Q3 2025 Joint Corp Earnings Call

Speaker #3: Good day , and welcome to the joint Third quarter 2020 . Financial results conference call . All participants will be in a listen only mode .

Speaker #3: Should you need assistance , please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key , followed by zero . After today's presentation , there will be an opportunity to ask questions , to ask a question , you may press star , then one on your touch tone phone .

Speaker #3: To withdraw your question , please press star . Then two . Please note this event is being recorded . I would now like to turn the conference over to Richard Land from Alliance Advisors .

Speaker #3: Please go ahead .

Speaker #4: Thank you . Operator , and good afternoon , everyone . This is Richard Land of Alliance Advisors , Investor Relations . Joining us on the call today are president and CEO of Sanjiv Razdan and CFO , Scott Bowman .

Speaker #4: Please note , we are using a slide presentation that can be found at the . This afternoon , the Joint Corp issued a press release for the third quarter ended September 30th , 2025 .

Speaker #4: If you do not already have a copy of this press release , it can be found in the Investor Relations section of the company's website , as provided on slide two .

Speaker #4: Please be advised that today's discussion , including any financial and related guidance to be provided , consists of forward looking statements as defined by securities laws .

Speaker #4: These statements are based on information currently available to us and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future results , performance and business prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these statements .

Speaker #4: Some important factors that could cause such differences are discussed in the Risk Factors section of the Joint Corp filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission .

Speaker #4: Forward looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made , and the company assumes no obligation to update forward looking statements to reflect actual results , changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward looking information , except to the extent required by applicable securities laws .

Speaker #4: Management uses non-GAAP financial measures such as EBITDA , adjusted EBITDA and system wide sales . A description . A description of these non-GAAP financial measures is included in the press release issued this afternoon , and reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in the appendix to the presentation and press release .

Speaker #4: Both of which are available in the investors tab of our website . Turning to slide three . With that , it's now my pleasure to turn the call over to Sanjiv Razdan .

Speaker #4: Please go ahead .

Speaker #5: Thank you . Richard and I welcome everyone to the call today . I will review the third quarter results and recent events . For those new to the call , we provide affordable , accessible and approachable chiropractic care and help consumers relieve and manage their pain while supporting their ongoing wellness journey .

Speaker #5: There is a significant need for this with American spending $20 billion a year on back pain to capture a leading share of this market opportunity , we have been strengthening our management team and executing on our strategies to reignite growth and improve profitability .

Speaker #5: Although the full financial benefit of these strategies will take time to come to fruition , the following initiatives will improve the financial position of our franchisees and stockholders to drive new patient acquisition .

Speaker #5: We have shifted our brand marketing campaign to focus on pain relief , which we are amplifying by moving a portion of our advertising spend from local to international campaign .

Speaker #5: And we are strengthening our digital marketing campaigns with SEO and clinic microsite to grow systemwide sales . We are conducting a three tiered pricing pilot for our wellness plan to elevate our patient experience .

Speaker #5: We continue to upgrade our patient facing technology . Recently , we launched a second release of our mobile app with a range of new features to become a pure play franchisor .

Speaker #5: We continue to pursue the refranchising of our corporate clinic and to improve new clinic performance . We have implemented robust pre-opening protocols for new clinics to reduce time to break even and ensure a strong early sales volume .

Speaker #5: Before I elaborate , for those of you who are new to the joint , we are the largest franchisor of chiropractic care clinics .

Speaker #5: Our mission is to improve the quality of life through routine and affordable chiropractic care , and our big , bold vision is to become America's most accessible health and wellness services company .

Speaker #5: I'll summarize our Q3 2025 financial results compared to Q3 2020 . Four , and our CFO , Scott Bowman , will provide greater detail in a moment .

Speaker #5: Revenue from continuing operations increased 6% . Consolidated adjusted EBITDA increased 36% . This improvement reflects the impact of work done on right sizing our costs , which have helped to offset a 1.5% decline in system wide sales and negative comp sales of 2% since our last conference call in August .

Speaker #5: We have repurchased $5 million of stock , and the board recently authorized an additional $12 million of our stock repurchase plan at at September 30th , 2025 , our unrestricted cash and cash equivalents remain strong at $29.7 million .

