Chili's owner sees people return in droves for sizzling fajitas, ribs and $5 margaritas
The increasing number of fajitas flying out of the kitchen —and the $5 margaritas to wash it down — at Brinker International-owned Chili's is beginning to heat up sales as the restaurant chain enters the summer months.
Brinker International (EAT) CEO Wyman Roberts said on Yahoo Finance Live the combination of stimulus checks and more people being vaccinated for COVID-19 is driving a noticeable pickup in the business.
"Through April we saw really significant trend changes and solid growth, 10% above pre-pandemic levels. Those are very encouraging signs that the consumer is back, that they are excited to be coming out to restaurants again and to get to maybe take masks off here and get back to life as it was pre-pandemic. We are thrilled to have them come back into our restaurants," Roberts said.
Brinker operates 1,657 Chili's restaurants mostly in the U.S. It also owns Italian food concept Maggiano's, which has 54 restaurants in operation.
The company said in late April when it reported earnings that comparable restaurant sales at Chili's rose 2% in March, a sharp improvement from an 8.8% drop in February. Sales at Maggiano's in March fell 29.5% compared to a 38% decline in February. Roberts' latest comments suggest business has continued to trend in the right direction, perhaps more so than Wall Street analysts think.
Added Roberts on current trends at Chili's, "We are just still selling a lot of burgers, a lot of ribs and a lot of fajitas. So that's what they love about Chili's, that's what we do well. We haven't seen a big shift [in what's being ordered], we are selling a lot of margaritas."
Brinker International shares declined 3% on Wednesday amid a broader market pullback. Over the last six months, Brinker's stock has gained 21% compared to a 15% gain for the S&P 500 as the restaurant owner has posted improved financials. The stock has slightly lagged close rival Olive Garden-owner Darden — shares are up 25% in the last six months.
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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