Earnings Preview: Ruby Tuesday, Inc (RT)

Ruby Tuesday, Inc

is currently lower on the session by 1.04%, trading at $12.42. The company is scheduled to report earnings today, after the closing bell. • Estimates The Street is looking for Q1 earnings per share of $0.16 on revenue of $300.32 million. These estimates have fallen by $0.01 (-5.88%) over the past 90 days. The Whisper number for RT is $0.16. • Guidance The Street is looking for Q2 EPS of $0.05 on revenue of $274.89 million. The full year 2011 estimates are $0.85 per share on revenue of $1.21 billion; FY 2012 is at $1.00 per share on revenues of $1.26 billion. • Technical Picture RT has been rallying for the past two years, finding resistance near $12.50 as recently as April. Since then, the stock has sold off, rebounded near the 200-day moving average, and made a rally toward resistance once again. The stock recent broke through $12.50, which is bullish, though it is trading well off the 200-day moving average, which may mean RT is due for a short-term pull back in a longer-term bull trend. • Volatility Both historical volatility and implied volatility have been down-trending over the past few months after a spike higher in mid-May. Currently HI is at 36% and IV is at 56%. The front month $12.50 straddle is trading at 62.00%; the November $12.50 straddle is trading at 54.24%. Vol is skewed toward the calls in both months. Ruby Tuesday, Inc., including its wholly owned subsidiaries owns and operates Ruby Tuesday casual dining restaurants. The company-owned and operated restaurants are concentrated in the Northeast, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the United States. As of June 1, 2010, the company owned and operated 656 Ruby Tuesday restaurants located in 27 states and the District of Columbia. As of June 1, 2010, the franchisees operate restaurants in 27 states, Guam, and 14 foreign countries. As of June 1, 2010, the company had 46 franchisees, comprised of 13 franchise partnerships, 14 traditional domestic and 19 traditional international franchisees. In addition, the company also operates two Wok Hay full-service Asian restaurants. As of June 1, 2010, there were 223 franchise restaurants, including 116 operated by franchise partnerships.