Why McDonald’s should be afraid of Shake Shack – Chicago Tribune

Shake Shack, the little New York burger joint that began 14 years ago in a hot-dog cart, just became a $ 1.7 billion behemoth. At its stock-market debut Friday morning, an investor burger binge doubled Shake Shack’s share price, sending its stock past $ 48 a share.

A modern take on Americana’s prized roadside burger stand, Shake Shack — with its big burgers, crinkle-cut fries, shakes, custard and beer — has become one of the most prominent new restaurant empires of the last decade, and its successful initial public offering only helped to show how big “fast casual” eateries can get.

Shake Shack’s success can seem a bit paradoxical when faced with the big trends of American dining: Its burger fare is relatively pricey, unhealthy and, for most Americans, hard to find.

Yet all of those points have also helped to explain why Shake Shack has shareholders so excited — and why McDonald’s still finds a lot to fear from the upstart burger stand.

The Shack’s quick rise has already helped some fans turn a profit. Jason McDonnell, 26, bought and sold Shack shares Friday morning for a $ 100 profit, then headed to try his first-ever ShackBurger.

“I figured I bought their stock and made some money, I might as well give them some business,” he said.

Since Manhattan restaurateur Danny Meyer first launched the eatery in 2001 from a hot-dog cart in Madison Square Park, 63 shacks have opened their doors in nine countries, including Russia, Turkey and Dubai.

The company has mostly operated on low sizzle: After that first cart, it took three years for the first permanent location to open and another five years after that for the second to debut. But the burger joint is now looking to expand, saying it plans to open 10 stores a year for the foreseeable future, starting in 2015.

Manhattan-based burger chain Shake Shack made an outstanding public debut at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) after it closed at USD 45.90 on Friday, which is about 120 percent higher than the price of USD 21 that it offered in its Initial Public Offering (IPO) a day before.

The company's shares, which trade under the symbol 'SHAK', more than doubled during its first full day of trading. The shares hit a high of USD 52.50 at the stock exchange.

Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer witnessed a rise to USD 342 million of his 21 percent stake in the company.

Thrilled over the exciting public debut, company's chief executive Randy Garutti said, "Nothing has surprised us more than a hot dog cart we started 14 years ago that became Shake Shack."

"We believe that this enables us to attract a higher caliber employee and this translates directly to better guest service," the company said in a statement.

Shake Shack began from a hot dog stand in New York City in the year 2001 and at present, the burger chain is operating 63 restaurants with outposts in Moscow, London and Turkey. According to the insiders, the company is planning to build more food chains across the United States.

Celebrating the company's success on Friday, Shake Shack dished out free burgers that were served out of trucks nearby Wall Street.

The company calls itself "fine casual" as it capitalizes on offering premium burgers as well as high-level hospitality. It also paid many of its employees more than their local minimum wage.

Shake Shack shares more than double on first day – SFGate

By Leslie Picker and Craig Giammona

Published 4:21 pm, Friday, January 30, 2015

Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty Images

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NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 30: A man takes a photo of a free Shake Shack hamburger he got outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) during the burger company’s IPO on January 30, 2015 in New York City. Hamburger chain Shake Shack rose more than 130 percent in its trading debut on the NYSE Friday. Shares for the New York based burger chain opened at $ 47, and quickly climbed above $ 52 before dipping back to $ 48.77 for a 132 percent advance. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty Images

(FILES) This December 30, 2014 file photo shows a general view of the restaurant Shake Shack in Washington, DC. US chain Shake Shack burgers more than doubled on the morning of January 30, 2015 for its introduction on the New York Stock Exchange. Shake Shack Inc. raised $ 105 million in its initial public offering, pricing the shares above an increased range amid strong investor demand for the restaurant chain. The stock started trading Friday, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SHAK. AFP PHOTO/JIM WATSONJIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

Photo: JIM WATSON / AFP / Getty Images

Specialist John O’Hara, wears Shake Shack promotional hat, sunglasses and vest as he works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, Jan. 30, 2015. Shares of Shake Shack Inc. have more than doubled minutes after they debuted on the stock market Friday. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Photo: Richard Drew / Associated Press

Jeff Flug, President of Union Square Hospitality Group; Danny Meyer, Founder & CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group; and Randy Garutti, Shake Shack CEO, fourth left to right, celebrate as they ring the New York Stock Exchange opening bell, Friday, Jan. 30, 2015. Shares of Shake Shack Inc. have more than doubled minutes after they debuted on the stock market Friday.(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Photo: Richard Drew / Associated Press

Danny Meyer, left, Founder and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, and Randy Garutti, second left, CEO of Shake Shack Inc., ring a ceremonial bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, as their company’s IPO begins trading, Friday, Jan. 30, 2015. Shares of Shake Shack Inc. have more than doubled minutes after they debuted on the stock market Friday.(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Photo: Richard Drew / Associated Press

Shake Shack shares more than double on first day

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Shake Shack Inc. soared in its debut on the New York Stock Exchange after raising $ 105 million in an initial public offering, bolstered by investor demand for more upscale fast food.

