Earlier today, Dine Brands (DIN; Buy) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.90, ahead of our $1.80 forecast and above sell-side consensus of $1.82.
After Tuesday’s market close, Denny’s (DENN; Neutral) reported adjusted Q1 EPS of $0.13, matching our $0.13 forecast and sell-side consensus (according to Consensus Metrix) of $0.13. First-quarter U.S. systemwide same-store sales were up by +1.3%, as opposed to our +1.1% projection and consensus of +1.1%.
Earlier today (Thursday, April 11th), we learned that the BlackBox Index of samestore sales for March 2019 rose by +1.2%, with same-store traffic down by -1.8%. The +1.2% showing for March 2019 marks meaningful sequential acceleration from the -0.7% showing from February 2019, which was hampered by adverse weather. That said it did not quite reach the +2.0% numbers from December 2018 and January 2019, which were the best two months numbers of the last three years.