0001636222FALSE00016362222024-10-292024-10-29

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): October 29, 2024

WINGSTOP INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware001-3742547-3494862
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)Commission File Number(IRS Employer Identification No.)
15505 Wright Brothers Drive
Addison, Texas
75001
(Address of principal executive offices)(Zip Code)

(972) 686-6500
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
N/A
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):
☐Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
☐Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
☐Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
☐Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each classTrading Symbol(s)Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $0.01 per shareWINGNASDAQ Global Select Market


Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).
Emerging growth company☐
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐





Item 2.02.Results of Operations and Financial Condition
The following information is furnished pursuant to Item 2.02, “Results of Operations and Financial Condition.” Consequently, it shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall such information be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.
On October 30, 2024, Wingstop Inc. (the “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) issued a press release reporting the Company’s financial results for its fiscal third quarter ended September 28, 2024. A copy of the press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The press release uses the U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) measure of net income and the non-GAAP financial measures of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA. A discussion of these non-GAAP financial measures, including a discussion of the usefulness and purpose of each measure, is included below.
EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are supplemental measures of our performance that are not required by, or presented in accordance with, GAAP. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not measurements of our financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to net income or any other performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP, or as alternatives to cash flows from operating activities as a measure of our liquidity.
We define “EBITDA” as net income before interest expense, net, income tax expense (benefit), and depreciation and amortization. We define “Adjusted EBITDA” as 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 present EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA because we consider them to be important supplemental measures of our performance and believe they are frequently used by securities analysts, investors, and other interested parties in the evaluation of companies in our industry. Management believes that investors’ understanding of our performance is enhanced by including these non-GAAP financial measures as a reasonable basis for comparing our ongoing results of operations. Many investors are interested in understanding the performance of our business by comparing our results from ongoing operations on a period-over-period basis and would ordinarily add back non-cash expenses such as depreciation and amortization, as well as items that are not part of normal day-to-day operations of our business.
Management uses EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA:
•as a measurement of operating performance because we believe they assist management in comparing the operating performance of our restaurants on a consistent basis, as they remove the impact of items not directly resulting from our core operations;
•for planning purposes, including the preparation of our internal annual operating budget and financial projections;
•to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of our operational strategies;
•to evaluate our capacity to fund capital expenditures and expand our business; and
•to calculate incentive compensation payments for our employees, including assessing performance under our annual incentive compensation plan.
By providing these 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. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation, or as an alternative to, or a substitute for, net income or other financial statement data presented in our consolidated financial statements as indicators of financial performance. Some of the limitations include, but are not limited to, the following:
•such measures do not reflect our cash expenditures, or future requirements for capital expenditures or contractual commitments;
•such measures do not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs;
•such measures do not reflect the interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on our debt;


•such measures do not reflect our tax expense or the cash requirements to pay our taxes;
•although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future and such measures do not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements; and
•other companies in our industry may calculate such measures differently than we do, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures.
Due to these and other limitations, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as measures of discretionary cash available to us to invest in the growth of our business. We compensate for these limitations by relying primarily on our GAAP results and using these non-GAAP measures only as performance measures and supplementally. As noted in the press release attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1, Adjusted EBITDA includes adjustments 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 believe these adjustments are appropriate because the amounts recognized can vary significantly from period-to-period, do not directly relate to the ongoing operations of our restaurants, and complicate comparisons of our internal operating results and operating results of other restaurant companies over time.
We caution investors that amounts presented in accordance with our definitions may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by our competitors because not all companies and analysts calculate certain non-GAAP measures in the same manner.
Item 8.01.Other Events
Quarterly Dividend
On October 29, 2024, the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.27 per share of common stock. The dividend is payable on December 6, 2024 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on November 15, 2024. The declaration of any future dividends is subject to the Board’s discretion.

Item 9.01.Financial Statements and Exhibits
(d)Exhibits
99.1
104Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL Document)


Signatures
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
Wingstop Inc.
Date:October 30, 2024By:/s/ Alex R. Kaleida
Chief Financial Officer
(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)



winglogo2018a04.jpg
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


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, October 30, 2024 - (PR NEWSWIRE) - 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.”

