Wendy's Co (WEN) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. Welcome to The Wendy's Company earnings results conference call. (Operator Instructions) You may begin your conference.

早安.歡迎參加溫蒂漢堡公司財報電話會議。（操作員說明）您可以開始會議了。

Good morning, and thank you for joining our fiscal 2025 Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. After this brief introduction, Ken Cook, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, will provide a business update and then Susie Thuerk, Chief Accounting Officer and Global Head of FP&A, will review our third quarter results, share capital allocation priorities and our updated 2025 outlook. From there, we will open up the line for questions. Today's conference call and webcast includes a presentation, which is available on our Investor Relations website, ir.wendys.com.

早安，感謝各位參加我們2025財年第三季財報電話會議。在簡短的介紹之後，臨時執行長兼財務長 Ken Cook 將提供業務最新情況，然後首席會計官兼全球財務規劃與分析主管 Susie Thuerk 將回顧我們第三季度的業績、股本分配重點以及我們更新後的 2025 年展望。接下來，我們將開放提問通道。今天的電話會議和網路直播包括一份演示文稿，該演示文稿可在我們的投資者關係網站 ir.wendys.com 上找到。

Before we begin, please take note of the safe harbor statement that appears at the end of today's earnings release. This disclosure reminds investors that certain information we discuss today is forward-looking and reflects our current expectations about future plans and performance. Various factors could affect our results and cause those results to differ materially from the projections set forth in our forward-looking statements. 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 today's earnings release. If you have questions following today's conference call, please contact me. I will now hand the call over to Ken.

在開始之前，請注意今天財報發布末尾出現的「安全港聲明」。此項揭露旨在提醒投資者，我們今天討論的某些資訊屬於前瞻性訊息，反映了我們目前對未來計畫和績效的預期。各種因素可能會影響我們的業績，並導致這些業績與我們前瞻性聲明中提出的預測有重大差異。此外，今天的一些評論還會提及非GAAP財務指標。投資人應參閱本簡報結尾或今日發布的收益報告中的非GAAP財務指標與最直接可比較的GAAP指標的調節表。如果您在今天的電話會議後有任何疑問，請與我聯絡。現在我將把電話交給肯。

Thanks, Aaron. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Before I begin, I want to thank our employees and franchisees for the passion they bring to The Wendy's brand and their continued commitment to unlocking its full potential. This morning, I'll provide an update on Project Fresh, which we announced in October and then review our third quarter results, which were broadly in line with our expectations. Across the globe, Wendy's continues to resonate well with our customers as we execute our globally great, locally even better approach.

謝謝你，亞倫。各位早安，感謝大家今天收看我們的節目。在開始之前，我要感謝我們的員工和加盟商，感謝他們對 Wendy's 品牌的熱情，以及他們為充分發揮 Wendy's 品牌潛力而持續做出的努力。今天上午，我將介紹我們在 10 月宣布的「新鮮項目」的最新進展，然後回顧我們第三季度的業績，該業績基本上符合我們的預期。在全球範圍內，Wendy's 秉持著「全球卓越，本地更佳」的理念，持續受到顧客的喜愛。

Our International business once again delivered strong systemwide sales growth, supported by an increase in same-restaurant sales and new restaurant openings. Momentum continues to build across our markets, and we expect international net unit growth of over 9% in 2025. I am pleased by the strong performance as we continue to prioritize accelerating international expansion. In our US business, sales remain under pressure, and we are acting with urgency to return US comp sales to growth. We are making meaningful progress on key actions to enhance the customer experience, and we are seeing this pay off in our US company-operated restaurants, which significantly outperformed the overall system in the third quarter. On our last earnings call, I outlined three key initiatives: Knowing our customers better, simplifying our programming and execution, and working more closely with our franchisees as one Wendy's. In addition to these initiatives, we made the strategic decision to prioritize growing average unit volumes over a growth in our US business.

在同店銷售成長和新店開業的支持下，我們的國際業務再次實現了強勁的系統性銷售成長。我們在各市場的成長動能持續增強，預計 2025 年國際淨銷售量將成長超過 9%。我對我們所取得的強勁業績感到滿意，我們將繼續優先加快國際擴張步伐。在美國，我們的銷售仍然面臨壓力，我們正在緊急採取行動，以恢復美國同店銷售額的成長。我們在提升客戶體驗的關鍵行動方面取得了實質進展，並且我們已經看到這些努力在美國公司自營餐廳中得到了回報，這些餐廳在第三季度的業績明顯優於整個系統。在上次財報電話會議上，我概述了三項關鍵舉措：更深入了解我們的客戶、簡化我們的項目和執行，以及與我們的加盟商更緊密地合作，共同打造一個 Wendy's 品牌。除了這些措施之外，我們還做出了策略決策，優先提高平均單位銷量，而不是擴大美國業務。

As part of this strategic shift, we launched Project Fresh, a comprehensive turnaround plan to drive profitable growth and long-term value across our US system. Project Fresh is structured around 4 strategic pillars: Brand revitalization; operational excellence; system optimization and capital allocation, designed to attract new customers to Wendy's through more compelling marketing and to increase guest frequency by providing an exceptional customer experience, which increases AUVs, improves restaurant profitability and creates value for franchisees, the company and shareholders. We began discussing these initiatives with our franchisees earlier this fall, and we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback, a great reflection of the confidence in The Wendy's brand and our One Wendy's approach. Let me take a few minutes to highlight some of the specific actions underway. The first pillar of Project Fresh is revitalizing the Wendy's brand. This is about positioning Wendy's as the freshest and highest quality choice in QSR by celebrating what makes us stand out from the competition.

作為這一戰略轉變的一部分，我們啟動了“新鮮項目”，這是一項全面的扭虧為盈計劃，旨在推動我們在美國體系內實現盈利增長和長期價值。「新鮮計畫」圍繞著四大策略支柱建構：品牌復興；卓越營運；系統優化和資本配置，旨在透過更具吸引力的行銷吸引新顧客光顧 Wendy's，並透過提供卓越的客戶體驗提高顧客光顧頻率，從而提高平均單次銷售額，提升餐廳盈利能力，並為加盟商、公司和股東創造價值。今年秋季早些時候，我們開始與加盟商討論這些舉措，並收到了壓倒性的正面回饋，這充分體現了大家對 Wendy's 品牌和我們「一個 Wendy's」理念的信心。讓我花幾分鐘時間重點介紹一下正在進行的一些具體行動。「新鮮計畫」的第一支柱是重振溫蒂漢堡品牌。這旨在透過宣傳我們區別於競爭對手的優勢，將 Wendy's 定位為快餐業中最新鮮、最高品質的選擇。

This includes using the highest quality ingredients like our 100% fresh, never frozen beef, our Applewood-smoked bacon and our new barrel breaded chicken tenders. It's about telling our quality story with a greater focus and relevance for today's consumer. To accomplish this, we're combining our internal expertise with an industry-leading consulting firm utilizing a proven data-driven process to strengthen our brand positioning and enhance marketing effectiveness. This starts by listening to our customers. In October, we launched a needs-based customer segmentation study that is well underway. The feedback we gather from customers will clarify which attributes drive their purchasing decisions and help us refine how we deliver and communicate value across every touch point.

這包括使用最優質的食材，例如我們 100% 新鮮、從未冷凍的牛肉，我們的蘋果木熏培根和我們新推出的桶裝麵包屑雞柳。關鍵在於以更聚焦、更貼近當今消費者的方式來講述我們的品質故事。為了實現這一目標，我們將內部專業知識與業界領先的顧問公司相結合，利用成熟的數據驅動流程來加強我們的品牌定位並提高行銷效果。首先要做的就是傾聽客戶的意見。10 月份，我們啟動了一項基於需求的客戶細分研究，目前研究進展順利。我們從客戶收集的回饋將明確哪些因素會影響他們的購買決策，並幫助我們改進在每個接觸點上提供和傳達價值的方式。

At the same time, we are expanding the use of advanced data analytics to deepen our understanding of customer behavior. We now have visibility to help consumers behave both inside The Wendy system and with the competition which will enable us to focus our media efforts on high-value audiences and allow us to adapt quickly to shifts in consumer behavior. The next two pillars, operational excellence and system optimization are both focused on elevating the customer experience. Operational excellence starts with putting our customers first.

同時，我們正在擴大先進數據分析的使用範圍，以加深我們對客戶行為的了解。我們現在能夠更了解消費者在 Wendy 系統內以及與競爭對手互動時的行為，這將使我們能夠將媒體工作重點放在高價值受眾身上，並使我們能夠快速適應消費者行為的變化。接下來的兩大支柱，卓越營運和系統優化，都旨在提升客戶體驗。卓越營運始於客戶至上。

Our investments in people, training and hospitality are driving measurable results with US company-operated restaurants, outperforming the system by 400 basis points in same restaurant sales during the third quarter. We're proud of this progress and are scaling these initiatives across the system to generate higher AUVs and deliver an even better customer experience. For example, we've enhanced our training programs, including additional training for all customer-facing employees to improve hospitality and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

我們在人員、培訓和餐飲服務方面的投入正在為美國公司自營餐廳帶來可衡量的成果，第三季同店銷售額比系統平均高出 400 個基點。我們為所取得的進展感到自豪，並將這些舉措推廣到整個系統，以產生更高的AUV（平均單一船舶價值），並提供更好的客戶體驗。例如，我們加強了培訓計劃，包括為所有面向客戶的員工提供額外培訓，以提高服務水準並提供卓越的客戶體驗。

This has supported higher customer satisfaction scores this year, particularly in accuracy and friendliness. Two key factors that keep guests coming back. These efforts have also helped lower employee turnover in the company restaurants building a solid foundation for consistent, high-quality service. We've made progress with our digital and delivery business with key measures like conversion, satisfaction and App Store ratings all increasing in 2025, with corresponding declines in cancellation rates, missing items and refunds.

今年客戶滿意度得分有所提高，尤其是在準確性和友善性方面。讓客人不斷光顧的兩個關鍵因素。這些努力也有助於降低公司餐廳的員工流動率，為持續提供高品質的服務奠定了堅實的基礎。我們在數位化和配送業務方面取得了進展，轉換率、滿意度和 App Store 評分等關鍵指標在 2025 年均有所提高，同時取消率、商品遺失率和退款率也相應下降。

These improvements are the direct result of enhancements we've made to the customer experience from the welcome journey in our app to using geolocation data to help with pickup location accuracy to DoorDash delivery scales to improve order accuracy. We still have work to do and are testing additional changes to create an even better experience for our digital customers, an important segment of our business with significant opportunity for further growth. And we're leveraging technology, including digital menu boards and fresh AI to deliver more consistent, high-quality drive-through interactions. It's improving upselling and productivity, and while still early, the results are promising for both our teams and customers.

