Out Fox The $treet

Summary Potbelly continues a trend of beating estimates while the stock bumps along the bottom. Despite the large stock decline after irrational trading following an IPO, the stock trades at an exceptionally large forward PE ratio. Investors need to keep the stock on a watch list due to the long-term growth potential, but one shouldn't expect the stock to rebound now. After writing about Noodles & Company (NASDAQ: NDLS ) earlier in the week, this article focuses on Potbelly (NASDAQ: PBPB ). Both restaurant concepts had hot IPOs in 2013 and share similar less-than returns, though Potbelly has traded better than Noodles over the last 9 months. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No stocks mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Something just doesn't appear right with Noodles & Company ( NASDAQ: NDLS     ) . The hot IPO from the summer of 2013 surged to over $52.50 on the promises of a strong restaurant concept growing from a regional chain to a massive national operation, but the reported financials don't deliver on that promise. The fast-casual restaurant chain that focuses on noodles and pasta dishes had investors envisioning a Chipotle Mexican Grill ( NYSE: CMG     ) type of story, but the numbers never added up. The company only operates 372 systemwide locations in 29 states, offering the long-term potential growth that initially excited investors similar to fellow hot IPO Potbelly ( NASDAQ: PBPB     ) . At a fraction of the size, though, neither chain is able to match the growth of Chipotle, which has a vastly larger network of restaurants. Do these companies have the ability to eventually grow into their valuation and provide growth opportunitie...

Investing in restaurant stocks can be a simple, yet frustrating, pursuit. Developing a successful concept that can easily be duplicated across the country is easier said than done. While a good plan in theory, restaurants can quickly come in and out of favor. Very few successfully make the trek from a strong regional play to a truly national company. Investors crave the successes of Chipotle Mexican Grill or Panera Bread , which quickly spread nationwide and provided huge gains for early investors. Now a new set of restaurant stocks hope to replicate that success, from relatively new public firms  Chuy's ( NASDAQ: CHUY     ) and Noodles & Company ( NASDAQ: NDLS     ) to recent turnaround Jack in the Box ( NASDAQ: JACK     ) . All three stocks have market valuations of less than $2 billion compared to the $12 billion valuation of Chipotle. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaim...

This is the third part of a series reviewing the large number of IPOs pricing below the original midpoint with an incredible five on June 26 alone. The first two articles (see parts 1 , 2 ) focused on the stocks that priced below the original midpoint. This part will focus on whether any value exists in the four stocks that didn’t disappoint. Did the market get these right or should more » Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

As quickly as SodaStream (NASDAQ: SODA ) finally gained some strong interest from the market, the analyst community smashed the stock with downgrade after downgrade. The company continues to under promise and over deliver, with results beating expectations quarter after quarter. The stock, though, has plunged $18 in the last month and now trades at less than its growth rate that has been reaching over 30% lately. The company is a more » Disclosure: Long SODA. Please review the disclaimer page for more details.