DALLAS, Dec. 15, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING), the award-winning wing concept with more than 800 locations across the globe, today announced a 35 unit development agreement with Sizzling Platter, a Utah-based restaurant management company with more than 340 restaurant units globally. This development agreement will allow Wingstop to further expand its national footprint along the East Coast, with new restaurants planned for Washington, D.C. and Virginia, in addition to Salt Lake City, Utah.

“Wingstop is excited to be partnering with an industry leading operator that has the size and the scale to significantly grow our brand presence on the East Coast,” said Charlie Morrison, President and CEO of Wingstop. “This is a unique agreement for our Company, as we typically focus on smaller agreements to drive expansion. Sizzling Platter is a well-respected and proven franchisee of multiple brands and we believe their deep expertise in day to day execution and commitment to superior customer service make them the right partner for us.”

Sizzling Platter currently operates restaurants in 11 states and multiple countries. With the addition of Wingstop, Sizzling Platter will now have five brands across their concept portfolio, including Little Caesars, Dunkin’ Donuts, Red Robin and Sizzler.

Ted Morton, Chief Executive Officer of Sizzling Platter, commented, “The strength of the Wingstop brand makes it a very compelling opportunity for our company. But above all else, we were impressed with Wingstop’s made to order wings and craveable sauces that have attracted a very loyal and passionate following. We are honored to become a part of the Wingstop family at such an exciting time.”

Wingstop continues to seek qualified franchise partners for available territories across the U.S. and around the world, as it continues to grow toward its goal of having 2,500 locations domestically, in addition to international growth.

About Wingstop:

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) operates and franchises 807 restaurants across the United States, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates as of the end of the third quarter 2015. The Wing Experts’ menu features classic and boneless wings with 11 bold, distinctive flavors including Original Hot, Cajun, Atomic, Mild, Teriyaki, Lemon Pepper, Hawaiian, Garlic Parmesan, Hickory Smoked BBQ, Louisiana Rub and Mango Habanero. Wingstop’s wings are always cooked to order, sauced and tossed and served with a variety of house-made sides including Wingstop’s hand-cut, seasoned fries. For more information visit www.wingstop.com or www.wingstopfranchise.com. Become a fan of Wingstop by visiting facebook.com/Wingstop or twitter.com/wingstop.

About Sizzling Platter:

Sizzling Platter is a proven restaurant management company founded in 1963, with more than 340 units globally. We are focused on adding and scaling segment leading concepts in outstanding demographic areas across US and select international markets. We have become a preferred partner for high growth, high return on capital brands looking to scale in our footprints. We strive to build lifetime guests across our concept portfolio utilizing lean enterprise techniques and technology to achieve operational excellence. We apply our systems, process, human capital, and passion for the restaurant business to quickly build scale within our target markets. For more information visit www.sizzlingplatter.com.

Contact
Media Contact:
Liz DiTrapano, ICR
wingstop@icrinc.com  
646-277-1226   

Investor Contact:  
Raphael Gross, ICR  
203-682-8253  
raphael.gross@icrinc.com

The Company will hold investor meetings on Tuesday, December 8^th and webcast its presentation beginning at 9:45 AM ET. The presentation will 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, Texas, Wingstop Inc. (Nasdaq:WING) operates and franchises more than 800 restaurants across the United States, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates. The Wing Experts menu features classic and boneless wings with 11 bold, distinctive flavors including Original Hot, Cajun, Atomic, Mild, Teriyaki, Lemon Pepper, Hawaiian, Garlic Parmesan, Hickory Smoked BBQ, Louisiana Rub and Mango Habanero. Wingstop’s wings are always cooked to order, sauced and tossed and served with a variety of house-made sides including Wingstop’s world famous hand-cut seasoned fries. Wingstop has experienced 11 consecutive years of positive sales increases, was named a 2014 Best Franchise Deal by QSR magazine, was ranked the 2015 #5 Top Growth Chain by Nation’s Restaurant News and has been voted “Best Wings” in markets across the country. For more information visit www.wingstop.com or www.wingstopfranchise.com. Become a fan of Wingstop by visiting facebook.com/Wingstop or twitter.com/Wingstop.

