WEN earnings analysis
What we found in WEN's 10-Q: the parts that mattered, the offsets in the same document, and what the company said about what comes next.
Our reading of the filing · Free to read, no account needed
Wendy’s reported $570.6 million of revenue and $0.18 of diluted EPS for Q2 2026. Revenue improved year over year and beat the supplied estimate, but EPS declined 37.9% from $0.29, while gross margin remained at 45.1% and free cash flow was $39 million. The filing excerpt provides no segment, balance-sheet, operating-cash-flow, capex, or quantitative guidance detail; it also reports no material risk-factor changes as of June 28, 2026.
The parts that mattered.
Pulled out of the filing itself, with the figures the company reported.
- Revenue improved year over year
- Revenue was $570.6 million, up approximately 1.7% from $561 million in Q2 2025 and up approximately 5.5% from $541 million in Q1 2026. The company also exceeded the supplied consensus estimate of $559.4 million by approximately 2.0%.
- EPS beat estimates but fell sharply
- Diluted EPS was $0.18 versus $0.29 in Q2 2025, a decline of $0.11 or approximately 37.9%, but exceeded the supplied $0.16 estimate by $0.02.
- Gross margin remains pressured
- Gross margin was 45.1%, versus 64.0% in the immediately prior quarter and 45.1% in Q2 2025. The sequential decline was 18.9 percentage points, although the year-over-year comparison was flat.
- Operating margin recovered sequentially
- Operating margin was 18.5%, up from 11.7% in Q1 2026 by 6.8 percentage points and up from 16.8% in Q3 2025 by 1.7 percentage points. The supplied history does not provide a comparable Q2 2025 operating-margin deterioration despite the EPS decline.
- Free cash flow was stable year over year
- Free cash flow was $39 million, down from $48 million in Q1 2026 by $9 million, and flat with the supplied Q2 2025 level of $39 million. The filing excerpt does not disclose operating cash flow or capital expenditures.
- No material control deficiencies reported
- Disclosure controls were assessed as effective at a reasonable assurance level as of June 28, 2026, and the company reported no changes in internal control that materially affected, or were reasonably likely to materially affect, reporting controls during Q2 2026.
And the other side of it.
The offsets in the same document — the things a summary that only listed the good news would have left out.
- No material risk-factor updates
- The filing states that there were no material changes from the Form 10-K risk factors as of June 28, 2026. Accordingly, no new or escalated risk-factor disclosure was identified versus the prior annual filing.
- Debt and cash-flow obligations
- Wendy’s continues to identify debt and securitized-financing risks, including covenant compliance and the ability to generate sufficient cash flow for debt service. The excerpt does not disclose a current debt balance or covenant headroom, limiting quantitative assessment.
- Capital allocation flexibility
- The company disclosed that 3,636 shares were reacquired during Q2 2026 at an average price of $7.21, while $35,000,024 remained available under the repurchase plans. Capital allocation remains a risk because repurchases and dividends compete with liquidity and turnaround investment.
- Litigation exposure is not quantifiable
- The filing says the aggregate possible range of loss for existing litigation and claims could not be estimated, and future developments could materially affect financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows in a particular reporting period.
What they reported.
What the company itself reported, taken out of the document.
- Earnings per share
- $0.18
- Gross margin
- 45.1%
- Operating margin
- 18.5%
What they said about what is next.
The 10-Q contains no quantitative revenue or EPS outlook. It provides general forward-looking language but does not state numeric guidance; recent guidance commentary is outside the filing.
The filing reads worse than the one before it.
What came before.
- 10-Q · May 8, 2026
- Wendy's reported a solid Q1 2026 with revenues of $540.6 million, exceeding estimates by 4.1%. They achieved an EPS of $0.12, up from $0.19 in the prior year, despite a decrease in operating profit and significant…
- 10-K · February 23, 2026
- Wendy’s announced Project Fresh in 2025 to drive U.S. AUV growth and reprioritize capital allocation while the system remained largely franchised (7,397 restaurants at year-end). Q4 2025 results showed revenue of…
- 10-Q · November 7, 2025
- Wendy’s reported Q3 revenue of $549,516,000 (down $17,223,000 or ~3.0% YoY from $566,739,000) and diluted EPS of $0.23 (down $0.02 from $0.25 a year ago). Operating profit was $92,049,000 (down $2,626,000 or ~2.8% YoY).…
- 10-Q · August 8, 2025
- Wendy’s reported Q2 revenue of $560,929,000 (down from $570,727,000 a year ago) and delivered diluted EPS of $0.29 (up from $0.27). Operating profit improved to $104,260,000, supported by higher operating margin, while…
This is our reading of a public filing, not the filing. Read the original on SEC.gov · Educational only. Nothing here is investment advice.
Read the next one first.
We read every filing WEN makes the day it lands, and put it next to what the options market did about it. Members get both, and an alert when a filing arrives.
Cancel anytime · Month to month · Switch tiers whenever