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earnings

Financing

Winners and losers from a tough first quarter

 By Jonathan Maze on May 29, 2024

The Bottom Line: Wingstop (again) and Texas Roadhouse (also again) were among the big winners last quarter, while the fast-food value proposition is among the losers.

Operations

Cava expects a late-day sales boost with its new grilled steak

 By Lisa Jennings on May 28, 2024

The new steak protein will be offered at a premium price, but the chain's guests are showing resilience. They're trading down from casual dining and trading up from fast food.

Operations

Struggling BurgerFi shutters 8 more restaurants

By Lisa Jennings on May 15, 2024

After closing 14 units last year, the fast-casual burger chain continued "right-sizing" its portfolio in the first quarter, when its same-store sales plunged 13%.

Financing

Increased marketing spending did not help Papa Johns' sales in April

By Jonathan Maze on May 09, 2024

A softer consumer environment is more than offsetting the pizza chain’s boost in marketing in recent weeks. But profitability improved last quarter.

Operations

Sweetgreen inches closer to profitability

By Lisa Jennings on May 09, 2024

Despite flat traffic for the first quarter, the fast-casual salad chain raised guidance for the year, citing continuing momentum.

Financing

Applebee's bets more discounts will reverse sales declines

By Joe Guszkowski on May 08, 2024

The casual-dining chain lost business from lower-income guests but believes promotions like $1 margaritas will bring them back.

Operations

The Cheesecake Factory benefits from a more discerning consumer

By Joe Guszkowski on May 08, 2024

Traffic at the casual-dining chain held steady thanks to what it called a “flight to quality” by customers on a budget.

Financing

Who is winning the chicken wars right now

By Jonathan Maze on May 08, 2024

A Deeper Dive: This week’s podcast features a discussion on recent restaurant chain earnings reports, including Wingstop, KFC, Popeyes, Chipotle and Starbucks.

Financing

Layoffs and sales declines hit Noodles & Co. last quarter

By Lisa Jennings on May 08, 2024

But CEO Drew Madsen sees signs of a turnaround, as sales and traffic turned positive in April while the chain works on menu and operations improvements.

Operations

Portillo's sees consumers reaching boiling point on pricing

By Lisa Jennings on May 07, 2024

When lower-income diners are feeling budget strain, the fast-casual Portillo's feels it most in the drive-thru. To address that, the restaurant chain is working to get orders through car windows faster.

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