Chipotle Mexican Grill shares hit a record high on Wednesday after the company reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter results.
The fast-casual Mexican chain opened 41 new restaurants during the quarter and raised menu prices amid nagging inflationary pressures.
Chipotle Chief Financial Officer Jack Hartung said in an earnings call Tuesday that "We're still running the menu price increase compared to last year at about a 10% range."
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It is a benefit to the quarter when transactions are flowing and menu prices are flowing as well, he added.
Helped by the price increases and new locations, Chipotle reported a net income of $291.6 million, or $10.50 per diluted share to beat analysts’ expectations of $248.4 million, or $8.92 per share over the first quarter.
Meanwhile, profits per share were 84% higher than last year on an adjusted basis.
Comparable sales at California-based Chipotle climbed roughly 11%. Analysts predicted an 8.6% rise, according to Refinitiv data.
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Store-level operating margins were also an on upward trend, rising 25.6% from 20.7% a year ago, due in part to lower avocado costs and delivery expenses as delivery volumes fell.
In the Tuesday earnings call, Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol said lower-income customers were also eating at Chipotle more often after a pullback, though their visits are not back to where they were a year ago.
"We've seen nice improvements across all of our income cohorts," he said. "People with household incomes of at least $100,000 make up more of Chipotle's customer base than at some other fast-food and fast-casual brands."
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The company said it expects second-quarter and full-year comparable sales growth in the mid-to-high single digits. Analysts were expecting a growth of 5.7% and 5.9%, respectively.
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Reuters contributed to this report.
