Mad Money

Hot sauce or no, this stock has kick

Chipotle CFO: Finding best ingredients is our priority
VIDEO10:2910:29
Chipotle CFO: Finding best ingredients is our priority

(Click for video linked to a searchable transcript of this Mad Money segment)

If you like a stock with kick, you might find shares of this company downright mouthwatering.

Even with the broad market weakness, shares of Chipotle are 10% higher over 5 days, largely due to enthusiasm about the company's earnings.

" when it reported last Thursday," noted Jim Cramer. Immediately following the report shares surged a whopping $58.

Sharon Dominick | E+ | Getty Images

Looking at some of the key metrics there was a lot to like in :
- Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2013 increased by 20.7% versus the same quarter in the previous year to more than $844 million.
- Comparable-restaurant sales jumped by 9.3%,
- The company opened 56 new restaurants during the quarter, bringing the total store count to 1,595 locations.
- Operating margin widened to 25.6% from 24.6%, driven by favorable sales leverage and lower marketing costs.

On top of all this, "While other companies saw things get worse and worse over the quarter, for Chipotle, December was better than November, and on the conference call management said that January was also terrific," Cramer said

Jim Cramer thinks these blockbuster metrics are not only do to impressive execution, but also because Chipotle has leveraged a massive theme that's gaining momentum nationwide– the growing desire to eat better foods.

"Chipotle has become one of the standard-bearers for the huge healthy-eating wave," Cramer insisted. In fact, it's such an important part of the restaurant's culture that "they created a whole darned television show, called "Farmed and Dangerous," about the hazards of the food chain, that's coming out on Hulu later this month," Cramer said.

Because Cramer believes healthy eating should remain an investable theme for some time to come, Chipotle should remain a Wall Street favorite.

However, that's not the only wow factor. There's another.

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"It's also a terrific growth story," Cramer added. "As noted above, last year they increased their store count by 13%, and management thinks they can keep growing their footprint by 11-12% a year for practically as far as the eye can see."

That's not to say the Chipotle story is undiscovered. Chipotle is trading at a forward P/E ratio near 35 times earnings estimates for the next year; that's relatively expensive.

Nonetheless, Chipotle presents unique opportunity, not only as a bet on healthy eating but also as a play on big growth.

"Pro investors will typically pay through the nose for this kind of opportunity," Cramer said, "especially when it's generated by a management that's as good as the management at Chipotle."

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