"The jump up left a big gap on the chart, a bullish sign of strength. And it moved the stock up over the 200-day moving average. BWLD is up over 100% from its November low.

"Most restaurant stocks aren't doing very well. So it's significant that BWLD is bucking the trend. It shows real strength and growing customer demand.

"The big jump came on stellar fourth-quarter earnings. The company posted better-than-expected results, with earnings growing 28% to $0.43 a share.

"In addition, total revenue was up 32.6%, same- restaurant sales also jumped. Company-owned stores saw their sales up 4.5%. And franchised stores were up 2.5%.

"Better yet, the company believes its growth prospects for the rest of the year are achievable. So we expect BWLD to continue this uptrend. BWLD is a buy."

Joseph Hargett says, "BWLD has plenty of momentum on its side. The stock has bested the SPX by more than 61% on a relative-strength basis during the past 60 trading days.

"On the charts, BWLD has enjoyed the support of its 10-day and 20-day moving averages since mid-February, but the stock has since outpaced these short-term trendlines.

"Furthermore, the equity is now poised to confront former technical support in the 38 region - an area that buoyed the shares in October 2008. Above this area is an additional layer of potential resistance at the round-number 40 level.

"Judging from BWLD's sentiment backdrop, investors are not expecting the shares to move much higher, a fact that could work in the equity's favor from a contrarian perspective.

"On the options front, put open interest more than doubles call open interest in the front 3 months, with the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) arriving at 2.09. This ratio underscores this preference for bearish bets.

"Digging into the stock's open interest configuration shows an overall preference for in-the-money calls and out-of-the-money puts , which indicates that investors have low expectations for the shares during the near term.

"Elsewhere, BWLD is sitting on a potential powder keg of sideline money. During the most recent reporting period, short interest surged by more than 20%. As a result, some 33% of the stock's total float is sold short.

"If BWLD maintains its momentum on the charts, we could see these bears begin to capitulate to the stock's uptrend, thus creating the potential for a sharp short-covering rally."

Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers a daily look at the latest market commentary and favorite stock picks and investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.