Shares Of Potbelly Plunge 18% On Profit Warning

Potbelly Corp. PBPB shares are getting crushed after hours Wednesday as the company warned it will miss second-quarter expectations by a wide margin. The sandwich chain cited weak same-store sales growth for performance and said it expects second-quarter earnings of $0.06 per share on revenue of $83.6 million. Analysts expected earnings of $0.12 per share on revenue of $87.7 million. Same-store sales fell 1.6 percent, or 0.9 percent excluding the shift of the Easter holiday to the second quarter. Year-earlier same-store sales growth was 3 percent. Chief Executive Aylwin Lewis also blamed a $400,000 increase in advertising expense and $800,000 in higher corporate expense related to stock compensation. Potbelly was changing hands recently at $12.36 a share, down more than 12 percent.