markets

Kelly Cloonan2/20/25

Shake Shack surges on cost-cutting success, solid guidance, and plans to aggressively expand

Shake Shack’s efforts to cut costs while simultaneously planning to more than quadruple its current locations appear to be resonating with investors, sending shares up 10% after its latest quarterly report.

The fast-food giant reported $328.7 million in fourth-quarter revenue before market open on Thursday, marking a 15% rise from the year before and coming in below forecasts of $329.3 million, according to analysts polled by Bloomberg. Adjusted earnings per share of $0.26 bested the consensus estimate by a penny.

The latest data adds to strong preliminary numbers shared last month. Shake Shack reported that same-store (or same-Shack) sales rose 4.3% in the quarter, driven partially by the success of its limited-time Black Truffle Menu.

Looking forward, Shake Shack forecast revenues of about $1.45 billion to $1.48 billion for the full year, the midpoint of which is a little above analysts’ estimates.

The fast-food chain also announced an ambitious new target: reaching 1,500 company-operated locations in the long term, up from an initial goal of 450 when it went public a decade ago and more than quadrupling its current 329 such locations.

The expansion plan comes as the company has worked to improve operations at its existing locations, including a push to boost sales per hour while lowering customer wait times with an improved labor scheduling and kitchen workflow. The company has also managed to cut costs, with food and paper, labor, and other operating expenses all falling year over year last quarter. Restaurant-level profit margins rose to 22.7%, up from 19.8% a year prior.

The stock’s latest rise nearly erases its year-to-date fall and brings its advance in the last year to about 32%, outpacing the S&P 500’s gain over the same period.

Kelly Cloonan is a journalist who has written for Business Insider and Fast Company.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).
Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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