Joshua Charlesworth
Analyst · Morgan Stanley. Your line is open. Please go ahead
Thank you, Steve, and good morning, everyone. The second quarter highlighted continued significant progress on our turnaround to strengthen the balance sheet, reduce leverage, and drive sustainable, profitable growth. Our year-to-date results demonstrate the success of the actions we are taking to grow the business and improve profitability. We remain confident in our ability to deliver our 2026 financial targets and are maintaining our previously issued guidance. Krispy Kreme remains a compelling global growth story, supported by increasing consumer demand for our iconic fresh doughnuts, even in a dynamic macro environment. Unlocking that demand remains our priority, and we are doing so through our 2 largest opportunities: profitable U.S. expansion and capital-light international franchise growth. In the second quarter, demand for our fresh, iconic doughnuts across the U.S. and international markets drove system-wide sales growth of 2.6%, excluding the impact of the now-ended McDonald's USA partnership from last year. Overall, our goal remains to deliver system-wide sales of more than $2 billion in 2026. Adjusted EBITDA margin significantly increased by 340 basis points as our focus on optimizing operations and logistics, along with driving more profitable sales per door in fresh delivery, is translating into stronger financial performance. Now let's move to the 4 pillars of our turnaround plan and the progress we are making on each. 1, re-franchising; 2, improving returns on capital; 3, expanding margins; and 4, driving sustainable, profitable U.S. growth. Our first pillar, re-franchising, enables us to drive more profitable system-wide sales growth while accelerating new shop development through a capital-light model. So far this year, we have completed 2 transactions that advanced this strategy in Japan and the Western U.S., both of which contributed to a reduction in net debt. Last year, approximately 25% of system-wide sales were generated by franchisees. Today, franchisees account for 42% of system-wide sales. With additional re-franchising efforts, our goal remains to reach approximately 50% of system-wide sales generated by franchisees beginning next year. As we evaluate additional re-franchising opportunities, we remain focused on identifying the right partners, both in international markets and the U.S., to maximize value and position our brand for long-term growth. The second pillar of our turnaround is improving returns on capital. Across the business, we are significantly reducing capital intensity and improving our utilization of existing assets, while our franchisees invest to support brand growth. As a result, we reduced our CapEx in the first half of the year by 70% compared to last year, which will contribute to achieving positive free cash flow in 2026. We are pleased to have entered into agreements for 3 new international franchise markets this year, including the Netherlands, Estonia, and Mauritius, achieving our goal of 3 to 4 new markets in 2026. The continued strength of the Krispy Kreme brand is reflected in the interest we see from prospective franchise partners around the world, and we remain focused on pursuing additional opportunities to expand our global footprint through our capital-light franchise model. Year-to-date, we have opened 59 new shops driven by growth in Japan, Brazil, South Korea, and the Middle East. All but 2 of these shops were opened by franchisees, and we remain on track to achieve our goal of opening at least 100 shops in 2026. While our international development pipeline remains an important driver of capital-light growth, we are also focused on U.S. growth by leveraging existing manufacturing capacity to expand fresh delivery. Our current network utilization is only about 25%, demonstrating the opportunity to expand to more locations without incremental capacity investment. Walmart and Target, along with other strategic partners, are still significantly under-penetrated, and we can support additional growth through the same facilities that currently deliver to more than 7,600 doors nationwide. The third pillar of our turnaround is expanding margins. We are simplifying the business and reducing costs across the P&L, resulting in significant margin improvement versus last year, driven by the U.S. segment. In the U.S., we are making doughnuts more efficiently through enhanced advanced production planning, labor optimization, and streamlined hub operations, all leading to a meaningful reduction in labor spend. We continue to increase delivery efficiency through improved route management, demand planning, and the optimization of production and delivery schedules. Now that we have successfully outsourced our U.S. logistics, we have greater cost predictability and reduced operational risk, enabling our teams to focus on what they do best: making fresh doughnuts. After completing a successful test of a new AI-enabled platform for fresh delivery demand planning, we are now rolling it out across our company network. Based on the preliminary results, we expect this advanced technology solution will reduce out-of-stocks on the shelf while also minimizing returns. The fourth pillar of our turnaround is sustainable, profitable growth in the U.S. across our doughnut shops, digital channels, and fresh delivery partners. Our doughnut shops are the largest driver of sustainable, profitable growth in the U.S. The strength of our doughnut shops has been driven by our recently expanded core menu, led by our iconic Original Glazed doughnut, supported by 5 seasonal doughnut collections each year and a steady cadence of innovative limited-time offerings. Each plays a key role, but it's the combination that makes them so successful. Our core menu provides consistency and value. Our seasonal collections deliver new flavors and variety, and our LTOs create excitement and cultural relevance. Together, they keep the brand fresh and engaging for consumers, stimulate curiosity, and drive sustained demand. We further support demand through targeted marketing and promotional programs that reinforce value and encourage larger purchases. Promotions such as our discounted second dozen offer provide value for consumers while driving doughnut sales and growth in average ticket size. Sales through our growing digital channel have grown 8% year-over-year and now represent approximately 22% of total U.S. retail sales. This is driven by improvements in our proprietary digital platforms, including easier payment options and the growth of our loyalty program. This now includes nearly 18 million members in the U.S. who visit typically 30% more frequently than non-loyalty members. In fresh delivery, we know that when our doughnuts are available in the right places and in the right quantities with strategic partners, we can generate higher average weekly sales and profitability. During the second quarter, we added more than 200 doors with strategic partners such as Walmart, Target, Kroger, and Sam's Club. A key component of our continued success in increasing average weekly sales per door is strengthening our relationships with these key strategic partners. Target is a great example of how deeper collaboration can unlock additional growth opportunities and create value for both organizations. We are expanding our relationship with Target to enhance merchandising and checkout placement. And beginning in September, Krispy Kreme products will be available for purchase on target.com. We believe this expanded relationship reflects the confidence leading retailers have in the strength of our brand and creates additional opportunities to increase sales and expand our fresh delivery network. Much of our progress in fresh delivery has been led by Suk Nicholas, who we recently announced as our Chief Commercial Officer. Her primary focus is to accelerate growth, expand key partnerships, strengthen customer relationships, and build world-class commercial capabilities across markets. Additionally, we continue to stay closely attuned to evolving consumer trends, including the use of GLP-1 and other weight loss medications. Last quarter, I discussed the conclusion from our research, which found Krispy Kreme consumers who use these medications are just as likely as non-users to purchase sweet treats for holidays and special occasions. With our differentiated fresh doughnuts, typically purchased 2 to 3 times per year, primarily for sharing occasions, we believe Krispy Kreme is well-positioned in this context. While we continue to monitor this trend, among other macro factors, we remain focused on expanding the ways consumers experience and share Krispy Kreme, including through our high-performing Minis category. Featuring Doughnut Minis, Doughnut Dots, and Mini Crullers, this category offers consumers compelling value and greater variety. Overall, we are pleased with the continued progress on our turnaround, extending the momentum that began late last year. We believe the actions we have taken are positioning Krispy Kreme for sustainable, profitable growth for the long term and delivering the results our turnaround plan was designed to achieve: improved financial flexibility, reduced capital intensity, expanded margins through greater operational efficiency, and improved sustainable, profitable U.S. growth. With that, Raphael will now review our second quarter financials.