Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc (PLAY) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon and welcome to the Dave & Buster's second-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Cory Hatton, Vice President, Head of Entertainment, Finance, Investor Relations, and Treasurer. Please go ahead.

下午好，歡迎參加 Dave & Buster 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，此事件正在被記錄。現在，我想將會議交給副總裁、娛樂、財務、投資者關係主管兼財務主管 Cory Hatton。請繼續。

Thank you, operator, and welcome to everyone on the line. In connection with today's call, you can find our earnings release, 10-Q and a supplemental deck titled September 2025 Investor Update that has been posted to the Events and Presentations section of our Investor Relations website.

謝謝接線員，歡迎大家接聽。結合今天的電話會議，您可以找到我們的收益報告、10-Q 和一份名為《2025 年 9 月投資者更新》的補充文件，該文件已發佈在我們投資者關係網站的「活動和演示」部分。

Joining me in the room and on today's call are Tarun Lal, our Chief Executive Officer; and Darin Harper, our Chief Financial Officer. After our prepared remarks, we will be happy to take your questions. This call is being recorded on behalf of Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc., and is copyrighted.

與我一起在場並參加今天電話會議的還有我們的執行長 Tarun Lal 和我們的財務長 Darin Harper。在我們準備好發言之後，我們將很樂意回答您的問題。本次通話由 Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. 代表錄製，並受版權保護。

Before we begin the discussion on our company's second-quarter 2025 results, I'd like to call your attention to the fact that in our prepared remarks and responses to questions, certain items may be discussed, which are not entirely based on historical fact.

在我們開始討論公司 2025 年第二季的業績之前，我想提請大家注意，在我們準備好的發言和對問題的回答中，可能會討論某些項目，而這些項目並非完全基於歷史事實。

Many of these items should be considered forward-looking statements relating to future events within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated. Information on these risks and uncertainties have been published in our filings with the SEC, which are available on our website.

其中許多內容應被視為 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》所定義的與未來事件有關的前瞻性陳述。所有此類前瞻性陳述都存在風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與預期結果不同。有關這些風險和不確定性的資訊已在我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中公佈，可在我們的網站上查閱。

In addition, our remarks today will include references to financial measures that are not defined under generally accepted accounting principles. Investors should review the reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the comparable GAAP measure contained in our earnings release this afternoon.

此外，我們今天的發言將涉及公認會計原則未定義的財務指標。投資者應該查看我們今天下午發布的收益報告中這些非 GAAP 指標與可比較 GAAP 指標的對帳。

And with that, let me turn the call over to Tarun.

現在，請容許我將電話轉給 Tarun。

Thank you, Cory. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining our call today. I am deeply honored to take the helmet and collaborate with this talented team to drive innovation, growth and the company's next chapter.

謝謝你，科里。大家下午好，感謝大家今天參加我們的電話會議。我非常榮幸能夠擔任這項職務並與這支才華橫溢的團隊合作，推動創新、發展和公司的新篇章。

Our brand strengths and unique national footprint provide a powerful platform to deliver meaningful social connections at scale. I have spent a lot of time over the past six months researching the space and analyzing this business, including meeting with many key members of the team and the Board, and this is prior to joining while I evaluated this opportunity.

我們的品牌優勢和獨特的全國影響力為大規模建立有意義的社會聯繫提供了強大的平台。在過去的六個月裡，我花了很多時間研究這個領域並分析這個業務，包括與團隊和董事會的許多關鍵成員會面，這是在加入之前我評估這個機會時進行的。

This prework has allowed me to align quickly on areas of success as well as missteps and develop my own views on the clear focus areas of near-term opportunity. Importantly, this largely aligns with the strategic plan put in place by Kevin Sheehan, our Interim CEO and the current Nonexecutive Chair of our Board.

這項前期工作使我能夠快速地調整成功領域和失誤領域，並對近期機會的明確重點領域形成自己的看法。重要的是，這在很大程度上符合我們的臨時執行長兼現任董事會非執行主席 Kevin Sheehan 制定的策略計劃。

Just a little bit about my past experience. I officially joined this iconic brand in July with more than 30 years of leadership experience at [Yum!] including recent roles as President of the KFC US business, being the Global COO of KFC and Managing Director across key international markets.

只是稍微講述一下我過去的經歷。我於今年 7 月正式加入這個標誌性品牌，在 [Yum!] 擁有超過 30 年的領導經驗，包括最近擔任肯德基美國業務總裁、肯德基全球首席營運長以及主要國際市場的董事總經理。

I have overseen marketing, operations and development in multiple geographies across the world. I've built and developed high-performing teams and together with them, have led multiple successful turnarounds in key markets.

我負責監督全球多個地區的營銷、營運和開發。我建立並發展了高績效團隊，並與他們一起在關鍵市場領導了許多成功的轉型。

As a team, we drove strong same-store sales and profitability and catalyze breakthrough development of new stores. I'm disciplined and tenacious and strongly believe that executional excellence behind a few big strategic priorities can unlock significant value creation. To that end, I'm confident that my extensive US and global experience uniquely positions me to drive strategic and operational excellence and financial success at Dave & Buster's.

作為一個團隊，我們推動了強勁的同店銷售額和獲利能力，並催化了新店的突破性發展。我紀律嚴明、意志堅強，堅信幾個重大策略重點背後的卓越執行力可以釋放巨大的價值創造。為此，我相信我在美國和全球的豐富經驗使我能夠推動 Dave & Buster's 的策略和營運卓越以及財務成功。

Dave & Buster's is a phenomenal business with very addressable challenges that I'm very confident we can overcome as a team. In my first several weeks here on the job, I've invested time training in stores and have gained what I believe is a solid understanding of our products. I've also developed a better appreciation of our team member and guest experiences. I have traveled across the country and witnessed firsthand the pride and dedication of our teams out in the field.

Dave & Buster's 是一家非凡的企業，面臨著許多亟待解決的挑戰，我非常有信心我們作為一個團隊能夠克服這些挑戰。在我上任後的頭幾個星期裡，我花了很多時間在商店進行培訓，並且自認為對我們的產品有了深入的了解。我也對我們的團隊成員和客人的體驗有了更好的了解。我走遍了全國各地，親眼目睹了我們團隊在現場展現的自豪感和奉獻精神。

The field, which is where the majority of our teams, our products and our customers are, is the best training ground. There is no better way to learn than the ground up. My manager and trainer in my training store was [Garrett], who graciously invested time with me and taught me everything from the most popular games to cooking the most popular items like wings and the burgers and making some of the guests' favorite cocktails like the million dollar margarita. Spending time with our guests and team members reminded me that Dave & Buster's is more than just a business. It's a place where people connect, celebrate and create lasting memories.

賽場是我們大部分團隊、產品和客戶所在的地方，也是最好的訓練場。沒有比從頭開始學習更好的方法了。我的培訓店的經理兼培訓師是 [Garrett]，他慷慨地投入時間與我相處，教我一切，從最受歡迎的遊戲到烹飪最受歡迎的食物，如雞翅和漢堡，以及製作一些客人最喜歡的雞尾酒，如百萬美元的瑪格麗塔酒。與我們的客人和團隊成員共度的時光讓我意識到 Dave & Buster's 不僅僅是一家企業。這裡是人們交流、慶祝和創造永恆回憶的地方。

I truly believe that the strength of our brands and the passion of our people give us a foundation to reach far beyond what we've already achieved. I look forward to shaping a vision that not only drives growth but also deepens our role as a destination where joy and connection thrive.

我堅信，我們品牌的實力和員工的熱情將為我們奠定堅實的基礎，使我們超越現有的成就。我期待塑造一個願景，它不僅能推動成長，還能深化我們作為歡樂和聯繫蓬勃發展的目的地的角色。

As you may recall, the management presented a formal investor plan a few years ago that I studied in detail. My conclusion is that the principles and initiatives outlined in that strategy are generally right. However, the true measure of success depends not only on the strength of the ideas, but on the quality and consistency of execution.

您可能還記得，幾年前管理層提出了一項正式的投資者計劃，我對此進行了詳細研究。我的結論是，該策略中概述的原則和舉措總體上是正確的。然而，衡量成功的真正標準不僅取決於想法的力量，還取決於執行的品質和一致性。

I believe there has been a very clear executional failure that will be rectified. My intention is to build on the sound foundations of that plan, assess where we can raise the bar and provide a clear focus that will allow us immediate and long-term growth and value creation, which we will get into a lot more detail with my presentation later on in the call.

