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I decided to check in on the trio of Congressional candidates that Steak n Shake endorsed, starting with Jon Husted in Ohio:
Wendy's earnings call summary:
Traffic improved
Breakfast is now optional and wasn't as incremental as the company initially said
Company said it still wants to support restaurants with breakfast
Wendy's fixing the menu
And this time is different
Working to prevent closures
"Rigorous brand standards"
There's a strategic activation office
Wendy's may buy more restaurants "to enjoy the benefit of the turnaround."
$WEN
ALT Photo: Shutterstock
Wendy's talking about taking extensive efforts to help "a small group of franchisees" with struggling stores to avoid closures, including working with lenders to go interest-only for a while. The goal is to keep them afloat until things get better. $WEN
"Closing restaurants is no way to make a system healthier." -Bob Wright with another fantastic earnings call comment. $WEN
"Mandating that franchisees operate during a daypart where they lose money is going to do nothing but hurt their business." -Bob Wright, awfully critical of the company's morning daypart. $WEN
Wendy's CEO Bob Wright said that the company has made "cuts in the wrong places" and "investments in too many discounts in the wrong places." $WEN
Jonathan Maze retweeted
Really enjoyed joining @jonathanmaze on @RB_magazine's "A Deeper Dive" podcast!
We covered DoorDash/Instacart, the widening gap between restaurant winners and losers, coffee's outperformance, GLP-1 spending shifts, and why even higher-income consumers are becoming more selective.
Great conversation with someone who really knows the industry.
🎧 restaurantbusinessonline.com…
Bob Wright was asked why investors should believe the company this time given the number of times CEOs talked about menu and franchisee optimization improvements. Bob said he'd ask the same thing. But said there was a big swing in sentiment from franchisees. $WEN
Wendy's has "modestly improved" its trend and the company is "pleased" with its early performance in the fourth quarter. $WEN
Wendy's is buying 163 Meritage stores in markets where it already operates locations. The company is working with the bankrupt franchisee to sell other stores to franchisees. $WEN
Wendy's has established a "portfolio optimization team" to provide financial help to franchisees, working with lenders and other business partners. The company may defer royalties or other fees, close underperforming restaurants, or have them sell some. $WEN
Wendy's wants to generate more delivery sales, with more stores participating in delivery promotions. The company said that 90% of its stores are participating in such orders. $WEN
Wendy's restaurants in the top quintile of customer satisfaction scores outperforms those on the bottom quintile by 500 basis points in traffic. $WEN
Wendy's is returning to "rigorous brand standards," using metrics more closely related to customer traffic. $WEN
Wendy's is sharpening marketing around its made-to-order burgers and fresh beef. $WEN
Legit question to me right now: Did breakfast lead to Wendy's current problems? Probably not. But it was clearly a contributing factor.
Wendy's is making breakfast optional for all U.S. restaurants. Those that quit breakfast are getting more business later in the day and their profits have improved. $WEN