Chipotle Mexican Grill gave somewhat lackluster 2025 guidance late Tuesday after reporting largely inline earnings for the fourth quarter. Chipotle stock tumbled in late trade.
Restaurant retail stocks are acting well amid earnings. Food-delivery service DoorDash is on the IBD Leaderboard and Mediterranean food chain Cava is on the Leaders watchlist. Coffee shop operator Dutch Bros. is on the IBD 50 list of top growth stocks.
Last week, Chili's parent Brinker International and Starbucks gapped up on earnings. IBD featured Cava in a Stock of the Day column as well.
Chipotle Earnings And Outlook
For Q4, Chipotle reported that earnings rose 19% to 25 cents a share, a penny ahead of views. Revenue increased 13.1% to $2.8 billion, roughly in line with estimates. Same-store sales grew 5.4%, slightly below estimates for 5.7%, slowing both year on year and quarter over quarter.
For 2025, Chipotle on Tuesday guided comparable restaurant sales growth "in the low to mid-single digit range." Analysts were anticipating comp growth of 5.4% for the full year, FactSet shows.
Chipotle Stock, Restaurant Stocks
Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill rose 1.1% to 59.01 in Tuesday's stock market action, coming right up to their 200-day line. Chipotle stock slid 4% in extended trading.
Cava stock and Starbucks both gained on Tuesday and are extended from earnings breakouts. That means shares are not in buy range. EAT stock and Dutch Bros. are both far extended.
On Tuesday, Chipotle said that food, beverage and packaging costs rose in Q4, driven by "higher usage of ingredients as we focused on ensuring consistent and generous portions" and "to a lesser extent, inflation across several items including higher avocado and dairy costs." The cost increase was partially offset by higher menu prices, the company said.
President Donald Trump's Mexico tariffs threaten to raise already high avocado prices, though the U.S. has now put those tariffs on ice for a month.
Chipotle has also been dealing with California's minimum wage law, which raised labor costs.
Please follow Aparna Narayanan on X @IBD_Aparna for more coverage.
