Wendy’s Raises Prices, Again

Wendy’s raised its prices by 6% in the first half of this year, company officials said in an earnings call Wednesday.

The company's quarterly report made no mention of a price hike, but in an earnings call Wendy's executives told investors the increase was driven by higher menu prices for "high-value items." They did not say what items were included in that category.

This hike increase was still far smaller than the company's last one. According to menu prices analyzed by Pricelisto, Wendy's bumped its prices up by 35% between September 2021 and October 2022.

The fast-food chain also saw its labor costs rise, CFO Gunther Plosch told investors on an earnings call, although he not did say by how much.

Customers are still patronizing Wendy’s restaurants despite paying higher costs, he said. “We have seen no pushback from consumers,” Plosch said. 

The chain’s patrons can expect to see costs stay mostly the same in 2023, he added. “There’s no additional pricing baked in for the rest of the year,” Plosch said.

Wendy’s had a solid second quarter, as total revenue rose 4.4% year over year to $561.1 million from last year's $537.8. Net income increased 23.7% year over year, too $59.6 million in the second quarter of 2023 from $48.2 million in 2022. Operating profit rose 13.5% year over year to $109.3 million.

In a news release, the fast food chain said revenue growth was driven in part by higher per-customer spending.

Fast food chains in general are having a good year. McDonald’s and Restaurant Brands International, which owns Burger King, Popeye’s, Firehouse Subs and Canadian coffee chain Tim Horton’s, both reported revenue growth.

And McDonald’s net income almost doubled to $2.31 billion in the quarter that ended June 30 compared to the same period a year ago.

Restaurant Brands International reported total revenue of $1.78 billion in the second quarter, compared to $1.64 billion in the second quarter of last year.