Third quarter highlights, which incorporate the impact of COVID-19, year over year:
Revenue increased 14.1% to
Comparable restaurant sales increased 8.3%
Digital sales grew 202.5% and accounted for 48.8% of sales for the quarter
Restaurant level operating margin was 19.5%, a decrease of 1.3%
Diluted earnings per share was
Opened 44 new restaurants and closed three restaurants during the quarter; and about 10 restaurants remain temporarily closed because of COVID-19, mainly inside malls and shopping centers
1 Adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share are non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations to GAAP measures and further information are set forth in the table at the end of this press release.
'I want to thank and acknowledge the incredible
COVID-19 and Liquidity Update:
The health and well-being of our employees and guests continues to be our top priority. We are benefitting from investments made a few years ago including advanced air filtration systems, sanitizers throughout the restaurant, wellness protocols, and improved handwashing. In addition, we are closely following the recommendations of the
As of
Results for the three months ended
Revenue in the third quarter was
Digital sales grew 202.5% year over year to
Delivery service revenue is comprised of delivery and related service fees charged to customers on sales made through
We opened 44 new restaurants during the third quarter and closed three restaurants, bringing the total restaurant count to 2,710. During the quarter, 26 of the 44 new restaurants included a Chipotlane. These formats continue to perform very well and are helping enhance guest access and convenience, as well as increase new restaurant sales, margins, and returns. It's hard to predict the external environment but if we assume there are no further COVID-19 related construction stoppages, we expect to have a sequentially similar or perhaps slightly higher number of openings in the fourth quarter of 2020. And while the current environment prevents us from being able to provide reliable new store opening guidance for 2021, our development team has built a very robust new unit pipeline, which under normal circumstances, would lead to opening around 200 restaurants next year. Longer term, we remain confident in our ability to more than double the total number of
Food, beverage and packaging costs in the third quarter were 32.3% of revenue, a decrease of 90 basis points compared to the third quarter of 2019. The decrease was primarily due to the benefit of menu price increases, lower avocado costs, and to a lesser extent, lower salsa usage and waste. These decreases were partially offset by COVID-19 related impacts including elevated beef prices, increased incidence of steak, and fewer sales of high margin beverages.
Restaurant level operating margin was 19.5%, a decrease from 20.8% in the third quarter of 2019 driven primarily by COVID-19 related impacts including higher delivery expense associated with increased delivery sales, elevated beef prices, increased incidence of steak, and fewer sales of high margin beverages. The decrease was partially offset by sales leverage, lower avocado expense, improved labor efficiency realized from digital enhancements to the restaurants and benefits from menu price increases.
General and administrative expenses for the third quarter were
The effective income tax rate for the third quarter was 24.7%, a change from an effective income tax rate provision of 17.9% for the third quarter of 2019, primarily due to elevated excess tax benefits related to option exercises in the third quarter of 2019.
Net income for the third quarter was
More information will be available in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which will be filed with the
Outlook
Given on-going uncertainty surrounding the future impact of COVID-19 on the broader US economy and any specific impact to our company, we are not providing fiscal 2020 guidance related to comparable restaurant sales growth, new restaurant openings, and effective full year tax rate.
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
Conference Call Details
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: 8356997. 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
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about our future cash flow, new restaurant development plans and future long-term prospects. We use words such as 'anticipate', 'believe', 'could', 'should', 'may', 'approximately', 'estimate', 'expect', 'potential', 'intend', 'project', 'target', 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: the ongoing adverse effect of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on our guest traffic, restaurant sales and operating costs as a result of actions we have taken in response to the coronavirus, including closing some restaurants, ending dine in service at some restaurants while continuing to offer only takeout and/or delivery, modifying work hours at some restaurants, extending enhanced benefits to employees working during and/or impacted by the coronavirus, increasing compensation for restaurant employees, purchasing masks, gloves and additional sanitation supplies and services and delaying the construction of new restaurant openings; risks that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic will continue for a long duration and may require a more drastic response, such as closing all or most restaurants; risks of food safety and food-borne illnesses and other health concerns about our food; risks associated with our reliance on certain information technology systems and potential failures or interruptions; privacy and cyber security risks related to our acceptance of electronic payments or electronic processing of confidential customer or employee information; the impact of competition, including from sources outside the restaurant industry; the increasingly competitive labor market and our ability to attract and retain qualified employees; 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 availability of suitable new restaurant sites; increases in ingredient and other operating costs due to our Food With Integrity philosophy, tariffs or trade restrictions and supply shortages; the uncertainty of our ability to achieve expected levels of comparable restaurant sales due to factors such as changes in consumers' perceptions of our brand, including as a result of actual or rumored food safety concerns or other negative publicity, decreased overall consumer spending (including but not limited to the increase in unemployment caused by the coronavirus pandemic), or the inability to increase menu prices or realize the benefits of menu price increases; risks associated with our increased focus on our digital business, including risks arising from our reliance on third party delivery services, which are heightened during the pendency of government restrictions on dine in restaurant services as a result of the coronavirus pandemic; risks relating to litigation, including possible governmental actions related to food safety incidents and potential class action litigation regarding employment laws, advertising claims or other matters; and other risk factors described from time to time in our
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
See details at: https://newsroom.chipotle.com/2020-10-21-Chipotle-Announces-Third-Quarter-2020-Results-Q3-Digital-Sales-Tripled-Year-Over-Year-And-Accounted-For-Nearly-Half-Of-Sales
(1) For the three months ended
(2) Transformation expenses include duplicate rent expense for office and restaurant closures announced in
(3) For the three months ended
SOURCE
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