Last Updated on 04/13/2021 by GS Staff
Q: Is Jet’s Pizza publicly traded?
Jet’s Pizza is a private company. You cannot purchase shares of Jet’s stock since it is not publicly traded. In other words, it does not trade on a stock exchange such as the Nasdaq or NYSE.
Will Jet’s Pizza Ever Be Publicly Traded?
We have no information to suggest that Jet’s will ever be a public company. The company has been private for over 40 years. While it is possible that they will someday become public, we would speculate that they will remain private for the foreseeable future.
About Jet’s
The co-founder of Jet’s, Eugene Jetts Jr., was prepared to purchase a house with his $20,000 in savings at the young age of 23. Instead, he used that money to acquire a storefront that would be the first Jet’s location called Jetts Party Shoppe & Pizzeria. This single location in Sterling Heights, Michigan would be the building block to what today has become over 380 pizzerias in 20 states. Most of these locations are franchises.
Being headquartered in the Detroit suburbs, naturally Jet’s specializes in Detroit-Style deep dish pizza. However, they do make other types of pizza such as hand-tossed, thin, cauliflower, New York style, and gluten-free.
Below is a good interview with the other co-founder of Jet’s, John Jetts, who is the brother of the late Eugene Jetts Jr.
Publicly Traded Pizza Companies
Here are a few companies that you may wish to research for a potential investment if you are looking for a pizza stock(s) in your portfolio.
- Domino’s – This competitor of Jet’s is also headquartered in Michigan – Ann Arbor to be specific. The pizza giant has about 17,600 stores globally. It trades on the NYSE under the stock symbol DPZ.
- Papa John’s – Papa John’s was founded by John Schnatter in 1984. It became a public company in 1993 and currently has the stock symbol PZZA. It has over 5,100 locations with the majority of them being franchises.
- Yum! Brands – Yum is the parent company behind Taco Bell, KFC, and The Habit Burger Grill. They also own the international restaurant chain, Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut has been in business since 1958 when Dan and Frank Carney opened the first location in Wichita, Kansas. Yum! which has the stock symbol YUM, has over 18,000 locations. There is also YUM! China (YUMC). It is the largest restaurant company in China. It operates 10,000 restaurants including Taco Bell, KFC, Lavazza Brands, and Pizza Hut.
- Rave – Rave owns Pie Five Pizza and Pizza Inn. Pie Five is a fast-casual pizza company with over 40 locations. Pizza Inn has more than 500 restaurants in mostly the Southern U.S. states. Its first location was in Dallas, Texas which two brothers opened in 1958. RAVE trades on the Nasdaq.
Sources:
Watson, Ursula. “Gene Jetts, Co-Founder of Jet’s Pizza, Dies at Age 60.” The Detroit News, DetroitNews, 10 Dec. 2014, www.detroitnews.com/story/obituaries/2014/12/09/gene-jetts-pizza-founder-obituary/20170583/.
Image Credit – Malia/flickr