Cheesecake Factory Inc (CAKE) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. My name is Devon, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to The Cheesecake Factory Inc. Q4 2022 Earnings Conference Call.

下午好。我叫德文，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線員。此時，我想歡迎大家參加 The Cheesecake Factory Inc. 2022 年第四季度收益電話會議。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Thank you for your patience, I now turn the call over to Vice President of Investor Relations, Etienne Marcus. You may begin the conference.

感謝您的耐心等待，我現在將電話轉給投資者關係副總裁 Etienne Marcus。您可以開始會議。

Good afternoon, and welcome to our fourth quarter fiscal 2022 earnings call. On the call with me today are David Overton, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; David Gordon, our President; and Matt Clark, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

下午好，歡迎來到我們的 2022 財年第四季度財報電話會議。今天與我通話的是我們的董事長兼首席執行官戴維·奧弗頓 (David Overton)；我們的總裁大衛·戈登；和我們的執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Matt Clark。

Before we begin, let me quickly remind you that during this call, items will be discussed that are not based on historical facts and are considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities and Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could be materially different from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements as a result of the factors detailed in today's press release, which is available on our website at investors.thecheesecakefactory.com and in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements made on this call speak only as of today's date, and the company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements.

在我們開始之前，讓我快速提醒您，在本次電話會議期間，將討論不基於歷史事實且被視為 1995 年《私人證券和訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述的項目。實際結果可能是由於今天的新聞稿中詳述的因素，與前瞻性陳述中明示或暗示的內容存在重大差異，該新聞稿可在我們的網站 investors.thecheesecakefactory.com 和我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中找到。本次電話會議上做出的所有前瞻性陳述僅在今天發表，公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

In addition, during this conference call, we will be presenting results on an adjusted basis, which excludes impairment of assets and lease terminations and acquisition-related expenses. An explanation of our use of non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures appear in our press release on our website as previously described. David Overton will begin today's call with some opening remarks, and David Gordon will provide an operational update. Matt will then review our fourth quarter results and provide a financial update. Following that, we'll open the call to questions.

此外，在本次電話會議期間，我們將在調整後的基礎上公佈業績，其中不包括資產減值和租賃終止以及與收購相關的費用。如前所述，我們在網站上發布的新聞稿中解釋了我們使用非 GAAP 財務指標以及與最直接可比的 GAAP 指標進行調節的情況。 David Overton 將以一些開場白開始今天的電話會議，David Gordon 將提供運營更新。 Matt 隨後將審查我們的第四季度業績並提供財務更新。之後，我們將開始提問。

With that, I'll turn the call over to David Overton.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給大衛奧弗頓。

Thank you, Etienne. We delivered another solid quarter, sales across our portfolio of concepts resulting in annual sales exceeding $3 billion for the first time in our company's history with an average unit volumes of over $12 million for domestic Cheesecake Factory restaurants Additionally, North Italia's fourth quarter comparable sales increased an exceptional 26% over 2019 on a 14-week versus 14-week basis. Our strong top line performance continues to be driven by our strategy of differentiation through menu innovation, service hospitality and operational excellence.

謝謝你，艾蒂安。我們又迎來了一個穩定的季度，我們概念產品組合的銷售額在公司歷史上首次超過 30 億美元，國內 Cheesecake Factory 餐廳的平均單位銷量超過 1200 萬美元此外，意大利北部第四季度的可比銷售額有所增加在 14 周和 14 週的基礎上，比 2019 年高出 26%。我們通過菜單創新、服務好客和卓越運營實現差異化戰略，繼續推動我們強勁的收入表現。

To that end, our best-in-class operators remain intently focused on delivering delicious, memorable guest experiences and effectively managing their restaurants. While our operational performance has been solid, as I discussed last quarter, we have been in an exceptionally high inflationary environment, which has resulted in restaurant level margin compression as reflected in our fiscal 2022 results. Over the past year, we have endeavored to meet the dual mandate of protecting guest traffic for the long run while also recovering margins in the near to medium term.

為此，我們一流的運營商始終專注於提供美味、難忘的賓客體驗，並有效地管理他們的餐廳。正如我在上個季度所討論的那樣，儘管我們的運營業績一直穩健，但我們一直處於異常高的通脹環境中，這導致餐廳層面的利潤率壓縮，這反映在我們 2022 財年的業績中。在過去的一年裡，我們努力滿足雙重任務，既要長期保護客人流量，又要在中短期內恢復利潤。

While our sales results reflect the positive momentum we have sustained out of the top line, I recognize that our profit margins have not kept pace given the rapidly escalating inflation. To address this shortfall, we rolled out an additional menu price increase at the start of December, with the objective of exiting the year with Cheesecake Factory restaurant level margins at seasonally adjusted 2019 levels.

雖然我們的銷售業績反映了我們在營收方面保持的積極勢頭，但我認識到，鑑於通脹迅速上升，我們的利潤率並沒有跟上步伐。為解決這一不足，我們在 12 月初推出了額外的菜單價格上漲，目標是在今年結束時 Cheesecake Factory 餐廳的利潤率保持在經季節性調整的 2019 年水平。

Based on our December results, we believe we have achieved our objective. We believe commodity inflation will improve as we move through the year and labor will further stabilize as that seems to keep better alignment between cost increases and menu pricing in 2023. Our goal is to also maintain our recent sales and guest traffic trends as both sales and margins are critical to driving shareholder value in the short and long term.

根據我們 12 月份的結果，我們相信我們已經實現了我們的目標。我們認為，隨著今年的推進，商品通脹將有所改善，勞動力將進一步穩定，因為這似乎使 2023 年的成本增加和菜單定價之間保持更好的一致性。我們的目標是保持我們最近的銷售和客流量趨勢，因為銷售和利潤率對於推動短期和長期股東價值至關重要。

Turning to unit growth. We successfully opened 8 new restaurants during the fourth quarter, including 2 Cheesecake Factories, 2 North Italia, 2 Flower Childs and the FRC restaurants. On the International front, we opened a fifth Cheesecake Factory location in Mexico City under a licensing agreement and subsequent to quarter end, we opened a (inaudible) in National. I believe opening 8 new restaurants last quarter demonstrates our ability to execute the acceleration of our unit growth plan. And while we continue to experience some delays in opening due to supply chain challenges, and permit approval delays beyond our control.

轉向單位增長。我們在第四季度成功開設了 8 家新餐廳，包括 2 家 Cheesecake Factory、2 家 North Italia、2 家 Flower Childs 和 FRC 餐廳。在國際方面，我們根據許可協議在墨西哥城開設了第五家芝士蛋糕工廠，並在季度末之後，我們在全國開設了一家（聽不清）。我相信上個季度開設 8 家新餐廳表明我們有能力執行加速我們的單位增長計劃。雖然由於供應鏈挑戰，我們繼續經歷一些開放延遲，並且允許批准延遲超出我們的控制範圍。

At this time, we expect to open as many as 20 to 22 new restaurants in fiscal year 2023, including 5 to 6 Cheesecake Factories, 5 to 6 North Italias and 10 FRC restaurants, including 3 to 4 Flower Child locations.

目前，我們預計在 2023 財年將開設多達 20 至 22 家新餐廳，包括 5 至 6 家 Cheesecake Factory、5 至 6 家 North Italias 和 10 家 FRC 餐廳，其中包括 3 至 4 家 Flower Child 餐廳。

Additionally, we expect 2 to 3 Cheesecake Factory restaurants to open internationally under licensing agreements. We remain deeply focused on driving menu innovation, maintaining and temporary designed into core of our restaurants and ensuring our guests receive excellent service. These pillars form the foundation of our 4.5 decades of success and we'll continue to pave the way for a bright future. With that, I'll now turn the call over to David Gordon to provide some additional details on our operations and marketing.

此外，我們預計將有 2 到 3 家 Cheesecake Factory 餐廳根據許可協議在國際上開業。我們仍然專注於推動菜單創新，維護和臨時設計到我們餐廳的核心，並確保我們的客人獲得優質服務。這些支柱構成了我們 4.5 十年成功的基礎，我們將繼續為光明的未來鋪平道路。有了這個，我現在將電話轉給大衛戈登，以提供有關我們運營和營銷的一些額外細節。

Thank you, David. Our staffing levels remain solid. Staffing needs at the start of 2023, down more than 50% compared to the same period in the prior year. During the fourth quarter, we once again drove sequential year-over-year improvements in both manager and our lease staff retention. Our applicant flow continues to be strong. In 2022, we had over 1 million applications. And as of January, applicants available to hire were more than 3x what they were a year ago, with approximately 57 applicants for every 1 [need]. We believe retention and stacking levels go hand-in-hand with delivering great guest experiences and ultimately, comp store sales performance.

