Steve West of Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. recently gave us some insight into the Restaurant  Sector . When asked about the recovery of the sector Mr West brought up the fast food segment;

Mr. West:  When you think about a recovery, fast food is already outperforming. They are doing pretty well, and as we get into the back half of 2009, assuming the consumer continues to trade down and eat out at fast food, which I think they will, you will see margins start expanding. They will start reaping the benefits of the cheaper food as well, and then the positive same-store sales should help leverage their fixed cost a little bit better as well. I think fast food will improve more before you see casual dining start to improve at all.

Seems that in this economy the value meal is the key to growth in the sector and your waistline

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 at 11:29 am and is filed under Consumer Stocks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.