From Starbucks to Smoothie King, restaurants seek to cash in on consumers' protein frenzy
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
0mins
Should l Buy CMG?
Source: Newsfilter
Rising Protein Trend in Restaurants: The demand for protein-rich options has surged, with 28.4% of U.S. restaurant menus highlighting "protein," a significant increase from 5.9% a decade ago. Chains like Starbucks and Chick-fil-A are adapting their menus to cater to health-conscious consumers seeking higher protein intake.
Consumer Health Awareness: Younger generations are increasingly focused on health and fitness, driving the popularity of protein-rich meals. This trend is reflected in grocery aisles and restaurant offerings, as establishments aim to attract diners willing to pay more for nutritious options while also addressing convenience and dietary preferences.
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Analyst Views on CMG
Wall Street analysts forecast CMG stock price to rise
25 Analyst Rating
18 Buy
7 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 35.840
Low
35.00
Averages
45.95
High
56.00
Current: 35.840
Low
35.00
Averages
45.95
High
56.00
About CMG
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. is a restaurant company. The Company develops and operates restaurants that serve a menu of burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, tacos, and salads, made using fresh ingredients. The Company operates approximately 3839 restaurants in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates. It owns and operates all its restaurants in North America and Europe. The Company is focused in serving sourced, classically cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Its menu includes Burrito, Burrito Bowl, Lifestyle Bowl, Quesadilla, Salad, Tacos, Kid’s Meal, Chips and Sides, and Build your Own (digital only). It also includes Raymonte’s Chicken Bowl, The Mr. Fantasy Burrito, Carne Asada, Build-Your-Own Chipotle, catering and group order. Its subsidiaries include Chipotle Mexican Grill Canada Corp., Chipotle Mexican Grill France SAS, among others.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
Chipotle Faces Consumer Weakness Challenges
- Consumer Confidence Decline: In 2025, U.S. consumer confidence hit a 12-year low, leading to a decline in Chipotle's traffic for four consecutive quarters, indicating that lower-income households are struggling and impacting the company's performance.
- Sales Decline: Chipotle's same-store sales fell by 1.7% in 2025, with expectations to remain flat in 2026, contributing to a 39% drop in stock price last year and a 46% decline from its June 2024 all-time high, raising concerns about future growth.
- Menu Innovation Strategy: To tackle market challenges, Chipotle plans to introduce four limited-time menu items in 2026, aiming to attract customers through innovation, although the effectiveness of this strategy remains to be seen, reflecting the company's proactive approach to improving performance.
- Expansion Plans Unchanged: Despite facing difficulties, Chipotle intends to open 350 to 370 new locations in 2026, with the CEO confident in reaching 7,000 stores in North America in the long run, demonstrating the company's commitment to long-term growth and strategic execution.
See More
Chipotle's Future Growth and Shareholder Value
- Balancing Growth and Value: Chipotle plans to continue opening hundreds of new restaurants annually, and while it has reached 4,000 locations, the focus for investors is whether these new stores can deliver high returns on invested capital rather than just expansion towards the long-term target of 7,000.
- Digital Risk: Chipotle has built a strong digital ecosystem in fast casual dining, with digital orders and loyalty accounting for over one-third of sales in Q3 2025, but a high digital mix may increase fulfillment costs, potentially capping margin potential, prompting investors to watch if digital tools can genuinely enhance visit frequency and margin stability.
- Importance of Disciplined Expansion: Chipotle emphasizes careful site selection, controlled build costs, and consistent unit-level returns during its expansion, as slight declines in new-store economics may seem manageable short-term but could materially weaken long-term value creation.
- Future Test: Chipotle does not need to prove its strong brand or growth potential; the critical test in 2026 will be whether it can demonstrate that growth still delivers attractive returns and that digital scale strengthens its business model rather than dilutes it.
See More
Chipotle Faces Declining Foot Traffic Challenges
- Declining Foot Traffic: Chipotle reported a decline in traffic for four consecutive quarters in 2025, leading to a 39% drop in share price last year and a 46% decrease from its June 2024 all-time high, indicating unprecedented challenges for the restaurant giant.
- Same-Store Sales Weakness: Same-store sales fell by 1.7% in 2025, with management expecting them to remain flat in 2026, presenting an unencouraging outlook that may signal a difficult path to recovery.
- Low Consumer Confidence: Consumer confidence hit a 12-year low in January, resulting in lower-income consumers dining out less frequently, which pressures Chipotle to innovate on value to stimulate demand.
