Displaying items by tag: restaurants

Labor shortages are rampant all across the country. It’s at its most prominent in food services and restaurants, as 80% of restaurants report to be understaffed. Companies like Miso Robotics are stepping in, as they test burger-flipping robots at CaliBurger and White Castle and are expanding their abilities to wing production at Buffalo Wild Wings. Miso says their strategy was never to swing in or capitalize on a labor shortage, but undoubtedly they are benefiting from the epidemic that is affecting the whole country.The labor shortages could continue, and those shortages permeate the AI and robotics industry themselves. There is a lot of demand for those working on robotics, and in the meantime, they aren’t fully capable of supplanting the restaurant workforce, which means there is a lot of upside.

FINSUM: Restaurant services are full of opportunities for robotics and it’s not just in cooking, they are also being used in a major way for food delivery services.

(New York)

Hotels are increasingly in trouble. About a quarter of all hotels in the US are now behind on their loan payments. COVID has obviously had a huge effect on hotel occupancy rates, which is now causing financial difficulties for the hotels and their lenders. The situation echoes other data from across the commercial real estate sector. For instance, Vornado Realty Trust yesterday said that it had only collected 53% of retail rents in April, and 90% of office rents.

FINSUM: We think it is critical to remember that re-opening is not a sign that all is clear in commercial real estate. Even once they re-open, restaurants and retail stores are still very likely to be doing MUCH less business than before they closed, and since a lot of cash reserves have probably been used up, their financial situation and thus the sector are just going to grow more precarious.

(Chicago)

McDonalds’ stock has not been doing so well lately, but guess what, that has not diminished its prospects. Well, at least not in the eyes of Wall Street stock analysts. McDonalds had a great 2017, but has fallen 12% this year. The introduction of its new $1-$2-$3 menu is part of the reason. However, most analysts still rate it a buy and it looks like a good long-term value proposition. The stock currently trades for 20x earnings, versus a high of almost 25 last year.

FINSUM: We think CEO Steve Easterbook is a great leader for the company and we have high long-term conviction for old Mickey Ds.