Chipotle price target lowered to $44 from $47 at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler lowered the firm’s price target on Chipotle (CMG) to $44 from $47 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares following quarterly results. The firm notes that while the Q4 same-store sales result of down 2.5% was right in-line with its sense of investor expectations, Chipotle’s initial guidance for 2026 same-store sales of “about flat” came in below. Piper also highlights that the company plans to underprice expense inflation this year, which it thinks is wise as it pertains to future traffic but which has RLM implications as far as estimate revisions go.