Shares of Texas Roadhouse (TXRH 0.74%) were moving higher today after the fast-casual restaurant chain delivered solid results in its first-quarter earnings report.
As of 11:56 a.m. ET, the stock was up 5% on the news.
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Texas Roadhouse serves up a tasty quarter
The steakhouse chain, which has long been an outperformer on the stock market, said that comparable sales in the quarter were up 3.5%, driving overall revenue up 9.6% to $1.45 billion, which was slightly ahead of estimates at $1.44 billion.
Restaurant-level margin fell 77 basis points to 16.6% due to inflation in food and wages, and earnings per share rose from $1.69 to $1.70, which was below estimates at $1.76.
Despite the weaker-than-expected profit, the company reported positive traffic trends, with visits accelerating in March and the first five weeks of the second quarter. That was particularly encouraging at a time when a number of chains were complaining about declining traffic due to the weakening macroeconomic climate.
CEO Jerry Morgan said, "We are pleased to report that our operators successfully navigated us through a number of challenges this quarter and once again delivered traffic growth across all three of our brands."
NASDAQ: TXRH
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What's next for Texas Roadhouse?
Looking ahead, the company said comparable sales for the first five weeks of the second quarter were up 5%, which included a menu price increase of 1.4%.
It also said it expected commodity cost inflation of 4%, including the estimated impact of tariffs, and reiterated positive comps for 2025, including higher prices.
In a difficult environment for restaurants, that proved to be enough to push Texas Roadhouse stock higher.
