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Chipotle’s path to $60 per share requires returning to its mid-2025 levels via aggressive unit expansion of 350–370 new restaurants and a $1.7B remaining buyback program.
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Chipotle (NYSE:CMG) has had a rough stretch. Shares trade at around $34, down 10% year-to-date and 33% over the past year after 2025 became the first full year of negative comp sales in company history. But the burrito chain just delivered a fresh quarter that hints at a turn. Q1 2026 revenue came in at $3.09 billion, topping estimates and sparking a 7% jump in extended trading. Let's walk through how CMG could climb to $60 per share in 2026.
The Street's average price target sits at $43.66, with 5 Strong Buy and 23 Buy ratings against 11 Holds and zero Sells. That's 72% bullish, 0% bearish coverage. Composite sentiment registers 65.4 out of 100 (bullish), and insiders have logged 30 recent transactions, net buying. The 247Wall St. AI base case lands at $43.99, while the bull case prints $58.54, a 73% gain. $60 is a stretch above all of those, but it's in the same neighborhood as the in-house bull case.
CMG trades at a forward P/E of 29x on forward EPS of $1.35. At $60, shares would price near 44x forward earnings. Rich, but not unprecedented for Chipotle, which has historically commanded a premium multiple thanks to industry-leading unit economics. Hitting $60 takes a re-rating plus EPS upside.
Recipe for Growth traction. CEO Scott Boatwright says "We are deploying these initiatives and beginning to see results, including the early success of our high-protein menu and benefits from our high-efficiency equipment package."
Aggressive unit growth. 2026 guidance calls for 350 to 370 new restaurants, with a long-term goal of 7,000 locations in the US and Canada.
Buybacks. Management repurchased $2.43 billion at an average $42.54 in 2025, with $1.7 billion remaining.
Q1 momentum. The Q1 beat and after-hours pop suggest comp sales may be inflecting from the -3% printed in Q4 2025.
Over the past decade, CMG has returned 292%. The 52-week high of $58.42 sits just under our $60 target, meaning CMG only needs to reclaim levels it traded at in mid-2025 ($53.38 on July 16, 2025). That's a recovery story within reach.
Reaching $60 requires roughly 78% upside from here, well above the analyst consensus of $43.66. But with a strong Q1 report, accelerating unit growth, an aggressive buyback, and a stock already 25% below its 52-week high, the building blocks are there. Returns at this level shouldn't be expected every year, but we've outlined the blueprint for how Chipotle could see outsized returns in 2026.
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