Nation's Restaurant News On the Go Newsletter #48
Nation's Restaurant News
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Raking in a wide swath of earnings news
I’m Ron Ruggless, senior editor with Nation’s Restaurant News, and like many business journalists over the past two weeks, I’ve been rolling around in piles and piles of the generous leaves of autumn’s public-earnings season.
This is like Christmas or Hanukkah for finance journalists, with public restaurant companies gifting us with glimpses into their inner workings and a few prognostications toward the year ahead with their guidance for stock analysts.
Alicia Kelso, executive editor for Nation’s Restaurant News, offered a great podcast recap of this year’s onslaught of earnings, some of which came at eight a day. Call topics ranged from technology stacks (Wingstop Inc. is targeting Q2 2024 for the introduction of its proprietary MyWingstop platform), traffic and same-store sales.
Off-premises continued to attract the attention of restaurant executives, with many looking to catering as a sales boost in the fourth quarter and the year ahead.
And after dealing with the pandemic’s pent-up demand, some companies were eying marketing as a way to distinguish their products. Bloomin’ Brands Inc., parent to the Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba’s Italian Kitchen concepts among others, announced plans to boost its marketing spend in the fourth quarter and the year ahead.
Here’s a closer look at this week's news.
Digging through restaurant earnings with executive editor Alicia Kelso
Earnings season is upon us, and the results are mostly mixed. There hasn’t been a consistent headline to come out of any earnings stories, it’s almost as though they’re talking about different industries. Alicia Kelso breaks down everything you’ve been seeing in this episode of First Bite.
Wingstop set to launch new technology platform in Q2 next year
Wingstop Inc. is testing a new technology platform, tentatively called MyWingstop, in some restaurants and plans to roll it out to the entire system in second quarter 2024, executives said on an earnings call Wednesday.
The Dallas-based fast-casual company, which announced earnings for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, noted that digital sales increased to 66.9% in the period, up from 62% in third quarter 2022. Wingstop has a goal of eventually digitizing 100% of its transactions.
Restaurants tap into catering opportunities for winter
Restaurant companies big to small and old to new are tapping into the catering channel this winter holiday season.
Catering programs were a big topic on public-company earnings calls this past month and smaller companies were promoting their catering offerings as executives saw potential in the off-premises channel as the deepest impacts of the coronavirus pandemic began to fade. Companies saw this as a continuation of a trend that emerged last fall.
Outback-Carrabba’s parent Bloomin’ plans marketing boost
Bloomin’ Brands Inc., parent to the Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba’s Italian Grill brands, intends to increase its marketing in the fourth quarter and into 2024 amid traffic slippage at its casual-dining concepts, executives said Friday.
Tampa, Fla.-based Bloomin’, which also owns the Bonefish Grill and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar concepts, released on Friday earnings for the third quarter ended Sept. 24, which showed traffic had slowed during the quarter.
David Deno, Bloomin’ Brand CEO, said in an earnings call that the company planned to spend “more on marketing and advertising in Q4 as well as 2024.
“Although we do not intend to return to pre-pandemic levels,” Deno said, “we do believe a higher level of advertising spend is warranted moving forward. Utilizing a blend of television and high-return digital tactics, we believe our increased marketing presence can help build traffic.”
Podcast: 30 new menu items?! A brewery chain revamps its experience to build loyalty
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