Popeyes U.S. sales are making a massive comeback

Popeyes chicken sales made a massive comeback and surged in May, according to a new SEC filing. Yahoo Finance's Heidi Chung joins Zack Guzman to break down the details.

Video Transcript

ZACK GUZMAN: --update. Of course, it's not just tax revenues. We've been talking for a long time now, at least what feels like a long time, about the way that the pandemic has shifted what you're buying and how you're buying it. And one company is giving an update to investors in at least one segment their business that has benefited from that. Restaurant Brands International updating investors today with growth rates that are pretty striking at its Popeyes brand there. Of course, we've been documenting how much Americans tend to love their new chicken sandwich, but for more on how it's been boosting Popeyes, I want to get back to Yahoo Finance's Heidi Chung, who has more on the sales boost that they're seeing. Heidi?

HEIDI CHUNG: Hey, Zack. Yeah, America certainly loves fried chicken. Popeyes chicken sales making a massive comeback and surging in May, exceeding those pre-COVID levels. So it was pretty jaw-dropping this morning. In an SEC filing, [INAUDIBLE] reporting that Popeyes US same-store sales were in the positive low 40s as of the third week of May, up from flat in the second half of March.

Now, for some context, Zack, prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Popeyes same-store sales rose 34% in the fourth quarter of 2019 and jumped 26% in the first quarter of 2020, even amid the global pandemic, which forced the closure of restaurants across the country. Much of Popeye's recent success comes from that chicken sandwich that you and I have tasted and have talked a lot about here on Yahoo Finance. And it's honestly what sort of started the, quote unquote, chicken sandwich [INAUDIBLE].

Not such a bright picture, though, for the other brands in the Restaurant Brands family. While there have been improvements at Burger King and Tim Hortons, the numbers there are certainly not as eye-popping as with Popeyes. Burger King's US same store sales were in the negative mid single digits as of the third week of May, and that is up from negative low [INAUDIBLE] in the second half of March. Tim Hortons Canada same-store sales were trending in negative mid 20s, up from negative mid 40s in the second half of March there.

Now, as of the third week of May, [INAUDIBLE] 60% of stores in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are open, and in Asia-Pacific, more than 85% are open, including 98% of restaurants open in China. That is up from 50% at the peak of the pandemic. But Zack, here I'm looking through all of the analyst commentary this morning on Restaurant Brands, a lot of them noting that they're very encouraged by the numbers and improvements that they're seeing across all three of Restaurant Brands' portfolio. But it is a little concerning here that the [INAUDIBLE] openings are opening at a slower pace than initially expected. But all in all, Popeyes really a force to be reckoned with here, Zack.

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, and still making things, you know, work in all this, too, and allowing delivery to continue and making sure they can capitalize on that. I mean, I'll speak to it. It's surprising that a sandwich still tastes good after getting delivered. Shares in Restaurant Brands International, though, off by about 1% today. So weighing the good with the bad there.