A trip to space by singer Katy Perry in April saw a fast-food giant poke fun at her flight. With the restaurant company announcing a series of store closures, Perry's manager is making sure fans notice.
Here's the story six months in the making.
Wendy's Announces Store Closures
Fast-food giant Wendy's Co (NASDAQ:WEN) announced third-quarter results on Friday with earnings per share and revenue both beating analyst estimates.
While the company beat analyst estimates for both key figures for a second straight quarter, there was more news that Wendy's shared on its conference call.
Interim CEO Ken Cook announced Wendy's will be closing between 200 and 350 of the chain's roughly 6,000 U.S. locations, as reported by CNN.
The unnamed locations to close are ones that Cook said to be "consistently underperforming." Store closures will begin this year and into 2026.
"Closures of underperforming units are expected to boost sales and profitability at nearby locations," Cook said.
The store closures come as Wendy's announced U.S. same-store sales were down 4.7% year-over-year in the quarter, compared to positive sales for fast-food rivals like McDonald's and Burger King.
Cook highlighted the company's new chicken tenders, called "Tendys,” and said demand was strong ahead of national advertising.
Read Also: Wendy’s Analysts Cut Their Forecasts After Q3 Results
Katy Perry's Manager Takes Notice
Stories about restaurants closing wouldn't normally be something a singer or their manager would share on their social media profiles, but that's just what happened with Perry.
Perry's manager Bradford Cobb shared a story about the Wendy's closures to his Instagram story recently, as reported by Billboard.
The post by Cobb likely comes in support of Perry, who was made fun of by the social media account of Wendy's back in April.
On X, the official Wendy's account shared posts about Petty flying to space with captions of "I kissed the ground and I liked it" and another post asking, "Can we send her back?"
The posts divided social media with some calling it playful banter, while others said Wendy's should apologize.
Wendy's did not apologize for the comments.
Perry was one of several women who took part in the first all-woman flight to space since 1963, completed by Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. Perry was aboard a spacecraft from Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Lauren Sánchez, who is now married to Bezos, was also aboard the historical space trip.
While Wendy's thought it had the last laugh in April, the stock is down from that time and news of store closures is likely no laughing matter.
Wendy's Stock Nears 52-Week Lows
Wendy's stock is down 5.74% to $8.46 on Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $8.39 to $19.61. Wendy's shares are down 47.4% year-to-date in 2025.
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