Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc (CBRL) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Cracker Barrel fiscal 2024 third-quarter conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Cracker Barrel 2024 財年第三季電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意此事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Adam Hanan, Senior Manager of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

我現在將會議交給投資者關係高級經理 Adam Hanan 先生主持。請繼續，先生。

Thank you. Good morning and welcome to Cracker Barrel's third quarter fiscal 2024 conference call and webcast. This morning, we issued a press release announcing our third quarter results. In this press release and on this call, we will refer to non-GAAP financial measures such as adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter ended April 26, 2024. Please refer to the footnotes in our press release for further details about these measures.

謝謝。早安，歡迎來到 Cracker Barrel 的 2024 財年第三季電話會議和網路廣播。今天早上，我們發布了新聞稿，宣布了第三季的業績。在本新聞稿和本次電話會議中，我們將提及非GAAP 財務指標，例如截至2024 年4 月26 日的第三季調整後EBITDA。中的腳註。

The company believes that these measures provide investors with an enhanced understanding of the company's financial performance. This information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income or earnings per share information prepared in accordance with GAAP. The last pages of the press release include reconciliations from the non-GAAP information to the GAAP financials.

該公司相信，這些措施可以讓投資者更了解公司的財務表現。此資訊不應單獨考慮，也不能取代根據 GAAP 編制的淨收入或每股盈餘資訊。新聞稿的最後幾頁包括非公認會計原則資訊與公認會計原則財務數據的調節。

On the call with me this morning are Cracker Barrel's President and CEO, Julie Masino; and Senior Vice President and CFO, Craig Pommells. Julie and Craig will provide a review of the business financials and outlook. We will then open up the call for questions.

今天早上與我通話的是 Cracker Barrel 的總裁兼執行長 Julie Masino；資深副總裁兼財務長 Craig Pommells。朱莉和克雷格將對企業財務狀況和前景進行審查。然後我們將開放提問。

On this call, statements may be made by management of their beliefs and expectations regarding the company's future operating results or expected future events. These are known as forward looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties that in many cases are beyond management's control and may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations.

在這次電話會議上，管理層可能會發表關於他們對公司未來營運表現或預期未來事件的信念和期望的聲明。這些被稱為前瞻性陳述，涉及風險和不確定性，在許多情況下超出了管理層的控制範圍，並可能導致實際結果與預期有重大差異。

We caution our listeners and readers in considering forward-looking statements and information. Many of the factors that could affect results are summarized in the cautionary description of risks and uncertainties found at the end of the press release and are described in detail in our reports that we file with or furnished to the SEC.

我們提醒聽眾和讀者考慮前瞻性陳述和資訊。新聞稿末尾對風險和不確定性的警告性描述中總結了許多可能影響結果的因素，並在我們向 SEC 提交或提供的報告中詳細描述了這些因素。

Finally, the information shared on this call is valid as of today's date, and the company undertakes no obligation to update it, except as may be required under applicable law.

最後，本次電話會議共享的資訊自今日起有效，本公司不承擔更新資訊的義務，除非適用法律有要求。

I'll now turn the call over to Cracker Barrel's President and CEO, Julie Masino. Julie?

現在我將把電話轉給 Cracker Barrel 的總裁兼執行長 Julie Masino。茱麗葉？

Good morning. Given the substantive update we provided two weeks ago, today's prepared remarks will be shorter than usual. I encourage everyone to review our comments from the May 16 call, for additional details on our transformation plan, if you haven't already. This morning, we reported total revenue of $817.1 million and adjusted EBITDA of $47.9 million or 5.9% of revenue.

早安.鑑於我們兩週前提供的實質更新，今天準備的發言將比平時短。我鼓勵大家查看我們 5 月 16 日電話會議的評論，以了解有關我們轉型計劃的更多詳細資訊（如果您還沒有這樣做的話）。今天早上，我們公佈的總收入為 8.171 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 4,790 萬美元，佔營收的 5.9%。

As we previously noted in our May 16 press release, our results fell below our expectations due to weaker than anticipated traffic. Our third quarter traffic challenges underscore the need for our strategic transformation as we discussed on May 16. Of course, as we undertake our longer-term strategic initiatives, we continue to aggressively manage our day-to-day business and I was encouraged by our performance despite the financial impact of lower traffic.

正如我們之前在 5 月 16 日的新聞稿中指出的那樣，由於流量低於預期，我們的業績低於預期。正如我們在5 月16 日討論的那樣，我們第三季度的流量挑戰凸顯了我們戰略轉型的必要性。的日常業務感到鼓舞。

Although our financial performance in the quarter was challenged, our team's managed the business well. We saw solid improvements across the metrics that are most highly correlated with same-store sales growth: guest satisfaction, speed, hourly turnover, and average skill level for key job roles. We believe these are key leading indicators, and we're pleased with the progress we are making.

儘管我們本季的財務表現受到挑戰，但我們的團隊將業務管理得很好。我們看到與同店銷售成長最相關的指標有了顯著改善：顧客滿意度、速度、每小時營業額以及關鍵工作崗位的平均技能水平。我們相信這些是關鍵的領先指標，我們對所取得的進展感到滿意。

For example, compared to the prior year quarter, our hourly turnover has improved by 10 percentage points. Our [seat-to-eat] times, that's a key speed metric, has improved by approximately 8%. Our off-premise missing items scores improved by 18%. The average skill level for the key positions of cook and server increased by 3%, and our Google star rating has increased from 4.1 to 4.2. We are confident that our sustained focus on these operational metrics will deliver further improvements, which will translate to increased visits in time.

例如，與去年同期相比，我們的每小時營業額提高了 10 個百分點。我們的[用餐]時間（這是關鍵的速度指標）已改善了約 8%。我們的場外遺失物品得分提高了 18%。廚師和服務員關鍵職位的平均技能水準提高了3%，我們的Google星級評分從4.1提高到4.2。我們相信，我們對這些營運指標的持續關注將帶來進一步的改進，這將轉化為及時增加的訪問量。

Additionally, our operators did a good job of managing food waste. I believe this, along with a positive trend in the above metrics, is the result of our organization-wide emphasis on operational discipline and is also indicative of our dual focus of running the day-to-day business while also executing our transformation. And our operators' ability to effectively manage expenses helped to mitigate the margin compression from the lower traffic.

此外，我們的經營者在管理食物浪費方面做得很好。我相信，這一點以及上述指標的正面趨勢是我們整個組織重視營運紀律的結果，也顯示我們在經營日常業務的同時也執行轉型的雙重重點。我們的營運商有效管理費用的能力有助於緩解流量減少帶來的利潤壓縮。

Next, while retail sales were also challenged as a result of our traffic results and broader retail headwinds, we were encouraged that we saw sequential monthly improvements in retail same-store sales and the performance of our seasonal theme assortments.

接下來，雖然零售銷售也因我們的客流量結果和更廣泛的零售逆風而受到挑戰，但我們看到零售同店銷售和季節性主題品種的表現逐月環比改善，這讓我們感到鼓舞。

In closing, our financial performance remains pressured by the challenges we've previously described. But we are confident that our focus on our five strategic pillars: one, refining the brands; two, enhancing the menu; three, evolving the store and guest experience; four, winning in digital and off-premise; and five, elevating the employee experience will deliver our imperative of driving relevancy, delivering food, and an experienced guests love, and growing profitability, and positioned the company for significant value creation over time.

最後，我們的財務表現仍然受到我們先前描述的挑戰的壓力。但我們有信心將重點放在五個策略支柱上：一是提煉品牌；二是打造品牌。二、強化菜單；三、不斷發展商店和顧客體驗；四、在數位化和場外制勝；第五，提升員工體驗將實現我們推動相關性、提供食物、贏得經驗豐富的客人喜愛以及不斷增長的盈利能力的迫切要求，並使公司能夠隨著時間的推移創造顯著的價值。

I'll now turn the call over to Craig for a more detailed look at the quarter from a financial perspective and to discuss our financial outlook for the rest of the year. Craig?

我現在將把電話轉給克雷格，從財務角度更詳細地了解本季度，並討論我們今年剩餘時間的財務前景。克雷格？

Thank you, Julie, and good morning, everyone. Before getting into our results and guidance, I want to remind everyone of a few changes we've made as it relates to our financials. First, we're now focused on adjusted EBITDA as a key metric to track our financial performance and are now providing guidance on adjusted EBITDA as we believe it is more meaningful to investors to evaluate our performance before the impact of depreciation, which we expect to be higher due to the increased investments related to our strategic transformation plan.

謝謝朱莉，大家早安。在介紹我們的結果和指導之前，我想提醒大家我們所做的一些與我們的財務相關的改變。首先，我們現在專注於將調整後EBITDA 作為追蹤我們財務表現的關鍵指標，並且現在正在提供調整後EBITDA 的指導，因為我們認為，對投資者來說，在折舊影響之前評估我們的業績更有意義，我們預期折舊影響由於與我們的策略轉型計劃相關的投資增加。

Second, we modified our definition of adjusted EBITDA and are no longer adjusted for the noncash amortization of the asset recognized from the gains on sale and leaseback transactions, which is an approximately $3.2 million expense each quarter and is expected to remain at a similar level over the remaining life of these leases.

其次，我們修改了調整後 EBITDA 的定義，不再對從售後回租交易收益中確認的資產的非現金攤銷進行調整，該攤銷每季度約為 320 萬美元，預計將保持在類似水平。這些租約的剩餘期限。

Additionally, we are now including an add-back for share-based compensation expense. We understand there are a few moving pieces here, so we refer you to the reconciliation tables in the press release for additional information.

此外，我們現在還包括基於股份的補償費用的加回。我們知道這裡有一些變化，因此我們建議您參閱新聞稿中的調節表以獲取更多資訊。

For the third quarter, we reported total revenue of $817.1 million. Restaurant revenue decreased 1.5% to $671.3 million and retail revenue decreased 3.7% to $145.8 million versus the [prior quarter]. Comparable store restaurant sales decreased by 1.5% over the prior year. Pricing was approximately 4%. Our quarterly pricing consisted of approximately 1.5% carried forward pricing from fiscal 2023 and 2.5% new pricing from fiscal 2024.