Speaker #5: Turning to slide five to discuss Refranchising . We have entered into an initial agreement to sell 45 corporate clinics in Southern California for $4.5 million via an asset purchase agreement .

Speaker #5: We are continuing to negotiate certain terms and will update if and when we align on final terms . While macroeconomic headwinds are resulting in a longer lead time due to lender related dynamics , we are actively negotiating asset purchase agreements with potential buyers for our 33 remaining corporate clinics .

Speaker #5: Let's review our marketing efforts . Turning to slide six for Q3 . Similar to Q2 , our patient attrition was on par with last year and conversions were better .

Speaker #5: However , Q3 sales comps were less than expected . The main shortfall was due to lower new patient count , which we are addressing by initiating a national marketing refresh .

Speaker #5: CEO improvements and advanced pricing tests . Our research identifies pain as the biggest trigger to seek chiropractic care . Our patient base proves this to be true with 80% of our new patients citing aches and pains as the reason for coming to the joint .

Speaker #5: In August , we launched our compelling new brand awareness campaign Live on Paul's . We have shifted marketing , content from broad , wellness focused communications to a message centered on chiropractor care for pain relief .

Speaker #5: Our goal is to drive stronger new patient demand and lead generation . While brand awareness initiatives tend to take longer to produce results , they are inclined to attract patients who remain with us longer .

Speaker #5: We are moving a portion of our marketing efforts to target and earlier stage in the sales funnel , shifting from predominantly local spend to one that also leverages our national scale of 962 locations in 43 states .

Speaker #5: And the District of Columbia, which is equivalent to approximately 57% of metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S. This campaign will educate consumers much earlier on and before the experience.

Speaker #5: Pain that the joint offers an affordable solution to alleviate pain . The goal is to get individuals at the first sign of discomfort to think I should visit the joint .

Speaker #5: It's convenient , affordable and they can help . As alluded to last quarter , we have been actively engaging our franchisees regarding our new strategy .

Speaker #5: I am pleased to report in October , the franchisees elected to reallocate $500 , or approximately 1% of their gross sales per clinic per month from local advertising to this new national marketing effort .

Speaker #5: This adjustment is not increase . The total amount contributed by franchisees . It simply redirects existing funds to enhance our national brand awareness and patient activation .

Speaker #5: We are also strengthening our digital strategy through accelerated SEO initiatives designed to improve search visibility , page authority and discovery , including within AI driven search environment .

Speaker #5: These are all key drivers of organic traffic and leads to our website . New microsites or localized clinic pages are demonstrating strong early performance .

Speaker #5: In September , a pilot rollout of 35 clinics averaged a 20% to 40% increase in organic search traffic within the first two weeks of launch .

Speaker #5: A phased refresh of all remaining clinic pages began earlier this week, with completion expected before the end of the year. In parallel, enhancements to local goods and Google Business Profiles are increasing engagement.

Speaker #5: Together , these efforts are expanding our local search presence and improving conversion pathways from search to clinic . At the same time , updates to national website pages are enhancing visibility among early awareness audiences searching for topics such as back pain , neck pain and mobility , or lifestyle improvement .

Speaker #5: These tactics are broadening reach , bringing new users to our website and positioning the joint chiropractic as a credible , trusted authority . At the beginning of the consumer decision process .

Speaker #5: Collectively , these initiatives are designed to reach audiences wherever they search and support the full marketing funnel . From awareness to lead generation to wellness .

Speaker #5: Plan , purchase . These actions are intended to drive new patient count , which in turn will help improve comps . Turning to slide seven , we are happy to welcome our new Chief Marketing Officer , who will lead their implementation and further fortify our marketing .

Speaker #5: Debbie Gonzalez started at the beginning of October . She is experienced in transforming global brand strategies and strengthening marketing capabilities across multi-site retail and health and wellness businesses .

Speaker #5: Debbie has served as Chief Marketing Officer in publicly traded , private and consulting companies , where she drove customer acquisition , brand development , performance marketing , digital initiatives and innovation .

Speaker #5: Also during her tenure at the franchisor , Massage Envy , she led the development of the recurring revenue membership model . Turning to slide eight .

Speaker #5: We have unveiled dynamic Revenue Management initiatives , initiatives to drive sales and long term profitability . In July , we introduced our new Kick Plan .

