March Madness Is Important for These 4 Stocks

March Madness gets underway soon, with the First Four games starting tomorrow (March 15) followed by the 64 team tournament which starts on March 17. The Final Four is set for April 2 with the National Championship set for April 4. The NCAA basketball tournament is seen as important for a number of stocks in the restaurant and tech space. Below is a rundown:

Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) - How important is the March Madness to BW3? So important that the company discloses in its 10-K filing that "Our quarterly operating results depend, in part, on special events, such as the Super Bowl® and other sporting events viewed by our guests in our Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants such as the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and NCAA." The company also uses the tournament to market the business. In its first quarter earnings report last year the company said, "Buffalo Wild Wings really came alive during March Madness® and we launched a new advertising campaign with unique commercials for each round of the tournament."

Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) - Last year the tournament proved especially important for Twitter although it wasn't enough to stop the bleeding in the stock. However, with slowing MAU growth the most important datapoint for investors, March Madness, coupled with the presidential election, could be enough to move the needle in Q1.

Domino's Pizza (NYSE: DPZ) - March Madness is a busy time for the pizza maker. Fun Fact: Domino's sold more than 1.8 million pizzas during the 2015 semifinals and championship game nights combined – enough to give 25 pizzas to each person walking into the stadium at the final game in Houston this year. The company is offering 50 percent off all menu-priced pizza orders placed online for an entire week, beginning today and running through Sunday, March 20.

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) - As an alternative to the basketball tournament, Blizzard's multiplayer online battle arena game, Heroes of the Dorm', will be broadcast on ESPN3, Twitch, and Youtube. The winning team will receive $75,000 in tuition. While not a game-changer, it illustrates the growing popularity of esports.

A you ready for the action? Here is a link to the official 2016 NCAA March Madness printable bracket.

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