Why Investors Were Gorging on Denny's Stock This Week

Like one of its classic breakfast dishes freshly served to a hungry diner, Denny's (NASDAQ: DENN) stock was being eagerly devoured over the past few days. A quarterly earnings release won the company some attention, but it also seems to winning popularity due to macroeconomic worries.

According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, Denny's share price had moved up by 15% week to date as of early Thursday.

An in-line quarter

Denny's published its first-quarter earnings after market close on Monday. These revealed that revenue ticked up to $111.6 million for the period from the year-ago tally of $110 million.

Image source: Getty Images.

Of this, franchise and license revenue was essentially flat over that span of time, at $57.7 million, while company restaurant sales improved slightly to $53.9 million from $52.3 million. Denny's attributed much of this to the addition of 11 new restaurants of the brand it acquired in 2022, upscale breakfast joint Keke's.

In terms of profitability, non-GAAP (adjusted) net income fell to just under $4.2 million ($0.08 per share) from first quarter 2024's almost $6.5 million profit.

The company's adjusted per-share net income basically met the consensus analyst estimate. Revenue exceeded it slightly, as pundits tracking Denny's stock were collectively anticipating the company to post a shade under $110.3 million.

Discounts for the win

It feels to me, though, that Denny's steady-as-she-goes performance was good enough to be appealing in the current economic environment. Many investors, not to mention consumers, are worried about the current trade war's effect on the broader U.S. economy.

Stocks like Denny's provide comforting safe havens for many in such times. Cleverly, the company has lately been pushing quite steeply discounted meal deals in an effort to woo cost-conscious diners. That should help attract more foot traffic and, in the end, boost overall sales. I think the recent investor bullishness is justified.

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.