Wingstop Soars 60% In Debut, Adds To Restaurant IPO Boom

Joining the recent trend of quick-service restaurants going public was Wingstop (WING) on Friday morning. The Dallas-based chicken wing chain’s initial public offering was $19, higher than the beginning proposals of $12-$14 the company made on June 2.

As of 4pm ET, the stock was trading at $30.42, which is a 60.11% increase from the initial offering of $19. [Update: holding steady after hours]

Wingstop in Focus

Wingstop has 726 franchised locations worldwide, 45 of which are international, and 19 that are company owned. It was founded in 1994 and specializes in chicken wings that are accompanied with 11 flavors of sauce. The company’s sales as a whole increased 22% to $199.2 million in the first quarter, with domestic location’s same-store sales being up 10.7%.

Investors have shown that they are willing to buy into restaurant IPOs as of late, mostly looking for massive growth as seen in other companies in the industry. Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG - Analyst Report) has risen more than 10x in the last 10 years, but a more comparable example for Wingstop would be Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD - Analyst Report). One of the most successful IPOs in history, Buffalo Wild Wings went public in November 2003, and the company’s current stock price is 1,259% higher than where it started.

If Wingstop can emulate the success seen by other restaurant chains that have gone public, especially that of Chipotle or Buffalo Wild Wings, any investor with stock will be ecstatic. The company’s stock is without a doubt one to keep a very close eye on in the coming weeks.