Why Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. Stock Popped Today

What:Shares of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts were up 12% as of 11:20 a.m. Thursday after the company announced mouthwatering fiscal-first-quarter 2016 earnings.

So what:Quarterly revenue climbed 9% year over year to $132.5 million, driven by a 17.3% increase in Krispy Kreme's store count, as well as a 5.2% jump in systemwide domestic same-store sales. On a constant-currency basis, international franchise same-store sales fell 1.7%. That all translated to 10.5% growth in net income to $10.7 million, or $0.16 per share, helped by Krispy Kreme's decision to repurchase 391,300 shares of common stock at a cost of $7.4 million. On an adjusted basis, net income rose 5% year over year to $16.6 million, or $0.24 per share. Analysts, on average, were expecting slightly higher revenue of $133.3 million to result in significantly lower adjusted net income of $0.19 per share.

"Solid domestic same-store sales growth and improved margin performance at our Company shops enabled us to exceed our internal projects for the first quarter," explained Krispy Kreme CEO Tony Thompson, "providing us a strong start to the fiscal year."

Thomas also noted that guests have responded well to limited-time offerings as well as the "strategic use of promotional incentives." In addition, the franchise side of the business continues to gain steam, helped by new development agreements for new domestic shops in Arkansas, Montana, Illinois, and Kentucky, and new international agreements recently signed in Cambodia, Guatemala, and South Africa.

Now what: Krispy Kreme also revised its full-year guidance, raising the bottom end of its previous expected earnings range by a penny to result in a new range of $0.80 to $0.85 per share.

All things considered, the only point of concern in Krispy Kreme's report today was itsslightlylighter-than-expected revenue. But with shares of Krispy Kreme down around 12% year-to-date going into today's report, it's hard to blame the market for bidding the stock up given the big bottom-line beat and encouraging guidance. While I'm content to continue watching Krispy Kreme's progress from the sidelines, I won't be surprised if the stock maintains its upward momentum in the near term.

The article Why Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. Stock Popped Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

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