Customers arrive at a Cava restaurant in New York City on June 22, 2023.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Digging On Thursday, it raised its full-year outlook as its restaurants reported strong traffic, driving better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue.
The company's shares rose 7% in after-hours trading. The stock has more than doubled in value this year, bringing Cava's market capitalization to about $11.6 billion as of Thursday's close.
Here's what the company reported for the quarter ended July 14 compared with what Wall Street expected, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: 17 cents vs. 13 cents expected
- Revenue: $233 million vs. $220 million forecast
The Mediterranean restaurant chain reported second-quarter net income of $19.7 million, or 17 cents per share, up from $6.5 million, or 21 cents per share, a year earlier.
Net sales The company's comparable-store sales rose 35% to $233 million, up 14.4%, beating StreetAccount estimates of a 7.9% increase.
While many other restaurant companies have reported declines in visits as consumers cut back on spending, Cava said its traffic grew 9.5% in the quarter. Cava CEO and co-founder Brett Schulman credited the chain's new grilled steak option as one of the reasons customers continued to flock to its restaurants during the quarter.
Cava opened 18 net new locations during the quarter, bringing its total presence to 341 restaurants.
For fiscal 2024, Cava now expects same-store sales growth of 8.5% to 9.5%, up from its previous range of 4.5% to 6.5%. The company also projects it will open between 54 and 57 new locations this year, up from its previous forecast of 50 to 54 restaurants.
Cava also expects to report adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $109 million to $114 million. It previously forecast adjusted EBITDA of $100 million to $105 million for the fiscal year.
