Huntington Beach-based BJ’s Restaurants Inc. backed up its recent stock surge with fourth-quarter results that slightly beat expectations.
The pizza chain operator said Thursday that its quarterly sales grew 30% to $49 million, versus a year earlier. Analysts were expecting sales of $47 million, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.
Profits were up 80% to $2.3 million,slightly better than Wall Street expectations.
BJ’s same-restaurant sales were up 5.3% in the period. Its restaurants serve deep-dish pizza, soups, salads and pastas.
The company has a market value of about $600 million. Its shares are up about 70% in the past year.
BJ’s opened nine restaurants last year and has plans to open 11 in 2006. It owns and operates 45 restaurants in all under the BJ’s Restaurant and Brewery, BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse or BJ’s Pizza & Grill names.
Thirty-one of its restaurants are in California. The chain was launched in 1991 with its first brewery opening in Brea in 1996.
