Wingstop Inc. 10-Q

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations The following discussion and analysis of the financial condition and results of operations of Wingstop Inc. (collectively with its direct and indirect subsidiaries on a consolidated basis, “Wingstop,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) should be read in conjunction with the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements and related notes in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (this “Quarterly Report”) and with the audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 25, 2021 (our “Annual Report”). The statements in this discussion regarding industry outlook, our expectations regarding our future performance, liquidity and capital resources, and other non-historical statements are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties described in “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” below and “Risk Factors” beginning on page 11 of our Annual Report. Our actual results may differ materially from those contained in or implied by any forward-looking statements. We operate on a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending on the last Saturday of each calendar year. Our fiscal quarters are comprised of 13 weeks, with the exception of the fourth quarter of a 53-week year, which contains 14 weeks. Fiscal year 2022 contains 53 weeks, while fiscal year 2021 contains 52 weeks. Overview Wingstop is the largest fast casual chicken wings-focused restaurant chain in the world, with 1,898 locations worldwide. We are dedicated to serving the world flavor through an unparalleled guest experience and offering of classic and boneless wings, tenders, and chicken sandwiches, always cooked to order and hand-sauced-and-tossed in 11 bold, distinctive flavors. The Company is primarily a franchisor, with approximately 98% of Wingstop’s restaurants currently owned and operated by independent franchisees. We believe our asset-light, highly-franchised business model generates strong operating margins and requires low capital expenditures, creating stockholder value through strong and consistent free cash flow and capital-efficient growth. Third Quarter of 2022 Highlights • System-wide sales increased 17.7% to $699.6 million • 40 net new openings in the fiscal third quarter of 2022 • Domestic same store sales increased 6.9% • Total revenue increased 40.9% to $92.7 million • Net income increased 18.4% to $13.4 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, compared to net income of $11.3 million, or $0.38 per diluted share in the prior fiscal third quarter • Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, increased 32.7% to $28.4 million, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $21.4 million in the prior fiscal third quarter Year-to-Date Third Quarter of 2022 Highlights • System-wide sales increased 12.6% to $2.0 billion • 167 net new openings in the year-to-date third quarter of 2022 • Domestic same store sales increased 1.6% • Total revenue increased 20.0% to $252.7 million • Net income decreased 1.1% to $35.4 million, or $1.18 per diluted share, compared to net income of $35.8 million, or $1.19 per diluted share in the prior fiscal year-to-date period • Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, increased 8.7% to $74.1 million, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $68.2 million in the prior fiscal year-to-date period 15 Key Performance Indicators Key measures that we use in evaluating our restaurants and assessing our business include the following: Number of restaurants. Management reviews the number of new restaurants, the number of closed restaurants, and the number of acquisitions and divestitures of restaurants to assess net new restaurant growth. Thirteen Weeks Ended Thirty-Nine Weeks Ended September 24, 2022 September 25, 2021 September 24, 2022 September 25, 2021 Domestic Franchised Activity: Beginning of period 1,600 1,415 1,498 1,327 Openings 32 44 137 132 Closures — (1) (3) (1) Acquired by Company (1) (3) (1) (3) Re-franchised by Company — 6 — 6 Restaurants end of period 1,631 1,461 1,631 1,461 Domestic Company-Owned Activity: Beginning of period 39 34 36 32 Openings 2 1 5 3 Closures — — — — Acquired by Company 1 3 1 3 Re-franchised to franchisees — (6) — (6) Restaurants end of period 42 32 42 32 Total Domestic Restaurants 1,673 1,493 1,673 1,493 International Franchised Activity: Beginning of period 219 175 197 179 Openings 9 10 32 16 Closures (3) (5) (4) (15) Restaurants end of period 225 180 225 180 Total System-wide Restaurants 1,898 1,673 1,898 1,673 System-wide sales. System-wide sales represents net sales for all of our company-owned and franchised restaurants. This measure allows management to better assess changes in our royalty revenue, our overall store performance, the health of our brand, and the strength of our market position relative to competitors. Our system-wide sales growth is driven by new restaurant openings as well as increases in same store sales. Domestic average unit volume (“AUV”). Domestic AUV consists of the average annual sales of all restaurants that have been open for a trailing 52-week period or longer. This measure is calculated by dividing sales during the applicable period for all restaurants being measured by the number of restaurants being measured. Domestic AUV includes revenue from both company-owned and franchised restaurants. Domestic AUV allows management to assess our company-owned and franchised restaurant economics. Our domestic AUV growth is primarily driven by increases in same store sales and is also influenced by opening new restaurants. Domestic same store sales. Domestic same store sales reflects the change in year-over-year sales for the same store base. We define the same store base to include those restaurants open for at least 52 full weeks. This measure highlights the performance of existing restaurants, while excluding the impact of new restaurant openings and closures. We review same store sales for domestic company-owned restaurants as well as system-wide domestic restaurants. Domestic same store sales growth is driven by increases in transactions and average transaction size. Transaction size increases are driven by price increases or favorable mix shift from either an increase in items purchased or shifts into higher priced items. 16 EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA. We define EBITDA as net income before interest expense, net, income tax expense (benefit), and depreciation and amortization. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income before interest expense, net, income tax expense (benefit), and depreciation and amortization, with further adjustments for losses on debt extinguishment and refinancing transactions, transaction costs, costs and fees associated with investments in our strategic initiatives, gains and losses on the disposal of assets, and stock-based compensation expense. Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to other similarly titled captions of other companies due to differences in methods of calculation. For a reconciliation of net income to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA and for further discussion of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA as non-GAAP measures and how we utilize them, see footnote 2 below. Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings Per Diluted Share. We define Adjusted net income as net income adjusted for losses on debt extinguishment and refinancing transactions, transaction costs, costs and fees associated with investments in our strategic initiatives, gains and losses on the disposal of assets, and related tax adjustments. We define Adjusted earnings per diluted share as Adjusted net income divided by weighted average diluted share count. For a reconciliation of net income to Adjusted net income and for further discussion of Adjusted net income and Adjusted earnings per diluted share as non-GAAP measures and how we utilize them, see footnote 3 below. The following table sets forth our key performance indicators for the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022 and September 25, 2021 (in thousands, except unit data): Thirteen Weeks Ended Thirty-Nine Weeks Ended September 24, 2022 September 25, 2021 September 24, 2022 September 25, 2021 Number of system-wide restaurants open at end of period 1,898 1,673 1,898 1,673 System-wide sales (1) $ 699,569 $ 594,300 $ 1,963,219 $ 1,742,829 Domestic restaurant AUV $ 1,591 $ 1,579 $ 1,591 $ 1,579 Domestic same store sales growth 6.9 % 3.9 % 1.6 % 8.1 % Company-owned domestic same store sales growth 4.3 % (0.2) % 0.3 % 2.9 % Total revenue $ 92,672 $ 65,784 $ 252,654 $ 210,474 Net income $ 13,368 $ 11,290 $ 35,351 $ 35,762 Adjusted EBITDA (2) $ 28,394 $ 21,399 $ 74,149 $ 68,195 Adjusted net income (3) $ 13,550 $ 8,579 $ 37,293 $ 33,051 (1) The percentage of system-wide sales attributable to company-owned restaurants was 2.9% for both the thirteen weeks ended September 24, 2022 and September 25, 2021, and was 2.9% and 3.1% for the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022 and September 25, 2021, respectively. The remainder was generated by franchised restaurants, as reported by our franchisees. (2) EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are supplemental measures of our performance that are not required by, or presented in accordance with, GAAP. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to net income or any other performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP, or as an alternative to cash flow from operating activities as a measure of our liquidity. We caution investors that amounts presented in accordance with our definitions of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by our competitors, because not all companies and analysts calculate EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA in the same manner. We present EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA because we consider them to be important supplemental measures of our performance and believe they are frequently used by securities analysts, investors, and other interested parties in the evaluation of companies in our industry. Management believes that investors’ understanding of our performance is enhanced by including these non-GAAP financial measures as a reasonable basis for comparing our ongoing results of operations. Many investors are interested in understanding the performance of our business by comparing our results from ongoing operations on a period-over-period basis and would ordinarily add back non-cash expenses such as depreciation and amortization, as well as items that are not part of normal day-to-day operations of our business. Management uses EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA: • as a measurement of operating performance because they assist us in comparing the operating performance of our restaurants on a consistent basis, as they remove the impact of items not directly resulting from our core operations; 17 • for planning purposes, including the preparation of our internal annual operating budget and financial projections; • to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of our operational strategies; • to evaluate our capacity to fund capital expenditures and expand our business; and • to calculate incentive compensation payments for our employees, including assessing performance under our annual incentive compensation plan and determining the vesting of performance-based equity awards. By providing these non-GAAP financial measures, together with a reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP measure, we believe we are enhancing investors’ understanding of our business and our results of operations, as well as assisting investors in evaluating how well we are executing our strategic initiatives. In addition, the instruments governing our indebtedness use EBITDA (with additional adjustments) to measure our compliance with covenants, such as our fixed charge coverage, lease adjusted leverage, and debt incurrence. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation, or as an alternative to, or a substitute for net income or other financial statement data presented in our consolidated financial statements as indicators of financial performance. Some of the limitations are: • such measures do not reflect our cash expenditures or future requirements for capital expenditures or contractual commitments; • such measures do not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs; • such measures do not reflect the interest expense or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments on our debt; • such measures do not reflect our tax expense or the cash requirements to pay our taxes; • although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future and such measures do not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements; and • other companies in our industry may calculate such measures differently than we do, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures. Due to these limitations, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as measures of discretionary cash available to us to invest in the growth of our business. We compensate for these limitations by relying primarily on our GAAP results and using these non-GAAP measures only supplementally. As noted in the table below, Adjusted EBITDA includes adjustments for losses on debt extinguishment and refinancing transactions, transaction costs, costs and fees associated with investments in our strategic initiatives, gains and losses on the disposal of assets, and stock-based compensation expense. It is reasonable to expect that these items will occur in future periods. However, we believe these adjustments are appropriate because the amounts recognized can vary significantly from period to period, do not directly relate to the ongoing operations of our restaurants, and complicate comparisons of our internal operating results and operating results of other restaurant companies over time. Each of the normal recurring adjustments and other adjustments described in this paragraph and in the reconciliation table below help management measure our core operating performance over time by removing items that are not related to day-to-day operations. 18 The following table reconciles net income to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA for the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022 and September 25, 2021 (in thousands): Thirteen Weeks Ended Thirty-Nine Weeks Ended September 24, 2022 September 25, 2021 September 24, 2022 September 25, 2021 Net income $ 13,368 $ 11,290 $ 35,351 $ 35,762 Interest expense, net 5,742 3,724 15,920 11,230 Income tax expense (benefit) 4,681 5,840 10,596 12,568 Depreciation and amortization 2,836 2,061 7,610 5,379 EBITDA $ 26,627 $ 22,915 $ 69,477 $ 64,939 Additional adjustments: Loss on debt extinguishment and financing transaction costs (a) — — 1,124 — Loss (gain) on disposal of assets (b) 239 (3,567) 1,006 (3,567) Consulting fees (c) — — 425 — Stock-based compensation expense (d) 1,528 2,051 2,117 6,823 Adjusted EBITDA $ 28,394 $ 21,399 $ 74,149 $ 68,195 (a) Represents costs and expenses related to our 2022 securitized financing facility and payment of a special dividend, as well as the extinguishment of our 2020 variable funding note facility; all transaction costs are included in Loss on debt extinguishment during the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, with the exception of $310,000 that is included in Selling, general and administrative on the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income. (b) Represents a loss (gain) resulting from the sale of assets to a franchisee. This loss (gain) is included in Loss (gain) on disposal of assets in the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income. (c) Represents costs and expenses related to a consulting project to support the Company's strategic initiatives, which are included in Selling, general and administrative on the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income. (d) Includes non-cash, stock-based compensation, net of forfeitures. (3) Adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per diluted share are supplemental measures of operating performance that do not represent and should not be considered alternatives to net income and earnings per share, as determined by GAAP. These measures have not been prepared in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation S-X promulgated under the Securities Act. Management believes adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per diluted share supplement GAAP measures and enable management to more effectively evaluate the Company’s performance period-over-period and relative to competitors. 