Jersey Mike's franchisees are running average unit volumes of $1.4 million, which Charlie Morrison said produces a cash-on-cash return of 40% or more.
Most newly public restaurant chains spend their first earnings call defending the forecast. Morrison used his to raise the ceiling: he told Jim Cramer the same stores can do more than $2 million, and that over 6% of them already do.
"We have a pipeline of domestic commitments that 1600 units strong, of which 1400 of those are already signed and only a couple hundred left in final negotiation."
Morrison ran Wingstop before this, a record Cramer said made a lot of viewers money, and he now runs a Blackstone-backed chain that came public at the end of July and has grown same-store sales for more than 20 consecutive years.
I listened to the full segment so you can skip it.
Here are the 6 numbers that matter.
👤 Guest: Charlie Morrison, Chief Executive Officer of Jersey Mike's Subs, previously Chief Executive of Wingstop
🎙️ Host: Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money and manager of the CNBC Investing Club's charitable trust
📰 Published: 9 September 2026 on CNBC
🔴 CNBC | ⏱️ 44 min
Key Takeaways
The chain is targeting more than $2M in average unit volume against $1.4M today
Over 6% of stores are already above $2M, and more than that are above $1.8M
A $1.4M store returns 40% or more cash-on-cash to the franchise owner
The domestic pipeline is 1,600 units, of which 1,400 are already signed
More than 90% of it comes from franchisees the company already has
3,300 stores today, against an estimate of 7,500 possible in the US and another 7,500 internationally
More than $200M of annual advertising is being shifted toward digital, Gen Z and Hispanic customers
The digital shift does not replace the television campaign — Danny DeVito and Eli Manning are back for the NFL season
1. The Setup Cramer Gave
Cramer framed the segment around a listing he thought was underappreciated and a quarter that finally changed the stock's direction.
Jersey Mike's came public at the end of July with what Cramer called not enough fanfare, and finished its first day down 6%, at which point he told viewers to buy
On the results that moved it: "This morning, Jersey Mike's reported an in-line quarter with better than expected guidance for same store sales. And that's why the stock jumped over 7% today."
Cramer said he was wondering whether the move might be the start of a longer-term rally, and introduced Morrison as an old friend of the show whose run at Wingstop "made a lot of people money"
2. $200M Of Ads, Redirected
Cramer asked what makes Morrison confident he can deliver on a forecast that struck him as incredible. Morrison's answer was a change in how the brand spends its advertising money.
The company began rethinking its advertising at the start of the year, off a base of more than 20 consecutive years of same-store sales growth
The gap he identified was audience: "But we also weren't really advertising in the digital space to that younger consumer and a broader, more diverse audience."
The spending being redirected is not small — "That's over 200 million a year that we spend" — and he described the changes as small shifts within it rather than a reallocation of the whole budget
The two groups he named as underserved are Gen Z and the Hispanic consumer, both of which he said love subs
The goal is stated as frequency, not trial: bringing new customers in "with a much higher frequency than we see from them today"
3. 3,300 Stores To 7,500
Cramer put it to Morrison that the advertising gap implies a location gap, and that the growth cadence looks like multiple years of it. Morrison gave the arithmetic.
"You know, we have over 3300 stores in our chain today, but we have a lot of runway to go. We have, we estimate over 7500 stores for the u.s. Alone, another 7500 for international."
The commitments behind that: "We have a pipeline of domestic commitments that 1600 units strong, of which 1400 of those are already signed and only a couple hundred left in final negotiation." Another 600 units are in the international pipeline
The United Kingdom is the next market to open
On the pace already being run: "Jim, opening close to 300 stores a year on average over the past few years, we feel very confident in our ability to deliver very predictable unit growth for a long time to come"
4. $1.4M AUV, Aiming At $2M
Asked how he feels about average unit volume from here, Morrison gave the current number, the return it throws off, and the target.
"Well, right now we're at 1.4 million, which generates about a 40% or more cash on cash return for our franchise owners. That's excellent, especially against competitors in our own category."
The target is more than $2 million per store, and he said the experience above that level already exists: "In fact, over 6% of our stores are already above 2 million. More than that, over 1.8 million."
He said the stores can physically handle that kind of volume, so the constraint is customers rather than capacity
The route to it is the same audience broadening as the advertising answer — appealing to a wider mix of customers than the brand has marketed to over the years
5. Franchisees Who Can Pay
Cramer said Morrison had taught him and the audience a great deal about franchising, and that the top of Morrison's list was never giving franchises to people who cannot make them work. He asked whether the balance-sheet screening still applies.
"Absolutely. We want people who are fully committed to executing the Jersey Mike's model the way we've defined it."
The pipeline is mostly incumbents rather than new recruits: "in fact, that pipeline of over 1600 stores is made up. Almost more than 90% of that is out of existing franchisees."
Because of that, he said, the company does not have to go and recruit a large number of new operators to grow the brand
His description of the existing base: "Our existing operators are hungry. They really want to grow, and they're enjoying great cash on cash returns"
That is the reason he gave for calling the growth predictable, and for saying the chain can "easily get to that 7500 stores over time"
6. DeVito, Manning, Blackstone
Cramer's last two questions were about what the digital shift means for the television advertising the brand is known for, and about the private equity owner sitting on the stock.
The television campaign is not being cut: "Quite the opposite. You're going to see Danny and Eli back at it again."
The running gag between the two — the spokesman against the football player — continues, and the company is launching Mike's Hot Italian this week, a product it tested in the first half of the year and calls a fan favorite
The chain will be in more NFL games this year than ever before, with advertising redeployed into targeted areas
Cramer asked whether Eli Manning sells subs outside the New York and New Jersey area. Morrison said yes, and pointed at his co-star: "Danny is anchoring all of this. I mean he's New Jersey born and bred, but people across the country, around the world love Danny"
On Blackstone's holding, Morrison did not promise it stays put: "Blackstone certainly appreciates and understands the need for liquidity in the market. We stay in constant discussion about that over time." He said the market wants the opportunity to build its own position over time
Bonus Insights
Cramer disclosed his own hesitancy on Morrison's previous company, saying he was not quick to recommend it because Troy Aikman was part of the promotion, and contrasted that with Eli Manning, whom he described as a neighbor
Cramer closed by telling viewers plainly that he wants them in the stock
Morrison described the advertising change as getting customers "ready for the road ahead," language that ties the marketing spend to the unit pipeline rather than to the current quarter
Morrison's bottom line is that Jersey Mike's growth is already contracted rather than forecast — 1,400 signed units out of a 1,600-unit domestic pipeline, more than 90% of it from franchisees who already own stores — and that the volume ceiling per store is more than $2 million rather than the $1.4 million the average franchisee runs today.
Products, Companies & Tools Mentioned
Jersey Mike's Subs (Morrison's chain: 3,300-plus stores, $1.4M average unit volume, a 1,600-unit domestic pipeline, and a first public quarter that sent the stock up more than 7%)
Blackstone (The private equity owner; Morrison said it understands the market's need for liquidity and that the two stay in constant discussion about the position)
Wingstop (Morrison's previous company, which Cramer said made a lot of viewers money and used as the comparison for multiple years of unit growth)
Mike's Hot Italian (The sandwich being relaunched this week after testing in the first half of the year; the vehicle for the fall NFL campaign)
If this was worth your time, send it to someone who follows the name.
Get the latest market chatter as it happens: