Welcome to the April, 2026 Jack in the Box STNL update!

Each month I'll be covering news and information of interest to Jack in the Box STNL owners to help them make the best decisions for their investments.

This month, I’m still covering corporate news, stock price updates, sales comps, and tax tips AND I’m adding a new section on store closures and doing something a little different for the “Grab Bag” section.

As always, I'm available to provide a no-cost, no-obligation Broker Opinion of Value (BOV) for your property. I personally make a habit to update my investment portfolio each quarter; doing so helps me achieve peace of mind and I sleep better each night because of it. I'm happy to do it for you as well.

I hope you enjoy this April edition of the Jack in the Box STNL update. I look forward to your comments and communicating with you soon. Have a great rest of your month!

Best,

Michael H. Young
[email protected]
Investment Advisor
AiCRE Partners

After February’s proxy fight at the Board and Board Director Goebel’s resignation, we’re back to a quieter April. Maintaining sales and profitability are going to be a challenge in 2026, but JACK is making some good personnel and marketing moves:

On March 10, 2026, Jack in the Box Inc. (JACK) was trading at $13.69/share. As of April 12, 2026, JACK is now at $11.45 per share, a 16.24% loss from last month and a 53.87% loss from a year ago.

Out of the six most recent analyst recommendations, most recommend a “HOLD” strategy while Goldman Sachs recommends “SELL”. This is the same as February and March recommendations, no changes here.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to decline by 16.2% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last six years. This projection is underwhelming and suggests its menu offerings will see some demand headwinds.

Jack in the Box operates in 21 states plus Guam and Mexico. Below are some recent comps by state where accurate data is available. Red text shows new sales comps since last month’s report. The average cap rate for sold properties is 6.19%.

So far, Eight (8) Jack in the Box properties have changed hands since the start of the year. This is three more since our last report in March. California, Texas, Arizona and Washington represent the top four most numerous Jack in the Boxes by count. Southern California and Texas are showing the most turnover.

I’ve reached out to Jack in the Box Corporate HQ and have been asking around for the list of proposed closures. I haven’t been able to find “The List”. I can’t imagine Corporate HQ making this list public; they have no incentive to do so, they would lose all their negotiating leverage. Their first priority is protecting shareholder interests and guarding this list would be in the shareholders’ best interest.

However, local reports and lease listings have confirmed specific permanent closures in several major metropolitan areas.

At least seven long-standing Houston-area locations were permanently shuttered in late 2025 as part of the initial wave:

High-profile closures in the Pacific Northwest include:

While individual addresses for all closures in these states haven't been compiled into a public list, the company has confirmed they are actively closing underperforming corporate and franchise sites in cities including ⁠Livermore, Sacramento, ⁠Phoenix, and Tucson.

In this section, I will start listing the most recent sales of vacant Jack in the Box properties.

As a benefit to my subscribers, I post unlocked Wall Street Journal articles so you don’t need to subscribe to the WSJ to read the article.

Sometimes, saying “No Thanks” to an inheritance makes good tax sense:

“When Heirs Are Right to Say ‘Thanks but No Thanks’ to an Inheritance”

A “disclaimer” is a legal tool that allows an heir to officially reject an inherited asset, like an IRA, so it passes to a secondary beneficiary.

Individuals inheriting retirement accounts can shift wealth toward younger relatives who reside in lower tax brackets.

The primary beneficiary can prevent the assets from inflating their own taxable income and potentially triggering expensive government surcharges (e.g. Medicare income surcharges).

The technique provides families with significant flexibility to make financial decisions based on current life circumstances long after the original estate plan was created.

Heirs can also use this method to direct funds toward charitable organizations to achieve philanthropic goals while minimizing the tax impact on the overall estate.

For this month’s grab bag, I wanted to cover something a little different.

I’m a Gen X kid, grew up in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, a time when seat belts where not mandatory, we drank from the garden hose, played outside until the street lights came on, and ate fast food without knowing what “processed food” meant.

I will always be a fan of fast food and look with anticipation to the future for which brands will appeal to the new Gen Z and Gen Alpha generations, the future leaders of our country.

The future belongs to the youth and successful brands will respond to their tastes and needs.

Enter Taco Bell CEO Sean Tresvant who has helped grown same-stores sales by speaking directly to the “Cultural Rebel” demographic: Epicenter Gen Z (18-25 yrs old) who are the word-of-mouth brand ambassadors, those spending on brands they like.

Tresvant came to Taco Bell after serving as Nike Chief Marketing Officer where, among numerous achievements, he was best known for shepherding the globally acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning documentary series The Last Dance celebrating Michael Jordan’s career.

Taco Bell is now ranked #5 out of 100 in DCDX’s “Brand Magnetism“ rankings, a metric measuring a brand's ability to attract young audiences via organic, user-generated content (UGC). (Jack in the Box is currently ranked 30 out of 100). Take a look to see how Taco Bell is adjusting their strategy in response to the changing economy.