Big expansion in Brazil

Article Excerpt

RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL $56.51 (New York symbol QSR; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (905-845-6511; www.rbi.com; Shares o/s: 478.0 million; Market cap: $27.0 billion; Yield: 3.2%) continues to rapidly expand its Burger King outlets in Brazil. The chain opens on average a new site in Brazil every three to four days. With 736 openings since 2011, the company is challenging McDonald’s Corp. for fast-food supremacy in the South American country. McDonald’s, which opened its first restaurant in Rio de Janeiro in 1979, has 939 locations in Brazil. Burger King’s low-priced, fast-food menu is increasingly popular as Brazil’s economy struggles to recover from recession. What’s more, with restaurant chains running only 10% of the country’s restaurants, compared with 60% in the U.S., there’s lots of room to expand. Restaurant Brands is still a hold. hold…