Name: RAVE RESTAURANT GROUP, INC. Q1 2026 Earnings Call
Start: 2025-11-06T14:02:14.000Z

Executive Summary

Q1 FY26 delivered steady growth: revenue $3.21M (+5.3% YoY), net income $0.65M (+22.6% YoY), and Adjusted EBITDA $0.83M (+15.3% YoY), underpinned by Pizza Inn comps strength and disciplined cost control .
Pizza Inn comps accelerated to +8.1% while Pie Five comps fell 9.1%; unit counts ended at 96 (Pizza Inn domestic), 20 (Pizza Inn international), and 17 (Pie Five) .
Balance sheet strengthened: cash $1.40M and short-term investments $9.16M (total $10.56M) at quarter-end; management highlighted “over $10.5M” of liquidity .
No formal quantitative guidance or Street consensus was provided/available; near-term catalysts include broadening the “I$8” value promotion in January and multiple Pizza Inn openings slated for Q2 .

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well
- Value strategy execution drove top-line and profit: “I$8” weekday buffet promotion plus salad-bar promotion supported traffic while maintaining margin; CEO: “22nd consecutive quarter of profitability” .
- Operating leverage and expense discipline: CFO cited “disciplined management of corporate expenses” with Q1 operating income +23.5% YoY; revenue +5.3% YoY, Adjusted EBITDA +15.3% YoY .
- Development momentum: one Pizza Inn buffet opened in North Texas; construction/training teams prepared for “multiple openings” in Q2; groundwork in place for a fifth consecutive year of net buffet unit growth .
What Went Wrong
- Brand bifurcation persisted: Pie Five domestic comps declined 9.1% in Q1, contrasting with Pizza Inn’s +8.1% .
- Unit base at Pie Five remains pressured: Pie Five domestic units ended at 17 (down from 19 in Q3 FY25) .
- Lack of guidance and limited external coverage: no quantitative guidance issued and no active Street consensus available for EPS/revenue this quarter (see Estimates Context) .

Metric	Q3 FY25 (Mar 30, 2025)	Q4 FY25 (Jun 29, 2025)	Q1 FY26 (Sep 28, 2025)
Revenues ($M)	$2.966	$3.2	$3.213
Income Before Taxes ($M)	$0.950	$1.2	$0.851
Net Income ($M)	$0.722	$0.8	$0.645
Diluted EPS ($)	$0.05	$0.06	$0.05
EBITDA ($M)	$0.910	N/A	$0.802
Adjusted EBITDA ($M)	$0.953	$1.1	$0.830

Year-over-year changes (Q1 FY26 vs Q1 FY25):

Revenue: +5.3%; Net income: +22.6%; Income before taxes: +22.4%; Adjusted EBITDA: +15.3% .

KPIs

KPI	Q3 FY25	Q4 FY25	Q1 FY26
Pizza Inn Domestic Comps	+2.5%	+6.3% (13w vs 13w)	+8.1%
Pie Five Domestic Comps	-5.6%	-7.2% (13w vs 13w)	-9.1%
Pizza Inn Units (Domestic)	98	96	96
Pizza Inn Units (International)	20	22	20
Pie Five Units (Domestic)	19	17	17
Cash ($M)	$0.734	$2.859	$1.397
Short-term Investments ($M)	$7.987	$7.024	$9.159
Cash + STI ($M)	$8.72	$9.88	$10.56

Notes:

Non-GAAP definitions and reconciliation items (e.g., stock comp, severance, franchisee default/closed store revenue) disclosed by the company .

Metric	Period	Previous Guidance	Current Guidance	Change
Company Revenue	FY26/Q2-FY26	Not provided	Not provided	N/A
Margins (EBITDA/Operating)	FY26	Not provided	Not provided	N/A
OpEx/Tax Rate/OI&E	FY26	Not provided	Not provided	N/A
Brand-level metrics	FY26	Not provided	Not provided	N/A
Capital Returns/Dividends	FY26	Not provided	Not provided	N/A

No quantitative guidance was issued in the Q1 FY26 materials reviewed -.