第三季的總收入為 8.171 億美元。與[上一季]相比，餐廳收入下降 1.5% 至 6.713 億美元，零售收入下降 3.7% 至 1.458 億美元。可比商店餐廳銷售額比上年下降 1.5%。定價約4%。我們的季度定價包括 2023 財年約 1.5% 的結轉定價和 2024 財年 2.5% 的新定價。

Off-premise sales were approximately 18.9% of restaurant sales. Comparable store retail sales decreased 3.8% compared to the third quarter of the prior year. Although retail sales remained soft, we were pleased with how the team has effectively managed inventory levels, which remain below prior year.

店外銷售額約佔餐廳銷售額的 18.9%。與去年第三季相比，可比商店零售額下降了 3.8%。儘管零售銷售依然疲軟，但我們對團隊有效管理庫存水準的方式感到滿意，庫存水準仍低於去年同期。

Moving on to our third quarter expenses. Total cost of goods sold in the quarter was 30% of total revenue versus 31.5% in the prior year quarter. Restaurant cost of goods sold in the third quarter was 25.9% of restaurant sales versus 27.3% in the prior year quarter. This 140 basis points decrease was primarily driven by menu pricing.

繼續我們的第三季支出。本季銷售商品總成本佔總收入的 30%，去年同期為 31.5%。第三季餐廳銷售成本佔餐廳銷售額的 25.9%，去年同期為 27.3%。下降 140 個基點主要是由菜單定價推動的。

Commodities deflated for the quarter by approximately 0.6%, driven principally by lower oils, poultry, and egg prices. Third quarter retail cost of goods sold was 49% of retail sales versus 50.2% in the prior year quarter. This 120 basis points decrease was primarily driven by higher initial margin. Our inventories at quarter end were $175.3 million compared to $184.8 million in the prior year.

本季大宗商品價格下跌約 0.6%，主要是因為石油、家禽和雞蛋價格下跌。第三季零售商品成本佔零售額的 49%，去年同期為 50.2%。下降 120 個基點主要是因為初始利潤率較高。季度末我們的庫存為 1.753 億美元，而去年同期為 1.848 億美元。

With regard to labour costs, our third quarter labour and related expenses were 37.8% of revenue versus 35.8% in the prior year quarter. This 200 basis point increase was primarily driven by our investments in additional labor hours to support the guest experience and hourly wage inflation of approximately 5.2%, partially offset by pricing.

在勞動成本方面，我們第三季的勞動力及相關費用佔收入的 37.8%，而去年同期為 35.8%。這一 200 個基點的成長主要是由於我們為支持賓客體驗而對額外工時進行的投資以及約 5.2% 的時薪通膨（部分被定價所抵消）所推動的。

Other operating expenses were 24.5% of revenue versus 23.6% in the prior year quarter. This 90 basis points increase was primarily driven by our investments in advertising and higher depreciation. Adjusted general and administrative expenses for the third quarter were 5.4% of revenue, which was flat to the prior year quarter. The current quarter results excludes approximately $3.5 million in expenses related to the CEO transition and approximately $6.6 million in professional fees related to our strategic transformation initiative.

其他營運費用佔收入的 24.5%，而去年同期為 23.6%。 90 個基點的成長主要是由我們的廣告投資和較高的折舊所推動的。第三季調整後的一般及管理費用佔營收的 5.4%，與去年同期持平。本季業績不包括與執行長過渡相關的約 350 萬美元的費用以及與我們的策略轉型計劃相關的約 660 萬美元的專業費用。

Our GAAP financial results included store impairment charges and closure expenses of $22.9 million. Our top capital allocation priority is invest in the core Cracker Barrel business and in the initiatives we discussed on May 16. Therefore, we have decided to slow down Maple Street's unit growth in the short term, while they work on improving that business model and as part of our focus and invest in the core Cracker Barrel business. As a result of our decision to slow down Maple Street's growth, we recorded a goodwill impairment of $4.7 million.

我們的 GAAP 財務表現包括 2,290 萬美元的商店減損費用和關閉費用。我們的首要資本配置優先事項是投資核心Cracker Barrel 業務以及我們在5 月16 日討論的舉措。作為我們重點投資核心 Cracker Barrel 業務的一部分。由於我們決定放慢 Maple Street 的成長速度，我們記錄了 470 萬美元的商譽減損。

Net interest expense for the quarter was $5.2 million compared to a net interest expense of $4.5 million in the prior quarter. This increase was primarily the result of higher average interest rates and higher debt levels. Our GAAP income taxes were a $15.3 million credits. Adjusted Income taxes were a $6.4 million credit. Both results include the year-to-date impact of lower income tax expectations due primarily to lower expected annual earnings before taxes.

本季的淨利息支出為 520 萬美元，而上一季的淨利息支出為 450 萬美元。這一增長主要是平均利率上升和債務水準上升的結果。我們的 GAAP 所得稅抵免額為 1,530 萬美元。調整後所得稅抵免額為 640 萬美元。這兩項結果都包括了所得稅預期下降的年初至今的影響，這主要是由於稅前預期年收益下降。

Third quarter GAAP earnings loss per diluted share were negative $0.41 and adjusted earnings per diluted share were a positive $0.88. In the third quarter, adjusted EBITDA was $47.9 million or 5.9% of total revenue compared to $59.6 million or 7.2% of total revenue in the prior year quarter.

第三季 GAAP 每股攤薄收益虧損為負 0.41 美元，調整後每股稀釋收益為正 0.88 美元。第三季調整後 EBITDA 為 4,790 萬美元，佔總營收的 5.9%，而去年同期為 5,960 萬美元，佔總營收的 7.2%。

Now turning to capital allocation and our balance sheet. The company's Board of Directors is committed to a balanced capital allocation approach. Investing in the business to drive profitable growth continues to be the top priority, followed by returning cash to shareholders through a regular quarterly dividend and share repurchases. In the third quarter, we invested $29 million in capital expenditures. We returned $28.9 million to shareholders in dividends. We ended the quarter with $472.2 million in total debt.

現在轉向資本配置和我們的資產負債表。公司董事會致力於平衡的資本配置方法。投資業務以推動獲利成長仍然是首要任務，其次是透過定期季度股利和股票回購向股東返還現金。第三季度，我們投資了 2,900 萬美元的資本支出。我們向股東返還 2,890 萬美元的股利。本季結束時，我們的總債務為 4.722 億美元。

With respect to our fiscal 2024 outlook, we now expect total fiscal 2024 revenue of $3.47 billion to $3.51 billion. We continue to anticipate pricing of approximately 5% for the full year. We have completed our two planned Cracker Barrel [loans], and we now anticipate 8 to 10 new Maple Street openings during the year, including the 6 we've already opened. We now expect commodity inflation to be approximately flat and we continue to expect hourly wage inflation of approximately 5%.

關於 2024 財年展望，我們目前預計 2024 財年總營收為 34.7 億美元至 35.1 億美元。我們繼續預計全年定價約為 5%。我們已經完成了兩個計劃中的 Cracker Barrel [貸款]，現在預計年內將有 8 到 10 個新的楓樹街開業，其中包括我們已經開業的 6 個。我們現在預計商品通膨將大致持平，並且我們繼續預期小時工資通膨約為 5%。

Taking all the above into account, we anticipate full year adjusted EBITDA of approximately $200 million to $220 million, which includes the benefit of a 53rd week. This reflects our lower-than-expected results in Q3 as well as our downwardly revised expectations for Q4, which are primarily driven by our lower expectations for traffic. Although we did not previously provide adjusted EBITDA guidance, our current guidance reflects an approximately $20 million reduction relative to our previous expectations.

考慮到上述所有因素，我們預計全年調整後 EBITDA 約為 2 億至 2.2 億美元，其中包括第 53 週的收益。這反映出我們第三季的業績低於預期，以及我們對第四季的預期下調，這主要是由於我們對流量的預期較低。儘管我們之前沒有提供調整後的 EBITDA 指導，但我們目前的指導反映了相對於我們先前預期的減少了約 2000 萬美元。

Our adjusted EBITDA guidance contemplates certain excluded expenses. First, approximately $9 million of onetime CEO transition expenses; second, approximately $16 million in consulting fees related to our strategic transformation, which includes additional pricing and menu strategy work; third, approximately $2 million in corporate restructuring charges; and fourth, approximately $5 million of favourability from the change to our benefits policy that occurred during the second quarter.

我們調整後的 EBITDA 指導考慮了某些排除費用。首先，大約 900 萬美元的前任 CEO 過渡費用；其次，與我們的策略轉型相關的約 1,600 萬美元的諮詢費，其中包括額外的定價和菜單策略工作；第三，大約200萬美元的公司重組費用；第四，第二季福利政策的變化帶來了約 500 萬美元的優惠。

We now expect a full year GAAP effective tax rate of negative 55% to negative 60% and an adjusted effective tax rate of negative 3% to negative 8%. For the fourth quarter, we expect a GAAP effective tax rate of approximately negative 2% to negative 7% and an adjusted effective tax rate of approximately negative 1% to positive 4%. Lastly, we anticipate capital expenditures of $120 million to $125 million.

我們目前預期全年 GAAP 有效稅率為負 55% 至負 60%，調整後有效稅率為負 3% 至負 8%。對於第四季度，我們預計 GAAP 有效稅率約為負 2% 至負 7%，調整後有效稅率約為負 1% 至正 4%。最後，我們預期資本支出為 1.2 億至 1.25 億美元。

I'll now turn the call over to the operator for questions.

我現在將把電話轉給接線員詢問問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Jeff Farmer, Gordon Haskett.

傑夫法默，戈登哈斯克特。

Good morning, and thank you. I'm just hoping you can provide a little bit more color on some of your near term top line strategies, especially in the background that we've heard from your peers, which is pointing to a sort of both increased advertising weights, a lot more value promotions.

