Burger King sales soar, while Popeyes struggles

Burger King’s same-store sales rose 8.4% in the U.S. in the third quarter as the fast-food chain sold more chicken nuggets and kids meals, parent company Restaurant Brands International said on Thursday.

The company’s international business is also thriving. Same-store sales rose 3.8% at Burger King outside the U.S., and the chain just opened its 13,000th location outside the U.S. and Canada.

That continued RBI’s overall momentum in international markets. Same-store sales for all its brands, also including Popeyes, Tim Hortons, and Firehouse Subs, rose 3.9% outside the U.S. and Canada.

The results more than offset weakness at Popeyes, where same-store sales declined 2.2% in the U.S., the eighth time in the past nine quarters that the fast-food chicken chain reported negative numbers. Popeyes on Wednesday dismissed its chief marketing officer in a bid to energize sales results.

Tim Hortons same-store sales rose 1.8% in Canada, and 1.5% overall including U.S. stores, accelerating from relative weakness earlier in the year. Same-store sales rose 2% at Firehouse Subs.

Burger King has been on a tear this year. Same-store sales have exceeded 8% in each of the past two periods and rose 5.8 % in the first quarter. That has come during an otherwise difficult period for the fast-food space, which is struggling with weak traffic as consumers pressured by inflation cut back on dining.

Burger King’s same-store sales have outperformed its fast-food peers by nearly 10 percentage points in the third quarter, executives said on Thursday.

“Burger King has delivered over four years of industry outperformance, and now we’ve seen three consecutive quarters of truly exceptional results,” Patrick Doyle, Burger King’s executive chairman, told analysts on Thursday. “We’re taking share. Our franchisees are investing. And the team continues to raise their standards.”

The company started the year by promoting improvements to its Whopper and publicly vowing to improve operations. It has since made similar improvements to its chicken nuggets and used marketing partnerships with Dragon Ball Z to drive sales of kids meals.

Sales of the Whopper have increased in the double digits this year, CEO Josh Kobza said. Nuggets sales are up 35%. And the company’s King Jr. meal sales are up 40%, to their highest level in more than a decade. Doyle noted that 78% of consumers will consider dining at a Burger King, up from 70% three years ago.

Less can be said for the reeling Popeyes. The company has opted to scale back its chicken wing offering, which the company introduced in 2023 and supported with a Super Bowl ad in 2024.

“Wings adds operational complexity, and simplifying the platform allows us to put greater emphasis behind core items that define Popeyes: our bone-in chicken, tenders, and the sandwich,” Kobza said. That decision has put pressure on sales, but “we think it was the right trade-off for the long-term health of the business.”

Tim Hortons, meanwhile, saw improved sales in its core Canadian market, thanks in part to the introduction of a line of matcha beverages that drew in more younger and female consumers. The chain has also generated better-than-expected results from a loyalty program partnership with the retailer Canadian Tire.

But some more notable comments came for the international business, which RBI operates as a separate unit overseeing all brands outside the U.S. and Canada. Same-store sales internationally rose 3.9% and have risen 22 straight quarters.

Burger King just opened its 13,000th international location. Popeyes now has 2,000 such units, which has doubled over the past two years and increased by a factor of seven since RBI bought the chain in 2017.

RBI now has more than a dozen international businesses that generate more than $100 million in annual sales, Doyle said. “I still think investors underestimate just how strong the business is,” he said.