Wingstop's Smart Kitchen is a 'game changer' for the company -- Raymond James

[Fried chicken wings plate]
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Raymond James views Wingstop’s (NASDAQ:WING [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WING]) AI-powered Smart Kitchen technology—which boosts efficiency and speeds order fulfillment—as a “game changer.” Combined with early signs of improved traffic, the firm upgraded the stock to Strong Buy from Outperform.

“We see a very favorable risk/reward from current levels,” said Raymond James’ Brian Vaccaro, who believes the stock’s current valuation is even more attractive at current levels.

As customers lean toward shorter wait times, Wingstop’s (NASDAQ:WING [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WING]) new technology shows “very encouraging” signs of traction: improved comparable sales that outperform peers by 550 basis points; third party delivery comps in the Dallas/Fort Worth market outperforming the U.S. average by mid-single-digits; and customer satisfaction scores that are 8 points higher than units without Smart Kitchen -- all of which can be attributed to ticket times that have been cut by more than half versus historical averages.

Although the stock has retreated 14% despite solid second quarter [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4474203-wingstop-soars-after-topping-earnings-expectations-raising-unit-growth-forecast]results, Vaccaro believes this is due to choppy third-party data in recent weeks which could create a “modest risk” to third quarter comparable sales.

“That said, we remain confident that comps can begin to improve through September and accelerate further through Q4 as comparisons ease,” Vaccaro said.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WING]) earns mixed reviews [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WING/ratings/author-ratings]from Seeking Alpha authors and Wall Street analysts with the former recently moving to a Sell rating, the latter as a Buy. Seeking Alpha’s Quant rating, however, views Wingstop (WING [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WING]) as a Hold with a Quant score of 3.15 out of 5.

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* Wingstop: This Is A Speculative Rally To Avoid, Same-Store Sales Growth Is Falling [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4806668-wingstop-speculative-rally-to-avoid-same-store-sales-growth-is-falling]
* Wingstop Inc. (WING) Q2 2025 Earnings Call Transcript [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4806429-wingstop-inc-wing-q2-2025-earnings-call-transcript]
* Wingstop signals 17%-18% global unit growth in 2025 with Smart Kitchen rollout driving operational gains [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4475038-wingstop-signals-17-percentminus-18-percent-global-unit-growth-in-2025-with-smart-kitchen]
* Wingstop soars after topping earnings expectations, raising unit growth forecast [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4474203-wingstop-soars-after-topping-earnings-expectations-raising-unit-growth-forecast]