The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated

Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us and welcome to the Cheesecake Factory Incorporated earnings call for Q3 of 2026. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. I will now hand the conference over to Etienne Marcus, VP of Finance and Investor Relations. Etienne, please go ahead.

Good afternoon and welcome to our third quarter fiscal 2026 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 based on historical facts 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.chasecakefactory.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 acquisition-related items, impairment of assets and lease termination expenses, and other items. Explanations 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 up the call to questions. With that, I'll turn the call over to David Overton.

Thank you, Etienne. We delivered an outstanding third quarter with revenues once again exceeding $1 billion. This marked our second consecutive quarter of record revenue while margins and earnings also finished well above our expectations. The Cheesecake Factory restaurants led our performance, delivering comparable sales growth of 15.2% and annualized unit volumes of more than $13.9 million. Comparable sales and traffic growth meaningfully outperformed the broader casual dining industry, underscoring healthy demand for our brand and continued market share gains. Culinary innovation continues to be an important contributor to our sales growth and a key point of differentiation. Balls and bites are performing well and helping increase frequency. Our broad, made-from-scratch menu allows us to respond to changing guest preferences and offer compelling choices across a wide range of price points. Our rewards program app and broader marketing efforts are also driving awareness and engagement across the digital and social channels. We are especially encouraged by the traction we are seeing with our younger guests. The Cheesecake Factory has always had broad appeal and our ability to attract the next generation of guests reinforces the enduring relevance of the brand. Our impressive sales performance together with exceptional operational execution drove solid flow through and margin expansion The Cheesecake Factory's restaurant level profit margin increased 240 basis points year over year to 18.7%. Turning to development, we opened six restaurants during the third quarter, including two Cheesecake Factories, one North Italia, one Flower Child, and two FRC restaurants. Subsequent to quarter end, we opened two Flower Child restaurants and one Henry. With 16 restaurant openings so far this year, we remain on track to open as many as 26 new restaurants in 2026. Looking ahead to 2027, we plan to open as many as 27 new restaurants across our portfolio. In summary, we are extremely pleased with the quarter and performance of the Cheesecake Factory. At the heart of this success is what has always set us apart. Delicious made-from-scratch food, exceptional hospitality, and memorable dining experiences. We are excited about the opportunities ahead and remain focused on delivering profitable growth and long-term shareholder value. With that, I will now hand the call to David Gordon to provide an operational update.