Recent Notes
04/20/15 Monday Mashup
04/20/15 Flash Call | PNRA: The Activist Playbook
04/21/15 EAT: Becoming A Victim Of Its Own Success
04/22/15 CMG: Rinse & Repeat
04/22/15 YUM: It’s A Win-Win
Events This Week
Monday, April 27
- ARCO annual general meeting 8:00am EST
- QSR earnings call 8:30am EST
Tuesday, April 28
- FRGI annual general meeting
- DFRG earnings call 8:30am EST
- PNRA earnings call 8:30am EST
- BWLD earnings call 5:00pm EST
Wednesday, April 29
- BLMN annual general meeting
- PZZA annual general meeting 11:00am EST
Thursday, April 30
- KONA annual general meeting
- DIN earnings call 11:00am EST
- FRGI earnings call 4:30pm EST
- HABT earnings call 5:00pm EST
Friday, May 1
- RUTH earnings call 8:30am EST
- YUM annual general meeting 9:00am EST
Recent News Flow
Monday, April 20
- BWLD launched the B-Dubs Fast Break Lunch program, available weekdays between 11:00am – 2:00pm at U.S. locations and 11:00am – 3:00pm at Canadian locations. The program offers food choices tailored for guests looking to eat a quick lunch. Under the program, guests can select from one of seven entrees alongside one of seven sides. BWLD will advertise for the program through a national radio campaign in addition to its social and digital channels.
- JMBA Chairman, President and CEO, James D. White, presented at the Franchise Times Franchise Finance and Growth conference.
- RRGB introduced the new Spring Chicken Burger and The Oh, My Darlin’ adult cocktail for the spring season.
- PLAY announced that Patricia H “Trish” Mueller has been appointed to the board as an independent director. Ms. Mueller has served as Senior VP and CMO of The Home Depot since February 2011 and has held prior roles at The Sports Authority, American Signature, Value Vision, and ShopNBC.
- RUTH announced that Mark Osterberg, Principal Accounting Officer, has notified the company of his pending departure, effectively immediately. Current CFO, Arne Haak, will assume the responsibilities of Principal Accounting Officer. In addition, Michael Hynes, Controller and Director of Accounting, has been promoted to VP of Accounting. Mr. Osterberg will continue to serve as an advisor to the company.
Tuesday, April 21
- PLKI announced the pending retirement of R. William Ide, III, who has reached the mandatory retirement age for board members. Mr. Ide has served on the company’s board of directors since 2001 and will not stand for re-election at the annual shareholder meeting this year.
Thursday, April 23
- JMBA celebrated “25 Years of Healthy Living” with a free juice and smoothie giveaway from 9:00am – 11:00am to guests across the nation.
- DNKN announced that John Costello, President, Global Marketing and Innovation, will retire in mid-2016. Mr. Costello will continue to serve in his current position until he retires, but will transition to a more strategic role focused on the evolution of the company’s brands with a particular focus on the international businesses.
- DNKN announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.265, payable on June 17, 2015 to shareholders of record on June 9, 2015.
Friday, April 24
- PZZA announced its latest limited-time offer, all-new Garlic Knots, that will allow guests to pair a large two topping pizza with new Garlic Knots. Guests that order online will receive a $1 discount. The LTO will run through May 24.
Commodities
Sector Performance
The XLY (+3.2%) outperformed the SPX (+1.8%). Quick service stocks, in aggregate, outperformed the XLY, as casual dining stocks underperformed.
Quantitative Setup
From a quantitative perspective, the XLY remains bullish on an intermediate-term TREND duration.