Texas Roadhouse, Inc. to Announce Fourth Quarter Earnings on February 19, 2026

Texas Roadhouse currently trades at $188.92 per share and has shown little upside over the past six months, posting a middling return of 2.3%. The stock also fell short of the S&P 500’s 11.5% gain during that period.

Why Does Texas Roadhouse Spark Debate?

With locations often featuring Western-inspired decor, Texas Roadhouse is an American restaurant chain specializing in Southern-style cuisine and steaks.

Two Things to Like:

1. Restaurant Growth Signals an Offensive Strategy

A restaurant chain’s total number of dining locations often determines how much revenue it can generate.

Texas Roadhouse operated 806 locations in the latest quarter. It has opened new restaurants at a rapid clip over the last two years, averaging 6% annual growth, much faster than the broader restaurant sector.

When a chain opens new restaurants, it usually means it’s investing for growth because there’s healthy demand for its meals and there are markets where its concepts have few or no locations.

2. Surging Same-Store Sales Show Increasing Demand

Same-store sales is an industry measure of whether revenue is growing at existing restaurants, and it is driven by customer visits (often called traffic) and the average spending per customer (ticket).

Texas Roadhouse has been one of the most successful restaurant chains over the last two years thanks to skyrocketing demand within its existing dining locations. On average, the company has posted exceptional year-on-year same-store sales growth of 7.3%.

One Reason to be Careful:

Low Gross Margin Reveals Weak Structural Profitability

Gross profit margins tell us how much money a restaurant gets to keep after paying for the direct costs of the meals it sells, like ingredients, and indicate its level of pricing power.

Texas Roadhouse has bad unit economics for a restaurant company, signaling it operates in a competitive market and has little room for error if demand unexpectedly falls. As you can see below, it averaged a 17% gross margin over the last two years. That means Texas Roadhouse paid its suppliers a lot of money ($83.04 for every $100 in revenue) to run its business.

Final Judgment

Texas Roadhouse has huge potential even though it has some open questions. With its shares lagging the market recently, the stock trades at 29.5× forward P/E (or $188.92 per share). Is now a good time to initiate a position? See for yourself in our in-depth research report, it’s free.

Looking back on sit-down dining stocks’ Q3 earnings, we examine this quarter’s best and worst performers, including Denny's and its peers.

Sit-down restaurants offer a complete dining experience with table service. These establishments span various cuisines and are renowned for their warm hospitality and welcoming ambiance, making them perfect for family gatherings, special occasions, or simply unwinding. Their extensive menus range from appetizers to indulgent desserts and wines and cocktails. This space is extremely fragmented and competition includes everything from publicly-traded companies owning multiple chains to single-location mom-and-pop restaurants.

The 12 sit-down dining stocks we track reported a mixed Q3. As a group, revenues were in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.

Luckily, sit-down dining stocks have performed well with share prices up 10.2% on average since the latest earnings results.

Slowest Q3: Denny's

Open around the clock, Denny’s is a chain of diner restaurants serving breakfast and traditional American fare.

Denny's reported revenues of $113.2 million, up 1.3% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 3.2%. Overall, it was a disappointing quarter for the company with a significant miss of analysts’ revenue and EBITDA estimates.

Kelli Valade, Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Our third quarter progress on strategic initiatives demonstrates our ability to remain agile and focused on what is within our control amid a choppy industry backdrop. These achievements are the direct result of our incredible teams and franchisees maintaining their unwavering commitment to our brands and our guests."

Denny's delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates of the whole group. Interestingly, the stock is up 51.1% since reporting and currently trades at $6.21.

Read our full report on Denny's here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Best Q3: Bloomin' Brands

Owner of the iconic Australian-themed Outback Steakhouse, Bloomin’ Brands is a leading American restaurant company that owns and operates a portfolio of popular restaurant brands.

Bloomin' Brands reported revenues of $928.8 million, down 10.6% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.7%. The business had a stunning quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS and EBITDA estimates.

Although it had a fine quarter compared to its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 12.4% since reporting. It currently trades at $6.33.

Dine Brands

Operating a franchise model, Dine Brands is a casual restaurant chain that owns the Applebee’s and IHOP banners.

Dine Brands reported revenues of $216.2 million, up 10.8% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 1.7%. It was a softer quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ EBITDA and EPS estimates.

Interestingly, the stock is up 34.1% since the results and currently trades at $32.98.

Read our full analysis of Dine Brands’s results here.

First Watch

Based on a nautical reference to the first work shift aboard a ship, First Watch is a chain of breakfast and brunch restaurants whose menu is heavily-focused on eggs and griddle items such as pancakes.

First Watch reported revenues of $316 million, up 25.6% year on year. This number beat analysts’ expectations by 1.9%. It was a very strong quarter as it also recorded a solid beat of analysts’ same-store sales and EBITDA estimates.

First Watch pulled off the fastest revenue growth among its peers. The stock is down 2% since reporting and currently trades at $15.54.

Read our full, actionable report on First Watch here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Texas Roadhouse

With locations often featuring Western-inspired decor, Texas Roadhouse is an American restaurant chain specializing in Southern-style cuisine and steaks.

