Jack in the Box Inc. ($JACK) reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year which ended on September 29. The company saw an EPS of $0.95, $0.01 worse than analyst estimates as revenue came in a million dollars short. Despite the penny-pinching, data shows that the performance of Jack in the Box is on par with other fast-food restaurants such as In-N-Out Burger ($PRIVATE:PRIV_INNOUTBURGER) in its marketplace, aka the west coast.

The number of stores is staying steady, and the stock is bouncing back after the third-quarter earnings. 

Jack in the Box outnumbers In-N-Out locations by close to 2,000 stores. You can clearly see the expansion by Jack is to reach more of the U.S., especially in places like the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii.

You can zoom in anywhere and get a better picture of where these two are located, and how close they are to one another. In LA and San Diego, it almost seems as though they're right on top of each other.

And yet, there are still data points that would indicate the opposite was true. In-N-Out quadruples Jack in Instagram followers, even though both post frequently and have strong brand identities on their accounts.

Facebook likes is more than doubled. There isn't any reason to suggest this shouldn't be the case, but yet, it is.

The most damning thing is the Facebook Were Here count, which has only gone up for In-N-Out. In the last three years of data we collected, In-N-Out's Were Here went up by over two million people, whereas Jack's increased only slightly over that same time.

The trajectory of hiring is the same, but the sheer number of stores allows Jack in the Box to outnumber In-N-Out for total headcount. This does not factor in the quality of the food, which we cannot attest to, being based in New York.

The only victory for Jack in the Box when it comes to social data is that In-N-Out doesn't have an official Twitter account, so it technically wins there. We called In-N-Out to verify, and they confirmed they don't do Twitter. As strange as it is, maybe they don't need it? If you can run a business without a social media platform, more power to you.

About the Data: 

Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales. 

Further Reading: 

Ad placeholder