Will Wingstop (WING) Face Challenges of Rising Costs and Competition?

TimesSquare Capital Management, an equity investment management company, released its “U.S. Small Cap Growth Strategy” first-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the quarter the fund returned 5.77% (net), compared to a 7.58% return for the Russell 2000 Growth Index. Despite a decline in many equity markets in January, they rebounded over the following two months, resulting in a robust 2024 first quarter. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.

TimesSquare Capital U.S. Small Cap Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) is a restaurant company that operates under the brand name Wingstop. The one-month return of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) was 13.29%, and its shares gained 123.66% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 18, 2024, Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) stock closed at $428.85 per share with a market capitalization of $12.595 billion.

TimesSquare Capital U.S. Small Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:

“Our preferences in the Consumer-oriented sectors lean toward value-oriented or specialty retailers, franchise models, or premium brands. Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING), a franchisor and operator of restaurants focused on chicken wings, rose 10%. We decided to sell out of the position after it had a strong run and hit up against our price target. Other considerations included a trend of rising chicken wing costs that could impact operating margins as well as signs of increased competition.”

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Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 31 hedge fund portfolios held Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) at the end of the first quarter which was 32 in the previous quarter. In the first quarter, Wingstop Inc (NASDAQ:WING) reported $145.8 million in revenues, up 34.1% compared to the fiscal first quarter of 2023. While we acknowledge the potential of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we discussed Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) and shared Alger Small Cap Growth Fund’s views on the company. Carillon Eagle Small Cap Growth Fund also benefited in the first quarter from Wingstop Inc.’s (NASDAQ:WING) recent rise. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.