Investing.com -- Shares in SONC surged by nearly 7% in after-hours trading, after the drive-in fast-food restaurant beat analysts' expectations with its revenues and earnings during the company's fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015.
The Oklahoma City-based restaurant chain posted net income of $26.3 million or per share earnings of 0.50 for its fourth quarter of 2015. When adjusted for one-time items, Sonic reported earnings of $23.1 milion or 0.43 per share, up significantly from earnings of $18.8 million or 0.34 per share during the same quarter in 2014. Analysts expected the company to report per share earnings of 0.42 for the three-month period.
In terms of revenue, Sonic earned sales of $175.3 million for the 13-week quarter, considerably higher than its total of $163.8 million over the fourth quarter of 2014. Sonic saw its revenues increase sharply on the back of a 4.9% gain in same-restaurant sales over the period.
"By every measure fiscal 2015 was a great year for our customers and franchisees. We completed our fifth consecutive fiscal year of positive same-store sales growth with a 7.3% system same-store sales increase for the year. Incremental profits for our franchisees were the highest since the onset of the Great Recession. These results drove a 31% increase in fiscal 2015 earnings per share, on an adjusted basis," said Clifford Hudson, Sonic Corp. CEO.
For the year as a whole, reported earnings per diluted share of 1.20, compared with net earnings of 0.85 in fiscal year of 2014. The increase in per-share earnings represents a spike of 41% on a year-over-year basis. Same-restaurant sales also rose by 7.3% for the year, helping the company improve its margin by 90 basis points for the year. In addition, Sonic opened 41 new drive-ins and rebuilt another 30 over the last 12 months.
Sonic also increased its forward guidance for fiscal year 2016 in terms of its EPS growth and same-restaurant sales. In 2016, Sonic now expects EPS growth to jump by 16 to 20%, up from previous estimates of 14 to 18%. The company anticipates more modest same-restaurant sales increases of 2 to 4% for the year.
"Looking forward, we believe product innovation, combined with our promotional, media and technology initiatives, will continue to drive consistent positive same-store sales and EPS growth. Record unit volumes in existing and new drive-ins give us continued confidence in the growing strength of the Sonic brand," Hudson added.
Shares in Sonic surged 1.76 or 6.99% to 28.48.