Brinker International Inc (EAT) 2026 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Brinker International's Q3 F '26 conference call. (Operator Instructions)

大家好，歡迎參加 Brinker International 2026 會計年度第三季（Q3 F '26）電話法說會。(接線員指示)

It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, Kim Sanders, Vice President of Investor Relations. Ma'am, the floor is yours.

現在我很榮幸把會議交給今天的主持人——投資人關係副總裁 Kim Sanders。女士，請開始。

Thank you, Holly, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on today's call. Here with me today are Kevin Hochman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Brinker International and President of Chili's; and Mika Ware, Chief Financial Officer. Results for our third quarter were released earlier this morning and are available on our website at brinker.com.

謝謝你，Holly。各位早安，也感謝各位參加今天的電話會議。今天與我一同出席的有 Brinker International 執行長兼總裁、同時也是 Chili's 總裁的 Kevin Hochman，以及財務長 Mika Ware。我們第三季的業績已於今天稍早發布，並可在我們的網站 brinker.com 查閱。

As usual, Kevin and Mika will first make prepared comments related to our strategic initiatives and operating performance. Then we will open the call for your questions. Before beginning our comments, I would like to remind everyone of our Safe Harbor regarding forward-looking statements.

如同往常，Kevin 與 Mika 將先就我們的策略性計畫與營運表現發表準備好的談話。接著我們將開放提問。在開始之前，我想提醒各位注意我們關於前瞻性陳述的「安全港」聲明。

During our call, management may discuss certain items, which are not based entirely on historical facts. Any such items should be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include factors more completely described in this morning's press release and the company's filings with the SEC.

在本次電話會議中，管理團隊可能會討論某些並非完全基於歷史事實的事項。任何此類事項均應被視為《1995 年私人證券訴訟改革法》所定義的前瞻性陳述。所有此類陳述均受風險與不確定性影響，可能導致實際結果與預期存在重大差異。相關風險與不確定性因素已在今天早上的新聞稿以及公司向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的文件中更完整地說明。

And of course, on the call, we may refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures that management uses in its review of the business and believes will provide insight into the company's ongoing operations. And with that said, I will turn the call over to Kevin.

當然，在會議中我們也可能提及某些非 GAAP 財務衡量指標；管理團隊在檢視業務時會使用這些指標，並相信其能提供公司持續營運的洞見。話不多說，我把電話交給 Kevin。

Thank you, Kim, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us as we discuss our financial and operating performance for the third quarter as well as our outlook on the remainder of fiscal '26. Q3 Chili's same-store sales of plus 4% marked our 20th consecutive quarter of same-store sales growth and outpaced the casual dining industry by 420 basis points.

謝謝你，Kim。各位早安。感謝各位加入我們，一同討論第三季的財務與營運表現，以及我們對 2026 會計年度剩餘期間的展望。Chili's 第三季同店銷售成長 4%，為連續第 20 季同店銷售成長，並以 420 個基點領先休閒餐飲產業。

This strong result was rolling a plus 31% from last year for a two-year cumulative comp of 37%. A list of the top 500 largest restaurant chains for all of 2025 just came out, and I'm proud to say Chili's is now the number two casual dining brand for sales in addition to maintaining our status as the number one casual dining traffic brand.

這項強勁表現是在去年同店成長 31% 的高基期之上達成，兩年累計同店成長達 37%。2025 全年「前 500 大餐飲連鎖」名單剛出爐，我很自豪地表示，Chili's 現在已成為休閒餐飲品牌中銷售額排名第二，同時也維持我們作為休閒餐飲「來客量」第一品牌的地位。

To put our sustained growth into perspective, if Chili's nearly $1 billion of sales growth in calendar '25 was its own business, it would be larger than most of the restaurant chains on the list. After delivering a plus 15% in calendar '24, we often were getting asked what's going to be the next Chili's?

為了讓各位更能理解我們持續成長的規模：若 Chili's 在 2025 曆年近 10 億美元的銷售成長是一家獨立公司，其規模將大於名單上多數餐飲連鎖品牌。在 2024 曆年交出 15% 成長之後，我們經常被問到：下一個 Chili's 會是誰？

With the 21% we posted in calendar '25, the answer was resoundingly Chili's. And in 2026, our sales growth has consistently outpaced the industry with our outperformance continuing to accelerate from 320 basis points better in February to 550 points in March and now 560 points month-to-date through April.

而在 2025 曆年我們達成 21% 成長後，答案非常明確：就是 Chili's 自己。進入 2026 年，我們的銷售成長持續領先產業，而且領先幅度仍在加速——從 2 月領先 320 個基點、3 月領先 550 個基點，到目前 4 月截至今日已領先 560 個基點。

Chili's momentum is sustaining, driven by quarterly improvements in food service and atmosphere as well as continuing to make Chili's more fun, more easy, and more rewarding for our team members. These experience improvements, coupled with our everyday value leadership, represented by a per person average guest check that is $3 to $4 below competition, are supporting a powerful flywheel of traffic, sales, growth margin expansion, and reinvestment into our business.

Chili's 的動能持續延續，來自於每一季在餐飲出品、服務與用餐氛圍上的改善，同時也持續讓 Chili's 對我們的團隊成員而言更有趣、更容易、更有回報。這些體驗面的提升，加上我們在日常價值主張上的領導地位——以每位顧客平均客單價比競品低 3 到 4 美元為代表——正在支撐一個強勁的飛輪效應：來客量、銷售、成長、毛利率擴張，以及對業務的再投資。

Now I'll give some updates on the Chili's business. We spent Q3 continuing to work on the fundamentals, preparing for our new chicken sandwich platform launch and bringing in new guests with relevant marketing to experience Chili's. In Q3, our restaurant teams remain squarely focused on the fundamentals of the guest experience.

接下來我更新一些 Chili's 的業務進展。第三季我們持續打磨基本功，為全新的雞肉三明治平台上市做準備，並透過貼近消費者的行銷吸引新顧客來體驗 Chili's。在第三季，我們的餐廳團隊仍然高度聚焦於顧客體驗的基本面。

From a food standpoint, our primary focus was chicken breading and cooking perfection, which involved retraining the teams on perfect execution of hand-breading our chicken crispper and chicken sandwich lineup, which will ensure those items are freshly cooked, hot and crispy.

在餐點方面，我們的首要重點是雞肉裹粉與烹調的完美度；這包含重新訓練團隊，確保手工裹粉的 Chicken Crisper 與雞肉三明治系列能夠完美執行，讓這些品項現點現做、熱騰騰且酥脆。

A key differentiator of our chicken sandwich is that we hand bread the chicken in restaurant. We believe a freshly breaded filet tastes better than chicken that has been breaded and fried by machines in a factory, frozen, shipped hundreds of miles and then refried in a restaurant.

我們雞肉三明治的一大關鍵差異化在於：我們在餐廳內手工為雞肉裹粉。我們相信，新鮮裹粉的雞排比起在工廠用機器裹粉油炸、冷凍、運送數百英里後再在餐廳回炸的雞肉，口感更好。

And in anticipation of our Q4 chicken sandwich launch, our teams were busy ensuring restaurants were ready for the guests that will come in, including reinforcing daily procedures for sparkling clean restaurants and emphasizing key areas to double down on Chilihead Hospitality, our differentiated customer service that drives memorable experiences to grow sales and traffic over time.

此外，為迎接第四季雞肉三明治上市，我們的團隊也忙著確保餐廳已準備好迎接即將到來的顧客；包括強化每日流程以維持餐廳閃亮潔淨，並強調需要加倍投入的關鍵領域——Chilihead Hospitality，也就是我們具差異化的顧客服務，能帶來令人難忘的體驗，並隨時間推進帶動銷售與來客量成長。

While our competitors ramp up limited time offers, we spent the quarter investing time in operations, training and culinary resources into everyday capability that more closely correlates with long-term sustainable traffic growth. We believe doing fewer things bigger and better is a more sustainable way to build traffic and grow our business over time.

當競爭對手加碼推出限時優惠時，我們本季把時間投入在營運、訓練與餐飲研發資源上，強化日常能力，而這與長期、可持續的來客量成長更高度相關。我們相信，少做一些事、但把每件事做得更大更好，是更可持續的方式，能在時間推移中建立來客量並成長我們的業務。

The result is continued momentum on the business, attracting new guests in and retaining the ones we have converted. Dine and GWAP or Guests With A Problem continued its three-year decline, finishing the quarter at 1.9%. Food grade finished at 75% and intent to return was also an all-time best at 79%.

成果是業務動能持續，吸引新顧客進店，同時留住我們已成功轉化的顧客。Dine 與 GWAP（Guests With A Problem，有問題的顧客）持續呈現三年來的下降趨勢，本季結束時為 1.9%。餐點評分（Food grade）為 75%，而回訪意願（intent to return）也創下歷史新高，達 79%。

Our operational improvements continue to deliver better experiences for our guests, and our tokenized cohort tracking yielded similar results from previous quarters. New guests are coming into the restaurants and following the pattern of existing guests on frequency, which gives us confidence growth will continue to sustain.

我們在營運上的改善持續為顧客帶來更好的體驗，而我們的代幣化（tokenized）分群追蹤也得到與前幾季相近的結果。新顧客正在進入餐廳，且在到店頻率上呈現與既有顧客相同的模式，這讓我們對成長將能持續延續更具信心。

Our chicken sandwich platform launched on April 14, with our new menu drop. The lineup features two sandwiches at our $10.99 3 for Me opening price point, the Big Crispy and the Spicy Big Crispy, which includes fries, a bottomless Coca-Cola drink and bottomless chips and salsa. Given a wide range of guest preferences, we also offer three flavored chicken sandwiches, Nashville Hot, Signature Honey Chipotle, and Buffalo with two sides as well as well as the Big Crispy Deluxe with lettuce, tomato and bacon.

我們的雞肉三明治平台已於 4 月 14 日隨著新菜單上線而推出。本系列包含兩款三明治，並以 3 for Me 的 10.99 美元入門價位提供：Big Crispy 與 Spicy Big Crispy，內容包含薯條、無限續杯的可口可樂飲料，以及無限續的玉米片與莎莎醬。考量顧客偏好多元，我們也提供三款風味雞肉三明治：Nashville Hot、Signature Honey Chipotle 與 Buffalo，搭配兩份配菜；另外也有 Big Crispy Deluxe，內含生菜、番茄與培根。

All sandwiches are served with our Chili's Signature house-made ranch for dipping and dunking that our guests absolutely love and pour on everything. This adds an additional point of differentiation you can only get at Chili's. The sandwich platform was launched behind our Better Than Fast Food Campaign, this time tapping into an insight we have seen among consumers frustrated with what they call shrinkflation, where portion size is reduced to offset rising input costs.

所有三明治都會附上 Chili's 招牌自製牧場醬（ranch）供沾食與浸泡；我們的顧客非常喜愛，甚至會淋在各種餐點上。這也增加了一個只有在 Chili's 才能獲得的差異化亮點。本次三明治平台以「Better Than Fast Food（比速食更好）」行銷活動推出，並切入我們觀察到的一項洞察：消費者對所謂的「縮水式通膨（shrinkflation）」感到挫折，也就是為了抵銷投入成本上升而縮小份量。

For example, a post went viral a few months ago when someone posted a photo where a famous fast food chain's burger pickle was actually thicker than the burger patty itself. We believe Chili's over-the-top generous portions are a great way to resolve the biggest challenge facing our customers today. In a world of rising inflation, how do I get the best value for my money? Our TV ads both show and tell our chicken sandwich is way bigger than the leading fast-food restaurants most premium chicken sandwich.

例如，幾個月前有一則貼文爆紅：有人貼出照片，某知名速食連鎖的漢堡酸黃瓜片竟然比漢堡肉排還厚。我們相信，Chili's 份量十足、慷慨大方的餐點，是解決當今顧客最大痛點的好方法。在通膨上升的環境中，我如何讓每一塊錢花得最值得？我們的電視廣告用「看得到也聽得到」的方式呈現：我們的雞肉三明治比領先的速食餐廳最頂級的雞肉三明治大得多。

And at $10.99, this addition to the 3 for Me platform is the perfect antidote for corporate shrinkflation. The launch campaign geared a before your eyes demo of a balancing scale holding our Chili's Big Crispy in one pan with its lighter fast food foil in the other. The scale is not in balance with the new Big Crispy demonstrating it is the exact opposite of shrinkflation, weighing down the scale heavily.

而以 10.99 美元的價格，這項加入 3 for Me 平台的新品，正是對抗企業「縮水式通膨」的最佳解方。上市活動設計了一個「眼見為憑」的示範：天平的一端放上 Chili's Big Crispy，另一端放上較輕的速食對照品。天平明顯失衡，新的 Big Crispy 讓秤盤大幅下沉，展現它與縮水式通膨完全相反的特性。

In fact, our test conducted in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, weighing a large sample size of sandwiches, the new Big Crispy filet was over 80% bigger than the leading fast food restaurants premium chicken sandwich filet. I know many of you are interested in specifics on how the launch is performing.

