Darden Restaurants Inc.: Growth Strategy, Operational Improvements & Key Drivers, Financial Forecasts, DCF & Comparables Valuation, ESG & Other Risks (07/22)

Darden Restaurants delivered a decent quarterly result exceeding sales expectations and having fairly good earnings despite the highly inflationary environment. The 2022 fiscal has been good for the company despite the impact of the Omicron variant as its brands continue to strengthen their business models. The addition of 33 net new restaurants, which included one temporary closure that will reopen in fiscal 2023, and an increase of 11.7% in same-restaurant sales contributed to the fourth quart

Darden Restaurants: Detailed Credit Analysis & Financial Strength Evaluation Report, Key Risks & ESG Assessment (04/2022)

Darden Restaurants had a decent 2021 despite the volatility in the macro-economic environment for restaurants. The Omicron variant significantly impacted consumer demand, restaurant staffing, and operating expenses in the past few months, particularly during the high-volume periods for the company. However, now that the Covid-19 cases are decreasing and the operating environment normalizing, the company is back on track over the past few weeks. It is worth highlighting that the current geopoliti

Darden Restaurants: Financial & Price Forecasts, DCF Valuation, ESG & Other Risks (04/22)

Darden performed well in 2021 despite the volatile environment. The Omicron variant significantly impacted consumer demand, restaurant staffing, and operating expenses in the past few months, particularly during the high-volume periods for the company. However, now that the Covid-19 cases are decreasing and the operating environment normalizing, the company is back on track over the past few weeks. It is worth highlighting that the current geopolitical environment posed additional risks for the

Darden Restaurants, Inc. - Investment Thesis, Key Drivers, Financial & Price Forecasts, DCF Valuation 1/22

Darden Restaurants’ stock has been hit after the rising fears associated with the fast-spreading Omicron variant. The company had a fantastic last quarter when sales trends were strong across all of its brands. They also accomplished excellent profitable sales growth despite a challenging inflationary environment. However, cost pressures on commodities and labour have continued to be beyond management expectations with inflation beyond 6% hitting the margins. Darden’s management implemented seve

Darden Restaurants, Inc. - Investment Thesis, Key Drivers, Financial & Price Forecasts, DCF Valuation 10/21

The restaurant industry has started showing strong signs of recovery as Covid-19 headwinds have started to recede. Darden Restaurants’ recent result was a prime example of the recovery as the company delivered a strong same-restaurant sales number and an overall revenue growth of 51% surpassing Wall Street expectations. The company is seeing its sales per operating week up by 4.8% compared to the pre-Covid era. The momentum in the sales trend in the fourth quarter of previous year continued in t

Darden Restaurants Inc. - Investment Thesis, Key Drivers, Financial & Price Forecasts, DCF Valuation Report

The restaurant industry has started its journey of recovery over the past couple of quarters and Darden Restaurants is riding the recovery wave as well. The company had a solid performance in the recent quarter and reported a humungous year-on-year growth of 80% after the management added 14 new restaurants to make the most out of the increasing customer footfalls. The company has an excellent portfolio of brands including Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille and Eddie V's. The

CyanConnode (CYAN LN) - FY24 update: revenue materially ahead

CyanConnode exceeded FY24 revenue expectations and has high visibility into FY25, supported by strong deliveries and a growing backlog respectively.

BATM+ (BVC, House Stock at 18p) - New client Edgility contract

Hybridan Research: Sector Review: Artificial intelligence in UK cybersecurity: the human uplift 17/04/2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a double-edged sword in cybersecurity. Whilst new AI models, architectures, and innovations are emerging to protect the security posture of organisations, attackers are also benefiting from deepfakes, sophisticated phishing, and automation of malicious codes. To ensure the impact of AI on cybersecurity to be a net-positive, we need to pit good AI against bad AI. Point solutions enhanced with machine learning: Global cybersecurity has been built with point soluti

CyanConnode (CYAN LN) - The smart choice

CyanConnode provides end-to-end communications platforms that connect Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as smart meters to a utility's billing system. The company is a global player and a market leader in India, where a new government scheme, as set out below, has mandated the procurement of 250m meters by March 2025, a significant market opportunity for CyanConnode.

PROGRESSIVE: Gamma Communications: More happy returns

Gamma’s results for the year ended 31 December are in line with the expectations confirmed in the January trading update. Revenue of £521.7m is 8% ahead of FY22, with gross profit at £267.2m showing the same progress. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 9% and PBT by 10%, although the impact of higher tax rates was seen in the 5% increase in adjusted EPS. Cash generation was strong once again, with 108% adjusted cash conversion. Year-end cash of £134.8m is £42.3m above the year before, even after the £30.5m

Morning Note – 21 December 2023

Filtronic - H1/24 Riding the EM-waves across land, sea and space

Filtronic has reported results in-line with management expectations for H1/24, and now expects to perform ahead of our forecasts for FY24E and FY25E in terms of revenue and profit. We are raising our revenue forecasts for FY24E and FY25E by 14.6% and 6.2% respectively, and our EBITDA forecasts by 85.2% and 28.0% respectively. The increase in expectation is driven by a strong recent acceleration in order flow, including a £7.8m order announced today. In this report we present a detailed review of

Cyanconnode (CYAN): Smart meter breadth and depth

CyanConnode has steadily been making progress in India, where the national smart meter programme has been gathering pace. In July 2022, the company crossed the one million mark for meters connected to its RF network across nine Indian states. This is the aggregate RF device number in India connected since 2014 and represents market share of 22%. The latest update from the company states an order book of 2.6m RF nodes for India. Performance of smart meters is a critical aspect of the Indian progr

CyanConnode (CYAN LN) - Large Letter of Award for Omnimesh Cellular Modules

CyanConnode has received a large Letter of Award (LOA) for Omnimesh Cellular Modules (CNICs) from a Thai customer.

BATM+ (BVC, House Stock at 19p) - Cyber, a quantum perspective - Cyber, a quantum perspective

Morning Note – 3 April 2024

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 18 April 24

18th April 2024 * A corporate client of Hybridan LLP ** Arranged by type of listing and date of announcement *** Alphabetically arranged **** Potential means Intention to Float (ITF) has been announced Dish of the day Admissions: Delistings: What’s baking in the oven? ** Potential**** Initial Public Offerings: Reverse Takeovers: Electric Guitar (ELEG.L) Concurrent with its Admission to trading on AIM, Electric Guitar is proposing to acquire the entire issued share capital of 3radical Limited for

CyanConnode (CYAN LN) - H1 FY24: On track

CyanConnode’s H1 results position the company to meet our full year forecasts. The company does not need to grow revenue yoy in H2 in order to meet full year estimates. The Indian smart metering programme appears on track, with 98m smart meters already awarded to prime bidders and these orders should soon filter down to competitively well positioned subcontractors such as CyanConnode. These market drivers position the company well to grow revenue 39% in FY24 and 111% in FY25 and for a £1.9m of o

CyanConnode (CYAN LN) - FY23 results: Solid outlook

Revenue grew 23% in FY23 with limited contribution from Indian RDSS contracts

Filtronic - Expecting 10% pa compound revenue growth to FY24

As revealed in last week’s interim update, strong demand continued through 1H23 and into 2H23, fuelled by demand for backhaul modules in the ongoing 5G rollout, newly won defence contracts and a post-COVID recovery in critical coms. This led to solid +5% yoy growth in 1H revenue and a current record order book of £17m – a full year’s worth of business for the group. The update also revealed that shortages and the resulting price hikes on specific components led to FTC delaying some 2H23 producti