達登餐飲 (DRI) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to the Darden Fiscal Year 2024 Second Quarter Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions). This conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time. I'll now turn the call over to Mr. Kevin Kalicak. Thank you. You may begin.

您好，歡迎參加達頓 2024 財年第二季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）。本次會議正在錄製中。如果您有任何異議，請此時斷開連接。我現在將電話轉給 Kevin Kalicak 先生。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Thank you, Kevin. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for participating on today's call. Joining me today are Rick Cardenas, Darden's President and CEO; and Raj Vennam, CFO.

謝謝你，凱文。大家早安，感謝您參加今天的電話會議。今天加入我的是達頓商學院總裁兼執行長 Rick Cardenas；和財務長 Raj Vennam。

As a reminder, comments made during the call will include forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections.

提醒一下，電話會議期間發表的評論將包括1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》中定義的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述受到風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與我們的預期和預測有重大差異。

Those risks are described in the company's press release which was distributed this morning and in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We are simultaneously broadcasting a presentation during this call, which is posted in the Investor Relations section of our website at darden.com. Today's discussion and presentation include certain non-GAAP measurements, and reconciliations of these measurements are included in that presentation.

這些風險在該公司今天上午發布的新聞稿以及向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中進行了描述。我們在本次電話會議期間同時播放演示文稿，該演示文稿發佈在我們網站 darden.com 的投資者關係部分。今天的討論和演示包括某些非 GAAP 衡量標準，而這些衡量標準的調整也包含在該簡報中。

Looking ahead, we plan to release fiscal 2024 3rd quarter earnings on Thursday, March 21, before the market opens, followed by a conference call. During today's call, any reference to pre-COVID when discussing second quarter performance is a comparison to the second quarter of fiscal 2020. Additionally, all references to industry results during today's call refer to Black Box Intelligence's Casual Dining benchmark, excluding Darden, specifically Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen.

展望未來，我們計劃於 3 月 21 日星期四開盤前發布 2024 財年第三季收益，隨後召開電話會議。在今天的電話會議中，在討論第二季度業績時對新冠疫情前的任何提及都是與2020 財年第二季度的比較。此外，今天電話會議中所有提及行業業績的內容均指Black Box Intelligence 的休閒餐飲基準，不包括Darden，特別是Olive花園、LongHorn 牛排館和 Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen。

During our second fiscal quarter, industry same-restaurant sales decreased 1.3% and industry same-restaurant guest counts decreased 4.8%. This morning, Rick will share some brief remarks on the quarter, and Raj will provide details on our financial results and an update to our fiscal 2024 financial outlook. Now I'll turn the call over to Rick.

在我們的第二個財季，行業同店銷售額下降了 1.3%，行業同店客人數量下降了 4.8%。今天早上，Rick 將分享有關本季度的一些簡短評論，Raj 將提供有關我們財務業績的詳細資訊以及我們 2024 財年財務前景的最新資訊。現在我將把電話轉給里克。

Thank you, Kevin, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased with our results this quarter, which outperformed the industry benchmark for same-restaurant sales and traffic. Total sales were $2.7 billion, an increase of 9.7% and adjusted diluted net earnings per share were $1.84. We opened 17 restaurants during the quarter. Fiscal year-to-date, we have opened 27 restaurants in 16 states, 4 of which were reopenings.

謝謝你，凱文，大家早安。我對本季的業績感到滿意，該業績優於同餐廳銷售和客流量的行業基準。總銷售額為 27 億美元，成長 9.7%，調整後稀釋每股淨利為 1.84 美元。本季我們新開了 17 家餐廳。本財年迄今，我們已在 16 個州開設了 27 家餐廳，其中 4 家正在重新開業。

We continue to stick to our strategy, driven by our 4 competitive advantages of significant scale, extensive data and insights, rigorous strategic planning and a results-oriented culture. And our brands are relentlessly focused on executing our back-to-basics operating philosophy anchored in food, service and atmosphere.

在規模龐大、廣泛的數據和洞察力、嚴格的策略規劃以及以結果為導向的文化這四大競爭優勢的推動下，我們將繼續堅持我們的策略。我們的品牌堅持不懈地致力於執行我們以食品、服務和氛圍為基礎的回歸基本經營理念。

This focus on being brilliant with the basics enables our brands to consistently perform at a high level. Our internal guest satisfaction metrics remain strong across all of our brands. In fact, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Seasons 52 and Bahama Breeze reached all-time highs for overall guest satisfaction during the quarter. LongHorn also ranked #1 among major casual dining brands in 6 of the 7 key measurement categories within Technomics' industry tracking tool, including food, service, atmosphere and value.

這種對基礎知識的專注使我們的品牌能夠始終保持高水準的表現。我們所有品牌的內部賓客滿意度指標仍然強勁。事實上，Olive Garden、LongHorn Steakhouse、Yard House、Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen、Seasons 52 和 Bahama Breeze 在本季的整體賓客滿意度達到了歷史最高水準。 LongHorn 在 Technomics 行業追蹤工具的 7 個關鍵衡量類別中的 6 個類別中也排名第一，包括食品、服務、氛圍和價值。

LongHorn's continued adherence to their strategy is driving strong execution which can also be seen in the fact that they established an all-time high steak (inaudible) score. During the quarter, Olive Garden ran Never Ending Pasta Bowl. It was offered at the same price point as last year, making it an even stronger value. Guest demand was higher this year, and our restaurant teams did a great job delivering outstanding guest experiences achieving the highest refill rate ever.

LongHorn 對其策略的持續堅持正在推動強大的執行力，這也可以從他們建立了歷史最高牛排（聽不清楚）分數的事實中看出。在本季度，橄欖園舉辦了「永無止境的義大利麵碗」活動。它的售價與去年相同，因此更有價值。今年的賓客需求更高，我們的餐廳團隊出色地提供了卓越的賓客體驗，實現了有史以來最高的續客率。

This performance was driven by our focus on ensuring every guest is offered a refill, whether it's a limited time offer like Never Ending Pasta Bowl or our Never Ending First Course which is offered every day. This iconic promotion also satisfies all 3 of our marketing activity filters. It elevates brand equity, it's simple to execute, and it's not at a deep discount.

我們致力於確保為每位客人提供續杯服務，無論是像“永無止境的意大利麵碗”這樣的限時優惠，還是我們每天提供的“永無止境的第一道菜”，都推動了這一業績。這項標誌性促銷活動也滿足我們所有 3 個行銷活動過濾條件。它提升了品牌資產，執行起來很簡單，而且折扣也不大。

Also, I'm excited to share that during the second quarter and for the first time in their history, Olive Garden surpassed $5 billion in sales on a trailing 52-week basis. The holidays are the busiest time of the year for all of our restaurant teams, and they embrace the opportunity to perform at their best. On Thanksgiving Day, our teams at RUTHS'S CHRIS, The Capital Grille, Eddie V's and Seasons 52 did just that with each setting a new daily sales record. And while we experienced some softness at our fine dining brands during the quarter, we are encouraged by the strong holiday bookings we are seeing.

此外，我很高興與大家分享，在第二季度，Olive Garden 的銷售額在過去 52 週內首次超過了 50 億美元。假期是我們所有餐廳團隊一年中最忙碌的時間，他們抓住了發揮最佳表現的機會。感恩節那天，我們 RUTHS'S CHRIS、The Capital Grille、Eddie V's 和 Seasons 52 的團隊做到了這一點，各自創造了新的每日銷售記錄。儘管我們的高級餐飲品牌在本季度經歷了一些疲軟，但我們看到的強勁的假期預訂令我們感到鼓舞。

Now let me provide a brief update on RUTH'S CHRIS. Even in the midst of the integration, I'm really proud of how the entire team has remained focused on the guest experience. During the quarter, Ruth's Chris achieved the top box -- top overall rating score among all full-service signing brands within Technomics' industry tracking tool.

現在讓我簡單介紹一下露絲的克里斯的最新情況。即使在整合過程中，我對整個團隊仍然專注於賓客體驗感到非常自豪。在本季度，Ruth 的 Chris 名列前茅——在 Technomics 的行業追蹤工具中所有全方位服務簽約品牌中總體評分最高。

From an integration perspective, things are progressing well and we are on track to complete the major systems changes by the end of the fiscal year. During the quarter, we closed their former corporate office and the Ruth's Chris support team moved into our restaurant support center, we are excited to have them here.

從整合的角度來看，一切進展順利，我們預計在本財年年底前完成主要係統變更。在本季度，我們關閉了他們以前的公司辦公室，Ruth's Chris 支援團隊搬進了我們的餐廳支援中心，我們很高興他們來到這裡。

In October, we successfully transitioned 21 restaurants to one of our distribution centers, and we plan to transition the remaining company-operated restaurants to our distribution system between January and March. This phased approach allows us to gather learnings and improve the transition for the other restaurants, while capturing supply chain synergies.

10 月，我們成功將 21 家餐廳轉移到我們的一個配送中心，我們計劃在一月至 3 月期間將剩餘的公司經營餐廳轉移到我們的配送系統。這種分階段的方法使我們能夠收集經驗教訓並改善其他餐廳的過渡，同時捕捉供應鏈協同效應。

We are deliberate with the timing of any changes to ensure that we minimize the operational impact as much as possible. We are on track to deploy our people management systems by the end of the calendar year, and beginning -- begin rolling out our proprietary point-of-sale system after Valentine's Day with the goal of completing all systems integration by the end of the fiscal year.

我們會仔細考慮任何變更的時間安排，以確保盡可能減少對營運的影響。我們預計在日曆年年底前部署我們的人員管理系統，並在情人節後開始推出我們專有的銷售點系統，目標是在本財政年度結束時完成所有系統整合年。

As part of the investments we announced on our last call, we have made some strategic decisions at company-owned restaurants that will impact total sales in the third quarter. First, we stopped third-party delivery. Second, we eliminated lunch wherever possible and we will be closing most restaurants on Christmas Day. I can't say enough about the tremendous partnership between the Ruth's Chris team and our integration team.

作為我們在上次電話會議上宣布的投資的一部分，我們在公司旗下的餐廳做出了一些策略決策，這些決策將影響第三季的總銷售額。首先，我們停止了第三方交付。其次，我們盡可能取消午餐，並將在聖誕節當天關閉大多數餐廳。對於 Ruth's Chris 團隊和我們的整合團隊之間的巨大合作關係，我無法說太多。

Integration is never easy, but it has been a collaborative process and I am happy with the progress we are making. We have reached the halfway point in our fiscal year, and I'm pleased with our performance thus far. All of our brands remain focused on managing the business for the long term and the power of Darden positions us well for the future. We also continue to work in pursuit of our shared purpose to nourish and delight everyone we serve. One of the ways we do this for our team members and their families is through our Next Course scholarship program.

整合從來都不是一件容易的事，但這是一個協作的過程，我對我們所取得的進展感到高興。我們的財政年度已經過半，我對我們迄今為止的表現感到滿意。我們所有的品牌仍然專注於長期管理業務，達頓的力量為我們的未來奠定了良好的基礎。我們也將繼續努力追求我們的共同目標，即滋養和愉悅我們所服務的每個人。我們為團隊成員及其家人做到這一點的方法之一是透過我們的下一課程獎學金計劃。

Applications opened last month for the program, which awards post-secondary education scholarships worth $3,000 each to children or dependents of Darden team members. Last year, we awarded nearly 100 scholarships to children of team members at both our restaurant and our support center. The Next Course scholarship creates a lasting impact on the lives of our team members' families and I'm excited that we are offering the program for a second year.

該計劃於上個月開始申請，該計劃向達頓團隊成員的子女或家屬提供每人價值 3,000 美元的高等教育獎學金。去年，我們向餐廳和支援中心團隊成員的子女頒發了近 100 份獎學金。下一課程獎學金對我們團隊成員家庭的生活產生了持久的影響，我很高興我們在第二年提供該計劃。

Finally, as I said earlier, the holidays are the busiest time of the year for our restaurant teams. I'm so proud of the focus and commitment that all our teams continue to have every day. On behalf of our senior leadership team and Board of Directors, I want to thank our more than 190,000 team members for everything you do to delight our guests and help create special holiday memories. I wish you and your families a wonderful holiday season.

