Not everyone could get tickets to Brazil for the World Cup this year. But, that doesn’t mean that you need to miss a game, and one buffalo wing restaurant is reaping the benefits.
Buffalo Wild Wings in the News
Loyal soccer fans gathered in front of large screen TVs at Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD) restaurant to watch the Portugal-U.S. World Cup match on Sunday. The standing room only crowd might have been disappointed about the match’s tie ending, but Buffalo Wild Wings was certainly cheering. Since the start of the World Cup, the stock has surged 5%. The strong attendance to watch these games at the restaurant bodes well for the food chain as the World Cup continues. As the wait time to be seated for a table gets longer, will the stock shoot higher?
A Financial Expert’s Perspective
Wunderlich analyst Robert Derrington, recently reiterated his BUY Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD) rating with a $180 price target. Derrington noted, “Our recent channel checks of Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants noted ‘standing-room-only’ attendance for yesterday’s World Cup match featuring US vs. Portugal.” Derrington and his firm believe that the strong World Cup viewership will help increase same-store sales for this quarter and the following quarter. Derrington has recommended Buffalo Wild Wings a total of eight times, earning a +28.0% average profit on the stock, with an 88% success rate of recommendations.
Derrington’s Past Recommendations
Derrington’s impressive history recommending Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD) has helped him earn an overall +17.2% average return per recommendation, with a 76% success rate recommending stocks. In addition to strong returns recommending this food chain, Derrington has also seen success recommending fellow competitors BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) and Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK).
On April 22 of this year, Derrington upgraded BJ’s Restaurants from HOLD to BUY and raised his price target from $27.00 to $36.00. Following the company’s decision to pursue a more aggressive buyback, Derrington noted, “This morning, BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) announced aggressive plans including the addition of new board members; a $50mm repurchase authorization; and expansion of the company’s cost-optimization plan. Combined, these changes signal aggressive intentions which, we believe, will lead to improved operating performance.” He added, “Ultimately, we believe these initiatives will prove additive to our projections, which we have modestly raised. As BJs operating trends improve and factoring an 11.0x EV/EBIDA multiple to our initially revised 2015 projections.” At the time of this recommendation, BJ’s was trading at $30.47, and currently the stock is trading at $35.83. Derrington has a 100% success rate recommending the stock, and has earned a +17.5% average profit on the stock based on his four recommendations.
Derrington has also recommended Jack in the Box with a 100% success rate. Earlier in February of this year, Derrington reiterated his BUY Jack in the Box rating and raised his price target from $35.00 to $60.00. Derrington argued, “We believe Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) continues to set a high bar vs. QSR industry peers with its strong pipeline of craveable menu offerings; improving trends for its Qdoba fast casual brand; and its steady performing franchise business model projected to deliver growing free cash flow, steady share repurchase and better-than-most-peers EPS growth.” At the time of this recommendation, the stock was trading at $51.96 and, by the time of his next BUY recommendation in April, the stock had jumped to $60.66.
However, Derrington has been less successful recommending casual dining restaurant Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ:PNRA). In February, Derrington reiterated his BUY rating on the stock despite concerns about impact of the harsh winter weather. Derrington noted, “as more seasonal weather patterns develop, we project SSS to improve materially, supported by recent Q413 throughput gains along with programs to improve price perception, consumer convenience and accessibility, supported by increased advertising weights. As SSS accelerate through 2014 and into 2015, we believe margins and EPS growth will ultimately follow. Recently trading at 20.3x 2015 EPS vs. its high-growth peers at 23.7x.” However, the stock has fallen from $178.22 in February to its current price of $150.55. Derrington has earned a -1.1% average profit on the stock with a 33% success rate.
There are plenty of more World Cup matches to be played, which means many more nights of drinks and wings at Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD). Derrington is rooting for Buffalo, are you?
To see more of Robert Derrington’s recommendations, visit TipRanks today.
Jordan Faigen covers financial markets and the latest stock market news. She can be reached at [email protected]
