Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 28, 2025

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Dine Brands Global, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Certain amounts in the Consolidated Financial Statements and associated notes may not foot due to rounding.

Fiscal Periods

The Company has a 52/53 week fiscal year that ends on the Sunday nearest to December 31 of each year. In a 52-week fiscal year, each fiscal quarter contains 13 weeks, comprised of two, four-week fiscal months followed by a five-week fiscal month. In a 53-week fiscal year, the last month of the fourth fiscal quarter contains six weeks. There were 52 weeks in our 2025, 2024, and 2023 fiscal years that ended December 28, 2025, December 29, 2024, and December 31, 2023, respectively.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities, if any, at the date of the consolidated financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results may differ from those estimates.

Concentration of Credit Risk

The Company's cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and accounts receivable are potentially subject to concentration of credit risk. Cash and cash equivalents are placed with financial institutions that management believes are creditworthy. The Company does not believe that it is exposed to any significant credit risk related to cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash. At times, cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash balances may be in excess of FDIC insurance limits.

Accounts receivable are derived from revenues earned from franchisees and area licensees located primarily in the United States. The Company is subject to a concentration of credit risk with respect to receivables from franchisees that own a large number of IHOP, Applebee's or Fuzzy's restaurants. As of December 28, 2025, two franchisees (one Applebee's franchisee and one franchisee with cross-brand ownership) operated a combined total of 780 IHOP and Applebee's restaurants in the United States, which comprised 24.5% of the total IHOP, Applebee's and Fuzzy's franchise restaurants in the United States. Revenues from these two franchisees represented 19.0%, 22.2%, and 21.1% of total consolidated revenue for the years ended December 28, 2025, December 29, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. Receivables from these franchisees totaled $20.0 million and $20.1 million at December 28, 2025 and December 29, 2024, respectively. One of the two franchisees represented 13.5%, 14.4%, and 13.9% of total consolidated revenue for the years ended December 28, 2025, December 29, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid investment securities with remaining maturities at the date of purchase of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Cash held related to IHOP advertising funds and the Company's gift card programs is not

considered to be restricted cash as there are no restrictions on the use of these funds. The components of cash and cash equivalents were as follows:

	December 28, 2025		December 29, 2024
	(In millions)
Money market funds	$	2.0	$	35.0
Other depository accounts, including IHOP advertising and gift card	126.2		151.7
Total cash and cash equivalents	$	128.2	$	186.7

Restricted Cash

Current

Current restricted cash primarily consisted of funds required to be held in trust in connection with the Company's securitized debt and cash for Applebee's and Fuzzy's advertising funds. The components of current restricted cash were as follows:

	December 28, 2025		December 29, 2024
	(In millions)
Securitized debt reserves	$	46.0	$	40.0
Applebee's and Fuzzy's advertising funds	5.5		2.4
Total current restricted cash	$	51.5	$	42.4

Non-current

Non-current restricted cash of $22.0 million and $19.5 million as of December 28, 2025 and December 29, 2024, respectively, represents one quarter of interest reserves contractually restricted as required under the terms of our debt agreements.

Property and Equipment and Finite-Lived Intangible Assets

Property and equipment are stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives. Generally, the estimated useful lives are as follows:

Category	Depreciable Life
Buildings and improvements	25 to 40 years
Leaseholds and improvements	Shorter of primary lease term or useful life (up to 40 years)
Equipment and fixtures	Three to five years
Internal-use software	Three to 10 years
Properties under finance leases	Greater of lease term or remaining useful life
Finite-lived intangible assets	10 to 15 years

The Company assesses whether property and equipment and finite-lived intangible assets that are held and used are impaired whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount may not be recoverable. These assets are primarily made up of property and equipment and ROU assets of Company-owned restaurants, ROU assets leased or subleased to franchisees and Applebee’s and Fuzzy’s franchising rights. When there is an indication an asset may not be recoverable, the analysis requires the asset to be grouped together with assets used to generate cash flows that are largely independent of cash flows generated by other assets of the Company. The sum of the estimated undiscounted future cash flows of the group is compared to its carrying amount. If the carrying amount of the group of assets exceeds the sum of the estimated undiscounted future cash flows, the fair value of the group of assets is required to be determined. The fair value of the group of assets is primarily determined using the discounted cash flows. An impairment charge is recorded for the amount by which the group’s carrying amount exceeds its fair value. For assets of Company-owned restaurants and ROU assets leased or subleased, we generally determine the individual restaurant to be the group of assets. For property and equipment and finite-lived intangible assets held for sale, the group of assets is written down to its fair value, less costs to sell.

