Wingstop shares jump 12.6% as traders position ahead of Q4 results after recent selloff

Wingstop Inc. (WING) is up 12.6% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The move looks tied to pre-earnings positioning ahead of Wingstop’s scheduled Q4 and full-year 2025 results, following a sharp pullback earlier in February. With a meaningful short interest in the stock, the rebound may have been amplified by short covering and options-related flows into the report.

Details:

Wingstop scheduled its fiscal Q4 2025 and full-year 2025 results for February 18, 2026, with a release planned before the market opens and a management call at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Wingstop had a notably elevated short interest in late January, with shorted shares representing a double-digit percentage of the public float, a setup that can exacerbate upside moves when sentiment shifts.

In the days leading into the earnings event, multiple analysts turned more cautious on near-term sales trends, which helped push the shares down into the print and may have set the stage for a bounce as positioning became crowded.

This could also be a volatility-driven move as traders price an outsized post-earnings swing, prompting hedging and rebalancing activity ahead of the event.

Sources:

Wingstop Investor Relations

MarketBeat

Investing.com

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$WING Insider Trading Activity

$WING insiders have traded $WING stock on the open market 1 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 1 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $WING stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

KILANDIGALU MADATI sold 269 shares for an estimated $69,931

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.

$WING Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 211 institutional investors add shares of $WING stock to their portfolio, and 289 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

LONE PINE CAPITAL LLC added 1,491,245 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q3 2025, for an estimated $375,316,541
FMR LLC added 889,313 shares (+182.1%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $212,092,257
STEADFAST CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP added 710,621 shares (+296.2%) to their portfolio in Q3 2025, for an estimated $178,849,093
D1 CAPITAL PARTNERS L.P. removed 472,135 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $112,599,476
MASSACHUSETTS FINANCIAL SERVICES CO /MA/ added 456,861 shares (+48.1%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $108,956,779
BLACKROCK, INC. added 389,611 shares (+14.2%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $92,918,327
CAPITAL WORLD INVESTORS removed 383,612 shares (-51.8%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $91,487,625

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.

$WING Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $WING in the last several months. We have seen 12 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

Mizuho issued a "Outperform" rating on 01/09/2026
Freedom Capital Markets issued a "Buy" rating on 12/17/2025
Benchmark issued a "Buy" rating on 11/05/2025
Wells Fargo issued a "Overweight" rating on 11/05/2025
BTIG issued a "Buy" rating on 11/05/2025
TD Cowen issued a "Buy" rating on 11/05/2025
Stifel issued a "Buy" rating on 10/31/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $WING, check out Quiver Quantitative's $WING forecast page.

$WING Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $WING recently. We have seen 18 analysts offer price targets for $WING in the last 6 months, with a median target of $330.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Andrew M. Charles from TD Cowen set a target price of $285.0 on 02/10/2026
Jon Tower from Citigroup set a target price of $286.0 on 02/04/2026
John Glass from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $345.0 on 01/20/2026
Nick Setyan from Mizuho set a target price of $310.0 on 01/09/2026
Chris O'Cull from Stifel set a target price of $290.0 on 01/07/2026
Jeffrey Bernstein from Barclays set a target price of $335.0 on 01/07/2026
Lynne Collier from Freedom Capital Markets set a target price of $320.0 on 12/17/2025

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.