Burger King owner Restaurant Brands is a new Buy at JPMorgan

JPMorgan has initiated research coverage on Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR) with an Overweight rating and a target price of $82 by December 2024.

JPMorgan analysts note that the company’s historical approach of employing zero-based budgeting had previously limited spending on support, which potentially led to underinvestment not only in capital expenditures (capex) but also in operational expenditures (opex).

However, there appears to be a notable shift in the company’s strategy.

“We sense a sea change in this business, especially with the appointment of very widely respected former Dominos CEO Patrick Doyle in addition to numerous other executives. A focus on improving unit economics is to benefit both existing unit performance as well as add greater visibility to new store performance,” the analysts said in an initiation note.

“We expect this growth to be driven by the international businesses of BK and TH as well as Popeyes globally while domestic BK and TH unit counts achieve stability.”

QSR shares are up 6.2% year-to-date.