Chipotle Credit Rating & NNN Cap Rate

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.’s 2025 Form 10-K states that it has no outstanding debt. What net lease buyers underwrite is a company that owns and operates all of its restaurants in the US and Canada, with no franchisees there, no outstanding debt and $11.9 billion of 2025 revenue. In the Chipotle listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks, the median asking cap rate is 5.00% as of October 19, 2026; the live cap rate table in the Cap Rates and Pricing section below sets it beside other quick service tenants. Asking cap rates are not closing cap rates.

Asking cap rates are not closing cap rates. Ratings update automatically from our ratings database.

Chipotle Business Overview

Chipotle opened its first restaurant in Denver in 1993. At the end of 2025 it owned 3,938 restaurants in the United States and 104 abroad, and international partners operated 14 more in the Middle East. Total revenue rose 5.4% to $11.9 billion in 2025, but comparable restaurant sales fell 1.7% as transactions declined 2.9%, and average restaurant sales slipped to about $3.1 million. Sales improved in 2026: in the second quarter, revenue rose 9.3% to $3.3 billion and comparable restaurant sales rose 2.2%, with digital orders at 38.3% of food and beverage revenue.

Chipotle owns and operates every restaurant in the US and Canada, which is unusual among large restaurant chains, so its US and Canadian restaurants are not franchisee operations.

Credit Profile

Chipotle’s 2025 Form 10-K states that it has no outstanding debt; its Form 10-Q reports no outstanding borrowings under its revolving credit facility at June 30, 2026. It funds growth from operating cash flow and returns excess cash through share repurchases. Buyers rely on the company’s public financial statements, which show positive earnings, no borrowings and a large base of company-operated restaurants.

The tenant on a Chipotle lease may be Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. or one of its operating subsidiaries. Confirm which entity is the tenant and whether the parent guarantees the lease; a subsidiary without a parent guaranty is a different credit.

Chipotle NNN Lease Structure

According to its 10-K, Chipotle leases substantially all of its restaurant properties (it owns 17); its leases generally have remaining terms of 1 to 20 years, and most include options to extend for additional five-year periods. In the listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks, the average remaining lease term is 13.4 years among the 36 listings that state one. As of October 8, 2026, 39 of the 42 Chipotle listings whose rent schedule we could review describe 10% increases every five years; confirm the schedule, including any increases in option periods, in each lease.

As of October 8, 2026, 5 of the 73 Chipotle listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks that state an ownership structure are marked as ground leases. Those markings come from listing descriptions, not title records, so confirm fee simple or ground lease in the title report and lease. On a fee simple purchase the buyer owns the building and should confirm which party is responsible for the roof, structure and parking lot. Many leases are NNN, but some leave building items with the landlord; read the lease rather than the listing headline.

Chipotle Cap Rates and Pricing

Live asking cap rates for Chipotle and comparable tenants:

Active listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks with an asking cap rate (stated in the listing, or computed from its stated income and price when no rate is stated), listings last observed October 19, 2026. Asking cap rates are not closed-sale cap rates. The middle half is the range from the 25th to the 75th percentile of listings. The 10-year Treasury yield is 5.24% as of October 1, 2026 (FRED series DGS10). Ratings are the agency ratings in our ratings database for the entity shown, which may be a parent company; the rating type (for example issuer, senior unsecured debt, long-term debt or revenue bond ratings) varies by company and is shown on each tenant page. A rating applies to a lease only if the rated entity signs or guarantees it, so confirm the tenant and any guarantor in the lease. n/a means no verified rating is on file.

The middle half of Chipotle asking prices runs from $3.11M to $3.97M, with a median of $3.64M, as of October 19, 2026. As of October 8, 2026, among the Chipotle listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks that state a remaining lease term, the 35 with 12 or more years remaining had a median asking cap rate of 5.00%, against 5.25% for the 8 with less than 12 years. The shorter-term group is small, and this is an observation from asking prices, not evidence that lease term alone sets pricing.

The table above sets Chipotle beside other quick service tenants; a table of their ratings and rated entities appears later on this page. Asking cap rates are not closing cap rates.

Growth and Chipotlane

Chipotle opened 334 company-owned restaurants in 2025, 257 of them with a Chipotlane, its drive-through lane for picking up digital orders. It expects to open approximately 350 to 370 restaurants in 2026, including 10 to 15 partner-operated restaurants abroad, and expects around 80% of new company-owned restaurants to include a Chipotlane. It opened 149 company-owned restaurants in the first half of 2026 and permanently closed 4. Its long-term goal is 7,000 restaurants in the US and Canada.

Chipotlanes now shape Chipotle’s new sites: 257 of its 334 company-owned openings in 2025 included one, and 89% of the Chipotle listings we track with a known build year were built in the last five calendar years.

Chipotle Investment Strengths and Risks

Strengths

• Company-operated system. No franchisee layer in the US and Canada.
• No debt. Chipotle reports no outstanding borrowings.
• Newer buildings, scheduled increases. 89% of the Chipotle listings we track with a known build year were built in the last five calendar years, the average remaining lease term among listings that state one is 13.4 years, and as of October 8, 2026, 39 of the 42 listings whose rent schedule we could review describe 10% increases every five years.
• Steady growth. 350 to 370 openings planned for 2026.

Risks

• No identified rating. Credit must be underwritten from financial statements, and the company could add debt in the future.
• Sales softness. Comparable sales fell 1.7% in 2025 before recovering in 2026.
• Single concept. All revenue comes from one brand and cuisine; Chipotle’s 10-K lists food safety incidents as a risk to its brand and sales.
• Building ownership. On a fee simple purchase the buyer owns the building and carries it at the end of the term; confirm the ownership structure of each property in its title report and lease.
• Pricing. The median asking cap rate in the Chipotle listings we track is 5.00% (as of October 19, 2026). In our underwriting judgment, that level leaves a thin cushion if rent, credit or resale assumptions prove too optimistic; this is a judgment, not a measured risk threshold.

Comparable Quick Service Restaurant Ratings

Ratings and rated entities for the quick service tenants in the live cap rate table above:

Median asking cap rates and listing counts for these tenants are in the live table above, which counts active listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks with an asking cap rate (stated in the listing or computed from its stated net operating income and price) and gives its as-of date; asking cap rates are not closing cap rates. Ratings update from our ratings database. Ratings for Taco Bell, Popeyes and Burger King are those of the parent company; many of their leases are signed by franchisees, so confirm the tenant and any guarantor in the lease.

Frequently Asked Questions: Chipotle NNN Investments

Related NNN Tenants

• Applebee’s
• IHOP
• Arby’s
• Buffalo Wild Wings
• Sonic
• Dunkin’
• Jimmy John’s
• Burger King
• Popeyes
• Chili’s Grill & Bar
• Dairy Queen
• McDonald’s
• Olive Garden
• LongHorn
• Outback Steakhouse
• Carrabba’s Italian Grill
• Starbucks
• Steak ‘n Shake
• Taco Bell / KFC
• Wendy’s
• Chick-fil-A
• Tim Hortons

Chipotle NNN Properties Observed For Sale

88 active Chipotle net lease listings observed across public listing sources, most recently Oct 19, 2026. Asking figures as published by the listing party.

Search all 88 observed Chipotle listings and the full NNN inventory

Market observations aggregated from listing broker materials; not offerings by Investment Grade Income Property, LP. Buyer representation available on a cooperating commission basis. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.