Brands is acquiring charbroiled hamburgers-famed Habit Restaurants, for around $375 million. Yum, parent of casual dining restaurant chains  KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, said on Monday that it was buying Habit for $14 a share in cash. The acquisition could potentially bolster/expand Yum’s menu offerings by adding Habit's specialties like flame-grilled burgers, chargrilled chicken, tuna and other sandwiches. “As a fast-casual concept with strong unit economics, The Habit Burger Grill is a fantastic addition to the Yum!Brands indicated that it is expecting minimal impact to non-GAAP earnings per share before special items in 2020, with accretion starting in 2021 and increasing after that.  

On Thursday, Wingstop  announced that its chief operating officer will step down in March. The restaurant chain specializing in chicken wings informed the Securities and Exchange Commission that Laurence Kruguer would resign effective March 7.The departure is not due to any disagreement, the company indicated  in its filing. In early December, Goldman Sachs added the stock to its conviction-buy list, and boosted its estimate for same-store sales to 12.5%, up from prior forecast of 10%.

The analyst cited competition from delivery services GrubHub and UberEats  and the company's decision to place a greater emphasis on off-premise orders(as report by Bloomberg ).Yum’s other brand KFC has  strong competition from Chick-fil-A and Popeyes. Analysts at Argus also lowered their 2019 earnings estimates for Yum to $3.75, compared to price forecast of  $3.80.

On Wednesday, Wendy's reported higher-than-expected third-quarter earnings, on the back of strong same-store sales growth. The fast-food restaurant chain’s adjusted earnings before income, taxes, depreciation and amortization came in at $109.9 million, or 19 cents a share on an adjusted basis.The systemwide same-store sales grew +5.5%. For the full year, Wendy's  now expects adjusted earnings growth in the range between negative -1.5% and positive 1.5% (from its prior guidance of between a drop of -3.5% and -6.5%). The company projects full-year total sales of between $12 billion and $12.5 billion, and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $425 million to $435 million.    

McDonald's shares got downgraded Piper Jaffray, following the firing of CEO Steve Easterbrook. Easterbrook has to leave the company because his consensual relationship with an employee violated company policy.“Our experience leads us to take a more cautionary view noting the potential lack of momentum and time involved in formalizing a new team,” Piper Jaffray wrote. However, Piper Jaffray also mentioned that their change in rating does not reflect McDonald's overall ability to “dominate in terms of global market scale, the effectiveness of its leadership team, or the effort behind its franchise network”.

On Wednesday, Yum Brands posted quarterly earnings that missed analysts’ expectations. The company, which owns several restaurant-chains such as Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, reported third quarter adjusted earnings of 80 cents a share, compared to analysts’ estimate of 94 cents. Net revenue of $1.34 billion in the quarter was almost in line with the $1.344 billion expected by analysts.Last year, Yum bought a 3% stake in the third-party delivery app. Yum’s Pizza Hut reported flat same-store sales growth, falling short of Wall Street’s estimates of +1.5%.

This coming Tuesday we will get earnings results from four companies that are members of the Dow 30—McDonalds (NYSE: MCD), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Travelers Companies (NYSE: TRV), and United Technologies (NYSE: UTX). Rather than breaking down each stock one by one, I thought tables would make it easier to compare how the companies are expected to do for this quarter and how they each stack up with their Tickeron Fundamental Ratings.I took the liberty of highlighting particular stats that are positive (green highlight) and ones that are a concern.

You might not be familiar with the name Restaurant Brands International (NYSE: QSR), but you probably know the names of the restaurants it operates.Restaurant Brands operates over 4,800 Tim Hortons, 17,800 Burger Kings, and 3,100 Popeyes in approximately 100 countries around the world. The company got my attention for a couple of reasons recently and both of them point to a possible rally in the stock.

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill jumped +1.2% Monday, following a rating upgrade from Wedbush. Analyst Nick Setyan upgraded his rating of the fast food restaurant chain' shares to outperform from neutral.This was the program’s first full quarter since it began. Setyan mentioned that loyalty would be  a strong, key driver of penetration of Chipotle’s own app among consumers.

Kentucky Fried Chicken in Atlanta could soon be serving Beyond Meat's plant-based fried chicken. YUM!Beyond Fried Chicken will be available in nuggets at prices between $1.99 and $8.49 and boneless wings for between $6 and $12 (depending on the number of pieces), at the Cobb Parkway KFC in Atlanta in the test.  In May, Kevin Hochman, who heads KFC’s U.S. division, had said that the restaurant-chain did not have plans to test vegan options, but that he had meetings scheduled with some major suppliers to learn more about meatless meats. Amidst the soaring popularity of its plant-based meat products,  Beyond Meat has registered a +123% gain in its stock price since the shares’ IPO in May.

Initially the stock moved higher after the report, but it pulled back with the rest of the market over the past week. Over the last three years, the company has been averaging earnings growth of 15% per year and the second quarter results were up 3% from the previous year.The sales results are being impacted by the company’s plans to shift locations from corporate ownership to more franchise status. Looking at the company’s management efficiency measurements we see a profit margin of 28.3% and an operating margin of 41.8%.

McDonald's Corp. reported second quarter earnings that were in line with analysts’ expectations, while the fast food chain’s comparable store sales surpassed expectations.  The company’s adjusted earnings for the three months ending in June came in at $2.05 per share, up 6 cents from the same period last year and largely matching the Street consensus estimates. Total revenues declined -0.4% year-over-year to $5.34 billion, but exceeded analysts' estimates of $5.32 billion. Yea-over-year growth in global same-store sales came in at 6.5% in the quarter.Comparable U.S. sales grew +5.7%, a faster rate than the Street estimate of +4.5%.  CEO Steve Easterbrook emphasized that the restaurant chain has now experienced 16 consecutive quarters of positive global comparable sales.

Darden Restaurants missed fiscal fourth-quarter revenue estimates, sending its share down -4% Thursday morning, The restaurant company’s quarterly revenue increased +4.5% year-over-year to $2.23 billion, but lagged  analysts’ estimates of $2.24 billion (based on Refinitiv poll of analysts). Total same-store sales growth across all of Darden’s restaurants came in at +1.6% for the quarter, falling short of analysts’ estimates of +2.3%.Darden mentioned a decline of -0.4% in  foot traffic to its Olive Garden locations open at least a year.It reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.76, compared to Wall Street’s estimates of $1.73. Looking ahead, the company expects same-store sales growth of 1% to 2%, and net earnings per share of $6.30 to $6.45.

Chipotle Mexican Grill feels that tariffs on Mexican imports could raise costs and squeeze margins. The chain of fast casual restaurants told CNBC that if U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on goods imported from Mexico gets implemented, the company’s costs could increase by $15 million in 2019, while its margins could get slashed by 20 to 30 basis points. CFO Jack Hartung mentioned in a statement that Chipotle might consider covering the higher costs through a “modest” price hike on their items, among other potential solutions - should the tariffs become permanent. Hartung emphasized that the company is committed to its “integrity principles”.  He indicated that while premashed or processed avocados would probably be cheaper, the company would continue to use fresh ingredients as it is unwilling to short-change customers on quality and taste. The tariffs on Mexican imports could gradually increase and could potentially get to as high as 25% this yea

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