Food & Beverage

Aside from Domino's, US pizza stocks fall

Domino's made some gains in stock price last week, though investors were tighter with their purse strings with the remaining publicly traded U.S. pizza brands monitored here weekly.

Photo: iStock

June 15, 2020 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Aside from Domino's Pizza, Inc., pizza stock prices — as well as the prices paid for most pizza commodities — trended down in last week's trading. Domino's share price, however, was up slightly over the week, increasing $1.74 by Friday.

Domino's publicly traded competitors did not fare as well, but the damage was barely noticeable at Louisville, Kentucky-based Papa John's International Inc., which slipped down just 2 cents over the week to end at $79.04.

Meanwhile, Pizza Hut parent, Yum Brands Inc. suffered a larger hit over the week's trading, dropping $5.24 over the period to end Friday at $91.28.

Rave Restaurant Group Inc. got knocked down as well when the Pie Five and Pizza Inn parent dropped 19 cents over the week to end Friday at 86 cents. 

Cheese

Cheese prices were the exception among prices paid last week for major pizza commodities, as both barrels and blocks were up in price, on average, over the week's trading. Barrels closed at $2.33 and 40-pound blocks at $2.52. The weekly average for barrels was up 10 cents to $2.37, while blocks were up a nickel to $2.55, according to the U.S.blocks, $2.55, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. 

Cheese is moving well throughout the country, according to the U.S.D.A., with governmental purchases, as well as restaurant orders keeping cheesemakers' production schedules full. Cheddar supplies, specifically, are reportedly tight. A recent concern — as some foodservice customers have come closer to refilling their pipelines — is that Chicago Mercantile Exchange market prices will respond bearishly. Right now, though, cheese prices on the CME are steadily bullish.

Wheat

In wheat trading last week, Chicago soft red winter futures fell 13 cents on the week to close at $5.02 a bushel, while Kansas City hard red winter futures lost 13 cents to end at $4.48/bu. Minneapolis hard red spring futures fell 5 cents to close at $5.13/bu. 

According to USDA, as of June 4, total U.S. white wheat sales (hard and soft) fell 2% on the year to end at 5.34 million metric tons. Durum sales nearly tripled year-over-year to end at 966,000 metric tons. 

Last week's commercial sales of 270,000 metric tons for delivery in 2020/21, through June 4, were down 38% from last week's 437,000 metric tons, but within trade expectations of 200,000-500,000 metric tons. Year-to-date commercial sales for delivery in 2020/21 total 5.83 million metric tons, down 5% from last year. 

Auto fuel

The auto fuel price increases that started about two weeks ago are picking up speed, according to data from the American Automobile Association. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline increased by 5 cents from last Monday to Friday when the average was $2.08 or 9 cents higher than a week earlier or 24 cents more than a month ago. The good news is that the price is still a hefty 65 cents less than a year ago. 

According to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, gas demand has continued to increase, moving from 7.5 million barrels a day to 7.9 million b/d last week. If demand continues to trend higher, motorists will likely see pump prices continue to increase through the end of the month, AAA said.

Over the week's trading, the biggest price increases were experienced in Missouri and Kansas, which were both up 15 cents on average, followed by Colorado, Wisconsin and South Carolina, which were all up 14 cents over the week. 

This morning the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded nationally was at $2.10, up 7 cents from the previous Monday, while mid-grade ($2.44) and premium ($2.71) were up 7 cents and 8 cents, respectively. The price of diesel has remained virtually flat for the last month, with today's average of $2.42, up less than 1 cent from the previous month. Finally, at an average price of $1.95, E85 fuel rose 6 cents over the week and almost 20 cents since last month. 

Natural gas

Natural gas spot prices fell at most locations for the latest report week that ended on June 10, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The Henry Hub spot price fell from $1.77 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) to $1.70/MMBtu over that period. 

At the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), the price of the July 2020 contract dropped 4 cents, from $1.821/MMBtu to $1.780/MMBtu, while the price of the 12-month strip averaging July 2020 through June 2021 futures contracts declined 11 cents/MMBtu to $2.33/MMBtu.

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.