Kura Sushi USA (KRUS) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $853.01M
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 240.77K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): ―
• Beta (1Y): 1.84
• Revenue Growth: 18.88%
• EPS Growth: 79.28%
• Country: US
• Employees: 3,300
• Sector: Consumer Cyclical
• Sector Strength: 84
• Industry: Restaurants
• EPS (TTM): -0.25
• Shares Outstanding: 11,111,427
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 173,912
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 240,766
• PEG Ratio: 6.66
• Price to Book (P/B): 4.37
• Price to Sales (P/S): 3.57
• P/FCF Ratio: -46.90
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.18
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 3.44
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 31.34
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 89.75
• 1Y Price Target: $67.67
• Price Target Upside: -3.92% Downside
• Rating Consensus: Moderate Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 8
• EPS Forecast (FY): -0.15
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $330.47M

• Rating: 58 Neutral
• Price Target: $82.00 ▲(16.43% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 01/23/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 01/23/26

The score is held back primarily by inconsistent profitability and negative free cash flow despite strong revenue growth. Technicals are supportive with a clear uptrend, but overbought signals add near-term risk. Valuation is weak due to losses, while the earnings call provided stable guidance and strong liquidity but highlighted material margin pressure and negative comps.

Positive Factors

Sustained Revenue Scale

Multi-year revenue expansion demonstrates scalable unit economics and successful unit growth. A nearly 4.5x increase since 2021 indicates the model can attract customers at new locations, supporting longer-term top-line durability and providing a base for future margin recovery as operations mature.

Strong Liquidity and No Debt

A cash-rich, debt-free balance sheet provides financial optionality to fund unit expansion, capex (robotic dishwashers), and marketing without near-term refinancing risk. This preserves flexibility to execute the growth plan and absorb temporary losses while awaiting operating leverage improvements.

Large, Engaged Rewards Base

A sizable loyalty program drives higher frequency and spend per guest, improving revenue predictability and marketing efficiency. Durable behavioral change from rewards members supports customer retention, increases lifetime value, and helps sustain same-store sales as the brand scales nationally.

Negative Factors

Negative Free Cash Flow

Continued negative FCF shows growth and remodeling are absorbing cash and that capex and build-out costs exceed operating cash conversion. Over several quarters this forces reliance on liquidity or equity issuance to fund expansion, constraining returns until unit-level cash generation consistently outpaces reinvestment.

Margin Compression and Widening Losses

Material margin deterioration evidences structural cost pressures and sales deleverage. Even with revenue growth, falling restaurant margins and rising operating losses indicate difficulty converting scale into profitability. Sustained margin recovery is required to restore ROE and justify continued aggressive unit rollout.

Tariff-Driven Cost Uncertainty

Tariff exposure creates persistent COGS upside risk and delayed benefit from any relief due to long inventory lead times. This structural input-cost volatility hampers margin planning, forces repeated price or promotion adjustments, and raises the execution bar for sustained profitability improvements.

Kura Sushi USA Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Kura Sushi USA, Inc. operates technology-enabled Japanese restaurants in the United States. The company's restaurants provide Japanese cuisine through an engaging revolving sushi service model, which is known as 'Kura Experience'. As of August 31, 2021, it operated 33 restaurants in nine states and Washington DC. The company was formerly known as Kula Sushi USA, Inc. and changed its name to Kura Sushi USA, Inc. in October 2017. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Irvine, California. Kura Sushi USA, Inc. is a subsidiary of Kura Sushi, Inc.

How the Company Makes Money

Kura Sushi USA generates revenue primarily through the sale of food and beverages at its restaurant locations. Key revenue streams include the direct sale of sushi, appetizers, desserts, and drinks, with a focus on both dine-in and takeout options. Additionally, the company may benefit from technology-driven efficiencies that help reduce labor costs and improve customer turnover. Partnerships with food suppliers ensure a consistent supply of fresh ingredients, while marketing initiatives may help attract new customers and retain existing ones. Kura Sushi USA also invests in expanding its footprint through new restaurant openings, contributing to its long-term growth and revenue potential.

Kura Sushi USA Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Strong multi-year revenue growth and positive EBITDA, but profitability has turned negative again and free cash flow remains negative (TTM FCF about -$10.9M), indicating expansion is not yet self-funding.