19 The following table reconciles net income to Adjusted net income and calculates adjusted earnings per diluted share for the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022 and September 25, 2021 (in thousands): Thirteen Weeks Ended Thirty-Nine Weeks Ended September 24, 2022 September 25, 2021 September 24, 2022 September 25, 2021 Numerator: Net income $ 13,368 $ 11,290 $ 35,351 $ 35,762 Adjustments: Loss on debt extinguishment and financing transactions (a) — — 1,124 — Loss (gain) on disposal of assets (b) 239 (3,567) 1,006 (3,567) Consulting fees (c) — — 425 — Tax effect of adjustments (d) (57) 856 (613) 856 Adjusted net income $ 13,550 $ 8,579 $ 37,293 $ 33,051 Denominator: Weighted-average shares outstanding - diluted 29,967 29,963 29,951 29,936 Adjusted earnings per diluted share $ 0.45 $ 0.29 $ 1.25 $ 1.10 (a) Represents costs and expenses related to our 2022 securitized financing facility and payment of a special dividend, as well as the extinguishment of our 2020 variable funding note facility; all transaction costs are included in Loss on debt extinguishment during the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, with the exception of $310,000 that is included in Selling, general and administrative on the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income. (b) Represents a loss (gain) resulting from the sale of assets to a franchisee. This loss (gain) is included in Loss on disposal of assets in the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income. (c) Represents costs and expenses related to a consulting project to support the Company's strategic initiatives, which are included in Selling, general and administrative on the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income. (d) Represents the tax effect of the aforementioned adjustments to reflect corporate income taxes at an assumed effective tax rate of 24% for the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022 and September 25, 2021, which includes provisions for U.S. federal income taxes, and assumes the respective statutory rates for applicable state and local jurisdictions. 20 Results of Operations Thirteen Weeks Ended September 24, 2022 compared to Thirteen Weeks Ended September 25, 2021 The following table sets forth our results of operations for the thirteen weeks ended September 24, 2022 and September 25, 2021 (dollars in thousands): Thirteen Weeks Ended Increase / (Decrease) September 24, 2022 September 25, 2021 $ % Revenue: Royalty revenue, franchise fees and other $ 40,363 $ 32,829 $ 7,534 22.9 % Advertising fees 32,146 15,575 16,571 106.4 % Company-owned restaurant sales 20,163 17,380 2,783 16.0 % Total revenue 92,672 65,784 26,888 40.9 % Costs and expenses: Cost of sales (1) 15,724 15,206 518 3.4 % Advertising expenses 33,106 16,232 16,874 104.0 % Selling, general and administrative 16,686 15,020 1,666 11.1 % Depreciation and amortization 2,836 2,061 775 37.6 % Loss (gain) on disposal of assets 239 (3,567) 3,806 (106.7) % Total costs and expenses 68,591 44,952 23,639 52.6 % Operating income 24,081 20,832 3,249 15.6 % Interest expense, net 5,742 3,724 2,018 54.2 % Other expense (income) 290 (22) 312 NM* Income before income tax expense 18,049 17,130 919 5.4 % Income tax expense 4,681 5,840 (1,159) (19.8) % Net income $ 13,368 $ 11,290 $ 2,078 18.4 % * Not meaningful. (1) Cost of sales includes all operating expenses of company-owned restaurants, including advertising expenses, and excludes depreciation and amortization, which are presented separately. Total revenue. During the thirteen weeks ended September 24, 2022, total revenue was $92.7 million, an increase of $26.9 million, or 40.9%, compared to $65.8 million in the comparable period in 2021. Royalty revenue, franchise fees and other increased $7.5 million, of which $3.6 million was due to 215 net franchise restaurant openings since September 25, 2021, and $3.2 million was due to domestic same store sales growth of 6.9%. Advertising fees increased $16.6 million due to an increase in the national advertising fund contribution rate to 5% from 4% effective the first day of the fiscal second quarter 2022, as well as the 17.7% increase in system-wide sales in the fiscal third quarter 2022 compared to the fiscal third quarter 2021. Additionally, during the fiscal third quarter 2021, a $6.9 million non-recurring rebate of advertising surplus was returned to franchisees, reducing the revenue recognized. Company-owned restaurant sales increased $2.8 million due to an increase of $2.3 million related to the addition of nine net new company-owned restaurants compared to the prior year comparable period, as well as a 4.3% increase in company-owned same store sales, which was driven by an increase in menu prices and an increase in transactions. Cost of sales. During the thirteen weeks ended September 24, 2022, cost of sales was $15.7 million, an increase of $0.5 million, or 3.4%, compared to $15.2 million in the comparable period in 2021. Cost of sales as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales was 78.0% in the fiscal third quarter 2022, compared to 87.5% in the fiscal third quarter 2021. 21 The table below presents the major components of cost of sales (dollars in thousands): Thirteen Weeks Ended September 24, 2022 September 25, 2021 In dollars As a % of company-owned restaurant sales In dollars As a % of company-owned restaurant sales Cost of sales: Food, beverage and packaging costs 7,504 37.2 % 8,353 48.1 % Labor costs 4,652 23.1 % 4,269 24.6 % Other restaurant operating expenses 3,842 19.1 % 2,781 16.0 % Vendor rebates (441) (2.2) % (396) (2.3) % Cost of sales (excluding pre-opening expenses) 15,557 77.2 % 15,007 86.3 % Pre-opening expenses 167 0.8 % 199 1.1 % Total cost of sales 15,724 78.0 % 15,206 87.5 % Food, beverage and packaging costs as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales were 37.2% in the thirteen weeks ended September 24, 2022, compared to 48.1% in the comparable period in 2021. The decrease was primarily due to a 42.7% decrease in the cost of bone-in chicken wings as compared to the prior year period. This decrease was partially offset by inflation in other food costs during the fiscal third quarter 2022. Labor costs as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales were 23.1% for the thirteen weeks ended September 24, 2022, compared to 24.6% in the comparable period in 2021. The decrease as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales was primarily due to our ability to leverage costs due to the company-owned domestic same store sales