Wendy’s tagline may be always fresh, never frozen, but it appears its sales are not fresh and extremely frozen as the burger chain shutters hundreds of stores across the U.S. as consumers shift, to, well, other options.
CEO Ken Cook took a page out of the general manager of the Charlotte Hornets’ playbook telling shareholders on Friday that 2026 will be a “rebuilding year,” as the fast-food chain embarks on its Project Fresh turnaround project. Same-store sales declined over 11% as consumers feel the pinch in their wallets from persistent inflation. Under the aptly named Cook, the company wants to return its focus to “value,” which we hope still means always fresh patties.
“Learning from 2025 around value, we swung the pendulum too far towards limited-time price promotions instead of everyday value,” he said. The stock got slammed on Tuesday, falling nearly 7%.
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That abruptly changed on Wednesday afternoon when billionaire and notorious activist Nelson Peltz, via his Trian Fund Management, disclosed in a regulatory filing that his firm wants to take control of the company and believes the stock to be “undervalued.” Peltz already has a 16% stake in the company and increased his position over the summer. The stock closed up about 17% on Wednesday.
Beyond the looming activist battle, Wendy’s appears to be taking a page out of its big brother McDonald’s playbook, which has been on the opposite track this year. McDonald’s same-store sales rose nearly 7% during the fourth-quarter, the biggest jump in two years, which CEO Chris Kempczinski said was because of the company’s focus on providing value to customers. But McDonald’s has scale where Wendy’s doesn’t, meaning that it’s likely to lose a price war.
So Wendy’s issues appear to be deeper than a simple marketing problem. It’s not clear whether slapping together a value menu will lure customers from the Golden Arches back to Wendy’s pigtails, but Cook is going to try his hardest.
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