Business
Chipotle stock craters as Wall Street grows concerned after company cuts forecast
A Chipotle logo is displayed on a sign at a shop on June 1, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Carter | Getty Images
Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill tumbled as much as 19% in trading Thursday after the company cut its full-year same-store sales forecast for the third straight quarter.
Including Thursday’s move, the stock has fallen 45% this year, dragging its market value down to roughly $43 billion. At least five Wall Street analysts have cut their price targets for the stock after the report, anticipating investors’ displeasure with the burrito chain’s shrinking traffic and gloomy outlook.
“It’s difficult to call a bottom for sales given the multitude of factors weighing on demand,” Citi analyst Jon Tower wrote in a research note, revising his price target from $54 to $44 per share.
In the third quarter, Chipotle’s same-store sales rose 0.3%, but the chain’s traffic fell. While many restaurant chains have suffered in recent years as diners wracked by inflation eat out less, analysts were unsure if the chain’s value perception contributed to Chipotle’s issues. While its burritos and bowls average about $10, consumers often assume its average prices are closer to the $15 entrees of its fast-casual peers, executives said on the conference call.
“While we knew that traffic had slowed for Chipotle into the fall, we were surprised by the magnitude that was reported last night and the resulting deleverage this produced,” BTIG analyst Pete Saleh wrote in a note. “We’re admittedly perplexed by how suddenly this traffic weakness came about, and not convinced affordability concerns are the main driver here.”
CEO Scott Boatwright said on Wednesday’s earnings conference call that diners are visiting less frequently, particularly those between the ages of 25 and 35 years old, a key demographic for the company. Same-store sales have worsened so far in October, and the company is now projecting that sales at restaurants open at least a year will shrink in the fourth quarter and fall by a low-single digit percentage for the full year.
“We are very concerned that the menu and marketing actions taken so far have not sufficiently offset the traffic retraction,” Bernstein analyst Danilo Gargiulo said.
Still, most analysts attributed the slowdown to industrywide challenges, not company-specific issues that Chipotle needs to address. Unemployment, increased student loan repayments and slower real wage growth accounting for inflation are weighing on consumers’ spending, according to Boatwright.
“We believe the brand remains fundamentally healthy (stable share of customer restaurant wallet) and expect a return to growth as the macro improves,” Bank of America Securities analyst Sara Senatore wrote in a note to clients.
Chipotle’s weak performance bodes poorly for its fast-casual peers, like Sweetgreen and Cava. Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Harbour called fast-casual restaurants “This Season’s Halloween Scare” in his research note covering Chipotle’s earnings report.
Shares of Sweetgreen fell 6% in trading Thursday, while Cava stock was down 8%. Both are slated to report their third-quarter results next week.
Correction: The company is now projecting that sales at restaurants open at least a year will fall by a low-single digit percentage for the full year. An earlier version misstated the percentage move.
Business
Will AI mean the end of call centres?
Jane WakefieldTechnology reporter
Getty ImagesAsk ChatGPT whether AI will replace humans in the customer service industry, and it will offer a diplomatic answer, the summary of which is “they will work side by side”.
Humans though, are not so optimistic.
Last year, the chief executive of Indian technology firm Tata Consultancy Services, K Krithivasan, told the Financial Times that AI may soon mean that there is “minimal need” for call centres in Asia.
Meanwhile, AI will autonomously resolve 80% of common customer service issues by 2029, predicts business and technology research firm Gartner.
There is currently a lot of hype around “AI agents”. That is the term given to AI systems that can operate more autonomously and make decisions.
They could turbo-charge current non-AI chatbots, known as “rule-based chatbots”, which can only answer a set list of questions.
My own recent experience with parcel delivery firm Evri’s chatbot illustrates the existing, non-AI state of play.
My parcel had not arrived, and Ezra (the name of the chatbot), offered to “get this resolved straight away”.
It asked for a tracking reference, and after I had typed that in, it told me that my parcel had been delivered.
I could request proof of delivery, and when I did so it showed me a photo of the package… at the wrong front door. And there was no option to advance the conversation after this “evidence” was shown.
In response, Evri tells the BBC it is investing £57m to further improve the service.
“Our intelligent chat facility uses tracking data to suggest the most helpful responses and ensure the customer’s parcel is delivered as soon as possible, if this has not happened as scheduled,” it says.
“Our data confirms the vast majority of people get the answers they need from our chat facility, first time, within seconds. We’re always reviewing feedback to ensure our services are as helpful as possible, and we continue to make enhancements on a rolling basis.”
On the flipside, rival parcel delivery firm DPD had to disable its less rule-bound AI chatbot after it criticised the company and swore at users.
