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Upside in Jack in the Box (NASDAQ: JACK) today appears to be driven by speculation the company will spin-off Qdoba. The speculation was driven by a note from KeyBanc analyst Christopher O'Cull, who raised his price target to $80 today and commented on a potential spin-off following a meeting with management.

"Though mgmt. has stated plans to keep Qdoba, should JACK's valuation not adequately reflect its warranted premium, we would expect mgmt. to reconsider monetizing Qdoba's value," O'Cull said. "While a full spin-off may be challenging given the cost/ difficultly of disintegration (i.e., purchasing, accounting, IT, real estate, human resources), we view selling a minority stake (<20%) of Qdoba to shareholders via an IPO as feasible and could still help to remove any conglomerate discount reflected in JACK's stock price," he added.

A spin-off of Qdoba would make in an easier comp of Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG), which has traders excited.

Shares of Jack in the Box are up 2.3% today to $67.25.