Ruby Tuesday aims to grow like Domino’s

Article Excerpt

DOMINO’S PIZZA $56.61 (New York symbol DPZ; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (734-930-3030; www.dominos.com; Shares outstanding: 56.3 million; Market cap: $3.2 billion; Dividend yield: 1.4%) is the world’s largest chain of pizza stores that offer takeout and delivery. It operates 10,040 outlets in the U.S. and over 70 other countries. Franchisees run most of these stores. Excluding one-time items, the company’s earnings per share rose 25.5% in the quarter ended March 24, 2013, to $0.59 from $0.47 a year earlier. Sales rose 8.6%, to $417.6 million from $384.6 million. Samestore sales rose 6.5% internationally and 6.2% in the U.S. Domino’s continues to boost its sales by aggressively promoting its new pizza recipes. The company is also profiting by moving into ordering online and through software applications, or apps, on smartphones. In addition, Domino’s still has lots of growth potential overseas. The company’s long-term debt is still high, at $1.5 billion, or 47% of its market cap. However, it continues to steadily pay…