Earnings Preview: Chipotle

Chipotle (NYSE: CMG) is expected to report strong fourth quarter earnings today at 4:30PM EST. Analysts have a mean price target of $356.40 per share, according to Thomson/First Call, far below the stock's current price of $369.80.

Analysts are expecting the Mexican fast food chain to report quarterly earnings of $1.83 per share on revenues of $591.23 million. Last quarter, it reported earnings of $1.90. Crowdsourcing site Estimize has slightly lower expectations, with an EPS estimate of $1.82 per share.

The restaurant group has grown its market presence in recent years with a radical nationwide expansion, which has helped the stock to jump 66.7% in value over the past year. That increase has made the stock expensive, with a P/E ratio of 57.61, after the stock reached its 52-week high in intraday trading today.

Chipotle has 1,084 restaurants, and has recently expanded into Canada with two locations and England, where it has one restaurant in London.