While it would be easy to think that restaurant stock Shake Shack (SHAK) would be suffering in the face of surging inflation and economic uncertainty, there are actually some positive win cases for the stock. Deutsche Bank recently pointed out one of them, and gave Shake Shack a huge boost with investors. Investors sent shares surging up nearly 7% in Tuesday morning’s trading.
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Deutsche Bank, via analyst Lauren Silberman—who has nearly a five-star rating on TipRanks—called out “easier compares” coming from the first quarter of 2025. Given that the first quarter of 2025 featured wildfires and other weather unpleasantness, beating this quarter should be easier for Shake Shack to pull off. Shake Shack’s recent adoption of a new loyalty program will not hurt, and the upcoming World Cup event is likely to mean a huge boost. After all, reports note, 30% of Shake Shack locations are in or near host cities.
As such, Silberman hiked the rating from Hold to Buy, but dropped the price target back a bit, going from $115 a share to $105. This still represents a 26% upside from Monday’s closing numbers, reports note.
Going Afield Unannounced
Meanwhile, reports note that Shake Shack’s current CEO, Rob Lynch, likes to go afield to check out Shake Shack locations to see how they operate. Lynch reportedly looks for a “…generally welcoming environment,” as well as “…a team of employees that are energized by their work.”
Of particular interest to Lynch is finding a Shake Shack outlet that is conducting a job interview that day, a phenomenon generally done right in the dining room. There, he can hear what local store managers are looking for in employees, and starting with questions about what motivates them, and what they do for fun.
Is Shake Shack Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on SHAK stock based on eight Buys, 11 Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 36.75% loss in its share price over the past year, the average SHAK price target of $110.59 per share implies 23.95% upside potential.