事實上，我們在達拉斯—沃斯堡地區進行的測試中，針對大量樣本的三明治進行稱重，新款 Big Crispy 雞排的尺寸比主要速食餐廳的高端雞肉三明治雞排大了超過 80%。我知道你們很多人都想了解這次上市表現的具體細節。

And while it's only been two weeks in market with only one week on TV, initial response to the new sandwich platform has been encouraging. So far, the overall platform is selling 161% more sandwiches than prelaunch and is significantly outpacing the numbers we saw in the 200 test locations.

雖然產品上市才兩週、電視投放也只有一週，但市場對這個新三明治平台的初期反應令人鼓舞。截至目前，整體平台的三明治銷量較上市前增加 161%，且明顯超越我們在 200 家測試門店所看到的數據。

From a total business standpoint, we have been comping in mid-single-digit sales in April with positive traffic, which is rolling a plus 29% in April, driven by the Big QP launch in the prior year. As I said earlier, we have accelerated our sales outperformance versus the industry to 560 basis points in April, which only includes two weeks of chicken sandwiches. So while it's still early, the initial results on both the platform and the total business are both encouraging.

從整體業務角度來看，我們 4 月的同店銷售成長為中個位數，且來客數為正；4 月來客數累計成長 29%，主要受前一年 Big QP 上市帶動。如我先前所說，我們在 4 月相較於產業的銷售超越幅度已加速至 560 個基點，而其中僅包含雞肉三明治的兩週表現。因此，雖然仍屬早期，但無論是平台本身或整體業務的初期結果都令人振奮。

I also want to give an update on our north of 6 initiative and how it will be a key to continued sustainable comp growth. A question we get asked a lot is with all the traffic growth you've had in the past few years, do you still have capacity for more? So let me start with the numbers. Our average traffic is now back to 2013 traffic levels, but that's still about 20% less weekly guests from our peak in 2000 to 2005.

我也想更新一下我們的「north of 6」倡議，以及它將如何成為持續、可永續同店成長的關鍵。我們經常被問到的一個問題是：過去幾年來客數成長這麼多，你們還有能力再承接更多嗎？所以我先從數字談起。我們的平均來客數現在已回到 2013 年的水準，但相較於 2000 到 2005 年的高峰期，每週來客仍少了約 20%。

And our north of six restaurants serve anywhere from 20% to 80% more guests than our current average restaurant traffic. So the first point is we know we have a lot more capacity in the buildings. The second question is, what are we learning from the north of six restaurants? And first of all, the dramatic business simplification has been a huge enabler for our restaurants and the direction we are getting from the managers of north of six restaurants is we need more simplification.

而我們的「north of 6」餐廳，其來客量比目前平均餐廳的來客數高出 20% 到 80% 不等。所以第一點是，我們知道門店空間仍有很大的承載能力。第二個問題是：我們從「north of 6」餐廳學到了什麼？首先，顯著的業務簡化一直是門店的重大助力；而「north of 6」餐廳經理給我們的方向是：我們需要更多的簡化。

So our teams are going to challenge every requirement that slows down our restaurant teams. We'll continue to remove items and processes that don't help the guests or team members. And the new initiative I'm most bullish about is speeding up cycle time, meaning looking at everything that goes into the total time of kitchen prep and the dining experience and finding ways to simply remove time.

因此，我們的團隊將挑戰每一項會拖慢門店團隊的要求。我們會持續移除那些無助於顧客或團隊成員的品項與流程。而我最看好的新倡議是加快週期時間（cycle time），也就是檢視廚房備餐到用餐體驗的整體耗時，並找出方法直接把時間「拿掉」。

For example, if one of our restaurants are on a wait on the weekend, the average wait time is about 15 to 20 minutes. That number is pretty good. But remember, that's just an average, which means there are about half our restaurants with longer waits. If we have enterprise project teams studying every bit of that wait to understand what are the bottlenecks we need to remove to reduce that cycle time, whether it be at the host stand, taking orders, kitchen ticket times, checking out with the Ziosk payment system and ultimately resetting tables for the next wave of guests.

例如，如果我們某家餐廳在週末需要候位，平均等候時間約為 15 到 20 分鐘。這個數字相當不錯。但請記得，那只是平均值，代表大約有一半的餐廳等候時間更長。如果我們成立企業級專案團隊，逐一研究等候過程的每個環節，以了解需要移除哪些瓶頸來縮短週期時間——不論是在帶位台、點餐、廚房出餐單處理時間、使用 Ziosk 付款系統結帳，最終到為下一波顧客重整桌面。

Chief Operating Officer, Aaron White, and our cross-functional teams are hard at work to reduce cycle times across the entire dining experience. I look forward to sharing new additional initiatives, which should be a continual tailwind for traffic on future earnings calls. On the Maggiano's business, we are continuing to make progress in its turnaround.

營運長 Aaron White 與我們的跨職能團隊正全力投入，致力於縮短整個用餐體驗的週期時間。我期待在未來的財報電話會議中分享更多新的倡議，這些措施應會持續成為帶動來客數的順風因素。至於 Maggiano's 業務，我們在其轉型上仍持續取得進展。

When you adjust for Christmas Day falling in Q3 of this fiscal and the January weather, we did see sequential improvement in traffic and comp sales. Customers are noticing more abundant portions, more generous family style and the return of classic Maggiano's dishes like eggplant parm and Gigi's butter cake.

若將本財年聖誕節落在第三季以及 1 月天氣因素調整後，我們確實看到來客數與同店銷售呈現逐季改善。顧客也注意到份量更充足、更大方的家庭式分享餐，以及經典 Maggiano's 菜色的回歸，例如茄子帕瑪森（eggplant parm）與 Gigi 的奶油蛋糕（Gigi's butter cake）。

Value scores are improving. We still have a lot more opportunity ahead of us with service and removing non-value-added process to improve Maggiano's dine-in times. But the important thing to know is we are making sequential progress. This turnaround, like the Chili's turnaround, will take time. But as long as we focus on important areas of food service and atmosphere and make progress every quarter, I'm confident we'll return this business to growth.

價值評分正在改善。在服務以及移除非增值流程、以改善 Maggiano's 內用用餐時間方面，我們仍有很大提升空間。但重要的是，我們正在逐季進步。這次轉型，如同 Chili's 的轉型一樣，需要時間。但只要我們聚焦在餐飲、服務與氛圍等重要面向，並在每一季都持續進步，我有信心能讓這項業務重回成長。

As a reminder, Maggiano's is only 8% of our company sales and low single-digit percentage of our profit contribution, but it can be a source of growth in the future given the white space opportunities. To close out, I want to do some recognition of our integrated marketing team and our supplier partners on industry recognition. The industry-leading publication Ad Age named Chili's the brand of the year for the second straight year, an award that has never ever been awarded to the same brand two years in a row.

提醒一下，Maggiano's 只占公司銷售額的 8%，對利潤貢獻也僅為低個位數百分比；但鑑於仍有許多白地機會，未來它可以成為成長來源。最後，我想表揚我們的整合行銷團隊與供應商夥伴在業界獲得的肯定。業界領先刊物《Ad Age》連續第二年將 Chili's 評為年度品牌；這個獎項從未曾連續兩年頒給同一個品牌。

This is an award recognizing the best work in all industries, not just restaurants. In addition to Chief Marketing Officer, George Felix and our Marketing Vice Presidents, Jesse Johnson and Steve Kelly, we have developed a deep bench of directors, managers and a collection of world-class agencies in various disciplines who have delivered the results over the past three years to earn this industry recognition.

這個獎項表彰的是全產業中最出色的作品，而不僅限於餐飲業。除了行銷長 George Felix 與行銷副總裁 Jesse Johnson、Steve Kelly 之外，我們也建立了一支深厚的人才梯隊，包括總監與經理，以及在各專業領域合作的一流代理商團隊；他們在過去三年交出的成果，讓我們獲得這項業界肯定。

And the last bit of recognition I want to do is to congratulate our driver, Carson Hocevar, and the entire Spire race team for their first ever NASCAR Cup series win in Talladega last Sunday, driving the number 77 Chili's car. Carson is a servant leader to his team and his fans and always makes those around him feel special.

我最後想表揚的是：恭喜我們的車手 Carson Hocevar，以及整個 Spire 車隊，上週日在塔拉迪加（Talladega）駕駛 77 號 Chili's 賽車，拿下他們史上第一場 NASCAR Cup 系列賽勝利。Carson 對團隊與粉絲而言是一位服務型領導者，總是讓身邊的人感到特別。

He's a perfect representative of what we like to call Chilihead hospitality that our guests experience in our restaurants. And hats off to our Mooresville, North Carolina, Chili's restaurant team and Area Director, Rachel Austin, who stayed open late Sunday night for Carson and the Spire team to celebrate their victory with a lot of triple dippers and a few Presidentes. To close, Chili's delivered another strong quarter, rolling big numbers from prior year.

他完美體現了我們所稱的「Chilihead」款待精神，也就是顧客在我們餐廳所體驗到的待客之道。同時也向我們位於北卡羅來納州摩爾斯維爾（Mooresville）的 Chili's 餐廳團隊與區域總監 Rachel Austin 致敬；他們在週日深夜延長營業，讓 Carson 與 Spire 團隊能以大量 triple dippers 和幾杯 Presidente 來慶祝勝利。總結來說，Chili's 在本季再度交出強勁表現，並在去年高基期之上延續亮眼數字。

The quarter got stronger as we moved out of January, and we accelerated our market share growth as the quarter closed and now into April, driven by the chicken sandwich launch. Yes, there are macro headwinds the industry is experiencing, but Chili's is well-positioned to continue winning in this environment given the improvements in food service and atmosphere and our industry-leading everyday value. That formula has proven quarter after quarter to be resilient in driving traffic and outperforming the industry.

隨著我們走出 1 月，本季表現愈來愈強；在本季結束時以及進入 4 月後，我們在雞肉三明治上市帶動下，加速了市占成長。沒錯，產業正面臨總體環境逆風，但憑藉餐飲、服務與氛圍的改善，以及業界領先的日常價值主張，Chili's 在此環境下具備持續勝出的良好定位。這套公式已一季又一季證明其韌性，能帶動來客數並超越產業表現。

Now I'll hand the call over to Mika to walk you through fiscal '26 third quarter numbers. Go ahead, Mika.

接下來我把電話交給 Mika，請她帶大家回顧 2026 財年第三季的數字。Mika，請。

Thank you, Kevin and good morning, everyone. This quarter marks our 20th consecutive quarter of same-store sales growth and our second year of traffic gains, evidence of the durability of our results and the sustainability of our strategy. With the end of fiscal '26 in sight, we expect average annual unit volumes for the year to approach $5 million.

謝謝你，Kevin，各位早安。本季是我們同店銷售連續第 20 季成長，也是來客數連續第二年增加，這證明了我們成果的耐久性以及策略的可持續性。隨著 2026 財年接近尾聲，我們預期本年度的平均單店年營收（AUV）將接近 500 萬美元。

These higher sales levels and strong unit economics continue to support our Invest to Grow strategy. We maintained strong business momentum this quarter, achieving positive same-store sales despite last year's positive 31% comparison, including 4% growth at Chili's.

這些更高的銷售水準與強勁的單店經濟效益，持續支持我們的「投資以成長」（Invest to Grow）策略。本季我們維持強勁的業務動能；儘管去年同店比較基期為正成長 31%，我們仍達成同店銷售正成長，其中 Chili's 成長 4%。

While winter storm burn affected Chili's January sales, growth returned to mid-single digits after weather conditions improved. In both February and March, Chili's comparable restaurant sales increased 5.9% with positive traffic, reflecting the underlying strength and momentum in our business, which we expect to continue throughout the rest of fiscal '26.

雖然冬季風暴影響了 Chili's 1 月的銷售，但在天候改善後，成長回到中個位數。在 2 月與 3 月，Chili's 同店銷售皆成長 5.9%，且來客數為正，反映出我們業務的基本面強勁與動能；我們預期這股趨勢將在 2026 財年剩餘期間持續。

Turning to our financial results. In the third quarter, Brinker reported total revenues of $1.47 billion, an increase of 3.2% over the prior year, with consolidated comp sales of positive 3.3%. Our adjusted diluted EPS for the quarter was $2.90, up from $2.66 last year. Chili's top line sales growth was driven by price of 4.6% and positive mix of 0.6%, offset by negative traffic of 1.2%. Weather and a holiday shift negatively impacted sales and traffic at Chili's by approximately 2.1% during the quarter.

接著談我們的財務表現。第三季，Brinker 公布總營收為 14.7 億美元，較去年同期成長 3.2%，合併同店銷售為正成長 3.3%。本季調整後稀釋每股盈餘（EPS）為 2.90 美元，高於去年的 2.66 美元。Chili's 的營收成長主要來自 4.6% 的價格因素與 0.6% 的產品組合正向貢獻，但被 1.2% 的來客數下滑所抵銷。天候與假期時點移轉在本季對 Chili's 的銷售與來客數造成約 2.1% 的負面影響。

For Maggiano's, the brand reported comp sales for the quarter of negative 4.6% with negative 10.4% traffic, partially offset by positive mix of 0.6% and price of 5.2%. Weather and a holiday shift negatively impacted sales and traffic at Maggiano's by approximately 2.1% during the quarter.

