Wingstop Restaurants Inc. Investor Relations

Press release Details

Wingstop Inc. Reports Fiscal Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results

Delivers Record Third Quarter with 106 Net New Openings and 17.1% Unit Growth

Domestic Same Store Sales Increased 20.9%, Driven by Transaction Growth

DALLAS, Oct. 30, 2024 — Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING) today announced financial results for the fiscal third quarter ended September 28, 2024.

Highlights for the fiscal third quarter 2024 compared to the fiscal third quarter 2023:

  • System-wide sales increased 39.4% to $1.2 billion
  • 106 net new openings in the fiscal third quarter 2024
  • Domestic restaurant AUV increased to $2.1 million
  • Domestic same store sales increased 20.9%
  • Digital sales increased to 69.0% of system-wide sales
  • Total revenue increased 38.8% to $162.5 million
  • Net income increased 31.9% to $25.7 million, or $0.88 per diluted share
  • Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, increased 39.5% to $53.7 million

Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure. A reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to the most directly comparable financial measure presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) is set forth in the schedule accompanying this release. See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

“Our third quarter results demonstrated the staying power of our multi-year strategies we are executing against, delivering 20.9% same store sales growth, primarily driven by transaction growth,” said Michael Skipworth, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We opened a record 106 net new units in the third quarter, a 17.1% growth in system-wide restaurants over the prior year, which showcases the excitement among our Brand Partners who are seeing industry-leading returns.”

Key operating metrics for the fiscal third quarter 2024 compared to the fiscal third quarter 2023:

Thirteen Weeks Ended

September 28, 2024

September 30, 2023

Number of system-wide restaurants open at end of period

2,458

2,099

Number of domestic franchise restaurants open at end of period

2,064

1,791

Number of international franchise restaurants open at end of period (1)

338

262

System-wide sales (in millions)

$ 1,233

$ 885

Domestic AUV (in thousands)

$ 2,116

$ 1,755

Domestic same store sales growth

20.9 %

15.3 %

Company-owned domestic same store sales growth

7.3 %

6.0 %

Net income (in thousands)

$ 25,732

$ 19,511

Adjusted EBITDA (in thousands)

$ 53,672

$ 38,483

_______________________

(1) Including U.S. territories.

Fiscal third quarter 2024 financial results

Total revenue for the fiscal third quarter 2024 increased to $162.5 million from $117.1 million in the fiscal third quarter last year. 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. Advertising fees increased $16.8 million due to a 39.4% increase in system-wide sales in the fiscal third quarter 2024, as well as an increase in the national advertising fund contribution rate to 5.3% from 5.0%, effective the first day of the fiscal second quarter 2024. Company-owned restaurant sales increased $7.4 million due to the addition of 10 net new company-owned restaurants since the prior fiscal third quarter and 7.3% company-owned domestic same store sales growth, driven primarily by an increase in transactions.

Cost of sales was $24.4 million compared to $17.6 million in the fiscal third quarter of the prior year. As a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales, cost of sales increased to 77.8% from 73.6% in the prior year comparable period. The increase as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales was driven by food, beverage and packaging costs primarily resulting from an increase in the cost of bone-in chicken wings as compared to the prior fiscal third quarter. Our purchases in the prior fiscal third quarter were tied primarily to the spot market, which benefited from significant deflation in the cost of bone-in chicken wings.

Selling, general & administrative (“SG&A”) expense increased $9.2 million to $32.3 million from $23.0 million in the fiscal third quarter of the prior year. The increase in SG&A expense was driven by an increase in performance-based stock compensation and incentive compensation expense of $4.9 million primarily related to the Company’s performance, an increase in headcount related expenses of $2.8 million to support the growth in our business, an increase in consulting and other professional fees of $1.3 million associated with our strategic initiatives, including system implementation costs.

Depreciation and amortization increased $1.7 million to $5.1 million from $3.4 million in the fiscal third quarter of the prior year. The increase in depreciation and amortization was primarily due to depreciation expense for the software assets placed in service during the second fiscal quarter 2024 related to our MyWingstop technology platform.

Financial Outlook

The Company is reiterating guidance of approximately 20% domestic same store sales growth for fiscal year 2024.

Additionally, based on year-to-date results, the Company is providing updated guidance for 2024:

  • 320 to 330 global net new units, previously 285 to 300;
  • Stock-based compensation expense of approximately $22.5 million, previously $20 million;
  • SG&A expense of between $117.5$118.5 million, previously $114 – 116 million; and
  • Depreciation and amortization of approximately $19 million, previously $18$19 million.

