A lot of companies reported earnings today, some good (Texas Instruments, Lam Research), some bad (IBM, Southwest), but according to Goldman's consumer specialist Scott Feiler, it is Chipotle (CMG) whose reaction will be the stock to watch tomorrow for both consumer investors and generalists.
To Feiler, the reason why the reaction will be incredibly important, more so than the actual results, is that it will be an early tell on price action for the season. As noted below, the quarter was light (EPS beat but revenues and comp stores missed), but that was directionally expected and the Goldman trading desk flow (heavy in this name) certainly indicated a low bar. Feiler goes on to note that there are many other restaurant companies (and retailers) set to report soon and similar to CMG, also are expected to have tough 1Q’s. So, will the stock brush off the weakness (currently -3% in the after-market, well off session lows) or will low expectations not be enough to cushion T+0 reactions?
First, a look at what Chipotle reported for Q1:
