BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.16 EPS

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.16, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $358.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $346.68 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 2.86%.

Here are the key takeaways from BJ’s Restaurants’ conference call:

• Strong sales and traffic growth: Third-quarter comparable sales rose 8.1%, driven by 8.3% traffic growth, marking the ninth consecutive quarter of sales and traffic gains. Revenue increased 8.6% to $358.6 million, with growth across days, dayparts, revenue centers, and regions.
• Profitability improved, and full-year guidance was raised: Restaurant-level operating margin expanded 220 basis points to 14.7%, while adjusted EBITDA increased $10.3 million to $31.4 million. BJ’s raised its 2026 comparable-sales, restaurant-level operating profit, and adjusted EBITDA outlook, while lowering expected capital expenditures.
• Check trends and menu initiatives showed progress: Average check declined just 0.2%, improving from a 1.8% decline in Q2; management attributed the sequential improvement partly to menu renovations and more balanced growth drivers. The company said revamped pizza, burger, and chicken sandwich offerings are generating higher sales and margins.
• Q4 outlook includes a calendar headwind: Management said results to date are in line with expectations, but projected an approximately 100-basis-point Q4 comparable-sales headwind from holiday timing. It also expects occupancy and operating expenses to rise to about 23% of revenue, citing marketing, insurance, and repair and maintenance costs.
• Balance sheet strengthened as growth investment continues: BJ’s repaid $28 million of debt during the quarter and ended with approximately $4 million of net debt, down from $61 million at the start of the year. The company plans to open one restaurant in Q4 and one in Q1, with roughly four or five openings targeted for 2027.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BJRI traded down $3.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $58.35. The company had a trading volume of 775,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 431,269. BJ’s Restaurants has a 1-year low of $33.36 and a 1-year high of $74.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 31.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $60.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, Director Noah A. Elbogen sold 7,535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.14, for a total transaction of $528,504.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 71,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,025,881.70. This represents a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director C Richmond bought 753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $47,627.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 35,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,245,375. This trade represents a 2.17% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark lifted their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson set a $65.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, July 31st. William Blair upgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Mizuho upgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BJ’s Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.00.

BJ’s Restaurants Company Profile

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc (NASDAQ: BJRI) operates and develops casual dining restaurants under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse brand. Its restaurants offer a broad menu centered on deep-dish pizza, along with appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers, entrees, desserts and other American-style dishes.

The company is also known for producing and serving craft beer, including its proprietary BJ’s beers, at many of its locations. Its restaurants typically combine full-service dining with a brewery-inspired atmosphere and offer dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering services, depending on the location.

BJ’s traces its origins to 1978, when the first restaurant opened in Southern California.