Panera Bread Co. was upgraded to buy from neutral on Monday at Longbow Research on improved results from the restaurant chain’s tech and service upgrade program, which the company calls Panera 2.0. The program, which launched in 2014, includes digital ordering and delivery. Longbow believes the program got off to a slow start, but began to pick up in mid-2015 and could drive “meaningful upside” to same-store sales growth for the next 18 months or more. “The transaction lift from the 2.0 conversion is clearly evident in Panera’s reported same-store transactions on a two-year stacked basis,” Longbow’s note said. Now that stock prices have dropped (shares are down 8% over the past three months), analysts say the valuation is “compelling.” Shares of Panera Bread are up 2.2% in Monday trading, but down 0.7% for 2016 so far. The S&P 500 Index is up 5.9% for the year to date.
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