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The trading disaster that is Noodles & Co. (NDLS) was holding to form early Thursday, plunging 21% after another weaker-than-expected quarterly report delivered further misery to anyone owning the shares.
Following its fourth consecutive quarterly sales shortfall and a reduced outlook for the full year, the stock was losing $5.24 to $19.97, its lowest price since it started trading 14 months ago.
Investors had viewed Noodles' debut as that of a restaurant with the opportunity -- possibly -- to be "the next Chipotle." Instead, they've gotten little but distress if they've been with the name for any time aside from brief, fortunate upward spurts. The stock opened for trading at $32 after its June 2013 IPO, rising to $51.97 days later. It's been stepping lower since, but the current decline would be the worst trading day it's had. Previously, its largest single-day drop was a 13.7% fall on April 30, after disappointing first-quarter earnings.
Even before the latest decrease, shares were down 29.4% in 2014. At this point, they're 61% below their peak.
For the second quarter, revenue did climb 11.5% from the year-earlier period to $99.5 million, the Broomfield, Colo.-based noodle seller said. However, analysts were expecting $103.3 million, according to FactSet. In the five quarters Noodles has reported as a public company, it only surpassed revenue estimates the first time. Meanwhile, adjusted earnings of 12 cents a share missed the consensus of 15 cents and were down a penny from last year. Same-store sales fell 0.6% at company-owned restaurants.
Noodles has now opened 25 company stores through the first half, compared with a goal of 45 to 50 for the entire year, so it says the high end is within reason. Also, five franchised locations have opened. The company has said it believes it can eventually have 2,500 stores, up from 410 operating today, most of which are corporate-owned.
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