Shake Shack swung to a net loss of $0.3 million in the first quarter of 2026, reversing net income of $4.5 million a year earlier, as rising food and marketing costs outweighed a double-digit jump in revenue, the company said Thursday.
Total revenue climbed 14.3% to $366.7 million, but food costs rose faster than sales and Adjusted EBITDA fell 9.3%
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Shake Shack swung to a net loss of $0.3 million in the first quarter of 2026, reversing net income of $4.5 million a year earlier, as rising food and marketing costs outweighed a double-digit jump in revenue, the company said Thursday.
Total revenue rose 14.3% to $366.7 million, driven by $354.0 million in Shack sales and $12.7 million in licensing revenue. Revenue fell short of analyst expectations of $371.9 million, according to Reuters.
The company recorded an operating loss of $2.6 million, compared with operating income of $2.8 million in the same period a year ago. Food and paper costs — the line item that captures beef and related expenses — rose to 28.3% of Shack sales from 27.8% a year earlier. General and administrative expenses also climbed, reaching $53.6 million, or 14.6% of total revenue, up from $40.6 million, or 12.7%, in the prior-year period.
Adjusted EBITDA fell 9.3% to $37.0 million. The loss per diluted share of Class A common stock was $0.01, compared with earnings of $0.10 a year ago.
Same Shack sales rose 4.6%, and system-wide sales grew 14.1% to $558.3 million. Restaurant-level profit reached $75.1 million, or 21.2% of Shack sales, up from 20.7% a year earlier. The company opened 17 new company-operated Shacks and five new licensed locations during the quarter.
Shake Shack also announced that Michelle Hook had become the company's new CFO, effective May 11. Before joining Shake Shack, Hook held the CFO role at Portillo's, guiding the chain through its 2021 IPO, and prior to that built an extensive finance career spanning more than 17 years at Domino $DPZ's Pizza, according to Reuters. Shake Shack announced a CFO transition plan in November, under which outgoing CFO Katherine Fogertey became a senior advisor before departing the company in March.
Shares were trading down roughly 18% before the market opened Thursday.
Correction: An earlier version of misstated the timing of former Shake Shack CFO Katherine Fogertey's departure from the role. Fogertey stepped down as CFO in November of 2025 and stayed on as a senior advisor until March 2026 as part of an announced succession plan.
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