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☆ Wendy’s newest breakfast item is made by another fast-food chain
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Wendy’s is sweetening its breakfast lineup with a new treat that comes from an unusual place: Another fast food chain. Also, most Cinnabon locations haven’t yet opened for the day when Wendy’s sells breakfast, which ends at 10:30 am. Perhaps Wendy’s adding cinnamon pull-aparts might entice some dissatisfied customers of McDonald’s, which last year scrapped its McCafé bakery lineup that also included a cinnamon roll. The “Cinnabon Pull-Aparts” are made from sweetened dough that’s dunked in a glaze then baked with cinnamon, brown butter and sugar. The chain previously predicted that breakfast would make 10% of its sales, with figures reaching 8.5% in 2021 before Wendy’s stopped reporting individual sales for the morning menu.

Persons: New York CNN —, Wendy’s, Cinnabon, Jonathan Maze, “, ” Maze, McDonald’s, It’s, ”, John Li, “ Cinnabon, Todd Penegor, it’s, Wendy’s Li, ” Li Organizations: New, New York CNN, Subway, CNN, Culinary Innovation, Bell Locations: New York, Indiana, Kentucky

Wendy’s Co. named a longtime PepsiCo executive as its new CEO on Thursday. The Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain said Kirk Tanner will become president and CEO on Feb. 5. Tanner, who joined PepsiCo in 1992, most recently served as its CEO of North American beverages. Tanner succeeds Todd Penegor, who has served as Wendy’s president and CEO since 2016. In the first nine months of 2023, Wendy’s global same-store sales were up 5%.

Persons: Kirk Tanner, Tanner, Todd Penegor, Penegor, Wendy’s, Nelson Peltz, Peltz Organizations: PepsiCo, McDonald’s Locations: Dublin , Ohio, American, U.S

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: iRobot, Super Micro Computer, PPG Industries and more
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The lower end of PPG's range for full-year earnings guidance was also well below what analysts called for. On the other hand, the company's earning and revenue for the fourth quarter of 2023 topped what analysts had anticipated. Super Micro Computer — Shares of the information technology firm gained 6% after Super Micro Computer reported preliminary second-quarter adjusted earnings of between $5.40 and $5.55 per share, higher than its previous guidance of between $4.40 to $4.88 per share. Super Micro also reported a preliminary revenue of between $3.6 billion to $3.65 billion, topping its prior guidance of $2.7 billion to $2.9 billion. The Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday that the European Union's antitrust watchdog anticipates blocking Amazon's acquisition of iRobot.

Persons: Hunt, Kirk Tanner, Todd Penegor, iRobot Organizations: PPG Industries, Micro Computer, Micro, Hunt Transport, LSEG, Wendy's, PepsiCo, Blackwells, Street Journal

☆ Wendy's taps PepsiCo exec Kirk Tanner as new CEO as burger chain fights off activist pressure
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Wendy's has tapped PepsiCo veteran Kirk Tanner as its new chief executive, effective Feb. 5, as the burger chain tries to boost its share price and ease pressure from activist investors. Kirk Tanner, chief executive officer of North America beverages for PepsiCo Inc., speaks during the Bloomberg Power Players Summit in Miami, Florida, U.S., on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Outgoing Wendy's CEO Todd Penegor has been at the helm of the company since 2016. Under his leadership, Wendy's successfully launched its breakfast menu nationwide, helping the company overtake Burger King as the second-largest U.S. burger chain by sales. But if Blackwells nominates its own board candidates, it's kicking off a fight with another activist investor: Nelson Peltz, who is chair of Wendy's board.

