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Amid disappointing fourth-quarter results, Wendy’s is shuttering several hundred outlets across the United States, shifting its strategy towards offering more value to customers.
The fast-food giant, headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, announced on Friday that its global same-store sales—those from restaurants open for at least a year—declined by 10% during the October to December timeframe. This dip was more significant than the 8.5% decrease anticipated by analysts surveyed by FactSet.
In the U.S., the decline in same-store sales was even steeper during the fourth quarter. Wendy’s had previously indicated plans to close underperforming domestic restaurants, but on Friday, it provided further specifics on these closures.
By the end of 2025, Wendy’s had already shut down 28 restaurants in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 5,969 locations in the U.S. The company anticipates closing 5% to 6% of its U.S. restaurants—amounting to approximately 298 to 358 locations—within the first half of this year.
These closures are in addition to the 240 U.S. Wendy’s locations that were closed in 2024. The 57-year-old brand cited many of its sites as outdated at the time of those previous closures.
Like McDonald’s, Taco Bell and other rivals, Wendy’s also plans to emphasize value as it tries to win back inflation-weary customers.
“One learning from 2025 around value, we swung the pendulum too far towards limited-time price promotions instead of everyday value,” said Ken Cook, Wendy’s interim CEO and chief financial officer, in a conference call with investors.
In January, Wendy’s introduced a permanent “Biggie Deals” value menu with three price tiers: $4 Biggie Bites, $6 Biggie Bags and an $8 Biggie Bundle. Cook said Wendy’s also has new products coming this year, including a new chicken sandwich.
Wendy’s said its revenue fell 5.5% in the fourth quarter to $543 million. That was higher than the $537 million analysts had forecast.
Wendy’s expressed confidence that its U.S. turnaround plans and international growth will help arrest its sales slide this year. The company said it expects global systemwide sales — which includes sales at both company-owned and franchised restaurants — will be flat this year. Systemwide sales fell 3.5% last year.
Wendy’s shares rose nearly 5% in mid-day trading Friday.