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Wingstop Beats Q1 Estimates, Stock Rises On Upgraded Global Growth Outlook To 16%-17%

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Wingstop Inc. WING shares traded higher on Wednesday after the company reported first-quarter results.

The restaurant franchise reported first-quarter earnings per share of 99 cents, beating the street view of 90 cents. Quarterly sales of $171.1 million (+17.4% year over year) marginally beat the analyst consensus estimate of $170.92 million.

System-wide sales rose 15.7% to $1.3 billion in the first quarter of FY25.

The company added 126 net new locations, with domestic AUV reaching $2.1 million.

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Domestic same-store sales grew by 0.5% in the quarter. Digital sales accounted for 72.0% of total system-wide sales.

Adjusted EBITDA rose 18.4% to $59.5 million in the quarter.

As of March 29, there were:

  • 2,689 Wingstop restaurants system-wide.
  • Of that amount, 2,301 restaurants in the U.S.
  • 2,250 were franchised restaurants
  • 51 were company-owned.
  • 388 franchised restaurants were in international markets, including U.S. territories. 

“We opened a record 126 net new units in the first quarter, delivering 18% unit growth, nearly doubling the number of units opened during the first quarter last year,” said Michael Skipworth, President & Chief Executive Officer.

Following the results, Stephens & Co. analyst Jim Salera reiterates Wingstop with an Overweight and maintains a $385 price forecast.

TD Securities analyst Andrew Charles reiterated a Buy rating on Wingstop and maintained a $265 price forecast.

Dividend: On April 29, Wingstop’s board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, totaling approximately $7.5 million.

Shareholders of record as of May 16 will receive the dividend on June 6.

Outlook: Wingstop has updated its 2025 guidance based on year-to-date performance while noting ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty.

The company now expects approximately 1% domestic same-store sales growth, down from its prior low- to mid-single-digit forecast.

Global unit growth is projected at 16% to 17%. That’s up from the earlier estimate of 14% to 15%.

Price Action: Wingstop shares are trading higher by 11.2% to $256.26 at last check Wednesday.

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