最後，正如我之前所說，假期是我們餐廳團隊一年中最忙碌的時間。我為我們所有團隊每天持續的專注和承諾感到自豪。我謹代表我們的高階領導團隊和董事會，感謝我們超過 190,000 名團隊成員為取悅我們的客人並幫助創造特殊的假期回憶所做的一切。祝您和您的家人有個美好的假期。

Now I will turn it over to Raj.

現在我將把它交給 Raj。

Thank you, Rick, and good morning, everyone. Our teams did a great job managing their businesses again this quarter, resulting in meaningful restaurant level and total margin growth. This margin growth was driven by positive same-restaurant sales growth, strong labor management and lower-than-anticipated restaurant and commodities expenses.

謝謝你，瑞克，大家早安。我們的團隊在本季度再次出色地管理了他們的業務，從而實現了餐廳水平和總利潤的顯著增長。利潤率成長的推動因素包括同店銷售額的正面成長、強有力的勞動力管理以及低於預期的餐廳和商品支出。

We generated $2.7 billion of total sales for the second quarter, 9.7% higher than last year driven by the addition of 78 company-owned Ruth's Chris steak house restaurant, 45 legacy Darden new restaurants and same-restaurant sales growth of 2.8%.

我們第二季的總銷售額為27 億美元，比去年增長9.7%，這得益於公司自營的78 家Ruth's Chris 牛排餐廳的增加、45 家傳統達頓新餐廳的增加以及同店銷售額增長2.8%。

Our same-restaurant sales for the quarter outpaced the industry by 410 basis points, and same-restaurant guest counts exceeded the industry by 370 basis points. Our focus on managing the business and controlling costs resulted in adjusted diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations of $1.84 in the second quarter, an increase of 21% from last year's reported earnings per share.

本季我們的同店銷售額超出行業 410 個基點，同店客人數量超出行業 370 個基點。我們專注於管理業務和控製成本，導致第二季度持續經營業務的調整後稀釋每股淨利潤為 1.84 美元，比去年報告的每股收益增長 21%。

We generated $403 million of adjusted EBITDA and returned approximately $340 million of capital to our shareholders through $158 million in dividends and $181 million of share repurchases.

我們產生了 4.03 億美元的調整後 EBITDA，並透過 1.58 億美元的股息和 1.81 億美元的股票回購向股東返還了約 3.4 億美元的資本。

Now looking at our adjusted margin analysis compared to last year. Food and beverage expenses were 190 basis points better, driven by pricing leverage. Total commodities inflation was flat to prior year for the quarter and slightly better than our expectations. While beef inflation continues to track in line with our expectations, most other categories are seeing some favorability.

現在來看看我們與去年相比調整後的利潤率分析。在定價槓桿的推動下，食品和飲料費用提高了 190 個基點。本季商品通膨總額與去年同期持平，略優於我們的預期。雖然牛肉通膨繼續符合我們的預期，但大多數其他類別都受到了一些青睞。

Restaurant labor was 20 basis points better than last year, driven by productivity improvements at our brands as pricing and inflation were roughly equal at 5%. Restaurant expenses were 30 basis points favorable primarily due to lower workers' compensation expense and deflation in utilities. Marketing expenses were 10 basis points higher than last year, consistent with our expectations.

餐廳勞動力比去年好 20 個基點，這得益於我們品牌生產力的提高，因為定價和通貨膨脹率大致相等，均為 5%。餐廳費用上漲了 30 個基點，主要是因為工人補償費用下降和公用事業通貨緊縮。行銷費用比去年高出 10 個基點，符合我們的預期。

All of these factors resulted in restaurant-level EBITDA of 18.8%, 230 basis points higher than last year. G&A expenses were $109 million, which was consistent with what we previously communicated. G&A as a percent of sales was unfavorable 40 basis points to last year. This unfavorability is primarily driven by higher incentive compensation expense due to the strong growth in sales and EPS for the quarter and wrapping a low incentive accrual in the second quarter of last year.

所有這些因素導致餐廳層級的 EBITDA 達到 18.8%，比去年高出 230 個基點。一般管理費用為 1.09 億美元，與我們先前溝通的一致。 G&A 佔銷售額的百分比比去年下降了 40 個基點。這種不利情況主要是由於本季銷售額和每股盈餘強勁成長以及去年第二季的應計激勵較低而導致激勵性薪酬費用增加。

Impairments were 40 basis points unfavorable to last year as we are wrapping on a $9 million gain from the sale of restaurant assets. Interest expense increased 50 basis points versus last year due to the financing expense, expenses related to Ruth's Chris acquisition and the increase in short-term debt as the second quarter is typically our peak funding need period for the year.

與去年相比，減損幅度為 40 個基點，因為我們從出售餐廳資產中獲得了 900 萬美元的收益。由於融資費用、收購 Ruth Chris 的相關費用以及短期債務的增加，利息費用比去年增加了 50 個基點，因為第二季通常是我們一年中融資需求的高峰期。

And for the quarter, adjusted earnings from continuing operations were 8.1% of sales, 60 basis points better than last year. Looking at our segments. Olive Garden increased total sales by 6.3% driven by same-restaurant sales growth of 4.1%, outperforming the industry benchmark by 540 basis points. The strength of Never Ending Pasta Bowl contributed to flat same-restaurant guest counts for the quarter, 480 basis points above the industry. This sales growth, along with improved labor productivity and higher pricing related to the inflation drove segment profit margin increase of 240 basis points at Olive Garden.

本季度，持續經營業務調整後收益佔銷售額的 8.1%，比去年好 60 個基點。看看我們的細分市場。在同店銷售額成長 4.1% 的推動下，橄欖園總銷售額成長 6.3%，跑贏產業基準 540 個基點。 「Never Ending Pasta Bowl」的強勁表現導致本季同餐廳客人數量持平，比業界高出 480 個基點。這種銷售成長，加上勞動生產力的提高以及與通貨膨脹相關的定價上漲，推動 Olive Garden 的部門利潤率成長了 240 個基點。

At LongHorn, total sales increased 7.1%, driven by same-restaurant sales growth of 4.9%, outperforming the industry by 620 basis points. Segment profit margin of 17.4% was 310 basis points above last year. Pricing leverage, favorable menu mix and improved labor productivity drove LongHorn strong margin growth this quarter.

LongHorn 的總銷售額成長 7.1%，同店銷售額成長 4.9%，優於產業 620 個基點。分部利潤率為 17.4%，比去年高出 310 個基點。定價槓桿、有利的菜單組合和勞動生產力的提高推動了 LongHorn 本季度利潤率的強勁增長。

Total sales at Fine Dining segment increased with the addition of Ruth's Chris company-owned restaurants. Same-restaurant sales at both Capital Grille and Eddie V's were negative, as the Fine Dining category as a whole continues to be challenged year-over-year. This resulted in lower segment profit margin than last year. The Other business segment sales increased slightly with the addition of Ruth's Chris franchised and managed location revenue. This was mostly offset by combined negative same-restaurant sales of 1.1% for the brands in the other segment.

隨著 Ruth's Chris 公司自營餐廳的增加，高級餐飲部門的總銷售額增加。 Capital Grille 和 Eddie V's 的同店銷售額均為負數，因為整個高級餐飲類別繼續逐年受到挑戰。這導致分部利潤率低於去年。隨著露絲克里斯特許經營和管理地點收入的增加，其他業務部門的銷售額略有成長。這主要被其他細分市場品牌同店銷售額 1.1% 的負成長所抵銷。

However, this was still 20 basis points above the industry benchmark. Segment profit margin of 12.9% was 130 basis points better than last year, driven by the additional royalty revenues and pricing related to inflation.

然而，這仍比行業基準高出 20 個基點。受額外特許權使用費收入和通膨相關定價的推動，該部門利潤率為 12.9%，比去年高出 130 個基點。

Now turning to our financial outlook for fiscal 2024. We've updated our guidance to reflect our year-to-date results and expectations for the back half of the year. We now expect total sales of approximately $11.5 billion, same-restaurant sales growth of 2.5% to 3%, 50 to 55 new restaurants, capital spending of approximately $600 million; total inflation of 3% to 3.5%, including commodities inflation of approximately 2%. An annual effective tax rate of 12% to 12.5% and approximately 121 million diluted average shares outstanding for the year.

現在轉向我們 2024 財年的財務展望。我們更新了指導意見，以反映我們今年迄今的業績和對下半年的預期。我們目前預計總銷售額約 115 億美元，同店銷售額成長 2.5% 至 3%，新餐廳 50 至 55 家，資本支出約 6 億美元；總通膨率為3%至3.5%，其中大宗商品通膨約為2%。年度有效稅率為 12% 至 12.5%，年度稀釋平均流通股數約為 1.21 億股。

This results in an increase to our adjusted diluted net earnings per share outlook of $8.75 to $8.90. It excludes approximately $55 million of pre-tax transaction and integration-related costs.

這導致我們將調整後稀釋後每股淨利潤預期從 8.75 美元上調至 8.90 美元。其中不包括約 5,500 萬美元的稅前交易和整合相關成本。

Looking at the third and fourth quarters, we expect the EPS growth rate to be consistent with what we previously shared, we expect third quarter growth rate to be similar to the first quarter and the fourth quarter to have the lowest EPS growth rate for the year. This is primarily a function of the pricing cadence we communicated at the beginning of the year. We anticipate pricing and inflation to be relatively equal in the third quarter, and we expect to price significantly below inflation in the fourth quarter.

從第三季和第四季來看，我們預期每股盈餘成長率與我們先前分享的一致，我們預期第三季成長率與第一季相似，第四季每股收益成長率為年內最低。這主要是我們在年初溝通的定價節奏的函數。我們預計第三季的定價和通膨將相對相等，我們預計第四季度的定價將大大低於通膨。

So to wrap up, we continue to be very pleased with how our teams are managing their businesses and delivering strong results. We remain disciplined in adhering to our strategy, and we're confident in the strength of our business model. And with that, we'll take your questions.

總而言之，我們仍然對我們的團隊管理業務和取得強勁成果的方式感到非常滿意。我們始終嚴格遵守我們的策略，並且對我們業務模式的優勢充滿信心。接下來，我們將回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is coming from Jon Tower from Citi.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Jon Tower。

Great. I guess maybe starting off, curious to get your thoughts. It seems as if, obviously, the consumer backdrop has weakened a little bit as we've moved here through your fiscal second quarter. And perhaps into this fiscal third quarter. And I know, obviously, Never Ending Pasta Bowl seem to work exceptionally well, driving traffic on a relative basis throughout the quarter.

偉大的。我想也許會開始，好奇地想知道你的想法。顯然，隨著第二財季的到來，消費者背景似乎有所減弱。也許會進入本財年第三季。我知道，顯然，「永無止境的義大利麵碗」似乎效果非常好，在整個季度相對增加了流量。

So I'm curious how you're thinking about promotions for the balance of the year and I know the Never Ending Pasta Bowl has traditionally been once a year type of timing. But given the weakness we're starting to see broadly across the category, does that alter your thinking either with promotions at Olive Garden or any of the other brands for the balance of fiscal '24?

所以我很好奇你們如何考慮今年剩餘時間的促銷活動，我知道永無止境的意大利麵碗傳統上是每年一次的時間。但考慮到我們開始在整個類別中普遍看到的弱點，這是否會改變您對 Olive Garden 或任何其他品牌在 24 財年餘額中的促銷活動的看法？

Jon, thanks for the question. Nothing that we have seen is altering our plans for the balance of the year. We're really pleased with the performance of our brands. We're right along where we expected to be. And so we don't anticipate doing anything different.

喬恩，謝謝你的提問。我們所看到的一切都不會改變我們今年剩餘時間的計劃。我們對品牌的表現非常滿意。我們正沿著我們預期的方向前進。因此，我們預計不會做任何不同的事情。

Next question is coming from Chris Carril from RBC Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場的克里斯·卡里爾。

So just on the sales outlook, can you maybe comment a little bit more on what drove the change in the comp and revenue outlook for the year? I know it just changed a little bit, maybe a little narrower toward the lower end of the range. But -- and it's early in the 3Q, but is there anything you're seeing thus far that warrants perhaps a more conservative outlook here?

那麼就銷售前景而言，您能否對推動今年的比較和收入前景變化的因素進行更多評論？我知道它只是發生了一點變化，也許朝著範圍的下限變窄了一點。但是，現在還處於第三季度初期，但到目前為止，您所看到的情況是否有任何值得我們採取更保守的前景的理由？

All right, Chris. Let's start with the guidance at a high level. From a sales guidance perspective, if you just go back to the time we provided our original guidance, we mentioned that there's -- obviously, the consumer background was a little tough, but not terribly bad for us, and we thought if things slow down a little bit, we should expect inflation environment to improve a little bit. And halfway through our fiscal year, that's really the dynamic we're seeing. We've seen some check softness that's being offset by lower inflation which is why we went to the lower end of our sales range while increasing our earnings outlook.

好吧，克里斯。讓我們從高層指導開始。從銷售指導的角度來看，如果你回到我們提供最初指導的時候，我們提到，顯然，消費者背景有點艱難，但對我們來說並不是太糟糕，我們認為如果事情放慢速度一點點，我們應該預期通膨環境會有所改善。在我們的財政年度過半時，這確實是我們所看到的動態。我們看到了一些支票疲軟，但這些疲軟被較低的通膨所抵消，這就是為什麼我們在提高獲利前景的同時將銷售範圍調整到下限。

In fact, if you're looking at our underlying traffic assumption, it still implies flat to slightly negative traffic for the full year. It's really that check is coming down by about 50 basis points. And so in the grand scheme of things, we're talking about the midpoint moving by 25 basis points from where we started the year.

事實上，如果您查看我們的基本流量假設，它仍然意味著全年流量持平甚至略有負值。事實上，支票下降了大約 50 個基點。因此，從總體上看，我們正在討論的中點較年初移動了 25 個基點。

Now as we look -- to the question around quarter-to-date in December, we're really only 2 full weeks into the quarter. And so holidays are still in front of us. And as I think Rick mentioned in his prepared remarks, we're encouraged by the strong holiday bookings we're seeing at our reservation brands. And so our guidance contemplates everything we know.

現在，當我們審視 12 月季度至今的問題時，我們實際上距離該季度只有兩週了。所以假期仍然在我們面前。正如我認為里克在他準備好的演講中提到的那樣，我們對我們的預訂品牌看到的強勁的假期預訂感到鼓舞。因此，我們的指導考慮了我們所知道的一切。

Got it. And then I guess on pricing, Raj, you did mention some detail in your prepared remarks around pricing. But is there anything else you could add there? Maybe perhaps at a brand level? Any incremental insight about how you're thinking about pricing here going forward?

知道了。然後我想關於定價，拉吉，你在準備好的有關定價的評論中確實提到了一些細節。但你還有什麼可以補充的嗎？也許在品牌層面？關於您如何考慮未來的定價，您有什麼增量見解嗎？

Sure, Chris. I'll say let's start with our pricing. I think we mentioned at the beginning of the year, the pricing carryover from actions last year is about 3% on the full year. And our guidance talks about 3.5% to 4%. So you can imagine, there's not a lot of actions this fiscal year. I can tell you that, for example, at Olive Garden, we haven't taken any pricing this fiscal year, and we don't -- at least at this point, don't expect to take more -- or any additional action in the near term.

當然，克里斯。我想說讓我們從定價開始。我想我們在年初提到過，去年行動的定價結轉約為全年的 3%。我們的指導意見約為 3.5% 至 4%。所以你可以想像，本財年沒有太多行動。我可以告訴你，例如，在橄欖園，我們本財年沒有採取任何定價，而且我們不——至少在這一點上，不期望採取更多——或任何額外的行動在短期內。

And so as you look at that check growth, check growth is likely going to moderate into mid 2s into the third quarter and closer to 2% in the fourth quarter. That's kind of the assumption we have in here.

因此，當你觀察支票成長時，你會發現支票成長可能會在第三季放緩至 2% 左右，並在第四季接近 2%。這就是我們這裡的假設。

Next question is coming from Brian Bittner from Oppenheimer.

下一個問題來自奧本海默的布萊恩·比特納。

Rick, I wanted to ask about your updated thoughts on delivery. Recently, a QSR competitor of yours that's long been against third-party systems has decided to jump on and you seem to be varying further in the opposite direction, given you said this morning that you're taking third-party delivery away from Ruth.

里克，我想問一下你對交付的最新想法。最近，您的一家QSR 競爭對手長期以來一直反對第三方系統，但決定加入進來，而您似乎正在朝著相反的方向進一步變化，因為您今天早上表示要從露絲手中奪走第三方送貨服務。

And it seems like at this point, you could price third-party delivery in a way that would represent a very incremental profitable transaction, the incremental customer, particularly at Olive Garden. So can you just refresh us on why this seems to still be off the table as -- opportunity and profit opportunity?

似乎在這一點上，你可以以一種代表非常增量的獲利交易、增量客戶的方式對第三方交付進行定價，特別是在橄欖園。那麼您能否讓我們重新了解為什麼這似乎仍然是不可能的——機會和利潤機會？

Brian, yes, it's still off the table for us. As we mentioned, we eliminated it at Ruth's Chris. And it's not all about the price and the profit. And it is profitable sales growth we're looking for but it is also the execution of the restaurant, what it does to our teams and how we can execute our existing to-go business and we've made investments over the last few years to make that experience even better for our consumer, and we continue to do that.

布萊恩，是的，這對我們來說仍然是不可能的。正如我們所提到的，我們在 Ruth's Chris 消除了它。這不僅與價格和利潤有關。我們正在尋找的是有利可圖的銷售成長，但它也是餐廳的執行力，它對我們的團隊做了什麼，以及我們如何執行我們現有的外賣業務，我們在過去幾年中進行了投資為我們的消費者提供更好的體驗，我們將繼續這樣做。

We've had third-party delivery in a few restaurants for quite a while. And the performance in those restaurants isn't significantly different than the ones that don't have it. So we still feel really confident about our decision to stay out of the third-party delivery. Even if we had to price more to cover that, our consumer would see that as our price, not necessarily the price for delivery. So as of now, we're still steadfast in our [resolve] to stay out of third-party delivery.

我們在一些餐廳提供第三方外送服務已經有一段時間了。這些餐廳的表現與沒有的餐廳沒有顯著差異。因此，我們仍然對不參與第三方交付的決定充滿信心。即使我們必須提高價格來彌補這一點，我們的消費者也會將其視為我們的價格，而不一定是交貨價格。因此，到目前為止，我們仍然堅定地[決心]不參與第三方交付。

And Raj, as my follow-up, you said in your prepared remarks that you anticipate price significantly below inflation in 4Q, that were significantly perked my ears a little bit. I'm just curious if you could give any color on what you do think price versus costs will be in 4Q?

Raj，作為我的後續行動，您在準備好的演講中表示，您預計第四季度的價格將大大低於通膨率，這讓我的耳朵大為振奮。我只是好奇您是否可以對第四季度的價格與成本的看法給出任何解釋？

Yes, Brian, I'd say we're looking at somewhere in the 150 to 200 basis point range in the fourth quarter because we do expect pretty low price in the fourth quarter, and we expect inflation to be a little bit higher. Just a function of wrap, I think really on the inflation, the first half of the year benefited from chicken deflation. Chicken is about 8% of our sales, and we don't have that tailwind going into the back half.

是的，布萊恩，我想說我們正在考慮第四季度 150 到 200 個基點範圍內的某個位置，因為我們確實預計第四季度的價格會相當低，而且我們預計通膨會略高一些。只是一個包裝的功能，我認為實際上在通貨膨脹方面，上半年受益於雞通貨緊縮。雞肉約占我們銷售額的 8%，而我們的後半部沒有這種順風車。

Your next question today is coming from Eric Gonzalez from KeyBanc Capital Markets.

今天你們的下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Eric Gonzalez。

My question is on the other business segment. Same-store sales growth in the segment was negative for the first time in a few years. So I'm wondering if you can give us a sense about what's happening within that division which I know includes Cheddar's. So I'm wondering if there's something about the low-income consumer, if there's anything else worth calling out with regards to that division?

我的問題是關於其他業務部門的。該領域的同店銷售額幾年來首次出現負成長。所以我想知道你是否能讓我們了解該部門正在發生的事情，我知道其中包括切達乾酪。所以我想知道低收入消費者是否有什麼問題，對於這個部門是否還有其他值得指出的地方？

Yes. Let me start with the other segment, and maybe I'll turn it over to Rick to talk about the consumer in general. So let's start -- when we look at our other segment, we're actually pretty happy with the performance overall when you look at the business as a total topline and bottom line. Because as much as they had negative same restaurant sales, they were still above the industry by 20 basis points as a segment. Now there is -- I don't want to get into exactly the details, but there are some things on a year-over-year dynamics, especially at one of our Southeast brands that's primarily -- [weather borne and patio] related, all that stuff. We don't want to get into those.

是的。讓我從另一個部分開始，也許我會把它交給里克來談談一般消費者。那麼，讓我們開始吧——當我們看看我們的其他細分市場時，當你將業務視為總收入和利潤時，我們實際上對整體表現非常滿意。因為儘管他們的同店銷售額為負，但作為一個細分市場，他們仍比行業高出 20 個基點。現在 - 我不想詳細介紹細節，但有一些關於逐年動態的事情，特別是在我們的東南品牌之一，主要與 - [天氣和天井]相關，所有這些東西。我們不想涉及這些。

But by the way, when we look at traffic for the quarter, at the other segment, it was actually very strong at north of 100 basis point gap to the industry positive gap. So we feel really good about that. And then other segment was also more profitable this quarter. Even when you exclude the franchise income from Ruth's, their segment profit was higher than last year. So I'd say all in all, that's a pretty good outcome. And then I'll let Rick talk about consumer.

但順便說一句，當我們查看本季度其他細分市場的流量時，實際上非常強勁，與行業正差距相差 100 個基點以上。所以我們對此感覺非常好。其他部門本季的利潤也更高。即使排除露絲的特許經營收入，他們的部門利潤也高於去年。所以我想說，總而言之，這是一個非常好的結果。然後我會讓瑞克談談消費者。

Yes, Eric. And I just want to reiterate, we're really pleased with the performance of our other segment and all of our segments. Profitable sales growth is what we shoot for, and they all had profitable sales growth. Some might have been negative comp, but we still grew. But on the consumer overall, the consumer still continues to appear both resilient, but a little bit more selective as we've talked about in our check, and we've seen that for a couple of quarters.

是的，埃里克。我只想重申，我們對其他部門和所有部門的表現感到非常滿意。獲利性銷售成長是我們的目標，他們都實現了獲利性銷售成長。有些可能是負面補償，但我們仍然成長。但就整體消費者而言，消費者仍然表現得既有彈性，但也更具選擇性，正如我們在檢查中所討論的那樣，我們已經在幾個季度中看到了這一點。

Our data shows we're gradually moving back to our pre-COVID demographic mix, which -- with a bigger change in Q2 and moving back to pre-COVID demographics gets us to feel like we're getting closer to what normal is. I will say we had across all of our segments, household incomes above $200,000, or higher mix than last year, but still below pre-COVID levels and incomes below $75,000 are under last year but still above pre-COVID levels. And the biggest drop was those under $50,000.

我們的數據顯示，我們正在逐漸回到新冠疫情之前的人口結構，隨著第二季度發生更大的變化，回到新冠疫情之前的人口結構，我們感覺我們正在接近正常狀態。我想說的是，在我們所有的細分市場中，家庭收入超過20 萬美元，或高於去年，但仍低於新冠疫情前的水平，收入低於75,000 美元，低於去年，但仍高於新冠疫情前的水平。跌幅最大的是 50,000 美元以下的產品。

And this shift was most pronounced interestingly in our Fine Dining segment. And last thing, those under 65 years old, over, I'm sorry, over 65 years old, their frequency has grown from prior quarters and their dining is shifting a little bit more to lunch. So that gives you a little bit of a check mix there, too.

