After the announcement of results by Chipotle Mexican Grill, shares in Chipotle Mexican Grill were up over 3% Wednesday morning.

CMG reported Q1 adjustedEPS at $5.70. That’s an improvement of $5.36 in year-ago quarter and is just below consensus estimates for $5.67. CMG reported $2.0billion in Q1, up 15% YoY and consistent with estimates of $2.01billion.

Similar sales growth was recorded by the company, at +9%. That compares with +17.2% during the same time last year. Analysts were anticipating +7.86%. The operating margin for the company was reported at 9.4%. This is lower than the expected 10.8%.

Chipotle opened 51 locations during the period. This is 28% more YoY than the consensus forecast of 48. Restaurant sales averaged $2.68 trillion, slightly more than analysts expected at $2.65 billion.

CMG expects that the total number of restaurants will be between 235 and 250 for the entire year. This is in contrast to analyst predictions of 244. CMG has included 5-10 locations for Chipotlane relocations in the new location guidance.

If current trends in sales continue, the chain anticipates comparable Q2 sales growth of between 10% and 12%.

Cowen analyst Andrew Charles saw results as “pleasing” including “encouraging” sales comp guidance. An analyst also reduced the target price to $1,830.00 per shares from $1,950.00.

“We believe 1Q’s margin shortfall should be overshadowed by 2Q guidance for 25% margins, in excess of 24.6% Consensus Metrix. QTD’s sales strength, recent pricing decisions, and stabilization of commodity inflation in the past month are all contributing to 2Q guidance that is better than we expected. These developments have been encouraging after recent sharp price increases. Mgmt noted commodities will unlikely revert lower until 2023 at the earliest,” Charles wrote in a note.

Citi analyst Jon Tower increased the price target from $1,900.00 by $1,926.00 to reflect strong traffic growth.

“Bears may pick at the 2Q SSS guide; however, we believe it should be sufficient in a market braced for a shoe to drop on the consumer, and a continued re-opening trade, stabilizing employment from field leadership down, and a renewed focus on throughput all point to room for SSS to accelerate beyond just the mechanics of pre- vs post-Easter… Shares trail the market by ~500bps YTD, and we think today’s update will stem the tide and go a long way in reassuring investors that consumers will pay more for the food they value,” Tower said in a note.

By Senad Karaahmetovic