Wendy's Co (WEN) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. Welcome to The Wendy's Company Earnings Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Thank you. Kelsey Freed, Director of Investor Relations, you may begin your conference.

早上好。歡迎來到溫迪公司收益結果電話會議。 （操作員說明）謝謝。 Kelsey Freed，投資者關係總監，您可以開始您的會議了。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Today's conference call and webcast includes a PowerPoint presentation, which is available on our Investor Relations website, irwendys.com.

謝謝大家，大家早上好。今天的電話會議和網絡廣播包括一個 PowerPoint 演示文稿，可在我們的投資者關係網站 irwendys.com 上找到。

Before we begin, please take note of the safe harbor statement that appears at the end of our earnings release. This disclosure reminds investors that certain information we may discuss today is forward-looking. Various factors could affect our results and cause those results to differ materially from the projections set forth in our forward-looking statements.

在我們開始之前，請注意出現在我們收益發布末尾的安全港聲明。本披露提醒投資者，我們今天可能討論的某些信息具有前瞻性。各種因素可能會影響我們的結果，並導致這些結果與我們前瞻性陳述中的預測存在重大差異。

Also, some of today's comments will reference non-GAAP financial measures. Investors should refer to our reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure at the end of this presentation or in our earnings release.

此外，今天的一些評論將參考非公認會計準則財務指標。投資者應在本演示文稿結束時或在我們的收益發布中參考我們對非公認會計原則財務指標與最直接可比的公認會計原則指標的對賬。

On our conference call today, our President and Chief Executive Officer, Todd Penegor, will give a business update; and our Chief Financial Officer, Gunther Plosch, will review our 2022 third quarter results and provide an update on our outlook for the year. From there, we will open up the line for questions.

在我們今天的電話會議上，我們的總裁兼首席執行官 Todd Penegor 將提供最新的業務信息；我們的首席財務官 Gunther Plosch 將審查我們 2022 年第三季度的業績，並提供我們今年展望的最新信息。從那裡，我們將打開問題線。

With that, I will hand things over to Todd.

有了這個，我會把事情交給托德。

Thanks, Kelsey, and good morning, everyone. I am proud of the Wendy's system for delivering a significant same-restaurant sales acceleration on a 1-year basis. Our consistent sales growth underscores our brand's ability to resonate with our customers and resulted in our fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit global same-restaurant sales on a 2-year basis. These results highlight how our high-quality food compelling value and convenience continue to deliver against their fans expectations, making the Wendy's brand more relevant than ever.

謝謝，凱爾西，大家早上好。我為 Wendy 的系統在 1 年內提供顯著的同店銷售加速感到自豪。我們持續的銷售增長突顯了我們品牌與客戶產生共鳴的能力，並導致我們連續第四個季度在兩年內實現兩位數的全球同店銷售額。這些結果突顯了我們的高品質食品令人信服的價值和便利性如何繼續超越粉絲的期望，使溫迪的品牌比以往任何時候都更具相關性。

During the third quarter, our dollar and traffic growth ranked amongst the top performers in our competitive set, and we maintained our total day dollar and traffic share of the QSR burger category in the U.S. On the breakfast front, we launched French Toast Sticks, our first major menu innovation in the U.S. which drove a meaningful acceleration in the U.S. breakfast sales over the course of the quarter. We have received an overwhelmingly positive reception from our customers, proving just how much growth is ahead of us at the breakfast daypart.

在第三季度，我們的美元和流量增長在我們的競爭對手中名列前茅，我們保持了我們在美國 QSR 漢堡類別的總日美元和流量份額。在早餐方面，我們推出了法國吐司棒，我們的美國的第一個主要菜單創新推動了本季度美國早餐銷售的顯著加速。我們從客戶那裡得到了非常積極的接待，證明了在早餐時段我們還有多少增長。

Our digital business momentum held strong as we delivered global digital sales mix of approximately 10%, and we expect to grow this even further with a heightened focus on digital and delivery marketing to close out the year. We remain fully committed to driving the restaurant economic model through our 3 long-term growth initiatives: to build our breakfast daypart, accelerate our digital business and expand our global footprint. We are united with our franchisees as one system to continue delivering growth for years to come.

我們的數字業務勢頭強勁，因為我們實現了約 10% 的全球數字銷售組合，我們預計這一數字將進一步增長，並在今年結束時更加關注數字和交付營銷。我們仍然完全致力於通過我們的 3 項長期增長計劃來推動餐廳經濟模式：建立我們的早餐時段，加速我們的數字業務並擴大我們的全球足跡。我們與我們的加盟商聯合為一個系統，在未來幾年繼續實現增長。

We delivered significant global same-restaurant sales acceleration on a 1-year basis in the third quarter as both our international and U.S. business continued to compete well. Our international business achieved another outstanding quarter with widespread success, marking a sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit 1- and 2-year same-restaurant sales growth with 2-year growth reaching over 25%. We continue to see strong results across our Latin America and Caribbean region with markets like the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic, showcasing remarkable year-over-year acceleration. This growth was compounded by ongoing strength in Canada, where we are growing dollar and traffic share faster than any of our QSR burger competitors due in part to our breakfast launch.

由於我們的國際和美國業務繼續保持良好的競爭態勢，我們在第三季度實現了以 1 年為基礎的全球同店銷售顯著增長。我們的國際業務又取得了一個出色的季度，取得了廣泛的成功，連續第六個季度實現兩位數的 1 年和 2 年同店銷售額增長，2 年增長超過 25%。我們繼續在拉丁美洲和加勒比地區看到巴哈馬和多米尼加共和國等市場的強勁業績，顯示出顯著的同比增長。這一增長因加拿大的持續實力而更加複雜，我們在加拿大的美元和流量份額增長速度超過了我們的任何 QSR 漢堡競爭對手，部分原因是我們推出了早餐。

Our U.S. business delivered same-restaurant sales of 6.4% on a 1-year basis accelerating over 4 percentage points versus the prior quarter as we held our strong dollar and traffic care position within the QSR burger category. Our consistent track record of strong results is a testament to our balanced marketing calendar which drove a sequential improvement in customer counts in Q2 and Q3 in addition to a strong average check supported by our system's strategic pricing actions.

我們的美國業務在 1 年的基礎上實現了 6.4% 的同店銷售額，比上一季度增長了 4 個百分點以上，因為我們在 QSR 漢堡類別中保持了強勁的美元和交通護理地位。我們一貫的強勁業績記錄證明了我們平衡的營銷日曆，除了我們系統的戰略定價行動支持的強勁平均檢查外，這推動了第二季度和第三季度客戶數量的連續改善。

Throughout the quarter, we continued to promote craveable products across a variety of price points and occasions, including the continuation of Strawberry Frosty, our compelling and ownable $5 Biggie Bag and the relaunch of the much loved Pretzel Bacon Pub delighting our customers with a fan favorite for fall. We plan to further build on the sales momentum with the launch of our fresh Italian mozzarella sandwiches and Peppermint Frosty positioning us for a strong close to the year.

在整個季度中，我們繼續在各種價位和場合推廣令人垂涎的產品，包括繼續推出 Strawberry Frosty、我們引人注目且可擁有的 5 美元 Biggie 包，以及備受喜愛的 Pretzel Bacon Pub 的重新推出，以粉絲的最愛讓我們的客戶感到高興秋季。我們計劃通過推出新鮮的意大利馬蘇里拉三明治和薄荷霜來進一步鞏固銷售勢頭，從而使我們在今年年底表現強勁。

Now let's turn to our breakfast business. We continue to be pleased with our breakfast performance in Canada and are working hard to ingrain the breakfast habit and give our Canadian customers the high-quality offering they deserve. We're still early in our breakfast journey, but we remain confident that the addition of this daypart will drive significant sales and profits for our Canadian franchisees.

現在讓我們轉向我們的早餐業務。我們繼續對我們在加拿大的早餐表現感到滿意，並正在努力養成早餐習慣，並為我們的加拿大客戶提供他們應得的高品質產品。我們仍處於早餐之旅的早期階段，但我們仍然相信，增加這一時段將為我們的加拿大特許經營商帶來可觀的銷售額和利潤。

Turning to the U.S. We are incredibly proud of the success of our French Toast Sticks launch. This sweet, craveable morning treat has quickly become our #1 selling breakfast item. The launch helped us maintain our morning meal dollar share in the QSR burger category and drove a meaningful acceleration in U.S. breakfast sales over the course of the quarter with average weekly sales approaching $3,000 as we exited Q3. This success, alongside our recently launched $3 croissant promotion, gives us confidence in reaching our goal of $3,000 average weekly breakfast sales by year-end. We remain committed to our $16 million global investment in breakfast advertising this year just as we remain committed to fighting for our fair share of the QSR breakfast business.

談到美國，我們為法國吐司棒推出的成功感到無比自豪。這種甜蜜、令人渴望的早間美食已迅速成為我們銷量第一的早餐產品。此次發布幫助我們保持了我們在 QSR 漢堡類別中的早餐美元份額，並在本季度期間推動了美國早餐銷售的顯著加速，當我們退出第三季度時，平均每週銷售額接近 3,000 美元。這一成功，加上我們最近推出的 3 美元羊角麵包促銷活動，讓我們有信心在年底前實現每周平均 3,000 美元早餐銷售額的目標。正如我們繼續致力於爭取我們在 QSR 早餐業務中的公平份額一樣，我們今年仍致力於在全球早餐廣告上投資 1600 萬美元。

We held our digital momentum in the third quarter with global digital sales mix holding strong at approximately 10%. Our international digital sales mix was approximately 15%, bolstered by exceptional results across all of our regions. We expect these results to accelerate even further in the coming quarters as we launched our loyalty program in Canada just days ago, which we are incredibly excited about.

我們在第三季度保持了數字增長勢頭，全球數字銷售組合保持強勁，約為 10%。我們的國際數字銷售組合約為 15%，這得益於我們所有地區的出色業績。我們預計這些結果將在未來幾個季度進一步加速，因為我們幾天前在加拿大推出了我們的忠誠度計劃，我們對此感到非常興奮。

In the U.S., digital sales mix accelerated throughout the quarter, exiting at almost 9.5% of our overall sales. Our momentum was driven by several successful delivery promotions, which we are continuing to lean into throughout the fourth quarter when delivery demand seasonality typically peaks. We also drove a sequential increase in total rewards members of approximately 10% to a new record high.

在美國，整個季度的數字銷售組合加速，占我們總銷售額的近 9.5%。我們的勢頭是由幾次成功的交付促銷推動的，當交付需求季節性通常達到頂峰時，我們將在整個第四季度繼續努力。我們還推動獎勵會員總數連續增長約 10%，達到新的歷史新高。

We are committed to expanding delivery and mobile order access and efficiency, fine-tuning our user experience and further developing our one-to-one marketing program to accelerate our digital business even further across the globe.

