CAVA Group - Earnings Call - Q4 2024
February 25, 2025
Executive Summary
- Strong Q4 top-line with 28.3% YoY revenue growth to $227.4M (36.8% YoY growth for CAVA restaurant revenue ex-53rd week); comps accelerated to 21.2% with 15.6% traffic, evidencing continued share gains and brand momentum.
- Quality of earnings: GAAP diluted EPS surged to $0.66 on an $80.1M tax valuation allowance release; adjusted diluted EPS was $0.05, up from $0.02 YoY, with Adjusted EBITDA up 60% YoY to $25.1M (11.0% margin).
- 2025 guidance introduced: 62–66 net new openings (≥17% growth), SSS +6–8%, restaurant-level margin 24.8–25.2%, Adjusted EBITDA $150–$157M; modest 1.7% Jan price increase and no further 2025 price hikes planned.
- New unit economics raised: Year 1 AUV to $2.3M, Year 2 AUV to $2.5M, Year 2 restaurant-level margin to 22%, and cash-on-cash returns to ≥40%; supports multi-year growth algorithm and white space expansion.
- Potential stock catalysts: sustained high-traffic comps, improved new-unit return profile, technology enablement (KDS rollout to ~250 locations) for throughput/accuracy, and 2025 guidance execution; investors should normalize EPS for tax allowance and monitor steak COGS roll-off by summer 2025.
What Went Well and What Went Wrong
- What Went Well
- Demand: Q4 same-restaurant sales +21.2% with traffic +15.6%; AUV reached $2.9M at year-end; “one of just a few publicly traded restaurant brands that generated positive traffic growth” in 2024.
- Unit economics upgrade: CAVA lifted new store targets (Y1 AUV $2.3M; Y2 AUV $2.5M; Y2 margin 22%; ≥40% Y2 cash-on-cash returns), reflecting strong openings and portability across markets.
- Technology/ops: Early success in new labor model (productivity and service score improvements) and Connected Kitchen initiatives; KDS test improved digital accuracy/productivity with planned rollout to ~250 restaurants in 2025.
- Quote: “We will continue to make prudent investments in the business to drive long-term growth.” – CFO Tricia Tolivar.
- What Went Wrong
- Margin mix/seasonality: Restaurant-level margin dipped to 22.4% in Q4 from 25.6% in Q3, impacted by seasonality and higher food costs from steak rollout; food costs were 29.9% (+110 bps YoY).
- Wage inflation: Labor investments including AB 1228 impact (not offset by pricing) weighed on margins (labor 27.3%, -50 bps YoY but still elevated), highlighting ongoing cost pressure.
- Estimate context: Wall Street consensus (S&P Global) could not be retrieved due to a temporary data limit; formal beats/misses vs consensus cannot be quantified in this report (see Estimates Context) [GetEstimates error].
Transcript
Operator (participant)
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the CAVA Fourth Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all lines are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Tuesday, February 25th, 2025. I would now like to turn the conference over to Matt Milanovich. Please go ahead.
Matt Milanovich (SVP of Finance)
Good afternoon, and welcome to CAVA's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Financial Results Conference Call. Before we begin, if you do not already have a copy, the earnings release and related 8-K furnished with the SEC are available on our website at investor.cava.com. The purpose of this conference call is to give investors further details regarding the company's financial results, as well as a general update on the company's progress. You will find reconciliations of any non-GAAP financial measures discussed on today's call to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP, to the extent available without unreasonable efforts, in today's earnings release and supplemental deck, each of which is posted on the company's website. Before we begin, let me remind everyone that this call will contain forward-looking statements.
For this purpose, any statements made during this call that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Investors should be aware that any forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed here today. These risk factors are explained in detail in CAVA's most recent annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly report on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the SEC. Please refer to these filings for a more detailed discussion of forward-looking statements and the risks and uncertainties of such statements. All forward-looking statements are made as of today and, except as required by law, CAVA undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise.
Now, I'll turn the call over to the company's Co-Founder and CEO, Brett Schulman.
Brett Schulman (Co-Founder and CEO)
Thanks, Matt, and welcome to the call, everyone. 2024 was another extraordinary year for CAVA, thanks to our more than 10,000 team members and their dedication to bringing heart, health, and humanity to food. I'm inspired not just by their accomplishments but by their spirit of generosity and how they take care of our guests, communities, and one another. In 2024, their contributions allowed us to firmly establish Mediterranean as the next major cultural cuisine category, and as our unique value proposition continued to resonate with consumers, we were one of just a few publicly traded restaurant brands that generated positive traffic growth. Our success in 2024 demonstrated our broad appeal, the power of our unit economic engine, and the impact of the investments we have made in our teams, guests, and infrastructure to support our growth.
In our first full fiscal year as a public company, we delivered four consecutive quarters of free cash flow. Our fourth quarter highlights include, excluding the 53rd week in 2023, a 36.8% increase in CAVA revenue, 21.2% CAVA same-restaurant sales growth, including a 15.6% increase in traffic, 15 net new restaurant openings, ending the year with 367 restaurants, an 18.8% increase year over year, Adjusted EBITDA of $25.1 million, a 60% increase over the fourth quarter of 2023, net income of $78.6 million, and Adjusted Net Income of $6.5 million, a 216% increase over the fourth quarter of 2023.
