** Shares of restaurant chain Bloomin' Brands Inc BLMN.O
up 5.64% at $24.9 premarket
** Co posts Q1 adj profit of $0.98/shr, beating est of
$0.89/shr - Refinitiv
** Posts 9.1% increase in Q1 total rev to $1.24 bln,
slightly above Wall Street expectations of $1.22 bln
** Expects Q2 adj profit between the range of $0.62 per
share to $0.67 per share
** Six of 12 brokerages rate stock 'buy' or higher; six
'hold'; their median PT is $30 - Refinitiv data
** Up to last close, stock up 17.2% YTD
(Reporting by Anandita Mehrotra in Bengaluru)
((Anandita.Mehrotra@thomsonreuters.com))