Chipotle Opens Up; Analyst Says Street Comp View Too Low

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.

opened sharply higher Thursday after Cleveland Research said it expects restaurant chain same-store sales growth to accelerate in the wake of menu price hikes. Cleveland's Steve Gojak believes the the high-flying restaurant chain's comparable sales are accelerating from the second quarter on traffic growth and recent price increases. Gojack reiterated a Buy rating and said Street estimates of same-store sales growth for the third quarter and full year are too low. Chipotle posted second-quarter same-store sales growth of 17.3 while revenue grew 28 percent to $1.05 billion. Chipotle, up 30 percent in the year to date, opened Thursday at $692.92 a share, up more than 2 percent.