Cracker Barrel Raises Outlook as Retail Sales Turn Positive
Fiscal 2026 revenue is now expected to reach or exceed $3.30 billion.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL), the restaurant and retail chain, raised its fiscal-year outlook as comparable sales trends improved during the first 11 weeks of its fourth quarter.
Comparable-store restaurant sales fell about 2.5% from a year earlier, narrowing slightly from a 2.6% decline in the third quarter. The improvement was more pronounced against declines of 7.1% in the second quarter and 4.7% in the first.
Retail provided the clearer inflection. Comparable-store retail sales rose about 0.5%, turning positive after declines of 1.8% in the third quarter, 9.2% in the second, and 8.5% in the first.
Cracker Barrel now expects fiscal 2026 revenue to reach or exceed $3.30 billion, the high end of its previous $3.27 billion-to-$3.30 billion forecast. The company had raised that range in the third quarter from $3.24 billion to $3.27 billion after narrowing its outlook earlier in the year.
Adjusted EBITDA is now expected to exceed the prior forecast of $120 million to $125 million. That outlook had recovered from a range of $70 million to $110 million in the first quarter, followed by $85 million to $100 million in the second quarter.
The company also sold and leased back 26 company-owned stores, generating about $77 million in net proceeds earmarked for debt reduction. Cracker Barrel reported $486.6 million of debt in the third quarter.
Cracker Barrel divested assets and the trademark tied to 35 Maple Street Biscuit Company locations and said it would close the remaining 16, exiting a business that contributed less than 2% of annual revenue. The move is expected to result in $37 million to $39 million of noncash charges in the fourth quarter and $6 million to $8 million of additional cash charges across the fourth quarter and fiscal 2027, while adding to adjusted EBITDA beginning next year.