Burger King owner books $704m profit as Popeyes slips
Quarterly results show Burger King's US turnaround offsetting a second quarterly decline at Popeyes, as Restaurant Brands International's overseas business keeps outgrowing its home market.
Restaurant Brands International, the parent of Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, posted net income of $704 million for the third quarter of 2026, up from $440 million a year earlier, as Burger King's US recovery kept outrunning a sliding Popeyes.
The Toronto-based group reported revenue of $2,525 million, up 3.1% on the same period of 2025, according to its October 29 earnings release. System-wide sales rose 6.2% in constant currency to $12,972 million, and global comparable sales grew 3.8%. Adjusted diluted earnings per share reached $1.10, up 6.9% in nominal terms and 8.6% organically, while adjusted operating income climbed to $737 million from $702 million.
Restaurant Brands International by brand
Burger King is pulling Restaurant Brands forward just as Popeyes pulls it back.
Burger King did the heavy lifting. Comparable sales rose 8.3% across the brand and 8.4% in the United States, the strongest of the group's four chains. Restaurant Brands International has spent the past two years funding remodels and marketing for Burger King's home market, and the quarter's figures suggest the spending is translating into visits.
Tim Hortons, the group's largest brand by restaurant count, grew comparable sales by a more modest 1.5%, with 1.8% in its home market of Canada. The chain has leaned on coffee and food-service additions to defend share in a market close to saturation.
Popeyes moved the other way. Comparable sales fell 1.8% group-wide and 2.2% in the United States, the only one of the four brands in decline, echoing a wider run of soft quarters across the fried-chicken segment as Wingstop's own sales slump drags into a third quarter.
Firehouse Subs, the smallest and most recent addition to the portfolio, posted comparable sales growth of 1.5% group-wide and 2.0% in the US, broadly in line with the chain's performance since Restaurant Brands International bought it in 2021.
International growth outpaces the US
Outside North America, system-wide sales grew 9.0% and comparable sales 3.9%, with Burger King's international business up 3.8%. Net restaurant growth abroad reached 5.6%, and the international segment's adjusted operating income rose to $205 million from $189 million. Overseas markets are expanding the restaurant count faster than the group's home territories, where growth now comes mostly from sales per store rather than new openings, a pattern also visible at Alsea's European franchise business.
Restaurant Brands International said it remains on track for 8% organic growth in adjusted operating income for 2026, and has returned $1.3 billion to shareholders so far this year through dividends and buybacks. Chief executive Josh Kobza said the quarter put the group's "strengths on display again." Four brands, one earnings call and two very different trend lines: whether Burger King's momentum can keep offsetting Popeyes' slide is the question for the next one.
