If You Invested $1000 in Brinker International a Decade Ago, This is How Much It'd Be Worth Now

For most investors, how much a stock's price changes over time is important. Not only can it impact your investment portfolio, but it can also help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.

Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Brinker International (EAT) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to EAT for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Brinker International's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Brinker International's main business drivers.

Based in Dallas, TX, Brinker International owns, operates, develops and franchises various restaurants under Chili’s Grill & Bar (Chili’s) and Maggiano’s Little Italy (Maggiano’s) brands. The company took over Chili’s, Inc., a Texas-based corporation, in September 1983 and completed the acquisition of Maggiano’s in August 1995.

Chili’s is a preeminent leader in the bar & grill category of casual dining. The brand has been functioning for over the last 40 years. With a global presence in 31 countries and two territories outside the United States, the brand features a typical American menu. It is known for gourmet burgers, sizzling fajitas, baby back ribs and hand-shaken margaritas. In the fiscal 2018, Brinker relaunched its My Chili’s Rewards program and began offering free chips and salsa or soft drinks to members at every visit.

Maggiano’s is a full-service, national, casual dining Italian restaurant brand featuring individual and family-style menus and most restaurants. The brand also has extensive banquet facilities designed to host large party business or social events. The menu features a classic Italian-American range of appetizers and entrees, with portions of pasta, chicken, seafood, veal, prime steaks and desserts.

During fiscal 2025, Chili’s contributed 90.7% to total revenues, while Maggiano’s contributed 9.3%. As of Sept. 24, 2025, the company owned, operated or franchised 1,630 restaurants. Among these, 1,579 were Chili's and the remaining 51 were Maggiano's units.

Bottom Line

While anyone can invest, building a lucrative investment portfolio takes research, patience, and a little bit of risk. If you had invested in Brinker International ten years ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.

According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in April 2016 would be worth $3,266.38, or a gain of 226.64%, as of April 7, 2026, and this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.

The S&P 500 rose 219.93% and the price of gold increased 260.55% over the same time frame in comparison.

Analysts are forecasting more upside for EAT too.

Shares of Brinker have outperformed its industry in the past six months. The company is benefiting from improved menu pricing and a favorable menu item mix. Also, focus on various sales-building and expansion initiatives bodes well. The company continues to focus on Chili's international expansion through development agreements with new and existing franchise partners. The company expects to fully roll out both the reimage and new unit growth programs during fiscal 2028, positioning it to steadily expand the Chili's store base and support sustained growth ahead. Earnings estimates for fiscal 2026 have increased in the past 30 days. However, high labor and commodity costs remain headwinds. Management expects inflation to remain in the low single digits for the year, with mid-single-digit pressure in the back half due to higher beef costs.

Shares have gained 8.74% over the past four weeks and there have been 3 higher earnings estimate revisions for fiscal 2026 compared to none lower. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.

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Brinker International, Inc. (EAT): Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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