Earnings Preview: Burger King Corp.

By ASHLEY M. HEHER

posted: 30 DAYS 12 HOURS AGO

Text SizeAAA

CHICAGO -Burger King Corp. reports results for its first quarter before the market opens Thursday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period, which ended Sept. 30.

OVERVIEW: Burger King Corp., the nation's No. 2 fast-food burger chain, announced this month that it is revamping the interiors of its restaurants, giving them a hipper feel that's evocative of a sit-down restaurant.

The redesign comes as more restaurants are amping up their burger offerings. The Miami company's latest entries in the so-called "burger war" include the temporary addition of a $1 double cheeseburger to U.S. menus.

Burger King is in the final stages of installing new broilers that will cut energy use and let the company roll out new menu items in the future.

Its Steakhouse XT burger, which has a thick patty topped with mayonnaise, fried onions, lettuce, steak sauce, cheese and tomatoes, is slated to join menus in February.

BY THE NUMBERS: Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters predict a profit of 37 cents per share on revenue of $652.8 million for the quarter. A year earlier, the restaurant chain earned $49 million, or 35 cents per share, on revenue of $602 million.

ANALYST TAKE: Deutsche Bank analyst Jason West predicted in a note to investors that Burger King's sales in restaurants open at least a year fell in August and September.

WHAT'S AHEAD: Analysts and investors will look for details about how Burger King expects to perform during its full fiscal year and what kind of impact it expects on revenue from the ongoing recession.

STOCK PERFORMANCE: During the quarter, which began July 1, shares climbed about 2 percent to end the period at $17.59, near the low end of their 52-week range from $24.48 to $15.61.

2009-10-27 16:52:56