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WEWEN

The Wendy's Company

$WEN·$1.2B·Restaurants·Consumer Cyclical
$6.700.0%YTD-19.0%1Y-24.5%
Price updated 7h ago·X counts updated 5d ago
WEWEN
$WENThe Wendy's Company
$6.700.00%838 posts1.1×
AI analysisFundamentalsVoices on X
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On X

Top X posts

The complete picture of $WEN on X — how loud the conversation is right now, how it has trended over the last two weeks, and which way the crowd is leaning.

838X posts · last 7 days
Sep 29Oct 11
Chatter Meter
1.1×
QuietNormal · 1×Loud

How loud $WEN's conversation on X is versus its own normal — 1× is typical, higher means busier. Right now it's about its usual level, louder than 88% of tracked names.

Bullish sentimentAI analysisGenerated by AI from underlying data5 posts analyzed · as of 2026-09-15

WEN chatter is dominated by crypto-community HODL framing, first dividend payouts, and cat/dog memecoin cross-pairing ($WEN + $WUFF). One post cites Wendy's Ohio HQ as Ohio ranks America's Top State for Business — the equity read is minor and constructive.

Read what X is saying about $WEN

  • Bullish vs bearish call — with the AI summary of the day's posts
  • Divergence flag when the top-engagement posts argue the other side
  • How loud the conversation is versus this ticker's own normal
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AI verdictAI analysisGenerated by AI from underlying data

TickerTalks' own read on what's driving $WEN — fundamentals, momentum, or an event — and whether it agrees with the X crowd.

Broken storySelling offAI verdict · as of 2026-10-02

Falling on heavy selling — points lower unless it turns around.

Fast-food name losing share, closing stores, and now trading at 4% of its 52-week range.

Wendy's operates and franchises the Wendy's quick-service burger chain. The stock sits at 4% of its 52-week range, down 34% TTM, as same-store sales flatline, the US President resigned to run an industry co-op, and the company is closing more locations than opening new ones.

  • The P&L reflects the story: revenue grew only 3.3% YoY to $541M at 14% operating margin, and the growth is now entirely coming from the McDonald's-share-donor franchise economics that depend on comps the Street doesn't believe will accelerate.
  • The management refresh is real: new CMO Tariq Hassan (ex-McDonald's) started Aug 24 and Pete Suerken, the US president, is leaving Aug 31 — a leadership shakeup consistent with a brand trying to recover, but Hassan's track record will take 12+ months to show up in the P&L.
  • At 7.4x earnings with a market cap of $1.25B, this is now a go-private candidate the sell-side has flagged — "screaming take me private" per one of the Oct 1 pieces — which is the real asymmetric case for holders.

Breaking-down holds unless Nov 6 earnings confirm sequential US comp improvement from Hassan's menu reset or a credible take-private rumor materializes. Another soft comp print, or more store-closure announcements, is what confirms the de-rating toward the $5 handle.

Differs from X sentimentThe X thread about $WEN is almost entirely crypto-memecoin HODL framing + cross-pairing with $WUFF — none of which relates to Wendy's the burger chain, whose own real tape is pricing a slow-burn broken-story with a potential take-private kicker nobody on X is engaging with.

What to watch: Nov 6 earnings — US same-store comps (any sequential improvement from the Hassan menu reset would be a tell), store-count net change, and any specific color on a potential take-private process. A sub-1% comp print or more closures is what seals the breaking-down.

On the calendar: 2026-11-06 — Q3 FY26 earnings

Read the AI verdict on $WEN

  • One-line verdict on what's driving the move — fundamentals, momentum, both, or an event
  • Next dated catalyst when there is one (earnings, deal closing, activist clock)
  • Whether TickerTalks' read agrees with or diverges from the X crowd
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What it does

Plain-English summary of the business — what they sell and how they make money.

Operates and franchises approximately 7,000 quick-service hamburger restaurants globally, competing with McDonald's and Burger King.

Industry overviewAI analysisGenerated by AI from underlying data

Where Restaurants sits in its cycle right now — and what that implies for $WEN.

Restaurants · Consumer Cyclical

No material change from last week — Value-trade-down sustains QSR at casual dining's expense.

What this means for $WEN

Neutral — Operates and franchises approximately 7,000 quick-service hamburger restaurants globally, competing with McDonald's and Burger King.

Industry benchmark

18-name peer basket
+7.8%YTD
-3.2%1Y

Fundamentals & catalyst

Profitability, valuation, and the next earnings event — at a glance, with rule-of-thumb signals.

