“After investing in the business, we plan to pay the dividend and it is our intent to return any excess cash to shareholders in the form of share repurchases.”

In context

“d to the first quarter of 2023, and inventory turns were 4.5x, up from 3.9x last year. Turning to capital allocation. During the first quarter, we invested approximately $850 million back into our business in the form of capital expenditures. And during the quarter, we paid approximately $2.2 billion in dividends to our shareholders and we returned approximately $600 million to shareholders in the form of share repurchases. As a reminder, in March we announced our intent to acquire SRS Distribution and as a result, we paused share repurchases. As you've heard us say many times, we maintain a disciplined approach to capital allocation and that is not changing. First and foremost, we will invest in the business and expect capital expenditures of approximately 2% of sales on an annual basis. After investing in the business, we plan to pay the dividend and it is our intent to return any excess cash to shareholders in the form of share repurchases. From time to time, we will also invest in the business through acquisitions to enhance our capabilities and to accelerate our strategic objectives. Computed on the average of beginning and ending long-term debt and equity for the trailing 12 months, return on invested capital was 37.1%, down from 43.6% – excuse me, down from 43.6% in the first quarter of fiscal 2023. Now, I will comment on our guidance for fiscal 2024. Today, we are reaffirming our guidance for 2024. As a reminder, our guidance does not currently reflect any impact from the announced acquisition of SRS. The acquisition is currently under regulatory review and we expect it to close by the end of fiscal 2024. We expect total sales growth to outpace sales comp with sales growth of approximately positive 1% and comp sales of”