James Cramer Speculates On Split For Jack in the Box Inc. Mexican Unit

Jack in the Box Inc.

popped to a new high for the year after the wound-up TV commentator James Cramer made bullish comments of the fast-food purveyor. Cramer, speaking on NBC, said Jack in the Box could split off its comparatively fast-growing Qdoba Mexican Grill as an independent company. Jack in the Box, up about 61 percent in the year to date, changed hands recently at $80.46, up $1.26. "I could see someone taking a stake and asking that the company divided in two and the company agrees," Cramer said. "If they took the next step and divided it into Qdoba and Jack in the Box, you got a hundred dollar stock and I think you'd have it probably in a week," Cramer said. Same-store sales grew 2 percent in fiscal 2014 for Jack in the Box restaurants and 6 percent for Qdoba. As of Sept. 28, the Jack in the Box system included 2,250 restaurants, of which 431 were company-operated and 1,819 were operated as franchise. The Qdoba system, acquired by Jack in the Box in 2003, and described by the company as the second-largest "fast-casual" Mexican restaurant chain in the U.S., included 638 restaurants at Sept. 28. Roughly half of Qdoba restaurants are franchises.