Gen Restaurant Group

GEN has a $50M market cap and $164M of long-term debt. That ratio is the whole movie.

If you own GENK, you own a tiny restaurant chain carrying debt like a much bigger company.

genk

consumer · restaurants micro cap updated feb 13, 2026
$2.03
market cap ~$50M · 52-week range n/a
xvary composite: 29 / 100 · weak
our overall rating — combines growth, value, risk, and momentum
Start here if you're new
what it is
GEN runs 57 Korean BBQ restaurants where you cook meats at the table while the company expands into new markets.
how it gets paid
Last year Gen Restaurant made $208M in revenue. dine-in food sales was the main engine at $145.6M, or 70% of sales.
what just happened
The key takeaway: GEN posted an EPS loss of about -$0.22 on roughly $163M in quarter revenue— full-year bridge above stays ~$208M.
At a glance
C+ balance sheet — struggling to keep the lights on
72.5% ROC on screen — reconcile with losses & 0.2% op margin; likely distorted for restaurants
-$0.35 fy2024 eps est
$208M fy2024 rev est
0.2% operating margin
xvary composite: 29/100 — weak
What they do
GEN runs 57 Korean BBQ restaurants where you cook meats at the table while the company expands into new markets.
The hook is the format. You cook the food yourself at the table, which cuts labor needs and makes the experience hard to copy cheaply. GEN had 57 company-owned restaurants and opened 15 more during the first nine months of 2025, so you are betting the concept travels better than the balance sheet scares people.
restaurants microcap company-owned unit-growth consumer
How they make money
$208M annual revenue
dine-in food sales
$145.6M
flat
alcohol and beverage sales
$20.8M
flat
takeout and delivery
$16.6M
flat
grocery and retail products
$8.3M
up
other restaurant revenue
$16.7M
flat
The products that matter
casual dining restaurants
GEN Korean BBQ House
57 locations · ~$208M annual revenue (bridge)
It's the whole story at current count. ~$208M trailing revenue matches the revenue table above— same-store sales fell 9.9% in Q3 2025, so the existing base is moving the wrong way.
core
Key numbers
72.5%
return on capital (screen)
Screen ROC can look huge while EPS is negative— treat as a data artifact until it matches GAAP profit and the C+ balance sheet story.
$164M
long-term debt
This matters because the debt stack is more than 3 times the roughly $50M market cap.
0.2%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit left after running the business → so what: one bad quarter can erase a full year's slim profit.
57
restaurant count
This is the current base that has to support the debt load while management keeps opening more stores.
Financial health
C+
strength
  • balance sheet grade C+ — weak — may struggle to fund operations
  • risk rank 5 — safer than 5% of stocks
  • price stability 10 / 100
  • long-term debt $164M (77% of capital)
C+ — balance sheet grade and long-term debt are flagged. this stock carries more risk than average.
Total return vs. market

Return history isn't available for GENK right now.

same standard. no invented return math.

source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
The key takeaway: GEN posted an EPS loss of -$0.22 on about $163M quarter revenue.
Revenue looked large versus the prior year, but profits did not follow. Quiet part out loud: when a restaurant company can grow sales and still lose money, your problem is not demand alone, it is the cost structure.
$163M
quarter revenue
-$0.22
eps
0.2%
operating margin
the number that mattered
The number that mattered was -$0.22 in EPS because losses are still showing up despite a $208M annual revenue base.
source: EDGAR / company earnings data, 2026

Get this snapshot in your inbox

This page, delivered free — plus weekly updates when the numbers change. plain english, no spam.

weekly updates earnings alerts plain english no spam
What could go wrong

the #1 risk is same-store sales staying negative at GEN Korean BBQ House.

!
high
eroding base business
Same-store sales fell 9.9% in Q3 2025. Translation: the stores already open sold less than they did a year earlier. If that trend persists, every new opening has to run faster just to offset the drag.
Same-store sales fell 9.9% in Q3 2025. Translation: the stores already open sold less than they did a year earlier. If that trend persists, every new opening has to run faster just to offset the drag.
!
high
thin margins with real debt
GEN posted a -0.6% net margin and a -8.4% operating margin while carrying $164M of long-term debt, equal to 77% of capital. That's a bad mix for a consumer business that needs steady traffic.
GEN posted a -0.6% net margin and a -8.4% operating margin while carrying $164M of long-term debt, equal to 77% of capital. That's a bad mix for a consumer business that needs steady traffic.
∘
med
growth depends on opening more boxes
The company’s own growth setup is driven largely by new restaurant openings. That's capital-intensive. It works when unit economics are strong. It gets ugly fast when mature stores are already slipping.
The company’s own growth setup is driven largely by new restaurant openings. That's capital-intensive. It works when unit economics are strong. It gets ugly fast when mature stores are already slipping.
∘
med
the stock can move more than the fundamentals
Price stability is 10 / 100 and the market cap is only about $50M. That means one earnings print, one buyback headline, or one bad quarter can swing the stock harder than you'd expect from the operating trend alone.
Price stability is 10 / 100 and the market cap is only about $50M. That means one earnings print, one buyback headline, or one bad quarter can swing the stock harder than you'd expect from the operating trend alone.
A business with $217M in trailing revenue, -0.6% net margin, and $164M of long-term debt does not have much room for traffic misses.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
traffic
same-store sales need to stop falling
The -9.9% Q3 2025 comp is the core read on demand. If that number stays deeply negative, revenue growth from new units will look better than the underlying business really is.
margin
watch whether -8.4% operating margin improves
A restaurant chain can survive weak comps for a while if margins are healthy. GEN does not have that luxury today.
guidance
2026 targets matter more than the last pop
Management previously targeted $220–$225M in 2025 revenue and 15–15.5% restaurant-level EBITDA margins. The next guide tells you whether those economics are holding up.
capital
buyback execution versus debt reality
A $5M repurchase authorization is meaningful against a ~$50M market cap. It is less meaningful against $164M of long-term debt if operations stay weak.
Analyst rankings
coverage
thin
in human-speak, there is not much analyst depth here, so the stock can rerate on very little new information.
signal quality
mixed
A 20% post-earnings jump sounds decisive. The underlying same-store sales trend says the operating picture is less clean.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity

institutional ownership data for GENK is being compiled.

source: institutional data
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a n/a
$2 current price
n/a target midpoint · n/a from current
target data not available

Want the deeper analysis?

The full deep dive: dcf model, scenario analysis, competitive moat breakdown, and quarterly tracking — everything on this page, taken further.

see plans from $5/mo
The deep dive
GENK
xvary deep dive
genk
the full analysis is in the works.
what you'll get
dcf valuation model
bull / base / bear scenarios
competitive moat breakdown
quarterly earnings tracker
operating model projections
risk matrix with kill criteria
original price target + conviction
updated with every earnings
free · no spam · you'll be first to read it