BurgerFi International, Inc.

First-quarter 2024 total revenue was $42.9 million, down 6% from $45.7 million a year ago. Restaurant-level profit margin was 12.2% versus 16.6% in the prior-year quarter. Anthony’s corporate-owned sales were $32.4 million versus $33.1 million, and BurgerFi corporate-owned sales were $8.5 million versus $10.2 million. BurgerFi system-wide sales declined 17% to $33.4 million, and BurgerFi same-store sales fell 13%; Anthony’s same-store sales were down 2%. Net loss was $6.5 million versus $9.2 million, and adjusted EBITDA was $258,000 versus $2.6 million. Cash ended the quarter at $4.1 million, down from $7.6 million at the start of the year. Full-year 2024 guidance was maintained at total revenue of $107 million to $180 million, adjusted EBITDA of $7 million to $9 million, capital expenditures of $2 million to $3 million, and the addition of 10 to 15 new franchise restaurants, with low-single-digit same-store sales growth assumed for corporate-owned locations.

Carl Bachmann framed the quarter as part of a broader recovery effort rather than a reflection of long-term brand potential, citing a challenging consumer environment and unfavorable weather. He emphasized five strategic priorities: strengthening infrastructure, improving taste and quality, upgrading marketing, defining portfolio strategy, and building operational standards. He highlighted staff stabilization at 95% to par, lower turnover, new inventory and POS systems, the Better Burger Lab, and menu innovation such as the HEINZ Remix machine and new chicken items. His tone was cautious but constructive, with repeated emphasis on laying a foundation for future sales and margin improvement.

Chris Jones said the quarter still showed top-line softness and pressured margins, but management is cautiously optimistic that positive leverage could start in the back half of 2024. He noted gross/restaurant-level margin pressure from lower sales and higher wages, but pointed to a 115 basis point improvement in BurgerFi gross margins as inventory management systems take hold, with similar improvement expected at Anthony’s later in the year. He also said cash fell by $3.4 million to $4.1 million, driven mainly by $2.9 million of operating cash outflow and $800,000 of investing outflow, partially offset by $300,000 from financing. He reiterated full-year guidance but said the company is trending to the low end of the prior revenue and EBITDA range.

Analyst Peter Saleh asked how management plans to reignite traffic, especially around the new chicken sandwich rollout, and whether the item is incremental or cannibalizing existing sales. Management said chicken is a major category, that the company launched a new sous vide grilled chicken and fried chicken offering, and that it is rolling out across franchised stores with a big summer promotion; Carl Bachmann said the grilled chicken was incremental and estimated it could add two to three points of growth based on test stores. Saleh also asked about the effectiveness and persistence of promotional “social holidays.” Bachmann said events like Pi Day drove strong one-day results, including being up 87% year over year for Anthony’s, and that the bigger value is loyalty signups and follow-through as guests return and become repeat customers.