Chipotle Mexican Grill Q4 Beats Street, Shares Up

(RTTNews) - Shares of Mexican-themed fast food chain Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) gained 6% after the company's fourth quarter earnings and revenues trumped Wall Street analysts estimates.

The California-based company's fourth-quarter profit was $32.02 million or $1.15 per share, down from $43.79 million or $1.55 per share last year.

Excluding items, Chipotle Mexican's adjusted earnings were $48.05 million or $1.72 per share for the three-month period.

The company's revenue for the quarter rose 10.4% to $1.22 billion from $1.11 billion last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimate earnings of $1.34 per share on revenues of $1.19 billion for the quarter.

Comparable restaurant sales increased 6.1%, which included 2.0% of comparable restaurant transactions growth. Digital sales grew 65.6% and accounted for 12.9% of sales.

"I'm very pleased to report strong fourth quarter results with 6.1% comparable restaurant sales growth that included 2% transaction growth. For the full year, Chipotle's average unit volumes exceeded $2 million with digital sales surpassing half a billion dollars," said CEO Brian Niccol.

Looking forward to the full year 2019, Chipotle expects mid-single digit range comparable restaurant sales growth and to open 140 to 155 new restaurants.

CMG closed Wednesday's trading at $526.06, down $0.59 or 0.11%, on the NYSE. The stock, however, gained $31.94 or 6.07% in the after-hours trading.