Chipotle shares jump after report that Starbucks has explored a takeover

October 8, 2026 / 5:18 PM EDT / CBS News

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…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/moneywatch/