Investing.com -- Shares in Jack In The Box Inc (NASDAQ:JACK) surged more than 10% in after-hours trading after the San Diego-based fast-food company handily topped quarterly earnings forecasts on Wednesday.
For the company's second quarter of Fiscal Year 2016, Jack In The Box reported earnings of $28.7 million or 0.84 per share, significantly above profits of $23 million or 0.60 per share during the same period a year earlier. At the same time, Jack In The Box's revenue inched up to $361.2 million, as sales at its Qdoba Mexican Eats chain soared by 9.5% on the quarter. Overall, analysts expected per share earnings of 0.70 on revenues of $360 million.
"Operating earnings per share for the second quarter exceeded our expectations and guidance, and resulted primarily from healthy margins and cost controls combined with mark-to-market adjustments and a lower tax rate," Jack In The Box CEO Lenny Comma said in a statement. "We were pleased with the solid sales performance at Qdoba company restaurants, which was driven by traffic growth, as well as with the improvement in labor costs and margins as compared to the first quarter."
At the Jack in the box namesake, system-wide same-store sales were relatively flat, down sharply from gains of 8.9% over the second quarter of 2015. The company is still adjusting to a transition period in late-January when it introduced multiple upgrades to its core menu. At the latter half of the quarter, Jack In The Box said it featured the improved products more prominently in marketing messages at various price points, "conveying both value and quality," to the new menu.
Also on Wednesday, Jack in the box named Keith Guilbault as its new brand president at Qdoba after Tim Casey informed the company of his intention to resign from his position effective June 3. Guilbault previously oversaw Qdoba's comprehensive review of the segment's brand strategy after joining the company in 2013.
"I have every confidence in Keith’s ability to build upon Tim’s accomplishments and to continue strengthening Qdoba’s position in the fast-casual Mexican category," Comma added. "His experience spans virtually all areas of restaurant operations and marketing, as well as franchising, and he’s more than proven his leadership capabilities in several key management positions with our Jack in the Box brand."
Shares in Jack in the box jumped 6.66 or 10.22% to 71.80 in after-hours.