Toast, Inc. (TOST)

Toast, Inc. is a cloud-based, all-in-one digital technology platform built for the restaurant community. It combines software-as-a-service products and financial technology solutions, including integrated payment processing, restaurant-grade hardware, and an ecosystem of third-party partners. The platform acts as a restaurant operating system that connects front-of-house and back-of-house operations across dine-in, takeout, delivery, catering, and retail service models. Its stated mission is to help restaurants delight their guests, do what they love, and thrive.

The platform runs on proprietary Android-based software and covers several product areas. Point-of-sale and restaurant operations include fixed terminals, handhelds, self-service kiosks, kitchen display systems, multi-location and menu management, benchmarking, and Toast IQ, a conversational AI assistant. Marketing and loyalty products cover email and SMS campaigns, advertising, loyalty programs, gift cards, and reservations. Online ordering and delivery products include websites, a branded app, commission-free first-party ordering, and the consumer Local by Toast app. Payroll, team management, and scheduling tools are offered alongside xtraCHEF by Toast, which handles accounts payable automation, inventory, ingredient price tracking, and recipe costing. A food and beverage retail offering includes barcode scanning (SmartScan) and inventory planning. Financial technology solutions include payment processing, Easy Pay commercial leases for hardware, automated card surcharging, and Toast Capital, which offers loans issued by a bank partner and repaid through a portion of daily transactions.

Toast serves restaurants and food and beverage retailers, including convenience stores, bottle shops, and grocery stores. Its customers range from small and mid-sized operators to larger multi-location and enterprise businesses. The company estimates that U.S. restaurant locations on its platform account for about 20% of the U.S. restaurant market. Its growth strategy centers on adding locations in the core U.S. market, expanding internationally and to new customer types such as food and beverage retail, increasing product adoption, and growing its partner ecosystem of over 200 technology partners. It also expects to pursue acquisitions selectively.

Toast sells through a localized, consultative field sales force, organized by customer size, type, and geography, with separate acquisition and growth teams, supported by a high-volume marketing engine. It offers on-site, remote, and self-guided implementation, plus 24/7 chat and phone support. The platform uses a multi-tenant architecture on Amazon Web Services and offers offline POS capability and optional cellular backup. Toast is a PCI-DSS Level 1 Service Provider, and its custom hardware is EMVCo certified. Research and development teams are spread across North America, Europe, and Asia. Competitors include cloud-based point-of-sale platforms, legacy point-of-sale and payments providers, and point-solution vendors for front-of-house or back-of-house functions. As of December 31, 2025, Toast had approximately 6,500 employees and 67 U.S. patent applications allowed or granted.