Papa John’s International, Inc.
PZZA
is likely to benefit from menu innovation, digital initiatives and robust comps growth. This and focus on developing and maintaining a strong franchise system bodes well. However, a decline in traffic from pre-pandemic levels and inflationary commodity pressures are a concern.
Let’s discuss the factors highlighting why investors should retain the stock for the time being.
Factors Driving Growth
Papa John’s continues to focus on product introduction to drive growth. Menu innovations like toasted handheld Papadias and Epics Stuffed Crust continue to witness solid popularity among customers, boosting the top line. Backed by better brand positioning, the new products have driven higher tickets and traffic across dayparts without cannibalizing core premium products and complicating operations at other stores. During first-quarter fiscal 2022, the company launched a New York Style pizza crust comprising larger slices and a thinner stretched crust. It also launched Epic Pepperoni Stuffed Crust (as an LTO). Following the launch, the company reported solid demand for the same. With significant LTO and long-term platform launches in the pipeline, the company anticipates menu innovation efforts to drive long-term ticket and transaction growth in the upcoming periods.
Papa John’s invests in technology-driven initiatives like digital ordering to boost sales. The company’s online and digital marketing activities have increased significantly in the past several years, owing to the higher utilization of online and mobile web technology. PZZA is committed to providing a better customer experience with enhancements to the digital ordering process. The company’s loyalty program witnessed a rise in digital transactions during the first quarter of fiscal 2022. Larger transaction sizes and better targeting of offers and promotions have benefited the company. This and emphasis on partnerships and integrations of third-party delivery aggregators bode well. The company remains bullish on third-party delivery partnerships as the initiative paves the path for additional opportunities to meet delivery capacity at peak times and reach new customer segments.
Papa John’s continues to impress investors with robust comparable sales growth. The company recorded positive comparable sales growth in first-quarter fiscal 2022, marking the 10th straight quarter of comps growth. It benefitted from initiatives related to menu innovation, strategic pricing actions and higher unit counts. In the fiscal first quarter, total comparable sales rose 1.6% year over year compared with growth of 25.4% reported in the prior-year quarter. Comps at North America restaurants increased 1.9% year over year compared with 26.2% growth reported in the year-ago quarter. Comps at international restaurants were up 0.8% year over year compared with a 23.2% increase reported in the prior-year quarter. Given the emphasis on multifaceted menu innovation strategy and digital innovation, the company anticipates the momentum to continue in the near term.
Papa John’s is committed to developing and maintaining a strong franchise system. The company strives to eliminate barriers to expanding in existing international markets and identifying new market opportunities. In August 2021, the company expanded its partnership with Drake Food Service International to open more than 220 Papa John’s restaurants by 2025. This includes more than 170 stores across Latin America, Spain and Portugal. The company signed a development deal with Sun Holdings (in September 2021) to open 100 new stores across Texas and the South by 2029. The company announced a partnership with FountainVest Partners (in January 2022) to open more than 1,350 new stores across South China by 2040. Backed by its accelerated development plan, the company anticipates opening 260-300 net new restaurants globally in fiscal 2022. This suggests approximately 5% growth in its system for the year. The company expects its worldwide net unit (from fiscal 2023 through 2025) to grow in the range of 6-8% annually. We believe re-franchising a large chunk of its system reduces a company’s capital requirements and facilitates earnings per share growth and ROE expansion.
Concerns
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Shares of Papa John’s have declined 37.3% so far this year compared with the
industry
’s fall of 19.8%. The dismal performance was caused by the coronavirus crisis. Pandemic-induced restrictions, labor challenges and supply chain disruptions have taken a toll on the company. Although most dining services are open, traffic is still low compared with pre-pandemic levels. The company intends to monitor the situation regularly to gauge the impacts of COVID-19.
Papa John’s is continuously shouldering increased expenses, which are detrimental to margins. It has been facing significant supply-chain challenges and inflation across most commodities and categories. This resulted in cost pressure in the third quarter of fiscal 2021, including costs related to strategic staffing initiatives. New hiring, referral and appreciation bonuses added to the woes. During the first quarter of fiscal 2022, total costs and expenses amounted to $517.1 million, up 11.2% from the prior-year quarter’s level. The company anticipates commodities and labor headwinds to continue in the near term.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Papa John’s currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Some better-ranked stocks in the Zacks
Retail-Wholesale
sector are
Dollar Tree Inc.
DLTR
,
BBQ Holdings, Inc.
BBQ
and
Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc.
ARCO
.
Dollar Tree sports a Zacks Rank #1. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 13.1%, on average. Shares of the company have gained 52.8% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Dollar Tree’s 2022 sales and EPS suggests growth of 6.7% and 40.5%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.
BBQ Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). BBQ Holdings has a long-term earnings growth of 14%. Shares of the company have decreased 35.3% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BBQ Holdings’ 2022 sales and EPS suggests growth of 46.1% and 67.6%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.
Arcos Dorados carries a Zacks Rank #2. Arcos Dorados has a long-term earnings growth of 34.4%. Shares of the company have risen 14.5% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Arcos Dorados’ 2022 sales and EPS suggests growth of 16.6% and 83.3%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.
Just Released: Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2022
In addition to the investment ideas discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 top picks for the entirety of 2022?
From inception in 2012 through 2021, the
Zacks Top 10 Stocks
portfolios gained an impressive +1,001.2% versus the S&P 500’s +348.7%. Now our Director of Research has combed through 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank and has handpicked the best 10 tickers to buy and hold. Don’t miss your chance to get in…because the sooner you do, the more upside you stand to grab.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.
Click to get this free report
