Weren't they losing money for years on all-you-can-eat seafood specials [1]?

It's not uncommon in the fast food business to be breaking even or losing money on all aspects of the business while the true value of the company, its real estate portfolio, steadily grows. The fact that investors decided they wanted to cash out should be a surprise to no one.

[1] https://www.fastcompany.com/91129776/what-really-killed-red-...