The Wendy's Company

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places

WENStrained7 of 11 basics passed

$6.24

+0.32%

Market cap $1.19B

$6.24

+0.32%

Market cap $1.19B

The Wendy's Co is engaged in operating, developing, and franchising a system of distinctive quick-service restaurants serving high-quality food. The company operates through Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate & Development.

It is a $1.19B consumer company. Revenue shrank 1.0% over the last year, it keeps 6¢ of every dollar of sales as profit, and its net debt equals ~9.2 years of free cash flow. It trades at 9.9× earnings — in the cheapest third of its own history.

Website: wendys.com
Location: Dublin, OH
Employees: 14 900
Sector: Consumer Cyclical
Founded: 1884

Share price · 3 years

$19.47 → $6.24-68.0%

price only — dividends excluded

Key facts · TTM

Revenue: total sales; $2.20B
Profit: keeps 6¢ of every $1 sold; $126M
Free cash flow: cash left after running the business; $264M
Net debt: debt minus cash on hand; $2.43B
P/E: years of profit in the price; 9.9
EPS: earnings per share, TTM; $0.65
Dividend: pays out 85% of profit · 38% of FCF; 8.51%
Shares: down 14% since 2020 — buybacks; 194.2M
Volatility: beta vs the market — under 1 swings less; 0.39

Revenue, last 10 years

52-week range

Low $6.10$6.24High $9.33

Today's price is 4% of the way from the year's low to its high.

P/E vs its history5y

9.4×median 19.8×

Higher than 13% of past days — in the cheapest third of its own history.

Valuation vs own history

P/E

9.4×

87%

P/S

0.5×

100%

EV/EBITDA

16.4×

52%

P/B

9.9×

89%

FCF yield

22.2%

100%

Share of the last ~5 years that was pricier than today (unusually cheap vs its own history). Based on the daily valuation record.

Standing in Consumer Cyclical

Size$1.19Btop 98%
Revenue growth+1%top 78%
Net margin6%top 59%
Return on equity109%top 13%
P/E9.9×top 5%
Dividend yield8.51%top 1%

Ranked against 99 Consumer Cyclical companies with a full CV — for P/E, lower ranks higher.

Skills

Six independent scores, 0–100, built from reported numbers and valuation history. Click a row to see how it was scored.

Strong valuation and quality; Growth and Health lag behind.

Valuation100

P/E vs own history13th pct · 25/25
FCF yield22.2% · 25/25
P/S0.6x · 25/25
EV/EBITDA9.1x · 25/25

Growth26

Revenue CAGR3.5% · 6/25
Net income CAGR-4.7% · 0/25
EPS CAGR ~5Y10.3% · 20/25
Fwd implied growth-24.2% · 0/25

Profitability55

ROIC6.5% · 5/25
ROE109.0% · 25/25
Net margin5.7% · 13/25
Operating margin13.6% · 12/25

Health36

Altman Z0.68 · 3/25
Current ratio1.90 · 18/25
Interest coverage2.8x · 10/25
Net cash / debtD/A 49% · 5/25

Quality85

Piotroski F4/9 · 10/25
Beneish M-2.79 · 25/25
FCF conversion210% · 25/25
Margin stabilityσ 2.8% · 25/25

Moat68

ROIC >12% years0/10 yrs · 0/25
Median gross margin64.1% · 25/25
FCF-positive years10/10 yrs · 25/25
Worst-year net marginworst 6.8% · 18/25

How the scores work →

Experience

The company's career so far — founding, the IPO, landmark products and acquisitions, plus revenue milestones and insider buying.

FY2018Financial
Best year on record
$460M net income
FY2016Financial
Profitable every year on record
10 consecutive profitable years in our data
FY2016Financial
Revenue already above $1B
$1.44B in first reported year
FY2016Financial
Positive free cash flow every year since
10-year streak
Apr 24, 2008Acquisition
Triarc announced the acquisition of Wendy's International, the fast food company
2000Acquisition
Snapple, Mistic, and Stewart's (formerly Cable Car Beverage) was sold by Triarc to candy company Cadbury Schweppes…
1993Acquisition
As part of its acquisition by Trian, DWG's name was changed to Triarc Companies, Inc in 1993
1986Acquisition
Posner approached one of his backers, Carl Lindner, Jr. for assistance, but by 1986, Lindner's American Financial…
1984Acquisition
DWG bought beverage company Royal Crown Cola and its fast food subsidiary Arby's through a hostile takeover in 1984
1965Milestone
DWG Cigar changed its name to DWG…
May 15, 1946Milestone
The company changed its name to DWG Cigar Corporation on May 15, 1946
1930Acquisition
DWG was a small firm, and to maintain market share, it purchased other small cigar companies like Odin cigars in…
Jan 23, 1929Acquisition
Deisel-Wemmer incorporated as Deisel-Wemmer-Gilbert Corporation (DWG)
1884Founded
The present-day Wendy's Company had several predecessors, the oldest of which (Deisel-Wemmer Co., a cigar…

Achievements

Verifiable track record, straight from the reported numbers.

$10 000 invested in 2021 would be worth ~$2 778 today — price return only

$2.2B revenue in FY2025

Profitable 10 years in a row

Positive free cash flow 10 years in a row

14 900 employees

Strengths & watch-outs

What a bull and a bear would each point to. Both lists come from the reported numbers, not opinions.