Persons: Tanner, Wendy's, Kirk Tanner, Todd Penegor, Burger, Blackwells, Nelson Peltz, Peltz, Trian, Ram Krishnan Organizations: Pepsi, PepsiCo, PepsiCo Inc, Bloomberg Power Players Summit, Reuters, Trian Fund Management, Disney Locations: Miami , Florida, North America, U.S, Wendy's

☆ 3 trends are dividing restaurant companies into winners and losers
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

In this article CMGMCDWENPZZA Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTA McDonald's restaurant near Times Square, NYC on July 29th, 2023. Adam Jeffery | CNBCRestaurant companies navigating some of the same challenges in the second quarter fell into two categories: winners and losers. While most restaurant companies crushed earnings expectations, a number of them fell short of Wall Street's estimates for their quarterly revenue. McDonald's and Wingstop both reported second-quarter earnings, revenue and same-store sales growth that topped analysts' expectations, a rarity this quarter for restaurant companies. One fast-casual chain has struggled with consumers' value perception.

Persons: Adam Jeffery, hasn't, Papa John's, TD Cowen, Andrew Charles, Burger, Wendy's, Jeffrey Bernstein, bode, Chris Kempczinski, Todd Penegor, Wingstop, Michael Skipworth, Chipotle, Jack Hartung, Noodles Organizations: CNBC Restaurant, Promotions, Investors, CNBC, Restaurant Brands, Barclays, Company Locations: NYC, Chipotle, Texas

☆ Wendy's now competes with Cheerios for breakfast customers as much as it competes with other chain restaurants, its CMO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

For Wendy's, Cheerios is now as much of a rival for breakfast customers as other restaurants, its CMO says. It just reported record quarterly breakfast sales. The chain reported record quarterly US breakfast sales volumes in the quarter to July 2, with year-over-year sales growth in the mid-single digits. And Wendy's is eyeing "outsized" growth for its breakfast sales in the future, executives said at its earnings call last week. Wendy's breakfast menu includes French toast sticks, sandwiches in croissant and biscuit buns, and hot and iced coffee.

Persons: Wendy's, Carl Loredo, Josh Kobza, Tim Hortons, Todd Penegor, We're, Penegor, We've Organizations: Service, Cheerios Locations: Wall, Silicon, QSR

☆ AI drive-thrus may be good for business. But not for the rest of us
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New AI technology at the drive-thru at a Carl's Jr. location. In real-world situations, reactions to AI drive-thrus are still mixed. “We expect AI to augment the competitive advantages of restaurants with digital culture.”Short-staffed restaurants may see AI as a way to fill in the gaps. “There aren’t enough at-scale examples of voice AI in action, especially in this use case,” to say that people would prefer AI to an employee, said McAllister. By the time those examples exist, AI in drive-thrus may already be the norm.

Persons: CKE, Carl’s Jr, Wendy’s, Joel Angel Juarez, it’s, ” Thomas Kurian, ”, Christina McAllister, Forrester, upsells, Krishna Gupta, Presto, “, Todd Penegor, Penegor, Yong Suk Lee, “ it’s, Brandon Bell, McAllister Organizations: New, New York CNN, Google, USA, Wall Street, Indiana White, Wall Street Journal, Presto Automation, CKE, Presto, Presto Voice, University of Notre Dame, Intouch Locations: New York, White, Wendy’s, Columbus , Ohio, The Republic

Wendy's will pilot its new AI drive-thru tech this month at some locations in the Columbus, Ohio, area. The hesitancy to discuss any generative AI implementation is understandable. That said, we think that generative AI opportunities at Starbucks are still worth considering. This is where we think there's a clear opportunity for margin improvement as generative AI adoption goes mainstream. There are going to be a lot of opportunities to invest in to play the adoption of generative AI outside of tech.

Persons: hasn't, WEN, Jack, JACK, we've, Todd Penegor, Jim Cramer, Wendy's, Darin Harris, Jim, Harris, It's, —, China's, Jim Cramer's, Scott Mlyn Organizations: Microsoft, Nvidia, Club, Del, Starbucks, AIs, chatbots, Global, Companies, CNBC Locations: Columbus , Ohio, U.S, QSRs, Wendy's, Glassdoor, Dana Point , California

☆ Wendy's CEO Todd Penegor goes one-on-one with Jim Cramer
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Wendy's CEO Todd Penegor goes one-on-one with Jim CramerWendy's CEO Todd Penegor joins 'Mad Money' host Jim Cramer to talk Wendy's plan to utilize A.I., late night service expansion, and more.

