BOSTON — Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W), a Boston-based e-commerce firm specializing in home furniture, reported an increase of 66.5 percent in total net revenue during its third-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The company’s impressive year-over-year revenue growth from $1.5 billion to $3.8 billion caused its stock price to shoot up about 13 percent in early-hours trading before closing at $274.11 per share on Tuesday, up from $87.43 per share a year ago. Wayfair reported similar levels of revenue growth in both its domestic and international markets, noting that the size of its customer base had also grown by about 50 percent year-over-year. Wayfair now lists the number of active customers in its direct retail business as 28.8 million. Lastly, the company said that it completed about 15.8 million deliveries during the third quarter, a 72.8 percent increase from that period in 2019.
GREENVILLE AND SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Commercial real estate services firm NAI Earle Furman has merged operations with Pulliam Investment Co., a real estate owner and developer. Pulliam Investment is based in Spartanburg, S.C., and has been in business since 1970. Terms of the merger were not disclosed. Under the new partnership, John Easterling, CEO of Pulliam Investment, will focus on expanding NAI Earle Furman’s seniors housing division and growing the firm’s investment platform. Easterling is the past chairman of the Spartanburg County Transportation Committee and chairman of the City of Spartanburg Planning Commission. He has also served on the Project Design and Architectural Review Committee of the Spartanburg Development Council. Easterling is a graduate of Clemson University with an MBA from the University of South Carolina.
WILBRAHAM, MASS. — FIC Restaurants Inc., which operates the Friendly’s brand, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and entered in an agreement to sell all of its assets to Amici Partners Group LLC. Nearly all of Friendly’s 130 corporate-owned and franchised restaurant locations, known for burgers, sandwiches and ice cream, are expected to remain open subject to COVID-19 limitations. Friendly’s stated that it has sufficient cash on hand to continue operations, meet its obligations to employees, franchisees and vendors. Upon the sale closing, Amici expects to retain most employees at Friendly’s corporate-owned restaurant locations. Amici is an affiliate of BRIX Holdings, an owner-operator whose brands include Red Mango Yogurt Café Smoothie & Juice Bar, Smoothie Factory Juice Bar, RedBrick Pizza Kitchen Café and Souper Salad.
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. — Against headwinds brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, CBL Properties Inc. (NYSE: CBL) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday, Nov. 1. Chattanooga-based CBL owns and manages a portfolio of 107 properties totaling 66.7 million square feet across 26 states, including 65 enclosed, outlet and open-air retail centers and eight properties managed for third parties. The company entered into an Restructuring Support Agreement in August with a group of bondholders in hopes of restructuring its balance sheet. In its bankruptcy filing, CBL listed its estimated assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion, according to reports by CNBC. “With an aggregate of approximately $1.5 billion in unsecured debt, preferred obligations eliminated and a significant increase to net cash flow, upon emergence, CBL will be in a better position to execute on our strategies and move forward as a stable and profitable business,” says the company’s CEO, Stephen Lebovitz. As of Sept. 30, CBL had approximately $258.3 million in unrestricted cash on hand and available-for-sale securities. This cash position, combined with the positive cash flow generated by ongoing operations, is expected to meet the company’s operational and restructuring needs. Weil, Gotshal & Manges …
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as of Sunday, Nov. 1. PREIT (NYSE: PEI), which is based in Philadelphia, owns and operates 22.5 million square feet of retail space including 19 mall properties in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, Michigan, North Carolina and South Carolina. PREIT has reached a Restructuring Support Agreement (RSA) with its bank lenders, under which an additional $150 million will be committed to recapitalize the business and extend its debt maturities. The announcement coincides with the Chapter 11 filing of Tennessee-based CBL & Associates (NYSE: CBL), which owns and manages a portfolio of 107 properties totaling 66.7 million square feet across 26 states, including 65 enclosed, outlet and open-air retail centers and eight properties managed for third parties. “Today’s announcement has no impact on our operations — our employees, tenants, vendors and the communities we serve — and we remain committed to continuing to deliver top-tier experiences and improving our portfolio,” says Joseph Coradino, CEO of PREIT. “With the overwhelming support of our lenders, we look forward to quickly emerging from this process as a financially stronger company.” DLA Piper LLP and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz are …
