Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is set to release its most recent quarterly results after the closing bell on Tuesday. Overall, analysts are calling for $2.90 in earnings per share (EPS) and $1.42 billion in revenue. The first quarter from last year reportedly had $3.40 in EPS and $1.31 billion in revenue.
During the fourth quarter, comparable restaurant sales increased by 13.4%. Comparable restaurant sales improved due to an 8.0% increase in comparable restaurant transactions, as well as a 5.4% increase in the average check.
At the same time, digital sales grew 78.3% in the quarter and accounted for 19.6% of sales.
Restaurant-level operating margin was 19.2%, an increase from 17.0% year over year. The improvement was driven primarily by leverage from the comparable restaurant sales increase, partially offset by wage inflation at the crew level and increased delivery expenses.
Food, beverage, and packaging costs were 33.1% of revenue, a decrease of 10 basis points year over year.
Excluding Tuesday’s move, Chipotle stock has outperformed the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average with a pullback of only about 3% year to date. In the past 52 weeks, the share price was actually up 15.5%.
A few analysts weighed in on Chipotle ahead of the report:
- UBS has a Neutral rating and an $850 price target.
- Argus has a Buy rating with a $1,000 target price.
- Wolfe Research rates it as Outperform with a $903 target.
- Wells Fargo has an Overweight rating and a $969 price target.
- SunTrust Banks has a Buy rating with an $841 price target.
- RBC’s Hold rating comes with a $727 price target.
Chipotle Mexican Grill stock traded down about 1% on Tuesday, at $799.91 in a 52-week range of $415.00 to $940.28. The consensus price target is $822.38.
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