Steakhouse dining chains have faced a challenging year of rising beef prices, which increased by 9.4% year-over-year in July 2026, making it harder for many restaurants to maintain profitable businesses and keep their doors open.
Among the restaurant chains implementing plans to improve their business performance is Bloomin' Brands' Outback Steakhouse, which has closed locations that no longer make economic sense to operate.
Outback Steakhouse is closing two more of its restaurants about 10 months after the chain's owner Bloomin' Brands launched a multi-year turnaround strategy that will eliminate locations that lack the potential for growth.
The 38-year-old steakhouse chain abruptly closed its Evansville, Wyo., location on Aug. 23, 2026, and posted a farewell note on its front door.
"G'Day Casper/Evansville: Outback Steakhouse is now closed. Thank you for all your support over the last 21 years. It has been a pleasure working with so many great, local Outbackers over the years. To all the fond memories!!! Cheers, The Outback Team," the note stated.

#closed

Bloomin' Brands raised its full-year earnings guidance Wednesday after higher menu prices pushed second-quarter profit above ***** yst expectations. The owner of Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar reported net income of $31.3 million, or 36 cents a share, for the quarter ended June 28, up from $25.4 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings per share came in at 39 cents. ***** ysts had expected 29 cents, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Total revenue rose 1.3% to $1.02 billion. ***** ysts had projected $1.00 billion.
U.S. comparable restaurant sales grew 2.3% in the quarter. Bonefish Grill posted the strongest gain among the company's chains, with an 8.1% increase. Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, and Fleming's each rose more than 1%. The company said revenue growth was driven by higher comparable restaurant sales, partially offset by net restaurant closures.
Higher menu prices lifted the per-guest tab, which the company said was the key driver of improved margins during the period. Spending on the Outback turnaround plan also declined during the period, contributing to lower general and administrative costs and a wider operating margin.

#cents #Share #restaurant

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) shares surged around 20% in pre-market trading after the restaurant operator reported second-quarter results that exceeded Wall Street expectations and raised its earnings guidance for the full year.
The company posted adjusted earnings of $0.39 per share, outperforming the ***** yst consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.10. Revenue increased 1.3% year over year to $1.02 billion, exceeding market expectations of $1.0 billion.
Bloomin' Brands recorded U.S. comparable restaurant sales growth of 2.3% during the quarter.
Bonefish Grill led the group's performance with comparable sales growth of 8.1%, followed by Carrabba's Italian Grill at 1.7%, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar at 1.6% and Outback Steakhouse at 1.4%.
Following the stronger-than-expected quarter, Bloomin' Brands increased its adjusted earnings guidance for fiscal 2026.

#bloomin #year #grill #market

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For the second straight quarter, Bloomin' Brands stock is soaring after the company reported encouraging results from Outback Steakhouse.
Bloomin's share price was up 35% as of midday Wednesday, to $12.04, and has now increased more than 88% year to date.
It reflects continued progress at the 662-unit Outback, which is in the midst of a turnaround effort after falling behind its steakhouse competitors in recent years. In the quarter that ended on June 28, Outback's same-store sales rose 1.4% year over year, their highest mark since the first quarter of 2023.
Traffic was still down 2.8%. Executives noted that the chain did not run third-party delivery promotions in the quarter that drove traffic a year ago but were less profitable.

#outback #brands

Cracker Barrel will soon have a new leader.
The company announced on July 27 CEO Julie Masino will step down as CEO and member of the board effective Aug. 10. Masino will be replaced by David Deno, most recently the CEO of Bloomin' Brands, the owner of casual restaurant chains such as Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill and Bonefish Grill.
Masino will remain with Cracker Barrel as an adviser until Oct. 9, the company said.
"Following a robust and thoughtful search process, we are pleased to welcome David as Cracker Barrel's next CEO," said Carl Berquist, independent chairman of the Cracker Barrel board, in a news release. "He brings decades of experience across the restaurant and retail industries, with a strong track record of leading businesses through growth and a demonstrated commitment to operational excellence, guest experience, and team member engagement."
Deno said in the news release he is "honored to lead the Cracker Barrel team" and looks forward to "unlocking the full potential of this remarkable brand." Deno began his tenure as CEO of Bloomin' Brands in 2019, having previously served as the company's executive vice president and chief financial officer from 2012 to 2019.

#barrel #masino

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Cracker Barrel is changing CEOs as it works to regain traffic and trust from guests.
The company announced Monday that David Deno will become CEO and join the board of directors effective August 10. He replaces Julie Masino, who has led Cracker Barrel since November 2023 and will step down from the top role and board on the same date. Masino will stay with the company in an advisory role through October 9 to ******* ist with the transition.
Deno brings decades of restaurant experience to the position, including five years as CEO of Bloomin' Brands, parent company of Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. He joined Bloomin' Brands in 2012 as CFO before taking over as CEO in 2019. He previously held senior positions at Best Buy, Yum! Brands, Pizza Hut, and Burger King.
During Deno's tenure, Bloomin' credited him with strengthening profitability and its balance sheet, including navigating the company through the COVID pandemic and optimizing its international portfolio. He retired from the CEO position in 2024.

