Chipotlaway

I’m going to be straight up here: I love eating Chipotle.

Those little rat burritos are muy delicioso. I could easily put down 2 burritos in one sitting if need be. It disheartens me to see $CMG stock getting thrown into the shitter (literally) because of a few people getting E. coli.

Am I scared of a little E. coli? Not really. I thought it was normal to have a colon blow experience an hour or two after digesting a massive burrito bowl or two. Throw in a 40 oz jug of coffee on top of that and you’re gonna have a bad time.

Anyways, this little E. coli business bothers me only in the slightest. People are going to eat fast food to fuel the obesity epidemic, but what other fast food alternatives are you going to eat if you are a paleo freak (which is also becoming more mainstream)? Chipotle has a higher risk of food-borne illness outbreaks based on the freshness of their meat and produce. McDonald’s and other crappy fast food restaurants don’t have as much risk because all of their food is made in a laboratory with copious amounts of preservatives. Choose your death: Clogged arteries or dysentery.

This stock will probably continue to get beaten down in the short term as Chipotle has already mentioned that they have already started to receive a lot of negative publicity which has in turn forced them to close a few locations. This will result in a decline in sales and may also affect the price and availability of their produce and livestock. Obviously this will be a cascading effect that will carry into their next earnings report. The Street doesn’t think those numbers are priced in yet.

Right now it continues to trend lower (Update: stock up 3% this morning), but at some point this will all blow over and $CMG will continue its march higher. It hasn’t been this oversold since the second half of 2012. I don’t really care about their fundamentals. My channel checks consist of standing in line for 15-20 minutes every time I walk into a Chipotle restaurant. There are no alternatives in this space. Don’t even dare say Qdoba is a close comparison. Your brain has been fogged by preservatives and polyunsaturated fats.

In the meantime, if you still feel like risking it by eating a Chipotle burrito and/or buying the stock, make sure you are wearing your Chipotlaway pants.