Rachel Warren

This is as we're seeing consumers, particularly those in the 25 to 35 age group, that's really a core cohort for Chipotle, as well as those earning under $100K annually, those

are people that are really pulling back on discretionary spending.

So operating margins actually fell a bit compared to a year ago, down to 14.1%.

We're also in a time where rising beef, avocado, and labor costs that the company's chosen not to fully offset are impacting margins there.

They slightly beat on earnings per share.

They were marginally ahead of the consensus estimates for revenue.

That was up about 5% year over year.

They're still growing aggressively.

They opened about 132 new restaurants in Q4 alone.

They're looking to open up to 370 new locations in 2026.

A few things that I think we should note kind of looking at this space, I mean, Chipotle is dealing with issues that some of its rivals are as well.

You know, Sweet Green, Kava are a few that come to mind.

We're seeing kind of a shift in how consumers are approaching restaurant spending.

We're seeing some of these sit-down chains.

Think of, you know, Darden Restaurants.

They own Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse are gaining market share.

I think consumers are becoming increasingly picky about where they're going to put their money to work.

And sometimes they're prioritizing those sit-down experiences.

At the same time, McDonald's has been actually holding pretty steady in terms of their growth.

Taco Bell has been a standout performer within Yum!