Noodles & Company

NDLS

Restaurants · Consumer Cyclical

Price

$11.11

-0.39 (-3.39%)

Market Cap

$65.5M

Exchange

NASDAQ

Winston Score

Winston is worried

Weak fundamentals across most pillars.

Share count rising — dilution

+1.4% over 4y

The company has issued more shares over this period, which dilutes each existing shareholder’s stake.

Diluted shares outstanding: 5.8M (2021) → 5.8M (2025)

Noodles & Company is a fast-casual restaurant chain that serves noodle and pasta dishes from around the world, like mac and cheese, pad thai, and zucchini noodles. It targets everyday diners looking for a quick, affordable meal. The company operates across the United States and is one of the few national chains built entirely around noodle-based dishes.

The company makes money by selling food directly to customers at its restaurants, with some locations run by franchisees who pay fees. Noodles & Company operates roughly 450 locations, mostly in the Midwest and Mountain West regions of the US. Its margins are very thin — a gross margin of just 3.6% leaves almost no room for error — and the biggest risk the business faces is rising food and labor costs squeezing an already fragile bottom line, especially as it competes against larger, better-funded fast-casual chains for the same customers.

Winston Score History

Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

-0.0% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue declining

EPS Growth

+63.7% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (4%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

40.7%ownership

→ Flat

Insiders holding steady — not selling despite ability to

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$1M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Revenue declining

Noodles & Company's revenue is actually shrinking. In a growth stock, that removes the core investment thesis. The low Winston Score here may be warranted — unless there's a turnaround story.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Gross Margin

11.7%

Thin — 11.7% gross margin

Operating Margin

1.6%

Thin — 1.6% operating margin

ROCE

2.3%

Weak — 2.3% return on capital

ROIC between 0% and 5%. They earn a few cents back per dollar invested in the business.

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Growth

Sales YoY

-0.1%

Shrinking sales (-0.1% YoY)

EPS YoY

N/A

Data not available

EPS Consistency

0/8 quarters

Earnings rarely grow — volatile business

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion

N/A

—

Data not available

FCF Margin

-0.5%

Burning cash (-0.5%)

Free cash flow is negative. They are burning cash, not generating it.

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Stability

Debt / Equity

N/A

Data not available

Interest Cover

0.30x

Dangerous — barely covers interest (0.3x)

Interest coverage below 1. Their profits don't cover the interest bill.

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

N/M

—

Negative earnings — P/E not meaningful

P/E vs Forward

N/A

not available

Data not available

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Dividends

Not applicable for this business.

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