Noodles & Co (NDLS) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Noodles & Company fourth-quarter 2023 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Noodles & Company 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）

Please be advised today's conference is being recorded.

請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Mike Hynes, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人、財務長 Mike Hynes。請繼續。

Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to our fourth-quarter 2023 earnings call. Here with me this afternoon is Drew Madsen, our Chief Executive Officer. I'd like to start by going over a few regulatory matters.

謝謝大家，大家下午好。歡迎參加我們的 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。今天下午和我在一起的是我們的執行長德魯·馬德森 (Drew Madsen)。我想先討論一些監管問題。

During our remarks, we may make forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of the company. Any such items should be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Such statements are only projections and actual events or results could differ materially from those projections due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those referred to in this afternoon's news release and the cautionary statement in the company's annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the SEC.

在我們的發言中，我們可能會對未來事件或公司未來的財務表現做出前瞻性陳述。任何此類項目應被視為《私人證券訴訟改革法》含義內的前瞻性陳述。此類陳述僅是預測，由於存在許多風險和不確定性，實際事件或結果可能與這些預測有重大差異，包括今天下午的新聞稿中提到的風險和不確定性以及公司10-K 表格年度報告及後續報告中的警示性聲明向 SEC 提交的文件。

During the call, we will discuss non-GAAP measures, which we believe can be useful in evaluating the company's operating performance. These measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for our financial results prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is available in our fourth-quarter 2023 earnings release.

在電話會議期間，我們將討論非公認會計準則衡量標準，我們認為這些衡量標準有助於評估公司的營運績效。這些措施不應被孤立地考慮，也不應取代我們根據公認會計準則編制的財務表現。我們的 2023 年第四季財報中提供了這些指標與最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標的調整表。

To the extent that the company provides guidance, it does so only on a non-GAAP basis and does not provide reconciliations of forward-looking non-GAAP measures. Quantitative reconciling information for these measures is unavailable without unreasonable efforts.

就公司提供的指導而言，它僅在非公認會計原則的基礎上提供，並且不提供前瞻性非公認會計原則措施的調節。如果不付出不合理的努力，就無法獲得這些措施的定量協調資訊。

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Drew Madsen, our Chief Executive Officer.

說到這裡，我想將電話轉給我們的執行長德魯·馬德森 (Drew Madsen)。

Thanks, Mike, and good afternoon, everyone. Over the past four months as Interim CEO, I've gotten a chance to work closely with our team and begin the process of reigniting this one-of-a-kind brand to drive sustainable top-line growth, improve profitability, and ultimately, create long-term shareholder value.

謝謝麥克，大家下午好。在過去的四個月裡，作為臨時首席執行官，我有機會與我們的團隊密切合作，並開始重新點燃這個獨特的品牌，以推動可持續的營收成長，提高盈利能力，並最終，創造長期股東價值。

As you've likely already seen, the company announced today that I've decided to stay on full-time and the Board has appointed me as permanent CEO. While I initially only agreed to be the Interim CEO and help with the transition, once I got under the hood of Noodles, I became increasingly excited about the opportunity to lead this company through a new stage of growth.

正如您可能已經看到的，公司今天宣布我決定繼續全職工作，董事會任命我為永久執行長。雖然我最初只同意擔任臨時執行長並幫助過渡，但一旦我進入了 Noodles，我對有機會領導這家公司進入新的成長階段感到越來越興奮。

I'm thrilled that the Board concluded that I was the best person to become Noodle's permanent CEO. And I'm honored to assume this role and will be all in on leading Noodles with the expectation of being here a minimum of three years.

我很高興董事會認定我是成為 Noodle 永久執行長的最佳人選。我很榮幸擔任這一職務，並將全力以赴領導 Noodles，並預計在這裡工作至少三年。

I wanted to remain CEO because I believe that Noodles is a differentiated brand with substantial opportunity ahead of us. And I believe I have the ability to align the organization behind the strategic priorities necessary to achieve it.

我想繼續擔任首席執行官，因為我相信 Noodles 是一個差異化品牌，我們面前有巨大的機會。我相信我有能力使組織協調實現這一目標所需的策略優先事項。

Before we discuss our priorities for the year, let's start with Noodles' unique positioning within the restaurant industry that we will leverage going forward. First, we compete in very attractive segments. Fast casual has outperformed both QSR and casual dining on traffic for the last few years because it offers a more compelling combination of quality, price, and convenience. Pasta and noodles as a menu segment is affordable, broadly appealing, and very durable. And the emotional need our customers have for comfort and comfort food is timeless.

在我們討論今年的優先事項之前，讓我們先了解 Noodles 在餐飲業中的獨特定位，我們將利用這一定位來繼續發展。首先，我們在非常有吸引力的領域中競爭。過去幾年，快速休閒的客流量表現優於快餐和休閒餐飲，因為它提供了更具吸引力的品質、價格和便利性組合。麵食和麵條作為菜單部分價格實惠、具有廣泛吸引力且非常耐用。我們的顧客對舒適食品的情感需求是永恆的。

Second, we have a meaningful point of difference compared to others competing in these segments. No one else offers a scale perspective on all things noodles with a variety of flavors from around the world like we do.

其次，與這些領域的其他競爭者相比，我們有一個有意義的差異點。沒有人能像我們一樣對世界各地各種口味的麵條提供規模化的視角。

And third, our brand is aligned with current consumer preferences. They want fresh food. Our restaurants don't have freezers. We prepare a dozen fresh vegetables daily. And as I said, we don't hold our vegetables, proteins, or noodles in hot steam tables. We cook your meal as you order.

第三，我們的品牌符合當前消費者的喜好。他們想要新鮮的食物。我們的餐廳沒有冰櫃。我們每天準備十幾種新鮮蔬菜。正如我所說，我們不會將蔬菜、蛋白質或麵條放在熱蒸汽桌上。我們按照您的訂單為您做飯。

Today's increasingly diverse customer also wants more interesting flavor profiles: more spicy, smoky, and tangy flavors from regions all over the world. Our menu is full of globally inspired noodle bowls additions from classic dishes like Wisconsin mac and cheese to Penne Rosa and more elevated, but still approachable dishes like Japanese pan noodles and spicy Korean beef noodles.

如今，日益多元化的客戶也想要更有趣的風味特徵：來自世界各地的更多辛辣、煙燻和濃鬱的風味。我們的菜單充滿了全球靈感的麵條碗，從經典菜餚如威斯康辛通心粉和起司到通心粉，以及更高級但仍然平易近人的菜餚，如日本鍋面和辛辣的韓國牛肉麵。

And third, today's consumer wants more convenience when they choose to eat out. Guests can access noodles by ordering through our mobile app, website, or third-party delivery services and can choose to receive their food via in-restaurant quick pickup or delivery to their home or office. Approximately 54% of sales originate digitally, creating a strong platform for us to build upon.

