Potbelly Corporation (NASDAQ:PBPB) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Steven Cirulis: Yes. I think the good news is as we continue to increase our profits right, we’ll start to generate income taxes. Again, we had a lot of NOLs that offset our tax liability this year but not all of it, right. You can’t you can’t offset everything. And there are some jurisdictions that actually put a cap on the dollar amount that you’re able to use. And so, the increase in our tax expense from 2023 in the fourth quarter reflects that incremental tax that we can’t offset with it — with an NOL. The way that we report our tax rate, right, doesn’t show you the cash benefit we get from those NOLs are actually showing the tax rate reflective of the ways the business is moving right on a basis. That is a better compare in terms of the amount of revenue and profit that we’re generating.

As you look at your model, the tax rate range sort of in the low to mid-30% range for 2024 is likely where we’re going to end up here. But on the cash side, right, you’ll see something different because of the NOLs that we’re able to utilized.

Todd Brooks: Okay. Perfect. Thanks a lot, Steven.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of today’s question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the call back over to Mr. Bob Wright for closing remarks.

Bob Wright: Thank you, operator, and thank you, everyone once again for joining us today. We are very pleased with the year and the quarter as you can tell from our comments and delighted that you joined us for the call today. Thanks to our team for their efforts in driving the business. And once again, thanks to our franchisees for helping us grow. Have a great afternoon.

Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.