DALLAS — Fiscal-year increases in comparable restaurant sales, income and revenues pleased executives of Brinker International, Inc. but not shareholders as the company’s stock price fell by 11% in one day.

Comparable restaurant sales for Brinker International, the owner of Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy, increased 7% in the fiscal year ended June 26 and 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Net income of $155 million, or $3.49 per share on the common stock, was up 51% from $103 million, or $2.33 per share, in the previous fiscal year. Revenues increased 7% to $4.42 billion from $4.13 billion.

“Fiscal '24 marked the second full year of our turnaround, and we’re very pleased with our progress and momentum,” said Kevin Hochman, president and chief executive officer of Brinker International, in an Aug. 14 earnings call. “It was a year we delivered both big growth and major operational improvements, which sets us up for continued profitable and sustainable long-term growth.

“The vision we introduced two years ago was to improve our restaurant's four-wall economics through focusing on the fundamentals of casual dining, a differentiated brand, with craveable menu items, served with great hospitality, in a fun and friendly atmosphere.”

Still, Brinker’s stock price on the New York Stock Exchange closed at $62.85 per share on Aug. 14, which compared to a close of $70.40 on Aug. 13. By midday on Aug. 15, the price had rebounded to $66.09 per share.

Negative results came in restaurant expenses. At Chili’s in the fourth quarter, they increased to $910.5 million from $821.7 million. At Maggiano’s in the fourth quarter, they increased to $103.8 million from $100.2 million. Restaurant repair costs in the fourth quarter were up $16 million when compared to the previous year’s fourth quarter, said Mika Ware, chief financial officer.

Improving the guest experience was a big driver in the fiscal year, Hochman said. In daily dine-in metrics, the number of guests who reported a problem has dropped to 2.7% from 5%, he said.

“On the operations front, we conducted listening sessions with our field restaurant leaders all over the country to better understand what we could do to reduce or eliminate to make our restaurant jobs easier and more rewarding,” Hochman said. “Today, the Chili's menu has 22% less items than it did two years ago. We’ve eliminated many prep steps. We’ve changed ingredients, reduced administrative tasks like how often we count inventory and other complexity that reduces team-member morale and gets in the way of great execution.”

At Chili’s, comparable restaurant sales increased 7.4% in the fiscal year. The increase was nearly 15% in the fourth quarter, primarily due to increased menu pricing and higher traffic. The launch of the “Big Smasher” burger and Chili’s advertising highlighting value drove traffic in the quarter.

At Maggiano’s comparable restaurant sales increased 3.5% in the fiscal year. An increase of 2.5% in the fourth quarter was primarily due to favorable comparable restaurant sales driven by increased menu pricing and favorable menu item mix, partially offset by lower traffic.

In the fourth quarter companywide, Brinker International had net income of $57.3 million, or $1.28 per share on the common stock, which was up 6% from $54.2 million or $1.22 per share, in the same time of the previous year. Fourth-quarter revenues increased 12% to $1.21 billion from $$1.08 billion.

Advertising in the quarter increased by $14 million when compared to the previous year’s fourth quarter, Ware said. The company has invested in TikTok and influencer marketing.

“And we do think that social media plan is helping us to drive the younger consumer into Chili's,” Ware said. “So we're really happy with that.”

In the current fiscal year, Dallas-based Brinker International expects revenues in a range of $4.55 billion to $4.62 billion and net income per diluted share, excluding special items, non-GAAP, in a range of $4.35 to $4.75.