Chipotle's spicy year

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) experienced some delicious growth over its fourth quarter and full-year reporting period. As the press release issued on Valentine's Day after the market closed indicated, Q4 revenues spiced up almost 32% to $288.9 million, and diluted earnings soared 61% to $0.53 per stub. For the full year, revenues jumped 32% to $1.1 billion, and diluted earnings rocketed 66% to $2.13 per share.

But was this enough to satisfy the after-hours market? Nope -- at the time of this writing, the after-hours quote on Chipotle's stock was down almost 13%. I'll give you a second or two to guess why. Got it yet? Sure you do -- even if you hadn't already read the headlines, you must have intuited that Chipotle didn't meet analyst expectations. The sacrosanct Wall Street crowd wanted a couple pennies more for the quarter.

Well, I say the Chipotle story looks pretty good from where I'm sitting. Restaurant operating margins are up, comps are up over 10% for the quarter and the year, and new stores will continue to be rolled out. Plus, operational cash flow increased 42%. Chipotle, which used to be a part of McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), is becoming a major brand in the restaurant sector, and is a strong competitor against related companies such as Burger King (NYSE: BKC), Wendy's (NYSE: WEN), and Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM).

Yes, economic times will be difficult going forward, as Ben Bernanke has warned, but I've got a sneaking suspicion Chipotle Mexican Grill's stock will recover from the recent pullback from its 52-week high of better than $155.