While the S&P-500 (SPY) and Nasdaq Composite (COMP) are on track for a significant losses this year, the Restaurant Sector has put together a solid performance, on track for just a 9% loss or an 1100 basis point outperformance vs. SPY.
This is despite starting off the year with a much worse performance, with the index briefly down 25% as of May, despite it trailing the S&P-500 and Nasdaq at the time.
The strong recovery in the sector can be attributed to the fact that inflation looks to have peaked, which is a huge benefit to restaurant margins.
Plus, valuations were already at their most attractive levels since March 2020 as of early 2022, with the index starting its bear market six months before the S&P 500 in July 2021.
Finally, while not all restaurant names are considered defensive, quite a few are lower-beta, pay attractive yields, and some benefit from a recessionary environment as they become trade-down beneficiaries.
In this update, we’ll look at two of the largest names in the sector and which looks like the better buy after this violent market-wide correction.
McDonald’s (MCD) and Burger King (QSR) have gone head to head for years from a competition standpoint regarding burger wars.
While McDonald’s has more than twice the number of restaurants globally and started out a decade earlier with Burger King being the copycat, there’s no clear consensus on the better restaurant operator among the two.
From strictly a same-store sales or wallet share standpoint in the United States, McDonald’s has been the undisputed leader, and Burger King has lagged over the past couple of years.
However, with similar prices, similar menus, and Burger King’s appearing to have more iconic fries while McDonald’s wins on burgers, it’s difficult to crown a leader.
That said, there are significant differences when it comes to investing in the brands, especially given that Burger King is just one piece of Restaurant Brands International’s portfolio, which also consists of Popeyes’s Louisiana Chicken, Tim Hortons, and the newly added Firehouse Subs.
In this article, we won’t try to answer the near-impossible question of which is the better burger chain, but we’ll highlight which stock looks healthier for one’s portfolio. Continue reading "MCD vs QSR: Which Is Healthier For Your Portfolio?"
