Shares of Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ: TXRH) were down in pre-market trading on Friday after the American steakhouse chain reported disappointing Q4 results with earnings of $0.89 per share, up 17.4% year-over-year but still missing Street estimates of $1.03.
Revenues increased by 12.7% year-over-year to $1.01 billion but fell short of analysts’ expectations by $10 million.
On February 14, the company’s Board of Directors authorized a quarterly dividend payment of $0.55 per share, up by 20%. This dividend will be distributed on March 24 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 8, 2023.
Looking forward, the management expects to increase prices on its menu by around 2.2% in late March. Comparable sales in the first seven weeks of Q1 went up by 15.8% versus 2022. More worryingly, TXRH expects commodity costs to be between 5% and 6% while wages and other labor inflation is projected to be in the range of 5% to 6%.
Analysts are cautiously optimistic about TXRH stock with a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on two Buys and four Holds.
