Just as Taylor Swift wrapped up her monumental Eras Tour , Kelly Ripa provided some thoughts on what the superstar should do next. During the Tuesday, December 10 episode of Live with Kelly and Mark , Ripa reflected on the pop star's incredible achievement to her husband and co-host Mark Consuelos, noting that Swift, 34, has shattered records, performing to over 10 million fans worldwide and generating more than $2 billion in ticket sales. "She really pulled off quite the feat," Ripa, 54, said to Consuelos, 53, adding, "And now the mourning period begins," acknowledging how much the world has been swept up in the magic of the tour, which came to an end in Vancouver on Sunday, December 8. When Consuelos asked his wife what she thought the "Fortnight" singer might do after such an intense and rewarding experience, Ripa jokingly suggested, "You go to Disney World!" However, Consuelos, the voice of reason, suggested Swift take some time to rest and relax after her grueling schedule. He noted that the singer would likely face a bit of an "adjustment" now that the tour was over. "I bet for her, it's going to be a transition — an adjustment," he noted. Ripa, on the other hand, offered a more work-oriented suggestion: "I think she should sit down and write a book about the tour," she said. "People want to hear about the tour, and then she can record the audio version!" With excitement, Ripa added, "I've got it all worked out for her, call me for more ideas!" The host pointed out in the episode that the 14-time Grammy winner had performed 152 shows across five continents over two years, Ripa later admitting that she initially thought Swift's tour consisted of many more performances. "From my zoomed-out perspective of just following it on the news and watching my friends post about it on social media, I would have thought she performed way more than 152 shows," the former soap opera actress said. "I would have said triple that many," she doubled-down, referencing the way the media and fans alike made the tour seem endless with constant posts and coverage. While Swift's post-tour plans are unknown right now, fans can get a glimpse into the journey through her Eras Tour Book –– a visual coffee table book which was released on Thanksgiving weekend. The duo also agreed they'd love to have Swift join them as a guest on their show, which airs on ABC weekdays at 9 a.m. E.T.CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday hailed former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who died in Delhi aged 92, for his intellect and leadership and fondly recalled his partnership with former CM M Karunanidhi. In a post on 'X,' Stalin shared a picture of Singh and Karunanidhi seated together. "Deeply saddened by the passing of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, a statesman whose intellect and leadership steered India's economic transformation. His tenure marked an era of steady growth, social progress, and reforms that improved the lives of millions," he said. Singh's partnership with Karunanidhi was instrumental in advancing Tamil Nadu's development. "Their mutual respect and collaboration brought vital projects and strengthened the state's progress across various sectors. Dr Manmohan Singh valued Tamil Nadu's aspirations, ensuring that the voices of the South resonated in national policies." Stalin further said that even during turbulent times, Singh and Karunanidhi stood together, exemplifying the strength of coalition politics built on trust and respect for regional identities. "His calm, thoughtful leadership reflected a rare quality — a leader who spoke less but achieved more, driven by action rather than rhetoric." "To the people of Tamil Nadu, Dr Manmohan Singh was not only a Prime Minister but a friend of the state. His ability to understand and address our needs helped strengthen Tamil Nadu's role in India's growth story. His modesty, despite his vast knowledge and stature, left a lasting impression on all who had the privilege of working alongside him," the CM added. He said Singh's legacy of wisdom, humility, and service will continue to guide and inspire future generations. PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss condoled Singh's demise and hailed him as one of India's best Prime Ministers and a world-renowned economist.
John Wayne Stock & Supply to host Hats + Art ExhibitChewy ( CHWY -0.45% ) Q3 2024 Earnings Call Dec 04, 2024 , 8:00 a.m. ET Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks: Operator Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Chewy third quarter 2024 earnings call. My name is Emily, and I'll be coordinating your call today. [Operator instructions] I will now hand the call over to our host, Chewy CFO, David Reeder, to begin. David, please go ahead. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Thank you for joining us on the call today to discuss our third quarter results for fiscal year 2024. Joining me today is Chewy CEO, Sumit Singh. Our earnings release, which was filed with the SEC earlier today, has been posted to the investor relations section of our website. In addition to the earnings release, a presentation summarizing our results is also available on our website at investor.chewy.com. On our call today, we will be making forward-looking statements, including statements concerning Chewy's financial results and performance, industry trends, strategic initiatives, share repurchase program, and the environment in which we operate. Such statements are considered forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and other factors described in the section titled Risk Factors in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024 and in our other filings with the SEC, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by our forward-looking statements. Reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance. Also, note that the forward-looking statements on this call are based on information available to us as of today's date. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required by law. Also, during this call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliation of these non-GAAP items to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are provided on our investor relations website and in our earnings release. These non-GAAP measures are not intended as a substitute for GAAP results. Additionally, unless otherwise stated, all comparisons discussed on today's call will be against the comparable period of fiscal year 2023. Finally, this call in its entirety is being webcast on our investor relations website. A replay of the audio webcast will also be available on our investor relations website shortly. And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Sumit. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Thank you, Dave, and thank you all for joining us on today's call. Our third quarter results continued to build on the positive momentum we observed in Q2. We delivered top-line growth exceeding the high end of our net sales guidance range, a sequential increase in active customers, continued adjusted EBITDA margin expansion, and robust free cash flow generation. These results underscore the durability of our business model and our team's relentless focus on high-quality execution and operational discipline. With that, let's dive into the details. Q3 net sales increased by approximately 5% to $2.88 billion. Both the strength of our flagship Autoship program and our customers' loyalty in nondiscretionary categories, particularly within consumables and health, anchored our Q3 net sales performance. Our Autoship program enables high visibility and predictability in our business and drives customer stickiness for Chewy. Autoship customer sales reached $2.3 billion in the quarter, representing 80% of Q3 net sales and a year-over-year increase of approximately 9%. Nondiscretionary categories, including consumables and healthcare products and services, accounted for 85% of Q3 net sales. Customers appreciate our comprehensive product catalog and our ongoing efforts to refresh assortment across food, treats, and hard goods. Over the last few quarters, we have increased our assortment across popular categories such as pet tech, vet food, and supplements, to name a few, adding several new premium brands, most of which launched exclusively on chewy.com. Additionally, we are continuously rolling out enhancements to our on-site and in-app experiences to ensure we are providing an even more enjoyable and convenient shopping journey for pet parents. Last quarter, I spoke about our efforts to redesign our mobile app and make the overall app experience more convenient for customers. In Q3, both unique customers who placed at least one order on the app and average app monthly active users or app MAU increased in the mid-teens