Breakfast burritos are flying out the door at Mexican-inspired fast food chain Guzman y Gomez.
Shares in the Sydney-based business hit a record high after beating its own forecast with its first earnings result since its $335 million ASX float in June.
Global sales grew 26.4 per cent to $959.7 million in the year ended June 30 - ahead of predictions published in its IPO prospectus - the company announced on Tuesday.
Momentum has been strong since then too, driven by growth in its breakfast menu.
For the first seven weeks of the new financial year, same store sales growth has been above expectations at 7.4 per cent.
Founder and co-CEO Steven Marks was typically ambitious in his earnings call.
"Our vision is to reinvent fast food and change the way the masses eat," he said.
Ambition has been central to GYG's pitch to investors.
It has lofty aspirations to grow its footprint to 1000 stores in Australia in the next two decades, which would make it the third largest fast food chain in the country by store count.
With around 200 restaurants in Australia, and another 25 in Singapore, Japan and Chicago, it isn't even the country's largest Mexican franchise. Zambrero holds that honour.
GYG plans to open 31 stores in financial year 2025, and increase its presence in the US market, where rival Mexican fast food chains like Taco Bell and Chipotle are already established.
Underlying earnings across its four US stores were a loss of $6.5 million, a 52.3 per cent increase from the prior year.
The company said it "remained focused on demonstrating proof of concept in the US".
If GYG does manage to achieve its bold growth claims, much of it will come down to breakfast, which saw an 18 per cent pick-up in sales in the 2024 financial year.
"I'm not sure if everybody in the call has tried our breakfast, but it's the best thing that GYG sells," Mr Marks told analysts.
"Besides obviously the excellent quality, the value is just tremendous."
Breakfast currently accounts for six to seven per cent of all sales and Mr Marks hopes an increased focus on coffee will help drive that higher.
"Our operations team have been in restaurants, obviously working with baristas to make sure our coffee is spot on," he said.
"It will be a major focus in the following months to make sure we drive breakfast sales."
The company is also shifting its restaurant mix to higher yielding drive-through stores and opening more 24/7 restaurants, with strong growth also reported in sales after 9pm.
GYG elected not to issue a dividend, instead focusing on increasing investment in its growth strategy.
It made a net loss of $13.7 million for the year, but this was still 15 per cent better than predicted in its prospectus.
Its share price climbed 3.2 per cent to a record high of $37 on the ASX - a 23 per cent premium on its $22 issue price.
