Q2 2026 Dine Brands Global Inc Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- IHOP delivered its third consecutive quarter of industry outperformance versus Black Box on both traffic and sales, with positive 1.5% comp sales.
- Applebee's off-premise sustained positive momentum with comp sales of 1.5% and a fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit delivery comp sales growth.
- The dual-brand initiative is expanding rapidly, with 45 locations open and 12 under construction, and new locations are performing at approximately 2 times single-brand sales levels.
- IHOP's catering business saw a significant acceleration, with comp sales up 22% in Q2, up from 16% in Q1.
- The company returned $9 million to shareholders in Q2, including $7 million in share repurchases, and the Board authorized an additional $100 million buyback program.
- Applebee's new Loaded Potato Waves became its strongest appetizer launch since the pandemic, and IHOP's Dubai Chocolate Pancakes are over-indexing in sales versus forecast.
- Applebee's comp sales decreased 1.8% year over year, impacted by a difficult April comparison period.
- Adjusted EBITDA decreased to $54.2 million from $56.2 million in the same quarter last year.
- Adjusted free cash flow dropped significantly to $3.7 million for the first six months of 2026, down from $48.7 million in the prior year period.
- Commodity costs increased, with Applebee's up 8.2% and IHOP up 1.6%, driven by higher beef prices.
- G&A expenses rose to $55.6 million from $50.8 million, due to higher employee-related costs, severance charges, and transaction expenses.
- The company-owned restaurant portfolio continues to impact profitability, with closures for construction and lower AUVs (low 2s) compared to the system average (closer to 3).
Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Dine Brands second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.
I would now like to hand the conference over to your host today, Matt Lee, Senior Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations.
Good morning. Welcome to Dine Brands Global's second quarter fiscal 2026 conference call. This morning's call will include prepared remarks from John Peyton, CEO; and Vance Chang, CFO. Following those prepared remarks, Lawrence Kim, Chief Commercial Officer and President of IHOP, will also be available, along with John and Vance, to address questions during the Q&A portion of the call.
Please remember our Safe Harbor regarding forward-looking information. During the call, management will discuss information that is forward-looking and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual
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