Latest news with #KenCook
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wendy's Says Sales Could Fall in 2025 as Fast Food Shows Signs of Slowing Down
Wendy's now expects this year's sales to range from flat to down 2% from 2024, a downgrade from its earlier forecast of 2% to 3% growth for the year. The company lowered its outlook Friday while announcing quarterly results that largely missed analyst expectations. Wendy's executives said traffic in the latest quarter fell, while the cost of supplies and labor (WEN) is the latest fast-food chain to express wariness about the months ahead, trimming its earnings outlook for the year and saying sales in 2025 may fall year-over-year. The burger chain known for square patties anticipates finishing 2025 with sales that are flat or down as much as 2% from the year prior, Wendy's said Friday. The company previously had forecast a 2% to 3% increase for the year. Wendy's sales and profit for the first quarter, which ended March 30, missed expectations. The company reported $39.2 million in net income, just under the $39.8 million analysts expected, according to consensus estimates from Visible Alpha. Wendy's $523.5 million in revenue came in below the $524.9 million consensus estimate. 'We saw broad-based pressure in the quarter,' CFO Ken Cook said, according to a transcript made available by AlphaSense. That pressure, he said, was particularly acute with households that make under $75,000. Wendy's report comes after McDonald's (MCD) told investors the day before that economic stress already seen by the fast-food giant among low-income consumers appears to have spread to middle-income households. Although sales improved 8.9% year-over-year in international markets, domestic same-restaurant sales dropped 2.8% in the first quarter—more than the 1.7% Wall Street expected, according to the consensus estimates. Wendy's said inflation pushed up the cost of supplies and labor, while traffic declined at company-operated U.S. locations. Consumer pullback was most evident during breakfast hours and in the month of March, Cook said. During parts of that month, the broader industry experienced a low-double-digit drop in traffic among households making less than $75,000 annually, Cook said on an earnings conference call Friday. In response to waning demand, Wendy's plans to run a '100 Days of Summer' promotion with innovative items and a focus on value when 'our customers need it most,' CEO Kirk Tanner said in the call. Wendy's shares were up less than 1% in recent trading Friday. However, the stock has lost more than a fifth of its value this year. Read the original article on Investopedia
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This Iconic Fast Food Chain Just Announced Even More Locations Coming Near You
While we previously brought you some worrisome signs about Wendy's future (such as controversy over the restaurant's plan of implementing AI-powered drive-thrus), a recent announcement from the fast food chain shows that expansion is on the horizon. At Wendy's 2025 Investor Day, the restaurant revealed its plans to open 1,000 new locations throughout the world by 2028, with 350 new restaurants slated to be built in the U.S. The new locations are part of the chain's ongoing growth initiative as explained by Wendy's chief financial officer Ken Cook in a press release detailing Investor Day happenings. "In order to execute on our strategy, we are investing in building new restaurants around the globe and deploying technology that will enhance the customer experience and increase restaurant profitability," Cook explains. It's not entirely clear exactly where the new restaurants will be located or when the roll out will officially begin, but this should be welcome news for fast food fans who love Wendy's menu items such as the iconic Frosty (which is now available in two new formats, Frosty Fusions and Frosty Swirls). As of now, Wendy's restaurants can be found in over 30 countries, totaling more than 7,000 locations worldwide. Read more: Popular Fast Food Items That Aren't What You Think Recent restaurant excursions may have you asking whether dollar fast food menus still even exist (and based on increasing prices at popular establishments, the answer is most likely no). Most consumers these days find fast food to be absurdly expensive, and increasing grocery costs have many people wondering whether dining out can still fit into their budgets. Wendy's acknowledged some of these concerns in its 2025 Investor Day report, highlighting some factors that could impede the chain's expansion plan. For instance, tightened consumer spending and poor economic developments throughout the world could prevent the chain from meeting its financial goals. On a more personal level, the effectiveness of the company's marketing efforts plus its ability to create a pleasing experience for customers could also affect its growth strategy. Despite these very real obstacles, Kirk Tanner, president and chief executive officer at Wendy's, is optimistic. According to Tanner, "The Wendy's brand has tremendous strength, and we will unlock its full potential ... Our relentless pursuit of excellence in our food and our restaurants will position Wendy's for long-term success as we win across our global markets." Hungry for more? Sign up for the free Daily Meal newsletter for delicious recipes, cooking tips, kitchen hacks, and more, delivered straight to your inbox. Read the original article on The Daily Meal. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
New weather radar will provide quicker, detailed storm tracking
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Doppler radar is vital to know what lurks in the clouds, and new technology is coming that will give us an even better view into the sky. Our eyes only tell us so much about the weather. Meteorologists need X-ray vision to get the bigger picture, and they have Doppler radar to accomplish that. 'It's actually one of the most significant tools that we use. We use the radar, really, to assess what's happening in the near term here in our environment,' Ken Cook, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Wichita, said. 'We use it in many ways. Specifically, the biggest one is with severe storms. We're looking at: Is the storm tornadic? Is it producing hail?' Hesston tornado: 35 years later, memories of storm still vivid Currently, 160 radar sites across the United States are constantly scanning the skies. This system is called the Next Generation Weather Radar or NEXRAD. Since the system was implemented in the 1990s, it has increased the warning time to get folks to shelter. Upgrades to these radars have kept them up to date with new tools like dual-polarization data, which tells the difference between rain, snow, and even tornado debris. NEXRAD is invaluable, but it is becoming outdated. New radar technology is under development that will address some of the current system's shortcomings, most importantly, how quickly the radar scans. Traditional radars use a dish that spins and tilts at various angles with each scan. The whole process of gathering data at all levels can take five minutes or longer. The future is Phased Array Radar (PAR). 'It just looks like a flat wall, but it's an array of antenna elements, and so the way it works is that we have these thousands of little antennas and these little antennas each transmit a different signal,' Dr. David Schvartzman, assistant professor at the OU Advanced Radar Research Center, said. The antennas are timed down to the microsecond to fire in precise patterns. The waves from those antennas interlock with each other in phase, hence the name. 'We can steer the beam and scan different directions electronically, without any movement of the antenna. And so if we have two storms … and there is nothing in between, we can just scan this one and scan the other one, and we don't waste any time scanning in between,' Schvartzman said. Phased array radar is lightning fast, literally. A scan of the entire sky can be done in 30 seconds. Targeted scans are even faster, nearly instantaneous. This is quick enough to analyze individual lightning flashes. Higher-resolution data like this will save lives. With the current radar setup, a tornado can quickly form, do damage, and dissipate all within the time it takes the current system to complete a single scan. 'The lowest levels of the atmosphere is where a lot of the action happens. With tornadoes and tornadogenesis, is the tornado forming near the ground and going upward or in the cloud and coming downward? There's scientific arguments for how a tornado actually forms. Maybe resolving some of those things,' Cook said. Swift action in severe weather can save lives: Be prepared It will be some time before a wide-reaching network of phased array radars can be deployed for operational use. Current rollout estimates are for sometime in the 2030s. We look forward to having more power to stay ahead of the storm. Severe Weather Preparedness Week runs from March 3 to 7. During this time, KSN's Storm Track 3 Weather Team will discuss severe weather safety topics daily on air and online. Before the first storm strikes your hometown, download the free KSN Storm Track 3 weather app. All information comes from KSN's staff of meteorologists who have the instinct and intellect only those trained here in Kansas have available at their fingertips. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
