Burrito Blues for $CMG

Chipotle slashes its outlook as back-to-back sales declines rattle investors

Author

George Babis
July 26, 2025

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The AI frenzy is rewriting startup history, burritos are losing their sizzle, and Tesla just hit a speed bump. Here’s what’s making waves this week:

  • AI Startups Dominate the Unicorn Rankings – OpenAI hits $300B, leaving rivals in the dust.

  • Chipotle’s Growth Story Falters – Same-store sales drop for the second straight quarter.

  • LA Times Eyes a Risky IPO – The print giant bets on going public despite heavy losses.

  • Opendoor Becomes Wall Street’s Meme Darling – Out-trading Meta and Netflix in a single day.

  • Tesla’s Revenue Slumps – Misses earnings as vehicle sales and regulatory credits decline.

AI Startups Are Eating the Unicorn List

The AI boom isn’t slowing down — OpenAI is now valued at a jaw-dropping $300B, making it the highest-valued AI unicorn and one of the biggest startups on Earth. 🤖🚀 Backed by Microsoft and $64B in capital, OpenAI’s dominance dwarfs rivals like Databricks ($62B) and Anthropic ($61.5B), the company behind ChatGPT competitor Claude.

In total, four AI firms — including Elon Musk’s xAI — sit among the world’s top 10 most valuable unicorns. The U.S. owns the AI leaderboard, with only Germany’s Celonis ($13B) representing Europe.

A newer player, Safe Superintelligence, is already worth $30B after just one year, aiming to build a superintelligent AI that’s, well… safe.

Wall Street Says ‘Hold the Burrito’

Chipotle $CMG ( ▲ 1.91% ) tumbled 13% Thursday after posting a 4% drop in same-store sales, worse than Wall Street’s -2.9% forecast. 📉

While Q2 earnings ($0.33 per share) and revenue ($3.1B) met expectations, this marks the second straight quarter of comparable-store sales declines — the first back-to-back drop since 2020. The burrito chain also cut its full-year outlook, now expecting flat sales instead of growth.

Chipotle stock is now down 25% YTD, as investors lose their appetite for its growth story.

Print Is Dying. LA Times Still Wants to Go Public

The Los Angeles Times is planning to go public again despite a tough year marked by $50M in losses, a 20% newsroom layoff ✂️, and a 26% drop in daily print readership.

Owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who bought the paper for $500M in 2018, says an IPO could happen “within the next year.” But with print circulation falling industry-wide — and the LA Times missing the top 50 English-language news sites in May — convincing investors could be a challenge.

Unlike The New York Times, which has puzzles and recipes to bolster revenue, the LA Times lacks a similar digital side hustle to soften the blow of print’s decline.

Opendoor Out-Traded Meta

Opendoor $OPEN ( ▼ 3.08% ) had its wildest trading day ever on Monday, with $7B in shares changing hands — more than Netflix, Meta, and JPMorgan. 🤯

The frenzy, fueled by a wave of options trading, saw Opendoor’s trading volume hit 298% of its market cap in a single day — a stat that puts it close to GameStop’s 2021 meme-stock peak (316%).

Not bad for a stock that was recently trading in penny-stock territory.

Tesla Hits a Revenue Roadblock

Tesla $TSLA ( ▲ 4.02% ) just posted Q2 earnings that missed across the board: revenue fell 12% to $22.5B, while operating profit dropped 25% below forecasts. The culprit? A steep 16% decline in vehicle sales, especially in Europe, and shrinking revenue from regulatory credits.

Tesla’s once-lucrative emissions credits — worth $10.6B since 2019 💰 — are drying up thanks to Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which scraps penalties for legacy automakers and removes the $7,500 EV tax credit ⚡. Analysts expect credit revenue to vanish by 2027, wiping out $2–3B annually. For a company built on growth, Tesla’s engine is sputtering.