Burger King vs Wendy’s: Which NNN Investment Wins?

Burger King and Wendy’s are two widely listed burger QSR brands whose parents are rated below the investment grade line: our listing data currently shows 73 active Burger King and 81 active Wendy’s net lease listings. S&P rates Restaurant Brands International Inc., Burger King’s parent, BB+, and The Wendy’s Company B+ (rating sources and dates are listed below the comparison table). Compare that with the asking market: Burger King’s median asking cap rate is currently 6.25% and Wendy’s is 6.00%. The parent rating is only one input, which is why this comparison needs careful underwriting.

This analysis works through both credits the way our investment grade guide recommends for any net lease deal: rating and rating direction first, then the lease obligor, then the real estate. For two franchise-heavy systems like these, the obligor question matters more than the corporate rating.

Burger King vs Wendy’s: Head-to-Head Comparison

Ratings per our tenant ratings database. Rating sources: Burger King (RBI): S&P Global Ratings BB+, as of May 18, 2026; Fitch Ratings BB+, as of January 15, 2026. Ratings checked September 27, 2026. Wendy’s: S&P Global Ratings B+, as of February 24, 2026. Ratings checked October 8, 2026. Restaurant counts from the companies’ 2025 Form 10-K filings. Cap rates, prices, building sizes and lease terms in the table are live figures from active listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks, which refresh weekly; asking cap rates are not closing cap rates, and lease terms are as stated in listing materials. Where a listing publishes NOI but no cap rate, we compute the cap rate from that NOI and the asking price; confirm whether the rent behind any cap rate is current or scheduled to start later.

Credit Rating: Two Parents Below Investment Grade

Burger King’s credit story centers on RBI’s reinvestment plan. S&P rates Restaurant Brands International BB+. RBI’s “Reclaim the Flame” plan, which RBI’s 2025 Form 10-K describes as investing up to $700 million through year-end 2028 in advertising and digital investments and in remodels, relocations, restaurant technology, kitchen equipment and building enhancements, is aimed at accelerating sales growth and driving franchisee profitability, and RBI also bought Carrols, then its largest US franchisee, in 2024 with plans to refranchise the vast majority of those restaurants. The full profile is on the Burger King credit rating and cap rate page.

Wendy’s capital structure is built largely on whole business securitization. S&P rates The Wendy’s Company B+. Details are on the Wendy’s credit rating and cap rate page, and both tenants can be benchmarked in our credit tenant ratings database.

Cap Rates: What the Asking Data Shows

Live asking cap rates for Burger King, Wendy’s and comparable tenants:

Active listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks with an asking cap rate (stated in the listing, or computed from its stated income and price when no rate is stated), listings last observed October 19, 2026. Asking cap rates are not closed-sale cap rates. The middle half is the range from the 25th to the 75th percentile of listings. The 10-year Treasury yield is 5.24% as of October 1, 2026 (FRED series DGS10). Ratings are the agency ratings in our ratings database for the entity shown, which may be a parent company; the rating type (for example issuer, senior unsecured debt, long-term debt or revenue bond ratings) varies by company and is shown on each tenant page. A rating applies to a lease only if the rated entity signs or guarantees it, so confirm the tenant and any guarantor in the lease. n/a means no verified rating is on file.

The live table above shows each brand’s median asking cap rate and the middle half of its listings; where a listing publishes NOI but no cap rate, the cap rate is computed from that NOI and the asking price. Within each brand, pricing varies with the lease obligor, remaining term, rent level and real estate. Many listings describe a lease as corporate guaranteed or franchisee guaranteed, but those are marketing descriptions, not proof of who is obligated or of any parent support, so we do not draw a pricing conclusion from them; confirm the tenant and guarantor in each lease.

A brand-level median does not explain itself. One possible explanation for any difference between the two brands’ medians, which would need testing property by property, is that buyers weigh real estate and operator strength more than the parent rating; differences in lease type, remaining term, location and which listings happen to be on the market could also explain it. Hard-corner drive-thru pads with good re-leasing potential may hold value even when the parent’s rating is weak, but that depends on the site.

Lease Structure and the Obligor Question

Lease terms vary: RBI’s 2025 Form 10-K says initial terms on its leases to franchisees generally range from 10 to 20 years, Wendy’s 2025 Form 10-K says its own restaurant leases generally run 15 to 20 years initially, in most cases with rent escalations and renewal options, and both systems are mostly franchised. That makes the tenant and guarantor named in the lease, not the brand, the real underwriting subject. A lease signed or guaranteed by a corporate entity carries that entity’s credit, which may differ from the rated parent, so confirm which entity is on the lease. Many listings in both systems are described as franchisee leases, where the relevant credit is a local or regional operator whose financials must be reviewed directly: store count, unit-level rent coverage, remodel status, and remaining term. Wendy’s also leases or subleases many restaurants to franchisees itself; it owned 491 and leased 1,146 such properties at the end of 2025, according to its 10-K.

RBI describes its reinvestment plan as aimed at driving franchisee profitability; if it succeeds, that could support franchisee leases even where RBI is not on the lease. For either brand, verify the specific operator rather than relying on system-wide trends.

The Debt Market View

Neither parent has an investment grade issuer rating from S&P, and neither company’s debt is the same thing as a lease. RBI’s bonds are first lien and second lien senior secured notes issued by RBI subsidiaries (RBI’s note indentures name 1011778 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company as issuer and New Red Finance, Inc. as co-issuer) and guaranteed by Restaurant Brands International Limited Partnership and, in the 10-K’s words, “substantially all of its Canadian and U.S. subsidiaries,” including Burger King Company LLC (RBI 2025 Form 10-K). Wendy’s long-term debt at December 28, 2025 consisted of fixed rate senior secured notes issued by Wendy’s Funding, LLC, a bankruptcy-remote subsidiary, in a whole business securitization; the notes are secured by what the 10-K calls “substantially all of the assets” of the securitization entities, with some exceptions including certain real estate, and those assets principally consist of franchise-related agreements, real estate, intellectual property and license agreements (Wendy’s 2025 Form 10-K). A noteholder has claims on a defined issuer, its guarantors and its collateral. A property owner has a claim on the tenant and any guarantor named in the lease, which is often a franchisee rather than any of these issuers or guarantors, and a franchisee lease is not equivalent to parent debt. The notes are income alternatives for investors who can access them, but they differ from a lease in structure, liquidity and tax treatment, so compare the specific instrument with the specific lease. The spread framework in Bonds vs NNN Real Estate: What the Spread Means applies to sub-investment-grade tenants too.

Verdict: Which Tenant Wins?

On parent ratings alone, S&P rates Restaurant Brands International Inc. (BB+) above The Wendy’s Company (B+). That does not settle which lease is stronger. A parent rating bears on a lease only where the rated entity signs or guarantees it, and many listings in both systems are described as franchisee leases. Compare the live asking cap rates above with each property’s lease obligor, remaining term and real estate.

Neither brand is uninvestable. For franchisee leases in either system, underwrite the site (corner, traffic counts, re-leasing depth) and the operator’s financial statements, and treat the parent rating as background rather than as the credit on the lease. If the goal is credit income from an obligor with an investment grade rating, neither parent currently has an investment grade issuer rating from S&P.