Wendy's Co
WEN · Retail-Eating & Drinking Places · 190.5M shares · -3%/yr ↓ buyback · EDGAR filings ↗
Net buyback after stock comp: $166M (gross $190M, SBC $24M)
Reference price $7.88 · est. market cap ~$1.5B — last insider purchase, 2025-11-20 (estimated from the dated SEC Form 4 price × shares outstanding — not a live quote)
Grade
C69High-margin franchised QSR with a real brand but stalling traffic, declining revenue/earnings, and a leverage-inflated ROE.
Strengths
- Strong operating margin (81st pct) and OCF margin (68.7th pct) from an asset-light, predominantly franchised royalty model
- #2 U.S. burger brand with 7,397 units and durable franchise economics
Risks
- Headline ROE 1.41 is a thin-equity artifact (debt-to-equity 23x, 99th pct), not genuine returns
- Negative revenue (-3.1%, 21.6th pct) and net income (-15%) with declining U.S. same-restaurant sales/traffic
Notable findings
- Exec changeRecent 8-K item 5.02 8-K ↗
- High leverageHigh leverage (debt/equity 23.26)
- Customer concentration~100% of revenue from one customer/distributor — 6 100
- Buying back stockNet buyback — share count -3%/yr over 4y
Quarterly revenue
Last 4 quarters · from SEC filings.
Key metrics
Gross margin
63.6%
Operating margin
15.8%
Net margin
7.6%
Return on equity
140.6%
Return on assets
3.3%
ROIC
9.5%
Revenue growth (QoQ)
-0.4%
Net-income growth
-15.1%
Debt / equity
23.3×
Net debt / EBITDA
4.9×
Current ratio
1.8×
EBITDA
$496M
Tangible book value
-$1.8B
Cash & investments
$326M
Stock comp / revenue
0.7%
Insider transactions · last 18 months
| Date | Insider | Type | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-20 | MAY PETER W | Grant | 21K | — |
| 2026-05-20 | WINKLEBLACK ARTHUR B | Grant | 33K | — |
| 2026-05-20 | Rothschild Peter | Grant | 21K | — |
| 2026-05-20 | Peltz Bradley G. | Grant | 21K | — |
| 2026-05-20 | Mathews-Spradlin Mich J | Grant | 21K | — |
| 2026-05-20 | Gomez Richard H. | Grant | 21K | — |
| 2026-05-20 | CARUSO-CABRERA MICHELLE | Grant | 21K | — |
| 2026-04-03 | MAY PETER W | Grant | 4.2K | $7.14 |
| 2026-04-03 | Peltz Bradley G. | Grant | 3.4K | $7.14 |
| 2026-04-03 | Dolan Kristin A | Grant | 1.0K | $7.14 |
| 2026-03-01 | O'Brien Matthew Coley | Option exercise | 19K | — |
| 2026-03-01 | O'Brien Matthew Coley | Tax withheld | 5.7K | $7.66 |
| 2026-02-23 | Spessard Matthew P | Grant | 2.5K | — |
| 2026-02-23 | Spessard Matthew P | Tax withheld | 858 | $7.77 |
| 2026-02-23 | Thuerk Suzanne M. | Grant | 1.7K | — |
| 2026-02-23 | Thuerk Suzanne M. | Tax withheld | 576 | $7.77 |
| 2026-02-23 | Wunsch E.J. | Grant | 12K | — |
| 2026-02-23 | Wunsch E.J. | Tax withheld | 4.1K | $7.77 |
| 2026-02-23 | O'Brien Matthew Coley | Grant | 7.8K | — |
| 2026-02-23 | O'Brien Matthew Coley | Tax withheld | 2.7K | $7.77 |
| 2026-02-23 | Esposito Liliana | Grant | 7.0K | — |
| 2026-02-23 | Esposito Liliana | Tax withheld | 2.4K | $7.77 |
| 2026-02-23 | Radkoski Lindsay J. | Grant | 2.5K | — |
| 2026-02-23 | Radkoski Lindsay J. | Tax withheld | 864 | $7.77 |
| 2026-02-20 | Spessard Matthew P | Option exercise | 3.5K | — |
| 2026-02-20 | Spessard Matthew P | Tax withheld | 1.2K | $8.09 |
| 2026-01-05 | MAY PETER W | Grant | 5.7K | $8.37 |
| 2026-01-05 | Dolan Kristin A | Grant | 1.6K | $8.37 |
