Papa John's Posts Higher Q1 Earnings, Lifts FY15 Forecast

Shares of Papa John's Int'l, Inc. PZZA jumped over 6 percent in after-hours trading after the company reported results for the first quarter and raised its earnings forecast for the full year. The Louisville, Kentucky-based 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. Its revenue gained 7.7 percent year-over-year to $432.3 million. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.53 per share on revenue of $415.88 million. The average estimate among 17 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.53 per share and revenue of $418.83 million. Domestic company-owned restaurant sales rose 10.7 percent in the quarter. North America franchise royalty revenue surged 12.1 percent, while international revenue surged 7.6 percent in the quarter. Domestic commissary sales slipped 1.0 percent. System-wide comparable sales climbed 6.5 percent for North America, while system-wide comparable sales jumped 7.7 percent for international restaurants. "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," said Papa John's founder, chairman, president and CEO, John Schnatter. "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." Papa John's now expects FY15 earnings of $2.00 to $2.08 per share, versus earlier outlook of $1.98 to $2.06 per share. The company now projects North America comparable sales growth of 3 percent to 5 percent, versus prior growth forecast of 2 percent to 4 percent. Papa John's shares surged 6.05 percent to $65.25 in the after-hours trading session.