Popeye's Wall Street rep is on the rise thanks to their talked-about sandwich: analyst
Popeye's third-quarter sales outlook is on the upswing thanks to its sold-out chicken sandwich, according to a Wall Street analyst.
KeyBank analyst Eric Gonzalez attributed his predicted 8% increase for same-store sales target to the fast food chain's wildly popular chicken sandwich, which sold out in roughly two weeks. The sandwich made up of 30 percent of Popeyes sales during its run, he said.
Gonzalez tied the outlook into a "social media firestorm" that worked in the Florida-based restaurant chain's favor. Popeyes trolled competitor Chick-fil-A on Twitter with a feisty "y'all good?" in response to a Chick-Fil-A tweet promoting its chicken sandwich.
Some people have taken the search for the sandwich to the extreme. An irate customer pulled a gun on a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen employee in Texas upon learning the popular food chain had sold out of its widely popular chicken sandwiches, police said Sept. 3.
Popeyes – which boasts more than 2,600 chains worldwide – had expected its inventory to last through the end of September.
The food chain will announce the return of "The Sandwich" via a push notification through the Popeyes smartphone app.
FOX Business' Stephanie Pagones contributed to this report.