What is William Blair's Forecast for Wingstop Q3 Earnings?

Key Points

• William Blair has revised its Q3 2025 earnings estimate for Wingstop, lowering it from $0.95 to $0.85 per share, while maintaining an "Outperform" rating on the stock.
• The consensus estimate for Wingstop's full-year earnings stands at $4.18 per share, with expected Q4 2025 earnings at $0.97 EPS.
• Wingstop recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.27 to $0.30, marking a payout ratio of 20% and an annualized yield of 0.5%.

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) - William Blair decreased their Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Wingstop in a report released on Tuesday, October 7th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now anticipates that the restaurant operator will post earnings of $0.85 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.95. William Blair has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Wingstop's current full-year earnings is $4.18 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Wingstop's Q4 2025 earnings at $0.97 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $3.80 EPS.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.12. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 25.61%.The business had revenue of $174.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler started coverage on Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Wingstop from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Wingstop from $375.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Wingstop from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Benchmark reduced their target price on Wingstop from $410.00 to $340.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $374.54.

Wingstop Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of WING stock opened at $249.01 on Thursday. Wingstop has a twelve month low of $204.00 and a twelve month high of $407.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $299.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $297.27.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WING. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop in the first quarter valued at approximately $212,672,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Wingstop by 43.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,646,934 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $371,517,000 after buying an additional 496,717 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Wingstop by 130.7% during the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 631,989 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $142,564,000 after buying an additional 358,044 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Wingstop during the second quarter worth approximately $118,211,000. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the second quarter worth $114,758,000.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total value of $2,030,886.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at $3,144,864.58. This trade represents a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total value of $1,666,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 42,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,842,034.18. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,838 shares of company stock valued at $8,118,535. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This is a boost from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.00%.

About Wingstop

Wingstop Inc, together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates restaurants under the Wingstop brand. Its restaurants offer classic wings, boneless wings, tenders, and hand-sauced-and-tossed in various flavors, as well as chicken sandwiches with fries and hand-cut carrots and celery that are cooked-to-order.

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