Wendy’s Feels Inflation Squeeze as Sales, Margins Fall Short
- Pressure from rising prices on view in sales, profit gauges
- US same-store sales fall short but chain boosts profit view
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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Wendy’s Co. became the latest restaurant chain to show signs of strain thanks to rising inflation, as second-quarter sales and restaurant margin fell short of Wall Street projections.
Evidence of the inflation pressure on Wendy’s was twofold. First, it showed up in US same-store sales, which rose just 2.3% in the quarter ended July 3, the company said in a statement on Wednesday, below the 2.97% analysts expected, on average. Additionally, restaurant margin at company-operated stores was 14.5%; analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were looking for 14.9%.