就 Maggiano's 而言，該品牌本季同店銷售為負 4.6%，來客數為負 10.4%，部分由 0.6% 的正向產品組合與 5.2% 的價格因素所抵銷。天候與假期時點移轉在本季對 Maggiano's 的銷售與來客數造成約 2.1% 的負面影響。

At the Brinker level, restaurant operating margins were 18.4% for the quarter compared to 18.9% in the prior year due to higher food and beverage costs and higher restaurant expenses, partially offset by sales leverage. At Chili's, we continue to make investments in food by upgrading the quality of ingredients and making recipe improvements for items such as ribs, frozen margaritas, queso, nachos and our bacon cheeseburger to improve the guest experience and ensure value across our entire menu.

在 Brinker 層級，本季餐廳營運利潤率為 18.4%，相較去年同期的 18.9% 下滑，主因為食品與飲料成本上升以及餐廳費用增加，部分由銷售槓桿所抵銷。在 Chili's，我們持續投資於餐點，透過提升食材品質並改良如肋排、冷凍瑪格麗特、起司醬（queso）、玉米片（nachos）以及培根起司漢堡等品項的食譜，以改善顧客體驗並確保全菜單的價值感。

In addition, we prioritize actively repairing and maintaining our facilities to provide a comfortable and fun atmosphere. At Maggiano's, we continue to execute the Back to Maggiano's strategy, which is designed to improve our value proposition, optimize our service model and ensure our atmosphere is clean and well-maintained by making the investments needed to improve the business.

此外，我們優先積極修繕並維護設施，以提供舒適且有趣的用餐氛圍。在 Maggiano's，我們持續推進「Back to Maggiano's」策略，該策略旨在提升我們的價值主張、優化服務模式，並透過必要投資確保環境整潔且維護良好，以改善業務表現。

Food and beverage costs for the quarter were unfavorable by 60 basis points year-over-year due to unfavorable menu mix with 4.6% commodity inflation, mainly due to beef offset by price. Labor for the quarter was favorable 60 basis points year-over-year. Top line sales growth offset wage rate inflation of approximately 3.4%, additional investments in labor and higher health insurance costs.

本季食品與飲料成本較去年同期不利 60 個基點，原因是菜單組合不利，加上 4.6% 的原物料通膨（主要來自牛肉），部分由價格調整所抵銷。本季人力成本較去年同期有利 60 個基點。營收成長抵銷了約 3.4% 的薪資率通膨、額外的人力投資以及更高的健康保險成本。

Restaurant expense for the quarter were unfavorable 50 basis points year-over-year due to higher repair and maintenance costs and general inflation impacting expenses such as utilities, rent, to-go supplies and delivery fees offset -- partially offset by sales leverage. Advertising expenses for the quarter were lower than expected and flat to the prior year at 2.9% of sales due to a portion of spend that shifted from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of this fiscal year.

本季餐廳費用較去年同期不利 50 個基點，主因為修繕與維護成本上升，以及一般通膨推升如水電、租金、外帶用品與外送費等支出，部分由銷售槓桿所抵銷。本季廣告費用低於預期，且占銷售比重為 2.9%，與去年同期持平，原因是部分支出由本會計年度第三季遞延至第四季。

G&A for the quarter came in at 4.0% of total revenues, 10 basis points favorable to prior year due to sales leverage and lower performance bonus accruals, partially offset by an increase in restaurant center support resources to support our growth. Depreciation and amortization for the quarter came in at 3.7% of total revenues and decreased 10 basis points year-over-year due to sales leverage and lapping accelerated depreciation from the prior year due to the retirement of the CTX and Impinger ovens. This was partially offset by an increase in our asset base from new equipment purchases.

本季管理費用（G&A）為總營收的 4.0%，較去年同期有利 10 個基點，主要受惠於銷售槓桿與較低的績效獎金提列，部分被為支持成長而增加的餐廳中心支援資源所抵銷。本季折舊與攤銷為總營收的 3.7%，較去年同期下降 10 個基點，原因是銷售槓桿，以及去年因汰換 CTX 與 Impinger 烤箱而產生的加速折舊效應已過。上述部分被新設備採購帶來的資產基礎增加所抵銷。

Third quarter adjusted EBITDA was $223.7 million, a 1.4% increase from the prior year. Our adjusted tax rate declined year-over-year to 18.7% compared to 19.3% in the prior year, largely due to the impact of a prior year tax catch-up associated with stronger-than-expected performance. Capital expenditures for the quarter were $51.2 million, driven by capital maintenance spend.

第三季調整後 EBITDA 為 2.237 億美元，較去年同期成長 1.4%。我們的調整後有效稅率較去年同期下降至 18.7%，去年同期為 19.3%，主要因去年在表現優於預期下，與稅務追溯調整（tax catch-up）相關的影響。本季資本支出為 5,120 萬美元，主要由資本維護支出所帶動。

At the end of the second quarter, we completed our first four reimages at Chili's, and the learnings were used to inform our long-term reimage and new unit growth strategy. As we shared last quarter, we plan to complete another 8 to 10 reimages during the remainder of this fiscal year and another 60 to 80 during fiscal 2027 before getting to a planned cadence of 10% of the fleet every year starting in 2028.

在第二季末，我們完成了 Chili's 首批 4 家門店的改裝（reimage），並將相關學習用於制定我們長期的改裝與新店成長策略。如同我們上季所分享，我們計畫在本會計年度剩餘期間再完成 8 至 10 家改裝，並在 2027 會計年度再完成 60 至 80 家，之後自 2028 年起進入每年改裝約 10% 門店數的既定節奏。

Regarding new unit growth plans, our goal is to continue to ramp up to a new run rate by fiscal 2029, and we expect to share more details on our strategy and plans at our Investor Day later this year. At Maggiano's, our main focus areas will continue to be guest-facing repairs and maintenance, supplemented by a smaller reimage program.

關於新店成長計畫，我們的目標是在 2029 會計年度前持續提升至新的開店運行速度（run rate），並預期在今年稍晚的投資人日（Investor Day）分享更多策略與計畫細節。在 Maggiano's，我們的主要重點仍將放在面向顧客的修繕與維護，並輔以較小規模的改裝計畫。

Our strong free cash flow provides sufficient liquidity to maintain our disciplined capital allocation strategy, allowing us to invest in restaurants, keep debt levels low and return excess cash to shareholders. We continue to support this approach by repurchasing $108 million of common stock under our share repurchase program in the third quarter.

我們強勁的自由現金流提供充足流動性，以維持我們嚴謹的資本配置策略，使我們能投資於餐廳、維持較低的負債水準，並將多餘現金回饋股東。第三季我們持續以回購普通股來支持此一作法，並在股票回購計畫下回購了 1.08 億美元的普通股。

In addition, we are planning to call our $350 million 8.25% bonds early in fiscal 2027 using the liquidity of our $1 billion revolver, which would provide interest expense savings in fiscal 2027 and the flexibility to continue reducing leverage if we choose. In terms of our expectations for the balance of the year, as noted in this morning's press release, we're updating our guidance for fiscal 2026 to include the following: annual revenues in the range of $5.78 billion to $5.82 billion, adjusted diluted EPS in the range of $10.60 to $10.85.

此外，我們計畫在 2027 會計年度提前赎回（call）我們 3.5 億美元、票面利率 8.25% 的債券，資金將使用我們 10 億美元循環信貸（revolver）的流動性，這將在 2027 會計年度帶來利息費用節省，並在我們選擇的情況下，提供持續降低槓桿的彈性。至於我們對今年剩餘期間的展望，如同今早新聞稿所述，我們更新 2026 會計年度指引如下：全年營收介於 57.8 億至 58.2 億美元；調整後稀釋 EPS 介於 10.60 至 10.85 美元。

Capital expenditures in the range of $240 million to $250 million; weighted average shares in the range of $44.7 million to 45 million. Our guidance assumes wage and commodity inflation in the low single digits and a tax rate of approximately 19%. April started the quarter on a strong note with continued mid-single-digit sales growth and positive traffic. In addition, our outperformance versus the industry is accelerating, and we remain confident we will lap the fourth quarter with mid-single-digit sales and positive traffic at Chili's.

資本支出介於 2.4 億至 2.5 億美元；加權平均股數介於 4,470 萬至 4,500 萬股。我們的指引假設薪資與原物料通膨為低個位數，稅率約為 19%。4 月以強勁態勢展開本季，銷售持續呈現中個位數成長且來客數為正成長。此外，我們相對於產業的超額表現正在加速，我們仍有信心在第四季比較基期（lap）後，Chili's 仍可達成中個位數銷售成長與來客數正成長。

Looking ahead, our results show that our strategy is sustainable and that we're positioned for continued growth. At Chili's, we will build on our momentum by continuing to bring in new guests and drive loyalty through relevant and innovative marketing, menu innovation and strong operations and our industry-leading everyday value.

展望未來，我們的結果顯示策略具可持續性，且我們已為持續成長做好布局。在 Chili's，我們將延續動能，透過貼近且具創新的行銷、菜單創新、強勁的營運，以及我們業界領先的日常價值主張，持續吸引新顧客並提升忠誠度。

We're confident these strategies will support our ability to drive growth, invest strategically in the business and deliver value to shareholders. I look forward to providing further details at our upcoming Investor Day scheduled in Dallas for Thursday, September 17. With our comments now complete, I will turn the call back to Holly to moderate questions.

我們有信心這些策略將支持我們推動成長、對業務進行策略性投資，並為股東創造價值。我期待在即將到來、預定於 9 月 17 日（週四）在達拉斯舉行的投資人日，提供更多細節。以上為我們的說明，接下來我將把電話交回 Holly，由她主持問答。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

David Palmer, Evercore ISI.

David Palmer，Evercore ISI。

Good morning. Two questions, if I could. Just I know you said some stats on the chicken sandwich, but if you wouldn't mind, so forgive me if I'm making you repeat yourself, but any stats on that would be helpful, the mix of the product, the perceived lift to same-store sales when you exclude any of the noise that might be out there, new guest repeat, customer sat scores associated with it?

早安。如果可以的話，我有兩個問題。我知道你們提到了一些關於雞肉三明治的數據，但如果你不介意——也請原諒我可能讓你們重複——任何相關統計都會很有幫助，例如該產品的銷售組合占比、在排除外部雜訊後對同店銷售的帶動幅度、新客回訪情況，以及與之相關的顧客滿意度（customer sat）評分？

And then is your experience that the lift from that -- a product like that will rise over time with the TV campaign, consumer trial for a product like that? And then just a big picture question. As Chili's approaches $5 million in AUV, and I'm not asking you to front run your Analyst Day out in September, but how are you thinking about the big levers from here and how they'll be different to get the next $1 million or $2 million? How should we be thinking about your big hairy goals here from here and how you get there?

另外，你們的經驗是否顯示，像這樣的產品所帶來的拉抬效果，會隨著電視廣告活動與消費者試用而隨時間上升？再來是一個更宏觀的問題。隨著 Chili's 的單店平均年營收（AUV）接近 500 萬美元——我不是要你們搶先透露 9 月的分析師日內容——你們如何看待接下來的主要槓桿，以及為了再增加接下來 100 萬或 200 萬美元，這些槓桿會有哪些不同？我們應該如何理解你們接下來的重大目標，以及你們將如何達成？

Okay. So two big pack questions. So I'm going to start with the chicken sandwich first, and then I'll address the second one about sustainable growth in the second. So from a chicken sandwich standpoint, we don't have really much more to share because it's only been two weeks of launch. We've had one week of merchandising only and then one week of TV.

好的。所以有兩個大的問題。我會先從雞肉三明治開始，接著再回答第二個關於永續成長的問題。就雞肉三明治而言，我們其實沒有太多可以分享，因為上市才兩週。我們只有一週是僅做店內陳列推廣，然後一週是電視廣告。

And we're seeing 161% more chicken sandwiches today than we did pre the launch, which is significantly higher than what we saw in the merchandising-only test market. So -- and in fact, the first week where we were merchandising only, we did see higher lifts than we saw in the test market. So that's all good.

我們目前看到的雞肉三明治銷量比上市前高出161%，這明顯高於我們在僅做陳列推廣的測試市場看到的表現。所以——事實上，在第一週僅做陳列推廣時，我們確實看到的拉升幅度也高於測試市場。所以這些都很不錯。

As far as like what's the feedback been, anecdotally, we've heard mostly very, very positive, both in the reviews that we see online as well as in talking to our team members. The first thing that people tend to say when they see it is, oh my goodness, this is a really big sandwich, which is exactly what we're going for.

至於回饋如何，從一些軼事來看，我們聽到的大多是非常、非常正面的，不論是我們在線上看到的評論，或是與我們團隊成員的交流。大家看到它時第一個常說的是：天啊，這個三明治真的很大——這正是我們想要的。

Inflation is how we position the sandwich and the price point and the size, especially when we compare to our fast-food foil. So that's all working. Over time, we're going to see whether it continues to maintain. So we'll be able to answer your questions about repeat rates and we have all that tokenized data, but that's going to take a few quarters to really understand that. But right now, we feel very, very bullish about it.

通膨環境下，我們在三明治的定位、定價與份量上做了安排，特別是與我們的速食競品相比。所以這些都在發揮作用。隨著時間推移，我們會觀察它是否能持續維持。所以你問到的回購率等問題，我們有所有去識別化（tokenized）的數據，但要真正理解，還需要幾個季度的時間。但就目前而言，我們對它非常、非常看多。

Typically, when things mix a lot, they tend to be generally overall more incremental from a magnitude standpoint. So the fact that we're beating the test market is very encouraging. And then we obviously saw some acceleration in traffic driven by the sandwich over the past two weeks, which feels good, too. So it's too early to declare this thing is successful. But so far, we're really encouraged by the data that we're seeing.