For the full year, we increased CAVA revenue 35%, excluding the 53rd week in same-restaurant sales growth, including an 8.7% increase in traffic, opened 58 net new restaurants, delivered adjusted EBITDA of $126.2 million, a 71% increase over the full year of 2023, produced net income of $130.3 million, and Adjusted Net Income of $50.2 million, a 278% increase over full year 2023, and drove $52.9 million in free cash flow during the year. It is clear that our unique value proposition, the quality and relevance of our Mediterranean cuisine, the convenience of our multichannel format, and the experiences we provide across our physical and digital channels is meeting the moment for the modern consumer. We have significant white space opportunity ahead, and we're proud to say that 2024 is trending to be one of our strongest new restaurant classes yet.
Our most anticipated and successful market opening to date, Chicago, marked our entry into the Midwest and expanded our presence to 25 states and the District of Columbia. These new restaurants amplify our brand, many of them incorporating elements of our Project Soul design, and their performance demonstrates our broad appeal across socioeconomic, demographic, and regional lines. Last quarter, we announced plans to enter South Florida. Today, I'm excited to share that we are expanding our presence in the Midwest with openings planned in Detroit and Indianapolis later this year. In addition, we will continue to grow our Mid-Atlantic footprint with our first restaurant openings in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As we move forward with our expansion efforts, we remain committed to deepening personal relationships with our guests, whether they are gathering in our dining rooms or engaging with our digital channels.
Our reimagined loyalty program is a foundational element of this strategy, and its new Earn and Bank points model has been warmly received, driving increased engagement and frequency while setting the stage for future innovation. Since we first introduced Rewards Reimagined, we've seen a 230 basis points increase in loyalty percent of sales. As we move into 2025, we will build on our multiphase plan by leveraging first-party data to deepen guest insights, using enhanced rewards, tiers, and tailored communications to develop personal touchpoints across all of our channels. On the culinary front, I'm incredibly proud of our best-in-class team. We continue to innovate and create newness across our menu while being thoughtful and operationally disciplined as we go through our Stage-Gate process. Guest reception of Grilled Steak, which we introduced in the summer of 2024, exceeded our expectations, and incidence of this new main has remained strong.
Similarly, we unveiled our new limited-time Garlic Ranch Pita Chips, introducing a platform for future flavor innovation and further expansion into the snacking category. In 2025, we will continue to build on our robust pipeline of culinary innovation, which we'll speak to in the coming quarters. Our culinary launches in 2024 demonstrated our use of social and earned media to drive trial, awareness, and affinity for our brand. In 2024, we generated 340 million social media impressions and over 50 billion earned media impressions by tapping into the organic love for CAVA through partnerships with like-minded influencers and creators who were genuine fans even before collaborating with us. The most recent of these partners is Olympic gold medal sprinter Gabby Thomas, who fuels her training regimen and her life with CAVA. Gabby partnered with us to launch our latest new seasonal menu items.
This campaign focused on abundance rather than restriction, highlighting the benefits of eating Mediterranean cuisine. We're pleased with the response to the ongoing campaign, and we are seeing an incremental increase of our premium protein and avocado incidence as a result. Shifting over to our team members, we are focused on empowering our leaders with the right tools, strategies, and processes to run great restaurants at every location, every shift. Our new labor and deployment model helps us put the right people in the right places at the right moments, improving the team member experience and giving them more time to focus on our guests. While we are still in the early innings, we're already starting to see increased productivity across both day parts. Reception from the team has been positive, with restaurants refining and optimizing the tools.
In 2025, we will continue to build on this initial deployment with a focus on improving speed and service. In 2024, our multi-year Connected Kitchen initiative advanced on multiple fronts. A key milestone was the completion of the test and learn phase for our generative AI video technology, which is now live in four restaurants, and we intend to expand to more restaurants in 2025. Additionally, early results from our new kitchen display system, currently live in 25 locations, are promising. This technology has improved digital order accuracy and productivity while reducing customer experience complaints in the test locations. Encouraged by these outcomes, we are planning a broader rollout of the new KDS in 2025. Including new and existing restaurants, we expect to expand the technology to 250 restaurants by year-end.
Building on our exceptional 2024, we will continue to define the category we have created, Mediterranean, by anchoring in our four strategic pillars as a guiding force. In 2025, we will expand our Mediterranean way in communities across the country by opening restaurants in new and existing markets, offering warm and welcoming spaces to gather and delight guests with innovative flavors and menu creations. As we move into the next phase of our reimagined loyalty program, we will continue to develop personal relationships with guests even as we scale, spreading our Mediterranean hospitality and creating a sense of connectedness across all our channels. As we focus on running great restaurants every location, every shift, we will integrate new technologies and tools to support our team members and enhance the guest experience.
Finally, knowing great people are key to unlocking our significant white space opportunity, we will continue to operate as a high-performing team, build out our talent pipeline, and create not just jobs but career opportunities. In a world where screens and automation are infiltrating our everyday lives, we remain committed to using technology to enhance the human experience, not replace it. We're leveraging data personalization to help people feel seen for who they are and piloting AI technology that can improve team members' experience and give them more time to take care of our guests. As the spaces and experiences that once brought us together are being replaced by virtual interactions, we are creating inviting places for people to gather.
