On Thursday, shares of rebounding burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) took a hit, falling around 3% in morning trading after a tweet by user Eric Van Lustbader suggested that a customer fell ill after eating at a Manhattan-based location.
This Chipotle thing is still ongoing. My editor ended up in urgent care after being deathly ill all night from eating at Chipotle's.
— Eric Van Lustbader (@EVanLustbader) July 7, 2016
Replies to Mr. Lustbader's tweets vary between concern for his editor and concern for Chipotle.
@EVanLustbader Yikes. Seriously? That's darn scary. How's he doing?
— talimom (@BrooksDslbrooks) July 7, 2016
@EVanLustbader just don't short the stock sir. Surely a chance it might not be Chipotle related, and so a little irresponsible?
— Brandon Biggs (@pnh_brandon) July 7, 2016
@EVanLustbader my only pint is that if all you know was 'unsan food handling', then why mention Chipotle, unless that's all she eats?
— Brandon Biggs (@pnh_brandon) July 7, 2016
Chipotle has slowly been making a comeback after E. coli and norovirus outbreaks plagued some of its restaurants in California, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania late last year. The CDC declared in February that Chipotle’s E. coli outbreak was officially over.
Since then, the company has been making steps to try and win back its customers, from improved food safety standards to new menu additions to a new, limited-time rewards program. Chipotle also released a video add—as part of its new creative strategy—dubbed “A Love Story,” that tells the tale of two juice stand owners who compete with one another over the years before coming together to offer fresh ingredients and products to their customers.
Currently, Chipotle holds a #4 (Sell) on the Zacks Rank. The company is expected to report its latest quarterly earnings near the end of July.
CHIPOTLE MEXICN (CMG): Free Stock Analysis Report
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