REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee
Workers prepare pizzas in the kitchen of a Domino's Pizza branch in New Delhi, September 11, 2013.
- Domino's Pizza posted same-store sales that fell short of expectations.
- The pizza chain also missed on both the top and bottom lines.
- Shares fell 7.3% early Thursday.
- Watch Domino's Pizza trade live.
Domino's Pizza sank more than 7% Thursday morning after delivering disappointing same-store sales for the fourth quarter.
The pizza chain said domestic same-store sales jumped 5.6% versus a year ago, falling short of the 7.2% gain that analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting.
The company also missed on the top and bottom lines, posting adjusted earnings of $2.62 a share on revenue of $397.8 million. Analysts were looking for $2.69 and $399.9 million.
During the quarter, Domino's opened a total of 1,058 net new stores, 258 in the US and 800 internationally.
CEO Ritch Allison was optimistic despite missing Wall Street estimates.
"I am pleased with our fourth quarter, which capped a very strong 2018 for Domino's," he said. "Our long-game approach, driven by fundamentals and the finest franchisee base in QSR across the globe, continues to pace the industry - and we are excited to execute our global strategy in 2019 and beyond."
Looking ahead, the company reaffirmed its outlook for the next three to five years, saying it expects both US and international same-store-sales growth of between 3% and 6%. Domino's does not give quarterly guidandce.
On Wednesday, Domino's board of directors declared a quarterly divided of $0.65 a share, up 18% from the previous quarter.