Key ratios

P/E
7.4How much investors are paying per dollar of profit the company actually earned in the last 12 months. Lower means the stock looks cheaper relative to earnings.~15–25 is typical for the S&P 500; high-growth names trade 30+; hyper-growth or speculative can be 100+ or negative.
ROIC
5.6%What percentage return the business earns on every dollar of capital (equity + debt) deployed in operations. The cleanest measure of business quality.Above ~15% is high-quality; consistently above 25% suggests a real moat. Below the company's cost of capital is value-destroying.
Op margin
14.4%Operating profit (after sales, marketing, R&D, and overhead but before interest and taxes) as a percentage of revenue. The clearest view of how well the underlying business is run.Mature business above 20% is healthy; software businesses can run 30%+; commodity / retail businesses operate in single digits.
FCF yield
17.4%Free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capex) divided by the company's market cap. The cash-on-cash return you'd get owning the whole business at today's price.Above ~5% is attractive; below ~2% means you're paying up for growth. Capital-light businesses (software) run higher than capital-heavy ones (utilities).
P/S
0.6Same idea as P/E but per dollar of revenue. Useful for companies that aren't profitable yet, where P/E is meaningless.Under ~2 is cheap; software / SaaS often runs 8–15; well above 20 implies the market is pricing in very high future growth.
ROE
151%Net income as a percentage of shareholders' equity. Similar to ROIC but counts only the equity side.Above 20% is strong, but can be inflated by leverage — a heavily indebted company can show high ROE with weak underlying ROIC.
Gross margin
26.3%Revenue minus the direct cost of producing what was sold, as a percentage of revenue. The first read on whether the product is structurally profitable.Software / SaaS is typically 70%+; consumer goods 30–50%; commodity / hardware businesses can be under 20%.
D/E
35.6Total debt divided by shareholders' equity. Measures how much the business runs on borrowed money versus owner capital.Under 1 is conservative; 1–2 is typical for mature businesses; over 2 is leveraged and more sensitive to interest rates.

Past earnings

QuarterReportedActualEstimateSurprise
Q2 2026Aug 7, 2026$0.18$0.16+10.5%
Q1 2026May 8, 2026$0.12$0.10+20.0%
Q4 2025Feb 13, 2026$0.16$0.14+14.3%
Q3 2025Nov 7, 2025$0.24$0.20+23.0%
Next earningsThu, Nov 5·consensus EPS $0.10

Quarterly trend

QuarterRevenueYoYGrossOpEPSFCF
Q1 FY26$540.6M+3.3%24.7%11.2%$0.24$47.5M
Q4 FY25$543.0M-5.5%24.2%11.9%$0.14$31.4M
Q3 FY25$549.5M-3.0%26.5%15.9%$0.23$104.3M
Q2 FY25$560.9M-1.7%29.7%18.6%$0.29$39.2M

Forward consensus

5-year forecast · up to 15 analysts
FYRevenueRangeEPSRangeAnalysts
FY26$2.2B$2.2B – $2.2B$0.50$0.44 – $0.5515
FY27$2.2B$2.1B – $2.3B$0.54$0.32 – $0.6615
FY28$2.3B$2.2B – $2.5B$0.61$0.44 – $0.779
FY29$2.4B$2.3B – $2.5B$0.95$0.92 – $1.027
FY30$2.4B$2.3B – $2.5B$1.05$1.01 – $1.128

Setup & momentum

Volume, range, and moving-average position — the technical setup driving short-term moves.

Right now

Vol vs 30dToday's traded share volume divided by the average over the prior 30 trading days. ≥3× signals unusual interest; below 1× is quiet.0.9×Today's traded share volume divided by the average over the prior 30 trading days. ≥3× signals unusual interest; below 1× is quiet.
52w rangeWhere the latest close sits between the 52-week low (0%) and high (100%). Above 80% is extended; below 30% is basing or in a downtrend.18%Where the latest close sits between the 52-week low (0%) and high (100%). Above 80% is extended; below 30% is basing or in a downtrend.
vs 50d MALatest close vs the 50-day simple moving average. Positive = short-term trend is up.-9.6%Latest close vs the 50-day simple moving average. Positive = short-term trend is up.
vs 200d MALatest close vs the 200-day simple moving average. Positive = long-term trend is up.-10.2%Latest close vs the 200-day simple moving average. Positive = long-term trend is up.

Float & profile

FloatMid float · 157.1M shFree-float shares — the slice of issued stock actually available to trade. Lower buckets squeeze harder on a catalyst.Traded today3.3% of floatToday's volume as a percent of the free float. Above 5% on a single day is unusually high turnover for the available share count.β0.415-year weekly beta vs the S&P 500. Above 1.5 means the stock typically moves more than the index; below 0.8 moves less.

Insider activity

Recent open-market buys and sells by officers and directors — flagged when multiple insiders cluster.

Recent transactions

No open-market buys or sells in the last 180 days.

+ 68 other (38 awards · 15 exempts · 15 inkinds) in window

See when $WEN insiders are putting their own money in

  • Real-time open-market buys and sells from Form 4 filings
  • Cluster-buy detection when multiple insiders pile in at once
  • 30 / 60 / 180-day windows so you can spot building conviction
Free, forever. No credit card.

