Domino's Pizza Enterprises (ASX: DMP) shares closed at $18.03 on Thursday, down 3.99%.
By comparison, S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) shares rose by 0.6%.
Image source: Getty Images
What's happening with Domino's Pizza shares?
Domino's Pizza shares have been recovering since last week's shock news that CEO Mark van Dyck will be departing in December.
The ASX 300 consumer discretionary stock lost a quarter of its value on the day the news dropped.
Domino's shares slumped 26% to a new 52-week low of $14.80 apiece last Wednesday.
Investors were surprised, given van Dyck has only been in the job for a year.
He took over the helm in November 2024 upon Don Meij's retirement.
He has already stood aside as a director.
What now?
Stepping in to take the reins while the company finds a new CEO is Domino's chair and its largest shareholder, Jack Cowin.
Unsurprisingly, investors have a lot of questions about what van Dyck's departure means for Domino's Pizza.
The company is going through a significant operational reset, and this is not the first management change for the company.
In fact, van Dyck's resignation is the fifth senior management change announced by Domino's Pizza in 2025 alone.
Last week, institutional investors got a chance to question Cowin directly in a video Q&A call.
The transcript has not been made publicly available.
Cowin and incoming Domino's Pizza Group CFO, George Saoud (starting in September), were on the call with investors.
Morgans shares its insights
Morgans attended the call and said it was "incrementally more positive on the stock" after hearing Cowin and Saoud out.
In a new note, the broker said:
Our key concern following the departure of Mark van Dyck was that the turnaround at DMP would be pushed out another 12-18 months (3–6-month CEO search, another 3-6 months to join the business, and +6 months for revised strategy).
During the call, it was made clear the pace of the turnaround will accelerate under Executive Chairman, Jack Cowin. There was a clear indication from DMP that earnings and franchisee profitability should improve next year through significant cost out initiatives.
Following the call, Morgans retained its buy rating on Domino's Pizza shares.
The broker summed up:
Whilst management and execution uncertainty does remain, we think the risk reward looks attractive from here.
As DMP proves up a cost-led earnings growth profile into FY26, we expect a meaningful rerate in time.
What are Domino's Pizza shares worth now?
Ord Minnett has also released a note since the news of van Dyck's departure.
The broker upgraded Domino's Pizza shares to a buy rating with a reduced 12-month price target of $28.
As my colleague James reported, Ord Minnett thinks Domino's may not pay a final dividend to conserve cash.
Domino's Pizza is due to release its full-year FY25 results on 27 August.
UBS has also released a new note upgrading Domino's Pizza shares to a buy rating with a price target of $22.
As James also reported, UBS sees last week's share price crash as a buy-the-dip opportunity.
The broker noted that Domino's Pizza intends to cut costs faster than it expected.
