Fast Food Today: December 21 2024

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research or consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions. I might own some or all of the stocks listed below.

Starbird announces franchise agreement with Mehta Investment

• Starbird - fast food chain known for its crispy chicken - announced agreement for 17 new locations with Mehta Investment. Among seventeen, 15 will be in Seattle and 2 in Spokane, first location expected to be opened in 2025. Starbird is mostly California focused fast food chain. It is one of the among many fast food chains that have announced new locations in recent year.
  • Companies Mentioned: https://www.starbirdchicken.com/    https://www.mehtainvestmentgroup.com/      

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Dave and Busters gets same CIO

• Dave and Buster’s CIO (Steve Klohn) is back, he left Dave and Buster’s in Sept 2024 for Legends, now he is hired back by intern CEO Kevin Sheehan. This comes after previous CEO Chris Morris resigned on Dec 10 and Sheehan was hired as interim CEO. Dave and Buster is struggling with declining revenue. 

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Strike at Starbucks

• Lower same store sales and declining stock price (it lost ~6% YTD), is not enough headache for the company, now it is dealing with strikes right before busy holiday season. Strike is supposed to take place in only three major cities (LA, Chicago, and Seattle) but it has over 535 unionized company owned stores so it could spread further. Considering over 10,000 company owned stores in North America, it might not impact the bottom line but it is one more issue on top of other issues company is dealing with right now. 
• Source:  https://apnews.com/article/starbucks-workers-united-strike-holidays-b0376dbbb388a3cfdfe92297a7a41a35       https://abcnews.go.com/US/starbucks-workers-union-announces-pre-christmas-strike-los/story?id=116970463       

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Possible sale of Lamb Weston to Post Holdings

• Since Jana Partners took roughly 5% of the Lamb Weston it has been pushing for change in multiple different area, including CEO change. Lamb Weston is not having best year as lower french fries (it’s North America’s largest french fries seller) sales in fast food chains have impacted its bottom line. Sale is not guaranteed though as Post Holdings recently bought Potato Products of Idaho which manufactures and packages refrigerated / frozen potato products. 
• Source:    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/post-holdings-acquire-potato-products-210500070.html          https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/post-holdings-working-with-bankers-possible-lamb-weston-deal-sources-say-2024-12-13/    

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Nando’s expands in India

• Nando’s is planning to expand beyond Delhi and Hyderabad, to Mumbai. It recently announced 5 news locations in Mumbai. It is part of Nando’s plan to open over 150 locations in India over next 10 years. It is partnering with K Hospitality Group to increase number of locations in India. 
• Companies: https://www.k-hospitality.com  
• Source: https://www.franchiseindia.com/insights/en/news/nandos-and-k-hospitality-corp-join-hands-to-open-over-150-restaurants-in-the-next-10-years.34455    https://www.indianretailer.com/restaurant/news/nando-s-enters-mumbai-targets-5-outlets-in-the-city.n12066