Chipotle Mexican Grill reported first-quarter earnings and sales that topped Street estimates despite challenges from inflation and the Omicron variant.
The quick-serve chain opened 51 new restaurants during the quarter, giving it a total of approximately 3,000 locations. Chipotle, which owns and operates all its own restaurants, said it has plans to open 235 to 250 restaurants this year.
“We’re not even halfway to our goal of reaching 7,000 restaurants in North America and are building a real estate pipeline that will accelerate new unit growth in the range of 8% to 10% per year,” chairman and CEO Brian Niccol told analysts on the earnings call.
Of the 52 restaurants that Chipotle opened during the quarter, 42 included “Chipotlanes,” drive-thru lanes dedicated to digital orders.
“Chipotlanes continue to outperform non-Chipotle locations due to the convenience, which is encouraging since digital order pickup is our highest margin transaction,” Niccol told analysts. “We continue to look for ways to increase access and convenience through alternate restaurant formats, digital-only menu offerings and leveraging our large and growing loyalty program.”
Chipotle reported net income of $158.3 million, or $5.59 per share, in the quarter ended March 31, up from $127.1 million, or $4.45 per share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings came to $5.70 per share, beating the $5.64 per share that analysts had expected.
Net sales rose 16% to $2.02 billion, topping expectations of $2.01 billion. Same-store sales increased 9%, also ahead of estimates.
Digital transactions accounted for 41.9% of total orders, down from 49% in the prior quarter. But in-restaurant sales jumped by 33.1% compared with the year-ago period.