有趣的是，這種轉變在我們的高級餐飲領域最為明顯。最後一件事，65 歲以下的人，對不起，65 歲以上的人，他們的頻率比前幾季有所增加，他們的用餐也更多地轉向午餐。所以這也給了你一點檢查組合。

So -- but again, what does that mean for us? What does that mean for the brands that we have? We believe that our operators can deliver on their brand promise, which we've said before, and value will continue to appeal to consumers. I'm confident we're well positioned and prepared for what we have to deal with. Thanks to the breadth of our portfolio, and our outstanding team members and what they do every day to create exceptional experiences for our guests.

那麼，這對我們意味著什麼？這對我們擁有的品牌意味著什麼？我們相信我們的營運商能夠兌現我們之前說過的品牌承諾，價值將繼續吸引消費者。我相信我們已做好充分準備，以應對我們必須應對的問題。感謝我們廣泛的產品組合、傑出的團隊成員以及他們每天為我們的客人創造卓越體驗所做的努力。

That's really helpful. And as a follow-up, while we're on the topic of the smaller divisions. Can you maybe comment on Fine Dining and talk about whether -- are we out of the woods when it -- as it relates to the abnormal seasonality and the post-COVID lapse, should we start to see positive comps in the back half in that part of the business?

這真的很有幫助。作為後續行動，我們正在討論較小部門的主題。您能否對「高級餐飲」發表評論，並談談我們是否已經走出困境，因為它與異常的季節性和新冠疫情後的衰退有關，我們是否應該開始在後半段看到積極的業績？業務的一部分？

Yes. So from a Fine Dining perspective, if you recall, we talked about seasonality trends normalizing. And we talked about last year, there was some exuberance in the summer months that kind of continued into the fall a little bit. And so as we look at where we are this quarter, we actually ended the quarter with positive same-restaurant sales in November.

是的。因此，從高級餐飲的角度來看，如果您還記得的話，我們討論過季節性趨勢正常化。我們去年談到，夏季有一些繁榮，這種繁榮一直持續到秋天。因此，當我們查看本季的情況時，我們實際上在 11 月以積極的同餐廳銷售額結束了本季。

And with -- as Rick mentioned in his prepared remarks about record Thanksgiving sales. All of our Fine Dining brands and reservation brands had record Thanksgiving sales. So November was an improvement. If you look at Fine Dining segment, in general, is also where we're seeing the most negative check mix year-over-year and it's really driven by alcohol.

正如里克在他準備的關於創紀錄的感恩節銷售的演講中提到的那樣。我們所有的高級餐廳品牌和預訂品牌都創下了感恩節銷售記錄。所以十一月是一個進步。如果你看看高級餐飲領域，一般來說，我們也看到同比最負面的支票組合，而且它實際上是由酒精驅動的。

Now I'll tell you that we are -- the preference for alcohol today is actually consistent with where it was pre-COVID, just that last year was a lot higher. And so year-over-year, that's a pretty big drag. In fact, I think our fine dining mix is almost negative 200 basis points. And that's really one of the things we've noticed. Now as we get into the holidays and pass, some of that should abate because we started to see this dynamic in our fiscal Q4 last year. And then last point I'll make is, as Rick mentioned, we are encouraged to see strong bookings in both reservations and private events going into holidays.

現在我要告訴你的是，今天人們對酒精的偏好實際上與新冠疫情之前的情況一致，只是去年要高得多。因此，年復一年，這是一個相當大的阻力。事實上，我認為我們的美食組合幾乎負了 200 個基點。這確實是我們注意到的事情之一。現在，當我們進入假期並過去時，其中一些應該會減弱，因為我們在去年第四財季開始看到這種動態。我要說的最後一點是，正如里克提到的那樣，我們很高興看到假期期間的預訂和私人活動的預訂量都很高。

Next question today is coming from Andrew Charles from TD Cowen.

今天的下一個問題來自 TD Cowen 的 Andrew Charles。

Rick, does the early access to Never Ending Pasta Bowl for eClub members this quarter leave you encouraged to lean more into the $15 million or so Olive Garden eClub member database in the back half of the year, recognizing this won't be an avenue for discounting, obviously, as you're focused on profitable growth? Or is it -- it was an immaterial impact just for that extra week of early access in the quarter?

Rick，本季 eClub 會員提前訪問 Never Ending Pasta Bowl 是否會讓您在下半年更多地關注價值 1500 萬美元左右的 Olive Garden eClub 會員數據庫，認識到這不會是一個途徑顯然，因為您專注於盈利增長，所以要打折嗎？或者說，這只是本季額外一週的搶先體驗帶來的無關緊要的影響？

Yes, Andrew, it wasn't a huge impact for early access, but it was something that delighted our eClub users, right? So they got something that no one else can get. And so we'll continue to find ways to talk to them to give them benefits of being part of the eClub without necessarily having to discount. And so that's what we continue to look at. And that was one of the first tries at it. We're encouraged by the results there but we'll continue to look for other ways to use that eClub.

是的，安德魯，這對搶先體驗並沒有產生巨大的影響，但它卻讓我們的 eClub 用戶感到高興，對吧？所以他們得到了別人無法得到的東西。因此，我們將繼續尋找與他們交談的方法，讓他們享受成為 eClub 成員的好處，而不必打折。這就是我們繼續關注的問題。這是最初的嘗試之一。我們對那裡的結果感到鼓舞，但我們將繼續尋找其他方式來使用該 eClub。

Great. And then Raj, just curious with the inflation guidance, how does that break down between COGS and labor as we think about the back half of the year?

偉大的。然後拉吉，只是對通膨指導感到好奇，當我們考慮今年下半年時，銷貨成本和勞動力之間是如何分解的？

Yes. I'd say on the COGS front, as we said, we're basically looking at 2% for the full year approximately which means back half is closer to 3%, 2.5% to 3%. Q1 being a little bit lower, Q4 being the highest in terms of food inflation. Again, it's a function of wrap on contracts and all that stuff, not necessarily seeing the absolute prices are going up. It's just the fact that what we're wrapping on year-over-year.

是的。我想說的是，在 COGS 方面，正如我們所說，我們基本上預計全年約為 2%，這意味著下半年將接近 3%、2.5% 至 3%。第一季的食品通膨率略低，第四季的食品通膨率最高。同樣，這是合約和所有其他東西的包裝功能，不一定會看到絕對價格上漲。這就是我們逐年總結的事實。

From a labor perspective, our annual is around 5%, as you saw from first quarter to second quarter, we saw a slight moderation of about 50 basis points in total labor inflation. We are not projecting significant further moderation, but it's -- to the extent there is some, that would be -- we'd welcome that. But at this point, we're assuming it's closer to that 5% for the back half for labor.

從勞動力角度來看，我們的年度通膨率約為 5%，正如您從第一季到第二季看到的那樣，我們看到總勞動力通膨略有放緩，約為 50 個基點。我們並不預期會進一步大幅放緩，但在某種程度上，我們對此表示歡迎。但目前，我們假設後半部勞動力的比例接近 5%。

Next question today is coming from Brian Harbour from Morgan Stanley.

今天的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的布萊恩哈伯。

Raj, just on your comment about maybe a little bit lower check versus what you previously expected. Is that specific to any brand, is it more than non-Olive Garden brands? Or is it something you're seeing in Olive Garden as well?

Raj，只是關於你的評論，關於檢查可能比你之前預期的要低一些。這是特定於任何品牌的嗎？是否比非橄欖園品牌更多？或者您在橄欖園也看到過這種情況？

Yes. Look, I think we've talked about -- it's kind of a continuation of what we saw a little bit in the first quarter where we talked about at our casual brands. We're seeing about 50 basis points of negative mix in general and mostly driven by alcohol. So when you think about check growth in the mid-single digit, 50 basis points, is not as big as it used to be, it would be in a normal environment when you're talking about a 2% check growth, we would say, "Oh, 50 is a big deal." But when you're talking about closer to mid-single-digit check growth, 50 basis points is not as big, so from that perspective.

是的。聽著，我想我們已經討論過——這有點像我們在第一季所看到的，我們在休閒品牌中討論過的情況的延續。我們看到整體負面組合大約有 50 個基點，主要是由酒精造成的。因此，當你考慮到中個位數的支票增長（50 個基點）時，並不像以前那麼大，當你談論 2% 的支票增長時，這將是在正常環境下，我們會說” ， 「哦，50個是大事了。但當你談論接近中個位數的支票增長時，50 個基點並沒有那麼大，所以從這個角度來看。

But also, as I've said earlier, the bigger drag is from Fine Dining, which as we get into Q4, should abate, but right now, that's another factor that we didn't necessarily anticipate the level of check mix going into the fiscal year. But traffic is -- again, as I said, we focus more on what's happening with traffic. And to the extent we can say six months into the year, that our traffic is similar to the levels we thought at the beginning of the year. That's a great place to be.

而且，正如我之前所說，更大的拖累來自高級餐飲，隨著我們進入第四季度，這種拖累應該會減弱，但現在，這是我們不一定能預測到進入第四季度的支票組合水平的另一個因素。財政年度。但交通問題——正如我所說，我們更關注交通狀況。我們可以說，今年六個月後，我們的流量與我們年初認為的水平相似。那真是個好地方。

Okay. Yes, it makes sense. And just a question on the food cost side as well. Were there any specific items that kind of come in more favorable than you expected? Or is there also maybe just kind of some scale benefits that you've been able to lead to recently?

好的。是的，這是有道理的。還有一個關於食品成本的問題。是否有任何特定商品比您預期的更優惠？或者您最近能夠帶來一些規模效益嗎？

Yes, I think as I said in my remarks, pretty much all categories except beef came in a little bit better than we thought. We are -- we did further up just negotiate a contract for chicken that -- for that now we're locked in for the rest of the year, basically at 90% and that's going to be low single-digit inflation for the back half, which is something we can deal with.

是的，我認為正如我在發言中所說，除了牛肉之外，幾乎所有類別的表現都比我們想像的要好一些。我們 - 我們進一步談判了一份雞肉合約 - 現在我們在今年剩餘時間裡鎖定了這一目標，基本上是 90%，下半年的通膨率將是低個位數，這是我們可以處理的事情。

And from other items, seafood continues to be deflationary. And then produce was a little bit better than we thought. Going into the year, we thought there was going to be some challenges with produce based on just some of the contracts we had, but our team was able to go back to our partners and negotiate given the environment in the market, and that was a favorable to us from what we thought 6 months ago or 3 months ago.

從其他商品來看，海鮮繼續通貨緊縮。然後產品比我們想像的要好一些。進入這一年，我們認為僅根據我們擁有的一些合同，產品將會面臨一些挑戰，但考慮到市場環境，我們的團隊能夠回到我們的合作夥伴並進行談判，這是一個與我們6 個月或3 個月前的想法相比，這對我們有利。

Your next question is coming from Jeffrey Bernstein from Barclays.

你們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的傑弗瑞‧伯恩斯坦。

Great. Rick, I think you mentioned to an earlier question that there was no change in your second half promotional plans, things seem to be going as expected. I'm just wondering if you could talk about the broader competitive behavior across casual dining. I think there are some that are incrementally concerned of an uptick in promotions and discounting to drive traffic kind of in conjunction with the industry may be seeing some softening sales trends, especially if commodities continue to ease. So can you just talk about, again, beyond just your plans, what you're seeing across broader casual dining in terms of that outlook? And then I had one follow-up.

偉大的。 Rick，我想你在之前的問題中提到過，下半年的促銷計劃沒有變化，一切似乎都在預期中進行。我只是想知道您是否可以談談休閒餐飲領域更廣泛的競爭行為。我認為有些人越來越擔心促銷和折扣的增加，以增加流量，同時該行業可能會看到一些疲軟的銷售趨勢，特別是如果大宗商品繼續放緩的話。那麼，除了您的計劃之外，您能否再次談談您對更廣泛的休閒餐飲的看法？然後我進行了一項後續行動。

Jeff, we're seeing what you see. An increase in television advertising sometimes at a discount. But we're, as I said, focused on profitable sales growth. Even with the increase in competitive activity we saw in Q2, we exceeded the industry by 410 basis points, and which was the same as second quarter. We exceeded by 410 in the second quarter -- I'm sorry, last quarter as well.

