Q2 2026 Ark Restaurants Corp Earnings Call
Operator: Greetings. Welcome to The Ark Restaurants Q2 2026 Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Anthony Sirica, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.
Speaker #2: If anyone should require operator assistance, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Anthony Sirica, Chief Financial Officer.
Speaker #2: Please go ahead. Good morning, everyone. Hold on. Chris has to read the safe harbor. Sorry.
Anthony Sirica: Good morning, everyone. Hold on, Chris has to read the safe harbor. Sorry.
Anthony Sirica: Good morning, everyone. Hold on, Chris has to read the safe harbor. Sorry.
Speaker #3: Hello, everyone. My name is Christopher Love. I'm the secretary. With me on the call today is Michael Weinstein, our chairman and CEO, and Anthony Sirica, our president and CFO.
Christopher Lau: Hello, everyone. My name is Christopher Lau. I'm the Secretary. With me on the call today is Michael Weinstein, our Chairman and CEO, and Anthony Sirica, our President and CFO. For those of you who have not yet obtained a copy of our press release, it was issued over the Newswire yesterday and is available on our website. To review the full text of that press release along with the associated financial tables, please go to our homepage at www.arkrestaurants.com. Before we begin, however, I'd like to read the safe harbor statement. I need to remind everyone that part of our discussion this morning will include forward-looking statements and that these statements are not guarantees of future performance, and therefore, undue reliance should not be placed on them.
Christopher Love: Hello, everyone. My name is Christopher Love. I'm the Secretary. With me on the call today is Michael Weinstein, our Chairman and CEO, and Anthony Sirica, our President and CFO. For those of you who have not yet obtained a copy of our press release, it was issued over the Newswire yesterday and is available on our website. To review the full text of that press release along with the associated financial tables, please go to our homepage at www.arkrestaurants.com. Before we begin, however, I'd like to read the safe harbor statement. I need to remind everyone that part of our discussion this morning will include forward-looking statements and that these statements are not guarantees of future performance, and therefore, undue reliance should not be placed on them.
Speaker #3: For those of you who have not yet obtained a copy of our press release, it was issued over the newswires yesterday and is available on our website.
Speaker #3: To review the full text of that press release, along with the associated financial tables, please go to our homepage at www.ARKRESTAURANTS.COM. Before we begin, however, I'd like to read the safe harbor statement.
Speaker #3: I need to remind everyone that part of our discussion this morning will include forward-looking statements, and that these statements are not guarantees of future performance.
Speaker #3: And therefore, undue reliance should not be placed on them. We refer everyone to our findings with the securities and exchange commission for more detailed discussion of the risks that may have a direct bearing on our operating results, performance, and financial condition.
Christopher Lau: We refer everyone to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for more detailed discussion of the risks that may have a direct bearing on our operating results, performance, and financial condition. I will now turn the call over to Anthony.
Christopher Love: We refer everyone to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for more detailed discussion of the risks that may have a direct bearing on our operating results, performance, and financial condition. I will now turn the call over to Anthony.
Speaker #3: I'll now turn the call over to Anthony.
Speaker #2: Good morning, everybody. As always, Michael will discuss the business and Brian Park and the middle land situation. As far as the balance sheet goes, we did draw down 5 million before the end of the quarter to finance our leasehold improvements in Las Vegas.
Anthony Sirica: Good morning, everybody. As always, Michael will discuss the business and Bryant Park and the Meadowlands situation. As far as the balance sheet goes, we did draw down $5 million before the end of Q2 to finance our leasehold improvements in Las Vegas. Our cash at the end of Q2 was $11.5. Our debt was $7.6. Other than that, the balance sheet remains very stable and in good shape. That's really it. It's pretty uneventful as far as the balance sheet goes.
Anthony Sirica: Good morning, everybody. As always, Michael will discuss the business and Bryant Park and the Meadowlands situation. As far as the balance sheet goes, we did draw down $5 million before the end of quarter to finance our leasehold improvements in Las Vegas. Our cash at the end of quarter was $11.5. Our debt was $7.6. Other than that, the balance sheet remains very stable and in good shape. That's really it. It's pretty uneventful as far as the balance sheet goes.
Speaker #2: Our cash at the end of the quarter was 11.5, and our debt was 7.6. Other than that, the balance sheet remains very stable and in good shape.
Speaker #2: That's really it. Pretty uneventful as far as the balance sheet goes.
