Potbelly Corp (PBPB) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Potbelly Corporation's Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

大家下午好，歡迎參加 Potbelly Corporation 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。今天的通話正在錄音。（操作員說明）

On today's call, we have Bob Wright, President and Chief Executive Officer; Steven Cirulis, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Adiya Dixon, Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Potbelly Corporation.

出席今天的電話會議的有總裁兼執行長 Bob Wright； Steven Cirulis，資深副總裁兼財務長； Adiya Dixon，Potbelly Corporation 資深副總裁、首席法務長兼秘書。

At this time, I'll turn the call over to Adiya Dixon. Please go ahead.

此時，我會將電話轉給 Adiya Dixon。請繼續。

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to our third quarter 2024 earnings call. By now, everyone should have access to our earnings release and accompanying investor presentation. If not, they can be found in the Investors tab on our website.

大家下午好，歡迎參加我們的 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。到目前為止，每個人都應該可以存取我們的收益發布和隨附的投資者演示。如果沒有，可以在我們網站的「投資者」標籤中找到他們。

Before we begin our formal remarks, I need to remind everyone that certain comments made on this call will contain forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of the company. Any such statements, including our outlook for 2024 or any other future periods, should be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance nor should they be relied upon as representing management's views as of any subsequent date.

在我們開始正式發言之前，我需要提醒大家，本次電話會議中發表的某些評論將包含有關未來事件或公司未來財務表現的前瞻性陳述。任何此類陳述，包括我們對 2024 年或任何其他未來時期的展望，應被視為 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述並非對未來績效的保證，也不應依賴它們代表管理階層在任何後續日期的觀點。

Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, and events or results could differ materially from those presented due to a number of risks and uncertainties. Additional detailed information concerning these risks regarding our business and the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements and other information that will be given today can be found under the Risk Factors heading in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at sec.gov.

前瞻性陳述涉及重大風險和不確定性，由於許多風險和不確定性，事件或結果可能與所陳述的內容有重大差異。有關我們業務的這些風險以及可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述產生重大差異的因素的更多詳細信息以及今天提供的其他信息，可以在我們向證券交易委員會提交的文件中的“風險因素”標題下找到委員會，可在 sec.gov 上取得。

During the call, there will also be a discussion of some items that do not conform to US generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in the appendix to the press release and investor presentation issued this afternoon, both of which are available in the Investors tab on our website.

在電話會議期間，也將討論一些不符合美國公認會計準則或公認會計準則的項目。這些非公認會計準則衡量標準與其最直接可比較的公認會計準則衡量標準的對帳包含在今天下午發布的新聞稿和投資者簡報的附錄中，兩者都可以在我們網站的「投資者」選項卡中找到。

And now I'll turn the call over to Potbelly's President and CEO, Bob Wright.

現在我將把電話轉給 Potbelly 的總裁兼執行長 Bob Wright。

Thank you, Adiya. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining our call today. Our third quarter results are a showcase of our five-pillar strategic plan working and our emphasis on driving Potbelly as a growth brand. During the quarter, we utilized our app and Potbelly Perks to drive a positive shift in our comp trajectory. In fact, we've driven improvement in our comp momentum through the end of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter.

謝謝你，阿迪亞。下午好，感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議。我們第三季的業績展示了我們五支柱策略計畫的運作以及我們對推動 Potbelly 作為成長品牌的重視。在本季度，我們利用我們的應用程式和 Potbelly Perks 推動我們的薪酬軌跡發生積極轉變。事實上，從第三季末到第四季度，我們已經推動了我們的競爭勢頭的改善。

We also delivered a 70 basis point year-over-year improvement in our shop profit margins, metered our G&A spend to aid EBITDA growth and opened eight new shops as we further accelerate new shop development. Despite what continues to be a challenging consumer environment, we remain focused on emphasizing what we control and positioning Potbelly for long-term sustainable growth.

我們的店鋪利潤率也比去年同期提高了 70 個基點，計量了 G&A 支出以幫助 EBITDA 成長，並在進一步加快新店開發的同時開設了 8 家新店。儘管消費者環境仍然充滿挑戰，但我們仍然專注於強調我們的控制力，並為 Potbelly 定位以實現長期可持續成長。

The entire Potbelly team is committed to our mission to delight customers with great food and good vibes on our journey to be the most loved sandwich brand in every neighborhood we serve. Our strong customer satisfaction scores and operations metrics continue to bear that out.

Potbelly 整個團隊致力於實現我們的使命，以美味的食物和良好的氛圍取悅顧客，成為我們服務的每個社區最受歡迎的三明治品牌。我們強大的客戶滿意度評分和營運指標繼續證明了這一點。

To our over 5,000 team members and franchise groups without whom none of our accomplishments to date would be possible, I want to say thank you for your hard work and dedication every day to making Potbelly truly special.

對於我們超過5,000 名的團隊成員和特許經營集團，沒有他們，我們迄今為止所取得的成就都是不可能的，我想說感謝你們每天的辛勤工作和奉獻精神，讓Potbelly 真正變得與眾不同。

As I stated, our success is rooted in our five-Pillar Strategy, so I'll structure most of my comments this afternoon around that framework. Turning to the drivers of our business. The first pillar of our five-Pillar Strategy has always been craveable quality food at a great value. And I'm proud to say that during the third quarter, we improved every facet of this pillar.

正如我所說，我們的成功植根於我們的五支柱策略，因此我今天下午將圍繞該框架建立我的大部分評論。轉向我們業務的驅動因素。我們五支柱策略的第一支柱始終是提供令人垂涎的優質食品，物超所值。我很自豪地說，在第三季度，我們改進了這一支柱的各個方面。

Let's start with great value. As we spoke to previously in late July, we expanded our $7.99 Everyday Value Combo, which includes a turkey, ham or chicken Skinny Sandwich with chips and a drink across nearly all of our system.

讓我們從巨大的價值開始。正如我們之前在 7 月下旬所說的那樣，我們擴大了 7.99 美元的日常超值套餐，其中包括火雞、火腿或雞肉瘦三明治、薯條和飲料，涵蓋我們幾乎所有的系統。

Importantly, the introduction of the combo has done exactly what we intended with low frequency, less digital, primarily in-shop customers driving value perception, stated likelihood to return and increased frequency with these important customers. Additionally, as I'll share in a few minutes, we continue to drive brand awareness, customer value options through digital promotions and our Perks loyalty program.

重要的是，該組合的推出完全達到了我們的預期目的，即低頻、數位化程度較低、主要是店內客戶推動價值感知、明確的回頭率以及增加這些重要客戶的頻率。此外，正如我將在幾分鐘內分享的那樣，我們將繼續透過數位促銷和我們的福利忠誠度計劃來提高品牌知名度和客戶價值選擇。

Next, we'll discuss the craveable portion of this pillar. The third quarter featured several new and distinct innovations for our customers as well as the return of a fan favorite cookie. We start with our new Farmhouse Chicken Sandwich with all the ingredients of our classic Farmhouse Salad, including all-natural chicken breast, Nueske's Applewood Smoked Bacon, hard boiled egg cucumbers and tomatoes, Swiss cheese and topped with our new custom Hot Pepper Ranch dressing.

接下來，我們將討論這個支柱中令人渴望的部分。第三季為我們的客戶帶來了幾項新的、獨特的創新，以及粉絲最喜歡的餅乾的回歸。我們從新的農家雞肉三明治開始，採用了我們經典農家沙拉的所有成分，包括全天然雞胸肉、Nueske 的蘋果木煙熏培根、煮雞蛋、黃瓜和西紅柿、瑞士奶酪，並配有我們新定制的辣椒牧場調味料。

Of course, no meal is complete without one of our signature cookies or hand-dipped ice cream shakes. So we introduced our new Blueberry Muffin Cookie, American Apple Pie Shake and Toasted Marshmallow Shake, along with the return of our fan favorite S'mores Cookie. The new and returning menu items were a hit with our customers, and, importantly, they gave us credit for innovation and keeping our menu fresh with unique items.

