Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc (CBRL) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Revenue …

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Release Date: September 17, 2025

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

• Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc (NASDAQ:CBRL) reported a 4.4% increase in total revenue for Q4, excluding the benefit from the fifty-third week in the prior year.

• The company achieved a 5.4% growth in comparable store restaurant sales, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of positive growth.

• Adjusted EBIT grew by 9% for the full fiscal year 2025, demonstrating strong financial performance.

• The loyalty program has seen significant growth, with membership increasing by 3 million people over the past year, now totaling over 9 million members.

• Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc (NASDAQ:CBRL) has implemented a new $100 million share repurchase program and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share.

• Traffic for the first half of August was down approximately 1%, and since August 19th, traffic has declined by approximately 8%.

• Comparable store retail sales decreased by 0.8% in Q4.

• The company incurred a non-cash store impairment charge of $16.2 million related to low-performing Maple Street stores.

• Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc (NASDAQ:CBRL) anticipates a Q1 traffic decline of approximately 7% to 8%, impacting future earnings.

• The company faces challenges with commodity inflation, particularly in beef, pork, and egg prices, affecting cost of goods sold.

Q: Given the traffic performance following the logo change, how are you planning to adjust your marketing strategy to drive traffic recovery? A: (Julie Massino, CEO) We expect marketing as a percent of sales to be slightly higher in fiscal 2026 than in 2025, with a particular increase in Q1. We are continuing to invest in marketing to drive traffic, especially given the current headwinds.

Q: Was the focus on improving food quality always part of the plan, or is it a response to recent feedback? A: (Julie Massino, CEO) Food quality has always been a priority in our plan, along with process simplification to improve productivity. We are continuously evaluating processes and listening to team members to ensure food quality and value scores remain high.

Q: Can you provide more details on the traffic trends and any improvements seen since the logo change? A: (Craig Camels, CFO) Before the logo change, traffic was down about 1%. Since then, we’ve seen a decline, but we expect sequential improvement each quarter, with a greater rate of improvement in the second half of the year.