CONTACT:

Media Contact 
Kristina Jorge 
646-277-1234 
wingstop@icrinc.com 

Investor Contact 
Raphael Gross 
203-682-8253
raphael.gross@icrinc.com

Highlights for the fiscal third quarter 2015 compared to the fiscal third quarter 2014:

• System-wide restaurant count increased 19.0% to 807 worldwide locations
• Domestic same store sales increased 6.3%
• Total revenue increased 16.5% to $19.1 million
• Net income was $3.2 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, compared to $2.0 million, or $0.08 per diluted share
• Adjusted EBITDA*, a non-GAAP measure, increased 14.1% to $6.5 million
• Adjusted net income*, a non-GAAP measure, increased 25.2% to $3.2 million
• Adjusted earnings per pro-forma diluted shares*, a non-GAAP measure, was $0.11, an increase of 22.2% from the prior year

* Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per pro-forma diluted shares are non-GAAP measures. Reconciliations of adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted pro-forma diluted EPS to the most directly comparable financial measures presented in accordance with GAAP, are set forth in the schedules accompanying this release. See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

President and Chief Executive Officer Charlie Morrison stated, “We delivered another solid quarter driven by robust top and bottom line growth attributable to effective execution of our growth strategy. So far this year we have opened 95 net new franchised restaurants and are on track to increase our annual restaurant count by 125-130 restaurants, representing approximately 18% unit growth. In addition to our unit growth we had another strong quarter of same store sales growth and are on track to deliver our 12^th consecutive year of positive same store sales. We are also proud to have opened our 800^th restaurant this past quarter as we continue our growth towards our 2,500 unit domestic potential.”

Key Operating Metrics

Fiscal Third Quarter 2015 Financial Results

Total revenue for fiscal third quarter 2015 increased 16.5% to $19.1 million from $16.4 million in the fiscal third quarter last year. 

• Royalty revenue and franchise fees increased 22.3% to $11.6 million from $9.5 million in the fiscal third quarter last year. This was primarily due to a 19.6% increase in the number of franchised restaurants and domestic same store sales growth of 6.3%.
• Company-owned restaurant sales increased $0.6 million to $7.5 million from $6.9 million in the fiscal third quarter last year. The increase was the result of company-owned domestic same store sales growth of 8.7%.

Cost of sales increased 9.1% to $5.3 million from $4.9 million in the prior fiscal year’s third quarter. As a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales, cost of sales increased 40 basis points to 70.7% from 70.3%. The increase was primarily driven by a 17% increase in the commodity cost of bone-in chicken wings, which was partially offset by sales leverage and operational efficiencies in both food and labor costs. 

Selling, general & administrative expenses (SG&A) increased to $7.3 million from $6.8 million in the prior fiscal year’s third quarter. The increase in SG&A was primarily due to headcount additions and other recurring costs to support our growth which was partially offset by $0.8 million of non-recurring costs and expenses incurred in the prior year fiscal third quarter associated with our preparations to become a public company.

Net income increased 59.2% to $3.2 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, compared to net income of $2.0 million, or $0.08 per diluted share in the prior fiscal year’s third quarter.

Adjusted net income increased 25.2% to $3.2 million, or $0.11 per pro-forma diluted share, compared to $2.5 million, or $0.09 per pro-forma diluted share, in the prior fiscal year’s third quarter. A reconciliation between net income and adjusted net income as well as diluted shares to pro-forma diluted shares is included in the accompanying financial data.

Restaurant Development

As of September 26, 2015, there were 807 Wingstop restaurants system-wide. This included 756 restaurants in the United States, of which 737 were franchised restaurants and 19 were company-owned. Our international footprint consisted of 51 franchised restaurants across six countries. During the third quarter, there were 27 system-wide Wingstop openings, including 24 domestic franchised and 3 international franchised locations. 

Fiscal Year 2015 Financial Outlook

Based on fiscal third quarter performance, we are raising full year guidance to:

• 125-130 net system-wide franchise restaurant openings
• Domestic same store sales increase of between 7.25% to 7.50%
• Total revenue between $76.8 million and $77.2 million
• SG&A expenses between $33.1 million and $33.6 million (includes $3.3 million in management agreement termination fee, $0.2 million in management fees and $2.0 million in transaction costs related to a March 2015 refinancing of our credit agreement and to our initial public offering)
• Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, between $27.5 million and $28.0 million
• Adjusted net income, a non-GAAP measure, between $12.4 million and $12.9 million
• Pro-forma diluted share count, a non-GAAP measure, of approximately 28.8 million

The following definitions apply to these terms as used in this release:

Same store sales reflects the change in year-over-year sales for the comparable restaurant base. We define the comparable 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 closures.

System-wide sales represents net sales for all of our company-owned and franchised restaurants, as reported by franchisees.

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income before interest expense, net, income tax expense, and depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) further adjusted for management fees and expense reimbursement, transaction costs, gains and losses on the disposal of assets, stock-based compensation expense and earn-out obligation. We caution investors that amounts presented in accordance with our definitions of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by our competitors, because not all companies and analysts calculate EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA in the same manner. There were no gains and losses on the disposal of assets or earn-out obligations during the fiscal quarters ended September 26, 2015 and September 27, 2014.

