Firehouse Subs has struggled to grow sales for the last couple of years, but the Jacksonville-based sandwich chain reported big improvement in the third quarter.
Total sales grew 10.7% over the third quarter of 2024 to $332 million, mainly because of the addition of 100 new locations in the past year, parent company Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported Oct. 30.
More significantly, comparable-store sales (sales at existing stores open for more than one year) rose 2.6% in the quarter.
Firehouse’s comparable-store sales declined by 0.2% in the first six months of this year after falling 1.1% for all of 2024.
“Firehouse continues to build momentum with strong development and a lot of enthusiasm from franchisees who see the long runway ahead,” RBI Executive Chairman Patrick Doyle said in the company’s conference call with analysts.
“The performance reflects continued progress in expanding our footprint across North America with great engaged operators and a standout result in Canada,” CEO Josh Kobza said in the call.
Miami-based RBI, which also owns the Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons restaurant brands, acquired Firehouse for $1 billion in December 2021.
Kobza said the increase of 100 stores in the past year, bringing the chain’s total to 1,400, is five times the growth rate from when RBI acquired Firehouse.
“This strong result keeps us on track for another year of accelerating development in 2025, supported by enthusiastic franchisees, solid paybacks and growing brand awareness,” he said.
Total sales at RBI’s four chains rose 6.9% in the third quarter to $12.3 billion, with comparable-store sales rising 4%.
Adjusted earnings rose by 10 cents to $1.03 per share.
Dream Finders Homes Inc. reported lower revenue and earnings in the third quarter as the Jacksonville-based homebuilder lowered prices.
The number of home closings rose 1% to 1,915 in the quarter, but revenue fell 3.6% to $969.8 million and earnings dropped 33% to $47 million, or 47 cents per share.
Dream Finders said the lower revenue resulted from a change in its geographic product mix and increased sales incentives, which lowered prices on homes sold.
The average sales price of a Dream Finders home was $476,962 in the quarter, down from $518,553 in the third quarter of 2024.
“We continue to see a complex and challenging housing environment, though we are encouraged by the recent easing of mortgage rates,” CEO Patrick Zalupski said in a news release.
“While we see continued near-term challenges affecting the housing market, we remain confident that we have built the foundation to further scale our business and continue to deliver superior, long-term returns for our shareholders,” he said.
However, Zalupski said because of the current environment, Dream Finders is lowering its forecast for home closings this year to 8,500, down from its previous projection of 9,250.
Zalupski, founder and controlling shareholder of Dream Finders, led a group that bought the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team in September.
He has made no public comments on whether his role with Dream Finders will change because of the Rays’ purchase.
Dream Finders’ stock fell as much as $2.12 to a 52-week low of $19.49 on Oct. 30 after the earnings report.
Wedbush analyst Jay McCanless said in a research note after the earnings report that the lower sales forecast may indicate the company is putting a higher focus on profit margins over volume.
“We also suspect this may be the reason the stock is trading lower,” he said.
Landstar System Inc. reported third-quarter revenue fell 1% to $1.205 billion, with adjusted earnings falling by 19 cents to $1.22 a share.
“The challenging conditions experienced in the truckload freight environment over the past 10 quarters continued during the 2025 third quarter. Volatile federal trade policy and lingering inflation concerns continue to generate supply chain uncertainty,” CEO Frank Lonegro said in an Oct. 28 conference call.
Lonegro said he was encouraged by the Jacksonville-based trucking company’s performance in a difficult market.
“The impact of accumulated inflation remains a drag on the amount of truckload freight generated in relation to consumer spending. Truck capacity continued to be readily available with small pockets of supply-demand equilibrium, and market conditions continue to favor the shipper amidst choppy conditions in the industrial economy,” he said.
Lonegro said Landstar is not issuing formal guidance on its fourth-quarter results, because of the conditions.
He did say the number of truckloads in October was about 3% lower than last year.
“We view October’s truck volumes as modestly below normal seasonality and truck revenue per load as lagging slightly behind normal seasonality,” he said.
