CBRL - Is Cracker Barrel Stock a Buy?
Whatever one's particular stance on the economic response to COVID-19, one thing is now becoming undeniable: Many businesses are being rendered redundant, and it's unclear how relevant many of them will be once the lockdown ends. Restaurants have been hit hard, and switching to digital sales, take-out, and delivery has become a matter of life and death for some of them.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (NASDAQ: CBRL) is faring better than most. Like some other select chains (Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ: TXRH) comes to mind), the restaurant/retailer has been able to continue operating with fewer hitches owing to its focus on suburban areas.
That isn't to say all is peachy. Though the chain is far from going under, its third-quarter fiscal 2020 report (the three months ended May 1, 2020) had some ugly numbers. While I think Cracker Barrel will emerge from this crisis, it could be a less lucrative operation than it was before.