Shares of the burger chain more than doubled to close at $ 45.90, giving it a market value of $ 1.6 billion. Shake Shack sold 5 million shares for $ 21 apiece in the IPO, after offering them for $ 17 to $ 19 each.

The strong IPO is an indication of shifting attitudes toward fast food, particularly among younger diners, Chief Executive Officer Randy Garutti said.

"My kids will grow up in a generation of people who isn't going to see fast food the way it's been seen over the last few decades, and those people generally want to go to a place like Shake Shack," Garutti said on Bloomberg Television. "We've helped define that, and we're going to be out in front of that as we go."

The company, owned by restaurateur Danny Meyer, opened in 2001 as a kiosk to help support the restoration of Manhattan's Madison Square Park. The first official Shake Shack was born three years later, and it started expanding in 2008. It now has 63 stores selling burgers, fries and frozen custard from Chicago to Dubai.

Shake Shack plans to open 10 company-operated stores each year in the U.S. Part of the IPO proceeds will be used toward expansion and renovating stores. Additionally, Shake Shack plans to make a payment to Meyer and early backers such as Leonard Green & Partners LP, as well as to repay debt.

Shake Shack is profitable, though its global expansion has weighed on earnings. It posted $ 3.55 million in net income in the 39 weeks that ended Sept. 24, down 20 percent from the same period of 2013.

Revenue jumped 41 percent in that time, boosted by people turning away from traditional fast food. Meyer refers to Shake Shack's category as fine-casual dining.

"What we're seeing is a seismic shift in people's expectations of food today," Garutti said.

Leslie Picker and Craig Giammona are Bloomberg writers. E-mail: lpicker2@bloomberg.net, cgiammona@bloomberg.net

Shake Shack Takes Wall Street By Storm – StreetWise Journal

Customers dine at Shake Shack in Madison Square Park April 15, 2013 in New York, NY. The chain diner opened in 2004 and the Madison Square Park location is the original.

Foodie-favorite Shake Shack (NYSE: SHAK) made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange today. Shares sky-rocketed 130% higher. The burger joint's initial public offering was priced at $ 21 a share Thursday evening, which was already above the price the company set earlier in the week.

The initial pricing of $ 21 a share meant that Shake Shack raised $ 105 million and increased its worth to over $ 745 million Thursday evening. The company sold 5 million shares.

Shares opened Friday at $ 47 and quickly rose to over $ 52 a share before dipping back down to $ 48.77.

Founder and Chairman Danny Meyer owns a 21% stake in the company, or about 7.4 million shares. Overnight, Meyer saw his initial $ 156 million stake grow to over $ 350 million. Who else reaped the benefits of Friday's impressive debut? Select Equity Group, Leonard Green, Jeff Flug (a Shake Shack boar member) Alliance Consumer Growth and CEO Randy Garutti.

To celebrate its debut, the Shake Shack said they were going to turn the NYSE into the New York Shack Exchange. A Shake Shack food truck will be parked in front of the exchange, dishing up free food.

Shake Shack first opened in 2001 as a hot dog cart in New York City's Madison Square Park. The company is expanding, but not too rapidly. It operates 63 restaurants around the world, and 16 of them are right in the New York metropolitan area. Shake Shack outposts are already making headway in global markets with stands open in Kuwait, London, Moscow, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The company is planning on opening 10 new locations in the United States each year as well as additional international locations.

Shake Shack prides itself on using sustainable ingredients, which includes hormone- and antibiotic-free beef. A burger at Shake Shack will cost you twice as much as a burger at McDonald's, but the success that the burger joint has seen is proof that customers are willing to pay more for fast food that's made better.

Jacob Maslow is our Editor, and has extensive experience with writing about global financial matters.

Germany, ECB play hard ball with Greece – Reuters

(Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out a debt writedown for Greece on Saturday, and a European Central Bank policymaker threatened to cut off funding to Greek banks if Athens does not agree to renew its bailout package.

