Noodles & Company — financial distress indicators
Financial-health summary
Noodles & Company's reported numbers place it in the 'Very weak' financial-health band (distress score 80/100). The main indicators are liabilities exceed assets (negative equity), operating profit does not cover interest and severe working-capital shortfall. Independently, the Ohlson accounting model puts its 1-year failure probability at 98% and the market-implied (Merton) default probability is 0.7%. In its favour: operating cash flow is positive over the latest 12 months.
Stress by dimension
Share price — last 12 months
Indicators behind the score
Each red flag shows the evidence from the company’s own filings and the financial or legal principle behind it. Points add to the 0–100 score.
Total liabilities are 1.22× total assets.
Balance-sheet insolvency test: debts exceeding the fair value of assets is the statutory definition of 'insolvent' in 11 U.S.C. §101(32).
Interest coverage (EBIT / interest) is 0.63×.
When EBIT < interest, debt service is funded from cash reserves or new borrowing — the classic precursor to payment default and covenant breach.
Current ratio is 0.29 (current assets cover 29% of near-term obligations).
Cash-flow insolvency test: inability to pay debts as they fall due is the trigger for both U.S. involuntary petitions and Indian IBC default.
Net income negative in 3 of 3 fiscal years.
Persistent losses erode equity and the capacity to absorb shocks.
Total debt is 20.5× EBITDA.
Debt above ~6× EBITDA is deep sub-investment-grade territory; refinancing becomes difficult when rates or earnings move against the company.
O-score 4.00 → model probability 98%.
Ohlson (1980) logit model of 1-year corporate failure; O > 0 (p > 50%) is the original failure cut-off.
Short-term debt is 107.7× cash on hand.
Maturity wall: debt due within a year must be refinanced, which is the most common proximate cause of filings.
Revenue vs net income
Cash generation
Debt vs cash vs equity
✅ Mitigating factors
- Operating cash flow is positive over the latest 12 months.
📰 Recent news scan
- Noodles & Company launches Baked Cheese Tortelloni to ease the family dinner crunchYahoo Finance · 2026-08-05
- 30-year-old restaurant chain confirms more closures in 2026Yahoo Finance · 2026-07-28
- Noodles & Company Declares it’s ‘Back’ After Historic Sales QuarterYahoo Finance · 2026-07-27
- Noodles & Co (NDLS) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Sales Growth and Margin ...Yahoo Finance · 2026-07-24
- Noodles & Company raises guidance on strong second quarterYahoo Finance · 2026-07-24
- Noodles & Company shares jump after earnings beat and higher full-year guidanceYahoo Finance · 2026-07-24
⚖️ U.S. legal pathway — Title 11, U.S. Code
Which chapter would apply?
- Chapter 11 — reorganisation. Management usually stays in control as debtor-in-possession; the automatic stay (§362) halts collection; a plan must meet the best-interests test (§1129(a)(7)) and the absolute priority rule (§1129(b)) — creditors are paid before shareholders, who are frequently wiped out.
- Chapter 7 — liquidation. A trustee sells assets and distributes proceeds by statutory priority (§§507, 726).
- Subchapter V (“Chapter 5”) is a fast track for small-business debtors under a statutory debt cap, but SEC-reporting companies are excluded (§101(51D)) — so it rarely applies to listed companies.
What typically triggers a filing
- Payment default or covenant breach lenders will not waive; a debt maturity that cannot be refinanced.
- Auditor going-concern doubt (ASC 205-40 / PCAOB AS 2415) — often itself a default trigger in loan agreements.
- Creditors can force a case with an involuntary petition (§303) if debts are not paid as they come due.
- Delisting after sustained sub-$1 prices or equity deficits cuts off equity funding.
Transactions shortly before filing can be clawed back (preferences — 90 days, §547; fraudulent transfers — 2 years, §548).
Frequently asked questions
What do Noodles & Company's financial-health indicators show?
As of 2026-10-08, Noodles & Company's public financial data places it in the 'Very weak' band with a distress score of 80/100, driven by liabilities exceed assets (negative equity), operating profit does not cover interest and severe working-capital shortfall. This is a statistical screen of reported numbers — it does not mean the company is insolvent, has defaulted or will enter insolvency proceedings.
What is Noodles & Company's financial distress score?
80/100 ('Very weak'). Ohlson O-score 4.0 (model 1-year failure probability 98%). Merton distance-to-default 2.48 σ (model default probability 0.7%).
What works in Noodles & Company's favour?
Operating cash flow is positive over the latest 12 months.
How are shareholders treated if a company enters insolvency?
In a Chapter 11 reorganisation the absolute priority rule pays secured lenders, then unsecured creditors, before shareholders — so existing shares are usually cancelled or heavily diluted. In Chapter 7 the company is liquidated and shareholders rarely recover anything.
Other Consumer Discretionary companies with distress indicators
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Methodology
Score = capped sum of rule-based red flags across seven dimensions (liquidity, solvency, profitability, cash flow, sales trend, market signal, news). Ohlson O-score (1980) gives an accounting-based 1-year failure probability; Merton distance-to-default (Bharath & Shumway 2008) gives a market-implied probability. Financial institutions use a capital-based rule set. Recalculated every trading day from the latest filings, prices and news.