What Happened?
Shares of fast-food chain Wingstop (NASDAQ: WING) jumped 3.4% in the afternoon session after Freedom Capital Markets initiated coverage on the company with a 'Buy' rating and set a price target of $320.
The new rating from analyst Lynne Collier provided a positive outlook for the chicken wing restaurant chain. The price target implied a potential upside of approximately 33% from the stock's previous levels. This positive view from the analyst firm coincided with news that the company was continuing its expansion, opening three new locations in the United Kingdom, which brought its total number of sites in the country to 85.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $250.04, up 1.4% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Wingstop’s shares are very volatile and have had 23 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 5 months ago when the stock gained 23.9% on the news that the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and raised its full-year guidance for global store expansion.
The restaurant chain announced adjusted earnings of $1.00 per share for the second quarter, which comfortably beat Wall Street's consensus estimate of $0.88. While total revenue of $174.3 million slightly missed some forecasts, it still represented a 12% increase from the previous year. Investors appeared particularly encouraged by the company's accelerated growth plans, as Wingstop raised its full-year global unit growth forecast to a range of 17% to 18%. This confidence was supported by a record 129 net new restaurant openings during the quarter.
Furthermore, the company signaled its strong financial position by increasing its quarterly dividend by 11%. Despite a reported 1.9% decrease in domestic same-store sales, the strong profit beat and bullish expansion outlook drove positive sentiment.
Wingstop is down 14.4% since the beginning of the year, and at $250.04 per share, it is trading 34.5% below its 52-week high of $381.46 from June 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Wingstop’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,715.
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