By Dean Seal

Bloomin' Brands said traffic was down 5% across its restaurant portfolio in the fourth quarter and that annual sales could slide this year.

The Outback Steakhouse parent company is guiding for comparable sales--from stores that have been open at least 18 months--in 2025 to come in flat with last year or drop as much as 2%. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been forecasting a 1% gain.

Full-year earnings are targeted at $1.08 to $1.28 a share while adjusted earnings, which strip out one-time items, are seen at $1.20 to $1.40 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been projecting $1.77 a share in 2025 adjusted earnings.

For the fourth quarter that ended Dec. 29, the restaurant operator posted a loss of $79.5 million, or 93 cents a share, compared with

On an adjusted basis, earnings were 38 cents a share, a penny higher than analysts estimates.

Revenue fell 9.3% to $972 million, missing analyst estimates for $1.09 billion, according to FactSet.

Comparable sales were down 1.1% across its portfolio, which also includes Bonefish Grill and Carrabba's Italian Grill.

Traffic was down a combined 5.1%, with the biggest drop-off at Bonefish. Traffic at Outback, its biggest revenue contributor, was down 4.7%. The declines were partially offset by higher per-diner spending.

Shares fell 6.3% to $11.15 in premarket trading.

Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 26, 2025 07:40 ET (12:40 GMT)

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