We know consumers are hungry to feel cared for, and we believe that our success is driven not just by our category-defining brand and our unique value proposition, but also by our ability to authentically connect with the people we serve. This spirit of connection was beautifully illustrated recently when we had the honor of participating in a 100th birthday celebration for Mike in New York, whose great-grandson wrote to us about Mike's love of CAVA and asked if we could be part of this special day. Whether it's Mike's 100th birthday or Anastasia, a high school student in New Jersey who wrote to us about her tradition of sharing a meal with her sister every Friday at CAVA and how it has strengthened their bond, we're demonstrating the power and appeal of our brand to connect not just across geographies but across generations.
CAVA was built on the idea of welcoming everyone to our table, and at a time when people are craving happiness and connection, we are delivering on that promise and proving that bringing heart, health, and humanity to food is a powerful formula for success. And with that, I'll pass the call over to Tricia to walk you through the financials.
Tricia Tolivar (CFO)
Thanks, Brett. CAVA revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024, excluding the impact of the 53rd week of 2023, grew 36.8% year over year to $225.1 same-restaurant sales increased 21.2%, driven by traffic growth of 15.6%. As a reminder, to achieve an optimal comparison of fiscal weeks in same-restaurant sales calculation, giving consideration to holiday periods, each week of fiscal 2023 was shifted by one week.
Had this shift not been made, CAVA same-restaurant sales growth would have been 18.3% for the quarter, representing the expected offset from Q1 of 2024. The impact of this shift was not material for the full year. During the quarter, we opened 15 net new CAVA restaurants, bringing our total CAVA restaurant count to 367. We continue to be pleased with our new restaurant openings, with newer vintages trending to be some of our strongest cohorts to date. In addition, our proven portability is reflected in our overall AUV, which increased from $2.6 million at the end of 2023 to $2.9 million at the end of 2024. Excluding the benefit of the 53rd week in fiscal 2023, CAVA restaurant-level profit margin increased by 50 basis points to 22.4% of revenue.
This improvement was primarily due to operating leverage from higher sales, partially offset by an increase in food, beverage, and packaging costs driven by our national rollout of steak in the summer of 2024 and incremental wage investments. CAVA's food, beverage, and packaging costs were 29.9% of revenue, an increase of 110 basis points as compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. This anticipated increase as a percent of revenue was the result of the launch of steak in June of 2024. CAVA labor and related costs were 27.3%, a decrease of 50 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2023. This decrease reflects leverage from increased sales, partially offset by investments in our team member wages of 4%, including the impact of AB 1228, which we chose to not offset with menu price increases to the guests.
CAVA occupancy and related expenses were 7.6% of revenue, an improvement of 70 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2023 due to sales leverage. CAVA other operating expenses were 12.8% of revenue, an increase of 10 basis points relative to the fourth quarter of 2023, reflecting investments in the integrity of our physical spaces in support of our increased restaurant volume. Shifting to overall performance, our general and administrative expenses for the quarter, excluding stock-based compensation, were $23.6 million, or 10.4% of revenue, compared to $21.3 million, or 12% of revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023. The 160 basis point improvement was driven by leverage from higher sales, partially offset by investments to drive future growth. Equity-based compensation was $17.1 million in 2024, and as a result of the IPO pull forward grant in June of 2023, did not include a significant impact from new 2024 grants.
In 2025, we expect stock-based compensation to be between $20 million and $22 million, which includes new 2025 grants, and approximately 60% of this expense will be recognized in the first half of the year, given the timing of payroll taxes associated with RSU vestings and the extra period in Q1. Adjusted EBITDA, including the burden of pre-opening costs for the quarter, was $25.1 million, an increase of 60% versus the fourth quarter of 2023. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA was driven by the number and continued strength of new restaurant openings, same-restaurant sales growth, and leverage in G&A. During the fourth quarter, we reported $78.6 million of net income. As I mentioned on our last earnings call, we historically have had a full valuation allowance on our deferred tax assets, primarily relating to net operating loss carryforwards, which has resulted in immaterial tax expense.
Based on our continued positive profitability trends, we released this valuation allowance in the fourth quarter, which resulted in a one-time significant net P&L benefit of $80.1 million as a reduction in tax expense. Keep in mind, we expect our cash taxes to continue to be immaterial until we fully utilize our net operating losses. In fiscal 2025, we expect our effective tax rate to be between 15%-20%, which includes the expected permanent equity benefit of RSU awards vesting at a higher stock price relative to their grant date. Excluding the impact of the $80.1 million benefit and applying a consistent effective tax rate to each quarter in fiscal 2024, Adjusted Net Income was $6.5 million during the fourth quarter of 2024, compared with net income of $2 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. This represents an increase of 216%, further demonstrating the strength of our business.
We reported GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.66 in the quarter. After accounting for the aforementioned net benefit, Adjusted Diluted EPS was $0.05 in the fourth quarter compared to $0.02 in the prior year quarter. Shifting over to liquidity, at the end of the quarter, we had zero debt outstanding, $366.1 million in cash on hand, and access to a $75 million undrawn revolver with an option to increase our liquidity if needed. When looking at full year 2024, cash flow from operations was $161 million compared to $97.1 million during full year 2023. This increase was primarily driven by our improved operations generating increased profitability across the fleet. Free cash flow in 2024 was $52.9 million, an increase of $94.6 million compared to the full year of 2023.
