Price movements can sometimes tell investors a lot about how a company is doing and overall market sentiment. If there's a big jump on earnings day, you know that the company either blasted by expectations or released encouraging guidance, or both. News items can have similar effects, leading to either a surge in price or a sharp sell-off once the news hits.
The recent stock performance of Cava Group (CAVA 10.50%) can also give investors valuable insights into the business. Its shares have been rising over the past week, and what's surprising is that investors might have been expecting them to be going in the opposite direction.
The lockup ended, and the stock price rose
After an initial public offering (IPO), there is a lockup period during which insiders can't sell shares of the company. This prevents putting too much downward pressure on the stock out of the gate with insiders looking to cash out.
Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava went public back in June, and on Dec. 12, its lockup period ended. One might have expected a flurry of insiders to sell their shares, but that didn't happen. Instead, the stock did something investors weren't anticipating: It rose in value. While there was a big increase in trading activity that day, the stock actually rose by 20%.
CAVA volume data by YCharts.
Why this could be a positive sign for investors
Cava's stock rising on a day when the market might have expected a sharp decline is an encouraging sign. It could signal that insiders are bullish on the company and on the stock's potential to rise even higher.
And with the stock not falling out of the gate (it opened at a price of $33.80 on Dec. 12, which was higher than the previous day's close), that might have encouraged other investors to buy the stock as well, given that insiders didn't appear to be selling off their shares.
Investors often look to multiple factors when deciding to buy shares of a company, including not just its financials and fundamentals but also what the CEO and insiders are doing, to gauge the relative optimism about the business and its prospects.
With insiders not dumping the stock the first chance they got, that likely sent a positive signal to prospective investors, leading to a lot more bullishness for the stock.
Cava's fundamentals are also encouraging
Although it may have rallied for speculative reasons last week, Cava's underlying financials are strong; this is no meme stock.
In its most recent earnings report, for the period ended Oct. 1, the company reported sales of $175.6 million, up 26% year over year. Same-store sales at Cava restaurants rose over 14%. And the company posted a profit of $6.8 million versus a loss of $11.9 million in the prior-year period.
Cava is still in its early growth stages. By 2027, it hopes to have 1,000 locations (it had 290 as of the end of the last quarter). If the business can continue growing while also improving on its bottom line, it has the potential to be a fantastic growth stock.
Should you buy Cava stock?
Even with its recent rally, shares of Cava are still down 2% since it went public earlier this year. Now can be a great time to invest since you can essentially get the stock at around the price where it went public -- with the benefit of seeing its financials improve.
