BWLD Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (delisted)

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (BWLD) is coming off of a surprisingly strong quarter. Earnings beat expectations and the company will continue is aggressive expansion.

This Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) has analysts raising their outlooks on positive guidance from the company.

Company Description

Buffalo Wild Wings owns, operates and franchises the popular sports bar that serves up specialized chicken wings, amongst other offerings. They have over 750 locations across the U.S.

Earnings Jump 41%

On Apr 26 the wing slingers announced quarterly results that showed an impressive 20% rise in revenue, to $182 million. They benefited largely from the aggressive expansion, but still saw a 3.9% increase in company-owned same-store sales.

Net earnings came in at $14.9 million, up from 410.6 million a year ago, which works out to $0.81 per share. Analysts were expecting $0.73, giving Buffalo Wild Wings its fifth consecutive earnings surprise.

What stood out from the CEO's comments was that they benefited from lower costs for their wings, which is surprising given the rising commodity costs elsewhere.

Optimistic Outlook

Buffalo Wild Wings said that they are continuing with their expansion plans, hoping to add 25 locations in the current quarter. And, while the acknowledge that an interruption to the NFL season could put a damper on business, they still expect to hit their earnings goals.

Analysts went ahead and raised full-year targets for 2011 and 2012 on the news. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this year is up 11 cents, to $2.62, which would be a 25% growth rate. Next year's forecasts average $3.11, up 8 cents and project a 19% growth rate.

The Chart

Some may balk when a stocks price seems to be moving straight up, but you can see the earnings trend warrants the move. Shares are trading with a forward P/E around 23 times, but the PEG ratio of 1.1 says that the long-term growth is worth the price.