這些改進直接源自於我們對客戶體驗的提升，從應用程式的歡迎流程，到使用地理位置資料來幫助確定取貨地點的準確性，再到 DoorDash 配送秤來提高訂單準確性。我們仍有許多工作要做，並且正在測試其他改進措施，以期為我們的數位客戶創造更好的體驗。數位客戶是我們業務的重要組成部分，具有巨大的成長潛力。我們正在利用包括數位菜單板和最新人工智慧在內的技術，提供更一致、更高品質的免下車服務互動。它提高了追加銷售和生產力，雖然還處於早期階段，但對我們的團隊和客戶來說，結果都令人鼓舞。

The third pillar, Project Fresh, is system optimization, which is about having the right restaurant footprint in each market to maximize profitability for our franchisees and deliver exceptional food and experiences for our customers. This is a significant strategic shift that we believe will drive stronger growth over time. Let me share some details on the process. We are working with our US franchisees to evaluate each and every underperforming restaurants stem from both the financial and the customer experience perspective and developing action plans for how to improve both. For some locations, it's about making operational changes or deploying technology. For others, we're improving productivity by aligning operating hours to better match demand, particularly in the morning and late-night dayparts. In other cases, the solution will be to close consistently underperforming restaurants.

第三大支柱「新鮮項目」旨在優化系統，即在每個市場擁有合適的餐廳佈局，以最大限度地提高加盟商的盈利能力，並為我們的顧客提供卓越的食品和體驗。這是一項重大的策略轉變，我們相信這將推動公司在未來實現更強勁的成長。讓我來詳細介紹一下這個過程。我們正在與美國加盟商合作，從財務和客戶體驗兩個角度評估每一家業績不佳的餐廳，並製定改進這兩方面的行動計劃。對於某些地區而言，這意味著要進行營運變革或部署技術。對於其他企業，我們正在透過調整營運時間以更好地滿足需求來提高生產力，尤其是在早晨和深夜時段。在其他情況下，解決方案是關閉業績持續不佳的餐廳。

These actions will strengthen the system and enable franchisees to invest more capital and resources in their remaining restaurants. Investments include new kitchen equipment to ensure the highest quality, best tasting food and technology upgrades such as digital menu boards to enhance productivity and give our teams more time to focus on hospitality. Consistent with what we've seen in our company-operated restaurants, we expect these actions to elevate the customer experience, increase AUVs and improve restaurant economics. Also closures of underperforming units are expected to boost sales and profitability at nearby locations.

這些措施將加強該體系，並使加盟商能夠向其剩餘餐廳投入更多資金和資源。投資包括購買新的廚房設備，以確保提供最高品質、最美味的食物，以及進行技術升級，例如購買數位菜單板，以提高生產力，讓我們的團隊有更多時間專注於服務。與我們在公司自營餐廳所看到的情況一致，我們預期這些措施將提升顧客體驗，提高平均單次消費額，並改善餐廳的經濟效益。此外，關閉業績不佳的門市預計也將提振附近門市的銷售額和獲利能力。

We're partnering closely with franchisees guided by a clear set of criteria to ensure a thorough review process. Together, we'll complete this assessment over the next several months with some closures expected to begin later this year and continue into 2026. We believe these actions focused on revitalizing our brand and elevating the customer experience will drive sustainable growth, powered by the Wendy's core differentiators, high-quality food with fresh ingredients and authentic customer connections. And we are aligning our capital deployment, our fourth pillar, with these strategic priorities.

我們與加盟商緊密合作，並遵循一套明確的標準，以確保進行徹底的審核流程。我們將共同在接下來的幾個月內完成這項評估，預計今年稍後將開始部分場所關閉，並持續到 2026 年。我們相信，這些旨在重振品牌、提升客戶體驗的舉措，將推動可持續成長，而溫蒂漢堡的核心差異化優勢——採用新鮮食材製作的高品質食品和真誠的客戶聯繫——將為此提供動力。我們正在調整資本部署（我們的第四大支柱），使其與這些策略重點保持一致。

In the US, capital will be directed towards initiatives that drive profitable AUV growth rather than net unit growth. Reflecting this focus, we've reduced our 2025 US build-to-suit capital by approximately $20 million from the outlook we shared at the beginning of the year, and we expect to continue this approach in 2026. Internationally, expansion remains a top priority, and we'll continue leveraging build-to-suit investments to drive net unit growth in key markets, including Canada and the UK.

在美國，資金將流向那些能夠推動獲利性 AUV 成長的舉措，而不是推動淨銷售成長的舉措。有鑑於此，我們將 2025 年美國客製化建造資本比年初公佈的預期減少了約 2,000 萬美元，我們預計 2026 年將繼續採取這種做法。在國際上，擴張仍然是我們的首要任務，我們將繼續利用客製化建設投資來推動包括加拿大和英國在內的主要市場的淨單位成長。

Turning to our third quarter results. Although we are not satisfied with our US sales, overall performance was in line with the expectations we shared last quarter. Global system-wide sales declined 2.6%, driven by a 4.7% decline in US same-restaurant sales, reflecting heightened industry competition and consumer pressure. As we shared on our last call, during the third quarter, we reduced programming complexity to focus on the most important initiatives. This included our Wendy's collaboration with Netflix, launching new beverages and providing relevant value to customers with our two junior bacon cheese butter meals for $8. This offer includes two of our iconic and customer favorite JVCs with fresh, never frozen beef, four pieces Applewood smoke bacon, hot and crispy fries and a drink.

接下來來看看我們第三季的業績。儘管我們對美國市場的銷售業績並不滿意，但整體業績符合我們上季的預期。全球系統銷售額下降 2.6%，其中美國同店銷售額下降 4.7%，反映出產業競爭加劇和消費者壓力增大。正如我們在上次電話會議上分享的那樣，在第三季度，我們降低了程式設計的複雜性，以便專注於最重要的項目。這包括我們與 Netflix 合作推出 Wendy's 新飲品，並透過我們兩款售價 8 美元的迷你培根起司奶油套餐為顧客提供相關價值。此優惠包含兩份我們標誌性的、深受顧客喜愛的 JVC 漢堡，內含新鮮、從未冷凍的牛肉，四片蘋果木煙熏培根，熱乎乎、酥脆的薯條和一杯飲料。

I'm pleased with our more focused and disciplined execution in the quarter. In September, we continued this focused approach by preparing our restaurant teams to launch a new core menu offering, chicken tendered along with six new sauces. Wendy's Tendies debuted at the beginning of the fourth quarter and as expected, customers love them. Demand was so strong that some restaurants sold out even before the National Media support, which fully launches this week. We're looking forward to continuing that momentum, and this is an encouraging first step as we look to reestablish our leadership position in chicken. This successful launch highlights the progress we've made in simplifying programming and strengthening execution across our system. It also reinforces the exceptional quality of our products and the improved operational execution across our system, supported by enhanced training and sufficient preparation time for our restaurant teams.

我對我們本季更加專注和嚴謹的執行力感到滿意。9 月，我們繼續採取這種專注的方式，讓餐廳團隊做好準備，推出新的核心菜單產品——雞柳，以及六種新醬料。Wendy's 的雞柳條在第四季初首次亮相，不出所料，顧客們非常喜歡它們。需求非常強勁，一些餐廳甚至在國家媒體全面支持之前就已經售罄，而國家媒體的支持將於本周全面啟動。我們期待繼續保持這一勢頭，這是我們重新確立在雞肉行業領導地位的令人鼓舞的第一步。這次成功發布凸顯了我們在簡化程式設計和加強整個系統執行方面的進展。這也進一步鞏固了我們產品的卓越品質，以及我們整個系統營運執行的改進，這得益於我們餐廳團隊所接受的密集培訓和充足的準備時間。

It's a clear example of what Wendy's can achieve when we're focused and aligned as One Wendy's. Turning to our international business. System-wide sales grew 8.6% in the third quarter with growth across all regions. We also celebrated several milestones, including the opening of our first restaurant in Ireland, and our second restaurant in Australia, which delivered the highest opening day sales in our history. This year, in Canada, we remain on track to deliver our highest number of openings in the past decade. We also continue to strengthen our long-term development pipeline, having signed new agreements for more than 320 international restaurants year-to-date, including a recent agreement to open 50 restaurants in Central Mexico.

這清楚地表明，當我們齊心協力、團結一致，作為一個整體——一個溫蒂漢堡——時，溫蒂漢堡能夠取得怎樣的成就。接下來談談我們的國際業務。第三季系統銷售額成長8.6%，所有地區均成長。我們也慶祝了幾個里程碑，包括我們在愛爾蘭的第一家餐廳和我們在澳洲的第二家餐廳的開業，後者創下了我們歷史上最高的開業首日銷售額。今年，在加拿大，我們預計將實現近十年來最高的開業數量。我們也繼續加強長期發展計劃，今年迄今已簽署了 320 多家國際餐廳的新協議，其中包括最近在墨西哥中部開設 50 家餐廳的協議。

Mexico remains our strategic growth hub for Latin America, where our investments in local resources, supply chain and marketing are laying the groundwork for sustained expansion across the region. International remains a growth engine delivering 100 new restaurant openings and 77 net new units through the third quarter. Globally, we've opened 172 new restaurants through the third quarter and added 123 net units, reinforcing the growing strength of our global footprint. Wrapping up our third quarter results. Adjusted EBITDA rose 2.1% to $138 million, and adjusted EPS was $0.24 per share versus $0.25 per share last year. We returned more than $40 million to shareholders in the quarter through dividends and share repurchases and over $300 million year-to-date, keeping us on pace to exceed $325 million for the full year up more than $40 million from a year ago.

墨西哥仍然是我們在拉丁美洲的策略性成長中心，我們對當地資源、供應鏈和行銷的投資正在為整個地區的持續擴張奠定基礎。國際市場仍是成長引擎，第三季新增餐廳 100 家，淨增門市 77 家。第三季度，我們在全球新開了 172 家餐廳，淨增 123 家，進一步鞏固了我們日益增強的全球影響力。第三季業績總結。調整後 EBITDA 成長 2.1% 至 1.38 億美元，調整後每股收益為 0.24 美元，去年同期為 0.25 美元。本季我們透過分紅和股票回購向股東返還了超過 4,000 萬美元，今年迄今已返還超過 3 億美元，使我們預計在全年實現超過 3.25 億美元的目標，比去年同期增長超過 4,000 萬美元。

Now turning to our outlook. We are maintaining our outlook for full year global system-wide sales, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS. Additionally, we are increasing our outlook for free cash flow by $35 million to $195 million to $210 million, reflecting a reduction in capital expenditures and build-to-suit investments, along with tax benefits related to the 2025 Tax and Reconciliation Act. Our strong free cash flow underpins our ability to fund investments in the business and the company remains committed to our dividend and returning capital to shareholders.

