We’re No. 2! We’re No. 2!
Perennial third-place burger chain The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) finally overcame struggling Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW) for the No. 2 spot in the U.S. burger wars in 2011, according to data first released on March 19, 2012. It was the first time since at least 1972 that Burger King was not the second-largest chain in the country, and Wendy’s accomplished the feat with roughly 1,400 fewer locations, earning $8.5 billion at 5,900 locations to Burger King’s $8.4 billion in U.S. earnings at 7,200 locations.
However, neither company could come close to McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), which earned more than $34 billion at more than 14,000 U.S. locations, dwarfing both of its largest competitors combined. Small wonder that McDonald’s has been the best long-term restaurant investment and is the only restaurateur ever to earn a place on the Dow Jones Industrial Average 2 Minute (Dow Jones Indices:.DJI). However, this wasn’t always the case: Wendy’s was a superior investment to McDonald’s for nearly all of the period following the latter’s addition to the Dow in 1985. It was only after the financial-crisis crash that McDonald’s took the lead. Wendy’s had posted a 5,000% total gain from 1985 to the eve of the crash, but it plunged to a total gain just shy of 1,300% by the time it reportedly overtook Burger King. McDonald’s soared in the meantime, approaching 3,700% gains from 1985 to the time its competitors swapped places. How long is your investment horizon?
Copper is a golden business
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) completed its acquisition of rival miner Phelps Dodge on March 19, 2007, creating the world’s largest publicly traded copper-mining company. The $25.9 billion buyout arrived at a time of heightened copper prices and was somewhat unexpected, as Freeport was the much smaller company at the time. The two companies would combine for annual production of 1.9 million tons of copper, 1.8 million ounces of gold, and 69 million pounds of molybdenum (a key component of the steelmaking process) as of 2006.
Since the acquisition, Freeport has held up well through a recession that significantly (but temporarily) eroded copper prices. It has suffered production volume declines since the acquisition: In 2012, Freeport produced roughly 1.5 million tons of copper, 860,000 ounces of gold, and 81 million pounds of molybdenum. However, thanks to the growth of copper and gold prices in the years following the acquisition, Freeport is still quite profitable, having finished 2012 with a nearly 17% net margin.
The article A Brief History of the Gaming Industry originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Alex Planes.
Fool contributor Alex Planes has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Burger King Worldwide and McDonald’s. The Motley Fool owns shares of Citigroup, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, and McDonald’s.
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