Before turning to our outlook for 2025, I would like to touch on some of the evolving dynamics amongst our most recent NRO classes. Our team has done an incredible job of delivering on its commitments, and as brand awareness and the appeal of Mediterranean cuisine continue to strengthen, we are exceeding our previous new unit economic model. Based on data from the most recent NRO classes, we now anticipate year one average unit volumes to increase to 2.3 million from 2.1 million, and year two average unit volumes to increase to 2.5 million from 2.3 million. Year one revenue growth rate to remain at 10%, and year two revenue growth rate to remain at 8%. Year two restaurant-level profit margin to increase from 20% to 22%. Capital expenditures net of tenant allowances at $1.375 million per restaurant.
Finally, year two average cash-on-cash returns to increase from at least 35% to at least 40%. Consistent with our prior earnings call, we expect net new restaurant growth of at least 17% during 2025, and we anticipate that openings to be slightly back-half weighted. Now to our outlook for full year 2025, we expect the following: 62-66 net new CAVA restaurant same-restaurant sales growth of 6%-8%, CAVA restaurant-level profit margin between 24.8% and 25.2%, pre-opening costs between $14 million and $15 million, and Adjusted EBITDA, including the burden of pre-opening costs between $150 million-$157 million. I want to share a few additional thoughts on our outlook. same restaurant sales, as mentioned earlier, we anticipate 6%-8% growth this year.
Given the dynamic performance we've seen over the past few years, we believe the best way to think about same-restaurant sales on a normalized basis is to view it as a three-year stack. We anticipate our three-year stack to remain robust in the high 30s, with higher one-year same-restaurant sales growth in Q1 and moderating over the course of 2025. As it relates to restaurant-level margin, as of January 2025, we implemented an approximate 1.7% in-restaurant menu price adjustment, and at this time, we have no plans for further price increases this year. Additionally, I'd like to remind everyone that we introduced steak in early June last year and expect the approximate 100 basis point comparative impact on food, beverage, and packaging costs as a percent of sales to roll off by the summer of 2025.
Further, our traditional seasonality, where the fourth quarter is typically approximately 200 basis points lower than the full year, experienced a more dramatic impact in 2024 as a result of the steak launch that we do not expect to reoccur in 2025. Our guidance takes into consideration what we are currently seeing in the business and the fluidity of the macroeconomic policy environment. Our business continues to be and remain strong and resilient, and that strength is appropriately reflected in our guidance. CAVA's economic model is powerful, and as we mentioned on prior calls, we will continue to make prudent investments in the business to drive long-term growth. Before turning to Q&A, I want to take a moment to reflect on what an incredible year 2024 has been.
None of these results would have been possible without the hard work, dedication, and commitment of our restaurant, manufacturing, and collaboration center teams. I often say CAVA is a very special place to work, and it's the passion and perseverance of our people that make it so. Together, we're building something truly remarkable as we continue to push forward with our mission of bringing heart, health, and humanity to food. And with that, I'll pass it over to the operator for Q&A.
Operator (participant)
Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Should you have a question, please press star followed by the number one on your touch-tone phone. You will hear a prompt that your hand has been raised. Should you wish to decline from the polling process, please press star followed by the number two.
We will allow one question per participant, and please feel free to rejoin the queue if you have additional questions. If you are using a speakerphone, please make sure you lift your handset before pressing any keys. Your first question comes from the line of Brian Harbour from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Brian Harbour (Equity Analyst and Executive Director of Restaurants and Food Distribution)
Yeah, thanks. Good afternoon, guys. I know you'd previously mentioned kind of the generally flat margin view for this year, but could you just talk about, you know, some of the moving parts there? It sounds like food would be sort of a pressure. You know, what are you thinking in terms of sort of any team member investments this year and anything else we should consider just in thinking about margins?
Tricia Tolivar (CFO)
Hey, Brian, thanks for the question.
So when you think about food, the first thing you need to consider is the impact of steak, which we did not have in our offerings until June of last year. And so there's definite impact in first and second quarter as a result of that. Outside of steak, our inflation in food is in the low single digits, and as we reflected a 1.7% menu price increase, I don't anticipate a lot of significant movements in COGS outside of the steak impact. When we're thinking about labor, we've talked about investments that we have made and continue to make, although at this point, there's not outsized investments planned, but we do leave the opportunity to make incremental investments each quarter as we evaluate our competitiveness in wages in each and every market to make sure that we remain an employer of choice in the markets where we serve.
Other than that, there's no other real significant changes. There should be continued leverage on the occupancy side as sales continue to grow, and we'll continue to look at other operating expenses and ensure that we're making the appropriate investments in our infrastructure that makes sure that our restaurants are keeping up with the high volume that is existing today.
Brian Harbour (Equity Analyst and Executive Director of Restaurants and Food Distribution)
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Your next question comes from the line of Andrew Charles from TD Cowen. Please go ahead.
