For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 3, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the latest Industry Outlook. Today’s outlook from Zacks Equity Research analyst Ann Northrop discusses the Restaurants sector. Highlighted stocks include: Darden Restaurants (DRI), Brinker International (EAT), Ruby Tuesday (RT) and California Pizza Kitchen (CPKI).

Here is the latest on the Restaurants sector:

Driving the restaurant stock rally, was a slew of better-than-expected earnings reports – and upward earnings estimate revisions -- including those by Darden Restaurants (DRI), Brinker International (EAT), Ruby Tuesday (RT) and California Pizza Kitchen (CPKI). With the exception of Darden, however, the out-performance was driven by strong cost controls, decelerating commodity prices and conservative assumptions.

Darden was the only operator that saw customer traffic improve and had limited same-store sales declines to the low single-digits (down 3.2% in

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - April 23, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the latest Industry Outlook. Today's outlook from Zacks Equity Research analyst Ann Northrop discusses the Restaurant sector. Highlighted stocks include: Darden Restaurants (DRI), Brinker International (EAT), Ruby Tuesday (RT) and California Pizza Kitchen (CPKI).

Here is the latest on the Restaurant sector:

Casual dining restaurant stocks are sizzling. The Zacks Casual Dining Restaurant Index has surged 218% from its November lows, far outpacing both the Russell 2000 (up 37%) and the S&P 500 index (up 28%). The Russell 2000 and the S&P index both remain roughly 40% off their 52-week highs. And although the Zacks Casual Dining index is 30% from its high, there appears to be more downside risk than upside potential.

The chief catalysts in the recent restaurant stock rally were better-than-expected earnings reports

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Gene Marcial, Inside Wall Street Guru at Business Week, picked the following stocks for the 11/3 issue; his picks can be tracked at:

http://trackthepros.com/stocks/category/404

Restaurants aren’t appealing buys in these times of economic stress, but Yum! Brands (YUM) looks appetizing, nonetheless. The world’s largest stable of restaurants owns and operates such fast-food chains as KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell in over 100 countries. Yum is a standout because not only is it seeing higher sales and earnings but it’s also reinvigorating U.S. sales with healthier food, such as fish, veggies, and grilled chicken.

The key drivers of Yum’s growth and profitability, though, are China and other foreign markets, which account for 50% of sales, says Rick Carucci, Yum’s CFO. “Yum is a great way to gain exposure to China’s booming economy and the other fast-growing international markets, while investing in the only stable segment of the restaurant industry,”

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We have once again eavesdropped on what our Zacks Equity Research senior analysts have been discussing with one another lately.  The most recent topic?  The proposed suspension of "mark-to-market" accounting (that is, the assigning of value based on an item's current market price):

Dirk van Dijk, CFA, Director of Zacks Equity Research: I'm not sure how many accounting principals are more fundamental than "lower of cost or market."  There are some transactions being done between willing buyers and sellers.  That is the best way of finding out what the "true" value of something is.  Suspending mark-to-market is just an attempt to hide the real condition of the banks -- it allows them to pretend that the garbage on their books is really gold. 

Isn't misrepresenting the values on your books the very core of the idea of securities fraud?  That is all that doing away with mark to market would be, legalizing and legitimatizing

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In a Reuters report out today, shares of McDonald's (MCD) are up 2.5% to around $64 per share after the company reported better-than-expected growth in its August sales.  As a major sponsor of the Beijing Summer Olympics last month, MCD saw global sales up 8.5% (regarding stores open at least 13 months).

The company has posted a positive earnings surprise in each of its last four fiscal quarters, and today's numbers may provide a further boost to the company's September quarter (Q3).  While analyst revisions have been rather minimal as of late, the Zacks consensus for 3rd quarter earnings is 95 cents per share, and it is $3.52 per share for the entire fiscal year.

Zacks senior restaurant industry analyst Ann Northrop, CFA has had a Buy recommendation on McDonald's shares since July of 2007, when they were trading in the $48 range.  In her latest report, she reiterated her Buy rating and

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The restaurant industry had some good news earlier this summer, when restaurant traffic seemed to stabilize and stock prices increased. We chatted with Zacks senior restaurant industry analyst Ann Northrop, CFA to see if some positive sentiment remains in the group, or perhaps just for a few stocks.

It's been about a year since the U.S. economy began softening under fears of a mortgage-led credit crisis. In what ways has the restaurant industry been dealing with this issue?

Restaurant operators are being squeezed by declining customer traffic and rising food and labor costs. To stem the traffic drain, most operators are running value promotions and have stepped up advertising while raising prices. Restaurants at all ends of the spectrum are running value promotions, from the $1 value menu at many quick service operators to Morton’s (MRT) “steak and seafood for two” promotion at $99.

Because lunch has generally

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Taking advantage of an economic sag where QSRs [quick-service restaurants] are seeing increased traffic from more traditional "casual dining" customers, Burger King (BKC) has posted another positive earnings surprise in the quarter: 37 cents per share, on $646 million in revenue.  The Zacks consensus had been 34 cents.

Fiscal year numbers were also better than expected.  Burger King brought in $1.38 per share for fiscal year 2008 (ended June), whereas the Zacks estimate anticipated $1.35.  Even with these numbers impressing, shares of BKC are down in early morning trading.  True, the market is down across the board this morning, but not by the 5% BKC is currently discounted.

Zacks senior restaurant industry analyst Ann Northrop, CFA initiated coverage of Burger King back in late June, when she put a Buy recommendation on the shares.  Her target price at the time was $30 per share, and she had this to say: "We think

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