當然，如果沒有我們的招牌餅乾或手浸冰淇淋奶昔，任何一餐都是不完整的。因此，我們推出了新的藍莓鬆餅餅乾、美國蘋果派奶昔和烤棉花糖奶昔，以及我們粉絲最喜歡的 S'mores 餅乾的回歸。新的和回歸的菜單項目受到了顧客的歡迎，而且重要的是，他們為我們的創新和通過獨特的項目保持菜單新鮮而給予了認可。

We haven't stopped. Already in the fourth quarter, we introduced the Smokestack Pork & Mac sandwich featuring slow-cooked pulled pork, smoky barbecue sauce and our signature Mac & Cheese. I'm proud to say that it's receiving rave reviews from customers and it's marching ahead of our expectations.

我們還沒有停止。早在第四季度，我們就推出了煙囪豬肉和通心粉三明治，其中包括慢煮拉豬肉、煙燻燒烤醬和我們的招牌通心粉和起司。我很自豪地說，它受到了客戶的好評，而且它的發展超出了我們的期望。

And now I'll turn to the core menu quality. Potbelly is built on quality since 1977 and has quality embedded throughout our menu from our freshly prepared ingredients to our handmade-to-order hot toasted sandwiches. Also, our one-of-a-kind recipes made by our expert team members means that we take care to deliver a great meal every time.

現在我將談談核心菜單品質。Potbelly 自 1977 年以來一直以品質為基礎，從新鮮烹製的食材到手工製作的熱烤三明治，品質貫穿我們的菜單之中。此外，我們的專家團隊成員製作的獨一無二的食譜意味著我們每次都會精心提供一頓美味的飯菜。

And we're never satisfied. We did research with our customers, and it indicated that we had some gaps in our menu in trending areas like flavorful sauces and spicy offerings as well as additional everyday higher proteins. To address these areas of opportunity, next week, on Monday, November 11, we're adding some new innovations to our core menu aimed at giving customers even more reasons to choose Potbelly, as well as more ways to customize their experience.

我們永遠不會滿足。我們與客戶進行了研究，結果表明我們的菜單在美味醬汁和辛辣產品以及額外的日常高蛋白等熱門領域存在一些差距。為了解決這些領域的機遇，下週，即11 月11 日星期一，我們將在我們的核心菜單中添加一些新的創新，旨在為客戶提供更多選擇Potbelly 的理由，以及更多定制體驗的方式。

I'm excited to share that we're introducing 2 new signature sandwiches, both made with our new slow-cooked pulled pork. The new sandwich additions to our core menu are the Cubano, which is a fan favorite LTO that earned its place onto the everyday menu, and the Sweet Heat Barbecue Pork. We're very excited to have this new protein added to the menu, broadening the appeal of our trademark sandwiches.

我很高興與大家分享，我們即將推出 2 款新的招牌三明治，兩者均採用我們全新的慢煮拉豬肉製成。我們核心菜單中新增的三明治包括古巴三明治（深受粉絲喜愛的 LTO，在日常菜單中佔有一席之地）和甜熱燒烤豬肉。我們非常高興將這種新蛋白質添加到菜單中，從而擴大了我們商標三明治的吸引力。

We also have 2 new proprietary signature sauces that address craveable spicy flavors, including Hot Pepper Ranch and Sweet Heat Barbecue, both custom-made with our signature award-winning Potbelly hot peppers. And we also have two additional sauces that customers have asked for on the Potbelly menu, including Roasted Garlic Aioli and Red Wine Vinegar.

我們還有 2 種新的專有招牌醬料，可滿足令人垂涎的辛辣口味，包括 Hot Pepper Ranch 和 Sweet Heat Barbecue，兩者均採用我們屢獲殊榮的招牌 Potbelly 辣椒定制。我們還在 Potbelly 菜單上提供了顧客要求的兩種額外醬汁，包括烤大蒜蒜泥蛋黃醬和紅酒醋。

Finally, we've updated and expanded our available sandwich toppings to include cucumbers and roasted red peppers. Our operations team and franchisees have been training our associates for the last week on these changes, and they are genuinely enthusiastic about the rollout next week. We believe this focus on our core menu will expand our customers' options with even more flavor and customization and expand our appeal to an even broader customer base.

最後，我們更新並擴展了可用的三明治配料，包括黃瓜和烤紅辣椒。我們的營運團隊和特許經營商上週一直在對我們的員工進行有關這些變化的培訓，他們對下週的推出充滿熱情。我們相信，對核心菜單的關注將擴大客戶的選擇，提供更多風味和客製化服務，並擴大我們對更廣泛客戶群的吸引力。

We're not done yet. Consumption of noncarbonated cold beverages has increased substantially in the industry. To capitalize on this, we recently completed the system-wide rollout of Potbelly Craft Refreshers at the end of September in partnership with Tractor Beverage Company.

我們還沒完成。該產業非碳酸冷飲的消費量大幅增加。為了利用這一點，我們最近與 Tractor Beverage Company 合作，於 9 月底在全系統範圍內推出了 Potbelly Craft Refreshers。

In keeping with our brand, these beverages add more interesting and flavorful options for our customers beyond traditional fountain drinks and have a better-for-you profile as they are organic and non-GMO. Importantly, the rollout is meeting our expectations for customer satisfaction and is driving additional beverage incidence rates.

為了與我們的品牌保持一致，這些飲料除了傳統的噴泉飲料之外，還為我們的客戶添加了更多有趣和美味的選擇，並且由於它們是有機和非轉基因的，因此具有更適合您的形象。重要的是，這項推出滿足了我們對客戶滿意度的期望，並推動了飲料發生率的上升。

In addition to craveable quality food at a great value, the fourth pillar of our strategic plan calls for digitally-driven awareness, connection and traffic. During the quarter, our digital business represented over 38% of our total shop sales, an increase of approximately 100 basis points versus last year.

除了令人垂涎的高品質食品之外，我們策略計畫的第四個支柱還要求數位驅動的意識、連結和流量。本季度，我們的數位業務佔店鋪總銷售額的 38% 以上，比去年增加了約 100 個基點。

As we mentioned in recent quarters, we continue to see a shift within our digital mix to Potbelly-owned channels. And again, during the third quarter, expansion of Potbelly-owned channels represented the entire 100 basis points of year-over-year improvement in our digital mix.

正如我們在最近幾季提到的，我們繼續看到我們的數位組合轉向 Potbelly 自有通路的轉變。同樣，在第三季度，Potbelly 擁有的管道的擴張代表了我們數位組合同比改善的全部 100 個基點。

Our Potbelly Perks loyalty program continues to be a significant driver of our business and is central to our digital strategy. Once again, this quarter, every frequency cohort of customers in our Perks loyalty program saw increased frequency, proving that our digital and Perks promotional activity as well as our base program, where members redeem their coins for Perks, is driving value for these important customers. In the end, our focus on executing our winning digital strategy is a cornerstone of growth at Potbelly.

