Chipotle continues to struggle

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. relied on price hikes and a new queso dip to fuel sales last quarter, but it’s still struggling to get customers in the door.

The Mexican-inspired chain said on Tuesday that customer traffic was negative last quarter and has remained down this year. The results suggest that the Denver-based company’s turnaround is slow going, even with a modest sales increase.

The stock fell as much as 5.2 percent to $288.50 in late trading after an initial spike when the results were released.

On the bright side, the closely watched benchmark of comparable sales exceeded the projection from Consensus Metrix. Profit also narrowly beat Wall Street estimates.

“While there is still work to be done, we are starting to see some success,” Chief Executive Officer Steve Ells said in a statement.

Chipotle has seen its share price fall in recent years as it’s been rocked by setbacks, from a foodsafety crisis and a data breach to hurricanes and a viral video of mice at one of its restaurants. An attempt to add dessert stumbled, and the chain still wants to come up with new items to entice diners.

“These are not like knock-your-socks-off type numbers, but it is somewhat more stable than it was,” said BTIG LLC analyst Peter Saleh.

Fourth-quarter profit was $1.55 a share when including a 21-cent tax benefit. Excluding that item, earnings of $1.34 still exceeded the average estimate of $1.33 from analysts. The 0.9 percent advance in comparable sales — a key metric to gauge consumers’ enthusiasm for restaurant chains — was higher than the 0.7 percent forecast.

In November, Ells agreed to step down as CEO when a new leader is found. The news sent the shares up, a sign investors are hopeful new leadership can help the chain bounce back after E. coli and norovirus sickened hundreds of its customers across the U.S. The stock has tumbled in each of the past three years.