Sonic Expects to Miss Wall Street Views in Fourth Quarter

Sonic Corp. said its fourth-quarter earnings would come in below Wall Street expectations amid dwindling traffic and lower consumer spending at its restaurants.

Shares, which have already fallen 15% so far this year, declined 6.7% to $25.61 after hours.

The company said it anticipates earnings between 43 cents and 45 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had projected earnings of 48 cents a share.

Chief Executive Cliff Hudson said that while systemwide same-store sales rose 2.6% for the year, "the fourth quarter was below our expectations from both a sales and a profit perspective."

"The shortfall was largely driven by lower-than-expected traffic, reflecting lower consumer spending in restaurants and continued aggressive competitive activity," he said.

The Oklahoma City-based company also estimated that revenue will drop 2%, as same-store sales slipped 3%. During its final quarter, the drive-in chain opened 19 new stores.

Last quarter, the company had said it expected annual same-store sales growth in the range of 2% to 4% and posted a 0.3% growth in total revenue.

Sonic will report its full fourth-quarter results on Oct. 24.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 27, 2016 17:55 ET (21:55 GMT)

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