BJ's Restaurants Inc.
(
BJRI
) recently revealed that it has appointed Gregory A. Trojan for
the position of president and director, effective December 3,
2012. Trojan will also become the chief executive officer (CEO)
of the company replacing current president, director and CEO,
Gerald W. Deitchle, who will bow out from the post of CEO
effective February 1, 2013. However, Deitchle will continue to
serve as the chairman of the company's board of directors.
The upcoming CEO, Trojan, has donned many important roles in his
career. A number of leadership positions held at renowned
organizations vouch for his expertise. Previously, he was the CEO
at Guitar Center Holdings Inc. - a renowned retailer of music
products - from November 2010. He joined Guitar Center as the
president and chief operating officer as well as a director in
October 2007.
Prior to that, Trojan held the post of CEO at House of Blues
Entertainment Inc. - an operator of restaurant and music venues,
concerts and media properties, from 1996 to 2006. Prior to his
tenure at House of Blues, Trojan acted as the CEO of the
California Pizza Kitchen restaurant chain for two years when it
was owned by
PepsiCo Inc.
(
PEP
), He also held a number of other positions within PepsiCo during
his 1990-1996 term. Apart from these roles, he has been a board
member in
Domino's Pizza Inc.
(
DPZ
) since March 2010.
With his vast know-how in the restaurant and retail industry, we
expect Trojan to provide meaningful support to BJ's Restaurants'
aggressive expansion plan.
As a point of reference, former CEO, Deitchle has been the
driving force behind increasing BJ's Restaurants' total revenues
and cash flow (from operating activities) from a respective $129
million and $16 million in 2004 to an estimated $700 million and
$100 million in 2012.
However, we remain cautious on the stock at the current level
based on its third quarter top- and bottom- line miss as well as
the decelerating growth in comps and margins. Hence, Trojan's new
pursuit will be a bit challenging especially amid a sluggish
business environment and an element of uncertainty lingers till
we find some concrete evidence of better execution at the
company.
BJ's Restaurants owns and operates 127 locations at the end of
the third quarter. BJ's Restaurants currently carries a Zacks #5
Rank, implying a short-term Strong Sell rating on the stock. We
are maintaining our long-term Neutral recommendation on the
stock.
BJ'S RESTAURANT (BJRI): Free Stock Analysis
Report
DOMINOS PIZZA (DPZ): Free Stock Analysis
Report
PEPSICO INC (PEP): Free Stock Analysis Report
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