第三，現今的消費者在選擇外出用餐時希望獲得更多便利。客人可以透過我們的行動應用程式、網站或第三方送貨服務訂購麵條，並可以選擇透過餐廳內快速取餐或送貨到家或辦公室的方式接收食物。大約 54% 的銷售額來自數位化，這為我們創造了一個強大的平台。

And lastly, our food travels very well, which makes noodles a great choice for off-premise occasions. Despite these competitive advantages, our business has not performed well recently. To capture the opportunity available to us, I believe we need to take better advantage of the platform we have. We need to do some things we haven't done for a long time and we need to raise our standards across the entire business.

最後，我們的食物運送得很好，這使得麵條成為外出場合的絕佳選擇。儘管有這些競爭優勢，但我們的業務最近表現不佳。為了抓住我們可用的機會，我相信我們需要更好地利用我們擁有的平台。我們需要做一些我們很久沒有做過的事情，我們需要提高整個業務的標準。

Accordingly, I focused our organization on the following five priorities. First, we need to strengthen our culture of operational excellence. Operations is the foundation of our business, and it starts with people. The general manager position is the most critical role in our business, and we are proud to share that general manager retention is the best it has been in almost 10 years and is better than industry average. And we're delighted that virtually all of our restaurants are fully staffed.

因此，我將我們的組織重點放在以下五個優先事項上。首先，我們需要加強卓越營運文化。營運是我們業務的基礎，而它始於人。總經理職位是我們業務中最關鍵的角色，我們很自豪地與大家分享，總經理的保留率是近 10 年來最好的，並且優於行業平均水平。我們很高興幾乎所有的餐廳都配備了充足的員工。

But there are other areas that require increased focus and higher standards. Most critically in the dimensions of our guest experience that correlate most directly with traffic growth. Specifically, we are focused on three key areas: first, order accuracy and taste to food; second, the dinner daypart, where we have seen more traffic loss than during lunch; and third, our lowest quartile restaurants where we have the most opportunity to make meaningful improvement in the near term.

但還有其他領域需要更多的關注和更高的標準。最關鍵的是與流量成長最直接相關的賓客體驗維度。具體來說，我們專注於三個關鍵領域：一是訂單準確性和食物口味；其次，晚餐時段，我們看到的交通損失比午餐時段更多；第三，我們最有機會在短期內做出有意義的改進的最低四分之一的餐廳。

To monitor progress and drive change, we have instituted schedule changes for managers and hourly team members to allocate our best workers to our highest volume time periods. Bi-weekly training sessions and multi-unit supervisor restaurant visits focused on reinforcing their critical behaviors highlighted in our training session.

為了監控進度並推動變革，我們對經理和小時團隊成員的日程安排進行了更改，以便將我們最好的員工分配到工作量最大的時間段。每兩週一次的培訓課程和多單位主管餐廳參觀的重點是加強我們培訓課程中強調的關鍵行為。

Our second 2024 priority is to increase desire for our brand through a multi-phase menu transformation, guided by our new contemporary comfort kitchen culinary identity. While noodles has consistently introduced new limited-time offer menus in recent years, it has been a long time since we updated our core menu. As a result, our menu look to date compared to newer fast casual competitors.

我們 2024 年的第二個優先事項是在我們新的現代舒適廚房烹飪標誌的指導下，透過多階段的菜單轉型來提高人們對我們品牌的渴望。雖然近年來麵條不斷推出新的限時優惠菜單，但我們已經很久沒有更新核心菜單了。因此，與較新的快速休閒競爭對手相比，我們的菜單看起來是最新的。

While we still offer familiar and comforting dishes that many of our existing guests love, we are not currently a compelling alternative for lapsed guests or for new guests. We are in the process of changing that as we use the contemporary comfort kitchen framework to transform our menu.

雖然我們仍然提供許多現有客人喜愛的熟悉而舒適的菜餚，但對於已故客人或新客人來說，我們目前並不是一個令人信服的選擇。當我們使用現代舒適的廚房框架來改變我們的菜單時，我們正在改變這一點。

Let's break this framework down to its parts. Contemporary means we are going back to our roots as the ultimate curators of contemporary comfort. We need to do more than all of our Italian dishes living beside Asian dishes. We need to offer dishes that are creatively fused, dishes with classic profiles, bold flavors, and signature twists that make them our own.

讓我們將這個框架分解為幾個部分。當代意味著我們要回歸本源，成為當代舒適的終極策展人。我們需要做的不僅僅是亞洲菜餚之外的所有義大利菜餚。我們需要提供創意融合的菜餚，具有經典風味、大膽口味和特色風味的菜餚，使它們成為我們自己的菜餚。

We also need to offer dishes that interpret modern trends and approachable ways that resonate with our guests. We reimagine LTO program that better leverages trending flavor profiles and seasonality will also be part of our menu transformation work.

我們還需要提供能夠詮釋現代潮流的菜餚，以及能夠與客人產生共鳴的平易近人的方式。我們重新構想 LTO 計劃，更好地利用趨勢風味特徵和季節性，這也將成為我們菜單轉型工作的一部分。

Comfort means food that is creamy, cheesy, a craveable, and satisfying, but increasingly, it also means food that's wholesome, homemade, and nostalgic and nourishing. Going forward, our menu will embrace both definitions of comfort and also feature ingredient-forward menu descriptors that conjure cravability.

舒適意味著食物是奶油味的、起司味的、令人渴望的、令人滿意的，但它也越來越意味著健康的、自製的、懷舊的和營養的食物。展望未來，我們的菜單將既包含舒適感的定義，也將採用成分導向的菜單描述詞來喚起人們的渴望。

Kitchen means we will continue to make each dish to order and cookware accounts, planting pasta, prepping fresh vegetables daily, finishing in our custom sauté station, garnishing with fresh herbs, and designing recipes that bring more texture, color, and garnish to every plate. We are working with a culinary edge, one of the preeminent food innovators and culinary consultants to the restaurant industry to help bring this menu transformation to life.

廚房意味著我們將繼續按訂單和炊具帳戶製作每道菜，種植麵食，每天準備新鮮蔬菜，在我們的定制炒菜站完成，用新鮮香草裝飾，並設計食譜，為每道菜帶來更多質感、顏色和裝飾。我們正在與烹飪前沿人士（餐飲業傑出的食品創新者和烹飪顧問之一）合作，以幫助將菜單轉型變為現實。

It is a very ambitious program that involves new concepts, recipes, prices, and a new layout across our menu. I believe the opportunity is significant and we all want these improvements in our restaurants as soon as possible.

