Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE:CMG) shares fell 17.58% to $32.77 in pre-market trading on Thursday following the release of its third-quarter results and a downward revision of its full-year guidance.
Check out the current price of CMG stock here.
Comparable Sales Rise 0.3% on Lower Transactions
The California-based company reported $3 billion in revenue for the third quarter, up 7.5% from a year earlier. Comparable restaurant sales rose 0.3%, driven by a 1.1% increase in average check size, partly offset by a 0.8% decline in customer traffic.
Chipotle's operating margin fell to 15.9% in the third quarter from 16.9% a year earlier. Restaurant-level operating margin dropped to 24.5% from 25.5% year-over-year.
Cost Pressures From Tariffs, Inflation
Food, beverage and packaging costs accounted for 30% of total revenue, down from 30.6% in the year-ago quarter.
The company also noted that inflation in beef and chicken, along with newly enacted tariffs, partly offset the decline.
See Also: What Sparked NextPlat’s 40% After-Hours Surge?
Labor costs accounted for 25.2% of total revenue in the third quarter, up from 24.9% a year earlier, driven mainly by lower sales volumes and wage inflation, partially offset by 2024 menu price increases.
Company Projects Full-Year Comparable Sales Declines
The management now predicts low-single-digit declines in comparable restaurant sales for the entire year 2025.
Scott Boatwright, CEO, said, "While we continue to see persistent macroeconomic pressures, our extraordinary value proposition and brand strength remain strong."
The company opened 84 restaurants in the third quarter, including 64 with a Chipotlane.
Diluted earnings was 29 cents, up 3.6% from 28 cents in the same period a year earlier.
Stock Performance
CMG is down 33.61% year to date.
It has traded in a 52-week range of $38.30 to $66.74 and has a market capitalization of $53.31 billion.
Price Action: According to Benzinga Pro data, shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill closed Wednesday at $39.76, down 1.24%.
Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings highlight CMG has a Growth score of 79.85. Track the performance of other players in this segment.
Read Next:
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
