It's A Busy Week For Restaurant Stocks: Here's Who Wins And Who Loses

Bank of America analyst Joseph Buckley outlined restaurant stocks and what he is looking for as the remaining names report earnings this week. Notably, that includes McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD), Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK), Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT), Noodles & Co (NASDAQ: NDLS), and Bojangles Inc (NASDAQ: BOJA).

Lovin' It

After meeting McDonald's CEO and CFO last week, Buckley said that the firm got the impression that "all-day breakfast has performed strongly in tests" and could be company-wide at the end of 2015, pending franchisee approval. Buckley noted that this could be the catalyst to drive McDonald's U.S. same-store sales positive.

BofA also said that there should be more news on November 10 about McDonald's restructuring. Ahead of that, Buckley does not expect the company to spin off a REIT, instead it will focus on cost reduction, lowering capital expenditures and repurchasing shares.

POP!

At Jack in the Box, Buckley expected "strong sales" when the company reports earnings Thursday evening. The outlook moving forward may be key to the stock price movement, with tough comps for Qdoba ahead in the October quarter.

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For Brinker International, this quarter is the toughest sales comp of the year. BofA expects 2 percent increase versus a 2.5 percent increase a year ago. The analysts will be eager to learn more about the Q4 rollout of Brinker's loyalty program as well as its 2016 guidance, according to the note.

Noodles & Co. will show whether its plans to "reinvigorate sales" have shaped up after a disappointing start to the year. Management blamed the "surprisingly soft" sales on a "lack of store diversity." However, what may have been more distressing is that "management seemed as surprised as we were" by the weak numbers. The market will be watching how their plans have shifted.

New Kid On The Block

Bojangles, which just IPO'd in May, has been quiet since that move – only reporting earnings in June. This earnings report will help the company get "on a regular quarterly earnings cycle with more time to communicate with investors." As a net, that is a positive and "should be a plus for the stock." Since its IPO, the stock has gained 1.6 percent.