There are thousands of brands and millions of products.

品牌數以千計，產品數以百萬計。

The sector is as crowded as it is competitive, but for the second largest player with a market cap of about $26 billion, things aren't going as well.

這個行業既擁擠又競爭激烈，但對於市值約為 260 億美元的第二大公司來說，情況並不樂觀。

Estée Lauder's stock tumbled nearly 50% in 2024, 42% in 2023, and 33% in 2022, all together stripping more than $100 billion from its value in just three years.

雅詩蘭黛的股價在 2024 年下跌了近 50%，2023 年下跌了 42%，2022 年下跌了 33%，在短短三年時間裡，雅詩蘭黛的價值總共縮水了 1,000 多億美元。

Estée Lauder, this was a premium company whose time has come a lot.

雅詩蘭黛是一家高端公司，它的時代已經來臨。

I know that change is never easy and we have a lot of work to do.

我知道，變革絕非易事，我們還有很多工作要做。

We're embarking on the biggest operational transformation in our company's history.

我們正在進行公司歷史上最大規模的營運轉型。

In January 2025, it appointed new CEO Stéphane De La Favrie, and a month later, the company expanded and modified its restructuring plan from February 2024, which now includes laying off as many as 7,000 employees.

2025 年 1 月，公司任命了新任首席執行官斯特凡-德拉法夫裡（Stéphane De La Favrie），一個月後，公司擴大並修改了自 2024 年 2 月起實施的重組計劃，其中包括裁員多達 7000 人。

So can one of America's oldest and most beloved makeup companies make a comeback?

那麼，美國曆史最悠久、最受人喜愛的化妝品公司之一能否捲土重來？

Today, the American beauty business is one of the largest consumer service industries in the country.

如今，美國美容業已成為全美最大的消費服務行業之一。

$25 billion cosmetics giant Estée Lauder was launched by New York City couple Estée

市值 250 億美元的化妝品巨頭雅詩蘭黛由紐約一對夫婦 Estée Lauder 創立。

Lauder and Joseph Lauder in 1946.

勞德和約瑟夫-勞德（Joseph Lauder），1946 年。

After focusing on the flagship brand for years, the company became known for its aggressive acquisition strategy in the 90s that included household names like La Mer in 1995, MAC in 1998, and Jo Malone in 1999.

在專注於旗艦品牌多年之後，公司在 90 年代以其積極的收購戰略而聞名，其中包括 1995 年的 La Mer、1998 年的 MAC 和 1999 年的 Jo Malone 等家喻戶曉的品牌。

Today, the company owns more than 20 brands across five categories sold in more than 150 countries.

如今，該公司擁有五大類 20 多個品牌，在 150 多個國家銷售。

Once they acquire a company, they are very good at scaling the brand globally.

一旦收購了一家公司，他們就很擅長在全球範圍內推廣品牌。

Jo Malone is a really good example of that.

Jo Malone 就是一個很好的例子。

And they bought it when it was very small.

他們是在它很小的時候買的。

I want to say it might have been as small as $50 million of annual revenue.

我想說的是，它的年收入可能只有 5000 萬美元。

And now it's one of their largest, it's in their top five brands.

現在，它是他們最大的品牌之一，也是他們的五大品牌之一。

But the company has slipped.

但該公司的業績已經下滑。

Though its fiscal second quarter 2025 earnings announced on February 4th, 2025 beat expectations, its revenue was down 6% year over year due to falling sales and profits.

儘管 2 月 4 日公佈的 2025 年第二財季財報超出預期，但由於銷售和利潤下滑，其收入同比下降了 6%。

Skincare, its largest category by far, was down 12%.

護膚品是其目前最大的類別，下降了 12%。

The top line decline, it's not good and it's not down 40%.

頂線下降的情況並不樂觀，也沒有下降 40%。

When you look at the company's performance excluding Asia and Asia travel retail, they're actually not doing that badly.

如果把亞洲和亞洲旅遊零售業排除在外，公司的業績其實並不差。

Okay, they do have issues here and there.

好吧，他們確實有這樣那樣的問題。

The big problem is their big exposure to Asia and travel retail.

最大的問題是他們在亞洲和旅遊零售業的風險很大。

It all goes back to the 2010s, when Estée Lauder began making substantial investments for its Asia market, like a $1 billion manufacturing facility in Japan in 2018, an innovation center in China, and a distribution facility in Switzerland supporting its duty-free business.

這一切都要追溯到 2010 年代，當時雅詩蘭黛開始對亞洲市場進行大量投資，比如 2018 年在日本投資 10 億美元建立生產設施，在中國建立創新中心，以及在瑞士建立支持免稅業務的分銷設施。

And all this because it anticipated strong growth in China's premium beauty market.

而這一切都源於它對中國高端美容市場強勁增長的預期。

So for many years, investors and everybody was applauding Estée Lauder.

是以，多年來，投資者和所有人都在為雅詩蘭黛喝彩。

And companies like Coty today in the beauty industry wish they were bigger in China.

如今，像科蒂（Coty）這樣的美容業公司都希望自己能在中國做得更大。

But that became a big weakness after the country's economy didn't recover from the pandemic as quickly as analysts expected.