我認為存在非常明顯的執行失誤，將會得到修正。我的目的是以該計劃的良好基礎為基礎，評估我們可以在哪些方面提高標準，並提供明確的重點，以使我們能夠實現短期和長期的增長和價值創造，我們將在稍後的電話會議中更詳細地討論這些內容。

My immediate focus is clear, reinforce our guest-first culture, deliver memorable experiences and drive meaningful growth in sales, cash flow and shareholder value. We have significant key strengths. We are a true category of one with no peer at our scale.

我目前的重點很明確，強化我們以客人為先的文化，提供難忘的體驗，推動銷售、現金流和股東價值的有意義的成長。我們擁有顯著的關鍵優勢。我們是名副其實的獨一無二、規模無可比擬的。

Our $1 million midway appeals broadly across demographics, driving repeat visits while our unique ability to serve multiple occasions, play, watch, eat and drink creates meaningful social connections that keep guests coming back.

我們耗資 100 萬美元的中途站吸引了廣泛的人群，推動了重複訪問，同時我們獨特的服務多種場合、娛樂、觀看、吃飯和喝酒的能力創造了有意義的社交聯繫，讓客人再次光臨。

Our challenges are also clear, sharpening brand distinctiveness, improving retail marketing, strengthening value perception and delivering an excellent customer experience across both F&B and games. Tackling these areas will be critical to unlocking the full potential of our business.

我們面臨的挑戰也很明確，即增強品牌特色、改善零售行銷、加強價值認知並在餐飲和遊戲領域提供卓越的客戶體驗。解決這些問題對於充分發揮我們業務的潛力至關重要。

With that, and before getting into more details on my initial observations and strategic plan updates, I would like to turn the call over to Darin, our CFO, to walk us through the financial results of our second quarter. Darin?

在此之前，在詳細介紹我的初步觀察和策略計畫更新之前，我想將電話轉給我們的財務長達林 (Darin)，向我們介紹第二季的財務表現。達林？

Thank you, Tarun, and good afternoon, everyone. Overall, our financial position remains strong, underpinned by a business model that consistently delivers high returns on new unit investments, strong unit level economics, disciplined cost control and a robust free cash flow generation.

謝謝你，Tarun，大家午安。整體而言，我們的財務狀況依然強勁，這得益於我們持續為新單位投資帶來高回報、強大的單位層面經濟效益、嚴格的成本控制和強勁的自由現金流產生的商業模式。

The leadership team and Board remain focused on executing against our priorities to drive both top line growth and sustained cash flow. We are confident in the levers available to further improve operating performance and enhance shareholder value. So turning to a more detailed view of our financials.

領導團隊和董事會將繼續專注於執行我們的優先事項，以推動營收成長和持續現金流。我們相信，這些手段可以進一步改善經營績效並提升股東價值。因此，讓我們更詳細地了解我們的財務狀況。

In our second quarter of fiscal 2025, comparable store sales decreased 3% versus the prior year period. We updated you on our last call that comps for the first five weeks of the quarter were down 2.2% versus the prior year period. We were negatively impacted in the second half of the quarter by the July 4 holiday falling on a Friday this year versus a Thursday in the prior year. And our same (technical difficulty)

在 2025 財年第二季度，同店銷售額較去年同期下降了 3%。我們在上次電話會議上告知您，本季前五週的銷售額與去年同期相比下降了 2.2%。由於今年 7 月 4 日假期恰逢星期五，而去年同期是星期四，因此本季下半段我們受到了負面影響。和我們一樣（技術難度）

Pardon me, this is a conference operator. We seem to have lost the connection with the speakers. We'll reattempt to rejoin them shortly. Ladies and gentlemen, the speakers have rejoined us. Please continue.

對不起，我是會議接線生。我們似乎與揚聲器失去了聯繫。我們將很快再次嘗試加入他們。女士們、先生們，演講者已重新加入我們。請繼續。

All right. Sorry for that technical delay, everyone. Picking up where I left off. We're confident we are focused on the right priorities in the second half of 2025. And as a reminder, we are lapping particularly soft numbers in the balance of the year.

好的。各位，對於因技術原因造成的延遲，深感抱歉。從我離開的地方繼續。我們有信心在 2025 年下半年集中精力於正確的優先事項。需要提醒的是，我們在今年餘下的時間裡取得了特別疲軟的數字。

During the second quarter, we generated revenue of $557 million, net income of $11 million or $0.32 per diluted share. Adjusted net income of $14 million or $0.40 per diluted share and adjusted EBITDA of $130 million, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA margin of 23%.

第二季度，我們的營收為 5.57 億美元，淨收入為 1,100 萬美元，即每股收益 0.32 美元。調整後淨收入為 1,400 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 0.40 美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 1.3 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 23%。

As a reminder, reconciliations of all non-GAAP financial measures can be found in today's press release. We generated $34 million in operating cash flow during the second quarter, ending the quarter with $12 million in cash and $443 million in total liquidity, combined with the availability under our $650 million revolving credit facility, net of $14 million in outstanding letters of credit. Year-to-date, we have generated $130 million of operating cash flow.

提醒一下，所有非公認會計準則財務指標的對帳表均可在今天的新聞稿中找到。我們在第二季產生了 3,400 萬美元的營運現金流，本季末我們擁有 1,200 萬美元的現金和 4.43 億美元的總流動資金，加上我們 6.5 億美元的循環信貸額度下的可用資金，扣除 1,400 萬美元的未償信用證。年初至今，我們已產生 1.3 億美元的營運現金流。

We ended the quarter with net total leverage ratio of 3.2 times as defined under our credit agreement. Year-to-date, in 2025, we have invested a total of $193 million in capital additions on a gross basis or approximately $110 million on a net basis when factoring in payments from landlords. Details of which can be found in our table in our 10-Q filing.

根據我們的信貸協議定義，本季末我們的淨總槓桿率為 3.2 倍。截至目前，也就是 2025 年，我們已累計投資 1.93 億美元用於資本增加，如果算上房東的付款，淨額約為 1.1 億美元。詳細資訊可在我們的 10-Q 檔案中的表格中找到。

As we mentioned to you before, we are focused on converting our significant operating cash flow to free cash flow through more strict management and capital spend, eliminating ineffective and inefficient spend. We're committed to demonstrating our ability to generate free cash flow while continuing to invest in double-digit new store growth, new gains, other high ROI initiatives and a more diligent remodel program.

正如我們之前提到的，我們專注於透過更嚴格的管理和資本支出，將我們大量的營運現金流轉化為自由現金流，消除無效和低效的支出。我們致力於展示我們產生自由現金流的能力，同時繼續投資於兩位數的新店增長、新收益、其他高投資回報率計劃和更勤勉的改造計劃。

In the quarter, we closed on a sale-leaseback transaction for the real estate of two open and operating Dave & Buster's stores and entered into a build-to-suit takeout commitment for additional real estate assets of future Dave & Buster's and Main Event stores with an institutional real estate investor.

在本季度，我們完成了兩家開業營運的 Dave & Buster's 商店的房地產售後回租交易，並與一家機構房地產投資者達成了對未來 Dave & Buster's 和 Main Event 商店的額外房地產資產進行客製化建造的外賣承諾。

In the quarter, we received approximately $77 million in funds related to these properties. We are pleased with the outcome, the executional abilities of our team and the support of our real estate partners to close on this important transaction for our company.

本季度，我們收到了與這些房產相關的約 7,700 萬美元資金。我們對結果、我們團隊的執行能力以及我們的房地產合作夥伴的支持感到非常滿意，這有助於我們公司完成這項重要的交易。

This transaction significantly enhances a long-term partnership with a very large real estate capital provider, solidifies a long-term funding vehicle for our robust pipeline of future new store openings, monetizes our real estate at attractive valuations underwritten to reflect our successful track record of new store openings and future earnings power of our superior four-wall economics and ultimately provides a significant amount of liquidity for us to continue to make accretive investments to grow our business. Our new store development continues to deliver strong returns, and we have a solid pipeline of upcoming store openings.

這項交易大大增強了與一家大型房地產資本提供商的長期合作夥伴關係，鞏固了我們未來大量新店開業的長期融資工具，以有吸引力的估值將我們的房地產貨幣化，以反映我們成功的新店開業記錄和我們卓越的四牆經濟的未來盈利能力，並最終為我們繼續進行增值投資以發展業務提供了大量流動性。我們的新店開發繼續帶來強勁的回報，我們擁有大量即將開業的店鋪。

In the second quarter, we opened three new Dave & Buster's stores in Freehold, New Jersey; Wilmington, North Carolina; and Reno, Nevada. Already in the third quarter, we have opened one additional Dave & Buster's store in Spokane, Washington and two additional Main Event locations in Taylor, Michigan and Norman, Oklahoma.

