Papa John's International

Is Papa John's owned by another company?
No, Papa John's International is an independent publicly traded company with no parent organization. The company trades on NASDAQ under ticker PZZA and is owned by institutional investors, mutual funds, and individual shareholders. Founder John Schnatter no longer holds significant ownership or operational control.

Is Papa John's publicly traded?
Yes, Papa John's International is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol PZZA. The company has been publicly traded since its IPO in 1993. As of early 2026, there are approximately 33 million diluted shares outstanding.

Who is the CEO of Papa John's?
Todd Penegor is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Papa John's International. He was appointed in August 2024, joining from The Wendy's Company where he served as President and CEO. Penegor also held leadership roles at Kellogg Company and Ford Motor Company earlier in his career.

How many Papa John's locations are there?
Papa John's operates over 5,000 restaurants in more than 50 countries. Approximately 95% of these locations are franchised. The company opened 279 new restaurants in fiscal year 2025, with 96 in North America and 183 in international markets.

What is Papa John's annual revenue?
Papa John's reported total revenues of $2.1 billion for fiscal year 2025, flat compared with the prior year. Global system-wide restaurant sales were $4.92 billion. Net income was $32 million, down from $84 million in 2024, partly due to the absence of a prior-year property sale gain and incremental marketing investment.

Does Papa John's own other restaurant brands?
No, Papa John's International operates a single-brand portfolio focused exclusively on the Papa John's pizza concept. The company does not own or operate other restaurant brands. This is different from competitors like Yum! Brands, which owns KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut.

What happened to Papa John's founder John Schnatter?
John Schnatter resigned as chairman in July 2018 following reports that he used a racial slur during a conference call. He subsequently left the board entirely and sold most of his shares. The company adopted a poison pill provision to prevent him from regaining control. Schnatter has no current role at Papa John's.

How does Papa John's make money?
Papa John's generates revenue through company-owned restaurant sales, franchise royalties (typically 5% of net sales), commissary food sales to franchisees, advertising fund contributions, and digital fees. The commissary system is the largest revenue stream by dollar volume, while franchise royalties provide high-margin recurring income.

Papa John's was founded on October 2, 1984, when John Schnatter installed a pizza oven in a converted broom closet at the back of his father's tavern, Mick's Lounge, in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Schnatter was 22 years old. He had purchased used restaurant equipment for $1,600 and started selling pizzas to bar customers. The pizza sold quickly, and within a year Schnatter moved into his own space.

The original business model was simple: make better pizza than the competition by using higher-quality ingredients. Schnatter made his dough fresh daily, used vine-ripened tomatoes for sauce, and never froze his dough. The approach resonated with customers in the Louisville area, and the company grew through word of mouth before opening a second location in 1986.

Franchising began in 1986, which accelerated expansion across the United States. Papa John's went public in 1993, listing on NASDAQ under the ticker PZZA. The IPO provided capital for aggressive expansion. By the late 1990s, the company had surpassed 2,000 locations and had established its first international restaurants.

The 2000s and 2010s saw continued growth. Papa John's entered new international markets, invested in online ordering technology, and expanded its delivery infrastructure. The company became the official pizza sponsor of the NFL in 2010, a partnership that significantly increased brand visibility. By 2017, the company had over 5,000 locations worldwide.

In 2018, Papa John's faced a crisis that reshaped the company. In November 2017, Schnatter criticized the NFL during an earnings call for its handling of player protests, which led to the company losing its NFL sponsorship. Then in July 2018, Forbes reported that Schnatter had used a racial slur during a conference call with a marketing agency. Schnatter resigned as chairman of the board and departed the company entirely. He later sold most of his shares.

Following Schnatter's departure, the company brought in new leadership. Steve Ritchie, a longtime Papa John's executive, became CEO in 2018. The company implemented a poison pill provision to prevent Schnatter from regaining control and secured a $200 million investment from Starboard Value, an activist hedge fund. Starboard's CEO Jeff Smith joined as chairman.

Rob Lynch replaced Ritchie as CEO in 2019 and served until August 2023, when he left to become CEO of Shake Shack. Ravi Thanawala, the company's CFO, served as interim CEO until Todd Penegor was appointed in August 2024.

Under Penegor, 2025 was the first full year of a transformation plan. The company launched new product platforms including Papa Dippa, Grand Papa, and a new Pan Pizza. The Perfect Bake initiative was introduced to improve operational consistency. The Papa Rewards loyalty program, with approximately 41 million members, was enhanced in late 2024 and has driven stronger digital engagement since.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, Papa John's refranchised 85 domestic company-owned restaurants to franchisees, part of a strategy to reduce company-owned operations and shift toward a more asset-light model. The company opened 279 new restaurants in fiscal year 2025, comprised of 96 in North America and 183 in international markets.

In the first quarter of 2026, total revenues declined to $478.6 million. North America comparable sales decreased 6.4%, reflecting a cautious consumer environment and a promotional quick-service restaurant marketplace. International comparable sales increased 3.6%, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of positive international comparable sales. The company partnered with Toy Story 5 ahead of the film's June 2026 theatrical release and launched a Google Gemini Enterprise CX Food Ordering Agent to modernize the digital ordering experience.

Papa John's has made commitments around ingredient sourcing and supply chain transparency. The company publishes an annual ESG report that covers food quality, animal welfare, and environmental practices. Papa John's has committed to sourcing cage-free eggs and has established animal welfare guidelines for its pork and poultry supply chains.

The company's quality control center model is central to its sustainability approach. By producing dough and sauce centrally and distributing to restaurants, Papa John's reduces food waste and maintains ingredient standards. The company has also invested in more energy-efficient restaurant equipment and packaging improvements.

Papa John's has not set public science-based emissions reduction targets. The company's ESG disclosures are less detailed than those of larger restaurant conglomerates. For investors evaluating sustainability performance, Papa John's reporting is adequate but not leading.

The most significant controversy in Papa John's history involves founder John Schnatter. In November 2017, Schnatter criticized the NFL during an earnings call, blaming player protests for declining pizza sales. The comments led Papa John's to lose its NFL sponsorship, which was subsequently picked up by Pizza Hut.

In July 2018, Forbes reported that Schnatter had used a racial slur during a conference call with a marketing agency. Schnatter resigned as chairman the same day the report was published. He later stepped down from the board entirely. The company adopted a poison pill provision to prevent him from regaining control, and Schnatter sold most of his shares over the following years.

The company faced a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2020 related to its disclosure practices during the period of Schnatter's departure. Papa John's agreed to pay $9.5 million to settle charges that it failed to properly disclose certain relationships and compensation arrangements.

Papa John's has also faced franchisee litigation. In 2022, a group of franchisees filed a lawsuit alleging that the company's pricing practices at its quality control centers were unfair. The case was resolved through settlement negotiations.