I have been a big fan of Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) for a long time. I have consistently liked this name from the 140-level. The fundamentals for this company are really strong, there is tremendous growth opportunity, and the long-term chart shows a very strong up-trend. One problem with this stock is its *spicy* valuation compared to its peers.
After reaching a life-time high of 262.77 earlier this week, CMG has pulled back more than 10% in the past couple of days. This morning Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equalweight from Overweight.
The Bullish Picture:
The stock has short-term support at 225-230. It seems like the support is holding at the time of writing (3:00 PM). It bounced back slightly after reaching an intraday low of 231.00. A bullish investor can get long CMG shares at this price with a stop-loss underneath 225.
The Bearish Picture:
Given the fact that the stock had a huge run up since it reported blowout earnings on Oct 21, 2010, it is not unlikely that the stock may trade sideways or down from here. If the stock falls through the short-term support, it might trade down to the 200-level.
Additional Note:
I would also like to note that the options of CMG have high bid/ask spreads. So if you are using options (especially any sort of spreads, e.g., vertical spreads) please use limit orders.
(Full Disclosure: Author has no position in CMG shares at the time of writing)