A&W Food Services of Canada Inc AW

Consumer DiscretionaryHotels & Entertainment ServicesCanada

Last close 35.92 CAD on Nov 3, 2026, −1.0% year to date

Quant rating

Quant rating D Rank 23 of 32 in Consumer Discretionary

Growth D 24 of 32
Valuation C 16 of 32
Quality D 25 of 32
Revisions C 17 of 32
Momentum C 19 of 32

Wall Street consensus Buy (2.50)Average target 39.00 CAD +8.6%

Historical valuation

Multiples use consensus estimates for the next twelve months. The dashed line is the 5-year average.

Key data

Market cap: 861M
Enterprise value: 1.8B
52-week range: 34.77 – 38.67
3-year range: 30.00 – 41.50
Dividend yield: 5.33%
Beta (5 years): –
Shares outstanding: 23.9M
Next earnings: Mar 3, 2027

About the company

A&W Food Services of Canada Inc. is the franchisor of A&W restaurants in Canada and is in the business of developing and franchising quick service restaurants. The A&W product line includes beef burgers (The Burger Family), chicken products through the Chubby Chicken and Chicken Cruncher line of products, russet thick-cut fries, sweet potato fries, A&W Root Beer, fresh handcrafted onion rings, breakfast items, soft drinks, coffee, as well as a variety of frozen and espresso-based beverages that are offered through the A&W Brew Bar. Its breakfast menu includes Bacon & Egger, Sausage & Egger, Cheese & Egger, Pancakes with syrup, Hash Brown, Breakfast Wrap and others. Its burger menu includes Buddy Burger, Teen Burger, Spicy Piri-Piri Beef Buddy, Mama Burger, Grandpa Burger, Cheddar Bacon Uncle Burger and others. Its cold drinks menu includes A&W Root Beer, A&W Root Beer Zero Sugar, Coca-Cola, diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Frozen A&W Root Beer, A&W Root Beer Shake and others.

Growth and profitability fiscal year ends December 31

Growth and profitability by fiscal year
	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	5Y avg
Revenue (mil)	294	292	299	299	245	–
Revenue growth	0.6%	−2.3%	0.0%	22.2%	21.3%	7.8%
EPS (basic, normalized)	2.42	–	–	–	–	–
EPS growth	–	–	–	–	–	–
Gross margin	100.0%	84.9%	81.7%	82.6%	80.8%	86.0%
Net margin	18.8%	4.1%	8.1%	11.8%	14.5%	11.4%
ROE	28.6%	–	–	–	–	28.6%

Balance sheet, last quarter
Cash & short-term investments (mil)	0.9
Current ratio	0.73x
Long-term debt (mil)	862
Net debt (mil)	901
Total equity (mil)	225
Net debt / equity	4.00x
Net debt / EBITDA	9.01x

Estimates and valuation

Consensus estimates and implied multiples
	Sales (mil)			EBITDA (mil)			EPS
Fiscal year	Mean est.	Growth	EV/Sales	Mean est.	Growth	EV/EBITDA	Mean est.	Growth	P/E
2025 actual	294	+0.6%	6.0x	100	–	17.6x	2.42	–	14.8x
2026	312	+6.0%	5.7x	104	+3.5%	17.0x	2.44	+1.0%	14.7x
2027	304	−2.4%	5.8x	110	+5.9%	16.1x	2.66	+8.8%	13.5x
2028	301	−1.2%	5.9x	111	+0.9%	15.9x	2.75	+3.4%	13.1x

Estimate revisions

Change in consensus estimates over 1, 3 and 6 months
	Sales				EPS
Fiscal year	Estimate (mil)	1M	3M	6M	Estimate	1M	3M	6M
2026	312	+0.8%	+0.8%	+2.8%	2.44	+3.2%	+3.2%	−1.0%
2027	304	−1.9%	−1.9%	−2.9%	2.66	+0.8%	+0.8%	+0.4%
2028	301	–	–	–	2.75	–	–	–

