Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) Tops Q4 EPS by 5c

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) reported Q4 EPS of $3.84, $0.05 better than the analyst estimate of $3.79. Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.07 billion versus the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion.

• Comparable restaurant sales increased 16.1%
• Restaurant level operating margin was 26.6%, an increase of 100 basis points
• Net income was $121.2 million, an increase of 52.3%
• Diluted earnings per share was $3.84, an increase of 51.8%
• Opened 60 new restaurants

"We continue to make significant progress on our important journey to change the way people think about and eat fast food," said Steve Ells, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle. "Consumer trends are changing, which we believe is a great result of people becoming more discerning about where their food comes from, how it was raised, and how their meal was prepared. The continued loyalty we see from our customers, as well as third party research, and the growing number of concepts imitating Chipotle, all point to the relevance of our vision and the impact we are having on food culture. We are delighted to see that this vision, a very lofty goal, is becoming a reality.”

Outlook

For 2015, management expects the following:

• 190 – 205 new restaurant openings
• Low to mid-single digit comparable restaurant sales increases
• An estimated effective tax rate of 39.0%, which excludes federal work opportunity and R&D credits, which have not been renewed for 2015.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) click here.

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