Texas Roadhouse, Inc.

Good evening and welcome to the Texas Roadhouse first quarter earnings conference call. Today's call is being recorded. All participants are now in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. At that time, if you would like to ask a question, please press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. Should anyone need assistance at any time during the conference, please press star zero and an operator will assist you. I would now like to introduce Michael Balin, Head of Investor Relations for Texas Roadhouse. You may begin your conference.

Thank you, Brianna, and good evening. By now, you should have access to our earnings release for the first quarter ended March 26, 2024. It may also be found on our website at TexasRoadhouse.com in the investor section. I would like to remind everyone that part of our discussion today will include forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, and therefore, undue reliance should not be placed upon them. We refer all of you to our earnings release and our recent filings with the SEC. These documents provide a more detailed discussion of the relevant factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements. In addition, we may refer to non-GAAP measures. If applicable, reconciliations of the non-GAAP measures to the GAAP information can be found in our earnings release. On the call with me today is Jerry Morgan, Chief Executive Officer of Texas Roadhouse, and Chris Monroe, our Chief Financial Officer. Following the prepared remarks, we will be available to answer your questions. In order to accommodate everyone that would like to ask a question, we kindly ask analysts to please limit yourself to one question. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Jerry.

Thanks, Michael, and good evening, everyone. There is no doubt that 2024 is off to a great start with first quarter revenue over $1.3 billion and same store sales growth of 8.4%. Our strong results continue to reflect our operator's commitment to the consistency and quality of the food, the hospitality they provide, and our everyday value. The benefit of our long-term approach to the business and our focus on always prioritizing the guest experience is evident in the record sales, margin dollars, and net income for the first quarter. While the Texas Roadhouse brand generated average weekly sales of over $163,000 in the first quarter, I want to also highlight the progress our operators are making at Bubba's 33 and Jagger's. Bubba's 33 averaged over $120,000 in weekly sales during the first quarter. With four locations scheduled to open this year and a growing pipeline for the coming years, we remain confident in the future for Bubba's 33. Jagger's, our quick service brand, is also experiencing momentum and delivered nearly $68,000 in average weekly sales. We continue to expect a mix of company and franchise jaggers over the coming years. And the first international franchise in South Korea is scheduled to open later this year. Our investment and commitment to opening new restaurants at a more even pace has been successful. In the first quarter, we opened nine company-owned Texas roadhouses. We currently expect to open an additional six company-owned restaurants during the second quarter. For the full year, we remain on track to open approximately 30 company-owned restaurants across the three brands. Our franchise partners opened two international Texas Roadhouse locations and a domestic Jagger's during the first quarter. We continue to expect as many as 14 franchise openings this year, including four Jagger's. On the technology front, Our conversion to digital kitchens is going as planned with 30% of the approximate 200 scheduled conversions completed so far. The feedback from our operators remains highly positive. In addition to kitchen efficiencies, our operators also appreciate the calmer kitchen and less stressful execution during power hours. Also on the technology front, we are preparing to go live during the second quarter with a new people system, which we call Roadie First Technology. The system will provide our employees with a more user-friendly platform for easier access to their data and records. It should also improve the recruiting and employee management processes for our managers. The Roadie First Technology name reflects our commitment to enhancing the ROTI experience at all levels, which will allow us to continue hiring, training, and retaining the best people in the industry. Finally, we just returned home from our annual Managing Partner Conference in Austin, Texas. It was a great week celebrating our operators' success in 2023, planning for the future, recognizing our top talent, and having a little fun. We also unveiled our first purpose statement, which is serving communities across America and the world. We believe our purpose builds clarity for our roadies and will inspire them for our journey ahead. Speaking of inspiration, I want to congratulate Casey Cohen from Turnersville, New Jersey, as she was named our Texas Roadhouse Managing Partner of the Year. I also want to congratulate Vanessa Blanca Quesada from Albuquerque, New Mexico for being named our Bubba's 33 Managing Partner of the Year. Additionally, I want to recognize Benito Galindo of Covington, Louisiana for being named our National Meat Cutting Champion, and Frank Fernandez for being named our Support Center Roadie of the Year. And lastly, I would like to congratulate and thank our award finalists, for their contributions and accomplishments. Now, Chris will provide some thoughts.