bill >> pioneer natural resources they report next week. this stock has been rounding out. the permia has seen an increase in production this year. >> jamie >> deere, a great catchup trade. >> i'll see you all on "closing bell." "the exchange" is right now. i'll take it, scott. hi, everyone i'm in for kelly evans here is what's ahead the dow snapping its 13-day winning streak yesterday, but higher again today as key inflation data came in at its lowest level in almost two years. does this strengthen the case for tabling rate hikes for the remainder of 2023? and reporting better than expected results and a strong guidance, sending sh ing shares. we'll talk to the ceo about integrating ai into the

platform plus, the great restaurant rebound. national chains making big changes, as macro pressures persist. but we begin with today's market action dom chu has the numbers. >> decidedly green, bouncing back a little from that mixed one we had yesterday morning overall, pretty good if you look at the markets right now, we're just kind of toward the session highs right now. the dow up one half of 1%, 205 points to the upside the s&p 500, 4580, the last trade, up 43 points. 1% higher. and the nasdaq really outperforming today, up nearly 2%, 253 points to the upside, meaning the nasdaq sits at 14,303 that tech trade really standing out. now, communication services was the best performing sector in the s&p 500 over the course of the last week. up about 5%. coming in second place right now

is materials you may recall that just within the last week, we saw some of the big jumps in some of the corrugated cardboard names like international paper, up about 2% for the week uti utilities, down about 2% so at least some bulls feel a little more comfortable with the market action, seeing economically sensitive sectors outperforming, and defensive ones like utilities underperforming over the course of the last week and the stock of the day right now, driving a lot of the dow's gains, a lot of the outperformance proctor and gamble, up 2%. p&g comes out with profits and revenues that top analyst expectations driven by its ability to raise prices and pass that on to distributors and ultimately consumers that brand power powering p&g,

even though the full-year revenue forecast came in shy of estimates, still up 2.5% p&g, your stock of the day >> dom chu, thank you. june pte increasing by just 0.2%, while core pce rose 4.1% so further signs that inflation is cooling jo joining me now are my two guests good afternoon to both of you. greg, i'll put that question to you, soft landing still on the table here >> i think it's very much on the table after this week's data we have evidence that the economy did relatively well in the second quarter gdp growth was higher than expected we have consume thaers that arel

spending, and headline core inflation and wage growth all moving in the right direction. so overall, the pathway to a soft landing is very much possible there are, of course, headwinds in terms of the economy, but that soft landing is very much something that we can do today >> kim, certainly seems like investors are doing that today stocks are higher again. we're poised to end the day higher in the week for all the major averages, as well. so how much more room do we have to run, especially when you start to factor in valuations? yes, earnings season has been better than expected, but it's pretty rich here, this market. >> well, because at a certain point, that glass is always half full for me. but i do think that if you go outside of the winners so far this year, there are a lot of companies that are reporting higher than expected earnings

and revenue. and most important, they're guiding higher for this year so looking forward, it looks like the much-anticipated recession is not on the table. and i think if you are a very long-term holder of stocks, you are going to be shopping in the unlooked at and unloved market areas of the year, and that is what you should do >> greg, share pochair powell ws clear in saying we have eight more weeks with many more data points to come for the fed to make a decision on whether to hike again goldilocks data so far, more to come, i get that but what do you think, are we done here? >> i think we're done in terms of the fed hiking cycle. this was likely the last rate hike we saw from the fed of course, it was very hawkish in terms of communication.

fed chair powell made sure that he avoided a situation where markets would price in the end of this rate tyightening cycle. he was sure to indicate that policymakers could still raise rates even in september if the data warranted it. as you noted, we have two more cp ireporting, two more jobs reports coming before the next september meeting, so there's a lot of data to come through. and we are not necessarily in a g goldilocks economy a slowdown is coming along with an environment where inflation is surprising in terms of the disinflationary dynamics being faster than the consensus expected there are still head winds in terms of the economy, we should not celebrate for that soft landing yet. but there is high hope that in this environment, the fed may be

done in terms of tightening. >> kim, is that being reflected in the bond market now there is the argument that treasury yields have peaked here if so, what does that mean for stocks >> well, we price our stocks based on -- i'm not alone in this -- looking at the cash flow and discounting them backwards if we think this is the peak, which i agree with your guest that i think we're done for now or close enough to done. i think we can live in this environment, and if the interest rate environment is lower for whatever reason, that will reprice in your favor when there's upward motion or head room available in the valuation of stocks. because, again, we use that ten-year as a, you know, the

