Verified — real FDD extraction
Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory under this name — though SBA loans to its franchisees exist; verify eligibility with your lender
Carl's Jr. (NT)
Other · independent · est. —
Carl's Jr. is a fast-food hamburger chain known for large charbroiled burgers, fries, and shakes; this 'NT' listing refers to a specific franchise-offering variation (such as a non-traditional or new-territory format). It runs quick-service restaurants with drive-thru. A franchisee operates one or more locations under the brand.
Carl's Jr. (NT) net unit count declined -3.2% from 2022–2025 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Proven & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The main concern in the record: the system is shrinking.
Exit rate · latest year
3.7%
fiscal 2025, per Item 20
Cost to open
$688K–$1.1M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
0.0%
19 loans resolved — directional only
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2022–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 38 of 1,014 franchised outlets left the system — a 3.7% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 1,079 | 1,066 | 1,069 | 1,063 |
| Opened | 5 | 6 | 9 | 7 |
| Transfers | 39 | 94 | 33 | 12 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 6 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 12 | 4 | 12 | 34 |
| Outlets at end | 1,066 | 1,069 | 1,063 | 1,032 |
| Net change | -13 | +3 | -6 | -31 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 35 SBA-backed loans to Carl's Jr. (NT) franchisees since 1992. Only 19 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 0 of them charged off.
—
19 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$1,884,316
what recent franchisees borrowed
—
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
3 vs 2
distinct banks still lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
Loan performance by state
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO CARL'S JR. (NT) BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Too few loans to identify
Who buys it
70.4%
first-time franchise owners
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators charge off at roughly 10% versus 17% for brands sold mostly to newcomers.
Does experience help here?
Not enough resolved loans to split
Computed from 35 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to Carl's Jr. (NT) franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $25K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $688K–$1.1M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$688K–$1.1M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$25K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
5%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$50K
5% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$500K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for Carl's Jr. (NT) with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks safer than 88% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
12 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
7.7%
Observed SBA charge-off
0.0%
Top drivers: System size (log units) (lowers) · Item 3 litigation (log) (lowers) · Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · Net unit growth (raises). 15+ resolved loans stand behind this estimate. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for Carl's Jr. (NT). That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Carl's Jr. (NT)'s numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →Carl's Jr. (NT) franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Carl's Jr. (NT) franchises closed last year?
In Carl's Jr. (NT)'s latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 38 of 1,014 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 3.7%. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a Carl's Jr. (NT) franchise cost?
Per Carl's Jr. (NT)'s 2025 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $25K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $688K–$1.1M (Item 7).
What royalty does Carl's Jr. (NT) charge?
Carl's Jr. (NT) charges an ongoing royalty of 5.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2025 FDD.
Does Carl's Jr. (NT) disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — Carl's Jr. (NT) makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2025 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $1.6M. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.