NEW YORK: Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc has cut its full-year outlook for a third time this year, as diners pulled back from eating out at the fast-casual chain.
The burrito chain now sees sales for the full year slipping in the low-single digit range from a year earlier. It earlier projected that performance would be flat.
Comparable-store sales rose slightly in the third quarter, but missed analyst estimates.
“The consumer slowdown is really affecting our business in a meaningful way,” chief executive officer Scott Boatwright said in a call with analysts.
Boatwright said the chain saw a broad pullback in visit frequency across all income cohorts, but lower-income consumers were particularly strained.
About 40% of its customers come from households that make less than US$100,000 and that income cohort has significantly cut back on eating out due to concerns about the economy and inflation, he added.
Costs have risen to the mid-single digits and are expected to stay there in 2026, chief financial officer Adam Rymer said in the earnings call. — Bloomberg
