DENVER — Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. said today its third-quarter net income rose 75 percent as the casual dining restaurant chain expanded and sales rose at restaurants opened for at least a year.
Chief Executive Officer Steve Ells also announced that the chain, which touts natural and organic product offerings, is switching to dairy products made with milk from cows that have not been treated with hormones.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the Denver-based chain said net income totaled $20.6 million, or 62 cents per share, compared with $11.8 million, or 36 cents per share, in the prior-year period.
Revenue rose 36 percent to $286.4 million from $211.3 million.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 53 cents per share on revenue of $279.3 million.
Chipotle attributed the results to more customers visiting restaurants, which boosted same-store sales by 12.4 percent, and to the addition of 28 restaurants in the most recent quarter.
Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is an industry measure of performance because it measures year-over-year growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.
In the first nine months, Chipotle posted net income of $53 million, or $1.60 per share, compared with earnings of $30.6 million, or 95 cents a share, in the first nine months of 2006.
Revenue rose 32 percent to $796.9 million from $603.2 million in the year-ago period.
For 2007, Chipotle forecast same-store sales to rise in the low double-digit range and said it will open as many as 120 restaurants, which includes 88 that opened through Sept. 30.
Chipotle released the results after the market closed. Its stock dipped 91 cents to $133.50 a share after setting a 52-week high of $136.47 a share earlier today.
