The Wendy’s Company (NYSE:WEN) reported its results for the fourth quarter. Wendy’s Arby’s Group is a quick service restaurant company, which is comprised of the Wendy’s and Arby’s brands.

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The Wendy’s Company Earnings Cheat Sheet for the Fourth Quarter

Results: Net income for The Wendy’s Company fell to $4.3 million (4 cents per share) vs. $6.1 million (3 cents per share) a year earlier. This is a decline of 29.5% from the year earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 5.6% to $615 million from the year earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: WEN fell in line with the mean analyst estimate of 4 cents per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $613.3 million.

Quoting Management: Emil Brolick, President and Chief Executive Officer said, “In the fourth quarter, we produced our strongest same-store sales growth since the second quarter of 2004 primarily due to the introduction of our premium Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy cheeseburger line, which received a positive response from consumers. For 2011, we also generated positive transactions for the first year since 2002. Adjusted EBITDA1 was $331.1 million for fiscal 2011, and income from continuing operations for the year was $17.9 million. “We expect another positive year in 2012, with same-store sales growth in a range of two to three percent,” Brolick said. “We estimate 2012 Adjusted EBITDA will be in a range of $335 million to $345 million.”

Key Stats:

The company has now fallen in line with estimates for the past two quarters. It reported net income of 4 cents in the third quarter.

Looking Forward: Analysts appear increasingly negative about the company’s results for the next quarter. The average estimate for the first quarter of the next fiscal year has moved down from 5 cents a share to 4 cents over the last sixty days. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has been unchanged at 15 cents a share.

Competitors to Watch: McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), Good Times Restaurants Inc. (NASDAQ:GTIMD), Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TAST), Tim Hortons Inc. (NYSE:THI), Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM), Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK), Panera Bread Company (NASDAQ:PNRA), Chipotle (NYSE:CMG), Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) and Nathan’s Famous, Inc. (NASDAQ:NATH).

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(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

To contact the reporter on this story: Derek Hoffman at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com

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