ANN ARBOR, MICH. — Domino’s Pizza posted $142 million in net income for the second quarter ended June 16, or $4.03 in diluted earnings per share, which was a 29.8% increase from $109.4 million, or $3.08 per share, in the year-ago period.

Total second-quarter revenues for the world’s largest pizza chain came in at $1.09 billion, a 7.1% boost from $1.02 billion in the second quarter of 2023.

Russell Weiner, Domino’s chief executive officer, said during a July 18 conference call that the company’s year-to-date performance demonstrates that its “hungry for more strategy” is having an immediate impact on sales and profits.

“For the second straight quarter, we drove US comp performance in the healthiest way possible, through profitable order count growth. We had positive order counts in our delivery and carryout businesses and across all income cohorts,” he said. “Our strategy is resonating with customers and our system, which gives me great confidence that we can drive significant long-term value creation for our shareholders.”

The company said it expects to fall short by up to 275 stores of its goal to open 925 international locations this year due to challenges faced by its largest franchisee, Australia-based Domino’s Pizza Enterprises. Domino’s shares dropped by more than 13% to $409.04 on July 18 following the news and because the company forecast slower third-quarter comparable sales.

Weiner suggested on the earnings call indecisive consumers looking for value were having an impact on the overall environment.

“And so that’s what’s going on in an economy where folks are kind of maybe struggling to decide what to buy. And, so, if order counts are positive in that scenario, then as momentum swings eventually, I expect our momentum to continue,” he said.

A second-quarter Domino’s menu introduction was a New York Style foldable pizza cut into six pieces instead of the standard eight. Weiner said he hopes such an “innovation with intent” will bring new customers into the fold, along with improved delivery times and promotions such as the company’s loyalty program.

“There’s never anything that’s firing one cylinder on its own,” he said. “There truly is a domino effect of connectivity between all the programs we have going on right now. From a not-working perspective, I mean, we’re always hungry for more. That’s kind of the bumper sticker of this company.”

Weiner said the company’s reward program continues to do well, with active members up significantly year-to-date through the second quarter. He noted that in Domino’s carryout business, orders with a loyalty redemption in the first half of 2024 were twice as high as they were in the first half of 2023.

Domino’s reaffirmed its long-term guidance for 2024-2028, projecting 7% or more annual global retail sales growth and 8% or more annual income from operations growth. Both projections exclude the impact of foreign currency. The company also continues to expect 175 or more net stores in the US annually over that four-year period.

Along with its second-quarter results, Domino’s broke out results for the first two quarters of this year. For the first half of 2024, the company reported net income of $267.8 million, or $7.61 per diluted share, a 25.1% jump from the $214.2 million, or $6.02 per share, reported for the first two quarters of 2023. First-half total revenues rose 6.5% to $2.18 billion, compared to $2.04 billion for the same period last year.

Domino’s has more than 20,930 stores in more than 90 international markets, according to the company, with 99% of them being franchise-owned.