傑夫，我們看到了你所看到的。電視廣告的增加有時會打折。但正如我所說，我們專注於獲利的銷售成長。即使我們在第二季度看到競爭活動增加，我們仍超出行業 410 個基點，與第二季度相同。我們在第二季度超過了 410——抱歉，上個季度也是如此。

This is on top of the 370 basis point gap we had last year. So we feel like what we're doing is working, even with competitive -- a little bit of an increase in competitive intensity, by the way, we also improved our segment profit margin by 230 basis points from last year. And so we're going to stick to our strategy, providing everyday value to our guests and continue to use our filters, which we've talked about many times to evaluate any marketing activity.

這是在去年 370 個基點的差距之上的。因此，我們覺得我們正在做的事情是有效的，即使競爭激烈——競爭強度略有增加，順便說一句，我們的部門利潤率也比去年提高了 230 個基點。因此，我們將堅持我們的策略，為客人提供日常價值，並繼續使用我們的過濾器，我們已經多次討論過這些過濾器來評估任何行銷活動。

Understood. And then, Raj, the fiscal '24 guidance, the openings halfway through the year were actually tweaked higher, which somewhat unusual, I feel like the past few years, if there was going to be a change in opening plans, it was to tweak lower. So I'm wondering if you could talk maybe about what the driver of that is. I think some have heard of improvement and maybe speed of permitting and construction or maybe you're just seeing lower build costs, you're kind of accelerating your plans or better real estate availability, anything to talk about in terms of that uptick in the unit openings as it pertains to the broader industry? I assume that's the reason for the CapEx uptick as well. But I think any color you can provide on that would be great.

明白了。然後，Raj，24 財年的指導方針，年中的空缺實際上被調整得更高，這有點不尋常，我覺得過去幾年，如果空缺計劃發生變化，那就是調整降低。所以我想知道你是否可以談談其驅動因素是什麼。我認為有些人聽說過改進，也許是許可和建設的速度，或者也許你只是看到了較低的建設成本，你有點加速你的計劃或更好的房地產可用性，任何關於增長的增長都可以談論與更廣泛的行業相關的單位空缺？我認為這也是資本支出上升的原因。但我認為你能提供的任何顏色都會很棒。

Sure, Jeff. Let me start with the comment around the uptick in the openings for the year. We were able to open some restaurants that we thought would be after the holidays, before the holidays. And frankly, I think our team was a little -- we got burned in the last 2-years in terms of having some rosy projections and so we probably were a little bit more conservative in terms of who thought about the timeline that was built based on the actuals last 2-years. And so that timeline is getting a little bit better. So that's helping us deliver a little bit more, and that's really what's showing up.

當然，傑夫。讓我先對今年空缺職位的增加發表評論。我們能夠在假期之後、假期之前開設一些我們認為會開的餐廳。坦白說，我認為我們的團隊在過去兩年中因一些樂觀的預測而感到沮喪，因此我們可能在誰考慮建立的時間表方面更加保守根據過去兩年的實際情況。所以這個時間表變得更好了一些。所以這幫助我們提供了更多的東西，而這正是所顯示的。

Look, our focus is continuing to want to grow, but cost effectively. We are going to focus on balancing the two. And our teams understand that, and we're working towards that. And to your point about CapEx, yes, that CapEx is driven by the uptick in the (inaudible).

看，我們的重點是繼續成長，但要經濟有效。我們將重點放在平衡兩者。我們的團隊了解這一點，並且我們正在為此努力。對於您關於資本支出的觀點，是的，資本支出是由（聽不清楚）的上升所驅動的。

Next question today is coming from Joshua Long from Stephens.

今天的下一個問題來自史蒂芬斯的約書亞朗。

Just curious if you could dig into the segment profitability trends. Impressive to see the consistency there and particularly on the LongHorn side, but Olive Garden as well, just given a lot of the pushes and pulls. When you think about the second half of this year, are there particular areas -- I know the back to basics approach really touches on kind of holistic approach to the business. But any particular areas that you've been impressed with and/or are driving the majority of kind of the strengthened segment profit margin trends that you've been putting up?

只是好奇您是否可以深入了解該細分市場的獲利趨勢。令人印象深刻的是那裡的一致性，特別是在長角牛方面，但橄欖園也是如此，只是受到了很多推拉。當你思考今年下半年時，是否有特定的領域——我知道回歸基礎的方法確實涉及業務的整體方法。但是，有哪些特定領域給您留下了深刻的印象和/或正在推動您所提出的大部分強化的細分市場利潤率趨勢？

Yes. I'd say look, the biggest growth in the segment profit this year is really coming from COGS which was a big unfavorability in the last 2-years. So we're starting to kind of as commodities moderate, that's really helping drive food costs get better on a year-over-year basis. So that's one of the drivers of segment profit growth. We also talked about the difference in pricing versus inflation. We do have a little bit more pricing versus inflation in the first half. That also helped. But I think if you look at overall segment profits, as we got to fourth quarter of last year, it was very strong.

是的。我想說，今年該部門利潤的最大增長實際上來自於銷貨成本，這在過去兩年中是一個很大的不利因素。因此，隨著大宗商品價格的放緩，我們開始採取適度的措施，這確實有助於推動食品成本逐年改善。所以這是部門獲利成長的驅動因素之一。我們也討論了定價與通貨膨脹的差異。上半年我們的定價確實比通膨高一些。這也有幫助。但我認為，如果你看看去年第四季的整體部門利潤，你會發現它非常強勁。

I think at the Darden level, we were over 20%. And so we are -- we had some -- we felt like there was probably more opportunity to get a little bit more in the first half than the back half. But in general, all of our segments, all of our teams are focused on the right things. One of the things we talked about at the beginning of the year, with our team is focusing on controlling what we can control and our teams rally around that and focused on managing our costs better. And that's showing throughout the P&L. And so there's no one specific thing I would pick on. In general, we're very happy with the progress our teams have made, and we'll continue to be disciplined.

我認為在達頓商學院的水平上，我們超過了 20%。所以我們——我們有一些——我們覺得上半場可能比後半場有更多的機會得到更多的東西。但總的來說，我們所有的部門、所有的團隊都專注於正確的事情。我們在今年年初與我們的團隊討論的一件事是專注於控制我們可以控制的事情，我們的團隊圍繞著這一點團結起來，專注於更好地管理我們的成本。這在整個損益表中都有體現。所以我不會選擇任何一件具體的事情。總的來說，我們對團隊的進步感到非常滿意，我們將繼續遵守紀律。

Next question today is coming from Peter Saleh from BTIG.

今天的下一個問題來自 BTIG 的 Peter Saleh。

Great. I did just want to come back to the conversation around development and construction costs. Could you just give us an update on where the individual construction costs are coming in? Are they coming in lower than you guys are expected? In line? How is that trajectory? And then just more broadly, what are you seeing from independents? Are you seeing more of a willingness to build more units? Are you seeing more restaurant formation out there? Or is it kind of more of the same that you've been seeing over the past several quarters?

偉大的。我只是想回到關於開發和建設成本的談話。您能否向我們介紹一下個人建築成本的最新情況？他們的表現比你們預期的低嗎？排隊？這個軌跡怎麼樣？更廣泛地說，您從獨立人士身上看到了什麼？您是否看到更多人願意建造更多單位？您看到那裡有更多的餐廳嗎？還是與您在過去幾季所看到的情況更加相似？

Yes, let me start with the cost. Costs in general on the development are in line with where we thought on average. We obviously have some unique deals, one-offs here and there, where the costs are coming in more than we thought. But going into this year, we had embedded some higher costs into the openings based on the experience we have had over the last couple of years. And so what I would say at this point is we believe that the inflation has peaked, and we are -- we may have said this last call, too, we're starting to receive more bids that are kind of in line with our projected -- our project budgets. And so that's a good thing.

是的，讓我從成本開始。整體開發成本與我們的平均預期一致。顯然，我們有一些獨特的交易，到處都是一次性的，其中的成本比我們想像的要高。但進入今年，根據過去幾年的經驗，我們在空缺職位中嵌入了一些更高的成本。因此，我現在要說的是，我們相信通膨已經達到頂峰，而且我們可能也說過最後一次電話會議，我們開始收到更多與我們預期相符的出價——我們的專案預算。所以這是一件好事。

From an independent standpoint, I think it's hard for us -- the data that we're seeing to say that there's actually a lot of excitement from independents on building new restaurants, given where the interest rate environment is. So the financing costs have gone up. And in fact, to some extent, that's also impacting some developers from what we hear.

從獨立的角度來看，我認為這對我們來說很難——我們看到的數據表明，考慮到利率環境，獨立人士實際上對建造新餐廳感到非常興奮。所以融資成本上升了。事實上，從我們所聽到的情況來看，這在某種程度上也影響了一些開發人員。

So the macro -- you guys know the macro better than I do. But I would say, overall, we're still happy with our overall development, the number of restaurants we're opening and how we're thinking about it. And as I mentioned in my prior comments earlier today, about we're going to cost effectively build our -- build these restaurants. That's the focus. We want to get growth, but we're going to do it cost -- we're going to do it cost-effectively.

所以宏觀——你們比我更了解宏觀。但我想說，總的來說，我們仍然對我們的整體發展、我們開設的餐廳數量以及我們的想法感到滿意。正如我在今天早些時候的評論中提到的，我們將經濟有效地建造我們的——建造這些餐廳。這就是重點。我們希望實現成長，但我們要付出代價——我們要以具成本效益的方式做到這一點。

Next question is coming from David Palmer from Evercore ISI.

下一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 David Palmer。

A question on labor productivity. You guys done a great job there. It looks like labor cost per unit was up maybe 2%, a little bit over that in the quarter versus up a little over 5% in the first quarter. I think you said wage increase was roughly 5% in both quarters. So if I'm hearing that right, is labor hours down a few percent in fiscal 2Q and if so, could you clarify maybe what are some of the drivers of that productivity?

關於勞動生產力的問題。你們在那裡做得很好。看起來每單位勞動成本可能上漲了 2%，略高於本季的水平，而第一季則上漲了 5% 多一點。我想你說過兩個季度的薪資增幅大約是 5%。因此，如果我沒聽錯的話，第二財季的勞動時間是否減少了幾個百分點？如果是這樣，您能否澄清一下生產力的一些驅動因素是什麼？

David, yes, we've had a history of discipline and improvement in productivity enhancements. This year is no different. We're getting more of it because we've had lower turnover than we've had over the last few years. We're still investing in training to get those team members up to speed quicker. We also are spending training dollars on getting our existing team members even more productive. So our productivity enhancements were the difference between our wage inflation and our labor inflation.

大衛，是的，我們在提高生產力方面有著嚴格的紀律和改進的歷史。今年沒有什麼不同。我們得到了更多，因為我們的營業額比過去幾年要低。我們仍在培訓方面進行投資，以使這些團隊成員更快掌握最新情況。我們也花費培訓資金來提高現有團隊成員的工作效率。因此，我們的生產力提高是薪資通膨和勞動力通膨之間的差異。

I would also say our teams continue to get better with forecasting our business. We've added some AI tools to their tool belt to be able to forecast their restaurant business by 15-minute increments, even better than it did before. And we're seeing added benefit, as I said, from lower turnover.

我還想說，我們的團隊在預測我們的業務方面繼續做得更好。我們在他們的工具帶中添加了一些人工智慧工具，能夠以 15 分鐘為增量預測他們的餐廳業務，甚至比以前更好。正如我所說，我們從較低的營業額中看到了額外的好處。

That's great. Are you thinking that, that sort of labor productivity should continue in the second half? And I guess related to that, I wonder what you're thinking about California and with the minimum wages coming in April. Is that -- how does that affect the wage or the total labor outlook for you?

那太棒了。您是否認為下半年這種勞動生產力會持續？我想與此相關的是，我想知道您對加州以及四月即將到來的最低工資有何看法。這對您的薪資或整體勞動力前景有何影響？

Yes, David. Our total labor outlook isn't necessarily that different than where it's been in the first half of the year. I think we're still having wage inflation at around the mid-single digits, which is pretty much back to pre-COVID levels. We do anticipate that as turnover continues to tick down, which we expect it should to get us closer to pre-COVID levels, that we'll continue to have some productivity enhancements.

