“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. (NYSE:CMG). And it’s no secret investors in Chipotle have been adding guacamole to their returns over the past 5 years.
Since August 2017, Chipotle stock’s return has outperformed a number of the world’s most popular tech and software companies: Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX, Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: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 August 2017 to present:
- Apple is up from $39.38 a share to $172.22 for a return of 337.33%
- Nvidia is up from $40.38 to $187.58 for a return of 364.54%
- Microsoft is up from $72.49 to $292.15 for a return of 303.02%
- Ford is up from $10.56 to $16.38 for a return of 55.11%
- Starbucks is up from $52.70 to $89.20 for a return of 69.26%
- Disney is up from $100.70 to $124.37 for a return of 23.51%
- Amazon is up from $47.92 to $142.85 for a return of 198.10%
- And finally, Chipotle is up from $311.24 a share to $1,689.39 for a return of 442.79%
Photo: Courtesy Chipotle
