Methodology
CSW publishes numbers other people can check. This page explains exactly how the CSW Score is calculated, what counts as a source, and what CSW does when a figure does not exist.
The CSW Score
Each component is scaled linearly between a published floor and ceiling and clamped to 0–100. The weighted average is taken across whichever components are available for that brand, with weights renormalised. A brand with fewer than three available components is not scored.
| Component | Weight | Input | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Demand Most recently reported same-store sales. | 25% | compsPct | -8% → 20 · 4% → 95 |
| Unit Economics Average unit volume. | 30% | auvUsd | $1.0M → 40 · $9.5M → 100 |
| Expansion Unit growth over the latest reported year. | 18% | unitGrowthPct | -5% → 20 · 55% → 100 |
| Real Estate Strength Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger. | 15% | capRateMid | 7.5% → 45 · 4.2% → 100 (lower cap rate scores higher) |
| System Momentum Systemwide sales growth over the latest reported year. | 12% | salesGrowthPct | -5% → 25 · 55% → 100 |
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One uniform adjustment is applied after the weighted average: a system in net unit decline carries a four-point penalty. It is applied identically to every brand that qualifies, with no discretion.
How current a figure has to be
A published figure does not stop being true, but it does stop being current, and a ranking built on last year's number while this year's is sitting on the publisher's site is an accuracy failure whatever its sources say. Each component therefore carries a review window set by how often its publisher republishes it. Past the window the figure keeps its published value — CSW does not roll it forward, interpolate it or replace it with a peer's — and is marked overdue wherever it appears, including on the rankings.
| Component | Published | Review at | Overdue at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Demand | quarterly | 5 mo | 8 mo |
| Unit Economics | annual | 14 mo | 20 mo |
| Expansion | annual | 14 mo | 20 mo |
| Real Estate Strength | quarterly, slow-moving | 9 mo | 15 mo |
| System Momentum | annual | 14 mo | 20 mo |
Swipe the table to see more columns →
A figure whose as-of date was never recorded is treated as overdue rather than as current. The site cannot vouch for the age of a number it did not date, and defaulting an undated figure to fresh would be exactly the estimate this methodology refuses to make everywhere else.
What counts as a source
- Company disclosures — earnings releases, franchise disclosure documents, brand press releases.
- Regulatory filings — SEC 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K documents.
- Industry data providers — Technomic, Circana, Placer.ai, The Boulder Group, USDA.
- Established trade press reporting a figure attributable to one of the above.
What CSW does when a number does not exist
It shows “—”. It does not interpolate, model, or borrow a peer's figure. Where a number is calculated from two published figures — a growth rate derived from a start-of-year and end-of-year unit count, for example — it is marked as derived. Where a figure is reported by franchisees rather than disclosed by the franchisor, it is labelled franchisee-reported.
Known limitations
- Brands report on different fiscal calendars and to different definitions. Unit counts on the brand index are the latest published figure for each brand and are not all as of the same date; every one carries its own as-of period.
- Popeyes is reported by its parent on a combined U.S. and Canada basis. KFC's global figures include markets where the brand is growing while the U.S. shrinks.
- Where a brand has no independently published cap rate series, CSW uses the applicable corporate or franchisee QSR benchmark. That component therefore does not discriminate between franchisee-credit brands.
- AUV definitions vary — freestanding comp store, blended including licensed units, company-operated only. Each figure states which.
Corrections
If a figure here is wrong or out of date, tell the desk. Corrections are published with the source attached.