第二季度，我們在美國新澤西州弗里霍爾德、北卡羅來納州威爾明頓和內華達州里諾開設了三家新的 Dave & Buster's 商店。截至第三季度，我們已經在華盛頓州斯波坎市開設了一家 Dave & Buster 商店，並在密西根州泰勒市和俄克拉荷馬州諾曼市開設了兩家 Main Event 商店。

This takes our new store openings year-to-date to eight, and we now expect a total of 11 new store openings in fiscal 2025, the midpoint of our previously guided range of 10 to 12 new stores. With the opening of our second international franchise location in India in August, we expect five more international openings over the next six months.

這使得我們今年迄今開設的新店數量達到 8 家，目前我們預計 2025 財年將共開設 11 家新店，這是我們之前指導的 10 至 12 家新店範圍的中間值。隨著我們第二家國際特許經營店於八月在印度開業，我們預計未來六個月內還將開設五家國際特許經營店。

As a reminder, we have secured agreements for over 35 additional stores in the coming years. We see international franchising as a driver of highly efficient incremental growth, monetizing our brand around the world with minimal investment and risk.

提醒一下，我們已與未來幾年內超過 35 家其他商店達成協議。我們認為國際特許經營是高效能增量成長的驅動力，可以用最少的投資和風險在世界各地將我們的品牌貨幣化。

Now with that, I will turn the call back over to Tarun for some additional thoughts and materials before opening up the line for questions. Tarun?

現在，我將把電話轉回給 Tarun，徵求一些額外的想法和材料，然後再開始回答問題。塔倫？

Thank you, Darin. Now I would like to walk through a short presentation to put some structure around my initial observations and the ultimate framework for our go-forward plan. So starting with a bit more detail on my initial observations, many of which should be stating the obvious to you as investors. We have a very strong iconic brand with excellent brand recognition in Dave & Buster's and of course, associated with that very strong brand awareness. Our customers love us.

謝謝你，達林。現在我想透過一個簡短的演講來闡述我最初的觀察以及我們未來計劃的最終框架。因此，我先從我最初的觀察開始，其中許多內容對投資者來說應該是顯而易見的。我們擁有非常強大的標誌性品牌，在 Dave & Buster's 中具有極好的品牌認知度，當然，這與非常強大的品牌意識相關。我們的客戶喜愛我們。

We provide a fun-filled customer experience and receive strong guest satisfaction scores, which translates into a loyal customer base. We have an exceptional business model with best-in-class scale and unit economics along with highly compelling new store economics.

我們提供充滿樂趣的客戶體驗，並獲得了很高的客戶滿意度評分，從而獲得了忠誠的客戶群。我們擁有卓越的商業模式，具有一流的規模和單位經濟效益以及極具吸引力的新店經濟效益。

We made specific execution missteps that resulted in lack of awareness of our offerings and inconsistent operational execution. We have high confidence that we will improve performance in the near term by executing on focused improvements. Our value proposition remains highly attractive, and our back-to-basics approach has shown meaningful progress.

我們在具體的執行上出現了失誤，導致對我們的產品缺乏認識，並且營運執行不一致。我們非常有信心，透過實施有針對性的改進，我們將在短期內提高績效。我們的價值主張仍然極具吸引力，而我們回歸基礎的方法也已取得有意義的進展。

I genuinely see our stock as materially undervalued in the public markets with significant upside potential. I'm truly excited with this opportunity to work together with an outstanding team and Board to unlock significant shareholder value in the near term. Moving to the next slide. In reviewing our performance, it became very clear where our approach was falling short. Starting with what was not working column on the left.

我真誠地認為我們的股票在公開市場上被嚴重低估，並且具有巨大的上漲潛力。我真的很高興有機會與一支優秀的團隊和董事會合作，在短期內釋放巨大的股東價值。移至下一張投影片。在回顧我們的表現時，我們很清楚地知道我們的方法有哪些不足之處。從左側不起作用的列開始。

So in marketing, we moved away from TV completely, and we had an unfocused promotional strategy going from a few targeted promotions to weigh too many promotions. In food and beverage, we leaned too heavily on appetizers and shareable and cut most of our highest revenue menu items.

因此，在行銷方面，我們完全放棄了電視行銷，並且制定了不集中的促銷策略，從少數有針對性的促銷活動變成了過多的促銷活動。在食品和飲料方面，我們過度依賴開胃菜和共享菜，並削減了大部分收入最高的菜單項目。

Operationally, we moved too fast, creating disruptions and breakdowns in communication between corporate and the field and a loss of focus on training. In games, we pulled back almost entirely on new games introductions, reducing them by almost 80%, along with a very complex pricing structure. These missteps limited our ability to drive traffic, sales and brand relevance.

在營運方面，我們行動太快，導致公司和現場之間的溝通中斷和中斷，並且失去了對培訓的關注。在遊戲方面，我們幾乎完全停止了新遊戲的推出，減少了近 80% 的遊戲數量，同時也採用了非常複雜的定價結構。這些失誤限制了我們推動流量、銷售和品牌相關性的能力。

Our remodel program, while moving the needle, also missed the mark, overspending against plan with a prototype that underperformed potential with limited marketing support. Finally, poor CapEx discipline translated to significantly lower than normalized cash flow generation.

我們的改造計劃雖然取得了一些進展，但也未能達到目標，支出超出計劃，而且原型機的性能未達到預期，行銷支援也有限。最後，糟糕的資本支出紀律導致現金流產生量明顯低於正常水準。

Now turning the right-hand side of what has worked. Recently, we have made meaningful progress in several areas. In marketing, we reintroduced TV advertising and sharpened promotions with fewer, more focused offerings.

現在轉向已經起作用的右邊。最近，我們在幾個領域取得了有意義的進展。在行銷方面，我們重新引入電視廣告，並透過更少但更有針對性的促銷活動加強促銷。

In food and beverage, we improved attach rates with our Eat & Play combo and through stronger positioning of entrées and a revamped and successfully tested new menu. Operationally, we have simplified our initiatives, which I will touch on more in a later slide, and we have rebuilt our corporate field communication as well as our training teams, which I'm particularly passionate about given my background as an operator. In games, we have moved quickly to introduce 10 new titles in '25.

在食品和飲料方面，我們透過 Eat & Play 組合、更強的主菜定位以及經過改進並成功測試的新菜單提高了附加率。在營運方面，我們簡化了我們的舉措，我將在後面的幻燈片中詳細介紹，並且我們重建了我們的企業現場溝通以及培訓團隊，鑑於我作為運營商的背景，我對此特別熱衷。在遊戲方面，我們迅速採取行動，於 2025 年推出了 10 款新遊戲。

With remodels, we have controlled spending, and we have a new prototype that we will be getting out in the market very soon that we are encouraged will drive better results at a fraction of the cost, and we will couple it with better marketing support to drive awareness with traffic to really showcase the newness of the asset. Finally, on cash flow, we have pursued a more capital-light new store financing, as Darin mentioned earlier, that will bring down upfront expenditure, and we have successfully cut low ROI and wasteful CapEx now.

透過改造，我們控制了支出，並且我們很快就會在市場上推出新的原型，我們鼓勵它以極低的成本帶來更好的結果，並且我們將結合更好的營銷支持來提高知名度和流量，真正展示資產的新穎性。最後，在現金流方面，正如達林之前提到的，我們追求更輕資本的新店融資，這將降低前期支出，現在我們已經成功削減了低投資回報率和浪費的資本支出。

Together, these actions are strengthening our performance and positioning us for sustained growth. Moving to the next slide. On the back of the things that are working, on this next slide, we demonstrate progress made so far. Our back-to-basic strategy with Kevin drove a material improvement in same-store sales. It's still short of where we ultimately want to be, but has been a significant stabilizer.

這些舉措共同增強了我們的業績，並為我們實現持續成長奠定了基礎。移至下一張投影片。在正在進行的工作的基礎上，我們在下一張幻燈片中展示了迄今為止的進展。我們與凱文一起實施的回歸基礎策略推動了同店銷售額的大幅提升。雖然距離我們最終想要達到的目標還有差距，但已經成為一個重要的穩定器。

Our food and beverage and special events business are turning solidly positive, driven by our winning promotions, menu revamp and investment in field sales managers. Our company continues to benefit from the recent and significant improvements in our special events business, which drives awareness, subsequent trips and deeper brand engagement.

