Shake Shack Shares Plunge As Company Sales Growth Slackens

Shares of Shake Shack Inc. plunged more than 11% late Thursday after the fast-casual restaurant chain reported first-quarter earnings and sales above Wall Street expectations, but same-restaurant sales slackened. Shake Shack earned $2.27 million, or 9 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $1.46 million, or 7 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned 10 cents a share, compared with 8 cents a share a year ago. Revenue increased 41.7% to $76.7 million in the quarter, from $54.2 million in the first quarter of 2016. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the company to report adjusted earnings of 8 cents a share on sales of $74.7 million. Same-restaurant sales decreased 2.5% for the quarter, versus 9.9% growth in the first quarter of last year. That decline consisted of a 3.4% decrease in guest traffic offset by a combined increase in price and sales mix of 0.9%, the company said. The analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected same-store sales growth of 0.5% in the quarter. Shake Shack also said it expects flat same-restaurant sales growth for the year, compared with 2016. The stock ended the regular trading session down 2.7%.