One Of These Restaurants Isn't Like The Others (Hint: It's Noodles & Co)

Nick Setyan of Wedbush on Friday offered a preview for several restaurant operators ahead of their earnings.

Setyan favors owning shares of Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc FRGI as checks point to continued Pollo comp momentum in the fourth quarter ahead of expectations as well as another step-up in Taco's comps.

The analyst also favors Jack In The Box Inc. JACK as checks indicate upside to JIB comp expectations of 1.8 percent. Also, checks at Qdoba (a wholly owned subsidiary of Jack In The Box) indicate same-store sales growth is tracking largely in line with the 9 percent consensus, leading to a likelihood of a raised fiscal 2016 guidance.

Setyan suggests investors own BJ's Restaurants, Inc. BJRI as the analyst expects earnings per share upside given a preannounced comp of 1.2 percent (versus 0.6 percent consensus expectations), and potentially meaningful upward revisions to its 2015 earnings per share expectations as the company improves its margin trajectory.

Finally, Setyan remains cautious on shares of Noodles & Co NDLS ahead of its fourth-quarter results as checks indicate potential downside to comp expectations in the quarter, which could put further doubt into guidance for accelerating comp trends in 2015 along with management's earnings per share growth expectations of 25 percent for next year.

All of the mentioned stocks were trading down in Friday's session.