Chipotle Q3 Revenue Up 9.6% to $3.3B, Comps +2.1%, EPS Falls to $0.27
CMG is trading near its 52-week low of $27.31 (7.8% above the low).
Summary
Chipotle's Q3 2026 revenue rose 9.6% to $3.3 billion on 2.1% comps, but margin compression pushed diluted EPS down 6.9% to $0.27. Full-year guidance was reiterated, not raised.
Key Events · Earnings and Guidance · CMG
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Q3 Revenue Up 9.6% to $3.3B
Total revenue of $3.3 billion was driven by new restaurant openings and, to a lesser extent, comparable restaurant sales of 2.1%.
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Margins Compress, EPS Falls 6.9%
Operating margin fell to 13.7% from 15.9% and restaurant level operating margin to 23.3% from 24.5%; diluted EPS was $0.27 versus $0.29 a year ago.
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Labor and G&A Costs Climb
Labor rose to 25.7% of revenue from 25.2%, and G&A increased to $185.2 million from $146.7 million on stock-based compensation, performance bonuses and outside services.
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84 Openings, $110M Buyback in Quarter
Opened 84 company-owned restaurants (53 with a Chipotlane) plus five international partner-operated units; repurchased $110.0 million of stock at an average $34.05 per share, leaving $1.6 billion authorized.
Analysis · CMG · Trade & Services
New restaurants, not existing ones, are doing most of the heavy lifting on revenue: comps of 2.1% came with only 0.8% transaction growth, and margins compressed on both the operating line (13.7% vs 15.9%) and at the restaurant level (23.3% vs 24.5%). Labor rose to 25.7% of revenue from 25.2% and G&A jumped to $185.2M from $146.7M, so the 9.6% top-line gain translated into a 6.9% EPS decline to $0.27. Guidance was reiterated rather than raised, which matters against the takeover speculation reported on 2026-10-08 — a steady, unspectacular quarter leaves the strategic story, not the operating one, as the swing factor.
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In the 30 days to Oct 29, 2026, 31% of the 1656 measured filings Wiseek scored 7 moved their stock by 5% or more by the next session's close. The median move was -0.01%. These are measured outcomes after filings of this importance, not a forecast for this one.
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At the time of this filing, CMG was trading at $29.45 on NYSE in the Trade & Services sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $36.4B. The 52-week trading range was $27.31 to $41.42. This filing was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10.