早安，謝謝。我只是希望您能為您的一些近期營收策略提供更多的信息，特別是在我們從您的同行那裡聽到的背景下，這表明廣告權重增加了很多更多超值促銷。

So I appreciate your long-term strategy that you outlined a couple of weeks ago, but at least over the next couple of quarters, how are you guys looking to compete in an environment that's been increasingly promotional and a lot more advertising?

因此，我很欣賞你們幾週前概述的長期策略，但至少在接下來的幾個季度裡，你們打算如何在促銷和廣告日益增多的環境中競爭？

Good morning, Jeff. Thanks for the question. We actually feel very well positioned in this environment because Cracker Barrel is a brand that values value and really understands the value is important to our guests. And remember value is a multifaceted equation for the guest. It's not only the price that somebody pays, but it's the quality of the food, it's the amount of the food, it's the experience that they receive in our restaurants.

早安，傑夫。謝謝你的提問。事實上，我們在這種環境中感覺非常有利，因為 Cracker Barrel 是一個重視價值的品牌，並且真正理解價值對我們的客人來說很重要。記住，價值對客人來說是一個多方面的等式。這不僅關係到人們所支付的價格，還關係到食物的品質、食物的數量以及他們在我們餐廳獲得的體驗。

We got out of the gate early on thinking about value and how we were going to convey value in new ways to our guests based on the research that we've done, that is really underpinned the transformation agenda. Value for us at Cracker Barrel is just one key piece of all of it. We got out of the gate last Q2. You'll remember that I shared on the earnings call that we were launching in early-dine program. It was something we believe very, very strongly in. It's got great dinner items at $8.99 from 4:00 to 6:00 PM, Monday through Friday. We love welcoming our guests in at that very, very sharp price point.

我們很早就開始思考價值，以及如何根據我們所做的研究以新的方式向客人傳達價值，這確實是轉型議程的基礎。 Cracker Barrel 對我們來說的價值只是其中的一個關鍵部分。我們在第二季走出了大門。您會記得我在財報電話會議上分享了我們推出的早晚餐計畫。這是我們非常非常堅信的事情。我們很高興以非常非常優惠的價格歡迎我們的客人入住。

We rushed to get that to market so much so that we actually didn't have any planned advertising around it in Q2 or even Q3. What you're seeing right now is that at the beginning of May, we actually started to put some advertising behind that. So that making guests aware that Cracker Barrel has their back in these times, that we are there for them with this great sharp value price point at dinner.

我們急於將其推向市場，以至於我們實際上沒有在第二季甚至第三季圍繞它進行任何計劃的廣告。你現在看到的是，在五月初，我們實際上開始在背後投放一些廣告。因此，讓客人意識到 Cracker Barrel 在這些時候會為他們提供支持，我們會在晚餐時為他們提供如此超值的價格點。

That is a big piece of our overall pricing strategy that I talked about on the call a few weeks ago. We are really executing a barbell pricing strategy so that we can be very sharp key price points, not only with this early dine program, but we also have key price points of breakfast. We've introduced a new Sunrise Special, for breakfast at a [$7.99] price point. That's an incredible value. I challenge you to eat at it all; I personally can't eat it all. It's such a great breakfast. It features our signature pancakes and eggs or your choice of meat. And that's a great price point as well.

這是我幾週前在電話會議上談到的我們整體定價策略的重要組成部分。我們實際上正在執行槓鈴定價策略，這樣我們就可以非常明確地確定關鍵價格點，不僅包括這個早晚餐計劃，而且我們也有早餐的關鍵價格點。我們推出了新的日出特惠早餐，價格為 [7.99 美元]。這是一個令人難以置信的價值。我挑戰你把所有的東西都吃掉；我個人是吃不完的。這真是一頓豐盛的早餐。它的特色是我們的招牌煎餅和雞蛋或您選擇的肉類。這也是一個很好的價格點。

So that's kind of one end of it while we're really evaluating our ability to kind of take price strategically, as I've talked about on the last couple of calls. So we believe that we're very well positioned. We're starting to actually communicate this through our media channels that Cracker Barrel has and always will be a great value proposition for our guests. And we're just there to protect it and to ensure that they know about it.

因此，這就是事情的結局，同時我們正在真正評估我們策略性定價的能力，正如我在最近幾次電話會議中談到的那樣。所以我們相信我們處於非常有利的位置。我們開始透過我們的媒體管道實際傳達這一點：Cracker Barrel 已經並將永遠為我們的客人提供巨大的價值主張。我們只是在那裡保護它並確保他們知道它。

Okay. And then just two more quick follow-ups on the modelling side. So I think your guidance implies for the fourth quarter, something like 200 basis points of adjusted EBITDA margin compression. So first question is, am I in the ballpark with that? And then the second one would be -- I might have missed it, but can you share the traffic and mix? I think you shared that the pricing was in the press release -- but traffic and mix in the quarter?

好的。然後在建模方面再進行兩次快速跟進。因此，我認為您的指導意味著第四季度調整後 EBITDA 利潤率將壓縮 200 個基點。所以第一個問題是，我對此了解嗎？然後第二個是——我可能錯過了，但你能分享一下流量和組合嗎？我想您分享了新聞稿中的定價——但是本季度的流量和組合呢？

Hi, Jeff, it's Craig. Yes, you're in the ballpark as it relates to the margin reduction in Q4, very, very rough terms, approximately 200 basis points. And in terms of traffic for the quarter, traffic for Q3 was a negative [4.9] for the quarter?

嗨，傑夫，我是克雷格。是的，你的猜測是，因為這與第四季度的利潤率下降有關，非常非常粗略地說，大約是 200 個基點。就本季的流量而言，第三季的流量為負數[4.9]？

Okay. Alright. Thank you.

好的。好吧。謝謝。

Todd Brooks, The Benchmark company.

托德·布魯克斯，基準公司。

Hey, thanks for taking my question. Just following up on Jeff's question. Consumer behavior and what you're seeing currently, are you seeing really frequency being a loss from a same-store sales pressure standpoint or how about check management? I mean, what are you seeing as far as -- as trade down value resonating, maybe people coming out of other dayparts into that early evening daypart, just like to get sense on kind of your consumer and how that developed across the course of the quarter.

嘿，謝謝你回答我的問題。只是跟進傑夫的問題。消費者行為以及您目前所看到的情況，從同店銷售壓力的角度來看，您是否看到真正的頻率是損失，或者檢查管理怎麼樣？ I mean, what are you seeing as far as -- as trade down value resonating, maybe people coming out of other dayparts into that early evening daypart, just like to get sense on kind of your consumer and how that developed across the course of the四分之一.

See, in terms of the consumer, what we're seeing is the lower income consumer is more pressured, and we're seeing that particularly with the under [$60,000] consumer in terms of their visits. I'm not sure if it's frequency necessarily, but that would make sense. The traditional -- in Cracker Barrel, we've been a great value. We've actually held up well over the longer term with the under [$60,000] consumer. But more recently, you've seen some pressure there.

就消費者而言，我們看到的是低收入消費者承受的壓力更大，尤其是對於訪問量低於 [60,000 美元] 的消費者而言。我不確定它是否一定是頻率，但這是有道理的。傳統的－在 Cracker Barrel 中，我們一直非常有價值。實際上，從長遠來看，我們對 [60,000 美元] 以下的消費者保持著良好的勢頭。但最近，你看到了一些壓力。

Our -- in terms of the menu mix, there are a couple of moving pieces. And so there is a little bit of negative menu mix there, Todd. It's not a large amount. And I would say there are some reductions in add-ons and things like that relative to prior trends. We've really seen it more so on the retail side, where -- and that's a highly discretionary part of the dine-in occasion, and we've seen a little bit of softness on conversions. So maybe more on retail than necessarily in restaurants.

我們的——就菜單組合而言，有一些令人感動的部分。所以托德，菜單上有一些負面的混合。數額並不大。我想說的是，與之前的趨勢相比，附加元件和類似的東西有所減少。我們確實在零售方面看到了更多這樣的情況，這是就餐場合的一個高度自由裁量的部分，我們看到轉換率有點疲軟。因此，零售業可能比餐館業更多。

That's really helpful. Thanks, Craig. Second follow up, if I may. If we look back to the call from a couple of weeks ago, you talked about 2025 being an investment year and talking to it being in the range of flat to slightly down EBITDA. Should we be thinking about the guidance range for full year '24 and maybe that lower half of the $200 million to $220 million range being attainable in '25 and that would be that flattish outcome. But if you're in the upper half in '24, that leads to kind of the down year over year EBITDA. Any sense of how we flow this incremental guidance point you've given us versus the qualitative guidance point around fiscal '25 EBITDA?

這真的很有幫助。謝謝，克雷格。如果可以的話，第二次跟進。如果我們回顧幾週前的電話會議，您談到 2025 年是一個投資年，並且 EBITDA 處於持平或略有下降的範圍內。我們是否應該考慮 24 年全年的指導範圍，也許 25 年可以實現 2 億至 2.2 億美元範圍的下半部分，這將是平淡的結果。但如果你在 24 年處於上半區，這會導致 EBITDA 年比下降。與圍繞 25 財年 EBITDA 的定性指導點相比，我們如何處理您提供給我們的增量指導點？

We'll add more texture to that in September. I think we really believe in the three year plan, we believe in the roughly 400 basis points improvement in EBITDA. And looking at all of the work we've got ahead of us, we're kind of looking at the industrial headwinds, and that kind of leaves us at a point of view that '25 will be a bit challenged. And we still continue to believe in the EBITDA level flat to slightly down relative to '24. Now we're in -- where we ended '24 is still a bit of an open chapter. So it will kind of play out and then we'll update you in the next call.

我們將在九月添加更多紋理。我認為我們真的相信三年計劃，我們相信 EBITDA 會提高大約 400 個基點。看看我們面前的所有工作，我們在某種程度上看到了工業逆風，這讓我們認為 25 年將面臨一些挑戰。我們仍然認為 EBITDA 水準與 24 年相比持平或略有下降。現在我們處於－24 年結束的階段仍然是一個開放的章節。所以事情會順利進行，然後我們會在下次通話中向您通報最新情況。

Okay, thanks. And just a final one on the modeling side. Can you remind us the expectation for what the 53rd week is worth from a revenue and EBITDA standpoint? Thank you.

