Domino's Pizza Serves Up A Tasty Q1 Surprise, Setting The Table For A Profitable Year

Domino’s Pizza Inc DPZ shares are trading higher after the company reported first-quarter FY24 sales growth of 6% year-on-year to $1.085 billion, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $1.079 billion.

The revenue increase was primarily due to higher supply chain revenues and U.S. franchise royalties and fees, as well as higher U.S. Company-owned store revenues. 

The growth in supply chain revenues was attributable to higher order volumes, partially offset by a shift in the relative mix of the products sold by the company and a decrease in the food basket pricing to stores.

Global retail sales increased 7.3%, excluding the impact of foreign currency. Same-store sales in the U.S. grew 5.6%, while International same-store sales (excluding foreign currency impact) increased 0.9%.

The company had a global net store increase of 164 stores. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 130 basis points to 38.9%. Operating margin for the quarter expanded 210 basis points to 19.4%.

EPS of $3.58 beat the analyst consensus estimate of $3.42.

Operating cash flow for the three months totaled $123.5 million, with a free cash flow of $103.3 million. Domino’s held $469.6 million in cash and equivalents as of March-end.

On April 25, the company’s Board of Directors declared a $1.51 per share quarterly dividend on its shares of record as of June 14 to be paid on June 28.

In the first quarter, the company repurchased and retired 56,372 shares of common stock for a total of $25 million. As of March 24, it had a total remaining authorized amount for share repurchases of $1.12 billion.

“Our first quarter results demonstrated that our Hungry for MORE strategy is off to a strong start: delivering MORE sales, MORE stores, and MORE profits,” said CEO Russell Weiner.

Outlook: Domino’s continues to expect to achieve long-term guidance (2024 – 2028) metrics previously announced, with annual global retail sales growth of 7%+, annual global net store growth of 1,100+, and annual income from operations growth of 8%+. 

Price Action: DPZ shares are trading higher by 4.20% at $520.02 in premarket at the last check Monday.

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