☆ Wendy’s CEO touts A.I. drive-thru deal with Google and late-night opportunity
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Julie Coleman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Wendy's CEO Todd Penegor told CNBC's Jim Cramer on Wednesday the fast-food chain's artificial intelligence partnership with Google is the "first step" toward additional technology changes at its restaurants. Wendy's and Alphabet -owned Google worked to create an AI chatbot specifically designed for drive-thru ordering. The Ohio-based burger chain will run a pilot program of the AI drive-thru at several locations in the Columbus area starting in June, Penegor told Cramer. Penegor stressed his commitment to modernize Wendy's over the next few quarters, emphasizing the opportunity with digital menu boards, for example. "We know we've under-indexed and have an opportunity to drive a lot of growth" by targeting the late-night crowd.

☆ Wendy's CEO discusses A.I. drive-thru partnership with Google
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWendy's CEO discusses A.I. drive-thru partnership with GoogleWendy's CEO Todd Penegor joined CNBC's Jim Cramer on Wednesday, discussing a range of topics including the fast-food chain's collaboration with Google on an A.I. chatbot for drive-thru ordering.

☆ Wendy's customers could soon order from an AI chatbot at its drive-thru that's been trained to recognize customer lingo like 'biggie bags' and 'JBC'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Wendy's is automating its drive-through service and introducing an AI chatbot to take orders. The chatbot has been trained to recognize common abbreviations and lingo that customers use. The chatbot has been trained to recognize customers' lingo when they order items like burgers and fries from Wendy's menu. A spokesperson for Wendy's told Insider in a statement that because customers can fully customize their orders at Wendy's, it leads to multiple different order combinations. Since OpenAI launched its AI chatbot ChatGPT in November and became the fastest-growing consumer app in internet history, businesses have been deploying AI tools to streamline work and complete tasks more quickly.

☆ Restaurant prices are rising faster than grocery prices for the first time since inflation ran hot
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

For the first time since inflation began accelerating in mid-2021, restaurant prices outpaced grocery prices on a 12-month basis, according to the Labor Department. For months, restaurant CEOs like Cheesecake Factory's Matthew Clark and Wendy's Todd Penegor have touted their meals as a relative bargain compared with eating at home, based on consumer price index data. March food prices rose 8.5% over the last 12 months, fueled by the jump in the cost of eating away from home, which was up 8.8% over that period. The National Restaurant Association's chief economist, Bruce Grindy, attributed the increase to the surge in food prices at schools as free lunch programs instituted during the Covid pandemic expired. The overall consumer price index has risen 5% over the last 12 months as inflation continues to cool.

☆ Wendy's is once again slashing plans for ghost kitchen locations — delivering a blow to struggling Reef Technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Wendy's had plans to open 700 locations through ghost kitchen operator Reef Technology. Wendy's Chief Financial Officer Gunther Plosch confirmed the chain's restaurant-growth projection is down as a result of slashing its ghost kitchen strategy. Wendy's said it currently has 16 Reef locations in the UK. At its peak in mid-2021, the SoftBank-backed startup operated more than 330 food trailers in the US and abroad. Jack in the Box ended its ghost kitchen partnership with Reef Technology in 2022.

☆ Restaurant sales are going up. But dining out is on the decline
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Restaurant traffic is dipping as consumers make food at home. In that month, traffic at fast food restaurants fell 1.2%, dipped 1.7% for fast casual and dropped 4.7% in full service eateries. Fast food traffic bounced back slightly in September and October, but fast casual and full service traffic remained negative. Restaurant prices increased by 8.6%. But groceries are generally cheaper than restaurant meals.

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