What's Going On With Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Wednesday?

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. CMG shares are moving lower on Wednesday after the company reported fiscal earnings after the bell on Tuesday, including a revenue miss.

What To Know: The company reported sales of $2.79 billion missing analysts estimate of $2.82 billion. Even though Chipotle missed analyst estimates for revenue, the reported figure represents a 13% year-over-year increase.

Chipotle attributed the growth in sales to new restaurant openings and a 6% increase in comparable restaurant sales, driven by a 3.3% rise in transactions and a 2.7% increase in the average check.

In addition, the company reported adjusted EPS of 27 cents, beating analysts’ estimate of 25 cents and representing a 17% year-over-year growth. Chipotle also reported an operating margin of 16.9% and a restaurant-level operating margin of 25.5%.

Throughout the third quarter, the company repurchased $488.1 million of its stock, leaving $1.1 billion available under its share repurchase authorization. The average purchase price for the stock was $54.55.

“Our teams work hard to deliver extraordinary value to our guests as they provide our fresh, delicious and customizable culinary experience, at accessible prices to millions of people every day,” said Scott Boatwright, Interim CEO.

“They are the backbone of Chipotle and, together with our support centers, we will continue to execute against our five key strategies that help us win today, while we grow our future. This will help us to achieve our long-term target of reaching 7,000 restaurants in North America and move towards a more global brand.”

Analyst Changes: Following the earnings report, multiple analysts issued price target adjustments.

• Baird analyst David Tarantino maintained an Outperform rating on Chipotle and raised the price target from $62 to $70.
• BMO Capital analyst Andrew Strelzik maintained a Market Perform rating on Chipotle and raised the price target from $55 to $56.
• Barclays analyst Jeffrey Bernstein maintained an Equal-Weight rating on Chipotle and raised the price target from $55 to $60.
• Wells Fargo analyst Zachary Fadem maintained an Overweight rating on Chipotle and raised the price target from $66 to $67.

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CMG Price Action: As of Wednesday morning, Chipotle stock is trading 6.40% lower at $56.62, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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