Papa John's Q4 Earnings Exceed Expectations; Dodges FY22 Outlook

Papa John's International Inc PZZA reported fourth-quarter FY21 sales growth of 12.6% year-on-year, to $528.88 million, beating the consensus of $523.54 million.
Adjusted EPS of $0.75 topped the Street view of $0.71.
Comparable sales growth was 8.6% in Q4, versus 15.6% growth recorded last year. Comparable sales improved 11.1% in North America and 2.4% Internationally.
Total global system-wide restaurant sales growth was 13.1%.
Related: Papa John's Ramps Up China Expansion Via FountainVest Partnership
The operating margin was 7.2%, and operating income for the quarter rose 93.8% to $38.2 million.
The company held $70.6 million in cash and equivalents as of December 26, 2021. It generated an operating cash flow of $184.7 million for the fiscal year with a free cash flow of $109.7 million.
Papa John's recorded 81 net unit growth in the quarter. As of December 26, 2021, there were 5,650 Papa John's restaurants operating in 50 countries and territories.
The company has $411.5 million remaining available under its share repurchase program as of February 17, 2022.
Papa John's did not provide comprehensive outlook metrics for 2022 at this time, citing uncertainty surrounding the future impact of COVID-19, and especially the Omicron variant.
Price Action: PZZA shares traded lower by 3.40% at $102.92 on the last check Thursday.

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