Speaker #5: Our doctors prescribe tailor treatment plans to meet our patient's specific needs . Often , new patients need multiple adjustments a week . During the early phase of their care to get out of acute pain , kickstart offers an attractively priced back for 8 or 12 adjustments beyond the four included in the standard wellness plans .

Speaker #5: This offering is a real win win , as it helps patients get rapid relief affordably and generate more revenue for clinics already , approximately 25% of new patients are taking advantage of these packages .

Speaker #5: Now we are expanding our core wellness plan pricing analysis to better understand patient sensitivity for revenue optimization . Our latest pilot launched early November , tests three different levels of price increase in three different diverse demographic areas .

Speaker #5: We will monitor performance metrics and analyze trends to help determine next steps for the rest of the system . Based on the results of pilots , we will optimize our nationwide pricing structure and roll out adjustments our system .

Speaker #5: Turning to slide nine . We are focused on elevating our patients experience through improved technology . We believe this will foster referrals and extend the length of time they maintain their wellness plans .

Speaker #5: In July , we officially launched our patient facing mobile app with Basic In-clinic check in functionality . We across are excited that the adoption rate among our wellness plan holders has reached 18% of new patients at the end of quarter three , with over 178,000 downloads at the end of August .

Speaker #5: We released our second app version , enabling patients to look up their visit balance , plan type , cycle , date at a glance , visit history , treatment plan and progress report .

Speaker #5: Download records like receipts and visit notes and complete a patient experience survey . Upcoming features will enable credit card updates and gamification , such as getting badges for adjustments , check ins or watching a video of the stretches that help with your condition .

Speaker #5: With that , I will turn the call to Scott .

Speaker #6: Thanks , Angie . Turning to slide 11 , let's discuss our operating metrics in the third quarter , system wide sales were down 1.5% to $127 million .

Speaker #6: Comp sales were down 2% and adjusted EBITDA for consolidated operations grew 36% . Turning to slide 12 . Let's discuss our clinics and new clinic performance .

Speaker #6: We sold eight franchise licenses in the third quarter , compared to seven sold in Q3 of last year . In that September 30th , we had 149 franchise licenses inactive development .

Speaker #6: In the third quarter , we opened nine franchise clinics , including our first in the state of Delaware , and closed 11 of the 21 clinics opened in 2025 .

Speaker #6: The break-even point has significantly improved versus clinics opened in recent years, which was due to pre-opening protocols implemented by our operations team.

Speaker #6: We closed three company owned or managed clinics , and we're franchised . One clinic bringing the year to date total to 40 Refranchising clinics at September 30th , we had 884 franchise clinics , or 92% of the portfolio .

Speaker #6: We are also focused on improving new clinic performance through better training and marketing . For example , we are now requiring a minimum number of leads to be generated prior to opening to support strong opening sales momentum .

Speaker #6: This practice has helped improve our break even timing from around two years to under one year . Turning to slide 13 . Let's discuss our financials .

Speaker #6: I'll review continuing operations for the third quarter compared to the same period last year . Revenue grew 6% to 13.4 million , mainly due to the greater number of franchised clinics and operation cost of revenues was 2.7 million , down 6% compared to the prior year , reflecting lower regional developer royalties due to the repurchase of the Northwest Territory rights in the second quarter .

Speaker #6: Selling and marketing expenses were 2.8 million , up 13% compared to the prior year , reflecting our digital marketing transformation efforts . Depreciation and amortization increased $100,000 , mainly due to software development .

Speaker #6: For our new mobile app . G&A expenses decreased 3% to 7.3 million as we continue to rightsize our cost structure and income tax expense was $10,000 for the quarter , reflecting an effective tax rate of 3% .

Speaker #6: Q3 consolidated net income was $855,000 . This compares to a net loss of 3.2 million at the same period last year , which was mainly due to impairment expenses related to Refranchising .

Speaker #6: Net income from continuing operations was $290,000 , or $0.02 per diluted share , compared to a loss of $414,000 , or $0.03 per basic share , in the same period last year .

Speaker #6: Adjusted EBITDA from consolidated operations improved 36% to 3.3 million , and for continuing operations , adjusted EBITDA was 1.4 million , compared to 262,000 .

Speaker #6: In the same period last year . Turning to slide 14 . Let's discuss our year to date financials for the nine months ended September 30th , 2025 .

