Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. posted a disappointing third quarter on Tuesday, its profit declining 5 percent from a year ago and earnings and sales falling short of Wall Street's expectations.
The Golden Valley-based chain, one of the nation's hottest restaurant concepts in recent years, recorded quarterly net earnings of $10.7 million, or 57 cents per share, down from $11.3 million, or 61 cents, a year earlier.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting a profit of 60 cents per share. But once again, high chicken wing costs ate into Buffalo Wild Wings' bottom line, as they have in previous quarters.
The company's sales tallied $246.9 million, up 25 percent from a year ago -- but less than the $253.9 million expected by stock analysts.
Buffalo Wild Wings, a bar-and-grill chain with a sports motif, released its earnings after the market closed Tuesday. But in after-hours trading, its stock was down $8.96 or 11 percent, trading at $74.50.
Third-quarter same-store sales, a closely watched gauge, increased 6.2 percent over a year ago at Buffalo Wild Wings' company-owned restaurants. They rose 5.8 percent at franchised outlets.
But the sales pace is slowing in October. Compared with a year ago, same-store sales were up 3.8 and 5.6 percent respectively at company and franchised stores during the first four weeks of the fourth quarter.
"The stock is really down [in after-hours trading] because people are upset about the October sales performance," said Larry Miller, a stock analyst at RBC Capital Markets.