- Unchanged Expansion Plans: Despite challenges, Chipotle opened 334 new restaurants in 2025 and plans to open 350 to 370 more in 2026, with the CEO firmly believing in a future of 7,000 stores in North America, reflecting the company's confidence in long-term growth.
See More
Chipotle's Future Growth and Shareholder Return Challenges
- Digital Transformation Impact: Chipotle's digital ordering and loyalty programs have become core to its business, with digital sales accounting for over one-third in Q3 2025, indicating a strong digital ecosystem; however, a high digital mix may increase fulfillment costs, potentially impacting margins.
- New Store Opening Strategy: Chipotle plans to continue opening hundreds of new restaurants annually, with Chipotlanes making up a large share of new builds, and while the company has reached 4,000 stores, the focus for investors is on the return on investment from new locations rather than just store count.
- Balancing Growth and Returns: The company must prove that new stores can operate efficiently and achieve attractive margins while avoiding significant cannibalization of existing locations, as growth without returns does not equate to compounding.
- Future Outlook and Execution: Chipotle needs to demonstrate in 2026 that its digital tools can not only increase order frequency but also improve throughput and margin stability, with management's execution being crucial for long-term value creation.
See More
Starbucks and PepsiCo Present Dividend Investment Opportunities
- Starbucks Performance Recovery: After several challenging years, Starbucks is witnessing an uptick in transactions and average ticket size, driving a 4% year-over-year increase in global comparable store sales, indicating early success of its 'Back to Starbucks' plan.
- Dividend Growth Potential: With a quarterly dividend of $0.62 and an annualized dividend of $2.48, Starbucks is nearing its sustainable payout limit; however, under CEO Brian Niccol's turnaround strategy, further increases are anticipated as the business improves.
- PepsiCo's Steady Growth: Over the past five years, PepsiCo has achieved a 31% revenue increase and a 19% rise in free cash flow, with the latest free cash flow reaching $7.6 billion, demonstrating resilience amid high inflation and pandemic challenges.
- Future Dividend Increase: PepsiCo plans to raise its full-year dividend by 4% to $5.92 in 2026, with the current quarterly dividend at $1.4225 and an annualized dividend of $5.69, indicating a strong outlook for continued dividend growth.
See More
Ackman Bets Big on Meta Platforms, Expands AI Investment
- Portfolio Shift: During a recent investor presentation, Ackman revealed that Pershing Square exited its long-held position in Chipotle, reallocating roughly 10% of its portfolio to Meta Platforms, indicating a strong conviction in the AI sector.
- Major Stake in Meta: Pershing acquired approximately $2 billion in Meta Platforms last quarter, representing nearly 10% of its fund, reflecting Ackman's optimism about Meta's growth potential, particularly in AI investments.
- AI Investment Outlook: Meta's Q3 earnings report indicated plans for significantly increased AI-related spending in the coming years, which initially spooked investors but Ackman believes will benefit Meta's core social media business by enhancing ad effectiveness and driving revenue growth.
- Valuation Appeal: Despite trading at 21.8 times 2026 earnings estimates, Meta's core business valuation drops to only 18 times when excluding Metaverse spending, highlighting its relative undervaluation in the market, which continues to attract Ackman's investment.
See More
Chipotle Faces Consumer Weakness Challenges
- Consumer Confidence Decline: In 2025, U.S. consumer confidence hit a 12-year low, leading to a decline in Chipotle's traffic for four consecutive quarters, indicating that lower-income households are struggling and impacting the company's performance.
- Sales Decline: Chipotle's same-store sales fell by 1.7% in 2025, with expectations to remain flat in 2026, contributing to a 39% drop in stock price last year and a 46% decline from its June 2024 all-time high, raising concerns about future growth.
- Menu Innovation Strategy: To tackle market challenges, Chipotle plans to introduce four limited-time menu items in 2026, aiming to attract customers through innovation, although the effectiveness of this strategy remains to be seen, reflecting the company's proactive approach to improving performance.
- Expansion Plans Unchanged: Despite facing difficulties, Chipotle intends to open 350 to 370 new locations in 2026, with the CEO confident in reaching 7,000 stores in North America in the long run, demonstrating the company's commitment to long-term growth and strategic execution.
See More
Chipotle's Future Growth and Shareholder Value
- Balancing Growth and Value: Chipotle plans to continue opening hundreds of new restaurants annually, and while it has reached 4,000 locations, the focus for investors is whether these new stores can deliver high returns on invested capital rather than just expansion towards the long-term target of 7,000.