這是一個非常雄心勃勃的計劃，涉及新概念、食譜、價格和菜單的新佈局。我相信這個機會很重要，我們都希望我們的餐廳能盡快得到這些改進。

That said, given the magnitude of change, we also want to avoid any major surprises. Accordingly, our plan is to evaluate each of these changes independently. We will then bring them together for an in-market test in at least 25 restaurants. And finally, we will gradually introduce improvements that are exciting for our guests and that our operators can execute consistently.

也就是說，考慮到變化的幅度，我們也希望避免任何重大意外。因此，我們的計劃是獨立評估每項變更。然後，我們將把他們聚集在一起，在至少 25 家餐廳進行市場測試。最後，我們將逐步推出讓我們的客人感到興奮並且我們的運營商能夠始終如一地執行的改進。

So where are we in this process? The new dish concept work is complete and we are preparing to test the first phase of new menu recipes later this month. Our goal is to start an in-market test of the first phase of changes early this summer with a phased rollout anticipated to begin later in 2024 and into early 2025. Our new menu architecture will be amplified by utilizing our digital menu boards.

那麼我們在這個過程中處於什麼位置呢？新菜餚概念工作已經完成，我們正準備在本月稍後測試新菜單食譜的第一階段。我們的目標是在今年夏初開始對第一階段的變化進行市場測試，預計將於 2024 年晚些時候至 2025 年初開始分階段推出。我們的新菜單架構將透過利用我們的數位菜單板來擴大。

Our third 2024 priority is to broaden our guest base by increasing active membership and frequency and our loyalty program, leverage guest data to grow our digital business, and extend our reach by expanding our digital marketing touch points. Noodles has one of the industry's top-performing digital ecosystems, consistently generating over 50% of sales through digital channels each year. This is driven by our more than 5 million loyalty members who spend more than double that of non-loyalty members on average. Our loyalty members represent approximately 25% of our total transactions and more than 90% of all app orders.

我們2024 年的第三個優先事項是透過增加活躍會員資格和頻率以及我們的忠誠度計劃來擴大我們的賓客基礎，利用賓客數據發展我們的數位業務，並透過擴大我們的數位行銷接觸點來擴大我們的影響力。Noodles 擁有業界表現最好的數位生態系統之一，每年始終透過數位管道產生超過 50% 的銷售額。這是由我們超過 500 萬忠誠會員推動的，他們的平均支出是非忠誠會員的兩倍多。我們的忠誠會員約占我們總交易量的 25% 和所有應用訂單的 90% 以上。

A key area of focus for our loyalty program is to win back lapsed loyalty members by leveraging personalized data in our new customer data platform to provide a more relevant message to each lapsed member at the right time.

我們忠誠度計畫的一個重點領域是透過利用新客戶資料平台中的個人化資料在正確的時間向每個流失的會員提供更相關的資訊來贏回流失的忠誠度會員。

Our digital app provides a convenient way for guests to order their favorite noodle dishes with over 1.7 million active app users. Over the past year, we better leverage this strong platform as we have achieved a 200 basis point lift in conversion rates by reducing friction in the ordering process. A focus on growing the number of app users and further increasing conversion utilizing our new tools will support traffic growth going forward.

我們的數位應用程式為客人提供了一種便捷的方式來訂購他們最喜歡的麵條菜餚，擁有超過 170 萬活躍應用程式用戶。在過去的一年裡，我們更好地利用了這個強大的平台，透過減少訂購過程中的摩擦，我們的轉換率提高了 200 個基點。專注於增加應用程式用戶數量並利用我們的新工具進一步提高轉換率將支持未來的流量成長。

We are also further optimizing our digital media buys to more efficiently reach our targeted guests. We are currently in the process of testing multiple spending levels across media channels, that if successful, would be implemented in the second half of the year. We will also continue to invest in third-party marketplaces to reach new guests and expedite their return visits.

我們還進一步優化我們的數位媒體購買，以更有效地覆蓋我們的目標客人。我們目前正在測試跨媒體管道的多種支出水平，如果成功，將在今年下半年實施。我們也將繼續投資第三方市場，以吸引新客人並加快他們的回訪速度。

Lastly, we successfully implemented digital menu boards across all company-owned units during 2023. As we've discussed before, these boards will allow us to better trial proposed menu changes by allowing quicker test iterations and more precise conclusions of the impacts we would expect to see across the system and also greatly assist in changing the menu architecture in our restaurants. We are testing a variety of ways to drive check without hurting value perception and plan to feature signature dishes that showcase our culinary expertise and strengthen brand relevance.

最後，我們在 2023 年在所有公司所屬單位成功實施了數位菜單板。正如我們之前所討論的，這些板將使我們能夠通過更快的測試迭代和更準確的結論來更好地試驗擬議的菜單更改，我們期望在整個系統中看到的影響，並且還極大地幫助改變我們餐廳的菜單架構。我們正在測試各種方法來推動檢查而不損害價值認知，並計劃推出特色菜餚，以展示我們的烹飪專業知識並增強品牌相關性。

Our fourth priority is to develop a long-term strategy to grow our catering business. And to help spearhead that effort, we recently hired a new Director of Catering, who was most recently with Panera.

我們的第四個優先事項是製定長期策略來發展我們的餐飲業務。為了幫助帶頭進行這項工作，我們最近聘請了一位新的餐飲總監，他最近在 Panera 任職。

Our fifth and final 2024 priority is to increase our financial strength. For 2024, we plan to strategically slow short-term new unit growth to approximately 10 to 12 new company restaurants relative to the 18 new company restaurants in 2023. In addition, we're focused on driving increased efficiencies across the business, which we believe will have a material positive impact on our future financial results.

我們 2024 年的第五個也是最後一個優先事項是增強我們的財務實力。2024 年，我們計劃策略性地將短期新單位成長放緩至約 10 至 12 家新公司餐廳（相對於 2023 年的 18 家新公司餐廳）。此外，我們致力於提高整個業務的效率，我們相信這將對我們未來的財務表現產生重大的正面影響。

Successful execution of these priorities will position us for stronger new unit growth in the future, including new franchise locations and opportunities to refranchise company locations. I'm very excited about the future of the Noodles brand and believe these priorities I discussed today will improve our operations foundation, strengthen the relevance of and desire for our brand, support long-term traffic growth, and lead to sustainable top-line momentum and profitability growth.

成功執行這些優先事項將使我們在未來獲得更強勁的新部門成長，包括新的特許經營地點和重新特許經營公司地點的機會。我對 Noodles 品牌的未來感到非常興奮，並相信我今天討論的這些優先事項將改善我們的營運基礎，增強我們品牌的相關性和願望，支持長期流量成長，並帶來可持續的營收動力和獲利能力的成長。

I will now turn it over to Mike to discuss our results and expectations in more detail.

