Noodles & pany(NDLS) - 2024 Q4 - Annual Results

Financial Performance - Total revenue for Q4 2023 decreased 8.9% to $124.3 million from $136.5 million, with an adjusted decrease of 2.4% when accounting for the 53rd week in Q4 2022[1] - Comparable restaurant sales decreased 4.2% system-wide in Q4 2023, with a 4.3% decrease for company-owned restaurants and a 3.6% decrease for franchise restaurants[1] - Net loss for Q4 2023 was $6.1 million, or $0.14 loss per diluted share, compared to net income of $1.0 million, or $0.02 per diluted share in Q4 2022[1] - For fiscal year 2023, total revenue decreased 1.2% to $503.4 million from $509.5 million, with an adjusted increase of 0.6% when accounting for the 53rd week in 2022[1] - Net loss for fiscal year 2023 was $9.9 million, or $0.21 loss per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $3.3 million, or $0.07 loss per diluted share in fiscal year 2022[1] - Total revenue for the fiscal quarter ended January 2, 2024, was $124.32 million, a decrease of 8.9% from $136.47 million for the same period last year[17] - Net loss for the fiscal quarter ended January 2, 2024, was $6.14 million, compared to a net income of $0.98 million for the same period last year[21] - Adjusted EBITDA for the fiscal quarter ended January 2, 2024, was $7.47 million, down from $9.10 million for the same period last year[21] - The fiscal year ended January 2, 2024, reported a net loss of $9,856 thousand, worsening from a net loss of $3,314 thousand in the previous fiscal year[23] Future Projections - The company plans to open 10-12 company-owned restaurants and up to 3 franchise-owned restaurants in fiscal year 2024[3] - Expected total revenue for fiscal year 2024 is projected to be between $510 million and $525 million, with flat to +3% comparable restaurant sales growth[3] - Restaurant level contribution margins are expected to be between 14% and 15% for fiscal year 2024[3] Operational Metrics - Company-owned average unit volumes decreased to $1,314, down 1.6% from $1,335 in the previous quarter[19] - Franchise average unit volumes decreased to $1,232, down 1.0% from $1,244 in the previous quarter[19] - Company-owned comparable restaurant sales decreased by 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year[19] - Restaurant contribution for the fiscal quarter was $17,947 thousand, down from $20,229 thousand in the same quarter last year, resulting in a contribution margin of 14.7% compared to 15.2%[26] - The company plans to continue focusing on restaurant-level productivity and efficiency as key metrics for evaluating performance[26] Financial Position - The company had available cash and cash equivalents of $3.0 million and outstanding debt of $82.2 million as of January 2, 2024[2] - Total current assets increased to $22.62 million from $21.64 million year-over-year[18] - Total long-term debt increased significantly to $80.22 million from $46.05 million year-over-year[18] - Total liabilities increased to $340.94 million from $305.48 million year-over-year[18] Restructuring and Costs - The company incurred severance and executive transition costs of $1,368 thousand in the fiscal quarter[23] - The company reported severance and executive transition costs of $191 million in Q3 2023, indicating ongoing restructuring efforts[29] Shareholder Metrics - Basic and diluted loss per share for the fiscal quarter was $(0.14), compared to earnings per share of $0.02 in the prior year quarter[23] - Weighted average common shares outstanding for the fiscal quarter were 44,955,913, down from 46,027,708 in the same quarter last year[23] - The weighted average diluted shares outstanding for Q3 2023 was 46,008,651, consistent with 46,363,208 in Q2 2023[29] - Adjusted earnings per share (basic) for Q3 2023 was $0.04, recovering from a loss of $0.02 in Q2 2023[29]