我們的 Potbelly Perks 忠誠度計劃仍然是我們業務的重要推動力，也是我們數位策略的核心。本季度，我們的 Perks 忠誠度計劃中的每個頻率的客戶群體再次出現頻率增加，證明我們的數位和 Perks 促銷活動以及會員用硬幣兌換 Perks 的基本計劃正在為這些重要客戶帶來價值。最後，我們專注於執行致勝的數位策略是 Potbelly 發展的基石。

Let me now update you on our fifth pillar, franchise-focused development, and, in particular, our franchise growth acceleration initiative. During the third quarter, we continue to make significant progress across all phases of our unit growth funnel.

現在讓我向您介紹我們的第五個支柱，即以特許經營為中心的發展，特別是我們的特許經營成長加速計劃。在第三季度，我們繼續在單位成長漏斗的所有階段取得重大進展。

Importantly, and I've spoken about this before, the infrastructure we have built is showing advancing progress and gives me increased confidence in our growth for the coming quarters and years. Franchise recruitment and lead generation continues to build, especially with our in-market and in-person recruiting efforts.

重要的是，我之前已經談到過這一點，我們建造的基礎設施正在取得進步，這讓我對我們未來幾季和幾年的成長更有信心。特許經營招聘和潛在客戶開發持續發展，尤其是我們的市場內和現場招聘工作。

We're also having great success converting those franchise candidates to franchisees through deal signings. We're pleased to increase our total year-to-date franchise shop commitments to 86, an increase of 32 relative to last quarter, bringing our total open and committed shops to 695 shops across 33 franchise groups. And I'm proud to say that our franchisees are meeting their development commitments, which strengthens our expectations of continued growth through the remainder of 2024 and into 2025.

我們也透過簽約將這些特許經營候選人轉變為特許經營商，取得了巨大成功。我們很高興將今年迄今承諾的特許經營店總數增加到 86 家，比上季度增加了 32 家，使我們在 33 個特許經營集團中的開業和承諾店總數達到 695 家。我很自豪地說，我們的特許經營商正在履行他們的發展承諾，這增強了我們對 2024 年剩餘時間和 2025 年持續成長的預期。

Lastly, during the third quarter, we opened an additional 8 shops for a total of 15 openings year-to-date through the third quarter. We've already opened two additional units in the fourth quarter as well. With our current development pipeline, we expect to open 9 to 11 total shops in Q4, resulting in another quarter of accelerated development and a total of 24 to 26 shops for the year.

最後，在第三季度，我們又開設了 8 家商店，截至今年第三季度，我們總共開設了 15 家商店。我們已經在第四季另外開設了兩個單位。根據我們目前的開發計劃，我們預計第四季度將開設 9 至 11 家商店，從而再一個季度加速開發，全年將開設 24 至 26 家商店。

As we close in on the last few weeks of 2024 development, there are some shops that have experienced short-term impact to their development time lines. And I want to be clear. These are small delays and these shops will be opening soon. 2024 is shaping up to be our best unit growth year since 2017, and we'll end the year with a record number of franchise shops representing approximately 22% of the system. We anticipate our unit growth to further accelerate from here.

隨著 2024 年開發工作的最後幾週臨近，一些商店的開發時間線受到了短期影響。我想澄清一下。這些都是小規模的延誤，這些商店很快就會開業。 2024 年將成為我們自 2017 年以來單位成長最好的一年，到年底我們的特許經營店數量將創歷史新高，約佔系統的 22%。我們預計我們的單位成長將進一步加速。

Finally, our new 2024 shops continue to perform well in this evolving consumer environment. We believe the success of these shops is a sign that our market planning and real estate systems are working, and you're seeing the early tangible results of the growth engine we've been building on our path to 2,000 units in the United States. I assure you that we are just getting started.

最後，我們的 2024 年新店在這個不斷變化的消費環境中持續表現良好。我們相信，這些商店的成功標誌著我們的市場規劃和房地產系統正在發揮作用，並且您正在看到我們在美國建立 2,000 家商店的道路上建立的成長引擎的早期切實成果。我向你保證，我們才剛開始。

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Steve to detail our financial performance for the third quarter.

現在，我將把電話轉給史蒂夫，詳細介紹我們第三季的財務表現。

Thank you, Bob, and good afternoon, everyone. System-wide sales were approximately $139.2 million, an increase of 1%, driven by system-wide unit growth. Revenues in the third quarter were $115.1 million with company-operated shop revenue of $110.8 million, lower year-over-year, driven by the short-term impact of last year's refranchising efforts. Contrast that with our franchise revenue of $4.4 million, up 79% relative to the third quarter last year, driven by a 30% increase in franchised units.

謝謝鮑勃，大家下午好。在全系統單位成長的推動下，全系統銷售額約為 1.392 億美元，成長了 1%。第三季營收為 1.151 億美元，其中公司自營店營收為 1.108 億美元，年減，這是受到去年再特許經營努力的短期影響的推動。相較之下，我們的特許經營收入為 440 萬美元，較去年第三季成長 79%，主要得益於特許經營單位成長 30%。

Last year, we successfully used refranchising as a catalyst to drive new franchise unit commitments. We have deemphasized refranchising our company shops in 2024 due to our strong pipeline of franchise unit sales in new markets. Also, the negative impact on revenue growth from last year's refranchising transactions is largely behind us. We will likely end the year with only 1 refranchised shop in 2024 versus 33 in 2023.

去年，我們成功地利用再特許經營作為催化劑來推動新的特許經營部門的承諾。由於我們在新市場的特許經營單位銷售管道強勁，我們不再強調 2024 年公司商店的再特許經營。此外，去年再特許經營交易對營收成長的負面影響已基本過去。到 2024 年底，我們可能只會再開設 1 家特許經營店，而 2023 年將有 33 家。

Average weekly sales were approximately $24,870 and company-operated same-store sales were down 1.8% in the quarter, near the high end of our expectations. Our shop level margin expansion of 70 basis points annually to 15.3% against the backdrop of slower sales is a result of some external tailwinds and, more importantly, diligent execution.

平均每週銷售額約為 24,870 美元，本季公司經營的同店銷售額下降 1.8%，接近我們預期的上限。在銷售放緩的背景下，我們的店鋪利潤率每年增長 70 個基點至 15.3%，這是一些外部有利因素的結果，更重要的是，勤奮執行的結果。

Turning to expenses. Food, beverage and packaging costs were 26.6% of shop sales, a 120 basis point improvement versus the prior year period. This was driven by a combination of commodity deflation and a modest pricing action in the quarter.

轉向開支。食品、飲料和包裝成本佔商店銷售額的 26.6%，比去年同期提高了 120 個基點。這是由大宗商品通貨緊縮和本季溫和的定價行動共同推動的。

Labor expenses were 29.1% of sales, a 20 basis point increase versus the prior year period. This was predominantly due to increases in employee group insurance that more than offset favorability from ongoing optimization of our hours-based labor guide.

人工費用佔銷售額的 29.1%，比去年同期增加 20 個基點。這主要是由於員工團體保險的增加，這遠遠抵消了我們基於工時的勞動力指南持續優化帶來的優惠。

Occupancy was 10.7% of sales, in line with the prior year period. This was predominantly due to leverage on our fixed rent being offset by increases in common area maintenance and in variable rent charges as many shops with those types of lease arrangements like airports continue to outperform prior year.

入住率佔銷售額的 10.7%，與去年同期持平。這主要是由於我們的固定租金槓桿被公共區域維護和可變租金費用的增加所抵消，因為許多擁有機場等類型租賃安排的商店繼續跑贏去年。

Other operating expenses were 18.3% of sales, a 30 basis point increase versus the prior year period. This was predominantly due to increased brand fund spend.

其他營運費用佔銷售額的 18.3%，比上年同期增加 30 個基點。這主要是由於品牌基金支出增加。

General and administrative expenses, which are best viewed as a percentage of system-wide sales as they are used to support every one of our shops, were 7.6%, a decrease of 100 basis points versus the prior year period, driven by our focus on corporate expense management and a lower bonus accrual.

