Monday May 13, 2019, 00:00:00

Updating our Q2E19 Kalinowski Quick-Service Burger Same-Store Sales Index

By Mark Kalinowski

With this report, we increase our data-driven Kalinowski Quick-Service Burger Index for Q2E by +100 basis points to +3.3%. This figure is based on our latest proprietary checks/data as regards same-store sales performance for this segment during April 2019 and the beginning of May 2019.

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Sunday May 12, 2019, 00:00:00

MCD Updating our Forecasts 2019

By Mark Kalinowski

Given our latest data-driven checks, we raise our Q2E same-store sales forecast for McDonald’s U.S. by 60 basis points, to +4.6%, placing us 60 basis points above consensus (according to Consensus Metrix data) and also as the second-highest forecast in this regard on the sell-side. We believe McDonald’s continues to benefit for a number of reasons, some of which we pointed to in our May 6th report “April Burger-Sector Sales Trends Compared to March…” — we encourage you to read that report if you have not yet done so.

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Friday May 10, 2019, 00:00:00

Are Protein Costs Poised to Accelerate Over 2019-21

By Mark Kalinowski

African Swine Fever (ASF) is spreading rapidly not only in China — where it seems as many hogs have been culled from herds in that country as there are born in the entire United States in any given year — but also in other parts of Asia, not to mention parts of Europe. Based on our conversations with suppliers to the restaurant industry, and also with privately-held restaurant companies, we believe that commodity-cost risks over the next 1-3 years from proteins may be higher than the Street currently anticipates. The sources of this are many, including: (1) uncertainty regarding just how massive the ASF issue is in China, (2) the time it will take to replenish swine supplies in China — the time from gestation to slaughter is typically more than 30 months, and (3) the not-zero possibility that ASF could make its way to the United States, although efforts are being made on multiple fronts to prevent that from happening. As many involved note, the situation regarding ASF remains fast-moving and difficult to quantify.

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