Fast food joint Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (NYSE:CMG) shares rallied on Tuesday as the company revealed that data-analysis predicting that first quarter sales would beat Wall Street estimates.
The data comes from the firm M Science about the group, which has been trying to turn a corner since damage it took after food health scares in late 2015 and early 2016.
Analysts have been predicting same-store sales growth of almost 15% for the first quarter, according to Bloomberg data.
That’s after a decline of 4.8% in the previous three months.
Shares in Chipotle gained 2.39% on the day to stand at US$405.85.
In February, the restaurant chain told investors it has speeded up wait times at its outlets with a new digital rollout.
The technology is now in all restaurants with digital ordering and reportedly enhances web ordering (order.chipotle.com) as well as the company’s ordering apps for iOS and Android, it said.
“Smarter Pickup Times” also improves the company’s ability to process more digital orders without disrupting service or throughput in its restaurants," it said.
In testing, the firm said it saw a reduction of wait times for digital orders by as much as 50%, and an increase in the total number of digital orders to record levels.
The rot started in October 2015 with an outbreak of E. coli, but there were several more incidents over the following months, and it all took a heavy toll on results, leading to its first ever quarterly loss.
But at the end of January this year, fourth-quarter earnings saw sales go back into positive territory in November and December last year.