Chipotle Mexican Grill delivered earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street's expectations on Friday, but the company forecast a drop in comparable restaurant sales from current double-digit levels.
After the earnings announcement, the company's shares fell in trading after the bell. (Click here to get the latest quotes for the burrito chain.
While the company expects comparable restaurant sales increases in the mid-teens for 2014, it forecast comps to dip to low to mid-single digit increases for 2015.
This represents a significant drop from the levels the company has delivered so far this year. During the third quarter, the company comp sales shot up to 19.8 percent. Same-store sales were expected to jump 17.2 percent, according to a consensus estimate from Consensus Metrix.
The company, which has been a bright spot in the restaurant industry, delivered double-digit comparable restaurant sales in the first half of the year even amid price increases rolled out in the second quarter.
Net income in the third quarter rose to $130.8 million or $4.15 per diluted share from $83.4 million or $2.66 a share in the year-earlier period. Revenue increased 31.1 percent to $1.08 billion from $827 million a year ago.
Wall Street had forecast Chipotle to deliver earnings of $3.84 a share on $1.06 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Higher beef, avocado and dairy prices contributed to a rise in food costs at the chain. Still, the chain's restaurant level operating margin ticked 2 percent higher to 28.8 percent.