Sonic Earnings Jump 25% Despite Higher Costs
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Drive-in restaurant chain Sonic Corp. (SONC) Monday said quarterly earnings rose 25 percent as sales of new products and increased customer traffic helped offset a spike in tomato and beef prices.
Net income for the fiscal first quarter ended Nov. 30 was $16 million, or 26 cents per share, compared with $12.8 million, or 21 cents per share, a year earlier.
Wall Street analysts, on average, had expected the company to report earnings of 25 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sales at Sonic restaurants open at least 15 months, or same-store sales, rose 8.1 percent during the quarter.
In the current quarter, Sonic expects to earn about 19 cents a share, up from 16 cents a share in last year's second quarter. Analysts' average estimate is 20 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Higher franchising income is expected to help offset a rise in commodity and labor costs.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Same-store sales, a key retail measure, are expected to rise at least 2 percent to 4 percent in the period.
Sonic, based in Oklahoma City, operates more than 2,900 drive-in restaurants, mainly in the southern United States.
The company's stock was down 4 cents at $29.60 in after-hours trading on Inet (search) after closing at $29.64 on Nasdaq (search).