是的，大衛。我們的整體勞動力前景與今年上半年的情況不一定有太大不同。我認為我們的薪資通膨率仍然在個位數左右，這幾乎回到了新冠疫情之前的水平。我們確實預計，隨著營業額持續下降（我們預計這應該會讓我們更接近新冠疫情前的水平），我們將繼續提高生產力。

In regards to the FAST Act in California, we're monitoring that. Everything that we have contemplated is contemplated in our guidance. I will say we have amazing employment proposition in across all of our states and all of our brands. But in California, an even better employment proposition. Our turnover is lower in California than it is in most places and our wages are higher. So we feel pretty confident that we're okay in California. But if something changes, we'll react to it.

關於加州的 FAST 法案，我們正在監控。我們所考慮的一切都在我們的指導中考慮。我想說的是，我們在所有州和所有品牌都有令人驚嘆的就業主張。但在加州，有更好的就業機會。與大多數地方相比，我們在加州的營業額較低，但薪資卻較高。所以我們非常有信心我們在加州一切都好。但如果事情發生變化，我們會做出反應。

Next question today is coming from Sara Senatore from Bank of America.

今天的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Sara Senatore。

Great. One question and then a follow-up, please. So just on the price versus inflation. I guess, historically, you priced below inflation and you've seen traffic gains as a result. Is your expectation that as the gap between your pricing and your -- and the inflation kind of reverses over the course of the second half, so inflation ahead of pricing that you might see an acceleration in traffic.

偉大的。請先提一個問題，然後再跟進。所以只是價格與通貨膨脹的關係​​。我想，從歷史上看，你的定價低於通貨膨脹，因此你已經看到了流量的成長。您是否期望，隨著您的定價與通膨之間的差距在下半年發生逆轉，因此通膨先於定價，您可能會看到流量加速。

I know that you're already gapping out positively versus the industry, but I think historically, there's been -- either coincidentally or not, kind of 500 basis point gap in traffic and also in your pricing. So I guess -- that's the first question around as you're thinking about that trade-off kind of margin traffic? And then I have a quick follow-up.

我知道你們已經與行業相比出現了積極的差距，但我認為從歷史上看，無論是否巧合，流量和定價方面都存在 500 個基點的差距。所以我想——這是您在考慮利潤流量的權衡時提出的第一個問題？然後我會進行快速跟進。

So let me start with just grounding us on where we are with respect to pricing over the last 4-years. If you think about our price for the last 4-years, our pricing has basically being around at the Darden level, has been closer to 17%, cumulatively, just under 17%. For the same time frame, if you look at where full-service restaurant CPI is, that's 24%. So we have basically created a gap of 700 basis points to full-service restaurant CPI over that time in the 4 years cumulatively.

首先，讓我先介紹一下過去 4 年我們在定價方面的情況。如果你考慮我們過去 4 年的價格，我們的定價基本上都在達頓水平附近，接近 17%，累計略低於 17%。在同一時間範圍內，如果你看看全方位服務餐廳的 CPI 是 24%。因此，在這 4 年裡，我們基本上與全方位服務餐廳 CPI 產生了 700 個基點的差距。

In fact, if you look at limited service, they are at 29%. So that's a 1,200 basis point gap to them. So over the last 4-years, we've been very prudent, and we've talked about it multiple times about how we're going to price very thoughtfully and deliberately and wanted to make sure we're creating this gap and by the way, that overall pricing we have is below the overall CPI over that timeframe by 300 basis points.

事實上，如果你看看有限的服務，你會發現這比例是 29%。所以這與他們有 1,200 個基點的差距。因此，在過去的四年裡，我們一直非常謹慎，我們已經多次討論過我們將如何深思熟慮和謹慎地定價，並希望確保我們正在創造這一差距，並通過這樣，我們的總體定價低於該時間段內的總體CPI 300 個基點。

So from all aspects, we've actually stuck to our strategy of pricing below inflation, which is one of the drivers of our traffic outperformance. But I would say the other big driver is the execution, consistently executing and providing the greatest experience we can to our guests. And that's what our teams are focused on. That, combined with the strategy of pricing under inflation is what we believe helps us separate ourselves from the industry, and we'll continue to do that.

因此，從各個方面來看，我們實際上都堅持了低於通膨的定價策略，這是我們流量表現出色的驅動因素之一。但我想說，另一個重要驅動力是執行力，持續執行並為客人提供最好的體驗。這就是我們團隊關注的重點。我們認為，這一點與通貨膨脹下的定價策略相結合，有助於我們從行業中脫穎而出，我們將繼續這樣做。

Understood. I guess to your point, just thinking about sort of cumulatively, it will look a little different in the fourth quarter, I think, than in the first quarter, but it sounds like you're not expecting a big swing in sort of that traffic even as sequentially the relative value versus inflation might change a little bit.

明白了。我想就你的觀點而言，僅考慮累積情況，我認為第四季度的情況與第一季度會有所不同，但聽起來你並不期望流量出現大幅波動即使按順序，相對價值與通貨膨脹的關係也可能會發生一些變化。

And then I have a question on just trying to piece together everything you said about like the different income cohorts. So you're not quite back up in terms of the high income as a percentage of your customer base to where you were in COVID -- pre-COVID but you're there, you're getting closer, but at the same time, you're seeing check management. So I guess, can you just put maybe a finer point on it. So is the check management coming from lower income cohorts or the higher income cohort.

然後我有一個問題，就是試圖將你所說的所有內容拼湊起來，就像不同的收入群體一樣。因此，就高收入佔客戶群的百分比而言，你還沒有完全恢復到新冠疫情之前的水平，但你已經在那裡，你正在接近，但與此同時，你正在看到檢查管理。所以我想，你能不能提出一個更好的觀點。來自低收入群體或高收入群體的支票管理也是如此。

And it sounds like some of this is just lower income cohorts may have splurged more in the past, and now you're kind of getting back to normal patterns. But I'm trying to piece everything together.

聽起來其中一些只是低收入者過去可能揮霍得更多，而現在你已經恢復到正常模式了。但我正在嘗試將所有內容拼湊在一起。

Yes, Sara. The check management in Fine Dining is coming more from the lower income cohorts than it is from the higher income cohorts. I think they were splurging, as we've talked about before, a little bit of euphoria in the last few years. And we're getting back to a more normal level.

是的，薩拉。高級餐飲的支票管理更多來自低收入群體，而不是高收入群體。我認為，正如我們之前談到的，他們在過去幾年裡揮霍了一點欣快感。我們正在恢復到更正常的水平。

And in regards to pricing, your point on the follow-up. Recall, Raj said, we don't really have a whole lot of pricing in the back half. Most of what we have is wrap. So when you think about how much pricing we have versus inflation, most of our pricing is already embedded. And so that's really where the delta is. So the consumer isn't going to see a whole lot more price than they are seeing today. They might see a little bit in a couple of brands. So we still feel really good about where we are, and we don't think it's going to really make a big change in our traffic pattern.

關於定價，您對後續行動的看法。回想一下，拉吉說，我們在後半部並沒有真正的定價。我們擁有的大部分都是包裝的。因此，當你考慮我們相對於通貨膨脹的定價時，我們的大部分定價已經嵌入。這就是三角洲的真正所在。因此，消費者不會看到比現在高出許多的價格。他們可能會在幾個品牌中看到一些。因此，我們仍然對自己的處境感到非常滿意，我們認為這不會真正對我們的流量模式產生重大變化。

Next question is coming from Chris O'Cull from Stifel.

下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Chris O'Cull。

This is Patrick on for Chris. Raj, I was curious on the traffic at LongHorn. If you could just dig into that a little bit more, whether relative to last quarter or relative to the industry and then also just check management, specifically at LongHorn. And are you guys seeing any different trends there than maybe what you mentioned in some of the other segments?

這是派崔克代替克里斯。 Raj，我對 LongHorn 的交通狀況很好奇。如果你能再深入一點，無論是相對於上個季度還是相對於整個行業，然後再檢查一下管理層，特別是 LongHorn 的管理層。你們是否看到了與你們在其他一些領域提到的趨勢不同的趨勢？

Yes, Patrick. When I look at LongHorn, they had a very strong performance for the quarter, right? We talked about significantly outperformed the industry on same-restaurant sales. Their traffic for the quarter was around negative 1%. That's -- but when you look at their retention to pre-COVID, they have held up pretty well. They are up both in dining room and off-premise by -- combined by double digits in the dining room.

是的，派崔克。當我觀察 LongHorn 時，他們本季的表現非常強勁，對吧？我們談到在同餐廳銷售方面明顯優於行業。該季度的流量約為負 1%。但當你看看他們在新冠疫情之前的保留率時，你會發現他們的表現相當不錯。餐廳和店外的銷售額均上漲——餐廳內的銷售額達到兩位數。

So to have the volumes who are running at LongHorn today, we would have said 4 years ago, it would take 10 years to get there and we got there in 4 years. So we're really happy with where LongHorn is in terms of their momentum, and we hope to see that continue.

因此，要擁有今天在 LongHorn 運行的捲，我們會在 4 年前說，需要 10 年才能實現這一目標，而我們在 4 年內就實現了這一目標。因此，我們對 LongHorn 的勢頭感到非常滿意，我們希望看到這種情況繼續下去。

Great. That's helpful. And then, Rick, I was just curious, as you step back from the business and you think about strategically, how you continue to exploit the scale advantages that you have? I mean, what are the biggest opportunities over the next 12-months when you think about potentially competing in a softer environment, what you can leverage? Is it supply chain? Is it technology or -- just curious to get your overall thoughts on where some of those opportunities might lie to increase the gap between you and your competitors?

偉大的。這很有幫助。然後，里克，我只是很好奇，當你從業務中退出並從戰略上思考時，你如何繼續利用你擁有的規模優勢？我的意思是，當您考慮在較軟的環境中進行潛在競爭時，未來 12 個月最大的機會是什麼？您可以利用什麼？是供應鏈嗎？是技術還是——只是想了解您對其中一些機會可能會拉大您與競爭對手之間差距的整體想法？

Yes, Patrick. I will say, over the next 12-months, pretty kind of -- a little bit of short term versus the strategic things that we've been doing over the last few years. But we believe that we continue to invest in technology to make it easier for our teams to execute. As I said, we've got better AI tools for scheduling. And if we schedule better, we execute better. That drives performance.

是的，派崔克。我想說，在接下來的 12 個月裡，與我們過去幾年一直在做的策略性事情相比，有點短期。但我們相信，我們會繼續投資技術，讓我們的團隊更容易執行。正如我所說，我們擁有更好的人工智慧調度工具。如果我們安排得更好，我們就會執行得更好。這會推動效能。

Our supply chain scale advantage is pretty strong. And so we're able to get better pricing for our food, which we can pass on to our consumers with -- through lower overall check growth versus the industry. And so there's no one nugget, what I would say is it's our back-to-basics operating philosophy that's going to continue to get us to grow.

我們的供應鏈規模優勢相當強。因此，我們能夠為我們的食品獲得更好的定價，並透過低於該行業的整體支票成長將其轉嫁給消費者。因此，沒有任何一個金塊，我想說的是，我們回歸基本的營運理念將繼續推動我們成長。

And that's excellent food, excellent service and an inviting atmosphere, executing better than the restaurant next door. That's not necessarily strategic. That's not a silver bullet. That's hard to do, and we do it really well. And that's what's really, as Raj mentioned earlier, execution is what's driving a lot of our performance, and we'll continue to execute by using our scale to help our brands get better.

這裡有美味的食物、優質的服務和誘人的氛圍，比隔壁的餐廳更好。這不一定是戰略性的。這不是靈丹妙藥。這很難做到，但我們做得很好。這就是真正的原因，正如 Raj 之前提到的，執行力是我們業績的主要推動力，我們將繼續利用我們的規模來執行執行，幫助我們的品牌變得更好。

Our next question today is coming from Dennis Geiger from UBS.

今天我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的丹尼斯蓋革。

Just wondering if you could talk a little bit more on off-premise, what it was in the quarter? And any thoughts on the go-forward there?

