What's Going On With Wingstop Shares Wednesday After Q4 Earnings?

Wingstop Inc. WING shares are trading lower on Wednesday.

The company reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2023 adjusted earnings per share of 64 cents, beating the Wall Street estimate of 57 cents.

Quarterly revenues increased 21.2% to $127.05 million, beating the street view of $119.89 million. System-wide sales increased 24.5% to $965.9 million in the quarter under review.

Wingstop said it launched 115 net new openings in the fiscal fourth quarter 2023. Adjusted EBITDA increased 13.2% to $39.1 million. 

As of December 30, 2023, there were 2,214 Wingstop restaurants system-wide. This included 1,926 restaurants in the U.S., of which 1,877 were franchised restaurants, 49 were company-owned, and 288 franchised restaurants were in international markets and U.S. territories. 

Dividend: The company approved a quarterly dividend payable to Wingstop stockholders of 22 cents per share of common stock, resulting in a total dividend of approximately $6.5 million. 

This dividend will be paid on March 29, 2024, to stockholders of record as of March 8, 2024.

Outlook: The company expects fiscal 2024 mid-single-digit domestic same-store sales growth, with approximately 270 global net new units.

Wingstop projects stock-based compensation expense of approximately $19 million and depreciation and amortization of between $18 million- $19 million.

Price Action: WING shares are trading lower by 2.77% to $315.47 on the last check Wednesday.