現在談談我們的展望。我們維持對全年全球系統銷售額、調整後 EBITDA 和調整後每股盈餘的預期。此外，我們將自由現金流預期上調 3,500 萬美元至 1.95 億美元至 2.1 億美元，這反映了資本支出和客製化投資的減少，以及與 2025 年稅收和解法案相關的稅收優惠。我們強勁的自由現金流為我們提供了投資資金的能力，公司將繼續致力於派發股息並向股東返還資本。

Finally, we are also maintaining our outlook for net unit development growth of between 2% and 3%. International development in 2025 is tracking in line with our prior expectation for net unit growth of over 9%. In the US, while we expect around 100 new restaurant openings for the year, we anticipate that our system optimization initiative could result in our global net unit growth coming in around the low end of the range. Before I close, I will turn it over to Suzie to provide more details on our third quarter results.

最後，我們維持對淨單位開發成長2%至3%的預期。2025 年國際發展正如我們先前的預期進行，淨單位成長將超過 9%。在美國，雖然我們預計今年將有大約 100 家新餐廳開業，但我們預計我們的系統優化計劃可能會導致我們的全球淨門市增長量接近預期範圍的下限。最後，我將把發言權交給蘇西，讓她詳細介紹我們第三季的業績。

Thank you, Ken, and good morning, everyone. I'll start with our third quarter results, including an update on capital allocation before closing with more detail around our outlook for the remainder of 2025. In the third quarter, global system-wide sales decreased 2.6% on a constant currency basis primarily driven by a decline in US same-restaurant sales of 4.7%. This was partially offset by continued strength in our international business with 8.6% system-wide sales growth. The decline in US same-restaurant sales was driven by a decrease in traffic, partially offset by a higher average check. Same-restaurant sales at our US company-operated restaurants outperformed the US system by 400 basis points declining 0.7%.

謝謝你，肯，大家早安。我將首先介紹我們第三季的業績，包括資本配置的最新情況，最後詳細闡述我們對 2025 年剩餘時間的展望。第三季度，全球系統銷售額以固定匯率計算下降了 2.6%，主要原因是美國同店銷售額下降了 4.7%。國際業務的持續強勁成長部分抵消了這一影響，系統銷售額成長了 8.6%。美國同店銷售額下降是由於客流量減少所致，但平均客單價上漲部分抵銷了這一影響。美國公司自營餐廳的同店銷售額比美國系統高出 400 個基點，下降了 0.7%。

The stronger performance in company-operated restaurants was driven by our actions focused on operational excellence as well as stronger delivery growth and the implementation of our digital menu boards and fresh AI automated ordering technology. As we execute on our US turnaround initiatives under Project Fresh we're planning to scale these actions across the broader system to elevate the customer experience and drive profitable AUV growth. We're also making progress scaling our US digital business with sales up 14.9% compared to the prior year, bringing US digital mix to an all-time high of 20.3%. Shifting to our international segment.

本公司自營餐廳業績的提升，得益於我們專注於卓越營運、外送業務成長強勁以及數位化菜單板和新鮮人工智慧自動點餐技術的實施。隨著我們根據「新鮮項目」執行美國業務轉型計劃，我們計劃將這些舉措推廣到更廣泛的系統中，以提升客戶體驗並推動盈利平均單價成長。我們在美國數位業務的擴張方面也取得了進展，銷售額比上一年增長了 14.9%，使美國數位業務佔比達到歷史新高 20.3%。接下來轉向我們的國際業務部門。

In the third quarter, the Wendy's brand continued its strong momentum around the world, delivering system-wide sales growth of 8.6% and 3% same-restaurant sales. System-wide sales grew across all regions with some of the fastest-growing markets, including Mexico, with over 18% growth; and Puerto Rico with over 10% growth. Our Canadian business also continued to deliver solid results with over 7% system-wide sales growth in the third quarter and has gained traffic share in the QSR burger category for 17 consecutive quarters.

第三季度，Wendy's 品牌在全球持續保持強勁的成長勢頭，系統銷售額成長 8.6%，同店銷售額成長 3%。系統整體銷售額在所有地區均實現成長，其中成長最快的市場包括墨西哥（成長超過 18%）和波多黎各（成長超過 10%）。我們的加拿大業務也持續取得穩健的業績，第三季系統銷售額成長超過 7%，並且連續 17 個季度在快餐漢堡類別中獲得客流量份額。

These results demonstrate the strength of our global brand enabled by the investments we are making in regional capabilities. Moving to the P&L. Total adjusted revenue was $442.5 million, a decrease of $1.1 million compared to the prior year, driven by both lower franchise royalty revenue and franchise rental income, partially offset by an increase in franchise fees. Global company-operated restaurant margin was 12.4% for the third quarter, and US company-operated restaurant margin was 13.1%, a contraction of 250 basis points year-over-year. The decline in US company-operated restaurant margin was primarily due to cost inflation with continued pressure on both beef and labor costs as well as a decline in traffic. These were partially offset by an increase in average check size and labor productivity, which was driven by lower turnover and improved train, reflecting the benefits of our operational improvement initiatives.

這些成果證明了我們全球品牌的強大實力，而這得益於我們對區域能力的投資。接下來檢查損益表。調整後的總收入為 4.425 億美元，比上年減少了 110 萬美元，主要原因是特許經營權使用費收入和特許經營租金收入下降，但部分被特許經營費的增加所抵消。第三季全球公司自營餐廳利潤率為 12.4%，美國公司自營餐廳利潤率為 13.1%，年減 250 個基點。美國公司自營餐廳利潤率下降的主要原因是成本上漲，牛肉和勞動成本持續承壓，以及客流量下降。這些不利因素部分被平均消費額和勞動生產力的提高所抵消，而勞動生產力的提高則得益於人員流動率的降低和培訓水準的提高，這反映了我們營運改善措施的成效。

Adjusted EBITDA was $138 million, which was up 2.1% versus the prior year, primarily driven by decreases in the company's funding of incremental advertising spend and G&A expenses of $6.4 million respectively. These items were partially offset by the decline in US same restaurant sales. Adjusted earnings per share was $0.24, a $0.01 below prior year. And turning to free cash flow, which continues to be a hallmark of The Wendy's brand. We've converted more than 100% of net income, generating $195.6 million of free cash flow through the first three quarters. This strength enables us to fund strategic investments while continuing to return capital to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends. Moving on to capital allocation.

調整後的 EBITDA 為 1.38 億美元，比上年增長 2.1%，主要原因是公司用於增加廣告支出和一般及行政費用的資金分別減少了 640 萬美元。這些因素部分被美國同店銷售額的下降所抵銷。調整後每股收益為 0.24 美元，比去年同期減少 0.01 美元。接下來談談自由現金流，這仍然是 Wendy's 品牌的標誌性特徵。前三個季度，我們已將超過 100% 的淨收入轉化為現金流，產生了 1.956 億美元的自由現金流。憑藉這一實力，我們能夠為策略投資提供資金，同時繼續透過股票回購和分紅向股東返還資本。接下來討論資本配置。

Our first priority continues to be investing in the business, and as we've said, with Project Fresh, that means prioritizing AUV growth in the US and net unit development internationally. In the third quarter, we invested $31.6 million across capital expenditures and our build-to-suit development program. Capital expenditures included $15.1 million in technology initiatives like our digital menu boards. We also invested $12.7 million in restaurant development across company-operated newbuilds and investments in our build-to-suit program. Our second capital allocation priority is paying an attractive dividend, and today, we announced our fourth quarter dividend payment of $0.14 per share. Our third priority is maintaining a strong balance sheet. We ended the third quarter with $326 million of cash on the balance sheet and a net leverage ratio of 4.5x, which is in line with prior quarter. Year-to-date, we have paid down $21.9 million of our whole business securitization debt principles.

我們的首要任務仍然是投資業務，正如我們所說，對於「新鮮項目」而言，這意味著優先考慮美國市場的平均單價成長和國際市場的淨銷售成長。第三季度，我們在資本支出和客製化開發計劃中投資了 3,160 萬美元。資本支出包括 1510 萬美元用於技術創新，例如我們的數位菜單板。我們還投資了 1,270 萬美元用於公司自營新建餐廳和客製化建造項目的餐廳開發。我們的第二個資本配置重點是支付有吸引力的股息，今天，我們宣布了第四季度每股 0.14 美元的股息支付。我們的第三個優先事項是保持穩健的資產負債表。第三季末，我們的資產負債表上有 3.26 億美元的現金，淨槓桿比率為 4.5 倍，與上一季持平。今年迄今為止，我們已償還了 2,190 萬美元的全部業務證券化債務本金。

Our capital allocation policy gives us the flexibility to be opportunistic with our share repurchases, and during the third quarter, we repurchased 1.4 million shares for approximately $14 million. And year-to-date, we have repurchased 14.4 million shares for approximately $200 million completing our planned share repurchases for this year. Through the first three quarters of the year, we have returned over $300 million of cash to our shareholders through dividends and get repurchases. We remain on track to return over $325 million in 2025, an increase of more than $40 million compared to the prior year. Now let's turn to our financial outlook. We are reaffirming our full year outlook for system-wide sales, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EPS and net unit growth, and we are increasing our outlook for free cash flow. Our outlook assumes the dynamic consumer behavior and challenging competitive environment persists throughout the remainder of the year.

我們的資本配置政策使我們能夠靈活地把握機會進行股票回購，在第三季度，我們回購了 140 萬股股票，花費約 1,400 萬美元。今年迄今為止，我們已回購了 1,440 萬股股票，總額約 2 億美元，完成了今年的股票回購計畫。今年前三個季度，我們透過股利和股票回購向股東返還了超過 3 億美元的現金。我們仍有望在 2025 年實現超過 3.25 億美元的收益，比前一年增加超過 4,000 萬美元。現在讓我們來看看財務前景。我們重申全年系統銷售額、調整後 EBITDA、調整後每股盈餘和淨單位成長的預期，並上調自由現金流預期。我們的展望假設，動態的消費者行為和充滿挑戰的競爭環境將在今年剩餘時間內持續存在。

For the full year 2025, we continue to expect global system-wide sales to range from down 3% to 5%. Our outlook assumes that system-wide and same-restaurant sales in the fourth quarter will be lower year-over-year in the third quarter, primarily driven by a decline in US SRS given the tough prior year comparison. We continue to expect US company-operated restaurant margin of 14%, plus or minus 50 basis points. This includes an updated commodity inflation outlook for the year of approximately 5%, primarily reflecting continued inflation in beef prices. We continue to expect labor inflation for the full year of approximately 4%. We now expect G&A to be between $250 million to $260 million and represent approximately 1.8% of system-wide sales for the full year. We are reaffirming our adjusted EBITDA outlook of $505 million to $525 million. We continue to expect approximately $130 million of interest expense. As a reminder, we plan to issue $400 million of whole business securitization notes in the fourth quarter.

