Barclays' Views Diverge On 2 Sinking Restaurant Stocks, Still Wary On Whole Foods

Disappointing results from a couple of restaurant companies drove their shares down Thursday while a premium grocer's performance gave its stock a boost.But Barclays analyst Jeffrey Bernstein praised Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ: PNRA) while panning Cheesecake Factory Inc (NASDAQ: CAKE).Separately, Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) got a thumbs down from Barclays' Meredith Adler.Panera was off nearly 8 percent to $161.84 recently, after it posted unexpectedly high costs during the recent quarter, and implied that its renovation and restructuring plan is moving slowly.The lack of details offered by the company on its so-called Panera 2.0 revamping "leads to more questions than answers," according to Bernstein, who maintained an Overweight rating but cut his price target to $200.Panera's 5 percent decline in profits and 3.3 percent growth in same-store sales met consensus expectations. But its profit margin was slimmer than forecast and the company predicted a further narrowing for 2015.Cheesecake Factory fell more than 11 percent after it missed profit expectations and lowered its outlook on higher labor costs.Bernstein said he's bullish on Cheesecake's long-term brand strength, but maintained a Neutral rating and $50 target, citing volatility.Whole Foods ticked up more than 5 percent to $56.15 on an earnings beat and same-store sales surprise.But Barclays' Adler maintained an Equal Weight rating on Whole Foods saying its recent operating gains are already price into the shares.