Happy Belly Food Group Inc., a leader in acquiring and scaling emerging food brands, announced Wednesday its unaudited financial results and corporate update for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2026.
Q1 2026 Financial and Recent Business Highlights
- System-wide sales across Quick Service Restaurants totalled $19.3M in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, up 80.4% versus the same quarter last year (2025 – $10.7M). The increase is attributed to organic baseline restaurant growth, alongside increased restaurant count, which reached 87 operating restaurants at the end of Q1 2026, up 74.0% versus 50 in the prior year.
- Total operating revenues, services, interest income and rebates totalled $6.0M in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, up 82.2% versus the same quarter last year (2025 – $3.3M). Year-over-year growth was driven by continued sales growth in QSR, multiple business acquisitions in the past twelve months, and net new restaurants (10 new openings in Q1).
- Total product sales totalled $4.7M in the first quarter of 2026, up 70.3% versus the same quarter last year (2025 – $2.8M). In addition, royalties and franchise fee revenues reached $0.97M during the quarter, up 118% from the prior year (2025 – $0.45M), which was driven by an increase in royalties collected from added franchised restaurants in the system.
- Adjusted EBITDA was $(0.17M) or (2.9%) in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 versus $0.14M or 4.2% in the same quarter last year.
- Total cash and cash equivalents remain healthy at $6.2M as of March 31, 2026 (2025 – $3.0M).
- As of April 30, 2026, subsequent to fiscal 2025, the Company has opened and is operating 17 additional restaurants.
“Happy Belly continued to deliver strong growth in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, with system-wide sales across our Quick Service Restaurant portfolio increasing 80.4% year over year to $19.3 million. This growth reflects continued organic baseline restaurant performance, the contribution of recent acquisitions, and the expansion of our operating restaurant base to 87 locations at quarter end, up 74.0% from the prior year,” said Sean Black, Chief Executive Officer of Happy Belly Food Group. “During the quarter, we opened 10 new restaurants, further demonstrating the strength and repeatability of our growth model. Subsequent to quarter end, we continued that momentum, with 7 additional restaurants opened and operating. This continued expansion reinforces the demand for our brands and the effectiveness of our area developer and franchise platform.
“Total operating revenues also increased 82.2% year over year to $6.0 million, while total product sales increased 70.3% to $4.7 million. Importantly, royalties and franchise fee revenues grew 118% to $0.97 million, driven by the continued expansion of franchised restaurants across our system. This is a key metric for us as we scale towards 100+ operating locations in the first half of this year. As our restaurant footprint grows, these higher-margin revenue streams become an increasingly important contributor to our financial profile.
“With $6.2 million in cash at quarter end, and less than $60,000 in total secured debt, we remain well positioned to continue executing our strategy without having to slow down. We are proud of the progress made in Q1 2026 and remain focused on disciplined growth, operational execution, and scaling Happy Belly as a leading acquirer and operator of emerging food brands. Our expanding franchise system provides increased royalty and franchise fee revenues providing a strong foundation for long-term shareholder value creation. Moving forward in 2026 we anticipate delivering significant organic growth, surpassing our original expectations for the full year. With cash in the bank, building the business in the back half of 2026 is going to be a lot of fun”.
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