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Brinker shares slide after earnings, but Chili’s is still bringing the heat as Gen Z’s dining-out darling

All hail the Triple Dipper.

4/29/25 7:21AM

Brinker International shares slid about 8% in premarket trading Monday, even as the parent of Chili’s and Maggiano’s Little Italy served up top- and bottom-line results that exceeded estimates and boosted its sales guidance.

The slump in the stock may signal overinflated expectations for a company that had been performing very well year to date, up 21% heading into today’s session versus a 6% decline in the S&P 500.

The fast-casual giant posted Q3 earnings of $2.66 per share, beating analyst estimates of $2.56, while revenue rose 27% year over year to $1.425 billion, also ahead of Wall Street’s target. Chili’s, Brinker’s undisputed MVP, drove most of the gains: comparable sales at the chain soared 28%, and franchisees pulled in $237.4 million, up from $216.2 million a year ago.

Brinker also sweetened its full-year outlook, raising revenue guidance to between $5.33 billion and $5.35 billion — a jump from the $5.15 billion to $5.25 billion range it offered back in January.

“Chili’s sales growth this quarter was driven primarily by continued increases in traffic, supported by advertising that highlights our industry-leading value and encourages guest trial,” the company said in a statement.

The continued strength in Chili’s is thanks in no small part to a social media sensation: the Triple Dipper.

TikTok made me do it

Chili’s has long been a staple of the American dining scene, first opening in Dallas in 1975 with a Southwestern-style menu aimed at bridging casual food and a bar-forward atmosphere. But most recently, the chain’s Triple Dipper — a choose-three combo of appetizers like Southwestern egg rolls, chicken crispers, sliders, and mozzarella sticks — has put the 50-year-old brand back on the map, becoming a near-instant viral hit.

According to trend analytics firm Spate, online interest in the Triple Dipper has surged by 118.5% over the past year, with TikTok engagement spiking 375.5%. Google searches, meanwhile, climbed nearly 30%. Much of that momentum can be traced back to content creators like Celine Chung, a California-based food and lifestyle influencer who saw her first Triple Dipper video explode with over 6.6 million views (and counting).

“I did the whole flash shot of the Triple Dipper spread — it just looked so visually appealing,” Chung told Sherwood News. “It started picking up fast. I checked back like 30 minutes later and it already had hundreds of thousands of views.”

Chung, who began creating food content in 2018 and pivoted to TikTok during the pandemic, says Chili’s content has proven unusually sticky. “In my first Chili’s one, I did like the whole flash with the spread of the Triple Dipper, and it just was so visually appealing. I think maybe I added a cheese pull in the beginning, too. I found that it really gravitates with an audience.”

A Kitchen Revamped

Brinker is betting big on that kind of heat. In the previous quarter, Chili’s began streamlining kitchen operations by removing its wing station, making room for high-performing items like the Triple Dipper and chicken crispers. It’s been paying off: the Triple Dipper accounted for 14% of total restaurant sales in Q2. Executives say the menu revamp is not only attracting a younger demographic, but also increasing average check sizes and driving repeat visits.

Even as restaurant spending grew 2% in 2024 — marking a fourth straight year of gains — Brinker has left the broader category in the dust. The company has tacked on more than $4 billion in market cap over the past year. Even with the Tuesday sell-off, Brinker’s stock has blown past rivals like Dine Brands (Applebee’s, IHOP), Cheesecake Factory, and Bloomin' Brands (Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s), and is up more than 203% over the past year.

Max Knoblauch27m

Southwest cuts its earnings outlook on lost revenue due to government shutdown

Another big four airline has put a price tag on the 43-day government shutdown.

Southwest Airlines on Friday said lower revenue due to a temporary decline in demand during the shutdown, together with higher fuel costs, will ding its annual earnings before interest and taxes by between $100 million and $300 million. The carrier lowered its full-year EBIT outlook to $500 million, down from a prior range of $600 million to $800 million.

According to Southwest’s filing, bookings have returned to previous expectations following the end of the shutdown. Its shares dipped down about 1% in premarket trading.

The carrier joins Delta Air Lines in assigning a cost to the government closure. Earlier this week, Delta said the shutdown would cost it $200 million in the fourth quarter.