See Note 12 - Closure and Long-lived Asset Impairment Charges, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets

Goodwill and intangible assets considered to have an indefinite life are required to be tested for impairment annually or more frequently if indicators of impairment exist. Such indicators include, but are not limited to, events or circumstances such as a significant adverse change in our business, climate of the business, unanticipated competition, a loss of key personnel, adverse legal or regulatory developments or a significant decline in the market price of our common stock.

If no indicators of impairment exist, we perform our annual impairment test of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets annually in the fourth fiscal quarter. In doing so, we first perform a qualitative assessment of whether it is more likely than not that an impairment exists. Factors considered in this assessment include, but are not limited to, macro-economic conditions, market and industry conditions, cost considerations, the competitive environment, share price fluctuations, overall financial performance and results of past impairment tests. If we qualitatively determine that it is more likely than not that an impairment exists, we perform a quantitative impairment test. Alternatively, in any given year, we may elect to skip the qualitative assessment and only perform a quantitative assessment of impairment.

Goodwill is tested for impairment at our reporting units. Reporting units are operating segments or one level below an operating segment. In performing a quantitative test for impairment of goodwill, we compare the carrying value of a reporting unit to its fair value. We primarily use a discounted cash flow method of valuation to determine the fair value of a reporting unit. In addition, we may use a market approach that includes the guideline public company method to determine the fair value of a reporting unit or to compare to the value derived from our discounted cash flow. Significant assumptions made by management in estimating fair value under the discounted cash flow model include restaurant sales trends, future development plans, restaurant closures, cost of revenues, operating expenses, and an appropriate discount rate based on our estimated cost of equity capital and after-tax cost of debt. Significant assumptions used to determine fair value under the guideline public company method include the selection of guideline companies and the valuation multiples applied. We believe our assumptions and valuation methodologies are consistent with those that would be used by a market participant.

Our indefinite-lived intangible assets have primarily consisted of the Applebee's and Fuzzy's tradenames. In performing a quantitative impairment test of these, we primarily use the relief from royalty method under the income approach of valuation. Significant assumptions used to determine fair value under the relief from royalty method include future trends in system sales, the royalty rate applied to system sales, and the discount rate used to calculate the present value of the forecasted cash flow stream.

There is an inherent degree of uncertainty in preparing any forecast of future results. Future trends in system sales are dependent to a large degree on national, regional and local economic conditions, and, to a lesser degree, on global economic conditions, particularly those conditions affecting the demographics of the guests that frequently patronize our restaurants. There are numerous potential events that could reasonably be expected to negatively affect the forecast of system sales, from a decrease in customers' disposable income to an unexpected event such as a global pandemic. As a result, our restaurants could experience a decline in system sales as a result of numerous factors.

During the year ended December 28, 2025, the Company performed a qualitative test of goodwill and the Applebee’s tradename and a quantitative test of Fuzzy's tradename, using the approaches described above. Based on our qualitative assessment of goodwill and the Applebee’s tradename we determined it was more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting units and Applebee’s tradename were greater than their respective carrying values. Our quantitative test of the Fuzzy’s tradename showed that the fair value was less than its carrying value and we recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $29.0 million in the fourth quarter in the Franchise segment. In fiscal year 2024, our quantitative test of goodwill determined that the fair value of the Fuzzy’s reporting unit was less than its carrying value and we recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $7.1 million during the year in the Franchise segment.

Business Combinations

From time to time, the Company may enter into business combinations. The Company applies the acquisition method of accounting for acquisitions that meet the definition of a business. Under the acquisition method, the Company estimates the fair value of the identifiable assets and liabilities of the acquired entity as of the acquisition date. Acquired intangible assets are valued using different methods under the income approach, including but not limited to, the relief from royalty method. The Company measures goodwill as the excess of consideration transferred and liabilities assumed over the fair values of the identifiable assets acquired. Goodwill is assigned to each reporting unit that is expected to benefit from the synergies of the business combination. Acquisition-related expenses and transaction costs associated with business combinations are expensed in the period incurred.

