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March Madness Stock Ideas

 

I’m willing to bet that today is the single least productive day of the year. Not only do you have the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament, but it’s also the day after St. Patty’s Day. Kegs and eggs sounded like such a great idea yesterday too. I can’t wear any green here because, little movie magic secret, I’m not really on a spaceship, it’s a green screen. But I do have this sweet Chi-Rish pin, complements of Miller Lite InBev (BUD). 

 

Tell the truth you liars. How many of you are taking a three hour lunch at the Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) today? And I saw the line at the Starbucks this morning too. Never seen so many people in sunglasses begging for a fix. Like watching Jamie Fox in Ray. Just don’t get in the way of my venti peppermint mocha or it’s gonna be one. Follow it up with a McDonald’s (MCD) Shamrock shake for lunch because milk is good for your hangover. Not sure about the green stuff though. Of course the only real cure more alcohol. 

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Between March Madness and the hangovers, you guys are causing a huge dead weight loss to society today. Let’s do the math real quick. The American Gaming Association estimates that about 51 million people are engaged in an office pool. Take the average hourly rate of $25.35 and that amounts to about $1.3 billion per hour of distraction. If everybody took that 3 hour lunch at B Dubs, you’re talking close to $4 billion sucked out of the economy so you can watch your bracket get blow up. I, of course, have the perfect bracket so I’m guaranteed to win this year. You can see it here, Donald Trump style. I win. 

The main beneficiary of your March Madness could be the restaurant industry. This hot area is still in the Top 25% of our Zacks Industry Rank. The aforementioned Buffalo Wild Wings is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) right now, but Brinker (EAT), who owns Chili’s, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, On The Border, Maggiano’s and a several other very profitable restaurants is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) but it does have Value, Growth and Momentum scores of A right now. That tells me things could be heating up for shares of Brinker. Very appropriate ticker for Brinker is EAT. Analysts have written off the current quarter but have high hopes for the next one. Seven analysts have revised their earnings estimate for next quarter, pushing up our Zacks Consensus from $1.17 to $1.25.


Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
ANHEUSER-BU ADR (BUD): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
BUFFALO WLD WNG (BWLD): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
MCDONALDS CORP (MCD): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
BRINKER INTL (EAT): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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Zacks Investment Research