Pizza chain Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA) stock crashed 15.9% through 1:25 p.m. ET Thursday despite beating analyst forecasts for Q2 earnings this morning. Analysts had expected Papa John's to earn $0.44 per share on $482 million in sales, numbers the company edged out when it reported $0.46 per share in profit and $482.4 million in sales. Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue " So why are investors disappointed today? Image source: Getty Images. Papa John's Q2 earnings: by the numbers Sales beat expectations, but nonetheless declined 5% year over year, with same-store sales down closer to 6%. (A net of 41 new restaurant openings in the quarter explained the difference.) Earnings were even worse. Although Papa John's beat expectations here, too, the "$0.46" profit noted above was only a pro forma figure. Earnings calculated under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) were barely half that -- $0.24 per share -- and down 14% from last year's Q2. Accentuating the positive, Papa John's emphasized its 1.5% increase in same-store sales for its international business (which makes the 9% decline in comps among North American restaurants look even worse). What's next for Papa John's stock? None of the above is what really upset investors, however. Knowing that Papa John's has been a buyout candidate for Qatari-backed Irth Capital Management, investors were hoping for a quick payout and a nice premium should Papa John's accept the Qatari offer. Today, management dashed that hope, confirming that Papa John's has decided to remain independent and try to turn its business around on its own. "While our transformation is taking longer than anticipated," explained CEO Todd Penegor, "we continue to execute our strategy with discipline and focus and are seeing encouraging progress." Unfortunately, to pay for that progress, Papa John's is also suspending its dividend effective next quarter. Cue sell-off. Should you buy stock in Papa John's International right now? Before you buy stock in Papa John's International, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now... and Papa John's International wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $400,155!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,345,502!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 956% -- a market-crushing outperformance compared to 214% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks " *Stock Advisor returns as of August 6, 2026. Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.