Popeyes chicken sandwich fuels Restaurant Brands profit
The fried chicken sandwich craze at Popeyes translated into a real financial success for its parent company Restaurant Brands.
Quarterly sales at Popeyes surged 34 percent last quarter - that's almost three times what analysts expected, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
That is the fried chicken chain's best growth since it was acquired in 2017, giving its parent company overall quarterly results that beat expectations when announced on Monday.
Popeyes brought back the hugely popular chicken sandwich in November after overwhelming demand led to shortages in the summer.
That success led to worries at Chik-Fil-A and envy from rivals like McDonald's, which started testing its own fried chicken sandwich.
It's a good thing Popeyes did so well last quarter because other properties at Restaurant Brands - Burger King and Tim Hortons - put up disappointing numbers.
At Burger King, where a plant-based Whopper supplied by Impossible Foods is served, quarterly sales came in below forecasts.
And coffee chain Tim Hortons continued to struggle with competition from Starbucks and Dunkin' Brands. The restaurant recently pulled plant-based proteins from Beyond Meat from its menu.
Shares of Restaurant Brands rallied in Monday trading.
