Wingstop Inc. Reports Fiscal Second Quarter Financial Results

102 Net New Openings in Second Quarter, 16% Unit Growth

DALLAS, July 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING) today announced financial results for the fiscal second quarter ended June 27, 2026.

“During the second quarter, we continued making meaningful progress against the strategic priorities that we believe will drive the next phase of growth for Wingstop,” said Michael Skipworth, President and Chief Executive Officer. “The national launch of Club Wingstop marked an important milestone in building deeper relationships with our guests, while our continued investments in value, flavor innovation and Smart Kitchen are strengthening the business in ways that position us to win more occasions. Combined with one of the strongest development pipelines in the industry, these investments reinforce our confidence in the long-term opportunity to become a Top 10 Global Restaurant Brand.”

Q2 2026 Highlights

• System-wide sales of $1.4 billion increased 5.3% vs. Q2 2025
• 102 net new openings
• Domestic restaurant AUV of $1.9 million
• Domestic same store sales decreased 7.5% vs. Q2 2025
• Digital sales represented 71.6% of system-wide sales
• Total revenue of $185.6 million, an increase of 6.4%, vs. Q2 2025
• Net income, increased 16.9% to $31.3 million, or $1.15 per diluted share
• Adjusted net income¹ and adjusted earnings per diluted share¹, both non-GAAP measures, increased 14.9% to $32.1 million, or $1.18 per diluted share; and
• Adjusted EBITDA¹, increased 12.5% vs. Q2 2025 to $66.6 million

Key Operating Metrics

Q2 2026 Financial Results

Total revenue for the second quarter 2026 increased to $185.6 million from $174.3 million in the prior second quarter. Royalty revenue, franchise fees and other increased $7.0 million, of which $11.2 million was due to net new franchise development and $0.8 million related to an increase in vendor rebates, partially offset by a decrease of $5.0 million due to a 7.5% decline in domestic same store sales contributed by lower transaction volumes, reflecting continued pressure on consumer spending. Advertising fees increased $2.6 million due to a 5.3% increase in system-wide sales in the second quarter 2026. Company-owned restaurant sales increased $1.7 million due to the three additional corporate stores opened or acquired since the prior year period.

Cost of sales was $25.1 million compared to $24.4 million in the prior second quarter. As a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales, cost of sales decreased to 73.3% from 75.2% in the prior second quarter. The decrease as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales was primarily driven by a decline in food, beverage and packaging costs, reflecting a decrease in the cost of bone-in chicken wings as compared to the prior second quarter.

Selling, general & administrative (“SG&A”) expense decreased $2.7 million to $30.2 million from $32.9 million in the prior second quarter. The decrease in SG&A expense was primarily driven by $2.3 million in reduced stock compensation expense due to forfeitures recognized in the current period. Also contributing to the decrease was a $1.6 million reduction in payroll costs which was partially offset by a $1.5 million increase in professional fees.

Income tax expense was $13.4 million, yielding an effective tax rate of 29.9%, comparable to 27.2% in the prior-year period. The increase in total tax expense is primarily due an increase in state income taxes and other non-deductible items.

Financial Outlook

The Company’s outlook is dependent on the macro-environment which is inherently difficult to predict given current high levels of uncertainty.  The Company is providing updated guidance for 2026:

• A decline of 4% to 6% in domestic same store sales growth;
• SG&A of between $140 – $143 million, which includes $3 million of restructuring charges related to corporate realignment;
• Stock-based compensation expense of approximately $24 million; and
• Depreciation and amortization of approximately $33 million.

Additionally, the Company reiterates guidance for 2026:

• Global unit growth rate of 15% to 16%; and
• Interest expense, net of approximately $43 million.

Restaurant Development

As of June 27, 2026, there were 3,255 Wingstop restaurants system-wide. This included 2,728 restaurants in the United States, of which 2,671 were franchised restaurants and 57 were company-owned, and 527 franchised restaurants were in international markets, including U.S. territories. During the second quarter 2026, there were 102 net system-wide Wingstop restaurant openings.

Quarterly Dividend

In recognition of our strong cash flow generation and our commitment to returning value to stockholders, on July 28, 2026, our board of directors authorized and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share of common stock, resulting in a total dividend of approximately $9.0 million. This dividend will be paid on September 5, 2026 to stockholders of record as of August 15, 2026.

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.

EBITDA and 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, gains and losses on non-recurring transactions, certain system implementation costs, certain restructuring charges, and stock-based compensation expense.

Adjusted net income is defined as net income adjusted for losses on debt extinguishment and financing transactions, transaction costs, costs and fees associated with investments in our strategic initiatives, gains and losses on non-recurring transactions, certain system implementation costs, certain restructuring charges, and related tax adjustments.

Adjusted earnings per diluted share is defined as adjusted net income divided by weighted average diluted share count.

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 key operating metrics or non-GAAP measurements in the same manner.

Conference Call and Webcast

We will host a conference call today to discuss the second fiscal quarter 2026 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 1-855-669-9658 or 1-412-317-0088 (international), then entering the replay code 4572027. The replay will be available through Wednesday, August 5, 2026.

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 3,000 restaurants worldwide, with approximately 98% of the total restaurant count owned by brand partners. Generating over $5 billion in system-wide sales in fiscal 2025, Wingstop offers made-to-order, always fresh classic and boneless wings, tenders, and chicken sandwiches in 12 bold, distinctive flavors, alongside signature sides and iconic housemade ranch and bleu cheese dips.

Dedicated to Serving the World Flavor, Wingstop is the Official Chicken Partner of the NBA with a vision to become a Top 10 Global Restaurant Brand.

Learn more at wingstop.com or follow @Wingstop on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

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 2026 fiscal year outlook for domestic same store sales growth, global unit growth, SG&A expense, stock-based compensation expense, interest expense, net 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
Brett LeVecchio
Media@wingstop.com

Investor Contact
Sarah Niehaus
IR@wingstop.com

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SOURCE Wingstop Restaurants Inc.