Michael Weinstein: Yeah. This is Michael. I'll just do a brief review of what's going on. It's sort of a repeat of the last quarter and the quarter before that. We haven't increased prices by any measurable amount. There have been certain increases on certain items, the menu pricing remains pretty much stable. We're challenged with sales everywhere. Essentially the check averages remain pretty much the same, we're losing what we consider the bottom end of our business with people who are being challenged by their own home expenses and prices at grocery stores and gas prices, et cetera. It's pretty much across the board.
Michael Weinstein: Yeah. This is Michael. I'll just do a brief review of what's going on. It's sort of a repeat of the last quarter and the quarter before that. We haven't increased prices by any measurable amount. There have been certain increases on certain items, the menu pricing remains pretty much stable. We're challenged with sales everywhere. Essentially the check averages remain pretty much the same, we're losing what we consider the bottom end of our business with people who are being challenged by their own home expenses and prices at grocery stores and gas prices, et cetera. It's pretty much across the board.
Speaker #4: This is Michael. I'll just do a brief review of what's going on. It's sort of a repeat of the last quarter, and the quarter before that.
Speaker #4: We haven't increased prices. By any measurable amount, there have been certain increases on certain items. But the menu pricing remains pretty much stable. We're challenged with sales everywhere.
Speaker #4: Essentially, the check averages remain pretty much the same, but we're losing what we consider the bottom end of our business with people who are being challenged by their own home expenses.
Speaker #4: And prices at grocery stores and gas prices, etc.—it's pretty much across the board. The Vegas sales are down about 11%, which is sort of in line with the city of Spain in terms of visitorships.
Michael Weinstein: The Vegas sales are down about 11%, which is sort of in line with what the city is saying in terms of visitorships. However, our cash flow there has actually improved as we have gotten better at managing payroll expenses and certain other expenses. We're really very well managed there. In Florida, everything's down 10%. We check with other operators and vendors, and we're pretty much in line with all restaurants. Washington DC, same situation, down 5% in sales. Again, we have new management there. We're operating more efficiently with less payroll. We're actually running a little bit ahead of last year in terms of not having the losses we had last year. New York, Robert is doing very well.
Michael Weinstein: The Vegas sales are down about 11%, which is sort of in line with what the city is saying in terms of visitorships. However, our cash flow there has actually improved as we have gotten better at managing payroll expenses and certain other expenses. We're really very well managed there. In Florida, everything's down 10%. We check with other operators and vendors, and we're pretty much in line with all restaurants. Washington DC, same situation, down 5% in sales. Again, we have new management there. We're operating more efficiently with less payroll. We're actually running a little bit ahead of last year in terms of not having the losses we had last year. New York, Robert is doing very well.
Speaker #4: However, our cash flow there has actually improved as we have gotten better at managing payroll expenses and certain other expenses. We're really very well managed there.
Speaker #4: In Florida, everything's down 10%. We check with other operators, and vendors, and we're pretty much in line with all restaurants. Washington, D.C., same situation, down 5% in sales, but again, we have new management there.
Speaker #4: We're operating more efficiently with less payroll, so we're actually running a little bit ahead of last year in terms of not having the losses we had last year.
Speaker #4: New York, Robert is doing very well. We're challenged with events at Bryant Park because of litigation that we're going through. We're still very profitable, but our litigation expenses offset a good portion of that profitability.
Michael Weinstein: We're challenged with events at Bryant Park because of the litigation that we're going through. We're still very profitable, but our litigation expenses offset a good portion of that profitability. All in all, not much different from the last quarter. It's just a sales problem. I would say to you that overall, we're very pleased with the product we're putting out, the services, food. We are hopeful that we'll be opening our New America in Las Vegas in early July. We think that's gonna help us dramatically. We think we're turning what is, you know, basically a restaurant that services customers of the hotel into what should be a sought-after destination. In terms of Bryant Park litigation, it's ongoing.
Michael Weinstein: We're challenged with events at Bryant Park because of the litigation that we're going through. We're still very profitable, but our litigation expenses offset a good portion of that profitability. All in all, not much different from the last quarter. It's just a sales problem. I would say to you that overall, we're very pleased with the product we're putting out, the services, food. We are hopeful that we'll be opening our New America in Las Vegas in early July. We think that's gonna help us dramatically. We think we're turning what is, you know, basically a restaurant that services customers of the hotel into what should be a sought-after destination. In terms of Bryant Park litigation, it's ongoing.
Speaker #4: So, all in all, not much different from the last quarter. It's just the sales problem. I would say to you that, overall, we're very pleased with the product we're putting out—the services, food.