我們致力於擴大交付和移動訂單訪問和效率，微調我們的用戶體驗，並進一步發展我們的一對一營銷計劃，以進一步加速我們在全球的數字業務。

We continue to make progress against our global unit expansion in the third quarter. having now opened approximately 200 new restaurants during the year. I couldn't be prouder of the team and our franchisees for once again achieving growth in this difficult environment. As we approach year-end, we have increased visibility into a few factors that are impacting our plans for the fourth quarter. We now expect a shift of approximately 30 new dark kitchens in India into 2023. This timing adjustment was agreed upon with Rebel Foods one of our franchisees in the India market, who successfully operates approximately 90 dark kitchens to date. They are leaning into an omnichannel strategy by developing more traditional restaurants near term, which will then be supplemented with additional dark kitchens.

我們在第三季度繼續在全球單位擴張方面取得進展。目前已在年內開設了大約 200 家新餐廳。我為團隊和我們的加盟商再次在這個艱難的環境中實現增長感到無比自豪。隨著年底的臨近，我們提高了對影響我們第四季度計劃的一些因素的了解。我們現在預計到 2023 年印度將有大約 30 個新的暗廚房轉移。這一時間調整已與我們在印度市場的特許經營商之一 Rebel Foods 達成一致，該公司迄今已成功運營了大約 90 個暗廚房。他們傾向於通過在短期內開發更多傳統餐廳來實施全渠道戰略，然後將輔以額外的黑暗廚房。

Additionally, we continue to experience development delays that are impacting the entire industry, contributing to a slight reduction in REEF delivery kitchen openings and in the U.S. traditional development in 2022. Due to these changes, we now expect 2022 unit growth of 2% to 2.5%, primarily stemming from the reduction in nontraditional restaurants. We still believe that nontraditional concepts will be part of our growth story moving forward and will continue to be targeted and strategic in how we bring these concepts to life.

此外，我們繼續經歷影響整個行業的開發延遲，導致 2022 年 REEF 交付廚房開放和美國傳統開發略有減少。由於這些變化，我們現在預計 2022 年單位增長 2% 至 2.5 %，主要源於非傳統餐廳的減少。我們仍然相信，非傳統概念將成為我們未來增長故事的一部分，並將繼續成為我們如何將這些概念變為現實的目標和戰略。

Our 2022 unit outlook continues to represent an increase in our net unit growth versus our historical rate of 1% to 2%. We expect our net new growth will continue to accelerate through 2025, and our team continued to make progress against fortifying our long-term development pipeline throughout the third quarter.

我們的 2022 年單位展望繼續表明我們的淨單位增長率高於我們 1% 至 2% 的歷史增長率。我們預計到 2025 年，我們的淨新增長將繼續加速，我們的團隊將在整個第三季度繼續在加強我們的長期開發管道方面取得進展。

We continued our U.K. expansion with 9 traditional company-operated restaurants and a total of 25 restaurants in the market at quarter end. Additionally, we expect our first traditional franchisees will begin opening restaurants, including our first drive-thru location in the coming months. We are garnering excitement from the system on our global next-gen restaurant design, which we believe will improve unit economics and increase returns.

我們繼續在英國擴張，在季度末有 9 家傳統公司經營的餐廳和市場上的 25 家餐廳。此外，我們預計我們的第一批傳統特許經營商將開始開設餐廳，包括我們在未來幾個月內開設的第一個得來速餐廳。我們正在從該系統中獲得對我們全球下一代餐廳設計的興奮，我們相信這將提高單位經濟效益並增加回報。

Our potential franchisee pipeline remains strong at over 250 candidates, and we expect this to continue to increase with ever-expanding response to our Own Your Opportunity campaign. We have seen an uptick in our build-to-suit pipeline and are actively recruiting more franchisees into the program. And finally, the percentage of our long-term goal that is under a development commitment remains at approximately 65%, giving us confidence in our expansion plans.

我們潛在的加盟商渠道仍然強勁，有超過 250 名候選人，我們預計隨著對我們的 Own Your Opportunity 活動的不斷擴大響應，這一數字將繼續增加。我們已經看到我們的定制管道有所增加，並正在積極招募更多的加盟商加入該計劃。最後，我們長期目標中的發展承諾百分比保持在大約 65%，這讓我們對我們的擴張計劃充滿信心。

Our playbook of investing to drive accelerated growth behind our 3 long-term pillars to build our breakfast daypart, drive our digital business and expand our footprint across the globe remains the same. Our continued growth and success would not be possible without the partnership we have with our franchisees. We recently received the results of the 2022 Franchise Business Review survey, reflecting another year of Wendy's exceeding industry benchmarks. I am particularly pleased with our rating on overall satisfaction, which paces more than 10 percentage points ahead of the industry in both the U.S. and internationally.

我們的投資手冊以推動我們的 3 個長期支柱背後的加速增長，以建立我們的早餐時段，推動我們的數字業務並擴大我們在全球的足跡，保持不變。如果沒有我們與加盟商的合作夥伴關係，我們的持續增長和成功是不可能的。我們最近收到了 2022 年特許經營業務回顧調查的結果，反映了溫迪又一年超越行業基準。我對我們的整體滿意度評級感到特別滿意，該評級在美國和國際上都領先於行業超過 10 個百分點。

These results once again highlight how our strong franchise relationships have been a differentiator for the Wendy's brand. And I have the opportunity to experience this firsthand at our annual franchise convention in September where the system was able to come together in person to celebrate our wins over the year and look forward towards all the growth that's still ahead. Through this partnership and the dedication of our restaurant crews and support center teams, we will continue to march towards achieving our vision of becoming the world's most thriving and beloved restaurant brand.

這些結果再次凸顯了我們強大的特許經營關係如何成為溫迪品牌的差異化因素。我有機會在 9 月的年度特許經營大會上親身體驗這一點，該系統能夠親自聚在一起慶祝我們一年來的勝利，並期待未來的所有增長。通過這種合作夥伴關係以及我們餐廳工作人員和支持中心團隊的奉獻精神，我們將繼續朝著成為世界上最繁榮和最受歡迎的餐廳品牌的願景前進。

I will now hand things over to GP to talk through our third quarter financial results.

我現在將把事情交給 GP 來討論我們第三季度的財務業績。

Thanks, Todd. our third quarter results highlight the consistency of our financial formula as we achieved significant quarter-over-quarter acceleration in global same-restaurant sales and maintained year-over-year company-operated restaurant margin. Our global systemwide sales grew almost 9%, supported by strong global same-restaurant sales growth across both our U.S. and international segments and continued net unit growth.

謝謝，托德。我們的第三季度業績突出了我們財務公式的一致性，因為我們實現了全球同店銷售額的顯著季度環比增長，並保持了公司經營的餐廳利潤率同比增長。我們的全球系統銷售額增長了近 9%，這得益於我們在美國和國際部門的強勁全球同店銷售額增長以及持續的淨單位增長。

Our total company restaurant margin held flat year-over-year despite persistent commodity and labor inflation of almost 15% and over 6%, respectively, customer count declines and ongoing investments to support our U.K. expansion. These decreases were almost entirely offset by the benefit of a higher average check driven by cumulative pricing of almost 10%. In the U.S., company restaurant margin approached pre-COVID levels in the quarter, reaching 14.8%. The slight decrease in G&A was primarily driven by a lower compensation accrual as a result of our overdelivery versus plan in the prior year. This was partially offset by higher salaries and benefits as a result of investments in resources to support our development and digital organizations, increased travel expenses and technology costs primarily related to our ERP implementation.

儘管商品和勞動力通脹率分別持續接近 15% 和超過 6%、客戶數量下降以及持續投資以支持我們在英國的擴張，但我們公司的餐廳總利潤率與去年同期持平。這些下降幾乎完全被近 10% 的累積定價驅動的更高平均支票的好處所抵消。在美國，公司餐廳的利潤率在本季度接近 COVID 之前的水平，達到 14.8%。 G&A 的小幅下降主要是由於我們的超額交付與上一年的計劃相比，應計薪酬較低。這部分被更高的薪水和福利所抵消，原因是投資於支持我們的發展和數字組織的資源、增加的差旅費用和主要與我們的 ERP 實施相關的技術成本。

Adjusted EBITDA increased almost 20% to approximately $135 million primarily driven by higher other operating income due to a gain from insurance recoveries, higher franchise royalty revenue and the favorable impact of our acquisition of 93 restaurants in Florida in the prior year. These increases were partially offset by lower franchise fees due to decreased franchise transaction activity.

調整後的 EBITDA 增長近 20% 至約 1.35 億美元，主要是由於保險追償收益、特許權使用費收入增加以及我們去年在佛羅里達州收購 93 家餐廳的有利影響導致其他營業收入增加。由於特許經營交易活動減少，特許經營費用下降部分抵消了這些增長。

Please note that beginning with our third quarter results, we are breaking out the amortization of cloud computing arrangements separately from G&A expense to improve clarity of disclosure in this area and subsequently, backing it out of adjusted EBITDA. This change is immaterial to our third quarter results.

請注意，從我們的第三季度業績開始，我們將雲計算安排的攤銷與 G&A 費用分開，以提高該領域的披露清晰度，隨後將其從調整後的 EBITDA 中剔除。這一變化對我們的第三季度業績無關緊要。

The increase in adjusted earnings per share was driven by an increase in adjusted EBITDA, fewer shares outstanding from our share repurchase program and higher interest income. This was partially offset by higher interest expense as a result of our debt raise transaction in the first quarter of 2022 and a higher tax rate. The decrease in free cash flow resulted primarily from an increase in payments for incentive compensation for the 2021 fiscal year paid in 2022, the timing of receipt of franchisee rental royalty and other payments, cash paid for cloud computing arrangements primarily related to the company's ERP implementation and an increase in capital expenditures. We expect that all timing-related impacts will resolve in the fourth quarter and have no impact to the full year.

調整後每股收益的增加是由於調整後 EBITDA 增加、我們的股票回購計劃中流通股減少以及利息收入增加。由於我們在 2022 年第一季度的舉債交易和更高的稅率，這部分被更高的利息費用所抵消。自由現金流的減少主要是由於 2022 年支付的 2021 財年激勵補償支付增加、特許經營商租金特許權使用費和其他付款的收到時間、主要與公司 ERP 實施相關的雲計算安排支付的現金以及資本支出的增加。我們預計所有與時間相關的影響都將在第四季度解決，對全年沒有影響。

Now let's turn to our outlook for 2022. As we close in on the year, we are tightening several of our outlook ranges. We now expect global system sales growth of 6% to 7% with approximately 75% driven by same-restaurant sales and the remainder driven by our 2% to 2.5% unit growth. We do not expect the change in our unit outlook to drive a material impact to our 2022 financial results due to the lower AUV expectations for nontraditional restaurants and timing in the year.

現在讓我們轉向我們對 2022 年的展望。隨著今年的臨近，我們正在收緊幾個展望範圍。我們現在預計全球系統銷售增長 6% 至 7%，其中約 75% 由同店銷售推動，其餘由我們 2% 至 2.5% 的單位增長推動。由於對非傳統餐廳的 AUV 預期和今年的時間安排較低，我們預計單位前景的變化不會對我們 2022 年的財務業績產生重大影響。

Our updated sales expectation flows into adjusted EBITDA outlook range, which has narrowed to $490 million to $500 million. Our adjusted EBITDA outlook is also impacted by our company-operated restaurant margin, which we now expect to be approximately 13.5% to 14%. The impact from our revised margin outlook is largely offset by higher other operating income as the result of the gain from insurance recoveries recognized in the third quarter.

我們更新後的銷售預期流入調整後的 EBITDA 前景範圍，該範圍已縮小至 4.9 億美元至 5 億美元。我們調整後的 EBITDA 前景也受到我們公司經營的餐廳利潤率的影響，我們現在預計該利潤率約為 13.5% 至 14%。我們修訂後的利潤率前景的影響在很大程度上被第三季度確認的保險追償收益帶來的其他營業收入增加所抵消。

Our adjusted EPS outlook of $0.84 to $0.88 remains unchanged. And our narrowed adjusted EBITDA outlook is offset by higher interest income earned on our elevated cash balance. Finally, our free cash flow outlook of $215 million to $225 million remains unchanged as the impact of our tighter adjusted EBITDA outlook is offset by a reduction in our CapEx outlook to $90 million to $95 million.

我們調整後的每股收益預期為 0.84 美元至 0.88 美元，保持不變。我們縮小的調整後 EBITDA 前景被我們較高的現金餘額所賺取的較高利息收入所抵消。最後，我們 2.15 億美元至 2.25 億美元的自由現金流前景保持不變，因為我們更嚴格的調整後 EBITDA 前景的影響被我們的資本支出前景下調至 9000 萬美元至 9500 萬美元所抵消。

To close, I would like to highlight our capital allocation policy, which remains unchanged. Our first priority remains investing in profitable growth, and we are continuing to showcase this. Today, we announced the declaration of our fourth quarter dividend of $0.125 per share, which aligns with our capital allocation policy to sustain an attractive dividend payout ratio of more than 50%.

最後，我想強調我們的資本配置政策，該政策保持不變。我們的首要任務仍然是投資於盈利性增長，我們將繼續展示這一點。今天，我們宣布宣布第四季度每股 0.125 美元的股息，這與我們的資本分配政策保持一致，以維持超過 50% 的有吸引力的股息支付率。

Lastly, our capital allocation policy gives us the flexibility to utilize excess cash to repurchase shares and reduce debt. We continued to pause our share repurchases during the third quarter and have approximately $198 million remaining of our $250 million share repurchase authorization that expires in February of 2023.

最後，我們的資本分配政策使我們能夠靈活地利用多餘的現金回購股票並減少債務。我們在第三季度繼續暫停股票回購，我們在 2023 年 2 月到期的 2.5 億美元股票回購授權中剩餘約 1.98 億美元。

At the end of the third quarter, we had a cash balance of over $750 million, which provides us with flexibility to manage through headwinds in the broader environment and drive shareholder returns in accordance with our capital allocation policy. We are fully committed to continue delivering our simple yet powerful formula. We are an accelerated, efficient growth company that is investing in our strategic pillars and driving strong systemwide sales growth on the backdrop of positive same-restaurant store sales and expanding our global footprint, which is translating into significant free cash flows.

截至第三季度末，我們的現金餘額超過 7.5 億美元，這為我們提供了在更廣泛的環境中應對逆風並根據我們的資本分配政策推動股東回報的靈活性。我們完全致力於繼續提供我們簡單而強大的配方。我們是一家加速、高效的增長公司，在同店店面銷售積極的背景下，我們正在投資於我們的戰略支柱並推動全系統的強勁銷售增長，並擴大我們的全球足跡，這正在轉化為大量的自由現金流。

With that, I will hand things back over to Kelsey to walk through our upcoming IR calendar.

有了這個，我會把事情交還給 Kelsey 來瀏覽我們即將到來的 IR 日曆。

Thanks, GP. To start things off in November, we have a virtual NDR focused on the Chicago region with Cowen on the 14th, followed by the Northcoast Virtual Conference on the 15th and a virtual headquarter visit with Wedbush on the 16th. On the 30th, we will attend the Barclays Conference in New York followed by an NDR in Boston with Evercore on December 1. Across the rest of December, we will have an investor call with Gordon Haskett on the 6th before returning to New York on the 7th for the Morgan Stanley Conference. Our final event of the quarter will be a virtual NDR focused on the West Coast with BMO on the 15th. If you're interested in joining us at any of these events, please contact the respective sell-side analyst or equity sales contacts at the host firm. Lastly, we plan to report our fourth quarter and full year earnings and host a conference call that same day on March 1.

謝謝，全科醫生。從 11 月開始，我們將在 14 日與 Cowen 舉行一場針對芝加哥地區的虛擬 NDR，隨後於 15 日舉行北海岸虛擬會議，並於 16 日與 Wedbush 進行虛擬總部訪問。 30 日，我們將參加在紐約舉行的巴克萊會議，隨後是 12 月 1 日在波士頓與 Evercore 舉行的 NDR。在 12 月剩下的時間裡，我們將在 6 日與 Gordon Haskett 進行投資者電話會議，然後於摩根士丹利會議第 7 次。我們本季度的最後一項活動將是 15 日與 BMO 一起專注於西海岸的虛擬 NDR。如果您有興趣加入我們參加任何這些活動，請聯繫相應的賣方分析師或主辦公司的股票銷售聯繫人。最後，我們計劃在 3 月 1 日的同一天報告我們的第四季度和全年收益並召開電話會議。

As we transition into our Q&A section, please note that we have no further comment on Trian Partners amended 13D filing and would refer you to the statement made in our May 24 press release. Please keep any questions focused on our quarterly results. Due to the high number of covering analysts, we will be limiting everyone to one question only. With that, we are ready to take your questions.

當我們過渡到問答部分時，請注意，我們對 Trian Partners 修訂的 13D 文件沒有進一步評論，並將向您推薦我們在 5 月 24 日新聞稿中發表的聲明。請將任何問題集中在我們的季度業績上。由於覆蓋分析師的人數眾多，我們將把每個人都限制在一個問題上。有了這個，我們準備好回答你的問題了。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today comes from the line of Dennis Geiger with UBS.

（操作員說明）我們今天的第一個問題來自瑞銀的丹尼斯·蓋格（Dennis Geiger）。

I appreciate all the color on the development side of things, Todd and GP. Wondering if you could speak a little bit more to the current sentiment among the operators, the franchisees right now, given cost pressures, rising rates and if there's any additional thought from their end, impacting the demand side of things. It sounds largely like the changes to guidance for the year are sort of timing-related. Just wondering if you could speak at all to kind of the demand and the current environment and kind of where heads are at from that perspective.

我很欣賞事物開發方面的所有色彩，Todd 和 GP。考慮到成本壓力、費率上漲以及他們是否有任何額外的想法會影響事物的需求方面，想知道您是否可以更多地談談運營商和特許經營商目前的情緒。聽起來今年的指導變化很大程度上與時間有關。只是想知道你是否可以從這個角度談談需求和當前環境以及領導者所處的位置。

Yes, Dennis. Thanks for the question. As you think about the development outlook for the brand and the confidence in the positioning of our franchise community continue to be able to invest to grow, they are cautiously optimistic as they think about the future. Clearly, we've seen headwinds out there with rates moving up. We've seen trailing 12-month EBITDA a little more challenged in a lot of cases with all the headwinds that we faced on the commodities and the labor front.

是的，丹尼斯。謝謝你的問題。當您考慮品牌的發展前景以及對我們特許經營社區繼續能夠投資增長的定位的信心時，他們對未來的看法是謹慎樂觀的。顯然，我們已經看到了利率上升的不利因素。我們已經看到過去 12 個月的 EBITDA 在很多情況下面臨更大的挑戰，因為我們在商品和勞動力方面面臨著所有不利因素。

But the good news is we continue to innovate with our next-gen global design. We continue to partner with the franchise community to make sure that they're pacing and sequencing all of their investments not just new development, but the reimaging that they need to do, the continued investment in technology and in our double-sided grills. And that'd put us in a pretty good spot where we feel confident that we're going to position with the strong financial position that we generated for our franchise community over the last couple of years. that we're in a healthier position than most in the industry.

但好消息是我們將繼續通過我們的下一代全球設計進行創新。我們將繼續與特許經營社區合作，以確保他們對所有投資的節奏和排序，不僅是新的開發，而且是他們需要做的重塑，對技術和我們雙面烤架的持續投資。這讓我們處於一個非常好的位置，我們相信我們將在過去幾年為我們的特許經營社區創造的強大財務狀況中定位。我們比業內大多數人處於更健康的位置。

So we'll continue to lean in into investment. Yes, supply chain is challenged. There's some shifts from this year into next year. But the biggest impact on our development front has really been on the nontraditional. We're going to continue to lean in to test and learn, dark kitchens in India, delivery kitchens with REEF. Some of the things will work, some won't, but we'll continue to lean in and learn on that. But our traditional development pipeline is pretty strong with 65% of our commitments for development into 2023 under development agreement for new builds.

因此，我們將繼續傾向於投資。是的，供應鏈受到挑戰。從今年到明年有一些變化。但對我們的發展戰線最大的影響確實是非傳統的。我們將繼續努力測試和學習，印度的黑暗廚房，帶 REEF 的送貨廚房。有些事情會奏效，有些則不會，但我們將繼續努力學習。但是我們的傳統開發渠道非常強大，我們承諾到 2023 年的開發承諾中有 65% 是根據新建築的開發協議進行的。

The next question is from the line of David Palmer with Evercore ISI.

