On June 22, 2023, customers arrive at Cava restaurant in New York City.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
Kava The company raised its full-year outlook on Thursday after strong restaurant traffic led to better-than-expected quarterly profit and sales.
The company’s shares rose 9% in after-hours trading. The stock has more than doubled this year, giving Cava a market capitalization of about $11.6 billion as of Thursday’s close.
Here’s how what the company reported for the quarter ended July 14 compares to Wall Street expectations, based on LSEG’s analyst survey.
Earnings per share: 17 cents (expected: 13 cents)Revenue: $233 million (expected: $220 million)
The Mediterranean restaurant chain reported second-quarter net income of $19.7 million, or 17 cents a share, up from $6.5 million, or 21 cents a share, a year earlier.
Net sales rose 35% to $233 million. The company’s same-store sales rose 14.4%, beating Street accounts’ expectations of a 7.9% increase.
While many other restaurant companies reported declining customer traffic as consumers curbed spending, Cava reported a 9.5% increase in customer traffic during the quarter. Cava CEO and co-founder Brett Shulman said the chain’s new grilled steak option was one of the reasons customers continued to visit restaurants during the quarter.
Cava opened 18 new stores during the quarter, bringing its total store count to 341.
Kava raised its same-store sales growth forecast for fiscal 2024 to 8.5% to 9.5% from 4.5% to 6.5% previously. The company also now expects to open 54 to 57 new stores this fiscal year, up from 50 to 54 previously.
Cava also expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to be between $109 million and $114 million. The company had previously forecast adjusted EBITDA of $100 million to $105 million for the fiscal year.
