Shake Shack Inc - Class A
Q1 2026 Earnings
Market Reaction
S&P 500 over the same 30 days: +0.75%.
Did SHAK Beat Earnings? Q1 2026 Results
Shake Shack delivered a mixed first quarter for fiscal 2026, missing on both the top and bottom lines as surging investment costs overwhelmed solid sales momentum. Revenue rose 14.3% year-over-year to $366.74 million, falling short of the $372.27 million consensus, while GAAP EPS came in at $0.00, a stark 100% miss against the $0.12 estimate, as the company swung to a net loss of $294,000 from net income of $4.51 million a year ago. The primary culprit was a $12.97 million spike in G&A expenses to $53.61 million, reflecting accelerated investment in Project Catalyst, a multi-year initiative to modernize restaurant technology, launch a loyalty platform, and embed AI across operations. Pre-opening costs more than doubled to $6.87 million as Shake Shack opened 17 Company-operated locations in the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA fell 9.3% to $36.97 million. Looking ahead, management raised its full-year opening guidance to 60-65 Shacks and guided for FY 2026 total revenue of $1.60 billion to $1.70 billion, signaling confidence that near-term cost pressure will give way to longer-term scale benefits.
- Same-Shack sales growth of 4.6% with positive traffic growth of 1.4% for third consecutive quarter
- Record 17 new Company-operated Shack openings in Q1
- Labor management strategies drove 180 bps improvement in labor as percentage of Shack sales
- Digital channel guest count and app downloads grew over 35% YoY
- Digital channel guest lifetime value increased approximately 20%
- Restaurant-level profit margin expanded 50 bps to 21.2% despite not taking additional price
- Culinary innovation and marketing initiatives driving traffic
- System-wide unit count grew 15.3% year-over-year
“I'm pleased to report that our first quarter performance showcases continued sales momentum in our Company-operated Shacks and meaningful progress against our six strategic priorities for 2026. We grew total revenue by more than 14%, with Same-Shack sales growth of 4.6% and traffic growth of 1.4% - marking our third consecutive quarter of positive traffic. While significant weather impacts pressured our comp by 240 basis points and affected our Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter, our underlying sales and traffic momentum remained strong. Our performance demonstrates the strength of our restaurant operations, culinary innovation that differentiates our brand, and strategic investments in targeted digital media to create awareness of our guest value proposition”
Shake Shack CEO, on the earnings call
Forward Guidance & Outlook
For Q2 2026, Shake Shack guides total revenue of $424M-$428M, licensing revenue of $13.5M-$13.7M, same-Shack sales growth of 3.0%-5.0%, and restaurant-level profit margin of 24.0%-24.5%, with 16-19 Company-operated openings and approximately 8 licensed openings. For FY 2026, the company expects total revenue of $1.6B-$1.7B, licensing revenue of $57M-$59M, same-Shack sales growth in the low single digits, restaurant-level profit margin of 23.0%-23.5%, G&A of 12.0%-13.0% of total revenue, equity-based compensation of $28M, D&A of $124M-$128M, pre-opening costs of $26M-$28M, net income of $50M-$60M, adjusted EBITDA of $230M-$245M, adjusted pro forma tax rate of 25%-27%, 60-65 Company-operated openings (raised from 55-60), and 40-45 licensed openings. Three-year financial targets include low-teens total revenue growth, low-to-high teens system-wide unit growth, at least 50 bps annual restaurant-level profit margin expansion, and low-to-high teens adjusted EBITDA growth. Food and paper inflation is expected down low single digits for FY 2026 despite beef inflation at high single-digit levels. April same-Shack sales were down 0.6% due to Easter calendar shift, but early May showed strong performance driven by the Smoky BBQ menu launch.
SHAK YoY Financials
SHAK Revenue by Segment
Figures from SEC filings and company reports. Not investment advice.