Wingstop
WING Nasdaq· Restaurants
Last close · Oct 26, 2026
$122.88
KIRA · Stoqly’s AI analyst, in plain words
- Wingstop had $697M of revenue in fiscal 2025, up 11.4% on the year before. Over five years, revenue changed +22.9% a year on average.
- Its operating margin was 25.7%, down 0.7 pts: of every 100 in sales, about 26 is left after running the business.
- Wingstop made $174M of net profit in fiscal 2025. From fiscal 2016 to 2025, diluted EPS grew 33.2% a year.
- Free cash flow was $106M in fiscal 2025, 15.2% of revenue.
- Wingstop returned $254M to shareholders in fiscal 2025, 241% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 4.5%.
- Wingstop owes $1.0B more than it holds in cash, about 5.0 years of operating profit.
Market cap
$3.4B
P/E
29.1x
Revenue
$697M
Net income
$174M
Free cash flow
$106M
Operating margin
25.7%
Wingstop in 30 seconds · fiscal 2025
Are sales growing?
+11.4%
Yes. Sales grew 11.4% last year.
Does it make a profit?
25.0%
Yes. It keeps 25.0% of every sale as profit.
Does profit turn into cash?
15.2%
Yes. 15.2% of sales ends up as free cash.
Is debt under control?
5.0x
Heavy. Repaying its debt would take 5.0 years of operating profit.
How healthy are the accounts?
4 / 8
Mixed. It passes 4 of 8 health tests.
How is the share priced?
29.1x
One share costs 29.1 times its yearly profit per share. Typical for its sector: 17.7x.
What Wingstop does
Wingstop is a restaurant chain built around chicken wings. It also sells boneless wings, tenders and chicken sandwiches, cooked to order and tossed in 12 flavors, with fries, carrots, celery and dips on the side. Guests can eat in, carry out or have food delivered. Wingstop says it is the largest fast casual chicken wings chain in the world, with more than 3,050 locations. The first one opened in Texas in 1994, and it began franchising in 1997. The company is mainly a franchisor. About 98% of its restaurants are owned and run by independent franchisees. It reports a single segment and earns money from royalties, advertising fees and franchise fees paid by franchisees, and from the restaurants it runs itself. US franchisees must put 5.5% of gross sales into an advertising fund that pays for national advertising. At the end of 2025, franchisees ran 2,999 restaurants in 47 states and 18 countries and US territories. All 470 of its international restaurants are franchised.
Biggest risks, in its own words
- Its reliance on franchisees, and on finding enough qualified new franchisees to open restaurants.
- Food safety problems or illnesses linked to its food hurting its brand.
- Higher food and supply costs, or interruptions in the supply of chicken and other products.
- Delivery problems, since its guests often order through third-party delivery providers.
- Fiscal year ends
- December 27, 2025
- Latest annual report
- 10-K · Feb 18, 2026
- Legal name
- WINGSTOP INC.
- CIK
- 0001636222
Wingstop · WING
Results and finances
The last 5 fiscal years. Amounts in USD.
| Fiscal year | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales and profit | |||||
| Revenue | $283M | $358M | $460M | $626M | $697M |
| Revenue growth | 13.5% | 26.6% | 28.7% | 36.0% | 11.4% |
| Operating margin | 26.1% | 25.7% | 24.5% | 26.5% | 25.7% |
| Net income | $42.7M | $52.9M | $70.2M | $109M | $174M |
| Net margin | 15.1% | 14.8% | 15.3% | 17.4% | 25.0% |
| Diluted EPS | $1.42 | $1.77 | $2.35 | $3.70 | $6.21 |
| Cash | |||||
| Cash from operations | $48.9M | $76.2M | $122M | $158M | $153M |
| Capital expenditure | $28.0M | $23.9M | $40.8M | $51.9M | $47.4M |
| Free cash flow | $20.9M | $52.3M | $80.8M | $106M | $106M |
| FCF margin | 7.4% | 14.6% | 17.6% | 16.9% | 15.2% |
| Dividends paid | $19.8M | $141M | $24.9M | $28.9M | $32.4M |
| Share buybacks | $0.0M | $0.0M | $125M | $315M | $222M |
| Share count change | 0.5% | 0.1% | −0.4% | −1.6% | −4.5% |
| Debt and strength | |||||
| Cash and short-term investments | $48.6M | $185M | $90.2M | $316M | $197M |
| Debt incl. finance leases | $478M | $725M | $721M | $1.2B | $1.2B |
| Shareholders' equity | −$310M | −$391M | −$457M | −$676M | −$737M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 5.3x | 5.3x | 5.0x | 4.9x | 5.0x |
| Current ratio | 1.8x | 3.6x | 2.0x | 4.5x | 3.3x |
| Interest coverage | 4.9x | 4.5x | 5.0x | 7.3x | 3.4x |
| Returns and quality | |||||
| Return on capital | 49.2% | 52.3% | 52.0% | 60.7% | 51.0% |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| Altman Z'' | −1.9 | 0.5 | −1.3 | 0.8 | −0.6 |
Insiders bought, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Insiders sold, 12 months
$1.0M
3 insiders
Of sales under plans
0%
$0.0M
How to read these numbers
- Revenue:
- Total sales reported in the income statement.
- Operating margin:
- Operating income as a share of revenue.
- Net income:
- Profit after all expenses, interest and tax.
- Free cash flow:
- Cash from operations minus capital spending.
- Net debt / EBITDA:
- Years of EBITDA needed to pay off net debt. Below zero means more cash than debt.
- Return on capital:
- After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
Wingstop · WING
Charts and comparison
Ten years at a glance, and how it stacks up against similar companies.
Revenue
Net income
Margins, % of revenue
Cash vs debt (incl. leases)
Free cash flow
Dividends and buybacks
Similar companies
Each company’s latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so periods don’t line up exactly.
| Company | Market cap | Growth | Op. margin | FCF margin | ROIC | P/E | F-score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wingstop WING | $3.4B | 11.4% | 25.7% | 15.2% | 51.0% | 29.1x | 4 |
| Sweetgreen SG | $1.2B | 0.4% | −20.5% | −17.5% | −44.2% | 98.8x | 2 |
| Cava Group CAVA | $6.1B | 22.4% | 4.7% | 2.2% | 13.9% | 93.7x | 4 |
| BJ's Restaurants BJRI | $1.3B | 3.1% | 3.3% | 2.9% | 11.1% | 31.0x | 7 |
| Shake Shack SHAK | $2.7B | 15.4% | 4.3% | 3.9% | 9.6% | 68.3x | 7 |
Price compared with profit (P/E)
How many times its yearly profit per share one share costs. Higher means investors pay more for each unit of profit.
KIRA
At $122.88 a share, the company is worth $3.4B: 29.1 times its earnings of the last four quarters.
Wingstop grew sales faster than 2 of its 4 similar companies. Its P/E is higher than 0 of 4.
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0001636222). Data updated October 9, 2026. For information only — not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.