Zacks Research Downgrades Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA) to Strong Sell

Key Points

• Zacks Research has downgraded Papa John's International from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating, reflecting concerns about the company's future performance.
• Despite the downgrade, several analysts maintain varying ratings, with Benchmark setting a price target of $60.00 and UBS Group raising their target to $42.00.
• In its most recent quarter, Papa John's reported earnings per share of $0.41, surpassing analyst estimates, but maintains a negative return on equity of -14.42%.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Papa John's International's Q4 2025 earnings at $0.55 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $1.74 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.55 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.66 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $2.17 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $0.52 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $0.48 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $0.70 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.30 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $42.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a report on Monday, August 4th. Stephens set a $50.00 price objective on Papa John's International in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Papa John's International from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.78.

Papa John's International Stock Up 0.8%

Papa John's International stock opened at $53.10 on Monday. Papa John's International has a 52-week low of $30.16 and a 52-week high of $60.75. The company has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.01.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $529.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $515.48 million. Papa John's International had a net margin of 3.58% and a negative return on equity of 14.42%. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Papa John's International will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa John's International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Papa John's International by 10.5% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,700,062 shares of the company's stock worth $83,201,000 after acquiring an additional 161,906 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Papa John's International by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,615,184 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,771,000 after purchasing an additional 10,756 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Papa John's International by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 922,809 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,162,000 after purchasing an additional 146,640 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Papa John's International by 0.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 805,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,426,000 after purchasing an additional 5,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Papa John's International by 271.6% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 690,299 shares of the company's stock worth $33,783,000 after purchasing an additional 504,514 shares during the last quarter.

Papa John's International Company Profile

Papa John's International, Inc engages in the operation and franchise of pizza delivery and carryout restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Domestic Company-owned Restaurants, North America Franchising, North America Commissaries, International Operations, and All Others. The Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants segment consists of retail sales of pizza and side items, breadsticks, cheese sticks, chicken poppers and wings, dessert items, and canned and bottled beverages.

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