Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Kurt Barton: Yes.

Michael Baker: Hello?

Kurt Barton: Yes, Michael.

Michael Baker: I hate to ask the last question on a real short-term thing. But I am curious about the first quarter. You said, you expect all quarters to be within your range or consistent with the range or something along those lines. So that would mean at the high-end. And you said positive for 1Q, but that would mean about 1%. Is that reflective of what you’re seeing in January? Or how much does that consider? I think the comparison gets a little bit harder in February, although I don’t think March was very good last year either. So with all the weather we’re all seeing in the country, I think a lot of people are assuming that January is a pretty strong month. I guess I’m just trying to gauge how strong relative to the implied guidance of maybe up 1%? Thanks.

Hal Lawton: Hey, Michael, it’s Hal. Thanks for the question. I’d just say it’s certainly, we saw some benefit from the weather in the first three weeks of January, really the second and third week, but January is our smallest month of the year, smallest month of the quarter. And the thing that the month that’s really going to determine our comps for Q1 is going to be March. We are, as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, very excited about our spring setup this year. We’ve got our most innovation in the last three or four years now that kind of the supply chain disruptions and all those things have been worked through. Our vendors have been able to really spend the last year getting their innovation pipeline restarted. Our in-stock rates and our spring sets are back to the expected 95% plus that we historically have set at, and we feel great about spring.

We’re optimistic about Q1, as Kurt said, we’re certainly expecting a positive comp. We’re off to a good start with the month of January behind us. But really, the most important thing that we’re focused on is having a win in March.

Mary Winn Pilkington: Great. Well, Alissa, thank you. That will conclude our Q&A session. And I’m the Randall Day [ph], for anybody, please reach out for follow-up, and we look forward to talking to you on our Q1 earnings call at the end of April. Thank you.

Operator: This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.