Domino’s Pizza (DPZ)’s Analyst Action Followed by Surprising UK Chief Exit

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We recently published 12 Best Consumer Cyclical Stocks to Buy According to Analysts.  Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NASDAQ:DPZ) is one of the best consumer cyclical stocks

Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NASDAQ:DPZ) is one of the most well-known pizza chains in the US. It is also one of the biggest global pizza chains and boasts a presence in more than 90 countries with more than 14,600 stores.

As of November 28th, out of the 34 analyst recommendations for Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NASDAQ:DPZ), 19 were a Buy while 12 were Hold. The remaining three were a Sell, an Underperform, and a Strong Buy. The average share price target for Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NASDAQ:DPZ) was $496.65.

A recent analyst rating for Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NASDAQ:DPZ) came on November 24th, and it saw Piper Sandler maintain a Neutral rating and a $445 share price target. Piper Sandler’s latest comments followed a meeting with the firm’s management, following which analysts noted that management remained confident in its ability to gain market share. Yet, in a surprising turn, UK’s Domino’s Pizza CEO, Andrew Rennie, announced his departure the very next day, on November 25th. Prior to his exit, Rennie had warned that the British pizza industry was facing a supply glut and a challenging market environment.

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The challenging environment also featured in Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NASDAQ:DPZ)’s third-quarter earnings call where CFO Sandeep Reddy commented that the firm’s “third quarter financial results continued to be impacted by a challenging macro backdrop” but added that Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NASDAQ:DPZ) “drove profit growth that was slightly ahead of our expectations due to our strong sales performance and the timing of investments.”

During the call, after UBS’ Dennis Geiger asked what the components of a challenging micro backdrop might be and what its impact on the business was, Reddy remained upbeat about Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NASDAQ:DPZ) ability to gain market share in the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry:

“Yeah. No. I think as we said in the prepared remarks, we’re reiterating our 3% outlook for same-store sales in the U.S. And I think as far as we’re concerned, we’ve been talking about the macro environment being a key factor all year. So this is not new. But I think what we did want to point out was we’ve definitely been seeing a slowing across restaurant industry sales. To start our fourth quarter, and that’s just a factor that’s out there. But as far as we’re concerned, we are expecting to continue to gain share against the QSR pizza industry. We’ve done so really well so far this year. And we expect to continue to do that in Q4. So in terms of initiatives, we actually are running Best Deal Ever, as you know, right now.”

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.