Food & Beverage

December starts on down-note for Domino's, Papa John's, Pizza Hut

Rave Restaurant Group was the only winner last week among U.S. publicly traded pizza companies, while steadily declining gas prices experienced a bump.

Photo: iStock.

December 7, 2020 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

December started off with a whimper as far as pizza stock and commodities prices were concerned, perhaps reflecting the overall tone of this entire year. Three of the four pizza companies monitored here weekly watched as their stock values dropped, while many prices for essential commodities increased.

Among the publicly traded pizza companies Pizza Marketplace watches weekly, the only real gainer on the week was Pie Five and Pizza Inn parent, Rave Restaurant Group. The Dallas-based restaurant franchisor recorded a nickel gain on the week to close Friday at nearly 96 cents, versus 91 cents the previous Friday's close.

From there on, the news was pretty lackluster, beginning with Domino's Pizza, which closed down $7.48 to end up Friday at $382.99.

Moving south from Domino's Ann Arbor, Michigan basecamp, to the pizza city of Louisville, Kentucky, leaders at Papa John's headquarters saw that brand's value inch down 69 cents on the week, to close Friday at $80.86.

Lastly, triple-QSR company and Pizza Hut parent, Yum Brands, also knocked a little off its overall value last week, falling to a closing value of $105.86 Friday from the previous week's close of $107.18.

Cheese
Cheese prices last week were mixed with the weekly average paid for barrels up a fraction of a cent to $1.41, while 40-pound blocks fell almost 7 cents on the week to an average price of nearly $1.61. Barrels closed at $1.40 and blocks ended the week at $1.59.
Cheese market tones began the month by steadying out to some degree, following a bearish November, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. Cheese production is mostly active in the country.

Cheese supplies are available for customer demand that was qualified as "steady to returning … particularly
from retail channels." The U.S.D.A. said overall foodservice demand is, and is expected to continue to be, in question in the near term.

Wheat
Wheat prices last week again dropped with December Chicago soft red winter futures falling more than 5 cents to $5.67. Minneapolis Grain Exchange spring wheat futures fell more than a cent to $5.39, while Kansas City hard red winter futures also dropped a cent to $5.44.

Auto fuel
Increasing crude prices helped push pump prices up about a nickel over the last week, though gas prices in general were still about 43 cents less than they were last year at this time. Since mid-November, domestic daily crude prices have steadily increased toward $45 per barrel, contributing to pump prices rising across the country in just this last week, the American Automobile Association said.

Low demand, however, will likely limit price gains with the latest report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration indicating that demand decreased from 8.13 million barrels a day (b/d) to 7.97 million b/d last week — the lowest reading since early June. AAA said that as gas demand continues to decline into the winter driving season, American drivers should expect gas prices to remain lower when compared to last year's pump prices, moving into 2021.

Last week, the biggest gas price increases were in Florida and Ohio (+12 cents), as well as Michigan and Delaware (+10 cents) and Pennsylvania (+9 cents). The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded this morning was $2.16, up 4 cents from a month ago. Mid-grade ($2.51) and premium ($2.78) were up 4 cents and 3 cents, respectively.

Diesel average $2.45 this morning, up 9 cents from last week, while E85 averaged $1.95, just a cent higher than one month ago.

Natural gas
Natural gas spot prices rose at most locations for the latest seven-day report that ended Dec. 2, with the Henry Hub spot price up from $2.28 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) to $2.70/MMBtu for that same period.

The natural gas plant liquids composite price at Mont Belvieu, Texas, rose by 21 cents/MMBtu, averaging $5.44/MMBtu for the period. The prices of propane, natural gasoline, butane, and isobutane rose by 8%, 4%, 4%, and 2%, respectively. The price of ethane fell by 1%.

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.