Del Taco Restaurants Inc. (Nasdaq: TACO) swung to a profit in its fiscal third quarter as the company looks to buckle down on technology initiatives to further streamline customer experiences next year.
The Lake Forest-based chain said for its third quarter ended Sept. 8 that revenue totaled $120.8 million, up 0.5% from the year-ago period and edging just past consensus estimates of $120.4 million.
Del Taco also notched a profit of $5.8 million in the September quarter, compared to a $7.7 million loss in the year-ago period. Analysts on average projected earnings of $5.4 million.
Same-store sales for the taco chain were up 4.1% in the quarter, leading CEO John Cappasola to call out high guest satisfaction as a driver for the results.
Cappasola added the company intends to continue on menu updates and next year will look to technology to help with customer incentive programs in an initiative Del Taco’s calling “Ultimate Convenience.”
The company’s shares were trading down nearly 8% to $9.57 in after-hours trading Thursday. That’s after closing the day up 11.4%. Del Taco had a recent market cap of $388 million.