range compared to Q3 of last year. I am excited by the strong engagement we continue to observe through our mobile app and the experience it brings to our customers. Continuing on the topic of customers, I am pleased to share that Q3 marked another quarter of sequential active customer growth, building on the momentum we established coming out of our second quarter. Our efforts to enhance shopping experiences, expand assortment, and various ongoing innovations, combined with our powerful marketing and CRM strategy, continue to drive outperformance, while macro normalization steadily continues in the background. We ended the third quarter with approximately 20.2 million active customers, up 160,000 sequentially. We now expect to end fiscal 2024 with active customers up modestly over last year, a trend which we expect to continue to strengthen in 2025. Turning to profitability. We generated $138 million of adjusted EBITDA in the quarter, representing a 4.8% margin and approximately 180 basis points of margin expansion year over year. Our Q3 adjusted EBITDA results reflect a continuation of our strong gross margin performance, our disciplined approach to cost management, and the ongoing benefits of fixed cost leverage as we scale. Our increasing profitability has enabled us to continue to return meaningful capital to shareholders, as reflected by the incremental $342 million we deployed to shareholders in the third quarter. Now, let me provide an update on some of Chewy's strategic initiatives and innovations. The Sponsored Ads business continues to perform well. And as expected, we remain on track to reach the low end of our previously stated long-term target range of 1% to 3% of net sales in fiscal 2024. We remain on track with our 1P technology migration and look forward to starting the new fiscal year fully converted to our 1P software platform. Moving to Chewy's healthcare offerings. I am proud of the progress our team has made this year across healthcare products and services, especially Chewy Vet Care or CVC. With the launch of Chewy Vet Care Clinics earlier this year, we not only unlocked the $25 billion vet services TAM opportunity, but we are also observing compelling complementarities across the entire Chewy ecosystem. We have six clinics opened today and expect to reach the high end of our previously stated target range of four to eight clinic openings in 2024 later this fiscal year. Performance across our clinic footprint is promising, and I'm happy to share that the early signs of success we spoke about last quarter have continued through Q3. The proportion of new-to-Chewy customers acquired through Chewy Vet Care continues to outperform relative to expectations. Additionally, broader ecosystem benefits, including cross-category shopping and post-clinic visit purchases on chewy.com, have strengthened since last quarter, indicating that our ability to seamlessly connect care with commerce is resonating with pet parents. I would also like to take a moment to talk about Chewy+, our paid membership program. Recall that we launched Chewy+ in summer 2024 to a representative sample of customers. Since launching the program, we have been carefully studying the shopping behavior of Chewy+ members and are tracking several key indicators of success, including the program's potential to accelerate wallet share consolidation and drive stronger cross-category engagement. Based on the data we have analyzed over the last several months, we are seeing that Chewy+ members consistently place more orders, have higher cross-category penetration and greater mobile app engagement relative to non-Chewy+ customers. Furthermore, we are seeing higher Autoship adoption rates from this early cohort of customers, signaling a potentially compelling flywheel effect off the Chewy+ program. While contribution to the overall enterprise remains immaterial, we are encouraged by these early results and look forward to introducing the program to our broader base of customers. Touching on Canada, where we completed a full year of operations in Q3. The Canadian business, while still relatively small and immaterial to the overall scale of Chewy, continues to improve across key metrics, including Autoship penetration, net sales growth, and profitability. Additionally, we remain focused on strengthening brand awareness in Canada and are excited by the brand partnership we recently signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team. We believe Chewy's passion for pets perfectly aligned with Torontonians' passion for the Maple Leafs, and we are bringing this to life with dynamic advertising and interactive fan moments during games at Scotiabank Arena. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge a notable milestone for Chewy with our recent inclusion in the S&P 400 index as of November 6th. We view our inclusion in this index as an endorsement of our performance, our enduring business, and our compelling growth opportunities ahead. In closing, I would like to thank all of our dedicated Chewy team members for their hard work and strong execution in the third quarter. We are now focused on executing through our final quarter of 2024 and are excited about the customer engagement we have seen thus far through this holiday season and look forward to ending fiscal year 2024 on a high note. With that, I will turn the call over to Dave. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Thank you, Sumit. Third quarter net sales grew 4.8% year over year to 2.88 billion, exceeding the high end of the guidance range we provided last quarter. The pricing, promotion, and discount environment remained stable throughout the quarter. As such, year-over-year revenue growth was primarily driven by active customer growth and cross-category product penetration, resulting in continued customer wallet share gain. We ended the quarter with 20.2 million active customers, reflecting a sequential net increase of approximately 160,000 customers. Gross additions exceeded pre-COVID levels, and gross churn improved year over year. Within gross engross additions, both new customers and reactivations grew year over year in the quarter. We are encouraged by the positive momentum in active customers and expect these trends to continue through the balance of the year. Against the backdrop of a modestly improving pet industry and strong Chewy-specific execution, we now expect to end fiscal year 2024 with modest year-over-year active customer growth. Third quarter Autoship customer sales increased by 8.7% to 2.3 billion, outpacing total net sales growth in the quarter by approximately 390 basis points. Autoship customer sales as a percentage of total net sales increased by 290 basis points to 80%, a new company record. Additionally, we continued to grow share of wallet with Q3 net sales per active customer, or NSPAC, reaching $567. Moving to profitability. We reported third quarter gross margin of 29.3%, representing 80 basis points of margin expansion year over year. Our growing Sponsored Ads business was the largest driver of gross margin improvement in the quarter, followed by product mix shift into premium categories, including consumables and pharmacy. Additionally, promotional activity in the third quarter was in line with our expectations, and the promotional environment to date in the fourth quarter remains rational. Shifting to operating expenses. Please note that my discussion of SG&A exclude share-based compensation expense and related taxes. Third quarter SG&A totaled 546 million, or 19% of net sales, representing 90 basis points of improvement on a year-over-year basis. SG&A leverage was primarily driven by continued discipline and efficiency with respect to corporate payroll, fulfillment, and other at scale efficiency benefits. Third quarter advertising and marketing expense was 191.8 million or 6.7% of net sales. I would note that we expect advertising and marketing expenses to come in at the high end of our previously stated range of 6% to 7% of net sales for the full year. This is primarily due to the timing of certain marketing campaigns in Q4. Third quarter adjusted net income was 84.9 million, representing a 34% increase year over year. Net income for the quarter was 3.9 million, which translated into $0.01 earnings per share on both a basic and diluted basis. Finally, we reported adjusted EBITDA of 138.2 million, representing a 4.8% adjusted EBITDA margin and 180 basis points of year-over-year margin expansion, driven by the improvements in gross margin and SG&A described earlier. We reported free cash flow of 151.8 million in the third quarter, reflecting 183.5 million of net cash provided by operating activities and 31.7 million of capital expenditures. Our third quarter trailing 12-month free cash flow was over 360 million and demonstrates our ability