Panera Bread Q3 Earnings Top Estimates

reported upbeat earnings for the third quarter on Tuesday. The St. Louis, Missouri-based company reported quarterly net income of $32.4 million, or $1.27 per share, compared to $39.2 million, or $1.46 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding items, the company's earnings came in at $1.32 per share. Its revenue dropped 7 percent to $664.65 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.31 per share on revenue of $666.98 million. The average estimate among 76 Estimize users was for earnings of $1.33 per share and revenue of $664.29 million. In the recent quarter, company-owned comparable net bakery-cafe sales rose 3.8 percent year-over-year, while franchise-operated comparable net bakery-cafe sales gained 1.8 percent. Its system-wide comparable net bakery-cafe sales surged 2.8 percent year-over-year for the latest quarter. During the quarter, Panera repurchased 682,888 shares for an aggregate purchase price of around $125.0 million. Ron Shaich, Chairman and CEO, noted, "Our strategic plan to generate increased shareholder value by making Panera a better competitive alternative with runways for expanded growth is working. Leading sales indicators are showing just that. Company comp-store sales growth continues to accelerate, rising 3.8% in Q3 and 3.4% for the first 27 days of Q4." Panera affirmed its forecast for full year fiscal 2015. Panera shares rose 0.50 percent to $187.00 in after-hours trading.