Cava Group Reports Q1 Earnings: Revenue Jumps 28%, Company Bumps Up New Restaurant Openings Guidance

CAVA Group Inc CAVA reported first-quarter financial results after the market close on Thursday. Here’s a rundown of the report.

Q1 Earnings: Cava's first-quarter revenue increased 28.2% year-over-year to $331.83 million, beating the consensus estimate of $326.88 million, according to Benzinga Pro. The Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant chain company reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of 22 cents per share, beating analyst estimates of 14 cents per share.

The company noted that net income included an income tax benefit of $10.7 million related to equity-based compensation.

Cava reported the same restaurant sales growth of 10.8% and traffic growth of 7.5%. The company said it opened 15 new restaurants during the quarter, bringing total locations up to 382, up 18.3% year-over-year.

Net cash provided by operating activities totaled $38.6 million and free cash flow came in at $2.7 million in the quarter. The company ended the period with $289.35 million in cash and cash equivalents.

“In spite of economic uncertainty and challenging weather, CAVA’s first quarter results demonstrate the continued strength of our category-defining brand,” said Brett Schulman, co-founder and CEO of Cava Group.

Guidance: Cava expects full-year same-restaurant sales growth to be between 6% and 8%, unchanged from prior guidance. The company expects to open between 64 and 68 new restaurants in total this year, up from prior guidance of 62 to 66 restaurants.

Cava’s management team will hold a conference call with investors and analysts to further discuss the quarter at 5 p.m. ET.

CAVA Price Action: Cava shares were down 4.10% in after-hours, trading at $95 at the time of publication Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro.

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Photo: courtesy of Cava Group.