Getty ImagesGetting the balance right between being on brand and genuinely helping customers is a tricky one for businesses to grapple with as they migrate to AI.
Some 85% of customer service leaders are exploring, piloting or deploying AI chatbots, according to Gartner. But it also found that only 20% of such projects are fully meeting expectations.
“You can have a much more natural conversation with AI,” says Garner analyst Emily Potosky.
“But the downside is the chatbot could hallucinate, it could give you out-of-date information, or tell you completely the wrong thing. For parcel delivery I would say rules-based agents are great because there are only so many permutations of questions about someone’s package.”
Resources and money are among the key reasons businesses may be considering the move from human to AI customer service. But Ms Potosky points out that it isn’t a given that AI will be cheaper than human agents.
“This is a very expensive technology,” she says.
The first thing that any business wanting to replace humans with AI will have to do is ensure that they have extensive training data.
“There’s this idea that knowledge management becomes less important because generative AI can solve the fact that their knowledge is not particularly well organised, but actually the opposite is the case,” adds Ms Potosky.
“Knowledge management is more important when deploying generative AI.”
Joe Inzerillo, chief digital officer at software giant Salesforce, tells the BBC that call centres provide fertile training grounds for AIs, particularly ones that have been moved to low-cost areas such as the Philippines and India.
This is because a lot of staff training will have been done, which the AI can also learn from.
“You have a huge amount of documentation, and that’s all really great stuff for the AI to have when it is going to take over that first line of defence,” he says.
Salesforce’s AI-powered customer service platform, AgentForce, is currently being used by a range of customers from Formula 1, to insurance firm Prudential, restaurant-booking website Open Table, and social media site Reddit.
Mr Inzerillo says that when Salesforce first put the platform through its paces it learned some valuable lessons about how to make the AI seem more human-like.
“While a human might say ‘sorry to hear that’, the agent just opened a ticket,” says Mr Inzerillo.
So the AI was trained to show more sympathy, especially when a customer has a problem.
Salesforce also found that not allowing the agent to talk about competitors proved problematic.
“This backfired when customers asked legitimate questions about integrating Microsoft Teams with Salesforce,” says Mr Inzerillo. “The agent refused to help because Microsoft appeared on our competitor list.”
The firm subsequently replaced that rigid rule.
Salesforce has ambitious plans for the continuing rollout of its AI agents, and so far it claims that they are a hit with its customers. It also says that the vast majority of customers, 94%, are choosing to interact with AI agents when given the option.
“We’ve seen customer satisfaction rates that are in excess of what people get with humans – then AI can unlock the next level of customer service,” says Mr Inzerillo.
It has also meant that the firm has cut customer service costs by $100m, but he was keen to play down recent headlines that suggest this has led to 4,000 jobs being slashed.
“A very large percentage of those people got redeployed in other areas around customer service.”
Fiona ColemanFiona Coleman runs QStory, a firm which is using AI to offer human call centre workers more flexibility in their shift patterns. Its customers include eBay and NatWest.
While she sees the value in AI improving working conditions, she is not sure the technology can ever replace humans entirely.
“There are times where I don’t want to have a digital engagement, and I want to speak to a human,” she says.
“Let’s see what it looks like in five years’ time – whether an AI can do a mortgage application, or talk about a debt problem. Let’s see whether the AI has got empathetic enough.”
The use of AI in customer service could, in fact, already be facing a backlash.
Legislation currently proposed in the US to move off-shore call centres back to America also requires businesses to disclose the use of AI, and transfer a caller to a human if asked to do so.
Meanwhile, Gartner predicted that by 2028 the EU may mandate what is called ‘the right to talk to a human” as part of its consumer protection rules.
Business
China to ease chip export ban in new trade deal, White House says
China will begin easing an export ban on automotive computer chips vital to production of cars across the world as part of a trade deal struck between the US and China, the White House has said.
The White House confirmed details of the deal in a new fact sheet after Xi Jinping and Donald Trump met in South Korea this week.
The nations also reached agreements on US soybean exports, the supply of rare earth minerals, and the materials used in production of the drug fentanyl.
The deal de-escalates a trade war between the world’s two largest economies after Trump hit China with tariffs after he entered office this year, leading to rounds of retaliatory tariffs and global business uncertainty.
Chinese Embassy in Washington spokesman Liu Pengyu told the BBC in a statement that details of the agreements reached had been shared by “competent authorities”.
“China-US economic and trade relations are mutually beneficial in nature,” he said.
“As President Xi Jinping noted, the business relationship should continue to serve as the anchor and driving force for China-US relations, not a stumbling block or a point of friction.”
