A man walks into a Chipotle restaurant in Washington on January 31, 2014. Feisty restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill bucked the tide of lethargic holiday sales, helped by a widely-seen video that mocked factory farming to highlight its emphasis on healthy ingredients. Chipotle, which describes its mission as "changing the way people think about and eat fast food", notched a 9.3 percent increase in comparable sales for the fourth quarter. Those higher sales, which contrasted with flat or declining results at other restaurant chains, helped counteract the rising costs of avocados, a key ingredient on its menus, and some other supplies, leading to higher profits and a higher forecast for 2014 sales. Net income was $79.6 million, up nearly 30 percent from a year ago, on a 20 percent rise in revenues to $844.1 million. Earnings bested analyst expectations for profits of $78.7 million. Full year earnings were $327.4 million on revenues of $3.2 billion, up $278 million on revenues of $2.7 billion. AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
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AFP NICHOLAS KAMM