好的謝謝。這只是建模方面的最後一個。您能否提醒我們從收入和 EBITDA 的角度來看，第 53 週的價值是多少？謝謝。

We haven't provided an exact number on the 53rd week. And so generally, what I would encourage you to do is go back to 2018 and use that as a reference point and generally update that for lower margins. I would say that the 53rd week impact is embedded in our total year EBITDA guidance for this year. And as we talk about fiscal 2025, we are comparing the expectation for '25 to that total fiscal 2024 guidance that we provided.

我們尚未提供第 53 週的確切數字。一般來說，我建議您回到 2018 年，並將其作為參考點，並普遍更新以降低利潤率。我想說的是，第 53 週的影響已納入我們今年的全年 EBITDA 指導中。當我們談論 2025 財年時，我們正在將 25 財年的預期與我們提供的 2024 財年總體指導進行比較。

Okay, great. Thanks, Craig.

好的，太好了。謝謝，克雷格。

Jake Bartlett, Truist Securities.

傑克·巴特利特，Truist 證券公司。

Great. Thanks for taking the question. I wanted to build on the update call in some of the big changes that you announced. One question that I had following it was just really what gives you the confidence that reinvesting in the stores is the right way to go here, such a big change to the model. Anything you can share in terms of just more detail of what you've heard from consumers and why you think that that remodels as well as the increased maintenance is so important for the turnaround here?

偉大的。感謝您提出問題。我想在您宣布的一些重大更改的更新通話的基礎上進行。我接下來的一個問題是，是什麼讓你有信心對商店進行再投資是來這裡的正確方式，對模式來說是一個巨大的改變。您能分享一下您從消費者那裡聽到的更多細節嗎？

Yeah, good morning, Jake. We did extensive research and really put in together that transformation plan. We talk to guests all over the country, all different kind of segments, all kinds of backgrounds, and also listen to our team members, and really took great stock and kind of where we find ourselves. And with traffic down almost 20% to 2019, they're telling us they're not choosing us. And so digging into the why there was really, really important. We heard from them that the experience in Cracker Barrel just isn't as relevant specifically at dinner.

是的，早上好，傑克。我們進行了廣泛的研究，並真正制定了轉型計劃。我們與全國各地的客人、各種不同的細分市場、各種背景進行交談，也聽取了我們團隊成員的意見，並真正了解了我們自己的情況。到 2019 年，流量下降了近 20%，他們告訴我們他們不會選擇我們。因此，深入研究其中的原因非常非常重要。我們從他們那裡得知，Cracker Barrel 的體驗與晚餐無關。

So our dinner sales are down. When you look at that year over year, it's 35% of our mix, and it's an important daypart for us. We've held up quite well at breakfast. But what guests have told us is that the Cracker Barrel experience, there are more relevant choices for them in the dinner daypart based on the experiential factors. So a lot of that is looking at the comfort of the tables, the lighting, the paint, all of those things. And that really came out in our research that we needed to look at the store experience as well as the other parts of the transformation agenda. The menu also needed some work on relevance.

所以我們的晚餐銷量就下降了。當你逐年查看這一天時，你會發現它占我們組合的 35%，而且對我們來說是一個重要的時段。我們在早餐時表現得很好。但客人告訴我們的是，Cracker Barrel體驗，根據體驗因素，晚餐時段有更多適合他們的選擇。所以很多事情都是看桌子的舒適度、燈光、油漆等等。我們的研究確實表明，我們需要考慮商店體驗以及轉型議程的其他部分。菜單還需要在相關性方面做一些工作。

So lots of data is behind that. And then what I would tell you, Jake, as well is only two stores, they're very much lab stores at the moment. We're seeing great guest feedback on the quick remodels that we did there. And just the feeling of lighter, brighter, fresher, cleaner, a place where I do want to have dinner. Remember, we put some bag test and boosts into the stores and people are really loving those. And it feels like a place that -- feels like they're at Cracker Barrel and just a better version of Cracker Barrel. So we believe we're on the right track and that's what '25 is all about: really taking a very disciplined approach to the capital deployment around this piece of the strategy.

所以這背後有很多數據。然後我要告訴你的是，傑克，也只有兩家商店，它們目前很大程度是實驗室商店。我們看到客人對我們在那裡進行的快速改造給予了很好的回饋。感覺更輕鬆、更明亮、更清新、更乾淨，是我確實想吃晚餐的地方。請記住，我們在商店中進行了一些包袋測試和增強，人們真的很喜歡這些。感覺就像是在 Cracker Barrel，而且是 Cracker Barrel 的更好版本。因此，我們相信我們走在正確的軌道上，這就是 25 的意義所在：圍繞著這個策略，真正採取非常嚴格的資本部署方法。

We know that we want to be careful and good stewards of the capital. So we're looking at testing 25 to 30 stores in this next year at a variety of investment levels and frankly at a variety of baselines. So we're looking at stores that are performing well; stores that aren't performing well. Looking at whether we put a higher amount of money into it or a lower amount of money in. To really see and find that sweet spot for the right level of investment versus return versus growth rate so that we can be very disciplined about the deployment of capital to really drive that part of the plan for growth for the future.

我們知道，我們要小心謹慎地管理首都。因此，我們計劃明年在不同的投資水平和不同的基準上測試 25 到 30 家商店。因此，我們正在尋找表現良好的商店；業績不佳的商店。看看我們是投入更多的錢還是投入更少的錢。的這一部分。

And I'll follow with the second part of your question related to the maintenance. Some of that kind of comes through general feedback. But guest don't give you that specific feedback. However, we have brand standards. So what we do as a normal course of business and maybe fell a little bit behind during [COVID] is we go through, we audit every store, and we audited the entire portfolio.

我將回答您與維護相關的問題的第二部分。其中一些來自一般回饋。但客人不會給你具體的回饋。但是，我們有品牌標準。因此，作為正常的業務流程，我們所做的可能是在[新冠肺炎]期間稍微落後了一點，我們會仔細檢查每家商店，並對整個產品組合進行審計。

And as we completed that process, it was clear to us that we fell a bit behind on [some -- on guest basin and employee basin] maintenance items, things such as parking lot, paints, and floors, and bathrooms. And so that really came through our own standards anecdotally from the guest, but primarily through our own standards and then we have to get caught up on that. That is one of those investments that it pays dividends over time. As you think about how you view a business. Does it look fresh, does it look clean, does it look up to date.

當我們完成這個過程時，我們很清楚我們在[一些——客人盥洗盆和員工盥洗盆]維護項目上落後了一些，例如停車場、油漆、地板和浴室。因此，這確實是透過我們自己的標準從客人那裡得到的，但主要是透過我們自己的標準，然後我們必須趕上這一點。這是隨著時間的推移會帶來紅利的投資之一。當您思考如何看待一家企業。它看起來新鮮嗎？

Got it. Great. That's helpful. My next is similar question on the cost savings targets that you provided, the $50 million to $60 million. I know you're early stages in -- but I guess my question, if you could help us understand maybe some big buckets. You've talked about the opportunity to maybe have a little bit less scratch cooking, maybe some little more food coming in the door, a little more process for lack of a better word. But what are the big -- is that the majority? I mean, just give us some big kind of buckets of where you think these cost savings are going to be coming from.

知道了。偉大的。這很有幫助。我的下一個問題是關於您提供的成本節約目標（5000 萬至 6000 萬美元）的類似問題。我知道你還處於早期階段——但我想我的問題是，你是否可以幫助我們理解一些大問題。你談到了可能會少一點臨時烹飪的機會，也許會有更多的食物進來，更多的過程，因為缺乏更好的詞來形容。但什麼是大的——是大多數嗎？我的意思是，請告訴我們一些您認為這些成本節省將來自何處的大類。

Yes, you've kind of started the answer there for us. So thank you. A lot of the work centers around industrial engineering effort that focuses on the back of the house. We're in the early stages, early stages of that, but we think there's a win-win opportunity given the breadth and the complexity of our menu to simplify our operations, make it more efficient, make it more consistent. And that will show up in kind of back of the house in labor in some ways. It will show up in other areas in the back of the house. We think that will be a meaningful part of this $50 million to $60 million.

是的，您已經開始為我們提供答案了。所以謝謝。許多工作都圍繞著工業工程工作，重點是房子的後面。我們正處於早期階段，但我們認為，考慮到我們菜單的廣度和複雜性，可以簡化我們的操作，提高效率，使其更加一致，這是一個雙贏的機會。這會在某種程度上體現在分娩過程中。它將出現在房子後面的其他區域。我們認為這將是這 5,000 萬至 6,000 萬美元中有意義的一部分。

Then in addition to that, we have an ongoing program that's been quite successful over the years that will generate savings across the full P&Ls. So I think some of that's going to skew towards the back of the house, which will have a labor component to it over time. And then the other program as an overlay to that. The challenge has been we've had these programs for awhile, Jake, as you know. Candidly, the challenge has been this issue that Julie brought up is this -- this relevant issue, which we think manifests itself in decline in traffic.

除此之外，我們還有一個正在進行的計劃，多年來非常成功，將在整個損益表中產生節省。所以我認為其中一些會偏向房子的後面，隨著時間的推移，那裡將會有勞動力的成分。然後另一個程序作為其覆蓋。傑克，如你所知，我們面臨的挑戰是這些計劃已經有一段時間了。坦白說，挑戰是朱莉提出的這個問題——這個相關問題，我們認為這個問題體現在流量下降上。

So saving $50 million as an example. And then the traffic's down significantly, then that erodes that $50 million. So we have both of these things coming together. We're stabilizing the traffic and ultimately started to grow, then that allows these cost savings efforts to flow through to a greater degree.

以節省 5000 萬美元為例。然後流量大幅下降，這 5000 萬美元就被侵蝕了。所以我們將這兩件事結合在一起。我們正在穩定流量並最終開始成長，然後這使得這些節省成本的努力能夠更大程度地發揮作用。

Okay. And just to just I guess to that point, there is some -- you had cost cuts in the past year, [I don't know] $30 million to $40 million, but that was being reinvested. So it wasn't flowing through to the margins. I just want to make sure that we're clear that this $50 million to $60 million that you expect to save, that's going to flow through to the margins. You expect that to be kind of a real, kind of essentially net margin saver in itself. And so you're not reinvesting that in something else that would not kind of allow this to flow through?

