Wendy's is shutting down hundreds of underperforming restaurants across the country, interim CEO Ken Cook announced Friday during Wendy's third-quarter earnings call.
Cook revealed the company would close a "mid single-digit percentage" of its roughly 6,000 U.S. locations. One investor on the call estimated that figure at about 300 stores.
The chain reported a 4.7 percent drop in same-store sales—revenue at restaurants open at least a year—during the third quarter, along with a 2.6 percent decline in global system-wide sales.
Cook said the closures stem from a careful review of each struggling restaurant. "When we look at the system today, we have some restaurants that do not elevate the brand and are a drag from a franchisee financial performance perspective," he explained. "The goal is to address and fix those restaurants."
The company isn't taking a one-size-fits-all approach, Cook explained. For some locations, Wendy's will invest in operational improvements and new technology. Others will be handed off to different franchise operators better equipped to turn them around. For the rest, closure is the answer.
He signaled this marks a strategic shift for Wendy's. Rather than chasing growth through opening new locations, the company is now focused on boosting average unit volumes—the revenue each restaurant generates—to improve franchisee profits and strengthen the overall system.
"We are working with our U.S. franchisees to evaluate each and every underperforming restaurant in our system from both a financial and a customer experience perspective," he said.
The closures are expected to start in the fourth quarter of this year and continue into 2026 as Wendy's works through the process. The company hasn't released specific locations yet.
This restructuring is part of Wendy's broader "Project Fresh" initiative, a turnaround plan built around four main pillars: revitalizing the brand, improving operations, optimizing the restaurant system, and redirecting capital spending. The strategy looks to position Wendy's as a quality-focused player in the fast food restaurant space and to drive profitable growth.
Despite its challenges, Wendy's posted solid financial results. The chain beat earnings expectations with adjusted earnings per share of $0.24 versus a forecast of $0.20, and topped revenue projections with $549.5 million compared to expectations of $534.98 million. The news sent Wendy's stock up 11.66 percent in pre-market trading to $9.86 a share.