The Guzman Y Gomez Ltd (ASX: GYG) share price has gone up more than 2% after revealing that its CEO has dipped into the market and bought Guzman Y Gomez shares.
Guzman Y Gomez is a Mexican food business that has over 200 restaurants in Australia (both franchise and corporate stores). It also has a few corporate stores in the US as well as franchise locations in Japan and Singapore.
GYG CEO buys shares on the market
In an ASX announcement, Guzman Y Gomez said that chief executive officer Steven Marks had bought 45,000 GYG shares on the market.
He paid a price of $22.35 per Guzman Y Gomez share for the transaction, which is close to the original initial public offering (IPO) price last year.
That means he invested a total of just over $1 million into buying new Guzman Y Gomez shares.
His family now have a total of almost 9.9 million GYG shares, worth close to $223.8 million.
Is this the right time to buy Guzman Y Gomez shares?
When management buy shares on the market, it’s normally a good sign.
It suggests that the shares they bought – ones we can buy on the market too – are good value and they have confidence in the long-term outlook of the business.
GYG does have an exciting future, in my opinion. It’s aiming to add hundreds of more restaurants to its Australian network. That should be a boost for both its network sales and the economies of scale (helping boost margins).
The Mexican food business could also deliver a lot of growth through its international expansion. Australia has a population of less than 30 million, while a country like Japan with a population of over 100 million become an important contributor. Over time, other countries could become new markets such as the UK, New Zealand or Canada.
I’m not expecting GYG shares to grow like a fast-growing tech stock, but it could grow earnings significantly in the next five years.
For example, during the FY26 first quarter, it opened five new restaurants globally, including three in Australia, one in Singapore and one in the US. Total network sales grew by 18.6% to $330.6 million, with Australian growth of 17.4% to $305.5 million, Asian (Singapore and Japan) growth of 29.2% to $20.8 million and US growth of 65.4% to $4.3 million.
With the Guzman Y Gomez share price down around 30% in the last six months, this could be a good time to invest for the long-term. It’s one of the ASX growth shares I’m optimistic about.
