Fiesta Restaurant Group shares light up after results

Fiesta Restaurant

08/05/2018 15:45

** Shares of Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc  FRGI.O  gap up at
open, jump nearly 30 pct, in wake of co's Q1 2018 results after
the bell on Mon  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nBw4Y0v4ja
    ** FRGI last up 14.4 pct at $25.00, on track for largest
one-day pct jump since co went public in Apr 2012
    ** Nevertheless, with early thrust, FRGI finally filled
daily gap from Feb 28, 2017, when stock plunged 23.5 pct after
qtrly results
    ** Tues volume heavy, already 3.0 x 10-DMA
    ** Co, which owns Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana
restaurants, reported adj EPS of $0.16 on rev of $169.5 mln,
beating avg analyst estimate of adj EPS of $0.14 on rev of
$164.2 mln (Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S)
    ** Q1 rev declined yr/yr as a result of closing unprofitable
restaurants, co said; Apr comp sales increased 2.8 pct at Pollo
Tropical and 0.9 pct at Taco Cabana, whose brand will be
relaunched this summer
    ** Wedbush raises PT for FRGI to $29 from $24, Piper Jaffray
raises to $19 from $15; median PT now $23.50 from $19.50 one mth
ago (Thomson Reuters)
    ** Wedbush analysts note comp sales growth from revamp of
restaurant brands
    ** With today's gain, FRGI up ~32 pct YTD, vs S&P 600
Restaurants index  .SPSMCREST , up ~14 pct



 ((April.Joyner@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 7480; Reuters
Messaging: april.joyner.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))