Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. has opened a location in Kuwait, marking its first restaurant in the Middle East and the first time Chipotle has entered a new country in 10 years.
The Kuwait City restaurant has been operating with adjusted hours since the beginning of April to account for holidays and staff training, Chipotle CMG, +0.40% said, in a statement. The restaurant’s official grand opening will be on April 23.
Last year Chipotle announced a partnership with franchise retail operator Alshaya Group to open restaurants in the Middle East. In Monday’s statement announcing the new location, Chipotle said that Alshaya Group will open the company’s first Dubai location later this year. Alshaya Group is expected to open total of four new restaurants this year, the company said.
Chipotle has over 3,400 restaurants in North America, 19 in the U.K., six in France and two in Germany.
The Kuwait location is the first to feature the company’s new design, according to Chipotle, which includes a wood tile floor — replacing Chipotle’s traditional concrete floor — and new wall finishes.
Shares of the fast-casual restaurant chain were down 0.04% in premarket trades Monday. Chipotle’s shares are up 25.5% in 2024, outpacing the S&P 500 index’s SPX gain of 4.1%. Chipotle’s stock hit a record close last month, boosted by the announcement of a 50-for-1 stock split — the company’s first such move.
In a note released Monday, Raymond James described Chipotle, along with Shake Shack Inc. SHAK, -0.45%, Chilli’s parent Brinker International EAT, -0.85%, First Watch Restaurant Group Inc. FWRG, +1.10%, and Bloomin’ Brands Inc. BLMN, -0.97% as its top long ideas among restaurant stocks. “We maintain a selective stance towards our restaurant universe as industry sales have underwhelmed in recent months causing us to increasingly favor stocks with idiosyncratic factors trading at attractive valuations,” wrote Raymond James analyst Brian M. Vaccaro.
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