ZOES performance continues to improve.
*Same store sales increased from 7.7% to 8.1% from both product mix and a small price increase.
*Revenues are increasing at a blistering pace: from $52.7M last quarter to $80.4M this quarter
*Increased store count by 11 this quarter (target is ~ 35 for the year).
*Restaurant margins increased 30 basis points to 22%.
*Profits on an annual basis are growing from $0.01 a year ago to $0.29 today. However, profits have dropped from $0.13 last quarter to $0.06 this quarter.
ZOES seems to be firing on all cylinders. My only concern is that as they are putting their foot to the accellerator, they maintain their quality. They are still a small chain with only 179 company owned stores. Again, if their quality remains solid, they should expand as much as possible to avoid copycat chains eating their lunch ;o)
I think the concept has gained enough traction for people to give a consideration to a small percentage allocation to their portfolio. Healthy eating hipsters and cardio healthy food is an awesome long term trend.
Best,
bulwnkl
PS Trailing PE~133 because the company is aggressively growing the business. Let the floggings begin.