Has Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) Stock Been Good for Investors?

Fast-casual burrito chain Chipotle (NYSE: CMG) is so well known that it's easy to forget how young the company is. The stock has been publicly traded for fewer than 20 years.

Since its IPO in January 2006, Chipotle's shares have crushed the market with a nearly 3,000% return. But how has it done for more recent investors?

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One-year return: This isn't what I ordered

In spite of its long-term track record of success, Chipotle's stock has been downright cruel to investors over the past year, with shares down 44.5%, primarily from two big drops that occurred after the company's Q2 and Q3 earnings reports in July and October. Chipotle has been hit with rising food costs as same-store sales growth has been plateauing, and the company is projecting same-store sales will decline in Q4.

While many of the issues Chipotle is facing are hitting the restaurant industry as a whole, that's small consolation for investors, who have missed out on the broader market's 2025 gains. The S&P 500 is up 13.2% for the year, meaning Chipotle shareholders who bought the stock a year ago are losing to the market by 57.7 percentage points.

Three-year return: What goes up...

Essentially, Chipotle's terrible 2025 has erased all of the gains from the previous two years. While the share price is up 5.1% from three years ago, it has risen about 100% between December 2022 and June 2024. It was still up 80% from its December 2022 prices at the start of this year, highlighting just how bad the past year has been for Chipotle.

Even though investors from three years ago haven't lost money, they've missed out on the broader market's massive gains. The S&P 500 is up 67.5% over the past three years, meaning Chipotle investors are still trailing the market's three-year returns by 62.4 percentage points.

Is the picture still dismal for five-year investors?

Five-year return: ...still comes down

Things aren't quite as bad for investors who bought Chipotle stock in December 2020. Their shares have returned 29.3% over the last five years. That's still losing (badly) to the market's 86.5% return, but for much of that time -- between January 2023 and July 2025 -- their investment was outperforming the market:

So, how far back would you have to have bought to be outperforming the market right now? Not too far, actually: about six and a half years. An investment in Chipotle from June 10, 2019, is currently beating the S&P 500, 137.1% to 136.6%. That said, Chipotle stock has been through rough patches before. Between Jan. 1, 2015, and Jan. 1, 2018, shares tumbled 57.8%, but investors who sold then would have missed out on the stock's nearly 500% gain since, which crushed the market's 155.4% return.

Chipotle's stock is an excellent example of how buy-and-hold investing rewards shareholders who hold onto their investments in quality companies over the long term.

John Bromels has positions in Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: short December 2025 $45 calls on Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.