Company Description
RAVE Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: RAVE) is a restaurant company based in the Dallas, Texas area that focuses on pizza concepts in the accommodation and food services sector. According to the company’s public disclosures, RAVE franchises, licenses, owns and supplies restaurants operating under the Pizza Inn and Pie Five Pizza brands in domestic and international markets. The company’s common stock trades on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol RAVE.
RAVE’s business centers on developing and supporting its two pizza brands. The company states that it franchises, licenses and supplies Pizza Inn and Pie Five restaurants, and also owns certain locations. These activities generate revenue from franchise and license arrangements and related support services. RAVE reports its performance through measures such as general and administrative expenses, franchise expenses, and non-GAAP metrics like EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, which it describes in detail in its financial news releases.
Pizza Inn brand
Pizza Inn is described by RAVE as offering an experience that is “unlike your typical buffet.” The brand traces its history back to 1958 and is characterized by house-made dough, house-shredded 100% whole milk mozzarella cheese, fresh ingredients and a house-made signature sauce. RAVE highlights Pizza Inn’s “small-town vibe” and refers to the concept as “America’s favorite hometown pizza place” and “America’s Favorite Hometown Pizza Buffet” in its communications. Pizza Inn locations feature a pizza buffet format and, in various disclosures, the company notes menu elements such as pan pizzas, salads, desserts and other items that broaden the buffet offering.
RAVE’s updates show that Pizza Inn operates both domestic and international units. The company regularly reports Pizza Inn domestic and international unit counts and comparable store retail sales in its quarterly and annual results. It also discusses initiatives such as restaurant reimaging programs, new buffet restaurant openings and development pipelines for additional Pizza Inn locations, including master franchise agreements in markets such as Egypt.
Pie Five Pizza brand
RAVE introduced the Pie Five Pizza concept in 2011. The company describes Pie Five as a fast-casual pizza brand that transforms the classic pizzeria into a format emphasizing personalization, sophisticated ingredients and speed. According to RAVE, Pie Five’s craft pizzas are baked fresh daily and feature house-made ingredients, creative recipes and what it calls “craveable crust creations.” The company reports Pie Five domestic unit counts and comparable store retail sales alongside Pizza Inn metrics in its financial results.
In its public communications, RAVE has also discussed operational changes at Pie Five, including efforts to increase make-line capacity and reduce guest wait times, with the goal of improving throughput and in-store service consistency. These operational details appear in the company’s quarterly news releases and are part of how RAVE describes its ongoing management of the brand.
Franchising, licensing and supply activities
RAVE’s descriptions emphasize that it franchises, licenses and supplies its restaurant brands. Earlier third-party descriptions also note that the company operates and franchises pizza buffet, delivery/carry-out, express restaurants and ghost kitchens under the Pizza Inn and Pie Five Pizza Company brands, and that it has multiple operating segments related to franchising and corporate administration. RAVE’s own releases focus on the franchising and licensing of domestic and international restaurants and on supplying those locations.
The company regularly reports Pizza Inn domestic comparable store retail sales and Pie Five domestic comparable store retail sales, along with domestic and international unit counts for Pizza Inn and domestic unit counts for Pie Five. These metrics are presented in quarterly and annual highlights and are used by RAVE to describe the performance of its franchised and licensed restaurant base.
Financial reporting and performance metrics
RAVE publishes its financial results through quarterly and annual news releases and SEC filings. In these communications, the company presents revenue, net income, income before taxes, and other GAAP measures. It also provides non-GAAP measures such as EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA. RAVE explains that EBITDA represents earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and that Adjusted EBITDA further excludes items such as stock-based compensation expense, severance, gains or losses on sale of assets, certain impairment and lease-related costs, franchise default and closed store revenue or expense, and closed and non-operating store costs.
The company states that it considers EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to be important supplemental measures of operating performance that are commonly used by securities analysts, investors and other parties interested in its industry. Management also notes that it uses these non-GAAP measures for evaluating operating performance, assessing the effectiveness of business strategies, projecting future capital needs, budgeting and other planning purposes. RAVE’s releases typically include reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to net income.
Profitability track record and capital position
In multiple news releases, RAVE highlights a multi-year sequence of profitable quarters. For example, the company has referred to its 14th, 15th, 16th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd consecutive quarters of profitability in successive announcements covering fiscal 2024, 2025 and the first quarter of fiscal 2026. These statements indicate that RAVE has achieved ongoing profitability over an extended period, as described by its management.
RAVE also comments on its cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments in its financial updates, presenting these balances as part of its balance sheet discussion. The company notes that cash provided by operating activities has contributed to building its cash and short-term investment balances, and that it has used share repurchases and other actions within its capital management approach. These details appear in the condensed consolidated balance sheets and cash flow statements included with the company’s news releases.
Development and brand initiatives
RAVE’s communications describe several initiatives related to brand development and restaurant growth. For Pizza Inn, the company has discussed:
- A restaurant reimaging program (referred to as “re” in some releases), including completed and planned reimaged buffet restaurants.
- New buffet restaurant openings in U.S. states such as North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas.
- Development pipelines with multiple domestic buffet restaurants under contract.
- International expansion, including a master franchise agreement for multiple locations in Egypt and additional units in Saudi Arabia.
- Marketing and value-focused promotions, such as the “I$8” or “I ate at Pizza Inn” buffet offer and salad bar promotions, which RAVE associates with traffic and sales performance in participating restaurants.
For Pie Five, RAVE has described menu transformations, operational changes to double make-line capacity, and efforts to improve guest throughput and service consistency. In some communications, the company notes that these changes have coincided with sales increases and record sales weeks at certain Pie Five locations.
Corporate governance and shareholder matters
RAVE is incorporated in Missouri and files periodic reports and proxy materials with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Its definitive proxy statement describes matters submitted to shareholders, including the election of directors, ratification of the company’s independent registered public accounting firm, and approval of a long-term incentive plan. The proxy materials outline the number of shares outstanding as of the record date, voting procedures, and the items of business for the annual meeting.
The company’s SEC filings and proxy statement also provide information about its board of directors, corporate offices in The Colony, Texas, and shareholder voting results on proposals such as director elections, auditor ratification and incentive plan approval.
Stock information
RAVE Restaurant Group, Inc. lists its common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol RAVE. The company’s SEC filings confirm that its common stock has a par value of $0.01 per share and that it is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Investors can review RAVE’s Form 10-K, Form 10-Q, Form 8-K and proxy materials for detailed financial and governance information.
Summary
According to its own disclosures, RAVE Restaurant Group, Inc. is a pizza-focused restaurant company that owns, franchises, licenses and supplies Pizza Inn and Pie Five Pizza restaurants in the United States and abroad. It emphasizes buffet and fast-casual concepts, highlights a multi-year record of quarterly profitability, and reports detailed financial and operating metrics in its public filings and news releases. The company uses both GAAP and non-GAAP measures to describe its performance and outlines development, reimaging and marketing initiatives intended to support its brands and restaurant base.