謝謝你，大衛。我們的人員配備水平保持穩定。 2023 年初的人員配備需求，與上年同期相比下降了 50% 以上。在第四季度，我們再次推動了經理和租賃員工保留率的逐年提高。我們的申請人流繼續強勁。 2022 年，我們收到了超過 100 萬份申請。截至 1 月，可供僱用的申請人是一年前的 3 倍多，每 [需要] 大約有 57 名申請人。我們相信保留率和堆積水平與提供出色的客戶體驗並最終與商店銷售業績相提並論。

To that end, dine-in Net Promoter metrics improved sequentially and year-over-year, and our sales trends are off to a promising start in 2023. Through February 21, quarter-to-date comparable sales for The Cheesecake Factory restaurants on an operating week basis are up 9.5% versus 2022 and up 17% versus 2019. As I shared previously, given the strength of our sales performance, we shifted our marketing for The Cheesecake Factory restaurants, primarily back to brand-based messaging to raise the profile and awareness of The Cheesecake Factory concept.

為此，就餐淨推薦值環比和同比都有所改善，我們的銷售趨勢在 2023 年開局良好。截至 2 月 21 日，The Cheesecake Factory 餐廳的季度至今可比銷售額為營業周基礎與 2022 年相比增長了 9.5%，與 2019 年相比增長了 17%。正如我之前分享的那樣，鑑於我們的銷售業績強勁，我們改變了對芝士蛋糕工廠餐廳的營銷，主要是回到基於品牌的消息傳遞以提高知名度以及對芝士蛋糕工廠概念的認識。

However, we continue to support the off-premise channel with some on-brand promotional activity. For example, the celebration of our 45th anniversary, starting next Monday, guests ordering online or through DoorDash will receive a complementary slice of Cheesecake, where they spend $45 a month. This promotion will run Monday through Friday, March 3, and is designed to drive sales during days of the week in which we have more available capacity. We continue to see stable guest purchasing behaviors.

但是，我們繼續通過一些品牌內促銷活動來支持場外渠道。例如，從下週一開始慶祝我們成立 45 週年，在線或通過 DoorDash 訂購的客人將獲贈一片芝士蛋糕，每月消費 45 美元。此促銷活動將於 3 月 3 日星期一至星期五進行，旨在在我們有更多可用容量的一周中推動銷售。我們繼續看到穩定的客人購買行為。

The Cheesecake Factory off-premise sales for the fourth quarter totaled 23% of sales for the second consecutive quarter. Additionally, we've not seen any material changes in on-premise incident rates over the past 3 quarters with incident rates remaining above 2019 levels.

芝士蛋糕工廠第四季度的場外銷售額連續第二個季度佔銷售額的 23%。此外，在過去 3 個季度中，我們未發現本地事件發生率發生任何重大變化，事件發生率仍高於 2019 年的水平。

Now turning to North Italia. Fourth quarter comparable sales grew a solid 9% versus 2021 and 26% versus 2019, both on a 14-week versus 14-week basis. These positive sales trends have continued into the new year. Through February 21, quarter-to-date comparable sales on an operating week basis increased approximately 13% year-over-year and 31% as compared to the same period in fiscal 2019. Overall margin for the adjusted mature North Italia locations improved to 13.3% for the fourth quarter, supported by a menu price increase implemented mid-fourth quarter. FRC also drove some strong results with annualized AUVs of $7.6 million, reinforcing our belief that the differentiated and emerging concepts FRC continues to develop will drive meaningful growth going forward.

現在轉向意大利北部。第四季度可比銷售額與 2021 年相比增長了 9%，與 2019 年相比增長了 26%，無論是在 14 週還是 14 週的基礎上。這些積極的銷售趨勢一直持續到新的一年。截至 2 月 21 日，按運營週計算的季度至今可比銷售額同比增長約 13%，與 2019 財年同期相比增長 31%。調整後的意大利北部成熟地區的總體利潤率提高至 13.3 % 第四季度，受第四季度中實施的菜單價格上漲的支持。 FRC 還以 760 萬美元的年化 AUV 取得了一些強勁的業績，這加強了我們的信念，即 FRC 繼續開發的差異化和新興概念將推動有意義的增長。

Before I wrap up, I want to thank our staff members and managers for their continued dedication to absolute guest satisfaction and maintaining our culture across our concepts while continuing to navigate the dynamic operating environment.

在我結束之前，我要感謝我們的員工和經理，他們一直致力於讓客人絕對滿意，並在繼續駕馭充滿活力的運營環境的同時，通過我們的理念維護我們的文化。

And with that, I will now turn the call over to Matt for our financial review.

有了這個，我現在將把電話轉給馬特進行我們的財務審查。

Thank you, David. Let me begin by reviewing our progress against the primary financial objectives I outlined last quarter for fiscal 2022. Total revenue was $3.3 billion for the year. The Cheesecake Factory AUVs exceeded $12 million. Following the latest menu price increase, Cheesecake Factory 4-wall margins for December exceeded December 2019 margins. For the year, G&A, depreciation and preopening expenses combined were 60 basis points lower than the prior year. Finally, we returned over $105 million to our shareholders in the form of dividends and stock repurchases.

謝謝你，大衛。首先讓我回顧一下我們在上個季度為 2022 財年概述的主要財務目標方面取得的進展。全年總收入為 33 億美元。 Cheesecake Factory 的 AUV 超過 1200 萬美元。隨著最新的菜單價格上漲，Cheesecake Factory 12 月的 4 壁利潤率超過了 2019 年 12 月的利潤率。今年，G&A、折舊和開業前費用合計比上年低 60 個基點。最後，我們以股息和股票回購的形式向股東返還了超過 1.05 億美元。

Now turning to some more specific details around the quarter. Total revenues at The Cheesecake Factory, Inc. for the fourth quarter of 2022, which as a reminder, included an additional operating week were $892.8 million. The additional week contributed approximately $78.4 million of sales. Fourth quarter comparable sales at The Cheesecake Factory restaurants increased 4% versus the prior year and 11.4% versus 2019, both on a 14-week versus 14-week basis. Revenue contribution from North Italia and FRC totaled $161.4 million. Sales per operating lease at FRC, including Flower Child, were approximately $109,000 and external bakery sales were $21.5 million during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022.

現在轉向本季度的一些更具體的細節。 The Cheesecake Factory, Inc. 2022 年第四季度的總收入（包括額外的營業周）為 8.928 億美元。額外的一周貢獻了大約 7840 萬美元的銷售額。 The Cheesecake Factory 餐廳第四季度的可比銷售額與去年同期相比增長 4%，與 2019 年相比增長 11.4%，無論是在 14 週還是 14 週的基礎上。來自意大利北部和 FRC 的收入貢獻總計 1.614 億美元。在 2022 財年第四季度，包括 Flower Child 在內的 FRC 每筆經營租賃的銷售額約為 109,000 美元，外部麵包店銷售額為 2,150 萬美元。

Now moving to expenses. Cost of sales increased 170 basis points versus Q4 of the prior year, principally driven by significantly higher commodity inflation than menu pricing. Labor decreased 140 basis points over 2022, primarily driven by lower medical insurance expenses and pricing leverage. Other operating expenses decreased 40 basis points, largely driven by lower restaurant level incentive payout and sales leverage. G&A as a percentage of sales increased 20 basis points mostly driven by higher legal fees. Preopening costs were $7.8 million in the quarter compared to $3.9 million in the prior year period.

現在轉向費用。銷售成本比上年第四季度增加了 170 個基點，這主要是由於商品通脹明顯高於菜單定價。勞動力比 2022 年減少了 140 個基點，這主要是由於較低的醫療保險費用和定價槓桿。其他運營費用下降了 40 個基點，這主要是由於較低的餐廳級別激勵支出和銷售槓桿。 G&A 佔銷售額的百分比增加了 20 個基點，這主要是由於更高的法律費用。本季度開業前的成本為 780 萬美元，而去年同期為 390 萬美元。

We opened 8 restaurants during the fourth quarter versus 4 openings in the fourth quarter of 2021. And in the fourth quarter, we recorded a pretax charge of $41.5 million related to asset impairments and FRC acquisition-related items. Fourth quarter GAAP diluted net loss per common share was $0.07. Adjusted net income per share was $0.56.

我們在第四季度開設了 8 家餐廳，而 2021 年第四季度開設了 4 家。在第四季度，我們記錄了與資產減值和 FRC 收購相關項目相關的稅前費用 4150 萬美元。第四季度 GAAP 每股普通股攤薄淨虧損為 0.07 美元。調整後的每股淨收益為 0.56 美元。

Now turning to our balance sheet and capital allocation. The company ended the quarter with total available liquidity of approximately $354 million, including a cash balance of about $115 million and approximately $239 million available on our revolving credit facility. Total debt outstanding was unchanged at $475 million in principal. CapEx totaled approximately $34 million during the fourth quarter for new unit development and maintenance. And we completed approximately $22 million in share repurchases and returned just under $14 million to shareholders via our dividend during the quarter.