好的。我想，在這一點上，去年你削減了成本，[我不知道] 3000 萬到 4000 萬美元，但這些都被再投資了。所以它沒有流向邊緣。我只是想確保我們清楚，您希望節省的 5000 萬至 6000 萬美元將流向利潤。你期望這本身就是一種真正的、本質上的淨利潤節省。所以你不會再投資在其他不允許這種流動的東西？

Yeah, the $50 million to $60 million is embedded in the 400 basis points improvement. So it's a part of that improvement over the three year window.

是的，5000 萬至 6000 萬美元包含在 400 個基點的改進中。所以這是三年窗口期改進的一部分。

Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

好的。非常感謝。欣賞它。

Brian Mullan, Piper Sandler.

布萊恩·穆蘭，派珀·桑德勒。

Thank you. And Julie, you mentioned something called [seat-to-eat] times in the prepared remarks. That seems like an important KPI, maybe could you just give a little history? Was that being tracked before you joined? And then assuming it was, it's nice to hear that there has been some recent progress. Can you just give a sense of where that stands versus a couple of years ago when the business was in a bit of a better place? Just trying to get a sense of how far you might have to go.

謝謝。朱莉，你在準備好的演講中提到了所謂的「用餐時間」。這似乎是一個重要的 KPI，也許您可以提供一些歷史記錄嗎？在你加入之前有被跟蹤嗎？假設確實如此，很高興聽到最近取得了一些進展。您能否介紹一下與幾年前相比，當時業務狀況稍好一點的情況？只是想了解您可能需要走多遠。

Sure, Brian. Thanks for the question. One of the early things we did is really dissecting the business and looking at what we could do to improve where we find ourselves was focused on what I call metrics that matter. And so we did a lot of correlation and what are the ops metrics specifically in the stores that we can control today that have the highest impact on same-store sales growth. And when we came -- when we dug into that, we looked at -- I don't even know we looked at like 40 or 50 different metrics and really landed on these five that I talked about in the prepared remarks.

當然，布萊恩。謝謝你的提問。我們所做的早期事情之一就是真正剖析業務，看看我們可以做些什麼來改善我們發現自己專注於我所說的重要指標。因此，我們做了很多相關性分析，以及我們今天可以控制的對同店銷售成長影響最大的商店的具體營運指標是什麼。當我們深入研究這個問題時，我們研究了——我甚至不知道我們研究了 40 或 50 個不同的指標，並真正找到了我在準備好的發言中談到的這五個指標。

The first one is really guest satisfaction. Now, guest satisfaction is a little bit of a loaded one because it's like value. There's a lot of things in that calculation for our guests. It's everything from the service level to all of those things roll up into guest satisfaction, but we're measuring that with Google star ratings. And so that's number one.

第一個是真正的客人滿意度。現在，客人滿意度有點過高，因為它就像價值一樣。對於我們的客人來說，這個計算涉及很多事情。從服務水準到所有這些因素都會影響到客人的滿意度，但我們是用谷歌星級評分來衡量的。所以這是第一。

Number two, I talked about seat-to-eat. And we also have another metric of seat to pre-check. So that's basically how quickly are you greeted, and then how long does it take for your food to come out. The seat-to-eat, which is really the big one, just people are hungry, that's why they came to Cracker Barrel, they want to eat. So we want to make sure that we get their food to them in a reasonable amount of time that that has made properly hot food, it's not cold food, it's cold made to our wonderful recipe.

第二，我談到了座位吃飯。我們還有另一個座位指標需要預先檢查。這基本上就是你受到歡迎的速度，以及你的食物需要多長時間才能出來。吃飯的座位，確實很大，只是人們餓了，所以他們才來到Cracker Barrel，他們想吃東西。因此，我們希望確保在合理的時間內將食物送到他們手中，從而製作出適當的熱食，而不是冷食，而是按照我們美妙的食譜製作的冷食。

We've improved that time by 8%, which is actually really, really meaningful. When you think about the average time somebody spends with us is a little less than an hour. So that's a key metric and getting your food faster and getting you on your way. And we want to be part of your life but we also know you have other things going on, too. So that was a key one.

我們已經將時間縮短了 8%，這實際上非常非常有意義。想想看，某人與我們在一起的平均時間不到一個小時。因此，這是一個關鍵指標，可以更快地提供食物並讓您上路。我們希望成為您生活的一部分，但我們也知道您還有其他事情要做。所以這是關鍵之一。

The other ones I talked about, our turnover tenure in a role, and then we're also looking at off-premise, missing items scores, all of which were showing improvement on the team, a huge -- I'll just use this opportunity to really shout out the ops team and all of our field partners, every single day and the leaders there because they are so focused on taking care of our guests, delivering an experience that guests are going to love and food that guests love.

我談到的其他問題，我們在一個角色中的流動任期，然後我們也在考慮外部、缺失項目的分數，所有這些都顯示出團隊的進步，這是一個巨大的——我就用這個有機會真正向營運團隊和我們所有的現場合作夥伴、每一天以及那裡的領導者大聲喊叫，因為他們非常專注於照顧我們的客人，提供客人喜歡的體驗和客人喜歡的食物。

Remember those part of my three imperatives, the relevancy, food and experience that guests love and growing profitability. And that really starts day in day out every execution with every guest, making it wonderful. We believe that these dividends that were in -- not the dividend-dividend, but these efforts that we're really focused on in our restaurants today will pay dividends to the business in the long term because these are really what matter to our guests and what drives same-store sales. So thanks for the question.

請記住我的三個要務中的一部分，即客人喜愛的相關性、食物和體驗以及不斷增長的盈利能力。這確實是日復一日地開始，每位客人的每一次執行都非常精彩。我們相信，這些股息——不是股息紅利，而是我們今天在餐廳中真正關注的這些努力將從長遠來看為業務帶來股息，因為這些對我們的客人和我們來說確實很重要是什麼推動了同店銷售。謝謝你的提問。

Okay, thank you. And then just a follow-up question on the off-premise business. You talked about this a bit in the strategic call a few weeks ago. Can you just remind us how you're viewing this business now? Which channels are you happy with? Where do you expect to make some changes?

好的謝謝。然後是關於場外業務的後續問題。您在幾週前的策略電話會議中談到了這一點。您能提醒我們現在如何看待這家公司嗎？您對哪些頻道感到滿意？您希望在哪些方面做出一些改變？

And just related to that, I think the heat and serve business might be a lower margin percentage business, which I think is understood. But I'm curious if that is right. And does that have any impact on operations as well if you were to make changes to that part of it?

與此相關的是，我認為加熱和服務業務可能是利潤率較低的業務，我認為這是可以理解的。但我很好奇這是否正確。如果您要對這部分進行更改，這會對營運產生任何影響嗎？

Yeah, Brian, it's a really interesting channel because it's got a lot of stuff going on in it for us. So in off-premise today, we put individual to go in that, and put third party delivery in that, and we put catering in our occasion business in that. And they are three really different businesses actually, when you break them down and kind of think about it, the way the guest interacts with our staff across all of those is really different. The third party experience; they're not even coming in and it's somebody else grabbing it and taking it to that individual to go. They're placing that order through our channel so they're coming in to get it. And then catering, that can happen a myriad of ways.

是的，布萊恩，這是一個非常有趣的頻道，因為它為我們提供了很多內容。因此，今天在場外，我們將個人納入其中，並將第三方交付納入其中，並將餐飲納入我們的場合業務。實際上，它們是三個完全不同的業務，當你將它們分解並思考時，客人與我們的員工互動的方式在所有這些方面都非常不同。第三方經驗；他們甚至沒有進來，而是其他人抓住了它並把它帶到那個人那裡去。他們透過我們的管道下訂單，因此他們會來取貨。然後是餐飲，這可以透過多種方式實現。

All of which to the last part of your question is really important, does have impact on our in-store operations? So we've got to make this food just alongside of everything that's happening in our restaurants. So we're running a couple of different businesses all at the same time. What we realized mainly in kind of Q2 of last year was that some of these businesses were putting disproportionate amount of pressure on the dine-in business. We have been focusing on growing catering a little bit of like at-all-costs -- like grow, grow, grow, grow, grow.

您問題的最後一部分非常重要，這對我們店內營運有影響嗎？所以我們必須在我們餐廳裡發生的一切事情的同時製作這種食物。所以我們同時經營幾項不同的業務。我們在去年第二季主要意識到，其中一些企業對堂食業務帶來了不成比例的壓力。我們一直專注於發展餐飲業，有點像不惜一切代價──例如成長、成長、成長、成長、成長。

And what we realize is that it's not as profitable as other channels and it was really hurting guest satisfaction in our dine-in business because the amount of energy to put against -- think about it, we have orders for warehouses that were celebrating a party or something like that, and it could literally be feeding 100 people. So the kitchen, the same kitchen that's feeding the guests in the restaurant are putting this order together and it can be a little bit of a distraction and it was impacting our seat to eat times and these things that I've just said are really important to guest satisfaction.

我們意識到，它的利潤不如其他管道，而且它確實損害了我們堂食業務中的客人滿意度，因為要投入大量的精力——想想看，我們的倉庫有正在慶祝聚會的訂單或者類似的東西，它實際上可以養活100 個人。因此，廚房，也就是在餐廳為客人提供食物的同一家廚房正在將這份訂單放在一起，這可能會有點分散注意力，並且影響了我們座位的用餐時間，我剛才所說的這些事情非常重要讓客人滿意。

So because of this, that's why that part of our pillar four has been about really focusing on how to make these three businesses within off-premise more profitable, to rightsize them against our dine-in business, which is our priority business, and to really make sure that we execute them with excellence. I talked about missing item in my prepared remarks because that is one of the key things that we weren't doing well.

