Chili’s is on a hot streak — and its CEO says the new ribs are a hit

Chili’s is on a hot streak right now — and the CEO of its parent company is taking a victory lap.

The casual dining chain topped revenue and profit estimates for its fiscal fourth quarter when its parent company, Brinker International, reported its earnings on Wednesday.

“Chili’s is officially back, baby back,” Brinker CEO Kevin Hochman said in a statement.

Chili’s comparable restaurant sales grew 24%, besting analysts’ expectations of 22%. The sales growth helped propel Brinker’s overall revenue to $1.46 billion, which topped expectations of $1.44 billion.

Brinker also signaled a strong coming year, boosting its adjusted earnings per share guidance to $9.90 – $10.50, above analysts’ estimates of $9.88.

Wall Street appeared to like the results, with the stock popping over 8% in premarket trading. After the opening bell, the stock jumped over 6% before paring some of those gains. Brinker shares were trading up over 2% as of 1:48 p.m. in New York.

Chili’s new ribs are a hit

Three years into Brinker’s turnaround plan, Chili’s completed its 17th consecutive quarter of positive same-store sales growth.

The chain’s ongoing comeback has been driven by its efforts to simplify the menu to focus on core items while upgrading margaritas, ribs, and more, CEO Hochman said during Wednesday’s earnings call.

Chili’s relaunched its ribs offering in July, and customer response has been positive, the CEO said.

“Customers are raving about the look, the size, and the taste of the ribs,” Hochman said. “It’s clear we have a winning product with our new ribs, and our intent now is to use them to drive traffic.”

Although viral moments on social media helped, like the mozzarella cheese pulls, Hochman said the not-so-secret sauce to Chili’s success is its own marketing. The CEO said its marketing budget significantly increased from $32 million in fiscal 2022 to $137 million in fiscal 2025.

Hochman teased some coming changes to Chili’s on the call. Diners can expect to taste new bacon, ranch, and queso dip showing up throughout fiscal 2026.

Brinker is also in the early stages of plans to “reimage” four Chili’s restaurants in the Dallas area, where the company is headquartered, with plans to use the locations to evaluate potential changes across the chain.

“We are a much different Chili’s today than we were three years ago,” Hochman said.

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