通常當產品組合變動很大時，從量級來看，整體增量往往會更偏向溫和。所以我們能夠超越測試市場的表現，令人非常振奮。而且過去兩週，我們也明顯看到由這款三明治帶動的來客數加速，這也讓人感覺很好。所以現在要宣告它成功還太早。但到目前為止，我們對看到的數據感到非常鼓舞。

Now on the second question, David, on what are the next drivers of sales over the next three years, we're kind of a repeat record on this. There will be new initiatives behind this, but it's still going to be focused on food service and atmosphere. So from a food standpoint, we talk about the other menu categories that still need renovation, plus we'll have some innovation on the core categories that we've already renovated.

接著第二個問題，David，關於未來三年銷售的下一波驅動因素，我們在這點上算是老調重彈。背後會有新的計畫，但重點仍會放在餐點、服務與氛圍。就餐點而言，我們談到其他仍需要翻新的菜單品類，此外也會在已翻新的核心品類上持續做創新。

So that will continue. From a service standpoint, I think the big unlock of north of 6 that we're understanding over the past three months is this idea of cycle time. So the idea of how do we take the throughput that we're seeing in the north of six restaurants and expand that throughout the system.

所以這會持續推進。就服務而言，我認為過去三個月我們在「6以上」餐廳（north of 6）所理解到的一個重大解鎖點，是「週期時間」（cycle time）這個概念。也就是我們如何把在「6以上」餐廳看到的產能（throughput）擴展到整個系統。

They do a lot of things differently to get higher throughput. So like the example I gave in the prepared script, was at the host stand, right? So typically, in a north of 6 restaurant, they either have more staffing at the host stand than what the labor card says and/or they have more senior level of staffing, either paying a more senior host or sometimes having a manager be in the door during busy peak times, right?

他們為了提高產能做了很多不同的做法。例如我在事先準備的講稿裡提到的例子：在接待台（host stand），對吧？通常在「6以上」餐廳，他們要嘛在接待台配置的人力比勞動力配置表（labor card）建議的更多，和／或配置更資深的員工——要不是付更高薪請更資深的接待員，有時甚至在尖峰繁忙時段讓經理站在門口，對吧？

In addition to that, there's software behind that when we use the seating system that we need to make sure the teams are trained on, they're using consistently so that when we quote wait times, they're more accurate because we need to use that all the time. So there's a bunch of work that we need to do for the host rollout that we're learning from the north of six restaurant.

除此之外，當我們使用座位安排系統時，背後也有軟體支援；我們需要確保團隊受過訓練並且一致地使用，這樣我們報給客人的等候時間才會更準確，因為我們必須一直使用那套系統。所以在接待台的推廣導入上，我們有一大堆工作要做，而這些都是從「6以上」餐廳學到的。

That will go in Q2 of next fiscal, but that's like one example of reducing cycle time, which I think is going to improve throughput, not just for north of six restaurants, but more importantly, the entire system. And then on atmosphere, the big thing is the reimage. And you're going to be able to see that when you're here for the Investor Day. We're going to take you out to the restaurants, so you can see them for yourselves of what we're doing.

這會在下一個會計年度的第二季（Q2）導入；這只是縮短週期時間的一個例子，而我認為這將提升產能，不僅是對「6以上」餐廳，更重要的是對整個系統。然後在氛圍方面，最大的重點是門店重塑（reimage）。你們來參加投資人日（Investor Day）時就能看到。我們會帶你們到餐廳現場，讓你們親自看看我們在做什麼。

The next 8 to 10 that we're doing in these three months is really going to be finalizing what are the things that we want to invest and what are the things that we don't want to invest in so that when we start with 60% to 80% next fiscal and obviously get to the 10% run rate in fiscal '28, we're off and running with the best possible package with the best possible payback.

接下來這三個月我們要做的8到10家，主要是要把我們想投資的項目與不想投資的項目定案；如此一來，當我們在下一個會計年度把覆蓋率拉到60%到80%，並且在2028會計年度達到10%的運行速度（run rate）時，我們就能以最佳方案、最佳回收期（payback）全速推進。

So we're very bullish about the growth levers in front of us. And obviously, I even talked about our world-class marketing, which continues to get stronger and stronger and bring new guests in. So we're very, very bullish about the continued sustained growth of this business.

所以我們對眼前的成長槓桿非常看多。而且很明顯地，我也提到我們世界級的行銷，這持續變得更強、更強，並帶來新的顧客。因此，我們對這個業務持續且可延續的成長非常、非常看多。

Chris O'Cull, Stifel.

Chris O'Cull，Stifel。

Kevin, just given the recent volatility in consumer sentiment, have you observed any canary in the coal mine type behaviors such as check management or softness in lower income spending?

Kevin，鑑於近期消費者信心的波動，你們是否觀察到任何「煤礦裡的金絲雀」式行為，例如客單管理（check management）或低收入族群支出轉弱？

The answer is we're seeing a little bit of check management. So as we've seen traffic accelerate behind Chicken Sando launch, we've seen a little bit of check management in desserts and in alcohol. Our alcohol sales are still way up with the growth that we've had with the business, but we are seeing some incidents start to slow. And here's what I would tell the team is let's control what we can control.

答案是：我們確實看到一些客單管理的跡象。所以當我們在雞肉三明治上市帶動下看到來客數加速時，我們也在甜點與酒精飲品上看到一些客單管理。隨著業務成長，我們的酒精飲品銷售仍然大幅成長，但我們確實看到某些情況開始放緩。而我想跟團隊說的是：把我們能控制的事情控制好。

So we can continue to win market share with the best food service and atmosphere in the industry with industry-leading value, and we need to stay focused on that. Whatever happens to gas prices in the macro, that's out of our control. But what we can control is staffing our restaurants for peak. We can control serving great food and with wonderful service in a clean and inviting environment.

所以我們可以用業界最好的餐點、服務與氛圍，加上領先業界的價值主張，持續贏得市占，我們必須專注在這點上。宏觀環境裡油價怎麼變，那不是我們能控制的。但我們能控制的是在尖峰時段把餐廳人力配置到位。我們能控制的是在乾淨、令人感到舒適且有吸引力的環境中，提供很棒的餐點與優質的服務。

And if we continue to do that, we'll continue to grow market share, we'll be able to hang on to our business. And then obviously, if the macro gets any better, we'll be able to grow even faster behind that. So I'm kind of like a broken record on it. It doesn't matter what happens with the macro. It doesn't matter what happens with external factors. Our indicated action for this team is improved food service and atmosphere and good things will happen, and we're just going to stay focused on that.

如果我們持續做到這些，我們就會持續提升市占，也能守住我們的業務。然後很明顯地，如果宏觀環境變得更好，我們也能在此基礎上成長得更快。所以我在這件事上有點像跳針。宏觀環境怎麼變並不重要。外部因素怎麼變也不重要。我們這個團隊的明確行動就是把餐點、服務與氛圍做得更好；好事就會發生，而我們會持續專注在這上面。

Makes sense. And then, Mika, I know margin flow-through was impacted, I think, by R&M expense this quarter. Can you help us walk us through how to think about flow-through in the fourth quarter? And were there any significant headwinds on any line items that we should be aware of? And then maybe whether the new sandwiches to the platform are margin accretive or margin neutral? Any color would be helpful.

了解。另外，Mika，我知道本季的利潤流入（margin flow-through）受到我想是維修與保養（R&M）費用的影響。你能否帶我們梳理一下，第四季的流入該如何看待？以及是否有任何在各項費用科目上的重大逆風是我們需要留意的？另外，新加入平台的三明治對毛利是增厚（margin accretive）還是中性（margin neutral）？任何補充說明都會很有幫助。

Okay. Great. Yes. So I know the flow-through, we continue to invest back in the business with this invest to grow strategy. So that's part of it is that we don't flow it all through when we put it back in. We saw that food and beverage was up a little bit year-over-year. We continue to invest in labor. And then our restaurant expense, like I said, the R&M, we caught up with a lot of the deferred maintenance.

好的。很好。是的。所以我了解這個流轉效應（flow-through），我們會持續以「投資以促進成長」的策略，把資金再投入到業務中。所以其中一部分就是，當我們把它再投入時，不會讓它全部直接流轉到損益。我們看到餐飲成本（food and beverage）年對年小幅上升。我們也持續投資在人力上。然後餐廳費用方面，如我所說，維修與保養（R&M）我們補上了許多先前遞延的維護。

Now we're shifting to preventative maintenance, which takes a little bit of time for that to start really coming through that you can see some opportunities or some reduction in future expenses. But we are seeing a lot of give and take in there. If you look at our R&M just over the first three quarters, you can really see that we've kind of established a run rate.

現在我們正轉向預防性維護，這需要一點時間才會真正反映出來，讓你看到一些機會或未來費用的降低。但我們確實看到其中有不少此消彼長的變化。如果你看我們在前三個季度的維修與保養（R&M），你會很清楚看到我們大致已建立起一個固定的支出水準（run rate）。

So it's pretty steady. I think some of the volatility is really lapping the prior year. And we'll continue to look at that and get more efficient in our spend, but that's kind of one of the drivers there. Looking forward on margins, I think in the fourth quarter, you're going to see probably similar margins.

所以相當穩定。我認為部分波動其實是因為在與去年同期做比較（lapping the prior year）。我們會持續關注並提升支出效率，但這大概就是其中一個驅動因素。展望毛利率，我認為第四季你可能會看到大致相近的毛利率。

Maybe food and beverage are going to creep up a little bit. We have a beef contract that came due, a state contract that's going to be a little bit more. I think we'll continue to leverage the labor that will probably offset any of that increase. And then you'll see very similar, I think, to restaurant expense this quarter as a percent of company sales. I think you'll see something there.

餐飲成本可能會小幅上升。我們有一份牛肉合約到期了，另外還有一份州政府合約，成本會高一些。我認為我們會持續透過人力效率來抵消這些增加。然後你會看到本季餐廳費用占公司銷售額的比例，我認為也會非常相近。我想你會看到那樣的表現。

So I expect margins to be similar from Q3 to Q4, and I expect margin growth to happen, return to margin growth in Q4. And I'm very confident in what I stated at the beginning of the year is that, taking a step back, we're going to grow our margins year-over-year at 30 to 40 basis points. I'm very confident about that moving forward.

所以我預期毛利率從第三季到第四季會相近，也預期第四季會出現毛利率成長、回到毛利率成長的軌道。而且我對我在年初所說的非常有信心：退一步看，我們的毛利率年對年將提升30到40個基點。我對未來非常有信心。

Dennis Geiger, UBS.

Dennis Geiger，瑞銀（UBS）。

With all the focus on the chicken sandwich, all 6 varieties of which are delicious, as you know, you put up great results in April, even with just a couple of weeks of the sandwich seemingly, even as you talked about that acceleration in traffic with the sandwich.

在大家都把焦點放在雞肉三明治上——你也知道，6種口味都很好吃——你們在4月就交出很好的成績，即使看起來那個月只有推出三明治的短短幾週，而且你也談到三明治帶動來客數加速。

But I'm curious if you could talk a little more about sort of ex the sandwich, some of the key drivers of that momentum that you've been seeing, especially as we kind of go into 2027? Or said differently, even if, let's say, the sandwich incrementality is not a significant step change in trend, do you think that sort of the mid-single-digit type of comp trajectory is still within view?

但我想請你再多談一點，撇除三明治（ex the sandwich）之外，你們近期看到的這股動能，主要驅動因素是什麼，特別是當我們展望到2027年？或者換個說法，即使假設三明治帶來的增量並不是趨勢上的重大躍升，你是否仍認為那種「中個位數」的同店銷售（comp）走勢仍在可見範圍內？

Well, the answer to your last part of the question is yes. I still think that mid-single comp is still within purview. The recipe for success for us is just to continue to improve the fundamentals, so foodservice and atmosphere. That's why every earnings call, I talk about the improvement on Guest With A Problem and GWAP and food grade and intent to return because what I tell my team is if it's not better than the previous year, what belief do we have that we're going to continue to grow.

嗯，你問題最後那一部分的答案是：是的。我仍然認為中個位數的同店成長仍在我們的掌握範圍內。我們成功的配方就是持續改善基本功，也就是服務（foodservice）與用餐氛圍（atmosphere）。這也是為什麼每次法說會我都會談到「有問題的顧客」（Guest With A Problem）與GWAP、餐點評分（food grade）以及回訪意願（intent to return）的改善；因為我跟團隊說，如果沒有比去年更好，我們憑什麼相信還能持續成長。

So we have to continue to improve those things because we're not going to like LTO our way to growth that we see others do. So we want to use those resources on the things that drive long-term traffic and sustainable growth. And if we believe in that, those metrics have to continue to improve.