Andrew Charles (Managing Director)
Great, thank you. Brett, I was hoping you could expand on the new focus on speed that won't be at the expense of service. Can you help contextualize the size of the prize that if you're able to deliver on targeted service times, how big of a traffic opportunity does this represent during peak periods?
Brett Schulman (Co-Founder and CEO)
Hey, Andrew, thanks for the question.
You know, we know that there's an opportunity at many of our restaurants, our high-volume restaurants. I'm sure you've witnessed it in New York where we have lines to the door, and we're mindful that we don't want people intimidated by those lines and walking away, but we're also mindful that it's many of our guests' first time experiencing our brand, first time eating Mediterranean cuisine, and we want to make sure they have the space to have a great experience and choose their meal comfortably. So we haven't quantified it specifically, but we've seen with the new labor deployment scheduling model incremental improvements in speed, but also in addition to our service scores, and that's important for us.
We don't want it to come at the expense of those customer experience scores, so we'll continue to work with the teams to optimize and ramp up those deployments so that we can continue to increase the speed and have it not come at the expense of service.
Andrew Charles (Managing Director)
Okay, maybe just a quick follow-up. If I think about, you know, an average check for around $15 or so per person, is it fair to say that a rule of thumb every five incremental customers per store per day gets you about a 1% lift in traffic?
Tricia Tolivar (CFO)
Pretty close.
Brett Schulman (Co-Founder and CEO)
Yeah, it's pretty close. And, you know, Andrew, in the early results of the deployment, we are seeing this improvement across both day parts and even on peak and non-peak hours.
We're very encouraged by the early returns, but again, in this brand-building phase of our growth, we want to make sure that we don't push on the gas pedal too hard and, you know, have those negative first-time guest experiences.
Operator (participant)
Your next question comes from the line of Chris O'Cull from Stifel. Please go ahead.
Chris O'Cull (Managing Director)
Thanks. Good afternoon, guys. Brett, the update on the loyalty program was very encouraging. First, can you share some baseline frequency data, maybe for, you know, a targeted consumer segment or core versus expansion markets? And then could you also expand on how quickly you can deploy programs using the consumer insights to drive that additional purchase frequency and whether you've tested any programs to kind of prove out effectiveness?
Brett Schulman (Co-Founder and CEO)
Yeah, so thanks for the question, Chris.
You know, on the first part of your question, we have not quantified frequency specifically, but what I can say is we've increased the revenue flowing through the loyalty program 230 basis points, so 2.3% since launch of the program. So we're getting a lot more people in our pool, and what we're also seeing is over half of the reward redemptions have come from our entry-level reward option in the catalog of menu rewards. So we're seeing, and that was a goal of the program, if you remember, we wanted that initial reward opportunity bar to be lower so people felt like it was more attainable. Our lower-frequency users would be more engaged. We're seeing that happen, so it's very exciting.
And then the second part of your question, one of the insights or one of the tactics that we're now able to leverage in the loyalty program, when we launched our Garlic Ranch Pita Chips, the entry or the pita chip redemption option is 400 points. We did a limited-time offer for half those points. For 200 points, you could try the Garlic Ranch Pita Chips. It was our highest redeemed item ever. So we got great trial of a new item, great engagement, and excitement, and that's just a small example of the way we can use the rewards program and our first-party audience to really add value to their experience and influence behavior.
And this year, we'll build on top of that initial deployment, and you'll see us add features on top like tiered status levels as well as non-food reward options to excite our guests with our brand in unique ways.
Chris O'Cull (Managing Director)
Great, thanks.
Operator (participant)
Your next question comes from the line of David Tarantino from Baird. Please go ahead.
David Tarantino (Director of Research and Senior Research Analyst)
Hi, good afternoon. I had a question on the new unit economics that you shared. Thank you for that update. I'm wondering, Tricia, if you could comment on what you've seen out of the 2024 class and whether the new targets are anchored on what you're seeing, or is it something different than that? I guess I would calculate something higher in terms of new unit volumes for what you did in 2024, but any perspective you could offer on kind of what informed your views on the targets, that'd be great. Thanks.
Tricia Tolivar (CFO)
Yeah, thanks, David. So certainly, as we look at the 2024 class and compare it to 2023, we're seeing very strong performance, and in fact, the cohort that opened in Q4 is performing at average weekly sales levels above 2023. Keep in mind, we're still early in looking at these restaurants and understanding how they're going to behave, but we feel very confident in our ability to deliver $2.3 million in year one with 10% growth driving to $2.5 million and then 8% growth in the following year. So really pleased with the performance of our new restaurants, the health of our pipeline, and their ability to deliver well against these new targets, as well as the increase in restaurant-level margin.
It really gives us a lot of optionality as we think about greenfield locations and how we might have opportunities to go into other areas, like Brett talked about on the call, entering South Florida, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis this year. So really excited about what lies ahead and certainly what the portfolio has told us regarding proven portability and how this model can really deliver.
David Tarantino (Director of Research and Senior Research Analyst)
Great, and one more if I could on this topic. Does your guidance for this year assume the $2.3 million AUV for the class you're about to open?
Tricia Tolivar (CFO)
It does.
David Tarantino (Director of Research and Senior Research Analyst)
Great, thank you very much.
