Chipotle tops 4Q profit forecasts

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter profit of $16 million.

On a per-share basis, the Denver-based company said it had profit of 55 cents.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 54 cents per share.

The Mexican food chain posted revenue of $1.03 billion in the period, which missed Street forecasts. Ten analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.04 billion.

Chipotle shares have climbed 12 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen nearly 2 percent. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $423.65, a decrease of 11 percent in the last 12 months.

_____

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CMG at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CMG

_____

Keywords: Chipotle Mexican Grill, Earnings Report