Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
The business model still carries: 657 stores, roughly $3.48 billion of annual revenue, $92.5 million of operating cash flow over nine months, $465.5 million of shareholders' equity, an undrawn $541.3 million credit line as of May 1, 2026 and confirmed compliance with all financial covenants — no going concern language, no negative equity, no listing risk. What remains open is a material operating question: the turnaround is unproven. Guest traffic fell harder than the prior-year quarter in all three reported quarters of fiscal 2026, operating income for the first nine months of fiscal 2026 is negative $25.6 million, reported profit depends on a one-time item, and since July 2026 the company has partly funded itself by selling its own real estate. Until guest counts turn, this stays yellow — not because of the share price, but because of the unresolved question of whether the brand wins its audience back. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Cracker Barrel is the rare case of a company putting the cause of its own crisis on the record: its quarterly report names negative publicity and reactions to brand initiatives, including a new logo, as the primary reason guest traffic fell 8.1 percent over nine months. The consequences sit in the same filings: negative $25.6 million of operating income, a bottom line that would be a loss without a $47.4 million settlement check, and, in July 2026, the sale of 26 company-owned properties plus the end of the second brand. Against that stand 657 stores, $3.48 billion of annual revenue, positive operating cash flow and an untouched $541.3 million credit line. Buying here is not buying the weekly rank; it is a bet that damaged brand trust returns before the substance runs out. Not investment advice.
Brand and guest traffic
Comparable guest traffic fell 8.1 percent in the first nine months of fiscal 2026 (Q2 alone: −10.1 percent) after −3.7 percent a year earlier. The company itself names negative publicity and customer reactions to brand initiatives — "including the launch of a new logo" — as the primary cause (10-Q as of May 1, 2026, Item 2; 10-K fiscal 2025, Item 1A).
Earnings power
Operating income swung from +$51.051 million to −$25.614 million over nine months; the operating margin slid from 3.5 percent (fiscal 2023) through 1.3 and 1.6 percent to −1.0 percent. Revenue over the same nine months fell 5.6 percent to $2,469.372 million (10-Q as of May 1, 2026; 10-K fiscal 2025).
Quality of earnings
The $19.471 million of nine-month net income rests on a one-time item: $47.422 million net from an interchange fee settlement in March 2026. Strip it out and $10.383 million of pre-tax income becomes a pre-tax loss of roughly $37.0 million (10-Q as of May 1, 2026, Note 9).
Balance sheet and liquidity
As of May 1, 2026, $465.470 million of shareholders' equity and $92.506 million of nine-month operating cash flow stand against a thin cash balance of $26.050 million. On the relief side: nothing drawn on the revolving credit facility, $541.297 million available, confirmed compliance with all financial covenants, and no major maturity until September 15, 2030 (10-Q as of May 1, 2026, Note 4).
Asset sales
Effective July 17, 2026, 26 company-owned properties were sold for roughly $77 million net and leased back (initial rent ~$5.7 million a year, absolute triple net, up to 40 years) — the proceeds are earmarked to repay borrowings under the credit facility. On July 20, 2026 the MSBC second brand was exited entirely, with expected non-cash charges of $37–39 million and cash charges of $6–8 million (8-K of July 20, 2026).
Ownership and oversight
At the annual meeting on November 20, 2025, director Gilbert Dávila failed to win a majority (6,716,130 for versus 9,570,461 against) and resigned; the board shrank from ten members to nine. Long-time activist shareholder Biglari Capital Corp. reported on June 10, 2025 that it had fallen below the five percent threshold as of June 9, 2025 (last reported 1,042,577 shares, 4.7 percent).
Worth Noting
CBRL made the research list as rank 25 of 28 U.S. hits in our in-house Moglen weekly ranking (as of July 25, 2026, RS rating 81) — part of our series on the hits of this scanner. The lists are recalculated daily.
Price and market value figures ($53.71 close on July 24, 2026, roughly $1.20 billion of market value) come from the July 25, 2026 feed and were computed against the 22,351,460 shares outstanding per the cover page of the 10-Q as of May 1, 2026 (stated as of June 1, 2026); analyses are evergreen and daily prices are not a buy argument.
Risk of confusion: the ticker CBRL has belonged to Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. since December 10, 2008; before that the same entity (CIK 0001067294) filed as CBRL Group Inc. The Maple Street Biscuit Company second brand has not been part of the group since July 20, 2026.
