Cracker Barrel vs Wendy's
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The short version
- Cracker Barrel is the larger business, with $3.3B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $2.2B for Wendy's, about 1.5 times as much.
- Wendy's grew revenue faster (−3.1%, against −4.7%).
- Wendy's kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (15.8% operating margin, against −0.4%).
- Wendy's turned more of its sales into free cash flow (11.2% FCF margin, against 2.7%).
| Latest fiscal year | CBRL · FY26 | WEN · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $1.5B | $1.2B |
| Revenue | $3.3B | $2.2B |
| Free cash flow | $88.4M | $243M |
| Net income | $31.7M | $165M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −4.7% | −3.1% |
| 5-year growth | 3.3% | 4.7% |
| Share count change | 0.4% | −5.6% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 69.1% | 63.6% |
| Operating margin | −0.4% | 15.8% |
| Net margin | 1.0% | 7.6% |
| FCF margin | 2.7% | 11.2% |
| Return on capital | — | 7.8% |
| Return on equity | 6.7% | — |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | — | $3.1B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | — | 6.3x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $23.1M | $330M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 9.4x |
| Piotroski F-score | — | 4 |
Revenue
FY17
CBRL $2.9B
WEN $1.2B
FY18
CBRL $3.0B
WEN $1.6B
FY19
CBRL $3.1B
WEN $1.7B
FY20
CBRL $2.5B
WEN $1.7B
FY21
CBRL $2.8B
WEN $1.9B
FY22
CBRL $3.3B
WEN $2.1B
FY23
CBRL $3.4B
WEN $2.2B
FY24
CBRL $3.5B
WEN $2.2B
FY25
CBRL $3.5B
WEN $2.2B
FY26
CBRL $3.3B
WEN —
CBRL
WEN
Operating margin
FY17
CBRL 10.7%
WEN 17.6%
FY18
CBRL 9.7%
WEN 15.7%
FY19
CBRL 9.2%
WEN 15.4%
FY20
CBRL 4.1%
WEN 15.5%
FY21
CBRL 13.0%
WEN 19.3%
FY22
CBRL 4.7%
WEN 16.9%
FY23
CBRL 3.5%
WEN 17.5%
FY24
CBRL 1.3%
WEN 16.5%
FY25
CBRL 1.6%
WEN 15.8%
FY26
CBRL −0.4%
WEN —
CBRL
WEN
Free cash flow
FY17
CBRL $210M
WEN $157M
FY18
CBRL $178M
WEN $154M
FY19
CBRL $225M
WEN $214M
FY20
CBRL −$136M
WEN $215M
FY21
CBRL $230M
WEN $268M
FY22
CBRL $107M
WEN $174M
FY23
CBRL $123M
WEN $260M
FY24
CBRL $40.7M
WEN $261M
FY25
CBRL $59.8M
WEN $243M
FY26
CBRL $88.4M
WEN —
CBRL
WEN
Return on capital
FY17
CBRL 27.1%
WEN 7.2%
FY18
CBRL 31.6%
WEN 7.0%
FY19
CBRL 25.9%
WEN 7.6%
FY20
CBRL 8.6%
WEN 6.9%
FY21
CBRL 33.8%
WEN 9.9%
FY22
CBRL 16.2%
WEN 8.2%
FY23
CBRL 13.1%
WEN 8.9%
FY24
CBRL 5.1%
WEN 8.4%
FY25
CBRL 6.1%
WEN 7.8%
FY26
CBRL —
WEN —
CBRL
WEN
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.