下一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 David Palmer。

And as a follow-up to that, if you could make a comment about unit growth into '23. I think you have targets that imply unit growth will be 4% to 5% after this year to get to your 25 unit targets. So I wonder how you're thinking about the step in '23 in that direction. And separately, I'm wondering if you could speak for the industry to some degree on traffic. It's been somewhat strangely negative in spite of the fact that you would think that mobility would be increasing. To what do you attribute that, if you had to step back and think about the forces at work here that are making the negative traffic more than norm in fast food?

作為對此的後續行動，如果您可以對 23 年的單位增長發表評論。我認為你的目標意味著今年之後單位增長將達到 4% 到 5%，以達到你的 25 個單位目標。所以我想知道你是如何考慮 23 年朝著這個方向邁出的一步。另外，我想知道您是否可以在某種程度上代表該行業的流量。儘管您會認為流動性會增加，但它有點奇怪地消極。如果你不得不退後一步，想想這裡的力量使快餐業的負面流量超過常態，你認為這是什麼原因？

David, this is Gunther. We're not ready to give guidance for 2023. But you're right. Obviously, unit growth is accelerating into 2025, as we are obviously maintaining our 8,000 to 8,500 restaurants goal. And there are several factors where we are really confident. I think we're making great progress in the U.K. We have 25 restaurants there, 10 of which are company restaurants, really high hopes on next-gen restaurants design, right? Previously, you would get a cash-on-cash return of 10% to 15%. With the new next-gen design, you're actually getting a step-up of 15% to 20% cash-on-cash return. So that's positive.

大衛，這是岡瑟。我們還沒有準備好為 2023 年提供指導。但你是對的。顯然，到 2025 年，單位增長正在加速，因為我們顯然維持了 8,000 到 8,500 家餐廳的目標。有幾個因素我們非常有信心。我認為我們在英國取得了很大進展。我們在那裡有 25 家餐廳，其中 10 家是公司餐廳，對下一代餐廳設計寄予厚望，對吧？以前，您將獲得 10% 至 15% 的現金回報。使用新的下一代設計，您實際上獲得了 15% 至 20% 的現金回報。所以這是積極的。

We have a lot of interest from franchisees that want to become franchisees. The pipeline is 250 franchisees globally. They will all come with development movement. Only opportunity campaign is very positive, lots of interest to also enable restaurant growth with smaller outfits. We have a build-to-suit program, fund program, as you know. We have not spent a lot of money on this year-to-date. So there's a lot of restaurant growth to be had, 80 to 90 for the years to come. And overall, with our development pipeline, we are about committed about 65% out into 2025. I think that's the answer to your first question.

想要成為加盟商的加盟商對我們很感興趣。該管道是全球 250 家特許經營商。它們都將伴隨著發展運動而來。唯一的機會活動是非常積極的，有很多興趣也可以通過較小的服裝實現餐廳的增長。如您所知，我們有一個量身定制的計劃，基金計劃。今年到目前為止，我們還沒有花很多錢。所以有很多餐館的增長，未來幾年從 80 到 90 年。總體而言，通過我們的開發管道，我們承諾到 2025 年完成約 65%。我認為這就是您第一個問題的答案。

Todd, I think you take the second?

托德，我想你拿第二個？

Yes. No. So David, on the industry traffic question, why it seems to be a little bit sticky on the negative side over the last several quarters, I think it really has to do with the state of the consumer. We've seen the consumer be a little more strapped. You start to continue to see food, at-home meals being about 85% of the consumer's basket when it comes to meals. That's up from 82% pre-pandemic. It shifted to more meals at home during the pandemic. It's kind of stuck there as the consumers have been a little bit more strapped.

是的。不。所以大衛，關於行業流量問題，為什麼過去幾個季度的負面影響似乎有點粘，我認為這真的與消費者的狀態有關。我們已經看到消費者更加緊張了。您開始繼續看到食物，就餐而言，在家用餐約佔消費者購物籃的 85%。這高於大流行前的 82%。在大流行期間，它轉向更多的在家用餐。它有點卡在那裡，因為消費者有點緊張。

So what you're seeing is a little less frequency across the industry at the moment, which is putting a little bit of pressure on traffic. For us, for -- we've seen some nice sequential increases in customer traffic quarter-to-quarter, as we commented in our prepared remarks. And importantly, the under 75,000 consumer, which is more than 50% of our business, and it's a little more strapped and is an important customer for us, we continue to win with that consumer. So that -- those are probably some of the big highlights.

所以你現在看到的是整個行業的頻率有所降低，這給流量帶來了一點壓力。對我們來說，正如我們在準備好的評論中所評論的那樣，我們已經看到客戶流量季度環比出現了一些不錯的連續增長。重要的是，不到 75,000 名消費者，占我們業務的 50% 以上，而且更加緊張，是我們的重要客戶，我們將繼續贏得該消費者的青睞。所以 - 這些可能是一些重要的亮點。

You're also seeing on the positive front, there are some trade-downs. So if you look at total industry, seeing some trade down from mid-scale casual, fast casual into QSR, which is a positive.

你也看到了積極的一面，有一些折衷。因此，如果您查看整個行業，看到一些貿易從中型休閒、快速休閒轉向 QSR，這是一個積極的方面。

So just one small correction, so I slightly misspoke. Our customer count is not -- the traffic did not increase. It sequentially improved versus prior quarters. We are still slightly down. I just want to make sure this is understood.

所以只是一個小的修正，所以我有點誤會了。我們的客戶數量沒有——流量沒有增加。與前幾個季度相比，它依次有所改善。我們仍然略有下降。我只是想確保理解這一點。

The next question is from John Glass with Morgan Stanley.

下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的約翰·格拉斯。

GP, on capital allocation, and I understand there's some things you can't comment about. But when you think about the alternatives between buying -- given your cash balance, buying back stock and delevering, have you changed your view on that just given the rate scenario? It looks like your debt's termed out well, but at the same time, maybe there's now a view that rates in the future won't be as advantageous as they once were. So do you think differently about, conceptually about buybacks versus reducing debt leverage?

GP，關於資本配置，我知道有些事情你不能評論。但是當你考慮購買之間的選擇時——考慮到你的現金餘額、回購股票和去槓桿，你是否改變了對利率情景的看法？看起來你的債務還清了，但與此同時，也許現在有人認為未來的利率不會像以前那樣有利。那麼，從概念上講，您對回購與降低債務槓桿有不同的看法嗎？

John, interesting question. No, not really. I think at large, our capital allocation policy, we are happy with, investing growth, do an attractive dividend and then do share repurchases. At the moment, our debt levels are extremely favorable, right? Our average cost of servicing our debt is 3.5%, 3.6%. The first time we have to refinance again it is in 2026. So we'll see how rates are developing from there. So at the moment, with the fixed rate nature of our debt, we are not in the rush to actually really think about that.

約翰，有趣的問題。不，不是。我認為總的來說，我們對我們的資本分配政策感到滿意，投資增長，進行有吸引力的股息，然後進行股票回購。目前，我們的債務水平非常有利，對吧？我們償還債務的平均成本是 3.5%、3.6%。我們第一次必須再次再融資是在 2026 年。所以我們將看看利率如何從那裡發展。因此，目前，由於我們債務的固定利率性質，我們並不急於真正考慮這一點。

The next question is from Jon Tower with Citi.

下一個問題來自花旗的 Jon Tower。

Just curious if you could give us your expectations for some of the inflationary measures in the fourth quarter and perhaps into early 2023 on the food cost side, in particular but also what you're thinking on the labor piece of the equation. And then how this all kind of factors into your pricing plans for the year ahead?

只是好奇您能否向我們提供您對第四季度以及可能到 2023 年初食品成本方面的一些通脹措施的預期，尤其是您對等式中勞動力部分的看法。那麼這些因素如何影響您未來一年的定價計劃？

Jon, yes, we definitely are expecting inflation to slightly come down in the fourth quarter, right? We started to see that trend in the third quarter already, right? We had 15% commodity inflation that was following about a 19% commodity inflation in quarter 2. On the labor side, we also got a slight improvement. We were -- labor inflation was a little bit north of 6%. Last quarter, we were sitting in the 11% to 12% range.

喬恩，是的，我們肯定預計第四季度通脹會略有下降，對吧？我們已經在第三季度開始看到這種趨勢，對吧？在第二季度大約 19% 的商品通脹之後，我們有 15% 的商品通脹。在勞動力方面，我們也略有改善。我們是 - 勞動力通脹略高於 6%。上個季度，我們處於 11% 到 12% 的範圍內。

For the year, we are kind of guiding 15% to 16% on commodities and about 8% to 9% on labor. So it's going to come down slightly. It's too early to make specific comments on 2023. We definitely expect that commodity inflation will be less than what we are seeing -- what we have experienced in 2022. As a result of it, we would also expect that our pricing increases we are going to take in 2023 will be less than what we have done this year. Obviously, the objective is to strive for profitability in our company restaurants that are marching towards pre-COVID levels.

今年，我們在商品方面指導 15% 到 16%，在勞動力方面指導大約 8% 到 9%。所以它會小幅下降。現在就 2023 年發表具體評論還為時過早。我們肯定預計商品通脹將低於我們所看到的——我們在 2022 年所經歷的。因此，我們也預計我們的價格上漲將繼續2023 年的工作量將少於我們今年的工作量。顯然，我們的目標是爭取在我們公司的餐廳中實現盈利，這些餐廳正朝著 COVID 之前的水平前進。

The next question is from Chris O'Cull with Stifel.

下一個問題來自 Chris O'Cull 和 Stifel。

Todd, I believe you indicated that weekly breakfast sales accelerated in the quarter with the launch of the French Toast Sticks. Do you think product innovation is going to be necessary to build breakfast sales going forward? And if so, does that change your thinking in terms of the need for additional breakfast advertising investment in the U.S. next year?

托德，我相信您表示，隨著法式吐司棒的推出，本季度每週早餐銷售量有所增加。你認為產品創新對於未來建立早餐銷售是必要的嗎？如果是這樣，這是否會改變您對明年在美國進行額外早餐廣告投資的想法？

I'll start with the second part of the question, Chris. I do believe that we've now built our breakfast business up to a significant size where it can sustain its own advertising investment moving forward. We can always make choices across the portfolio, rest of the day and breakfast. But I do think we're in a good spot on having enough dollars to compete across all dayparts moving forward.

我將從問題的第二部分開始，克里斯。我確實相信，我們現在已經將早餐業務發展到了相當大的規模，它可以維持自己的廣告投資向前發展。我們總是可以在投資組合、一天的剩餘時間和早餐中做出選擇。但我確實認為我們處於一個很好的位置，因為我們有足夠的資金在未來的所有時段進行競爭。

As you think about the role of innovation, I do think it is an important role. We started with a calendar that was really around driving awareness, driving frequency, ingraining the habit, and it was driven more by promotional offers. And this is the first time we brought some innovation news. Clearly, French Toast Sticks has resonated with the consumer. As we said on the prepared remarks, it's our highest performing SKU in the restaurant on the breakfast daypart right now. And the good news is we saw that significant uptick towards $3,000 by the end of the quarter. So some nice growth on that front.

