For the third quarter of 2025, Driven Brands Holdings delivered $60.86 million in net income — a $75.81 million improvement over the $14.95 million net loss the company reported a year ago.
According to management, a number of factors worked in Driven Brands’ favor for the three months ended Sept. 27, 2005, including same-store sales growth, net new shop growth and the net release of a valuation allowance for deferred tax assets.
Adjusted EBITDA increased 3.3% to $136.26 million.
Meanwhile, net revenue grew 6.6% to $535.68 million for the quarter, primarily attributable to same-store sales growth across all segments (especially within the Take 5 and Car Wash segments) and net new location growth at Take 5.
Consolidated same-store sales were up 2.8% year over year. Notably, Driven’s same-store sales have now increased for 19 consecutive quarters.
Consolidated system-wide sales increased 4.7% to $1.63 billion. (Note: Driven defines system-wide sales as the total of net sales for its franchised, independently-operated and company-operated stores).
TAKE 5 … Total Take 5 segment revenue increased 13.5% to $306.36 million in the third quarter of 2025, driven primarily by same-store sales growth as well as new shop openings. Same-store sales increased 6.8% on top of a 5.4% gain a year ago, giving Take 5 a two-year stack of +12.2%.
It was the segment’s 21st consecutive quarter of same-store sales growth.
System-wide segment sales rose 17.7% to $411.62 million, with franchised shop sales up 31.2% and company-operated shops up 10.7%.
It’s worth pointing out that non-oil change services now account for over 25% of Take 5’s total system-wide sales. “Over the past 24 months, we’ve added new services while simultaneously growing the attachment rates of non-oil-change services from the mid-40s to the low-50s,” President and CEO Danny Rivera said on Driven’s Nov. 4 earnings call.
Rivera added: “We’ve now completed the rollout of our differential fluid service across the entire system. Early results have been positive. We’ve seen strong attachment rates, healthy margins, great customer feedback and no meaningful cannibalization of existing services.”
Take 5’s adjusted EBITDA grew 15.0% to $107.31 million in the third quarter of 2025, and its adjusted EBITDA margin increased from 34.6% to 35.0% on a year-over-year basis.
The Take 5 segment is primarily composed of the company- and franchise-operated Take 5 Oil Change business, and revenue is primarily derived from the performance of maintenance services, including oil changes and certain as-needed automotive maintenance. The segment’s revenue also includes franchise royalties and fees as well as supply and other product sales.
Take 5 opened 38 net new shops during the third quarter of 2025, of which 21 were company-operated locations and 17 were franchise-operated. Rivera told analysts that Take 5 expects to open approximately 170 new shops for the year, 90 of which will be company-owned and 80 franchised.
He added: “We remain committed to opening 150 or more new units annually, supported by the strong performance of our 2023 and prior vintages, which ramped above $1 million in average unit volumes within 24 months. Our new unit pipeline remains robust with approximately 900 locations at the end of Q3, of which over a third are sites secured or further along.”
FRANCHISE BRANDS … The Franchise Brands segment generated $75.34 million in total net revenue for the third quarter of 2025 — a decrease of 2.3% compared to the prior year, attributable to a decline in the weighted average royalty rate in the quarter. However, same-store sales increased 0.7% on top of a 0.7% gain a year ago for a two-year stack of +1.4%, as Meineke continued to operate well but Maaco, a more-discretionary business, was under pressure.
System-wide Franchise Brands sales increased 0.2% to $1.09 billion.
Segment adjusted EBITDA decreased 0.9% to $49.73 million; however, adjusted EBITDA margin grew from 65.1% to 66.0% on a year-over-year basis.
The Franchise Brands segment is primarily composed of the company’s portfolio of franchise brands, which include Carstar, Meineke, Maaco and 1-800 Radiator, along with other smaller brands and services for both retail and commercial customers, such as commercial fleet operators and insurance carriers.
CAR WASH … Total Car Wash segment revenue increased 4.5% to $54.05 million, attributable to same-store sales growth resulting from improved price realization as well as supply sales. Same-store sales grew 3.9% on top of a 14.3% rise a year ago, giving Car Wash a two-year stack of +18.2%.
System-wide segment sales increased 2.9% to $51.41 million.
Car Wash’s adjusted EBITDA decreased 6.1% to $15.03 million, and its adjusted EBITDA margin declined from 30.9% to 27.8% on a year-over-year basis.
The Car Wash segment operates under the IMO brand across Europe and Australia, providing express-style conveyor car wash services to both retail and commercial customers.
LOOKING AHEAD … “We continue to operate in a dynamic consumer environment. While the consumer faces ongoing pressure, our diversified portfolio has demonstrated resilience across varying market conditions,” Rivera said on the call. “Q4 has been particularly choppy, with several factors creating a higher degree of macroeconomic uncertainty, including the ongoing government shutdown and the potential disruption of funding for the military and social programs.
“Given this uncertainty, we believe it’s prudent to take a more conservative stance as we close out the year. Accordingly, we’re narrowing our full-year guidance ranges to reflect both our strong third quarter performance and the evolving macro environment.”
Management now expects Driven Brands to deliver between $2.10 billion and $2.12 billion in revenue for 2025 along with same-store growth at the low end of the original 1.0% to 3.0% range.
The company’s full-year adjusted EBITDA is anticipated to come in between $525.00 million and $535.00 million.
MISCELLANEOUS … Other items of interest from Driven’s earnings report and conference call …
• Rivera told analysts that Take 5 has implemented a new media mix model intended to better allocate advertising dollars and maximize return on ad spend.
• Take 5 is testing AI-driven camera technology that detects queuing issues in real-time, helping managers adjust staffing and workflow to move more cars more efficiently and serve more customers.
• Executive Vice President and CFO Mike Diamond told analysts that Take 5’s exposure to the First Brands Group is very limited. “And to the extent there is, we’ve got various other suppliers,” Diamond said, adding that he feels First Brands isn’t a read-through on anything in the auto category. — Reporting by Marc Vincent, Editor
