Wendy's (WEN) and Burger King Enter Battle Royale (with Cheese)
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Looks like Burger King is going to have to "beef up." Literally.
According to AdAge.com, which cites a Janney analyst, Wendy's (NYSE: WEN) -- the restaurant with the lovable founder Dave Thomas, and equally loveable square patties -- is poised to overtake Burger King for number 2 spot as the best burger chain in the U.S.
The Janney analyst said his firm expects Wendy's to overtake Burger King for the spot, possibly as soon as this year (which has three weeks left, for those keeping score).
For the third quarter, Wendy's comps were up 0.9 percent, while privately-held Burger King saw a 0.3 percent drop in U.S. and Canada. For the first three quarters of 2011, Wendy's comps were 1.1 percent better, while Burger King slipped 3.8 percent.
Now some numbers from research firm Technomic: "Burger King had system-wide sales of $8.7 billion last year, down 2.5 percent, and a 13.3 percent market share in the burger category. The chain's number of U.S. locations was up 0.2 percent to 7,264. Wendy's had $8.3 billion in U.S. sales, down 0.6 percent, and a 12.8 percent share. Its number of U.S. stores rose 0.1 percent to 5,883."
Of course, the segment leader is still McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) with a 49.5 percent market share. It's beefy stronghold is only getting better, with U.S. comps up 7.4 percent in November, according to data released Thursday, an acceleration from 5.5 percent of gains in October.
In terms of total restaurants, Subway is number 2, and Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) is 3 in the U.S., based on overall sales.
So what will BK be called should it slip to third? If you haven't commented on a story before, now's a great time. Here's a few to get you started:
According to AdAge.com, which cites a Janney analyst, Wendy's (NYSE: WEN) -- the restaurant with the lovable founder Dave Thomas, and equally loveable square patties -- is poised to overtake Burger King for number 2 spot as the best burger chain in the U.S.
The Janney analyst said his firm expects Wendy's to overtake Burger King for the spot, possibly as soon as this year (which has three weeks left, for those keeping score).
For the third quarter, Wendy's comps were up 0.9 percent, while privately-held Burger King saw a 0.3 percent drop in U.S. and Canada. For the first three quarters of 2011, Wendy's comps were 1.1 percent better, while Burger King slipped 3.8 percent.
Now some numbers from research firm Technomic: "Burger King had system-wide sales of $8.7 billion last year, down 2.5 percent, and a 13.3 percent market share in the burger category. The chain's number of U.S. locations was up 0.2 percent to 7,264. Wendy's had $8.3 billion in U.S. sales, down 0.6 percent, and a 12.8 percent share. Its number of U.S. stores rose 0.1 percent to 5,883."
Of course, the segment leader is still McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) with a 49.5 percent market share. It's beefy stronghold is only getting better, with U.S. comps up 7.4 percent in November, according to data released Thursday, an acceleration from 5.5 percent of gains in October.
In terms of total restaurants, Subway is number 2, and Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) is 3 in the U.S., based on overall sales.
So what will BK be called should it slip to third? If you haven't commented on a story before, now's a great time. Here's a few to get you started:
- Burger Place;
- Meat House
- Burger Bishop (maybe too spiritual)
- Burgers-R-Us
- @Burgers
- Food Stop
- Not Taco Bell (which it might already be known as, depending on the time of day)
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