| 2026-01-05 | Peltz Bradley G. | Grant | 2.9K | $8.37 |
| 2025-11-20 | Suerken Peter J. JR | Buy | 500 | $7.88 |
| 2025-11-19 | Min John | Buy | 1.7K | $8.18 |
| 2025-10-01 | MAY PETER W | Grant | 3.3K | $9.72 |
| 2025-10-01 | Dolan Kristin A | Grant | 1.3K | $9.72 |
| 2025-10-01 | Peltz Bradley G. | Grant | 4.8K | $9.72 |
| 2025-08-15 | Radkoski Lindsay J. | Option exercise | 2.6K | — |
| 2025-08-15 | Radkoski Lindsay J. | Tax withheld | 770 | $10.57 |
| 2025-08-12 | Thuerk Suzanne M. | Option exercise | 4.1K | — |
| 2025-08-12 | Thuerk Suzanne M. | Tax withheld | 1.2K | $10.11 |
| 2025-08-12 | Radkoski Lindsay J. | Option exercise | 4.9K | — |
| 2025-08-12 | Radkoski Lindsay J. | Tax withheld | 1.5K | $10.11 |
| 2025-08-11 | Spessard Matthew P | Option exercise | 580 | — |
| 2025-08-11 | Spessard Matthew P | Tax withheld | 169 | $10.30 |
| 2025-08-11 | Radkoski Lindsay J. | Option exercise | 580 | — |
| 2025-08-11 | Radkoski Lindsay J. | Tax withheld | 174 | $10.30 |
| 2025-08-11 | Wunsch E.J. | Option exercise | 2.9K | — |
| 2025-08-11 | Wunsch E.J. | Tax withheld | 851 | $10.30 |
| 2025-08-11 | O'Brien Matthew Coley | Option exercise | 1.8K | — |
| 2025-08-11 | O'Brien Matthew Coley | Tax withheld | 542 | $10.30 |
| 2025-08-11 | Esposito Liliana | Option exercise | 1.6K | — |
| 2025-08-11 | Esposito Liliana | Tax withheld | 473 | $10.30 |
| 2025-08-11 | Thuerk Suzanne M. | Option exercise | 387 | — |
| 2025-08-11 | Thuerk Suzanne M. | Tax withheld | 116 | $10.30 |
| 2025-08-05 | Thuerk Suzanne M. | Option exercise | 630 | — |
| 2025-08-05 | Thuerk Suzanne M. | Tax withheld | 189 | $9.95 |
| 2025-08-05 | O'Brien Matthew Coley | Option exercise | 2.5K | — |
| 2025-08-05 | O'Brien Matthew Coley | Tax withheld | 733 | $9.95 |
| 2025-08-05 | Wunsch E.J. | Option exercise | 5.1K | — |
| 2025-08-05 | Wunsch E.J. | Tax withheld | 1.5K | $9.95 |
| 2025-08-05 | Spessard Matthew P | Option exercise | 1.1K | — |
| 2025-08-05 | Spessard Matthew P | Tax withheld | 322 | $9.95 |
| 2025-08-05 | Esposito Liliana | Option exercise | 2.1K | — |
| 2025-08-05 | Esposito Liliana | Tax withheld | 625 | $9.95 |
| 2025-08-05 | Radkoski Lindsay J. | Option exercise | 1.0K | — |
| 2025-08-05 | Radkoski Lindsay J. | Tax withheld | 307 | $9.95 |
| 2025-07-24 | Peltz Bradley G. | Grant | 13K | — |
| 2025-07-01 | Peltz Matthew H. | Grant | 2.3K | $11.62 |
| 2025-07-01 | MAY PETER W | Grant | 2.2K | $11.62 |
| 2025-07-01 | Dolan Kristin A | Grant | 1.2K | $11.62 |
| 2025-06-03 | Radkoski Lindsay J. | Buy | 5.0K | $11.68 |
| 2025-05-23 | Cook Kenneth M. | Buy | 1.5K | $11.35 |
| 2025-05-21 | CARUSO-CABRERA MICHELLE | Grant | 14K | — |
| 2025-05-21 | MAY PETER W | Grant | 14K | — |
| 2025-05-21 | Peltz Matthew H. | Grant | 14K | — |
| 2025-05-21 | O'Brien Matthew Coley | Buy | 1.8K | $11.60 |
| 2025-05-21 | Gomez Richard H. | Grant | 14K | — |
| 2025-05-21 | Mathews-Spradlin Mich J | Grant | 14K | — |
| 2025-05-21 | Rothschild Peter | Grant | 14K | — |
| 2025-05-21 | WINKLEBLACK ARTHUR B | Grant | 20K | — |
| 2025-05-13 | Pringle Abigail E. | Gift | 25K | — |
| 2025-05-09 | Min John | Buy | 1.0K | $11.98 |
| 2025-05-05 | Pringle Abigail E. | Option exercise | 71K | $10.09 |
