Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. Announces Third Quarter Earnings per Share of $1.23

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) announced today financial results for the third quarter ended September 25, 2016. Highlights for the third quarter versus the same period a year ago were:

  • Total revenue increased 8.5% to $494.2 million
  • Company-owned restaurant sales increased 9.0% to $470.6 million
  • Same-store sales decreased 1.8% at company-owned Buffalo Wild Wings® restaurants and 1.6% at franchised Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants
  • Net earnings increased 17.8% to $22.7 million from $19.2 million, and earnings per diluted share increased 23.0% to $1.23 from $1.00

Sally Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Our focus is to return to industry-leading same-store sales. To advance these efforts and drive traffic, in the third quarter we implemented a 15-minute guarantee for FastBreak™ lunch and Half-Price Wing Tuesdays®. Both programs are seeing initial success. To deliver value to shareholders, we increased our credit facility to $500 million in October allowing us to execute against our expanded share repurchase authorization.”

Ms. Smith concluded, "As we look forward to 2017, we remain committed to continued innovation in delivering a differentiated experience in casual dining and we're identifying areas of opportunity to improve margins. Our new menu launches next week and we are excited for our new burger launch. We're continuing to implement our Blazin' Rewards™ loyalty program and we have begun third-party delivery in 90 company-owned restaurants."

Total revenue increased 8.5% to $494.2 million in the third quarter, compared to $455.5 million in the third quarter of 2015. Company-owned restaurant sales for the quarter increased 9.0% over the same period in 2015, to $470.6 million, driven by 40 additional Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants at the end of the third quarter of 2016, partially offset by a same-store sales decrease of 1.8%. Franchise royalties and fees decreased 1.0% to $23.5 million for the quarter, versus $23.8 million in the third quarter of 2015. This decrease is attributed to a same-store sales decrease of 1.6% at franchised Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants.

Average weekly sales for company-owned Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants were $59,690 for the third quarter of 2016, compared to $61,831 for the same quarter last year, a 3.5% decrease. Franchised Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants in the United States averaged $61,497 for the period, versus $62,819 in the third quarter a year ago, a 2.1% decrease.

Under the share repurchase authorization, 36,600 shares were repurchased during the third quarter of 2016 for a total of $5.9 million.

For the third quarter, net earnings increased 17.8% to $22.7 million, versus $19.2 million in the third quarter of 2015. Earnings per diluted share were $1.23, compared to third quarter 2015 earnings per diluted share of $1.00.

For 2016, the company expects the following new unit development:

  • 35 company-owned Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants in the United States
  • 30 franchised Buffalo Wild Wings locations in the United States
  • 10 franchised Buffalo Wild Wings locations internationally
  • 5 company-owned and 2 franchised R Taco® restaurants

For 2016, the company expects the following:

  • Deflationary food costs, excluding traditional chicken wings
  • Traditional chicken wings higher than forecasted due to high demand and supply disruption
  • Depreciation and amortization expense of $152 million
  • Share repurchase activity of approximately $150 million for the year
  • Earnings per diluted share slightly below the low end of the prior $5.65 to $5.85 range
  • Capital expenditures of approximately $158 million

For 2017, the company expects the following new unit development:

  • 30 - 35 company-owned Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants in the United States
  • 15 franchised Buffalo Wild Wings locations in the United States
  • 20 - 25 franchised Buffalo Wild Wings locations internationally
  • 5 company-owned and 10 franchised R Taco restaurants

Buffalo Wild Wings will be hosting a conference call today, October 26, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time to discuss these results. There will be a simultaneous webcast conducted at our investor website IR.BuffaloWildWings.com.

A replay of the call will be available until November 2, 2016. To access this replay, please dial 1-412-317-6671 password 2296003.

About the Company

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc., founded in 1982 and headquartered in Minneapolis, is a growing owner, operator and franchisor of Buffalo Wild Wings® restaurants featuring a variety of boldly-flavored, made-to-order menu items including its namesake Buffalo, New York-style chicken wings. The Buffalo Wild Wings menu specializes in 21 mouth-watering signature sauces and seasonings with flavor sensations ranging from Sweet BBQ™ to Blazin’®. Guests enjoy a welcoming neighborhood atmosphere that includes an extensive multi-media system for watching their favorite sporting events. Buffalo Wild Wings is the recipient of hundreds of "Best Wings" and "Best Sports Bar" awards from across the country. There are currently more than 1,200 Buffalo Wild Wings locations around the world.

To stay up-to-date on all the latest events and offers for sports fans and wing lovers, like Buffalo Wild Wings on Facebook, follow @BWWings on Twitter and visit www.BuffaloWildWings.com.

Forward-looking Statements

Various remarks we make about future expectations, plans, and prospects for the company constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the Safe Harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to our future financial and restaurant performance measures and growth goals, including but not limited to those relating to our fourth quarter trends, projected unit and net earnings growth rates, and projected share repurchase activity and capital expenditures. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements and are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our management. We have attempted to identify forward-looking statements by terminology, including “anticipates,” “believes,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “goal,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “should,” “scheduled,” or “will” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Actual results may vary materially from those contained in forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, our ability to achieve and manage our planned expansion, the ability of our franchisees to open and manage new restaurants, market acceptance in the new geographic regions we enter (particularly international locations), success of acquired restaurants, success of investments in new or emerging concepts, unforeseen obstacles in developing nontraditional sites or non-U.S. locations, our ability to obtain and maintain licenses and permits necessary to operate our existing and new restaurants, our franchisees’ adherence to our system standards, the cost of commodities such as traditional chicken wings and supply chain consistency, the success of our key initiatives and our advertising and marketing campaigns, our ability to control restaurant labor and other restaurant operating costs, the continued service of key management personnel, our ability to protect our name and logo and other proprietary information, economic conditions (including changes in consumer preferences or consumer discretionary spending), the impact of federal, state or local government regulations relating to our employees, the sale of food and alcoholic beverages, the effect of competition in the restaurant industry, and other factors disclosed from time to time in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the factors described under “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 27, 2015, as updated in subsequent reports filed with the SEC. Investors should take such risks into account when making investment decisions. Shareholders and other readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

BUFFALO WILD WINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS

(Dollar and share amounts in thousands except per share data)

(unaudited)

Three months endedNine months ended
September 25,September 27,September 25,September 27,
2016201520162015
Revenue:
Restaurant sales $ 470,648 431,763 1,421,142 1,248,595
Franchise royalties and fees 23,519 23,763 71,460 73,904
Total revenue 494,167 455,526 1,492,602 1,322,499
Costs and expenses:
Restaurant operating costs:
Cost of sales 136,185 126,878 418,488 370,398
Labor 150,813 138,897 449,317 398,585
Operating 73,435 63,343 211,295 178,716
Occupancy 27,396 24,210 81,324 68,554
Depreciation and amortization 38,345 33,610 113,847 90,887
General and administrative 32,264 33,714 93,750 97,937
Preopening 1,490 4,777 5,191 9,251
Loss on asset disposals 1,393 1,269 4,489 4,180
Total costs and expenses 461,321 426,698 1,377,701 1,218,508
Income from operations 32,846 28,828 114,901 103,991
Interest and other expense 528 1,400 2,375 1,434
Earnings before income taxes 32,318 27,428 112,526 102,557
Income tax expense 9,814 8,261 33,799 32,973
Net earnings including noncontrolling interests 22,504 19,167 78,727 69,584
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests (147 ) (69 ) (399 ) (214 )
Net earnings attributable to Buffalo Wild Wings $ 22,651 19,236 79,126 69,798
Earnings per common share – basic $ 1.24 1.01 4.25 3.67
Earnings per common share – diluted $ 1.23 1.00 4.24 3.65
Weighted average shares outstanding – basic 18,296 19,022 18,609 19,006
Weighted average shares outstanding – diluted 18,353 19,167 18,650 19,118

The following table expresses results of operations as a percentage of total revenue for the periods presented, except for restaurant operating costs which are expressed as a percentage of restaurant sales:

Three months endedNine months ended
September 25,September 27,September 25,September 27,
2016201520162015
Revenue:
Restaurant sales 95.2

 %

94.8

 %

95.2

 %

94.4

 %

Franchise royalties and fees 4.8 5.2 4.8 5.6
Total revenue 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Costs and expenses:
Restaurant operating costs:
Cost of sales 28.9 29.4 29.4 29.7
Labor 32.0 32.2 31.6 31.9
Operating 15.6 14.7 14.9 14.3
Occupancy 5.8 5.6 5.7 5.5
Depreciation and amortization 7.8 7.4 7.6 6.9
General and administrative 6.5 7.4 6.3 7.4
Preopening 0.3 1.0 0.3 0.7
Loss on asset disposals 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
Total costs and expenses 93.4 93.7 92.3 92.1
Income from operations 6.6 6.3 7.7 7.9
Interest and other expense 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.1
Earnings before income taxes 6.5 6.0 7.5 7.8
Income tax expense 2.0 1.8 2.3 2.5
Net earnings including noncontrolling interests 4.6 4.2 5.3 5.3
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests (0.0 ) (0.0 ) (0.0 ) (0.0 )
Net earnings attributable to Buffalo Wild Wings 4.6

 %

4.2

 %

5.3

 %

5.3

 %

BUFFALO WILD WINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Dollar amounts in thousands)

(unaudited)

September 25,December 27,
20162015
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 14,758 11,220
Marketable securities 9,043
Accounts receivable, net of allowance of $251 and $25, respectively 42,707 34,087
Inventory 13,437 15,351
Prepaid expenses 7,674 6,386
Refundable income taxes 543 21,591
Restricted assets 22,240 100,073
Total current assets 101,359 197,751
Property and equipment, net 605,188 604,712
Reacquired franchise rights, net 122,100 129,282
Other assets 38,590 26,536
Goodwill 117,228 114,101
Total assets $ 984,465 1,072,382
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
Current liabilities:
Unearned franchise fees $ 2,621 2,144
Accounts payable 42,963 44,760
Accrued compensation and benefits 35,360 55,578
Accrued expenses 25,831 21,678
Current portion of long-term debt and capital lease obligations 7,302 2,147
Current portion of deferred lease credits 511 59
System-wide payables 59,813 137,257
Total current liabilities 174,401 263,623
Long-term liabilities:
Other liabilities 15,796 16,473
Deferred income taxes 24,689 23,726
Long-term debt and capital lease obligations, net of current portion 93,380 70,954
Deferred lease credits, net of current portion 44,310 41,869
Total liabilities 352,576 416,645
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ equity:
Undesignated stock, 1,000,000 shares authorized, none issued
Common stock, no par value. Authorized 44,000,000 shares; issued and outstanding 18,278,601 and 18,917,776 shares, respectively 156,872 160,353
Retained earnings 478,805 499,085
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (3,782 ) (4,094 )
Total stockholders’ equity 631,895 655,344
Noncontrolling interests (6 ) 393
Total equity 631,889 655,737
Total liabilities and equity $ 984,465 1,072,382

BUFFALO WILD WINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Dollar amounts in thousands)

(unaudited)

Nine months ended
September 25,September 27,
20162015
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net earnings including noncontrolling interests $ 78,727 69,584
Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash provided by operations:
Depreciation and amortization 113,847 90,887
Loss on asset disposals 4,489 4,180
Deferred lease credits 4,095 4,260
Deferred income taxes 962 (13,561 )
Stock-based compensation 2,453 11,689
Excess tax benefit from stock issuance 57 (1,088 )
Change in fair value of contingent consideration (1,591 )
Loss on investments in affiliates 1,904
Change in operating assets and liabilities, net of effect of acquisitions:
Trading securities (173 )
Accounts receivable (5,025 ) (4,982 )
Inventory 1,954 (421 )
Prepaid expenses (1,273 ) (868 )
Other assets (4,450 ) 74
Unearned franchise fees 477 104
Accounts payable 6,465 6,901
Income taxes 20,991 545
Accrued expenses (10,145 ) (248 )
Net cash provided by operating activities 213,937 166,883
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of property and equipment (117,850 ) (124,233 )
Acquisition of businesses (3,862 ) (209,713 )
Purchase of marketable securities (488 ) (12,301 )
Proceeds from marketable securities 1,205 23,300
Net cash used in investing activities (120,995 ) (322,947 )
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from credit facility 464,521 197,422
Repayments of credit facility (440,448 ) (150,467 )
Borrowings from restricted funds 1,478 31,634
Repurchases of common stock (105,852 )
Other financing activities (1,557 ) (580 )
Issuance of common stock 2,199 2,903
Excess tax benefit from stock issuance (57 ) 1,088
Tax payments for restricted stock units (9,317 ) (7,847 )
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (89,033 ) 74,153
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (371 ) 61
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 3,538 (81,850 )
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 11,220 93,329
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 14,758 11,479

BUFFALO WILD WINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Supplemental Information

