BTIG Remains Bullish on Papa John's (PZZA) Amid Competition Concerns; Reaffirms at 'Buy'

BTIG reaffirms Papa John's International (Nasdaq: PZZA) at Buy with a price target of $78 following the company's Q4 results issued Tuesday night.

Analyst Peter Saleh noted that Papa John's results were better than expected across all major metrics. The analyst commented, Given the recent concerns about competitive activity and Pizza Hut’s (YUM, Neutral) improvement, we consider the moderately better comps this quarter and outlook for the coming year to be an encouraging sign. We believe the results, particularly the lower food costs, suggest the company refrained from heavy discounting to drive sales.

Comparable sales increased 1.9% system-wide in North America, above our 1.3% estimate and the 1.6% consensus. Results were composed of a 3.4% increase at company-owned and 1.3% gain at franchise locations, both were moderately better than our expectations, Saleh noted.

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