Red Robin Gourmet soars after surprise Q1 profit

Shares of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers RRGB.O up 60% to $5.01 early Fri, on course for record daily gain, after co swung to qtrly profit and handily beat Wall Street's expectations

RRGB soars as much as 82.4% to $5.71, nearly three-mth high

Englewood, Colorado-based restaurant chain late Thurs posted fiscal Q1 adj earnings of $19 cents/sh, vs loss of 73 cents/sh a yr-ago, while analysts modeled a loss of 49 cents, per LSEG

Rev in qtr of $392.4 mln also surpassed consensus as same-store sales increased 3.1%

For current-qtr, it expects 3% decline in same-store sales, due to comparisons with 2024 launch of its rewards program

Lake Street Capital reiterated 'buy' rating and $11 PT, saying Q1 results demonstrated progress in operational efficiency, with significant reductions in food, labor and marketing costs supporting margin expansion

Jefferies stuck with 'hold' rating, and boosted PT from $3.25 to $3.50

Co making progress of its long-term turnaround opportunity with early signs of emerging same-store sales stability, despite challenging macro environment, though visibility remains limited, Jefferies said in note

Last month, Red Robin named food, beverage and retail industry veteran David Pace as new CEO, saying Pace to focus on leading co through the next phase of its transformation

Short interest in RRGB stood at ~19% of public float as of May 30, according to latest LSEG StarMine data

Through Thurs close, RRGB had shed 43% YTD. Stock hit record intraday low of $2.50 on Apr 25