inflation rate or the rate at which to discount those cash flows. so looking pretty good at this point. >> got it. greg, final question for you that is, we've seen this china reopening, but maybe not as strong as had been anticipated the ecb is going through tightening a lot of focus on japan given what we have seen with yields curb controls overnight with the central bank there, as well. how does all this factor back into the growth picture or impact the growth picture as well here in the u.s.? >> i think there are two elements here to highlight the first one is that we have global growth diver integence. the u.s. economy is still moving forward, european economies are seeing some recession in places like germany, but still strong in terms of the tourism heavy

economies like spain and portugal and in asia, we have china that is really not seeing much of a boost from the reopening so that is leading to a slower global backdrop for the u.s. economy. in terms of monetary policy, we have some divergence with the european bank, the fed and the bank of japan. some of that has narrowed, favoring the yen going forward. the risk in china is deflation with consumer prices barely growing in a slumping economy. >> greg, thanks for joining us kim, while we have you, you've been a long-time believer in intel. that name has been shooting higher today a beat on revenue in the second quarter. it's now just 8% from the 52-week highs. here's what the ceo told our john ford about pc demand.

>> we did see a little weaker at the low end, education, a little bit more pressure there. but the higher end price points were stronger, as well as a bit more strength in the commercial segment and in small and medium business all of those resulted in a solid quarter for us we continue to see that strength as which go into the second half of the year. again, good market share gains, as we have had multiple quarters of gaining share in the pc business the sum of that is, we're back to historic levels of market share and our core business of pcs. >> so pc stabilizing, kim, that's good news this is a company that's been hit hard over the last couple of years. do you stick with the stock here or take some profit? >> umm, at this point, it depends on how much you have we think if you have a lot of

this stock and to me, that's over 7%, it's always a great time to take a little risk off the table. that being said, if you are a long-term holder, and let me define that by three to five years. i think to give that stock this much time to recover and become what it's going to become, which is not just a provider and server of pc chips but also high-end chip designers. so keep that in mind that's why i would stay in this stock. it's good that the pc cycle is improving, but i don't think that's why you stay in or get out. that's just one bit of information. the longer term play is this company can diversify globally on manufacturing some facilities i think that's an important lesson we learn in covid, don't tie yourself to any one reason, and pat is the person to lead

the company through this transition >> it's a key point, the role that dwee geopolitics plays in s are there other names that you would be invested in or are invested in? how broad based is the potential rally that we could see here, and how tied to the economy is it >> well, it's always tied to the economy, right this is stuff that people are buying when they're flush. you don't buy a new phone if you think you are going to get laid off. that is one krconsideration. but there's this undercurrent of ai bubbling up, and it is a topic for a lot of companies and this is where i believe strong growth is going to be, not just for intel, but just about every player in this marketplace. earlier today, pat guelsinger hd

some comments about how they're playing in this area, but it's important to understand there's chips you develop, the mathematical models of ai on, and there's the chips that either get information into these systems or better yet, get the systems out to usable applicationso ss somewhere in te world. it's chips, chips, chips we also like micron, because it's memory. one thing ai models need is data, and you have to store that somewhere. we like these for storing information. >> some names for the viewers to check out here of course, we have amd results next week, too kim forest, thanks for joining us >> thank you speaking of chips, the senate just passing the annual defense bill that includes a provision that would speed up the approval of semiconductor factories here in the u.s. keep in mind, this is just the

senate side. emily will kins is in washington with the details >> as you point out, it's still a big win for chip companies looking to build facilities in the u.s. the senate approved an expedited permitting process last night, allocating $52 billion last year to make sure semiconductors were made in america. but companies would need to undergo an in depth environmental review process that could delay construction for more than two years. senator mark kelly, whose state of arizona will be hope to a new plant, said the proposal would cut through the red tape, while requiring companies to follow clean air and water laws and must break ground by next winter or received a federal loan or have less than 10% of the project covered by federal

funds. the measure passed as part of a larger bill, but the house pressed their own bill last week, and now the two sides need to come together and negotiate a single bill. but senator kelly says he's hopeful the final bill will contain the streamline review for chip manufacturers >> defense policy is always a fun one. you have the policy bill, then you have to go through the appropriations policy and fund that bill. i'm just -- >> and there's problems with both of them >> which was my question for you. how likely is it now that we could potentially see another continuing resolution, so a temporary funding measure, to be able to get all of this hashed out or the potential of a government shutdown, which some analysts are already floating. >> you have to keep both things on the table at this point you know for the appropriations,

