Article Excerpt:
TWST: Hil, let's start with an overview of what you're covering.Mr. Davis: I basically cover the growth names and casual dining names. These are names such as Applebee's (APPB), Brinker (EAT) and Darden (DRI) in terms of casual dining, and Panera (PNRA), Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) and P.F. Chang's (PFCB) in terms of the growth phase.
TWST: In general terms, what's been going on with the group from a
business perspective so far this year?
Mr. Davis: In the second half of 2004, most restaurant companies
reported disappointing results. Same-store sales were a little soft as
the economy was slightly weak and there were commodity cost pressures.
As you moved into 2005, January and February especially had very, very
difficult same-store sales comparisons. Part of that was due to the fact
that they had very good weather in 2004 and very terrible weather in
2003. In 2005, they actually lapped those same-store sales with very
strong results. Probably 1-1.5 points of that were due to gift card
redemption, but the rest was due to traffic gains and probably better
execution within the four walls.
Tickers included in this excerpt: APPB, BWLD, CAKE, DRI, EAT, MCD, NE, OSI, PFCB, PNRA, RI, RRGB, SONC, WEN, YUM
TWST Newsletter
For more information call (212) 952 7433. The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does not make stock recommendations.