Bernstein Doesn't See Chipotle Exec's Arrest Blowing The Chance Of Company's Recovery

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Mark Crumpacker, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. CMG's chief creative and development officer was charged with possession of cocaine. As a result, Chipotle placed Crumpacker on administrative leave and transferred the executive’s duties to other managers at the company.<//p>

Bernstein’s Take

Bernstein’s Sara Senatore noted Crumpacker’s role in “spearheading the recovery strategy including increased consumer research, stepped up marketing spending, and the launch of the frequency program for the summer,” but said the incident would have no significant effect on Chipotle’s recovery initiatives.

The incident was “unlikely to have an impact on the initiatives in place to drive sales recovery,” said Senatore. The analyst, however, admitted the disruption clearly came “at a bad time for the business as it seeks to bounce back from well publicized food safety issues.”

According to TipRanks.com, Senatore was among the better analysts covering Chipotle having a success rate of 65 percent with an average rate of return per recommendation of +7.3 prcent. The analyst was ranked 1,061 of 4,001 analysts. Senatore maintained the company’s Buy rating with a lofty $730.00 price target.

At the time of writing, Chipotle shares traded at $402.50, down roughly a quarter off Friday's open.