Bj's Restaurants, Inc. (BJRI) Tops Q2 EPS by 8c; Comps Up 0.5%

Bj's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ: BJRI) reported Q2 EPS of $0.47, $0.08 better than the analyst estimate of $0.39. Revenue for the quarter came in at $232 million versus the consensus estimate of $236.22 million.

Comparable restaurant sales increased 0.5%.

"Our record second quarter results further demonstrate the progress we are making in driving top line sales and improving our operating margins," commented Greg Trojan, President and CEO. "We introduced a new menu in late May featuring quinoa bowls and two new EnLIGHTened Entrees® that are being well received by our guests and helped us achieve our fourth consecutive quarter of positive comparable restaurant sales. Our revenue growth coupled with our Project Q productivity initiatives resulted in record four-wall restaurant level operating margins of 20.9%, marking a 230 basis point year-over-year improvement. Additionally, with our focus on leveraging general and administrative and depreciation and amortization expenses, BJ's generated a significant increase in consolidated income from operations to 7.6%, representing a 270 basis point year-over-year gain. In summary, the 55.4% and 67.9% growth in second quarter net income and diluted net income per share, respectively, clearly highlights the strong operating leverage in our model and provides a solid platform for continued bottom line growth."

Trojan continued, "I am extremely proud of our restaurant, brewery and support center team members who continue to passionately provide an outstanding experience for our guests every day on every shift. Across the organization, our team members' dedication is instrumental to achieving our strategic growth priorities, including new menu innovation and speed of service improvements, all of which are elevating our guests' experience and supporting near and long-term earnings growth. At the same time, we have achieved notable success in removing costs from the business and have greatly enhanced our efficiency at both the restaurant and corporate level as evidenced by the progress in our restaurant-level and overall operating margins. We remain focused on further execution against these initiatives and believe additional success will be reflected in our financial results over the balance of fiscal 2015 and beyond."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Bj's Restaurants, Inc. (BJRI) click here.

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