Business

Amid Rising Inflation, Wendy's CEO Says Restaurant Is Seeing Labor Costs Pressure

Reed Saxon
  • Wendy's saw pressure from higher wage costs in its first quarter of the year, but the company is dodging rising commodity prices, CEO Todd Penegor told CNBC.
  • "From a commodity outlook perspective, because we're largely locked in, we're guiding flat to commodities this year, so we're in a good spot there," he said on "Mad Money."
  • The comments come as the latest inflation data showed consumer prices rose last month at the fastest rate in more than a decade.

Rising chicken prices and other commodity costs won't weigh on Wendy's operations, but the fast-food chain is feeling the pinch of higher wages, CEO Todd Penegor said on CNBC Wednesday.

"From a commodity outlook perspective, because we're largely locked in, we're guiding flat to commodities this year, so we're in a good spot there," he told Jim Cramer in a "Mad Money" interview, adding the company is seeing a "little bit of pressure on labor β€” access to labor, cost to labor."

The comments come as the latest inflation data showed consumer prices rose last month at the fastest rate in more than a decade. The Labor Department reported earlier Wednesday that the consumer price index, a measure of inflation, shot up 4.2% from a year ago, higher than economists projected.

Wendy's also reported first-quarter earnings before the market opened. The company said it generated $460 million of revenue and earned 20 cents per share, beating Wall Street's estimate of $445 million and 20 cents, according to FactSet.

In the quarter that ended April 4, global same-store sales rose 13% from a year ago.

Shares of Wendy's declined 1.40% to $22.48 as part of a broader market sell-off.

Questions for Cramer?
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC

Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up!
Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram

Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com

Copyright CNBC
Contact Us