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Key operating metrics for the fiscal third quarter 2024 compared to the fiscal third quarter 2023:
Thirteen Weeks Ended
September 28, 2024September 30, 2023
Number of system-wide restaurants open at end of period2,458 2,099 
Number of domestic franchise restaurants open at end of period2,064 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 growth20.9 %15.3 %
Company-owned domestic same store sales growth7.3 %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.
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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
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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.
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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
Media@wingstop.com

Investor Contact
Kristen Thomas
IR@wingstop.com
5

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 cash11,444 11,444 
Accounts receivable, net16,939 12,408 
Prepaid expenses and other current assets7,225 4,948 
Advertising fund assets, restricted46,671 25,328 
Total current assets166,237 144,344 
Property and equipment, net119,119 91,292 
Operating lease assets57,753 19,092 
Goodwill74,749 67,708 
Trademarks32,700 32,700 
Customer relationships, net6,792 7,740 
Other non-current assets27,412 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 liabilities3,533 2,380 
Other current liabilities58,386 38,571 
Advertising fund liabilities46,671 25,328 
Total current liabilities118,891 71,004 
Long-term debt, net713,729 712,327 
Operating lease liabilities60,414 17,807 
Deferred revenues, net of current37,007 30,145 
Deferred income tax liabilities, net2,097 3,721 
Other non-current liabilities90 187 
Total liabilities932,228 835,191 
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-capital1,515 2,676 
Retained deficit(449,336)(459,994)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss63 (341)
Total stockholders' deficit(447,466)(457,366)
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficit$484,762 $377,825 

6

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 fees56,764 39,951 
Company-owned restaurant sales31,339 23,953 
Total revenue162,498 117,104 
Costs and expenses:
Cost of sales (1)
24,367 17,622 
Advertising expenses60,965 42,381 
Selling, general and administrative32,294 23,047 
Depreciation and amortization5,054 3,384 
Loss on disposal of assets— 18 
Total costs and expenses122,680 86,452 
Operating income39,818 30,652 
Interest expense, net5,130 4,520 
Other (income) expense(800)(19)
Income before income tax expense35,488 26,151 
Income tax expense9,756 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
Basic29,265 29,750 
Diluted29,383 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.




7

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

Thirteen Weeks Ended
September 28, 2024September 30, 2023
In dollarsAs a % of company-owned restaurant salesIn dollarsAs a % of company-owned restaurant sales
Cost of sales:
Food, beverage and packaging costs$11,590 37.0 %$7,910 33.0 %
Labor costs7,355 23.5 %5,646 23.6 %
Other restaurant operating expenses6,270 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 %

8

WINGSTOP INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Unaudited Supplemental Information
Restaurant Count
Thirteen Weeks Ended
September 28,
2024		September 30,
2023
Domestic Franchised Activity
Beginning of period1,988 1,749 
Openings79 42 
Closures— — 
Acquired by Company(3)— 
Restaurants end of period2,064 1,791 
Domestic Company-Owned Activity
Beginning of period52 45 
Openings1 1 
Closures— — 
Acquired by Company3 — 
Restaurants end of period56 46 
Total Domestic Restaurants2,120 1,837 
International Franchised Activity(1)
Beginning of period312 252 
Openings28 13 
Closures(2)(3)
Restaurants end of period338 262 
Total System-wide Restaurants2,458 2,099 
(1) Includes U.S. Territories.
9

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, net5,130 4,520 
Income tax expense9,756 6,640 
Depreciation and amortization5,054 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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v3.24.3
Document and Entity Information
Oct. 29, 2024
Cover [Abstract]  
Document Type 8-K
Document Period End Date Oct. 29, 2024
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code DE
Entity File Number 001-37425
Entity Tax Identification Number 47-3494862
Entity Address, Address Line One 15505 Wright Brothers Drive
Entity Address, City or Town Addison
Entity Address, State or Province TX
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code 75001
Local Phone Number 686-6500
City Area Code 972
Written Communications false
Soliciting Material false
Pre-commencement Tender Offer false
Pre-commencement Issuer Tender Offer false
Title of 12(b) Security Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share
Trading Symbol WING
Security Exchange Name NASDAQ
Entity Emerging Growth Company false
Central Index Key 0001636222
Amendment Flag false
Registrant Name WINGSTOP INC.
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