Popeyes Sales Recovery Slips: RBI Says Positive Comparable Sales Will Take 'A Little Bit Longer'
Popeyes same-store sales fell 1.8% in the third quarter as a trimmed wings menu and a weaker $6 Big Box promotion weighed.
Restaurant Brands International CEO Josh Kobza said on the company's third-quarter earnings call Thursday that Popeyes fell 1.8% in same-store sales and will need longer than the second half of this year to return to positive territory. He blamed a deliberate cut to wings and a promotion that underdelivered.
A recovery target pushed back
Popeyes had been expected to turn positive in the second half of 2026. Kobza said management now believes "it will take a little bit longer than anticipated."
Two factors weighed on the quarter, he said. The $6 Big Box promotion returned in September and proved "less incremental than we had hoped." The chain also scaled back wings, which Kobza called a deliberate decision because wings add operational complexity; simplifying lets the brand push bone-in chicken, tenders and the sandwich. He said the move created year-over-year sales pressure but was the right trade-off for long-term health.
Kobza pointed to better guest signals: Popeyes was the only chicken brand to improve overall service satisfaction year over year in each of the first three quarters, satisfaction with its core chicken is the highest on record, and traffic trends have strengthened sequentially.
The weak link in a strong quarter
Restaurant Brands owns Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, and over 95% of its restaurants are run by franchisees. Company-wide same-store sales rose 3.8% in the quarter, the fifth straight above 3%, with Burger King U.S. up 8.4%, Tim Hortons Canada up 1.8%, international up 3.9% and Firehouse Subs up 1.5%. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.10, up from $1.03.
Popeyes is the exception. Internationally, though, it now operates in more than 50 markets with over $2 billion in system-wide sales, which Kobza said is nearly double the level of two years ago. It crossed 2,000 international restaurants in the quarter.
North American units to slow
Chief Financial Officer Sami Siddiqui said Popeyes unit growth should be softer than last year. Asked about it by a KeyBanc analyst, he clarified he meant North America, where openings will decelerate. International Popeyes remains a major driver of the path to 5% unit growth, he said, and Kobza expects it to contribute more to restaurant growth over the next couple of years.
Management's next scheduled update is the fourth-quarter earnings call on the morning of February 11, 2027.
Sources
- Restaurant Brands International (QSR) Q3 2026 earnings — CNBC
- Restaurant Brands (QSR) Beats Q3 Earnings Estimates — Yahoo Finance
- Burger King or Popeyes: Who Is Shining? — benzinga.com
- Restaurant Brands Non-GAAP EPS of $1.10 beats by $0.02, revenue of $2.53B misses by $20M (QSR:NYSE) — seekingalpha.com
- Restaurant Brands slips after earnings despite sizzling Burger King sales (QSR:NYSE) | Seeking Alpha — seekingalpha.com
