Chicken-wing chain Wingstop Restaurants Inc. became the latest
company to feed investors' appetites for fast-casual dining as
shares soared in their trading debut Friday.
Wingstop shares opened at $30.50, sharply above their IPO price
of $19.
The Dallas chain, founded in 1994 and previously owned by
private-equity firm Roark Capital Group, said it was seeking to
raise about $110 million in the initial public offering.
Shares began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, where Chief
Executive Charles Morrison opened trading this morning.
Recent IPOs in the fast-casual space, which features more
narrowly-focused menus and higher-quality ingredients, have been
cheered by investors. Shares in burger joints Shake Shack Inc. and
Habit Restaurants more than doubled in their recent debuts, while
Bojangles shares rose 40% out of the gate when the
chicken-and-biscuit purveyor went public last month.
Wingstop said late Thursday that it would sell 5.8 million
shares and priced the offering at $19 a share, well above the
expected $12 to $14 range. That share amount doesn't count a
so-called overallotment option, which gives underwriters the
opportunity to sell additional shares under certain circumstances.
In an earlier filing, the company said it expected to raise up to
$86.25 million.
Wingstop has 712 restaurants, 97% of them franchised, across 36
states and six countries. The chain's number of domestic
restaurants has increased 37.5% since the end of 2011, while
domestic same-store sales grew through 11 straight quarters.
The company reported its profit increased 19% to $9 million for
the fiscal year ended in December, according to a filing with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Total revenue increased 14%
from a year earlier to $67.4 million.
Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com
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