The near-term hype surrounding Motley Fool Hidden Gems pick Buffalo Wild Wings (Nasdaq: BWLD ) appears to have waned. That could be good news to prospective investors.
Apparently, posting a 22.1% increase in total sales and 57% jump in diluted earnings is cause for alarm, because shares of B-dubs, as the bar-and-grill operator is referred to by loyal patrons, fell more than 11% after releasing second-quarter results after formal trading hours yesterday.
Same-store sales trends remained quite tasty, rising 8.1% at company-owned stores and 4% at franchised locations. Company-owned stores accounted for just more than 30% of total restaurants in existence. While they posted higher comps and average weekly sales growth, the franchised locations still post higher weekly sales. In terms of revenue to the company, the latter leads to lucrative royalty and fee revenue, which grew 17% for the quarter.
Lately, the new-store mix has slightly favored company-owned locations, and management recently agreed to acquire the Las Vegas franchised locations. However you cut it, B-dubs is geared for growth, and so far it's successfully managed overall store expansion.
Management is sticking with its annual goals of 15% unit expansion, 20% sales growth, and a 25% improvement in earnings. And thanks to strong sales trends, double-digit increases in most cost categories should be expected. Labor costs jumped 27% on higher health-insurance and workers-compensation expenses, but management doesn't foresee this being a long-term hindrance to meeting its goals.
Restaurant investing can be frustrating. It can be hard to predict exactly how long consumers stick around before jumping to the latest concept, be it B-dubs, Chipotle (NYSE: CMG ) , P.F. Chang's (Nasdaq: PFCB ) , or Kona Grill (Nasdaq: KONA ) . But for the time being, B-dubs' growth track record is impressive, and with less than 450 total stores, there's plenty of real estate to expand into.
In other words, the company has quite a ways to go before hitting the inevitable sales wall, as did Applebee's (Nasdaq: APPB ) , CBRL Group's (Nasdaq: CBRL ) Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores, or CEC Entertainment's (NYSE: CEC ) Chuck E. Cheese concept. I can't see any difficulties on the horizon, and with any further share price pullback, I may have to order up some B-dubs for my own portfolio.
For related Foolishness:
Chipotle is both a
Hidden Gems
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recommendation.
Fool contributor Ryan Fuhrmann has no financial interest in any company mentioned. Feel free to email him with feedback or to discuss any companies mentioned further. The Fool has an ironclad disclosure policy.
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