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Jack in the Box's (JACK) Del Taco Offers New Menu Starting $5

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Jack in the Box Inc.’s (JACK - Free Report) subsidiary, Del Taco, introduced new Freshly Grilled Chicken Taco packs starting from $5, in a bid to expand its value offerings.

Del Taco launched three new packs for the customer to choose from which include $5 roller pack, $6 stuffed quesadilla taco pack and $7 triple chicken taco pack. The packs comprise of the brand’s famous grilled chicken items, including the grilled chicken taco, chicken cheddar rollers and the grilled chicken stuffed quesadilla taco along with a small fountain drink.

Del Taco is optimistic about the new menu offering which was launched keeping in mind the impact of rising costs and tightening of budgets.

Del Taco Boosting Growth

Jack in the Box completed its Del Taco Restaurants acquisition on Mar 8, 2022, for approximately $585 million. The move was in sync with the company’s strategy of expanding its customer base. As of fiscal second-quarter 2023, Del Taco, which has 595 restaurants, served more than three million guests every week. Following the deal, the two companies have about 2,782 restaurants in 25 states with similar guest profiles, menu offerings and company cultures.

It is worth mentioning that 99% of Del Taco restaurants have a drive-thru, which helps the company in achieving robust off-premise sales. The acquisition will enable Jack in the Box to tap the robust Mexican QSR category, where Del Taco is a major brand with a track record of steady performance.

JACK is of the opinion that the Del Taco addition will pave the path for improvement in restaurant margins, store-level profitability and strengthening of capital structure and will also help mitigate macroeconomic headwinds. Jack in the Box anticipates the deal to be accretive to earnings per share (excluding transaction expenses) in mid-single-digit in a year. For fiscal 2023, the company anticipates Del Taco Restaurant Level Margin to be 14-16%.

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Shares of JACK have gained 57% in the past year, outperforming the Zacks Retail - Restaurants industry’s 20.9% growth.

Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

Jack in the Box currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other top-ranked stocks from the Zacks Retail-Wholesale sector are BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (BJRI - Free Report) , Shake Shack Inc. (SHAK - Free Report) and Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (PLAY - Free Report) .

BJ's Restaurants currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

BJRI has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 93%, on average. Shares of the company have gained 57.5% in the past year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BJRI’s 2023 sales and earnings per share (EPS) suggests growth of 5.5% and 317.7%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.

Shake Shack sports a Zacks Rank of 1. SHAK has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 58.6%, on average. Shares of the company have surged 68.3% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SHAK’s 2023 sales and EPS suggests growth of 21.5% and 148.4%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.

Dave & Buster's Entertainment currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. PLAY has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 6.8%, on average. Shares of the company have gained 43% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PLAY’s fiscal 2024 sales and EPS suggests growth of 16.9% and 28%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.

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