The landscape: Chipotle began seeing signs of consumer pullback around February, as macroeconomic uncertainty started to weigh on spending.
- In Q1, comparable restaurant sales slipped 0.4%, driven by a 2.3% decline in transactions. A 1.9% increase in average check helped soften the blow, but it wasn’t enough to offset weaker traffic.
- Adding pressure are the Trump administration’s tariffs. Chipotle estimates the 10% universal duties and targeted aluminum levies will raise its ongoing cost of sales by 50 basis points. In Q2, the immediate impact is expected to be 20 basis points, thanks to pre-tariff inventory.