現在轉向我們的資產負債表和資本配置。公司在本季度結束時的可用流動資金總額約為 3.54 億美元，其中包括約 1.15 億美元的現金餘額和約 2.39 億美元的循環信貸額度。未償債務總額本金保持在 4.75 億美元不變。第四季度用於新設備開發和維護的資本支出總額約為 3400 萬美元。我們完成了大約 2200 萬美元的股票回購，並在本季度通過股息向股東返還了近 1400 萬美元。

While we will not be providing specific comparable sales and earnings guidance, given the operating environment continues to be very dynamic. We will provide our updated thoughts on our underlying assumptions for the first quarter and full year 2023 for revenue and net income margin.

雖然我們不會提供具體的可比銷售和收益指導，但鑑於經營環境仍然非常活躍。我們將提供我們對 2023 年第一季度和全年收入和淨利潤率基本假設的最新想法。

For Q1, based on our quarter-to-date performance, the most recent trends and assuming no material operating or consumer disruptions, we anticipate total revenues to be between $850 million and $880 million. This includes a menu price increase of approximately 3.5% we are deploying at The Cheesecake Factory restaurants during the middle of the quarter. This menu price increase is replacing the 3.25% menu price increase we took in the first quarter of last year.

對於第一季度，根據我們季度至今的表現、最新趨勢並假設沒有重大運營或消費者中斷，我們預計總收入將在 8.5 億美元至 8.8 億美元之間。這包括我們在本季度中期在 The Cheesecake Factory 餐廳部署的約 3.5% 的菜單價格上漲。此次菜單價格上漲將取代我們去年第一季度 3.25% 的菜單價格上漲。

Next, at this time, we expect effective commodity inflation of about 10% to 12% for Q1. We are modeling net total labor inflation of about 6% when factoring in the latest trends in wage rates, channel mix as well as other components of labor. We anticipate net income margin of approximately 3% to 3.5% for the first quarter of fiscal 2023 based on the revenue range I previously outlined and the elevated year-over-year commodities.

接下來，此時，我們預計第一季度的有效商品通脹率約為 10% 至 12%。考慮到工資率、渠道組合以及勞動力的其他組成部分的最新趨勢，我們正在模擬約 6% 的淨總勞動力通脹。根據我之前概述的收入範圍和同比上漲的大宗商品，我們預計 2023 財年第一季度的淨利潤率約為 3% 至 3.5%。

Now for the full year, based on our year-to-date performance, more recent trends and assuming no material operating or consumer disruptions, we anticipate total revenues for fiscal 2023 to be between approximately $3.5 billion to $3.6 billion. We currently estimate total inflation across our commodity baskets, total labor and other operating expenses to be in the mid-single-digit range, moderating throughout the year. And given our unit growth expectations, we are estimating preopening expenses to be approximately $24 million. As we have said earlier, our goal is to effectively offset inflation with menu pricing to support our margin objectives. Assuming we do so, when consumer trends remain consistent and there are no other material exogenous factors, we expect full year net income margin of approximately 4% at the midpoint of the revenue range I provided.

現在全年，根據我們年初至今的表現、最近的趨勢並假設沒有實質性的運營或消費者中斷，我們預計 2023 財年的總收入將在大約 35 億美元至 36 億美元之間。我們目前估計，我們商品籃子的總通貨膨脹率、總勞動力和其他運營費用處於中等個位數範圍內，全年都在放緩。鑑於我們的單位增長預期，我們估計開業前的費用約為 2400 萬美元。正如我們之前所說，我們的目標是通過菜單定價有效抵消通貨膨脹，以支持我們的利潤率目標。假設我們這樣做，當消費者趨勢保持一致並且沒有其他重大外生因素時，我們預計全年淨利潤率約為 4%，處於我提供的收入範圍的中點。

With regard to development, as David Overton highlighted earlier, we plan to open as many as 20 to 22 new restaurants this year across our portfolio of concepts with approximately 80% of openings occurring in the second half of the year. And we would anticipate approximately $165 million to $175 million in CapEx to support this year's and some of next year's unit development as well as required maintenance on our restaurants.

關於發展，正如 David Overton 之前強調的那樣，我們計劃今年在我們的概念組合中開設多達 20 至 22 家新餐廳，其中大約 80% 的開業發生在下半年。我們預計資本支出約為 1.65 億美元至 1.75 億美元，以支持今年和明年的部分單元開發以及我們餐廳所需的維護。

In closing, we remain pleased with the top line results across our portfolio of concepts. However, 2022 was undeniably an extremely challenging year with respect to our margin performance. And clearly, the cost environment remains heightened relative to historical standards, and there can be no guarantees that will abate in 2023. That said, in December, our pricing actions appear to have caught up with our costs, and while some degree of volatility and uncertainty should still be expected quarter-to-quarter, it is our goal to keep a tighter correlation between pricing and the inflation we experience going forward. As we continue to work to recapture restaurant level margins and to further leverage our G&A and depreciation expenses, our objective is to unlock the earnings and cash flow potential that our strong sales results and continued momentum have provided. Combined with our reaccelerated unit growth and capital returns programs, this would provide for a meaningful shareholder value creation platform going forward. With that said, we'll take your questions. Operator?

最後，我們對我們概念組合的頂級結果仍然感到滿意。然而，就我們的利潤率表現而言，2022 年無疑是極具挑戰性的一年。顯然，相對於歷史標準，成本環境仍然處於高位，並且不能保證會在 2023 年減弱。也就是說，在 12 月，我們的定價行動似乎已經趕上了我們的成本，雖然一定程度的波動和仍應按季度預計不確定性，我們的目標是在定價與我們未來經歷的通貨膨脹之間保持更緊密的關聯。隨著我們繼續努力奪回餐廳層面的利潤並進一步利用我們的 G&A 和折舊費用，我們的目標是釋放我們強勁的銷售業績和持續發展勢頭所提供的收益和現金流潛力。結合我們重新加速的單位增長和資本回報計劃，這將為未來提供一個有意義的股東價值創造平台。話雖如此，我們將回答您的問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question comes from Joshua Long with Stephens.

我們的第一個問題來自 Joshua Long 和 Stephens。

I was curious if you can share how consumer trends were across the system, maybe by day prior geography, channel mix. And then as we think about the pricing decisions that we've been talking about for the last quarter or 2, can you sort of feedback read-through in terms of how those have been handling. It seems like they've been accepted well. But just curious what you're seeing at the restaurant level from the consumer as we continue in the current environment.

我很好奇你是否可以分享整個系統的消費者趨勢，也許是前一天的地理、渠道組合。然後，當我們考慮上一季度或第二季度我們一直在討論的定價決策時，您能否就這些決策的處理方式進行通讀反饋。似乎他們已經被很好地接受了。但只是好奇當我們在當前環境中繼續時，您在餐廳層面從消費者那裡看到了什麼。

Sure, Josh, this is Matt. Thanks for the question. I think typical to historical Cheesecake performance, it's been extremely consistent. The geographies have been consistent. I was literally, just before the call, looking at our stat pack for the quarter, the dinner daypart, the lunch daypart, extremely consistent to historical performance, both pre- and post-pricing actions, whether that was the summer or the most recent one. We've seen the on-premise dining incident rates be almost the same as they've always been. So we've really been pleased that the consistency of the brand has held up. And I think part of that is while we have been taking the incremental pricing to recapture margins, just remind everybody that at least when we look at the data food away from home versus our menu pricing, since 2019, we're still 4 percentage points below what the rest of the market has been. So the value proposition for Cheesecake is still there, and I think that the guests are using it the way that they always have been.

當然，喬希，這是馬特。謝謝你的問題。我認為典型的歷史芝士蛋糕性能，它一直非常一致。地理位置是一致的。從字面上看，就在電話會議之前，我查看了本季度、晚餐時段、午餐時段的統計數據包，與歷史表現非常一致，包括定價前和定價後的行為，無論是夏季還是最近一。我們已經看到內部就餐事件發生率幾乎與以往一樣。所以我們真的很高興品牌的一致性得以保持。我認為部分原因是，雖然我們一直在採用增量定價來奪回利潤，但提醒大家，至少當我們查看外出就餐與菜單定價的數據時，自 2019 年以來，我們仍然有 4 個百分點低於市場其他部分的水平。所以芝士蛋糕的價值主張仍然存在，我認為客人們一如既往地使用它。

Great. That's helpful. When we think about some of the guidance or -- the guidance with some of the visibility you had into the 4Q trends when we talked to come out of the third quarter, can you talk about maybe some of the pushes and pulls there in terms of just what drove the full quarter 4Q revenues? Was it pricing timing, were there any sort of other pieces in terms of kind of digging into the portfolio that kind of informed that $893 million in total revenues for 4Q.

