Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (NYSE:CMG) Q3 2020 Earnings Conference Call - Final Transcript

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Chipotle Third Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Ashish Kohli, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to our third quarter 2020 earnings call. By now, you should have access to our earnings press release. If not, it may be found on our Investor Relations website at ir.chipotle.com. I will begin by reminding you that certain statements and projections made in this presentation about our future business and financial results constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current business and market expectations, and our actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

Please see the risk factors contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our Form 10-Qs for a discussion of risks that may cause our actual results to vary from these forward-looking statements. Our discussion today will include non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation to GAAP measures can be found via the link included on the presentation page within the Investor Relations section of our website. We will start today's call with prepared remarks from Brian Niccol, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Jack Hartung, Chief Financial Officer, after which we will take your questions. Our entire executive leadership team is available during the Q&A session.

And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Brian.

Thanks, Ashish, and good afternoon, everyone. Today we are sharing strong third quarter results that highlight ongoing progress in these unprecedented times. However, before I dive into the details, let me acknowledge and thank our incredible Chipotle team members, who remain focused on great execution and on advancing our purpose of cultivating a better world for our employees, guests, farmers, communities and shareholders. I'm truly humbled to have the privilege to work alongside this team. Their efforts are helping us not only successfully navigate this pandemic but highlight that Chipotle's business model is durable, flexible and can perform in a challenging environment. As always, the health and well-being of our employees and guests continues to be our top priority.

We are benefiting from investments made a few years ago including advanced air filtration systems, sanitizers throughout the restaurant, wellness protocols and improved hand washing. In addition, we are closely following the recommendations of the CDC and local health departments and have implemented social distancing, wearing facemasks, a tamper-evident packaging seal for all digital orders as well as creating the steward role to sanitize high-traffic areas. Collectively, these efforts have made the pivot to enhance COVID-19 safety protocols much less complicated and give our employees and guests confidence that Chipotle remains steadfast in our commitment to keep them safe as we reopen restaurants for in-restaurant dining. We continue to monitor and adhere to state and federal mandates and at present have roughly 10 restaurants closed and about 85% offering limited in-restaurant and/or patio dining, with the remaining