| 2025-05-05 | Pringle Abigail E. | Option exercise | 66K | $9.86 |
| 2025-05-05 | Pringle Abigail E. | Sell | 137K | $12.81 |
| 2025-04-02 | Dolan Kristin A | Grant | 812 | $15.16 |
| 2025-04-02 | Peltz Matthew H. | Grant | 1.8K | $15.16 |
| 2025-04-02 | MAY PETER W | Grant | 2.0K | $15.16 |
| 2025-03-26 | Wunsch E.J. | Other | 1.4K | — |
| 2025-03-17 | Min John | L | 5 | $15.32 |
| 2025-03-04 | GILBERT KENNETH W | Sell | 3.5K | $15.14 |
| 2025-02-22 | Tanner Kirk | Tax withheld | 45K | $15.21 |
| 2025-02-22 | Tanner Kirk | Option exercise | 118K | — |
| 2025-02-21 | Wunsch E.J. | Grant | 6.1K | — |
| 2025-02-21 | Wunsch E.J. | Tax withheld | 2.1K | $15.21 |
| 2025-02-21 | Esposito Liliana | Grant | 3.5K | — |
| 2025-02-21 | Esposito Liliana | Tax withheld | 1.2K | $15.21 |
| 2025-02-21 | O'Brien Matthew Coley | Grant | 3.5K | — |
| 2025-02-21 | O'Brien Matthew Coley | Tax withheld | 1.2K | $15.21 |
| 2025-02-21 | Spessard Matthew P | Grant | 1.2K | — |
| 2025-02-21 | Spessard Matthew P | Tax withheld | 424 | $15.21 |
| 2025-02-21 | Pringle Abigail E. | Grant | 9.4K | — |
| 2025-02-21 | Pringle Abigail E. | Tax withheld | 2.9K | $15.21 |
| 2025-01-03 | Peltz Matthew H. | Grant | 1.7K | $17.22 |
| 2025-01-03 | Dolan Kristin A | Grant | 702 | $17.22 |
| 2025-01-03 | MAY PETER W | Grant | 1.9K | $17.22 |
All non-derivative Form 4 activity (SEC), newest first.
Notable events (8-K)
| Date | Items | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-23 | Exec/director changeReg FDExhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2026-06-09 | Exec/director change | filing ↗ |
| 2026-05-22 | Exec/director changeShareholder voteExhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2026-05-20 | Exec/director changeReg FDExhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2026-05-08 | ResultsExhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2026-02-18 | Reg FDExhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2026-02-13 | ResultsExhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2026-01-22 | Reg FD | filing ↗ |
Recent filings
| Form | Filed | Period | Accession |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8-K | 2026-06-23 | 2026-06-19 | 0001193125-26-278576 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-06-09 | 2026-06-04 | 0001193125-26-263775 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-05-22 | 2026-05-20 | 0001193125-26-236835 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-05-20 | 2026-05-17 | 0001193125-26-231809 ↗ |
| 10-Q | 2026-05-08 | 2026-03-29 | 0000030697-26-000060 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-05-08 | 2026-05-08 | 0001193125-26-213270 ↗ |
| 10-K | 2026-02-23 | 2025-12-28 | 0000030697-26-000009 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-02-18 | 2026-02-18 | 0001193125-26-057462 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-02-13 | 2026-02-13 | 0001193125-26-049816 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-01-22 | 2026-01-22 | 0001193125-26-019652 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2025-12-16 | 2025-12-15 | 0001193125-25-321131 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2025-11-20 | 2025-11-19 | 0001193125-25-288625 ↗ |