In the book Algorithms to Live By, I was exposed to a concept that improved my ability to make decisions -- the "explore-exploit trade-off." I'll spare you the nerdy details. But I'm at the stage of life where I should be exploring things. Instead, I keep exploiting (ordering) the same chicken burrito from Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) over and over because it's just so good. Why explore the menu further?

Chipotle does a good job making my burrito. But that's not the only thing this restaurant chain does well. The company has profit margins that are hard to comprehend, and it's incredibly material for investors making decisions about Chipotle stock today.

On April 24, Chipotle reported financial results for the first quarter of 2024. Keep in mind that there were nearly 3,500 company-owned locations at the end of the quarter. This is a huge chain, and it consequently has big corporate expenses outside of its restaurants. These are called general and administrative expenses, and they cost Chipotle over $200 million in Q1 alone.

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Source Fool.com