Restaurant Development

As of September 28, 2024, there were 2,458 Wingstop restaurants system-wide. This included 2,120 restaurants in the United States, of which 2,064 were franchised restaurants and 56 were company-owned, and 338 franchised restaurants were in international markets and U.S. territories. During the fiscal third quarter 2024, there were 106 net system-wide Wingstop restaurant openings.

Quarterly Dividend

In recognition of the Company’s strong cash flow generation and our commitment to returning value to stockholders, on October 29, 2024, our Board of Directors authorized and 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, 2024 to stockholders of record as of November 15, 2024.

Share Repurchases

During the fiscal third quarter 2024, the Company repurchased and retired 93,617 shares of its common stock at an average price of $373.68 per share. As of September 28, 2024, $61.1 million remained available under the share repurchase program previously approved by the Company’s Board of Directors.

The Company has repurchased and retired 815,431 shares of its common stock at an average price of $276.43 per share since inception of its share repurchase program in August 2023.

The following definitions apply to these terms as used in this release:

Domestic average unit volume (“AUV”) consists of the average annual sales of all restaurants that have been open for a trailing 52-week period or longer. This measure is calculated by dividing sales during the applicable period for all restaurants being measured by the number of restaurants being measured. Domestic AUV includes revenue from both company-owned and franchised restaurants. Domestic AUV allows management to assess our domestic company-owned and franchised restaurant economics. Changes in domestic AUV are primarily driven by increases in same store sales and are also influenced by opening new restaurants.

Domestic same store sales reflects the change in year-over-year sales for the same store restaurant base. We define the same store restaurant base to include those restaurants open for at least 52 full weeks. This measure highlights the performance of existing restaurants, while excluding the impact of new restaurant openings and permanent closures. We review same store sales for domestic company-owned restaurants as well as system-wide domestic restaurants. Domestic same store sales growth is driven by increases in transactions and average transaction size. Transaction size increases are driven by price increases or favorable mix shift from either an increase in items purchased or shifts into higher priced items.

System-wide sales represents net sales for all of our company-owned and franchised restaurants, as reported by franchisees. This measure allows management to better assess changes in our royalty revenue, our overall store performance, the health of our brand and the strength of our market position relative to competitors. Our system-wide sales growth is driven by new restaurant openings as well as increases in same store sales.

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income before interest expense, net, income tax expense (benefit), and depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), further adjusted for losses on debt extinguishment and financing transactions, transaction costs, costs and fees associated with investments in our strategic initiatives, system implementation costs, and stock-based compensation expense.

We caution investors that amounts presented in accordance with our definitions above may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by our competitors because not all companies and analysts calculate certain non-GAAP measurements in the same manner.

Conference Call and Webcast

The Company will host a conference call today to discuss the fiscal third quarter 2024 financial results at 10:00 AM Eastern Time. The conference call can be joined telephonically by dialing 1-877-259-5243 or 1-412-317-5176 (international) and asking for the Wingstop conference call. A replay will be available two hours after the call and can be accessed by dialing 1-877-344-7529 or 1-412-317-0088 (international), then entering the replay code 2235392. The replay will be available through Wednesday, November 6, 2024.

The conference call will also be webcast live and later archived on the investor relations section of Wingstop’s corporate website at ir.wingstop.com under the ‘News & Events’ section.

About Wingstop

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Dallas, TX, Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING) operates and franchises more than 2,450 locations worldwide. The Wing Experts are dedicated to Serving the World Flavor through an unparalleled guest experience and a best-in-class technology platform, all while offering classic and boneless wings, tenders, and chicken sandwiches, cooked to order and hand sauced-and-tossed in fans’ choice of 12 bold, distinctive flavors. Wingstop’s menu also features signature sides including fresh-cut, seasoned fries and freshly-made ranch and bleu cheese dips.

In fiscal year 2023, Wingstop’s system-wide sales increased 27.1% to approximately $3.5 billion, marking the 20th consecutive year of same store sales growth. With a vision of becoming a Top 10 Global Restaurant Brand, Wingstop’s system is comprised of corporate-owned restaurants and independent franchisees, or brand partners, who account for approximately 98% of Wingstop’s total restaurant count of 2,458 as of September 28, 2024.

