Hardee's
Formerly known as Restaurants
Bottom line
- Total investment $688K – $1.1M including a $25K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.5M/year (median $1.4M).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 46/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 57 loans (below the industry average).
- System contracting at -9.5% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Hardee's unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
16%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Hardee's units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.6M
on $8.1M purchase
Total debt
$6.5M
SBA $4.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Hardee's franchisees operate quick-service restaurant locations serving flame-grilled burgers, chicken sandwiches, and breakfast items. Day-to-day operations include staff management, food preparation and service, inventory management, drive-thru operations, and customer service delivery. Franchisees are responsible for local marketing, P&L management, and maintaining brand standards across their location(s).
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 18 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Hardee's presents high investment risk due to declining unit count, undisclosed profitability, multiple litigation matters, unprotected territory, and royalty structure that may not align with actual franchisee earnings.
Score breakdown · what drove the 46 / 100 rating
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (-1.8% YoY) indicates system contraction and shrinking market opportunity
- 02MINORNo average net income disclosure prevents assessment of actual profitability relative to $688k-$1.143M investment
- 03HIGHNine active/pending litigation cases including contract breaches, conversion claims, and data privacy breaches signal franchisor governance and operational issues
- 04MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk from other Hardee's franchisees in same market
- 05MINORHigh royalty burden (4-5% of gross sales) on average revenue of $1.47M means $58.8k-$73.6k annual royalties with unknown net profitability
- 06MED20-year term locks franchisee into declining brand with limited flexibility
- 07HIGHPending litigation by franchisor against Arbor Capital Partners for breach and conversion suggests operational disputes with other franchise partners
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
100 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Hardee's · FDD (2025) PDF