在我們成功的促銷、菜單改進和對現場銷售經理的投資的推動下，我們的食品、飲料和特別活動業務正在穩步向好。我們公司繼續受益於近期特別活動業務的顯著改善，這提高了知名度、帶來了後續旅行和更深入的品牌參與。

While our overall same-store sales special events revenue has been up 6% year-to-date, the Dave & Buster's brand comparable special events revenue was up nearly 10% year-over-year and 20% over 2023 in the second quarter.

雖然我們的整體同店銷售特別活動收入今年迄今已增長 6%，但第二季度 Dave & Buster 品牌可比特別活動收入同比增長近 10%，比 2023 年增長 20%。

We continue to achieve sizable 40%-plus returns on our new stores, and we have opened 22 since the start of fiscal 2024. While we did not execute our remodel program to date as we did like, these new assets are outperforming non-remodel stores by 700 basis points, which continues to highlight the opportunity to do more remodels at an appropriate cost and with the right elements.

我們的新店繼續實現 40% 以上的可觀回報率，自 2024 財年開始以來，我們已經開設了 22 家新店。雖然我們迄今為止沒有按照我們所希望的方式執行我們的改造計劃，但這些新資產的表現比未改造的商店高出 700 個基點，這繼續凸顯了以適當的成本和正確的要素進行更多改造的機會。

Moving to the next slide. As you all know, our company unveiled a comprehensive strategic plan at our Investor Day in 2023. I believe this plan had the right ideas. We just attempted to implement too much at the same time. I strongly believe that focus on prioritized execution is key.

移至下一張投影片。大家知道，我們公司在2023年投資者日上公佈了全面的策略規劃。我相信這個計劃是正確的。我們只是試圖同時實現太多的事情。我堅信，專注於優先執行是關鍵。

The areas that I am most focused on at the moment are; one, marketing, where we look to drive incremental traffic by improving consideration and frequency by improving the overall marketing message through an optimized media mix and leverage our large national sports viewing platform.

我目前最關注的領域是：一是行銷，我們希望透過優化媒體組合來改善整體行銷訊息，提高考慮度和頻率，從而增加流量，並利用我們大型的國家體育觀看平台。

Two, food and beverage, improving all aspects of the menu and attach and spend per customer. Three, operations, continue to repair communication between the corporate and the field, reemphasize training and reenergize the focus of the field to provide a high-quality guest experience.

二、餐飲方面，完善菜單各方面內容，並附加每位顧客的消費。三、營運方面，持續修復公司與第一線之間的溝通，重新強調培訓，並重新激發第一線的關注度，以提供高品質的客戶體驗。

Four, games, introduce a marketable lineup of 10 or more new games each year. We scrambled in fiscal 2025, 2026 and beyond will be awesome. We will push harder to include exclusive titles and more culturally relevant IP. And finally, five remodels, modernize and refresh the look and feel of units and improve the layout to increase traffic and overall productivity.

四、遊戲，每年推出10款或以上適銷對路的新遊戲陣容。我們在 2025 財年、2026 財年及以後的努力將會非常出色。我們將更努力納入獨家作品和更多具有文化相關性的智慧財產權。最後，進行五次改造，使單位的外觀和感覺更加現代化和煥然一新，並改善佈局以增加流量和整體生產力。

Moving to the next slide, what are the immediate near-term goals. I want to take this opportunity to make it very clear, and this is internally too, that my near-term goals are to grow same-store sales and generate and grow free cash flow now.

轉到下一張投影片，近期目標是什麼。我想藉此機會明確表示，這也是內部的，我的近期目標是增加同店銷售額並產生和增加自由現金流。

We will do this by narrowing our focus to the five areas outlined on the prior page. And I'm just reminding relaunching our marketing engine by implementing an effective integrated marketing strategy and continuing to press on the success of local store sales managers and simplifying our value messages.

我們將透過將重點縮小到上一頁概述的五個領域來實現這一目標。我只是提醒透過實施有效的整合行銷策略來重新啟動我們的行銷引擎，並繼續推動當地商店銷售經理的成功並簡化我們的價值訊息。

Two, transform our food and beverage offerings with the launch of our Back to Basics menu nationwide this quarter; three, improving operations with a renewed focus on delivering an exceptional guest experience; four, refreshing our games offering to continue to introduce over 10 new marketable games to the midway each year; and finally, revamping our remodel program with a new prototype and appropriate marketing support.

二是本季在全國範圍內推出「回歸基礎」菜單，改進食品和飲料供應；三是改善運營，重新註重提供卓越的客戶體驗；四是更新遊戲供應，繼續每年向中場推出 10 多個新的適銷對路的遊戲；最後，透過新的原型和適當的營銷支持改進我們的改造計劃。

I also wanted to share with you all that we are not waiting to make changes and implement our refocused strategy. We are making changes and implementing them real time. So coming up, we have a strong fall campaign, and we are excited to have launched our new fall season pass, giving guests unlimited daily gameplay, exclusive food and beverage discounts and three value-packed options to choose from building on the success of our summer pass, this program creates even more reasons to visit Dave & Buster's throughout the season. With everyday value and experiences that bring people together, we are reinforcing Dave & Buster's as a go-to destination for fun this fall.

我也想與大家分享，我們不會等待做出改變並實施我們重新調整的策略。我們正在進行變革並即時實施。因此，我們即將推出強大的秋季活動，我們很高興推出新的秋季通行證，為客人提供無限的每日遊戲、獨家食品和飲料折扣以及三種超值選擇，在我們夏季通行證成功的基礎上，該計劃為整個季節訪問 Dave & Buster's 創造了更多理由。憑藉日常價值和將人們聚集在一起的體驗，我們正在鞏固 Dave & Buster's 作為今年秋季娛樂首選目的地的地位。

We're also putting the final touches on our winter pass that we will debut in the fourth quarter. Our recently launched football watch offering complete with specials like 10 for 10 wings, continued enhancements to the leaderboard competition on our arcade floors while continuing to run our very popular evergreen promotions of the $19.99 Eat & Play combo sets us up for good momentum.

我們也正在冬季通行證進行最後的完善，並將於第四季推出。我們最近推出的足球觀看節目配有 10 換 10 雞翅等特色節目，繼續增強我們遊戲廳的排行榜競賽，同時繼續推出我們非常受歡迎的 19.99 美元吃喝玩樂組合促銷活動，為我們創造了良好的發展勢頭。

Capping off the fall football festivities is our latest midway challenge, the two-minute drill, where we invite football fans and gamers to compete for national and local leaderboard positions each week, looking to break single season passing records over the course of the season.

秋季足球慶典的壓軸大戲是我們最新的中期挑戰——兩分鐘訓練，我們邀請足球迷和遊戲玩家每週爭奪國家和地方排行榜的位置，力爭在整個賽季中打破單賽季的傳球記錄。

We will be debuting our new back-to-basics menu in October and are doubling down on the rollout of our very profitable human crane to additional Dave & Buster's and the main event stores. We will also be launching our revised remodel program in the coming weeks.

我們將在十月推出新的回歸基本菜單，並將加倍努力將我們非常有利可圖的人力起重機推廣到更多的 Dave & Buster's 和主要活動商店。我們也將在未來幾週內推出修訂後的改造計畫。

Moving to the next slide. I wanted to touch briefly on our financial position and leave you with a few key takeaways from my position. We have a strong cash flow and a strong balance sheet. This business will generate cash flow and here is the profile of the cash flow generation. We have a very strong balance sheet with no near-term maturities and significant liquidity to invest in our strategy.

移至下一張投影片。我想簡單談談我們的財務狀況，並告訴大家我的一些關鍵要點。我們擁有強勁的現金流和強勁的資產負債表。這項業務將產生現金流，以下是現金流產生的概況。我們的資產負債表非常強勁，沒有短期到期債務，並且擁有大量流動性來投資我們的策略。

Moving to the next slide. I also wanted to touch briefly on our current valuation. Comparing against our broad peer group, there's no other way to say it than this business is extremely undervalued today. Based on the strength of our brand, the basic economics of the business, the strong cash flow generation and the significant potential of the business, I'm very confident we are worth a lot more than we are today, which leads me to my final point in the presentation. As you all know, I personally signed up to a compensation package tied to a near-term achievement of $675 million of annual EBITDA.

