Comfort eating out of recession 😋

Elasticated pants get ready for the snack attack! 🍔 Hungry inflation might be trying to take a bite out of our wallets but it hasn’t stopped us reaching for comfort food. And it looks like fast-food chains and diners are taking the biggest slice of the pie. 🥧 

So too are some shareholders. Super Bowl rebuffer Burger King parent Restaurant Brands (QSR) plans to King-size their April dividend payments to a flamin’ good 3.3%. This follows strong fourth-quarter results that beat revenue expectations but slightly missed on earnings, just as incoming CEO Joshua Kobza readies to ascend his throne. 👑 

70-year-old Denny’s (DENN) 24/7 low dollar dining ain’t looking too shabby either. Has their tantalising March menu refresh added to their all-day Diner Deals got Denny's customers thirsty? 🍰 The company posted a fourth quarter ‘earnings surprise’ of 12.50%. And their revenues of US$120.85 million chomped past Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.15%, topping their previous year by a tasty 12.27%, with staffing and turnover now ‘comparable’ to pre-pandemic levels.

Outback Steakhouse owner Bloomin' Brands (BLMN) might be yeehawing too following a share surge following their ‘mixed’ fourth-quarter earnings. 🥩 They beat earnings estimates of US$0.65 a share landing at US$0.68. But there’s sizzle ahead, the company announcing a US$125 million share buyback.

Shake Shack (SHAK) meanwhile is once bitten twice shy after price hikes in beef, fries, dairy, packaging and, erm, truffles, leading to a quarter net loss of US$11.1 million. 🍄 ‘Though, while earnings per share (EPS) were down 6 cents (US), they were 5 cents (US) higher than Wall Street expectations. Revenue was also a snack-size higher, at US$238.5 million versus US$238.2 million expected.

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BJ’s Restaurants’ (BJRI) better than expected earnings results drizzled the sauce too. Citigroup lifted their target price from US$30 to US$35, Barclays gave them an ‘underweight’ rating, and Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft added extra cheese with their ‘buy’ rating.👀

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But proving not everything’s always bigger in Texas, Texas Roadhouse (TXRH) fell short of analysts’ expectations, missing on earnings and revenue …a Texas takeaway cocktail hangover, perhaps? 🍹

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