Chipotle Leading the Pack

NEW YORK, N.Y. (TheStreet) -- Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill(CMG) heated up Thursday after the burrito chain posted stellar quarterly financials late Wednesday that beat expectations and outpaced its fast-casual restaurant peers.

Chipotle booked strong double-digit growth in sales and profits, while comparable same-store sales -- or sales at stores open at least one year -- grew 8.7% year-over-year. The Mexican-style chain reported earnings of $46.5 million, or $1.46 per share, on revenue of $466.8 million.

Denver-based Chipotle opened its 1,000th restaurant last quarter, and forecast mid- to high-single digit comp sales growth for fiscal 2010.

"Pretty strong comps was the biggest surprise," Oppenheimer analyst Matthew J. DiFrisco told TheStreet. "They're at the top of the pack in industry leading comps, up there with Starbucks(SBUX)."

Coffee giant Starbucks also beat top-line expectations when it reported quarterly financials this week, and booked adjusted profits per share that surpassed analysts' consensus call.

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