移至下一張投影片。我還想簡單談談我們目前的估值。與我們廣大的同行相比，可以說這家企業目前被嚴重低估了。基於我們品牌的實力、業務的基本經濟狀況、強勁的現金流產生能力以及業務的巨大潛力，我非常有信心我們的價值將遠遠高於現在，這也引出了我在演講中的最後一點。眾所周知，我個人簽署了一項與近期實現 6.75 億美元年度 EBITDA 掛鉤的薪酬方案。

As you can see from this page, and as you all know well, I think the point is important to make, nonetheless, there is very meaningful upside in the price of our stock and the value of our business based on very achievable financial results in the near term. I'm personally highly motivated and aligned to drive this business forward, and I look forward to our shared success. And with that, operator, please open the line for questions.

正如您從本頁所看到的，並且大家都知道，我認為這一點很重要，儘管如此，基於短期內非常可實現的財務業績，我們的股票價格和業務價值仍有非常顯著的上漲空間。我個人非常積極並致力於推動這項業務向前發展，我期待我們共同取得成功。接線員，請打開熱線來回答問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Jeff Farmer, Gordon Haskett.

傑夫法默、戈登哈斯凱特。

Great, thanks. Thank you, and welcome to Tarun. Good to have you on board. I might have missed this, but in the release, you noted that 3Q same-store sales to date are consistent with what you saw exiting Q2. The call did cut out, but did you guys mention those numbers more specifically, what those same-store sales trends look like?

太好了，謝謝。謝謝，歡迎來到 Tarun。很高興您能加入我們。我可能錯過了這一點，但在新聞稿中，您指出迄今為止的第三季同店銷售額與您在第二季結束時看到的一致。通話確實中斷了，但你們有沒有更具體地說明這些數字，同店銷售趨勢如何？

No, we did not. We didn't quantify those. But with five weeks into Q2 last year of down 2.2% and we printed down 3% for the quarter, you can kind of back into what the second half looked like. And our trends are pretty consistent with that in Q3.

不，我們沒有。我們沒有量化這些。但去年第二季已過五週，銷售額下降了 2.2%，而本季銷售額下降了 3%，你可以大致回顧一下下半年的情況。我們的趨勢與第三季的趨勢非常一致。

Okay. I only bring it up because you mentioned July was sort of a little bit of a low watermark with the calendar shift. So I didn't know if things have gotten a little bit better. So I'll move on from that. Again, in the prepared remarks, you did call out value perception as one of the challenges that Dave & Buster's is facing. Can you just elaborate on that, and what you think some of the opportunities are with value perception? Thank you.

好的。我之所以提起這一點，只是因為你提到七月是日曆變化中的一個低水位線。所以我不知道情況是否有改善。因此我將不再談論此主題。再一次，在準備好的發言中，您確實指出價值觀念是 Dave & Buster 面臨的挑戰之一。能否詳細說明一下這一點？您認為價值認知方面有哪些機會？謝謝。

Yes. Thank you for the question and for the welcome. We have a very strong value proposition. I just think that we have marketed in a way that has confused our customers. And so we are currently working on simplifying the messaging and that messaging should go out as we execute our next marketing window. So I think it's not about not having the right value. I just think that both our retail marketing and our general communication has created confusion on the value ladders, and we know how to fix this now.

是的。謝謝您的提問與歡迎。我們有一個非常強大的價值主張。我只是認為我們的行銷方式讓客戶感到困惑。因此，我們目前正在努力簡化訊息傳遞，這些訊息應該在我們執行下一個行銷視窗時發出。所以我認為這與價值觀不正確無關。我只是認為我們的零售行銷和一般溝通在價值階梯上造成了混亂，我們現在知道如何解決這個問題。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

Andy Barish, Jefferies.

安迪‧巴里什 (Andy Barish)，傑富瑞 (Jefferies)。

Hey guys and yeah, welcome. I guess just -- this was the first quarter where the same-store sales were kind of close, but margins missed. So I'm just trying to get a sense of kind of where things shake out. I know the food mix is higher, which is lower margins.

嘿，大家好，歡迎光臨。我想這只是——這是同店銷售額接近但利潤率未達標的第一個季度。所以我只是想了解事情會如何發展。我知道食品成分較高，利潤率較低。

But is your impression, Tarun, that there is some reinvestment needed in the business and just kind of trying to gauge where -- what that means for kind of fourth quarter margins. I know 3Q is sort of the low of the year. But yes, just trying to level set on sort of where you think margins are near term in the business.

但是，塔倫，您的印像是，業務需要一些再投資，只是想判斷這對第四季度的利潤率意味著什麼。我知道第三季是今年的最低點。但是是的，只是試圖確定您認為業務近期的利潤水平。

Yeah. Andy, this is Darin. I'll take that question. Yes. So in the quarter, we had a few things at play. When you look overall at our cost structure and our cost increase year-over-year, a third of our cost increase just in terms of just raw dollars is coming from new units.

是的。安迪，這是達林。我來回答這個問題。是的。因此，在本季度，我們開展了一些工作。當你整體審視我們的成本結構和成本的同比增長時，我們會發現，僅以原始美元計算，成本增長的三分之一來自新單位。

We've got another third that we were lapping a number of credits in the prior year and some other one-off items. There were some insurance adjustments in the prior year. There were some other franchise tax items impacting EBITDA in the prior year. And then we had some unusual sort of one-off legal type costs as well this quarter.

我們還有另外三分之一，這是我們在前一年累積的一些積分和一些其他一次性項目。去年有一些保險調整。上一年還有一些其他特許經營稅項目影響了 EBITDA。本季我們也有一些不尋常的一次性法律費用。

And then on top of it, sort of the remaining third was a mix of -- there was some reinvestment in the game room floor and the stores from an RM perspective, particularly as we geared up for the summer of games when we rolled out all of our new games.

除此之外，剩下的三分之一是混合的——從 RM 的角度來看，對遊戲室和商店進行了一些再投資，特別是當我們為推出所有新遊戲的夏季遊戲做好準備時。

We wanted to make sure that, that experience was tight and our games were operable. But we believe that's a bit of a high watermark on that and the second half of the year is not going to be at those levels, but that was some incremental cost.

我們希望確保體驗是緊密的並且我們的遊戲是可操作的。但我們認為，這有點高水位，今年下半年不會達到這個水平，但這確實會增加一些成本。

And then obviously, we had some incremental marketing costs as well in the quarter. So when we think about the second half of the year in terms of where we've seen sort of that EBITDA margin miss versus the prior year.

顯然，本季我們的行銷成本也有一些增加。因此，當我們考慮下半年的情況時，我們發現 EBITDA 利潤率與前一年相比有所下降。

We anticipate that, that will be very much moderated in the second half of the year, not only through, we believe, just more profitable top line performance, but also us not lapping some of these items from the prior year and not having some of these one-off items that impacted us for the quarter.

我們預計，下半年這一情況將得到很大緩和，我們相信，這不僅是因為營收表現更加盈利，而且因為我們不會重複去年的一些項目，也不會出現一些對本季度造成影響的一次性項目。

Got you. Very, very helpful. And then can you just kind of give us a sense of sort of getting back on marketing and value with Eat & Play, where that has kind of mixed of late versus maybe versus historical levels or something kind of give us a sense of how the back to basics is working?

明白了。非常非常有幫助。然後，您能否讓我們了解一下 Eat & Play 的營銷和價值回歸情況，以及最近與歷史水平相比的混合情況，或者讓我們了解一下回歸基礎的運作方式？

Yeah, sure. So we've continued to experience some nice opt-in on the EPC. We're still at about 8% to 10% opt-in rate, which we like, which has -- which is higher than where things have been historically. And for a few reasons. Number one, I think we've done a really nice job with the offers within the Eat & Play combo.

是的，當然。因此，我們在 EPC 上繼續體驗到一些不錯的選擇。我們的選擇加入率仍然保持在 8% 到 10% 左右，這是我們喜歡的水平，也高於歷史水平。原因有幾個。首先，我認為我們在「吃喝玩樂」組合中提供的服務做得非常好。

We're seeing food upgrades on 30% of our EPC mix, which we really like. We're also -- as mentioned before, we're now offering this Eat & Play combo on the kiosk. So for those guests, that might just be coming in intending just to play games, we're now presenting to them a very valuable offer on the kiosk, which is really driving some nice attach for us there that we really like. And so overall, we're really liking our performance. We're seeing a nice upgrade on the Power Card piece as well, including an all you can play upgrade and a $75 card upgrade.

