Wingstop Shares Rally After Results Top Street Estimates, Dividend Initiated

Wingstop Inc. shares rallied in the extended session Thursday after the chicken wing chain topped Wall Street estimates and said it would start paying a dividend. Wingstop shares rose 7% to $32.35 after hours. The company reported second-quarter net income of $5.3 million, or 18 cents a share, compared to $4.1 million, or 14 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $24.7 million from $22.7 million in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 15 cents a share on revenue of $24.7 million. For the year, Wingstop estimates earnings growth of 23% to 25%, up from a previous forecast of 19% to 21% growth, for an outlook of about 71 cents to 73 cents a share. Analysts had forecast 70 cents a share. Separately, Wingstop said Michael Skipworth will become chief financial officer after having served in an interim role, and initiated a quarterly dividend of 7 cents a share to be paid Sept. 18 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 3.