偉大的。這很有幫助。當我們考慮一些指導時，或者 - 當我們談到第三季度時，你對第四季度趨勢的一些可見性的指導，你能談談可能的一些推動和拉動嗎？究竟是什麼推動了整個季度 4Q 的收入？是不是定價時機，是否有任何其他類型的投資組合，這些信息表明第四季度的總收入為 8.93 億美元。

Sure. I think looking at the biggest piece of it, there's 2 parts: number one, the end of the year was extremely strong. So our best performance really came in the last couple of weeks. So just to highlight that there has been some ups and downs in the marketplace. But certainly, the consumer resiliency at the holiday time fuel that. And as David Gordon mentioned in his comments, we've seen a very strong start to sales in this year as well. The 2 things I would say in terms of what may have been different or what we saw. Number one, there was some weather impact, I know that other concepts have talked about that. It's probably about 0.5%, about 40 to 50 basis points.

當然。我認為從最大的部分來看，有兩個部分：第一，年底非常強勁。所以我們最好的表現真的出現在過去幾週。因此，只是為了強調市場出現了一些起伏。但可以肯定的是，假期期間消費者的彈性助長了這一點。正如大衛戈登在他的評論中提到的那樣，我們也看到今年的銷售開局非常強勁。我要說的兩件事可能是不同的或我們看到的。第一，有一些天氣影響，我知道其他概念已經談到了這一點。大概是0.5%左右，大概40到50個基點。

The other thing I would say is November was slightly below our internal estimates. And I would personally chalk that up to the fact that last year November was exceptionally strong, and it just remind the analysts and investors that -- just looking at the year-over-year continues to be only 1 metric and really going back to see where we were in 2019 because of the sort of the waves of the ups and downs. And so I think there was just a little bit of a gap in November, but just based on the 2021 results versus 2022.

我要說的另一件事是 11 月略低於我們的內部估計。我個人認為這是去年 11 月異常強勁的事實，它只是提醒分析師和投資者——只看同比仍然只是一個指標，真正回頭看看我們在 2019 年所處的位置是因為起起伏伏的浪潮。因此，我認為 11 月只有一點點差距，但只是基於 2021 年與 2022 年的結果。

That's helpful. And maybe last one for me and then I'll hop back in the queue. When we think about some of the margin goals that you've outlined over the last couple of quarters. I think in your prepared comments, you also talked about how the December margin, once all of the pricing was in place, were above 2019 levels, any sort of additional commentary or color you can share there in terms of what December 4-wall margins were back in 2019 just so we can kind of level set this progression in terms of getting back to pre-COVID levels?

這很有幫助。也許最後一個給我，然後我會跳回到隊列中。當我們考慮您在過去幾個季度概述的一些利潤率目標時。我想在你準備好的評論中，你還談到了 12 月的利潤率，一旦所有定價都到位，如何高於 2019 年的水平，你可以根據 12 月 4 日牆的利潤率在那里分享任何類型的額外評論或顏色我們回到 2019 年只是為了讓我們能夠在某種程度上設定這一進展以恢復到 COVID 之前的水平？

Sure. We don't actually report on monthly margin levels, right, because there are differences based on seasonality and things. I'm not sure that, that specific metric would be helpful. I mean, I think our goal was to be above 2019 when we accomplished that in December. So I think that's the positive. There was a little pressure, again, kind of just explaining the quarter in our 4-wall margins really driven by the sales that we talked about, right? So absent that, the overall 4-wall, it was the best, most consistent performance that we've had all year. We hit core costs labor and commodities came in on plan or better, right? So I think that the momentum on the margin side has been achieved. There is a little bit of noise below the 4-wall level, with a little pressure in G&A, right? And so overall, that combined for the total results. But I think that we set ourselves up to move forward appropriately.

當然。我們實際上並沒有報告每月的保證金水平，對吧，因為根據季節性和其他因素存在差異。我不確定，那個特定的指標會有幫助。我的意思是，我認為我們的目標是在 12 月實現這一目標時超過 2019 年。所以我認為這是積極的。再次有一點壓力，有點只是解釋了我們所說的銷售真正推動我們 4 牆利潤率的季度，對吧？所以沒有那個，整體 4 牆，這是我們全年最好、最穩定的表現。我們擊中了核心成本勞動力和商品按計劃或更好，對吧？所以我認為保證金方面的勢頭已經實現。在 4 層牆以下有一點噪音，G&A 有一點壓力，對吧？總的來說，這就是總結果。但我認為我們已經做好了適當前進的準備。

The thing that we want to make sure, too, that is clear is that the first quarter, and I've heard some other companies talk about this, right? You come into the year and you've kind of from the past year, but on January 1 or whatever that time is minimum wage sets in, and you do have some of your new contracts for commodities rolling over. So in the first quarter, we've got to catch up again a little bit, right? That would normally be the case. We just see outsized seasonality given the environment, right?

我們也想確定的是，第一季度，我聽說其他一些公司也談過這個，對吧？你進入這一年，你有點從過去的一年開始，但在 1 月 1 日或最低工資設定的任何時間，你確實有一些新的商品合同展期。所以在第一季度，我們必須再次趕上來，對吧？通常情況就是這樣。鑑於環境，我們只是看到過大的季節性，對嗎？

So we talk about the 10% to 12% commodity inflation for the first quarter moderating really being more like 4% in the back half, right? And so that's just an important distinction in terms of the cadence of the margin recovery and sustainability particularly at the 4-wall margin level.

所以我們談論的是第一季度 10% 到 12% 的商品通脹在下半年放緩，實際上更像是 4%，對吧？因此，就利潤率恢復的節奏和可持續性而言，這只是一個重要的區別，尤其是在 4 牆利潤率水平上。

That's helpful. And understood on the December margin comment specifically, that makes sense. When we think about that comment holistically that would exclude any sort of benefit from the extra week, which we would typically think would be accretive.

這很有幫助。並特別了解 12 月的保證金評論，這是有道理的。當我們從整體上考慮該評論時，會排除額外一周的任何好處，我們通常認為這會增加。

That was the intention of the language seasonally adjusted, right? So we did attempt to factor that in.

這就是季節性調整語言的意圖，對吧？所以我們確實嘗試將其考慮在內。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our next question comes from Brian Vaccaro with Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題來自 Brian Vaccaro 和 Raymond James。

Just back to the margin recovery targets that you've discussed previously in previous calls kind of getting back to mid-teens margins. I just want to confirm, is that a Cheesecake specific comment. And I'm just asking because North Italia is still running in sort of that 10%, 11% range. Yes, there's definitely understand that there's new unit inefficiencies burdening that, but I would imagine that that's going to likely continue given the new unit growth of that brand. So any commentary on that would be helpful.

回到你之前在之前的電話中討論過的利潤率恢復目標，有點回到十幾歲的利潤率。我只是想確認一下，這是芝士蛋糕的特定評論。我只是問，因為意大利北部仍在 10%、11% 的範圍內運行。是的，肯定有人理解新的單位效率低下給它帶來了負擔，但我想考慮到該品牌的新單位增長，這種情況可能會繼續下去。所以對此的任何評論都會有所幫助。

Brian, this is Matt. Yes, that's great. Thank you for asking that specific question, again, trying to provide as much clarity. So that is a specific Cheesecake objective. And I think what we've talked about is there could be depending on the stage, the quarter, all the other seasonalities, but in terms of the growth brands, another 25 to 50 basis point overall company waiting on that, right? So the Cheesecake goal is the mid-15s, and then that would put the company goal around 15 based on all of the growth factors.

布賴恩，這是馬特。是的，那太好了。再次感謝您提出這個具體問題，試圖提供盡可能多的清晰度。所以這是一個特定的芝士蛋糕目標。我認為我們所討論的可能取決於階段、季度和所有其他季節性因素，但就增長品牌而言，整個公司還有 25 到 50 個基點在等待，對嗎？因此，芝士蛋糕的目標是 15 歲左右，然後根據所有增長因素，公司目標將達到 15 歲左右。

Okay. Okay. Great. And then on the comps -- sorry, if I missed it, Matt, but can you provide Cheesecake Factory traffic price and mix in the fourth quarter?

好的。好的。偉大的。然後是補償——抱歉，如果我錯過了，馬特，但你能提供第四季度芝士蛋糕工廠的流量價格和組合嗎？

Sure. And you did not miss it. Pricing was 8.5%. Traffic was a positive 0.3% and the mix was a negative 4.8%. And of the mix, just as a reminder, the vast preponderance of that is associated just with the off-premise channel and the way we count it in the purchasing behaviors of the off-premise. The on-premise, as I answered in a previous question, the incident rate and the check capture was virtually on par with pricing.

