Shack sales: The burger chain is hungry for better margins

2/16/23 7:00PM

Shake Shack reported this week that its sales grew 17% last year, with operating losses narrower than analysts had expected.

After starting life as a humble hotdog stand in Madison Square Park in 2001, “The Shack” was eventually upgraded to a kiosk in 2004, but the burger chain didn’t fully take shape until 2010 when it opened its first store outside of New York. Since then, the company's restaurant count has grown quickly, with a total of 436 Shacks worldwide — though the financial side of the business hasn't stacked up quite as nicely.

‍Steep shack‍

‍Shake Shack’s slim margins are hardly uncommon in the world of casual and fast food, but things really turned for the chain when the pandemic took a big bite out of its business. Revenue shrunk to $523m in 2020 and the company’s modest operating income quickly turned to a $44m loss. While revenues have bounced back since — the Shack took in over $900m last year — the company still hasn’t been able to get out of the red.

‍Shake Shack execs will be hoping that a new luxuriously decadent white truffle range will be the key ingredient to boost its margins. Unfortunately, it may have trouble convincing customers who already see it as the chain that offers the least “bang for your buck”.

Nia Warfield

Fox and News Corp slide as investors digest $3.3 billion Murdoch succession settlement

Fox and News Corp shares dropped on Tuesday after Rupert Murdoch’s heirs agreed to a $3.3 billion settlement to resolve a long-running succession drama.

Under the deal, Prudence, Elisabeth, and James Murdoch will each receive about $1.1 billion, paid for in part by Fox selling 16.9 million Class B voting shares and News Corp selling 14.2 million shares. The stock sales will raise roughly $1.37 billion on behalf of the three heirs.

The new trust for Lachlan Murdoch will now control about 36.2% of Fox’s Class B shares and roughly 33.1% of News Corp’s stock, granting him uncontested voting authority over both companies for the next 25 years. Originally, the Murdoch trust was designed to hand over voting control of Fox and News Corp to Prudence, Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James after his death.

Investors are weighing the trade-off. Clear leadership under Lachlan may resolve conflict internally, but the share dilution, executed at a roughly 4.5% discount, means long-term investors now hold slightly less clout than before.

Both companies’ stocks were trading close to all-time highs prior to the announcement.

385 ✈️ 434

Max Knoblauch

Boeing on Tuesday announced that it delivered 57 commercial jets in August, its best total for the month in seven years. That brings its year-to-date delivery total to 385 planes, eclipsing its full-year 2024 figure by about 11%.

The August figure marked Boeing’s second-highest delivery total of 2025 and represented a 43% jump from the same month last year. Through August, Boeing has boosted its deliveries by 50% from last year.

The plane maker is still trailing its European rival Airbus, which delivered 61 planes in August and 434 year to date.

Nia Warfield

9/8/25

Tariffs finally crept into retail's latest earnings results. Who were the winners and losers?

The long-awaited levies took a toll on nearly every retailer, but execution separated who could steer through the costs.