Chipotle price target raised to $3,440 from $3,250 at Truist

Truist raised the firm’s price target on Chipotle to $3,440 from $3,250 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares after its Q1 earnings beat. The company is one of the few restaurants driving consistently strong traffic as its strong value proposition, effective marketing, improving service levels and faster throughput appear to be creating a sustainable positive feedback loop, the analyst tells investors in a research note. An expected increase in avocado prices and potentially muted menu pricing in Q4 create a potential temporary headwind to margins, but this is overshadowed by Chipotle’s near industry leading traffic and accelerating development, the firm added.