A key to this business success and consumer fandom stems from The Wingstop Way, which includes a core value system of being Authentic, Entrepreneurial, Service-minded, and Fun. The Wingstop Way extends to the brand’s environmental, social and governance platform as Wingstop seeks to provide value to all guests.

In 2023, Wingstop earned its “Best Places to Work” certification. The Company landed on Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Fastest-Growing Franchises” list and ranked #16 on “Franchise 500.” Wingstop was listed on Technomic’s “Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report,” QSR Magazine’s “2023 QSR 50” and Franchise Time’s “40 Smartest-Growing Franchises.”

For more information, visit www.wingstop.com or www.wingstop.com/own-a-wingstop and follow @Wingstop on X, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Learn more about Wingstop’s involvement in its local communities at www.wingstopcharities.org. Unless specifically noted otherwise, references to our website addresses, the website addresses of third parties or other references to online content in this press release do not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained on such website and should not be considered part of this release.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, we use non-GAAP financial measures, including those indicated above. By providing non-GAAP financial measures, together with a reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP measure, we believe we are enhancing investors’ understanding of our business and our results of operations, as well as assisting investors in evaluating how well we are executing our strategic initiatives. These measures are not intended to be considered in isolation or as substitutes for, or superior to, financial measures prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. The non-GAAP measures used in this press release may be different from the measures used by other companies. A reconciliation of each measure to the most directly comparable GAAP measure is available in this news release. In addition, the Current Report on Form 8-K furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) concurrent with the issuance of this press release includes a more detailed description of each of these non-GAAP financial measures, together with a discussion of the usefulness and purpose of such measures.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release includes statements of our expectations, intentions, plans and beliefs that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are intended to come within the safe harbor protection provided by those sections. These statements, which involve risks and uncertainties, relate to the discussion of our business strategies and our expectations concerning future operations, margins, profitability, trends, liquidity and capital resources and to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. These forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “outlook,” “guidance,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “think,” “estimate,” “seek,” “predict,” “can,” “could,” “project,” “potential” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements are accompanied by such terms. Examples of forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, our 2024 fiscal year outlook for domestic same store sales growth, global net new units, SG&A expense, stock-based compensation expense, and depreciation and amortization. These forward-looking statements are made based on expectations and beliefs concerning future events affecting us and are subject to uncertainties, risks, and factors relating to our operations and business environments, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control, that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those matters expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Please refer to the risk factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which can be found at the SEC’s website www.sec.gov. The discussion of these risks is specifically incorporated by reference into this news release.

When considering forward-looking statements in this news release or that we make in other reports or statements, you should keep in mind the cautionary statements in this news release and future reports we file with the SEC. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and we cannot predict when they may arise or how they may affect us. Any forward-looking statement in this news release speaks only as of the date on which it was made. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

Media Contact
Maddie Lupori
[email protected]

Investor Contact
Kristen Thomas
[email protected]

WINGSTOP INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)

September 28,
2024

December 30,
2023

(Unaudited)

Assets

Current assets

Cash and cash equivalents

$ 83,958

$ 90,216

Restricted cash

11,444

11,444

Accounts receivable, net

16,939

12,408

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

7,225

4,948

Advertising fund assets, restricted

46,671

25,328

Total current assets

166,237

144,344

Property and equipment, net

119,119

91,292

Operating lease assets

57,753

19,092

Goodwill

74,749

67,708

Trademarks

32,700

32,700

Customer relationships, net

6,792

7,740

Other non-current assets

27,412

14,949

Total assets

$ 484,762

$ 377,825

Liabilities and stockholders’ deficit

Current liabilities

Accounts payable

$ 10,301

$ 4,725

Current portion of operating lease liabilities

3,533

2,380

Other current liabilities

58,386

38,571

Advertising fund liabilities

46,671

25,328

Total current liabilities

118,891

71,004

Long-term debt, net

713,729

712,327

Operating lease liabilities

60,414

17,807

Deferred revenues, net of current

37,007

30,145

Deferred income tax liabilities, net

2,097

3,721

Other non-current liabilities

90

187

Total liabilities

932,228

835,191

Commitments and contingencies

Stockholders’ deficit

Common stock, $0.01 par value; 100,000,000 shares authorized;
29,212,082 and 29,337,920 shares issued and outstanding as of
September 28, 2024 and December 30, 2023, respectively

292

293

Additional paid-in-capital

1,515

2,676

Retained deficit

(449,336)

