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Chipotle Mexican Grill vs Darden Restaurants: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

Darden Restaurants holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across growth and stability. Chipotle Mexican Grill does not offset that deficit through any equally strong structural edge elsewhere. Both sides have seen trend damage — neither carries a clear market edge right now. With both trends damaged, the structural comparison carries most of the weight here.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the S&P 500 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-07-05

This is not just a one-metric split: both growth and stability materially support the lead. The overall score gap is 32 points in favour of Darden Restaurants, Inc..

INDUSTRY COMPARISON

Both operate in: Restaurants

This comparison is based on industry proximity, not on functional trajectory similarity. CMG and DRI share the same industry classification.

For a similarity-based comparison, see how Chipotle Mexican Grill and Darden Restaurants each position within their functional peer groups in AssetNext.

Peer-Relative Score
CMG
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
32
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: S&P 500
vs
DRI
Darden Restaurants, Inc.
64
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: S&P 500

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

Score differences across key dimensions.

Dimension spread: CMG vs DRI Profitability 24 36 Stability 30 67 Valuation 50 83 Growth 19 76 CMG DRI
Gap Ranking
#1 Growth +57
#2 Stability +37
#3 Valuation +33
#4 Profitability +12
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for CMG and DRI Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer CMGDRI Relative valuation Structural strength

Darden Restaurants, Inc. looks stronger on relative valuation, while the broader price setup remains mixed.

Valuation position uses peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Entry today — historical context

Where CMG and DRI each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY CMG Neutral · below norm 0th 50th 100th 54 pct gap DRI Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 38th 92nd
Today CMG sits in the lower-middle of its own 5-year history (38th percentile), while DRI sits higher in its own history (92nd). Within each stock's own 5-year context, CMG is at a historically more favourable entry position than DRI. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger — peer-relative analysis is a separate question addressed above.

Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Growth
On growth, Darden Restaurants, Inc. ranks near the top of the group; Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. sits in the weaker half.
Stability
On stability, the gap still runs the same way: Darden Restaurants, Inc. sits near the top of the group, while Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. remains in the weaker half.
Growth — Dominant Gap
CMG
19
DRI
76
Gap+57in favour of DRI

Earnings growth is one contributing factor within the growth lead.

What else supports the lead

Stability also supports the lead, so the result is broader than one isolated gap.

What this means for the comparison

The lead is built on both growth and stability, making it broader than a single-dimension result.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the CMG vs DRI comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

Explore full breakdown →
Similar growth-and-stability comparisons

Explore how CMG and DRI each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.