Speaking on Sunday following the release of the deal details, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNN: “We don’t want to decouple from China… (But) they’ve shown themselves to be an unreliable partner.”
Much of what is in Saturday’s fact sheet was announced by Trump and other officials following the meeting between the two leaders.
Trump had described the talks, held in South Korea, as “amazing”, while Beijing had said they had reached a consensus to resolve “major trade issues”.
One of the issues addressed in the deal was the export of automotive computer chips. There had been concern that a lack of chips from Nexperia, which has production facilities in China, could create global supply chain issues.
Nexperia is a Chinese-owned company, but is based in the Netherlands. About 70% of Nexperia chips made in Europe are sent to China to be completed and re-exported to other countries.
The fact sheet states that China will “take appropriate measures to ensure the resumption of trade from Nexperia’s facilities in China, allowing production of critical legacy chips to flow to the rest of the world”.
It follows Beijing saying on Saturday that it was considering exempting some firms from the ban.
Last month, the likes of Volvo Cars and Volkswagen warned a chip shortage could lead to temporary shutdowns at their plants, and Jaguar Land Rover said the lack of chips posed a threat to their business.
On other key issues, Beijing will now pause export controls it brought in last month on rare earth minerals – vital in the production of cars, planes and weapons – for a year.
The White House also said it would lower tariffs brought in to curb the import of fentanyl into the US, with China agreeing to take “significant measures” to deal with the issue.
Fentanyl is a synthetic drug manufactured from a combination of chemicals, and while it is approved for medical use in the US, the powerful and highly-addictive substance has since become the main drug responsible for opioid overdose deaths in the US.
The chemicals used in its manufacturing, some of which have legitimate uses, are mostly sourced from China.
On soybeans, China has committed to buying 12 million tonnes of US soybeans in the last two months of 2025, and 25 million metric tonnes in each of the following three years – which is roughly the level they were previously at.
China’s decision to stop purchasing soybeans from the US earlier this year denied American farmers access to their largest export market.
In response, Trump revived a bailout for farmers which was in place during his first term in office.
Business
Competition law vs patent rights: NCLAT rules CCI has no power to probe patented product disputes; upholds case against Swiss drugmaker Vifor – The Times of India
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has ruled that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) does not have the power to investigate disputes related to patented products, holding that the Patent Act takes precedence over the Competition Act in such cases, PTI reported.Dismissing an appeal against a CCI order that had closed a complaint against Swiss pharma major Vifor International (AG), a two-member NCLAT bench said that the fair trade regulator lacks jurisdiction to examine such matters, PTI reported.“Considering the judgment of the Delhi High Court in the case of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (PUBL) and the Supreme Court in SLP No. 25026/2023, it is apparent that the CCI lacks the power to examine the allegations made against Vifor International (AG),” the tribunal observed.Vifor International held the patent for Ferric Carboxymaltose (FCM) injection, a drug used to treat Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA). The tribunal stated: “The Patent Act will prevail over the Competition Act in the facts of this case, as the subject matter of contention is FCM, which was developed and patented by Respondent No. 2 (Vifor International).”NCLAT noted that Section 3(5) of the Competition Act provides specific protection to patent holders to restrain infringement or impose reasonable conditions to safeguard their rights. “The Competition Act, in Section 3(5), has laid down that the Act will not restrict the right of any person in protecting his rights under the Patent Act,” it said.The appeal was filed by Swapan Dey, CEO of a hospital offering free dialysis services under the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme (PMNDP). Dey alleged that Vifor’s “anti-competitive and abusive conduct” had made FCM injections unaffordable and inaccessible to patients.However, the CCI had closed the case in its October 25, 2022 order, finding no prima facie contravention under Sections 3(4) or 4 of the Competition Act. Dey then challenged the order before NCLAT, arguing that the CCI failed to properly define the relevant market or assess Vifor’s dominance.Vifor countered the claim, asserting that the CCI lacked jurisdiction since the matter involved a patented molecule governed by the Patent Act. The company also informed the tribunal that its patent for FCM, granted on June 25, 2008, had expired on October 21, 2023, making it freely available for manufacturing and sale.NCLAT held that while the patent’s expiry meant the drug had entered the public domain, the key question was jurisdiction—whether CCI could have examined the issue when the product was still under patent protection.Citing the Delhi High Court’s earlier decision in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (PUBL), which held that the Patent Act overrides the Competition Act, the tribunal noted that the Supreme Court had upheld that position by dismissing CCI’s appeal on September 2, 2025.“Following the judicial guidance as noted above, we hold that there is no merit in this appeal. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed,” NCLAT concluded.
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