Texas Roadhouse, Inc.

Good evening and welcome to the Texas Roadhouse second 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 second quarter and to June 25, 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, please limit yourself to one question. Now, I'd like to turn the call over to Jerry.

Thanks, Michael, and good evening, everyone. We are pleased with our second quarter results as our operators continue to do an amazing job serving our guests and communities. Same store sales growth of 9.3% and the benefit of a steady pace of new store openings in 2024 helped us drive revenue to over $1.3 billion in the quarter. We remain excited about the future of all three of our brands. During the second quarter, Texas Roadhouse restaurants averaged approximately $163 in weekly sales. Our managing partners continue to drive sales and traffic growth, which keeps the brands positioned as a leader in the casual dining industry. Bubba's 33 maintained its positive trend with approximately $123,000 in weekly sales. I recently had the opportunity to visit the three newest Bubba's 33 locations in Texas and Virginia. Nothing is more energizing than spending time in the restaurants working alongside our people and getting feedback from our guests. There's no doubt that our Bubba's 33 operators are building name recognition and creating guest loyalty. Bubba's is also receiving a number of local awards including being named Best Burger and Best Family and Casual Dining Restaurant in Chesapeake, Virginia, and 2024 Best Pizza in Beaufort, Georgia. Jagger's, our quick service brand, is also gaining increased consumer awareness, which helped generate approximately $73,000 in weekly sales during the second quarter. Jagger's is also being recognized as its burger was named a Community Choice Finalist in Louisville, Kentucky. Additionally, we are looking forward to our first international Jagger's franchise location later this year on the Camp Humphreys military base in South Korea. Speaking of openings, during the second quarter, we opened three company-owned Texas roadhouses and three Bubba's 33 restaurants. For the full year, we remain on track to open approximately 30 company-owned restaurants across all brands. Also, our franchise partners opened three Texas Roadhouse locations, including our first restaurant in Puerto Rico. We expect as many as 13 franchise openings this year, including three Jagger's. We also made great progress on our technology initiatives during the second quarter. First, we completed the rollout of our Roadie First technology system throughout the company. We believe improved mobile access to our resources will provide roadies with the help, help us remain as an employer of choice for years to come. Second, the pace of the digital kitchen conversion remains on track. We have completed 50% of the approximate 230 scheduled for this year. The feedback remains positive and our current expectation is that nearly all restaurants will convert to a digital kitchen by the end of 2025. Finally, there has been significant discussion within the restaurant industry concerning the health of the consumer, as well as the increased focus on promotions and discounting from others in the industry. Through the first half of the year, we have not seen a measurable impact on our overall business from these issues. Our guests continue to recognize the quality and value we offer and do not appear to be changing their dining habits. At Texas Roadhouse, we will continue to focus on what we do best, which is taking care of our roadies and providing a legendary experience to each and every one of our guests. Now, Chris will provide some thoughts. Thanks, Jerry.