BOSTON Fifty-nine percent of Americans plan to eat out less over the next three months and only 20 percent intend to order appetizers, desserts or higher-priced entrees, according to a new consumer survey.
The findings by the RBC Capital Markets securities brokerage firm point to a further belt-tightening among consumers since August, when 54 percent said they planned to dine out less and 27 percent anticipated scaling back their meals. The survey found that 43 percent of respondents are already buying restaurant meals less often than they did six months ago, up from 39 percent in August.
The results indicate that consumer confidence is at its lowest level since Hurricane Katrina in September 2005, RBC said.
Aspokeswoman said the most bearish consumers are the 18-to-39 age group, women, households with incomes under $25,000, minorities and residents of the Northeast.
Most bullish in their eating-out outlook were males, singles and age 65 or older "pre-boomers," RBC said
The Toronto-based international company indicated that the survey results correlate with its monthly Consumer Attitudes and Spending by Household Index, which represents more than 1,000 U.S. households.
RBC said its analyst Larry Miller foresees related earnings risks for restaurant companies, versus Wall Street's expectations of flat to improving margins in 2008. He indicated that defensive investors might benefit from the undervalued stocks of Jack in the Box, California Pizza Kitchen, Texas Roadhouse and BJ's Restaurants, and of companies whose revenues derive largely from foreign currencies, such as McDonald's and Yum! Brands.
In its tracking of the burgeoning breakfast market, RBC's data indicated small upward shifts in consumers' tendency to eat that meal at home or skip it altogether and slight erosion in recent months in morning traffic for quick-service chains and the sit-down category.
As for coffee preferences, the survey detected slippage for Starbucks, McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts and others, while "local coffee shops" gained favor, with 20 percent of the respondents saying they patronized them now, compared with 17 percent in August.
