Is Five Guys Stock Publicly Traded?

Is Five Guys Stock Publicly Traded? The United States embraces a range of culinary traditions. In just about every major city, diners can sample cuisine from around the world, and even the most rural areas offer options inspired by Italian, Chinese, and Mexican cooking. However, there are a few menu items that are quintessentially American. Burgers and fries are at the very top of that list. 

From fast-food giants like McDonald’s (MCD) that sell billions of burgers every year to family-owned restaurants that make building burgers an art form, the US has taken basic beef patty sandwiches and transformed them into a cultural icon. 

Five Guys is a favorite among burger enthusiasts, and the company is expanding worldwide. Its long history of success and potential for growth has investors interested. Of course, the first question is, “Is Five Guys stock publicly traded?” 

Who Currently Owns Five Guys?

Five Guys, which often appears on “Best Burgers in America” lists, opened its first restaurant in 1986, after Jerry and Janie Murrell encouraged their four sons to start a business. As the family considered what sort of business to launch, Jerry Murrell quoted his mother, who said: 

“If you can give a good haircut or if you can serve a good drink at a bar or if you can serve a good hamburger, you can always make money in America.”

The Five Guys menu is fairly standard – it could be the menu of just about any burger restaurant. It’s the quality of the food that sets Five Guys apart. Every burger is handmade and freshly grilled, and the beef is never frozen. 

From 1986 to 2001, Five Guys slowly expanded its business, working out the kinks along the way. Fifteen years in, there were five Five Guys restaurants in the DC metro area, and their reputation was such that tourists made a point of adding Five Guys to their itineraries.

A strong reputation and the restaurants’ ongoing success prompted the Murrell family to explore new methods of expansion. Certainly, the family couldn’t operate hundreds of restaurants across the country and around the world, so they decided to offer franchise opportunities. However, before any prospective franchisees are approved, there is a caveat. They must agree to Five Guys’ quality standards. 

From 2002 to present, Five Guys has grown into a national and international chain. There are nearly 1,700 locations already serving the classic Five Guys menu, and the company has at least 1,500 more restaurants in various stages of planning and development. 

Five Guys Holdings is the parent company for all of the businesses associated with Five Guys. That includes the restaurants owned and operated by the Murrell family, as well as hundreds of franchises. The Murrell family – Jerry Murrell in particular – remains the principal owner of Five Guys. 

How Much Is 5 Guys Worth Now?

Five Guys regularly appears on “best of” lists, but the recognition expands far beyond its burgers. The company is widely considered an excellent place to work, and employees give Five Guys and its owners high marks for their leadership. 

In the past five years alone, Forbes has included Five Guys on the following charts: 

That’s impressive, considering these lists are made up of a wide variety of companies across industries – some of which are valued in the hundreds of billions.

Five Guys isn’t worth nearly that much, but its commitment to excellence allows it to compete for these accolades against some of the largest organizations in the world. 

There is no official Five Guys valuation since the company is not publicly traded, but analysts suggest that based on revenues that top $1 billion and the value of publicly traded peers, the company is likely worth between $2 billion and $5 billion. 

Is Five Guys Stock Publicly Traded?

Five Guys stock is not publicly traded, which means shares cannot be found on any public exchange.

It is a Limited Liability Company based in Lorton, Virginia, and it employs approximately 5,000 people. The Five Guys Holding Company owns around 500 restaurants, and it has partial ownership of certain international locations. The rest of the Five Guys restaurants are owned by franchisees. 

How Much Do Five Guys Franchise Owners Make?

Five Guys franchise owners have a big responsibility. They have to uphold the standards of a brand that is based on quality, and that can be costly. For example, the signature buns that hold in Five Guys’ beef patties and fixings can’t be found at any supermarket. 

The buns found in Five Guys restaurants are extra-eggy, extra-sweet, and oversized, modeled after the original buns created especially for the first Five Guys shop. Every franchise must abide by strict bun-related requirements – a higher-than-average expense that impacts bottom-line results. 

Nonetheless, franchisees that qualify to open a Five Guys branded restaurant agree to follow the carefully crafted rules that the company has developed over decades can generally expect strong sales and a tidy profit. Franchise industry analysts suggest annual sales could be approximately $1.18 million. 

Before anything else, franchisees must pay 6 percent of gross sales in royalties to Five Guys, and then the other expenses come out.

Once all of those deductions are made, $150,000 to $200,000 per year in profit for the restaurant owner is a reasonable expectation. 