The euro zone’s paymaster and the ECB are both taking a tough line with Greece’s new leftist government, whose leader swept to victory last Sunday promising that five years of austerity, “humiliation and suffering” were over.

Alexis Tsipras has also promised to renegotiate agreements with the European Commission, ECB and International Monetary Fund “troika” and write off much of Greece’s 320 billion euro ($ 360 billion) debt, which at more than 175 percent of gross domestic product is the world’s second-highest after Japan.

Merkel flatly rejected such a possibility.

“There was already a voluntary waiver by private creditors; Greece has already been exempt from billions by the banks. I don’t see a further debt haircut,” she told German daily Die Welt in an interview published in its Saturday edition.

“Europe will continue to show solidarity for Greece, as for other countries hit particularly hard by the crisis, if these countries undertake their own reforms and savings efforts,” Merkel added in a thinly veiled threat to Athens.

Without the support of international lenders, Greece would soon find itself back in an acute financial crisis.

Unable to tap the markets because of sky-high borrowing costs, Athens has enough cash to meet its funding needs for the next couple of months. But it faces around 10 billion euros of debt repayments over the summer.

“I’M WAITING,” MERKEL TELLS ATHENS

Greece’s new government opened talks on its bailout with European partners on Friday by refusing to extend the program or to cooperate with the international inspectors overseeing it.

Separately, the French finance ministry said on Saturday that Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will meet with his French counterpart Michel Sapin in Paris on Sunday and issue a statement afterwards.

Europe’s bailout program for Greece, part of a 240 billion euro rescue package also involving the International Monetary Fund, expires on Feb. 28. A failure to renew it could leave Athens unable to meet its financing needs and cut its banks off from central bank liquidity support.

The ECB does not accept Greek sovereign bonds as collateral in its refinancing operations as they are below investment grade. However, it allows central bank financing to Greek banks as the country is in a bailout program.

Erkki Liikanen, a member of the ECB’s policymaking Governing Council, said that funding, too, could dry up if Greece does not remain in a program.

“Greece’s program extension will expire in the end of February so some kind of solution must be found, otherwise we can’t continue lending,” Liikanen, also the governor of Finland’s central bank, told public broadcaster YLE.

Merkel said the ECB’s Jan. 22 decision to pump billions of euros into the euro zone with a bond-buying program did not mean countries would end efforts to shape up their economies with structural reforms.

She put the onus on the new Greek government to present a credible economic policy.

“The goal of our policy was and is that Greece remains a permanent part of the euro-community,” Merkel said.

“To that end, Greece and the European partners make their contribution. Apart from that, I am now waiting to see what concepts the Greek government will present.”

($ 1 = 0.8861 euros)

(Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

We will not co-operate with the troika, says Greek finance minister – Telegraph.co.uk

Syriza took power after its policy of never bowing to European creditors won over Greece’s recession-hit public Photo: AFP

Greek bond yields spiked on Friday after the country's finance minister said the new Left-wing government would not co-operate with international creditors.

Yanis Varoufakis, who held talks with Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem, also rejected the extension of Greece's €240bn (£180bn) bail-out programme, which came with tough austerity measures.

"This platform enabled us to win the confidence of the Greek people," Mr Varoufakis said. "We are not going to co-operate with a rottenly constructed committee."

The comments frightened investors, with yields on the country's 10-year bonds jumping to 10.8pc. Shares on the Athens Stock Exchange fell 1.6pc.

Mr Varoufakis later backtracked on his comments, telling BBC's Newsnight: "Greece will deal with the Troika."

Alexis Tsipras, the leader of Syriza, became Greece's prime minister last Sunday, winning over voters weary of austerity with his promise not to bow to the Troika of European creditors – the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.

Mr Dijsselbloem, who represents the eurozone's 19 finance ministers, yesterday rebuffed Greece's calls for an international conference to look at writing off part of its €320bn debt. "As for a conference on debt restructuring, you must realise that this conference already exists and it's called the Eurogroup," he said.

The impasse came as Barclays warned that the chances of a eurozone break-up were "significantly higher than at any point in 2012" – the height of the eurozone crisis.

January market finishes weak – Philly.com

Alex Veiga, Associated Press

Posted: Saturday, January 31, 2015, 1:08 AM

The U.S. stock market capped a rough month Friday, delivering its third loss in five days and extending its declines for the year.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 251.90 points, or 1.45 percent, to close at 17,164.95. The S&P 500 index lost 26.26 points, or 1.30 percent, to 1,994.99. The Nasdaq composite fell 48.17 points, or 1.03 percent, to 4,635.24.

