We are hosting a Black Book Review of Brinker on today at 12:30 PM. We have been bearish on Casual Dining and EAT for the better part of the past two years. While we remain bearish on Casual Dining, EAT has been a company that has struggled for the better part of the last five years, and under new management, there is an opportunity to right-size the ship and improve the four-wall margin and the Chili's brand. The MACRO setup for restaurants remains tenuous for the next six months, but we will be looking to get more aggressive as the year unfolds, and we have a line of sight into better trends in 2H23.
Webcast & Slides: CLICK HERE (Refresh Shortly Before The Call).
YUM
YUM disclosed a cyberattack that targeted its IT systems and caused hundreds of stores in the UK to close on Wednesday. Per an SEC filing published on Thursday, the quick service group was hit by a ransomware attack on Wednesday “that impacted certain information technology systems” within its chains. The company said that it enacted measures to counteract the attack, including taking certain systems offline. These actions and precautions caused “less than 300 restaurants in the United Kingdom” to close on Wednesday. “The company is actively engaged in fully restoring affected systems, which is expected to be largely complete in the coming days,” the filing stated. “Although data was taken from the company’s network and an investigation is ongoing, at this stage, there is no evidence that customer databases were stolen.” Further store closures are not anticipated.
SBUX
SBUX VP of creative studios Jen Quotson is departing, according to Bloomberg.
Per her LinkedIn profile, Quotson spent 14 years with the Seattle-based chain. She is the latest executive to leave the firm in the waning days of Howard Schultz's tenure. In the past year, Head of North America Rossann Williams, General Counsel Rachel Gonzalez, EVP of Global Supply Chain George Dowdie, and COO John Culver all either departed or were removed from their positions. Javier Teruel, a long-serving board member of the restaurant operator, also resigned in late 2022. Incoming CEO Laxman Narasimhan is due to begin his tenure at the company's helm in April.
