W. Benn
Analyst · Barclays Capital
Well, thank you, David. Total revenues at The Cheesecake Factory for the third quarter were $418.4 million, compared to $400.6 million in the prior-year third quarter, an increase of 4.4%. Restaurant revenues reflect a 1.5% increase in total restaurant operating weeks due to the opening of three new restaurants during the trailing 15-month period plus a 2.7% increase in average weekly sales. Overall, comparable sales at The Cheesecake Factory and Grand Lux Café restaurants increased 2.8% for the quarter. By concept, comparable sales increased 2.9% and 1.4% at The Cheesecake Factory and Grand Lux Café, respectively. As David mentioned, the key driver of our comparable sales increase was a significant gain in guest traffic, which was 2.8%. It is important to note that we were able to achieve this increase in traffic without the use of discounting and hence, our sales increases were at full margin. In addition, we had 1.3% in pricing in our menu, which was offset by mixed trends that were similar to those we saw in the first part of the year. Looking ahead, we will also have approximately 1.3% of menu pricing in the fourth quarter of this year as we implemented a nearly equivalent level of pricing to prior year within our summer menu change. It is further noteworthy that our comparable sales trends were fairly steady throughout the third quarter, both month-to-month and geographically. We believe this further speaks to the broad-based momentum we have in our business. At the bakery, external sales were $15.3 million, up 9% versus the prior year. Cost of sales increased to 24.4% of revenue for the third quarter of 2010, compared to 23.9% in the same quarter last year. The 50 basis point increase was due primarily to pressure from dairy and cheese costs, as expected, partially mitigated by pricing leverage on other commodity costs and savings from our cost of sales initiatives. Total labor was 32.8% of revenue for the third quarter, down 10 basis points from 32.9% in the prior year. This decrease was primarily related to leverage from the positive comparable sales. Other operating costs and expenses were 24.9% of revenues for the third quarter of 2010, down 60 basis points from 25.5% in the third quarter last year. Savings from our cost management initiative and comparable sales leverage, plus favorable experience related to our self-insured workers' compensation and general liability insurance plan contributed in this area. Overall, our cost-savings initiatives, benefiting cost of sales, labor and other operating expenses, were within the range of our expectations, resulting in year-over-year savings of just under $1 million during the quarter. G&A expenses were 5.7% of revenues in the third quarter, down about 30 basis points as compared to the third quarter of 2009. And depreciation expense for the third quarter of 2010 was 4.3% of revenues, down 40 basis points versus the prior-year period. Both of these year-over-year improvements were driven by leverage from our solid comparable sales growth. Net interest expense continues to come down as we pare back our funded debt and was $1.7 million or 0.4% of sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2010. This was made up of approximately $700,000 in deemed landlord financing, with the interest expense from the balance on our credit facility making up the remaining amount. Our tax rate for the quarter was 25% as income tax expense was positively impacted by approximately $700,000 due to a favorable settlement with the IRS. Absent the settlement, our tax rate would have been approximately 28%. In total, operating margins in the third quarter of 2010 improved 70 basis points to 7.5%, keeping us on track to measurably surpass our intermediate term goal of returning to 2007 operating margin levels. We now not only expect to exceed that goal by the end of this year by more than 40 basis points, but we will do so one year earlier than we originally anticipated. In addition, we expanded our margins while simultaneously growing our guest counts and maintaining our high guest satisfaction ratings. We believe this combination is one of the primary drivers, enabling us to create meaningful and sustained increases in guest traffic, comparable restaurant sales, free cash flow and improved shareholder value. During the third quarter, we repurchased approximately 900,000 shares of our common stock at a cost of $21.2 million. Year-to-date, we have repurchased just over 2 million shares at a cost of $51.2 million. We still have 5.8 million shares remaining in our current share repurchase authorization. Our liquidity position continues to be solid with a cash balance of $59.8 million at quarter end compared to a debt balance of only $40 million and as we further reduced the amount outstanding on our credit facility by $30 million in the third quarter. Cash flow from operations for the first nine months of the year was approximately $110 million. Net of roughly $29 million of cash used for capital expenditures, we generated about $81 million in free cash flow in the first three quarters of the year. That wraps up our business and financial review for the third quarter of 2010. Now I'll spend a few minutes on our outlook for the fourth quarter and full year 2010, as well as our current thoughts on fiscal 2011. As we've done in the past, we continue to provide our best estimates for earnings per share ranges based on realistic comparable sales assumptions. Our comparable sales assumptions factor in everything we know as of today, which includes quarter-to-date trends, what we think will happen in the weeks ahead, known weather influences and the effect of any impact associated with holidays. As has been our practice, we do not plan to give any more specifics on fourth quarter to date comparable sales trends on this call. With that said, for the fourth quarter of 2010, we estimate diluted earnings per share between $0.33 and $0.36 based on an assumed range of comparable sales of between positive 1.5% and 3%. This range of comparable sales is consistent with our performance so far this year, while also taking into consideration the negative impact from certain fourth quarter holiday shifts of approximately 50 basis points, as well as taking into account our tougher comparison to sales levels from the fourth quarter of last year. Earnings per share estimates for the fourth quarter also include considerations for current commodity price trends for which we are not fully contracted, for example, in the dairy category. Note that we expect food cost inflation to be up between 1% and 1.5% this year. For the full year 2010, we now estimate diluted earnings per share between $1.39 and $1.42 based on an assumed comparable sales range of between 2% and 2½%. This is an increase over our prior guidance in both sales and earnings and reflective of our strong third quarter results. We expect our tax rate to be approximately 28% in both the fourth quarter and for the full year 2010, and our projection for capital spending in 2010 is now $40 million to $45 million. We are also now projecting an increase in capital deployment toward debt reduction and share repurchase. Our current estimate is for a total of $125 million to $150 million to be utilized toward these activities for the full year. To sum up for 2010, we expect to see solidly positive comparable sales in each quarter and for the full year. Our earnings per share range implies operating margins of approximately 7.7% to 7.8% in 2010. The midpoint of our earnings per share sensitivity for the year reflects a strong 32% growth in earnings per share as compared to 2009, and our improved performance is enabling us to generate greater free cash flow and create additional shareholder value through increased capital allocation activities. Here are a few key aspects with respect to 2011. As David mentioned, we plan to open as many as six to nine new restaurants. Our total capital expenditures are expected to be between $70 million and $90 million. We also plan to continue paying down our debt and repurchasing shares. The combined amount expected to be used in these capital allocation activities is projected at over $100 million for the year. For the full year 2011, we are currently estimating diluted earnings per share between $1.55 and $1.70, based on an assumed comparable sales range of between positive 1% and 3%. This represents our best estimate at the time and incorporates everything we know as of today and includes the fact that 2011 is a 53-week year for us, with the extra week falling in the fourth quarter. With that said, we'll take your questions. In order to accommodate as many questions as possible, please limit yourself to one question and then re-queue with any additional question.