FWRG - Restaurant stocks jump after sizzling Del Taco takeout and Omicron fears ease

The restaurant sector is seeing some gains in early trading after a big merger announcement and more indications that the Omicron COVID variant may not be as damaging to U.S. dine-in traffic as originally feared. On the M&A front, Jack in the Box (JACK -4.1%) is acquiring Mexican fast food chain Del Taco (TACO +64.8%) for $575M to help it scale up. The latest development with COVID is that the Omicron variant is not leading to higher hospitalizations in South Africa and there are some scientists who think it could eventually replace the Delta variant in the U.S. as the dominant strain. Notable gainers in the restaurant sector include Fiesta Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FRGI) +5.99%, BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) +4.15%, First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) +3.77%, El Pollo Loco Holdings (NASDAQ:LOCO) +3.55%, Dine Brands Global (NYSE:DIN) +3.44% and Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) +2.95%. The largest name in the sector is McDonald's (NYSE:MCD), which

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Restaurant stocks jump after sizzling Del Taco takeout and Omicron fears ease