Papa John’s International Inc. (NYSE:PZZA)
Reasons for the Numbers
Today, Tuesday May 5, 2015 Papa John’s International Inc. (PZZA: NYSE) announced their first quarter earnings that beat on revenues and earnings per share and guided in line for their next quarter’s earnings guidance. The third largest takeout and pizza delivery restaurant chain in the world which was founded in 1983, attributed the stellar performance to an increase in 2 key areas while a decrease in cheese commissary sales were offset by an increase in sales volume. The company posted quarterly net income of $22.2 million, or $0.55 per share, up from $19.3 million, or $0.45 per share, in the year-ago period.
The key areas cited by the company are :
1) Domestic company-owned restaurant sales increased $19.1 million, or 10.7%,
2) North America franchise royalty revenue increased $2.7 million, or 12.1%
3) Domestic commissary sales decreased $1.7 million, or 1.0%
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Chief Executive Officer, John Schnatter offered the following comments:
“We would like to thank our customers for an incredible quarter, which saw demand for our “Better Ingredients. Better Pizza.” soar, measured by comp sales, earnings growth and new unit openings. Our corporate and franchise operators are united in our efforts to expand the Papa John’s brand by leveraging our industry leading digital platforms to deliver our superior Papa John’s pizza to new customers around the world.”
The Pizza Picture
Let’s face it, almost EVERYONE loves pizza, and with numerous varieties to choose from it ranks as the number one food of choice for takeout and home delivery. This takes into account lazy Friday nights, hot sporting events, and unexpected conditions that necessitate some good, cheap(well, not so cheap anymore) satisfying food. It easily beats out Chinese Food in this category incase you are a trivia buff like I am. However, I never would have guessed such a disparity in consumers choice of pizza over Chinese (72 % versus 31%).
The Chart- The Profits
Below please see the monthly price chart of (PZZA:NYSE) from the beginning of 2011 until present. A mere $ 1000.00 investment in roughly 2011 until now $ 16 to $ 65 )would have yielded over 400% in profits not accounting for dividends and stock splits or the after hours surge to $64.75 up $3.22 or 5.23%
With many areas of the Northeast and areas hard hit by the brutal winter seeing nice,warm and spring-like conditions, sales of pizza-both take out and in store dining should see continued strong sales throughout the summer months.
