THE WEEK THAT WAS, ENDING DECEMBER 22 – only one company reported (under-covered Ark Restaurants), otherwise: TWO UPGRADES, TWO DOWNGRADES, FOUR INITIATIONS – with relevant transcripts

PREVIOUSLY REPORTING – CHIPOTLE AND WENDY’S DOWNGRADED TO NEUTRAL, CAVA AND CHEESECAKE FACTORY UPGRADED TO OUTPERFORM

OTHERWISE:

SHAKE SHACK AND STARBUCKS INITIATED AT HOLD

McDONALD’S AND YUM CHINA INITIATED AT BUY

DUTCH BROS, WINGSTOP AND RCI HOSPITALITY EACH MAINTAINED ONCE WITH POSITIVE RATINGS

DARDEN, REPORTING IN PREVIOUS WEEK, MAINTAINED ONCE AT NEUTRAL, FIVE TIMES POSITIVELY

COMPANIES REPORTING DURING WEEK – ONLY ARK RESTAURANTS (ARKR) BUT NO RATINGS CHANGES AND NO COVERAGE (EXCEPT OURS) – see CC transcript below

Conference call transcripts are below for all companies reporting in prior weeks with ratings changes (Chipotle, Wendy’s, CAVA Group, Cheesecake Factory), initiations (Shake Shack, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Yum China), or companies reporting in THE WEEK THAT WAS: (Ark Restaurants).

CHIPOTLE (CMG)

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4644293-chipotle-mexican-grill-inc-cmg-q3-2023-earnings-call-transcript

WENDY’S (WEN)

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4646468-wendys-company-wen-q3-2023-earnings-call-transcript

CAVA GROUP (CAVA)

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4649554-cava-group-inc-cava-q3-2023-earnings-call-transcript

CHEESECAKE FACTORY (CAKE)

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4646277-cheesecake-factory-incorporated-cake-q3-2023-earnings-call-transcript

SHAKE SHACK (SHAK)

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4646688-shake-shack-inc-shak-q3-2023-earnings-call-transcript

STARBUCKS (SBUX)

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4646502-starbucks-corporation-sbux-q4-2023-earnings-call-transcript