For January, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 3 percent, its worse monthly performance in a year. While the U.S. economy continued to show signs of strength, energy companies suffered from a sharp drop in oil prices and some big multinational companies saw their earnings dinged by a stronger dollar.

Concerns about a surging dollar intensified Friday after Russia’s central bank unexpectedly cut interest rates to 15 percent from 17 percent to help the weakening economy. That sent the ruble down against the dollar.

Before the U.S. market opened, the government said that the economy grew 2.6 percent in the last quarter of 2014, as weaker government and business spending held growth back.

But other news signaled health in the U.S. economy. Consumer spending surged in the final three months of 2014. The Labor Department reported that wages and benefits rose last year by 2.2 percent, the biggest calendar-year increase since 2008.

Amazon.com and Visa reported strong results late Thursday. Amazon jumped 13.7 percent, while Visa rose 2.8 percent.

Several companies didn’t fare as well, including Ugg footwear maker Deckers Outdoor and the parent of Hawaiian Airlines, which offered discouraging outlooks. Deckers slumped 19.7 percent, while Hawaiian Holdings slid 27 percent.

The one sector that rose was energy. Benchmark U.S. crude rose $ 3.71 to close at $ 48.24 a barrel in New York. The price rose on expectations of lower supplies as the number of working drilling rigs continued to fall. Concerns over an attack on oil-rich Kirkuk, Iraq, by Islamic insurgents also spurred oil buying and higher prices.

But oil remains in a deep slump. The price of benchmark U.S. crude has fallen from over $ 107 last June.

Demand for ultrasafe bonds rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.66 percent, the lowest since May 2013. Yields fall as bond prices rise.

Shake Shack debuts on NYSE, price rises dramatically – New York Daily News

Turns out the real golden arches are at Shake Shack.

The upscale burger chain, launched from a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park, made a sizzling Wall Street debut on Friday — with stock prices more than doubling in value.

For Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer, that made for a really happy meal. His 21% stake in the company was at one point worth nearly $ 400 million.

The initial public offering came with a free hamburger handout outside the New York Stock Exchange, with scores of Shake Shack fans standing in the January cold for a taste.

From food trucks stationed outside the Wall Street mainstay, Shake Shack handed out free sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches before 11 a.m. and plans to serve free burgers until 2 p.m. The New York-based company will also give out swag at locations across Manhattan, it said.

Inside NYSE, investors were going crazy for the burger joint as stock prices soared within minutes.

Five million shares were sold Thursday at $ 21 apiece, giving Shake Shack a $ 105 million initial public offering. By the end of trading Friday, the new stock was valued at $ 45.90 per share.

The offering raised the value of the chaim to about $ 1.6 billion, the New York Times reported.

Underwriters had set an expected price range of $ 17-19 per share, raised from an initial $ 14-$ 16 due to strong demand, Reuters reported.

CEO Randy Garutti was thrilled by the stock showing, and said the numbers indicated a change in the way Americans view fast food.

"My kids will grow up in a generation of people who isn't going to see fast food in the way it's been seen over the last few decades," he told Bloomberg Television. "And those people generally want to go to a place like Shake Shack."

The burger chain is known for using hormone-free and antibiotic-free beef, along with natural ingredients. The burgers are also cooked to order, and its thick milkshakes draw raves.

Shake Shack’s cult following means there are often massive lines at Manhattan and Chicago locations, but Friday’s queues appeared extra long.

The chain attracts a relatively affluent clientele, which spends roughly $ 30 for a meal for two – considerably more than diners spend at struggling fast-food giant McDonald’s.

The hot dog cart owned by Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group opened in 2001, and exploded into the current international phenomenon with 63 locations in nine countries.

The company has said it plans to open 10 U.S., company-operated restaurants each year and could eventually grow to at least 450 locations.

While Shake Shack has been slower to add restaurants, its domestic average annual sales of $ 5 million per location for 2013 were about double Chipotle’s.

J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley were lead underwriters for the IPO.

With News Wire Services

lmcshane@nydailynews.com

Wall St. closes down for January, Shake Shack rallies in debut – Reuters

A Wall Street sign is pictured in front of the New York Stock Exchange, open during Winter Storm Juno, in the Manhattan borough of New York January 27, 2015.

