Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) stock rose 8.33% (As on Feb 9, 11:56:52 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company’s bottom line totaled $133.48 million in the fourth quarter of FY 21 compared with $190.96 million, in last year’s fourth quarter. Digital sales grew 3.8% year over year to $811.3 million and represented 41.6% of sales. About half of the digital sales were from order ahead transactions as guests appreciate both the convenience and value offered by this channel, as well as the added convenience of more Chipotlanes. CMG has opened 78 new restaurants during the fourth quarter with 67 (or 86%) including a Chipotlane. These formats continue to perform very well and are helping enhance guest access and convenience, as well as increase new restaurant sales, margins, and returns. Food, beverage and packaging costs in the fourth quarter were 31.6% of total revenue, an increase of 60 basis points compared to the fourth quarter of 2020. The increase was due primarily to elevated inflation on beef and freight, and to a lesser extent, avocado costs that more than offset the leverage from menu price increases. Restaurant level operating margin was 20.2%, an increase from 19.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020. The improvement was driven primarily by leverage from comparable restaurant sales and menu price increases, partially offset by wage inflation and higher commodity costs largely due to beef and freight.

CMG in the fourth quarter of FY 21 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $5.58, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $5.26, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 22 percent to $1.96 billion in the fourth quarter of FY 21. The increase in total revenue was driven by a 15.2% increase in comparable restaurant sales and new restaurant openings. Comparable restaurant sales were fairly consistent in each month of the fourth quarter due to a combination of factors including healthy demand for Smoked Brisket, strength in digital sales, and the benefit of menu price increases. Comparable restaurant sales began to moderate in the back half of December as the number of Omicron cases spiked. This trend intensified through January 2022, which also included challenging weather across the country.

Assuming the effects of the pandemic continue to subside, the company expects first quarter 2022 comparable restaurant sales to be in the mid to high single digits range.