The coronavirus pandemic has prompted U.S. businesses to take advantage of the Internet to reach consumers, and the same can be said for Wendy’s.
According to CEO Todd Penegor, who appeared on CNBC on Wednesday, the fast food digital arm is on track to make up a larger share of the company’s total sales.
The company now expects digital to account for 10% of sales in 2021.
“We did not think we would get to 10% by 2024, pre-pandemic,” Penegor told Jim Cramer in a “Mad Money” interview. “What we do is send a lot of active users to our app and people participate in the app. We see a lot more mobile orders and that’s really because there’s an advantage.”
Wendy’s also achieved success in the breakfast menu he launched last year. While fewer Americans commute to the office during the pandemic and disrupt their chances of stopping at a restaurant for a morning breakfast sandwich or coffee, breakfast sales last year accounted for about 7% of total sales.
Penegor remained optimistic about the competition with other restaurants in the morning. He expects the breakfast menu to account for 10% of sales by 2022.
“The breakfast industry is doing pretty well in the face of the pandemic,” he said. “For us to be able to deliver a 7% sales mix on our breakfast day portion is striking and very encouraging. … What we are seeing is a strong repeat.”
Earlier Wednesday, Wendy’s fourth-quarter results reported that missed Wall Street’s estimates on both the top and bottom lines. The company had total revenue of $ 474.3 million for the quarter, up 11% from $ 427.2 the previous year, and net income of $ 38.7 million, 46% over $ 26, 5 million. According to FactSet, analysts were looking for revenue of about $ 476.6 million and a net income of $ 39.9 million.
For the full year, Wendy’s recorded revenue of $ 1.73 million, an increase of 1.5% and 117.8 million, a decrease of 14% from 2019.
US sales in the same restaurant increased by 5.5% during the quarter and by 2% for the full year.
Shares of Wendy’s fell more than 5% to $ 20.12 on Wednesday.