Shake Shack vs Wendy's
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The short version
- Wendy's is the larger business, with $2.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.4B for Shake Shack, about 1.5 times as much.
- Shake Shack grew revenue faster (15.4%, against −3.1%).
- Wendy's kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (15.8% operating margin, against 4.3%).
- Wendy's turned more of its sales into free cash flow (11.2% FCF margin, against 3.9%).
- Shake Shack earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (9.6%, against 7.8%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Shake Shack’s earnings: a P/E of 68.6x against 9.4x for Wendy's.
| Latest fiscal year | SHAK · FY25 | WEN · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $2.7B | $1.2B |
| Revenue | $1.4B | $2.2B |
| Free cash flow | $56.5M | $243M |
| Net income | $45.7M | $165M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 15.4% | −3.1% |
| 5-year growth | 22.6% | 4.7% |
| Share count change | −5.3% | −5.6% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 63.6% |
| Operating margin | 4.3% | 15.8% |
| Net margin | 3.2% | 7.6% |
| FCF margin | 3.9% | 11.2% |
| Return on capital | 9.6% | 7.8% |
| Return on equity | 9.2% | — |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$96.7M | $3.1B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.6x | 6.3x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $0.0M | $330M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 68.6x | 9.4x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 4 |
Revenue
FY16
SHAK $269M
WEN $1.4B
FY17
SHAK $359M
WEN $1.2B
FY18
SHAK $459M
WEN $1.6B
FY19
SHAK $595M
WEN $1.7B
FY20
SHAK $523M
WEN $1.7B
FY21
SHAK $740M
WEN $1.9B
FY22
SHAK $901M
WEN $2.1B
FY23
SHAK $1.1B
WEN $2.2B
FY24
SHAK $1.3B
WEN $2.2B
FY25
SHAK $1.4B
WEN $2.2B
SHAK
WEN
Operating margin
FY16
SHAK 10.4%
WEN 21.9%
FY17
SHAK 9.4%
WEN 17.6%
FY18
SHAK 6.9%
WEN 15.7%
FY19
SHAK 4.3%
WEN 15.4%
FY20
SHAK −8.4%
WEN 15.5%
FY21
SHAK −2.1%
WEN 19.3%
FY22
SHAK −3.0%
WEN 16.9%
FY23
SHAK 0.5%
WEN 17.5%
FY24
SHAK 0.2%
WEN 16.5%
FY25
SHAK 4.3%
WEN 15.8%
SHAK
WEN
Free cash flow
FY16
SHAK −$0.2M
WEN $43.8M
FY17
SHAK $9.4M
WEN $157M
FY18
SHAK −$2.1M
WEN $154M
FY19
SHAK −$16.7M
WEN $214M
FY20
SHAK −$31.7M
WEN $215M
FY21
SHAK −$43.1M
WEN $268M
FY22
SHAK −$65.8M
WEN $174M
FY23
SHAK −$14.0M
WEN $260M
FY24
SHAK $35.7M
WEN $261M
FY25
SHAK $56.5M
WEN $243M
SHAK
WEN
Return on capital
FY16
SHAK 20.2%
WEN 7.1%
FY17
SHAK 12.6%
WEN 7.2%
FY18
SHAK 13.8%
WEN 7.0%
FY19
SHAK 10.2%
WEN 7.6%
FY20
SHAK −13.3%
WEN 6.9%
FY21
SHAK −4.3%
WEN 9.9%
FY22
SHAK −6.1%
WEN 8.2%
FY23
SHAK 1.5%
WEN 8.9%
FY24
SHAK 0.5%
WEN 8.4%
FY25
SHAK 9.6%
WEN 7.8%
SHAK
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.