Tuesday May 19, 2026, 07:00:00

Burger Sector: What Same-Store Sales Trends Hint at re: Average Unit Volumes (5/19/2026)

By Mark Kalinowski

McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King each recently reported their Q1 2026 U.S. same-store sales. In this report, we discuss how these same-store sales results — and potential results for full-year 2026 — relate to these three concepts’ average unit volumes (AUVs). We further discuss what this means for the companies, and their stocks.

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Thursday May 14, 2026, 09:10:06

Restaurant and Grocery Spending Left a Lot to be Desired in April

By Mark Kalinowski

Data out today from the U.S. Census shows that restaurants’ market share (with grocery stores/supermarkets making up the other component) was 56.7% in April 2026, -30 basis points below the all-time monthly record of 57.0% set in February 2026.

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Tuesday May 12, 2026, 09:28:34

Restaurants: Price Inflation Gap Relative to Food-At-Home Lowest Since March 2023

By Mark Kalinowski

The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data shows that prices for food-at-home (grocery stores and supermarkets) rose by +2.9% in April — sequentially up by +100 basis points since March’s +1.9%. This +2.9% number for April compares with price for food-away-from-home (restaurants) that increased by +3.6% year-over-year in April (sequentially down by -20 basis points from March’s +3.8%). This marks the 37th month in a row for which restaurant pricing is outpacing grocery/supermarket pricing.

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