Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Papa John's (PZZA) Forays into Morocco with a New Restaurant

Read MoreHide Full Article

World’s third-largest pizza delivery company, Papa John’s International, Inc. (PZZA - Free Report) debuted in Morocco with its restaurant in Casablanca. In fact, Morocco is the third African country, after Egypt and Tunisia, where Papa John’s is now present.

The new restaurant is in agreement with Moroccan-based Planet Pizza Inc., which has exclusive development rights for Papa John’s brand in the country. Moving ahead, Planet Pizza plans to build 20 Papa John’s stores across Morocco, owing to a strong demand for high-quality pizzas in the region.

As of Dec 25, 2016, the company operated 5,097 Papa John’s restaurants in 50 states of the U.S. along with 45 international countries and territories, worldwide.

It is to be noted that large scale international expansion has been the backbone of Papa John’s operations recently and the Morocco development is a part of the same. Currently, Papa John’s has more than 1650 international restaurants and is planning to expand to newer markets including Brazil, Honduras, Uruguay and the Bahamas. Moreover, in 2016 itself, Papa John’s debuted in 6 new countries which included Iraq, Israel, France, Spain, The Netherlands, and Tunisia.

On the back of such large scale expansion plans, along with continual focus on menu innovation, technological upgrades, its strategic partnerships and more, Papa John’s currently holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Moreover, shares of the company have increased 42.3% over the last one year comparing favorably with the Zacks categorized Retail-Restaurants industry’s fall of 5%.

 



However, the company’s considerable international presence makes it highly vulnerable to fluctuations in currency translations. Moreover, an increasing wage rate environment and a challenging industry backdrop remain potent causes of concern for most restaurateurs like Restaurant Brands International, Inc. (QSR - Free Report) and Brinker International, Inc. (EAT - Free Report) .

Nevertheless, the demand for pizzas is unlikely to go down and pizza giants like Papa John’s and Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (DPZ - Free Report) ride on this certitude. On the other hand, its commitment to provide quality food to its customers appeals to health-conscious customers. Therefore, we remain reasonably optimistic about the stock’s prospects in spite certain headwinds .

More Stock News: 8 Companies Verge on Apple-Like Run

Did you miss Apple's 9X stock explosion after they launched their iPhone in 2007? Now 2017 looks to be a pivotal year to get in on another emerging technology expected to rock the market. Demand could soar from almost nothing to $42 billion by 2025. Reports suggest it could save 10 million lives per decade which could in turn save $200 billion in U.S. healthcare costs.
 
A bonus Zacks Special Report names this breakthrough and the 8 best stocks to exploit it. Like Apple in 2007, these companies are already strong and coiling for potential mega-gains. Click to see them right now >>

Published in