一般和管理費用（最好將其視為佔全系統銷售額的百分比，因為它們用於支持我們的每一家商店）為 7.6%，比上年同期下降 100 個基點，這是由於我們專注於公司費用管理和較低的應計獎金。

Third quarter adjusted EBITDA was $8.7 million or 7.5% of total revenue. This 19% growth year-over-year was driven by the improvement in shop level margin, continued strong performance of our franchise shops and ongoing disciplined management of G&A.

第三季調整後 EBITDA 為 870 萬美元，佔總營收的 7.5%。19% 的同比增長得益於門市利潤率的提高、特許經營店持續強勁的業績以及持續嚴格的 G&A 管理。

We reported net income of $3.7 million for the quarter. Adjusted net income was $2.5 million or a $1.4 million increase versus the prior year period.

我們報告本季淨利潤為 370 萬美元。調整後淨利為 250 萬美元，比去年同期增加 140 萬美元。

During the third quarter, we purchased approximately 29,000 shares of our common stock for a total of approximately $230,000. Our share repurchase program is one component of our long-term capital allocation strategy. We anticipate repurchases throughout our three-year program.

第三季度，我們購買了大約 29,000 股普通股，總價值約為 23 萬美元。我們的股票回購計畫是我們長期資本配置策略的組成部分。我們預計在整個三年計劃中進行回購。

Incorporating our year-to-date results, the category outlook for the remainder of the year and our momentum into Q4, we now expect our Q4 performance to land in the following ranges: same-store sales growth of negative 2.5% to negative 0.5%; adjusted EBITDA of between $7 million and $8 million.

結合我們今年迄今的業績、今年剩餘時間的品類前景以及我們進入第四季度的勢頭，我們現在預計第四季度的業績將落在以下範圍內：同店銷售增長負 2.5% 至負 0.5% ;調整後的 EBITDA 在 700 萬至 800 萬美元之間。

For the full year 2024, we have updated our same-store sales guidance to negative 1.2% to negative 0.5% and our adjusted EBITDA to between $29.5 million and $30.5 million.

對於 2024 年全年，我們將同店銷售指引更新為負 1.2% 至負 0.5%，調整後 EBITDA 至 2,950 萬美元至 3,050 萬美元之間。

With that, I'll turn the call back over to Bob.

這樣，我會將電話轉回給鮑伯。

Thank you, Steve. In closing, let me reiterate the tremendous job our team has done in executing on our 5-pillar strategic plan and how pleased I am with what we've accomplished together to date. But I believe the future for Potbelly is even brighter.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。最後，讓我重申我們的團隊在執行五支柱策略計畫方面所做的巨大工作，以及我對我們迄今為止共同取得的成就感到非常高興。但我相信 Potbelly 的未來更加光明。

Through our craveable quality food at a great value, a winning digital strategy that continues to drive awareness, connection and traffic and a strong franchise-led growth pipeline with a clear path to 2,000 units in the US, we're ready to capitalize on the opportunities ahead to take Potbelly to the next level of growth in 2025 and beyond.

透過我們令人垂涎的物美價廉的優質食品、持續提高知名度、聯繫和流量的製勝數位策略，以及以特許經營為主導的強大成長管道（在美國擁有2,000 家門市的明確路徑），我們已準備好充分利用未來有機會讓 Potbelly 在 2025 年及以後實現新的成長水準。

With that, we're happy to answer any questions. Operator, please open the line for questions.

因此，我們很樂意回答任何問題。接線員，請開通提問線。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Jeremy Hamblin with Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

傑里米·漢布林 (Jeremy Hamblin) 與克雷格·哈勒姆資本集團 (Craig-Hallum Capital Group)。

Congrats on the solid results in the quarter. I wanted to first come to the kind of the same-store sales trends. I think what you said was that you saw some acceleration throughout Q3 and have seen a little bit of improvement here in Q4. Wanted to just see if you could provide us with a little bit more detail behind the cadence of that. And then also within the Q3 comps, if you could give us a sense on what you saw in traffic, menu pricing and average check.

恭喜本季取得的穩健業績。我想先了解同店銷售的趨勢。我認為你所說的是，你在整個第三季度看到了一些加速，並且在第四季度看到了一點改進。只是想看看您是否能為我們提供更多關於節奏背後的細節。然後，在第三季的比較中，您能否讓我們了解您在流量、菜單定價和平均支票方面看到的情況。

Great. Sure. Jeremy, this is Steve. Yes, the quarter did improve for us. The beginning of the quarter was impacted a little bit by a few things, July 4 holiday and the timing of that to start the quarter. Hurricane Beryl in July was also -- had some impact on our business. And flowing into then August, where we had some impact from the DNC in our Chicago market.

偉大的。當然。傑里米，這是史蒂夫。是的，這個季度我們確實有所改善。本季初受到一些因素的影響，例如 7 月 4 日假期以及本季開始的時間。7 月的颶風 Beryl 也對我們的業務產生了一些影響。進入八月份，我們在芝加哥市場受到了民主黨全國委員會的一些影響。

And that was working against this consumer backdrop where we started to see things stabilize, which was great. P9 for us was when we started to really see some acceleration in our performance, and that momentum has carried into the beginning parts of Q4. But for things like Hurricane Beryl and the DNC, I think the earlier part of the quarter would have actually been better than we saw. But we're proud of the result coming out of Q3 and entering into Q4.

這是在消費者背景下發生的，我們開始看到事情穩定下來，這很棒。對我們來說，P9 是我們開始真正看到我們的業績加速的時候，這種勢頭已經延續到了第四季度的開始部分。但對於像貝麗爾颶風和民主黨全國委員會這樣的事情，我認為本季早些時候的情況實際上會比我們看到的要好。但我們對第三季和第四季的結果感到自豪。

And then as it relates to how we are thinking about the rest of the elements of Q3 in terms of the mix, the price and traffic, we had negative 1.8% same-store sales. That's a combination of a 3.8% step back in traffic and then a 2% gain on the average check line. And then in the average check, we had an increase of about 4.4% price in the quarter, and the rest is a bit of a step back in mix.

然後，由於這關係到我們如何考慮第三季的其他要素，包括產品組合、價格和流量，我們的同店銷售額為負 1.8%。這是流量下降 3.8% 和平均檢查線增加 2% 的組合。然後，在平均檢查中，本季我們的價格上漲了約 4.4%，其餘部分則略有回落。

Great. And then can we assume you're still carrying about 4% or so on the menu pricing?

偉大的。那麼我們是否可以假設您仍承擔菜單價格中約 4% 左右的費用？

Well, we didn't increase our price as we were thinking about our longer-term kind of view on pricing and inflation. We had a really good inflationary commodity quarter for us. Actually saw -- seeing some deflation throughout the year. So we didn't see the need to take price. And what that did for us is allowed us to kind of sit at around a 4.4% gross price, like I said, for the quarter. But as we head into Q4, we're not going to carry forward anything from this quarter, but we'll carry forward a little bit from our previous pricing action. So we'll have about a 3.5% gross price for Q4.

