FRGI - Big restaurant recovery called out by Jefferies with Dave & Buster's and Bloomin' Brands seen as standouts

Jefferies is positive on the upside for restaurant stocks with margins expected to improve. Analysts Andy Barish and Alex Slagle: "We believe the operating environment for casual dining is better than it has been since maybe coming out of the Great Financial Recession (positive traffic early in cycle) and since the overcapacity situation that has plagued the industry since the early-to-mid 2000s. With a combination of strong topline growth in ‘22/’23 (based on a more favorable capacity landscape and visible SSS drivers), elevated sales volumes (helped by off-prem) and a multitude of operating efficiencies learned through the pandemic, we see opportunity for upside to restaurant margins into '22/23, which is the key driver to upside in our EBITDA estimates." Two sector standpoints identified by Barish and Slagle are Dave & Buster's (NASDAQ:PLAY) and Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN). Although with fairly high expectations causing restaurant stocks to underperform this year, and with

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Big restaurant recovery called out by Jefferies with Dave & Buster's and Bloomin' Brands seen as standouts