Speaker #6: Compared to the prior year period . Revenue grew 6% to 39.7 million . Consolidated net income increased 7.7 million to 1.9 million , net loss from continuing operations improved 1.3 million to 1.2 million .

Speaker #6: Adjusted EBITDA from consolidated operations expanded 1.3 million to 9.4 million , while adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations improved 1.5 million , improved 2.2 1.5 million , compared to $300,000 in the prior year period .

Speaker #6: On to slide 15 . I'll review our liquidity and stock repurchase plan at the end of the third quarter . Unrestricted cash was 29.7 million , compared to 25.1 million at the end of last year .

Speaker #6: We maintained our line of credit with JPMorgan Chase for 20 million and had zero funds drawn during the quarter . In addition , we extended the maturity of the facility an additional six months to August 2027 .

Speaker #6: During the third quarter , we repurchased 228,000 shares for 2.3 million , averaging approximately $10 per share since quarter end . We bought back an additional 312,000 shares for approximately 2.7 million .

Speaker #6: Most recently , the board authorized an additional 12 million for repurchases , continuing to emphasize our confidence in the long term growth strategy .

Speaker #6: On slide 16 , we are revising our full year 2025 guidance as follows . We expect system wide sales to range from 530 to 534 million , which compares to prior guidance of 530 to 550 million .

Speaker #6: We expect comp sales to be in the range of negative 1% to flat , which compares to prior guidance of an increase in the low single digit range .

Speaker #6: We are maintaining guidance for consolidated adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of 10.8 to 11.8 million , and we are maintaining our new clinic openings guidance to be in the range of 30 to 35 , reflecting our refranchising efforts and realignment of our corporate cost structure .

Speaker #6: We have made significant progress reducing our operating costs as a result , we expect 2026 continuing operations to be more profitable than 2025 .

Speaker #6: When we report Q4 2025 results , we will provide annual 2026 guidance as well as the key attributes of our go forward 100% franchise model .

Speaker #6: And with that , I'll turn the call back over to Sanjiv .

Speaker #5: Thanks , Scott . Turning to slide 18 , I am proud to report that the joint continues to receive accolades . We were recognized on the annual Franchise Times Top 400 for the sixth year in the top 200 listing of brands in 2025 .

Speaker #5: We jumped 11 spots , landing at position 139 . We are part of two of the fastest growing industry sectors for 2025 health and medical and personal services .

Speaker #5: In summary , we are on track to becoming a pure play franchisor combined with our diligent , cost saving initiatives . We are confident this will lead to improved operating leverage going into 2026 and beyond .

Speaker #5: And our stock repurchase plan extension demonstrates our strong conviction in the progress we're making toward our long term goals of growing system wide sales , comp sales , net new clinic openings and adjusted EBITDA .

Speaker #5: With that operator , I am ready to begin Q&A .

Speaker #3: Thank you . We will now begin the question and answer session . To ask a question , you may press star , then one on your touch tone phone .

Speaker #3: If you are using a speakerphone , please pick up your handset before pressing the keys . If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question , please press star then two .

Speaker #3: The first question comes from Jeff Van Sinderen from B Riley FBR . Please go ahead .

Speaker #7: Hi everyone . I just wanted to follow up on getting to the Pure franchise . At this point , I realized , I think you said you're in 40 some odd units .

Speaker #7: You're in some sort of stage . It's not like due diligence . And then I think you have another 30 . Some odd to go after that .

Speaker #7: What timeframe do you think seems feasible to complete all of the refranchising at this point of the corporate clinics ? Jeff .

Speaker #5: At this stage , like we mentioned in our prepared remarks , we have got an initial asset purchase agreement for 45 clinics in Southern California .

Speaker #5: We are still negotiating some details around that . And then we've got 33 other clinics which remain that we are also negotiating asset purchase agreements for .

Speaker #5: I think as a result of the . Overall macro climate , we found that the lender dynamic was impacted and it impacted our timing as it related to buyers securing lending , added some additional complexity , but we feel confident that we're making progress and whilst exact timing may be hard to predict , I think we're pretty confident that , you know , we'll be able to get this done .

Speaker #7: Okay . And then just turning to the steps you're taking to turn around the same store sales or comps . You mentioned the pricing plan pilot .