當你想到創新的作用時，我確實認為它是一個重要的角色。我們從一個真正圍繞駕駛意識、駕駛頻率、根深蒂固的習慣的日曆開始，它更多地受到促銷優惠的推動。這是我們第一次帶來一些創新消息。顯然，法式吐司棒引起了消費者的共鳴。正如我們在準備好的評論中所說，這是我們目前在早餐時段餐廳中表現最好的 SKU。好消息是，到本季度末，我們看到價格大幅上漲至 3,000 美元。所以在這方面有一些不錯的增長。

And we're happy that, that momentum will continue into Q3. We've got the $3 croissant deal out into the marketplace. That news continues to bring in more customers more often. As we move forward, and we've talked about this on prior calls, more innovation could be an important play in the category and in the breakfast daypart for our brand. And we talked about the opportunity to innovate into the morning beverage area. We think that's an opportunity for some growth into the future.

我們很高興，這種勢頭將持續到第三季度。我們已經在市場上推出了 3 美元的羊角麵包交易。該消息繼續更頻繁地吸引更多客戶。隨著我們向前發展，並且我們在之前的電話會議中討論過這一點，更多的創新可能是我們品牌在該類別和早餐時段的重要作用。我們談到了在早間飲料領域進行創新的機會。我們認為這是未來增長的機會。

Chris, I wanted to add that everything that Todd said, it makes obviously sense. I want to point out, we will continue to invest in Canada, right? That's in 2 years of the growth. So the $11 million investment we have in the base will go to 0 in 2023. The $5 million we have in 2022, we are definitely making investments in 2023 as well.

克里斯，我想補充一下托德所說的一切，這顯然是有道理的。我想指出，我們會繼續在加拿大投資，對吧？這是2年的增長。因此，我們在基地的 1100 萬美元投資將在 2023 年變為 0。我們在 2022 年擁有的 500 萬美元，我們肯定也會在 2023 年進行投資。

The next question is from the line of Lauren Silberman with Credit Suisse.

下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的 Lauren Silberman。

Can you talk about changes that you're seeing or if there are any with respect to consumer behavior, so trade-down tech management? And then what are you seeing across different cohorts just relative share among the higher and lower income cohort?

你能談談你所看到的變化，或者是否有任何與消費者行為有關的變化，那麼折價技術管理？然後你在不同的群體中看到了什麼只是高收入和低收入群體之間的相對份額？

Yes. So on the general trade down question in the industry, we are seeing some trade down from mid-scale casual, fast casual into QSR. So that's a good benefit. When you think about income cohort, you are seeing the under $75,000 consumer, which is over 50% of our business, a little more strapped. You're seeing them impacted in the industry on the frequency front, but the good news is we continue to gain traffic share with that under $75,000 income cohort. That means over $75,000 we're losing a little bit, but that over $75,000 consumers got a lot of other choices across all restaurant businesses. So we continue to compete well, although down a little bit with that consumer.

是的。因此，在該行業的一般貿易下降問題上，我們看到一些貿易從中型休閒、快速休閒到 QSR。所以這是一個很好的好處。當您考慮收入群體時，您會看到低於 75,000 美元的消費者（占我們業務的 50% 以上）更加緊張。您會看到他們在頻率方面在行業中受到影響，但好消息是我們繼續在收入低於 75,000 美元的人群中獲得流量份額。這意味著我們損失了超過 75,000 美元，但超過 75,000 美元的消費者在所有餐飲企業中都有很多其他選擇。所以我們繼續保持良好的競爭，儘管與那個消費者相比有所下降。

We have a calendar that fits really well and can compete really well with where we stand today. We still have 4 for $4 on the menu. We've got a $5 Biggie Bag that's super compelling. We brought some cool things like Strawberry Frosty at a great price point to the calendar. We've got $3 croissant meal out there for breakfast right now, and we continue to leverage our digital presence with continued gains in the loyalty program and great offers to make sure that we connect with a good balanced high-low calendar. But the key for us would be ultimately and for everybody in the industry is get some folks from eating all those meals at home to start coming back out to the restaurant a little more often to drive frequency.

我們有一個非常適合的日曆，並且可以與我們今天的位置進行很好的競爭。菜單上還有 4 美元 4 美元。我們有一個 5 美元的 Biggie 包，非常引人注目。我們在日曆上帶來了一些很酷的東西，比如草莓霜，價格很高。我們現在早餐有 3 美元的羊角麵包餐，我們將繼續利用我們的數字化業務，在忠誠度計劃和優惠活動中不斷獲得收益，以確保我們與一個平衡的高低日曆保持聯繫。但對我們來說，關鍵是最終對行業中的每個人來說都是讓一些人從家裡吃完所有這些飯菜，開始更頻繁地回到餐廳來提高頻率。

The next question is from Brian Bittner with Oppenheimer.

下一個問題來自奧本海默的 Brian Bittner。

Just wanted to go back to breakfast a little bit. As we dive into the accelerating sales results in the third quarter, just hoping you can talk a little bit more about the breakfast strength. Maybe you can unpack what the breakfast comp was versus the rest of the day, just so we can better understand that daypart's momentum. You seem very committed to accelerating that daypart. And can you also help us understand where your national awareness is on breakfast now relative to maybe what it was a year ago? And what can you really do to elevate it from here?

只是想回去吃早餐。當我們深入研究第三季度加速銷售的結果時，希望您能多談談早餐的實力。也許您可以解開早餐組合與當天剩餘時間的對比，這樣我們才能更好地了解該時段的勢頭。你似乎非常致力於加快這一天的進程。您是否還可以幫助我們了解相對於一年前的情況，您現在在早餐方面的國家意識在哪裡？你真的能做些什麼來從這裡提升它？

Yes. If you look at where our breakfast business has been performing, the last couple of quarters, we've been approximately $2,700 per week in Q2 and Q3. The great news is it really accelerated nicely as the back half of Q3 with the innovation of French Toast Sticks. And we're confident that momentum will continue with the great success on French Toast Sticks and now the $3 croissant offer that's out there in the restaurants.

是的。如果你看看我們的早餐業務在過去幾個季度的表現，我們在第二季度和第三季度每週的收入約為 2,700 美元。好消息是隨著法國吐司棒的創新，它在第三季度的後半段確實加速得很好。我們相信，隨著法式吐司棒的巨大成功以及現在餐廳提供的 3 美元羊角麵包優惠，這種勢頭將繼續下去。

From an awareness, we're still north of that 50, on par with our competitors, hasn't moved a whole lot, but I think it's in a really healthy spot from an awareness perspective. So it's really about ingraining the habit, bringing some news, ensuring that our customers come in a little more often along the way. Innovation will play a role. Promotional price points will play a role. And executing great at the restaurant day in and day out with fast, accurate service is critical to success, and we'll continue to drive all of those things moving forward.

從意識上看，我們仍然在 50 以北，與我們的競爭對手相當，並沒有太大的變化，但我認為從意識的角度來看，它處於一個非常健康的位置。因此，這實際上是關於根深蒂固的習慣，帶來一些新聞，確保我們的客戶在此過程中更頻繁地光顧。創新將發揮作用。促銷價位將發揮作用。日復一日地在餐廳里以快速、準確的服務表現出色是成功的關鍵，我們將繼續推動所有這些事情向前發展。

It's also worth noting that our legacy breakfast restaurants actually improved performance. They are now actually posted in the third quarter about $4,500. That's well north of a 10% mix. So again, it's a great sign that the growth potential for this business is great. It's just a matter of time to get to it.

還值得注意的是，我們的傳統早餐餐廳實際上提高了性能。它們現在實際上在第三季度發布了大約 4,500 美元。這遠遠超過 10% 的混合比例。同樣，這是一個很好的跡象，表明該業務的增長潛力很大。實現它只是時間問題。

The next question is from the line of Jeffrey Bernstein with Barclays.

下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的杰弗裡伯恩斯坦。

Great. A question on the U.S. sales front -- well, 2 parts. Maybe if you could just clarify the components within that 6.4% comp. I think you said you're running roughly 10% price but some negative traffic. Any color you can give in terms of the sequential through the quarter and maybe what the specific components were? And as you think about that, has there been any change from a competitive landscape perspective? There are thoughts that you might see an uptick in discounting as maybe inflation starts to roll over and some competitors are less rational than others. So any thoughts in terms of the broader competitive landscape as we close '22 and into '23 would be great.

偉大的。關於美國銷售方面的問題——嗯，兩部分。也許如果你能澄清那 6.4% 的組成部分。我想你說你的價格大約是 10%，但有一些負面流量。您可以根據整個季度的順序給出任何顏色，也許具體組件是什麼？當您考慮到這一點時，從競爭格局的角度來看是否有任何變化？有人認為您可能會看到貼現率上升，因為通脹可能開始翻滾，一些競爭對手比其他競爭對手更不理性。因此，在我們關閉 '22 並進入 '23 時，就更廣泛的競爭格局而言，任何想法都會很棒。

Jeff, so the 6.4% growth in the U.S. system, the U.S. system priced a little bit less than 10%, about -- think about 9%. That means basically that our traffic was slightly negative, about 2%. Mix was roughly unchanged. So that's the component of it. We had steady growth within the third quarter. The only callout that we are making is that our breakfast business accelerated towards the end of the quarter as we launched our innovation.

傑夫，美國系統 6.4% 的增長，美國系統定價略低於 10%，大約 - 想想 9%。這基本上意味著我們的流量略有下降，約為 2%。混合大致沒有變化。這就是它的組成部分。我們在第三季度實現了穩定增長。我們唯一要注意的是，隨著我們推出創新，我們的早餐業務在本季度末加速。

As far as competitive pressure is concerned, as I look at NPD CREST data, the deal levels that are happening in the category are not elevated versus what we have seen previously. So we're not seeing any strong signs that there are kind of big value wars to come would be my perspective.

就競爭壓力而言，當我查看 NPD CREST 數據時，與我們之前看到的相比，該類別中發生的交易水平並沒有提高。因此，我們沒有看到任何強烈跡象表明即將發生大規模的價值戰爭，這將是我的觀點。

Todd, do you want to add anything on top of that?

