McDonald's (MCD 2.58%) disappointed investors after posting negative store-level comps for February, but its largest franchisee is holding up just fine. Arcos Dorados (ARCO 1.59%) -- the franchisee of nearly 2,000 McDonald's restaurants across Latin America and the Caribbean -- posted healthy quarterly results on Friday.
Net income did slip, but revenue moved higher, fueled by an 8.6% systemwide comparable sales increase. That's a welcome contrast to McDonald's on a global basis. Late last year, Mickey D's posted its first month of negative comps in 10 years. But Arcos Dorados appears to have coasted through the global softness last quarter.
Arcos Dorados -- whose name is Spanish for "Golden Arches: -- may be a rare play where the franchisee is the smarter play than the concept owner.
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
- Facebook (FB 0.94%) is redesigning its news feed. The social-networking website's users will now be treated to larger photos and videos as well great customization. Oh, no! This is how MySpace started. Be careful!
- Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA +0.00%) is still waiting to introduce its approved anti-obesity drug, but it did post a larger loss than Wall Street was expecting in its latest quarter. A loss may be great news for those who take Arena's Belviq, but investors see big losses differently.
- SolarCity (SCTY +0.00%) darkened after posting its first quarterly report as a public company. The solar installer posted a much larger loss than analysts were targeting, and revenue also fell well short of Wall Street projections. Maybe the sun will come out tomorrow?
