BJ's Restaurants vs Papa John's
Papa John's reported revenue of $2.1 billion in fiscal 2025, 1.5 times BJ's Restaurants' $1.4 billion in fiscal 2025. BJ's Restaurants' revenue grew 3.1% in its latest year, and Papa John's fell 0.3%. BJ's Restaurants had an operating margin of 3.3%, against 4.3% at Papa John's. Free cash flow was $41 million at BJ's Restaurants and $61 million at Papa John's. Their fiscal years end in different months (December 30 and December 28), so the periods don't line up exactly.
Side by side
| BJ's Restaurants | Papa John's | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest fiscal year | FY2025, Dec 30, 2025 | FY2025, Dec 28, 2025 |
| Revenue | $1.4B | $2.1B |
| Revenue growth | 3.1% | −0.3% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 5 years | 12.4% | 2.5% |
| Gross margin | 74.8% | — |
| Operating margin | 3.3% | 4.3% |
| Net margin | 3.5% | 1.5% |
| Free cash flow | $41M | $61M |
| Free cash flow margin | 2.9% | 3.0% |
| Return on capital | 11.1% | 19.3% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.5x | 4.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $68M | $61M |
| Change in diluted share count | −4.8% | 0.4% |
| Last close | $57.91 | $18.23 |
| P/E at the last close | 31.0× | 23.1× |
| Insider trades, last 12 months | bought $218,574, sold $8.4 million | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 of 9 | 4 of 8 |
Amounts in each company's own currency, US$ unless marked (a foreign company may report in another), each company's latest fiscal year from its 10-K, or 20-F or 40-F for a foreign company. Growth rates compare with the year before; the five-year rate is the average a year. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business; P/E is the last close over the latest earnings per share. Banks are measured differently (return on equity, efficiency ratio), so some rows apply to one company only.
Ten years
Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
BJ's RestaurantsPapa John's
Operating margin
Percent of revenue
BJ's RestaurantsPapa John's
Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure.
BJ's RestaurantsPapa John's
Source: the companies' Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR, and the last close. For information only, not investment advice: the figures describe results, not which company is the better investment. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with either company. Full figures on the BJ's Restaurants and Papa John's pages.