Chipotle Earnings May Signal a Still Distant Turnaround

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 5:26AM EST · Published Jul 21, 5:04PM EDT

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Chipotle Earnings May Signal a Still Distant Turnaround — © Thinkstock

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is still working to earn back its customers’ trust and loyalty after the E.coli epidemic. The burrito chain hoped to win back investor and customer sentiment when it reported its second-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Thursday. However, not everything went according to plan.

The company said that it had $0.87 in earnings per share (EPS) on $998.4 million in revenue. There were consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for $0.93 in EPS on $1.05 billion in revenue. The same period from last year had $4.45 in EPS on $1.2 billion in revenue.

Chipotle comparable restaurant sales decreased 23.6%, as a result of comparable restaurant transactions falling 19.3%. Separately the restaurant level operating margin was 15.5%, a drop from 28.0%.

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During this quarter the company opened 58 new restaurants, and in the first half of the year the company opened 114 new restaurants.

In terms of guidance, the company did not issue any related to earnings or revenues going forward but instead dodged that bullet and just said that it plans to open between 220 and 235 new restaurants in the remainder of 2016. There are consensus estimates calling for $4.39 in EPS on $4.18 billion in revenue for the rest of 2016.

Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, commented:

We returned to profitability, and saw a modest improvement in comp sales trends in the second quarter. Our most recent marketing efforts, led by our Chiptopia frequency program, are off to a nice start in the third quarter, as customers are embracing the program and nearly 30% of all transactions are engaged in Chiptopia. Our entire company is focused on restoring customer trust and re-establishing customer frequency, and rewarding our most loyal customers for visiting more often through Chiptopia is one way to do just that. While it has only been a few weeks since Chiptopia launched, we are pleased to see that July sales comp trends have already improved by 200 to 300 basis points, and transaction comp trends have improved by an even greater amount.

Shares of Chipotle closed Thursday at $418.07, with a consensus analyst price target of $456.21 and a 52-week trading range of $384.77 to $758.61. Following the release of the earnings report the stock was down 1.8% at $412.50 in the after-hours trading session.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.