KURA SUSHI USA INC

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K

☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended August 31,2024

OR

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from to

COMMISSION FILE NO.:001-39012

KURA SUSHI USA, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

17461 Derian Avenue, Suite 200, Irvine, California 92614

(Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

(657)333-4100

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b).☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes☐ No☒

As of February 29, 2024, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $579.6 million, based on the closing sale price as reported on the Nasdaq Global Market.

As of November 1, 2024, the registrant had 10,255,998 shares of Class A common stock outstanding and 1,000,050 shares of Class B common stock outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

The information required by Part III of this Form 10-K, to the extent not set forth herein, is incorporated by reference from the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for the 2025 annual meeting of stockholders, which will be filed no later than 120 days after the close of the registrant’s fiscal year ended August 31, 2024.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, our business strategy and plans, and our objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements. The terms such as “target,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “objective,” “intend,” “should,” “could,” “can,” “would,” “expect,” “believe,” “design,” “estimate,” “continue,” “predict,” “potential,” “plan,” “anticipate” or the negative of these terms, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including but not limited to:

•

our ability to successfully maintain increases in our comparable restaurant sales and average unit volumes (“AUVs”);

•

our ability to successfully execute our growth strategy and open new restaurants that are profitable;

•

our ability to expand in existing and new markets;

•

our projected growth in the number of our restaurants;

•

macroeconomic conditions and other economic factors;

•

our ability to compete with many other restaurants;

•

our reliance on vendors, suppliers and distributors, including our majority stockholder, Kura Sushi, Inc.;

•

changes in food and supply costs, including the impact of inflation and tariffs;

•

concerns regarding food safety and foodborne illness;

•

changes in consumer preferences and spending behavior and the level of acceptance of our restaurant concept in new markets;

•

minimum wage increases and mandated employee benefits that could cause a significant increase in our labor costs, as well as the impact of labor availability;

•

the failure of our automated equipment or information technology systems or the breach of our network security;

•

the loss of key members of our management team;

•

the impact of governmental laws and regulations;

•

volatility in the price of our common stock; and

•

those other risk factors described in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future events and trends discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.

We undertake no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

“Kura Sushi USA,” “Kura Sushi,” “Kura,” “we,” “us,” “our,” “our company” and the “Company” refer to Kura Sushi USA, Inc. unless expressly indicated or the context otherwise requires.

We refer to our Class A common stock as “common stock,” unless the context otherwise requires. We sometimes refer to our Class A common stock and Class B common stock as “equity interests” when described on an aggregate basis.

The Company’s fiscal year begins on September 1 and ends on August 31. We refer to our last three completed fiscal years as “fiscal year 2024,” “fiscal year 2023” and “fiscal year 2022.”

TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS AND TRADE NAMES

We own or have rights to various trademarks, service marks and trade names that we use in connection with the operation of our business. This report may also contain trademarks, service marks and trade names of third parties, which are the property of their respective owners. Our use or display of third parties’ trademarks, service marks, trade names or food products in this report is not intended to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship by, these other parties. Solely for convenience, the trademarks, service marks and trade names referred to in this report may appear without the®, TM or SM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensor to these trademarks, service marks and trade names.