Speaker #7: I think it was . Can you can you speak more about that ? I'm just curious about what you're doing there .

Speaker #5: Yeah , absolutely . So as you know , we took pricing . Any meaningful pricing on our wellness plans going back in March of 2022 .

Speaker #5: So it's been a minute since we've taken pricing . Inflation has gone up since then . As a result , eroding some degree of clinic margin .

Speaker #5: So we've got to figure out the right balance of making sure what affordable and accessible , whilst also taking a fair price increase in line with market to make sure we understand that thoroughly , given the market dynamics we have taken three different price increase levels , three different tiers that that reflect three different levels of aggressiveness of price increase , if you will .

Speaker #5: We have those those tests went or pilot markets went live in November itself . And I think over the next few weeks we expect to learn what is the optimum level of price increase that the market and our patients can bear at the moment .

Speaker #5: And learning from that . The plan is to then scale that out enterprise wide .

Speaker #7: Okay . I guess I'm a little bit I'm not sure what the word is , but it it seems to me that if your comps are running slightly negative , that you might that I mean , it almost seems counterintuitive to to be raising price into comps running negative .

Speaker #7: So I'm just wondering how you think about that , how you think about sort of I know you gave a new set of guidance for the year for comps and so forth , but how are you thinking about pricing versus driving comps ?

Speaker #5: I think it is one of the many levels that we are contemplating . If I was to share with you or recap the levels that we've got that we talked about , I think one is to shift the external messaging to pain , which seems to be the most relevant trigger to bring patients in at the moment to amplify that message .

Speaker #5: And our new brand campaign , we have worked with our franchisee and agreed that they will shift $500 per clinic per month from local investment in marketing to a national spend that allows us to advertise more effectively and invest behind more high impact media nationally .

Speaker #5: So we've just started doing that . I think that will make a significant impact . We have also investing some of that money to accelerate some of the very critical work that needs to happen around addressing change in consumer search behaviors due to AI , which I just enumerated .

Speaker #5: And then in the context of some of these other things that we're talking about , including patient facing technology , one of the levers , as you might expect , is also pricing .

Speaker #5: We think there's some room there just to determine what the right level of pricing is instead of doing that without due due diligence , that is exactly why we've got three different price increase tiers that we're testing to make sure that we're not getting ahead of our skis .

Speaker #5: And the consumer is is ready to bear that price increase . So it is one of many other things that I think will help us get into positive comps .

Speaker #7: Okay . Thank you for taking my questions . .

Speaker #5: Of course .

Speaker #3: The next question comes from George Kelly from Roth Capital . Please go ahead .

Speaker #8: Hey , everyone . Thanks . A couple questions for you . First , on , I guess looking for a little more detail .

Speaker #8: You mentioned in your prepared remarks about certain initiatives aimed to improving the break even point . Can you walk through what those look like ?

Speaker #5: Absolutely . George . I think what we were referring to here is the new clinics , right ? Achieving that , we open .

Speaker #5: Reaching a break even point rapidly . And then of course , from there on we expect them to get to mature sales level also faster than they have historically done .

Speaker #5: We have opened 25 clinics , thus far , and what we found is that we've used a more robust protocol , learning from best practices around our own system on what needs to happen in order to ensure that these clinics open right from day one at a higher sales volume .

Speaker #5: And then ramp up faster . So to give you an example , one of the things that we found that makes a very significant impact is to make sure that the even before the clinic opens , our franchisees and our operators have achieved a few hundred .

Speaker #5: And there's a specific number that we target , potential leads . And so the moment you actually open the clinic , we already have a very significant amount of leads , very specific leads that we can then follow through and convert into patients very early in the opening phase of that clinic .

Speaker #5: That mechanically is done through tools like local tabling , where there's the our operators who sit within the community , set up these tables and collect leads educating our consumers .

Speaker #5: So it's really very local community , community level blocking and tackling that we are codifying , sharing as best practice and enforcing that our clinics open , following those protocols as we have followed those protocols .

Speaker #5: We are seeing very encouraged by the results we're seeing of the cohort of clinics opening in 2025 . So that is what we were referring to earlier .

Speaker #5: In terms of reaching break even sales pretty quickly .

