After beating estimates last quarter by $0.03, Papa John's International (Nasdaq: PZZA) has set the standard for itself. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday. Papa John's International operates and franchises pizza delivery and carryout restaurants and, in certain international markets, dine-in and restaurant-based delivery restaurants under the trademark Papa John.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Papa John's International with three of five analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Papa John's International as much as competitor Jack in the Box overall. Five out of 13 analysts rate Jack in the Box a buy compared to one of five for Papa John's International.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $311.4 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 8.6% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.62 per share. Estimates range from $0.60 to $0.63.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 88.7% awarding it an outperform rating. Most of the community backs the All-Stars, with 84.9% assigning it a rating of outperform. Fools feel positively about Papa John's International and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 110 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Papa John's International, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Papa John's International's profit has risen year-over-year by an average of 8.3% over the past five quarters. Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters.

Now let's get some insight into how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins serve as an illustration of how efficiently a company captures portions of sales dollars. The company's gross margins increased in the last two quarters year-over-year. Gross margins reflect the total sales revenue retained after costs. See how Papa John's International has been doing for the last four quarters:

Quarter

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q4

Gross Margin

50.5%

51.5%

23.4%

22.8%

Operating Margin

5.5%

6.5%

8.7%

7.7%

Net Margin

3.6%

4.1%

5.3%

4.9%

We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized service. Add Papa John's International now.

The Motley Fool owns shares of Papa John's International.. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.