我現在將把它交給麥克，更詳細地討論我們的結果和期望。

Thank you, Drew. In the fourth quarter, our total revenue decreased 8.9% to $124.3 million compared to last year. As a reminder, we had a 53rd week in the fourth quarter of 2022. We estimate that the 53rd week increased revenue by approximately $9.1 million in 2022. Absent the impact of the 53rd week in '22, fourth-quarter total revenue decreased by approximately 2.4% compared to last year.

謝謝你，德魯。第四季度，我們的總營收較去年下降 8.9% 至 1.243 億美元。提醒一下，2022 年第四季是第 53 週。我們估計，2022 年第 53 週的收入增加了約 910 萬美元。剔除2022年第53週的影響，第四季總營收較去年下降約2.4%。

System-wide comparable restaurant sales during the fourth quarter decreased 4.2%, including a decrease of 4.3% at company-owned restaurants and a decrease of 3.6% at franchise restaurants.

第四季全系統可比餐廳銷售額下降 4.2%，其中公司自營餐廳下降 4.3%，特許經營餐廳下降 3.6%。

Company comp traffic during the fourth quarter declined 9%. Pricing during the fourth quarter contributed 3.8%. Company average unit volumes in the fourth quarter were $1.31 million.

第四季公司競爭流量下降了 9%。第四季的定價貢獻了 3.8%。第四季公司平均銷量為 131 萬美元。

Turning to the P&L. For the fourth quarter, restaurant level contribution margin was 14.7%. Our restaurant contribution margin continued to benefit from significant year-over-year improvement in our cost of goods sold line offset by deleverage in labor, occupancy, and other operating costs.

轉向損益表。第四季度，餐廳層級的貢獻率為 14.7%。我們的餐廳貢獻利潤率繼續受益於我們的銷售成本同比顯著改善，但被勞動力、入住率和其他營運成本的去槓桿化所抵消。

COGS in the fourth quarter was 25.4% of sales, a 150 basis point improvement from last year. This improvement was primarily due to pricing and the continued year-over-year favorability in commodity costs, which led to food deflation of 1.2% during the quarter.

第四季銷貨成本佔銷售額的 25.4%，比去年提高了 150 個基點。這項改善主要是由於定價和大宗商品成本持續年比有利，導致本季食品通貨緊縮率為 1.2%。

Labor costs for the fourth quarter were 32% of sales compared to 31.2% in the prior year. Labor productivity initiatives in the fourth quarter contributed 40 basis points to restaurant contribution margin when compared to 2022, which was offset by the combination of wage inflation and sales deleverage.

第四季的勞動成本佔銷售額的 32%，而去年同期為 31.2%。與 2022 年相比，第四季度的勞動生產力舉措為餐廳邊際貢獻貢獻了 40 個基點，但這一貢獻被工資通膨和銷售去槓桿化的共同作用所抵消。

Wage inflation continued to moderate in the fourth quarter with year-over-year hourly rate growth of 3.9% for the full quarter. Due to deleverage, occupancy costs increased 60 basis points over prior year to 9.5% and other restaurant operating costs increased by 50 basis points in the fourth quarter to 18.4%.

第四季薪資通膨持續放緩，整個季度時薪年增 3.9%。由於去槓桿化，第四季的入住成本較上年增加60個基點至9.5%，其他餐廳營運成本增加50個基點至18.4%。

G&A for the fourth quarter was $13.9 million compared to $13.7 million in 2022. G&A in the fourth quarter of 2023 was negatively impacted by $1.4 million of severance costs. G&A included non-cash stock-based compensation of approximately $765,000 during the fourth quarter compared to $976,000 in 2022. We expect full-year 2024 G&A of $52 million to $55 million, inclusive of approximately $6 million of stock-based compensation.

第四季的一般管理費用為 1,390 萬美元，而 2022 年為 1,370 萬美元。2023 年第四季的一般管理費用受到 140 萬美元遣散費的負面影響。第四季的一般管理費用包括約 765,000 美元的非現金股票薪酬，而 2022 年為 976,000 美元。我們預計 2024 年全年一般管理費用為 5,200 萬至 5,500 萬美元，其中包括約 600 萬美元的股票薪酬。

Net loss for the fourth quarter was $6.1 million or a loss of $0.14 per diluted share compared to net income of $975,000 and earnings per diluted share of $0.02 last year.

第四季淨虧損為 610 萬美元，或稀釋後每股虧損 0.14 美元，而去年淨利為 97.5 萬美元，稀釋後每股收益為 0.02 美元。

During the fourth quarter, we changed our methodology for calculating adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income. Please refer to our earnings release issued this afternoon for a reconciliation of our non-GAAP measures, including a recasting of non-GAAP measures and prior periods to conform to the new methodology.

第四季度，我們改變了計算調整後 EBITDA 和調整後淨利的方法。請參閱我們今天下午發布的收益報告，以了解我們的非 GAAP 指標的調整情況，包括對非 GAAP 指標和前期數據的重新調整，以符合新的方法。

The change in methodology resulted in a reduction to adjusted EBITDA of $849,000 in the fourth quarter of 2023 and $3.3 million in fiscal year 2023 compared to the previous methodology while fiscal year 2022 adjusted EBITDA was reduced by $3.4 million compared to the previous methodology.

與先前的方法相比，方法的改變導致2023 年第四季調整後EBITDA 減少849,000 美元，2023 財年調整後EBITDA 減少330 萬美元，而2022 財年調整後EBITDA 與先前的方法相比減少340 萬美元。

Under the new methodology, adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter was $7.5 million compared to adjusted EBITDA of $9.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. In fourth quarter, we've opened five new company-owned restaurants and closed two restaurants at lease expiration. One franchise restaurant closed in the fourth quarter of 2023.

根據新方法，第四季調整後 EBITDA 為 750 萬美元，而 2022 年第四季調整後 EBITDA 為 910 萬美元。第四季度，我們新開了五家公司自營餐廳，並在租約到期時關閉了兩家餐廳。一家特許經營餐廳於 2023 年第四季關閉。

Turning to the balance sheet, at quarter end, we had cash and cash equivalents of $3 million and a total debt balance of $82.2 million. We currently have over $30 million of incremental liquidity available for future borrowings under our amended credit facility.

轉向資產負債表，截至季末，我們的現金和現金等價物為 300 萬美元，總負債餘額為 8,220 萬美元。目前，根據修訂後的信貸安排，我們有超過 3000 萬美元的增量流動資金可用於未來借款。

Before we close, I would like to provide some additional color driving our expectations for 2024. We expect full-year comp sales to be flat to positive 3%. The first quarter in 2024 is expected to have negative mid-single digit comp sales driven by the impact of severe weather in January and more difficult prior-year comparisons previous to our price increase in February of 2023. We expect full-year 2024 restaurant contribution margin of 14% to 15%, which reflects low mid-single digit commodity and wage inflation.