當然。你沒有錯過。定價為8.5%。流量為正 0.3%，混合為負 4.8%。提醒一下，在這種混合中，絕大多數只與場外渠道以及我們在場外購買行為中計算它的方式有關。正如我在上一個問題中回答的那樣，內部部署的事故率和支票捕獲幾乎與定價相當。

Okay. Great. And then last one, if I could just squeeze it in. On the other operating costs, I know it's a line that a lot of moving pieces and a lot of volatility in that line. It's been difficult to sort of guide and manage through 2022. In the fourth quarter, what was it that moved against you specifically that you -- I think you had guided mid-25s if my notes are right. Any color on that would be great.

好的。偉大的。然後是最後一個，如果我能把它擠進去的話。關於其他運營成本，我知道這條線有很多移動的部分，而且這條線有很多波動。到 2022 年，很難進行指導和管理。在第四季度，是什麼對你不利，特別是你——如果我的筆記是正確的話，我認為你已經指導了 25 多歲。任何顏色都會很棒。

Sure. Sure. The biggest piece is, I think, versus our expectations; one, utilities continued to be a significant pressure point and a lot of the natural gas, again, the timing of the way that rolls through and it hits the energy, still ended up above where we had anticipated. We attempt to use the forward curve provided by the Department of Energy, but I guess the government can only do so well with their forecasts. So that hit us a little bit. I think we saw, particularly in October, November, still a little bit of runoff on the higher R&M. I think that, that was a challenge. And then ultimately, we had a little bit of pressure on insurance too. The one thing we know -- we did price for all of that really when we looked at what we needed to do for December. And just early commentary so far this year, it looks like the -- those higher costs have continued, but that -- they're not getting worse.

當然。當然。我認為最大的一塊是與我們的期望相反；第一，公用事業仍然是一個重要的壓力點，而且很多天然氣，再一次，通過它的方式和它影響能源的時間，最終仍然高於我們的預期。我們嘗試使用能源部提供的遠期曲線，但我猜政府只能用他們的預測做的很好。所以這對我們有點打擊。我認為我們看到，尤其是在 10 月、11 月，較高的 R&M 仍然有一些流失。我認為那是一個挑戰。最後，我們對保險也有一點壓力。我們知道的一件事——當我們查看 12 月需要做的事情時，我們確實為所有這些定價。今年到目前為止，只是早期的評論，看起來——那些更高的成本還在繼續，但是——它們並沒有變得更糟。

Okay. Understood. And is there any light at the end of the tunnel or green shoots as it relates to some of these inflationary pressures, whether it be utilities, R&M or other things that have been pressuring you in '22 in that line abating and any way to ballpark kind of what inflation level you might see in that other OpEx line in 2023?

好的。明白了。隧道盡頭是否有任何曙光或綠芽，因為它與這些通脹壓力中的一些有關，無論是公用事業、R&M 還是其他在 22 年給你施加壓力的東西，在這條線上減輕和任何方式您可能會在 2023 年的其他 OpEx 系列中看到什麼樣的通脹水平？

Yes. I mean it definitely, like I said, I think we look at December even in January, we haven't seen it escalate higher. So it definitely has stabilized. Some of the contractual components of that are more in the normal 3% to 4% range that you would have seen. And eventually, the capitulation in the natural gas market, I mean, it's trading in the low 2s today. During the summer, it hit 9. So that will ripple through. It will be different by geography and then timing. And so I think there will be some relief in that period. But I think, generally speaking, when we think about the P&L, other OpEx probably remains somewhat high relative to our goals, but below where we were in 2022 going forward because the inflation should be less than our pricing for the year.

是的。我的意思是肯定的，就像我說的那樣，我認為我們甚至在 1 月就看到了 12 月，我們還沒有看到它升級。所以它肯定已經穩定了。其中一些合同成分更多地處於您會看到的正常 3% 到 4% 的範圍內。最終，天然氣市場的投降，我的意思是，它今天的交易價格低於 2s。在夏天，它達到了 9。所以這會產生漣漪效應。這將因地理位置和時間而異。所以我認為那個時期會有一些緩解。但我認為，一般來說，當我們考慮損益時，其他運營支出相對於我們的目標可能仍然有些高，但低於我們在 2022 年的水平，因為通貨膨脹應該低於我們當年的定價。

Our next question comes from Dennis Geiger with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀的 Dennis Geiger。

[Related] to the margin focus. Clearly, a major focus for the year, the margin recovery, I think that's clear. But I wanted to get a sense, maybe Matt or team, for how you're thinking about pricing in the event the macro becomes tougher in the event the -- your competitors and the industry get a bit more promotional, can you just speak to that focus on price versus margin a little bit more and how you'll kind of think to balance that in the event that, that scenario kind of starts to play out?

[相關] 邊距焦點。顯然，今年的一個主要焦點是利潤率恢復，我認為這很明確。但我想了解一下，也許是 Matt 或團隊，你是如何考慮定價的更關注價格與利潤率的關係，如果這種情況開始出現，你會如何考慮平衡這一點？

Sure, Dennis. I think one of the things to keep in mind in an environment like that, typically, what's associated is that is on the cost side as well, right? So when we've seen economies slow down, and some of those other pieces that you're talking about, we also typically see the lower demand brings the commodity prices down and stabilizes labor, and it requires less pricing, right? So that's what people end up doing. And in prior times, if it's been significant, though we look at menu innovation and rolling out some price points that are attractive to guests. We -- I don't think that we would ever discount like traditionally. We never have. I don't think restaurants typically don't roll back pricing. So I just want to make sure that the guests see the value. And like I said, I think we're positioned well given that we're still 4 points below the industry over the past couple of years. So I think we've tried to stay in a position that is already a little bit defensive.

當然，丹尼斯。我認為在這樣的環境中要記住的一件事通常是相關的，這也是成本方面的，對吧？因此，當我們看到經濟放緩以及您正在談論的其他一些因素時，我們通常還會看到需求下降會導致商品價格下降並穩定勞動力，並且需要更少的定價，對嗎？所以這就是人們最終要做的。在以前，如果它很重要，儘管我們會考慮菜單創新並推出一些對客人有吸引力的價格點。我們——我認為我們不會像傳統那樣打折。我們從來沒有。我認為餐館通常不會降低價格。所以我只想確保客人看到價值。就像我說的，我認為我們的定位很好，因為我們在過去幾年裡仍然比行業低 4 個百分點。所以我認為我們試圖保持一個已經有點防禦的位置。

Great. And a quick follow-up. I know you guys touched on staffing levels, and I might have missed the exact comment, but as it relates to staffing relative to where you want to be, can you just quickly touch on that given the demand that's out there right now, where you are staffing versus where you want to be? If you could just highlight that.

偉大的。並進行快速跟進。我知道你們談到了人員配置水平，我可能錯過了確切的評論，但由於它與人員配置相關，與你想要的位置有關，你能不能快速談談這個問題，因為現在有需求，你在哪裡？人員配備與您想去的地方相比？如果你能強調這一點。

Sure, Dennis. This is David Gordon. Our staffing levels are basically where they were in 2019. So we're happy that they've recovered to the extent that they have. We have roughly 60 applicants for every higher need that we have out there today. The other positive is that the quality of applicant continues to get better, we're able to hire people with more experience than we were 12 months ago. So only positives on the staffing front, and we continue to not have any issues where challenge with staffing might be limiting operations at all or (inaudible)sales. So we feel really good about where we are. We continue to be an employer of choice and continue to have industry-leading retention at the staff and manager level which will also help us as we continue on throughout the year.

當然，丹尼斯。這是大衛戈登。我們的人員配置水平基本上與 2019 年持平。所以我們很高興他們已經恢復到原來的水平。我們有大約 60 名申請人滿足我們今天的每一個更高的需求。另一個積極因素是申請人的質量不斷提高，我們能夠僱用比 12 個月前更有經驗的人。因此，在人員配置方面只有積極的一面，而且我們仍然沒有任何問題，即人員配置方面的挑戰可能會限制所有運營或（聽不清）銷售。所以我們對自己所處的位置感覺非常好。我們繼續成為首選雇主，並繼續在員工和經理級別擁有行業領先的保留率，這也將幫助我們全年繼續前進。

Our next question comes from Jon Tower with Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗的 Jon Tower。

Great. Followup and then question on the net interest -- excuse me, the net interest margin guidance you offered in the quarter -- for the first quarter of the year, can you offer what the implied tax rate would be for both the quarter and the year.

偉大的。跟進，然後是關於淨利息的問題——對不起，你在本季度提供的淨息差指導——今年第一季度，你能提供本季度和本年度的隱含稅率嗎.

