Carrols Restaurant Stock Slides After Q2 Earnings Miss On Inflationary Challenges - Carrols Restaurant Group Inc Com (NASDAQ:TAST)

Carrols Restaurant Group Inc TAST reported second-quarter FY21 restaurant revenue growth of 15% year-on-year, to $424.54 million, missing the analyst consensus of $426.80 million.
Comparable restaurant sales for Burger King restaurants increased 12.6% Y/Y, and Popeyes restaurants decreased 5.3%.
Operating expense rose 18% Y/Y to $418.6 million.
The operating margin was 1.4%, and operating income for the quarter fell 58.7% to $5.9 million.
The company held $56.2 million in cash and equivalents as of July 4, 2021.
Net cash provided by operating activities amounted to $19.6 million with a free cash flow of $4.2 million.
Adjusted EBITDA of $29.3 million fell 22.9% Y/Y, and adjusted Restaurant-Level EBITDA margin declined 340 basis points to 11.3%.
Adjusted EPS of $(0.00) missed the analyst consensus of $0.09.
"Inflationary challenges weighed on our Adjusted Restaurant-Level EBITDA margins during the second quarter as we faced unprecedented cost pressures across nearly all inputs in May and June as the economy shifted into high gear in a very short time period," said CEO Daniel T. Accordino.
The company's Board declared a $25 million special cash dividend amounting to $0.41 per share of common stock, payable on October 5, 2021, to shareholders of record on August 25, 2021.
It also extended its 2019 stock repurchase program, which has $11 million of its original $25 million in capacity remaining, to expire August 2, 2023.
Price Action: TAST shares are trading lower by 3.29% at $5.00 in premarket on the last check Thursday.

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs