“On the international segments, I would say, I think we expect operating conditions across our top markets in Q4 will be pretty similar to what we've seen in the last couple of quarters.”

In context

“in the U.S., we actually expect our comp sales growth will accelerate in Q4 versus the 2.4% that we delivered in Q3. And there's some obvious reasons for that. Obviously, we're lapping the food safety incident in last year's Q4. We've had a decent start to the quarter based on MONOPOLY running in October, as you heard us talk about in our upfront remarks. And we feel we've got a really good quarter of activity, obviously, MONOPOLY in October. And then as you heard Chris talk about the kind of rehit of our EVM $5 and $8 price points in November. We also expect in the U.S. that we'll see a notable step-up in comp sales growth for those reasons in Q4 and expect -- I think our comp sales growth on a 2-year stack base will accelerate modestly from the 2.7% that we saw in Q3 on a 2-year basis. On the international segments, I would say, I think we expect operating conditions across our top markets in Q4 will be pretty similar to what we've seen in the last couple of quarters. I think we believe that our Q4 comp sales in each of our international segments may decelerate sequentially, but that's largely a reflection of the lapping of more difficult prior year comparisons. And so on a 2-year stack basis, we expect Q4 comp sales growth for both segments will accelerate meaningfully and sequentially. So that would be a bit of a texture, I think, on the looking forward. I mean I think the external conditions remain challenging, but I think what we've really done, and you've heard us talk pretty relentlessly about this, just on value and affordability and then getting the power of great marketing and great menu news to come together is what's driving results. And I think to your point, what is giving us a positive baseline momentum in a difficult external environment”