#barrel #deno #steakhouse

We recently published Bill Miller Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks. Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) is one of the top stock picks.
Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) is a new appearance in Miller Value's 13F holdings as the firm disclosed two million shares worth $10.9 million in its first quarter filings. The stock is down by 17.9% over the past year and is up by 30.7% year-to-date. Depending on when Miller Value added the shares, the decision might have been a wise one. This is because Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)'s stock closed a whopping 41% higher on May 6th. On the 6th, the firm posted its fiscal first quarter earnings report before markets opened at Eastern time. The results saw Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) post $1.1 billion in revenue and $0.65 in earnings per share to meet ******* yst revenue estimates and beat them for earnings.
With the restaurant sector struggling, the results marked a nice breath of fresh air. Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)'s comparable sales grew by 0.9% in the first quarter to reverse the 0.5% drop in the previous quarter. The firm's Bonefish Grill brand grew sales by 6% while sales at Outback Steakhouse dipped by 0.3%.
While we acknowledge the risk and potential of BLMN as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than BLMN and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 33 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and Cathie Wood 2026 Portfolio: 10 Best Stocks to Buy.

Camels with "a bit of fire in them" raced in a remote Australian outback town this weekend at an annual event celebrating the desert beasts first imported in the mid-19th century.
Hundreds of spectators descended on Marree, which has a population of 65 and lies nearly 600 kilometres (370 miles) north of the South Australian capital Adelaide, for a 13-race spectacle on Saturday known as the Marree Camel Cup.
More than 10,000 camels were imported into Australia from 1840, many of them released into the wild with the development of railways and then the arrival of motor vehicles in the 1920s.
Now, estimates of the wild camel population range from 300,000 to a million animals.
Trainer Kyrraley Woodhouse, who started camel racing professionally in 2013, said most of his camels had been taken from the wild to run in the Marree event, which drew more than a dozen competitors.

Rising food costs driven by inflation have been a problem for U.S. steakhouses ranging from high-end to budget establishments, leading some well-known restaurants to permanently shut their doors and in some cases file for bankruptcy
An increase in the cost of beef that led to steak prices spiking 16% to $12.73 per pound in March 2026, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, affected menu prices and discouraged some diners from dining in steakhouses, taking a bite out of restaurant revenue.
Steakhouses that have closed locations in the U.S. over the last three months have included Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar, McCormick & Schmick's, and Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill, with Quaker Steak & Lube about to close one, too.
A Golden Corral restaurant franchisee, Conroe Corral Murphy LLC, however filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas on June 8 and continues to operate.
Outback Steakhouse's owner Bloomin' Brands closed 21 locations in 2025 and said it would close another 22 locations in 2026 as leases expire, according to its third quarter earnings call.

In less than a month, Greenville High School's Iron Lions solar car team will be heading to Fort Worth to compete in this year's Solar Car Challenge Cross Texas.
While many students have been enjoying some time off this summer, the Iron Lions have spent many days at their shop working on and testing their competition car, Aurora, which made its debut at last September's Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Australia.
Even though Aurora only ended up completing about 500 miles out of the total 2,000 miles through the Outback, the team is using what they learned through the experience as they prepare for their upcoming competition.
Solar Car Challenge Cross Texas will greet teams at Texas Motor Speedway on July 16, where judges will put the teams through an intensive three-day "scrutineering" process to make sure that each car meets standards for structural integrity, braking, electrical and battery requirements, the car's ability to run for an extended period of time and other criteria.
Scrutineering also includes student presentations along with question-and-answer sessions between judges and team members.

Even chain restaurants have to continually reinvent themselves to stay fresh with customers. That means menu innovation, and evolving the concept.
"The lifeblood of the restaurant industry is new items. You need something to speak about," Panda Restaurant Group Chief Supply Chain Officer Roland Ornelas told Restaurant Dive, adding, "You have to really focus on that value to guests — but you also have to steal customers from your competitors."
It's not just a question of change for change sake, but also executing in way that makes sense to customers.
Outback Steakhouse, a 38-year-old chain, has struggled in recent years with its menu, its execution, and keeping customers coming back. That led to Bloomin' Brands deciding to close some restaurants while overhauling most of the rest of the chain.
"This year, we completed a detailed review of our restaurant base and identified 21 underperforming restaurants, which we closed last week. We also identified 22 restaurants in which we would not renew the lease," Bloomin' Brands CFO Eric Christel shared during the company's third-quarter 2025 earnings call.