Shake Shack (SHAK) rises once more.
Shares of New York-based Shake Shack rose 4% Wednesday after Longbow Research analyst Alton Stump upgraded the stock to buy with a 12-month price target of $46 a share, saying that the company is widening its menu offerings and seems to be expanding successfully into other states.
“The company’s impressive new store growth performance outside of Manhattan throughout 2015 has given us increased confidence Shake Shack is a concept that can succeed at least multi-regionally, if not nationally,” Stump wrote in the Wednesday note, adding that the company had an estimated revenue of $5 million per store on average in 2015, up from the $3.5 million to $3.6 million in 2013 to 2014. That was despite that fact that Shake Shack opened no new stores in Manhattan last year.
One more thing Longbow is excited about?
The Shake Shack’s chicken sandwich—a welcome change in a menu dominated by hamburgers and milkshakes—”both of which are perceived as relatively unhealthy by many consumers,” Stump wrote. “This new item should aid in avoiding ‘veto votes’ associated with a group of customers eating out.”
The product, known as the Chick’n Shack, was introduced mid-January, and has tested as a top five seller at locations where it was offered. Shake Shack however did not fully price sales from the product into its average per store sales growth of 2.5% to 3% in 2016, Stump wrote. Longbow set their estimate of Shake Shack’s 2016 same-store comparable sales at 2.5% to 3.5%.
Earlier this month, shares of the burger chain sank after the company reported a weak 2016 outlook for same store sales which was the same as it’s forecast in November. Investors also questioned whether the popular chain would be able to keep a high growth rate as it attempted to grow to 450 stores, from 75, eventually.
Shares of Shake Shack have fallen over 50% since its summer highs, making the stock ” current valuation represents an attractive entry point for an emerging concept with substantial long-term store growth upside,” Stump wrote.