好吧，我們沒有提高價格，因為我們正在考慮對定價和通貨膨脹的長期看法。我們度過了一個非常好的通膨商品季度。事實上，全年都看到了一些通貨緊縮。所以我們認為沒有必要定價。正如我所說，這對我們來說是讓我們本季的總價格保持在 4.4% 左右。但當我們進入第四季時，我們不會結轉本季的任何內容，但我們會結轉先前的定價行動的一些內容。因此，第四季的總價格約為 3.5%。

Got it. That's helpful. And then I want to come back to the unit development. So understandable some disruption here in some key markets like Florida with obviously the devastating hurricanes. As you think about the unit development here, Q4, 9 to 11 shops, as we look ahead to kind of the cadence of expectation in 2025, are you still thinking that you're close to that 10%? And then how will that build throughout the year? Do you expect a relatively even development cycle in 2025?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後我想回到單元開發。因此，佛羅裡達州等一些關鍵市場受到毀滅性颶風的干擾是可以理解的。當您考慮這裡的單位開發時，第四季度，9 至 11 間商店，當我們展望 2025 年的預期節奏時，您是否仍然認為您已接近 10%？那麼全年情況將如何發展？您預計 2025 年的發展週期會相對均勻嗎？

Yes, Jeremy. Obviously, we'd prefer to share even more development here for this year. And having two hurricanes hit your number one development territory at the peak of construction season can be a little bit of a setback. But one of the things that we're -- especially as we talk to our internal teams, our franchisees, we take a small step back. I think about a year ago, we built two locations. This year, it will be in that 24 to 26 range total. And to your point about cadence and acceleration, every quarter this year, we have and will open more than the previous quarter.

是的，傑瑞米。顯然，我們更願意在這裡分享今年更多的開發成果。在施工季節的高峰期，兩次颶風襲擊您的第一個開發區可能會造成一些挫折。但我們要做的一件事——尤其是當我們與我們的內部團隊、我們的特許經營商交談時，我們退了一小步。我想大約一年前，我們建造了兩個地點。今年，總數將在 24 到 26 個範圍內。至於你關於節奏和加速的觀點，今年每個季度，我們已經並將比上一季開放更多。

I think there'll be a little bit of seasonality next year that just comes with restaurant construction. And typically, you see Q3 and Q2 as your top development quarters. We're bucking that trend because we're building that momentum. But until we're ready to guide 2025, which will just be in a few months, what I'm comfortable sharing is that we already have in 2025 leases signed and shops that are in the construction process for more locations than we will open all of this year. And so when you think about that acceleration, that to me is the really promising sign and it suggests that, that momentum we've been trying to build is truly coming our way.

我認為明年會有一點季節性，這只是餐廳建設帶來的。通常，您將第三季和第二季視為您的最佳發展季度。我們正在扭轉這一趨勢，因為我們正在建立這種勢頭。但在我們準備好指導 2025 年（幾個月後）之前，我很樂意分享的是，我們已經在 2025 年簽署了租約，並且正在建造的商店數量比我們將開設的所有商店還要多。的。因此，當你想到這種加速時，對我來說，這是真正有希望的跡象，它表明，我們一直在努力建立的勢頭確實正在向我們襲來。

Once you've got the lease signed -- of course, we've got the remainder of this quarter and first quarter next year to continue to work our real estate model and help franchisees that are out there working on their next round of leases. And then the additional deals that we're still working on this quarter and early next quarter, too. Those usually we got locations within that 11- to 12-month range, too. So the fact that we've got such a great head start on the year gives us a lot of confidence in the momentum that's to come.

當然，一旦簽署了租約，我們就可以在本季度剩餘時間和明年第一季繼續實施我們的房地產模式，並幫助正在進行下一輪租約的特許經營商。然後我們還在本季和下季初進行其他交易。通常我們也會在 11 至 12 個月範圍內找到這些位置。因此，今年我們取得瞭如此良好的開局，這一事實讓我們對未來的勢頭充滿信心。

Got it. And then just a comment quick on the refranchising. So it sounds like there's not going to be a whole lot of that this year. Is that kind of the expectation that we should have next year as well? Could you see 20 locations refranchised? Or at this point, do you feel content with the licenses that you're selling on new franchises, that you don't need to do that?

知道了。然後對重新特許經營進行快速評論。所以聽起來今年不會有很多這樣的事情。我們明年也該有這樣的期望嗎？您能看到 20 個地點重新獲得特許經營權嗎？或者此時，您對在新特許經營權上銷售的許可證感到滿意嗎？

Yes. I think the word you just used, Jeremy, 'need' is probably the right word. We really don't need to do that. There may be a few opportunistic opportunities where it just makes sense, especially for the right shop development area agreement with the right franchisee. But I expect it will be more muted than what you just suggested. This year, at one -- we're pleased with the development agreements that we're getting and we haven't wanted to really use a lot of refranchising to get that. It was always part of the catalyst to get things rolling last year. And we still -- I think in the long term, we would be willing to refranchise more units to be sure. But we -- our goal is to get the accelerated development first. And I think that will continue into next year.

是的。傑里米，我認為你剛才用的詞“需要”可能是正確的詞。我們確實不需要這樣做。可能存在一些有意義的機會，特別是與合適的特許經營商簽訂合適的商店開發區域協議。但我預計它會比你剛才建議的更安靜。今年，我們對所獲得的開發協議感到滿意，我們不想真正使用大量的重新特許經營來實現這一目標。它始終是去年推動事情發展的催化劑的一部分。我認為從長遠來看，我們仍然願意重新特許經營更多單位。但我們——我們的目標是先實現加速發展。我認為這種情況將持續到明年。

Mark Smith with Lake Street Capital Markets.

馬克史密斯（Mark Smith）與湖街資本市場公司（Lake Street Capital Markets）。

You got Alex Sturnieks on the line for Mark Smith today. The first one for me, could you just give us an update on the industry? Kind of what kind of discounting are you seeing out there? And what levels of promotion do you think you need to get to in order to drive traffic? Last quarter, you mentioned screening for more value offerings. I'm kind of curious if you have anything else rolling out like the $7.99 combo to enhance these promotional offerings? Or is this kind of more so done through deals to Perks members?

今天亞歷克斯·斯圖尼克斯 (Alex Sturnieks) 接聽了馬克·史密斯 (Mark Smith) 的電話。我的第一個問題是，您能為我們介紹一下這個行業的最新情況嗎？您看到那裡有什麼樣的折扣？您認為需要達到什麼等級的促銷才能增加流量？上個季度，您提到篩選更多價值產品。我很好奇你們是否還推出其他產品（例如 7.99 美元組合）來增強這些促銷產品？或者這更多是透過與 Perks 會員的交易來實現的？

Yes. Great question, Alex, and great to speak to you again. I think you got to start with the consumer situation. We think that largely the consumer is going to be a continuation of what we've seen in the past quarters. And so our posture on what we're doing with value, what we're doing with our marketing efforts is you shouldn't expect to see that shift very much.

是的。很好的問題，亞歷克斯，很高興再次與你交談。我認為你必須從消費者的情況開始。我們認為消費者在很大程度上將延續我們過去幾季所看到的情況。因此，我們對價值、行銷工作的態度是，你不應該期望看到這種轉變。

And I think I'd steer you back to some of my prepared remarks when you think about what we're doing to drive value. We've had, I think, exactly what we hoped for with this everyday value work that we've done. Remember, the $7.99 combos on those three skinny combos were in addition to the meal deals that we already had, where you could order chips and a drink at a discount, add that to just about anything on the menu. And then, of course, our Pick-your-Pair is an everyday value layer for us that's really, really important. So you put that together -- and I feel really good about the everyday value layer.

