Nathan's Famous, Inc.

What does Nathan's Famous own?
The company's primary asset is the Nathan's Famous trademark and the franchise system built around it. It also holds the Kenny Rogers Roasters trademark rights and licenses Arthur Treacher's products for its restaurants. It does not own meat processing plants; packaged products are made by licensed manufacturers.

Is Nathan's Famous publicly traded?
Yes. Nathan's Famous, Inc. trades on NASDAQ under the ticker NATH. The company has approximately 4.1 million shares outstanding and pays a regular quarterly dividend.

Who founded Nathan's Famous?
Nathan Handwerker founded the company in 1916 on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife Ida Handwerker. Handwerker was a Polish immigrant who had previously worked at Feltman's, a competing Coney Island restaurant.

Where is Nathan's Famous headquartered?
Corporate headquarters is in Jericho, New York, on Long Island. The flagship restaurant remains at its original location on Coney Island in Brooklyn.

How many brands does Nathan's Famous own?
The company centers on one brand, Nathan's Famous. It also holds rights to Kenny Rogers Roasters and licenses Arthur Treacher's for its restaurant system, but both are minor contributors to revenue.

Who owns Nathan's Famous?
Nathan's Famous is an independent public company. Ownership is distributed among institutional and retail shareholders. Chairman and CEO Howard Lorber has led the company for decades and holds a significant stake.

What is Nathan's Famous revenue?
For fiscal 2025, ended March 30, 2025, Nathan's reported revenue of $148.2 million and net income of $24.0 million, with adjusted EBITDA of $39.2 million.

Nathan Handwerker, a Polish immigrant who had worked at Feltman's German Gardens in Coney Island, opened a nickel hot dog stand at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in 1916. With a $300 loan and a spice recipe developed by his wife Ida, Handwerker undercut Feltman's ten-cent frankfurters and built a business on volume. Legend holds that he hired students to eat at the stand in white coats to give the place an air of legitimacy and medical approval.

The stand grew into a Coney Island institution over the following decades. The original location expanded to occupy most of the block, operating year-round and serving millions of customers annually. In 1916, the business also began hosting what became the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, which Major League Eating now administers and which draws national television coverage every year.

The company went public in the 1960s as Nathan's Famous, Inc. In 1987, the company was taken private through a leveraged buyout led by Equicor Group, an investment group, for approximately $7.5 million. It returned to public markets in 1993 with an initial public offering at approximately $9 per share.

During the 1990s and 2000s, Nathan's expanded through franchising, placing branded outlets inside airports, casinos, highway travel plazas, and sports stadiums. The company also pushed hard into grocery retail through licensing. The Branded Product Program, launched in the early 2000s, let large meat processors manufacture and distribute Nathan's packaged hot dogs nationally. That program became the financial engine of the modern company.

In 2006, Nathan's licensed its name to a line of packaged hot dogs produced by John Morrell, a Smithfield Foods subsidiary, greatly expanding retail distribution. Additional licensed products followed, including crinkle-cut french fries, onion rings, pickles, mustard, and buns sold in supermarkets.

The company has made small acquisitions of its own. In 1999, Nathan's acquired the Kenny Rogers Roasters trademark and franchising rights for approximately $1.25 million, adding a second restaurant concept. In 2017, Nathan's signed a long-term licensing deal to offer Arthur Treacher's fish and chips products within its restaurant system.

Recent results have been strong. Revenue climbed from $114.9 million in fiscal 2022 to $148.2 million in fiscal 2025, while net income nearly doubled from $13.6 million to $24.0 million over the same period. The company pays a regular quarterly dividend and repurchases shares under board-authorized programs. The Coney Island flagship remains company owned, and the July 4th eating contest continues to serve as the brand's largest annual marketing event.

The company has faced periodic disputes over the years, none with major financial impact. Franchisee litigation has occurred at times, as is common in franchise systems, concerning territory and contract terms. The brand's association with the competitive eating contest has drawn criticism from groups opposed to promoting overconsumption, though the event continues unchanged. In 2017, Nathan's faced social media backlash tied to sponsorship of a political event at Coney Island, which the company managed without material effect on results.