Dunkin' Donuts on Track with North Carolina Expansion Plans
The fast food giant, Dunkin’ Donuts, which is part of Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc. DNKN, is geared up to expand further in North Carolina. The company has inked a multi-unit store development agreement with Safari Foods Inc. whereby it plans to build six restaurants in Greenville and three new restaurants in Raleigh-Durham over the next few years.
Franchisee group Safari Foods is owned by the Daughtridge family and has more than 80 years of experience in the gas, convenience and quick service restaurant industries. Subsequent to the agreement, the group has been operating five Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in Halifax, Greenville, Rock Mount and Wilson, since joining the brand in 2007.
This agreement is in sync with the company’s plan to fuel growth in North Carolina. Currently, the state is home to over 300 Dunkin’ Donuts outlets. Moreover, the company is offering special development incentives like reduced royalty fees and marketing support in order to continue recruiting more franchisees.
Apart from foraying into domestic markets, the company is also looking to expand its footprint internationally in the emerging markets of Asia and the Middle East. However, it is set to face tough competition from other food & beverages giants like McDonald’s Corporation MCD, Starbucks Corporation SBUX and YUM! Brands, Inc. YUM that intend to follow similar strategies.
Nonetheless, going forward, Dunkin’s focus on improving its beverage portfolio, continuing menu innovation and strong digital initiatives bode well for the company’s sales.
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Recently, the company posted mixed third-quarter 2016 results, wherein the bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate while the top line lagged the same. We note that the bottom line has surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 2.89%.
Dunkin’ currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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