For a restaurant designed to be a temporary springboard for a fine dining establishment, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG -1.49%) isn't doing too badly. The burrito joint has grown from a single Denver space in an old ice cream shop to a fast-casual chain with more than 3,700 restaurants. Read along for more information about investing in Chipotle stock.
Overview
What is Chipotle?
Chipotle, the booming fast-casual Mexican chain of restaurants, shouldn't even be here. The chain was founded in 1993 at a former Dolly Madison ice cream shop in Denver by a Culinary Institute of America graduate who wanted to make some quick cash so he could open a fine-dining establishment.
Steve Ells, the company's founder, borrowed $80,000 from his father to outfit the 850-square-foot restaurant. Since space was at a premium, Ells designed an open kitchen that's still a feature of Chipotle restaurants around the country.
Chipotle was designed as a testing ground for a future, upscale Ells restaurant that would serve fresh, whole, and unprocessed food from responsible sources. First-day sales were only about $240, but the concept gained momentum, partially due to its location across the street from the University of Denver. The success prompted Ells to open a second Chipotle in 1995, a third in 1996, and another 3,500-plus restaurants by 2024, including forays into Canada, the U.K., France, and Germany.
Despite its growth, Chipotle hasn't always enjoyed accolades. Ells and his co-CEO were criticized in 2014 for compensation packages that approached $50 million. The chain was linked to separate E. coli, salmonella, and norovirus outbreaks in 2015, significantly denting its reputation for serving fresh and safe food. Bill Ackman and his Pershing Square hedge fund took a 9.9% stake in the company in 2016, moving quickly to salvage the chain's battered name.
Ells was replaced as CEO in 2018 by Brian Niccol. The former CEO of the Yum! Brands (YUM -1.06%) Taco Bell chain succeeded Ells as chairman of the board of directors in 2020 before leaving to head up Starbucks (SBUX 0.37%) in August 2024. Although the company announced the closing of 65 restaurants in 2018, it said only five years later that it planned to almost double the number of establishments to 7,000.
Despite criticisms on a number of fronts that range from high caloric and sodium content to smaller-than-expected portion sizes, the restaurant chain also draws praise for its efforts to serve responsibly sourced foods. Its statement of values notes that Chipotle was "born of the radical belief that there is a connection between how food is raised and prepared, and how it tastes."
How to invest
How to buy Chipotle stock
1. Open your brokerage app: Log in to your brokerage account where you handle your investments.
2. Search for the stock: Enter the ticker or company name into the search bar to bring up the stock's trading page.
3. Decide how many shares to buy: Consider your investment goals and how much of your portfolio you want to allocate to this stock.
4. Select order type: Choose between a market order to buy at the current price or a limit order to specify the maximum price you're willing to pay.
5. Submit your order: Confirm the details and submit your buy order.
6. Review your purchase: Check your portfolio to ensure your order was filled as expected and adjust your investment strategy accordingly.
Stock
Should I invest?
Should I invest in Chipotle?
As with any other investment, there's a short answer to why you might consider investing in this stock: It depends.
You may want to skip Chipotle stock if:
- You believe that competing restaurants will take a bite out of Chipotle’s market share.
- You're worried about the periodic food safety issues that have plagued the chain.
- You expect inflation will continue to increase food costs.
- You think Chipotle shares are trading at unrealistically high prices.
- Your portfolio already has enough restaurant stocks.
On the other hand, you may want to go ahead and buy Chipotle stock if:
- You believe the fast-casual dining space will continue to make inroads into the fast food industry's customer base.
- You believe Americans will continue to appreciate Chipotle's commitment to responsibly sourced ingredients.
- You think the recent decline in inflation will eventually trickle down to restaurants.
- You'd like to balance your portfolio with a restaurant stock.
- You think Chipotle stock is undervalued and will increase as the number of restaurants continues to expand.
Profitability
Is Chipotle profitable?
Chipotle is quite profitable, and the restaurant industry is currently in a good place when it comes to profitability. According to the National Restaurant Association, the food service industry was expected to hit $1.5 trillion in sales in 2025, adding 200,000 jobs -- almost one of every 10 Americans in the civilian labor force.
