Biglari Holdings
Biglari Holdings' revenue rose 9.2% to $395 million in fiscal 2025. Its net margin was −9.5%, down from −1.0% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $77 million, up 301.8%.
Net margin is net income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
What Biglari Holdings does
Biglari Holdings is a holding company whose subsidiaries run restaurants, property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, licensing and media, and oil and gas. Its largest businesses franchise and operate restaurants. Sardar Biglari founded the company, is its Chairman and CEO, and makes all major investment and capital allocation decisions, while managers run each unit's daily operations.
Restaurants run through Steak n Shake and Western Sizzlin, with a combined 435 units at the end of 2025. Steak n Shake, founded in 1934, serves Steakburgers, fries and milkshakes. It had 131 company-run restaurants, 179 franchise partner units and 94 traditional franchise units. Western Sizzlin, a steak and buffet chain, had 3 company-run restaurants and 28 franchise units. Franchisees pay fees to the company.
Its insurers include First Guard, which sells commercial truck insurance, and Southern Pioneer, which sells garage liability, commercial property and homeowners coverage. Its oil and gas units are Southern Oil, offshore in Louisiana state waters, and Abraxas Petroleum, in the Permian Basin.
Its biggest risks, as it describes them
- Dependence on its Chairman and CEO, Sardar Biglari.
- Mr. Biglari owns over half of its shares, so he can control votes by stockholders, and it uses exemptions as a controlled company.
- Limits on its access to capital that could hurt its ability to meet cash needs.
- Weather and other events that change how often or how severely insurance claims occur.
- Oil and natural gas price swings, and competition across its businesses.
Income statement
From fiscal 2019 to 2023, earnings per share grew 9.5% a year and net income 4.9% a year. Biglari Holdings then lost money in fiscal 2024 and 2025.
Returns on capital
Balance sheet
Five years at a glance
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 42 | 38 | 28 | 31 | 269 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 111 | — | — | 14 | 221 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | 69 | — | — | −17 | −48 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.9x | — | — | −0.5x | −36.3x |
| Debt to equity | 0.2x | — | — | 0.0x | 0.4x |
| Interest coverage | 38.7x | −106.8x | 96.2x | −9.6x | −4.8x |
| Current ratio | 1.1x | 1.1x | 1.4x | 1.2x | 2.4x |
| Quick ratio | 1.1x | 1.1x | 1.4x | 1.1x | 2.4x |
Cash flow
Projections
Project Biglari Holdings' revenue, net income and earnings per share five years ahead in a bull, a base and a bear case with your own figures, and see the share prices your P/E estimates give them, or value it with a discounted cash flow model. Every projected figure is yours: it is not a forecast of ours.
Insider trades
No officer, director or 10% owner of Biglari Holdings reported buying or selling its shares on the open market between November 7, 2025 and November 6, 2026.
Indicators
Four widely used measures, worked out from the company's filings. The cutoffs are the ones their authors or users go by, not a verdict of ours.
| Indicator | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piotroski F-score | — | — | — |
| Rule of 40 | 12.8% | 4.4% | 28.5% |
| Altman Z'' | 5.78 | 4.53 | 4.14 |
| Accruals ratio | −2.1% | −6.2% | −15.3% |
The nine F-score tests
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Pass | Fail | Fail |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Pass | Fail | Fail |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | — | — | Fail |
| Current ratio rose | Pass | Fail | Pass |
| Share count didn't rise | — | — | — |
| Gross margin rose | Pass | Fail | Fail |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Pass | Fail | Pass |
| F-score | — | — | — |
Compare
Put Biglari Holdings side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biglari Holdings | FY25 | 9.2% | — | 19.4% | −6.0% | −36.3x | — | |
| Kura Sushi USA | FY26 | 16.1% | −2.0% | −7.6% | — | — | — | Compare |
| El Pollo Loco | FY25 | 3.6% | 8.6% | 5.2% | 8.9% | 0.8x | 8 | Compare |
| Sweetgreen | FY25 | 0.4% | −20.5% | −17.5% | −44.2% | — | 2 | Compare |
| Wingstop | FY25 | 11.3% | 25.7% | 15.2% | 51.0% | 5.0x | 4 | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | — | — | 810 | 669 | 434 | 366 | 368 | 365 | 362 | 395 |
| Revenue growth | — | — | — | −17.4% | −35.2% | −15.6% | 0.6% | −0.8% | −0.9% | 9.2% |
| Gross profit | — | — | 173 | 168 | 187 | 199 | 228 | 227 | 219 | 234 |
| Research and development | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating income | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Net income | 100 | 50 | 19 | 45 | −38 | 36 | −32 | 55 | −4 | −38 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | — | — | — | 131.64 | −110.05 | 111.83 | −107.43 | 189.49 | −13.45 | −143.86 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | — | — | 21 | 94 | 118 | 229 | 128 | 73 | 50 | 107 |
| Capital expenditure | — | — | 15 | 18 | 21 | 64 | 30 | 23 | 31 | 30 |
| Free cash flow | — | — | 5 | 76 | 97 | 164 | 98 | 50 | 19 | 77 |
| Dividends paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share buybacks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 36 | 0 | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stock-based compensation | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | — | 67 | 49 | 68 | 24 | 42 | 38 | 28 | 31 | 269 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | — | — | — | 282 | 273 | 111 | — | — | 14 | 221 |
| Total assets | — | — | — | 1,139 | 1,018 | 895 | 828 | 849 | 866 | 1,025 |
| Total liabilities | — | — | — | 523 | 453 | 307 | 273 | 250 | 293 | 502 |
| Shareholders' equity | 532 | 571 | 570 | 616 | 565 | 588 | 547 | 599 | 573 | 523 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | — | — | 21.4% | 25.1% | 43.1% | 54.2% | 61.9% | 62.2% | 60.4% | 59.2% |
| Operating margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Net margin | — | — | 2.4% | 6.8% | −8.8% | 9.7% | −8.7% | 15.0% | −1.0% | −9.5% |
| Free cash flow margin | — | — | 0.7% | 11.4% | 22.3% | 44.9% | 26.6% | 13.6% | 5.3% | 19.4% |
| Rule of 40 (growth + FCF margin) | — | — | — | −6.0% | −12.8% | 29.3% | 27.2% | 12.8% | 4.4% | 28.5% |
| Return on capital | — | — | — | — | −3.3% | 5.0% | — | — | — | −6.0% |
| Return on equity | — | — | — | — | −6.4% | 6.2% | −5.6% | 9.6% | −0.6% | −6.8% |
| Return on assets | — | — | — | — | −3.5% | 3.7% | −3.7% | 6.5% | −0.4% | −4.0% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | — | — | — | 2.0x | — | 0.9x | — | — | −0.5x | −36.3x |