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The Bottom Line: Data from Technomic shows that the drive-thru chain is outperforming its much larger rival on numerous metrics, which may help explain the brands' diverging performances.

The Bottom Line: Here are a few key topics we’re watching as restaurant chains start reporting their end-of-year earnings next week, including Starbucks, McDonald’s, the Trump effect, optimism and weather.

Threatened tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China could have a widespread impact on the industry, as could immigration restrictions, just as the environment normalizes.