SEC filings

Material 8-K, 13D, S-3, and 424B5 events from the last 180 days — the filings that actually move the price.

Recent material filings

3New insider — initial holdingsAug 263
AI summary

Tariq Hassan, newly appointed CMO & Customer Growth Officer of The Wendy's Company, filed Form 3 reporting his initial beneficial ownership as of August 24, 2026. He holds no directly owned securities (Table I is blank) and derivative positions are in Table II. Routine new-officer initial ownership disclosure; no material securities holdings reported.

8-KOfficer or director changeAug 178-K — Item 5.02: Officer or director change
AI summary

Wendy's US President Pete Suerken notified the company of his resignation effective August 31, 2026 to become President and CEO of QSCC (Quality Supply Chain Co-op, the independent purchasing cooperative for the Wendy's system), where he previously served in the same role from January 2021 to July 2025. Wendy's separately noted it is evaluating restructuring. Notable departure: loss of the US President at a time when Wendy's is publicly evaluating restructuring adds leadership uncertainty.

8-KOfficer or director changeJul 288-K — Item 5.02: Officer or director change
AI summary

The Wendy's Company disclosed on July 28, 2026 under Item 5.02 that the board awarded a retention RSU grant with a grant-date value of approximately $500,000 to Abigail Wunsch, the company's President of Wendy's International, as a retention incentive. The grant is structured as restricted stock units that vest subject to continued service, typical of retention arrangements designed to secure key executive talent through a defined period. Wunsch oversees Wendy's international franchising operations outside the United States, a segment the company has been growing through franchise agreements in new markets. The filing was dated as of a July 22, 2026 event date, indicating the compensation committee action preceded the SEC filing by about a week.

3New insider — initial holdingsJun 253
AI summary

Steven Cirulis was appointed CFO and Chief Strategy Officer at The Wendy's Company effective June 23, 2026, and reports no securities beneficially owned. Routine initial Section 16 disclosure for the new CFO at this global quick-service restaurant chain.

8-KOfficer or director changeJun 238-K — Item 5.02: Officer or director change · Item 7.01: Press release / Reg FD
AI summary

The Wendy's Company appointed Steven W. Cirulis as CFO and Chief Strategy Officer effective June 23, 2026, replacing Ken Cook who was terminated without cause (with his last day July 31, 2026); Cook will receive standard termination-without-cause severance benefits. Cirulis combines the CFO and strategy officer roles, which is unusual; Cook's termination without cause is the key event to note for governance watchers.

3New insider — initial holdingsJun 113
AI summary

Aaron M. Kale, Chief Accounting Officer of The Wendy's Company, filed a Form 3 initial ownership statement as of June 8, 2026. He directly owns 10,568 shares of common stock and holds options on 89,061 shares at exercise prices ranging from $10.11 to $23.70 (various expiration dates through 2035) plus 11,001 restricted stock units. This is a routine insider initial-ownership disclosure required upon appointment to an officer role; no new securities were issued.

8-KOfficer or director changeJun 98-K — Item 5.02: Officer or director change
AI summary

The Wendy's Company disclosed that Chief Accounting Officer Suzanne M. Thuerk resigned effective June 8, 2026 to pursue an opportunity outside the restaurant industry, and that Aaron M. Kale (VP Tax, age 49, Wendy's employee since 2012) was appointed as the new Chief Accounting Officer effective the same date. Ms. Thuerk will remain in a non-executive capacity through July 10, 2026 to assist with transition. Routine CAO succession — internal promotion, no operational disruption expected.

3New insider — initial holdingsMay 263
AI summary

Robert D. Wright filed Form 3 as a new insider of The Wendy's Company (WEN), with event date May 22, 2026, reporting no securities beneficially owned. A Power of Attorney was included as an exhibit. This is a routine initial beneficial ownership statement for a new officer or director at Wendy's.

+ 12 other (5 13Gs · 2 10-Qs · 2 earnings 8-Ks · 2 8-Ks) in window

Recent news

Latest headlines from major outlets, sourced and timestamped — context for whatever just moved.

Wendy's turnaround faces deeper closures as Jefferies cuts forecastsproactiveinvestors.com·3d agoThe Wendy’s Company (WEN) – What Are Brokerages Saying About This Stock?defenseworld.net·4d agoWendy's Costs Less Than $7 a Share. Here's Why That Doesn't Make It Cheap.fool.com·4d ago10 more Wendy's stores could close this weekend, even though the fast food chain tried to save them. See the listfastcompany.com·5d agoThe Wendy's Company to Report Third Quarter 2026 Results on November 5prnewswire.com·8d ago

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TickerTalks is a research tool, not financial advice. We surface social-attention data; we do not make stock recommendations. Past attention is not predictive of future price movements.

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