$100 Million Melt: Grilled Cheese Food Truck Sees Market Value Soar
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — How much is a delicious grilled cheese sandwich worth?
Analysts say the company behind a Southern California popular grilled cheese food truck could have a market value over $100 million, despite having a balance sheet awash in red ink.
Grilled Cheese Truck Inc., which operates and licenses grilled cheese food trucks in the Los Angeles area and Phoenix, Ariz., has seen its stock rise this year to $6 per share despite having assets just over $1 million and almost $3 million in liabilities, according to a Bloomberg News report.
Since launching operations in 2009, The Grilled Cheese Truck has expanded into three markets in two states and saw sales top almost $1 million in the third quarter of 2014.
The flip side, so to speak, of those numbers? Grilled Cheese Truck Inc. had a net loss of more than $900,000 in the same period, according to Bloomberg.
During the first nine months of 2014, the Fort Lauderdale, Flo.-based company cooked up about $2.6 million in sales while taking a loss of about $4.4 million, Bloomberg reported.
The company has also committed its first 100 trucks to be run by military veterans. An Investor Relations page on the company's website shows General Wesley Clark serves as an advisor and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for Grilled Cheese Truck Inc.
But despite its success, Bloomberg editorial writer Barry Ritholtz believes the numbers paint a much different picture of not only the Grilled Cheese Truck, but the U.S. stock market at large.
"I can't think of a more interesting sign of the old irrational exuberance in equity markets than a publicly traded grilled cheese truck...business trading at a $100-million-plus valuation," Ritholtz wrote. "That sort of thing doesn't happen unless there is significant excess in the markets."
Last month, Grilled Cheese Truck Inc. commenced trading its stock under the ticker GRLD, and recently topped over 78,000 followers on Twitter.