在結束之前，我想提供一些額外的資訊來推動我們對 2024 年的期望。我們預計全年銷售額將持平至正 3%。由於 1 月惡劣天氣的影響以及 2023 年 2 月提價之前的上年比較，預計 2024 年第一季的銷售額將出現負中個位數。我們預計 2024 年全年餐廳貢獻率為 14% 至 15%，這反映了商品和薪資通膨處於中個位數的低水準。

Turning to development, we expect 10 to 12 new company-owned restaurant openings and up to 3 new franchise openings in fiscal year 2024. And we estimate overall 2024 capital expenditures between $28 million and $32 million which is more than $20 million lower than fiscal year 2023 capital expenditures.

談到發展，我們預計 2024 財年將開設 10 至 12 家新的公司自營餐廳和最多 3 家新的特許經營餐廳。我們預計 2024 年的總體資本支出將在 2,800 萬美元至 3,200 萬美元之間，比 2023 財年的資本支出減少了 2,000 萬美元以上。

For further information regarding our 2024 expectations, please see the business outlook section of our press release.

有關我們 2024 年預期的更多信息，請參閱我們新聞稿的業務展望部分。

With that, I would like to turn the call back over to Drew for final remarks.

至此，我想將電話轉回德魯，讓其作最後發言。

Thanks, Mike. I'm excited to lead this brand forward and help capture the very significant opportunity ahead of us. I believe that we have aligned the organization around strategic priorities that will position us to drive sustainable growth and create shareholder value over the long term as we execute on these initiatives.

謝謝，麥克。我很高興能夠領導這個品牌前進並幫助抓住我們面前的非常重要的機會。我相信，我們已經圍繞戰略優先事項調整了組織，這將使我們能夠在執行這些舉措時推動可持續增長並長期創造股東價值。

Thank you for your time today. Operator, please open the lines for Q&A.

感謝您今天抽出時間。接線員，請開通問答線。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Todd Brooks, The Benchmark Company.

托德·布魯克斯，基準公司。

Hey, thanks and thanks for taking my questions. And, Drew, glad to hear that you're going to be around for at least the next few years. That's exciting.

嘿，謝謝你回答我的問題。而且，德魯，很高興聽到你至少在接下來的幾年裡都會在身邊。真令人興奮。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Two quick questions, if I may. One, looking against the lens of where you're looking to take the brand with the overall kind of five priorities here. You talked about a focus on that bottom quartile of restaurants. You gave us some guidance on gross new unit growth.

如果可以的話，有兩個簡單的問題。第一，從你希望將品牌帶到何處的角度來看，這裡有五個優先事項。您談到了對排名最後四分之一的餐廳的關注。您為我們提供了有關新單位總增長的一些指導。

But if you look at the existing fleet of stores, do we need to contemplate any closures in the near term that would net against that number? And as we start to think about fiscal '25, is the fiscal '24 opening level more of a function of leases that were already committed to versus the desire to open that many stores? And as we get to '25, do we still want to digest the changes before really driving more unit growth? And then I have a follow-up.

但如果你看看現有的商店群，我們是否需要考慮在短期內關閉任何商店，從而抵消這個數字？當我們開始考慮 25 財年時，24 財年的開業水平是否更取決於已經承諾的租賃與開設那麼多商店的願望？當我們進入 25 世紀時，我們是否仍想在真正推動更多單位成長之前消化這些變化？然後我有一個後續行動。

Sure. But on the first question of our current footprint, we think the overall footprint is solid. But like any big system, there's always going to be 1% to 2% closures a year for us, five to six units a year. And that's about what we've been doing. That's roughly what I would expect going forward.

當然。但關於我們目前足跡的第一個問題，我們認為整體足跡是穩固的。但與任何大型系統一樣，我們每年總會有 1% 到 2% 的設備關閉，每年有 5 到 6 個設備。這就是我們一直在做的事情。這大致上就是我對未來的預期。

We are doing a portfolio review, but we don't anticipate anything significant there. Regarding this year's openings, declining from 18 to 10 to 12, that's really a function of us saying, let's focus on the opportunities for new unit growth, where we have the highest confidence that we'll be able to mature -- achieve the sort of cash-on-cash return that we want to hit. And that tends to be in 2024 in markets where we've got good levels of awareness and where the rents and labor costs are reasonable and we've already had solid success. So Colorado and the Midwest in particular.

我們正在進行投資組合審查，但我們預計不會有任何重大影響。關於今年的空缺職位，從18 個減少到10 個，再到12 個，這實際上是我們說的一個功能，讓我們關注新單位增長的機會，我們對我們能夠成熟的機會有最高的信心-實現排序我們想要達到的現金報酬率。這往往是在 2024 年，在我們已經具有良好意識、租金和勞動成本合理且已經取得紮實成功的市場中。尤其是科羅拉多州和中西部地區。

And was there a third part?

還有第三部分嗎？

No, I did have a separate follow-up though, and then I'll jump back in queue. If I listened to the commentary about the plans, we did have an issue early last year where pricing went a little bit too far and alienated some consumers that you've been working to win back.

不，我確實有一個單獨的後續行動，然後我會跳回隊列。如果我聽了有關這些計劃的評論，我們去年年初確實遇到了一個問題，定價有點過高，疏遠了一些你一直在努力贏回的消費者。

Within the concept of the repositioning of the brand from a culinary standpoint, how do you think about value? And are you far enough along in your pricing work to be able to share anything with us to have kind of accessible value still at one end of the menu, but maybe find a way to barbell it? Or just would love to hear how you're playing to attack that going forward. Thanks.

從烹飪的角度重新定位品牌的概念中，您如何看待價值？您的定價工作是否已經足夠深入，能夠與我們分享任何東西，以便在菜單的一端仍然具有某種可訪問的價值，但也許找到一種方法來限制它？或只是想聽聽您如何應對未來的挑戰。謝謝。

Yes. First, let me address that in two ways. Pricing strategy year in and year out and then the main transformation. So I think you're right; we went a little too far in our pricing last February. And going forward, we have developed and implemented a pricing process that really just focused on three things: making sure that we our clear about protecting our unit economics by pricing to cover inflation, but also being clear that we're protecting our competitive position in the market by not taking any more pricing than we need to.

是的。首先，讓我從兩個方面來解決這個問題。年復一年的定價策略，然後是主要的轉變。所以我認為你是對的；去年二月我們的定價有點太過分了。展望未來，我們已經制定並實施了一個定價流程，該流程實際上只關註三件事：確保我們清楚地透過定價來覆蓋通貨膨脹來保護我們的單位經濟效益，但也清楚我們正在保護我們的競爭地位不採取超出我們所需的定價。

And third, for whatever level of pricing we need to take, let's be disciplined about it and take it in the areas. And on the prices around the menu items that are most inelastic, where we're going to have the least impact to traffic. And if we use that consistently, I think we will avoid the overstep that happened in February.