Revenue Recognition

The Company's revenues are primarily derived from franchise operations, company-owned restaurant operations, and rental operations. Franchise revenues and revenues from company-owned restaurants are recognized upon transfer of control of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to receive for those goods or services.

Franchise Segment Revenues

The intellectual property subject to the franchise license is symbolic intellectual property as it does not have significant standalone functionality. Substantially all the utility is derived from its association with the Company’s past or ongoing activities. The nature of the Company’s promise in granting the franchise license is to provide the franchisee with access to the brand’s symbolic intellectual property over the term of the license.

Accordingly, the Franchise Segment revenues are recognized as follows:

•Franchise and development fees – recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the franchise agreement commencing with the restaurant opening date. As these fees are typically received in cash at or near the beginning of the franchise term, the cash received is initially recorded as a contract liability until recognized as revenue;

•Royalties and advertising fees – recognized as the franchisee's sales occur. Depending on timing within a fiscal period, the recognition of revenue results in either a contract asset (unbilled receivable) or, once billed, accounts receivable, on the balance sheet;

•Revenues from the sales of proprietary products (primarily pancake and waffle dry mix) are recognized in the period in which distributors ship the franchisee's order.

From time to time, the Company may provide franchisee incentives to develop restaurants in conducting its franchising activities. Generally, the Company recognizes incentives as a contract asset amortized against revenues over the expected term of the franchise agreement. Franchising arrangements do not contain a significant financing component.

Company-Owned Restaurant Revenues

Company-owned restaurant revenues represent sales of food and beverage items at company-owned restaurants and are recognized as these services are delivered to the customer. Company-owned restaurant revenues are reported net of sales taxes collected from guests that are remitted to the appropriate taxing authorities.

Rental Revenues

Rental revenues consist primarily of revenues from operating leases and interest income from real estate leases of property we own and lease to franchisees and leases from third parties and we then sublease to franchisees. Revenues are generally recognized over the term of the lease, beginning when control over the leased space is given to the franchisee.

Gift Card

The Company administers gift card programs for each restaurant concept. The Company records a liability in the period in which a gift card is sold and recognizes costs associated with its administration of the gift card programs as a prepaid asset when the costs are incurred. The liability and prepaid asset recorded on the Company's balance sheet are relieved when a gift card is redeemed and settlement with the restaurant where redemption occurred takes place. If redemption occurs at a restaurant of a franchisee, the gift card proceeds, net of costs, are remitted to the franchisee.

Allowance for Credit Losses

The Company's receivables and long-term receivables balances are primarily comprised of receivables from franchisees, distributors, and gift card vendors. Generally, accounts receivables are due from franchisees for royalty, advertising and other franchise-related fees, and from distributors related to the sale of proprietary products to franchisees through the Company's network of suppliers and distributors. Gift card receivables primarily consist of amounts due from third-party vendors for cash collected on purchased cards. Notes receivable balances primarily relate to the conversion of certain past due franchisee accounts receivable, cash loans to franchisees for working capital purposes, or financing of the sale of IHOP and Applebee's company restaurants and franchise fees. Interest accrues on notes receivable based on the contractual terms. Leases receivable primarily relate to the Previous IHOP Business Model.

The Company closely monitors the financial condition of our franchisees and estimates the allowance for credit losses based on historical collection experience, credit quality, and current market conditions.

Leases

Lessee arrangements:

The Company leases property under various operating and finance leases. An arrangement is or contains a lease if the Company receives substantially all the economic benefits and can direct the use of the asset. Operating lease assets (right-of-use or ROU) represent the right to use the asset over the lease term and are based on the operating lease liabilities adjusted for prepayments, certain costs, lease incentives and impairments of the asset. Lease liabilities represent the present value of lease payments not yet paid. The Company does not separate lease and non-lease components but has elected to include non-lease components in its ROU asset and lease liability calculation. The subsequent measurement of a lease is dependent on whether the lease is classified as an operating lease or a finance lease. Leases with initial term of twelve months or less are not recorded on the balance sheets.