但在該國經濟未能像分析師預期的那樣迅速從大流行病中恢復過來之後，這就成了一個很大的弱點。

I think that speaks right to the point of how important geographical diversification is for a global company like Estée, right?

我認為這恰恰說明了地域多元化對 Estée 這樣的全球性公司的重要性，對嗎？

You know, macro backdrop continues to worsen.

要知道，宏觀背景在繼續惡化。

It takes time for you to find other large markets to kind of mitigate the impact.

你需要時間尋找其他大型市場來減輕影響。

Overall, global beauty spending has slowed since the pandemic.

總體而言，自大流行病以來，全球美容支出有所放緩。

Though sales grew double digits in 2023 from 2022, it was mainly due to price increases.

雖然 2023 年的銷售額比 2022 年增長了兩位數，但主要原因是價格上漲。

And that has partly affected Estée Lauder, too.

雅詩蘭黛也受到了部分影響。

Its net earnings dropped by 60% in 2024 from 2023.

2024 年的淨收益比 2023 年下降了 60%。

The company cut its dividends by nearly half in its fiscal Q1 2025, which meant it reduced the amount of money it would pay its shareholders, something companies rarely do.

該公司在 2025 財年第一季度將股息減少了近一半，這意味著它減少了向股東支付的金額，而這是公司很少會做的事情。

But in this case, helped the company conserve cash for its restructuring plan.

但在這個案例中，它幫助公司為重組計劃節省了現金。

I think that was a prudent decision, you know, especially now that we get to know more about the challenges that the company faced in Q2 and going forward in the next couple of quarters.

我認為這是一個審慎的決定，尤其是現在我們對公司在第二季度和未來幾個季度所面臨的挑戰有了更多的瞭解。

Its North America sales have slowed, too, in part because of inflation and an overall drop in global spending.

北美地區的銷售也有所放緩，部分原因是通貨膨脹和全球消費整體下降。

But also because some of its products have lost market share to rival brands, like L'Oreal, who grew La Roche-Posay into the fastest-growing skincare brand in 2022 and 2023.

但也因為它的一些產品的市場份額被競爭對手品牌奪走，比如歐萊雅，後者將 La Roche-Posay 發展成為 2022 年和 2023 年增長最快的護膚品牌。

Other smaller brands have penetrated the market, while Estée Lauder has been slower to adapt to new trends and invest in new markets and products.

其他較小的品牌已經滲透到市場中，而雅詩蘭黛在適應新趨勢、投資新市場和新產品方面卻較為緩慢。

Blueness is a huge part of the beauty landscape and sector.

藍色是美景和行業的重要組成部分。

You've got brands like Rare Beauty, Makeup by Mario, you've got these brands that are connecting with consumers in new, innovative ways that are fresh and new.

像 Rare Beauty、Makeup by Mario 這樣的品牌，都在以新穎、創新的方式與消費者建立聯繫。

They're growing like crazy.

它們正在瘋長。

It's really difficult as an incumbent to hold your ground.

作為現任者，要想守住陣地真的很難。

Stéphane De La Favrie took the reins as new president and CEO of Estée Lauder at the start of 2025 after a turbulent few quarters.

在經歷了幾個季度的動盪之後，Stéphane De La Favrie 於 2025 年初接任雅詩蘭黛新總裁兼首席執行官。

It was the first new CEO in 16 years.

這是 16 年來首位新任首席執行官。

The company posted a series of videos outlining his plan to restore sustainable sales growth. But as we look ahead, we must learn from what worked and what didn't.

公司發佈了一系列視頻，概述了他恢復可持續銷售增長的計劃。但是，展望未來，我們必須汲取經驗教訓。

We must be bolder in our pivot to growth.

我們必須更大膽地轉向增長。

We all knew a shakeup was coming and needed.

我們都知道動盪即將來臨，也需要動盪。

So it's good to see that it's here.

所以很高興看到它在這裡。

It's just a question of, you know, of execution of the game plan and an ability to kind of start to then focus on growth again.

這只是一個問題，你知道，遊戲計劃的執行和重新開始關注增長的能力。

The first step is reducing the workforce, the biggest operational change in the company's history. That also includes trimming down the C-suite.

第一步是裁員，這是公司歷史上最大的營運變革。這也包括裁減首席執行官。

As the company re-evaluates its brand portfolio, it could sell some of its lower performing brands. Like in makeup, its brand Smashbox and Too Faced are also now worth less than what the company paid, according to its full fiscal year 2024 results. Instead, its fragrant brands Le Labo and Jo Malone drove double-digit growth in the Asia-Pacific region and the Americas, as other categories like skincare continue to decline through the company's fiscal second quarter 2025.

隨著公司重新評估其品牌組合，可能會出售一些業績較差的品牌。根據 2024 財年全年財報，其旗下品牌 Smashbox 和 Too Faced 的價值也低於公司支付的價格。相反，其香水品牌 Le Labo 和 Jo Malone 在亞太地區和美洲推動了兩位數的增長，而護膚品等其他品類在公司 2025 財年第二季度繼續下滑。

While trying to reduce operating expenses, Estée Lauder says it's increasing its advertising budget. It'll use AI to help target consumers and improve supply chains. Other changes include more growth in e-commerce, specifically Amazon and TikTok Shop, which the company adopted in part in 2024.

