1 hour ago
3
Brett Schafer, The Motley Fool
Sun, May 24, 2026 astatine 3:05 PM CDT 5 min read
Restaurant and nutrient stocks person struggled successful the past fewer years. Some investors chalk it up to the emergence of value nonaccomplishment drugs similar Ozempic, portion others assertion it is owed to rising prices and a struggling consumer. I deliberation it is simply a premix of both.
Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) and Cava Group (NYSE: CAVA) are down astir 50% from highs, portion Sweetgreen (NYSE: SG) is down implicit 80%. But which of these three edifice stocks -- if immoderate -- is the amended bargain today? The reply is wide erstwhile evaluating some growth, profitability, and valuation crossed these 3 businesses.
Will AI make the world's archetypal trillionaire? Our squad conscionable released a study connected a little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly," providing the captious exertion Nvidia and Intel some need. Continue »
Differing maturation trajectories
When evaluating a restaurant, the astir important metric is, by far, comparable-store income growth. This measures same-store gross maturation for locations that person been unfastened for the past 12 months. If a edifice marque is producing same-store income maturation supra inflation, it volition apt summation its semipermanent nett potential, arsenic its gross is increasing faster than its costs astatine a per-location level.
For these 3 restaurants, determination is simply a wide disparity successful same-store income maturation today. Cava leads the battalion with 9.7% same-store income growth, bucking the inclination of restaurants struggling with postulation successful caller quarters. Chipotle is successful the middle, with comparable-store income maturation of conscionable 0.5%, which is emblematic for a edifice close now. However, it should beryllium noted that this is beneath the existent complaint of ostentation successful the United States, which is wherefore Chipotle's restaurant-level nett margins are down.
Sweetgreen is struggling mightily. It posted comparable-store income maturation of -12.8% past quarter, which volition enactment the crockery concatenation successful a financially distressed presumption if it cannot crook things astir soon.
Profit profiles and valuation
Profitability -- unsurprisingly -- stems from comparable store income maturation for these 3 edifice chains.
Cava's restaurant-level operating borderline was 25.1% past quarter, portion Chipotle's slid to 23.7%. Chipotle's borderline is inactive overmuch stronger connected a consolidated basis, with a 16% operating borderline versus 7.2% astatine Cava, but that is due to the fact that it has a overmuch larger store basal close now. Cava is closing successful rapidly and is amended positioned for greenfield enlargement opportunities crossed the United States. Sweetgreen again trails the battalion with a restaurant-level operating borderline of conscionable 10%.
English (CA) · 
English (US) · 
Spanish (MX) ·