CKE’s Stock Surges 17.4% on Earnings News

CKE Restaurants Inc., parent of the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s fast-food chains, said earnings and revenue more than doubled for the fiscal first quarter, triggering a 17% gain in the Anaheim-based company’s stock. Analysts said the stock price surge, on a day when the market generally took a pounding, means investors are gaining confidence in CKE’s ability to stage a turnaround in the Hardee’s restaurant chain that CKE acquired last year. The stock closed at $37.94, up $5.63 on the New York Stock Exchange. Earlier in the day, Anaheim-based CKE reported net income for the first quarter rose to $22.7 million, or 47 cents a share, compared with net of $10.6 million, or 28 cents a share, for the same period last year. Revenue totaled $528.2 million, up from $235.4 million.