CAVA Group Inc: 1Q26 Earnings Prep

Research evidence excerpt

CAVA Group Inc: 1Q26 Earnings Prep

Equity Research

U.S. Restaurants

19 May 2026

CAVA Group Inc

1Q26 Earnings Prep

As a reminder, CAVA will report 1Q26 results today, Tuesday,

May 19th after the market close and will host a conference

call at 5:00PM ET (https://investor.cava.com/). Please find a CAVA EQUAL WEIGHT

U.S. Restaurants NEUTRAL

short summary of expectations and guidance below. Price Target USD 70.00

Price (18-May-26) USD 79.89

Areas of focus for the conference call include: 1) Update to 2026 guidance components including Potential Upside/Downside -12.4%

comp (3-5% y-y) & unit (+17% y-y) growth, along with thoughts on food (low-single-digit) & labor Source: Bloomberg, Barclays Research

(low-to-mid-single-digit) inflation, menu pricing to mitigate (~1.4% y-y), restaurant margin

(23.7-24.2%, down 40-90bps y-y), G&A spend (~flat as percent of sales), CapEx spend, & EBITDA U.S. Restaurants

(15-20% y-y) growth, 2) Sequential comp through 1Q26 and into 2Q26, with industry two-year Jeffrey A. Bernstein

trends re-accelerating to close 1Q26, albeit still well below January levels, as consumers likely +1 212 526 3855

remain cautious given elevated geopolitical uncertainty and sharply rising gas prices, both of jeffrey.bernstein@barclays.com

which have weighed on confidence of late, & 3) Update to the long-term outlook in the context BCI, US

of a challenging macro environment, including confidence re-accelerating momentum with Pratik Patel

menu innovation (i.e. salmon), new loyalty program, technology & digital marketing, along with +1 212 526 4438

current performance from recent unit vintages in new & existing markets. pratik.m.patel@barclays.com

BCI, US

Please find a short summary of expectations and guidance below. In addition, please see our Anisha Datt