David Palmer — Senior Managing Director, Evercore ISI
Thank you, and congrats on a great year. I wanted to squeeze-
Jerry Morgan — CEO, Texas Roadhouse
Thank you.
David Palmer — Senior Managing Director, Evercore ISI
... you know, two questions, and the one is just sort of-
... you know, about that fourth quarter and the fact that the sales slowed down in December, we heard in the industry that there was some weather dislocation in that month. And so a lot of times when a chain gets caught with slow sales late in the quarter, it's tough to adjust the labor and to sort of save, you know, the budget for the quarter, so to speak. And you did have a higher ratio of labor hours versus traffic than normal for you. So I suspect that was something. You're not one to make excuses, but maybe you could speak to what sort of a drag that noise or even just the fact that that happened late in the quarter might have had on your earnings that quarter.
I'm just wondering also, bigger picture question is, just the long term when it comes to beef inflation, it feels weird this cycle where it's not getting better fast in terms of the number of cattle head out there, and the demand is remaining strong. So it feels like the relief might not be as fast as it was the last time we saw one of these cycles. And I'm just wondering if you're thinking, is there things that you could do besides have food costs get down to 34 to get back to 17+? I mean, you know, you talked about the handhelds, but is there anything that you're thinking about, you know, on the labor side and effectiveness there to really offset some, what might be longer, you know, higher for longer on beef? And thank you.
Michael Bailen — VP of Investor Relations, Texas Roadhouse
Hey, David, it's Michael. Appreciate the question. Hopefully, I can touch on all the topics. You are correct. For the fourth quarter, that labor hours ratio was 68%. For October and November, it was sub 50%. And that, you know, that slowdown that the entire industry saw in December certainly, you know, resulted in an elevated number there. I can tell you, you know, so far, the first quarter, we are back to sub 40%, so that does feel like it was a little bit of an anomaly given the, you know, results from December. And again, December was impacted by both holiday shifts and weather. So, you know, for 2026, I think we believe that we can continue to run in that sub 50% level.
As far as, you know, beef inflation, you know, yes, we're going to have that, you know, pressure here in 2026. Far too early to start predicting what may happen in 2027, but I think the industry would say that it'll be certainly a little early to see the herd, you know, beginning to expand before, you know, late 2027. So, you know, in periods like this, we focus on the dollars and growing the top line, and, you know, that's what flows through. And certainly, more dollars can help you leverage labor, can help you leverage other operating. We're going to stick, you know, stay true to who we are, and, you know, that's really going to be our approach to the business.
Andrew Charles — Analyst, TD Cowen
Great. Thanks. Maybe first, if you can, quantify the impact of Fern on the quarter to date. Obviously a very stellar number, but just curious, you know, with weather, how much that impacted it. And my real question, you know, is really around now that you're focused, now that you've fully rolled out the Digital Kitchen, how does it allow you to go on offense in 2026? You know, can we expect more advertising around carryouts? Could a market test or third-party delivery potentially be something you're focused on? I'd love to learn more about now the Digital Kitchen is over, what this allows you to do. Thank you.
Michael Bailen — VP of Investor Relations, Texas Roadhouse
Hey, Andrew, it's Michael. I'll start, certainly start with the question on, you know, Fern. It definitely, on the first 7 weeks, it had about a 2.5%- impact. Now, we were lapping some weather from last year that offset some of that. So I would say the net impact of weather on the 7 weeks was about 1.5%- for us. And then when it relates to the Digital Kitchen, maybe I'll start there and see if anybody else wants to join in. Certainly, you know, it has led to that calmer, quieter restaurant experience, you know, excuse me, kitchen experience, and I think it does free us up to do more to-go business. And I think we've seen that over the last several quarters.
Don't know if, you know, what else will change fundamentally about how we do the business, but I do believe that our operators know that it allows them to do some more to-go.
Jerry Morgan — CEO, Texas Roadhouse
Yeah, and Andrew, this is Jerry. I would tell you, we will continue to learn as we now have the whole concept on the Digital Kitchen, what all it can do for us other than create a very calm environment that our cooks are really enjoying and just how we execute in the back. So, it will not lead us to looking at a delivery service at this time.
Sara Senatore — Analyst, Bank of America
Great. Thank you. Just, I guess first, housekeeping. Could you just, let me know what price was for the quarter? And also, you know, I know you talked about taking 1.9% in 2026, at least, you know, the first price. So can you, what should we expect for pricing? What does that mean, on a quarterly basis, pricing looks like? And then I do have a question.
Michael Bailen — VP of Investor Relations, Texas Roadhouse
Yes, Sarah, it's Michael. So we had 3.1% pricing for the fourth quarter. We'll have that same 3.1% here in the first quarter, and then with the 1.9% rolling on, that means we'll have 3.6% in the menu for the second and third quarters before we have conversations about what we, you know, may do at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Sara Senatore — Analyst, Bank of America
Okay, great. Thank you. And then I guess, as I think about, you know, the sort of price, cost dynamic, I know, you know, typically you price just for sort of structural changes. But I guess as I think through the year ahead, I guess, is your sense that if part of the reason the traffic growth has accelerated so much, is because you've maintained your pricing kind of substantially below the, the competitive set? Or I guess trying to understand, like, how you think about that elasticity, 'cause certainly the quarter date trends, you know, again, it, including weather, were very impressive. So just the sort of philosophy, you know, as you think about the year ahead.
Jerry Morgan — CEO, Texas Roadhouse
Thanks, Sarah. This is Jerry. I'll start it off a little bit on the pricing. We continue to try to be very conservative. We believe that the full-service dining segment, and we are still well underneath that. So we continue to have great conversation with our operators. We look at it from the lens of our guests and our business and our shareholders and try to find a solid balance. We also know beef is a challenge, and we will continue to look at it. But we focus on a great experience, value in our menu that's built in throughout everything that we have, and it's been a great strategy. And I believe we don't skimp on any of our portions. We really focus on nothing has changed.
All we try to do is get a little bit better for our guest experience.
Jim Salera — Analyst, Stephens
Yes, good afternoon. Thanks for taking our question. I wanted to ask around tax refunds. You know, there's been a lot of conversations around that, potentially driving some incremental consumption, particularly in, you know, I guess, it would be more the second quarter. Do you have any historical precedent for, you know, years where there's larger than expected tax refunds? Do you see kind of an immediate flow-through into the restaurants and, and more engagement? And if so, does that show up just purely in transactions, or do you maybe see higher attachments? Any comments you could provide there would be helpful.
Michael Bailen — VP of Investor Relations, Texas Roadhouse
Hey, hey, Jim, it's Michael. Thanks for the question. I would say, you know, you know, historically, if the timing of the refunds moves around, you know, I think we can see it a little bit in our numbers. So I do think refunds do have the potential, you know, to be you know, a tailwind for us, whether you know, this time around, you know, and who you know, may be getting these refunds will result in a benefit for us to be determined. But typically, yes, when people are getting a larger than normal refund, I would say, it may result in them you know, looking to spend some of that.
David Tarantino — Analyst, Baird
Hi, good afternoon. Michael, just a clarification on the recent comp trends. Did you have a calendar impact in December from the shift of New Year's Eve? And if so, can you quantify the impact of that on Q4 and on Q1 quarter to date? And then I have a follow-up to that.
Michael Bailen — VP of Investor Relations, Texas Roadhouse
Yeah, David, definitely, we, you know, we had a negative impact from, you know, Christmas shifting and also the timing of our year-end. Those two on the quarter had about a little under... Well, when you combine in Halloween shifting as well, all of those had about a 1% negative impact on the fourth quarter. The first quarter, or I'm sorry, the first seven weeks is benefiting from having New Year's Eve in the first quarter, and that's had about a little over 1% benefit to our first quarter. First seven weeks, excuse me.
David Tarantino — Analyst, Baird
Great. That's helpful. So if I net all the impacts from the calendar and the weather, it does look like Q1 has accelerated pretty meaningfully on the traffic side. So I just wanted to get your thoughts on why that's occurred. I guess, you know, I know there's a lot of cross currents in the economy, but I guess, you know, what are your thoughts on what's driving the recent strength?
Jerry Morgan — CEO, Texas Roadhouse
Well, thanks, David. This is Jerry. You know, I do know there was some weather in that timeline, but I really do believe it is just about us operating at a high level. Our operators are out there hustling. We're continuing to provide a great experience for the guests, and we benefited a little bit from some of that. It'd be hard to measure exactly what it is, but I just think we're out there hustling. We're trying to make sure our employees have a great experience coming to work, and our guests are having a great experience dining with us, and we are very appreciative of their business.
Brian Harbour — Analyst, Morgan Stanley
Yeah, thanks. Good afternoon, guys. Could you comment on just where you are with, you know, commodity contracting at this point? And then, you know, is your expectation that inflation in the first quarter could look, you know, similar to 4Q, and then it sort of comes down ratably from there? Could you help us a little bit on that?