所以我們必須持續改善這些事情，因為我們不會像其他人那樣靠限時產品（LTO）一路推動成長。我們希望把資源用在能帶動長期來客數與可持續成長的事情上。如果我們相信這一點，那些指標就必須持續改善。

And that's why when we budget the year, we have some food news that has to do with upgrading the permanent menu, but most of our initiatives have to do with improving food service and atmosphere on the kind of the core thing, like the thing like Q2 hosting, what we're going to launch for next fiscal. That's all about throughput and driving traffic. That's not a new piece of food that's necessarily going to drive traffic.

這也是為什麼我們在編列年度預算時，確實會有一些餐飲消息與升級常態菜單有關，但我們大多數的計畫都聚焦在改善服務與氛圍等核心事項，例如第二季的接待（hosting），以及我們下一個會計年度要推出的內容。那全部都是關於提升出餐/接待效率（throughput）並帶動來客數。那不一定是一個新的餐點品項來帶動來客數。

It's going to drive traffic through taking the demand that we're already having come to the restaurants and making sure they don't leave, right? So the recipe for success right now is to continue to improve food service and atmosphere, continue to improve the fundamental metrics, right, and then let the world-class marketing team create excitement so that people come into the restaurant and try it for the first time.

它是透過承接我們原本就已經有的需求——讓顧客來到餐廳——並確保他們不會離開，對吧？所以目前成功的配方就是持續改善服務與氛圍、持續改善基本指標，然後讓世界級的行銷團隊創造話題，讓人們走進餐廳並第一次嘗試。

And that's why we also share the token data because the idea is, hey, we are bringing -- we are putting new guests into the funnel every quarter. And then when we look back over the next 6 to 12 months, they start looking like existing guests. And that's the key.

這也是為什麼我們也分享token數據，因為概念是：嘿，我們每一季都把新顧客帶進漏斗。然後當我們在接下來6到12個月回頭看，他們開始看起來就像既有顧客。這就是關鍵。

If the fundamentals continue to improve, then the new guests that come in will start looking like existing guests, and we've just got to keep that flywheel going. That traffic growth obviously drives sales growth. Sales growth drives revenue growth -- drives profit growth. We're able to reinvest some of that back into the business to continue the flywheel and drive traffic growth, right? That's the recipe that's worked the last couple of years, and that's the plan for the next three years.

如果基本面持續改善，新進顧客就會開始表現得像既有顧客，而我們只要讓這個飛輪持續轉動。來客數成長顯然會帶動銷售成長。銷售成長帶動營收成長——也帶動獲利成長。我們就能把其中一部分再投資回業務，讓飛輪持續運轉並推動來客數成長，對吧？這就是過去幾年奏效的配方，也是未來三年的計畫。

Great. Thanks very much.

很好。非常感謝。

Jeff Farmer, Gordon Haskett.

Jeff Farmer，Gordon Haskett。

Thank you, Mika, I think you just said that there's an expectation that you can grow margins by 30 to 40 basis points sort of on a go-forward basis or at least in '27. But beyond continued same-store sales momentum, what dynamics do you see contributing to that level of margin expansion? And hopefully, I got that 30% to 40% -- or 30 to 40 basis points number correct in the question.

謝謝你，Mika。我想你剛才說，你們預期未來可以把毛利率提高30到40個基點，算是往後的趨勢，或至少在2027年。但除了同店銷售動能持續之外，你認為還有哪些動態因素會促成那樣幅度的毛利率擴張？也希望我在問題中把30%到40%——或30到40個基點——這個數字講對了。

Yes. Well, the 30 to 40 basis points was referencing this fiscal year, what we guided, very confident in that. But I do think that we will be able to grow margins over time. And it will primarily be from sales leverage because that's our strategy is to grow the top line. But we do think there can be opportunities now that we have gotten through the turnaround, we've stabilized the teams.

是的。嗯，30到40個基點是指我們對本會計年度的指引，我們對此非常有信心。但我確實認為，隨著時間推進，我們將能提升毛利率。主要會來自銷售槓桿（sales leverage），因為我們的策略就是做大營收規模（top line）。不過我們也認為，現在我們已經度過轉型期、團隊也穩定下來，可能會出現一些機會。

We've attracted better talent. This does give you an opportunity to just be more efficient in your spend, and I think we'll look for ways as we move forward to do that as well. But even with the sales growth, I do think that we can continue to leverage margins.

我們吸引到更好的人才。這確實讓你有機會在支出上更有效率，我想我們也會在未來尋找方法做到這一點。但即使僅靠銷售成長，我也認為我們可以持續帶動毛利率槓桿。

Okay. And then just one quick follow-up. As it relates to menu pricing moving into FY27. I think you guys have been back-to-back mid-4% in '25 and '26. How are you thinking about menu pricing as you move into FY27?

好的。接著一個很快的追問。關於菜單定價進入FY27。我想你們在2025與2026連續兩年大約都是4%中段（mid-4%）。你們如何看待進入FY27後的菜單定價？

Yes. So the very first thing, most important thing for us is to protect our value proposition. We're going to protect that $10.99 industry-leading value, have it there for those that need it. And then we also want to make sure we have value across the entire menu for everyone.

是的。所以對我們來說第一件、也是最重要的事，就是保護我們的價值主張（value proposition）。我們會保護那個10.99美元、業界領先的超值方案，讓有需要的人能夠使用。然後我們也希望確保整份菜單在各個價位帶都能提供價值，讓每個人都覺得划算。

And with that being said, moving forward, I do think that we'll continue to invest in food service and atmosphere, but we will probably be on the lower end of our stated pricing range. So moving forward, we'll have to -- we're always going to make sure that we can price for inflation, but we're going to make sure we balance that with making sure value is there for our guests.

話說到這裡，展望未來，我確實認為我們會持續投資於餐飲服務與用餐氛圍，但我們可能會落在先前所述定價區間的較低端。因此往後，我們仍會確保能反映通膨進行定價，但也會在此同時確保為賓客提供足夠的價值。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

Andrew Strelzik, BMO.

BMO 的 Andrew Strelzik。

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. I know there's a lot of focus on the food initiatives and the menu initiatives that you guys have planned. But I was hoping you could talk a little bit more about the operational and service improvements and those kind of legs of the stool there. How much more room for improvement is there? What are kind of some of the bigger opportunities that you see kind of going forward to drive that?

嗨，早安。謝謝讓我提問。我知道大家很關注你們規劃中的餐點與菜單相關計畫。但我希望你們能多談一些營運與服務改善，以及那一塊「三腳凳」的支柱。還有多少改善空間？展望未來，你們看到哪些較大的機會可以推動這方面？

Yes. It's frustrating, but it's also really exciting how much more opportunity we have. So look, we didn't even touch on the technology initiatives that are happening from an operational standpoint. We continue to improve our KDS system. We have a -- we're just kicking off now an entire back office redo, basically taking all these antiquated systems and getting to -- it's not an ERP system, but the idea that all the back-office systems could be connected.

是的。這既令人沮喪，但也非常令人振奮，因為我們還有這麼多機會。你看，我們甚至還沒談到從營運角度正在進行的科技計畫。我們持續改善我們的 KDS 系統。我們——現在才剛啟動一個完整的後台重做，基本上是把這些老舊系統汰換，並朝向——它不是 ERP 系統，但概念是讓所有後台系統能夠互相連結。

So it's going to be way more usable for the team members, hopefully, help for throughput as well as retention. That's the big one. We still are working on -- we're rolling out right now our team member handheld initiative, which is a complete upgrade to the interface. That's gone a little slower as we rolled it out just as we've seen some glitches.

這將讓團隊成員更容易使用，也希望能提升出餐吞吐量以及留任率。這是最大的一項。我們也仍在推進——目前正在推出我們的團隊成員手持裝置計畫，這是介面的全面升級。由於在推出過程中看到一些故障，進度稍微慢了一點。

We paused it to get it fixed and it's rolling back out now, which should be done by next quarter, which is a huge one. So that's all the technology initiatives and there's a lot more than that. We have what we call Supermarket Simple that's going to be rolling out in the next quarter, which is all about removing the friction that happens at the end payment with the Ziosk where either a discount didn't come off that the guest expected or they accidentally left a different type of tip and we need to get that reversed.

我們暫停以修正問題，現在已重新開始推出，預計在下個季度前完成，這會是非常重要的一項。以上都是科技計畫，而且還不只這些。我們有所謂的 Supermarket Simple，將在下個季度推出，重點是移除在使用 Ziosk 結帳付款最後階段發生的摩擦，例如顧客預期的折扣沒有扣到，或是不小心留下不同類型的小費而需要我們協助撤銷。

These are all things that hold the tables. I'll give one example. This one simple example that happens about 7 times a day where we've got to reverse something out on the Ziosk. We added it up. It was like over 20 years where the tables tied up for the guests waiting for that to get reversed by a manager.

這些都是會占用桌位的事情。我舉一個例子。這個很簡單的例子每天大約會發生 7 次，我們必須在 Ziosk 上把某筆交易撤銷。我們把它加總起來。結果相當於超過 20 年的時間，桌位都被占著，顧客在等經理把它撤銷完成。

And that's an example where we can fix that very quickly with an update from Ziosk. So there's a huge amount of technology initiatives. And then from an operational standpoint, really the big push now has been the north of 6. So we're moving from kind of defense of just removing a bunch of stuff and making it much easier for our team members to operate. We're now moving to offense on accelerating cycle time.

這就是一個例子：我們可以透過 Ziosk 的更新很快把它修好。所以科技計畫的量非常大。而在營運面，現在最大的推動重點是「north of 6」。也就是說，我們正從防守端——把一堆東西移除、讓團隊成員更容易操作——轉向進攻端，加速週期時間（cycle time）。

So whether that's the host stand, whether that's ticket times, a great example we'll see in very busy restaurants is their ticket times will be a little bit inflated. We'll go to the labor card to understand are they scheduling enough cooks. The answer is no.

不論是接待台（host stand）、出單時間（ticket times），舉個很忙的餐廳常見例子：他們的出單時間會稍微偏長。我們會去看人力配置表，了解他們是否排了足夠的廚師。答案是否定的。

And it's like that's a clear indicated action that we can continue to take on more traffic and get those ticket times down. So ticket times, even the checkout time that we talked about earlier. So there's a ton of initiatives that are coming. We'll be giving a lot more detail at Investor Day on the new things that we haven't talked about before. But I remain very, very bullish about our ability to improve the operations, continue to get GWAP and intend to return scores better and better as well as the most important thing right now is to get throughput going.

而這就是一個明確可採取的行動：我們可以承接更多來客量，同時把出單時間降下來。所以包含出單時間，甚至我們先前談到的結帳時間。因此接下來會有大量計畫推出。在投資人日（Investor Day）我們會針對一些先前沒談過的新項目提供更多細節。但我對我們改善營運、持續提升 GWAP 與意向回訪（intend to return）分數的能力非常、非常看多；而眼下最重要的是把吞吐量拉起來。

Great. Okay. And then I wanted to ask also on the remodels, and I know it's very early days, but can you just remind us kind of spend levels? How should we think about the types of lifts that we might be able to expect there as that continues to build? Or maybe kind of are there different levels that you're testing? How should we think about that?

很好。好的。另外我也想問一下翻新（remodel）方面，我知道現在還很早期，但你能否提醒我們大概的投入金額水準？隨著這項計畫持續擴大，我們應該如何看待可能期待的提升幅度？或者你們是否在測試不同等級？我們應該怎麼理解？

Hi, Andrew, yes, so it's really early with only 4 restaurants that we've done so far. But we are optimizing the spend. The good news is we did four different levels of spend and the lowest level of spend is getting the same sales lift. So we are getting a sales lift in these restaurants. We're optimizing the spend.

嗨，Andrew，是的，目前確實很早期，因為到目前為止我們只做了 4 家餐廳。但我們正在優化投入金額。好消息是，我們做了四種不同等級的投入，而最低投入等級帶來的銷售提升幅度相同。所以這些餐廳確實帶來了銷售提升。我們正在把投入金額最佳化。

But we'll have more of that to share once we have a bigger test group with the 8 to 10 and then the 60 to 80. So more of that, again, will come in September when we just have a little bit more time to read the test, but very encouraged with the spend and the sales lift that we're getting in the early four.

不過，等我們有更大的測試樣本——先到 8 到 10 家，接著到 60 到 80 家——我們就能分享更多。所以同樣地，更多內容會在 9 月提供，因為我們會有多一點時間解讀測試結果；但就目前前 4 家的投入金額與銷售提升而言，我們非常受到鼓舞。

Great. Thank you.

很好。謝謝。

Jeffrey Bernstein, Barclays.

Barclays 的 Jeffrey Bernstein。

Great. Thank you very much. The first question is just on the new unit opportunity. Clearly, new unit growth is more of a stable driver of top line than comps. But can you talk maybe a little bit about the changes in the new units you anticipate versus existing, maybe the cost to build and return requirements.

很好。非常感謝。第一個問題是關於新店（new unit）機會。顯然，相較於同店成長（comps），新店成長對營收（top line）而言是更穩定的驅動因素。但你能否談談你們預期新店相較於既有店會有哪些變化，例如建置成本與報酬要求？

I know the Investor Day will offer more color, but just how you think about the US total addressable market for a brand that most people view as fairly mature. And then I had one follow-up.

