“Would you like any mild, medium or hot salsa? Any corn, sour cream or cheese?”
If the above sounds familiar, and I’ll bet it does, you probably frequent Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. CMG. And it’s no secret investors in Chipotle have been adding guacamole to their returns over the past 5 years.
Since July 2017, Chipotle stock’s return has outperformed a number of the world’s most popular tech and software companies: Apple Inc AAPL, NVIDIA Corporation NVDA, Microsoft Corporation MSFT, Ford Motor Company F, Starbucks Corporation SBUX Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN.
Chipotle Mexican Grill is the largest fast-casual chain restaurant in the United States, with systemwide sales of $7.5 billion in 2021. The Mexican concept is entirely company-owned, with a footprint of more than 3,000 stores, heavily indexed to the United States.
Chipotle sells burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, quesadillas and beverages, with a selling proposition built around competitive prices, high-quality food sourcing and speed of service.
Here’s how the returns break down from July 2017 to present:
- Apple is up from $39.10 a share to $162.51 for a return of 315.63%
- Nvidia is up from $41.80 to $181.63 for a return of 334.52%
- Microsoft is up from $72.68 to $280.74 for a return of 286.27%
- Ford is up from $10.95 to $14.69 for a return of 34.16%
- Starbucks is up from $55.44 to $84.78 for a return of 52.92%
- Disney is down from $107.69 to $106.10 for a return of -1.48%
- Amazon is up from $49.38 to $134.95 for a return of 173.29%
- And finally, Chipotle is up from $344.56 a share to $1,564.22 for a return of 353.98%
Photo: Courtesy Chipotle
