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Editorial Advisory Board

  • Professor Andrea M. Armani, University of Southern California
  • Ruti Ben-Shlomi, Ph.D., LightSolver
  • James Butler, Ph.D., Hamamatsu
  • Natalie Fardian-Melamed, Ph.D., Columbia University
  • Justin Sigley, Ph.D., AmeriCOM
  • Professor Birgit Stiller, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, and Leibniz University of Hannover
  • Professor Stephen Sweeney, University of Glasgow
  • Mohan Wang, Ph.D., University of Oxford
  • Professor Xuchen Wang, Harbin Engineering University
  • Professor Stefan Witte, Delft University of Technology

Why Are Cracker Barrel (CBRL) Shares Soaring Today

CBRL Cover Image

What Happened?

Shares of restaurant company Cracker Barrel (NASDAQ: CBRL) jumped 8.7% in the morning session after the company announced it was reversing a controversial logo rebrand following customer backlash. 

The company stated on social media that after listening to its guests, the “new logo is going away and our 'Old Timer' will remain.” The decision follows a weeklong controversy after Cracker Barrel attempted to modernize its logo by removing the iconic image of a man leaning against a barrel. The initial change was met with protests and a slump in the company's share price. The reversal was well-received by investors, with the stock jumping in after-hours trading on Tuesday and continuing its momentum into Wednesday's session.

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What Is The Market Telling Us

Cracker Barrel’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 39 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 6 days ago when the stock dropped 11.7% on the news that the company unveiled a new logo that sparked a significant online backlash, drawing comparisons to the Bud Light controversy. The restaurant chain's new design, which replaces its long-standing rustic emblem with a modernized, text-only version, sparked a backlash online from critics who argue the move undermines the brand's heritage. Social media users and conservative commentators drew parallels to the Bud Light controversy, where a marketing decision alienated a core customer base, leading to boycotts.

Cracker Barrel is up 13.8% since the beginning of the year, but at $62.52 per share, it is still trading 13% below its 52-week high of $71.86 from July 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Cracker Barrel’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $481.37.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it should be obvious by now that generative AI is going to have a huge impact on how large corporations do business. While Nvidia and AMD are trading close to all-time highs, we prefer a lesser-known (but still profitable) semiconductor stock benefiting from the rise of AI. Click here to access our free report on our favorite semiconductor growth story.

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