of our sort of direction around the lower half of the range.

Mike Witynski: And the continued pressure on cost.

Chuck Grom: Okay, great. And a follow-up question for Rick and Mike. Obviously, the price investments a few months ago were smart. I’m curious when you think out over the next couple of years and the next big levers you can pull to improve productivity, I guess, what should we be thinking about? Mike you touched on it a little bit in terms of raising the, adding coolers. But I guess, maybe a little bit of looking inside the playbook on what to expect?

Mike Witynski: Yes, I would say that —