Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) shares surged more than 5% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the restaurant group delivered better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results and lifted its full-year outlook above Wall Street estimates.
The owner of Chili’s reported second-quarter earnings per share of $2.87, comfortably ahead of analyst forecasts of $2.57. Revenue rose to $1.45 billion from $1.36 billion a year earlier, also beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion.
Comparable restaurant sales climbed 7.5% during the quarter, led by an 8.6% increase at Chili’s, while Maggiano’s saw comparable sales decline by 2.4%.
“Chili’s delivered another strong quarter with industry-leading growth of +9%, rolling the industry-leading growth from last year for a 2-year comp sales growth of +43%,” said Kevin Hochman, President and CEO of Brinker International.
“With 19 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth, Chili’s turnaround, led by guest experience improvements, is sustaining over the long-term,” he added.
Adjusted EBITDA increased to $223.5 million from $215.8 million in the same period last year. Restaurant operating margin edged down slightly to 18.8% from 19.1%.
Looking ahead, Brinker said it expects fiscal 2026 earnings per share of between $10.45 and $10.85, topping the consensus estimate of $10.44. Full-year revenue is forecast at $5.76 billion to $5.83 billion, also above the market expectation of $5.75 billion.