Papa John’s EPS: Analysts’ Expectations in 2019

For 2019, Papa John’s (PZZA) management has set an EPS guidance of $0–$0.50. However, removing special items, the company expects the adjusted EPS to be $1.00–$1.20. Papa John’s expects its effective tax rate to be 21%–24%—compared to 44.9% in 2018.

For the same period, analysts expect Papa John’s to post an adjusted EPS of $1.10, which represents a fall of 17.9% from $1.34 in 2018. The decline in the company’s revenues and lower net margins are expected to lower the EPS.

Analysts expect Papa John’s 2019 net margins to fall from 2.7% in 2018 to 2.2%. The company’s increased investments to drive its sales and negative same-store sales growth are expected to offset the positive effects of the lower effective tax rate. Analysts expect the company’s net margins to decline.

In 2019, Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) is expected to post an adjusted EPS of $9.38—11.4% growth from $8.42 in 2018. For the same period, analysts expect Yum! Brands’ (YUM) EPS to rise 20.3% to $3.81.

On January 30, Papa John’s announced quarterly dividends of $0.225 per share at an annualized payout rate of $0.90 per share. As of March 5, the company’s dividend yield was 1.98% with the stock price trading at $45.56. On the same day, Yum! Brands and Domino’s Pizza’s dividend yields were 1.75% and 0.88%, respectively.