U.S. restaurants to post 'mixed bag' of results - brokerage

BJs Restaurants

20/01/2022 13:11

** William Blair expects a mixed bag of quarterly results
from U.S. restaurant chains as pandemic-related staffing
shortages and rising commodity and labor costs partly offset
steady consumer demand
    ** "Even before Omicron, hiring and retaining staff was a
significant challenge" - analyst Sharon Zackfia
    ** Investor focus will be on current sales trends as Omicron
impact on high-volume holiday weeks for casual dining names will
largely be in the ongoing quarter - the brokerage
    ** Zackfia expects Starbucks sales  SBUX.O  to be under
pressure due to China lockdowns and casual chains to bear the
brunt of the Omicron impact given their lesser ability to pivot
to off-premise sales
    
  Company     Brokerage's     Rating
              comments on   
               quarterly    
               earnings     
 Starbucks      To meet     Outperform
  SBUX.O        market      
             expectations   
  Chipotle     Likely to    Outperform
  Mexican    meet or beat   
   Grill          its       
   CMG.N     below-consens  
              us estimate   
    BJ's      To roughly      Market
 Restaurant   meet Street    Perform
 s  BJRI.O   expectations   
  Potbelly   Sequentially     Market
  PBPB.O      bigger loss    Perform
  Bloomin'     Likely to    Outperform
   Brands    meet its own   
  BLMN.O        forcast     
 
 (Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam)
 ((Praveen.Paramasivam@thomsonreuters.com;))