The Forces Driving Wingstop Massively Higher After IPO

Wingstop is a Dallas-based franchisor and operator of restaurants that specialize in cooked-to-order, hand-sauced and tossed chicken wings. The company sold 2.15 million shares in the IPO and existing shareholders sold another 3.65 million, for gross proceeds of $110.2 million. Underwriters Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Baird, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and Wells Fargo Securities have an option on an additional 870,000 shares.

Restaurant chains have had a good year so far in 2015. Preceding Wingstop in the IPO market are last week’s big winner, DAVIDsTEA Inc. (NASDAQ: DTEA), which priced above its expected range and closed its first day of trading with a pop of 42%.

Bojangles’ Inc. (NASDAQ: BOJA) also priced at the high end of an upwardly revised range at its early May IPO, and the stock popped nearly 50% before closing the day with a gain of 25%.

The big winner among eatery IPOs was, and remains, Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK). The gourmet hamburger joint priced above its upwardly revised range for its late January IPO and popped nearly 120% on its first day of trading. The IPO price was $21, and the stock has posted a post-IPO high of $96.75. The stock closed at $77.44 on Thursday.

ALSO READ: 9 Analyst Stocks Under $10 With Huge Upside

According to IPO ETF manager Renaissance Capital, the consumer sector has seen five IPOs so far in 2015. Proceeds total $800 million, but the real news is that the sector leads all others, with an average first day return of 41.5% and an average total return of 75%. Shake Shack is also one of Renaissance Capital’s top five performing IPOs of the past 12 months, with a total return of nearly 269%.

Investors are looking for the next Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG), arguably the king of the fast casual restaurants. Shake Shack may be the best bet yet to assume that role, but joints like Wingstop and Bojangles’ are going to have a run as well.

Shares of Wingstop traded at around $30.75, up about 60% after about half an hour. The opening bid was $30.50 and shares fell to a low of $29.18.