Adjusted net income is defined as net income plus management fees and transactions costs minus related adjustments to income tax expense.

Pro-forma diluted share count gives historical effect to the additional 2,150,000 shares of our common stock issued in the IPO as if all shares had been outstanding as of December 28, 2013.

Adjusted earnings per pro-forma diluted shares is defined as adjusted net income divided by pro-forma diluted share count.

Conference Call & Webcast

Charlie Morrison, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Mike Mravle, Chief Financial Officer will host a conference call today to discuss fiscal third quarter 2015 financial results at 5:00 PM Eastern Time. The conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing (855) 327-6837 or for international callers by dialing (631) 982-4565. A replay will be available after the call and can be accessed by dialing (877) 870-5176 or for international callers by dialing (858) 384-5517; the passcode is 116117. The replay will be available until November 12, 2015.

The conference call will also be webcast live and later archived on the investor relations section of Wingtop’s corporate website at ir.wingstop.com under the ‘News & Events’ section.

About Wingstop

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING) operates and franchises 807 restaurants across the United States, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates as of the end of the third quarter 2015. The Wing Experts’ menu features classic and boneless wings with 11 bold, distinctive flavors including Original Hot, Cajun, Atomic, Mild, Teriyaki, Lemon Pepper, Hawaiian, Garlic Parmesan, Hickory Smoked BBQ, Louisiana Rub and Mango Habanero. Wingstop’s wings are always cooked to order, sauced and tossed and served with a variety of house-made sides including Wingstop’s hand-cut, seasoned fries. For more information visit www.wingstop.com or www.wingstopfranchise.com. Become a fan of Wingstop by visiting facebook.com/Wingstop or twitter.com/wingstop.

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 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 Information

Certain statements contained in this news release, as well as other information provided from time to time by Wingstop Inc. or its employees, may contain forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward looking statements. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “guidance,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,” “intend,” “believe,” “confident,” “may,” “should,” “can have,” “likely,” “future” and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events. Examples of forward-looking statements in this news release include our full year 2015 outlook for new franchise restaurant openings, domestic same store sales growth, total revenue, SG&A costs, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and our pro-forma diluted share count, as well as our anticipated potential domestic restaurant expansion opportunity and positioning to deliver sustainable and profitable growth.

Any such forward looking statements are not guarantees of performance or results, and involve risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond the Company’s control) and assumptions. Although we believe any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect our actual financial results and cause them to differ materially from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements. Please refer to the risk factors discussed in our Registration Statement on Form S-1, as amended, 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.

Any forward-looking statement made Wingstop Inc. in this press release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

CONTACT:
Media Contact
Kristina Jorge
646-277-1234
wingstop@icrinc.com

Investor Contact
Raphael Gross
203-682-8253
raphael.gross@icrinc.com

Hosting the conference call will be Charlie Morrison, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Mike Mravle, Chief Financial Officer. A press release with third quarter 2015 financial results will be issued that same day, shortly after the market closes.

The conference call can be accessed live by dialing 855-327-6837 or for international callers by dialing 631-982-4565. A replay will be available two hours after the call and can be accessed by dialing 877-870-5176 or for international callers by dialing 858-384-5517; the passcode is 116117. The replay will be available through Thursday, November 12, 2015.

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, Texas, Wingstop Inc. (Nasdaq:WING) operates and franchises more than 800 restaurants across the United States, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates. The Wing Experts menu features classic and boneless wings with 11 bold, distinctive flavors including Original Hot, Cajun, Atomic, Mild, Teriyaki, Lemon Pepper, Hawaiian, Garlic Parmesan, Hickory Smoked BBQ, Louisiana Rub and Mango Habanero. Wingstop’s wings are always cooked to order, sauced and tossed and served with a variety of house-made sides including Wingstop’s world famous hand-cut seasoned fries. Wingstop has experienced 11 consecutive years of positive sales increases, was named a 2014 Best Franchise Deal by QSR magazine, was ranked the 2015 #5 Top Growth Chain by Nation’s Restaurant News and has been voted “Best Wings” in markets across the country. For more information visit www.wingstop.com or www.wingstopfranchise.com. Become a fan of Wingstop by visiting facebook.com/Wingstop or twitter.com/Wingstop

CONTACT:
Media Contact
Kristina Jorge
646-277-1234
wingstop@icrinc.com

Investor Contact
Raphael Gross
203-682-8253
raphael.gross@icrinc.com

Highlights for the fiscal second quarter 2015 compared to the fiscal second quarter 2014:

• System-wide restaurant count increased 19.5% to 785, with 40 net franchised restaurant openings in the quarter
• Domestic same store sales increased 9.0%
• Total revenue increased 18.0% to $19.2 million
• Net income was $584,000, or $0.02 per diluted share, compared to $2.5 million, or $0.10 per diluted share
• Adjusted EBITDA*, a non-GAAP measure, increased 18.6% to $7.2 million
• Adjusted net income*, a non-GAAP measure, increased 19.6% to $3.2 million
• Adjusted earnings per pro-forma diluted shares*, a non-GAAP measure, was $0.11, an increase of 10.0% from the prior year

* Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per pro-forma diluted shares are non-GAAP measures. Reconciliations of adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted pro-forma diluted EPS to the most directly comparable financial measures presented in accordance with GAAP, are set forth in the schedules accompanying this release. See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

President and Chief Executive Officer Charlie Morrison stated, “Wingstop enjoyed a strong quarter characterized by robust top-line growth as well as strong increases in adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income. We have had a great start to the year with 73 net franchised restaurant openings. We are on track to deliver our 12^th consecutive year of domestic same store sales growth with a 9.0% increase for the quarter. This demonstrates our ability to broaden our consumer appeal while driving repeat business and loyalty from our core demographic of millennials and families. We appreciate our team and franchise partners for their contributions to these outstanding achievements.”

Morrison continued, “We believe Wingstop is well positioned to deliver sustainable and profitable growth, and that our brand has a significant expansion opportunity. We believe there is opportunity to grow up to 2,500 domestic restaurants longer-term through development in our existing markets as well as in new markets.”

Initial Public Offering

On June 11, 2015, we priced the initial public offering of 6,670,000 shares of our common stock pursuant to a registration statement, file number 333-203891, that was declared effective by the SEC on June 11, 2015. Under the Registration Statement, (1) we registered, issued and sold an aggregate of 2,150,000 shares of our common stock at a price to the public of $19.00 per share for aggregate gross offering proceeds of $40.8 million and (2) we registered and the selling stockholders sold 4,520,000 shares of our common stock at a price to the public of $19.00 per share for aggregate gross offering proceeds of $85.9 million. After underwriter discounts and commissions and offering expenses of $3.2 million, we received net proceeds from the offering of approximately $34.8 million. We did not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of common stock by the selling stockholders. A portion of these proceeds were used to prepay $32.0 million of the outstanding balance under our second amended and restated credit facility. The remainder of the proceeds were used to pay a one-time fee in consideration for the termination of our management agreement with Roark Capital Management, LLC (Roark Capital Management) and other transaction related expenses.

Fiscal Second Quarter 2015 Financial Results

Total revenue for fiscal second quarter 2015 increased 18.0% to $19.2 million from $16.3 million in the fiscal second quarter last year. 

• Royalty revenue and franchise fees increased 24.6% to $11.4 million from $9.2 million in the fiscal second quarter last year. This is primarily due to a 20.1% increase in the number of franchised restaurants and domestic same store sales growth of 9.0%.
• Company-owned restaurant sales increased $0.7 million to $7.8 million from $7.1 million in the fiscal second quarter last year. The increase is the result of company-owned domestic same store sales growth of 9.5%.

Cost of sales increased 11.0% to $5.5 million from $5.0 million in the prior fiscal year’s second quarter. As a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales, cost of sales increased 100 basis points to 70.5% from 69.5%. The increase was primarily driven by a 26% increase in the commodity cost of bone-in chicken wings, which was partially offset by lower labor costs and other restaurant operating expenses as a percentage of restaurant sales.

Selling, general & administrative expenses (SG&A) increased to $10.7 million from $5.6 million in the prior fiscal year’s second quarter. The increase in SG&A was primarily due to a one-time fee of $3.3 million paid in consideration for the termination of our management agreement with Roark Capital Management, other one-time IPO expenses of $0.7 million, and headcount additions to support our future growth.

Net income in the fiscal second quarter 2015 was $584,000, or $0.02 per diluted share, compared to net income of $2.5 million, or $0.10 per diluted share in the prior fiscal year’s second quarter.

Adjusted net income increased 19.6% to $3.2 million, or $0.11 per pro-forma diluted share, compared to $2.7 million, or $0.10 per pro-forma diluted share, in the prior fiscal year’s second quarter. A reconciliation between net income and adjusted net income as well as diluted shares to pro-forma diluted shares is included in the accompanying financial data.

