PNRA Seeing Industry Leading Same-Store Sales Trends

Analysts at Piper Jaffray maintain their "overweight" rating on Panera Bread Co

, while raising their estimates for the company. The target price for PNRA has been raised from $95 to $97. According to Piper Jaffray, “Panera posted impressive system-wide 2Q10 SSS of 9.9%. 3QTD company-owned SSS are running up 7.8% and franchised SSS are tracking up 8.7%, providing us with increased confidence in our new 6.0% and 7.0% projections, respectively, despite more difficult comparisons in July and August.” “Although Panera did repurchase some shares during 2Q and in early 3Q, the company's SSS trends continue to be industry-leading and when combined with increasing operating margins and a solid growth pipeline are all the more impressive,” the analysts add. Piper Jaffray has raised its EPS estimates for 2010 and 2011 from $3.40 to $3.50 and from $3.95 to $4.05, respectively.