Sonic Starts The Quick-Service Earnings Season Off With A...Fizzle

Shares of

plunged lower by more than 7 percent Wednesday morning after the company reported its first quarter results. Sonic said that it earned $0.24 per share in the first quarter on revenue of $145.8 million. Wall Street analysts were looking for the company to earn $0.23 per share on revenue of $144.42 million. Sonic also reported that its first quarter same-store sales rose 5.3 percent and expects to pay shareholders a $0.11 quarterly dividend in 2016. Looking forward, Sonic expects its full year fiscal 2016 comps to grow 2 to 4 percent as the company adds 50 to 60 new franchise drive-in openings. The company also guided its full year 2016 earnings per share to a range of $1.39 to $1.40 - exceeding the $1.30 per share Wall Street analysts were looking for. Shares of Sonic were initially trading higher by nearly 1.50 percent initially following the company's earnings release after Tuesday's market close.

Following Sonic's results, investor reaction to the restaurant sector was mixed. Shares of

were lower by 3.53 percent late Wednesday morning while shares of

were lower by 1.44 percent. Large-cap restaurant names were faring slightly better. Shares of

fell by 0.44 percent while shares of

were lower by 0.64 percent. On the other hand, shares of

were higher by 1.05 percent