Cracker Barrel's parent company, CBRL Group Inc., posted anincrease in same stores sales of 7.3% inDecember compared to thesame period last year, following an increase of 3.8% in November2004 and2.3% in October 2004.

Earlier this month, analyst Bryan Elliott of Raymond Jamesupgraded CBRL Group Inc. from "outperform" to "strong buy," andraised his estimates for the company. The target price has beenraised to $48.50.In a research note, he says that CBRL Group willwitness robust margin expansion in the near term partly due to adecline in food costs. The earning per share estimates for fiscalyear 2005 and fiscal year2006 have been raised from $2.57 to $2.59and from $2.90 to $3, respectively.

CBRL Group, which also owns Logan's Roadhouse restaurants, saysthat restaurant sales were affected favorably in December by theshift in timing of the Christmas holiday from fiscal December lastyear to fiscal January this year. The company estimated thatcomparable store restaurant sales were increased by approximately2.5% to 3.5% at Cracker Barrel and Logan's as a result of thisshift.