Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG)

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

General

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., a Delaware corporation, together with its subsidiaries (“Chipotle,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) owns and operates Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants, which feature a relevant menu of burritos, burrito bowls (a burrito without the tortilla), quesadillas, tacos, and salads. We strive to cultivate a better world by serving responsibly sourced, classically cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients and without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. We are passionate about providing a great guest experience and making our food more accessible to everyone while continuing to be a brand with a demonstrated purpose. Our first Chipotle restaurant opened in Denver, Colorado in 1993. Over 30 years later, our devotion to seeking out high-quality ingredients, raised with respect for animals, farmers, and the environment, remains at the core of our commitment to Food with Integrity.

As of December 31, 2025, we owned 3,938 Chipotle restaurants throughout the United States (“U.S.”) and 104 international Chipotle restaurants. Additionally, we had 14 international partner-operated restaurants. Partner-operated restaurants represent Chipotle restaurants over which Chipotle does not have a controlling financial interest and for which Chipotle does not directly manage day-to-day operations. This includes restaurants operated by third parties pursuant to license or franchise agreements and restaurants in which Chipotle holds a minority, non-controlling ownership interest. We manage our U.S. operations based on 11 regions and aggregate our operations to one reportable segment. Our revenue is derived from sales by our restaurants.

Business Strategy

Chipotle is a brand with a demonstrated purpose of Cultivating a Better World. Our Recipe for Growth strategy leans into what uniquely differentiates Chipotle, with a focus on accelerating growth and sharpening competitiveness. The strategy is grounded in five key areas:

•Protect and strengthen the core by driving operational and culinary excellence to deliver exceptional value for our guests;

•Evolve the brand messaging and accelerate menu innovation and new occasions that drive demand into our restaurants;

•Modernize our business model with industry-leading technology, including leveraging AI and relaunching our Rewards Program, to elevate the experience for our guests and teams;

•Expand our global reach by scaling with intention through proven, company-owned and partner operated markets, as well as strategic new regions; and

•Cultivate the best talent in the industry that is energized and focused on speed and agility.

Food with Integrity

Serving high-quality food at reasonable prices is critical to ensuring guests enjoy wholesome food at a great value. In Chipotle-owned restaurants, we strive to serve only animal products that are raised in accordance with criteria we have established to improve sustainability and promote animal welfare, and without the use of non-therapeutic antibiotics or added growth hormones. We brand our meats as “Responsibly Raised®.” We also seek to use responsibly grown produce, by which we mean produce grown by suppliers whose practices conform to our Food with Integrity standards and our priorities with respect to environmental considerations and employee welfare. For more information about our sustainability and animal welfare initiatives, see our biennial Sustainability Report and interim Update Report on our website www.chipotle.com/sustainability.

Purchasing

Maintaining the high levels of quality and safety we demand in our restaurants depends in part on our ability to acquire high-quality, fresh ingredients and other necessary supplies that meet our specifications from reliable suppliers. We work with multiple independently owned and operated regional distribution centers that purchase from various suppliers we carefully select based on the suppliers' understanding of and adherence to our mission and Food with Integrity standards, quality and price availability. We have also sought to increase the number of suppliers for our ingredients to help mitigate pricing volatility and reduce our reliance on one or several suppliers, which could create supply shortages. In addition, we closely monitor industry news, trade tariffs, weather, exchange rates, foreign demand, geopolitical crises and other world events that may affect our ingredient prices or available supply. Certain key ingredients are purchased from a small number of suppliers.

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Quality Assurance and Food Safety

We are committed to serving only safe, high-quality food. Our food safety and quality assurance teams work to ensure compliance with our food safety programs and practices, components of which include:

•naturally derived inhibitors to prevent microbial growth in ingredients;

•advanced technologies and tools that reduce or eliminate pathogens while maintaining food quality;

•enhanced restaurant procedures and protocols for handling ingredients and sanitizing surfaces in our restaurants;

•food safety certifications;

•internal and third-party restaurant inspections;

•small grower support during on-site audits;

•supplier intervention steps to mitigate food safety risks before ingredients reach Chipotle restaurants; and

•ingredient traceability.

These and other food safety practices underscore our commitment to being a leader in food safety while continuing to serve high-quality food that our guests love. Our food safety and quality assurance teams establish and monitor our quality and food safety programs and work closely with suppliers to ensure our high standards are met throughout the supply chain. We maintain a limited list of approved suppliers, many of whom are among the top suppliers in the industry. In addition, we have a team approach where our training, operations, culinary, legal and restaurant food safety and quality assurance departments develop and implement operating standards for food quality, food preparation, restaurant cleanliness, employee health protocols, and safety in the restaurants. Our food safety programs are also intended to ensure we not only continue to comply with applicable food safety regulations, but also establish Chipotle as an industry leader in food safety. To help achieve this goal, we have a Food Safety Advisory Council comprised of some of the nation’s foremost food safety authorities who are independent of Chipotle. The Food Safety Advisory Council is charged with evaluating our programs and advising us on ways to maintain and elevate our food safety program. In addition, our food safety and quality assurance team members hold board seats and participate in technical working groups with several associations, which gives us the opportunity to learn and share our knowledge and expertise with other food safety professionals and regulatory agencies.

Digital Business and Innovation

Our digital platform continues to be a strategic driver of our growth. Digital sales represent food and beverage revenue for company-owned restaurants generated through the Chipotle website, Chipotle app or third-party delivery aggregators and include revenue deferrals associated with Chipotle Rewards. Digital sales represented 36.7% of food and beverage revenue in 2025, compared to 35.1% in 2024. We have made digital ordering convenient with continued enhancements to our app and by building more Chipotlanes, which is our drive through format for guest pick-up of digital orders. We are also investing in technology and tools to modernize the back of house of our restaurants and to improve the team member experience.

Human Capital

At Chipotle, our vision is to cultivate an environment where our employees can thrive and grow into great leaders. We believe in investing and supporting our people because they are our most important asset. As of December 31, 2025, Chipotle employed 130,301 people worldwide and 1,233 contract workers. Of our employees, 127,116 worked in the United States, and 3,185 worked internationally across Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Within the U.S., 125,408 employees worked in our restaurants, and 1,708 in our Restaurant Support Centers and Field Leadership. In 2025, nearly all newly promoted General Managers completed training focused on fostering a positive people culture where employees feel supported, heard, and able to grow with Chipotle. There were no union petitions or campaigns in 2025, and we continue to bargain in good faith with the one restaurant that voted in 2022 to form a union.

Talent Acquisition

We are committed to the growth, development, and advancement of our people. In 2025, nearly 90% of our in-restaurant leadership roles were filled through internal promotions, which remains a critical component of our staffing strategy. When hiring external talent, our focus is on building a scalable talent engine that powers growth and advances our vision to Cultivate a Better World. With Ava Cado, a virtual scheduling assistant, candidates can apply, complete applications, and schedule interviews in a few minutes. This tool is intended to broaden access and streamline hiring, enabling managers to focus on operations and our guest experience.

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We continue to provide targeted staffing support for new restaurant openings and restaurants with elevated staffing needs by deploying new marketing efforts to targeted audiences telling relevant stories. We are focused on quality of hire by reviewing our labor and shift models, enhancing Ava Cado and training General Managers on best-in-class hiring practices. By providing engaging workplaces, inclusive hiring practices, competitive pay and incentives, and comprehensive benefits, we position ourselves as an employer of choice.

Culture and Inclusivity ("C&I")

In 2025, we broadened our C&I function with programs rooted in continuous listening, accountability, and engagement. The employee lifecycle at Chipotle represents every stage of an employee's journey, from attracting and hiring great people, to developing their skills, growing their careers, and celebrating their contributions – all in an inclusive environment.

Our focus areas include:

•Deepening empathy and field consideration by designing people practices that balance operational excellence with the employee experience, reflect the realities of restaurant teams, elevate field voices, and ensure leaders act with understanding, fairness, and care.

•Delivering cultural experiences and expanded programs that promote inclusive competencies and leader accountability for sustainable progress.

•Developing a consistent strategy for inclusive storytelling that promotes our values, celebrates our employees, engages our fans and increases employee generated content.

•Creating and socializing a consistent, company-wide approach to celebrating and appreciating employees to reinforce values, behaviors, and our culture.

Talent Management

We are dedicated to building a high-performing organization through a comprehensive talent strategy focused on attracting, developing, and retaining top talent across all levels. In 2025, more than 23,000 employees earned promotions. Notably, internal advancement within our Field Leadership positions—including Field Leaders, Team Directors and Regional Vice Presidents—was above 82%. Our strong recruitment, onboarding, and training programs are designed to position new hires and recently promoted team members for success while reinforcing alignment with Chipotle’s mission and values. We continue to offer a range of targeted initiatives that strengthen leadership capabilities where they are most critical by:

•Strengthening role readiness by introducing additional rigor into role preparation processes. This includes implementing e-learning modules for restaurant leadership, enhancing training content for our Certified Training Managers, elevating our cohort-based Field Leader in Training program, and enriching the Field Leader experience through upgraded content in our flagship program, Cultivate U.

•Enhancing our onboarding experience through a redesigned new hire orientation for Restaurant Support Center employees and the introduction of a dedicated orientation program for Field Leaders. Additionally, we have a People Leader Fundamentals program that ensures Restaurant Support Center leaders are well-versed in core People Processes, reinforcing consistency and effectiveness in leadership practices across the organization.

•Supporting leadership growth through topic-rich Learning Labs intended for Field Leaders and above, and Restaurant Support Center team members. These 60-minute live sessions focus on developing leadership skills and knowledge essential for personal and professional advancement.

•Leveraging our People Technology platforms by adding succession planning capabilities in Workday, including a dedicated process for Field Leader and above. These updates provide greater visibility into talent pipelines across regions and sub-regions. Individual Development Plans and the 360 Feedback tool, which allows us to gather well-rounded feedback about leaders, are now fully integrated and live within Workday, supporting career development and performance feedback.

Collectively, these initiatives strengthen leadership capability, improve employee engagement, and position the organization for sustained operational excellence and long-term growth.

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Total Rewards

The financial, physical, and mental well-being of our employees remains a top priority. We believe we have compelling compensation packages and incentive programs and a robust suite of benefit offerings that enable us to engage current team members and attract new team members. In 2025, we expanded access to mental health resources and added weight management support programs. Other areas of Total Rewards that help support our employees include:

•We offer competitive wages and industry leading incentive programs, such as our annual and quarterly bonus programs.

•We offer a Debt-Free Degree program that provides Chipotle employees' access to nearly 100 degrees at over 20 universities and accredited institutions, completely tuition free.

•We support Career Certificates, which further enhances our Tuition Assistance benefits by providing on-demand certificate programs to help Chipotle team members advance their careers in as little as eight weeks.

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Financial statements

data from SEC XBRL filings. Values are as-reported; restatements supersede originals. Values reported in .

From 10-Q filed 2026-04-30 (period ending 2026-03-31).

ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this report are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about the number of new restaurants we expect to open in 2026, and the number with Chipotlanes, the number of new international partner-operated restaurants we expect to open, our anticipated comparable restaurant sales for 2026, the expected impact of tariffs on our food, beverage and packaging costs during the 2026 second quarter and on an ongoing basis, our expectation to generate positive cash flow for the foreseeable future, our expectations for utilization of cash flow from operations, our ability to manage prices, risks and volatility in our supply chain, our plans for continuing stock buybacks and the volume of buybacks, and the period of time during which our cash and short-term investment will fund our operations. 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 report are based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information available to us as of the date of this filing 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: wage inflation and state or local regulations mandating higher minimum wages; the competitive labor market, which impacts our ability to attract and retain qualified employees; the impact of any union organizing efforts and our responses to such efforts; increases in ingredient and other operating costs due to inflation, global conflicts, severe weather, our Food with Integrity philosophy, tariffs or trade restrictions; intermittent supply shortages relating to our Food with Integrity philosophy, rapid expansion and supply chain disruptions; risks of food safety incidents and food-borne illnesses; our reliance on certain information technology systems and potential material failures, interruptions or outages; risks that our investments in new technology and technological innovations may not generate returns; privacy and cyber security risks, including 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 impact of 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 and restaurant equipment; the expected costs and risks related to our international expansion, including through partner-operated restaurants in the Middle East, Asia and Mexico; 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 negative publicity or social media posts and decreased consumer spending, or the inability to increase menu prices or realize the benefits of menu price increases; failure to meet market expectations for our financial performance or any announced guidance and the impact thereof; the potential impact of activist shareholder actions or tactics; failure to attract or retain key executive talent; the impact of our brand, marketing, promotional, advertising and pricing strategies, digital platform and menu innovations; our reliance on third party delivery services and the IT infrastructure; litigation risks, including possible governmental actions and potential class action litigation related to food safety incidents, cybersecurity incidents, employment or privacy laws, advertising claims, contract disputes or other matters. In addition, many of the foregoing risks and uncertainties are, or could be, exacerbated by any worsening of the global business and macroeconomic environment. These statements also are subject to 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.

As of March 31, 2026, we owned 3,983 Chipotle restaurants throughout the United States and 107 international Chipotle restaurants. Additionally, we had 14 international partner-operated restaurants. We manage our U.S. operations based on 12 regions and aggregate our operations to one reportable segment.

Throughout “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” we discuss the following key operating metrics which we believe will drive our financial results and long-term growth model. We believe these metrics are useful to investors because management uses these metrics to assess the growth of our business and the effectiveness of our marketing and operational strategies:

•Comparable restaurant sales

•Food, beverage, and packaging as a percentage of total revenue

•Labor as a percentage of total revenue

•Occupancy as a percentage of total revenue

•Other operating costs as a percentage of total revenue

•New restaurant openings

First Quarter 2026 Financial Highlights, year-over-year:

•Total revenue increased 7.4% to $3.1 billion

•Comparable restaurant sales increased 0.5%

•Diluted earnings per share was $0.23, a 17.9% decrease from $0.28

Sales Trends. Comparable restaurant sales increased 0.5% for the three months ended March 31, 2026. The increase is attributable to an increase in transactions of 0.6%, partially offset by a 0.1% decrease in average check. Comparable restaurant sales represent the change in period-over-period total revenue for company-owned restaurants in operation for at least 13 full calendar months. Digital sales represented 38.6% of total food and beverage revenue. For full-year 2026, management is anticipating comparable restaurant sales to be about flat.

Restaurant Development. During the three months ended March 31, 2026, we opened 49 company-owned restaurants, which included 42 restaurants with a Chipotlane. We expect to open approximately 350 to 370 restaurants in 2026, which includes 10 to 15 international partner-operated restaurants. We expect around 80% of our new company-owned restaurants will include a Chipotlane.

Restaurant Activity

The following table details company-owned restaurant unit data for the periods indicated.

	Three months ended March 31,
	2026	2025
Beginning of period	4,042	3,726
Openings	49	57
Permanent closures	(1)	(2)
Total at end of period	4,090	3,781

The following table details partner-operated restaurant unit data for the periods indicated.

	Three months ended March 31,
	2026	2025
Beginning of period	14	3
Openings	-	2
Total at end of period	14	5

Results of Operations

Our results of operations as a percentage of total revenue and period-over-period change are discussed in the following section.

Revenue

	Three months ended March 31,						Percentage
	2026			2025			change
	(dollars in millions)
Food and beverage revenue	$	3,072.7		$	2,859.8		7.4	%
Delivery service revenue	15.5			15.4			0.6	%
Total revenue	$	3,088.2		$	2,875.3		7.4	%
Average restaurant sales (1)	$	3.094		$	3.186		(2.9	%)
Comparable restaurant sales increase/(decrease)	0.5%			(0.4%)
Transactions	0.6%			(2.3%)
Average check	(0.1%)			1.9%
Menu price increase	0.9%			2.9%
Check mix	(1.0		%)	(1.0		%)

(1)Average restaurant sales refers to the average trailing 12-month food and beverage revenue for company-owned restaurants in operation for at least 12 full calendar months.

The following is a summary of the change in restaurant sales for the period indicated:

	Three months ended
	(dollars in millions)
For the period ended March 31, 2025	$	2,875.3
Change from:
Comparable restaurant sales	14.0
Restaurants not yet in comparable base opened in 2026	14.1
Restaurants not yet in comparable base opened in 2025	192.0
Closures	(9.1)
Other	1.9
For the period ended March 31, 2026	$	3,088.2

Food, Beverage and Packaging Costs

	Three months ended March 31,						Percentage
	2026			2025			change
	(dollars in millions)
Food, beverage and packaging	$	913.3		$	838.4		8.9	%
As a percentage of total revenue	29.6		%	29.2		%	0.4	%

Food, beverage and packaging costs increased 0.4% as a percentage of total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2026 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2025. The increase was driven by 0.9% of inflation, primarily from beef and freight, and 0.4% of higher produce usage. These increases were partially offset by 0.7% of lower dairy and avocado costs and, to a lesser extent, a 0.3% benefit from menu price increases.

Labor Costs

	Three months ended March 31,						Percentage
	2026			2025			change
	(dollars in millions)
Labor costs	$	805.4		$	718.2		12.1	%
As a percentage of total revenue	26.1		%	25.0		%	1.1	%

Labor costs increased 1.1% as a percentage of total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2026 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2025. The increase was primarily driven by a 0.4% impact from costs related to certain legal proceedings, 0.3% from wage inflation, 0.3% from lower average restaurant sales volumes, and 0.2% from higher benefits expense, including performance-based bonuses. These increases were partially offset by a 0.2% benefit from menu price increases.

Occupancy Costs

	Three months ended March 31,						Percentage
	2026			2025			change
	(dollars in millions)
Occupancy costs	$	169.9		$	149.8		13.4	%
As a percentage of total revenue	5.5		%	5.2		%	0.3	%

Occupancy costs increased 0.3% as a percentage of total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2026 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2025. The increase was due to 0.2% of expense associated with new restaurants and 0.1% of expense from existing restaurants.

Other Operating Costs

	Three months ended March 31,						Percentage
	2026			2025			change
	(dollars in millions)
Other operating costs	$	480.6		$	415.2		15.8	%
As a percentage of total revenue	15.6		%	14.4		%	1.2	%

Other operating costs increased 1.2% as a percentage of total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2026 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2025. The increase was due to the impact from several items, primarily 0.4% increase in marketing and promotional activities, 0.2% increase in utilities, and 0.2% higher delivery expense associated with increased delivery sales. This increase was partially offset by a 0.1% benefit from menu price increases.

General and Administrative Expenses

	Three months ended March 31,						Percentage
	2026			2025			change
	(dollars in millions)
General and administrative expenses	$	203.7		$	172.8		17.9	%
As a percentage of total revenue	6.6		%	6.0		%	0.6	%

The following is a summary of the change in general and administrative expenses for the period indicated:

	Three months ended
	(dollars in millions)
For the period ended March 31, 2025	$	172.8
Change from:
Conferences, primarily biennial All Managers’ Conference	23.3
Performance bonuses	5.9
Wages	5.1
Restructuring	2.9
Stock-based compensation, August 2024 retention awards	(8.9)
Other	2.6
For the period ended March 31, 2026	$	203.7

Depreciation and Amortization

	Three months ended March 31,						Percentage
	2026			2025			change
	(dollars in millions)
Depreciation and amortization	$	96.7		$	87.2		10.9	%
As a percentage of total revenue	3.1		%	3.0		%	0.1	%

Depreciation and amortization increased 0.1% as a percentage of total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2026 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2025. Increased depreciation expense was primarily due to new restaurant openings. This was partially offset by the benefit of menu price increases.

Interest and Other Income, Net

	Three months ended March 31,						Percentage
	2026			2025			change
	(dollars in millions)
Interest and other income, net	$	8.7		$	22.3		(60.7	%)
As a percentage of total revenue	0.3		%	0.8		%	(0.5	%)

Interest and other income, net decreased in dollar terms for the three months ended March 31, 2026 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2025, primarily due to lower balances of interest bearing securities. The decrease in interest bearing securities is associated with increased repurchases of our common stock.

Provision for Income Taxes

	Three months ended March 31,						Percentage
	2026			2025			change
	(dollars in millions)
Provision for income taxes	$	103.0		$	114.9		(10.4	%)
Effective income tax rate	25.4		%	22.9		%	2.5	%

The effective income tax rate increased 2.5% for the three months ended March 31, 2026 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2025. The increase was primarily driven by a 1.7% reduction in tax benefits related to option exercises and equity vesting, a 0.4% reduction in tax credits, and a 0.4% increase in other discrete income tax items.

Seasonality

Seasonal factors cause our profitability to fluctuate from quarter to quarter. Historically, our average daily restaurant sales and net income are lower in the first and fourth quarters due, in part, to the holiday season and because fewer people eat out during periods of inclement weather (the winter months) than during periods of mild or warm weather (the spring, summer and fall months). Other factors also have a seasonal effect on our results. For example, restaurants located near colleges and universities generally do more business during the academic year. Seasonal factors, however, might be moderated or outweighed by other factors that may influence our quarterly results, such as unexpected publicity impacting our business in a positive or negative way, disease outbreak, epidemic or endemic, the impact of inflation and consumer sentiment on consumer spending, fluctuations in food or packaging costs, the timing of holidays, or the timing of menu price increases or promotional activities and other marketing initiatives. The number of trading days in a quarter can also affect our results, although, on an overall annual basis, changes in trading days do not have a significant impact.

Our quarterly results are also affected by other factors such as the amount and timing of non-cash stock-based compensation expense and related tax rate impacts, litigation, settlement costs and related legal expenses, impairment charges and non-operating costs, timing of marketing or promotional expenses, the number and timing of new restaurants opened in a quarter, and closure of restaurants. New restaurants typically have higher operating costs following opening because of the expenses associated with their opening and operating inefficiencies in the months immediately following opening. Accordingly, results for a particular quarter are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for any other quarter or for any year.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Cash and Investments

As of March 31, 2026, we had a cash and marketable investments balance of $864.4 million, non-marketable investments of $103.4 million, and $35.7 million of restricted cash. After funding the current operations in our restaurants and support centers, the first planned use of our cash flow from operations is to provide capital for the continued investment in new restaurant construction. In addition to continuing to invest in our restaurant expansion, we expect to utilize cash flow from operations to: invest in, maintain, and refurbish our existing restaurants; repurchase additional shares of our common stock subject to market conditions; and for general corporate purposes. As of March 31, 2026, $1.0 billion remained available for repurchases of shares of our common stock. Under the remaining repurchase authorizations, shares may be purchased from time to time in open market transactions, subject to market conditions.

Borrowing Capacity

As of March 31, 2026, we had $500.0 million of undrawn borrowing capacity under a revolving credit facility.

Use of Cash

We believe that cash from operations, together with our cash and investment balances, will be sufficient to meet ongoing capital expenditures, working capital requirements and other cash needs for the foreseeable future. Assuming no significant declines in comparable restaurant sales, we expect we will generate positive cash flow for the foreseeable future.

We have not required significant working capital because guests generally pay using cash or credit and debit cards and because our operations do not require significant receivables or significant inventories, partly due to our use of various fresh ingredients. In addition, we generally have the right to pay for the purchase of food, beverages and supplies sometime after the receipt of those items, generally within ten days, thereby reducing the need for incremental working capital to support our growth.

Cash Flows

Cash provided by operating activities was $651.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026, compared to $557.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025. The increase was primarily due to timing of tax-related payments, including the receipt of a $64.9 million federal tax refund related to the 2018 tax year. This activity was partially offset by other changes in non-tax operating assets and liabilities.

Cash used in investing activities was $8.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026, compared to cash provided by investing activities of $6.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025. The change was primarily due to increased capital expenditures of $35.5 million, mainly related to costs associated with new restaurant development and the purchase of new equipment for existing restaurants. This was partially offset by a $17.6 million increase in maturities of investments.

Cash used in financing activities was $747.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026, compared to $585.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025. The change was primarily due to increased repurchases of common stock of $147.2 million.

Critical Accounting Estimates

Critical accounting estimates are those that we believe are both significant and that require us to make difficult, subjective or complex judgments, often because we need to estimate the effect of inherently uncertain matters. We base our estimates and judgments on historical experiences and various other factors that we believe to be appropriate under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates, and we might obtain different estimates if we used different assumptions or factors. We had no significant changes to our critical accounting estimates as described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.

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Holder	Type	ETF	MF	Position ($)	% of holder	Δ % of holder	Holder AUM

Next expected filings

~2026-07-24 10-Q expected by 2026-08-06 (in 39 days)
~2026-10-30 10-Q expected by 2026-11-12 (in 137 days)
~2027-02-04 10-K expected by 2027-02-26 (in 234 days)
~2027-04-30 10-Q expected by 2027-05-13 (in 319 days)

Predicted from historical filing cadence; not an SEC commitment.

Recent SEC filings

2026-04-30 10-Q Quarterly Report
2026-04-29 8-K Earnings Release; Financial Statements and Exhibits
2026-04-28 DEF 14A Proxy Statement
2026-02-04 10-K Annual Report
2026-02-03 8-K Earnings Release; Financial Statements and Exhibits
2026-01-12 8-K Officer/Director Change; Regulation FD Disclosure; Financial Statements and Exhibits
2025-11-25 8-K Officer/Director Change; Financial Statements and Exhibits
2025-10-30 10-Q Quarterly Report
2025-10-29 8-K Earnings Release; Financial Statements and Exhibits
2025-09-05 8-K Officer/Director Change
2025-08-26 8-K Officer/Director Change
2025-07-24 10-Q Quarterly Report
2025-07-23 8-K Earnings Release; Other Events; Financial Statements and Exhibits
2025-06-27 8-K Material Agreement Entered; Material Agreement Terminated; Material Financial Obligation; Financial Statements and Exhibits
2025-05-07 8-K Officer/Director Change; Regulation FD Disclosure; Financial Statements and Exhibits

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