Cava Stock: Buy or Sell After the Cava IPO?
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Cava stock began trading on June 15th, 2023, at 11:44 am ET. The Cava IPO price was $22 per share, above the stated range of $19-$20.
Trading opened at $42, giving investors who received IPO access an immediate $20 or 91% gain. The Cava stock symbol is “CAVA“.
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Table of Contents
Latest Cava Stock IPO News
08/15/2023: Cava shares surge as chain swings to a profit
06/15/2023: OPENING TRADE $42 at 11:44am.
06/14/2023: CAVA IPO price: $22 per share.
06/14/2023: Analysis: CAVA IPO Gets More Expensive
06/14/2023: Cava IPO to Set IPO Price This Evening
06/12/2023: Cava IPO Price Range Increased to $19-$20
06/05/2023: Cava Amends S-1 Filing, sets IPO terms
06/04/2023: Roadshow Presentation
06/04/2023: WSJ: Restaurant Chain Cava Set to Launch IPO
05/25/2023: IPO Analysis: Don’t Bailout This IPO ‘CAVAstrophe’
05/23/2023: Cava’s listing won’t bring back IPOs
05/19/2023: Cava reveals 2022 revenue jump in U.S. IPO filing
05/19/2023: CAVA IPO S-1 FILING RELEASED TO PUBLIC
Older news…
What is Cava?
Cava is a Mediterranean restaurant chain that launched its first restaurant in Bethesda, MD, in 2011. Founded by three first-generation Greek friends, Cava has grown to more than 133 restaurants in the U.S.
Cava Group, the parent company, also owns Zoe’s Kitchen, which has more than 250 locations in the United States.
The company built its menu, customer experience, and brand inspired by Chipotle, using fresh ingredients, fair and sustainable sourcing, and a commitment to its workers and customers.
Our mission is to bring heart, health, and humanity to food. We believe in: Serving delicious food that helps more people eat well and live well. Taking care of the people and things that feed us: the earth, farmers, purveyors, and team members. Food is a unifier for a more diverse yet inclusive world where all are welcome.
Your author’s favorite dish is the Chicken + RightRice, a bowl built on a base of high-protein RightRice (a rice alternative made from lentil, pea, and chickpea flours) with grilled chicken, tzatziki, hummus, feta, tomato, arugula, Persian cucumber, and a delicious Greek vinaigrette.
Cava also sells branded dips, spreads, and dressings at select Whole Foods Market, Safeway, MOM’s Organic Market, Balducci’s, and local independent markets.
The company’s headquarters are in Washington, D.C.
Here’s a video to give a taste of what the food and eating experience is like:
Is Cava Publicly Traded?
Yes!
When was the Cava IPO Date?
The Cava IPO date was June 15th, 2023. The stock began trading at 11:44 am ET.
Cava Group released its S-1 filing on May 19th, 2023, after filing confidentially for an IPO with the SEC on February 6th, 2023. An amended version was released on June 5th. See below.
The company began its IPO roadshow on Tuesday, June 6th.
What Time Did the Cava IPO Start Trading?
The Cava IPO began trading at 11:44 am ET.
IPOs start trading when the underwriters complete “price discovery” to find an opening trade price. Several factors affect this process, impacting the time of the first trade.
Our analysis of high-demand IPOs found that well-known brands such as Cava typically start trading in the late morning or early afternoon.
Read more: What time do IPOs start trading?
Cava IPO Terms
- Common Stock Offered: 14,444,444 Shares
- IPO Price: $22 (updated 06/14)
- IPO Date: Thursday, June 15th, 2023
- Cava Stock Symbol: CAVA
- Valuation: $2.45 billion
- Raise: $318 million
- Opening Trade: $42
Cava IPO S-1 Filing?
Cava submitted a confidential S-1 filing to the SEC in February 2023. The SEC qualified the filing and released it to the public on May 19th, 2023.
The version below is the May 19th filing. Amended versions were published on June 5th and June 12th. Monitor the SEC website or our IPO feed for additional amended versions.
Read the Cava S-1 filing below:
What is the Cava Stock Symbol? Cava Ticker?
The Cava stock symbol will be “CAVA“.
What is the Cava Stock Price?
The Cava IPO price was $22. This amount is above the stated range of $19-$20.
The latest Cava stock price is below.
Who Owns Cava?
Cava is a public company owned by its shareholders.
Pre-IPO equity owners included founders, employees, and multiple venture capital firms.
The company raised about $814 million between 2015 and before the IPO. The IPO raised an additional $318 million.
The last confirmed private funding round, a Series F, was completed in April 2021, raising $190 million.
Prominent venture capital investors before the IPO included Declaration Partners, Equilibra Partners, The Invus Group, Lighthouse Investment Partners, Revolution (Steve Case of AOL), SWaN & Legend Venture Partners, and T. Rowe Price.
Venture capital firms typically sell most of their shares during the IPO, at which time retail and clients of institutional investors become the owner.
Cava Valuation
The Cava valuation at the IPO price of $22 was about $2.45 billion. The Cava valuation at the opening trade price of $42 was $4.67 billion
For comparison, the Sweetgreen IPO was valued at $3 billion, and the company is worth half that the day before the Cava IPO.
The April 2021 Series F funding round confirmed the last Cava pre-IPO valuation to be about $1.3 billion. The 2023 Cava IPO will raise about $318 million.
How to Invest in Cava Stock
Cava stock is now publicly traded. Investors can buy the stock via any online broker, including the following that offer IPO access to eligible customers:
Cava News Archive
02/06/2023: Multiple Restaurant Companies Looking to Test IPO Demand
02/06/2023: CAVA Announces Confidential Submission of Proposed IPO
04/27/2021: Cava Restaurant Nears $1.3 Billion Value With New Funding
04/18/2019: Cava pursues national presence after Zoe’s Kitchen acquisition
03/30/2017: People are obsessed with this Mediterranean chain
03/28/2017: Cava Group receives $30M in new funding
09/24/2015: Cava Group Inc. gets $45 million investment
08/03/2014: Cava to nearly double by next summer
Conclusion – Cava Stock and Cava IPO
Cava was the first major restaurant chain to IPO in 2023. Others are interested, including Panera Brands and Fogo de Chão, and will closely monitor the Cava IPO.
In fact, many pre-IPO company may accelerate their path to an IPO because of the success of the Cava IPO.
Buying the stocks before the IPOs may prove difficult if they are already on the road to an IPO. Investors who want to invest should become customers, then prepare by joining online brokers offering free IPO access.
If you are inclined to pursue IPO shares or early equity, maintain reasonable expectations. Acquiring shares is never guaranteed. You’ll need to respond quickly to participate in the IPO.
But also beware that IPO access does not guarantee profits. Consider overvalued IPOs to be the same as overvalued public companies.
Congratulations if were able to receive an allocation of Cava stock during the Cava IPO. Only invest in pre-IPO and IPO companies with money you can afford to lose.
Craig Stephens founded Access IPOs in 2016 to help ordinary investors explore IPO and pre-IPO opportunities. He also manages the Access Club, a membership community for IPO and startup investors. Craig studied Finance at Michigan State University and lives in Northern Virginia. Learn more about Craig.
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