it's a big package so they break it down. one of those bite-size pieces the house wanted to get done this year, but they were held up by hardline conservatives who have issues with the topline spending numbnumber. so it looks like we are going to have that patch work continuing resolution to get us to the end of the year with hopefully something can be figured out but i don't think anyone at this point has taken the idea of a government shutdown off the table. we'll have to see what congress does this fall and winter. >> sounds like you have a busy couple of months ahead of you. emily, thank you well, strategic competition continues to be a focal point in washington and wall street today on "overtime," we'll discuss how the u.s. can stay ahead of china technologically speaking and militarily speaking whenever joined by josh wolfe. don't miss that. coming up, investors giving an a plus.

shares spiking 14% after the firm raised full-year guidance what is behind the bullishness we'll ask the ceo next and the mess of ai, that's what one analyst is call thing stock, seeing more than 50% upside. this is a 2345i78 t-- name thats moved a lot.

welcome back to "the exchange." shares of this stock up over 14%, raising the full-year revenue guidance, and catching some positive analyst coverage today. for more, let's bring in the ceo, jeff maggioncalda for more. jeff, great to have you on the show >> thanks for having me. >> i want to start with you have three main segments. consumer is the biggest and one that grew the most, up 25% year on year in terms of revenue. what's driving that?

>> i think the big story is what you have been covering, which is the world is changing faster and faster because of technology this creates opportunities and threats for countries, for businesses, and for individual job roles. the difference between change being a threat or opportunity is whether people can learn the skills to take advantage so people are coming to coursera >> so it's rescaling, upscaling, and people taking the initiative to do that themselves. i know you have an enterprise business, as well. but i have noted that challenges have persisted to some degree there. >> yeah. what we are seeing is that there's a certain kind of certificate program on coursera called professional certificates, created by industry leaders like google and ibm. we just launched two world job training programs for microsoft. this is in cybersecurity,

project management, et cetera. people really are coming for these job training certificates. institutions on the business side are seeing macro economic winds, and are tightening budgets. but governments and campuses, universities also are in that enterprise segment and buying these certificates at high rates. it's mostly a business related headwind in europe and north america that is hurting some of the enterprise >> so we talk about some of this education and skilling opportunities, how much of ai is playing a role in that >> you know, i would say it's really just starting the biggest thing with coursera is ai, but people are buying training certificates for new jobs it's more along the lines of software engineer, things like that but the ai will create huge

displacement of workers. report after report, everyone is saying that virtually every job will have to reskill in order to take advantage of this new technology >> it's interesting. a couple of months ago, there was a sense among some investors that chatgbt was going to become something that hurt tech companies, because people were not going to be looking to do the work themselves but looking to outsource it to these new generative ai models that hasn't necessarily happened, and instead, companies like do virtual learning assistance you see this as a positive and opportunity for coursera >> right, exactly. for coursera, it is a positive part of that is because, you know, the product that we offer the market we work with the top companies to do certification and college degrees. so we do see that people are

coming because they feel there's more opportunity because of the change, and what we have been doing with ai is building personalized interactive learning tutors to help people learn more effectively the certificate and degrees still come from recognized brands that we're also building content generation course building tools so that our partners can deliver higher quality courses more quickly for us, it seems like ai is turning out to be a great thing. we just launched 2,000 courses in seven languages for all the non-english speaking people around the world who want access to the content and ai is getting better every day. >> the degree segment for you, it grew 10%. this is the second straight quarter you have seen year on year sales growth in that segment. how big of an opportunity is that, especially if you are starting to see a labor market that is beginning prps, at least here in the u.s., perhaps starting to loosen a little bit. >> yeah. what we see is that the overall

market for people paying tuition for college globally is about $2 trillion there's about 220 million people tuition for college. but for working people, college degrees are expensive. they're not very convenient. sometimes you have to move your family, and people say it's not going to be a product that i'm going to be able to do but we've been working with universities to create a new kind of degree where there are pathways to the degree from open contempt on coursera so start your work on coursera and have it count towards an online degree that you can earn at a much lower cost so we think the market opportunity for this degree is really great >> final question for you. we mentioned kanter fitzgerald upgraded the stock today to overweight one of the things they point out is you have some segments that are countercyclical, some that are cyclical is this a growth story, no

matter what the macro economic environment is >> my job is to make sure it's a growth story we are here to provide universal access to everyone in the world. the market is huge, and we have to figure out how to get that job done >> jeff maggioncalda, thanks for joining us ceo of coursera. stocks up double digits right now. coming up, record temperatures could mean record profits for pest control companies bet you didn't see that companying that's ahead as we go to break, take a look at the dow with intel leading the way. walgreen's, cisco, chevron the "t ehae"s ckards hexcng iba after this