Yes. It's low teens, Jon, in that ballpark.

是的。喬恩，在那個球場上是十幾歲的孩子。

Okay. Great. And then just, I guess, on the unit growth side, I think today, you took down the number slightly relative to where you had originally anticipated it for 2023. Now it's 20 to 22 versus 21 to 24. So can you just explain what's going on there. Are you still seeing issues with securing whether it's equipment or permitting? I'm just curious if you could add some color there.

好的。偉大的。然後，我想，在單位增長方面，我想今天，你相對於你最初預期的 2023 年略微降低了這個數字。現在是 20 到 22 對 21 到 24。那麼你能解釋一下是什麼嗎在那裡進行。您是否仍然看到有關保護設備或許可的問題？我只是好奇你是否可以在那裡添加一些顏色。

Sure, Jon. This is David Gordon again. Certainly, things are much better than they were last year. We feel really good about that 20 to 22 number. There still may be parts of the country where permitting is moving a little bit slower or as an example, we have a location where we're still waiting for the power company to show up and give us all the power that we need. So we have just some one-off situations that we want to make sure that we understand fully why we pulled down the number a tiny bit, but it doesn't take us off of our overall plan of that continued 7% unit growth. Most of the openings this year will be happening in the second half of the year, but we feel very confident about that 20 to 22.

當然，喬恩。這又是大衛·戈登。當然，情況比去年好得多。我們對 20 到 22 的數字感覺非常好。該國可能仍有部分地區的許可進展速度稍慢，或者例如，我們有一個地方仍在等待電力公司出現並為我們提供所需的所有電力。所以我們只有一些一次性的情況，我們想確保我們完全理解為什麼我們將這個數字稍微降低一點，但這並沒有使我們脫離我們繼續保持 7% 單位增長的總體計劃。今年的大部分空缺將發生在下半年，但我們對 20 到 22 非常有信心。

Got it. And then just lastly, on delivery. Can you just talk about how that mixed in during the quarter? You've seen any softness in that piece of the business at all? And certainly, starting 2023, it seems like there's quite a bit of lift in demand on the on-premise channel across the industry. Curious if you're seeing similar type of lift in your business or a shift away from off-premise towards on-premise?

知道了。最後，在交付時。你能談談這個季度是如何混合的嗎？你看到這塊業務有任何疲軟嗎？當然，從 2023 年開始，整個行業對內部部署渠道的需求似乎會有相當大的提升。想知道您是否在業務中看到類似類型的提升或從外部部署轉向內部部署？

Thanks, Jon. This is David again. Our total off-premise was in line with Q3 at 23%, which is where we finished the quarter. And that mix is very, very stable. It remains about 40% of it being delivery. 35% is still phone or guests were walking up and then about 25% are guests who are using our online ordering platform. So I think from the beginning, we've said that we feel that our offering really continues to work well in the off-premise channel, whether that's the menu variety and the variety of price points, along with the quality that our ops team has been able to continue to deliver. So we don't think that, that is going to change as we move into the new year. We've seen it to be very stable in the new year and feel great about the off-premise business.

謝謝，喬恩。這又是大衛。我們的總場外業務與第三季度一致，為 23%，這是我們本季度結束時的水平。而且這種混合非常非常穩定。它仍然有大約 40% 正在交付。 35% 仍然是電話或客人走上前來，然後大約 25% 是使用我們在線訂購平台的客人。所以我認為從一開始，我們就說過我們覺得我們的產品在場外渠道中確實繼續運作良好，無論是菜單種類和價格點種類，還是我們運營團隊的質量能夠繼續交付。所以我們認為，隨著我們進入新的一年，這種情況不會改變。我們已經看到它在新的一年裡非常穩定，並且對場外業務感覺很好。

Our next question comes from Brian Harbour with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Brian Harbor。

Yes. Just a smaller piece of weekly. Can you just comment on some of the other FRC brands and how those have been performing, just from a sales perspective and also which ones do you think will be kind of -- can be bigger perhaps over time.

是的。只是每週的一小部分。您能否僅從銷售角度評論其他一些 FRC 品牌以及這些品牌的表現，以及您認為哪些品牌會隨著時間的推移變得更大。

Sure. Well, I think as we stated before, our plans for North Italia continue to be about a 20% unit growth. And North continues, as you can see from the sales that we reported to be very, very strong. Consumer demand is great as we moved into new geographies. It continues to be accepted by those guests very, very well. So we feel great about the continued growth at North. Flower Child was now up to 30 restaurants across the country and moving into some new geographies as well and having that same success on the sales side.

當然。好吧，我認為正如我們之前所說，我們對意大利北部的計劃繼續保持約 20% 的單位增長。北方繼續，正如您從我們報告的銷售中看到的那樣非常非常強勁。隨著我們進入新的地區，消費者需求很大。它繼續被那些客人非常非常好地接受。因此，我們對 North 的持續增長感到滿意。 Flower Child 現在在全國擁有多達 30 家餐廳，並進入了一些新的地區，並在銷售方面取得了同樣的成功。

So we'd anticipate the Flower Child is going to be the next concept that we will bring under our umbrella a little more closely and help continue to launch nationally. We're excited to get that going this year. There'll be 3 to 4 Flower Child this year and the total number of 10 restaurants that FRC will be opening. And then past that, there are some other concepts like culinary dropouts that we're very, very excited about. Blanco is a Mexican concept that we like a lot. We'll continue to evaluate the other FRC concepts to make sure we feel like they can have a national presence and make sure that they're hitting the margin profile that we need before we decided that we would scale them up and try and grow them the way that we are for North and for Flower Child.

因此，我們預計 Flower Child 將成為下一個概念，我們將更緊密地納入我們的保護範圍，並幫助繼續在全國推出。我們很高興今年能實現這一目標。今年將有 3 到 4 家 Flower Child，FRC 將開設 10 家餐廳。除此之外，還有一些其他概念，例如我們非常非常興奮的烹飪輟學。 Blanco 是我們非常喜歡的墨西哥概念。我們將繼續評估其他 FRC 概念，以確保我們覺得它們可以在全國范圍內佔有一席之地，並確保在我們決定擴大規模並嘗試發展它們之前，它們達到我們需要的利潤率我們對北方和花童的態度。

Okay. What were the asset impairments related to? Or I guess, how much of that was lease impairment, how much of it was other types of impairment? What was that from?

好的。與哪些資產減值有關？或者我猜，其中有多少是租賃減值，有多少是其他類型的減值？那是什麼來的？

Yes, Brian, this is Matt. It's predominantly lease impairment. And essentially, we hit the COVID pandemic and there were several urban locations that while we continue to operate and are recovering haven't fully recovered, right? And so this is just an accounting exercise that you have to go through. And the real driver today, which is just weird compared to 5 years ago. If you can remember back when the lease accounting changed, right? And so we actually have to gross up the balance sheet with the right-of-use assets. So that number, I mean, over 50% of it is just the lease side of it, not even the investments that were made.

是的，布賴恩，這是馬特。主要是租賃減值。從本質上講，我們遇到了 COVID 大流行，有幾個城市地區在我們繼續運營和恢復的同時還沒有完全恢復，對吧？所以這只是一個你必須經歷的會計練習。而今天真正的司機，與 5 年前相比真是太奇怪了。如果您還記得租賃會計發生變化的時間，對嗎？因此，我們實際上必須將資產負債表與使用權資產合計起來。所以這個數字，我的意思是，其中超過 50% 只是租賃方面，甚至不是已進行的投資。

Our next question comes from Nick Setyan with Wedbush Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Wedbush Securities 的 Nick Setyan。

This is actually Michael on for Nick. Just wondering what labor expense and other OpEx would have been as a percent of sales if you guys were to back out that extra week?

這實際上是邁克爾替尼克。只是想知道如果你們取消那額外的一周，人工費用和其他運營支出佔銷售額的百分比是多少？

Well, Michael, it's Matt, would be pretty darn much the same because those are fully accrued, and we contract the hours worked by week. And so those actually go hand-in-hand with the weeks that we operate in. So shouldn't have been too much different. A little bit is probably slightly better just because it was a bigger week relative to the rest of the quarter, but it wasn't meaningful.

好吧，邁克爾，我是馬特，幾乎完全一樣，因為這些都是完全應計的，我們按週計算工作時間。因此，這些實際上與我們運營的幾周密切相關。所以不應該有太大的不同。稍微好一點可能只是因為相對於本季度的其餘時間，這是一個更大的一周，但這沒有意義。

Our next question comes from Lauren Silberman with Credit Suisse.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的 Lauren Silberman。

Just on comps, obviously, really strong trends quarter-to-date. What's your sense of what's driving the underlying acceleration broadly? And looking versus '19, are you seeing relative consistency week-to-week over the [quarterly] period?

