Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Factors Setting the Tone for Papa John's (PZZA) Q4 Earnings

Read MoreHide Full Article

Papa John's International, Inc. (PZZA - Free Report) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2020 results on Feb 25, before the opening bell. In the last reported quarter, the company’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 9.4%.

Q4 Expectations

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 42 cents, indicating an improvement from 37 cents reported in the year-ago quarter. Over the past seven days, earnings estimates have remained stable. The consensus mark for revenues stands at $463.4 million, suggesting growth of 11% from the prior-year reported number.

Factors to Note

The company’s fourth-quarter results are likely to reflect robust comparable sales growth. The company’s comps have been benefiting from robust North America and International segment performance.

The company’s online and digital marketing activities have been increasing significantly over the past several years in response to rising use of online and mobile web technology. In fact, Papa John’s continues to reinforce its commitment toward providing a better customer experience with enhancements to its digital ordering process. Moreover, the company’s partnership with UberEATS, DoorDash and Postmates might have aided the company’s performance in the quarter to be reported.

Notably, the China region continues to experience growth, driven by the company’s optimized restaurant model, brand design enhancements and increased integration with third-party aggregators that is expanding its accessibility channels. Also, the company’s developmental agreements across Mexico, Egypt, Russia, Spain, Chile, the Netherlands, Colombia and Boston remain encouraging.

However, high costs might have weighed on the company’s margin. Notably, total costs for the third-quarter fiscal 2020 increased 12% year over year to $448.4 million from $400.5 million reported in the prior-year quarter.

What the Zacks Model Unveils

Our proven model doesn’t conclusively predict an earnings beat for Papa John's this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that's not the case here.

Earnings ESP: Papa John's has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Papa John's carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Stocks Poised to Beat Earnings Estimates

Here are some stocks worth considering from the Zacks Retail-Wholesale space as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat earnings this season:

Dollar Tree, Inc. (DLTR - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.94% and a Zacks Rank #2.

Burlington Stores, Inc. (BURL - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +6.20% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Dollar General Corporation (DG - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.11% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential

The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases.

Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +50%, +83% and +164% in as little as 2 months. The stocks in this report could perform even better.

See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>>

Published in