CMG - Is Noodles & Company the Next Chipotle?
For the sixth straight quarter, investors in Noodles & Company (NASDAQ: NDLS) have something to cheer about. Comparable-store sales, a particularly important metric for restaurant stocks, were up 2.1% in the company's third quarter. This marked the sixth consecutive quarter of increased comps for the company.
Perhaps comps success gave management a boost of confidence, because the company is now targeting net unit growth (i.e., opening more restaurants than it closes) in 2021 for the first time since 2016.
But Noodles already tried its hand at expanding the restaurant chain once before. Is there any reason to believe that such growth will work out better for the company this time? The answer is yes.