Wendy's
WEN Nasdaq· Restaurants
Last close · Oct 27, 2026
$6.14
KIRA · Stoqly’s AI analyst, in plain words
- Wendy's had $2.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025, down 3.1% on the year before. Over five years, revenue changed +4.7% a year on average.
- Its operating margin was 15.8%, down 0.8 pts: of every 100 in sales, about 16 is left after running the business.
- Wendy's made $165M of net profit in fiscal 2025. From fiscal 2016 to 2025, diluted EPS grew 6.3% a year.
- Free cash flow was $243M in fiscal 2025, 11.2% of revenue.
- Wendy's returned $330M to shareholders in fiscal 2025, 136% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 5.6%.
- Wendy's owes $3.1B more than it holds in cash, about 6.3 years of operating profit.
Market cap
$1.2B
P/E
9.3x
Revenue
$2.2B
Net income
$165M
Free cash flow
$243M
Operating margin
15.8%
Wendy's in 30 seconds · fiscal 2025
Are sales growing?
−3.1%
No. Sales fell 3.1% last year.
Does it make a profit?
7.6%
A little. It keeps 7.6% of every sale as profit.
Does profit turn into cash?
11.2%
Yes. 11.2% of sales ends up as free cash.
Is debt under control?
6.3x
Heavy. Repaying its debt would take 6.3 years of operating profit.
How healthy are the accounts?
4 / 9
Mixed. It passes 4 of 9 health tests.
How is the share priced?
9.3x
One share costs 9.3 times its yearly profit per share. Typical for its sector: 17.9x.
What Wendy's does
Wendy's operates and franchises quick-service restaurants that sell hamburgers and other fast food. It says it is the second largest company in the U.S. hamburger sandwich segment by traffic and dollar share, with 7,397 restaurants in the U.S. and 38 other countries and U.S. territories at the end of 2025. Nearly all restaurants are run by franchisees, who are independent owners. Of the 5,969 U.S. restaurants, 5,546 were run by franchisees and 423 by Wendy's itself. Franchisees pay a monthly royalty of 4.0% of sales, plus a fee for each new restaurant. The company reports three segments: Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International and Global Real Estate & Development. Wendy's competes with other restaurant chains, grocery stores, food delivery services and other places that sell food. It announced a plan called Project Fresh in 2025, with four parts: brand revitalization, operational excellence, system optimization and capital allocation.
Biggest risks, in its own words
- Competition from other restaurants and grocery stores, and a poor customer experience.
- Its mostly franchised model, which depends on franchisees' health and decisions.
- Food safety events or health concerns that hurt its brand.
- Whether Project Fresh and its other strategic plans succeed.
- Fiscal year ends
- December 28, 2025
- Latest annual report
- 10-K · Feb 23, 2026
- Legal name
- Wendy's Co
- CIK
- 0000030697
Wendy's · WEN
Results and finances
The last 5 fiscal years. Amounts in USD.
| Fiscal year | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales and profit | |||||
| Revenue | $1.9B | $2.1B | $2.2B | $2.2B | $2.2B |
| Revenue growth | 9.4% | 10.5% | 4.1% | 3.0% | −3.1% |
| Gross margin | 67.8% | 63.1% | 63.6% | 65.1% | 63.6% |
| Operating margin | 19.3% | 16.9% | 17.5% | 16.5% | 15.8% |
| Net income | $200M | $177M | $204M | $194M | $165M |
| Net margin | 10.6% | 8.5% | 9.4% | 8.7% | 7.6% |
| Diluted EPS | $0.89 | $0.82 | $0.97 | $0.95 | $0.85 |
| Cash | |||||
| Cash from operations | $346M | $260M | $345M | $355M | $345M |
| Capital expenditure | $78.0M | $85.5M | $85.0M | $94.4M | $102M |
| Free cash flow | $268M | $174M | $260M | $261M | $243M |
| FCF margin | 14.1% | 8.3% | 11.9% | 11.6% | 11.2% |
| Dividends paid | $94.8M | $107M | $209M | $204M | $130M |
| Share buybacks | $269M | $51.9M | $190M | $77.4M | $201M |
| Share count change | −1.6% | −3.8% | −2.0% | −2.8% | −5.6% |
| Debt and strength | |||||
| Cash and short-term investments | $249M | $746M | $516M | $451M | $301M |
| Debt incl. finance leases | $3.0B | $3.4B | $3.4B | $3.3B | $3.4B |
| Shareholders' equity | $436M | $466M | $310M | $259M | $117M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 5.5x | 5.5x | 5.5x | 5.6x | 6.3x |
| Current ratio | 1.4x | 2.7x | 2.2x | 1.9x | 1.8x |
| Interest coverage | 3.4x | 2.9x | 3.1x | 3.0x | 2.7x |
| Returns and quality | |||||
| Return on capital | 9.9% | 8.2% | 8.9% | 8.4% | 7.8% |
| Return on equity | 40.7% | 39.3% | 52.7% | 68.3% | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
| Altman Z'' | 1.0 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.1 |
Insiders bought, 12 months
$0.0M
2 insiders
Insiders sold, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Of sales under plans
—
$0.0M
How to read these numbers
- Revenue:
- Total sales reported in the income statement.
- Operating margin:
- Operating income as a share of revenue.
- Net income:
- Profit after all expenses, interest and tax.
- Free cash flow:
- Cash from operations minus capital spending.
- Net debt / EBITDA:
- Years of EBITDA needed to pay off net debt. Below zero means more cash than debt.
- Return on capital:
- After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
Wendy's · WEN
Charts and comparison
Ten years at a glance, and how it stacks up against similar companies.
Revenue
Net income
Margins, % of revenue
Cash vs debt (incl. leases)
Free cash flow
Dividends and buybacks
Similar companies
Each company’s latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so periods don’t line up exactly.
| Company | Market cap | Growth | Op. margin | FCF margin | ROIC | P/E | F-score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wendy's WEN | $1.2B | −3.1% | 15.8% | 11.2% | 7.8% | 9.3x | 4 |
| Dave & Buster's PLAY | $264M | −1.4% | 4.1% | −4.8% | 4.1% | — | 6 |
| Papa John's PZZA | $598M | −0.3% | 4.3% | 3.0% | 19.3% | 22.9x | 4 |
| Dutch Bros BROS | $5.6B | 27.9% | 9.8% | 3.3% | 11.9% | 57.8x | 5 |
| Shake Shack SHAK | $2.7B | 15.4% | 4.3% | 3.9% | 9.6% | 67.9x | 7 |
Price compared with profit (P/E)
How many times its yearly profit per share one share costs. Higher means investors pay more for each unit of profit.
KIRA
At $6.14 a share, the company is worth $1.2B: 9.3 times its earnings of the last four quarters.
Wendy's grew sales faster than 0 of its 4 similar companies. Its P/E is higher than 0 of 3.
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0000030697). Data updated October 20, 2026. For information only — not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.