Chipotle reported a net income of $386.6 million in the first quarter of 2025, a 7.6% increase from the first quarter of 2024, despite higher food, beverage, and packaging costs. Total revenue increased 6.4% to $2.9 billion. Operating margins at its restaurants rose to 16.7%, up from 16.3% in the first three months of last year.
The company also gained market share during the first quarter, capturing 6.9% of dining dollars in the fast-casual sector, according to CSIMarket, a private research organization. Since fast-casual restaurants attract more affluent diners, Chipotle is somewhat insulated from downturns that typically affect companies like PepsiCo (PEP -0.09%) and McDonald's (MCD -1.2%).
Dividends
Does Chipotle pay a dividend?
Chipotle doesn't pay a dividend. Instead, the company puts its money into the business and into share repurchases, which tend to reward investors by increasing the price of a stock. The company announced in its most recent fourth quarter that it would increase its total repurchase authorization from $700 million to $1 billion.
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF)
ETFs
ETFs with exposure to Chipotle
For investors who don't want to put all their eggs into one basket, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can be an excellent alternative to individual stock-picking. Since ETFs are a collection of stocks, a poor quarter or year by a couple of its stocks doesn't necessarily mean major losses by investors. In some cases, ETFs are diversified enough that even a downturn in one sector -- such as airlines, which suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic -- can be offset by gains in other sectors. Here are three ETFs either focused on or adjacent to the restaurant industry that offer exposure to Chipotle:
1. AdvisorShares Restaurant ETF
The AdvisorShares Restaurant ETF (EATZ 1.16%) was launched in 2021 as the only actively managed ETF dedicated to restaurant stocks. The fund held more than two dozen restaurant stocks in mid-2024, with Brinker International (EAT 2.53%) shares making up 6.95% of the fund. Chipotle, at 3.15%, ranked at No. 17 in mid-2025. The ETF is small, with assets under management of only $3.6 million. It has a reasonable ETF expense ratio for an actively managed fund of 0.6%.
2. Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF
Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (VCR 0.25%): Considerably larger than the AdvisorShares Restaurant ETF, the fund focuses on consumer discretionary items. Chipotle shares made up 1.25% of its portfolio in mid-2025. The fund's largest holding was Amazon (AMZN 1.1%), which made up 22.5% of its $5.9 billion in holdings in mid-2025. The Vanguard ETF offers an expense ratio of 0.9%.
3. SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY 0.1%) is the largest single holder of Chipotle stock, with almost $857 million in the restaurant chain's shares as of mid-2025. The venerable fund is enormously popular with "set-it-and-forget-it" investors who take a long-term approach to investing. It consists of shares listed in the S&P 500 and weighted by value. Created in 1993, the fund has more than $603 billion in assets and a low expense ratio of 0.0945%.
Stock splits
Will Chipotle stock split?
Companies typically announce stock splits when high share prices discourage investors from putting money into the company. Chipotle announced a 50-to-1 split in early June 2024 after shares topped $3,000, an unheard-of amount for a restaurant stock and the company decided it might be missing out on some truly discouraged investors. The Chipotle split was one of the biggest in the history of shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange. As of May 2025, Chipotle hasn't publicly discussed plans for another stock split.
Related investing topics
The bottom line on Chipotle
Chipotle has frequently been a victim of its own high expectations. It gets outsized attention when food safety problems occur because of its focus on quality ingredients, and its popularity among white-collar urban and suburban office workers makes it an easy target for satire. The chain's financial performance, however, has been anything but a laughingstock.
The restaurant industry is notoriously susceptible to economic cycles, but Chipotle has been focused enough to weather most storms. Investors interested in adding restaurant stocks could certainly find worse stocks to buy and hold.
FAQ
How to invest in Chipotle FAQ
Can you buy Chipotle stock?
Chipotle stock has been publicly traded since January 2006. All you need is a brokerage account and money to buy stock in the restaurant chain.
Is Chipotle listed as a public stock?
Chipotle has been a public stock since 2006. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the CMG ticker.
Who owns most of Chipotle stock?
Institutional investors owned about 89% of Chipotle stock as of March 31, 2025. The Vanguard Group held 122.5 million shares.
Does Chipotle pay dividends?
Chipotle does not pay dividends. The company historically has put extra cash back into the business or rewarded shareholders with stock repurchases.
