One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$-3.13 our estimate vs market $14.69
Wall Street consensus: $26.38 (-942.3% lower than our fair-value estimate)
569% below our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
PAR Technology Corporation
PAR · NYQ · Technology · Software - Application
Current price
$14.69
52-week range
$11.59 - $72.15
Market cap
$605.91M
Balance sheet
Distressed
-11.36x Concerning
Net debt $356.02M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
2 Rewards
3 Risks
2 rewards · 3 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 4.4% last year.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 1/10 years.
- Risk Net debt grew 14.0% over 3 years.
- Risk Return on equity was -9.1% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
What this company does
PAR Technology Corporation
PAR Technology provides the essential technology for restaurants, selling everything from the cash registers and drive-thru systems to the software for online ordering and customer loyalty programs. The company makes money from both one-time hardware sales and, increasingly, from software subscriptions which create predictable recurring revenue (income that comes in regularly, like a Netflix subscription). By offering a complete ecosystem (a one-stop-shop of connected products and services), PAR becomes a critical part of a restaurant's daily operations.
How the company got here
Founded in 1968 as a defense contractor, PAR Technology's path changed in 1978 when it created one of the first digital cash registers, known as point-of-sale (POS) systems, for restaurants. This innovation, initially for a major fast-food chain, set the company on a new course focused on the hospitality industry. A major turning point was the 2014 acquisition of Brink, a cloud-based software, signaling a strategic shift from primarily selling hardware to providing subscription software services. More recently, the company sold its original government business to focus entirely on technology for restaurants and retailers, growing through acquisitions of companies specializing in loyalty programs and online ordering.
What it actually does
PAR Technology provides a complete package of technology that restaurants, especially large chains, use to run their businesses. This includes the physical hardware you see at the counter, like touch screens and payment terminals, as well as the software that processes your order, manages loyalty programs, and handles online ordering. Think of it as the digital backbone for a restaurant, connecting everything from the kitchen to the customer's smartphone app. Their goal is to offer a single, unified system so a restaurant doesn't have to piece together solutions from many different tech companies.
Operator Cloud
This part of the business provides the core software and services that restaurant managers and employees use every day to run the store. It includes the main point-of-sale (POS) software (the system cashiers use to take orders and payments), payment processing services called PAR Pay, and operational tools that help with tasks like tracking inventory and managing employee schedules. Restaurants pay recurring subscription fees for these cloud-based services. This segment is a foundational part of PAR's business, focused on making the front and back of the restaurant run smoothly.
Engagement Cloud
This segment focuses on technology that helps restaurants connect directly with their customers. It features Punchh, a popular platform for creating loyalty and reward programs, and PAR Ordering, which allows restaurants to have their own online and mobile app ordering systems. The goal is to help restaurants encourage repeat business and make it easy for customers to order from anywhere. This is a significant and growing part of PAR's revenue, driven by restaurants wanting to own their customer relationships rather than relying on third-party delivery apps.
Hardware
This is the company's original business and includes the physical equipment restaurants need. This consists of point-of-sale terminals, kitchen display screens, drive-thru headsets, and payment devices. While PAR is increasingly focused on software, it still designs and sells this durable hardware, which is built to withstand the tough environment of a busy restaurant. Hardware sales make up a smaller portion of revenue compared to their subscription services but are essential for providing a complete, all-in-one solution to their customers.
What management is betting on now
Management is focused on becoming the all-in-one technology provider for large, enterprise-level restaurant chains. Their strategy is to convince customers to adopt multiple products from their platform—like POS, ordering, and loyalty—creating a 'unified' system that works better together and increases the revenue (the amount of money a company receives from its customers) per restaurant. They are also expanding internationally and pushing into new areas like convenience stores. A key priority is using artificial intelligence (AI) to provide restaurants with smarter insights from their data, helping them reduce costs and improve operations.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q2
$-14.21M
FY2024 Q3
$8.42M
FY2024 Q4
$3.20M
FY2025 Q1
$-17.58M
FY2025 Q2
$-7.41M
FY2025 Q3
$7.05M
FY2025 Q4
$-12.53M
FY2026 Q1
$-16.96M
Revenue
$123.97M
Net income
$-16.17M
Diluted EPS
-0.39
Operating cash flow
$-16.64M
Free cash flow
$-16.96M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$120.10M
Net income
$-20.89M
Diluted EPS
-0.52
Operating cash flow
$-11.75M
Free cash flow
$-12.53M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$119.18M
Net income
$-18.18M
Diluted EPS
-0.45
Operating cash flow
$8.39M
Free cash flow
$7.05M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$112.40M
Net income
$-21.04M
Diluted EPS
-0.52
Operating cash flow
$-6.63M
Free cash flow
$-7.41M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$103.86M
Net income
$-24.35M
Diluted EPS
-0.60
Operating cash flow
$-17.17M
Free cash flow
$-17.58M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$69.58M
Net income
$-21.06M
Diluted EPS
-0.56
Operating cash flow
$3.38M
Free cash flow
$3.20M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$96.75M
Net income
$-19.83M
Diluted EPS
-0.56
Operating cash flow
$8.80M
Free cash flow
$8.42M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$78.15M
Net income
$54.19M
Diluted EPS
1.60
Operating cash flow
$-13.85M
Free cash flow
$-14.21M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $-3.13 vs current price $14.69
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $26.38 (-942.3% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $-3.13 a share — about 121.3% below today's price of $14.69, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Distressed
Net debt $356.0M. Interest coverage -11.4x.
Net debt
$356.02M
Interest coverage
-11.36x
PAR Technology Corporation's profit covers its interest bill about 0.0 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here and 2 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Distressed
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
PAR
BASELINE
PAR Technology Corporation
Total debt $433.82M Interest coverage -11.36x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $19.04M Interest coverage 87.79x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while PAR does not.
Total debt $1.32B Interest coverage 0.43x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while PAR does not.
Total debt $20.16M Interest coverage -116.30x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt $4.58B Interest coverage 1.77x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while PAR does not.
What you should know
The case for and against PAR
2 Rewards
3 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 4.4% last year.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 1/10 years.
Risks
-
Net debt grew 14.0% over 3 years.
-
Return on equity was -9.1% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
-
Insider ownership is only 2.1% (peer median: 7.3%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
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Forward P/E
13.25x
P/B
0.73x
P/S
1.27x
EV/EBITDA
-25.01x
PEG ratio
0.77x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
43.7%
Operating margin
-10.7%
Net margin
-16.0%
ROE
-9.1%
ROA
-2.5%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.52x
Current ratio
2.10x
Quick ratio
1.47x
Total debt
$433.82M
Total cash
$77.81M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$475.66M
Revenue 5Y CAGR
12.7%
EPS TTM
-1.87
EPS 5Y CAGR
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Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$-26.63M
Free CF TTM
$-30.48M
FCF margin
-6.4%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
—
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
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