What's happening: Shares of casual restaurant chain Zoe's Kitchen (ZOES) slumped on Friday after the company announced that CFO Jason Morgan was resigning from his post. The stock was down as much as 10% on Friday morning, though by 12:30 p.m. it had partially recovered to a loss of about 6%.
Why it's happening: Morgan joined Zoe's in 2008, playing a critical role in both growing the company and taking it public in 2014. He is leaving to "pursue other business interests," according to a company press release. While Zoe's searches for a new CFO, company controller James Besch will serve as principal financial officer. The press release put out by Zoe's stated that Morgan's departure was not related to any disagreement with the company's board of directors, audit committee, or the company's auditors.
The market isn't taking this news well -- a CFO leaving a company can sometimes point to serious accounting or financial issues. But often, executives leave for no reason other than a desire to pursue other interests, which is exactly how the company's press release explained Morgan's departure. The decline in the stock today may simply be a knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to not be nearly as bad as it seems.