No Q1 FY26 earnings call transcript was available; trends compiled from company press releases.

Topic	Previous Mentions (Q3 FY25, Q4 FY25)	Current Period (Q1 FY26)	Trend
Value promotions (“I$8” weekday buffet)	Q3: Tested in 2 stores with >20% YoY sales lift; plan rollout to 12 more in Q4 . Q4: 13 stores active; +30.6% sales lift and +34.7% traffic last 8 weeks; more stores to add in FY26 .	Continued at 12 restaurants from Q4; 2 more joined; broader rollout planned in January with media support .	Accelerating rollout and marketing support
Same-store sales (Pizza Inn)	+2.5% (Q3) ; +6.3% (Q4, 13w vs 13w)	+8.1% (Q1)	Improving momentum
Pie Five trajectory	-5.6% comps (Q3) with ops improvements (throughput doubled) ; -7.2% comps (Q4)	-9.1% comps (Q1)	Deteriorating comps despite ops work
Development & reimage pipeline	Q3: 8–10 reimages expected; positive ROI (avg 56%); pipeline building . Q4: 31 domestic stores under contract; 12 targeted in FY26; net buffet growth 4th consecutive year .	One new buffet opened; multiple openings scheduled for Q2; groundwork for 5th consecutive year of net buffet growth .	Scaling pipeline and openings
Liquidity/balance sheet	Cash $0.73M, STI $7.99M (Q3)	Cash $2.86M, STI $7.02M (Q4)	Cash $1.40M, STI $9.16M (Q1); >$10.5M total liquidity cited

CEO Brandon Solano:
- “Quarter One represented our 22nd consecutive quarter of profitability as we continue to deliver profitable operating results.”
- “We plan on adding even more restaurants to the I$8 promotion in January with a supported media campaign… an increased number of franchisees have seen the benefit of the promotion that drives traffic while maintaining margin.”
- “We opened one buffet restaurant in North Texas in the first quarter… multiple openings… scheduled for the second quarter… groundwork is in place for Pizza Inn to increase net buffet store count for the fifth consecutive year.”
CFO Jay Rooney:
- “Comparable store sales growth in the first quarter at Pizza Inn along with disciplined management of corporate expenses delivered a quality earnings increase… Q1 operating income increasing by 23.5% year-over-year…”
- “Increased cash from operations has helped build our cash and short-term investment balance to over $10.5 million, further strengthening our balance sheet.”

No Q1 FY26 earnings call transcript was available; thus, there are no Q&A disclosures or clarifications beyond the press release content [ListDocuments returned none for earnings-call-transcript].

Wall Street consensus: S&P Global data showed no active quarterly consensus for EPS or revenue for Q1 FY26; estimate counts were effectively unavailable/empty for this period (actuals only populated) — indicating limited or no analyst coverage for RAVE this quarter.*
Implication: No formal “beat/miss” versus consensus can be determined; investors should benchmark against internal trends (comps, AEBITDA, unit pipeline) and YoY growth .
*Values retrieved from S&P Global.

Pizza Inn outperformance is driving consolidated results; comps acceleration (+8.1%) and development momentum (multiple Q2 openings planned) support near-term top-line and franchise health .
Operating discipline remains a differentiator; higher operating income and AEBITDA YoY, with >$10.5M in cash/STI offering optionality for marketing and development support .
Pie Five remains a drag; continued negative comps (-9.1%) temper consolidated growth and represent an execution focus area despite earlier operational changes .
Value promotion “I$8” is a clear traffic lever; broader January rollout with media support could provide seasonal tailwinds and incremental mix/traffic gains without materially compromising margin (per management) .
With no Street coverage, trade the tape on internal momentum: watch Q2 openings cadence, comp trends post-January promo, and AEBITDA trajectory as catalysts for sentiment re-rating .
Medium-term thesis: continued Pizza Inn unit growth (targeting a fifth consecutive year of net buffet increases) and reimage ROI underpin a measured growth story with cash returns potential once Pie Five stabilizes .

Supporting detail and source documents: