Wendy’s upended the industry last year when it overtook Burger King as the No. 2 burger chain in the U.S.
Now it looks like Burger King is turning the fast-food tables.
When it bested Burger King, Wendy’s held a 12.3% U.S. share, according to Technomic, compared with Burger King’s 12.2%, and the gap’s been narrowing fast since. Burger King in the first quarter of this year posted a 4.2% jump in same-store sales in North America while the same segment for Wendy’s showed an increase of less than 1%. And Burger King’s April numbers are even better. Its largest franchisee, Carrols Restaurant Group, said its same-store sales in April rose 9%, nearly triple that of leader McDonald’s.
But don’t go all-in on the king yet. A closer look reveals that the chain still has a hard-fought battle ahead to regain the throne. “There’s a lot of chatter about which one is going to be No. 2. But at the end of the day, it’s really just about keeping up more than anything groundbreaking,” said Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottovy of Burger King’s performance.