Shake Shack’s total revenue and sales both grew 34% in the fourth quarter compared to the same period in 2019, according to an unaudited report.
Shake Shack (SHAK) – Get Shake Shack, Inc. Class A Report plans to open up to 75 more restaurants globally in 2022, which includes adding 10 locations to its fledgling drive-thru footprint, driven by a recovery in sales and revenue in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 29.
The New York restaurant chain’s CEO Randy Garutti told CNBC Tuesday that Shake Shack plans to open 45-50 restaurants in the U.S. and 20-25 units outside the country in 2022 after opening 36 new U.S. units and 26 outside the country last year. The chain will also add 10 new drive-thru restaurants this year after opening its first two drive-thru units last year in Maple Grove, Minn., and Lee’s Summit, Mo.
“One of the exciting things we did this quarter, for the first time ever, we launched and opened our first ever Shake Shack drive-thru, one in Minnesota and one in Lee’s Summit in Missouri, and this has been a game-changer for us,” Garutti said. “We’re going to open up to 10 of those this year and we’re going to continue to drive into different formats.”
Garutti first mentioned plans to expand U.S. stores by up to 50 and add 10 drive-thru units during Shake Shack’s third quarter earnings call. Those plans prompted Barclays analyst Jeffrey Bernstein to inquire whether the company had the ability to recruit managers for new locations.
The CEO said that Shake Shack is already training shift managers to promote to managers and it does not plan to open in many new markets, which he said should make it easier to grow management teams from within.
Shake Shack’s total revenue grew 34% to $203.3 million in the fourth quarter compared to $151.4 million in the same period in 2019, according to unaudited results. Revenue increased 29% compared to the same period in 2020. The restaurant chain’s sales also grew 34% to $195.9 million in the quarter compared to $145.8 million in the same period of 2019. Sales increased 28.5% compared to the same period in 2020.
Same-store sales in the fourth quarter grew by 2.2% compared to the same period in 2019 and by 20.8% in the same period of 2020.
Shares of Shake Shack rose 13% to $77.27 on news of the unaudited quarter results.
