Pershing Square Holdings, an investment holding company, released its first half 2024 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. It has been a productive year for Pershing Square, despite a slight decline in performance year-to-date through August 13, 2024. The Company’s NAV per share, including dividends, climbed by 5.7% during the first half of 2024 and fell by 2.3% for year-to-date through August 13, 2024, and its share price increased by 14.7% and decreased by 2.9%, respectively. The S&P 500 increased by 15.3% and 14.9% over the same period. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.
Pershing Square Holdings highlighted stocks like Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) owns and operates Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants. The one-month return of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) was 5.73%, and its shares gained 43.49% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 21, 2024, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) stock closed at $53.73 per share with a market capitalization of $73.582 billion.
Pershing Square Holdings stated the following regarding Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“On August 13th, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) announced that CEO Brian Niccol would be leaving the company to become the CEO of Starbucks. Brian has led a superb turnaround at Chipotle, which has put the company firmly on the path of sustainable long-term growth. While we are disappointed to see Brian go, one of the measures of a great CEO is the company that he leaves behind. Brian has built an extraordinary team at Chipotle that we expect will not lose a step in his departure. We are grateful to Brian for the extraordinary value he has created for CMG shareholders and Pershing Square.
Chipotle delivered outstanding results in the first half of 2024 as the brand’s industry-leading value proposition of fresh food, customization, and convenience at fair prices continues to resonate with customers. During the second quarter, same-store sales grew an impressive 11%, or 55% from 2019 levels. Successful marketing, including the return of the fan-favorite Chicken Al Pastor limited time offering, and faster throughput drove transaction growth of over 8%, with gains across all income cohorts. Although sales growth has moderated in the summer amid a broader deceleration in the restaurant industry, Chipotle continues to gain share. The launch of Smoked Brisket for a limited time starting in September, one of the company’s most requested menu items, should further improve trends….” (Click here to read the full text)
![](https://imonkey-blog.imgix.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/23093635/CMG-insidermonkey-1695476192626-768x430.jpg?auto=fortmat&fit=clip&expires=1756598400&width=480&height=269)
A chef plating up a wide variety of dishes for a restaurant chain.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 68 hedge fund portfolios held Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) at the end of the second quarter which was 60 in the previous quarter. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.’s (NYSE:CMG) sales in the quarter grew 18% to reach nearly $3 billion. While we acknowledge the potential of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we discussed Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) and shared Jim Cramer’s latest calls. Ensemble Capital Management, another investment management company, sold its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) during Q2 2024, due to high valuation. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.