Speaker #4: We are hopeful that we'll be opening our new America in Las Vegas in early July. We think that's going to help us dramatically. We think we're turning what is basically a restaurant of services customers of the hotel into what should be a sought-after destination.
Speaker #4: In terms of Brian Park litigation, it's ongoing. We suggested to everybody who's interested that they go to the website, the court website, to see all of the filings.
Michael Weinstein: We suggested to everybody who's interested that they go to the website, the court website to see all of the filings. So far there is nothing to indicate that this litigation is gonna end soon. The trial will probably take place somewhere in very late this year, calendar year or early next year. I'm sure whoever wins that trial, we'll be faced with an appeal from the opposite side, which will take another year and a half. Meadowlands. We are at the point where we are hopeful that a referendum will be suggested by the legislature to be put up for a vote in November.
Michael Weinstein: We suggested to everybody who's interested that they go to the website, the court website to see all of the filings. So far there is nothing to indicate that this litigation is gonna end soon. The trial will probably take place somewhere in very late this year, calendar year or early next year. I'm sure whoever wins that trial, we'll be faced with an appeal from the opposite side, which will take another year and a half. Meadowlands. We are at the point where we are hopeful that a referendum will be suggested by the legislature to be put up for a vote in November.
Speaker #4: So far, there is nothing to indicate that this litigation is going to end soon. The trial will probably take place somewhere in very late this year, calendar year, early next year.
Speaker #4: I'm sure whoever wins that trial will be faced with an appeal from the opposite side, which will take another year, year and a half.
Speaker #4: Meadowlands, we are at the point where we are hopeful that a referendum will be suggested by the legislature to be put up for vote in November.
Michael Weinstein: There is strong opposition always from the Atlantic City legislators, and there is strong push forward to get this done by the northern legislators. We'll know more in the next month or so whether or not that referendum will be put on the ballot. The polling from the public is fairly positive. I mean, there are three polls that have been done, all of them in favor. One of them very close, 51%, 49% in favor, but the two others show anywhere from 62% to 66% in favor. I think the polling is should be persuasive, but again, this is Jersey politics. We're just hopeful we get on the ballot this year. With that, any questions?
Speaker #4: There is strong opposition always from the Atlantic City legislators, and there is a strong push forward to get this done by the Northern legislators. We'll know more in the next month or so whether or not that referendum will be put on the ballot.
Michael Weinstein: There is strong opposition always from the Atlantic City legislators, and there is strong push forward to get this done by the northern legislators. We'll know more in the next month or so whether or not that referendum will be put on the ballot. The polling from the public is fairly positive. I mean, there are three polls that have been done, all of them in favor. One of them very close, 51%, 49% in favor, but the two others show anywhere from 62% to 66% in favor. I think the polling is should be persuasive, but again, this is Jersey politics. We're just hopeful we get on the ballot this year. With that, any questions?
Speaker #4: The polling from the public is fairly positive. I mean, there are three polls that have been done all of them in favor of one and very close 51, 49% in favor.
Speaker #4: But the two others show anywhere from 62% to 66% in favor. So I think the polling should be persuasive, but again, this is Jersey politics.
Speaker #4: And we're just hopeful we get on the ballot this year. With that, any questions?
Speaker #5: Well, now we conduct any question-and-answer session. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue.
Operator: We'll now be conducting a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask your question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star 2 to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment please while we poll for questions. Thank you. There are no questions at this time. I'd like to hand the floor back over to Michael Weinstein for any closing remarks.
Operator: We'll now be conducting a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask your question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment please while we poll for questions. Thank you. There are no questions at this time. I'd like to hand the floor back over to Michael Weinstein for any closing remarks.
Speaker #5: You can press star two to remove your question from the queue. For participants using special equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys.
Speaker #5: One moment, please, while we pull for questions. Thank you. There are no questions at this time. I'd like to hand the floor back over to Michael Weinstein for any closing remarks.
Michael Weinstein: See you next quarter. Thank you very much.
Speaker #6: See you next quarter. Thank you very much.
Michael Weinstein: See you next quarter. Thank you very much.
Speaker #7: Thank you.
[Company Representative] (Ark Restaurants): Thank you.
[Company Representative] (Ark Restaurants): Thank you.
Speaker #4: Thank you.
[Company Representative] (Ark Restaurants): Thank you.
[Company Representative] (Ark Restaurants): Thank you.
Operator: This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you again for your participation.
Operator: This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you again for your participation.
