Domino’s Pizza shares have lost nearly 40% of their value over the past year as the broader pizza category has struggled to maintain its place in American dining habits, a Wall Street Journal analysis found.
Data from market-research firm Technomic shows pizza’s share of U.S. restaurant spending has slipped in recent years as consumers shift toward other categories, including chicken and Mexican food. The category’s headwinds have prompted major transactions — Yum Brands sold Pizza Hut this month for $2.7 billion, and Papa John’s has floated a sale. Midsize chains are closing locations.
Even Domino’s, the category’s largest player, has been punished by investors. The company reports second-quarter results next month.
The erosion of the delivery moat is a key factor. DoorDash and Uber Eats have placed every corner pizzeria on equal footing with national brands, the Journal reported. Open a delivery app today, and a local slice shop sits beside Domino’s, competing for attention with tacos, wings, or the growing variety in the frozen aisle.
Domino’s first-quarter U.S. same-store sales growth came in at 0.9%, and management abandoned its prior 3% target for 2026, the Journal reported. The company’s shares dropped in April after the announcement.
This week, Domino’s said Chief Operating Officer Joe Jordan will replace Chief Executive Russell Weiner. The Journal reported that investors were surprised by the timing and are viewing the shake-up as a potential risk, fearing Jordan will scrap long-term growth targets. MSI previously reported on the leadership change in an article published June 22.
RBC Capital analyst Logan Reich noted that Domino’s is lapping the initiatives that boosted 2025 — the introduction of stuffed crusts and its arrival on DoorDash — with no easy levers ahead, according to the Journal.
Still, Domino’s continues to grow its share of the shrinking pie. J.P. Morgan data shows Domino’s share of sales among the top three public pizza chains climbed to 54% in 2025, up from 38% in 2016. Pizza Hut’s share fell from 41% to 27% over the same period.
A typical Domino’s restaurant generates about $166,000 in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization per unit, according to Evercore ISI. That compares with roughly $55,000 for a Pizza Hut unit.
On the corporate side, Domino’s generated $672 million in free cash flow last year, roughly three times what it produced a decade earlier, the Journal reported. Because franchisees fund store openings, corporate operations stay asset-light, producing cash that the company returns to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks.
The recent selloff has pushed Domino’s stock to about 14 times forward earnings, a valuation not seen since the years after the 2008-09 financial crisis. Rivals such as Yum Brands and McDonald’s trade around 20 times forward earnings.