只是想知道您是否可以在場外多談談本季的情況？對那裡的進展有什麼想法嗎？

Yes, Dennis, off-premise for the quarter at long -- at Olive Garden was 23%, so pretty similar to the levels we had before and [net LongHorn] is at 14%. And now we'll -- as we get into the holidays, we should see a little bit more at Olive Garden. Typically, we see that, but we'll see how that goes going forward. But on a year-over-year basis, it's slightly below. I think across our system, we're probably 100 basis points lower or something like that but it's pretty -- it's stabilized in these ranges.

是的，丹尼斯，本季橄欖園的場外比例至少為 23%，與我們之前的水平非常相似，[LongHorn 淨值] 為 14%。現在，當我們進入假期時，我們應該在橄欖園看到更多的東西。通常情況下，我們會看到這一點，但我們會看看未來會如何發展。但與去年同期相比，略有下降。我認為在我們的系統中，我們可能會降低 100 個基點或類似的水平，但它已經穩定在這些範圍內，這很不錯。

That's great. Just one quick one then just on any regional, I know you talked a little bit earlier for some of the segments about some regional things to be thinking about. Anything broadly across brands, across portfolio regionally that you've seen?

那太棒了。只是簡單地說一下，然後就任何區域而言，我知道您之前在某些部分談到了一些需要考慮的區域問題。您看過哪些跨品牌、跨地區的產品組合？

Nothing of note to talk about. It's fairly consistent with what we mentioned last quarter, where there's a little bit of softness in Texas and South but nothing crazy. California a little bit stronger, but nothing meaningful.

沒有什麼值得談論的。這與我們上個季度提到的情況相當一致，德克薩斯州和南部有一點疲軟，但沒有什麼瘋狂的。加州強一點，但沒什麼意義。

Next question today is coming from Lauren Silberman from Deutsche Bank.

今天的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的勞倫‧西爾伯曼。

Congrats. I think you've talked about before you generally see changes in check before traffic in a more challenging environment. Do you see this check management as a precursor to traffic step down or more return to normal behavior? And how are you monitoring that?

恭喜。我想您之前已經談過，在更具挑戰性的環境中，您通常會看到交通檢查中的變化。您是否認為這種檢查管理是流量減少或更多恢復正常行為的先兆？您如何監控？

Yes, Lauren, this is Rick. We see the check management a little bit more of a function of year-over-year euphoria difference, not necessarily the consumers feeling a lot more pinched. Now we -- as we said, we're getting closer -- the higher income households mix is going up. The below 50% is going down, and that's both on the traffic side and a little bit on the check side. So we're not hugely concerned or we're not really that concerned about the check management now because it was really more driven by last year versus kind of a long-term trend.

是的，勞倫，這是瑞克。我們看到檢查管理更多是由於同比欣快感差異而產生的，而不一定是消費者感到更加拮据。現在，正如我們所說，我們越來越接近高收入家庭的比例正在上升。低於 50% 的比例正在下降，這既涉及流量方面，也涉及支票方面。因此，我們並不是非常擔心，或者我們現在並不真正擔心支票管理，因為它實際上更多是由去年而不是長期趨勢驅動的。

Great. And then just a quick one for marketing. The $35 million to $40 million range that you're currently running, is that the right run rate? Or should we expect to pick up?

偉大的。然後是快速行銷。您目前運行的資金範圍為 3500 萬至 4000 萬美元，這是正確的運行率嗎？或者我們應該期待回升嗎？

Yes, Lauren, I think we've basically said we're going to be between 10 to 20 basis points as a percent of sales versus last year. So any quarter you should be -- if you look at last year, and we should be within 10 to 20 bps of that.

是的，勞倫，我想我們基本上已經說過，與去年相比，我們的銷售額百分比將提高 10 到 20 個基點。所以任何一個季度都應該如此——如果你看看去年，我們應該在 10 到 20 個基點的範圍內。

Next question is coming from Andy Barish from Jefferies.

下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Andy Barish。

Just one clarification. On the unit side, you used term reopens. Were those relocated units? and then I've got one other follow-up question, please.

只是一處澄清。在單位方面，您使用了術語“重新打開”。那些是搬遷單位嗎？然後我還有一個後續問題。

Yes, Andy, in the -- I think it was 4. We had a couple of relocations. We had a couple of restaurants that we reopened after being temporarily closed due to fire. So that's really the bulk of those 4.

是的，安迪，在——我想是 4。我們搬遷了幾次。我們有幾家餐廳因火災暫時關閉後重新開業。所以這確實是這 4 個中的大部分。

Okay. And just a quick update last quarter. You talked about more synergy realization potential at Ruth's Chris, but some of that is going to be reinvested. Has that reinvestment started in earnest? Or is it more going to come kind of in the back half of the year as supply chain gets integrated and things like that?

好的。上個季度有一個快速更新。您談到了露絲克里斯的更多協同效應實現潛力，但其中一些將被重新投資。再投資真的開始了嗎？或者，隨著供應鏈的整合以及類似的事情，這種情況是否會在今年下半年出現？

Yes, Andy, some of that reinvestment is already starting. And some of it happens as the supply chain converts. One of the investments we made was an improvement in their [fillet]. I don't think that's in every restaurant yet. Another one of the investments that we talked about, we will be doing in December, and that is for their team closing on Christmas Day.

是的，安迪，部分再投資已經開始。其中一些是隨著供應鏈的轉變而發生的。我們所做的投資之一是改進他們的[魚片]。我認為還不是每家餐廳都這樣。我們談到的另一項投資，我們將在 12 月進行，那就是他們的團隊在聖誕節那天關閉。

So there's still some things that are coming in. But we're consistent. We're on track with our timeline, and we still expect accretion to be consistent with what we've shared previously, even with those investments we're making for our team members and our guests.

所以仍然有一些事情正在發生。但我們是一致的。我們的時間表正按計劃進行，我們仍然期望成長與我們之前分享的內容保持一致，即使我們為團隊成員和客人進行了這些投資。

Your next question today is coming from Gregory Francfort from Guggenheim.

今天你們的下一個問題來自古根漢的葛瑞格里‧法蘭克福特。

Rick, just one more on marketing. Can you remind us how the composition of that has changed versus pre-COVID maybe traditional or digital or other categories? And how you think about the returns across those channels versus a few years ago?

里克，再講一篇關於行銷的內容。您能否提醒我們，與新冠疫情之前的傳統類別、數位類別或其他類別相比，其組成發生了怎樣的變化？與幾年前相比，您如何看待這些管道的回報？

Greg, yes, versus pre-COVID, we're a bit more digital, partly because LongHorn really came off of television when we were on -- before COVID LongHorn was on TV. So we are a bit more digital in overall mix. Olive Garden's mix isn't substantially different than before. They did come off a little bit of television, but they also came off a little bit on the digital side. We have pretty good analytics to tell us the returns on each of those things.

格雷格，是的，與新冠疫情之前相比，我們更加數位化，部分原因是在我們播出時，LongHorn 確實脫離了電視——在新冠疫情之前，LongHorn 才出現在電視上。所以我們在整體組合上更加數位化。橄欖園的組合與以前沒有太大不同。他們確實在電視方面表現出色，但在數字方面也表現出色。我們有很好的分析來告訴我們每件事的回報。

And the good news is during COVID, we tested some more digital, and we were able to -- because we didn't have much media on at one time when we started turning it on, we were actually able to see what those returns are. And that was one of the benefits of the COVID we were able to test a little bit more. And we're testing other things on the digital front now to see if there are some things that we'll add in the future.

好消息是，在新冠疫情期間，我們測試了更多數位化產品，而且我們能夠——因為當我們開始打開它時，我們沒有太多媒體，我們實際上能夠看到這些回報是什麼。這就是我們能夠進行更多測試的新冠病毒的好處之一。我們現在正在數位方面測試其他東西，看看將來是否會添加一些東西。

Next question today is coming from Andrew Strelzik from BMO.

今天的下一個問題來自 BMO 的 Andrew Strelzik。

My first one, just wanted to follow up on some of the value perception, I guess, commentary that you made certainly relative to other restaurants and certainly relative to inflation, makes a lot of sense. But I guess when you brought in the view on that and look at food in home or grocery, and you see some of the larger grocery chains talking about food deflation and more promotions and things like that. Does that factor into your calculus at all? Or how do you think about the value perception relative to that, if you have any work on that or anything, any thoughts would be great?

我的第一個，只是想跟進一些價值念，我想，你所做的評論肯定是相對於其他餐館，當然是相對於通貨膨脹，很有意義。但我想當你引入這一觀點並觀察家庭或雜貨店的食物時，你會看到一些較大的雜貨連鎖店正在談論食品通貨緊縮和更多促銷活動以及類似的事情。這個因素會影響你的計算嗎？或者你如何看待與此相關的價值觀念，如果你對此有任何工作或任何東西，任何想法都會很棒？

A couple of things. As we've mentioned before, dining out is really more than just about the sustenance. It's about getting together with your family and friends to enjoy a meal. And as Raj mentioned earlier, we still have a very big gap in the pricing that we have taken over the last 4-years versus what's happening in retail.

有幾件事。正如我們之前提到的，外出用餐不僅僅是為了維持生計。這是關於與家人和朋友聚在一起享受美食的事情。正如 Raj 之前提到的，我們過去 4 年採取的定價與零售業的定價仍然存在很大差距。

I mean I would say, if retail starts to do discounts or other deals, it's probably because they're not moving product. And so that helps us on our cost side. So we don't really look very much at the difference between food at home and food away from home, partly because, as I said, people think about, "I want to go out to eat", and then they determine where they want to go out to eat. And so we haven't really seen correlations in the difference in food at home, food away from home over the long, long term.

我的意思是，我想說，如果零售業開始進行折扣或其他交易，那可能是因為他們沒有轉移產品。這對我們的成本方面有幫助。因此，我們並不太關注家裡食物和外出食物之間的區別，部分原因是，正如我所說，人們會想到“我想出去吃飯”，然後他們決定去哪裡吃飯出去吃飯。因此，從長遠來看，我們還沒有真正看到在家食物和外出食物差異之間的相關性。

Got it. Okay. That's helpful. And then just one other question. On the Ruth integration, any surprises or learnings as that's progressed? And I guess, the balance sheet still is in very, very good shape. So would that integration either preclude you from making another acquisition? Or how are you thinking about the balance sheet from here?

知道了。好的。這很有幫助。然後還有一個問題。關於露絲整合，隨著進展有什麼驚喜或教訓嗎？我想，資產負債表仍然處於非常非常好的狀態。那麼這種整合是否會阻止您進行另一次收購？或者您如何看待這裡的資產負債表？

Let me start by saying we're really pleased with the integration and the transition that we've had. We're 6-months from the close of the transaction. We still have a few changes we have to make at the restaurants and they have to absorb them over the next 6-months. But that doesn't preclude us from other things. We'll continue to talk to our Board and determine what the right use of our capital is. As you mentioned, we do have a strong balance sheet, but we're going to continue to work on this until something else comes along.

首先我要說的是，我們對我們所經歷的整合和過渡感到非常滿意。距離交易結束還有 6 個月。我們仍然需要對餐廳做出一些改變，他們必須在接下來的 6 個月內吸收這些改變。但這並不妨礙我們做其他事。我們將繼續與董事會討論並確定我們資本的正確用途。正如您所提到的，我們確實擁有強大的資產負債表，但我們將繼續努力，直到出現其他情況。

Next question today is coming from John Ivankoe from JPMorgan.

今天的下一個問題來自摩根大通的約翰‧伊凡科。

First, I was hoping maybe you could help a little bit with industry comparisons in January and February. Obviously, COVID laps from the previous year helped also -- an unusually warm or really lack of winter. I mean, I guess if you were to kind of normalize those months, I mean how much do you think you may have actually kind of been helped by kind of a bounce back in the early months of '23 that we should at least consider on a lapping perspective?

首先，我希望您能在一月和二月的行業比較方面提供一些幫助。顯然，前一年的新冠疫情也有幫助——異常溫暖或真正缺乏冬天。我的意思是，我想如果你要讓這幾個月正常化，我的意思是，你認為 23 年初幾個月的反彈實際上對你有多少幫助，我們至少應該考慮一下研磨的視角？

I know it's very topical and it's not my style, but I would love to know your perspective on that. And then secondly, my experience is casual dining operating companies don't love presidential election years, cost of media breaking through, disruption of consumers, what have you? I mean, do you share that perspective? And is there anything that we should be just kind of considering as we kind of go into calendar '24 is what is obviously going to be another difficult election cycle?

