How Much Does a Hardee's Franchise Owner Make?

The 2026 Item 19 discloses revenue, not owner earnings. For the 53 weeks from January 28, 2025 through January 26, 2026, 975 freestanding franchised Hardee’s restaurants reported average Revenue of $1,347,436 and median Revenue of $1,294,442. The official range ran from $413,015 to $3,599,953.

The disclosure excludes 131 nontraditional restaurants in travel plazas, gas and convenience stores, colleges, universities, toll plazas, or airports; 97 Dual Concept restaurants; and 88 restaurants without complete full-period revenue data. Company-operated restaurants are reported separately. The document defines Revenue broadly as restaurant product and service revenue and other income, excluding sales taxes and unredeemed stored-value sales.

Is the Item 19 sample internally consistent?

Not completely. Item 19 states that 471 franchised restaurants met or exceeded the $1,347,436 average and separately reports 50.1%. Because 471 divided by 975 is 48.3%, not 50.1%, a buyer should request the written substantiation and a reconciliation before relying on that percentage. This discrepancy does not alter the published average or median, but it reduces confidence in distribution details.

For a freestanding U.S. franchised restaurant, this FY2026-anchored estimate combines the official median sales figure with a same-brand company-operated cost proxy. Exhibit K’s audited FY2026 supplemental schedule reports $271.526 million of Hardee’s company-operated restaurant revenue and $244.717 million of direct restaurant costs: food and packaging, payroll and employee benefits, and occupancy and other. That produces a derived 9.87% restaurant-level operating margin before corporate general and administrative expense, depreciation, interest, and taxes.

The company-operated cost column is used before consolidation eliminations and includes company restaurant advertising contributions. The model therefore does not subtract the current 5.5% advertising and promotional obligation a second time. It subtracts the 4% royalty because a company-operated restaurant does not pay a franchise royalty. The $2,316.60 fixed-fee adjustment includes the required $160 Digital Tech Fee and $18.20 Star University access fee for each of 13 four-week fiscal periods.

• Revenue spread: Conservative, Base, and Upside use 80%, 100%, and 120% of the official $1,294,442 median. This is an analytical spread, not an FDD-reported probability distribution.
• Margin spread: The adjusted 5.87% central margin is sensitized by minus or plus 3 percentage points because franchised and company-operated cost structures are not identical.
• Included: Normal direct restaurant food, payroll, employee benefits, occupancy and other costs in the audited proxy; manager compensation in payroll; advertising in the company-cost proxy; 4% royalty; and identified fixed digital and training-platform fees.
• Excluded: Owner-level general and administrative expense, depreciation, capital expenditures, interest, financing principal, personal income taxes, optional software support, variable transaction fees, and site-specific costs not quantified in the FDD.

In this estimated FY2026 freestanding-restaurant scenario, active operation may increase total owner benefit by the value of a manager role, but it does not create additional passive profit. The 2026 FDD does not require the equity owner to personally operate the restaurant, but it requires an approved Operating Principal, full-time supervision in the applicable market, on-site supervision, and at least one trained General Manager. The owner-operator comparison below assumes the owner is approved and actually fills the required General Manager position.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a May 2024 median annual wage of $63,040 for food service managers in the food services and drinking places industry. Adding that labor value to the manager-run residual produces the owner-operator benefit range. The wage benchmark excludes self-employed workers and does not include an employer payroll-tax or benefits load, so it is a labor-value reference rather than a guaranteed owner salary.

For the FY2026-anchored freestanding franchised scenario, the estimated base case leaves approximately $73,712 before depreciation, capital expenditures, interest, debt principal, and personal income taxes. The bridge applies Hardee’s audited company-operated cost ratios to the official franchised median Revenue, then deducts the 4% royalty and the identified fixed Digital Tech and Star University fees.

For this FY2026 FDD-anchored freestanding U.S. model, actual restaurant economics can move the estimated result well outside the range. The most consequential variables are sales volume, labor efficiency, food and packaging cost, occupancy, required local advertising, and whether the owner pays a General Manager or performs that job personally.

• Sales mix and volume: The disclosed franchised range of $413,015 to $3,599,953 shows substantial outlet variation, but it does not identify quartiles or profit at each sales level.
• Labor and owner role: Manager compensation is embedded in the audited payroll proxy. Adding the BLS manager wage is appropriate only when the owner truly replaces that paid role.
• Occupancy and local advertising: Rent, property taxes, common-area charges, local media requirements, and Regional Co-op decisions can differ materially by market.
• Technology and required programs: The model includes two known fixed fees, but optional support, vendor transaction charges, POS arrangements, and future fee increases are not fully quantified.
• Capital and financing: Depreciation, remodels, equipment replacement, interest, and debt principal are outside the earnings range. These cash demands can materially reduce distributions.
• System population: Item 20 reports 1,287 franchised restaurants at FY2026 year-end, a stated net decline of 82 during the fiscal year. Unit exits do not prove the economics of a particular restaurant, but they warrant market-level diligence.

What should a buyer verify before using the range?

A buyer should replace every proxy with restaurant-specific evidence wherever possible. The highest-value diligence is a complete trailing financial package from comparable franchisees and any existing location under consideration.

• Request Item 19 written substantiation, including a reconciliation of the reported 471 outlets and 50.1% met-or-exceeded figures.
• Ask for franchised restaurant food, payroll, occupancy, advertising, repair, technology, and operating-profit data by sales band and geography.
• Interview current and former franchisees from Item 20 about General Manager pay, owner hours, local advertising, maintenance capital, remodels, and actual distributions.
• Confirm whether the proposed owner may serve as the trained General Manager and whether an additional General Manager or Multi-Unit Manager will still be required.
• Model the actual lease, property costs, wage market, insurance, delivery commissions, required technology, financing interest, and debt principal for the proposed site.
• For an existing restaurant, obtain the outlet’s actual records, tax returns, payroll registers, bank statements, equipment condition, and capital-expenditure history.

FDD citations are intentionally unlinked because no matching 2026 FDD was verified on an official franchise-controlled public domain. Principal document references: 2026 Hardee’s FDD, Item 6 pp. 22–27, Item 15 pp. 58–59, Item 19 pp. 66–67, Item 20 p. 68, and Exhibit K audited FY2026 supplemental schedule p. 30.