Wendy’s slides to third in US burger wars, draws $1.4bn takeover bid from Nelson Peltz

The restaurant chain, founded in 1969 by Dave Thomas, has struggled for 18 months as promotions fell flat, competition intensified and a revolving door in the corner office deprived it of focus. In its most recent quarter, U.S. same-store sales fell 7%, the sixth consecutive decline, and visits to U.S. stores slumped 12.5%. Analysts expect Wendy’s to report a U.S. same-store sales decline of about 6% when it announces third-quarter results on Thursday.

Wendy’s overhauled its management in May, hiring Potbelly turnaround veteran Bob Wright as its fourth CEO in three years, along with Potbelly’s finance chief Steve Cirulis as CFO. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Michael Halen wrote that “Wendy’s turnaround prospects have improved under [Wright and Cirulis]”. Despite confidence in Wendy’s new C-suite, shares remain 65% below where they were three years ago and briefly hit a 20-year low in June.

Wright, a Wendy’s alum who once worked with founder Dave Thomas and was the chain’s operations chief from 2013 to 2019 before going to Potbelly, has acknowledged many problems. “Our quality differentiation has eroded, our value proposition has weakened, and we have not consistently delivered the experience customers expect from Wendy’s,” he said. He has told franchisees and investors that the chain lowered the quality of its ingredients in a quest to save costs and allowed service to become uneven due to insufficient staffing. Wendy’s has also tried and failed to find a winning formula for breakfast. High beef costs are also pinching profits: net income fell 40% in the first half of 2026.

Trian, which has held shares in Wendy’s since 2005 and owns 16% of the company, first expressed interest in taking it private in 2022 and again in February. Peltz’s son Brad and former Trian partner Peter May sit on Wendy’s board. “Wendy’s sits at a critical juncture,” Peltz wrote in a letter to the board. “The business requires significant capital investment to de-lever and execute the strategic initiatives needed to turn system performance around.”

Wendy’s board said it has formed a committee to review the proposal, and the company said it was “acting” with urgency on its turnaround. However, investor Blackwells Capital accused Peltz of being opportunistic by waiting for Wendy’s shares to sink lower before renewing his interest in buying the company. It also said that, given Peltz’s long ties to and influence over Wendy’s, the chain’s problems, and by extension its stock decline, are “the consequences of his own disastrous tenure.”

Competitors have capitalised on Wendy’s struggles. Burger King’s same-restaurant sales rose 8.5% last quarter during its “Reclaim the Flame” turnaround, while McDonald’s continues to post modest sales growth and Shake Shack’s same-store sales rose 3.5%. Wendy’s withdrew its full-year 2026 financial outlook in August and cut its dividend, saying store traffic would remain weak for the rest of the year.