Papa John's Slices Up Revenue Miss

Papa John's withdrew its 2020 guidance, too

The sharesPapa John's International Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) are down 2.6% at $74.20 this morning, just one day after hitting a three-year high of $76.21, as investors comb over the pizza delivery specialists' latest quarterly report. The firm posted first-quarter earnings of 41 cents per share, coming in higher than Wall Street's 39 cents per share estimate, though its reported $409.9 million in revenue missed analysts' estimates. Like many companies, Papa John's opted to withdraw its full-year guidance amid COVID-19 uncertainties.

PZZA's rebound off its late-March lows has been impressive, with recent support at its 10-day moving average guiding the stock higher during the past month-and-a-half. In fact, the shares just came off their best month in over 20 years, up 34.8% in April alone. Coming into today, PZZA was up 42.4% year-over-year.

Analysts haven't yet chimed in on Papa John's earnings report, though sentiment looks to be split. Of the 12 in coverage, half call PZZA a "buy" or better, while half give it a lukewarm "hold" rating. Meanwhile, the consensus 12-month price target of $71.08 is a 6.7% discount to last night's close.

The options pits, meanwhile, have turned quite bullish. In the last 10 days, 3.21 PZZA calls were picked up for every put at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio sits higher than 89% of all other readings from the past year, suggesting a much healthier appetite for long calls of late.