Note that Five Guys is an appealing franchise opportunity for many reasons, and one of the biggest is the lower-than-average initial investment. Five Guys franchisees might pay between $300,000 and $650,000 to get the doors open, which is low as compared to alternatives like Taco Bell ($1.2 million to $2.8 million) and Wendy’s ($2 million to $3.7 million). 

Does Shaq Own Five Guys?

Entrepreneurs exploring franchise opportunities are often attracted by the quality of the product and the potential profit. However, since Five Guys doesn’t put much into marketing – instead, it spends that money on secret shoppers – word of mouth and media attention are the main reasons that potential franchisees learn of the brand in the first place. 

Five Guys made waves when news outlets reported on a visit from Barack Obama in 2009. The company got even more attention when word leaked out that former basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal was the partial owner of 155 Five Guys restaurants. At the time, 155 made him partial owner of roughly 10 percent of all North American Five Guys locations. 

According to most reports, Shaq doesn’t own Five Guys restaurants anymore. He sold his stake in favor of other up-and-coming startups. For example, he invested in Ring Doorbell – a security system that has become wildly popular in the years since Shaq became involved. 

When Will Five Guys Go Public?

Considering its estimated value and its growth potential, many investors are anxious for Five Guys to go public. Unfortunately, there is no indication that the family has any plans to sell shares in the public marketplace – and there is no obvious benefit for the current owners if they choose to move forward with a Five Guys IPO.

Certainly, an IPO could make the family wealthier, but they have generally indicated that they are comfortable with their current success. Unlike businesses that need investment capital to grow and expand, Five Guys is self-sufficient. Growth is handled through the franchising segment of the company, and there is no need for fundraising beyond the amount contributed by franchises. 

A Five Guys IPO would come with what the family might perceive as disadvantages – more government oversight, obligations to shareholders, and losing control of the company that the family built from the ground up. 

Can I Buy Five Guys Stock?

Five Guys stock isn’t available for purchase through standard channels. As a family-owned company, opportunities to invest are strictly limited.

The best way to be a part of Five Guys’ success is through owning a franchise – though that is a far bigger undertaking than simply buying and holding shares. 

Burger Joints Still To Go Public

Five Guys isn’t the only restaurant chain that has passed on going public for now. Other burger joints still to go public include In-N-Out, Whataburger, and White Castle. That’s bad news for those who are loyal to these brands. 

In-N-Out is to Los Angeles what Five Guys is to DC. The menu is short, the quality is exceptional, and celebrities like Gordon Ramsay and Paris Hilton are publicly passionate about the chain. In fact, In-N-Out burgers are so popular that they are often served at Oscar after-parties, suggesting that if the company ever does hold an IPO, it will be well-received. 

Whataburger was a family-owned burger chain for decades. It originally launched in Corpus Christie, Texas, in 1950, though it is now headquartered in San Antonio. The Dobson family sold Whataburger to a private equity firm in 2019, which suggests that an IPO could be in the cards at some point. 

Finally, there is White Castle, which has been famous in the midwest since it opened in 1921. The brand later gained national notoriety after White Castle burgers were featured on the big screen. White Castle is family-owned, and there is no question that the company will stay that way for the foreseeable future.

The family is firm that it is not considering a White Castle IPO, which would certainly be lucrative. After all, Time Magazine named the White Castle burger among the most influential burgers of all time. 

Best Burger Stocks To Buy 

Though Five Guys stock isn’t publicly traded, there are plenty of alternative burger stocks to buy. In fact, the fast-food industry as a whole dominates restaurant spending, pulling in perhaps as much as 70 percent of all dollars spent on meals away from home. That comes out to roughly $281.6 billion. 

Those interested in fast food and quick service restaurant stocks have plenty of options. Some of the best burger stocks to buy include: 

Other top restaurant stocks include: 

Finally, there are interesting stocks that have a strong relationship to the restaurant industry. For example, Beyond Meat is leading the way in vegetarian and vegan menu items, and soft drink companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi have a long history of success. 

#1 Stock For The Next 7 Days

When Financhill publishes its #1 stock, listen up. After all, the #1 stock is the cream of the crop, even when markets crash.

Financhill just revealed its top stock for investors right now... so there's no better time to claim your slice of the pie.

See The #1 Stock Now >>

The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Financhill has a disclosure policy. This post may contain affiliate links or links from our sponsors.