Cava stock doubles in market debut: ‘this is just the beginning’

Cava Group – the chain of Mediterranean restaurants started trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “CAVA” on Thursday.

Cava stock is on a tear

The restaurant operator priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $22 a share last evening. It had initially sought the range of $17 a share to $19 a share.

Opting to increase the price that now values Cava at about $2.5 billion may be a sign that the IPO will do well. On CNBC’s “Squawk Box”, Daniel Lubetzky – the Founder of Kind LLC said:

Cava is one of the companies that I’m most excited about. I’m very long. We’ve invested twice. If the have not gone to the IPO which was my hope, we would have invested again.

At writing, Cava stock is already exchanging hands at $40 and change.

Cava is yet to turn profitable

Cava Group generated $203 million of revenue in the sixteen weeks that ended on April 16^th but is yet to turn a profit. Still, Daniel Lubetzky added:

Their unit economics are very strong, they’re profitable in unit economics. This is just the beginning. They’ve proven the model; they’ve proven they work in cities and in suburbs.

He also expressed confidence in CEO Brett Schulman and revealed intent of remaining invested in the Texas-based company for years to come.

The IPO market has been in drought over the past 18 months. Cava going public could break that dry spell as the success of its listing may see others in the restaurant industry follow in its footsteps.