Chipotle grows third-quarter sales and keeps its 2026 outlook

What happened

Chipotle Mexican Grill reported on Wednesday 28 October that third-quarter revenue grew 9.6 percent to $3.29 billion, with comparable restaurant sales up 2.1 percent. ^[1]

Comparable sales count restaurants open at least 13 full months. The 2.1 percent came from a 1.3 percent higher average check and 0.8 percent more transactions, the company said, and its quarterly report put menu price increases at 2.7 percent. ^{[1, 2]}

Operating income was $452.0 million, against $477.2 million a year earlier. Net income was $339.9 million, against $382.1 million. The company opened 84 restaurants of its own, 53 with a Chipotlane, a drive-through lane for digital orders, and five run by international partners. ^{[1, 2, 5]}

Why it matters

New restaurants drove most of the revenue growth, the company said, while each restaurant kept less of what it took in. Restaurant-level operating margin, revenue less the restaurants' direct costs as a share of revenue, was 23.3 percent, down from 24.5 percent. Labor reached 25.7 percent of revenue, from 25.2 percent, and other operating costs 16.0 percent, from 15.0 percent. ^[1]

What drove traffic

Chief Financial Officer Adam Rymer said on the call that 'industry headwinds beginning in mid-July slowed our momentum.' The quarterly report tied them to the consumer climate, 'including recent U.S. food safety concerns and geopolitical developments.' It said trends were back to earlier levels by the end of August. ^{[2, 5]}

Rymer said the company answered with promotional offers and saw further gains in September after launching Pollo Asado and Chili Lime Chips. Chief Executive Scott Boatwright said September finished up 3.8 percent with very little promotion. He said lower-income guests outperformed higher-income ones for the first time this year. ^{[5, 6]}

October was weaker. Rymer said 'October trends have softened, consistent with the broader industry,' and Boatwright said the company had since regained positive transactions. ^{[5, 6]}

The outlook, then and now

The company still expects full-year comparable sales growth in the low single digits, the outlook it set on Wednesday 29 July. It still expects 350 to 370 new restaurants, 10 to 15 of them run by international partners. In July it had raised the comparable sales outlook from about flat, the view it gave on Wednesday 29 April. ^{[1, 3, 4]}

For 2027 it expects 340 to 360 company-owned openings in the United States and Canada, and around 15 to 25 restaurants outside them, the company said. ^[1]

What settles it next

Rymer said Smoked Brisket returns to the menu in November, and Boatwright said national catering is to start rolling out in the first quarter of 2027. The annual report on Form 10-K is due 60 days after the year ends for a large filer, Monday 1 March 2027 by the desk's arithmetic. ^{[5, 2, 7]}

Who it reaches

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) is direct: the results, the unchanged outlook and the openings are its own, filed with the SEC. ^{[1, 2]}