Papa John's Shares Fall After Company Misses Q4 Sales Estimates

Shares of Papa John's International Inc. fell more than 3% late Tuesday as the pizza chain reported quarterly sales below Wall Street expectations. Papa John's said it earned $32.6 million, or 88 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $24.7 million, or 62 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned 69 cents a share, compared with 62 cents a share a year ago. Quarterly sales rose 5.5% to $440 million. North America comparable sales rose 3.8% in the quarter and 3.5% in 2016, while international comparable sales rose 5.6% for the three-month period and 6% for the year, the company said in a statement. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 66 cents a share on sales of $447 million.