Cava Vs. Chick-fil-A: How Much Are Their Stores — Vs. Other Quick-Service Restaurants — Worth?

Cava Group (NYSE:CAVA), a D.C.-based fast-casual Mediterranean chain, made its mark on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday.

Shares soared from a pre-IPO price of $22 to $44.50 at the time of writing — a gain of 102.27%.

Given Cava’s float of 111.39 million shares, multiplied by its share price, the company has a $4.95 billion market cap. Considering it has 263 locations at a nearly $5 billion market cap, this puts the valuation of each location at an impressive $18.84 million.

How does the figure compare to the store values of other quick-service restaurants?

Let’s consider Chick-fil-A, a brand that’s made its mark on the fast-food landscape. Although Chick-fil-A isn’t publicly traded, we can make an educated guess at its valuation by looking at a similar fast food brand, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG).

To estimate Chick-fil-A’s valuation, we applied Chipotle’s price-to-sales multiple to Chick-fil-A's 2022 revenue figure, which was reported at $6.4 billion.

Given that the two companies are in the same industry, the assumption is that Chick-fil-A’s stock would trade at a similar price-to-revenue multiple as Chipotle, if it was publicly traded.

With Chipotle’s most recent price-to-sales multiple at 6.33, we arrive at an estimated valuation of $40.51 billion for Chick-fil-A.

With 2,928 locations, the $40.51 billion valuation indicates each Chick-fil-A store to be worth approximately $13.83 million.

Chipotle, based in Newport Beach, California, operates 3,187 stores and has a market cap of $56.84 billion. Applying the same math, each Chipotle store would be worth about $17.83 million.

Oak Brook, Illinois-based Portillo’s Inc (NASDAQ:PTLO), an Italian beef restaurant chain with just 76 locations, has a market cap of $1.56 billion, suggesting each store is worth $20.65 million.

McDonald’s Corp (NYSE:MCD), the global fast-food giant, with 13,509 stores and a market cap of $213.42 billion, is valued at roughly $15.78 million per store.

Lastly, Wingstop Inc (NASDAQ:WING), with 900 stores and a $5.63 billion market cap, each store is valued at about $6.25 million.

The chain with the highest valued stores? Portillo's — suggesting a potential premium for specialty concepts.

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