ATLANTA AND CANTON, MASS. — Inspire Brands has agreed to acquire fast-food breakfast chain Dunkin’ Brands (NASDAQ: DNKN) in a transaction valued at $11.3 billion. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. Atlanta-based Inspire Brands is the parent company of restaurant chains such as Arby’s, Jimmy John’s, Sonic Drive-In and Buffalo Wild Wings. In addition to its namesake coffee and breakfast chain, Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin’ Brands also owns ice cream parlor chain Baskin-Robbins, which respectively have about 12,500 and 8,000 locations worldwide. Dunkin’ has about 9,600 locations in the United States. The deal’s price tag equates to $106.50 per share, to be paid in cash, and includes the assumption of all Dunkin’ Brands’ debt. The share price represents a 30 percent premium over the Dunkin’ Brands 30-day weighted average price and a 20 percent premium over its closing stock price of $88.79 per share on Friday, Oct. 23. “We are excited to bring meaningful value to shareholders who have been with us on this journey and believe that Inspire Brands, a preeminent operator of franchised restaurant concepts, will continue to drive growth for our franchisees while remaining true to all that is unique and special …
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Yum Brands reported third-quarter revenue of $1.45 billion, up 8 percent from the same period a year ago. Taco Bell reported the highest positive year-over-year growth, recording $501 million in sales, a 2 percent increase from third-quarter 2019. Pizza Hut’s sales also grew, reaching $243 million, a 1 percent increase. Though KFC recorded the highest company sales total, reaching $583 million for the quarter, it was still a 4 percent decrease from the $609 million total recorded in the third quarter of 2019. Additionally, Louisville-based Yum Brands sold its stake in GrubHub, a food delivery service, for $206 million. The buyer was not disclosed.
SEATTLE — Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced financial results for its third quarter ending Sept. 30, posting sales of $96.1 billion, an increase of 37 percent compared with third-quarter 2019. The sales numbers exceeded even the Seattle-based e-commerce giant’s optimistic prediction of $87 billion to $93 billion in sales. Operating income nearly doubled, rising from $3.2 billion to $6.2 billion between the second and third quarter. As the COVID-19 pandemic has raged on, Amazon has reaped benefits as consumers switch from in-person to online shopping. However, that comes with a variety of increased costs as well. In the company’s guidance for the fourth quarter of 2020, it expects to incur $4 billion in COVID-related costs, such as personal protective equipment, enhanced cleaning and increased wages. As a result of the increased costs, Amazon stock actually dropped following the news, falling from $3,248.86 per share at 2:30 p.m. Thursday to $3,094.10 at 9:45 a.m. Friday. On a long-term basis, though, this is a modest fall. The stock price closed at $1,779.99 on Oct. 30, 2019.
SEATTLE — Starbucks Coffee (NASDAQ: SBUX) reports that global comparable-store sales fell 9 percent in the fiscal fourth quarter on a year-over-year basis, but the company’s performance still beat economists’ expectations. Total revenue for the Seattle-based coffee chain reached $6.2 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Sept. 27. Economists had expected the total to be $6.06 billion. “I am very pleased with our strong finish to fiscal 2020, underpinned by a faster-than-expected recovery in our two lead growth markets, the U.S. and China,” says Kevin Johnson, president and CEO of Starbucks. “These results demonstrate the continued strength and relevance of our brand, the effectiveness of the actions we’ve taken to adapt to meaningful changes in consumer behavior and the extraordinary efforts of our green apron partners to serve our customers and communities in challenging circumstances.” The latest results are a big improvement from the fiscal third quarter, when global comparable sales plummeted 40 percent year-over-year due to the coronavirus shutdowns. Looking ahead, Starbucks expects same-store comparable growth of 18 to 23 percent and plans to open 2,150 new stores over the next fiscal year. As of Sept. 27, 2020, Starbucks operated 10,109 stores in the Americas. Starbucks’ stock …
DALLAS — CBRE is relocating its global headquarters from Los Angeles to Dallas, according to several media outlets including The Dallas Morning News and The Dallas Business Journal. The real estate giant is expected to provide more information on the relocation as part of its release of its third-quarter earnings report later today, according to The Dallas Morning News. CBRE currently operates three offices in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex, with its largest one located at 2100 McKinney Ave. in the Uptown area of Dallas. The company’s top executive, president and CEO Robert Sulentic, has ties to Dallas from his previous executive position at Trammell Crow, which CBRE acquired in 2006.