Burger King (BKC) is turning up the heat in its war with McDonalds (MCD) for early morning sales. In selected markets, Burger King is advertising the availability of a "Burger King brunch" in a quest to cash in on lucrative morning sales. This is only a few months after announcing Burger King will carry coffee made by Starbucks to provide a more flavorful alternative to its BK Joe coffee.

This is what the fast-food breakfast wars have become: Mimosas at the drive-thru window.

Yum! Brands (YUM), owner of KFC and Taco Bell, operates in the same industry as McDonald's (MCD), Burger King (BKC), and Wendy's/Arby's Group (WEN). All of these stocks are either at or near their respective 52-week highs. How does Yum! Brands look after its first-quarter report?

You've got to take notice of this stock. The one-year chart depicts an equity that consolidated for a while, only to finally break out and head to the upside. And here's some more good news for both traders and investors alike: Wednesday, the shares closed the regular session 1.8% higher from where they started. Then, during the after-hours session, following distribution of the earnings release, the bulls, deciding they wanted to remain in charge, gave the company another boost.

I've never been to a Sonic (SONC) joint. I'm sure I would love the food; however, I can definitively state that I did not like the company's current earnings report, which was released yesterday after the bell.

For the second quarter, Sonic lost one penny per share. Last year, the business brought in 14 cents per share of positive profit, helped along by a gain of 6 cents attributable to a debt purchase. The current performance was unfortunately below estimates; the market wanted 2 cents of income to show up on the bottom line.

Yum! Brands (YUM), a collection of restaurant chains operating in the same space as McDonald's (MCD) and Burger King (BKC), didn't post the most exciting earnings report last month, but it might not matter. Just recently, shareholders received a couple pieces of good news.

First, UBS offered inspiring comments about the company and the stock last week. Shares were upgraded to buy status, rising from neutral. A higher price target of $44 was issued. The catalyst basically centers on things getting better on a fundamental basis for the restaurant brands; also, China's sales appear to have stabilized.

Wendy's/Arby's Group (WEN) is a stock that really isn't for most investors (in my opinion). It's not what I would call a quality name. If you want to play the fast-food sector, you'd be better off with McDonald's (MCD) or Yum! Brands (YUM).

Burger King (BKC), although not my favorite member of the list, might also be a more attractive selection than Wendy's/Arby's Group. I don't mean to be down on the fast-food entity, but it just isn't in the same league as those other investment ideas. Plus, a look at the fourth-quarter report shows that management has quite a bit of work to do.

A report in the China Daily states that McDonald's (MCD) is slashing its prices amid cutthroat competition in China. Additionally, the fast-food titan is accepting competitors' coupons as part of a month-long promotion meant to woo Chinese consumers from rivals such as KFC and Burger King (BKC).

Specifically, Mickey D's has dropped the price on its McWings from 7 yuan to 5 yuan, and it's offering an extra 10% off to any customer who presents a coupon for fried chicken wings from any competing restaurant. Company spokesman Ren Yuan said the aggressive promotion is the first of its kind since McDonald's landed on the Chinese mainland in 1990.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Aol Inc. (AOL) reported a better-than-expected Q4 profit and said its revenue also topped estimates.
• Burger King Holdings Inc. (BKC) higher Q2 earnings topped analysts' estimates but same-store sales fell.
• Clorox Co. (CLX) higher Q2 earnings beat expectations and it lifted its full-year earnings guidance.
• Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) Q4 earnings more than doubled and beat Wall Street expectations, but shares fell.
• Gap Inc. (GPS) shares jumped after it forecast earnings above analysts' expectations, boosted by January sales.

Burger King (BKC), which competes for the attention of fast-food junkies along with McDonald's (MCD), Wendy's/Arby's Group (WEN), and Yum! Brands (YUM), didn't do too badly when it came to bottom-line growth in the second quarter. Same-store sales, on the other hand, could have used a little assistance.

Earnings per share calculated out to 37 cents. That was good for a 12% increase. Great to see double-digit appreciation. However, domestic comps went down 3.3%, while total comps were off by 2%. The same-store sales metric is a very important indicator of the overall health of a business that has many locations.

Sales went down 1%, and earnings per share on an adjusted basis increased 7% to 50 cents. Earnings.com says 48 cents per share was the desired figure. Same-store sales in the United States decreased 8%.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded Chevron (CVX) to buy from hold after raising its long-term oil price assumption to $80 per barrel from $65. The firm raised its target price for Chevron shares to $97 from $78 and said it expects oil prices to push towards $90 per barrel in the near-term. Note, Citi also upgraded BP (BP) and Petrobras (PBR) Monday morning to buy from hold.
• Jefferies upgraded Overseas Shipholding (OSG) and Nordic American Tanker (NAT) to buy from underperform as it expects crude oil tanker charter rates to improve in 2010 based on expectations for increased OPEC production levels. The firm raised its target on Overseas Shipholding to $60 from $22 and on Nordic American to $41 from $25.
• Goldman upgraded Corning (GLW) to buy from neutral as they believe the LCD cycle may have bottomed in 4Q09 vs. their previous expectation of 2H10. The firm raised its target to $23 from $18. Shares were also upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank on expectations that consensus estimates will trend higher due to robust TV demand and tight capacity. The firm raised its target price on shares to $24 from $19.
• Lam Research (LRCX) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Intel (INTC) was upgraded to hold from sell at Auriga.
• Regal Entertainment (RGC) was upgraded to overweight from market weight at Thomas Weisel.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), whose colleagues include Burger King (BKC) and Yum! Brands (YUM), saw a nice rally on Friday. It closed up over 6%. Volume was very active. The stock is several dollars short of the 52-week high.

According to Benzinga.com, Morgan Stanley upgraded the restaurant chain to overweight status. Furthermore, an attractive prediction on price has been proffered by the firm: $111. Considering that the stock had a value of $91.89 per share at the end of Friday's session, I'd say buying now and riding the company to $111 would represent a decent trade.

Sonic (SONC), a fast-food joint that competes with McDonald's (MCD), Burger King (BKC) and Yum! Brands (YUM), reported Q1 results on Tuesday after the bell. The market didn't like the numbers. At one point, shares were down about 9.5%.

Total sales saw a huge decline of 26%, but this fall was driven by a refranchising strategy. Perhaps a better way to look at the situation is through the company's same-store sales metrics. On a system-wide basis, comps dropped 6.5%. On a partner drive-in basis, comps plunged 9.1%.

Jack in the Box (JACK) dropped in yesterday's after-hours session upon news of the company's Q4 results. You can't blame the bottom line for the poor stock performance. The fast-food joint earned 70 cents per share from continuing operations versus the 45 cents per share from continuing operations earned in the comparable quarter. Did such a growth rate deserve a nearly 6% cut in share price? Analysts were only looking for 55 cents per share, according to Earnings.com.

Well, Wall Street apparently wasn't satisfied with the outlook, as this Reuters article points out. Traders are obviously more concerned with where Jack in the Box may be heading as opposed to where it's been.