The Company uses its incremental borrowing rate (IBR) which is defined as the rate of interest that the Company would have to pay to borrow, on a collateralized basis, an amount over a similar term as the lease payments.

The cost of an operating lease is generally recognized over the lease term on a straight-line basis. Certain leases may include rent escalations based on an index or contain contingent rental provisions that include a fixed base rent plus an additional percentage of the restaurant’s sales. Subsequent escalations subject to such an index and contingent rental payments are recognized as variable lease expense in the period they occur.

As a lessee, rental payments on finance leases are recognized as interest expense and amortized as a reduction of finance lease obligation.

Lessor arrangements:

As part of its business, the Company enters into lease arrangements with certain franchisees that grants them the right to use properties to operate restaurants. The Company accounts for its lease agreements with franchisees as either an operating or sales-type lease.

The underlying assets subject to operating leases are shown in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets and are depreciated in accordance with its depreciation policies. Revenue from operating leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The Company recognizes a net investment in its sales type leases at the lease commencement date. The net investment consists of a lease receivable and the expected unguaranteed residual value, if any. Interest income on the net investment in the lease is recognized using the effective interest method to produce a consistent yield over the lease term. For sales-type leases, the Company recognizes a profit at the lease commencement date.

The Company’s lease agreements with its franchisees include fixed lease payments and, in certain cases, may include variable lease payments based on a percentage of restaurant sales. The Company does not separate lease and non-lease components for its leases for which it is a lessor.

The lease term is determined at the lease commencement date as the noncancelable period plus any period subject to a renewal option that is deemed reasonably certain of being exercised. Generally, the Company does not include the renewal options as part of the lease term as it does not believe that it is reasonably certain that such options will be exercised.

Pre-opening Expenses

Expenditures related to the opening of new or relocated restaurants, such as training and labor costs, professional fees, and general and administrative expenses are charged to expense when incurred.

Advertising

Advertising expense reflected in the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income represents the advertising and marketing costs of our advertising funds that we administer for our brands. Our company-owned restaurants also incur costs for their contributions to the funds. Costs of advertising are typically expensed the first time the advertising airs. Any excess of revenues over expenses is recognized only to the extent of previously recognized deficits. When advertising revenues exceed the related advertising expenses and there is no recovery of a previously recognized deficit, advertising costs are accrued up to the amount of revenues.

Fair Value Measurements

For financial assets and liabilities, as well as non-financial assets and liabilities that are recognized or disclosed at fair value, we may use the following inputs to derive the fair value:

•Level 1 inputs are quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

•Level 2 inputs are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly, including quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities.

•Level 3 inputs are unobservable and reflect the Company's own assumptions.

The Company believes the fair values of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, accounts receivable and accounts payable approximate their carrying amounts due to their short duration.

The Company believes the fair value of the Credit Facility approximates its carrying value as it is based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR") or prevailing benchmark rate. The fair value of the Company's long-term debt, excluding the Credit Facility, is based on quoted market prices which represent Level 1 inputs. The fair value of the Company's long-term debt, excluding the Credit Facility, as of December 28, 2025 and December 29, 2024 were as follows:

	December 28, 2025		December 29, 2024
	(In millions)
Face Value	$	1,100.0	$	1,094.0
Fair Value	$	1,112.3	$	1,095.5

Income Taxes

The Company utilizes the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Under the asset and liability method, deferred taxes are determined based on the temporary differences between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates. The Company recognizes a tax benefit only to the extent it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained by taxing authorities based on its technical merits. A valuation allowance is recorded when it is more likely than not that some portion or all of a deferred tax asset may not be realized. The Company records an estimated tax liability to the extent a contingency is probable and can be reasonably estimated. The Company recognizes interest accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits and penalties as a component of the income tax expense recognized in the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company accounts for all stock-based payments to employees and non-employee directors, including grants of stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units and performance units to be recognized in the financial statements, based on their grant date fair values. The value of the portion of the award that is ultimately expected to vest is recognized as expense ratably over the requisite service periods.

