Chipotle's Customers May Be in a Forgiving Mood

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. has been caught in a web of public-health issues over the past few months, and analysts got a new look at just how much those troubles hurt the company in the past quarter, and what to expect moving forward. The short answer is there might be a few reasons to be optimistic.

The company said Tuesday that sales at its established restaurants slumped by almost 15 percent from the year before, with the numbers getting even worse in January. In fact, Chipotle stated 60 percent of customers who were aware of the food-safety issues said the problems caused them to visit the chain less. Despite this, some Wall Street firms are actually boosting their ratings on the stock. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, for instance, raised it to 'Neutral' from 'Underperform,' saying, "While we expect the stock to remain volatile, with current ~5 percent upside potential [the firm has a target of $475, up from $425] and supported by our recent customer survey results, we raise our rating to Neutral."