我知道投資人日會提供更多細節，但你們如何看待在美國，對於一個多數人認為相當成熟的品牌，其總可服務市場（total addressable market）？然後我還有一個追問。

Okay. Thank you, Jeff. Yes. No, we're really excited about our new unit growth strategy. So our first step was to really build up the team. We have a great leader with Richard Ingram. We have a lot more insights, a lot more analytics. Just the whole team is phenomenal. So we've really started gearing that up. Primarily in the past, we've really stuck to some of the states, our biggest states that we always have done a great job in California, Texas, Florida.

好的。謝謝你，Jeff。是的。我們對新店成長策略感到非常興奮。所以我們第一步是真正把團隊建置起來。我們有一位很棒的領導者 Richard Ingram。我們也有更多洞察、更多分析。整個團隊都非常出色。因此我們確實已開始加速布局。過去我們主要聚焦在一些州，也就是我們一直表現很好的大州：加州、德州、佛州。

We continue to build there. We've been very successful, and we'll still build there. But there's a lot more opportunity across the United States for us to build in different markets. So it seems like Chili's is everywhere, but Chili's is not everywhere. So again, we'll kind of spell that out and give more detail on how and why we think we have a much larger addressable market, but we are going to be able to ramp up our unit growth.

我們會持續在那裡展店。我們非常成功，也仍會在那裡擴張。但在美國各地，我們在不同市場還有更多展店機會。所以看起來 Chili's 到處都有，但其實 Chili's 並不是到處都有。因此，我們會再把這點說清楚，並提供更多細節，說明我們為何以及如何認為我們有更大的可觸及市場；同時我們也將能夠加速新店成長。

And so next year, you won't see it next year just because there's usually about an 18- to 24-month cycle, but we can already see the teams are ramping up for F '28, and we expect to get to our new growth run rate in F '29. As far as the units go, we're making sure we're using a lot of the fun elements from the reimage.

因此明年你不會看到它在明年就反映出來，因為通常大約有 18 到 24 個月的週期，但我們已經看到團隊正在為 F '28 加速準備，我們預期在 F '29 達到新的成長運行速率。至於新店單位，我們正確保大量運用這次 reimage 的有趣元素。

And then we're working with the operators and all the insights we have, again, with the north of six restaurants just to make sure that we have these restaurants exactly how we want them, especially with the new unit volumes that we're experiencing to make sure that they are designed for optimal throughput. So a lot of exciting things to come. We have a very strong team. We're ramping up the growth, and that's going to be a great lever for us as we move forward.

接著我們會與營運端以及我們掌握的所有洞察合作，再次強調，針對超過六百萬的餐廳（north of six restaurants），確保這些餐廳完全符合我們想要的樣子，尤其是在我們目前看到的新店單位營收量級之下，確保設計能達到最佳出餐/接待吞吐量。所以接下來會有很多令人興奮的事情。我們有非常強的團隊。我們正在加速成長，而這將會是我們往前推進時的一個很好的槓桿。

Understood. And the follow-up, just Kevin, I think you noted that Maggiano's was -- I think it was high single-digit percentage of sales, low single-digit percentage of operating profits. I know the turnaround is on track, but seemingly take time. Just wondering whether there's any incremental interest in adding a second brand of greater scale, maybe something more meaningful in terms of sales and profit contribution.

了解。追問一下，Kevin，我想你提到 Maggiano's——我記得大概是銷售額的高個位數百分比、營業利益的低個位數百分比。我知道轉型進度在軌道上，但看起來需要時間。想請教是否有額外的意願去加入第二個規模更大的品牌，也許在銷售與獲利貢獻上更有意義一些。

Clearly, you have the credibility, you have the playbook to strengthen maybe more of a national brand now that Chili's is seemingly in a much more stable and consistent growth position. Just wondering whether there's any incremental interest or what it would take to maybe get you to think about a potential brand of more scale to add to the portfolio.

顯然你們具備可信度，也有一套作戰手冊，可以去強化一個更偏全國性的品牌，尤其現在 Chili's 看起來已經處在更穩定且一致的成長位置。想請教是否有任何額外的興趣，或需要什麼條件，才會讓你們開始思考把一個更大規模的品牌納入投資組合。

Good morning, Jeff, we get asked that question a lot. What I tell my team is we need to be able to turn around a smaller brand first before we take on more risk of a bigger brand. So it's -- just because we have the playbook on Chili's doesn't necessarily mean that the same leadership team can do the same thing on other brands.

早安，Jeff，我們常常被問到這個問題。我跟團隊說的是：在承擔更大品牌的更高風險之前，我們必須先把一個較小的品牌成功扭轉過來。所以——僅僅因為我們在 Chili's 有一套作戰手冊，並不代表同一個領導團隊就能在其他品牌上做出同樣的成果。

And I'd rather prove it on a pretty risk-free opportunity like Maggiano's versus take the big swing for the first time on something a lot bigger that could put more -- put undue risk on the business that we don't really need to do right now. We're very bullish in continuing to be able to grow Chili's and do that profitably.

而且我寧可先在像 Maggiano's 這種相對低風險的機會上證明我們做得到，也不要第一次就去做一個更大的豪賭，讓業務承擔更多——承擔不必要的風險，而我們現在其實不需要這麼做。我們對持續推動 Chili's 成長、並且以獲利方式成長非常樂觀。

And so we can prove out our beliefs about our ability to turn around other brands with Maggiano's. Right now, part of the Maggiano's turnaround is also just unifying the system so that we could be ready for a third brand should we be able to turn around Maggiano's. So for example, one of the big issues in Maggiano's is its kitchen throughput. It has a very antiquated kitchen display system. We're now in process of putting them on the Chili's kitchen display system.

因此我們可以透過 Maggiano's 來驗證我們對於扭轉其他品牌的能力的信念。目前 Maggiano's 轉型的一部分，也是在整合整個系統，讓我們在成功扭轉 Maggiano's 之後，能為第三個品牌做好準備。例如，Maggiano's 的一個大問題是廚房吞吐量。它的廚房顯示系統非常老舊。我們現在正在把它們導入 Chili's 的廚房顯示系統。

If we're able to do that successfully, which we should be, it's pretty easy, then as we do updates as we learn more about the Maggiano's business, it's much easier because they can use the same team. It's much easier than having them to have to learn a completely different system, right?

如果我們能成功做到這點——我們應該可以，這其實很容易——那麼當我們在更新、並隨著對 Maggiano's 業務了解更深入而做調整時，就會容易得多，因為可以用同一個團隊。這比起讓他們去學一套完全不同的系統要容易得多，對吧？

So part of the Maggiano's turnaround is not just the financial improvements of Maggiano's, which is we all want, right? It's also proving to ourselves that we could have a model like some of our biggest competitor in casual dining does an exceptional job being structured to be able to plug in new brands. And so that's a big part of the Maggiano's turnaround, not just the financials, but actually structuring the company to be able to do that. But I will tell you, until we are able to do that, I would caution us from trying to get a third brand. We have no business doing that until we can prove that we can handle our second brand.

所以 Maggiano's 的轉型不只是 Maggiano's 的財務改善——這當然是我們都想要的，對吧？它也在於向我們自己證明：我們可以建立一種模式，就像我們在休閒餐飲領域最大的競爭對手之一那樣，具備能夠把新品牌「插入」進來的組織結構，而且他們做得非常出色。因此，Maggiano's 轉型很大一部分不只是財務面，而是把公司架構調整到能做到這件事。但我也要告訴你，在我們能做到之前，我會提醒大家不要急著去找第三個品牌。在我們證明自己能處理好第二個品牌之前，我們沒有理由去做那件事。

Understood. Thank you.

了解。謝謝。

Jon Tower, Citi.

Citi 的 Jon Tower。

Great. Thanks for taking the question. On the north of 6 initiative that you're going after, I'm just curious, it sounds like there's a need to invest in some labor. So I'm curious if you could speak to where you see and think labor needs to go over time across the system? And then I've got a follow-up.

很好。謝謝讓我提問。關於你們正在推進的「north of 6」計畫，我有點好奇，聽起來需要在部分人力上投資。所以想請你談談，從長期來看，你認為整個系統的人力配置需要如何調整？然後我還有一個追問。

Yes. So right now, when we look at the north of 6 restaurants, they don't all invest labor in the same places. I mean generally a trend for the extremely high-volume restaurants, they do invest more labor than what the model tells them. The typical positions are either in buster or server assistant.

是的。所以目前我們看「north of 6」的餐廳，它們並不是都在相同的地方投入人力。一般來說，對於那些極高營收量的餐廳，一個趨勢是它們投入的人力會高於模型所建議的水準。典型會增加的職位通常是清桌/支援人員（buster）或服務員助理（server assistant）。

Sometimes it's servers and then sometimes it's hosts. Once in a while, it's cooks too. to get throughput there. So it really depends on the restaurant and what they need and the types of experience of people that are in the restaurant. So it's not a one size fits all. As we think about the budgets that we're setting for our fiscal '27, there are some north of six investments baked into the numbers that we'll be sharing as part of our guidance when we come out with that a quarter from now.

有時候是服務員，有時候是帶位（hosts）。偶爾也會是廚師，以提升吞吐量。所以這真的取決於餐廳本身、它需要什麼，以及店內人員的經驗類型。因此這不是一體適用的做法。當我們在制定 2027 財年的預算時，數字裡已經納入了一些「north of six」相關投資；我們會在一季後發布指引時一併分享。

So just to be very clear, there will be some investments that they will be baked into the guidance that we provide. And then beyond that, there's a lot of other things that we're working on. Some of them don't really have to do with investments, just deploying different types of labor deployment or instruction. So we'll make sure that all of that is clear for you guys and that nothing is surprising.

所以非常清楚地說，我們提供的指引裡會包含一些已經納入的投資。此外，我們還在推進很多其他事情。其中有些其實不太需要額外投資，而是部署不同類型的人力配置方式或作業指導。所以我們會確保這些對各位都很清楚，不會有任何意外。

So I would like to add on to that. So also remember, with our labor model and especially the north of 6, as we have more guests in the restaurant, it naturally scales up. So I don't know that it's a true -- really -- it's not going to be like -- I'm not anticipating it to be a really big investment.

我也想補充一下。另外也請記得，依照我們的人力模型，尤其是「north of 6」，當餐廳有更多客人時，人力本來就會自然隨之擴張。所以我不確定這是否算是真正——真的——它不會像——我不預期會是一筆非常大的投資。

Also, when Kevin talks about some people are already spending more than our labor card, that's not just the north of 6. We have scaled that back to a lot of the restaurants, we're saying staff for the traffic you want.

另外，當 Kevin 提到有些店已經花費高於我們的人力卡（labor card），那不只是「north of 6」。我們已經把這個做法推廣到很多餐廳，我們在說的是：依你想要的客流來配置人力。

So a lot of that is built in our current run rate. We're going to formalize it next year. It will be an investment. There will be some investment, but it's not going to be as material as it has been in the last few years when we really had to staff up to just get that base model right. I feel now it's more of a lot of fine-tuning on the investment side.

所以其中很多其實已經反映在我們目前的運行速率裡。我們明年會把它正式化。這會是一項投資。會有一些投資，但不會像過去幾年那麼顯著；當時我們必須大幅補足人力，才能把基礎模型先做對。我覺得現在更多是在投資面做很多微調。

Got it. I appreciate all that color. Maybe just flipping to the remodels. I know it's early in the process. But I'm just curious, as you're going through with the first four stores and now the planned, I believe, 8 to 10 more coming, are you seeing an opportunity to maybe do anything different in the back of the house as well with respect to either equipment or any of the processes that you've got -- or the build, hence, the processes get better in the back of the house?

了解。謝謝你提供這麼多細節。或許換個方向談到翻新（remodels）。我知道現在還在很早期。但我想請教，當你們推進前四家門店、以及接下來計畫中的——我相信——還有 8 到 10 家要做時，你們是否看到機會在後場（back of the house）也做些不同的事情，例如設備或流程方面——或是建置本身，從而讓後場流程變得更好？

Yes. So -- and it may not necessarily be tied directly to the reimage program, but we're always looking at the heart of house. We have a whole cross-functional team that is dedicated to looking at the equipment. Again, north of 6, part of that is to optimize the heart of house equipment packages. Do we need to add an extra fryer? Where do we need? At what levels do we add a separate combi oven? So we're looking at all of that.

是的。所以——這未必一定直接與翻新（reimage）計畫綁在一起，但我們一直在檢視後場（heart of house）。我們有一個完整的跨職能團隊，專門負責檢視設備。同樣地，當銷量高於 6（的門店）時，其中一部分工作就是優化後場設備套組。我們是否需要再增加一台油炸鍋？我們需要加在哪裡？在什麼樣的量級下，我們要增設一台獨立的組合式蒸烤箱（combi oven）？所以我們正在全面檢視這些。

We're also thinking about that as we design the new prototypes on making sure that we have the space laid out just right and that we have the model built for those higher volumes and the equipment that we'll need moving forward. So it's absolutely a focus that we continue to look at different pieces of equipment, how do we improve either the quality of the food or the speed of our service. And so we have a whole team just working on that at all times that we could deploy.

我們在設計新原型店時也會把這點納入考量，確保空間配置恰到好處，並且建立能支撐更高客流量的模型，以及未來所需的設備配置。所以這絕對是我們持續關注的重點：檢視不同設備，如何提升餐點品質或加快服務速度。因此我們一直都有一整個團隊在做這件事，並可隨時部署。

Great. Thanks for taking the questions.

