Burger King’s kingdom is getting a makeover following a slight uptick in sales.
Restaurant Brands International (RBI), owner of the fast food chain and several other brands, released earnings Wednesday (Feb. 12) showing a 2.5% increase in comparable sales.
These figures, CEO Josh Kobza told analysts during an earnings call, represent an “outpacing” of the company’s quick-service restaurant (QSR) peers, while “still reflecting a challenging consumer backdrop, moderated pricing and some periods of marketing softness across some of our brands.”
The company’s net restaurant growth of 3.4% was impacted by a “few discrete items,” he added, such as a “development slowdown in geopolitically impacted markets” as well as a 100 basis point year over year headwind from Burger King China.
Among the company’s priorities for this year, management said on the call, is its ongoing remodeling project at its Burger King locations and the ones it acquired when it purchased Carrols Restaurant Group, the largest Burger King franchisee, for $1 billion in 2024.
These efforts go beyond cosmetics. For example, by the end of next year, RBI hopes to have all of its Popeyes locations in the U.S. feature cloud-based point-of-sale-systems as well as a host of various back-of-house technologies.
“These upgrades enhance the team member experience, reduce wait times, and improve order accuracy, all while preserving the brand’s unique Louisiana culinary heritage and our food quality,” Kobza said.
RBI’s earnings came two days after QSR giant McDonald’s released its fourth-quarter earnings, which CEO Chris Kempczinski said “did not meet our expectations.”
The chain saw a 0.4% increase in global comparable sales, while U.S. comparable sales slipped 1.4% primarily due to fallout of an E. coli outbreak connected to onions used in McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers.
To offset these troubles, Kempczinski said, the company is focused on innovations such as nationwide launch of its McValue menu.
“The E. coli impact is now localized to areas that had the biggest impacts,” the CEO said, “which was mainly the Rocky Mountains. It’s been contained to that region. The rest of the U.S. didn’t see an impact. It’s going to be a function of us executing. We’ve got to make sure McValue is off to a good start and strong marketing programs with that. When we do that and do that well, we can put up positive guest counts and positive comps.”
