Although originally from Italy, pizza is among the most popular dishes in the U.S., making it an American staple.
Americans have made pizza their own by using signature characteristics of the original dish and stylizing them with the ingredients and flavors most Americans prefer. They are essentially creating their own version by Americanizing a traditional international dish.
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Pizza continues to be a very popular dish among Americans due to how convenient it is to eat since it requires no utensils, how incredibly affordable and filling it is, and most importantly, how great it tastes.
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In the U.S., there are millions of pizza joints and chains to choose from when craving a warm slice, and although everyone has a favorite, five leading chains have outperformed all others for decades.
The top five 'Pizza Giants' in the U.S. by market share include Domino's (DMPZF) , Pizza (YUM) , Little Caesar's, Papa Johns (PZZA) and Maco's Pizza.
However, with growing competition, even the best can fall short.
Papa Johns acts with 'urgency' amid concerning financial struggles
Although Papa Johns was once incredibly profitable, its recent financial reports signaled some concerning declines.
According to Papa Johns latest earnings, total revenues declined by over 3% from a year ago, with comparable sales in North America down 6% and down 3% internationally.
The pizza chain's domestic company-owned restaurant sales declined 7% compared to last year, with franchise restaurants down 5%.
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During its third-quarter earnings call, Papa Johns revealed it had made several changes to its team to improve the company's development and operations after reporting several declines in its business and highlighted five key elements to accelerate profitable growth.
"With our leadership team, we continue to evaluate the business and refine our key strategic initiatives," said Papa Johns CEO Todd Penegor.
These key points aimed to improve efficiency and customer-employee experience by improving product quality and adding new items to the menu, amplifying its marketing message, investing in modern technology, focusing on value, and increasing market share by opening more restaurant locations.
"We're acting with urgency. We are laser-focused on strengthening our foundation in the near term while positioning the company to capitalize on opportunities to drive success and value creation over the long term," said Penegor.
Papa Johns may soon be taken over by a royal family member
An investment fund might soon take over the American pizza chain Papa Johns, and the fund is backed by a member of Qatar's royal family.
According to people familiar with the matter, Irth Capital Management has been in talks with Papa Johns to acquire the company. The pizza chain currently has a market cap of approximately $1.6 billion, making it the fourth most popular pizza chain in the U.S., with over 5,900 restaurants across 49 countries.
Irth Capital Management is a global alternative asset management firm that invests across public and private companies. It was co-founded by Matthew Bradshaw and Sheikh Mohamed "Moe" Al Thani, who is a member of the Qatari and Emirati royal.
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This investment fund has a previous record of acquiring small stakes in public companies and eventually fully taking them over later to turn them into private equities.
A deja vu moment seems to be happening with Papa Johns, just like it has with other companies. Last year, Irth Capital Management acquired a nearly 5% stake in the popular pizza chain, a reoccurring move it has made with its other investments.
On Thursday, Papa Johns stock surged over 18%, but after normalizing, it dropped over 3% as of Friday's market open and continues to spiral downward.
As bad as this current drop in its shares might be, Papa Johns stock has declined nearly 31% since last year, and its finances are not doing as great as they once used to, making this potential sale more probable.
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