Chipotle Q1 2026 earnings: revenue up 7.4%, profit down on higher costs

April 30, 2026 · Published August 7, 2026

Chipotle's Q1 2026 revenue grew 7.4% on new store openings and a return to positive customer traffic, but profit fell as labor, occupancy and marketing costs rose.

Figures as reported by the company to the SEC for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. Analyst estimates are not part of a filing, so no comparison to expectations is shown.

Key takeaways

• Net income fell to $302.8 million ($0.23 per share) from $386.6 million ($0.28 per share) a year earlier, even though total revenue grew 7.4% to $3.09 billion. The profit decline was driven by higher labor, occupancy, marketing, and conference-related costs.
• Comparable restaurant sales (sales at locations open at least a year) rose 0.5%, ending a run of recent declines, as customer visits picked up. Transaction counts were up 0.6% while the average amount customers spent per order slipped slightly.
• Chipotle opened 49 new company-owned restaurants in the quarter, 42 of them with a Chipotlane pickup lane, and is targeting 350 to 370 new locations for all of 2026, including a small number of international partner-operated restaurants.
• Digital orders (app, website, delivery) made up 38.6% of total revenue, showing that a large share of business now comes through channels outside the traditional walk-in counter.
• Trailing-twelve-month profitability metrics show margin pressure: operating margin of 14.65% and net margin of 11.42% came alongside revenue growth of 7.31% but a 4.17% decline in earnings per share over the same period, meaning costs have been rising faster than sales.
• Return on equity stood at 53.26% on a trailing-twelve-month basis, a high figure partly reflecting Chipotle’s ongoing share buybacks, which shrink the equity base the return is measured against.
• For the rest of 2026, Chipotle reiterated guidance for roughly flat comparable restaurant sales. Management described the outlook as deliberately cautious, citing difficulty predicting consumer spending patterns after a sales slowdown in March.
• Executives also flagged that ongoing regional conflict tied to Chipotle’s international expansion partnership with Alshaya Group could slow the pace of planned overseas restaurant openings.

Q1 2026 in context

Figures for the quarter ended Mar 2026 and the quarter ended Mar 2025, as reported to the SEC.

How the stock took it

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc closed at $32.99 on Apr 29, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $32.98 on May 1, 2026, the first session after it — -0.0% across the report.

Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.

Financial history →

Sources: company report · verified fundamentals · earnings call