A Chipotle restaurant stands in Manhattan, New York City, on Feb. 6, 2024.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Chipotle Mexican Grill on Tuesday said traffic to its restaurants keeps rising, helping the company top analysts’ estimates for its quarterly earnings.
However, the burrito chain disappointed investors with its same-store sales forecast for 2025 and commentary about weaker January traffic. Shares of the company fell more than 4% in extended trading.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: 25 cents adjusted vs. 24 cents expected
- Revenue: $2.85 billion, meeting expectations
The company’s net sales climbed 13.1% to $2.85 billion. Same-store sales rose 5.4%, narrowly missing StreetAccount estimates of 5.7% growth.
Transactions rose 4% in the quarter, continuing the burrito chain’s streak of higher traffic. For the past year, Chipotle has outpaced the broader restaurant industry, which has seen traffic slump as many consumers opt to cook their meals to save money.
But sales softened at the end of December, which executives attributed to Christmas and New Year’s Day falling on Wednesdays.
However, sales have been “volatile” so far in 2025, CFO Adam Rymer said on the company’s conference call. The weather, including the wildfires in Los Angeles, has been having a larger impact on traffic than it did last year, according to executives.
“While we believe underlying transaction trends are healthy and we have a strong plan for the year, we do compare against progressively tougher comps in the first half of the year and therefore are guiding to a low to mid single digit comp for the full year,” Rymer said.
Wall Street was anticipating same-store sales growth of 5.4% for the full year, according to StreetAccount estimates.
Chipotle’s forecast doesn’t include the impact of any tariffs that may be implemented on Canadian and Mexican imports. Executives said that tariffs would raise the company’s cost of sales by 60 basis points, or 0.6 percentage points.
In September, Chipotle brought back its Smoked Brisket. The company charges more for the limited-time menu item than its other protein options.
Chipotle reported fourth-quarter net income of $331.8 million, or 24 cents per share, up from $282.1 million, or 20 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding restaurant impairment charges, legal costs and other items, Chipotle earned 25 cents per share.
The company opened 120 restaurants during the quarter, including one international licensed location. After 30 years of focusing primarily on its U.S. business, Chipotle is trying to expand internationally. For example, last year it entered Kuwait, its first new country in a decade.
For 2025, Chipotle expects to open between 315 and 345 new locations, more than 80% of which will have a “Chipotlane” for digital orders.
