Chipotle shares rise on better-than-expected earnings, CEO says chain is ‘fortunate’ it can raise prices

Chipotle Mexican Grill is expected to report its fourth-quarter earnings after the bell on Tuesday.

Here’s what Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv are expecting:

• Earnings per share: $5.25 expected
• Revenue: $1.96 billion expected

Like the rest of the restaurant industry, the burrito chain is facing higher costs for labor and ingredients. Both McDonald’s and Starbucks fell short of Wall Street’s earnings expectations for their most recent quarters as higher expenses dinged their bottom lines.

To weather inflation, Chipotle has raised its prices in recent months, but Wall Street is confident that its customers don’t mind paying more for tacos or a burrito bowl. Analysts are predicting that the company will report same-store sales growth of 14.8%, according to StreetAccount estimates. That’s on the higher end of what Chipotle said it was expecting back in October, before the omicron variant led to shortened hours for some locations.

For 2022, Wall Street is forecasting the company will see earnings growth of 31.4% and revenue of $8.62 billion. The chain hasn’t released a full-year outlook since early 2020, when the pandemic introduced new uncertainty to its business.

Shares of Chipotle have fallen 3% over the last 12 months, giving the company a market value of $40.9 billion.