Josh Kohn-Lindquist, The Motley Fool Mon, October 12, 2026 at 5:07 PM EDT 3 min read CMG -3.77% SBUX +1.69% MCD +0.18% ^IXIC -0.44% Explore stocks on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG), a fast-casual Mexican-inspired restaurant chain with company-operated locations, closed at $30.40, down 3.75%. Starbucks' denial of a takeover cooled the stock, and investors are waiting for third-quarter results on Oct. 28. Trading volume reached 26.0M shares, coming in about 48% above its three-month average of 17.6M shares. Chipotle Mexican Grill IPO'd in 2006 and has grown 3,355% since going public.
S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) closed at 7,808, down 0.05%, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) closed at 27,246, down 0.44%. Within fast-casual restaurants and quick-service restaurant industry trading, McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) closed at $235.72, up 0.21%, and Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) closed at $92.28, up 1.69%, after Starbucks' comments reset restaurant-sector takeover speculation.
The M&A rumors between Starbucks and Chipotle were short-lived, as the former denied any interest in buying the Mexican Grill chain after reports surfaced last week saying otherwise. While CMG stock slid 4% on the news, Starbucks inched 2% higher.
Personally, I never saw the specific vision for such a mega-merger in the first place -- aside from Starbucks' CEO Niccol's previous experience with Chipotle -- so I'm treating today's development with a "meh" reaction regarding my daughter's core holding in CMG stock.
I think the deal would ultimately have been a huge burrito for Starbucks' balance sheet to stomach, and I'd argue that Chipotle is still a unique enough concept, with its ethical sourcing and clean ingredients, to be better off on its own.
Chipotle's high-flying-growth days are behind it, but trading at just 17 times cash from operations, the company is worth holding as a steady-Eddie compounder at today's price, in my opinion.
Before you buy stock in Chipotle Mexican Grill, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Chipotle Mexican Grill wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $379,123!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,408,822!*
Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 950% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 215% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 12, 2026.
Josh Kohn-Lindquist has positions in Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Chipotle Mexican Grill and Starbucks. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2028 $320 calls on McDonald's, short December 2026 $38 calls on Chipotle Mexican Grill, and short January 2028 $340 calls on McDonald's. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Stock Market Today, Oct. 12: Chipotle Falls 4% as Starbucks Denies Takeover Bid was originally published by The Motley Fool
