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BJ's Restaurants (BJRI) Soars 7.5%: Is Further Upside Left in the Stock?

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BJ's Restaurants (BJRI - Free Report) shares soared 7.5% in the last trading session to close at $31.34. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 2% gain over the past four weeks.

BJ's Restaurants rally is largely driven by optimism regarding the company’s strong consumer demand, growth in the dining room guest traffic and new restaurant openings. Also, emphasis on the margin enhancing initiatives and the implementation of additional menu pricing, bodes well.

This restaurant chain is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.02 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -66.7%. Revenues are expected to be $332.14 million, up 11.2% from the year-ago quarter.

Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.

For BJ's Restaurants, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 8.2% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. And a negative trend in earnings estimate revisions doesn't usually translate into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on BJRI going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

BJ's Restaurants is part of the Zacks Retail - Restaurants industry. Yum China Holdings (YUMC - Free Report) , another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 1.4% lower at $62.21. YUMC has returned -1.2% in the past month.

Yum China's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed -2.1% over the past month to $0.43. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of +79.2%. Yum China currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


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