(Reuters) -Restaurant Brands International Inc beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter revenue and profit on Tuesday, boosted by higher prices and increased traffic at its Burger King and Tim Hortons chains.
Last month, McDonald’s Corp and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc also posted better-than-expected quarterly sales as they have been bumping up menu prices over the past year to protect their margins from a jump in raw material and labor costs.
Restaurant Brands’ Burger King chain has been able to attract younger customers to its restaurants through a newly released viral “Whopper Whopper” jingle.
It is also working on a $400 million “Reclaim the Flame” plan to boost sales by ramping up advertising, bringing in new kitchen equipment and remodeling restaurants.
Restaurant Brands in February named its chief operating officer, Joshua Kobza, as CEO in a turnaround plan for its struggling Burger King brand.
According to location analytics firm Placer.ai, Burger King saw positive week-over-week visit growth for the majority of weeks since January 2023.
All four Restaurant Brands chains have seen steady demand in the United States this year as consumers continue to spend on basic necessities like food and essentials and take advantage of value deals amid stubbornly high inflation.
The company’s global comparable sales rose nearly 10% in the March quarter, led by a 16% growth at Tim Hortons Canada and a 12% rise at Burger King International.
Excluding items, Restaurant Brands earned 75 cents per share, compared with estimates of 64 cents, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Total revenue rose to $1.59 billion from $1.45 billion a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected $1.56 billion.
(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru, Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
