Texas Roadhouse has faced increased adversity in the face of rising labour costs. Shares of the Louisville, Kentucky-based company fell 11 percent after they missed Wall Street’s first-quarter earnings and sales expectations.
In a statement, president Scott Colosi, said, “Despite our ongoing sales strength, our profits continue to be pressured by higher labour costs. Much of the labour increase was driven by wage rate and other labour inflation that currently does not show signs of abating.” Throughout these trying times, the pace of expansion at Texas Roadhouse has slowed. However, Colosi said, “As a result, we are updating our labour inflation expectations for 2019. The additional 1.5 percent of pricing we put in place at the beginning of the second quarter will provide a significant benefit for the remainder of 2019.”
