Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to today's Conference Call to discuss the Financial Results for Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory's Fiscal Third Quarter Ended November 30, 2022. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. Joining us on the call today are the company's CEO, Rob Sarlls; and CFO, Allen Arroyo. Please be advised this conference call will contain statements that are considered forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain known and unknown risks and uncertainties as well as assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are also subject to other risks and uncertainties that are described from time to time in the company's filings with the SEC. Do not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are being made only as of the date of this call. Except as required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to any forward-looking statements. Our presentation also includes certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA as supplemental measures of performance of our business. All non-GAAP measures have been reconciled to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in accordance with SEC rules. You will find reconciliation tables and other important information in the earnings press release and Form 8-K we furnished to the SEC earlier today, which will be available on the company's Investor Relations section of its website within approximately 24 hours after this call has ended. And now I will turn the call over to the company's CEO, Rob Sarlls. Rob, please go ahead.

Well, thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Our fiscal third quarter was highlighted by our strongest third quarter of sales since 2017, as well as our strongest third quarter of adjusted EBITDA since 2020. The groundwork our team has put in place since I arrived in May of last year has begun to generate strong momentum as evidenced in part by our flagship Durango store generating record sales in the fiscal third quarter, up 34% compared to the prior year. Although we are still early in the development and deployment of our strategic transformation, these initial wins are very encouraging. It may tell us that we're on the right path. The combination of our transformation plan and extensive dialogue with our franchisees will help us continue to foster growth at both the manufacturing and retail level. As we mentioned on our last earnings call, any business transformation starts with onboarding the right team. Earlier this fiscal year, we brought on a new Chief Financial Officer and Vice President, Sales and Marketing. And since our last conference call, we've made several key additional hires. In October, we announced the appointment of Scott Ouellet as our Senior Supply Chain Advisor. Scott brings more than two decades of supply chain and strategic planning experience to our team and over 10 years of which were with Hershey. His strong track record of identifying operating improvements and processes that expand margins and increase quality, flexibility and efficiency will serve us well and enable us to handle greater volumes in the future. Just this last week, we hired two additional operations experts who are in the process of relocating to Durango to enhance our business. For the first time ever, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory will have a resident, trained R&D expert who will help us not…

Thank you, Rob. Jumping right into our financial results, please note that all variants commentary is on a year-over-year basis, unless stated otherwise. Total revenue increased 11% to $9.5 million for the three months ended November 30, 2022, compared to $8.5 million. Breaking down our revenue, total factory sales for the third quarter increased 14% to $7.3 million compared to $6.4 million, primarily due to higher shipments of product to our franchised and licensed retail stores as well as higher sales to customers outside of the Rocky Mountain franchisee network. Same-store sales at all domestic Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory locations increased 3% during the three months ended November 30, 2022, and same-store sales at the company's domestic frozen yogurt cafes increased 14%. Retail sales increased 7% to approximately $679,000 compared to $636,000 in the fiscal third quarter of '23. Royalty and marketing revenue for the quarter was relatively flat at approximately $1.5 million. Franchise fee revenue was also relatively flat at approximately $60,000 compared to a year ago period. Total gross profit for the fiscal third quarter increased 17% to $2.1 million compared to $1.8 million. Total gross margin increased 50 basis points to 26.3% compared to 25.8% in the year ago period -- the year ago quarter, with the increase -- primarily due to increased pricing, which was partially offset by higher labor, material and inventory costs. Looking at our operating expenses for the quarter. Total OpEx decreased to $9.7 million compared to $10.5 million in the year ago period. Operating loss was reduced to $216,000 for the three months ended November 30, 2022 compared to a loss of $2 million in the year ago period. The decrease in OpEx and operating loss was primarily driven by lower costs associated with the contested solicitation of proxies as well as increased operational efficiencies. Net loss in the third -- in the fiscal third quarter improved significantly to $212,000 or $0.03 per share compared to a net loss of $1.5 million or $0.24 per share. Our adjusted EBITDA increased nearly 30% to $1.3 million for the three months ended November 30, 2022, compared to $1 million in the year ago quarter. Now turning to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with a cash balance of $3.2 million compared to $7.6 million at the end of our last fiscal year, which was February 28, 2022. The decrease in our cash position was driven by an increase in inventory as we stockpiled finished goods to prepare for the seasonally strong demand in the holidays. As of November 30, 2022, the company continues to remain debt free. With that, I'll turn the call back over to Rob.

Thanks, Allen. Overall, we were pleased with our results this quarter. We've made great progress in improving company culture and round out our executive team, and we are nearly complete with the development of our strategic plan. We already have a few early wins under our belts, which is great to see and validates that we are on the right path. I firmly believe that the best phase for RMCF are ahead as we improve value to our customers, our franchisees, our employees and shareholders. This concludes our prepared remarks, and we will now open it up for questions from those participating in the call. Operator, back to you.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your phone lines at this time, and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.