Texas Roadhouse Inc (NASDAQ:TXRH) shares rose 3.5% in after-hours trading Thursday despite posting fourth-quarter results that fell short of Wall Street expectations. The steakhouse chain reported quarterly diluted earnings per share of $1.28, missing the consensus analyst estimate of $1.52. Revenue for the period reached $1.48 billion, slightly trailing the $1.5 billion projected by forecasters.

Investors appeared to overlook the earnings miss, focusing instead on robust comparable sales growth and a positive start to the new fiscal year. Comparable restaurant sales at company-owned locations climbed 4.2%, while average weekly sales rose to $160,021. However, restaurant margins contracted by 309 basis points to 13.9% as the company battled 9.5% commodity inflation and rising labor costs.

to 2026, the company expects store week growth of 5% to 6% and has already seen an 8.2% jump in comparable sales during the first seven weeks of the year. Management also announced plans to implement a menu price increase of approximately 1.9% in early April to offset persistent 7% commodity inflation. The Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.75 per share to be paid on March 31 to shareholders of record as of mid-March.