很好。謝謝回答問題。

Thanks, John.

謝謝你，John。

Brian Harbour, Morgan Stanley.

Brian Harbour，摩根士丹利。

Yeah, thanks. Good morning, guys. With the reimages, are there elements of that, that sort of help with throughput? Or is that more of just like an aesthetic thing? Could you talk about that a little bit?

是的，謝謝。各位早安。關於翻新（reimage），其中是否有一些元素能幫助提升出餐量／通過量（throughput）？還是那比較偏向美觀層面的調整？可以稍微談談嗎？

Yes. So right now, it's more of the exterior, the inside is paint and just how the look and the feel of the restaurant. But we're always looking at our tables where, for example, in one of the previous reimages, we put in some big community tables in the bar. Well, we realize a lot of people don't like sitting at the community table.

是的。所以目前主要是外觀；內部則是重新粉刷，以及餐廳整體的視覺與氛圍。但我們也一直在檢視桌位配置；例如在先前某次翻新中，我們在吧台區放了一些大型共用桌。但我們發現很多人其實不喜歡坐共用桌。

So as we go through, we make sure that those community tables are gone, those are separate tables. So any time we have the opportunity to update the tables or optimize the tables, we're doing that. And we're making sure we look at that really not necessarily in the reimages, but in the new units as well that we have the optimized tables and we have the most tables to help with throughput.

所以在我們推進的過程中，我們會確保把那些共用桌移除，改成獨立桌。因此只要有機會更新桌椅或優化桌位配置，我們就會去做。而且我們也會確保不只是在翻新時檢視這件事，在新開店也同樣如此，確保桌位配置最優，並且有最多的桌位來提升出餐量／通過量（throughput）。

Yes. But it's other than the tables, it's mostly cosmetic throughput. Our 2030, Heart of the House restaurant team is focused on what is the equipment that can improve throughput. So like an example that we're looking at right now is a new type of grill. A flat top that all of the space is usable.

是的。但除了桌位之外，翻新大多是外觀上的調整，對通過量的影響偏「外觀層面」。我們的 2030 後場（Heart of the House）餐廳團隊，重點在於哪些設備能提升通過量。例如我們目前正在評估一種新型烤爐。一種平板煎台（flat top），整個表面空間都能有效使用。

It's really consistent in terms of heat across the grill. So you can put more burgers and they cook more evenly. That's an example that would have improved throughput. In addition, there's -- they have a manual clamshell attachment that would be able to cook on both sides. We tested computer clamshells a few years ago and thought they were not as reliable as they need to be, but this one likely would be more reliable.

它在整個烤盤上的熱度分布非常一致。所以你可以同時放更多漢堡排，而且受熱更均勻。這就是能提升通過量的例子。另外，它還有一個手動的上蓋壓烤（clamshell）配件，可以讓兩面同時烹調。我們幾年前測試過電腦控制的 clamshell，覺得可靠度不如需求，但這一款可能會更可靠。

So that's an example where the equipment would give us more throughput and lower ticket times on burgers, which is obviously a huge part of our business. But I would consider that kind of separate from the reimage program.

所以這就是設備能帶來更高通過量、並降低漢堡出單時間（ticket times）的例子，而漢堡顯然是我們業務中非常重要的一部分。但我會把這類項目視為與翻新（reimage）計畫相對獨立。

Okay. Got it. Makes sense. Mika, how are you feeling about food inflation at this, I guess, more as we think about like fiscal '27, do you expect that to sort of reset higher? Is it something you'll sort of address with price when the time comes? Or could you talk about that?

好的。了解。有道理。Mika，關於食品通膨，你目前怎麼看？我想更往 2027 財年（fiscal '27）去看，你是否預期會在較高水準重新定錨？到時候你們會用調價來因應嗎？或能否談談你的看法？

Yes. So I mean, it's -- we'll probably give you more -- I'm going to give you more details in next quarter when we set guidance for next year. But there's always puts and takes, but there is going to be pressure with beef. I mean that's clearly out there. Luckily, that's not the total basket for us. We're a varied menu, so we have different opportunities. Obviously, we sell a lot of chicken as well.

是的。所以我的意思是——我們可能會在下個季度、當我們為明年提供指引（guidance）時，給你更多細節。但一直都會有利有弊，不過牛肉確實會帶來壓力。這點很明顯。幸運的是，牛肉並不是我們整個採購籃子的全部。我們的菜單很多元，所以有不同的操作空間。當然，我們也賣很多雞肉。

But yes, we're going to continue to see pressure in commodities as we move forward. It will probably be similar levels that you've seen us in the past or this last half of the year, we've had that mid-single-digit inflation. So I'm anticipating that will be something similar as we move forward into F '27.

但沒錯，隨著我們往前走，原物料（commodities）仍會持續有壓力。通膨水準可能會與你過去看到的、或今年下半年我們呈現的水準相近；我們的通膨大約是中個位數（mid-single-digit）。所以我預期進入 2027 財年（F '27）後，情況也會大致類似。

Brian Vaccaro, Raymond James.

Brian Vaccaro，Raymond James。

Hi, thanks, and good morning, and congrats on the continued strong momentum. Mika, just following up on that last question on commodity inflation. Did I hear correctly that you do expect low single-digit inflation in the fourth quarter? And maybe just any clarity on what's breaking a little bit more favorably for you even in the near term compared to the mid-4s you did in the last quarter?

嗨，謝謝，早安，也恭喜你們動能持續強勁。Mika，我想追問剛才那個原物料通膨的問題。我是否聽對了：你預期第四季會是低個位數通膨？另外，能否說明一下，短期內相較於你們上季約 4% 中段（mid-4s）的通膨，有哪些項目對你們更有利一些？

No. So it's mid-single digits in the fourth quarter, and that's what I expect to continue into next year, Brian. And so beef will continue to be a pressure for us. I was just saying there could be some gives and takes out there on different contracts. But in general, we're going to have inflation.

沒有。所以第四季是中個位數（mid-single digits），而且我預期明年也會延續這個水準，Brian。因此牛肉仍會持續對我們造成壓力。我只是說，不同合約之間可能會有一些此消彼長。但整體而言，我們會面臨通膨。

It will probably be in the mid-single digits next year as well is what I'm anticipating now. More specific details to come as I give guidance next year. I'm just kind of giving a guideline now. We'll give more information on that next quarter.

我目前的預期是，明年也可能會是中個位數（mid-single digits）。更具體的細節，會在我提供明年指引（guidance）時再說明。我現在只是先給一個大致方向。我們會在下個季度提供更多資訊。

Okay. Sorry, I thought I misheard the lows. So that's helpful clarity. Advertising. Yes, that's great. On the advertising front, I think you said it was flattish year-on-year as a percent of sales in Q3. Just ballpark, how much do you expect ad spend to be up year-on-year in the fourth quarter?

好的。抱歉，我以為我聽到的是「低」個位數。所以這樣釐清很有幫助。廣告方面。是的，很好。在廣告上，我記得你說第三季廣告費用占銷售額比重年對年大致持平。大概估一下，第四季廣告支出年對年會增加多少？

So in the fourth quarter, it will probably be in the $5 million to $6 million range for the fourth quarter.

所以第四季大概會落在 500 萬到 600 萬美元的區間。

Okay. All right. That's helpful. And then just a bookkeeping one for me. Can you share the sales mix of 3 for Me, kind of how that splits between $10.99 and the higher tiers and also on Triple Dipper?

好的。好。這很有幫助。然後我有個帳務／數據拆分的問題。你能分享一下 3 for Me 的銷售組合嗎？例如 10.99 美元與更高價位層級各占多少？另外 Triple Dipper 的部分也是。

Absolutely. So we continue to have about 20% of our guests eat on the 3 for Me platform. Approximately 40% or a little bit less are eating on the $10.99. That converts to total 3 for Me is about 12% or almost 13% of our guests. But on the $10.99 version, less than 5% are actually eating -- of our total sales is $10.99. So that's being pretty steady for us, I would say, as we move through. What was the second piece of your question, Brian?

當然可以。所以目前大約有 20% 的顧客是在 3 for Me 平台上用餐。約 40% 或略低一些選擇 10.99 美元的方案。換算下來，3 for Me 合計約占我們顧客的 12% 或接近 13%。但在 10.99 美元版本上，實際上占我們總銷售額不到 5%。所以我會說，隨著我們持續推進，這對我們而言一直相當穩定。Brian，你問題的第二部分是什麼？

Triple Dipper.

三重蘸醬。

Triple Dipper. Yes, they're hanging in there. So last quarter, it was right at 16%, and that's where it is now. So hanging in there with the Triple Dipper.

三重蘸醬。是的，它們仍然撐得住。所以上一季大約就是16%，現在也還是在那個水準。所以三重蘸醬仍然維持得不錯。

Excellent. Thank you.

太好了。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Nick Setyan, Mizuho Securities.

Nick Setyan，瑞穗證券。

Thank you. I think I heard you guys say ad spending went a little bit into Q4 from Q3. Can you just remind us what the year-over-year growth was in Q3, what it will be in Q4? And then how are you thinking about ad spend in fiscal '27? Can that grow as a percentage of sales? Is it going to be flattish? And in terms of just spending by quarter, that would be great or at least directionally. Any color there would be very helpful.

謝謝。我想我聽到你們說，廣告支出從第三季延續到第四季多了一點。你能提醒我們第三季的年增率是多少、第四季會是多少嗎？另外你們如何看待2027財年的廣告支出？它能否占銷售額的比重提高？還是會大致持平？以及就季度支出而言，如果能提供一些資訊或至少方向性的看法會很棒。任何補充說明都會非常有幫助。

All right. Sure. So advertising in the third quarter ended up being fairly flat year-over-year on a dollar basis and a percent of sales basis. It will pop up a little bit. We had to move some things into the fourth quarter just some timing of some things, how they happened.

好的。當然。所以第三季的廣告支出，以金額與占銷售額比重來看，年比大致持平。第四季會小幅上升。我們必須把一些項目挪到第四季，主要是一些時點安排與事情發生的時間所致。

So in the fourth quarter, I expect that to be a little bit higher as a percent of sales and probably, like I said, $5 million to $6 million up year-over-year. Next year, again, more color when I give guidance for next year, but I would expect it to be similar as a percent of sales, a similar amount there.

所以在第四季，我預期它占銷售額的比重會略高一些，而且如我所說，年比大概會增加500萬到600萬美元。明年也是一樣，等我提供明年指引時會再給更多細節，但我預期占銷售額的比重會相近，金額也會是類似的水準。

There's always inflation on ad spend. So we will be spending some more dollars, but probably a similar percent of sales as we move forward. I don't have the cadence yet, Nick, to share on quarter-to-quarter in F '27. Again, we'll get into more of that at the end of this fiscal year as we kind of guide for next fiscal year.

廣告支出總是會有通膨。所以我們會多花一些美元，但往後推進時，占銷售額的比重可能仍會差不多。Nick，我目前還沒有2027財年逐季的節奏可以分享。同樣地，我們會在本財年結束時、在對下一財年提供指引時再更深入說明。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Andrew Charles, TD Cowen.

Andrew Charles，TD Cowen。

Great. Mika, you talked about the likely mid-single-digit inflation in 2027 led by beef and plans to roll off price as you're prioritizing value. And so I know we're going to give the specific guidance next quarter, but I'm just thinking qualitatively, what are the opportunities to drive margins just beyond sales leverage while you cited that you're not immune from the industry's contracting alcohol mix as well?

很好。Mika，你提到2027年可能會有中個位數的通膨，主要由牛肉帶動，且在你們優先強調價值的情況下，計畫逐步取消漲價。所以我知道你們會在下季給出具體指引，但我想從質性角度了解，除了銷售槓桿之外，還有哪些機會可以推動毛利率/利潤率？同時你也提到，你們也無法免於整體產業酒精品項占比下滑的影響。

Right. So moving forward, again, we feel like our strategy is a top line strategy. So we will get margin leverage from that. But we will look into ways, I think, as the brand -- we've kind of been in this turnaround mode. We're getting more into the stabilized mode where we have, again, a lot more talent, stabilized teams.

對。所以往前看，我們仍然覺得我們的策略是以營收成長為主的策略。因此我們會從中取得利潤率槓桿。但我們也會尋找方法；我想隨著品牌——我們一直處在轉型模式。現在我們正更進入穩定化階段，也就是我們擁有更多人才、團隊更穩定。

And what we've seen over time is as turnover goes down, you have better talent, you always get more efficient in whatever you do. That could be labor, that could be how we spend the dollars. For example, R&M is one that we spent a ton of money in over time. We do think, like I said, we had a lot of deferred maintenance. Now we're moving into preventative maintenance.

而我們長期觀察到的是，當人員流動率下降、人才更好時，你做任何事都會更有效率。這可能體現在人力，也可能體現在我們如何花錢。例如R&M（維修與保養）是我們長期投入大量資金的一項。我們確實認為，如我所說，我們之前有很多延後維護。現在我們正轉向預防性維護。

We also think there's going to be opportunity now to just find ways to have more efficient spend as we move forward. And we have a lot of initiatives kind of behind the scenes working on that. So there'll be just different areas of the business. Again, labor. I think labor is one that as the teams continue, turnover goes down, productivity goes up.

