Papa John's Q2 Earnings Smashes Estimates, Expands Partnership With Drake Food Service, Boosts Dividend By ~56% - Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Pizza restaurant franchise Papa John's International Inc PZZA reported second-quarter FY21 revenue growth of 11.8% year-on-year, to $515 million, beating the analyst consensus of $490.58 million.
Adjusted EPS of $0.93 beat the analyst consensus of $0.70.
Comparable sales growth was 9% in Q2, versus 22.2% growth recorded last year. Comparable sales growth was 5.2% for North American restaurants, versus 28.0% growth the prior year.
Total global system-wide restaurant sales growth was 12.2%, System-wide restaurant sales for International restaurants grew 35.7%, North America franchised restaurants rose 6.4%, North American restaurants sales increased 6.2%, and domestic company-owned restaurants gained 5.2%.
Papa John recorded 55 net unit openings driven by International growth.
The operating margin was 8.7%, and operating income for the quarter rose 46.2% to $44.6 million.
The company held $96.2 million in cash and equivalents as of June 27, 2021, and generate a YTD operating cash flow of $128 million with a free cash flow of $100.1 million.
On August 3, 2021, the company's Board raised the dividend rate per common share on an annual basis by 55.6%, from $0.90 to $1.40. It declared a Q3 dividend of $0.35 per share, to be paid on August 27, 2021, to stockholders of record on August 16, 2021.
In partnership with its franchisee Drake Food Service International (DFSI), Papa John's plans to open over 220 restaurants in Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and the U.K. by 2025.
Price action: PZZA shares closed lower by 0.52% at $115.15 on Wednesday.
Photo by Mark H. Anbinder via Flickr

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