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Red Lobster is turning to millennial leadership to bring in younger guests, which the chain needs after closing more than 100 of its 640 restaurants earlier this year. Red Lobster has since emerged from bankruptcy, ushering in a new era for the once-major seafood chain. But the deal was costly for Red Lobster — the company lost $11 million from that promotion alone, according to court documents. Thai Union announced in January that it would begin a complete exit from Red Lobster. Now, Red Lobster is trying to balance keeping its loyal customers while trying to shake its stodgy image to attract younger ones.

Persons: who's, Adamolekun, Hottovy, Read, Jim Salera, Fortress, Caitlin Daniel, isn't Organizations: Fortress Investment, NBC, Stephens, Thai Union, Harvard University Locations: Placer.ai

Despite a difficult quarter, McDonald’s looks resilient in the face of various pressures, analysts say — something the company shares with U.S. consumers overall. “The spotlight is always on McDonald’s because it’s so big” and something of a “bellwether,” she said. That spurred former President Donald Trump to sling fries this month at a Philadelphia-area McDonald’s in a photo op. Like many major brands, McDonald’s raked in big profits as the economy reopened from the pandemic. “The thing that McDonald’s had struggled with, and why I think we’re seeing kind of an inflection point, is a value proposition,” Senatore said.

Persons: McDonald’s, Mickey D’s, Chris Kempczinski, Kempczinski, Gordon Haskett, ” Kempczinski, Ravi Dhar, ”, Sara Senatore, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Mickey D’s ’, Senatore, they’d, —, Eric Thayer, ” Senatore, Sam Oches, Oches, ‘, “, Jim Salera, Stephens, Jack Kleinhenz, hasn’t, “ They’re, ” Oches Organizations: U.S, Yale University’s Center, Bank of America, Bloomberg, Getty, Coca, Walmart, Target, Walgreens, JetBlue, Democratic, National Retail, JPMorgan Locations: U.S, Philadelphia, Connecticut, Amazon

☆ Affordable luxury: Price-conscious Americans are turning to cheaper steakhouses
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

So business is booming at Texas Roadhouse and LongHorn Steakhouse, even as Americans pull back elsewhere. And in the three months through May 26, sales at Longhorn Steakhouse locations open at least 16 months rose 4%. An affordable luxuryWhen it comes to steakhouses, Texas Roadhouse and LongHorn Steakhouse are on the cheaper end, noted Jim Salera, a research analyst at Stephens. Patrons sit at a bar and watch sports at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant in November 2023. “Retail demand has been probably a little bit weaker,” said Michael Bailen, senior director of investor relations at Texas Roadhouse.

Persons: Texas, ”, Jim Salera, Salera, you’re, Peter Saleh, They’ve, Scott Olson, Saleh, Rick Cardenas, It’s, Michael Bailen, ” Bailen, “, ’ Organizations: New, New York CNN, Texas, Texas Roadhouse, LongHorn, Longhorn, Darden Restaurants, steakhouses , Texas Roadhouse, Stephens, of America, CNN, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Kroger Locations: New York, Texas, Olive, steakhouses , Texas, Skokie , Illinois, . Texas

☆ Why fast-food price increases have surpassed overall inflation
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Ryan Baker | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Fast food has become increasingly expensive — and some consumers are changing their spending habits because of it. Fast-food chains such as Chick-Fil-A and Taco Bell are included in the limited-service meals and snacks category in the consumer price index report, which shows prices are up nearly 28% from 2019 to 2023. The full-service meals and snacks category, which covers sit-down restaurants with servers, meanwhile, has increased about 24% and overall CPI was up by about 19% in the same time period. "There were increased commodity costs. "But what continues to be ahead of historical averages is the increase in labor costs that restaurants are seeing."

Persons: Taco Bell, We've, Stephens, Jim Salera, McDonald's Organizations: Yum Brands, KFC, Taco Bell Locations: California

☆ These stocks reporting earnings next week have a history of beating Wall Street expectations
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A large group of stocks are reporting earnings next week — and some could be in for notable moves if history repeats itself. It comes during what is shaping up to be a strong earnings season, with nearly 4 out of 5 companies that have reported exceeding Wall Street expectations. In the runup to next week, Bespoke Investment Group screened for names that are scheduled to report that could gain on the back of strong results. Here are the stocks reporting next week that passed the screen: By both measures, HubSpot shows the most promise of the companies reporting next week. The restaurant chain has topped forecasts for earnings per share 77% of the time, with an average advance following earnings of 3.75%.

