RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL $41.07 (New York symbol QSR; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (212-333-3810; www.rbi.com; Shares outstanding: 467.0 million; Market cap: $19.2 billion; Dividend yield: 1.0%) is the world’s thirdlargest fast-food operator, after McDonald’s and Yum Brands, with 14,387 Burger King outlets and 4,724 Tim Hortons locations in 100 countries.
Excluding one-time items, Restaurant Brands earned $0.18 a share in the three months ended March 31, 2015, up 38.5% from $0.13 a year earlier. Sales crept up to $932.0 million from $931.6 million, but that’s because the high U.S. dollar cut the contribution from Restaurant Brands’ overseas operations. On a constant-currency basis, sales gained 10.6%.
Same-store sales rose 5.3% at Tim Hortons, thanks to new menu items like Philly steak and cheese and crispy chicken sandwiches. Burger King’s same-store sales rose 4.6%, also thanks to new products, such as a spicy BLT sandwich, and special promotions.
The stock is up 27% since the merger, but it’s expensive at 35.7 times the company’s likely 2015 earnings of $1.15 a share.
Restaurant Brands is still a hold.
