What To Expect From Jack in the Box's (JACK) Q1 Earnings

Fast-food chain Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) will be reporting results tomorrow before market hours. Here's what investors should know.

Jack in the Box beat analysts' revenue expectations by 1.2% last quarter, reporting revenues of $487.5 million, down 7.5% year on year. It was a decent quarter forthe company: while same-store sales for the main Jack in the Box concept missed, revenue still managed to outperform. Although gross margin beat, operating profit was roughly in line, leading to a penny miss on the EPS line.

Is Jack in the Box a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it's free.

This quarter, analysts are expecting Jack in the Box's revenue to decline 6.6% year on year to $369.7 million, a reversal from the 22.8% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $1.43 per share.

The majority of analysts covering the company have reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Jack in the Box has only missed Wall Street's revenue estimates once over the last two years, exceeding top-line expectations by 0.8% on average.

Looking at Jack in the Box's peers in the traditional fast food segment, some have already reported their Q1 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Papa John's revenues decreased 2.5% year on year, missing analysts' expectations by 5.4%, and Yum! Brands reported a revenue decline of 2.9%, falling short of estimates by 6.6%. Papa John's traded down 6.8% following the results while Yum! Brands was also down 4.4%.

Read our full analysis of Papa John's results here and Yum! Brands's results here.

There has been positive sentiment among investors in the traditional fast food segment, with share prices up 4.1% on average over the last month. Jack in the Box is down 11.3% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $80.7 (compared to the current share price of $52.87).

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