Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) posted better-than-expected quarterly profit, driven by strong comparable sales growth and higher prices, sending its shares up 3.6 percent to $319.00 in after-hours trading.
For the quarter, the Denver, Colorado-based fast-casual burrito chain earned $60.4 million or $1.90 per share, compared with $48.2 million or $1.52 per share in the year-ago quarter. In the second quarter, the company earned $1.59 per share on revenue of $571.6 million.
Revenue rose 24 percent to $591.9 million in the third quarter, while comparable restaurant sales grew 11.3 percent spurred by increased traffic as well as higher menu prices, the company said.
Analysts, on average, polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.85 per share on revenue of $584.14 million.
Chipotle Mexican expects low double digit comparable restaurant sales growth this year and low single digit comparable restaurant sales growth next year. CMG shares, which have traded in the 52-week range between $178.09 and $346.78, closed Thursday's regular trading at $307.91. The company's stock has increased 67 percent in the past year.