What smart money is saying about Wingstop
3 funds in our archive have pitched Wingstop, most recently Artisan Global Discovery Strategy in June 2025.
Wingstop Inc., together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates restaurants under the Wingstop brand name. Its restaurants offer classic wings, boneless wings, and tenders that are cooked-to-order, and hand-sauced-and-tossed in various flavors. As of December 25, 2021, the company had 1,695 franchised restaurants and 36 company-owned restaurants in 44 states and 7 countries worldwide. Wingstop Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Addison, Texas.
Get an email when a fund buys, sells or pitches it
Fund signal · last 12 months
5 lettersToo few moves on Wingstop yet for a clear signal
Moves described in fund letters in our archive. A sentence published word for word by several funds of one house in the same quarter counts once.
Position history
Between Q1 2025 and Q3 2026, 10 fund letters reported a position in Wingstop, with 3 buys (opened or added) and 2 sells (trimmed or exited).
| Quarter | Letters | Bought | Sold | Theses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Q2 2026 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Q1 2026 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Q3 2025 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Q2 2025 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Q1 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Bought and Sold count moves: the same sentence published by several funds of one house in a quarter counts once.
Fund activity · 10 positions · 5 moves
- September 2026
“Consumer-oriented holdings also detracted as rising prices weighed on Wingstop’s core younger, lower-income customers, keeping domestic same-store sales negative.”
Wingstop - ExitedBaron Discovery FundSeptember 2026
“Top net sales for the quarter Year Acquired Market Cap When Acquired ($B) Quarter End Market Cap or Market Cap When Sold ($B) Net Amount Sold ($M) Wingstop Inc. 2025 6.8 3.0 23.5 Rubrik, Inc. 2026 12.0 24.3 19.3 CareDx, Inc. 2024 0.7 3.4 17.0 Establishment Labs Holdings Inc. 2022 1.9 2.3 16.0 Novanta Inc. 2017 0.9 5.4 14.5 We sold our position in Wingstop Inc. during the quarter to allocate the proceeds into other restaurant companies where we felt there was better upside potential.”
Wingstop - New positionBaron Small Cap FundJune 2026
“Wingstop Inc. was a previous successful investment that remains a best-in-class franchisor with stellar unit economics and long growth runway.”
Wingstop - June 2026
“Wingstop Inc. was a previous successful investment that remains a best-in-class franchisor with stellar unit economics and long growth runway. We are investing again in this high-quality “fallen angel” at what we think is a meaningfully discounted valuation.”
Wingstop - March 2026
“Wingstop Inc., a franchiser and operator of chicken wings-focused restaurants, retreated -35%. While fourth-quarter comparisons were better than feared, underlying trends softened. This can be attributed to economic challenges faced by lower-income consumers, including high gasoline prices. We decided to trim back the position.”
Wingstop - September 2025
“Likewise, Wingstop also declined as real-time spending data has pointed to softer third-quarter spending trends.”
Wingstop - September 2025
“Among our Q3 detractors were Wingstop, Spotify and Atlassian.”
Wingstop - September 2025
“Wingstop, a quick-service restaurant franchisor, reported quarterly results that exceeded expectations, but shares declined due to broader weakness across the restaurant industry. We remain confident in key growth initiatives, including expanded national advertising and the rollout of smart kitchen technology.”
Wingstop - June 2025
“Another top contributor for the Fund was Wingstop, Inc. (WING).”
Wingstop - New positionPlatinium AMJune 2025
“Commentary – of chicken wings and healthy pets Following the announcement of the new US tariffs in early April, markets experienced a sharp but brief sell-off. The administration’s subsequent messaging about negotiating trade deals to wind back these tariffs quickly calmed markets. We used the narrow window of opportunity opened by this disruption to initiate two new positions: Wingstop and IDEXX Laboratories.”
Wingstop
Fund coverage · 3 theses
- Artisan Global Discovery StrategyJune 2025
Wingstop is an undervalued franchise poised for growth through domestic and international expansion, menu innovation, and strong brand partnerships.
Read the full thesis - Platinium AMJune 2025
Wingstop is a fast-casual restaurant chain focused on flavorful chicken wings with a simple menu, offering strong store productivity and growth potential.
Read the full thesis - Polen US Smid Company GrowthMarch 2025
Wingstop is an attractive investment due to its strong unit economics, growth potential, digital innovation, and customer loyalty, especially after a recent stock pullback.
Read the full thesis
Read every full thesis on Wingstop
Read all 3 theses in full, with each fund's reasoning, and get unlimited access to the archive.
View plans→