Cracker Barrel Old Country Stor CBRL

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-cyclical

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
48/100
Developing

Ranked against 56 peers in Restaurants

About Cracker Barrel Old Country Stor

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. develops and operates the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store concept in the United States. Its Cracker Barrel stores consist of restaurants with a gift shop. The company's restaurants serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as dine-in, pick-up, and delivery services. Its gift shops offer various decorative and functional items, such as rocking chairs, … Full CBRL analysis →

Key strengths

  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.74), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
  • Revenue Growth Consistent Revenue growth volatility is low (stability score 0.79), suggesting sticky customer base.

Key risks

  • ROIC Below WACC or Peers ROIC at 35.2th percentile suggests inefficient capital deployment.
  • Below-Peer Operating Efficiency Operating margin at 35.2th percentile indicates below-peer efficiency.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Developing
45
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Signals, strengths and risks for Pricing Power

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Signals, strengths and risks for Cost Advantage

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Signals, strengths and risks for Customer Stickiness

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Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Efficiency

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Signals, strengths and risks for Resilience

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Signals, strengths and risks for Scale & Market Position

Where CBRL ranks in Restaurants

Cracker Barrel Old Country Stor ranks #31 of 57 scored companies in Restaurants by moat score — the top 54%. The widest moat in the group is Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) at 83/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
27 BJ's Restaurants, Inc. BJRI 56/100 Moderate
28 CAVA Group, Inc. CAVA 54/100 Moderate
29 RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc. RICK 53/100 Moderate
30 Denny's Corporation DENN 50/100 Developing
31 Cracker Barrel Old Country Stor CBRL 48/100 Developing
32 First Watch Restaurant Group, I FWRG 45/100 Developing
33 Chanson International Holding CHSN 45/100 Developing
34 Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. RRGB 44/100 Developing
35 Good Times Restaurants Inc. GTIM 39/100 Developing

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How CBRL scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 45 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 60 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 58 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 37 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 48 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 46 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding CBRL's moat

What is Cracker Barrel Old Country Stor's moat score?

Cracker Barrel Old Country Stor (CBRL) scores 48 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #31 of 57 scored companies in Restaurants, the top 54%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 56 companies in Restaurants. Its strongest defense is Cost Advantage (60/100) and its weakest is Capital Efficiency (37/100).

How does Cracker Barrel Old Country Stor compare with other Restaurants companies?

Cracker Barrel Old Country Stor ranks #31 of 57 scored companies in Restaurants by moat score. The widest moat in Restaurants is Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) at 83/100. The companies ranked closest are Denny's Corporation (DENN) at 50 just above it and First Watch Restaurant Group, I (FWRG) at 45 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 56 companies in Restaurants. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Cracker Barrel Old Country Stor scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Cracker Barrel Old Country Stor?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and CBRL scores: Pricing Power (45), Cost Advantage (60), Customer Stickiness (58), Capital Efficiency (37), Resilience (48), Scale & Market Position (46). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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