increase of 4.3%. This was partially offset by higher wage rates in the company-owned restaurants recently opened in New York City, as well as increases in company-owned restaurant wages as a result of the ongoing competitive labor market during the fiscal third quarter 2022. Other restaurant operating expenses as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales were 19.1% for the thirteen weeks ended September 24, 2022, compared to 16.0% in the comparable period in 2021. The increase as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales was primarily a result of higher rent and occupancy costs associated with company-owned restaurants recently opened in New York City during the fiscal third quarter 2022. Advertising expenses. During the thirteen weeks ended September 24, 2022, advertising expenses were $33.1 million, an increase of $16.9 million compared to $16.2 million in the comparable period in 2021. Advertising expenses are recognized at the same time the related revenue is recognized, which does not necessarily correlate to the actual timing of the related advertising spend. Selling, general and administrative (SG&A). During the thirteen weeks ended September 24, 2022, SG&A expense was $16.7 million, an increase of $1.7 million compared to $15.0 million in the comparable period in 2021. The increase of SG&A expense was primarily due to an increase of $1.0 million in headcount related expenses to support the growth in our business, as well as an increase of $0.4 million in professional fees to support the Company’s strategic initiatives. These increases were partially offset by a decrease of $0.5 million in stock-based compensation expense related to stock awards forfeited during the fiscal third quarter 2022. Depreciation and amortization. During the thirteen weeks ended September 24, 2022, depreciation expense was $2.8 million, an increase of $0.8 million compared to $2.1 million in the comparable period in 2021. The increase in depreciation and amortization was primarily due to capital expenditures related to our technology investments. Loss (gain) on disposal of assets. During the thirteen weeks ended September 24, 2022, loss on disposal of assets was $0.2 million related to the sale of restaurant assets to a franchisee. In the comparable period in 2021, gain on disposal of assets was $3.6 million related to the sale of six company-owned restaurants to a franchisee. Interest expense, net. During the thirteen weeks ended September 24, 2022, interest expense, net was $5.7 million, an increase of $2.0 million compared to $3.7 million of interest expense, net in the comparable period in 2021. The increase was due to the securitized financing transaction completed on March 9, 2022, which increased our outstanding debt by $250 million. Income tax expense. During the thirteen weeks ended September 24, 2022, we recognized income tax expense of $4.7 million yielding an effective tax rate of 25.9%, compared to an effective tax rate of 34.1% in the prior year period. The decrease in the 22 effective tax rate was primarily due to the impact of nondeductible expenses for executive compensation during the prior year comparable period. Thirty-Nine Weeks Ended September 24, 2022 compared to Thirty-Nine Weeks Ended September 25, 2021 The following table sets forth our results of operations for the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022 and September 25, 2021 (dollars in thousands): Thirty-Nine Weeks Ended Increase / (Decrease) September 24, 2022 September 25, 2021 $ % Revenue: Royalty revenue, franchise fees and other $ 111,477 $ 97,570 $ 13,907 14.3 % Advertising fees 83,672 59,672 24,000 40.2 % Company-owned restaurant sales 57,505 53,232 4,273 8.0 % Total revenue 252,654 210,474 42,180 20.0 % Costs and expenses: Cost of sales (1) 46,297 42,692 3,605 8.4 % Advertising expenses 85,958 61,560 24,398 39.6 % Selling, general and administrative 48,721 44,872 3,849 8.6 % Depreciation and amortization 7,610 5,379 2,231 41.5 % Loss (gain) on disposal of assets 1,006 (3,567) 4,573 (128.2) % Total costs and expenses 189,592 150,936 38,656 25.6 % Operating income 63,062 59,538 3,524 5.9 % Interest expense, net 15,920 11,230 4,690 41.8 % Loss on debt extinguishment 814 — 814 100.0 % Other expense (income) 381 (22) 403 NM* Income before income tax expense 45,947 48,330 (2,383) (4.9) % Income tax expense 10,596 12,568 (1,972) (15.7) % Net income $ 35,351 $ 35,762 $ (411) (1.1) % * Not meaningful. (1) Cost of sales includes all operating expenses of company-owned restaurants, including advertising expenses, and excludes depreciation and amortization, which are presented separately. Total revenue. During the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, total revenue was $252.7 million, an increase of $42.2 million, or 20.0%, compared to $210.5 million in the comparable period in 2021. Royalty revenue, franchise fees and other increased $13.9 million, of which $7.6 million was due to 215 net franchise restaurant openings since September 25, 2021, and $5.5 million was due to domestic same store sales growth of 1.6%. Advertising fees increased $24.0 million due to an increase in the national advertising fund contribution rate to 5% from 4% effective the first day of the fiscal second quarter 2022, as well as the 12.6% increase in system-wide sales as compared to the prior year fiscal period. Additionally, during the prior year fiscal period, a $6.9 million non-recurring rebate of advertising surplus was returned to franchisees, reducing the revenue recognized. Company-owned restaurant sales increased $4.3 million primarily due to an increase of $4.2 million related to the addition of nine net new company-owned restaurants compared to the prior year comparable period. Cost of sales. During the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, cost of sales was $46.3 million, an increase of $3.6 million, or 8.4%, compared to $42.7 million in the comparable period in 2021. Cost of sales as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales was 80.5% in the current year fiscal period, compared to 80.2% in the prior year fiscal period. 