Operator (participant)
Your next question comes from the line of Sharon Zackfia from William Blair. Please go ahead.
Sharon Zackfia (Group Head of Consumer Equity Research)
Hi, good afternoon. Congratulations on a great 2024, to say the least. I guess my question was more on the G&A front.
It seems like the imputed G&A is accelerating quite a bit in terms of dollar growth, and I know part of that is the stock comp that you mentioned, but is it fair to think that a lot of these initiatives that you talked about are falling into that G&A? And then how do we think about G&A leverage, you know, in 2026 and beyond?
Tricia Tolivar (CFO)
Yeah, so when we look at G&A, we isolate the stock-based compensation impact, and so therefore we look at G&A growing, but at a lesser rate than our revenue growth, as well as our unit count growth. So you will see leverage in G&A over time. However, we've said we really think it's important to make appropriate investments in the business to drive for long-term growth.
So just like you see on restaurant-level margins and wanting to invest in team members and guests, we've been thoughtful in leaning into G&A ahead of its needs so that we can be successful as we make prudent decisions to invest going forward.
Operator (participant)
Your next question comes from the line of Jon Tower from Citi. Please go ahead.
Jon Tower (Director of Consumer and Restaurants Equity Research)
Great, thanks. Maybe I'll just dig into on the new store productivity side, I appreciate all the color you've been providing. Maybe you could provide a little bit more on perhaps what you're doing from a strategic standpoint within markets to ensure that this productivity level is so high and frankly, the returns remain so high. You know, what you've done in the past 12 months, 24 months, I guess, to bump that number so much higher than what we were kind of modeling not that many years ago.
Are you engaging kind of people in the market earlier, consumers earlier, to build that brand awareness such that you're ramping faster? Just curious if you could shed some light on that.
Brett Schulman (Co-Founder and CEO)
Hey, John, it's Brett. You know, I think a couple of things. One, Tricia's spoken in the past about our balanced portfolio approach, and we take that same balanced approach within established growth, emerging markets, where, you know, we're mindful of any impact, but we also see the opportunity of latent demand. Sometimes when we get outsized performance of a restaurant, that there's demand in the adjacent market that we can open up, but we're mindful about how we space that out, and we use pretty robust analytics to make sure that we're thoughtful about how we populate these markets so that the restaurants have the space to open and open strong.
I think from an awareness standpoint, you've seen since our IPO significant awareness tailwinds and the incredible job our social media and our marketing team has done in amplifying that awareness and the user-generated content and the organic awareness that has been growing across social channels. And we're finding that in these markets, you know, people are waiting for us to open and ready for us to open, and then we do our typical traditional community day activities, you know, as a way to introduce ourselves to our new neighbors and donate to the local philanthropic organization. So that all comes together to really create a lot of energy around the brand, as we saw, whether it was a greenfield market like Chicago or many of our openings in Southern California this year in an existing market.
And again, we have so many different ways to win, as we've talked about our top decile, not being one type of restaurant or one geography, all different types of geographies and trade areas, urban, suburban, college-adjacent, ex-urban, pickup-by-car location. So it allows us to create this balanced portfolio approach and then obviously capture the energy in these markets that's been building around the brand.
Operator (participant)
Your next question comes from the line of Ivan Yu from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Ivan Yu (Equity Research VP)
Great, thanks for taking the question. Just on maybe on menu innovation, is there anything that Tricia should share on, you know, what we should expect, whether it's something on the protein side or other parts of the menu?
Brett, I think you've used the term tentpole, and so, you know, how should we think about maybe leveraging digital and marketing to, you know, enhance the messaging around these offerings for this year?
Brett Schulman (Co-Founder and CEO)
Yeah, thanks, Ivan. I think you'll see a similar cadence to what we've spoken to, that annually we want to have at least one tentpole moment that could be expressed by a new protein, bracketed by a couple of seasonal moments. And this quarter, you know, the Gabby Thomas collaboration with the items we partnered with Gabby on that have been very positive in terms of our Spicy Lamb Meatballs and avocado that we've highlighted in those is an example of one of those bracketed seasonal moments. And then certainly leveraging the success of our flavor innovation, pita chips as a platform, you could imagine another flavor innovation on the pita chip front.
But more to come in the coming months. We're excited to bring some new news, but, you know, in the Stage-Gate process now, but would expect the same kind of sequence that you saw last year.
Ivan Yu (Equity Research VP)
That's helpful. And then separately, I just wanted to touch on, you know, the topic of relative value. And, you know, I think you've said in the past that, you know, CAVA sort of operates in this sweet spot in terms of price points, and, you know, that's kind of helped take share of occasions from both fast food and some casual dining as well. How are you thinking about that dynamic for this year, particularly as, you know, we're seeing some others get more sharper on price points and, you know, some trade down still occurring? Any color would be helpful.
Brett Schulman (Co-Founder and CEO)
Yeah, continuing with that philosophy, you know, now that we've turned the page on 2024, when you look at the timeframe from the end of 2019 to the end of 2024, in aggregate, our price increases have amounted to 15%. CPI was almost 23% during that time period, so we underpriced inflation by eight points. When you look at the U.S. Department of Labor statistics, traditional fast food QSR is upwards of the mid-30s, so we're not even half of that price increase, which certainly has amplified our value proposition from a price standpoint. In 2025, Tricia spoke to our price menu price adjustment only being 1.7%, which is under expected CPI for this year and what we've already seen some peers take.
