News

Fast casual stocks expected to soar

July 24, 2018

Fast casual restaurant operators should soon be enjoying dramatic growth in quarterly results. 

Restaurants have been winning over consumers who are spending more disposable income on going out, and less on clothes and other retail products, according to banking experts cited in a Reuters report. 

"The millennial consumer is much more focused on purchasing experiences over goods," David Schiegoleit, managing director of investments for the Private Client Reserve at U.S. Bank in Los Angeles, told Reuters.

Restaurants are expected to report second quarter earnings increases of up 7.8 percent compared to last year, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. For the third quarter, analysts, on average, predict earnings will rise 10 percent.

The report noted McDonald’s shares are up 33 percent over the past year as the company simplified menus and improved speed and service to counter.