Michael Bailen — VP of Investor Relations, Texas Roadhouse
Sure, Brian, it's Michael. I would. You know, as far as locked, you know, we're certainly more locked on fixed price in the first half of the year, probably about 65% locked first half of the year, and, you know, only about 25% in the back half of the year. And that's probably not abnormal, you know, over the more recent years from that standpoint. As far as the cadence of the commodity inflation, I would—you know, we mentioned that the first half of the year would be. You're probably above our 7% guidance. I'd say within that, Q1 is probably in line with the guidance, and Q2 is probably where we expect to have our highest commodity inflation of the year.
And, you know, that could be in the very high single digit level. And then it should start to come down in the back half of the year.
Peter Saleh — Analyst, BTIG
Great, thanks. Jerry, I wanted to ask real quick on the expanding test of the handheld ordering in 2026. I think you guys have been testing this for, you know, since 2024. I think it was in about 40 restaurants. So can you maybe a little bit talk about what you're seeing, how much this test will expand, and what you expect to see? And then, Michael, if you could just comment on the G&A, and how that goes throughout the year. I think you said a low double-digit increase, so any details you could provide there would be helpful. Thanks.
Jerry Morgan — CEO, Texas Roadhouse
Yeah. Thanks, Peter. This is Jerry. On the handhelds, we did absolutely have a test out there. We have pulled back on it just a little bit to rewrite some software. We have had it in a store right before the holidays and learned a lot of things. We paused it for a minute. We now have it back in that store, and we've just got a couple of more tweaks to make before I think we can offer it up to the operators. There's no doubt that the handheld and technology side of it does make us a little bit quicker when it allows the server to take the order at the table to press send, and obviously, from an order accuracy standpoint. There's a lot of things that we really like about it.
What we have to have is it to be reliable, and so we're just working through a few more things. We'll continue to get it out there and test, and then I think later on in the year, we should be ready to kind of offer it up for our operators to opt in if they wanna do that. But we have made a lot of progress, and I feel good that a lot of focus on it right now.
Keith Humpich — Chief Accounting and Financial Services Officer, Texas Roadhouse
Yeah, and Peter, this is Keith. On the G&A, I think, you know, we guided to low double-digit increases, and I think you can pretty much see that throughout the year, evenly throughout the year.
Jeff Farmer — Managing Director, Gordon Haskett
Thanks. You did touch on it, but with all the moving pieces, how should we be thinking about the restaurant-level margin for the full year of 2026?
Michael Bailen — VP of Investor Relations, Texas Roadhouse
Hey, Jeff, this is, you know, Michael. Obviously, there are a lot of moving pieces. I would say, you know, with 7% commodity inflation, and if that's where we end up, and you know, with the pricing that you know, we're talking about taking and assuming that, you know, some of that, you know, not all of it flows through the check, I think it's gonna be a challenge to get leverage on the cost of sales line. Now, I do believe there is opportunity on the other components of restaurant margin, you know, but that may not fully offset. So it is certainly possible that restaurant margin percent, you know, remain under pressure.
But, the restaurant margin dollars, you know, certainly have a path, both on an absolute and a dollar per store week basis, to go higher, and that's really where more of our focus is, right now during this cattle cycle.
Jeffrey Bernstein — Analyst, Barclays
Great. Thank you very much. Jerry, just curious, your updated thoughts on Bubba's. Obviously, it's taking on a bigger role in this unit growth. Needless to say, when your, your big brother, Texas Roadhouse, your results probably won't look as good in the short term. I'm wondering if you can, just because it is in a different category, do you think that one day, if you do the same focus on Bubba's that you do on Texas, it'll have the same level of resilience that Texas has had? Or Bubba's may be in a different category and a different position where it'll never achieve something similar. Just trying to get your sense on Bubba's outlook. Obviously, you're accelerating that growth the next few years, but how you envision that brand long-term relative to Texas? Thank you.
Jerry Morgan — CEO, Texas Roadhouse
Thanks, Jeff. Yeah, I mean, I see Bubba's... I really like to compare it to the competitive set that it goes in it. Obviously, at $6.4 million average unit volume, we have a lot of confidence in what Bubba's is doing and I am real proud of where we're at from that.
