Popeyes U.S. same store sales up more than 40%

COVID-19 has only slowed down fast food restaurant Popeyes so much, as its parent company Restaurant Brands reports their U.S. same store sales are up over 40%. Yahoo Finance's Heidi Chung breaks down the numbers on The Final Round.

Video Transcript

MYLES UDLAND: Let's turn now to what's happening in the food space and specifically what's happening over at Popeyes. Heidi Chung joins us now for a little bit more on the company, Heidi, presenting today at a conference and saying in a filing this morning that sales at Popeyes-- and I'm surprised they just kind of threw it in there like it was a normal bullet-- are up in the low 40s. That would be up 40% over the last couple of weeks after they had flattened out earlier in this period.

HEIDI CHUNG: Hey, Myles. Yeah, pretty impressive, jaw-dropping number here. It seems global pandemic or not, nothing can get in the way of Americans and their fried chicken and specifically, Popeyes, for that matter. Like you mentioned, it was revealed in a filing. Restaurant Brands, the parent company to Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Horton's revealing that Popeyes US same-store sales were in the positive low 40s as of the third week in May, and that is up from flat the second half of March. Keep in mind the second half of March is really when the COVID-19 pandemic tore through the US, and a lot of restaurants had to close their dining rooms.

I was on the show with you not too long ago when we were talking about that note from Stifel, how the analyst said that Yum! Brands as well as Restaurant Brands was probably the best bet in the restaurant industry [AUDIO OUT] as if Popeyes numbers that we got today solidifies that argument here.

And so for some context, prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Popeyes' same-store sales rose 34% in the fourth quarter of 2019 and jumped 26% in the first quarter of 2020. And that first quarter of this year did capture some of the COVID-19 impact on the company.

Much of Popeyes', though, recent success can be attributed to that chicken sandwich that was released in the summer of 2019, which we've talked about extensively. It's really been sort of the poster child of new menu innovation when we're thinking about fast-food restaurant chains.

But it's not such a bright picture for the other companies in Restaurant Brands' portfolio. Namely Burger King's US same-store sales did improve. They were in the negative mid single digits as of the third week of May, up from negative low [INAUDIBLE] in the second half of March. And Tim Horton's Canada, which has been struggling for quite some time here, same-store sales were trending in negative mid 20s, and that is up from negative mid 40s in the second half of March.

When we're taking a look at the reopenings, mostly here in the US and in their home, stores are mostly open, at least through drive-through, takeout, and delivery. But as of the third week of May, roughly 60% of stores in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia are open. Asia-Pacific, more than 85% are open, including 98% of restaurants in China, and that is up from 50% at the peak of the pandemic.

I'm going through a lot of notes today that have come out. You know, Stifel also coming out with a note just in response to what Restaurant Brands has said about Popeyes' same-store sales, saying that the improvements that we've seen in sales across all three of the brands under Restaurant Brands' family is rather impressive. But the [AUDIO OUT] at which they are reopening their stores is not as quick as they had anticipated.

MYLES UDLAND: All right, Heidi Chung with the latest going on over at QSR. Of course, Restaurant Brands one of the best tickers in the game there. Heidi, thanks for joining us.