我們預計 2025 年全年全球系統銷售額將下降 3% 至 5%。我們的展望假設，由於去年同期基數較高，美國同店銷售額下降，導致第四季系統整體銷售額和同店銷售額較去年同期下降。我們仍預期美國公司自營餐廳的利潤率為 14%，上下浮動 50 個基點。其中包括今年大宗商品通膨預期的最新預測，約為 5%，主要反映了牛肉價格持續上漲。我們繼續預期全年勞動力通膨率約為 4%。我們現在預計，全年一般及行政費用將在 2.5 億美元至 2.6 億美元之間，約佔全年系統銷售額的 1.8%。我們重申調整後 EBITDA 預期為 5.05 億美元至 5.25 億美元。我們仍然預計利息支出約為 1.3 億美元。再次提醒大家，我們計劃在第四季發行 4 億美元的整體業務證券化票據。

The proceeds will be used to pay $50 million of debt, which matured in December of 2025, and refinanced $350 million of whole business securitization notes, which mature in September of 2026. Taking all of these items into account, we are maintaining our outlook for adjusted EPS of $0.82 to $0.89 per share. We now expect capital expenditures and build-to-suit investments to total between $135 million to $145 million, reflecting a decline of $30 million at the midpoint of the range from our previous outlook. This is primarily driven by a reduction in US investments in the build-to-suit program as we prioritize AUV growth. We are increasing our expectation for free cash flow to be between $195 million to $210 million, an increase of $35 million at the midpoint of the range compared to our prior outlook. This increase is driven by the reduction in capital expenditures and build-to-suit investments, along with cash tax benefits related to the 2025 Tax and Reconciliation Act.

所得款項將用於償還 2025 年 12 月到期的 5,000 萬美元債務，以及為 2026 年 9 月到期的 3.5 億美元整體業務證券化票據進行再融資。綜合考慮以上因素，我們維持對調整後每股收益0.82美元至0.89美元的預期。我們現在預計資本支出和客製化建設投資總額將在 1.35 億美元至 1.45 億美元之間，比我們先前的預期範圍中點減少了 3,000 萬美元。這主要是由於美國減少了對客製化建造項目的投資，因為我們優先發展了 AUV（自主水下航行器）。我們將自由現金流預期上調至 1.95 億美元至 2.1 億美元之間，與我們先前的預期相比，區間中位數增加了 3,500 萬美元。這一增長是由資本支出和客製化投資的減少，以及與 2025 年稅收和解法案相關的現金稅收優惠所推動的。

Finally, we continue to expect net unit growth between 2% to 3%, primarily driven by the momentum we're building internationally. Our system optimization initiative in the US could result in net unit growth coming in around the low end of this range. In closing, we are focused on a disciplined financial approach to advance the strategic initiatives of Project Fresh. As One Wendy's, we are taking decisive actions to strengthen our financial foundation, and I'm confident this will better position our business for long-term growth. And with that, I'll now turn it back to Ken.

最後，我們仍然預期淨銷量成長在 2% 到 3% 之間，這主要得益於我們在國際市場建立起來的成長勢頭。我們在美國實施的系統優化計劃可能會使淨單位增長達到該範圍的低端水平。最後，我們將專注於採取嚴謹的財務方式來推進「新鮮專案」的策略舉措。作為一家溫蒂漢堡公司，我們正在採取果斷措施來加強我們的財務基礎，我相信這將使我們的業務更能實現長期成長。那麼，現在我把麥克風交還給肯恩。

I am pleased with the continued strong performance internationally and the progress we are making in the US Our actions are focused on long-term success, and we are confident that our strategic shift toward AUV growth will strengthen the overall system. Project Fresh is underway and together as One Wendy's, we are executing initiatives with urgency to revitalize the Wendy's brand and enhance the customer experience. While these changes will take time to deliver their full impact, we believe that the actions we are taking today will build momentum and deliver sustainable long-term growth, creating value for all key stakeholders. I'll now hand it over to Aaron to share our upcoming Investor Relations calendar.

我對我們在國際上持續強勁的表現以及在美國的進展感到滿意。我們的行動著眼於長期成功，我們相信，我們向AUV成長的策略轉變將加強整個系統。「煥新計畫」正在進行中，我們作為一個整體——一個溫蒂漢堡——正在緊急執行各項舉措，以重振溫蒂漢堡品牌並提升顧客體驗。雖然這些變革需要時間才能產生全部影響，但我們相信，我們今天採取的行動將積蓄力量，實現可持續的長期成長，為所有關鍵利害關係人創造價值。現在我將把發言權交給 Aaron，讓他來介紹我們即將舉行的投資者關係活動日程。

Thank you, Ken. On November 20, we will participate in the Stephens Investment Conference in Nashville. On December 4, we will be in New York City for the Barclays Eat, Sleep and Play Conference. And then on December 11, we will participate in the Virtual KeyBanc Capital Markets Consumer Conference. If you are interested in joining us at any of these events, please contact the respective sell-side analyst or equity sales contact at the host firm. We will now transition to the Q&A part of the call. Due to the high number of covering analysts, please limit yourself to one-question only. Operator, please queue up the first question.

謝謝你，肯。11月20日，我們將參加在納許維爾舉行的史蒂芬斯投資會議。12月4日，我們將前往紐約市參加巴克萊銀行「吃、睡、玩」大會。然後，在 12 月 11 日，我們將參加 KeyBanc 資本市場虛擬消費者大會。如果您有興趣參加這些活動，請聯絡主辦公司對應的賣方分析師或股票銷售聯絡人。接下來我們將進入問答環節。由於分析師人數眾多，請您只提一個問題。操作員，請將第一個問題排入佇列。

(Operator Instructions) David Palmer, Evercore ISI.

（操作說明）David Palmer，Evercore ISI。

I wanted to ask you about franchisee cash flow and balance sheet levels today, and what you're hearing from the franchisees. And importantly, what quick wins do you think you have within Project Fresh, what elements might be there to help franchisee cash flow, either from sales drivers or other operational changes that you're contemplating.

我想問您今天加盟商的現金流和資產負債表水平，以及您從加盟商那裡聽到的情況。更重要的是，您認為「新專案」中有哪些可以快速達到成效的措施？有哪些因素可以幫助加盟商改善現金流，無論是銷售驅動因素還是您正在考慮的其他營運變更？

Thanks, David. Great question. In terms of franchisee financial health, overall, the US franchisee system remains healthy, although there are pockets of more acute financial pressure. We're working with those franchisees on a case-by-case basis to figure out the best path forward. System Optimization, which is one pillar of Project Fresh is an important tool in the toolkit that we have, and we're focused on improving restaurant-level economics, taking a hard look at underperforming restaurants in our system from both the financial and customer experience perspective and working with franchisees to improve those, transfer those to another operator or potentially closing them, which will help unlock capital for franchisees to further reinvest in the system. In terms of quick wins, we're really focused on the long term.

謝謝你，大衛。問得好。就加盟商的財務狀況而言，整體而言，美國加盟體係依然健康，儘管也存在一些財務壓力較為嚴重的地區。我們正在與這些加盟商逐案協商，以找出最佳的前進方向。系統最佳化是「新鮮專案」的支柱之一，也是我們工具包中的重要工具。我們專注於改善餐廳層面的經濟效益，從財務和客戶體驗的角度認真審視我們系統中表現不佳的餐廳，並與加盟商合作改善這些餐廳，將它們轉讓給其他運營商，或者可能關閉它們，這將有助於釋放加盟商的資金，以便他們進一步投資於該系統。就短期利益而言，我們更注重長期發展。

So over the past couple of months, we've taken a hard look at our US business and identified the big moves that will create the most long-term value for shareholders and the result of that work is Project Fresh. At the core, it's about making our restaurant level economics more compelling by increasing AUVs in the US So how do we do that? It starts with revitalizing the brand. Wendy's was built on having the highest quality food in QSR and using the freshest ingredients, and that hasn't changed. Revitalizing the brand is about retelling our quality story to today's consumer. It's about leveraging the things that are distinctly Wendy's to stand out from the competition, and it's about better understanding our customers and how to reach them more effectively.

因此，在過去的幾個月裡，我們認真審視了我們的美國業務，並確定了能夠為股東創造最大長期價值的重大舉措，而這項工作的成果就是「新鮮計畫」。從根本上講，就是要透過提高美國餐廳的平均單次乘數來使我們的餐廳層面的經濟效益更具吸引力。那我們該如何做到這一點呢？首先要重振品牌。Wendy's 的創立宗旨是提供快餐業最高品質的食品和使用最新鮮的食材，這一點至今仍未改變。重振品牌就是向當今消費者重新講述我們的品質故事。關鍵在於利用 Wendy's 的獨特優勢在競爭中脫穎而出，以及更好地了解我們的客戶以及如何更有效地觸及他們。

To help with this, we've engaged an industry-leading consultant, and we are pleased with the early progress. The next two pillars are really about enhancing the customer experience. Operational excellence is about bringing the quality perception to life in our restaurants by ensuring that we serve our guests great food with a great experience every time they visit Wendy's. We're seeing the results of this payoff in company-operated restaurants, where we're outperforming the system by 400 basis points in terms of SRS in the quarter, and most of that outperformance is coming from traffic where we've seen satisfaction scores increase, friendliness and accuracy scores increased.

為了解決這個問題，我們聘請了一位業內領先的顧問，我們對目前的進展感到滿意。接下來的兩大支柱其實都是為了提升顧客體驗。卓越營運是指在我們的餐廳中將品質理念融入生活，確保顧客每次光臨 Wendy's 都能享受到美味的食物和美好的用餐體驗。我們在公司自營餐廳看到了這種回報的成果，本季我們的 SRS 指標比系統高出 400 個基點，而且大部分超額收益來自客流量，我們看到顧客滿意度、友善度和準確性評分都有所提高。

So we'll be working on rolling that out throughout the system to help increase frequency there. And then system optimization really is about strengthening the brand, enhancing the customer experience and unlocking capital for our franchisees to reinvest in the system. The other thing I'd say is in terms of quick wins, we are very pleased with the launch of chicken tenders. So as we talked to you about last quarter, we simplified the programming calendar for the back half of this year to focus on doing fewer things better, and, so far, that's been a success. We're very pleased with the lunch of chicken tenders. We think that, that is going to generate momentum as we move throughout the fourth quarter and provide an important pillar for us to build on in 2026.

