earnings

Operations

Lower-income consumers remain a problem for Olive Garden

The Italian restaurant chain said it’s keeping prices low and doing more to promote value, including its bottomless breadsticks. But it refuses to jump on the discounting bandwagon to drive traffic.

Leadership

LongHorn Steakhouse promotes Laura Williamson to president

The former head of finance replaces Todd Burrowes, who is now president of business development for parent Darden Restaurants. It was part of a flurry of leadership changes at the company.

Stock in the food-and-games chain, which also owns Main Event, plunged early Thursday following a weak sales report.

Better operations and food are helping the burger chain win back guests. Now it’s focusing on marketing, including a new loyalty program.

The Bottom Line: Wingstop (again) and Texas Roadhouse (also again) were among the big winners last quarter, while the fast-food value proposition is among the losers.

The new steak protein will be offered at a premium price, but the chain's guests are showing resilience. They're trading down from casual dining and trading up from fast food.

After closing 14 units last year, the fast-casual burger chain continued "right-sizing" its portfolio in the first quarter, when its same-store sales plunged 13%.

A softer consumer environment is more than offsetting the pizza chain’s boost in marketing in recent weeks. But profitability improved last quarter.

Despite flat traffic for the first quarter, the fast-casual salad chain raised guidance for the year, citing continuing momentum.

The casual-dining chain lost business from lower-income guests but believes promotions like $1 margaritas will bring them back.

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