Restaurant Count

Company-owned Restaurants (includes Buffalo Wild Wings, R Taco, and Buffalo Wild Wings-owned PizzaRev locations):

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2016 603 609 617
2015 501 517 573 596
2014 443 449 463 491
2013 397 407 415 434
2012 327 330 343 381

Franchised Restaurants (includes Buffalo Wild Wings and R Taco locations):

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2016 587 596 602
2015 593 593 569 579
2014 569 579 588 591
2013 514 525 534 559
2012 505 505 511 510

Restaurant Count Rollforward:

Nine Months Ended
September 25, 2016September 27, 2015
CorporateFranchiseTotalCorporateFranchiseTotal
Buffalo Wild Wings
Beginning of period 590 573 1,163 487 584 1,071
Opened 19 25 44 29 37 66
Acquired 1 (1) 54 (54)
Closed/Relocated (2) (2) (4) (2) (4) (6)
End of period 608 595 1,203 568 563 1,131
R Taco
Beginning of period 4 6 10 2 7 9
Opened 3 1 4
Acquired 1 (1)
Closed/Relocated
End of period 7 7 14 3 6 9
PizzaRev
Beginning of period 2 n/a 2 2 n/a 2
Opened n/a n/a
Acquired n/a n/a
Closed/Relocated n/a n/a
End of period 2 n/a 2 2 n/a 2
Consolidated
End of the period 617 602 1,219 573 569 1,142

BUFFALO WILD WINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Supplemental Information

Same-Store Sales at Buffalo Wild Wings in United States and Canada

Company-owned Restaurants:

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Year

2016 (1.7%) (2.1%) (1.8%)
2015 7.0% 4.2% 3.9% 1.9% 4.2%
2014 6.6% 7.7% 6.0% 5.9% 6.5%
2013 1.4% 3.8% 4.8% 5.2% 3.9%
2012 9.2% 5.3% 6.2% 5.8% 6.6%

Franchised Restaurants:

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Year

2016 (2.4%) (2.6%) (1.6%)
2015 6.0% 2.5% 1.2% 0.1% 2.5%
2014 5.0% 6.5% 5.7% 5.1% 5.6%
2013 2.2% 4.1% 3.9% 3.1% 3.3%
2012 7.3% 5.5% 5.8% 7.4% 6.5%

Average Weekly Sales Volumes at Buffalo Wild Wings locations in United States and Canada

Company-owned Restaurants:

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Year

2016 $ 62,829 59,894 59,690
2015 64,851 61,960 61,831 61,971 62,529
2014 60,966 59,403 59,643 62,119 60,470
2013 56,953 54,759 55,592 58,204 56,392
2012 55,131 51,524 52,561 55,595 53,783

Franchised Restaurants:

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Year

2016 $ 65,636 62,454 61,497
2015 67,075 63,904 62,819 64,032 64,474
2014 63,852 61,845 61,586 63,949 62,595
2013 60,050 58,186 58,926 61,167 59,594
2012 57,282 54,766 55,608 58,490 56,570

Restaurant-Level Profit and Restaurant-Level Margin

Restaurant-level profit and restaurant-level margin are neither required by, nor presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP and are non-GAAP financial measures. Restaurant-level profit is defined restaurant sales less restaurant operating costs (cost of sales, labor, operating, and occupancy expense). Restaurant-level margin is defined as restaurant-level profit as a percentage of restaurant sales. Restaurant-level profit and restaurant-level margin have limitations as analytical tools, and should not be evaluated in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Management believes the restaurant-level profit and restaurant-level margin are important tools for investors because they are widely-used metrics within the restaurant industry to evaluate restaurant-level productivity, efficiency and performance. Management uses restaurant-level profit and restaurant-level margin as key performance indicators to evaluate the profitability of company-owned restaurants.

A reconciliation of restaurant sales to restaurant-level margin is provided below:

Three months endedNine months ended
September 25,September 27,September 25,September 27,
2016201520162015
Restaurant sales $ 470,648 431,763 1,421,142 1,248,595
Restaurant operating costs 387,829 353,328 1,160,424 1,016,253
Restaurant-level profit $ 82,819 78,435 260,718 232,342
Restaurant-level margin 17.6 % 18.2 % 18.3 % 18.6 %

Contacts:

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc.
Investor Relations Contact:
Heather Pribyl, 952-540-2095

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