Earnings surprises EPS beat in 2 of the last 4 quarters

Reported results versus consensus, last 10 fiscal quarters
Quarter ended	FQ-9	FQ-8	FQ-7	Mar 2025	Jun 2025	Sep 2025	Dec 2025	Mar 2026	Jun 2026	Sep 2026
Sales reported (mil)	–	–	–	61.1	68.8	71.2	93.0	59.4	70.8	79.3
Sales mean (mil)	–	–	–	60.8	68.3	71.0	86.7	58.8	70.0	75.5
Surprise	–	–	–	+0.5%	+0.7%	+0.2%	+7.2%	+1.0%	+1.2%	+5.0%
EPS reported	–	–	–	0.37	0.54	0.77	0.70	0.35	0.51	0.80
EPS mean	–	–	–	0.54	0.58	0.58	0.64	0.41	0.54	0.66
Surprise	–	–	–	−30.8%	−6.9%	+31.6%	+10.2%	−15.7%	−5.6%	+21.2%

Peer comparison Hotels & Entertainment Services

Peers in the same industry group, by market capitalization
Company	Market cap	Net debt/EBITDA	Net margin	P/B	FY1 P/E	FY2 P/E	FY1 EV/EBITDA	FY2 EV/EBITDA
AW A&W Food Services of Canada Inc	861M	9.01x	18.8%	3.82x	14.7x	13.5x	17.0x	16.1x
CMPGF Compass Group PLC	79.8B	–	4.1%	7.17x	23.1x	21.1x	12.8x	11.8x
QSR Restaurant Brands International Inc.	36.3B	4.76x	9.6%	8.51x	18.3x	16.8x	12.8x	12.0x
JMKE Jersey Mike's Subs Inc	8.8B	–	7.6%	1.39x	33.9x	25.5x	23.0x	20.0x
WING Wingstop Inc.	6.1B	4.53x	25.0%	−5.66x	38.8x	32.2x	22.0x	18.9x
BHa Biglari Holdings Inc	1.6B	–	−9.5%	2.06x	–	–	–	–
Mean		6.10x	9.3%	2.88x	25.8x	21.8x	17.5x	15.7x
Median		4.76x	8.6%	2.94x	23.1x	21.1x	17.0x	16.1x

Technical analysis

1M−0.2%
3M−2.2%
1Y+4.0%
3Y−1.2%

Financial statements in millions of CAD

Income statement in millions of CAD, fiscal years

Income statement, A&W Food Services of Canada Inc, fiscal years, most recent first
	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
Total revenue	294	292	299	299	245	202
Cost of revenue	0	44.0	54.9	52.1	47.0	40.7
Gross profit	294	248	244	247	198	161
Selling, general & administrative expenses	49.7	48.8	47.2	47.2	38.4	38.2
Research & development	–	–	–	–	–	–
Interest expense (income), operating	–	–	–	–	–	–
Unusual expense (income)	–	–	–	0	−2.7	0
Other operating expenses	151	154	160	164	125	102
Operating income	93.9	45.4	37.1	35.7	36.9	21.4
Net interest income (expense)	−16.4	5.2	10.6	10.0	8.9	6.5
Gain (loss) on sale of assets	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other non-operating income (expense)	−0.8	−0.6	−0.6	−0.4	−0.5	−0.7
Net income before taxes	76.7	50.0	47.1	45.3	45.4	27.2
Provision for taxes	19.8	28.3	9.1	8.9	8.6	5.5
Minority interest	−1.6	−9.8	−13.9	−1.2	−1.2	−0.8
Equity in affiliates	–	–	–	–	–	–
U.S. GAAP adjustment	–	–	–	–	–	–
Net income before extraordinary items	55.2	11.9	24.1	35.2	35.5	20.9
Extraordinary items	–	–	–	–	–	–
Net income	55.2	11.9	24.1	35.2	35.5	20.9
EBIT, normalized	93.9	45.4	37.1	36.0	34.2	21.4
EBITDA, normalized	101	51.6	42.1	40.5	38.5	25.4
Basic EPS, normalized	2.42	–	–	–	–	–

