Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, burrito specialist Chipotle Mexican Grill
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Chipotle's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Chipotle facts
| Headquarters (founded) | Denver (1993) |
| Market Cap | $10.4 billion |
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue | $2.04 billion |
| Management | Founder/Chairman/co-CEO Steven Ells CFO John Hartung |
| Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) | 19.9% |
| Cash/Debt | $384.6 million / $3.7 million |
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 14% of the 2,777 members who have rated Chipotle believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bears include paids and investorpoet2.
Just last week, paids noted that the Chipotle bear case all boiled down to price:
Where do I start? How about the P/E=55? ... [T]hat would be high for a startup tech company with a new niche product but for a fast food company it is "insane" valuation.
In fact, Chipotle even trades at a lofty forward P/E of about 40. That represents a clear premium to other restaurant stocks such as McDonald's
Two weeks ago, CAPS member investorpoet2 expanded on the Chipotle underperform argument:
Actually hold this personally, but not expecting much. Here I'm betting returns suffer for a year or two. The company is trading at 44.6 times the highest analyst estimate for this year and 32.5 times the highest estimate for next year. This is a great company, but there is still such a thing as gravity. Even if they hit these numbers, the stock may be priced too high.
What do you think about Chipotle, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to protect your portfolio from any undue risk. Staying away from dangerous stocks is crucial to securing your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to flag them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!
