Industry Analysis Articles

Yum Brands Closes 2025 With a 27% Profit Surge and 4,500 New Restaurants Worldwide

Yum Brands posted a 27% jump in Q4 net income to $535M, opened 4,500+ new KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut locations in 2025, and hiked its dividend 6%.

Why Subway Went From 45,000 Stores to 37,000 - And What Happens Next

The complete story of how the largest franchise system in history collapsed. Dollar footlongs, franchisee revolts, market saturation, and the $9.6 billion Roark Capital acquisition that inherited the mess.

QSR Pro Staff•9 min read

McDonald's Q4 2025: Record Revenue, 2,600 New Restaurants Planned, and the $37 Billion Bet on Growth

McDonald's closed 2025 with $7.01B in Q4 revenue, beating estimates by nearly 3%. With 2,600 new openings planned for 2026, the chain is racing toward 50,000 global locations.

QSR Pro Staff•10 min read

The Real Reason McDonald's Ice Cream Machines Are Always Broken

A $900 million lawsuit, an FTC investigation, and the story of how copyright law turned soft serve maintenance into a federal case. Inside the Taylor Company monopoly and the right-to-repair battle that followed.

Plant-Based Meat's Fall from Grace in Fast Food

U.S. plant-based meat sales have fallen 19% since 2023, Beyond Meat's stock collapsed below $1, and QSR chains are quietly pulling plant-based items from their menus. The once-booming alternative protein segment is in a full-blown retreat.

The Drive-Thru Is Being Redesigned from the Ground Up

Multi-lane configurations, mobile pickup windows, AI-powered order verification, and accuracy scales are transforming the fast food drive-thru. After 75 years with essentially the same design, the industry's most important channel is getting a complete overhaul.

Taco Bell's Global Ambitions and the Art of Menu Innovation

Taco Bell hit $1 billion in annual operating profit, announced plans to enter nine new countries, and promised to double its menu innovation in 2025. The Yum! Brands subsidiary is executing one of the most aggressive growth strategies in QSR.

Brian Niccol's Starbucks Rebuild: One Year of Fixing a Broken Machine

Brian Niccol left Chipotle to take over Starbucks in September 2024. Eighteen months later, the former fast-casual star has delivered his first positive comparable sales quarter, announced a 1,000-store renovation plan, and outlined a strategy to turn the coffee giant around.

Kitchen Robots Hit a Reality Check in Quick Service

Kernel is dead. Sweetgreen sold its robotics division. Chipotle's automated makeline is still in testing. The promise of fully automated QSR kitchens has collided with the messy realities of food production at scale.

Scooter's Coffee: the drive-thru coffee dark horse

850 locations, $881K AUV, and 16% annual growth. Can Scooter's drive-thru kiosk model compete with Dutch Bros and Starbucks?

Freddy's Frozen Custard: the premium burger value play

550 locations, $1.88M AUV, and 70% of new openings from existing franchisees. How Freddy's combines burgers and custard for franchisee profitability.

Wendy's Project Fresh: Anatomy of a QSR Turnaround

Wendy's is closing 6% of its U.S. restaurants and launching a sweeping operational overhaul called Project Fresh. For the number-three burger chain, the stakes could not be higher.

Slim Chickens: the fast-growing chicken tender franchise

270 locations, 57.7% revenue growth in 3 years, and 96% franchised. How Slim Chickens competes with Raising Cane's in the chicken tender wars.

Panda Express vs Wingstop: Two Models, One Question

Panda Express runs 2,200+ company-owned locations generating $6.2 billion in U.S. sales. Wingstop operates 3,056 mostly franchised restaurants with $5.3 billion in systemwide sales. Both are growing fast, but their business models could not be more different. Which one is actually better?

QSR Pro Staff•9 min read

Fast Food Breakfast Is a $60 Billion Battleground

McDonald's generates roughly 30% of its U.S. sales from breakfast. Wendy's is targeting a 50% bump in morning revenue. Taco Bell is pushing hard into the daypart. The morning meal is the most profitable, most competitive fight in QSR.

Inside Shake Shack's Company-Owned Strategy

Shake Shack reported $1.45 billion in total revenue for 2025 and opened 85 new Shacks system-wide, all while keeping its domestic restaurants company-owned. The strategy defies conventional QSR wisdom, and the numbers show why it works.

How Portillo's Is Scaling Its Cult Following Beyond Chicago

Portillo's reported $732 million in fiscal 2025 revenue across 102 locations, but same-restaurant sales declined 3.3% in Q4. The Chicago icon is rethinking its expansion playbook under new leadership, and the numbers tell a complicated story.