Restaurant Brands International Inc., the parent company of Tim Hortons, reported a US$704 million profit in the third quarter, an increase from US$440 million in the previous year.
Diluted earnings per share were US$1.54, up from US$0.96 per share a year earlier.
"This marks our fifth consecutive quarter of same-store sales above three per cent, led by strong performances from Burger King United States and international, and a return to solid growth at Tim Hortons," chief executive Josh Kobza said during Thursday's earnings call.
System-wide sales grew 6.2 per cent for the quarter ended Sept. 30, down from a 6.9 per cent growth a year earlier, while comparable sales were 3.8 per cent, down from four per cent.
Total revenues for the parent company were US$2.5 billion in the quarter, up from US$2.45 billion.
Tim Hortons is attracting younger Canadians to its restaurants with matcha and other cold drinks, helping grow sales at the coffee-and-doughnut chain despite a tough consumer environment.
Same-store sales at Tim Hortons in Canada rose 1.8 per cent in the third quarter, improving from the previous quarter but slowing from 4.2 per cent growth a year earlier.
"We’re bringing in new guests that generally are younger, they skew more female, they come in the afternoon more often, and it’s a little bit (of a) higher cheque," Kobza said.
He also said there was an unexpected pattern with sales of matcha drinks, which were introduced in July.
"Interesting thing we’ve realized with matcha, it peaks on the weekends, so it’s a pretty different behavioural profile from our traditional hot-brewed coffee in the morning."
Cold beverage sales at Tim Hortons in Canada climbed nearly five per cent in the quarter.
However, the coffee chain also faced pressure from cost-of-living concerns, with higher gasoline prices affecting some customer behaviour.
"We see a little bit of an impact from that ... in some of our drive-through and especially more rural markets," Kobza said. "If you think of the places where people have longer drive times, they’re being mindful about the kilometres they’re driving."
Total revenues for the Tim Hortons brand were US$1.136 billion, a slight increase from US$1.125 billion.
The company said this increase was driven by higher supply chain sales primarily due to increases in equipment sales to franchisees and commodity prices.
"Tim’s is performing well and delivering solid results in a tough consumer environment," said Kobza.
The iconic Canadian chain represents roughly 41 per cent of the parent company’s operating profit.
Tim Hortons' system-wide sales growth was two per cent in the third quarter, down from 4.8 per cent in the previous year.
Comparable sales at Tim Hortons were 1.5 per cent, down from 4.2 per cent.
While this is a decrease on a year-over-year comparison, Kobza said it was "an encouraging improvement" from the second quarter, when Tim Hortons comparable sales were down 0.1 per cent.
He also noted Tim Hortons’ growing loyalty program as the chain announced several Canadian partnerships in the past months.
It launched a loyalty partnership with Canadian Tire in September and also announced a partnership with WestJet launching next month.
The results reflect an unfavourable foreign exchange impact of $16 million, the company said.
Excluding this impact, total revenues would have increased by $27 million.
In dollar amount, system-wide sales were US$12.97 billion, up from the prior year’s US$12.28 billion.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, said it earned US$542 million in net income attributable to common shareholders for the quarter, up from US$315 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands said it earned US$1.10 per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of US$1.03 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
RBI maintained its 2026 financial outlook and said it remained on track to deliver approximately eight per cent organic adjusted operating income growth for the year.
This story was written by the e2gold.ca newsroom from reporting by Financial Post, Yahoo News, CTV News and TradingKey. Quotes are checked word for word against that reporting.