Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) are falling Tuesday morning following news that CEO Brian Niccol will take up the mantle of Starbucks (SBUX) chief executive and chairman in September. Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan has stepped down in this surprising C-suite shakeup.
Wedbush Securities managing director Nick Setyan and AB Bernstein senior analyst Danilo Gargiulo come on Catalysts to talk about the direction of Chipotle’s brand, especially as core leadership like CFO Jack Hartung has opted to stay onboard instead of retiring in March 2025.
“Think about the importance of the ‘Chipotlanes’ [drive-thru] that is tapping into the more convenient-oriented consumer. Well, those types of consumers are now much more familiar with the brand, and we are seeing that Chipotle is now working also in the small town, in university cities, areas where previously one would have never thought that Chipotle might be working,” Gargiulo states. “And so right now we are talking about a potentially a cookie cutter approach that Chipotle will need to be deploying into more areas and expand the number of units…”
Setyan believes Chipotle to be “in a very good place” and “in very good hands” with Hartung and COO Scott Boatwright who will be acting as interim CEO.
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This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.