Credit: Reuters/Carlo Allegri

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks closed down on Friday after a volatile session as investors worried at the end of a rough month for the market about weak U.S. growth data and whether instability in Europe could hurt corporate earnings in the United States.

U.S. economic growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter as weak business spending and a wider trade deficit offset the fastest pace of consumer spending since 2006.

This came after Greece’s finance minister said the government would not cooperate with the European Union and International Monetary Fund mission.

A brief afternoon rally from rising oil prices failed to stick as investors, nervous about U.S. and global economies, fled to bonds from equities and even sold off utilities stocks, the worst performing sector on the day.

“It feels like a flight-to-safety trade on a month-end. People are putting money into assets that have done well this month,” said Peter Coleman, head trader at ConvergEx Group in New York, who said Friday was a good reflection of the month.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 251.9 points, or 1.45 percent, to 17,164.95, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 26.26 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,994.99 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 48.17 points, or 1.03 percent, to 4,635.24.

The S&P energy sector was the only one to finish up on Friday with a 0.74 percent increase after falling as much as 1.5 percent earlier in the session. It rebounded when crude futures rose 8 percent after a survey showed the biggest decline since 1987 in the number of rigs drilling for U.S. oil.

For the week, the Dow and S&P were each down 2.8 percent, and the Nasdaq fell 2.6 percent. For January, the Dow was down 3.6 percent and the Nasdaq was off 2.1 percent.

The S&P fell 3.1 percent in January, which was its biggest monthly loss since January 2014 and its first back-to-back monthly decline since April-May 2012.

Consumer spending was a bright spot as data showed U.S. consumer sentiment rose in January to its highest in 11 years on better job and wage prospects.

That confidence appeared to be reflected in some corporate results. Amazon AMZN.O shares jumped 13.7 percent after earnings beat Wall Street expectations on strong holiday season sales.

“Winners are being rewarded, whereas the market has really no tolerance for anything that comes up short,” said Randy Bateman, chief investment officer of Huntington Asset Management in Columbus, Ohio.

In contrast to the broader market, shares of burger restaurant Shake Shack SHAK.N rose more than 118.6 percent in their market debut.

About 8.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, well above the almost 7 billion average for the last five sessions, according to BATS Global Markets.

NYSE declining issues outnumbered advancers 2,107 to 991, for a 2.13-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 2,040 issues fell and 691 advanced, for a 2.95-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 18 new 52-week highs and 15 lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 43 new highs and 86 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos and Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski)

IPO Sizzles as Shake Shack Tests Big Chains – Wall Street Journal

Jan. 30, 2015 6:38 p.m. ET

It's a good time to be a boutique burger chain.

On Friday, shares of Shake Shack Inc., rocketed up 119% on their first day of trading from their initial public offering price of $ 21 each, ending at $ 45.90 in 4 p.m. trading and giving the operator of 63 restaurants a valuation topping $ 1.6 billion.

The heavy demand for the New York-based restaurant chain's stock—coming days after McDonald's Corp. 's chief executive resigned amid two years of weak sales—reflects a stark shift in the fortunes of the restaurant business. It also represents a bet by investors that consumers increasingly focused on food quality and animal welfare will shell out growing sums of money for the fancy burgers on offer from a widening array of purveyors.

Shake Shack is among a wave of "fast casual" chains across the restaurant industry that offer fresh, made-to-order items, from burritos to noodles. While still tiny compared to giants like McDonald's, upmarket burger chains have been especially hot of late. Habit Restaurants Inc., a chain of about 100 burger restaurants that went public in November, also priced above expectations and still soared 120% in its trading debut, but shares have fallen 16% from their debut closing price.

Darren Tristano, executive vice president at research firm Technomic Inc., estimates the number of fast-casual burger restaurants grew 10 times faster between 2008 and 2013 than traditional fast-food burger outlets. The total number of burger outlets grew 5.2% to 49,098 in the period, he said.

Beyond their gourmet cachet, fast-casual chains including Shake Shack often boast meat from producers that adhere to more stringent welfare practices and don't use antibiotics or hormones. Those claims especially appeal to consumers in their 20s and 30s, many of whom have grown up deeply suspicious of the established food industry, analysts and executives say.

"My kids' generation—they're not going to grow up eating fast food the way they used to," said Shake Shack Chief Executive Randy Garutti, 39 years old. "They want to know where their food's from, they want to do it with a brand who cares and they want to do it in a great experience."