Texas Roadhouse reported revenues of $1.44 billion, up 12.8% year on year. This result topped analysts’ expectations by 0.7%. Aside from that, it was a mixed quarter as it also logged an impressive beat of analysts’ same-store sales estimates but a miss of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The stock is up 5.2% since reporting and currently trades at $169.04.

Read our full, actionable report on Texas Roadhouse here, it’s free for active Edge members.

As the Q3 earnings season wraps, let’s dig into this quarter’s best and worst performers in the sit-down dining industry, including Texas Roadhouse and its peers.

Sit-down restaurants offer a complete dining experience with table service. These establishments span various cuisines and are renowned for their warm hospitality and welcoming ambiance, making them perfect for family gatherings, special occasions, or simply unwinding. Their extensive menus range from appetizers to indulgent desserts and wines and cocktails. This space is extremely fragmented and competition includes everything from publicly-traded companies owning multiple chains to single-location mom-and-pop restaurants.

The 13 sit-down dining stocks we track reported a mixed Q3. As a group, revenues were in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.

Thankfully, share prices of the companies have been resilient as they are up 5.9% on average since the latest earnings results.

Texas Roadhouse

With locations often featuring Western-inspired decor, Texas Roadhouse is an American restaurant chain specializing in Southern-style cuisine and steaks.

Texas Roadhouse reported revenues of $1.44 billion, up 12.8% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 0.7%. Despite the top-line beat, it was still a mixed quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts’ same-store sales estimates but a miss of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

Jerry Morgan, Chief Executive Officer of Texas Roadhouse, Inc., commented, “Our operators continued to drive strong traffic this quarter, which helped offset the impact of continued commodity inflation. While the duration of these inflationary pressures remains uncertain, we are committed to running our business with a long-term focus and maintaining our value proposition.”

Interestingly, the stock is up 3.3% since reporting and currently trades at $165.96.

Best Q3: Bloomin' Brands

Owner of the iconic Australian-themed Outback Steakhouse, Bloomin’ Brands is a leading American restaurant company that owns and operates a portfolio of popular restaurant brands.

Bloomin' Brands reported revenues of $928.8 million, down 10.6% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.7%. The business had a stunning quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

Although it had a fine quarter compared its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 13% since reporting. It currently trades at $6.29.

Slowest Q3: Denny's

Open around the clock, Denny’s is a chain of diner restaurants serving breakfast and traditional American fare.

Denny's reported revenues of $113.2 million, up 1.3% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 3.2%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ revenue estimates and a miss of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

Interestingly, the stock is up 50.8% since the results and currently trades at $6.20.

Read our full analysis of Denny’s results here.

Darden

Founded in 1968 as Red Lobster, Darden is a leading American restaurant company that owns and operates a portfolio of popular restaurant brands.

Darden reported revenues of $3.10 billion, up 7.3% year on year. This number surpassed analysts’ expectations by 1%. Overall, it was a strong quarter as it also logged a solid beat of analysts’ same-store sales estimates and a narrow beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.

The stock is down 2.9% since reporting and currently trades at $184.12.

Read our full, actionable report on Darden here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Brinker International

Founded by Norman Brinker in Dallas, Brinker International is a casual restaurant chain that operates the Chili’s, Maggiano’s Little Italy, and It’s Just Wings banners.

Brinker International reported revenues of $1.35 billion, up 18.5% year on year. This result topped analysts’ expectations by 1.3%. More broadly, it was a satisfactory quarter as it also produced an impressive beat of analysts’ same-store sales estimates but full-year revenue guidance slightly missing analysts’ expectations.

Brinker International had the weakest full-year guidance update among its peers. The stock is up 15.6% since reporting and currently trades at $143.59.

Read our full, actionable report on Brinker International here, it’s free for active Edge members.

What Happened?

Shares of restaurant company Texas Roadhouse jumped 2.9% in the afternoon session after an analyst at Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to “Overweight” from “Equal-Weight” and raised its price target. 

The investment bank increased its price target for the restaurant chain to $195 from $170. According to the analyst, a recent decline in the stock's price created an attractive buying opportunity. The bank's positive view came despite near-term pressures from higher beef costs, which it viewed as a temporary, or cyclical, issue that was already largely factored into the share price. The brokerage also noted an expectation for these costs to ease in the second half of 2026, reflecting a positive outlook on the company's future performance.

After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $170.33, up 2.7% from previous close.

What Is The Market Telling Us

Texas Roadhouse’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 6 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 4 months ago when the stock dropped 5.6% on the news that the company reported second-quarter earnings that missed analyst expectations, as profitability was squeezed despite higher sales. 

The restaurant chain posted earnings per share of $1.86, falling short of Wall Street estimates of $1.91. While revenue grew 12.7% year-over-year to $1.51 billion, slightly beating forecasts, this positive was overshadowed by declining profitability. The company's Adjusted EBITDA, a key measure of profit, also missed expectations. 

Furthermore, its gross profit margin decreased by 1.1 percentage points from the prior year to 17.6%, highlighting pressure on profitability. The results indicated that while the company was successfully growing its sales, its earnings did not keep pace.

Texas Roadhouse is down 6% since the beginning of the year, and at $170.33 per share, it is trading 14.7% below its 52-week high of $199.80 from May 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Texas Roadhouse’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,079.