Cava’s Revenue Beat Estimates. CEO Sees a ‘Very Resilient Consumer.’

Cava also said it expects to report full-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of between $62 million and $67 million. That beat Wall Street expectations of $56.8 million.

The company opened 16 new restaurants in the quarter, bringing the total to 279 locations. Chief Executive Brett Schulman told Barron’s that the company plans to have 1,000 restaurants by 2032.

“This is the next big cultural cuisine category. It’s got a tremendous health halo to it that is a massive white space opportunity that we’ve established a clear leadership position in and that we’ve invested in significant infrastructure to be able to scale successfully,” Schulman said.

Schulman also spoke to the state of the consumer, an area that has been a concern as a result of high inflation, rising interest rates, and fear of a recession. Schulman told Barron’s that he has seen a “very resilient consumer.”

“Year over year, we’ve only taken less than 4% in menu pricing increases, really trying to drive that great value for our guests and being mindful of all the pressures that are facing them recently,” Schulman said. He added that customers continued to purchase premium menu add-ons, including pita chips and higher-priced protein items. Fewer customers have been choosing to have food delivered, however, opting instead to dine in or pick up their meals.

Cava went public on June 15 and closed at $43.78, nearly doubling from its initial public offering price of $22. Tuesday afternoon, the stock was up around 112% from its offer price, the fourth-best performance among the 87 U.S. stocks that have gone public in 2023, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

“Stocks go up and down every day, but we want to focus on where we’re going to be the next 10 years, not the next 10 days,” Schulman said.

Write to Angela Palumbo at [email protected]