to generate increasing levels of free cash flow while continuing to invest in our growth initiatives and returning significant capital to shareholders. I'd now like to provide an update on our share repurchase activity completed in the quarter. In September, concurrently with a 500 million underwritten secondary offering of Class A common stock by BC Partners, we repurchased approximately 10.2 million shares of Class A common stock directly from BC Partners for an aggregate repurchase price of 300 million. This repurchase transaction allowed us to continue to reduce the ownership position of our largest shareholder and was executed separately from our existing $500 million share repurchase program. Additionally, during the quarter, we repurchased approximately 1.6 million shares of Class A common stock, spending approximately 42.4 million under our 500 million share repurchase program. At the end of the quarter, we had approximately 424.8 million of remaining capacity under the program for future repurchases. Collectively, the company has repurchased and retired a total of 30.7 million shares year to date. Our ability to generate increasing levels of profitability and free cash flow will continue to enable us to invest in our business and return meaningful capital to shareholders. We ended the quarter with approximately 508 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, and we remain debt-free, with an overall liquidity position of approximately 1.3 billion. With that, I'd like to turn to our fourth quarter and updated full year 2024 guidance. We anticipate fourth quarter net sales of between 3.18 billion and 3.20 billion, or approximately 13% year-over-year growth, which reflects the full impact of the 53rd week, and we are narrowing and raising our full year 2024 net sales outlook to be between 11.79 billion and 11.81 billion or approximately 6% year-over-year growth. This range includes the impact of a 53-week 2024 fiscal year. And as previously noted, the 53rd week will be fully reflected in the fourth quarter of 2024. We are raising our full year 2024 adjusted EBITDA margin guidance to a range of 4.6% to 4.8%. The midpoint of our full year adjusted EBITDA margin guidance range indicates approximately 140 basis points of year-over-year margin expansion and implies approximately 3.4% adjusted EBITDA margin for the fourth quarter. Consistent with our comments last quarter pertaining to the quarterly progression of 2024 adjusted EBITDA margin, we expect Q4 adjusted EBITDA margin to decline sequentially due to typical seasonality and the timing of certain investments, primarily pertaining to marketing campaigns. Given the results of our previous three quarters, we anticipate 2024 capital expenditures to come in at the low end of our previously stated range of 1.5% to 2% of net sales, and we expect free cash flow conversion to remain above 80% for the full year. Finally, we expect basic shares outstanding at fiscal 2024 year-end to be approximately 415 million. This incorporates the nearly 31 million shares that we have repurchased and retired year to date and does not incorporate any potential future share repurchases. In closing, our third quarter results reflect another quarter of strong execution. I want to thank our incredible Chewy team members for their collective efforts as we continue to execute against our strategic priorities to deliver long-term profitable growth. With that, I will turn the call over to the operator for questions. Questions & Answers: Operator Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator instructions] Our first question today comes from the line of Nathan Feather with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Nathan Feather -- Analyst Thanks for the question and congrats on the strong results. Really encouraging to see the continued momentum. Active customer growth continues to accelerate. Can you double-click on what you're seeing in overall pet ownership trends and how we should think about the relative contribution to customer growth as compared to some of the idiosyncratic initiatives you've been working on? And then given the expectation for customer growth to improve further in '25, how should we think about the key puts and takes you're considering for growth in the year? Thank you. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Hey, Nathan. This is Sumit. I'll start and Dave will jump in wherever he sees appropriate. So, in terms of household formation trends, I think you started with that, we continue to see signs of industry normalization. Pricing remains stable. Inflation continues to move toward a more normalized level. In fact, we saw no benefit of pricing, as we mentioned on the earnings call, as we move through Q3. Regarding pet household formation, of course, there's no single truth -- source of truth for this data. Our triangulation, you know, continues to tell us that latest adoption and relinquishment trends are both trending in a better direction. We believe year-over-year adoption growth was in the high single-digit to low double-digit ranges, and relinquishment were down low single digits. So, overall, we observed a return to positive net adoptions in cycle of Q3 from an external point of view. In terms of -- let me see, you had another question here. Double-click and do about expectation for active customer growth in '25 and puts and takes. So, I mean, there's a lot going on. Ultimately, we believe -- you know, as I mentioned last quarter, the active customer growth that we are driving now -- you know, two times now as a trend -- is largely due to our own efforts, and the industry continues to normalize in the background, which is, of course, a stabilizing factor that is very good to see. On our side, you know, enhancing on-site and mobile experiences, expanding assortment, performance on the CRM strategy, and all of that is sort of what's working in conjunction. As we move into '25, what has really started to work for us is our focus on connecting the marketing funnel to expanded audiences, and driving that funnel exposure is enabling our teams to find both the right level of efficiency, as well as the flexibility to move spend up and down the funnel to capture both share of voice and demand. And when we bring them to the site, we are able to convert them effectively with the previous efforts that I've talked about around improvement of site experience, customer choices, assortment, other innovations, etc. So, our '25 strategy is very much in line with, you know, operating the playbook that we've uncovered and strengthened for ourselves in '24. Another data point that I just want to draw your attention to, more of a recall from last quarter, is we said, you know, we have an improved ability to identify and segment customers and target them, you know, to drive improved second purchase rates, Autoship signups, mobile app engagement, etc., etc. And so, on the background, you know, we've now sort of played this playbook for at least two quarters. We're going to rinse and repeat in Q4 and 2025, strengthening our channel and share performance in the market. Nathan Feather -- Analyst Great. Thank you. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Thank you, Nate. Operator The next question comes from Curtis Nagle with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Curtis, please go ahead. Curtis Nagle -- Analyst Awesome. Thanks very much for taking the question. So, I want to focus a bit on the 4Q guidance and maybe specifically on the comments in terms of the advertising and marketing spend. Just in terms of context, you know, at the high end of the range, you know, around 7% for the year, it implies like a really big dollar increase, right, certainly relative to the other quarters. Like, no relative leverage from the extra week. So, you know, I guess, just kind of digging into that, you know, what does this spend pertain to? Looks to me like implied like $40 million to $50 million year over year. Is that correct? And, you know, are there specific products or customers you're targeting? Is it one-time? Just, you know, kind of dig into that and kind of how we should specifically, you know, think about that increase and whether you're just applying some conservatism or not. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Good morning and thanks for the question. I'll take this one, and then, Sumit, if you want to build upon any of it, you know, let me know. And I'll build upon Sumit's comments about active customers. So, in the third quarter, when you think about the elements that go into gross additions, you've got new customers added, you've got reactivations, and then, of course, you have churn. And we actually saw improvement across all three of those metrics in the third quarter on a year-over-year basis. And so, we're entering the fourth quarter with some momentum on the activities that we're driving across those three elements I mentioned. We're entering the fourth quarter with the continuation of what we believe is a normalizing industry, as we previously referenced with moderating inflation, as well as the shelter data that we've mentioned previously as well, which has continued in the third quarter. So, with that momentum going into the fourth quarter, there's a couple of elements to consider. Number one, you typically have a little bit higher elevated advertising and marketing in the fourth quarter given the holiday season, as well as the timing of certain campaigns. And then building on that, we see an opportunity in the industry in the fourth quarter where we believe that we want to invest and lean in to the fourth quarter such that we can continue to build on what we believe are some improvement in the industry and then continue that, of course, into 2025. So, you know, net-net, you take a step back, you think about what we've told you for the year in terms of our guidance, active customer growth, flat to down in the first half, flat to up in the second half, ending flat. We've moved up that guidance. We've pulled in that guidance. And we see an opportunity to invest in the fourth quarter in advertising and marketing, and we're doing that. For the full year, we'll be at the high end of the 6% to 7% range. And as you mentioned, to get to the high end of that 6% to 7% range for the year, that would imply being above 7% specifically for the fourth quarter. Sumit. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Yeah. Curtis, I would just like to add more of a reminder on the conversations that we've had on this call in the past, which is, you know, we spend based on the ROI and the LTV potential that we're seeing in the current cohort of customers that we pick up from market and the existing customer base that we're developing share of wallet on. So, in the past, as you know, we've swung the marketing spend all the way to the left, you know, down 70 basis points, 80 basis points from our average. And now, we're picking that back up. Why didn't we spend in the past and why are we spending now? Well, because we didn't see the ROI in the past and we are now. The cohorts that were acquiring, the efficiencies that we're gaining based on the full funnel audience expansions that I talked about are really compelling and behooves us to be able to invest to continue this trend, as well as solidify growth for year 2025 and beyond. If you kind of see something -- let me share some of the data points that we're seeing. You know, the -- you know, our orientation is three-fourths of the customers that we're picking up had at least one SKU from a repeatable category. And that's an encouraging trend because it promotes Autoship growth and builds the layer cake that then sort of compels and, you know, spins the flywheel in a more efficient manner. We're seeing, you know, these new customers' reorder rates and settlement rates improving, you know, as our engagements with these consumable-type categories. You know, when you look at year-to-date '24 new customer cohorts, in terms of year-over-year reorder rates, in the first few periods of post-acquisition, you know, we're running roughly 300 basis points to 500 basis points higher than the three months averages. So, these are just some data points on the background that allows us to sort of study and, you know, increase or decrease the values of propensity you know, modeling and, therefore, go out and invest if we see the returns. That's what we're doing right now. Curtis Nagle -- Analyst OK. And then just -- that makes total sense. Just a quick follow-up. The points you made in answering Nathan's question on the adoptions were really interesting. I think you said, you know, up on a gross add basis high singles to low double, relinquishment was down low singles. So, you know, net, a pretty good number. What -- how did that compare to 2Q? Just trying to, you know, sort of size it in terms of relative improvement. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director It's positive by -- I think the margins extended by low to mid-single-digit ranges relative to Q2. Curtis Nagle -- Analyst OK. Awesome. Appreciate it. Thank you. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Sure. Operator The next question comes from Doug Anmuth with J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead. Doug Anmuth -- Analyst Great. Thanks for taking the questions. Two, if I could. First, just on vet clinics, looks like you're on track to the eight locations by year-end. Can you talk more about what you've learned this year and how that informs your '25 expansion plans and the investments that may be required then? And then, Sumit, if you could also perhaps give us an update on automation, just kind of how you're tracking relative to the 70% to 80% kind of long-term percentage of volume that you've talked about over time? Thanks. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Yeah. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director You take the first. I'll take -- David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Yeah. So, with respect to the vet clinics, you know, as we talked about, we were planning to roll out four to eight vet clinics this year. We're going to be at the high end of that range. The positive trends that we've seen on vet clinics have continued. Some of those positive metrics has been, you know, the operational utilization of those clinics, it's been high. The customer engagement from those clinics and the corresponding customer service levels have been high. The net promoter kind of score around those clinics and the service level, high. The new customer cross-category penetration, new customers to Chewy that come in through vet clinics and then their propensity to go to chewy.com and then shop online at chewy.com, also high. In fact, more than half of those new customers, consistent with last quarter -- actually an improvement from last quarter, are leaving the vet clinic, new customer to Chewy, and then going online and also shopping at chewy.com. So, all the metrics across the vet clinics are trending positive. I'll leave the 2025 guidance for 2025. But I would just tell you that we've been very encouraged by our engagement with customers. We're encouraged by the size of the TAM, roughly 25 billion, that we've opened up through these vet clinics, and we're excited about continuing to grow our presence in this space. Sumit, anything that you would build on there? Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director On the automation, no, that's perfect. Thank you. On the automation side, Doug, we continue to trend upwards. A little less than half of our volume is now shipping through our 2G fulfillment centers and, you know, touching some sort of automation in the network. And that, combined with the improved, you know, supply chain tooling that we have, you know, is allowing us to execute through a really strong peak. And we continue to gain those efficiencies and flow through the bottom line, as you can see in the opex scaling that Dave talked about in the -- on the script. Happy to dive deeper in any area, if you like. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer And just to build on that comment and using some data points from the third quarter, given the efficiencies that you've mentioned, we had an improvement on the variable fulfillment side, we had improvement on the fixed fulfillment side. In other words, we got more fixed cost absorption through those fulfillment centers. And orders every quarter this year, year over year, so Q1, Q2, Q3, on a year-over-year basis, orders are up across all those quarters and in total year to date. In fact, we had our highest order period during this most recent peak -- holiday peak cycle over the last week or so. And so, the team is executing very well, and the automation that's been referenced here is a big contributor to that, both in terms of output, as well as efficiency and productivity. Did you have a follow-up, Doug? Doug Anmuth -- Analyst That's great. Thank you, both. Appreciate it. No. All good. Thank you. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Thanks. Operator The next question comes from David Bellinger with Mizuho. David, please go ahead. David Bellinger -- Analyst Hey. Good morning. Thanks for the questions. First one, I wanted to revisit the app, which I think you mentioned last quarter was around 20% of revenues. Is there any update on how quickly that percentage could ramp up? How fast can we get to 30% or 40%? And then secondly, how should we think about the P&L impact of that? Can you simply bypass marketing spend and sort of get more leverage on the ad expense line by getting more volumes through your app? Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Hi, David. So, we're -- this is a priority for us, and we are essentially ramping up our efforts very quickly to be able to push this volume. I would, you know, consider this not a few quarters of effort, but perhaps a couple of years of efforts to get to sort of market standard rates of, you know, above 40%, 45% of our -- so doubling kind of the volume that is moving through the app. But the progress that we are making on a quarter-over-quarter basis is something that we like. And of course, yes, we like it for the fact that it's a closed-loop ecosystem. It allows us to collect 1P data, market on a 1P basis, you know, take advantage of the direct traffic, stay in touch with customers, you know, who are really more engaged, and capitalize on the trends that we see in the app, which are highly encouraging from an overall conversion of revenue into profitability point of view. For example, you know, Autoship engagement rates are higher in the app. AOVs are higher in the app. Retention rates in apps are several hundred basis points higher than customers who engage with us over the web or desktop. You know, the cross-category attachment that we see go through the app is higher. So, all in all, it's just not only a more productive experience, it's also a more enjoyable and personalized experience that allows us to build a quality of relationship that we believe will be even stronger, alongside the P&L benefits that come with it. We'll size the benefits side, I think, in 2025, so I'm taking that question to note and we'll come back in 2025 and size it up. David Bellinger -- Analyst All right. Perfect. We'll come back on that one. And then just a follow-up, in your 10-Q filing, it looked like there was some new language around a project on the finance IT side. Not meaningful from a capital investment perspective. But can you elaborate on the SG&A portion, how much will that detract in 2025 and are there any deficiencies within the system that this is correcting? David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer No, there are no deficiencies in the system that this is correcting. This is a new capability for us. So, I think it's -- you should think about this as, you know, the migration of some of our planning engines to a more comprehensive online suite. And by being able to do that, which at no material impact really to the P&L, by being able to do that, we're able to, you know, get more granularity with respect to all of our operations. And we're also going to be able to apply some AI to those same operations to get some automated intelligence and reporting out of the system in a more comprehensive way. David Bellinger -- Analyst Perfect. Thank you, both. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Thanks, David. Operator The next question comes from Steven Zaccone with Citigroup. Steven, please go ahead. Steve Zaccone -- Analyst Hi. Good morning. Thanks very much for taking my question. First question I had was just on pricing. Sumit, you said there was no benefit from pricing in the third quarter. How do you see that playing out in 4Q, and then any preliminary views on 2025? It seems like the industry overall has been flattish for some time. So, your thoughts on maybe what it looks like next year will be helpful. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Yeah. So, hi, Steve. This is David. I'll take this one, and then, Sumit, if you want to build on it, chime in. With respect to pricing in third quarter, really no material benefit nor detriment in the third quarter with respect to pricing. We had goodness on the gross margin line, largely driven by Sponsored Ads and product mix. And then, of course, that flowed all the way through the P&L, ultimately, to give us a pretty sizable EBITDA beat for the quarter on a year-over-year basis, roughly half driven by gross margin and half driven by leverage through the remainder of the P&L. But really, no impact either way from pricing. With respect to fourth quarter, you know, you typically do have some pricing and discounting in the fourth quarter related to the holiday season. We fully baked that into our guidance for the fourth quarter. But again, no material kind of impact from inflation nor deflation, which the inflation piece is obviously we had seen in prior years and in prior periods, but really no meaningful impact really throughout 2024. We had a little bit in the first quarter. Second quarter, it moderated significantly. Third quarter, relatively nonexistent. Fourth quarter, expecting the same other than the traditional seasonality. And that's how we're kind of expecting rolling into 2025. We're expecting those trends to largely continue. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Yeah. The overall environment, Steven, the market remains very rational with, of course, some seasonal spikes that you would expect as we played through the Cyber Week last week, which was a very good week for us. You know, if you remember our comments from the beginning of this year, the composition of revenue has shifted from, you know, part pricing, part unit growth or structural growth coming into Q1 of this year to -- much more weighted toward structural growth as we exit this year. You know, we are not seeing deflation happen in the category. The category that, of course, is more elastic right now as we move to Q4, particularly Cyber, is more on the hard goods and discretionary side, but you would expect that, you know, as the industry normalizes and we push volumes through this seasonal holiday peak season. But outside of that, you should expect '25 -- you know, if you recall our long-term growth algorithm, the revenue is a function of active customer growth in the low to mid-single-digit and NSPAC growth in the mid to high single digit, and there's a benefit of roughly 2% to 2.5% of pricing built in when the industry normalizes. And that long-term growth algorithm, we expect, will come true as the industry continues to normalize and we move out of '24 into '25 and '26. Steve Zaccone -- Analyst OK. That's very helpful. The follow-up I had is just in the context of raising the customer count outlook and then the commentary about that strengthening in 2025, how much of that is driven by the industry data points getting a little bit better, like you mentioned, pet adoptions, versus your own idiosyncratic efforts, you know, talking about marketing and stuff of that nature? Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Yeah, it's hard to put a ratio on it, but we believe a majority of this change that we have seen is driven by internal efforts. And so, we are bullish, you know, that we should get an incremental tailwind, you know, when the industry fully normalizes. Currently, we are not taking that into account because we'd like to be -- we'd like that to sit on top. And so, present our -- presently, our comments around, you know, us growing active customer is on the back of efforts that we are internally driving and seeing success with. Steve Zaccone -- Analyst Very helpful. Thanks for the questions. Operator The next question comes from Rupesh Parikh with Oppenheimer. Please go ahead. Rupesh Parikh -- Analyst Good morning and thanks for taking my question. Also, congrats on this quarter. So, just going back to the hard goods category, we'd love to get more color in terms of what you saw during the quarter, expectations going forward. And then from a tariff perspective, does any exposure on the tariff front? Thank you. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director So, I'll take the first part. Dave will chime in on the second one. So, we're -- as you can see -- I mean, you know, hard goods continues to improve, and it did in Q3 as well. And so, on the backdrop, it's really good to kind of recognize the industry normalizing. You know, we are viewing the steady improvement in hard goods performance as a result of both our efforts that I've talked about and indicative of that industry stabilization. Specific to our efforts, it includes expanding assortment across several merch classes. We've been very focused on bringing in, you know, high value-added assortment onto the platform. And our suppliers and vendors are very excited to partner with us there. We're focused on upgrading site experience to improve padding, discovery, and conversion, and we are marrying that up with thoughtful campaign execution. And so, these efforts -- you know, the -- so we believe the work done by our teams is paying off. And I also want to note that we will only fully benefit, you know, from this when we start to see a more fulsome recovery in discretionary purchasing. But we're happy with the results so far. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer And building on that, like, we're excited about our goods growing two quarters in a row now on a year-over-year basis. So, both second quarter this year and third quarter of this year have now grown on a year-over-year basis. We're pretty excited about that growth. And we're also excited about the early trends that we've seen here in fourth quarter. So, don't want to, you know, guide by a product category, but certainly we feel good about hard goods, where we stand today in the fourth quarter. With respect to the tariff question that you mentioned, you know, we have a very small reliance and presence on China specifically. We do source some hard goods from China, primarily related to some of our hard goods. But the vast, vast majority of our net sales at Chewy are, you know, pretty much domestic -- domestically sourced. So, our reliance on the region in our -- the impact of any potential tariff is relatively low on Chewy. Rupesh Parikh -- Analyst Great. Thank you. I'll pass it along. Operator The next question comes from Mark Mahaney with Evercore ISI. Please go ahead, Mark. Mark Mahaney -- Analyst Thanks. Two questions, please. This active customer growth, can you tell how much of that is from reactivated customers, customers you've had in the past who churned off for whatever reasons and have come back? And if so, any color on what those reasons are? And then secondly, it sounds like competitive intensity is relatively moderate given your comments on pricing. But other than pricing, is there anything else you're seeing notable in the competitive landscape? Thank you. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Hi, Mark. A greater number of customers were from net new customers that we acquired relative to the reactivated customers that we count toward gross adds. The other encouraging factor that we saw this time was, you know, the cohort stabilization that we've been talking about. So, churn stabilized, as we would expect, which was Dave's earlier comment on all three indicators were positive: net new, reactivated, as well as lower churn. But between the gross add, the portion of net new customers on an absolute basis absolutely exceeded reactivations. So, we were happy to see that, of course, and we would want that. And then if you combine that with some of the results that I shared around how these cohorts are engaging in terms of second purchase rates, etc., that is encouraging to see. On the retention side, you know, we're tracking settled orders, which is a metric that we, you know, developed as we came out of the COVID time frame so to be really able to see third order settlement rates so that we're not calling early success or early, you know, wins on these customer cohorts. And we're seeing third order customer settlement rates also improve from cohorts that we've acquired from P5 of this year and before that. So, all encouraging signs. Competitive intensity, you're right. It seems relatively moderate. Pricing environment is rational. And overall, you know, we're playing a pretty strong playbook, continuing to differentiate ourselves, both in terms of the basics of, you know, the category around price and convenience and assortment, but also in bringing new innovations to life. Super excited about Chewy+, super excited about the app initiative. Canada is ramping well. Sponsored Ads are ramping well, too. Nothing else to report. Mark Mahaney -- Analyst OK. Thank you, Sumit. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Sure. Operator The next question comes from Shweta Khajuria with Wolfe Research. Please go ahead. Shweta Khajuria -- Analyst Thank you so much for taking my questions. Let me try two, please. One is could you please talk to some of the marketing channels that are working really well for you, were a positive surprise or have been a positive surprise for you over the past couple of quarters as you lean into different channels and seeing better returns? That's one. And then second is could you please talk about trends you saw quarter to date, so through October, November, December, and how the trend did versus your internal expectations? Thanks a lot. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Sure. So, I won't fully satisfy your curiosity on specific marketing channels working for us. I would reorient us back to the comment I made at the start of the call, which, if you were trying to draw, hey, what's different, I would focus on, you know, the comment around really connecting the marketing funnel to expanded audiences and driving that full funnel exposure. That has been the most significant change that we've made over the last few quarters. Combine that with our ability to target those customers when they arrive on our platforms and drive to better conversion I believe is a powerful recipe, which we are continuing to perfect. So, more room to go there. But we're excited about what we are seeing so far. So, I would likely just stick with that. Any color on quarter-to-date trends? We're happy with quarter-to-date performance. Our -- we just wrapped up our Cyber Week. And by all measure of the word, I would classify peak holiday event performance to be successful. We had a thoughtful and curated plan, comprised of great assortment, offers, experience, and marketing strategy. And customers, in return, engaged robustly with the visits and spending exceeding our expectations, driving some of the biggest net sales day in Chewy history. So, we're -- and as you heard from Dave in the prepared remarks, we're increasing our net sales guidance range for the year. And while we did not specifically call out the last few weeks that we've played through, this increase is a result of the strength that we are currently seeing in the engine. Anything to add? David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Yeah. If I could build on that with a few softer points here that don't necessarily show up in the P&L but they certainly give us a good brand umbrella, number one, Chewy Claus. I'll call that out, especially this time of year. And it's a program where pets submit their Santa wish list. And it's gotten quite a bit of traction in prior years. It's gotten even more traction this year. It's not part of a, you know, paid marketing program, but it is a program that's organic and it's trending. And it's a program that when people associate pets, pet parents, the humanization of pets in an emotive category like this, it is an organic trend that gets a lot of play this time of year, and it's a program that we love to run. And then finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't just point out the wow experience that our customer service provides every day and the brand uplift and emotive attachment to Chewy that that type of program does. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Shweta, if the CFO is talking about it, the Chewy Claus program must really be working there. Shweta Khajuria -- Analyst Thank you, Sumit. Thanks, Dave. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Thanks. Operator We have time for one more question. And so, our final question today comes from Anna Andreeva with Piper Sandler. Anna, please go ahead. Anna Andreeva -- Analyst Great. Thanks so much. Happy to have made it. And congrats. Nice results. Two questions from us. I wanted to follow up on hard goods. Sumit, just remind us what's the size of your own brands business within that. Are you starting to see growth there, and should that continue into next year? And is own brands still a higher-margin category for Chewy? And secondly, I guess, to date, FC automation has been a pretty big story here, and you quantified that benefit in the 10-Q, to opex. Can you remind us how many FCs are automated now? What's the benefit and opex savings you see per FC? And how many do you still left to automate ahead into '25 or beyond? Thank you so much. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Sure. Let me start perhaps with hard goods. And again, if you go into the 10-Q, you'll see that we report on hard goods, as I mentioned earlier, after several kind of quarters where we had experienced decline in the past. We have had two consecutive quarters now with growth in hard goods year over year. So, the second quarter, we grew year over year. The third quarter, we've grown year over year again. And in fact, we've grown faster than we did in the second quarter. And while we don't guide by, you know, some -- a product line or category, we did -- we have experienced some good trends in hard goods here in the fourth quarter. So, we're quite pleased from that perspective. With regards to our own private brands, either within hard goods or other categories, you know, we don't comment extensively on that. I would say, in general, private brands for us has been stable. We have several initiatives that -- where we are expanding assortment across both consumables, as well as hard goods. Most of those initiatives are future benefits and not really reflected in the P&L that we've produced for third quarter or that were guiding for fourth quarter. So, those benefits are yet to come. But hard goods, in general, up two consecutive quarters, trending well for fourth quarter; and then private brands within hard goods, continuing to improve assortment and selection. Sumit. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director And I would just say that even though, you know, the relative stability is absolutely right, you know, if you recall, this is an area of opportunity that we recognized as a strategic pillar. We want to get net sales penetration up to mid-teens level. And at that scale, we expect private brands to contribute, you know, up to 500 basis points of higher gross margin to the core business. For hard goods, you know, we've mentioned in the past that penetration for our private brands is in the mid-teens to high-teens level. It fluctuates, you know, in that range across the year, and we are relatively stable in that penetration. In terms of automation, six fulfillment centers are currently automated. What I would recall -- what I would draw your attention to is, you know, at Capital Markets Day, we said we can, you know, continue to automate across our network and reach or touch over 70% of volume in one way, shape, or form to push through these improved processes. And if you look at just the FC itself, you know, we have said it drives improvement to the tune of up to 50% in productivity, 30% in volume per square foot, and up to 60% improvements in ergonomics and safety. And those results are pretty true even now. Operator Those are all the questions we have time for today. [Operator instructions] Duration: 0 minutes Call participants: David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Nathan Feather -- Analyst Curtis Nagle -- Analyst Doug Anmuth -- Analyst David Bellinger -- Analyst Steve Zaccone -- Analyst Rupesh Parikh -- Analyst Mark Mahaney -- Analyst Shweta Khajuria -- Analyst Anna Andreeva -- Analyst More CHWY analysis All earnings call transcripts
During an official visit to Vietnam, a Dominican delegation led by Minister Miguel Mejía met with Dao Xuan Vu, Vice President of Viettel Telecommunications Group, to evaluate progress following Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính’s visit to the Dominican Republic. Viettel reaffirmed its interest in entering the Dominican market, supported by the Dominican government’s commitment to this venture. Minister Mejía emphasized the strong political and economic ties between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Dominican United Left Movement (UNM), highlighting their importance in fostering collaboration. Viettel’s entry into the Dominican market is expected to enhance connectivity for schools, remote communities, and e-government projects, promising substantial social and technological benefits. Dao Xuan Vu presented an official letter to INDOTEL’s president, reiterating Viettel’s dedication to supporting the Dominican Republic’s technological and social advancement. This meeting marks a significant step in strengthening bilateral ties and fostering mutual cooperation for development.By JESSICA DAMIANO Some homeowners gaze out their windows and see lush and beautiful gardens . Others would like to see lush and beautiful gardens but instead are greeted by overgrown, dead or otherwise messy landscapes. Related Articles Things To Do | Exhausted by political news? TV ratings and new poll say you’re not alone Things To Do | Horoscopes Dec. 26, 2024: Jared Leto, focus on what excites and bring you joy Things To Do | A preview of some stunning hotels and resorts opening in 2025 Things To Do | 12 sexy Christmas movies to stream this ho-ho-holiday season Things To Do | This condiment is the only sauce you’ll need to hack the holidays Whether you’ve inherited a neglected garden from a previous homeowner or have been too busy to keep on top of maintenance, don’t despair: Devising a game plan now can set you up for a much better view by next winter. As with most seemingly hopeless tasks, breaking the process down into small steps performed over time will help make the project manageable. First, grab a notepad and take a walk around the garden. Assess each section, determining which plants can be saved, which need to go and which require attention. Make a list now. Dead and invasive plants , as well as weeds , should be first on the chopping block. If the weather allows, dig them out, removing as much of their root systems as possible. Otherwise, tackle this first in spring. Next, remove and give away otherwise-healthy plants that you don’t want. Online buy-nothing groups and neighborhood pages are great places to find takers . Many will even be willing to do the digging if it means getting a free plant. If the property has been overrun with a thicket of plants, shrubs, trees and vines that have grown wild, a chainsaw, brush mower or brush grubber may be in order. If you’re dealing with a lot of weeds or want to create new garden beds in a lawn, you can smother the existing vegetation rather than dig it up. Determine the shape and size of the bed or border, and cover that area with cardboard or thick layers of newspaper. This can be done now, topped with 3 inches of compost and 2 inches of mulch, and left to sit over winter. It can also wait until planting time. When you’re ready to plant, you’ll be cutting root-size holes in the cardboard for your plants. Most weeds will be suppressed, but some may sneak through and require pulling or more cardboard. Healthy but overgrown or unproductive deciduous shrubs (the types that lose their leaves) can be rejuvenated by pruning . Do this when branches are bare in late winter. Choosing a method will require weighing aesthetics against rebound time and deciding which is right for you. The fastest (but most severe) method would be to cut the whole plant down just above ground level. It’s scary, but most shrubs can handle this and will bounce back stronger. If retaining height in the garden is important, you can opt to prune each branch or stem individually at uneven heights. Or cut back one-third of the plant’s branches each year for three years. The latter would have the least drastic effect but require the most patience. Evergreen trees and shrubs should only undergo selective pruning (the shortening of individual branches). Take care to avoid over-shearing or creating holes in needled evergreen plants and trees; with the exception of yews, they won’t fill back in . Now that you have a clean canvas, turn your attention to the soil. Test the soil’s pH to ensure it’s within range for the plants you plan to add. Test kits are available at local and online garden retailers. Your local cooperative extension service may provide testing and soil-amendment advice for a nominal fee. If indicated, incorporate lime or elemental sulfur into the soil to raise or lower its pH, following package instructions. If the soil is hard and compacted, use a core aerator or long-handled garden fork to create 2-3-inch holes through which air and water can enter. Finally, spread a 2-to-3-inch layer of compost or well-rotted manure over the area. As it decomposes, nutrients will work their way into the soil. After completing the above steps, it will be time to plant your new garden. If by summer you’re not yet ready to plant, apply mulch or use annuals to protect the bare soil. When you’re ready to plant new trees , shrubs and/or perennials, carefully select varieties that will not run rampant. Dig holes just as deep as their roots but twice as wide and space them appropriately to allow for their mature sizes. For the lowest maintenance going forward, consider hardy, pollinator-friendly , drought-tolerant native plants. Incorporate non-invasive groundcovers into beds to serve as a natural mulch and discourage weeds – remember, if you don’t plant something in bare spots, God will. While you wait for groundcovers to fill in, apply 2-to-3 inches of mulch between and around plants to help retain moisture, suppress weeds, keep soil temperatures even and protect tender roots. It might take a year or two — or longer, depending on your schedule and ability, but a step-by-step approach will avoid overwhelm and provide a steady stream of small wins as you approach your goal. Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice. For her favorite tools and gear of the past year, see her 2024 gardening gift guide. For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening .
Scott Bessent a credible, safe pick for Treasury: expertsJay-Z was accused earlier this week in a civil lawsuit of raping a 13-year-old girl at an MTV afterparty back in 2000 with Sean "P Diddy" Combs. The anonymous accuser filed a lawsuit saying the incident went down after she driven to an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty. The woman's lawyer, Tony Buzbee, claimed to TMZ that she is thinking about filing a police report to press charges against Jay-Z, after hitting him with the civil suit. Mystery female celebrity 'watched Jay Z rape girl, 13, with Diddy', lawsuit claims P Diddy's limo driver's sick boast to girl, 13, before she was allegedly 'raped by Jay Z' In a statement to the outlet, Buzbee "said he's not ruling out filing rape charges against" the Empire State of Mind rapper with New York police. "What happens next is up to my client. It’s her case and what she decides to do you will find out in due course," the attorney said. There is no statute of limitations for victims to file a a rape complaint in New York. Buzbee had filed the civil suit on behalf of his client, with the Roc-a-Fella Records founder slamming the allegations and posted a lengthy statement on social media. On the Roc Nation X social media page, he slammed the allegations and Buzbee himself. "My lawyer received a blackmail attempt, called a demand letter, from a 'lawyer' named Tony Buzbee. What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle," the memo read. "No sir, it had the opposite effect! It made me want to expose you for the fraud you are in a VERY public fashion. So no, I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!" "These allegations are so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one! Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree?" Jay added. "These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case." "This lawyer, who I have done a bit of research on, seems to have a pattern of these types of theatrics!" the statement continued. "I have no idea how you have come to be such a deplorable human Mr Buzbee, but I promise you I have seen your kind many times over. I'm more than prepared to deal with your type. You claim to be a marine?! Marines are known for their valour, you have neither honor nor dignity." Buzbee even responded to the tirade, posting on X: "Regarding the Jay Z case and his efforts to silence my clients: Mr. Carter previously denied being the one who sued me and my firm. "He filed his frivolous case under a pseudonym. What he fails to say in his recent statement is my firm sent his lawyer a demand letter on behalf of an alleged victim and that victim never demanded a penny from him. Instead, she only sought a confidential mediation. "Since I sent the letter on her behalf, Mr. Carter has not only sued me, but he has tried to bully and harass me and this plaintiff. His conduct has had the opposite impact. She is emboldened. I'm very proud of her resolve." He added: "As far as the allegations in the complaint filed, we will let the filing speak for itself and will litigate the facts in court, not in the media."
Davis scores 32 as Old Dominion defeats UL Monroe 80-75 in OT
SAN DIEGO , Dec. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP announces that purchasers of Celsius Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CELH ) common stock between February 29, 2024 and September 4, 2024 , inclusive (the "Class Period"), have until January 21, 2025 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the Celsius class action lawsuit. Captioned Shelby Township Police & Fire Retirement System v. Celsius Holdings, Inc. , No. 24-81472 (S.D. Fla.), the Celsius class action lawsuit charges Celsius as well as certain of Celsius' top executive officers with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. If you suffered substantial losses and wish to serve as lead plaintiff of the Celsius class action lawsuit, please provide your information here: https://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases-celsius-holdings-class-action-lawsuit-celh.html You can also contact attorneys J.C. Sanchez or Jennifer N. Caringal of Robbins Geller by calling 800/449-4900 or via e-mail at [email protected] . CASE ALLEGATIONS : Celsius is a holding company that develops, processes, markets, distributes, and sells energy drinks and liquid supplements. The Celsius class action lawsuit alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Celsius materially oversold inventory to PepsiCo, Inc. ("Pepsi") far in excess of demand, and faced a looming sales cliff during which Pepsi would significantly reduce its purchases of Celsius products; (ii) as Pepsi drew down significant amounts of inventory overstock, Celsius' sales would materially decline in future periods, hurting Celsius' financial performance and outlook; (iii) Celsius' sales rate to Pepsi was unsustainable and created a misleading impression of Celsius' financial performance and outlook; (iv) as a result, Celsius' business metrics and financial prospects were not as strong as indicated in defendants' Class Period statements; and (v) consequently, defendants' statements regarding Celsius' outlook and expected financial performance were false and misleading at all relevant times. On May 27, 2024 , the price of Celsius stock fell nearly 13% as analysts and investors digested some of the latest retail store trends reported by Nielsen. Then, on September 4, 2024 , defendants revealed, among other things, that Celsius' sales to Pepsi were reduced from "roughly around [$]100 million to [$]120 million . . . from what [Pepsi] ordered last quarter," that Celsius was "still seeing these inventory levels being reduced" and that it had "increased" in the third quarter of 2024, and that "just to be precise with the [$]100 million to [$]120 million figure, . . . we're seeing approximately [$]100 million to [$]120 million less in orders to Pepsi in Q3 this year versus Q3 last year." On this news, the price of Celsius stock fell more than 11%. Finally, on November 6, 2024 , Celsius disclosed that Celsius' overall third quarter of 2024 "revenue was approximately $265.7 million , compared to $384.8 million for the" third quarter of 2023, a 31% decline; Celsius' North American revenues fell 33%; and its "'[r]evenue from [Pepsi] declined $123.9 million ,'" while "[c]oncurrently, related retailer promotional allowances created revenue headwinds." Celsius further revealed that its quarterly "gross profit decreased by $71.9 million , or 37%"; that its quarterly "[g]ross profit margin was 46.0% . . . , a 440 basis point decrease from 50.4% for the same period in 2023"; and that the "decrease in gross profit was due to promotional allowances, incentives, and other billbacks as a percentage of gross revenue" resulting from Pepsi's drawdown. On this news, the price of Celsius stock fell an additional 5%. The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions including actions involving financial fraud . You can view a copy of the complaint by clicking here . THE LEAD PLAINTIFF PROCESS : The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased Celsius common stock during the Class Period to seek appointment as lead plaintiff in the Celsius class action lawsuit. A lead plaintiff is generally the movant with the greatest financial interest in the relief sought by the putative class who is also typical and adequate of the putative class. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the Celsius class action lawsuit. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice to litigate the Celsius class action lawsuit. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery of the Celsius class action lawsuit is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. ABOUT ROBBINS GELLER : Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP is one of the world's leading law firms representing investors in securities fraud cases. Our Firm has been #1 in the ISS Securities Class Action Services rankings for six out of the last ten years for securing the most monetary relief for investors. We recovered $6.6 billion for investors in securities-related class action cases – over $2.2 billion more than any other law firm in the last four years. With 200 lawyers in 10 offices, Robbins Geller is one of the largest plaintiffs' firms in the world and the Firm's attorneys have obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history, including the largest securities class action recovery ever – $7.2 billion – in In re Enron Corp. Sec. Litig. Please visit the following page for more information: https://www.rgrdlaw.com/services-litigation-securities- fraud .html Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices. Contact: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP J.C. Sanchez, Jennifer N. Caringal 655 W. Broadway, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101 800-449-4900 [email protected] SOURCE Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP
A step-by-step guide to renovating a neglected garden