Brinker’s 2027 off to a strong start as Chili’s compounds same-store sales growth

Chili’s Cinderella story continues as the Brinker International brand posted its 22nd straight quarter of same-store sales growth for its first earnings period of fiscal 2027, ended Sept. 23.

The star player of the Brinker portfolio keeps compounding its success year over year, with same-store sales growth of 10.1% in the quarter. That lapped 21% growth last year and 14% growth in 2024. With three-year cumulative comps up to 52% and traffic up 6% this quarter, Chili’s has turned its hot moment into a long-term success story.

“People repeatedly said we cannot possibly continue to comp on top of big comp numbers,” Brinker CEO Kevin Hochman said during Wednesday’s earnings call. “Our Q1 result, with three consecutive years of double-digit comp growth, driven by traffic gains, proves our strategy is sustainable, even with a difficult macro. … We continue to convert new guests into regular guests, and we have very strong commercial and operational plans to keep the flywheel going.”

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Hochman admitted that it’s a tough consumer environment right now because of inflation, gas prices, and other economic uncertainties. But when people start dropping their discretionary spending, he said, they turn to brands they trust, and “the weak get weaker and strong get stronger.”

One of the strongest Chili’s platforms this past quarter was the Big Crispy Chicken sandwich menu category. In Q1, the brand maintained its momentum of selling 55 crispy chicken sandwiches per day, just like in the fourth quarter. The crispy chicken sandwich was backed by an aggressive (and ongoing) marketing campaign that targets fast-food chains.

The backbone of Chili’s success, however, Hochman said, was the focus on fundamentals, like perfecting labor scheduling tools and teaching team members how to cook pasta perfectly. This is all part of the “North of Six” best practices that the company learned from its best performing restaurants.

“While our competitors were hard at work launching new items and new offers, we continue to keep operations focused on the fundamentals of delivering a great restaurant experience,” Hochman said. “We believe this focus will allow us to spend more time on what is important versus free limited-time offers that will not have a lasting impact on the business.”

Chili’s is not the only brand under the Brinker umbrella, however. Maggiano’s has been struggling as of late, with same-store sales down 3.4%. To address some of these issues, Brinker is tackling some missed opportunities within the business, like banquet sales, which were up 11% last quarter, “showing us that we can turn around Maggiano’s results,” Hochman said.

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For the first quarter ended Sept. 23, Brinker reported total revenues of $1.48 billion, up from $1.35 billion the same quarter the year prior. The company also reported net income of $113 million, or $2.64 per share, for the first quarter, compared with $99.5 million, or $2.17 per share, the same quarter the year prior.

Brinker opened six restaurants during the first quarter, bringing the total number of locations in its portfolio to 1,641.

Contact Joanna at [email protected]