What Happened?

Shares of fast-food pizza chain Papa John’s (NASDAQ: PZZA) jumped 15.3% in the afternoon session after the company reported decent first quarter 2025 results which included a narrow beat on same-store sales and full-year EBITDA guidance that slightly exceeded Wall Street's expectations, although EBITDA slightly missed. Sales rose just 1% from last year, with more money coming in from its food supply and ad units. This helped balance out the drop from weaker sales at company-run stores, especially in the U.K., where many shops closed or were sold. Overall, this print had some key positives.

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What The Market Is Telling Us

Papa John’s shares are quite volatile and have had 18 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Papa John's and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 9 months ago when the stock gained 5.5% on speculations that the company could be acquired. Gordon Haskett's Don Bilson noted in a research report that a jet owned by one of PZZA's largest shareholders, 3G Capital, made a trip to the company's (Papa John's) headquarters.

Papa John's is down 10.8% since the beginning of the year, and at $38.63 per share, it is trading 33.6% below its 52-week high of $58.21 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Papa John’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $475.68.

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