托德，你想在上面添加什麼嗎？

I think you said it all, GP. I think the only piece is as we roll into the fourth quarter, right? Clearly, we've got some momentum on the breakfast business, as we talked about. And with the guidance that we provided and the strong promotional calendar that we have in the fourth quarter, you think about Biggie Bag continue to be ownable and compelling. You think about the launch of fresh Italian Mozzarella sandwiches coming, Peppermint Frosty continuing to bring news. And an ongoing focus on digital and delivery, those are all important elements to keep the momentum, and we expect to have across the U.S., international and in total, double-digit same-restaurant sales growth again in the fourth quarter.

我想你都說了，全科醫生。我認為唯一的部分是我們進入第四季度，對吧？顯然，正如我們所談到的，我們在早餐業務方面有了一些發展勢頭。憑藉我們提供的指導以及我們在第四季度擁有的強大促銷日曆，您認為 Biggie Bag 將繼續擁有並引人注目。你想想新鮮的意大利 Mozzarella 三明治即將推出，Peppermint Frosty 繼續帶來新聞。持續關注數字和交付，這些都是保持勢頭的重要因素，我們預計第四季度在美國、國際和總體上，同店銷售額將再次實現兩位數增長。

The next question is from Gregory Francfort with Guggenheim Securities. Gregory?

下一個問題來自古根海姆證券公司的 Gregory Francfort。格雷戈里？

GP, in response to the earlier question, you made a comment about getting store-level margins ahead of pre-COVID -- back to pre-COVID levels. I guess as you look out to '23 and '24 and '25, does pricing need to run ahead of cost inflation at some point? I mean this year, clearly, there was just a big delay in terms of when the industry took pricing versus when inflationary pressures pressured the cost environment. I'm curious, are there things you can do on the P&L outside of pricing that kind of can move the needle in a big way? Or does pricing need to step ahead of cost inflation at some point?

GP，在回答之前的問題時，您發表了關於在 COVID 之前獲得商店級利潤率的評論 - 回到 COVID 之前的水平。我想當您關注 23 年、24 年和 25 年時，定價是否需要在某個時候領先於成本通脹？我的意思是今年，很明顯，行業定價的時間與通脹壓力給成本環境帶來壓力的時間相比存在很大延遲。我很好奇，除了定價之外，您還可以在損益表上做些什麼來大大推動針頭？或者定價是否需要在某個時候超越成本通脹？

Greg, yes, we're definitely very focused to get back to pre-COVID levels since, at the end of the day, from a margin point of view, since this gets us better financial returns for new builds and better confidence within the franchise system. With the rest -- with the company restaurants in the U.S. posting 14.8% in the quarter, we're getting there, right? Pre COVID, we are hovering between 15% and 15.5% depending on what year you pick. So we are not far off.

格雷格，是的，我們絕對非常專注於恢復到 COVID 之前的水平，因為歸根結底，從利潤的角度來看，因為這讓我們為新建築獲得了更好的財務回報，並對特許經營權更有信心系統。其餘的——美國的公司餐廳在本季度發布了 14.8%，我們已經到了那裡，對嗎？在 COVID 之前，我們徘徊在 15% 到 15.5% 之間，具體取決於您選擇的年份。所以我們離我們不遠了。

I would say pricing is an important lever. Inflation is here to stay, especially on the labor front. Commodity, we'll have to see how that plays out. But pricing is not the only lever we play. There's obviously more sophistication we deploy now with our third-party pricing specialists that we've hired. And we think with improved analytics and better reach into the system, that should improve or could improve flow-through rates of price increases. And we, as a brand, do a lot of stuff from a marketing point of view to drive actually positive sales mix benefits like a $5 Biggie Bag that entices consumers to trade up from the 4 for $4 into that offering as an example.

我想說定價是一個重要的槓桿。通貨膨脹將繼續存在，尤其是在勞動力方面。商品，我們必須看看結果如何。但定價並不是我們發揮的唯一手段。顯然，我們現在與我們聘請的第三方定價專家一起部署了更複雜的技術。我們認為，通過改進分析和更好地進入系統，這應該會提高或可以提高價格上漲的流通率。而且，作為一個品牌，我們從營銷的角度做了很多事情來推動真正積極的銷售組合收益，例如一個 5 美元的 Biggie 包，它可以吸引消費者從 4 美元換成 4 美元，以該產品為例。

And we are working very closely with our supply chain and supply partners to take unnecessary cost out of our supply chain without impacting consumer perceptions. A great example is our new clear cups that we are rolling out. That's the triple benefit, right? There's an ESG benefit. There is a consumer perception value benefit and these cups are less costly than the previous ones. So these are the kind of things in concert that we are deploying against our restaurant margin to make sure we stay highly profitable.

我們正在與我們的供應鍊和供應合作夥伴密切合作，在不影響消費者認知的情況下從我們的供應鏈中減少不必要的成本。一個很好的例子是我們正在推出的新透明杯子。這就是三重好處，對吧？有一個 ESG 的好處。有消費者感知價值的好處，這些杯子比以前的杯子便宜。因此，這些是我們正在針對我們的餐廳利潤進行部署的一致措施，以確保我們保持高利潤。

The next question is from John Ivankoe with JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自摩根大通的 John Ivankoe。

The question is on the $750 million of cash. Some years ago, when you refranchised sold units to franchisees and kept the land in the building and have them pay rent for you, part of that agreement is that they would be responsible for basically 100%, or at least from what I remember, 100% of the repair and maintenance on that building.

問題在於 7.5 億美元的現金。幾年前，當您將出售的單位重新特許給特許經營商並將土地保留在建築物中並讓他們為您支付租金時，該協議的一部分是他們將負責基本上 100%，或者至少據我所知，100該建築物的維修和維護的百分比。

I wanted to see if there's any kind of shift that you're thinking about, especially as it relates around accelerating a variety of initiatives that you may want to get done on a system-wide basis where some of that company's capital, some of Wendy's capital could potentially be reinvested or used in the franchise community to strengthen the brand overall? Or if we should expect the previous franchisees invest on their own to largely remain the case?

我想看看你是否正在考慮任何類型的轉變，特別是因為它涉及加速你可能希望在整個系統範圍內完成的各種計劃，其中一些公司的資本，一些溫迪的資本是否可能被重新投資或用於特許經營社區以加強整體品牌？或者我們是否應該期望以前的特許經營商自行投資在很大程度上仍然如此？

John, yes, we're going to stay in line with our capital allocation strategy. So we're going to continue to invest in growth. So we are making investments. Examples for you are royalty abatement, advertising fund abatements to stimulate new growth. We have set aside $100 million build-to-suit for program to help actually unit development, and we are taking some of the capital burden, specifically on the leaseholds and then stepping India and putting our balance sheet and helping franchisees out on that aspect of the business, there is no current plans and no intentions to do so.

約翰，是的，我們將與我們的資本配置策略保持一致。因此，我們將繼續投資於增長。所以我們正在進行投資。您的例子是特許權使用費減免、廣告基金減免以刺激新的增長。我們已經預留了 1 億美元的定制項目，以幫助實際的單元開發，我們正在承擔一些資本負擔，特別是在租賃權上，然後跨步印度，調整我們的資產負債表並幫助特許經營商在這方面業務，目前沒有計劃，也沒有這樣做的意圖。

The next question is from Brian Mullan with Deutsche Bank.

下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Brian Mullan。

Just a question on development specific to international. After the U.K., I think Spain is a market you're focused on for further expansion in Western Europe. Maybe could you update us on your efforts where they stand in that market or any other market you want to call attention to? And related, is 2023 a year in which you'd expect meaningful, new development agreements to be signed in Western Europe? Or could it take a bit longer than that just given the macro backdrop over there?

只是一個關於國際發展的問題。在英國之後，我認為西班牙是您在西歐進一步擴張的重點市場。也許您能向我們介紹您在該市場或您想引起注意的任何其他市場中所做的努力嗎？與此相關的是，您是否期望在 2023 年在西歐簽署有意義的新發展協議？或者考慮到那裡的宏觀背景，它可能需要更長的時間嗎？

Yes, clearly, in the U.K., the macro backdrop is a little bit more challenged, but we're still committed to building out that market. We've got now 9 company restaurants open. We continued to invest in company restaurants. We've got REEF units open. We've got 6 new franchisees signed up and would expect those franchisees start opening restaurants in the coming months.

是的，顯然，在英國，宏觀背景面臨更多挑戰，但我們仍致力於擴大該市場。我們現在有 9 家公司餐廳營業。我們繼續投資於公司餐廳。我們已經開放了 REEF 單位。我們有 6 家新加盟商簽約，預計這些加盟商將在未來幾個月內開始開設餐廳。

So our big opportunity in Europe is to build out the U.K. first. We continue to then think about how do we get into Ireland, leveraging the supply chain that we have into -- built up in the U.K. and then over time into Spain. We continue to prospect for good partners on all of those markets to continue to grow alongside of us. But it's one we're going to have to watch and see. With the consumer economic backdrop and the macroeconomic backdrop, does that take a little bit longer than what we had originally thought? Time will tell, and we'll provide more updates as we get into longer-term guidance in the future.

因此，我們在歐洲的重大機遇是首先建立英國。然後，我們繼續思考如何進入愛爾蘭，利用我們在英國建立的供應鏈，然後隨著時間的推移進入西班牙。我們繼續在所有這些市場上尋找優秀的合作夥伴，與我們一起繼續成長。但這是我們必須觀察和觀察的。在消費經濟背景和宏觀經濟背景下，這是否比我們最初想像的需要更長的時間？時間會證明一切，我們將在未來進入長期指導時提供更多更新。

The next question is from Jared Garber with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛的 Jared Garber。

I actually wanted to follow up on the previous question related to the U.K. market. It seems like the stores there continue to be quite a bit of a drag on profitability related to some of the commentary you made on the U.S. margins. Can you talk about what you're seeing in that market as it relates to cost pressures as we head into '23 and how we should be thinking about maybe the impact of increasing the number of stores with the penetration in that market and then relatedly getting back towards pre-COVID margin levels in the company restaurant side given that dynamic?

我實際上想跟進上一個與英國市場有關的問題。似乎那裡的商店繼續對盈利能力造成相當大的拖累，這與你對美國利潤率所做的一些評論有關。您能否談談您在該市場看到的情況，因為它與我們進入 23 年時的成本壓力有關，以及我們應該如何考慮隨著該市場的滲透而增加商店數量的影響，然後相關地獲得鑑於這種動態，公司餐廳方面的利潤率回到了 COVID 之前的水平？

Jared, yes. There's several cost pressures in the U.K. Some of them are unique to Europe, right? We have definitely seen a pretty hefty headwind on energy cost. Energy costs are up 50% to 60%. That obviously puts margin under pressure. Would also say that sales are slightly lower than what we had expected. As a result of it, obviously, you're not getting as much leverage into that P&L as we thought. So overall, that is translating into about 50 basis points of headwind into our margin as we are consolidating up.

