Wendy's Misses Estimates but Returns to Profit

It has been a mixed first-quarter for Wendy's WEN, with the fast food giant returning to profit but missing Wall Street expectations and dropping over 3% in Tuesday premarket trading. The noises that are coming out of WEN suggest that the company is in the midst of a transition year. It is admittedly under new management, and it is attempting to follow the McDonald's MCD route to success by updating its restaurants and menu items. The company announced on Tuesday that it is expecting adjusted earnings to come in at $320-$335 million, which is down from the previous forecast of $335-$345 million. Still, WEN recently took over Burger King BKC as the second biggest fast food chain in the States so the situation is far from disastrous. Wendy's brought in net income of $12.4 million, or 2 cents per share, for the period ending April 1. That is against a net loss of $1.4 million, breakeven results, the previous year. The revenue numbers should put a smile on Wendy's face, as it rose 2% to $593.2 million from $582.5 million. While obviously positive, that still fell short of the Wall Street estimate of $608.1 million. Follow me @BCallwood.