Brinker International Inc.'s stock soared 8% premarket Wednesday, after the operator of Chili's and Maggiano's restaurants crushed estimates for its fiscal second quarter.
Dallas-based Brinker $(EAT)$ had per-share earnings of $2.61 for the quarter, up from 94 cents a year ago. Adjusted for one-time items, Brinker had EPS of $2.80, well ahead of the $1.86 FactSet consensus.
Sales rose to $1.346 billion from $1.064 billion, also ahead of the $1.249 billion FactSet consensus.
Same-restaurant sales rose 27.4%, driven by a 31.4% increase at Chili's, while Maggiano's same-restaurant sales were up 1.8%. The FactSet consensus was for a rise of 18.6%.
"Chili's sales growth was driven by a 19.9% increase in traffic generated by investments in advertising behind industry leading value that brought guests in and operational improvements that brought guests back," the company said in a statement.
(This story will be updated shortly)
-Ciara Linnane
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January 29, 2025 06:54 ET (11:54 GMT)
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