23 The table below presents the major components of cost of sales (dollars in thousands): Thirty-Nine Weeks Ended September 24, 2022 September 25, 2021 In dollars As a % of company-owned restaurant sales In dollars As a % of company-owned restaurant sales Cost of sales: Food, beverage and packaging costs $ 22,847 39.7 % $ 23,680 44.5 % Labor costs 13,788 24.0 % 11,771 22.1 % Other restaurant operating expenses 10,122 17.6 % 8,219 15.4 % Vendor rebates (1,260) (2.2) % (1,187) (2.2) % Cost of sales (excluding pre-opening expenses) 45,497 79.1 % 42,483 79.8 % Pre-opening expenses 800 1.4 % 209 0.4 % Total cost of sales $ 46,297 80.5 % $ 42,692 80.2 % Food, beverage and packaging costs as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales were 39.7% in the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, compared to 44.5% in the comparable period in 2021. The decrease was primarily due to the benefit of menu price increases coupled with a 18.1% decrease in the cost of bone-in chicken wings as compared to the prior year period. These decreases were partially offset by the inflation in other food costs during the current year fiscal period. Labor costs as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales were 24.0% for the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, compared to 22.1% in the comparable period in 2021. The increase as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales was primarily due to higher wage rates in the restaurants recently opened in New York City, as well as increases in company-owned restaurant wages, hiring and training costs as a result of the ongoing competitive labor market during the current year fiscal period. Other restaurant operating expenses as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales were 17.6% for the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, compared to 15.4% in the comparable period in 2021. The increase as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales was primarily a result of higher rent and occupancy costs associated with the opening of company-owned restaurants in New York City for the current year fiscal period. Pre-opening expenses as a percentage of company-owned restaurant sales were 1.4% for the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022 compared to 0.4% in the comparable period in 2021. The increase is primarily due to our development of the New York City market. Advertising expenses. During the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, advertising expenses were $86.0 million, an increase of $24.4 million compared to $61.6 million in the comparable period in 2021. Advertising expenses are recognized at the same time the related revenue is recognized, which does not necessarily correlate to the actual timing of the related advertising spend. Selling, general and administrative (SG&A). During the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, SG&A expense was $48.7 million, an increase of $3.8 million compared to $44.9 million in the comparable period in 2021. The increase in SG&A expense was primarily due to an increase of $3.4 million in headcount related expenses to support the growth in our business, an increase of $2.5 million in professional fees to support the Company’s strategic initiatives, and an increase of $1.2 million in travel expense as compared to the prior year period. These increases were partially offset by a decrease of $4.7 million in stock-based compensation expense related to stock awards forfeited during the current year fiscal period. Depreciation and amortization. During the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, depreciation expense was $7.6 million, an increase of $2.2 million compared to $5.4 million in the comparable period in 2021. The increase in depreciation and amortization was primarily due to capital expenditures related to our corporate headquarters building and investments in technology. Loss (gain) on disposal of assets. During the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, loss on disposal of assets was $1.0 million related to the sale of restaurant assets to a franchisee. In the comparable period in 2021, gain on disposal of assets was $3.6 million related to the sale of six company-owned restaurants to a franchisee. 24 Interest expense, net. During the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, interest expense, net was $15.9 million, an increase of $4.7 million compared to $11.2 million of interest expense, net in the comparable period in 2021. The increase was due to the securitized financing transaction completed on March 9, 2022, which increased our outstanding debt by $250 million. Loss on debt extinguishment. Loss on debt extinguishment was $0.8 million during the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022 due to costs and fees associated with the extinguishment of our 2020 Variable Funding Note facility on March 9, 2022. Income tax expense. During the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, we recognized income tax expense of $10.6 million yielding an effective tax rate of 23.1%, compared to an effective tax rate of 26.0% in the prior year period. The decrease in the effective tax rate was primarily due to the impact of stock awards forfeited during the current year fiscal period, partially offset by the impact of excess tax benefits associated with stock options exercised in the prior year comparable period. Liquidity and Capital Resources General. Our primary sources of liquidity and capital resources are cash provided from operating activities, cash