Buffalo Wild Wings beats on earnings despite 'a challenging sales environment', shares jump

Buffalo Wild Wings on Tuesday reported second-quarter results that topped analysts' forecasts for profits, but missed on revenue.

Lower expenses and costs in "a challenging sales environment," combined with revenue growth, helped boost the company's earnings per diluted share by 13% year-on-year to $1.27, said CEO Sally Smith in the earnings statement.

The chicken chain reported revenue of $490.2 million, up 15% year-on-year.

Analysts had estimated that it earned adjusted EPS of $1.25 and sales totaling $498 million according to Bloomberg.

Sales at company-owned stores open for at least one year fell 2.1% during the quarter, and fell 2.6% at franchised restaurants.

The company said it's looking forward to the return of football season in the third quarter, which could boost traffic to its restaurants. It's also betting that a new advertising campaign will help.

It forecasts that food costs would fall during the latter half of the year, excluding chicken-wing prices. Higher wing costs had prompted it to increase prices, driving away some customers, Bloomberg noted.

Earlier on Tuesday, the company's shares rose 6% after activist investor Marcato Capital Management reported a 5.1% stake in it.

The shares rose by about 3% in after-hours trading.