當你思考我們正在做什麼來推動價值時，我想我會引導你回到我準備好的一些言論。我認為，我們所做的日常價值工作正是我們所希望的。請記住，這三種瘦身套餐的 7.99 美元套餐是在我們已有的餐點優惠之外的，您可以以折扣價訂購薯條和飲料，並將其添加到菜單上的任何食物中。當然，我們的「Pick-your-Pair」對我們來說是一個非常非常重要的日常價值層。所以你把它們放在一起——我對日常價值層感覺非常好。

And recall in the previous quarter, we shared that one of the main things we are trying to do with the $7.99 combos is create a value appeal for our customers who tended to be less frequent, less digital and more in-shop types of customers. And our research and our mix on that suggests that we are enjoying the success that we designed and that we tested. And we're really, really pleased with that.

回想上一季度，我們曾表示，我們試圖透過7.99 美元的套餐做的主要事情之一是為我們的客戶創造價值吸引力，這些客戶往往是頻率較低、數位化程度較低且更多的店內類型客戶。我們的研究和組合表明我們正在享受我們設計和測試的成功。我們對此非常非常滿意。

I do think -- and you asked about the digital and the Perks component, too. I think that it's important to understand how that everyday value effort works in conjunction with what we're doing with digital, because as we bring those customers in -- I shared last quarter and did again this quarter, those $7.99 customers after they've ordered that meal, give us much higher scores on overall value and much higher scores on their likelihood to return. That was how it was designed, to protect that traffic on that low end where those customers were just cutting back and trying to make their wallets spread across the entire month.

我確實認為 - 您也詢問了數字和福利部分。我認為了解日常價值工作如何與我們在數位領域所做的工作結合起來非常重要，因為當我們吸引這些客戶時，我在上個季度分享了這些客戶，本季度又做了一遍，這些7.99 美元的客戶在他們點了那頓飯，給我們更高的整體價值分數和更高的回歸可能性分數。這就是它的設計方式，為了保護那些低端的流量，這些客戶只是削減開支並試圖讓他們的錢包分散在整個月中。

Well, once we have you in and we get you into the digital channels -- the other thing you heard me say in the prepared remarks is that those Perks loyalty customers in every frequency cohort is seeing growth in numbers as well as growth in frequency. So bringing them in through the everyday program and up through the digital frequency channels is how we want to keep building the business.

好吧，一旦我們讓你進入，我們讓你進入數位管道——你在準備好的發言中聽到我說的另一件事是，每個頻率群體中的Perks 忠誠客戶的數量和頻率都在增長。因此，我們希望透過日常節目和數位頻道吸引他們來繼續發展業務。

And the last thing I'd say is that we -- what we're not doing and you see others doing quite a bit of that is very, very aggressive deep discounts on core menu items at -- kind of repricing the core menu. First of all, that's a dangerous thing to do because it really can damage the brand and it's very expensive from a margin perspective, and we just haven't been interested in doing that. That's why you heard us talk a lot about our profitability this quarter. It's protecting both of those and managing through this. It's a little bit of a bumpy time, but we're really pleased with the balance.

我要說的最後一件事是，我們——我們沒有做的事情，你看到其他人在做相當多的事情，就是對核心菜單項目進行非常非常激進的大幅折扣——對核心菜單進行重新定價。首先，這是一件危險的事情，因為它確實會損害品牌，而且從利潤角度來看非常昂貴，而我們只是沒有興趣這樣做。這就是為什麼您聽到我們大量談論本季度的盈利能力。它正在保護這兩者並透過此進行管理。雖然這段時間有點坎坷，但我們對這種平衡感到非常滿意。

Got it. No, that makes sense. And then just kind of switching over to more of the shop size. In terms of the new store prototype, is there any updates here from last quarter? Just curious how the integration has gone and how they've been performing so far?

知道了。不，這是有道理的。然後就切換到更大的商店規模。就新店原型而言，上季有什麼更新嗎？只是好奇整合進展如何以及到目前為止他們的表現如何？

Yes. As I said, we continue to be really pleased with our new shop openings. The two metrics that we're always watching is how are they performing against the system-wide average weekly sales and how are they performing against their forecasted average weekly sales that the franchisee puts on that forecast. And as I said, those are the key out-of-the-gate measures of whether we're pleased with those new openings. And we are.

是的。正如我所說，我們仍然對新店的開幕感到非常滿意。我們一直關注的兩個指標是他們在全系統平均每週銷售額方面的表現如何，以及他們在特許經營商預測的平均每週銷售額方面的表現如何。正如我所說，這些是衡量我們是否對這些新職位感到滿意的關鍵外部衡量標準。我們是。

To your point about the prototype, I mentioned those numbers of leases that we already have, franchisees have already signed for development that goes into next year. Every one of those that's going through the design process is starting with that standard 1,800 square foot prototypical build.

關於原型的觀點，我提到了我們已經擁有的租賃數量，特許經營商已經簽署了明年的開發合約。每一個正在經歷設計過程的人都是從標準的 1,800 平方英尺的原型建築開始的。

We do have some that are floating a little smaller than that because that's how the space is laid out and that's what they've leased. Some of those are a little bit larger because, again, that's how the space is. But we start with that 1,800 square foot prototype. And the advantage for the franchisee on that average of 500 fewer square feet delivers a lot of margin enhancement on the occupancy line.

我們確實有一些漂浮的比這小一點，因為這就是空間的佈局方式，這就是他們租用的空間。其中一些稍微大一點，因為空間就是這樣的。但我們從那個 1,800 平方英尺的原型開始。對於特許經營商來說，平均減少 500 平方英尺的優勢可以大大提高入住線的利潤率。

So those that have been built this year that reflect the elements of design, the layout of the shop, the various decor and the furniture and fixtures that are part of that prototypical design, I'll just tell you we're super pleased with it. The look and feel, the prominence of the digital pickup shelf, the integration of PDK with the pickup digital monitor and everything about the flow, the access to the grab-and-go drinks, all of the things that are part of that prototype continue to work really well for us. We're very pleased.

因此，今年建成的那些反映了設計元素、商店佈局、各種裝飾以及屬於原型設計一部分的家具和固定裝置的建築，我只想告訴你，我們對此非常滿意。外觀和感覺、數位皮卡貨架的突出性、PDK 與皮卡數位顯示器的整合以及有關流程的所有內容、獲取即取即走飲料的方式，以及該原型的所有內容仍在繼續為我們工作得很好。我們非常高興。

Todd Brooks with The Benchmark Company.

托德布魯克斯與基準公司。

Congrats on a nice quarter in a really choppy macro environment. So well done. If I could jump off -- just kind of looking at the fourth quarter same-store sales guidance, the down 50 basis points to down 250 basis points, can you characterize the momentum that we saw kind of end of Q3, which has continued or maybe accelerated a little bit into Q4?

恭喜在一個非常動蕩的宏觀環境中度過了一個美好的季度。做得很好。如果我可以跳下來——看看第四季同店銷售指導，下降 50 個基點到下降 250 個基點，你能描述一下我們在第三季末看到的勢頭嗎？ ？

Just trying to qualitatively get a sense that, are we coming in towards the higher end of that and that guidance is basically giving us a cushion if the consumer slows as we get towards the holidays and things may get a little choppier with them? Or is there any way to kind of characterize what drives the tail outcomes within the guidance?

只是試圖定性地了解，我們是否正在走向高端，如果消費者隨著假期的臨近而放緩並且情況可能會變得更加不穩定，那麼該指導基本上會給我們緩衝？或者有什麼方法可以描述指導中尾部結果的驅動因素？

Yes. Sure, Todd. I think -- as you know, we tend to set that guidance range in an area that we feel like we can see, right, without betting on those things that we think are either improbable or impossible to see. And the range that we set at least for the full year ends up being narrowed because we can see more. The Q4 numbers themselves, I think, it's important to note they still show sequential growth quarter-to-quarter, right, as we're coming out of Q3 and into Q4.

