Retail

Wendy's Turnaround Jeopardy -- Earnings Fall Short

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ: WEN) reported its third-quarter results Thursday before the market open as $0.08 in earnings per share and $512 million in revenue. Thomson Reuters had consensus estimates of $0.09 in earnings per share and $516.27 million in revenue. In the third quarter of the previous year, the fast-food provider posted $0.08 in earnings per share and $640.78 million in revenue.

The company gave guidance for the 2014 full year of $0.34 to $0.36 in earnings per share. The consensus estimates are $0.35 in earnings per share and $2.07 billion in revenue.

Net income for the third quarter was $22.8 million, compared to the net loss of $1.9 million in the same quarter in the previous year.

Wendy’s had same-restaurant sales increase 2% and franchise same-restaurant sales increased 0.5% in the third quarter. The restaurant margin was 15.5%, compared to 15.6% in the previous year. The decrease was due mostly to commodity costs.

The company announced a plan to realign and reinvest its resources to focus primarily on restaurant development and consumer-facing technology. It believes this initiative, coupled with the sale of its Canadian restaurants, will yield a total cost reduction of approximately $30 million.

Emil Brolick, CEO of Wendy’s, said:

While our third-quarter same-restaurant sales growth at Company-operated restaurants was slightly less than our expectations, our two-year comps were quite strong at 5.2 percent. We also remain on track to achieve our full-year 2014 Adjusted Earnings Per Share guidance, despite third-quarter Adjusted EBITDA results that were slightly below our projections.

Our expectations for the third quarter included a 20-percent year-over-year revenue decline from the sale of Company-operated restaurants to franchisees. We also absorbed beef costs that were much higher than our initial projections. In addition, a year-over-year increase in temporary Image Activation restaurant closure weeks of nearly two and a half times had a negative impact on our revenue and profitability.

ALSO READ: 7 Commodities With Collapsing Prices

Shares of Wendy’s closed Wednesday down 1% at $8.06. Following the release of the earnings report, the initial response in the premarket was negative and shares were down about 2% to $7.90.

The consensus analyst price target is $9.30, and the 52-week trading range is $7.61 to $10.27. Wendy’s has a market cap of nearly $3 billion.

Take This Retirement Quiz To Get Matched With A Financial Advisor (Sponsored)

Take the quiz below to get matched with a financial advisor today.

Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests.

Here’s how it works:
1. Answer SmartAsset advisor match quiz
2. Review your pre-screened matches at your leisure. Check out the
advisors’ profiles.
3. Speak with advisors at no cost to you. Have an introductory call on the phone or introduction in person and choose whom to work with in the future

Take the retirement quiz right here.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.