Janney Names Chain Restaurants To Watch In 2015

Analyst Mark Kalinowski of Janney has his eye on chain restaurants in 2015, specifically Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) and Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX). With high levels of consumer confidence and low gas prices, consumers have a larger disposable income and are more likely to spend it.

Kalinowski offers ratings for both long-term and short-term investors.

On January 5, Mark Kalinowski upgraded Domino's Pizza, Inc. from Neutral to Buy after the company's 2015 earnings per share estimate was raised.

The analyst listed reasons for the upgrade: “(1) growing confidence that the ongoing transition by consumers ordering pizza delivery doing so through digital means will continue to benefit Domino's Pizza, (2) benefits from the likelihood of lower year-over-year cheese costs during 2015, and (3) ongoing innovation, such as the Pizza Mogul efforts in Australia, which could make its way to other markets eventually.”

While Janney upgraded the rating, this is Kalinowski's first time rating Domino's Pizza.

Though the analyst is bullish on the pizza chain, he seems wary of Starbucks. On January 5, Kalinowski downgraded Starbucks from Buy to Neutral. He remains confident in the stock for the long-term, but has short-term reservations.

The analyst is optimistic about the future rollout of “mobile ordering/payment app functionality,” which should be completed by the end of 2015. He continued: “We still fully stick by our recent statement that we expect Starbucks to become the largest market-cap restaurant stock by year-end 2025. So, longer-term oriented investors may view our commentary from a different perspective than shorter-term oriented investors do. All that said, our ratings look out 12 months, and we believe a Neutral is most appropriate at this time.”

Kalinowski has rated Starbucks nine times since November of 2011 with a +21.3 percent average return per Starbucks recommendation.

Overall, Mark Kalinowski has made 41 out of 46 successful recommendations this year, earning an 89 percent overall success rate and a +14.1 percent average return per recommendation.