是的。當然，托德。我認為——正如你所知，我們傾向於將指導範圍設定在我們認為可以看到的區域，對吧，而不押注於那些我們認為不可能或不可能看到的事情。我們至少為全年設定的範圍最終會縮小，因為我們可以看到更多。我認為，第四季度的數據本身，值得注意的是，隨著我們從第三季度進入第四季度，它們仍然顯示出季度環比的連續增長。

And as it relates to kind of where we feel things will land -- look, if we're looking at the bottom of the range, I think that would probably portend some different dynamics in the consumer environment than we've seen to date. And if we think about what might look like the top end of the range for us -- I mean, Bob explained in the prepared remarks all the great and exciting things that we've got coming forward in the quarter with the new menu and the sauces and the pulled pork platform that's about to launch. So that -- the high end of the range would mean that we're hitting on all cylinders with those initiatives as well. So we tend to like to be thoughtful about where we set those things without betting too much on things that are not within our control.

因為它與我們認為事情將會發生的情況有關——看，如果我們關注範圍的底部，我認為這可能預示著消費者環境中的一些動態與我們迄今為止所看到的不同。如果我們考慮一下對我們來說可能是最高端的產品——我的意思是，鮑勃在準備好的評論中解釋了我們在本季度通過新菜單和醬料和即將推出的手撕豬肉平台。因此，範圍的高端意味著我們也將全力以赴地實施這些措施。因此，我們傾向於仔細考慮我們在哪裡設置這些事情，而不是在我們無法控制的事情上投入太多。

That's helpful. And then can you talk to -- and I know we've got an element of weather-impacted delays going into fiscal '25. And I know there's been a -- there's a goal to get this model to a double-digit unit grower over time. And kind of the implied background of signed locations gives you five years plus of growth visibility.

這很有幫助。然後你能談談嗎——我知道我們在 25 財年遇到了受天氣影響而導致延誤的因素。我知道，隨著時間的推移，我們的目標是讓這種模式達到兩位數的單位種植者。簽約地點的隱含背景為您提供了五年以上的成長可見性。

So the backdrop is there, but really we haven't talked about the opening outlook for number of units in '25. Is 10% in the realm of possibility within this type of environment that we're in? Do the delayed units get added to whatever you had been planning on for the year? Do you kind of want to manage to a specific target and you would delay some out of Q4 next year?

所以背景就在那裡，但實際上我們還沒有談論 25 年單位數量的開盤前景。在我們所處的這種環境中，10% 的可能性有可能嗎？延遲的單位是否會添加到您今年的計劃中？您是否想要實現一個特定目標，並且會推遲明年第四季的一些目標？

Yes. I think that's one of the things we have to really think through before we provide that '25 guidance. But I think you're thinking about it the right way. There is -- once you get the momentum moving, which we are excited to see now -- there's always going to be leakage at the end of any year into the next year. So those units that we're talking about leaking this year, of course, they're going to be 25 units.

是的。我認為這是我們在提供 25 年指導之前必須認真考慮的事情之一。但我認為你的思考方式是對的。一旦你獲得了動力，我們現在很高興看到這一點，在任何一年年底到下一年總會有洩漏。所以我們今年要談的洩漏單位當然是 25 單位。

And that's why I wanted to share a little more specifically about where we stood on signed leases. That is the -- I mean, that is the trigger. Once you sign that lease, the design work begins, the engineering construction work. In fact, in a lot of cases, we start some of that knowing that it's going to sign even though the franchisee hasn't quite signed it yet.

這就是為什麼我想更具體地分享我們在已簽署租約方面的立場。這就是——我的意思是，這就是觸發器。一旦簽署租約，設計工作和工程施工工作就開始了。事實上，在很多情況下，我們開始做一些事情時就知道它會簽署，即使特許經營商還沒有完全簽署。

The fact that we've already got that many, more than we're going to even open this year gives us confidence in that trajectory. I'd like to see how the remainder of the year develops in the early part of next year before we really put a pinpoint on what next year looks like. But we are well on our way to that long-term growth range when it comes to unit count and think that the acceleration quarter-to-quarter as well as the activity in the pipeline that we can see forward and that we're sharing today gives us confidence that the momentum will just keep building.

事實上，我們已經開放了這麼多，甚至比今年要開放的還要多，這一事實讓我們對這一軌跡充滿信心。我想在明年初看看今年剩餘時間的發展情況，然後我們才能真正確定明年的情況。但就單位數量而言，我們正在朝著長期增長範圍前進，並認為季度環比的加速以及我們可以預見的、我們今天分享的管道中的活動讓我們相信這一勢頭將繼續增強。

Okay. Great. And then one final one for me. I don't think we've addressed this in a couple of calls. But when the Perks program was reconfigured into a tiered reward structure, part of the theoretical benefit of that was people opting into lower point value rewards and redeeming more frequently. And I'm wondering now that we have enough time with the revamped program, is there a way that you can talk to what the frequency lift has been from that structure relative to the prior program construct?

好的。偉大的。然後是我的最後一張。我認為我們並沒有在幾次通話中解決這個問題。但是，當福利計劃被重新配置為分層獎勵結構時，其理論上的部分好處是人們選擇較低的積分價值獎勵並更頻繁地兌換。我想知道現在我們有足夠的時間來處理修改後的程序，有沒有一種方法可以讓您了解該結構相對於先前程序構造的頻率提升是多少？

Yes. It was a really important move for us with those 12 different menu options that you can choose and redeem your coins to bank those perks. I'll say what we've said. Like you say, we didn't talk a lot about it in detail last quarter. But there is no news here. It's all still good news. It continues to perform the way it was designed. We've got a really nice spread of redemption across the various items that people can return. I mentioned that in each of the -- when we break down those Perks consumers, we have 4 different frequency cohorts that we look at them in. And in every one of those cohorts, we're growing Perks' membership and we're growing frequency.

是的。這對我們來說是一個非常重要的舉措，有 12 種不同的菜單選項，您可以選擇並兌換您的硬幣來存放這些福利。我會說我們已經說過的話。就像你說的，上個季度我們沒有詳細討論這個問題。但這裡還沒有消息。這一切仍然是好消息。它繼續按照設計的方式執行。我們在人們可以退貨的各種物品上提供了非常好的兌換範圍。我提到過，當我們細分這些 Perks 消費者時，我們會在 4 個不同的頻率群體中查看他們。在每一個群體中，我們都在增加 Perks 的會員數量，而且頻率也不斷增加。

Now there are more than one lever to pull with this group that -- if you think about the coins redemption for the various food items, that's the foundational program. And the fact that it's performing as designed and as expected is really comforting to us. It tells us that, that base level of the design is working for our customers and they love it, including them moving up various levels from Rookie to Pro to Boss level.

現在，這個群體有不止一個槓桿可以拉動——如果你考慮到各種食品的硬幣兌換，那就是基本計劃。事實上，它的性能符合設計和預期，這讓我們感到非常欣慰。它告訴我們，該設計的基礎級別正在為我們的客戶服務，他們喜歡它，包括他們從新手到專業人士再到老闆級別的各個級別。

But then the other things that really don't get seen in the program, but they get seen by the users of the program are the segmented campaigns that we put out. Examples are, we've done some broad-based promotional activity, and we've been able to go back to our Perks members who either participated or didn't participate in that broad-based promotional activity and speak to them directly about their behavior.