The figures for the first nine months of fiscal 2026 are unaudited quarterly numbers; the charges from the MSBC exit ($37–39 million non-cash, $6–8 million cash) are explicitly described by the company as preliminary estimates and will only hit the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at CBRL since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 25.00 $ to 59.00 $ · Last price: 43.80 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Restaurants
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cracker Barrel Old Country Store CBRL | 1.0 | 44.5 | 12.6 | 31.6 | – | 0.4 | -9.4 |
| McDonald’s Corporation MCD | 176.6 | 21.4 | 15.4 | 57.4 | 44.3 | 3.7 | -16.4 |
| Starbucks Corporation SBUX | 110.2 | 75.7 | 24.8 | 22.3 | 8.4 | 2.8 | 19.1 |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc CMG | 43.0 | 30.7 | 22.5 | 39.4 | 13.3 | 5.4 | -14.3 |
| Yum! Brands Inc YUM | 37.2 | 23.2 | 17.5 | 45.3 | 31.1 | 8.8 | -5.0 |
| Restaurant Brands International Inc. QSR | 33.2 | 23.9 | 14.5 | 34.1 | 25.9 | 12.2 | 19.0 |
| Darden Restaurants Inc DRI | 23.9 | 20.8 | 14.4 | 21.7 | 14.3 | 6.0 | 2.2 |
| Yum China Holdings Inc YUMC | 14.2 | 15.2 | 8.4 | 20.3 | 11.5 | 4.4 | -4.9 |
| Texas Roadhouse Inc TXRH | 11.0 | 28.0 | 18.1 | 16.3 | 9.0 | 9.4 | 3.2 |
| Median of companies shown | 33.2 | 23.9 | 15.4 | 31.6 | 13.8 | 5.4 | -4.9 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2,912 | 280 | 189 | 7.86 | 271 | 526 | 1,498 |
| 2017 | 2,926 | 313 | 202 | 8.37 | 321 | 545 | 1,522 |
| 2018 | 3,030 | 294 | 248 | 10.29 | 331 | 582 | 1,527 |
| 2019 | 3,072 | 283 | 223 | 9.27 | 363 | 605 | 1,581 |
| 2020 | 2,523 | 56 | -32 | -1.36 | 161 | 418 | 2,544 |
| 2021 | 2,821 | 367 | 255 | 10.71 | 302 | 664 | 2,392 |
| 2022 | 3,268 | 153 | 132 | 5.67 | 205 | 511 | 2,295 |
| 2023 | 3,443 | 121 | 99 | 4.45 | 250 | 484 | 2,218 |
| 2024 | 3,471 | 45 | 41 | 1.83 | 169 | 440 | 2,161 |
| 2025 | 3,484 | 55 | 46 | 2.06 | 219 | 462 | 2,162 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
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· Total · per year
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The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025: Q1 | 0.99 | -16.90 | 949 | 1.50 | 2.30 | 98 | 60 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.56 | – | 821 | 0.50 | 1.50 | 23 | -14 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.30 | -63.10 | 868 | -2.90 | 0.80 | 102 | 57 |
| 2025: Q4 | -1.10 | -610.60 | 797 | -5.70 | -3.10 | -53 | -89 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.06 | -94.20 | 875 | -7.90 | 0.10 | 51 | 25 |
| 2026: Q2 | 1.90 | 239.90 | 797 | -2.90 | 5.40 | 95 | 67 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 20 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Growth
Quality & Balance Sheet
Momentum & Trend
- 21-EMA Trend
- Above the 50- & 200-SMA
- CANSLIM Type RS
- Character Change (CC)
- High ADR (≥5%)
- Mike Webster: Swing Trading List
- Oliver Kell: Strength on Down Day
- Power Trend
- Qullamaggie: Top Gainers 1M
- Richard Moglen: 1 Week Top Performers
- Richard Moglen: Top Performers 3/6 Month
- Stage 2 Leader
- Stan Weinstein: Stage 2
- Strength on Stress Days
Research
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07/31/2027 | 1.10 | 0.50 – 1.61 | 3,390 | 2,569.8% | 9 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly 5.1% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $59.2M |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $974.0M |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $96.9M |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 52.4% |
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Cracker Barrel betreibt Restaurants mit angeschlossenem Laden; in sechs gelesenen Einreichungen (Geschäftsbericht 10-K 2025, Quartalsberichte 10-Q Q1–Q3 des Geschäftsjahres 2026, Pflichtmitteilungen 8-K vom 24.11.2025 und 20.07.2026) kommt künstliche Intelligenz genau einmal vor — als Risikofaktor, weil Angreifer sie für Cyberattacken nutzen. Weder ein KI-Produkt noch ein KI-gestützter Prozess noch eine KI-bedingte Bedrohung des Geschäftsmodells ist belegt; die Technik-Investitionen des Mehrjahresplans werden ohne KI-Bezug beschrieben.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„Cyber-attacks are increasingly common and sophisticated, including through use of developing technologies such as artificial intelligence to identify and exploit weaknesses in business security systems, and we cannot guarantee such attacks will not materially impact our business in the future."