Persons: HubSpot, Stephens, Jim Salera, Trevor Young Organizations: Investment, Google, Bank of America, LSEG, Holdings, Barclays Locations: Texas

Goldman Sachs lowered its rating on Estée Lauder to neutral, and its new price target calls for a slight decline going forward. Elsewhere, Daiwa raised its price target on Nvidia, which points to more than 10% upside over the next 12 months. The firm stood by its outperform rating on the chipmaker stock, but lifted its price target to $900 from $535. FLYW YTD mountain FLYW in 2024 Faucette accompanied his downgrade by lifting his price target to $30 from $27. He also lifted his price target on the stock to $40 from $30, implying upside of 24.6% from Thursday's close.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Estée Lauder, Jefferies, Root, Daiwa, Brad Sills, Sills, — Lisa Kailai Han, Stephens, Vita Coco, Coco, Jim Salera, COCO, Lisa Gill, Gill, Louis Miscioscia, Miscioscia, Lisa Kailai Han, Piper Sandler downgrades, Piper Sandler, Mark Fitzgibbon, Fitzgibbon, Morgan Stanley downgrades Flywire, Morgan Stanley, James Faucette, Faucette, Goldman Sachs downgrades Estée Lauder, Lauder, Goldman, Yaron Kinar, Kinar, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, Nvidia, Bank of America, of America, Vertex, Accenture, RSM, BDO, JPMorgan, Daiwa, Markets, Riding, AMD, Intel, York Community Bancorp, York Community, New York Community Bancorp, Travel, B2B, U.S, Jefferies Locations: York, Canada, Asia, China, Hainan, Thursday's

☆ Stocks like Rivian are a table-pounding buy ahead of earnings, analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

There are a slew of top stocks to buy this earnings season, analysts say. CNBC Pro combed through the latest Wall Street research to find the most well-positioned stocks heading into earnings. The firm added a tactical outperform rating to the name, saying Roku shares are too attractive to ignore. However, that doesn't mean investors should bail on the stock, the analyst said, adding a beat is very likely. VF Corporation Buy shares of the undervalued retail clothing company, Guggenheim analyst Robert Drbul wrote recently.

Persons: Shweta Khajuria, Khajuria, Roku, Jim Salera, Salera, Robert Drbul, Drbul, Bracken Darrell, Benno Dorer, Utz, Stephens, …, Cantor Fitzgerald Organizations: CNBC, VF Corp, Roku, Guggenheim, Logitech, Corp, ISI Locations: LSEG

☆ These stocks are trying to solve a major shortcoming of weight loss drugs: Shrinking muscle mass
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Christina Cheddar Berk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

One of the downsides of taking new anti-obesity medications is that patients tend to lose lean muscle mass along with body fat. "This is a major shortcoming in terms of not just quality of life for the patients who have to lose lean muscle mass, but there's actually room to improve on the weight loss and there [are] other metabolic benefits to improving your lean muscle mass ... [including] you might have better durability of weight loss." The drug is being tested in a phase 2b study alongside semaglutide to protect against loss of muscle mass. Until then, patients will need to watch what they eat and focus on exercise just as they would on any other weight loss regimen. When that occurs, muscle loss will be an even bigger issue than it is now.

Persons: Piper Sandler, Allison Bratzel, there's, Bratzel, Versanis, Eli Lilly, Eli Lilly's Mounjaro, they're, Lydia Alexander, Alexander, Sandler's Bratzel, incretins, Biohaven, Nestle, Ulf Mark Schneider, Jeff Jonas, Jonas, Stephens, Jim Salera, Atkins, Morgan Stanley, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Wall, Nordisk's Ozempic, Obesity Medicine Association, Bristol Myers Squibb, Nestle, Gabelli, Quest, Foods Locations: Swiss

☆ How Wonder Bread has survived competition and the fall of white bread
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Ryan Baker | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

With an increasingly health-conscious U.S. population and a bread industry that looks immensely different from what it was just a few decades ago, it may come as a surprise that Wonder Bread is still around. In fact, it makes up a sizable portion of its parent company Flowers Foods' overall portfolio, alongside Nature's Own and Dave's Killer Bread, Flowers Foods' two most popular brands. In the first half of the 20th century, white bread accounted for as much as 30% of the American diet. The rise of industrial white bread mirrored World War II-era fears of immigrants, many of whom owned small bakeries at the time. While Wonder Bread has somewhat fallen out of favor, people do still eat white bread, and Wonder Bread remains a profitable part of the Flowers Foods portfolio.

Persons: Nature's, Jim Salera, Stephens, Connor Rattigan, Aaron Bobrow Organizations: Flowers Foods, Foods, Whitman College Locations: Circana

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