This Week's 5 Smartest Stock Moves
If you're feeling good about the market, you're not alone. Take my hand as we go over some of this week's more uplifting headlines.
1. Keep 'em rolling
Things are holding up pretty well at Chipotle Mexican Grill . The fast-growing burrito-roller came through with a strong quarter, bucking the trend that saw many fast-food and casual-dining chains posting negative comps earlier this earnings season.
Chipotle saw revenue climb a better-than-expected 21%, propelled by expansion efforts and a 9.3% spike in comps. Good luck finding another eatery with comparable-restaurant sales climbing at that clip. Operating margins improved to the point where profitability soared 30% during the period.
Chipotle closed out the year with 1,595 restaurants, opening 56 units during the quarter itself. It's targeting 180 to 195 new eateries and another year of positive comps in 2014.
2. Pot addiction
Green Coffee Mountain Roasters sees the art in carafes. The Keurig company that revolutionized the single-serve brewing industry is betting on customers occasionally wanting a full pot of coffee.
Keurig 2.0 is a new platform rolling out this fall that, unlike Keurig Vue, is organically compatible with K-Cup portion packs. However, the new system will also be able to brew enough coffee to fill a 28-ounce pot. The K-Carafe is a proprietary refill pod that should help Green Mountain win back coffee brands that were drawn to third-party K-Cups, as the only way to offer everything for Keurig brewers is to play nice.
3. Disney thaws out a winner
Disney has a big multiplex hit in Frozen, and it knows how to make the movie theater magic last a little bit longer.
Disney is introducing a singalong version of the popular computer-animated flick across the country today. Taking advantage of the catchy Oscar-nominated soundtrack, the film's songs will feature lyrics on the bottom of the screen with a bouncing snowflake for movie patrons to sing along.
It may seem cheesy, but it should breathe new life into box office receipts for a film that this week topped $350 million in domestic ticket sales.
4. Paper chase
Facebook hit new all-time highs after posting blowout quarterly results, but let's talk about a new app -- Facebook Paper -- that the dot-com darling announced that it will roll out next week.
Facebook Paper is an interface that lets users explore and share stories with their friends. With ad revenue up a blazing 76% in its latest quarter, anything that it can do to increase traffic gives it a great opportunity to keep its scintillating growth going. Even after a monster quarter in which Facebook's reach broadened to 1.23 billion monthly active users, it seems as if the social-networking giant can't stand still.
That's a good thing.
5. Miss Scarlett in the kitchen with the candlestick
SodaStream responded this week to its banned Super Bowl ad the same way it did last year: YouTube. The Israeli company behind the popular beverage-maker uploaded the uncensored ad to the leading video-sharing website. The strategy to go viral has worked, with the commercial topping 6.5 million video views as of Friday morning.
You'll have to watch carefully on Super Bowl Sunday to spot the difference between the two ads. It boils down to Scarlett Johansson saying, "Sorry, Coke and Pepsi" in the banned television commercial, but drawing attention to the uncensored version this week should help it milk more exposure out of the costly Super Bowl slot. For one of the smallest companies advertising in Sunday's game, that's a pretty big deal.
SodaStream used to argue that folks should set the bubbles free. This time around, it's about setting an apology free. That'll work.
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The article This Week's 5 Smartest Stock Moves originally appeared on Fool.com.
Rick Munarriz owns shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, SodaStream, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool recommends Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. It recommends and owns shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Facebook, SodaStream, and Walt Disney. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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