Chipotle (CMG) Shares Slump On Q3 Earnings Miss, Weak Guidance

CMG

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG - Free Report) just released its third-quarter 2017 financial results, posting earnings of 69 cents per share and revenues of $1.13 billion.

Currently, CMG is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) and is down 6.60% to $303.00 per share in trading shortly after its earnings report was released.

Chipotle:

Missed earnings estimates. The company posted earnings of $0.69 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.56 per share.

Matched revenue estimates. The company saw revenue figures of $1.13 billion, meeting our consensus estimate of $1.13 billion.

Chipotle said comparable restaurant sales increased 1.0%. Restaurant level operating margin increase to 16.1% from 14.1%.

Earnings per share were up about 155% from the $0.27 recorded in the year-ago period. Management cited a 64 cent per share impact related to the data security incident and a 13 cent impact from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

“We continued to make important progress to improve the guest experience at our restaurants during the quarter,” said CEO Steve Ells. “Our strategic initiatives in operations, innovating our digital sales platform, new menu introductions, and marketing the brand are starting to take hold. Despite several unusual impacts during the quarter, including the impact of hurricanes, we maintained our focus and saw some encouraging signs.”

Chipotle now expects full-year comparable restaurant sales to increase by about 6.5%. In the first nine months of the year, comps were up about 8.3%. The company also expects full-year new restaurant openings to be slightly below the low end of the previously-disclosed range of 195 to 210.

Check back later for our full analysis on Chipotle’s latest earnings report!

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