We have done a lot of great things, getting some of the cost out of the building to make it a little more profitability or profitable for our operators as we go forward, and we'll continue to look at ways to offset some of the inflation and other sides of it for that business. But yeah, we'll ramp up the growth on it. We'll get to approximately 10 this year, and that's what's on schedule for the following year. And we believe that it will continue to add a lot of value to our company, as we go forward from a sales and profit standpoint.
Jake Bartlett — Analyst, Truist Securities
Great. Thanks for taking the question. Yeah, mine is about mix, and there's two kind of mixes here that I want to ask about. One is on COGS. Your COGS have been higher than we would think, or one would think, you know, given the pricing and the commodity inflation. You've mentioned that's a shift towards steak. I think that differential increased in the fourth quarter. So the question is: What should we expect from that dynamic in 2026? I mean, is there a possibility that that reverses out? You know, should we continue to expect maybe an increased pressure on COGS from that dynamic?
And then if I look at just mix within check, it increased in the fourth quarter, so a little bit kind of confusing to have that increase or get more negative, yet, you know, the COGS impact getting bigger. So the question on mix, what is driving the negative mix within same-store sales, and should that continue? What are the dynamics there going into 2026? Thank you.
Michael Bailen — VP of Investor Relations, Texas Roadhouse
Yeah. Thanks, Jake. This is Michael. You know, first on that mix within our food cost, it was lower in the fourth quarter than it had been in the third. It probably was 30, maybe 35 basis points of pressure, where it had been, you know, over 50 basis points in the third quarter. From what we're seeing so far, you know, this year, it does seem like we have lapped a lot of that trade up to the steak category. That doesn't mean that it couldn't reaccelerate, but right now, my assumption is maybe 10-15 basis points of pressure, you know, coming from that, call it, usage line within the cost of sales.
As far as the product mix, you are right, it did step up a little bit in the fourth quarter, and we saw that trend higher as we moved through the year, through the last several months of the quarter. Some of that, I think, more of that came from the to-go side of it, and the growth of our to-go putting a little bit of pressure, more pressure on that line. As I've looked at the beginning of this year, some of that pressure has abated. The alcohol is still negative, but not as negative as it was at any point last year. So some encouraging signs within our mix. We continue within the dining room to see positive mix in entrees, appetizers, soft beverages, mocktails.
But when the to-go business is growing at a slightly faster rate, and that comes with a lower average check, it does continue to put a little bit of pressure on mix.
Jacob Aiken-Phillips — VP Equity Research, Melius Research
Hi, everyone. Good afternoon. So I just wanted to ask about share gains. I mean, you've shown super consistent traffic strength, and peers have shown less so, and I mean, restaurants, food, fast casual, QSR, et cetera. What portion of the traffic outperformance do you view as structural share gains versus, like, people trading between channels or in and out? And how should we view that durability if the consumer weakens further?
Jerry Morgan — CEO, Texas Roadhouse
Yeah, Jacob, I can start. I mean, it's hard to predict all of that. I mean, we open up our doors, and we serve our guests and represent our communities all across America and the world, and I think the guest has to make a choice. The choice is: Where do they get quality food? Where do they get great value? And where do they get hospitality at a high level? I do believe that that's where we continue to win. That reputation that we have in the industry for consistently providing a great service, great food, and what we call legendary food and legendary service, and that just resonates with our consumer.
you know, they wanna spend money, but they wanna spend money where they're getting a great product with value, and I believe that's where we settle in nicely.
Dennis Geiger — Executive Director, UBS
Great. Thanks, guys, and welcome, Mike. Just wondering if you guys could break down the G&A guidance, the G&A increase a bit more. Is that increase coming from? Is it a compensation dynamic? Is it related to the acquisitions? Anything more you could say there? And then, I guess, longer term, does anything change on how you think about G&A beyond this year? I know you've kind of given some targets in the past for the long term as a percent basis. Thank you.
Keith Humpich — Chief Accounting and Financial Services Officer, Texas Roadhouse
Hey, Dennis, it's Keith. Thanks for the question. Yeah, so in December, we completed our 2026 budget process that included our finalizing our incentive plans for the year.
So as part of that, we did increase our G&A forecast, and this was mainly due to the new long-term management equity grants that we announced in late December, and then also some higher forecasted incentive compensation. You know, I, I can tell you that when we look at G&A as a percentage of sales, though, you know, I think we see—we, we see it coming in very, very similar and consistent to what our recent years have been, and, and we're comfortable at that level, so.
