(Paul Bersebach/Getty Images)

America’s fast-food scene had some big winners, and even bigger losers, in Q2 2025

Taco Bell is beating Chipotle, Dutch Bros is crushing Starbucks, and the chicken wars are fiercer than ever.

8/11/25 10:01AM

Much was made of America’s inflation-weary fast-food consumers becoming more price conscious over the last few years.

Now, with Q2 in the rearview mirror, we can ask: which fast-food chains are winning in America?

Let’s start with the biggest in the game. McDonald’s actually had a great quarter, with the Golden Arches posting year-on-year same-store sales growth of 2.5% in the US, digging the Big Mac maker out of a hole after a lackluster year of declines. That was significant considering that the company’s execs characterized the quarter as “challenging,” as visits across the industry by low-income consumers declined by “double-digit” percentages.

Value option Taco Bell put up even better numbers, with same-store sales up 4% — crushing Chipotle in the Mexican-inspired scene as its more expensive competitor struggles to lure customers back for burritos and bowls, with same-store sales dropping 4% year on year.

Topping the list, however, was coffee chain Dutch Bros, where same-store sales rose 6.1% — perhaps benefiting from the difficulties at coffee giant Starbucks, which continues to invest heavily in a bid to reinvigorate the “coffeehouse experience.”

Elsewhere, with consumers’ love for chicken inspiring an entire generation of entrepreneurs to enter the chicken wars, the competition in all things wings has never been more intense — and it seems to be weighing on Yum! Brands’ KFC, where sales dropped 5%. But no company had a worse quarter than fast-casual salad chain Sweetgreen, where revenue resembled spinach being cooked: store sales shrunk a whopping 7.6% in the latest quarter.

Max Knoblauch10/24/25

Premium seats help push airlines higher following third-quarter results

Shares of American Airlines are climbing toward the carrier’s best trading day since August 12, when ultra-budget rival Spirit issued its initial warning about its ability to survive. American’s shares are up more than 7% on Friday afternoon.

Investors’ optimism comes a day after American posted a better-than-expected full-year earnings forecast. In a call with investors, American said that it’s ramping up its premium cabin offerings.

“Our ability to grow capacity in premium markets will be further supported as we take delivery of new aircraft and reconfigure our existing fleet. These efforts will allow us to grow our premium seats at nearly two times the rate of main cabin seats,” CEO Robert Isom said. American CFO Devin May said that nose-to-tail retrofits of certain wide-body jets will bump the number of premium seats available on those planes by 25%.

Extra legroom has been a boon for major carriers, particularly this quarter. Delta Air Lines said its premium product revenue grew 9% in Q3, compared to a 4% drop in economy seat revenue. Similarly, United Airlines said its premium revenue grew 6%, outpacing economy. Shares of both airlines were up more than 3% on Friday.

Carriers with less exposure to first- and business-class tickets like Southwest Airlines and JetBlue didn’t see the same amount of momentum on the day.