正因為如此，這就是為什麼我們的第四支柱的一部分真正關注如何使這三項場外業務更有利可圖，根據我們的堂食業務（我們的優先業務）調整它們的規模，並真正確保我們出色地執行它們。我在準備好的發言中談到了遺漏的內容，因為這是我們做得不好的關鍵事情之一。

Our missing item rate was high for the industry and those third party delivery orders. And so getting that right, executing with excellence across all three of these businesses within that off-premise channel are really, really important as we grow for the future.

對於產業和第三方送貨訂單來說，我們的物品缺失率很高。因此，在我們未來的發展過程中，正確地做到這一點，在場外管道內對這三個業務進行卓越的執行是非常非常重要的。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Jon Tower, Citigroup.

喬恩·塔爾，花旗集團。

Great. Thanks for taking the question. Just curious, pricing is running 4% this year in the context of some deflation on the commodity side, obviously, labor inflation still out there. And I think [on that] strategic update call a couple of weeks ago, you talked about the opportunity to perhaps get a little bit sharper on pricing across the system, given the way that you're looking at it on a store by store basis rather than kind of bigger regional markets.

偉大的。感謝您提出問題。只是好奇，在大宗商品方面出現一定通貨緊縮的情況下，今年的定價上漲了 4%，顯然，勞動力通膨仍然存在。我認為幾週前的策略更新電話會議上，您談到了可能在整個系統的定價上變得更加敏銳的機會，考慮到您逐家商店的看待方式而不是更大的區域市場。

So I was hoping maybe how you're thinking about that informs your view for 2025 pricing, given the backdrop of the consumer but at the same time, the opportunities that you're seeing across the different stores in this system?

因此，我希望考慮到消費者的背景，但同時考慮到您在該系統中不同商店中看到的機會，您的想法是否會影響您對 2025 年定價的看法？

Thanks, Jon. Look, one of the things we identified early on is that there's an opportunity for us to be more strategic in the way that we actually apply price. Prices are powerful lever, but it's also something that's really recognizable for consumers and comparable to other experiences that they're having out there. So as we talked, we've been really maniacal about thinking about how we protect value, while making sure that we take price in a way that better sets us up for success and better flows through.

謝謝，喬恩。看，我們早期發現的一件事是，我們有機會在實際應用價格的方式上更具策略性。價格是一個強大的槓桿，但它也是消費者真正認可的東西，並且可以與他們擁有的其他體驗相提並論。因此，正如我們所說，我們一直在瘋狂地思考如何保護價值，同時確保我們以更好地為我們的成功和更好的資金流動奠定基礎的方式定價。

I use the example in the call two weeks ago of -- today, we have a tier that has 60% of our stores in it. And in that tier, there's literally a store where the average household income is $55,000 a year and a store where the average household income of $90,000 a year. We used that as an example, because I think it's pretty powerful that there's different willingness to pay and different competitive sets around each of those stores and that provides an opportunity for us to refine our pricing tier. So we're doing that work.

我在兩週前的電話會議中使用了這個例子——今天，我們有一個層級，其中有 60% 的商店。在這一層中，實際上有一家商店的平均家庭年收入為 55,000 美元，還有一家商店的平均家庭年收入為 90,000 美元。我們以此為例，因為我認為每個商店都有不同的支付意願和不同的競爭環境，這非常強大，這為我們提供了完善定價層的機會。所以我們正在做這項工作。

Now, we've got a test running right now. We've got several tests running where we've been taking price across these tiers more strategically across different items in the menu. We're testing and learning quite a few different things. In that as we talked in the prepared remarks two weeks ago or on the call two weeks ago, we've taken about 3% of price and most of that flowing through.

現在，我們正在進行測試。我們已經進行了多項測試，在這些測試中，我們對菜單中不同項目的價格進行了更具策略性的評估。我們正在測試和學習很多不同的東西。正如我們在兩週前準備好的演講中或兩週前的電話會議中所說，我們已經收取了大約 3% 的價格，其中大部分已經流通。

One of the goals in putting together this strategic approach to pricing was that we did lay out a multiyear road map to pricing and really understand where move might be -- where we have opportunity and then choice fully apply that to our plan. And that's what we're doing.

制定這種定價策略方法的目標之一是，我們確實制定了一個多年的定價路線圖，並真正了解可能採取的行動——我們有機會的地方，然後選擇將其完全應用到我們的計劃中。這就是我們正在做的事情。

So while we know that we've got opportunity out there, we're not actually applying all it. When we get into Q1 of '25 and we're laying out a roadmap for what actually is the right thing, given the consumer pressures of today, given how we feel about value, given all the other moves we're making in the menu. So we believe now we have really a nice roadmap that we can move around as we need to kind of quarter-by-quarter over the next three years of the plan with some ability to take price. And I'll let Craig get some thoughts maybe.

因此，雖然我們知道我們有機會，但我們並沒有真正應用它。當我們進入25 年第一季時，考慮到當今消費者的壓力，考慮到我們對價值的感受，考慮到我們在菜單中所做的所有其他舉措，我們正在製定一個路線圖，確定什麼是真正正確的事。因此，我們相信現在我們確實有一個很好的路線圖，我們可以四處走動，因為我們需要在未來三年中按季度進行計劃，並具有一定的定價能力。也許我會讓克雷格得到一些想法。

Yeah. The only thing I would add to that, Jon, is just reemphasize what Julie said earlier around is -- really early in the process Julie identified this -- the value issue is a big issue in the industry and we put in place these anchor points around the early-dine and breakfast that Sunrise started in at [$7.99]. So we have those anchors. Those are advertisable price points across multiple dayparts. And so this pricing work will layer on top of that, but it keeps that foundation out there with a very sharp communicatable price points.

是的。喬恩，我唯一要補充的是，再次強調朱莉之前所說的是——在朱莉很早就發現了這一點——價值問題是行業中的一個大問題，我們將這些錨點落實到位Sunrise 的早晚餐和早餐價格為[$7.99]。所以我們有了這些錨點。這些是多個時段的廣告價格點。因此，這項定價工作將在此基礎上進行分層，但它以非常清晰的可溝通價格點保持這一基礎。

Got it. Okay. And kind of related similar theme. You've seen nice commodity inflation this most recent quarter. And I think for the balance of the year or for the full year, you're implying roughly flat, but we're looking at some of the indices across the restaurant space, suggesting a lot of the key inputs are starting to rise for the category. I think some of the ones you have exposure to are ticking higher. So how are you thinking about food costs over the next 12 months or so? Are there any contracts we should be aware of that might be coming up for renewal that might have to reset a different rate?

知道了。好的。以及類似的相關主題。最近一個季度，您已經看到了不錯的商品通膨。我認為，對於今年的剩餘時間或全年而言，您的意思是大致持平，但我們正在研究整個餐廳領域的一些指數，這表明許多關鍵投入開始上升類別。我認為您接觸過的一些股票價格正在走高。那麼您如何看待未來 12 個月左右的食品成本？是否有任何我們應該注意的可能需要續約的合約可能需要重置不同的費率？

Hey Jon. It's Craig again, we will talk more about it in September. I mean, I [don't think you] have a meaningful insight there is that the underlying dynamic is shifting a bit. So we'll provide more color on the September call.

嘿喬恩。又是克雷格，我們將在九月詳細討論它。我的意思是，我[不認為你]有一個有意義的見解，即潛在的動態正在發生一些變化。因此，我們將在 9 月的電話會議上提供更多資訊。

Okay. And then maybe just last one. You do have a convertible that's due in -- I think it's June of 2026. Can you provide any insights on what you're thinking with respect to how you might handle that when it comes to?

好的。然後也許只是最後一個。您確實有一輛敞篷車，預計將於 2026 年 6 月上市。

Yes, we are -- that one is a big one and we are actually starting to work on that well ahead and to ensure that we understand all of our options. We understand what the best decision is. The good news there is we have a lot of room on our revolver, a large capacity in our revolver. We've continued to keep our leverage at a reasonable level. So that gives us a lot of options as we look to refinance that. So we'll share more about that in the future. We're starting to look at it well ahead of the due date, and we'll make a decision based on kind of the facts on the ground at the time.

是的，我們是——這是一項重大任務，我們實際上已經開始著手解決這個問題，並確保我們了解我們所有的選擇。我們知道什麼是最好的決定。好消息是我們的左輪手槍有很大的空間，左輪手槍的容量很大。我們繼續將槓桿率保持在合理水平。因此，當我們尋求再融資時，這給了我們很多選擇。所以我們未來會分享更多相關內容。我們在截止日期之前就開始考慮這個問題，我們將根據當時的實際情況做出決定。

Got it. Thanks for taking the questions.

知道了。感謝您提出問題。

Katherine Griffin, Bank of America.

凱瑟琳·格里芬，美國銀行。

Hi. Thanks for the question. I had two modeling questions. And then a follow-up. So first, just if I could ask again kind of about the commodities cost expectations. Can you remind me what like some of the largest components of your cost basket are? Maybe like specifically as it relates to protein?

你好。謝謝你的提問。我有兩個建模問題。然後是後續行動。首先，我可否再詢問一下商品成本預期。您能提醒我您的成本籃中最大的一些組成部分是什麼嗎？也許特別是因為它與蛋白質有關？

And then the second on is just how we should think about G&A in 4Q. Is 3Q kind of the right run rate from here?

第二個問題是我們應該如何考慮第四季的一般管理費用。 3Q 的運行率是否合適？

Hi, Katherine. It's Craig. I'll take that one. The good news - it's one of the many good things with Cracker Barrel is we've got a pretty diversified basket. So we are pretty well split across the major categories. Fruits and vegetables is one of the larger ones. Poultry is actually the largest. And then we've got beef and pork. So pretty well diversified group as it relates to commodities.

嗨，凱瑟琳。這是克雷格。我會接受那個。好消息 - Cracker Barrel 的眾多好處之一是我們擁有相當多樣化的籃子。所以我們在主要類別上的劃分相當好。水果和蔬菜是較大的水果和蔬菜之一。家禽實際上是最大的。然後我們有牛肉和豬肉。與商品相關的族群非常多元化。

Then in terms of G&A, we do expect that G&A will be a bit higher in Q4 versus where it was in Q3. And then as we move into fiscal '25, G&A may tick up a little bit as well because we're continuing to invest in all of this work that we re-energize the business and get growth going again.

