Cracker Barrel Q3 Earnings Surpass Estimates, Revenues Miss

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. CBRL posted third-quarter fiscal 2025 results, with earnings beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate and revenues missing the same. The top line increased year over year, while the bottom line fell from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.  

Following the results, the company’s shares declined 7.2% yesterday during trading hours. Negative investor sentiments were witnessed as the company cited concerns over softer traffic trends and macroeconomic uncertainty.

Earnings & Revenues of CBRL

For third-quarter fiscal 2025, the company reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 58 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 17 cents. The company’s earnings declined 34.1% year over year. (See the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making news.)

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. Quote

Quarterly revenues of $821.1 million missed the consensus mark of $827 million. The top line increased 0.5% year over year.

CBRL’s Comps Details

Comparable-store restaurant sales increased 1% in the reported quarter compared with the same period in fiscal 2024. Comparable-store retail sales decreased 3.8% year over year. In the quarter, menu pricing increases were 4.9% year over year. Our model predicted comparable-store restaurant sales growth of 1.8%.

Operating Highlights of CBRL

In the fiscal third quarter, the cost of goods sold (excluding depreciation and rent) was $247.3 million, which was up 1% year over year. As a percentage of total revenues, the cost of goods sold (excluding depreciation and rent) increased 10 basis points year over year to 30.1%. Per our model, the metric was anticipated at 30.5%. 

General and administrative expenses totaled $46 million, down 16% year over year. Our prediction for the metric was $53.9 million.

Adjusted net income in the fiscal third quarter amounted to $13.1 million compared with $19.6 million reported in the year-ago quarter. Our prediction for the metric was $5 million.

Balance Sheet of CBRL

As of May 2, 2025, cash and cash equivalents were $9.8 million compared with $11.9 million as of April 26, 2024.

Inventory at the fiscal third-quarter end reached $168.9 million, down 3.8% year over year.

Long-term debt as of May 2, 2025, was $489.4 million compared with $472.2 million as of April 26, 2024.

CBRL declared a cash dividend of 25 cents per share. The dividend will be paid out on Aug. 13, 2025, to its shareholders on record as of July 18.

CBRL’s 2025 Guidance

For fiscal 2025, the company expects revenues in the range of $3.45-$3.5 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is anticipated to be between $215 million and $225 million, up from the earlier projection of $210 million to $220 million.

Management continues to expect commodity inflation to be in the mid-2% range compared with the prior expectation of 2% to 3%. Hourly wage inflation is anticipated to be in the mid-2% range compared with the prior estimate of 3%.

Capital expenditures are envisioned in the range of $160-$170 million.

CBRL’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Cracker Barrel currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the Zacks Retail-Wholesale sector are BJ's Restaurants, Inc. BJRI, Wingstop Inc. WING and Brinker International, Inc. EAT.

BJ's Restaurants currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
 
BJ's Restaurants delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of negative 101.2%, on average. The stock has inched up 24.6% in the year-to-date period. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BJ's Restaurants’ 2025 sales and EPS implies growth of 3.1% and 21.1%, respectively, from the year-ago levels.
 
Wingstop presently has a Zacks Rank #2. The company delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 6.1%, on average. The stock has gained 30.7% in the year-to-date period.
 
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Wingstop’s 2025 sales and EPS indicates an increase of 16.8% and 6.6%, respectively, from the year-ago levels.

Brinker currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. The company delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 24.5%, on average. The stock has increased 28% in the year-to-date period.
 
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Brinker’s 2025 sales and EPS indicates growth of 20.9% and 113.7%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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