Here’s Why Brinker International (EAT) Stands Out as a Top Growth Stock

Maximizing Your Investment Potential with Zacks Premium

Whether you’re new to investing or have years of experience, making the most of the stock market and investing with assurance are shared ambitions. Zacks Premium offers a variety of resources to help you achieve these goals.

This service provides daily updates on the Zacks Rank and Zacks Industry Rank, unrestricted access to the Zacks #1 Rank List, comprehensive Equity Research reports, and advanced Premium stock screening tools. These features are designed to empower you to make smarter, more confident investment decisions.

Subscribers also benefit from the Zacks Style Scores, a unique set of ratings to further guide your stock selections.

Understanding Zacks Style Scores

Created to complement the Zacks Rank, the Zacks Style Scores are a series of indicators that help investors identify stocks most likely to outperform the market within the next month.

Each stock receives a grade—A, B, C, D, or F—based on its value, growth, and momentum attributes. Similar to academic grading, an A is superior to a B, and so forth, indicating that higher scores suggest a greater potential for outperformance.

The Style Scores are divided into four main categories:

Value Score

Value investors seek quality stocks trading below their intrinsic worth, often before the broader market recognizes their potential. The Value Style Score uses metrics such as price-to-earnings, price/earnings-to-growth, price-to-sales, and price-to-cash-flow ratios to highlight stocks that are both appealing and undervalued.

Growth Score

Growth-oriented investors focus on companies with strong financial health and promising future prospects. The Growth Style Score evaluates factors like projected and historical earnings, revenue, and cash flow to pinpoint stocks likely to deliver consistent growth over time.

Momentum Score

Momentum investors capitalize on trends in stock prices or earnings forecasts, following the principle that "the trend is your friend." The Momentum Style Score identifies optimal moments to enter a position, using indicators such as short-term price movements and recent changes in earnings estimates.

VGM Score

For those who prefer a blended approach, the VGM Score combines the Value, Growth, and Momentum scores into a single rating. This composite score, especially when used alongside the Zacks Rank, helps investors zero in on companies that offer the best combination of value, growth potential, and momentum.

Integrating Style Scores with the Zacks Rank

The Zacks Rank is a proprietary rating system that leverages changes in earnings estimates to simplify the process of building a successful portfolio.

Historically, stocks rated #1 (Strong Buy) by Zacks have delivered an average annual return of +23.86% since 1988—more than twice the performance of the S&P 500. With over 200 stocks holding a Strong Buy rating and an additional 600 rated #2 (Buy) at any given time, investors have a wide selection of top-rated stocks to consider.

With more than 800 highly ranked stocks available, narrowing down the best options for your portfolio can be daunting.

This is where the Style Scores prove invaluable.

To enhance your investment results, focus on stocks with a Zacks Rank of #1 or #2 that also have Style Scores of A or B. If you’re considering stocks with a #3 (Hold) rating, prioritize those with top Style Scores to maximize your upside potential.

Always pay attention to the direction of earnings estimate revisions, as the Style Scores are designed to work in tandem with the Zacks Rank.

For example, a stock rated #4 (Sell) or #5 (Strong Sell), even if it has high Style Scores, is likely facing downward earnings trends and may be at greater risk of price declines.

In summary, the more stocks you own with a #1 or #2 Rank and an A or B Style Score, the stronger your portfolio is likely to be.

Featured Stock: Brinker International (EAT)

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Brinker International operates, manages, and franchises restaurants under the Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy brands. The company acquired Chili’s, Inc. in 1983 and added Maggiano’s to its portfolio in 1995.

Currently, Brinker International (EAT) holds a #1 (Strong Buy) Zacks Rank and boasts an A rating for its VGM Score.

This stock is particularly appealing to growth investors, as it has achieved an A in the Growth Style Score and is projected to deliver 20% earnings growth for the current fiscal year.

In the past two months, eight analysts have raised their earnings estimates for fiscal 2026, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate climbing by $0.44 to $10.68 per share. The company also has an average earnings surprise of +8.2%.

With its strong Zacks Rank and leading Growth and VGM Scores, EAT stands out as a compelling choice for investors.

Top Analyst’s “Best Pick to Double”

Out of thousands of stocks, five Zacks experts have each selected their top candidate for a potential 100%+ gain in the coming months. From these, the Director of Research, Sheraz Mian, has chosen the one he believes has the greatest explosive potential.

This company, which focuses on millennial and Gen Z consumers, generated nearly $1 billion in revenue last quarter. Following a recent dip, now may be an opportune moment to invest. While not every top pick achieves massive gains, this stock could outperform previous Zacks selections like Nano-X Imaging, which soared over 129% in just nine months.

Get More Investment Insights

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