Brinker price target lowered to $80 from $85 at BMO Capital

BMO Capital lowered the firm’s price target on Brinker to $80 from $85 but keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The analyst cites the company’s Q4 earnings miss as investments and stock-based comp more than offset meaningful comp upside. Brinker also provided initial FY25 EPS guidance that was below consensus, with revenue ahead of expectations, and BMO is tempering its FY25 EPS estimates by 11c to $4.71 given lower FY24 base, though it is also increasing its FY25 comp assumption and believes that the EPS guidance is conservative, the firm tells investors in a research note.