Continue reading Yum! Brands Didn't Excite Wall Street with Q2 Numbers

Yum! Brands Didn't Excite Wall Street with Q2 Numbers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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.

Continue reading Add Yum! Brands to Your Portfolio?

Add Yum! Brands to Your Portfolio? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading McDonald's (MCD) Adds Another Healthy Option

McDonald's (MCD) Adds Another Healthy Option originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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.

Continue reading Burger King's Second Quarter: Comps Could Be Better

Burger King's Second Quarter: Comps Could Be Better originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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%.

Continue reading Yum! Brands Not Doing Well After Q4 Release

Yum! Brands Not Doing Well After Q4 Release originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Goldman Sachs has elevated McDonald's (MCD) to conviction buy from buy and upped its 12-month price target to $75 from $73.

According to the brokerage, McDonald's is weathering the current economic crisis thanks to a combination of positive same-store sales and accelerating margin gains. Goldman added that consensus estimates underappreciate this fact, which should bring about some upward earnings revisions during 2010.

Continue reading McDonald's Placed on Goldman Sachs' Conviction Buy List

McDonald's Placed on Goldman Sachs' Conviction Buy List originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading McDonald's Posts Better Than Expected Earnings

McDonald's Posts Better Than Expected Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Short City Update: McDonald's -- cover short

Short City Update: McDonald's -- cover short originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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.

Continue reading Jack in the Box may not be a trade after Q4 report

Jack in the Box may not be a trade after Q4 report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For McDonald's (MCD), 32,000 restaurants in 100 countries isn't enough. The quick service restaurant announced in a meeting with Wall Street analysts that it will open 1,000 new restaurants next year. Most will be in the United States, China, Australia, Russia, Germany and France. Don't expect to see any in Iceland, though, as the company is closing its three restaurants there and has no plans to return in the near future.

The company is also looking to rehabilitate the interiors and exteriors of another 2,300 locations in 2010 - approximately half of them in Europe. In all, this should cost around $2.4 billion. For 2009, McDonald's expects its capital expenditures to reach $2.1 billion on 900 new restaurant openings. The chain is increasing its rate of new restaurant openings by more than 10% from 2009 to 2010.

Continue reading McDonald's to add another thousand golden arches next year

McDonald's to add another thousand golden arches next year originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), which competes with McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Burger King (NYSE: BKC), and Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN) for the right to feed consumers on the go around the world, issued a Q3 report after the bell on Tuesday that was decent in many respects. Earnings per share on an adjusted basis increased over 20% to 70 cents. This performance absolutely embarrassed the analysts, who were looking for a mere 58 cents per share according to our earnings preview.

So, that was one of the decent parts. Actually, I'd say it was a little more than decent. But, unfortunately, the top line didn't grow. Total revenues actually declined 2%.

Continue reading Yum! Brands beats estimates in Q3, but Pizza Hut is not so yummy

Yum! Brands beats estimates in Q3, but Pizza Hut is not so yummy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On the surface, I suppose the market is telling you that Yum! Brands would indeed make a good earnings trade. Not only is the stock up nicely this afternoon, but it isn't too far from a 52-week high.

Continue reading Buy Yum! Brands ahead of earnings?

Buy Yum! Brands ahead of earnings? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), a chain of restaurant trademarks that competes with McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Burger King (NYSE: BKC), and Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN), delivered up a nice hot serving of earnings on Tuesday after the bell.

For the second quarter, net sales dropped 7%. Earnings on an adjusted basis increased 10% to 50 cents per share. This was actually much better than analysts' expectations. Wall Street was only counting on 43 cents per share, according to Bloomberg. However, the market is always looking forward, so there was a bit of bad news in terms of guidance pertaining to same-store sales.

Continue reading Yum! Brands: Was the Q2 report hot enough for the market's taste?

Yum! Brands: Was the Q2 report hot enough for the market's taste? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading CKE Restaurants beats expectations despite a 13% earnings drop

CKE Restaurants beats expectations despite a 13% earnings drop originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sonic said it earned an adjusted 24 cents per share. This article reported expectations as being $0.20 per share, so management beat the bottom line by a nice amount. We'll throw that result on the positive side of the line.

Continue reading Sonic beats Wall Street, but sales are sagging

Sonic beats Wall Street, but sales are sagging originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Deutsche Bank upgrades McDonald's

Deutsche Bank upgrades McDonald's originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 20 May 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Burger King (NYSE: BKC), a fast-food joint that competes with McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), and Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN), issued its Q3 report on Wednesday. The top line didn't do much, rising only 1% in the face of difficulties with currency translations. Earnings came in at 34 cents per share. That was one penny better than Wall Street's expectations, according to Reuters.

It's always good to beat the earnings call. But Burger King didn't get much mileage out of that victory. The stock actually sold off 3% on the news, closing yesterday at a fresh 52-week low of $16.55. The big catalyst was the conservative fiscal-year guidance.

Continue reading Burger King beats expectations, but will swine flu affect the fiscal year?

Burger King beats expectations, but will swine flu affect the fiscal year? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sonic (NASDAQ: SONC), the drive-in fast-food joint that competes with McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN), Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), and Burger King (NYSE: BKC), reported second-quarter earnings after the bell on Monday. You know that video-game character Sonic the Hedgehog? Know how he's fast? Well, Sonic the burger server is unlike Sonic the software character right now when it comes to growing its business.

Continue reading Sonic's food may be served fast, but its earnings growth is anything but

Sonic's food may be served fast, but its earnings growth is anything but originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Could a stronger dollar mean McDonald's isn't lovin' sales figures?

Could a stronger dollar mean McDonald's isn't lovin' sales figures? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN), a fast-food company that competes with McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD), Burger King (NYSE: BKC), and Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), reported earnings for the fourth quarter on Monday. Call me unimpressed.

The chain earned $0.05 per share on an adjusted basis. According to this article, the results matched expectations. I don't begrudge Wendy's/Arby's for doing that in such a tough marketplace. But I do begrudge the weakness in the Arby's brand. Systemwide same-store sales at Wendy's were up 3.7% in Q4, while systemwide comps at Arby's were down a terrible 8.5%. Arby's is having problems attracting people with its current menu portfolio. The value menu at Wendy's, on the other hand, seems to be a strategy that is working. Customers are coming in, ready to get a deal on those delicious, although not-so-healthy, square-shaped burgers. So, if the company wants to improve its situation, it's going to have to get serious about fixing Arby's.

Continue reading Is Wendy's/Arby's Group's stock as healthy as its menu?

Is Wendy's/Arby's Group's stock as healthy as its menu? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.