Chipotle Mexican Grill vs Darden Restaurants
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The short version
- Darden Restaurants is the larger business, with $13.2B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $11.9B for Chipotle Mexican Grill.
- Darden Restaurants grew revenue faster (9.4%, against 5.4%).
- Chipotle Mexican Grill kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (16.2% operating margin, against 12.0%).
- Chipotle Mexican Grill turned more of its sales into free cash flow (12.1% FCF margin, against 8.5%).
- Chipotle Mexican Grill earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (73.7%, against 24.8%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Chipotle Mexican Grill’s earnings: a P/E of 25.2x against 20.8x for Darden Restaurants.
| Latest fiscal year | CMG · FY25 | DRI · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $35.2B | $24.3B |
| Revenue | $11.9B | $13.2B |
| Free cash flow | $1.4B | $1.1B |
| Net income | $1.5B | $1.2B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 5.4% | 9.4% |
| 5-year growth | 14.8% | 12.9% |
| Share count change | −2.5% | −1.8% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 20.3% |
| Operating margin | 16.2% | 12.0% |
| Net margin | 12.9% | 9.1% |
| FCF margin | 12.1% | 8.5% |
| Return on capital | 73.7% | 24.8% |
| Return on equity | 47.4% | 53.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$1.0B | $3.2B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.5x | 1.5x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $2.4B | $1.4B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 25.2x | 20.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 6 |
FY17
CMG $4.5B
DRI $7.2B
FY18
CMG $4.9B
DRI $8.1B
FY19
CMG $5.6B
DRI $8.5B
FY20
CMG $6.0B
DRI $7.8B
FY21
CMG $7.5B
DRI $7.2B
FY22
CMG $8.6B
DRI $9.6B
FY23
CMG $9.9B
DRI $10.5B
FY24
CMG $11.3B
DRI $11.4B
FY25
CMG $11.9B
DRI $12.1B
FY26
CMG —
DRI $13.2B
CMG
DRI
FY17
CMG 6.1%
DRI 9.5%
FY18
CMG 5.3%
DRI 9.5%
FY19
CMG 8.0%
DRI 9.8%
FY20
CMG 4.9%
DRI 0.6%
FY21
CMG 10.7%
DRI 9.0%
FY22
CMG 13.4%
DRI 12.1%
FY23
CMG 15.8%
DRI 11.5%
FY24
CMG 16.9%
DRI 11.5%
FY25
CMG 16.2%
DRI 11.3%
FY26
CMG —
DRI 12.0%
CMG
DRI
FY17
CMG $251M
DRI $623M
FY18
CMG $334M
DRI $624M
FY19
CMG $388M
DRI $816M
FY20
CMG $291M
DRI $258M
FY21
CMG $840M
DRI $939M
FY22
CMG $844M
DRI $888M
FY23
CMG $1.2B
DRI $988M
FY24
CMG $1.5B
DRI $1.0B
FY25
CMG $1.4B
DRI $1.1B
FY26
CMG —
DRI $1.1B
CMG
DRI
FY17
CMG —
DRI 20.8%
FY18
CMG —
DRI 26.5%
FY19
CMG —
DRI 26.2%
FY20
CMG 31.0%
DRI 1.3%
FY21
CMG 56.4%
DRI 20.8%
FY22
CMG 65.6%
DRI 29.8%
FY23
CMG 73.0%
DRI 27.7%
FY24
CMG 73.1%
DRI 26.2%
FY25
CMG 73.7%
DRI 22.6%
FY26
CMG —
DRI 24.8%
CMG
DRI
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.