Wendy's Hits Estimates in Solid Quarter

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Wendy's (NAS: WEN) reported earnings on Mar. 1. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Jan. 1 (Q4), Wendy's met expectations on revenues and earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped significantly and GAAP earnings per share expanded.

Margins improved across the board.

Revenue details
Wendy's logged revenue of $615.0 million. The 15 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for revenue of $613.1 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 27% lower than the prior-year quarter's $840.7 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.04. The 16 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.04 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS were $0.01 for Q4 versus -$0.03 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 26.1%, 260 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 7.9%, 300 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 0.6%, 190 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $608.2 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.02.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.52 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.17.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 541 members out of 678 rating the stock outperform, and 137 members rating it underperform. Among 158 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 124 give Wendy's a green thumbs-up, and 34 give it a red thumbs-down.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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