Cava Is Worth $33 Million Per Restaurant After Blistering Debut
- Shares have surged more than 300% since its IPO one year ago
- Rally is so extreme it’s starting to cause angst among bulls
Of all the hot IPOs over the past year — AI firms and biotech startups and the like — none has popped on Wall Street quite like Cava Group Inc.
The restaurant chain — the Mediterranean Chipotle, as its financial backers like to call it — has soared more than 300% since its initial public offering in June 2023, giving it a market valuation of over $10 billion. That equates to $33 million for each of its 323 restaurants, a staggering sum even for a chain that’s rapidly expanding. By comparison, investors valued Chipotle Mexican Grill, the benchmark in the US fast-casual restaurant industry, at just about $3 million per restaurant when it completed the one-year mark in public markets. (On a price-to-earnings ratio, Cava is expensive, too, clocking in at 185.)