Restaurant Brands International Inc. QSR, the parent of Burger King and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen fast-food chains, reported Tuesday first-quarter profit and sales that rose above expectations. The stock was still inactive in the premarket. Net income rose to $189 million, or 61 cents a share, from $183 million, or 59 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share increased 22.1% to 75 cents to beat the FactSet consensus of 64 cents. Total sales grew 9.6% to $1.59 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $1.56 billion. Same-store sales rose 10.8% for Burger King, to beat the FactSet consensus for a 7.0% rise; Popeyes same-store sales increased 5.6% to top expectations of 4.1% growth and Tim Hortons same-store sales growth of 13.8% beat expectations of 10.2%. The stock has rallied 9.2% year to date while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 8.6%.
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