Speaker #8: Okay . Thanks . And then I guess I've got a couple more on comp growth . Can you explain it all or give us the trend that you saw during the quarter ?

Speaker #8: And what have you seen post quarter ? It seems like you're you're updated guide reflects a step down from three Q in four Q .

Speaker #8: So is that the case ?

Speaker #6: Yeah . Let me let me give a couple comments there . So as we looked at at current trends , as we ended the quarter , our comps were slightly softer than the average of the quarter .

Speaker #6: So that was one thing that we considered . But we also looked at last year . So in the third quarter last year , our comps were up about 4% in the fourth quarter , they were up about 6% .

Speaker #6: So we have much tougher compares . You know , in the fourth quarter than we did in the third quarter . So that's the other component , you know , so little softer to the end of quarter .

Speaker #6: And then just tougher compares up against last year .

Speaker #8: Okay . Thank you . And just one last one for me . There was a comment about G&A expense reductions next year that are planned .

Speaker #8: And I think you said that you expect to grow income from continuing operations versus 2025 . Can you remind me what what is your adjusted EBITDA guide is from continuing ops ?

Speaker #8: And can you be more specific ? It's been a long time . It's this plan has been underway for quite a while . I know there was a management change , but can you be more specific about what level SG&A reductions you're targeting ?

Speaker #6: Yeah , what what I can tell you is , you know , we have taken a very close look at our G&A structure now , you know , versus what it should be .

Speaker #6: You know , post Refranchising . And so we've already started to make some adjustments . There . And , you know , a good point of reference , you know , is is in our earnings presentation

Speaker #6: on slide of 13 where it shows you kind of the breakdown of , you know , why our adjusted EBITDA was better for continued operations compared to last year .

Speaker #6: So what's happening there is as we franchise these units , they come into the GAAP revenue stream with , no additional royalties and fees .

Speaker #6: And so that's why , you revenue , GAAP revenue is up 6% in the quarter . But if you look at G&A costs , they were actually down 2% .

Speaker #6: You know , against that that that revenue increase . And so you can kind of see , you know , some of the right sizing starting to happen .

Speaker #6: There's more to come . And we have the areas targeted that will give us the most reduction . So we're starting to see some benefits come through , which is very encouraging .

Speaker #6: Also , I'd point out that cost of revenues was actually down 6% as well . You know , against revenue up six . So that certainly helps .

Speaker #6: And that's mainly because we bought back , you know , those territory regional developer territory rights in the Q2 time that we mentioned on our last call .

Speaker #6: And so that's paying some benefits . Right . So we no longer have to pay those royalties . And so our cost of revenues is less against higher revenue .

Speaker #6: So to answer your question , so the next steps that we're looking at is continuing to re franchise , you know clinics as we do that you know we'll see some some pretty reductions in you know big categories like salaries and wages .

Speaker #6: You know employee benefits insurance . If you think about worker's comp insurance , big reduction , you know , with , you know , fewer employees .

Speaker #6: And then other things like legal fees and travel and some other expenses . And so as we've kind of done a little bit deeper dive in analyzing line items , you know , we big have we have very good plans on , you know , how they should be reduced and when , as we continue to refranchising these , these units so early days , you know , we're seeing some really good signs .

Speaker #6: But the bulk of it is yet to come . And so as we continue this transition process , things are fairly fluid . But we kind of have our sights targeted on where the opportunity areas are and on our next call on Q4 , we'll be able to lay that out in a good amount of detail in terms of , you know , what the outlook looks like in a more kind of fully franchised model .

Speaker #8: Okay . Thanks .

Speaker #3: The next question comes from Jeremy Hamlin from Craig-hallum . Please go ahead .

Speaker #9: Hey , this is Will on for for Jeremy . First , I wanted to go go back to the pricing . I guess .

Speaker #9: I guess my question is , is are you taking a blanket approach to to raising price , or is it are you taking price on certain packages and plans ?

Speaker #9: Maybe to drive customers to to different categories ?

Speaker #5: Yeah , I can I can answer that for you . Will almost . 80 to 85% of our revenue comes to a recurring revenue model .

Speaker #5: So our patients are on membership plans that are recurring in nature . So that is where the bulk of the opportunity is that those wellness plans are where we are testing three different levels of price increase , right .