因此，我們將努力在整個系統中推廣這項技術，以幫助提高其使用頻率。系統優化實際上是為了加強品牌、提升客戶體驗，並為我們的加盟商釋放資金，以便他們能夠再投資於系統。另外，就快速取得成效而言，我們對雞柳的推出非常滿意。正如我們上個季度跟你們談到的那樣，我們簡化了今年下半年的程式設計計劃，以便專注於把更少的事情做得更好，到目前為止，這已經取得了成功。我們對午餐的雞柳非常滿意。我們認為，這將為我們在第四季度的發展創造動力，並為我們2026年的發展奠定重要的基礎。

Jeffrey Bernstein, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的傑弗裡·伯恩斯坦。

Ken, just curious, as I think about the quick service landscape, it seems like Wendy's recent underperformance came about fast. Wondering what do you think were the primary factors leading to the widening underperformance relative to your largest QSR burger peers? And if value is one of them, it really didn't get much attention on the call this morning relative to dominating most everyone else's calls. So I'm just wondering whether you think peers are taking share on the value side of things, do you think your $5 and $8 meals are enough to protect your value share in this aggressive environment.

Ken，我只是好奇，在思考快餐服務業現狀時，我覺得 Wendy's 最近的業績不佳似乎是突然發生的。您認為導致貴公司業績相對於最大的速食漢堡同業不斷下滑的主要因素是什麼？如果價值是其中之一，那麼與今天早上其他大多數人的電話會議相比，它並沒有受到太多關注。所以我想知道你是否認為同行們正在蠶食你的市場份額，你認為你提供的 5 美元和 8 美元的餐食是否足以在這個競爭激烈的環境中保住你的市場份額。

Yes. Thanks for the question, Jeffrey. I would say the back half of the year is playing out as we expected on the last call. So part of this is focusing on building long-term sustainable growth instead of launching essentially buying traffic in the short term. We're pleased with the performance from a customer experience in the US Specific to your question about value, we do see more pressure on the lower-income consumer. We continue to see that in the third quarter, and we expect that to continue into the fourth. We believe we have a compelling value proposition on the menu.

是的。謝謝你的提問，傑弗裡。我認為下半年的發展正如我們上次預測的那樣。因此，其中一部分工作是專注於建立長期可持續成長，而不是在短期內透過購買流量來提升業績。我們對美國客戶體驗的表現感到滿意。至於您提出的關於價值的問題，我們確實看到低收入消費者面臨更大的壓力。我們在第三季繼續看到這種情況，預計這種情況會持續到第四季。我們相信我們的菜單具有很強的價值主張。

So our biggie bag, you get a junior bacon cheeseburger, 100% fresh, never frozen North American beef, a 4-piece nugget fries and a drink, all for $5. That is really compelling. We know that price is becoming an increasingly important component of the value equation, which is why we launched our $8 meal deal, which included two junior bacon cheeseburgers, fries and a drink. We saw both of those perform well in the quarter. But using the new data analytics capability, we did take a look at the $8 JBC mail specifically, and we were able to determine that it's doing a great job bringing back some of our customers more frequently. I didn't do as good of a job as we wanted attracting new customers. So that tells me we have an opportunity to tell our value story in a different way by focusing on both price and the quality of the ingredients we get. And well, look, we have strong equity in the biggie bag from a value perspective. We'll look at using that construct in new and interesting ways to help better resonate with consumers as we move forward in 2026.

我們的超值套餐包含：一個迷你培根起司漢堡（100% 新鮮，從未冷凍的北美牛肉）、一份 4 塊雞塊薯條和一杯飲料，所有這些只需 5 美元。這確實很有說服力。我們知道價格正成為價值等式中越來越重要的組成部分，因此我們推出了 8 美元的套餐，其中包括兩個小培根起司漢堡、薯條和一杯飲料。我們看到這兩家公司在本季都表現出色。但是，利用新的數據分析功能，我們專門研究了 8 美元的 JBC 郵件，並確定它在吸引一些客戶更頻繁地回訪方面做得非常出色。在吸引新客戶方面，我的工作做得不如預期。這說明我們有機會透過關注價格和原料質量，以不同的方式講述我們的價值故事。而且，從價值角度來看，我們在大盤股中擁有強大的股權。展望 2026 年，我們將探索如何以新穎有趣的方式運用這個概念，以便更好地與消費者產生共鳴。

Brian Mullan, Piper Sandler.

布萊恩·穆蘭，派珀·桑德勒。

Just a question on the system optimization initiative. Wondering if you could just put some numbers or some guardrails around how many closures you might expect next year in the US even if it's just a range? And then related to that, is there anything worth considering as we think about potential impacts for your franchise rental income stream, not sure if that's relevant here or not. So if you could just address that?

關於系統優化計劃，我有個問題。我想知道您能否給出一些數字或參考值，大致估算一下明年美國可能會有多少家工廠關閉，哪怕只是一個範圍？另外，關於這一點，在考慮對您的特許經營租金收入流的潛在影響時，是否有任何值得考慮的因素？我不確定這是否與此相關。所以，您能回答一下這個問題嗎？

Yes. Thank you for the question, Brian. In terms of system optimization, based on the information we have today, I'd estimate around a mid-single-digit percentage of US restaurants would end up closing. I think we'll work through a detailed and programmatic process with our franchisees to determine the best case of that, and make sure that we are making the best decisions for the long-term health of the overall system. When we look at the system today, we have some restaurants that do not elevate the brand and are a drag from a financial -- from a franchisee financial performance perspective.

是的。謝謝你的提問，布萊恩。就係統優化而言，根據我們目前掌握的信息，我估計美國大約會有個位數百分比的餐廳最終倒閉。我認為我們將與加盟商一起，透過詳細的程序化流程來確定最佳方案，並確保我們做出對整個系統長期健康發展最有利的決定。當我們檢視現今的體系時，會發現有些餐廳既沒有提升品牌形象，反而拖累了加盟主的財務表現。

The goal is to address and fix those restaurants. So in some cases, that's going to mean deploying operational improvements, deploying additional technology or equipment. In other cases, it will mean transferring those restaurants to a different operator who is better suited to be successful in that restaurant. And in other cases, we ultimately will close that restaurant, which will put money back in franchisees pockets and enable them to reinvest both capital and resources in their remaining restaurants. So we'll update you more on the next quarter call as we work through this process. We would expect those closures to start in the fourth quarter of this year, which could result in us coming in around the low end of our net unit guide for the year.

目標是解決並整改這些餐廳的問題。因此，在某些情況下，這意味著要進行營運改進，部署額外的技術或設備。在其他情況下，這意味著將這些餐廳移交給更適合在該餐廳取得成功的其他經營者。而在其他情況下，我們最終會關閉那家餐廳，這樣就能讓加盟商把錢重新投入到他們剩餘的餐廳中，使他們能夠將資金和資源再投資到這些餐廳中。因此，我們將在下次季度電話會議上向您通報更多進度。我們預計這些門市將於今年第四季開始關閉，這可能會導致我們今年的淨營業額接近預期值的下限。

Rahul Kro, JPMorgan.

Rahul Kro，摩根大通。

Guys, thanks for the update. I'm just curious on how we should calibrate around your comment on growing US AUVs over development. Is this -- does this target translate to just positive AUV growth or like more than 1%. And just I wanted a clarification around gross or net US development you are talking about. And the follow-up is, can we get a time frame of how you think about the compression between the company and franchise store headline performance and maybe address a couple of areas in more detail where typically you might have less control over on menu pricing architecture and then to in-store operations?

各位，謝謝你們的更新。我只是好奇我們應該如何看待您關於美國自主水下航行器（AUV）發展壯大的評論。這個目標是指 AUV 的正成長，還是指超過 1% 的成長？我只是想澄清一下您所說的美國總發展或淨發展是指什麼。接下來，我們能否了解您如何看待公司和加盟店業績之間的壓縮關係，並詳細討論您在菜單定價架構和店內運營方面通常控制力較弱的幾個領域？

Yes. Thank you for the question, Rahul. We're really talking about net unit development coming around the low end of our net unit development. Gross unit development is still on track. We will continue to build restaurants in the US from a growth perspective. This is really about taking a long-term view, looking forward and asking ourselves, hey, three years from today, what decisions do we wish we would have made and then having the courage to make them today, which is what we're doing. We've worked closely with franchisees to make sure that they are aligned with this, and they are.

是的。謝謝你的提問，拉胡爾。我們現在討論的實際上是淨單位開發量接近我們淨單位開發量低端水準的情況。總開發案仍在按計劃進行。從成長的角度來看，我們將繼續在美國開設餐廳。這其實是關於要著眼長遠，展望未來，問問自己，嘿，三年後的今天，我們希望自己做出哪些決定，然後鼓起勇氣今天就做出這些決定，而這正是我們正在做的。我們與加盟商密切合作，確保他們與此保持一致，而他們也確實如此。

Response has been overwhelmingly positive there. It's about addressing the fundamentals and improving the fundamental restaurant level economics in the US At the same time, by doing this, we will enhance the customer experience across the system, increasing the consistency of the customer experience, which is ultimately going to result in more demand, not less for both Wendy's hamburgers in our system and ultimately more Wendy's restaurants as we do that. The second part of your question in terms of operational excellence, we started investing this in this in a big way earlier this year.

當地民眾的反應非常正面。關鍵在於解決根本問題，改善美國餐廳層面的基本經濟狀況。同時，透過這樣做，我們將提升整個系統的客戶體驗，提高客戶體驗的一致性，最終將為我們系統中的 Wendy's 漢堡帶來更多需求，而不是減少需求，最終也會隨著我們這樣做而增加 Wendy's 餐廳的數量。關於您問題的第二部分，即卓越營運方面，我們今年稍早就開始大力投資這方面。

So we focused on training. We focused on making sure we have the right people in the right seats and putting in place processes to make sure we're holding ourselves accountable for delivering for our customers day in and day out. We've outperformed the franchise system for the last couple of quarters. Obviously, that differential has been growing, which has significantly increased interest from franchisees. So now this becomes a pull, not a push, they're interested. We're going to be rolling that out, and we think that will help in a big way in 2026.

所以我們把重點放在訓練上了。我們專注於確保合適的人在合適的職位上，並製定流程，以確保我們能夠日復一日地為客戶提供服務，並對自己負責。過去幾個季度，我們的業績都優於特許經營體系。顯然，這種差異一直在擴大，這大大增加了加盟商的興趣。所以現在變成了拉動，而不是推動，他們感興趣了。我們將逐步推出這項措施，我們認為這將在 2026 年起到很大的幫助。

Dennis Geiger, UBS.

瑞銀集團的丹尼斯蓋格。

Just wanted to touch on, can you -- you kind of just touched on it a bit there, but that outperformance of the US company-owned in the quarter again, just kind of the franchisee feedback and sentiment on that. And in particular, I think you talked about scaling that. It sounds like it's a '26 type of benefit. Any more sense on the timing of the scaling of the actions and the activities to kind of get the franchise system more aligned with where the company stores are?

