Chick-fil-A Revenue Hits $10.3 Billion While Rivals Falter

Chick-fil-A's revenue rose 14% to $10.3 billion in 2025, with net income edging up 1% to $1.05 billion, according to franchise disclosures — even as competitors like McDonald's, Popeyes and KFC posted disappointing results amid sluggish industry traffic. CEO Andrew Cathy told CNBC that the chain's roughly 3,000 locations have bucked the downturn.

"This has been a good year," Cathy said in downtown Manhattan, speaking ahead of an event promoting the chain's Shared Table hunger relief program. "Our operators have done such a good job executing on the fundamentals and adding the hospitality to it."

Those system-wide sales reached $23.92 billion last year, making Chick-fil-A the third-largest U.S. restaurant chain by sales, trailing only McDonald's and Starbucks.

What does staying private buy Chick-fil-A?

Chick-fil-A has no plans for an initial public offering or any other outside investment. Cathy described the company's growth strategy as "calculated" and "conservative" — though the numbers suggest otherwise. The chain opened 179 restaurants last year and has entered Canada, Singapore and the United Kingdom in recent years.

The refusal to go public has paid off in 2025's rough market for restaurant stocks. Shares of Jersey Mike's have fallen nearly 28% since its July IPO, while Dunkin' owner Inspire Brands is reportedly unlikely to go public this year unless the sector's performance improves.

"We're able to plan for the quarter century, and we don't have to plan for the quarter," Cathy said.

As a privately held, family-owned business — founded by Cathy's grandfather S. Truett Cathy — the company answers to no outside shareholders. Cathy succeeded his father, Dan, as chief executive nearly five years ago.

How is the chain balancing tradition and expansion?

During Cathy's tenure, Chick-fil-A has pursued a $1 billion international expansion plan and launched Daybright, a beverage-focused restaurant concept from its venture arm. He framed the balance between heritage and change with a driving metaphor.

"I look at driving this business like driving a race car — there's a reason that the windshield's bigger than the rearview mirror," Cathy said. "It's important for the rear view to be grounded on where you are, and there are things that we think about our purpose, our mission, that won't change, but everything else we have to be able to evolve and change."

Some tenets will never move: the chain stays closed on Sundays. Others, like its signature Southern hospitality, will evolve as dining habits shift.

Will Chick-fil-A use AI in its drive-thrus?

No. Cathy said the company takes a "human plus" approach to technology and will not deploy AI voice ordering in drive-thru lanes, unlike McDonald's, which said at its September investor day that it plans to test its Archy voice AI in English and Spanish.

"From our experience, we really want that hospitality to be human to human," Cathy said. "We're not gonna substitute that interaction with technology, because we feel like that hospitality is so important to create that warm environment for consumers."

The wider industry is converging on hospitality as a differentiator. Starbucks bought around 200,000 Sharpie markers so baristas can write friendly messages on cups. Burger King has redefined its restaurant manager role into a "Your Way Champion." And starting Monday, McDonald's begins its "Make It Golden" training program for franchisees and employees.

Chick-fil-A led fast food in the American Customer Satisfaction Index for more than a decade — a record Jersey Mike's finally broke in the 2026 study, although Chick-fil-A's score was unchanged from a year earlier.

What's changing on the menu?

The famously simple menu is expanding carefully, mostly through seasonal limited-time items like chicken and waffles and the Honey Pepper Pimento Chicken Sandwich. When an item becomes a "home run," as Cathy calls it, the chain may make it permanent — as it did with its Pineapple Dragonfruit drink line.

"We're very careful about what we want to do, because we want to keep it really focused on unique Chick-fil-A items that they can only get at Chick-fil-A," Cathy said. "But we do want to bring in new flavors and profiles, and that's what we'll do with a lot of our seasonal items that we do, and we learn a lot from our customers about trying those things."

Who is chasing Chick-fil-A's chicken crown?

Chick-fil-A still dominates U.S. chicken with roughly 43% market share as of 2024, according to Barclays. Popeyes, whose 2019 chicken sandwich sparked the "chicken sandwich wars," holds the No. 2 spot with about 11%. McDonald's could reignite the battle as it prepares to test hand-breaded chicken strips and sandwiches.

Cathy welcomes the fight. "I'm grateful that there's competition in the chicken space, because that means we're in a good space to be," he said. "Competition just makes us better .... What little details can we do to make that environment even more welcoming for customers?"

What is Red Wagon Ventures building?

Beyond restaurants, the company's Red Wagon Ventures — created in 2017 and named for the wagon Truett Cathy used to sell Coca-Cola bottles at age 6 — is incubating new businesses. Its Little Blue Menu experiment, which served burgers, pizza and onion rings alongside Chick-fil-A items, will convert its final location into a traditional Chick-fil-A next year. Daybright, its newest concept, serves coffees, smoothies, juices and doughnuts — but no chicken sandwiches or waffle fries.

Last year the subsidiary launched Acrew Home Professionals, a home repair and maintenance business promoting "service with a smile." Red Wagon Ventures will also explore acquisitions of family businesses, most likely ones without a succession plan or looking to sell.

"I think from a family business standpoint, we've got to build off of our core competencies and look at other types of things that we can get into, so we can continue to serve customers in unique ways," Cathy said.

He studies century-old family businesses for lessons in longevity. At 80 years old, Chick-fil-A has two decades before it reaches that mark — and his grandfather set the template: S. Truett Cathy died at 93, having opened a new Hawaiian-themed restaurant, Truett's Luau, at 92, the same month he handed the family business to his son.