Why Noodles & Company Stock Rocketed 23% at the Open Today

Shares of Noodles & Company (NASDAQ: NDLS), which operates a noodle-themed chain of restaurants, rose dramatically at the open of trading on April 28, gaining as much as 23% in the first few minutes of the day. The big news was the company's first-quarter 2022 earnings update, which hit the Street after the close on April 27.

Sales at Noodles & Company rose 2.7% year over year in the first quarter of 2022, hitting $112.6 million. While not a huge increase, there are a couple of additional facts of interest here. First, the top line was impacted by coronavirus-related store closures in early 2022. That's likely to be a temporary setback. Second, the company franchised 15 company-owned locations. The sales from these restaurants don't actually hit Noodle & Company's results, just the fees it earns from the franchisees. The benefit is that it is much cheaper for a company to generate revenue from franchise deals than it is to run actual restaurants. And, even more important, same-store sales rose a healthy 6.4%, which suggests that there is still notable demand for the company's food.

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Source Fool.com