Even financial analysts should be interested in delivering pizzas, Domino's CEO says. 'Because our drivers become franchisees.'

• Domino's CEO Russell Weiner touted career opportunities for delivery drivers in a call with analysts.
• "Maybe there are people who are listening to the call now who are interested in drivers' positions," Weiner said.

Are you a high-powered stock analyst looking for a new stream of income? Perhaps consider delivering pizza.

While it may not qualify as a bona fide recruiting pitch, Domino's CEO Russell Weiner found a unique way to underscore the importance of the pizza giant's franchise system during an Oct. 13 earnings call.

"I would like to spend a few seconds just talking about what it means when we refranchise stores in this particular instance because really, it's what makes Domino's so special," Weiner said. "And maybe there are people who are listening to the call now who are interested in drivers' positions. And let me tell you why you should be interested: Because our drivers become franchisees."

The conference call followed the release of the company's third-quarter earnings, and was attended by analysts from Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and others.

As of 2021, the base pay for a first-year analyst at an investment banking firm was $100,000, Insider reported. Domino's delivery drivers earn around $31,962 annually, ZipRecruiter estimates, and a Domino's franchise owner in New York City can make a base salary of $88,200 a year, according to Glassdoor.

"Remember, 95% of our franchisees started out as employees making pizza or driving," Weiner said on the call. "Six franchisees purchased the first store they ever worked in. And so that's part of the American dream, which is Domino's."

Domino's is primarily a franchiser, with approximately 94% of US Domino's stores owned and operated by the company's independent franchisees, according to Domino's 2021 annual report.

In the third quarter of 2022, the company sold 114 company-owned stores to 11 franchisees in Arizona and Utah for $41.1 million, according to a news release. Three of those individuals are first-time franchisees and two are former corporate employees, the company said.

Domino's currently has 19,000 stores in almost 100 countries. Franchisees added 24 net new US stores in the third quarter, bringing the company's store count in the US to 6,643 stores at the end of the quarter, said CFO Sandeep Reddy on the call.

"We maintain our conviction that the US can be an 8,000-plus store market for Domino's," Reddy said.

Labor, inflation challenges

The number of weekly job applications and new hires has increased throughout the year, and by the end of the third quarter stood at "more or less" the same level as in 2019, according to Weiner.

"Staffing remains a constraint, but my confidence in our ability to solve many of our delivery labor challenges ourselves has grown over the past few quarters," Weiner said on the call.

In other earnings highlights, the company said that inflation will have a bigger impact on its delivery business – with its associated fees and tips – than on carryout. "Our research shows that a relatively higher delivery cost might lead some customers to prepare meals at home," the CEO said. He said the trend could be "exacerbated" during the holidays as consumer spending gets more constrained. Nonetheless, Weiner sees the pizza giant succeeding through tough times.

"In a world where consumer confidence is shrinking and inflation is high, Domino's will succeed, because we have strong profitable franchisees, a team that makes disciplined decisions based on insight, and have the digital, supply-chain, and delivery expertise to offer best-in-class value and customer experience," Weiner said. "We delivered around one out of every three pizzas in the United States before the pandemic, and we deliver around one out of every three pizzas today."