Article

Numbers looking good for Domino's, Papa John's, Papa Murphy's, Pizza Hut

Papa John’s is climbing back up after hitting a 4-year low last week.

February 11, 2019 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

February, so far, has been good for the major pizza brands monitored by PMC — Domino's, Papa John's, Papa Murphy's, Pizza Hut —but prices were also up on cheese. 

Cheese
The end of the month was a good week Cheese barrels closed at $1.37 Friday up 7 cents for last week, while 40-pound blocks ended at $1.52, up 2 cents from last week, according to the U.S.D.A. Agricultural Marketing Service. The weekly average for barrels was up 4 cents to $1.32 and blocks increased 2 cents to $1.48 as an average on the week.

Cheese market upturns last week were met with some converse pressure early this week, until Thursday, when both block and barrel prices buoyed, according to the U.S.D.A. Cheese demand was mostly steady on the coastal regions, while Midwestern cheesemakers were seeing a seasonal slowdown. Milk production and availability were similar across the country: heavy. Reported spot load prices ranged from flat to $2 under, as a number of cheese plant managers suggested they were not seeking any extra milk. Although some contacts relay respective inventories were balanced to more manageable, there was a lot of cheese in storage throughout the country. A strong U.S. dollar and comparable global prices have not helped generate more exporting, recently

Wheat
Kansas City US No. 1 Hard Red Winter, ordinary protein rail bid was 2 ¾ cents lower from $6.06 1/4-$6.21 1/4 per bushel.  Kansas City US No 2 Soft Red winter rail bid was not quoted. St. Louis truck US No 2 Soft Red Winter terminal bid was steady to 1 cent higher from $5.46-$5.48 per bushel. Minneapolis and Duluth US No 1

Dark Northern Spring, 14.0 to 14.5 percent protein rail, was 24 1/2 to 34 1/2 cents higher at $7.24 1/2 per bushel.  Portland US Soft White wheat rail was steady to 8 cents higher from $6.35-$6.58 per bushel.

Vehicle fuel
Monday's nationwide average for regular unleaded gasoline increased 2 cents to  $2.28 the previous week, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Prices were also up 2 cents to $2.60, and premium gas climbed 1 cent to $2.85. Diesel fuel prices dropped nearly 1 cent to $2.91.
 
Natural gas
Natural gas spot prices fell in the Northeast and Midwest but rose on the West Coast and in the Rockies this report week ending Feb. 6.  Henry Hub spot prices fell from $2.96 per million British thermal units last Wednesday to $2.56/MMBtu yesterday.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of the March 2019 contract decreased 19 cents from $2.854/MMBtu last Wednesday to $2.662/MMBtu yesterday. The price of the 12-month strip averaging March 2019 through February 2020 futures contracts declined 13¢/MMBtu to $2.812/MMBtu.

Net withdrawals from working gas totaled 237 billion cubic feet for the week ending Feb.1. Working natural gas stocks are 1,960 Bcf, which is 6 percent lower than the year-ago level and 17 percent lower than the five-year (2014–18) average for this week.

The natural gas plant liquids composite price at Mont Belvieu, Texas, rose by 6¢/MMBtu, averaging $6.72/MMBtu for the week ending February 6. The price of natural gasoline, ethane, propane, butane, and isobutane all rose, by 8 percent, 2 percent, 3 percent, 2 percent, and 1 percent, respectively.

According to Baker Hughes, for the week ending Tuesday, Jan. 29, the natural gas rig count increased by 1 to 198. The number of oil-directed rigs fell by 15 to 847. The total rig count decreased by 14, and it now stands at 1,045.

Pizza company stocks
Papa John’s is climbing back up after hitting a 4-year low ($38.51) last week. It ended Friday at $42.98

Domino's had an even bigger jump closing Friday at $290.16 over the previous week of $278.39.

Pizza Hut parent company Yum Brands also had good news, ending the week at $94.49, slightly up over the previous week of $94.13. 

Finally, take-and-bake brand, Papa Murphy's reported a decent jump as well, hitting $5.23 over the previous Friday when it hit $4.70. 

Cover photo: iStock
 

About Cherryh Cansler

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Cherryh Cansler is VP of Events for Networld Media Group and publisher of FastCasual.com. She has been covering the restaurant industry since 2012. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine, among many others.

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