Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) has been on an incredible run since last June with the stock jumping almost 72% from the low to the high.Even in the fourth quarter when most stocks lost tremendous ground, Starbucks was actually up. The stock did pull back a little in December and the low from then combined with the lows from January have created the lower rail of an upwardly sloping trend channel.

On Thursday, McDonald’s will open a new flagship store in Times Square, expected to be its busiest in the U.S.

Made with plant-based meat substitutes, the Impossible Whopper is released in test markets and in some locations like St. Louis it has outperformed national foot traffic average by 18.5% in April which is 16.75% higher than the previous month’s average. This could offset Burger King’s declining same-store sales growth.Impossible Whopper has the potential to break that trend. Analysts believe that plant-based meat alternatives have the power to disrupt the meat category like plant-based milk drinks disrupted diary and energy drinks disrupted caffeinated beverages. Impossible Foods, the original inspiration for plant-based burgers, raised $300 million in its latest funding cycle.

As pressure mounts on McDonald’s to add a vegan burger to its line-up, CEO Steve Easterbrook compared the decision to its choice to start offering breakfast all day.

Burger King’s veggie plunge seems to be paying off in healthy traffic. The Restaurant Brands International-owned fast food chain started testing a vegetarian version of its Whopper, made with the plant-based Impossible Burger, in several cities starting April. According to a report from inMarket inSights, Burger King locations in its test market, St. Louis, outperformed the chain’s national foot traffic average by 18.5% in April.Outside St. Louis, stores had a decrease in foot traffic by 1.75% from March’s average, according to the study (as reported by CNBC). During its first quarter, the chain reported same-store sales growth of 2.2%, down from 3.8% a year earlier.

The menu director said that while they are exploring meat alternatives, they cannot yet decide whether plant-based meat substitutes will at all be part of the menu. To make that decision final, the company is assessing consumer demand and needs to be completely sure that the products will be sustainable before rolling out. Recently, the company has been under pressure to add a vegetarian-friendly burger to its menu as more and more companies are joining the cohort of meat-based plant substitutes.While its German locations sell such burgers, they are yet to figure out at the level of the individual market. But McDonald’s has been simplifying its menu by removing its line of Signature Crafted sandwiches and burgers and pruning its late-night menu to allow franchisees scale back the all-day breakfast menu. Rival, Restaurant Brands International’s (QSR) Burger King is going to roll out its Impossible Whopper nationwide by the end of the year — a vegetarian version of their flagship san

Pershing Square Holdings, the hedge fund led by the billionaire Bill Ackman, delivered a strong performance in the first quarter of 2019.Its digital sales doubled y-o-y to almost 16% of overall sales coupled by a strong delivery strategy that has further increased sales and improved margins. The hedge fund thinks that Chipotle is on a path to transformation that will expand its footprint and astounding growth in sales and profits in the future. Restaurant Brands was the second best performer of the fund whose unit count expanded by more than 5% and EBITDA grew by 6%. On the other hand, Starbucks grew 7% in Q1 opening another 30,000 stores globally.

This is not so much of a secret, as restaurants have started adding these items with a fun nickname that takes on a new level of appeal among customers. Consumer behavior experts believe that people love secrets as they make them feel powerful and superior that the usual mass.Here are some examples of restaurants taking the hint: Starbucks’ (SBUX) ‘Dragon Drink’ that basically replaces water with coconut milk in the much popular pink colored Strawberry Acai Refreshers.  McDonald’s (MCD) Triple Breakfast Stacks that became popular after customers tweaked traditional menu items to build the super-sized sandwiches.

It's rumored that American coffee giant Starbucks garnered an estimated $2.3 billion in free advertising when a similar looking coffee cup was spotted in one of the episodes of the HBO fantasy epic ‘Game of Thrones.'It was later revealed, however, that it was just a craft services cup! Close viewers could easily spot a cup incongruous to the setting of the drama and though the label was muddled in the show, within hours the speculation that it could be a Starbucks cup went viral on social media. Following this coffee cup hullabaloo, analysts tallied 10,627 mentions of Starbucks coffee and ‘Game of Thrones’ together across different online, TV and radio broadcasts across the world.

Starbucks’ Chinese rival, Luckin Coffee, is all set to take its rivalry with Starbucks to the next level as it filed for an IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange on Monday. The company expects to raise $586.5 million in its initial public offering which implies an estimated offer of 34.5 million American depository shares (ADS) priced between $15 and $17 per ADS with each ADS representing eight Class A shares. The coffee maker has been expanding rapidly with currently 2,370 stores in 28 Chinese cities and a plan to open another 2,500 stores by the end of this year in an ambition to replace Starbucks as the go-to coffee shop. Coffee consumption in China has doubled to 8.7 billion cups last year from 4.4 billion in 2013 and is anticipated to rise to 15.5 billion cups by 2023.The Chinese coffee maker is rooting on this increase in consumption. Further, Luckin’s app also has the option of ordering food and beverages outside coffee.

