Pandemic Pizza Stays Popular: Domino’s Cooks Up $110.6 Million In Q1 Revenue

Domino's

Domino’s continues to serve up sales growth, as the “Golden Era for Pizza Chains” forges on through the pandemic.

“It was a strong first quarter for the Domino’s brand, with balanced growth across all areas of our global business,” said Ritch Allison, Domino’s CEO.

On the other hand, net income for the first quarter of the year, through March, was $117.8 million, down from the $121.6 posted in the same period the year before. That was a decrease of 3.2 percent. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) was $3.00 for the first quarter, down slightly from the previous year.

The chain’s results featured global retail sales growth of 14 percent, excluding the impact of foreign currencies. In a press release, the company added that the number of its stores in the U.S. was up by 36, while internationally, the number rose by 139, for a total of 175 more stores.

Business at existing U.S. locations, or same-store sales, was up 13.4 percent during the quarter versus the year-ago period. In addition, same-store sales growth internationally rose by 11.8 percent.

The company touted the consistency of its numbers, saying that the first-quarter report marked the 109th consecutive quarter of growth in international same-store sales and the 40th consecutive quarter for U.S. same-store sales.

Domino’s said that revenues increased $110.6 million, or 12.7 percent, in the first quarter of 2021. This increase was due, in part, to U.S. and international same-store sales growth and increases in global store counts.

Pizza chains were well-positioned when the pandemic hit. While other restaurants scrambled to get pick-up and delivery options online, they were all set to deliver, leading QSR magazine to speculate that America was entering the “Golden Era for Pizza Chains.”

And Domino’s has continued to explore innovative delivery and pickup options. In something out of the space-age cartoon “The Jetsons,” the company began testing a robot car for delivery this month. The company has partnered with Nuro to launch robotic delivery in Houston, Texas, according to a company announcement on April 12.