Noodles & Company
NDLS Consumer Cyclical Restaurants
Noodles & Company’s revenue for fiscal 2025 (year ended December 2025) was $495.1 million, roughly unchanged from fiscal 2024. In the quarter to June 2026, revenue was flat, EPS grew 78.0%, free cash flow grew 142.2% and total debt fell 1.91%, each against the same quarter a year earlier.
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Noodles & Company (NDLS) Altman Z-score
Noodles & Company's Altman Z-score for fiscal 2025 is 0.15, in the distress zone (below 1.81).
Altman Z-score, annual
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Annual newest first
| Period | Altman Z-score | Change (points) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | 0.15 | (0.17) |
| FY2024 | 0.32 | (0.55) |
| FY2023 | 0.87 | (0.39) |
| FY2022 | 1.26 | (0.26) |
| FY2021 | 1.52 | 0.61 |
| FY2020 | 0.91 | (0.29) |
| FY2019 | 1.20 | (1.91) |
| FY2018 | 3.10 | 1.35 |
| FY2017 | 1.75 | 0.67 |
| FY2016 | 1.08 | (1.69) |
How fiscal 2025’s score is made up
| Component | This year | Year before | Result | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Working capital / total assets | (0.16) | — | −0.20 | |
| Retained earnings / total assets | (0.87) | — | −1.21 | |
| EBIT / total assets | (0.12) | — | −0.40 | |
| Market value of equity / total liabilities | 0.11 | — | 0.06 | |
| Sales / total assets | 1.89 | — | 1.89 | |
| Altman Z-score | Distress zone | 0.15 | ||
| Z″ Variant for non-manufacturing and asset-light companies (drops the sales/assets term, uses book equity) | Distress zone | −4.87 | ||
How the Altman Z-score works
Z = 1.2 × working capital ÷ total assets + 1.4 × retained earnings ÷ total assets + 3.3 × EBIT ÷ total assets + 0.6 × market value of equity ÷ total liabilities + 1.0 × revenue ÷ total assets (Altman, 1968). The market value of equity is the close on the last trading day of the fiscal year times weighted basic shares.
Z″ = 6.56 × working capital ÷ total assets + 3.26 × retained earnings ÷ total assets + 6.72 × EBIT ÷ total assets + 1.05 × book equity ÷ total liabilities (Altman, Hartzell and Peck, 1995), the variant for non-manufacturing and asset-light companies.
| Zone | Z | Z″ |
|---|---|---|
| Safe zone | above 2.99 | above 2.60 |
| Grey zone | 1.81–2.99 | 1.10–2.60 |
| Distress zone | below 1.81 | below 1.10 |
Not worked out for banks, insurers and REITs, whose balance sheets the model does not describe, nor when a figure is missing or there is no share price in the week to the fiscal year end.
Altman Z-score against peers
| Company | Altman Z-score |
|---|---|
| HCHL Happy City Holdings Limited compare | 5.5× |
| MB MasterBeef Group compare | 4.5× |
| BDL Flanigan's Enterprises, Inc. compare | 3.0× |
| RICK RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc. compare | 1.6× |
| RRGB Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. compare | 1.6× |
| STKS The ONE Group Hospitality, Inc. compare | 0.7× |
| GENK GEN Restaurant Group, Inc. compare | 0.4× |
| VENU Venu Holding Corporation compare | 0.4× |
| NDLS Noodles & Company | 0.1× |
What Altman Z-score is
The Altman Z-Score weighs working capital, retained earnings, operating profit, market value and sales against assets and debts to gauge the risk of distress.
1.2 × working capital ÷ total assets + 1.4 × retained earnings ÷ total assets + 3.3 × EBIT ÷ total assets + 0.6 × market value of equity ÷ total liabilities + 1.0 × revenue ÷ total assets