CBRL Group (NASDAQ:CBRL) and its Cracker Barrel restaurants were faring pretty well at our last look at the company. And IHOP (NYSE:IHP) had a nice bounce to its step after serving up some tasty same-store sales figures. With two breakfast champs stepping up, can Bob Evans Farms (NASDAQ:BOBE) make it a trifecta?
The company released its second-quarter earnings report after the close on Monday, and investors liked what they saw, sending the stock up more than 11% in Tuesday's midday trading. It's not that Bob's results were so good. Rather, it's that they weren't as bad as expected. Earnings per share (EPS) rose 23% to $0.37, but the increase was entirely due to some asset sales. Excluding this one-time gain, EPS was flat year over year at $0.30, but this still beat analysts' estimates of $0.23.
The company's top-line growth was only 4.4%, but it beat analysts' estimates by $4.6 million. Comparable same-store sales at the flagship Bob Evans restaurants were just plain fried, decreasing 3.1% versus last year, despite the fact that average menu prices had risen by 1%. Sales comps at the Mimi's Cafe chain were better, up 1.8% with its menu prices up 1.5%. Excluding asset sales, operating income in the restaurant segment as a whole was down 17%.
However, its food products segment is showing more strength, growing by 7.6%. These products, which range from sausages to frozen entrees, also served up better operating profit margins at 7.3%, compared with 5.5% that it achieved from its restaurants. However, last year operating margins from this division were only 3.2%, trailing the 5.4% mark that its restaurants offered up. With faster growth and better margins (so long as hog prices stay low), its food products segment is the company's shining star and will need to be an area of continued focus and growth going forward. The food products segment, however, is less than 20% of the business, so any real turnaround must involve the restaurant segment.
Consequently, a critical part of the company's growth strategy is to get rid of underperforming restaurants that are lagging behind in customer traffic. As stated previously, the reason that EPS grew by 23% in the latest period is because of its efforts to get rid of these rotten eggs. Overall, you have to like that Bob Evans is taking the necessary steps to get rid of underperforming restaurants. This will permit it to focus its efforts and finances on its strong restaurants, in addition to searching out new markets.
Its declining traffic for units opened more than a year is a real concern, however. Couple this with rather anemic growth in general, and it's difficult to recommend these shares that currently trade at 29 times trailing earnings.
For more down-home Foolishness, fry up these spicy links:
- Avoid a Dividend Disaster
- Who Hogtied Bob Evans?
- Can Bob Evans Make a Tasty Turnaround?
- Looking for Truffles at Bob Evans
Fool contributor Jeremy MacNealy does not own shares of any companies mentioned.