傑瑞德，是的。英國有幾個成本壓力。其中一些是歐洲獨有的，對吧？我們肯定已經看到能源成本方面的巨大阻力。能源成本上升了 50% 到 60%。這顯然使利潤率面臨壓力。還會說銷售額略低於我們的預期。因此，很明顯，您並沒有像我們想像的那樣在損益表中獲得那麼多的影響力。因此，總體而言，隨著我們的整合，這將轉化為我們的利潤約 50 個基點的逆風。

Having said all of that, I think -- we think this is temporary, the growth potential for the U.K. market. The structural economics around this are compelling. It's evidenced by U.K. entrepreneurs, signing up as franchisees since they believe in the potential of those markets. So it's a speed bump and not more.

說了這麼多，我認為 - 我們認為這是暫時的，英國市場的增長潛力。圍繞這一點的結構經濟學令人信服。英國企業家證明了這一點，他們以加盟商的身份簽約，因為他們相信這些市場的潛力。所以這是一個減速帶，而不是更多。

I think that's key, GP. We're playing a long-term game. We do have start-up costs that go with opening the restaurants, but it's a key pillar to really driving the growth across the region.

我認為這是關鍵，全科醫生。我們正在玩一場長期的遊戲。我們確實有與開設餐廳相關的啟動成本，但這是真正推動整個地區增長的關鍵支柱。

The next question is from the line of Wendy Miller with Piper Sandler.

下一個問題來自 Wendy Miller 和 Piper Sandler 的觀點。

It's Nicole. Wendy is the new one. Can you hear me okay?

是妮可。溫迪是新來的。你能聽到我的聲音嗎？

Yes.

是的。

Okay. Great. It's Nicole at Piper. I want to ask about the supply chain, just 2 parts. Number one, on the tactical side, how are items getting out to your partners? Like are they getting everything they need? Is it on time? And then second, just in terms of higher level strategy, like how are they aiding in any cuisine, culinary inspirations, innovations? Or is that kind of all housed at your brand level?

好的。偉大的。是派珀的妮可。我想問一下供應鏈，只有兩部分。第一，在戰術方面，物品是如何分發給你的合作夥伴的？就像他們得到了他們需要的一切？準時嗎？其次，就更高層次的戰略而言，比如他們如何幫助任何烹飪、烹飪靈感和創新？還是所有這些都包含在您的品牌級別？

A couple of things. From a supply chain point of view, on the food and paper side, it is tight. We have no noticeable out-of-stock. So we're really proud about what our supply chain is delivering to our franchisees. On the supply chain related to new builds, I would say, it's extra tight. And I would definitely say that lead time for specific items are definitely much longer than -- and more uncertainty than what we had seen in the past. That's probably the picture on that in terms of our vendor partners, helping us with food innovation and so on.

有幾件事。從供應鏈的角度來看，在食品和紙張方面，供應緊張。我們沒有明顯的缺貨。因此，我們對我們的供應鍊為加盟商提供的服務感到非常自豪。在與新產品相關的供應鏈上，我想說，它非常緊張。我肯定會說，特定項目的交貨時間肯定比我們過去看到的要長得多，而且不確定性更大。這可能就是我們的供應商合作夥伴的情況，幫助我們進行食品創新等等。

First of all, we are proud of our own R&D organization. We have it here in Columbus, Ohio. They are turning out a lot of good food. And we are constantly working with third-party providers on potential new food items. We actually are having a supplier summit in the, I think, second quarter of next year to actually talk strategy, how can we work better together and drive even more acceleration in our business.

首先，我們為自己的研發機構感到自豪。我們在俄亥俄州哥倫布市有它。他們正在生產很多美味的食物。我們一直在與第三方供應商合作開發潛在的新食品。我認為，我們實際上將在明年第二季度舉行供應商峰會，以實際討論戰略，我們如何才能更好地合作並推動我們的業務進一步加速。

And at the end of the day, Nicole, we do look at our suppliers as key partners. We just had them at our national convention out in Las Vegas. They see our plans. They partner with us, both teams, our R&D team, their R&D teams as we really try to leverage the collective expertise on both fronts, really leaning together to think about what the opportunities could be ahead.

歸根結底，妮可，我們確實將我們的供應商視為關鍵合作夥伴。我們剛剛在拉斯維加斯舉行的全國大會上邀請了他們。他們看到了我們的計劃。他們與我們、兩個團隊、我們的研發團隊、他們的研發團隊合作，因為我們真正嘗試利用這兩個方面的集體專業知識，真正齊心協力思考未來的機會。

The next question is from the line of Danilo Gargiulo with Bernstein.

下一個問題來自 Danilo Gargiulo 和 Bernstein 的觀點。

I was wondering if you can provide your early expectations for the next-gen global design store. I know you mentioned they have higher cash-on-cash returns compared to the traditional stores, but can you provide more details on the comp uplift and even more on the digital mix that these stores can generate? And then what proportion are you -- of new stores are you expecting to come in the form of the new next-gen global design?

我想知道您是否可以提供您對下一代全球設計商店的早期期望。我知道您提到與傳統商店相比，它們具有更高的現金回報率，但您能否提供更多關於競爭提升的詳細信息，甚至更多關於這些商店可以產生的數字組合的詳細信息？那麼你的比例是多少——你期望以新的下一代全球設計的形式出現的新商店？

And if I may slot in one more on that, like, what's your development? And what's your progress on the owner opportunity initiative? To what extent have you been able to attract new franchisees into the system?

如果我可以再談一個，比如，你的發展是什麼？您在所有者機會計劃方面的進展如何？您在多大程度上能夠吸引新的加盟商進入系統？

Okay. There were a lot of questions in one question. Let me see whether I can answer them all. So in terms of -- really excited on next gen, right? It actually reduces our build cost by about 10%. And what it also does is -- a more compact building, still offers good-sized dining rooms. It actually is more friendly for delivery drivers in our digital business that drives actually operational effectiveness. So you need less labor to staff these restaurants, and you also have less energy cost.

好的。一個問題有很多問題。讓我看看我是否可以全部回答。所以就 - 對下一代感到非常興奮，對吧？它實際上將我們的構建成本降低了大約 10%。它還做了什麼——一座更緊湊的建築，仍然提供大小合適的餐廳。實際上，它對我們的數字業務中的交付驅動程序更友好，從而提高了實際的運營效率。因此，您需要更少的勞動力來為這些餐廳配備人員，而且您的能源成本也更低。

As a result of it, you can maintain the same business. So there is no like constraint in the kitchen that, because the building is smaller, you cannot get too compelling AUV levels. And then as a result, the combination of capital down, operating costs down due to labor and energy, we are getting a cash-on-cash return of 15% to 20%, which is a decent lift versus what we have seen previously. It also reduces our payout from 7 years plus to about 6 years.

因此，您可以維持相同的業務。所以廚房裡沒有類似的限制，因為建築物更小，你不能得到太引人注目的 AUV 水平。結果，資本下降、勞動力和能源導致的運營成本下降，我們獲得了 15% 到 20% 的現金回報率，與我們之前看到的相比，這是一個不錯的提升。它還將我們的支出從 7 年以上減少到大約 6 年。

How fast is that going to spread? I can tell you only one thing. Our franchisees are super excited about that footprint because it's just a great restaurant to operate and better financial returns. The first one will open in the early part of 2023. It is the new global standard on a go-forward basis. So in the future, all the new restaurants will be built on that standard.

這會以多快的速度傳播？我只能告訴你一件事。我們的加盟商對這一足跡感到非常興奮，因為它只是一家經營的好餐廳和更好的財務回報。第一個將在 2023 年初開放。它是新的全球標準。所以在未來，所有的新餐廳都將建立在這個標准上。

I think that was the key point. That is the new global standard for all new restaurants. Anything that's out there in flight, it's already working through the -- in process of new development, probably won't be able to flip to that. But anything new that's getting built out into the future will be that global next-gen design. And we're really excited about it as the franchise community is.

我認為這是關鍵點。這是所有新餐廳的新全球標準。任何在飛行中的東西，它已經在進行新的開發過程中，可能無法轉向那個。但是，未來構建的任何新事物都將是全球下一代設計。就像特許經營社區一樣，我們對此感到非常興奮。

The next question is from Eric Gonzalez with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Eric Gonzalez。

Thanks for the comments about the U.K. Clearly, outside that market, you have some very strong 1-year and multiyear trends. So with regards to the international business, I'm wondering, are there any other regional differences worth calling out? And you mentioned the strength in the Latin America and Caribbean markets. Were there other wide variations in performance across the business segment? Perhaps you can call out a few markets where it might make sense to accelerate development given those strong trends.

感謝您對英國的評論。顯然，在該市場之外，您有一些非常強勁的 1 年和多年趨勢。所以關於國際業務，我想知道，還有其他值得一提的地區差異嗎？你提到了拉丁美洲和加勒比市場的實力。整個業務部門的業績是否存在其他巨大差異？鑑於這些強勁的趨勢，也許您可以指出一些可能有必要加速發展的市場。

As you heard in the prepared remarks, Latin America, Caribbean continue to perform very nicely for us. But importantly, Canada is our biggest international market. You start to look at how it's performed on a 1- and a 3-year basis on traffic and dollar a share. It's growing faster than any other QSR burger category. So those are opportunities to continue to grow.

正如你在準備好的發言中所聽到的，拉丁美洲、加勒比地區繼續為我們表現出色。但重要的是，加拿大是我們最大的國際市場。您開始查看它在 1 年和 3 年的流量和每股美元方面的表現。它的增長速度比任何其他 QSR 漢堡類別都快。因此，這些都是繼續增長的機會。

If you think about international fronts where we have our big development agreements in place, we talked a little bit about the shifts on the dark kitchens with Rebel in India, but they're also building out traditional freestanding restaurants now too, moving forward to make sure we got a complete omnichannel strategy. And the Philippines is another market that's got a lot of momentum with a big development agreement that we feel really confident in.

如果你考慮一下我們在國際方面達成的大型發展協議，我們與 Rebel 在印度談了一些關於黑暗廚房的轉變，但他們現在也在建造傳統的獨立餐廳，向前邁進當然，我們有一個完整的全渠道戰略。菲律賓是另一個發展勢頭強勁的市場，我們對此非常有信心。

The next question is from the line of Nick Setyan with Wedbush Securities.