我們看到 30% 的 EPC 組合食品得到了升級，我們對此感到非常滿意。正如之前提到的，我們現在在自助服務終端上提供這種「吃和玩」套餐。因此，對於那些可能只是為了玩遊戲而來的客人，我們現在在售貨亭上向他們提供了非常有價值的優惠，這確實為我們帶來了一些我們非常喜歡的良好體驗。總的來說，我們真的很喜歡我們的表演。我們還看到了 Power Card 的良好升級，包括所有可玩升級和 75 美元的卡片升級。

I mean that's representing almost a third of our Eat & Play combo opt-ins as well. So, really liking that. And to Tarun's point, this is a really good value message that we know our guests like and our operators really like executing on as well.

我的意思是這也佔了我們「吃喝玩樂」組合選擇的近三分之一。所以，真的很喜歡。正如 Tarun 所說，這是一個非常有價值的訊息，我們知道我們的客人喜歡它，我們的運營商也非常喜歡執行它。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Andrew Strelzik, BMO.

蒙特利爾銀行 (BMO) 的 Andrew Strelzik。

Hey, thanks for taking the questions. My first one, Tarun, maybe if you take a step back, you mentioned in some of the prepared remarks some of the prior turnarounds that you led in your prior roles. And I guess I was wondering if you could maybe compare or contrast what you're seeing at Dave & Buster's with that prior experience.

嘿，謝謝你回答這些問題。我的第一個問題，塔倫，如果您退一步來說，您在一些準備好的發言中提到了您在之前的職位上所領導的一些轉變。我想知道您是否可以將 Dave & Buster's 的現狀與之前的經驗進行比較或對比。

And I guess I'm wondering, in particular, it's such a different type of brand, different type of concept than in your prior roles. So I guess where do you see the similarities that you can draw on and maybe some of the differences that might take a little bit more learning?

我想我特別想知道的是，這是一個與您之前的角色截然不同的品牌類型，不同類型的概念。那麼，我想您認為它們之間有哪些相似之處可以藉鑑，又有哪些不同之處可能需要進一步學習呢？

That's a great question, Andrew. So my view, Andrew, is that when it comes to business transformations, there are generally more similarities than differences. And if I really think about it from a short-term perspective, the brand has kind of lost its distinctiveness. There's generally a value perception at play. And so if you can kind of sharply communicate value in the short term through a really distinctive communication, you can drive some levels of same-store sales growth.

這個問題問得非常好，安德魯。因此，安德魯，我的觀點是，當談到業務轉型時，一般來說相似之處多於不同之處。如果我真的從短期角度考慮這個問題，這個品牌已經失去了它的獨特性。這通常是一種價值觀在運作。因此，如果你能透過真正獨特的溝通方式在短期內清楚傳達價值，你就能推動同店銷售額一定程度的成長。

But really, what is very important is that in the medium to short -- in the medium to long term, two things are very, very important. One is making sure that you have the right capability on the team and you have the right culture in the business, which is really guest-first culture, a true obsession with guests. And the second piece is really ensuring that your brand positioning is right, and there's clarity that your brand has that consumers truly understand.

但實際上，非常重要的是，從中短期到中長期來看，有兩件事非常非常重要。一是確保你的團隊擁有合適的能力，並且你的企業擁有正確的文化，即真正的以客人為先的文化，真正關心客人。第二點是確保您的品牌定位正確，並且您的品牌清晰易懂，讓消費者真正理解。

So in those areas, there is complete -- there is similarity between what I've done in the past and the challenge at Dave & Buster's. I think the one difference for sure is that there is additional complexity at Dave & Buster's because not only do you offer food and beverage here, not only do we offer food and beverage here, there's also a massive fun and entertainment business that's almost an anchor for us.

因此，在這些方面，我過去所做的事情與 Dave & Buster 面臨的挑戰完全有相似之處。我認為一個肯定的區別是 Dave & Buster's 的複雜性更高，因為你們不僅在這裡提供食品和飲料，我們也不僅在這裡提供食品和飲料，還有大量的娛樂業務，這幾乎是我們的支柱。

So it's a different product for me that I'm trying to understand. And that's why I spent so much time in the field, like learning from the ground up. So I think the product is where the real distinction is. But as I said, in my mind, with most of these transformations, there are more similarities than differences.

所以對我來說，這是一個不同的產品，我正在努力去了解它。這就是為什麼我花了這麼多時間在這個領域，從頭開始學習。所以我認為產品才是真正的差別。但正如我所說，在我看來，大多數此類轉變的相似之處多於不同之處。

Okay. That's helpful context. And then maybe I wanted to dig in a little on your comments about the poor CapEx discipline and I'm curious about some of the ways you plan to evolve that. But in particular, I'd love to hear your thoughts on new store growth and continuing to open double-digit new stores at a time when you are trying to affect a lot of change and the comps have been under pressure. And I know the 40% returns, we've heard that number a lot over time.

好的。這是很有幫助的背景資訊。然後，也許我想深入了解您對糟糕的資本支出紀律的評論，並且我很好奇您計劃採取哪些方法來改進它。但特別的是，我很想聽聽您對新店成長的看法，以及在您試圖影響很多變化並且同店承受壓力的時候繼續開設兩位數的新店。我知道 40% 的回報率，隨著時間的推移，我們已經多次聽到這個數字。

I think the investment community probably has a hard time with that number just given the performance over the last several years. So just would love to get your perspective on the CapEx evolution here and the new store growth. Thank you.

我認為，考慮到過去幾年的表現，投資界可能很難接受這個數字。所以我很想聽聽您對這裡的資本支出演變和新店成長的看法。謝謝。

So Andrew, let me first request Darin to respond to one part of the question, then I'll share my thoughts on this too. Darin?

所以安德魯，首先請達林回答問題的一部分，然後我也會分享我的想法。達林？

Yeah. So as you noted, the 40% return is obviously -- and that's a year one cash-on-cash return that is very advantageous for us. We continue to have the ability to find great sites, staff them appropriately despite the focus on the core business and find really great partners to help us with our capital for ground ups.

是的。正如您所說，40% 的回報率顯然是——這是第一年的現金回報率，對我們來說非常有利。儘管我們專注於核心業務，但我們仍然有能力找到優秀的站點，為其配備適當的人員，並找到真正優秀的合作夥伴來幫助我們提供啟動資金。

So I think we continue to feel like we can open these at $9 million to $10 million net CapEx each. And that's an area that, as we've discussed before, look, we can lever up or down there depending on the needs of the business.

因此我認為我們仍然覺得我們可以以每家 900 萬至 1000 萬美元的淨資本支出開設這些公司。正如我們之前討論過的，我們可以根據業務需求提高或降低該領域的槓桿率。

But where we currently sit with the returns, with the pipeline that we have in front of us and how we think about competitive positioning over the medium and long term, it's an area that we're still very, very bullish on.

但就我們目前的回報、我們面前的管道以及我們對中長期競爭定位的看法而言，我們仍然非常看好這個領域。

So with that, Tarun, any other context you want to provide?

那麼，Tarun，您還有其他想要提供的資訊嗎？

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Darin. So just to add to that, Andrew, in my perspective, adding 6% to 7% of growth is, in my mind, not really a distraction. Clearly, our focus is on growing same-store sales growth. And so the core business is definitely our primary focus.

是的。謝謝。謝謝你，達林。因此，安德魯，補充一點，從我的角度來看，增加 6% 到 7% 的成長率，在我看來，並不會造成太大的干擾。顯然，我們的重點是提高同店銷售額的成長。因此核心業務絕對是我們關注的重點。

And to that end, if you think about -- if you look at international, where I've spent a lot of my time, that offers tremendous growth opportunities. But like for me, the real focus is the core business in the US. And I strongly believe that we can get the core business humming and continue to add 6% to 7% growth through net new unit addition without distracting the team. And I believe this not only because of my past experience, but because I spent a lot of time in the field, this sort of growth really excites and energizes the team.

為此，如果你想想——如果你看看國際市場，我花了很多時間，那裡提供了巨大的成長機會。但對我來說，真正的重點是美國的核心業務。我堅信，我們可以讓核心業務蓬勃發展，並透過增加新單位繼續實現 6% 至 7% 的成長率，而不會分散團隊的注意力。我相信這不僅是因為我過去的經歷，還因為我在這個領域花了大量時間，這種成長確實激勵並鼓舞了團隊。

Growth is -- it makes them feel like they're winning, and it's quite -- it's very motivating. So we will continue with this level of growth until we kind of feel that we are in a stronger position. We've got our momentum -- sales momentum back, and then we would explore whether we want to change this number or change this target in the future.