Some analysts think investors are too enthusiastic. To take one measure of the supersized expectations: Shake Shack's valuation equates to nearly $ 26 million per existing restaurant. By comparison, McDonald's valuation of about $ 91 billion equates to $ 2.5 million for each of its 36,258 global outlets.

"Do I think it looks a little frothy coming out of the gate? Yes," said Christopher Geier, head of investment banking at Chicago-based accounting and advisory firm Sikich LLP. He added that the company has good growth prospects, and it doesn't need to steal much market share from companies like McDonald's to be successful.

For now, at least, the rise of such challengers is helping to sap the profitability of fast-food giants like McDonald's, said R.J. Hottovy, a restaurant analyst with Morningstar Inc. Customers who would normally order McDonald's premium offerings are instead flocking to places like Five Guys, Umami Burger, or Epic Burger, forcing McDonald's to depend more heavily on its value menu to draw traffic.

Meanwhile, lower-income consumers haven't benefited as much as wealthier ones from the U.S. economic recovery, making the value-end of the market less lucrative.

McDonald's is becoming "basically reliant on a more economically sensitive audience, and that group still remains very much under pressure" financially, Mr. Hottovy said.

The fast-casual chains generally charge more. Shake Shack's Chicago location sells a ShackBurger single for $ 5.19, and a basic milkshake for $ 5.25. At a nearby McDonald's, a Deluxe Quarter Pounder with cheese runs $ 4.69 and a medium McCafé vanilla shake is $ 2.69. Many fast-casual chains, including Shake Shack, also sell beer and wine, which generally bring higher profit margins than food.

Shake Shack was founded by Danny Meyer , a restaurateur from St. Louis who made his name with high-end establishments like New York's Union Square Café. Shake Shack started as a hot-dog cart in Madison Square Park in 2001 and became a brick-and-mortar fixture of New York City by 2004. Mr. Meyer's 21% stake in the company was worth more than $ 340 million as of Friday afternoon.

Shake Shack's revenue grew 41% from a year earlier to $ 83.8 million in the 39 weeks through Sept. 24, while net income fell by a fifth to $ 3.5 million, as it opened 20 new restaurants in the period.

Sensing a threat, traditional fast-food restaurants are upgrading their burgers. Last month, CKE Restaurants Inc., which owns Carl's Jr and Hardee's, launched its first burger free of hormones, antibiotics and steroids, from grass-fed cattle. It plans to tout the "All-Natural Burger" with a commercial during Sunday's Super Bowl.

Write to Ilan Brat at ilan.brat@wsj.com and Kelsey Gee at kelsey.gee@wsj.com

Apple iPhone: Best Seller – Financial Express

What is the most successful product in the world? We now have the answer—Apple's iPhone. Sales of iPhones helped the company record the most profitable quarter of any listed company ever. The company made a profit of $ 18 billion, surpassing the record $ 15.9 billion oil giant ExxonMobil made in the second quarter of 2012. For Apple, that is predominantly due to sales of its iPhone. "There are very few products that have boosted the financials of a company in the way that the iPhone has for Apple," as per research firm IHS.

In the final quarter of 2014, Apple sold 74.4 million iPhones, worth $ 51.1 billion. There were others before it, like Boeing's 747. The company expected to sell only 400 jets before it became obsolete but 1,500 aircraft have been built and it is now making a new version of Air Force One.

Sony's Walkman was introduced in 1979. Some 200 million Walkman devices were eventually sold worldwide. Xerox launched their copier in 1959, called 'the most successful single product' in its time, so much so that photocopying was named after it. Microsoft Windows came out in 1985 and it still powers 80% of computers and laptops worldwide. Sony's playstation has sold 90 million units, while Rubik's Cube, the puzzle, has sold 350 million units. Yet, they pale before the iPhone. Since its debut in 2007, the iPhone has sold an incredible 500 million units, making it by far the world's biggest-selling product.

