The Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) share price is trading lower on Thursday despite the release of an update on its store expansion progress.
At the time of writing, the pizza chain operator's shares are down 1.5% to $117.92.
Nevertheless, the Domino's share price is still up a massive 34% since the start of the year.
What did Domino's announce?
This morning Domino's revealed that it has now opened its 800th store in the Japan market. Impressively, this is less than 12 months after opening its 700th store in the market.
According to the release, this means Domino's Pizza Japan has opened a record of 126 stores in just one year. That works out to be an average of 2.4 stores per week over the period, despite COVID-19 challenges.
Domino's Group CEO & Managing Director, Don Meij, said: "This marks an extraordinary achievement for Japan and is the result of a world-leading team effort from franchisees and team members alike."
But the company has no plans to rest on its laurels. Management advised that it sees opportunities to almost double its footprint again in Japan over the next decade. This is thanks to changes in its Japanese operations that will allow it to make it dough in store, just like it does in the ANZ market.
Domino's Pizza Japan President and CEO, Josh Kilimnik, explained: "Every member of the Domino's Japan family should be proud of their efforts – this milestone is only possible because we have fundamentally changed how we have served our customers, from our menu offering and pricing through to our operations, which are consistently, safely delivering the fastest pizzas on the planet."
"We are focused on reaching the 1500 store milestone by 2030-2032, with a new approach that allows us to make dough in stores (like in Australia/New Zealand) that opens up previously inaccessible cities and towns," he added.
Are its shares good value?
One broker that still sees value in the Domino's share price is Bell Potter.
It currently has a buy rating and $132.00 price target on its shares. This implies potential upside of 12% over the next 12 months.