The grant date fair value of restricted stock and stock-settled restricted stock units is determined based on the Company's stock price on the grant date. The Company estimates the grant date fair value of stock option awards using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, which considers, among other factors, a risk-free interest rate, the expected life of the award and the volatility of the Company's stock price. The Company estimates the grant date fair value of its long-term cash incentive awards (“LTIP awards”) using a Monte Carlo simulation which considers, among other factors, the performance-based market condition, a risk-free interest rate, the expected life of the award and the historical volatility of the Company's stock price.

The Company estimates forfeitures for its restricted stock, stock-settled restricted stock units, and stock option plans at the time of grant based on historical turnover rates. As of December 28, 2025, the Company used a forfeiture rate of 14%. If actual forfeitures differ from this estimate, adjustments to compensation expense are recorded in the period the estimate is revised.

Net Income Per Share

Net income per share is calculated using the two-class method prescribed in U.S. GAAP. Basic net income (loss) per share is computed by dividing the net income available to common stockholders for the period by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted net income per share is computed by dividing the net income available to common stockholders for the period by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding and dilutive potential shares of common stock. The Company uses the treasury stock method to calculate the weighted average shares used in the diluted earnings per share calculation. Dilutive potential common shares include the assumed exercise of stock options. The Company had no dilutive potential shares outstanding for the periods presented.

Treasury Stock

Repurchases of the Company's common stock are included in treasury stock at the cost of shares repurchased which includes transaction costs. Treasury stock may be re-issued when vested stock options are exercised, when restricted stock

awards are granted and when restricted stock units vest. The cost of treasury stock re-issued is determined on the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method.

Dividends

Dividends declared on common stock are recorded as a reduction of retained earnings to the extent retained earnings are available at the close of the period prior to the date of the dividend declaration. Dividends declared in excess of retained earnings are recorded as a reduction of additional paid-in capital.

Reportable Segments

The Company's Chief Executive Officer is the chief operating decision maker ("CODM"). The CODM regularly reviews revenues, segment profit and segment operating profits to allocate resources and assess performance against the annual budget and current forecasts. Based on the information regularly reviewed by the CODM, we have determined the Company has six operating segments: IHOP domestic franchise, Applebee's domestic franchise, Fuzzy's franchise, international franchise, Company-owned restaurants and Rental. The Company has three reportable segments: Franchise, Company-owned Restaurants and Rental. Prior to fiscal 2025, the Company used to report results inclusive of a Financing Segment. Given the insignificance of the operations from financing activities, the CODM no longer receives information related to financing activities and those activities are now reported in our Rental Segment. Fiscal years 2024 and 2023 have been recast to reflect that change. We do not present a measure of assets for our reportable segments as this information is not used by the CODM to allocate resources or assess performance.

Franchise Segment

As of December 28, 2025, the franchise reportable segment consisted of 1,520 restaurants operated by Applebee's franchisees, 1,812 restaurants operated by IHOP franchisees and area licensees, and 105 restaurants operated by Fuzzy's franchisees.

Franchise operations expenses include advertising expense, the cost of proprietary products, bad debt expense, pre-opening training expenses and other franchise-related costs.

Company-Owned Restaurants Segment

As of December 28, 2025, the Company owned 59 Applebee's restaurants, 12 IHOP restaurants and one Fuzzy's restaurant, all in the United States.

Company-owned restaurant expenses are operating expenses at company-owned restaurants and include food, beverage, labor, benefits, utilities, rent and other operating costs.

Rental Segment

Rental expenses are costs of operating leases and interest expense of finance leases. The Rental activities are primarily related to activities with IHOP franchisees. Applebee's and Fuzzy's have no or an insignificant amount of rental activity.

Accounting Standards Adopted in the Current Fiscal Year

In December 2025, the Company adopted ASU No. 2023-09, "Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures (ASU 2023-09)." The standard requires a reconciliation of a company’s effective tax rate in both dollar amount and percentage as well as information on income taxes paid. The Company adopted ASU 2023-09 on a prospective basis. Accordingly, prior period disclosures have not been adjusted to reflect the new disclosure requirements. Refer to Note 15 - Income Taxes in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional details.

Newly Issued Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted

In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU No. 2024-03, "Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses," which requires public business entities to provide disaggregated disclosures of certain expense categories that are included in expense line items on the Statement of Comprehensive Income. The guidance is effective for the Company for annual periods beginning in 2027 and interim periods beginning in 2028. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this ASU on our disclosures.