Jim Cramer’s Best Performers List: Top 10 Stocks

2. CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA)

On Wednesday, Cramer discussed CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA) being accessible and its recently released third-quarter earnings report.

“The second smallest gainer in this group of just hallowed stocks is the most salient and that’s Cava Group, which reported last night. This casual dining chain aspires to be the Mediterranean version of Chipotle. It’s up over 242% for the year, including today’s 1.5% gain. At one point, it was up so much more because the same-store sales were up 18% and Wall Street was only looking for 12.4%. The best thing about Cava is this one was indeed accessible. Many of you have eaten there and enjoyed it.

Right now, the stock’s stretched a little thin with each restaurant in the chain worth nearly $48 million on average. Eh, way too expensive. But who’s to say that the $17 billion chain might not eventually make its way to Chipotle’s levels, which is over $80 billion.”

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) is a leading player in the fast-casual dining sector, operating a growing network of Mediterranean-inspired restaurants across the United States. The company has made significant strides in expanding its footprint, as evidenced by its impressive financial performance for the third quarter. During the quarter, its same-store sales surged by 18%, driven largely by a nearly 13% increase in customer traffic. This growth contributed to a 39% rise in total revenue, which reached $241.5 million for the quarter.

The success at the unit level is also noteworthy, with average unit volumes improving from $2.6 million to $2.8 million, reflecting a rise in the amount of business individual restaurants are generating. At the same time, the restaurant-level profit margin stood at 25.6%. The company saw a substantial increase in net income, which nearly tripled from $6.8 million to $18 million. Diluted EPS also saw a significant jump, rising from $0.06 to $0.15.

CAVA Group’s (NYSE:CAVA) expansion strategy continues to gain momentum, with CEO Brett Schulman emphasizing the company’s growth in both new and existing markets. During the earnings call, Schulman mentioned that the company added 11 new locations in Q3, marking a continuation of its nationwide expansion.