and cash equivalents on hand, and borrowings available under our securitized financing facility. Our primary requirements for liquidity and capital are working capital, general corporate needs, capital expenditures, income tax payments, debt service requirements, and dividend payments. Historically, we have operated with minimal positive working capital or with negative working capital. We generally utilize available cash flows from operations to invest in our business, service our debt obligations, and pay dividends. Our primary sources of short-term and long-term liquidity are expected to be cash flows from operations and available borrowings under our 2022 Variable Funding Notes (as defined below). As of September 24, 2022, the Company had $200.9 million of cash and restricted cash on its balance sheet. Based upon current levels of operations and anticipated growth, we expect that cash flows from operations, combined with our securitized financing facility including our 2022 Variable Funding Notes, will be sufficient to meet our capital expenditure, working capital and debt service requirements for at least the next twelve months and the foreseeable future. The following table shows summary cash flows information for the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022 and September 25, 2021 (in thousands): Thirty-Nine Weeks Ended September 24, 2022 September 25, 2021 Net cash provided by (used in): Operating activities $ 53,158 $ 54,045 Investing activities (16,636) (18,375) Financing activities 109,432 (18,334) Net change in cash and cash equivalents $ 145,954 $ 17,336 Operating activities . Our cash flow from operating activities are principally driven by sales at both franchise restaurants and company-owned restaurants, as well as franchise and development fees. We collect franchise royalties from our franchise owners on a weekly basis. Restaurant-level operating costs at our company-owned restaurants, unearned franchise and development fees, and corporate overhead costs also impact our cash flow from operating activities. Net cash provided by operating activities was $53.2 million in the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, a decrease of $0.9 million from cash provided by operating activities of $54.0 million in the thirty-nine weeks ended September 25, 2021. The decrease is primarily due to the change in timing of working capital. Investing activities . Our net cash used in investing activities was $16.6 million in the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, a decrease of $1.7 million from cash used in investing activities of $18.4 million in the thirty-nine weeks ended September 25, 2021. The decrease in cash used in investing activities was primarily due to a payment of $4.2 million related to a foreign investment in our United Kingdom franchisee made during the thirty-nine weeks ended September 25, 2021. This was partially offset by an increase in capital expenditures related to our investments in technology as compared to the prior year period. 25 Financing activities . Our net cash provided by financing activities was $109.4 million in the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022, a change of $127.8 million from cash used in financing activities of $18.3 million in the thirty-nine weeks ended September 25, 2021. The change was due to additional borrowings under our 2022 Class A-2 Notes (as defined below) of $250 million, partially offset by the payment of a special dividend in connection with the securitized financing transaction totaling $119.5 million, as well as deferred financing and other debt related costs incurred of $5.4 million during the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022 Securitized financing facility . On March 9, 2022, the Company completed a securitized financing transaction, pursuant to which Wingstop Funding LLC (the “Issuer”), a limited purpose, bankruptcy-remote, indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, issued $250 million of its Series 2022-1 3.734% Fixed Rate Senior Secured Notes, Class A-2 (the "2022 Class A-2 Notes"). The Issuer also entered into a revolving financing facility of Series 2022-1 Variable Funding Senior Notes, Class A-1 (the “2022 Variable Funding Notes,” and together with the 2022 Class A-2 Notes, the “2022 Notes”), which permits borrowings of up to a maximum principal amount of $200 million, subject to certain borrowing conditions, a portion of which may be used to issue letters of credit. The Company’s existing revolving financing facility of Series 2020-1 Class A-1 Notes was terminated in connection with the transaction. The proceeds from the securitized financing transaction were used to pay related transaction fees and expenses, strengthen the Company's liquidity position and for general corporate purposes, which included a return of capital to the Company’s stockholders. In addition to the 2022 Notes, the Company’s outstanding debt consists of its existing Series 2020-1 2.84% Fixed Rate Senior Secured Notes, Class A-2 (the “2020 Notes”). No borrowings were outstanding under the 2022 Variable Funding Notes as of September 24, 2022. Dividends. We paid a quarterly cash dividend of $0.17 per share of common stock in each of the first two quarters of 2022, and a quarterly cash dividend of $0.19 per share of common stock in the third quarter of 2022, resulting in aggregate dividend payments of $15.8 million during the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2022. On October 25, 2022, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a dividend of $0.19 per share, to be paid on December 2, 2022 to stockholders of record as of November 11, 2022, totaling approximately $5.7 million. We do not currently expect the restrictions in our debt instruments to impact our ability to make regular quarterly dividends pursuant to our quarterly dividend program. However, any future declarations of dividends, as well as the amount and timing of such dividends, are subject to capital availability and the discretion of our Board of Directors, which must evaluate, among other things, whether cash dividends are in the best interest of the Company and our stockholders. Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates Our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared in accordance with GAAP. Preparing consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses. These estimates and assumptions are affected by the application of our accounting policies. For a description of the Company’s critical accounting policies and estimates, refer to “Part II—Item 7—Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report. The Company considers its significant accounting policy over revenue recognition to be particularly important to the portrayal and understanding of our financial position and results of operations. There have been no material changes to the Company’s critical accounting policies and estimates since December 25, 2021. Recent Accounting Pronouncements The Company has reviewed all recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements and does not believe the future adoption of any such pronouncements may be expected to cause a material impact on its financial condition or the results of its operations. 26 Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This report includes statements of our expectations, intentions, plans and beliefs that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and are intended to come within the safe harbor protection provided by those sections. These statements, which involve risks and uncertainties, relate to the discussion of our business strategies and our expectations concerning future operations, margins, profitability, trends, liquidity and capital resources and to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. These forward-looking statements can generally by identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “outlook,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “think,” “estimate,” “seek,” “predict,” “could,” “project,” “potential” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements are accompanied by such terms. These forward-looking statements are made based on expectations and beliefs concerning future events affecting us and are subject to uncertainties, risks, and factors relating to our operations and business environments, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control, that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those matters expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include those listed below and elsewhere in this report and our Annual Report, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ from the results expressed or implied by forward-looking statements: • our ability to effectively implement our growth strategy; • risks associated with changes in food and supply costs; • our relationships with, and the performance of, our franchisees, as well as actions by franchisees that could harm our business; • our ability to identify, recruit and contract with a sufficient number of qualified franchisees; • risks associated with food safety, food-borne illness and other health concerns; • our ability to successfully expand into new markets; • the impact on our business from a pandemic, epidemic or outbreak, such as COVID-19; • our ability to effectively compete within our industry; • risks associated with interruptions in our supply chain, including availability of food products; • risks associated with the availability and cost of labor; • risks associated with our future performance and operating results falling below the expectations of securities analysts and investors; • risks associated with data privacy, cyber security and the use and implementation of information technology; • risks associated with our increasing dependence on digital commerce platforms and third-party delivery service providers; • uncertainty in the law with respect to the assignment or allocation of liabilities in the franchise business model; • risks associated with litigation against us or our franchisees; • our ability to successfully advertise and market our business; • risks associated with changes in customer preferences, perceptions and eating habits; • risks associated with the geographic concentration of our business; 27 • our ability to comply with laws and government regulations relating to food products and franchising, including increased costs associated with new or changing regulations; • our ability to maintain adequate insurance coverage for our business; • risks associated with damage to our reputation or lack of acceptance of our brand in existing or new markets; • risks associated with our expansion into international markets and foreign government restrictions on operations; • our ability to comply with the terms of our securitized debt financing and generate sufficient cash flows to satisfy our significant debt service obligations thereunder; • our ability to attract and retain our executive officers and other key employees; and • our ability to protect our intellectual property, including trademarks and trade secrets. The above list of factors is not exhaustive. Some of these and other factors are discussed in more detail under “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report. When considering forward-looking statements in this report or that we make in other reports or statements, you should keep in mind the cautionary statements in this report and future reports we file with the SEC. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and we cannot predict when they may arise or how they may affect us. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. 28