Dine Brands gains after strong results at Applebee's

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Dine Brands Global (NYSE:DIN) tracked higher in early trading on Wednesday after topping EPS estimates with its Q4 report. The restaurant operator said its highly franchised business model enabled it to generate meaningful adjusted free cash flow, supported by a stable recovery at our two strong brands.

Comparable sales were up 34.2% at U.S. Applebee's locations in Q4 against the pandemic period a year ago and jumped 39.2% at IHOP locations. In comparison to two years ago, Applebee's comparable sales increased 9.1% and IHOP saw a 3.0% drop.

Applebee’s domestic franchise average weekly unit sales increased 12.6% during the quarter relative to the same period in 2019. IHOP’s average weekly unit sales increased 0.5% relative to 2019.

Applebee’s off-premise sales accounted for 26.9% of sales mix in Q4 and IHOP’s off-premise sales accounted for 23.7% of sales mix.

Adjusted earnings per diluted share came in at $1.32 vs. $0.39 a year ago. The increase was primarily due to higher gross profit, partially offset by higher general and administrative expenses.

On the development front, the company saw franchisee openings of 15 new restaurants and the closure of 23 restaurants.

Looking ahead, Dine Brands (DIN) expects consolidated adjusted EBITDA to range between approximately $235M and $250M.

Shares of Dine Brands (DIN) rose 0.86% premarket to $79.00 after the Q4 report.