Andy Barish — Analyst, Jefferies
Hey, guys. One question and a quick follow-up. Just, can you give us a little better sense on sort of what the guest management software is potentially driving this year? Is it, is it table, you know, table yields or wait time quotes, or how is that kind of up and running?
Jerry Morgan — CEO, Texas Roadhouse
Thanks, Andy. This is Jerry. You know, I think it helps in all categories to be able to manage your floor plan with the amount of consumers that are on the, a wait list, and for them to be able to navigate a little bit on their own to get on the wait list and allowing us to, if folks aren't there. So there's so many components that can help us be faster, not only in managing how table turns work, how we get guests on the list, how we get them sat, and then how do we accurately quote them when we're on longer waits. And we just went through a tremendous weekend over Valentine's Day, and what a success! And I think it all contributes to the ability to handle that kind of volume.
So we believe that there's so many things that you just little things that all add up to additional success. So that's about all I can share on that, but it's about really being bigger, faster and stronger and getting more people sat accurately from that standpoint. But thank you, Andy.
Andy Barish — Analyst, Jefferies
Yeah, very helpful. And then on the headquarters acquisition, is that a benefit to G&A this year versus last, but maybe I'm thinking about it wrong.
Keith Humpich — Chief Accounting and Financial Services Officer, Texas Roadhouse
No, Andy, this is Keith. Yeah, you are correct. It will definitely be a benefit this, for us this year.
Jon Tower — Analyst, Citigroup
There we go. Sorry about that. Yeah, thank you. Jerry, just a quick question for you. I, you know, the past year, year and a half or so, you've focused a lot of some time on innovating around and focusing on beverages on the menu. I think mocktails, dirty sodas are a couple of things, and then having the $5 draft on tap and messaging that to the guests. It's. Is there anything else on your menu that you see today as an opportunity, either, you know, you're not currently—it's not either on the menu today or it's something that's underperforming your internal expectations or anything you're hearing from your operators that says, "Hey, this would be a nice area we should be, you know, focusing more on?
Jerry Morgan — CEO, Texas Roadhouse
Well, thanks, John. Yeah, I, I think on the beverage side, I mean, obviously, mocktails have become very popular out there, dirty sodas. The 5-day, $5 all-day every day, it is about the beer, but it's really also about that margarita. And, you know, really, Roadhouse was built on an ice-cold beer and a legendary margarita, and having that 10 $5 10-ounce margarita back in the system has been really, really popular. And on the food side, I mean, we're always looking at some innovative ideas and, and talking with our operators about trying different things, whether it be a menu item, whether it be the ability to add on a, a, a different kind of smother or, or even a Sidekick of some sort. So we, we are constantly out there looking at things. We have some things that are out there in test.
We'll continue to monitor and look at them, and make a decision down the road if we think it goes regionally or nationwide, could be impactful. So yes, we're constantly kind of testing and looking and talking with our operators about what we might look at on the menu. We don't have a lot that underperform at the level that they would be replaced, so it'd be a tough one for us to take anything off. It really have to be a superstar to get added to it.
Andrew Strelzik — Analyst, BMO Capital Markets
Hey, good afternoon. Thanks for taking the question. Going back to the beef topic, and appreciate some of the color you gave on the cattle cycle dynamics. You know, there's been some optimism, I guess, around beef inflation easing at some point in 2026 because of demand destruction at retail. So I guess I was curious if you've seen any evidence in any of the data that you've looked at or any of your discussions around that dynamic that maybe does offer a little bit of optimism as the year progresses. Thanks.
Michael Bailen — VP of Investor Relations, Texas Roadhouse
Hey, Andrew, it's Michael. Thanks for the question. I mean, I think we've certainly seen at retail some trade away from beef, you know, over the last several quarters to, you know, whether it be pork or chicken, other, other proteins. And so that has, you know, been in effect. To the level that that may or may not continue, it is hard, you know, for us to know. And, you know, we aren't trying. In our forecast, we aren't trying to predict what the demand side might be. So if there was, further, call it demand destruction or trade away from beef, then maybe there is some potential, you know, for our numbers, you know, to come down. But, a lot of things, you know, to learn about there.
What we do know, you know, what we do know is what's going on with the size of the herd and what that takes for a rebuild. So the demand will really play into how things fully play out.
Rahul Krotthapalli — VP, Equity Research, JPMorgan
Good afternoon, guys. Can you update us on the build cost inflation and how it is tracking at both Roadhouse and Bubba's, and especially how we are thinking about cash-on-cash returns for both these concepts as we go forward? I have a follow-up on the company versus franchise mix. I've seen this slowly pick up over time from low 80s company mix to the high 80s we are currently. Is there a conscious goal to get to a certain level over time? Can you share some of your thoughts here? Thank you.
