News Flash: People Want Better Food, Market Nods – Panera Bread Co (PNRA) and More

In similar news, the pricy baker and café Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ:PNRA) reported stellar same store sales as well, receiving a 34% improvement in its fourth quarter income, and appears a comparably beneficial choice for value investors. As of December 2012, the company’s stock held a P/E ratio of 26.97. The stock also greatly outperforms any of it’s would-be competitors, riding a steady climb upward since 2009. Though some experts point to it’s sudden growth as a reason for caution, Peter Lynch said

“This methodology likes to see earnings growth in the range of 20% to 50%, as earnings growth of of over 50% may be unsustainable. The EPS growth rate for PNRA is 85.27%, based on the average of the 3, 4 and 5 year historical EPS growth rates, which is considered too fast.”

Having grown to an amazing size itself, McDonald’s is also having difficulty strengthening its reach outside the U.S. market, in which it had a meager gain of 0.9%. January sales in Asia and the Middle East were down around 9.5%, with a global sales drop of 1.9%. Investors are waiting to see if a company in 119 countries and serving 68 million daily still has the room to both grow and innovate further.

The article News Flash: People Want Better Food, Market Nods originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Jean-Marc Saint Laurent.

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