The stimulus checks are on their way out the door to the American public. The government announced last week that immunizations are well ahead of schedule since the process was reformed after the new administration took office in January. And life is ostensibly on the way toward returning to some form of “normal” for the first time since the pandemic took control of our lives just over a year ago.
One of the hardest hit areas of life and the broad economy over that fateful year has been the restaurant industry.
Now that we are on the verge of a return of some semblance of normality, investors may benefit from allocating interest to stocks that stand to directly benefit from this coming transition.
With that in mind, we take a look here at some of the most interesting and active names in the space, including: GrubHub Inc (NYSE:GRUB), RDE Inc (OTCMKTS:RSTN), and Restaurant Brands International Inc (NYSE:QSR).
GrubHub Inc (NYSE:GRUB) is a leading online and mobile food-ordering and delivery marketplace with the largest and most comprehensive network of restaurant partners, as well as over 31 million active diners. Dedicated to connecting diners with the food they love from their favorite local restaurants, Grubhub elevates food ordering through innovative restaurant technology, easy-to-use platforms and an improved delivery experience.
Grubhub features over 300,000 restaurants and is proud to partner with over 265,000 of these restaurants in over 4,000 U.S. cities. The Grubhub portfolio of brands includes Grubhub, Seamless, LevelUp, AllMenus and MenuPages.
GrubHub Inc (NYSE:GRUB) recently announced that, in recognition of Women’s History Month, Grubhub is strengthening and expanding its commitment to grow the number of women-led restaurants, especially those impacted by COVID.
According to the release, it was four years ago with the creation of RestaurantHER that Grubhub first started using its technology platform to drive change and respond to the issues facing women in the restaurant industry. The company pledged to champion and support women-led restaurants, raise awareness about inequality in the industry and help improve things for the better.
The context for this announcement is a bit of a bid, with shares acting well over the past five days, up about 4% in that timeframe. Over the past month, shares of the stock have suffered from clear selling pressure, dropping by roughly -4%.
GrubHub Inc (NYSE:GRUB) pulled in sales of $503.7M in its last reported quarterly financials, representing top line growth of 47.6%. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels far exceeding current liabilities ($413.4M against $356.2M).
RDE Inc (OTCMKTS:RSTN) bills itself as a pioneer in the restaurant deal space and the nation’s largest restaurant-focused digital deals brand.
Founded in 1999, Restaurant.com, Specials by Restaurant.com and our Corporate Incentives division connect digital consumers, businesses and communities offering thousands of dining, retail, and entertainment deal options nationwide at over 184,000 restaurants and retailers.
Restaurant.com prides itself on offering the best deal, every meal. The company’s restaurant certificates and gift cards allow customers to save at thousands of restaurants across the country with just a few clicks.
RDE Inc (OTCMKTS:RSTN) recently announced the appointment of Vincent “Bo” Jackson to its Restaurant Advisory Board consisting of Chefs and Restaurateurs.
Vincent “Bo” Jackson has achieved elite performance in his current business endeavors as well as his prior sports career. Over the past three decades, Bo Jackson has been successfully operating several businesses, perfecting strategies and venturing into new business opportunities and projects to ultimately form Jackson & Partners, LLC; is an importer and processor of value-added innovative products across multiple categories globally. Positioned to provide customer solutions options unrivaled in value, the company is known for quality and reliability. While also operating Jackson & Partners Restaurant Group, LLC which has plans to expand into various critical function areas such as Menu LTO Concept Development, Brand Development, Supply Chain Management, Ingredient Sourcing, Consumer Repositioning and Restaurant Specific Marketing utilizing the resources of Jackson & Partners Restaurant Group Parent Company, J&P which has a highly specialized marketing and brand development division.
In other words, Bo knows restaurants.
RDE Inc (OTCMKTS:RSTN) generated sales of $1.1M, according to information released in the company’s most recent quarterly financial report. That adds up to a sequential quarter-over-quarter growth rate of 65.6% on the top line.
Restaurant Brands International Inc (NYSE:QSR) trumpets itself as one of the world’s largest quick service restaurant companies with approximately $31 billion in annual system-wide sales and 27,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries and U.S. territories.
RBI owns three of the world’s most prominent and iconic quick service restaurant brands – TIM HORTONS®, BURGER KING®, and POPEYES®. These independently operated brands have been serving their respective guests, franchisees and communities for over 45 years.
Restaurant Brands International Inc (NYSE:QSR) recently announced that the Popeyes® brand and Jubilant Foodworks Limited have new plans to develop and open hundreds of Popeyes® restaurants across India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan in the coming years.
“We’re excited to introduce our iconic Louisiana-style chicken to a new population in the world that already celebrates and loves bold and delicious flavours,” said David Shear, President RBI International, parent company of Popeyes®. “At Popeyes®, we believe that the best food takes time, we marinate our chicken for 12 hours in bold Louisiana seasonings, then hand batter and slowly cook it to make it the juiciest and crispiest chicken that I think our guests will ever have.”
It will be interesting to see if the stock can break out of its recent sideways action. Over the past week, the stock is net flat, and looking for something new to spark things. Restaurant Brands International Inc (NYSE:QSR) managed to rope in revenues totaling $1.8B in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of -9.4%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($2B against $2B, respectively).