Economy grew 2.6% in the fourth quarter – USA TODAY

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Gross domestic product rose 2.6% during fourth quarter, according to numbers released Friday morning from the Commerce Department. Economists were expecting 3% and the latest reading is significantly less than the third quarter’s 5% growth. Newslook

Video Transcript

Automatically Generated Transcript (may not be 100% accurate)

00:00 Gross domestic product rose two point 6% during fourth quarter
00:03 according to numbers released moments ago by the Commerce Department. House
00:06 we’re expecting a higher 3% this is much less than third
00:09 quarter 5%. Reaction to announce that bite he bullet chief economist
00:13 at ICG. To speed certainly. You know not a great reading
00:17 here but not a terrible one give us your take. Well
00:20 as a couple things first stop. You know when you look
00:23 at quarter to quarter numbers is it. Commend this matter volatility
00:26 just from things like that a lot of defense spending in
00:29 the third quarter. You weren’t gonna grow another 16% in defense
00:33 spending in the fourth quarter and that was. Already seemingly negative
00:37 bias to the quarter when you look at the underlying numbers
00:40 when you’re looking at it on a year over year basis.
00:44 Final sales to domestic producers in 2013. Was essentially the same
00:48 as it was 2012. We are. Reverting and shelling there core
00:54 rate of growth of around. 2%. Now corporate edit every piece
00:57 of economic and we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about
01:00 the Fed’s rate hike plans. Will this do to these discipline
01:04 number is making even stronger case that the Fed should delay
01:07 a rate hike. Well I think they already know that they’ve
01:10 been delayed until September I don’t I think here there uncertain.
01:15 As to whether it and do it June or September but
01:18 I think they’re leaning a little bit more towards September. And
01:22 I think personally I think they knew this number. Early the
01:26 preliminary. Guesstimate from commerce on it and you know what they.
01:32 Saw in this number. I t was telegraphed. In this statement went
01:38 in this statement they said. It was pointed to world growth
01:42 as it is solid but the key thing is ended December
01:46 statement that growth is. In this statement that growth has been.
01:53 And that hole made that shift promote active president to have
01:56 a more passive path and our tell me that they’re not
02:00 really sure what growth is going to be and when you
02:02 dissect the fourth quarter GDP you know. You know you have
02:07 been swinging in defense spending all that. You had deflation. Outright
02:12 deflation in goods. Non durable and durable goods which helped boost
02:18 the real numbers grow the number of consumption. So when you
02:21 look underneath it all you see a slowdown. In. In. Investment
02:27 spending by businesses so it tells you that in the year
02:32 ahead unique consumers to spend. They need to spend this so
02:37 called gas tax cut. That’s number one number two you need
02:42 spending on housing if you don’t get that. It’s going to
02:46 be very tough to get 3% growth that in this economy.
02:50 In twenty. Let’s talk about your outlook for 2015 or anything
02:53 specific you’re looking at we’ve had a great run in the
02:55 past three quarters. But what are you looking at the rest
02:58 of the year. For the rest of the year we are
03:00 looking for is still looking with 3% growth. And we are
03:03 looking forward on the basis of two things. One we think
03:07 you’ve gone in yet. A very good spring quarter of war
03:12 house that house you know of them of houses at home
03:15 by. Everything in its head out for that as long as
03:20 consumers don’t los e their competence and based on all the recent
03:23 surveys it certainly confidence going into the year. So I would
03:27 expect a good housing you know six months that’s number one
03:32 number two. The slow down and out in in federal spending
03:37 and state local government spending. Should reverse and be a positive
03:41 GDP in 2015. Which will also add in those two things
03:46 alone. Should get enough growth to get us to a 3%
03:51 year in 28. Carlos talk about wages the employment cost index
03:55 was also released this morning at rose point 6% during fourth
03:59 quarter. Compared to point 7% in third quarter of course wage
04:03 growth is still out there. No it’s not an ace it’s
04:06 not a whole host of reasons in one of Willie. Is
04:10 that we are a global economy. And even though he has.
04:15 You leave your wage he has a vacant. Do what you
04:18 do someplace else in the world that naked if if you’re
04:21 wage got too hot. So even if the actual read an
04:25 important dreaded doing it overseas. Keeps wage growth lower and what’s
04:30 happening in the rest of the world. You have lower prices
04:33 you have slowed growth you have a surplus of labor everywhere
04:37 in the world. So. Unless you have a very unique skill.
04:43 Where you probably haven’t seen some decent wage growth over the
04:46 last several years for the broad. Average of people you don’t
04:52 and that’s going to keep it the the the same rules
04:56 of looking at growth and unemployment and what that means who
05:01 wages. As if we are still within this domestic only container.
05:07 It is a mistake. Or stiglitz chief economist at ITG thanks
05:11 for coming back thank you. I’ve got down under watching the

A lab worker at Assurex in Mason, Ohio.(Photo: Leigh Taylor, Cincinnati Enquirer)

The economy grew more slowly than expected in the fourth quarter as government spending fell sharply and business investment pulled back.

Gross domestic product expanded at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.6% in the three months ended Dec. 31, slowing sharply from a robust 5% pace in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday. Economists expected 3.1% growth.