我知道這很熱門，而且不是我的風格，但我很想知道你對此的看法。其次，我的經驗是休閒餐飲營運公司不喜歡總統選舉年、媒體成本突破、消費者擾亂，你有什麼？我的意思是，你同意這個觀點嗎？當我們進入日曆「24」時，有什麼是我們應該考慮的，這顯然將是另一個艱難的選舉週期？

All right, John, let me try to answer in a way that makes sense because, obviously, when you look at the seasonal situation, third quarter last year was wrapping on Omicron from the year before. It was just a whole different -- in terms of dynamic. But as you pointed out, the winter weather in that quarter for our third quarter, which is December, January, February, in aggregate was favorable to the historical averages. And so we do expect winter weather in the third quarter to be essentially a headwind, the third quarter just based on historical averages.

好吧，約翰，讓我嘗試以有意義的方式回答，因為顯然，當您查看季節性情況時，去年第三季度的 Omicron 與前一年相比。只是在動態方面完全不同。但正如您所指出的，我們第三季（12 月、1 月、2 月）該季度的冬季天氣總體有利於歷史平均水平。因此，我們確實預計第三季的冬季天氣基本上將是逆風，第三季僅基於歷史平均值。

If the weather this year, is there anything like what it would have been historically, then it is a headwind for us, I would expect it's the same for the industry, but I can't -- I don't want to speak confidently about the industry, but I can tell you that's how we're looking at it. In fact, we -- that's part of the reason we didn't get into this earlier, but that's part of the reason our internal estimates have comps -- same restaurant sales for the third quarter being the lowest for the -- within this year, primarily because of that weather headwind. And now I'll have -- maybe Rick can talk about the presidential years and how we think about it.

如果今年的天氣與歷史上的天氣類似，那麼這對我們來說是一個逆風，我希望這個行業也是如此，但我不能——我不想自信地說關於這個行業，但我可以告訴你，這就是我們看待它的方式。事實上，我們——這就是我們沒有早點進入這個問題的部分原因，但這也是我們內部估計有比較的部分原因——第三季度同一餐廳的銷售額是今年以來最低的。 ，主要是因為天氣逆風。現在我——也許里克可以談談總統任期以及我們如何看待它。

Yes, John. Yes, this is an election year. It's probably going to be a pretty contentious election with a lot of television advertising. The good news is we're not as reliant on TV as we were in the past. And I think casual dining was much more reliant on television in the past and chain restaurants were much more reliant on television. But now there's other media out there, more digital, more online video and so we aren't as concerned about an election year as maybe in the past. That said, it depends on how contentious this gets and how much media is out there. We feel confident that if we continue to focus on our strategies and execute when people go out, they're going to come out to our restaurants.

是的，約翰。是的，今年是選舉年。這可能會是一場頗具爭議的選舉，會有大量電視廣告。好消息是我們不再像過去那樣依賴電視。我認為過去休閒餐飲更依賴電視，連鎖餐廳也更依賴電視。但現在有其他媒體，更多數位化，更多在線視頻，所以我們不像過去那樣擔心選舉年。也就是說，這取決於這件事的爭議程度以及媒體的數量。我們相信，如果我們繼續專注於我們的策略並在人們外出時執行，他們就會來到我們的餐廳。

Our next question is coming from Brian Vaccaro from Raymond James.

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

Just a quick one for me. Following up on your private dining bookings comments, could you help frame the degree to which you're up year-on-year? Or any perspective on how that might compare looking back to pre-COVID levels?

對我來說只是一個快速的。跟進您的私人用餐預訂評論，您能幫忙確定一下您的年增長程度嗎？或者對與新冠疫情爆發前的水平進行比較有什麼看法？

Yes, Brian, we're not going to talk about how much we're up in this current quarter on private dining year-over-year. So we'll let you know how that happens after the quarter ends.

是的，布萊恩，我們不會談論本季私人餐飲同比增長了多少。因此，我們會在季度結束後告訴您具體情況。

Your next question is coming from Nick Setyan from Wedbush Securities.

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

I just wanted to follow up on the pricing below inflation in Q4. Historically, you've always priced below inflation. I guess, is there really a big change in terms of the magnitude of the pricing below inflation and then beyond Q4, is -- are there enough operating initiatives to kind of maintain 4-wall margins? Or are you willing to give up some margin in the medium term?

我只是想跟進第四季度低於通膨的定價。從歷史上看，定價總是低於通貨膨脹率。我想，低於通膨的定價幅度是否真的存在重大變化，然後在第四季之後，是否有足夠的營運舉措來維持四面牆利潤？或者您願意在中期放棄一些利潤嗎？

Nick, I think part of this is really the cadence of when we took pricing actions. So if you recall at the beginning of the year, we were very clear that we're going to have a -- on a year-over-year basis, we're going to see more pricing come through in the first half than the back half just because that's a function of actions we took last year. There's not like a lot of new pricing actions we're taking this year. There are a few, and that's why instead of the 3% of the -- 3.5% to 4% that we have in total pricing is carryover from last year.

尼克，我認為部分原因實際上是我們採取定價行動時的節奏。因此，如果您還記得今年年初，我們非常清楚，與去年同期相比，我們將看到上半年的定價高於去年同期的定價。後半部分只是因為這是我們去年採取的行動的結果。今年我們並沒有採取許多新的定價行動。有一些，這就是為什麼我們總定價中的 3%——3.5% 到 4% 是去年的結轉。

So there are a few actions this year. Typically, we try to -- our team -- we typically take pricing with our fiscal year. So now things can change. But the way we look at it is we take a longer-term view and we've been very clear on the year that we are getting some margin growth. Our guidance implies margin growth, and I'll then refer you back to our long-term framework, which kind of talks about over time we expect to grow margins.

所以今年有一些行動。通常，我們的團隊會嘗試根據我們的財年定價。所以現在事情可能會改變。但我們看待這個問題的方式是，我們採取更長遠的眼光，並且我們在這一年中非常清楚我們正在獲得一些利潤率成長。我們的指導意味著利潤率成長，然後我將請您回顧我們的長期框架，該框架討論了隨著時間的推移，我們預計利潤率會成長。

Any given quarter, do we give up margins? Yes, maybe if that's the right thing for the year. I mean, at the end of the day, we look at over longer periods of time.

任何特定季度，我們都會放棄利潤嗎？是的，也許這對今年來說是正確的事情。我的意思是，歸根結底，我們會考慮更長的時間。

Your next question today is coming from Danilo Gargiulo from Bernstein.

今天你們的下一個問題來自伯恩斯坦的達尼洛·加吉烏洛（Danilo Gargiulo）。

Raj, I want to -- on the last statement that you made on the margin expansion over time. So if you think about kind of the long run and given the solid results that you already had in the restaurant level margins, can you help us understand the task for the incremental margin expansion, meaning where do you see the biggest upside over the long run as you continue to scale?

Raj，我想談談您關於利潤隨時間推移而擴張的最後聲明。因此，如果您考慮長遠來看，並考慮到您在餐廳利潤率方面已經取得的紮實成果，您能否幫助我們了解增量利潤擴張的任務，這意味著從長遠來看，您認為最大的上行空間在哪裡當你繼續擴大規模？

Danilo, this is Rick. You think about our margin, we've been fairly consistent over the years that we're searching for profitable sales growth. And we had just updated our long-term framework or put that back out where we'd be at 10 to 30 basis points a year in margin expansion, in any one year it could be above that or below that. And we're going to get that through executing our strategy, leveraging our scale, to be able to take costs out of the system and still over in the long-term price below inflation to provide a better dining experience using our back-to-basics operating philosophy and our great operators out in the field that execute better than the restaurant next door.

達尼洛，這是瑞克。你想想我們的利潤率，多年來我們一直在尋求可獲利的銷售成長。我們剛剛更新了我們的長期框架，或將其放回每年 10 到 30 個基點的利潤擴張水平，在任何一年中，它都可能高於或低於這一水平。我們將透過執行我們的策略、利用我們的規模來實現這一目標，以便能夠將成本從系統中剔除，並以低於通膨的長期價格，利用我們的背對背提供更好的用餐體驗。基本的經營理念和我們在現場的優秀經營者比隔壁的餐廳執行得更好。

If we do those things and we have done those things, we will continue to drive profitable sales growth. There may be years that our margins are a little bit less than that because we're gaining even more market share, and we're willing to do that. There may be years on the opposite side, where we still gain share, but we have margin expansion opportunities. As Raj mentioned, we don't look at it quarter-to-quarter. We think about it over the long run.

如果我們做這些事情並且我們已經做了這些事情，我們將繼續推動盈利的銷售成長。可能有幾年我們的利潤率會比這個少一點，因為我們正在獲得更多的市場份額，而且我們願意這樣做。可能在相反的幾年裡，我們仍然會獲得份額，但我們有利潤率擴張的機會。正如 Raj 所提到的，我們不會按季度進行研究。我們會從長遠考慮。

And then can you comment on the technology roadmap and what excites you the most about -- you recently mentioned about some of the AI implementation to improve the level of staffing in the store. What do you think is going to be unfolding in the next few years?

然後您能否評論一下技術路線圖以及最令您興奮的地方——您最近提到了一些旨在提高商店人員配備水平的人工智慧實施。您認為未來幾年會發生什麼事？

Yes, Danilo, over the last few years, we focused a lot of energy and technology on improving the guest experience, primarily in the off-premise segment, making it easier to order pick up and pay. We're working on our tech plans for the next few years. But I would think that AI would be a little bit more part of that, especially on the back of the house things, maybe not necessarily as consumer-facing. Our goal with technology is to eliminate friction. And we've eliminated a lot of friction for the guest on the to-go experience, on being able to put their name on wait lists.

是的，達尼洛，在過去的幾年裡，我們投入了大量的精力和技術來改善賓客體驗，主要是在場外部分，使訂餐和付款變得更容易。我們正在製定未來幾年的技術計劃。但我認為人工智慧會更參與其中，尤其是在房子後面，也許不一定是面向消費者的。我們的技術目標是消除摩擦。我們也為客人在外帶體驗中消除了許多摩擦，讓他們能夠將自己的名字列入候補名單。

Now we want to eliminate friction in our team. Eliminate our management friction to make it easier for them. So they don't have to spend as much time doing what we think are non-value-added tasks. Ordering, receiving, scheduling, which is value added. But if we can make it easier for them to schedule, they can spend less time doing that and spend a lot more time with their team and with their guests.

現在我們希望消除團隊中的摩擦。消除我們的管理摩擦，讓他們更輕鬆。因此，他們不必花太多時間來做我們認為無增值的任務。訂購、接收、調度，這是增值的。但如果我們能讓他們更輕鬆地安排日程，他們就可以花更少的時間來做這件事，而花更多的時間與團隊和客人相處。

And so the technology investments we're making -- we may be making in the future, you might not see a whole lot of impact on that from the consumer. You'll see it from the consumer because our teams are going to be better trained. And so that's what we're focusing on.

因此，我們正在進行的技術投資——我們將來可能會進行的技術投資，你可能不會看到消費者對此產生很大的影響。你會從消費者那裡看到這一點，因為我們的團隊將得到更好的訓練。這就是我們關注的重點。

Thank you. We've reached end of our question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over to management for any further or closing comments.

謝謝。我們的問答環節已經結束。我想將發言權交還給管理階層，以徵求進一步的意見或結束意見。

Thank you. That concludes our call. I'd like to remind you that we plan to release third quarter results on Thursday, March 21, before the market opens with a conference call to follow. Thanks again for your participation, and have a happy holiday.

謝謝。我們的通話到此結束。我想提醒您，我們計劃在 3 月 21 日星期四開市前發布第三季業績，並隨後召開電話會議。再次感謝您的參與，祝您假期愉快。

Thank you. That does conclude today's teleconference and webcast. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and have a wonderful day. We thank you for your participation today.

謝謝。今天的電話會議和網路廣播到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路，度過美好的一天。我們感謝您今天的參與。