第三，無論我們需要採取什麼程度的定價，我們都要遵守紀律並在各個領域採取它。對於最缺乏彈性的菜單項目的價格，我們對流量的影響最小。如果我們始終如一地使用這一點，我認為我們將避免二月發生的越界。

Regarding the new menu transformation, we're really not intending to reposition it in any significant way up or down meaningfully as it relates to check. We're going to still maintain roughly the same barbell that we've gotten now with a really good price point accessibility on the bottom of the price barbell with things like buttered noodles and mac and cheese.

關於新的選單轉換，我們實際上並不打算以任何有意義的方式將其向上或向下重新定位，因為它與檢查相關。我們仍將保持與現在大致相同的槓鈴，在價格槓鈴的底部提供非常好的價格點，包括黃油麵條、通心粉和起司等。

But we do think there's an opportunity to add some more signature additions at the top, not necessarily more expensive than we've got today, certainly not meaningfully more expensive, but more contemporary, more on trend. Things that are going to appeal to the guests that we've lost to the newer brands, newer competitors.

但我們確實認為有機會在頂部添加一些更多的標誌性補充，不一定比我們今天的更貴，當然也不會更貴，但更現代，更流行。那些能夠吸引客人的東西，我們已經輸給了新的品牌、新的競爭對手。

That's great. Thanks, Drew.

那太棒了。謝謝，德魯。

Jake Bartlett, Truist Securities.

傑克·巴特利特，Truist 證券公司。

Greg, thanks for taking the question, and I hope you can hear me okay. I'm in an airport. But, Drew, I'm also congratulating you. I'm really happy you're taking the full longer-term. And I know obviously because you have such great experience to bring to bear here so very exciting from my perspective.

格雷格，感謝您提出問題，希望您能聽到我的聲音。我在機場。但是，德魯，我也祝賀你。我真的很高興你能採取更長期的行動。我顯然知道，因為你有如此豐富的經驗可以在這裡發揮作用，從我的角度來看，這非常令人興奮。

My question was first on just on the guidance. I know there's a lot of moving pieces here and difficult to really judge how your initiatives are going to have an impact near term, but you gave guidance of flat to 3% positive. You're negative historically your first quarter. So it does imply some pretty serious improvement throughout the remainder of the year.

我的問題首先是關於指導。我知道這裡有很多變化，很難真正判斷您的舉措在短期內將產生怎樣的影響，但您給出了持平到 3% 積極的指導。從歷史上看，第一季你的業績是負面的。因此，這確實意味著今年剩餘時間內將出現一些相當嚴重的改善。

So one, what gives you confidence on that? It sounds to me like some of the menu initiatives just really does new tests, but fairly small test. And then it's kind of more of a back end, your end of the year sort of impact at best. So what gives you the confidence on the improvement that maybe you're already seeing it potentially in the kind of more recent trends? But your commentary there would be helpful.

那麼，是什麼讓您對此充滿信心呢？在我看來，有些菜單舉措確實做了新的測試，但測試規模相當小。然後它更像是一種後端，充其量是年終的影響。那麼，是什麼讓您對這種改進充滿信心，也許您已經在最近的趨勢中看到了這種改進的潛力呢？但你的評論會有幫助。

Hi, Jake. I'll start with the first part, which is just kind of a baseline expectation around timing. So starting Q1, Q1 is our toughest comp of the year. It was going to be our toughest. Because just the pricing we took in February of last year, we didn't really start to see the negative impact of that last year until March and then April, May.

嗨，傑克。我將從第一部分開始，這只是對時間的基線期望。因此，從第一季開始，第一季是我們今年最艱難的比賽。這將是我們最艱難的時刻。因為僅是我們在去年 2 月採取的定價，直到 3 月、然後是 4 月、5 月我們才真正開始看到去年的負面影響。

So Q1, absent any weather or anything else was going to be our toughest comp. And then we saw the impact this year of January weather, which is going to hurt us by about 120 basis points in Q1. And so that's to start.

所以第一季度，如果沒有任何天氣或其他任何因素，這將是我們最艱難的比賽。然後我們看到了今年 1 月天氣的影響，這將使我們在第一季損失約 120 個基點。這就是開始。

And then in Q2, we're expecting that -- again, as we lap last year's pricing that we see some positive traction. And we start to see positive comp sales that really, for the most part, offset the negative comp in Q1.

然後在第二季度，我們再次預計，當我們超越去年的定價時，我們會看到一些積極的吸引力。我們開始看到積極的競爭銷售在很大程度上抵消了第一季的消極競爭。

And then we get to the initiatives. So the initiatives -- after the initiatives, we would be the assumption would be relatively flat in Q3, Q4. I'll let Drew speak to what we're expecting from the initiatives in the back half of the year.

然後我們開始討論倡議。因此，在這些舉措之後，我們假設第三季、第四季將相對持平。我會讓德魯談談我們對今年下半年的舉措的期望。

Yes. So to start with the initiatives, I think would be helpful to provide maybe -- how we view the business and how we're approaching it strategically and operationally, which is different. We focus a lot on AUV in the past, and that is certainly a relevant measure. But our fundamental opportunity is to drive traffic. And we have tried to align every priority -- all of our priorities -- with an improved line of sight towards traffic growth going forward.

是的。因此，從這些舉措開始，我認為提供可能會有所幫助 - 我們如何看待業務以及我們如何在策略和營運上處理它，這是不同的。過去我們非常關注AUV，這當然是一個相關的措施。但我們的根本機會是增加流量。我們試圖將每一個優先事項——我們所有的優先事項——與未來交通成長的改善視線結合起來。

It's not immediate, but it is much more calibrated to driving traffic growth. And let me give you an example. On operations, there's obviously a lot of things we can measure and things that we can improve. Staffing is always going to be important. Training is always going to be important. Food safety will always be important.

這不是立竿見影的，但它更能推動流量成長。讓我舉個例子。在營運方面，顯然有很多事情我們可以衡量，也有很多事情可以改進。人員配備始終很重要。培訓始終很重要。食品安全永遠很重要。

But in the past, I would say we've looked at making incremental improvement across a wide variety of important metrics. And what we're doing this year is trying to make penetrating improvement on the handful of items that make the most difference to traffic. So we actually took all of our loyalty data and calibrated that against traffic to find out what moved the needle the most on traffic. And it's food taste and accuracy for us.

但在過去，我想說我們已經考慮在各種重要指標上進行漸進式改進。我們今年所做的就是努力對少數對流量影響最大的項目進行深入的改進。因此，我們實際上獲取了所有忠誠度數據，並根據流量進行了校準，以找出對流量影響最大的因素。對我們來說，這就是食物的味道和準確性。

And then we set measures on what success looked like on those two things that were more than the improvement we typically planned on. And they were levels of approval that we think guests will notice, that guests will react to, and their experience is better.

