When Wendy's (WEN) CEO Emil Brolick was hired last year, the burger chain was in the midst of an identity crisis. That's no longer the case.

The company made famous in folksy commercials featuring its late founder Dave Thomas has moved into the lucrative fast casual market with premium offerings such as the W burger. Brolick is also sprucing up the chain's locations and stressing the importance of good service. Though he took the job only in November, he is already seeing results.

Revenue in the last three months of 2011 gained 5.6% to $615 million, surpassing the $613 million predicted by analysts, though income from continuing operations fell 30% to $4.3 million. Same-store sales in North America rose 4.4% -- the chain's best performance in eight years -- helped by the popularity of offerings such as the revamped Dave's Hot 'N Juicy cheeseburger. Skeptics are clearly coming around.

For instance, the blog GrubGrade gave a positive review to the W burger, saying, "I didn't love it by any means -- and God knows I probably put something tastier in my mouth that very day, much less the entire year -- but I honestly enjoyed it for what it was."

Investors have also liked what they've been seeing. Shares are up nearly 7% over the past year, outperforming McDonald's (MCD), which eked out a gain of 1.53% during that same time. Earnings per share are expected to hit 18 cents this year and 24 cents next year, which would be a significant improvement from the 14-cent level Wendy's has earned for the past three years. Corporate insiders are also loading up on shares.

The one negative on Wendy's stock is that analysts have a one-year price target of $5.55, which is about where it trades now. If the company continues to improve, those figures will be adjusted.

Jonathan Berr is a freelance business writer. He owns shares of McDonald's.