The technology-enabled Japanese seafood restaurant chain manages to mitigate the impact of trade tariffs and expands its operating margins through internal efficiency, reaching a turnover of $85.9 million.
IRVINE, California — Kura Sushi USA, Inc. (“Kura Sushi” or the “Company”), a technology-enabled Japanese restaurant concept, today announced financial results for the fiscal third quarter ended May 31, 2026.
Fiscal third quarter 2026 highlights
Total sales were $85.9 million, compared to $74.0 million in the third quarter of 2025.
Comparable restaurant sales decreased 0.4% for the third quarter of 2026 as compared to the third quarter of 2025.
Operating loss was $39 thousand, compared to an operating loss of $162 thousand in the third quarter of 2025.
Net income was $0.4 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, compared to net income of $0.6 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2025.
Restaurant-level operating profit was $16.4 million, or 19.1% of sales.
Adjusted EBITDA was $6.6 million.
Seven new restaurants opened during the fiscal third quarter of 2026.
Hajime Uba, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kura Sushi, stated, “During the fiscal third quarter, we were able to make significant progress towards our goals of sustainable margin improvement and returning to our historical 20% restaurant-level operating profit margins regardless of tariff relief. Despite our costs of goods sold as a percentage of sales being 200 basis points higher than last year due to tariffs, our operational discipline allowed us to more than offset this impact and improve our restaurant-level operating profit margin by 90 basis points over the prior year to 19.1%. We were also able to improve Adjusted EBITDA margins by 40 basis points, to 7.7%, and grew our Adjusted EBITDA by more than 20% over the prior year. Our ability to improve profitability in a challenging environment speaks to what we do best: responding rapidly to control what we can control.”
Review of fiscal third quarter 2026 financial results
Total sales were $85.9 million compared to $74.0 million in the third quarter of 2025. Comparable restaurant sales decreased 0.4%, consisting of negative traffic of 5.1% and a price/mix of 4.7%, for the third quarter of 2026 as compared to the third quarter of 2025.
Food and beverage costs as a percentage of sales were 30.2% compared to 28.3% in the third quarter of 2025. The increase is primarily due to tariffs on imported ingredients, partially offset by increases in menu prices.
Labor and related costs as a percentage of sales were 30.6% compared to 33.1% in the third quarter of 2025. The decrease is primarily due to operational efficiencies and pricing, partially offset by low-single digit wage inflation. Occupancy and related expenses were $6.7 million compared to $5.5 million in the third quarter of 2025. The increase is primarily due to fifteen new restaurants opening since the third quarter of 2025.
General and administrative expenses were $10.2 million compared to $8.7 million in the third quarter of 2025, representing an increase of $1.5 million. The increase was primarily due to compensation-related costs of $1.1 million, $0.2 million of travel expenses and $0.2 million of other net expenses. As a percentage of sales, general and administrative expenses remained relatively consistent at 11.9% as compared to 11.8% in the third quarter of 2025.
Restaurant development and future outlook
During the fiscal third quarter of 2026, the Company opened seven new restaurants in Orange, California; Goodyear, Arizona; Union City, California; Wellington, Florida; Temecula, California; Denton, Texas; and San Diego, California. Subsequent to May 31, 2026, the Company opened three new restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Sunset Valley, Texas; and Charlotte, North Carolina.
For the full fiscal year of 2026, the Company updates and reiterates the following annual guidance: total sales between $330.5 million and $331.5 million; 16 new restaurants, maintaining an annual unit growth rate above 20%, and restaurant-level operating profit margins to be approximately 18.5%.
Corporate structure and global footprint
Established in 2008 as a subsidiary of Japan-based parent Kura Sushi, Inc. (founded by Kunihiko Tanaka in 1977), the American division operates a highly autonomous business model focused on the revolving sushi (kaitenzushi) service format. Following a strategic operational pivot that involved officially exiting the mainland Chinese market, the group is concentrating capital on North America—where it is publicly traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker KRUS and operates 94 locations across 24 states and Washington D.C.—, Taiwan (over 60 locations), and Japan (over 540 restaurants), consolidating a global network of over 700 international locations.
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