Here’s How Much a $1,000 Investment in Chipotle Stock 10 Years Ago Would Be Worth Today
Written by
Terence Loose
Edited by
T. Woods
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When you think of Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), you likely conjure up images of tasty burritos, tacos, burrito bowls and their signature salsa. What probably doesn’t come to mind is a business that in the past decade has outpaced the S&P 500 and many other popular stocks and indexes in its returns.
The 30-year-old fast-food chain has quite an impressive growth record, both on and off the exchange.
Chipotle was founded in 1993 by Steve Ells, who opened one location in Denver, Colorado based on the premise of creating a fast-food restaurant that used fresh, not frozen, ingredients prepared in traditional ways. To this day, none of the well over 3,000 locations use freezers, can openers or artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. They also use free-range, hormone-free pork, chicken and other meats, and market themselves as the fresh, healthy alternative to fast-food chains. Whether that was conducive to the chain’s rise in popularity and spread across the United States, Canada and parts of Europe is up for debate. But what’s not in question is the returns the company has generated for its investors.
So just how much would your 2014 $1,000 belief in Chipotle’s fast food business model be worth today? As of April 3, 2024, your $1,000 would have grown to $5,072. That’s a return of 407%. Put another way, the chain’s share price in April of 2014 was $571. As of April 3, 2024, it stood at $2,896. That’s a lot of burritos.
For context, if you had invested that same $1,000 in the S&P 500 in April of 2014, you would have grown your investment to $2,774, or 177% (without dividend reinvestment). That’s quite a difference. But, hey, let’s say you were smart and did reinvest your dividends. You’d still come up short of Chipotle with an investment worth $3,315, or a 232% return.
Which brings us to the real question on your mind. Is now a good time to buy Chipotle stock? Based on 39 analysts’ ratings of the stock, according to CNN Business, it’s a mixed call. But it does lean in favor of a buy, with 68% of the analysts giving it the green light, while only three percent say it’s time to sell Chipotle. The bottom line is, no matter how much you love Chipotle’s Burrito Bowl, with any stock you need to do your homework before risking your lunch money.
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