Chipotle Shoots for the Stars, Hires Oscar Winner to Produce Ad The burrito chain the had biggest gains on the Entrepreneur Index™ today.
By Andrew Osterland •
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Chipotle Mexican Grill on a serious tear of late, is taking its advertising strategy to a new level. The burrito company announced the hiring of Oscar-winning documentary director Errol Morris to create an ad campaign for the company. Investors liked the idea, sending the stock up 3.59 percent -- the biggest gain on the Entrepreneur Index™ today.
Chipotle shares popped more than eleven percent last Thursday when the company reported a ten percent jump in sales and destroyed earnings estimates. They have surged by 39.7 percent so far this year.
The rest of the stock market was relatively quiet today. Prices were up briefly this morning, but the indexes gave back most of their gains and ended the day flat. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes were up 0.07 percent and 0.13 percent respectively, while the Dow fell 0.21 percent. The Entrepreneur Index™ closed the day up 0.53 percent.
Related: Chipotle Is Opening Dozens of Locations With Drive-Thru-Style 'Chipotlanes'
L Brands had the third biggest gain on the index today, rising 2.69 percent. The stock is up just under six percent this year but down more than 50 percent in the last twelve months. Last week, the company reported that sales for its flagship Victoria's Secret brand were down(again) by one percent in January. L Brands will report fourth quarter earnings at the end of the month.
Conglomerate Loews Corp. had the biggest decline on the Entrepreneur Index™ today, dropping 6.15 percent. The company reported a loss in the fourth quarter driven largely by increased catastrophe losses at its majority-owned insurance subsidiary CNA Financial. The stock is now down 2.1 percent for the year.
Only three other stocks on the index declined by more than one percent today. Comcast, (-1.58 percent), and Verisign Inc. (-1.47 percent) fell furthest.
Other gains on the index included health care IT provider Cerner Corp. (2.7 percent), Fedex Corp. (2.17 pecent), and Hess Corp. (2.12 percent). Tesla was also up sharply, rising 2.17 percent after a Canaccord Genuity analyst upgraded the stock and set a price target of $450. It currently trades at $313.
The Entrepreneur Index™ collects the top 60 publicly traded companies founded and run by entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial spirit is a valuable asset for any business, and this index recognizes its importance, no matter how much a company has grown. These inspirational businesses can be tracked in real time on Entrepreneur.com.