Speaker #5: And they range anywhere between $2 to $10 to try and understand what what is going to be the patient sensitivity to those price increases .

Speaker #5: And we're also testing them across a variety of different geographies . We've got approximately 200 clinics in those three pilot groups . So it's a pretty comprehensive well test .

Speaker #5: Three different price increase levels , lots of different geographies . And demographics . We will learn from that . On what the most important , appropriate level of price increase is given the current climate .

Speaker #5: And then we can scale that out nationally so that that is where we are looking at this pricing pilot will , does that satisfy your your question ?

Speaker #9: Yep , yep . That's helpful . And then just one more for me . Going back to the units in southern California , I guess , are you able to kind of categorize just general performance of those those 45 units ?

Speaker #9: I mean , are they kind of average better , kind of weaker performing units ? I'm just trying to get a sense of evaluation .

Speaker #6: Yeah , I can I can start there . I think in general those those clinics in Southern California are good performing , you clinics , you know , overall as a group .

Speaker #6: And so as we look to refranchising those , it's critically important that , you we find good operators . And so that is you know , one of the things that we're really focused on and , you know , we want to make sure that we take the time to get good operators , you know , in those clinics because good locations and in the past , a lot of those clinics have , performed quite well , but they're still opportunities there .

Speaker #6: So it's a good position for a strong operator to step in and continue . You know , the the good practices that they have , but also enhance , you know , what they do to make them even stronger .

Speaker #9: Understood . Thank you .

Speaker #3: The next question comes from Tom McGovern's from Maxim Group . Please go ahead .

Speaker #10: Yeah . Thank you guys for taking my question . So this past quarter , you guys sold I believe you said eight franchise licenses compared to seven a year ago .

Speaker #10: Just trying to get an understanding of where the demand is coming from or can you give us any insight on whether or not these licensing , these licenses are being sold to maybe existing franchise franchisees or if they're , you know , all new interests , new new franchises ?

Speaker #5: It's a mix . Of both existing franchisees as well as new franchisees .

Speaker #10: Understood . The other question I had was on the app . So it looks like you guys have some pretty strong initial data points there .

Speaker #10: You know, it says in the slide 178,000 downloads and 18% of new patients are signing up for that. Do you guys have any metrics that you can provide for us now in terms of utilization or engagement through the app?

Speaker #10: Have you guys seen an increase in those that have the apps, scheduling appointments, or is it just too early to tell?

Speaker #5: Thomas ? Too early to tell ? But the feedback from those patients that we're seeing , because we're also , as I indicated , starting to measure patient experience through the app .

Speaker #5: We're seeing extremely high metrics coming back . So what we're encouraged with , whilst it's early signs that the overall experience that they're that they're having is very strong and clearly as as we've seen , you know , a strong patient experience typically will lead to longevity .

Speaker #5: And that's really what we're going after here , making sure that there is lifetime value because there's less friction in the experience . But too early to be able to share data points that are demonstrating those metrics already .

Speaker #10: Gotcha . Appreciate that insight . And final thing for me . So just just wanted to kind of piggyback on the pricing questions .

Speaker #10: You know , I see in your slide as well that you guys plan to take pricing in one Q 26 . Is that A is that a steadfast plan or is there any reason you might , you know , pricing earlier than that ?

Speaker #10: If you have the right insights ? You know , in the fourth quarter or anything that could possibly push that into the second quarter or later in 2026 .

Speaker #5: I think at point , considering that the pricing test just went , those pilot markets just went live earlier in November , I think the most likely scenario is that we will read them , see the impact , and most likely , given the time frames involved , that we should be able to activate against them for our system .

Speaker #5: In quarter one . Now , it should something emerge from that test that gives us pause and reflection and needs us to pivot and test some more , then of course we will .

Speaker #5: We this consider that . But at the moment , given that we have got three different options in test , we believe that one of them is more than likely going to be the right option for us to then scale out nationwide sometime in the first quarter .

Speaker #5: will

Speaker #10: Understood . Again , I appreciate you guys taking the time to answer all my questions .

Speaker #3: This concludes our question and answer session . I would like to turn the conference back over to Sanjiv Razdan for closing remarks

Speaker #3: .

Speaker #5: Thank you for joining us . Have a really good day and know that at the Joint , we always have your back . So appreciate everyone .

Speaker #5: Thank you .