Steve West, Stifel Nicolaus

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) - Steve West at Stifel Nicolaus

But industry watchers say the Fortune 500 company with annual sales of $7.2 billion will benefit from its measured approach. "The big, well positioned players like Darden that are very disciplined in their growth are going to find a lot of opportunities at the expense of people who don't have the same financial strength," said Rick Van Warner, a former company spokesman who now is president of a consulting firm. Darden has been growing its restaurants at a rate of between 3 percent and 4 percent. A few years ago, it was lagging behind many other major chains, which were "far outstripping the growth of consumer spending and even the growth of population," said Steve West, a restaurant industry analyst for the investment firm Stifel Nicolaus. Restaurant experts say that in their haste to grow quickly, some of those chains ended up in bad locations or had trouble finding good managers 

McDonald's Corporation (MCD) - Steve West at Stifel Nicolaus

"We estimate the weather hurt sales by at least one to two percent in the U. S., so the positive same store comp was very encouraging and bodes well for future sales trends," said Steve West, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus in St. Louis. McDonald's rose $1.42, or 2.2 percent, to $65.09 at 10:27 a.m in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock had gained 2 percent this year before today. Wendy's/Arby's Group said that snowstorms across the central and eastern U. S stifled its February sales. 

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG) - Steve West at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus analysts Steve West and Matthew Van Vliet upgraded their rating of restaurant operator Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) to Buy and increased their target price for the company from $97 to $112 based on a strong 4th quarter. Chipotle Mexican Grill's 4th quarter 2009 earnings per share of 99 cents beat consensus estimates by 18 cents 

Burger King Holdings, Inc. (BKC) - Steve West at Stifel Nicolaus

While this performance was for the same 11 week period ending Jan 3, the big difference is that it was compared to the 12 weeks ended Oct 11, 2009 Plus, Burger King's numbers were adjusted for seasonality and RSI's numbers were not "We're going to find out really quickly who is right," said Steve West, restaurant industry analyst with Stifel Nicolaus, who last fall lowered his rating on Burger King's stock to a hold "`I think the promotion is losing its effectiveness The consumer is getting tired of this"' Burger King declined to discuss the double cheeseburger's performance, citing a quiet period prior to today's release of second quarter earnings 

Burger King Holdings, Inc. (BKC) - Steve West at Stifel Nicolaus

``We're going to find out really quickly who is right,'' said Steve West, restaurant industry analyst with Stifel Nicolaus who last fall lowered his rating on Burger King's stock to a ``hold'' ``I think the promotion is losing its effectiveness The consumer is getting tired of this'' Burger King declined Tuesday to discuss the double cheeseburger's performance, citing a quiet period prior to Thursday's release of second quarter earnings The chain also declined to validate any of the performance information presented to The Miami Herald by franchisees, who had received the data from the company in preparation for a Marketing Excellence Advisory Committee meeting ``Any internal documents are proprietary and confidential information meant for internal use only and can contain data that is non public material information,'' company spokeswoman Susan Robison said in an e mail 

Rubio's Restaurants, Inc. (RUBO) - Steve West at Stifel Nicolaus

The letter noted that the investors wouldn't need outside financing for the deal Meruelo and an affiliate, Luis Armona, own 116 percent of Rubio's stock and as such, represent the company's largest noninstitutional shareholder, the letter said The company's stock closed yesterday at $777 a share, up from $730 on Friday and its highest level since it hit $784 on Oct 22 Steve West, a restaurant analyst with Stifel Nicolaus, said he suspects that Rubio's board may be trying to get a better price for the company "One of two things could be happening: Management really believes it's worth a lot more or they're trying to squeeze a little more money out of the group for their shareholders," West said 

McDonald's Corporation (MCD) - Steve West at Stifel Nicolaus

Thompson, 46, succeeds Ralph Alvarez, 55, who surprised Wall Street last month by announcing his retirement because of health problems Thompson was one of three McDonald's executives seen as contenders to succeed Alvarez, although one analyst said it was somewhat of a surprise Several analysts Monday praised the decision to promote Thompson "This will be well received on (Wall) Street," said Steve West, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus "I think it's a big positive 

McDonald's Corporation (MCD) - Steve West at Stifel Nicolaus

Analysts note that Alvarez has been gradually assuming more responsibility. Last year he was named to McDonald's board, and he has been increasingly visible at company presentations to the investment community, they said. "Most people thought Ralph was being groomed to take over for Skinner," said Steve West, a stock analyst at Stifel Nicolaus. Alvarez's health issues "must have been pretty severe for him to walk away.". McDonald's geographic operations chiefs who reported to Alvarez will report directly to Skinner. 

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc (GMCR) - Steve West at Stifel Nicolaus

While the company may raise its offer, it can't match Green Mountain, Steve West , an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus & Co in St. Louis, said Nov. 25.