Restaurant Stocks: Ruth’s Soars 33% On Buyout; Wingstop Extends Breakout

Restaurant stocks saw early action Wednesday as first-quarter surprises, and mergers and acquisitions, spurred some heavy trading. X Wingstop (WING) jumped on strong first-quarter earnings and its full-year outlook. The Addison, Texas-based chain easily outpaced FactSet analyst consensus for both earnings and sales growth. Year over year, the restaurant operator reported a 74% earnings rebound to 59 cents. Revenue increased 43% to $108.7 million. Wingstop, which operates in 44 states, also reported that domestic same-store sales grew 20.1% during the quarter. Its digital sales reached 65.2% of overall sales, a record. For 2023, Wingstop’s updated guidance now includes “high single-digit”…