我只是想稍微提一下，您剛才也稍微提到了一點，但是美國公司自有品牌在本季度再次表現出色，我想了解一下加盟商對此的反饋和看法。特別是，我認為你談到瞭如何擴大規模。聽起來像是 '26' 類型的福利。對於擴大行動規模和開展活動的具體時間安排，以使特許經營體系與公司直營店的佈局更加協調一致，是否有更明確的計劃？

Yes. Thank you for the question, Dennis. We are very pleased with the outperformance and we think this is a very strong indication of the importance of enhancing the customer experience across the system, which is why that's one of the key pillars under Project Fresh. In terms of the timing, so we are in the process. We are working with franchisees today to scale that. We do believe that we'll see benefits from that as we look into 2026 (technical difficulty) more specific in terms of the cadence and shape of 2026 on our next call. But I think this is a real area of opportunity for us. And we combine that with our initiatives around revitalizing the brand, which ultimately helps bring more new customers into Wendy's restaurants. We think that creates a powerful long-term cycle that continues to elevate AUVs. I think we have room for significant AUV growth over the next few years, which will enhance franchisee level economics and then fuel the virtuous cycle.

是的。謝謝你的提問，丹尼斯。我們對此的優異表現非常滿意，我們認為這有力地表明了提升整個系統客戶體驗的重要性，這也是「新鮮計畫」的關鍵支柱之一。就時間安排而言，我們正在進行中。我們目前正與加盟商合作，擴大規模。我們相信，隨著我們更深入地探討 2026 年的技術困難，我們將在下次電話會議上更具體地討論 2026 年的節奏和格局，屆時我們將看到這些難點帶來的好處。但我認為這對我們來說是一個真正的機會領域。我們將這些舉措與我們重振品牌的各項舉措相結合，最終有助於為 Wendy's 餐廳吸引更多新顧客。我們認為這將形成一個強大的長期循環，持續提升 AUV 的發展水準。我認為未來幾年我們還有很大的單車銷售成長空間，這將提高加盟商的經濟效益，進而推動良性循環。

Chris O'Cull, Stifel.

克里斯·奧庫爾，斯蒂費爾。

Can you elaborate on the work you're doing with Creed & Company, specifically what new insights or analytic capabilities the company seeking to implement from the work?

您能否詳細介紹一下您與 Creed & Company 的合作，特別是該公司希望透過這項工作實現哪些新的見解或分析能力？

Yes. So thank you for the question, Chris. It starts with listening to the customer. So in order to do that, we've launched a comprehensive customer segmentation study in conjunction with the [indiscernible]. Thousands of surveys are being completed by our consumers to help us understand the attributes of Wendy's that resonate most with our consumers. We're segmenting the consumers in several different ways to make sure we have the most relevant segmentations to drive growth, and how to communicate those attributes over the long term. So that -- the first step is the customer segmentation study then we go into relevance, ease and distinctiveness and understanding how it fits into that framework, and the culmination is a brand essence.

是的。謝謝你的提問，克里斯。一切都始於傾聽客戶。因此，為了實現這一目標，我們與…共同開展了一項全面的客戶細分研究。[無法辨認]。數千份問卷調查正在由我們的消費者填寫，以幫助我們了解 Wendy's 的哪些特質最能引起消費者的共鳴。我們正在以多種不同的方式對消費者進行細分，以確保我們擁有最相關的細分，從而推動成長，以及如何在長期內傳達這些屬性。因此，第一步是客戶細分研究，然後我們深入探討相關性、便利性和獨特性，了解它如何融入該框架，最終形成品牌精髓。

So basically how we want who we are and how we are going to tell that story to our consumers, which then serves as a filter for everything else we do, from menu to marketing to social. And we think we have significant opportunity to improve effectiveness across all of those levels. One of the early learnings from this is just the importance of balancing sales overnight and brand over time. I think when we take a look back at what we've been focused on in the US over the past few years, we focused on sales overnight and not enough on brand over time. So we have some work to do to reestablish Wendy's as the leader in quality and freshness in the industry. And by doing that, we're confident that we're going to drive AUVs higher.

所以，基本上，這就是我們想要成為什麼樣的人，以及我們將如何把這個故事講述給我們的消費者，這反過來又會成為我們所做的一切的過濾器，從菜單到行銷再到社交媒體。我們認為，在所有這些層面上，我們都有很大的機會提高效率。從中我們很快學到的一點是，平衡短期銷售和長期品牌建立的重要性。我認為，回顧過去幾年我們在美國的發展重點，我們過於注重短期內的銷售額，而忽略了品牌建立的長期發展。因此，我們還有很多工作要做，才能重新確立 Wendy's 在品質和新鮮度方面的行業領先地位。透過這樣做，我們有信心將AUV的性能提升到更高水平。

Margaret-May Binshtok, Wolfe Research.

Margaret-May Binshtok，Wolfe Research。

You guys have talked a little bit about beverage as another pillar of the focus of the innovation pipeline. Can you give some color on the recent work you guys have done to the beverage platform, what the reception has been? And if you've seen any improvement in performance sequentially in conjunction with some of these rollouts.

你們剛才也談到了飲料作為創新管道的另一個重點支柱。能否詳細介紹一下你們最近在飲料平台方面所做的工作，以及市場反應如何？如果您發現隨著這些版本更新的推出，效能有所逐步提升。

Yes, Margaret, thank you. So we did launch some pretty exciting beverage products in the third quarter. We launched our cold brew and old foam offerings, and we also launched a sparkling energy lineup. Those launches performed in line with our overall expectations. We did not put media behind them to prioritize the Wednesday promotion and the value promotion around the $8 JBC meal deal, but they do add some compelling reasons for folks to join us at breakfast. Overall, breakfast in the quarter continued to underperform rest of day, as it has across the industry, given the consumer, there's pressure that consumers are under, but we feel good about the beverage lineup that we offer our customers today and how it has enhanced the overall breakfast offering.

是的，瑪格麗特，謝謝你。因此，我們在第三季推出了一些非常令人興奮的飲料產品。我們推出了冷萃咖啡和老式泡沫咖啡產品，同時也推出了氣泡能量飲料系列。這些發射活動的表現符合我們的整體預期。我們沒有投入大量媒體資源來優先宣傳週三的促銷活動和 8 美元 JBC 套餐優惠，但它們確實為人們來我們這裡吃早餐提供了一些令人信服的理由。總體而言，本季早餐的表現繼續遜於其他時段，與整個行業的情況類似，考慮到消費者面臨的壓力，但我們對目前為客戶提供的飲料系列以及它如何提升了整體早餐產品感到滿意。

Danilo Gargiulo, Bernstein.

Danilo Gargiulo，Bernstein。

Ken, it's very encouraging to hear that franchisee profitability is even more on top of your agenda. I'm wondering how you're thinking about breakfast because on the one hand, it expands AUV in absolute dollars, so it's part of your plan. But on the other hand, you're talking about doing fewer things better, and breakfast is the day part of that. How to play most under pressure, and [he's totally] the one that might be delivering the lowest profit margin. So will you make it optional for franchisees? Are you working with them to assess it on a case-by-case basis, or are you going to maintain the national mandate?

肯，聽到加盟主獲利能力是你更加重視的問題，真是令人鼓舞。我想知道你對早餐的看法，因為一方面，它可以增加 AUV 的絕對美元數，所以它是你計劃的一部分。但另一方面，你是在談論把更少的事情做得更好，而早餐是這其中的一部分。如何在壓力下發揮最佳水平，以及（他完全）可能是利潤率最低的那個人。那麼，你們會允許加盟主自行選擇是否採用嗎？你們是與他們合作逐案評估，還是維持國家指示？

Great question, Danilo. So breakfast remains an important part of our overall strategy, and we're committed to providing nationwide breakfast in The Wendy system. We have worked on a case-by-case basis with franchisees who have very low sales at the breakfast day part. And this is for several reasons. One example, as I first got out and started speaking with franchisees was, "Hey, Ken, I have a restaurant that's situated on the outperimeter of a mall. That mall doesn't open until 10:30. I do almost no breakfast business, but I have to staff it, and I have to be open at 6:00 AM.

問得好，達尼洛。因此，早餐仍然是我們整體策略的重要組成部分，我們致力於在 Wendy's 系統中提供全國性的早餐。我們針對早餐時段銷售額非常低的加盟商，逐案進行了協商。這主要有幾個原因。舉個例子，我剛開始和加盟商交談時，有人說：「嘿，肯，我有一家餐廳，位於購物中心的外圍。那家商場要到10點半才開門。我幾乎不做早餐生意，但我必須安排員工，我必須在早上 6 點開門。

This doesn't make sense. If you let me have flexibility and open that restaurant later, I'd be able to redeploy this labor to other dayparts, enhance customer experience and ultimately make more money for the franchisee." So we took a look at that across the system, and we did allow certain restaurants to opt out of breakfast and adjust their operating hours. In many cases, they started serving lunch earlier. Have seen some positive results there. Another thing that they did is when we look at hours optimization is, okay, if we're going to open a little bit later in the morning, then maybe we stay open a little bit later at night and have seen positive gains from that.

這說不通。如果允許我靈活安排時間，晚點開業，我就可以把這些勞動力重新分配到其他時段，提升顧客體驗，最終為加盟商賺取更多利潤。 」因此，我們對整個系統進行了調查，並允許某些餐廳選擇不提供早餐，並調整其營業時間。很多情況下，他們提前開始供應午餐。已經看到了一些正面的成果。他們做的另一件事是，當我們考慮優化營業時間時，如果早上開門晚一點，那麼晚上也許可以晚點關門，並且已經從中獲得了積極的收益。

But breakfast remains an important part of the overall strategy for us in the US, and we remain committed to nationwide breakfast. But we will work with franchisees. And that's the other thing I'll say about franchisee profitability. As we focus on significantly enhancing franchisee profitability and putting more money in the franchisees pockets, we believe that ultimately leads to a much stronger system, much stronger customer experience and ultimately drives demand for both hamburgers and restaurants.

但早餐仍然是我們在美國整體戰略的重要組成部分，我們將繼續致力於在全國範圍內提供早餐。但我們會與加盟商合作。關於加盟商獲利能力，我還要補充一點。我們致力於大幅提高加盟商的獲利能力，讓加盟商獲得更多收入，我們相信這最終會帶來更強大的體系、更優質的客戶體驗，並最終推動對漢堡和餐廳的需求。

Jake Bartlett, Truist Securities.

Jake Bartlett，Truist Securities。

Mine was hearing in on the fourth quarter here, and I know there's a lot of moving pieces in October as you lap the [Cotty Patty success]. I think as some macro headwinds build. We've heard from others -- if you can try to give us a sense of what you think your underlying momentum is at this point? Help us out in terms of -- you mentioned that the fourth quarter would be lower than the third. I think probably considerably lower if there's a way you can help us just maybe some guardrails around what the fourth quarter use comp should be. And then lastly, within all that, the Tendies launch, I think you mentioned that you're going to start the national advertising next week. Is that the kind of the big push for the remainder of the quarter, or are there any other marketing initiatives or innovation that they expect to come down the pike?