Michael Bailen — VP of Investor Relations, Texas Roadhouse
Yeah, sure. Hey, this is Michael. I'll start with the investment costs. So on the Roadhouse side, you know, we are expecting, you know, our average all-in investment costs, that includes 10x rent, you know, factor, you know, will be increasing to around, you know, $8.9 million. We think we're around $8.3 million-$8.4 million here in 2025. Some of that increase is coming from higher rents. Certainly, you know, there are, you know, it is not getting any cheaper to build a building. But we also have a handful of restaurants in California that we will be opening in 2026, and that probably, you know, adds a few hundred thousand dollars to that cost for Roadhouse.
On the Bubba's side, you know, the opposite is expected. We're expecting to see a, you know, maybe a little more than $500,000 reduction in our investment costs, going from around, you know, $9 million down to $8.5 million, $8.4 million for 2026. We've done a lot of work on the building and getting the prototype to where we want it to be. And we also have a handful of conversions, you know, that we are gonna be doing. So taking an existing building and turning it into a Bubba's, and we've done two of those so far that have opened and definitely seen some cost savings by doing that.
So, we are hopeful and expectant that, you know, that can continue with some more of these conversions. And as far as returns, you know, we look at it more as an IRR. We're targeting a mid-teen IRR for our new restaurants, and I'd say we are achieving or exceeding that expectation as an overall portfolio.
Brian Vaccaro — Analyst, Raymond James
Thanks, and good evening. Most of them might have been asked, but just two nitpicks, if I could. Within the other OpEx line, I'm curious what you're seeing, just from an underlying inflation perspective within that line, and any changes in the outlook related to utilities or other areas we should be mindful of. And on the acquisition of the 5 units for $72 million, was there acquired real estate within that acquisition price? Thank you.
Michael Bailen — VP of Investor Relations, Texas Roadhouse
Yeah. Hey, Brian, I'll just start with the second one first. There is no acquired real estate within that acquisition price for those California stores. As far as the other OpEx, you know, I think certainly, you know, there is an expectation that utility costs will continue to go higher. But I do think there is still opportunity to get some potentially to get some leverage, another op in 2026. Probably low single-digit growth in dollars per store week is probably the best guidance I can give you. Don't think I have an inflationary percentage to throw out at this time. So, we do think we're gonna continue to see some cost pressures, but nothing other than utilities too out of the ordinary.
Gregory Francfort — Analyst, Guggenheim
Hey, maybe sticking with expenses, just labor inflation running under 3% this quarter. I guess, is there anything that maybe there were less overtime hours just given the sales? Or, I guess I'm trying to figure out why that might ramp next year or, I guess, this year in 2026. Thanks.
Michael Bailen — VP of Investor Relations, Texas Roadhouse
Yeah, I mean, there are several components. You know, we talk about a wage and other inflation. And so, you know, the wage component, certainly we have seen that trend down and stabilize, and that's kind of the expectation that we have into 2026. But we do think that there's still going to be some pressures on insurance costs and other components within labor that may be a little bit higher than what we saw in 2025. So, you know, we guided the 3%-4% wage and other. I think the underlying wage component is probably down year-over-year, and you know, the overall could be a little bit down versus 2025.
Jim Sanderson — Analyst, North Coast Research
Hey, thanks for the question. I wanted to talk a little bit more about pricing. Given the 3.6 you'll have in the second quarter, how do you see yourself positioned with respect to, you know, top competitors, if you feel that your value gap is just as strong or compelling? And maybe if you have any consumer feedback about how the consumer perceives the brand on a value basis, if that's improving.
Jerry Morgan — CEO, Texas Roadhouse
Thanks, Jim. You know, absolutely, we will keep a close eye on any conversation that comes up, but obviously, after these first seven weeks, as we continue to roll. But, you know, again, we're built on a conservative approach to pricing. We still believe we're well under our competitors and a full-service dining average, 12 months rolling. So we will continue to look at that. But if we get feedback, we absolutely will consider and talk with that. But we really feel like we've got such a great value, and we're continuing to operate at a high level, and that's the approach that we'll continue to take, and we feel great about it.
Jerry Morgan — CEO, Texas Roadhouse
Thank you, all, for your time with us tonight. To Roadie Nation, stay focused on high-level hospitality. Let's go, Roadhouse!