Working on behalf of our guests, investing in our guests, driving that value proposition, not just from a price point, but again, how we view value, that combination of factors, the quality of the ingredients we source, the relevance of Mediterranean cuisine, again, ranked number one diet, the convenience of the multi-channel format that our guests can opt into their channel of choice on their terms, and the experience we deliver. I talked in the prepared remarks about the importance of human connection. 64% of our guests come in and they want to engage with our team members, and the ability for our team members to connect, deliver that Mediterranean hospitality while they're having that experiential walk-the-line experience and smelling the food, tasting or seeing the food and hearing it cook is powerful.
I think all that comes together, that bang for the buck, to really be capturing whether it's folks trading down from a legacy casual dining experience and sharing a meal in our dining room, like we've talked about the Project Soul investments, or trading up from traditional QSR for, you know, a dollar or two more, sometimes at parity, and then trading over from other players in the space that we're clearly resonating with the modern consumer with what we're able to deliver. So we continue to lean into that this year.
Operator (participant)
Your next question comes from the line of Brian Mullan from Piper Sandler. Please go ahead.
Brian Mullan (Director and Senior Research Analyst of Consumer Equity Research)
Thank you. Question on the catering sales channel.
Can you talk about what the priorities are for catering this year, what you'll be evaluating, and I'm wondering if 2026 might be a year where you push forward with catering in a bigger way? You know, any update would be great.
Brett Schulman (Co-Founder and CEO)
Yeah, thanks for the question. We're very excited about the catering opportunity, but again, we're going to be very patient and work through our Stage-Gate process. I think we've catered most professional sports teams at this point, many college teams, let alone offices and schools. And what we're finding is the demand is clearly there. What we want to make sure is that we get the packaging right, the technology right on our self-service site in complement to our high-touch catering sales team.
And so we're going to expand the test this year to a major metro market test where we're going to take a whole major market and we're going to be testing the different production support, whether that's our hybrid kitchens, our digital kitchens, the centralized hubs in concert with regular restaurants to really, truly understand the capacity of the regular CAVA restaurants in concert with the hub production while we parallel path the new packaging and the new self-service site to position ourselves for a national launch, not this year, certainly not the beginning of 2026, but as we see the teams progress on the test and we gain greater confidence that this is ready for prime time and we're setting our operators up for success and to be able to deliver on those commitments from a catering experience, we'll be excited to bring this across the country in the future.
Brian Mullan (Director and Senior Research Analyst of Consumer Equity Research)
Okay, thank you.
Operator (participant)
Your next question is from the line of Jeffrey Bernstein from Barclays. Please go ahead.
Jeffrey Bernstein (Equity Research Analyst)
Great, thank you very much. The EBITDA growth, obviously incredible in 2024, and you're looking for obviously outsized growth in 2025. As I look at 2025, based on your guidance, it looks like you're expecting maybe 19%-24% growth. When I compare that to your long-term algo, I think you've talked about mid to high 20s. So just curious, just because it is below consensus and maybe below the long-term algo, just wondering what the puts and takes are, especially because the comps look like you're talking about 6%-8% that would be above kind of your long-term plan. Your unit growth is in line, so wondering where you see the greatest differential, what line items maybe see the greatest leverage or deleverage relative to that long-term thought process.
Thank you.
Tricia Tolivar (CFO)
Thanks for the question. So certainly, as we look at the opportunity that lies ahead, we feel very good about our long-term algorithm. What we're looking at from 2024 to 2025 is really anniversarying and very outsized growth in 2024, and the investments we're making in the business to drive the results over the long term. So while you might see some modest adjustments in a shorter-term horizon, there's nothing that leads us to believe that the long-term algorithm is not fully intact. This model is super powerful. Our top quartile of restaurants deliver restaurant-level margins above 30%, but we want to make sure that we're making the right investments, leaning into the right things at this stage of our growth so that we're positioning the business for sustainable long-term success.
Jeffrey Bernstein (Equity Research Analyst)
Great, thank you.
Operator (participant)
Your next question comes from the line of Danilo Gargiulo from Bernstein.
Please go ahead.
Danilo Gargiulo (Senior Analyst)
Thank you. So I wonder if you can talk about the puts and takes of same-store sales guidance, especially any reflections on what you're currently seeing in the business leading to the lower range of your same-store sales expectations to be mid-single digits. And how do you think about the drivers of your guidance between traffic and mix in 2025?
Tricia Tolivar (CFO)
Yeah, thank you. So when we same-restaurant sales, we have to consider the dynamic performance we've experienced over the past few years. And we believe the best way to same-restaurant sales on a normalized basis is to look at it in a three-year stack. So when you're looking at the three-year stack, we anticipate it to be in the high 30s.
As you just focused on our outlook in 2025, we expect a higher amount in Q1 and then moderating over Q2, Q3, and Q4 to same-restaurant sales, we mentioned that price is 1.7%. We don't anticipate taking any further price increases throughout 2025, and that really leaves traffic and perhaps very modest mix impact. Looking for robust traffic, even on top of the strong results that we've delivered in 2024 and 2023.
