EAT - Why Casual Dining Restaurant Stocks Were Gaining Today
Shares of casual dining companies including Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ: BLMN), Brinker International (NYSE: EAT), Denny's (NASDAQ: DENN), and Ruth's Hospitality Group (NASDAQ: RUTH) were moving higher today alongside much of the market on positive vaccine news.
Consumer discretionary stocks and others that have been hit hard by the pandemic surged after Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) reported that neutralizing antibodies were found in all 45 of the phase 1 trial patients who had taken its mRNA-1273 vaccine candidate. The results build on data the company announced in May, and are the latest piece of encouraging news that a coronavirus vaccine will be discovered, possibly sooner than expected. The announcement comes after Pfizer and BioNTech said earlier this week that two of their vaccine candidates were given Fast Track approval by the FDA, and after Gilead said that its remdesivir treatment was shown to lower risk of death from COVID-19 by 62%.
That drumbeat of news has also helped investors overcome fears of economic weakness as coronavirus cases rise and as states like California pull back on their reopenings, closing businesses like bars and indoor dining restaurants once again.