Wendy’s stock price today: WEN shares surge as the fast food burger chain reunites Potbelly’s dynamic duo

Many fast food chains have had a rough several years.

Inflationary pressures are prompting consumers to cut back on discretionary spending, which in turn is leading to declining foot traffic. Declining foot traffic puts pressure on profits, which doesn’t do a company’s stock price any favors.

But today, one fast food chain’s stock price is surging. The Wendy’s Company (Nasdaq: WEN) is seeing its shares skyrocket a day after the burger chain announced it was yet again hiring an executive who had recently worked at Potbelly Sandwich Works.

And this executive has a deep history with Wendy’s new CEO, too. Here’s what you need to know.

What’s happened?

Yesterday, Wendy’s announced the appointment of a new chief financial officer and chief strategy officer for the company. That officer is Steve Cirulis, who previously held the same two roles at the fast casual sandwich chain Potbelly.

Cirulis will replace Wendy’s most recent CFO, Ken Cook, immediately, while Cook will stay on in an advisory role at the company to help with the transition until departing in July.

Cook himself had previously held a dual role at Wendy’s. Until last month, he was also the interim CEO of Wendy’s, a position he stepped into in February 2024 after Wendy’s previous CEO left to become the CEO of The Hershey Company.

But last month, Wendy announced that Cook was stepping down as interim CEO to make way for the company’s new CEO, Bob Wright.

And like Cirulis, Wright was also an alumnus of Potbelly Sandwich Works. Wright was Potbelly’s CEO, and Cirulis was Potbelly’s CFO. The two execs worked together at Potbelly in their same Wendy’s positions from 2020 to 2025.

While it’s not surprising that an executive would hire a former colleague, what happened with Wendy’s stock price after the announcement of Cirulis’s appointment is a bit more unexpected.

Why is Wendy’s stock surging?

As of the time of this writing, Wendy’s stock price is currently up over 24% in premarket trading to $7.78 per share.

While investors do pay attention to new CFO appointments, it’s rare that a new CFO announcement causes a company’s stock price to surge so much.

So why then is WEN stock surging?

That surge is likely less due to the fact that Wendy’s just got a new CFO. Rather, it’s that its new CFO has a very successful history working with the company’s new CEO.

You see, at Potbelly, Wright and Cirulis were a sort of dynamic duo. During their tenure together at the sandwich chain, the pair massively boosted Potbelly’s fortunes—and its stock price.

Under their leadership, Potbelly’s average unit volumes saw double-digit growth and, most importantly to investors, a 500% increase in Potbelly’s share price.

Potbelly is no longer publicly traded. It was sold to convenience store chain RaceTrac Inc. for around $566 million in October

Investors are no doubt hoping the duo can work the same magic for Wendy’s as they did for Potbelly.

And Wendy’s needs some magic.

As Fast Company previously reported, the chain is currently shuttering hundreds of stores as part of a turnaround effort.

The closures are meant to cut costs and stabilize profits. Last year, due to many of the same economic pressures other fast food chains are facing, Wendy’s revenue fell 3.1% to $2.18 billion, with net income declining 15.1% to $165.1 million.

Wendy’s shares skyrocket on CFO news

Needless to say, investors are hoping Wendy’s new hires can turn around the company’s fortunes and stock price. As of this morning, shares are already up over 24% in premarket.

But WEN shares will have to raise significantly more to reverse the company’s most recent stock price declines.

As of yesterday’s close of $6.26, WEN shares had declined more than 24% since the year began. And over the past 12 months, WEN shares were down over 49%.