One thing that I really like about the restaurant business is that with good food and a great concept, the growth potential is enormous. Investors need to be on the lookout for the next compelling concept and look to find the next Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG). One such company that comes to mind is Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc (NASDAQ:FRGI), the owner of Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana. I’m personally a huge fan of its Pollo Tropical restaurants and I prefer investing in companies where I enjoy their products.
It’s been a party to own Fiesta shares
In the first quarter of this year, revenues increased 5.9% to $133.6 million. Comparable-restaurant sales increased 3.8% at Pollo Tropical and 2% at Taco Cabana. This marked 14 consecutive quarters of positive comparable sales for Pollo Tropical and 11 consecutive quarters for Taco Cabana. The company opened four new restaurants and swung to a net profit from a net loss in the same quarter last year. Net income in the first quarter was $4.8 million, or $0.20 per share.
Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc (NASDAQ:FRGI) plans to open a total of 14 to 17 new company-owned restaurants this year. Internationally, the company plans to franchise 10 more locations. The plan is to cluster the store locations and achieve economies of scale. For Pollo Tropical, the plan is to move west and Taco Cabana plans to expand east. By doing so, the locations will overlap and the company can use media more efficiently and supply each restaurant easier. Currently, Pollo Tropical’s primary locations are in Florida and Taco Cabana’s are in Texas. Taco Cabana has no presence in Florida and Pollo Tropical has no presence in Texas.
Comparable menu to Chipotle
If there’s one restaurant that you want to be favorably compared to, it would be Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG). This is especially true for investors since Chipotle is up over 500% in the past five years. Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc (NASDAQ:FRGI)’s Taco Cabana restaurants offer a very similar menu to Chipotle. Taco Cabana offers burrito bowls, tacos, nachos, quesadillas, breakfast, and it even sells margaritas and ice-cold beer. Fiesta’s restaurants offer the fast-casual, freshly-made food that customers love and that has made Chipotle a national chain.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) shows no signs of slowing down, especially after a blowout second- quarter earnings report last week. The stock jumped 8.5% and closed above the key $400 level. For the quarter, revenue increased 18.2%, comparable-restaurant sales increased 5.5%, earnings per share increased 10.2%, and the company opened 44 new restaurants.
Going forward, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) is still looking to expand. For the full year, the company plans to open a total of 165 to 180 new restaurants. Growth for Chipotle will come from opening more restaurant locations, but the company is also excited about the potential for its ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen restaurants. ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen hopes to do for Asian fast-casual as Chipotle did for Mexican fast-casual. Currently, there are only two locations with plans for six more in the next year.
A competitor to both
A competitor to both is Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) with its KFC and Taco Bell restaurants. Its other restaurant brand is Pizza Hut. All together, Yum! operates approximately 39,000 restaurants in 125 countries.
The focus at Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) is on its China business, where it gets about half of its sales. Recently, however, the China segment has been a headache for the company. Another outbreak of avian flu and tainted meat from a chicken supplier in China have lead to a drop in sales.