我的帳戶在第四季開始發放，我知道十月有很多變數，因為你會…[Coty Patty 成功]。我認為隨著一些宏觀不利因素的出現。我們也聽取了其他人的意見—您能否試著讓我們了解一下您認為貴公司目前的潛在發展勢頭如何？請您幫忙解答一下—您提到第四季會低於第三季。我認為可能會低得多，如果您能幫我們制定一些關於第四季度使用率計算方法的指導原則就更好了。最後，關於Tendies的上市，我想你提到你們下週將開始全國性的廣告宣傳。這是本季剩餘時間的主要推廣策略嗎？還是他們預計還會推出其他行銷措施或創新方案？

Thanks, Jake. Great question. So we were happy with reaffirming our full year guidance today. Like we talked about on the last call, the second half of this year was about simplifying the programming calendar so we could focus our execution on a handful of things that we're going to make the biggest difference. Instead of trying to throw too much at the fourth quarter, which may have resulted in some short-term sales gain at the expense of long term, we pushed a couple of product launches out of the second half of the year into 2026. And so all that is playing out as we expected, which is why we reaffirmed our full year guidance today. That has a couple of benefits for us.

謝謝你，傑克。問得好。因此，我們很高興今天重申了全年業績預期。正如我們在上次電話會議上討論的那樣，今年下半年的重點是簡化專案日程，以便我們可以專注於執行少數幾件能夠產生最大影響的事情。我們沒有試圖在第四季度投入過多資源，以免短期內獲得一些銷售成長，但犧牲長期利益，而是將幾款產品從下半年推遲到 2026 年推出。因此，這一切都在按我們的預期發展，這也是我們今天重申全年業績預期的原因。這對我們來說有幾個好處。

So number one, significantly strengthens the marketing can 2026 and and then provides time now to start building up this tested cover of ideas that we can then use to further enhance the calendar as we move throughout 2026. So this is about focusing on a couple of things. The big thing is pending. So we launched that at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Customer feedback has been very, very strong. We're pleased with the way that promote is going. We think it will provide momentum as we move through the fourth quarter and into 2026. And that also provides us some exciting ways how we can further innovate on that new core menu offering.

所以，第一，顯著加強了 2026 年的行銷能力，然後現在就有時間開始建立這些經過驗證的想法，以便我們在 2026 年繼續完善日程安排。所以，這主要涉及兩件事。大事尚未定論。所以我們在第四季初推出了這項服務。客戶反饋非常非常好。我們對推廣工作的進展感到滿意。我們認為這將為我們進入第四季以及2026年提供發展動力。這也為我們提供了進一步創新新核心菜單產品的一些令人興奮的途徑。

Eric Gonzalez, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Eric Gonzalez，KeyBanc Capital Markets。

Related to an earlier question about closures, I think you said mid-single-digit percentage, which I believe is about 300 units. Do you still charge a closure fee to franchisees when they close their stores. And to the extent that you do, is that embedded in the EBITDA outlook this year? And maybe if you could touch on what the expectation related to those [tenalfees] next year?

關於之前提出的關店問題，我想你說過是中等個位數百分比，我認為這大約是 300 家。當加盟商關閉門市時，你們是否仍收取關店費？如果確實如此，那麼這是否已納入今年的 EBITDA 預期？您能否談談明年這些[學費]的預期情況？

Yes. So thank you for the question, Eric. I think historically, we have charged fees for restaurant closures. That is not the intent. So the intent is to make sure that we are strengthening the system for the long term, we are to approach this on a case-by-case basis and work with our franchisees for what makes the most sense. So allowing a franchisee to close a restaurant to in response for that, we're going to ask them to invest in their meeting restaurants. That can be equipment upgrades, technology, digital menu boards, there's a whole range of prioritized investments that we would ask them to make. It can also include building new restaurants.

是的。謝謝你的提問，艾瑞克。我認為從歷史上看，我們曾對餐廳停業收取費用。那並非本意。因此，我們的目的是確保從長遠角度加強系統，我們將根據具體情況逐案處理，並與加盟商合作，找到最合理的解決方案。因此，如果允許加盟商關閉一家餐廳作為回應，我們將要求他們投資其門市餐廳。這包括設備升級、技術、數位菜單板等等，我們要求他們進行一系列優先投資。它還可以包括建造新的餐廳。

We have really good operators in the system that may have a restaurant area that moved we exit has closed or changed. And that restaurant is a financial big on their portfolio, but they're a great operator, allowing them to close a restaurant and then open a new one the next year or the year after, that can also be on the table going to evaluate this on a case-by-case basis, working through this with each franchisee to make the best long-term decisions for the system.

我們系統中有很多優秀的營運商，但他們的餐廳區域可能已經搬遷、出口關閉或發生了變化。這家餐廳在他們的投資組合中佔據了很大的財務份額，但他們是一家優秀的營運商，可以關閉一家餐廳，然後在第二年或後年開設一家新餐廳。這也可以考慮，我們會逐案評估，與每個加盟商一起討論，為整個系統做出最佳的長期決策。

Sara Senatore, Bank of America.

薩拉·參議員，美國銀行。

This is [indiscernible] on for Sara. Just a quick question about the US 4.7 comps in the quarter. I think that was better than what was anticipated. Do you guys mind just speaking about maybe from like a concentration standpoint, on what drove that, whether it was more effective marketing or the menu innovation? Or do you feel like hamburger QSR demand might have just been better than anticipated? Just curious for some color on that.

這是薩拉的[聽不清楚]。關於本季美國4.7%的同店銷售額，我有個小問題。我認為這比預期的要好。你們能否從專注度的角度談談，是什麼促成了這件事，是更有效的行銷還是菜單創新？或者你覺得漢堡速食店的需求可能比預期的還要好？只是好奇想了解具體情況。

Yes, this is Suzie. Overall, our Q3 was in line with our expectations. As we stated on our prior call, July was down more than 5%. The balance of the core improvement was supported by a reduction, as Ken mentioned, in the program complexity, which allowed our restaurants to focus on the execution of Wednesday, which performed in line with our expectations as well. And then also as we head out of order in September, we allowed time for training and preparation for our chicken sures launch, which coming into the fourth quarter provided strong results, and we are happy and pleased with those results not only from an execution standpoint, but also how it's resonating with our consumer.

是的，這是蘇西​​。整體而言，我們第三季的業績符合預期。正如我們在之前的電話會議中所說，7 月下跌超過 5%。正如 Ken 所提到的，核心改進的平衡得益於專案複雜性的降低，這使得我們的餐廳能夠專注於週三的執行，而周三的表現也符合我們的預期。此外，由於我們在 9 月暫停了生產，我們留出了時間進行培訓和準備，以推出我們的雞肉產品。進入第四季後，該產品取得了強勁的業績，我們不僅從執行角度，而且從消費者的反響角度來看，都對這些業績感到滿意。

Brian Bittner, Oppenheimer.

Brian Bittner，奧本海默。

You're talking about this strategic shift in capital allocation in the United States from unit growth towards initiatives that will drive AUV growth. And I'd just love for you to unpack unpack this comment further, like what can specifically be done with this redirected capital to improve same-store sales? Are we talking about doubling down on remodels, digital menu boards. If you could talk more about that. Does this capital -- is this franchisee's capital, or does this include capital that you'll be investing at the corporate level to support these franchisee investments?

您指的是美國資本配置的策略轉變，即從追求單位成長轉向推動AUV成長的舉措。我希望你能進一步解讀這則評論，例如，具體可以用這筆重新分配的資金做什麼來提高同店銷售額？我們是在討論加強翻新力度，以及安裝電子菜單板嗎？如果您能詳細談談這方面就太好了。這筆資金－是指加盟商的自有資金，還是包括公司層級為支持這些加盟商投資而投入的資金？

Yes. So thank you for the question, Brian. So this is a strategic shift in the near term to focus on AUVs. Fundamentally, if we improve AUVs, we are going to significantly enhance the franchisee profitability, improve the overall restaurant level economics and drive better customer experience and more demand for Wendy's and Wendy's restaurants. So that's ultimately what we're after here and what we think we can achieve. From a capital deployment perspective, we are shifting capital out of the build-to-suit program and towards initiatives that will support overall AUV growth throughout the system. A couple of things that we're focused on is technology and marketing. From a technology perspective, that can include anything that makes our -- makes life easier for our restaurant teams.

是的。謝謝你的提問，布萊恩。因此，這是近期戰略上的轉變，重點轉向自主水下航行器（AUV）。從根本上講，如果我們提高平均單店客流量 (AUV)，我們將顯著提高加盟商的盈利能力，改善餐廳整體的經濟效益，並帶來更好的客戶體驗，以及對 Wendy's 和 Wendy's 餐廳的更多需求。所以，這就是我們最終追求的目標，也是我們認為能夠實現的目標。從資本部署的角度來看，我們正在將資本從客製化建造計畫轉移到支援整個系統 AUV 整體成長的舉措。我們關注的重點有兩個面向：技術和行銷。從技術角度來看，這可以包括任何能讓我們的餐廳團隊工作更輕鬆的技術。

One example of that, that we're working on that is improving the kitchen view system that we have in back of house, basically the screens that the sandwich makers use to build our orders. We're investing in improvements there to make it easier for the sandwich makers to deliver an accurate, customized burger every single time. That's one area. Another area is market effectiveness. So that includes the data analytics capability that we're investing in, which includes a lot of technology investment and also the outside consulting work that we've procured this year and the partnerships that we have there. So it's really taking a holistic view. We'll provide more updates about that when we give you the 2026 guide, but that's how we're looking at it.

我們正在努力改進的一個例子是後廚的視圖系統，也就是三明治製作者用來製作訂單的螢幕。我們正在投資進行改進，以便讓三明治師傅每次都能更輕鬆地製作出準確、客製化的漢堡。這是其中一個面向。另一個方面是市場有效性。這包括我們正在投資的數據分析能力，其中包括大量的技術投資，以及我們今年獲得的外部諮詢工作和我們在該領域的合作關係。所以這確實是一種整體性的看法。我們將在發布 2026 年指南時提供更多相關信息，但這就是我們目前的看法。

Jim Salera, Stephens.

吉姆·薩萊拉，史蒂芬斯。

And earlier, you had called out the company-owned same-restaurant sales out for, I think it was about 400 basis points. I was curious if you could maybe just give us some color among the franchisee base, if there's any characteristics or geographic tilt or tenure or anything that you can talk about your outperforming restaurants within the franchisee base and are there learnings that you can incorporate to kind of the broader store base as you think about that mid-single-digit US restaurant closing?