然後就一般費用而言，我們確實預計第四季度的一般費用將比第三季高一些。然後，當我們進入 25 財年時，一般行政費用也可能會略有增加，因為我們將繼續投資所有這些工作，以重新為業務注入活力並再次實現成長。

Got it. Makes sense. And then, Julie, a question for you on some of the additional technology investments that you spoke about a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to kind of understand like where the tech stack is today? Since -- I think for the last couple of years, there have been investments into better food and labor systems, and some of that may have -- may be bearing fruit. But I think -- I'm curious about how you are prioritizing those technology investments? Are you looking to replace some elements of the tech stack that are -- that would align with some of the remodel plans or industrial engineering plans?

知道了。說得通。然後，朱莉，我想問你一個關於幾週前談到的一些額外技術投資的問題。我想了解一下今天的技術堆疊在哪裡？我認為在過去的幾年裡，人們對更好的糧食和勞動力系統進行了投資，其中一些可能已經取得了成果。但我想——我很好奇你們如何優先考慮這些科技投資？您是否希望替換技術堆疊中的某些元素，這些元素與某些改造計劃或工業工程計劃相一致？

Just trying to get a sense of how incremental some of the changes could be with these additional technology investments. Is there improvement to be made in terms of whether it's like reservation software or things that could even increase some of the metrics that you talked about, whether it's seat to eat or turnover?

只是想了解這些額外的技術投資可以帶來多大的改變。無論是預訂軟體還是甚至可以增加您談到的一些指標（無論是用餐座位還是營業額）的東西，是否有需要改進的地方？

Yeah, Katherine, thanks for the question. Look, we have a three-year tech roadmap that the team has worked to build and that we're continuing to refine as we go into the AOP process for '25 and beyond. We built that as part of this strategic plan and the transformation agenda, knowing that we would need to make some investments. What I would tell you is the near term ones that we're really evaluating and looking at, are still around the loyalty tech stack and making sure that we are ramping our ability to monetize that program and make it the industry leading program that we know it can be.

是的，凱瑟琳，謝謝你的提問。看，我們團隊已經制定了一個為期三年的技術路線圖，並且在進入 25 年及以後的 AOP 流程時我們將繼續完善該路線圖。我們將其作為戰略計劃和轉型議程的一部分，因為我們知道我們需要進行一些投資。我要告訴你的是，我們正在真正評估和關注的近期項目仍然圍繞忠誠度技術堆疊，並確保我們正在提高將該計劃貨幣化的能力，並使其成為我們所知道的行業領先計劃有可能。

So things around personalization around [CDP, CRM], those things we didn't have today and those are the nearer term closer end things that we're looking at. We are always looking at kind of POS and technology. And, remember, we've got our retail business and our restaurant business. And our retail business is also a little bit behind in some of the tech investments there. So some of those are on our tech road map over the next three years.

因此，圍繞著 [CDP、CRM] 的個人化，這些是我們今天沒有的東西，而這些是我們正在考慮的近期更近端的東西。我們一直在尋找 POS 類型和技術。而且，請記住，我們有零售業務和餐飲業務。我們的零售業務在一些技術投資方面也有點落後。因此，其中一些已列入我們未來三年的技術路線圖。

So we'll give you more guidance on that in the September call as we look at '25 and we can be more specific about what those might look like in '25 and '26 and '27. But know that we have a three-year roadmap; team working against that, making sure that we can pace and sequence in a way that we can actually get the work done, the field can absorb that work with everything else that we have going on.

因此，我們將在 9 月的電話會議中為您提供更多指導，因為我們將關注“25”，並且我們可以更具體地說明“25”、“26”和“27”中的情況。但要知道我們有三年路線圖；團隊為此而努力，確保我們能夠以一種能夠真正完成工作的方式調整節奏和順序，該領域可以將這項工作與我們正在進行的其他一切一起吸收。

So we're being really really mindful about how we pace some sequence in some of these investments, not only from the investment perspective, but also from the absorption perspective.

因此，我們非常非常注意如何在其中一些投資中調整某些順序，不僅從投資角度，而且從吸收角度。

Okay. Thank you, both.

好的。謝謝你們倆。

Dennis Geiger, UBS.

丹尼斯蓋革，瑞銀集團。

Great. Thanks, guys. I'm wondering if there's anything more that you can share on, I think the comments around the sequential monthly improvement that you spoke to and which I think related just to the retail business. So if anything more on kind of what was driving that, if it's an underlying improvement?

偉大的。多謝你們。我想知道您是否還有什麼可以分享的，我認為您談到的有關每月連續改善的評論，我認為這僅與零售業務有關。那麼，是否有更多關於推動這一趨勢的因素，是否是根本性的改進？

And then I don't know if you were commenting on the restaurant trends specifically, but if there is anything to share there on that sequential trajectory through the quarter?

然後我不知道您是否具體評論了餐廳趨勢，但是對於整個季度的連續軌跡是否有什麼可以分享的？

Yeah. Our retail performance as you know, Craig talks about it this way quite a bit, it's discretionary, right? I mean -- we have lots of things we'd love for you to pick up in a Cracker Barrel Country Store and lots of things that I think will catch your eye, but you probably don't need most of those. So it tends to be a little bit in discretionary. The performance has been challenged for the last year or so. But what we have been encouraged by is the sequential monthly improvement in comp store sales there.

是的。如你所知，我們的零售業績，克雷格經常這樣談論它，這是可自由裁量的，對吧？我的意思是——我們有很多東西希望你能在 Cracker Barrel Country Store 裡買到，還有很多我認為會吸引你眼球的東西，但你可能不需要其中的大部分。所以它往往有點隨便。在過去一年左右的時間裡，其表現受到了挑戰。但令我們感到鼓舞的是，那裡的商品商店銷售逐月持續改善。

A lot of that's been driven by some of the theme assortments that have been performing really well. We are so unique and the team does such a great job on that product and some of those theme assortments have really been resonating with people.

其中很大一部分是由一些表現非常好的主題類別所推動的。我們是如此獨特，團隊在該產品上做得非常出色，其中一些主題分類確實引起了人們的共鳴。

The other thing is -- if you need to gift, swing by because we have some great value items in that store and that is also really resonating with guests. So both things that we have put on market and other things that are out there that come in and that the team does really at sharp price points. Again, given everything that's going on in the macros with value being important and lots of pressure on low income consumers. There's a lot of good value in our mix there, and that's really what's working well.

另一件事是，如果您需要送禮，請過來，因為我們那家商店裡有一些超值的商品，這也確實引起了客人的共鳴。因此，我們已經投放市場的東西以及團隊確實以很高的價格推出的其他東西。同樣，考慮到宏觀正在發生的一切，價值很重要，而且低收入消費者面臨很大的壓力。我們的組合有很多很好的價值，這確實是行之有效的。

Finally, I want to give a shout out to that team because they've done a wonderful job managing inventory levels and growing margins. So while we've had some headwinds to traffic in the retail conversion, our inventory levels are down. So that same store sales is up on a lower inventory level and margins are up. So it continues to be a nice business for us.

最後，我想讚揚該團隊，因為他們在管理庫存水準和不斷增長的利潤方面做得非常出色。因此，儘管我們在零售轉換方面遇到了一些阻力，但我們的庫存水準卻下降了。因此，同店銷售額在庫存水準較低的情況下會增加，利潤也會增加。因此，這對我們來說仍然是一項不錯的業務。

Appreciate that, Julie. Just on loyalty maybe then. Anything more to talk about in the quarter, observations on that program, what it's done for you and maybe how that helps you think about your expectations for the program going forward perhaps?

很欣賞這一點，朱莉。也許只是忠誠。本季還有什麼要談的嗎？

I'll start with that one and maybe Julie can give some more. We are really excited about the loyalty program. We are in the 5 million member kind of neighborhood at this point, which is huge. We're excited about that. It's still early and there's more work to do. But actually, I will turn it over to Julie to actually give you little bit more about what's coming next in terms of what information we're going to share and so on about the program.

我將從這個開始，也許朱莉可以提供更多。我們對忠誠度計劃感到非常興奮。目前我們正處於一個擁有 500 萬會員的社區，這是一個巨大的群體。我們對此感到興奮。現在還早，還有更多工作要做。但實際上，我會把它交給朱莉，讓你更多地了解接下來會發生什麼，我們將分享哪些資訊等等有關該計劃的資訊。

Yeah, thanks for the question. We are excited about this program, and you've heard me talk about it from my very first call to where we are today and where we were two weeks ago. It's an anchor for what we're doing. It's a key program in our pillars because we believe this is how guests want to interact with us. It's also a very great way for us to deliver value. So don't forget that, right. This is a great program that helps us deliver value to guests who are really seeking value from us.

是的，謝謝你的提問。我們對這個計劃感到很興奮，從我第一次打電話到我們今天和兩週前的情況，你們都聽我談論過它。它是我們正在做的事情的錨。這是我們支柱中的一個關鍵計劃，因為我們相信這就是客人希望與我們互動的方式。這也是我們提供價值的一個非常好的方式。所以不要忘記這一點，對吧。這是一個很棒的計劃，可以幫助我們為真正向我們尋求價值的客人提供價值。

But reminder, it's still the early days of this program. We just launched it in September of last year. So we're not even at our one-year anniversary. What we're planning to do is actually spend more time on our September call, digging in a little bit deeper, helping you understand how we're thinking about the program in '25 and beyond, and how we're using it to drive key levers in the plan. So more to come in the September call. Know that we continue to be super optimistic about it. And I think it's also important to remember it's a key way for us to deliver value to our guests.

