By Charlie Pogacar
The largest pizza company in the world appears to have had a strong fourth quarter in 2023—and a solid year overall. The news was good for business: Domino’s Pizza stock went soaring in pre-trading sessions Monday morning, with some predicting it would reach highs not seen in over two years.
Domino’s sent out a press release early Monday morning announcing the results. Here are some of the big takeaways:
- Global sales grew 4.9% in Q4 of 2023 and 5.4 for fiscal year 2023
- U.S. same-store sales grew 2.8% in Q4 and 1.6% for fiscal year 2023
- International sales stayed flat (growing 0.1%) in Q4, but grew 1.7% for fiscal year 2023
- Domino’s grew its unit count by 394 stores in Q4 and by 711 in 203
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As a result of this, the Domino’s Pizza Board of Directors approved a 25% increase in quarterly dividend to $1.51 per share. It also approved an additional $1 billion share repurchase program.
The news comes a little over two months after Domino’s announced a new growth strategy during its Investor Day in December. The plan was turned into a catchphrase that included an acronym: “Hungry for MORE,” which was said to stand for “Most Delicious Food, Operational Excellence, Renowned Value and Enhanced by Best-in-Class Franchisees.”
The CEO of Domino’s was quick to celebrate the news, and seemed to interpret the sales figures as evidence the strategy was working. It’s worth noting, however, that the strategy was announced at the tail end of the fourth quarter.
“Our strong fourth quarter demonstrates that our Hungry for MORE strategy is already delivering results,” Weiner said in a prepared statement in the press release. “This strategy, which we recently unveiled at our Investor Day, is our plan to deliver MORE sales, MORE stores and MORE profits. Domino’s foundation has never been stronger. Our positive U.S. transactions and same store sales growth in both our delivery and carryout channels in the fourth quarter underscore the strength and momentum in our business. These results give us confidence in our brand and the Company’s ability to win and create meaningful value for our shareholders.”
It’s also worth noting that Domino’s recently teamed up with third-party delivery aggregators in order to open up a new demographic of diners. A deep dive by QSR magazine—sister publication of PMQ—showed that the move is already working. “It appears the category’s brand is is attracting new customers and doing a solid job keeping them,” the report stated.
MarketWatch noted that the Domino’s Pizza stock was up over 5% during pre-market trading sessions. The stock opened regular trading hours at about $460 per share.
