A number of stock research firms have changed their ratings and price targets for Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) during the last seven days:

  • Buffalo Wild Wings had its price target raised by analysts at Deutsche Bank to $92.00. They wrote, “Last wk. we met with BWLD mgmt. in Minn While wing costs remain an outlier, we came away with higher confidence in 2H earnings assumptions given incremental menu pricing. BWLD remains one of the few restaurant chains delivering consistently strong SSS growth (+6.3% LTM) and double-digit unit growth; we believe this deserves a premium multiple.”
  • Buffalo Wild Wings had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Deutsche Bank.
  • Buffalo Wild Wings had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Zacks. They now have a $90.00 price target on the stock. Zacks‘ analyst wrote, “Buffalo Wild Wings posted lower-than-expected second quarter 2012 results due to higher wing costs. Thus, the hike in wing costs continues to remain a major headwind for 2012, hampering the profitability of the company. Due to this, the company also trimmed its net earnings growth outlook for 2012. Furthermore, an uncertain economic environment and stiff competition from other casual dining operators, along with budget-constrained customers, are the major concerns. However, the company’s long track-record of success, viable business strategy and debt-free balance sheet offer investors one of the strongest growth profiles in the industry. The company is also focusing on expanding in the international market and is combating cost inflation through menu price increases and expenses control. Hence, we remain Neutral on the stock. “
  • Buffalo Wild Wings was upgraded by analysts at Wedbush from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating. They now have a $100.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $78.00. They wrote, “We believe the absence of an uptick in wing costs season-to-date, meaningful menu price increases in Q3, an effort to address the adverse impact from larger-sized wings, and checks indicating continued comp momentum could lead to upside to current consensus EPS expectations for 2H:12. Therefore, we upgrade to OUTPERFORM from NEUTRAL. Absence of expected uptick in wing costs QTD and September pricing at high end of expected range could result in upside to 2H cons. expectations. Wing Tuesday pricing was raised to $0.60 from $0.50 in September, which should result in 3% pricing in Q3 and 4% in Q4, at the very high end of the expected range. We are also slightly lowering our wing cost expectation to $2.00/lb from $2.05/lb for Q4 as we have not seen an uptick in wing costs (despite bracing for one) since July 12th. Our main takeaway from recent calls with CFO Twinem was management’s confidence in these factors driving near-term cost of sales below 31%.”
  • Buffalo Wild Wings had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Sterne Agee. They now have a $90.00 price target on the stock. They wrote, “BWLD is testing a new menu format by which wings are sold according to weight instead of count. While extremely early in the test, we are encouraged by our checks which point to minimal push-back. If successful over the next 3-4 months, we believe that the new menu format will likely be introduced system-wide in ’13, which would positively impact margins. We are maintaining our BUY rating.”

Shares of Buffalo Wild Wings opened at 87.64 on Thursday. Buffalo Wild Wings has a 52 week low of $56.66 and a 52 week high of $94.81. The company has a market cap of $1.629 billion and a P/E ratio of 29.80.

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. is an owner, operator and franchisor of restaurants featuring a variety of menu items, including its Buffalo, New York-style chicken wings spun in any of its 14 signature sauces or four signature seasonings.