BJ's Restaurants vs Shake Shack
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put BJ's Restaurants and Shake Shack side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Shake Shack is the larger business, with $1.4B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.4B for BJ's Restaurants.
- Shake Shack grew revenue faster (15.4%, against 3.1%).
- Shake Shack kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (4.3% operating margin, against 3.3%).
- Shake Shack turned more of its sales into free cash flow (3.9% FCF margin, against 2.9%).
- BJ's Restaurants earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (11.1%, against 9.6%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Shake Shack’s earnings: a P/E of 68.6x against 30.2x for BJ's Restaurants.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
BJ's Restaurants
BJRI
3/10
Net marginReturn on capitalReturn on equity
Shake Shack
SHAK
6/10
Revenue growth5-year growthOperating marginFCF marginNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | BJRI FY25 | SHAK FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $1.2B | $2.7B |
| Revenue | $1.4B | $1.4B |
| Free cash flow | $40.9M | $56.5M |
| Net income | $48.8M | $45.7M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 3.1% | 15.4% |
| 5-year growth | 12.4% | 22.6% |
| Share count change | −4.8% | −5.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 74.8% | — |
| Operating margin | 3.3% | 4.3% |
| Net margin | 3.5% | 3.2% |
| FCF margin | 2.9% | 3.9% |
| Return on capital | 11.1% | 9.6% |
| Return on equity | 13.3% | 9.2% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $61.2M | −$96.7M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.5x | −0.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $67.8M | $0.0M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 30.2x | 68.6x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 7 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.