Restaurant Development

At June 27, 2015, there were 785 Wingstop restaurants system-wide. This included 733 restaurants in the United States, of which 714 are franchised restaurants and 19 are company-owned. Our international footprint consisted of 52 franchised restaurants across six countries. During the second quarter, there were 41 system-wide Wingstop openings, including 34 domestic franchised and 7 international franchised locations. 

Fiscal Year 2015 Financial Outlook

Based on current information, we are providing the following guidance for fiscal year 2015, which ends on December 26, 2015:

• 120-130 net system-wide franchise restaurant openings
• Domestic same store sales increase of 6.5% to 7.0%
• Total revenue between $75.5 million and $76.0 million
• SG&A expenses between $33.0 million and $34.0 million (includes $3.3 million in management agreement termination fee, $0.2 million in management fees and $2.0 million in transaction costs related to March 2015 refinancing our credit agreement and our initial public offering)
• Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, between $26.8 million and $27.3 million
• Adjusted net income, a non-GAAP measure, between $11.8 million and $12.1 million
• Pro-forma diluted share count, a non-GAAP measure, of approximately 28.8 million

The following definitions apply to these terms as used in this release:

Same store sales reflects the change in year-over-year sales for the comparable restaurant base. We define the comparable 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 closures.

System-wide sales represents net sales for all of our company-owned and franchised restaurants, as reported by franchisees.

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income before interest expense, net, income tax expense, and depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) further adjusted for management fees and expense reimbursement, transaction costs, gains and losses on the disposal of assets, stock-based compensation expense and earn-out obligation. We caution investors that amounts presented in accordance with our definitions of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by our competitors, because not all companies and analysts calculate EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA in the same manner. There were no gains and losses on the disposal of assets or earn-out obligations during the fiscal quarters ended June 27, 2015 and June 28, 2014.

Adjusted net income is defined as net income plus management fees and transactions costs minus related adjustments to income tax expense.

Pro-forma diluted share count gives historical effect to the additional 2,150,000 shares of our common stock issued in the IPO as if all shares had been outstanding as of December 28, 2013.

Adjusted earnings per pro-forma diluted shares is defined as adjusted net income divided by pro-forma diluted share count.

Conference Call & Webcast

Charlie Morrison, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Mike Mravle, Chief Financial Officer will host a conference call today to discuss fiscal second quarter 2015 financial results at 5:00 PM Eastern Time. The conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing (855) 327-6837 or for international callers by dialing (631) 982-4565. A replay will be available after the call and can be accessed by dialing (877) 870-5176 or for international callers by dialing (858) 384-5517; the passcode is 115255. The replay will be available until August 13, 2015.

The conference call will also be webcast live and later archived on the investor relations section of Wingtop’s corporate website at ir.wingstop.com under the ‘News & Events’ section.

About Wingstop

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) operates and franchises 785 restaurants across the United States, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates as of the end of the second quarter 2015. The Wing Experts’ menu features classic and boneless wings with 11 bold, distinctive flavors including Original Hot, Cajun, Atomic, Mild, Teriyaki, Lemon Pepper, Hawaiian, Garlic Parmesan, Hickory Smoked BBQ, Louisiana Rub and Mango Habanero. Wingstop’s wings are always cooked to order, sauced and tossed and served with a variety of house-made sides including Wingstop’s hand-cut, seasoned fries. For more information visit www.wingstop.com or www.wingstopfranchise.com. Become a fan of Wingstop by visiting facebook.com/Wingstop or twitter.com/wingstop.

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 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 Information

Certain statements contained in this news release, as well as other information provided from time to time by Wingstop Inc. or its employees, may contain forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward looking statements. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “guidance,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,” “intend,” “believe,” “confident,” “may,” “should,” “can have,” “likely,” “future” and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events. Examples of forward-looking statements in this news release include our full year 2015 outlook for new franchise restaurant openings, domestic same store sales growth, total revenue, SG&A costs, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and our pro-forma diluted share count, as well as our anticipated potential domestic restaurant expansion opportunity and positioning to deliver sustainable and profitable growth.

Any such forward looking statements are not guarantees of performance or results, and involve risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond the Company’s control) and assumptions. Although we believe any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect our actual financial results and cause them to differ materially from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements. Please refer to the risk factors discussed in our Registration Statement on Form S-1, as amended, 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.

Any forward-looking statement made by Wingstop Inc. in this press release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

CONTACT: Media Contact
         Kristina Jorge
         646-277-1234
         wingstop@icrinc.com

         Investor Contact
         Raphael Gross
         203-682-8253
         raphael.gross@icrinc.com

Wingstop