Strengths

High gross margin (59.8%)

Watch-outs

Revenue shrinking 1.0% year over year
Altman Z-Score 0.68 — elevated financial-distress risk
Net debt would take ~14.1 years of free cash flow to repay
Net debt equals ~9.2 years of free cash flow

Qualifications

The basics a company should meet before you research it further. Each check uses the reported numbers.

7 of 11 checks passed

Revenue growing — the company sells more than a year ago-1.0% YoY
Profitable — makes more than it spends$126M TTM
Profit growing — earnings are higher than last year+1.2% YoY
Generates cash — cash left after running and investing$264M TTM
Debt under control — could handle its obligations~9.2y of cash flow to repay
Established company — not a micro-cap — lower blow-up risk$1.19B market cap
Not printing shares — share count not ballooning — you keep your slice-14.3% shares over ~5y
Proven track record — years of profitability behind it10/10 profitable years
Financially stable — balance sheet not near distressAltman Z 0.7 — distress
Pays a dividend — returns cash to shareholdersyield 8.51%
Valuation not extreme — price not wildly above earningsP/E 9.9

Peer comparisonThe Wendy's Company vs 6 largest consumer cyclical peers — cap, P/E, growth and margin side by sideOpen ▾

Company	Market cap	P/E	Revenue growth	Net margin	Profile
WEN this company	$1.2B	9.9	-1.0%	5.7%	Strained
AMZN Amazon.Com Inc	$2.8T	20.9	+15.8%	17.4%	Mixed
TSLA Tesla, Inc.	$1.5T	397.1	+11.8%	3.7%	Strong
NFLX NetFlix Inc	$292.8B	21.4	+16.0%	28.2%	Solid
HD Home Depot, Inc.	$290.4B	20.4	-16.0%	8.7%	Solid
DIS The Walt Disney Company	$186.5B	21.7	+4.6%	8.7%	Solid
MCD McDonald's Corporation	$166.9B	18.9	+6.3%	31.7%	Strained

Head-to-head: WEN vs AMZN · WEN vs TSLA · WEN vs NFLX

References

What covering analysts publish about the company — information only, not a recommendation.

Strong buy 2Buy 2Hold 19Sell 8Strong sell 2

Appendix · Financial records

The full statements behind this CV, FY2016–FY2025. For readers who want to check the numbers.

Profit & lossRevenue $2.20B · net income $126M (TTM)Open ▾

Profit & loss

Revenue and profit over the company's career — the income statement, visualised.

How FY2025 revenue flows to profit

RevenueNet income

Revenue (TTM)

$2.20B

YoY -1.0%

Net income (TTM)

$126M

Margin 5.7%

Gross margin

59.8%

Operating margin

13.6%

P/E ratio

9.9

Dividend yield

8.51%

Income statement — full detail

Figures in USD billions · EPS in USD

	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Revenue	1.7	1.9	2.1	2.2	2.2	2.2
Gross profit	1.1	1.3	1.3	1.4	1.5	1.4
Operating income (EBIT)	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.3
Net income	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
EPS (diluted)	0.52	0.89	0.82	0.97	0.95	0.85

Cash flowFree cash flow $264M · operating cash flow $358M (TTM)Open ▾

Cash flow statement

Cash generated by the business and what is left after investment — year by year.

Operating cash flowFree cash flow

Free cash flow (TTM)

$264M

Margin 12.0%

Operating cash flow (TTM)

$358M

FCF margin

12.0%

Cash flow statement — full detail

Figures in USD billions

	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Operating cash flow	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.3
Capital expenditure	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1
Free cash flow	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.2
FCF margin	12.4%	14.1%	8.3%	11.9%	11.6%	11.1%

Balance sheetAssets $4.96B · net debt $2.43B (FY2025)Open ▾

Balance sheet

How the balance sheet is built — what it owns versus how it is financed.

How $4.96B of assets is financed

98%

Liabilities $4.84B — borrowed moneyEquity $117M — owners' stake

Cash vs debt

Total debt $2.73B − cash $301M = net debt $2.43B

Cash on hand covers 11% of debt.

Altman Z-Score

0.68

Distress zone

Debt repayment

14.1 yrs

Years of free cash flow to clear net debt

Interest coverage

2.8x

EBIT ÷ interest expense

ROE

109.0%

Profit per $1 of equity

Balance sheet — full detail

Figures in USD billions

	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Cash & equivalents	0.3	0.2	0.7	0.5	0.5	0.3
Total assets	5.0	5.1	5.5	5.2	5.0	5.0
Total liabilities	4.5	4.7	5.0	4.9	4.8	4.8
Total debt	2.2	2.4	2.8	2.7	2.7	2.7
Equity	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.3	0.3	0.1
Net debt	1.9	2.1	2.1	2.2	2.2	2.4

Want the live picture — intraday moves, valuation history and full analysis?

Deeper analysis of WEN on PreMarketPrice

Figures are derived from company filings (quarterly values normalised from as-filed year-to-date data where applicable) and may be delayed, restated or incomplete. This page is information, not investment advice. Latest price $6.24 · market cap $1.19B.