Wendy's will close 140 more restaurants by the end of the year to offset new location openings

Wendy's plans to close 140 U.S. restaurants this year, in addition to the 100 it said it will close in May.

However, in a conference call with investors on Thursday, the company said those closures will be offset by the opening of new restaurants. Wendy's said it plans to open between 250 and 300 restaurants this year.

Kirk Tanner, president and CEO of Wendy's, said the restaurants that are closing are doing worse compared to others.

“They’re just in locations that don’t build our brands,” Tanner said. “If you look at a brand that’s 55 years old, some of these restaurants are pretty dated.”

Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy's did not provide a list of locations it plans to close. But Tanner said they are spread across the country.

“Our focus is on building new restaurants because we know they are well above the average of these underperforming restaurants,” he said. “Overall, we want the best restaurants for customers and the customer experience we want to provide.”

Wendy's had 7,292 restaurants at the end of the third quarter. More than 80% of them are in the USA

Shares of Wendy's rose 3.5% in midday trading Friday.

U.S. restaurant sales showed little growth this year as many consumers resisted rising menu prices. Wendy's same-store sales — or sales at locations open at least a year — rose less than 1% in the U.S. in the first half of this year.

In early October, Denny's announced it would close 150 stores by the end of 2025. And Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy in May after closing dozens of stores.