Balance sheet in millions of CAD, fiscal years

Balance sheet, A&W Food Services of Canada Inc, fiscal years, most recent first
	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
Assets
Cash & short-term investments	1.0	22.5	3.9	5.0	9.6	39.6
Receivables	74.0	74.4	75.9	67.7	60.8	50.1
Total inventory	8.4	12.2	14.4	16.4	14.7	5.9
Prepaid expenses	6.2	5.4	4.3	3.3	3.7	1.4
Other current assets	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total current assets	89.5	114	98.5	92.5	88.9	96.9
Property, plant & equipment	27.9	31.4	31.5	29.5	31.2	31.1
Goodwill	–	–	–	–	–	–
Intangibles	493	447	6.3	4.1	–	–
Long-term investments	–	0	170	153	128	122
Note receivable	615	604	591	578	580	548
Other long-term assets	12.0	10.6	27.4	29.7	30.3	24.2
Total assets	1,238	1,208	925	887	858	822
Liabilities
Accounts payable	18.4	35.2	18.8	16.6	15.1	16.5
Payable/accrued	–	–	–	–	–	–
Accrued expenses	27.5	31.9	25.7	33.5	28.4	19.9
Short-term debt	0	0	15.7	8.1	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt	42.1	35.6	33.9	27.8	30.9	30.3
Other current liabilities	21.3	20.3	18.2	23.1	36.8	18.5
Total current liabilities	109	123	112	109	111	85.2
Long-term debt	864	880	609	595	600	570
Minority interest	0.5	0.4	89.5	86.7	0.2	0.1
Other liabilities	42.5	40.8	325	313	294	275
Total liabilities	1,016	1,044	1,137	1,103	1,005	930
Shareholders' equity
Preferred stock	–	–	–	–	–	–
Common stock	418	418	14.0	14.0	20.1	20.5
Additional paid-in capital	1.7	–	–	–	–	–
Retained earnings (accumulated deficit)	−198	−254	−226	−231	−167	−128
Treasury stock	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other equity	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total equity	222	164	−212	−217	−147	−108
Total liabilities & shareholders' equity	1,238	1,208	925	887	858	822

Cash flow statement in millions of CAD, fiscal years

Cash flow statement, A&W Food Services of Canada Inc, fiscal years, most recent first
	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
Operating activities
Net income	56.8	21.7	38.0	36.4	36.8	21.7
Depreciation, depletion & amortization	6.7	6.2	5.0	4.5	4.2	4.0
Deferred taxes	−0.5	14.9	2.5	0	−6.3	−0.3
Non-cash items	42.2	9.9	−13.1	−11.0	12.2	0.1
Changes in working capital	−48.2	8.4	−13.5	−23.9	−22.3	−3.7
Cash from operations	57.0	61.2	19.0	5.9	24.7	21.8
Investing activities
Capital expenditures	−2.3	−2.9	−6.0	−4.6	−2.5	−1.8
Other investing cash flows	−0.1	−165	11.1	9.9	9.7	12.3
Cash from investing	−2.5	−168	5.1	5.3	7.2	10.6
Financing activities
Financing cash flow items	−1.5	−11.3	−11.1	−1.2	−1.2	−1.0
Cash dividends paid	−46.1	−28.2	−18.9	−10.0	−57.5	−6.8
Issuance (retirement) of debt, net	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other financing cash flows	−28.5	165	4.8	−4.7	−3.1	7.1
Cash from financing	−76.1	126	−25.3	−15.9	−61.8	−0.6
Foreign exchange effects	–	–	–	–	–	–
Net change in cash	−21.6	18.7	−1.2	−4.6	−29.9	31.8
Free cash flow	54.6	58.3	12.9	1.3	22.2	20.1

Disclaimer

The financial data presented in this report is delayed and obtained from sources QDD Research believes to be reliable, including stock exchanges, SEDAR, and EDGAR. However, no representation or warranty is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information. QDD Research accepts no liability for any errors, omissions, or financial losses arising from the use of this data.

This report is generated using a fully systematic and quantitative approach. All factor scores and the overall quant rating (ranging from D to A+) are derived from algorithmic models and are based solely on objective financial metrics. These scores are intended for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any securities.

QDD Research is not a registered investment advisor or broker-dealer and does not provide personalized financial advice. The content is not tailored to the specific investment goals, financial situation, or risk profile of any individual investor. We strongly encourage readers to consult with a licensed broker or investment advisor before making any investment decisions based on the information contained in this report.

Live quote provided by TradingView. Report data updated Nov 3, 2026 after market close.