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welcome back i want to draw your attention to shares of charter, sitting near session lows after the cfo announced it will raise prices by $5 for its spectrum broad band to offset declines in tv customers. shares are down about 2.5% this is the second increase in nine months and the third carrier to hike prices this week, following verizon and at&t, as well. you can see shares of at&t is down now to tyler mathsen for an update >> it's being called the biggest change to implement reforms that the white house says will strengthen how the military handles sexual assault cases

specialized independent military prosecutor also now be in charge of making key decisions about serious cases rather than military commanders. the prosecutors will handle cases, including sexual assault and murder the white house says this shift is "the most significant transformation since the framework was established way back in 1950." migrants are wading past that floating barrier installed by texas in the rio grand, which was supposed to slow migration into the u.s they are climbing over the wire installed on the river bank. the justice department is suing texas over the 1,000 foot barrier, claiming it violates federal law. vendors for the 75th primetime emmys, we're told that the september ceremony will be postponed. variety reports that news. this comes as hollywood remains shut down from the writer's and actor's strike this is the first time the ceremony has been postponed

since twun >> all right see you next hour. coming up, messi mania from miami to wall street, with one analyst labeling this stock the messi of ai. we'll tell you what it is and why it's expected to be a major player in the space for years to come "the exchange" will be right back stay with us what do you mean? these straps are mind-blowing! they collect hundreds of data points like hrv and rem sleep, so you know all you need for recovery. and you are? i'm an investor...in invesco qqq, a fund that gives me access to... nasdaq 100 innovations like... wearable training optimization tech. uh, how long are you... i'm done. i'm okay. from big cities, to small towns, and on main streets across the us, you'll find pnc bank. helping businesses both large and small, communities and the people who live and work there

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welcome back to "the exchange."

shares of palantir climbing 6% today. the firm saying it's the messi of ai on the golden track to success. shares doubling in the last three months let's bring in the analyst behind that call and steve covak will join the conversation dan, the messi of ai that's a tall order right there. >> i think that's where it's built. in my listen, it's undiscovered as a broader ai play, which i believe that's why they're the messi of ai. there is a golden path for them to monetize what we view as a trillion dollar market opportunity. i think investors have still not recognized it. >> as we just mentioned, the stock has moved ferociously here in the last couple of months and since the start of the year. when you think about some of

these newe ai applications in realtime, they're already being applied on the battlefield, case in point in ukraine. do you think this is a situation where investors don't fully understand what this company does because so much is defense tech there is a lot they can't talk about. >> that's the biggest misperception. we are talking to many in the 202 area code. the reputation of the company speaks for itself. now, if you are an enterprise cio, and this is the conversations i've had, you're looking toward ai platform approach, and this is potentially the first call in this ai gold rush, of course it's nvidia, microsoft top of the mountain you look at second, third, fourth derivatives, palantir is front and center

this stock is ultimately $25, and as they execute, more investors look at it >> fast trading at about $17.50 right now. steve, i want to get your thoughts here, especially since the current ceo did pen a very long op-ed in "the new york times" about ai earlier this week >> comparing it to oppenheimier and how this is an opportunity, we hear so much from the community developing ai about being responsible and safe and even years ago he brings up the examples of microsoft employees upset about working with the army and google employees upset about doing satellite imagery. he calls for a "more intimate collaboration between the state and technology sector," comparing it to what oppenheimier did if you saw the movie. you know, working hand in hand with the government before someone else does it

he brings up the case about ukraine. and i guess the other thing i was curious, there is a mean stalkiness to palintir, too. >> there's a huge presence, but i think this is one where retail is going to head institutional in terms of understanding the potential ai story my conversations today, it's really institutional investors like, what am i missing in the story? and can they go from government to commercial? because i think when you start to look at it, that for them is the opportunity. if you are a cio of an enterprise, there's no better reference account. >> but what does that look like? so we -- it's very opaque, what they are doing on the military side of it i'm just curious, what does that look like on the commercial side what are you seeing there? i know they're growing clients

and so forth what are you seeing? >> in terms of scale, and in terms of actually used cases, they're probably the first call. they're probably in this market, the purest ai play out there they built it, others are coming but it speaks to our view, in this industrial revolution, palantir is going to be a big player >> of course, there are explanations that supply chains, manufacturing applications, there's something to be said, you work with the government, you work in a classified capacity, you have these high-level clearances for things like cloud applications as well, which only a handful of companies do this is one of them. you're going to keep my data safe i'm sure there's probably that in and of itself has a certain cache with commercial clients, but how does it happen with an uncertain macro environment? >> to the tightening belts,

we've saw with microsoft, google and others, we're seeing an uptick when it comes to ai, i do think that -- you talk about references you can sleep well at night when palintir has your data they're the only ones out there, they have proven it, that becomes a bigger piece the stock has rerated, which is why we're bullish on it. >> looking ahead to next week, we have amazon and apple on tap. >> we were just talking about apple. >> so let's talk about it here, steve. >> look, what i'm interested in, we have heard such a growth story coming out of these emerging markets tim cook, when i spoke with him, was talking about india and indonesia record growth. the real question is, we are seeing such a down trend in the biggest markets in the united

states maybe china is a little stronger than we talked about but these emerging markets where they are seeing such exponential growth sales are still going to be down, but there's the question going into the holiday season, new iphones are coming out are they going to raise prices because it's this model, the pro, the more expensive ones, that people are going for, despite the fact that they cost $1,000 and maybe they start the price at $1100, squeeze out be thor average selling price. that's what the street looks to look for >> dan >> i think this is just going to be another trophy for cupertino with the buildup to a mini super cycle with the i phone 15. i think china is better than feared, and i think those bears, they go back into hibernation mode this is a stock on its way to $4 trillion by 2025 >> i think about that and the

conversation we had on the heels of microsoft and alphabet earnings it sounds like the big tech playbook is still in play. >> if you are a big tech bull, you are going into this weekend with a smile on your face. >> thank you both. a quick programming note don't miss "tech check" tonight at 6:00 p.m. eastern coming up, shares of carrier hitting a 52-week high today as a heatwave grips the u.s hereis what the ceo told me yesterday. >> we are starting to see movement in our air conditioning business residentially and commercially >> the industry that could also see a boost. that will surprise you stay with us across the globe, industries are transforming and businesses need to navigate the changing landscape to stay ahead. when you partner with barclays,

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only at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, you're an owner. corporate and investment bank our financial planning tools and advice can help you prepare for today's longer retirement. hi mom. that's the value of ownership. welcome back record heat being clocked around

the globe this summer, but it's not just hotter temperatures but people are dealing with warmer -- when people are dealing with warmer i should say, it means more insects thrive that could be a boost to some company's bottom lines pippa has the names that could profit from pests. break this down. >> if you think you're seeing more bugs, then you are not wrong. the nasty weather for the u.s. is paradise for insects. long, hot summers and shorter winters extend insect life cycles that's good news for pest control companies. the global market is forecast to hit $32 billion by 2027. these are the key players here, each with more than 20% market share in the u.s., followed by eco lab. after that, there are thousands of smaller players bank of america initiated coverage on rawlings with a buy rating, calling the company

recession resilient, adding recurring revenue is 80% of sales and pointed to margin expansion opportunities under a new management team. last year, the south was the only region with positive migration, and that means demand for pest control is roughly three times the national average. we're seeing pests more resilient to pesticides, so that's another factor. >> so hot weather brings the pests out, makes them more aggressive and they're more resistant. i don't know if you know why that is, but i guess just looking at this, is there -- is there an opportunity that the fragment in the markets for these companies that have big pieces of the market to get bigger then? >> that's right. if you are a key mare, you can grow your market share with acquisitions of smaller names. a lot of it, you're calling your

local guy that comes with different pesticides some of those are regional and have a lock on specific markets. if you are a big player, they have a lot of subsidiary brands and franchises so given that they already have that name brand recognition, it's a lot easier to capitalize on that position and buy a smaller player >> got it. of course, it's recession resistant, because if you have pests, you're not going to stop spending money on that pippa stevens, thank you still ahead, from burgers to burritos, restaurants are trying to figure out a new format we'll get the details on big changes, including golden corral the ceo joins us to discuss, that's next. your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire

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welcome back to "the exchange." it's been a rough week for restaurant stocks. mcdonald's, chipotle and sweetgreen mentioning could raise prices in fourth quarter thanks to food and labor inflation. all three experimenting with new formats as customers and consumers taste change

kate rogers joins me with more hi. >> morgan, start with mcdonald's announcing testing out a new store format early next year details limited from the fast food giant k ko cosmc kwo have its own personality. as with chipotle, drive through lanes mobile and pick-up making up 38% of food and beverage revenues this quarter chipotle moving forward on these lanes moving ahead out of 47 locations opened 40 had a chipotle increasing sales and margins sweetgreen opened a location in illinois earlier in the year called the infinite kitchen. the company's ceo has gone as far to say all locations automated in the next five

years. in its most recent earnings report the kitchen had higher margins at 26% than other locations. key market on some changes is twofold. one gives consumers how to interact with the brand. in other cases saves on labor costs in this tight market back to you. >> of course, krn. >> announcer:'s resident space nerd, cosmc's ma high attention. how are the chains evaluating labor costs in this current environment? >> back to the question on cosmy's. the company is tight-lipped. could be mobile pick-up, ghost kitchen brand, completely separate brand something to that effect finding out more later in the year a lot of speculation the other names chipotle in labor costs factoring in particularly with sweetgreen bought a robotics start-up called spice two years seems like a nabil progression chipotle, many lanes but opened in 2021 a digital kitchen with a

cho potcha hot lei. higher footprint liar locations different staffing needs are key. perhaps a little easier to staff, a little cheaper to run bring in higher volume sales. >> makes sense of course, we know restaurants are really on front lines when it comes to automation adoption. thank you. mcdonald's isn't the only restaurant gearing up for a spin-off golden chorale the north carolina based chain a fast brand called homeward kitchen. buffets are not dead in a postworld. post covid world great to you have on the show. >> thank you. >> why are you launching this new concept? why is it compelling now >> thanks for having us on we love to talk about our

business and the industry. when we went through covid buffet was not an experience with access to customers to be able to experience our brand in early days of covid the buffet was under tremendous amount of pressure so we started thinking what are othery was customers can access golden corral comfort foods? saw pressures that our 14,000 square foot restaurants and here, said maybe think about a smaller footprint with better access making drive-thru windows and digital access for guests. so that's where the idea originated and worked closely with franchisees over the last year and a half to develop, research and excited the first one launching in southern pines, north carolina, in just a few short months hope to open in december. >> look at stocks publicly

traded fast, casual chains really having a moment now i wonder what the economics of fast casual is versus the more traditional golden corral and if demographic the same or different? >> the demographics are going to change a bit gore fog a little younger crowd and folks more on the move and in our current demographics add golden corral. our economic conditions at corral have been unbelievable. we're experiencing double-digit growth on top of double-digit growth last year and the buffet is alive and well, as they say thank goodness god loves a buffet, because he saw us through the times in covid and we came out the other side and in really great shape, but we feel equally as great in homeward kitchen and inquiries across country are amazing and we think something that scales

quickly and really plays into a great hand for us. >> how have you factored in inflation into the business? sounds like consumers continue to turn out for golden corral. have you had to raise prices >> we have, but i will tell you, we've been much more conservative than almost anyone in our segment and certainly the industry one of our strategies early on in covid was we said, look, not going to cut quality pip make sure we maintain highest levels of hospitality and known for variety and abundance. all that off the table try to be as conservative as possible when we think about what we're going to do with or pricing. so over the last three years, we've taken about, on ave10% les price than anyone in our segment. now our ticket average, cost per customer, is almost $3 less than our competitive set. we were at par before. so the only way we were able to

make that work is that we worked really hard on every line on p & l. food, labor cost, even things like insurance, energy management, so we didn't always have to pass the rising inflationary costs we were experiencing in food and labor ton our guests it's really paid big dividends for us as i said, north of 15% cons lohr sales increases this year and wonderful about that, morgan is that it's coming down, a lot of it's coming in meal count increases. more customers coming in our restaurants. we're positive meal count over last year. so we're seeing real growth and it's exciting for us for what the buffet has been able to experience this year. >> that is really fascinating and it's a little contrarians but heard from companies like chipotles this week, for example, but sure sounds like it's working for you look forward to seeing how homeward kitchen performs too.

thanks for joining me. >> thank you for having me appreciate it. >> golden corral ceo. a quick check of markets in final two hours of trading all major averages higher. 474 level for s&p. dow up about 140 points too. that does it for us here at "the exchange," but "power lunch" is sticking with the restaurant industry talking to union square ceo chip wade. "power lunch" sup, next, rht ter this quick break.

cosmc. cosmc's. good afternoon on a sweltering friday. welcome to paula alongside courtney reagan i'm tyler mathisen glad to could join us. a massive biotech buyout buy owe jen bulking up it's drug portfolio what's been an arm