我們也認為，接下來會有機會在往前推進時，找到更有效率的支出方式。我們在幕後也有很多相關的計畫在推動。所以會是在業務的不同領域。同樣地，人力。我認為人力是一個重點：隨著團隊延續、流動率下降，生產力就會提升。

Like we said, we may have to invest in some pockets. But at the same time, we're having teams that just get better and better at what they do and you have some natural opportunities there. So we'll continue to look across the whole brand. We've had a lot of growth the last three years. There's probably a lot of opportunity to optimize some of those expenses as we move forward.

如我們所說，我們可能需要在某些區塊投資。但同時，我們的團隊會在工作上越做越好，這裡面自然就會有一些機會。所以我們會持續檢視整個品牌。過去三年我們成長很多。往前看，可能有不少機會去優化其中一些費用。

So that will -- again, will be more things that we look at in the future, but I think there will be opportunity there. But even excluding any margin initiatives, I still think we can expand margins and grow the top line. We feel really great about our mid-single-digit same-store sales and mid-single-digit growth over time as we move forward.

所以——同樣地，這會是我們未來會看的更多事項，但我認為會有機會。但即使不考慮任何利潤率改善專案，我仍然認為我們可以在擴大利潤率的同時成長營收。我們對於往前看能達成中個位數的同店銷售、以及長期中個位數的成長，感覺非常好。

That's helpful. And then as we think about the ramp in new stores, and you talked about how 2029 more of a steady rate. And again, we'll hear more about this at Investor Day on the specifics. But just kind of curious, I mean, are you piloting opportunities to lower the cost of the box as we get ahead of this to better understand kind of what the Chili's of the future really looks like?

這很有幫助。另外，當我們思考新店開出加速，你提到2029年會更像是穩定的開店速度。同樣地，我們會在投資人日聽到更多具體內容。但我有點好奇：你們是否正在試點一些降低店面建置成本（box cost）的機會，以便提前更了解未來的Chili’s會是什麼樣子？

Yes. I mean, absolutely, we always look at how can we optimize costs in the box. I mean I will say just over time, especially post-COVID, there has been inflation in how you build the restaurants. The great news is we took our AUVs from around $3 million to we talked about approaching $5 million. So that gives us a lot more opportunity.

是的。我的意思是，當然，我們一直在看如何優化單店建置成本。我會說，隨著時間推移，尤其是COVID之後，餐廳建造成本確實有通膨。好消息是，我們把AUV（單店平均年營收）從大約300萬美元提升到我們提到的接近500萬美元。所以這給了我們更多的空間。

With our improving AUVs, that doesn't give us a lot of opportunity to necessarily shrink the box because we're trying to accommodate more guests, but we are always looking at that. But what I will tell you is the returns we've seen even on the restaurants we've been growing over the last few years have been great.

隨著AUV改善，這不一定讓我們有很大空間去縮小店面規模，因為我們要容納更多顧客，但我們一直都在看。不過我可以告訴你的是，即使是我們過去幾年擴張所開出的餐廳，我們看到的回報都非常好。

We feel really confident in that, and we're really set up to build some restaurants with some great returns as we move forward. But we're always looking to see if there's opportunities to optimize the box and our spend.

我們對此非常有信心，而且我們也很有條件在未來建一些回報很好的餐廳。但我們一直都在看是否有機會優化店面與我們的支出。

That's great. Thank you. Very helpful.

太好了。謝謝。非常有幫助。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Chris Carril, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Chris Carril，KeyBanc Capital Markets。

So I guess just following up on earlier questions about the check. Can you update us more specifically on how you're thinking about the mix component of check moving forward here over the near to medium term? And Kevin, I believe you mentioned the $3 to $4 check gap to the competition. So any additional thoughts on the long-term check opportunity would be helpful.

我想延續先前關於客單價（check）的問題。你能更具體更新一下，短中期往前看，你們如何看待客單價中「組合（mix）」這個部分的變化嗎？另外，Kevin，我記得你提到相較競爭對手有3到4美元的客單價差距。所以若能補充一些對長期客單價提升空間的看法會很有幫助。

So Chris, do you mean on the check? Just we're always looking for opportunities to grow mix. But right now, like Kevin said, just recently, we've seen some softness in mix, though it was very interesting that as soon as we saw softness in mix, we saw our traffic start to accelerate. So again, that's why we feel very confident about mid-single digits and positive traffic as we finish up this fiscal year. Now moving forward, we're always looking for opportunities to grow check.

所以Chris，你是指客單價嗎？我們一直在尋找提升組合（mix）的機會。但目前，如Kevin所說，最近我們看到組合有些走弱；不過很有意思的是，我們一看到組合走弱，我們的來客數（traffic）就開始加速。所以同樣地，這也是為什麼我們對於在本財年結束前達成中個位數、以及來客數為正，感到非常有信心。接下來往前看，我們也一直在尋找提升客單價的機會。

We've done a great job of it over the last three years. We'll look to continue to optimize. But if I'm thinking longer term, we know what that pricing strategy is with the same-store sales, we talked about that range. And then I think we're really going to be focused on growing traffic on top of that.

過去三年我們在這方面做得非常出色。我們會持續尋求進一步優化。但如果我從更長期來看，我們知道同店銷售的那套定價策略是什麼，我們也談過那個區間。接著我認為，我們真的會專注在此基礎上進一步提升來客數。

Yes. As far as like what guidance we give the teams on $3 to $4 below category, we don't think about it that way. That's more of an output that we report out to everybody about -- it's a verifiable demo that we're lower priced than our competitors. The way we think about value is -- and we need this across the entire menu is how do we create abundant value everywhere in our menu so that when people leave Chili's, they're like, wow, that was an incredible value.

是的。至於我們給團隊的指引是否是「比品類低3到4美元」這種說法，我們不會用這樣的方式思考。那更像是我們對外報告的一個結果——它是一個可驗證的證明，顯示我們的價格比競爭對手更低。我們對「價值」的思考是——而且我們需要在整份菜單上做到——如何在菜單的每個角落都創造充足的價值，讓客人離開 Chili's 時會覺得：哇，這真是超值。

And we've been slowly renovating our menu to get to that value across the entire menu. We started with burgers and fries and fajitas, and we have it in margaritas. And now we obviously did in chicken crispers. Now we're doing chicken sandwiches. The next to go will be salads and steaks, and we did it with ribs actually last year, where it's a much more abundant value. Even if the price is a little higher, you get 50% more ribs that are meatier and it's a bigger plate.

而我們一直在逐步翻新菜單，讓整份菜單都能達到那種價值感。我們從漢堡、薯條和法士達開始，瑪格麗塔也做到了。現在我們顯然也在 chicken crispers 上做到了。接著我們正在做雞肉三明治。下一個會是沙拉和牛排；其實我們去年也在肋排上做了——價值感更充足。即使價格稍微高一點，你會得到多50%的肋排、肉更多，而且份量更大、盤子也更大。

So that's the way we think about it. It's like when we're in the test kitchen with our operators, we're like, hey, is this something that's going to be wow value? And if it's not, we got to continue to work on it. And then the outcome is the things that we report to you on price and how we're lower than the competitor. But the important thing is when I get a plate at Chili's, do I feel like that was wow value that I want to come back for.

所以我們是這樣思考的。就像我們在測試廚房和營運團隊一起試做時，我們會問：嘿，這是不是那種會讓人覺得「哇，超值」的東西？如果不是，我們就得繼續改。然後結果才會反映在我們向各位報告的價格，以及我們如何比競品更便宜。但最重要的是：當我在 Chili's 拿到一盤菜時，我是否覺得這是那種「哇，超值」讓我想再回來的體驗。

Got it. That's helpful. And then just turning to Maggiano's. Now that George is overseeing marketing for Maggiano's in addition to Chili's, can you maybe speak to how you're thinking about marketing for the brand and what that could look like when you do begin to see signs of traffic stability and growth?

了解。這很有幫助。接著談談 Maggiano's。現在 George 除了 Chili's 之外也負責 Maggiano's 的行銷，你能否談談你們如何思考這個品牌的行銷，以及當你們開始看到來客數趨於穩定並成長的跡象時，可能會是什麼樣子？

Yes. It's -- we're less than 50 restaurants. So it's never going to be this big national TV thing that like Chili's has. So what George -- the lens that George is bringing to the business right now is empathy for the guest experience because at the end of the day, we've got to improve food service and atmosphere at Maggiano's if we want to grow traffic over time.

是的。它——我們不到50家餐廳。所以它永遠不會像 Chili's 那樣做大型的全國電視廣告。因此 George 目前帶進這個業務的視角，是對顧客體驗的同理心；因為說到底，如果我們想讓 Maggiano's 的來客數隨時間成長，就必須改善餐點、服務與氛圍。

So he's looking at things like menu presentation, family style, the entire guest experience from the time you get into the lobby to when you sit down to when you check out. These are all things that we need to bring a guest empathy lens to, and that's primarily what he's focused on right now.

所以他在看像是菜單呈現、家庭式分享（family style）、以及從你走進大廳、入座到結帳的整個顧客體驗。這些都是我們需要用顧客同理心的視角來檢視的事情，而這也是他目前主要聚焦的方向。

Should we get that into a place that we're really excited about, will we do some demand creation? Probably. But given that it's -- we're not a national brand, we don't have Maggiano's everywhere, it's never going to be like what you see at Chili's.

如果我們把這些做到一個讓我們非常興奮的狀態，我們會不會做一些需求創造？可能會。但考量到它——我們不是全國性品牌，Maggiano's 並不是到處都有，所以它永遠不會像你在 Chili's 看到的那樣。

Christine Cho, Goldman Sachs.

Christine Cho，高盛。

Thank you for taking the question. Could you give us a quick update on the off-premise trends and whether that channel has proven more resilient in the increased kind of check management standpoint? And I know there has been clearly a stronger emphasis on elevating the in-restaurant experience. But do you see an opportunity to lean further into the off-premise channel going forward?

謝謝讓我提問。你能否簡要更新一下外帶/外送（off-premise）的趨勢，以及在客單管理（check management）壓力增加的情況下，這個通路是否展現出更強的韌性？我也知道你們顯然更強調提升店內用餐體驗。但往後你們是否看到有機會進一步加大對 off-premise 通路的投入？

Yes. So our off-premise, it's been hanging in there. it's usually been about, what, 23%, 24% of total sales. So it's been pretty steady. It did have the same negative traffic that the dine-in did or the overall brand did this last period.

是的。我們的 off-premise 一直還算撐得住，通常約占總銷售的23%、24%。所以一直相當穩定。不過在上一個期間，它確實和內用或整體品牌一樣，出現同樣的來客數下滑。

But with that being said, we do think there's opportunity. We've really been focused on the dine-in experience, and we think there is opportunity to, again, take friction out of that whole guest experience with off-premise. We can think -- we think that we can improve that experience, get better throughput. So it will be a focus as we move forward.

但即便如此，我們確實認為仍有機會。我們一直非常專注在內用體驗，而我們也認為在 off-premise 的整體顧客體驗上，同樣有機會再次降低摩擦。我們認為可以改善那個體驗、提升出餐/交付效率（throughput）。所以隨著我們往前走，這會是一個重點。

Yes. I mean the big opportunity is just the overall experience of picking up. It's not -- the improvement that we've made from the dine-in, we still have opportunity to do on to go. Our quote time calculator hasn't been updated in a while. And since our ticket times are so much faster, a lot of times we quote times that are way longer than when the food is actually made.

是的。我的意思是，最大的機會就在於整體取餐體驗。我們在內用所做的改善，在外帶（to go）上仍有機會去做。我們的預估取餐時間計算器已經有一段時間沒有更新了。而因為我們的出餐時間快了很多，很多時候我們報給客人的時間比實際做好餐點的時間長很多。

So we've got to get that thing updated. We've got to make the experience for pickup a lot more seamless, ideally with some order boards, so you would know where your order is and whether it's ready to be picked up.

所以我們得把那套系統更新。我們得讓取餐流程更順暢，理想情況下加上一些訂單看板，讓你知道你的訂單在哪裡、是否已經可以取餐。

And then we just made some investments in packaging that are already in all the numbers that you guys have to make the actual experience, getting the food at home a whole lot better. So to me, the important thing is let's get the fundamentals right before we go try to put any kind of gas on it, and we've got some work to do there.

另外，我們也在包裝上做了一些投資——這些都已經反映在你們看到的所有數字裡——讓把食物帶回家後的實際體驗好很多。所以對我來說，重點是在我們嘗試加大推力之前，先把基本功做好，而這部分我們還有一些工作要做。

Thank you.

謝謝。

We have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. And I will now turn the call back over to Kim Sanders for closing remarks.

我們已經到達問答環節的結束。接下來我會把電話交回給 Kim Sanders 做結語。

Thank you, Holly. That concludes our call for today. We appreciate everyone joining us and look forward to updating you on our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2026 results in August. Have a wonderful day.

謝謝你，Holly。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位參與，我們也期待在8月向各位更新我們2026會計年度第四季及全年業績。祝各位有美好的一天。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thanks, everyone.

謝謝各位。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your phone lines at this time, and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以掛斷電話線，祝您有美好的一天。感謝您的參與。