Papa John's Turnaround Plan Gets Off to Quick Start

Don't call it a C-suite purge, but Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA) continues to clean out its executive offices from prior management holdovers as its new CEO looks to rebuild the company. And while the pizzeria's third-quarter results were a mixed bag for the executive, there were a number of positive developments that hold out hope for a turnaround.

Sales grew 4.8% to $403.7 million, beating Wall Street's estimates, as Papa John's recorded a 1% gain in same-store sales for the quarter, the first time in two years that comparable sales rose year over year. Earnings, however, fell just short of expectations, with per-share profits of $0.21 missing the consensus outlook of $0.23 per share. Still, that was ahead of the $0.19 per-share profit it generated a year ago.

CEO Rob Lynch, who joined Papa John's from Arby's two months ago, seems to have been given a good foothold to start the restaurant operator's return to growth.

Source Fool.com