Chipotle Q3 2026: revenue up 9.6%, EPS down 6.9% and 8.0% below consensus
Chipotle grew revenue 9.6% in Q3 2026 but earned less: EPS fell to $0.27, about 8.0% short of the $0.2936 consensus, as labor and G&A absorbed the sales gain. Read it as a growth-by-new-restaurants story whose profit per dollar is shrinking — traffic is finally positive again, but the margin math runs the wrong way.
1 · Expected vs. Actual
Free preview below$0.27 per diluted share is down 6.9% from $0.29 and roughly 8.0% under the $0.2936 consensus; adjusted EPS was also $0.27, so there is no add-back cushion. The damage is spread across the income statement: labor rose to 25.7% of revenue from 25.2%, G&A jumped to $185.2 million from $146.7 million, and the tax rate climbed to 25.6% from 23.1%. Operating margin fell to 13.7% from 15.9%.
Revenue of $3.29 billion rose 9.6% from $3.00 billion a year ago, and the release credits new restaurant openings first, with comparable sales contributing only to a lesser extent. Comps rose 2.1%, split into a 1.3% average check gain and a 0.8% transaction gain. With company-owned units up from 3,916 to 4,267, most of the growth is new square footage rather than busier existing stores.
Log in to read 35 analyses a week for free
Create a free account to read 35 full earnings analyses each week — all five steps: expected vs. actual, guidance tracker, money flow, balance sheet and risks. Members get unlimited access.
Figures on this page come from the company's original SEC filings. The analysis is generated automatically and checked against validation rules, but may still contain errors or omissions. Not investment advice. · Generated 2026-11-03
Answers are based on the earnings release and the analysis above. Free accounts get 3 questions a week; members get 30 a day.