Wingstop is the IBD Stock Of The Day for Thursday. WING stock has soared nearly 44% so far this year and was added to the IBD Stock Spotlight list at the beginning of May.
Wingstop marked the opening of its 2,000th global restaurant location in early May, a major milestone on its goal to reach 7,000 locations worldwide. And the chicken wing chain's impressive growth streak is outpacing its expanding footprint.
The Addison, Texas-based restaurant chain averaged a 75.5% spike in earnings over the past four quarters while sales gains averaged 35.8%.
Wingstop easily topped FactSet forecasts for its Q1 results on May 3. Earnings vaulted 74% to 59 cents per share while revenue leapt 43% to $108.7 million. Wingstop, which operates in 44 states, also reported that domestic same-store sales grew 20.1% during the quarter. Its digital sales reached a record 65.2% of overall sales.
For the year, Wingstop guided for "high single-digit" domestic same-store-sales growth in 2023. FactSet expects 6.7% same-store sales growth. Analyst see full-year earnings jumping 14.5% to $2.12 per share on an 18.6% sales spike to $424 million.
Investment funds are licking their chops over WING stock. The number of funds holding Wingstop stock increased to 649 as of Q1, up from 558 in Q2 last year.
Meanwhile, Wingstop ranks fifth in the restaurant group, according to IBD Stock Checkup, which is led by Chipotle Mexican Grill.
WING Stock
Shares edged down 0.5% to 198.36 in Thursday afternoon trade. WING stock is finding support near its 50-day moving average. Shares dipped to their 10-week line earlier this week, close to their prior 193.84 buy point for a consolidation.
Wingstop stock is on track to form a new flat base after this week with a 223.87 buy point.
However, a move above Wednesday's high of 202.43 could offer an early entry. That would mean WING stock pushing above its 21-day line and breaking a downtrend, while still trading close to its 50-day/10-week lines.
Wingstop stock has a 96 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. The Composite Rating combines various technical indicators into one easy-to-read score. WING stock has a 98 EPS Rating based on its strong earnings growth. Wingstop's relative strength line is shy of early-May highs. The stock has a near-perfect 98 RS Rating.
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