Hardee'sFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Hardee's franchise requires a total initial investment of $688K – $1.1M, including a $25K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.5M[2]. Verdict grade: B. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $688K – $1.1M
- 90th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.5M
- 46th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- 3rd pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 1,571
- 95th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 16.7%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Quick-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Franchised units fell from 1512 to 1369 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Large franchise systems benefit from brand recognition, supply chain leverage, and proven operations.
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).
- Verdict B (Above Average) with a risk score of 61/100.
- 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
- Legal entity
- Hardee’s Restaurants LLC
- Parent company
- Hardee’s Funding LLC
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 6700 Tower Circle, Suite 1000, Franklin, Tennessee 37067
- Auditor
- KPMG LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $661.6M
- vs $671.4M prior year
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).
- CEO
- Joe Guith
- Headquarters
- TN
- Founded
- 2013
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 31
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 9 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $25K | $25K | |
| Opening Training Support Team Fee | $32K | $72K | |
| Point of Sale System | $55K | $72K | |
| Soft Costs | $5K | $25K | |
| Equipment | $350K | $540K | |
| Signage | $15K | $55K | |
| Initial Training | $20K | $60K | |
| Pre-Opening Costs | $26K | $44K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 months | $160K | $250K | |
| Total initial investment | $688K | $1.1M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$184K
12.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
16%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
6.1 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $688K – $1.1M
- Below avg, review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $160K – $250K
- Below avg, review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $15K – $25K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 5.5%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 9.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 5.5% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $160 |
| Transfer fee | $3K |
| Renewal fee | $10K |
| Total fee load | 9.5% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.5M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.4M
- Item 19 type
- Average Revenue
- Sample size
- 129 units
- vs category median 28 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $509K→$2.8M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- revenue_only
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 453 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Hardee's Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 1,571
- Opened
- 8
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 19
- Turnover rate
- 1.2%
- Company-owned
- 202
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 87%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- -1.8%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -9.5%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 8
- Closed (3yr)
- 16
- Terminated (3yr)
- 4
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 6
- Transfers (3yr)
- 10
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 19
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 5
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 0.6%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Termination rate
- 0.6%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 0.9%
- Units that stopped operating
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 contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 6 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 6
- Loan volume
- $11.0M
- Median loan
- $1.3M
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 16.7%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 66.7%
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 6
- Defaults
- 1
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Hardee's's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 6 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 6 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 4-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
Risk analysis
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.
Litigation (Item 3)
4 case reference(s): 3 pending, 0 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $8
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · KPMG LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 61 / 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
| Initial term | 20 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Protected territory | No |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 2 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 4 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Tennessee |
| Litigation count | 9 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
4 case reference(s): 3 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 51 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 287 hrs
- Training location
- On-site at Restaurant
- Site selection
- joint
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- PAR Brink or Xenial Xpient
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: PAR Brink or Xenial Xpient
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
100 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Hardee's · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Hardee's franchise?
The total investment to open a Hardee's franchise ranges from $688K – $1.1M, with an initial franchise fee of $25K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Hardee's franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Hardee's FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.5M. The median is $1.4M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Hardee's's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Hardee's (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Hardee's franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Hardee's has 1,571 total units in the United States, including 1,512 franchised units and 202 company-owned units. 8 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Hardee's a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Hardee's as a B-grade franchise with a risk score of 61 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.