The growth in revenue was driven by new restaurants not in the comparable base and a 2.6% increase in comparable restaurant sales. Comparable restaurant sales growth was driven primarily by an increase in customer visits.
The company opened 53 new restaurants during the third quarter, which brought the grand total restaurant count to 1,931.
Chipotle gave its full year outlook as low-to-mid single digit comparable restaurant sales increases as well as increasing guidance to 215 to 225 new restaurant openings, up from the previous level of 190 to 205. There are consensus estimates of $17.37 in EPS on $4.72 billion in revenue for the 2015 full year.
As for 2016, the company expects 220 to 235 new restaurant openings and low-single digit comparable restaurant sales increases. There are consensus estimates of $20.65 in EPS on $5.42 billion in revenue for the 2016 full year.
Steve Ells, founder, Chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, said:
Chipotle’s third quarter results demonstrate the continued success of our vision to change the way people think about and eat fast food. As we have grown our restaurants through the year, we are able to push our standards higher in what we can accomplish with our food culture. We have currently returned carnitas to 90% of our restaurants, and will look to bring it back to 100% of restaurants during the fourth quarter. I am grateful for our customers’ continued support of our animal welfare standards, and want to thank them for their patience while we have worked hard to address this issue. I am confident that we have the right food culture and people culture in place for us to continue our momentum.
On the books the company had cash and cash equivalents totaling $604.2 million at the end of the third quarter compared to $419.4 million at the end of December 2014.
Shares of Chipotle closed Tuesday down 1.8% at $705.63, with a consensus analyst price target of $775.57 and a 52-week trading range of $597.33 to $758.61. Following the release of the report, shares were down 4.6% at $673.50 in the after-hours trading session.
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