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Editor’s Note: This article serves as a special addendum to PMQ’s Pizza Power Report 2026. Most of the developments detailed below occurred after presstime for the December 2025 issue.
As the pizza landscape evolves, late 2025 marked a crucial juncture for several iconic brands, including California Pizza Kitchen, Papa Johns, Pizza Hut and Papa Murphy’s. What’s in store for the coming year is anybody’s guess.
The possibility of a sale for the latter three chains has captured the attention of industry insiders and investors alike. Meanwhile, California Pizza Kitchen, a smaller but long-established brand, has already changed hands in a buyout deal led by Consortium Brand Partners, along with partners like Eldridge Industries and Bain Capital.
What’s going on with the big pizza chains these days? In PMQ Pizza’s Pizza Power Report 2026, Loren Padelford, chief revenue officer for Slice, predicted that the era of the big chains is over. And certain developments in the final months of 2025 seemed to back him up, at least to an extent.
Papa Johns, for example, remains a mighty brand, but its sales aren’t what they used to be. In the third quarter of 2025, Papa Johns’ North American same-store sales were down 2.7% as customers focused on buying pizza while cutting back on sides and other non-pizza items. As CEO Todd Penegor told investors in an earnings call last month, consumers “tend to control their spend by focusing on center of plate” when they’re worried about the economy.
On a bit of a downhill slide throughout 2025, Papa Johns has been under scrutiny as investment firms consider a potential purchase, prompting a focus on growth and innovation that is critical in an increasingly competitive pizza market.
After private equity firm Apollo Global floated—then withdrew—its second offer to purchase Papa Johns in early November, the pizza chain’s CEO, Todd Penegor, addressed “recent M&A rumors and speculation” in the third-quarter earnings call. He said his company still believes in its Back to Better 2.0 turnaround strategy. At the same time, he announced that Papa Johns would consider a buyout offer.
“We are open-minded about the path to do that,” Penegor said at the time, “and to the extent that there is an alternative to our strategy that is available and maximizes shareholder value, we would fully consider it.”
Moreover, Pizza Hut is exploring similar avenues. Chris Turner, CEO of the chain’s parent company, Yum! Brands, hinted that Pizza Hut could be up for sale, too.
Turner told investors in early November that Pizza Hut has the assets it needs to “reclaim the leading position in the highly fragmented pizza market.” Then, he dropped a bombshell: “We believe a different approach, including but not limited to a sale of the business, would allow Pizza Hut to realize its full potential.” He went on to add, “We can’t speculate on the exact timing of how this plays out. We’ll evaluate all of the options and all of the paths, and we will share more as we have something definitive to share.”
One vexing problem for Pizza Hut over the past year: While Domino’s has watched its sales climb thanks to ongoing value deals, Pizza Hut has relied on “an insufficient value message amid a competitive value landscape,” as Yum! Brands’ now ex-CEO, David Gibbs, explained in an August 5 earnings call. Going forward, Gibbs vowed at the time, “the U.S. team is establishing compelling value propositions.”
Then, there’s Papa Murphy’s, once a take-and-bake pizza juggernaut. Its parent company, MTY Food Group, has shuttered 120 underperforming Papa Murphy’s stores since early 2023—and dozens of others the previous year. Now MTY could be up for sale, too, according to a statement the company issued in mid-November.
Getting its franchisees on board with a concerted marketing strategy seems to have been one issue for Papa Murphy’s. In comments this fall, MTY CEO Jeff Lefebrve observed, “What we’re seeing…at the moment is, we have some franchisees that are pulling out a little bit of their local marketing efforts. As you know, pizza is very marketing-driven. So as soon as you close the tap, you see the sales going down right away. And, unfortunately, some franchisees are just not putting their money into their business at the moment.”
Meanwhile, CPK, which went through bankruptcy in 2020, could be poised for a turnaround under its new ownership. Plans call for more locations both domestically and internationally while enhancing CPK’s consumer packaged goods division, which already includes frozen pizzas. CEO Jon Weber expressed a fresh vision for the chain’s future, stating, “CPK has extreme brand loyalty…there’s an incredible amount of opportunity left,” signaling optimism for a brand eager for revitalization.
As 2025 slows to an end, the future of these major pizza brands remains uncertain. The prior decline in fast-casual pizza chains during the pandemic exposed vulnerabilities while also emphasizing consumers’ craving for authentic quality offerings. For brands like Papa John’s, Pizza Hut and Papa Murphy’s, embracing innovation, fostering customer loyalty and capturing new business models across dining and retail sectors may become the keys to thriving in a transformed market—no matter who their next owners might be.
Click here to read part 4 of PMQ’s Pizza Power Report 2026: Are the Robots Finally Here, and Who’s Using Them?
