It took a while, but Wendy's (WEN -0.70%) has recovered from its latest sales challenges. The fast-food giant said on Monday that the business has returned to revenue growth following COVID-19 pressures and a significant shortage in its beef supply.
The pandemic sent sales down 14% in April across the global business. For comparison, that figure landed at 1% growth in the last complete quarter.
The U.S. market was then further hurt by a lack of beef supply in May. But the chain made some changes to its marketing and worked with its partners to limit the fallout. Sales trends improved each week in May, as a result, and they pushed back into positive territory late in the month. "Beef supply has returned to near-normal levels across the system," executives said in a press release .
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Wendy's is still operating at limited seating capacity in many locations, and roughly 3% of its global store portfolio remains closed by social distancing mandates. But management revealed an unmistakably positive trend in demand, with sales falling just over 3% in May.
Wendy's says it has ample cash on the books to protect against any potential liquidity squeeze. The chain counted $375 million of cash as of May 31.