Cyberangriffe werden immer häufiger und ausgefeilter, auch durch den Einsatz sich entwickelnder Technologien wie künstlicher Intelligenz, um Schwachstellen in Sicherheitssystemen von Unternehmen aufzuspüren und auszunutzen; wir können nicht garantieren, dass solche Angriffe unser Geschäft künftig nicht wesentlich beeinträchtigen werden.
10-K · 2025-09-26 · View SEC filing
„These initiatives of our multi-year strategic plan are generally aimed at enhancing menu and retail options, reducing our costs, improving margins and increasing brand awareness, including through expanding our footprint and investing in strategic relationships."
Diese Maßnahmen unseres Mehrjahres-Strategieplans zielen im Allgemeinen darauf ab, das Speisen- und Handelsangebot zu verbessern, Kosten zu senken, Margen zu erhöhen und die Markenbekanntheit zu steigern, unter anderem durch die Ausweitung unseres Standortnetzes und Investitionen in strategische Partnerschaften.
10-K · 2025-09-26 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2025-09-26 · 10-Q 2026-06-09 · 10-Q 2026-03-04 · 10-Q 2025-12-09 · 8-K 2026-07-20 · 8-K 2025-11-24
Rated on July 26, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years 2.2%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 3.6%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year -1.1%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 2.1%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 33.0%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 0.0%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 5.9 x EBITDA
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 452 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 3.6%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 1.0%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
1/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 2.0%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% -2.7%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% -16.6%
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% -46.7%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT 20.7x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 10
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 87.7%
- Return on equity > 15% 10.6%
- ROCE > 15% 3.6%
- Expected return > 10% -43.4%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10, 2026 | Deno David J. | President and CEO | Other | 3,565 | 0.00 | – |
| Aug 7, 2026 | Masino Julie D. | CEO | Other | 688 | 57.79 | 39,760 |
| Jul 30, 2026 | Hisel Doug | SVP, Store Operations | Other | 17,519 | 0.00 | – |
The company
About the Company
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. entwickelt und betreibt das Konzept Cracker Barrel Old Country Store in den USA.
- Employees
- 76,730
- Headquarters
- Lebanon, TN
- Address
- 305 Hartmann Drive, 37087-4779 Lebanon, United States
- Phone
- 615 444 5533
- Website
- crackerbarrel.com
- IPO Date
- 09/07/1984
- ISIN
- US22410J1060
- Stock Split
- 3:2 on 03/22/1993
- Stock Split
- 3:2 on 03/23/1992
- Stock Split
- 3:2 on 03/25/1991
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Craig A. Pommells | Senior VP & CFO | 1975 |
| Julie Felss Masino | Advisor | 1971 |
| David J. Deno | President, CEO & Director | 1958 |
| Brian T. Vaclavik | VP, Controller & Principal Accounting Officer | 1967 |
| Bruce A. Hoffmeister | Senior VP & Chief Information Officer | 1961 |
| Kaleb Johannes | Vice President of Investor Relations | – |
| Jennifer Lankford | Senior VP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary | – |
| Sherri L. Moore | Vice President of Sales & Retail Services | – |
| Sarah O. Moore | Senior VP & Chief Marketing Officer | 1983 |
| Donna L. Roberts | Senior VP & Chief Human Resources Officer | 1975 |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 07/27/2026 CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE, INC (CBRL): Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers; Regulation FD Disclosure; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 07/20/2026 CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE, INC (CBRL): Creation of a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement of a Registrant; Cost Associated with Exit or Disposal Activities; Material Impairments; Regulation FD Disclosure; Other Events; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.