Jacksonville-based Regency Centers Corp. said it is increasing its earnings growth forecast for the rest of this year after a strong third-quarter performance.
The developer of grocery-anchored shopping centers reported core operating earnings rose by 6 cents to $1.09 a share in the quarter, with same-property net operating income rising by 4.8%.
Regency’s portfolio of 485 properties across the country was 96% leased at the end of the quarter and CEO Lisa Palmer said in an Oct. 29 conference call that the company is experiencing strong demand for space from retailers.
“Our tenants remain healthy, which is evident in sustained sales strength and historically low bad debt,” she said.
“Our earnings growth is further amplified by the successful execution of our capital allocation strategy this year,” Palmer said.
“By year-end, we expect to have started around $300 million of projects, bringing total starts to an impressive $800 million over the past three years.”
Regency increased its net operating income growth forecast for the full year from a range of 4.5% to 5% to a range of 5.25% to 5.5%.
The Fortegra Group Inc.’s third-quarter revenue rose 8.6% to $522.6 million, with adjusted earnings rising 23% to $39.1 million, according to majority owner Tiptree Inc.
South Korean-based DB Insurance Co. Ltd. agreed in September to buy Jacksonville-based Fortegra for $1.65 billion.
According to Tiptree’s quarterly report filed Oct. 31, Tiptree owns 78.9% of the specialty insurance company, with investment firm Warburg Pincus LLC owning 17.6% and Fortegra management and directors owning the other 3.5%.
The companies expect the sale of Fortegra to be completed in mid-2026.
The St. Joe Co. reported third-quarter earnings more than doubled, helped by the sale of a senior living community in Santa Rosa Beach.
Panama City Beach-based St. Joe said net income rose 130% to $38.7 million, or 67 cents a share, with revenue rising 63% to $161.1 million.
St. Joe is a former industrial conglomerate based in Jacksonville which moved to the Florida Panhandle in 2010 to focus on real estate development.
The company developed the senior community called Watercrest under a joint venture in 2019. St. Joe said it was appraised at $2.7 million in 2019 and it was sold in September to an undisclosed buyer for $41 million, resulting in a gross profit of $19.4 million for St. Joe.
“Our operating properties generate recurring revenue, but they are also ‘piggy banks’ that we can monetize with the right set of conditions and circumstances,” CEO Jorge Gonzalez said in an Oct. 29 news release.
“Even though senior living communities are assets that are needed for this ecosystem, it is not an asset type we plan to grow as part of our portfolio since they take longer to lease up than multi-family communities and due to considerable operational intensity,” he said.
“We anticipate continuing to create asset value by developing operating properties which we may own for recurring revenue or choose to monetize.”
Intercontinental Exchange Inc. reported modest growth in its Jacksonville-based mortgage technology division and is hoping for improved performance through the use of artificial intelligence in its systems.
Atlanta-based ICE is best known as operator of the New York Stock Exchange and other financial exchanges, and is deploying AI throughout its businesses.
“In our mortgage business, the use of AI is helping our efforts to streamline the homeownership experience, enhancing productivity of lending and servicing operations, improving the borrower experience with self-service workflows, reducing risk via automated compliance and quality checks across the mortgage life cycle, all while improving recapture rates for our customers,” ICE President Ben Jackson said in an Oct. 30 conference call.
“All of this contributes to lowering the cost to originate and service a loan for our customers, a foundational part of our mortgage strategy,” he said.
ICE said its mortgage technology revenue rose 4% in the third quarter to $528 million, with adjusted earnings in the division rising 24% to $224 million.
ICE’s total adjusted earnings rose 10% in the quarter to $980 million, or $1.71 a share.
Forcura and Medalogix become Mosai
After merging in March, Jacksonville-based Forcura and Nashville, Tennessee-based Medalogix announced they have rebranded the combined health care technology company as Mosai.
The merged company offers seven core products that combine Forcura’s administrative care coordination and workflow capabilities with Medalogix’s clinical intelligence technology, Mosai said.
Boston-based private equity firm Berkshire Partners is the majority owner of Mosai, which is headquartered in both Jacksonville and Nashville and employs nearly 200 people, the company said.