A Chicken-Fueled Pairs Trade: Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Versus Restaurant Brands

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. (PLKI) is one expensive stock, especially for a (fried chicken) restaurant: trailing P/E of 36.2, forward P/E of 28.9, price/sales of 5.5, and price/book of 187.4. PLKI most recently reported 4.7% year-over-year revenue growth and -1.9% earnings growth. (Data from Yahoo Finance). According to briefing.com, year-over-year revenue growth has stagnated in … Read more

How to Invest in Chicken Sandwiches: Popeyes and Wendy’s

The Popeyes Chicken Sandwich sold out with the promise of a big return.

The Chicken Sandwich War Begins And so it began. The Great Chicken Sandwich War of 2019 took Twitter (TWTR) by storm as the frenzy created by Popeye’s Chicken and its (re)release of a chicken sandwich lured Chik-Fil-A into direct social media competition. While the social flames and games raged on Twitter about where and how … Read more

QSR Picks Popeyes And Leaves El Pollo Loco As the Last Chicken Standing

So it was true after all. Restaurant Brands (QSR) was indeed drooling over the secret recipes of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (PLKI). Today, PLKI soared 19.1% to $78.73/share and a $1.6B market cap, just short of the $79 ($1.8B market cap) that QSR promised to pay for acquiring PLKI. When I discussed the merits of a … Read more

Another Chicken Run for Restaurant Brands With El Pollo Loco Rumors

A little over two years ago, El Pollo Loco Holdings (LOCO), a quick serve restaurant that “offers individual and family-sized chicken meals, Mexican-inspired entrees, sides, and, alternative proteins,” was mentioned as a potential acquisition target of Jollibee Foods Corp, the largest fast food franchisor in the Philippines. LOCO closed that day at $26.25 and with … Read more

Climbing the Wall of Inflation – The Market Breadth

Stock Market Commentary For one day, the stock market suddenly cared about rising inflation numbers. The recovery mode is already underway. After slamming into the wall of inflation, the stock market is now climbing the wall of inflation. On Friday, in its survey of consumers, the University Michigan had the following to say about the … Read more

The Rally Slammed Into A Wall of Inflation – The Market Breadth

Stock Market Commentary And just like that, the bullish expansion of market breadth hit a wall…a wall of inflation. The October Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all urban consumers apparently surprised financial markets by soaring 0.9% from September and 6.2% over October, 2020. The chart below shows that both surges are at the high end … Read more

Fades and Breakdowns Contradict The Calm of the S&P 500 – Above the 40 (May 7, 2021)

Stock Market Commentary The stock market is a cauldron of contradictions and divergences. Breakdowns below key support levels abound. Stocks suffer post-earnings fades even after companies report strong results, especially in both beaten up growth stocks and resilient big cap tech. Yet, the S&P 500 just rises above the steady erosion of market breadth with … Read more

An Obvious Stock Market Breakout Leaves Open Questions – Above the 40 (September 6, 2019)

AT40 = 49.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 48.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 15.0Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary One Obvious Pattern to Another The S&P 500 (SPY) and the NASDAQ (COMPQX) transitioned from an obvious trading range to an obvious … Read more

Above the 40 (March 8, 2019) – A Newly Precarious Stock Market Scrambles for Support

AT40 = 54.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 38.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 16.1Short-term Trading Call: bearish Stock Market Commentary The above tweet begins the dilemmas that lay ahead for short-term trading after I first flipped bearish ahead of Thursday’s selling. First, I … Read more

Above the 40 (February 13, 2019) – Stock Indices Linger At 200DMAs As Individual Stocks Keep Breaking Out

AT40 = 85.0% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (14th overbought day)AT200 = 41.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (4-month high)VIX = 15.7Short-term Trading Call: neutral Commentary {Note some charts were saved right before final price updates. All chart descriptions reflect the actual close} The 200-day moving … Read more