成長讓他們感覺自己正在獲勝，這非常鼓舞人心。因此，我們將繼續保持這種成長水平，直到我們感覺自己處於更強大的地位。我們已經恢復了銷售勢頭，然後我們會探索是否要在未來改變這個數字或改變這個目標。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Thank you. Jake Bartlett, Truist Securities.

（操作員指示）謝謝。傑克·巴特利特（Jake Bartlett），Truist Securities。

Great, thank you so much for taking the question and Welcome, Tarun. I look forward to hearing from you over the next number of years. My question is on the strategic game pricing. We had done a check and just found a pretty big change in the pricing over the last -- I'm not sure how much time exactly, but at least the last few months and then even more recently, where the pricing has gone to one tier essentially part of the prior plan had been multiple tiers.

太好了，非常感謝您回答這個問題，歡迎您，Tarun。我期待在未來幾年內收到您的來信。我的問題是關於戰略遊戲定價的。我們進行了檢查，發現價格在最近發生了相當大的變化——我不確定具體變化了多長時間，但至少在過去幾個月，甚至最近，價格已經下降到一個層級，而之前的計劃基本上是多個層級的。

And it seems like there's one level of kind of pricing across the system now. And it also seems like the average price per ticket is significantly lower than it had been under the prior plan. So the question is, one, what kind of impact is that having on the results kind of near term, and we look at positive food and beverage same-store sales, but negative same-store sales overall.

現在整個系統似乎都只有一個定價水準。而且看起來每張票的平均價格也比之前的計劃低了很多。所以問題是，第一，這會對短期業績產生什麼樣的影響，我們看到食品和飲料同店銷售額呈正增長，但整體同店銷售額呈負增長。

Is that contributing to it? And then also why the change? There were some questions earlier about value. This seems like a pretty big step towards the value direction and just the thought process around it. Thank you.

這有助於它嗎？那為什麼要改變呢？之前有一些關於價值的問題。這似乎是朝著價值方向以及圍繞它的思考過程邁出的一大步。謝謝。

Yeah. Jake, Darin. Yeah, I'll take that. We -- going back to Tarun's comment on just the value proposition and the value perception with our guests, the game pricing was a really large focus of that. And to go back to last year, when you think about what the brand did in terms of increasing rate card pricing as well as increasing game level pricing at a time where there was not investment in the midway.

是的。傑克、達林。是的，我會接受的。我們——回到 Tarun 對價值主張和我們嘉賓的價值認知的評論，遊戲定價是其中的一大焦點。回顧去年，當你思考該品牌在中途沒有投資的情況下提高了費率表定價以及提高了遊戲等級定價時所做的事情時。

It was really -- it was a combination that really led to a less than advantageous value proposition for the guest. And so what we did really starting in April was we started testing some various rate card optimizations where we really focused on the entry point for the rate card, how many chips that you got with some very defined objectives around value.

這確實是一種對客人而言不太有利的價值主張的組合。因此，我們從四月開始真正做的就是開始測試一些不同的價目表優化，我們真正關注的是價目表的切入點，以及你獲得了多少籌碼，以及圍繞價值的一些非常明確的目標。

And then we -- and the game level pricing, what we really wanted to do was allow the guest to spend the same amount that they've been spending, but have more time in the midway. We wanted to increase dwell time. We wanted their power card to extend longer and for them to enjoy their experience more because that was key findings that we got in consumer research after the fact.

然後我們——以及遊戲等級的定價，我們真正想要做的是讓客人花費與他們一直以來花費的相同的金額，但在中途有更多的時間。我們希望增加停留時間。我們希望他們的電源卡能夠使用更長時間，讓他們更享受體驗，因為這是我們在事後消費者研究中得到的關鍵發現。

And then the last leg is managing margins through strategic win pricing. So we've done a number of different tests on that over the last several weeks, the last few months. And we think we're in a nice spot right now. We're starting to see growth in our average card loads, but also provide a much, much better value to the guest.

最後一步是透過策略性定價來管理利潤。因此，在過去幾週和幾個月裡，我們對此進行了許多不同的測試。我們認為我們現在處於一個很好的位置。我們開始看到平均卡片額度的成長，同時也為客人提供了更好的價值。

And so look, this is an area that we're going to continue to be smart, continue to optimize. And I think there still is the opportunity for us to look at that different sort of regional pricing. But in terms of simplicity of rollout, simplicity of messaging, this was an area that we really wanted to focus on.

所以看，這是一個我們將繼續保持智慧、繼續優化的領域。我認為我們仍然有機會研究不同類型的區域定價。但就推出的簡單性、訊息傳遞的簡單性而言，這是我們真正想要關注的領域。

Eric Wold, Texas Capital Securities.

沃爾德 (Eric Wold)，德州資本證券公司。

Thanks, good afternoon. I just want to dig in a little bit on the kind of the same-store sales trends in the quarter. I know you kind of gave us the down 2.2% in the first five weeks. I know in the last call, you talked about some optimism around the Memorial Day holiday and kind of what you're seeing in June with some positive days in June.

謝謝，下午好。我只是想深入了解本季同店銷售趨勢。我知道您告訴我們前五週下降了 2.2%。我知道在上次通話中，您談到了陣亡將士紀念日假期的一些樂觀情緒，以及您在六月看到的一些積極的日子。

Maybe a little kind of what you saw kind of as you went into July, other than the calendar shift and maybe some comparisons with an earlier school start versus last year. Was there any shift in terms of spending habits or kind of the way the consumer is reacting that you kind of was different from what you were seeing in the last call, kind of really shift in terms of the way the consumer is spending once you were in the store? I know you don't break out attendance versus spend. But kind of once they were in there, were you seeing any kind of shift in terms of their habits once they're in the locations?

除了日曆的變化以及與去年相比開學時間提前的情況相比，這可能有點像你進入七月時看到的情況。消費者的消費習慣或反應方式是否發生了變化，與上次通話時看到的情況有什麼不同？消費者進入商店後的消費方式是否真的改變了？我知道您不會單獨列出出勤率和支出。但是，一旦他們到達那裡，你是否看到他們的習慣發生了任何變化？

No, really didn't see any change in spending. That was pretty consistent. We -- I think as we continue to determine what the right messaging is, particularly in this environment, our learnings with the Eat & Play combo messaging as well as the summer of games, we think that resonated more with our guests than maybe the later summer leaderboard initiative. So those are learnings that we're grabbing hold of and optimizing in the second half of the year.

不，確實沒有看到支出有任何變化。這是相當一致的。我們——我認為，隨著我們繼續確定什麼是正確的信息，特別是在這種環境下，我們從“吃和玩”組合信息以及夏季遊戲中獲得的經驗，我們認為這比夏季末的排行榜計劃更能引起我們客人的共鳴。這些都是我們在下半年要掌握並優化的經驗。

Brian Mullan, Piper Sandler.

布萊恩·穆蘭、派珀·桑德勒。

Hey, thank you. I wanted to come back to the marketing conversation. I don't want to belabor it, but just ask in maybe a different way. Tarun, I'm wondering if you could give your assessment, does this business need to significantly increase the dollar amount of marketing investments in order to really drive traffic back to the stores? I understand you're going back on TV, you're changing the messaging. Those are good things. But was there enough spend even prior to when the brand went off TV?

嘿，謝謝你。我想回到行銷話題。我不想過多地談論它，只是想換個方式問一下。Tarun，我想知道您是否可以給出您的評估，這家企業是否需要大幅增加行銷投資金額才能真正吸引客流回到商店？我知道你要重返電視，你要改變訊息傳遞方式。這些都是好事。但是，在該品牌退出電視市場之前，是否有足夠的支出？

I don't believe we need to change the run rate of investments in marketing just now. We have tried a different media mix, which is working. We will continue to further refine it to make the spend more effective. But I don't believe that we need to increase the dollar amount of spend at this point of time.

我認為我們現在不需要改變行銷投資的運作率。我們嘗試了不同的媒體組合，效果很好。我們將繼續進一步完善它，使支出更加有效。但我不認為我們現在需要增加支出金額。

Brian Vaccaro, Raymond James.

布萊恩·瓦卡羅、雷蒙·詹姆斯。

Hi, thanks and good evening and congratulations on your new role, Tarun. I just wanted to follow up on the pricing changes that you mentioned earlier. I know it can be tough to quantify, but I guess, can you level set what level of check versus traffic growth we're seeing reflected in the down 3% comp this quarter?