然後我們對這兩件事的成功程度製定了衡量標準，這些衡量標準超出了我們通常計劃的改進程度。我們認為客人會注意到這些認可程度，客人會對此做出反應，並且他們的體驗會更好。

But our frequency is only about once a quarter, 1.5 times a quarter. So it's going to take a few visits of guests really enjoy noodles and ultimately changing their behavior and coming more often. So it's not an immediate thing there, but it is a much more disciplined focus on traffic.

但我們的頻率大約只有一個季度一次，一個季度1.5次。因此，需要幾次真正喜歡麵條的客人來訪，最終改變他們的行為並更頻繁地來。因此，這並不是立即發生的事情，而是對交通的更嚴格關注。

Same thing on our digital ecosystem, which we think is one of the best in fast casual. But it can be better. And we are more focused on measuring things that drive traffic by getting more people into the top of the funnel, improving our conversion all the way through, and then being more personalized and more efficient in how we market to our loyalty base.

我們的數位生態系統也是如此，我們認為這是快速休閒領域中最好的生態系統之一。但它還可以更好。我們更專注於衡量推動流量的因素，方法是讓更多人進入通路頂部，全程提高轉換率，然後在向忠誠度群體行銷時更加個人化、更有效率。

Because we've now got a platform, a customer data platform that gives us the information to do that. So again, it won't happen overnight. But we're aligning everyone at measuring everything against driving traffic.

因為我們現在有了一個平台，一個客戶數據平台，可以提供我們做到這一點的資訊。再說一次，這不會在一夜之間發生。但我們正在讓每個人根據增加的流量來衡量一切。

Great. So I had maybe been overly focused on the changes to the menu. But would you say that the opportunity here is as big or bigger on the operational side? Or how would you kind of frame what's the biggest opportunity here for Noodles, whether it's operations or the menu?

偉大的。所以我可能過於關注菜單的變化。但您認為這裡的機會在營運方面同樣大還是更大？或者你會如何描述 Noodles 最大的機會是什麼，無論是營運還是菜單？

Yes. I would say in the near term, the bigger opportunity is improving the guest experience day-to-day, units across the country, most particularly in the bottom quartile, where we've got the biggest opportunity to make vast improvement.

是的。我想說，在短期內，更大的機會是改善全國各地單位的日常賓客體驗，尤其是在底部四分之一，我們有最大的機會進行巨大的改進。

But getting into 2025 and beyond, I would say the bigger opportunity is changing how people think about our menu. And from going from somewhat expected to more contemporary comfort, if you will, with the additions that are still broadly appealing, but not that you can get everywhere. And I think that's going to be a bigger driver starting in early 2025 and beyond.

但進入 2025 年及以後，我想說更大的機會是改變人們對我們菜單的看法。從某種預期到更現代的舒適感（如果你願意的話），加上仍然廣泛吸引人的附加設施，但並不是隨處可見。我認為從 2025 年初及以後開始，這將成為一個更大的驅動力。

Great. And then last question --

偉大的。然後最後一個問題--

Just one last comment on that. This is a really big menu change we're focused on. And I've mentioned some of it in my opening comments but we're looking at menu architecture. By that, I mean, the menu layout that will be easier for our guests to navigate. We're looking at meaningful improvements to existing dish recipes.

對此僅作最後評論。這是我們關注的一個非常大的菜單變化。我在開場評論中提到了其中的一些內容，但我們正在研究選單架構。我的意思是，菜單佈局將更方便我們的客人導航。我們正在研究對現有菜餚食譜進行有意義的改進。

We're looking at adding new dishes that address need states that we are competitive in. At the moment, we're looking at some main changes and it's probably going to touch roughly half the menu.

我們正在考慮添加新菜餚來滿足我們具有競爭力的需求。目前，我們正在研究一些主要的變化，它可能涉及大約一半的菜單。

And I come from the school of measure twice cut once. And we want to make sure that we get it right before we expand it broadly. And that's why we're talking about end of 2024, early 2025. But I think it will be big impact when it's in.

我來自測量學校兩次削減一次。我們希望確保在廣泛擴展之前我們能做到正確。這就是我們談論 2024 年底、2025 年初的原因。但我認為一旦投入使用，影響將會很大。

Great. That makes a lot of sense to me. My last question is on development and building on Todd's question. But you're lowering the guidance a little bit for the fourth quarter or at least we're having a slower slowdown in '24.

偉大的。這對我來說很有意義。我的最後一個問題是關於托德問題的發展和建構。但你稍微降低了第四季的指導，或至少我們在 24 年的放緩速度較慢。

It seems to me like that would kind of be the beginning of continued slowdown. Meaning you're probably not -- is it right to assume you're not signing new leases for what would be opening in '25 and '26? I'm just trying to get a realistic sense as to when -- if all goes right, is this a deceleration and then a reacceleration that's really takes a number of multiple many years to kind of get back to a situation where you're actually at a point where you can reaccelerate growth? Is it just the right way then to kind of level set expectations?

在我看來，這將是持續放緩的開始。這意味著您可能不會 - 假設您不會為 25 年和 26 年開業的房產簽署新租約，是否正確？我只是想現實地了解什麼時候——如果一切順利的話，這是一個減速，然後是一個重新加速，這真的需要很多很多年才能回到你實際上所處的情況您可以在何時重新加速成長？那麼，這是設定期望水準的正確方法嗎？

Sure. Yes. So when we think about the new unit growth opportunity over many years, we think it's significant given the need state we're addressing, the price point that we offer, the breadth of appeal of pasta and noodles, the fact that we're not in big states like Texas and Florida. We think the growth over time is meaningful.

當然。是的。因此，當我們考慮多年來新的單位成長機會時，我們認為考慮到我們正在解決的需求狀態、我們提供的價格點、麵食和麵條的吸引力廣度以及我們不這樣做的事實，這是重要的在德克薩斯州和佛羅裡達州等大州。我們認為隨著時間的推移，成長是有意義的。

But our traffic has dropped a fair amount in the last year, 18 months, and that's had a corresponding impact on our unit economics. And until we get traffic up and get our margin up and also develop a somewhat lower cost prototype tailwind of $1.1 million, $1.2 million investment range, we really had to be more than $1 million -- in the million dollar range, those two things together would really widen the bull's eye for where we could go with confidence and open new units.

但我們的流量在去年 18 個月大幅下降，這對我們的單位經濟效益產生了相應的影響。直到我們增加流量並提高利潤並開發出成本較低的原型順風車（110 萬美元、120 萬美元的投資範圍）之前，我們確實必須超過100 萬美元- 在百萬美元的範圍內，這兩件事加在一起確實會開拓我們的視野，讓我們充滿信心地去哪裡並開設新單位。

So you're right, it's not a '24 or '25 thing. We're not going to go to zero unit openings, but we're not going to really accelerate until we've got confidence in our top line and our margin and the investment thesis for the unit prototype.

