Fast Food Giants Serve Up Surprising Results

Restaurant Brands International (RBI) just dropped some numbers for their latest quarter. They saw a 2. 5% increase in same-store sales. This boost came from Burger King and Popeyes doing better than expected. Let's break it down. RBI's earnings per share were 81 cents, which is a bit more than the 79 cents predicted. Their total revenue hit $2. 3 billion, surpassing the $2. 27 billion estimate. This jump in revenue was mostly due to some big acquisitions from last year, like their largest U. S. Burger King franchisee and Popeyes China. Now, let's talk about the individual brands. Burger King in the U. S. saw a 1. 5% increase in same-store sales, which is better than the 0. 8% expected. Popeyes also had a small increase of 0. 1%, reversing last quarter's drop. Tim Hortons, the Canadian coffee chain, had a 2. 5% increase in domestic same-store sales. This is a big deal because Tim Hortons makes up over 40% of RBI's quarterly revenue. Internationally, RBI's restaurants saw a 4. 7% increase in same-store sales, beating the 2. 7% estimate. This was driven by Burger King and Popeyes locations. RBI also expanded its footprint by 3. 4%, adding 1, 055 new restaurants compared to last year. Looking ahead to 2025, RBI plans to spend between $400 million and $450 million on various expenses. The stock market reacted positively to these results, with shares rising roughly 3% in premarket trading. This shows that investors are happy with the company's performance. Now, let's think critically. While these numbers look good, it's important to consider the context. The acquisitions from last year played a big role in the revenue increase. Without them, the results might not look as impressive. It's also worth noting that while Burger King and Popeyes saw growth, the increases were modest. This suggests that there's still room for improvement. Tim Hortons, on the other hand, showed strong growth. This could be a sign of things to come for the other brands.