Income Statement

Revenue has scaled meaningfully over the last several years (from $64.9M in 2021 to $282.8M in FY2025, and $291.8M in TTM (Trailing-Twelve-Months)). However, profitability has weakened versus the 2023 profit year: TTM (Trailing-Twelve-Months) shows a net loss of ~$4.0M with slightly negative operating profit, even though EBITDA remains positive (~3.8% margin). Strengths are the larger revenue base and positive EBITDA; key weakness is the inability to translate growth into consistent bottom-line profitability, with margins volatile year-to-year.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet shows a moderate leverage profile: TTM (Trailing-Twelve-Months) debt-to-equity is ~0.82 with ~$229.2M of equity supporting ~$187.4M of debt, and assets of ~$443.5M. Equity has grown materially since 2022, which helps financial flexibility. The main concern is returns: return on equity is slightly negative in TTM (Trailing-Twelve-Months), consistent with recent losses, and leverage has trended higher in dollars over time, which can pressure results if profitability does not improve.

Cash Flow

Cash generation is mixed. Operating cash flow is positive in recent periods (TTM (Trailing-Twelve-Months) ~$20.6M), but free cash flow remains negative (TTM (Trailing-Twelve-Months) about -$10.9M) and has deteriorated versus the prior annual period. This suggests ongoing reinvestment and/or build-out is absorbing cash, and cash conversion is not yet strong enough to self-fund growth consistently; upside is that operating cash flow has stayed positive despite net losses.

Breakdown	TTM	Aug 2025	Aug 2024	Aug 2023	Aug 2022	Aug 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	291.76M	282.76M	237.86M	187.43M	141.09M	64.89M
Gross Profit	32.07M	33.43M	29.52M	28.78M	21.89M	6.11M
EBITDA	11.20M	12.39M	3.20M	9.64M	5.01M	-9.57M
Net Income	-4.00M	-1.90M	-8.80M	1.50M	-764.00K	-10.29M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	443.51M	430.94M	328.52M	304.66M	201.36M	177.67M
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	50.70M	62.46M	50.99M	78.24M	35.78M	40.43M
Total Debt	187.41M	170.01M	141.35M	119.56M	90.81M	72.96M
Total Liabilities	214.31M	199.87M	165.98M	140.02M	108.06M	86.83M
Stockholders Equity	229.20M	231.07M	162.54M	164.64M	93.29M	90.84M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	-27.75M	-21.55M	-28.64M	-21.00M	-3.07M	-21.30M
Operating Cash Flow	20.67M	24.60M	15.61M	18.06M	23.69M	-7.23M
Investing Cash Flow	-93.89M	-93.72M	-36.46M	-49.90M	-28.17M	-14.67M
Financing Cash Flow	904.00K	65.64M	2.14M	65.75M	-170.00K	53.07M

Kura Sushi USA Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 70.43
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For KRUS, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 70.43 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 71.68, above the 50-day MA of 66.32, and above the 200-day MA of 68.76, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of 0.70 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 51.30 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 57.80 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for KRUS.

Kura Sushi USA Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
BJRI	71 Outperform	$802.91M	17.69	13.26%	―	3.85%	7.57%
BH	63 Neutral	$1.21B	575.17	0.35%	―	6.87%	-95.91%
Sector *	61 Neutral	$18.38B	12.79	-2.54%	3.03%	1.52%	-15.83%
KRUS	58 Neutral	$853.01M	-209.36	-1.75%	―	18.88%	79.28%
PTLO	55 Neutral	$403.21M	19.29	4.45%	―	2.40%	-14.90%
FWRG	52 Neutral	$761.78M	40.35	0.83%	―	17.27%	-76.53%
BLMN	45 Neutral	$521.59M	96.99	3.74%	10.60%	-13.07%	-1139.12%

Kura Sushi USA Corporate Events

Kura Sushi USA Shareholders Back Governance, Add New Director

At its January 21, 2026 annual meeting in Irvine, California, Kura Sushi USA stockholders elected five directors to serve until the 2027 annual meeting, ratified KPMG LLP as the independent auditor for the fiscal year ending August 31, 2026, and approved on an advisory basis the compensation of the company’s named executive officers, with approximately 92.9% of the company’s combined voting power represented, underscoring broad shareholder support for the current governance and compensation framework. Effective the same day, marketing veteran Claudia Schaefer was elected as an independent director, replacing Kim Ellis, a move that bolsters the board’s brand and marketing expertise as Kura Sushi approaches the 100-unit milestone and positions itself for its next stage of U.S. growth, particularly in building national awareness of its revolving sushi concept.

The most recent analyst rating on (KRUS) stock is a Hold with a $67.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Kura Sushi USA stock, see the KRUS Stock Forecast page.