I was feeling listless yesterday. Bored, in fact. So for lunch I stopped by a Burger King (NYSE:BKC), hoping to feel better. "A Whopper, that's the ticket," I said to myself. "Two all-beef patties, special sauce -- oh, wait, that's McDonald's (NYSE:MCD). I'll have it my way -- that's right."
Into the restaurant I walked ... and nothing changed. Life was still blah. Sigh.
Maybe I should have gone to Penn Station East Coast Subs. When I walk in there, an employee always calls out, "Hi!" And no, it's not because I'm a regular customer -- happens with each person walking through the door. They also call out goodbyes when customers leave. That kind of attention lifts my spirits. In the fall, I'll likely go to McDonald's. The chance to win $1 million in its Monopoly promotion always cheers me up.
However, memories of the plastic-headed King character and Burger King's recent advertisements don't do much for me. Dancing female caricatures of Whopper ingredients are just not appealing. Yikes, there they were, on the tray liner below my food. At least Jack, the "head" of Jack in the Box (NYSE:JBX), gets into amusing situations at his company. The King only gets into situations, like a mosh pit, at one point.
The market seems to feel the same way: blah. When shares opened for trading a bit over a week ago at $17, they closed only 2.9% higher. Since then, they have climbed as high as $18.87, up some 11%, but they didn't stay there. As I write this, the stock is up only 3.4% at $17.65.
Maybe part of the reason is what the company is doing with its IPO money. From its final S-1/A filing, Burger King will use $350 million of the $374 million in net proceeds to pay off most of the $367 million borrowed in February to pay a special dividend to its private investors -- leaving the company with only $24 million from its IPO. Not too good for the company, but great for those private equity investors.
Compare the above with the market's reaction to Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG). When it debuted at $22, it promptly doubled and hasn't looked back since. It currently trades at about three times its IPO level. McDonald's recently announced that it will sell another 4.1 million shares for $61.50, further divesting itself of its successful daughter company.
You might point out that Chipotle is a growth story, and you'd be right. But Tim Hortons (NYSE:THI), formerly controlled by Wendy's (NYSE:WEN), is not. It is an established chain, with more than 2,500 locations in Canada and almost 300 in the United States. On its first day of trading, the stock closed up 22% from its IPO price of $23.16. It has traded as high as $29.08 and is currently sitting above $26 as I write this, about 13% above its debut price.
With two successful restaurant IPOs this year, expectations could have been higher for Burger King if it had not been so obvious that this mature company is in turnaround mode in a very competitive industry. Add in an apparent revolving CEO door and you can see why the stock didn't take off.
Personally, I would not invest in this company until it shows that it can continue its turnaround, and until all the original investors have been paid off. I would also wait to see signs of improvement at my local Burger King, with more engaged employees instead of the listless ones who greeted me two minutes after I walked into their near-empty store.
More Foolish thoughts on the King:
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Fool contributor Jim Mueller isn't too sure about that King character, though he does like a Whopper with cheese, hold the onions. He does not own shares in any company mentioned, having followed the Fool's disclosure policy.
