1st-quarter profits drive up Chipotle shares 13 percent
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.’s stock soared Tuesday, a day after the burrito-chain operator’s first-quarter earnings beat Wall Street’s expectations on a jump in same-store sales.
Shares of Denver-based Chipotle rose $7.78, or 13 percent, to close at $67.05 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
Chipotle said after the close of trading Monday that its first-quarter profit rose on sharply higher sales, fed by more robust transaction volume and a pricier menu.
“We attribute the robust quarterly results to high-level operational execution, favorable weather, Chipotle’s ‘Food With Integrity’ program, initial-public-offering-related media attention and a relatively easy year-over-year comparison,” Buckingham Research analyst Mark Kalinowski wrote in a research note.
However, Wachovia Securities analyst Jeff Omohundro said that although Chipotle has a strong brand, attractive unit-level positioning and favorable concept positioning, the current premium is too high. He has an “underperform” rating on the stock.
Chipotle parent McDonald’s Corp. spun off a stake in the company in January. The stock has more than tripled in value since its $22 debut Jan. 26.
Also Tuesday, Chipotle registered 4.2 million shares of Class A common stock for selling to shareholders.
DETROIT
GM stockpiling parts in case of strike
General Motors chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner said Tuesday that the world’s biggest automaker has stockpiled parts in case Delphi workers go on strike, but he believes a strike can be avoided.
“I’m really not a strong advocate of relying on that as a potential solution here. We would rather do this proactively and without strikes,” he said. “We do have some banks of parts, but we’re speaking a matter of days, not months, so it’s not a question of avoiding the issue for any significant period of time.”
DENVER
Samsonite understates future tax deductions
Denver-based Samsonite Corp., the world’s biggest luggage maker, announced Tuesday that the company understated its future tax deductions by $6 million from 2003 to 2005, according to filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In addition, Samsonite management said in the filing that financial performance for the company “should not be relied upon” for those years.
The company will restate its financial performance for 2003 by $5.7 million, for 2004 by $800,000 and for 2005 by $700,000.
ENGLEWOOD
Gart stores’ change of name starts May 20
The Sports Authority, which merged with Gart Sports in 2003, said Tuesday it will rename 20 Gart Sports stores in Colorado to Sports Authority beginning May 20.
The company’s store at Park Meadows recently completed a $1 million renovation and plans a reopening celebration concurrent with the name change.
DOUGLAS COUNTY
CH2M Hill’s revenues increase $307 million
CH2M Hill’s revenues for the past quarter increased by $306.9 million over the same period last year to $984.5 million, the privately held company said Tuesday.
The global engineering firm saw increases in its transportation design and build projects, federal contracts and other segments of its business, CH2M Hill said in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
COLORADO SPRINGS
Medical-laser firm closes stock offering
Spectranetics Corp. announced Tuesday it has closed its public offering of 4.1 million shares of common stock, which includes an overallotment option of 540,000 shares. Spectranetics, which makes medical laser technology, intends to use the estimated net proceeds of $47.9 million for capital expenditures, working capital and other general corporate purposes and business-development activities.
DENVER
State hails opening of fuel-cell center
The Governor’s Office of Energy Management and Conservation – along with its partners, the Gas Technology Institute, the Colorado School of Mines, Versa Power Systems Inc. and the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory – announced the grand opening of the state’s first fuel- cell center Tuesday.
The Colorado Fuel Cell Center, located at Mines in Golden, will be the home to experts and projects focusing on research in the areas of electrochemical technology, materials and fuel processing.
OKLAHOMA CITY
Capital approved for drilling, expansion
The Kerr-McGee Corp. board of directors on Tuesday approved $170 million of additional capital for its 2006 program for onshore drilling and infrastructure expansions.
The move will allow the Oklahoma City-based oil and gas company to increase the number of rigs operating in eastern Utah and northeastern Colorado, as well as maintain its current operations in the south Texas and Gulf Coast areas, Kerr-McGee chief operating officer David Hager said in a statement.
SAN FRANCISCO
Google stock a boon for California
Internet giant Google’s stock has soared since it went public almost two years ago – and that has created a windfall for California’s coffers, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.
California took in a record $11.3 billion in personal income-tax receipts in April, $4.3 billion more than it collected in April 2005. The paper said it’s almost certain that a significant chunk of April’s haul came from Google employees – perhaps one-eighth or more of the tax-receipt gain.
LOS ANGELES
Gates: Microsoft has game jump on Sony
Microsoft Corp., the No. 2 video-game console maker, said it will sell 10 million Xbox 360s before Sony Corp. releases its PlayStation 3 in November.
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates made the forecast Tuesday at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, conference in Los Angeles.
He also showed scenes from the newest in the “Halo” series, a futuristic shooting game that is the most popular title on the first Xbox and isn’t available on the PlayStation.
SAN JOSE, Calif.
HP unveils laptops with bells, whistles
Following in the footsteps of rivals, Hewlett-Packard Co., the world’s second-largest computer maker, unveiled laptops Tuesday with spiffier designs as well as more powerful processors.
