Chipotle earnings miss forecasts, but growing sales support a before-open rebound
Earnings results
- EPS miss 7.1%
Actual: $0.27 adjusted profit per share · Cons.: $0.2905
- Revenue beat 0.2%
Actual: $3.293 billion · Cons.: $3.286 billion
- Guidance reaffirmed
Low-single-digit full-year same-store sales growth and 350–370 new restaurants, unchanged.
What the company reported
Chipotle reported third-quarter revenue growth of 9.6% and positive customer transactions, then kept its full-year same-store sales outlook unchanged. Shares rose before open despite an adjusted earnings miss, leaving restaurant profitability as the key test of the recovery.
Q3 2026 earnings recap
Chipotle rose 7.0% before open on October 29 after quarterly sales grew 9.6%, although profit missed estimates and restaurant margins narrowed.
- Sales reached $3.29 billion, with same-store sales up 2.1% as transactions rose 0.8% and the average customer bill increased 1.3%.
- Adjusted EPS, or profit per share, was $0.27 versus the $0.29 estimate, while restaurant margin fell to 23.3% from 24.5% as labor and operating costs rose.
- Management kept its 2026 outlook unchanged and plans 340–360 company-owned openings in the United States and Canada in 2027, giving expansion a central role in future growth.
- Digital orders reached 38.8% of food and beverage sales, offering a route to more convenient ordering as Chipotle works to increase customer visits.
- Chili’s owner Brinker reported 10.1% same-store sales growth and raised its outlook, showing how strong value offers can win visits in a competitive restaurant market.
- At the October 28 close of $28.73, CMG traded near 27 times trailing profit, while the chart showed prior resistance around $30–31 before the results.
The next test is whether customer growth can protect profit margins as Chipotle opens more restaurants, with labor costs, food costs and food-safety risks still important.
Financials, technicals and earnings
Charts through Oct 28, 2026.
Technical setup and risks
Chipotle earns most revenue by operating its own restaurants. New openings and more customer visits can grow sales, but higher labor and operating costs are reducing the share of revenue kept as profit. Watch whether transaction growth and digital ordering offset those costs as the company expands.
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