嗨，謝謝，晚上好，恭喜你擔任新職務，Tarun。我只是想跟進您之前提到的價格變化。我知道這很難量化，但我想，您能否設定本季 3% 的同比下降反映出的支票水準與流量成長水準？

Maybe how that compares? Is there a meaningful change in check that we should be mindful of? And also as we think about the second half, how average check could trend given some of these changes that you've made?

也許可以比較一下？檢查中是否存在值得我們注意的重大變化？而且當我們考慮下半年時，考慮到您所做的某些改變，平均支票趨勢會如何？

Yeah. Brian, yeah, we didn't provide much -- any color there. But what I say is some of the things that we've done on the F&B side with respect to the attach on the Eat & Play combo, in particular, we're seeing more -- we're seeing check growth coming from that aspect of the business.

是的。布萊恩，是的，我們沒有提供太多——任何顏色。但我想說的是，我們在餐飲方面所做的一些事情，特別是關於「吃和玩」組合的附加，我們看到了更多——我們看到了來自這方面的業務增長。

I think more importantly, to the second half of your question, as we look at the second half of the year, look, I think that's going to continue to be a tailwind for us. We're rolling out a new menu in October system-wide that is going to be reintroducing a bunch of fan favorites historically.

我認為更重要的是，對於你問題的後半年，當我們展望今年下半年時，我認為這將繼續成為我們的順風。我們將於十月在全系統範圍內推出新菜單，重新推出一系列歷來深受粉絲喜愛的菜餚。

We've been testing that for a while and are seeing nice check growth there. And again, the nice thing is it's not due to price. Really, it's due to just driving guests towards entrées and some other menu options that are just driving check that we like. And then this work that we've done with the game pricing, we believe will provide a tailwind for us as well. So optimistic that we'll have some tailwinds on the check side in the second half of the year.

我們已經測試了一段時間，並且看到了良好的成長。再次強調，令人高興的是，這並不是因為價格。確實，這只是因為引導客人選擇主菜和一些其他菜單選項，而這些選項只是引導客人選擇我們喜歡的。我們相信，我們在遊戲定價方面所做的工作也將為我們提供順風。我們非常樂觀地認為，今年下半年我們將在支票方面獲得一些順風。

Mike Hickey, The Benchmark StoneX Company.

Mike Hickey，Benchmark StoneX 公司。

Hey guys. (inaudible) welcome aboard here. Just a quick one on your strategic plan. We appreciate that you feel it was sound and it was just missed execution. And when you look back on the plan, I think one of the bigger takeaways for investors at the time was that you're targeting $1 billion in adjusted EBITDA.

嘿，夥計們。 （聽不清楚）歡迎加入。我只想簡單介紹一下你的戰略計劃。我們感謝您認為它是合理的，只是未能執行。當你回顧這個計畫時，我認為當時投資者最大的收穫之一就是你設定的調整後 EBITDA 目標是 10 億美元。

And if I heard you correctly, it looks like your comp plan is tied to $675 million in adjusted EBITDA, which is a pretty big disconnect from the original strategic plan. Could you just explain that, and if the $675 million is the new target? Thanks.

如果我沒聽錯的話，您的薪酬計劃似乎與 6.75 億美元的調整後 EBITDA 掛鉤，這與最初的戰略計劃有很大脫節。您能解釋一下嗎，6.75 億美元是不是新的目標？謝謝。

So Mike, I'm not aware of the time line for the $1 billion. We can certainly connect separately on that topic. But I'm confident that the $675 million is a number -- is a target that we can hit within the time line that we have kind of committed to. So from my perspective and from this team's perspective, $675 million is a new EBITDA target.

麥克，我不知道這 10 億美元的時間表。我們當然可以就該話題分別進行聯繫。但我確信 6.75 億美元是一個數字，是我們能夠在承諾的時間內實現的目標。因此，從我的角度和這個團隊的角度來看，6.75 億美元是一個新的 EBITDA 目標。

Dennis Geiger, UBS.

瑞銀集團的丹尼斯蓋格。

Great, thanks and Tarun, welcome. I'm curious if you could spend a few more minutes maybe just talking about how you think about maybe the brand-specific missteps, but more so the macro currently and the competitive environment and kind of really just looking ahead and thinking about the macro and how you think about the competitive environment broadly, perhaps relative to your plans? I'm sure the focus is to play your game and execute against the plans that you've outlined. But just how you think about those two dynamics within that context? Thank you.

太好了，謝謝，歡迎 Tarun。我很好奇，您是否可以再花幾分鐘時間談談您對特定品牌失誤的看法，更重要的是當前的宏觀情況和競爭環境，以及您如何展望未來並思考宏觀問題以及您對競爭環境的看法，也許與您的計劃有關？我確信重點是玩你的遊戲並按照你所概述的計劃執行。但是，您如何看待這種背景下的這兩種動態？謝謝。

Yeah. Thank you, Dennis. So Dennis, yeah, there are macro headwinds, absolutely for all businesses. But these come in cycles and businesses should be prepared for them. Consumers are looking for value for their money and brands and companies that deliver that prosper even in tough macro environment.

是的。謝謝你，丹尼斯。丹尼斯，是的，所有企業都面臨宏觀阻力。但這些都是週期性的，企業應該要做好準備。消費者尋求的是物有所值的商品，能夠提供這種價值的品牌和公司即使在嚴峻的宏觀環境下也能蓬勃發展。

So as I shared earlier, one of our priorities is simplifying our marketing message, simplifying our promotions and making it easy for guests to understand what the real value is. And essentially, with value, remember, it's all about trust. It's not how much you're paying only.

正如我之前分享的，我們的首要任務之一是簡化我們的行銷訊息、簡化我們的促銷活動，讓客人輕鬆了解真正的價值。從本質上講，請記住，價值全在於信任。這不僅僅是你付了多少錢的問題。

It's about the value that you're actually receiving from the brand. So I really believe that a key part of the pivot that we are making is kind of really simplifying the messages and making it really transparent for our customers on what they are getting for the money they are spending.

這與您實際從品牌獲得的價值有關。因此，我堅信，我們正在進行的轉變的關鍵部分是真正簡化訊息，並讓客戶真正透明地了解他們所花的錢得到了什麼。

So that clearly is one key part of the pivot on marketing. I think the second part is really making sure that our brand comes across as being distinctive. And there are two components to that. One is the product. As I talked about earlier, we are kind of working on collaborations and partnerships that will give us IP rights that will allow us to offer unique games that only D&B and Main Event can offer.

所以這顯然是行銷重點的關鍵部分。我認為第二部分是真正確保我們的品牌具有獨特性。這其中有兩個部分。一是產品。正如我之前提到的，我們正在進行合作和夥伴關係，這將賦予我們智慧財產權，使我們能夠提供只有 D&B 和 Main Event 才能提供的獨特遊戲。

So that's one part that what is the product you're offering to your consumer. I think the second piece within that is how do you communicate that? And there's so much of communication going on now on both traditional media and the digital medium that if you're not distinctive and you don't stand out, you're basically wasting your dollars. So I think that's the second part of what we are working towards now.

所以這是您向消費者提供的產品的一部分。我認為其中的第二部分是如何傳達這一點？如今，傳統媒體和數位媒體上都有著如此多的交流，如果你不獨特、不脫穎而出，那麼你基本上就是在浪費金錢。所以我認為這就是我們現在正在努力的第二部分。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Tarun Lal for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議交還給 Tarun Lal 並請他做最後發言。

Thank you, operator, and thank you all for joining. In closing, our business is built on a strong foundation, a resilient model, two brands that resonate with customers and experiences that foster loyalty. We delivered solid returns, disciplined operations and sustainable cash flow.

謝謝接線生，也謝謝大家的參與。最後，我們的業務建立在堅實的基礎、有彈性的模式、兩個引起客戶共鳴的品牌以及培養忠誠度的體驗之上。我們實現了穩健的回報、嚴謹的營運和可持續的現金流。

Our leadership team, operators and Board are focused on driving growth and maximum value. We are confident in the opportunities ahead to further enhance performance and create long-term value for our shareholders. I look forward to meeting you in person and speaking with you again soon. Have a great evening. Thank you.

我們的領導團隊、營運商和董事會致力於推動成長和實現價值最大化。我們對未來的機會充滿信心，將進一步提高業績並為股東創造長期價值。我期待很快再次與您見面並交談。祝您有個愉快的夜晚。謝謝。

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。