Sonic Shares Fall 7% After Company's Same-store Sales Disappoint

Sonic Corp. shares plunged late Thursday after the drive-in chain narrowly missed quarterly revenue expectations and its same-store sales grew less than forecast. Sonic said it earned $21 million, or 43 cents a share, in the fiscal third quarter, compared with $19.3 million, or 36 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenues reached $165.2 million in the quarter, up from $164.7 million in the fiscal third quarter of 2015. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected Sonic to report earnings of 42 cents a share on sales of $165.8 million. System-wide, same-store sales rose 2% in the quarter, whereas the analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected a 2.7% increase. Sonic shares fell 7% in late trading after ending the regular session up 2.9%.