很明顯，就 comps 而言，本季度至今的趨勢非常強勁。您對廣泛推動潛在加速的因素有何看法？與 19 年相比，您是否看到 [季度] 期間每週的相對一致性？

Lauren, it's Matt. Yes, I think that's -- it's a good metric. We like to balance it, like I said, between 2019 and year-over-year. And it's been very stable against the 2019. I think we're seeing maybe a return to more normalcy in terms of seasonality patterns, if you will, I think there was a little bit of talk in January about some positive weather. I don't know. Certainly, a little bit of the strength in the first week or 2 was the omicron lapping on it year-over-year, but that wouldn't account for the 2019 data, right, which is why we think that's important to look at.

勞倫，我是馬特。是的，我認為這是 - 這是一個很好的指標。就像我說的，我們喜歡在 2019 年和同比之間取得平衡。與 2019 年相比，它一直非常穩定。我認為我們可能會看到季節性模式正在回歸常態，如果你願意的話，我認為 1 月份有一些關於一些積極天氣的討論。我不知道。當然，第一周或第二週的一點點優勢是 omicron 同比增長，但這並不能解釋 2019 年的數據，對吧，這就是為什麼我們認為這一點很重要。

I just think, in general, we're seeing a normalization of the consumer trends and our brands resonate. And so the utilization is similar to what we might have expected pre-pandemic.

我只是認為，總的來說，我們看到消費趨勢正常化，我們的品牌產生共鳴。因此，利用率與我們在大流行前的預期相似。

Great. And then just another follow-up on consumer behavior. You mentioned that there's no real sign in sort of tech management or attachment rates also doing, I think, it's the 45th anniversary weekday promotion. Is this in any response to what you're seeing? Just trying to understand if there's any type of shift that is discernible.

偉大的。然後只是對消費者行為的另一個跟進。你提到在技術管理或依戀率方面沒有真正的跡象，我認為，這是 45 週年工作日促銷活動。這是對你所看到的任何回應嗎？只是想了解是否有任何類型的轉變是可辨別的。

Lauren, no, this is Matt. No, we do -- the marketing and that type of offer is really off-premise-driven. And we do that on occasion. I think frankly, it would have been the opposite, right, because what we're seeing are really strong trends, which would say, "Oh, maybe you don't need to do the offers," but I think we just like to keep a regular cadence, remind the guests. I think particularly in the off channel, staying a little bit more top of mind because there's so much promotional activity. I think that, that's important regardless of whether we have strong trends right now, which we do or not.

勞倫，不，這是馬特。不，我們這樣做 - 營銷和那種類型的報價實際上是場外驅動的。我們有時會這樣做。坦率地說，我認為情況恰恰相反，對吧，因為我們看到的是非常強勁的趨勢，這會說，“哦，也許你不需要做這些提議，”但我認為我們只是想保持規律的節奏，提醒客人。我認為特別是在非渠道中，因為有太多的促銷活動，所以要多考慮一點。我認為，無論我們現在是否有強勁趨勢，這一點都很重要。

And certainly celebrating with anniversary garners us additional PR. We've always had very strong concept, PR and there's just another way for people to celebrate the anniversary with us.

當然，慶祝週年紀念日可以為我們贏得額外的公關。我們一直有非常強大的概念和公關，人們可以通過另一種方式與我們一起慶祝週年紀念日。

Our next question comes from Jeffrey Bernstein with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的杰弗裡伯恩斯坦。

Great. Thank you very much. Two things. First, just as we think about the 2023 margin, I think you said the restaurant margin should be at that 15% level for the overall corporate. But I know in the past you had talked about operating margins. I think you had said you were looking back to '19 and you wanted to get them back to that 5.2% range seemingly G&A being the big driver between the restaurant and the operating margins. So I'm just wondering how we should think about that operating margin whether on G&A, whether you look at it on dollar spend or growth relative to revenues, how should we think about that in '23? And then one follow-up.

偉大的。非常感謝。兩件事情。首先，正如我們考慮 2023 年的利潤率一樣，我想你說過餐廳利潤率對於整個企業來說應該達到 15% 的水平。但我知道你過去曾談到過營業利潤率。我想你曾說過你正在回顧 19 年，你想讓他們回到 5.2% 的範圍，似乎 G&A 是餐廳和營業利潤率之間的主要驅動力。所以我只是想知道我們應該如何考慮營業利潤率，無論是在 G&A 上，還是從美元支出或相對於收入的增長來看，我們應該如何考慮 23 年的營業利潤率？然後是跟進。

Sure. Jeff, this is Matt. I think generally, all that still holds, right? I mean, when I look at sort of what's out there in terms of the estimates and expectations, it pretty much surrounds that general approach. I mean our goal with G&A is to continue to move it equal or better as a percentage of sales every year, right? Until we get to that 6% level. I think the other piece is kind of below the 4-wall level. Depreciation will probably be pretty similar year-over-year. Preopening will be up a little bit year-over-year. So I think those are kind of where things would shake out.

當然。傑夫，這是馬特。我認為一般來說，所有這些仍然有效，對吧？我的意思是，當我從估計和期望的角度看一些東西時，它幾乎圍繞著一般方法。我的意思是我們的 G&A 目標是繼續使其每年佔銷售額的百分比相等或更好，對嗎？直到我們達到 6% 的水平。我認為另一件作品有點低於 4 牆水平。折舊可能與去年同期非常相似。開業前將同比略有上升。所以我認為這些是事情會發生變化的地方。

Got it. And then just on the value scores, I think you mentioned that your pricing is 400 basis points below food away from home. And I know you often note being better insulated because presumably you target a slightly higher income consumer, at least at your core brands. I know there are some that are concerned that maybe the higher income might be more vulnerable based on the current factors at play here. I'm just wondering how you measure your value scores and determine price above and beyond kind of the government data. Is there testament that you do or survey work? Just trying to get a measure for your confidence that your value scores hold up in the event of a slowing macro.

知道了。然後就價值得分而言，我想你提到你的定價比外出食物低 400 個基點。而且我知道你經常注意到更好的絕緣，因為大概你的目標是收入稍高的消費者，至少在你的核心品牌。我知道有些人擔心，根據目前在這裡發揮作用的因素，高收入可能更容易受到傷害。我只是想知道您如何衡量您的價值得分並確定超出政府數據類型的價格。有沒有你做或調查工作的證明？只是想衡量一下你的信心，即在宏觀經濟放緩的情況下，你的價值得分是否能保持下去。

Yes. A couple of things just on the pricing, right? It's a little bit art albeit science. I think in addition to the government data, we track our peer set, right? I mean, I've said this many times, but it's true. We look at 50 different markets, 2 dozen national competitors, and we try to assess whether or not we're either at or slightly below the midpoint there. So from an alternative approach for consumers to be looking at, we're taking no more, if not less pricing than the competitors, which I guess goes hand in hand with the government data, right, because these are the biggest change.

是的。一些關於定價的事情，對吧？這有點藝術，儘管是科學。我認為除了政府數據之外，我們還跟踪我們的同行，對吧？我的意思是，我已經說過很多次了，但這是真的。我們觀察了 50 個不同的市場，2 打國家競爭對手，我們試圖評估我們是否處於或略低於那裡的中點。因此，從消費者關注的另一種方法來看，我們的定價不會比競爭對手多，甚至不會低於競爭對手，我想這與政府數據密切相關，對吧，因為這些是最大的變化。

I think we look at price elasticity, so we do our own internal analytical evaluation, and we evaluate whether we're seeing trade-off in market basket or not and check attachment. And I think as we said so far, we're seeing very consistent patterns there as well.

我認為我們著眼於價格彈性，所以我們進行自己的內部分析評估，我們評估我們是否在市場籃子中看到權衡並檢查附件。而且我認為正如我們到目前為止所說的那樣，我們在那裡也看到了非常一致的模式。

And we do, do research, qualitative research. So we're constantly monitoring what our guests are saying about our value and making sure that, that score is consistent. I think the last thing I would say is that if the top end of consumers really does feel pressure, we're likely to actually benefit some from that because they typically move down off of the steakhouses and the expensive independents, the one-offs in The Cheesecake Factory and into our brands because we're still very, very accessible. So I don't think that, that type of economic slowdown would be material for us.

我們做，做研究，定性研究。因此，我們一直在關注客人對我們價值的評價，並確保評分一致。我想我要說的最後一件事是，如果高端消費者真的感到壓力，我們實際上可能會從中受益，因為他們通常會離開牛排館和昂貴的獨立餐廳，一次性芝士蛋糕工廠和我們的品牌，因為我們仍然非常非常容易接近。所以我認為，那種類型的經濟放緩對我們來說並不重要。

Our final question comes from Drew North with Baird.

我們的最後一個問題來自 Drew North 和 Baird。

Great. I had a quick follow-up on the commodity outlook and then one on development. What percent of your basket do you currently have locked for 2023 at this point? Just trying to get a sense of the visibility you have on in the mid-single-digit guidance there?

偉大的。我對商品前景進行了快速跟進，然後對發展進行了跟進。您目前鎖定 2023 年的籃子的百分比是多少？只是想了解您在那裡的中個位數指導中的可見性？

Sure, Drew, this is Matt. We're about 60%, which is pretty close. I mean this time of year, we might want to be closer to 65% or so. The category that is still a little bit tricky, obviously, is ground beef, harder to get a long-term contract there. And then there's a couple of categories that we're kind of watching where we booked the first half, but we think that there's an opportunity still in the second half, but pretty close to where we would normally be at this time.

當然，德魯，這是馬特。我們大約有 60%，這非常接近。我的意思是，每年的這個時候，我們可能希望接近 65% 左右。顯然，仍然有點棘手的類別是碎牛肉，在那裡更難獲得長期合同。然後有幾個類別我們正在觀察我們在上半年預訂的地方，但我們認為下半年仍有機會，但非常接近我們通常在這個時候的位置。

Great. That's helpful. And then I was hoping you could provide an update on the investment costs you are anticipating for each of your major brands from a development standpoint. Elevated construction cost has clearly been a theme across the industry in 2022. But are you seeing any green shoots there as you look ahead? And maybe just an update on the performance of new openings and the unit level returns you achieved for your recent openings relative to your internal expectations?

偉大的。這很有幫助。然後我希望您能從發展的角度提供您對每個主要品牌的預期投資成本的最新信息。建築成本上升顯然是 2022 年整個行業的主題。但展望未來，您是否看到了任何新的萌芽？也許只是關於新開張的表現的更新，以及你最近開張的單位回報率相對於你的內部預期？

Sure. There's a lot of variability in the marketplace today, is one thing I would say, right, depending on the marketplace that you're in, you're seeing either moderate inflation or outsized inflation, right? So I think everybody would know on a relative basis, South Florida, a tough place to build right now because there's so much demand and certainly, the hurricane last year didn't help that at all. I think on the good news front, while we would say we are seeing increases in our CapEx that they're really not outpacing significantly the volumes that we're achieving partly because of the pricing that we're taking, right?

當然。今天的市場有很多變化，我會說一件事，對吧，取決於你所在的市場，你會看到適度的通貨膨脹或過大的通貨膨脹，對嗎？所以我想每個人都會相對地知道，南佛羅里達州現在是一個很難建設的地方，因為需求太多，當然，去年的颶風根本沒有幫助。我認為在好消息方面，雖然我們會說我們看到我們的資本支出有所增加，但它們實際上並沒有顯著超過我們實現的數量，部分原因是我們採用的定價，對吧？

So if you think about a North Italia mature location and the CapEx may have moved up from $3.5 million to $4 million. Well, the sales there are about $8 million. And so we're still doing 2:1 sales to CapEx. So I don't think our margin profiles have changed materially so long as we can get back to that -- sorry, our returns profile, so long as we can get back to the margins that we're targeting, right? I think that's the most important thing overall for the returns.

因此，如果您考慮意大利北部的成熟地點，資本支出可能已從 350 萬美元上升到 400 萬美元。那麼，那裡的銷售額約為 800 萬美元。因此，我們仍在以 2:1 的比例銷售資本支出。所以我不認為我們的利潤率狀況發生了重大變化，只要我們能夠回到那個 - 抱歉，我們的回報率狀況，只要我們能夠回到我們的目標利潤率，對嗎？我認為這是整體回報最重要的事情。

We've seen great sales performance out of the new locations that we've opened and better in terms of a staffing perspective, which is really important, which will help on the execution. So we wouldn't be moving forward with the 20 to 22 locations if we didn't feel we'd be hitting the returns. And so we're confident that we'll get those margins back and the sales to CapEx will be about the same as it has been historically.

我們已經從我們開設的新地點看到了出色的銷售業績，並且在人員配置方面表現更好，這非常重要，這將有助於執行。因此，如果我們不覺得我們會達到回報，我們就不會推進 20 到 22 個地點。因此，我們有信心我們將收回這些利潤，並且資本支出的銷售額將與歷史水平大致相同。

Our final question comes from Rahul Krotthapalli with JPMorgan.

我們的最後一個問題來自摩根大通的 Rahul Krotthapalli。

Step back from a very high level. Is there any thought process of like increasing the focus or intensity on the core Cheesecake business to improve margins to the fullest potential of the business for the macro we are currently dealing with are not like boxing ourselves within, like, say, like comparing to 2019 margins or anything. Is there like any further opportunity here beyond like the things that have already been done. Just curious from your seat, like what other things can be done, maybe like pivoting a little more focus away from like the smaller concepts, but again, I understand like something like Fox is more or less independently operated. So just curious, on your thoughts here going into this year?

從很高的層次上退一步。是否有任何思考過程，比如增加對核心芝士蛋糕業務的關注或強度，以提高利潤率，以充分發揮我們目前正在處理的宏觀業務的潛力，而不是像與 2019 年相比，將自己局限在內部利潤率或任何東西。除了已經完成的事情之外，這裡還有其他機會嗎？只是從你的座位上好奇，比如還有什麼其他事情可以做，也許就像將更多的注意力從較小的概念上轉移開，但我再次理解，像 Fox 這樣的公司或多或少是獨立運營的。所以很好奇，你對今年的想法是什麼？

Sure. This is Matt. Look, I think that it's a multistep thought, right? Certainly, we're not going to be done or we're not going to only look for a recovery to, say, to 2019, that was just a benchmark. The volatility that we've obviously seen with pretty much 2 black swan events in 3 years between the pandemic and then the war in Europe that caused the inflation. I think we're just trying to provide some benchmarks and really say what's a reasonable starting point. Then when we see stability in the market, I think it will be a little bit more timely to talk about next steps, right?

當然。這是馬特。看，我認為這是一個多步驟的想法，對吧？當然，我們不會就此結束，或者我們不會只尋求復蘇，比如到 2019 年，那隻是一個基準。在大流行病和隨後導致通貨膨脹的歐洲戰爭之間的 3 年中，我們已經清楚地看到了幾乎 2 次黑天鵝事件的波動。我認為我們只是想提供一些基準並真正說明什麼是合理的起點。然後當我們看到市場穩定時，我認為談論下一步會更及時一些，對吧？

I mean, we need to see stability in staffing, we need to see stability in supply chain, really before you're talking about unlocking material additional margin opportunities core costs and restaurants make up about 60% anyway. So I hear you, I think that, that is top of mind. But I think for us, let's get to a starting point, let's see the environment stabilize a little bit and then let's pull some levers and not having sort of a knee-jerk reaction, if you will.

我的意思是，我們需要看到人員配置的穩定性，我們需要看到供應鏈的穩定性，真的在你談論釋放物質額外利潤機會之前，核心成本和餐廳無論如何占大約 60%。所以我聽到你的聲音，我認為這是最重要的。但我認為對我們來說，讓我們從一個起點開始，讓我們看到環境穩定一點，然後讓我們拉動一些槓桿，如果你願意的話，不要做出某種下意識的反應。

Our next question comes from Brian Vaccaro with Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題來自 Brian Vaccaro 和 Raymond James。

Matt, I was just going to ask, in terms of your high-level margin guidance, the comments you made around 2023, and I apologize if you said this, but does that assume you take additional pricing moving through the year? Or does that assume no more from here, this 3.5% you're taking, I guess, in February? I wasn't clear on that.

馬特，我只是想問一下，就你的高水平利潤率指導而言，你在 2023 年左右發表的評論，如果你這麼說，我深表歉意，但這是否假設你在這一年中採取了額外的定價？還是從這裡假設不再有，我猜你在 2 月份要拿走這 3.5%？我不清楚。

No, Brian, this is Matt. I do think that we're hopeful to return to kind of a normal pricing cadence in the summertime. We'll be looking at what the trends are between now and then. I think the key for us is we're going to try to keep up with inflation. Hopefully, we see inflation at down, and we don't have to take as much, but we would anticipate there's something. At this point in time, we don't have a definitive number to give you, but it will depend on the environment really.

不，布賴恩，這是馬特。我確實認為我們希望在夏季恢復到正常的定價節奏。我們將關注從現在到那時的趨勢。我認為對我們來說關鍵是我們要努力跟上通貨膨脹的步伐。希望我們看到通貨膨脹率下降，我們不必承受那麼多，但我們預計會有一些東西。目前，我們還沒有確切的數字可以提供給您，但這確實取決於環境。

There are no further questions at this time. With that said, concludes today's conference. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

目前沒有其他問題。話雖如此，今天的會議到此結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連接。