Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc CMG:NYSE

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) is set to reverse its recent relative transaction underperformance and have sustained growth above pre-COVID levels, Wedbush said in a note Friday.

The analysts said that this sentiment is mostly driven by factors like improved staffing, the return of dine-in, and growing digital strength, especially after a boost following the introduction of the Fajita Quesadilla introduction in early March.

The launch of the Chicken al Pastor is expected to sustain comparable store sales momentum through the end of Q1 and into Q2, the analysts said, adding that while they forego more aggressive comp estimates for now, they believe upward revisions post Q1 are probable and beyond Q1, no incremental price increases in 2023 are expected.

Menu innovation, throughput efficiencies, marketing spend growth and the maturation curve of new units continue to be ongoing same-store sales, or SSS, growth drivers, the analysts said. Wedbush maintains its 8.5% Q1 SSS growth estimate and 2023 SSS growth estimate of 5.8% compared with consensus of 8.3% and 5.8%, respectively, they added.

Wedbush maintains its outperform rating on the stock with a price target set at $2,080.

Price: 1608.57, Change: -16.57, Percent Change: -1.02