The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated

ladies and gentlemen thank you for standing by my name is krista and i will be your conference operator today at this time i would like to welcome everyone to the cheesecake factory incorporated third quarter 2024 earnings conference call all lines have been placed on you to prevent any background noise after the speaker's remarks there will be a question and answer session If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. And if you would like to withdraw that question, again, press star one. Thank you. I would now like to turn the conference over to Etienne Marcus, Vice President of Investor Relations. You may begin.

Good afternoon and welcome to our third quarter fiscal 2024 earnings call. On the call with me today are David Overton, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, David Gordon, our President, and Matt Clark, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, let me quickly remind you that during this call, items will be discussed that are not based on historical fact and are considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could be materially different from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements as a result of the factors detailed in today's press release, which is available on our website at investors.thecheesecakefactory.com and in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements made on this call speak only as of today's date, and the company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements. In addition, during this conference call, we will be presenting results on an adjusted basis. which exclude impairment of assets and lease terminations and acquisition-related expenses. An explanation of our use of non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures appear in our press release on our website as previously described. David Overton will begin today's call with some opening remarks, and David Gordon will provide an operational update. Matt will then review our third quarter financial results and provide commentary on our financial outlook before opening a call to questions. With that, I'll turn the call over to David Overton.

Thank you, Etienne. In the third quarter, we once again delivered strong and dependable results with stable revenue, solid operational execution, and substantial profitability growth. To this point, Cheesecake Factory Restaurant, comparable sales, and traffic again meaningfully outperformed the industry, underscoring the strength and consistency of consumer demand for our brand and our ability to capture market share. Solid sales and exceptional operational execution in the quarter resulted in adjusted earnings per share growth of 49% from the prior year. Over the past four quarters, we have delivered cumulative adjusted earnings per share growth of over 31% versus the prior four quarters. Turning to development, we successfully opened four restaurants in the third quarter, including three FRC restaurants and one flower child location. Subsequent to quarter end, we opened three restaurants in North Italia and a Blanco in Phoenix and our first flower child in Salt Lake City. With 17 restaurant openings so far this year, we're well positioned to meet our objective of opening as many as 22 new restaurants in 2024. Looking ahead to 2025, We expect to further accelerate our unit growth with the opening of as many as 24 new restaurants across our portfolio of concepts. Before handing it over to David, I'd like to briefly provide some perspective on our approach to value creation. Our focus on delivering value to our shareholders means we're always evaluating opportunities for our concepts. In the restaurant industry, scale and timing are key factors for their consideration in evaluating how to maximize the value creation potential of our company. The results announced today demonstrate the power our larger platform provides, reinforcing our competence in our strategy to drive sustainable growth and value going forward. Looking ahead, we will continue to review and optimize our portfolio as we have in the past as we remain committed to achieving our goals and maximizing shareholder value over the long term. With that, I will now turn the call over to David Gordon to provide an operational update.