As previously reported, Longbow analyst Alton Stump downgraded Restaurant Brands to Underperform from Neutral, telling investors that his latest talks with domestic Burger King franchisees points to "a significant level of discord" between corporate and franchisees related to the company's recently more aggressive discounting strategy. Comparable sales growth at the brand has decelerated from nearly 4% average growth in the second half of 2017 and early 2018 to be flattish over the last three quarters as corporate has not yet been able to meaningfully upgrade its everyday value platform, said Stump. Though the relationship between corporate and Tim Hortons franchisees in Canada has improved, his franchisee contacts were disappointed with comp performance in Q1, added the analyst, who set a $55 price target on the stock.