FILING · MN · 2026 FDD
PANDA EXPRESS FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document) — 2026
The FDD is the 23-item legal disclosure every U.S. franchisor must hand you at least 14 days before you sign or pay anything (FTC Franchise Rule, 16 CFR 436). PANDA EXPRESS's most recent FDD tracked here is the 2026 FDD, a multistate filing. Registration-state filings are public records, so you can read it free, with no sign-up.
PUBLIC RECORD · FILED 2026 · SOURCE STATE MN
| ITEM 5 | Initial franchise fee | $25,000 |
| ITEM 6 | Ongoing royalty | 8.0% of gross sales |
| ITEM 7 | Total initial investment | $515K–$3.3M |
| ITEM 3 | Disclosed litigation matters | 27 |
| ITEM 19 | Earnings disclosure (FPR) | Yes — median unit volume $1.3M (population and period as defined in the filing's Item 19) |
| ITEM 20 | Outlets (fiscal 2025) | 184 franchised at year end · 0 exits (exit rate 0.0%, fiscal 2025) |
| ITEM 21 | Franchisor financial statements | Unmodified (clean) opinion — CliftonLarsonAllen LLP |
The headline figure is Average Gross Sales for FY2025 (Dec 29, 2024 - Dec 27, 2025), for 167 of 184 outlets open at year end, leaving out open less than a year in 2025, only unit in venue type (theme park, corporate campus). The mean is 29% above the median, so a minority of high-volume units pulls the average up. It shows no costs, so it says nothing about what an owner keeps.
Graded on three things the filing states: coverage (2 points if the figure covers at least 75% of the units it is compared with, 1 point for 50–75%), centre (2 points if it prints both a median and a mean, 1 for one of them), and costs (2 points for costs through a profit line or full cost detail, 1 for some cost items). 5–6 points = More complete, 3–4 = Partial, 0–2 = Limited. The grade describes the disclosure, not the business.
| What is measured | Average Gross Sales (gross sales) |
| Period | FY2025 (Dec 29, 2024 - Dec 27, 2025) |
| Whose results | Franchised outlets |
| Units included | 167 of 184 franchised outlets at the end of FY2025 (Item 20) |
| Left out |
|
| Average (mean) | $1.7M |
| Median | $1.3M |
| Mean vs median | mean 29.2% above median |
| Met or beat the average | 63 (38%) |
| Costs shown | None — sales only |
| Where | p. 82 (Item 19 runs pp. 82–85) |
| The filing's words | “The information relates only to 167 Panda Express Restaurants operating in captive venue locations for a minimum of 52 weeks” |
CliftonLarsonAllen LLP gave an unmodified (clean) opinion on the statements in the 2026 FDD; revenue rose 12% from FY2024 to FY2025.
Revenue · FY2025
$31.6M
p. 199 · matched to statement
Net income · FY2025
$27.6M
p. 199 · matched to statement
Where FY2025 revenue came from
90% royalties
2% initial / development fees
| Fiscal year | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $28.3Mp. 199 · matched to statement | $31.6Mp. 199 · matched to statement |
| Royalty revenue | $24.9Mp. 199 · matched to statement | $28.5Mp. 199 · matched to statement |
| Initial / development feesline: Initial Fees | $817Kp. 199 | $543Kp. 199 |
| Net income (loss) | $24.8Mp. 199 · matched to statement | $27.6Mp. 199 · matched to statement |
| Cash at year end | $3.7Mp. 198 | $1.5Mp. 198 |
How to read this: royalties recur as long as franchisees trade; initial and development fees arrive only when new franchises are sold. A franchisor whose revenue leans on initial fees is funding itself by selling territories, and that revenue stops when sales slow. Under ASC 606 most franchisors recognize initial fees over the agreement term, so the line understates the cash collected in a strong selling year. Ad-fund revenue, where reported, is included in total revenue as the statements present it.
Each figure links to its page in the filed PDF. “Matched to statement” means our extraction and a second, rule-based read of the statement page agree; “extracted · not cross-checked” means the statement page is a scanned image or could not be read as text. Figures we could not place on a consistent scale are withheld, not guessed. Spotted an error? Report a correction.
Every figure above was extracted by software from the 2026 PANDA EXPRESS FDD as filed (figures are not individually checked by a person) and links back to that document. Fields that could not be extracted are omitted; no figure here is estimated. Extraction errors are possible: the filing controls, and FDDs are reissued annually; verify against the current issuance before relying on any number. Spotted an error? Franchisors and owners can report it via the contact on our Terms page.
PANDA EXPRESS FDD questions, answered
Where can I download the PANDA EXPRESS FDD for free?
PANDA EXPRESS's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document is a public record. It can be downloaded free from the source link on this page — no broker form, no email signup required.
What year is PANDA EXPRESS's most recent FDD on file?
The most recent PANDA EXPRESS FDD tracked here is the 2026 FDD. Franchisors must update their FDD annually; confirm you are reading the current issuance before signing.
Does PANDA EXPRESS's FDD disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — PANDA EXPRESS makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $1.3M. Read the basis fine print: franchisors choose which units and metrics to include.
What does PANDA EXPRESS's FDD Item 20 show?
In fiscal 2025, PANDA EXPRESS ended with 184 franchised outlets; 0 of 173 open at the start of the year left the system (exit rate 0.0%, fiscal 2025) through terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons".
The PANDA EXPRESS validation checklist
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