How to Invest in Cava

Rapid growth is a big driver of the fast-casual restaurant stock's red-hot start and now relative stability. Cava has opened 17 net new locations in 2025 alone, increasing its footprint to over 400 locations. As of 2025, there are 409 locations in the United States. In their Q2 earnings report, Co-Founder and CEO Brett Schulman said they aim to open 1000 locations. Its growth potential might have investors salivating to invest in its stock.

Fueled by customers' craving for Mediterranean food, Q2 marked a huge upswing in their growth with overall sales. As of 2025, their Q2 sales report showed a growth of over 20% raking in around $278 million across all stores.

So if you want to help fuel your craving for Cava and add a few more restaurant shares to your portfolio, here's a step-by-step guide on how to buy shares of the restaurant stock. Plus, we'll give you the secret ingredients, also known as a few things to consider before locking in your trades.

How to buy Cava stock

You'll need to take a few steps before buying shares in Cava (or any other stock, for that matter). Here's a step-by-step guide to adding the Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant brand to your portfolio.

Step 1: Open a brokerage account

You'll want to open and fund a brokerage account before buying shares of any stock. If you need to open one, here are some of the best-rated brokers and trading platforms. Take your time to research the brokers to find the best one for you.

Step 2: Figure out your budget

Before making your first trade, you'll need to determine a budget for how much money you want to invest. A good rule of thumb is that you shouldn't invest money that you'll likely need in the next three to five years, like your emergency fund. You'll then want to figure out how to allocate that money.

The Motley Fool's investing philosophy recommends building a diversified portfolio of 25 or more stocks you plan to hold for at least five years. You don't have to get there on the first day. For example, if you have $1,000 available to start investing, you might want to begin by allocating that money equally across at least 10 stocks and then grow from there.

Should I invest in Cava?

Doing research is essential before buying any stock. It could cause you to lose your appetite for the shares, or it might reaffirm your belief that it's a tasty investment opportunity. Here are some reasons you might want to buy shares of Cava Group:

• You're a big fan of the company and its food.
• You understand that Cava Group's stock could be very volatile.
• You don't need dividend income from your investment.
• Owning shares of the restaurant operator would help you build a more diversified portfolio.
• You believe the company can continue opening profitable new locations while rapidly growing sales at existing stores.
• You like to invest in founder-led companies.

On the other hand, here are some reasons you might opt against investing in Cava stock:

• You aren't a fan of Mediterranean food and don't like Cava's menu items.
• You're nearing retirement or already retired and need income from your investments.
• You already own some restaurant stocks, and adding Cava would give you too much exposure to the sector.
• You're worried that a recession could affect Cava's sales and growth potential.
• You prefer lower-risk investments over the traditionally volatile restaurant industry.
• You're concerned about Cava's recent slow growth.

Is Cava profitable?

Evaluating a company's profitability is essential to an investor's stock research process. Profit growth tends to be the primary driver of a company's stock price in the long term.

Cava Group has been solidly profitable since going public. The company generated $18.4 million of net income on $278.2 million in revenue in its fiscal 2025 second quarter.

A big driver of its improved profitability is the company's growing scale. It has opened 16 net new Cava Restaurants over the past 6 months. The new locations, combined with strong same-store sales growth, drove the big surge in its revenue.

Cava's profits are certainly heading in the right direction, which is what investors want to see in a fast-growing company.

Does Cava pay a dividend?

Cava Group has yet to initiate a dividend since going public. The fast-growing restaurant group likely won't declare one soon. It's using its retained earnings to help support its expansion, including opening new locations.

Will Cava stock split?

Cava Group didn't have an upcoming stock split as of mid-2025. The company completed its IPO earlier in 2023 at $22 per share. Shares rallied after its IPO, trading around $120 apiece in mid-2024; however, by mid-2025, the shares had dropped in price, making it unlikely the stock will split anytime soon.

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