Brinker International's Chili's brand has now posted positive comparable restaurant sales for five consecutive fiscal years, culminating in a full-year comp gain of 9.2% in fiscal 2026 — a 71% cumulative increase over that stretch. For casual dining operators and their suppliers, that run is a data point worth studying closely: it was built on a disciplined combination of everyday value positioning, menu simplification, and targeted restaurant reinvestment rather than aggressive discounting or unit expansion.
Total company revenues for the fifty-two weeks ended June 24, 2026 reached $5.8 billion, up from $5.4 billion a year earlier. Net income came in at $487.0 million versus $383.1 million in fiscal 2025, a 27.1% increase. Adjusted EBITDA grew to $847.2 million from $760.4 million. On a per-share basis, diluted EPS excluding special items landed at $10.74 for the full year, up 20.7% year-over-year. The quarter itself was equally strong: Q4 company sales of $1.5 billion, Chili's comparable sales up 5.6%, and diluted EPS up 30.0% on a GAAP basis.
The Chili's Engine
The mechanics behind Chili's momentum are instructive for any casual dining operator benchmarking their own performance. Traffic — not just pricing — drove the comp growth. For Q4, Chili's price impact accounted for 4.3% of the 5.6% comp, with a positive 1.5% traffic contribution. At the full-year level, traffic contributed 3.6% of the brand's 9.2% comp gain, a figure that stands in direct contrast to most of the casual dining segment, where traffic has been flat to negative. The Big Crispy chicken sandwich, cited specifically by management as sustaining momentum into July, illustrates how a single well-executed menu innovation can reinforce value perception without requiring margin giveaways.
Chili's restaurant-level operating margin (non-GAAP) reached 18.6% in Q4 and 18.5% for the full year — modest sequential improvement, but consistent. Food and beverage cost headwinds were present: beef costs rose, and a late freeze in Florida temporarily elevated produce costs. Those pressures are a reminder that even a high-performing casual dining brand remains exposed to commodity volatility, a dynamic that procurement teams and foodservice distributors should factor into contract structures heading into fiscal 2027.
Maggiano's Drag and the FY27 Setup
Maggiano's continued to act as a counterweight. The brand posted a 2.5% comp decline in Q4 and a 3.9% full-year decline, driven by traffic losses and restaurant closures. Maggiano's restaurant operating margin fell to 10.3% in Q4 from 13.3% a year prior, with sales deleverage compounding unfavorable food and beverage costs. For operators and vendors tracking the fine-dining-adjacent segment, Maggiano's trajectory reflects a broader consumer value shift that is benefiting accessible casual concepts at the expense of higher check-average brands.
For fiscal 2027, Brinker is guiding total revenues of $6.15 billion to $6.27 billion, with diluted EPS (excluding special items) of $12.60 to $13.40. That range includes the benefit of a 53rd operating week, estimated to add roughly 2.0% to revenues and $0.70 to EPS. Capital expenditures are projected at $265.0 million to $285.0 million — a figure that signals continued investment in restaurant-level physical improvements. The board also authorized a total of $750.0 million under the existing share repurchase program, effective August 10, 2026, after the company deployed $400.0 million in buybacks during fiscal 2026. Separately, Brinker executed an agreement to acquire 12 Chili's franchise locations in Alabama and Mississippi, including real estate on six of the sites, with the transaction expected to close August 27, 2026. That refranchise-to-company move is consistent with a strategy of owning high-performing trade areas outright — a consideration for growth-minded operators evaluating franchise versus company-owned unit economics in their own portfolios.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