Shake Shack beat expectations on sales growth and revenue for the first quarter, and raised its guidance for the remainder of the year.  The casual restaurant chain reported adjusted earnings of 13 cents a share, in line with analysts’ estimates.The company now expects full-year same-store sales growth of 1% to 2%, up from the previous projection of 0% to 1% growth. CEO Randy Garutti said that the company is expecting to open 36 to 40 new company-owned Shacks, alongwith 16 to 18 net new licensed Shacks for its international consumers particularly in Asia and its new markets of mainland China, Singapore, the Philippines and Mexico. 

Worldwide same-store sales for the quarter increased +4% year-over-year (compared to analysts’ expectation of +2.7%).Among the restaurants owned by the company, Pizza Hut’s same-store sales broke even (compared to analysts’ expected +0.4%), Taco Bell’s grew +4% (compared to analysts’ expected +4.6%) and KFC’s increased +5% (compared to analysts’ expected +3%). CEO Greg Creed credited the quarter’s strengths largely to the KFC division and Taco Bell U.S.

McDonald's Corp. reported first-quarter results that came in better than expected and helped lift shares higher by nearly 3 percent. Read more...

Chipotle Mexican Grill’s first fiscal quarter report reveals estimate-beating results with net income coming at $88.1 million, or $3.13 per share, up from $59.4 million, or $2.13 per share a year earlier. Other key highlights of the quarter include: $3.40 adjusted earnings per share versus expected $3.01, revenue at $1.31 billion versus expected $1.27 billion, same-store sales growth of 9.9% versus expected 7.29%, 13.9% rise of net sales to $1.31 billion versus expected $1.27 billion, and 100.7% rise of digital sales growth during the quarter accounting for 15.7% of total sales. Another key highlight of the quarter includes the success of Chipotle’s points-based loyalty program that crossed 1 million subscriptions a week after its launch in March.However, the loyalty program is only one part of the company’s digital strategy as it partnered with a third-party delivery service called DoorDarsh that saw customer retention even after the promotion ended. For the fifth consecutive

McDonald’s is teaming up with AARP and the AARP Foundation to hire more older workers.Read More...

China’s Luckin Coffee on Monday filed for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Read More...

In partnership with environmental charity Hubbub, coffee giant Starbucks is launching a £1 million ($1.3 million) recycling program across the U.K. for paper coffee cups. The partnership called the ‘The Cup Fund’ will support at least 10 large-scale recycling initiatives.The paper cups traditionally used for selling coffee cannot be recycled with ordinary paper and cardboard due to a plastic lining that prevents hot drinks from leaking. Hubbub in a press release on Thursday noted that more recycling points specifically for paper coffee cups were needed, as well as clearer communication to help the public recycle more effectively. The fund is open to applications from a range of organizations including local authorities, recycling companies and property owners. Starbucks is also trying to find an alternative to plastic for future cups and will begin trialling in London next year.

Domino’s Pizza shares jumped almost +4% on Wednesday, following a rating upgrade from a Morgan Stanley analyst. Morgan Stanley analyst John Glass raised his rating on the pizza chain company to overweight from equal weight citing "attractive valuation relative to slower-growing peers."  Glass also raised his price target on the stock to $283 from $268. The current consensus estimates of Domino’s same-store sales growth is in the range of 2%-3% for the next two years, compared to the 5%-6% growth over the preceding two years.

With the company planning to make breakfast a bigger chunk of its sales, Panera is trying to appeal to time-sensitive customers who are juggling busy schedules and long commutes. Usually Panera’s business effectively starts after 11a.m., but the company wants to focus on breakfast dining by offering different early-morning options with speed and convenience and light on quality. In addition to the breakfast sandwiches started last year, the company will now sell wraps as the ultimate on-the-go portable breakfast food. Panera is also diversifying its coffee offerings, outside its usual self-serve drip coffee, with new light and dark roasts to compete with more established coffee brewers like Starbucks (SBUX).In fact, it will grind its beans within the shops so that customers can witness the brewing process. To further boost its breakfast sales, Panera has already rolled out a function on its app that allows customers to conveniently reorder their favorite breakfast items. The compa

Chipotle Mexican Grill  shares fell -1.2% Thursday, following a downgrade by Jefferies analysts. The analysts at Jefferies lowered their rating on Chipotle to hold from buy, as they anticipate that the stock may have reached its full valuation after rallying almost 70% year-to-date. "Although the company reached an impressive 1 million rewards members in barely 10 days, we think this key driver, along with the company's powerful digital drivers are now being better understood and discounted in the stock," Jefferies analyst Andy Barish said in a note to investors. Jefferies raised its price target on Chipotle stock to $700 from $600.