The McDonald’s Of 2007
What Ray Kroc was to hamburgers, Steve Ells is to Mexican food. Ells, Chipotle Mexican Grill’s (CMG) founder, has created a stock to buy and put away. This company is too early in its growth phase to be ignored. There is a long way to go with this stock.
Highlights for full year 2006 as compared to full year 2005 include:
- Revenue increased 31.1% to $822.9 million
- Comparable restaurant sales increased 13.7%, compared to 10.2% in 2005
- Restaurant level operating margins increased 240 basis points to 20.9%
- Income from operations approximately doubled to $62.0 million
- Diluted earnings per share were $1.28, compared to $0.66 in 2005
There could be some negatives. Chipotle needs to invest heavily to get employees. Growing rapidly in a tight labor environment is extremely difficult. It will also have to deal with higher food costs and higher costs to open up new stores as it enters more expensive markets.
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