Fast-food chain Wendy’s Co. jumped the most in a month after reporting that the sales slump caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is easing.

U.S. same-store sales improved each week since the beginning of April, Wendy’s said in its quarterly earnings statement Wednesday. The figure, a key gauge for restaurants, rose in the first two months of the year before falling 7.7 per cent in March. That decline deepened to almost 26 per cent in the first week of April, but eased to 2.1 per cent by early May.

Gordon Haskett analyst Jeff Farmer called this a “stunning pace” of recovery. Sara Senatore, an analyst from Bernstein, said Wendy’s better performance than peers such as McDonald’s and Burger King is likely due to the addition of breakfast, which Wendy’s began offering in March.

Wendy’s shares surged as much as 11 per cent to US$20.83, the most intraday since April 8. The stock fell 15 per cent this year through Tuesday, including a steady recover in recent weeks after a mid-March plunge that coincided with the coronavirus lockdown.

On a call with analysts, company executives said only two weeks were “tough,” with dramatic declines in the U.S. They also noted that the arrival of stimulus checks has helped them.

Wendy’s characterized a shortage of beef products at some locations as “spot outages.” The chain is still getting regular deliveries for hamburgers, but is shifting its marketing to focus on chicken in the short term as beef supplies tighten across the U.S.

--With assistance from Janet Freund