Basis of Presentation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 29, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements (the “Financial Statements”) of The Wendy’s Company (“The Wendy’s Company” and, together with its subsidiaries, the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and, therefore, do not include all information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In our opinion, the Financial Statements contain all adjustments of a normal recurring nature necessary to present fairly our financial position as of September 29, 2019, the results of our operations for the three and nine months ended September 29, 2019 and September 30, 2018 and cash flows for the nine months ended September 29, 2019 and September 30, 2018. The results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 29, 2019 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full 2019 fiscal year. The Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements for The Wendy’s Company and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2018 (the “Form 10-K”).

The principal 100% owned subsidiary of the Company is Wendy’s International, LLC and its subsidiaries (“Wendy’s”). The Company manages and internally reports its business geographically. The operation and franchising of Wendy’s^® restaurants in North America (defined as the United States of America (“U.S.”) and Canada) comprises virtually all of our current operations and represents a single reportable segment. The revenues and operating results of Wendy’s restaurants outside of North America are not material. As a result of the realignment of our management and operating structure in May 2019, the Company is continuing to evaluate the impact these changes will have on its existing operating segment structure. The Company currently expects to report its results in the following three segments beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2019: (1) Wendy’s U.S., (2) Wendy’s International and (3) Global Real Estate & Development. See Note 6 for further information.

We report on a fiscal year consisting of 52 or 53 weeks ending on the Sunday closest to or on December 31. All three- and nine-month periods presented herein contain 13 weeks and 39 weeks, respectively. All references to years and quarters relate to fiscal periods rather than calendar periods.

Our significant interim accounting policies include the recognition of advertising funds expense in proportion to advertising funds revenue.

Certain reclassifications have been made to the prior year presentation to conform to the current year presentation. See Note 2 for further information.