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

Aside from the U.K. drag on company margins, relative to your guidance last quarter, it still seems like there were some incremental headwinds. But at the same time, the company-owned comp was pretty strong. Sounds like inflationary headwinds still ease. So is it mix? I mean, what else is there that's going on that resulted in the incremental headwinds relative to your expectations 3 months ago?

除了英國拖累公司利潤率，相對於你上個季度的指導，似乎仍然存在一些增量逆風。但與此同時，公司擁有的薪酬相當強勁。聽起來通脹逆風仍在緩解。那麼它是混合的嗎？我的意思是，相對於您 3 個月前的預期，還有什麼其他原因導致逆風增加？

Nick, yes, what forced us to take the guidance down a little bit was basically 2 factors. First of all, we are growing a little bit less in our company and in restaurants than what we expected. Hurricanes like Ian didn't help in the third quarter. That actually was an impact on our company sales of about 70 basis points. So we lost leverage there. The first reason and second one is labor market is tough. So we have to spend a little bit more money on overtime to keep the restaurants fully staffed to serve our consumers as well as we can. So these are the 2 factors where we slightly reduced guidance.

尼克，是的，迫使我們稍微降低指導的原因基本上是兩個因素。首先，我們公司和餐廳的增長比我們預期的要少一些。像伊恩這樣的颶風在第三季度沒有幫助。這實際上對我們公司的銷售額產生了大約 70 個基點的影響。所以我們在那裡失去了影響力。第一個原因和第二個原因是勞動力市場艱難。因此，我們必須在加班上花更多的錢，以使餐廳人員充足，盡可能地為我們的消費者服務。因此，這些是我們略微降低指導的兩個因素。

The next question is from the line of Jeff Farmer with Gordon Haskett.

下一個問題來自 Jeff Farmer 和 Gordon Haskett。

Great. Just following up quickly on labor inflation. I appreciate that inflation jumped last summer pretty meaningfully, and you're lapping that. But question is, what drove the big quarter-over-quarter deceleration that you saw in the Q3 on labor inflation? I think it fell from 12% in the Q2 to something like 6% in Q3. What's driving that?

偉大的。只是快速跟進勞動力通脹。我很欣賞去年夏天通貨膨脹的大幅上漲，而您對此表示讚賞。但問題是，是什麼推動了您在第三季度看到的勞動力通脹大幅環比減速？我認為它從第二季度的 12% 下降到第三季度的 6% 左右。是什麼驅動了它？

Yes, it's a function of the comparison base, right? So in the -- if you look back in -- labor inflation in 2021 was about 6%. That then stepped up to about 12% in 2022. And then in 2021, third quarter labor inflation started to get more difficult, right? So we had kind of a 9% inflation in the third quarter of 2021. That stepped up to slightly north of 6%. So if you actually look at inflation on a 2-year basis, it's kind of sequentially slightly down.

是的，它是比較基數的函數，對吧？因此，如果你回顧一下，2021 年的勞動力通脹率約為 6%。然後在 2022 年上升到 12% 左右。然後在 2021 年，第三季度勞動力通脹開始變得更加困難，對吧？因此，我們在 2021 年第三季度出現了 9% 的通脹率。這上升到略高於 6% 的水平。因此，如果您實際上以 2 年為基礎來看待通貨膨脹，它會按順序略有下降。

The next question is from Jim Sanderson with Northcoast Research.

下一個問題來自 Northcoast Research 的 Jim Sanderson。

Just wanted to ask a general question about pricing. Do you believe you have pricing power on a net realized basis or flow-through basis in the U.S. to keep pace with constant inflation without having to rely more on discounting here in the United States?

只是想問一個關於定價的一般問題。您是否認為您在美國擁有基於淨實現基礎或流通基礎的定價能力，以跟上持續通脹的步伐，而不必更多地依賴美國的貼現？

Yes, we definitely believe we have pricing power. We have now taken significant pricing the last couple of quarters. We are up to 10% in the company restaurants. As we said in the prepared remarks or I think it was even in Q&A, our traffic is sequentially improving. It's still slightly down. So we don't see kind of less flow-through. We're still seeing a flow-through of about 80%. So we have not yet reached a breaking point, and we think there is, therefore, more pricing power there.

是的，我們絕對相信我們有定價權。我們現在在過去幾個季度採取了重大定價。我們在公司餐廳的佔比高達 10%。正如我們在準備好的評論中所說的，或者我認為甚至在問答中，我們的流量正在逐步改善。還是略有下降。所以我們沒有看到更少的流通。我們仍然看到大約 80% 的流量。所以我們還沒有達到一個臨界點，因此我們認為那裡有更多的定價權。

As we also said, we are getting even more sophisticated and were to take price with a third-party consultant that we have hired not just for the company but also for our franchisees. And at the end of the day, the proof is in the pudding, right? We have yet again in this quarter held our dollar and traffic share in the category. So we are competing well with the pricing levels we're at.

正如我們也說過的，我們變得更加成熟，並且將與我們聘請的第三方顧問一起定價，我們不僅為公司而且為我們的加盟商聘請了該顧問。歸根結底，證據就在布丁中，對吧？我們在本季度再次持有我們在該類別中的美元和流量份額。因此，我們與我們所處的定價水平競爭得很好。

I think the optimistic side of the consumer moving forward is wage rates are up, as we just talked about, but inflation is still strong. So as inflation starts to subside on the commodity front and there's more disposable personal income for the consumer, that bodes well for the industry.

我認為消費者向前發展的樂觀方面是工資率上升，正如我們剛才談到的，但通脹仍然強勁。因此，隨著商品方面的通貨膨脹開始消退，消費者可支配的個人收入增加，這對行業來說是個好兆頭。

As you start to fast forward into the future, that healthier consumer will continue to come out. We'll start to see those frequency gains and get folks from food at home to food away from home. So the future is very bright.

當你開始快進到未來時，更健康的消費者將繼續出現。我們將開始看到這些頻率的提高，並讓人們從家裡的食物轉向家外的食物。所以未來是非常光明的。

Our last question today comes from the line of Sara Senatore with Bank of America.

我們今天的最後一個問題來自美國銀行的 Sara Senatore。

Great. I just have 2 questions that are sort of follow-ups on what we heard. The first is on breakfast. I know you said sort of running -- had been running 2,700 a week from previous quarters. I think the Q said 2,600 year-to-date. So it sounds like you had a nice lift in the second half of the quarter but maybe a bit softer in the first half. I'm just trying to understand how sticky you think the business is versus getting a lift when you do have a really appealing launch? And then maybe it settles back in. So that's the first follow-up.

偉大的。我只有 2 個問題是對我們所聽到的內容的跟進。首先是早餐。我知道你說的是跑步——從前幾個季度開始每週運行 2,700 次。我認為 Q 表示年初至今有 2,600 個。所以聽起來你在本季度的後半段有一個不錯的提升，但在前半段可能有點軟。我只是想了解當您確實有一個非常吸引人的發佈時，您認為該業務與獲得提升相比有多粘？然後也許它會重新安定下來。所以這是第一個後續行動。

And then the second one is, can you just talk about whether you're seeing any changes in order sizes? You mentioned sort of no real mix shift. What we have been seeing is customer counts seem to be improving sequentially but it's being eaten up a little bit in terms of mix because you're seeing mostly just the effect of order disaggregation. So is there anything going on there as you see more normalization, whether it's less of the drive-thru or less delivery. Anything you can speak to on that front?

然後第二個問題是，你能談談你是否看到訂單規模有任何變化嗎？你提到了一種沒有真正的混合轉變。我們所看到的是，客戶數量似乎在連續增加，但在組合方面它被吃掉了一點，因為你看到的主要是訂單分解的影響。那麼，當您看到更多的標準化時，是否有任何事情發生，無論是更少的得來速或更少的交付。在這方面你有什麼可以談的嗎？

Yes. So Sara, on the breakfast front, you were right. It did sequentially increase throughout the quarter with the launch of French Toast Sticks. But you also have to remember, we are lapping a very strong $1.99 croissant promotion a year ago. So we're happy that we were able to build growth on top of growth. And any time you're putting news out there, any time you got a promotion, any time you're advertising, you start to build some more awareness but, more importantly, build trial. And we continue to see our breakfast daypart is our highest overall satisfaction daypart.

是的。所以薩拉，在早餐方面，你是對的。隨著法式吐司棒的推出，它在整個季度中確實連續增加。但您也必須記住，我們在一年前推出了非常強勁的 1.99 美元羊角麵包促銷活動。所以我們很高興我們能夠在增長的基礎上實現增長。任何時候你把新聞放在那裡，任何時候你得到促銷，任何時候你做廣告，你開始建立更多的意識，但更重要的是，建立試驗。我們繼續看到我們的早餐時段是我們最高的整體滿意度時段。

So our opportunity is to get folks to continue to get in, try us, get us into the routine and then earn their frequency over time. On order size, when you look at average items per transaction, it has come down a little bit over time. And some of those great big orders that we were seeing back in the height of COVID, it's shifted down a little bit. But when you look at overall mix, as GP said earlier, we've been hanging in there pretty well on overall mix. What that's been interesting to see is delivery continues to hang in there quite well even with all the pressures. So we'll continue to lean in as we go into the fourth quarter with messaging around delivery.

所以我們的機會是讓人們繼續參與進來，嘗試我們，讓我們進入常規，然後隨著時間的推移贏得他們的頻率。關於訂單大小，當您查看每筆交易的平均商品時，隨著時間的推移，它已經下降了一點。我們在 COVID 的高峰期看到的一些大訂單，它已經向下移動了一點。但是，當您查看整體組合時，正如 GP 之前所說，我們在整體組合上一直保持得很好。有趣的是，即使面臨所有壓力，交付仍能繼續保持良好狀態。因此，隨著我們進入第四季度，我們將繼續關注交付信息。

And one thing that you try to create is some value within delivery, and we now get the $5 Biggie Bag in with DoorDash and that promotion started in Q4 is resonating very well with the consumer. So we feel good about that, too.

您嘗試創造的一件事是交付中的一些價值，我們現在通過 DoorDash 獲得了 5 美元的 Biggie Bag，並且從第四季度開始的促銷活動在消費者中產生了很好的共鳴。所以我們對此也感覺良好。

Thanks, Sara. That was our last question of the call. Thank you, Todd and GP, and thank you, everyone, for participating this morning. We look forward to speaking with you again on our fourth quarter call in March. Have a great day. You may now disconnect.

謝謝，薩拉。那是我們通話的最後一個問題。謝謝 Todd 和 GP，謝謝大家今天早上的參與。我們期待在三月份的第四季度電話會議上再次與您交談。祝你有美好的一天。您現在可以斷開連接。