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Papa John's, Pizza Hut parent perk up; Rave, Domino's drop

Pizza stock market wins this week went to Papa John's and Pizza Hut parent, Yum Brands.

Photo: iStock

July 27, 2020 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Domino's share value continued to fall from its peak more than two weeks ago, while troubled Rave Restaurant Group, also continued to drop, bringing it ever-closer to delisting on the Nasdaq — a potentiality the Dallas-based company first learned about earlier this month. But the news wasn't all bad for pizza brand trading last week. Papa John's and Pizza Hut parent, Yum Brands, witnessed share price increases in Wall Street trading.

Papa John's continued its ascent in share price, closing Friday on the Nasdaq at $93.05, up $1.32 from the previous week's close, as the brand approaches its quarterly earnings report, which will be out next week. At Kentucky-based, Yum Brands — parent of the Pizza Hut chain — the news was also good from traders. Its value on the New York Stock Exchange Friday closed up $2.57 over the previous week to come in at $93.14.

The less rosy report, however, comes in the form of a value drop for Ann Arbor, Michigan-based, Domino's Pizza, which closed Friday at $386.91, down $3.31 from the previous week's close and $11.40 from its peak on July 10.

Pizza Inn and Pie Five parent, owned by Rave Restaurant Group, turned in another week of losses Friday, closing at nearly 64 cents Friday, down 1 cent from its previous all-time low last Friday of 65 cents.

Cheese

In U.S. cheese trading last week, the price paid for barrels inched up, while block prices fell on average. The closing price for barrels was $2.45, while 40-pound blocks came in at $2.61, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The weekly average for barrels was up 4 cents on the week to $2.45, while block prices ticked down 22 cents to $2.61 on average. The U.S.D.A. said cheese demand has fallen slightly week to week, but block prices actually broke the $3 barrier about 14 days ago before falling into the $2.60-range about 10 days ago. So as buyers wait for potentially lower prices, cheesemakers have ebbed production slightly.

Additionally, cheese demand is slightly lower due to the uncertainties of both foodservice customers and groceries, related to COVID-19 measures. Some cheesemakers reported focusing production on contractual obligations, while milk remains somewhat plentiful.

Wheat

Wheat prices bumped along most of the week but ended mostly higher. Chicago soft red winter wheat closed Friday at $5.39 a bushel, which was up 5 cents over the previous week's close. Kansas City hard red winter was unchanged, closing at $4.49 a bushel, the U.S.D.A. said.

In Minneapolis, the price paid for September hard red spring was up 2 cents to $5.15 a bushel. Meantime the basis prices across all U.S. wheat classes rose last week.

Auto fuel

Though nationally, regular unleaded gas prices fell about a penny to $2.18, that price is still 2 cents more than it was a week earlier and 4 cents more than a month earlier, the American Automobile Association said. The good news is that the price is still 57 cents below what it was last year at this time.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, gas demand fell from 8.65 million barrels per day (b/d) to 8.55 million b/d last week. That decreasing demand has helped keep pump prices down over the past week. If demand continues to drop, AAA said pump prices could fall this week.

Domestic crude prices decreased after the Energy Information Administration's weekly report showed total domestic inventories grew by 4.9 million barrels. AAA said that increase, amid falling gasoline demand, could mean that the domestic crude market is oversupplied, leading potentially to more price drops if crude supplies continue to increase.

Last week, the biggest price drops for the week nationally were in Michigan and Indiana (-6 cents), as well as Ohio (-5 cents) and North Carolina (-4 cents), AAA reported.

Today, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded nationally was $2.18 this morning, down about 2 cents from a week ago and a cent from last month. Mid-grade ($2.53) and premium ($2.80) were also down from last week, though less dramatically.

The price of a gallon of diesel fuel this morning as $2.43, equal to last week but about a cent lower than last month. E85 fuel averaged $1.98 per gallon this morning, down a cent from last week and last month.

Natural gas

Natural gas spot prices fell at most locations for the seven days that ended on July 22. The Henry Hub spot price fell from $1.71 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) to $1.64/MMBtu over that same span. At the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of the August 2020 contract decreased 10 cents, from $1.78/MMBtu to $1.68/MMBtu over the period. The price of the 12-month strip, averaging August 2020 through July 2021 futures contracts, declined 5 cents/MMBtu to $2.37/MMBtu.

The net injections to working gas totaled 37 billion cubic feet (Bcf) for the week ending July 17. Working natural gas stocks totaled 3,215 Bcf, which is 26% more than the year-ago level and 16% more than the 5-year (2015–19) average for this week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.

The natural gas plant liquids composite price at Mont Belvieu, Texas, fell by 12 cents/MMBtu, averaging $4.67/MMBtu for the seven days ending July 22. The prices of natural gasoline and ethane fell by 13% and 6%, respectively. The prices of butane and propane rose by 4% and 2%, respectively. The price of isobutane remained flat week over week.

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.