Recent IPO CAVA surges 8% on Q2 beat; Analysts bulled-up

(Updated - August 16, 2023 7:23 AM EDT)

Recent IPO CAVA Group (NYSE: CAVA) jumped 8% in pre-market Wednesday following the company’s Q2 results, its first since becoming a public company.

EPS of $0.21 came in better than the consensus estimate of ($0.02). Revenue increased 62.4% year-over-year to $172.9 million, beating the consensus estimate of $163.19M, driven by 102 net new CAVA restaurant openings during or subsequent to Q2/22 and CAVA same-restaurant sales growth of 18.2%.

For the full 2023 year, the company expects net new CAVA restaurant openings in the range of 60-70 and CAVA same-restaurant sales growth of 13-15%.

The company sees adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) to fall within the range of $62-67M for the year.

Stifel analyst Chris O'Cull, who hiked the price target by $7 to $55 per share, commented:

"We believe CAVA warrants a premium valuation because of its AUV and unit count growth opportunity and the potential for operating momentum to cause upward revisions to near-term estimates and long-term earnings potential."

William Blair analyst Sharon Zackfia added:

"While we would not call for valuation expansion, we expect rapid growth and likely upward earnings revisions will outpace eventual downward valuation pressure. Longer term, we see the potential for CAVA to generate more than $2.5 billion in revenue and roughly $400 million of adjusted EBITDA by 2032 at roughly 1,000 locations."

By Davit Kirakosyan and Senad Karaahmetovic

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