Potbelly Soars Following Strong Q4 Results

Shares of Potbelly Corp PBPB soared over 14 percent Wednesday following the company’s Q4 earnings report.

Potbelly posted EPS of $0.06, above estimates of $0.03, on revenue of $84.8 million which was above expectations of $83.28 million.

In a press release, the company’s Chairman and CEO Aylwin Lewis said, “While the first half of the year was challenging, our shop and Support Center teams worked tirelessly to change the business momentum during the second half of 2014.”

Lewis also stated that the “underlying fundamentals of the business are strong, as is our ability to achieve our long-term financial goals of at least 10 percent annual new unit growth for the foreseeable future, low single-digit comps, at least 20 percent annual adjusted net income growth and at least 25 percent return on capital investments.”

• The company expected to open 48-55 new shops in 2015 and anticipated low single-digit company-operated comparable store sales growth.

Potbelly Corp recently traded at $16.27, up 14.58 percent.