Traditional Fast Food Stocks Q2 Recap: Benchmarking Portillo's (NASDAQ:PTLO)
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Earnings results often indicate what direction a company will take in the months ahead. With Q2 behind us, let’s have a look at Portillo's (NASDAQ:PTLO) and its peers.
Traditional fast-food restaurants are renowned for their speed and convenience, boasting menus filled with familiar and budget-friendly items. Their reputations for on-the-go consumption make them favored destinations for individuals and families needing a quick meal. This class of restaurants, however, is fighting the perception that their meals are unhealthy and made with inferior ingredients, a battle that's especially relevant today given the consumers increasing focus on health and wellness.
The 14 traditional fast food stocks we track reported a mixed Q2. As a group, revenues missed analysts’ consensus estimates by 0.6%.
After much suspense, the Federal Reserve cut its policy rate by 50bps (half a percent) in September 2024. This marks the central bank’s first easing of monetary policy since 2020 and the end of its most pointed inflation-busting campaign since the 1980s. Inflation had begun to run hot in 2021 post-COVID due to a confluence of factors such as supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and stimulus spending. While CPI (inflation) readings have been supportive lately, employment measures have prompted some concern. Going forward, the markets will debate whether this rate cut (and more potential ones in 2024 and 2025) is perfect timing to support the economy or a bit too late for a macro that has already cooled too much.
Luckily, traditional fast food stocks have performed well with share prices up 12.9% on average since the latest earnings results.
Portillo's (NASDAQ:PTLO)
Begun as a Chicago hot dog stand in 1963, Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) is a casual restaurant chain that serves Chicago-style hot dogs and beef sandwiches as well as fries and shakes.
Portillo's reported revenues of $181.9 million, up 7.5% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 1.4%. Overall, it was a slower quarter for the company with a miss of analysts’ earnings estimates.
Michael Osanloo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Portillo’s, said, “We delivered sequential improvement in both revenue and margin this quarter as we continued to prioritize sales and transaction growth. We are confident that our strategic plan is focused on the right factors, allowing us to navigate near-term challenges and seize opportunities for continuous improvement. We're now on track to open at least 10 restaurants in 2024, including three full-service locations with an optimized footprint. We continue to successfully lower our build costs as we bring these restaurants online, which will support industry-leading returns on investment.”