Lower expenses and costs in "a challenging sales environment," combined with revenue growth, helped boost the company's earnings per diluted share by 13% year-on-year to $1.27, said CEO Sally Smith in the earnings statement.
The chicken chain reported revenue of $490.2 million, up 15% year-on-year.
Analysts had estimated that it earned adjusted EPS of $1.25 and sales totaling $498 million according to Bloomberg.
Sales at company-owned stores open for at least one year fell 2.1% during the quarter, and fell 2.6% at franchised restaurants.
The company said it's looking forward to the return of football season in the third quarter, which could boost traffic to its restaurants. It's also betting that a new advertising campaign will help.
It forecasts that food costs would fall during the latter half of the year, excluding chicken-wing prices. Higher wing costs had prompted it to increase prices, driving away some customers, Bloomberg noted.
Earlier on Tuesday, the company's shares rose 6% after activist investor Marcato Capital Management reported a 5.1% stake in it.
The shares rose by about 3% in after-hours trading.