Papa John’s profit falls on ‘challenging operating environment’ for pizza chain

Papa John’s International Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter earnings fell to $17.77 million, or 54 cents a share, from $25.43 million, or 70 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. The company said it saw lower-than-anticipated comparable sales in the quarter and cited a “challenging operating environment.” Adjusted second-quarter profit fell to 59 cents a share from 74 cents a share in the year-ago period, but matched the analyst forecast of 59 cents a share, according to FactSet data. Revenue at the pizza chain dropped to $514.5 million from $522.67 million and fell short of the analyst estimate of $531.5 million. The company said it saw lower-than-anticipated comparable sales in the quarter and cited a “challenging operating environment.” Papa John’s stock
PZZA,
+0.76%
is down 0.8% so far in 2023, compared to a 33.5% increase by the Nasdaq.