Wedbush Issues Negative Forecast for CAVA Group Earnings

CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA) – Stock analysts at Wedbush cut their Q3 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for CAVA Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $0.25 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.27. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for CAVA Group’s current full-year earnings is $0.50 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for CAVA Group’s FY2026 earnings at $0.89 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on CAVA. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on CAVA Group from $147.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. TD Securities reduced their price target on CAVA Group from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on CAVA Group from $163.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $160.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of CAVA Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $142.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CAVA Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.47.

CAVA Group Price Performance

Shares of CAVA Group stock opened at $83.59 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 181.71 and a beta of 3.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $110.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.88. CAVA Group has a 1 year low of $58.22 and a 1 year high of $172.43.

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $227.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $223.34 million. CAVA Group had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 5.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CAVA Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAVA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CAVA Group by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,011,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $903,709,000 after buying an additional 1,357,187 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in CAVA Group by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,976,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,533,000 after acquiring an additional 491,320 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in CAVA Group by 36,658.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,461,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,683,000 after purchasing an additional 2,455,035 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of CAVA Group by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,210,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,820,000 after purchasing an additional 321,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CAVA Group by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,464,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,243,000 after purchasing an additional 363,814 shares during the period. 73.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam David Phillips sold 615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.39, for a total transaction of $76,499.85. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,353,860.76. The trade was a 5.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett Schulman sold 20,564 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.18, for a total transaction of $2,450,817.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 776,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,527,657.42. The trade was a 2.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,235 shares of company stock worth $3,514,101. 12.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CAVA Group Company Profile

CAVA Group, Inc owns and operates a chain of restaurants under the CAVA brand in the United States. The company also offers dips, spreads, and dressings through grocery stores. In addition, the company provides online and mobile ordering platforms. Cava Group, Inc was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Washington, the District of Columbia.