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Strategies & Market Trends : Sharck Soup -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DlphcOracl who wrote (25683)	5/31/2001 3:41:45 PM
From: cthd	Respond to of 37746

LOL. Woohoo! Can't believe I'm actually going to turn a profit today. CTHD

To: DlphcOracl who wrote (25683)	5/31/2001 3:42:08 PM
From: Mao II	Respond to of 37746

Casual Dining Shares Fall Amid Warnings CHICAGO (Reuters) - Shares of the parent companies of casual-dining restaurants such as Chili's Bar & Grill and Olive Garden sank on Thursday as concerns about May sales prompted warnings from industry analysts. Shares of Brinker International Inc. (NYSE:EAT - news), which owns and operates Chili's and Corner Bakery cafe restaurants, eroded as much as $3.04, or more than 11 percent, intraday to $23.61 before paring losses on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites). A handful of industry analysts this week said they expected sales at restaurants open at least one year to be sluggish in May compared to a year ago, including Salomon Smith Barney's Mark Kalinowski who issued a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown restaurant analyst John Glass on Thursday warned that May sales were slowing in the casual-dining sector, which is getting hit by some cost pressures. ``We simply issued a warning saying that sales are slowing in May and we are getting cost pressures,'' Glass said. In the research note, Glass wrote he believed May restaurant sector sales will continue to decline, particularly in casual-dining restaurants, and the numbers are not fully reflected in the stocks' valuations. Glass trimmed fiscal fourth-quarter earnings per share estimates on Brinker by 1 cent to 41 cents, and the fiscal-year estimate to $1.41 from $1.42. He also lowered expected comparable store sales at Chili's in May and June to a 3 percent rise from a 4-5 percent rise. ``It is just marginally a deterioration,'' Glass said of the May sales numbers, rather than a dramatic erosion. The market has ignored some of that softening in the past and is going to start paying more attention, he said. Shares of Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE:DRI - news), parent of Red Lobster and Olive Garden, fell $1.49, or 5.2 percent, in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trade to $27.22. Applebee's International Inc. (NasdaqNM:APPB - news) shares fell as much as $4.36, or 10 percent, to $38.74 in trading on the Nasdaq. Shares of CEC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:CEC - news), which operates Chuck E. Cheese's restaurants, fell nearly 20 percent to $43.25 following its announcement on Wednesday that it expects net income of $2.47 to $2.52 for the year, down from a consensus estimate of $2.56, according to market research firm Thomson Financial/First Call. Glass maintained a fiscal fourth-quarter earnings estimate of 48 cents for Darden and maintained a fiscal-year estimate of $2.05 for Outback Steakhouse (NYSE:OSI - news), though traffic will continue to show signs of slowing, he said. Shares of Outback Steakhouse sank $1.86, or 6 percent, to $28.62 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Email this story - View most popular \| Printer-friendly format dailynews.yahoo.com