Kura Sushi USA (KRUS) Company Overview

Shares of Kura Sushi have dropped more than 20% so far in 2025 after the company completed a secondary offering to build up cash for new store expansion. Kura Sushi USA faces inflation challenges but plans 20%+ annual unit growth to fill the mid-scale sushi chain gap in the U.S. market. The company is rehauling operations and streamlining corporate overhead to combat rising labor costs and improve margins.

Kura Sushi's NASDAQ: KRUS stock price retreated following the FQ1 2025 release, dipping into a hot buying opportunity for small-cap and restaurant investors. The move is due to the guidance, which fell short and expects growth to slow, but many factors, including the pace of Q1 and store count growth, suggest otherwise.

Middle Coast Investing, an investment advisory firm, has published its investor letter for the fourth quarter. You can download the letter here. The strategy performed well, surpassing both the S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 in the last quarter, but for the entire year of 2024, it outperformed the Russell 2000, which is the most relevant benchmark, but fell short in comparison to other measures.

KRUS' fiscal first-quarter top line reflects strong comps growth, courtesy of successful One Piece and Pikmin IP collaboration campaigns.

Kura Sushi (KRUS) came out with a quarterly loss of $0.08 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.24. This compares to loss of $0.18 per share a year ago.

IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kura Sushi USA, Inc. (“Kura Sushi” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: KRUS), a technology-enabled Japanese restaurant concept, today announced financial results for the fiscal first quarter ended November 30, 2024.

KRUS' first-quarter fiscal 2025 top line is likely to have been aided by expansion efforts.

I'm initiating Kura Sushi USA at a buy rating. This is an excellent small-cap growth stock for investors who want to rotate away from outperforming large caps in 2025. The company recently completed a financing that gives it over $100 million in cash (versus $2.5 million for each new store opening). It's planning for 14 new stores in FY25 (~22% unit growth) and is targeting 20%+ unit expansion per year.

IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kura Sushi USA, Inc. (“Kura Sushi” or the “Company”), (NASDAQ: KRUS), a technology-enabled Japanese restaurant concept, today announced that it will host a conference call to discuss fiscal first quarter 2025 financial results on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. ET. A press release with fiscal first quarter 2025 financial results will be issued that same day after the market closes. Hosting the conference call and webcast will be Hajime “Jimmy” Uba, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Uttz, Chief Financial Officer, and Benjamin Porten, SVP Investor Relations & System Development.