Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. Announces Second Quarter Earnings Per Share of $1.25


- Net Earnings Growth to Exceed 25% and Could Reach 30% -

MINNEAPOLIS, July 29, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (Nasdaq:BWLD) announced today financial results for the second quarter ended June 29, 2014. Highlights for the second quarter versus the same period a year ago were:

  • Total revenue increased 20.0% to $366.0 million
  • Company-owned restaurant sales grew 20.2% to $343.1 million
  • Same-store sales increased 7.7% at company-owned restaurants and 6.5% at franchised restaurants
  • Net earnings increased 43.8% to $23.7 million from $16.5 million, and earnings per diluted share increased 42.0% to $1.25 from $0.88

Sally Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We're pleased with our strong results in the second quarter. Same-store sales increased 7.7% at company-owned restaurants and 6.5% at franchised locations. Same-store sales were strong during the Final Four and continued through the NBA and NHL playoffs. We love it when playoff series have more games and extend into overtime! With the 2014 World Cup, we had an opportunity to showcase the brand and capture sales from the growing U.S. soccer audience. Sales during the tournament were robust, contributing 100 basis points to our company-owned same-store sales increase for the quarter."

Ms. Smith continued, "Our cost of sales percentage was lower than last year, primarily driven by a decrease in the price per pound for traditional chicken wings. Strong sales growth, combined with lower costs and leveraging expenses, produced net earnings growth of 43.8% and earnings per diluted share of $1.25."

Total revenue increased 20.0% to $366.0 million in the second quarter compared to $305.0 million in the second quarter of 2013. Company-owned restaurant sales for the quarter increased 20.2% over the same period in 2013, to $343.1 million, driven by a company-owned same-store sales increase of 7.7% and 41 additional company-owned Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants at the end of second quarter 2014 relative to the same period in 2013. Franchise royalties and fees increased 16.6% to $22.9 million for the quarter versus $19.6 million in the second quarter of 2013. This increase is attributed to a franchised same-store sales increase of 6.5% and 54 additional franchised restaurants at the end of the period versus a year ago.

Average weekly sales for company-owned restaurants were $59,403 for the second quarter of 2014 compared to $54,759 for the same quarter last year, an 8.5% increase. Franchised restaurants averaged $61,845 for the period versus $58,186 in the second quarter a year ago, a 6.3% increase.

For the second quarter, net earnings increased 43.8% to $23.7 million versus $16.5 million in the second quarter of 2013. Earnings per diluted share were $1.25, as compared to second quarter 2013 earnings per diluted share of $0.88.

2014 Outlook

Ms. Smith remarked, "Our same-store sales for the first four weeks of the third quarter were 8.2% at company-owned restaurants and 7.4% at franchised locations. Company-owned same-store sales include a benefit of 330 basis points from the World Cup. Looking ahead, we are preparing for our favorite time of the year, football season. Buffalo Wild Wings is the best place to host your fantasy football draft party and to watch all the games with friends. We believe that draft parties kick off a great football season at Buffalo Wild Wings."

Ms. Smith concluded, "We're very pleased with our sales momentum in the first seven months of 2014. We are investing for long-term growth and delivering impressive net earnings growth to Buffalo Wild Wings shareholders. Based on our year-to-date performance, our current same-store sales trends, and anticipated food costs and labor expense, we believe net earnings growth will exceed 25% for 2014, and could reach 30%."

Buffalo Wild Wings will be hosting a conference call today, July 29, 2014 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 August 5, 2014. To access this replay, please dial 1.858.384.5517 password 1728851.

About the Company

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc., founded in 1982 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 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 1,025 Buffalo Wild Wings locations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

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 third quarter sales trends and projected unit and net earnings growth rates for 2014 and beyond. 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," "intends," "may," "plans," "potential," "predicts," "should" 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 non-U.S. 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, 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 29, 2013, 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 ended Six months ended
  June 29, June 30, June 29, June 30,
  2014 2013 2014 2013
Revenue:        
Restaurant sales $343,141 285,403 688,086 569,828
Franchise royalties and fees 22,853 19,604 45,763 39,543
         
Total revenue 365,994 305,007 733,849 609,371
         
Costs and expenses:        
Restaurant operating costs:        
Cost of sales 96,837 86,630 194,324 179,721
Labor 107,432 88,929 212,766 174,760
Operating 50,017 41,212 99,055 82,317
Occupancy 19,283 16,865 38,252 32,991
Depreciation and amortization 23,746 21,084 46,578 41,227
General and administrative 30,223 23,601 58,379 44,898
Preopening 2,197 2,420 4,775 6,691
Loss on asset disposals and impairment 1,211 229 1,998 800
         
Total costs and expenses 330,946 280,970 656,127 563,405
         
Income from operations 35,048 24,037 77,722 45,966
Other income (loss) 235 (84) 108 261
         
Earnings before income taxes 35,283 23,953 77,830 46,227
Income tax expense 11,580 7,464 25,811 13,359
         
Net earnings $23,703 16,489 52,019 32,868
         
Earnings per common share – basic $1.25 0.88 2.75 1.75
Earnings per common share – diluted 1.25 0.88 2.74 1.75
Weighted average shares outstanding – basic 18,904 18,768 18,888 18,758
Weighted average shares outstanding – diluted 18,981 18,827 18,967 18,815

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 ended Six months ended
  June 29, June 30, June 29, June 30,
  2014 2013 2014 2013
         
Revenue:        
Restaurant sales 93.8% 93.6% 93.8% 93.5%
Franchising royalties and fees 6.2 6.4 6.2 6.5
         
Total revenue 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
         
Costs and expenses:        
Restaurant operating costs:        
Cost of sales 28.2 30.4 28.2 31.5
Labor 31.3 31.2 30.9 30.7
Operating 14.6 14.4 14.4 14.4
Occupancy 5.6 5.9 5.6 5.8
Depreciation and amortization 6.5 6.9 6.3 6.8
General and administrative 8.3 7.7 8.0 7.4
Preopening 0.6 0.8 0.7 1.1
Loss on asset disposals and impairment 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.1
         
Total costs and expenses 90.4 92.1 89.4 92.5
         
Income from operations 9.6 7.9 10.6 7.5
Other income (loss) 0.1 (0.0) 0.0 0.0
         
Earnings before income taxes 9.6 7.9 10.6 7.6
Income tax expense 3.2 2.4 3.5 2.2
         
Net earnings 6.5% 5.4% 7.1% 5.4%
 
BUFFALO WILD WINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
 
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
 
(Dollar amounts in thousands)
 
(unaudited)
     
     
  June 29, December 29,
  2014 2013
     
Assets    
Current assets:    
Cash and cash equivalents $80,902 57,502
Marketable securities 20,149 7,584
Accounts receivable, net of allowance of $125 and $25 respectively 22,560 21,845
Inventory 10,100 9,492
Prepaid expenses 11,134 4,509
Refundable income taxes 4,329
Deferred income taxes 10,749 9,287
Restricted assets 43,401 68,208
     
Total current assets 198,995 182,756
     
Property and equipment, net 449,149 440,538
Reacquired franchise rights, net 31,137 33,403
Other assets 19,499 16,498
Goodwill 32,533 32,533
     
Total assets $731,313 705,728
     
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity    
Current liabilities:    
Unearned franchise fees $1,760 1,818
Accounts payable 32,031 31,806
Accrued compensation and benefits 44,884 52,049
Accrued expenses 12,798 13,784
Income tax payable 1,438
Current portion of deferred lease credits 429
System-wide payables 43,037 67,017
     
Total current liabilities 136,377 166,474
     
Long-term liabilities:    
Other liabilities 3,863 1,913
Deferred income taxes 28,638 37,822
Deferred lease credits, net of current portion 35,470 33,711
     
Total liabilities 204,348 239,920
     
Commitments and contingencies    
Stockholders' equity:    
Undesignated stock, 1,000,000 shares authorized
Common stock, no par value. Authorized 44,000,000 shares; issued and outstanding 18,920,578 and 18,803,663, respectively 142,377 133,203
Retained earnings 385,620 333,601
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (1,032) (996)
     
Total stockholders' equity 526,965 465,808
     
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $731,313 705,728
 
BUFFALO WILD WINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
 
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
 
(Dollar amounts in thousands)
 
(unaudited)
     
     
  Six months ended
  June 29, June 30,
  2014 2013
     
Cash flows from operating activities:    
Net earnings $52,019 32,868
Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash provided by operations:    
Depreciation 44,312 38,704
Amortization 2,266 2,524
Loss on asset disposals and impairment 1,998 800
Deferred lease credits 2,998 2,105
Deferred income taxes (10,623) (1,542)
Stock-based compensation 7,665 4,014
Excess tax benefit from stock issuance (118) (147)
Change in operating assets and liabilities, net of effect of acquisitions:    
Trading securities (569) (348)
Accounts receivable (347) 3,478
Inventory (608) (678)
Prepaid expenses (6,618) 1,653
Other assets (2) (852)
Unearned franchise fees (58) 410
Accounts payable 69 (8,135)
Income taxes 5,885 2,133
Accrued expenses 1,019 (221)
     
Net cash provided by operating activities 99,288 76,766
     
Cash flows from investing activities:    
Acquisition of property and equipment (54,864) (63,910)
Acquisition of businesses/investments in affiliates (3,000) (10,288)
Purchase of marketable securities (11,996)
Proceeds from marketable securities 3,282
     
Net cash used in investing activities (69,860) (70,916)
     
Cash flows from financing activities:    
Proceeds from line of credit 5,000
Repayments of line of credit (5,000)
Issuance of common stock 1,665 1,152
Excess tax benefit from stock issuance 118 147
Tax payments for restricted stock units (7,474) (4,813)
     
Net cash used in financing activities (5,691) (3,514)
     
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (337) (177)
     
     
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 23,400 2,159
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 57,502 21,340
     
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $80,902 23,499
 
BUFFALO WILD WINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Supplemental Information
           
Restaurant Count
Company-owned Restaurants:  
  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4  
2014 443 449      
2013 397 407 415 434  
2012 327 330 343 381  
2011 263 277 288 319  
2010 235 234 244 259  
           
Franchised Restaurants:
  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4  
2014 569 579      
2013 514 525 534 559  
2012 505 505 511 510  
2011 488 492 498 498  
2010 430 447 457 473  
           
           
Same-Store Sales
Company-owned Restaurants:
  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Year
2014 6.6% 7.7%      
2013 1.4% 3.8% 4.8% 5.2% 3.9%
2012 9.2% 5.3% 6.2% 5.8% 6.6%
2011 3.9% 5.9% 5.7% 8.9% 6.1%
2010 0.1% (0.1%) 2.6% (0.3%) 0.6%
           
Franchised Restaurants:
  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Year
2014 5.0% 6.5%      
2013 2.2% 4.1% 3.9% 3.1% 3.3%
2012 7.3% 5.5% 5.8% 7.4% 6.5%
2011 1.6% 2.7% 4.2% 5.9% 3.6%
2010 0.7% (0.7%) 0.3% (1.1%) (0.2%)
 
BUFFALO WILD WINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Supplemental Information
           
Average Weekly Sales Volumes at United States and Canada Buffalo Wild Wings
           
Company-owned Restaurants:
  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Year
2014 60,966 59,403      
2013 56,953 54,759 55,592 58,204 56,392
2012 55,131 51,524 52,561 55,595 53,783
2011 48,845 47,970 49,461 51,983 49,627
2010 45,327 43,021 44,394 45,595 44,601
           
Franchised Restaurants:
  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Year
2014 63,852 61,845      
2013 60,050 58,186 58,926 61,167 59,594
2012 57,282 54,766 55,608 58,490 56,570
2011 52,744 50,995 51,350 53,385 52,081
2010 51,532 49,051 49,005 49,837 49,835

            

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