It's been a wild week for Chipotle (CMG +3.02%) after star CEO Brian Niccol stepped down to take the top job at Starbucks.
Shares of the burrito roller plunged on the news, falling as much as 14% before closing the session down 7.5%. Niccol does leave a void at the burrito chain, but Wall Street doesn't seem too alarmed.
In fact, some analysts see the sell-off as a buying opportunity.
Image source: Chipotle.
Wedbush turns bullish on Chipotle
Wedbush just upgraded its rating on Chipotle to outperform from neutral, and upped its price target to $58, implying a 13% upside.
With Niccol leaving, Chipotle said that COO Scott Boatwright will become interim CEO, and CFO Jack Hartung will delay his planned retirement for next year, staying indefinitely.
Wedbush believes those two leaders deserve some of the credit for Chipotle's turnaround from the 2015 E. coli scandal, and argued that the business is on solid footing.
NYSE: CMG
Key Data Points
Is Chipotle a buy?
While Niccol did an excellent job as Chipotle's CEO, leading the stock to gains of around 800% and successfully launching the digital side of the business, Chipotle should be fine without him as it enjoys substantial competitive advantages from its brand strength and product, has a strong culture, a promising growth path in front of it, and momentum to get there.
Even after the sell-off the stock isn't cheap at a price-to-earnings ratio of 49, but the business is growing rapidly and margins are expanding. Over the long term, the company expects to at least double its number of locations to 7,000.
The future still looks bright for Chipotle. Buying the stock now should pay off over the long term.
