Linn Energy LLC (LINE), Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG): This Week’s 5 Dumbest Stock Moves

Let’s frame this comparison by pitting Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) at $45 in early 2006 and Noodles at $45 today.

Sources: Chipotle 2005 Annual Report and Noodles & Co. Prospectus.

So let’s get this straight. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) and Noodles carried similar valuations of $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion yet Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) was twice as big, growing twice as fast, and store-level comps were also growing twice as quickly.

Noodles & Co (NASDAQ:NDLS) is an impressive company, and it should evolve well over time, but the run in its first four days of public trading is not justified given the fundamentals.

4. Boston IP party

Boston University is suing the consumer tech giant, alleging that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s key products violate a 1997 patent held by the school.

The patent for highly insulating monocrystaline gallium nitride thin films could potentially halt the sale of iPhone 5 smartphones, iPad tablets, and Macbook Air laptops.

Naturally the suit is unlikely to get that far, even if it has merit.

Either way, given the stagnancy at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) these days, where revenue growth has been flat and profitability has been declining, the last thing that the Cupertino bellwether needs is more uncertainty.

5. You can’t spell Baidu.com, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) without B-A-D

It isn’t easy being a CEO these days, as the public can turn on you as quickly as they do on NBA coaches.

Baidu.com, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU)‘s Robin Li — a rock star in China and one of its wealthiest citizens — has fallen a long way over the past year.

Li was on top of Forbes annual list of the country’s top CEOs a year ago, but this time he fell all the way down to No. 40.

To be fair, the survey ranks CEO performance relative to compensation. It’s hard to stay on top when your stock tumbles more than 20% over the past year. However, it’s still a long way down for the guy running a company that until this past summer was the dot-com darling of the world’s most populous nation.

The article This Week’s 5 Dumbest Stock Moves originally appeared on Fool.com is written by Rick Munarriz.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Apple, Baidu, and Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Baidu, and Chipotle Mexican Grill.

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