11:35 AM EST, 03/04/2024 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We lift our 12-month target to $73 from $70, 27.5x our 2024 EPS estimate, near the lower end of PZZA's long-term forward P/E trading range of 21x-40x, reflecting the risk of revenue growth pressure. We lower our 2024 EPS to $2.64 from $2.89 and initiate our 2025 EPS at $3.10. Revenue of $571M (+8.5% Y/Y) was in line with consensus. Adjusted operating income rose 23.9% to $47.4M vs. the $42.6M consensus, with margin widening 100 bps Y/Y to 8.3%. North America comp sales rose 2% Y/Y, driven by growth in transactions and average ticket. However, International comp sales fell 6% Y/Y, largely due to the Middle East conflict (-4% impact). PZZA also closed 50 underperforming locations in the U.K., which boosted comp sales in the U.K. by 1%. Additionally, the sales mix shift from PZZA's organic delivery channels to third-party aggregators has led to 1% lower comp sales to start Q1. Despite these headwinds, we're still constructive on PZZA's international transformation initiative and its Back-to-Better 2.0 strategy.