但請注意，該計劃仍處於早期階段。我們去年九月才推出它。所以我們還沒到一周年紀念日。我們計劃要做的實際上是在 9 月的電話會議上花更多時間，進行更深入的挖掘，幫助您了解我們如何考慮 25 年及以後的計劃，以及我們如何利用它來推動計劃中的關鍵槓桿。九月的電話會議還有更多內容。要知道我們仍然對此非常樂觀。我認為記住這是我們為客人提供價值的關鍵方式也很重要。

Makes sense. Thanks, guys. Last one for me, if I could. Craig, on the longer term D&A front, still too early there to -- other than I think the up significantly or whatever the comment is exactly. Anything more concrete there as far as how to think about that? Or is it still too early at this juncture?

說得通。多謝你們。如果可以的話，給我最後一張。克雷格，在長期的 D&A 方面，現在還為時過早——除了我認為大幅上漲或無論評論是什麼。關於如何思考這個問題，還有更具體的嗎？還是現在還太早？

It's just to confirm, you said depreciation and amortization or G&A?

只是為了確認一下，你說的是折舊攤提還是G&A？

D&A.

數據與分析。

General and administrative?

一般和行政？

No, sorry, depreciation, sorry.

不，對不起，折舊，對不起。

Okay. Yes, got it. Yes, well, depreciation is clearly going to be increase. We're spending a fair bit of capital to reinvigorate the business. And we're seeing our capital spend go up. So that will be an increased expense as you think about net income or EPS going forward. So that will start to ramp up. Even this year, you can see a bit of ramp up. You'll see a bit of a ramp up next year as well.

好的。是的，明白了。是的，折舊顯然會增加。我們正在花費大量資金來重振業務。我們看到我們的資本支出正在增加。因此，當您考慮未來的淨收入或每股盈餘時，這將是一項增加的費用。所以這將開始增加。即使今年，您也可以看到一些成長。明年你也會看到一些成長。

Now as we've shared earlier on the strategy call, were going through this three year window, specifically in the deferred maintenance side of the spend that will kind of get us caught up. So I don't think it's a forever topic. It's an issue that we have to go back and address, and that's a three year investments that will drive some capital spending. The capital spending will drive depreciation, which will be around for a bit longer than that. But it is not a long-term part of the business model. It is something that we have to get caught up on.

現在，正如我們之前在策略電話會議上分享的那樣，我們正在經歷這三年的窗口，特別是在支出的延期維護方面，這會讓我們趕上。所以我認為這不是一個永遠的話題。這是我們必須回去解決的問題，這是一項為期三年的投資，將推動一些資本支出。資本支出將推動貶值，而且貶值的持續時間將比這更長一些。但這並不是商業模式的長期組成部分。這是我們必須要抓住的事情。

Now, as we make other capital investments and to the degree that those things have compelling returns, we may increase our capital spending and that will drive depreciation in the future. For example, as we develop a new prototype and we're able to start growing again over the longer term, that will be value-creating, but it will have higher depreciation and amortization.

現在，當我們進行其他資本投資並且這些投資具有令人信服的回報時，我們可能會增加資本支出，這將在未來推動貶值。例如，當我們開發一個新的原型並且我們能夠在長期內再次開始成長時，這將創造價值，但它將有更高的折舊和攤提。

So the short answer is depreciation and amortization will most certainly be up in the near term. But longer-term, we think the overall business model, the way we would think about it is, we're going to improve that EBITDA level by about 400 basis points.

因此，簡短的答案是，短期內折舊和攤提肯定會上升。但從長遠來看，我們認為整體業務模式，我們的思考方式是，我們將把 EBITDA 水準提高約 400 個基點。

Very helpful. Thanks, guys.

很有幫助。多謝你們。

Andrew Wong, CL King.

安德魯·黃，CL King。

Thanks, Julie. The five key metrics you're sharing with us and focusing on as lead indicators for same-store sales and really guest traffic, could you give us a sense based either your experience or your internal plan, what are the lead time here? I'm sure it's cumulative and so forth, but when does it start to move the needle meaningfully?

謝謝，朱莉。您與我們分享的五個關鍵指標，以及作為同店銷售和實際客流量的領先指標的重點指標，您能否根據您的經驗或內部計劃向我們介紹一下，這裡的交貨時間是多少？我確信它是累積的等等，但是它什麼時候開始有意義地改變呢？

And obviously related to that is kind of -- maybe you can blend them all together as a group, what inning is it in? So that we can start to think about how guest traffic is -- you at least think guest traffic might start to improve?

顯然與此相關的是——也許你可以將它們作為一個整體混合在一起，這是在哪一局？這樣我們就可以開始考慮訪客流量如何—您至少認為訪客流量可能會開始改善？

Yeah, Andrew, thanks for the question. Performance and traffic like value is a multi-variant accretion. So there's a lot of things that go into it. We know that our ops metrics and our performance and our ability to execute and the key driver of that. Another key driver of that is our ability to drive guests in. When you think about upper funnel and awareness and making sure that we have food that is really relevant. It's really why the three imperatives are the three imperatives of the plan. We've got to drive and reignite relevancy. And then we have to have food and an experience that guests crave and guests love.

是的，安德魯，謝謝你的提問。效能和流量等價值是多變量的累加。所以這裡面有很多東西。我們知道我們的營運指標、我們的績效、我們的執行能力以及其關鍵驅動因素。另一個關鍵驅動因素是我們吸引客人的能力。這就是為什麼這三個必要條件是該計劃的三個必要條件的原因。我們必須推動並重新激發相關性。然後我們必須提供客人渴望和喜愛的食物和體驗。

So they kind of work together to fuel the momentum of flywheel of traffic, if you will. I would say we are further along in the ops metrics than where we are in some of the marketing piece. We continue to test and learn our way through all of that. I talked about some of that in the past -- some of the tests we've done in local. We are learning through that. We're testing different things like NASCAR, like college football, to find these key things that resonate with driving traffic. All of these things cumulatively, we'll get there.

因此，如果你願意的話，他們可以共同努力，為交通飛輪提供動力。我想說，我們在營運指標方面比在某些行銷方面的進展更進一步。我們將繼續測試和學習我們的方法來度過這一切。我過去談到過其中的一些——我們在本地進行的一些測試。我們正在透過這個學習。我們正在測試不同的事物，例如 NASCAR、大學橄欖球賽，以找到與駕駛流量產生共鳴的關鍵事物。所有這些事情累積起來，我們就會到達那裡。

That's why you see our performance continue to kind of get better in the back half of '26 because we're going to continue investing in these in '25, so that we can actually get there in '26. So more to come on that but know that the team is focused on the improvements there. We're seeing it in our in the metrics and guests are commenting on it, which is also a key thing for us to note.

這就是為什麼你會看到我們的業績在 26 年下半年繼續有所好轉，因為我們將在 25 年繼續在這些方面進行投資，以便我們能夠在 26 年真正實現這一目標。所以還有更多的事情要做，但要知道團隊正在專注於那裡的改進。我們在指標中看到了這一點，客人也對此發表了評論，這也是我們需要注意的關鍵事項。

Again, you brought up obviously the foundational aspect of brand identity and food quality and things to really drive traffic that are more foundational than even the operation stats. Where do you -- could you give us sort of a qualitative sense of where you believe the business is, and is that going to be able to improve in concert time-wise with the operation metrics -- operational (technical difficulty)?

再次，您顯然提出了品牌標識和食品品質的基本方面，以及真正推動流量的因素，這些因素甚至比營運統計數據更基礎。您能告訴我們您認為業務在哪裡嗎？

Yeah, absolutely is the short answer. We did a lot of research again to really underpin the strategic plan and the transformation agenda. And in a lot of that, we talk to guests about why they weren't coming, why they were coming. And a lot of the fee that was around and just the relevancy of the menu, of the brands where we are and all of those things. So we are actively tiering that all down, getting into it, working on the menu, working on innovation, as I mentioned on the call two weeks ago, we've got a lot of items in test -- in our Texas tests, and we've expanded that test.

是的，絕對是簡短的答案。我們再次進行了大量研究，以真正支持戰略計劃和轉型議程。在很多情況下，我們都會與客人討論他們為什麼不來，為什麼要來。還有很多費用，以及菜單的相關性、我們所在的品牌以及所有這些東西的相關性。因此，我們正在積極地對這一切進行分層，深入研究，研究菜單，研究創新，正如我在兩週前的電話會議上提到的，我們在德克薩斯州的測試中有很多項目正在測試，並且我們已經擴展了該測試。

You'll see those things starting to hit the menu as early as this fall. I talked about that -- we have some innovation that we even hit this summer and that we're talking about right now that's resonating with guests. So we believe we can do all of these things at the same time that they're the right things to do, which is the most important thing. The guests in the research said that being more relevant with the food, being more relevant experience are the things that will drive them back in. And that's what we're working to [write].

最早在今年秋天你就會看到這些東西開始出現在菜單上。我談到了這一點——我們甚至在今年夏天推出了一些創新，我們現在正在談論的這些創新引起了客人的共鳴。因此，我們相信我們可以同時做所有這些事情，而且它們是正確的事情，這是最重要的事情。參與研究的客人表示，與食物更相關、體驗更相關才是促使他們回歸的因素。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Julie Masino for any closing remarks. Please go ahead.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉交朱莉·馬西諾先生發表閉幕詞。請繼續。

Thank you all for joining us today. We remain intently focused on driving relevancy, delivering food and an experience that guests love, and growing profitability through the execution of our five pillars. As we execute our transformation, we are simultaneously focused on managing our day-to-day business and on operational excellence every shift, every day.

感謝大家今天加入我們。我們仍然專注於提高相關性、提供客人喜愛的食物和體驗，並透過執行我們的五個支柱來提高獲利能力。在執行轉型時，我們同時專注於管理日常業務和每天每班次的卓越營運。

I want to thank our team members and leaders for their hard work, taking care of our guests, and executing with excellence day in and day out. Their dedication and commitment to bringing our brand to life gives me further confidence that we will be successful as we transform our business and position it for long-term growth. Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to updating you on our progress at our next earnings call.

我要感謝我們的團隊成員和領導者的辛勤工作、對客人的照顧以及日復一日的卓越執行。他們對讓我們的品牌煥發活力的奉獻和承諾讓我更加相信，我們將在業務轉型和長期成長過程中取得成功。感謝您的關注，我們期待在下次財報電話會議上向您通報我們的最新進展。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。