Papa John’s is looking for a new recipe after a long year

papa johns (Pizza) needs to see some growth in the 40+ year old series.

As demand for pizza surged during the Covid-19 crisis, the company’s shares rose to a record high of $138.53 at the end of 2021.

Since then investors have lost their appetite, as management mistakes have led to poor value messaging and lackluster marketing, technological innovation, and loyalty programs. Its shares are down nearly 75% from that record high, according to Yahoo financials.

“We’ve gone out of our way on the value proposition,” Todd Penegor, who was named CEO of Papa John’s last August, told Yahoo Finance at the ICR conference in Orlando.

The consumer was “absolutely drawn” away from the $13.99 and $14.99 price points found in the Better Get You Some campaign, which were significantly higher than the offerings from Competitors like domino(DPZ).

In preliminary fourth-quarter results, Papa John’s North American store sales fell 4% from a year ago. Traffic and ticket volume decreased by 2% each.

For the full fiscal year, same-store sales in North America declined 4%, driven by a 3% decline in traffic and a 1% decline in ticket volume.

There is “a lot of work to be done…to realign franchisees’ sales and economics,” says the BTIG analyst Peter Saleh He told Yahoo Finance.

Raising the menu price instead of working to increase the order volume was a disaster, according to Saleh.

“Operators that are winning in this market, like Darden (Direct reduction), Texas Roadhouse (TXRH), Wingstop(wing), they take lower prices, and drive transactions.”

Penegor said the chain needs to raise awareness of its value propositions, such as Papa’s Pairings, which allow diners to pair a medium-sized pizza with a side dish (such as wings or dessert) for $6.99.

Getting more customers through the door will give them the opportunity to trade in more expensive items.

Read more: How Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer is cooking up new growth

“It’s just not value for money,” said Penegor, who was also there. Former CEO From Wendy (One). “It should be worth what you paid, the whole experience.”

Penegor, who noted that Papa John’s app should be “smoother,” pointed out the above Wendy’s CEO Kevin Vasconi To lead the charge as Head of Digital and Technology.

International store sales growth fell less than 1% for the full fiscal year but rose 2% in the fourth quarter, an encouraging sign for 2025, according to a Wedbush analyst. Nick Setien.

Shares of competitor Domino’s rose only 1% in the past year, but Citi analyst… John’s tower He calls it “the leader in this category.”

The story continues