Red Robin Gourmet soars after surprise Q1 profit

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers

30/05/2025 15:35

** Shares of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers RRGB.O up 60% to $5.01 early Fri, on course for record daily gain, after co swung to qtrly profit and handily beat Wall Street's expectations

** RRGB soars as much as 82.4% to $5.71, nearly three-mth high

** Englewood, Colorado-based restaurant chain late Thurs posted fiscal Q1 adj earnings of $19 cents/sh, vs loss of 73 cents/sh a yr-ago, while analysts modeled a loss of 49 cents, per LSEG

** Rev in qtr of $392.4 mln also surpassed consensus as same-store sales increased 3.1%

** For current-qtr, it expects 3% decline in same-store sales, due to comparisons with 2024 launch of its rewards program

** Lake Street Capital reiterated 'buy' rating and $11 PT, saying Q1 results demonstrated progress in operational efficiency, with significant reductions in food, labor and marketing costs supporting margin expansion

** Jefferies stuck with 'hold' rating, and boosted PT from $3.25 to $3.50

** Co making progress of its long-term turnaround opportunity with early signs of emerging same-store sales stability, despite challenging macro environment, though visibility remains limited, Jefferies said in note

** Last month, Red Robin named food, beverage and retail industry veteran David Pace as new CEO, saying Pace to focus on leading co through the next phase of its transformation

** Short interest in RRGB stood at ~19% of public float as of May 30, according to latest LSEG StarMine data

** Through Thurs close, RRGB had shed 43% YTD. Stock hit record intraday low of $2.50 on Apr 25

 (Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

 ((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))