Quarterly earnings are crucial for evaluating a company’s performance. Potbelly (NASDAQ: PBPB) reported Q1 revenues of $111.2 million, down 6% year-over-year but exceeding analyst expectations by 1.5%. Despite sales and EPS beating forecasts, Q2 guidance for same-store sales and adjusted EBITDA was below expectations, leading to lowered growth guidance for 2024.
Bob Wright, CEO, noted, “We’re proud of our solid start… driving a 150-basis point expansion in shop-level margins and strong corporate profitability… We remain excited by the possibilities of this unique brand.”
The modern fast food sector, blending traditional fast food and sit-down dining, showed resilience with an average share price increase of 5.5% since the last earnings reports. Potbelly, however, delivered the slowest revenue growth among peers, with its stock down 12.8% since the results, currently trading at $8.65.