Industry Analysis Articles
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The Fried Chicken Boom: Why Chicken Chains Are Adding 750+ New Locations in 2026
While overall QSR franchise growth has stalled at 0.5%, fried chicken chains are on a tear. Dave's Hot Chicken, Wingstop, Slim Chickens, and Raising Cane's are collectively planning 750+ new locations in 2026, fueled by favorable protein economics, cult-level brand loyalty, and white space in markets that legacy burger chains already saturated.
Jollibee's Quiet American Invasion: From Filipino Favorite to 500-Unit U.S. Chain
Jollibee Foods Corporation is pursuing one of the most aggressive international expansion plays in quick service, targeting 500 U.S. locations by 2030 with a U.S. IPO on the horizon. Here's what operators and investors need to understand about the $4.5 billion Filipino giant's American bet.
Jack in the Box Enters Survival Mode: A 75-Year-Old Chain's Fight to Stay Relevant
Jack in the Box is closing up to 200 locations, sitting on $1.7 billion in debt, and posting its second straight quarter of 7%-plus sales declines. New CEO Lance Tucker's 'Jack on Track' plan is the chain's last clear shot at a sustainable future.
Chili's Just Posted Six Straight Quarters of Double-Digit Sales Growth. Fast Food Should Be Worried.
Something unexpected is happening in American dining: a sit-down restaurant chain with table service is beating fast food at its own game. Chili's has posted six consecutive quarters of double-digit same-store sales growth, driven by a $10.99 combo that directly competes with McDonald's and Wendy's value meals. For QSR operators, the implications are serious.
Popeyes Is in Trouble: Sales Down Four Straight Quarters, Its Biggest Franchisee Just Filed Bankruptcy
Six years after the chicken sandwich that broke the internet, Popeyes is facing a very different kind of attention. Same-store sales fell for four consecutive quarters in 2025, and Sailormen Inc., one of the chain's largest franchisees with 136 locations across Florida and Georgia, filed Chapter 11 in January 2026 with $342 million in liabilities against $232 million in assets.
Restaurant Brands International's 2028 Growth Algorithm: Can Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes Deliver?
RBI has reaffirmed its target of 8%-plus organic operating income growth through 2028 and plans to return $1.6 billion to shareholders in 2026. With Burger King's turnaround still proving itself, Tim Hortons expanding internationally, and Popeyes moderating, the question is whether the math works.
Chick-fil-A's Daybright Cafe Is Its Biggest Strategic Bet in Decades
Chick-fil-A is testing a standalone beverage concept called Daybright, its first venture outside the core chicken restaurant format. With Starbucks in turnaround mode and the U.S. specialty beverage market worth over $48 billion, the timing could not be better.
CAVA Q1 2026: Traffic and expansion lift sales
CAVA reported 32.1% Q1 revenue growth.
Dutch Bros' Breakout Year: How a Drive-Thru Coffee Chain Is Outrunning Starbucks
Dutch Bros posted $1.64 billion in 2025 revenue, a 27.9% jump, while expanding to 1,136 locations and guiding toward $2 billion in 2026. As Starbucks stumbles through a complicated turnaround, the Oregon-born drive-thru chain is writing a different kind of growth story.
Burger King's $350 Million China Bet: RBI and CPE Target 4,000 Restaurants by 2035
Restaurant Brands International has completed a joint venture with CPE that injects $350 million into Burger King China, targeting 4,000 locations by 2035. With CPE taking 83% ownership and a 20-year master development agreement in place, this is the biggest QSR international expansion bet of 2026.
Raising Cane's Explosive Growth: How a One-Item Menu Built a Global Expansion Machine
While major chains shutter hundreds of locations, Raising Cane's is opening nearly 100 new company-owned restaurants in 2026 and launching into London and Mexico. The privately held chicken finger chain's radical simplicity is proving to be its greatest competitive advantage.
Papa John's Plans 300 Store Closures While Betting Big on a Turnaround
Papa John's will shutter roughly 300 underperforming North American locations by end of 2027, with 200 closures targeted for this year alone. New CEO Todd Penegor, who previously led Wendy's through its own reset, is cutting dead weight while laying the groundwork for what the company hopes will be a durable recovery.
Wendy's Is Closing Up to 350 U.S. Locations. Here's What Went Wrong.
Wendy's posted its worst same-store sales decline since the pandemic and is now closing up to 358 U.S. restaurants in the first half of 2026. A breakdown of what went wrong: breakfast underperformance, value messaging failures, leadership instability, and franchise economics that no longer work.
Pizza Hut Is Closing 250 U.S. Locations in 2026. The Problem Runs Deeper Than You Think.
Yum! Brands is shuttering 250 Pizza Hut locations in the first half of 2026 as part of a program called 'Hut Forward.' But the store count is a symptom, not the disease. A structural mismatch between the brand's legacy dine-in identity and a delivery-dominated market has left Pizza Hut fighting for relevance while Domino's laps it on every metric that matters.
Brian Niccol's Starbucks Turnaround: How 'Back to Starbucks' Delivered the First Traffic Growth in Two Years
Starbucks posted its first U.S. transaction growth in eight quarters under CEO Brian Niccol. The playbook is surprisingly simple: faster drinks, fewer menu items, and a $600 million bet on people.
Chick-fil-A's $1 Billion International Bet: Can the Owner-Operator Model Work Overseas?
Chick-fil-A has committed $1 billion to expand into Europe and Asia by 2030. With $9.3 million AUVs and a fiercely guarded owner-operator model, the chain faces a fundamental question: does the formula translate?
Taco Bell's RING Strategy: How Cantina Chicken and a $3 Million AUV Target Are Rewriting the QSR Playbook
Taco Bell posted 7% same-store sales growth in 2025 while most QSR chains struggled. Its RING strategy targets $3 million AUVs, $5 billion in Cantina Chicken sales, and 10,000 units. Here is how the chain plans to get there.
McDonald's Big Arch Gamble: Why the World's Biggest Chain Is Betting on Premium Burgers
McDonald's launched the Big Arch on March 3, but early traffic data tells a more complicated story. The premium burger generated just a 2.2% visit lift, far below recent LTOs. Here is what it means for the chain's strategy.