One interesting side note to Tuesday’s disappointing earnings from Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD): Besides facing higher price-per pound costs for chicken wings, the company says that it is receiving fewer wings per pound. That’s because each wing in larger.
In response, the Minneapolis-based operator of the Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar chain may change its menu too sell wings in “single, double and triple” orders, rather than specific numbers of wings, such as 6, 12 or 18.
“The good news is, I really don’t think they can grow too much bigger chickens, so the yield issue should subside,” said CEO Sally Smith said on conference call.
For the quarter ended in June, Buffalo Wild Wings posted a profit of $11.7 million, or $0.62 per share, on revenue of $238.7 million. But that disappointed the street; consensus estimates called for $0.68 cents per share and revenue of $240.3 million. And the company said earnings would increase 15% to 20% over 2011, but that was down from the previous outlook of 20% growth.
Buffalo Wild Wings is down more that 10% today, trading at $70.5 in a 52-week range of $52.37 to $94.81.