Luke Kawa42m

Netflix is acquiring Warner Bros. and HBO assets for less than it’s spent to add content since the pandemic started

What would you, as a viewer, rather watch:

Every new piece of content that’s appeared on Netflix since the pandemic started, or all the original series ever produced by HBO as well as the 100-year-plus portfolio of Warner Bros. films?

That’s one lens through which to view the streaming giant’s agreement to buy Warner Bros. studio and streaming assets for an equity value of $72 billion or an enterprise value of $82.7 billion (which factors in the debt Netflix is assuming from the acquired entity).

Since the end of 2019, Netflix has sent over $87 billion in cash out the door to add content assets to its vast library.

The good news is that presumably, you won’t have to make that choice. Presumably, in the event that this merger is approved and any existing distribution deals lapse, this library will be rolled up under one roof. That’ll probably entail higher subscription costs for Netflix subscribers; what the net cost for those who subscribe to both services ends up being is one of many things that are very much up in the air.

“By adding the deep film and TV libraries and HBO and HBO Max programming, Netflix members will have even more high-quality titles from which to choose,” per the press release. “This also allows Netflix to optimize its plans for consumers, enhancing viewing options and expanding access to content.”

Luke Kawa2h

Oklo slides after launching $1.5 billion at-the-market equity offering program

Oklo has no revenues and an extremely high valuation.

Put the two together and this happens:

After the close on Thursday, a filing showed that the nuclear energy company entered into a pact with various financial institutions to sell up to $1.5 billion worth of its stock in an at-the-market equity offering program.

Shares are down about 5.5% as of 7:20 a.m. ET.

This is Oklo’s third equity offering of the year, per Bloomberg data.

The stock had been on a tear recently ahead of this announcement, rising nearly 30% over the prior three sessions amid elevated options market activity.

Hyunsoo Rim3h

SoFi Technologies slides on $1.5 billion share sale announcement at $27.50 a share

SoFi Technologies is down more than 7% in early trading on Friday after the company revealed plans to raise $1.5 billion through a public stock offering, with shares to be priced at $27.50 each — a discount of roughly 7% from Thursday’s closing price of $29.60.

The offering includes a 30-day option for the underwriters to purchase up to 8,181,818 more shares, equivalent to an additional 15% of the nominal offering, which is expected to close December 8.

Proceeds from the offering will go toward “general corporate purposes,” SoFi said, including “enhancing capital position, increasing optionality and enabling further efficiency of capital management, and funding incremental growth and business opportunities.”

The sale comes as SoFi’s stock has been on a tear this year — nearly doubling (up 97%) in 2025 before this morning’s slump. The company also posted better-than-expected Q3 sales and profits back in October, driven by growth outside its original lending business, including trading, wealth management, mortgages, and credit cards.

CEO Anthony Noto has repeatedly emphasized SoFi’s push beyond lending. In November, the company launched a priority waitlist for SoFi Crypto, enabling users to trade dozens of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ethereum, and solana.

The stock is hovering around the offering price of $27.50 on Friday.

Tom Jones4h

Netflix agrees to $83 billion deal for Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming and studio businesses, at $27.75 per share

Netflix this morning announced that it will acquire the Warner Bros. side of the Warner Bros. Discovery business — which includes its studio and streaming businesses — in a deal worth $82.7 billion, or $27.75 per share.

Per the press release:

“The transaction is expected to close after the previously announced separation of WBD’s Global Networks division, Discovery Global, into a new publicly-traded company, which is now expected to be completed in Q3 2026.”

The streaming giant beat out competition from other suitors like Comcast and Paramount Skydance, the latter of which had been crying foul about the sales process just yesterday, having sought a deal for the WBD business in full, including its vast array of networks, which will now be spun out as Discovery Global.

Unless halted by regulators, when the deal closes in the estimated 12 to 18 months, Netflix will pick up IP such as the “Harry Potter” franchise and DC universe through the Warner Bros. studio division, as well as the company’s burgeoning streaming division, including HBO Max — an addition that one recent report suggested might not significantly boost Netflix’s market share, sending shares tumbling on Wednesday.

While it’s still far too early to say what impact the potential deal will have on the biggest film and TV streaming business in the world, and the wider world of entertainment in general, NFLX investors haven’t seemed hugely enthused by the prospect throughout the process, and shares have slipped as much as ~3.2% in premarket trading.