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Built with precision for the QSR industry

The Database/BURGER

Hardee's

CKE Restaurants · EST. 1960 · Franklin, Tennessee

+ CompareFDD notes
US UNITS1,365−0.4% YOY
GLOBAL UNITS1,600
AUV (US)$1.2M
INVESTMENT RANGE$1.4–2.1M
FRANCHISED %90%

01The Read

Fast-food restaurant chain known for Made from Scratch Biscuits

FIG 1 — US UNIT COUNT, 2019–2025
1,260
2019
1,310
2020
1,325
2021
1,303
2022
1,355
2023
1,371
2024
1,365
2025

SOURCE: QSR PRO ESTIMATES

02Our Coverage

6 STORIES
One Box, One Vendor: Audivi AI and Quail Digital Bet That Bundled Hardware Changes the Voice AI GameMAR 24, 2026White Castle and SoundHound Prove Voice AI Works: 20% Fewer Errors, 90-Second TimesMAR 24, 2026Long John Silver's Shrinks Below 500 Locations: The Quiet Collapse of America's Largest Seafood QSRMAR 24, 2026Papa Johns Is the First Restaurant to Deploy Google Cloud's Gemini AI Ordering AgentMAR 24, 2026CKE's Multi-Vendor AI Experiment: What Carl's Jr. and Hardee's Learned from Testing Three Drive-Thru SystemsMAR 24, 2026Presto Raises $10M as Drive-Thru Voice AI Enters Its 'Prove It' EraMAR 24, 2026
FDD Fact Sheet · 2025
FRANCHISE FEE
$35K
ROYALTY
4%
AD FUND
—
TERM
10 YRS
LIQUIDITY
$400K
NET WORTH
$2M
Full cost breakdown →

Segment Peers

McDonald'sBurger KingWendy'sSonic Drive-InJack in the Box
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