COMPARABLE SALES INCREASE 7% DRIVEN BY OVER 5% TRANSACTION GROWTH AS MARGINS EXPAND

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., April 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) today reported financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2024.

First quarter highlights, year over year:

• Total revenue increased 14.1% to $2.7 billion

• Comparable restaurant sales increased 7.0%

• Operating margin was 16.3%, an increase from 15.5%

• Restaurant level operating margin was 27.5%¹, an increase of 190 basis points

• Diluted earnings per share was $13.01, a 23.9% increase from $10.50. Adjusted diluted earnings per share, which excluded a $0.36 after-tax impact from an increase in legal reserves, was $13.37¹, a 27.3% increase from $10.50¹.

• Opened 47 new restaurants with 43 locations including a Chipotlane

"We had another outstanding quarter driven by our improvement in throughput and successful marketing initiatives, including Braised Beef Barbacoa and Chicken Al Pastor, which drove strong sales and transactions. The results we are seeing from our focus on developing exceptional people, preparing delicious food and fast throughput gives me confidence that we can achieve our long-term target of more than doubling our business in North America and expanding internationally," said Brian Niccol, Chairman and CEO, Chipotle.

Results for the three months ended March 31, 2024:

Total revenue in the first quarter was $2.7 billion, an increase of 14.1% compared to the first quarter of 2023. The increase in total revenue was driven by new restaurant openings and a 7.0% increase in comparable restaurant sales due to higher transactions of 5.4% and a 1.6% increase in average check. Digital sales represented 36.5% of total food and beverage revenue.

We opened 47 new restaurants during the first quarter with 43 locations including a Chipotlane. These formats continue to perform well and are helping enhance guest access and convenience, as well as increase new restaurant sales, margins, and returns.

Food, beverage and packaging costs in the first quarter were 28.8% of total revenue, a decrease of about 40 basis points compared to the first quarter of 2023. The decrease was primarily due to menu price increases from October 2023, partially offset by inflation across several ingredient costs, primarily beef and produce, and a protein mix headwind from the successful Braised Beef Barbacoa marketing initiative.

Restaurant level operating margin in the first quarter was 27.5%¹ compared to 25.6% in the first quarter of 2023. The improvement was primarily driven by the benefit of sales leverage, partially offset by wage and ingredient inflation.

General and administrative expenses for the first quarter were $204.6 million on a GAAP basis, or $191.4 million¹ on a non-GAAP basis, excluding a $13.3 million increase in legal reserves. GAAP and non-GAAP general and administrative expenses for the first quarter also include $125.8 million of underlying general and administrative expenses, $34.3 million of non-cash stock compensation, $21.0 million for our biennial All Managers Conference held in the first quarter of 2024, and $9.9 million of payroll taxes on equity vesting and exercises and higher performance-based accruals.

The effective income tax rate for the first quarter was 22.0% compared to 22.5% in the first quarter of 2023. The decrease in the effective income tax rate was primarily due to an increase in tax benefits from option exercises and equity vesting.

Net income for the first quarter was $359.3 million, or $13.01 per diluted share, compared to $291.6 million, or $10.50 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2023. In the first quarter of 2024, excluding the $0.36 after-tax impact from an increase in legal reserves, adjusted net income was $369.3 million¹ and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $13.37¹.

During the first quarter we repurchased $25.0 million of stock at an average price per share of $2,320. Due to the timing of our announcement of a 50 for 1 stock split, we were unable to repurchase our shares for most of the quarter.  We plan to resume opportunistically repurchasing our shares when the trading window opens on April 26, 2024. As of March 31, 2024, $399.1 million remained available under share repurchase authorizations from our Board of Directors. The repurchase authorization may be modified, suspended, or discontinued at any time.

More information will be available in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which will be filed with the SEC by the end of April.

Outlook

For 2024, management is anticipating the following:

• Full year comparable restaurant sales growth in the mid to high-single digit range

• 285 to 315 new restaurant openings with over 80% having a Chipotlane

• An estimated underlying effective full year tax rate between 25% and 27% before discrete items

Definitions

The following definitions apply to these terms as used throughout this release:

• Comparable restaurant sales, or sales comps, and comparable restaurant transactions, represent the change in period-over-period total revenue or transactions for restaurants in operation for at least 13 full calendar months.

• Average restaurant sales refer to the average trailing 12-month food and beverage revenue for restaurants in operation for at least 12 full calendar months.

• Restaurant level operating margin represents total revenue less direct restaurant operating costs, expressed as a percent of total revenue.

• Digital sales represent food and beverage revenue generated through the Chipotle website, Chipotle app or third-party delivery aggregators. Digital sales include revenue deferrals associated with Chipotle Rewards.

Conference Call Details

Chipotle will host a conference call on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at 4:30 PM Eastern time to discuss first quarter 2024 financial results as well as provide a business update for the second quarter 2024.

The conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing 1-888-317-6003, or for international callers by dialing 1-412-317-6061, and use code: 7358132. The call will be webcast live from the company's website on the investor relations page at ir.chipotle.com/events. An archived webcast will be available approximately one hour after the end of the call.

About Chipotle

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is cultivating a better world by serving responsibly sourced, classically-cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Chipotle had nearly 3,500 restaurants as of March 31, 2024, in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany and is the only restaurant company of its size that owns and operates all its restaurants in North America and Europe. Chipotle is ranked on the Fortune 500 and is recognized on Fortune's Most Admired Companies 2024 list and Time Magazine's Most Influential Companies. With over 120,000 employees passionate about providing a great guest experience, Chipotle is a longtime leader and innovator in the food industry. Chipotle is committed to making its food more accessible to everyone while continuing to be a brand with a demonstrated purpose as it leads the way in digital, technology and sustainable business practices. For more information or to place an order online, visit WWW.CHIPOTLE.COM.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release and in the April 24, 2024, conference call are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements under "Outlook" about our anticipated  full year 2024 comparable restaurant sales growth, goals for number of new restaurant openings, and estimated underlying effective full year tax rate, as well as statements about expected restaurants with Chipotlanes, our ability to achieve our long-term target of more than doubling our business in North America and expanding internationally,  our rate of expansion, future labor costs, future general and administrative and other costs, future estimated tax rates and future long-term prospects. We use words such as "anticipate", "believe", "could", "should", "may", "approximately", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "project", "target", "goal" and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions, to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information available to us as of the date of this release and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the statements, including but not limited to: increasing wage inflation, including as a result of regulations such as California AB 1228, and the competitive labor market, which impacts our ability to attract and retain qualified employees and has resulted in occasional staffing shortages; the impact of any union organizing efforts and our responses to such efforts; increasing supply costs; risks of food safety incidents and food-borne illnesses; risks associated with our reliance on certain information technology systems and potential material failures or interruptions; privacy and cyber security risks, including risk of breaches, unauthorized access, theft, modification, destruction or ransom of guest or employee personal or confidential information stored on our network or the network of third party providers; the impact of competition, including from sources outside the restaurant industry; the financial impact of increasing our average hourly wages; the impact of federal, state or local government regulations relating to our employees, employment practices, restaurant design and construction, and the sale of food or alcoholic beverages; our ability to achieve our planned growth, such as the costs and availability of suitable new restaurant sites, construction materials and contractors; the expected costs and risks related to our international expansion through franchise restaurants in the Middle East; increases in ingredient and other operating costs due to inflation, global conflicts, climate change, our Food with Integrity philosophy, tariffs or trade restrictions; intermittent supply shortages relating to our Food with Integrity philosophy, rapid expansion and supply chain shortages; the uncertainty of our ability to achieve expected levels of comparable restaurant sales due to factors such as changes in guests' perceptions of our brand, including as a result of actual or rumored food safety concerns or other negative publicity, decreased consumer spending (including as a result of higher inflation, mass layoffs, fear of possible recession and higher energy prices), or the inability to increase menu prices or realize the benefits of menu price increases; risks associated with our digital business, including risks arising from our reliance on third party delivery services; risks relating to litigation, including possible governmental actions and potential class action litigation related to food safety incidents, cybersecurity incidents, employment or privacy laws, advertising claims or other matters; and other risk factors described from time to time in our SEC reports, including our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, all of which are available on the investor relations page of our website at ir.Chipotle.com. 

CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL, INC.
RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

The following tables provide a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures presented in the text above to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.

Adjusted net income is net income excluding expenses related to certain legal proceedings. Adjusted general and administrative expense is general and administrative expense excluding expenses related to certain legal proceedings. The adjusted effective income tax rate is the effective income tax rate adjusted to reflect the after tax impact of non-GAAP adjustments. Restaurant Level Operating Margin, a non-GAAP financial measure, is equal to the revenues generated by our restaurants less their direct operating costs which consist of food, beverage and packaging, labor, occupancy and other operating costs. This performance measure primarily includes the costs that restaurant level managers can directly control and excludes other costs that are essential to conduct our business. Management uses restaurant level operating margin as a measure of restaurant performance. Management believes restaurant level operating margin is useful to investors in that it highlights trends in our core business that may not otherwise be apparent to investors when relying solely on GAAP financial measures. We present these non-GAAP measures in order to facilitate meaningful evaluation of our operating performance across periods. These adjustments are intended to provide greater transparency of underlying performance and to allow investors to evaluate our business on the same basis as our management, which uses these non-GAAP measures in evaluating the company's performance. Our adjusted net income, adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted general and administrative expenses, adjusted effective income tax rate and restaurant level operating margin measures may not be comparable to other companies' adjusted measures. These adjustments are not necessarily indicative of what our actual financial performance would have been during the periods presented and should be viewed in addition to, and not as an alternative to, our results prepared in accordance with GAAP. Further details regarding these adjustments are included in the tables below.

SOURCE Chipotle Mexican Grill