- Digital Risk: Chipotle has built a strong digital ecosystem in fast casual dining, with digital orders and loyalty accounting for over one-third of sales in Q3 2025, but a high digital mix may increase fulfillment costs, potentially capping margin potential, prompting investors to watch if digital tools can genuinely enhance visit frequency and margin stability.
- Importance of Disciplined Expansion: Chipotle emphasizes careful site selection, controlled build costs, and consistent unit-level returns during its expansion, as slight declines in new-store economics may seem manageable short-term but could materially weaken long-term value creation.
- Future Test: Chipotle does not need to prove its strong brand or growth potential; the critical test in 2026 will be whether it can demonstrate that growth still delivers attractive returns and that digital scale strengthens its business model rather than dilutes it.
See More
Chipotle Faces Declining Foot Traffic Challenges
- Declining Foot Traffic: Chipotle reported a decline in traffic for four consecutive quarters in 2025, leading to a 39% drop in share price last year and a 46% decrease from its June 2024 all-time high, indicating unprecedented challenges for the restaurant giant.
- Same-Store Sales Weakness: Same-store sales fell by 1.7% in 2025, with management expecting them to remain flat in 2026, presenting an unencouraging outlook that may signal a difficult path to recovery.
- Low Consumer Confidence: Consumer confidence hit a 12-year low in January, resulting in lower-income consumers dining out less frequently, which pressures Chipotle to innovate on value to stimulate demand.
- Unchanged Expansion Plans: Despite challenges, Chipotle opened 334 new restaurants in 2025 and plans to open 350 to 370 more in 2026, with the CEO firmly believing in a future of 7,000 stores in North America, reflecting the company's confidence in long-term growth.
See More
Chipotle's Future Growth and Shareholder Return Challenges
- Digital Transformation Impact: Chipotle's digital ordering and loyalty programs have become core to its business, with digital sales accounting for over one-third in Q3 2025, indicating a strong digital ecosystem; however, a high digital mix may increase fulfillment costs, potentially impacting margins.
- New Store Opening Strategy: Chipotle plans to continue opening hundreds of new restaurants annually, with Chipotlanes making up a large share of new builds, and while the company has reached 4,000 stores, the focus for investors is on the return on investment from new locations rather than just store count.
- Balancing Growth and Returns: The company must prove that new stores can operate efficiently and achieve attractive margins while avoiding significant cannibalization of existing locations, as growth without returns does not equate to compounding.
- Future Outlook and Execution: Chipotle needs to demonstrate in 2026 that its digital tools can not only increase order frequency but also improve throughput and margin stability, with management's execution being crucial for long-term value creation.
See More
Starbucks and PepsiCo Present Dividend Investment Opportunities
- Starbucks Performance Recovery: After several challenging years, Starbucks is witnessing an uptick in transactions and average ticket size, driving a 4% year-over-year increase in global comparable store sales, indicating early success of its 'Back to Starbucks' plan.
- Dividend Growth Potential: With a quarterly dividend of $0.62 and an annualized dividend of $2.48, Starbucks is nearing its sustainable payout limit; however, under CEO Brian Niccol's turnaround strategy, further increases are anticipated as the business improves.
- PepsiCo's Steady Growth: Over the past five years, PepsiCo has achieved a 31% revenue increase and a 19% rise in free cash flow, with the latest free cash flow reaching $7.6 billion, demonstrating resilience amid high inflation and pandemic challenges.
- Future Dividend Increase: PepsiCo plans to raise its full-year dividend by 4% to $5.92 in 2026, with the current quarterly dividend at $1.4225 and an annualized dividend of $5.69, indicating a strong outlook for continued dividend growth.
See More
Ackman Bets Big on Meta Platforms, Expands AI Investment
- Portfolio Shift: During a recent investor presentation, Ackman revealed that Pershing Square exited its long-held position in Chipotle, reallocating roughly 10% of its portfolio to Meta Platforms, indicating a strong conviction in the AI sector.
- Major Stake in Meta: Pershing acquired approximately $2 billion in Meta Platforms last quarter, representing nearly 10% of its fund, reflecting Ackman's optimism about Meta's growth potential, particularly in AI investments.
- AI Investment Outlook: Meta's Q3 earnings report indicated plans for significantly increased AI-related spending in the coming years, which initially spooked investors but Ackman believes will benefit Meta's core social media business by enhancing ad effectiveness and driving revenue growth.
- Valuation Appeal: Despite trading at 21.8 times 2026 earnings estimates, Meta's core business valuation drops to only 18 times when excluding Metaverse spending, highlighting its relative undervaluation in the market, which continues to attract Ackman's investment.
See More