所以你是對的，這不是 24 或 25 的事情。我們不會達到零單位空缺，但我們不會真正加速，直到我們對我們的營收、利潤率和單位原型的投資理論充滿信心。

Great. I appreciate. I'll jump back in the queue.

偉大的。我很欣賞。我會跳回到隊列中。

Andrew Barish, Jefferies.

安德魯·巴里什，杰弗里斯。

Hey, Drew. Good to hear from you again. Question on sort of the breadth of the menu under the new contemporary comfort kitchen. Do you anticipate kind of moving beyond the core pasta and noodles? Is that something that's being currently contemplated or maybe down the road? If you could give us just a little more context and the work that's gone on with this new focus.

嘿，德魯。很高興再次收到你的來信。關於新的現代舒適廚房下菜單的廣度的問題。您是否預計會超越核心麵食和麵條？這是目前正在考慮的事情還是將來可能發生的事情？您能給我們更多背景資訊以及針對這項新焦點所做的工作嗎？

Sure. And good to talk with you again, Andy. We're going to stay in our lane. We know what our brand position is all about. We know what capabilities we've developed. And so we're not going to fundamentally change from a noodle and pasta dish -- pasta dish-based concept. We're going to continue to have salads. We're going to continue to have soup, but we're going to be a noodle- and pasta-based menu.

當然。很高興再次與你交談，安迪。我們要留在我們的車道上。我們知道我們的品牌定位是什麼。我們知道我們已經開發了哪些能力。因此，我們不會從根本上改變麵條和麵食——基於麵食的概念。我們將繼續吃沙拉。我們將繼續提供湯，但我們將提供以麵條和麵食為主的菜單。

We just need to make it more compelling by updating some existing recipes and adding some nuance in these states, as I said, that we're not addressing today and then make the overall menu easier for our guests to navigate. It's kind of confusing now in my mind, but we're not fundamentally trying to change our identity, just update it.

我們只需要透過更新一些現有的食譜並在這些狀態中添加一些細微差別來使其更具吸引力，正如我所說，我們今天沒有解決這些問題，然後使整個菜單更易於我們的客人瀏覽。現在我心裡有點困惑，但我們並沒有從根本上試圖改變我們的身份，只是更新它。

Got it. Helpful. And then, Mike, I may have missed it, but can you lay out the pricing -- menu price assumptions? I know there's a lot of things that are going to go on over the next 9, 10 months or so. But just kind of what's embedded in your comp expectations in terms of menu price.

知道了。有幫助。然後，麥克，我可能錯過了，但你能列出定價——菜單價格假設嗎？我知道在接下來的 9、10 個月左右的時間裡將會發生很多事情。但這只是您對菜單價格的期望中包含的內容。

And then it sort of relates to it, but the guide basically for flattish margins with a lot of things going on this year and obviously probably starting out a little bit lower just given the first-quarter comps. But is there something in addition to or -- additional productivity that's kind of an offset to maybe some of the complexity or at least near-term cost as you guys work through a lot of these changes?

然後它有點相關，但該指南基本上是針對利潤率持平的，今年發生了很多事情，而且考慮到第一季的比較，顯然可能會開始有點低。但是，當你們經歷很多這些變化時，除了額外的生產力之外還有什麼東西可以抵消一些複雜性或至少是短期成本嗎？

Sure. Again, the margin, I'll give you a little color there. I'll start with the pricing. And you're right, there's a lot of moving parts, especially as we're considering new menu and some changes to our menu and just how that will shake out.

當然。再說一遍，我會給你一點顏色。我將從定價開始。你是對的，有很多變化的部分，特別是當我們正在考慮新菜單和對菜單進行一些更改以及將如何進行調整時。

But our assumption is that especially after the last couple of years that our overall pricing is going to be pretty conservative this year in the low-single digits. So we're not anticipating aggressive pricing this year just enough to offset the modest inflation that we're forecasting on a dollar basis.

但我們的假設是，特別是在過去幾年之後，今年我們的整體定價將相當保守，處於低個位數。因此，我們預計今年的激進定價不足以抵消我們以美元為基礎預測的溫和通膨。

And you're right. The margin is pretty flat compared to what we saw in '23. In addition to pricing and inflation, a couple of moving parts for you. We are going to see some labor productivity benefit in the front part of the year to help offset inflation. Because a lot of the measures we put in last year, we're weighted towards the back half, the productivity we saw in Q3, Q4. And so we'll get a full-year benefit this year.

你是對的。與 23 年相比，利潤率相當穩定。除了定價和通貨膨脹之外，還有一些變化因素可供您參考。我們將在今年上半年看到一些勞動生產力的提高，以幫助抵消通貨膨脹。因為我們去年採取的許多措施都專注於後半部分，也就是我們在第三季、第四季看到的生產力。因此，我們今年將獲得全年福利。

A bit of a wildcard is marketing. We are considering incremental marketing spend that will impact margin. Some of that is going to be related to testing and research for the new menu and menu innovation. And some of it's going to be related to us considering an incremental media spend in the back half of the year as we roll out our new menu.

行銷有點通配符。我們正在考慮增加行銷支出，這將影響利潤率。其中一些將與新菜單和菜單創新的測試和研究有關。其中一些與我們考慮在今年下半年推出新菜單時增加媒體支出有關。

We're going to test that and we're going to make sure we see what we're hoping to see out of that media spend before we commit to it. But that's part of is that 14% to 15% margin guide.

我們將對此進行測試，並確保在做出承諾之前我們能從媒體支出中看到我們希望看到的效果。但這是 14% 至 15% 的利潤指導的一部分。

Okay. Appreciate the color.

好的。欣賞顏色。

Thank you. And I'm showing no further questions at this time. And I would like to hand the conference back over to Drew Madsen for any further remarks.

謝謝。目前我不會再提出任何問題。我想將會議交還給德魯·馬德森（Drew Madsen）以供進一步評論。

Well, once again, thank you, everybody, for joining us today. I'm delighted to be part of the Noodles team. Delighted to be part of the future. And we see big opportunity ahead. It's not going to be immediate; it's going to require some change.

好吧，再次感謝大家今天加入我們。我很高興成為麵條團隊的一員。很高興成為未來的一部分。我們看到了未來的巨大機會。這不會是立竿見影的；這需要一些改變。

We've identified five priorities that I think are going to make a major difference. And we look forward to keeping you updated on our progress as we move forward. Thank you so much.

我們已經確定了五個優先事項，我認為這將產生重大影響。我們期待向您通報我們前進的最新進展。太感謝了。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。