The Australian Mexican-food chain expects a one-time charge of between $30 million and $40 million from the exit
James D. Morgan / Getty Images
Guzman y Gomez ceased trading at all eight of its Chicago-area restaurants on Thursday, ending the Australian fast-casual chain's six-year push into the U.S. market and generating a charge of between US$30 million and US$40 million in its 2026 full-year results.
The company said cash exit costs — covering lease liabilities, employee costs, and other contractual commitments — are not expected to exceed US$15 million, and that the one-time charges are not expected to affect its final dividend for fiscal year 2026.
"I have always been confident in the differentiation of our food and guest experience, however this was not translating to an improvement in sales momentum," founder and co-CEO Steven Marks said in a statement. "Having spent the last 3 months in the US, I realized this was going to take significantly more time and capital than we had expected."
As recently as February, the company had publicly reaffirmed its commitment to the U.S. market, making Thursday's closure a sharp about-face, Reuters reported. Operating in the U.S. had proven persistently difficult, with rising costs across fuel, food, and labor squeezing margins; the company's shares had also never recovered to their 2024 IPO price of A$22.00, Reuters reported.
On the Australian Securities Exchange, the company's shares swung as high as 20% intraday before settling into a close of A$19.81, a gain of 9.57% on the day, CNBC reported.
The company said it would focus capital and resources on Australia, where it currently operates 237 restaurants and has a long-term target of 1,000 locations. In Australia, the company is projecting segment underlying EBITDA of roughly A$85 million for the current financial year, which would represent a 29% increase over the previous year, and it expects to add 32 new domestic locations before the fiscal year closes.
"We have a long runway ahead of us in Australia as we progress towards our long-term target of 1,000 restaurants," Marks said in a statement.
Guzman y Gomez first entered the U.S. in 2020, choosing Chicago as its launch market with ambitions to open hundreds of locations nationwide. The company said the decision to exit does not alter its conviction in the brand's global appeal, and that it plans to continue expanding in Singapore and Japan, where it said sales growth and unit economics remain strong. Singapore is set to open its 24th restaurant, and both markets plan new openings in the next 12 months, the company said.
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