Is Shake Shack Stock a Buy?
Shake Shack (NYSE: SHAK) has turned things around in grand fashion this year. After losing more than half of its value in March 2020 during the start of the pandemic, shares are flying high once more. With just weeks remaining until 2021, Shake Shack stock sports a 50% year-to-date gain. To be fair, the better-burger chain is still coping with challenges due to COVID-19 and ensuing changes in consumer behavior. But it has a plan -- and ample sums of cash. Investors could pick far worse restaurant stocks.
Restaurants have been among the businesses hit hardest by the pandemic, but Shake Shack in particular bears deep scars. Based in the Northeast and concentrated in densely-populated urban areas, Shake Shack took a steep tumble because of the lockdown and necessary social distancing to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus.
But after an especially ugly second quarter, company-operated same-Shack sales trends (foot traffic and guest ticket size at stores open for at least two years) have started to improve sequentially. A resurgent wave of infections in November and December could put a damper on the recovery, but this chain is nonetheless making progress. With vaccines now shipping out, shareholders can see a glimmer of hope on the horizon.
Source Fool.com
