Stock Alert: Papa John's Touches New High

(RTTNews) - Shares of Papa John's International, Inc. (PZZA) touched a new high of $72.93 on Wednesday before closing at $69.79, up $0.28 or 0.40%. The stock has nearly doubled in a month.

Papa John's is benefiting from the coronavirus pandemic as people are advised to stay at home to contain the disease. Last month, Papa John's said it was hiring up to 20,000 new restaurant team members to meet the surge in demand during Covid-19.

Papa John's, one of the largest pizza delivery companies in the world, also operates carryout restaurants and dine-in and delivery restaurants.

For the first quarter, the company sees a growth of 6.1% in domestic company-owned restaurants, 5.1% in North America franchised restaurants, 5.3% in system-wide North America restaurants and 2.3% in system-wide international restaurants. However, even the company's business is performing well during the pandemic, it has withdrawn the previously provided outlook for the full-year, as part of being extra cautious.

In the fourth quarter ended December 29, 2019, revenue had increased to $417.51 million from $397.57 million last year. Adjusted EPS had increased to $0.37 from $0.18 in the same quarter a year ago. The consensus estimate was at $0.32 per share.