11:40 AM EDT, 03/20/2025 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

Our upgrade is based on an attractive valuation and improving fundamentals. Our 12-month price target is $134 (unchanged), based on a 2025 EV/EBITDA multiple of 27x, a premium to historic averages, justified by strong same-store sales and accelerated unit growth. Our EPS estimates remain unchanged at $1.25 in 2025 and $1.56 in 2026. At current levels, we think investors are unfairly discounting SHAK's earnings growth potential due to near-term macroeconomic growth concerns. Despite weather-related events limiting sales to start Q1 2025, we expect same-store sales of +4% Y/Y above consensus of +2.98% Y/Y in 2025, driven by traffic, menu innovation, and pricing. We think accelerated unit growth (+85 new restaurants in 2025) represents an underappreciated opportunity to expand SHAK's market reach and potentially reduce unit costs through economies of scale. SHAK opened 43 company-operated locations in 2024, with some reaching average unit volumes of $4 million, demonstrating there are new areas of growth.