By Heather Haddon and Connor Hart

Papa John's International said it is closing hundreds of domestic stores, slashing menu items and cutting corporate jobs as it seeks to turnaround its business.

The fourth-largest pizza chain by U.S. sales plans to close 300 stores by the end of 2027. Most of the locations, which are owned by franchisees, will close this year.

Chief Executive Todd Penegor said Thursday the company reviewed all of its North American restaurants and identified restaurants where sales patterns had changed and would need a lot of investment. The company said those sites are largely unprofitable and generate low sales.

Papa Johns is in the midst of a turnaround as the overall pizza sector struggles to increase sales. Growth in U.S. fast-food pizza sales has been roughly flat in the last two years, according to market-research firm Technomic.

Pizza Hut owner Yum Brands is currently exploring a sale of the brand. Yum said earlier this month that Pizza Hut would close around 250 underperforming U.S. locations this year.

Papa Johns has also considered strategic alternatives for the business, including a potential sale, but executives Thursday made no mention of a possible deal.

As part of a turnaround effort, the company said that it was streamlining operations, and had reduced its corporate workforce by roughly 7%.

A menu revamp is on the way, too. The chain is ditching Papadias sandwiches and Papa Bites pizza rolls. The company hopes to better hone the baking of other items in its ovens.

Executives said the pizza chain would continue to offer deals to compete and try to win back market share it lost in the U.S.

The company's fourth-quarter financial results were hurt by what it described as a weak consumer environment. Profit fell 42% from a year earlier to $8.6 million. Revenue fell 6.1% to $498.2 million, missing analysts' forecasts.

Stripping out one-time costs, earnings were 34 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted earnings of 33 cents a share.

Shares fell 5% in morning trading.

The pizza business isn't all bad news.

Domino's Pizza said Monday that it is gaining market share from competitors, particularly Pizza Hut and Papa Johns. "The only disruption in the pizza category is the disruption that we are creating," Domino's Chief Executive Russell Weiner said in an interview.

Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com and Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 26, 2026 10:10 ET (15:10 GMT)

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