Brinker International, Inc. EAT

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-cyclical

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
68/100
Moderate

About Brinker International, Inc.

Brinker International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, owns, develops, operates, and franchises casual dining restaurants in the United States and internationally. It operates and franchises Chili's Grill & Bar and Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant brands. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Full EAT analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Cost Leadership Position Operating margin at 75.9th percentile with strong OpEx control demonstrates cost leadership.
  • ROIC Sustainably Above Peers ROIC at 98.1th percentile exceeds peers and WACC, demonstrating superior capital allocation.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

Upgrade to unlock the signals and evidence behind each defense.

Premium access

Unlock full defense analysis

Get key signals, strengths, and risks for every moat dimension.

Upgrade to Premium Unlock all moat defenses and evidence.

Pricing Power

Moderate
51

Where EAT ranks in Restaurants

Brinker International, Inc. ranks #13 of 57 scored companies in Restaurants by moat score — the top 23%. The widest moat in the group is Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) at 83/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near EAT in Restaurants
# Company Moat score Rating
9 Restaurant Brands International QSR 70/100 Moderate
10 Yum China Holdings, Inc. YUMC 70/100 Moderate
11 Texas Roadhouse, Inc. TXRH 69/100 Moderate
12 Nathan's Famous, Inc. NATH 68/100 Moderate
13 Brinker International, Inc. EAT 68/100 Moderate
14 The Cheesecake Factory Incorpor CAKE 67/100 Moderate
15 El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. LOCO 65/100 Moderate
16 Shake Shack, Inc. SHAK 64/100 Moderate
17 Dutch Bros Inc. BROS 63/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How EAT scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 51 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 85 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 79 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 70 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 64 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 65 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding EAT's moat

What is Brinker International, Inc.'s moat score?

Brinker International, Inc. (EAT) scores 68 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #13 of 57 scored companies in Restaurants, the top 23%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 56 companies in Restaurants. Its strongest defense is Cost Advantage (85/100) and its weakest is Pricing Power (51/100).

How does Brinker International, Inc. compare with other Restaurants companies?

Brinker International, Inc. ranks #13 of 57 scored companies in Restaurants by moat score. The widest moat in Restaurants is Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) at 83/100. The companies ranked closest are Nathan's Famous, Inc. (NATH) at 68 just above it and The Cheesecake Factory Incorpor (CAKE) at 66 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 56 companies in Restaurants. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Brinker International, Inc. scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Brinker International, Inc.?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and EAT scores: Pricing Power (51), Cost Advantage (85), Customer Stickiness (79), Capital Efficiency (70), Resilience (64), Scale & Market Position (65). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

Send Feedback
Please select a category.
0/1000