Sonic Profit Rises, But Shares Fall 5%

(RTTNews) - Sonic Corp. (SONC), one of the largest chain of drive-in restaurants in the US, Monday reported an increase in profit for the third quarter driven largely by strong same-store sales and margins. Earnings for the quarter were in line with estimates, while revenues trumped Wall Street expectations.

However, moving ahead, the company expects "macroeconomic environment" might impact its results for the full year, sending its shares down 5 percent in the after hours trade.

Oklahoma City-based Sonic's third-quarter profit rose to $20.4 million or $0.38 per share from $16.8 million or $0.30 per share last year.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.36 per share, up from $0.30 per share last year. On average, 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.36 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the third quarter quarter grew to $164.7 million from $152.2 million last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $164.2 million for the quarter.

System same-store sales increased 6.1 percent for the quarter. Company drive-in margins improved by 100 basis points.

Commenting on the results, CEO Cliff Hudson said, "We are very pleased with our strong sales and financial performance driven by a healthy mix of traffic and check. Our results are especially noteworthy given our strong results from the same quarter prior year."

Looking forward to the full year 2015, Sonic expects adjusted earnings growth of 27 to 29 percent, up from the prior outlook of 25 to 27 percent. Nevertheless, the company said "the macroeconomic environment may impact results."

SONC closed Monday's trading at $34.22, up $0.86 or 2.58%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, dropped $1.69 or 4.94% in the after-hours trade.