Company Overview
BJ's Restaurants, Inc. operates a network of full-service dining establishments across the United States, specializing in an extensive menu that includes pizzas, craft and specialty beers, appetizers, wings, pastas, sandwiches, specialty salads, and signature Pizookie desserts. The company functions within the Consumer Cyclical sector, specifically under the Restaurants industry, which means its financial performance and revenue generation are directly influenced by discretionary consumer spending patterns and broader economic conditions. As of the latest reporting data, the entity holds a market capitalization of $766.49M and generated annual revenue of $1.40B while employing a workforce of 22,230 individuals. These valuation and revenue figures indicate that the company maintains a mid-to-large cap presence within the restaurant sector, suggesting a significant operational footprint and a substantial asset base relative to many of its smaller peers in the industry.
Financial Health
The company reported total revenue of $1.40B over the trailing twelve-month period, with a corresponding net income of $48.81M and EBITDA of $126.63M. The substantial disparity between the $1.40B in revenue and the $48.81M in net income reveals a cost structure characterized by high operating expenses, where costs such as labor, food costs, and overhead absorb the majority of gross sales before reaching the bottom line. Despite the lower net income, the business generated $33.56M in free cash flow, which provides the organization with essential financial flexibility to cover capital expenditures, service debt obligations, or potentially pursue strategic acquisitions without immediate external financing. The profitability metrics show a gross margin of 15.5%, an operating margin of 3.7%, and a profit margin of 3.5%, indicating that for every dollar of sales, the company retains a relatively small portion after covering the cost of goods sold and all operating expenses. On the balance sheet, the company holds $23.78M in cash against $490.76M in debt, resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of 134.02, which suggests a highly leveraged financial position where debt obligations significantly outweigh equity holdings. Liquidity is constrained by a current ratio of 0.40, indicating that the company's current assets are less than half of its current liabilities, which presents a tight short-term liquidity profile that requires careful management of working capital. Management effectiveness is reflected in a return on equity of 13.3% and a return on assets of 3.0%, showing that the company is generating returns that are proportionate to its equity base but face challenges in utilizing its total asset base to generate high returns relative to the capital deployed.
Valuation Assessment
Valuation multiples for the stock include a trailing P/E ratio of 16.74 and a forward P/E of 13.39, where the difference between these figures implies that the market anticipates a contraction in earnings or a re-rating of the stock that would lower the multiple over the coming year. The price-to-book ratio stands at 2.08, indicating that the market values the company at more than double its book value, which typically suggests that investors are pricing in growth potential or brand intangibles that exceed the value of the company's net tangible assets. Alternative valuation metrics provide additional context, with a price-to-sales ratio of 0.55 and an EV/EBITDA of 9.74, suggesting that the company trades at a low multiple of sales and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization compared to high-growth restaurant peers. Regarding price volatility, the stock has a 52-week high of $47.02 and a 52-week low of $28.46; without the current specific share price provided in the data, the trading range defines the historical volatility, but the beta of 1.32 explicitly indicates that the stock is expected to be 32% more volatile than the broader market index. This elevated beta value suggests that the share price will likely experience sharper increases during market rallies and deeper declines during market downturns compared to the S&P 500.
Growth & Income
The company demonstrated a revenue growth rate of 3.2% year-over-year, while the earnings growth rate is listed as N/A in the available data, meaning specific year-over-year earnings expansion metrics are not disclosed for this reporting period. In the absence of a disclosed positive earnings growth figure, the available data does not confirm that earnings are growing faster than revenue, but the low profit margin of 3.5% combined with the lack of a reported earnings growth rate suggests that top-line revenue gains are not automatically translating into bottom-line expansion at the current scale. The company does not pay a dividend, as evidenced by a dividend yield of N/A and a payout ratio of 0.0%, which indicates that the firm reinvests all of its net income back into the business operations rather than distributing cash to shareholders. Consequently, the overall growth and income profile for BJ's Restaurants, Inc. is characterized by moderate revenue expansion of 3.2% and a reliance on retained earnings for internal funding, rather than providing an income stream to investors through regular cash distributions.