早些時候，你曾指出公司自有餐廳的銷售額下降了約 400 個基點。我很好奇您能否介紹一下您的加盟商群體，例如，在加盟商群體中，哪些餐廳業績突出，有哪些特徵、地理分佈、經營年限或其他方面可以分享？考慮到美國餐廳關閉數量在個位數中段，您能否總結一些經驗教訓，並將其應用到更廣泛的門市群體中？

Yes. Thank you for the question. So in terms of the outperformance, there wasn't -- the biggest correlation that we saw with the outperformance was really around the customer satisfaction scores that we saw in the US company. Now we have a lot of franchisees in the system that run phenomenal restaurants as good or better than the company. But we're really proud of the improvements that we've made by focusing on getting the right people in the right seats by enhancing our training and then holding ourselves accountable. 75% of that 400 basis point outperformance came from traffic growth. And so that gives us an important proof point of how important that customer experience is and the type of guest frequency that we can drive by focusing on accuracy and friendliness.

是的。謝謝你的提問。所以就業表現而言，並沒有——我們看到的業績表現與客戶滿意度分數之間最大的相關性，實際上與我們在美國公司看到的客戶滿意度分數有關。現在我們系統內有很多加盟商，他們經營的餐廳非常出色，與公司直營店一樣好，甚至更好。但我們非常自豪地宣布，我們透過加強培訓，確保合適的人才各司其職，並嚴格執行相關規定，取得了顯著的進步。這400個基點的業績提升中，75%來自流量成長。因此，這為我們提供了一個重要的證明點，說明客戶體驗的重要性，以及透過專注於準確性和友善性可以提高顧客光顧頻率。

Andrew Strelzik, BMO.

Andrew Strelzik，BMO。

I had a question about how you're thinking about restaurant margins going forward. And implicitly, what that means for franchisee profitability and their willingness to invest. And so I think your US company-operated margins were down about 250 basis points, even though the comps were down less than 1%, and appreciating you want to get the comps an even better level than that. It doesn't seem like beef is going to be getting any better anytime soon. And so I guess I'm just curious how you're thinking about restaurant margins moving forward? Is there anything that you're doing from an ops perspective that you've already talked about, we should think about cushioning some of that margin compression potentially next year? Any color on that would be helpful.

我有個問題，關於您如何看待未來餐廳的利潤率。而這實際上意味著加盟商的獲利能力及其投資意願。因此，我認為你們美國公司自營業務的利潤率下降了約 250 個基點，儘管同店銷售額下降不到 1%，而且我知道你們希望同店銷售額能達到更好的水平。看來牛肉的品質短期內不會有任何改善。所以我想知道您如何看待未來餐飲業的利潤率？從營運角度來看，您是否已經談到過一些措施，我們可以考慮在明年可能緩解利潤率下降的問題？如果能加上任何顏色就更好了。

Yes. Andrew, this is Suzie. So from a margin perspective, let me just say we did reiterate our outlook of 14% company-operated restaurant margin for the year, but we do continue to see pressure on beef. So beef drove our commodity outlook up from that 4% previously stated outlook up to 5%. And we now have 96% of our commodity basket locked for the year. So we feel good about where we'll land this year. In terms of the future, you can expect to see finish out the year with low single-digit pricing as we've seen throughout the remainder of the year. We know that, that lower-income consumer continues to remain under pressure, and we'll be disciplined about our approach to pricing.

是的。安德魯，這是蘇西​​。所以從利潤率的角度來看，我只想說，我們重申了我們對今年公司自營餐廳利潤率為 14% 的預期，但我們確實繼續看到牛肉麵臨壓力。因此，牛肉價格上漲將我們的商品價格預期從先前預測的 4% 上調至 5%。目前我們已經鎖定了今年所需商品籃的 96%。所以我們對今年的最終成績感到滿意。展望未來，預計今年剩餘時間裡，價格將保持在個位數低位，正如我們在今年剩餘時間所看到的那樣。我們知道，低收入消費者仍然面臨壓力，因此我們在定價方面會採取謹慎的態度。

I just want to point out, too, we have a diverse menu. So while beef and our hamburgers play a huge role in our messaging, as you saw from the chicken tenders launch. We have a great chicken offering, and that's part of our brand story, that we'll continue to tell here in the fourth quarter and into 2026 as tender starts to pick up momentum as part of our core offering. So it's about balancing our menu, but luckily, it's focused on that profitable AUV growth. And that's really at the heart of Project Fresh and the biggest lever to offset and say inflation is an improved margins is focusing on that profitable AUV growth.

我還要指出，我們的菜單種類豐富。所以，正如你從雞柳上市中看到的那樣，牛肉和我們的漢堡在我們的宣傳中扮演著重要的角色。我們有非常棒的雞肉產品，這是我們品牌故事的一部分，我們將在第四季度以及 2026 年繼續講述這個故事，因為嫩雞肉作為我們核心產品的一部分，其發展勢頭將越來越強勁。所以關鍵在於平衡我們的產品組合，但幸運的是，它專注於實現盈利的單車平均銷售成長。而這正是「新鮮計畫」的核心所在，抵銷通貨膨脹的最大槓桿，也就是提高利潤率，就是專注於實現獲利的AUV成長。

Yes, that's right. And that's why that is the cornerstone of Project Fresh, improving profitable AUVs in the US So we are laser-focused on working with our franchisees to improve overall restaurant level margins, we believe the most effective way to do that in the long term is about revitalizing the brand, reestablishing Wendy's as the highest quality and freshest food in QSR, improving the effectiveness of our marketing, which those initiatives are well underway and then deploying operational excellence throughout the system. Another area that will help franchisee margin perspective is the system optimization. We have franchisees that are fantastic operators, and they may have one or two stores that are in bad areas that are dragging down their financial performance. So allowing them to close those, we'll free up capital, improve their margins and allow them to invest in the remaining restaurant which then enhances the customer experience and enables us to grow faster and increase those AUVs profitably.

是的，沒錯。因此，提高美國獲利的平均單店銷售額 (AUV) 是「新鮮項目」的基石。我們正全力與加盟商合作，提高餐廳整體利潤率。我們相信，從長遠來看，最有效的方法是重振品牌，重新確立 Wendy's 作為快餐行業最高品質和最新鮮食品的形象，提高營銷效率（這些舉措正在順利進行中），並在整個系統中推行卓越運營。另一個有助於提升加盟商利潤率的領域是系統最佳化。我們有一些加盟商經營能力非常出色，但他們可能有一兩家店位於不太好的地段，這拖累了他們的財務表現。因此，允許他們關閉這些餐廳，我們將釋放資金，提高他們的利潤率，並讓他們投資於剩餘的餐廳，從而提升客戶體驗，使我們能夠更快地增長，並以盈利的方式提高平均單店銷售額。

Gregory Francfort, Guggenheim Securities.

格雷戈里·弗蘭福特，古根漢證券。

I wanted to just ask, I think we have almost 800 properties where you own either the land or the building on your books. Can you remind me how many of those stores do you have the land for and whether or not you would consider monetizing some portion of that portfolio to reinvest in the business for this brand-new retaliation.

我只是想問一下，我認為我們帳面上有近 800 處房產，您擁有土地或建築物的所有權。你能提醒我一下，你手邊有多少土地可以蓋這些店面嗎？你是否考慮將其中一部分資產變現，再投資這項全新的反擊行動？

Yes. Thanks for the question, Gregory. So we have about 645 properties, where we own the land. I think in total, we're in the lease chain on about 1,600 restaurants across the US That is not going to be a disqualifier for looking at these restaurants to optimize just because we're on the lease change do not mean that we wouldn't look to significantly improve performance in those restaurants, including potentially closing them. And you're right, if we do close a restaurant that's on Wendy's property, then we would look to optimize and create value from that transaction, potentially selling the land under there, which creates more capital for us to reinvest in the system to accelerate the AUV and franchisee profitability flywheel. So that's something we're looking at as we work through with franchisees on a restaurant-by-restaurant basis. And we will provide additional updates on that on our fourth quarter call.

是的。謝謝你的提問，格雷戈里。所以我們擁有大約 645 處房產，土地歸我們所有。我認為，我們在美國各地租賃了大約 1600 家餐廳。但這並不會成為我們優化這些餐廳的障礙，僅僅因為我們正在經歷租賃變更，並不意味著我們不會尋求大幅改善這些餐廳的業績，包括可能關閉它們。你說得對，如果我們關閉一家位於 Wendy's 地界上的餐廳，那麼我們會考慮如何優化並從該交易中創造價值，例如出售地界下的土地，從而為我們創造更多資金，以便我們再投資於該系統，加速 AUV 和加盟商盈利能力的飛輪效應。所以，這是我們在與加盟主逐家餐廳協商解決的問題。我們將在第四季財報電話會議上提供更多相關資訊。

Andrew Charles, TD Cowen.

Andrew Charles，TD Cowen。

Just want to understand within the 4Q guidance that sales are likely to decline or decelerate on a one-year basis. What's your level of confidence on a two-year basis, you could see some improvement just given some of the initiatives you're putting into place?

我只是想了解一下，在第四季業績指引中，銷售額是否可能在一年內下降或放緩。你對兩年後的前景有多大信心？鑑於你正在實施的一些舉措，你可能會看到一些改善。

Yes, Andrew, we were able to reaffirm the guys because the back half of the year is playing out as we expected. I think when you look at the strategic decisions we made to pool some of the programming complexity out of the fourth quarter and push that into 2026. That does create a little bit of pressure on the fourth quarter from an SRS perspective. But we're confident it's the right long-term decision, and we are focused on optimizing long-term value. So by pushing some of that programming into 2026, it enabled us to focus our restaurant teams on the successful launch of chicken tenders in the fourth quarter. That is going to build momentum as we move throughout the back half of the fourth quarter and into 2025 and sets us up to have a much more successful of 2026. So yes, the Q4 is going to be the trough. October was the month that's going to be the trough, and we look forward to continuing to improve from here as we move into 2026.

是的，安德魯，我們能夠重新確認隊員們的實力，因為下半年的比賽進展正如我們所預期的。我認為，當我們審視我們為將第四季度的一些程式設計複雜性轉移到 2026 年所做的策略決策時，就會明白這一點。從 SRS 的角度來看，這確實給第四季度帶來了一些壓力。但我們相信這是正確的長期決策，我們專注於實現長期價值最大化。因此，透過將部分項目推遲到 2026 年，我們得以讓餐廳團隊專注於在第四季度成功推出雞柳。這將在第四季度後半段以及進入 2025 年的過程中不斷積聚勢頭，並為我們 2026 年取得更大的成功奠定基礎。所以，沒錯，第四季將會是低谷期。10 月是低谷期，我們期待從現在開始，在進入 2026 年之際繼續改善。

That was our last question of the call today. I want to thank everybody for joining us this morning. Have a fantastic day.

這是我們今天電話會議的最後一個問題。感謝各位今天上午蒞臨。祝你今天過得愉快。

Thank you all for joining today's call. You may now disconnect your lines.

感謝各位參加今天的電話會議。現在您可以斷開線路了。