THE WEEK THAT WAS, ENDING December 19th – three earnings reports, three upgrades, one downgrade, six initiations – easy access here for conference call transcripts – click through yellow box on Home Page for over 60 write-ups, your “one stop shop”

Restaurant Finance Monitor

REPORTED IN PRIOR WEEKS

Three Upgrades – Shake Shack from Underweight to Neutral, Texas Roadhouse from Equal-Weight to Overweight, Red Robin from Hold to Buy

One Downgrade – Sweetgreen from Overweight to Equal-Weight.

Otherwise: 

Shake Shack maintained at Equal-Weight by 1 firm.

Brinker maintained at Hold by 1 firm, Overweight at 1 firm.

Valvoline maintained at Outperform at 1 firm, Initiated at Buy by 1 firm, Reinstated at Buy by 1 firm.

Wendy’s maintained at Sell by 1 firm.

Cracker Barrel maintained at Underperform by 1 firm.

Cheesecake Factory Initiated at Hold by Freedom Capital.

Initiated Positively were Dutch Bros, Bloomin’ Brands, Wingstop,

REPORTED IN THE WEEK THAT WAS – Darden Restaurants, Ark Restaurants, Flanigan’s.

Darden was maintained Neutral by 2 firms, maintained at Buy by 2 firms.

Conference call transcripts are below for all companies reporting in prior weeks with ratings change (Shake Shack, Sweetgreen, Texas Roadhouse, Red Robin), Reporting in THE WEEK THAT WAS: (Darden, Ark – no conference call at Flanigan’s), and Initiated Coverage (Valvoline, Cheesecake Factory, Dutch Bros, Wingstop, Bloomin’ Brands).

Transcripts

Shake Shack (SHAK)

Shake Shack Inc. (SHAK) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript _ Seeking Alpha

Sweetgreen (SG)

Sweetgreen, Inc. (SG) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript _ Seeking Alpha

Texas Roadhouse (TXRH)

Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (TXRH) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript _ Seeking Alpha

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (RRGB)

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (RRGB) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript _ Seeking Alpha

Darden Restaurants (DRI)

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript _ Seeking Alpha

Darden Restaurants, Inc. 2026 Q2 – Results – Earnings Call Presentation (NYSE _ DRI) 2025-12-18 _ Seeking Alpha

Ark Restaurants (ARKR)

Ark Restaurants Corp. (ARKR) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript _ Seeking Alpha

Valvoline (VVV)

Valvoline Inc. (VVV) Analyst_Investor Day Transcript _ Seeking Alpha

Valvoline Inc. (VVV) Analyst_Investor Day – Slideshow (NYSE _ VVV) 2025-12-11 _ Seeking Alpha

Cheesecake Factory (CAKE)

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (CAKE) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript _ Seeking Alpha

Dutch Bros (BROS)

Dutch Bros Inc. (BROS) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript _ Seeking Alpha

Dutch Bros Inc. 2025 Q3 – Results – Earnings Call Presentation (NYSE _ BROS) 2025-11-05 _ Seeking Alpha

Wingstop (WING)

Wingstop Inc. (WING) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript _ Seeking Alpha

Bloomin’ Brands (BLMN)

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (BLMN) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript _ Seeking Alpha