Chipotle Mexican Grill's (CMG) outlook for flattish transactions in Q1 and sequentially slower same-store sales growth in Q2 is likely conservative, BofA Securities said in a note Wednesday.
The outlooks assume that trends would slow against tougher laps despite the company having comp drivers in place, BofA said.
"We expect restaurant margins will be highest in Q2 to Q3 on seasonally higher volumes -- despite headwinds from portion control and potential Q2 sales deleverage -- and assume Q4 margins improve over Q1," BofA analyst Sara Senatore said in the note.
BofA reduced its Q1 same-store sales growth outlook to 3% from 4.5% to reflect weather and calendar shift headwinds. The firm also lowered its full-year same-store sales growth estimate to 4.3% from 5.1%, but kept its earnings per share view unchanged at $1.34.
BofA maintained its buy rating and $71 price objective on the Chipotle Mexican Grill stock.
The company's shares were down 2% in recent trading.
Price: 57.83, Change: -1.19, Percent Change: -2.02
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