Wingstop Q3: EPS Misses As Chicken Wing Costs Bite, Strong Sales Growth, Aggressive Expansion Plans & More

Zinger Key Points
  • Wingstop's Q3 EPS of 88 cents missed estimates, but quarterly sales of $162.5 million exceeded expectations with strong franchise growth.
  • Wingstop reaffirms approximately 20% same-store sales growth for FY24 while facing rising costs.

Wingstop Inc. WING shares are trading lower on Wednesday.

The company reported third-quarter earnings per share of 88 cents, missing the street view of 95 cents. Quarterly sales of $162.498 million beat the analyst consensus estimate of $161.535 million.

Royalty revenue, franchise fees and other increased $21.2 million, of which $9.6 million was due to domestic same store sales growth of 20.9%, and $9.3 million was due to net new franchise development. 

Company-owned restaurant sales rose by $7.4 million, fueled by the addition of 10 net new locations since the previous fiscal third quarter and a 7.3% increase in company-owned domestic same-store sales, primarily driven by higher transaction volumes.

Cost of sales as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales rose to 77.8% from 73.6% due to higher food and packaging costs, particularly for bone-in chicken wings.

Also Read: Super Micro Computer Stock Dives As Auditor Resigns: What’s Going On?

As of September 28, there were 2,458 Wingstop restaurants system-wide. This included 2,120 restaurants in the United States.

Dividend: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share of common stock, resulting in a total dividend of approximately $7.9 million. This dividend will be paid on December 6

Outlook: The company reaffirmed approximately 20% domestic same-store sales growth for FY24 and updated guidance to 320 – 330 global net new units (previously 285 – 300), $22.5 million in stock-based compensation (up from $20 million), $117.5-$118.5 million in SG&A (previously $114-$116 million), and $19 million in depreciation and amortization (previously $18-$19 million).

Price Action: WING shares are trading lower by 17.7% to $303.69 at last check Wednesday.

Read Next:

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Comments
Loading...
Date
ticker
name
Actual EPS
EPS Surprise
Actual Rev
Rev Surprise
Posted In: EarningsEquitiesNewsGuidanceMarketsMoversGeneralBriefsStories That Matterwhy it's moving
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!