California-based restaurateur BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (BJRI) is set to report first-quarter 2014 results on May 1, after the market closes.
Last quarter, the company reported earnings in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate, primarily due to increase in expenses. Will BJ's Restaurants be able to post a turnaround? Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.
Factors to Will Influence First-Quarter Results
BJ's Restaurants has been reeling under pressure for quite some time now due to weak sales at its restaurants. The company’s continuous comps decline in the past two quarters has been a concern.
With inclement weather continuing in the months of January and February this year, the company’s comps growth is expected to be sluggish in the upcoming quarter. Further, higher taxes in California and increased gasoline prices limit discretionary spending, which will have an adverse impact on the top line in the quarter.
Although the company has undertaken a set of initiatives such as discounting and promotional offers to boost the brands, these are yet to pay off. Moreover, BJ's Restaurants’ bottom line will be hurt by the costs associated with store openings in new markets. Additionally, the overall cost environment for food commodities are expected to remain under pressure in 2014 due to domestic and worldwide agricultural supply and demand imbalance.
Earnings Whispers?
Our proven model does not conclusively show that BJ's Restaurants is likely to beat earnings this quarter. That is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1, 2 or 3 for this to happen. That is not the case here, as you will see below.
Zacks ESP: The Earnings ESP for BJ's Restaurants is 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at 12 cents.
Zacks Rank: BJ's Restaurants’ Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) which when combined with a 0.00% ESP makes surprise prediction difficult.
Other Stocks to Consider
Here are some other companies the broader consumer discretionary industry that can be considered, as our model shows they have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:
DeVry Education Group Inc. (DV), with Earnings ESP of +2.99% and a Zacks Rank #2.
Fastenal Co. (FAST), with Earnings ESP of +2.27% and a Zacks Rank #3.
The Walt Disney Co. (DIS) has an Earnings ESP of +1.03% and a Zacks Rank #2.
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