但是，其他確實在程式中看不到但被程式用戶看到的東西是我們推出的分段行銷活動。例如，我們已經開展了一些廣泛基礎的促銷活動，並且我們能夠聯繫參與或未參與該基礎廣泛的促銷活動的 Perks 會員，並直接與他們談論他們的行為。

There have been times where we've just reached out to them and said, Hey, because you're a Perks member, it looks like you missed the chance to take advantage of this promotion that we just did for you. We've just loaded that into your Perks account. Well, you can imagine there are many, many, many segmentation channels that we're doing. And within the segmentation channels, we're doing the A/B testing on which of those outreaches work for us. And those are the ones that we continue to lean into and repeat.

有時我們只是聯繫他們並說，嘿，因為您是 Perks 會員，所以您似乎錯過了利用我們剛剛為您提供的促銷活動的機會。我們剛剛將其加載到您的 Perks 帳戶中。嗯，你可以想像我們正在做很多很多細分管道。在細分管道內，我們正在進行 A/B 測試，以確定哪些外展活動對我們有用。這些是我們繼續關注和重複的。

We still feel like we're early innings on that level of segmentation work. We think that ultimately you get to a level where you've got not just cohorts and not just groups, not just archetypes of Perks members, but almost a one-to-one in the future, and you can really dial it in. But for the base program as well as all the other work that we do through those other marketing opportunities, yes, we're really, really pleased with the Perks program and its impact on frequency.

我們仍然覺得我們在這一級別的細分工作上還處於早期階段。我們認為，最終你會達到這樣一個水平：你不僅擁有同類，也不僅僅是團體，不僅僅是 Perks 成員的原型，而且在未來幾乎是一對一的，你可以真正撥入它。但對於基本計劃以及我們透過其他行銷機會所做的所有其他工作，是的，我們對福利計劃及其對頻率的影響非常非常滿意。

Matt Curtis with William Blair.

馬特柯蒂斯和威廉布萊爾。

I just wanted to circle back on value for a moment, if I could. On the value ideas that you were screening earlier this year, could you provide perhaps an update on your evaluation of these? And I guess where I'm going is whether we can expect to see some of these come in the fourth quarter? Or is this more of a 2025 initiative at this point?

如果可以的話，我只是想暫時回顧一下價值。關於您今年稍早篩選的價值理念，您能否提供您對這些價值理念的最新評估？我想我要去的是我們是否可以期望在第四季度看到其中一些？或者目前這更像是 2025 年的舉措？

Yes. I think you saw a couple of them in the deck. I didn't speak about them specifically in my prepared remarks, Matt, but if you look at the -- we've got -- one of the slides in the deck on value, you'll see an image in there on Kids Eat Free on the weekends, for example. That was one of those things that we screened, and we went ahead and implemented it. And again, we were pleased with what that did for that consumer.

是的。我想你在甲板上看到了其中的幾個。馬特，我在準備好的發言中沒有具體談到它們，但如果你看一下——我們已經有了——幻燈片中關於價值的一張幻燈片，你會在“兒童飲食”中看到一張圖片例如，週末免費。這是我們篩選的事情之一，我們繼續實施它。再次，我們對這為消費者帶來的效果感到滿意。

We know the mix of our customers who have children at home and we know the strain on the pocketbook of managing a household with more than 1, more than 2 people. And while kids meals aren't a huge part of our business, it was a great way for us to bring some incremental value with some really high satisfaction with that customer. Another one we did was around not so much that customer experience, but more around a product experience for us with our half-price shakes on the weekends. And again, very pleased with that.

我們了解家裡有孩子的客戶的組成，也了解管理一個以上、兩個以上人口的家庭所承受的壓力。雖然兒童餐並不是我們業務的重要組成部分，但這對我們來說是一個很好的方式，可以為客戶帶來一些增量價值，並獲得非常高的滿意度。我們做的另一件事不是圍繞著客戶體驗，而是更多地圍繞著我們週末半價搖晃的產品體驗。再次，對此非常滿意。

So those are the types of things. Some of them that were screened, you can imagine were like the $7.99 and the other 2 combo offers that we tested that you see as kind of permanent attachments, everyday value layers. Some of those value elements were promotional types of things, but promotions that can last for a long period of time. We've still got a very long list. We've got opinions and thoughts about how to test and develop against what else we see in that screening. And we'll continue to bring that forward if we think it makes sense.

這些就是事物的類型。您可以想像其中一些經過篩選的產品，例如 7.99 美元和我們測試過的其他 2 個組合優惠，您將其視為永久附件、日常價值層。其中一些價值元素是促銷類型的東西，但促銷可以持續很長一段時間。我們還有一個很長的清單。我們對如何根據我們在篩選中看到的其他內容進行測試和開發有意見和想法。如果我們認為有意義，我們將繼續推進這一點。

I think the thing I'd emphasize is our testing methodology is not something we'll let go of. Even the $7.99, there were 2 other versions of those types of combos. And we wanted to make sure we knew which one really rang the bell in the minds of the customer and could deliver that enticement to hold on to that visit. And that's why that one won. But that's some examples of what we've got going there.

我想我要強調的是我們的測試方法不會被放棄。即使是 7.99 美元，這些類型的組合還有 2 個其他版本。我們希望確保知道哪一個真正觸動了客戶的心，並且能夠吸引他們繼續造訪。這就是那個人獲勝的原因。但這是我們在那裡所做的一些例子。

And then it was encouraging to see, obviously, the comp acceleration in September and I guess so far in the fourth quarter. Did you accelerate your marketing spend in the latter part of the third quarter? And maybe you could tell us what we can expect on marketing spend heading into 2025, if you have any preliminary thoughts on that?

然後很明顯，令人鼓舞的是，九月的補償加速，我猜到目前為止是第四季。您在第三季後半段是否加快了行銷支出？如果您對此有任何初步想法，也許您可以告訴我們對 2025 年行銷支出的預期是什麼？

Yes. The good news is there's real momentum because we did not increase our marketing spend. We still are spending at about 3%, sometimes at 3.1%, depending on just how the balance of the execution of that marketing plan comes through. But we do anticipate continuing to escalate that. It's for us much like what I just said about the $7.99 testing, that pre-post net of control testing that we are really diligent about is exactly how we'd take the next step with marketing.

是的。好消息是，由於我們沒有增加行銷支出，所以勢頭確實強勁。我們的支出仍然在 3% 左右，有時甚至是 3.1%，這取決於行銷計劃的執行平衡如何實現。但我們確實預計這種情況會繼續升級。對我們來說，這很像我剛才所說的 7.99 美元測試，我們真正努力進行的事前控制網測試正是我們下一步行銷的方式。

You might recall on our way to 3% we made those moves in quarter half point increments. We did it in markets where we could test the impact of what we were adding to the marketing budget. And once we're pleased with the returns, then we go ahead and expand that level of spend across the system, including our franchisees. And I think we'll continue to do that. So we still see that as dry powder, but we have not -- we've not put any of that to work yet this year.

您可能還記得，在達到 3% 的過程中，我們以四分之一個半點的增量進行了這些移動。我們在可以測試行銷預算增加內容影響的市場中做到了這一點。一旦我們對回報感到滿意，我們就會繼續擴大整個系統（包括我們的特許經營商）的支出水準。我想我們會繼續這樣做。所以我們仍然認為這是乾粉，但我們今年還沒有將其中任何一個付諸實行。

Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of today's question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the call back over to Mr. Bob Wright for closing remarks.

女士們、先生們，今天的問答環節到此結束。我想將電話轉回給鮑伯·賴特先生做總結發言。

Thank you, and thank you all again for your time this evening. We really look forward to what comes next here in Q4 and look forward to speaking to you all again soon. Have a great night.

謝謝大家，再次感謝大家今晚抽出寶貴的時間。我們非常期待第四季接下來發生的事情，並期待很快再次與大家交談。祝你有個愉快的夜晚。

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

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。