For all of 2014, the economy grew 2.4%, up from 2.2% in 2013, after harsh winter weather early in the year caused the economy to shrink in the first quarter.

In the fourth quarter, consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy, grew a healthy 4.3% as plunging gasoline prices and strong job growth bolstered Americans’ confidence.

But government spending declined 7.5% as defense outlays tumbled after rising sharply in the third quarter.

Business investment increased just 1.9% as companies girded for a strengthening dollar and sluggish overseas growth that’s expected to dampen exports, and energy companies grappled with plummeting oil prices.

Exports slowed as well, rising 2.8%, while imports increased sharply as the stronger dollar made foreign products less expensive for U.S. consumers. The widening trade gap subtracted from economic growth.

Despite the slowdown, many economists expect the economy to grow a solid 3% this year.

“With the collapse in energy prices increasing households’ purchasing power, we expect strong consumption growth to continue driving GDP growth in the first half of this year,” economist Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics wrote in a note to clients.

Recent reports have shown consumer spending rising solidly in the fourth quarter despite a slowdown in retail sales last month. Measures of business investment, however, have been declining.

In the third quarter, the economy expanded at its fastest pace in 11 years on stronger consumer and business spending and an unusual surge in national defense outlays.

Many economists expected growth to slow in the fourth quarter as military expenditures declined to a more typical level.

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U.S. Fourth Quarter Economic Growth Lower than Expected – Fox Business

U.S. economic growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter as weak business spending and a wider trade deficit offset the fastest pace of consumer spending since 2006.

Gross domestic product expanded at a 2.6 percent annual pace after the third quarter’s spectacular 5 percent rate, the Commerce Department said in its first fourth-quarter GDP snapshot on Friday.

The slowdown, which follows two back-to-back quarters of bullish growth, is likely to be short-lived given the enormous tailwind from lower gasoline prices. Most economists believe fundamentals in the United States are strong enough to cushion the blow on growth from weakening overseas economies.

“We look for strong domestic consumption to continue supporting growth momentum in the coming quarters even as investment suffers due to falling oil prices,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, an economist at TD Securities in New York.

Even with the moderation in the fourth quarter, growth remained above the 2.5 percent pace, which is considered to be the economy’s potential. Economists had expected GDP to expand at a 3 percent rate in the fourth quarter.

U.S. stock index futures extended losses and prices for U.S. Treasuries rose further after the data. The dollar weakened against a basket of currencies.

For all of 2014, the economy grew 2.4 percent compared to 2.2 percent in 2013. The report came two days after the Federal Reserve said the economy was growing at a “solid pace,” an upgraded assessment that keeps it on track to start raising interest rates this year.

The U.S. central bank has kept its short-term interest rate near zero since December 2008 and most economists expect a mid-year lift-off.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, advanced at a 4.3 percent pace in the fourth quarter – the fastest since the first quarter of 2006 and an acceleration from the third quarter’s 3.2 percent pace.

According to government data, gasoline prices have plunged 43 percent since June, leaving Americans with more money for discretionary spending. A strengthening labor market, despite sluggish wage growth, is also a boost.

MUTED INFLATION

A separate report from the Labor Department showed labor costs rising steadily in the fourth quarter, but remaining well below levels that would bring inflation closer to the Fed’s 2 percent target.

Inflation pressures were muted in the fourth quarter. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index fell at a 0.5 percent rate, the weakest reading since the first quarter of 2009. Excluding food and energy, prices rose at a 1.1 percent pace, the slowest since the second quarter of 2013.

The strong pace of consumer spending in the fourth quarter, however, was overshadowed by a drop in capital expenditure. Business spending on equipment fell at a 1.9 percent rate. It was the largest contraction since the second quarter of 2009.

Business spending on equipment had advanced at an 11 percent rate in the third quarter. The fourth-quarter weakness could reflect cuts or delays to investment projects in the oil industry. But it could also be payback after two back-to-back quarters of robust gains.

A wider trade deficit, as slower global growth curbed exports and solid domestic demand sucked in imports, subtracted 1.02 percentage point from GDP growth in the fourth quarter. Trade had added 0.78 percentage point to third-quarter growth.

Restocking by businesses to meet growing demand contributed 0.82 percentage point to fourth-quarter GDP.

Other details of the report were mixed. Government spending was a drag as a defense-driven investment burst faded. Residential construction made a mild contribution to GDP growth. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)