雅詩蘭黛（Estée Lauder）表示，在努力減少營運開支的同時，它正在增加廣告預算。它將利用人工智能來幫助鎖定消費者並改善供應鏈。其他變化還包括電子商務的更多增長，特別是亞馬遜和嘀嗒購物，該公司於 2024 年部分採用了亞馬遜和嘀嗒購物。

Competitors appeared there much earlier and more strongly.

競爭對手出現得更早、更猛烈。

Executives are also looking for growth opportunities in new markets like Latin

高管們還在拉丁美洲等新市場尋找增長機會。

America and Africa, regions that are expected to have explosive growth in beauty in 2025. It's going to take years, right?

美洲和非洲，這些地區預計將在 2025 年迎來美容業的爆炸式增長。這需要幾年時間，對嗎？

You've got to build the infrastructure to facilitate your ability to connect to consumers. You've got to accelerate innovation to come up with things that the local consumers in those markets need.

你必須建設基礎設施，促進你與消費者建立聯繫的能力。你必須加快創新，推出這些市場的當地消費者所需要的產品。

And you want to proceed cautiously because you are a global brand with premium brand standing. You don't want to jeopardize that in any way.

你要謹慎行事，因為你是一個具有高端品牌地位的全球品牌。您不希望以任何方式損害這一地位。

The biggest obstacle to this new plan is time drag.

這項新計劃的最大障礙是時間拖沓。

You know, the longer this takes, the more at risk that becomes.

要知道，時間拖得越久，風險就越大。

And it's, you know, it's a it's a flywheel kind of effect.

你知道，這是一種飛輪效應。

Having become the world's second largest beauty company through a fierce M&A strategy, the company could leverage that again.

在通過激烈的併購戰略成為全球第二大美容公司之後，該公司可以再次利用這一優勢。

And though it fully acquired Canadian-based company Dessium in May 2024, experts believe it needs to invest even more in that area.

雖然它在 2024 年 5 月全資收購了總部位於加拿大的 Dessium 公司，但專家們認為，它需要在這一領域投入更多。

So I think the pause by Modesté is really making it troublesome to keep up in that regard, making it difficult and tricky.

是以，我認為莫德斯特的停頓確實給這方面的工作帶來了麻煩，使其變得困難和棘手。

It's really hard to meet the trends without M&A.

如果沒有併購，確實很難順應潮流。

And when the headwinds take that tool out of your chest, it's tough.

而當逆風把你胸中的工具帶走時，就很難了。

Then it's like, oh, now we're losing.

然後就像，哦，現在我們輸了。

Estée Lauder is still the number two premium beauty brand in the U.S.

雅詩蘭黛仍然是美國排名第二的高端美容品牌。

by market share. But other companies, including LVMH, with $8.7 billion in beauty sales in 2024, are inching closer.

的市場份額。但是，包括 LVMH 在內的其他公司正在逐步接近這一目標，它們在 2024 年的美容銷售額將達到 87 億美元。

The company is also lagging behind competitors in capturing Gen Z consumers.

在抓住 Z 世代消費者方面，該公司也落後於競爭對手。

Innovation will be crucial, especially when moving beyond travel retail and the Chinese market. As of March 4th, 2025, the U.S.

創新至關重要，尤其是在旅遊零售和中國市場之外。截至 2025 年 3 月 4 日，美國已成為全球最大的旅遊市場。

and China are in a trade war, and that could further dampen demand.

中國和美國正在打貿易戰，這可能會進一步抑制需求。

It's a very big uncertainty for Estée Lauder.

這對雅詩蘭黛來說是一個非常大的不確定性。

They can't quickly eliminate or significantly reduce their exposure to China.

他們無法迅速消除或大幅減少對中國的風險敞口。

They are, it is what it is.

他們就是這樣，事實就是這樣。

Beauty is not fully discretionary, and the industry outperformed other consumer sectors like apparel in 2023 and 2024.

美容並非完全由消費者決定，該行業在 2023 年和 2024 年的表現優於服裝等其他消費行業。

While it has started to correct some of its mistakes, it's still early.

雖然它已開始糾正一些錯誤，但為時尚早。

This is the first quarter under new leadership, and real impact, if any, will take time. Together, we are reimagining what's possible, leading our own transformation so that we can lead this industry once again.

這是新一屆領導班子上任後的第一個季度，真正產生影響尚需時日。我們將一起重新構想可能，引領我們自己的轉型，從而再次引領這個行業。

You're not going to see a $300 stock price immediately.

你不會馬上看到 300 美元的股價。

But am I cautiously optimistic?

但我是謹慎樂觀嗎？

Yes. I have a buy rating on the stock, so, you know, I guess that speaks for itself.

是的，我對這隻股票的評級是買入，所以，你知道，我想這本身就說明了問題。