A McDonald's restaurant in El Sobrante, California, on October 23, 2024.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty pictures
Like a lion, like a lamb.
The managers of restaurants imagine after a hard start to 2025, which is largely caused by freezer temperatures, forest fires and consumer warning.
Many restaurant chains like Restaurant brands' Burger King and Popeyes said sales improved in the fourth quarter when Value brought the guests back, who had cooked at home instead. Even Mc Donalds Domestic traffic rose by 1.4%despite a decline in sales in the same business in the United States.
But the trend turned around in January.
“We started the year with some general traffic wind of the industry traffic wind, which were tightened by significant weather events across the country.” Wendy's CFO Kenneth Cook said on Thursday at the company's phone conference.
Fast food net sales increased by 3.4%in January compared to the same period last year, but according to the Revenue Management Solutions for the Market Research Company restaurant, growth decreased somewhat. Traffic for breakfast and lunch went back in the course of the month.
“I think the consumers are still careful,” the US President of the U -Bahn, Doug Fry, told CNBC. “I think they are waiting to see how the economy is going, but they are also not ready to sacrifice this quality and portion size and the amount of what they eat. They want this best value for the dollar they spend , find . “
Traffic and sales growth are expected to increase in the course of the year, partly due to the simple comparisons with the decline of last year. Industry traffic was negative every month except November, and sales in summer, which is usually a highlight for restaurants.
“We expect comparisons to let up in the summer months every year,” said CFO Sami Siddiqui, restaurant brands.
January blues
On January 12, 2024, a customer will hold a bag of food outside of a chipotle restaurant in New York.
Angus Mordant | Bloomberg | Getty pictures
January always brings colder temperatures with it, but this year it also included forest fires in Los Angeles and new uncertainty after President Donald Trump's inauguration.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Estimates that the forest fires affect their traffic growth in January in January by 400 basis points or 4%.
Overall, the traffic to Chipotle restaurants fell 2% in January compared to a previous year, which was injured by the weather and the New Year's Day on a Wednesday. Chipotle CFO Adam Rymer informed the analysts that the company believes that its sales will be roughly flat in the first quarter.
With a view to the second quarter, Chipotle also expects weaker sales with the same business, as it is exposed to comparisons with the popular advertising campaigns of the past year. While the company predicts more sales in the second half of the year, its weak forecast for the coming months led to a decline in shares by 4%.
At the moment, restaurants do not predict any major impact on their business from the Trump government's trade war. Chipotle, which imports about half of his avocado offer from Mexico, played down the concerns about the increase in the currently suspended tariff of 25%. Together with Wendy's and McDonald's, the company contained no effects of the new 10% tasks on China and potential taxes on Mexico and Canada in its prospects.
However, consumers are worried about tariffs and the potential pressure on their wallets.
The US consumer mood reached a seven-month low in February because the households fear rising prices next year. Inflation was already hotter than expected in January, and according to the Ministry of Labor, food prices rose from home by 3.4% in the past 12 months.
Comeback in the second half
For the chains that are planning a comeback, sales will be expected later this year.
For example, McDonald's is still waiting for the sales to be made in mid-October after an E. Coli outbreak that is connected to his district of Pound Burgers. The fast food giant predicts that the demand will recover at the beginning of the second quarter, said Chris Kempczinski, CEO of McDonald's, at the company's call to the company on Monday.
McDonald's also predicts even more sales gains.
“If the underlying environment improve beyond our initial expectations, especially with regard to consumers with lower income, we would expect them to benefit disproportionately in relation to our competitors,” said McDonalds CFO Ian Borden.
People leave a Starbucks in New York City on January 14, 2025.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty pictures
Then there is StarbucksWhich requires a much longer timeline to turn your business around. The sales chain sales have fallen in four quarters in a row, as consumers choose to buy their caffeine drinks elsewhere.
Starbucks have suspended his prospects for the 2025 financial year, so that it did not provide an insight into the expected sales for the year. However, Starbucks CFO Rachel Ruggeri informed investors that the company's result would probably improve in the second half of his financial year.
“[Earnings per share] It is expected that it is lowest [the fiscal second quarter] Due to the seasonality, I restructured and increased absolute investments through the organization, with the pressure in the year also increasing in the quarter compared to the previous year, “she said at the end of January. The financial year 2025, both in succession and year compared to the year.”
Comments are closed.