Chipotle shares jump after report that Starbucks has explored a takeover

Chipotle Mexican Grill’s stock jumped as much as 8% on Thursday after the Financial Times reported that Starbucks has explored a deal to buy the “fast-casual” restaurant chain.

A potential merger would represent one of the largest restaurant acquisitions in history, according to industry analysts. In 2014, Burger King acquired Canadian chain Tim Hortons in an $11.4 billion deal that remains one of the largest restaurant buyouts to date, according to Melius Research. 

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol was previously chief executive of Chipotle, whose stock price has dropped about 50% since he left the post in August 2024. Starbucks shares slipped about 4.4% in earlier trading on Thursday before recovering to end the day largely flat. 

Starbucks has recently sought counsel on a proposal to take over Chipotle, a $41 billion chain, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. It is unclear if Starbucks has made a formal offer to acquire the restaurant chain, the media outlet reported. 

Neither company responded to CBS News’ requests for comment on the report. 

“Chipotle has struggled since Brian Niccol’s departure and is pulling several levers to incentivize its customer base into visiting more often,” analysts with Seaport Research Partners, an investor advisory firm, said in a report. “If synergies are not the primary motivation, then a key question for Brian Niccol would be what he would do differently than Chipotle’s current management team.” 

On his second day as Starbucks CEO, in September 2024, Niccol launched a marketing campaign to return to what he described as the coffeehouse’s roots: a “welcoming coffeehouse where people gather, and where we serve the finest coffee, handcrafted by our skilled baristas.” 

Last month, Niccol said the company has made “tremendous progress” in delivering on the promise to improve customer service and restore human connection in its cafes. 

“Starbucks’ turnaround initiatives are beginning to deliver positive traffic, but U.S. operating margins remain pressured,” Melius Research analysts said in a report. They added that Niccol’s time at the helm of Chipotle gives him “considerable familiarity with the business he is reportedly considering acquiring.”

Still, Wall Street analysts said there are no obvious synergies between the two companies, while TD Cowen analysts said they view the deal “as a low-probability outcome at this stage.”

“We argue Brian Niccol’s priority at Starbucks has been executing the ‘Back to Starbucks’ U.S. turnaround,” and pursuing a $40 billion acquisition would seem “inconsistent” with that goal, TD Cowen said.