(459,994)

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

63

(341)

Total stockholders’ deficit

(447,466)

(457,366)

Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit

$ 484,762

$ 377,825

WINGSTOP INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(amounts in thousands, except per share data)

Thirteen Weeks Ended

September 28,
2024

September 30,
2023

(Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

Revenue:

Royalty revenue, franchise fees and other

$ 74,395

$ 53,200

Advertising fees

56,764

39,951

Company-owned restaurant sales

31,339

23,953

Total revenue

162,498

117,104

Costs and expenses:

Cost of sales (1)

24,367

17,622

Advertising expenses

60,965

42,381

Selling, general and administrative

32,294

23,047

Depreciation and amortization

5,054

3,384

Loss on disposal of assets

18

Total costs and expenses

122,680

86,452

Operating income

39,818

30,652

Interest expense, net

5,130

4,520

Other (income) expense

(800)

(19)

Income before income tax expense

35,488

26,151

Income tax expense

9,756

6,640

Net income

$ 25,732

$ 19,511

Earnings per share

Basic

$ 0.88

$ 0.66

Diluted

$ 0.88

$ 0.65

Weighted average shares outstanding

Basic

29,265

29,750

Diluted

29,383

29,818

Dividends per share

$ 0.27

$ 0.22

_______________________

(1)

Cost of sales includes all operating expenses of company-owned restaurants, including advertising expenses, but excludes depreciation and amortization, which are presented separately.

WINGSTOP INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Unaudited Supplemental Information
Cost of Sales Margin Analysis
(amounts in thousands)

Thirteen Weeks Ended

September 28, 2024

September 30, 2023

In dollars

As a % of
company-owned
restaurant sales

In dollars

As a % of
company-owned
restaurant sales

Cost of sales:

Food, beverage and packaging costs

$ 11,590

37.0 %

$ 7,910

33.0 %

Labor costs

7,355

23.5 %

5,646

23.6 %

Other restaurant operating expenses

6,270

20.0 %

4,645

19.4 %

Vendor rebates

(848)

(2.7) %

(579)

(2.4) %

Total cost of sales

$ 24,367

77.8 %

$ 17,622

73.6 %

WINGSTOP INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Unaudited Supplemental Information
Restaurant Count

Thirteen Weeks Ended

September 28,
2024

September 30,
2023

Domestic Franchised Activity

Beginning of period

1,988

1,749

Openings

79

42

Closures

Acquired by Company

(3)

Restaurants end of period

2,064

1,791

Domestic Company-Owned Activity

Beginning of period

52

45

Openings

1

1

Closures

Acquired by Company

3

Restaurants end of period

56

46

Total Domestic Restaurants

2,120

1,837

International Franchised Activity(1)

Beginning of period

312

252

Openings

28

13

Closures

(2)

(3)

Restaurants end of period

338

262

Total System-wide Restaurants

2,458

2,099

_______________________

(1) Includes U.S. Territories.

WINGSTOP INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Non-GAAP Financial Measures – EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA
(Unaudited)
(amounts in thousands)

Thirteen Weeks Ended

September 28,
2024

September 30,
2023

Net income

$ 25,732

$ 19,511

Interest expense, net

5,130

4,520

Income tax expense

9,756

6,640

Depreciation and amortization

5,054

3,384

EBITDA

$ 45,672

$ 34,055

Additional adjustments:

Consulting fees (a)

1,300

System implementation costs (b)

727

Stock-based compensation expense (c)

7,273

3,128

Adjusted EBITDA

$ 53,672

$ 38,483

_______________________

(a)

Represents non-recurring consulting fees that are not part of our ongoing operations and are incurred to execute discrete, project-based strategic initiatives, which are included in Selling, general and administrative on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The costs incurred in the thirteen weeks ended September 30, 2023 include consulting fees relating to a comprehensive review of our long-term growth strategy for our domestic business to explore potential future initiatives, which review was completed in fiscal year 2023. Given the magnitude and scope of this strategic review that is not expected to recur in the foreseeable future, the Company considers the incremental consulting fees incurred with respect to the initiative not reflective of the ongoing costs to operate its business.

(b)

System implementation costs represent non-recurring expenses incurred related to the development and implementation of new enterprise resource planning and human capital management technology, which are included in Selling, general and administrative on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

(c)

Includes non-cash, stock-based compensation, net of forfeitures.

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SOURCE Wingstop Restaurants Inc.