Danilo Gargiulo (Senior Analyst)
Thank you. Brett, if you don't mind, if you're stepping back and looking at your organization and assessing the growth readiness, which areas of your business do you think require disproportionate investment from today's levels? What material outcomes are we expecting from these incremental investments?
In other words, you know, if you were to talk two years from now, what would be some of the big initiatives that you think you might be launching? Thank you.
Brett Schulman (Co-Founder and CEO)
Yeah, thanks, Danilo. I feel very good about where we stand organizationally. You know, I think that's something that we've been very committed to throughout our journey is investing ahead of the growth and investing in our infrastructure, whether it's our manufacturing, our technology, or our people, and last year, you know, we announced the hiring of Jeff Gaul, our Chief Development Officer, which was the last addition to our ELT that we've built over the last few years, and we've built across the organization.
So, you know, whether it's Beth McCormick or Andy Rebhun, who joined us the prior year in technology and marketing, we've made those investments not just at an executive level, but across all functions and teams. So feel pretty well balanced and positioned across the org as we invested ahead of growth to prepare for building this for the next decade, not necessarily the next quarter, but the next decade and beyond. So I'd say, you know, no specific area of the business that would need outsized investment from a people perspective.
Operator (participant)
Your next question comes from the line of Brian Vaccaro from Raymond James. Please go ahead.
Brian Vaccaro (Managing Director)
Hi, thanks, and good evening.
I just wanted to quickly follow up on Danilo's question and not to harp on the near term too much, but just given what's been a softer, weather-impacted start for the industry in 2025, Tricia, that three-year comp, thinking maybe through that lens, do you expect to be in the high 30s in Q1 as well? I just wanted to make sure that I was clear on the message you were trying to deliver there, and then my question was, I think you used to disclose this historically, but could you level set us on where your AUVs are across different regions, however you break that down? Thank you.
Tricia Tolivar (CFO)
Yeah, thanks, Brian, so yes, we do anticipate our three-year stack in Q1 to be in the high 30s. So our business has been and continues to be strong and resilient, and that strength is reflected in our guidance.
We've seen increases in premium attachment. We've seen strength in our lower-income cohorts and the same-restaurant sales that they've got. And so we've reflected all of that in the guidance to deliver that expected result in Q1 and for the rest of the year. And then when you talk about AUVs across the region, what we've seen that AUV growing from 2.6 to 2.9, it's happening across all regions of the country. So Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southwest, and the West all have experienced significant increases from the last time that we shared that information.
We view all of this in totality, and so we haven't shared the specifics by region, but what I will say is each region has delivered year over year and quarter over quarter increases in AUV, which again underscores our confidence in the proven portability of the brand and our opportunity to take this to more and more places across the country.
Operator (participant)
Your last question is from the line of John Ivankoe from JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
John Ivankoe (Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst)
Hi, thank you. The question is on KDS. You know, obviously going from 25 units, I think, to 250 units is a pretty big jump and, you know, really, you know, expresses your confidence in the system. So, you know, can you talk about, you know, I understand the accuracy, but can you talk about some of the speed of service benefit that that KDS might get?
And, you know, as you put that system in, might it make sense, you know, in the relatively near future, you know, to have kiosks as part of the CAVA experience for people that want to interact with the brand in store in a digital manner?
Brett Schulman (Co-Founder and CEO)
Hey, John, it's Brett. I know you love kiosks, but don't expect them at CAVA anytime soon. We believe in human interaction in our restaurants, and if people want a kiosk-type experience, they can download, open up the app, and order on the app. Feel very strongly about that. Very excited about the KDS. The KDS, what we've seen in the expanded test now in 25 restaurants, is the ability to increase productivity on the second make lines. So there is certainly an opportunity with the number of bowls we do every 15 minutes to increase that productivity.
Most importantly, we've seen an improvement in order accuracy and an improvement in the customer experience. So the last thing I'll say is we also have the ability now with the new KDS to be able to do order status updates. And if you opt into text notification, we can give you dynamic order status updates. Your order's been received, your order is working, your order is ready.
If for some reason the order is either ahead of time or behind time, we can give you a dynamic update that your order is now ready ahead of time or that it's running three or four minutes late, which certainly that visibility to the guests has improved the experience and customer satisfaction, which we're very excited and not only to make the guest experience better, but also improve our team member experience and be able to manage the productivity of those lines.
Operator (participant)
There are no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the call over to Brett Schulman for closing remarks. Sir, please go ahead.
Brett Schulman (Co-Founder and CEO)
Thank you for joining us today. Before we wrap up, I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to our entire team for an incredible 2024.
Your dedication and passion make CAVA a special place, enabling the results that we have been consistently delivering. As we step into the new year, we recognize that many have been affected by the California wildfires last month. Our thoughts are with those impacted, and we remain committed to supporting in any way we can, whether through our bowl donations to first responders or affected guests or direct assistance to our team members. Moments like these remind us why our mission matters. Heart health and humanity aren't just words. They're our mission that guides everything we do. Together, we will continue to make a meaningful difference both inside and outside our restaurants. We look forward to speaking with you all on our next call.
Operator (participant)
This concludes today's conference call. Thank you very much for your participation. You may now disconnect.