Brinker International and Chipotle Mexican Grill are due to report Wednesday, Oct. 28, offering investors a same-day comparison of a multi-brand group and a single-chain operator as recent results show sales diverging across restaurant brands.
Brinker’s portfolio includes Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, which ended June 24, company comparable restaurant sales rose 5%. Chili’s sales increased 5.6%, while Maggiano’s fell 2.5%. For the full fiscal year, Chili’s comparable sales rose 9.2% and Maggiano’s declined 3.9%.
Darden Restaurants reported same-restaurant sales growth of 3.1% on a fiscal-calendar basis and 3.2% on a comparable-calendar basis for its quarter ended Aug. 30. On the comparable-calendar measure, LongHorn Steakhouse rose 6.8%, while Olive Garden increased 1.0%. Darden’s adjustment accounts for the shift from a 53-week prior fiscal year to a 52-week current year.
Restaurant Brands International reported 3.8% growth in global comparable sales for the quarter ended June 30. Burger King U.S. sales rose 8.5%, while Tim Hortons Canada sales increased 0.1%. Chipotle’s latest reported quarter, also ended June 30, had comparable-sales growth of 2.2%. The companies use different store-age thresholds for these comparisons: more than 18 full months at Brinker, at least 16 months at Darden and typically at least 13 months at Restaurant Brands International.
CNBC reported that through Oct. 22, Brinker, Darden and Restaurant Brands International had year-to-date stock gains of roughly 32%, 18% and 12%, respectively. CNBC said the gains exceeded those of single-chain stocks including McDonald’s and Chipotle; the comparison does not establish that multi-brand ownership caused the performance. Mizuho Securities restaurant analyst Nick Setyan told CNBC, “If one business isn't doing well, the other ones are.”
Brinker plans to release fiscal first-quarter results before the market opens Oct. 28 and hold an earnings call at 11 a.m. ET. Chipotle expects to release third-quarter results at about 4:10 p.m. ET, followed by a call at 4:30 p.m. ET.
