Domino’s Remains Optimistic Despite Disappointing Q3 Earnings

Pizza maker Domino’s reported less-than-expected financial results for the 2024 third quarter. Analysts anticipated the world’s largest pizza chain would earn $1.1 billion in the previous three months, but revenue fell short at $1.08 billion.

U.S. same-store sales went up 3%, which was significantly lower than Q3 2023’s 4.8% growth. Internationally, Domino’s same-store sales rose a meager 0.8% versus analysts’ expectations of 2.9%.  

Despite the discouraging earnings report, Domino’s remains optimistic moving forward. The pizza chain has been busy launching new promotions and deals as well as improving on its customer loyalty program.

“With the slate of initiatives we have in place, I am confident that we will continue to win and grow our market share across the globe for years to come,” noted Domino’s CEO Russell Weiner.

One new idea that gained attention was Domino’s MOREflation September promotion. With the offer, customers could order two or more medium pizzas and upgrade one to a large at no cost. Domino’s even recently brought back its successful emergency pizza offer, which significantly boosted loyalty program subscribers last year.

Domino’s Home Delivery Is Expanding

Home delivery of pizza by in-house drivers is what made Domino’s a household name. Yet, as demand for food delivery increased in the past five years, Domino’s ultimately partnered with Uber to gain exposure to an ever-larger customer base. Now exclusive only to Uber Eats customers, Domino’s has decided to expand beyond one third-party delivery service and open up delivery to DoorDash users next year.

“DoorDash is bigger than Uber, so that would certainly be an incremental and, most likely, a more significant impact on our business than Uber, but we’ll take one step at a time,” said Weiner, per Yahoo! Finance. 

For the 2024 third quarter, Domino’s saw U.S. sales via the Uber app increase 2.7%, with expectations of 3% by year’s end. According to Weiner, having Domino’s available on third-party delivery apps is a $1 billion opportunity and crucial for the pizza maker’s future.