Delivery

Pizza brands give thanks for '2015-era' gas prices, higher stock values

This season of gratitude lived up to its name for pizza brands last week, which not only saw gas prices drop to 2015 levels, but also benefited from "giving" traders, who pushed their stock prices higher.

Photo: iStock.

November 30, 2020

The shortened Thanksgiving holiday trading week portended well for most pizza brans. Aside from an increase in wheat prices nationally, most commodity values dropped in price, while most publicly traded brands gained.

Papa John's gained the most forward-momentum of the four publicly traded brands monitored by Pizza Marketplace. The Louisville, Kentucky-based company gained $2.31 over the week's trading to close early Friday afternoon at $81.55.

Not far behind, was another Louisville-based company, Yum Brands. Pizza Hut's parent organization improved its value $2.17 by close Friday to end at $107.18. Meanwhile, Ann Arbor, Michigan-based, Domino's gained 95 cents on the week to close at $390.47.

In fact, the only company to drop slightly over the shortened trading week was Pizza Inn and Pie Five parent, Rave Restaurant Group. The Dallas-based company closed Friday at 91 cents, down 6 cents from the previous Friday's close.

Cheese

Cheese prices were flat to slightly lower than the week before, with the weekly average for blocks down 4 cents to $1.67, while the average for barrels was up less than a cent to $1.41, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Barrels closed at $1.42, while 40-pound blocks ended at $1.68.

The U.S.D.A. reported that overall cheese demand was lighter, even as market prices have begun to stabilize after the recent price drops.

Cheese production remains generally steady, with some additional COVID-19-related staffing issues reported in the Midwest. Generally though, production is steady to busy there as well.

Wheat

Wheat prices climbed higher with December Chicago soft red winter wheat futures up more than 7 cents to $5.96. December Kansas City hard red winter wheat futures bounced up more than 19 cents to $5.63, while December spring wheat futures on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange added 6 cents to $5.50, the U.S.D.A. reported.

Auto fuel

It's been five years since businesses and motorist have seen Thanksgiving gas prices as low as $2.10, which is about a nickel higher than what Americans paid on average for a gallon of regular in 2015, according to the American Automobile Association.

"Typically, cheaper gas prices are an incentive for people to travel during a holiday weekend, but that is just not the case this year," Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson, said on the organization's website.

That worked in financial favor for delivery-heavy pizza restaurant companies. In fact, AAA said that for nearly half of the states in the nation, the price of gas this past weekend was 50 to 75 cents lower than what we paid last year. The biggest annual price decreases were had out West, while southern states ended up with the cheapest prices in the union. The least expensive markets nationally were in Missouri ($1.75), Texas ($1.79) and Oklahoma ($1.79).

This morning the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded was $2.13, which was 2 cents higher than last week, but still down a cent from a month earlier. Mid-grade ($2.48) and premium ($2.74) followed the same trend-line. At an average of $2.42, diesel was also 2 cents higher than its price the previous week, but 5 cents more per gallon than the previous month. E85 held steady at $1.92 over the week, though it also fell 3 cents in price over the last month, AAA said.

Natural gas

Natural gas spot prices fell at most locations for the latest available seven-day reporting period that ended on Nov. 18. The Henry Hub spot price fell from $2.77 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) to $2.36/MMBtu over the same period.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the price of the December 2020 contract decreased 32 cents, from $3.03/MMBtu last Wednesday to $2.71/MMBtu yesterday. The price of the 12-month strip averaging December 2020 through November 2021 futures contracts declined 21 cents/MMBtu to $2.78/MMBtu.

The natural gas plant liquids composite price at Mont Belvieu, Texas, remained flat at $5.38/MMBtu. The price of propane fell by 1%. The price of isobutane rose by 2%. The price of natural gasoline, ethane, and butane remained flat week over week.