Chipotle, Starbucks, Restaurant Brands Among Pershing Square's Top Q1 Performers

Pershing Square Holdings, the hedge fund controlled by billionaire Bill Ackman, reported strong performance in the first quarter of 2019.

The fund’s net asset value per share increased 36.9 percent during the quarter and has jumped 38.4-percent year-to-date.

Notable holdings in the fund’s portfolio include Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. CMG, making up 9.8 percent of the fund; Restaurant Brands International QSR at 5.3 percent; and Starbucks Corporation SBUX making up 3.2 percent of the fund.

Top Performers

Chipotle Mexican Grill store sales grew by 10 percent in the quarter. The food chain's digital sales doubled year-over-year to nearly 16 percent of sales, including robust growth in delivery, which has driven incremental sales and improved margins, according to Pershing. 

“Despite the 63-percent year-to-date increase in the share price, we believe that Chipotle is in the early innings of its transformation and that its robust pipeline of initiatives in the stage gate process, accelerated footprint expansion and a world-class management team should drive superlative growth in sales and profits for years to come,” the hedge fund said in a Friday letter to its investors. 

Another top performer for the fund: Restaurant Brands. In the first quarter, the group’s unit count expanded by more than 5 percent and EBITDA grew by 6 percent. The company's brands inlude Tim Hortons, Burger King and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.

Starbucks' base grew 7 percent this quarter to more than 30,000 stores globally, Pershing said.

The hedge fund expects the company to continue to grow its unit count at a similar rate for the foreseeable future, led by underpenetrated markets including China.

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Photo courtesy of Chipotle.